Mower Family Adventures

June trip

2011-07-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

Summer has flown by! We started out in June with a trip to Utah, Idaho and Bear Lake. The Utah trip was a short one day visit where I ran the Utah Valley Marathon with my dad. It was both of our first marathons. The experience turned out to be a good one. I was really glad to be done with the training but the race was not as bad as I thought it might be, I actually enjoyed it, although I couldn't walk normal for days after!

This is me after I finished.

It was fun to share the experience with my dad. We trained in separate states but talked on the phone weekly to swap stories of our long training runs.

My kids told me that Ben's medal from last year looks cooler than the one I got. There was a bounce house slide at the end of the race that my kids enjoyed playing on.

After a shower and some lunch we were off to Idaho to visit Ben's parents. While in Idaho we went to a place called Craters of the Moon. We took Caleb and Mia, our kids cousins. It is full of lava rocks and caves formed by lava flow. The day we went was SO windy. We climbed to the top of a cone and played in the wind. The kids are pretending to fly into the wind.

Ben is ready to fly away!

Me and Ben at Craters of the Moon.

We participated in the Jr. Ranger program and the kids all got sworn in as Jr. Rangers and earner a badge. They thought the badges were pretty cool.

The next day we walked to the park and the kids had fun playing tag. I didn't get any pictures of Jacob and David because they were running around so much. Tanner enjoyed the swing the whole time.

Madeline liked going down the slide

After the park, we walked to Rockland Pharmacy and bought the cheapest milkshakes ever. They are served old style at a bar in a glass and cost $2.00

One evening we had a fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.

After Idaho, we went to Bear Lake for two days with my family. While we were there it was really cold so no one got in the lake but we did swim in the heated pools, played tennis, bought milkshakes, played games together, wrote and performed a tribute to my grandpa to the tune of Rebecca Black's song Friday, and we had a family 10Krace. It was a fun packed two days. There was also a kids fun run Here is Jacob rounding the corner at the end of the run.

David also participated in the race and did well.

This is the immediate family that was able to go to Bear Lake. My brother, Ryan, got off his mission two weeks later!

Life as the 4th child...

2011-02-16T11:11:00.000-08:00

Tanner has a different life then Jacob did as our first child. He has siblings to "play" with him. Whether it be dressing him up with coin eyes,

Or helping him try on the new shop goggles

Or creating a statue.(Don't worry they aren't actually sitting on him.)

Or sweeping the floor so you can play. (I have no clue what was happening here, I didn't take the picture or hold the broom over his head. I found the picture when I was putting the pictures on the computer.)

One thing is for sure, siblings love to share their Valentine's candy with their baby brother. I was wondering why Tanner was being so happy and quiet.

A baby brother is also a good way to get rid of the Nutella toast you don't want to eat.

But mostly having three older siblings makes for a happy life with so many people to love you.

Jumping For Joy!!

2011-01-23T19:07:00.000-08:00

This is how we spent our Sunday evening while Ben was at Stake Priesthood meeting. The kids were excited to see their jumps caught on camera!

My Christmas Present

2011-01-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was a little girl I always wanted a window seat. Our house had the perfect window for a window seat but it was never the priority project. Lucky me, my dad and Ben built one over the Christmas break! I love how it turned out! The guys spent two days from start to finish, paint and all. While they were building, my mom and I shopped for fabric and made the cushion and pillows. Under the window seat is storage that we put books from an entire bookshelf in. The front doors hide the books for a cleaner look.

Our living room used to be a bit of this and that with zero seating. Now two bookshelves are removed, the computer desk is gone and it is a bit more like a living room.

I painted this rocking chair we had in the basement and hung family pictures where the bookshelf used to be.

I was really excited about the pillows. Pillow forms range from $8-$20 so it would get pretty expensive to make 8 pillows. I had the idea to buy the $2.50 standard bed pillows and push the stuffing tighter and sew across the top to make a square pillow instead of a standard bed pillow. It didn't take much time and made a great and inexpensive pillow form.

Thanks mom and dad for all your work and money! Thanks Kevin and Laurel for the curtains!

Christmas Time!

2010-12-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of years I have wanted to make picture ornaments of our family from past Christmas's. I finally did it this year. I made 8 ornaments for the past 8 years and also made 10 more so that as the years go by I can just add the picture and not have to re-make ornaments every year. Here are two done and hanging on the tree.

I copied the idea from here. I LOVE this blog and read it all the time. She has great ideas and opinions. I followed the tutorial except I used foam board instead of wood. For $6 I was able to cut out 18 ornaments.

Just for fun, here are some cute photos of Santa baby and his siblings

Lullaby and Goodnight

2010-12-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

I was switching a load of laundry today and set Tanner down on the dryer. He was hungry so the next item on the agenda was to feed him. However, after I switched the laundry he was sound asleep comforted but the soft vibration of the dryer. I Love it!

Race Day

2010-12-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

Jacob and David ran their first race on Thanksgiving this year. They had a lot of fun participating and being a part of race day. Our plan was to have one of us at the start line and one at the finish, unfortunately the race was a bit disorganized. By the time I had ran all over trying to locate their race numbers we only had one minute to pin them on and then they were off. Ben and I were left at the start line with two extra coats, a car seat with a baby inside(heavy), a diaper bag and a two year old. We really tried to run to the finish line to see them cross, but we missed the big moment. The boys still had fun and got running bags with a bunch of free stuff(garbage), snacks after, and a race day shirt. The race this year was just .25 miles but Jacob says next year he wants to run the 5K. We are proud of our little runners!

Sugar Anyone?

2010-12-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

On Friday we were babysitting some of our friends kids and decided to make cookies with everyone. When we asked one of the boys to put the sugar away, this is what happened. When the sugar spilled I was grateful I laughed instead of getting angry. There are times when I get really angry about things kids do but I find they are getting less often, and I am laughing more.

E-mail from my 1st Grader's Teacher

2010-11-30T17:08:00.000-08:00

I want to bring to your attention something that happened yesterday during our indoor lunch recess. The children could not go out because of the wind chill. If you are receiving this email, your son or daughter was involved in this situation. I was having my lunch when this happened and the children were being supervised by two very competent teaching assistants.

From what I understand about what happened, after a day long investigation, a group of six students were experimenting by eating hand sanitizer. The idea I believe originated with one of my girls, when she suggested the other people in the group eat the hand sanitizer. I have spoken to all the people involved and they all tried the sanitizer and confirmed no one was forced to eat it. They all just made a really bad choice. The ladies watching the children realized something was not quit right when the children kept requesting to go to the bathroom in pairs or small groups. They definitely were hiding the hand sanitizer from the teachers and after they asked the two different teachers to go to the bathroom, or go get a drink, the teachers caught on to the fact that something wasn't right, especially since they all looked guilty of something, and did not allow them to go out any more. We had used hand sanitizer to clean our hands before lunch instead of soap and water because we were running late getting to lunch. I have since put the hand sanitizer away in my cabinet. You have my promise I will not leave it on the back counter any more.

I sent the group to the principal's office, but unfortunately he was in meetings with classroom teachers all day and wasn't able to talk with the group. I am sure he will be talking with them tomorrow. Some of the children were almost bragging they were going to see the principal. I need your help to stress the seriousness of the situation. I spoke with the entire class about the seriousness of eating the hand sanitizer. I also stressed making good choices for ourselves and not doing something because someone suggested it or told you to do it. I told the children they needed to think before they did something to make sure it was safe, no one would be hurt and no one would be in trouble. They all knew it was wrong, because they were being secretive when they were doing it. I appreciate you talking with your child and helping drive home the point they need to make decisions for themselves. All the children involved were blaming someone else and saying they did it because someone had told them to do it. No one seemed to realize they could have said no and walked away. I asked them several times if anyone made them do it and everyone said no, that they were just all trying it. I think this can be a great opportunity to help your son or daughter learn how important it is to learn to say no to friends. I know you all can think of a situation that might happen in a few years where your son or daughter will be tempted by friends to make a wrong decision. I think it would also be helpful if you could tell your child he/she has the power to protect others by letting a teacher or adult know when something like this happens in the future. They were more afraid of getting in trouble than of getting very sick from what they were doing. Thank you so much for your help with this and I appreciate your support.

Houston Trip

2010-11-25T06:47:00.000-08:00

It has been three months since I posted and a lot has happened in the past three months. I am going to attempt to blog a bit more often and keep my posts up to date.

Last week I went on a trip to Houston to visit my brother and sis-in-law, Kevin and Laurel. They wanted some help organizing their house and I love to organize so they bought me a ticket and we went to work. We worked on their office/craft room and took it from cluttered and unorganized to clean and pretty. I had a great time with them and I am excited about the way the room turned out. I wish I had remembered to take some before pictures but I didn't. Here are some after pictures. My camera was on the wrong setting and some of the pictures are a little blurry, but you can still see the room.

Tanner Benjamin Mower

2010-08-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, August 17 2010, Tanner Benjamin Mower was born. I had a doctor's appointment in the morning and my blood pressure had been a bit high for the last week. Since I was so close to my due date the doctor told me to go to the hospital right then to get induced. It was a crazy hour trying to arrange child care for three other kids. I had people set up to help, but a lot were too far away or didn't answer their phone.

It was 2:00 when I was all hooked up to the IV and the pitocin started. Around 3:00 I got an epidural making everything wonderful and he was born at 5:40 after pushing through one contraction. It was an easy labor and delivery and I am feeling really good now. Here are some pictures of baby Tanner.

Tanner weighed 7 lbs. and was 19.5 inches tall.

Jacob, David and Madeline are very excited to have a new baby in our family!

All ready to go home!

Ben took a week off of work and it was so nice and fun to have him around. Today he went back to work, bummer. Tanner is a mellow baby and sleeps a lot. I hope he continues to be an easy baby because the rest of life(the other 3 kids) is a bit chaotic!

Could you please take the toys to the basement?

2010-07-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

David and Madeline are so obedient and promptly took all of the toys to the basement. Aren't they great kids?

Utah Valley Marathon

2010-06-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Ben ran his first marathon. He said he wanted to run one to "check it off his list" but now that he has done one I don't think it will be his last. He was out of town the week before the race and flew into Salt Lake on Friday at 8:30 and had to wake up at 3:30 the next morning to catch a bus to the start of the race.

We went and watched Ben run by at about mile 21. Here he is running by and looking strong. The kids liked to watch for dad and see him racing.

Here he is after the full 26.2 miles. Ben said you can't forget the last .2 because it is the hardest. The first half of the race was in rain which helped contribute to the bloody nipples you see. There were a lot of men running with bloody nipples. Poor guys!

The kids didn't really want to pose for the picture, but here is the attempted family shot.

Jacob wanted to practice his photography skills with Ben's shirt and medal. Not too bad for a 6 year old.

Ben and I decided to run this race together last December and then 2 days later I found out I was pregnant. I am proud of Ben for doing it on his own, but some year we will do one together when I am not 7 months pregnant!

Daddy Daughter

2010-06-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

I have been feeling a bit uninspired about blogging lately. But I don't want to go forever without a post so...

