kindergarten!!!

It's official we are now the proud parents of an Elementary School Student! As many of you know Gina could hardly wait for this day to come, and as it approached disbelief began to set in. Addison meet with her teacher the Wednesday before school was to start for the Kindergartners and played shy until her mom moved to a different table, then she became the social little butterfly that we all know and love. At one point she wouldn't tell her teacher when her birthday was, what her phone number is, or what her address is. Finally after some coaching she told her teacher that her birthday was October 8th. (WHAT?! We all know she knows when it is!) Needless to say she warmed up to her teacher right away and was excited to be able to bring back her "homework" on the first day. (So excited that she forgot to put it in the basket so we had to go back before the next class started to put it in) Lil' JT is having a hard time with Addie not being there to play with but loves to go and pick her up so that he can play on the playground.

Here are some interesting things that have happened so far...

1. A new friend named Kaden, (she impressed him with her mad skills on the fireman pole)

2. Her first Scholastic Book Order form

3. Sleep Deprivation

4. New school jeans (they are way to big but we needed the length)

5. New pink backpack (Daddy picked this one out)

6. New folder and notebook (wasn't necessary but, Daddy chose the backpack)

7. Mommy not only waking up earlier than usual but having to get breakfast made

8. Walking to School and Home everyday (I'm not looking forward to the trek in the snow)

Pix of the first day....

The happenings of the past few weeks.....

So, I'll start with a few pix....Addison graduated Pre-School and is anxiously awaiting Kindergarten.Gramps and Uncle Jami fixed Uncle B's motorcycle just in time for him to get home.
Addison and JT scaled the pantry to find paint and then proceeded to have fun. Their target included my walls, floor, door, clothes, Rubbermaid, and a play kitchen.
Dave participated in the MS Bike ride up in Logan.

The kids all took a siesta as I drove to American Falls to celebrate Addie's 5th b-day with Kami-G, Coop, and Landini.

JT rode down the slip'n slide in the toy car.

"It's not a birthday without a cake." Exact words as it was time to settle down for the night.Body Art anyone? It's edible, cool whip to be exact! Just another masterpiece by JT.Lastly, we celebrated Coop's and Addie's birthdays, Uncle B's return home and just being a family.

Dave made the news!

Dave has his mug on the news! The annual Road Rally Bullrun was in his section yesterday.

My Class is BORING!

Yep, those were JT's exact words when I asked him why he keeps coming to my class. For the past couple of weeks I have been greeted by a little boy half way through the lesson. I have no idea why his Daddy can't seem to keep him in Nursery with the rest of the kids. When I asked JT why his class was boring he responded with, "They all just stand around. It's boring." Like my class is any better for a 3 year old. Gotta love the attention span of a 3 year old. I think that he is not being stimulated enough and is ready to be upstairs with Addison.

Today in the NEWS!

Okay, so I daily check the news online when I awake in the morning to see what has happened while I've slept. To my shock/horror this is what greeted me.....

OFFICER SHOT DURING TRAFFIC STOP!!!

My heart sank and immediately I began praying for all of those who were involved. As a "law enforcement's wife" you always have the fear that they may not come home deep in the cobwebs of your mind, in fact you suffer from denial/memory loss when people ask you if you are afraid of said reality. So today when I read said news, I lost my breath, thought of all of our friends in this brave profession and their families, thought of our family, and called my husband. I know that I tell Dave how much I love him and how grateful that I am that he chose me, that he is such an amazing daddy, and how truly blessed I am because of what he does. But, today I need to publicly thank my husband for being an amazing officer and putting his well being on the line everyday to uphold the law. I LOVE YOU!

My Daddy Can Do Anything!

JT absolutely LOVES his Daddy! In this little mans eyes he can do anything and everything! Here are a few examples:
1-He is the Best Police Man ever!
2-He sold his motorcycle and now has a dirt bike!
3-He's super strong!
4-He can ollie a skateboard 3' high!
-This event took place last night while having desert with Gramms and Gramps. Here is how the said event took place....Uncle John was watching JT ride the skateboard when JT decided to share in the fun by trying to convince Uncle John to "jump" the skateboard over the drive way wall. It was the cutest thing listening to him trying to convince him to ollie over a wall. After exhausting all his "convincing powers" he used the all famous, "will my daddy can." He quickly jumped up and ran over to convince his daddy to come and show how cool he was. After a little persuasion his Daddy gave in and showed his amazing skateboarding moves.
5-He gives me rides on his motorcycle!
6-He can fix anything!
7-He's the BOSS! -We just let him think that!

Spider Man Underware, An Absession with Shoes, and Nothing But Fun in the Sun

Yep, JT is finally potty trained! The kicker to this whole thing is that he prefers Spider Man Boxer Briefs and Cars Boxer Briefs. You can forget the whole Training pants, they aren't for big boys as he kindly informs us. Even, better is that he wakes up dry every morning.



