Sunday, November 1, 2009

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween. Can you believe it's November??

We had a really fun day! We spent some of the afternoon with our bestest friends, Brett and Deruchette and went to their ward's Trunk or Treat. The kids got TONS of candy and Cleod liked seeing all the other kids' costumes.
Deruchette is almost 8 months prego and dressed up her belly! SO cute!
Here are the two crazies...Ryan (Monkey) and Leksi (Raja the Tiger). I have a theory about second children, but that's another story.
Cleod and Kianna. Our cute big kids dressed up like Bumblebee from Transformers and Jasmine.
We went over the Brett's mom and dad's house because they are basically our adopted family. Brett's mom always gets things for our boys when see buys toys or whatever for her grandkids. They all got glow sticks from "Nana" this year. She's the best.

After that we went and picked up my neice Brooklyn and went trick or treating with her and my cousin Christine and her kids. It was fun to walk door to door in a nice neighborhood but got COLD. Then we headed over to my uncle and aunt's house to watch movies! It was so fun to spend time with family. I'm so glad we have relatives and good friends so close!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Grant's ONE!!

My baby is one. Crazy, I know. It's been a weird weekend. We had a party planned for Saturday but Ryan got sick on Thursday so we cancelled it, just to be safe. I haven't been feeling very well today but we had a mini-party with Joy, Brooklyn and Brett, Deruchette and the girls.

Grant wasn't really into the present thing but he got excited about the present he got from Grandma and Grandpa Aitchison and Keenan.

Here he is with Brett and Cleod.
He loves his toy...and his tongue.

Cake aftermath...

Joy and Brooklyn got him a cool leap frog puppy that says his name. It's cute but he hasn't played with it yet. It got kidnapped and I think it's in the basement. He got some Lego duplos from Grandma and Grandpa Rowley which the kids all played with for a while, but I didn't get a photo. Grant loves them.


This was a few weeks ago, but I had to share it. Silas and I think our boys are pretty awesome.


Saturday, September 19, 2009

A day in the life...

5:45am- I don't normally wake up this early, but today I did because I was headed for the 1 day Meat Sale at Lin's, a local grocery store. I get 40 lbs of chicken and 40 lbs of ground beef. I LOVE stocking up on food.

6:30-7:20am- Wrap beef in freezer half pound portions in freezer paper and put chicken in bags to freeze. Two years ago my mom and dad got my a deep freeze and it is FULL today. Love that feeling. I think I am going to can the chicken, but not right away. It is nice to have some quite time, just me and the raw meat.

7:30am- Wake up Silas and the boys and go to the SkyFest. Every year a dozen or so hot air balloons take off. We get some donuts and OJ and sit in our camp chairs watching people unroll and fill the balloons. The boys love it. We also get to see Brett and Chette and the girls which we always like.

8:30am- I nurse Grant for the first of only two times today. His birthday is a little over a month away and so I'm starting to ween him. He is SO attached to me and he loves to nurse, so I'm doing it slowly. He's getting so big. He took 4 steps by himself today and I think he'll be running around before his birthday.

I start a load of laundry. I have been trying to do a load a day instead of cramming it into one day. It's nice except for when I forget about it. (It's still in the dryer.)

10am or so- Cleod and I go out back to pick tomatoes from our garden. That is all that grows and they are everywhere. We've made homemade spaghetti sauce with the tomatoes in the past which was great. It's really fun to have Cleod help out with the garden.

10:30- We call Tunex to come and pick up Gordon (that's the name of Silas's '71 VW Beetle. We bought a new battery yesterday but it still wouldn't start. Silas is making some extra money helping my brother Darin with a website so we are finally going to get Gordon fixed. We've been down to one chair again for about a month and so I am ready for it to be fixed too.

11ish- I cut hair. Lost of hair. Not mine...the boys'. It's been a really long time but they are all good and it doesn't take too long. I get all three of them in the bath. I can't believe how dirty boys get. Grant loves to take baths with his brothers but he also starts to drink the water. Then Ryan and Cleod start making a watery mess so we ubruptly end bath time. The boys get to stay in their room for a while. Meanwhile, Silas is doing homework and I get to shower.

Around 1pm- I vacuum the basement before letting the boys watch some TV. The Disney Channel has a cute show called Phineas and Ferb that even Silas and I will sit and watch. After that was over Cleod came and found me and said that there was a big kid show on. I said they could pick a movie and they picked the birthday video my siblings and I made for my Dad's 60th birthday last month. Cleod and Ryan think it's great.

