The big 5

Well, it happened. No matter how hard I try to get them to stop doing it, the kids keep deciding to have birthdays and get older anyway. This time it was Zacks turn to go against my wishes. Its bad enough that he has to turn 5, but he thinks he has to go and start Kindergarten this year too. Crazy kids. Well, what are you gonna do? Guess I gotta roll with the punches, so here it goes...the end of 4 year old Zack as we know it. He looks so proud of his decision to have a birthday.Since this is an odd birthday he had to spend it with his family, so he decided to make the best of it by doing it at Chuck-E-Cheese. Guess the commercials won him over.

Livin on the edge by riding the carousel...

and the closest thing he has come to a rollercoaster...

and four wheeling.

This was Brylees favorite game.

A little healthy squirt gun competition.

and a virtual ride.

The last thing Zack decided to do was try his luck at winning tickets, so he chose The Price is Right game, and he actually landed on the lucky space that won him 100 tickets! Must have been birthday luck. That took our combined total to around 380. Of course the prize selection you get for that amount of tickets is still pretty sad. He ended up spending 200 tickets on a barely working rocket shooter, and the rest got divied up so everyone got the normal smaller prizes, like overpriced candy and cheap bracelets. Gotta love Chuck-E-Cheese!

Zack had waited patiently all day to open presents, so as soon as we got home, we scarfed down some pizza and he started unveiling.

Did I mention he chose a BYU theme this year? Definitely his Daddy's son.

Since you cant find BYU wrapping paper round these parts, we improvised.

The first surprise, The Smurfs movie.

Zack has been pretty obsessed with Cars 2 since he saw it, so when I found these PJ's, I knew I had to get them for him.

His overpriced light saber from the 4th of July got destroyed on like day 3, so we got him a better one...at least, we hope.

A Nerf dart gun. We may regret this one when he gets older. For now though, he cant quite get it cocked on his own, so we are safe.

We wont be so lucky with his sisters choice for him though....a super soaker squirt gun. He can work this one just fine!

He also got lots of nice cards from family and friends, and this Scooby Doo Shirt and Phineas and Ferb comic book from Grandma and Grandpa Taylor and Aunt Mindy.

Dont know why he is stretching his neck out like a turtle in this picture, but here he is with his cake. He found the football candies at the store and had to have them included.

And what was his wish this year...to have the most perfect, nicest Mommy and Daddy. Guess we werent quite making the cut. Hopefully his wish comes true, because it would be pretty awesome to be perfect.

So thats it. He's 5 now. Nothing I can do about it but smile and hope he retains his cute, fun personality that we all love!

Happy St. Patoothestra Day!

Dont worry, you'll understand the title by the time your done reading this. (:

Ever have one of those really busy, non stop days? Well, thats what St.Patricks day turned into.

6:30 am: Ever since the leprechauns of 2011 turned Zack's drink green, he has been so excited about "Patricks Day" again. See, thats a lesson to all you parents out there...never do anything fun for your kids on holidays, or they will expect you to live up to it the next year...and the next...and the next. Needless to say, he woke up early to celebrate. Ryan had already left earlier to get in his 18 mile run in preparation for the marathon coming up, so that meant that I had to go solo on the trickery. But we couldnt go leprechaun searching alone, so we woke up the rest of the family. First thing Alissa did was head down to the kitchen to check on her leprechaun trap and see if it worked. Surprisingly, there was no little green man inside. He did leave behind a trail of confetti and chocolate treasures as a consolation prize though.

Oh, and the little bugger re-arranged the dining room chairs...

scattered our decorative balls around...

turned everything on the fridge upside down...

the toilet water green...

switched the fish in their tanks....

switched the toothbrushes around...

and turned our breakfast green! All the while leaving behind a trail of confetti and treasures.

Brylee was so upset about the green waffles, she refused to eat them. Isnt that the saddest face?

But we made the best of it by turning them into clovers...sort of.

Everyone else was fine with the green breakfast.

And yes, Zack was relieved that even the milk turned green again!

Brylee felt better after she got some brown chocolate cereal, and white milk instead.

And just when we thought the Leprechauns had done enough, we went upstairs to get dressed and found they had created more mischeif upstairs during breakfast! They plastered the doors with stickers, and left a rainbow candy treat behind.

skittles and rolos

7:55 am: Madi and Katelin had a district wide orchestra concert later, so Madi had to be at rehearsal at 8 am, and Katelin had to be there at 9. The school is just 2 minutes away, so I was an irresponsible parent and left Katelin in charge at home while I dropped Madi off. Note: The dog was in her crate when I left.

