Laugh it up with us

First fishing of the year

2011-08-17T16:18:00.001-07:00

Ben, kids and I went out to Marty's pond to try out some fishing. It was our first fishing of the year! Ben caught the first fish, pretty much right after he made his first cast. Then we had major problems with several fishing poles. Mine kept getting tangled, Jer’s line got caught in a tree, Briggs lost about 8 worms and then his pole wouldn't wind back up after casting. It was one thing after another.

Finally Briggs got a chance to fish on Ali’s pole (which was the only pole that didn't have problems) and he caught one!

Ben caught one more and the rest of us got skunked!

Better luck next time for Jer, Ali, and I!

Gummy Bear Song by Jer and Briggs

2011-04-06T09:51:00.001-07:00

When we were in AZ one summer, Crew and Kosten showed Jer and Briggs the Gummy Bear song on youtube. It was been a hit since! The other day the boys asked me to find it on youTube and we listened to it until the words were burned into our minds! Then I got them to perform! They said this is dedicated to Crew and Kosten!

If you’ve never seen or heard this song here is the original!

Cades First Food!

2011-04-06T09:50:00.001-07:00

Yummy!

Another bite!

Cade gets to eat real food now! His first food was baby cereal(oatmeal) and then applesauce. The kids loved helping. Cade is a pretty good eater so far, and really likes it! Ali helped me go shopping for the food and some much needed bibs. She loved being involved. I love having helpers because spoon feeding babies isn’t my favorite job;)

Cade is 6 months

2011-04-06T07:23:00.001-07:00

I couldn’t pick a favorite! I loved all these pictures!

Pretty blue eyes!

Getting excited!

What’s that? (I don’t know what this look is!)

Cade likes to suck on his bottom lip!

Big Smiles!

I can't believe my baby is 6 months old! He got his first tooth on March 18 and his second one on the 19th. They are both his bottom front teeth! He started grabbing his feet around March 4th. He loves to try and eat his toes or the socks on his feet. He is the happiest little guy and laughs ALOT! He giggles so much, I've never met a baby that giggles as much as he does. If he isn't laughing at me he's laughing at Jer, Briggs, Ali or Ben. He can almost sit by himself...he is so close. He started eating food right around his 6 month birthday March 28th. He does a really good job and definitely likes it. He has made our family feel complete! We love our baby Cade!

Melted Snowman!

2011-04-06T07:21:00.003-07:00

It didn't take but a day for our all the snow to melt and for our snowman to start melting! We thought it was pretty funny how she melted to the side!

Building a Snowman in MARCH!

2011-04-06T07:21:00.001-07:00

Kids with our snowman!

Look at all that snow!

Ali’s first time building a snowwoman!

Our family with a new friend!

Cade chillin!

Watch out boys!

Is it March or December??

It is March!

End of March actually! And we got snow. Not just a little bit of snow but I think it was 6-7 inches! (I heard a few people claimed we got 10 inches)

It snowed all day Saturday so after church on Sunday we tested the snow to see if it was snowman building snow and it was! The snow was rolled into balls so easily and quickly that our snowman was built in no time! After getting the body all put together the boys got bored and started snow ball fighting(of course Ben was the instigator here!) But Ali is very much into detail and happily helped me finish our snowman(or snowwoman as Ali claims it’s a girl) she found some acorns for the buttons and she made the eyes and mouth from some rocks she found. Of course our snowwomen couldn't be complete without a carrot nose and some things to keep her warm! Even Cade got to participate in our family fun, if someone wasn't holding him he was in his bumbo watching! We ended up playing for awhile outside since it was a pretty nice day(that is for having snow on the ground)!

Ali and her BUNNY!

2011-04-06T07:20:00.001-07:00

Alison is SO beautiful! But its not just her outward beauty that makes her so beautiful, its her silly and fun personality. She is sweet but silly, gentle but wild, quite but very loud! She has quite the personality and she is so much fun! She also falls in love with different things all the time. Currently she is obsessed with a bunny she found in the baby toys I got out for Cade. I believe Jer got this bunny for Easter one year when he was little. She does not go anywhere without the thing (although she does keep it in the car when we go certain places) she puts hair bows in her hair, feeds her bottles, and sometimes brings a diaper bag full of bunny’s favorite toys and blanket. It is quite the event at times, but she sure does love that bunny. Currently her name is Bun Bun! (It changes occasionally!)

Cade Loves to Swing

2011-04-06T07:18:00.003-07:00

Cade LOVES the swing! He laughs and laughs as he goes up and back! On this day he started making this funny face, as though he was smiling but unsure...so cute!

Yes another post on Cade sleeping!

2011-04-06T07:18:00.001-07:00

I know I know, not another post on Cade sleeping…but seriously he can sleep anywhere!!!! He was laying across my lap while I was blogging and next thing I know he is fast asleep! Of course he transferred to his bed without any problem! Sweet sweet baby!

Jer’s Last YMCA Basketball Game

2011-04-06T07:17:00.001-07:00

Defense!

Cheering section!

GO Jer!

Shoot!

LOVE this shot!

Get that ball!

This first video is of Jer’s “move”(he really liked doing this!)

This video is Jer making some shots during half time!

Jers last basketball game for the 2011 winter season. It was so fun watching Jer play by ALL the rules, and play full court! He did so well and had such a fun team! His coaches were great and always encouraged him to do his best! I never could catch him on video making a shot! But he definitely made a lot!! He always had Ali, Cade and I watching but on occasion daddy got to come and also Emily, Stevie and Dan came to a few games! We love our Jer and look forward to watching him play many, many basketball games!

Briggs Last YMCA Basketball Game

2011-04-06T07:14:00.001-07:00

Quin, Drex, Chandler and Brigham

Uncle Charlie was one of their biggest fans!

Briggs is #3

They all love doing this at the end!

Their team

Briggs last basketball game for the 2011 winter season. What a fun team. He got to have Drex, Quin, and Chandler all on his team, oh and of course Chandler's dad Troy and Aunt Emily were his coaches! He practiced every Tuesday night and had a game every Saturday for 8 weeks! I was so thrilled to get some video of him making a shot...go Briggs! One game he made 6 shots…he was SO happy about that! Briggs loves basketball and we love to watch him play!