Payslei has now decided that she wants to take off her diaper anytime that she wakes up from a rest. Thank Goodness we have not had a "McKinley" episode, I hope we never have one of those!!! Payslei's other latest is her obsession with shoes. A girl truly after my own heart! My favorite is how she truly believes that she isn't fully dressed without shoes. It is so cute how she matches them to her outfit.



Addison is absolutely LOVING the HOT Summer Sun! We have already spent many days outside running through the sprinklers, having picnics, playing with friends, and watching fireworks. Needless to say my lil' Addie absolutely LOVES the Heat! I can't believe that in a week from Saturday she will be FIVE!!! It seems like just yesterday she was a little baby in my arms. Now she is turning five and counting down the days until Kindergarten starts.



Lastly, is my dear Husband! There isn't a day in which he doesn't cease to amaze me. The love that he shows towards his kids is enlightening, I can truly say that they all admire him. He recently had the opportunity to help with the Presidential Detail while He was visiting in Park City, needless to say he learned a lot about just what goes into protecting the President. His calendar the next 2 weeks are going to be full of work! This Friday and Saturday he has picked up extra shifts at O.C. Tanner to help during the "Art Festival in Park City". He is also going to be going out for the S.E.R.T. team next week on the 26th. Putting in for a "Corporal" position, and finally finishing the week off with the MS Bike Ride up in Logan. He is definitely making sure that his June is finished off with a Bang!



Well, that is all that is up with us, what's going on in your neck of the woods?

Swearing...

For those of you who do not already know and think that we are amazing parents do not read any further!!! Okay, so now that you have been warned, I will proceed.

While Dave is an amazing parent who seldom/never swears I am not. I have no excuse for the language which comes from my mouth and have tried multiple times to stop but find myself slipping back . My parents are not responsible in fact, the worse thing I have ever heard my dad say was that he was going to kick someones butt after they had threatened his daughters life, as for my mom she did call my Aunt Jana a "b" when they were growing up but that doesn't count. Unfortunately my children have picked up these terrible words. Addison seems to favor the "s" word as well as the "d" when things don't go exactly as planned or something gets lost. I remember my mom saying that she was sure that Addison would refer to her little brother as, "Isn't he just the cutest little "s" you have ever seen?" I have to admit that when she said it the first time I grinned. (You see that is what my Grandpa Neal lovingly refers to me as, as well as my Aunt Kathy)

Well today while in my "Marriage and Family relations class" (Dave signed us up for this one!) the topic was mothers. UGH! All of the mothers went on to say how they teach their children the scriptures, sing the hymns, have family home evening together, and pray together, etc.... All I could think of was when we were leaving my cousins farewell and Addison's booster seat wasn't in the van she calls out, "Oh "s"!" Then the words of Dave's mom, "I am not happy with Addison's word choices lately, she has picked up on some very bad words..." Oh, and for the record I did get after her but isn't that a bit hypocritical?!

So, needless to say my heart wasn't exactly in the right spot today.

SUPERMAN!!!

I just needed a little space to brag about 3 guys!

First JT is done with his series of shots and everything looks great, so alas no surgery! Yippee! He was such a trooper going to the Dr. twice a week. I think he developed a crush on his nurse Ruth and loved getting stickers! I think we might miss visiting them one a weekly basis.

Second Superman is Dave he weeded the front flower bed yesterday while I was waiting for the effects of a sleeping pill to wear off. (I don't think I will try that again! I was groggy the entire day!) He also made sure that all of the dishes were washed! What an amazing Hubby!

Lastly is my Dad! He came over a couple of weeks ago and I didn't get a chance to brag about it! My bathtub now drains completely! YIPPEE!!! It no longer fills up when the washing machine drains, someone takes a shower, or the children play in the bath! It is such a great reassurance to know that should they fill the tub high it will not over flow again!

Needless to say I am one lucky girl to be surrounded by this many supermen in my life!

Mothers Day

Today was Addison's Mothers Day Program at school! Needless to say the video is a little wiggly to which I apologize, I was sitting on the table and every time someone moved or bumped into it it wiggled. Addison for her part was so excited to have me there. If you notice there is a part where she totally gets distracted but that is because someone walked in the door. It's never ceases to amaze me how one day your ready to throw in the towel and the next you have fallen in love all over again!

Tom Sawyer....

I thought that my children were over at the neighbors house playing, boy was I wrong!
As I walked outside to call my children to come home to take naps I found the neighbor walking over holding JT's hand with Addison following behind. Honestly my first thought was, "Oh NO, what have they done now!"

