Come Back!

My sister came to town with her kids. I wish she would move here. And I wish I were better at taking pictures. I was so busy that I never got my camera out to document the fun cousin time. Except one.

But there was lots of fun. All the girls sleeping on the floor. Endless Barbies. Lots of jumping on the trampoline. Bedtime stories with Grandma or Grandpa (the are amazing story tellers and the kids live for it). And my favorite was having this adorable little toddler wander around my house. I really wanted to keep her for another week or forever. Plus we ate yummy food. Had fun outings (go see City Creek and the Utah Natural History Museum). And I loved having some extra hands around and late night chats with an Izze.

But they had to leave. It really would be better if they could move down the street.

And seriously, maybe we should move out to a ranch somewhere. These boys should be cowboys for real.

Collecting

Did any of you have sticker collections when you were younger? It probably dates me. This was the thing to do when I was in 3rd/4th grade. And it was a big deal.

I would save my money and go to Ostroms (a little drug store in Kenmore, WA) and I would buy Mrs. Grossman's and Toots stickers. It was such a big deal.

I would keep the stickers in one of those old photo albums that had sticky pages and you would pull back the plastic cover. Nice.

Well, I was cleaning out my storage rooms and found the collection.

The kids LOVED it!

Funny things my children say

Gavin asked me today if I liked his Valentine card. Of course, I do. Then he said, "you know I was trying to make an "M" but it was kind of hard. And same for Dad. Then I thought "M" means amazing (?) and "D" means destiny. So when you put your cards together you two are amazing destiny."

Deep thoughts by Gavin. That kid makes me smile every day (and he can drive me to insanity too).

Yesterday morning (I wasn't at the table), Kenyon said to the kids that he was taking me out to dinner and asked Teague if he would tend.

Later in the day Teague asked if he could go to a friend's house. I said, "Sure just be back at 5:45 because we are going to dinner."

He said (laughing), "I know. Dad told us this morning. And before I could even think I said I would babysit for free. But I didn't really mean it. I really need the money and I don't know why it came out."

So funny.

Last week Teague and Elise each had 4 teeth pulled. During dinner Teague made this face and said, "Is my smile normal?"

The Top Ten Party

2012-02-05 2012, a photo by PorterFam98 on Flickr.

Elise wanted a friend party this year. I was kind of dragging my feet on it. So much work. But man was it worth it.

What a darling group of friends*. They were happy, friendly, interested, excited, funny, helpful, and smiley all night long. They thought every part of the party was great (or at least they acted like it).

Elise turned 10 so we picked her 10 favorite things and built a party around it.

Late night crafts and movie, lots of treats and snacks**, lots of blue, fun music (wish I had video of the girls dancing and posing), presents, photo booth, and a little soccer (well in the form of pin the soccer on Elise's head). 
*I am so so grateful that Elise is blessed with so many wonderful friends. Too many. I made her narrow her list down to a more manageable size. So many great girls her age. They are smart, talented in many different ways, cute, and good. I love it. Probably because their moms are all the same way. I'm so lucky.
**These girls must be growing. I popped 10 bags of popcorn, sliced 8 apples, ice cream sundaes, cupcakes, 2 bags of licorice, jars of other assorted candies, and drinks. There was no stopping them.

Leesy Lou is Ten!

We kicked off her birthday a little early with a family dinner on Sunday. She requested Hawaiian Haystacks.For dessert she was very specific. She wanted brownies with white chocolate chips on top and cookies and cream ice cream.Of course having her aunts, Jane and Egan, come make it a perfect night for her. They brought sweet gifts too. And of course on the morning of her birthday - only crepes will make this birthday girl happy with LOTS of "whooped" cream.

We love Elise. She is super excited to have a party this year. Pictures to come.

1 - Elise has a great smile.
2 - She LOVES soccer and she works really hard at it. And she is very committed to her team.
3 - Elise loves to sing. All the time. But sadly, singing well does not come naturally to her although she is improving. We still love to hear her.
4 - Elise is a loyal friend. She loves to be with them and she likes to have everyone included.
5 - Elise loves Quinn. She loves her brothers too but she believes that she was meant to have Quinn as her sister. She is a very good babysitter too.
6 - Elise is very independent. She likes to make her own decisions and takes her time to do her own thing. Since she was small she has insisted on doing her own hair and picking her own clothes. She really doesn't want me to be involved. Should I be offended?
7 - She LOVES to read and is constantly devouring a book in her room.
8 - She loves being with extended family. It is a regular thing for her to beg to go on a trip to visit grandparents or cousins.
9 - Elise loves to be creative.
10 - Elise loves the Gospel and choosing the right. She is a great example to us.

