Happy Birthday, Shannon!

Happy birthday to a wonderful friend and sister-in-law! Thanks for being a great example of a supportive wife, a loving mom, a good friend, and a super fun aunt for my kiddos! You're the best!

Come on people!

You all asked for more New York details. I sit for what seemed like hours to type it all for you to enjoy, and I get no thanks?! Is anyone out there? (Except for Ash and Brookie! Thanks girlies)


More New York details, my crazy day, and the Hansen Halloween party which I co-planned to follow....if you're lucky.

New York...in more detail

Now that life has settled down a little, I need to give more New York details.
We left Wednesday morning and had a good flight to Newark. Thanks to my stellar planning, we got in right at rush hour. Jane had booked transportation to the hotel for all of us in a sweet 12 passenger van. We tried to get any tourist info out of our driver, but I think he thought we were lame. He wouldn't really answer any questions, and we ended up with no "insider info."
We checked in at the Sheraton Manhattan at 51st and 7th Ave. Our hotel location was ideal--thanks again to Jane and Todd. We dropped off our luggage, threw on dresses and walked to the temple. We ended up walking farther than we had planned in our heels, but it was exciting to be in the city and to see our surroundings.
After our temple session, we went to Patsy's for a mozzarella and basil pizza. We also had a delicious appetizer of fried eggplant and zucchini with a yummy yogurt sauce and a great salad. I think that was my favorite meal. Maybe I was just starving.


After dinner we went to Serendipity for dessert. You know, the place in the movie by the same name? It was fun to be there, but a little overrated. We shared hot fudge/peanut butter sundaes and frozen hot chocolate. Me, not the chocolate lover, enjoyed a few sweet bites and I was done. We would have shared less, but the restaurant had an $8.50 per person minimum. I thought that was pretty lame. We ended up wasting lots of dessert.
The next day Shannon and I couldn't wait to get started. We walked a few blocks away and saw the Today show people, snapped photos in Rockefeller Center toured St. Patrick's cathedral, and waited patiently for Saks to open. After a few minutes in Saks, the other girls called and were ready to go. We made our way down to Canal St. for some wheeling and dealing. We saw men crawling under tablecloths to get pant sizes; we had a kid trying to sell us Juicy suits without being caught by the police; and we had 864 women trying to show us pictures of purses.

After that, we walked into SoHo for lunch at Ed's Lobster Bar. The rest of the afternoon was eating, window shopping at the paper store, H&M, Ann Taylor Loft, and Prada. We took some secret photos of the handsome door boy at Prada.


We stopped on our way home for a quick slice of pizza, changed our clothes, and went to Wicked. I love Wicked! Our Elphaba was the one who did the workshop and originated the role, so she was amazing. We laughed and loved the entire show. I had seen it in San Francisco two years ago, but the Broadway cast was better. I can't say enough how much I love musical theatre--and now Broadway theatre!
After the show we went for dessert at Lindy's. I enjoyed a butter pound cake vanilla ice cream caramel sauce dessert. I was compensating for my after-Broadway depression.
Phew! I might have to write about the other two days in a little while....I can't imagine how tired you must be just reading this!

New York, New York!

What a fun and memorable trip. I agree with Kelly. There is no way to tell all the stories and to do each of them justice on the blog. You'll have to take my word that we laughed until our bodies hurt, walked until we couldn't take another step, shopped until our cash ran out, ate until we felt sick, and visited every site we could squeeze into our four day trip. We took every kind of transportation and mastered it--or so we thought until Jane got her head and arm stuck in the subway door. We strengthened our relationships and loved every second together--except when we had to wake up Candace and Kelly at 6:30 a.m. the last morning. I think they weren't feeling the love after only 4 hours of sleep. :)
Here are a few pictures of our trip.

the past 48 hours...

dentist for me and Shea
Gardner Village with the kids and mom to see the witches. It was so fun! We also had lunch at Zupas. It was a fun outing for the last day of Fall Break.
dinner and a movie at Ben and Olivia's.
housecleaning
laundry
folding laundry
more cleaning
packing
Costco
dessert at Coldstone with Shea and the kids
bathtime
more laundry
finish packing
blog a quick note
bed--I hope sometime in the next 2 hours!

