Off-Track....

Every 8 weeks I start dreading the upcoming off-track time that Brayden will soon be having. It usually starts weeks before with him mentioning to me how he knows I'm SOOO excited he's going to be off-track, and how we will get to spend SOOO much time together. And with a half smile I just grin and tell him, "Yep, SOOOO excited:)" He starts planning the many, many things we are going to "get" to do during this time. This time around I think the kids even asked if they could go to Disneyland, like it was a day trip or something. Now don't get me wrong, I really do LOVE hanging out with Brayden. He is so fun to sit and chat with, or hang out with. But after 3 long weeks of him stuck in the house, bored out of his mind, bugging the other kids, and eating everything in sight... I am so grateful for his teacher and 1st grade!


So it's that time of year again, we're off track. Granted, we're only into it 3 days (so I may be reporting differently in a week) but it's been so different this time. I'm not really sure I want him to go back to school. It has been so awesome having him home. He has been entertaining the kids all day, playing different games with them, taking them outside and playing soccer with them. I had to run to the neighbors while Kade was asleep so he was able to stay home and take care of things for the 10 minutes I was gone. If one of the kids is hungry I can ask him to fix it for them. I also love not having to rush to get up and get everybody out the door (that's the lazy me talking. Anytime I can get an extra 20 min in bed I'll take it!) He is just growing up so much and it's so nice that I'm not constantly having to watch out and take care of him, in return he is helping me do it for the other kids.


Since Brayden is off track he has been able to stay up and watch some of the late Jazz games. He has loved that, except for the big upset last night. Strategically he has it figured out how we need to win the games, he needs to play for them:) Then we will win them all.

Another thing we have enjoyed lately is reading. He has become such a good reader. I have always enjoyed reading. I love curling up with a good book and I can read for hours on end. And I think this may be a love I can pass on to Brayden. Their are so many good books I remember reading when I was a kid, and I have been so excited to read them with my kids. Well that time has come and it's so fun hearing Brayden read those stories to me. Some of his favorites include the boxcar children, Jigsaw Jones, Junie B. Jones, and his new favorite is The Magic Treehouse. Right before he went off track we placed a book order and we got books 1-30. We have been reading like crazy!


Mike has the next couple days off and I won't be babysitting, so hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can accommodate all the off track plans the kids have made. Hopefully we can have some family fun even though we won't be making it to Disneyland.

Sassy...

After seeing a few of Kaylee's friends get their hair cut, she has been bugging me to follow the trend. She keeps telling me she wants hair like her friends, (except of course Hallee, she can't figure out how she is only 4 but has long hair like a mom and Sharpay. She REALLY envies that hair.) But since Kaylee's hair doesn't grow like that, and probably never will, I finally gave in. I decided she was probably right and it would probably look way better then the straggly strings she had growing off her head, even if it meant no more pony tails. She comforted me and told me it was only hair, and it would grow back in no time. So, last night we went and got it cut. I was happy with how it turned out.

Here's just a cute picture of her smelling the flowers.

Confessions of a Worthless Homemaker....

Do you ever have those days where you just don't want to get out of bed and you just don't want to have any responsibility? That's how I felt today, so that's exactly what I did...I did nothing. My day today was absolutely worthless. I have felt crummy for quite a few days but Mike's been out of town and I've been busy all weekend with Primary things. So the first chance I had to just relax, I definitely took advantage.

I was sluggish all morning getting the kids ready for school. I finally accomplished that task, got them off to school, and me and Kade crawled back in bed. He was so excited we weren't running errands and that he got to cuddle with me for 2 whole hours. I really felt quite guilty that my house was in such disarray, and I had piles of laundry that needed to be done. Well, obviously not too guilty cause it didn't keep me from laying down. And none of the laundry got done today, and no, my house did not get cleaned, and I have dishes piling up in my sink. It is now 9:00 at night and I can say that none of these tasks ended up getting done. I had good intentions of working on them once the kids were in bed, but while putting Kaylee down she accidentally gave me a big fat lip. Darn it, I've had to lay down on the couch with some ice and let the swelling go down. Here's to tomorrow!

P.S. I think I also ate about 4 cupcakes, and had 2 Dr. Peppers. That will make anybody feel better!

Happy Birthday Kade!

MY BABY TURNED 2 YESTERDAY!!!

