Finally . . .

. . . we have a backyard! I am so sick of having just dirt - it all gets tracked into the house, blown in with the slightest breeze, you get the idea. Plus I feel like a jerk when I tell my kids to go play outside and all they have is a bunch of dirt and some old, broken toys. So we finally got started on our backyard. A HUGE thanks to my brothers Lane and Logan for helping so much. Lane is basically the mastermind behind the whole thing and even drew up our plans in autocad (sp?) which was awesome! Logan and Shayla came up two different weekends to visit and help with the yard. Thanks again, Lane and Log! And all they wanted in exchange was a steady supply of Mt. Dew (which is ALOT with those two!) Kaden was excited that I let him have a "dewski" too.

Kaden helping uncle Logan with the trencher

The trenches were open a couple weeks before we got all the piping in. Sometime during those 2 weeks, my darling children thought it would be a great idea to walk all along the dirt piles - which effectively filled the trenches with dirt! Apparently they have amnesia and forgot the 14 million times I told them not to. So Matt got to spend a whole day digging the dirt back out! I should have got a picture of that - he was not happy, to say the least!

Bailey was willing to help, but only if she could wear her pink skirt!

Filling in the trenches (they were supposed to this time!)


From this . . .

. . . to this. . .

. . . and finally done! we have plans for a sidewalk, extended patio, retaining wall, etc, etc. But all that can wait. Slip-n-slide, here we come!

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of course the project wouldn't be complete without giving Lex her first dewski! thanks lane - just what my baby needs!

Are we sure that's milk in those bottles?

Spring Break

Things have been crazy and drama around here lately. Now that things have calmed down a bit - hopefully I can update more often.

Spring break this year was so fun - Matt had time off from ASU and took the whole week off of work! Kaden's spring break was the same week - which worked out great. Matt found a good deal at a resort up in scottsdale - so we took a mini vacation for a couple nights! We had fun swimming, canoeing (is that a word?), going to chucky cheese, the train park, bowling, and just relaxing. Well, maybe not so much relaxing (5 people in one hotel room is a little cramped). And Bailey was maybe the whiniest kid on earth - but we had fun in spite of her:)!

We decided kaden is part fish - he would swim for hours if he could.


Bailey on the other hand just whined and cried that she was cold.

Riding the train

As many of you know - Kaden is weird about his clothes. He has all these made up rules about what he can wear with what - no polo shirts with shorts, only certain things to soccer practice, etc. We had a 30 min fit that morning that I only packed shorts for him. Anyway, this particular day he insisted on wearing his hood all day! And it was pretty warm! Matt and I secretly made fun of him because he looked like the creepy kid on the playground - does that make us bad parents? :)

I made him take the hood off so I could see his face in the picture. He was thrilled as you can see.

Hard to see, but Matt took the kids on a canoe. The hotel backed up to a lake - the kids loved it.

Kaden was hard core - sliding on his knees when he threw the ball!

This was our first time taking the kids bowling - they LOVED it! We will definitely go again! (but maybe leave Lex home next time! she was a little butt!)

It was a fun little vacation - but always good to get home. The kids didn't act too particularly excited while we were there - but apparently loved it. They have talked about it non-stop for the past month. I guess we need to get out more:)!

Lex is One!

Lex turned one more than a month ago - but I never got around to posting pics. So here they are:

Her new outfit from Jodi!

with Nana at bubba's basketball game

Playing with cousin Neva

Lexie was not very excited about the blowing out the candle. She is becoming very timid and scared of anything new.

She didn't even want to eat her cupcake - until Bailey "helped" her out by shoving it in her face!

Once she decided she like the cupcake - she slowly and quietly ate it! And with relatively little mess. That is so Lex.

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Here are some highlights of Lexie at 12 months:

• Loves to eat - but doesn't like crackers, cheerios, etc. She's all about meat or cheese.
• Waves bye and blows kisses
• Walking very well, but takes her time. She is happy to simply roam around.
• She is pretty timid and unsure about things. She still hasn't even tried going up our stairs, just sits at the bottom and "talks" to the kids upstairs.
• Becoming very clingy and attached to mom.
• She loves to dance - her latest is to shake her hips side to side.
• I love her chubby thighs with the permanent rolls, her chubby hands, chubby cheeks, feet - you get the idea. Just love her chubbiness. Somehow not so cute on adults :)
• She is very sensitive. She gets upset when we raise our voices and are getting after Kaden or Bailey. Which hardly ever happens . . . yeah right! She even gets upset when Kaden is being loud and crazy.
• Can say - mama, dada, bubba, uh-oh, byebye
• She is very concerned about others feeling - or as much as a 1 year old can be. When someones upset she will come over, lay her head on them, and say "ahhhhhh" - which is her loving sound. She loves to give hugs and loves and always makes that sound.
• She still hates the car and screams more often than not when we are in there.
• Still have redish hair, which I hope she keeps. I just love her red hair, blue eyes, and chubbies! Oh, just love that girl!

