Another one bites the dust.......

This week went by so fast! I had a lot going on and I am so grateful for Eric who played with, bathed, read to, and tucked in the kids 3 nights this week so I could go to a dinner, activity, and hang out with some awesome friends to help out another friend clean and move into a beautiful (dirty) home .5 miles away from where she is now. I can't believe how some people leave their homes when they move. Anyways, it's amazing how fun cleaning can be when your laughing and talking with friends. I wish I could clean with them at my house everyday. We definitely got side tracked a lot due to lot's talking and laughing, but we worked till midnight and got the big things done. Eric let me sleep in till I couldn't sleep anymore this morning. Wow! I haven't done that in a long time. I must say it felt pretty good. Thanks sweetie! Man did I ever score big marrying you:) I appreciate you so much. Love you.....YST!!!

Tonight we got to relax and enjoy each other. I loved watching the kids tonight. We were all in the front room, Brynnley was shouting ready, set, go....and running across the room, the kids were dancing which turned into karate, which turned into playing with their vampire teeth and ended in turning into mom and dad while playing house. I love soaking in these simple memories and hope just reading the blog will bring them all back someday. They play so cute and adore each other. When they are teenagers and are having those lovely moments I hear teenagers have(I can't relate because I never had them...wink...wink) I can always take myself back today.

I picked up my co op share this week at Kelli's house(there are 8 of us in the co op share....that I LOVE). We had never met before but ended up talking for 3.5 hours. When I got to her house she hadn't divided up the food yet for the shares so I helped her do that and after we were done, she asked me to come inside and talk as we did so we were both enjoying our conversation and it was a lot of fun. She has a baby and the others are older so we talked a lot about raising kids in these days. I really like talking to other moms to get their opinions and advice on certain situations that all kids face when they get older. I embrace these innocent years that I am going through now with my children, but am very aware of what kids are facing. As parents I feel like we have to be on top of these things and making sure we are constantly teaching our children according to their age. We do this a lot during FHE and it has been great. More than anything we want the kids to talk to us and ask us questions young so that it is a natural thing when they are older. I hope we can always have open communication and trust. I love how my parents freely gave us their trust. I knew they trusted in me and didn't want to break that. Kelli and I talked about a lot of things and she had a great perspective on things and gave me some good advice on ways she has taught her older children. We all have so much to learn from each other.

I had to laugh after I left her house. Brynnley looked like she had been working on a farm. She loves being outside so much and while we were sorting the fruits and veggies, Brynnley was splashing in the water her empty flower pots, kneeling in mud, and trying to chase the dog. At one point she was tying to take her shoes and socks off so she could run bare foot in the grass. She is so adventurous. If I don't lock the doors she will open them and head out. People love the child safety nobs on all the doors. I have found they are pretty adult proof too. Who needs an alarm system when you could put child safety nobs on all the door outside.

Oh and I had a lucky day this week and found $50 bucks in a jacket I haven't worn since last fall. Wahoo!! I love that! Double score!

Halloween wrap up......Oh and some desks!

Halloween was a blast. We were outside for 5 hours. I was amazed that we didn't have to go to any doors. Everyone was out on chairs. YES! So many people went all out decorating their houses with strobe lights, smoke, haunted house(that Avery, Thomas and Their friend went into) the house said they would do the mild version. They would ask you how scary you wanted it. Another house had moving legs. The kids thought that was great. We got lot's of candy and then headed back for chili and a bonfire with the neighbors. We also handed out tons of candy while we all chatted and the kids ran around and played. Brynnley was all about busting into the candy. We got the kids to bed around 9ish and while we were reading scriptures as a family, Brynnley was literally bouncing off the walls and talking a mile a minute. I thought she had only had two little bags of licorice nibs but her dad that has her wrapped around his finger must have given her a lot more than that because she was hilarious! In a wrap it was a great 2011 Halloween! The kids don't ask for their candy. I give them one a day when they eat all their dinner and veggies they get to pick one. I of course will eat a few of the good chocolate things and the rest will go to my activity day girls and neighbor teenagers:)

Here is Thomas with Mario. He put one of his shirts on this balloon and told me it was his friend Mario that he dressed in one of his shirts for Halloween. We did leave Mario at home. Mario is still going strong today but I might accidentally pop him soon because I need to wash that shirt.

