February

With today being March 1st I decided to blog about what happened at the Bachman household in the joyous month of February.  Above is a picture of yours truly and "Baby Girl" at week 27.  I've been so lucky to have a really easy pregnancy again with no nausea.  Just the typical tiredness and achiness. We've been asked a 100 times what "Baby Girl's" name is going to be and we just can't decide! Some names in the running are Sienna "SiSi", Claire, Mira Kate "Meerkat", Ava, Anna, and Elise.

Noey Pants is our favorite two year old friend! He makes us happy with all the cute things he does like putting the Trouble game pieces on his fingers.  We love to ask him what colors things are and have him randomly guess all the colors except for the one that it actually is.  He has also definitely hit the reverse psychology stage...  His brothers love to play "Don't you give me a great big kiss! or I'll go crazy!!!"

Another fun thing we got to do this month was go to a Jazz game!  The boys had free tickets through "Jr. Jazz" and Rob got free tickets through work.  Rob was nice enough to give me and the boys his closer tickets and he took Noah and the priests (it doubled for mutual night) up to the nosebleed seats.  The 3 oldest and I also had access to the "Legends Club" and got to have a yummy dinner before the game and treats at half time.  My favorite quote was when Rob was describing how close his seats were and Caleb said "Good.  That's where I like them."  Apparently since he's been to two other Jazz games in his life he's quite the seasoned veteran at the ripe old age of 6.

And then there's our house we're building...or not building...but endlessly planning to build.  We have spent hours online, in the design studio and visiting various vendors trying to figure out every last detail of this home.  We have been really lucky that we love working with "Penny" DR Horton's design consultant and truly feel like she's invested in helping us to get our home "just right".

Here's another off track activity of visiting Classic Fun Center via Zeke's request.  Surprisingly Noah got the most out of our time there and skated his little guts out.  His big brothers were happy to lend a helping hand.

We invited Akemi and her kids to join us and everyone had so much fun skating, jumping, and scavenging tokens from under the arcade games.  Zeke even won enough tickets to buy a blow up alien for him, a teddy bear for Ema and a mini basketball hoop for Jordan.  We of course finished up our trip with our tradition of stopping by Sconecutters.

There's some activities that I sign all of my boys up for such as soccer and basketball...then there are extra activities that suit each of their personalities.  Caleb requested to take karate lessons and really enjoyed his classes...once he got there.  Some how each week he would forget how much he liked it and would fight me on going so one of the times we decided that he would only go if Noah went.  I super lucked out that his teacher was the youngest of 5 boys and totally knew what it was like to want to be like his older brothers.  He was really cute and patient with Noah and they all had a blast!

Another off track activity!  We invited a bunch of friends from church to go to "Lowe's Air Sports" and surprisingly almost all of them were willing to make the 40 min haul down to Provo.  They had the time of their lives doing parkour tricks, jumping, swinging and tumbling all over the place.

We also brought Talen, Caleb's best friend, along for the ride and had fun throwing rocks in "Rock Canyon".

Next stop was visiting Lance, Caleb's old best friend who moved down to Provo.  They also have 4 boys and 1 girl and his mom Adriana hooked me up with a whole bag of brand new baby girl clothes that she wasn't using.  Score!

So that's how our month of February "sorted out".  Hope you all loved your February as much as we did.

Farm Country and Cabela's

Well it's been a couple years since the last time I posted but the boys got on the blog yesterday and really enjoyed reading it so I thought I'd try to get it going again.  Here's a small adventure we had when we were off track.  We've had record high temps in Utah for February so we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point.  None of the older boys were very excited to go AT ALL but Noah couldn't wait to go on a "horsey ride".  Because we were off track most other kids were in school and he was able to go on horsey rides over and over to his delight!

Noah had the biggest grin and kept saying "Yehaw!"  He loved every minute of his rides and would've happily rode into the sunset if I'd let him.

We brought some friends along...Here's the crew...Zeke, Isaac, Jordan "JoJo", Kara, Caleb (the football kept him happy cause he was "booorrrrrrred" most of the time, Ema and Noah.  They had a good time yelling making animal "noises" at the various chickens, peacocks and turkeys.

We also got to go on a lovely horse and cart ride that was bumpy and breezy, but good for us I'm sure.

