Where we're at now...

(Photos by Carrie Butler Photography)
So, I'm probably posting too much now. lol... We've settled back in to a routine, thanks to the return of school. Tyler started 1st grade this year, and Amberlie is now in 3rd. I have to admit, I cried when Tyler started. Having them start Kindergarten is one thing, but 1st grade is another. They are gone all day. I was so sad. I missed him. Don't get me wrong, I missed Amberlie too, but I'm used to her being gone now since it's been a few years. He's very happy and has a great teacher (as does Amberlie.) They are both doing really well.

We're busy with the twinners and the fact that they are full-blown terrible two's, homework, dance, baseball, piano and all of Keven's responsibilities with church, but it's made our time together even more precious. In fact, we turn off the ringer on our phone once the kids are in bed so the outside world doesn't bug us for that last hour of the day. Ahh, the silence! : )

I'm such a slacker!

I don't know why I haven't made the effort to update this, or get on Facebook, or even keep up with things in general. Could it be that every time I go down to the office to get on the computer the twins sneak out the back door? (Yes, we have tried childproof locks, they figured them out the first day.) What about when I get out the laptop and they are like dirty little magnets that can't seem to resist the polarization they have to electronics?

So you might think, do this at night when they're asleep, right? Tried that with my free book from Shutterfly. I was so tired and not thinking correctly, that even after proofreading it several times, I read my book when I got it and still found a few sentences that just didn't quite make sense. I guess that will just be a testament to the stage of motherhood I'm in and I'll laugh later when I look back on it. With that said, I'm am SO not complaining. I love my little Tasmanian Devils! : ) I'm so grateful for all my kids. We had sooooo much fun this summer. My next post will be a recap of what we did.

Summer Recap

This summer was great! Kaden and Katelyn were old enough this year to take them places and it was relatively easy. The poor things were in their stroller for most of it (they still can't be trusted to stay with me, they turned 2 in July,) but they still enjoyed seeing lots of things.

I'm VERY lucky to have such a great husband. I admit openly- I was having too much fun doing stuff with the kids to take care of the house like I should have. I justify it by saying to myself "The kids will remember the time we spent together, not that the house was clean/dirty." Does anyone agree or am I just living in denial? lol... don't answer if you don't agree... : ) Oh well, doesn't matter now, the house is clean again!

This is at Grey's River just outside of Jackson. We had a gorgeous site up the canyon and the river was coming down just outside of camp. The kids loved it. One of the main reasons we went was to go to Yellowstone. I've always wanted to go. We got there just in time to see Old Faithful, then saw it again before leaving.

I seriously had to laugh though. Anyone who has been there knows this, but a while before it is estimated to erupt, people starting sitting and standing around trying to get a good view of it. This picture doesn't give it justice, but seriously, there were thousands of people, literally from all over the world, who were stand around waiting for water and steam to blow out of the ground. Yes, I was one of them, but I still think it's funny...!

I'll add a few more pics in a separate post.

Summer Recap Cont.

Tons of fun swimming at our friend's pool each week (Thanks Julie!!!!)
One of several trips to the zoo....

One of several trips to Wheeler Farm....
Thanksgiving Point Gardens and Children's Garden...

(starting to notice water is a big favorite?)

Has it really been 4 months?

I can't believe I've let this go for that long. We've had so many fun things to share, but I haven't really had a chance to get to the blog to post them. The twins hit what we'll call the "terrific" two's, and they literally take every ounce of my time and energy. Stay tuned, I've recommitted to blogging, so I'll be making more posts soon!

One baby here one more on the way!

It seems like our family has grown so much in the last 2 years. Sweet Taylor joined us this morning sometime around 3:30. I may be off a little bit in the details, but she was about 9 lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long. Poor Leslie was more than a week overdue and was supposed to be induced today, but was able to go on her own like she wanted.

Leslie is doing okay, but Taylor is having a hard time breathing. Keep her in your prayers. When I have more info and if it's okay with Kip and Leslie, I'll post more. We're so happy to have another niece- 2 in one month is so great!

Additionally, we recently found out my brother's wife is pregnant. We are so happy for them, after all they've been through, to have something good to look forward to.  She is due this fall (not sure of an exact date yet,) but I'm very excited and happy for them. It will be nice to have babies around me since mine are getting bigger.

Congrats to Kip & Leslie on their new arrival, and Frankie & Angie on their expected one!

12 years!

Wow, time flies when you're having fun! Kev and I celebrated our 12th anniversary yesterday. We went to Olive Garden for dinner. It's a tradition for us to go there (we ate there after getting engaged.) And after dinner he surprised me with a shopping trip for some new clothes. I love to spend time and money on my kids clothes, but never make the effort with myself. So, he forced me into it (ya, not so much forced, I was a willing participant!) and I got some new stuff. 

