Spring Break

Last week we drove down to Utah for spring break. Jackson had his first soccer game and Hayden had a baseball tournament in Yakima on Saturday, so we left on Sunday. I drove to Missoula and then Eric drove the rest of the way. We didn't run into any weather, so it was fast. The kids were easy. I got to listen to my book and scrapbook on my laptop. The weather was pretty good on Sunday and Monday. Then on Tuesday the wind started blowing like a thousand miles per hour. I'm surprised our car didn't lift off the ground! Then Wednesday we woke up to a snow storm that didn't really stop. Considering we never really had snow this winter in Spokane, it wasn't that fun to go on vacation and get snow in April! Brenda and her kids met us in Alpine, and we hung out with Aria and her kids for a few days. Leif, Carter and Jorie are so cute together. Leif is over a year younger Carter and Jorie, so he isn't talking as much. When he is with them, though, he carries on the cutest little conversations. It is so fun to listen to them. Leif and Jorie are adorable! I just want to squeeze them and take them home with me!

We loved staying at Aria's, and the kids loved playing together. We mostly just hung out at home. We took the kids to Diary of a Wimpy Kid on Monday and then we played cards a ton. It is great that Aria and Brenda love to play games as much as I do! On Tuesday we visited our friends the Baileys that live really close to Aria and Parkers. We went to dinner and left the kids all at home with pizza. It is really the best way to do it. I love that we both have kids old enough to babysit. After that I had a super fun girl's night with Brenda and Aria and Brenda's friends Carrie, Becky and Jamie. They are great--Love hanging out with them!

Wednesday and Thursday night we stayed with Carrie. She is best friends with Brenda, so I have gotten to know her pretty well in the past few years. She is so nice and welcoming. We all wanted to stay at the same house, so the kids could be together as much as possible. It was super fun! On Thursday we took the kids to How to Train a Dragon. I thought it was so cute. Eric's cousin Penney came with her kids and so did Becky and her kids.

Thursday we had a birthday party for Carrie's dog Bruno. My kids loved it. We had cupcakes and sang. Olivia wanted to play dog games, but we ran out of time. Carrie's husband Ty thought the idea of a dog birthday was crazy, so he left before we sang happy birthday. We laughed a lot!!!

Wednesday I took the kids over to Penney's for haircuts. Jackson really wanted his hair highlighted and cut, so he could look like David Beckham. He now spends time everyday doing his hair. It is pretty funny, because he has never cared much before. He and Hayden were pretty funny with Carrie's daughter Maddie. They were both flirting a lot and she was back. I don't know if they knew they were flirting, but they were pretty funny!

Carter didn't want to smile for my picture. I guess he thought if he couldn't see me, that I couldn't take a picture of him.

Thursday night, Mark and Austin got into SLC to go to conference. My parents were there, too, so we all met at Tucanos for dinner. My kids had never been to a Brizilian BBQ before, and they thought it was the greatest thing ever. Tucanos is Eric's favorite, so it was a good night! We had to leave early Friday morning to get back for Eric's tennis match and the first Shock game of the season.

Random March

March definitely flew by this year. I don't like how time goes so fast. That means that the kids are getting older--and I want them to stay young! Olivia had a Reader's Celebration during school a few weeks ago. It was so exciting for her. She got to get up in front of the class and all the parents and read one of her stories. It was the first day of March Madness, and it started when there was only 7 minutes left in the BYU game. Luckily for Eric, he downloaded an app on his iphone that showed all the games. When all the other kids were up front, Eric had the sound off ofcourse, and he watched the game as they went into double overtime and finally won the game. Since Eric is usually at work or out of town for these types of things, she was soooooo happy to have her daddy there.

Hayden had his first baseball game of the season 2 weeks ago. I was laughing so hard, because his pants are kind of tight and his cup is kind of large. He looks pretty funny. He always walks funny and is constantly adjusting himself. When he first put it on for a practice, I heard a knock. I told Hayden to go get the door. He started laughing and told me that he was just knocking on his cup. He is pretty cute! We are not a baseball family. I went back and forth about him even playing baseball again. He plays soccer and likes it better. The problem was that most of his friends are on the baseball team, and he wanted to be with them. I hardly have to drive him, because our neighbor is an assistant coach and he drives them most of the time.

Olivia and Tucker at Chuck E Cheese. Tucker is Carter's best friend. He is the funniest little boy ever. I wish that him and Carter were my twins. He is so sweet. He always gives me hugs and snuggles with me.

Carter fell asleep in the car watching a movie.

This is a serious bad hair day!! Olivia can wake up with the worst hair ever. I don't know how she does it.

We met the Nelsons at Round Table for lunch one day. Olivia and Carter hung out with Milo.

Eric found a Florida sweatshirt at Kohls for $10. He bought it in honor of his cousin Ryan who is the hugest Gator fan ever!

