Misc

 

 

This was Chet trying to check on something he was making. Can he even see in there? The story of our lives trying to do anything! Too cute. He is so patient and SUCH a great dad!!!

Colby is SOOOOOO messy. He is the definition of mess. In everything he does. I told him that I wanted to take his picture and this was the face I got. He is sooooooo darn cute!!

 Wait... lets pull a Kimber and one eye it! (I know that's what you're thinking Randi!)

We let them have complete free hand control over the carving of their pumpkins. Carters is throwing up. He was throwing up a few days earlier. Caden is such a dork!

Just another mess from Colby. Powdered Milk. Again!

School Party

Cars was a nerd. He was the cutest nerd I have ever seen. Pants rolled and too cool for school!

They had to wrap their partner like a mummy. Carson ROCKED it! He won without question!

 

Look at the kids in the background. He took about 1/4 of the time and was the BEST! I told him to go put his arm around his mummy. This was what he did. He doesn't look too comfortable!!!

Carter was a hunter (lame costumes I know, tough year for them!)

These are his best friends: Cade Ayers and Alec Sharkey. Super nice boys!!!

I have told each boy that they get to pick one party to make "theirs". I can only gaurantee them to be at one party a year (out of 3) and Carson had chosen Halloween. I had parties at 9:40 am, 1:10 pm, and 2:40 pm. I thought I would hit all three, but missed Caden's due to sleeping boys. Here are just a few of the pics. Carter is so tall. Comes to my shoulder now. He will be a tall boy!!!

Halloween Party 2012

 Winners of the Funniest Costume! We rocked those bumps!

Erin Lee, Chet, Kimber, Clint Lee

 

 

 Winner of best costume! She looked fabulous!!!

Her husband had to leave town, so she was alone this night

Debbie Bishop

 

 

My climbing buddy, and amazing ALL girl friend.

She teaches me how to decorate and be a girl! Love her!!! 

Stuart Matthews, Carolyn Matthews

 

 

 Some really dear friends. They were our first friends in Gillette.

My first visiting teacher partner here. LOVE them!

Amy Himes, Michael Himes

 

 

 Winner of the scariest costume. "IT" Steven King! He wasn't with his wife when we came in and I couldn't figure out who he was. One of my best friends in Gillette!

Paula Bracken, Dallin Bracken

 

 

 His shirt says WOLF. Hosts of the party. Lea is my competitve friend.

We make a competition out of EVERYTHING.

I laugh until my sides hurt every time I am with her.

Lea Hutchins, Nate Hutchins

 

 

One of my best friends! Erin found out that the larger the womens bump in her hair, the more righteous they are. We went for the highest bump we could get. We found our hiddeous dresses at the second hand store. It was so fun! Those outfits with no makeup seem to add about 10 lbs to my face. Erin is GORGEOUS so I didn't think she could pull it off; she did well!!! That hair is awesome!



Atlanta

 

(Mine are the super cute bright blue ones, haha)

 



I have an AMAZING husband, no doubt about it. He is patient with "my crazy", and super supportive of whatever I need. I have been having a really hard time holding it all together. I feel like I am on the verge of going crazy. It's so hard to balance being a really good mom (which I fail at regularly, but pray every night that I can do better the next day!) and being Kimber, and serving in my calling, and being a great wife, and maid, and on and on. I decided to take a momcation to Atlanta to stay with my aunt and cousin. It was FABULOUS! I flew right out of Gillette and into Atlanta. I sat next to wonderful people there and back. I learned so much about Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, California, and Tennesse and how the election is playing out in all these places. I have never met an Obama supporter in Wyoming, so it was fun to hear others perspectives. I played scrabble on the Kindle with a new friend and got new facebook friends. When I got there we had no plans except Time Out for Women. That was awesome. Hearing about everyone elses problems made my frustrations seem quite minimal. There are some really amazing people out there!! There was no schedule the rest of the time. We just did if we wanted, and not if we didn't. I stayed up WAY too late talking to Candice every night. I made cookies for them. Went grocery shopping with Cathy. Got a pedicure. Watched YouTube with Candice and Spence all night. Then slept in until noon. So low key. It was more than fabulous! Chet told me on the first day that he was nervous I was going to have too much fun, and want to do it all the time. I text him back and said that he should be. And I was right! I told him when I got home that I was going to go away with or without him. We have always been so careful with money and not taken trips, but those days are done. We now have 3 trips planned for the next 5 months. We are not just going hog wild, but it has been so fun looking up places to go almost every night. Chet is texting me about places and prices and it is so exciting. He took vacation this time and stayed with the kids, but now we are getting creative on what to do with the kids. Luckily we have AMAZING babysitters of all ages (high school and college age girls), so the boys are really excited to have us go and they will get to party with Nanna and Papa, Makenna, and Megan. We have not taken many overnighters since having kids so we are REALLY excited for this next stage of life. Bye Bye Babies, hello a little freedom (before they become teenagers and we are strapped in town again!)

