KELLY KINGdom

Birthday Week

2012-01-20T16:57:00.001-07:00

It was a super-fun birthday week at our house. Sam turned 3, and I turned more than 3.

I was trying so hard to snap the perfect picture of the three-year-old. In typical three-year-old style, he stuck his finger up his nose, hid from the camera, and wanted me to take pictures of his feet.

But then he redeemed himself (momentarily).

On Sam's birthday he played with friends.....

painted,

and decorated his own cupcake.

He really, really enjoyed opening presents: puzzles, trains, sleeping bag.....

We also had a blast at JumpOnIt. We were the only ones there and they let all of us go in the foam pit.

Especially glad that this big guy still comes and plays with us.

Happy Birthday Samuel James! We love you to pieces and can't imagine our lives without you. You are smart, funny, and kind and wonderful in a million different ways! Happy Birthday SJ!

Hoops

2012-01-03T21:02:00.001-07:00

I love this game.

But I especially love this kid.

He plays with heart.

He plays with tongue (out).

He plays to have fun.

And sometimes he even plays to win.

(But mostly he plays to have fun)

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T09:56:00.001-07:00

When I grow up, I want to be one of those bloggers who posts everyday (or at least every other day) with beautiful pictures of an immaculate house in the background and detailed tutorials of projects she's just completed and food she's just whipped up. But until I do grow up, you are just stuck with me---belated posts of albeit cute kids with a cluttered house in the background and ZERO projects completed and certainly no recipes whipped up. It's corndogs and cold cereal at this house, sister, on paper plates nonetheless. Honk if you can relate.

Now for the recap.....

Here we have 2 of my favorites at the Christmas school sing. I don't know why they call it a sing instead of a concert or something else---have you ever heard of sing being used as a noun? The look on Garrett's face really says how much he looks forward to participating in this event.

Here's my G-Dawg at his class ~~Christmas~~ holiday party. I really enjoy being room-parent (have any of you every met any room dads that would require the usage of the term room-parent instead of room-mom? I'm just saying....) in his class. He has an amazing teacher and I love being in the classroom with him and 25 other first graders. Out of the mouths of first graders......come things that make me giggle!!

Another fun memory from this Christmas was the "Christmas tree camp-outs". The kids had sooo much fun taking over the living room on multiple nights, sleeping by the tree, or sleeping in each other's rooms. Sam really got into it.

He still asks every night if he can sleep somewhere other than his bed.

We enjoyed lots of fun Christmas parties this year, with our neighbors and friends who ROCK!

We love love love our Christmas party each year with the Knoxes. There are always plenty of cheesy pictures by the tree,

yummy food,

and first-rate entertainment. (Were any of YOU lucky enough to enjoy a piano-guitar-saxaphone concert this year?)

Finally we arrive at Christmas Day. It was fun to have everyone dressed in their Sunday best before we saw what Santa brought, and fun to wait until after church to open the rest, but not fun to have Grandma in the hospital and not with us. So glad she is home now and doing better.

And that's about it, the cat is out of the bag. We had a crazy, unorganized, wonderful, messy, joyful Christmas with 4 amazing, drive-you-crazy kids, 2 cats, 1 guinea pig, and a partridge in a pear tree.

It's that time of year....

2011-12-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year when....

--the cats sleep in the puzzle box??!?

--the cats are in Christmas heaven sleeping under the tree and batting the bulbs

It's that time of year when...

---the shopping is not done

---the house is a disaster

---the Christmas cards are not mailed

---and everyone STILL expects me to make dinner each night

It's that time of year when...

--the kids want to frost sugar cookies

--I want to EAT sugar cookies (or maybe just lick the frosting off)

---the neighbor gifts are STILL not done or delivered

It's that time of year when..

---I vow to never get this behind again

---I recommit to focusing on the things that matter most

---I recommit to staying within my budget (beginning in January of course)

---I MARVEL at how much ~~work~~ fun Christmastime is and am so grateful for my ~~drive-me-crazy~~ family who I wouldn't trade for the world!

Shop till you Wobble....er, something like that

2011-11-27T16:37:00.001-07:00

I'm always amazed at how much fun we have Thanksgiving weekend, with our simple and silly traditions.

There's always a jigsaw puzzle (or two) and plenty of yummy snacks (cranberry salsa is my favorite).

The feast is always delish. This year my homemade apple pie was a hit, but pumpkin is still the most popular.

Then of course Friday I had MORE FUN THAN ONE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO HAVE IN ONE DAY shopping with my favorite friends!! Oh the deals and laughs we shared......he he!!

Then Saturday......

we pulled memories out of boxes and sifted through years of Christmas joy as we decorated the tree and set up the decorations. It's such a fun day.

How can it be that another Christmastime is upon us?

The Long and the Short of Cassidy's 74th Birthday

2011-11-22T07:13:00.001-07:00

Cass' birthday was a super-fun day filled with shopping with friends, dinner at a favorite restaurant, and a haircut.

Several inches and a few pounds lighter, she is excited to try new styles and sport a new look.

There were also fun presents and fun grandparents,

and a yummy cake with "74" on it because those were the only candles I could find!

She looks good for 74, don't you think?

Happy Birthday, Sis! We love you.

This weekend......

2011-11-19T07:40:00.001-07:00

This weekend we are celebrating a BIG birthday. Cassidy Lyn turns 10 this very day.

She had a few friends over last night and they partied the night away.

Giggly girls! One of the many things I love about Cassidy? She has the most wonderful friends!

We danced the night away to Just Dance 3.

Sam can shake some serious booty!

We beaded some bracelets, necklaces, and even some keychains.

Then there were presents. (Lots of crafty stuff, notebooks, and even a magic 8 ball!)

We toasted the birthday girl with milk and cookies (check out our martini glasses).

And the party favors were a "10" in my book.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Hope the rest of your birthday weekend is as wonderful as you are!

Last Weekend.....

2011-11-19T07:31:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we.....

...wore matching PJs to a mother/daughter pizza party.....

.....watched Cassidy perform in two piano festivals with two of her favorite people. They really impressed the judges!

..........watched Ben's indoor soccer game. He is having so much fun and learning a lot.

Even though this wasn't last weekend, it was still too cute not to share with a wider audience.....

and one more just because it is cute how Sam and Ellie like to shove celery in the poor guinea pig's mouth!

Simple

2011-11-15T08:34:00.001-07:00

Sometimes simple just works. (Then why do I always complicate things?)

Last night we had a simple dinner, and everyone loved it. A simple chicken casserole, pears, green beans, bread. Simple.

Then Ben did the lesson for FHE. Simple. Beautiful. Amazing. Stunned parents smiled at each other (as we dodged projectile Legos from Sam) over the person our oldest is becoming.

As part of his lesson, Ben shared the following poem he found in the November 2011 New Era. It's simple....and beautiful.... and amazing.....and it contains everything I want to remember and want to become:

Forgiveness

To forgive is not to forget.

To forgive is really to remember,
That nobody is perfect,

That each of us stumbles

When we want so much to stay upright,

That each of us says things we wish we had never said,

That we can all forget that love is more important than being right.

To forgive is really to remember,

That we are so much more than our mistakes,

That we are often more kind and caring than we think we are,

That accepting another’s flaws can help us accept our own.

To forgive is to remember,

That the odds are pretty good

that we might soon need to be forgiven ourselves,

That life gives us more than we can handle gracefully.

To forgive is to remember,

That we have room in our hearts to begin again,

And again,

And again.

—-Sydni Masoncup

November 2011 New Era

It seems like it should be so simple, this whole figuring-life-out thing, but it feels so complicated. Here's to more simple in my life, and in yours, too.

Funny

2011-11-05T09:06:00.001-06:00

Cass and I laughed and laughed. This is SO our family.

Soc.Her.

2011-11-03T11:26:00.000-06:00

Cassidy had an AMAZING soccer season playing with her beloved Fire Bombs under the direction of Coach Christensen. They won a ton of games and improved immensely. Cass thrives at defense on the field and really found her soccer moxie this year.

This super-quick throw-in led to a fast goal.

Battle!

Just stop looking so grown-up already, Miss Almost-10-year-old! Congrats Cass on a wonderful soccer season. We love your enthusiasm and determination on and off the field.

Soc.Him.

2011-11-03T10:42:00.001-06:00

Garrett had a wonderful season as the star tackle-forward for his soccer team the Silver Bullets. (Special, special thanks to Coach Mike for putting up with all of Garrett's tackles, tricks, and tumbles in this (usually) non-contact sport. Unless you're 7. And your name is Garrett).

Poor soccer ball. This looks personal.

One of the many things we love about G. He's just so grounded.

