Random Finds

I have to start by saying that I am so thankful for our neighbors, The Elliott's. They make living on our street totally worth it! (Life on our street has changed since most of the homes are either rentals or foreclosures). Brock and Jackson love playing with Blake and Nick. Blake is 11 and is so good to my kids, he is always watching out for them and teaching them fun stuff on their bikes and scooters. The other day they were down at the park and came upon this shopping cart. Jackson instantly jumped in and was ready to go off roading. I had to run home and get my camera. Guess you had to be there.

First Haircut

I finally gave in and cut Porter's hair. I got sick of him having bedhead all of the time. It is funny because I thought he was getting his own look, but now that I cut his hair he totally looks like Brock did at his age. What do you think?
K. Now that I have the pictures up they don't look identical, but their baby pictures definitely do.

Kid's Say the Darndest Things

The other night I was putting the boys to bed and Brock said his prayers, then I turned to Jackson and asked, "Are you ready to say your prayers?" He says, "No, thank you." I say, "You don't want to say prayers?" He says, "No, thank you." "Jackson, you don't want to talk to Heavenly Father?" Jack says, "Oh, I would love to!" and then proceeds to say his prayers. It is funny how they change their minds when you change how you say something!

Bad Mom Day!

Okay, today was a really bad Mom day. I have a very challenging middle child. He wants what he wants and he won't take no for an answer. He gets me to the point where I just want to wring his neck. His nickname is Stinker. He even laughs if I spank him. I love being a Mom. Most days are pretty good, but there are those days, like today, when I think I am a complete failure as a mother. I just want to lock myself in my room and cry. It probably doesn't help that Ryan has been gone a lot with his new job. He is working so hard. I am so proud of him. At least we have cell phones right? So I can call and complain. Okay, so I am going to end my pity party and go put my kids to bed!

The Fiery Darts!

I have to say that I have struggled getting my boys to pay attention during family home evening. Their attention span is not so good. We have been reading about Captain Moroni and putting on our spiritual armor. So we talked about what each part of the armor meant, then they each got to dress up in their armor to fight off the fiery darts (marshmallows). It was the best FHE we have ever had. It was a blast and I think they actually learned something.

After they broke my spatula, all utensils were fair game. Ryan had a lot of fun throwing the fiery darts and the kids enjoyed eating them.

Best Buds!

I hope that my boys are always great friends. All though at times they fight and wrestle, they are best friends. Brock did not want to go to school the other day and when asked why, he replied, "I want to stay home and play with Jackson". Jackson probably asks me ten times a day if it is time to go get Brock from school. I love it!

Brock was upset about something and Jack just went over and put his arm around him. It was so cute.

Christmas Time!

I absolutely love Christmas, the smell, the feeling, the look, the sound - everything! I think it started with our Christmas' at Granny's house. Every year we would get up early and open our presents and then go to Granny's for breakfast with all the of the cousins, and there were a lot of us. I always loved getting together with everyone, so our Christmas' have always been big. So, when I married into a family with two children and no close (by proximity) extended family it was a big change. I still enjoyed it, but always felt like something was missing. That all changed this Christmas. Ryan's Aunt Carla and six of her nine children and their families joined us in Thatcher for Christmas. It was so much fun. Aunt Carla had the cuttest scrapbook projects for us to do, the boys golfed, played basketball, and ultimate ping-pong, we did a huge gift exchange and we ate a lot. I have to give huge thanks to Dawn and Joan for hosting and preparing all the meals. It was great! We even got a visit from Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. We are so thankful for our family! We love you guys. I am sorry to say I don't have many pictures. I am a slacker when it comes to taking pictures at big gatherings, it is always an afterthought.

We also attempted a family picture, which did not go well. No one wanted to cooperate, especially Jackson. So you get to see the back of his head. I did get a cute one of Brock and Jackson and one of Ryan and Poe.

My little red nosed reindeer!

Jackson is usually so shy in public, so I was completely shocked when he got on the stage at our Ward Christmas Party and sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. He did such a good job and was very proud. I couldn't find Brock during the performance, but was able to snatch a shot of him and his buddy Kaden afterward, so cute!

Pin em'!

Brock has been doing wrestling for the last month. They had a little tournament at the end. He did pretty good. He won his first match. Then in his second match he just layed down and let the kid pin him. Ryan was none to happy, but he was really good with Brock. He pulled him aside and gave him a pep talk. The next match Brock had to wrestle the best kid in his class. He did so awesome! He was trying so hard. He lost by one, but we were so proud!

Look Mom, no training wheels!

Brock was so proud. This is his first ride out with no training wheels. I have to say I was very hesitant to take them off because he leans really bad. He wrecked a few times, but he finally got it and just kept going. Now I wish I had taken them off sooner.