Life is Changing

It seems like latley our lives are about adapting to all the new bends in the road. All the pictures today are from Spencer Preschool Graduation and his very first field trip and bus ride in Kindergarten.

I have loved watching the boys these last few months as they each creep into new stages of thier childhood. Spencer is doing homework everyday! He loves math, he is very good with his patterns. And even though he doesnt love it he is SO good at his letters and sight words! I cant believe that all of a sudden he is no longer a toddler but a big kid on his way to reading! I am so proud of him!!

Cooper is getting better and better at expressing himself. I love to hear him work out sounds and words and so he can communicate so much clearer. He is my little "feeler" he is so tender hearted. So much like his mom he doesnt just hear things he FEELS them! Even though he is getting so much more independent I cherish the moments when he comes up and wants to cuddle and give me kisses!

And my Baby Grahamy! Gosh I just cant believe he is almost 2! He has so much personality. He is the smallest little 2 year old but he knows how to make himself known! :) He is still very sweet and cuddly he loves to be held and read to. But he has developed the case of the "mines" even before his 2nd Birthday! And boy, if he wants it he will LET YOU KNOW!

All these little developments and changes are so exciting and rewarding and a little scary. I know for me so many things are changing. Life never ends up like you dream of as a 15 year old! (which in my case is MOSTLY A HUGE BLESSING:)

But when things change and I realize I have NO control over it, it means I am faced with a decision.

Option A: Cry, Cry a lot and refuse to accept whats coming.

But shoot that option doesnt get me anywhere but with a chapped nose, puffy eyes and an even more confused heart and family.

So Option B: Roll with it. Find out how to make this new path fulfill a new dream. Its so easy to get off of Heavenly Fathers path. And so my number one concern with all these changes is making sure that:

I AM STILL on the path that leads to Heavenly Father and his ever so fulfilling tree of life!

I know I cant be stubborn, life isn't always Black and White! But there is a BEST way a BETTER path and I want to make sure I dont let the feelings of disappointment for those lost dreams get in the way of me making the best choice.

I feel like this path is not as easy to find as life gets more and more complicated but I guess being able to discern and put my faith in the Lord is what I NEED to learn right now!

I truly believe Heavenly Father is out there watching over me and wants to HELP me make the best choice for each day! I know that I can make it through all of these changes with a smile and a prayer!

And darn-it that is so easy to type but so much harder to do!

So here I come path, here I come changes

LETS DO THIS

Cause I am not alone and I am looking forward to it!

Our NEW Fishy Friends

We decided to get the kids a pet! Unfortunately we cant have cats or dogs so we decided we would try out a few fish! Each of the boys picked out a fish and got really excited to get them home and "play" with them! We had to break the news that fish don't like to be touched and so they can watch them and feed them and help take care of them but picking them up and PLAYING with them wasn't really an option! When we got home they each named their fish...
Spencer's is the HULK
Cooper's is IRON MAN or BATMAN (depending on the day)
AND
Graham's WAS SUPERMAN .... but he died the first night!
:(

SO far its been a lot of fun! The kids love to feed them and they even had their first vacation! We took them down to St George this weekend when we went to work for the weekend!

More on Valentines day.... Spencer's 5th BDAY and Work at the flower shop!

The Return of My Little Jedis

SO lately the kids are WAY into Star Wars! When I say WAY INTO it I MEAN WAY WAY WAY into it! Cooper says R2D2 like its his only reason for living! Spener can rehearse back the plot line of the whole collection! His favorite character is Anakin "before he started making bad choices and became Darth Vadar!!!"It makes me smile to hear his conclusions about the different characters!! We have watched all 6 movies and all the episodes of the Clone Wars cartoon! They love it!!We have started watching movies as a family! We make it a production which includes a soft cushy bed with everyones individual blankets, popcorn (or as Coopy calls it POP POP) and now that its getting colder, HOT CHOCOLATE! hmm yummy! Oh and don't forget the movie! ITS SO FUN to cuddle up all together!! SO tonight half hour before bed the kids asked to have movie time and I gave in as long as they let me take some pictures! FAIR trade right?And to add a Grahamy update in there... his new favorite thing is CLAPPING! He gets excited and he claps, he falls down and he claps, my favorite is when you come in after nap time to get him and he CLAPS and smiles as you walk in! Oh it warms my heart! So here is a little video of Mr. Sunshine clapping out his glee!

