Oh What A Wonderful Life.............

We finally had family pictures taken! The last family photo we had taken was when Carter was a toddler, so we were LONG over due!! We had a wonderful photographer in our ward take our pictures.....thanks Marcie!!

Happy Happy Birthday.........Let’s Celebrate!

My Little Grannie turned 90 years old on Halloween! We got together and had a little birthday party for her. She enjoyed of course having the children around for short periods of time before the noise and craziness would become to much for her...poor lady! We had a great dinner and a nice time visiting. Happy Birthday Grannie!!

What A Spooktacular Time.....

This year for Halloween we were able to go to my Moms ward Trunk-or-Treat on Friday night and then our ward Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday night. Which was great since Sunday was actually Halloween and we were not going to be Trick-or-Treating on the Sabbath. This year Kenna was a Twinkling Witch....meaning her skirt had lights in it!! Walker my lil Star Wars freak was Obi Wan Kenobi the Jedi Master. Carter was a Grim Reaper with a bleeding skull face. This was the first year that Cooper didn't dress up at all!We had a blast at my parents ward party! They had lots of candy, hot dogs, chili, cupcakes and homemade root beer.....YUMMY! They had carnival games for the children to play before the trunk-or-treating too!! SOO much fun!! Walker had the most fun I think though because he spent the whole time hanging out with my brother Eddie and his wife Chris and my nephew Chance who is the same age as him!We had a really nice time at our wards Halloween party the next night. We had our annual Chili and Cheesecake cook off. I didn't make homemade chili or a dessert to take this year because I had been sick the week before and still was a tad bit under the weather . It was so much easier to just buy something instead of making it but definitely not as tasty!! We had fun visiting with our super great friends and letting the kiddos just run and play. Cooper was off on his own all night running around with his friends and Tanner came for a little while and then left to go to his friends Halloween party. Not many pictures from either night since the kids were running in all different directions!A Halloween weekend full of lots of fun and candy!

A Cause For Celebration........

For Cooper and Tanner's birthdays this year they had friends over for a video game party one night and they both wanted to go to Johnny Rockets for a family dinner. Tanner and Cooper sat at their own table. Cooper couldn't put his burger down for another picture! Tanner doesn't eat a ton of crappy junk food so I had been surprised he loved the burgers. I said to him that the burgers are just too greasy and he said "but Mom every once in awhile you just have to have one though"! Everyone had a really fun goofy time. The weather was perfect so we enjoyed the outdoor dining area. The Birthday boys kept tormenting poor little Kennedy until she finally went to sit with Daddy...ugg brothers!!Cooper was easily entertained by the ketchup smiley face the waitress made for him on his plate....then he entertained us with it too!! The little kids had never ate there before and decided that they really liked it. Walker and Carter enjoyed their own table where they visited and colored almost the whole time.Everyone had been taking turns being sick for the past week and a half so we hadn't bought our Halloween Costumes yet so after dinner we went Halloween costume shopping and then to Yogurt Jungle for some yummy fro yo!! Happy Birthday Boys!!

Hair? What hair?

Well after 4 1/2 years it was time to finally cut and trim up what little bit of hair Miss Kenna-Lou had!!My super duper sweet friend _ _ _ _ _ went to beauty school back in the day but hates to actually cut hair so she does her family's hair only. One day when we were talking I mentioned sissy needed a haircut and she said she would do it........just don't tell anyone!!hahaha Kenna was leery of the whole thing but she sat still and was very cooperative and afterwards had a lil shorter hair and we even gave her bangs for the first time! I think she is even more adorable with bangs!! THANK YOU SWEET FRIEND!!!

Scouting............

Cooper getting an award at the Court of Honor............

Infinite Hope......T.O.F.W...........

Time Out For Women (T.O.F.W.) is described as a full weekend of inspirational messages and music. That is a perfect description for it too!!My friends Carrie,Vicki and I went together. Neither one of them had been before so they didnt know what a great treat they were in for! I couldnt have asked for better friends to go with.
The 2010 theme for T.O.F.W. was Infinite Hope! They had many speakers but the one who stood out in my mind the most was Mariama Kallon from war-torn Sierra Leone. She says:
"If it wasn't for hope, I wouldn't have been able to be here with you. Hope is the reason I am here."
Her story was inspirational and to read some of it here is a link:
http://www.mormontimes.com/article/696/Hygiene-kit-gave-hope-in-war-torn-Sierra-Leone
She talked about the personal hygeine kits the church has assembled and donated throughout the world and how when receieving one it was a life changing event and the importance it was to her as she struggled to stay alive in Sierra Leone before making it to America. They had tables set up for a "day of service" to assemble kits. At each stop of the 2010 Time Out for Women tour across America, donated items were assembled into "hope kits" and then given to local women's charities.
I enjoyed listening to Brad Wilcox former seminary teacher and mission president speak also. He has been involved with E.F.Y.(Especially For Youth) for years and after listening to him I can see why that program runs so well for our youth. He says "I wanted to be able to give women the same experience that young people get at EFY."
DeAnne Flynn a mother of seven spoke and had to say "the ultimate patterns are laid out in the gospel, in Jesus Christ's example, in the scriptures". She said sometimes parents might fall short of the kind of parents they long to be. But unless they make a concerted effort — unless they identify and try to align their lives with good patterns — it will be difficult to consistently change.
There were many other speakers but these were a few of my favorites!
We also had great music from Mercy River and Dallyn Vail Bayles.It was a super great girls weekend that I hope to do again! I love my girlfriends they are awesome!