Your Kids Give the Answers

(Saw this on a friends blog and wanted to copy it - thanks teri)

Answered by Kaden:

1. What is something mom always says to you? to be good

2. What makes mom happy? to do something your mom was going to say but you did it before she said it

3. What makes mom sad? to be bad

4. How does your mom make you laugh? (no answer, kaden just made a funny face. I laughed and he said, "told you")

5. What was your mom like as a child? like me

6. How old is your mom? 29

7. How tall is your mom? Um, I don't know - how many feet are you?

8. What is her favorite thing to do? shopping (this is actually funny because I go shopping about once every 3 months)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? i dont know because i'm not around. that's a hard question!

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? juggling

11. What is your mom really good at? taking care of kids

12. What is your mom not very good at? juggling

13. What does your mom do for a job? clean the house with the kids

14.What is your mom's favorite food? pizza

15.What makes you proud of your mom? when we get to have movie night

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? the snake in kung fu panda (what the?)

17. What do you and your mom do together? serve lunch

18. How are you and your mom the same? we both have short hair (I did just got a haircut yesterday - rest assured that mine is not a buzz cut like his)

19. How are you and your mom different? I'm little and she's big

(Kaden exclaims "I'm good at this!" And breaks into dance, chanting "smarty pants, smarty pants!")

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because we are in the same family

21. What does your mom like most about your dad? you just like him because you help each other (that's nice and vague! - seems be be a theme)

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Nana's

Basketball

Kaden just finished with his basketball season. This was his first time playing and he did ok. He didn't seem to enjoy it as much as he does some other sports - but it was pretty fun anyway.

Some of the Nuggets

Dressed and ready for the game

Sorry - kinda blurry

End of season party at Native

Kaden and his good buddy Micah - Kaden insisted on wearing his jersey to the party:)

It was a fun for Kaden to learn a little about basketball - but I am so glad to have the season be over! I was sick of dragging all three kids to 2 practices and 1 game every week! Plus our coach was . . . how should I say it. . . a little intense for these kids. But we made it and we are glad to be done!

So True!

I got this quote in an email . . . just thought I would share:

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

~~~~~ Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931 - 2005 ~~~~~

Random Updates

I know, I know . . . these kind of posts are boring. But I need it on here since this is my one and only journal. You can stop reading now, really my feelings wont be hurt!

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Last week, Lexie took advantage that I was distracted on the computer and the older kids were both in bed. When I finally realized she had been quite for far too long - this is what I found. She had pulled the diaper bag down and emptied it. She found some suckers, chewed thru the wrappers, and was introduced to the deliciousness of candy!! She was very proud of herself as you can see.

Kaden and his best bud, Mason - visiting from Utah.

Just some random projects - I finally finished some painting and got some vinyl put up.

Curtains in the dining room.

Lex took her first steps on Feb 5th - 11 months old.

Bailey loves to help feed Lexie - she is surprisingly good at it. As you can see, she also helps herself to some of the food.

Kaden turned our zorro mask into a sleeping mask and insists he can't sleep without it! And I was worried about my girls being high maintainance!

Valentines cookies

Say It Ain't So!!!

Can Lex really be turning one tomorrow? (Well we are celebrating tomorrow - technically our leap day baby won't have a bday til 2012) Anyway - this year has flown! Why can't they stay babies just a little longer?

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

8 Months

9 Months

12 Months

Things that are really fun -

* Driving your daughter to preschool and getting a flat tire
* Not being able to even drive home because your driving on the rim
* Remembering that you left your cell phone at home
* Remembering that you also left your baby napping at home to run to preschool "real quick"
* Changing a tire in front of some strangers house
* Spending an hour changing the tire because you have never actually done it before
* Worrying for an hour that your baby is awake and your sleeping husband doesn't hear her
* Doing all of this in pajamas, slippers, and no jacket . . . and it's freezing
* Getting the spare on and driving home only to realize the spare it flat too! Fun!!!
* Transfering all 4 carseats to the other car to take the spare and fill it up
* Being late to pick up your son from school
* Transferring all 4 carseats back to the van and taking 4 kids to the tire shop
* Being told that it will "only" take a couple hours to get new tires put on
* Entertaining 3 preschoolers (all of who have to go to the bathroom, now!) and 1 cranky baby during naptime
* Having your baby leak out of her diaper and not having any extra clothes with you
* Being told the cheap tires aren't in stock . . . of course not!
* Paying an arm and a leg just for 2 freakin tires
* Coming home and realizing it's time to start dinner and you wasted the whole day on stupid tires! Arrrggghhh!

Just an all around super fun day!

Brownie Peanut Butter Cups

I made these last week and they are one of my new favorite treats - great combination of salty and sweet. I got the recipe from here. I made them in a mini-muffin pan instead of full cupcake size and they were perfect! They didn't take long to make and they disappeared quick!

The Meanest Mom

I just heard about this blog and it is hilarious! It's my new favorite! Check it out