Hitting the Books...HARD!

This week was BJ's

LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL EVER

(unless he goes to Grad school)

So he has been VERY busy turning in papers, working on projects and presentations and studying for finals! He has been working so hard and getting great grades! I AM SO PROUD of him!

I have been trying to keep myself busy (thanks AMBER for letting me come over and invade so much the last couple weeks! Its great to have a friend like YOU) so that I don't feel like a single Mom!

Having him gone SO much HAS helped me realize HOW much he does for me and the kids! I am so lucky to have such a hard working husband who finds the time AND energy to help me! He sings the chorus of this Weezer song called the "Greatest man that ever lived." He is so funny! Whenever I ask him to do something he likes to tease me and sing it, but he always does it...as he sings! :) So after I ask him to change a diaper or take out the garbage I hear....

"I am the greatest man that ever lived I was born to GIVE and GIVE and GIVE!"

I am SO excited for him after finals next week he GRADUATES! The light a the end of this tunnel is just over head now, and it feels SO WARM!

Totally Toothless

Some of you know that Spencer had some dental work done about 6 months ago! Since that traumatic experience he has been very careful with his "new teeth" -as he likes to call them! But last weekend he had an accident, I think it's not an exaggeration to call it a LARGE accident!

While BJ and I were out Kristie (his NaNa) was watching the kids for us. The story goes that all the kids were playing under her kitchen table and Spencer was crawling under the bench and laughing when he hit his mouth on the beam of the bench! CRACK..... and broke his front tooth RIGHT OFF! This tooth had a cap on it so luckily it didn't hurt when it broke!

I was so sad, after all the drama and money with the first dental surgery I was not looking forward to round 2! And poor Spencer was so worried about his "new tooth" he ACTUALLY asked to go to the dentist so he could fix it!

The dentist said he has at least one kid a week who has fallen off a bike or run into something that brakes a tooth! He made me feel a little better about my hillbillie little boy! After our visit we left with good and bad news!

GOOD NEWS no surgery, no trauma, no more money ( I feel like a bad mother for being worried about the cost but it's SO expensive...) and it won't hurt him it will just fall out when his big teeth come in!!!

BAD NEWS there is no way to put a cap on when there is nothing there and he will have NO front tooth for at least a year, maybe two!! :(

Funny thing is he doesn't really care, he wants the tooth fairy to come and likes playing with the space where his tooth used to be! I am the one who is concerened with how he looks! So I am taking the cue from my kids (and BJ) to let the little vanities go and just enjoy the funny side of the situation!

couponing with kids.... how does that work?

Well I am sad to say but it almost came to this today!!:(

Well it doesn't really! Today I went to use the doubling coupons at Albertsons! And because BJ is swamped with projects and papers this being the last week of school I was on my own! Unfortunately it was one of the those days, no amount of prepping them, bribing them, threatening them was going to help! In the end when Spencer had to wait in the car while I checked out and then he received a WELL DESERVED spank! (YES that's right I spanked him today!)

Now onto the good news, OH WAIT I mean GREAT NEWS!

I spent 6.87

and saved.... ready are you SURE you're READY.......

I SAVED 67.91

I got 7 Capri suns, 3 McCormick grill mate seasonings, 2 tomato soups, 2 cream of mushroom soups, 6 Rite Guard Deodorants, 3 Gatorade 6 packs, 3 Frenches spicy brown mustard all for 6.87!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE COUPONING!

SLIP SLIDING AROUND

Jenise gave the boys a Slip and Slide for their Birthday's and this was the first day its been warm enough to get it out and use it! Spencer asks me almost every day if its time to get it out so I was glad today we could actually play with it!

Spencer had no fear, he was all ready to go, even before the slide was ready! While we were setting it up he kept reminding me that on the box it says he has to wear swim shorts without a shirt so he NEEDS sun screen! He is so observant!

He played and played for over an hour and made me promise if it was warm tomorrow that he could play again!

Cooper tried it without any concerns but slipped and got really scared! It took him a some time to warm up (so true to Cooper FORM!!!) He walked down it and then he tried scooting down it and then finally he slide down it with a little help from Spencer!

Graham had a great time being outside and listening to all the giggling and commotion while he hung out in the shade!

It was a lot of fun and I am excited to get it out tomorrow!

What are weekends for?

Well this weekend we decided to not spend all our time shopping (even though I did hit up a few yard sales and SCORED!!!)we spent the afternoon and evening hiking around the
Red Hill!

We did our BIG Easter egg hunt up there and the kids had a blast so we thought it would be fun to go spend some more time exploring! I took about a million pictures so I am going to do my best to slim it down! .....We had 5 kids and 3 adults! Lets just say it was a bit of a handful! For the most party we could just let them explore but there were a few times when the "crazy mom" in me showed up and made the kids hold hands!

