Quilt for Gram

So this is NOT one of those quilts that you lay out for people to see because it is beautiful.  This is one of those quilts that only means something to a few people - and my mom is one of those people.  I made this quilt for my mom (and one for our babysitter Becca) for Christmas.  Each square represents one (and sometimes 2) of my kids.  They each have 3 different fabrics that represent things that they like 

Dallin - football (2 different ones), Broncos and BYU (not really, it is Gavin's but he says it is his too)

Matthew - soccer balls, Steelers, and University of Utah

Gavin - sharks, BYU and soccer balls (which he shares with Matthew)

Brecken - Buzz Lightyear, Thomas the Train, and Lightning McQueen

Kesley - Princess, Cinderella, and sweets (chocolate, cupcakes, etc.)

Cameron - trains, dinosaurs, and Cars (from the movie)

 repeated twice.  On the middle square I had each of the kids write their name (Cameron just scribbled) and I wrote Merry Christmas 2012.  So, if you just look at it, you think that whoever made this quilt is CRAZY (which might be true).  But if you know my kids well enough, you know it has real meaning.  
I liked the quilts so much that I made one for myself!  LOVE it!

What Kids Really Want Their Parents to do with Them!

I saw this a couple of weeks ago and really liked it.  It was a GREAT reminder to me of the SIMPLE things kids really want their parents to do with them.  This is from a Elementary School Teacher.  For 16 years she asked her students what they really want their parents to do with them and these were the top 10 answers each year:

1. Come into my bedroom at night, tuck me in and sing me a song.  Also tell me stories about when you were little.
2. Give me hugs & kisses, and sit and talk with me privately.
3. Spend quality time just with me, not with  my brothers and sisters around.
4. Give me nutritious food so I can grow up healthy.
5. At dinner talk about what we could do together on the weekend.
6. At night talk to me about anything; love, school, family, etc.
7. Let me play outside, a lot.
8. Cuddle under a blanket and watch our favorite TV show together.
9. Disciple me.  It makes me feel like you care.
10. Leave special messages in my desk or lunch bag.

How simple are these things?  I really need to work on these - so happy for little reminders like these!

Random Happenings

Cameron is about the cutest thing ever.  This little guy just makes me smile!  He LOVES that he can get out of his bed by himself now.  So in the morning when he wakes up, he comes out by himself. But he is so funny about it.  Sometimes he just lays in front of his door, quietly, until someone notices him.  Or he just goes and quietly starts playing with toys.  But he almost always has his back pack on!  This morning he came out with his backpack on and 2 castles in his hands.  So so cute!

 Kesley is just so much fun to dress!  I love this new little outfit - especially the shoes.  Of course, she had to have a necklace on with it to wear to pre-school!  Her hair is so long - it is so fun to do - now if I only new fun ways to do it!

 Cameron LOVES his backpack.  He wears it most of the time.  Today he had the treat bucket for pre-school and boy was he excited about it!  His other favorite thing is his blanket.  He says it is his white blanket with orange circles - close.

 See - isn't she adorable!

 Not sure what I was doing to not notice Cameron dumping out the whole box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch but I guess he was hungry and I wasn't helping him.

 For some reason the twins LOVE playing in my bathroom!  Cameron plays "my iPad" and Kesley takes my phone.  They will play the same game and do the same exact things in the game - it is actually really cute!  I LOVE that they are finally playing together!

 Sunday after Church (hence the big boys being in Church clothes - Ed stayed home with the twins since I didn't want Kesley at Church so soon after surgery), everyone sat down and started playing roll the ball (I don't know what it is called).  It was just so cute and the kids loved it!

 Like I said before, Cameron can get out of his bed and he LOVES his backpack and blanket.  So the other night when I checked on him before I went to bed, this is how I found him asleep on his floor - what a CUTE boy!  Sure LOVE my kiddos!

1st KSL Purchase

I am finally trying to do something with the space upstairs outside the kids rooms.  So I decided I wanted a small table for the little ones to color on and/or play trains and Legos on.  All the ones I found online were not cheap so I decided to look on KSL (local classifieds that everyone seems to use) for one.  I found this POTTERY BARN kids train table for $35 (normally $199 from Pottery Barn).  It was brand new and still in the box!  And the lady selling it lived all of 5 minutes away from me!  I am so excited to figure out what else I am doing upstairs!  I will definitely try finding things on KSL more often!

Funeral at Arlington

Two days after Ed's sister's wedding, we headed to DC with the big 3 boys and my mom for my Grandfather's funeral. He was a fighter pilot in WWII and was being buried in Arlington Cemetery with FULL HONORS. It was such a very moving experience - to be where so many were buried that gave their lives for us. An experience of a lifetime.

I wasn't sure how to scrapbook such a solemn event so I really didn't do anything - I just put the pictures on the pages and let them tell the story.

Bath Time Help

One day last month, I asked the big 3 to come watch the little 3 in the bath so I could take a quick shower. When I got out, Dallin and Gavin were IN the tub washing the little 3 and even washing their hair (Matthew sat on the side and watched - which is not normal, Matthew is usually my big helper). It definitely was not what I had expected to find but was a very nice surprise!

Random Pages July 2009

Brecken LOVED dancing 2 years ago and still does!

The boys LOVED dressing up - and they still do!

I can't believe how tiny the twins were - but I love seeing their chubby cheeks!

Random Summer Pictures

I have lots of random pictures from throughout the summer - ones I couldn't make a page for (or just was too tired to). So I combined them to make 2 pages filled with some of our random summer craziness or should I call it laziness. Either way, here they are!

How to Make a Fantastic Foamy Fountain

My sister is a Junior High science teacher (or she was until she moved 2 months ago) so when I needed to come up with a couple of experiments to do for Dallin's birthday party I immediately thought of her. She sent me right to Science Bob's website where, with her help, we decided to make Fantastic Foamy Fountains (click here for the link).

