Snow, Baby J., & Santa

Yahoo, it finally snowed! My boys were so glad to see some snow that was deep enough to stick around for more than 1 afternoon. Too bad that the entire neighborhood thinks that my yard and the hill behind my yard is a common area. C-1 was complaining that he had to keep waiting for everyone to move out of the way before he could sled down. The boys had a great time playing, making a snow fort, and sledding down the hill in to the back yard. I think C-2 spent most of his time outside just eating the snow. Every time I looked outside, C-2 had a big hand full of snow (hopefully clean), shoving it in to his mouth.


Baby J. is getting too big too fast. He is almost 6 months old and I can't believe how quickly it has gone by. J is such a sweet little guy. He has been sleeping through the night for months, is really happy most of the time and he doesn't even mind having 3 big boys in his face all day long. I shouldn't complain, the boys love J so much, they just try so hard to make him smile or laugh.






We also attended our ward Christmas party. Santa stopped by and for the first time ever, none of my kids were crying while sitting on his lap. I have known this Santa for quite a while, he is a great guy and most certainly had C-2 convinced of his authenticity.

What I have been doing, instead of blogging

I know, I suck at this. Life just gets too busy to sit down and write. I usually update after my kids have gone to bed, but blogging gets put on the back burner if I have other things to do at night. Here are a few of the things that have been taking up all of my no-kid time.

C-2's preschool wanted to do some hand prints for Christmas gifts for parents. Since there are only 25 kids between the two classes, and I was able to trade a months worth of tuition for my work and supplies, I didn't mind. It's always fun to get a little glimpse of what goes on at preschool and to see how C-2 behaves when he's not with me. Most of the hands turned out great, I had some bubbles and other little flaws to fill in, but it wasn't too bad. I also ended up doing these same things for our old ward's cub scouts. I had to buy bigger trays because 8 & 9 years old hands were way too big to fit in the trays I had. I also did my scouts, thank goodness there are only 5 of them. After C-2's Christmas program, Ms. Margo handed out the hand prints and told the parents to open them because she wanted to see their reactions. I must admit, I was very anxious to see reactions as well. I watched one mom hold the hand print right up to her face, looking very intently at it for quite a while. I would have to stay that I think she liked it, ALOT.

I also drove to Centerville in a blizzard, so I could take some impressions for my friend Kathie from Dr. Bailey's office. Kathie has a brand new grand daughter and couldn't wait to have some impressions done. Baby Hannah was a perfect patient and didn't fuss or wiggle much during the "procedure". I did have a few fingertips and fingernails to fix, but they turned out very well.







I also spent a few late nights making suckers to give to a few neighbors and friends of my boys. The Guy's family is having a progressive dinner on Monday night so I thought everyone could take a few suckers home with them after dessert at our house. I also made some very delicious pumpkin chocolate chip bread, of which, I did not take a picture. You'll just have to take my word for it, it looked and tasted fantastic!

Please, just GO TO BED ALREADY!

The guy and I started putting the kiddies to bed tonight around 8:30. I say "we", really it was just the Guy because I had to run over to my mom's for a minute. We always put the 2 C's to bed first, because they usually fall asleep pretty fast. When I got home from my mom's house, the two little boys were sitting on the Guy's lap watching Donald Duck, or as S says, Dongle Duck. By now, it's about 9:00 and time for S to go to bed. I take him in the bathroom to brush his teeth, he throws a fit because I won't let him use the mouth wash the older boys use. He then smacks his mouth on the counter which causes his lip to bleed. He then has a case of the jelly legs and won't stand up to brush his teeth. I then, take him to bed, while he is screaming and kicking his little legs. He then screams and cries because he wants to brush his teeth. This goes on for about 5 minutes, then mom gets mad and takes him to the front room to have a seat on the naughty mat for a while. When he is finally finished with his fit, we brush his teeth, and I take him to bed for the first of many, many, many times tonight. I say goodnight, kiss his noggin, tell him to stay on his bed, then I leave. About 2 seconds after I shut the door, I can hear S getting out of bed. I take him back to bed and repeat the above steps. S then gets out of bed again. The Guy takes a few turns at putting him back in his bed. I take a few more turns. I think we took the little man back to bed at least 15 times tonight.
I unload and load the dishwasher while the Guy is doing some other things, both of us thinking that S is finally asleep. At about 10:45, I walk down the hall to check on him, his door is open, he is not in his room, where could the little darlin' be? He is in our bathroom, sitting on the floor, leafing through a toy catalog from the Super Target. I was really ticked and just grabbed him and took him back to his bed, but now I sure wish I had taken a picture of him sitting there.