I guess I was right in my thinking because my sweet neighbor asked if I knew that they had been in the paint. Sadly, I had no idea! I quickly found myself apologizing for my children's decisions. To which she assured me not to worry and that her kids were just as much a part of it as mine were. So, needless to say the kids were scrubbed down, lectured, and put into time out. They were instructed to stay there until I had completely cleaned the fence off. Now, here is where the fun part comes in.... JT decided to run himself a bath and flooded the bathroom, hallway, and into the bedrooms upstairs. Addison came out to tattle about JT hoping in the bath to which I told her to make sure that the water was shut off and to tell him to get out. Less then 5 minutes later she is outside again with her hands on her hips stating, "Mom there is water everywhere in the house! You need to come now!" Yep, there was water everywhere! The damage downstairs was as follows: Water pouring from the jams above the doors, a soaked hallway, filled light , and a flooded bathroom. Needless to say all of the towels were used in the house as well as some cotton sheets to help soak up the water! Thank goodness my Dad brought a shop vac over to the house because after all the towels were used I still managed to soak up around 4" of water! The carpet is still drying out! I am looking at the positive side of it which is my floor got a really good mopping and I knew that my children were Picasso's in the making! Gotta love the ingenuity of kids! Yes there is no pictures of my children covered in paint or the flooding mess! Just use your imagination!

JT

So here is pix of JT to commemorate him turning 3. He was such a ham in these pix! I just love him to pieces!

JT's Birthday!

So, as I put my dear son into the shower on April 20th I couldn't help but reflect on how he entered the world and smile. JT had decided that he would not celebrate his birthday until Monday with his girlfriend and her family. He proudly told anyone who asked that the most important guest was going to be, "Karly, my girlfriend." His birthday was Fire Truck themed, complete with a Fire Truck Pinata, birthday hats, and cake. Grams and Gramps got him an awesome t-ball set as well as a new lightning McQueen ball. He seems to have to be playing with them at all times now. Stefanie gave him an awesome outfit as well as a cool book that can be assembled into different race car tracks for a little wind up car. As for what his parent's got him it was left up to Dave and so he and JT are going to have a their own little shopping excursion. Lastly, here are some of his latest words that have made me smile are:

1. MMM, mom my favorite! (As he is sticking his fingers into the Lasagna that I am trying to assemble)

2. You have to hold me because..... (this seems to happen when he is overly tired or sad)

3. I'm not a baby, I'm a MAN and Addie's a WOMAN! (this is when the neighbor is picking on him)

4. I love to help you cook Mommy, that's cause I'm big. (he is constantly in the kitchen with me trying to help cook whatever he can.)

Needless to say this little boy Rocks my world! I know that we are going to be in for one amazing adventure after another as he grows and learns each step of the way. Just don't tell him to loudly that he will always be my little boy!

Warm weather is finally here!!!

I don't know how many of you have been aching for those warm days but I can assure you that my children and I have. Alas, they have finally arrived! (At least we hope!) My dear sweet husband has been yearning to bring out the camping equipment, break in the atv's, the dirt bikes, and dutch ovens. Yep as you can tell he wants to go play in the dirt! Camping to be exact. I am sure that there will be a ton of dirt and mud caked to everything we own by the time we head for home. Last weekend was a bust and when the wind kicked up we were both grateful that our adventure did not take place. This weekend might just happen, only if Matt decides to take a sick day. But kudos to my husband for telling Matt that he wasn't going to make his wife camp on their anniversary. Really I wouldn't mind it, it's just the whole kid thing that wouldn't be as easy. Because when Dave goes out riding for hours I am stuck by myself with 3 children who also love the dirt as much as we do!

Being sick BLOWS!!!

This I guess is a simple apology to all of those kind souls who got sick because of my family! Let's just say the bug hit hard on Easter first starting with JT and then moving through the rest of the kids before hitting me. Needless to say I have been congested for 2 weeks now going on 3. We have almost used 2 1/2 Kleenex boxes worth of tissue. My poor husband has suffered a messy, messy house and an unpleasant wife due to the circumstances. So once and for all being sick BLOWS literally!

Memory Monday...

What subject/class did you like the most in school?

My favorite class by far was H.O.S.A. I absolutely loved interning at the hospital and Dr. office, not to mention all of the practical things that we learned in class. For example, how to station a pencil shoved in one eye, stop bleeding, command attention, save a life, oh the wonderful memories. I still remember having to sterilize the surgical instruments while working in the plastic surgeons office as well as aiding him in a minor procedure. By far I would have to say that the funnest experiences were those that I had while interning at Timpanogos Hospital in the Labor and Delivery Unit! It totally rocked! In fact when it came time for my own son to be circumcised I opted out of witnessing it I remembered how painful that procedure looked the first time I had to help restrain a baby for the procedure to be accomplished.

Daddy is back at work!!!

