Hobbs Family

WHAT'S A BLOG?

2010-02-07T23:24:00.003-07:00

I finally updated my blog. I don't even have a good excuse. But I decided the other day, I just might want a blog book since I have become awful at scrapbooking. So, if you have a day, there are quite a few posts. But don't worry, if you only look at the first post, I understand, there's a lot there and a bit of a bore. And I only updated through August! :)

AUGUST B-DAYS

2010-02-07T23:19:00.003-07:00

No surprise, a Lighting McQueen race track for Parker's birthday. He loved his b-day. He thinks every birthday is now his birthday. Livvy had a fun summer outdoor party with a tie-dye cake, water fun, and tie-dye shirts.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

2010-02-07T23:16:00.004-07:00

Kayla started the day before Livvy. Kayla is now a big 4th grader and Livvy is an August birthday, so she is one of the oldest kids in the kindergartner class. The bus comes at 7:23 so they are up and at it early. Miss Livvy has always needed more sleep so this has been a struggle. I think we have only missed the bus twice, but I pretty much dress her in her sleep.

BEST FRIENDS

2010-02-07T23:12:00.004-07:00

This is Livvy's first little best friend, Jacey. We spent a weekend with them at Bear Lake before they packed up and moved across the country. Livvy was so sad to see her leave. It was so sad to watch. One Sunday after she left, Livvy came in crying that she didn't want to go to church. She missed Jacey. We sat down and said a little prayer to help her and to help Jacey find new friends. Luckily school started and she has stayed so busy. But just the other afternoon we were going to watch a barbie movie and Livvy said, "I miss Jacey." I was thinking the same thing. Barbie movies were their favorite. They were such a great little pair together.

SWEET KIDS

2010-02-07T23:10:00.003-07:00

Aren't they wonderful? This isn't actually Paxton's blessing day, I think it was a month or so afterward. We didn't get any great pics that day with all the chaos of 50 or so people in our house. So we had to get him back in his outfit later.

SWIMMING IN THE CANAL...EWWW!

2010-02-07T23:06:00.003-07:00

When Kayla and her cousins wanted to swim in the canal by Grandma's house I thought, no way, of course not, that's disgusting and not safe. Then after the cousins got in I gave in. After all, I spent my summers with my big brother in this canal. It's a good thing childhood wasn't that long ago. Sometimes I have to go back and remember what I was like and what I was doing at her age.

VROOM, VROOM, VROOM

2010-02-07T22:58:00.002-07:00

Parker still loves his cars. He is my early to rise kid, often 6 AM. In the summer, we would hear the back door open, and he would be outside in the dirt behind our yard playing with his cars. Every week was like Christmas. We would uncover a car that he had lost several weeks before in the dirt. Well, as you can see in the pictures below, one day he decided to bring the dirt in. He had big cups that he brought it in with. He spread it out on his bed, his window sill, and his floor. The next week he got bread out of the pantry, broke it all up, and then drove his cars around in it. I know, you are probably thinking where is his mother when he makes these messes? I use to think the same thing of other mothers. All I can say now is 4 kids. But, at least I got there in time to get the camera out.

WHERE DID 10 YEARS GO??

2010-02-07T22:42:00.005-07:00

Jared and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary this year. We went camping, I know, almost as good as an exotic vacation. But we did leave our little 4 month old baby home with Grandma and planned on leaving for a few days. We went up to Lava area. On our first day of camping we floated the river. We sat and watched people for awhile and it seemed like people were barely getting wet. So...don't let a 100 lbs of weight difference go down first on a double tube on a big rapid. I of course, popped out. The river was less than a foot deep in that spot, and I got dragged across the rocks. Jared spun around to try to help me and he really twisted his neck. He got hurt much worse than I, I only had the evidence of being hurt. I was scraped and bloody from my shoulders to my toes. And to top it off, I was wearing my favorite, most comfortable (notice I didn't say cute here), no longer made Smith sunglasses. I am still sad about this as I write about it. And of course Jared enjoyed the show of watching me angrily look through the water saying my favorite cuss phrase (which he says doesn't make sense) and glaring at every person that I saw afterward because I knew they swiped my sunglasses out of the water. So anyway, that night we went back to our trailer, didn't have any desire to make dinner, Jared thought we better have a fire and a marshmallow because that is what you should do, we both took some Tylenol, and then on the night of our 10 years, we went to bed (and to sleep) very early.

