Good Mom

Ok, so I am posting this on one of my not- so- great- mom days. Do any of you ever have those? This has been the worst by far in a long time. Just can't seem to get control of myself (or my children) today. Anyway, these particular days were a lot better, and we actually had some fun! The girls wanted to paint, so we decided to go outside and do the sidewalk paint. Brent hates it because it doesn't come off very easily, but it's in the back yard, who cares?? The other pictures were of a girl day that we had last week. They played inside and out, and we also made playdough which they each got to take home. It was just a fun day for Paige and some buddies from school. Hopefully they will remember these days more than days like today when I had to beat Emma twice--once for turning on the water outside while I was upstairs and soaking herself, Paige, the dog....then they all came in the house. The next time was for pulling out the ties on her window coverings again and making me have to replace the rod again!! This child is going to be the end of me!!

Emma's sweater

Ok, so here's Emma's sweater which I have been working on for who knows how long! It took a while, and I just worked on it during shows or quiet time or whatever. This is, by far, the best thing I have ever knitted, and I just wanted to put it up here so you all can see how much time I must have on my hands!! Just kidding, but seriously, I'd rather do this than clean my house. Well, I'd rather do most anything than clean my house I guess. Isn't she cute??

Twilight!!

All of us girls waiting in line

Oh, Edward!!

So, instead of playing Bunko last month, we all decided to go see "Twilight" instead. It was so much fun just going to dinner, eating pizookies, and being the loudest people in the theatre...well, maybe that was just Cami...love ya! We had a great time, and so what if we were in line with a bunch of teenagers! Anyone can appreciate how hot Edward is, right?

Happy Birthday Paigey!!

Always added a bit of sunshine to a room!

Isn't this a complete outfit??

A good big sister

Some more of that sunshine!

As long as I'm on a blogging roll (after at least 2 months of not even looking at it), I thought I might as well give a shout out to my Paigey!! She is turning 5 in a couple of days (on the same day as like half the kids in my ward), and I just can't believe my baby Paige is getting so big. I can believe that Zachary is almost 7, and that Emma is almost 3, but it is hard for me that Paige is 5. That means she will be in school full-time next year, and that I will only be a part of her life during non-school hours. For Paige this will be great, because she is so social, and there will be lots of kids to tell on there...not just her little sister! I find that in the day-to-day of things, I find a lot more things my kids are doing wrong than things that they are doing right. I just want to let you all know some great things about Paige:

*she always has a smile for you

*she can find a friend anywhere...no names required

*she tells me she loves me 20 times a day

*hugs and kisses are free and plentiful

*if we didn't have a pet, Paige can become any animal in a matter of seconds

*her giggle is contagious

*she loves her siblings

*she is a snuggler

*she is a daddy's girl

*she loves to sing and dance

*she picked me to be her mom, even though sometimes I don't deserve it!

I love you, Paige! I hope you have a great 5th birthday, and many more to come!

Emily's wedding

Handsome as can be!

My sweet girls (Emma was clean earlier!)

The happy couple--Emily and Erik

Here are some pictures of my sister's wedding a week and a half ago. It was held at the Groves in Mesa. It was really nice, and the kids had so much fun! They were also really good all night. Emma especially loved the chocolate fountain, which explains why her dress ended up the way it did! Zachary was very debonair in his tux. He spun Paige around on the dance floor all night long! Congratulations to the happy couple! We wish you many long years of marriage and babysitting our children!! Ha!

Halloween Fun

Brooklyn carving away!

Paige posing for the camera (as always!)

Emma and Kennedy "decorating" their caramel apples

Zachary trying to dodge the camera! Good try!

We had so much fun getting ready for Halloween with the Hilderbrand's! We just ate, carved pumpkins, and made caramel apples. It is always lots of fun to be with them, and our kids are best friends. What better best friend than a cousin! We love you guys!

Families are Blessings

I know how most people feel about posts with no pictures, so I will try to keep this short. This week we lost a member of Brent's family--his mom's (Cherie) husband Kent. It was a tragic accident in which he was killed while riding his bike by a drunk driver. I don't think death is ever easy, but this has been extremely hard because it was so sudden. I just want to say that my heart goes out to Cherie and to all of Kent's family as well.
I can't say that I knew Kent extremely well, but I do know that he and Cherie had a great marriage, and he always welcomed us into his home. And, with us, all of her grandchildren for sometimes weekends at a time. Their house is what a grandparent's home should be--toy room, extra beds, tv's, cookies, trampoline, pool. No wonder all the kids always want to be there! But, even if they lived in a cardboard box the kids would want to be there. Cherie and Kent are the epitome of what grandparents should be, and my kids are lucky to have them.
There is always something to be learned from any trial in life and, if I have learned anything this week, it is to cherish your family. None of us knows how much time we have on this earth, and we should make the most of it. I want my family to know that they are the most important thing in my life, and I would trade anything for them. Family rallied around Cherie this past week, and we will continue to do so because we love her. Heavenly Father put us in families for that very reason. He also gave us the gospel, which is a huge blessing in our lives. We can be with our families forever. I am so grateful to have married into such a wonderful family, and to be surrounded by such wonderful members of my ward family. Each of you makes me want to be a better person. You all have touched my life so much.

