Sunday Afternoon Fun

We just enjoyed a lazy Sunday afternoon today. The kids took a nap or had quiet time. I took a nap with Aaron and Amber. It was a nice day outside. It hasn't been above 80 for the last few weeks, so we have spent a lot of time outside lately. Anyway, Brian wanted to take pictures, so here are some fun pictures of the kids being silly today. There isn't much going on here to tell about, but we are happy and healthy!!
The boys were being silly. Don't you love the bunny ears that Weston is putting on Aaron?
I told them to say fuzzy pickles instead of just cheese, and these were the faces that I got!! :)
After playing inside, we decided to head out and play in the sandbox. I thought that this was a good picture of Weston.
She may look like a girl, but this face clearly says, "Don't look too close Mommy! I am eating a rock!!!!" I cut little bangs on Amber yesterday. I was tired of having the hair hang in her eyes. You can't really tell because her hair is so fine!
I'm not really sure what exactly Brian was trying to do here, but it looks like some sort of Houdini thing to me! :) These chairs are set up here to block the stairs from Amber.
More sandbox fun!
I took this one so that you can see how Amber's hair is growing in the back and getting thicker.
Isn't he cute? My little Aaron is a sweetheart.
Hope everyone else has had a good day!!!

The clean-up begins

I know that the storm hit almost 2 weeks ago, but we are just now getting to the clean-up stage of the game. Most of the mess was just in the tree line. We had a tree company come and give us an estimate on what the clean-up would cost. Since we didn't have a thousand dollars laying around to have them do it, we had to wait until the store had some chain saws in stock so that we could get one ourselves and get our storm mess cleaned up. Barth has been busy this morning, dragging dome of the debris out so that it can be cut up into smaller pieces. We will have to get the tree people to come out and get the really high branches out of the tree and then seal one of the big maples that the entire top part got ripped off of, but most of the stuff on the ground we will take care of ourselves. If you look very closely, you will see at the back of the pile, a really big branch of tree. When it fell, one of the smaller pieces of that branch stuck in the ground, making it impossible to move. Barth, not wanting to have to put the chain saw above his head to cut it, opted to use the hand saw to cut off the piece that was stuck in the ground. I was watching Barth do this and the kids were playing on the driveway at the time. All of the sudden, that HUGE branch came crashing down. I am SO THANKFUL that Barth was not hurt badly. A piece of it actually hit him in the top of the head and he has a small cut from it, but I know that it could have been much worse. I know that the Lord was watching over him this morning. The plan is for Barth to try to pull out as much of the debris from the treeline as he can for the next little while and then he will get out the saw and start cutting it down to smaller sizes. There is still an entire tree that fell down and broke into pieces that is laying back in the trees that will been to be cut. The job will more than likely take the next few weekends to complete. I am glad that at least we have nice cool weather for the job.
This picture was taken from Aaron's window upstairs so that you can see the size of the mess a little bit better. I took it through the glass and that is why it is just a little bit blurry. Wish us luck...... (or I guess that I should say wish Barth luck, since he is the one that will be doing all the hard stuff!)

Finished rooms

Okay, I know that I painted the boys' rooms ages ago, but I never got around to putting up the border in Aaron's room until today. Unless you make the picture bigger, you can't tell, but the border has jungle animals on it just like his bedding and the animals on the wall. I also hung up the thing above his dresser that I also got forever ago. It says "I am a child of God." I got that at Hobby Lobby on sale. I must say that the border was a breeze to put up. It was one of those peel and stick kind of things, just like the wall stickers.
I also never posted a picture of Weston and Brian's rooms with their new glow in the dark planet and star stickers as well as the planets that hang from the ceiling. The planets are hanging in opposite corners of the room and you can just see 3 of them in the top right of this picture above.
I also took a picture of the room from this angle so that you could see the other corner that has the planets. They glow in the dark as well. The boys have fun at night time by turning off the night light and closing the door so that everything glows. Now I just have to get to Amber's room.......

Did you know?

Did you know that last week, during the middle of all the birthday-izing that was going on at our house, Barth and I somehow forgot to celebrate something important? I am sure that you didn't seeing as how we couldn't even remember ourselves!!!! :) As I sat here thinking about the fact that Barth's birthday is just a few days away, I realized that I forgot the anniversary of our first date!!!!! And this was a big one too. On the 18th, it marked 15 years since our first date!!!!!! 15 YEARS! And we didn't even go on a date!!!! I think that I may just have to bust out the ward directory and find me a babysitter and celebrate. Boy, I think I am getting old. :) (You do realize that 15 years is almost half of my life time right?)