Garrett--we love your energy, excitement, blatant disobedience (well maybe not) and especially your smile. You got SKILZ, my friend, on and off the field.

Happy Halloween, Cowboy

2011-11-02T07:42:00.000-06:00

We had a rootin' tootin' good time with all of our Halloween festivities:

there were spiders....

and Frankensteins (36 to be exact---we did this craft at Cassidy's class party),

there were num-nums that even included a pumpkin casserole (rest assured Ben, it had no actual "pumpkin" in it) and breadstick "fingers" .

There was pumpkin carving galore....

(I'm sorry...who do you cheer for again?)

The ubiquitous tongue....in baseball, in soccer, in pumpkin carving.

(this was the first year Garrett carved two pumpkins all by himself without managing to incur any mortal wounds. That sentence is a little misleading---it's his first year carving pumpkins by himself, he's never actually had any major wounds, he just hasn't done it by himself before. Whew.)

The annual "blessing" of the pumpkins.....seriously G, what are you doing?

There were a few cowboys.....

who came home with LOTS of candy from their trick-or-treating rodeo:

Here, G and C teach S the fine art of "sibling candy trading". (AFTER of course, they pay the parent tax).

2011-10-21T14:50:00.001-06:00

We invited a few of G's friends over to celebrate the big day.

We (meaning Garrett) thought it would be fun to do a science experiment birthday party.

10 boys + 10 experiments = ~~MESS~~ FUN!

We made slime (and quicksand and magic potion).

We tested the laws of gravity and physics (turns out they're all true).

We also made lightning in our mouths (Wint-o-green life savers chomped in the dark) and exploded perfectly delicious bottles of diet coke, with the help of a few Mentos candies. I have to say the diet coke geysers were big hits, even if the complete waste of my favorite beverage nearly brought me to tears. It really was so ~~messy~~ much fun. We ended the afternoon by sending Garrett on a treasure hunt to find his presents followed by mountainous ice cream sundaes drowning in chocolate sauce.

We also had a celebratory dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe, our family's fave.

( I had to put this in here even though it is a terrible photo just so we can document the occasion)

Happy Bday G-Dawg!

Seven is Heaven

2011-10-19T08:18:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to the best 7 year old I know.

We love you Garrett!

Peachy

2011-10-09T13:30:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed tons of peaches from our tree this year.

I think maybe we have finally stopped itching all the peach fuzz away.

We took all of these.....and turned them into

49 quarts of peaches

12 quarts peach pie filling

4 dozen peach muffins

40 cups of frozen peach slices

Totally worth it, but I'm not sure if my kitchen floor will ever recover =)

Get REAL

2011-09-29T08:21:00.001-06:00

If you think this looks like a Daddy/Daughter date to the Real Salt Lake game, where a certain Dad and Daughter saw tons of sweeeeeet headers and 3 GOOOAAAAAALLLLS (albeit for the other team) and shared an extra-large bag of kettle corn---you would be correct.

(And he even remembered to take a picture! What a guy!)

Silver Lake

2011-09-10T09:01:00.004-06:00

We headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon on sunny, warm Labor Day for a picnic and some gallivanting through the forest. We arrived just in time to have the heavens open and dump rain on us while the temperature plummeted and we scratched our heads as to why none of us thought to bring jackets. (Usually, I am like the jacket Nazi, but three months of summer has made me be a little bit soft.) But since good things always come to those who wait (and those who have the biggest line of credit on their Visa), we ate our picnic in the car (the crumbs everywhere were killing me) and about the time we finished, the storm had passed and we were treated to the beautiful smells and sights of the mountains after a rainstorm.

(the crumb-makers)

(more crumb-makers)

Silver Lake

Super-cutie, whose cuteness diminished incrementally as we walked around the lake and he decided, when we were quite on the opposite side of the lake, that he was going to CRAWL back to the car and no amount of coaxing could get him to stand up.

(He was still walking at this point, and evidently climbing)

Sometimes I wonder if we lived in the forest with its endless rocks, logs, sticks and lakes to be explored---would the children eventually tire of this natural playground?

Note to self--- If you're not going to strategically place one of your children in front of you in the picture to hide your belly, then please remember to at least SUCK IN your muffin-top before posing for said picture.

It's always fun when Dad gets the camera....(when Mom lets him)

And just at this moment.....my nefarious mind began plotting......I had oreos in the car (the bribe), I had beautiful scenery aplenty (the background), I had my camera (the evil equipment), and I had my subjects (victims): It was time for a (coerced) family portrait:

not good--fake smiles and no smiles

better...

BEST!

P.S. Lest you think our gallivanting-through-the-rain-soaked-forest and our crumb-filled-picnic-in-the-car was a waste, we did learn some sage advice that day, left by some unseen stranger kind enough to carve his mantra into the side of the boat dock:

Sam---this one's for you!

Farmer Kelly

2011-09-01T17:23:00.003-06:00

Good things come to those who wait....

and plant

and weed

and hoe

and replant

and water

and weed some more

Dear B, C, and G....

2011-08-23T09:09:00.000-06:00

Dearest Children,

Thank you for a wonderful summer. I will miss your sleepy faces at the breakfast table at 9:30 every morning. I will miss having you home for lunch, having the house filled with your friends, and staying up late every night. I will miss our popsicle snack each afternoon and the popsicle drips on the kitchen floor. I will mostly just miss you---having you here and hanging out with you each day. I will miss your whining about jobs, your tattling and fighting. I will miss nagging you to get your jobs done! I will miss telling you 78 times each day to CLOSE THE DOOR WE ARE NOT AIR CONDITIONING THE ENTIRE GALAXY and other sundry phrases that you, in turn, will use with you children. I will miss dousing you in sunscreen, driving to swim lessons, packing you for scout camp, and spending 160 hours with you on vacation. I will miss begging you to be in photos and nagging you to take a shower at least once a week. Even though you make me Crazy with a capitol C in so many ways and I feel like the most inadequate person in the entire air-conditioned galaxy to be your parent, you mean the world to me and if I could have picked any 4 children out there I would have chosen you, my 4 popsicle-dripping, sibling-fighting, problem-causing mess-making children that somehow I was lucky enough to get in the first place.

Have a great school year. I know you will.

Love,
Mom

7-4-1

2011-08-23T08:53:00.001-06:00

7th

1st, 4th

3rd, 6th

Kindergarten

1st, 4th

Kindergarten

AF Canyon

2011-08-19T17:39:00.000-06:00

No summer is complete without a cookout in the canyon, or as the kids call it, "Mom bribing us with hot dogs and marshmallows JUST so she can take pictures." Me? Would I do that?

(Evidently my fingers were too sticky from the giant marshmallows we roasted to take any pictures of said marshmallows.)

Painted Faces

2011-08-19T17:31:00.000-06:00

We spent a lot of our summer painting faces. And by "we" I mean Cassidy and her adorable friends spent a lot of time rounding up poor neighborhood victims or sometimes poor brothers and subjecting them to their artistic skills.

There was also a very yummy (and very lucrative) bake sale.

There were some fun backyard BBQs and fun craft projects.

And there were LOTS of blurry pictures that were almost very cute.

Splash

2011-08-19T17:24:00.000-06:00

We spent a lot of our summer getting wet. We were delighted to discover the new reservoir in Pleasant Grove. The water is one degree warmer than the arctic ocean but hey, there was sand and beautiful scenery and if you closed your eyes for just a moment you could (almost) picture yourself at the beach:

Bonus! There was mud.

A few more splashes:

(We spent a lot of our summer eating popsicles, too.)

Wild Animal Park

2011-08-01T08:58:00.002-06:00

We spent one day in SD at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, formerly known as the Wild Animal Park. This place is spread over like 10,000 acres and we walked through most if it.

The children took quite a few pictures of the animals.

I took pictures of some of my favorite animals.

The carousel was a big hit, and we loved having Aunt Melissa join us for the day.

Cabrillo

2011-08-01T08:57:00.002-06:00

On the last day of our trip, Grandpa Joe and Aunt Melissa joined us, and we spent a beautiful day at Cabrillo Beach and La Jolla.

The views at Cabrillo are amazing. We loved finding shells and sea creatures, including this giant lobster shell:

Sam would have been content for HOURS to just throw rocks into the water (sorry, fish).

After lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, we headed north to La Jolla, an upscale beach town that is home to UCSD and the LDS temple. Let's just say that parallel parking our Suburban there was a fun experience! But the beaches and coves made it totally worth it.

Two words: SELF PORTRAIT! Seriously, you should be thanking me that I refrained from posting ALL the pictures the kids took. But if I had, here would be some of my post titles:

The pigeon, the squirrel, and some dirt.