Kade had no clue it was his birthday. He just knew he was woken up to his brother and sister hollering Happy Birthday in his face. He doesn't even know what a birthday is. But by the end of the day, he definitely figured it out, and he figured out that he LOVED it! He was happy though when I told him we got to go buy balloons and a birthday cake.

It's amazing how fast kids grow. Kade has been so much fun in our family. Here are some things I love about Kade.

* He is always so happy, and energetic. Everywhere we go he says "HI" to everybody.

*He is always making me laugh.

*He has a classic answer to everything. If I'm trying to get mad at him, or if I'm trying to explain something to him. He always responds with, "OOOOOH."

*I love watching him eat cereal. I don't know why I'm so amused by this. It seems like such a grown up thing to do. Sometimes he makes it so complicated. But I just laugh watching him do it. But that has definitely been his breakfast of choice for about 6 months now.

* I love how he loves sports. He loves soccer, basketball, baseball. He loves going to Brayden's ball games, but hates that he can't be out there playing with the big boys.

* I love how big he is. He was born this way and he hasn't changed since. He is a stocky little boy. Anybody that goes to pick him up definitely is deceived by how big he is. They expect him to weigh a lot less then he really is. Kaylee will be 5 in June and only weighs 3 lbs more then him. I think he has the most hope for height in our family as well. We'll see....

*He definitely looks up to his brother and sister. He will do anything they do. I am constantly telling them they need to be a good example because he is right behind them mimicking their every move. Every morning when Brayden leaves for school he grabs a backpack and a basketball because he wants to leave for school with Brayden. But then after that Kaylee can get him in a dress up with heels and a crown.

So for birthday's around our house we usually have people over for cake and ice cream, but this year we decided to change things a little bit. With Kade being the youngest, I feel like he gets jipped a little bit with things. It's a little bit harder to take all the kids out so I don't do it as often, or I get a babysitter for him and take the two oldest ones. So for his birthday we decided to take him to Jungle Jim's and have everybody meet us up there for cake (no ice cream because it would have melted.) We have also been practicing blowing out candles and I forgot to bring the candles with me...mother of the year. Oh well, he'll never remember (but now that I've blogged it he can go back and read it.) He had a blast. Kaylee had fun. Brayden was bored with it (I think he's a little bit too old for it.) They had fun that their cousins were able to be their with them.

Kade got a lot of fun presents. He got a new wagon, a leapster book, new clothes, a soccer goal with a ball, a new chair for the soccer games, and Mr. Potato head. He got a new bike helmet because if you know Kade he LOVES wearing helmets. He is usually seen wearing Kaylee's princess helmet, now he has his own. He got a Boozer jersey, jazz jammies and a Jazz basketball hoop, and when he opened it up he hollered "Boooooooooozer!" It was hilarious, I think Brayden has taught him well. He got this cool scoot bike. It's a two wheel bike with no pedals, you just scoot around on it. He just kept saying, "WHOOOOA" after everything he opened. He was funny. He had a good time though.

It didn't take Kade long to figure out how to jimmy rig all the machines. He would have Kaylee roll the ball up to him, and then he would put the ball in for her.

He could see the basketballs in these hoops, so he would reach behind the curtains and pull the basketballs out, and then have Grandma and Grandpa lift him up to shoot. He's still to young to understand the concept, put a token in get the balls out. Maybe if I would have bought him some tokens he would have figured it out:)

Then he would crawl into this little basketball hoop and pull the basketballs out. He was so insistent on getting those balls out. He would come out and have a ball in each hand. Good thing he's little or he would have gotten stuck. It was funny.

By the end of the night he was pooped. He was all snuggled up in his new Jazz jammies. He was ready for bed but he was not about to put down his new ball.

Happy Birthday Little Man! We Love You!

GNO

I think I am now officially the last one of my friends to blog this picture. But last week I had the chance to have a girls night out with some of my girlfriends from high school. We always have a blast getting together, reminiscing. We went to the cheesecake factory, did a little shopping while we waited. And then we went and had pedicures. Heavenly. Thanks girls for a fun night.

Why It Pays To Stock Up...

I went grocery shopping this morning and this is what I got....

20 bottles of BBQ sauce
20 bottles of salsa
10 packages of marshmallows
10 Handi Snacks Pudding Packs
10 boxes of Capri Suns
10 packages of Trail Mix
10 boxes of Wheat Thins
8 bottles of Mayo
8 Frozen Tombstone Pizza's
10 boxes of Cereal

My bill only came to $80! I saved $270.00!!! I was so excited. I think I might go back and by some more, my cart was totally overflowing so I had to stop. This is another reason you should sign up for that website, she tells you where the deals are. I love when I can save so much money!