I can't believe how young we were! It's fun to look back at these pics- geez we were kids! And now all of a sudden we're grown up and responsible for our own little people... crazy! 

I'm so grateful that he came into my life. It was love at first sight and has been that way ever since. He is such a steal and the perfect husband I always wanted- I honestly believe I did something really good in Heaven to be able to deserve him in my life. Here's to the last 12 years babe, and the many more to come! Coy huk jow! (Laotian)

St. Patrick's Day

I have to admit, I really don't know what this holiday is about. I know it's Irish, but that's about it. I do, however, like the green part. I did green pancakes again and then bought the green bread for the kid's lunches. They were all-green: green apple juice box, green grapes, green chips, green treat. Amber and Tyler had fun, Kev felt the same way that he did at Valentine's. He wouldn't go near the green bread with a ten-foot pole. I do admit, it looked very strange, but the kids liked it, and that's what matters, right? : )

Time for soccer again!

It's that time of year again. It seems like our Saturday mornings are taken up by soccer since we have 2 kids in it now. I have to admit, I don't completely enjoy soccer, it's not my favorite sport. And it's been hard with the twinners being little, and with Kev's church calling, this is about his only free-day most of the time. So, needless to say, we don't look forward to it. However, when we finally get there and get settled, it's fun. The kids enjoy it and are good at it, so it's worth the extra time it takes. 

As I sit here and talk about the extra time it takes, I'm thinking how crazy I am because I volunteered us to coach Tyler's baseball team in a few weeks. ha ha... However, that IS my favorite sport, so I think it'll be a blast. I'm just excited for the whether to start changing and for it to stay warm. It'll be nice to be outside on a regular basis again.

The force was with us...

Here's more on Tyler's birthday. The last picture was Tyler at school. He was thrilled to pass out donuts to his class.

We did a Star Wars theme. We made little light sabers for the invitations and requested that the guests report for training in preparation for the clone wars. I made light sabers out of water noodles and outfits from cut out sheets. Each kid had a name that fit with a star wars character (Corbyn was Corbi-wan-kanobi, Gerritt was Ger Ger Binks... and so forth.) I was Darth Mom and Kev was Master Keven.

They had to pass 4 different levels in order to become Master Jedi's. This included light saber training, blaster training, physical training then the final one where they had to prove their bravery by going into the 'cave of fear' (our dark cellar.) They seemed to have a great time- Tyler certainly did. Here are some pics from the party. 

We had our family over for dinner the night after since we had a church function to attend that night. (Before you think I'm horrible for leaving on his birthday night, think of it as my getaway from all the craziness of the day. Plus, I think of it has the never-ending birthday since he got to celebrate again the next day.)

I got some cash at the store for the weekend and Tyler saw the $20 bill I had. He wanted to know why he didn't have one and I told him he needed to earn it, and it would take a lot of work. I had happened to tell my mom about it, so she decided to give him that for a present and then he could go pick out his own thing. He was so excited to get it, and he is, as of now, unwilling to spend it! 

It was a great weekend, we had a lot of fun. Thanks to all who gave him gifts, he loved them all!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

I can't believe he is 6 already! The saying that "time flies" really doesn't describe it...it's there and then it's gone. He was my best pregnancy, delivery and sleeper. Such an easy-going baby to toddler to kindergartner- I've been spoiled with him. I remember so clearly holding him in my arms when he was born and now it's 6 years later. How did that happen?

My little "Tiger" is such a great kid. He's doing very well in school, enjoys playing with friends, plays soccer & baseball, and makes me laugh every day. My life is so much better with him in it. 

Congratulations Cami & Nik!

Cami had her baby girl Saturday morning. I'm not sure of the spelling so don't hold me to this, but her name will be Brinley Anne. She weighed in at 9 lbs and 5 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. Cami looked great and Brinley was adorable! I'm so excited to be an aunt again! Congrats Lance family!

Decorating the nursery... better late than never!

I'm getting to a place with the twins where it's getting a little easier to think about getting stuff done. ha ha I've been wanting to decorate their room since they were born, but haven't had the time, energy or creativity to get it done. I've been trying really hard to think about how to do a room to fit a boy and a girl, but not so much that I have to do a ton of redecorating when they are no longer sharing a room. I finally decided to do a horizontal stripe of each of their bed colors with a stripe of brown in between to tie it together. After it's dried, I'm going to cut some vinyl crowns with my cricut and put on the stripe. Their bedding has little prince and princess crowns, so I thought that would be cute.

I plan on doing that this week, so we'll see how it goes. These pics are the little name plates I did for them a while ago. I'll post more pics when it's done. Wish me luck!

