Christmas Day!

We awoke to presents galore! Santa overspent this year....and we got more than we needed. The kids were so excited! It's fun to watch there faces light up when they open each present. (at least for now when they are still easy to get presents for!) Matt's parents, little brother and little sister came to visit and brought Christmas all over again! I was surprised it all fit in their car! I'm glad they were able to come, since it snowed the day before. It was so pretty though...not so fun if you're the one driving in it. The kids were excited to show them everything they got for Christmas! For dinner, Matt made Prime Rib....It was yummy! He really is a good cook, it's just not that often he has time to.

Pictures with Santa!

We went to the portrait studio on Saturday to have pictures with Santa! If you look close at Josh in this picture he has a little grin and he is playing with Santa's hair! Everyone was good about getting on Santa's lap except Jessica. She was so scared. She got her candy cane early to calm her down.

And . . . . they showed us a flyer with our family picture on it! I guess they thought it was good! I wonder if we're famous now!!!

Later that day we went to get a few things from the store...I actually knew Santa was going to be at Albertsons, but decided to go to the studio instead. I figured there would be a lot of people at Albertsons and a long wait...and guess what there wasn't! We got them taken again! The pictures aren't as good....but that Santa is awesome!!! Jessica was not happy, but she did wave bye when we left. :)

Keeping Busy

We are doing good! Josh and Jaren are playing Basketball twice a week. I should have asked if they could be on the same team, because Jaren's practices are on Tue/Thurs and Josh's are on Wed/Fri. The practices are only 45 min.......but by the time I get the kids ready, drive to and from, it takes a while. So we are keeping busy with that, school, and homework.

Matt is at his parents house helping take down the rest of the tree that they started a couple weekends ago. They have someone coming who owns a crane! It should be a lot easier this time around. He left this afternoon and will be home tomorrow night.

Tonight, we had to go to the Dr's office for Jaren. He has an ear infection. I gave him some Tylenol because it was hurting him.....I hate ear infections, poor kid. I called and they couldn't get us in for 2 hours. Then when we got there we waited for 1 hour! They are normally pretty good to get us back within 20 min but not today.

Family Christmas Party!

My side of the family met at my brother's house for our Christmas Party yesterday. I think it was good we had it early because everyone except one was able to come. :) That's pretty good considering the amount of people in my family. There are 8 kids in my family, one boy - seven girls, me being the youngest. Big Surprise.....my only sister who hasn't had kids yet, is expecting!!! We had a great time. We ate Chinese Haystacks and they were so good. I didn't know what they were.... so I googled it and found out! The adults played a game where we bring a gift, put them all in the middle and someone starts by opening a present. Then the next person can either choose a gift to open or take one already opened! So, I opened my own gift!!! No one took it from me so I got to keep it! I wanted one too, it was a big frying pan with a lid. :) The younger kids exchanged gifts with each other. They had fun playing with their present the rest of the time!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving! We went to Matt's parents house from the 21st - 25th. We had a nice time visiting with everybody.....Friends and Family from both Howard's Family and Tauna's. Tauna cooked and cleaned the day before....but had to work on Thanksgiving, but managed to come home for 30 minutes while everyone was there. I love family get togethers. I just wish they would last longer. It's so nice to see everyone. Thank goodness for Holidays!

Then the next two days were spent trying to remove a huge tree from the side of the house. Trying, because they weren't able to finish. Luckily no one was hurt, but one big branch fell on the neighbors house. Matt was climbing really high, I don't know how he even got up there in the first place. Pretty scary. The kids loved watching from the big window in the dining room, it was like our big screen TV!

Saturday: We had a Baby Shower for Matt's sister, Lynsey. Her and Nick live in Texas and this will be their first baby, it's a girl! Jessica won't be the only girl now!!!

Sunday: We went to my nephew's homecoming. It would be hard to be that far away in a weird place...not sure if I could do it. I guess that's why you go on missions when you're young!

More Pictures!