Pants was sooo happy to be out and about with friends at the farm.  Such a happy and cute boy!

Plowing up the fields...he's my number 1 farmer!

Not pictured... Isaac found a stuffed wolf at the gift shop that he happily paid $17 of his allowance money for and has been loving on ever since.  He tried to name him "Shadow" but Noey nick named him "Wolfy Bear" and the name has stuck.  Isaac sleeps with him every night so I guess he was worth the big allowance bucks after all.

Next we headed over to Cabelas to check out more "stuffed animals".  The kids had fun in the aquarium, looking at animals, popping fake guns, eating treats, playing checkers and running a muck.

Sheriff Noey Pants thoroughly enjoyed borrowing this hat and black lab for an hour or two before we put them back.  The finale of our day was when this wild and crazy boy who missed his nap decided that his shoe should "go swimming with the fishy's" and chucked his shoe into the fish pond!  Luckily the maintenance lady had a long net and was able to save it before it sunk to the bottom.  The End.

Let's begin...

Caleb's got a memory of steel and to keep it strong he exercises it constantly. Literally almost every sentence he speaks begins with "Remember..." He's been doing this since he could talk really. He would look out the window as we drove down the Main Street that takes us away from our home "Wemember when we went there to pick pumpkins?" "Wemember when we got gas there?" Etc. etc. Yes Caleb. I remember. Especially since you remind me EVERY time we drive past it.

Isaac on the other hand likes to "Bemember" things. He also has a catch phrase to begin most if his sentences with. It is "Did you know? !!!!" But usually it comes out "didyouknow" all super fast like with lots of fast breathing through the teeth before and after and throughout the wild story he's about to divulge. He likes to speak in hastags. Keep in mind his tail will also be unraveled in a high and squeaky voice. He definitely continues to earn his nick name "Squeaks."

Tonight we went to Walmart. I like to shop at Walmart for two reasons. The first is I like to price match. The second is my kids can run around like crazy, weighing various fruits, shouting at the top of their lungs, bickering back-and-forth, breaking shoes, shaking pop, laying in the aisle crying, abandoning the youngest at the drinking fountain, fighting over the birthday cake book, shall I go on? This was just the happenings of our trip tonight. And yet somehow with it all happening at Walmart vs somewhere "classy" like let's say Harmon's makes me feel all the better. Like maybe it's more acceptable somehow. We came, we bought, we conquered. And although Noah knocked down about 50 cereal boxes it still feels like a major accomplishment. Our family motto rings out triumphant. "We survived!"

St. George Getaway

Lucky us, we got to tagalong with Rob to St. George a couple weekends ago and escape the inversion of doom! It was so wonderful to be able to see the blue sky again after weeks of being stuck in the disgusting haze.  Rob flew down on Monday for work and I drove down with all 4 boys by myself on Thursday…the day of the dreadful freezing rain.  I waited til it had thawed and all the accidents had been towed away so it was smooth sailing for us.   When we arrived we went straight down to go swimming because that is the highlight of the trip for a swimming Squeaks. We even got Noah a swim diaper and let him splash around while sitting on my lap.  Then we collapsed into bed to prepare for our big day ahead… a trip into Zions!I had never been brave enough to take the boys into Zions by myself but with enough googling I psyched myself into it and off we went.  I kept telling the boys we were off to hike “The Impossible Hike”!  Somehow referring to it that way calmed my nerves because if the whole thing was a flop it was because it was supposed to be impossible anyways.  It made for fun convo on the way there too because we’d see jagged peaks halfway in the clouds and I’d ask “Do you see the IMPOSSIBLE hike!?”

