Four Things Summer Edition

Alpine Rodeo

I much prefer Instagram to blogging these days.  But in case you don't follow me there, here is a little catch up on what we have been doing this summer:

Luke:

1.  Luke did two basketball camps--one at BYU and one at Skyline High School.  He loved both of them.

2.  Luke and Sammie have both been taking tennis lessons.  I am living vicariously through them.  I am dying to take lessons--just so I can wear the cute skirts.

3.  Luke turned 10 this summer and let his little brother blow out his candles.  That's the kind of kid he is.

4.  The big news is that Luke started tackle football for Alta.  We said no for the last two years and he finally wore us down to the point that we said yes.  He absolutely loves it.

Sammie:

1.  Sammie spends 90% of her time tumbling on the front lawn.  She taught herself an aerial and almost has a back hand spring.  It scares me to death.

2.  She started dancing at a new studio and spent a considerable amount of time dancing this summer.  She also did a cheer camp at BYU.

3.  Sammie went on a trip to NYC with Sam for five days.  She saw three shows and toured the city.  At the airport, she turned and barfed all over Sam's shoes and then exclaimed, "phew!  I was so worried I was going to get it on my clothes!"

4.  Sammie loves little kids.  She comes to the gym with me each morning so she can go to the daycare and play with the toddlers.  They adore her.  Too bad she wants nothing to do with her own little brothers.

Ryan:

1.  Ryan spends all of his time outside roaming the neighborhood on his bike.  Luckily, we have fantastic neighbors who basically let him live at their homes. 

2.  Ryan took swimming lessons again this summer.

3.  He also played on a t-ball team with his buddies.  He was the biggest and slowest kid on the team.  And just like with soccer, he thought he was awesome.

4.  Ryan, Luke, Sammie and Mitch all went on a vacation with Sam for five days to Snow Mass, CO.  They had a blast swimming and going on bike rides.

Buster:

1.  The big news is that Buster is potty training.  We are half way there and it has about pushed me over the edge.  After ten years straight of diapers, I am ready for this kid to be trained!

At Walmart in no pants.  When in Rome...

2.  We thought he broke his arm last week on my sister's trampoline.  After one horrendous trip to the ER, and a week of wearing a cast for no reason, we found out he is totally fine.

3.  Buster's favorite thing to do is go swimming. We did Seven Peaks, Cottonwood Spa, Alta Canyon and the gym pool.  He mostly enjoys puttering around the pool deck or sitting in a lounge chair eating treats.

4.  He loves going anywhere with the big kids. 

 

Churros at the Real Game

Me:

1.  The big anticlimactic news is that I got a job.  I am working very very part time for the Utah Senate.  I won't bore you with the details but I can do it from home and so far it hasn't been too much of a thorn in my side. 

2.  Still dating on and off.  Summer is so busy that I try to slow down the dating a bit and focus on the kids.  I do like dating in the Summer because you can get outside and do things like bike rides and hikes. 

Look at that view!

3.  My vacation was when my kids went to Colorado with their dad.  I managed to get Mitchell's baby book finished which was my only goal for that week.  I am still trying to lose the five pounds I gained eating out with friends for every meal.

My friend Kari and I at City Creek before we gorged ourselves at Cheesecake Factory

4.  I did a lot more biking this summer. I have some kind male friends who take me since I have a hard time finding girls to go on rides with.  There is a great new trail from Alpine to Provo Canyon.

The end.  I will do my annual Best of Summer post next week.  I am not ready for Summer to end!

Pirate Pizza Party

I am regretting that I already used the title "Black, White and Red All Over." It would have been perfect for this post!

Ry Ry turned five this weekend and we threw him a pirate pizza party.  Ryan has had an obsession with pirates for years.  He has been a pirate for Halloween the last two years so a pirate party seemed like a no-brainer.  The only thing he cared about doing at his party was playing the candy bar game.  He loves to eat. (He is very big for his age.  He weighs 8 pounds more than Sammie and she is three years older and three inches taller.)  But he makes up for it in sweetness.  He is my big teddy bear.

Anyway, we invited 13 little boys and only one didn't show. Sam came and helped and the whole thing went off without a hitch.  The kids were really good.

Ryan had to have this door cover for the bathroom...potty humor is huge at five!

Sammie and Luke dressed up and were my big helpers at the party!

We had pizza (BBQ chicken is Ryan's favorite):

We played the candy bar game:

Ryan opened presents:

We hit a pinata:

We kept this little boy happy with lots of Diet Coke:

I made this fabulous cake...isn't it impressive?  just kidding, I bought it all Walmart. I have had some disastrous cakes in the past (here and here) so I got smart this time and bought the cake.

And we ran out of the time or the kids would have gone on a treasure hunt to find these hats and swords.  They just got them on the way out:

All four of my kids were born in the spring.  My b-day is in March too so it is birthday craziness this time of year.  Glad the first b-day is over with!!  Happy Birthday Ry Ry!   Mama loves you more than the whole sky.

Black and White and Red All Over

old photo from Christmas

My last post was about slowing down.  That hasn't really happened.  I don't think the word slow is in my vocabulary.  So as my life continues at a break neck pace, let me update you.  I was looking at the photos on my phone and I noticed how many are black and white and red-hence the title. 

Here is what I have been up to lately:

I bought the Sorel jrs in Black.  Yeah I know I told y'all I was keeping #4 boots--the Call of the Wild .  I changed my mind, which will surprise no one.  After clomping around the mall for one afternoon in the other boots, I knew they had to go back.  I decided I needed the lightest snow boots I could find. Behold the fifth pair of boots I purchased:

It was the right decision.