Bushes and their leaves

Up a nostril and then some

Uninteresting strangers in a crowd

Parking lots and the cars who inhabit them

Hotel California

2011-07-31T16:31:00.022-06:00

King children LOVE staying in hotels (don't all children?). They are fascinated with the maid service, they love looking through all the drawers and closets, they are overjoyed with the free breakfast, and they squeal in delight at the sight of the swimming pool:

And my favorite.....

For the record, Ben played one of the carnival-style games at the midway in Sea World and WON this cute Sea World bear for his brother. For $5 you get two tries to make an almost impossible basketball shot and if it goes in you win. Let's just say Ben's got some skillz......
The little lion lying on top of Sam was a treasure we got at the Wild Animal Park. Evidently we must collect stuffed animals wherever we go...

And one more random picture, because I only took this one:

We spent one fabulous evening in Old Town San Diego at the Mormon Battallion Visitors Center . If you have never been there, I cannot say enough wonderful things about this place! In the last year or so they have totally redone the entire building to be a sort of museum showcasing the Mormon Battallion and the amazing efforts of these early pioneers. They have this awesome interactive media presentation they do, and at one point they chose GARRETT to play the part of soldier and when they brought out this big gun for him to hold he could barely contain himself. It was such a moving, inspirational evening that all of us enjoyed. Promise me you'll go if you are ever in the area!

USS Midway

2011-07-31T16:23:00.006-06:00

One of the most memorable things we did in SD was to visit the USS Midway, a retired Airforce Carrier that was used in active duty from 1946 through the Gulf War. The entire tour was AMAZING! I wish I could remember all the cool facts they rattled off, but what the kids enjoyed the most were seeing the sailors' quarters, climbing in and out of all the fighter planes and helicopters, and seeing the inside workings of this enormous ship. The gas tank of this ship holds 3 MILLION gallons! It was so amazing:

Inside the 'brig"...(can we get one of these installed in our basement?)

trying to reel in the enormous anchors..

getting our "pre-flight" briefing...

ready to fly!

Inside a rescue helicopter used in the liberation of Kuwait.

The view of the San Diego Bay, from the USS Midway. In the distance you can see the Coronado Bay Bridge.

Coronado

2011-07-31T16:12:00.004-06:00

I love this picture. One day in SD we drove over to Coronado Beach, a favorite of ours. The best part is driving over the Coronado Bay Bridge to get there. We had wonderful beach fun, digging, building, finding, eating sand (among other things) and people watching (probably only me on that one).

Sea World

2011-07-31T16:04:00.013-06:00

We enjoyed a few wonderful days at Sea World San Diego. Here, the highlights:

Since we spent a lot of time waiting for shows to begin, Garrett amused himself by playing photographer with my camera. Note to the lady sitting in front of us in the Shamu show: a deep conditioner and some hair product would really go a long ways.

We saw Shamu....

and the penguins.....

and these strange creatures.

We gazed at the sea turtles,

played keep-away with the dolphins,

laughed at the sea lions (or is it seals? I can't remember),

and crashed at the end of the day.

We rode rides,

stopped for ice cream,

and had a few meltdowns.

We got soaked on Journey to Atlantis,

and spent some quality time with Star Fish.

We love Sea World! We had perfect weather and made some fun memories, including one we will never forget: How Garrett got lost after the Sea Lion Show and how it took 15 minutes to find him. I think for all of us it was the longest 15 minutes of our lives! Our family was reminded that day of the tender mercies of the Lord, and how He so carefully watches over us and hears and answers our prayers.

4th of July

2011-07-21T08:12:00.001-06:00

There's nothing like posting 4th of July pictures on the 21st of July. I'm so on top of things, and organized, too!

We celebrated the 4th with a backyard BBQ including family, food, fun, and crafts (is there a word for crafts that begins with an f? It kind of ruined my alliteration). I like this picture of Cass and my mom. We are so lucky to have grandparents who live close by and we get to see often.

Nothing but healthy snacks and veggies at our house...

Ooooh....there are so many tempting captions for this pic, here are a few of my faves:

Like father like son

(Okay, like mother like son)

Diet caffeine free mountain dew: it's not just for breakfast anymore

To report child abuse of any kind, please call Family Services at 1-800-stop-giving-your-toddler-soda

(look closely for the Cheeto dust on Garrett's mouth)

It is official---we now own every single t-shirt in the world that uses the word "King" on it. It is so cheesy and I love them all and only wish they came in bigger sizes for me! The one pictured above says "King of the Court".

We did some fun crafts. They involved paint. Sam thought it would be fun to paint my mom's dog, so he did, but I forgot to get a picture. I don't think Garrett painted any animals, though.

We did sparklers,

expressed gratitude for our freedom,

tossed water balloons,

and tried to take the perfect slide picture.

We ended the night by going to Thanksgiving Point for fireworks and a few mosquito bites. They didn't disappoint.

Turn-it-off-Tuesday

2011-06-30T08:41:00.000-06:00

Parenting is kind of like cooking. You try tons and tons of new recipes, in search of that perfect dish---you know the one--that has only a few ingredients, is quick and simple to prepare, yet yields great results. (It's a myth by the way, in both parenting and cooking. Sigh.)

This summer, among other programs, we have implemented "Turn-it-off Tuesday", wherein we as a family have a day without video games (that's been rough for me), TV or movies, ipods or ipads, or computers. There's been some grumbling, quite a few "I might die of boredom soon" speeches, but there's also been a lot of cooperation, for which I am grateful. But mostly I'm grateful for children who are always willing (albeit sometimes grumbling) to let me try out new "recipes" on them, in hopes that I get this parenting gig right one day.

So what do we do in the summertime when we're not scrambling to find something to do that doesn't involve a screen? Take a look:

Yuba Lake

Thanksgiving Point

Swim Lessons

Garrett and his new career in fencing

the splash park

Of course, there are also lots of days spent at home, and those are fun too!

Happy Dad's Day and a few other items.....

2011-06-19T16:01:00.002-06:00

Part 1: Happy Father's Day, Rich. Thanks for being an amazing Dad.

Part 2: DID HE CATCH IT? And what's with the tongue?

and the tongue again...

and again.....

and fence climbing. It's an essential part of spending lots of time in a dugout.

Part 3: Can you ever really have too many pictures of your two-year old? He's good company at all the baseball games.

Part 4: A day at the park with friends....

Part 5: Other things we did this week that I want to remember but we did not take pictures of:

rode our bikes to the library, checked out books, rode home (the hill was fun)
Ben got a fun new appliance in his mouth (Herbst) that totally changes the way he eats, talks, etc. He only has to wear it for a year
bought a new car (well, new to us, but not actually new)
R and I went to our second dance class, learned the Texas Two-Step (we're still really bad)
G went to his second fencing class, got to use the foil (sword) and wear protective gear (squeal!)
R, B, and G had a fab time at Father-and-Sons
Me,C, and S had fun cleaning the church
Then of course there was the laundry, clutter pick-up, dinner every single day (sigh), breaking-up-sibling-fights, tattle-mediation, a sprinkling of baseball games and probably a few other things I'm forgetting (because raising children sucks your brains cells right out of you).

June-evening Mind Dump

2011-06-09T22:55:00.001-06:00

Rich and I are taking a country dancing class. A few items to note regarding said class: Rich is a really good dancer (who knew?) and I am being completely honest when I tell you I am the worst one in the class. I am also being completely honest when I tell you that country dancing is the most fun I have had in......maybe forever. Even though I am really bad at it. I hope there is hope for me. I watched instructional videos today on youtube so I can be better before our next class. I call it my homework. We did line dancing and partner dancing. I taught Cass the line dance and she was thrilled. We danced it like a million times today.

Summer is here--well, at least the children are out of school. This week I have enjoyed roller blading with Garrett, flying a kite with Cassidy, and playing tennis with all of them. I have not enjoyed having to make lunch for all of them. I'm sorry kids that our home menu does not include "a cookie and your choice of white or chocolate milk" each and every day, nor do we have sporks, so buck up and get used to it. I can try and order in some of those little ketchup packets if it makes you feel better.

We are trying to do a morning devotional each day at 9am, before we have family prayer. One of my children (who shall remain nameless) told me that "devotional" was a funny word and we needed to call it something else. So now each morning I invite the children at 9am to "that thing we used to call a devotional." My neighbor told me I could call it a "morning-side." What I really want to do is yell at the children to get their butts in the living room for scripture and prayer but that kind of ruins the spirit of the whole thing so I maybe I'll use morning-side....

