Goo Goo Dolls

Earlier in the year, Ben and I decided that we would each choose a concert to go to this summer.  I mean, when you can get great deals on Groupon, why not?  On my birthday, Goo Goo Dolls were performing in Raleigh so I knew we had to go.  Ben used to LOVE Goo Goo Dolls and so it didn't take that much convincing to let me buy the tickets for him.  So we got a babysitter and spent the night watching Plain White T's, Daughtry, and Goo Goo Dolls.  

Now, I'll be honest, this is not a concert I would have ever chosen to go to by myself.  I'm not much of a rock person.  But I'm so glad we went because Ben had such a great time and -- get this -- this was his first ever concert.  Whaaaatt?!!  He sang along while I looked like a deer in headlights.  Ha!  I knew Iris so that's got to count for something, right?

The next morning we had our hearing back so I'd say it was a success!

Next month Ben will get his turn to stand awkwardly next to me as I'm rocking out to the One Republic concert.  

Summer Festivities

Summer is my favorite season because, to me, it's the season of playing.

We've been crossing more and more things off our summer bucket list but mostly we're just doing the typical play outside, water the plants, watch a movie, etc.  Here are some of the things we've been doing.

 My kids are obsessed with all things camouflaged.  They even have a game where they hide a few different colored items around a room so that they're camouflaged and then they have the other person find them.  So while I was watering outside the other day I came across this little bug that looked like a leaf.  It had the veins and everything.

 Remember that jello play dough fad that hit a few years ago?  One day we decided to give it a try.  We had a fantastic day of playing with play dough.  I made a rose and Lily and Skyler made Olafs.  We stuffed it in a ziplock to play with again another day when *wabam* it was covered in mold.  Two thumbs down for jello play dough.  

 Thad is my first to love baby swings!  He dies of laughter whenever he's in one.  I'm not sure what this baby doesn't like at this point...

He's mine.  :)

 Lily got a really cool water balloon maker thingy for her birthday and so I thought we'd do a chalk shape bean bag toss kind of a thing.  [Please note that I actually do know how to speak English.]

Well it turned out that we had some seriously tough water balloons because they were just bouncing away like balls.  It took serious effort.  

Grandmum and Pop Pop gave the kids a bubble gun for their birthday.  It has produced all sorts of fun and games.

 We discovered pretty quickly that the bubbles sit on the grass without popping for a while.  The kids loved running through it all.

And Ella has learned how to gently swing herself on the horsey swing!  Happy day!  I think she figured it out because she has recently become proficient on my parents' wooden rocking horse.  She's now obsessed.  I see an dangerous pattern here:

1. Rocking horse.  2.  Horsey swing.  3.  Horse.

Sorry Ella!  Happy birthday in a few days anyway!

Ben's 31st and America's 238th

I'm so grateful to have spent the last (almost) 8 years with Ben.  We, for sure, have had our ups and downs, but I'm so grateful for all the downs because they have made us a lot closer.  So on the 3rd we celebrated Ben's 31st birthday.  

Every birthday Ben has this for breakfast.  You put 24 frozen rolls into a bundt pan and put butter, brown sugar, nuts, and some butterscotch pudding on top.  Every year, we swear it gets bigger as it rises over night.  Ha!

And would it be a suitable day for Ben if bacon wasn't involved in two of the meals?  I think not.  Later for dinner Ben made his own dutch oven dinner.

For Independence Day we headed to the pool.  Lily is officially a swimmer now so that makes it a whole lot less stressful not to have 4 non-swimmers to constantly be watching.  We're so proud of all the work she has done to become an independent swimmer.  Her interest in swimming came in an unexpected way.  When life guards came up with a new rule that you couldn't catch your kids at the bottom of the water slide, Lily was devastated.  So we told her the only way she'd be allowed to go down again was if she learned to swim.  That day alone she made huge progress.  Add to that her swim lessons and it did the trick.  She can jump off a diving board into the deep end and swim to the side on her own.  We're so proud of her!

We went home for much needed naps and we had a delicious grilled dinner with my parents.  They brought some small fireworks and I was devastated to realize that my kids are still deathly afraid of fireworks.  Lucky for them, we had several neighbors in all directions of our neighborhood doing huge illegal fireworks.  It was a great show to watch.... once the kids were in bed.

Thaddeo and I on the plasma car.

I bought the kids pinwheels for the 4th, and Ella was just too precious not to make a video of.

Fashionable Ella

I posted this video because I realized I posted a million videos of Lily and Skyler as babies and I haven't done Ella and Thad justice.  Ella is one of the cutest runners I've ever seen (this movie doesn't do her justice).  She also has one of the cutest laughs ever (this movie doesn't do that justice either).

Also I wanted to post this one because I have always loved how Ella sings, "Okay Mom," instead of "Okay bye," at the end of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"

Ella has exactly 0% tomboy in her body.  She's all about shoes, nail polish, jewelry, bows, and walking on her tiptoes.  She loves wearing mine and Lily's shoes.  But mostly, she just wants to be in heels.  Once she's in my heels she looks around like she just realized she stepped in quicksand and thinks, "Well what the heck am I supposed to do now?"  It's bad for her, but every now and then it's nice to have her immobilized.  Maybe one day she'll remember this:

Ella's accessories are various.  Today Ella is styling two Hello Kitty shower puffs as bracelets.  I predict her creations will be shown during some city's fashion week in about 30 years.