Bring on another 10 years!! I can't wait to spend it with him. As those who know us 10 years ago, you know we were a very unmatchable pair. Everyone we ran into would tell Jared how lucky he was. He was a wild child. But somehow 10 years later, I am the lucky one. I don't think anyone else could put up with me. I'm demanding, I'm a slave driver, I always have some great plan on some new tedious project. And he puts up with me. All the time. He cans peaches with me at 1 AM, he makes me laugh, he tries so hard to be good enough, as he would say, for me and the kids. He is wonderful. I'm by far, the lucky one.

ROUND BRUSHES+LONG HAIR=ONE BIG MESS

2010-02-07T22:35:00.005-07:00

Any other mom experienced this? I called Jared and told him I was about to cut out of a chunk of hair, but after his smartness told me to put her in the bath and lather her up with conditioner, we were able to get the brush out.

HERE'S WHAT T-BALL IS ALL ABOUT

2010-02-07T22:31:00.003-07:00

Here's some adorable summer t-ball. This is Livvy's first year. It included drawing in the sand, all the kids racing for the ball, running the wrong way, but actually, Livvy has a little bit of a competitive bone in her. She did pretty good. This was her last game. At first base she had told her coach she needed to go. By the time she was running to third she was running with wet pants and straight legs right into the dug out. Ahhh...t-ball. So cute, even if she peed her pants!

What happened to T-Ball??

2010-02-07T22:23:00.002-07:00

In the spring I signed Kayla up for baseball just like I normally do. In April we received a phone call letting me know when practice was. For all of you who think competitive sports are extremely important, what the heck are you thinking? What competitive sports meant for me was, practice or a game every single week day. I wasn't ready for this. In fact, 2-3 hours of practice, a coach that yelled at the kids, and not to mention her team didn't win one game and she was the littlest, petitest (I think I might have made that word up there) thing in the outfield.

BABY BOY

2010-02-07T22:13:00.004-07:00

Paxton update: He has been such a sweetie. He has the biggest eyes and biggest smiles. He also has cried more than any of my other babies. At 10 months old he doesn't sleep through the night, this is a first for me. He has 8 teeth. He is a mover and a crawler. He has mastered getting to the top of the stairs, which I had no clue he could even climb one stair. He is not cuddly. He loves to look around constantly. He doesn't want to lay right next to me. He wants to be bouncing and seeing what everyone else is doing. I've included a few older pics (I actually have this folder that I have had for a long, long time that says blog). After I get updated I'll put some newer pics up of him. When he wants me to pick him up he crawls over to me and bangs his head into my legs. He is adorable. And he is so lucky to have a big brother, it's been fun to have two little boys. Well, I hope he is so lucky, Parker still isn't quite so sure about him. According to Parker, I am only his mommy, not Paxton's.

HAVE YOU EVER...

2010-02-07T22:08:00.003-07:00

Have you ever held a hummingbird in your hand? I actually haven't. But my kids have. My good friend called one day and said, "you have to take Kayla to this, she would love it." So we took a little drive out to the mountains by American Falls where a hummingbird study opened up to the public for a few days. They catch the hummingbirds and do their tests on them. The hummingbirds are basically in a little shock and then they wake up on the kids hands and fly away.

CLOG AWAY!

2010-02-07T22:05:00.002-07:00

Kayla has been clogging now for the past two years. I couldn't decide whether she actually liked it or if she was just doing it because I was a clogger and she was just appeasing me. So this year we took a break from it. But this was a fun competition at Lagoon. Except none of us wanted to leave the rides and actually get on stage when it was her turn.

MY LITTLE ANIMAL LOVER

2010-02-07T22:00:00.003-07:00

Kayla entered into a little dog show at our local pet store this spring. But there were many more entries than I had expected. She was so cute and shy. She walked in front of the judging panel as fast as she could. She had to come back and do it again. They got 4th place, which of course I would say this, she should have gotten first. The other dogs were dressed up in these silly costumes. But Kayla and her puppy were adorable without any costumes.

Three weeks already!

2009-04-22T22:27:00.004-06:00

Once again I have slacked again on updating my blog. Our little Paxton will be three weeks tomorrow. Time goes by too fast. So I have put some pictures down below and here is a little update of how we are doing.

