Lions and Tigers and Hair CUTS OH MY

SO my kids had the scare of a life time today! A friend of ours came over to cut all the boys (including my hunky hubby's) hair today! We wanted to look spiffy for the blessing tomorrow! Unfortunately the boys were not as excited as I was! I am sure the people above us, next to us and the poor people down the STREET thought the kids were being attacked by wild animals! You see BJ left right after his cut to play racket ball with some new friends so I was on my own to rally the boys!! :)

Spencer went on and on about how much he hated hair cuts (hate is his new naughty word he love to use to get a rise out of MOMMY!!!:( He said he liked his hair messy and didn't want to cut it! So we decided Cooper would go first to SHOW Spencer that it ISN'T sad or scary! 

(The first change I had for picture was after the kids were up after nap!! I wish I could have captured the ciaos but I would have just been TOO much:)

Unfortunately Cooper just SCREAMED AND SCREAMED! I tried to appease him with binkies, sippy cups even a fruit snack! NO LUCK! WE took 3 breaks to let him calm down because the whole time I had to hold him in what wrestling fans would likely call the "spider DEATH grip!!" The scene got even better as Spencer got out of time out to stand next to me and Coop and say "Stop hurting my brother, let him go, you're a meany!!" With all the commotion Graham started to cry! OH can you feel the energy jump of the screen and smother you?

(This band aid is not covering a REAL wound! Spencer found his first little zit and FREAKED out! He had to have a Scooby Doo Band aid)

I am glad to say that as soon as it was Spencer's turn we were able to calm him down as I read a few stories with the 2 little boys on my lap and Spencer sitting (almost still) while Natalie cut his hair! The whole experience was a bit terrifying for ME and the kids! But it ended well, I hope Natalie will still speak to us! 

As soon as she left Spencer ran into the bathroom to check out his hair! He asked me if I liked it and said he hoped his friends would like it too! Funny kid! I told him I loved and as long as he liked it that I am sure his friends would too!

(Cooper didn't feel much like coloring!)

We finished our busy day coloring and crying! Jenise stopped over for dinner with her new puppy and the kids were in bed by 8:00! And once BJ got home at 9:00 we relaxed and caught up on our American Idol! I just love the tryouts! I thought Salt Lake totally represented! And it was SO SO funny how after the kids got rejected they would ALL say THANK YOU! 

So if you got to the end of this LONG rambling post THANK YOU!! 

OH and if you are anywhere near Cedar City and want to come to the blessing CALL ME for directions its at 11:00! And I am making Stromboli for lunch afterwards!!!!

COUPONS COUPONS COUPONS

SO I just had to take a picture of my Albertsons deals this week! 

(and my cute little helper here had LOTS of fun knocking over my little display AS SOON as the picture was taken!!!!:)

*Del Monte Fruit Cups were only 50 cents after the coupon

*I got ALL 4 pizzas for for 8 .60 and the 4 Dr Peppers were FREE!!!

*All 4 boxes of popcorn for 2 dollars

*The crackers were 1.50 a box and then I got the velveeta and the deli cheese for FREE!!!

*All 6 craft dressings and Mayo came out to be just over 5 dollars and I got 6 dollars in chicken FREE!!

*OOOH and I found a pork tenderloin and a pork roast with coupons right on them for 2 and 3 dollars off so I was able to get both for 7.50 TOTAL!!

It was a great trip to Albertsons this week! My grand total for everything was 41 dollars and I saved 90 dollars!! YEA COUPONS! It really is WORTH IT! 

Oh and I BEGAN organizing my Coupons in a new binder! I just couldn't fit all of them in my little flip photo album anymore! I'll post a picture when I am all done! 

Snuggle Blankies and Promises

While my Mom was here over Christmas she had the great idea to make a special soft blanket for Cooper to use when I nursed Graham! The idea was that he could go get his special blanket and pillow and come snuggle with me and the baby so he didn't feel left out and sad! So while she was here we made a Mickey blanket, because he is fascinated with the Mickey! He LOVED it and after reminding him a few times to go get it while Graham was eating he started to go get it himself! 

HURRAY every ones happy....