St. Patrick’s Day

2011-04-06T07:12:00.001-07:00

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Jer, Briggs, Ali and Cade!

Sweet Dan!

Stevie showing he’s pinch proof!

Trey, Brookie, and Beary Bear!

Cute girls

Trey reads a clue from the leprechaun!

Briggs turn!

Drex gets a turn to read too!

Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Missouri Cousins!

Ali

the green bread

The sneaky leprechaun not only dyed the rice crispies but he took one to eat too!

Shirts!

Green breakfast!

Even Cade had a fun day!

I really got into St. Patrick's day this year. I don't know what got into me! Even Ben really got into it. He loves all the silly things I do for my kids, and all the old and new traditions we have for our family, especially for the holidays. He is always telling me our kids are so lucky to have such a great mom. I love hearing that, cause sometimes I don't feel like it!

So this year I was going to make some fun shirts with some friends and my sisters, but since Cade had pneumonia I needed to stay home with him. Lucky for me they all offered to make the shirts for me...what great friends/sisters I have! Jer's shirt said Lucky U, Briggs and Ali's shirts said pinch proof, and Cade got a 4 leaf clover on his shirt.

Those sneaky leprechauns hid the shirts and some treats, and left a little trail for them to follow to find them. First thing that morning they were so excited to see what the leprechaun left them! They loved their shirts! Then I showed them all the things the leprechauns dyed green, the bread, rice crispy treats, the eggs, and even the milk. They made some green jello and left it in our fridge for us too. (Ben and I stayed up pretty late the night before making the bread, jello and rice crispy treats! I messed up the bread while I was making it and forgot to add the green food coloring! I tried to add it in later, but only ended up with swirls in it! I was worried it wouldn't really show up, so I started over with another batch! Turns out the green swirls were pretty cool looking! Haha!)

Then right after school we headed straight over to Emily’s house where the leprechauns left a treasure hunt for the kids. I video taped the whole thing. It was fun but a little crazy! The hunt led them to several places the leprechaun went to stevies bed where that silly leprechaun took a nap, the the tub where he took a bath, and even to the toilet where we learned that leprechauns pee green! At the end of the treasure hunt there was a pot of gold, with little bags of treasure for everyone! The kids loved it!

It was such a gorgeous day, about 79 degrees! (we laugh because that Monday, 3 days earlier the kids had no school because we had snow!) Good ol’ Missouri! They played outside and got to eat green Oreo pudding and green punch! My kids are so lucky to do these fun things with cousins!

Super CADE!

2011-04-05T16:46:00.001-07:00

Super Cade! Remember when Emily made this shirt for Cade? She gave it to me for my baby shower. Everyone thought Cade was going to be a big baby so she made this onsie a size 6-9months. Ha ha...Cades almost 6 months and finally can wear it! He really is my super baby Cade!

More of my birthday!

2011-04-05T16:35:00.001-07:00

Blew all 31 candles in one breath!

Sisters!

Cute Nephews!

On Sunday Kathy and Steven had everyone over for dinner and cake. Steven made one of my favorite cakes, Texas sheet cake. Yummy! And Kathy made one of my very favorite meals, taco salad...she even made homemade guacamole...SO yummy! It was fun being together to celebrate me! I was pretty impressed with myself when I blew out all 31 candles in one breath (there could have been 10 more!) Ha ha! I hope my wish comes true this year! It was such a great birthday, thanks to everyone for making it special!

The next week the sisters and Kathy went out for my birthday dinner. I chose Qdoba (naked burrito!) and we spent 2 hours laughing and laughing. It was one of those times where once you got laughing you couldn't stop and your face hurt from laughing so hard. We learned a lot about each other, including how we each fight in our marriages. Some really funny things were said about that topic! Definitely a great time! Thanks Mom Kathy and my wonderful sister-in-laws!!!

Happy 31st Birthday to ME!

2011-04-05T16:27:00.001-07:00

Cade helping me open presents

Briggs and Cade

Hugs for Ali!

Briggs gift!

Coupons from Jer

Kisses for everyone!

Storm light!

Cuties!

Happy Happy Birthday to me!

I am 31 years old! For some reason 31 seems SOOO much older than 30. I don't know why..maybe cause 30 is 30 and 31 means I'm in my 30's. All of you SO much older than me can laugh now. And those of you that are younger than me are thinking yep...you are old. Cause when I was in my 20's everyone in their 30's seemed old. But really I know that I am young. I feel young, so I am! Okay enough said about my age.

Now for my day. My sisters in law and friends all threw my girlfriend Janie and I a birthday breakfast. Angeline made one of my favorites sausage egg casserole, Emily made another favorite, orange rolls, and others brought orange juice, apples and dip, and a fruit platter. It was fun just visiting and enjoying each others friendship. Those that came were; Becky, Liz, Emily, Me, Janie, Angeline, Jasmine, Anna-Lisa, Heidi, Karen, and Christine. I love these girls!

After that I actually did something a little unusual, I went to the dentist. Marcus actually. He is SO busy and I really wanted to see a dentist I could trust so when he called to say he had an appointment on my birthday I decided to go ahead and take it. Ben came to watch Cade while Liz kept Ali and Briggs for me. Jer came with me to get spacers put in his mouth(he is getting an expander) It was a long day and a bit painful but worth it! Thank you Dr. Marcus! You are a great dentist!!!

Then Liz and Charlie invited us over to hang out that night and keep the kids for a spend the night. It was fun just chillin with them, they are so fun and we laugh a lot when we are with them. The next day Ben took me on a date. One of our favorite babysitters Aubrey babysat for us (all 4 kids!) It was my choice on what we did since it was my birthday:). I chose dinner at Bob Evans! I know it seems silly but I LOVE their crepes! And their biscuits and gravy! Plus I loved looking around and seeing SOO many old people around...it made me feel SOOO young! It is the perfect place to eat and hang out for awhile when you're feeling old, because if you're not close to 70 years old, you really are one of the youngest people there!! HA HA! Isn't Ben great for taking me there? I'm sure he was hoping I'd chose Red Lobster or Outback, but he was such a great sport and we had a lot of laughs. Since we were in and out of Bob Evans in less than 40 minutes we had about 1 hour to kill before our movie. So where did we go in our small town? Wal-Mart of course! We needed to get a few things including Alison's birthday gifts(shhhh I better not say what we got, don't want to spoil it for her!) then we went to see the movie the The Adjustment Bureau. We hadn't been to the movies since before I had Caden so it was a bit of a treat! It was a pretty good movie, not amazing but good! It was so nice having some alone time with Ben, just the two of us!

