Busy, Busy, Busy

We have been sooooo busy this Summer.  I am going to try to sum up all that has been going on in this post, so you may need to get a snack if you are planning to read the whole thing. ;)

First of all - - we have moved!!!  No - not somewhere far away, or to a nice city (I wish), but just across town to our rental property.  We put our house on the market a few weeks ago, and it sold in four days.  We are really grateful, because not much has been selling around here, but it has made our move much more hurried than we had planned.  Our renters moved out of our little 1,000 square foot, two-bedroom duplex apartment, and we are currently trying to squish our family of seven, and all of our stuff into it.  To say that it has made me grouchy more often than not would be an understatement.  I have to keep reminding myself that this is only temporary and will open up bigger and better possibilities for us.  Cross your fingers for me that I can hold on, and say a little prayer that my family will still love me when we are finished living in these close quarters.

Okay, so now that the big news is out of the way, I will move onto the stuff that is a little more fun.

Jeremy had to attend the ASA conference again this year, so Dallin, Thomas, Jack and I tagged along for a little vacation.  Jeremy's sister, Emma, and her family took care of Drake and Tad while we were gone.  I am sooooo grateful.  It was nice to have a little time to just focus on my bigger boys for a change, and it was also nice not to have to stress about my little boys since we spent hours, and hours, and hours at the pools.

Thomas on the waterslide.

Dallin

Jack

The kids in the cold springs pool.  This water was icy cold.

I spent some time in the pools and even took a few trips down the water slide, but this was my favorite place to be, just chilling out and watching my kids have fun.  The evenings in Tucson were really beautiful.

We ate a lot on this trip. I think I gained about five pounds. This particular restaurant was 5 Guys Burgers.

We also finished up baseball season.  I have to admit, I am always glad when baseball season is over.  Between practices and multiple games each week, baseball keeps us much busier than I like to be.  This year was especially bad, since we were trying to start our move at the same time that games were going on.

Dallin at bat.

Dallin playing catcher.  I think this is still his favorite position, but he played mostly second base and some first base this year.

Thomas in the outfield.

Thomas at bat.

Dallin playing first base.

Dallin on base.

Jack at the ball park.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of him in action on the field.

My three little ball players.

The boys also just finished up a session of swimming lessons.  They had fun and did really well.

Drake

The boys freezing after lessons, while I insist that they stand there so I can get a picture.

Dallin in the pool.  They are trying to get him to join the swim team, but he is not that interested, and the pool is a 25 minute drive, so I am just as glad.

Jack

Thomas

Well, that sums up the highlights of our Summer so far.  Next up - - a trip to Utah, and then back to finish up the move and close on our house.  Crazy!!!  And, if you have read this far, bless you.  You are a true friend!!

Tad is Three!!

My baby had his third birthday last week.  How is it possible, that I really don't have a baby, or even a toddler anymore?  Those years went way too fast.

We made him a fun little construction cake - which he loved!!!

He blew out his candles and we all had a piece.

He opened presents.  Grandma Teichert sent some great gifts - - money, a Disney Planes DVD, and some little die cast planes from the movie.

Jeremy and I made him this little collapsible tent.  It is really good sized - definitely big enough for both Tad and Drake to get inside and play, but it collapses down and can easily slide under a bed for storage.  They have been enjoying it.

Tad is a sweet and fun little boy.  We enjoy him and his fun personality so much and we will always be grateful that Heavenly Father blessed us with him.

Balloon Drop

Jeremy had a balloon drop for his elementary school kids last week to celebrate a terrific year.  His Aunt has a cool balloon twisting business (seriously, she can make anything - no kidding - anything.  It is amazing).  She kindly came up and helped him get this set up and the kids LOVED it!!  I was standing by the door as they all walked into the gym and I was wishing I could have been recording their reactions as they walked into the gym and saw the ceiling full of balloons.  It was fun!  Here are a couple of lame pictures that I took with my phone while we were there.

Looks like fun huh?  But it doesn't truly capture the moment.  Luckily Brenda (Jeremy's Aunt) captured it much better and put a fun video together.  I have to share it here. It is short, so take a couple of minutes to watch it.  Just click on the link and put a little smile on your face.

Taylor Elementary Balloon Drop

Checking In

Just checking in with a few random pictures . . .

Drake finished his preschool year with a sendoff in a space shuttle.  His amazing teacher always goes all out for this day with space suits for the kids and everything.  All of my boys have loved this.

Here he is inside, ready for blast-off into space!  We are so grateful for his teacher and the amazing job she has done teaching all of our boys.  We wish Drake could have another year in her school, but we are so happy for her that she is finally able to go on the mission she has been working toward for so many years.
We just hope she picks the preschool back up when she returns home so that Tad can have a year at her school before he starts kindergarten.