Well everyone except Spencer! We thought he would rather color or play with play dough? But instead he wanted a special blanket that he can use to snuggle with Mom and the baby!! It all went down in a ball of noise and crying that turned into screaming that sounded something like, "Why cant I have special snuggle blankie, don't you want to snuggle with me too? I love you and Baby too!" I felt so bad! And I was tired of them fighting over the one blanket! SO.... we went looking for a special blanket for Spencer!

He had a fabulous time running around the fabric store and loved EVERY fabric they had! He really was like a kid in a candy store, everything looked yummy!!! But we decided on a CARS fabric and super soft back! He helped me pin it ( sort of, he was terrified of the pins but liked to pock them into the fabric!) 

Here are my two boys all snuggled up watching Kung Fo Panda waiting for their silly mom to put the camera down and come and cuddle on the couch! 

Since having Graham I have noticed my patience in dealing with the 2 "BIG" boys is so much shorter! I justify it by saying that there are SO many things going on at once that I don't have the time to stop and think of how best to react in the situation! But the reality  is I don't MAKE the time and I ALLOW myself to get upset! 

While making these blankets I realized I can look at these SMALL situations in a positive way or a negative way! The kids crawl all over me while I nurse, they almost squish Graham and FIGHT with each other about who sits where! I HAVE been getting frustrated and eventually kick them off the couch! BUT I WANT to look at them kindly and in a sweet  voice tell them I am so glad they both want to sit with me and that they can each have a side to sit on! I can either join in on the frusteration or step back and show them how to react!! I know what kind of Mom I want to be... I just have to rise up to the challenge and MAKE IT HAPPEN! I have lots of chances every day! 

I AM grateful for all 3 of my boys! And I PROMISE to TRY MY BEST to look at them through excited and GRATEFUL eyes! 

Instead of getting mad that they are crying I am going to ask them why they are crying and what I can do to help them feel better! I AM going to MAKE the time to be patient again! Because I don't want to be a Mom who worries about getting THINGS done I want to be the Mom who MAKES the time to PLAY and READ and have FUN with her kids, and worry about CLEAN up after!

BOYS I want you to know Mommy LOVES SNUGGLING and I PROMISE to make MORE time to BE with you! I am grateful for your bear hugs and slobbery kisses! You mean SO VERY much more then clean rooms and vacuumed floors! And I am going to start showing you! 

I LOVE YOU!  

What did you learn in class today, Spencer?

I always ask Spencer what he learned in class after we get home from church. His answer is usually something vague like "I learned about Jesus!" Which is better than nothing so I go about my business but this time I got a very different answer! SO I ran and got the camera and asked him to tell me again what he learned in Sunbeams!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!! I am so grateful to his teachers and to Heavenly Father for helping him learn a little! I am also so proud of my little boy for listening and for being a himself because at the end of it all he learned "That he should beat up Lions!!!" I LOVE YOU SPENCER!!! 

50 Years And Counting!

This Saturday was Brent's 50th Birthday party! We had it at Matt and Bristie's house they had just moved out of so there was lots of room! We invited all of Dads brothers and friends, so we were expecting LOTS of people :) Originally it was a surprise party and we all did a great job of keeping it a secret (even the little kids) until one of his brothers slipped the secret only a couple of hours beforehand! :( He still had a great time! Secrets are made to be broken I guess!!!! 

Krisiti had a great cake made with a picture of Brent at the lake with his Jeep! That said "Still the Man!"  He was a bit embarrassed but he loved it!

There was tons of food, Cadie Mom and I made the dips and Mindy made ALL the food for diner! We had a 20 pound roast that was OH SO TENDER, funeral potatoes (a must for any large gathering) a lot of steamed veggies and a large salad! 

Mindy and Bristie did a great job of decorating and setting everything up! The house looked so festive and fun! There were lots of balloons and streamers! 

There was lots of music and visiting! Mindy and Brock even started dancing! Lots and LOTS of people came to wish Brent a Happy Birthday! It was so great to see all the people that love and respect Dad come to see him! 

