spring break = perfect weather

We had a pretty relaxed week. I felt crummy at the beginning of the week (sinus infection) so I don't think we even left the house until Wednesday. We visited the library a couple of times, went to the park just about every day, ran a few errands, and mostly just played and hung out around the house. I didn't take any photos with my regular camera, although I got quite a few snapshots with my phone.

The grass at the park felt so nice on our feet:

Liv did not like lying down on the grass though (I love this photo):

Saturday was really busy (cleaning the church, rehearsals, soccer game, etc.). We attended a fun 1st birthday party for the daughter of some good friends. My friend that ties balloons was there as well making animals and other things for all of the kids. Tosh popped two swords from hitting the grass even though we warned him what would happen...

I thought this guy that Hewitt toted around was hilarious! He reminded me of one of the old men sitting in the balcony on "The Muppet Show."

Liv's first time in a bounce house:

Our new backboard came in and some guys came over to help Rob put it up last night. Burke took the very first shot at the new hoop (it went in). The kids (and Rob) were so excited to finally shoot baskets and did it for over an hour until it was too dark.

I made strawberry jam for the first time this weekend. I didn't realize how easy it was to make or I would have already done it by now! It's one of Rob's very favorite things so it was fun for me to fill up a good portion of our outside freezer with it. I don't think I've posted about the fact that we bought a wheat mill back in December and that I've been making homemade wheat bread a lot lately [Am I super domestic now, or what? :) ha!]. The combination of homemade wheat bread with a little bit of jam is pretty hard to beat. YUMMY!

(I tried curling Liv's hair with the flat iron and concluded that her hair still looks just too stringy down. Maybe in a few months...)

When I got on here to load photos today, I noticed some of our family shots from February. It made me miss Tosh's long hair. Boy, he looks so much older now!

Here are a couple other funny/cute ones that I haven't posted:

We've had a nice spring break. The boys go back to school on Tuesday. Have a great week!

post script

A couple of funnies that I don't want to forget about:

Our Bishop had a little time to fill at the end of our sacrament meeting today and so he spoke for about ten minutes. Tosh was getting a little restless (Rob was already standing in the back with Liv), and so I told him to listen because "the Bishop has a message for us." Rob returned to our bench during the closing song and I guess right after the closing prayer Tosh told Rob, "I need to go get my message from the Bishop." Tosh headed up to the front and had already asked the Bishop for "his message" by the time I got up there. I explained what I had said to Tosh and we all had a good laugh.

Rob was just telling me that he has never heard Liv say the "s" sound when I was reminded that during a prayer at church today, she put her index finger to her lips and said, "Sshhhhh" very loudly!

I was quizzing Hewitt during dinner tonight (simple things like: Is 2+2, or 3+3 bigger?). I then explained that "false" was the opposite of true and started asking him true/false questions. I said "Liv is the youngest member of our nuclear family," and Hewitt said, "Not false!"

Note to my sisters-in-law- Thanks for the dress compliments (Target clearance!). I will send it Edith's way when we are done. I realized that I hadn't attached a photo that shows the cute neckline with flowers:

writing from pacific time

Things were pretty slow and quiet around here after our friends left. We have another week of break so I'll have to come up with something to keep the kids busy. We didn't do anything terribly exciting for St. Patrick's Day besides wearing green, drinking leprechaun (green) milk, and eating other green things all day. My allergies have been bad for the last few weeks. I woke up feeling pretty rotten on Friday and decided to take a nap while Liv napped (and the boys were playing downstairs) that afternoon. When I woke up, I could hear Liv awake in her room and when I went in to get her she had taken off her pants, unsnapped her onesie, her diaper was on the floor and her bedding was a little wet (of course I had just laundered her bedding the day before). I have never had a child take off a diaper before. I guess things could have been much worse so I'm not complaining. I gathered all of the wet things and headed through my kitchen to the laundry room. Since I was still groggy and feeling like junk, I almost stepped on a huge mess in our kitchen. Hewitt had tried to get something out of the pantry and knocked a glass jar of salsa onto the floor. The broken glass and salsa was all over the floor and I was a little bothered that not one of the boys came upstairs to get me. It made me wonder if they will ever reach the age when I will dare leave them home alone without a sitter, and it also reminded me of why I don't nap!


Something I have not posted about yet is our basketball court. The cement is looking good (there is only one area that hasn't completely dried yet and then I'll take a photo). When our friends were here, Rob and Tom put up the pole/post that holds the hoop and the four of us managed to get the backboard mounted on to the post. The backboard is very heavy (over 250 pounds) and we were happy to be able to do it without having to rent a lift. After getting the heavy board up, the only thing left was to screw the orange rim to the backboard. I had gone inside to get lunch ready or something and suddenly heard an unusual yell from Rob. Apparently the backboard should have had something (a rubber square I guess) between the rim and the backboard, which it didn't, and so when Rob went to screw the metal rim onto the glass the entire board shattered!

It was pretty sad. It sort of knocked the wind out of our sails since we had been so excited about it just seconds before. We had to go through the process of getting the heavy board down again, and obviously it set the hoop playing back a week or two more. The GOOD news is that the company is sending a replacement out without us having to buy a new one (which we certainly shouldn't have to). This was an expensive "investment" for our family, so we are relieved that we aren't out any more money.