Olivia loves skate night for school. She will wake up in the morning and tell me that it is the greatest day ever. I ask her why and she says--in only a way Olivia can, "Uh, skate night! Duh!" She is the cutest, tiniest little girl out on rollerblades. On St. Patrick's Day, we went to my friend's house for a green dinner. It was delicious! The Ribs weren't green, but pretty much everything else was. My kids ate quickly and ran downstairs to play. Not Hayden, though. He stood over the ribs eating and groaning about how good they were. He is hilarious. He just really loves food. I volunteered in his class and was correcting papers. One of the questions said to name something they cherished. All the kids said things like--my family, my mom and dad, my home, my sister, my dog, etc. Hayden's said, "I cherish FOOD!" That is so Hayden. We broke out the boxing gloves after dinner.

This Winter from my iphone

I have been really bad about taking pictures these past few months!! That is one of the reasons I haven't blogged in forever. Another reason is that there hasn't been anything too exciting going on. This post is made up of a selection of pictures that were taken with my phone--not the best quality. My cute friend and neighbor has 2 daughters that babysit Olivia sometimes and love her. They took her to a basketball game, and Olivia really wanted to dress for the occasion. Everything had to be pink!

On Olivia's friend Katie's birthday, we took the girls to get their nails done. Olivia thinks it is the coolest thing!

Sometimes I have to take Olivia to school when she misses the bus. It is usually my fault, because I am doing her hair. The boys tell me they aren't waiting anymore, and they leave without her.

The neighbor girls that love Olivia, gave her their old American Girl matching pajamas.

On Martin Luther King Day, the high school girls had a gymnastics camp that Olivia went to. She was a natural!!!! She has the perfect body for it.

We have seriously had the best winter ever! We had the smallest amount of snow before Christmas, it snowed once during Christmas, and then it hasn't really snowed since. It has been spring like weather for a few months. My kids have never played this much outside during the winter. This was early February, and they were out on the trampoline in shorts and tshirts. I probably would wear more clothes outside in February, but they are kids and crazy.

We spend more days than I care to admit at places like Chuck e Cheese and McDonalds. I put Olivia in 1/2 day Kindergarten, so we do a lot of playing in the afternoons. Hayden thinks it is so unfair, because he had all day kindergarten and didn't get to play so much.

I tend to take a lot of pictures of Carter--maybe because he is 3, and I don't want him to grow up! (A lot is relative. A lot compared to the other kids)

Sometimes we realize that we haven't seen Carter in a while. When we call out for him, he doesn't answer. Then we find him asleep in his bed. He also keeps the light on. No matter how many times I turn it off. He will wake up and turn it on again. No idea why.

This day he fell asleep in the car, so I put him in our bed when we got home. I came in later, and he was just about falling off the bed--completely asleep!

Carter likes to wear my Uggs. He also found Olivia's old Uggs and has taken them over. He wants to wear them all the time with whatever he is wearing.

The past few months we have spent a huge amount of time at Jackson and Hayden's basketball, indoor soccer and futsal games. Unfortunately I never took my camera to take pictures of them. I spent my time chasing Carter and Olivia and trying to keep them happy during the games. They spent a lot of time playing on my phone or on Jackson or Hayden's ipod touches. Carter took about 300 pictures of random things. He took the rest of the pictures in this post. It is just a sampling.......Life according to Carter....

Here I am sitting at a basketball game. Why not take pictures of my feet?

And Olivia.......

and mom and Olivia.......

and mom getting ready in the morning.....I have to be right next to her when she is doing her hair or makeup.

another lovely picture of mom......at a basketball game.......I say to her over and over, "say Cheese mommy!"

Doodle Bug on mom's phone is also good for passing the time during Jackson and Hayden's games. Olivia drew this picture.

Valentines

I'm pretty sure that sugar cookies are my very favorite dessert--and I love eating Valentine's cookies. I was in charge of bringing sugar cookies for Olivia's class party for the kids to decorate. I thought if I didn't make them, I wouldn't eat them. So I ordered cookies from the grocery store. Unfortunately, they were really good, and I ordered way more than Olivia's class needed. So I ate a few........

The kids decorated some of the left overs at home.

Can I just tell you that I'm pretty sure that my kids are the messiest kids on the planet!!!! When Olivia decorated her cookie at her class party, there was frosting everywhere. Way more than any other kid in the class. I am constantly amazed at how much of a mess they can make with anything. I think it is supposed to teach me patience and self control--and I am failing miserably.

In January I had a baby shower at my house for my friend Kristi.

Where's the Fire?

Carter's playgroup joined with another playgroup to tour the firestation last month--or maybe the month before--I can't even remember when it was. How pathetic! Carter loved it! All the other kids were so well behaved and quiet. Carter spent the entire time asking the firemen questions while they were talking. I'm very glad that they ignored him, most of the time. He kept on saying, "what's that for Mr. Fireman? What's that one for Mr. Fireman????"