Morgan's adventure.

As I type this Morgan is probably running all over the place with her friend at Fort Bridger.  She left this morning and I can't help but think of her every moment of the day and wonder what she's up to.  What ever she is doing I'm sure she's having a ball!

All ready to go, first thing this morning...my little pioneer girl.

We borrowed the pioneer clothes and the bonnet is hers.  And check out her moccasins...you can buy these as a kit, so I was able to whip them up myself!  Not too shabby, huh?  I think I'll try to snag Haley a pair too!

I hope ya'll have a great three day weekend!

At home with my little ones.

Now that older girls are in school everyday things at home have slowed down a bit during the day.  I don't feel so pulled in every direction, I can hear myself think again.  I don't have kids begging me to go here and there...these two are very content at home or going on errands with me.  And we love our daily walks to school to pick up the girls.

I had to include this picture just because it cracks me up.

In other news, Morgan is leaving bright and early tomorrow for the Fort Bridger Rendezvous.  She'll be going with our good friends (their daughter and Morgan are besties) and staying overnight with them.  They invited her for the whole four days, but I just couldn't bare to have Morgan away for that long!  So she'll stay Friday night and we'll drive up Saturday to spend the day and take her home.  I know it's just overnight, and she's with very trusted friends of ours, but I can't help but worry...she's so little still.  I'm a nervous wreck...however, she's just thrilled to pieces!

RIP little yellow bird.

When our dogs were puppies we lost everything from shoes to barbie dolls from their excessive chewing.  They couldn't even wear fabric collars because they would chew them off each other!  Now that they're grown they don't chew as much...key words, "as much"!  Should the kids leave a toy outside it still may get chewed up.  

Anyway, the other morning we woke up to the remains of a poor stuffed animal spread across the lawn...a little stuffed yellow bird in fact.  Normally I would have cleaned up the mess without ever telling the girls so they wouldn't cry about it.  But, as this was the second "death" within the last month I decided they needed to be told so that they remember to PICK UP THEIR TOYS!  

Needless to say they (mostly Haley...she is very sensitive about these things) was very upset.  I saw her gather all the animals "guts" into a little plastic container.  And later I discovered this in my family room:

You are looking at a stuffed animal funeral my friends, complete with a hearse holding the remains of the little yellow bird.

They completed the funeral with a burial in our front yard.  Now every time someone comes to my house the will see this:

I really hope we don't lose anymore...I would hate to have a little graveyard in my front flower beds.

First day of Preschool.

 Piper started a preschool this morning.  She is so excited to be going to "school" just like the big kids!  I put her in a preschool co-op in our neighborhood...I've never done this before so I'm very new to it.  But all the moms involved live within walking distance and some I know very well.  The idea is that we all share the teaching responsibilities, and because there are six of us, we teach about every six weeks.  It's only two days a week for a couple of hours, just the perfect thing for Piper right now!  I just felt like she needed something structured this year...so this was a perfect solution!

This can't be happening.

You won't believe this...but Haley is home sick.  Yep, on the second day of school.

We went out for ice cream last night to celebrate their first day of school and just as we were pulling into the parking spot, Haley says, "I feel like I might throw up."  WHAT?!!!  Ten minutes earlier she was running around and playing non stop...what happened in that short drive to the ice cream place?  Well, we cut our outing short and took everyone home.  And threw up she did...three times in fact.

I'm pretty depressed.  I feel like our family deals with so much illness.  And of course I start to blame myself...prehaps I don't clean well enough or something.  I know that can't really be it, but come on...can't we have a break?!!  Are we cursed?

So with my wallowing I'm cleaning like a crazy lady today.

Of course Haley woke up feeling fine this morning and she's been playing all day, so at least it's a short lived illness.

But still...it's so frustrating.

First Day of School 2013

The girls woke up thrilled to pieces!

We walked to school as a family and gave them tons of hugs and kisses in front of all their friends...I love that little kids don't care about that kind of thing.  And you can bet that I"m going to do it as long as they'll let me!

Morgan is starting 2nd and Haley 4th!!

Almost time.

A quick picture after church...the girls modeling their new dresses they got from their great-grandma.

Rory was not pleased...they only thing that made her stop crying was her milk and a box of Nerds.

So tomorrow is the big day...the first day of school!  I'm so ready...so, so ready!  This past week or so I've hit the end of my rope.  There has been too much fighting between these girls, too much boredom which leads to the need to pester each other, which leads to more fighting.  It's just never ending.  And they have been watching way too much TV lately too...sometimes a mom just needs to pop in a movie or two or three to get through the day.  

Please don't judge me...I'm in total survival mode right now.  

Backyard Campout

Friday we had this brilliant idea to do another overnight camp out...kind of an impromptu decision.  We threw our gear in the car, I packed a little picnic dinner and headed up the mountain.  Well, I guess a lot of people had the same idea...the campground was full.  We went to another campground close by, but unfortunately it was full too.  We were all bummed out.  Although, Morgan quickly changed her mind and was glad that it was full after we ran into a rattlesnake feet away from the campsites!!  (I was kinda glad too that we weren't camping after seeing that).  We watched it slither up the rock steps into the bushes...no doubt getting ready to pounce some poor child running through the woods.  Just kidding...but seriously.

Do you see it?

So before heading back down the mountain we decided to go to Squaw Peak lookout to eat our dinner and watch the sunset.  We had no idea, but this lady sitting close by with her husband snapped a couple pictures of us while we ate.  She later emailed them to me.

