Babies, Birthdays, Beginnings and Busybodies

In an attempt to keep this blogging ball rolling I am combining as many pictures as I can in one post. Let's be honest - you don't really care what I have to say, you just want to see photos of my darling family! I really don't blame you at all because some days it is all I can do to have just one intellectual thought before a Yo Gabba Gabba song creeps into my mind and I am off again. Anywho . . . . . . . . . here is a summary of our last month of summer.

Elsie is officially feeding herself these days. It is not because I think she has the ability, but because she insists on doing it. As you can see I have given up completely and most meals don't even bother to put a bib on her. This is due to the fact that when she is finished she has to have a head to toe spit bath regardless of the bib. Who knew she would be so talented at dispersing small amounts of food all over herself?

Abby celebrated her 8th birthday! In the spirit of tradition I took her to the Lion House for her birthday (that is where I celebrated mine) and I think it is safe to say that everyone there had tons of fun. They learned all about the Lion House, wore pioneer hats, pulled taffy, ate a little lunch, played pioneer games, ate cake and ice cream and opened presents. At the end of it all Abby told me that this was her best birthday ever! She is such a sweetheart and so easy to please, we love having her in our family and I am so glad she is my oldest because she is so good at setting a happy tone in our family. What a doll!

Playing "Button, button."

The ladies in their pioneer hats.

Happy Birthday Abby-Doo!

Abby and Easton (and me, of course) were thrilled to start the first day of school. It was so fun this year because Abby was all kinds of excited about planning what she was going to wear and the accessories she was going to pair with her outfit - bag included. Easton was happy to return to Miss Lisa and Miss Shaun. I was happy to return my house to some sense of order. I do have to say that I love the first day of school mostly because it means that fall is right around the corner!

Abby got off the bus with a big grin on her face and promptly announced, "Best first day of school ever! Best teacher ever! I love my class!" And secretly I said a little prayer of thanks to my Heavenly Father for answers to mothers prayers.

And finally . . . . . . . my little busybody that makes big messes.

Can you believe I am posting again?!??! I was so excited to post all these pictures of Eastons birthday party but as I was going through them I realized I need a little help in the photography department - most of them were a little fuzzy due to the high rate of speed (I had children flying past me from every angle). Anywho, here you have it. This year we rented a water slide for Eastons party and it was so fabulous! We ended up making a full day of it by having his friend party in the morning, inviting the whole neighborhood for the afternoon to come and play and then finishing it off with a family party that night. That poor water slide was never empty, but my kids slept like rocks that night! GENIUS!

Look at those bellies!

Seven months later . . . . .

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the idea of blogging. I LOVE the idea of having fresh baked cookies coming out of the oven as my kids get home from school, I LOVE the idea of my cute family sitting down at the dinner table each night and talking and laughing about the wonderful day we had, I LOVE the idea of getting to church on time with each of my children in coordinating outfits complete with perfect hair and smiles on their faces . . . . you get the idea. I guess until I reach that level of perfection I will have to appreciate and LOVE other things that may not be as ideal but are still completely fulfilling:

Children who are best friends . . . .

Happy babies . . . .

Bubbles!

More bubbles!

A healthy imagination . . . .

no cavities . . . .

girls night out . . . . .

family traditions . . . . .

family vacations . . . . .

fabulous friends . . . .

Then again, maybe I don't need perfection to be happy:)

Family Vacations

A few weeks ago we spent the weekend at the Bear River Lodge. The time we had reserved was for the UEA weekend and we had intended to rent out our time and use the money for our Disneyland vacation. As the weekend drew closer, we realized that we were not going to be able to sell our time and contemplated whether or not we should use it ourselves or give it away. We kept thinking of a million little reasons to stay home but in the end we decided to head up to the cabin. On the drive up my children kept asking me why they could not bring friends and telling me how bored they were going to be . . . . . . . .

So after a weekend of riding the four wheeler, playing games and spending all kinds of family togetherness, I realized just how important family vacations are. There was no distraction of phone calls, friends, football games or even trips to the grocery store to pull us away from making memories and deepening our love for each other as a family. Abby summed it all up with one comment as we drove home: "Mom, I love family vacations."

Bottoms Up!

As soon as I pull off Elsie's diaper to change it, she flings her feet up and sticks her toes in her mouth. Everytime. (that is a shout out to Macy) It is the craziest thing because she goes nuts sucking on her toes! I can barely pry them out of her mouth to get her little legs down long enough to fasten her diaper. I get one leg down and as soon as I reach for the other, it springs back up. Then I am reaching for that one again and throughout this whole wrestling match she is rolling all over the place. The odd thing is, that once her diaper is on, she doesn't even think about her toes again until the next time. Maybe it's not just the feeling of her toes in her mouth that she likes . . . . . .

Third times a charm!

You would think by my third baby I would be some kind of expert. Sadly, I think I have become far more lax in my mothering skills. I am not sure if that is because I am loosing my mind or because I have come to realize that it doesn't help to sweat the small stuff. In a way it is kind of nice because I enjoy life much more in my happy state of confusion and cluelessness (is that a word?). Anyhow, after going for a morning walk I brought Elsie in (who had fallen asleep) and put her on the couch. Trying to take advantage of my precious time I went outside to work in my flower beds. On a side note, the thing I love about my neighborhood is that on any given day as long as the temperature is above 40 degrees you can find multiple people outside. The flip side of this is that it takes an average of 4 hours to weed a single flower bed because everyone loves to talk. Anywho, on this particular day during the course of my conversations (yes that is plural) I must have said ten times that I needed to check on Elsie because she should be waking up. This is what I finally came inside to find . . . . . . . . .

She looks quite relaxed, doesn't she? That was my only consolation. Like I said, the third times a charm.

Last the best of all the game!

For every Bert there is an Ernie, for every Thelma there is a Louise . . . .
Easton (bless his little heart) is happy being second best. For him there is nobody better than Robin when given the choice in playing Batman and Robin. Any pair of shorts are "Robin shorts" tennis shoes are "Robin shoes" and I can get him to wear just about anything and eat just about anything when I tell him that they look or taste just like Robin likes them to. The same goes for Freddy. Who is Freddy you ask? Well he certainly isn't Shaggy and he definitely isn't Scooby-Doo, but in Easton's eyes Freddy is just as big a hero and mystery solver as anyone. Easton has a "Freddy jacket" that he loves to wear, but his favorite item is his "Freddy tie." When he puts this on he magically transforms into Freddy. When I told him to say cheese as I took the picture he said, "No, mom - say, "say Freddy!" So first may be the worst and second the same, but to Easton last really is the best of all the game!