Christmas 2013

This Christmas season has been a crazy one. We have had soooo much going on outside of the normal Christmas season (mostly with a rental house in Casper) that we really didn't even think about Christmas day until a week before. We did all the normal talking about serving others and trying to do that, but I didn't buy a single present until the Thursday before Christmas. I went out at 7:30 at night, returned at 10, where Chet and I wrapped them all, and we were almost done with it all. Christmas Eve we went back out for 2 more presents. It was very nice and quick. The boys really got the idea of Christmas this year. They didn't ask for a lot and they were very understanding about the commercialization of it all, and I was very happy at their disposition towards Christmas. Of course they are still kids, but they were really good remembering that it's Christ's bday, not theirs. They were over the moon excited about their presents they did receive, and it was a super great day!!! The highlight: After Cael had all his presents open, he climbed into Chets lap and started crying. With tears running down his cheeks, he says, "All I asked Santa for was a remote control." I looked over at the boys, and low and behold, Carter had one present unopened, and it was a remote control car. I just looked at him and wispered, "Can I have your present for Cael please?" They only get 3 presents each (like the three wise men). The other two gifts were not toys (that he had already opened.) I think he was saving the biggest and best for last. Without question and without any sad facial expressions, he just handed it over to me. I handed it to Cael and told him he had one more present. He opened it up and was BEYOND excited (and told us that it was the best Christmas EVER!!!). I turned to Carter holding back tears (as I am now trying to write this even!) and mouthed thank you! He was smiling, and didn't seem one bit sad. He was happy none the less!!! I was so overwhelmed with happiness and pride and joy. Carter seemed to have the true spirit of giving, and was so selfless. I grabbed him and as I cried I told him that I would take him to the store to buy anything he wanted. He asked me later if he could trade in his gift for a night up until midnight. I hugged him again with so much love for that amazing boy, and told him he could have both! Later that night we drove all over town looking for a place open on Christmas night that we could get some ice cream (the #1 way to show him love. He LOVES to get ice cream.) Carson was very upset that Carter was staying up with Chet and I, and came out with tears in his eyes, saying, "I would have done the same!" I don't know if he would have, but even if he wouldn't have then, he saw how happy it made Chet and I, that Carters example will remain with him too of unselfishness. We went to a Christmas day brunch and bragged about Carter and I know it made an impression on both of them too. They could see the pride and all the adults were telling Carter how amazing he is! I cannot even explain the way I felt. Everyone was so happy. The boys played and played and played, mostly together. It was definately a mothers payday. When everything that you have been trying to teach them all came together. It has been my favorite Christmas that I can remember!!! Mostly because of the way I FEEL, not the things that I have! I feel so blessed to be the mother of these 5 amazing boys. They are all soooooo different and they bring such different personalities and things to our family, but together it all fits. In one homey LOUD filled with love house!!!

My Baby turned 3!!!

This year was the year for Colby. He had to indure Caden's bday in Aug (when the asking when it would be his bday began) and then Cael's in October, and then mine in November. By the time December FINALLY rolled around, he was beyond excited!!! The great thing about his bday is that it's right after black friday, so I can get him TONS of cool toys for barely anything. He asked for dirt bikes everytime you asked what he wanted. He is REALLY into dirt bikes right now! He loves trucks that have trailors, and animals that can go into the trailor. Ducks (duck duck dynasty!) or horses or elk or dogs or whatever. He also loves four wheelers. He got about 10 trucks and trailors. Also, on the boys third bday we have a money theme and they get their first piggy bank and rolls of coins to put in it. It becomes their mission savings, and everyone has one but him so he was really excited to finally have one. He find money (he knows where to look for Chet and I's coins) and wants to put it in his bank everyday. We also gave him some birthday cake oreos and he was pleased! That could have been one of his favorites. He got to take them around and share with brothers. He felt pretty cool. He also got some super hero things and books. For breakfast he wanted cake. For lunch he wanted popcorn. And for dinner he wanted chicken noodle soup. This has become a new favorite just recently. He picks it for the meal every week while I make my shopping list (7 members of the family, each person picks a meal for that week). However, on his birthday the boys convinced him that Subway at their school would be way better. So, for his birthday lunch we went into the school and he ate with his brothers. He LOVED it! He was telling all their friends he was 3. It was adorable!

Colby is a total cutie!!! He loves to "perform" (but not for others, just our family usually) He loves to dance, and he is actually really good at it. He has awesome facial expressions. He is SUPER smart (worldly smart and shapes colors numbers letters kinda smart), and is a TOTAL manipulator!!! He knows how to work it. He is what I call my baby brat. He corrects me and says, "I not a baby brat, I 3" He loves to snuggle with Chet and I, and is coming out of his shell a little with others outside the family. I took him to my moms ward and when I took him into nursery I told them that he was visiting, and asked him if he was going to be ok and respectful. He starts rolling up his sleeves and then super hero (one arm out in front of him, Cael taught him) walks over to the toys. He is really good at staying with a sitter or my parents or whoever I tell him its ok to stay with. He rarely ever cries when I leave, as long as I promise him that I will be back soon. He talks really well for his age. He LOVES to talk on the phone. He asks me EVERY day if we can go shopping. He loves to go to the "Blue Roof" (which is Walmart!). He is SUPER sad every.single.time. we drop Cael off at preschool. He asks me every day if he can stay if he promises to be really good and mature (I love when he uses that word!) Whenever I go anywhere I ask if anyone wants to go with me (it used to be that once Chet was home, if I had to go anywhere NO ONE was coming with) and he ALWAYS wants to come. He follows Cael like a puppy dog EVERYWHERE!!! I hear him tell Cael almost daily, "I love you Tael. You're my bestest friend!" Cael always hugs him and says, "I know Toby. You are my best friend too!" It melts my heart!!! They are serious too. They are the best of friends!!! They play really well together (although Colby does like to pick on him and be stronger than Cael, just cause he can. It's funny half the time and I want to kick his butt the other half) Colby tells me about 10+ times a day that he is hungry. It drives me mad!!! He eats really well at every meal, so I don't think he's hungry, but if I feed him, he will eat. I don't know if its a bored thing or attention thing, or what it is, but it drives me crazy!!! He eats a TON of food. He loves treats! He asks me every morning when we return from taking the boys to school if he can have a treat. And every morning I ask him when we have treats? in which he replies "After lunch." He LOVES, and I mean loves loves loves to read. He would be totally happy if I sat all day long and read to him. I make the boys read to him everyday to help them reading (Caden just reading and I make the boys read with expression and punctuation to him) Cael has a great memory, so he just sets and recites from memory all their books to him. He probably reads with someone about 15-20 books a day. He can also recite most books like Cael because we only have about 30 so it's the same ones over and over and over. He tells me about 10 times a day, "Mom, you a princess." Whenever I do anything nice for him he tells me. He loves to help make anything. He pulls a chair to the counter. If I won't let him pour with me, he just sets and watches. He would rather eat homemade over packaged every day. If I take him out to eat for lunch, he will just beg to go home and eat. He likes routine. He loves to be with his brothers, mostly Cael. He is  very picky about his clothes. He has an idea of the way he likes to dress, and is very vocal about it if he doesn't like his outfit. He loves shoes. He would love it if he had 20 pair. He loves "class" at church, and is MAD if we miss church for any reason (which is very rare) He wants to go even when he has the flu! We LOVE having him in our family! Even though I am on the verge of crazy.. I wouldn't trade him for the world. He makes me laugh, smile, be angry, frustrated almost every day. I love him to pieces!!!

Favorite Dinner: Chicken Noodle Soup
Favorite Treat: Cake (but he likes them all)
Favorite Color: Anything Cael says
Favorite Book: Anything Cael says
Favorite Activity: Anything Cael says (seeing a pattern!)
Favorite person to be with: Cael
Favorite toy: dirt bikes
Favorite snack: brocolli (he cries with excitement every time we are in the veggies sections at the store!), carrots (I hate both of them!!!), bananas

55 minutes ago

The older boys were all in playing the wii, and Cars started making fun of Caden for something. No one laughed and Caden says, "Carson, that was so 55 minutes ago. It's not funny anymore." and they just continue playing. It was pretty funny. A whole 55 minutes ago. So old news...

Sleeping Advice

Tonight while saying personal prayers (I ask myself every night why we call them personal prayers when they say them out loud with one of us there... but we're trying to form the habit that will last them a life time. A chance for them to be completely selfish and talk to Heavenly Father about THEIR problems, and Chet and I learn a lot about whats troubling them or on their minds) Carson tells me that he gave Caden some really good sleeping advice. Caden shakes his head yes and looks me right in the eye, totally serious. I asked what that was, and Carson says, "If you just lay in bed really still and close your eyes, you'll be asleep in less than 2 minutes." Both boys just look at me like they are sooooo smart! Sorry Cars, not everyone has your crazy mind that just needs to sit for 2 seconds unused to just blank out. But Caden was happy with it! Hey, I like it! Bedtime was MUCH quieter tonight!!!

Duck, duck...

The boys are hooked on two shows right now. Any time we have any extra time before bed all the boys want to watch Top Shot, or Duck Dynasty. Colby last night comes running in the room wanting to watch Duck Duck Dynasty. He kept saying it over and over. I asked him, "Like, Duck Duck Goose, but Duck Duck Dynasty?" He looked at me all excited and said, "YEAH!!!" Too funny!

YUCK!!!

While searching the internet I was getting bombarded with boys. I had both babies almost sitting on me. All of a sudden it stunk... horribly!!! I said, "Oh my gosh, who pooped their pants!" Both of them immediatly say they didn't, but Cael speaks up and says, "But I did plup." Chet and I started laughing and he just said, "I'm serious I did." How "fart" turned into "plup" I have no idea!

Flu

My little Colby had some form of the flu I believe. It was luckily just a quick 12 hour thing, but he has thrown and thrown and thrown up. Carson wanted to just put oils on him. That was his first thought. Crack me up! But the thing that was crazy is how good of a boy Colbs is when sick. You know how some kids are HORRIBLE sickies, and then others are really good. Colby just wanted to lay on the couch. When we went to pick up brothers from school he took his bowl and used it. He didn't make any mess in the car. He just wanted gatorade in his straw cup, and then for the most part he was wonderful. He made it in the bowl all the other maybe 6-7 times he threw up, only made a mess the first time. He wanted to snuggle and sleep. I love him! Little baby brat has my heart wrapped for sure!!!