Cael Turns 4

This was a huge year for Cael. He is constantly telling me that he is 5, and that he CAN do everything the boys are doing. He is old enough to know what is really going on, and how to use it to his advantage... so I thought. When I asked him what he would like for dinner, he tells me Applebees. Funny thing about that? That's CARSONS favorite, his roomie! Carson had been coaching him, and Cael was SET he wanted Applebees. He loves to go Mexican, he calls it chips and salsa. Luckily that day Cars felt like Mexican and coached him into changing it to chips and salsa. He never orders anything, just eats his chips and salsa and drinks his pink pepsi (cherry 7up). The boys were AMAZING at the restaurant. The first REAL success we have had eating out. I was very proud. The youth leaders put on a carnival on his birthday so we told Cael that was his party. He was happy as can be. He wanted to wear his costume all day, therefore his presents were opened in superman! He asked for a bouncy ball (big kick ball kind) and a remote control. So easy, love this kid!!! He wanted a christmas cake (who the heck knows what that is?!?) so I got him a 'Cars' ice cream cake and he was super happy with it! He had swedish pancakes for breakfast, the meal he would have 7 days a week if I'ld cook them. And none else than hot dogs for lunch. It has been 5 days since his birthday, and he has not had one good day. He went from total obeyer and sweetheart to insta brat. So crazy. I hope it's just a stage. Love him to pieces!!! Some facts about him: Favorite color : whatever Cars tells him it is. Neither a mommas boy or dads, he is very affectionate to both of us. Favorite activity: Anything social. He loves to roam the neighborhood and gather his friends to play. He has some of the older kids come ask if he can play. He is up for anything. Amazing brother. He loves "Tobey" crazy. And Colby feels the same back. It's really cute! Favorite Cartoon: Super Why! or Dora. He LOVES movies, and would watch all day if I let him. He loves Rescuers at the moment, and Alladin is close behind. He asked me if we could have a pet mouse like Cinderella because they are "so tute". Um... NO! He started out the year hating Primary, but now he sees the socializing potential, and loves it now. He is a rock star at church. Everyone loves him. He talks like his brothers. Things like this sucks so bad. And, freaking awesome. What the crap! And on and on. It sounds so funny coming from him. Since I put him on MAJOR house arrest (he cannot leave my sight - VERY exhausting) we have not lost him. The last time I lost him was when he hid from me on Columbus Day, so that is a HUGE improvement. Hopefully we're past that stage. He has really gotten into puzzles lately. And is pretty good at them. He is a HUGE joy to have. I love him to infinity and back!!!

Give Away

Cael just came to me very serious with his eyebrows in a total scowl and said, "Mom. I think we need to give Tobey (that's how he says Colby) away." Then he just sits there looking at me serious as a heart attack. I asked him why he would ever say that. He replies, "Because he makes WAY too many messes. And now he is messing up MY room!" Cael has taken on this "task" of being a big helper. When he peed without a stool yesterday, he said, "Yes!!! I am getting to be big like my brothers! I can reach the toilet!" Then he informed me that soon he would be a boy, not one of the babies. He comes to me about 8 times a day and says (while studdering a little), "Mom. We have...have...mom we have a situation (trying so hard to say the word correctly he announces every sound of the word very carefully)" Then he tells me about the next crazy thing Colby is currently wrecking. It made me sad that he wanted to give him away! He would only last about 1 day before he would miss Colby WAAAAAAAY too much. They are total buds. Cael just mostly tries to keep him out of trouble, and Colby follows his EVERYWHERE and does everything Cael does, but they play well together. Love my babies (soon to be singular according to Cael, only one Baby will be left when he gets lumped into the status of Boys!)