Ben and Madeline went to our ward's daddy-daughter activity awhile ago but I just came across this picture again today. Madeline had a great time going just with Ben. The boys and I had fun at McDonald's and getting ice cream.

It is always fun to watch children get older. Madeline has been growing up a lot lately. She now sleeps in a big bed, plays at the neighbor's house, puts her shoes and socks on by herself, and is attending her very first birthday party tomorrow. She will make a great big sister!

May 12 really??

2010-05-12T06:21:00.001-07:00

Really it is May 12 and we woke up to snow? Where is the warm weather? We are having a birthday party this afternoon for David, I was hoping to have lots of it outside. I wonder if the sun will come out and melt all of the snow away?

It's a boy!

2010-04-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

I had my ultrasound this past week and as you already know from the title, it's a boy! The baby looks healthy and everything is going well. Some of my friends and cousins are also pregnant and it seems like nearly everyone is having a boy. Girls are in short supply right now:)

Canyonlands Half Marathon

2010-03-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to Moab with three friends to run the Canyonlands half marathon. It was a fun weekend! We drove through the mountains outside of Denver on Friday through a bad storm. It was scary in a few places and we weren't sure if we could make it up some of the hills. Luckily everything turned out OK and we made it to Moab in good time.

On Friday evening we picked up our race packets and then went out to dinner and had an early bedtime. This is me and my friends after we picked up our packets.

Saturday morning we woke up and got ready to run. We had to wait at the start for about an hour and a half. For one hour we had warm clothes on but when there was a half hour left we had to take our warm clothes off and put them in a drop back to pick up at the end of the race. It was so cold!

The week before the race I had a bit of spotting which concerned me a little with being pregnant. I debated whether I should run the race or not and decided to just take it easy and enjoy the run instead of getting a good time. I ran with my friend for the first 6 miles and was feeling really great. Between mile 6 and 7 I started feeling a bit more tired so I decided to slow down and let her run ahead. I put my music in, and zoned out. It was one of the BEST runs! I loved it! I didn't care how fast I was going, how many people were passing me, or any of the things I usually think about during a race. I just enjoyed the beautiful scenery, my music and a nice jog. The best part of the race came when I crossed the finish line and got a PR(personal record). I was amazed that I took it easy and still managed to beat my last half marathon time by 3 minutes. My final time was 2:06:52. Not super fast, but I keep getting better and I finished feeling great. Here is the 4 of us after the 13 miles.

After the best chocolate milk and other snack food we headed back to the hotel for showers. Then we went to Pasta Jays and enjoyed a delicious meal.

After our lunch we went to Arches and hiked a bit. Mostly just easy walking. It was good to stretch our muscles out a bit. I was thinking about climbing into this window but it was just a bit too much of a stretch.

We ended the night with a dessert party! We had tagalog ice cream and grasshopper cookies with hot chocolate. The best part of running 13 miles is all the food you get to eat after! It was a fun weekend away without kids or responsibilities. I need to do that more often.

Bedrooms and Blocks

2010-03-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

Over the past 6 months I have been working a bit here and there on our bedrooms. Jacob and David moved to a bigger room so they could have two twin beds instead of bunk beds. There are enough night time accidents at our house that it was getting really tiresome to constantly by re-making bunk beds. Even though I am still washing sheets and making beds the same amount, it is a lot easier on a regular twin bed.

Ben painted the pattern on the walls to add a little fun and color. This is Jacob's side of the room.

This is David's side of the room. It looks a lot cuter when you see the whole thing instead of each side separately.

When we moved the beds around, the twin bed frame in Madeline's room was taken for the boys. I was really excited when I found this bed on Craig's list for $120. I love Madeline's new bed, now if she only wanted to sleep in it instead of her crib.

I got new bedding for our room last summer but it was too cheap and quickly fell apart. I really like the new bedding and pillows.

On Sunday, Ben and Jacob had a block tower building contest. Ben got 40 blocks before it toppled over.

Jacob got 30 stacked before his tower fell over.

Simple Pleasures

2010-03-05T06:33:00.001-08:00

Yesterday at the store I splurged on a few things that really make me happy, I would like to share them with you.

1. Flowers- I love to have fresh flowers in my house and tulips happen to be one of my favorites. Ben is pretty good about bringing flowers home occasionally and sometimes I just buy them because the kitchen looks so much happier with flowers on the table.

2. Ice Cream- Yes I love ice cream but this is seriously the best kind I have had in a long time!! I didn't even know how good it was until I bought it yesterday. The actual cookies are ok, I like them but I don't have to have them. The ice cream is a different story, delicious! You should definitely try it especially if you like ice cream, peanut butter, and chocolate.

3. Aquafina flavored water- I love this flavored water! I hardly buy it because who wants to spend money on water? This kind is worth paying for once in awhile especially when it is on sale! A yummy treat for 0 calories!

Our Kitchen Makeover

2010-02-25T06:41:00.001-08:00

I recently refinished out kitchen cabinets. They were the 90's oak look before. The real problem is that they looked old, there was sun fading and a bit of cracking in a few spots where the wood wasn't holding up really well. I sanded all the old finish off and then re-stained with the same color I did our kitchen table in. I like the new look and with the table finished in the same color, there is a nice flow.

This is the before kitchen

This is during the process

Almost half way done. I did the top half first and then the bottom so the kitchen wouldn't be in total disarray during the process.

You can see in the top right corner of this picture that we had to glue a wood veneer to the side of the cabinets. It was a cheap cardboard/plastic material that was sun faded blue. So we bought a thin wood, glued it on, and then put stain and polyurethane on. It turned out nice.

Here is the finished project. I am not a photographer and I don't think these pictures quite do it justice but that is just my lack of photography skills.

The project only cost $100 for new hardware, sand paper, wood veneer, stain, and paint to re-paint the walls. Now we just need to find some money for new stone counter tops:)

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T07:33:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines Day to everyone! I had a few little gifts for Ben and the kids on the table in the morning. Jacob woke up early and helped my decorate the table. He was really excited to participate but disappointed that his box of chocolates only had four chocolates in it.

Jacob made me this beautiful necklace in school and wanted me to model it so he could take a picture. I know, it is gorgeous!

There was no school last Friday, so we made sugar cookies for some of our friends. The boys had a fun time frosting and loading the cookies with sprinkles.

Ben made me a wonderful valentine with sweetheart candy sayings. What a creative guy!

Good News!

2010-01-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

Baby Mower #4 is on its way. I went to the doctor yesterday thinking I was about 10 weeks but the ultrasound said I was 9 weeks and 2 days. Not quite as far as I had hoped but not a big deal. I am due August 20 and I am feeling great.

I was amazed how much you can actually see a baby in the ultrasound pictures.

Birthday Week

2010-01-15T12:06:00.000-08:00

Last week Madeline and I both had birthdays. I had a great birthday! My friend took me out to lunch the day before. When I got home from running in the morning Ben had made a breakfast cake for me. Another friend came over in the morning and we made cards together. In the evening we went out to dinner, bought some presents and then finished the night with an ice cream cake from Basking Robbins. Thanks to my family and friends who called to wish me happy birthday!

Madeline had her 2nd birthday on Sunday. She wanted a horse cake. I am not sure if she realized what a birthday was but she knew it was a party!

David gave Madeline an Elmo ball and then wanted Madeline to give it to him.

Jacob gave Madeline a horse. She loves the horse and "rode" it around all evening.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-04T06:40:00.001-08:00

We had the Mowers, Ben's parents and two brothers, come to our house for Christmas this year. It was fun to have family around for Christmas and still be in our own home. On Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner, played the candy bar/dice game, had a nativity puppet show narrated by Luke 2, read the story of The Other Wise Man, and ended by singing Christmas songs. It was a fun Christmas Eve!

We were able to sleep in until 8:00 on Christmas morning because our kids were tired and do not yet know to wake up really early on Christmas. It was nice and refreshing to get extra sleep.

Jacob and David are discovering all of the fun things in their stockings.

Ben's dad was dressed and ready to go. Here he is opening a Subway gift card, his favorite place to eat.

Madeline got a lot of dolls and baby supplies. She loves playing with her babies!

Our family before we started opening presents on Christmas morning.

My brother and sis-in-law came to our house for New Years Eve and day. We had a good time with them! We were a little lame on New Years Eve and ended up going to bed around 10:45. However, we had already celebrated the New Year at 9:00 because we set our clocks ahead for the kids. They really wanted to stay up until midnight so we tricked them.

Happy New Year to everyone!

I Am A Blogging Slacker

2009-12-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

Since I have not been very consistent with my blogging, here is a month-in-review.

Chef Ben in his Thanksgiving turkey hat.

My parents and my brother, John, came to our house for Thanksgiving. This is John getting ready to drink the whole bottle of sparkling grape juice.

Making apple turkeys.

Here are the kids on a cute bench at the mall.

I had a piano recital for my students last week. They worked hard on their pieces and did a great job!

Every year we grow paperwhites. We put the bulbs in a pot of rocks and fill it with water. In about 2 to 3 weeks we have live flowers in the winter. These are some of the prettiest paperwhites we have grown.

Because we have a vaulted ceiling, we decided to buy a giant Christmas tree. We had to buy additional ornaments and lights to decorate it because it was so much bigger than past trees. We also had to borrow a ladder to put the star on and to decorate the top 3 feet.

A "New" Table!!!

2009-11-23T06:28:00.000-08:00

Awhile ago Ben's parents gave us their old table. It needed to be cleaned up a bit and so it sat in our garage as a daunting task needing to be completed. After a few months of sitting there I decided it was time to tackle the project. I stripped all of the old stain off the table set and refinished the table. It has taken me three months and hundreds of hours to get this project done. I am sooo excited that it is finally done! Here are a few pictures of our "new" 100 year old table.

Syrup Anyone?

2009-11-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

When I came upstairs, David had prepared his own plate of french toast. His plate is three pieces of french toast and half a bottle of syrup. He only ate a few bites.

October Recap

2009-11-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

We have had a busy October! Here are a few of the things we have been doing. The kids took all of the leaves from the front yard in buckets to the trampoline in back. They were entertained for hours!

We made sugar cookies and David turned the mixer on full speed, which sent a flour shower all over the kitchen, what a mess!

We went to Elitch Gardens, an amusement park in Denver. We had a fun time with shorter lines because of less people.

School was canceled on the day of the school Halloween parade and class parties. My neighbor and I threw a spontaneous party for the kids in the neighborhood. We ate snacks, had Halloween music playing, had a costume parade and told spooky stories. It was not quite as cool as a class party but we did the best we could.

Our kids loved Trick or Treating! They were pretty hard core and went to a lot of houses, which resulted in too much candy but a nice stash of chocolate for Ben and I to keep hidden and snack on when the kids go to bed.

I have been trying to spend more time playing with my kids. Jacob wanted to practice taking pictures so he took this last week while we were spending time together.

