Jake's camera

For Jake's birthday we gave him a camera with a photo card. He loves it! He loves to take pictures of anything and everything, including himself. The other night when I was putting the kids to bed, we were getting a little silly with the camera.
Here's Tyler and mom.
And my silly little boys. Notice that little gleam in Jake's eyes? Yeah, that worries us a little...
So this was after I left them to fall alseep. This would be Jake shooting webs like spiderman.
I'm thinking this one happened after Tyler fell asleep, it's definatly a self portrait, and it was the least weird and silly of the last ones on the photo card.

Today is the day!

The photographer is coming today to shoot the house. It should be listed by tomorrow or Wednesday. We are excited to get going on it. I've been working like crazy to pack everything not necessary, to "un-clutter" the house. I can't believe how empty it feels around here.

One thing I've learned about myself since starting this project is that I like clutter. I have always operated under the assumption that eventually my kids would grow up, and then I would have a clutter-free home. Not that things are bad now, just that I make these little piles of paper, pens, whatever around. I figured that I would be different when the kids were grown. I've learned that the lack of piles is driving me insane!!! I think I'm one of those people that actually thrive on this little bit of chaos in my life. Just think of the convenience alone of having a pen and paper at your beck and call. Or knowing just where you can find a bobby pin, or a quarter for the ice cream man. I miss my piles. I miss having a little junk around. I really miss having a house that feels like people live there. I hope it sells quick so I can get out of here and start some piles somewhere else!

Some Big news...

Actually, a lot of big news. Brian is finally to the point that back surgery is unavoidable. So he will be going under the knife in the next few months. We are also putting out house on the market next week.

So many factors have gone into this decision and though it makes us sad, we are really looking forward to the adventure! We will be moving slightly south of here, in the Eagle Mountain area of Utah. For those of you not from here, Eagle mountain in down by Utah lake. It is slightly in the middle of nowhere, but close to the freeway and an equal distance between Salt Lake City and Provo.

Although life has become more hectic with the de-clutterization of the house for the real estate photographer, prepping for listing the house and me getting ready for my trip to Washington, we are excited about the idea of moving. The kids are excited too, once we got past the initial queries of: "Are we still going to have a toy room?" and "Is the cat still going to be our friend?" they were good to go. (And for those of you curious, the answer was yes to both questions)

Oh, also a "little" side note, Sprinkles the hamster has left our home. After being harassed by Abby the cat for the last 2 months, we have found a new home for Sprinkles. She was a good hamster and the kids will miss her. I can't say I'm terribly broken up about it, and in hindsight, will never invite a rodent to live with us again.

So that is our life right now. A little crazy, but hey, that's what makes it fun!

Cranky about the pictures....

Okay, so something I did last week screwed up the pictures on here! I'm not quite sure what I did, but I'll try to get to it today or tomorrow! Sorry for all blank spots!

Frito worthy

This morning, I had the opportunity to reflect on some of the funny little things kids do. For example, this morning, I feasted on a yogurt that had 45 grams of sugar (needless to say, this was not my normal yogurt, it was the kids'), chocolate chips, fritos, and Almonds. No, I'm not pregnant! This is what Jake made for me for a suprise breakfast. I've come to almost dread with love the words "Mommy, I made you breakfast!"

However, that being said, there are so many little things about my day that make fritos for breakfast worth it. Here are a few of those things....

When I wake in the morning, the first thing I usually see is Jake's sleepy little face standing at the side of my bed. He comes in every morning and holds out his arms to climb into bed and snuggle with me. This would be unremarkable if it weren't for the fact that he is 4. I don't know many 4 year old boys that are willing to get a hug from their mom, much less crawl into their mommy's arms like a baby and fall back to sleep for an hour or so.

Tyler has his own little set of sweet things he does to show us love. Since learning to read and write we find ourselves the recipients of many, MANY pieces of paper with the words "I love you mommy from Tyler" written on them. Or "Happy Mother's day", "You're the best mom in the world". This last year, we have gone thru a 200 page package of construction paper for these projects. When we are sick, the first thing we get is a paper from Tyler. These come in nice large sheets or small scraps of paper, whatever is handy, he'll use.

However small these things are, they are worth it. Worth ruining my eating habits for a meal. Worth waking up early and worth spending a fortune on paper. Worth having fritos for breakfast.

More 4th Pictures....

....then we started to think maybe all the older cousins were just suckers for his cute little face since they were all providing his ear coverage! Tanner down the line liked the idea too!
Preston just wanted to go home to bed!

4th of July!

For the fourth of July this year we had a crowded, but amazingly fun get together at our house! We were never so glad for our backyard as we were that day! This is my mom and dad with all their grandchildren, lined up according to age. We LOVE the three amigos on the end, who were all born within the same year and are just a heap of trouble and fun! We had a great day, with just a little sadness, Brian's back was out and was unable to join the fun. He spent the day in bed with his legs up. We were also missing Stephanie, who was in Indiana preparing their new house for their family to move into. We love you Steph!!
The boy end of the family....from left to right, Tyler, Zach, Jake, Tanner, and Preston. In the way of belonging...Tyler and Jake, of course our ours, Zach is Jim and Steph's, and Tanner and Preston are Corey and Sarah's.
The kids in Uncle Jim's new truck. It was actually pitch dark when I took this, so it's a little blurry, the camera did it's best with no tripod.
I just thought this was pretty!
Jake didn't like the noise, so Brad let him sit on his lap and was nice enough to cover his ears for him!