Gus Michael

Hmmm I kept trying to think of a way to make this special announcement. 

I couldn't think of anything clever. So here goes.... 

We are having a baby boy this May. 

Yep, that's real. 

Mike and I were surprised by the news because this is the first baby that wasn't planned. 

And yet he has been planned for a long time. 

His name is Gus.  

Jane was supposed to be Gus. 

Maggie was supposed to be Gus. 

Then the last three years and ten Dr. tries were supposed to be Gus.  

So we are grateful for this random act of kindness from Heavenly Father. 

Encore!

Applause, applause. Mike gave a stellar performance last night in the Nutcracker.
First he was the Father and Host of the Party. Here is his lovely ballerina wife, daughter and mischievous son Fritz.

Here he is talking amongst his real friend Brad VanCamp at the lovely party. He's been growing out his beard to make these sweet chops.

Then he changes rolls in the second half and becomes Mother Ginger with all of the lovely bon bon girls under his dress.

In the practices the little girls enjoyed tugging on his legs, hitting each other and trying to pull down his pants.

With that face how could you not be a delight to watch. Yes, he was hilarious and our own children loved bragging that their dad was Mother Ginger.

Birthday and Baptism

Last month we had Charlie's birthday and baptism all on the same day. Grandma, Aunt Leslie, baby Boston and Uncle Matt all came into town. We also had cousins Mallory, Paige, Mike and baby Ada that were able to join us. (because they're all officially locals now)

Charlie had a football game in the morning which he ended up missing because he threw up on the way to the game. So really my biggest concern was just that he keep everything in until after the baptism. We made it. The font water remained clean. After the baptism we returned to our house for a little family party. The day turned out to be very enjoyable. We are so proud of Charlie and his commitment to the Savior.

Charlie

Cousin Mike & Charlie

Dad and Charlie

Boston, Leslie, Mike, Kimber, Helene

Jane, Charlie Maggie

Matt

Charlie, Boston & Leslie

Matt & Mallory

Try at a New Project

I needed a side table to put a lamp on next to my couch. Money was an issue and so I thought that maybe I'd be able to find something at a second hand store. I was looking for a plain flat table but came across this ugly lady for only $15.00

I knew right away what I was going to do to this table. I had to do something a little more fun to get away from the traditional and dated look.

First I stripped off the shiny orange/brown finish. Then some light sanding before the paint job.

Final Product. I like the way it turned out and it gives me hope for future projects.

Do Your Best

 

Maggie: "William, stop eating all of the crackers."

Mom: "Mags please talk nice."

Maggie: "I did talk nice."

Mom: " It didn't sound very nice to me."

Maggie: " Well, it's the best I can do."

Back Again

Cooper, Charlie, Jane, Dylan, Ryan & Carys

Carys, Jane & Gracie



The bus stop boys

Charlie

School is in and we sent the kids off this morning with hugs and kisses. I'm not ready for school to start. I needed another month to play with the kids. This summer went by way too fast. Although it will be nice to go to the Grocery store with one.

Coffee Table - minus the coffee

Our good friends made me a coffee table. I've been talking about this coffee table for over a year now and I finally have it in full bloom. Here's my concept....I wanted a basic wood table that I could paint for the seasons, holiday or whatever event is going on in our life. This table was brown in November then I painted it red for Christmas and we've spiced it up a bit with vinyl for Valentine's. The table sits in our family room and I'm hoping it will bring us many more fun memories. I'll keep you posted as the colors and events change. In the end I hope to have a collage of coffee table memories.

 It became yellow for Easter and Spring

Jane and Maggie helping to paint it for Independence Day

Charlie painting

Finished product. We are having fun with this little table.

quotes

Here are all of the funny or totally embarrassing things that my kids have said. I should keep them to myself, but who am I to ruin all of the fun?

definitions:

noodles - nudies

very - berry

disappear - capeared

remember - bemember

Charlie singing the wrong lyrics to a song that we do not play in our house, "I've got fashion in my pants and I'm not afraid to show it. I'm sexy and I know it." And for the record the real lyrics are even worse than that.

Maggie: "Mom, is it today?"

Mom: "yes"

Maggie: " I knew it. I knew it was today."

Jane: "Mom Carys thinks that I'm the prettiest girl in the whole school."

Mom: I think to myself. That is very weird that her best friend would say that to her. They are a bit competitive with each other. So I say "Really? She said that?"

Jane: "Yeah she told me that." (insert snotty voice here) "She said, Jane, you just think you're the prettiest girl in the whole school."

(She didn't get it.)

When Maggie gets really mad and wants to insult you she calls you a freak. I don't know where she learned it but the other day Charlie was teasing her and she yelled, "knock it off you little freak."

And just today Maggie said, "Mom, Jesus spoke to my heart and said that brushing your teeth makes them dirty. So I don't have to brush my teeth." (really? blaming Jesus?)

soccer

Charlie gets it.
He's been playing very well this year.