A Super Dee Dooper Birthday.................

For Walker's 6th birthday we took him lunch at school and ate lunch with him. He was so happy to see us and have us eat in the cafeteria with him!! Kenna was just as happy.Instead of a birthday party with friends we had a family party at Chuck E. Cheese. My parents came with us and it was great fun!! Here he is with his birthday crown filled with golden tokens and his birthday cake.He had been talking for months that he wanted to go there for his birthday. I had thought it was because of the pizza and the games then the day before I found out they have a thing called The Ticket Blaster that the birthday child can get into and scoop up tickets as they blow all around them and that was the only reason he had wanted to go there......He loved the ticket blaster it lived up to everything his mind had made it up to be!!We also found out that Cooper is completely terrified of Chuck E. Cheese!! He hid under the table when he came our way. Tanner being the big brother he is later tricked him and got a picture with Chuck E. and Cooper. You can't see it in the picture but Tanner is holding on to Cooper with all his might!! Poor Cooper.....but it was pretty funny!!

Pedal Power........

Rob has taught the boys to ride their bikes with out training wheels by taking them to the park and up to the top of a grassy hill. That way they can go down the hill and worry about controlling the bike and not worry about the pedaling at first until they are more confident with the balancing part of it. It has worked with all three older boys even if they were all at a different age when taught!! Just like his brothers it only took a few times and he was a pro!! Great job Carter!

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie............

One night I came across Carter all snuggled up with Sadie sleeping on the living room couch and even though the dog is not allowed on the couch it was a cute picture so I had to snap it before putting Sadie in her kennel and waking Carter up to go upstairs to bed.

No Homework please...........

This yellow post it note is what Carter brought over to me one night just a few weeks into the school year.

He said "Mom don't read this just sign it please..."
Ummm okay like that was not a big ol red flag!!
So I read it then re-read it out loud to him and and I said "You seriously think I am going to sign this"
He said" I told you not to read it"!!hahaha

Needless to say I didn't sign it but I am sure if I did send his teacher a note it would have read something like the lil note in the corner of the post it.....yeah right!!

Yipeeeee........Pack Meeting...........

Carter loves Cub Scouts and is always happy when it is Pack Meeting and he can get an award for something he has earned!! Way to go Carter!!

The Tooth Of The Matter........

This month Walker and Kennedy both had to go in for Oral surgery.When I was pregnant with Kennedy and on bed rest Walker had been asleep on the couch and had rolled off hitting the tile floor face first. His front teeth got pushed up into the gums and the gums were swollen but they got better and we didn't think anything about it. As time has gone on his teeth are just bad. When the pediatric dentist examined him he said his teeth are coming in way to early and he has really soft teeth. We are wondering if any of it is linked to the problems he had that first year of life with his Tracheomalacia problems. Walker was completely put under for his surgery to remove 3 teeth and put in two spacers. When he came out of surgery he was soo groggy and out of it. He cried I don't want metal teeth!!! He was tired the rest of the day and we just snuggled and rested together. He was a trooper and did AWESOME!!When it came time for Kennedy to get hers done the pediatric dentist realized she wasn't as bad as the regular dentist had said so Kennedy didn't need to go under she just got gas and had a few pin sized cavities filled. She was sooo loopy and funny afterwards for a lil while. When we got home she rested for while then went and played and then rested some more. She did great!

Hi Ho Hi Ho, It's Off To School We Go......

Well the first day of school for 2010 came....YEA!! It was a L-O-N-G summer! Cooper is in 6th grade with Mr. Balsic. Carter is in 3rd grade with Mrs. Needham. Walker is in Kindergarten with Mrs. Letizia.Cooper was happy that several of his friends are in his class this year. Carter knows several people in his class too. Walker started Kindergarten this year and he was my first child to go to full day Kindergarten because 1/2 day was not offered anymore at our school. I was sad to see him go and he was sad to go. He even went as far as to say he would run away and hide under the blankets in my room so no one would find him so he could stay home with me....aww heartbreaking! The first few days were hard then he got in the swing of things made friends and by the next week he loved it!! Kennedy was soo sad that we were actually leaving the boys at school and coming home all alone! She wanted to stay with them at school or at least make them come home with us! She cried and pouted but when we got to IHOP for breakfast everything was all better. Then we went home and played Barbies and pretty ponies, colored, watched a movie, read a book and took a nap. She was happy but happiest when the the boys got home at the end of the day. Next year and she will be joining them and I will be the one crying as my baby leaves me home alone!!

Pitter Patter Of Little Paws.......

So here is our newest addition to our family her name is Sadie she is 6 weeks old and we are in love!! She is a miniature schnauzer and was born June 30th. We got her from my brother Mike's sister Chrissy. Thanks Chrissy!