Scrapping

This week was a bit nuts for us - we've been keeping busy with friends, and school and piano and such.  The kids had their first "track meet" - they had all the elementary age track participants choose 2 events to participate in and then they all had fun running and jumping - Eileen chose all jumping events and Anna chose the 2 longest running events.  They both did really well and had a lot of fun.  And we all had fun watching them and cheering them on.

Unfortunately, after them meet was the end of their session of Track and Field and we were too slow signing them up for the next session - we all miss track and field.....  The kids come home so much more restless - there were so many benefits - they were healthier, more willing to sit down for piano lessons and homework after school and I didn't have to wake James up from his naps every day to pick them up....  Gonna have to do better next time... :)

This weekend, I flew out to Utah for the Scrapbook Expo in Sandy.  It was utterly exhausting, but a blast!  All day Friday and all day Saturday, the 4 of us hung out at our booth, scrapped, and met people.  And by all day, I mean we were up at 6:30 and didn't get back home until after midnight!  But we had a lot of fun and it was fun to meet people that I have known online for 4-5 years now, but haven't met in person until now.  Nicole was nice enough to put me up for the weekend since Paul and Candace were in the middle of a move (and it was probably easier this way since I didn't have my own car) but I do wish I had had some spare time to go see their new house.  

After the expo ended on Saturday, Nicole took me to her Roller Derby match - it was a blast to watch and cheer her on!  Plus her team won - which is always exciting :)

I flew back to CO on Sunday morning - just in time for church.  It was a lot of fun - but i was very grateful for my Sunday afternoon nap :)

Where did September Go?

I can't believe we are in the final part of September, this month has just flown!  We have been keeping ourselves plenty busy with track and field, soccer, and play dates.  After checking out my cameras, I apparently only took pictures of my boys this week.  The weather has been gorgeous, so we took a walk over to the park with my friend Nicole and her 3 kids (who are close in age to my youngest 3) James just LOVED the swing.

Dan was out of town for a few days - thankfully his travel this month has been really light and we have loved having him around!  Nicole and Dwayne watched the kids for me so I could go to choir.  Apparently the kids totally tried to manipulate them the whole time "Yes we can do this - just one more movie - we can stay up a bit longer - we won't be cranky!"

Becky came over on Thursday I really enjoy having her over - we may do nothing more than chat and craft and eat lunch - but it's such a relief to have wonderful female friends around to hang out with especially when Dan is out of town and I am TOTALLY starved for adult conversation (ya know - anything other than "mommy - this dinosaur is gonna come eat you - does that tickle?"  and "mommy I'm hungry - what's for lunch" - that one about 10 minutes after breakfast)

James is getting totally mobile - he even figured out how to climb into the lego table - thankfully he doesn't much like eating them - they are too pokey - but I've been trying to do better about putting a blanket over it while he is around it.

Soccer is going well - I really like that all the coaches are more interested in having fun and getting the kids equal play time than winning. Aaron is starting to like it more and more - he really got in there and played some tough (for a 4 year old) defense - and even remembered which way they were supposed to be going.

It was also team picture day - this is the girls team - they have been enjoying it too - but vary between playing and trying hard and kinda standing there watching it all happen (when they are supposed to be in and playing) 

So during primary today - Eileen had a lesson about lying and telling the truth and the teacher did an object lesson using a piece of rope that he wound around Eileen's wrists to show that when you wrap it around once, it may be easy to get out of - but the more you wrap it around, the harder it is to get out of.  She really thought this was fun, because when she got home - she found a piece of rope in the back yard and the girls all began tying each other up.  

Birthday Girls

This is a week of birthdays for us!  And those birthdays were surrounded by a week of insanity!!!!  Why does it feel like I say that every week.....

Well - this week - Dan had a show in town, which meant that he got to sleep at home, but we didn't see much of him - one night he wasn't home until after I was asleep and was gone again before I woke up the next day.  Which means, that he almost might as well be out of town.  The week began with the usual hustle and bustle - track and field, piano lessons, laundry, grocery shopping, choir and trying to keep up with everything.

James is growing and learning - this week he learned that cake crumbs are really yummy.  Dan was making a birthday cake for me and didn't realize that he had dropped a crumb on the ground, James found it and ate it and LOVED it - Dan had to fight him off of the crumbs after that.

On Friday, Dan and I got a babysitter and went out for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.  We had a lot of fun together - but we always do.  Then we came back to the house to watch a movie together.  He got me some fun new books for my birthday - which may not sound fun to some - but I'm kinda addicted to books and reading, and I'm really looking forward to these!

Saturday was a bit crazy - in addition to getting ready for Evie's birthday and family coming over on Sunday, we had soccer in the morning, the primary program rehearsal and Anna had a birthday party.  Followed by some shopping and creating and of course cleaning.  

I just loved the action shots I managed to get of Aaron - it's so funny to watch him play - he alternates between getting in there and doing his best, and standing on the side whining about being tired and picking his nose.  The girls are a bit better - and it's fun to watch them learning and getting better.  

