Last day of School

So, today is the twins' last day of school. In a short 20 minutes they will be home. For. The. Whole. Summer. There are a lot of things I look forward to in the summer- like sleeping in, having relaxed, unscheduled days etc. But I am a little nervous what we're gonna do to keep ourselves busy all summer. So, calling all blog readers for your ideas! What do you do with your kids in the summer? Any ideas are fair game--chores, activities, places to go, things to see, hobbies to start--anything. PLEASE share! I'm on my knees begging here people. :)

Happy Summer!

Our Memorial Day

Yesterday we got together with my brother and his family and my aunt. I have to say that having family close by is pretty fun! We haven't had any of my siblings/parents around until recently and we've really enjoyed getting to see them more. I do wish they lived closer than the hour and a half drive away that they do, but it's better than the 10+ hr drive away they used to live. :)

The plan was to go to the Zoo. Unfortunately it rained most of the day yesterday so we decided on plan B which was the Aquarium. It was a fun place. They had some cool stuff to see/feel. Jason Jr. and Bryannah (my niece) were the only ones to brave the touching stuff. Well, I take that back, Emily touched the sting rays and that was it to her because they felt "icky". Jason couldn't seem to get enough of the touching and kept going through the line to touch again. We got to hear storytime which the kids really liked (Especially Bryannah) At the end I went back to see a few things that I had missed and they were feeding the octopus. It was cool to watch becaues they put its food into a Mr. Potato head toy and the octopus had to find the food in the "back door" of the toy. It was interesting to watch it feeling the pieces and using its sucker things.

We hadn't been there long when one of my old room mates from college came up to me to say hello. I had no idea that she'd moved back from NY so it was a big surprise to see her. I don't think she looks at my blog, but just in case--Hello Amanda! It was wonderful to see you and I hope we can keep in better touch now that you are closer. Your kids are adorable (of course) and it was great to meet your husband too.

After we finished with the Aquarium we headed over to my Aunt's house for lunch. We all brought something to contribute and it was a grand old time. Jim brought their newly acquired Wii and the kids had a ball playing bowling and Mario Cart. Thanks for doing that Jim! My sil was telling me about Wii fit and how much she likes it and that makes me want to get on Wii bandwagon even more. We were seriously considering getting one for Christmas, but couldn't find them anywhere. They seem to be easier to find right now, but I don't know if that will last or not. Hopefully when we decide we are ready to take the plunge we'll be able to find one without too much trouble. Anyway...thanks for the fun day guys! It was great to spend it with you!

On our way home we stopped to look at furniture. I am trying to find something new for upstairs so we can put what's there downstairs, but I'm not sure exactly what I want yet and that's making my decision making a lot harder. I found a couple things that I liked okay, but nothing that screamed "TAKE ME HOME!".

We also stopped at the cemetery to see Jason's brother Matthew's grave. We sure miss him a lot and it's nice when we get to remember him more formally.

Nine months

A few days ago Liam turned 9 months old. I have been pretty good at getting pictures of him each month so far. He is getting a lot more difficult to get pictures of now that he's so busy. I have these cute stuffed animals that I always take pictures of him with for his birth mom so she can see how much he's grown. This month I just couldn't get him to sit still with them long enough to get a good picture so I had to settle with him being busy in the pictures. As soon as he notices the camera he makes a beeline for it. Last night I was trying to get a picture of him with his pacifier catcher hanging out of his mouth because it was funny, but I wasn't fast enough and he dropped it and made a beeline for me and the camera.

I really can't believe how big he is already! I weighed him on a regular scale the other day with all his clothes/diaper etc on and he was 20 lbs. He is so much fun to play with now too...

He loves playing patty cake and will clap his hands with you and then he'll grab your hands and clap them together for you. He loves peek a boo too. He's getting to where he'll hold something up to your face and then move it and you have to say peek a boo. He really loves to have you cover his face to play too.

I just loved it the other day when he was playing and I was sitting in a chair reading. He'd come up to the chair and make a little whining noise to let me know he wanted some attention so I'd look at him and he'd stop as soon as he saw I was paying attention to him. He loves to try to get into the bathroom, dishwasher, and fridge. If he sees any of them open he will take off full speed crawling and you wouldn't believe how fast he can go!

I love it when he wakes up from his nap and he'll cry a little, but as soon as I open the door and he sees me he'll stop crying and smile. If that can't melt your heart like it does mine then yours must be make of stone. :) I love that he's still such a cuddly baby all the time and not just when he's tired. He loves to be held and to snuggle up with you. He is getting to where he'll put his little chubby arms around my neck and I just LOVE it!

He gets so excited when the kids come home from school. He'll see them and squirm to get down if I'm holding him. He does the same thing with Daddy and then he'll follow him into our bedroom and wait to be picked up. He will pull himself up using your legs/pants and then stand there and hug your legs. A couple times has nearly pulled too big pants of the wearer.