Opposites

The other day Cael and Carter were reading a book together in the car. It was a book about opposites, so Carter would read one page, and the opposite would be on the other side. It went something like this:

Carter: Black
Cael: White
Carter: Tall
Cael: Short
Carter:Lost
Cael: Look under your bed

Cael then just looked at Carter, like keep going... next. I laughed until I cried. Cael has two ways to clean his room, well 3 I guess.
1)shove it under his bed
2)shove it in his closet, which I see every day and then he has to just shove it under his bed, so he usually just starts with it under his bed.
3)tell me that he is too little to do it alone, and I clean while he plays next to me.
If he ever loses anything, it can be found under his bed 90% of the time. So I guess he wasn't too far off in his reality. If something is lost, the opposite is to look under the bed and it will be found.

Told You So!

While standing in the kitchen cooking today, I hear Cael say to Caden, "Carter will do anything I ask." said with a lot of sass. Caden replys, "No he won't!!!" with just as much sass. Carter walks into the kitchen and Cael in an angelic voice says, "Carter, will you please get me a drink of water please?" Carter walks straight to the cupboard and pulls out a cup while saying sure Cael. Cael busts out in a crazy laugh, puts his two hands at his waist in guns, and looks right at Caden and says, "Told you so!!!" All the while laughing hysterically like a crazy boy. Carter was clueless and Caden was mad. Cael was happy as can be, and angelically tells Carter thanks! What an amazing talent! A little too young to know he has that power, but funny none the less.

Boogers

Today I was frantically trying to get something done. Colby comes over to me and says, "Mom! There is booger trying to fly out of my nose!" I stopped and looked at him and said what? He repeated it again and so I told him to get a tissue. He says, "No! Hurry, before it flies out, you get me a tissue!" I ran and got a tissue and wiped his nose, but there was nothing there. After I wiped he started blowing in and out his nose and says, "Thanks mom!" and walks away. What a weirdo! Flying boogers. Oy!!!

I am 5!

We are getting ready to go to a ward dinner, and you know how you never know if you will come home full, or the food was not quite... your style, or cleanliness (if you know what I mean). The boys were all grabbing them a bowl of cereal before we left. Carter was helping the babies. Carter got Cael a bowl that he has always used, a small bowl (and remember, this is just a snack, not a meal). Cael, completely and utterly disgusted, put his hands out and with the most disgusted face he could get says to Carter, "What! Do you think that I am 4! Carter, I am 5! I need a big bowl!" Carter tried for about 2 seconds to have him keep the small bowl and quickly saw that Cael was having no part of the small bowl. He is quite proud of being five. Chet was talking about a scout having 5 steaks on their campout, and Cael runs over and says (he was playing off in the room next to where we were talking) "He had the same amount of steaks that I am old!!!!!!!" It is really cute. I might not be able to call the youngest two my babies anymore. He might just set me straight if I try!

Cael Bug is 5!!!

I cannot believe it! Cael is 5! It seems like yesterday we were moving to Gillette, and he was barely talking. He was such a joy, and that kid still is!!! He is so much fun. Without any doubt, he has been the easiest boy to raise to the age of 5 (Colby already loses and he is only 3, the little ripper!) Cael has completely grown out of the wandering away stage, and he is such a happy kid. He has so much karisma! I am told frequently that he is everyones favorite kid. He is so animated and fun and positive and happy! Just plain excited about EVERYTHING! When he asks us for anything he will say, "YESSSSSS!" when we say yes. He is really good at getting what he wants. He is a GREAT big brother. He loves to play with Colby, and he is very kind and loving with him. Don't get me wrong, we are still a family of boys, but they hug all the time, and he frequently gives Colby random kisses (and Chet and I too). He is a little runt! He is almost the same size as Colby, and Colby is almost as strong. This fall during soccer we are watching the boys play and I hear, "Colby, let me up!" half muffled. I hear it about 3 more times before I turn because I then start hearing other parents laughing. I turn around and Colby is sitting on Cael's back, Cael face down in the grass. There was a hole in the grass where there was a little valve hole, and Colby was shoving Cael's face into the hole. He was completely at the mercy of Colby. Before he got Colby off of him, he had the attention of about 12 people. Everyone was laughing at them. Instead of getting up and being mad or embarrassed, he got up and put his arm around Colby and said, "Buddy, you cannot do that to me. I cannot breath." and he hugs him. Colby hugged him back and off they ran. He is a manipulator at times, but totally gets away with it because he is so dang cute!

He lives with a very thin veil. He says things from the other side sometimes. He is so matter of fact about things that make me about drop. He is SUPER smart. He is named after his Uncle Morgan, appropriately so. I think that he has some form of a photographic memory. After I read a book to him once, he can almost read it himself. While sitting in the car the other day he told me to go. I told him that I couldn't, the light was red. He said, "Go. (then made the sound for "G") G. (then made the sound for "O") O. Go. G.O. Is that how you spell go mom?" I have never once worked with him on his letters or trying to sound anything out. I about died! Then he proceeded to sound out stop, and did it correctly! He can sound out most words that are soundable. Crazy stuff!!!

He is very independant. He doesn't need to be entertained. He knows what he wants, and will manipulate his way into anything. He is super sneeky! He loves the kindle, and will quietly and spylike sneak it out of the room and to his closet, where he had a little kitchen set up. We store Chet's snow boots in the bottom of his closet, and we caught him hiding food in them. Frosting, peanut butter, cookie dough, any candy that I leave out, popcorn, etc. He was sneaking the kindle, getting onto phineas and ferb, and having a little party. He is very attentive and would hide everything when we started calling for him. I don't know how long he had all the food in there, but he had quite the stash! He is my worst eater. He hates everything, until we make him take a bite and he ends up liking about half the food. He LOVES treats. He will tell me on nights that I make dessert, "Mom, I have a meal tummy ache but not a brownie tummy ache. I think the brownie will make me feel better" He uses a tummy ache to get out of everything.

He cannot wait until he can go to school. All his neighborhood friends went this year and it makes him sad. He is very social. He will give Cars a run for his money on winning the social crown. He is very chummy with all the neighbors and doesn't get shy to say hi to all of them. He is very animated when talking to them, and has a slight lisp. They all raise their eyebrows and get wide eyes like him when he talks to them because he is so animated and he tells our neighbors EVERYTHING! He loves to be with people, but can play 24 hours alone too. It is so great!!! He doesn't favor Chet or I, but loves us both so wonderfully. He loves to hug and kiss us. He loves to dance and wiggle his butt. He is really good. He wanted to have a rock star party this year. We gave him a carnival style party where he dressed as a rock star. He had 16 kids show up. His only request for his birthday was that he wanted Ramen Noodles for dinner and an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Pretty easy! He got his first gun from Papa, a tradition that my dad has started with all his grandkids. He was most excited about that gift.

Other favorites:
Color :   Red
Food:   Sausage Rice Casserole
Thing to Do: Watch Movies (Spymate is the favorite right now! He loves the chimp, and calls everyone a chimp right now)
Dessert:   Chocolate Cake, but he doesn't discriminate, he'll eat any junk food
Funnest Thing He's Ever Done (in his own words):   when it's Christmas time and we get to set up the tree (can you tell what we are doing for FHE tonight!)
Book: Barnyard Dance
Game: Soccer, he will tell you how good he is at it!
 
I really don't know what I would do without my little bug. I love him to pieces!!! He is such a great part of our family. I am so glad that Heavenly Father sent him to me!!!

Bed and Reading

Carson's teacher is the wife of the bishop we share our building with. She is super nice, and I very much respect her as a women, a LDS women, and a teacher. Carson told me that he told her the other day, "My mom lays in bed all day and reads romance novels." I about died. I just set there looking at him wondering what to do. I have decided that Thursday is my "lazy" day. I like to do ALL the laundry in the house, and pick up the house and then just snuggle and usually nap with the boys. I don't make appointments or schedule anything on that day. I do whatever I want without feeling guilty. It has been wonderful!!! Well he was off of school on a Thursday and I had just started a Nicholas Sparks book. I layed around until 10 (however I did get up and make breakfast and do the dishes that morning at 8.) in my jammies reading. When he asked me what my books were about I told him that I like to read books about people falling in love, chick books (Notebook, Walk to Remember, Safe Haven, etc). He changed that into laying in bed all day everyday and reading ROMANCE novels. Luckily his teacher had told me she would only believe half of what he said and we should only believe half of what he says to us. Note to self: talk to his teacher and clear up Carsons statement. Chick books of the PG to PG13 level, not romance novels of the R level. And all day everyday is a couple of hours on Thursday morning. Silly kids!

Where's Mom Been?

I just got back from a wonderfully needed weekend away with some of the girls in my family. I went to Phoenix and just hung out for the weekend. I left Friday before the kids got up (Friday- Monday afternoon). So I made it in time to go pick up Cael from preschool. When I went inside, Cael's teacher says, "Cael, look who's here!" and Cael came running around the corner and jumped into my arms. He was just laying on my shoulder patting my back and then would look at me and give me a kiss and lay back down. He was smiling real big and saying that he loved me lots. Everyone at the preschool stopped and was looking at us. It was soo cute how excited he was to see me! I loved it! Then his teacher tells me that he said the cutest thing at school. She didn't recognize Chet so she asked him who dropped him off. He said his dad but told her excited that I would be back today. She asked where I was and he told her Phoenix. She asked if I was there just for fun and he replied, "No. She went to get away from us, we drive her crazy." Nice Cael. Luckily the teacher is a mother of 3 boys and said, "I hear ya! I only have 3 and it's more than I can handle sometimes!" I felt stupid, but it was the truth. But I felt bad that Cael knew that! Not too bad though, every mom needs a break sometimes!!!