I made cupcakes for Thomas's party at school and they were a hit. You would have thought the moms and teachers had never had a homemade cupcake. They were fun to make and I put purple cream in the middle for the trick. They were asking how in the world I got the cream in the cupcake. It was pretty funny and it was so fun to see Thomas with his class.

I found this 100 year old desk and refinished it and added a 5. That is the number Thomas wanted. This will be his little study area. Lately the kids have been playing study time and Avery was so excited to have her own study area that I had to find something for Thomas. Just the right fit. Doesn't take up too much space and he can hold his papers and things inside when you lift up the top. He loves it!

This desk for Avery was so fun to put together for her. I refinished this one too and when I surprised her with it she just kept saying,"wow". She has used it a lot already. In fact today I was putting some clothes away and we were talking while she was writing and before I left her room she said, "Mom could you please tell Thomas to come up to my office." Now her cute little sister can't bug her at times when she wants to "study".
As soon as Thomas got home from school today they rushed upstairs to play in Avery's office.

Today was a beautiful 70 degree day and I was feeling happy and grateful for many things today. I thought it was ironic because as I was just having these wonderful thoughts, the day quickly changed. Brynnley exploded(beyond newborn style) in her pants to the point where I had to throw away all bottom coverings. It was not pretty. I hosed her down in the shower(I love that the shower head comes off) cause it took me a good 15 min. to do so. While I was in the cleansing process, I smelled something burning and realized that my dinner was a goner. Have you ever burned broccoli and BBQ chicken? Not a good combo. The candles are just starting to freshen things up. After we got my squealing, happy, and now clean baby all done I soaked the pans and headed outside for some fresh air(the cure for moment like that) and stayed there until our hero came home with dinner. Have I mentioned I love that man!! All was well and it was only a moment! Maybe those earlier positive thoughts kept me from loosing it. I laugh at Avery now as I yelled for her to help me from my bathroom tub so it didn't get all over.(I didn't have time to grab all the sos pads and clorox...just kidding.) She ran as fast as she could to get me a plastic bag and wipes. She walked in and said, "mom that is bad." she then quickly tried to make me feel better by saying, "well I guess it isn't that bad." I looked at her as her face was squished in disgust. She is always the first to be at my side to help and I could tell she really wanted to help me but her face read,"mom you are on you own on this one!"

Well all good days come to an end. I could use a nap.......I love you kiddos!

The fun has begun!!!

What a fun and busy week it has been! Never too busy for some great pics of my adorable clan! Here are the kids before the church Halloween carnival......Can you guess what they are????

Here is a picture of Halloween of 2010 with the kids.......time is going by too fast! Oh I love those faces more than life! It has been a great year and I am grateful every day!

Spiderman....

Spiderman in true form......

What the little mermaid looks like underwater....

Ariel as a human....she cracks me with her many poses when I take her picture.

Brynnley as a lady bug...I had to snap one of her at the party because she kept running away from the camera....

Some pictures from the party. I had to narrow them down as I am flooding this post with pics. We invited some of our good friends from the fellowship program to the church party. Our kids love each other and we have really enjoyed doing things with them. Thanks Ramsey's for a fun night!

Avery and Reagan loved creating their own cookie.....

And the face painting....

Thomas wanted a mustache painted on his face. Not sure how it tied into the Spider man costume but we rolled with it and thought he looked awesome. Thomas had a blast. He told me it was his best day ever!!

As for the rest of the weekend...

The best dad in the world (besides my own father of course) award goes to.......Eric the pie makin' machine! Eric had Friday off so he took care of one of his sons wishes. Thomas has been wanting to make a pumpkin pie with dad for weeks and together they created a master piece. On the bottom they even made a cookie crumble layer, same stuff sprinkled on top of the whip cream shown in the next picture.

I must say I was excited to only have to be the taste tester. YUM!!!! Thomas loved the experience with his dad much more than the pie. Home made from scratch all the way to the crust. He was beaming from ear to ear the whole time. He will make one very special girl very happy someday if he follows in his fathers footsteps!! Check out that slice of yumminess!! You boys are hired.

Kids decorated little pumpkins on Saturday. Here is Mr.T man creating his pumpkin. That is some serious concentration when the tongue comes out.

Took some time to dry but job well done Thomas boy!