It's looks so peaceful doesn't it?  However, most likely at this moment the kids are complaining about the sandwiches I made.  But is sure was a pretty view!

 So the kids were pretty bummed out that the camping didn't work out.  To cheer them up we made Root Beer Floats when we got home and pitched the tent in the backyard.  Sleep was limited...very limited.  But the kids were happy.

Morning in the tent.

Tour of Utah

Last week was the Tour of Utah...which by the way seems to get bigger every year!  Ryan worked at the expo every day for Bonk Breaker (an energy bar and one of his brands he reps for) so he was busy, busy!  On the last day I decided to take the kids to Park City to see the final stage of the race and meet up with Ryan.  I was a little nervous because I HATE big crowds with all my children, and I HATE trying to find parking!  But, luckily they had a shuttle system from the nearby high school which made things so much easier!  So anyway, just as we arrive a storm blows in and starts dumping rain...not cool.  So while Ryan is working I squeeze my family in his tent while we waited out the storm. 

See, he's so happy to see us!

When the rain stopped it turned out to be a really nice afternoon.  Although we really didn't see the race at all, the crowds were so deep it was impossible to for us to see anything!  But we had fun just the same.  

While at the race Haley came over to me holding a little bag with the cutest earrings and said that she got them for me.  What?  There was a little jewelry store across the walkway from Ryan's tent and she said she got them there.  She said she bartered for them...say what?  I was a little leery about how she actually "bought" them so I went over to the owner to make sure everything was legit.  The owner told me the whole story.  She said that Haley came over and asked if she could barter two Bonk Breakers for a pair of earrings for me.  And they did it!!   They're pretty nice earrings...worth more than two Bonk Breakers!!  But they were glad to do and Haley was so happy...as was I!  What a sweet girl she is!

Biking Viking

Well, the Weekly Race Series has come to an end.  Wednesday night was the final race and it went out with a bang...the annual costume "race"!  When I heard we had to dress up, a viking immediately popped into my head.  Perhaps I was inspired by Lagertha (I may secretly want to be her).  So my mission was to recreate her look as best as I could...which actually isn't very well at all!!  But luckily, my neighbor's daughter is a pro when it comes to designing and creating costumes!  I bought the materials (found the dress at a thrift store for only 7 dollars) and she pieced everything together.  I made the horns and the axe myself (gotta take credit somewhere!).  I think it turned out pretty darn good!  I may have to use this for Halloween...so look surprised when you see it again.

It was fun!  And I look forward to next season...maybe next year I'll actually train for it!  

A Pony Party

Sorry for the lack of posts...we had some technical difficulties this past week.  Last Friday we had a pretty big thunderstorm knocking out our power for about 2 hours.  Unfortunately, when it did finally kick back on our modem decided not to work.  So we had to wait a few days for a new one to arrive.  So finally, we're up and running again!

Haley and Morgan have been wanting a REAL birthday party with friends for quite a while.  I've avoided it these past few years, but thought I'd better not leave them hanging anymore...so this was the year.  We waited until after our trip to CA making it seem like we've celebrating their birthdays forever!

They decided on a My Little Pony party.

Unfortunately, Ryan was working all day at the Tour of Utah and had to miss out.  And then I realized "Wait, I can't do this party ALONE!!  What was I thinking?!!"  So I called my friend in a panic and luckily she came over to help me decorate and help me keep my sanity with a house full of little girls!

 For a kid's party it's all about the relays!

Gotta get those kids tired out!

 Bobbing for apples.

 Water balloon mayhem!

 Pinata!

Haley blew her candle out too fast...missed the shot.

Presents!

It was such a fun day!  And they had a great time!  Watching them with their friends I realized how limited I am when it comes to throwing them these kinds of little kid parties.  Makes me sad.  So I'm especially glad I did it this year!

CA Trip Part II: Long Beach

The second half of our trip we were in Long Beach at my folks' house.  Ryan and I were able to get out with my brothers and girlfriend for breakfast and paddle boarding, we took the girls to the bay one day and the beach another, celebrated the girls' birthday, and visited with great-grandparents.  

The girls with grandma and grandpa.

 I love these next two pictures showing the sequence of blowing out the candles.  And don't mind the cake...we had a little disagreement and the cake almost ended up on the front lawn.  But then, in the end I decided to salvage it creating most likely the world's ugliest birthday cake!  It still tasted good though!

Visiting with the girls' great grandparents.

My two brothers and girlfriends.

Adults only outing..it was a nice break Ryan and I needed!

 I have never paddle boarded before and I must say we had a ball!  We were very civilized until we had the brilliant idea of trying to jump onto another person's board without falling.  We failed miserably.  And then from there it turned into trying to knock people off their boards.  Good fun!  We'll have to do again!

This trip marked the very first time Rory has ever been the beach!

Haley had a little trouble holding onto the boogie board with her cast, but really, it didn't seem to slow her down at all!

Then, after 8 days off fun, it was back into the car for the long and miserable drive home.  Really, it is a horrendous drive.  I try really hard to buy all kinds of fun activities for the kids to do in the car, but nothing seems to work. I think it would be easier if Haley and Morgan slept some...but they don't.  And I kid you not, they don't stop talking/arguing the ENTIRE drive...and they talk like they are 30 feet away from each other!  Rory and Piper are no picnic either...if they are not eating or sleeping they are usually screaming about something.  Ryan and I are at our wits end by the end of the day!

But, we did make it home eventually...and we made it without having to strangle a kid which I think is a success!  Just kidding, we wouldn't really strangle our children.

Until next time CA.