Help Silas with some math but I'm not very helpful. I love math, but the class he's in is Discrete Math which is weird logic stuff. Bleh.

I call my mom. I like to let her know when I fill the freezer. Plus I haven't talked to her as much this week as I normally do. I am excited to go to Vegas for a few days in October.

2:30pm- The boys and I dropped Silas off at the school to meet a classmate. They needed to work on a take-home quiz. We used the time to first go to Deseret Book. We needed a few gifts and I wanted a picture of the First Presidency. Going to small stores with three boys is always crazy but I made it through.

3pm- We get to Wal-Mart. The main purpose was toilet paper. The I remembered that Grant needed baby food, and baby snacks because he is spoiled and doesn't always eat the baby food. So then I decide to get milk and margarine, bread, tortillas, grape juice (Silas's new favorite thing) and sour cream. Cleod reminds me that we were going to look at costumes, so we make our way to the other side of the store. Cleod wants to be Bumblebee, from Transformers, and we see that there is only one left in his size and two total of the style so we get it. He's actually "earning" money for it but I told him that he can pay me back instead. I'm not sure how well he understands that but that's fine. Needless to say, the toilet paper run turned into $42 of groceries. At least I remembered the toilet paper.

4pm- We pick up Silas from SUU and run by Tunex. They hadn't really been able to work on the Beetle but we're ok with that. Hopefully they will figure it out early Monday and it won't be too much. When we get home, Ryan falls asleep, Grant is happy and Cleod runs around the house in his new costume. It's pretty cute for $12.

5-6pm-Silas helps me make dinner. He remembered a few days ago about a meal that his family used to eat a lot. It's basically beans with brown sugar, honey and mustard. We made a decent version but hope to improve on it next time. At least I'm getting him to eat beans though. It's harder for me to get Silas to eat healthy than it is for me to get the boys to eat healthy. Not that Silas eats junk, but he doesn't prefer beans or wheat. We're getting there though...one loaf of bread at a time.

While dinner was simmering, Cleod helped me straighten the living room and dining room. I do not like to wake up to a dirty house, especially on Sunday morning.

6:30pm- Take Ryan with me to a reception of a friend. She's actually the daughter of my old employer so it was fun to see some of the old gang from the days at Papa Murphy's. Those were good times...I met Chette there, at Papa Murphy's in 2002. Actually I met Chette at the reception too. We usually combine forces on gifts to mutual friends and we like to go together too. She had her girls and Ryan ran around the gym being crazy, as usual.

7:30pm- Grant hugs me for 5 minutes straight when I get home. He's such a doll. After a minute, Silas leaves for work. This is not a normal Saturday thing, but it does happen. He had something he needed to finish by Monday so he needed a few hours tonight to work on that. That man is amazing. He works 40 hours a week and goes to school full-time and then spends time doing homework on top of trying to spend time with me and the boys. I can't WAIT for May.

8:30pm- I put the boys to bed by myself but I don't follow the routine and they are all crying. I start blogging but have to stop. Cleod and Ryan say they're starving, which is kinda true because they have been having a really hard time finishing their dinners lately. I give in and give Ryan some cereal, Cleod wants toast and Grant gets a few crackers. I REALLY want some Cap'n Crunch...I know it's silly, but I LOVE cereal. I resist the temptation and drink some water with organic apple cider vinegar and organic honey instead. GROSS, you say? Yes. It is pretty gross. Brett's mom told me about this. She is reading a book about the benefits of these foods and there is a specific example of someone with arthritis feeling relief from pain through the vinegar/honey drink. Silas's arthritis has been pretty bad lately and I need a good energy boast, so we are doing it together. The honey is even from a guy in town would has bees. Cool.

While the boys finish eating I do dishes. I am constantly doing dishes. I despise a sink full of dishes so I try to keep them as empty as possible but this means rising and washing several times a day. I keep telling Silas that I am going to start paying myself for every load of dishes I do, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet.

9pm- Put the kids back to bed and start blogging again. I know this is long and most of you won't care, but I need this. It's like a kind of therapy.

It's 9:45pm and I am resisting the urge to watch Thursday's episode of The Office. I missed it because I had an Enrichment Board meeting where we planned out Super Saturday. It's ok, because NBC puts the episode on their site the next day so I didn't mind, but I didn't think it would talk me this long to watch it. I am resisting because I really need to get off the computer and study for my lesson. I am teaching Relief Society tomorrow. That's the woman's group at church. I LOVE teaching but I always feel anxious about giving the information that my ladies need.