First Indoor Tri

Teague has been very interested in doing a tri ever since he saw Egan do the Utah Half Ironman. Then he saw this awesome video called Dayton's Legs. You should watch it with your kids even if they don't want to do a tri.
So he has been running (thanks to xcountry) and he is on a local swim team. And he has been training on the indoor spin bike as well. So he was ready for his first indoor tri.
The race was for kids 8-12. The challenge: a 50 yd swim, 8 mile bike, 1 mile run. We knew he could do it and those distances were probably too easy but it was a good way to start.
Teague is DETERMINED. And he is competitive. He wanted to win BAD.
His main competition was a 10 year old kid who has done 7 triathlons.
HE WON. He beat him by about 15 seconds.
It was awesome to watch him work so hard with that cute smile on this face the whole time. He loved every minute of it.
He wants to jump straight to an Ironman but I think we will work up to that. :)

8 is Great!

Gavin is Great! And he is excited about being 8!
He can't wait for his baptism (which we are waiting a little longer for but it will be worth it).
This might be a first - but for once the one thing he wanted for his birthday was not an office supply or tool.
An ipod Touch. He had to pay for half of it so he has been saving his money and working hard. He was very, very happy that we made it happen for his birthday.

Gavin is easy to love for so many reasons. On the day of his birthday he was the VIP in his 2nd grade class. Each of the kids said something nice about Gavin. Sweetest thing to hear students talk so nicely about your kid. LOVED IT!
1 - So excited and happy about just about anything.
2 - Hard worker (at most things but not reading)
3 - Loves to help and be involved
4 - Loves details
5 - Tenderhearted
6 - overly organized (it doesn't always appear that way in his room but he has a method to his chaos)
7 - Wants to choose the right and wants to help those around him choose the right
8 - Loves to be with family

PS - He requested the oreo like whoopie pies. He did not want cake. I used this recipe. Loved it.

Need a Chore Chart?

So I think I mentioned I am re-thinking chores around here.

My brilliant and talented friend, Jul, created a chore chart. You can customize it and print it. Hooray!

No excuse now. Get those kids working.

PS - If you need a couple good reads on the topic -Read The Entitlement Trap by Richard and Linda Eyre. Quick read with so many good ideas. Even if you don't plan to use their system exactly - it will get you thinking about what we are trying to do as parents.And I liked The Parenting Breakthrough by Merrilee Boyack. I need to look at it again but it had so many good ideas of what kinds of chores and skills children should have at each age. And I always love anything Love and Logic.  

And PPS - I was not looking for any compliments on my last post. But thank you. Just merely trying to remind myself that we can do hard things. I could work on doing hard things with a better attitude for sure. 

Those Dumb Hard Things

You know that motto - "We can do hard things." I like it. I love it. I want to live by it. Most the time. But dang it, when you are in the middle of something hard it isn't such a cool motto. I was having a total meltdown a few days ago about something that I felt was too hard. I didn't say those words. I was just complaining and worrying about all the parts of this dreaded event. And yep. Kenyon says, "But you can do hard things." Gag. I really didn't want to hear that at that moment. But it is true. And obviously he was right. We can and I did. And I survived. And the kids claim it was the best ever. I don't feel that way but I made it.

(*free download from the wonderful blog Simply Fresh Designs)

What was that dumb hard thing? Taking all 4 kids to Las Vegas (the worst place ever) by myself. With no help. 6 hour drive. It may sound wimpy of me but it was seriously stressful. Every part of it. The hotel alone. Getting around. Sitting at hours of soccer games with Quinn. Find places to eat.Trying not to damage my children with all the terrible sites but still show them some fun. At one point when I was stuck in stopped traffic with a HUGE billboard truck next to us of mostly naked women - I thought. I'm done. This doing hard stuff is LAME. But we got Toy Story going and they were distracted for long enough. But not long enough. I still had to spend all of dinner trying to explain why they have trucks like that and why people do that. Nice.

Here is why do we hard things. Elise probably won't love these pictures but they are awesome. She worked so hard this weekend. And she is so sore to prove it. She loves her soccer team and even though they didn't win they really gave it their all. Quote of the night: "Mom, did you see me foul that girl?" Me: "Yes." E: "That was the best. I was so proud of myself. I just took her down." Should I be proud? 

