Today I am Thankful for...

Every night before we say our prayers we talk about what we are thankful for.  We go over what we did that day and count our blessings.  Tonight as we were listing our things I listed our bikes.  I am thankful for our bikes and that we live in such a beautiful place with so many paths and parks for us to ride on and to. 

As my kids have gotten older we have enjoyed bike rides more and more.  Chloe is still getting her endurance up, but she still tries to be a good sport when her little legs get tired.  We always try to have a fun destination in mind so the kids get excited to make it there. 

One of our favorite bike rides is to the sand park by the lake.  It's not too far and we have fun playing there and feeding the ducks.

Skateboarding Sam

Sam has been wanting a skateboard for a while now.  Today he had finally earned enough money to get one.  He chose a great board and as soon as we got home he was out in the alley trying to figure out how to ride it.  He was pretty shaky at first, but I was amazed at how quickly he got it.  What balance!  I still can't even stand on a board if I wanted to.  These little kids!  They pick things up so quickly!

Holly

 

Chloe found my Cabbage Patch Kid doll from when I was a little girl.  She was so excited.  I was excited too.  I love that my daughter gets to play with the doll I played with when I was a kid. 
So Holly has been everywhere with us lately.  She is getting the same innocent abusive love from Chloe that she got from me years ago.

More Pets?!

For the past few days I have been contemplating get James a pet.  James is the type that never complains.  He doesn't ever say anything if others get things he doesn't have, so I feel a little protective of him.  I don't think everything has to be equal all the time, but I try to make a conscience effort to make sure that James doesn't loose out on things because he is so quiet.

So with all this on my mind I've been wondering if I should let him get a pet.  Chloe has her dog, Sam has his rabbit, and little James hadn't complained even once that he didn't have a pet.

So when we were at the park today playing it became very clear to me that he needed a pet and I needed to get him one right now.

I got on KSL and looked at the free pet postings and saw some mice that were literally just listed.  I knew that this was one of those "small and simple" moments that was meant to be.  I called the lady and told her that we would take them.

I called the kids over and told them we needed to get in the car because we were going to go get James a pet right now.  James was so excited.  I told him I had found 2 little mice that we could go look at and see if he liked them.

When we got there James fell in love with the little guys.  As he watched them play he just giggled in delight at "his" mice.  The lady was giving everything away for free, so we got the 2 mice, cage, toys and all supplies for free.  James decided to name them Timmy and Shaun, after his two favorite cartoon sheep.

When we got home James wanted to clean their cage and take care of them himself.  He has always been such a great little worker and I could tell that he wanted to do it all himself because these were his mice and he was going to take good care of them.

 The mice were so cute and active.  The kids just loved watching them play.  I was still nervous to let them take them out and hold them because I didn't want loose mice in my house so we decided to go get them some little exercise balls.

Those little mice in those balls in one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  They just cruise around the house wherever they please. 

 Poor Snuggles.  We had brought home more weird things that she just didn't know what to do with!  It was so funny to watch her.  She looked disgusted whenever the mice rolled by her.

Sweet James went to bed so happy tonight.  He loves his mice and he especially loves that they get to be in his room and keep him company at night!

The Party Continues...

We were having so much fun yesterday that we just had to keep it going.  We stole Joy's kids after Presley's party last night and had them over for a sleepover since it was their last day of school.  We had to celebrate it!

We took our nets and some soccer balls to the park and had a fun little game this morning.  It was a blast.  The older kids and Seth had a good little match while the younger ones ran around playing.  Later my kids decided they wanted in the game. 

They were pretty good, but I have to admit, of all my kids, Chloe has the best legs.  That little girl can really boot that ball!  It was fun to watch her get competitive.  I think we have another little Megan on our hands! :)

Party On!

 We had a fun day today.  We got to go to two amazing birthday parties. 

First we got to go to Mac and Ellie's swim party.  The kids were so excited.  They got to play in their hot tub and have fun on the blow up water slides. 

 We had a yummy lunch there too, but the highlight was definitely the amazing fishy cupcakes.  Chloe thought they were so cute, she just had to have it give her a kiss and give it one back in return! :)

After our fun swim party we headed over to Boondock's for our cousin, Presley's birthday party.  We love when she has her parties here because we don't usually get to go here and we have so much fun running around with cousins playing games, getting tickets, and picking prizes.

 These two little girls are so cute!  What a good day!

Visiting Mike

We had a great Memorial Day today.  We went and hung out at Joy's house, which it always fun. 

It was also special because it was the first time I've visited a cemetery on Memorial Day.  It was neat to go with my kids and Joy and some of her kids to go visit Mike's grave. 

We just sat and talked and enjoyed the beautiful day.  My kids decided that they wanted to leave things for him so we went and got some things that they thought he would like.  I have to admit his grave looked a little cluttered by the time we were through, but I think it he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Tom Olaf

Sam checked a book out at the library a while ago about rabbits.  Since then he has been obsessed with them.  He has learned everything he can about them.  From how to care for them to what they like to what not to do to how to train them.

This last week he told me he had a great idea for what to get Dad for Father's Day....a rabbit.  I told him that I'd think about it.