See you all next week! I'm off to enjoy NYC with my mother- and sisters-in-law!

Rainy days and Sundays

Don't always get me down. My attitude is better about Sundays. I make up my mind that they are going to be great, and they are. I actually like a rainy day every so often. It means I get to listen to the kids and their friends play upstairs in the playroom. Lucy also gets to hang out with them, and she's in heaven! She just putters around the room playing with toys and trying to be close to her brothers. It's very rewarding to have such happy, darling kids!
This week has been fun. Having the kids out of school is nice for a change. I like being with them, and they like the freedom of playing and doing whatever suits their fancy. Thursday we went to the Children's Discovery Museum at the Gateway in Salt Lake. Shannon brought her three kiddos, and Candy came with us. It was so nice to have her there to help with the six kids! The boys are so easy when they're with Boston. Lucy loved playing with all the toys and the kid-size city. It was fun to spend a couple of hours there. We ate lunch at Red Rock, which was delicious. After our expedition the boys went to sleep over at Boston's. They worship him. Cam said to me, "Mom, bring our stuff, but you don't have to bring jammies. We always wear Boston's stripey ones." They love to wear his jammies and they all sleep together in the guest bed.
I picked them up the next morning at Boston's gymnastics class. Since then, they have been begging to start gymnastics. They would love it; I just have to get around to getting them enrolled.
Yesterday we hung out at home. The boys played all day with their neighbor friends, Taryn and Little Shea. We have to call her Little Shea so Shea doesn't get confused! He's never had to share a name with anyone before.
Last night, Candace babysat the kids while Shea and I went out for a nice dinner at Tepanyaki. It was delicious--and we loved the leftovers for lunch today.
Now we're getting ready to go furniture looking. No buying until the basement is done, but I want to have an idea of what's available locally so I can know if I need to order online.
I'm getting so excited for our girls' trip to NYC next week! Four more sleeps until I'm enjoying laughing, talking, shopping, walking, and eating with six of my favorite people! (And all girls too!) I've waited for these kinds of things for a very long time:)
Tomorrow is the Taylor FHE at Cory and Shannon's. We always love spending Sunday evenings with our families. We have the best families ever! The conversation is entertaining, the food is delicious, and the kids have a blast!

Worrying in vain...

Seems I didn't have to be too patient. The city inspector left here at about 2:45 today. At 4:00, three men showed up to hang drywall. I'm sure with the amount of noise caused by power tools down there, they will have it all hung before they leave tonight. Amazing!

Back to Work

Just this week has it been nice to be home and finally normal around here. The routine has been reestablished, and we are happy and healthy.
I came back to the demands of helping the PTA feed the teachers, attending parent teacher conference, going with the boys on their Fall field trip to Canyon Glen park, finding a costume and going to a 30th birthday party for a friend, attending Saturday morning Conference with Shea, and finding willing babysitters for all of it! I felt so guilty to leave my kids for various reasons when I'd only just gotten back. Life marches on, however. It doesn't care if your kids need and want you, your house is demanding attention, and the laundry is piling up.
With that said, hopefully we'll find some time to do some fun family activities while the kids are out of school at the end of this week.
The inspector is finally here for the basement. No work was done all last week while we waited for the four-way to be completed. The drywall was delivered yesterday, and I'm anxious for things to get moving down there again. All in good time I tell myself.
I loved Conference. Being in the Conference Center and hearing the Choir was amazing. The tv just doesn't do the organ and the lower tones any justice. It was special to be there when President Eyring's and Elder Cook's names were presented for a sustaining vote. It was touching to see the men seated on both sides of those two men reach over and offer encouraging words and pats on the back and arms.
Today I get to help in the boys' class. They were excited knowing I would be there with their friends to help everyone with their "journal writing." It should be interesting since some of the kids can't write. I'm hoping it makes a difference to my kids--that's my job.
I hope you're having a wonderful day.