Silly Songs and Wrestlers!

Spencer has been learning some great new songs at Preschool so I thought I would share them! It is so exciting to watch him start growing up and learning all on his own!

(Just in case it hard to understand him.... the 1st song is about herman the worman and he eats a banana and the 2nd song is about monkeys teasing a dinosaur who sneaks up on them and chomps them out of their tree!!!)

Amber and I are getting ready for our next craft fair so we got together and were getting a few things ready! The kids started having a wrestling match! Spencer would pick the next wrestler charge them a blanket and then they would go for it in the wrestling ring! IT WAS SO FUNNY!

I am watching out for some opportunities to catch Coop and Graham "LIVE" as well so stay tuned!

The BEST and WORST

Lately it seems our life is one of the two extremes, GREAT or TERRIBLE! Here is a little glimpse

Last week the kids and I decided to run to Walmart...and it turned into THE most eventful and awful trip I have ever had at the store!

Spencer and Cooper were fighting (that wasn't a shock) so I took Spencer out of the cart and he held onto the side of the cart! For some reason (I wish I knew) Cooper PUSHED Spencer off the cart and his toes were run over by the cart! So he started screaming and Cooper started crying! I soothed Spencer and put him back in the cart he went on to smack Cooper so hard in the face that his nose started bleeding! All the while these little old Polygamist moms were STARING me down! Spencer was screaming his toe was broken Cooper was balling and bleeding! It was beyond a ruff shopping trip it was a full out disaster!!!!!!!!!!!

SO I LEFT

Got the kids in the car, I pick up Graham and he had peeded out! ALL OVER ME! Now all 3 kids are crying and I feel like running into a hole and dying!! After we got home and calmed down we ate some watermelon and stayed inside so we didn't have any more public bloody battles!! At the end of that terrible day when we went to bed I prayed that we could ALL have a better day tomorrow!

Well that weekend my prayer was answered; we went to St George and on Saturday I had a WONDERFUL day! I was able to go yard saleing (my favorite thing!!!) BJ went hiking with his friend and then that evening we all got together and played on the trampoline! There weren't any rules or fighting or hurt feelings just fun... TOGETHER! It was just what we all needed!

The boys had SO much fun with BJ!

Graham didn't love it as much as we did! He was really startled!

Spencer LOVED jumping the higher and harder the better!! I know I looks like a dork but I was lovin it! I forgot how fun it was, it made me feel like a kid again!

Cooper DIDN'T want to jump with out someone there to hold his hand! So when he got nervous he would sit on the side and wait till we calmed down!

We snapped a family picture, it was the best night!

Moments from this month!

I have been really busy this month and because I am SO far behind I am just going to throw out some highlights from my whirlwind month!

The boys have been so active and all over the place..... anyone surprised?

The boys got these SWEET shirts and have loved playing pretend in them!

I started weight watchers and have made some really yummy healthy food! It seems like I spend a lot more time thinking about what to eat and how I can make it healthy! SO that's been rewarding! This is Salmon and veggies in a Tin foil pocket! It was super yummy!

I have also been up to Salt Lake and Provo a bunch! My mom has been in and out of town and so the kids and I have gone up there to get her!

We had an accident where I was rear-ended on the I-15 we were all ok and it was the other cars fault it was just uncomfortable!

The good side of going up north so much is I was able to go to NIE NIE's favorite cupcake place in Salt Lake! (Not to good for the diet, but so SO YUMMY!) If you don't know about the NIE NIE Dialogues you NEED to check her out! She is really uplifting and positive about being a mom and a wife! She was recently in a terrible accident where she was burned and has been so honest but still positive about her trials! I never miss a post! ANYWAY I was a bit starstruck to be in her favorite spot but the cupcakes are to die for so it made it worth it!