- The first week he was pretty much awake from midnight until morning. Now he is waking up about twice a night and last night he only woke up once - at 4 AM!!!
- I have never had a kid that needs a complete change of clothes as often as he does. He wets through everything several times a day. I have tried different diapers and it doesn't help. It's quite the task to keep enough onsies clean for this little guy.
- If only babies came at exactly perfect timing - tax season is not perfect timing. During the week following his birth, I had to work in Idaho Falls three times to finish up my tax clients plus try to keep up on my bookkeeping job from home. I know, I'm really whining here. But luckily I was able to just bring him to work with me.
- At his 5 day check up he weighed 5 lbs 10 oz. and at his two week check up he was 6 lbs. 10 ounces. What a growing kid, he has already gained a pound!
- Parker has done better than I thought he would. He likes to open Paxton's eyes for him. He kicked him in the head when we had been home from the hospital all of about 10 minutes (but that was accidental). But other than that - oh ya, and pushing Paxton's car seat off the bed (he was buckled safely in, luckily) - he's done pretty good. On the second day that we were home, Parker put his head under my blanket, said "I'm hungry" and made a monstrous silly fake bite towards me. Then a few days later the meltdowns started and at one point he threw himself on the ground and just cried. I picked him up and was hugging him, he pulled at the neck of my shirt, and started licking my neck area. I started to laugh, which made him furious so he pinched me. Poor little guy, he's having to adjust to someone embarking on his territory.
- The girls adore him. Livvy loves to sit and hold him, but it doesn't take long before her arm is feeling too tingly. However, the warm weather has definitely made Paxton less appealing.
- Okay, I have to brag about Jared for a second. He is SO, SO helpful. He has always been great at helping around the house when he is home, but he has gone out of his way to do whatever he can to let me get a little more rest and help keep the house tidy. Thanks sweetie.
- It's so great to have a baby in our house again. We are thinking this might be the last so I wish I could slow it down a bit. I love the smell of a freshly bathed baby that has been all lotioned up, and the newborn baby cry, and the cute little smiles while they are sleeping. I have mixed feelings as we are making this decision to be done having children. I'm a bit excited to get on with the next phase of raising kids, but I sure will miss this.

First bath

2009-04-22T22:07:00.003-06:00

Easter Weekend

2009-04-22T21:40:00.005-06:00

Easter weekend started out with painting eggs on Friday night. I worked this day and on my drive home from work I was having to tell myself to go home, put a smile on my face, and paint Easter eggs. I was exhausted, I hadn't finished everyone's tax return which meant I would have to go back on Monday, and a bit on the grumpy side. Then Saturday morning we had our egg hunt, Jared took the kids to the "big" national rodeo, and I had some time to sit around with Paxton. Sunday we were able to go to church with Grandpa and Grandma Hoy and then head over to Gramsie's for Easter dinner and another egg hunt. The picture in the old truck is Parker with his accomplice in crime, Gavin (a.k.a cousin so close in age that they are completely naughty together) and Gavin's big brother Brogan.

Time to leave this place!

2009-04-22T21:16:00.004-06:00

The doctor came in about 8:30 in the morning the next day and asked when I wanted to go home. I told him now. And to my surprise he said okay. I hate being at the hospital. They are constantly checking on you so sleep is almost impossible. And I don't know what to do with myself in that little tiny room.

Paxton Lund Hobbs

2009-04-02T17:38:00.003-06:00

Here are a couple of pics of the newest member of the Hobbs family. We came in this morning to see if the docs could turn him so he was facing head first instead of butt first. That took only a few minutes, looked really painful for mom but that's coming from a dad that is a wussy. Once they got him rolled over they started the procedure so he would not try and turn back over. At noon they started the PIT and at one they broke her water. Paxton Lund Hobbs was born at 4:25 weighing in at 5.14, and a whole 19 inches long.

Dress Ups!

2009-03-30T08:32:00.002-06:00

So maybe it is time we purchased some new dress ups. Parker's
favorite dress up is Tinkerbell. He screams for his Tinkerbell, wings and all. Today he
at least added some testosterone to his outfit by adding the
tiger face. Poor little confused boy, that 's what happens when you
have only big sisters.

Ice Cream Temples

2009-03-25T10:02:00.005-06:00

For FHE, we had a lesson on temples and then made a temple sculpture out of ice cream. The kids made Angel Moroni out of a butterscotch chip. And then towards the end our temple looked more like a muddy mess. Also, here our some pictures of my big belly! I think I have doubled in size the last couple of weeks. Is there anybody out there who feels at all cute the last few weeks of pregnancy? And Jared's new nickname for me lately is Prego. So when he gets home in the evening and walks through the door he says, "Hey Prego." Umm, yep, that doesn't help me feel any more attractive.