Gratitude

Have you ever been full of so much gratitude, that you don't even know what to do. Sometimes I just cry, but that just doesn't seem like enough. I have been so overwhelmed lately, feeling like I am on the verge of not doing anything right. I feel like I am just hanging on, but one catastrophe away from losing it! I want nothing more than to be a great mom. It has been my life goal. But it is hard! It is hard to know that what you are doing is right, but hating to wake up to the same day again... and again... and yep, same day again. So, that was what I WAS thinking about the last month. However, I took a week off and did a little vegging. I did the things I don't usually do, like ironing, and painting, and cleaning the laundry room really clean. It was relaxing and nice. And as I get back into things, I realize how really good I have it! My kids are amazing. They are crazy and naughty and they backtalk and talk nonstop and are loud and on and on and on. But they are really good kids. They are fun and witty and full of personality and have amazing testimonies and they LOVE us unconditionally. I have an amazing husband and father to my boys!! The other day he was talking to me about someone and I just started crying tears of gratitude. He is so loving and kind. He sees peoples good, and downplays any bad that I bring up. He loves serving in the church. He is the Young Mens President, and it is really time consuming, but he loves what he does! He loves being an influence for good and fun in those boys lives, and is always telling me the things that he is learning about having teenage boys. What a great oppurtunity he is taking to learn about what will become "our lives" in such a short time. When Chet came to me 2 years ago and asked if I wanted to move to Gillette, jokingly, and handed me a job description, I instantly said... uh no! We had a good life. We had amazing friends, and an amazing house, and amazing neighbors, and lived by lots of family. We were truely happy! As the week went on and we knew that Chet was supposed to take the job, we were scared. Then followed the hardest 3 months of my life so far. But we grew. And learned that Heavenly Father knew EVERYTHING about us. One night after moving here, I was laying in bed with post baby hormones just crying to Chet that I wanted friends. He hugged me and said that it was his thought that we would make better friends as a whole than ever before. Last night we had a house full of all of our best friends here planning trips together. We planned weekends as families, weekend getaways, summer vacations, and more and more. We laughed until my stomach hurt. We have AMAZING friends! They love us. We get together ALL the time. My kids love their kids. As one of our friends just walked to the fridge and opened it and started looking around it, I was so happy to know how comfortable we all are together. It's like being with family. No knocking, no polite asking where things are. We just help ourselves and even know where almost everything is. Gillette, without a doubt, was the right move for us. Tonight as we were getting ready to start family home evening, we had neighbors wanting to join. We had four wheelers piled high. My boys were so proud! Chet had the neighbor girls hair flipping in his face as she was hollering the whole time. And we loved every minute of it! This morning I had 2 boys waiting in the garage when I came out for a ride to school. We just all pile in (it's a half mile to the school and no major roads) We have a great neighborhood, which was divinely placed I know. The fact that we bought this house in this ward and got these neighbors was crazy inside itself! I could go on and on about the things in my life that I am grateful for. If I focus on the bad, it can be bad within a few days. It can almost put me in a depressive state. But when I focus on the blessings, my heart wants to explode with happiness!!! I am so blessed!!! I am so thankful most of all for my testimony! So thankful that I know that the church makes me happy! Some of the people in it... not so much, but living the gospel does! I love my life!!!

