It Doesn't Get More Random Than This!

Just a random catch up!

A couple Mondays ago we went to a family friends reception. Craig had to work, and so did my brother, so I went with my sister-in-law. We felt a little awkward at first, and we were about to leave, when the groom informed us that there was a free daycare downstairs. No wonder we felt so weird with our kids running around everyone else had taken their kids to the daycare. We dropped the kids off and enjoyed an hour of kid free time. And Craig even showed up at this time, so I got to enjoy a dance with my husband.

Seriously isn't that daycare a great idea?! I told my sister-in-law we should come up every weekend and see if there's a wedding. If there is than we can crash it for the free daycare.

Here's a very blurry picture of my nephew dancing with a little girl. The batteries were dying so I couldn't use the flash.



This reception also had a photo booth. How fun is that? I wish I had thought of something like that for my wedding. We had fun taking pictures and they gave you a copy to keep and a copy to tape in the guest book. Such a cute idea!



On a different subject, we found these cute school girl dresses at a yard sale. They kind of resemble the Montgomery Tartan. We bought them because we thought it was a fun coincidence. We have a few and, obviously, no girls to wear them, so if anyone out there would like one let us know. There are different sizes too.




One last thing, here is my new calender for organizing all our household projects. It took some effort to get the idea into actual, usable form so I'm giving myself a little pat on the back. So far it has worked great.

Baby M's BIG Day!

I finally get to post about our little boy's 1st birthday!

We had a "Cowboy" party. That theme sure seems to fit our overly energetic and busy little boy. In fact, I could use some good wranglers to help me get him dressed for bed.

Baby M's is a special birthday because he shares it with my brother. I didn't want my brother's birthday to get lost in the hype, with it being Baby M's first, so we had the party for both of them. Since my brother is going into the Police academy we made Baby M the Sheriff and my brother the Deputy of Strattonville.

The twins helped me make star shaped cookies for the Sheriff and his Deputy.




The party had a stressful start. I, once again, was running around like a crazy person, trying to get everything set up, after the guests had started to arrive-- the same thing happened at the twins 1st Birthday. But everyone was patient, and happy to be there, so they were fine with waiting for a bit while we finished setting things up.

Our party had all the trimmings. Including our own little western town set up in the backyard. Thank you to Craig for building the frames!





The ice cream parlor served homemade ice cream, that my brother and his wife made. We also had homemade ice cream toppings, thanks to my mom. Everything was delicious!



The kids enjoyed panning for "gold". Notice the fire pit as well. Guests were welcome to roast their own hotdogs. Plus we had all the fixin's for yummy s'mores.



Once they found their "gold" they took it over to the trading post to trade it for some goods-- candy.



At our photo booth you could dress up in old fashioned clothes-- provided by us-- and have a fun picture taken.



We then edited them to make them look old fashioned and fun. I wanted to grab a fun family photo of us, but we didn't get the chance. Hopefully my friend won't mind if I use her photo as an example.



If anyone is having a party and would like us to do a photo booth like this, please give us a call. We need to get good use out of the dress ups we bought.

These are the scrapbook pages I made of Baby M's first year. We set them out for people to write sign and maybe write a little note. If you missed your chance, to sign a page, just let me know. There is plenty of blank space to fill up.



For his 1st Birthday cake we made him an ice cream cake out of ice cream sandwiches because he LOVES ice cream. We decorated it with m&m's because he LOVES m&m's as well.




We ended the night by opening presents. Baby M got so many fun gifts from all his friends and family. Including some great clothes for winter, and some fun new toys-- hopefully his brothers will let him at least play with the toys that are his.








"No more presents, please, Mom!"



Happy Birthday to my special little cowboy! You've taught us so much. We may not always be happy to learn, but I know you're here to help us grow! We love you!

Notes of a Different Key

On Saturday, May 21st, my brother graduated from Provo College in the Criminal Justice field. I'm so proud of him-- and his wife who deserves much credit for getting him through college! School has never been his thing. In fact a few years ago it wasn't even part of his future plans. So that is why I'm extra proud of him! I'm so glad he can pursue his childhood dream of becoming a cop. I know he'll be great at it!



On the note of achievements, I completed a 3K. I ran the whole way. I know it's not huge, like running a marathon, but it was big deal for me. I've never been a runner and I decided long ago that I was not the type of person that runs any sort of a distance. But I recently caught a bug that has given me the will to master the art of running-- or at least slow jogging. The 3K was difficult. Towards the middle I wanted to give up and I didn't think I would make it. But I had set a goal and my determined German blood pushed me on. I reached the finish line and I felt amazing. I could've ran another mile! Or at least walk a half a mile to meet up with Craig, who graciously walked our stroller full of boys so I could achieve my small goal. Sadly there are no pictures of my great triumph.


