Allen's Birthday

Allen just turned 4. Only 4? and 4 already? He's a spunky kid. I hope he always keeps his zest for life and I hope I can keep up with him as he grows. We kept it low key for his birthday. He wanted to ride the carousel at the mall for his birthday, so we invited a friend to come along. They had a train too, so they got to ride that as well. Then we had some cookies and he got to play. After dinner we went to the park as a family and we had a blast. Then we went to the store so he could pick out his main present, a backpack. He wanted a motorcycle and a shotgun for his birthday, but he settled for the backpack, a balloon, and a toy sword. He had a happy day!


He's loving it!

Smile for the camera. (sorry for the blur)

Blowing out the candles.

Do you see the hands reaching for his presents?

Still having fun with them the next morning.

They Grow So Fast

I love having a baby around. Frank is a great baby. He only cries when he needs something. He smiles and laughs a lot. His brothers adore him. It's hard to believe it has been almost 4 months, and yet its hard to imagine life without him. Here are a few pics of our growing baby.

1 month

6 weeks

3 months

3 1/2 months

Happy Mothers Day

Ode to My Boys

I've been trying to figure out a balance in raising my boys. The loudness, the constant movement(running, bouncing, etc.), and then there's the dirt. I've been trying to let go and just let them be boys. Yesterday they were playing outside and I could hear them laughing so I just let them play, not knowing what they were doing. At one point it hailed and they didn't come in, but I thought I would just let them keep playing uninterrupted by my own paranoia. When I was going to make lunch I thought I would check to see what they were doing. When I opened the patio door I saw Roger elbows deep in mud. I didn't get angry(I remember the fun I had with mud as a kid) and now I know that I need to designate a mud area in the backyard so they don't play in my pea bed.

Allen's artwork.

The bathtub during cleanup.

Sometimes I get so exasperated with the never ending busyness of my boys. But boys will be boys and I love them and their energy and exuberance for life that I'm sure will fade all too soon.

Skateboarding

I came across this picture recently and thought I would share. This is a picture from one of Will & I's most expensive dates while we were dating. Why was it expensive? Because it was a skateboard date. Why is a skateboard date expensive? Well, I didn't have one, and so Will bought me one... a longboard. Note that in this picture I am not riding the longboard.

Will & I like to skateboard. The longboard he bought me has seen much use, most of which has not been by me even though I have used it on occasion(other, less expensive skateboard dates). :) I'm not very good, I can go straight and turn and that's about it. Once I ollied, but I ruined a favorite pair of pants in the process.


The kids like to skateboard also. Here they are taking a reading break.


The longboard also works as a dolly. This is a boxsprings he walked over to the church to put in the DI pod.

So I guess in addition to biking, our family likes skateboarding as well. :)

Easter

Origami Easter Basket

Yesterday we had a wonderful Easter. We started off watching General Conference. It was so nice to hear the apostles and Prophet speak on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter, as well as other great gospel topics. I feel inspired to be a better mom.

Afterward, we had Will's sister's family over for a turkey dinner. I always pick up an extra turkey or two at Thanksgiving time because they are so cheap and they are great for a nice dinner get together. Then the kids took turns hiding empty plastic eggs(I only have 1 dozen, so it seemed silly to fill them when the fun is in the hiding and finding). The boys took turn hiding for the girls, and vice versa. They had a blast! It reminded me of when I was a kid and we did that, only we used real eggs. After the hunt we had a lovely spice "mountain" cake that was super delicious and then the kids each got a little origami Easter basket with candy. I even showed the kids how to use robin eggs as lipstick, passing on a family tradition from my side of the family. It was a great Easter!

Robin Egg lipstick tradition

Unfortunately the pics were taken this morning as my memory card from yesterday is suddenly acting up. Hopefully I can get the pics off of it later.

Free Gum

So a few months ago a friend introduced me to the world of couponing. It's fun and interesting. I love getting a good deal. A couple of my sisters and I now send pictures of our spoils of war to each other also. It has allowed our kids the enjoyment of cereal again. It also gives me a little more room in our grocery budget for other items, like bananas. I haven't been as diligent on scoring as many deals lately since I had the baby, but today I decided to hit the stores. I still feel like such a novice couponer though.

So while I was at Safeway today standing in line, there was a couponer at the front of the line taking her sweet time to give the cashier a lesson in how to properly enter in her bazillion coupons so that she could buy all sorts of random items. I'm waiting there looking at my deals in the cart(waiting for a long time, mind you) thinking that this woman is the reasomn why I had always been turned off by couponers in the past. I'm almost embarrassed to think that I will be handing over my coupons after the customer in between us has her turn with the poor checker. My boys were being amazingly patient during our long wait. My eyes then glance over the gum selections and I think I might have a coupon for some. Sure enough I do! $.75 off gum that is on sale for $1, but this is Safeway and I can get $.50 of it doubled.

So I should be thanking the crazy coupon woman for the opportunity I had to get free gum and earn a quarter while standing in line.