Denver - Summer 2013

I just realized that I never posted about Denver because I wanted to post pictures. I have to write about our summer vaca for rememberance sake. Chet and I have always wanted to take an annual family vaca. It's near impossible. Between family reunions, and scouts, and hunting, we have no vacation time left. This year we decided to skip family reunions and plan a trip all around fun. We planned it with several friends in Gillette. Come time for the trip, everyone but the Lee's had to back out for one reason or another. We decided rather than camp and lake, we would go to Denver and play. We switched plans last minute and Erin and I went to planning. We booked our rooms and headed down (the guys had taken off Wed, Thur, and Friday) Wednesday morning. When we got there, we went to the zoo. It was the first time for my boys. Then we went to the aquarium and decided to eat first. It was sooo cool. There were tanks where mermaids were swimming which was a huge highlight for the Lee girls. You could go up to the tanks and they would swim over and touch hands with you and let you take pictures with your kids by the tank. They also had a play room for the kids while they waited for their food. So the men took the kids and Erin and I just ordered and sat and chatted. So much fun. After dinner we decided we would just go get dessert and head back to the hotel. Outside they were making smores for free over a fire pit. All the kids got to roast a marshmellow and make a smore.

The next day we got up and ate at the hotel. Again, all 14 of us eating in a hotel breakfast room. The kids were all talking and excited for the day. We wanted to be at the amusement park when it opened, and we were. We partied hard all day. First Erin and Clint took the older kids and Chet and I took all the younger ones on the kiddie rides. Then we switched. Then Erin and I took them, and then the guys. It was a fun day, and we all got to ride almost everything we wanted. Clint and Erin took the kids to a motorcycle show where they were jumping and doing circles in a cage. Colby talks about that every day still 2 months later. We closed the park down. While leaving the parking lot I called cheesecake factory and asked if they could seat 14 of us. They said sure come right down. We all went to the cheesecake factory in downtown Denver. I don't think we were the group of 14 they were hoping for, but it was great. We were kinda in a seperate room (there were about 6 other tables) and we all had a great time. Then we went back to the room and watched some TV together and then crashed.

We had planned to go to the Lee's property in the Black Hills on Friday and camp the rest of the weekend, but we were having too much fun. The kids loved the water rides, so we just had to go to the water park too. So Friday morning we got up and were at Water World to open the park. If I thought we played hard on Thursday, we played even harder on Friday. Even the babies were having a blast (they have a boy 2 months younger than Colbs, 2-1/2) We played until the park closed. It wasn't too hot, but hot enough, and the lines were fairly short. For the second day in a row, we seemed to hit on the right day. Perfect weather and lines. We then went to dinner at a steak house, and the kids were GREAT! They were so tired, we thought it would be breakdown city, but they were so tired they just sat and stared. It was a blast!!! Dinner is a highlight for me. I love to just sit and eat food that I don't have to cook or clean up after while talking to my friends, and reliving everything we had just done. I had permagrin. We then headed to the hotel, hung out a little, and crashed.

Saturday we hung out until about 10ish and headed home. We stopped in Casper on the way home and hung out for a few hours. Sunday we headed up to the Lee's property and cooked dinner and had a great feast. The boys ran around in nature, feeling like they were in heaven, and we just sat in chairs relaxing. The guys took all the kids on a low key 4 wheeler ride. Everyone was just happy!

It was a happy weekend and always a great time with the Lee's. It's so nice to have a family that is in the same situation as us. They understand our frustrations, and we all help each other. They can help any of my kids and we can help any of theirs. We just all pitch in where needed. Their kids are almost our kids ages, and they all get along really well. Clint and Erin are VERY different from us, and it works. They don't like to plan, but are always up for having a good, clean, fun time! They leave most of the planning to me, and go along with whatever I come up with. We love hanging out with them, and always come away feeling happy and blessed to have them as our friends!

We hope to hit Disneyland with them next! Lego land, the beach, Sea World, the works!!! Already saving and hoping!!!

Temple Trips

We try really hard to attend the temple every month. It's not so easy. It's a long day when we do. It was a youth temple trip yesterday, which means that Chet is taken for 2 hours at a specific time. Usually I would just keep the kids and then go in when Chet was done. My friend Erin found a drop in daycare there in Billings, so we decided to wait for our husbands to finish with the youth and then go together, all 4 of us. We did some family names for a ward member and had a great time being in the temple together and with friends. I felt so much peace. Then, we decided to go to a corn maze. We were a little unsure about going because we knew it would cost us more than $50. We decided to all go (they are a family of 7 as well) IT WAS AWESOME!!! They had so many fun things to do! The kids were all just running around having a blast. The babies and big boys. We stayed for 3.5 hours, and really only left because it was cold and getting dark out. We then went to IHOP to eat, all 14 of us. We get the funniest looks. We love to go out with the Lee's, and seem to do it about every other month. We just ventured to Pizza Hut for the first several times, and now we are venturing out a little more (mexican and stuff like that). As we were leaving I apologized to the table next to us for being so loud. It was an older couple and they had been staring at us the entire time. They smiled and said that they had been talking about how well behaved they all were, and how fun it was to see. I love that. I'm very careful not to take them somewhere where they shouldn't be, but it is nice to get compliments about how well behaved 10 kids (ages 10 down to 2) can be. The boys (Cart and Cars) both told me that they were excited to go to the temple when they turn 12. I love the way I feel (according to Caden I am REALLY weird after I go, I say I love you way too much and be all nice and fun), I love being there with Chet, and I love that we are setting an example to the boys of the importance of temple attendance. It's fun to make it a memorable day too; friends make anything more fun at every age!!!

Feeling the Spirit

After church today Cars and I were alone in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher. We were just casually talking about nothing in particular. He says to me so nonchalant, "Guess what happened to me today?" I asked what. He says, "I felt the spirit while we were watching a movie on missionaries in Primary." That is the first time that he has ever said that. We have pointed out times when they could possibly be feeling the spirit, but I think that this was the first time that he recognized he was feeling it. He felt it, knew what it was, and really liked it. He didn't say anything more, but he randomly hugged me twice today and told me that he loved me so much. He's a good kid, but the older he gets, the less of that I get. It was so nice. He made a few other comments, and I could tell that he just felt different today. I love that my boys are growing up in the gospel. I love that they can recognize the spirit, and then love it when they do. I love how the gospel changes who we are, and how we live. We are very blessed for sure!!!

Old Folks Home

Chet has been administering the sacrament at an old folks home for a while now. He is really good to take the boys on different things when doing his calling. He takes them to the church while he has his early morning meetings and they set up chairs. He takes them to every move and makes them help where they can. They love to tag along, and I love having a few less kids while he's gone, AND I love that they are learning to serve. It doesn't bother them, for the most part, when Chet leaves, because they know it's just what we do as a family, and we sustain him. Well, Cars asked Chet if he could go with him to the meeting at the old folks home. It was an instant hit! Not by the old people, but by Cars. He does not miss a week. If Chet has another leader go for him, Cars is mad. He came home and announced to me that he WOULD be applying as soon as he is old enough to work there. He told me that he CANNOT wait until he is 12 and can pass the sacrament, especially there. I asked him why and he told me that some of the people cannot take the sacrament themselves and that you get to help them eat and drink. He loves to talk to all of them and help them where he can. Chet says that he shakes everyones hand, and he even said the closing prayer for their sacrament meeting the other day. We took the boys to a drop in daycare place in Billings so we could go to the temple, and upon picking them up Cars informs us that it was the most boring place EVER! Chet says, "It's about as fun as an old folks home huh?" Cars says, "No! That place is AWESOME! This place sucks!" He is just in love with the place. He loves the old people! He is such a great caretaker. I love that about him!!! And I am curious to see if he really does work there. I told him that he can start volunteering there if he wants soon, and he is really excited. The other boys think it stinks and that the people are weird, and they don't like it so much. Not Cars. He would go every day if we took him!

Perspective

All the things that Chet and I do for the kids, I think that we sometimes forget what really matters to them. They want to be loved, and they want to be boys. We got DUMPED on today. The boys wanted to get their snow clothes on and go shovel. Not play, shovel! It is really heavy snow, but they did their best. Cars was so mad at us all morning because we have Papa's 4-wheeler and no plow. We just found out that our neighbor has his 4-wheeler in Laramie for hunting, and has his plow in his shed, and is DREADING the thought of shoveling. I told Cars to go see if the 4-wheeler would start and if he could dig it out. He worked diligently until he could get it out. He was careful, and responsible and used so much common sense, not just crazy 9 year old boy! He got it out and drove it from the side of the house to the driveway. He then came inside and had to tell me a detailed account of everything he "The Snow King" did to get it out. He is on cloud nine, had to call Papa and tell him about it, ask if they could hook up the plow. He is walking around the house happier than I have seen him for a REALLY long time! He told me that he loved me out of nowhere. He is just happy! Happy to get to go with dad to help others that needed it, and now getting to plow for the cul-de-sac. I love the helper he is. And the joy that he has in LIFE! Thanks Papa for letting us use the 4-wheeler. You have one happy boy!!!

Creepy

Cael picked out the movie Flushed Away, but never got to watch it. When he went to school, Colbs asked if I would put it in for him. I put in on and walked out of the room to do something. Typically Colbs will fall asleep for a few hours shortly after Cael leaves for school, so I thought he would be to sleep in no time. Instead he was out hanging on me about 15 min later. I asked him why he was not watching his movie and he says, "Because that movie is creepy mom. I don't like that creepy movie." Creepy? Where did he get that word. It makes me laugh. The older boys would have never said anything like that, because they only repeated the words we would use. Now the babies are using all kinds of funny words they are learning from brothers!

Steak and Fish

Chet has just started making green smoothies before work. He likes to put raw almonds in it. Today is a snow day so we are all sitting around watching Duck Dynasty and one of the boys found Chets stash. Raw almonds are expensive, but so good for them that we just let them eat them. Cars and Colbs are just devouring them, so I said, "You like those Cars?" He replies, "Yeah! They are like eating steak and fish" and never lets his eyes leave the show. What a weird comparrison! He is so weird. He likes SUCH different food from me!

Shes a 100

I have a really bad habit of rating EVERYTHING on a 1-10 scale. After I make a new meal, after we go on vacation, after I play volleyball, I ALWAYS ask Chet to rank everything on a 1-10. Then I will ask what made it not a 10. So Cars asks me today when he gets home from school what I would rate his teacher (she's LDS, her husband is a bishop of another ward. She is really awesome. Fun and laid back) I thought about it and said, "I think a 10 from what I know so far. What about you?" He says, "She's a 100!" I asked him why. His response was typical Cars. She is a 100 because her kids put music on her ipad and then she plays it throughout the day. He started naming all the songs, and then tells me that there are songs he can get because she will only play ones without naughty words and so she buys clean versions. A lot of times he gets shut down on song purchases because we disagree with the words or meaning behind it. Now he tells me we can get the clean version of every song out. Cool songs too, not old lady songs like country! (Haha I love this kid!)