The Big 28!

2009-03-25T09:50:00.003-06:00

Okay, I didn't think I had anything to blog about lately, but I was looking through the camera and found pictures of my b-day last month. I had to work this day (Livvy's clothes were not in my control) so Jared and the girls made lasagna and decorated the house and cake. I love Swedish Fish and licorice, but I'm not sure if I love them on top of chocolate frosting! :)

Sunday Morning

2009-02-15T20:24:00.004-07:00

Is there anything good about 11:00 church??
I hate 11:00 church. It's right in the middle of
my day. But we sleep in, we eat a good breakfast,
and I can give a feeble attempt at doing cute
hair-dos. Alivia's hair took me FOREVER. One of
my linked blogs has so many cute little hair-dos.
And she makes it seem so easy. This took me
several tries, a second pair of hands (thanks, Hon),
and a patient kid. And it doesn't look near as good
as the picture I was looking at.

Who needs bibs, aprons, and napkins!

2009-02-11T07:37:00.003-07:00

Can anybody identify this?? Yep, it's my couch with some gross looking spot on it. It's not the right consistency for something that came out of a nose. Any guesses? Actually, it's yogurt after breakfast. I must have missed a spot on Parker somewhere. But don't you love dirty little fingers. I see them being wiped underneath the table (when a napkin is right next to their plate), being wiped on their own jeans, but better yet, sometimes I feel a little kid walk by and run their fingers across me. And of course, it's not a touch of "I love you, Mommy." It's more like, this looks like a GREAT place to wipe my boogery face and fingers.

Happy Birthday,Kayla!!

2009-01-25T20:07:00.004-07:00

Kayla is on the verge of becoming an old lady,
according to her. She turned 9!!! For her b-day,
she invited a few friends rollerskating. Wow!
Why do I go to the work of throwing birthday
parties. This was so easy. No games to make,
no treat bags, no decorations. We ordered pizza
and had cupcakes. And of course, in the morning,
her usual b-day breakfast, pancakes with candles.

It's About Time for a New Post!!!

2009-01-25T19:54:00.003-07:00

New Slippers! Gramsie (Jared's mom) made new slippers for everyone in the family for Christmas. That would be 27 pairs (I think) with Jared's siblings' families, plus she probably did more for Dale's children too. My kids have loved them. They are perfect for sliding on the hardwood. Look at the bottoms of Parker's, they're so cute.

Terrible Twos, Terrfic Threes, ....Fours,....Fives

2009-01-01T13:43:00.008-07:00

What word describes the fours and fives? For Alivia, terrible twos, were non existent. I had the perfect child. Then something happened almost over night at about 4 years old. I have been trying to think of negative words that start with f. Frightening fours, freakin' fives, which is a word I have had to cut out of my vocabulary since growing up a little from high school and becoming a mom. Even though, I'm sure Jared would tell you, once in a while he hears something mumbled out of my mouth that sounds something like, "freakin retard." So coming up with words that begin with F to describe Alivia's stage right now isn't easy and probably shouldn't be contemplated too much. But she is near impossible. She won't do anything. She can't get herself dressed in time for preschool. One morning she finally made it dressed right as it was time to go. Her hair had been in little braids the day before and was a mess everywhere. I said, "Oh darn, it looks like you are going to have to go to school with your hair like that." She cried almost the whole way there about how embarassing this was. Then when she got home, she said, "the boys liked my hair today" and fluttered her eyes in that cute but devilish way that she does. She lies constantly. Kayla still wouldn't dare to lie, Kayla had her own issues when she was five, but lying was never one of them. :) The other day I went into her room and found clothes underneath her bed (this isn't the first time), and I said, Livvy there are clothes underneath your bed. Would you like to take care of that or would you like me to?" So of course she wanted to and ran quickly up the stairs. And about two seconds later she came back down, smiling big, and said, "It's all done. I was so fast." There was no way that huge pile of clothes was taken care of. I went and looked, and she had just pushed them under her bed even more. She must think she has the stupidest mom in the world. :) But everyday is filled with tantrums, lying, and not being able to get anything accomplished. And these two stories are stories that kind of make me laugh. They are not the ones that make me go sit in my room for a few minutes so I can think about how I should handle her at that moment. I feel like we have been quite consistent in consequences with her, but I see improvement only on a very short temporary basis. So when Jim Fay says things like, "A child worth keeping is one who tries us again and again," - or something like that in meaning - I want to say, freakin Jim Fay retard, freakin Love and Logic. :) Sorry, Mom, I know you would say I am not speaking like a lady right now. :) But, Kayla is living proof that phases come and go. And I am attending another Love and Logic course next month, so maybe that will give me enough optimism and reminding of what I lovingly need to do to get through this phase. And maybe it is just a sign to me that I need to get down on my knees a little more often and ask for help. :) It's amazing that despite it all, I find her spunkiness endearing and cute.