Sick Day

This week ALL of passed around a 24 hour bug! Both the boys threw up and felt real yucky for a day and then the next day were up and running around! It was especially sad to sit with Coop because he doesn't understand whats happening so he gets really nervous and scared when he is sick! This time I REALLY tried to help him throw up in a bowl or in the bathroom, but he just doesn't grasp that idea yet! DARNIT!

Look at that sad face, poor guy!

We stayed in our jammies all week, which SPENCER loved! He asks to have PJ parties everyday, he really hates getting dressed! And because we all felt a little down and out all we did was play games, read stories and watch TOO much TV! 

Spencer loves Candy land! He talks to the people on the board and loves to jump past the licorice spots! He says he is beating up the BAD Candy Man!I think our record number of times we played in one day was 4! HE LOVED it, but by the last time I was stacking the deck to finish up! :)

Even though Cooper wasn't 100% he still had enough energy to get into EVERYTHING! What is it with WIPES? My boys love them more then toys! Its like they have a radar and know when I leave them out!!!!! :)

  My Mom gave them a great book for Christmas and they have been asking to read it ALL the time, THANKS MOM! It has about a dozen different stories! The kids love all of them but there favorite is Baby Says! Its about 2 brothers, the baby throws his teddy bear and the big brother teaches him new words like  Uh oh and No No and Ok! Cooper laughs and laughs and Spencer says the new words to Cooper and then Cooper repeats them! THEY EAT IT UP! Each time Spencer pulls out the book Cooper says "UH OH!" and sits down waits to read it with him! 

Each night this week bedtime couldn't come soon enough! And each night I PRAYED they would sleep all night and not wake up sick! 

I am so glad we are all on the rebound and feeling better!

Reverence FHE

I have a small confession to make, this Monday is the first time I have done Family Home Evening since Grahams been born! My plan for the new year is to do FHE on the lesson Spencer had in Sunbeams the day before! To try and help him understand so he doesn't get OVERLOADED  with too many ideas at once!!! 

But this week I thought I would start out with REVERENCE! Since we have had a few slip ups lately (running to the front and standing at the podium in Sacrament, NOT sitting quietly during Sacrament, running in the halls, and our worst one sitting quietly during prayer time:) A few new friends came over for dinner and our little lesson! Spencer had fun during the lesson since there was someone else to do it with!

I started out by asking the boys what Reverence was

....silence....

I showed the kids a picture of a family sitting in church REVERENTLY 

(from the Behold Your Little Ones Manual)

 and told them; 

"Reverence is being still and quiet to show Heavenly Father that we love Him." 

I had the kids get up and demonstrate things that ARE reverent and AREN'T with their feet, mouths, eyes, ears and hands! We talked about when to be Reverent and when its OK to be loud and goofy! We had a fun little puppet and the boys moved his arms and legs around to show me how to be reverent! Cooper had a little too much fun with our puppet and so had to stop to fix him but once he was all better we got back on track!! :)

We played musical chairs (because its the boys favorite FHE game) and put pictures of ways we can be reverent on each chair so when they sat down they told us how THEY can be reverent! Spencer and Coby loved running around the chairs, even BJ jumped in a few times!

The boys were wearing down so we finished up with this fun craft idea I found on the FHE BLOG! It went with this fun poem: 

I said to my feet, "Keep Still!" I said to my hands "Just Stay!" I said to my all-over-everywhere-self, "I am in charge of you today!" I'm the ruler of my mouth , and I'm the King of ME, so when I tell me its REVERENCE time, I'm as quiet as can be!

So the boys could be proper Kings of themselves we made REVERENCE crowns! The kids decorated them with stickers and drawings! And had fun running around with them! 

We had a great time getting to know our new friends and the boys had SO much fun playing together! Hopefully they got something out of the lesson even though they weren't that REVERENT :) Its a work in progress.....

Happy ONE Month TEDDY GRAHAM!!

Graham turned ONE month old a couple days ago and I thought it would be fun to mark the occasion with some details on how he has changed, a mini photo shoot and of course SOME CAKE!

The biggest change in the last month has been his weight! He has grown and grown. When he was born he was 7 pounds 6 ounces and now he is over 10 pounds! The doctor was very surprised when we went in a couple weeks ago! He said that lots of babies are just getting back to their birth weight at one month! SO GO GRAHAM! Our little Chubby Baby!