Then on Sunday before we went to Ben’s parents for dinner and cake I opened my gifts! The kids had worked hard earlier that day making me gifts. Ali drew me several pictures and cards, one that said, "This card means daddy will do something that you say he has to" (it didn't really say that, but she said that’s what it said) Of course Ben was surprised but agreed with her...so funny! Briggs created pop-up art. It was of him and I playing outside. Seriously it was SO creative and adorable! Jer worked very hard on making 4 coupons for me, including some art work of the things he would do...one of my favorite coupons was a foot rub(I need to redeem that soon!) My parents got me a storm light with awesome battery life, perfect for tornado season that is going on right now. Ambies sent me some earrings, lip gloss and a wallet...I love it all, thanks everyone!!

Ali’s Tattoos

2011-04-05T15:39:00.001-07:00

Tattoos! Oh boy Tattoos!

Ali has been wanting me to get her some tattoos ever since she has noticed her cousins Trey and Brookie will be wearing one occasionally. So one day at the store she saw some and I gave in.

I completely forgot about them until I came downstairs from cleaning the kids bathroom and my sweet, adorable lil Ali was just finishing up her masterpiece!

Her arms were covered in princess tattoos.

She turned to me, "Ta DA!" I finished them all" she said in the most proud voice! She was so pleased with her art! I just laughed and said, "girlfriend you look pretty darn crazy!"

We then had to rush off to Jers basketball game, so off we went tattoos and all. Jer was a bit embarrassed by her at first, but after one of his friends said man your sister is crazy he seemed to laugh it off and agree.

Later that evening she then told me she wasn't going to ever take a bath and wash them off cause she'd miss them. Oh boy this should be fun! I wonder how long my little girls gonna look like a tattooed chick?

Ali the Sock Puppet!

2011-04-05T15:30:00.001-07:00

I don't think this is the first time she used her puppets as socks on her hands and feet, she sure is silly!

Briggs and Cade

2011-04-05T15:25:00.001-07:00

Best buddies, Briggs and Cade. Cade lights up at every smile Briggs gives him. Briggs loves talking it up to Cade. The other day I heard Briggs ask him, "What was it like in heaven?" it was so sweet!

Ali Plays with her own paper dolls

2011-04-05T15:22:00.001-07:00

Ali is my artistic girl (actually all of my kids love art and are very artistic and creative). EVERY day she pulls out her art supplies and creates so many things, including a huge mess on my kitchen table. Today she asked me to print 2 dollies(twins) she then colored them and cut them out. Then she made beds, blankets, pillows, bottles, and rattles for each of them and then played with them for at least an hour! What creativity!! Who needs a real doll when you can make it from paper?

Jer K’nex Carnival Ride

2011-04-05T15:18:00.001-07:00

On a lazy Saturday morning Jer got out his K’nex and created this carnival ride. Recognize it? Its the swings! How cute is that?

Cade is 5 Months!!

2011-04-05T15:12:00.001-07:00

My baby boy is 5 months old now!!!

Why is it that life day to day seems to go by so slow, but then after a few months you look back only to realize it has flown by so fast?

I think this is especially true with babies.

We take so much time to care for a new baby that it seems we are feeding them, changing them, burping them, snuggling them and watching them sleep, and all of a sudden they have chubby cheeks, big smiles, and they are giggling and rolling over!

Oh time please slow down…..just a little!

I try to cherish every single moment, even if it means letting the house get messy. I love the baby stages of all my children…a lot! And with Cade I can't help but love everything about every stage he has been through including his adorable smiles! I just can’t believe he is 5 months old!! Caden is a really happy happy baby! He is all smiles first thing when he wakes up. He will follow someone with his eyes until they finally look at him and smile, and then he returns their smile with an even bigger one. People love it especially his siblings! And his giggles, oh man...his giggles are SO cute! Once you get him laughing he goes on and on and on. And as the person making him laugh you just cant stop doing whatever it is that makes him laugh because you don't want his laugh to stop!!

On this day I couldn't resist snapping a few photos because he was giggling and smiling so much. Once I got Cade outside on the grass he was much more interested in the ground, the grass, and the crunchy leaves than in laughing or smiling at me. But I did get a few adorable picts! I love my baby boy!!

How does he sleep like this?

2011-04-05T14:47:00.001-07:00

When I say Cade is a really good baby, this is what I mean!!! He will be playing in his Johnny Jumper, or Bumbo and all of a sudden I look over at him and he is out cold asleep! Then the best part is I can transfer him to his bed and he stays asleep! I love how at first he has his fist in his mouth then after a few minutes it looks like he's choking...that’s when I moved him. I was too worried! Doesn’t he look like Johnny jumper is choking him? Crazy baby!

P.S. Did anyone notice the pink anklet on Cades right foot? He can thank his sister later for that one! Ha Ha!

Bumbo Sleeping!

2011-03-16T20:13:00.001-07:00

How is it that my sweet lil man can sleep like this?? This morning I was just cleaning up while he played in his bumbo chair when next thing I knew Cade had fallen asleep. Isn't he just so darn cute?? I think so!

Morning Cartoon Snuggling!

2011-03-16T20:07:00.001-07:00

Ali likes to watch early morning cartoon sometimes while I get ready for the day. Today she wanted Cade to watch them with her. I let Cade snuggle next to Ali and watch Mickey Mouse Club House. He actually seemed to like it. Not sure if it was the cartoons he liked or just snuggling his sister!

Cheesecake!