October Snow Day

2009-10-28T11:02:00.001-07:00

This morning I woke up with a ton of things to get done because I had a very busy day. This is what my plans were;

1. P90X workout with friends from 9:00-10:00
2. Visiting teachers coming at 10:15
3. A friend from Jacob's school class and family for lunch and playing at 11:00
4. Drop Jacob off at school at 12:30
5. Visit teach at 12:45

I quickly got started on my day so I would be able to stay on top of everything. Then #1 Cancelled, #2 Cancelled, #3 Cancelled, #4 Cancelled, #5 Cancelled

My busy day has turned into a stay at home, do nothing day. I might work on scrapbooking or maybe start a new book. I just finished The Hunger Games and I loved it! Now I have to read Catching Fire. I highly recommend The Hunger Games if anyone is looking for a good book.

Who would have thought there would be a snow day in October? Not me.

First Kiss Day

2009-10-08T06:46:00.001-07:00

Ben and I had our first kiss on October 4, 2001. Every year we celebrate first kiss day by buying our Halloween pumpkins. Since the 4th fell on a Sunday this year we went pumpkin shopping on Monday evening. It was the perfect day, I decorated for fall/Halloween during the day while Jacob was at school, David at a friends house, and Madeline sleeping. In the evening we went pumpkin shopping then came home to eat pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and candy corn. Yum.

Here are a few pictures of some of our decorations.

We hunted through the bin at Walmart to find the best five pumkins $4.50 could buy.

These are the best cookies! All you do is take a spice cake mix, a can of pumpkin and a bag of chocolate chips. Seriously delicious, you should make them.

Bubble Bath Anyone?

2009-09-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

One of the joys of being a stay at home mom is letting your kids play in a bubble bath at 10:00 a.m. The boys had been using shampoo to create bubbles in the tub so I finally bought some bubble bath and they were anxious to try it out. Next time, I will take the bubble bath away after I put a bit in so they don't add too much like they did here. They all had a blast!

Welcome Fall!

2009-09-22T06:35:00.000-07:00

We started five years ago celebrating the fall and spring equinox. Last night we had our annual fall party. It is always a family party even though the kids have had many friends who have wanted to attend. Each time we have a fall or spring party our kids get really excited. Last night we started with a poem about leaves and then assembled a pumpkin puzzle. Then we enjoyed a no-bake cherry cheesecake while we made "corn" by coloring and attatching popcorn.

Ben and the boys are working on the puzzle while Madeline just enjoys the time together.

Jacob working on his corn.

Yum, Cheesecake!

We ended by looking at scrapbook pages of our past fall activities and Jacob insisted on taking a picture.

Tough Times

2009-09-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like this?

And then try to make it better with chocolate?

Only to find out chocolate doesn't help?

I hope your having a better day than Madeline!

Front Yard Landscape

2009-08-27T06:21:00.000-07:00

This is what our house looked like when we bought it last year. We have spent the whole summer working on re-landscaping the front yard and we are mostly done.

First, we started by adding a rock wall. There was a big slope in the flower bed and rocks were constantly falling down the slope so we(Ben) dug the dirt into two tiers and now there is a flat bottom section and then a top section. The kids were a great help in bringing rocks over to place in the wall.

We started by thinking we could move all of the rock out lay new weed barrier down, rip out the plants and then put the rock back on. We spent three days trying to deal with the rock and it is the WORST stuff to work with so in the end we hired a guy with a skid loader and dump truck to come haul all of the rock away. Then we bought mulch to use instead of rock and I love the mulch look much better.

Here is a close up of the finished rock wall and some of the plants. You can't see the plants really well and they are all very young. I can envision what it will look like in the future with mature plants, that is what I am excited about.

This is the view from the street. We added more walkway to the front door instead of the two foot path that hugged the house at a 90 degree turn. We still need to plant some trees on the side of the house and about 10-15 feet to the left of the current big tree. We will also remove the big tree that is right in front of our house. We plan on doing that next summer. I am so glad to have this much of the project done.

Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon

2009-08-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday Ben and I ran the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon. It was my second one and Ben's first. Of course he was faster then me even though I have been training longer and more frequently. It was a great race, much better then the one I did in June. The course had a few uphills but nothing too terrible. My friend, Michelle, ran with us and we all ran together until mile 7 then Ben took off. At mile 10 I was feeling really good and Michelle wasn't so I ran ahead of her. Ben finished in 2:04 and Michelle finished in 2:12, I would like to tell you what my time was but the official race report doesn't have my time. I am pretty upset about it. I emailed the race director and he is looking in to it, but I don't know if I will ever find out my time. I am guessing between 2:07 and 2:10, it would be nice to know for sure. We had a good time and Ben is already talking of running another one in November.

Our Neighborhood Geyser

2009-08-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

Last week, I looked out our front window and noticed a lot of water running down the gutter. It was strange so I stepped outside to see where it was coming from. Four houses up the street and across the street, the road had buckled up and was spouting water about 1 foot in the air. The kids and I walked up to look at the little spring from the road. We walked back to our yard and immediately the road burst and a geyser of water began spraying in the air. We had our own Old Faithful. It was quite the scene, people came out from all over to see what was happening. The city was really slow in getting a water employee over and the geyser shot in the air for a full hour. When they finally shut the water off we lost our water for the evening but they had the whole thing fixed in about five hours.

The water was shooting up and over this house and their house flooded. They had some rocks along the side of their house and all of the rocks were washed to the back yard by the force of the water. I felt bad for them but I was also really glad it wasn't our house.

A Splash In the Fountain!

2009-08-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

We went to a museum downtown and then ate lunch at the city park. When we were leaving we passed a large fountain with kids playing in the water. My kids really wanted to stop and play so I pulled over, they got soaking wet and had a blast!

After they were done playing they stripped down one at a time and I wrapped this blanket around everyone so we could get home and get some dry clothes.

20 minute Skirts

2009-07-16T06:25:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago my friend Amy had this link to a 20 minute skirt on her blog.

I checked out the link and have been wanting to make a skirt. So, yesterday my friend Tammy and I got together to make some quick skirts. We did have a good time and it was pretty easy but not 20 minutes. I guess that is to be expected. It took me 45 minutes but that also includes interruptions from five kids(I watch two of my neighbor's kids three days a week).

This is Tammy modeling her new skirt. She also made one for her daughter and is going to make two more for her other girls. I think the little girl skirts are darling and a bit closer to 20 minutes to make.

It is an elastic waist which makes it easy but also made the skirt very full right at the hips, not a place where bulk needs to be added. So I went back and added darts inside to pull the fabric in. After tweaking it many times it turned out pretty good.

I added the ribbon on the bottom because I think it is cute and the skirt is a little on the short side for me when I just cut the 45' fabric in half.

I had extra fabric so I made a skirt for Madeline. I put her skirt on and five minutes later I thought, "I better get a picture before she gets too dirty." Woops, five minutes was just to long to stay clean. I guess the yogurt look is kind of cute.

Outdoor Light Makeover

2009-07-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

The lights outside by our garage were not the best looking lights. They were dirty old brass that looked a bit sad. We were going to replace them sometime down the road when they became a financial priority. But really, there are so many other things ahead of outdoor lights I don't know when they would become a priority.

So, this past week I took the lights down, took them apart and painted them black. It was tricky to put the lights back together because there are so many little pieces.

I am excited about the new look because it looks a lot nicer and only cost $2 for some spray paint, you can't beat that!

Run the Rockies Half Marathon

2009-06-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I ran the Run the Rockies Half Marathon in Frisco, CO. It was a fun and grueling experience. My neighbor, Michelle, and I have been training together which has been a lot of fun. We drove to Frisco Friday night and went to dinner. Then we bought ice cream, got in our pajamas and watched TV while eating ice cream. It was a fun evening!
Here we are before we started running. My neighbor Michelle is in the gray shirt and my friend Liz from church also ran with us.

The first half was awesome! It was down hill, beautiful scenery and it went by really quickly. The second half was awful. It turned uphill and the high altitude plus going uphill made it difficult to breath, I had a really hard time catching my breath. From mile 8 to 9 it was all down hill which was a nice relief except for the fact that when you reached mile 9 you turned around so mile 9 to 10 was up hill, it was pretty steep for the entire mile.
The blessed finish line!!!!!! I finished in 2 hours and 15 minutes, 16th out of 36 people in my age division.

After the race I had a weird asthma attack of sorts. I have never had this experience before. It took me 20-30 minutes before I could breath normally again. Overall it was a great experience and I learned a lot about running a half marathon. I am going to run another one in 8 weeks with some other friends so hopefully I will be able to improve and have a great experience again!

Batters Up!

2009-06-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago Jacob started T-ball. We have had a ton of rain and the last three practices have been canceled. Jacob's team, the Sting Rays, have a game tomorrow and their first practice tonight. It should be an entertaining game. We went to the batting cages this past week and had some fun. Jacob was able to hit a few balls and had a good time at the batting cages.

Madeline and David had a good time carrying bats around and watching the batters.

Mmmm Ice Cream!

2009-05-20T19:32:00.000-07:00

I love ice cream! Madeline also loves ice cream. Every time we have ice cream Madeline gets really excited, she digs right in with her hands and always ends up a sticky, yet happy mess.

Yum, every last drop. We can't let any go to waste.

Backyardigans Birthday Bash

2009-05-17T06:50:00.001-07:00

This past week was David's 3rd birthday. Yesterday we had a little party with him. It was low key with four friends and our family. We colored Backyardigan pictures, danced, made Backyardigan finger puppets, ate a delicious lunch of hot dogs, chips and grapes, had a treasure hunt with a pinata at the end and ate cake.

Here we are getting ready to dance to a Kidz Bop CD from a McDonald's happy meal

Each child got two tries to break the pinata and it finally broke when Jacob hit it.

I made a Pablo cake and other Backyardigan character cupcakes.

Madeline really enjoyed eating a purple jawbreaker and a cupcake at the same time.

Ben helped out a lot with the treasure hunt, grilling,and the pinata.

This picture was taken on David's actual birthday and it pretty much sums up David as a three year old. He loves his new Handy Manny swimming suit and wears it every day with a mis-matched shirt, he LOVES to throw things, we are trying to teach him to throw balls instead of rocks, sticks, and toys. He was really excited to get this basketball. He is a fun kid full of curiosity, independence and a little mischief.

"Best Mom 2009"

2009-05-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

This morning the kids were so excited to give me their mother's day gift. They had bought the gift with Ben a month and half ago and almost completely kept it a secret. On Friday, we were in the car and David blurted out, "we got you a bobble head." Jacob was really upset that David had spilled the beans but Ben recovered by saying, "yeah a bubble head that blows bubbles." I didn't know what they were talking about until this morning when I opened my gifts and received a beautiful bobble head trophy. What a great mothers day gift! Most important, the kids were SO excited and thought it was the best gift ever.

I hope you all have a great Mother's Day!!

A Visit To The Duck Pond

2009-04-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

We have been having lots of fun with friends and being outside lately. Last week Jacob had a friend over and we went to a popular destination in our family, the duck pond. It is a short walk from our house and the kids love to explore in the bushes and trees and feed the ducks at the pond. The boys are going down this hill to their "hide-out"

Madeline wanted to follow the boys but she is still a bit too little.

