Gymnastic Meet.

To follow up a marathon all-nighter of tile making. I left with with Mackenzie to a gymnastic meet. While the girls delivered the tiles and everyone else went home for naps I drove with Kenz up to Park City for a meet.

Kenz and her teammate Halle waiting their turn for the bars.

And once again my little lady rocked the competition. She wasn't too proud of herself, but I was. She goofed up a little on her beam routine and it seemed to throw her off her groove. It happens to every athlete sometimes. I reassured her that although she was unhappy with her scores she still did great. She even medaled in 2 events. And in the All-Around. Obviously not as bad as she thought.

These 2 girls are in a competition all their own. At every meet this year they have been consistent with each other. At every award ceremony they are side by side receiving their medals.

Young Women Fundraiser

For girls camp this year sold cute Vinyl tile sets. This was our big or not as big as we'd like fundraiser for camp. We made a set of 12 different tiles. Each individual tile represented a different holiday or season so that they could be changed out monthly.
I borrowed my awesome neighbor Becky's cricut and away we went cutting vinyl. Tyler has become a pro at the cricut. You could say he's a cricut master. He could put any scrap booking woman to shame. He probably wouldn't want me broadcasting that over a loud speaker but, he does have skills.

Ty hard at work

My friends Juli and her daughter Kirsty and Natasha and her daughter Monica came helped us. At about 11:00pm. Natasha and Monica headed home. Juli (my camp partner) and her daughter were in it for the long haul. As the evening wore on we knew this was turning into an all nighter. It's funny what no sleep, tedious tile/vinyl work and a group of girls can come up with. We laughed non-stop and cracked jokes about stuff that really isn't as funny as it seemed at 3:00 in the morning.

Juli and Natasha hard at work. And Kirsty looking cute as usual.

Our deadline was 9:00 that morning. We worked our little hearts away. Unfortunately our deadline came and went. We finished about noon. We made a couple phone calls and got everything taken care of. The girls showed up at 12 to assemble the tile packages and deliver them.
The tiles turned out great. We had alot of positive feed back from the people who ordered them. I am very 'proud of my little crew that could.' We kept chuggin' away at those tiles and we got them done. We ended up making 42 tile sets in all with the late orders included. Not bad for a nights work.

Here is the finished tile set.

Classic Dawson

I know I posted this on Face Book nut I couldn't resist not having this saved forever.
Because we are currently a one car family I have been driving Ty to work every day. On our route to his work we pass several cows. The cows have been Dawson's subject of choice lately. If it's not the cows it's the power lines.
Well, the cows were the most recent funny though for 'D' man.
On Tuesday he asked me, "Mom would you ever milk a cow?" I replied, "sure." To which he giggled and said, "then you'd have to touch it's milk parts."
To follow that comment up, on Wednesday he says, "If lightening hit a cow, would milk spray everywhere?"
This comment brought several minutes of laughter from Tyler and I as we pictured the chaos that would come as milk sprayed everywhere.

That is kid is always thinking.

1st Visit

Our children experience several firsts in their lives. their first smile, solid foods, words, steps and birthday. They'll experience their first day of school and their first test. They'll discover their first disappointments and excitements. But, one thing is for sure, they will all discover their first treasure hiding under their pillows from the Tooth Fairy.
Dawson had his first visit from the Tooth Fairy and she delivered a shiny Golden Dollar.

Too Cute

How Cute are these kids.
No more words are needed the pictures speak for themselves.

May 2011

It Just Happens Sometimes

Why is it when you want a nice picture of all your kids one or two or all of them won't cooperate? As parents we dress them nice, pose them pretty and pray that for a split second they can keep it together until the flash goes off.
In my many, many, many attempts to capture the children perfectly I came to the realization that, "hey, my kids aren't perfect. They goof off constantly after all, they are my children. Why should I try and make them appear pristine and primped and perfect." I want to capture them as they truly are. Each individual personality shining true.
Here is a run down of such an experience in the process;

Some one is always making a face or looking the wrong way.

You either get someone that doesn't want in the picture

 or someone that thinks they're the star.

They can never keep their hands to themselves.

In the end sometimes this is what you're left with.

Easter 2011

To say I am behind in blogging is a bit of an understatement. My life got very crazy busy after our extreme birthday weekend. Oh wait, it's been crazy. Who am I kidding. Lately it seems like I'm treading water to stay afloat. But, at last I have been rescued from the stormy seas and I'm floating gently back to shore. So here's to an enjoyable cruise on the luxury ocean liner of my life. At least until the next big wave comes along and tosses me back into the ocean of my life.

