Mother's Day

I am one lucky lady to get to be the mom to these little people.  Heavenly Father has given me a lot to do, and I need to notice the blessings a little bit more!

Now that all 5 of them are in underwear (trumpets blaring)....it seems that the craziness of being 'needed' is changing.  Watching them get their independence is a fun and a scary thing to watch unfold.

One night when I was tucking Taylor in she said I was just like Miss Hannigan on Annie.

I had just finished explaining to them why it was important to keep their bedroom cleaned up.  I hope that their memories of me aren't all 'do this' 'do that' 'clean up' 'read for 20 minutes' 'turn off the tv'....I hope that they can remember how much I love them and how grateful I am to have the opportunity to be their mom.

Twinsies in the Tulips

My mom kept telling me and telling me and telling me that I had to get a picture of Taylor & Rylee in their Easter dresses with the tulips at the Brigham City Temple.  How come 9 times out of 10 mom's know what they are talking about?  I'm glad that I listened to her!  Mother knows best!

These girls look so cute.  Just to clarify - I did tell them to put their hands like that, but I wasn't even paying attention to their cute little legs.

 I love that I got to take a few pictures of some of my favorite things.  My twin girlies and my love for tulips!  They should bloom all summer long

Easter Sunday

We started the morning with some church!  The girls had new dresses and the boys had some sharp new ties.

 When we got home we ventured to the back yard to find Easter baskets!  Rylee's basket accidentally got tipped over.  She was devastated.  Her cad-bury mini eggs went everywhere in the dirt.  Luckily for her though, I had half of a big hidden in the house.  Caleb couldn't believe that I had candy hidden from them.

 All of the kids got new swimsuits and flip flops in their basket.  Come on summer!!!  Caleb got some really fun stuff!  His favorite things were his inflatable killer whale, his FNAF hat and a book about the 100 most dangerous things on the planet!

 Luke and Alexa bot got a bubble gun in their basket.  They ran out of the 2 bottles of bubbles with 30 minutes.  I need to get to the store for some more!

Easter - Part 2 - Promontory

The party continues.  The weather was a bit warmer and sunnier today than it was yesterday.  The occasional sweater was needed, but t-shirts sufficed too.  According to my Grandma, "It's good to shiver - you burn a lot of calories when you're shivering."  I love that my Grandparents traveled all the way out to Promontory to play.  Do you see any dust on my Grandpa's jeep?  That's an indication of how slow they drove on the dirt roads.

Rylee loves to get toghter with family.  She also loves Dylan and Griffen so much!  Griffen let her drive the 4-wheeler a bit and she was pretty proud of herself.  She did get a little frustrated finding her eggs on the hill.  She thought it was harder to find them this year!  This adventure I ended up finding a tick in her head a few days later.  It was disgusting.  

 Caleb is such a sweetheart.  He is really into Star Wars lately.  He keeps asking me to watch a movie with him & I honestly don't think I could stay awake for a whole movie.  I told him we should watch Indiana Jones instead - he's thinking about it.  Jordon's girlfriend has a son named Parker who is Caleb's age and they bonded instantly.  How come as we get older, it get's awkward to make friends that easily?  Caleb said, "I'm so excited for Jordon to marry Parker's mom.  Then he'll be my cousin!"  We'll have to wait and see I guess.  I'm so happy that he had another boy to play with that was close to his age.  Casey taught Caleb a little gun safety.  I am my mother's daughter when it comes to guns.  They make me nervous.  

I think Luke has social anxiety or something.  I really do love him, but it takes an hour or more for him to relax when we get in crowds of people.  You'd think he'd recognize everyone by now and realize they aren't going anywhere.  He was happy once he had a bucket full of Easter eggs and he loved flying a kite with Grammy.  Lexi loves everyone.  And she loves cookies!  At one point she kept putting 1 jelly bean after another into her mouth and eventually stuffed about 15 jelly beans in there and Angela was cracking up.  It was a LOT of candy!

Little miss bug-a-boo.  She really is always happy.  Happy to be with her people, happy to be busy, happy when content, and always smiling.  Her new thing is giving people rabbit ears in pictures.  She's a silly little miss.