Valentine's Weekend

We had a great weekend. Friday night I had some friend's over to scrapbook. One of them brought her daughter so she and Amber could hang out and "craft" (their words.) Tyler was invited to escape the estrogen and watch a movie with the guys (thanks Bryan for being willing to do that!) Keven ended up hiding out in the garage getting his motorcycle ready for an upcoming trip (I personally think it was an excuse to get away from all of us!) ha ha

On Valentine's Day I made pink, heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. Kev wasn't too enthused... he isn't a huge fan of pancakes, especially those that look weird. The picture doesn't do them justice, but the kids liked them. We had cranberry juice to go with, so we had a pink theme going on. Carrying on the food theme, heart-shaped sandwiches for lunch, and dinner had red colors too. I think the kids got a kick out of it, Kev rolled his eyes most of the day thinking I was nuts for doing all that. ha ha One of my cute friends brought over a plate of decorated sugar cookies, which the kids loved! I figure it was all worth it in the end, they both said it was the best Valentine's Day ever! : )

School Valentine's Parties

Today the kids had their class Valentine's parties at school. Kev worked from home so I could go in to help with the parties without having to worry about taking the twinners with me (isn't he great?!) The scheduling worked out perfectly because Amber's party was right after Tyler's. Since it was short day, he was just able to walk down through the school and meet me when his class ended.

They each had a lot of fun, and were on sugar-highs when they got home.  

4 Friends, a Silly Box and a fun night

Kev went to scout camp last weekend so I let the kids have their friends over. I made them cookies, popped popcorn and they watched a movie we got at Redbox. I think from all the squeals of laughter and giggling I heard, they had a good time. 

I let the girls stay up until midnight (Tyler and his buddy just had a late-over,) but I could still hear them downstairs at about 1, still giggling. I found out the next morning they were making a "silly box." They had decorated a shoebox, labeled it "Silly Box" and drew pictures and comments of silly things. They laughed so hard over it, I couldn't help but laugh with them. Was I ever like this? It's been so long, I don't remember! 

I took a few pics of Amber and Miss M before bed. I have to document Amber's first sleepover at our house. : )  Miss M was too shy to show her face, but I thought it was cute how they both wrapped up in blankets and slept next to each other.

 

Sick again...

This seems to be our winter to learn appreciation of good health. We are sick again...ugh. I started it all with step throat a few weeks ago, then Tyler got flu even though he was immunized. I think it was harder on him than the stomach flu because of the aches and pains, fever and chills. He missed 2 days of school, then had a weekend to recover. 

Katelyn and Kaden were next to follow with sinus infections. And just when we thought we were safe, Amber has come down with it. She's on day 2 of missing school, but seems to be doing better. We've had to cancel family night with my parents twice now, which is a bummer because we look forward to doing that with them each month. Luckily Kev seems to have missed it all (he's been busy, so that's probably a good thing!)

We are rarely sick, so I have quickly learned to appreciate the good health we usually have. I saw a commercial for St. Jude children's hospital and it made me so grateful that all we have to deal with is this little illness compared to cancer or something else- life would be so different if our kids had to endure things that those other children do. Man, I must be sleep deprived or something, got a little sappy there. : )

Draper Temple Open House

We took our kids to the open house today. Since Tyler had been sick all week, we didn't dare have my parents watch the twinners like we had originally planned. Soooo, we attempted to take them. I think they would've been fine if we hadn't had to wait so long at the chapel where they keep you waiting and have a video. But we were there for close to an hour, so by the time we got there, they'd had it. After about 15 minutes touring, Kev decided to leave and wait for us outside. It was a good experience to take Amber and Tyler through so they could see what it was like in there. I remember when I was little going through the Jordan River temple, so I wanted my kids to have a similar experience. It was beautiful and so peaceful. I'm excited to go back!

TOP DOG!!!!!!!!!

Today we went to a breakfast in honor of Amber and other kids that were awarded a Top Dog at school. It's a quarterly award for kids who have good academic standing, behavior, attendance, citizenship, etc. She has been dying to receive this since Kindergarten, and finally did! We were so excited when I opened the letter from the school that we both jumped up and down. Cheesy, I know, but it meant so much to her, I was more happy about that. She received a medal with an inscription and the certificate after the breakfast. It was a great day- she totally deserved it!

 

Happy 39th Birthday Mom! (Again!)

My mom turned 39 again today (she wishes!) We went out to dinner and then back to our place for cake and ice cream. Amber made her a cute bracelet that just happens to be exactly the same as hers (they both love purple) and we had fun enjoying each other's company. I'm so grateful to have her in my life and in my kid's lives. I don't know what I'd do without her. Love you mom!