2011-03-16T20:00:00.001-07:00

I'm not quite sure where the term "Cheesecake Pictures" came from but they are tradition in my family. My mom has a cheesecake picture of each of her children (which means a nakie bum picture!) I usually do them at about age 3 months but I sorta forgot, so Cade is almost 5 months in these pictures. And being this old posed a HUGE problem, every time he got excited and smiled he would roll over! So this was as good as it gets!

YMCA Basketball

2011-03-16T19:46:00.001-07:00

Basketball is a favorite sport of both Jer & Briggs!

This is their 3rd year playing. This year was the first year they couldn’t play on the same team. Briggs is a 2nd grader and plays with 1st & 2nd graders. His age plays only 1/2 court. Jer is a 3rd grader and plays on a team with 3rd & 4th graders. His team plays full court. They are both LOVING it this year! Briggs get to be on a team with cousins Drex and Quin and his good friend Chandler. His coaches are Chandler’s dad, Troy, and Aunt Emily. Briggs has been playing so well, making several shots each game. He has learned how to rebound and play defense great. It is so fun watching him play and enjoy playing! Good job Briggs, we love you! Jer loves his coaches, coach Brett and coach Curt. They both have daughters on his team. Jer loves playing full court and is learning how to be more aggressive. He has so much fun and loves keeping track of all the shots he makes each game. I have to say that watching Jers age play is SO much more fun than Briggs only because they get to play by all the rules. A few of Jers games were pretty intense actually, but only because there were some CRAZY coaches and kids. But I’m learning that comes with basketball. Keep it up Jer, we love you too!

Briggs (notice the yellow wrist band? One kid from each team wears the same colored wrist band, this helps the kids remember who they are guarding)

Briggs is #3

Here’s Jer playing some defense

Running for the ball

Talk from Coach Brett

Girl Cousin Sleepover

2011-03-16T16:29:00.001-07:00

Ali got to have a sleepover with 2 of her cousins, Libby and Lorilei. She was SOOO excited and couldn't wait till they got here. She hurried and got on one of her favorite pairs of jammies, her Tinker bell ones that match Libby. To her surprise Libby brought the same ones and Lorilei had a pair of Tinker bell pjs too!! They were all thrilled! Girls love the silliest things(I'm the same way still as a grown girl:)) They played kitchen and dollies, then watched a Care Bear movie. Then it was time to settle down because there was a little fighting. Something about not being friends (why do kids say that?) so it was bed time. They went to bed pretty well..only a few little chitter chatters came from their room. The next morning they all played great together so they must have decided to be friends again, that or they completely forgot(I think it was that:)) It was fun helping them all get ready. Ali wanted a side ponytail so naturally Libby and Lorilei wanted one too. All three girls sported some adorable side pony's! We put on some music and had a little dance party. It took a bit for Lorilei to warm up but soon she was dancing some too! What a fun sleepover with the girls!!

Libby and Ali saying cheese while we wait for Lorilei to get there

Libby wanted to hold Cade so I got a few picts…of course Ali is giggling in a few

Silly girl!

Finally a good one!

Then Lorelei gets here!

How many monkey sleeping in Ali's bed?

Three!

Blue and Gold Banquet for Jer & Briggs

2011-03-16T13:47:00.001-07:00

Jer and Briggs are both Scouts right now. Jer is a Bear and Briggs is a Wolf. Tonight was their Blue & Gold Banquet. It is a night of honoring the scouts and their achievements. Jer got an arrow for some electives he was working on and Briggs got his award for his bobcat and a silver arrow for electives he has worked on. The boys also work on the faith in God program and really enjoy it. They have great scout leaders the Grimes. This night was a Cowboy theme with a dinner. The primary president Heather does a great job. We had sloppy joes, fruit kabobs and homemade root beer. After dinner and awards the kids got to play a few games. One game the scouts needed their dad or grandpa. Jer's partner was grandpa and Briggs partner was daddy. The boys were blindfolded and had to listen to careful instructions from their partner on where to get around an obstacle course. Then they reversed roles and the boys lead their partners blind folded. It was fun to watch! Jer and Briggs are SO lucky to have so much family support. Emily and kids came, Liz and family came, Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Steven came, Becky and kids came and even Mir and kids were there. What support and what a great night!

Flag ceremony

Saying the Pledge of Allegiance

Cute Jer in his uniform

Briggs getting his bobcat award

Me getting a mom award for helping Briggs

Briggs and Chandler snacking

Jer receives an arrow

Chandler and Jer being silly

Leaders, the Grimes and Heather

Jer, Mommy, Daddy and Cade

Briggs “leading” daddy through obstacle course

Kids play round up the cows!

Jer is fast!

Daddy blindfolds Briggs

Grandpa blindfolds Jer

The daddy's/grandpa’s get ready to lead the boys through an obstacle course

Grandma Kathy loves holding Caden

See this large obstacle in this picture? This is the one Jer tries to lead grandpa around but grandpa still hits it just barley…what a good sport!

I love my Cub Scouts!

Mini Tostadas

2011-03-16T11:06:00.001-07:00

Miss Ali you are SOO silly!! You love everything little and small. You remind me of your aunt Tiffany (she is obsessed with tiny things too). Tonight we were having tostadas for dinner. Daddy made some yummy guacamole to add to our tostadas but also for dipping some chips in it. You saw those chips and had an idea. You wanted your tostadas to be mini so you asked to use the chips for your tostada shell. You loved them and ate them all up. I'm just sure it was because you loved how little they were. I love how silly you are!!!

Here you are showing your mini tostadas…

Taking a bite…

Satisfied with how it tastes!

Love you Pips!

Valentines Date with Daddy and Mommy

2011-03-16T10:48:00.001-07:00

Daddy called us on Valentines day and asked Ali and I if we wanted to go to lunch. Of course we did! Ali insisted her and I wear pink so we did! She also wanted Cade to dress like a Valentine so you know she was thrilled when she found a shirt of his that had a heart on it. She brought it to me and said, "mom this shirt has a heart on it, but its broken. That’s ok, its still a heart!" It says Lil Heart Breaker. So we met daddy at Los Cabos Mexican restaurant where Ali insisted she was daddy’s date and Cade was my date. This meant she needed to sit by daddy and Cade had to sit by me. She kept giving him hugs and kisses. She loved it! And I did too!