A few days later he came up to me and told me that he didn't think he should still get Dad a rabbit for Father's Day because the reason he wanted to get it was because he wanted it, not Dad.  :)

After all his research and pleading (and more research on my part) I decided that getting a rabbit would be good for Sam.  I think  when kids are old enough, having a pet to take care of everyday is a great way to learn responsibility.  So when he got out of school on Friday I told him we could go get one.  He was so excited.  He had decided that he wanted a pointy eared rabbit, a Rex.  So off we went to find one.

We found a family near by that was selling some bunnies they just had.  From the pictures we saw Sam chose the one with the coloring he liked most.  It was a girl.  On the drive there he decided he would name her Suzie Hops-a-lot. 

When we got there Sam changed his mind and fell in love with a little boy bunny with gray eyes, ears, and a strip down his back.  He decided to name him Tom.  Chloe added her two cents worth and told Sam a good middle name would be Olaf.

 Sam was so cute that first day with his bunny.  He would just lay there and watch him, getting him out occasionally to run around and play.

 Sam had read in his book that rabbits love to hop through boxes, so within minutes of bringing the little guy home I had boxes all over the kitchen for little Tom to hop through.

Snuggles wasn't quite sure about this new little thing we brought home.  She would just follow Tom around trying to figure out what it was.

 Sam of course had to "groom" the bunny right away as well. 

We took Tom outside and he loved hopping around eating grass. 

 This weekend I did my best to build a hutch for Tom so that we could keep him outside.  I was pretty proud of myself.  Not bad for using scrap wood we had.  We just need to paint it up and put a roof on now.

Chloe has been wanting a fairy garden for a while now, so I thought, today is the day.  We are going to do it.  And we did.  We went and got some fun supplies and got to work.  I let Chloe pick everything from the plants to the colors to the accessories.

This one is my favorite.  This is the "homemade" one.  I love everything Chloe chose.  From the button chairs and table to the scarecrow to the tire swing it is beautiful. 

 This is the pink fairy garden.  Only pink things were allowed.

 This is her white and purple fairy garden with some fun things we found at Hobby Lobby.

It was really exciting when Chloe came back to check on her garden after breakfast.  There was pink fairy dust all over her stuff.  She knew for sure that the fairies loved their gardens and were happy there.

Chloe's Hair

It seems every morning Chloe and I have a discussion about how to do her hair.  It usually consists of which princess she wants to look like.  I bun is Cinderella, one braid is Elsa, two is Anna, long and down and free is Ariel, straightened and long is Rapunzel...
Today she wanted Anna's fancy over the top braid.  She was pretty proud of it and wanted a picture, so being the good mom that I am, here it is.  Documented.  :)

My Little Character

 

James is a character.  He is always seeing things in a different way, imagining things, creating things...
Today he was just hanging out upside down.  We'd be talking and he'd just get up and go do a headstand.  I later found him this way on the couch watching TV. 
I just have to smile and let out a little laugh.  I am doing it again now as I am writing this.  I am glad he has inherited his dad's ability to make people happy.

Best Mother's Day EVER!

Today I had the best Mother's Day ever!  What a sweet family I have.  I must be doing something right because my husband and kids spoiled me rotten!

I woke up to the sounds of someone working in the kitchen.  Seth was laying in bed next to me, so I sent him down to see what was going on and to make sure everything was alright.  He quickly returned assuring me that all was fine and that I would just have to wait and see what was coming.

Sam had made me breakfast in bed!  What a kid!  He brought me toast and orange juice in a fancy cup he got from Tressa's Wedding.  He apologized that it wasn't buttered because he didn't quite know how to do that yet. 

 He then presented me with multiple cards and a beautiful Lego creation. 

 I was glad to see that the #3 reason he loved me was because I let him have chips! :)

 James came in next with his Lego creation.  It was an exploding volcano that said I love you.

He also wanted to make me breakfast in bed so I got some yummy cereal that he made all by himself.

 Next came Chloe and her beautiful creations. 

 She drew me a picture on her Fairy drawing pad.  I loved it.

The rest of the day was just as great.  I got to start my new calling.  I got called back into Primary as the Chorister.  I was so excited.  I had a blast being back in there.  I had missed being the chorister ever since I was released a few years ago.
After church it was a nice relaxing day at home where I was waited on hand and foot.  It was fun and I enjoyed every minute of it.  After all it was a special day to celebrate one of my best accomplishments...Motherhood!

Parties and Cousins

Today was a party!  Chloe got to go to her friends Frozen birthday party.  This is her third party in a week!  She is such a socialite.  I never went through all this birthday party craziness with the boys, but Chloe makes friends with everyone she meets (just like her dad) so she gets to the reap the rewards of parties. 

 She even got to have a sleepover with her cousin, Presley.  Those two crack me up.  It's all about holding hands and playing girly things.

 When the boys found out that Chloe was going to have a sleepover they decided that it was only fair to have their cousins Thomas and Joseph come over for a sleep over too.  So we called them up and got them over as fast as we could. 
So with the boys running around the house with play weapons, conquering the world, and the girls prancing around in princess shoes and all the jewelry they could handle, we had a full house.  A very happy, full house.

Duck Crossing

 

This morning I was more than happy to stop and wait for a mother duck and her ducklings to cross the street.  That is one of the perks of being 3 blocks from the lake.  I love these little moments.  It makes me think of one of my favorite children's books, "Make Way for Ducklings".  I was glad to share this moment with my kids and then go home and read that book.