Climbing the Lilac Tree!

Abby and Dylan climbing on my mom's lilac tree. They were very excited t have a tree with low enough branches that they could limb them! Why can't that tree be in our yard!

Ohio Again! Woohoo!!!

(I got a little video and picture happy this time but they are super cute!!)

We were able to go out to Ohio last week. It was so much fun! We actually got out and did stuff instead of just vegging out like we usually do! Aside from seeing my fam, a lot of Bryan's fam was out there the blessing of his cousin Melissa's little girl Anna. It was fun to see some of his Utah family that we don't get to see that often! Sorry no pics of that! One day out there we went to the Children's Discovery Garden. This place is absolutely fantastic!! There are tons of flowers and activities for the kids, music makers hidden in a little maze, a water pump where they can fill up water cans and water everything, caves to explore and waterfall and a little stream to play in! The kids had a total blast! This was in the sensory garden, it totally plays dead when you touch it! I want one, it is so cool! The grounds around the children's area was absolutely beautiful-I wish my backyard could look like that!

We also went to one of the best parks! The Super Park on base. They have little walkways although this all of the kids loved it! Although I must say we didn't stay too long-it was hot and the wood totally soaks up the heat, it was twice as hot in the playground as it was just a few feet away at the picnic tables!! Poor Bryan got roped into climbing all through it with Lacey and then had the occasional "Hey Dad help me with this from Abby and Dylan! We also went to Carriage Hill Farm. We were sadly disappointed in the animal department although we did see a horse/cow/pig (hahaha! thats for you mom!!!!) In the visitor center they have a kids play area with chalk and slates t write on, a kitchen stocked with pioneer stuff. Abby, Dylan and Lacey loved it!! Funny enough the thing that got the most attention was this huge stuffed cow laying on the floor!

My parents have a full length mirror that Lacey was just entranced by. She would spend a good 20 minutes at a time laughing, dancing, and talking to herself! Totally funny! Everyone had a great time. I think even Bryan had fun this time, I think he usually gets a little bored, but he needed a nice break before he started school again! So all in all good times for everyone!

My Kindergardener!!

Abby has her 1st day of school today!! She was so excited! She just walked right in and put her stuff away and was like "see ya"! I was so nervous for her it felt like my first day of school!! We took a couple pics and then she was off playing with a couple of the girls that were already there, so I was like "well I guess I will leave then!" She gave me a hug and then she was off!

"I want pink"

I took Abby clothes shopping for school this morning. She was totally into it!! She is so excited for school to start she cant hardly stand it. She was walking around looking at clothes and would pick one up and be like "this is cute, its my size", it was funny. I would pick something out and ask her if she liked and it , she would look at and sometimes say "yes yes, oh I love" and sometimes I would hear "umm, I dont like that". Here is her criteria for loving something or hating it----- is it pink. Everything she picked out was pink or had pink in it! I would show her something without any pink-trying to give her a variety- and she wouldn't give it the time of day!! So she pretty much as an all pink wardrobe for school.

The other day in an attempt to get some cleaning time in during the day I got out a bunch of stickers, crayons and plain white paper and let the kids go at it!! All three of them were at the table for about 2 hours!! They totally had a blast!

Bonus point if you know what Jane Austen movie is on the tv! While we were at the store I decided to get myself some flowers! I love flowers. I wish I could have a really awesome flower garden-that would be so much fun!! But it also cost money so it will just have to wait, so till then I will just have to make do with a bouquet here and there.

And to round things out, here is Dylan "not sleeping". He has decided that he doesnt need a nap anymore so usually between 4 and 5 we go on Dylan-sleeping-watch. His eyes start to close and his head starts to fall so we will tell him to wake up and he usaully get really mad and say "I not sleeping! I just sitting here!"

Funny!!!!

This is totally funny!!! On one of my favorite Twilight sights there is a link for BK New Moon promo crowns!! How Funny is that?!!! They are in BK's in November! I don't know about you guys but I am getting one. Or two.

So Sweet!

I snapped this of Lacey this afternoon and I thought it was just so sweet! I was putting away the dishes and she was jabbering away, I turned around and she was just chillin on that table!

Rain Day!

The other day I let the kids go out and play in the rain. They were so excited! In the video they arent doing much and it isnt very exciting but I just love that you can hear them screaming, they were so happy!

Repeat Button

Abby had discovered the repeat button on her cd player. And boy does she love!! She picks her favorite song from a cd and then plays it over and over and over and over again! The good thing is is that she switches it every week or so but until another one catches her ear we are stuck listening to the one she likes! She put it on during the day but mostly when she goes to sleep. And she puts it on LOUD! I usually go and turn it down and turn off the repeat button after she goes to sleep. The last couple weeks it has been the Hoedown Throwdown from the Hannah Montana movie soundtrack. Our little neighbor invited Abby to go and see the movie and she just loved that song! But this week we have a new song of choice it is Noodle on my Head by Voice Male. It is a cute song, well at least it was the first 50 times I heard it!

Help! Can you tame this?!

