Entertaining ourselves...

For some unknown reason (perhaps insanity) my mother gave my children impromptu golf lessons the other day. Yes, all 3 of them. Was she surprised when they wanted to hit an actual golf ball rather than the wiffle balls? Not really. Was I? Not really. I think that if the clubs had been a bit shorter, they would have had some killer shots. Even with the clubs being a bit too big for them, they got some nice shots in. Luckily I was able to hide the actual golf ball so they used the bright orange and yellow wiffle balls instead without too much complaining!

Chalk...I have a love/hate relationship with chalk. I love to draw with it and I love that it entertains my kids. In fact, I've been wanting to try that 3D chalk too. I hate it because my children inevitably end up chalking where they probably shouldn't. Like here for example: These were Sam's purple "tap shoes"

And who doesn't like a little chalk on their nose now and then? I love this picture. Look at her eyes!

And how could I be mad about the small amount of chalk on her nose when her little brothers looked like this: (Hulk & mini me) Of course, if you ask me how they got this way, I'd have to tell you that it was Samantha that colored them! At least it isn't Sharpie, right?

Nash had his last t-ball game tonight. Could I find the game? No. Did I go to both Nibley Elementary & Heritage Elementary? Yes. I even went back to Canyon Elementary. No one was to be found. I feel bad he missed his last game!

Last week when the weather was nice we too the double stroller and the bikes and went down to Lincoln to play on the toys. Nash is destined to be a stunt man I tell you. At least he had the good sense to take his flip flops off before we went across like this! As for Caleb copying this stunt? Surprisingly, he didn't even try!

This little girl is bound & determined to get her entire fist into her mouth. She loves her binki, but when she manages to pull it out of her mouth she sure gets her fist in its place in a big hurry!

I have been dying to put this dress on her! It is a 3-6 month size, but I couldn't wait any longer! She looked mighty cute in it too. Now I need to put the one that is like it but has stars on it on her!

I can't remember if I already put this picture of Brooke up or not. I love this picture. We were sitting on the couch one night & Nash was off to my left talking to her. She loves Nash. He can get this girl to just sit and grin at him for ages. In this picture I was able to catch (sort of) one of the grins she was giving him.

Nervous

Last week I was contacted by an attorney representing one of my former colleagues. Apparently my former colleague is now suing one of the school districts I worked for. I was asked to testify on her behalf. After discussing it with Travis, I called to let them know I'd do it. I spoke with the attorney today and feel a smidge better about the whole ordeal. I just hope he's able to make it so the former principal I worked under isn't in the room at the time. I told the attorney I had typed up a letter to go with my exit interview but had never sent it in because I feared retribution. I offered to send him a copy of the letter in case it might help with the case. The attorney asked if I'd been able to find full time employment. I told him "No because you have to have a letter of recommendation from your previous employer and she refused to write me one even after saying she would. I've sent in applications for about 6 positions in Weber district, but they won't even consider my application without that letter of recommendation." Anyway...tomorrow I get to go testify. Oh goody.

And, on a random side note, on Saturday I'm doing another yard sale as a Relay for Life fundraiser. Don't know how much help I'm going to have this time. Sounds like more than last time, but we'll see. I'm going to try & do a bake sale along with it - food always sells!

We are surviving!

It took a bit to upload this many pictures, but it could have taken longer...I've got much more! My kids are too cute when it come to getting their picture taken. Of course, it probably doesn't help that I pack my camera EVERYWHERE!

We ventured over to the splash pad a week or so ago when my niece & nephew were here. The kids had a blast. Even Brooke was happy to be out of the house & not dodging rain drops!

Nash lost his first tooth not too long ago. He was tough. He let me pull it out willingly! It only took 3 tugs & it popped right out!


Sam & Nash have both been really good helpers with Brookelyn. Often times she'll start to cry & fairly quickly she'll stop. When I get to her, I find that one of them has picked her up and bounced her until she's happy. It makes me nervous to have Nash packing her around the house. Luckily he quite likes her so he tends to be fairly careful!

We went back to the splash pad when Travis was home this last time. Brookelyn was looking mighty cute, so we had a photo shoot.

The kids spent the night at my in laws last weekend. When Travis went to pick them up, this is what he found:

We went to Nibley Heritage Days this year. Last year I had a booth there. This year Samantha was dancing. She got to dance with her summer dance class, as well as her class from the past year. She's really enjoying summer dance. Her cousin Jade is taking the class with her, much to her delight, so it's extra fun!

Sam was super nice to Caleb while we were at Nibley Heritage Days. Not sure if it was because he had been puking earlier that day or if she just had an awesome big sister moment. Either way, he followed her around the entire time and she obliged his every whim! She paid for him to have a cookie and get his face painted. She took him over to play the free family games and rode on the rainbow train with him. I think he was pretty happy to have her giving him so much attention.

All 3 of my boys rode the mechanical bull while we were at Nibley Heritage Days. Can you see the absolute terror on Caleb's face?