A Very Happy 3 Year Old

This little girl has been begging for her birthday for many months. All summer long she would tell complete strangers, "it's my birthday." She is smart. She figured out really fast that if she told her Aunt Monette that it was her birthday, she would get a little treat. She worked that one.

She loved all the attention today and knew all the details. Quite the birthday diva.

She was thrilled to have a party with her friends. Since she turned 3 on the 3rd it was her GOLDEN birthday so we went all gold.

Rather than cake we had pumpkin and chocolate whoopie pies. Oh my. Turns out she just wanted candy. Oh well.

The kids love hitting a pinata to pieces. It was full of gold chocolate coins, of course.

We love Quinn and are so grateful she is part of our family. She makes all of us happy (unless she is in Quinzilla mode - destroying some little project or thing that belongs to someone).

Quinn loves to pray. She she comes up with some great things to add to our family prayers. Today for example "Bless Teague to not be hit with a basketball." ?

Quinn loves her friends. She is very social. But we are working on sharing at the moment.

Quinn loves to watch shows.

Quinn is very concerned about anyone that is hurt - especially Kenyon.

Quinn really loves her brothers and sister and wants to be just as big. She thinks she can wrestle, play hide and seek, soccer, and scooter just like them. She doesn't mind being with me but she really loves to be with them. And they are good sports about having a little shadow. But watch out she might steal your candy or chapstick and not even be sad about it.

PS Thanks to Jane, Kristine, and Egan for all the party help. If you want lots of good party ideas on any theme - email Kristine. But she should start charging. Brilliant. Egan can design anything - she always saves the day on my invites. And Jane is an awesome photographer despite my really crappy lighting in my house. And she did lots of my errands. Hooray for being off track. :)

Cross Country - A New Adventure

Teague joined the Jr. High Cross Country team this year. He loves it. He runs miles after school every day with his team and then does crazy circuit and ab workouts. He has worked so hard and made some great improvements.

Out of all the boys in grades 6-9, he made the Varsity team (7 best runners).

Yesterday they competed at the State Championship run in Herriman. And it was a hard, hilly course. His team took 1st. He was a little disappointed with his run but he really did great and he has 3 years to make some great improvements.

He loves this so much that he even used his own money to pay for spikes.

A Vintage Poster

My niece-in-law (is that such a thing) is pretty much super talented. (All of the niece-in-laws are actually and so are the nieces - just oozing talents).
Check out A Vintage Poster. She has so many fun designs and will do custom as well. I loved these two little posters for Elise's room.
The middle graphic print is one that my sister designed. She is ultra talented as well but doesn't sell her work. :) They are little silhouettes of Elise's.
Her room is coming together nicely.
Next up...do I start with my living room, the family room or my room? They all need some serious work.

Happy Birthday Gavin Crew

It is hard to believe that the ONE and ONLY Gavin Crew is 7 years old today.

He has been SO EXCITED about his birthday. And I have been so nervous that I would not be able to pull off what he wanted. I didn't really know what he wanted to have happen today. And it is family party year so it isn't quite as fun as a friend party. 

Gavin only asked for one thing. And of course it was something that ONLY Gavin would ask for. And he knew exactly what it should be like.

A filing cabinet with wheels and a lock. A for real filing cabinet. I don't even know if his friends know what a filing cabinet is but he does. He said he saw it IKEA and knew he needed it for his important papers. 

Here is the expression when I brought it to him. Seriously crazy happy.

In past years for birthdays or Christmas he has asked for (and received):
vacuum
wheelbarrow
hand-truck/dolly
music stand
real tools
venus fly trap (the plant)

I really can't think of any toys he asked for. Although he does play with toys too. 

He loves to create and dream up projects. Especially when his Grandpa is around. He is guaranteed a trip to Home Depot. His favorite!

I love Gavin. He he is full of life and energy. He keeps things at our house going. He is persistent and curious. He is very helpful and a great little buddy to have around. He is always up for a good time. And he loves being with family. And he is a talker. Never a quiet moment with that kid.

Move that Bus!

