oh, give me a home...

April's photo challenge (it is still April right??) is architecture!
Carin mentioned this to me AFTER we got home from New York (convenient, huh?).
I love old architecture. As a kid/teen/young adult I always wanted to buy an old Victorian home when I grew up. Now that I have a house, I don't know if I could handle the upkeep it would take to own an older home BUT I miss the detail and beauty that it would provide!
One of our favorite places to go is Bill's grandpa's farm in Heber. It has been in the family for over a hundred years! Everywhere you turn there is beauty! Bill's great grandma's house is still there! It isn't livable anymore (although some animals wouldn't agree) but I can still see the beauty it had! I love to walk around it and peek in the windows! I am always amazed at the intricate designs - I love the wall paper and the kitchen floor, not to mention the cute windows above the door! This is one of my favorite chairs, which I mentioned before (here), that Bill won't let me take home - he says it is only cute at the farm! Behind the chair is the old fridge (which I love as well!!). I love everything about the farm and it is one of my favorite places to bring my camera - I don't know how the animals feel about me taking pictures, but they haven't attacked yet!

fishing...

for a compliment!
setting: me and my boys in the car this morning, driving to church...

me (in a springy outfit): None of you boys told your mother that she looks nice today.
boy 1 (w/startled face): Is it Mother's Day?
me (w/matching lipstick and fresh pedicure): No, does it have to be Mother's Day for you to tell me I look nice?
boy 2 (looking very proud): I would tell you you look nice on your birthday too!
boy 3 (somewhat puzzled): how many days until my birthday?
boy 4 (w/cute grin): you're crazy mom!

A conversation like that, with my boys, beats a compliment any day (not to say that I won't be expecting some nice words on May 10th!)!!!

the next best thing...

I was lucky enough to have my college roommate come stay with me for a few days. The boys weren't so excited. They like her just fine BUT with her comes her dogs - her big dogs. Two of my boys are really really afraid of dogs and the other two aren't that comfortable around anything with paws either. Reagan and Wesley are the scaredy cats - Saturday morning Reagan cleaned his room lightening fast so he could call a friend and we didn't see him for the rest of the day (thanks Emily). Wesley, on the other hand, had two new best friends within the first hour! It was amazing to watch. He started with baby steps - first throwing the ball, then patting Mick or Maggie on the back and gradually he got braver and braver to the point that he wouldn't leave them alone (I think I heard "Mick, Mick, here Micky" at least a thousand times!)! When Reagan returned home on Saturday night, he saw Wesley and figured maybe he could throw a ball too. While walking to church on Sunday, Reagan was the first to ask when we could get a dog! Cameron and Chase also enjoyed "our" dogs. The first thing Chase said when he woke up from his nap this afternoon was, "let's go see the dogs"!It put a smile on my face to watch all the boys interact with their new buddies! Today after school, Wesley's teacher told me that the dogs are all he has talked about for the last two days. He (and the other boys) are missing their friends tonight, as I am missing mine! Luckily, they have their previous dogs (the Build a Bear kind) to snuggle with, until the next time!

w.t.

today is wacky tacky day at the boys school!
It is the perfect day for our family. I just told the boys they could pick out their own clothes, do their own hair and be themselves! They should be set! I could have been the parent that made up such a day - their are so many reasons it's great...
*finally a chance to use the 2 right-foot rain boots we bought and never got around to returning
*holes in your pants - perfect
*don't have to worry about misbehaved children (they are just being wacky)
*wearing the same shirt as yesterday (trying out tacky)
*it is much easier to find to separate shoes than a matching pair
*no need to wash your jacket, just wear it inside out

I think wacky tacky day should be every Friday!
(Cameron thinks it should be on Thursday - like yesterday, when he thought it was WT {interesting initials} day and came to school dressed appropriately, miss-matched shoes and all - sadly, no one even noticed!)

no pain, no gain...

Some of you may remember this post -
we had a sad little kindergartner, but no longer!!!
He made the chart!!!
On Easter, Wesley let Uncle Danny take a look at his tooth (once Uncle Danny knows the boys have a loose tooth, he has no problem ripping them out - I hear he can't handle doing this to his own girls, but he has pulled all of my boys firsts and quite a few out of his other nephews mouths as well!)! Wesley pouted for about 5 minutes after being tricked (I am pretty sure Danny's exact words were "I am just going to look at it") - freaked out for a minute when he saw that his mouth was full of blood, but after a few swishes, he couldn't quit looking at himself! He didn't really care about the tooth fairy - he just wanted his name on the chart! When he looked under his pillow on Monday morning he just said "oh" and left the money there! Then he got ready for school super fast and was able to show all the kids in his class before the bell even rang!
(wouldn't you know it - his teacher was out of paper teeth so he had to wait until Tuesday to make the chart - he was OK with it, just as long as everyone knew!)Now he shows EVERYONE everywhere we go!!
Each stranger asks him if the tooth fairy left him anything - his response...
no!
(said with head down, looking at shoes, feel sorry for me face)
I explained to the first few horrified strangers that the tooth fairy had indeed left him some money but we haven't been to the store yet to spend it (now I just smile - let them judge!)! I have also tried explaining to Wesley that the tooth fairy did leave him something, but it is like the "loost/lost" conversation all over again, and until he has some wolverine claws in his hand, he will not change his response! But I am not too worried, he hasn't quit smiling since Sunday!!

oh beautiful day...