I'm actually surprised they even came out this good! At first Josh didn't want to smile but was fine after we said he could pick out a treat when we were finished. Jaren kept smiling funny because he was playing with his loose tooth, which was super loose and I pulled it that night...his first tooth to come out! Justin kept tugging on his jacket because it was hot and bothering his neck. Jessica didn't want anything to do with pictures....these two pictures were the only ones of her that came out good! She was playing peek-a-boo with the photographer. :) I really liked the place where we got them done at. It barely opened less than a month ago and it's about a mile away. They print their own pictures so it took 10 min to get them. We went in Saturday evening, but I went today to pick them out because the kids were . . . . . being kids! We have a drop in day care really close that Justin and Jessica have been to once before, so they went there for one hour while I went to Sadie's/picture store, and the other 2 were at school. I wish I would have picked out a shirt with more brown on it for Jaren, he kind of sticks out......

School Pictures

The boys got their school pictures back....OK I've had them for about a month. They turned out pretty good. I'm a procrastinator and waited till the last min to get Josh and Jaren a new shirt....so they came from Walmart. (Josh's favorite color is blue, Jaren's red and Justin's green) Justin's shirt is one he got this summer and it's his favorite! Tomorrow we are getting family pics so we'll get one of Jessica too.

Halloween Night

Here are my goblins from Halloween night! We went to Idaho from Oct 30 - Nov 3. We didn't tell anyone except for my sister Deena. G-ma Tauna & G-pa Howard took this picture at the trunk or treat that we surprised them at!!! Justin was so cold. He didn't want to wear any pants under his costume. I felt so bad...I should have made him where some. We were there for about 20 min, he seemed to forget he was cold once we started walking around to get candy. They got enough candy there, that we didn't worry about going door to door. My Mom was sick so we didn't see her that night, we waited for a couple days to go visit. We went with my sister and her little boy to her in laws house. She gave them stickers, a cute foam craft and of course candy! It was fun! We had a great night!

We're Alive!

Wow....it's been a while since I've updated this thing!!!

Josh & Jaren are off track right now and go back on Nov 5th. We've had a few friends over to play, went bowling, to the library, went to classic fun center to skate and bounce, played every board game/puzzle in our house a few times, made things with lego's - connects - play doe, made some fun art projects........probably more but I won't bore you any longer! Josh and Jaren had a eye appointment last Tuesday, since I was Josh's age when I got glasses....and guess what, Josh got glasses. He was pretty excited too! :) His glasses are a -.75, so not bad....he hasn't complained of not being able to see things and I haven't noticed him squinting either. Jaren's my "artist", so he says. :) He loves to make his own books. He's very imaginative. Justin has still been going to preschool Tue & Thurs for a few hours...but he hasn't wanted to go as much knowing Josh and Jaren don't have school. He just wonders why Josh and Jaren aren't going to school too. Jessica's growing so much...says new things all the time and is getting into everything! She has learned to open doors. We have to make sure the doors that go outside are locked! We went to a Halloween carnival at our church Saturday night. they had 6 different things for the kids to do 1-Cake Walk 2-Face painting 3-Pin the nose on the pumpkin 4-Donut on a string 5-Bean bag toss 6-Fish pond. I forgot my camera though. :( But did get a picture of them when we
got home..........

Funny things Justin says

Justin calls the lawn mower a mow lawn. He even has an old pair of shoes he uses when he "helps" mow the lawn, they are called his mow lawn shoes. :) Earlier he went in the bathroom to blow his nose and said "Hey guys I have boogers because I am a booger brain." hahaha, what a funny kid. Another funny thing...Justin farted and Jessica said eeewwwww, then he said excuse me. Cute little munchkins! But, the fighting that sometimes goes on....not so cute.

Things about me...

Two names you go by
1. Tar (T-air) by brother and sisters when I was younger
2. Mom

Two things you are wearing right now
1. Grey Capri's
2. White T-Shirt

Two things you would want (or have) in a relationship
1. Love
2. Trust

Two things you like to do
1. Go on Bike rides with my kids around the pond behind our house.
2. Take a warm bath with no interruptions.

Two things you want very badly at the moment
1. For Matt to get home from work.....it's 10:37 pm
2. A drink of water

Two things you did last night
1. Emptied dishwasher...loaded dishwasher
2. Took a shower

Two things you ate today
1. Salad with ranch, sunflower seeds & grated cheese
2. Watermelon

Two people you last talked to
1. Hubby
2. Kids...putting them to bed

Two things you're doing tomorrow
1. Help Jaren make a poster about him, it's his turn to be student of the week on Monday.
2. Never ending house work

Favorite day of the week
Saturday.....no school, no work, a day to do whatever we want!

