Mission{s} Accomplished!

 For months now I have been wanted to sit down and make some new curtains for the kitchen to brighten it up and make it a little more formal.  I know...it's going out on a limb for me because I will always be a "country girl" but after watching for the perfect fabric every shift at JoAnn's for the past six months I think I found a happy medium!  T his is how it turned out.  I love it! 

This post is really just for me.  This picture may look like a big pile of mess to the un-suspecting reader, but to me it's a job well done and a reminder that if I put my mind to it I can get all the laundry folded in one day!!!  LOL!  Now I just have to put it all away!  Seriously I would rather to dishes and clean toilets for the rest of my days than fold laundry.  I have decided I hate it all together and I need to emply a magic laundry fairy to help me keep one step ahead of four little boys and one husband that if they had thier wish would live outside in the dirt forever!  LOL!  At least it's done for now right?

Our First Pack Meeting!

Yep that's right!  Dallin is now a full fledged Cub Scout!  He went to his first pack meeting last night and loved every second of it!  He loved putting on his uniform, he loved playing the game and eating the cookies!  He said it was great!  I am cringing because I know I am destined for "den leader" with four boys living in my house...LOL!  Oh well, it could be worse right?  I think he looks so cute in his new scout uniform!

The Real Deal...

 Well...this is the real deal.  The "us" you don't normally see on the blog or in church or even at the Home Depot on a Saturday afternoon!  Silly kids!  I procrastinated taking a picture of the kiddos in their Christmas P.J's that I made them for Christmas eve...pretty darn cute if I do say so myself and this even happened without measuring any of them!  I am getting better I must say.  I just thought this picture was hilarious!  It says it all about my sweet boys...Dallin - we always have to shoot an extra picture because he can't seem to keep his eyes open (he gets that from his dad), Alex - didn't want to put his new pajamas on for the picture "I'll just hide in the back mom and no one will ever know!"  Derrick - Funny face, nostrils flarin' and I-pod in hand.  (He thinks he's so cool with those big earphones on his head all the time.  His ears are too tiny for the earplug ones that came with it so we had to dig in the dinosaur electrical box and find something that would work! LOL!), Zeke - Just happy to be here!

Side note:  Zeke's latest funny words are : "Day-err!" (Derrick), "Adec" (Alex...took us a while to figure that one out!)

Derrick wanted a picture of himself with "all my friends!"  he said so this is it!  He loves to pile into his bed with all the stuffed animals and toys he can find.  He is a hoarder.  Sadly he gets this from me.  Lol!  Funny things Derrick has said lately:

At Dinner:
Derrick: "Dad are you an A-gle?"
Dad: "A what???"
Derrick: "An A-gle!  Like on your shirt?"
*Dustin had a picture of an eagle on his shirt!
Dad: "Yep!  I am an Eagle!  ...and mom was a Miner...A-gles are better!"

That started something!  haha!

In the Car:

Mom! My 'thinger' hurts!  (finger!)  LOL!

...and the Rains came tumblin' down!!!

St. George got a years worth of water this week!  It has been raining and raining and raining!  I can't believe I am saying this because I usually love it when it finally clouds over here and starts pouring.  It's such a relief because we don't see many cloud around here, but I am truly ready for the sun to shine!  Nevertheless I am grateful that our rivers and lakes are filling up!  It has been a blessing and we needed it badly! 

This was the view to the east of our house.  We had a great panaramic view of the overlowing river and it's condition.  It was kind of spooky seeing the stories on the news right accross the street! LOL!  It got a little scary there for few days, but we didn't float away.  Thank heaven the dam held and the work they did on the riverbeds the last time this happened four years ago didn't wash away!

 This is the view to the west of our house!  BIG RIVER...sad golf coarse!

The storm finally passed us over and headed off to the east of the country to torment those poor souls, but it did leave us with a surprise Monday morning...SNOW!  I miss the snow.  I don't miss the cold though and I am thankful I didn't have to be back out on the playground until Tuesday!  Whew! I must be livin' right!!  LOL!

All I want for Chrithmas!

Well it FINALLY happened!  The day after Christmas Dallin lost his first tooth!  At age 8!  He was so excited!  All he has been talking about for months is loosing a tooth!  He was very brave and didn't even squeek while we wiggiled it the rest of the way out with the tweezers...now he's talking about just pulling the others!  Grose! 

Christmas 2010

There is nothing like a kids face on Christmas morning!  We had a great time!

 

Alex got the iPod he has been asking for for months...I don't think he could believe he really got it!  He was stunned!  LOL!

 

Thanks Gramma Herb' for the cool Night Furry!  It was a hit!

 Dallin got an ipod too!  He was soooo excited!

 Derrick just knew there had to be an ipod in there for him too somewhere!  He was on a mission once he saw Dallin and Alex with theirs.  He was over the moon to get the same as his older brothers!

 Zeke was pleased as punch with his race track.  He love to drive cars all over the house and pretend that anything with a bump or a hill is a race track.  Maybe this will help keep the track marks off my walls!

I love that Zeke is still small enought to be exctied over the fun little kid stuff! So happy!

Happy Holidays!

It's great to be Eight!

Our little Dallin has made it to the big time!  He is eight years old!  He has been so excited to turn eight so that he could get ready to be baptized, and go to scouts!  I can't believe he is old enough to be doing these things already!!!!

Our cute Dallin all grown up!  It's goes look like a lot, but he wanted a "BIG" remote-controlled monster truck this year.  He was so excited!

 

Dallin at Age 8...

Favorite Food: Good Hearty Meals!  He loves chicken and rice and rolls and good big breakfasts with all the fixin's! 

