Crazy days!

Some days are just crazy in many ways.  Some days when the kids are at school and daddy is at work, the little one will amaze me at how he entertains himself.  Tate's been obsessed with pulling games out of the closet to play with, just like his older brother and sister.  He was in there one day and happened to spot the parachute and he would not leave the closet without it.  Even though I wasn't exactly sure how he was going to play with it by himself, he amazed me once again.  He spent the first little bit running around with it like a cape.

Next thing I knew, he had it on his head and was running around looking through the mesh center.  As you can tell from his expression, he thought this was AWESOME and so, so very funny!

I admit that I'm addicted to that smile - how can you not smile back and be happy?

He was definitely entertained for over and hour and managed to keep his mom entertained as well.

We love this little boy and can't imagine life without him!

Zach's Birthday - 2013

We had another birthday.  Yep, Zach turned 10 this year - when did that happen?  He keeps getting older and older and I keep wondering where all the time has gone.  Seems like with his birthday in March, the start of the new year is the start of another countdown until his birthday.  Zach's birthday was on a Monday this year and when we ended up going to Nana and Papa's house for a couple of baby showers the Saturday before, we decided to throw in a birthday party with the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins while we were there.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures of the presents, fun, and crazy looking cupcakes I made for the day.  But he had a blast and loved being together with the extended family.  

When the actual day of his birthday came around, we had a small party with just our little family.  We went to dinner at IHOP and I think Zach has found a new favorite restaurant - breakfast of any kind?  He's sold.  He had a plate of 5 LARGE pancakes and polished the whole thing off, including part of Hailey's pancake (I don't want to even think about how much he'll eat when he's a teenager!).  After dinner we headed home to open our presents to him.  

Tate gave him a football.

Hailey gave him new scout stuff for moving up into Webelos.

His dad and I gave him a set of books (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series), 

 A new Lego Ninjago Lego Set, and ...

A longboard.

Yep, he was pretty excited.  He's been begging for one of these for years.  After opening the presents, he headed outside to try it out.  

After we pulled the kids back in and got them bathed, we decided to have a little singing and candle blowing ceremony.  Since we didn't have any cupcakes left, Zach decided he wanted banana bread as his "birthday treat."  So we stuck some candles in, sang "Happy Birthday" and ...

He blew them out.

Not a typical birthday, but I think it was a hit.  He kept telling me all night that it was the "best birthday ever!"    As long as he's happy, then I'm happy.  So traditional birthday or not, it seems he had a great one this year!  We sure love you Zach!

Zach's Basketball Season - 2013

We love the first part of the year because it means Basketball Season is finally here!  If you know anything about our family, you know how much we love basketball.  This year, Jeremiah was able to coach Zach's team and it was so fun to have the two of them working together.  

I loved looking down on the sidelines and seeing them standing together either talking or watching the game.

Zach is just like his dad - he can hardly get enough basketball.  He was so into it this year, it was fun to watch.  He has really come a long way in his skills and abilities on the court.

He loves to pass in the ball, something that just makes me laugh.  You'd think he'd like to have it passed into him more, but he tells me that's not the case.  I was really proud of him though, he would always try to make sure he passed it to everyone so that everyone got a turn bringing the ball down the court.

He was really quick up and down the court too - at the end of almost every game, he would be drenched in sweat - a sure sign of how much running he was doing!

He was one of the tallest on our team and most of the other teams, so he was able to catch a lot of rebounds.  He's also not afraid to get in there and fight for the ball.

A couple of teams had some better players and it seemed they almost always put them on Zach to guard - they knew he was a good player and wanted to try to keep him in check.  Sometimes it worked, but most times it didn't.  He kept moving around and those defenders spent most of the game trying to keep up with him.

He scored quite a few points this season.  I lost track after the first couple of games, but in the first game alone he scored 7 baskets!

He is just looking so grown up, I can't believe my little boy will be turning 10 this year - he isn't so little anymore!

I had to include a picture of the two others rooting their brother on from the stands.  Every game, Tate would talk and talk about how he was going to play basketball just like his brother when he grows up.

Well, another season is done and we had a wonderful time watching and cheering from the sidelines.  Way to go Zach, we sure are proud of you!

Hailey's Birthday - She's Now 7!

The week after Christmas is a fun time for us.  In addition to playing with all of the fun toys from Christmas, we are able to have another celebration before New Years.  We have Hailey's birthday and we love all the excitement of a birthday for our little princess.  