Between the hours of 8:05 and 8:50 am: (somehow, all of this managed to get squeezed into that 45 minutes of time)

As soon as I pull into the garage after dropping Madi off, the kids round the corner from outside, with the dog and tell me that the dog threw up on the carpet. "But its okay Mom, she ate most of it, so theres just a little left." Well that makes me feel better.

Why they let the dog out, I dont know.

After cleaning up doggie puke, I get the rest of the kids dressed and ready for the day. Katelin and Alissa decided to be festive with clover hair...

Alissa comes up to me and shows me her loose tooth which is practically hanging by a thread. With some casual coaxing, we get it pulled out. This is lost tooth number 3 for her.

Ryan arrives covered in sweat. He stretches and showers. I squeeze a shower in as well and get on make-up, but the hair has to wait.

8:50 am: Katelin decides she doesnt like the way the clover hair looks from the front and tries on an attitude in efforts to get me to change it. Too bad! She has to be at Orchestra rehearsal in 10 minutes! I was planning on just dropping her and her attitude at the door, but she insisted I come in with her and escort her to her room. Forget that I havent even had time to fix my hair all, the sunglasses on my head look just fine.

9:15 am: Come home, clean up some leprechaun mess, fix hair, clean house.

10:05 am: I get a call from a friend saying she is running late so can I please pick up her 2 kids from rehearsal along with mine. Sure. I leave to pick up the 4 children. I wait for 25 minutes for the children at which point the friend calls me back and says, never mind, she is going to make it after all, and a call from Ryan wondering where I am because he has to be at a baptism.

10:40 am: We get home, Ryan leaves.

10:40-1:00ish pm.: Its all a blur at this point. I know we got lunch in there somewhere.

1:00 pm: Ryan gets home and the girls and I head to the library to return movies, and to Target to birthday shop for Zack.

3:00 pm: Arrive home. Help Ryan put up trampoline. Yay, its warm outside!

5:30 pm: Dinner time!

St. Patricks dinner consisted of Spaghetti with green basil pesto, green jello, green salad, and green kool-aid.

We were all excited after all our green food to see what came back out looking green. TMI?

6:30 pm: Head out the door for the concert. Ryan drops Me, Madi, and Katelin off at the school and then goes to take the rest of the munchkins to the sitter.

Our 2 violinists ready to perform.

6:45-7:33pm: wait for concert to start.

7:33-9:30pm: Listen to Orchestra music, and a bunch of random, meaningless rambling that makes an hour concert last twice as long. Dont get me wrong, the concert itself is fabulous. All the schools in the district from elementary to High School get together and coolaborate to play at the same time. The beginniners (4th and 5th grade) play a few peices, the cadets (5th-7th grades) play a few, and the Middle and High School Orchestras play their seperate peices, and then at the end, they all play one peice together. Its pretty cool. We took video of all the pieces Madi and Katelin played, so if your interested click the You Tube Links. There are 9 of them, so if you arent in the mood for all that, I suggest their first peices and the last one for a combined performance.

Beginners (Katelins) first peice: French Folk Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tse5CGsb3EY

Beginners (Katelins) second peice: Ode to Joy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AZtLU9TMcs

Cadets (Madi's) first peice: Mississippi Cakewalk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teWAeyumHIk

Beginners (Katelins) third peice: Allegro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWvRKZ9115M

Cadets (Madi's) second peice: Sword Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmoBdx0FI8Y

Advanced Cadets (Madi's) peice: Lochs and Glens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2qqNZftKCs

Final combined peice: James Bond Medley

First one is just the Middle and High School playing, the second is everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOlvuK_rVtM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic4JQzkpf8s

9:40-10:00 pm: pick up kids from sitter and arrive home. Zack and Brylee fell asleep on the 5 minute drive home, but the rest of us decided to end the busy day and celebrate a successful Orchestra Fest with one last green treat...

Mint Oreo Shakes

Totally needed that after the day we had. Phew!

10:30 pm: GO TO BED!

So Happy St. Patoothestra Day everyone!

What they've been waiting for

Ive noticed the number of my blog posts have gone down over the years. I just dont want to bore people with the same ol stuff, but Ryan expressed his concern and reiterated my concern in my last post...that the kids arent going to have any memories aside from staring at a screen all day unless I post more on the blog. Wow...pressure! Since I have been scrap-booking less often then blogging, I knew I had to act. I dont want our kids to be memory-less! So this one is for them...