I cannot keep my house clean. That same force that literally sucks the money out of your wallet as you enter a Costco is wreaking havoc in our home. At this very moment on my kitchen counter (where we sometimes eat and frequently prepare food) there is a bottle of nail polish, a bottle of Advil, an apple core, a potato masher, 4 cans of tuna, a gumball machine, a plant, a tub of butter, scraps of paper that Sam tore up, and a half-eaten package of Ritz crackers. My kitchen could be re-named "the sticky shoe", only we are not showing movies or selling pop corn (but you could probably find some popcorn in the far recesses of the microwave or on the floor).

I love having my kids home. They are fun and funny. I'm re-reading a favorite parenting book of mine and I am reminded that:

my kids make lot of mistakes, and that is ok
there is not just ONE way to be a perfect parent, but there are THOUSANDS of ways to be a really great parent every day
all of us--parents and kids--are trying our best
keep it small. keep it simple. give it time.
my cat Tyler snores (okay that wasn't in the book, I am just listening to him snore as I type this)
children are actually listening to you even when they act like they are not
traditions and routines are important to children
my children really want to please me and make me happy
it's ok that our family is not perfect (I mean, we're close, but we're not there yet)

I should really go to bed now, but instead, I will probably read my book a little longer and then be super tired in the morning. Oh well, at least with the Ritz crackers and tub of butter on the counter I won't have to worry about making breakfast!

Lost

2011-06-07T07:16:00.002-06:00

BIG day at our house---first lost tooth.

Happy Birthday Rich

2011-06-06T22:22:00.000-06:00

Another year older and wiser too.

Happy Birthday, love.

(Just picture in your mind this really cool photo of Rich on his birthday, surrounded by his loving children, his expertly decorated cake in front of him and a pile of presents beside him. Just imagine it, because as it turned out his birthday was on fast Sunday and it ended up being a crazy day and I didn't take the pictures I wanted and so the one pic I did take is not really that great so I'm not posting it.)

Happy Birthday to the greatest guy I know, a rich king at that.

I hope they call me on a mission...

2011-06-06T22:16:00.000-06:00

It was our great pleasure to host the missionaries for dinner recently.

It's hard to believe that in not-so-many years another family somewhere will be hosting our missionary son at their house for dinner. Fortunately I still have those not-so-many years left to teach meal-time manners and re-visit the topic of why burping contests at the table are generally considered taboo in most parts of the world.

The best part of feeding the missionaries? The post-dinner basketball game:

Even though they had many inches on Ben, Ben's got some skills (if a mother's allowed to brag a little bit) and he held his own.

Thanks Elders, and thanks future Elder King. You being a great missionary is a slam dunk.

End of School Pizza Party

2011-06-06T22:03:00.000-06:00

To celebrate the end of ~~carpool~~ school, we gathered a few friends, a few slices of pizza, some ice cream and soda (nothing but healthy, organic foods over here) and enjoyed the sunshine in our backyard.

Either this kid really likes the ice cream or he is super excited about his future membership in the NRA.

This kid really did like the ice cream, and I know for certain he is super excited about his future membership in the NRA.

Last Day of School

2011-06-06T21:57:00.000-06:00

I've heard tell that sometimes, in some families, on the last day of school, you might really want to take a picture of all of your children heading off to their last day of school--IT MIGHT EVEN BE THEIR LAST DAY OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EVER--and then sometimes, in other families of course, there might be a big argument about how someone eats their oatmeal loudly or how someone is always in someone else's face etc, and so it ends up that certain people are MAD and POUTY and refuse to be in the cute family picture that mom-photographer had dreamed about for 12 years. That would never happen in our family, but sadly, I've heard it does happen in other people's family. I'm happy to report that my children are practically perfect in every way, so we never have contention in our home. Cough cough.

(Thank you and extra Christmas presents to Cassidy for being in said picture when said brothers chose not to.)

Dance Festival

2011-06-06T21:50:00.000-06:00

Such a fun tradition, the end-of-the-year Dance Festival at Freedom Elementary. As usual, I picked the perfect spectator spot to snap great pics:

I'm glad he was able to sense the zoom lens across the field and make that precious face while dancing the Hukilau

Surfin' USA for Cass

Not enough zoom, but you get the picture. Squint your eyes. The boy in the gray shirt, kind of in the middle, getting his grove on---that would be Ben.

(Everything they know about dancing they learned from their mom. )

Baseball, and pictures I take at baseball games

2011-05-29T22:49:00.000-06:00

Garrett has had a great time this year, playing baseball for the first time. His team is the Giants. They have lost every single game. Garrett has no idea how to play. He can't catch, but he throws a little heat and fortunately, his ninja warrior skills have come in handy and he can hit anything pitched to him, even baseballs.

The thing I love most about Garrett is his enthusiasm. He doesn't care that his team is the worst in its division, he is just excited to play. He loves his uniform. He loves his cleats. He loves that his baseball socks are bright orange. He loves to kick the dirt in the infield. He loves to play catcher. He loves to throw his hat up in the air and try to catch it And he loves working the camera, as is evidenced in the above shot. I am so glad we have Garrett. He makes me smile every single day. I want to be like him when I grow up.

One more pose, just 'cause he's so cute and the kid above him is cracking me up.

Since he plays two games a week, we spend a lot of time at the ball field. Which would be fun and all, if we didn't live in the rainiest, coldest part of the country. Sometimes at baseball games we do this:

But mostly we just laugh and smile and cheer for our G-Dawg.

Graduations

2011-05-29T22:28:00.000-06:00

We had a certain 6 year old graduate from kindergarten....

(I know this is a terrible picture, I just wanted to remember that he said his part so perfectly in the microphone)

and a certain 12 year old graduate from sixth grade.

One of them enjoys his picture being taken....

and one of them does not:

These are literally the only ones he let me take. Oh and the one of his teacher:

Pictures or not (although I definitely prefer pictures), we are so proud of our graduating boys this year. Kudos also to their wonderful teachers, Mrs. Nancy Williams and Mr. William Shumaker, for ~~putting up with~~ teaching G and B this year. Sadly, there is no 3rd grade graduation. But wait! There was a 3rd grade recorder concert:

They were actually quite good!

And one more for the road, just to prove that yes, I did actually spend every waking minute of my week last week at the school. And I loved it all. And I am sad that this is the last and only year that B,C, and G will all be at school together. (Why am I starting every sentence with and?)

Rock n Roll is Here to Stay!

2011-05-29T22:02:00.000-06:00

Cassidy has been a member of the Lehi Children's Choir for 5 years now. It has been a really fun opportunity for her to get outside of her comfort zone (she'd rather not be on stage) and gain a love for singing.

This year was her first year in the "older" choir, and for the spring musical they presented

Rock n Roll is Here to Stay!

All of the cast members played the role of some famous rocker. Cassidy was Bjork. We had never heard of her either, but we made the best of it and had fun coming up with a costume.

The choir (and Cass) did an AMAZING job with the entire performance. It was sooo much fun to watch them sing and dance and have a great time. Cassidy has really loved being in choir with our great friends Kaylee and Kandice (and Taylor and Emily) and others.

At the end of the night Cassidy received her trophy for her many years in the choir:

Great job Cassidy!

Jedi Soccer

2011-05-24T07:11:00.001-06:00

Are there any young, brave padawans out there, with extensive knowledge of the force, willing to fight on field against that evil soccer ball and kick it into place? Garrett--you are the chosen one.

You must use all of your Jedi training to overpower the players from the dark side....

You must not let your feeble mind succumb to their wicked ways!

It also helps to kick the ball....

listen to your coach.....

and run like a giant Tauntaun from Hoth is chasing you.

It's a little sad that your Jedi ways require humility and nobleness in front of a camera, though.

(Yes, I'm talking to you)

Thanks for a great season, number 5.

Miss me?

2011-05-24T06:53:00.000-06:00

Hopefully you at least missed this guy....

Women's Conference Recap

2011-05-01T21:52:00.000-06:00

It's Sunday night. The house is a disaster zone. This happens.

Dinner was high effort, mediocre results. This happens.

R is gone. For the week. This happens too.

This week as a single parent I have 2 soccer games, two baseball games, one LCC rehearsal, one orthodontist appointment, one activity days, 7 piano lessons, 1 guitar lesson, one Relief Society meeting, one primary meeting, teacher appreciation week, Stake temple week, and one playgroup at my house. Plus I have to make dinner. More than once.

But....

I am just recently returned from two FABULOUS days at BYU Women's Conference with FABULOUS friends (Love you guys!). The entire conference was very inspiring, even if I did come home with a list of 783 things that I need to implement in my life, like, yesterday. Here now, for your reading pleasure, is the list....