A few of my favorite things about little Teddy Graham are:

I love his big cheeks and double chin, they are so fun to squeeze and even more fun to kiss! Each time I cuddle with him or nurse him I just love to nuzzle his soft little chipmunk cheeks!

I love the way he waves his arm when you startle him! Its like he is saying "hey watch out, I am right here!!"

He is really trying to hold up his head this last week! He is ready to be a part of the big boy world!

Its funny how he is with the boys! Whenever they hold him or kiss or cuddle him he allows it and then lets them know when he is done! I don't think he is going be a push over! Even though he enjoys the attention! If he is fussy and we go into the room and he sits on my lap while the kids are playing he quiets right down, like he enjoys being a part of all the action!

I don't think this is a favorite thing but he is notorious for spraying when you are changing his diaper! I would say 1 out of every 10 diapers you get a surprise!! You have to be on guard because its only a matter of time before he gets you!!!

This last week he has started getting his days and nights on schedule! He is only waking up a couple of times now! AND I LOVE LOVE LOVE that!

I love to sit down and relax with him! He has such a peaceful calming spirit. It calms me down to just sit down and rock him, holding him close and rubbing his little cheeks! Its like we rock each other and calm one another down! Its a unique quality I have seen in him, I am excited to see how it develops!

I made a little cake to commemorate his first month! Not all the train parts made it out of the pan in one piece! :( And frosting them didn't exactly go as I planned but here is our little birthday train.....

We had dinner with Jake and Nicole from our ward and shared our little birthday with them!

I am so glad to have Graham in our family! All of us can get enough of him!

Baby Burns

A couple days ago Cooper burned his hand while helping BJ make some pancakes! I know what you are all thinking... how did you let him get so close to the hot pan? Well Cooper is ADDICTED to helping in the kitchen! AS SOON AS HE SEES that you are making something he whines and cries until he can sit on the counter! He likes to have a front row seat so he can help! Well this time he decided to test out the warning he was given about the pan being hot! 

At first we didn't think he had burned it too badly but it blistered and popped yesterday! Unfortunately Cooper HATES band aids so I had to be creative and last night I got out the medical tape and made my own Mommy MacGyver bandage! 

Eventually he got it off but it took a few hours!!! Sorry the picture is blurry he was really unhappy about me taking a picture of his hand!

On the bright side, I thought it was so funny how during all the drama of putting on Coopers ghetto band aid, and all the crying and squirming Graham fell asleep on the couch, RIGHT NEXT to me and Cooper! As long as he is tired he will fall asleep anywhere! NO MATTER whats going on around him! Silly SWEET baby!

Sippy Cup SEARCH....

I am on the search for new sippy cups that DON'T leek! All of our straw ones are missing straws and all the sippy ones are getting..... old!!! Do any of you have sippy cups that you like that don't leek and are SOMEWHAT easy to clean? I know that's a lot to ask for but I am NOT ready to switch to regular cups all the time.... I don't need the extra clean up!!!! :) 

SUGGESTIONS.......PLEASE!

Life With 3

Last week was BJ's first week of school and so life seemed to kick back in to full gear! I wasn't sure what it would be like now that BJ was going to be super busy with 21 credits and work! I have been meaning to blog but there always seems to be something else to work on or someone to play with or soothe! Let me give a few examples.... 

The boys have been spending loads of time playing with their new toys from Christmas and it has been fun for Graham and I to sit and play with them! 

While my Mom was here we moved all the toys into Grahams room and all the books into the boys room! It has REALLY helped with cleaning! Now at nap time they read and color! NO MORE getting EVERY toy out! 

Cooper loves to play with this little people village, he sways and sings to the songs! It is SO CUTE! And both the boys love crashing the cars on the racetrack! Thanks Auntie J!

The boys enjoy all their new toys but one of the favorites is still the train track! Which by some miracle we managed to fit in Grahams room too! If you look Spencer is in PJ's in almost ALL of these photos! Before the baby I would battle with him to get dressed every day but now I've decided to let that one go, unless we are going somewhere! Spencer and I both love the comfort of jammies! So if you stop by both of us will be hanging out in PJ's!!!