Jacob and his friend Tobin packed this bag of food before we left, all on their own. They wanted to make sure they had some "healthy food to give them energy" I thought it was funny that they packed it in ice, they told me they wanted to make sure it stayed cold, smart boys.

They like to throw food, sticks, rocks etc. into the water. Also, this is the pond that David fell into about two months ago. It was frozen so he decided to walk on it but got to a thin point. (Before you think I am a neglectful mother, he was behind some trees playing with the other kids when he decided to walk on the ice so I did not see him until we heard the splash or else I wouldn't have let him walk on the ice.)

Tobin and Jacob walking home. Even though we visit the duck pond often, the kids are always excited to go and it is a new adventure to them every time.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

To start off our Easter weekend I found a birds nest in the wreath on our front door. This picture has only one egg in the nest but we are now up to four eggs. It is fun to watch more eggs appear and watch the momma bird take care of her eggs.

The Easter Bunny came to our house on Saturday and hid these amazing baskets! I also know that he happened to find some great deals at the dollar store so the baskets didn't cost very much either.

Jacob was excited about his new gear and fun toys.

Yeah a Spiderman puzzle!

Madeline loved carrying around an Easter basket all week.

It was a lot of fun to dye our eggs especially the few we did camo style.

The kids all got new outfits in their baskets so they are ready for summer!

Our family ready for church Easter morning.

We ate delicious pull apart rolls for breakfast, yumm.

Don't the kids look cute in their nice clothes!

Deviled eggs were a hit at dinner!

We had a great Easter weekend with lots of fun and relaxing family time together.

March Madness!!

2009-04-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

We have had a bit of March madness ourselves. It has been a busy and fun month in which I have completely neglected blogging. Two apologies, sorry I haven't posted for such a long time and sorry this post is really long. Get ready for a review of the month of March mostly in pictures. The month started with a visit from my good friend Tanya. I had so much fun while Tanya was here. We went shopping, running, talked and talked and talked and went to Time Out For Women. What a fun weekend!

The following weekend Ben's parents came for a visit. They brought us a kitchen table and helped us put the baseboard up in the basement. We got Krispie Kreme doughnuts for breakfast one day and Ben made everyone wear doughnut hats while we ate.

Our family, Ben's parent's, and Logan rode the light rail downtown and walked around the 16th Street Mall. There was a robot guy on the streets and our boys thought he was a ton of fun to watch. We had a great time with the Mower's visiting!

We had our annual spring party and it was really nice for a few weeks before the snow decided to come back. We had fun making spring sugar cookies.

I frosted these cookies and I thought they looked good both visually and tasty, they were very tasty!

Madeline really liked sneaking on to the table and eating the icing.

One day we couldn't find David as I searched further I finally found him asleep in Madeline's crib. He likes to eat her pacifier which is why he decided to take a nap in Madeline's crib, I thought it was funny!

Jacob and David decided that they had to eat lunch outside on the day we had the blizzard that sent Ben home from work four hours early but his drive took two and a half hours instead of a half hour.

Last on our March Madness was finishing the basement and getting new furniture. This is very exciting for us because it is the first furniture we have bought that wasn't from a garage sale or Target. We put our new couches in the Family Room upstairs and moved the old stuff to the basement.

We bought a matching couch and love seat.

This is our newly competed stairway down to the basement.

This is the media area, we have already had a TON of fun down in this room. It is great for a family movie, Wii time, or relaxing when the kids are in bed. Ben put up surround sound and hooked our computer to the TV so we can video chat with family on the big screen.

The other half of the room will eventually be full with toys, scrapbooking and some bookshelves but will remain empty until we get shelves built in the closets.

The Life of A Boy...

2009-02-27T15:27:00.001-08:00

The days are never boring at our house. Here are a few things my boys have been busy with.

Jacob and David told me they wanted to take a nap in the same room instead of Jacob taking a quiet hour and David taking a nap. Do you think they actually slept? No, and I didn't think they would either but they had some fun time together and gave me a little peace and quiet. They built a "fort" on the floor and "tried" to go to sleep.

We made play dough for our friends for Valentine's day the boys had fun choosing the colors and mixing the dough.

Here they are dressed up as Underdog but you could already tell that right?

Forts are big at our house. Here is a fort that Jacob and his friend Tobin built one afternoon. It was complete with pillows and blankets for sleeping.

The next week that Tobin came over they built this fort. We recently removed the hot tub from this area and took down the privacy fence surrounding the hot tub. The boys put the space and boards to good use.

Everyday there is something new, sometimes destructive and other times funny. Ah the life of a boy!

Goodbye Hot Tub, Hello Basement

2009-02-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we sold our Hot Tub after having it listed on Craig's List for only one night. I was sad to see it go because we did have some fun times in the hot tub. It has been a fun thing for six months but the novelty is wearing off and we have been using it less and less. When I told Jacob we had sold it he cried because he didn't want it to go. He and his friend Ali had on last hora while it drained.

The guys had to take our fence apart to get the hot tub out. It was sad and exciting to watch.

Here is the empty space that will soon become something else, grass or patio, we are not sure.

So why did we sell the hot tub? So we could have more yard space and so we could use the money to buy new carpet for our almost finished basement. Ben has been doing such a great job in the basement. We started from cement walls two months ago and now the drywall is half way done. We have great plans for a TV mounted to the wall, surround sound, office space and toy room. But all of that will take awhile:) I am very excited to have it finished, it will be a great addition to our house!

Best Buds

2009-02-13T09:52:00.000-08:00

David and Madeline are always together. Sometimes Madeline likes being with David and other times he just pesters her. As well as being together, David likes to suck on a soothie(what we call a pacifier) just like Madeline. I can't figure out how to break him of this habit until we just get rid of them from our house. Here is David and Madeline both enjoying their soothies. A little side note; Last week David fell off the trampoline wish was too close to our patio. He landed on his face and that is why he has the black eye and scratches, we do not beat our children.

At breakfast I asked David to scoot over so I could help Madeline eat her cream of wheat. David would not move but said that he would feed her, and he did! It was a bit messy but their independence was funny.

One evening I was letting Madeline play in the sink and of course David had to join, he couldn't be left out of the fun.

I asked David to empty the silverware and he enlisted Madeline's help. It was fascinating to watch them working together. She took the silverware from the basket, handed it to David, then David put it away, what a pair!

I hope they keep this friendship throughout their lives!

A Great Jean Shopping Experience!!

2009-02-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

I know that sounds like an oxymoron. But it actually happened. Jean shopping is often a frustrating experience because finding jeans that fit right seems nearly impossible, they are always too tight in one spot, too big in a spot or a problem I always have is they are too short. Last week we were at Kohl's and I tried on 6 or 7 pairs of jeans and nothing worked. The only pair that fit ok looked like floods. Two days later I set out to again do some jean shopping. Usually I shop mid-line like Kohl's JC Penneys, Target or Old Navy. This time I decided that I actually wanted to try on some nice jeans so we went to Macy's. I didn't look at any of the price tags as I gathered all of the jeans to try on. To my surprise, almost every pair I tried on wasn't too bad and there were a few pairs that were excellent! I have never been so excited to wear jeans before! SO, I am writing this to tell all of you; if you have a hard time finding jeans that fit just perfect, you probably aren't shopping in the right place, I know I wasn't. I am convinced that more expensive jeans (and not that you have to spend a ton but you do get better quality and fit) are worth it! By the way, I bought two pair one which was on sale for $26.00 but I only paid $15.00 and another that was $70.00 but I only paid $42.00.(I opened a Macy's account which gave me 40% off and then paid off the balance right away with my debit card) That is $57.00 for two excellent fitting jeans. Well worth it. I hope all jean shopping in the future is this successful:)

We bought a Wii!

2009-02-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we bought a Wii. It has been a lot of fun to learn the games and compete with each other. Madeline enjoyed the Wii time but prefered to hang out in the toy container instead of watching bowling.

Jacob did a great job and knew how to play right away because he has played games at friend's houses. He thinks the Wii is awesome!

David liked trying to play but still needs a bit of assistance.

When the kids went to bed Ben and I spent a few hours playing all of the sports games that came with the Wii. Here is a shot of Ben boxing, Ben and I both had sore arms the next day from playing so much. I think we will have many hours of family Wii fun to come!

Where is Winter?

2009-01-21T13:39:00.000-08:00

Not to make anyone jealous in other parts of the country but we have had the nicest weather here in Denver! Yesterday and today we had a picnic at the park and played for a few hours. It is hard to believe it is January when you are playing at the park in short sleeves. But I am not complaining! I am sure winter will show it's face again soon.

The Boy's Room

2009-01-07T17:46:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Ben's mom made Jacob and David some quilts for their new room. They look great in the boy's room! Here are a few pictures of the room.

She had some extra fabric that I used to make curtains, pillow cases and a throw pillow. I really like the way it all turned out. Thanks Millie!

The week after Christmas my family came to visit and my sister in law Laurel brought hew new vinyl machine. She cut this saying that I think is really cute! "There's no buddy like a brother" It fits well in the boys room. I still need to buy a new lamp shade for the room and then it is completely done, yeah!

Is This For Real?

2008-12-23T06:32:00.000-08:00

I wish this was for real but it's not. Madeline is only eleven months so she still has awhile in diapers. However, David is interested in going to the bathroom in the toilet so consequently Madeline is always there because David and Madeline are often together. I thought it would be funny to let her try. I think she was confused!

I am looking forward to the day when we don't have to buy diapers anymore!

I Need A Silent Night

2008-12-17T19:56:00.000-08:00

I have discovered a new favorite song this Christmas season. The song is "I Need a Silent Night" by Amy Grant. I have never heard it until this year so I don't know if it is new or if I am just behind on new Christmas music. The song makes me think about all of the experiences and feelings that I love about Christmas. I have so many wonderful memories of Christmastime a few of the things that I remember and love about Christmas are;

1. Looking at lights with my family. As a tradition we picked a night close to Christmas and went around town looking at the lights. We tried to find the best houses for holiday lights. After looking at lights we would go home to hot chocolate and glazed doughnuts. I remember feeling love and joy during these outings with my family.

2. Every year when I was young Kevin and Bruce camped out on my floor on Christmas Eve. We got up at the insane hour of 2:00 or 3:00 am. The rule was that we could go downstairs and look at our stockings but then we had to go back to our room and not wake our parents until 6:00. After we had looked at the stocking loot we ended up in my room playing Holland Memory. Every year it was the same, we did not change games, always Holland Memory.

3. As I got older Christmas brought a few different memories, boys. I had my first kiss at Christmas time and often seemed to have a romantic interest around Christmas. I remember thinking hard about getting the perfect gift for the boy of that year. The gift needed to be appropriate for how I perceived the relationship not to serious, but still personal and thoughtful. Ah the drama!

4. I have a vivid memory of the Christmas of 2001. I had just spent the semester in Nauvoo and met a boy named Ben. We spent many hours together each day in Nauvoo. The semester ended and we went home about a week before Christmas. The day I flew home my family was so excited to see me. As we drove home it was bitter sweet, I loved coming home to the house that was so familiar and decorated with the magic of Christmas. However this year was different. When all my family had gone to bed, I sat in the dark next to the Christmas tree with only the lights of the tree on and sobbed. I had just been with Ben that morning and was used to spending a lot of time with him and he was no longer there. I felt empty and I was devastated. Now we are married.