We had a beautiful Easter Sunday!
The kids awoke early to see what was in their baskets, went on a quick treasure hunt, had some eggs for breakfast (chocolate eggs, that is) and quickly got ready, so we could be to church by 9! After raining all day Saturday, it was so nice to see the sun shining when we got home!The bubbles were the first things to come out!Nothing beats the combination of bubbles and little kids (except possibly nap time and little kids or diet coke and crushed ice or brownies and ice cream or cadbury mini eggs and cinnamon bunnies)!The kites were next! We (meaning Cameron - there is something about him and kites that is like magic) managed to get 3 out of the 4 kites all the way up at the same time! After Cameron gets the kite up, he will pass it on to the owner for them to fly. Can you see the problem with this picture (x marks the spot)? Cameron had a few not very Easterly words to say after this collision (it kinda reminds me of moms and housework - you do everything and a few minutes later someone messes it all up - I will have to explain this analogy to Cameron)!The Easter Bunny, however, might be suffering from a slight case of dementia.
(S)he brought the kids adorable fur real pets and cute spendable bunny bucks which was so thoughtful and cute. But then he also included something shocking (and avoided at all costs) in the baskets...character shirts!!!
(notice anything special about Wesley? details to come!)

happy easter...

One of my favorite primary songs is He Sent His Son.
I had my boys listen to it as another reminder of what Easter is all about!
How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness?
He sent his Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness.
How could the Father show the world the pathway we should go?
He sent his Son to walk with men on earth, that we may know.
How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice, of death?
He sent his Son to die for us and rise with living breath.
What does the Father ask of us? What do the scriptures say?
Have faith, have hope, live like his Son, help others on their way.
What does he ask? Live like his Son.

may your day be filled with faith, hope and a cadbury egg or two!

easter activity

Carin and Renata came over with their adorable girls on Thursday for
cookie - cupcake - coloring Easter eggs - creativity DAY!
Sound overambitious?It was, we only got to the cookies! But we had fun doing it!
The boys quickly ran up, threw as much frosting and candy as was possible on their cookie, ate it in two or three bites and were back downstairs before you could say "here comes Peter Cottontail" (which is 'eggs'actly why you invite girls over for a day of baking!)
The girls carefully decorated their cookies and then wanted to save them for later (so they could admire them a little bit longer)!
Chase, Sophie and Mariana are excluded from both of those groups - we will put them in the "big helper" group! They were right there, whether you needed them or not, eating dropped candy, sucking on bags of frosting, taking one bite out of different cookies, eating more candy, wanting to add one more color to a perfect masterpiece, did I mention candy? We never got a chance to color eggs - we did however boil them - I am reminded of this EVERY time I open the fridge - rank!

lobsters and turtles and beef, oh my...

Last night we went to The Melting Pot to celebrate a friends birthday!
I have always wanted to try it - a place where you can stick everything in cheese and chocolate sounds like heaven to me! We had so much fun! The 3 1/2 hour dinner was filled with wonderful conversation, horrible jokes and lots of laughs! Happy Birthday Kim! Thanks for including us on your night out!
*and thanks Sara for watching the kids
*and thanks Jock for staying outside ALL night while your owner watched a few boys who are afraid of a puppy!
Now I am off to google the recipe for the Flaming Turtle
(milk chocolate, caramel and chopped pecans, flambéed tableside - YUMMM!)

before and after photos...

I thought I would show you all a few more before and after pictures -
not of the bathrooms, but rather my front room!
So, here is a before shot of the living room
before a weekend of family
before an average of 12-19 kids at any given moment
before lots and lots of food devoured...lets focus on the pretty things, shall we
ahhhhh....and here is 5 minutes later!

I {heart} NY...

My trip to New York was perfect!!
These two wore me out (I have been napping the last 3 days! - or at least dreaming about napping) It was great to spend quality (kid free) time with my sisters!
Love dah boat of yews!!! I LOVE NEW YORK!
It is so busy, exciting, colorful, beautiful - it is filled with so many different sounds...honking horns, ambulance sirens & every language imaginable! The streets are filled with people of all nationalities, economic background and style! I loved watching moms holding on to their children, perfectly groomed dogs being walked, taxis being hailed and flags waving!

A few highlights for me were...
Billy Elliot, followed by a treat at Serendipity
Central Park
Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty
MoMA
East Village/Soho
sesame bagels
and one of my best memories was an early night in,
hanging out with my sisters!