Christmas Time

2008-12-26T13:14:00.008-07:00

The kids were pretty generous with sleeping in once again this Christmas. I thought for sure this would be the year Kayla would wake us up at 5:00. But instead we heard them giggling in their rooms around 6:30. Here they are coming down the hall.
Kayla just heard the sound of a little dog whining in a box. This was the best and most exciting gift of the morning. So those of you who are wondering, do we now have two dogs. Nope, we ended up getting rid of poor T-Bone. He is almost 2. You could say he is potty trained, except for when a neighborhood female dog goes in heat. And then we would find signs of his markings around the house, even on people that smell funny (Seth). So Jared gave him to a lady at work. Getting a dog to begin with may not have been one of our best decisions. Because getting rid of him was one of the hardest things we have ever done. I have never ever seen Jared cry. But this may have been about as close as it gets. We went to bed every night feeling remorseful about breaking Kayla's heart. So much that we dared try this again. She is a girl (which we have heard will be much easier to potty train and will not mark her territory), and she is adorable. The girls named her Cassie. We have had her two days now, and she is doing rather good at potty training. Kayla has barely let her down.

Parker basically opened up cars and cars and cars. The girls went to the DI and were amazed at how many little box cars they could purchase for $2. Grandma Hoy dropped presents off a few days before Christmas. One of the boxes had a car that you shake and it makes sounds. So it was on, and it was roaring. Parker couldn't wait for Christmas to open that one. All he could say was, "Oh My, Oh My." That is one of my favorite phrases of his. Even when we got Ramon (from the movie Cars) out of the box, Parker sat with the box in his hands looking at the pictures saying, "Oh My."

Kayla performed "Up on the Housetop" - performing even for her family is quite embarrassing - while Livvy wouldn't stop prancing around, though we tried to ignore her. :) Livvy spent the day in her TinkerBell PJs playing with her new Island Princess, a fairy from TinkerBell, and Mariposa. Shopping for her is as easy as shopping for Parker, cars for Parker and Barbies for Alivia.

Alivia Lost Her First Tooth

2008-12-26T13:12:00.005-07:00

A few weeks ago, Livvy came running up the stairs screaming and crying. Her mouth was bleeding (her tooth was very loose - which she had been waiting excitedly for this day until it actually happened). Jared was at work (he is usually the tooth puller around our house) so I pulled my first tooth. It came right out. BUT...I pulled it out with a tissue over the bathroom sink and that was the last we saw of the first tooth. How sad. Jared even tore the sink apart when he got home hoping it was still in there. And to top it off, the Tooth Fairy kept missing our house for about a week. But then one morning we were making the bed, and we found it underneath the bed. She's not sure how long it had been under there - so maybe the Tooth Fairy didn't really forget. What a sneaky Tooth Fairy. I should be relieved of all tooth related duties. It is a good thing that this pregnancy is our 4th and final child. By the time he is 5 we probably will forget to even mention that a Tooth Fairy exists. At least I remembered to get pictures.

Thanksgiving Dinner

2008-12-07T14:57:00.004-07:00

We spent Thanksgiving weekend at my sister Kim's house in Kaysville. The weather was beautiful, and the dinner was wonderful.

I think Parker found the jello scoop on his plate.

My cheerleader nieces practiced cheerleading with Parker and Livvy. Which of course, Livvy loved the attention and doing something that made her feel big and girlie! While Kayla spent the day outside playing by the creek and looking for anything that moves. She came back in with a hole in her pants and grass stains all over. My two opposite girls. :)

Friday night we went and watched the movie at Temple Square and looked at the lights. Never before have we enjoyed such great weather while looking at the lights. It was beautiful.

Car Thrashing

2008-12-02T16:50:00.009-07:00

Some sort of family tradition?? The boys in my family try to get an old beater and beat it up even more. This little Nissan had quite the day, the day after Thanksgiving. It was jumped (until smoking) bashed in, and driven through every mud puddle within shot. Then it needed a few bullet holes and some extra "smooshing," monster truck style, by the Jeep just to make sure it was dead. Oh - Justin, your little Dodge Aeries started this tradition, you know. Umm...rednecks??

