How many shirts do you have hanging in your closets??

Last week I dug out all of the kid's old clothes to go through them, and to find some fall clothes for Sier....well, now he has 63 shirts that fit him!!! I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I thought it was kinda funny. Kip is a little sad, because he only has 42 shirts hanging in his closet. Now before you all start thinking that I'm a clothes whore, those numbers are including tank tops, t-shirts, long sleeves, sweaters, sweatshirts, and church shirts...so a lot of them will be out of there closets in a few weeks when the weather turns cold. The really sad thing is that when kip was wearing those clothes it was right after he turned 2...Sier is 3 1/2! What a little guy.

Just thought I would share this all with you, I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I think it's funny! (and a little pathetic) So, how many shirts do you have hanging in your closets???

State Fair

Jera and I decided to take the kids to the State Fair on opening day because tickets were only 2 dollars for adults on opening day, and the kids were free!! There's nothing like cheap entertainment! The kids loved looking at the animals, and they did so good walking around all day. They did a hands on exhibit where they were farmers... it was really fun for them. They had to feed cows, then milk the cows; They got to plant seeds and harvest them; comb a sheep; pick up the hay; gather the eggs; take their produce to market; and at the end they got to buy a treat with the money they made taking their produce to the market. They had a lot of fun! We also got to see a 14 foot alligator, tigers, a huge robot, clowns, and a lot of other cool things. We let them go on one carnival ride- it was 3 dollars a kid! Good thing I only have 2 kids!! We were there for a bout four hours, and by the time we were done the kids were tired, and mad at us because we forgot were we parked! So here's Jera and I walking around Rose Park with 6 tired, grumpy kids! Kip and Makade were so mad at us, and Makade knew the whole time we were going the wrong way, maybe parents don't always know best!

Home Grown

Kip looks like "Dopey"
Little ears!!
This spring when we moved into our new house I was soo excited to have a garden! I had my 8 month prego sister come over and till up the dirt for me...I know I sound heartless, but she asked if she could! She helped me plant some green peas and onions. The peas were great, but Mark "accidentally" tilled up the onions! A few weeks later I had my dad come "show" me how to plant tomatoes...."show" meaning he did all o the work. While my dad did the maters I planted some corn. Now, I know it shouldn't be hard to grow corn but mine started to tassel when they were only about 3 ft. tall! Mark teases me that I'm growing the baby corns that you eat with Chinese food!

Well, today I told the kids "lets go out and pick some corn to have with dinner tonight." Oh man were they excited!! They ran outside and picked the closest ear of corn to them!! Sier couldn't get just an ear off, so he ended up ripping out the whole stalk! It was great. Now I know most of you are just picturing me yelling at my kids for doing this, but it was really hilarious at how excited they were. After all,they have had a hand in helping me take care of the garden. I tried to show them how to peal back the husk and check to see if the corn was ready or not, but I was too late. The husk peels were flying everywhere! Sier was getting mad at all the "noodles" that were getting stuck all over him. Unfortunately little husks, mean little corn! The kids couldn't wait for the corn to cook, so they ate it right away. I'm not too worried because there wasn't much corn on the ears to begin with. Hopefully next year we won't get baby corns!

What time is it??

It's preschool time!! Sier's first day of "real" preschool was today! Kip calls it his "real" preschool, because he was in a little preschool program which was ran through the Early Intervention progam that he was involved in, but the smarty pants tested out of it when he was 3.

He was so excited when he woke up this morning. I told him that he was going to school today and he said "I know Mom, I'm smart now and I know that"! What a little sucker- he's smart now? I don't know where that came from!

I know Sier will do great, have lots of friends, and give Ms. Amy a run for her money! He is quite a little shit sometimes, but hey... when you're cute and funny-use it to your advantage! I love you Sier...good luck!

Kayden's 8!!

Happy Birthday Kayden!! I can't believe that you are already 8 years old. What a great age to be....old enough to get Baptised, mow the lawn, be in second grade, become a cub scout, get your four wheeler licence. Just a few things about Kayden that I love....He lets me call him Jose....He loves Sier and gives him piggy-back rides everywhere....he has beautiful eyes....he is the oldest nephew I have. Happy birthday Kayden, we love you!!

Sicko!