Friday night we finally got the big snowstorm we've (the kids) have been waiting all season for. It has been So un-Wisconsin like this season with lots of warmer temps and hardly any snow. When it did snow, it was light and fluffy and didnt hold together well enough for a snowman and it would be melted by the next day. This time though there were huge wet flakes, and they just kept coming! So when Ryan went out to shovel at 7:30 at night he came rushing back in to tell us to look outside and check out the gigantic snowball that he rolled 'in under 15 seconds'. The kids knew it was close to bedtime and we all just looked at each other for a while, until I caved into their big puppy eyes and said "So what if its dark and snowy outside and its bedtime. Its not a school night. Let the neighbors think were crazy...they probably already do anyway...lets go make a snowman!" ( See kids, Im a nice parent. Take note.) Of course I was thinking if it only took Ryan 15 seconds to make one huge ball, then it wont take long for the kids to get their snowman building in. We can still make it to bed sorta on time. But by the time I got everyone bundled up (which is my absolute favorite part about snow) and headed outside, our snowman had turned into individual snowmen! Lo what I beheld...


They were all so excited to have their very own. Even Brylee got into the action and started putting snowballs together. I contributed by helping Jovi feel included with her own replica. Of course, she wouldnt pose for the picture because she likes to be difficult. She stayed out the whole time with us because she has separation anxiety. She might have been freezing for all we know.
The snowdog only lasted about 5 minutes, until Katelin stepped on it. Sigh...I tried.

Brylee was so happy about her creation. She worked very hard on it.

An hour later, we had a complete snow family.

From left to right, let me introduce...

Dora, Freezy, Mama, Baby and Shiver

First thing Saturday morning the kids checked on their snowman and made some minor additions. Look at how nice, white and untouched the neighbors yard looks compared to ours. Dogs'll do that to a yard. We should call them poop-men. No, really its just mud....mostly.

So there ya have it kids. Another Wisconsin snow memory. Maybe we should shake things up next time. Of course today was the day it got up to like 62 degrees and "in the sun they melted, melted, melted, small, small...gone!" Zack suggested earlier in the day that we call Santa and have them moved to North Pole with him so they wouldnt melt, but shoot....I lost his number!

Reminiscing

Lately Ive been wishing I could return to my childhood and go to one of the happy places in my memory. It might be one of those experiences that at the time I didnt fully appreciate, or maybe I did. But now that Im grown it seems so much more sweet. Its that of the time I spent in Hurricane Utah at my Grandparents house. I dont think I ever anticipated the 5 hour drive there and back, but during those trips is when I could always get my best writing done. In the long, hot car ride with just me and my imagination in the back seat. Sometimes the thoughts would turn into chapters.

Once we arrived, I would get to go down to the basement room, where I could enjoy more of my own space. It was dark, and damp and smelled the way an old dark and damp storage room filled with canned goods should smell; and Im pretty sure it was full of spiders, but it didnt matter. It was the only bedroom in the basement...I think. There was also a little family room down there, with a couch, a bookshelf full of old books, and chinese checkers. Sometimes I would take the checkers upstairs and play with Dad. When he would win, I would go back downstairs to the basement that smelled funny and play alone.

Grandma and Grandpa lived up on a hill above the Virgin River, and below Zion National Park. They had a big tractor, a huge orchard of fruit trees and at one point or another, a flock of sheep. I dont think the tractor ran most of the time, but the kids all loved to climb up and sit on it. When we arrived, we always came through the back door. No one used the front, unless you were'nt related and unless you were a salesmen or the teachers bringing the sacrament to my grandparents, you were probably related. Upon entering you would see a huge white freezer filled with preserves and always 2 or more gallons of assorted ice-cream. They loved ice-cream, and that meant we always got some. Must be in the genes. After going through another door, you would enter the kitchen and then the dining room. I ate lots of good food in that dining room. Grandma was a great cook. The things I remember eating most was the creamed wheat and toast for breakfast, and the homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. I crave those tastes. I dont know how she did it, but it always tasted better at Grandmas house. I cant re-create it.

Just outside the dinning room was the back porch. There was a bug zapper hanging and a few cats. I dont know if they actually belonged to them, but Grandpa fed them like they did. I also remember there being some tomato plants where I could always find a few tomato worms. Bugs didnt gross me out as much then...wonder why? Maybe those tomato plants were what made the soup taste so good. They also had the tastiest fruit from their trees. Apricots. I remember apricots.

The next room you would enter was the family room. There was a huge fireplace surrounded in the red rock you would see at Zions canyon. I loved to sit on the ledge of that fireplace. In the evenings, the little folding card table would come out, and we would sit and play Grandma and Grandpas favorite card game-Rook. Most of the time it was just them, my parents and I. Sometimes an aunt and uncle would be there too, but I was usually the only kid. My siblings were all 9 or more years older than me, and my Dad was the youngest in his family, so most of my cousins were grown too. I didnt mind though. I loved playing rook while eating a bowl of ice-cream. That tasted better there too.