On Father's Day (when we went to Provo to see Grandpa Butter) we got to visit with quite a bit of the Bown family from Manti. None of them had seen Brooke yet. In fact, we were planning to go down that very weekend. Grandma Butter was "pleased as punch" to just sit and hold Brookelyn & love on her! She gave us a baby present for Brooke too. She hand quilted a trico blanket for Brooke. It has Thumper, birds and flowers on it. The only down side is that it's white trico. She did one for my niece that's 3 days older. My nephew that's 4 1/2 also has one. Surprisingly, his is still white! And yes, he used it all the time!

Nash has really taken to his sister. I'm glad too because during my whole pregnancy he was quite indifferent to the idea of getting another sister. It's great to watch him with her. He does the face pulling and silly noises to make her happy. Tonight he was doing the face farts on her belly. She likes him just as much as he likes her too. She sure lights up when he comes into her line of vision. This second picture I was lucky enough to capture her when she was talking to Nash. It was soo cute. I can't wait until she starts cooing more! She's going to go nuts when Nash is around!

I saw this idea on a website awhile ago and decided to make one for each of the girls. The only thing that's sewn on it is the pillow part. Everything else is hot glued on. It took quite awhile to cute everything out. I finally got smart & took the fabric with me when I took the girls to dance class. The boys, Brooke & I went over to Adams park. Brooke sat in her carseat, the boys played at the playground, and I cut out my petals! I burned my thumb twice gluing it all together. I'm going to have quite the blister. But, I think it turned out super cute. I need to cut out some more petals (took more than I thought it would) so I can finish the other one. And, since blizzard fleece is on sale for $3.99 this week, I'm going to pick up some more fleece in some different colors so I can make some more!

Wonder what the next week will bring?

Brooke's hospital picture

I was finally able to get Brooke's hospital picture! I have placed an order so I will be getting some soon. For now though, check them out here:

http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?BirthId=df8ffbe0-feda-4eab-abbc-c6f5bfb96613

Grandpa Butter

Saturday morning I was able to carry out my Relay for Life yard sale fundraiser. I ended up raising about $120. I was pretty excited about that since I had only raised $10 so far. Yeah, I've been a slacker this year due to my "easy" pregnancy with Brookelyn. After the yard sale I headed to Nibley where Samantha was dancing for Nibley Heritage Days. The 3 older kids had spent the night at Grandpa Scott & Grandma Kris's house the night before & Travis had gone out to pick them up. When I got to Nibley, Travis told me his Grandpa Butter had been out baling hay and had been run over by the tractor and the baler. This was not good news, as we all know the liklihood of a good turnout with such a situation is fairly slim.

I later learned that Grandpa had been out baling hay and realized that the twine wasn't tying. He put the tractor in park and hopped out to tie up the bale before it fell apart. As he was tying up the bale of hay, he realized the tractor was starting to roll down the hill. As he tried to jump into the tractor to stop it, his right boot got caught in the wheel and he was pulled under. It's a good thing that man is so full of fight. His entire right side was run over by the tractor and baler. The tractor kept rolling down the hill until it hit a bale of hay and came to a stop. Luckily, Trav's uncle was nearby and realized something was wrong. He jumped on the 4 wheeler and drove over and discovered grandpa. All grandpa could say was, "I'm sorry." Uncle Brad hopped back on the 4 wheeler and drove to the house where he told grandma to call Aunt Deena and then he ran back out of the house. Uncle Brad works at the jail so he radioed in for an ambulance. When grandma called Trav's dad she was in hysterics. All she knew was there was an ambulance at the farm and something had happened to grandpa.

A little later Trav's dad was able to talk to Uncle Brad. It was then that we learned that the ambulance had transported grandpa to the Gunnison hospital where he had been life flighted to Utah Valley hospital. At Utah Valley hospital he went into surgery. His right femer had been broken (really badly - I saw the x-rays yesterday). They put a rod and plate into his femer along with 11 screws. He has multiple broken ribs but no sign of internal bleeding. They thought his right wrist was broken but it turns out it isn't. His right forearm is bandaged because the baler left a deep gash there. They had to put many, many stitches in that right arm. His face has some road rash on it on the left side as well. Fortunately, only grandpa's boot ended up in a bale of hay.

Yesterday Trav, Brooke and I went down to the hospital. Trav and I were able to go in and see him. He looked much, much better than I had anticipated. He is in the ICU and they originally thought he'd be there for about 3-4 days. However, he was doing so well that they were thinking perhaps he'd only have to stay in ICU for 1-2 days. Once he leaves ICU he will be put into a regular room. It sounds like he will only have to be in the hospital for about 2 weeks. The dr.s have said he can move his knee and hip as much as he'd like because movement is great. He cannot however put weight on it yet.

We are so fortunate because we know just how bad it could have been. Farms and farm equipment are the most dangerous things on earth in my opinion! I had been down to visit my Grandpa Maughan the other day and he was saying he needs to get out and get the hay cut and baled. I told Grandpa Butter that he now has me worried about Grandpa Maughan. He told me to tell my grandpa to make sure he shuts off the tractor before he gets out because it just isn't worth the risk. Last night on our way home from the hospital I called my grandpa. I told him about the accident and that now I was worried about him. I told him he has to promise me he'll bale with someone and make sure to shut the tractor off before he gets out! He promised. We love all our grandpas and are so, so thankful that Grandpa Butter is still here with us. I know this is one Father's Day we won't soon forget. Treasure your fathers and grandpas because you never know how long you have with them!