9:00-11:15, maybe tomorrow night it will only take 2 hours to get him to sleep. How could anyone be mad at that face? Come over tomorrow night and you can see for yourself.

So, I have become a little paranoid

Last week on the news was a report about blogging and all the ways people are using pictures or information about your family in ways they shouldn't. So, now of course, I'm worried about any information I have on my blog being used in a way I wouldn't really want it to be used. So, I went through and made some changes to information about me, The Guy and our boys. If that is really disappointing to anyone, I'm so very sorry. Feel free to post a comment with your email address and I'll get back to you. (not)

Carving Pumpkins

So, last year after Halloween, I was at The Walmarts looking through the Halloween clearance section. For 50 cents, I bought one of those books with all the special pumpkin carving tools and the very detailed patterns that turn a fun night of pumpkin carving in to a highly complicated, 5 to 10 hour project. C-1 picked out a pattern of a skeleton that had about 153 very small teeth. The Guy spent quite some time cutting the teeth out of the pattern with an exacto knife so C-1 could transfer it to his pumpkin. Despite The Guys best efforts at negative reinforcement, C-1 did a great job with his carving and his pumpkin looked fabulous. C-2 found a pattern for a pirate ship complete with a teeny tiny skull and cross-bones. I spent 20 minutes cutting all the small details out of the pattern with the knife, then C-2 patiently watched as I, not C-2, carved his pumpkin for him. I must say, C-2's pumpkin looked great when I finished and C-2 was very excited with it, and invited everyone in the house to look at it, over and over again. The Guy helped S carve a cute and simple pumpkin with a regular ol' face on it. Then after the kids went to bed, The Guy carved a "Jack" o lantern for baby J. (He carved J's name in to a pumpkin).
In years past, we usually finish carving about 5 minutes before trick or treaters arrive on Halloween night, but we were really on the ball this year and did our carving the night before. I guess that is why The Guy didn't take his usual 200 photos of the pumpkins sitting on the front porch. I must admit, however, that I am disappointed that we didn't get any pictures of them this year.
The boys all had fun carving and they all even stuck their hands in their pumpkins to scrape out all the guts. That was a first so we are just so proud. Oh, how I miss the days of triangle eyes, round nose, and a big, smiley mouth with hillbilly teeth.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween... Here are some VERY cute boys, ready for trick-or-treat(ing). C-1 came up with his costume all by himself. He was a guy who had been struck by lightning. I was proud of him for coming up with it on his own. We sent away for a novelty lightbulb that would light up in his hand. It was a pretty good effect. C-2 was Batman. S was a pirate. J was a bee.

I feel we were more prepared than ever this year. We actually carved the pumpkins the night before so all we had to do tonight was eat dinner and go outside.

C-2....A true boy scout

When it's C-2's turn for prayers at night, this is some of what he has to say. He prays that Grandma Larkins, who passed away in January of 2007, will be able to come back to life someday and that she is a really nice old gal. Last night, he prayed for President Hinckley, praying for him to have lots of fun in heaven and that he will also be able to come back to life someday. He also prayed that, "We will always remember to help really old people cross the street." When he was finished, Brent asked him if they had talked about helping people cross the street in preschool this past week. C-2 said no. We are not sure where he got that from, but thanks for being so conscientious of the older population C. We love you buddy!