Karate class

Zachary in class
Trying it out on his sister who, whiningly, wishes she could be in karate!
Bowing

Okay, so Zachary has decided he wants to try out karate. I know, I know....his dad would love for him to do basketball or soccer or even baseball. I'm hoping this is just a jumping off point for him, as he hasn't wanted to do anything before when we've asked him. Last night was his first class, and he loved it! His favorite part--the cool karate outfit! I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to trick-or-treat in it!

Tinkerbell

Emma started her new dance class this past week. She is so excited to have something for her very own, and she listened to the teacher really well! Her class is called Tinkerbell Ballet, so at the end she got a Tinkerbell sticker and a cute little crown. She was very excited about it until I made her take a picture. What was I thinking asking her to do something she didn't want to????

Sleepover Fun!

When Zachary went to a sleepover with his cousin Jaxson, the girls decided to have a little sleepover of their own! We dragged the air mattress into their room and they had a blast jumping and watching movies. At about 9:30 I told them to go to bed or I was taking Emma into her own room, and she actually listened! For those of you who know Emma, you know that is amazing! They had a great time being sisters and becoming best friends!

Summer Fun

Ok, so I know summer is over. I wish the heat were! But, since I am new to blogging, I wanted to be able to post some of the fun things we did over the summer. I guess we didn't really go anywhere or do anything special. Ok, so our summer was really lame! But, I did get some good pictures!

Here are some shots of swimming lessons with Aunt Judy, Zachary mowing the lawn, and the girls and Zachary just hanging around the house. The girls are wearing the dresses that Aunt Emily bought them in Mexico. As usual, Paige is posing.

More Summer Fun!

Here are some more pictures of Braydin and Trey at Grandma Cherie's. What fun! You get to do whatever you want! Paige and Emma with their faces painted from family night at Chick-fil-A. Who knew? And, of course, the kids' first time at the circus. They enjoyed it for the most part. But, as usual, a lot of money spent when they could have had just as much fun at home.

I suppose that last photo needs some explanation. Don't go calling CPS on us! One of our fun things to do is to rip Brent's shirts off of him when he has worn them too long. Ok, sounds a little bad, but seriously, does anyone else's husband just wear something so long that you couldn't even give it away to someone who needed clothes??? So, I started ripping, and the kids took it from there. Anyway, he tied them up with his shirt as a punishment. It was worth it...that things was going in the trash for sure! It was way more fun this way.

More Camping Pics

Here are a few more pictures from the camping trip. I got a little sidetracked from when I posted last time. Hmmm...women get sidetracked? Well, it's not like we have anything else to do!!

Anyway, here is a picture of my brother fishing, my sister Kayla with her husband Kyle, all of us girls, my mom and her husband Wally, and Emily with her soon-to-be husband, Erik.

Family Camping Trip

We went on a fun family camping trip a couple of weeks ago. This was the first time our kids have gone camping, and they had a ton of fun! My mom has a travel trailer, so we really weren't roughing it, especially since we got to sleep in it. We had everyone's dogs also, and I think they had more fun than the people! Emma was dirty within minutes, and all it took to make her happy was a cup and a spoon for putting dirt into. Paige just loved her new fishing pole, and Zachary was content trying to put the dogs into Josh's (my brother) tent to wake him up in the morning. We had quite a bit of rain Saturday night, and the loud thunder was the only thing that made Zachary not like camping. I think they all had a lot of fun in the end!

Whoops!!

You know how you know things that are coming up, and you even have them on your calendar...but then the day comes and you forget everything you thought you knew??? That's what happened on Wednesday. We went over to grammy's and it's so nice to have her so close. We were home way before Zachary had to be picked up from school, unless it was a half-day!! Crap! I was 30 minutes late picking him up and he was so mad at me! The only way I could think of fixing it was that he could punish me for forgetting to pick him up. He said, "I can tell you what to do?" Anything to make him talk to me again! So, here are my punishments...if anyone wants to go to a movie anytime soon, call my parole officer. He'll let you know the answer!!