I got a few super cute pics of each on the kids! Too cute to put in a collage!
We all had a great time outside! I am really looking forward to getting out and going camping and hiking this summer! We are all hoping to get out about every other week! If you want to go give us a buzz!

"I'm Gonna Beat You Up Wind"

The boys were outside playing yesterday! Cooper was making food in the Little House and bringing to Spencer and I! He thought it was so funny, we would pretend to eat it and he would laugh and laugh! It was pretty cold out but the kids didn't care!By the time I screwed my head on and got the camera they were about done! I am glad a captured a little bit of it! My silly boys are so different.... just watch! Hope you think its as cute I do!!!
And CHRIS none of your "those boys are girly" comments... I'll be watching! I think its GREAT they play with all kinds of things I am not about to shame them into only playing with trucks and cars! They each have their own interests!

Hop Hop Hopping Our Way Through Easter

So I am FINALLY getting my Easter post together! We had a busy holiday! We had 4 Easter Egg hunts and lots of family and friends to visit! Not to mention remembering the meaning of Easter and making our way to church to try and help Spenc and Coop realize Easter is more than all of the fun eggs and candy!! But trust me, we have PLENTY of eggs and candy... so here we go... I hope you are all ready for this because its' a lot!!

On Wednesday, Amber and I had an Easter party! We made an egg craft with tissue paper, had some yummy snacks and then had an Easter Egghunt out back! We also gave the kids some rice crispy bird nests to fill! They thought they were pretty cool! And then afterwards I ended up eating all the leftover! HMM, rice crispies are a true weakness of mine! I think Spenc had a candy in his mouth, I dunno! Oh, and throughout the WHOLE party Spencer wore different hats! He loves to pretend!!

BJ switched a shift and so we were able to go down to St. George on Friday and spend all weekend!
BJ's Mom and Dad made colored eggs with Spencer! Jenise had the boys over Saturday morning for a little egghunt at her house! I didn't get any pics but the kids had a great time! They love playing with Auntie J and her puppy Ellie!

Spencer and I spent a lot of time reading this GREAT little book about the meaning of Easter!It's called "What is Easter" It talks about how fun it is to hunt eggs, eat candy, get dressed up but how thats NOT what Easter means! It teaches that Easter is about how God sent his Son to die for us and then how he rose after 3 days! Spencer really liked the book! We read it at least a dozen times over the weekend! And by Sunday when I asked him what Easter was about, he quoted the book and said "It's all about God's Son!" I was so GLAD that he could enjoy the fun things about the holiday but also try to understand what it REALLY meant! (I totally recommend the book!)

Then Sunday morning Spencer came down and woke us up BRIGHT and early at 7am and we went hunting for his basket the bunny left him! He had so much fun looking and looking, and then he found it in the shower! He went on and on about what a silly knucklehead the Easter Bunny was for leaving it in the bathroom!
When Coop woke up Spencer helped him look until they found his behind the couch! (and about their jammies, I forgot Spencer's at home and Coop fell asleep eating dinner that night so he slept in his shirt! I know, nice job MOM!)
Then they had a great breakfast of candy and Bunny pancakes!

We got ready and went to church with BJ's Mom! It was so nice to have her come with us, the boys were SO SO well behaved! It was like an Easter miracle!

After church we met all of the fam on the Red Hill at the DIXIE!It was so much fun to hide the eggs in the red rock! BJ's Dad took the kids on a little hike and Mindy and I hide all 60 some eggs around!
When the kids got back we told them that they JUST missed the Easter Bunny and to look around and see what he left! They had so much fun climbing all over trying to find each and every egg! It was SO SO CRAZY windy up on the hill that after a few drinks and plates flew away we decided to go take a little walk to escape our cursed picnic spot! We went to an old cave that the community used as a jail back in the day, climbed all over some red rocks, even got lost a little! The kids loved it!I held Coopers hand most of the hike but he did a really good job of keeping his balance! I don't think he was really scared....most of the time!:)

After having a little time to relax we went over to Megan's and Ephraim's! Megan had set up a little egghunt for the kids! Spencer and Cooper had a blast! The boys loved playing with Noah, Andy, Tippy and Gage! Spencer says "thank you" for them in his prayers every night! And on nights when he really misses them he asks if he can PLEASE see them the next day! All of us really love hanging out with the Hanks and the Steeles! THANKS so much for being such great friends!

So there is our long, candy-filled weekend! It was so much fun! I am still trying to figure out how to ration the candy for the kids! THERE IS SO MUCH! Right now it's on top of the fridge and they get pieces when they help, or eat all their lunch...you know, good old-fashioned BRIBERY!!!