Ali and her daddy!

Mommy and her boy!

Daddy’s girl!

Love his smiles!

Snow Castles?

2011-03-16T10:21:00.001-07:00

It was a beautiful day, probably 65 degree weather.

I'll take it!

When its been averaging 20 degree weather, 65 seems so warm!!

The kids wanted to go play outside, winter seems to keep us all cooped up for wayyy too long. So outside we went. Then next thing you know they are all building snow castles! We never did build a snowman this year..so snow castles it was. They played for hours building several castles, it was so cute!

With their snow castles!

Ali jumps for joy over the way it looks! (She gets overly excited about things…kinda like I do!)

Adding leaves is the perfect touch (the leaves are the flags on their castle of course!)

Briggs liked scooping up snow with a shovel and throwing it in the air, making it seem as if it was snowing!

Jer filling his bucket for the next snow castle!

Ali strikes a pose in one of her many creative outfits!

Ali’s New Doll

2011-03-16T10:06:00.001-07:00

Some of the funniest things happen when I’m not paying close attention! On this day I was trying to get ready, doing my makeup and hair. Both Ali and Cade are on my bed just playing. Ali had set up a picnic for the two of them on my bed and she was providing all of the dialog, it was quite silly. Then Ali starts giggling like crazy so I turn around to see exactly what is so funny. There she is feeding Cade her play baby bottle, and Cade was sucking on it as if it was real. She thought it was the funniest thing! I have a feeling Cade will be playing lots of "house" with his big sister Ali!

Cade gets RSV, so sad and no fun!

2011-03-16T10:02:00.001-07:00

(I did try the nebulizer a few times just incase it started helping…I hated not doing something!)

RSV, a nasty sickness!

And definitely no fun!

Three of my four kids got RSV. Jer got it when he was 2-3 months, Ali when she was 9 months and now Cade gets it at 4 months. (The Dr. also thinks Ali had it the same time Cade did, but its not harmful in older children)

So Monday the 7th both Ali and Cade started getting a fever, feeling yucky and just wanting to lay around. All week they both had fevers that got pretty high (104) and I had never seen Cade this miserable...he is normally so happy. They both had yucky noses and were coughing. Ali finally felt better by Thursday but when Cade woke up with a high fever on Friday I decided I better go see what the doc thinks.

It was RSV.

They used to suggest giving nebulizer treatments but the doc said recent studies show that the treatments aren't effective in 90% of children. So just incase Cade was in the 10% they had me give him a treatment and then listened to his chest. He was one of the 90%, no good!

So I left the office with no medicine, no treatment plan, and only the advice of watching him close and if he starts to turn purple or look like he's not breathing rush him to the hospital.

WHAT?? This is not something a mommy wants to hear.

I immediately called my mom and she sent out a mass text asking family to fast and pray for him. I'm so thankful for prayer and fasting! Cade recovered SO quickly! The doc even said his cough would last about 3 more weeks and his was gone in days!! What a blessing.

We love our sweet lil boy and hate to see him so sick!

Making Valentines

2011-03-16T09:52:00.001-07:00

Valentine’s for our cousins in MO town!

The kids had fun helping me make candy cane heart popsicles for their cousins. The kids would hold the candy canes together on top of a stick while I would pour the white chocolate in the center. Then they would sprinkle with hearts. It took about 15 minutes for them to dry, then we did what anyone should do when they make a treat....we tried them out!

They were sooo yummy!!

All three kids with their finished product! (Yes Ali’s face is red and blotchy. She crying about the cousin Valentine’s party that got cancelled due to lots of sick cousins!) We had just found out!

Don’t these look pretty?

Jer

Briggs

Alison

These kids are my lil’ Valentines!

Tinker bell and Thing 5

2011-03-16T09:23:00.001-07:00

After Ali got ready for bed and I got Cade in his jammies I noticed how Ali looked like Tinker bell with hair up like this! Ali noticed Cades pjs looked like Thing 1 or 2 from Dr. Seuss only with a 5 of course(she really wanted to know why there was a five on his shirt when he is a baby not 5 years old). SO what did I do? I had a photo shoot!! I am obsessed with my kids and when I think they are so darn cute I just can't help but take a picture or two or 50! Ha Ha, I love my Tinker bell and Thing 5!!! Oh and she HAD to send a picture of her hair to Papa for his birthday and because she just knew he’d think she was SO cute!

Adorable!

Loving the double chin!

Aren't these two SO cute???

SO sweet!

Then I tried to get a picture with the two of them but Ali has “Klaproth blood” and has to act crazy and goofy in several of her pictures…here's the first one…

The second one….

The third one….

SOO I cropped her out and made it a picture of Cade and I!

Gotta love her silliness, and I do!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

2011-03-16T09:04:00.001-07:00

This is what we made for my dads 60th birthday (wait, seriously? My dad is 60??? that is crazy) Amber, Joey and I decided to make him a framed picture where all his grandkids would hold letters that said We Love You! I think it turned out SOOO cute!! I created the final image in Photoshop and he just loved it!!!

Ali Reading to Cade

2011-03-10T19:43:00.001-08:00

As a mom you want the best for your children. One of the things you want most is for your children to be friends with each other. So when you see your children playing with each other, talking to each other, and showing affection for one another you want to capture those moments.

Especially on camera!

That way when they are arguing, hitting and fighting with each other you can remember that they do love each other. You know they are friends. You know they are just having a moment and that it too will pass.

This is one of those moments I had to capture. While Cade is too young for Ali to fight with I am not oblivious that one day they will. I want to remember this. I want to remember how Alison showed every page of this book to Cade and patiently waited for him to look at everything before turning the page. She pointed out her favorites in the book and would talk to Cade as though he knew and understood everything she was saying. It was a perfect brother sister moment, a perfect Ali Cade moment!

Gingerbread Houses on a Snow Day!