This is just a really fast note. Last Thursday Sier got to go have an "orientation" with his preschool teacher, Ms. Amy. He loved it....right when we got home he had to do his "homework" which was just a little paper he had to color and fill out that was about him; and he filled his little "all about me" sack with his very favorite 3 things- his batman mask, his superman cape, and his blue lightsaber. Last night when we were saying prayers he even blessed himself to have a "dood furst day at Missmiss Amy's school". Well, the poor little boy was up all night throwing up so needless to say, he didn't get to go to his first day of preschool.

Yellow Card

Riverton Elementary has a fun way of tracking behavior. If the kids are good, they get to take a "green card" home. Next comes the "yellow card." If you're having a really hard day you'll have to take a "red card" home to mom and dad....but the absolute worse is a "black card." Hopefully, we'll never have to deal with a red or black card!!! This is a funny conversation that my friend Jeri had with Kip after school the other day...she picked him up from school for me while I went to a meeting for work.

Jeri: "How was school boys?"

Parker (Kips "best pal") "Mom, Kip got a yellow card."

Kip "Ya, I've got to throw it away when we get to your house."

Jeri: "Kip, you should keep it to show your mom."

Kip: "But yellow cards are bad."
Jeri: "I know, that's why you should show your Mom."

Kip: "No, that's why I should throw it away right when we get to your house!"

Oh no! What is he thinking trying to hide stuff from me already!? Luckily he made the "right choice" and told me about his yellow card. Next time he gets one he better not be throwing it away!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Dan

We want to wish our Grandpa Dan a happy birthday!! We forget how old he is because once you turn 50, it doesn't matter how old you are. He doesn't know this, but my kids make fun of him all the time....Whenever they pull their pants up really high they say "Look! I'm Grandpa Dan." It makes us laugh every time they do it. Happy Birthday Grandpa...we love you.

Jackson Hole

Here it is! There have been quite a few people asking me when I was going to blog about our Jackson Hole trip. The problem was....I took my camera, made sure the battery was fully charged- but left my memory card in the laptop at home!!! So I made everybody take extra pictures for me, and I've just been waiting to get some. There is one that I haven't gotten yet that is absolutely HILARIOUS of Sier, so when I get my hands on it, it will be on here. For those of you who don't know, Marks family goes to a little camp ground that's between Star Valley and Jackson Hole to run the Snake River every year. We have been doing this since Mark and I have been dating, and I think we've only missed one year. Thank you for Dan and Gaylene who put in lots of hard work and time to make it possible. Just to recap what happened for all y'all- We make two river runs a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both of our kids went with us the first time, but only Kip went with us the second, and only the second because- we flipped the boat! It was pretty scary for him being in the cold, fast river. I don't know how I managed to keep a hold of him the whole time, luckily the worst thing is is that he lost one of his shoes!! They weren't just any shoes, it was only his second time wearing them, and they were $35.00! He was so concerned about his stupid shoe, that he couldn't focus on anything else. I felt so bad for him because he just wanted his shoe back. Luckily Mark found it on a trail head when we got off the River. Can you believe it? Somebody was able to get it out of the water, and leave it where we NEVER walk but for some reason Mark was walking on that trail! When he gave it to Kip, he had a complete melt down...all of the fear, anxiety, and emotion finally came out! So, that is the exciting River Trip for 2008....we never made it into Jackson Hole...maybe next year. Maybe next year we'll see a bear too!

Jera

This is dedicated to my great sister-in-law, friend, and partner in crime. If you haven't met Jera here's a little about her. I always think that she's just as tall as I am, but then whenever I'm around her and we both have no shoes on she's like a midget compared to me! She is pretty much up for anything....going to the skate park in the rain, going shopping in our grubbies, last minute movies, having ugly "mom" pants to wear four wheeling. She really is a fun person to be around. She is also one of my rocks. She is very giving, patient, and loving. One of the best words to describe her is Christlike. I have learned a lot from her over the past 8 years that she's been in my life- we didn't have the best start, but over the last few years we've really gotten to love and understand each other. There are lots of memories we share together like thinking we were going to have to sleep in the snow one time we went four wheeling in American Fork Canyon, and all the four wheelers got stuck! (I'm laughing out loud right now just thinking about it.) Or me making her fit a stupid little plastic slide in her little trunk that I bought at Fred Myers, and it was POURING rain outside. She's the best at talking me into buying stuff when I shouldn't. ( I really hope Mark isn't reading this!) And she's always a good listener if you can ever get her to shut up! Here are a few fun pictures of her, just to embarrass her a little bit.