This year we had a full house for the celebration.  Papa (Nana wasn't there because she was sick), Taylor, Kylie, Jedd, Libby, and all the way from Oregon - Uncle Bubby, Afton, and Little Cooper.  As if she didn't have enough presents, she got a ton more!  (Tate was really involved as you can tell.)

She loved every single present she got!

She was darling.

Jeremiah was in charge of pictures, hence the wonderful picture of his feet and Hailey with her eyes closed!

After presents and dinner, we had dessert.  She decided she wanted brownies and ice cream this year.  I definitely wasn't going to complain because it was easy and required very little effort.  Although her piece of brownie barely held the 7 candles for her!

Happy Birthday Sis, we are so proud of you and can't believe how big your growing!  We love you!

Merry Christmas - 2012

We definitely had a good Christmas this year!  After much excitement and waiting for what seemed like forever, the day finally came.  The kids anxiously went to bed the night before just certain they would never be able to go to sleep because they were just so excited!  But to sleep they eventually went and the next morning they were so thrilled with all of their presents!

I have to admit that I took very minimal pictures this year - but it was nice to be involved in actually watching them instead of worried about taking the perfect picture.  Here are some we took right after they opened their stockings.

Zach was thrilled about his new pocket knife and lego set.  Santa decided that maybe he was old enough to be responsible enough for a pocket knife - of course that was proven false a few hours later when he used it to saw into some paper wrapping instead of just peeling it off with his fingers.  The pocket knife is now in the garage awaiting him to get just a little bit older and responsible!  But he was excited none-the-less.

Hailey was excited about all the new earrings she got as well as the glitter headbands.  For some reason, Santa lost count as he was getting earrings and ended up getting her around 30 pairs!  Yes, this was one happy girl.  At least now she can't complain that she doesn't have very many!

Tate was happy about his cars and Sesame Street characters.  Show us what you got Tate!

Now show us again so that we can see your face.  Much better - except what are you eating?  Is that a sucker at 8:00 in the morning?  Guess he was excited about the candy in his stocking too!

After we opened up all of the other presents, we took some pictures of each child with all their loot!  

Zach got a kindle, remote control car/helicoptor, shirts, lego, gift cards, and much more!

Hailey got a kindle, princess skateboard, umbrella and rain boots, doll, shirt, gift cards, and did I mention a few pairs of earrings?

Tate got a basketball hoop, remote control Thomas train, TAG junior reader and books, tractors, and a table and chairs set.  (Notice the wink?  He's just learned to do this and I happened to catch it on camera - so darling!)

Yes, we had a wonderful Christmas!  There is nothing like watching your children get excited and enjoy Christmas morning.  We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and hope it was good for all!

Temple Square

One of my favorite traditions around Christmas is to go to Temple Square and see the lights.  We decided last minute one Saturday to head up that evening to walk around and see everything.  We had dinner in Salt Lake and then rode the Trax train into downtown.  I'm always amazed at how much work goes into the spectacular lights of the trees on Temple Square.  I once heard how many man-hours it takes, and even though I can't remember the exact value, I remember it blew my mind.  Good thing I only have to put them up around my house!  But the effect is completely amazing.

Here's a picture of the kids in front of one of the trees.

At some point Tate wanted out of the stroller to walk.  After about 20 steps and getting surrounded by a crowd full of people, he wanted back in.  But in the middle of that, we did stop for another picture in front of the star he was so anxious to see (it's behind the kids at the top of the pyramid of stars in the shape of a tree).

After only about half hour of walking around, the kids were ready to go.  I think they were more excited to ride the train than seeing the light - figures.  Oh well, at least we can say we went to see the lights, even if it was more of a run-by than anything else!

Christmas Rice Krispie Trains

A few days before Christmas, Nana and Papa came to visit for the afternoon and evening.  Nana brought down a bunch of fun things to make a rice krispie train with!  The kids were so excited and couldn't wait to make their trains.  

Nana spent most of her time helping Tate.  He loved the M&Ms and wanted them all over his train!

Hailey was very methodical and did a bunch of different colors and put a bunch of different candies all over hers train.

Zach used only red and kept calling his train "bloody."  Ah, the mind of a 9 year old, everything revolves around gore and destruction!

Here's Tate with one of his all finished.  He was quite proud of it.

Hailey worked and worked and worked.  I think she was the last one done and far past the other two.  She definitely is a finisher.  All of her train cars were very intricately decorated.

Zach paused for a bit and then came back to work on his again, I had high hopes that he'd choose another color, but alas, he picked up the red and went back to to "bloody" decorating.  

The trains turned out so great!  Thanks Nana and Papa for coming down and helping us do such a fun activity!  We had a fun time decorating and eating them!