Avery had so much fun. She loves to be creative.

All done....Took half the time to dry! Good job Aves!

This ended the week with dad and his girls playing a game on the floor. I couldn't help but bust out the camera. Brynnley had her arm around him for so long. So cute! I love a good ending!

I was all apart of the action too but I am just behind the scenes of course!!

We are excited to celebrate the real deal tomorrow with friends, parties, chili and bread sticks, candy, costumes, fire pit, more candy, and lot's of memories of Halloween Cincy style 2011! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Oh man....just remembered I gotta make cupcakes tonight for T's party. Good thing he has afternoon school!! Got too carried away with pictures!!! Nighty night!

Pre primary program......

My favorite Sunday of the year. Well one of them that is. I love it because the children in the church teach the big people(that I must say, need to learn a lot from them.) They are precious, innocent and know how to touch your heart better than anyone.

Thomas and Avery did so well and mom and dad smiled from ear to ear. Both got up and said their little part memorized. Avery spoke slow and clear. Thomas got up and smiled for a minute and then had to bend over to speak into the mic. It was pretty funny. Thomas had his part memorized and I am amazed that these little ones can get up in front of so many people and speak without hesitation. Practice for those many talks they will give throughout their lives at the podium. Thomas kept shining us with a thumbs up every time he got up to sing. He was proud of himself and he wanted mom and dad to know it. I tried not to laugh too hard but it was too cute. He would then fold his arms and sing. I hope I never forget him as a little boy doing that. It was a sweet and innocent moment even though he may have cracked a few people up.

It was a beautiful program and the church is true! I am grateful my kids have such a bright future because they have so many people that are teaching them of this truth and helping them on their journey here on earth. They knew this program was special and they wanted to do their best. And they did!

Here they are before we headed off to church. Thomas got some energy out during the pictures as you can tell. We are all going to laugh as we look at this blog together down the road and see the many faces Mr. T makes. Oh and we will be able to see the different necklaces that Avery wore out in her young years. This plastic pearl beauty is falling apart, but Avery loves it. She got herself dressed and picked this necklace for such a special occasion. I love that Avery is ready in every photo for a shot while her brother is playing dinosaur and chasing Brynnley. In the end they all came together for a group hug.

Passion for learning.......

Avery loves to learn and created a little office space for herself next to dad's desk. She was so cute writing down all the words she knows how to spell and even wanted to use Brynnley as her student. She loves to play the teacher. We have two girls that consistently come and babysit for us(they are sisters and they both love to come so we rotate). Every time they come they love to pretend play with the kids. The kids ask us every week if we are going on a date. The babysitters are awesome and love the kids so much and play so cute with them.

With their minds on a learning rampage, the kids love sounding out the first letter of every word. I was laughing the other day as Avery was talking to Thomas. She said,"Thomas come l-l-l-l-l let's c-c-c-c-c color a p-p-p-p-p-p picture." The kids love to play pretend school. They do it everyday and it is soooo cute. It's either that or playing mom and dad. I will hear Thomas talking to Avery and calling her Natalie and Avery calling Thomas Eric. I must say they communicate very well for parents. Ha!! I love their sweet relationship and how well they get along.
Here is Avery at her study. I am refinishing a cute desk for her just her size in her room so she can study to her hearts content. She is so excited for me to finish it. I'm excited for her too. I am glad so far they both love school. I must say though Avery loves her days off at home. She does get tired. They are long days for these little Kindergartners. I am glad we have two days with her. It's been a great schedule for us.

Avery was so cute the other day. She wanted to buy a book at school so she went and got her money out of her piggy bank so she could pick one out the next day at the book fair. She didn't even ask me for any money. Maybe that you gotta earn before you buy thing is finally clicking. It was sweet thought and I of course gave her more money to pick out a couple books. I love buying new books for the kids. They all love to read.

I look at this hard earned money and I think I need to give this amazing helper of mine a raise. Especially when she got Brynnley in her chair this morning, buckled her up, and got her a bowl of cereal all while I got dressed. I rarely have to ask her to clean or help me out. She just does it. I am blessed to be your mother Aves!!

Funny story for posterity and myself to laugh at down the road......