Rob did a lot of yard prep yesterday. He ripped out the lawn curb in the back while I went to the nursery to price things out and get a final plan for what we will be planting back there. We are a little behind schedule, but we hope to have the backyard finished before April. p.s., We are planning to plant a peach tree and I'm so excited about that.

When I got home from the nursery, I found Tosh running around looking like this:

This kid makes me laugh. He was having fun playing with the hose and dirt.

Another thing I haven't mentioned is that Liv is (over) 22 months now. That means 'two' is just around the corner. Crazy! She got her first ear infection, post tubes, this week. She woke up with a crusty ear and needed some drops. I was hoping the tubes would be the end of the infections. I guess they are doing their job though.

Anyway, Liv keeps growing up whether I like it or not. :) She has an interest in the potty and likes to sit on there (sometimes) even though she hasn't done anything on it yet... She loves to be on the trampoline as long as no one else is on it (I don't allow anyone to jump at the same time anyway), and she only likes to jump if she can hold onto someone's hand. She is on there more than our boys lately. I love the cute "oooo" face she is making here:
I think she looks older in this next shot. I love this orange and pink dress that Santa brought her. I think it looks sweet with these leggings (from Aunt JA, I think?):
That girl still loves her Bunny:
(and look, I'm branching out into some new hair-dos)

Even though I wasn't feeling awesome (I have a sinus infection now and went to get antibiotics after church today), Rob and I went out on a little date last night (it was a free babysitting trade with my friend). We grabbed some dinner and went shopping at The Rack and the Chandler Mall. Rob really made me feel loved because:

1. We left during the first half of the BYU basketball game! I offered to cancel and he insisted that we could watch the game after we got home as long as we didn't answer any phone calls or do anything that might reveal the score.

2. He really spoiled me and I got some clothes and three pairs of shoes! I wasn't really planning of buying anything, but even Rob can't resist a good deal. (only $27 for all three pairs of shoes at Nordstrom Rack!). Thanks sweetie!

spring break

Spring break is here and our good friends (the Haynies) drove down from Utah to visit us. Even though we hadn't seen each other since last March, it was as if no time had passed and everyone had as much fun together as always. We spent lots of time outside and went to two different parks and also to the zoo.

It is quite the trick to take photos of eight young children. Here are a few shots from the zoo: (Hewitt was pretending to be a baby kangaroo)

I think I've mentioned before how much I like the Phoenix Zoo. There are so many different play areas for kids.

Here are some photos from the park:

The kids played a little dance game one afternoon while the little kids were napping and it was about the cutest thing I have ever seen. I figured that I needed to film without them knowing (or my oldest child would have stopped dancing for sure), and that is why the video is of their backsides instead of the front. Also, the volume was down pretty low, so you'll have to imagine the music of "YMCA" playing:

Here are some shots of the kids right before saying goodbye today.

Burke and Zac. Still best buddies:

Abbi and Hewitt (still hoping these two get married in about 16 years or so):

Tosh and Carter (a super cute and silly duo). They loved to sit in the back of our van together and belt out primary songs. That Carter can sing!

And finally Gavin and Liv (they don't hold still for very long)...

It was so much fun catching up and hanging out with such good friends. It wasn't surprising that Angie and I were able to talk all day long and stay up chatting well past midnight almost every single night without ever running out of things to talk about. Thanks for being such great friends and for making the trip, guys!

when daddy comes home

I love this next one of Liv and her tight little grip around Rob's neck. She wouldn't let go for several minutes!

I'm hoping that Rob will post about his trip and share some photos he took. He brought home some fun souvenirs, including this cute little dress for Liv:

just now posting...

(I wrote this on Sunday night and am just now posting. It's been that busy.)

Nine days down and only three days to go! Rob's trip got shortened so he will be home from Malaysia on Wednesday night instead of Friday. Yipee! Things are going fine around here, but to be honest it has been a long week and I feel pretty exhausted. I took the younger kids to the zoo on Monday and we had a great time! The kids were so tired on the way home they both fell sound asleep (which means Tosh was up past 10pm that night...).

My parents arrived here on Thursday evening and it been nice to have some adult company. It is especially great that my mom is so much healthier than she was on her last visit (where she spent the entire week in the hospital). I made a "Daddy do" list and my dad has been kind enough to do some handy projects around the house. I'm hoping to get lots more accomplished before they leave, but we'll see how the week goes.

Here are some shots of the boys playing last weekend (dressed up in Rob's old Hawaiian shirts).

Livvy's cute little buns:

And these cute "buns" as well:

The pinewood derby was on Saturday. Burke had a lot of fun and showed great maturity, I thought. He was a great sport and just had a good time.

He got an award for the most unique design (and it was his own design).

He did well and was able to advance to the finals that our stake held that evening. I love this photo of him setting his car on the track (love that tongue sticking out!):

Out of six races, Burke came in 3rd twice, 2nd twice, and 1st twice. A friend of ours thought it was hilarious that when he asked Burke how he did he said, "Average."

Good job Burke, and thanks again to Uncle Todd for all the help and tools!