2011-03-10T19:35:00.001-08:00

It was snowing. It was snowing hard. But before it snowed it rained. And after it rained the ground froze. It's what we Missourians call an ice storm. And this winter we have had a few too many! This particular day we woke up and watched the news. They were strongly urging people to stay home! They didn't want anyone on the roads, in fact several roads were closed. So for the first time in...well ever...Bens dad closed the office. This was crazy since it was tax season, but the smartest and safest thing to do. So we were home bound. We had watched the news the day before that and knew this was a possibility so I sent Ben to the store (the news thought people could possibly be home bound for a week!!) Ben said the stores were crazy. The bread isle was completely empty, there were no eggs and several other items were completely gone or had very few left. We stocked up on what we could! So with Ben home and the kids home by around10am we were all going a bit crazy (sad huh?) Thankfully I had purchased 3 gingerbread houses on clearance right after Christmas. We never got to do our gingerbread houses at Christmas time so this was perfect. I decided to bust um out. In fact Ben and I surprised them. We told them if they got all their jobs done quickly we'd have a fun surprise/project. They got their jobs done so fast. We had them sit at the table and close their eyes. When we said open them their eyes go so big, they were SOO excited!! Especially because they each got to do their own. Then we torn open the package and got ready to build and decorate. The building was a little frustrating for the kids...Ben and I had to help a lot. Then we were bummed when we read we had to wait an hour before decorating. Finally it was time for the fun part...the candy!!! The boys were SOO creative and really got into it. Ali loved it too but needed a bit more help. In the end we had 3 beautiful gingerbread houses, and one very very messy kitchen. It was the perfect activity for our iced in snow day!!!

Jer decorating his house

Ali liked putting on the candy while I did the icing

Daddy helping Briggs

All three houses complete!

Briggs and his fun house

Ali and her cute house

Jer with his cool house

Gotta have a bite or two!

This was the funniest part…they all couldn’t wait to eat it, and they all wanted to bite at it like this! SOOO silly!

I Love My Boys!

2011-03-10T19:16:00.001-08:00

My family consists of 4 boys and 2 girls, and boy do I love my boys!!! Jer, Briggs, Cade and even Ben are my adorable, sweet, kind, silly, funny, crazy, loveable, teasing, happy, tough, rough, and much more boys! I just love um what more can I say?

Cade in Tuxedo!

2011-03-10T19:12:00.001-08:00

I took Jer and Briggs to get pictures done in their baby blessing tuxedo when they were babies. I wanted Cade to have a picture in the tint tuxedo too. I debated on going to a portrait studio or just have Emily do them. I decided to have her do them and they turned out AWESOME!!! I love them! She did such a great job and Cade was just hamming it up!

Now how do I pick a favorite??

Daddy’s Boy

2011-03-10T18:59:00.001-08:00

Daddy and his baby boy! I love these pictures! Ben loves holding Cade on his shoulder, and when he does this I can't help but think Cade looks extremely small next to Ben. Ben has really bonded with his buddy, especially when Cade started smiling at him. Something about a baby's smile that makes you light up!

Caden’s Giggles (and Crazy Ali)

2011-03-10T17:01:00.001-08:00

Jer, Briggs and Ali LOVE trying to make Cade laugh and giggle!! They will do so many different things from shaking their head, to talking silly, to jumping up and down, to repeating words over and over, just as long as they are getting the reaction they expect(Cades giggles) they will do it! Here Ali is showing exactly what I mean. She is super silly and Cade just loves it!!!

Isn’t his giggle so cute???

More of Caden…

2011-03-10T16:51:00.001-08:00

I think this outfit and hat is so silly and fun, so I had to get some fun photos of Cade wearing it! I just love this little guy! He is so sweet and fun and easy going. He loves to smile and try to grab your attention so he can smile at you. He loves his brothers and sister! He is just such a perfect addition to our family!!!

How sweet is this look?

Big SMILES!

He’s our little star!!!

SNOW day!

2011-03-10T16:10:00.001-08:00

There has been a LOT of snow days this year...2 before Christmas break and 4 in January and its only January 21st! This was the first snow day in January. Emily had Becky and her kids, and me and my kids over to go sledding. I hate driving in the snow and just don't feel super confident when I drive in it so Emily loaded up her kids and came to pick us up! I have the big inner tube sled and thought I'd blow it up early so we wouldn't have to do it when the kids were anxious and ready to sled. What I didn't think about was how we were going to get the tube from my house to Ems. Luckily it fit in her trunk if we put it on top of the kids heads! It was pretty funny because Jer was in the back and his head was stuck in the hole of the tube! Ha ha! We had so much fun! The kids lasted the longest they ever have out in the snow. About 2 hours! Then they went back out again later for another hour. We took turns with all the cousins and one time we pilled all the kids...Jer, Briggs, Ali, Trey, Brookie and Stevie on the tube and they sled all the way down into the street! It was pretty funny. Dan and Cade slept for most the sledding but the second time sledding we brought them out for a little fun. Cade went down twice, but the wind was very cold I think he thought I was crazy!

4 boys + 1 Tube = Lots of FUN!

Ali and I took a few turns on the tube!

See my foot in the snow? I had to slow us down and steer a bit so we wouldn’t hit Stevie!

Cute Briggs loving the crazy disk sled (it would spin you around while going down)

After Ali and Steve sled down I thought I’d pull them around a bit

Ali going up…then…

Going down!

Briggs shows us how its done!

Trey and Brookie’s turn for a ride!

Emily and Stevie rode down and ended up getting stuck! Brooklyn and Becky watching everyone sled!

Jer gets stuck in the same spot Stevie and Em did!

Briggs and Trey were loving the snow sledding!

Here are all the kids piled on our one tube!!

Here they go…see Jer’s face?

I stayed down at the bottom of the hill to help incase needed, but they kept going and going until they hit the street! So glad no one got hurt!

Sweet Dan is ready for some fun now!

Cade and I waiting our turn with a sled!

Finally its our turn…

What a fun day! Seriously one of my favorite sledding days ever!!