"If Ye Are Prepared, Ye Shall Not Fear...."

I have pantry shelves full of food, my family is fed nightly (lately with fun new recipes) thanks to one lady that I am so in-debited to. She scours the weekly grocery ads for all the good deals and even sends out a weekly meal plan according to those things that are on sale. This woman is amazing!

Our ward challenged every family to gather a 3 month supply of food about a year ago. With 1 month left to finish up they asked the visiting teachers to ask each of their sisters how they were doing. At 1:00 in the morning I started bawling and had a meltdown about food storage because I hadn't even started and I knew my VT were going to be asking me about it. I didn't even know how to begin, or where to start it was all so overwhelming!!! I opened up about my "problem" to my presidency. That's when Shandra came into my life. Krista had this friend who sent out this email to a few people so she started forwarding it to me. From there it just started snowballing, and she had a group of over 500 people that were getting the email.

I'm so excited because she now has a website (and lucky her she's finally getting paid for all the time she has put into her work.) So after a lot of rambling, I'm trying to put in a plug for her. She has been able to save me probably thousands of dollars on grocery's. I can now go shopping for my weekly meals and shop for under $60 because I have a little grocery store in my basement already. I still go shopping for the GREAT deals and food storage supplies that I can stock up on. But it's been so much fun and it's something I never thought I would be able to do. The best part is she sends out a new list of recipes each week so you can always try new things.
So if you need help with food storage or just want help with your weekly grocery shopping (prices are for Utah stores) click the link below and sign up. Trust me it is well worth the money (The front page say's its $6.95 but if you sign up in April it's only $4.95 a couple dollars more for the meal planner.)

http://www.myfoodstoragedeals.com/

*I even made my first loaves of homemade bread today I figure I gotta do something with all this flour I'm supposed to stock up on. Yum! I tell ya, if I can do it so can you.

Weekend of Bliss...

Mike had some reward money that he got from his work. They give it to you and then they give you a list of places you can redeem it to. We usually get it and redeem it to Home Depot and put it into the basement. But this time Mike told me to just redeem it to wherever I wanted. I looked over the list and I decided I would plan a little get away weekend surprise for Mike and I. It was supposed to be a surprise but I couldn't hold it in. I called my mom to see if she would be willing to take the kids for the weekend, and of course, she was more than willing. She ended up being sick but she still happily took them and they had a blast with her. They were literally pushing Mike and I out the door.


So our weekend started out great. Mike started the day Friday by going golfing with Ryan, Derek, and Brooks. They are crazy, the day was freezing! I have a feeling it's going to be a long golf season if it's already begun:( I spent the afternoon with a friend. I was able to try out one of her new yummy recipes and she even fed my kids lunch. Thanks again for letting us drop in on you! Then we came home and got ready for our fun get away weekend.


A couple years ago we stayed up at the Marriott and I fell in love with that hotel, well at least the beds! They are so comfortable!!! All weekend long that's all I wanted to do was curl up in bed. It was a king size, and so soft and fluffy. I highly recommend it to anybody (but I don't think all their beds come standard like this, you have to ask for it specifically.)

We checked into our hotel Friday night and I was so excited because this was the view from our window....

We had the bed, the view, no kids, a TV full of movies I hadn't seen, I was set. I didn't need to leave my hotel room. But of course we did. We didn't even spend much time there.

Friday night we went and ate at one of my favorites, PF Changs. So Yummy! They have these yummy shooter size desserts you can order. They are the perfect size after you've filled up on all the yummy food. Problem was they all looked so good, I wanted to order them all. Then we were going to go see a movie but decided our bed at the hotel was a much better place to see a movie, so we went back to the hotel and rented one off our TV.


Saturday morning was heavenly! We slept in. No kids asking me for breakfast. No one climbing on me in my bed. I was on my own time, it's weird you kind of forget what that's like. Anyway, when I booked our hotel room I got breakfast included, so we went down to the restaurant and someone actually cooked breakfast for me! It was a fabulous breakfast buffet. It was yummy. We decided to go over to Gateway after that, but after taking one step onto the street we quickly changed our mind and went over to Fashion Place. It was way too cold outside. We only had a couple hours of shopping because we had an appt. to make at 2:00. I had booked us couples massages. I love getting massages, and I go every now and then. But Mike has only had one one other time and he really didn't enjoy it very much. So I booked the massages at The Spa Club over at Jordan Landing and I let Mike have "my girl" Natalie. I wanted him to have a good massage, and she is FABULOUS!! We had an hour of pure bliss. Needless to say after the hour he said we would be going back, maybe even monthly. After that we had a reception to go to so we met up with some friends for dinner at my favorite, Texas Roadhouse. And then again we contemplated going to see a show, but decided going back to our hotel to our comfy bed and renting another one.