Ryan's birthday is coming up and I am throwing him a pirate pizza party on Saturday.  13 little boys.  I am insane. 

Here is a picture of me and Ryan right before church a few weeks ago..thrown in because it goes with my black, red and white theme.  My nose is getting better every day.  Thanks for asking!:

Ashley had the cutest baby ever a few days ago.  The big news is that he is NOT a red.  I love her little red heads but it is fun to see a blonde from her. 

Both of us have babies with tons of hair and seeing this little guy made me baby hungry for about ten minutes.  Then I got over it.  But doesn't he have the cutest face?

John and his kids spent President's Day weekend with us and we had a great time.  My kids were in Heaven..6 kids might as well be 16 though.  We felt like the Duggars trying to go places.  We don't even all fit in my car!  Things are great but John and I have decided to keep dating but date other people as well and not be as serious.  We will see how that goes.

I will end on the silly.  I won this skirt in a facebook drawing and had already bought it.  So I am giving away the extra one!  Check back to my blog in the next couple weeks for drawings to win this skirt and a Hapari swimsuit! (Sorry for two lame mirror shots in one post!)

Rise and Shout!

We are gearing up for the big game tomorrow! For those of you not "in the know," tomorrow is the BYU-Utah football game..a huge rivalry here in Utah.

I put these flags on my car and drove to the mall.  I got flipped off on the freeway and one dude actually gave me the thumbs down sign when I pulled into the mall parking lot.  I was afraid my car was going to get keyed.  U of U fans can be really classy.  cough cough.

My kids are all decked out in BYU gear:

My dad has season tickets and I have already taken Luke to the two home games this year.  My fondest hope is that he will love BYU football and want to go to BYU.  I think it is working:

I am planning to make this for the game.  I will probably eat the whole thing myself:

I took my little guys to Costco today for hot dogs since I won't be getting one tomorrow at the stadium.  (The game is at the U.)

Go Cougs!

I Love You to the Moon and Back

Today I stumbled upon a YouTube video of a song Taylor Swift wrote for a little four-year-old boy named Ronan, who died of cancer.  Ronan's mother has a blog and Taylor Swift had been reading it and decided to write a song as a tribute to this mother and son. 

This song reminds me so much of my two little boys who love race cars and dinosaurs. I love to see my little guys playing together and hearing Buster's little voice calling Ryan "Ry Ry." My big kids went back to school last week and I have had a lot of time with these little guys.  Don't get me wrong..there are times when I want to pull my hair out.  Like when I find Buster's room like this:

And when I find them lounging in my brand new (off limits) chair and looking like orphans: 

But then they hug and kiss me and say "love you mama" and I melt.  I was just telling my mom that my favorite thing about Buster is hearing the pitter patter of his little bare feet in the hall.

Both of my little guys are so sweet.  Ryan helped me make lasagna and says the sweetest prayers.  It melts my heart.  Today they "got naked" outside when they were playing with the water and I couldn't get mad because they were so cute.  I wish I looked that cute naked. 

Anyway, Taylor Swift is so talented and I love her music.  In this song she says "I love you to the moon and back" and it made me cry because I always say that to my kids.  As bad as divorce is, it doesn't touch losing a child.  I am so grateful to not be in that club.  My heart goes out to any parent who has ever had to go through something that heartbreaking.  I also love this line in the song.  "Maybe the miracle was even getting one moment with you."  Such a hopeful way to look at losing someone so young.

"C'mon baby with me, we're gonna fly away from here"

"You were my best four years."

Take a listen. Prepare to cry.

He's Two and I'm Crazy

People keep asking me what it's like now that I have four kids. I think they expect me to say it's crazy. And it is. But the reason life is hard right now has nothing to do with the newborn or the fact that I have four kids. It is the fact that I have a two-year-old and a newborn. Sammie and Luke are so easy. They can both feed and bathe themselves and basically entertain each other all day.

Ryan is a whole other story. That kid is in my grill at 7:00 in the morning demanding brats and eggs for breakfast. (I tell him no everyday.) It wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that I've been up all night and usually am just getting back to bed from the 6:00 a.m. feeding. He demands to go "bye bye mama's car" all day or begs to go to Costco. He loves Costco. He still wants to be held a lot and he cries a lot and he follows me around a lot. He's hard.

On the other hand, I think he is the cutest little boy on the planet. He says the most loving, sweet things to me and loves to kiss me over and over on the lips. He says "bye bye mama" in the sweetest voice every time I leave and is genuinely thrilled to see me every time I return. He knows how to make me laugh--you should see him dance.

At least Ryan loves Buster. Notice the Oreos on Ryan's mouth.

But as much as I love him, he is just hard. I've had some other unrelated issues adding stress to my life as well AND to top it off, Sam is out of town. I have no patience--sleep deprivation will do that to you. I'm ticked off for half my day. I'm completely irked when one of my kids will have the audacity to ask for lunch and I'm driving around swearing at all the idiots on the road--you get the picture--it's like permanent pms. I just want to be rescued from my life--hit the belly release button on my parachute and do a big strong arch.

But the truth is no one can save me. Others have it so much worse than I do. I have a newborn...and a two year old...and no patience and I chose this. I wanted these boys to be two years apart because down the road, I'm going to be sitting on the couch reading people magazine while they entertain each other. In the meantime, I just need to get through it. Sam gets to hear all this when he gets back from his trip--Happy Father's Day indeed!