Now onto Easter.
This year the Easter bunny decided to mix up the tradition a little for the kids. He knew that the kids's Aunt Shannon was having a huge Easter egg hunt at her house with over 300 eggs so he kept the parents in mind and knew that we wouldn't want all that candy and sugar (aka:chocolate temptation) in our house. This year the kids went on a scavenger hunt to find their Easter baskets.
There were numbered eggs hidden in different places. The kids started with the egg labeled #1. Inside was a clue leading them to a specific destination. There they would find the next numbered egg with another clue inside.

The clues led them all over the yard and inside the house. We had eggs hidden on cars, flowers, water hoses, in cupboards, candles, behind the couch, even in the freezer.

After the last clue was found the kids were led to the final stop. Here they would find their baskets filled with prizes and treats.

The clue read, "I open, I close. I come and go. Sometimes we're all together. Sometimes just a few. I'm there when you need me to get you to and fro. Your gonna need a new one of me if your family continues to grow."

"Now go find me I'm light blue in color. Open my door and see what is waiting there for you."

The kids loved their Easter adventure. Then it was off to church before they could get doped up on sugar. It was time to remind them of the real purpose for the Easter season and to focus on the Savior and His love and sacrifices for us. 

Bringing Home the Gold.

Some day she really might bring home  a gold medal, but until then we'll make due with this awesome trophy.
Kenz is an amazing little gymnast and I am so proud of her. I know I've said it before. Over and Over and over again. But she is!

He He He funny.

I know I haven't blogged in forever! So here's a funny to get you through your day.
It really was a Fairy Tale come true.
Along with a new episode of 'What Not to Wear.'

Just Within Reach.

What does every kid need?
A donut in each hand.
As Tyler strung up donuts for Xander's birthday game Sawyer decided he wanted one too. But, he wasn't satisfied with just one. He thought he needed 2. It was hilarious watching him reach for another one.
Enjoy!

Notice the strings are right at his eye level.
We quickly realized we needed to raise them above his head after he grabbed one and squished it off.

Look at the determination on his face.

He knows those donuts are within reach!

Almost got it.

In the end he settled for the one that was in hand all along.

I love his little smirk in this pic.

Xander Man turns 8 with the Force.

Saturday we had Xan Man's birthday party.  I swear I was just pregnant with him. Now here we are 8 years later and he's still my favorite Xander ever. He decided he wanted a Star Wars Birthday. I must admit, planning an 8 yr old boys birthday was way easier than planning one for a 10 yr old girl.
I asked Xander what he wanted to do and he said, play a few games and just run around. That's exactly what he got. Here are pics from his birthday.

Xander wanted to do the donut game at his party too.

I was happy to oblige to his request.

We changed his game up a little and made it eat as many as you can in 2 minutes.

His cake couldn't have been easier.

He asked for a cake with Star Wars toys on it.

He wanted toys on it so he could keep them after his party.

Then it was time for his presents.

He got the new bike he asked for. That also made me the coolest mom ever.

We did play other games, but I must have missed taking pictures of them.

Just as he requested the boys ran around and played their own games.

Chocolate Party.

Our crazy weekend of birthday parties has come and gone. When it was over, Tyler said, "let's never do that again!" Yeah, it was that crazy.
We started on Friday with Kenzie's chocolate themed late night birthday. It was a huge success. Here are some, OK lots of pics from her party.

Our version of a whip cream facial.

The girls had to use their mouths to find the hidden pieces of chocolate.

Kenzie, Taylor and Erynn looking creamy.

Craft time. The girls all painted their own flower pots.

Then we added paper flowers stuck to skewers into the pots and covered the tops with moss.

They turned out super cute.

Halle and Jaimey hard at work.

The girls hard at work.

After the craft it was time for another fun game.

The girls had to eat chocolate donuts off a string.

 Here's Brooklyn and Sequoya chomping away at their donuts.

It was a blast to watch.

Someone should tell Jaimee
she doesn't have to eat the string too.

Kenzie blowing out the candles on her chocolate cupcake tower.

After the games, craft, cake and all the chocolate dipped treats it was time for a little sparkle. My good friend Tara and I did glitter toes for all the girls.

I don't have any pics of the toes because we were so busy I forgot to take some.

When all the fun was done I finally dropped the last girl off around 11:30. Good thing her mom knew it was going to be a late night.