BJ wasn't as enthusiastic as I was, he hated buying them but he loved them once he tried it!

All summer long there has been Free lunches at the park! From 12 to 1 they had sack lunches for the kids! It was a great reason to get out of the house and let the kids play and get tired before nap time! Amber and I tried to go every day!

This is a cute little video I caught of my two little monkeys jumping on my bed.....

I am going to keep caught up from now on! PROMISE!!

a little firework FUN!

For family night we went over to Amber and Dang's for a BBQ and to light a few fireworks! The food was SO good, Amber does a MEAN grilled pork chop!

But the highlight of the evening was the fireworks! The kids had fun with the sparklers!

Then Dang got out the fireworks! Of course my boys were all over it! They are so fearless (which is a good thing and a bit scary for mom!) They ran back and forth jumping and laughing! Cooper did his happy chicken little dance, Spencer was so excited to be so close to the fireworks that he was just crazy! And Dang (the big kid) was very proud of the biggest firework he had "THE BIG ONE!"

I don't know if you can see it but Spencer is jumping in the air with excitement!

I love this picture because it just shows how excited the boys were! Everyone else was sitting and watching the fireworks and Spenc and Coop are JUMPING and running all over! It is a great example of EVERY outing we go to! Most of the kids sitting quietly and enjoying themselves and the Holm boys ALL OVER THE PLACE! I am sitting here right now smiling and shacking my head in exhaustion! :) And if you KNOW the boys I am sure you are nodding your head in agreement!

Riding All By Myself

On Sunday Spencer and Cooper played outside all day with Papa! Brent has had a small 3 wheeler at the house ever since I've known him! Spencer is getting old enough to start riding it by himself (or so the men in the family say!) He was doing such a good job and I caught it on tape!

He was working on his turning and by the end of the day he was going in circles!

When we left on Sunday night Spencer told Papa "next time I come down I think I should bring my 3 wheeler back to home with me!!" Papa gave him a big smile and said "We'll see!!!"

Singing in the RAIN....

Yesterday it RAINED and RAINED! After dinner we went puddle jumping!!

The boys filled up their boots with water and made thier own puddles!

It was fun for the boys to get out and just mess around!

Graham watched from inside! He just started eating squash this week and was saving a little for later :)

Bubble Battles

The boys got some cute bubble guns at the birthday party! And this morning they had a large bubble BATTLE!

We had a bath after the battle was over! But that means they had a good time! 

Hair Cuts

It was time to cut the boys hair again...BIG SIGH!! But this time went really well! We did it at the house, they picked out a stool and a story for me to read them as they got their hair cut!

Cooper did really well! Just chilled and listened to his favorite story "okay baby"

Before and after....

Spencer needed a little more convincing! BJ "let" him cut a little bit of Coopers hair! Spencer was also very VERY concerned with the hair ITCHING him!! He needed a lot of insentive!

Spencer before and after...

(sorry I didn't get a good after shot!)

Oh and if you didn't notice, Spencer got a really bad black eye over the weekend! He fell out of the car and hit his eye on the curb! I was sure he would be bleeding but my tough little guy just bruised up and asked me to call Nana right away and tell her!! 

Sunglasses Make the Man

Yesterday Spencer was playing with my Sunglasses, I was worried and trying to think of a nice way to get them AWAY from what I was sure was the DESTROYER!  And then I remembered we had 2 pair of kid sunglasses from previous summers! I RAN and got them but I NEVER expected the play time we would get out of some old shades!!!

The boys turned into someone else as soon as they put those racing shades on! They wrestled and giggled and had SO much fun! 

I am SO glad I thought a sec before pulling my sunglasses away, what a fun time we all had together! It only takes a sec and a potential temper tantrum can be turned into a silly play time! I hope I can start slowing things down and taking that extra second.....