A new school Year K & 2

Colby actually started school last week but I decided to wait till now to post these pictures. Colby is now in 2nd grade, and so far says that it is just "OK" He hasn't had homework yet but I am sure he will start complaining when the homework starts. He did have an exciting day yesterday. A boy in his class was crying and Colby said that he went up to him and asked him what was wrong. The boy I guess, didn't want anyone to talk to him, so he hit Colby with his jacket and the zipper caught Colb in the face and scraped him pretty good. I asked Colb if he cried and he said "no, I just said ow ow ow and I toughed it out." A teacher saw what happened and the other kid had to go to the Principal. So after school I got a phone call from the Principal just wanting to let me know what happened and to see if Colb was ok. Colby was so sweet, he said that he wasn't mad at the kid and that he was going to be really nice to him everyday. Colby's biggest complaint is that the music teacher is mean and that the lunch room food is gross. He loves to ride his bike to school, and I will admit it is pretty nice not to have to drive him.

Cameron started Kindergarten today. He has afternoon class and said all morning that he didn't want to go. It took some serious convincing to get him there and then when we got there and all the other parents were there with their kids, he would not get out of the car. Finally when all the parents left he let me walk him in the classroom. He asked me if I could stay the whole time and I just told him to be brave and give it a try. His teacher (who looks like Snow White) finally won him over and off he went. As I turned to walk out the door the emotion hit me, and a few tears rolled down my face. I know he will love school and do great, and I am excited for him. But I also can't believe he is in school, he's still my baby. After school he was all smiles and looking forward to tomorrow.

pizza park perfect

Today I decided that since Cameron has his first day of school tomorrow I would let him choose where to have dinner to kind of celebrate. To my surprise, and Colb's disappointment this is what he picked!

Since there were no "Happy Meals" these toy machines got all of my quarters!

Hayders thought he was king of the place. He loves sitting up to the table in a highchair. He played with this plate and pounded the table just happy as a clam!
Cheese pizza and garlic dipping sauce for my boys, pepperoni for me!

After the pizza I let them choose: go home and play games with mom or go to the park with the Provost's. As you can imagine they picked the park. (I have to admit I was a little sad that they didn't want to play with me.) So we ended up

here

in the beautiful, Swiss Days crazy little city of Midway at the kids favorite park with our favorite friends. It was a gorgeous evening and I am really glad I decided to go to the park, I am going to miss the days that are perfect for going to the park. (if you don' t know what Swiss Days is, click the link to the Midway City Website and check it out. It is an amazing event and if you live in Utah you should attend Swiss Days, it's great! Where else can you see Apostles selling cookies at their ward booth and Willie Nelson, and find amazing home decor and yummy treats at the same place?! Yes really. I saw Willie Nelson last year, and Elder Holland and Elder Nelson all there at the same time!)

Oh my, oh my. This cute little guy starts school tomorrow. It kinda makes me sad, I think I will cry now so that I don't cry tomorrow. Watch out Mrs. Winterose, here comes the best kid you will ever meet! He won't let me cut his hair though, he wants it long and shaggy!

Look at the HAIR!!!
Colby is way too COOL! Isn't he so grown up and cute?!

Oh my three boys. I love them so much.
Hayden thought he was pretty big sitting on the slide and just couldn't figure out what the heck the "wood chips" were. It was so cute watching him examine them. Then he would look up at me with a "I am so big sitting on this slide Grin!"

Emma brought her skate board. For a little girl that is OH SO GIRL this was so not her style but so cute watching her try to ride it. I guess having two brothers rubs off on her more than we know.
Colby and Ben, these two have been friends as Colby says, "since ten days after Ben was born" because Ben is ten days older than Colby! Their dads have been friends since "six months after Mark was born!"
Mr. Naters. This kid is one of a kind! Seriously one of the busiest, most curious kids I have ever known. I try to give his mom a break from him as often as I can as he and Cameron play really well together. I just have to keep an extra close eye on them though, he usually talks Cam into doing things Cam normally wouldn't do! It's great to have such great friends though, and we sure get a kick out of Nate.
My three boys again, and Hayden being over joyed to be on the slide! It really was a PIZZA PARK PERFECT evening.

for those of you wondering what's up with all of the posting, because yes it is a little unusual for me to post so often, Mark has been out of town all week. So at night, instead of watching tv or cleaning my house or being productive at all, I blog, without feeling guilty because, well, Mark is gone and the kids are in bed. I am not neglecting anyone!!! I do miss though and can't wait for him to be home. I love you babe!

Dirty socks and rocks down the drain...