Two favorite holidays
1. Thanksgiving...yummy food and spending time with family.
2. 4th of July...It's warm and we are normally visiting or camping with our families.

Two favorite beverages
1. Strawberry Lemonade....the kind from Jaker's
2. Water

Two jobs I have had in my life
1. Artco - Customer Service
2. Waitress - Frontier Pies & Jaker's

Two movies I would watch over and over
1. Sweet Home Alabama
2. Cinderella

Two places I have lived
1. Idaho
2. Tennessee

Two of my favorite foods
1. Spinach Salad from BYU Idaho
2. Dad's Swiss Steak

Two places I'd rather be right now
1. Sleeping
2. Hawii would be nice (I think...I've never been)

Our Anniversary was today!

We just got back from our weekend vacation! We left Friday night to take the kids to G-ma & G-pa's for the weekend...THANKYOU!!! It's only a 3 hour drive, but was about Midnight when we arrived. The kids slept most of the way there. We took there things in the house, tucked the kids in bed........traded cars and left. We stayed at a hotel for the night. The next day we headed to Ogden Canyon to stay at Alaskan Inn......little cabins.(Pictures Below) On our way there we had Olive Garden for Lunch then Maddox Ranch House for dinner and had prime rib. Then on Sunday headed over to Snowbasin to ride the Gondola and take a little hike. After that we stopped at the Mall before meeting Matt's parents half way to get the kids. They had fun with G-ma & G-pa and were in good hands. It was great to get away by ourselves! A little weird, but fun. :) We have been married 8 years!

They have 11 Cabins to choose from.

It's pretty!

My man and I!In the Gondola, way down there is the parking lot. Looking NELooking SW

Cute Kids

Ready to go to church with G-ma Tauna & G-pa Howard.

Wow...where do the days go?

Jessica is getting a bunch more teeth. She now has 8 on bottom & 6 on top, 2 more ready to come in any day on top. She's done really well with it too. I've only given her Tylenol a few times for small fevers. She's not a picky eater and especially loves any kind of fruit. She is so cute and is a little sweetheart....but just like a shirt of hers "little girl BIG attitude". She definitely has a scowl for when she's not happy. Some of the words she says right now are (that we understand) puppy, Daddy, Mommy, Binky, No, Hello, Hi, Bye, Night-Night, Eat, Drink, Shoe, Banana, Ball, Fly, TV...... Of course she says them her way but I can understand them. She knows where her nose is and can blows a little when we say blow as we wipe it. When we say "Jessica, Guess What?" she'll say "What"...it's so stinkin cute!

Justin started preschool last Thursday. He loves it! He went again today....so Jessica and Mommy get 6 hours a week to do what girls want! hehe......Except of course when Josh and Jaren are off track. I take Josh and Jaren to school at 8:30 then go strait to Justin's preschool. He goes from 8:45 - 11:45 Tue & Thurs. They have a fun activity all set up when he arrives, so I say bye right before he gets to the door. He really likes singing time because I always hear about that first.

Jaren had fun at his party. He was so surprised when the inflatable slide was delivered Friday night. We didn't tell him!!! About 20 kids came....ages 3 - 10 but mostly 6. While he was eating pizza with his friends G-ma Tauna, G-pa Howard and Aunt Candice surprised him, they drove down from Idaho to see him on his B-Day! I probably should have had a couple games planned, but was running out of time, so I didn't plan any this year. The slide was a big hit so that was a good thing. I forgot to take a picture of Jaren's cake! It was so cute too! After the party Jaren told me he wanted me to get the Hostess Zingers for his Party like we did for his school class! I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to, someone kept needing something. Only a few remembered to wear sunblock, so I was busy putting that on the kids. I needed to get more on Justin though because he ended up getting a little sunburn.