He is so ticklish and has been since he was a tiny baby. Now his laugh just makes you want to keep tickling him so you can hear it! I am so grateful he is our little man and that we can enjoy him and his wonderful personality in our family. I honestly don't know what we'd do without him. I'm also so happy that he isn't walking yet!! I was really worried that he'd walk super early. I'm sure he'll still be walking before one, but at least we made it past nine months--each month we make it is happy for me--I just want him to stay a baby for awhile longer.

4th grade program and Narnia

Yesterday was the twins' 4th grade program. They both did an awesome job and sang their little hearts out! I'm gonna miss it when they are older and don't do these little end of the year things anymore. There were some fun songs and a few more serious songs. Jason got to be UTAH county in the county song--that was fun. He got to stand up at the end when everyone else was sitting down. I'm amazed that they know all the counties in Utah now--I don't think I've ever known all the counties in any of the states I've lived in. The picture to the left Em is in the pink striped sweater in the middle.

After they finished with their program we went to their classrooms to see their portfolios and take pics with the teacher of course. :) Emily has two teachers this year and they each teach half a day, Jason had a first year teacher and I was pleasantly surprised how good she was. Jason showed me this cool power point he made and Emily showed me her human body with all the organs etc that they made. She was really proud of it. I love seeing all the things that they do in school.

I have to admit I'm torn about school being out in only a few days. I will look forward to not having to wake up, but I'm worried about keeping everyone busy and happy so that we aren't all fighting all the time. Fighting seems to be their new favorite past time. So, if anyone has any ideas to help keep kids from fighting PLEASE SHARE!!!!!!

After we finished at school since Daddy was already home we decided to go see Prince Caspian- the new Narnia movie. There was only one other family in the theater with us at that time of day. Thankfully Liam slept through the first half of the movie in spite of the loudness of the action going on. The movie was good. I was glad I didn't read the book again before seeing it though because I hate when they change things from a book for the movie, but since it's been so long since I read it I couldn't remember exactly how it went in the book. Jason said it was a lot different than the book and told me the differences, but I didn't really care. I thought it was still good. Our family loves the whole series of Narnia books and we were excited when they started making them into movies. I'm glad they are keeping to the stories so well so far.

NKOTB vs Groban

Okay, this morning I was watching the Today show and they had New Kids on the Block in their first performance in 15 years...then as I was flipping channels during a commercial I noticed that channel 4 had Josh Groban on for their concert series.

I just have to say that I thought it was hilarious all the "old" fans of NKOTB who have never let go. I admit that I liked them when I was 11-12 or so...I even had a poster of Joey on my wall. But come on people it isn't like they were really all that talented in the first place! Especially hearing Josh Groban and then flipping to hear them--WOW, they don't even have that great of voices! Watching them today just made me laugh...I thought they looked ridiculous trying to dance and sing the same songs they did when they were young--and the people who lined up days ago to be in the front row made me laugh too--they looked older than me. I for one am glad that my taste in music has matured and I've found better musicians who actually have vocal talent to listen to.

I'll take Josh Groban over NKOTB any day!

Mother's Day, Funeral, Track Meet

If that isn't a hodge podge of topics I don't know what is. :)

Mother's day was good to me. The kids made me gifts of course and Dh got me some good ones too. I got BYU fudge mix so I can make their famous fudge at home, a book of "momisms" or things that moms say and what they really mean, and the book "The last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. I'm excited to read it. I saw him on TV and he is pretty amazing considering his situation. His attitude is extraordinary! I didn't get breakfast in bed this year because we have early church and it's too hard to get ready ontime as it is. :) Church was good and they gave us candy instead of flowers that I would've killed anyway. lol One of these days my black thumb will turn green...

After church we all got packed and ready to head to Idaho for the viewing/funeral for our wonderful Grandpa Nash. We had an uneventful trip and let me tell you that I am LOVING having a DVD player in the car for long trips! It is a life saver. I don't know how we did it growing up with out something like that. We grabbed a bite to eat at Grandma's house (she has received so much food from friends, neighbors and ward members that she'll have her 2nd year supply soon). Then we headed over to the viewing. I have to admit that I am not a fan of viewings and avoid them when I can, but this is family so we had to go. I told the kids they didn't have to look at him if they didn't want to, but if they did they could go with their Dad. Jason Jr. went and Emily did too, just not as close up as Jason. Jason Jr. was quite emotional and Emily just wanted to get out of there so she didn't have to be quiet anymore. :) After spending some time there in support of my mil we headed back to the hotel so we could attempt to get some sleep. I didn't sleep much at all, but everyone else seemed to do great.