Debate

Chet often tells Cars that he should be a lawyer. He doesn't even understand why he says it. Today Cars comes home from school and tells me that they have started something new at school called debate. He tells me, "Mom. I am really good at it. I win every one, even when I don't agree with the position she makes me debate (he commented on "position" like he was really cool) He said that he debates really good, and is really funny at it too. I just smiled. He is too cute! I just love when they start learning new things and are so excited about them. He is good at debating at home too!

Not a Sucker

Today Colby asked me to come wipe his butt. (I am ALMOST done wiping butts for good!!!) I walked into the bathroom and said, "Colbs, flush that sucker, it stinks!!!" He looks up at me with confusion on his face and says, "That's not a sucker mom, it's a turd!" Oh my gosh, I laughed until I cried! So dang cute!

Calling in Sick

So I am back from the dead. I don't remember being this sick before. Usually you get sick, and after a horrible 24 hours, you start to kick it and feel better. Saturday I was out in the sun at 4 soccer games spreading the entire morning and afternoon. The boys forgot water, so I gave them mine and left the other one for the babies. By the time I got home around 6 I was BEAT! I just crashed in bed. Chet had just gotten home from hunting for 4 days but I had no energy to even talk. I got up Sunday and went to 7:30 meetings before church. I called Chet and asked him to bring my jacket it was freezing. I left midway through sacrament, and I was the only member of the relief society there. I turned over conducting to the teacher and went home and crashed. Chet was super busy all day Sunday, from one thing to the next. Monday morning he flew out at 5:20. I pulled myself out of bed to take the kids to school (only because it was raining or they would have been on bikes) and needed a 2 hour nap by the time I made the mile drive (Cael and Colby left to their own meal making skills, ritz and peanut butter!). Then I had to take Cael to preschool (PB sandwich on a piece of folded bread as we walked out the door). That landed me back out (luckily Colby crashed with me) for another 2 hours. I woke up with my alarm to go pick Cael up. After picking up him and the boys, I crashed again. Chet called and I didn't even know where the kids were. I was so sick!!! I only got out of bed to go to the bathroom, and then I thought I was going to pass out. I started crying on the phone to Chet at about 6 Monday night. He had basically been MIA for all the time (for good reasons, and we had no idea I would be this sick! I am hardly ever sick!) I had been sick, and I was of NO help to the kids. He called my best friend here in Gillette, and she was Saint Erin. She stopped and got the boys pizza, me gatorade and chicken noodle soup (oh as a side note. Chet asked Cars if I ran him to Walmart with cash if he could run in and get me some chicken noodle soup. Carson got this look on his face of complete confusion, and says, "Like carrots and celery and onion?" He didn't even know there was cans of chicken noodle soup. I thought that was really funny!) She came over and let my babies show her all kinds of tricks, let my older boys talk her ear off, all while she did my dishes and cleaned up the house. I was laying in my bed thinking I was dying! I had gotten progressively worse, and everytime I tried to drink any liquid, I couldn't keep it in me. I knew I was dehydrated but couldn't do anything about it! It was crazy. Things got worse and worse, and by the time Chet got home I asked him to take me to the hospital. I was GONE by the time I got there. They gave me something in my IV, and to tell you how gone I was I didn't even know that I got a CT scan. Chet said they had to pull me out and take out a bobby pin even. I don't remember it at all. 6 hours later, they sent me home and I've slowly recovered. Today Cars and Cart told me that they didn't feel well so I let them stay home. It is delivery day so Carter says that he wishes he could call in sick like Dad did for his job (Tuesday to help with all the kids) I told him he could, Caden would love to deliver for him. Cars gets all excited and says, me too! I told him that they would have to pay Caden their money for this week. Cars looks at me like he was really thinking in his head and says, "Caden is not getting his bow before I get my dirt bike! I will deliver because I am NOT paying him!" What a total PUNK! My boys are such punks. And I absolutely LOVE every bit of them!!! Another side note: Carter and Carson are total rock stars when it comes to stepping up to the plate. They were so helpful with the babies while I was sick. Cars gathered them in my room for family prayer and facetimed Chet, got them in their jammies, brushed their teeth, sang to them, helped them say their prayers, and put them to bed. Carter was helping with all kinds of cooking and cleaning too. They were awesome! Caden...um Cadenland I think. I couldn't be sure, I was almost in a coma!

Too Much Info

Sometimes my little Carter just drives me crazy. He is this little sponge, that wants to know everything about everything and everyone. He just lerks around waiting to hear some piece of information, to store for later questioning. He is extremly smart, and he knows it. He wants to be the smartest. When Carson told him today that he was NOT the smartest in the fourth grade, he reappeared with a certificate from last year declaring him to have the highest test scores of the grade. That kind of annoying. I tried to tell him not to be that way at school, without crushing his desire to want to learn. Such a hard thing. Well he informs me today that he knows how to shut off the water to the sinks from the basement. I just stood there, milling that over in my mind. To figure that piece of information out, he had to have been in the furnace room, messing with things, and then coming upstairs to see what it did. What a weirdo!!! I am very curious to see what this kid does with all these smarts. Hopefully he pays for me a nice retirement, IN THE LOONEY BIN!!! Oy!

More Babies

Today, in all seriousness, Cael tells me that we need to have another baby in our family. Remember that this kid speaks from the other side sometimes, so I ask him why he would say that (because it's going to have to take about 10 messages from the other side to convince me to have another baby!). He says, "We have a bed that no one is sleeping in. We need a baby for that bed." I said, "What about when you get older and Brody (cousin) comes to see us in the summer, where will he sleep?" Caels reaction, "oh yeah, good thinking mom!" He was satisfied. Then we are sitting at dinner and Cael is telling Chet a story and says, "...since Mom has a baby in her belly..." Me: "I DO NOT HAVE A BABY IN MY BELLY!!!" I turn to Chet and said oh yeah listen to this one...Cael why do we need another baby? He just looks at Chet so matter of factly and says, "Because we have toothbrushes that are not being used. We need another baby to use all the toothbrushes!" Chet told him he would find a better solution that to have another baby. Geesh, what's this kid doing to me!!! He better not be speaking things that he knows and I don't!!! Holy moly!!! SO glad I KNOW I'm not pregnant right now! Crazy boy, he could get an overwhelmed mama worked up in a quick hurry!

Santa

While checking out at the library, Colby was standing at my legs pulling on me to go. He was ready to nap and needed out of the library. All of a sudden he goes silent and started following a big guy with a beanie on. The guy slightly turned around and Colby says, "Mom! It's Santa! Mom, Look! It's Santa!" He had a full white beard half way down his chest. He really did look like Santa. The guy started laughing and said, "You think I'm Santa huh?!" Colby just stared at him and said, "Yeah!" He just stood there the entire time it took for the guy to self check and walked out. The whole time Colby kept saying under his breath, "It's santa! That's Santa!" It was really cute!

Strength and Courage

So about 4 years ago I had a breakdown. I actually went into a heart specialist and wore a heart monitor for a month trying to catch what was going on with me. I went into the ER 3 times I believe. Finally, we realized it was anxiety. I totally had to take a chill pill, literally and figuratively speaking (until I read about the side affects and what coming off the medicine does to you and I quit taking them after 3 days!) After realizing what it was, I just had to let go. So lately I have been stressing again. I have gone a little crazy. As Chet said, I am all over the board. Happy one minute, crying the next. The boys have been a little baffled I think. I am usually pretty sassy with them and give it to 'em straight. Lately I just cry (More in the last month than they have probably seen their entire lives. At least twice a week!) So Chet left to go hunting today leaving me for a couple days and nights by myself. Cars asked if he could say family prayers tonight and he got really serious, like he was really pleading with Heavenly Father for something. He says, "Please give my mom the strength and courage to put us to bed tonight." As soon as he was done, he leans over and gives me a big hug and tells me that he loves me and that I am a great mom. I was a little confused. Strength and courage? Courage? What the heck!?! I didn't think I was that crazy, but usually if you watch your kids you can learn a lot about yourselves! I'm glad he is praying for me at least. We all need a little help sometimes I guess! (Glass half full, right!)

Nice Face

Tonight as we were wrapping up the bedtime routine I slapped Cars on the butt and told him to get moving. I told him that he had a muscular butt and that all the girls were going to be saying that he had a cute butt in high school. He was getting embarrassed and I asked him if he would like if all the girls liked his butt. Carter pipes up and says, "I would much rather have a nice face than a nice butt." just so matter of fact like. Duh Mom, who cares about my butt. I asked Chet if he thought the boys would care. He said yes. They still didn't think they would ever care. We do still have a little while. We will enjoy this time we have left of innocense (sp?) Love my growing boys and all the adventures and conversations we have. Today for the entire time I was putting on my makeup for church, I got to hear all about Cars's poop. I kept telling him that I didn't care, but he kept telling me that I needed to hear this or that about it. Boys! Gross, but you just have to smile!