Above is Caleb with HIS stick.  He found it outside of the Zions visitor center and was adamant that we take it with us on our hike.  I told him I was willing to take a picture of his Precious so he could always remember it but that it was not coming in my car and that it belonged to the visitors center.  He played with it outside for 10 minutes while we watched the movie of how Zions was formed since he couldn’t bring it inside.  It was indeed a special special stick.Zeke took this picture of Caleb and I thoroughly enjoy it because a) Caleb’s face pretty much explains how we were feeling a lot of the time stuck in the car and b) because you rarely see any car pics of vacation but that’s where we were for A LOT of this trip.  I got a little confused about which road to take in Zions and we ended up driving off on this side highway that had THE coolest winding up the the mountain, feel like your flying, driving through two mega long “wish tunnels” where you can turn off your lights and be in COMPLETE darkness and all scream for the fun of it and see tunnel windows peaking out the side of the rock and come out the other side and end up in CarsLand and then Dinosaur World. *Big breath after way toooo long of a run on sentence*  This is what road trips become when you’re trying to entertain 7, 6 and 4 year old boys.  The highway side trip was a total accident but it was way worth it because of how awesome the scenery and tunnel were.We went on the trail called Riverside walk that luckily was paved which meant I could stroll a sleeping Noah and stir crazy boys with pent-up energy could RUN! which Caleb most assuredly did. Especially since it meant that he was the winner and could have a treat. We were at the river approximately 5 minutes before Isaac as per his status quo immediately put both feet with shoes on in the river.  This is annoying in the summer but will drive a mother CRAZY in the winter.  Knowing this would happen despite my insistent warnings, I brought extra socks and shoes and we forged on with the hike.  Notice Caleb has found yet another glorious stick.My boys always give me the hardest time when I tell them we’re going to go on a hike. “No! We want to go swimming…to the dollar store…to Lazer Mania!..” they insist, but I haul them unwillingly into nature and every time guaranteed they have the time of their lives.  Hopefully they will remember next time.  I may need to refer them to this post. Look! We found a tiny bit of actual green growing!You can’t really tell from the pic but this was the cutest babbling brook.

Despite the fact that I probably own 10 different hats for Noah, I never have one on hand when I need one. Hence the makeshift blanket hat.  Urban turban. Also notice Caleb’s colored safety pins he put on his coat. Such a fashionista.Brotherly bonding along the scenic trail.  Fruitloops from the hotel breakfast is our version of trailmix.Oozing with personality .Frozen waterfall? Cool!  No, really. The trail was closed due to falling ice… and they weren’t kidding.  We got to the sign and Caleb pronounce/sang “Wah, wah,wah,waaaaah!”  There you have it! We hiked the impossible hike! Quite successfully too I might add.  Unless of course you count the fact that Noah screamed for 15 minutes on the way home because he was starving!!!  He was not impressed by my offering of a slice of white bread.

Isaac’s 6th Birthday

Isaac has turn the mighty 6! We had fun family “waffle night” party for him at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and enjoyed good times with cousins galore. We also had a party the night before at Nani’s house but those pics are on Rob’s camera so that post will hopefully be coming soon! I accidentally brought the camera bag without the camera inside it so you’ll have to endure pictures taken with my phone. Isaac got a really cool truck that turns into a dinosaur. He also got some Spiderman Legos, Star wars Lego pajamas and an Iron man mask that he so nicely immediately gave to Caleb who had lost his Ironman mask to the neighbor who never returned it.Probably safe to say the biggest hit of the party was the piñata from Bryson and Destiny leftover from Christmas. The kids were not deterred by the freezing temperatures in the garage and happily made a mad dash when Zeke busted it open.Isaac decided he wanted to have a Batman themed party and as I am too cheap to buy a custom cake I whipped up this cake with Isaac’s help. I was especially proud of my Oreo Batman silhouette in the middle. Isaac got to choose whatever ice cream he wanted to go with the cake and he chose Rob’s favorite…mint chocolate chip. Like father like son! All in all it was a wonderful little shindig and we’re so happy to have a big boy Squeaks in all of his sixness. A quick snapshot of Isaac at 6: Lego maniac, major bike rider, cabinet climber, fearless gymnast, persistent reader, scripture story enthusiast, Baby Noah helper, pizza smell hater, cheese stick and Pedisure inhaler, sweet smile and hug giver! We LOVE our Isaac!