Anna really enjoyed helping me make a present for Evie - She did almost all of the tying for this little blanket and she loved it!  The rest of the kids had gone to Costco with Dan and she and I worked on this together.  She had such a hard time not telling Evie about it and when Evie opened her presents - she had to open that one first!!!!

James likes to crawl and climb everywhere - the other day, I found him stuck like this - of course I grabbed my camera for pictures before helping him.... he really wasn't upset though - he just kept working on it until he got himself free - I'm still not sure why he felt that was the best way to go in the first place though.  :)  

Eileen borrowed a book from school about bugs and has been kinda obsessed with them for a couple days now.  She has spent so much time reading this book and wants to make everything in there that it shows how to make so that she can catch and watch bugs.  So strange for a girl - but i LOVE to see her learning and how smart she it!!!

And of course, our little birthday girl!  Dan made her a birthday princess crown - she loved it!  We asked her what she wanted for her birthday - her only answer? "Pink CAKE! with Pink Frosting!!!!!"  Eileen kept trying to get her to ask for fancy cupcakes - but all she wanted was pink cake! 

Granda Francone, Frank, Tina and Frankie, and Stuart and Rebecca and family all came over to have cake and ice cream with us and celebrate.  I'm glad they did - we have way too much cake around here - it's good to have help eating it - plus I just love being with family!  I'm so glad that my kids have the chance to get to know them - especially their great grandpa!  

Wish I Were Super Mom

LOL - If I were Super Mom, then maybe I would have endless stores of energy and patience :)  Unfortunately I have neither.  Thankfully I have sweet children who (along with the normal dose of tantrums and whining) give me sweet kisses, snuggles and smiles that make it all worth it in the end.  Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who, after a long day at work, comes home and helps out and cares for me like I'm a queen.  Thankfully I have wonderful friends and ward members who help out when my hubby is gone and I have 4 wiggly kids and a very tired baby at church and need to get up and do music time with the primary kids and need help entertaining James.

This week we had choir start back up for me - it was wonderful to be singing again and to see friends again. Also I found out that Sandi will be singing with Evening Song - I am so excited for her!

We also started preschool stuff for Aaron again (and some for Evie too) we talked about our body parts and had fun tracing the kids - after, Aaron spent a good solid 2 hours coloring his in - at the same time James and Evie both took naps and I had a wonderful 2 hours to get some stuff done and relax a bit!  I even got to eat lunch with out two kids hanging over me and begging for food!  LOL - I'd call it a minor miracle - but to me it's not so minor.

We asked Evie what she wanted for her birthday, and she told me she wanted "A pink frosting cake!!!"  So cute and so easy to please!

As of this morning - James now has 2 teeth on the bottom - he is growing so fast and has such a wonderful little smile!!

Today was a bit insane - we are getting the primary kids ready for their primary program in 2 weeks and since we have stake conference next week, we spent the full 2 hours doing a run through - sigh....kids attention spans are NOT that long - and James was not a happy camper, having been in need of a nap for over an hour when it started.  After church we spent the afternoon playing games and doing crafts until dinner time.  Now I am totally ready for bed.....zzzzzzzzzzz

Labor Day Fun

Well we have had a fun, wonderful weekend!  But I'm getting ahead of myself!

We started out our week like normal - kids with school, piano lessons, track and field and lots of fun.  Dan and I have some friends moving to the area and the husband drove in with their things on Thursday and the wife and kids flew in this weekend - we wanted to make sure they didn't starve and had Dwayne over for lunch and dinner and sent him home with food.

Anna had her 6 year old well child visit on Thursday and we found out that she is a healthy, happy well adjusted, smart girl - but we knew that all ready :)

James is ALL OVER the place - he is very mobile and pulling up on everything and starting to walk around the edges of things. He is also a very happy and easy going baby (at least as long as he is fed and not tired)  And he officially has a tooth!!!

On Friday, we took off to Utah to spend the weekend with Paul and Candace and their family.  It was wonderful - Eileen and Anna spent all their time hanging out with Annmarie who is about Anna's age.  Aaron spent all his time playing with Cannon and Christian and leaning how to be a boy with Nerf guns and dinosaur costumes.  Evie spent all her time with Genevieve who is about her age and James spent all his time with their pre-teen daughter Bianca who is an awesome baby sitter!  It was so fun to watch them play together and get along so well.  When we had to leave to come home, Eileen kept saying "I wish we could come here more than just once a year!)  We were all sad to leave!  It's fun to watch Dan with his brother - they are very alike in their sense of humor and their interests.  I love Candace and the example she sets for me - she is a wonderful mother - creative, loving, patient, talented - but then again - I married into a wonderful family of women!

We stopped at Little America on our way home - turned out to be the perfect lunch stop - decent food - cheap ice cream and a play ground for the kids to get wiggles out, and even clean bathrooms!