Autumn in New England

Yes, I'm home. Yes, I had a wonderful time. Yes, the kids had a lot of fun with Shea. Yes, he is the most amazing husband ever. Yes, being a full time mom is a lot of work!

progress

The basement is coming along nicely. It's been a little loud pretty early in the morning for us, but we've been awake. It's now all framed and the HVAC has already been started. The boys are very excited for the playroom under the stairs. I keep catching them sitting on the steps watching the workers. Luckily, the workers have been very clean cut, nice guys. As soon as I catch them though, they have to come upstairs. It's hard to tell who's more excited, Shea, me or the boys. Lucy also likes to run around down there.
I'm ready to head out in the morning to Boston. We all got over our 12 hour stomach sickness on Monday and Tuesday. That was pleasant. In addition to the other things I had running around in my head, I got to launder sheets, towels, clean carpets, and reclean bathrooms. Fun times as a mother. Although I'm going to miss my hottie husband and kids so much, I think the break will make me a better mother. I'm really excited to see somewhere east of Denver, but still in the USA! I'm also looking forward to some yummy fish and clam chowder.
I'm taking four books on my trip. I'll have a long flight and time on a bus. I'm going to try to read To Kill A Mockingbird (again, since I haven't read it since 8th grade), finish The Life of Pi, Reading Lolita in Tehran, and refresh on The Secret Garden. I really wanted to read The Great Gatsby, but I couldn't find a copy in time.

Why I blog...

"You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh you memory of those meaningful and significant things. Some may be funny. Some may be significant only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experience. Gordon B. Hinckley, 2006
Thanks to Wendi's blog and Crystal's blog for this quote.

a busy weekend

Thursday was the boys' school carnival. I found out last week that I had to do a silent auction basket for their class. Most of the other moms knew about their baskets when school started. It wasn't a problem though. Some of the kids brought $1, and Shannon was kind enough to take me to the supply store to get hair product. My mom donated a darling felt bag, and another mom collected some more product and certificates for free haircuts. It was a darling bag, and I know it sold, so I'm happy with that.

On Friday, Shea and I spent the day cleaning out the basement and getting it ready to start construction on Monday. The guys actually came to chalk, but we weren't ready. After two days of cleaning, shelf building, and organizing, we're ready to go. We fit everything in our cold storage under the porch. It was nice to organize the food storage and get an idea of what we have. I love seeing everything all put away in its proper place.

Saturday we spent organizing the garage. We were on a kick this weekend. We bought more shelves from Costco, and put everything away. Shea now even has a place for shipping/receiving of all his computer parts. I'm happy that that "department" isn't my entry anymore! After the basement and garage were clean, I couldn't live in my house in the state it was in. We had tracked dust everywhere, and the kids had been running around. I had to clean it after the BYU game so that I could enjoy my "day of rest" today.

Today should be a good day. If I make a conscious effort to be more patient with the kids, Sundays are bearable. I am released from my calling as a RS teacher, so I only have to worry about visiting teaching for a while. That will be nice! If you ask me, they should have released me before my chastity lesson, but that wouldn't be nice to make a new instructor teach! You're welcome, Jenna! After Shea "counts the money" we will be going to my parents' for dinner with family and extented family.

Helicopter day

As I was driving home from dropping the boys at Learning Dynamics this morning, I saw a helicopter in the canyon. I always notice helicopters. It's in my genes. This one happened to have two rotor blades. I knew immediately that it must be my dad's. I drove as far as I could (which wasn't even to the park ranger station at the canyon entrance) to see what was going on. I found out where the landing was and talked to my dad's guys about bringing the boys to see the "ship" fly.

Luckily, they were moving all the old pipe out of the canyon, and it took longer than anticipated. I was able to pick the boys up at 11 and spend an hour in the canyon with my dad and my kids doing behind-the-scenes, limited access observation. It was very cool! I don't know why I love to watch the helicopter fly, but it's nostalgic for me. It makes me feel close to my dad, and I enjoyed sharing that special experience with my kids. Lucy especially loved it--it's hereditary!

Sneaking one past her

My lack of posts is mostly due to the fact that Lucy throws herself on the ground in the office and sobs whenever I sit down to the computer. Little drama queen. She is asleep right now, so I have to be quick before she senses what I'm trying to get done.

We had a good week last week. We had some friends over for pizza and games on Friday night. It was fun and chaotic with all nine children running around. What we won't do for a little adult interaction!