We were dreading waking up Sunday morning, knowing that our weekend was coming to an end. We slept in so late had breakfast once again and just hung out. It was so nice all weekend having no responsibilities, having nobody to tend to but ourselves. It's just another life that's so foreign to me. But it was nice coming home to my babies. Kade was sick and he just sat and cuddled all night which was nice cause he never does that. I just can't thank my mom and Kenny enough because getting a chance to getaway for a weekend like that is just priceless. I know it probably wasn't easy cause my mom was sick and Kade was sick. So again....Thank you!!

My only complaint on the weekend....It wasn't long enough!

Easter....

Kade's first Easter egg hunt at my dad's house. He didn't quite get it at first, but after he realized what he was supposed to be doing he had a blast. I think next year I need to invest in better baskets, no more of the $1 baskets from Target. Every time he bent over his whole basket would tip out. The kid has been on a sugar high though since Easter. He has loved all the chocolate!

Kaylee had a blast running around squealing. She found eggs in all the hard places.

Brayden was good to make sure everybody was getting their fair share of eggs. He just gets so excited and jittery I think he passed up quite a few while he was spazzing out.

We also had a yummy lunch with our cousins and family. We had a great day, and fortunately the weather cooperated. The kids made out with a ton of yummy candy (yeah for mom!)

The next day The Easter bunny came to visit and of course Kaylee came stumbling in bright and early to wish everybody a Happy Easter! She had been waiting for this day for months! She couldn't wait to finally be able to wear her new Easter dress. The kids all found their Easter baskets and then it was off to church. Since I didn't have my camera I still need to take pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes. We did have the professional pictures taken but as I posted before they were a disaster.

After church we were able to go over to my mom's and spend a fabulous afternoon with my family and some of the extended family. And again, more yummy food (gotta love holidays!) and another Easter egg hunt for the kids. They made out big on the candy this year. Then later that night Grandma Sonia came over to visit. She brought the kids some fun stuff. Kaylee got a hula hoop (Brayden rocks at it!) Kade got a fun Curious George car and Brayden got a kite. So happy be-lated Easter to everyone!

Funny Kids...

I have been a complete blogger slacker. I have had a couple good excuses though. First of all, our Internet has been acting up lately. Most of the time it's not working, and then randomly throughout the day I can catch it working (I hope I can stay connected through this.) Second of all I am queen of leaving my camera places. So I took a few pictures of my kids at a Easter egg hunt and then left my camera at my dads, so of course I missed out on all the other Easter pictures I wanted to get. I finally picked up my camera so I can post the pictures that I did get. Third, I just have been busy doing other things that are way more fun and exciting then blogging. J/K

I just wanted to post a few RANDOM pictures of my kids.

The other day at about 11:30 or so, Kade kept getting into the fridge so I asked him if he was hungry. And of course he told me "Ya" but I was doing something at the time so I was trying to stall him for lunch. But next thing I know he had pulled out the place mats, a dirty plate from the dishwasher, a couple spatulas (he called them spoons) and climbed up on a chair. I guess the poor kid was ready for lunch and he wasn't going to wait for me to set the table. It was kind of funny.

Brayden is a little obsessed with the Jazz. Every morning he wakes up and logs on to utahjazz.com to see when the next game is and to pull up stats on players and to see if they won or lost any previous games. Well we took Brayden and his little friend Parker (who I think instilled this obsession into him) to the Jazz vs. Lakers game. It was so funny to listen to these two little boys talk about the stats like they were two grown men! They had a good time. They both bought some Jazz sweat bands while we were there and some guy gave them this "Boozer Buddie" shirt. Brayden hasn't taken off the sweat bands, as you can see, he even sleeps in them.

And here is a picture of Kaylee, just being Kaylee. She kept twirling around and saying "Mom take a picture of me. Hurry, get me twirling." I don't think she understood that it goes all fuzzy when you try to do that.

I'm glad I have them around to keep me entertained.