JUST KIDDING! But I did want to share a few wonderful nuggets---quotes and such--- with you:

Keep it small. Keep it simple. Give it time. (by far my favorite advice ever)

We need God. If our troubles take us to God, we can be thankful for them.

Ideals are stars to steer by, not sticks to beat ourselves with.

The only person I need to be better than is the person I was yesterday.

It is part of the plan that we are required to make decisions almost constantly. Do the best you can, and depend on the Lord to make up the difference.

The Lord can miraculously multiply our offerings. Ask Him to.

When we do our level best, we experience peace.

Prayer is the key to feeling the approval of the Lord.

Welcome the task that takes you beyond yourself.

There are hands I cannot hold and hearts I cannot comfort, but let me love and teach those who do come within my reach.

With strong faith the Lord can help us and heal us and change us.

Gratitude combats discouragement.

Be grateful for the giver, not just the gift.

You won't have the things you want until you learn to be thankful for the things you have.

Wanting less is a better thing than having more.

Make memories, don't collect things.

God is very aware of our private challenges.

Truly, I was completely inspired in every way to be so much better. I have so much to work on. Good thing tomorrow is Monday, when every good program for improvement begins. Now I just have to remind myself of what Elder Bednar said: "Measured steadiness is more effective than spurting and slacking." Slow and steady wins the race, even if your list is 783 items long......

Easter

2011-04-25T14:21:00.001-06:00

There were Easter "buskets" (basket + bucket).......

and dyed Easter eggs.....(and a dyed t-shirt)

and bunny cakes....

and lots and lots of hunting eggs, Easter smiles, picture taking, gifts from Grandparents, and Easter smiles...

(this is as close to a smile as we get with this one)

Of course, Easter is about more than eggs and buskets....

What a beautiful Easter Sunday to think about and be grateful for the life, death, and resurrection of the Savior.

Leland

2011-04-18T14:52:00.000-06:00

Some people go to Hawaii or California for spring break, while others go to Moab or Zion. But not us,noooo---we head to LELAND,UTAH......

To give you more information than you probably wanted, my children's great-great-grandparents owned a large farm in Leland (think Spanish Fork). The land was handed down and divided among their 5 living children, one of whom was my mother-in-law's mother. Blanche and her husband worked hard and turned the land into a little recreation spot for their family, complete with a scenic pond, park area, small cabin, and orchard. It was quite a picturesque spot in its heyday, but as years have passed and generations have passed away, its not quite as beautiful as it once was.

Still...B,C,G,S, and I had a wonderful, adventurous time exploring the area, taking pictures, and climbing on old rusted farm equipment. We also had a lovely visit with Alan and Marilyn, my mother-in-law's aunt and uncle, who still live on the property.

The "cabin". Rich remembers spending a night here (by himself!) when he was a child.

The best part about the cabin? Climbing over and under weeds and vines, opening a rusty gate and nearly falling through the dilapidated porch. Move over, Indiana Jones...

The inside of the cabin. There are still sheets on the bed, and some decorations on the walls from Great-Grandma Blanche.

Another view of the cabin.Now for the pond...

Anyone for a swim? Oh, but can't you picture it in earlier years? They use to keep a little boat here.

Almost as good as Disneyland...a rickety old board to cross to get to the cabin.

Trying to get the rusted locked gate to open....

Our gracious hosts...these would be my children's great-aunt and great-uncle. I think. In any event, they served us deliciously warm apple pie alongside vanilla ice cream. Combine that treat along with rusty farm equipment, acres of open space and a spooky old cabin and Garrett was ready to move in.

The boys were fascinated with this car. It belonged to my mother-in-law's grandfather, so my children's great-great-grandpa. AND, it a had a real bullet hole in the window.

Now for the montage of my children sitting on tractors....

I love going to new places, even if it's just at the south end of the valley. But I especially love going to places with history, even if it's an old pond and cabin. The kids are always making fun of me because on any road trip we take I always want to stop at each and every "historical marker" or historic cemetery along the way. Sorry kids. I guess I will put up with your fighting-tattling-whining-antagonizing ways and you will put up with a few run-down cemeteries. You are sooo getting the better end of this deal.....

Still Alive

2011-04-12T20:07:00.000-06:00

Still alive and kicking....but a little slacking in the blog department. Instead of blogging I've been...

enjoying immensely the lack-of-schedule during spring break.
listening repeatedly to the Tangled soundtrack with Garrett and Cass, and singing along
watching Tangled repeatedly and wondering when I will stop tearing up during the lantern scene, and again at the end when she is reunited with her parents
doubling the size of my garden, digging up the sod myself
running errands---haircuts, library, grocery store, orthodontist
slurping pina-colada slurpies with B/C/G/S
reading good books on my Kindle
riding the carousel at Trafalga with Sam. repeatedly.
trying to find some exciting plans for spring break so that when people ask me (or the kids) what we did during spring break we can say something exciting. So far I got nothing.
stalking other people's blogs, seeing all the cute things that other people make and exciting places other people go.
wishing the weather was warm and sunny
enjoying having the kids home for a week

On this last day of March I'm thinking about....

2011-03-31T07:54:00.000-06:00

....General Conference, and how excited I am to watch and listen this weekend. I've been busy making packets from here, and my goal this year is to have everything set out and ready by Friday night. I'm planning my menu and doing my shopping early, and we even made this adorable GC craft for FHE. If you need my recipe for Conference Rolls, email me....

...Spa day, at my house a few weeks ago, when we were lucky enough to have 4 extra (wonderful) children spend the weekend with us. With my own kids it evened up the scored at 4 boys, 4 girls---but as you can see even the boys participated in the spa in Cassidy's bedroom. I had a massage, my make-up and hair done, and a mani. Even Sam got his make-up done---"Asian Style", the girls informed me:

---other random thoughts, this last day of March:

I'm anxiously anticipating Spring and warmer temps

I'm excited to garden

I'm amazed at how fast the school year has gone

I'm overwhelmed in so many areas of life

I'm wishing we were going somewhere exciting for Spring Break

I'm looking for my next great read

I'm hoping to accomplish so much more than I do

I'm wanting to redecorate (decorate) my entire house

I'm smiling at the prospect of soccer season

I'm needing to go shopping for a day, a week, maybe a month (purely for therapeutic reasons, and to stimulate the economy)

I'm happy, worried, content, stressed---but right now needed (and loved) by a two year old who needs his oatmeal.

The new man of our house

2011-03-19T21:41:00.000-06:00

So we celebrated Ben's 12th birthday last week. (gulp)

He's registering for junior high this week. (double gulp)

He went camping with his scout troop on Friday and......had a fabulous time. (smile)

Last Sunday he received the Priesthood and his Dad ordained him a deacon, and tomorrow he will pass the sacrament for the first time. (gulp.smile.gulp.)

I'm happy....I'm sad....I guess that makes me sappy (definitely). Mostly I'm excited for him and the great young man he is becoming. Here now, some highlights of birthday week:

Imagine the fun that Garrett and Sam and I had wrapping this gift. We wanted to make sure that Ben would never guess what it was....

but that Ben is so sharp he guessed it anyway.

It's tradition---we celebrate Ben and Grandma's birthdays at Olive Garden in Provo. (Grandma turned 70 this year, which I think is really cool)

Birthdays are so much more fun when your mom takes you and your friends to the movies, and you get to take your brand new ipod touch with you, which you are pretty sure is THE coolest thing you will own in your entire life. Period.

It's tough to be the newest person in the deacon's quorum, going on your first camp-out with new leaders, knowing none of your close friends will be there because they haven't turned 12 yet. It's tough to make sure you have all the right gear and didn't forget anything. It's tough wearing a new uniform (that's too big) instead of basketball shorts and tshirt. It's tough when your mom wants to take your picture every blessed minute of your life.....But you did it anyway. So proud, Ben.

P.S. Does he look like he's heading off to the Marines or something? It was just an overnighter!

Lucky

2011-03-17T15:51:00.000-06:00

by Garrett, age 6

twelve

2011-03-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, firstborn.

We love you!

My Favorite Time of Day

2011-03-09T08:03:00.001-07:00

Do you have a favorite time of day? I'll share a few of mine...

6:30am

The house is quiet, and I am the only one awake. This is my time to read scriptures, pray, think, and try to plan my day. I love sitting in my quiet house, listening to the faint but joyous sounds of sleeping kids, the start of the shower indicating Rich is up, and the cats scratching at the back door, asking to come in. Soon the sounds change---and sleepy faces then appear in the kitchen, needing hair combed, breakfast made, shoes found, and eventually, a ride to school. But for that one half-hour, I bask in the silence of the house that is all mine.