This is What Girls Night Looks Like.....

Amber and I had a girls night on Friday! BJ and Dang went to go see the new Fast and Furious movie and so we had the kiddos! But we decided to make the best of it by making deserts for ourselves, watched a girlie movie and clipping all our coupons!!!

We attempted to put the kids down! We got them all excited about a sleepover, made a fort on the bottom bunk, read them a story and prayed for a relaxing night! They did alright for the first little bit but then somehow through out the evening ALL the books were thrown on the floor and the fights began!

In the end AJ ended up sleeping on the couch! We couldn't help but laugh at OUR GIRLS night which included cleaning up, dealing with kids, staying home....

When the boys got home we agreed to SWITCH and next time WE went OUT to the movie and THEY stayed home and had the sleepover with the kids! Wouldn't it be great to get a bunch of us together and go for a Yard saleing shopping Saturday maybe in Vegas or Salt Lake? I think we should drop the hint and RUN with it!! ANYBODY interested?

Lets Do... SOMETHING!

So the kids were kinda freaking out! In a moment of desperation I thought that doing SOMETHING would be better then the ciaos of just hanging out! SO we decided to do a craft.... a BUNNY craft! I am telling you its a bunny craft cause when all was said and done it didn't look A LOT LIKE a bunny!
The kids (sorta) put their fingers together so they looked like bunny ears and then we added red for the inside of his floppy ears and his bunny nose! The kids really enjoyed it! There was some down time waiting for it to dry where we had a bit of hitting and yelling "No don't touch me!!"

So once again we got out SOMETHING to do... can anyone say butcher paper? Jack gave the kids a huge roll of butcher paper and we have been taping it to their little table and just letting them GO FOR IT! Spencer colored a really good easter bunny and easter basket all by himself! He was so proud of his drawing he colored it again and cut it out to take to Nana and Papa! Today with all the touchy feelings I set up some paper for EACH boy and they colored and colored until nap time!!
AHHH sigh of relief!

Graham had a great day, a nice long bath, lots of milk and 3 relaxing naps!Oh to be THAT easy to please!

Shake It Shake It Babe-A

So Spencer LOVES the movie Chicken Little! For some reason he really relates with Chicken Little, the main character! He loves to repeat funny catch phrases and strike poses like him and then say "look Mom I am just like Chicken Little!" 

(This is his favorite pose to copy! He loves it!!!)

They also sing songs on the movie like the old Spice Girls song "Wannabe!" ( I know, a great song for a 4 year old right?) Well Spencer loves to sing the "I'll tell you what I want what I really really want, So tell me what YOU want what you really really want" part over and over!

YESTERDAY though he started singing the song that they play during the CREDITS of the movie... AT THE END! He is that into that he sings the last possible song on the movie! The only words he knows are "Shake it Shake it Baby!" But he says it SO funny! I had to make a video! Please excues my nasty voice, I am getting over a cold! 

 

A little RANDOM but so funny! 

Little Bunny Foo-Foo

On Tuesday Spencer asked me "if we could PLEASE do a craft, cause we hadn't done one in a long long time!" I felt really guilty for being so lazy and lame so I got online and planned out some EASTER crafts to get us going for the upcoming holiday! YEA, planning crafts makes me all excited! 

So yesterday we went over to Amber's to make our first craft and a yummy treat, that really has NOTHING to do with Easter! We made some cute bunny ears and the kids decorated and glued them! Spencer wrote his name (all I did was help remind him which letters to write:) we need to practice lots more then we do! The kids had a minor break down about whose favorite color was blue so we sang Little Bunny FOO- FOO over and over, to help ease the mood!

The kid weren't totally excited about taking pics with their ears on but they sure didn't want to take them off either! They decided to go dig outside and ended up leaving their ears on all day long! Spencer slept with his and wore them to work out group the next day! SILLY BOY!

We made some chocolate banana pops! They turned out really good! (after we put them in the fridge for an hour!

Even BJ like them (even though he did NOT want to pose with it - he thought it was a little too dirty ADULT looking for a photo!) But I got one anyone... what can I say I'm determined and tricky!

Spencer Daddy Date

Bj took Spencer out for some fun one on one time this Monday afternoon! They went and saw a matinee of the Monsters VS Aliens movie! Spencer was so excited to ride in Chris's car and go see a movie at the theatre just him and his dad! 

When they got home Spencer said his favorite part was the BIG girl monster! I guess he is already watching movies for the pretty girls!! :) 

Cooper was devastated he didn't get to go so we went out after they left and hit up the D.I. to see if they had any cheep treasures! I think we are going to start having some special Mommy Daddy dates with Cooper now! He sure craves one on one time too!