5. Now that I am a bit older and have children of my own I hope I can show them the magic of Christmas, the excitement, the anticipation, the joy and the love. This year I am doing the 12 days of Christmas for our family. Each day there is a little gift that is wrapped and left on our porch with two rings of the doorbell. The kids know it is from me because I always include a note signed mom but I tell them my special helper delivers it. They are so excited when they hear the two rings of the doorbell and run to see what was left on the porch. I love the twinkle of excitement in their eyes and I love Christmas just like a child again!

The song "I Need A Silent Night" has helped me remember the joy that I feel around Christmas time. It is not the presents but the people. The quiet times at home with those you love. Feeling like you belong, you are loved, and you love those around you. I hope everyone can feel the magic of Christmas and enjoy a few Silent and Holy nights this Christmas season.

Merry Christmas and House Pictures

2008-12-10T18:52:00.000-08:00

Once again, I have seriously neglected blogging. I get so busy having fun and keeping up with things that I don't have any time to document it. So, lately we have been doing a lot of fun Christmas activities including a tree, decorating the house, a gingerbread house, community events, ward party, wrapping gifts, making candy, watching Christmas movies, and enjoying Christmas Pajamas.

Last week Ben had to go to D.C. for training so while he was gone my mom came to visit. We had such a great time! She helped me get some projects done, we went on a walk, out to dinner, worked on her RS lesson, played tons of games with the boys and just had tons of fun! We love having grandma visit!

I love getting the kids Christmas PJs. Here is this years pick;
Jacob's PJs say "Chillin with my Homies"
David's PJs say "I'm one tough cookie"
Madeline's PJ's say "I'm Santa's greatest gift"

Finally we are done painting our house! It has taken a long time but it looks great now and feels so much more clean! This is our family room that is just off the kitchen four stairs down.

These two are in the kitchen, you can kind of see how the kitchen is attached to the family room

The kitchen is painted gray and I love the color.

This is the living room/office. Since we don't really have any living room furniture our living room is now our office and music room. It works until we can afford LR furniture. You can kind of see behind the LR is the dining room.

This is the entry with the ledge and new chandelier. We replaced almost all of the lighting in the house because the old was UGLY!

This is our room, it is the same gray as the kitchen which looks great in the bathroom with white linens.

Calcium Deprived?

2008-11-21T07:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I bought a box of gogurt which I usually don't do so it was a bit of a treat. Unlike the box pictured, I bought the family size so there were 16 tubes instead of 8. I have seen two boys eating some and have told them no more or they will all be gone. I was surprised to look in the box this morning and see only one left, someone has been sneaking! This doesn't surprise me but 15 in one day! I thought this kind of eating didn't start until they were teenagers:)

Crazy Weather

2008-11-17T16:44:00.000-08:00

This is a little old but I thought it was still worth posting. Last week we woke up to snow! Today is was in the high 60's! It is crazy how varied the weather is right now, you never know what tomorrow might bring. Of course the boys had to go outside and play right away.

Jacob wanted some carrots, I think he was going to try and build a snowman but the snow wasn't right for that. He ended up making what he called, Santa's village. Each of the carrots are a house in Santa's village.

Madeline wanted to join the boys outside but got to hang out at the door for a bit instead.

After they were done playing we sat by the fire, (which is so fun to have) I think we will have a great winter!!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

2008-11-03T06:49:00.001-08:00

Jacob is 5 years old today. I can not believe how fast the last five years have gone. Jacob is a great boy who is usually obedient, thoughtful, and imaginative. Here are a few pictures of him over the years.
Jacob at 18 months old

Jacob at 2 years old

Jacob at 3 years old

Jacob at 4 years old

Jacob at 5 years old

We had Jacob's birthday party on Saturday. Last year he went to a Star Wars birthday party in Michigan and ever since then has loved Star Wars. He had to have a Star Wars party this year so I pretty much copied the party he went to last year, thanks Amy:) I made this cake of a fighting scene from Star Wars. I couldn't quite capture the volcano on camera very well, we had dry ice so it would smoke.

After the young Jedi's had been trained the door bell rang and Darth Vader was there to fight the Jedi's. Some of the kids didn't realize Ben was just dressed up, they kept talking about how cool it was that Darth Vader really came.

Here are some of the Jedi's receiving some training.

We ate cake and ice cream outside, I had the cake on a little kids table that was the perfect height for Madeline. She liked to eat all the crumbs and little pieces.

We had a great party and love Jacob!
Also, Jacob shares his birthday with my mom, Happy birthday mom!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2008-10-31T07:57:00.001-07:00

We have been busy with Halloween activities this past week. Last Saturday we went to "Trick of Treat Street" put on by the businesses in our community. The kids had a great time and we got a lot of candy that we were able to recycle at our wards trunk or treat last night! I think we will recycle some of the trunk or treat candy tonight:)

David decided he wanted to be an elephant this year, doesn't he look funny! We went to the zoo this week and he thought it was great fun to see the elephants and know that was also his costume.

The skirt Madeline is wearing was mine as a little girl and I thought it was the perfect shape for a poodle skirt so I added the poodle and made a little scarf, total cost; $2.50 that is the kind of costume I like!

As many of you know Jacob thinks that Star Wars is the coolest thing right now so of course he wanted to be Obi-Wan. I found how to make this costume on the Internet and it was the EASIEST costume ever made. He has been wearing it for the last couple of weeks to play in, go to the store, to a friends house, he loves it!

We carved our pumpkins two nights ago. Ben couldn't resist the M which he says is both for Mower and Michigan, he is still a fan even though they are terrible this year. While we were carving Jacob said, "Mom, isn't this so fun" I am glad he liked it.

Growing up my mom always made holidays so fun, so I am trying to live up to her legacy:) I made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast this morning. The boys really liked them, I think mostly because there were chocolate chips, who doesn't like chocolate for breakfast? And it is just what they need, to start Halloween day off with some sugar, whoops. I have decided that from hear on out we will have soup and bread every Halloween dinner so I am going to make the Zuppa Toscana soup from Olive Garden for dinner which is delicious! I hope you all have a great Halloween and happy trick or treating!

A Little Humor

2008-10-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

This evening as I was cleaning up after dinner the door bell rang. I went to get the door and there was a sales man on the porch. Jacob and David were right there with me, he looked at me and said, "is your mom or dad here" I laughed a bit inside and just said, "I am the mom" So funny, I bet he was a bit embarrassed. I guess it is good I still look young!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2008-10-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

We have had a reality check this week. After three years of law school(that were actually quite enjoyable) and a summer of bar prep that wasn't too strenuous and then two months of no job, no school, no studying, Ben has now started work, bummer. A pay check will be nice but the hours he is gone just aren't very fun. Ben takes the light rail to work and since we only have one vehicle we all get to take him to the station each morning and pick him up each night. Luckily it is only a ten minute drive from our house. We pull the kids out of bed at 7:05 stick them in the car and then take Ben. It takes Ben about an hour to get to work, another bummer. He comes home between 5:30 and 6:00. I know those aren't terrible hours it is just an adjustment after having him around so much, which we loved! Now that it is the third day we are starting to get adjusted by going to bed earlier so that we aren't so tired in the morning. I am lucky to have a friend close by that helps me get through the days. We have a schedule of the week that includes, swimming, going to the park, and story time. We really like where we are living and are settling in. Ben is enjoying his job so far so I hope that continues! Below is a picture of Ben on his first day getting sworn in, doesn't he look official.

A Homeowner For Two Weeks

2008-09-23T15:43:00.001-07:00

It has been two weeks now since we closed on our house. We have had a busy few weeks, it is a lot of work to move into a new house and especially a house that is dirty and needs a new paint job on all of the inside. When we showed up to move in a day later then we had planned on this is what we saw. Yikes! It was an odd day trying to not be mean to the guy moving out but still letting him now that he needed to get out, Now.

He took everything out onto the driveway and garage and sorted through his belongings because he could not fit everything on his truck. The day that we moved in he was outside until 11:00 p.m finishing packing everything in his truck. I felt a little bit bad because for me when I leave a house it is always a bit strange and I like to have that last walk through to give me closure, say goodbye and move on. It must have been really weird for him to leave with a strange family now living in "his" house. But enough was enough and he had two extra days then we had planned on so we had to give him a little push to get out.

Because he could not fit everything on his truck this is the lovely garbage pile he left us with. It took a week and a few calls to our realtor until it was finally taken away. I am sure that is a good way to make a first impression with your neighbors!

The day after we moved in Ben went to work painting the house. We decided to start with the kids rooms and then work our way down. I think the rooms turned out really fun! Ben is doing a great job at painting. He is almost done with our bedroom and then we will have four bedrooms, a hallway, and two bathrooms done. Basically the whole upstairs and then it is on the the main level. Here is a picture of Madeline's room.

This is the boys room. Both of the kid rooms have the same dark brown as the background and then the colored stripes and polka dots. Jacob likes his stripes but tells us they are not quite as cool as Star Wars stuff.

Last Saturday Ben was painting the play room and I asked him to come to Madeline's room for a minute, while we were in her room she crawled out without us knowing and crawled down the hall to the play room where there just happened to be a gallon of opened paint. What a fun discovery! She put her hand in and then spilled the whole can. Ben was really mad. We took a puddy knife and scraped up as much paint as we could and then I took a wet towel and tried to soak up as much paint as I could while Ben ran to the neighbors to borrow a shop vac. We poured water on the paint and then vacuumed the area. I was really surprised how well the paint came out. Here is a picture, the spot is in the door way and is even less noticeable now that the carpet is dry.

While we were working on the carpet I stuck Madeline in our tub because she was covered in paint and she would be contained. Here is what I found when I went to take care of her after we had cleaned up the paint. I think she knows she did something bad.

We just keep working each day getting a little bit more done. Ben starts his job next Monday and our all day long work days will be over. We have met some friends and are enjoying Colorado!

Housing Frustration

2008-09-10T08:49:00.001-07:00

I am mostly writing this post because I have absolutely nothing to do, here is the story. We were set to close on our new house in the Denver area yesterday(Tuesday) at 11:00. Last Sunday evening we got a call from our realtor saying that the seller of the house was planning on moving out on Tuesday which is the same day we were to close and move in OUR house. We sorted things out and decided he could move out on Tuesday and we would start moving in first thing Wednesday morning which is today. We still closed yesterday at the scheduled time and the seller said he would be out by 10:00 p.m that evening. This morning Ben went over to the house because our POD was being delivered, when he arrived he saw the seller's moving truck still there with boxes and stuff all over the driveway. The seller came out to talk to Ben and said he wasn't going to be able to fit all of his stuff on his truck maybe we would like some of it, um no, it is all junk. Anyway, Ben saw in the house and noticed that there is still a lot of stuff everywhere, not boxes ready to be loaded but loose stuff. Frustrating!! So we called our realtor(who we really like) and he called the sellers realtor and the seller has two hours to get all of his stuff out, he ordered a POD to put the rest of the stuff in and then all of the junk he decides he doesn't want will be put on the curb and a garbage company will come pick it up tomorrow. Do you think he will be out in two hours, I doubt it. Even if he is the stuff will just be on the driveway and yard while he sorts it and loads a POD. Maybe next time he moves he will learn to be a little bit more prepared, but probably not. So we are all sitting here at the house of our friends parents wasting away time. Hopefully we can get to work soon. Oh speaking of work, if he is rushing to get all of his stuff out of the house do you think he will take time to clean it, hmmmm, I think I will be cleaning a house today. Lets hope our afternoon is better then our morning!

