Tooth Fairy

Here's a question for you. How much does the tooth fairy leave your kids?

This is the short version of Carter losing his first tooth.

Me at gym, kids at Aunties house.

Bathroom in use (by Carter).

Carter wiggling tooth...while working on other things;)

Tooth comes out.

Auntie hears "Aaaaa, it's bloody" and yelling...from the bathroom.

Auntie opens bathroom door to find undressed boy, and bloody tooth in his hand.

Yikes, that was a bit dramatic me thinks.

That night Mom and Dad fall asleep watching movie before tooth fairy arrives.

Lot's of sleeping.

Mom wakes up (6:00 am) to sad little Carter saying the tooth fairy couldn't come because he was awake all night.

Mom convinces Carter to go to sleep.

Tooth fairy made it.

Every one is happy.

bff's

These two go together like tom & Jerry!
They might do their best to get the other in trouble, drive each other crazy....and sometimes the rest of us in the process, but what would they ever do without each other? sometimes they can't seem to live together, so I'll separate them, and pretty soon I'll find one or the other sneaking in to be back together.
They are biggest rivals, and best friends all at once. What a pair they are.

 Here is Layla trying to make Carter feel better when he didn't find many Easter eggs

 playing with my phone, taking pictures of themselves

hanging out at the park, laughing at some crazy person.

They remind me of my arch enemy turned best friend...Paul.

We LOVED to get each other in trouble, make each other cry, beat the other at anything and everything, and call the meanest name. But, if anyone else tried to do any of those things to us, we stood up for the other with all the loyalty and love in the world.

I'm Thankful for big brothers.

p.s. I've been sewing:) and soon will have a tutorial for your enjoyment. stay tuned.

play time

Every day after school Carter comes home and says "Mom, I would like to have------- over to play!", and I always seem to have a reason why that won't work out today..."but maybe another day" I say.
After this same conversation took place 357 times I started to feel bad, so we invited his new school buddies over today.

It is basically the first time I have invited children I don't know very well over to play with my children, and parents I don't know at all to tag along. It was the craziest thing, the way I was nervous. You know the way you feel when you're having a birthday party, and you worry no body is going to show up? That's how I was today....so weird!

Layla and I cleaned the whole entire house, swept and hosed down the back porch, cleaned up the yard, arranged the patio furniture just right, prepared fresh carrots out of the garden, grapes, crackers and cheese, punch, side walk paint and brushes, got the Geo Trax out, and waited! We waited and read, and waited and played a board game, and practiced the alphabet and waited until we heard Carter come home. The look on his face was priceless! He looked around as realization set in. He knew all this was for him, and for the magical moment, I think he might have felt the depth of my love for him.

What a day:)

The friends did come. The boys played in the castle outside, had a berry war, painted, ran, built a train track, had some snacks. At the end of the day Carter will remember all the fun he had with his friends, but mostly (I hope), the feeling of his mamas love.

new school year

The kids have been in school for a couple of weeks now, and we are getting into the new grove of thing. Carter is in 1st grade now = all day school 5 days a week, and layla is in pre-school = 2 hours 3 days a week. Carter feels like life is really unfair right about now, because he doesn't get to be home all day on Craigs day off, layla only has to go to school 3 days a week, and benson gets me all the time; so we have been trying to point out the advantages to him of his new school schedule. Here is what we came up with.

1. he get's to be the only kid at breakfast with me and Craig every morning, because Layla and Benson are usually still sleeping.
2. He gets to pick what treat he wants in his lunch box.
3.Chocolate milk!
4.walks home with one of his favorite friends everyday (if it's not raining, snowing, hailing, blowing, or iceing).
5. 20 exclusive minutes with Mom (me) when he gets home from school to go over homework, read, and catch up with each other.
6. and the biggest advantage to going to 1st grade....(drum roll)........The big toys!

Carter is super excited about the big toy. Last year he was on the other side of the school, and they just have an old school style playground on that side, so he's movin' up in the world.

Layla was a little nervous about that first day, but I think she has been enjoying it once the jitter bugs went away. I talked to her teacher about this next thing, and she said it didn't happen, so that makes it kind of funny. Every day when I pick her up and ask her to tell me about school she says the same thing. "my teacher was mean today. She made every one put their heads on their desk....except for me, because I was being really good." She heard Carter say that once, and I guess it made a real impression on her.