Would you want to?

I received an email the other day about an event called Making Strides in UT. It's a breast cancer event that raises funds for breast cancer research, etc. I've put the link to the event in this post. If you'd be interested in doing this with me, let me know. I want to know if I'd have a team before I sign up because I don't want to do it by myself.

http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=36100&pg=entry

First time at the splash pad

Friday my niece & nephew were here for the day. Sam & Nash were thrilled for the company! We ended up going to the splash pad in Providence. It was the 1st time we had been there. The kids had a blast playing in the water & on the playground. We were at the park for nearly 2 hours and the kids did not want to go when it was time. I told them we'd go back soon.

I love this picture. Brooke just spent her time chillin' like a villain while we were at the park.

I ordered another board and vinyl to do 1 more sayings board for the girls' room. Here it is all finished.

Last night my mom got Brooke to sleep and laid her in the crook of the couch. When Sam and Nash came in they both wanted to snuggle up with her. I told them both to just leave her alone so that they didn't wake her up. Here's what I found a little later....

At least I know she's a good babysitter!

Check this out

I was reading the news on msn.com when I came across this article - http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/09/6820540-dying-teens-bucket-list-goes-viral?gt1=43001 Her blog address is http://alicepyne.blogspot.com/ I suggest you check out the article and her blog.

Which kid is it?

Summer begins...

This one has finished his first season of soccer:

This one has decided he's done with these despite any and all begging & pleading from mom:

This one is turning out to be fairly decent help:

This one got in the tub & actually didn't scream the entire time!:

We managed to get a few pictures of her looking cute & not screaming yesterday & today:

I think Brookelyn totally looks like Caleb did! I'll have to post a picture of him for comparison!

What I want to do this summer:

1. The library's summer reading program began yesterday. We've got our reading passports and are all ready to begin!

2. Samantha begins summer dance today. She's excited to have her cousin Jade in her class. I think Jade is just as excited!

3. I've got to get a yard sale done! I have a ton of stuff & I have done absolutely NO fundraising for Relay for Life!

4. All 3 of the big kids are signed up for Summer Learning Camp with Miss Shannon. Miss Shannon was Sam's Kindergarten teacher and is going to be Caleb's preschool teacher this fall. The kids are going to her place on Tuesday mornings for 2 hrs where they will get to do a craft, a story and a snack. I think Sam's just as excited about it as Caleb. Sam LOVES Miss Shannon! I'm hoping that it will get Caleb use to going and use to Miss Shannon before preschool starts in September!

5. I told Travis we need to make a trip to Manti in June. Unfortunately, I might not make it in June. It might be July! The kids would be bummed big time. They are looking forward to going. They haven't been since Easter and before that it was Christmas. I hate to go without Travis, but I might have to.

6.Travis & I are trying to plan a family vacation. We originally talked about Zions and Bryce Canyon. Now we're thinking perhaps South Dakota (Mt. Rushmore, etc). If we can round up some money & plan a time we will be off! Lets hope that Brookelyn does better in her carseat on that trip than Sam did in her carseat on the way to Washington her first summer! That was a LONG ride!

7. Brookelyn has given me 5 minute intervals to weed my flowerbeds. Unfortunately with all the rain we got this spring the weeds are out of control! I'm not even exaggerating! Caleb went with me to buy flowers a few weeks ago. If I don't get them all in the ground soon, they are going to be dead! I did manage to get our few garden plants planted when Travis was home. They are looking good. Now if I can get the flowerbeds to match! I also need to weed what small area of a garden space I have left. My mom has raspberry starts for me!

8. Samantha is looking forward to the church activity day when they go swimming (next week). I'd really like to take the kids to the Aquatic Center several times this summer. I just don't know if I can keep a close enough eye on all 4 of them by myself! Perhaps we'll have to commission Uncle Zack to go with us!

9. I'd also really like to take the kids to the park regularly. I wanted to go to Willow Park yesterday, but with the migraine I had and the lack of listening skills Caleb had, I figured it was a BAD combination! Too much wind to go out with Brookelyn today. Perhaps we'll make it tomorrow! Good thing we've got baseball 2 times a week because the kids hit the park then!

10. I've got a bunch of super cute 4th of July fabric I bought a bit ago that I want to get some pillowcase dresses made out of. I'm fairly certain I have a booth for the 4th in Hyrum. My sister's BFF, Heidi (my other little sister), is doing a booth at Founder's Day in August that she said I could share with her (she's going to share mine on the 4th) so I've got to get some stuff done for then too! Let's hope that Brookelyn's crying spurt doesn't last too much longer!

11. If we don't get the boys moved downstairs to their new room soon we're going to be in trouble! I couldn't put many of Brookelyn's clothes in the closet (4 kids' clothes in 1 closet just doesn't work well). Besides that, Brookeyn will be too big for her bassinet soon and I'm going to need my crib (which is currently a toddler bed for Caleb)!

Looks like we're going to be busy & stay busy the entire summer!