We are sooo happy to say that Dave is finally back at work! It was a painful 2 weeks but we made it! He is still limping a little but hopefully that will subside by next week. For those of you who don't know a couple of weeks ago Dave and his buddy Matt went dirt bike riding out to 5 mile pass and on the way back to the truck he bailed off of his bike and got a terrible sprain on his foot! Everyone is in agreement that he would've been better off if he had broken it. The kids absolutely loved their Daddy being home but alas I feel like I got nothing done! The irony in all of this is that I had specifically told him before he left to be CAREFUL and NOT GET HURT, because if he did he was in big trouble. I honestly think that when he got home he was thinking that he could hide the injury but the baby in him came out and he was up a creek! His response when he first saw me was, "don't worry the bike is totally fine, I'm just the broken one." I guess this is what happens when boys are allowed to play with motorized toys in the dirt, or at least Dave!

Memory Monday....

First off thanks Brittany for the encouragement/nagging! I think that this might actually help with the whole journaling thing!!!

What personality trait do you most admire? Why?

There are many traits that I admire but for me the one that I am most fond of now is that of genuine unselfishness. Okay so some of you would consider that as 2 but I believe that being "genuine" comes from the heart and is sincere. You can express yourself many ways but it will not mean a thing unless it is genuine. As far as unselfishness it doesn't always mean my 2 year old handing over half of his candy because his sister wants it, it is the kind of unselfish thinking that he has when his first thought is for his sister and what she wants. It is the trait where despite all else that goes around you are more concerned for the well being of others wants and needs before your own.

Okay, so I know that it is now Friday but I honestly started this on Monday and got side tracked with babies!

An AMAZING Daddy, A Fascination with the Toilet, and The Dentist

As you can tell by the Title we have had a very full couple of weeks. I have once again gotten into one of my "dejunking" moods and so needless to say my poor children have things scattered all over their beds while I "sort". Their awesome Daddy got an idea of a fort/tent made out of my Dining room table and the big blankets. To make a long story short the kids absolutely love the fort and I still have my unfinished table in the front room for all to see. The kids are not about to go back into their bedrooms because what fun would that be?!




Payslei has discovered the toilet! EEEWWWW!!! It is a constant race to make sure that the door to the Bathroom is always closed when she is awake. This little girl must have a radar that goes off the instant that the Bathroom door is left open by one of her siblings! All I have to say is Thank Goodness they remembered to flush the toilet and that the camera was broken!







We LOVE going to the Dentist! This was JT's first time and he absolutely loved flirting with the technician. He wasn't too fond of the Dentist considering that he had been there for 2 hours when it came time for him. The technician was so cute with JT she taught him how every instrument worked and let him control the "sucker". The only thing that she probably wishes that she didn't teach him was how to use the water and air squirter! Needless to say he walked away with 2 cavities that are located between his bottom two teeth. Addison was a real sport and went first! She was so happy to find out that she had NO cavities! YEA!!!! I really think that she was more excited to see her Uncle Jeron who came to take her to Pre-School! Addison absolutely loves being the big girl!

Why I am considering giving up cooking!

My KIDS!!! Let me start off by saying I hope that you all do not have a full bladder because you might have an accident! This afternoon while I was preparing lunch it suddenly got extremely quiet. Now I know all of you mothers are thinking that it should have been your first warning but I foolishly believed that my children were in the next room contently watching tv waiting for their lunch. WRONG, they were in my sons bedroom letting the dog out of her kennel and .....wait for it.... PAINTING his MATTRESS with PAINT!!! Needless to say I was so upset and suffering from disbelief that Addison and JT quickly ran for their lives apologizing as they wen't and blaming one another for the incident. (Michelle, you may need to start breathing in between laughter I don't want you to pass out!) Needless to say I think that I am still in shock, because I am pretty calm and my dear sweet husband is probably going to be the mean one because to tell you the truth I am tired of punshing and explaining myself to my children. What were we thinking?! If you looked at my kids right now you would see Addison undressed herself down to her panties to try and dispose of any evidence of the crime and JT has a unibrow out of paint, that also matches his legs, hands, and feet. I just keep telling myself that one day I will look back on this incident and laugh just like one day I will look back at the whole 2 glasses and a mason jar full of Orange Juice on the bed fiacisco. For those who have not heard that story yet just let me say that is another reason why I am considering giving up cooking for good! Oh yeah one last thing if you look at the pictures you'll notice dog hair all over the bed due to the fact that they let her climb up onto it.
Now this one is just for Michelle, Wednesday night your JT decided to help me cook by laddling the Chicken Alfredo sauce into the boiling noodles. What a lucky mom I am!
Okay one last thing I promise I just went into the bathroom to get more distilled alcohol to try and clean up the paint and Addison has used her daddy's shirt to clean up the mess. It is covered in green paint!