So off I go to study my lesson. Then I will try to retire before midnight because as you can see, I am had a LONG day.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Happy Birthday, Pop!!!

Today is my Grandpa's 90th birthday! He lives in St. George which is only about an hour from where we live, so we went down yesterday for a little family party. It was great to be with family and to see him. He is such a great man and has been a wonderful example to me. He's the reason our family loves music and he has always encouraged us to use our talents.





Happy 90th, Pop!

Labor Day Weekend in Colorado

Over Labor Day weekend, we were able to drive to Silas's sister's house in Parker, CO which is near Denver. Silas's parents had come from Missouri so we not only got to hang out with Selissa, Phil and their kids, but we got to spend time with Silas's mom and dad. It was a long drive, but it was worth it. We went down to Colorado Springs on Saturday to The Garden of the Gods which was cool. Here we are:
We also went to Seven Falls...
I started playing the license plate game, pretty much by myself because my kids aren't old enough, but then I started taking pictures of Cleod next to different state plates. We got photos with 18 of them but we saw 37 of the 50 states. I was pretty happy with that. :)

On Sunday we went to the Denver Temple to walk around and there was a security guard there who let us into the Visitor's Center to see the Christus, which was awesome. Ryan ran up to it and said, "It's my brother, Jesus!"

Monday we spent the whole day traveling so we didn't have to rush. The 8.5 hour trip turned into a 12.5 hour trip. It was fine until Cleod started to throw up. Luckily we had a container he could hold and he's old enough to tell us when he needed to.
Overall, it was a great weekend and we are glad we went. Thanks, Sis and Phil, for letting us crash at your place!!!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Awesome Soccer Skills

So Cleod has had a few soccer games and it's hilarious and painful to watch. Four year old boys are crazy. Some of the boys on his team are way into playing and scoring. There is one boy who is a space-cadet and picks grass half the time. Cleod is a little bit of both.


Actually, the more he plays the more he's interested he is in soccer. He's knows which way to kick the ball but he doesn't always kick it. It's like he's thinking about it and then someone else kicks it. But the more comfortable he gets, the crazier he is with his teammates. It's frustrating for me but I just have to remember that he's 4 and he's having fun.

This is the basis of the whole game. Kick the ball, everyone get in a hundle and kick whatever, wherever. If you happen to get near a net, try to score. Most of the time they just kick the ball out of bounds. It's so funny! The coach will say, "Guard a guy" and they just keep running after the ball. At half-time last game I asked Cleod if he knew what his coach meant and he was clueless. It was adorable!

What a kick!!!

This shot makes him look like a pro! SO CUTE! (Oh and his socks are hiked up above his shorts. He likes it that way.)


Wednesday, August 12, 2009

August..so far

Cleod started soccer this month. His first game is actually on Saturday, but he's had a practice and he's adorable! Ryan wants to play too, but it's fun for Cleod to have his own thing.

My mom and dad let Grant and I hitch a ride with them to my cousin Kimi's wedding in Salt Lake. It was a really fun day, hanging out with family. Grant LOVED my uncles and my dad.

RYAN IS THREE!!! Sunday was Ryan's birthday and Saturday we had a party at the park. It was really fun. We had lots of family and friends come and we enjoyed the company.
Kizzie (Silas's sister) and Andy were in town for the weekend so they were able to be at Ryan's party. Also, we went to St. George and visited the Temple Visitor Center and the Tabernacle. We got to see the new Joseph Smith movie, which was AMAZING.

We also went with Kizzie and Andy to Kolob Canyons, which is part of Zions National Park. We went on a little hike and had a good workout. The boys enjoyed it, although Ryan is a SLOW-POKE! We would have finished that hike in half the time. :)

So, since we paid for the pass to Kolob and it lasts a week, we went with Brett and Chette for Home Evening on Monday night. We did a different hike and the kids had a great time again. Cleod and Ryan were much more comfortable this time walking on the trail. Grant LOVES being outside and wants to touch the rocks, dirt and water.
The month has been crazy so far and is going to continue to be busy. This weekend my sister-in-law Joy and my niece Brooklyn are moving to Cedar so my parents and sister, Deni, are going to be here again. Silas will start his last year of college this year, I'm going to attempt to begin my own preschool for Cleod, and mainly try not to lose my mind. The last few weeks I have been pretty blue, but I think things are going to work out.