Caden Turns 8

Holy Moly! Caden turned 8. I was really worried about the boys turning 8, and then being held accountable for everything, but it was nothing compared to the worries with him! For his birthday he just wanted $100. He thoroughly wears out a bike every year and needed a new one, so we bought him a bike and taped the $100 bill on the handlebars. I was thinking I got away easy. Oh no! The spending of that money has about drove me crazy! I was soooooo happy when it was finally all spent! He is still living happily in Caden-Land! He is still super sweet and loving to Chet and I all the time. He cannot fully consider dinner done until he has come over, made Chet scoot his chair out, and sit on his lap. It is so funny, like clock work, every.single.night! He loves to snuggle. He loves his art still! And he LOVES to play with friends. His whole world revolves around playing with friends. He loves to ride his bike, play football, play cops and robbers, shoot his bow, OH MY GOODNESS shoot his bow, and eat! Chet has a bag in the backyard for shooting at, and Caden and the neighbor boy Conner (who is very experienced with a bow) shoot almost every night in the backyard. They love it, and Caden will do almost anything for me for bow time. He is getting very good! He hopes DESPERATLY to go hunting with Chet this year. Chet told him no because he couldn't sit still. Caden asked for how long and Chet told him 20 min. Caden sat on the lawn right then and there for over 20 min until Chet told him he could come in for dinner. He still just sat perfectly still until Chet told him he had passed the test. Then he ran inside. However, they are playing club soccer and that takes all his Saturdays for a while. Soccer. What a fun thing. They are close enough in age to be on the same team. All three boys. Caden might be the star of the 3 boys. He is the best for game one for sure. He is aggressive and skilled and passionate and fun. Then later in the day after many hours in the heat sprinting his butt off, he turns into lazy boy. When Caden makes his mind up about something, like that his legs hurt, that he is tired, or anything like that, it is MADE UP! He loses all rationality. We tease that his middle name should be Lynn after my Grandpa Lynn Smuin. He acts so much like him it is kinda scary. Everyone that knows my grandpa would know why I was scared! Caden has no fear at the amusement park. He rode every ride there. He loved all the slides at Water World too. Put a dog or cat in his path and he might just lose his mind, and all bodily function, but he loves adrenaline. He loves to dance. Tonight while at Wal-Mart he took my change from the machine and was standing far enough away from me in the self check area that I couldn't grab him and was doing this na-na-na thing while doing this hillarious pelvic shake. The employees were dying laughing, and so was he just keeping the money out of my reach. He is really into girls. He loves to chase them, write them letters, draw them pictures, etc. Luckily they all like him back so it works out good for him. He is NOT on a shortage of friends! He has a lot of friends. He loves to eat! And eat! And eat! Here's some favorites of his at this time:

Breakfast: Waffles. He eats about 2-1/2 homemade waffles. 10 squares as he calls it.

Lunch: School lunch because it's with all his friends!

Dinner: Pizza

Dessert: Ice cream and ANY other dessert known to man. We call him junk gut!

Color: every color. Every color reminds him of something or "inspires" him to do something, so whichever color is right in front of him he would claim as his favorite.

Movie: Kickin It. He likes to watch boys break dancing and riding dirt bikes!

Subject: All of them as long as he gets to do it with friends. He EXCELS at Math. And loves art. And P.E.

Over Labor Day weekend we had his baptism. He had a TON of support, both from family and friends. He invited EVERYONE! Including all the nonmember neighbors. He asked them if they knew what baptism was and if they wanted to come watch his. He is a GREAT missionary, although he still says that he cannot be away from Chet and I that long so he cannot serve as a full time missionary (Lynn I tell ya!) He loves primary! He asked his cousin Taylor to baptize him. At first I was bothered that Chet didn't mind. But we left all the decisions up to him, and it turned out amazing. He couldn't have been more proud to have Taylor doing it, and having Chet confirm him. It was a very special day, and he was very happy at all the people that were able to make it and support him. 

Cade-A-Babe, as we call him, is so special! He has some of the best qualities! I love how much he loves me and expresses that to me everyday. He is so fun and funny! I love to be around him! He makes my heart happy, and I hope that he lives an entire life full of the Holy Ghost. The night before his baptism as we kneeled down for family prayers, he said he was sooooooooooo excited to get the Holy Ghost. I hope he is always that excited about life in general, and especially the Gospel.

Funny

After picking Cael up from school he was telling me a hundred miles a minute everything that happened at school. He LOVES, really I could not emphasize that enough, school. I was half zoned out, so sadly I don't even know what it was he was saying. He got to the point of punchline I could tell from his voice, and he looks at me in the mirror, with his eyebrows raised, and says, "That is funny!!!" and then he totally busts out laughing. Then I started laughing at how funny he was, and he was starts shaking his head and saying under his breathe how funny it was! Oh my gosh, it was adorable! He is so dang cute. He makes me laugh!

Neighbors

Today after church, at about 5:30 pm, Chet and I were laying in our bed watching an episode of something on Netflix. We have conflicting opinions about what keeping the sabbath day holy means, so we have compromised. One of us thinks that the kids should be able to play outside, but just nothing motorized. One of us thinks that it should be a neighbor free day. The compromise: the neighbors can play at 5. At 5 o'clock the culdesac comes alive. Some days the kids are waiting on our doorstep for it to click 5. As we lay in bed watching, a neighbor (6 yr old boy) comes cruising into our room, into our bathroom. Chet and I just look at each other, like what the heck just happened? He closes the door, uses the restroom and comes cruising back out. We both say hi, he says hi back, and out he walks. I think that we were both in a little bit of shock, but we just laughed and kept watching. The lesson in Relief Society today was about unity. The teacher asked if we loved our neighbors like we love ourselves. I don't know about ALL my neighbors, but I do know that I love them, and their kids. As we feel that we should be moving at this time for some unknown reason, it makes me a little sad. I have always liked new adventures, but I sure do love my neighbors. They are like family. Sometimes they drive me crazy, but I sure cannot imagine life without them!!!

Snorting

Everyone seems to have their own way to release their frustration. Sometimes it's so bad, that you come up with crazy looking ways to "release" it. My sister used to grab your arm and rub her forehead on your forearm. My mom would put her hands on the countertops and starting breathing really heavy, like she was in labor. I put my hands on top of my head, turn away from the situation and take deep breathes. Everytime I do, I think, "Kimber, you look like a fruit loop! Your kids are surely going to tease you relentlessly for it!" But we all have to have a way. Colby's is the cutest I have ever seen or heard. When he gets really mad at us, he snorts. He will be screaming and crying and throwing a fit, and then will just stop and start snorting. He rarely gets any attention for throwing a fit, so he has quickly learned that this is very effective. We cannot help but all laugh every time he does it, and then he can tell us with words what the problem is. He has been doing this for about a month now, and I still laugh every time he does it. Oy how I love that boy!!

First Kiss

Chet and I are pretty straight forward with the boys on what is ok and what is not. We tell them about dating and steady dating, and those kinda things pretty bluntly (although we know they won't always follow them, we have stated them pretty firmly and set the expectation). But we have never said anything to them about when it's ok to kiss. We don't think that's our place to say to them. They will have to make that decision on their own, and then we will talk about it when it does happen. That's kinda the plan for now. So the other day we were sitting around, and I asked the twins if they would tell me when they had their first kiss. They were kinda embarrassed, but I told them that I would hope they would come to me and tell me after their first kiss. Cars says, "Mom, I think that you will be there." I was sooooo confused. I said, "I will?" He said, "Yeah. You will be at my wedding won't you?" That's the second time that he has said something like that. I looked at Chet and smiled and grabbed my cute little boy and hugged him and told him that gives me a long time to be the only girl he kisses!!!

That's A Lot of Love

Cael told me that he loves me, "as much as Superman can fly fast!" Then he raised his eyebrows and half smiled, and said, "That's a lot Mom!!!" I love hearing kids trying to express something that they just can't quite. I sometimes feel like that. Like I love them so much, but words aren't enough! I loved his comparrison!!! I love my little Cael-Bug!!!

Manipulation

Colby is my 5th child, and things should not come as a big surprise much anymore. But, they still do! I cannot believe how young they are when they start to manipulate situations! Today he was being a TOTAL brat! I had a showing for a couple that I knew was VERY interested in the house, and I was frantically trying to get ready. I put him in timeout. He started screaming, "Dad said no!" over and over again. Chet wasn't even home. He was so tired he was head bobbing while he was screaming. I was half laughing, but the other half was so frustrated already with him that I was just mad at him. He tells me that he needs to go potty. I told him no he didn't, he was just trying to get out of timeout. He looks at me and gets this disgusted look on his face, pouts his lip, and says, "I am potty-training!" and was BAWLING by the end of the sentence. He has been trained for about a month now! I told him to stop crying, and get back in timeout. He went back to his spot and continued yelling "Dad said No", whatever that means. I never let him go and he made it another 2 hours before he really did go. Little twirp!!!

Mechanic

Cars comes inside the other day to use the restroom. When he is done, he comes to me and says, "I just figured out for real what I want to be when I grow up." He has his hands out looking at them, and he is covered head to toe in grease and gas and filth. He said, " I was getting ready to wash my hands and looked at how gross they are, covered in black. It reminded me that I want to be a mechanic!" Then he just looks at me with complete satisfaction, and walks back into the bathroom to wash. He had been out riding his four wheeler, and of course, he always has to improve on it's condition. He is too cute! His primary teacher is a mechanic, and he takes great pride in being a natural like Papa, so I guess that's what he wants to be for now. He did tell me today too that he is not sure that he can go to college. He says that he is only getting ready to start the 4th grade and is not sure he can make it through 4 extra years. I told him it was WAY more fun than high school, with so much more freedom, and the possibility of making so much more money. He said he would think about it!

Carsons thoughts

Carson has started mowing lawns for our neighbors. He started out with one, and it is growing. They think that he is too cheap not to use ($20), and he thinks that he is rolling in the dough!!! He bought a weed eater from my dad (which he told me today was actually the best deal he has ever gotten. Um, ya think! Papa spoils him! $20 for the weed eater which he had to go out and buy another one to replace his!) He does a great job. I walked around with him the first time, checked up on it the second, and have not done anything since. And he keeps having neighbors ask. So we have the boys pay 10% tithing, 40% mission savings, and 50% for them to spend as they wish. As Cars was putting his money in his savings for the last couple of weeks, he tells me that he is going to have WAY more money than he needs. He is going to have SOOO much extra. I told him lets figure it out. I asked him how long he plans to deliver papers, mow lawns, and then get a decent job with a regular paycheck. We do all the math on the numbers, and he sees that he will be way short what he will need for a mission. He got all bummed out, and switched from, I'm going to have sooo much money to holy crap, I need to find a way to make more money. Then you see the light bulb go off. His face lights up, and he says, "But everything I save for that you approve of, you will pay half. And you approve of a mission! There's my money! Now I have enough!!! Oh yeah!" I just laughed. He is so smart. I love to see them figure things out. It was the first time he even thought about that mom and dad might pay some of it. He was so excited then. I loved to see him so happy about something so simple and something so righteous! I love that the boys NEVER complain when they pay into their funds. Sometimes they might say, "that would be nice to have that money", but never trying to get out of paying to it, or to tithing. I also LOVE that his first thought was not that mom and dad will just pay for it, but Crap, I have to make more money. Love that they are such hard workers! I hope they are always as hard of workers as they are now. All my neighbors tell me all the time how they love how helpful they are. They offer to take out their trash when inside, and walk their dog, and help their babies, and pick weeds, and on and on and on. Love my boys!!!