My life

Isn't it funny how life is? Really, there is always something to do. Someplace to go. Someone to serve. Most days I am exhausted, but it is a good exhausted. It seems like there are so many days, or weeks when there is someone sick, or in need of something at my house. You know, the usual stuff.

But yesterday morning as I was cleaning up the last of the morning dishes before my visiting teachers came, I thought to myself how relatively calm my life had been as of late. No one had been sick. Everyone now sleeps though the night. My house stays relatively clean most days, and if there is a mess, I now have good, big helpers to give me a hand. Barth hasn't been traveling nearly as much. Things really were hum-drum, easy and wonderful.

And so, I guess that the Lord heard my pondering yesterday and decided that I needed a day of spice today. The morning was spent running errands. After that we picked up Brian from school. While I was making lunch, Brian decided that it would be a fun game to lasso his younger brother with the jump rope. I told him that it was not a good idea and that he needed to put the rope away before someone got hurt. Too Late!!!! Aaron decided at that exact moment to try to step out of the rope and fell with a thud. He cried for a solid 45 minutes. Wouldn't even eat lunch. Wouldn't walk, but finally did decide to take a nap. During this time I decided to call the dr's office to see if I should just give it time, or take him in. They said to bring him in. My afternoon was spent running to the dr's office, and going for an x-ray. We made it home just in time to eat a quick sandwich and head out the door to basketball practice. On the way to practice, we got the good news that it wasn't a break. Thank goodness!!

And so after a little bit more of a busy day today, I decided that both ways are nice. It is nice to have hum-drum and it is nice to have some spice too. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. There really is nothing like being a mother and wife. Some may find it dull and say they are unfulfilled by not working outside the home, but I say that it is just the perfect mix of everything!!! I am thankful for my life just the way it is!!!!

Our Cub Scout

Tonight at Weston's second ever pack meeting, he got his Bobcat! He was so excited to have a badge to put on his uniform. Since both wards are small that meet in our building, we have a troop between the 2 wards. The cub masters are from the other ward and are really nice. Weston loves going every Wednesday night. I think that he has his entire Wolf handbook memorized from cover to cover. He is always coming up and reading me the requirements and telling me what he has already done to complete each one. :) Since he earned his Bobcat, Daddy decided to treat everyone to an ice cream after the meeting!!!

Wondering

I think that I will have to start a little sayings thingy on my side bar of the funny things that my kids say. Anyway.....on the way to church yesterday, Weston was wondering about something and so decided to ask me about it. It was too cute not to share. Here is what he had to say.......

"Mommy, if Heavenly Father and Jesus are up in heaven, and heaven is above the earth in the sky, do they have to move for the airplanes?"

I love the light

This morning I went to Target to get some last minute things for Brian's party tomorrow. When I got there, we headed inside. As I stepped through the door, it was apparent that this section of town still had not had their power restored. This store was running on generators. About one in every 4 lights were on (if that). At first, it seemed so dark. Aaron kept commenting that it was spooky in there, and I have to admit that it was a little. He said that they were doing that for Halloween. The longer we were in there, the more accustomed I got to the lighting. Before we left, I was even thinking to my self, "It really isn't all that dark in here." But as I stepped back outside into the brilliant sunlight, I realized that it had, indeed, been quite dim inside.

And then, because my brain likes to churn, I got to thinking how so much like sin the whole situation was. When we first come upon sin, it seems so dark and yucky. Or, as Aaron put it, "spooky." But the longer that we are doing the things that we are not supposed to do, the less bad it seems, until, it seems like nothing. It isn't bad at all really. Just like the light. I thought by the end of my 30 minutes in Target that it seemed just fine. Not until we step out into the light, or see that light streaming in the doorway, do we realize how dark it is where we are. Not until we see how good and wonderful and brilliant life is without sin, are we really able to change and improve. There is no one that can be without sin except the Savior. As for me, I prefer to be out in the glorious sunlight than in the dark building run by generators. It makes me want to try even that much harder to do things the way that I know I should, so that I don't get slowly used to the dark. I love the light!! My biggest hope and dream is that I can teach my children to love the light and the Lord so that when the time comes, they will chose the light rather than the dark.

Sun Beeps

On Monday evening, I took Weston and Aaron out to get a present for Brian for his birthday. As we drove along, Aaron kept saying, "Look Mommy, look!! It's so pretty." I told him that I had to drive, (I was on the highway) but that as soon as I stopped, I would look. I looked and what I saw was indeed pretty. It had been a fairly cloudy day, but just then the sun was breaking out through some of the clouds. Aaron then proceeded to say, "It's sun beeps Mommy. I love sun beeps! It is just like when Jesus comes, only there will be LOTS more sun beeps then. I love Jesus, Mommy, and I love sun beeps!"

Happy Birthday Brian!!!!!!