The Greatest Invention......Ever

Over a year ago, I walked in to the boys bathroom, and stepped right in a big blob of toothpaste on the rug. Of course, I wasn't the first person to step in it, or to track it all over the bathroom. That was the last straw, every time I step foot in the boys bathroom, I find toothpaste all over the sink, not a little bit, but huge gobs. It's on the light switch, the toilet seat lid, the wall by the towel ring, on the edge of the tub, and all over the cabinet doors. I told Brent I was going to invent a toothpaste dispenser that would take care of this messy problem. I did an Internet search and found exactly what I was looking for. I was so excited, I placed an order. This was last October, a whole year ago. Around December, I still hadn't received my order, so I sent off an email to find out when I might expect it. I was told, it was on back order and that I should expect it to arrive within the next few weeks. I waited, and waited, and waited some more. Around March, I sent off another email to find out what was up. This time I didn't get a response right away. I waited some more, pretty much forgot about the whole thing until June. In the mail came a postcard stating that the amazing Touch N Brush was still on back order and that I could expect my order in a few weeks. By this time, I just figured I was out of luck and forgot about it again. Well, surprise, surprise. September rolled around and I went to the mail box and, I can't believe it, it finally came. Almost a full year after I had placed my order, my Touch N Brush was finally here! I was afraid that after all the waiting and anticipation I would be disappointed in the Touch N Brush's performance; but I was pleasantly surprised that it actually works pretty well. The video on the website says that the vacuum force will get out every last drop of toothpaste, which isn't really true, but it still does a good job, and I don't get angry every time I step in the boys bathroom any more.
I was pleasantly surprised by how well this thing worked, so I decided I wanted one more. I had told my sister about it too and she said she would like one as well. I figured that if I ordered them now, I might expect to see them sometime next summer. On the web site, the order page was a little confusing. They were offering a buy one get one free deal. I clicked on the total number that I wanted, which was four, and expected to pay for 2 and get the other 2 for free. Well, I ended up buying 4 and getting 4 for free. When I saw my order summary, I immediately emailed the company to clear up the order snafu, but I never got a response from them. So less than a week later, here comes my order. I guess they got that back order problem cleared up. What in the heck am I going to do with 8 of these things? My mom decided to buy one, and my sister decided to take 2. I decided to use one in the master bathroom and keep one for the bathroom downstairs for when it is finished. However, I still have 3 left. Anyone want to buy one, please let me know. It will most certainly cut down on the amount of hair you pull out every time you walk in to your kids bathroom!

Hours of Entertainment

My sister came down last weekend to make some Christmas stockings for her family, and to hang out with me for my birthday. Jill, The Guy and myself stayed up way too late every night talking, ate way too much, but still had a fun weekend. Jill brought along her two youngest boys and they had a great time playing with C-2 and S. My mom and Jill were busy sewing all day Saturday and since it was pouring rain outside most of the day, our boys were very bored. Jill had a brainstorm, take some left over felt, cut out some eye holes and ta-da, a house full of Ninja Turtles. Those turtle masks kept the boys busy for hours. Way to go Jill!

Back off, I'm starving!

I don't think my baby is getting enough to eat. He's looking a little thin.

The Manzier is already on order.

C-2's Birthday.....& soccer too.

C-2 had a birthday a few weeks ago. He had a great day, I think. It was on a Friday so since The Guy has been on a contract with the state, he was home all day which was so nice. The Guy took S and C-2 to lunch then to Castle Park to play for a while. My parents went to dinner with us at Winger's. Dinner with 4 boys is always such an adventure. C-2 didn't really care where we went to dinner, so we went to Winger's only because we had received a coupon for a free birthday meal for C-2. After all, who would pass up a free meal?


C-2 got way too much stuff for his birthday. We always seem to go overboard. About 3 months ago, C-2 made my mom write down all the things he wanted for his birthday. The list contained any kind of Batman stuff you could think of, so, that is what he got, a ton of Batman junk. Batman underwear, action figures, jet, helicopter and Legos. He has had so much fun playing with all of his presents. Thanks to all our families for celebrating with us.