Jane is improving.

In baby steps

Maggie? Well she is her own special something.

One thing is for sure, she shows major signs of a girl who misses her Dad each week. Today she wouldn't let go of the coaches hand. He didn't seem to mind.

Demanding

My youngest angel daughter is a bit demanding and stubborn. I'm certain it comes from the other side of the family since I am nothing like her. We have been trying to instill good manners. I saw a glimpse of hope while she yelled from the table this morning.

"MOM, May you please get me more pancakes NOW!"

Now the positive that I take from this is that she did sort of use "please" and "May I".

Perfecto

Meet Peter.

It is quite possible that you will never meet a sweeter boy in your life.

Charlie karate kicked his face and he was hurt and crying. When I talked to Charlie his only response was "I accidentally did a perfect karate kick to his face".

Notice how he complimented himself?

As if that isn't embarrassing enough, Peter calls me back over to tell me what a great job Charlie did. I immediately stopped him and got out my camera.

As we left the party Peter's mom ran over to tell us that as she was putting her kids in the car Peter said "I'm so proud of Charlie".

Me too Peter. A mother couldn't be prouder.

jEenYUs

you can click on this picture to make it bigger.

if you can read this story than you might be a complete genius.

for all of the rest of you... let me interpret it.

Jane and Maggie

were walking

down the street

from the market

they got lots

of food. A little

girl walked by

she was

very poor. Jane and Maggie

gave her

some food.

I can't believe you couldn't figure that out, guess you're not a genius.

Easter Festivities

Charlie Sunday morning

These were even cuter in person. Pillsbury crescent rolls filled with egg salad and topped with leafy green lettuce. Oh and painted with food coloring.

Paisley, Dayton, Jane and Maggie

Mike and Maggie at the annual Easter egg hunt our friends put on. I forgot my camera and used the trusty phone to come through for me. This egg hunt is a highlight for us each year because these friends have a nice big grassy backyard for the 5 and under kids and then everyone else has to go booking through the woods and stream for their eggs. The kids love it and so do we.

prayer

janes prayer tonight at the dinner table went something like this.....

.....and bless Corbin and Nate to be safe on their missions and bless that grandpa won't die and bless that Charlie will stop always teasing the girls, and bless that Dad won't get mad and bless that Bernie will stop barking at the people walking by outside (about this time was when I started rubbing my forehead) and bless that Mom won't get a headache and bless that Charlie will close his eyes and be reverent and bless that Maggie will stop getting on every one's nerves and bless that she will put her fork down and fold her arms and bless that she will stop eating until after the prayer is finished and bless that she will listen to me right now (this is when Mike intervened and said "don't forget to bless the food")

At this point we were able to move forward and finish the prayer. Can you tell she had her eyes open?

Her prayers are always long and entertaining

His Sacred Name - An Easter Declaration

puffy cheeks

My sister told me to tell my children that I know when they are lying because their cheeks puff out. So now when they begin to tell a big fib they try to hold their cheeks or suck them in or just become very self conscious of their cheeks. She's a genius.

You can watch this old video of Jane. She is trying to convince me that her teacher wants me to buy her new play dough. It really doesn't matter what she is saying, just watch her struggle to get it out.

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

St. Patty

Word

peace

All dressed up for school on Friday. Worth a picture

mean mom

This happens to be a crowd favorite so I thought I would share it with all of you. The story begins when Maggie was not being kind and I scolded her and put her on time out. She didn't walk to time out. She walked to the front room and started playing the piano. It took me a while to hear what she was saying and grab the camera. I really did miss most of the mean scolding she was giving me. She sang a lot of "my mom is so mean" phrases. I think the song ended because she noticed I was there. Turn up your computer to hear the ending. This is a typical Maggie moment.

Enjoy!

Toothless

Charlie is at the stage when the teeth fall out and his mouth isn't quite big enough to fit the incoming big ones. It deserves a post. And so does this assigment that he brought home.
I told him that it made me laugh and he said, "yeah my teacher said it was a good one."

Perfect Ending

I came across this picture which happened on our trip. It was one of my favorite moments. They had been in bed for all of 5 minutes. Of course I had to share it.

The Magic of the Kingdom

Here are our final vaca photos . We had a great trip together and the weather was so nice that we stayed an extra day just to swim in our pool. This is a picture of our kids with our friends that ended up going down to Florida also.

The Browns. We love em.
Mike and Charlie

Maggie and Jane

Charlie trying to appear miserable

Jane & Mags

Jane, Charlie & Mags

Here we can talk about the joys of a wish list. It's great because my children aren't begging for things all of the time but there is still the constant question of "hey mom, can I put this on my wish list." I always say yes and they always seem to get excited about it.

Minnie, Jane, Maggie, Mickey & Charlie

Whole Clan