My, how time flies!!! It seems as if just yesterday we were living in Texas and our sweet little Bri Bri was born!! It is hard to believe that it has been 6 years since then. Brian continues to be a sweet and loving little boy with a little bit of pizazz mixed in too! :) I love his curly hair and sweet disposition.
Brian loves to help others and loves to play with his brothers. He enjoys doing whatever Weston does. Isn't that the way it goes most of the time? :) He always tries to include others and that makes me so happy.
He loves to be my little helper. He loves to get the mail, or the paper for me. He helps me with lunches, dishes, sweeping, or any other thing that he can think of. I am lucky to have such a good helper.
He is turning into quite the little reader these days. He tries hard to learn the things that his teachers teach him in school. He is going to speech twice a week this year and I can already see great improvements. He tries so hard to carry over the things that they are teaching him into his speaking and reading. We are so pleased with how hard he works!
Our lives would certainly not be the same without our sweet boy! We are so glad to have Brian as part of our family. He is certainly a wonderful member of our family. Happy Birthday Brian!!!

The Storm

Yesterday we had the remnants of Ike here at our house. It started to blow in as we arrived home from church at 12:30. We were under a severe wind warning. That just meant that we had sustained winds of over 45 mph with gusts reaching over 75 mph. And yes, it was VERY windy. Our trees in the back took a beating. Here is what they now look like. It looks like we will have some cleaning to do for FHE tonight. One of the trees in the tree line back there snapped in half with the top laying there in the pile of branches that you see there. One of the largest trees that were there, but just in our back neighbor's yard, blew completely over. It was uprooted. When you walk to the back of our yard, you can see the roots. Luckily, it landed just right in the neighbor's yard. It missed their house and deck by just feet. Our neighbors lost siding and many lost parts of their roofs. Luckily, we didn't have any more damage than just these trees in the back. As I sit here and type, I feel lucky that we are safe. I went to take the kids to school today, just to find that no one was there. I went to the web-site and found that all schools in the area are closed today. The news says that over 90% of people in this area are without power today and that a state of emergency was declared. I feel blessed and grateful that we are safe and sound.
While the storm was raging outside, we had a little visitor in our back yard. What is he you ask? He is a woodchuck, or in other words, a ground hog. He was very cute and it was lucky for us, he sat and ate lots of the little branches that were falling off of the trees.

Happy Birthday Momma!!!!

I just wanted to wish my wonderful Momma a very happy birthday!!! She is an awesome friend and I am so glad to have her as my mother.
She is kind and loving. She has taught me so many things in my life and not a day goes by that I don't call her and ask her something!!!!!! Most importantly, she and Daddy have taught us kids the gospel and gave us a good foundation to build our lives on.
I do wish that I lived closer so that I could see her more often, but, as she will readily tell you, I call her all the time!!! :) She is always willing to help others and has taught us by her good example. She always has a smile and a kind word for others.
I love you Momma. I hope that you had a wonderful day and a good celebration with everyone this evening!! I am thankful to have you as my mother and my friend!

What do YOU think?

Today while we were singing the opening hymn at church, the sister sitting behind me learned forward. She said, my girls think that Amber looks just like Boo on Monsters, Inc. I had to laugh!! I think that she does too. Here is a picture for comparison. What do YOU think?

The sweetest hubby ever!!!!

Last night when I went to bed, my house looked normal. When I woke up this morning, it looked like this. (even though I took this picture in the afternoon) Isn't it lovely? These are NOT leftover decorations from Amber's birthday. Those fell down days ago. My dear, sweet husband took the time and energy to make it all nice for me today for my birthday. Not only that, but he took all the boys out shopping yesterday for my birthday. That left me with Amber, who was quickly put to bed, and I was left with a quiet house all to myself. That, in and of itself, was a real treat!!! :)
In addition to the decorations, he also made me this lovely cake, and even wrapped my presents in wonderful PINK paper because that is my favorite color. Can't you tell he loves me and wants me to be happy on my day?! He is so awesome. I am so thankful for Barth!!!!
Here we are getting ready to do cake and presents this evening. (Try not to notice the rice on the floor. This was after dinner and before sweeping up!! :) I think that the boys thought that if they dropped their rice on the floor little by little, that they wouldn't have to eat it!!! )
I had a great day thanks to my sweet husband and fantastic children!! I am sure am lucky to have such a wonderful and loving family!!!!!!

Sandbox fun!