My kids ask for interesting things. (just wait till you see what Gavin is asking for on his birthday - the kids is UNIQUE). But this year for Christmas, Elise wanted a room make over (thus the title of this post - if you want Extreme Home Makeover).
She knew that it wouldn't be totally ready on Christmas Morning - Santa can't be painting all night long - he has places to be. But she wanted all the parts to be ready to go.
I asked her if she wanted to give any input or pick anything out. She said, "I want it to be a total surprise."
OK.
So, I start planning, sewing, ordering, etc. A week before Christmas we are in the car and Teague is asking random questions. "What is your favorite...?" And one of them is "What is your favorite color?" Elise pipes up, "Definitely not pink." To which I say, "Really? That's a bummer." And Elise says, "Why? Like pink is ok for a shirt, I guess. But not a room." And I say, "Oh wow. That is a real suprise."

Then I spend the next week worrying because as you can see - pink is kind of the main color in the room. Yikes.

Good news is - she was happy Christmas morning.

Her room used to be yellow. Now it is a light grey. And we are happy with most of her room but her walls need some art work or pictures. I would really like those blankets to not be at the end of her bed. And someday I would like to make a quilt to be there. Someday. Her desk needs a few little accessories. It might even need to be a different color. Something is just not right. And maybe a little something else. We are working on those things.

The ruffle pillow was easy to make and fun to use a variety of fabrics. Pillow forms are cheap at IKEA so that was not a big project. The framed picture of Elise's silhouette was done by my super-talented sister Egan. She also has really long dark grey curtains hanging and I love how they look but I couldn't get a good picture of them with my camera.

Halloween Mystery Dinner

This just might be the kids' most favorite tradition. Of any holiday. Seriously. I will NEVER get out of this so be careful what traditions you start. Several years ago, my sister-in-law's sister-in-law (is that confusing?) gave me the idea of a Halloween dinner with menu items and crazy food. Thanks to my sisters - it always turns out better than I could do on my own.

Egan's creation. Melted Witch. So clever.

Jane's creation. Bad Heads. Yum.

Horse Crazy

I took Gavin and Quinn to Thanksgiving Point Farm. And we were surprised to find out it was the Barnyard Boo. We beat most the crowd. Gavin LOVED the games, crafts, prizes, etc. But all Quinn wanted - the horse ride. That is why we went anyway. She LOVES horses (she says, "sies"). She was even patient and waited 15 minutes in line just to have her turn. I don't think she has ever been quite so happy in her life.

While she can be kind of tiring, she is so much fun. I love her excitement about life. She has mastered some amazing facial expressions and the art of acting to get things she wants. She is learning more and more words each day and staring to put them together. It requires a little deciphering but eventually we understand.

This is what happens

When I just want to check an email. Just for a minute. 

And this is what happens after a morning of mess making.

Sure Gonna Miss you

She kills me. That cheesy smile she pulls when a camera is near by is hilarious!

But she is also a walking disaster and a dare devil. And she has MASTERED the scream. The high pitched, loud scream.

But even with that - I will miss her and the other 4 I left at home. But I can't wait to get in some good new baby holding time. 

Back in the Day

Once upon a time...I had these friends (well, I still have them) that taught me how to ski. 18 years ago. Those were good, good times. They taught me by taking me up to some scary runs and making me go down. But I learned and loved it. Then I went away to college. To the land of even more skiing but alas, I had no money for skiing. And then more time went by and I still had no money. And then I got married and Kenyon isn't really a skier (but knowing Kenyon he is probably REALLY good even though he hasn't ever learned). And then I had kids. And somehow skiing never fit in. Until...the brilliant minds at Park City Mountain figured out the StartNow program. $25. Total. That is rentals, the lesson, and the lift pass. Seriously! (That's for you Heather). Needless to say, the kids (T and E) love skiing. We couldn't convince Gavin to join us. Friday we skipped school (and still Gavin didn't want to come- go figure) and went up for a lesson. I was actually very nervous but it came back to me quickly. Too bad I had this grumpy old ski bum as an instructor. I wish I had someone with me so we could laugh a little more. Too bad money is still the issue or I guarantee you we would be hitting the slopes again tomorrow. It really is amazing to be up on the top of the beautiful mountains and the feeling coming down is perfect!

Do you ever wake up...

just knowing it is going to be a bad hair day?

Quinn slept in today and after the kids had left for school, Kenyon went in to get her. I heard him laughing and he brought out our own little Medusa. I knew right then it was going to be a tough day (but it is has been a tough day for a week now. I HATE teething. It makes for a very miserable toddler).