He's 5 and he's a boy, who since birth has loved to be outside. And until this summer he would not wear anything but "flops" for shoes. But now Cam has developed a love for tennis shoes and rotates between the four pair that are available to him. (all are different sizes & all have to be tied except for his new school sketchers which we got because they were "strap on's" but they are his least favorite) He also has a favorite kind of socks, but we only have two pair of those and he won't take them off long enough for me to wash them, he even sleeps with them on. I don't understand the obsession with the shoes and socks, but he's 5 and he's a boy, and that's what I need to remember right?!! Tonight, as he was coming in the door 1 hour after I called for him to come home and 15 minutes after the sun had gone down, I was watching him take his shoes off and noticed the SOCKS. Oh my gosh, the socks were pure dirt. I made him take them off and hand them over. Then proceeded to tell him to get to his room before he got himself grounded longer than the year that he had just earned for being out so late! I head for the bathroom sink where I was going to soak the socks to try and salvage them, but to my surprise the drain won't plug, there was something stuck in there. I got under the sink and unhooked the plug so I could take it out, as I am pulling it up, PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! PLOP!........ROCKS down the drain, lots of them. AHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I had to get the rocks out, we use this sink a million times a day. SO, being the plumber that I am, I got a towel and a big bowl and unscrewed the pipes and got the rocks out! (thank goodness it's a new house and the fixtures are still in really good working order, I could have made a bigger mess and not been able to fix it!) After finally figuring out how to hook the plug back up, I got those socks in a sink full of OXI CLEAN! But not before taking a picture of them! This is just a little bit of the day in the life of my oh so
FIVE YEAR OLD BOY.



This is him earlier today playing a computer game while listening to Pocketful of Sunshine his new favorite song, on I-Tunes. Yeah, he knows how to work it all by himself! Now that he is sleeping so sweetly, I am going to go in and kiss his sweet cheeks and remember that I love him so much before morning and we do it all again!

How I get a little free time

The other day I set Hayden close enough to the movie cabinet that he figured out how to open it and subsequently take out all of the movies. He of course was in heaven and his big brothers thought it was quite entertaining as well. Usually I would be totally bugged by just another mess for me to clean up but I put aside my "no messes" ocd and realized that all three of my boys were totally entertained and that the older ones could clean it up when Hayden was done!! WOW, I had just discovered how to get a little extra free time! And no matter how many messes this baby makes, or how much he wines, I can't help but kiss his cute chubby cheeks every time I pick him up.

ever seen one of these?????

"Ghost" the White Alligator

This is a white alligator. It is at the Hogle Zoo in SLC. The first time Colby saw this animal he was hooked. He used his own money to buy a White Alligator stuffed Animal. He has looked up and memorized all the facts and info that he could find. When they move the alligator back to Louisiana(where it is on loan from) he is going to save up his money to go there and see it.

I will admit that this Alligator is pretty cool to see. We have seen it 4 times this summer and it's still cool each time. It has blue eyes and there are only 12 know to be alive in the world. The Hogle Zoo has had it on loan from a Zoo in Louisiana and has to give it back in September. I am sure we will make at least one more trip to the Zoo before "Ghost" leaves.

Plane crash, way to close to home

On Saturday around 4pm, my mom was sitting in her bedroom and heard what she thought was a go-cart coming down the street. A second later she realized that it wasn't a go-cart, but an airplane and that it was going to crash into her house, her bedroom to be exact, right where she was. Her first instinct was to run for cover, so she grabbed her phone and ran for the other end of the house. Just at that time, she heard it hit the ground and could hear screaming from the passengers. Mom tries to call 911 but has no power or phone service, so she runs outside and finds a most awful scene. The three people were all out of the plane and scattered around the yard. Almost immediately, neighbors arrive and help my mom care for the victims however they can. Christian, the male passenger of the plane says that his Aunt Carol Herring lives in SJ, so she is called and comes to help them as well. Later that night, when my mom called to tell me what had happened, she was so emotional, still in shock I am sure. The fire was so big that for awhile mom thought her house was on fire, her house smells like smoke and in her room the walls are black because the windows were open. There are reminders everywhere she goes in and around her house.
I can't tell you the horror that was playing out in my head, had the plane missed the woodpile, it would have hit the propane tank or the house, right where my mom was. It's just plain and simple a miracle for our family that it didn't hit the house. My heart goes out to the Nielson's and the Kinneard's. I can only imagine their grief and wish them the best. Like my mom said, there were angel's present that day, she witnessed them, and they will be present to help comfort and heal all who were affected. To view the White Mountain Paper report click here.
KSL in Utah also ran it here. The sister of Stephanie(the female passenger) has updates on her blog, see it here.

Beautiful Baby

What is this stuff, and can I eat it??????

Making faces at the big boys when they stopped to say hi to him!
Look at the sun shining through his hair! I love it!
Loves being the center of attention

I couldn't resist a little impromptu photo shoot with Hayden. The light was perfect and he was in a great mood. Do they get cuter than this? He reminds me so much of both Colby and Cameron, it's like a flash back in time sometime when I look at him. What a blessing this baby is, we are all so in love with him.