Twilight Party

2008-12-02T16:26:00.006-07:00

So, I read the Twilight series. I had no intention, but my friend brought it over, and I finally took it on a camping trip. I don't know if I would say that I loved the book, but it was fun. I felt like I was 16 again. I read all 4 books in 4 1/2 days. Yes, I had the "addicted to Twilight symptoms" (messy house, bloodshot eyes, deprived children, and Jared was cussing someone named Edward). So my friend Teresa and I decided to throw a Twilight party on Friday, the 21st. It turned into about 50 people - luckily her mom has a huge room. We were able to go to a decorating store and pick out whatever we wanted to use. It was so much fun, I'm sure it is a taste of what it will be like when I get the chance to decorate for a wedding reception.

Some of our wonderful husbands served us a seven course Italian meal. We then went to the movie (major let down) and came back to a bloody red chocolate fountain and games. And then I was LUCKY enough to have almost all of Jared's family here at my house for the weekend for an early holiday celebration. :) 13 adults and 13 kids - 9 of those 13 under 5! By Sunday afternoon, Jared and I had the house back to acceptable :) and we did nothing else. It was a lot of fun, but I think I heard Seth volunteer to do the big family get together at his house next year. And I'm sure that 9 will be doubled to 18 by then - Jared's family is crazy:).

Halloween

2008-11-24T21:05:00.005-07:00

So here are our October pictures. Finally!! It seems kind of pointless now. Parker was a turkey; he doesn't really need a costume to pull that one off. Alivia was a peacock, her choice-who knows. And Kayla was a dog. The kids went to the trunk or treat at the church one night, the girls had parties at school, and trick or treating on Halloween. Alivia has become the most vain child in the whole wide world (I'm using her terms there at the end). The night of the Trunk or Treat I had put her hair in curlers. She stared at herself in the mirror, and said, "I am going to be the prettiest in the whole wide world tonight." The other day, she said, "Did you know that some people think I am the nicest girl in the whole wide world?" So please, she needs no more compliments.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-24T20:54:00.003-07:00

This was such a fun night. We invited some families from the neighborhood over for taco soup and cinnamon rolls. Then we went to the pumpkin patch. The kids had so much fun in the corn maze. They all loved to feed the horse. Parker liked the pigs, but the only thing he would say was "ooohh." That is one of his favorite words; he says it when I change his diaper, when he gives someone a kiss and their nose is a little wet, when we carved the pumpkins, etc. But then the pig snorted at him, and he took off running.

NAMES???

2008-11-11T17:23:00.003-07:00

Typically, we have a name from the get go, and it always sticks. Not the case this time. So feel free to submit names. Guidelines: not too outlandish, cannot be interchanged for a girl's name, and we are not particular fond of the names used a few decades ago (Steve, Dave, Mike, etc.) Not that there is anything wrong with those names, just not what we are looking for. :) But I do like Lucas, and I guess that name kind of fits in that era of names. Alivia suggested Mosum, like Awesome Mosum. :)

Our BABY BOY!!!

2008-11-11T17:12:00.002-07:00

Kayla was looking at our blog the other day and was wondering why the baby was holding his peanut (that little baby button on the side- I agree, it's kind of ugly). So Jared told her that was the umbilical cord, and it is not called a peanut. And we do not know yet if it is a boy or a girl. Well, today we found out. Our baby has a peanut!!! Jared and I both were counting on it being a girl and trying to not wish for a boy. We were both so surprised today. And it wasn't one of those, looks like it's probably a boy, ultrasound. He was not at all curled up, and we had plenty of looks to prove he was a boy. So now Parker will have a little brother to get into trouble with and someone to share a room with.

Oh, by the way, we bought a new camera and the pictures on it our huge. Every time I try to upload them, blogger ends up freezing up after 30 minutes. I need Jared to look at it for me (I have no patience for trying to figure out this kind of stuff for myself). But if you have had that problem and know of an easy solution let me know. So Halloween, etc. pictures are yet to come. Maybe late, but hey, what can I say. Sometimes that's the way things go. :)

Oops!

2008-10-28T21:16:00.001-06:00

Oops, I did something to my blog. Any advice? Hopefully, Jared can get it fixed for me.

Family Pictures 2008

2008-10-26T15:49:00.004-06:00

Here are our family pictures for 2008. Thank you to our friends, the Bundersons, for coming out with us and swapping picture taking of both our families. It was a tiring, grueling day. But it was worth it.