Carson the Awesome

When I got married, I gained two nephews, ages 4 & 2. I taught them when asked who they love the most, to put their hands in the air and yell KIMBER!!! I thought it was awesome. After I moved to Casper my sister in law spent the day spoiling them and asked them who they loved the most and they still said Kimber, long after I had taught them that. It cracked me up. Well, Carson has taught Colby when asked, "What's Carson?" to say, "The awesome!" And when asked what anyone else is, to say, "the pooper!" So, "What's Dad?" Colbs replys, "the pooper!" Baylee has tried to get him to change it, and he won't. Carter and Caden have tried to teach him to say something else when their name is used, and he won't. Religiously he will reply "the awesome" or "the pooper" without hesitation. Cracks me up! Cars and Colbs have quite the bond. They are total buds. Colby trusts Cars with anything, and Cars loves his Colbs! 

Carson the Hero

Today I took the boys into JoAnn Fabric. I just needed to run in really fast and grab some thread. Then the boys wanted to look at EVERYTHING. Carson wanted to look at buckles for his paracord braclets and on and on. I just walked off, knowing that boys in a fabric store was not a great idea. I got up to checkout and the lady must have wanted to take her entire shift to check me out. She was going painfully slow (but in her defense, unless the cashier had been running at mock speed it wouldn't have been fast enough for me!) Colby was being a bear, so I picked him up, handed Cars the cash, and said pay for this and started walking out. Colby was twisting and turning and screaming at me. He got mad and looked me right in the face and told me to put him down, very stern. I just kept walking. He was still twisting and turning like a pickle, and then says to me with TONS of attitude, "Tars will tome save me!" and turned his head in disgust at me. Then he just sat there in my arms, waiting for Cars to come out. Then when he did, he wanted to go hug on Cars. I'll look at it with the glass half full. At least he has someone to look up to that he trusts to help him no matter the problem. Everyone needs a friend like that!

Nice

Last night Chet and I went to date night early. We were home by 7 and decided to go on a family bike ride. It was heaven. Boys riding like wild animals everywhere, like they owned the road. Boys so excited they are running right in front of you, almost riding up over you in the back, and just being crazy. Colby wiggling out of his harness and standing up in the trailer that he rides in behind Chet yelling instructions to his brothers. That's something that would normally give my a lot of anxiety, but instead it gave me permagrin. It was fun! We told the boys not to wake us this morning, just be good! We did get woke pretty early, but we didn't get up. We laid in bed until 9. It was heavenly! We made some waffles and sat at the table and ate as a family.  Then, we got up and ran a million errands that we just needed to do. Unbelievably it was really nice just being together. Then we got us some pizza for lunch and sat at the table eating (that doesn't usually happen at lunch time) When we got home we just played. Cars rode his fourwheeler, Cart watched a movie, Caden and Chet shot bows, Cael and Colby jumped on the tramp, and I sat in my swing watching my whole world around me, and was so thankful for my life. It is so hard sometimes, and sometimes I wonder if I had too many kids, but days like today makes me KNOW that I am doing exactly as I should. Being a mother and wife to these AMAZING 6 boys. I truely am blessed!!!

Night Show

The other night after dinner we were all cleaning up and doing dishes. Nothing in our house is ever quiet, especially when we are all in the same room of the house. Well all of a sudden, Caden bolts out the back door, runs in a says, "yep, they just started them up, hurry it's time for the show!!!" At which time all the boys frantically finish up their jobs of clean-up and run outside. I go outside and cannot hear anything. I asked Caden what he was talking about, and he tells me that they are coming. I listen harder, and still cannot hear anything. I was on the back porch at this time, and he first heard them while we were in the kitchen, and I STILL cannot hear anything. I was a little confused. The boys are running to get "front row seats to the show" Chet and I are totally curious at this time, and the boys are ushering the neighbor kids to our neighbors retaining wall, totally going along their fence line in THEIR backyard, and go to THEIR retaining wall and all sit down. She was out smoking on her front porch so I asked her if it was ok that my boys are sitting there, not knowing if this had already been asked. She had no idea what was going on, but there was so much excitement going on. Before we know it, we have about 8-10 boys, Chet and I, Matt and Dawn (our neighbors) sitting on their wall watching some teenage boys ride their dirt bikes up and down the hills behind us. They would pop a wheelie and they would all cheer and get excited. It was so dang funny. I got pics but cannot get them to post of all these boys lined up. Oh my goodness it was funny. I laughed the whole "show", about 10 minutes, just watching the excitement. Come to find out, they had been there the previous 2 nights, and my boys would run over where they could watch. The boys would come talk to my boys after they were done riding. Their audience was growing. It's the small things in life. If teenagers even knew the influence they have on younger kids, they would be baffled. I love to see my boys get so excited like that!!! It was a good night.

She's Baaaaaaaack

Close to the end of the school year, we found out that Baylee would be moving to West Virginia. Cars and her couldn't be around each other for longer than about 20 min without getting into a fight. We were super sad to see her family move, but it was somewhat of a relief. Well, here we are about 3 months later, and they just showed back up. They moved back in, and within 2 days, everything was back to normal. Only now, Cars knows what it's like to not have anyone his age to play with if she's gone. It was fun to see them playing again, and it is nice to see Cars full of life again. Baylee's mom doesn't cook much, and she always appreciated my cooking, so I must say it does feel good to have her back for that. I have already ramped up the baking to keep up. My boys just think that it's normal to have homecooked meals for every meal, and a dessert almost every night, and a homemade snack every day at 3. She actually appreciates it! Her little brother rang my door bell and asked for some more brownies, because he loved them. With Baylee comes her little bro, a few cousins, a lot of girl noise (shreiking and yelling), a much messier house, but a lot more fun. Cars told me that he was EXHAUSTED after the first day they played together. I had to take a chill pill (figuratively) and I even had to take a nap that first day myself. Holy chaos!!! But overall, we're glad they're back!!!!

Yahoo!!!

Today is monumental! It is a great day, 9-1/2 years in the making! We are so excited, we could... I don't know, but we are excited. We have been 3 days without an accident! NO.MORE.DIAPERS!!! I was running out of diapers, Colby was playing us, choosing to use the potty when it was convenient for him, and then not when it wasn't. I was frustrated. I finally told him that we were out of diapers. They were gone, it was time to go on the potty. I looked him right in the eye on his level and told him that if he had an accident he would have to sit on his bed until he needed to go again, and when he went on the potty, he could play again. I made him repeat it to me and sent him off to play. Here we are 3 days later, accident free. This was pretty painless. He has been a total champ. He refuses to wear a pull-up to the play area or bed, and he was fine! He is using public restrooms, and even told me twice today at the pool that he had to go and sure enough went when I took him. This means more stops when we travel, but oh how fabulous!!! Yahoo!!! Yahoo I tell you!!! Happy day, happy day! It's even happier since he's the baby! We are DONE changing "stinky butts" as Colby calls it. ("Mom, come change my stinky butt, brothers won't play with me!") At least my own babies strinky butts!

Mokin

Today we were all driving in the car and a truck in front of us was burning up his brakes. There was smoke EVERYWHERE. We were getting onto the interstate and could barely see off to the side where the smoke was drifting. It stunk like crazy. Chet and I were talking about it in the front. All of a sudden Colby says, "DAD! That truck is mokin dad! That truck is mokin!" He was so intense and wanted us to see the "mokin" truck, like we couldn't see or smell it ourselves. It was too cute! I love it sometimes when the kids cannot say the word they are wanting to say. Anytime I see smoke now I will think "mokin".

Dance

I have said it many times before, but potty training is not my specialty. I struggle big time. Colby told me today that he needed to go potty, so we went in, and low and behold, he actually went. Then he told me that he would be wearing underwear. I put underware on him and told him that if he had one accident, he would be wearing a diaper (he has been perfect so far - about 10 hours) So I saw him a few hours later playing with himself. I asked him why he was touching his pee-pee. He tells me, "Because it's doing a pee-pee dance, haha!" and he walked away. It was so funny. Like a perfectly delivered punchline. He didn't wait to see if I thought it was funny. He knew it was, laughed at himself, and walked away. How do they get so smart so dang fast!!

Kissing

This morning Cars climbed into bed to snuggle with me. I asked him how many times he thinks that he has been kissed. He said about 1000. I told him that was probably in the first week! We decided about a million times instead. So I was telling him the average couple kisses 3 times per day. I thought that stat was crazy! I was asking the boys if dad and I kiss more than that. Cars was like, "uh, YEAH!!! You kiss more than 17 times per day!" I asked him if he would kiss his wife more than 3 times per day, if he would kiss her 17 times per day. He said, "Probably a lot like you and dad. But first you kiss the bride. That's the first time!" Yep, that's exactly right Cars! Kiss her when she's your bride. Haha, I could only wish!!! I think that I have about 3 more years, unfortunatly! Hopefully longer!