Eva had on the cutest little hippie headband ever.  She is so cute.  She and Taylor & Rylee & Lexi & Elysha's daugher, Macee, were so cute together!  They had their little spats, but what girls don't?  They all loved each other at the end of the day and can't wait to get together again!  Jackson was so fun to watch walking on the uneven ground.  He was the most adorable and cautious little walker ever!

Sometimes I want to sit at the kid table.  I bet that their conversations are the best!  I love the picture of Casey and his twinsies in the little cave.  Caleb & Parker were off on an adventure,  that is why he is missing. 

I think that shooting after lunch is going to be a new tradition.  Blake got a new shotgun for Christmas and was itching to try it out.  He was a fantastic shot!  It must be all the practice from the Xbox games.  Golf balls were brought out this year for some odd reason.  Whatever floats your boat I guess.  The cows even watched the boys shoot.  Weirdos.  Dylan has become quite the gun enthusiast.  Sun's out, guns out.  #pewpew

  Until next year!  

Easter - Part 1 - DC

Easter weekend is one of my favorites.  It's so busy and full of fun and family!  Casey thinks I have a problem.  That I always have to be doing something or be busy or I'll go crazy.  Oh well...he just better keep up or he'll get left in the dust.  

The Friday before Easter we headed out to Dove Creek.  It is always an adventure.  There is an outhouse there that we can use for potty time.  Taylor needed to go, but sure wasn't interested when she saw it and held out as long as she could.  Rylee eventually had to go #2 and I waited outside for her and I heard her say, "Hmmmm....I wonder which poop is mine?"  So funny AND so gross!  It's a good thing Brad & Mona have a little palace for shelter.  We experienced a little rain, some cold breezes and even a little snow.  BUT - there was even cracks of sunshine.  

We dyed our Easter eggs.  I don't know why, but it is one of my least favorite holiday traditions.  They always turn out so pretty....but it stresses me out for some reason.  Maybe it will become more fun after the kids are a bit older.  I'm not wishing this stage away - just predicting how it will be in the future.  Luke wouldn't try any color but BLUE!  He was in love with his blue egg.

We ventured outside while our eggs were drying and the Easter bunny had been by!  Taylor & I even saw him on our little 4-wheeler ride.  We took a few selfies and Grandma had the BEST Easter bonnet ever!  It blew bubbles!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day.  After the egg hunt the kids went and sat around the fire pit to inspect their findings.  Content.  Happy.  Adorable.  I heart them.

March

Crazy hair day happened at school.  I'm not very good at doing hair.  I try all sorts of things, but they never seem to work out.  A bun...I can handle.  Pipe cleaners?  Easy!  Rylee had crazy squiqqles and Taylor had clouds and a rainbow.

And of course - this boy had a killer whale riding a wave.  NOTE - let the gel dry completely before hot gluing on toy.  We may have pulled a few hairs out upon removal.  Sorry buddy!

My little fashionista!  Mixing all sorts of textures and patterns.  I can't decide if Stacie and Clinton would be proud or not.

This kid doesn't want to nap anymore.  He needs to or he's snoozing on the couch by 6 pm.  He usually ends up playing with toys in his room and falling asleep on the floor.  Silly boy.

FNAF.  Or, Five Nights At Freddy's.  It's all the rage between Caleb & his friends at school.  I don't get it at all.  But he LOVES it.

See....snoozing on the couch by 6:00.  This was one of the nicer days and we had been to the park.  Wore them right out!

I wonder if I like pictures of sleeping littles.  I was introducing the kids to the movie 'Babe' one night and Lexi couldn't handle it anymore.  She was snug as a bug in a rug and out in no time.

Little Luke is non stop.  NON STOP.  Water seems to keep him pretty entertained.  So this is how he spent a good chunk of one morning.  Makes for good hand/eye coordination!

Casey and Caleb have been hard at work trying to get a garden space ready.  Luke and Lexi love all the dirt and rocks!  And Lexi LOVES to have her picture taken.