One thing we have been doing a lot more latley is playing games and working on puzzles! BJ and Spencer have done this puzzle a few times since Christmas, I love to hear Spencer talk about the states! It kinda caught me off guard the first time I heard BJ tell him to put IOWA under Minnesota and Spencer said " Oh the place Mommy used to live" and knew right where to set it! 

Hullaballoo has been so much fun! Cooper doesn't follow the instructions but he sure loves dancing around and watching Spencer spin and jump from spot to spot!

We have all been a little sick the past couple weeks, great news with a new baby! It has been like a really long lasting cold! Somehow Spencer's little body decided to react with the HIVES! YEA! We were worried he had another allergic reaction so when it was just because of the "viral infection" the doctor said we had I WAS RELIEVED! He had them for a few days and referred the them as "HIS SPOTS!" Which he told be he didn't like about every 5-6 hours as his Benodryl would wear off! :)

The boys and I have also done a little cooking! Just to help us with that hard 5-7pm part of the day when we are all tired and cranky and we need to be quiet so BJ can sleep! We tried out our food drier we got from BJ's Mom for Christmas... still working out the kinks on that! Looking for tips if you have them!!!!!

AND we made my new favorite cookie! 

ROOT BEER COOKIES! 

I know they sound different and funny! They are like biting into a root beer float! HMM SO GOOD! We made one large batch and I ate SO SO MANY that I had to make another one so we could take them out as Thank You's for the dinners we received! 

AND SO BJ and I could have some MORE!!! 

If you like root beer even a little, give these a try! THEY are SO SO worth it! 

Root Beer Cookie Recipe:

1 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla

1 cup brown sugar 4 cups flour

1 cup butter 1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs 1 tsp salt

2 tbsp root beer extract 1/2 cup butter milk

* Combine sugar and butter beat well! Add wet ingredients mix together then add all dry ingredients! Drop into tall balls on the greased cookie sheet! Bake 350 for 6-10 minutes!

Frosting:

3 cups powdered sugar 3tbsp milk

6 tbsp butter 1 tbsp root beer extract

This Sunday we had a especially intense Sacrament Meeting! Spencer ran up to the front and stood RIGHT next to the microphone on the podium ALL through the closing song and prayer! IT WAS AWFUL! BJ had told him we just had to wait for prayer and then we could go to class! SO he ran up to the front and JUST STOOD there and waited! I kept begging BJ to go get him but he was too embarrassed and so was I! We explained you cant go up there unless you are giving a talk! I guess every little kid has to run up front at least once, RIGHT?

At least I got a picture of all of us after Church! I thought Graham looked so cute in his sweater! He didn't really love the pictures! :)

And last but NOT least this week I started getting serious about COUPONING! Albertsons was having their BIG sale; spend 30 dollars get 15 dollars back! So I went 3 different times (because they were out of things I needed each time!) Steph went with me the first time and walked me through it! THANKS STEPH and Megan for answering all my questions this week!

The first time I spent 47 and saved 58! I got 16 boxes of fruit snacks, granola bars cake mixes and a few other things! 

The next day I finally found my diapers! I was SO excited about this deal! I lost this receipt so I cant give the exact numbers darnit but I spent 80 and saved about 120! I got 6 packs for Graham and 9 for Cooper! HURRAY! I saved over 75 dollars on what I would have spent at Costco! 

And on the last trip I did the best! I got a roast for 3 dollars, bread and a 24 pack of water free (the boys tore into the water and were using them as bowling pins so they aren't in the pic) plus all the rest of that for 40 dollars! I saved 149 dollars! YEA YEA YEA! We had a long check out, the people behind us we not loving it! But it was worth it! THANKS FOR COMING WITH ME AMBER!

I still have a lot to learn about coupons! And finding the sales to use the coupons on! But this week has really encouraged me to stick with it! So if any of you have any secrets to share.... PLEASE send them my way! 

It's been a full week but its been a good one! I have to admit I have been worried a few times as BJ would leave for class and the kids would start crying! OR when I would try and call someone and before I had been on the phone for 5 minutes all 3 kids would be crying! But the kids and I have been adjusting really well! No big blow outs or long tantrums! (Only a few short ones:) I think we will all figure it out together! SLOWLY but I KNOW the Lord is helping us and somehow these 3 boys and I will figure it out!