This and That

2008-09-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

Get ready for a lot of pictures! We have been doing a ton of fun things this month and it has been really fun to have Ben at home without any school or work! A few days ago Ben and I went to Park City for the day without kids (thank you mom) we went to the Olympic village and watched freestyle skiers practice their jumps and land in a pool of water. I was impressed with their skill and how high the jumps were, it was a lot of fun to watch!

Yesterday we went to Payson Lake and had a picnic and then walked around the lake. Madeline enjoyed some crackers and turkey at our picnic, the bees were everywhere.

Jacob and David had fun hiking around the lake, they liked to take every side trail they could find.

Last week we went to Bridal Veil falls. We hiked up the water fall a bit and then came back down and played in the pool of water at the bottom, this was a fun activity we all enjoyed getting wet.

Last weekend we went to Idaho to visit Ben's family, we had a great time but I didn't take many pictures. This is David in Logan's football pads, to bad Michigan didn't do well at their game last week, maybe they need David's help.

At the beginning of the month we spent a few days at Bear Lake and had a blast! Jacob and David loved playing in the lake and floating on these little boats.

Thanks to my aunts and uncles we were able to have a boat ride and enjoy wave runners. David and Ben rode the wave runners together and David loved going "so fast"

Madeline liked the water and sand, she was always filthy!

I thought this was a cute picture of David and my grandpa.

Also not pictured because my camera ran out of batteries is my brothers wedding. I was really disappointed that the camera didn't work, it was a nice wedding and he married a great girl! On Monday we are off to Denver! I am excited to move to the next phase of our life and move into our first house.

Simple Pleasures

2008-08-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Little kids are great at enjoying the simple pleasures in life, this evening Madeline had a great time eating an Oreo cookie. This mess was created from only one cookie, I wish I could be as satisfied after eating only one cookie!

House Hunting Trip

2008-08-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

This week Ben and I went on a trip to find a house in the Denver area. This is no easy task as there are a ton of little cities and suburbs around Denver. Luckily we had some help in locating a good place to live and I am excited about our new community. My mom was so kind and watched Jacob and David so we could go with just Madeline. On Tuesday and Wednesday we looked at about 30 houses. We both liked the same house and made on offer on Wednesday but learned that there was another offer put in for the same house on the same day. I was nervous that we would not get the house. While we were driving back to Utah we got a call from our Realtor (Jason) and he told us that the owner had chosen to go with the other offer without a counter offer to us. I was really disappointed even though I knew this was probably going to happen. He said he would call us the next day (today) to give us an update on some other offers. This morning we got a call from Jason and he told us that we had a second chance on the house because the other people did not respond to their counter offer in the allotted time. So, we were contacted and what ended up happening is that we got the house for $2,000.00 more then we had originally offered. I am really excited! We signed the contracts today and the seller has also signed so it is a done deal unless something else comes up (I hope not). I am really excited about our new house! It is four bedrooms and was built in 1985. It needs a bit of updating on the inside mostly just paint and light fixtures.

A few happenings in my life

2008-07-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

1. Last week was the 24th of July celebration in Utah. I love being in Utah on the 24th and getting a holiday. When Ben and I first got married and I moved to Idaho it was strange to have to work on the 24th of July. I have loved the last three years being in Utah for the state holiday with a parade and family BBQ. My parents town has a 5K race that I have participated in the last three years. The good news is that each year my time gets better. This year I improved my time from last year by four minutes and ran the 5K in 26 minutes 39 seconds. I was pretty excited about that. Ben was upset that the T-shirt said fun run instead of 5K, according to Ben it was not a "fun" run. For the picture he would not hold up his T-shirt because he wanted everyone to see his racing number not a shirt that said fun run. That evening we had a BBQ with my aunt and uncle and then went to a firework show that was spectacular for a small town. I was glad I could be in Utah for on last 24th of July celebration.

2. Ben is done with the Bar!!!!!!
i just got off the phone with Ben and he is driving home from his second day of the Bar exam so now he is completely 100% done. We are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate and then off on a little vacation tommorow. I am so excited for Ben that he is finished.

3. A bit ago my mom and I hosted a baby shower for our neighbor and I thought the decorations turned out so cute. My sister-in-law Laurel helped me make these diaper cakes that we decorated with ribbon and flowers and a baby topper. The clothesline was also really cute, when we opened presents we hung the outfits on the clothesline for everyone to see. I had heard of this idea before but had never actually seen it done so I thought I would post this picture for all of you who might need some inspiration decorating for a baby shower.

I'm Done!!!

2008-07-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

I have been taking an independent Study course through BYU for the last year called Residential Landscape Design. I have a secondary education degree and to keep my teaching certificate current I have to take six credits every five years. So, I thought independent study would be a good way to get the credits while being at home with my children. Of course I procrastinated a bit and didn't work on the class throughout the year as I should have so this summer I have had to cram a lot of work in. The class is due this Friday, I was planning on taking the final tomorrow but after studying a bit I felt ready and I just wanted to get it done so I went and took it and now I am 100% finished! Yeah! An added bonus is that I got an A on my project and an A- in the course plus my parents are implementing some of my design in their backyard and it looks really good. I will post pictures soon, I am just really happy to finally be done!

Memory Lane

2008-07-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Come on, play along!!!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Beautiful Brothers

2008-07-11T19:31:00.001-07:00

I have often heard make-up experts say to either focus primarily on the eyes or the lips. Jacob and David took the advice and divided up the face, Jacob took care of the eyes, and David the lips. The picture of Jacob was taken two and a half years ago and the picture of David was taken tonight. Ahh how history repeats itself! (At first you may thing David's lips are pudding but it is most definitely grandma's lipstick:)

Playing Catch Up

2008-07-06T19:11:00.001-07:00

I admit, I have a lot of catch up to do. After a while of not blogging it gets harder to start up again because there is so much to write about and it is hard to choose what to highlight. So I have decided to give a quick update in order to get me caught up and back into the blog habit. I am going to do it number style with pictures and a quick update, here we go!

1. FAMILY PICTURES
We went to goblin valley with my family and took family pictures while we were there. They turned out pretty well considering we put our own camera on a tripod and used a timer. First is a picture of the whole family and second is our own little family. The third picture is after hiking around goblin valley and playing sardines for a few hours. We had a great time!

We also went to Idaho and took family pictures with Ben's family. I hope they also turned out well but I have not seen them yet.

2. LANDSCAPE CLASS AND PROJECT
The most time consuming thing in my life right now is the landscape design class I am taking through independent study that is due in three weeks. The picture is a design that I drew that I know is not the best picture but you might be able to get an idea of what a design looks like. I am currently designing my parents yard and the exciting part is that they are following through with some of the plans in the back yard. We have added a sidewalk and flower beds around the perimeter of the yard. It looks really good even though it is still a work in progress!

3. HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!
On the 4th we went to the parade in the morning after having breakfast at my uncle's house. We spent the day swimming at my parents playing sharks and minnows and marco polo. Later we had a parade that was VERY exciting and well attended:) (In these pictures you can see the back yard and some of the landscaping in the back) The kids enjoyed throwing the salt water taffy Ben bought for the parade.

4. JUMPIN JACKS
We went on a family date to a place called jumpin jacks that is full of inflateable houses and slides. The boys had lots of fun. Ben and I enjoyed it as well but we got tired faster then they did.

Hopefully I will now be better at remaining current on my blog. I hope you are having a great summer!

Our trip to Lagoon

2008-06-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

This past week we took a little day trip to Lagoon with Ben's family. We had lots of fun and the boys loved it!! Jacob was really excited that Caleb was going to be there and that they could play together all day. Here are a few pictures from our day.

David was scared of the rides at first. He went on these cars with his cousin Mia and was acting unsure and scared, she reached over and put one arm around David to comfort him while she "drove" with the other hand. It was really cute!

Even though David was scared of many of the rides as you can see above, he never questioned any of the rides we put him on. He would get scared while riding but not as he was getting on the the ride. Ben took him on a ride called the parasailers (or something like that) he was terrified but still went on other rides afterwards, what a trooper!

Jacob and Caleb thought they were so grown up. After riding the helicopters they ran to me and said, "we are going on Puff now" no they didn't ask or wait for an adult, they just told me really quick and off they went. They had a good time running around all day.

Here is our family after a fun filled and tiring day at Lagoon. Everyone had a good time, even Madeline was well behaved and got to ride the train and the carousel! Thanks to all of the family who helped watch our kids so that Ben and I could enjoy some rides.

Speaking of enjoying rides, I enjoyed some and not so much others. I am not a big fan of the free fall feeling, I like some roller coasters but the ones with huge drops are not at the top of my list. There is a ride at Lagoon called wicked that you can barely see in this photo taken as we were leaving, it starts off with a fast straight up incline and then an immediate drop perpendicular to the ground. Normally not a ride I would be interested in riding. Ben really wanted me to ride it with him and practically dragged me into line, yes I am a wimp. We waited in line and then the line stopped moving and we waited and waited and waited some more. Come to find out a passenger had lost a flip flop and a hat under the roller coaster so they stopped the whole ride to retrieve the lost items, then the coaster wouldn't start for who knows what reason. After standing in line for 45 minutes we decided our time could be better spent elsewhere so we left. A few hours later we went back and the same thing happened again! Only this time we only had to wait about 20 minutes for the hat to be retrieved. Wouldn't you think people would be smarter to not wear hats and flip flops on a roller coaster that goes straight up and then straight down and has an upside down corkscrew? Better yet wouldn't you think employees would know to tell a passenger tough luck or come back at closing rather then stop a ride and make a ton of people wait? It was frustrating but after all of the waiting I did ride Wicked and I didn't really like it all that much, free fall just isn't for me. It was a great day, we were all exhausted when we got home but I think that means the day was a success! Thanks Mowers for the great day!

Family Fun!!

2008-06-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things about being in Utah for the summer is that our kids get to spend time with their cousins. Last weekend we went to Idaho and Jacob and David loved playing with Caleb and Mia. Jacob and Caleb played non-stop from the moment we got to grandma's house until Caleb had to go home the next day. I forgot to take pictures of them but I will definitely remember next time. Madeline and Owen enjoyed sitting next to one another and played with each others hands a bit.

In Utah we have a new cousin Claire. David loves when Claire comes over! Claire and Madeline have matching dresses so we got the two dressed up and took pictures of them.

Woops! Madeline doesn't sit up as well as Claire!

Here is a picture of all the kids. David didn't really want to cooperate so he just mostly sat in the background.