Cute Little Helper

Cael just came in to ask me if I would start The Rescuers for him. We are having a hard time just watching this movie ONCE a day. If it was up to him, we would watch it about 3-4 times a day. Anyways, he comes in while I'm cleaning his room and talking to my mom on the phone. Then he tells me that Colby was playing in the white sugar (left alone for 5 min max!). I run to the kitchen to see him playing in the powdered milk. He LOVES the powdered milk. It makes the floor slick, and he always goes for that #10 can. As I am getting mad at him, Cael says with tons of attitude, "Yeah, and he was trying to get it all over your cute little helper!" I just look at Cael, and he smiles really cute and says, "That's me! Your cute little helper." Oh my. Cael is my cute little helper, as long as I can find him. The other day he was lost and we were running around frantic. The boys were all on bikes and we were getting really scared. It was the longest I had ever looked for him without finding him. I came running into the house and yelled his name as I started crying, and out he pops. Once he heard the fear in my voice (because I was getting to the point that 911 would soon follow!) he came out OF HIDING!!! He was hiding behind a night stand in his room. It's close to the wall, and he fit in perfect. I never thought I was looking for a hiding boy. That was the most trouble he has EVER been in!!! He sat on his bed the rest of the day, about 6 hours. Little turkey!!! Colby is my little hellion. That kid can rip a house apart in no time flat! Chet was folding our whites last night and I told him not to bother with mine. Colby empties my drawer about 8 times a day. (I just had about a 5 min break from writing for another mess!) Cael just came and got me to tell me that Colby was making a mess. Sure enough, he was making hot chocolate on the living room floor. Water and powder all over the carpet, mixing it. No container, just the carpet! He is such a ripper!!! He has this face he does every time he gets in trouble too. It's the pancake smile that I put up earlier. He looks at me out of the top of his eyes, and uses every bit of self control possible to not smile! His upper lip curls up, and he don't know if you want to kiss him or discipline him. Baby Brat for sure! I love them to pieces! Being a mom is hard stuff. Hard stuff I tell you! Heavenly Father had to have something as strong as love to make sure that you hang around. I don't know how you can be so mad and so in love all at the same time! Colby shows me thats possible EVERY.SINGLE.DAY!!!

Caden's Art

Every day Caden has to do some kind of art project. Sometimes it's just drawing a picture, but more and more he is "making" things. This was what he made the other day after school. He just has to make something, and then can go on with his day. It's what grounds him. It makes him tick. He would go CRAZY if we didn't let him. He is so creative though. I thought it would be fun to show a sample. Love him!

Play Area

 

 

Love it when they play this hard!!!

 

Monday thru Friday I try to go to the gym. Mostly I get 4 days a week, but I try to go all 5. The boys go into what we call the "Play Area" There are moms in there that watch the kids. Moms that get paid, get to bring their own kids, and get a free membership to the best facility I have ever seen. They are awesome. Cael calls them his teachers. They love my kids, and are great! I feel like they are my friends now. The boys LOVE the play area. Colby mostly just loves whatever Cael loves, so he gets all excited when we go too. This is what happens almost every day. If I go to get Chet for lunch after (I go from 9-11 and then go straight to Wyoming Machinery) the gym, they are OUT!!! Love my babies!!!

Prayers

For all of Cael's life, we have said at least 3 prayers a day. The kid has heard a million prayers. He, however, will never say his own prayer. We always have to tell him what to say. When we say, "In the name of ..." and he can finish it out, but that is it! Nothing, nada, no more than that. We have tried and tried to get him to, but he is not interested. He will kneel, or fold his arms at the dinner table, or anything else associated with our prayers, but WILL NOT say them. Tonight I was out at a church activity, and Chet just informed me that he said his own prayer. He said that Cars taught him. This is Chet's rememberance of what he said, "I have a nice house. I have great brothers. hehehe. Thank you for my house. Thank you for my great brothers. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." (Thats the best he can remember it, Chets memory sucks!) He said there was no intro. We do thank Heavenly Father for our comfortable house that is so nice and for our family probably every night, so maybe that's where that came from. I don't know where they come up with half their sayings, but I will take what I can get. So happy for him. He climbed up on my lap while I was tickling Colby the other day and layed his head on my shoulder. Then he said, "Don't you just love your babies!" (Carter, Cars, and Caden are the boys and Cael and Colby are my babies - kinda weird but its stuck!) I do love my babies. All six of them!!!