Mother of the Year

4th of July! One of the funnest holidays of the year. It's warm and usually just exciting! Some friends had invited us over to there house for the day, so we went to hang out with them. We started out with a BBQ of delicious food. Then, I'm not a huge parade fan. So many people, hot, and a recipe for disaster when you have lots of little boys. So my friend felt bad that the boys didn't get to go to the parade, so she had them do their own parade. They made their own floats. It was sooooooo cute to see them. (She took pics but I don't have them to post) They loved it. Then they paraded down the sidewalk while the babies rode in their floats and waved to all the people. Then they each decorated a square on the sidewalk with chalk. The 6 adults there judged them (square and float). Amy did face painting on everyone. The boys all got a tatoo. Then they went out back and had a water party. Then they headed down to watch a movie while the adults played some dice game. Then Chet took a nap, we just sat and talked, and the boys just played. It was heaven. I loved it!!! Then we ran home to make some popcorn and get chairs for the fireworks. We got there at 9 and got great parking and spots. Then Carter reminded us that we hadn't had dinner. I told Chet that I would run get pizza while he saved our spot. Carter and Cars came with me. Little Ceasers was closed, Papa Johns was WAY too busy, so we ran to Taco Johns. Chet called and said to hurry since it was starting to rain, and he had the 3 youngest without shelter or vehicle. I started heading back, and my great navigational skills (NOT) failed me! I couldn't find my way back. The longer I drove, the busier it got, and the more it started to rain. I was paniking, and called Chet crying. When I told him where I was, he had no idea how to get me back, I was too far lost. We hung up so that he could run the babies to pavillion 50 yards away. The sky was lighting up, not with fireworks! The worst lightning I have ever been in. AND, my babies are out in it, while I am driving in RUSH HOUR type traffic. I was bawling. That set Carter and Cars bawling. Then Caden kept asking why I was crying (he was with Chet) The boys were asking me if we were ever going to see our family again. I felt horrible. After all was said and done, we missed the fireworks, the boys sat out in the horrible lightning storm, I picked them up and we drove home! Not exactly mother of the year award on that. Luckily Chet remained calm. If he would have gotten mad at me, I would have melted! I love my man.

Feels Like A Man

Today on the way to the pool the boys were all talking a million miles a minute. They all think that they are so cool at the pool; they are finally old enough and good enough swimmers to pass the deep water swim test and go anywhere in the whole pool area. That makes pool life way easier for me with just the two babies to worry about. So I hear Caden say to no one in particular, just out loud, "I love that I passed the swim test. I feel like a man now!" WHAT! Where in the world did that come from? He feels like a man! Whoa...

Too Hard

As we are winding this party week up, the boys wanted to hit Applebees with some free meals they got for all their reading. I am pretty close to the end of my rope, so I enlisted my amazing friend Megan (single college girl) to come help for a free meal. Not a great deal for her, but that was the only way it was going to work. The boys have gotten about 2 hours less sleep a night than usual, AND I cannot sleep when Chet is gone, so I am on about 2 hours less sleep a night than usual! The two don't mix, but I am determined to make it the best week! So after the pool, we ran home, showered, picked up Megan, and headed there. Cael fell asleep on the bench right at the end. The waiter forgot to put in Cadens meal (and that kid lives in Cadenland with no filter or rational thinking skills, the WORST meal at the entire table to forget!) It took 1:15 min to get in and out (and I ordered the first time we saw our waiter). Finally, it was time to go home. I knew that as soon as we got home, it was bedtime tonight. Too many breakdowns today, they need some serious sleep (It is 7:28 and I have not heard a sound in over 15 min. Unheard of!!!) So on the way home, Colby starts screaming bloody murder. He was holding his nose and Megan tells me that it is bloody. I jumped Cars right away demanding him that he tell me what happened. I just snapped. He was freaking out saying that he didn't even touch him, that he just started screaming. That made me even madder, like he would just start screaming out of nowhere Cars! What the heck!!! Colby was just wailing, so I say, "Sweetheart, you have to stop crying and tell me what happened!" He slows the crying a little and says, "I picked my nose too hard! Now I have a bloody nose!" What do you say to that? Um... sorry Cars, your brother is a total geek and had his finger so far up his nose that when we hit a bump it jammed and hurt. I did apologize to Cars, and just laughed the rest of the way home AT Colby. Not with him, at him! I rock like that.

Soulja Boy

Chet has been really busy lately. I know, I know, it's just called life! But it does seem to have been really bad lately. Last weekend was youth conference so he was taken all weekend, and then Sunday was very busy with him speaking at a youth fireside and final preparations for high adventure. He is taking the boys (boy scouts that is) on a 59 mile canoe trip, in their homemade canoes. Chet has been stoked about it, so naturally the boys are totally bummed that they are not welcome on the trip. As Chet left for the week, the boys were unusually sad. I started to see them not liking that Chet was in the young mens. They kept saying that he was too busy. We are so lucky to have a dad that is always there. Always home at night. Always available when we need him. Always home for lunch. I never want the boys to think the church takes too much of Chet's time (no matter how much time that is). I feel it very important for me to teach them to sustain him. So... I decided this needs to be the best week of the summer. A straight party. So we have been swimming, out to eat, playing tennis, playing a million games of UNO (the boys LOVE to play UNO), watching movies every night, baking yummy treats, and tonight we had our stay up until 11 pm party (the highlight of the week for them!). We needed to have movies, so we all loaded up after dinner and went to Hastings. Fun times. 5 boys in a movie store. But the boys were great. We all picked out a movie (because tomorrow is stay at home all day and wear our Pjs and eat breakfast food all day, yep, all three meals. Pure heaven!!) Then we loaded up to head home. The IPOD was bluetoothed in to the car and they were instantly yelling to Carter what song to put on. And what did they pick? Crank That by Soulja Boy. All the boys are nodding their heads and looking super cool. They have their windows rolled down, wind blowing through the car. I just smiled thinking that my boys are exactly who I want them to be! They are fun, and cool, and sassy, and they love life. They love me. They have all prayed all week that they are thankful for the church and their great dad. I work so hard to be a good mom. Most times it feels like its not good enough. But great moments like this make me smile! Of all the fun things we've done this week, its when we are in the car that I really appreciate all that my life has and is! I also would have never thought that listening to Crank That would help me remember and appreciate it all! I am so blessed!!!

Grab Your Ankles

Chet said that when he was growing up and they were in a lot of trouble, he would hear his dads belt coming off and, "Grab your ankles!" So our boys were getting way too sassy, and we had just had enough. Chet told them that everytime they back talked me, he would just tell them to grab their ankles. He had a paint stirring stick I think, and he would swat them. It never even hurt them, and they were actually pretty funny trying to pretend that it hurt so they didn't get another punishment. Spanking a family of all boys, especially when they have a mom that playfully spanks their butts all day as a way of affection, just doesn't seem to work. Chet did this maybe a total of 5 times, but just the saying, and no delaying, the boys would immediately stop. It was effective. This was about 3 months ago. So the other day Cars did something that made Colbs mad, and Colby is at a stage where he is having a hard time expressing himself. He was throwing all out fits, but those don't go over so well with this no drama mamma, so he stopped that. He was so mad just growling at him, and then he says, "Tars, grab your ankles!" It was sooooooo funny. We all laughed until we cried. He was so mad that we were laughing, so I made Cars bend over and let Colbs swat a few times. It was too cute! I love when you hear your kids say your sayings.

Love Tap

I kinda have a little problem. I call it love tappin! I probably pat my 6 boys on the butt a total of about 30 times a day. Every time I get a butt shot, I slap it. I am out of control, I know it. (The other day Chet walked into a class I was subbing in Sunday School and he said some smart remark so I slapped his butt as he walked by. He looked at me all crazy and said I couldn't do that in church) And every time I see a bare butt, I squeeze the cheeks and say, "Cheekies!" Colby is now the cheeky boy. He loves to squeeze your butt and say cheekies. So at preschool, Cael needed something that was behind a father there. He just slapped him on the butt and politely asked if he could get his coat behind him. He thought nothing of it. We talked to the boys about how we only do that to family. Then I saw them doing it to my family. I told them to stop, but never really explained it after that. Then our babysitter was here, standing at the counter just talking to me, and all of a sudden she spins around really fast, and has this look of disbelief on her face. Caden was walking away and just says, "See ya later Makenna!" She just looked back at me all big eyed. Come to find out, Caden was sitting at the table eating, and was leaving the room and figured it was the last time he'd see her that day, so he was saying bye. He just slapped her on the butt and walked off. Her family is not at all like that! Caden was so confused as to why that was a problem. He said that he was just being nice telling her bye. He said she has a nice butt and wanted to say bye to her. I was like holy cow, stop talking. You're making it worse. He was so confused. Makenna was just dieing laughing! Good thing we know her really well, and she knows us. I really had to explain after that that we do not touch other peoples butts. Your kids really just think that the way you live in your home is reality everywhere, good or bad. We had to put a stop to that one.

Where it Hurts

Cael came running in from outside crying that he was hurt. He was jumping around not sure how to make it feel better. I pulled up his shirt to see what had happened. I couldn't see a mark or any red spots, so I asked Cael where he hurt it. He says to me like I am a complete idiot, "Right there where it hurts mom!" Oh, that clears it all up! Thanks Cael!

Blood

Tonight after dinner I was cleaning up as all the boys ran outside to play. Colby thinks that he is able to play everything with the boys, and they are really good to include him. Well, I hear Cars say, "Caden, run get mom! Hurry!" I didn't wait for them to come to me, I went running. Colby was on the tramp screaming, and in true mom fashion I flew off the porch and was to him in a flash. I grab him as blood is EVERYWHERE! The boys are all trying to hold him, and I'm trying to find out what happened. On the 2 second trip to the tramp, Caden told me he accidentally kneed him in the mouth. I was rubbing the blood off his face trying to get to the problem. I snatched him off the tramp and starting running him into the house. He starts yelling at me, "No Mom! Stay on the tramp wif brudders! Just kiss it better!" I stopped dead in my tracks, looked at him and said, "Just kiss it better and put you back on the tramp?" He looks at me with this pitiful face and says, "Yeah." as he moves his lip in to mine. Half his face was covered in blood. I started laughing and took him inside and showed him the mirror (all the while he was screaming to go back to the tramp) As he looked at himself, he said it was ok for me to clean it up. The second I was done, and had kissed it better, he was off and running!

Wal-Mart

When I went to Wal-Mart today, my babies fell asleep while on the way there. I was totally bummed, but needed to go in. Well Carter asks if he can stay in the car with the babies and read his book. Colby cannot get out of his car seat (5 point harness still), and he can keep Cael happy if he wakes, so GREAT! I run in with Carson and Caden. When I get out in the car about 10 min later, the babies are screaming, and Colby is out of his seat. I look at Carter like what the heck? He tells me, "What! I had to go to the bathroom!" I just stopped and looked at him trying to figure out in my head what that meant. Come to find out, he had to go to the bathroom. So he woke up both boys, walked them into the store, Colby crying the whole time, walked them into the bathroom, tried to put Colby down and he really lost it, so he put him on his shoulders while he peed. Then he walked back out to the car and arrived about a minute before me and could not get them to stop crying. Um... some ideas of mine aren't the best. I just looked at him with a blank look and said, "Maybe you're not ready to stay in the car" (the older boys have started begging me to stay in the car while I run in. I have not gotten to a point where I feel comfortable with this, so this was his first time, and then I left the babies no less!) Hind sight is always 20/20. Maybe not my best idea, but Carter did well. He told me that he made sure to carry Colby and hold Caels hand all the way through the parking lot. And made them stay RIGHT next to him. Oy, so glad for our gaurdian angels. It'll be a while before that happens again!