12:17pm, approximately:

An exuberant, red-cheeked six year old bounds through the front door, full of stories and questions from his 3 hours of kindergarten. Mom, what do Polar Bears eat? and Why is the E silent in some words? pour from his mouth. I love hearing about Naomi's birthday and the fruit snacks she brought to share, and how his new friend Ethan and him have made plans to become police officers together someday. I love to see his excitement on library day (Tuesday), when he gets to choose a new book to bring home and he reminds me how to correctly turn the pages and treat the book carefully, just as the librarian instructed him. I love how he can't sit still when he eats his tuna sandwich (a favorite of his) but always leaves the crust. I love to be around his happy, excited little self, and secretly hope some of that exuberance will rub off on me. Maybe I need to learn some more about Polar Bears...

2:30pm

Ben and Cass come through the door, full of details about their day: Science and math tests, friends who were kind and those who were not, a new seating arrangement in the classroom, a cold slimy lunch in the cafeteria, and somebody's (no names mentioned, to protect the innocent) 3-pointers made during recess. Of course, this time also includes some squabbling, some friendly and not-so-friendly jabbing and tattling, but soon they are off again, playing with friends, and so I cherish those moments when they share their day with me.

8:00pm

I'm in a rocking chair, snuggling with a 2 year old who is clutching a beloved blanket with one hand and sucking his thumb with the other. I have drawn the line at reading two books, but as usual, he has talked me into reading many, many more. We read about a certain Sam-I-Am, about Pigs and Pancakes and Wockets in Pockets. We say Goodnight,Moon and and listen to Mr. Brown Moo (Can you?). Then we go through the ritual----kneeling beside his new car bed to pray, tucking him in with Mouse and George (stuffed animals), kissing Mouse and George (and Sam), laying the blanket just so, and then playing the turn off/turn on light game for a few minutes. He always asks for a drink, and I always tell him I'll get him milk in the morning. I open and close his door a few times, as he calls "mom!" and has to tell me one more thing. And then finally, he is quiet. I wonder if he ever knows I sneak in to check on him several hours later to make sure he is covered up? I wonder what age my children will be before I will stop checking on all of them before I go to sleep myself?

9:30pm, give or take

Rich and I are sitting on our perspective couches, he with his laptop or ipad, me with my laptop or Kindle. Faintly the TV is heard in the background, though we are not watching anything. This is a favorite time of mine, when I pour out the days menial events to a thoughtful, concerned husband who listens patiently as I complain, explain and expound on the joys and frustrations of stay-at-home-mom-ness. We talk in-depth about the kids, local events, and usually we even get around to politics. I hear about his favorite (not) client who drives him batty, he hears about the great deals I picked up at Target (and seems genuinely interested). We talk about schedules, more about the kids, worry about finances, and look forward to our next date. All too soon we've stayed up later than we should but as we trudge off to bed we are decidedly content that we have each other to share it all with.

And then all too soon that blasted alarm clock is screaming for my attention. Definitely NOT a favorite time of day.......

Happy March

2011-03-01T15:58:00.001-07:00

Was it just me and the cats, or were any of you THRILLED that today was the first day of March, and that it was warm and sunny? Even though I know we're not out of the winter-woods yet, March feels sooo far from January and February that it at least gives me HOPE that it will not be cold forever. After all, I'M JUST A SUMMER GIRL...

It's been interesting around here lately. Last week....

---Ben got braces (he is really mad at me that I posted his picture so don't even think of looking at his braces or saying you saw his pic on my blog)

---Ben got his first suit from Mr. Mac

--We took down this

and put up this instead

and now we are selling our crib and how should/do I feel about that?

---We also played a lot in the snow

--and ate some snow

(please say it wasn't yellow)

and now we are in March anxiously awaiting a certain 11 year old's upcoming birthday (only 9 days).

---and one more thing:

we played in boxes. Love the cat's expression.

BRACE Yourselves.....

2011-02-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

Ice Castles

2011-02-22T14:14:00.000-07:00

President's Day was a BEAUTIFUL day for a drive up to Midway to see these Ice Castles. That would be the Abominable Snowman's hand in the back ground (aka our good friend Larry). Because our children always have such great attitudes and behaviors, Rich has resorted to the "appropriate use of weapons" in raising our children, hence the stick. If anyone from Children's Services is reading this, the aforementioned sentence is what we call SARCASM and holds no truth to real or imagined events.Yet.

The Ice Castles are man-made structures that are really quite impressive. There are signs everywhere PROHIBITING the breaking off of icicles and a variety of other activities that any six-year-old would be unable to resist.

I love that even at a young age children know how to give the "Mom-do-you-really-have-to-take-my-picture-now" look. I don't think Sam was too impressed with the Ice Castles. This might be due to the fact that he refused to wear his gloves and was soon unable to feel his fingers.Or it could be because he is two, and most things don't impress him.

I think perhaps Superman used to live here...

but for now it's Super-kids.

Snow Beautiful

2011-02-15T19:51:00.001-07:00

It was snow beautiful in American Fork Canyon on Saturday.

(Evidently that opinion was not shared by all)

(Can I also just say how much I hate my smile parentheses? I swear I look just like the Grinch sometimes---think the little green guy from the 1965 cartoon, not Jim Carey)

There was a great sledding hill....

and AWESOME snow caves (about 10 of them) built by some snow geniuses somewhere. (Okay, they were probably just scouts, but these snow caves were AMAZING!)

Snow joy!

Snow toleration. (let's just say Ben doesn't love the snow...)

Snow buddies.

Snow Dad.

Snow cute!

When the snow blows sideways

2011-02-08T07:08:00.000-07:00

What should you do when your backyard looks like this?

Go swimming at the Legacy Center! (too bad you can't see Sam's swim shorts and snow boots)

P.S. And for no extra charge, the power kept going out while we were swimming---spoooooooky!

San Francisco

2011-02-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

Rich and I escaped for a few days to chilly, rainy, BEAUTIFUL San Francisco. Some observations from a temporarily childless Utahn on vacay with her husband in SF:

arriving at the airport two hours early and waiting through endless security lines to board your flight is actually fun when you don't have your offspring with you
never mind what it costs in the airport to buy a bottle of Dasani and a box of Junior Mints---it feels so classy and so un-stay-at-home-momish that you will do it anyway
Have I mentioned that I got a Kindle for Christmas and I love love love it? Tres chic on the airplane. The young stylish college student next to me also had one. We bonded.

Eating at Bette's Ocean View diner in Berkeley is really fun. I had a really hot date (who planned the whole trip--love him)
If you think you will leave Utah in January to escape the cold weather, you might be mistaken:

(cold, foggy, and windy! Did that stop us? Noooo)

If you love to shop or just window shop, SF is the place to be:

(a five-story Gap!)

the Golden Gate bridge is amazing, especially sailing underneath it

The Point Reyes Lighthouse is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The look on my face when the stranger snapped the shot? Not so much. The views from the Lighthouse? Much better than my face.....

(fyi, there are 300 steps back up from the lighthouse, which is equivalent to walking up a 30 story building)

Big cities are exciting, but I would take small-town Utah anyday (this coming from a Los Angeles girl!)

I think I did a pretty good job of trying to blend in and look like a local. The neon pink hoodie with "San Francisco" emblazoned across the front and the ever-present camera on my shoulder really helped with that

(Muir Beach, north of SF)

My favorite part of the trip? Driving HWY 1 north of San Francisco through tons of small, quaint towns surrounded by the Pacific on one side and towering Redwoods on the other. Rich is so good to me---he stops at every historical marker we pass (something you can't do easily with kidlets) and lets me take my time perusing old cemeteries, old farms and ranches, and plenty of other insignificant but interesting to me sights along the way:

(historic ranch cemetery--we parked at the bottom of this hill in the middle of nowhere and hiked through the rain to get there)

(WWII-era bunker used for a look-out post above Muir Beach)

(and finally, Sea Lions, because I thought they were cute...but not as cute as this guy---

We had fun, we missed the kids, the kids missed us...now we're back to wishing we could miss the kids again. I'm thinking someplace tropical, someplace WARM......

One Year Older and Wiser Two

2011-01-19T09:12:00.001-07:00

What a difference two years makes!

(today)

A few pics of Sam over the last week....

A few wonderful things you should know about Sam:

he has an enormous vocabulary and keeps us laughing with his running monologue throughout each day
he is obsessed with trash trucks and Buzz Lightyear
he LOVES to sing or be sung to, especially "Little Bunnies Sleeping"
he is a picky eater but loves strange things like cinnamon Altoids and cauliflower
he is extremely attached to his blankie
he has a calm, sweet, easy-going personality (is he adopted, you're thinking? Can he really be a King?)
he is a total joy to have in our family, and each day all of us are thankful for this wonderful, funny, handsome, amazing person that we call Sam-I-Am!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMUEL!