C-2 has never had a friend birthday party so we decided it was about time. I noticed that a new Chuck E. Cheese place was opening in Layton and of course, C-2 really wanted to have his party there. What a zoo! That place was so crowded it was insane. I guess because it is new, everyone wants to try it out. We took 9 kids with us and that was way too many. Each child got 28 tokens and we didn't even come close to using all of those. I think they may have used about 8 each, so we sent the rest home with them. It took so long to cash in the tickets and pick out the crappy prizes that we finally got the kids home an hour after we said we would. C-2 did have a great time though. Chuck E. Cheese came out and danced around with the kids, C-2 got this huge gold medal from him and he got a lunch box full of tickets. I understand that all of the kids we took had a lot of fun and were asking their parents to take them back. Sorry parents. *Note to self; never, ever take 9 kids to Chuck E. Cheese's again.*


C-2 is really enjoying soccer. He scores at least a couple of goals every game. It's so fun to watch him play. I guess since he has watched C-1 play for so long, that he just naturally knows what to do. He isn't timid at all and really goes after the ball. He cracks me up when he scores a goal, he shows me a #1 with his fingers and holds his hands up in the air. What a show-off.

Here is some of that showing off. I love the disappointment from the other team, their heads hung low in despair. Sorry guys.

Whoa! Where did the last 2 months of my life go?

Okay, I know, everyone get off my back already!! This 4th kid just sent me right over the edge. Every time I sit down at the computer, S needs me, or a fight breaks out upstairs, or J wakes up and wants my attention. Anywhooo, here we go. So, since I last updated, summer ended, C-1 started the third grade, C-2 started preschool, had a birthday and turned 5, C-1 and C-2 both started soccer and S has decided that he no longer requires sleep. Oh yeah, and my baby J gained 5 pounds.

C-1 started the 3rd grade this year. He was very nervous for the first day of school and ended up sleeping upstairs the night before. He came upstairs around midnight saying he was hearing things. C-2 was sleeping over at his cousin's house, so C-1 slept in his bed. His teacher this year is Mrs. Sutton. C-1 had actually told me he wanted to be in her class so I requested her. He came home yesterday and was saying how much he likes her and that she is really nice. I hope she isn't too much of a push over, or C-1 will get behind on work. C-1 is a smart kid and does well in school IF he can stay focused.

C-1 has also started soccer again. He has had two games so far and has played very well. His team got spanked at their first game, but won their second game. I hope his game this week goes well. I look forward to his games and enjoy watching C-1 outrun everyone else!



C-2 started soccer as well. His team is the Green Dragons. His uniform is bright green, so at least I can find him when he's at the park. His first game he scored 4 goals and he had a ton of fun. He told me after the game that he wanted to make even more goals and didn't want to have to share the ball with anyone else. I tried to explain that when you play on a team, you have to share the ball, he didn't really care, or even listen. His second game he scored 2 or 3 goals and had a good time. It's fun to watch 4 and 5 year olds play soccer, or should I say "Magnet Ball". At least there are only 3 kids from each team on the field at a time so that cuts down on congestion around the ball. C-2's birthday was on the 12th. I'll post some more about that with some pictures another day.



Last Saturday, we put the bunk beds back together in C-2's room. We moved S in there with C-2 and ever since then, S refuses to go to sleep. In his old room, he couldn't reach the light switch so he would play in the dark for a few minutes and then just go to sleep. But now, he can reach the light switch from his bed, so he just turns it on and plays, and plays, and plays. So an hour and a half after he goes to bed, I see the light on and go in there to find him playing on the floor with a bunch of toys he has pulled out. He doesn't even go to sleep when you are sitting with him on his bed. He fidgets and sits up and rolls around and sticks his rear end up in the air. He makes you crazy. I guess I wouldn't really care if he stayed up late if he would just sleep in in the morning. But, oh no. 6:00, 5:30, 6:30, name any unreasonable hour for a 2 year old to be up, and S has done it. He must have a little of his dad in him if he can get by on very few hours of sleep!