 (A great friend gave Colby a sucker right before a family picture and church. Gotta love your friends!!!)

 

Phone Calls from School

Today while at the Dr I hear my phone going crazy in my jacket pocket. After finally checking out, I look to see that it was the school calling me. I have to take a deep breath, and brace myself for the next craziest thing that I have ever heard, since the last time the school has called. Today took the cake. I call back and they send me to Hollie, the same girl that seems to always call. We know each other pretty well by now, almost 2 years of phone calls home. She tells me that Cars needs a change of underware. I was so confused. How could my EIGHT year old who has NEVER had an accident just need a change. He would have to die before having an accident. It's just NOT him!!! She asks if I would like to talk to him and totally bewildered I say yes. He gets on the phone and asks if I will bring him some underware. I say, "Sweetheart, what in the heck happened?!?" He says, "I just didn't get it all. And, would you please bring me some toilet paper?" Confused, on so many levels, I ask if they are out at the school. He says, "No...but Mom...it is only one sheet thick." I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Carson is so like me. I do not do public bathrooms. I don't even do friends bathrooms. Which is weird because my bathroom (tied closely with my kitchen floor) is the dirtiest room in my house. I don't know the reason, but both of us are complete bathroom snobs! And toilet paper snobs! I luckily had a sitter already so I ran home and to the school. The office was laughing and saying how cute he was. His teacher saw me and told me how cute he is. The school nurse as he was changing was going on and on about what a good mom I must be to have raised such a wonderful boy. Not exactly the response you expect from that kind of ... call. They all said how polite and sweet he is and every adult I talked to just gushed about him. When he was done changing I quietly said to him, "You must have had to go REALLY bad. Why did you use this bathroom?" He just said, "I had to go BAD! But I will never again. I hate their toilet paper!" So funny. This might be the first time ever he has used toilet paper in a public place. There is a bit difference between Charmin Ultra and the schools. Enough so that he will carry his own from now on! So funny, so funny!!!

Experiences

I commented to Chet today about how hard FHE was when we first started doing it. We were lucky to get 20 minutes of good family time in. Tonight, when Chet pulled into the driveway, there were 5 boys literally jumping up and down on the driveway. They live for family night. They want it to start the second he gets home, and they fully expect it to last until the minute they lay their heads down. It's really pretty cool. Tonight, the excitement was created by them knowing that they got to ride their four wheeler. It has been "benched" due to a lack of oil, or money to buy oil. It was $21 today, so I told Cars that he owed me $10.50 and Carter the same. Cars said, "You agreed to pay for half of anything we buy" I replied that I would pay half of anything they saved for that I approved of. He says to me like I am a total idiot, "Mom! Do you know how hard it was for me to save this $10?" And that was a good point. The kid cannot save money to save his life. So, Chet pulled out the big shocker by telling the boys that Papa had let us borrow his four wheelers & trailer, and it was parked right around the corner from us in the field (It's been there for a while now and they had no idea, Chet's exact plan!), and we were going to ride as a family. The babies didn't know why everyone was so excited, but they joined in on being just as excited. It was awesome. Chet and I each took a baby and a boy, and one boy rode theirs at a time. We let them lead through the huge field behind our house for at least an hour. We pretended to race dad. The boys were all laughing uncontrollably! We went up and down hills. We laughed, and joked, and played! It was awesome. I love experiences! I am really quite frugal with money sometimes, and then not at all other times. I realized tonight that I am willing to spend any amount of money on experiences. Not just spoiling experiences, but experiences that you would talk about later, or remember. Not toys, and things. Unless those things bring memories with them. Chet and I cannot wait for the day when we get to all go as a family, each on our own four wheeler. We went camping with a family of 4 once that would camp and ride. We are sold on that idea. We hope to be fortunate enough in less than 5 years to do the same. Spend numerous weekends a summer just camping and riding together. The thought makes me smile. I hope it can become a reality sometime soon!