Josh's teacher actually called last week, to tell me that he wasn't doing the worksheets they were working on that day. And when she took away his recess so he could finish, he said he didn't want to go to recess. So then she said she would take away something he likes, like PE and made him go to recess.............didn't make sense to me. Then a different teacher found him in the hall way and brought him back to class. She asked if I had ever had him tested for Attention Deficit!!! What! Are you kidding me! He can be stubborn at times, but what kid isn't. So we talked after school and he said he was mad but couldn't remember why. And that it was too hot at the last recess so he didn't want to go out. I asked if anyone was bothering him or being mean at recess, and he said no. So I just told him to do his best at school, pay attention, listen to his teacher, if it's hot outside, find shade under a tree (recess only lasts 15 min) and that I love him and he can talk to me about anything. I should ask him how things are going in the morning. Oh, Josh learned how to blow a bubble with his gum this past week!

I now have a 7, 6, 3 & 1 year old. Jess will be 18 months and Josh 7 1/2 next month. Jessica and I went to a few stores today, didn't buy anything just looked...then we went to get a pedicure, I did...she watched. :)

Jaren's B-Day Pictures!

Upside down picture of what was left of the cake. It had seaweed, goldfish, the shark. I forget what else, It was cute though.

I am so excited!!!

We just rented this for Jaren's Party!!!!! It is 16 ft tall....now is that the top of the arch, maybe...but still it will be a ton of fun! It can be used wet or dry......we're going to use it wet! We will also have our swing set, trampoline, a small pool, slip n slide and a sprinkler. I'm going to have a few games besides that....and water balloons!!! We are going to have a blast!!!!! :)

Thankful

I am thankful for my 4 wonderful children and husband.

I am thankful that Matt is a hard worker and I am able to stay home with our kids.

I am thankful that we are all healthy.

I am thankful that we live close to our parents and families, if anything happened....we aren't to far away.

- - - - - - - - - -

I found this on my friends blog, Jenna - the one who died. She was in the hospital for her first round of chemo.

If there is one thing that I will take away from this experience it is that you have to hold close your loved ones. Don't take them for granted even for a second because you never know how much more time you have with them. Love your husbands with all your heart and soul. Let unimportant things go and make them a priority. Love your children every second and put down that book, or that computer mouse, and love them like there is no tomorrow. Every time your husband gets on your nerves.. think of me... up here without mine. Love him. Every time your kids drive you nuts and you want to escape... think of me and how I would do anything to be home around my nutty kids. Love like there is no tomorrow...... be forgiving....and make the most of the time you have.

- - - - - - - - - -

Then a good quote from my friend Candice's Blog -

"True love does not come by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly."

Lazy Saturday...

Justin, Jessica and I went to Walmart yesterday after taking Josh & Jaren to school. We picked up fruit (Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Honeydew, Red & Green Grapes and Strawberries - We love fruit!) to take to the Hip Hop BBQ. We walked over to see the fish in the tanks while we were at Walmart, they both loved that. And even got to play on the quarter machine toys too. The news crew was actually going to be at the BBQ but called and said they were going to cancel because of the Lightning and Thunder. Everyone was looking forward to that. :( We were there from 7:30 - 10:30! They had a prizes for anyone who came. There were cute $1.00 things, gift certificates & T-Shirts. Jessica got a lion face key chain, Justin a cow eraser, Jaren a pen w/stamp & Josh markers.

We stayed home today. Watched TV, played inside, outside & with play doe. And everyone seemed to cry and fight. I made Jaren's B-Day invitations....we're having a water party in the back yard next Saturday. He actually chose that over Classic Fun Center. I've talked to Matt a couple of time since Thursday morning. He's busy, busy. Well, Have a good night. :)

10 Things I did today

* Took Josh & Jaren to school on our bikes to and from school - Justin rode his bike on the way there, then wanted in the trailer with Jessica on the way back. So the front wheel of his bike rode in the back of the trailer and the back wheel dragged behind!
* Played at the Park with Justin & Jessica next to Josh & Jaren's school.
* Mowed the front yard with Justin at Noon....way hot, while Jessica napped.
* Cleaned the Kitchen.
* Washed and Folded 2 loads of Laundry.
* Filled out paper work that the kids brought home from school.
* Went to Back to School Night from 6:30 - 8:00.....I called the neighbor girl that is 14 to watch the kids while I was gone.
* Typed up a list for the Babysitter! I haven't had the greatest experience the last couple of times I used a couple girls from our ward. So call me mean names for making some Rules.
* Made 3 meals +1 snack for my kids and ate with them! Oh, OK....Josh and Jaren ate school lunch.
*Read 3 books to the boys before they went to bed.