J is doing well. He has porked up a bit. By bit, of course I mean by about 7 pounds. I took him in for his 2 month check and the girl that weighed him made a comment about how she had never weighed a 2 month old that was as big as J. Oh please, she should have seen C-1 at that age. He was so fat I was embarrassed to show him to people. Oh well. J is a cute little bugger. I just love him to bits. He is a very good baby, very mellow. However, he is a night owl and that is just not working for me. He likes to stay up until after midnight so that is a lot of the reason why I'm not getting my blog updated very frequently. I used to get a lot of stuff done from 10 until midnight. Not any more. Between S goofing off all night and J, my free time has gone down the toilet! Oh well, they are all worth it.

S's 2nd Birthday

It was S's 2nd birthday last Monday. We had the whole fam over for cake and ice cream and to watch Sam open some gifts. It's hard for me to believe that S is 2 already. The time really has gone by so fast. My pregnancy, not so much. But my boys are growing up so fast. J is already 2 weeks old. I just can't believe it.
S got some new pj's, just like his big brothers so of course, we had to take a picture of them all together in their pajamas. S also got a little race track with 3 cars. He also got a Cars chair that he likes to sit in and watch TV. S enjoyed opening gifts, but then spent the rest of the night trying to keep his new toys away from his big brothers and his cousin Carson. S might have a problem with sharing. I had to include a picture from his birthday last year. Nothing compares to seeing his chocolate covered face, complete with eyebrows.
S is a sweetheart. He does stuff everyday that makes me smile. Happy Birthday buddy!

4th of July

The 4th was a little different this year. At least, it was for me. I didn't go to the Kaysville parade because I was home with J. That is the first time I can remember that I have ever missed the parade. The Guy did not want to go to the parade. But, being a good sport, he took C-1, C-2 and S anyway. My sister was here with 3 of her kids so my boys had a good time with them. We went to The Guy's mom's after the parade so the kids could play in the water for awhile. At night, we all went to the fireworks. We had a good time. I love the 4th of July, I really enjoy spending the whole day doing stuff with our families.

Introducing......

I know this is a really horrible picture of me, but look at all of those very handsome boys! (With the exception of C-2 and his crazy eyes).


Yes, it's true, we have finally picked a name. Or should I say "settled" on a name. We really had a hard time with this one. I don't know why. The Guy, being the overly nice guy that he is, and

















never wanting to force his will on anyone, would never really give me a suggestion. Or maybe it's just that I wouldn't listen. This name is one that has been rattling around in my head for a while now. Before you make fun of the name William, just know that it is my dad's middle name. I like it, I hope J likes it.
J is a very mellow kid. He is usually happy when he's awake, just looking around. However, last night he was not interested in sleeping. We have created a monster. He wants to be held all the time. He is sleeping peacefully, right up until we put him in his bed, then he is wide awake, wanting to be entertained. It's frustrating. Last night he woke up at 2:30 and wouldn't go back to sleep. Around 4, The Guy took him in the living room and ended up sleeping out there with him wedged in between 2 pillows until after 8. Thanks!

The boys all love J to pieces. They can't get enough of him. C-1 is a very big helper. He loves to sit on the couch and hold him. He even comes in from playing outside with his friends, hoping that I need J to be held while I take a shower or get something else done. On a side note about C-1; in baseball

















this year, he made the All Star team. However, after hearing that games and tournaments would all be going on right in the middle of us having a baby, we decided that this year would not be a good year for all stars. C was a very big boy about it though and said he would rather help us with the baby. C really enjoyed baseball this year and he improved so much over last year. I am really proud of him and how well he has done. Way to go C! And, thanks for being such a big helper.





















S is so funny with J. He just wants to kiss and hug him all day long. It is actually making me a little crazy. Every time we change J's diaper, S says in this very high, very cute, squeaky voice, "teensy bum". I just love that kid. He makes me laugh. He also feels the need to kiss J's head whenever he sees him. S seems to be adjusting well to having someone else hogging all of my attention. I hope it lasts.