Shots all around!

2008-10-23T21:05:00.005-06:00

Flu shots for everyone. The girls said they weren't going to cry so we took the camera to prove it. Jared cheated by getting his done before the rest of us got there. I think he should have had to get it done again so we can have a "family photo moment" of us all getting flu shots.

Alivia, always so brave. Kayla has always been our kid who fears the doctors more than needed. As a little kid, it took more than the doctor, me, and the nurse just to check her ears. So when it was her turn we had to force her to sit down. But then she didn't even know it was over. Parker squirmed a little. But not one tear was shed!!!

Who Looks at our Blog?

2008-10-10T15:51:00.002-06:00

I think we will find out within the next couple of days, who looks at our blog. So did anybody notice the new gadget on the side. Yep, it's true. And we are announcing a bit earlier than last time, we're only 15 weeks! Last time I think we waited long enough for some of my neighbors to start talking. More like snickering behind my back, "Have you noticed Erin has put on a few pounds." :) :) And with every pregnancy, I feel like that flabby -not pregnant - looking tummy comes a little faster. We have had too many times of actually, it's not happening this time. So I prefer to wait to tell until it is official! I have pretty easy pregnancies with not a whole lot of sickness. But this time, I REALLY didn't feel pregnant. Not at all. So at my 12 week checkup they couldn't hear a heart beat. I'm sure the nurse thought I was crazy when I said, "I'm not surprised." I've been very pessimistic. So I went back in at 14 weeks. They found a heartbeat, but it took awhile. :) I'm feeling like it is a girl. Who knows, maybe we will be surprised. After Parker I was really hoping for a little boy next. Someone to be his little buddy. Plus, we have two girls so we need two boys. That makes the room sharing thing a whole lot easier. But we'll be happy with whatever we get. The new little headbands and flowers that baby girls are wearing are sooo cute.

Harvest Time

2008-10-05T14:47:00.005-06:00

One day in August I decided pictures in the grain would be fun. So about three days later, we got up and went to the grain field. We drove by probably 10 fields that were freshly cut. I was about to give up and then we found one small patch still left untouched. I always have perfect timing. :) The sun was so bright that day that I had troubles getting the kids to look at me. But the pictures turned out cute anyway. A golden grain field and a perfectly blue Idaho sky has to be one of my favorite sights.

My Favorite Time of the Year

2008-09-18T15:02:00.002-06:00

Fall is my absolute favorite time for many reasons. One reason, a hot bowl of soup. I love potato soup and here is my new favorite recipe:

Black Angus Baked Potato Soup Recipe

4 large baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup flour
6 cups milk
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
4 green onions -- chopped and divided
12 slices bacon -- cooked and crumbled
1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese -- shredded and divided
8 ounces sour cream

Wash, dry and prick potatoes with fork. Bake in 400°F oven for 1 hour or until done. Let cool. Cut into half lengthwise and scoop out pulp; set aside. Use skins for something else, such as stuffed potato skins. Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Add potato pulp, salt, pepper, 2 Tbs. green onion, half the bacon and 1 cup cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated. Stir in sour cream. Add extra milk if necessary for desired consistency. Serve with remaining green onions, bacon and cheese.

Enjoy, don't skimp on the green onions and bacon.

First Day of School

2008-09-16T20:14:00.004-06:00

I know, these are several weeks old, but here they are. Alivia was so excited for her first day of preschool. She had been asking for weeks, how many more days? She was lucky enough to have her good friend Jacey go to the same preschool. However, the first day of school was a little sad; they didn't get to sit by each other. :)

Kayla is now a 3rd grader. WOW! Alivia came running out of bed to give a hug, right as Kayla was about to walk out the door.

Kayla wanted to ride the bus on the first day of school along with her friend Jayden. The bus comes at 7:15. Too early, but it is a nice change from our unscheduled, no hurry summer. Through first grade and half of second grade, we could not get her up, and she missed the bus constantly. Finally, she got her own alarm clock, and it actually worked. She gets herself up, dressed, and if I am being slow, she'll even get her own breakfast. However, on the occasion that we forget to turn on the alarm, I wake her up and she reverts back to dragging herself out of bed for an hour.