I'm hitting the hay soon....it sure is nice to listen to a quiet house.

Our Busy Life

Josh & Jaren started school on Monday and both seem to really like it. I am wondering if Josh was bitter about school because he didn't like his teacher to much last year. She might have been strict but seemed fun also....he did have a couple pages of homework Mon-Thurs each night but they were simple. He also read a little each night and practiced his spelling and sight words. He acts like he likes school now though, so that's awesome! :) The kids and I went to the Mall Monday night to get them all new shoes....buy one get one 1/2 off at Famous Footwear! I know why I don't go to the Mall often with all 4 kids!! We rented a 2 seater fire truck stroller for Justin & Jessica. Well worth the $4! Then Tuesday night we got new backpacks at K-Mart 50% off. :) Josh and Jaren didn't really need them but have had the same ones since Preschool.....3 years ago. Justin & I just got done mowing the front lawn. Matt is to busy at work to do it this week. All this week he's gotten home late, like 11 or later. His boss actually said he could stay at a hotel for the rest of the week if he'd like. So he packed a few things this morning. He's got a few to choose from working right next to the SLC Airport. This weekend is the big move....across the parking lot to a new building, but they will save a ton of money in the long run. He was really busy last week too. He needs to take a nice big vacation when it's all done. Well me too, :) hehe it's hard not having him home in the evening......although I'm getting use to it. With him being extra busy all summer doing consulting. I've got to take my shower before Jessica wakes up and Seasame Street gets over for Justin. Then it will be time to get Josh & Jaren from School. We rode our bikes today....so I'll ride mine with the trailer for Jessica. Sometimes Justin rides his bike and sometimes he rides in the trailer with her.

Some things never end.....

Dishes and Laundry!!! My house is a mess and I'm a procrastinator......not a good thing. Funny thing - today at church in primary we sang. . . . . .

"Fun to do"

Singing a song* is fun to do,
Fun to do, to do, to do!
Singing a song is fun to do,
To do, to do, to do!

* Children could think of other things that are fun to do, such as:
Sharing my toys
Reading a book
Riding a bike
Cleaning my room
Doing a dance
Painting a picture
Helping a friend
Playing a drum

and then in class the kids (Matt & I teach the 4 & 5 year olds - CTR 5) were coloring and sang - Coloring is fun to do.........then another little girl sang Cleaning my room is fun to do...........I think that is something I need to start singing when I clean! haha With Justin he loves when I sing the Clean up song they use on Barney. Clean up clean up everybody everywhere. Clean up clean up everybody do your share.

Tonight at about 8:30 I tell the boys it's time to start getting ready for bed. They all tell me they aren't tired. It only took Jaren & Justin 5 min to fall asleep, Josh was a little more. I've got to get them to bed earlier since school starts on the 13th. We have been going to bed around 10pm and they have been sleeping until about 9am. I need to get them on a 8:30pm - 7:30am schedule.

Pictures!!!

I made Freezer Strawberry Jam! It was really easy & it is so yummy.... now we have Jam like G-ma Tauna! The hardest part was finding the containers. These are nicer than the Ziploc containers but Walmart only carried the quart size. I finally found them at Ace's Hardware! I like the pint size the best but ended up with pint, 1 1/2 pint & quart size containers. All you use is strawberries, sugar & sure jell. I used 3 flats of strawberries and ended up with about the equivalent of 50 pints! Should be enough until next summer!!!

Matt built a Picnic Table!

Josh's Robot made from K'nex!

He also made a Table and Chairs!

Oh no, the kids want to pop my babies!

(Jaren pretending to be a bird with water balloons!)

Look what I made....not sure what it is!

Cool...look what I found!

Ready to mow lawn with Dad!

I love my binky's!

Silly girl!

We made the Alphabet!

All our kids!

Jessica is holding a baby frog we found in our backyard!