Jacob's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Jacob's 6th birthday two weekends ago. We took him out to a new place in town called Pirate Island Pizza- it's a theme restaurant kind of like Chuck E Cheese but less corny. He got sung to by a band of pirates and got to eat a 24" pizza. For talking pirate talk to the waitress he got a free drink and a free icecream for his birthday. I think he had a good time, though he kept telling us he just didn't feel 6. Then we went up to campus for pictures by his request. I haven't had much of a chance to edit them much, but here are some of my favorites. I love how I was able to get some goods ones of him smiling but also some that showed personality.

Handsome Boy

I got a minor tantrum from Sam today. See, Monday is the BIG laundry day. That is because I change all the linens, towels, etc on Monday and do 3-4 loads of laundry out of them. I do more laundry through out the week but nothing like Monday. I think my boys have been on a throw everything in the laundry instead of put it away kick and so today rolls around and despite the fact that I've done 7 or 8 loads of laundry this last week Sam has no "handsome shirts" for school. What is a handsome shirt? It's either a button up, polo, or graphic tee. It can have no holes in it at all. Every since school started Sam has been obsessed with looking handsome for school. "Do I look handsome today mommy? I'm wearing a handsome shirt and handsome pants?" I never expected that from my four year old little boy- especially since he could care a less the rest of the time. I am pretty sure it's a good thing he wants to look good for school though.

Sam's First Day!

Here are some pictures of Sam's first day of preschool which started this week. He was soooo excited to ride the bus for the first time. I think his eyes were as big as sand dollars as he watched the bus approach our house. My favorite quote from Sam for the day was when his teacher asked the class if any of them had ever felt scared and Sam pipes up "No!" He is probably right, he's my fearless one. I think he'll enjoy preschool and have a good year.

Time and Times Tables

I realized today that if you were to ask me what time it was I could look at my watch- which, by the way, is a face clock and is not digital- and tell you what time it was. The big hand is pointing to the 9? No problem! That means it is 45 minutes into the hour. On the other hand, if you were to ask me what 9 x 5 was it would take me a couple of minutes to come up with the answer as I went through the 5's starting with around 25 which is the last one I can remember quickly and up on four of my fingers to 45 to finally arrive at the answer I could have found on my watch instantly. Doh!

Is that a threat?

I heard this one pop out of Sam's mouth and had to try hard to save the laughter for later. He was really mad at me for not letting him watch 2 movies in a day and told me "If you don't let me watch a movie I'm never going to eat again! ...Except breakfast and lunch and dinner and snacks. After that I'll never be hungry again and starve!" I love little boys! They are so cute when they are mad. I'm happy to report that within 10 minutes of that lovely tirade he came up to me demanding popsicles for snack. I don't think he'll starve anytime soon over a movie.

New Names

A cousin of the kids is having their name changed due to some special circumstances. As we tried to explain this change to the kids they decided they wanted to change their names too. So Jacob would now like to be known as Midna, a girl character in Zelda: Twilight Princess. Sam would now like to be known as Butt....(some dirty looks from his parents)...on, Button. And Katie would like to be Yellow. I don't believe that will happen anytime soon. I have now discovered why young children don't pick their names. I suppose if everyone did it would be a societal norm to have odd names like that, but just the same I'm really glad we don't.

The Ballerina

Katie woke up yesterday and decided she was a ballerina getting ready for ballet class. I have no idea where that came from, but why not? She got her clothes and told me this was her ballerina skirt and her ballerina cougar shirt (Go BYU!). Then she wanted me to do her hair in a ballerina bun. She told me she needed me to take her to class- if only she had one- so her "teacher" could teach her some more ballet moves for the recital. So I asked my little ballerina what moves her "teacher" had been teaching her in class and she replies "She taught me this....


and this...



and this...
and this...
and this...
and this."
She cracks me up. She has such a rich imagination and I never know what she will come up with next.

Jacob's First Day

Jacob started kindergarten this last Monday. My baby is growing up! He really enjoyed it by the sound of things. He was scared to go into the school by himself so I walked him to his new classroom and helped him get settled into his desk. Once he got in there his fear seemed to leave and he was happy. He loves his new teacher and tells me how nice she is everyday when he gets home. He loves recess and snack time and a project they are working on to make a book about themselves. He also likes his school uniforms and has fun picking out which combination of things to wear. On Friday he goes to school for an extra hour and gets two hours of art, library, music, and PE time and two hours of class time. I am really proud of him. The only downside so far is picking him up from school. The school doesn't have buses (which he wouldn't have at the public school either- he would walk or be driven) so I have to drive him to and from. The first day the line took 25 minutes to get through, but I am assured it should be down to 10 minutes by next week. It is really nice having him back in school again. It's been a long summer. I forgot why I stopped going to the grocery store with the three kids until summertime hit. It wasn't so bad at the beginning of the summer but towards the end they started picking on each other and it was time for school to start.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Jon's grandpa had his 81st birthday this month. Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you!

Katie Turns Three

This last weekend was Katie's third birthday. We kept it simple. We took her bowling since that is what she wanted. Then we made her pink princess cake also by her request. I think she had fun and felt special. She is a huge girly girl. If you ask her what her favorite color is she will always say pink, though she may point to pink or purple as she says it. If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up she says "a baby" why- "just because that's what I'll be". Peter Pan is her favorite movie for today (though that changes a lot).

Kris and Scott

I am quite convinced this is the best picture we've had of all four of us together in a long, long time.

Yes they got married like 3 weeks ago and I am posting this late. Congrats to my BF Kris and her new hubby Scott. I am so excited for you guys! Your wedding was beautiful.

potty training the girl

I was so excited when I found I was having a girl because everyone said they were so much easier to potty train than boys. I just knew she would be done with diapers by two- this was going to be great. Now we are nearing her third birthday and she is still not totally trained. It's awful. I've tried everything- patience, chocolate, movies on the little toilet, etc. I believe I had a break through this week though so we might get this thing done yet. I stopped praying to God to help her potty train and started asking Him to help her be in the mood to potty train. The last couple of days she has stayed dry throughout most of the day and even the night. Not perfection, but a lot closer then where we were. I have this theory that it is her moodiness that stands in her way. If she is in the mood to go to the bathroom and stay dry she will, if she is not.... well... she doesn't. Boys are not like that. Both my boys were potty trained by this age. It's a good thing she's dang cute.

7th Anniversary

Today is our 7th anniversary! I love you babe!