Alivia's Fairy Birthday Party

2008-09-12T14:54:00.002-06:00

Little fairies far and near, gather together for games and fun,
we'll sing fairy songs, we'll play fairy tag, we'll dance and run
We'll celebrate the turning 5, of one cute fairy,
our sweet Alivia, bright and merry. (her invitation)

Alivia had a great birthday party. We invited over a few of the neighborhood girls and had a girlie girl party for our girlie girl. We made tutus and wings for each girl (thanks for your help, Mom). The girls had fun making their own wands. I think they all had so much fun - well, except we lost one for a while - she got upset and went and hid, and she was quite the hider. It took us about twenty mintues to find her! :)
The birthday cake - a big thanks to my friend Teresa for helping me make yummy fondant - much better than that ucky stuff from the store!

Parker's Two!!

2008-08-21T22:25:00.006-06:00

Who knew two years could go by so fast. Parker has been everything we ever dreamed a little boy would be. He's the terror of the house, the thrower of the food, and the smile that brightens Dad's, Mom's and his two sisters' day. Happy Birthday, Parker!

Some of Parker's favorite things: Daddy, trucks, the movie Cars, trains, cars, anything that says vroom, anything that he can make say vroom (including Alivia's princess dolls and food at the table), throwing balls, tickles, cookies, sisters, T-Bone, telling -more like yelling - at T-Bone, "no-no," kisses when he is happy, kisses when he is sad, "The Wheels on the Bus," "I am a Child of God," his bunny and his thumb, Mommy.

Having enough air to blow out the candles was a difficult task. We scooted the cake closer and closer and finally with a little help, he blew them out.

Definitely not ready to share. Parker got a new race track with 3 cars.

Weekend in Bear Lake

2008-08-21T21:46:00.006-06:00

Last weekend we made our first trip ever to Bear Lake, the Caribbean of Utah.
Our neighbors, the Mechams, have a very cute second home near the lake.
We loved staying there; it's much roomier than our little camper. It had a very large kitchen,
and we had 3 bedrooms and a bathroom all to ourselves.
Some kids play together great and some kids just drive each other crazy. The weekend was so easy. The kids played and played and played. We didn't need to entertain, there was no whining, it was wonderful.

Parker liked to wade in the little ponds made in the beach. The water was warm, there was no current and waves, and all I had to worry about was how much water he was drinking.

We were at the beach for about 8 hours on Saturday. The kids played in the water, collected shells from the beach, and dug through the sand. As for the adults, what a relaxing day at the beach. We set up a table and an umbrella and played Hearts. :)

"Not my head, my ears, or my chin" was Jayce's request.

Kayla and Jayden floated on this raft for hours.

On the way home we stopped in some mountains by Montpellier to find the sought after huckleberry. My mom has always talked about how yummy they are and memories of huckleberry picking, yet I have never eaten a fresh huckleberry out of the mountains. So, finally, we had the adventure of picking wild huckleberries. We picked for about an hour, it didn't take long for the little ones to either wander off or start to get "too tired". Each family brought home about 2 cups. Enough for one pie!

Purple tongues, no wonder we only got two cups.

Shoshone Falls

2008-08-07T13:59:00.006-06:00

After visiting the temple, we went to Shoshone Falls.
Thanks to the snowy winter, the falls were overflowing.

The kids had fun hiking the trails, playing in the trees, and climbing the rocks.

Hunters, are you ready? Actually, this was an elk farm
right near the Falls. Everybody had to stop and
take a picture of all of these antlers
standing at the top of this rocky ridge.

I Love to See the Temple

2008-08-07T13:37:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday we were able to go the the open house of the Twin Falls Temple.
It was beautiful and a wonderful experiences for the kids,
especially the girls.
Kayla's thoughts: "I liked it a lot." I liked to look for the syringa, the Idaho State flower in all the different rooms. I felt peaceful. It was very beautiful."
Alivia's thoughts: "I was reverent and kind there. It was as pretty as a castle. I want to get married when I am old in the temple when I am in love." (Livvy loves to
watch princess shows. She's quite the romantic)

Oh What do you do in the Summer Time?

2008-08-05T22:02:00.014-06:00

This summer has been so much fun. We purchased a camper

and have thoroughly enjoyed it. The first time out it poured all night.
We cuddled up warm and cozy and watched a movie.

What more could Parker want?
Filthy as can be!

Leave it to our little tom boy, Kayla, to be playing with a water snake.

Here is Alivia playing a game of charades.

Craft time in the camper.

On this camp out we were lucky enough to have friends with toys.

Alivia Surfing

2008-08-01T14:39:00.002-06:00

I took this picture of Alivia surfing on the snake river the other day.