The funeral was Monday and it was really nice. I loved hearing stories about when Grandpa was small and when my mil was a child and learning more about Grandpa than I knew. He was a service oriented man, but he wasn't boastful about it at all, but several people mentioned that if something needed done he'd be the first one there to do it with a smile on his face. It was nice to see family again and to catch up with them. After the luncheon we headed home. Everyone did great--until we hit about Lehi and Liam started to scream because he wanted out of his car seat. He continued screaming until we got him home and out of his seat. Other than that it was an uneventful drive. I got a cute picture of Liam with Grandma and another one with his cousin that is only one day younger than him.

Today was the kids' track meet and they both had a great time. I think they had more fun showing off their brother than actually running etc, but it was fun to watch them. blogger is having issues again...or maybe it's my computer, but I can't get any more pictures to go on here. I've been working on this for a couple days so I'm giving up.

Father and sons, girls' night, and piano recital

This whole weekend was crammed full of stuff to do. I had been planning on getting our garden in this Saturday, but we really didn't have any time to do it.

Friday night was the Father and Sons outing for our Ward. The boys actually spent the night this year which is a first for them. Jason had an awesome time and was really happy he got to go "camping" finally.

Em and I went out to eat at Chili's. I was craving their fajitas, but ended up getting something new (it wasn't very good)--which is why I always get the same thing! So I don't end up with something gross. :) Then we ran a couple errands and stopped at Cold Stone on the way home. Now, I know most people love cold stone, but I honestly don't think it's that great. We even had a coupon and I still felt ripped off. I have to admit I am a bit of a cheapskate, but if something is good I'll pay for it. Honestly I'd much rather go to BYU creamery or Baskin Robbins than to Cold stone...even good quality ice cream from the grocery store is better if you ask me. But, it was fun to be with Em and to talk to her and see what's going on in her life that I don't already know. :)

When we got home we went over to our good friends and neighbors to watch a "girls" movie. It was lots of fun.

Saturday, the boys got home just in time to get ready for Em's piano recital and we went to it she did an awesome job and was really proud of herself. I am currently looking for a new teacher for her though so if you know anyone good close by us let me know!!

After her recital she had to eat a quick lunch and then get ready for Activity girl day camp. Our Stake does this each year for the girls and they love it. I didn't go with her so I don't have any pics but she had an awesome time. The rest of us worked around the house and the yard. It was a busy day.

Saying Goodbye

Yesterday my wonderful husband lost his grandpa. He called me before lunch to tell me...all I could think about was how are his Grandma and his Mom doing? I prayed for them both all day and I hope they are feeling the strength of the many prayers I'm sure are being uttered for them. It is never easy to lose a loved one, but I hate to think about what it will be like when I lose my parents and heaven forbid my husband. It is such a difficult thing that we have to go through this whole death thing. Somehow I think it's a lot more difficult for those of us left behind than for the one who actually dies.

It's times like this that I am extremely grateful for my knowledge of the gospel and the plan of salvation. To know that we will see each other again and we will be with our loved ones is a huge comfort especially in times of loss like this. I will miss Grandpa Nash too. I've known and loved him for 11 years. He was a wonderful man, a good father, grandfather, and great grandfather. We loved to visit them and help them in the garden. (honestly we usually mostly helped with the harvesting part--the fun part) We loved the slow pace of the small town they live in and the joy of doing nothing, of sitting on the porch and watching life go by. We will all truly miss him and look forward to the time when we can see him again.

We love you Grandpa Nash!!

Shopping with friends and visit with Dad and Grandpa

Saturday I got to go shopping with my two good friends Tami and Natalie. They are also my neighbors and I love them both to pieces. They are so awesome. The fun thing is that we all have babies now. It is so fun for me to finally be on the "in" with having a baby! lol After being the one for so many years who didn't have a baby I like having one now. :)

Anyway...we all went shopping on Saturday and it was great fun. I actually found several things that I liked--which for me is a huge deal since I have a hard time finding things that I like. I also found some awesome deals on a few things for the kids. They were happy about that and almost forgave me for being gone all day ;). So, it was a fun day with friends.



After I got home my Dad called to tell me that he and my grandpa were going to make it to our house that night instead of the next
day like they had originally planned. So, the kids got really excited (they love grandpa and great grandpa). We had a nice visit with them for a few hours and it was great to see them! I got a few pictures of all the kids before Liam went to sleep for the night (which is why he isn't in the other pictures) Thanks for stopping by! We love you!!

Fun new change or horrible mistake?

I got my hair cut yesterday. I only cut about four inches off, because I still wanted length, but I wanted something different too. So, I finally decided to risk cutting bangs again. I haven't had bangs for over 10 years! I honestly can't decide if I'm happy or not. I had her cut the longer swoopy kind of bangs instead of the straight down over your forehead kind, but about half the time I look in the mirror I feel like I look too masculine and not feminine enough. I tried having Em take a picture to give you an idea of what it looks like, but it was the end of the day and I looked awful so no way I'm gonna post it. Those of you who know me irl will have to give me your honest opinion next time you see me. :)

Have a great day!