Hopefully I can keep on my posts so I don't have any more LONG ones!!!! IF you really made it to the end... THANKS! I dont know if I would have kept reading! wink wink!

Bath Time for Graham

After waiting for his umbilical cord to fall off and his poor circumcision to heal we can finally give Graham more then just a sponge bath (hurray he hated sponge baths, WHO WOULDN'T!)

So along with my faithful little helpers we got Graham into his special baby bathtub! 

At first he was shocked and I think he felt unsure so he cried and cried! Then once he realised hey this is warm and it feel GOOOOD! He totally just hung out, WIDE EYED and content!  I think he would have stayed there forever! 

Spencer REALLY wanted to help get Graham ALL clean. He also thought the snazzy little sponge we got from the hospital was pretty cool! 

All in all the bath was a total success, the kids had fun helping and Graham LOVED it! Plus he got all clean... and that's always a plus when you get in the bath! :)

SUNBEAM SUNDAY

This Sunday was Spencer FIRST day as a SUNBEAM! We have been talking about it trying to get him ready for a couple weeks and the day has FINALLY arrived! ( I might be MORE excited then he is...)

As we were getting ready for church he started to tell Cooper about going to the new class! I had to tell him that Cooper was still a baby and was staying in Nursery! But because he was SO big now that he gets to go to the fun NEW class where they sing and play games and have fun lessons and sit in neat chairs! He wasn't so sure! HE kept trying to convince me that Cooper WAS big enough because "See Mom he walks and tries to talk, and he can play really nice! Come on Mom, Look how big he is..." After we got to church the requests slimmed down but he was sad to be separated from Coop!

All through Sacrament he kept asking about his new class and when he was going to get to go! And then as soon as we walked into the primary room he looked up at me and said " I want to be baby again and go back to the old class!" He was SO nervous! There were a few other boys in his class all sitting nicely and I TRIED to show him how fun it would be to make new friends, but no! He kept saying " Spencer doesn't like those kids, Spencer doesn't like that chair, Spencer wants to go to his OLD class!" It was so funny because he has NEVER refereed to himself in the 3rd person before! 

Anyway it took about 10 minutes and the HELLO HELLO song to distract him enough for BJ and I to sneak out! And as we sat in our class every time the door opened with a sad child looking for their parents BJ and I would turn around and EXPECT to see SPENCER standing there CRYING! 

BUT....

we didn't he stayed the whole time! And his recap (even after LOTS OF QUESTIONS AND PLEADING FOR DETAILS FROM MOM) was we sang I am a Child of God lots and played games and when we went to the little new room we played with play dough and colored! I asked him what he learned and he said " that Jesus is happy when I come to church!" 

So I think he had a good time, after the drama and the beginning! I AM SO PROUD of him! I hope he sat nicely and folded his arms but not all dreams come true! As he gets more used to it I am sure he will learn lots and lots and come to LOVE IT! 

Lets Go Bowling....

This Saturday we went down to St George to celebrate Bj's Dad's 50th Birthday! Turns out we are going to have a big dinner next weekend but we didn't want our trip to be in vain so we decided to go bowling and celebrate it TWICE! 

Spencer has been BEGGING to go bowling since before Christmas so we were kinda knocking 2 birds with one stone! 

BJ helped Spnecer and Cooper get the hang of it....

Once the ball was gone the all watched AND watched AND watched because it usually took AWHILE for the ball to hit the pins:)

Brent and Lance helped the other kids!!

We had a BUNCH of little bowlers running around! A few of them ALMOST bowled for other people! OOPS!

The whole family made it out! It was so nice to have everyone together! It took a few bribes and some arm pulling but we got everyone to get together for a picture! 

The kids were having so much fun that they ended up bowling all most all of the adults turns! They really loved the ball with the 5 finger wholes! Ryker was by FAR the best at getting the ball down the lane! He threw it and it BOUNCED off the bumper pads! :) We all had a great time! I am glad we were able to double up on PAPA'S BDAY and do 2 things! I'm looking forward to dinner next week....