Yesterday I gave Abby and Dylan some ice cream in a waffle bowl and I told them they could eat the bowl too and how cool it that?! They were way excited and both had huge smiles. I left the kitchen only to hear cries of distress a few minutes later. I walked in the kitchen and Abby was all distraught because her scoop of ice cream was sitting on a little circle of what was left of her waffle bowl! She didn't want to touch it because it was cold but couldn't get it to stay still when She tried to scoop it with her spoon! I was like "That's why I told you to eat it after you ate your ice cream!" Dylan on the other hand just picked up the waffle bowl and ice cream and ate it like a sandwich! Hey whatever works!!!!

The kids all had baths last night and i just couldn't pass up a chance to share some pics of Abby's fro! It has been a while since I took some. This is her hair after a bath and sleeping on it. Her hair is just a little out of control!!!

Harry Potter!

Bryan and I went on a double date with some friends(obviously!!) to the midnight showing of the Half Blood Prince. There were so many people there it was just crazy!! They had 5 showings! Tons of people were dressed-up as just about anyone you can think of. It was really funny, people walking around with stuffed owl and cats. One guy was dressed up like Dumbledore.

So about the movie, I am not going to spoil anything! I thought it was AWESOME!!! I cant say it was my favorite because the feeling is just different from the other movies as is the book. It is a little lighter and way totally funny!! And not quite the you-could-die-at-any-minute type feeling. But then I couldn't really pick a fav out of any of them!!

I thought that it flowed well and stay pretty true to the book. Of course they take some liberties with the storyline as is usual and unfortunately they cant put everything from the book in the movie but that's alright! We will take what we can get!

This totally leaves me excited for Deathly Hallows part 1 next year!!

Family Time!

These are just a couple pics of our big family 4th celebration! I am still waiting for some from the smart ones who remembered their cameras but these are a couple I had on my phone. This one is Abby's attempt at the watermelon seed spiting competition.

These next two are of the pie eating competition. This was totally hysterical! We had a kid division and an adult division. All the kids really got into it!

After the second round between Sydney and Madison, Sydney looked up and had pudding all in her hair, Madison looked up and saw her, started laughing and spit what she had left in her mouth and it hit Sydney! It was totally funny!

I didn't even attempt to get pics of the adult race. It was disgustingly fast! They did three round I think and it was hard to watch!! Totally not my cup of tea!!

A little more with the cousins

These are a little old side but not too old! When my parents and my sister and her little family were in town while the boys went and toured one of John Deere factories we went to the mall with the kids and my mom bought them all a build-a-bear. They were all so excited to do all the stuff they have to do. I was a little worried because in past visits Abby and Dylan have been afraid of the fluff machine but this time they were awesome and even stepped on the pedal by themselves! One funny thing is that Abby and Luxie both picked out the same bear, separately picked out the same outfit and then wanted to name their bears the same thing. They had so much fun together! So a big thanks to grandma!!! It was fun and very thankfully it wasn't busy because those kids were everywhere!!

After the mall we met up with the boys for lunch at BK. Of course they all had to have a crown!

the almost 2 yr old

Lacey is almost 2 and has the attitude to prove it! Abby and Dylan will have another thing coming if they think they will be able to push her around! She has started this thing where she folds her arms, scowls and says "No" when you ask her to do something. She will come and do it or come with you or whatever she just likes to have her say about the matter first!

She also kinda rams you with her head when she gets mad. It is really funny to watch. She is really strong! She usually does this when Abby or Dylan has a toy she wants, something that she feels is hers, or something they took from her. She puts her head down and then just pushes and pushes them, until they either give it up, she gets it from them or we pull her away. Abby and Dylan usually scream for help because they usually end up knocked over on the floor with Lacey ramming them while she is on all fours!

They just wont listen when I tell them they cant take toys from her.

She is definitely a force to be reckoned with!

happy 4th!

Happy Fourth to everyone! A big huge thanks to all who have served our country!

We had a total blast at the family bbq last night. Unfortunately the day leading up to it was less than fun and I ended up forgetting my camera but I am getting pics for other people so I will be posting those soon! Bryan, Abby and Dylan camped out and then this morning we had breakfast before coming home grabbing quick shower and heading off to our little parade.

It was raining this morning not really hard just enough to make it annoying. We went over to a friends house and sat on their lawn. The kids kept themselves busy waiting for the parade to get to us.

In a really good mid-west parade 3/4ths of it is tractors! There were ALOT of them this year despite the rain!

After the parade we had lunch with some friends. Abby was so excited that the rain kept coming down and there wasent any lightning. She has been dying to play in the rain!! Bryan threw a frisbee with Abby and Dylan. They thought that was great fun!

Lacey thinks that she has dibs on ohhh any food that is lying around. She ate hers and then saw Dylans plate-didn't pay any attention to Dylan sitting there- and grabbed his hotdog and when he tried to get it back she yelled at him and held it out of his reach! It was totally funny! By the time we got it out of her hand she had licked off all the mustard and took a bite as fast as she could and then of course Dylan didnt want it back! We had to calm him down and go get him another one. It was way funny!

We then came home where everyone is taking a nice long nap and my house while not as clean as I would like it to be it is quiet!!!