Well, I am a bit late in getting sand for the sand box, but better late than never right? We have lived here for over 10 months now, and I am just now getting the sand. :) Today when Aaron, Amber and I were buying the sand, Aaron asked if we were getting it to take to the beach! How funny!!! All 4 of the kids had a great time playing in the sand this afternoon after school. Too bad it is getting ready to rain, or else we would still be out there enjoying it. At one point all 4 were sitting in the sand box. I ran to get my camera, but Aaron had already gotten out.
Isn't she a mess? I think that she ate more sand than anything, but she sure did have a good time in the middle of it all. Amber thought that it was great fun to smash the sand castles that the boys made. Aaron kept getting sand that had fallen into the lid and would then ask Weston and Brian if they needed any sugar. :)
And this is just a random picture thrown in from this morning. I guess that Barth thought that we looked like a good lookin' crew after prayer this morning. It isn't the best of me, but I thought that it was a sweet picture and shows the kids' personalities.

One of my favorite things.....

....is taking time with my children and just enjoying them. One morning this past week when I had 101 things to do, Aaron asked if we could have a little snack on the back deck. It was a perfect morning and he asked so sweetly, that I just couldn't say no. So, I sat aside the things that had to be done, and took the time to enjoy my little ones. We had such a wonderful half hour out there. Aaron told me all about the things that he knew about, Amber toddled around the deck and I just soaked up all the goodness that life has to offer me!!!! I am so blessed!

The hunt is on......

Amber had her 12 month check up today. All went well. She looked fine and everything. She had actually lost weight since the last time that they saw her. She was 22 lbs, 10 oz today (80%). She also hadn't grown much. She was 28.5 inches. That took her from the 67th percentile last time to the 25th percentile today. Looks like I am going to have a repeat of Aaron on my hands. :) That is okay, small is easier to carry!!! Anyway, she got some of her shots today too. And this is why I titled the post the way I did. While I was there they told me that Amber needed to have her chickenpox vaccine today. I said that, while I did get that shot, I got it much later for my kids, closer to the time that they began school. The doctor politely told me that while she understood my reasoning, the policy of the practice was that if my child was not fully vaccinated on their schedule, I would be dismissed from the practice the next time I came in after she was 15 months old. For me, this was just the last straw with this practice. There are some doctors there that I really like, but I am now on the hunt for a new pediatrician. I need one that works well with my personality and thinking. I need one that is good and has rights to the children's hospital. I need one that doesn't have 17 doctors in the practice (like this one does) so that I can actually get to know my doctor!!!!! Here's hoping that I can find a good one soon!!!!!

Growth Spurt!!!!

I was looking back through the pictures from the party yesterday and noticed something about Weston.....he has had a growth spurt in the last month!! This picture above was at the very end of July when Emily had her baby. Look how tall Weston is in comparison with my shoulder. Now look at the picture taken on Saturday of him standing next to me. I would say that he has sure shot up like a weed!!!! Before I know it, I will be looking him in the eye!!!!!!! My little boy is sure getting big!

The Party

We had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating Amber's birthday!! She was so happy to have all the attention showered on her. It was fun to see her get all excited about the balloons everywhere. We just had a small party with just our little family, and yet it was perfect!!! :) Here is the happy little birthday girl.
Weston took this one so that you can see all of our decorations for the party. In so many respects the decorations are more for the bigger kids than for Amber. She would have been just as happy had their not been decorations, but to the older ones, it just isn't a birthday without balloons and crepe paper!
My silly and sweet best little friends!!! I just love Weston and Brian. They make the days bright!
And here was present time. The boys each picked out a gift for Amber. Weston and Brian wrapped theirs themselves, and made Amber a card. Barth was our photographer for the event! (Thanks honey!) That meant, for once, I was in a few of the pictures! :) Weston got Amber a cute little fish bowl thing that you can put fish in and take them out of and it plays music. She loves it and has been carring it around everywhere.
Here is Aaron helping Amber with her present. He chose a little dolly that had a binky! It was fun to get to buy some girl things.
Brian with Amber and the presents that he got her. He got her a doll too and then also wrapped up some of the toys that she already had so that she could have more things to open!!! :) And she was just as excited to get those same old toys that she already had!!!!
Amber with her new baby and doggy from Grandma and Grandpa Yorke!! Thank you!!!!
Wow!! Check out that fun, fluffy dress from Grandma and Grandpa Whitley!! She must be a little princess for sure!! Thank you! I love the dresses.
We had to get a picture for posterity's sake of Amber and one of the dresses that I made for her. It is so fun to get new clothes to dress her up in!
Cake time!!! Amber really wanted to touch that neat candle! Doesn't she look happy?
Blow out the candle. The boys were helping from the table!
Trying out cake for the first time!! :) She thought that it was yummy, but I must say that she was a MUCH more dainty eater than her brothers were.
This was about as messy as she got!
And here we are enjoying the cake and ice cream. We had to get Barth in there too!!! Happy Birthday little Amber! We are glad that you are in our family!