The other thing she told me about school is that she is worried she is going to get too smart, and her brain is going to get too big, and her head band won't fit anymore!

....Ya never know.


p.s. I have a new format for my blog, and I can't find spell check...which I normally rely on Heavily:)

City Slickers

When I was 3 years old my family moved out to the country. We had chickens, and a rooster. It was Paul and My's job to collect the eggs everyday. It didn't take us long to learn that the Rooster was big, and mean, and scary, and could bite us. We developed a strategy before too long, and it worked pretty well. one of us would distract the rooster, and get it to chase us while the other ran in the coop and snached up all the eggs.

Our summer days were spend fishing in the gentle creek by the house, building secret forts in the sage brush, exploring our mountain, picking flowers, riding the horses, weeding the garden, and LOVING life. We moved back into town when I was 5, but I have always remembered those 2 years as the best of my childhood. Deep down in my heart I have always known the truth...that I am a country girl.

My Family had our reunion at a ranch in Lava, Idaho this year. They had a few cows to brand, so being the country girl I am I ran right over with the kids. How exciting! I just knew the kids would think that was the coolest thing ever, and decide they are really country in their harts just like me. We all lined up to watch them brand the first one, and I watched Carters face....as he nearly began to cry!

He hated it!

He couldn't believe they would be so mean, and hurt that poor little cow. hahaha, so my plan didn't work out so much. After the kids slowly drifted away, my siblings and I jumped right in the middle of all the action. Matt held the calves down, Janelle and I gave them their vaccinations, and Joanne and Judy painted the oil on after the ranchers branded them. We were real life cowboys....for about 20 minutes, and we were all ready to get back to our city life ways. It wasn't until the reunion that I learned all my brothers and sisters have always felt just like me, and believed they were really and truly county kids at heart. However, we have been shown the truth, and have come to the realization that we are really nothing but a bunch a city slickers. The funny part is that we are all surprised by this discovery, even thought we only lived in the country 2 of our 29+ years, haha.

My camera died after the first couple hours of our weekend, so I missed out on LOTS of great pictures, but here is was I got.













The first night we had our branding experience, dinner, and then broke up into groups and made up skits. I had a bunch of props and costumes, and the skits were hilarious.


The next day people went swimming at the Olympic size pool and platforms, did crafts, slept, at really good food, played games, watched movies on the projector, and stuff like that. Judy made reunion shirts that turned out so cute. the boys were blue and girls were pink, all with a brown logo with our name and stuff on them. The theme this year was code of the west, so we talked about that a bit.

The last day we just had breakfast, and packed up. We all went to Moms grave together. It was the first time we have done that since the headstone was placed, so that was touching. I feel like Mom was smiling down on us, laughing at our cheesy skits, and loving the way we take care of each other. What a weekend.

kindergarten graduation

Sometimes you just gotta brag about your kids...right? You know you've done it! I certainly have, and now I'm about to do it a little more:) This past School year Carter was in Kindergarten, and he did so well. He came home one day with a flyer and said, "Mom, I'm going to win an Ipod!" so I read the flyer and found out the story. His School was going to hold a spell-a-thon, and he had to get pledges from friends and family for each word he got right. The ONE student that raised the most money from the ENTIRE SCHOOL would get an Ipod. So, being the loving Mother I am, I thought to myself "ya right, not going to happen", but I said to him "OK honey, if you work really hard anything is possible". longs story short...He WON THE IPOD! He got 52 out of 52 words right, and raised nearly $500. Also, he was the only kindergartner invited to the Young Authors Celebration. He was chosen because of a couple of the books he wrote and illustrated. Carters teacher would read his books to his class for story time sometimes, and she submitted his name for the honor. And wait, there is more. He also excelled in reading, he is actually a grade ahead, so he got to go to the library with 2 other kids from his grade and check out special books, which was a really big high-light for him. If you can't tell by now...I'm really proud of my little buddy for all his hard work. Ok, I'm done:)

Art Sale

Remember Carters Art Sale last year? he did so well with it that he decided to have another go round...and this time he did even better! He is so persuasive and sincere that i just don't know how you could say no to him. He has such a great heart, and the funniest personality.
I love that boy!