Friends: Carson and Kaden

Favorite pass time: Playing with friends outside...away from his brothers if he can help it. LoL!

Dallin is a worry wort like his Mom.  He pays close attention to detail and always wants to know whats going on ahead of time and the rules so he can make sure and follow them.  Very typical oldest child.  Very Type A.

We are so proud of Dallin and all the great things he does.  It always amazes me that he goes to bed at night and seems to grow an inch in his sleep and wake up even smarter than before.  He looks older to me this year.  He's lost that little boy look.  I will miss it.  We love you Dallin!  Happy Birthday!

By the time Dallin's birthday rolled around we were birithday caked out!  So he opted for a chocolate pie...as long as he got to have the biggest piece!  LOL!

Alex is Six Today!!!

Our little Alex turned Six today!!!

 With Elementary age kids in the house you can only imagine how often the topic of "When is it going to be my Birthday??" comes up.  Well today Alex had his special day and he was over the moon!  I can't believe how grown up he is all of a sudden.  It's funny how you wake up and notice little things that are different about your kid all of a sudden...

Alex 101:

Favorite food: Ham and Cheese sandwiches with the "white stuff" aka: Miracle Whip

Alex would eat this all day every day, but he will also settle for anything with sugar, pizze and the occasional chicken nugget.  He loves to play!  He loves to play ball, play with friends, play the Wii, Play Play Play.  He likes to laugh and listen to himself sing and quote movie lines.  He is still way into movies by the way.  Still studies them and dresses up like the character of whatever he is watching if he thinks no one is looking.  It's so fun to watch him use his imagination.  Happy Birthday Alex!  We love you!

 Surprised with his presents!  Wasn't expecting the Duck Hunger game.  Loved it!

(Do you love Derrick and Dallin hovering?  LOL)

Six candles...so grown up! 

(Zeke is loving all the birthdays we are having around here...loves to blow out the candles!  It's hilarious!  Wouldn't be surprised if we all got a good dose of Zeke cuties this week from all the "spitty" help he gave us!

'Tis the Season!

Christmastime always seems to hurry past me with so much hustle and bustle that I forget to really relish in all my favorite little delights of the season, so I thought I would share a few in hopes to better remind myself to enjoy the journey and the time of year that everything seems to be a little brighter....

1. My camera and all the fun things that it can do!  I have barely scratched the surface with this baby, but after following the directions on Stephanie;s blog and realizing that maybe I have a smidgen of talent compared to her I took a picture of my #1 favorite thing at Christmastime...LIGHTS! I love this picture!  This is how I see my tree when I find a few spare moments in the day to enjoy the beauty of it.  I squint my eyes so I can see all the little twinkles and somewhere in my deranged Type A brain I say to myself..."The tree looks so pretty!  Look how symmetrical you strung all the lights this year!"  LOL!  I love twinkle lights.  Somehow they just make a bad day better.  They put your mind to rest.  They ease tension.  They make a messy house look cleaner.  I think the New Star that Heavenly Father gave the Baby Jesus was the perfect gift.  The best twinkle light ever.  Peace, Light, Brightness, Hope.  That is what I think about when I see my cute little twinkle lights!

 2.  My Christmas tree in general.  it's nothing spectacular.  In fact it's a fake one that we've have for years.  It's tall and skinny and on it's last leg and if I was proud I would go by a new, bigger, better one that filled the room and reached the vaulted ceiling of our new bigger house, and put ornaments on it that matched or had a theme, but I like this one.  I like that it's a little humble and reminds me of what it took us to get to where we are.  It was hard some of the time.  It was a mismatch of trying to make ends meet.  It was a tight squeeze.  it was bending and breaking and sometimes not being the best. But it was and still is a great journey that I don't want to forget.  I like the old fashioned look of it.  I like the wooden ornaments that we once upon a time we had to have to so little hands wouldn't break them.  I like that the kids can still play with them and decorate and un-decorate it at will.  I like it simple.

 3.  Advent Calendars!  I will admit that these have never made it the full 24 days at our house.  The boys love them...especially Zeke who likes to get it all over with in one night and eat them all at once.  That was fun to watch.  More than that though, it's a memory from my childhood.  I remember my best friend Amy Klemm's Grandma would giver her family one every year and they would take turns opening them.  She even let me open the door and have one once when it was her turn.  It was a small act of kindness and I remember it.  I remember feeling loved by someone other than family.  I remember wanting to return the favor. It's a sweet memory and now I like sharing that with my kids...hoping that someday they too will want to share that small act of kindness with someone else.

 4.  Mittens.  I don't know why , but I love mittens!  They are so cute!  They are warm.  They are winter!

 5. The Baby Jesus.  I love this story.  It is my favorite.  I like to think about what Mary was thinking about.  I love that she loved him and us enough to give us that most precious gift.

 6. My New Nativity Set!  Anyone who knows me knows that I would never spend the kind of money on myself that this costs.  For years I have wanted this and this year I got the first piece of my collection!  I love That I now have something to collect.  I love that it's simple.  I love the story that it tells.

7.  Last but not least Christmas Programs, Festivities, Parties, Family and the Hustle and Bustle!  It's crunch time...I mean Christmas Time!  Hey I work the best under pressure!  I pull off my best P.J's and Primary Lessons and Parties at the last minute.  I love all the Hullabaloo!  (This is Dallin's 2nd Grade Christmas Program.  It was darling! He did a great job!!)

I hope you enjoy the season as much as I do.  Hopefully you'll take the time to really notice the little things that make you smile too!

Merry Christmastime!