The kids LOVED it!

Breakfast in Bed

What sweet sweet boys I have! Last night I had a rough night so Dallin and Matthew set their alarms and got up at 6:00 am and made me breakfast and gave it to me in bed. They brought me 2 pieces of toast, ice water, and chocolate ice cream with strawberries on top. It was PERFECT!!!

I'm Back

from a week at Lake Powell - filled with tubing, wake boarding, games, dancing, LOTS of food, a scary wind storm, FRIENDS, and so much more! Hopefully between all the birthdays we have around here I will get a chance to blog a little bit this coming week. Lake Powell is fun but it is so nice to be HOME!

Teacher Thank Yous

This year I felt like I had to come up with something a little extra for my kids teachers - specifically Brecken's Pre-School teachers. The problem is there are 2 bus drivers, 2 bus driver aides (a bus driver and aide are on the bus each way), his teacher, her 3 aides, a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, a physical education teacher (which he doesn't need help with gross motor but he is there the day she comes so he gets that as well), and other random people. So, I couldn't spend a lot of money on their thank yous since just for pre-school I needed to have 4 for bus drivers and 8-10 for his classroom teachers/helpers. Plus 3 for the other boys' teachers. I decided that I would spend my time making them 7 different treats. I made:

* Butterscotch Popcorn

* Chocolate Popcorn

* Fancy Toffee Brownies

* Chip Cookies (4 different kind of chips in them)

* Chocolate Cookies

* White Chocolate Magic Cookie Bars

* Chocolate Caramel Rice Krispies (I dipped them in chocolate instead of drizzling it on all sides, so much easier and I like how they look better)

I found these really cute black with white polka dot gable boxes online to put all the treats in. Originally, I was going to take all the treats to pre-school and let them fill their boxes with the treats, but that got to hard - it was a lot easier for me to fill the boxes. Hopefully they liked the treats and know how much I appreciate ALL they have done for my little guy this year. I truly love all of them!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mother's in my life - especially my mom who does more for me than I can ever thank her for. FYI - these aren't the flowers I got for Mother's Day but these are the new flowers by the front door - I LOVE them!

Vacations are GREAT but . . .

nothing is better than coming home to these 3 cutie pies! I sure missed them but Disney World was much more fun without them - 3 in diapers at Disney World would NOT have been fun. They will get to go one of these years. We got back this morning (got up at 1 am Utah time to make our flight) so I haven't had time to scrapbook our amazing trip - but hopefully I will do that soon. I just wanted to say we are back and had a great time and my 3 little ones still love me!

4 Days and Counting!

I can't believe we leave for Disney World in FOUR days! We have had the main parts of this trip planned for a while (dates, plane tickets, place to stay, countdown calendar for the boys) but I haven't had time for the details until now (oops). I have been so busy that I didn't have time to figure things out. Luckily, my sister-in-law Amy told me about Tour Guide Mike who for $21.95 will give you all the ins and outs of Disney World. It has SAVED me in my planning. I have a ton of work left to do but his info has really helped! We are going to take a day to go to Kennedy Space Center - otherwise, we will just be at Disney World. We can't wait! It is going to be so much fun! So, when I don't blog much next week (if at all), it is because I am hanging out with 4 of my favorite boys and Mickey!

Playtime

Playtime usually means attack mommy time - that is why I try to not lay on the floor. Cameron's new game is to play with my lips and get them to make silly noises (that is how we got through, sort of, him getting stitches). Cameron's game usually turns into hit mommy on the mouth and laugh. Of course, the other little ones have to join in. And they can't do it sitting next to me, they all end up sitting on me. It hurts a little but it is so fun to watch the little ones having so much fun!

Hopefully I will get back to scrapbooking soon so I can share more than just a picture here and there. But for now, enjoy my littles ones attacking me.

Snow Shoveling Helpers!

It snowed last night (not tons but enough) so Dallin and Matthew "got to" shovel today. They actually were very good about it and did a good job! Having 5 boys is already coming in handy!

Simple Service Idea

Last week, Matthew got to go with the second grade to an assisted living center to sing Christmas carols. He was very excited. But what he was most excited about was giving one of the "grandma's or grandpa's" the fleece blanket he made. For part of their field trip, each kid was to bring 1.5 yards of fleece to school with the edges cut (1 inch apart and 3 inches deep). Then in the morning before they went, they tied the edges of the fleece in knots. It was a very simple thing to do - but such a GREAT idea! I found fleece for pretty cheap so Matthew took in 2 pieces just in case someone forgot or wasn't able to buy any. I think next year we are going to have the Cub Scouts in our ward do this for a service project.

Got Milk?

Yes - we go through a LOT of milk! That is what our frig looked like Thursday night before Ed and I left a New York (that is why I haven't been blogging but I am sitting in our hotel waiting to go to breakfast). We go through at LEAST ONE GALLON of milk a day at our house! So I had to make sure to have one gallon for each day we were going to be gone, one for the day before we left, one for the day after we got back (so I don't have to run to the store), and an extra. We are so lucky to have a frig big enough to hold 8 gallons of milk (7 for the kids and one skim for me). Hopefully when we get back I will have time to blog about our FABULOUS trip to New York (Ed had work today and tomorrow in New York and I was lucky enough to get to come along for the ride).

What Happened to Fall?

I love living in Utah and having 4 seasons (I didn't have that as a kid since I grew up in AZ). But some years, some of the seasons seem to get skipped. Like this year - I don't think we had Fall. One day it was hot and then it was cold and then it snowed! Too bad I haven't bought snow boots for the boys yet. I better go do that today! The picture is the big 2 walking to school this morning - they were very exciting for the snow!