So on our date last week Eric and I got dessert after dinner and looked around the mall a little bit. I put some cologne on Eric in one of the stores. It smelled pretty good and Eric thought he might start wearing cologne again. We didn't buy any that night however a week later I thought I would be a sweet wife and surprise him with some cologne that I thought smelled really good. I surprised him that night with it and he liked it. To make it a short story, he wore it for 3 days. He thought it smelled good and honestly I really liked it on him. So on day 4 of putting it on every day, he put it on in the morning and thought to himself that it did smell kinda girlie.(I gotta mention there is a diamond on the front but I just thought it was a bit weird but not a big deal). Eric thought the same but as always trusted my judgment. So after he got suspicious that morning, he looked it up on the internet and saw that it was perfume. He said as soon as he saw that he began scrubbing it off. As he is describing it to me I was laughing and crying. I mean the box was so masculine and it smelled more masculine to me. Now that we know, it does have a sweeter smell than most colognes. Eric is only scarred a little. We got a good laugh. Okay, I got a good laugh. Oh I love you Eric!!! You are the best!!!!!!!! Thanks for making me laugh.
I learned a cologne buying lesson.......I will read all the fine print on the box, not judge a cologne or perfume by it's cover and certainly won't buy you cologne with a fake diamond on the front. I will make sure that the bottle is in the shape of a football or something. Ha!

Randomness.....

Brynnley LOVES shoes! I have a feeling there will be more pictures similar to this one. She puts them on and tries to shuffle around the house. The best is when she has heels on! The other day I took the kids to the mall and we played at their kid zone. I finally had to leave because she kept taking all the kids shoes that were in the cubby and tried to put them on. Yuck! Not quite as fun as my closet, but she was in shoe heaven!

Thomas turned into a duck with an empty diaper box. I love that he had found a random bean bag somewhere for the beak. This boys brain only stops when he is sleeping. Even then he tells me all about his dreams when he wakes up. Bynnley was very entertained! She knew right away what he was. She loves going on walks to see the ducks down the road.

Mr. Thomas showing me his karate moves. I had to bust out the camera and the video camera for this session. He had me laughing pretty good as he was acting as though he was a black belt. Brynnley started trying to mimic him too. We will definitely have some good laugh when we all watch that video someday!!

Brynn the animal lover....

Not only is Brynnley favorite book about animals but when you get her near them, she squeals with delight.

We were able to go to a friends farm a few weeks ago because her dog just had 8 puppies. When we first got to the farm we played outside for a bit to see the other animals and all Brynnley wanted to do was chase the cat(thinking she was going to catch it and smother it with love.) She tried and tried but the cat won. She quickly moved on as we entered the house where the sweet puppies were sleeping. She was in heaven to day the least. She was very sweet with them and also loved their mommy. She tried to feed them with her finger and just could not get close enough to them so she decided to pot herself into the plastic pool. I made she she didn't squish one but she had everything under control and was as gentle as could be. I think she could have stayed there all day. I even tried to pry her out with a homemade cookie but she wanted nothing to do with it. WHAT! She does not get that from me!

I must admit I fell in love with them but snapped out of it quickly as I thought of 3 kids(one that will potty train in a year or so) and a puppy. Not a good combo if you ask me. I would rather give ALL my love and cleaning skills to my children. Who knows....maybe someday. Yes Eric I said it. Especially because Eric is going to build a small house in the backyard of our house where the animal will reside.

All in all it was a great day at the farm and the kids and I really enjoyed ourselves. We are excited to go back and see the baby bunnies that will be born in 2 weeks!

Here is my sweet girl with her puppies! If you notice her face in this picture I was at one point able to get her away to eat a cookie! It didn't last long though until she was back in the pool bed with the puppies and their mommy!

When big sister is gone......

We all miss Avery when she is off to school but Thomas and Brynnley seem to keep each other entertained....today was an beautiful day for an adventure walk. Thomas found a "wish", a yellow flower for mom, lot's of leaves, and skeletons coming out of the ground(we went and looked at people's Halloween decor in their yards). I think he must have asked me 100 questions on the way. It ranged from "Mom does Heavenly Father have a magic wand?" to "Mom why do birds poo on the ground?" oh and "Mom will the garbage man come and pick me up too?" That is 3 out of the 100. We talked a lot about God's creations hence why he asked if he had a magic wand. Brynnley loves being outside so she just kicked back and enjoyed the ride. Here are some pics from our fun walk.