Summer Beginnings

Summer is definitely in effect here.  Skyler and Lily were signed up for swim lessons from a Mia Maid in our ward.  Skyler took his while Lily was still in school and now it's Lily's turn.  They both have loved Jane!

On Skyler's last day it poured BUCKETS.  I mean, Ella and I were huddled under their big pool umbrella and we left completely soaked.  Skyler's towel was just as wet as him even though I was sitting on top of it trying to keep it dry.  And of course as we drive the 1/4 mile home the sun comes out and the clouds part.  It was probably my favorite day of lessons.  Got to love an adventure!  Ella and I were laughing our heads off with how wet we were getting.

After lessons, if Lily/Skyler tried their hardest and did what Jane asked, they get a treat at home.  

The first day of break was Lily's birthday party.  But the next day (Saturday) Ben had to go on a 10 mile hike with his scouts in preparation for their 50-miler next month.  So I had the kids to myself the whole day.  I have to admit, everything that could go wrong did go wrong.  I had to call poison control for the first time ever (whaaaat?!?!) when Ella decided to eat paint when we were making pictures for Father's Day.  Ella then proceeded to poop in the tub for the first time ever (whaaaat?!?!  How lucky am I that this was the first for both things?) when I was trying to wash it off -- while Lily was in the tub with her. I had to bathe them because they looked like this when we were done painting for Father's Day:

 Let's just say we had two naked girls running down the hall to my shower while I had to keep checking on Skyler who was in his tub at the time and Thad was crying in his crib.  Man.  

In my head went something like this:  "OH MY GOSH, THE WHOLE SUMMER IS GOING TO BE LIKE THIS!  WHEN DOES SCHOOL START AGAIN?!?!"

But then an important reminder came to my mind.  In a year, it's going to be like this -- PERMANENTLY.  My kids will be home schooled and I am going to have all four at home at the same time every single day.  I'm excited, but I'm scared.  Oh so scared.

(They say you're a true beginner homeschooler when you cry as you watch the bus drive by each morning)

So Monday morning I sat down with the kids and we made a summer bucket list.  It has saved me so far.  We have done something special every day and the kids have been happy and great for me.  No calls to poison control and no pooping in the tub has occurred either -- a great recipe for a happy mom.

It looks like it's going to be an awesome summer!

So Far, So Great!

It has been 7 years since I followed through with the best decision of my life.  Marrying Heather really has been the best thing that I have done.  Last night we were talking about how grateful we are for each other and how we are thankful for all the Lord has given us.

Our marriage has been far from perfect and we still need to grow and better ourselves in so many ways, but it feels great to know that we are working towards the same goals.  It also helps to know that Heather and I are both trying to be the very best we can be for each other.  I couldn't imagine being in a marriage where we hadn't given ourselves completely to each other.  That knowledge has help us get through the hard times and our challenges have helped us grow closer together and have given us the opportunity to really appreciate all that God has given us

So here are some of the special things that Heather and I have experienced. 

   - The love shack!  Our first home was awesome.  Yes, it was a hole in the wall and at the time it was all we could afford and had many problems, but we made great memories there. 

   - Our decision to start our family. 

   - Our Temple Marriage.

   - Being blessed with 4 amazing children who are a challenge at times, but sure are a lot of fun.

   - Being poor!  Having to use our faith and know that God would help us get through.

   - Road trips.  Whether it was to the mountains, beach, to see family, or even to Ikea we have always had fun.

   - Sitting in bed talking about absolutely nothing which makes us stay up way later than we should.

   - Being able to help friends and family who are in need.

   - Cutting our couch in half to get it in the shack...

   - Both of our home buying experiences.

   - Baby love.  Toddler love.  Kiddo love.  And everything that goes with it.

   - The Castle!

   - Being best friends.

   - My career path and watching the Lord bless us.

Thank you Heather for giving me the best 7 years of my life.  Thank you for being the wife and mother that you are.  Thank you for seeing past the everyday life and looking at the eternities with me.  God has blessed me in so many ways through you.  I couldn't imagine life without you now.  Thanks for taking an average man and with the help of the Lord making me into the person I am today.

Lily's Party

Lily doesn't actually turn 6 until the 24th, but we had to have her party on Friday the 13th to make sure that many of her friends could be there.  The 12th was the last day of school and so I figured people wouldn't be out of town yet on the 13th.  And we had 15 kids (I think) come, so Lily definitely had a successful day.

We agreed on a carnival theme since we already had a lot of stuff.  We made cotton candy and a few other carnival treats.  We made a few games for the kids like a bean bag toss and ring toss.  And we basically just let the kids go at it once they arrived.  It was fun and we didn't spend a lot of money so normally that means it's a success.  But when you don't spend a lot of money, it usually means that you spend a lot of time.  So it's a give and take situation.

I knew that the one thing I definitely wanted to do was to hire a face painter.  A couple of women in our ward do it professionally and so Yan came over to paint.  She did a great job!  And the kids loved it.  I secretly wanted to get my face painted... 

 Great job, Yan!

(Sorry about the blur)

A couple of Christmases ago my parents gave me an air brush set for cake decorating.  I took a cake decorating class a few years ago and I did so badly in it that I was determined to steer away from it.  But when Lily asked for cupcakes, I thought it was time to try out the air brush for the first time because how hard could it possibly be to air brush cupcakes?

After the party was over and I was completely pooped, Lily told me that this was the best day of her whole life.  That made the exhausting day totally worth it.