On another note, Memorial Day found us up in Heber to see Thomas the Tank Engine.




It was so much fun this year. The boys loved it. They kept saying, "Where's Thomas?" and "There's Thomas!" Little H even cried when we watched him pull out of the station one time. We also enjoyed some of the local entertainment they had there. They've added some restrictions to the activities you can participate in, but we still a grand old time.



On yet another note, Little League season has started and we went to my nephew's first game on Tuesday.



What a champ! He played great!

I had to snap some shots of my own little sluggers as well. We got all decked out for the baseball game.



Little H loved playing with the cut grass. We didn't love it so much. Especially when the breeze caught it just right.



Big H actually enjoyed watching the game. He even sat down to watch some boys practice. They made him move though because they were afraid he would get hit.




Afterwards we took the boys to the playground to try and distract them while Grandma and Grandpa left.



Go Big H!



This little girl started to pay Baby M some attention. My little stud muffin didn't waste a minute. Before you knew it they went from holding hands to. . .well. . .:)



My little Romeo! Don't you know you're supposed to buy the girl dinner first? Just ask your Dad.

Do you think the playground made them forget about Grandma and Grandpa? Oh no! Little H didn't miss a beat. I said, "OK lets go!" And he said,-- in his little babble-- "OK lets go find Grandma! Grandma? Grandma?"

On yet another note, we finally pulled out Baby M's first toothbrush-- that he got for Easter-- and brushed his two little bottom teeth for the first time.

What to Name this Update Post? Hmmm. . .

I was trying to think of a title for this post, and everything I typed I had typed before. Apparently I'm not very creative :)

I know I need to blog about our trip to Southern Utah, but I have to do a quick catch up first before I get way behind.

First lets cover

That's so Random

One January morning Craig found this huge icicle on our house. I had to get a pic so I could put it on the blog.



You should have seen the fog we had the other night! It was amazing. I couldn't stop taking pictures of it, and yet I never managed to capture how thick it was.



Trying to be Crafty, Creative and Keep us all Sane

I went to buy bibs for the boys the other day and I found them to be a little expensive. So I decided it wouldn't be too hard to throw some together myself. I cut out the patterns and then started to sew them by hand. Only thing was they looked terrible. My grandmother came to the rescue with her sewing machine. Her only request was that I bring them to her next time to cut them. I admit it! I'm a terrible cutter, especially without a pattern. Sigh, one day I'll own a serger.



I started these rewards charts for the twins. I got the idea from Alisa. She said she uses an envelope. The boys may not get it, but I have fun with it. And they seem pretty excited when I pull out the marker to draw a star in the box. When they fill up the boxes they get to pull of the yellow paper at the bottom to reveal their prize. Is it wrong that I'm so excited about this?



Since Craig is gone all the time he started to get sad that he's not here to see the boys growing and changing. Today I decided I'd email him daily pics of the boys and tell him what cute things they did. Will see if I can keep it up. I guess I only have to do it on days that he's not here.



I'm terrible at reading to my children at bedtime, so I'm trying really hard to bring there hour lesson's back. I mentioned them once before. We started doing them in an attempt to get them more used to nursery. I've done pretty good the last few weeks. The boys are starting to pick up on stuff too. We watched the "Letter Factory" movie and they both made the "F" sound. And before it started they were saying the "A" sound in anticipation. Later Big H said purple, orange and square. Little H said red and circle. They are so cute! I had them showing off their new words to everyone.



My sister in law and I decided to meet up at play places once a week so the boys can run around and play and we can sit and visit. The boys decided to feast on some ketchup. More on that later.



Those Silly Boys

The boys were enjoying a lovely lunch the other day. I cooked hot dogs and gave them some ketchup to dip them in. Guess what they ate for lunch? Ketchup! Actually little H did eat most of his hot dog. Big H, on the other hand, had mostly ketchup.




The boys apparently nabbed the camera and took a few snap shots. I thought I'd share one of their works of art. We really need to get them toy cameras before they ruin ours.



My mom bought these foam squares to put down in the boys room. We ripped out their carpet because their room was always flooding, and I didn't want to deal with it on top of everything else. Thanks Mom!



I hope this video works. Baby M has been making new sounds. And boy are they cute!



Seriously! Adorable!

Births and Birthdays

My friend had her baby at the beginning of the month and I just had to put it in a post because I'm so excited for her. She is going to be an awesome mom! May I also mention that when we went to see her I could hardly walk ten feet without someone stopping me to tell me how cute my kids are. I still find it funny how complete strangers will drool all over my kids as if they were their own.



Nephew M just celebrated his 1st birthday! What a cutie! We love having him in the family, and I was so glad he made a mess of his cake.



That about cover's it. I think. I guess will call it good. It's a pretty long post already.