It will be sad when we leave at the end of the summer. Last week Jacob said he never wanted to leave Idaho because he wanted to play with Caleb all the time. Then today he told me he was sad we had to leave Michigan, I am glad my kids make friends wherever we go, it is always sad every time we have to leave an area. Right now I am just enjoying the time we have to be with our families!

Sleepy Kids

2008-05-22T17:04:00.001-07:00

This past week I have taken some pretty funny sleeping pictures of the kids. They play so much every day that sometimes they just crash!

Jacob and David are sleeping in a bunk bed now. Jacob is pretty excited about having a bunk bed and David is doing well at staying in bed(we are glad he doesn't know how to open doors yet:) The boys sometimes play together before they go to sleep, this night Jacob forgot to go up to his bed before he fell asleep.

Madeline falls asleep a lot still but I thought it was a funny picture with her is the jumper and her cousin Claire wondering what was going on.

Two nights ago Jacob came in our room because he was having a bad dream where he was in a store and a Cheetah was walking towards him trying to get him. While he was in our bed Madeline woke up to eat, I fed her and then just laid her on the floor because I didn't want to take her back to her room at 7:00 and chance waking David up(all three kids share a room) I came back later that morning and found Madeline's head under the bed, you can barely see it. Luckily I pulled her out before she woke up and banged her head on the bed. Sleep is such a funny part of life because everyone needs it and it takes up so much of our lives, if I get enough sleep life is good if I don't, life is not so good. I hope you are all getting good sleep and that life is good!

I'm Still Here!

2008-05-15T18:34:00.000-07:00

I am still here even though I haven't posted for about three weeks now. Here is a little update of what I have been up to.

On April 30 my parents came to visit us in Ann Arbor and see Ben graduate. The next day Ben's parents and brother Logan flew in and stayed for awhile.

Ben graduated from The University of Michigan Law School on Saturday May 3rd; it was an exciting day and also really strange to be done with school. Ben did well in law school and I am so proud of him!

While our parent’s were visiting we went to Kirtland where it rained all day. It was a long day but we enjoyed seeing the sights and visiting the John Johnson Farm. We also went to the Henry Ford Museum and had a good time there. Then on Tuesday May 6 we finished all of the last minute packing and loaded our entire apartment into an 8x8x16 POD container. We were not sure if our stuff would fit into the small space but with some strategic packing it did! We had so many people help us load our truck and were grateful for all of our friends!

The next day we left Ann Arbor with Madeline in the car and Jacob and David flying in airplanes with grandparents. We drove to Denver and stayed for two nights with the parents of our friends from Michigan, the Woodward’s. We spent a day in Denver looking at different areas and neighborhoods and deciding where we want to live. We were very lucky to have people to show us around and help us learn about the area. Finally we drove to Utah where we are now and have started to settle in a bit.

I have felt very blessed over the last few weeks to have so many wonderful friends and family. We have had so much help preparing for our move, helping us move, helping us find a place to live in Denver, and watching our kids. I loved our time in Michigan and I was really sad to leave our friends there. I am also looking forward to the adventures that lay ahead of us.

In other news, David’s birthday was two days ago and we had a little party for him. I made him a bus cake as one of his favorite things to say is “I see a bus”. He got a little swimming pool, a bike helmet, squirt guns, a “computer” and a ball. What more could a kid ask for?

A little info about me!

2008-04-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Last night I was talking with some friends about blogging and how I have not felt very creative or inspired in my blogging lately. Sometimes all I can think to write about is my children and being a mother. So here is a little bit more just about me. Hope you enjoy it!

5 years ago... I was living in Pocatello, Idaho attending Idaho State University getting my degree in Secondary Education; Social Sciences. I was also working at Beverly's Bloomers Flower shop. I was two months pregnant with my first child, Jacob. It was an exciting time of life!

5 months ago... I was eight months pregnant and excited about being finished with pregnancy. I was also preparing to have our first Christmas away from family. Both Christmas and baby turned out to be great!

5 hours ago... I was working on getting three kids dressed for the day and fed breakfast, then I got myself dressed and fed. I also was starting a load of laundry and tidying up the house because my parents are coming into town today, yeah!! Ben's parents come tomorrow!

5 minutes ago.. I was putting David down for a nap, and getting Madeline entertained with some toys so I could write this blog. I also hung up three shirts from the laundry.

5 things on my to do list today...
1. Laundry
2. Help a friend bake bread
3. Tidy house and get ready for my parents to come
4. Have an old friend come visit me
5. Relax tonight with family!

5 recent pieces of mail I have recieved...
1. Student loan info
2. Student loan info
3. Student loan info
4. junk mail
5. the Ensign
Can you tell Ben is about to graduate? Someone wants their money back!

5 things I would do if I became a billionaire...
1. Pay of loans
2. Buy a nice house
3. Decorate my nice house
4. By lots of clothes!
5. Travel with my family

5 of my bad habits...
1. Staying up late
2. Sleeping in because I stayed up too late
3. Lately, not making dinner very often
4. Worrying too much about hurting people's feelings
5. Eating ice cream and junk food everyday

5 places I have lived...
1. State College, Pennsylvania
2. Mapleton, Utah
3. Pocatello, Idaho
4. Toledo, Ohio
5. Ann Arbor, Michigan

5 jobs I have had...
1. Piano teacher
2. Dry cleaning clerk
3. BYU continuing education registrar
4. Flower shop deliverer
5. Florist

5 things in my virtual shopping bag...
1. Spring and summer clothes
2. A mini-van
3. A house
4. A khaki jacket
5. ?

5 books I love to death...
(I am going to change this one to 5 books I have recently read because although I do like reading I am not sure I would classify myself as someone who LOVES books)
1. It's All Too Much
2. The Mormon Way Of Doing Business
3. Twilight
4. New Moon
5. Parenting With Love And Logic

5 things that are out of place around my home...
1. EVERYTHING!
We are getting ready to move so consequently our house is in a bit of disarray.
2. Boxes
3. Suitcases
4. Paper goods
5. Laundry

5 thing I love to eat...
1. Ice Cream
2. Chocolate
3. Life Cereal
4. No Bake cookies
5. I guess I also like steamed carrots along with my junk food

5 scents I love...
1. Just bathed children
2. Bread baking
3. Fresh cut grass
4. The way it smells after rain
5. Ben's cologne Eternity.

Three DesctructiveTwo Year Olds!!

2008-04-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

Last week two of David's friends were over to play for the morning, I gave them some fruit by the foot to eat and then went upstairs to put away some laundry. While putting the laundry away I heard water spilling and the kids laughing, I thought that was odd because I did not give them anything to drink. When I went downstairs to see what was going on this is what I found.

The kids picked each petal off of the vase of flowers I had on the table and then poured the water all over. I put them all on the couch while I cleaned up the mess.

Now that I am writing about this experience I think it is kind of funny, but it wasn't that funny when I came down the stairs and saw my flowers ruined, oh well, I am glad they had a good time but am also glad their faces show that they know they are in trouble!

Recent Pastimes

2008-04-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

I realize my blog has been a bit lacking in the visual department lately. I haven't been giving my blog very much attention mostly because my spare time has been spent preparing to move. We have parents coming to stay with us in a little less than two weeks and want our house to be mostly ready to move so we can have a fun time when they are here instead of packing. Last week we painted over our striped wall which was a sad thing for me because I really liked the stripes and it made our apartment feel like home. All of the pictures are now off the wall and we took the curtains down today. It well be sad to leave all of our friends in Ann Arbor but as we take apart our house I am getting excited to move on to the next phase of life.

The different wall color is such a stark difference our house just isn't as cozy anymore. We are hoping all of our stuff fits on a 8x8x16 Pods container, it will be tight and I hope we don't have to leave anything behind.

Sunday Activities

2008-04-13T17:32:00.001-07:00

This afternoon my friend called and asked me what we did with our kids on Sundays. It was funny that she asked because lately I have been wondering the same thing, I would like the day to be different for them but there is so much time at home that they get bored easily. I have heard of the idea of having a Sunday box with activities inside that can only be done on Sunday but I don't know what I would put in the box. Coloring, reading books and the Friend, and watching a church movie get a little boring week after week for them. I am looking for some more fresh ideas, so my question is what do you do with your kids on Sunday? Or if your kids are too young right now what ideas do you have for when they are older?

Shopping

2008-04-08T11:42:00.001-07:00

I don't go shopping very often because it never is that enjoyable with three kids following along, I should say hopefully following. This morning a wonderful and strange thing happened, I was at the mall before the stores opened with only a baby. It was so nice to not have two little boys with me! Jacob had Joy school and David was at his friend Christian's house. I decided to go do a little shopping and use some gift cards while I had a few hours with just Madeline and I. It was wonderful and I wish I had had more time. I bought myself some body spray from Bath and Body Works and a shirt for Madeline from Gymboree. I could not believe how expensive the clothes at Gymboree were, there were so many CUTE clothes and I ended up choosing a darling shirt, but wanted more. It would be great to have unlimited money and buy a lot of cute clothes for my kids, maybe someday when I don't have kids at home anymore I will be able to afford the clothes, now I understand why my grandma has closets and closets of unworn clothes, she can afford it!:)

Actually last week I read a great book called "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh. He is the guy from TLC's show Clean Sweep. The book was an organizational book about getting rid of clutter in our lives and homes and how we will be able to live a more fulfilled life if we don't have so much stuff that really just sits there and is junk. The book motivated me and I have been getting rid of a lot of stuff around our house. It is great preparation for our move! So if any of you would like to get rid of your stuff or feel you have too much unneeded junk you should read the book. Or you might read the book and then feel like you have to much stuff. Either way, it is a good read!

Star Wars, Shoes, and Sand!

2008-03-31T11:13:00.000-07:00

Our life recently has consisted mostly of STAR WARS, SHOES, and SAND.

STAR WARS: Jacob went to a STAR WARS birthday party a few weeks ago and ever since he thinks STAR WARS is the best thing ever. Yesterday he came in and asked Ben and I, "Is there anything that is cooler then a light saber?" Good question, I don't think there is. We borrowed the movies from some friends and Jacob would spend all day watching them if I would let him. He already knows a ton more about the story than I do, although that is not hard considering I have only seen two of the movies. I think I will have to break down soon and watch the movies so I can know what he is talking about and learn all of the characters that he is referring to now.

SHOES: David has recently developed a little SHOE fetish. He loves putting on SHOES whether they are his, Jacob's, mine, Ben's or even Madeline's(those don't fit very well, they are mostly toe covers) Consequently, there seems to be SHOES all over our house! He puts on one pair for awhile and then soon discards those for a different pair.

SAND: There is SAND ALL OVER our house due to the STAR WARS play and SHOE fetish. Let me explain; Jacob plays STAR WARS outside with his friend, they each get a light saber and fight each other running all over. We have a large SAND box in front of our house so of course they run right through the SAND often. Then David treks outside with a few different pairs of SHOES each day and brings the SAND in with each pair. I feel like I am always sweeping up SAND and it is never gone. It has even made its way into our sheets, I love getting in bed and feeling sand!:) I hope the boys are enjoying their STAR WARS and SHOES as I spend so much time cleaning up their SAND, Ah the life of a mother, I'll sum it up with two words, SWEET and STRESS!