Winter Update

I haven’t blogged for 10 months! I have a resolution to blog once a week this year and am already struggling clearly. But I shall try once again… Here is a blog post that I wrote last March that I am finally posting…

It's that special time of year again... A time of Christmas cheer, Valentine love, and little boy winter stir craziness. I will undoubtedly admit that "screens" as we call them at our house, namely TV, Wii, computer, and my phone, have undoubtedly helped me and the boys survive long cold days but we have attempted a few other things as well.  First a Zekie brag session is in order.  Zekie got his report card last week and got straight 4’s! which is the equivalent to straight A’s in Kindergarten.  Mrs. Thayer sent out an email to all parents letting them know that at this point in the year that a 2 was a good grade because they were still introducing a lot of concepts.  At Zeke’s parent teacher conference Mrs. Thayer told Rob that she just doesn’t ever give out report cards like that but she couldn’t help it with Zeke.  Needless to say we are so proud of smartie pants Zekes!  He also took another test and got 101 out of 102.  She said she’s supposed to test him again at the end of the year but what would be the point?!  Zekie told Mrs. Thayer that he was good at dancing and being smart and Isaac was good at climbing and wrestling!  That made her chuckle. Luckily Zekie is never bored and is still learning a lot at Kindergarten.  Lately they’ve been having a swell time learning about different careers and Zeke even convinced me to visit his class and tell them a little about Photography.  He’s also getting better at his writing skills and often writes funny things at school that make Rob and I laugh at his creativity.  He’s reading at a 2nd grade level and has busted through the whole Magic Tree House Series.  Every night he reads in bed until 9…or a little later if he “just not tired yet.”

Here’s some of Zekie’s homework that we’re saving… digitally.  I can’t believe how many papers come home EVERY day!

Meanwhile a Squeaks has been crafting up a storm!  Here he is with play dough he helped make, cookie cutters and smelly markers.  When he was done he said “Mama, I make really good creations right?!”

A proud moment for Isaac with his ice cream cone, star, car, plane and heart!

Isaac also make this lovely camera out of a chocolate box, paper, tape and a toilet paper roll.  You can open it up and find lots of cute pictures Isaac drew.  My favorites are the ones of me and my round circle prego belly.   If you look close at Isaac’s chin you can see that he surprisingly got a case of the chicken pox!  My theory is he got them at Kangeroo Zoo when he got an arm burn going down the slide and then the germs got smashed into his open wound.  He got a bunch a chickenpox all around his elbow, about 8 on his bum and legs, and maybe 5 on his chin and nose.  Luckily they didn’t bother him very much and they’re all healed up and gone now.  Plus he won’t have to get his chicken pox booster for kindergarten now that he’s had them.  A silver lining in everything.

And then there’s Caleb Nicholas.  I talked to Caleb’s primary teacher yesterday and she told me Caleb informed her that her phone was boring and not fun like mine.  Her comment was that’s how you know technology’s hitting them young when the 3 year old’s a critic.  You can see in this picture that Caleb’s “swiped” my iphone once again and begs me daily to put new free games on for him.  He was turning to quite a junkie so now I have a password and he can only play after he’s done a chore.  He’s getting pretty good at emptying the laundry and the dishwasher .  He also banished the nick name “Baby” now that Noah’s on the way and Caleb’s a “big boy”.  He also informed me that he no longer has a funky name.  I’m sad that his days of proudly introducing himself as “Bebopalicious!” are over.  And so clearly as his mother I took it upon myself to give him some new nick names despite his pleadings that he was “just Caleb”.  There’s lots of fun things that rhyme with his middle name of Nicholas.  When he picks his nose, which unfortunately is way too often he become Caleb “Pickalas”, when he tricks me by saying that he IS NOT in “poo ball magician” (poo ball position is sitting on the floor or hiding behind the chair or the pantry), he become Caleb “Trickalas”, and when he kicks his brothers he clearly become Caleb “Kickalas”.

The latest on baby boy number 4, who we’re naming after one of brother Brian’s aliases, “Noah” is that he’s happy, growing and kicking up a storm.  Above is a picture of his brother’s waiting in my OB’s waiting room for it to be my turn.  I forgot that it was president’s day and I would have 3 boys with me instead of 1 so the screens came along to make the time go back faster.  Thank you DVD player, Leapster and iphone for making an impossible visit very quiet and calm.

Incase you were worried that my boys did screens all day and never made it out about I assure that is not the case.  Here’s our three monkeys at gymnastics…

Caleb at the mall practicing his karate moves…

Twin 1 helping Twin 2 out at the library.

Some of our other random activities have been decorating cupcakes, visiting the children's museum, too many trips to Chickfila, and various crafting. We have done a few other things but that at least covers the pictures. I'm so grateful the it has been a mild Winter and the boys have been able to play soccer in the street with Bella and Nate, and jump on the trampoline occasionally. Here's to one more crazy month of survival and then on to greener pastures!