I just had to include this picture of the tub after my little boys got done with their bath a a couple of nights ago.  Apparently they got pretty creative with their choice of tub toys when I wasn't looking.  How they got their little naked behinds past me with these toys from three rooms away is a mystery.

I also have to post this sweet Mothers Day Card that Jack brought home from kindergarten for me.  The biggest reason I am posting this is because I am amazed at how far he has come in a year.  I was sooooo worried about sending Jack to kindergarten because after two years of preschool he only knew the names of three letters and he did not know any of their sounds.  He couldn't count past five.  I didn't think there was any way that he would be able to succeed in kindergarten and I was seriously considering keeping him out another year.  Jeremy convinced me to send him and told me that if he wasn't able to learn what he needed to, then we would have him repeat kindergarten.  So, off to kindergarten he went.  Thanks to a great teacher and a fabulous reading specialist Jack was able to flourish in kindergarten and was even exited out of the reading room by Christmas, because he was no longer considered at risk.  This note that he wrote to me was done completely on his own with no help from his teacher and I only had to ask for his help reading one of the lines.  His teacher has told me that she has no reservations about sending him to first grade and the principal (Jeremy) agrees.  I am so proud of Jack and his hard work, and I am so thankful for the teachers at his school who are so competent and who care so much about the kids there.

Well that is all the randomness I have for today.   I am sure I will have an equally random post to share soon. : )

Sunday Morning Waffles

I wouldn't exactly call waffles a Sunday morning tradition at our house, but my boys love them, and so I make them quite often for breakfast on Sunday.  I usually make the whole wheat waffles that my mom made when I was growing up.  The boys and I love them (seriously they are soooo delicious), but Jeremy isn't a fan, so sometimes I make a white recipe that I developed a couple of years ago, just for him.  So-- this is how a typical Sunday Morning with waffles goes at our house.

Tad - up on the counter helping me mix up the batter. He loves to help me crack eggs and dump ingredients into the bowl.  Jeremy hates that I let him get up on the counter to help me, but I am too much of a softy with my boys - - especially when they are two and cute as a button.

Fluffy waffle batter. If you want perfect waffles, it has to look like this folks!! :)

Batter in the waffle iron.  Almost there!!  My mom gave me this waffle iron for my last birthday.  We had been without one for about a year and my boys were soooooo excited when I opened this baby up.  Thanks mom!!

Dallin prefers to eat his waffles like toast, with just a little bit of butter and no syrup.  

Notice the syrup dribbling down Thomas's chin?  I hate to say it, but Thomas has always been my messiest eater.  I remember when he was a baby, I had all these clothes that Dallin had worn that practically still looked new.  After Thomas ate in them once they were completely destroyed, and yes, he was wearing a bib.  Oxi-Clean and Biz and I became very well acquainted due to this kid.  I am still keeping my fingers crossed that he will grow out of it, because he is definitely too big for a bib.

Jack and Drake didn't make it to the kitchen in time for the photos.  I probably had to go pull them away from the Legos or the Kindle.

Another Random Post

This is just another random picture dump of some of the little things we have done around here lately.  As you can tell our everyday lives are pretty exciting!  ;)

We took a short drive out to Pinedale the other day for a little picnic.  We saw this street sign and had to get a picture of Thomas in front of it.

This is a cute little covered bridge in Pinedale.  Every time we see it Jeremy has to remind me about how we drove an hour on our honeymoon to see one just like it, and I have to remind him that the entire hour was spent enjoying beautiful scenery along the Oregon Coast.  I'd like to take that drive again.  Someday!!

Tad got a giant carpet burn on his head while I was babysitting other peoples boys at cub scouts.  Poor kid!

Drake and Tad at the SHS baseball game yesterday.  I have been to quite a few little league games, but I haven't been to a game like this in years.  It was fun, and brought back a lot of memories of when I used to watch my brothers play.

Jack had his patriotic program at the school this morning.  It was well done. Don't the kids look cute in those hats?  Sorry about the picture quality on these.  I forgot to bring my good camera, so I had to take these pictures with my phone, which has a very sub-par camera.

My little patriotic superstar!!

Pinewood Derby

Last week Dallin and Thomas had their Pinewood Derby.  Both of their cars looked pretty sharp, so I decided I had better post them here on the blog.

Thomas has known for a year that he wanted to make a Bumblebee Car.  He and Jeremy worked hard on it.  It looked great and easily took first place in show.  He gets to compete at Districts next month.

Dallin's car had a bit of a rough time.  We joke about how his car made all the other boys feel better about themselves, but it looked really good doing it.  Luckily, Dallin is about the best sport I know.

This is a better look at Thomas' Bumblebee.  Pretty sweet!! :)

Another close up with the trophy.

A close up of Dallin's car.  It looked pretty great too.

Three cars down.  Only 12 to go.  (I can't think about that too much or my stomach starts to hurt.)