Easter Weekend

2008-03-24T16:56:00.001-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend which started off with east baskets and dying eggs on Saturday. The boys loved dying eggs especially David who practically threw the eggs into the dye and then exclaimed, "whoa" loudly every time. It was good we put newspaper down because we created quite a mess!

Saturday afternoon I went on a run and during the last half mile noticed that my shoe was soaked with blood. My two smallest toes had been rubbing together last week every time I ran so, I had put a band-aid on before my run but I guess it came off. Blood soaked all over my sock and shoe but it hurt a lot less then it looks.

I wanted this picture taken outside to document all of the snow that I would love to have in December or January but not in March! This is after church on Sunday.

Easter just wouldn't be complete without a lot of candy, really too much candy. We thought Madeline should also have a taste of Easter sugar so we gave her a few licks of a Hershey kiss, she thought it tasted delicious!

Nutritious Breakfast!

2008-03-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

I confess, most mornings the boys get up and go downstairs and watch TV while Ben and I slowly get out of bed. We really enjoy sleeping in and figure we might as well while we still can. Often Jacob will get some food for them either cereal or a banana or juice. I guess David decided their breakfast food wasn't tasty enough because today when I came downstairs David had a box of sweetheart candies from Valentines. He had a big grin on his face and was enjoying them. He had pushed a chair over to the counter and climbed up to the candy cupboard, he knew what he wanted and he found a way to get it, that's a good thing right? I guess maybe not when it comes to candy for breakfast. I let him finish the box and then relocated the candy to a higher and unknown spot. He'll be in for a surprise tomorrow when he goes to find his breakfast!

Traveling Zoo Exhibit

2008-03-15T14:08:00.001-07:00

We recently visited the Toledo Zoo. It is one of our favorite places to take the kids and we used to go often when we lived in Toledo. When at the zoo you can go look at your favorite animals. You can watch them sleep, walk, eat, even go to the bathroom.

Lately we have been feeling a little sad for our zoo pals. Ever since we added Madeline to the mix we have been feeling like a traveling zoo exhibit. We can't go anywhere without people staring at our family. Occasionally we can actually hear people say "ahh" as we walk past on the sidewalk.

Now, don't get me wrong, I can understand why people would want to stare at our beautiful family. Here in Ann Arbor a family of five is about as exotic as the animals we view at the zoo. The problem is that we are more like our zoo pals than we want to be. A few nights ago, we went out to eat. People stared at us and came over while we are eating to converse with the great looking family in the restaurant. It was odd to know that a lot of people were watching as we stuffed our faces and made sure the kids were behaving. I guess we just never get a moment when we are out in public where we are not on display. Because David and Madeline are both in diapers, people can even watch some of us use the bathroom just like the animals at the zoo! So if you would like to view the Mower traveling zoo exhibit come see us when we are out and about the town!

Winter Break

2008-03-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

During Winter break we went to the Great Wolf Lodge with our friends, the Gardners, and had a great time! We spent two night and shared a suite. The kids loved playing in the water park and we had a good time playing with the kids and hanging out with the Gardners. It was fun to be in a swim suit and heated area while we watched the snow come down outside. We were very glad on the last day that our kids did not throw up all night like the Gardner girls!

Make a postcard - it's easy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-03-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

I enjoy making chocolate chip cookies and every time I make them I am reminded of when I was younger. One specific memory is when my brother Kevin and I made a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough really fast while my parents were gone and then stashed it in one of our closets so we could eat the dough whenever we wanted. Looking back I can't help but think how disgusting to eat a whole batch of cookie dough that has been sitting in a closet and not refrigerated! We were pretty excited about the whole deal. Today I made cookies with Jacob while David and Madeline were taking naps, I hope when he gets older he will also have good memories of making chocolate chip cookies

Today my experience with making cookies was different then it has ever been. How you ask? Well, the dough seemed to be dry when I was putting the dough balls on the sheet and when they came out of the oven they had not spread out at all, they were still dough balls that were now cooked. I smashed them with a spoon as you can see below in hopes that they would look more like a regular cookie and not a ball cookie. I have not tasted them yet, maybe they taste better then they look.

It seemed that the dough did not have enough fat in it to hold it together. So I took the remaining dough and added a bit more butter and Crisco and they turned out great! I was not trying to reduce the amount of fat in the cookies but apparently they didn't have enough at first. However, I still managed to eat more cookie dough then I should have, (that always happens) you know when you have eaten so much dough that you are very thirsty and then you have to drink a lot of water and then end up stuffed. Maybe it is just me that does that? I am not sure that is the best way to get rid of the baby tummy, but it was yummy!

I love my kids!

2008-03-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

Jacob is four years old and is a great kid! He is really good at helping me with anything I ask him. Most mornings he gets up and gets himself dressed and makes his bed. He is very proud that he helps me do the laundry and I tell him he is the best four year old at folding spit rags.(Madeline spits a lot and we go through a lot of spit rags!) Jacob loves to watch Super Why on PBS and play computer games on the PBS website. He enjoys connect the dots and mazes and learning to spell words. His favorite thing to do is to play with a friend. Jacob is really good to David and Madeline, I am so glad Jacob is in our family, he is a great boy!

David will be two in May. He is learning to talk and we are really excited for him to start talking a bit more. He likes to say the word helicopter and says it pretty well. David loves all balls and is really good at throwing and catching a ball. Last night he was in our room with a football and tossed the ball from side to side twice while grunting and then threw it, it was as if he was running a play and waiting for the receiver to be open. David loves dad, he likes to wave to dad every morning as he leaves for school and is always excited to see him come home. David loves Madeline’s soothie and is starting to learn to give it to her instead of take it away from her! We love David tons!

Often at night when the boys are in bed I hear Jacob say, "I love you David" and then David mumbles something that is supposed to be, "I love you Jacob" I am glad they are buds!

Madeline will be eight weeks on Thursday, she is a great baby, especially last night when she slept for eight and a half hours! She likes to talk, and make eye contact. She is a patient baby which I am thankful for because it helps make my life easier. She is a strong baby and likes to stand while supported, she has great control of her head. We are glad to have Madeline in our family!

Make-up Advice?

2008-02-28T13:57:00.001-08:00

Here is my dilemma. I have pretty much been wearing the same make-up shades and styles for the past 8-10 years and I want to update my look, I went to the store to purchase some lipstick and I was lost on what shade would actually look good on my lips. Everything I looked at seemed too dark, too light, too pink, too purple, just not the right color. It would probably help to know what I was looking for and that is the problem, I don't know what colors to choose. Eye shadow is the same story I don't really know what colors look best. I have heard about using different shades on the eyelid, crease, outer eye etc, but I am not really sure how to do it. Plus, I don't want to spend more then five minutes at the beginning of the day putting on make-up. So my question to you is; where do I find the info I need? Do Mary Kay representatives know colors or do they just sell the product? If I went to a department store make-up counter could they help me find the right stuff or do they just sell the make-up? Are there any good websites with tips? Or do you have any advice? Hopefully I can figure this out and find the right colors!

Rough Love

2008-02-23T12:05:00.000-08:00

David loves Madeline so much and loves to give her hugs. When he sees her first thing in the morning he wants to give her a hug. I am glad that he loves her so much but sometimes his expressions of love can get a little rough and that is when I hear the cry from Madeline. David doesn't really know the difference between a soft hug and a full body slam. These photos are just a few of the hugs I got pictures of but he "hugs" her a few times each day. She is going to be a tough girl! Maybe he is already fulfilling his role as big brother and looking out for her by teaching her to be tough.

I Love Weekends!!

2008-02-18T11:14:00.000-08:00

We had a great weekend! It started with a great date on Friday night. We went to Carino's for dinner then bought some candles at the Yankee Candle store and a trip to Costco and topped the night off with watching the movie Nanny Diaries when we got home. Saturday started with some exercise (the first time I have been running since the birth of Madeline) and house cleaning/organizing both activities were great to get done. Then after lunch we headed to the zoo. Jacob and David liked seeing the animals, it was especially fun to watch David's excitement because this was the first time he has been to a zoo that he can remember.

Here is a picture of the Mower crew ready to go!

Ben and the kids with the penguins behind. Yes, Madeline is under the blanket.

There were ice sculptures at the zoo, I thought this sculpture of bees was quite impresive.

We finished the day by attending a gymnastics meet. The meet was fun but we had a few clothing/diaper mishaps. It turns out that our excursion made Ben and I forget a little about David's diaper. He wet through and his pants were soaking wet, woops. Madeline also decided to dirty her clothes but it wasn't just pee:) She had a bigger surprise for us and we had just changed her diaper! We used what we had to clothe the two kids. A blanket for Madeline and a free pink T-shirt for David. We probably were quite a sight but I forgot to take a picture. The night ended perfectly with all three kids asleep take out from our favorite Big Ten Burrito and a little T.V. What a great day, I wish every day were Saturday!.

Chuck E. Cheese!

2008-02-13T11:07:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we took a little family excursion to Chuck E. Cheese's. The boys love it and we have discovered it provides some good family fun for a few hours. The best part is that online they have coupons where you can get 70 tokens for $10.00, so occasionally we go and spend the $10.00 and play for a few hours. Their food isn't the best so we just skip that part and play. Ben loves skee ball and pin ball, the boys love everything especially the virtual roller coaster, and I enjoy skee ball and mostly spending time together having fun! This picture is a sketch taken there, aren't my three kids cute! So if you are ever bored and need some family fun time, go to Chuck E. Cheese's!

To Quilt or not to Quilt?

2008-02-11T13:37:00.001-08:00

So I just finished two quilts that I have been working on for awhile and I am not sure what I think about quilting. I love finishing the project and having completed something big, however, while I am working on it I don't love it. My theory is that I am not good at being patient and exact both of which I think are skills needed in quilting. It is hard to get seams lined up just right and sew forever without feeling like you are getting anywhere. The problem is now that I am done I have a small desire to start another quilt but I am not sure if that is a good idea.

This is a Michigan quilt that nine people in my ward made together. Each person made nine of one type of square and then we swapped. Each square represents a memory of our time in Michigan. It will be fun to have and remember the people that contributed to the quilt. Thanks to my mom for helping me finish the binding (Ok she pretty much did the binding, aren't moms great!)

What is your opinion about quilting?

Snow Fun!

2008-02-06T12:24:00.001-08:00

It has been snowing a lot lately in Michigan and Ben loves to build snow forts! This first one he packed snow around a picnic table and hollowed out the inside. Jacob and David loved playing inside the fort.

This fort was built with bucket blocks to surround our patio. There are stairs inside so that intruders can be hit with snow balls. The faces you see are Ben, Jacob and David peeping out of the window. Notice the flag fashionably made out of felt with an M to stand for Mower. We want people to know who's castle it is!

Madeline Pictures

2008-02-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

I thought you would like to see some pictures of Madeline taken over the last three weeks. It has been an adjustment to have three kids and to get used to less sleep at night. Jacob and David love holding Madeline and we are glad she is here!