Dentist

Today was a first. All five boys went to the dentist at once. We have been taking Cael for a couple years, but this was Colby's first time. Luckily the dentist is one of our closest friends. We were at his house on Sunday for dinner, so right during dinner Caden, who is sitting next to Clint says, "Clint, look at my teeth. I have been doing a great job brushing. If you think so, my mom will buy me an automatic toothbrush!" I was told Caden that Clint did not want to be dentist there and that was the end of it. Well, when we got into the office I went and told every hygenist that I needed to know on a scale of 1 to 10 how well they had brushed. The hygenist told me that in the morning meeting Clint told them all that if they were good they all got automatic toothbrushes. We filled almost all of Clint's chairs. Every hygenist was very cute and made the boys suffer to know what they ranked. They all made them wait until Clint came in and looked at their x-rays. The boys were so excited it was cute. The funniest thing was that the toothbrushes they want are little $4.88 automatic ones. I am sure the whole staff is thinking these really nice ones. All the boys passed with a 9 or higher (although I think one was just passed because Clint wanted him to get an automatic because they are so much better brushers), so we headed to Wal-Mart right after. We went in and they saw the cheapos right next to the $100 ones, but they were all so excited for the "really nice ones just like moms!" They were so excited they could barely stand it. I was laughing inside all day about it. But I do love that they set a goal, and work for it! They are not so spoiled that nothing excites them. I also love that it only cost me a small amount next to what it could have been (or what cavities have cost in the past for NOT brushing well).

Crazy Times

So Chet and I decided almost on a whim to move. We were talking one night before mutual and I told Chet that I wanted more land and less house. I wanted to be able to keep it clean without going insane. I LOVE my house, but it is hard with just a VERY open floor plan. I want my bedrooms seperate, so that I can gate them off when people come over (we have about 25 kids here ALL.THE.TIME, and I cannot keep them out of the bedrooms. There are a lot of little things like this that I want to change.) So I told Chet that I was going to start looking in an area right next to us. He suggested that we look out by our friends, in a completely different location. I thought about it, said yeah, help me put the kids in. I then drove around until I found a house that I was interested in. We looked with the agent the next day, and wanted it. So, we decided to get ours on the market. We told the agent about 3 weeks. On Monday I had this feeling that I should call the agent and find out some info about the house. We were NOT going to call until the house was on the market. Long story short, there was another offer over the weekend, and they were going to take it, but they were not happy about it. We got an offer in that day contingent upon the sale of ours, that was not even up yet! They took it! So in less than a week, we had our house show ready. It was wonderful. The kids were wonderful, everything went smooth, we were amazed. Then it sat. No showings. No showings. No showings. I was getting frustrated. We felt like it was exactly what we were supposed to be doing, and then we weren't even showing the dang thing! After 3 weeks, and one showing, I was frustrated. One night I prayed that I didn't know if this was the right thing for us. I asked Heavenly Father if we could just have a showing to know that we were going in the right direction, that we were doing what we were supposed to! And what happened the next day? SHOWING! Now we have had 4 in 5 days (and the only day it hasn't shown was the day we planned to go to the temple and leave our kids with our babysitter. It would have been near impossible to show it that day!). We are so blessed. I am just amazed at how much Heavenly Father cares about our small worries. I didn't even expect it to sell off that showing. I was just so happy and on cloud 9. There is no doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father answers my prayers. It seems that every day more and more I see Heavenly Fathers hand in EVERYTHING! It's crazy and awesome and amazing all at once! This has been the best experience with selling a house we have ever had. I am so relaxed and easy going and totally not stressed out like usual when selling a house. How can I be not stressed out while keeping a house SPOTLESS with 5 boys? I am way less stressed now than I have been since I had Colby. I love it!

Crickers

I told Cael to go into the garage to find something. He was really excited for something, so he ran out there, and then he was boogying back into the house. He had a fearful look on his face so I asked him what he was doing. He looks at me with these huge eyes and says, "Don't ever ask me to out there again. I WON'T! There is a cricker in our garage! I can hear crickers, I really can Mom!!! There are crickers out there!" His eyes were just huge and he was talking all dramatic. It took everything I had not to laugh but just set there and listen. Too cute!

Laundry

We are trying to sell our house, so I keep telling the boys that they need to help out. I don't need to tell them, they can just see it and do it! So Cars has decided that he is the laundry man. He told me that he would gather, sort, wash, switch, take to my bed, and put away, but he would NOT fold. He hates that part. I told him that I would fold if he would do all the rest. The little guy has got me all caught up on laundry for the first time probably in my life, on a consistent basis. He gathers it all and does it by room so it's easier to put away when it's done. He is almost obsessed, and I love it. I hope this sticks! I LOVE not having dirty laundry! He was dieing to do a white load because that was all the clothes he had left. I told him that he would have to wait until tomorrow when there were some more. He just couldn't do it. I see a load on my bed a couple hours later that has about a 1/4 a load of whites. Without the towel there would have been barely anything. I just rolled my eyes and moved on. As long as the laundry is done, I'm OK with that. (He had changed that washing machine to small load though, so that was good. I never taught him about that because I only do extra large!) I love the big helpers they can SOMETIMES be!

Psh, 10 inches

Carter saved his money for an automatic scooter. When it got here, Cars started saving. A couple months later, and lots of lucky breaks on making extra money (dog sitting and extra stuff like that) Cars bought one too. As soon as he got it, he went crazy riding it. Him and Carter wanted to race around the culdesac. They were going to go around 4 times. Cars came in all fired up that he beat Carter and that his scooter was faster. I asked him if he beat Carter by a lot, and he said, "Psh, Yeah! By like 10 inches!" It was probably 200 yards, but he "smoked" him by a whole TEN INCHES! Cars was just shaking his head like he was so cool. He is such a dork...and I love my little dorks!

Boys Will Be Boys

My computer finally bit the big one. It no longer works. I have been computerless, and the only reason I really miss it, is to update my blog. I hope some day my boys will read these and get a good laugh out of them. (like when I get mamma amnesia and start telling them that they need to enjoy every stage, and that life was so much fun ALL the time like every old lady tells me!) Well, as we were taking the computer down (old school, not a laptop) the boys were helping unwind all the cords. They were in a big mess. I was busy doing something else, but soon I hear the boys strategizing. They had taken the speakers to the computer and wanted to hook them up downstairs (where they watch movies) and make it surround sound. I told them no, so in unison, they ask if they can take them to their rooms for their ipods. I didn't even know they could plug into my ipod. There are a lot of things that boys get "catergorized" for doing, but it is so true. They wanted to put them in the car, their rooms, the TV, anything to just be louder (like we ever need that in our house) I just laughed at how "BOY" my boys really are.

Haircuts

I have been wanting to cut the boys hair for a while now, but Cart wanted to wait until school was over and just shave his head. So yesterday was the last day of school. We took the boys out to the back deck and started shaving Carters. I had a pack of 12 Reeces Peanut Butter Cups, and as they would finish I would give them one. Caden was already shaved. Colby jumped up quick for a treat. We shaved him as low as it would go. He keeps walking around rubbing his head. Too cute! Then it was Cael's turn. He was hesitant, but really wanted a Reeces, so up he jumped. Then it was just Cars. We had 6 left, so I told him that if he shaved his head I would give everyone another one. He said no way. At dinner earlier Chet told him he would pay him $10 to shave it. He said no. Then his face lights up, and he says, "Give me all 6 to myself and I will!" I said ok too fast. Then he was like wait. Finally he says, "I want an entire package to myself. 12!" Chet and I look at each other pretending to be thinking about it (worth only $1.78, way less than the $10 we offered 30 min earlier) and said, "Ok, I guess." We couldn't have moved any faster to get the middle shaved, because then it was too late to change his mind. That ugly mop on top of his head for over a year is GONE!!! Wahoo! He later asked if he could change his mind and stay up until 10 instead of candy. Saved me a trip to the store, I quickly agreed. He stayed up until 10, watching Diary of a Wimpy Kid snuggled in my bed and covers. He was happy as a clam. Little does he know, he could have gotten $10, 12 Reeces, AND stayed up until 10 all week so that we could shave that mop. He could have gotten that for all his brothers too! We'll just leave it at a night for 1 until 10 for now. I am sure that a few more years will require a lot more negotiating!

Sweet Prayers

Tonight while kneeling at Caden's bed listening to him saying his personal prayers, he said the cutest thing! He said, "Thank you for the money that my dad makes so that he can take my mom out, and give her money to buy us food, and money to put gas in her car." Isn't that so sweet. I LOVE that they see how much I love date night, and that they aren't bugged by it. I try REALLY hard to make sure that date night is fun for them too. I only get sitters (we just use one but they all LOVE her!) that they like, I let them eat anything they want (although they haven't figured that out yet, they think it's Makenna being nice!) and we let them eat any leftovers from dinner that we bring home. I keep thinking at some point that they are going to be "over" date night and put up a fight, but instead they are thanking Heavenly Father for enough money that their dad can take me out! I love it!!!

Also, while helping Colby say his prayers, he said his first solo prayer. I always tell him to say as much as he can, and then I will help. So it went something like this, "Dear Henly Fadder, tanks for Elsie (the neighbor girl Kelsey), tanks for Hannah (neighbor girl) tanks for Tassie (Hannah's mom Cassie), tanks for my brudders, tanks for the park, tanks for Michael (Chet's friend that he was helping today and we hung out with most of the day) and his house, tanks for the park, tanks for my family and the park. Amen. Oh wait, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!" It was priceless. Then he looked at me and said, "I am so proud of you!" and gave me a big hug. He was so proud of himself and knew I would be too, haha! I love my little sweethearts!