I'ts almost here!

2011-01-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

Only 57 more hours till my birthday (giggle giggle)!

I am so excited!

The True Meaning of Basketball

2011-01-11T15:24:00.001-07:00

I've decided that watching Kindergarteners play basketball could fill an entire episode of America's Funniest Home Videos by itself. Dribbling? That just gets in the way. Passing the ball? Completely unnecessary. Listening to your coach? Who?

But watch out for number 20. He's got skills.........

Moving up the ladder we have 6th grade basketball, where they do in fact dribble, pass, listen to their coach, and occasionally.....SCORE (14 pts in his first game, but who besides his mom is counting?)

And the title of this post? Garrett leaned over to me at Ben's last game and in all earnestness asked me,

"Mom, what is the true meaning of basketball?"

I'll have to get back to him soon.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T13:14:00.002-07:00

We had a very merry Christmas, full of presents (which I love) and people I love....

and now it's on to the new year.

I'm trying to get myself excited about the new year and all the goals I'm making to be the perfect meal-planning, scripture-reading, children-nurturing, home-decorating, food-storaging, service-rendering, husband-attentive, money-saving, temple-attending, water-drinking exercise-loving carb-shunning kind, patient, non-judgemental happy person I should be. But really all it does is make me want to take a nap. What are your new year's resolutions, and how do you find your motivation?

Happy New Year!

Snow in my living room and other random adventures....

2010-12-23T23:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you dream of a white Christmas and your dreams come true! In your living room! You have no idea how long this took to clean up---or maybe you do. I'm so fortunate to have great helpers....

---------------

We enjoyed a fun evening in and around Temple Square when Cassidy's choir got to sing at the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg. Cassidy's 3 brothers really enjoy her singing (cough cough).

-----------------------

We enjoyed our 8 or so inches of snow this week. Well, I did, and 3 of my 4 offspring did. Any guess as to who doesn't like the snow in our family?

This was probably our best snowman yet. Unfortunately, 3 days of nonstop rain sent Frosty packing. Hope to see you again real soon, Frosty.

----------------------

And finally, we enjoyed several fun Christmas parties this week, some at which I remembered to take pictures and some at which I didn't. (Lucky for you---less pictures to wade through!)

This is what happens when you make totally adorable Rudolph cupcakes:

Wishing everyone one a very Merry Christmas!

P.S. You know that Amy Grant song, the one about her "grown up Christmas list?" You should really take time to make your own grown-up Christmas list. I did, and I was going to print it here, but it is just so hard for me to share genuine sentiments like that.Too scary. I'd much rather be sarcastic and superficial. But it was quite therapeutic, making my list, and I did, just for a moment, feel the true spirit of Christmas sneak into my house of chaos. What would your list say?

Sing Me A Song (or two or three)

2010-12-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

Nothing brings the Christmas feeling as much as listening to your children sing Christmas songs!

The King children were happy to oblige (well, not Sam).

This is Cassidy's 4th year singing with the Lehi Children's Choir. They do an amazing job!

Despite her hoarse voice, Cass sang a duet with Kaylee. They were really cute.

Then on Thursday it was off to Freedom Elementary's annual Christmas Sing. Let me paint the picture for you: There are just under 1100 students, and each grade performs 2 songs which combined to equal 2 parking nightmares (Rich and I had separate cars), 90 minutes of singing, about 2000 parents and grandparents saving seats (did they camp out over night?) and 1 wiggly 21-month old made to sit still through the whole thing. Now, think about what grades our children are in, and I will tell you the blessed order of the Christmas sing:

Kindergarten, Sixth (so far so good), First, Fourth, Second, Fifth, and Third. Evidently no sneaking out early for these parents!

But then again, I wouldn't have missed this little Rudolph for anything!

Look closely to see our Sixth Grader. I guess he forgot his Rudolph hat.

And saving the cutest for last......

Sam was in such a good mood at this point! He He! Oh well---there is one good thing about staying to the end: the parking lot was nearly emptied out except for us parents of Third Graders! Tis the Season!

All I want for Christmas is this guy

2010-12-04T17:11:00.001-07:00

Just for the record, this was a completely spontaneous, Sam-did-it-by-himself photo. He's crazy about this storage ottoman and is constantly filling it with toys and himself!

Some snow and some thoughts....

2010-11-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

I set a goal this year to be done preparing for Christmas by tomorrow, December 1st. It's not going to happen BUT, I am pretty close. There are currently only 47 items left on my to-do list. The problem is, I keep adding to the list instead of crossing things off. Thankfully I have an almost-2-year-old as my helper. I will happily loan him out if anyone needs help getting further behind.

I really, really love the snow---but not the wet pile of snow clothes resembling a colorful Christmas tree in my entryway that comes with it. I am thankful this year that Garrett can outfit himself in snow clothes, and I am really not thankful that it is so challenging putting snow clothes on Sam.Especially gloves/mittens. There has got to be an easier way!

I really love Christmas time, but I am also really glad when it is over. I am NOT a Scrooge, but there are lots of expectations, lots to do, lots of making sure all the kids get somewhat even amounts of gifts without spoiling them, lots of debits from my checking account, lots of calories being consumed, lots and lots of details to remember, and lots of effort trying to not be materialistic, to keep things simple and focus on the true meaning of the season. Still, I get caught up in the excitement of it all and LOVE LOVE LOVE giving gifts to the people I love. I LOVE the music, the Christmas feeling, and I LOVE having children who are so excited about every aspect of it.

What's putting a smile on my face as of late:

shopping with my beautiful friends on Black Friday at 4am!

all 4 children playing chess together INSIDE our game closet

reading a new crock-pot recipe book I got at Costco

making Christmas projects

impromptu FHE's that turn out remarkably well

Christmas music every where I go

responsible children who are learning and growing and amazing me

people---I just love people and want to be BFFs with everyone I meet or already know

watching episodes of 24 with R. It's our new Lost.

What's causing my brow to furrow as of late:

making Christmas projects

not having enough time to get everything done

reading amazing blogs and wondering why I can't be amazing too

not fitting exercise into my schedule

my continually messy house

dinner that has to be made EVERY day (it's a little much, don't you think?)

children who are challenging in new and exciting (?) ways

Oh well---maybe I'll just go stand on my head in the corner!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

Lucky 13

2010-11-22T08:16:00.001-07:00

13 years ago today I was lucky enough to marry this guy. I was scouring my picture files this morning looking for a great pic of R and I together and basically there aren't many to choose from! I like this pic because it's happily uncharacteristic of my serious, work-a-holic husband whom I simply adore. Hard to believe it's been 13 years! Happy Anniversary Rich! It's been a wild yet wonderful ride, and I wouldn't trade a minute of it. I feel so lucky and honored to be your wife, and I love being married to you!

Birthday Weekend

2010-11-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY

Friday afternoon we celebrated Cassidys' 9th birthday with 9 friends and 2 hours of giggles, crafts, and treats. I think Cassidy and I had more fun planning the party than actually having it, but it went off without a hitch and everyone seemed to have a great time. The highlights, please.....

We made these adorable cake stands for each girl and then let them decorate their own giant cupcakes. This picture doesn't really do them justice but they are really really cute.

The girls each made beaded headbands (I will be picking up beads off my kitchen floor for many months to come--at least the ones that Sam doesn't stick up his nose first).

And we made these adorable wire and button rings. These were a big hit and they just might be the start of a brand new fashion trend.

I know it doesn't look like those amazing tablescapes out there in blogland, but Cass had so much fun planning the details and setting up for this party. The girls each decoupaged their first initial and also they each got a party bag with their initial on it:

Happy Birthday Cass!

SATURDAY

Saturday we celebrated by letting Cassidy choose the restaurant for dinner: Panda Express. Over rice, chow mein, and orange chicken, we contemplated our fortunes:

YOU ARE EAGER TO SHARE YOURSELF AND YOUR POSSESSIONS (Cassidy)

FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF YOUR HEART (Kelly)

PEOPLE ENJOY HAVING YOU AROUND (Garrett)

IF YOUR DESIRES ARE NOT EXTRAVAGANT THEY WILL BE GRANTED (Rich)

YOU WILL OVERCOME DIFFICULT TIMES (Ben)

We had some good laughs over these and their timely message to their recipients! The take home message?

CASSIDY--SHARE YOUR NEW BIRTHDAY STUFF WITH YOUR SIBLINGS!