Saturday the boys had a soccer game. After they won and we were walking to the car I overheard the boys talking. "Girls are kinda good at soccer," Cam says, "but the Green Dragons are the BEST!" They don't have any girls on their team, but every team they've played has had girls on it. They're so funny.

In the car Coop said, "It's a good thing they (his team) have me. I'm the number one best at soccer. I kicked the ball a past three (holding up his three fingers) Silver Bullets. Cam's the number two best, and Dakota's the number three." We're glad the boys are so confident.

Sunday I got to teach a RS lesson on the law of chastity. Yep. It was loads of fun. It actually went pretty well, and the time passed very quickly. I didn't have to say too many graphic words either. I did tell the story of my sweet mother-in-law who yelled to Shea as we climbed in the limo after our reception, "Just do what comes naturally, honey!"

The women died laughing. Shea almost died of embarassment when I told him. Candy did too. She knows I said it, and that I prefaced it with how wonderfully and completely she raised the son I married.

Today we had the pre construction meeting for our basement. They start finishing it next Monday! We will have it done by Christmas! We're using a company called Upscale Downstairs. They've won the Best of State award for two years and have some great credentials. We just wanted it done well and right and before 2014. We're excited! It's almost like building a house again. I get to pick doors, light fixtures, paint, carpet, outlet placement, countertops, tile... We could be happy in our house for several more years.

That's about it for the update. Renee, I hope you're happy! :)

San Diego and Pasadena

We spent Thursday through Sunday in southern CA last week. We got to drive down in my parents' motorhome--which Lucy loved to drive and sit in Grandpa's lap while he drove. It was nice, but not in one way, to have an accessible restroom, food, and a flexible seating arrangement for the 11 hour drive. The only thing that wasn't nice was always having to watch Lucy as she tottered around and worked on her balance skills en motion. It would have been good to strap that girl into a carseat for a few hours. She did take amazing naps while we were driving--thanks to the magic chair and Grandma holding her. She fell asleep 5 or 6 times in the chair for hours at a time. That's very uncharacteristic of that little princess.


Thursday was a travel day and we spent the night in Adam and Ashley's new home in Loma Linda. We woke up the next morning and drove to San Diego and the zoo. We had a great time--perfect weather, cooperative and interesting animals, and good company. Cam and Matt kept us all laughing. Matt did so well hobbling around on his crutches.


Friday night we went to the JV and Varsity Lone Peak games to watch Marc. He played really well and they won JV but lost Varsity. I've got some coaching and referee complaints, but I'll save those for another day.


My mom missed the Varsity game since she volunteered to accompany a boy that broke his arm in the last play of the JV game to the hospital. She is and has always been the best example of compassionate and selfless service. The boy ended up flying home the next morning to have his parents and doctors here decide what to do with the compound fracture.

We visited the local Costco on Saturday morning to get food for the game. We found black Spider man costumes there! I have been to our Costco and surrounding ones 7 times at least looking for these things. I gave up and ordered two online for twice as much. Luckily they haven't even shipped yet--and I saved $40!


Saturday we drove to the BYU game in Pasadena. It took forever to get there because of a horrible crash on I-5. We found out that the car in the wreck (that was completely unrecognizable as a car at all) was driven by the mom of one of the Lone Peak players. His 5-year-old sister Paige,who had played with Lucy all night at the game, had been killed. Let's just say I had a hard time focusing on the BYU game and having my heart really into football at the time. I could just think of that poor family, and what they were dealing with.


I ended up taking the kids out at halftime to the motorhome. They were too restless to be trapped in the stands sweating to death. I left Shea to enjoy the game, and I guess I missed the best half in the process. After the game, since we were so late getting there and had a ton of tailgating food, we tailgated. A lot of my dad's family were at the game, so they stopped by. We also got to see Olivia's parents and sister. It was nice to not fight traffic out of the game and to sit and eat with friends instead.


Sunday we went to my Aunt Lara's sacrament meeting since her husband was blessing their new baby, Grace Marie. It was nice to have brunch with family before heading home. It was even nicer to sleep in my own bed that night and be in my own house!


Now we're home, and the kids are back in school. Yea!!! My house is in the cleaning process, and laundry is being done as I type. (I wish it would just fold itself.)