Grandma and Grandpa on their 60th Anniversary, in front of the big red rock fireplace.

There was also a curio cabinet in that room. It held grandmas dolls, mostly of which she hand made. I loved to look at them. She gave me a couple. There was also a pair of stuffed animal sheep next to the couch, with bells around their neck. She gave me one of those too. Then there was the piano. Grandma taught Dad how to play, and I imagined them both sitting at that piano while I pictured my dad once like me...complaining about having to learn it and just wanting to go play. Grandma would love to listen to Dad play when he came. It must have been rewarding for her. He was as good as a concert pianist now.

When my second cousins, who were more my age would come; we would spend a lot of time outdoors. We would walk down the dirt path that led to the sheep, walk through the pasture, and stand at the top of the huge cliff overlooking the river. It was always important how high the water was that season, but we didnt really understand why. We would throw rocks over the cliff to see if we could hit the water. I faintly remember a honey bee cabinet/box? Maybe I'm wrong. Our favorite though, was walking down the path that led to the river. I cant remember what game we would play, but I know it was fascinating. I think we actually got in the river at times for a quick refresher from the hot sun. I remember one instance when the irrigation would come through and flood the yard, my second cousins and I got in our swimsuits and ran through the water. Then there were the times we would walk down to the gas station on the corner, and buy a treat.

Me and my 2nd cousin running through the irrigation.

The only time I remember the TV being on was during conference. Im sure we must have watched it more, but it doesnt stand out. We would all gather in the small room where the TV was kept and listen to the prophet. Sometimes one of my aunts would bring me something to do or teach me a craft to keep me busy. My dad had 7 siblings. One of them was usually there with us. I remember going to Ben Franklins craft store and buying materials with Aunt Roma. She was my favorite. She was an author too.

On a few occasions we would spend Easter there. We would go to the sand dunes and roll eggs down the hill, or have an egg hunt around Grandma and Grandpas house. I remember once waking up to discover the Easter bunny filling our baskets. He ran outside and I followed. I ran all the way around the house looking for him, but he was gone. It was likely someone dressed in a bunny costume, or more likely just my imagination, but at the time, I knew it was for real.

looking for the Easter bunny

I wish my kids could go back and experience these things with me. I fear they would be too caught up in a video game, movie or a toy to enjoy the simple things around them. I feel old when I say this, but the kids today are so wrapped up in technology that the idea of leaving things to the imagination is dying. Sometimes I want to throw the TV out the window. Maybe just cancelling cable would be a better alternative...but no, there would still be DVD's. Honestly, my sanity might go with it after I have to find other ways to entertain my children, since they dont know how to do it themselves. And I do enjoy our DVR, when after the kids go to sleep I can watch all my shows after a day of Bubble Guppies, Dora and Umi-Zoomy. Maybe we could just go for a TV free week, and see how it goes. But Im getting off track here. The point is, I hope my kids will have something like this to remember when they are older. I havent a clue what it would be, but maybe just a nostalgic smell like a damp dark basement full of preserves, or homeade tomato soup will take them back, like it does me. Or the warmth of the Southern Utah sun on their faces. And then they'll remember the good ol days.

(Sometimes I hate blogger. No matter how hard I try to format things how I want, it just does it its way. Sorry for the inconsistent font.)

Dog vs Cat

This is for those of you who have asked how the dog and cat get along. I have to say the cat has come a long way in his tolerance towards the dog. Although, he still wants nothing to do with her. I hate talking in videos so feel free to ignore the commentary and enjoy the Dora music in the background. Also, the cat is de-clawed, so no animals were harmed in the making of this video. (:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMeB4jIoxog

As a side note, the dog has progressed well in her poopy training. She has learned to ring a bell on the back door when she needs to go out. That is, unless I give her access the the front room in which case she still feels the need to mark her territory in every corner. Not sure why that room in particular is appealing to her, but for now it will remained blocked off! She also has learned to roll over (as seen in the video) and to sit, and go to her crate and her bed when told (most of the time). The come command only works with treats...go figure...or if she feels she is not in immediate trouble. I think I have made it past the point of wanting to drop her in the middle of Lake Michigan and never look back, but some days are better than others. The ring worm scare has turned out to be just that...a scare (nightmare), and hasnt shown up positive. That has helped my stress level go down significantly. So feel free to come by and bring your kids to run wild with her to get her energy out, because as you can see, she enjoys running...as fast as possible...in circles around the furniture or anywhere else there is room to run at top speed.