KELLY--YES, YOU SHOULD GET UP AT 3AM ON FRIDAY TO GO SHOPPING

GARRETT--PEOPLE DO LOVE TO BE AROUND YOU PROVIDED YOU ARE WEAPONLESS!

RICH--GO FOR THE 60 INCH NOT THE 65 INCH AND MAYBE YOU WILL GET YOUR NEW TV

BEN--YOUR 6 YEAR OLD BROTHER WILL NOT ALWAYS BE THIS ANNOYING!

SUNDAY

Sunday was time for the family birthday party at Grandma's house. There was yummy cake and lots of presents:

Whew! What a fabulous bday weekend celebrating a fabulous girl!

Happy 9th

2010-11-19T06:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our FAVORITE daughter.

We love you more than we can say!

Thanks for being the beautiful, WONDERFUL person that you are.

What my children think of family photos....

2010-11-08T07:02:00.000-07:00

Tricks and Treats

2010-11-01T16:18:00.000-06:00

Hermione and Darth Vader battled it out over custody of the world's cutest giraffe. Thankfully we had a referee on hand to keep things somewhat fair.

And then there was the pumpkin carving. We take it quite seriously at our house. (I come from a long line of pumpkin carvers). Cass is the only one who will help me gut them, but everyone helps carve them. This was Garrett's first year to cut with a knife. No,we did not have to go to the ER. But we did have some mighty fine pumpkins if I do say so myself:

The pump"king" is a beloved tradition at our house. Good thing our last name is not Neuenschwander.

Despite a rainy/windy start, we still managed to knock all the doors in the neighborhood and come home with enough treats to let our dentist take his family to Hawaii again this year. Yum!

Miss Cassidy Plays Soccer

2010-10-29T16:45:00.002-06:00

Cass finished up a GREAT fall soccer season with the Shadows.

There were great friends,

great teaching moments,

great plays,

and lots of great team spirit.

But now, because of this

and

this,

we'll have to wait patiently inside( like these two) for the weather to improve until we can see

this again.

Fall Hike

2010-10-29T16:18:00.000-06:00

I really wanted to say something profound....but my brain is instead thinking of THE LIST of things I need to get done in the near future and I am just not feeling very creative. So.....IT IS FALL. WE HIKED. I LOVE TO TAKE PICTURES OF MY KIDS. THEY DON'T. THE END.

Aaaarrggg!

2010-10-29T16:11:00.002-06:00

(More Belated Beloved Birthday Photos)

We sailed the seven seas over to Orem to celebrate Garrett's birthday, pirate style, at Pirate Island.

There were tokens, video games, pizza, and (surprise surprise) guns to shoot with.

There were even some Grandparents there! (and a few more not pictured)

We ate in our own private cave, had Pumpkin Pie (per Garrett's request) for dessert, and opened a few boxes of birthday treasure:

(roller blades, a Lego game, a new Scooter that sparks, Indiana Jones Lego 2 for Wii)

Yo HoYo Ho!A Pirate Birthday for G!

Belated Beloved Birthday Pictures

2010-10-29T15:57:00.000-06:00

Happy Happy Birthday, Garrett, Dear....

May many swords and weapons come to you all year...

If I had one wish then it would be...

A happy happy birthday to you from me!

On a Tuesday in October we held a little birthday gathering for G-Dawg and 11 of his bestest friends.

There were games (directed by a ~~bossy but wonderful~~ sister who loves to be in charge),

obstacle courses involving old tires,

a snake pit which I forgot to take a picture of, and

plenty of wonderful presents (some were even weapons!).

If you are thinking that the relatively few number of photos of said birthday party was due to the fact that I was hauling around a Sam while taking pictures while directing 12 five and six year olds into the aforementioned games and obstacle courses, you would in fact, be correct.

Hello Six

2010-10-19T07:03:00.000-06:00

Six years ago today I first met this handsome guy. Although we were so excited to meet him, he seemed a little reluctant when, at 9 days overdue, he nearly refused to be born. All 9 pounds of him. But finally he made his entrance, and our world has never been the same.....

Happy 6th Birthday to our handsome, clever, sword-fighting, funny, amazingly wonderful son.

We love you!

Jedi Garrett vs. Darth Maul

2010-10-09T15:00:00.000-06:00

One of the highlights of our trip was when Garrett was chosen to participate in the Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland. I think he might have enjoyed it more had it not been 110 degrees at noon on a stage in full sun and him wearing a Jedi robe, but it was still so much fun.

First they teach the young padawans how to properly wield their lightsabers (as if Garrett needed any tips). The command for "unleash your lightsaber" is "activate", and to retract it is "deactivate". Hmm. Do you suppose we could use this with all the children when it came time for chores or time to go to bed? "Activate! Deactivate!"

After the padawans have practiced their moves, out come Vader and Darth Maul to test their skills. Garrett took me aside after the show and told me he really wanted to fight Vader, but it was okay that he only got to fight Darth Maul. Life's injustices!

As you can tell, Darth Maul was no match for Garrett's advanced skills.

With his Jedi diploma in hand, he happily discarded his wool Jedi robe and returned to his Darth Mom and Dad. May the force ever be with us as we live in the same house with Jedi Garrett and his arsenal of lightsabers!

P.S. On our last Disneyland day, the kids each got to spend gift cards from Grandpa Joe on a souvenir. Garrett's choice? A new lightsaber from the "Build-Your-Own LightSaber" store in Disneyland. You'll probably want to keep him on your good side.

Take Me For a Ride

2010-10-07T14:35:00.000-06:00

We had big temperatures (110 degrees) but small lines during our week at Disneyland and California Adventure. Evidently, after a summer of unusually cool temps, we arrived in So Cal just in time for a record-breaking heat wave. These four were too busy running from ride to ride and paid no heed to the sweat running down their faces. Mom and Dad tried to keep up.

Some things were new to us, like the Halloween decorations and various rides being transformed for the holiday, and some things were familiar to us, like Ben doing bunny ears in every photo.

There were fast things......

and slow things,

and "O" things (the letter "O" in California).

There was sword pulling, and

lightsaber fighting (an entire blog post to come on this later, complete with Vader and video), and

more then a few photo opps.

There was lots of holding Sam, and

lots of riding with Sam,

and even a few naps with Sam (notice his heat-flushed cheeks and sweaty head. 110 degrees, people.)

There were sweet-smelling rides, and

and crazy-driver rides, and

and crazy-sweet rides.

There was some (jump) down time, some

some wet time,

some weapon time, and lots and lots of

Toy Story time. We lost count how many times we rode the "Buzz" ride, per our 20-month-old's instructions.

The OC

2010-10-03T22:58:00.002-06:00

We drove until the map turned blue.....

and back home again.

Please keep your hands and arms inside this blog and remain seated until the pictures come to a complete stop.

Newport Beach

We stayed a week at a lovely beach house on Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, California. We were 2 blocks from the open ocean on one side, 5 blocks from the harbor on the other side.

B,C,G,and S LOVED spending time at the beach, digging sand holes, braiding sea weed (really), eating sand (I wonder who....), building sand cities, collecting shells, and running into and from waves waves waves.

It was fun being so close to the beach and heading down whenever we wanted to. The kids quickly got used to having sand in their hair and toes and nose, all the time.

For some reason still a mystery to me, I let the kids talk me into letting them bury me in the sand.

In. my. clothes.

Let me just say there are still a few grains of sand keeping me company.

If you chance to meet a frown....

just go sit with mommy!

Hope to see you again real soon, Pacific. You are just too beautiful for words.

Flashback Friday

2010-09-17T23:50:00.000-06:00

In anticipation of our upcoming get-away to The ~~Happiest~~ Most Expensive Place on Earth, I pulled a few more photos from the vault:

2004

2007

So excited for our Disneyland trip! Anyone want to come?

Flashback Friday

2010-09-10T16:45:00.000-06:00

Meet Ben, circa 2000. Since my camera has been sitting on my desk collecting dust for a few weeks, I reached into the archives and found this little gem. Funny thing is, this picture was taken with our first-ever digital camera which was like a 1-point-nothing megapixel Olympus. Pretty good for 10 years ago.

Friday Night Light(ning)

2010-09-02T16:01:00.000-06:00

We had a few laughs (and a few snowcones) at a park in Farmington during a summer get-together for Rich's work.

The inflatables were a huge hit with the kids, especially the boxing ring.

We did get a little cold after the TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR and LIGHTNING/THUNDER, but we owe the blue lips to nothing more than one-too-many snow cones. (I could still see faint traces of the blue-ness on his face at church on Sunday.)

Of course, puddles are the next best thing to inflatables.

And the best part? On the drive home, we had a magnificent rainbow on the east side of the valley the entire way.