Tomorrow is a room mothers meeting and soccer practice...and life is back to good old normal.

HAPPY 14th BIRTHDAY ALLYSUN!

You are one darling (and mature) girly! I love you so much. Thanks for being always positive, having a smile on your face, loving my kiddos and me, and being a great example to your siblings and all those cousins! The eldest cousin has to be wonderful--and you are.

You are so beautiful. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Happy Dyson Day!

For Labor Day my sweet husband let me get a new tool to help with my labors. (I have been eyeing these for a while and noticing how not sucky my old vacuum was.) We spent the day trying it out on every surface of our home. I was surprised (and disgusted) to see the dirt and stuff that came out of our carpet. Keep in mind, I did vacuum the whole house two days ago.

So, this little guy and I are going to be spending a lot of time together. I like--really like--fresh vacuum lines. I haven't been a daily vacuumer until now, but I may start.

I guess Shea loves me lately. :) He always loves me! Today my mom called and asked if I wanted to come with her on a church history, guided trip to Boston at the end of the month. I hung up the phone and Shea and I discussed it. It's 6 days--Thursday to Tuesday. He said that it would be a chance of a lifetime and I should go. So, I called my mom back and told her I'd go. So...I'm headed to Boston at the end of the month, and I'm going to New York City with my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law in October. Yea! At long last...a trip with no kids. I'm going to come home one relaxed, refreshed, rejuvenated mama!

Thank You!

A huge "THANKS" to Jerianne, my cute and multi-talented friend, for helping me with my beautiful new blog header thingy. She also walked me through a step-by-step tutorial for beginning and succeeding at digital scrapbooking. I'm ready to get started after I take a trip to Costco for a new software program. I'm very excited to start and not keep racking up the unfinished years of photos of my adorable kids. (Lucy, at the moment, is thinking she is hilarious by putting her various body parts across the laptop keyboard while I type. If I have misspelled words or type incoherent sentences, it's her fault. Little stinker. Her laugh is so cute though!)

We went to the new Jump On It indoor trampoline place with cousins today. The boys--especially Shea--loved it. They have around 60 rectangular trampolines joined together by pads in a huge warehouse. My kids spent two hours running across and jumping on the
tramps. We'll definitely be going back.
After the sweaty play time, we all went to Riverside for dinner. Yum. The extra bonus was not having to clean up after the 12 kids we had with us!

Just some thoughts...
Is it bad that Camden told me once that he doesn't like kindergarten? Is it just the day?
I know they are so tired on Tuesdays and Thursdays when they have both Learning Dynamics and Cedar Ridge. Am I a bad mom for making them do both? Will they get used to the schedule?
Five days a week (19 hours) is a lot of time for a 5-year-old to be in school. It's a part-time job!
Is anyone else experiencing this with their kindergarteners?

Kindergarten

Cam
Coop

We did it. When I say "we" I mean the boys and me too I guess. We sucessfully said goodbye at the door with no tears and big smiles. I haven't cried yet, but I am finding myself counting down the minutes until I get to pick them up. I know...that will wear off quickly, but I love those boys! I am excited for them and their new adventures. I will be excited (and more productive) once I get used to this new routine.

Lucy, on the other hand, is not excited; nor is she happy about being home alone with me for so long. She sat herself down at the boys' kindergarten table and refused to leave. She screamed when we left the school, and she cried most of the way home. Poor baby. What a change to go from spending your time with your two older, cooler, more active brothers to spending your time with your mom who runs errands, cleans, and does other not fun things. No wonder she's having issues.

If I can get her to decide a nap would be good at this time every day I could be really productive. I could try the new family file stuff for genealogy, or I could learn digital scrapbooking (which is on my list for this week), or I could do household chores.The possibilities are endless.
I did smile as I walked down the hall after handing in the boys' medical reports and seeing several neighborhood kids headed to the library or somewhere. They were excited to see a familiar face I think.

Happy 12th Birthday to Chase! He is one of our favorite cousins...who unfortunately lives too far away now. Thanks for always being such a good example to Cam and Coop and for playing with them. We love you. Have a great day and we'll see you soon!