Fun Family Weekend

I love the weekends when I can just do some fun things with my family. We didn't get much work around the house done, but we did have a great time just being together.
Touch a Truck
Mike's Boss' Wife is the president of an organization called "Junior League of Utah." This was a fundraiser for that. They brought in tons of different kinds of vehicles for kids to look at, climb in, and pretend to drive. Mostly it's just a cool photo opp for Moms like me.

Home Depot was also there and the kids could pick out a wooden building project to make. Mason put together a sailboat while Max did a tool box and Mitchel did a race track. Way cute! They even gave them these adorable, orange aprons.

Picnic in the Mountains

I just can't face the fact that summer is over, and since the weather is still so beautiful, we decided to do a Sunday picnic up the canyon. Nothing beats eating outdoors and then roasting marshmallows and making smores after. It was a perfect, relaxing evening.

Silly Boys

So Miles does this really funny thing every time I go to take his picture. He will be smiling and everything, then when that little light goes on right before the flash goes off, he opens his eyes really wide and gets a "deer in the headlights" look. We think it is so funny! The other boys wanted to try it too. Here is their attempt at the "deer in the headlights" look.

Mitchel has the hardest time opening his eyes wide. He can't do it at the eye doctor either when they try to take a picture of his eyes. Weird! They crack me up so much. I love all their little faces!

Baby Face

Just some cute random photos of my baby boy. I couldn't have asked for a sweeter baby.

Fun at the Fair

Last night was opening day at the Utah State Fair so they had a deal where kids 5 and under were free and everyone else was only $2. So Tracy and I took the kids down to see the sights. Max was not too happy with me because I wouldn't fork over any money to let them ride the rides. First of all they are death traps, and second, we will be going to Disneyland in just a few weeks and they can ride all they want there. But we did get this cool picture of the rides at night.
Instead, we saw other cool things like this real race car. Max said, "That isn't a real race car...look at all the crap in it!" (he was talking about all the poles and safety stuff that is in it instead of seats) And yes...I am teaching my children to use wonderful vocabulary like "crap."
We saw lots of animals. Mitchel thought this was the first time he had seen a sheep that close up.

The cows are actually my favorite....to eat I mean! But they are amazing animals and I can't believe how big their butts are! Here they are lined up from smallest to biggest, just like my boys.

Of course, what is the fair without the food? Tracy decided to try the deep fried pickle. We debated trying the deep fried Twinkie or Oreos, but thought we would both be better without them.

We did have "bushels of fun" at the fair. It was a nice night to enjoy it. We also saw a fun ventriloquist and old people in their big, bushy skirts doing square dancing. We were never able to find the produce display of big pumpkins and squash, which is usually my favorite part of the fair.

I just thought this was a funny picture of Miles. I feel bad that he is never in our other pictures (like at the fair) because he just hangs out in his stroller. I tried to get him to smile in this picture with his cool, sticky up hair, but I could only get his big eye surprised look. You probably can't tell in this picture, but we are thinking that he has blue or green eyes. All my other boys have brown. We shall see if they stay light.

Yo-Ho Yo-Ho a Pirate's Life for Me!

This is one thing I LOVE about having kids....their birthday! We spent a wonderful Labor Day celebrating Max's 6th birthday. This day had been anticipated by our family for weeks (maybe even months) and so everyone was excited when the day finally came.
We always start the morning with the presents from Mom and Dad. This year though, Mitchel even bought Max a present...a Scoobydo movie. Max got his first big kid bike and helmet. (a little nervous about it).

But this was the gift of the YEAR. All that Max has asked for over the last several weeks is "Lego Clones." When he started asking for them, I had no idea what he was talking about so I had him point them out to me at Target. Wouldn't you know, they only cost $10. Don't you love it when the one thing your kid dreams of is something that you can actually afford! So getting these for his birthday was like a dream come true! He couldn't have been happier (and I was the best Mom ever!)

We decided to have a pirate themed party (because they have that sort of stuff at the dollar store!) Max has quite a few little friends his age in the neighborhood, so this year I let him have a friend party (his first).

Mike really got into this party and made this awesome pirate flag you see here. I never knew Mike was so creative! One nice thing about Mike's job at Diamond Rental, is he can get some stuff for personal use. So we rented a bounce house for the kids to play in. There was a lot of flipping, crashing, bouncing, jumping, and wrestling (with some tears to go with it), but it was also a lot of fun.

One of the highlights of the party was the "Treasure Hunt." Again, Mike really got into this and made a pirate map for the kids to follow. When I asked Max later what was his favorite part of the party, he said, "The treasure map!" So it must have been a hit!

Later that night, we had a family party and barbecue too. All of the members of mine and Mike's family were there to enjoy the great labor day weather with good food and good company. Max loved ever minute of it and loved having all of his cousins over. We did some more bouncing and treasure hunting and opened lots of fun presents. Thanks everyone for loving Max so much! We hope you all had fun too. That night the kids were WORN OUT and so were Mom and Dad! It's a lot of work to pull off a 6 year old's birthday, but the smiles are well worth it!!

Happy Birthday Max! We love you more than you could know!

Kindergarten Baby?

Not even! Max has been so ready for Kindergarten for a long time. His birthday falls one week after the school deadline, so he had to wait a whole extra year to start. Not that I am complaining. I have loved having this extra year with him. But really, he is so tall and so smart and just so ready to be in real, live school. He picked out his back to school outfit himself.

His teacher is Mrs. Richards. I absolutely love her. Mitchel had her as well and learned so much and became a really great reader coming out of Kindergarten. I am sure that Max will do the same.

Here he is, already at the head of his class!
Mason also had to take a first day of school picture. I am glad he is still home with me to be my little buddy!

So Miles is really starting to get a personality now. He is beginning to enjoy all the little kicky gym toys and bouncy chairs that I have placed everywhere around my house.

The other day I was folding laundry downstairs in the basement and needed to take it upstairs. Unfortunately, I only have two hands, so I put Miles in the hamper with the clothes to take them upstairs. I don't think he liked the ride very much.

Life is good and we are trying as best we can to get back into a routine. So far...So good!