Go team

Have you ever put a child in a sport only to find out they are super interested in grass, or picking dandy lions? Such was the case for Carter last year...and Layla this year. After last year with Carter I decided not to sign him up again for soccer, but he surprised me when he told me he really, really wanted to do it again. Layla, Carters little shadow, wanted to do it too of course.
Carter surprised us again when he actually really was into the whole soccer thing, and loved going to practice and his games. Layla on the other hand....really wanted to pick flowers, or play on the playground, but at least she looked super cute in her pink shin guards!






Are you looking for a fun and cute Fathers day gift that you can do with your kids? I found this super cute "super hero kit" on www.alphamom.com that the kids and I are doing for our Daddy.
I hope you are having as beautiful day at your house as we are at mine:)

Too Serious

Yesterday was one of those days when you really have to remind yourself that you love your kids, and to be patient with them. I was feeling like I had done a pretty good job of keeping my cool, but Carter saw it another way. He gave me a note that said,
"It is just not enie fun wen you are so serios...no."
Hahaha, so I guess I need to stop being so serious.

San Diego Zoo - day 6

We Cruised on down the coast to San Diego for a day, and visited the San Diego zoo. That place is ginormous! We rode the tram thing over the top of the zoo, the bus tour that takes you around, walked, and walked, and walked, and still didn't see everything. It was so beautiful! Not only to they have endangered and unusual animals, but they have incredible exotic plants and flowers. Craig, being the closet plantologist he is, enjoyed the plants more then the animals. The kids, on the other and, are very much into animal life right now. Half the time Layla is pretending to be one, so they ate the whole zoo experience up.

Disney Land - day 3&4

We spent day 3 & 4 at Disney Land. It was my first time going, and I couldn't believe how big it was. There was just sooo much to see and do, we almost wish we had 1 or 2 more days to spend at the parks. The first day we all did rides and stuff together all day(it was sooo fun), and headed back to the hotel for dinner around 6. Craig and I got the kids settled after dinner, and then the two of us headed back to the parks. We ran from ride to ride like we were little kids again....SO. MUCH. FUN! I love my Guy so much. The time we get to spend together is few and far between, so I treasure every moment we have. He works LLLOOOOOONG, hard hours at the Dealership, plus his responsibilities in the Bishopric, and all the other stuff he has going on, it just doesn't leave time for us to hang out. He works SO hard for us, and we love and appreciate him so much for doing it.

The second day we got a little later start. A. because we planned on being at the park late with the kids, & B. because Craig and I were tired. That day we rode on the rides all day again, went back to the hotel for dinner, and we all came back for the "world of Color" show in California Adventure. It was A to the Mazing!
Water, lasers, lights, fire, music, this show had it all. The kids loved it. After the show Craig was still feeling a tid bit sick from the tea cups, so he decided to turn in for the night with Layla and Benson. Carter, Lisa and I stayed until the park kicked us out around midnight. I loved the special attention Carter got that night from me, since he was the only kid there. We laughed until my sides hurt, he is the funniest kid ever.

I have a bazillion pictures that I want to post, so enjoy:)


I love this family Picture


happy Benson at the start of the day





...as the giant grasshopper prepares to eat their cute little heads off.



This was Carters favorite movie for at least 2 years of the 6 he has been alive, so it was fun to see him with his favorites.


Layla, you just gotta LOVE her.



I think this is such a cute picture


Grumpy Benson at the end of the day,this makes me laugh hard! "what are you lookin at"



sweet!


one of the few times I got to hold Layla


Layla and Lisa. Layla LOVES Lisa so much, she wouldn't even let me and Craig hold her hand or carry her most of the time. When I tried she would say "Oh, sorry Mom, Lisa is MY parter" as she ran back to Lisa.



This was one of my favorite moments. The kids were Sooooo excited to meet Mickey Mouse, and I loved the look on their faces when we walked into the room. I wish I had gotten a picture of their faces when they first saw him.


This is Laylas "I need a bathroom REALLY bad, but I don't want to miss anything fun" face.


Layla and HER partner.