Jer and Ali being them…

2011-03-10T15:39:00.001-08:00

I was making lunch right after church when Jer came in the kitchen to help. I turned to instruct him on helping me with something when I was completely awe struck by how grown up he looked!! And extremely handsome too I might add! But seriously?? How? How can I have a 9 year old kid? I immediately grabbed the camera and took some pictures. He even posed some "cool" poses as he would say. Then Ali jumped in and needed to be in the pictures too. Really though I never believed people when Jer was just a baby and they would say just enjoy it, time flies, before you know it he will be driving, or on a mission. But they didn't mention going to Kindergarten, being a cub scout, singing Justin Beiber songs, watching teeny bopper shows, wanting to dress in style, caring about their haircuts, liking girls, all before he has even hit 10!!! I tease him to stop growing but I know with time comes stages in his life where he is learning to be an incredible young man and that I am proud and happy about!!! (p.s. Briggs and Cade were sick so that's why they are absent from theses pictures)

Love when they are sweet with each other!

Ali doing some posen!

Jer knows how to “pose” too!

Love these kids!!!

Cade

2011-03-10T15:25:00.001-08:00

I can't get enough of my sweet baby boy! Cade seems to look cute in every outfit I put him it, therefore I have to take pictures! I don't want to forget any of his life, especially as a baby! I don't want to forget his face and how chubby it keeps getting. I just think this guy is so darn cute and I love him to pieces!!!

Look at that chin!!! I love it! This is usually how my newborns look, all chunky and chubby, but Cade was 2 months old when he finally hit Ali’s birth weight of 9lbs 6oz. Chubby cheeks are SO much fun to kiss!

My Baby Boy and Baby Girl(yes she will always be my baby girl)!

2011-03-10T15:14:00.001-08:00

This outfit Cade is wearing is one I got when Briggs was born. I love it! I always have! And I especially love that Briggs wore it 8 years ago! I love navy blue and my Cade looks like such a boy in this outfit! This month (January) Cade smiles more than ever. Pretty much if you smile at him he smiles right back, only much bigger!!! I love it! He is just one happy happy guy! And he LOVES his big sister Ali! She adores him too. She is like a second mommy to Cade. Once when she came down stairs in the morning she told us, “I heard Cade cry and I knew he needed me so I got up” How cute is that? She is a big helper, but she will still always be my baby girl! Love you both, Ali and Cade!

Xoxo, Mommy

Fun with Nana!

2011-03-10T15:05:00.001-08:00

My mom spent some girly time with Ali before we had to return home to Missouri. Ali was SO excited to have matching fingernails and toenails. She loves her Nana and cried for her the first night we were home.

Starting off the New Year Right!

2011-03-10T15:02:00.001-08:00

Fireworks are legal in Arizona! It was a great way to start off the beginning of 2011!

Welcome Caden Benjamin Broadbent!

2010-10-09T13:38:00.001-07:00

Caden Benjamin Broadbent was born on Tuesday September 28, 2010 at 1:39pm, weighing in at 7lbs 12oz and 21 inches in length!

He is the sweetest baby and we all love him SO much!

As I went through all the pictures Emily, my mom and I took it, it was VERY hard to narrow down my favorites! So here are only a few of my favorites…

Me holding Cade for the first time! I am so in love!

Daddy with his 3rd Boy!

Alison LOVES her baby brother!

Briggs has always loved babies and he is a great helper!

Jer LOVES Cade and loves being my helper with him.

Our first family photo with Cade! Emily helped Jer, Briggs, and Ali make crowns that said Big Brother, Big Sister and Baby Brother. Aren’t they so cute?!?!

Me with my little man!

Cade had the cord wrapped around his neck when he was born and was having problems breathing, so they had to check several things and get him breathing better. It wasn’t too long before the nurses said he was doing great, and there were no problems!

My beautiful mom holding her 9th grandchild! She came to stay with us and help me out, and boy was she amazing! She is the BEST mom!

Ben and I enjoying our newest addition!

How cute are these pictures?

The last 11 days have been wonderful with our new guy! The kids love holding him, Ben can’t kiss him enough, and I can stare at him for hours! We love our Baby Cade!!!

My Growing Kids…

2010-06-12T14:05:00.001-07:00

A couple months ago Emily and I made matching ties for our boys because we wanted to take some cousin pictures. We chose the navy blue because I was in LOVE with Ali’s dress (thanks Rach) and we wanted her to wear it for the pictures. We intended on doing the pictures in the spring, but we are busy, so one day after Em watched my kids for a Dr’s appointment, we just randomly decided to finally take the pictures. It was quite the adventure getting all the clothes together, getting the children dress and bribed, and then finding the “perfect” spot to take the pictures. Finally we found an abandoned building we liked and we went crazy snapping away. The only hard part was that it was nap time for both of Emily's boys, Stevie and Dan. They did the best that we could expect of tired little boys. I am in LOVE with these pictures and SO SO excited to frame them! We took tons of pictures, but these are my favorites! Enjoy!

Aren’t my kids getting SO big? While looking at these pictures I realized how grown up my kids look…especially my boys!

The cousin pictures…so cute!

Soon we’ll be adding our baby boy to these pictures…we are SO excited!

……..

2010-01-31T19:39:00.001-08:00

We are SO excited!!!

Short overview of last year…

2010-01-08T17:38:00.001-08:00

I made this scrapbook page for my parents, its a summary of what we did 2009, and since I’m such a terrible blogger I thought you all might like to see and read it! Hopefully this year I will do much better at updating our blog, because I really LOVE reading all of yours!!!

This is what it reads:

The year 2009 was a busy, but fun year for us Broadbent’s. Jer and Briggs started off the new year by doing a Polar Dip in Grandma and Grandpas pool, it was quite the shock when they hit the freezing water! In the cold winter months Ben stay's busy at work doing taxes while the kids and I have some fun. This year Jer and Briggs played basketball at the YMCA. They were on the same team and their coach was Aunt Emily, which made playing even more fun. I turned 29 and celebrated with a surprise birthday party Ben and Emily threw me. Just after my birthday was the Girls Trip. This year it was in Sedona, AZ and was amazing. We hiked, did crafts, shopped, ate yummy food, hung out, and laughed a lot! Ben and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary in April by going out to eat and chatting about the past years. Alison turned 3! We had a Tinker Bell party, with a Tinker Bell cake. In the summer we had lots of cousins and family visit. We did so many fun things; went on a float trip down the Meramec, fishing, played at Monkey Joes, had a few barbecues, went to the lake, went to the zoo, and did lots of swimming. We then took a family trip to AZ! We spent time in Taylor for the 24th of July celebration, slip n' sliding, played basketball and baseball. We also did some swimming and cousin sleepovers. When we got back Ben and I went on a youth high adventure trip to West Virginia, Songer White Water Rafting. We had quite the adventure that we'll never forget. Jer started 2nd grade and Briggs started 1st grade. They both love school and their teachers. The fall is one of my favorite times of the year! We enjoyed apple picking, going to the pumpkin patch, celebrating Halloween and of course Jer's birthday. Jeremiah turned 8 and got baptized on the 31st of October. It was a great day for Jer, he felt so happy that day and knew he was loved by so many. I got the chance to go to Time Out for Women in Kansas City with some of my girlfriends, it was such a spiritual high and so nice to get a break from everyday life. Briggs turned 7 this year and got lots of games for this birthday. He loves playing games and is quite competitive. I started an internet business in September with Emily called Pocket Full of Posies, Perfect Pocket Meal Planning. We sell a cute and unique meal planning system. We have been blessed and I really enjoy the work. We have been greatly blessed this year, and we love and enjoy the family unit that we are!

Happy New Year….2010

2010-01-01T09:15:00.001-08:00

Hope everyone had an AWESOME 2009 and hope 2010 is a great year for all!

Primary Temple Trip

2009-10-13T19:28:00.001-07:00

The Primary in our ward took the kids to see the St. Louis temple a few weekends ago. Ali isn’t in primary but really, really wanted to go, so her and I tagged along. It was such a fun day! The primary presidency started the day with having the kids make little temple books with pictures and activities, including an I-spy page. We then drove up to the temple where the kids all found the things on their I-spy pages. Then they had a short program where the primary president and Bishop told some stories about the temple. They then had the children write their feelings or draw a picture of the temple. Then all the children went and touched the temple. My kids LOVED seeing the temple, it was their first time at the St. Louis temple. Jer and Briggs said they loved the feelings they had while on the temple grounds but their favorite part was touching the temple! What a wonderful experience….a BIG thank you to our primary!Jer, Briggs and Ali Sweet Briggs Briggs and his good friend Chandler Ali LOVED her book! Finding the I-Spy things! All the primary kids Listening to the temple stories Ali loved to find all the prettiest flowers Jer drawing a picture of the temple Writing their feelings and drawing pictures Briggs drew a picture of him and Jesus Touching the temple My handsome Jer

Something else that was pretty cool was that it was a stormy morning and it was lightly sprinkling outside when we left to the temple. When we got there the sun came out and it was beautiful. Just as we were ending the day with a snack and getting back into our cars it started to DOWN pour. It was so wonderful that the storm waited for us!

My first baby is 8!

2009-10-12T20:52:00.001-07:00

Why is time going by SO fast? I always tell my kids to stop growing up, they think I’m so silly, especially when I make them promise to give me kisses and hugs when they are 16! So every birthday I let my kids pick a cake they want me to make and I try my best to deliver. This year Jer wanted a Bass fish, not just any fish a Bass! So this is what Em and I came up with, lucky for me I had Emilys help and Jer loved it! We had Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Steve, Uncle Jesse, Aunt Emily and Stevie over to celebrate! Jer opened presents and loved all of them, yahtzee, sequence, gift card to the dollar store, a bulletin board, $42 and a new pet fish! The BASS fish cake! Briggs, Jer, Stevie and Ali (I took a few fun picts while we waited for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive) Opening Presents! Giving “thank you” hugsJer names his fish Saw Tail

Make a wish! Can he really be EIGHT???!!?!?!!!??!??

Blog issues!

2009-04-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

Sooooo I really do like to blog and I love keeping up with friends and families blogs but does uploading pictures have to take SOO long? If anyone has any tips or tricks PLEASE let me know! I would blog more if I didn't have to sit and wait forever while uploading pictures!! Anyways I have been having some fun scrapbooking digi style so I thought it be easiest to post my pages instead of a million pictures!

Jer's 1st Grade Music Performance

2009-04-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Day

2009-04-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

Part 1 of my Bday

2009-04-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

Part 2 of my Bday

2009-04-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

Alison's Smile

2009-04-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

Another page!

I've been digi scrapbooking!

2009-04-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is a page about Alison's favorite bedtime song!

YMCA Family Fun Event

2009-04-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

A fun family event...minus Ben who was doing taxes!

Back to January...

2009-02-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

Since I've been such a bad blogger I may end up doing some posts from the past! This one is from New Years Day! The week before New Years I kept talking about how I've always wanted to participate in a New Years Polar Dip where crazy people go jump in a pool of water for a cause on New Years Day. I ended up getting sick with a cold that turned into a sinus infection so I decided it wouldn't be the best move. But the boys both wanted to do it SOO badly, (probably because I talked it up and was trying to convince others to jump in with me) but the boys didn't listen, even after every adult in the house warned them that the water was going to be freezing cold. They didn't even question it, they were going!! So out came my video camera and a few family members as an audience. Briggs went first and after a shocking discovery Briggs got out of that water SO fast! Then Jer decided he still wanted to go (even after seeing how cold and shocked Briggs was) So in went Jer who also seemed a bit shocked and was almost in tears from the cold! I thought they were pretty awesome for doing it and I was a bit jealous...next year, next year!!!

I like to move it move it!!!

2009-02-28T14:48:00.000-08:00

Alison and Jer and their crazy dancing! Last night we decided to rent a Red Box and have movie night with the kids. Jer and Briggs picked Madagascar 2! It was a really cute movie and I laughed quite a bit...especially when Ali got up during part of the movie and started dancing. Of course I had to get my camera and this is what I got...

Cousin weekend with Stevie!

2009-02-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

Em and I gave our husbands weekends at home for Christmas...which meant no children. She watched our kids for a weekend while Ben and I had our home to ourselves and then we took Stevie for their weekend at home! It was so much fun having a baby in the home again. He LOVES being with his cousins so he was as easy going as a baby could be. He did wake me up on Sunday morning at 6:00am but I got so much done and we were EARLY to church...so props to Stevie! We love you buddy!!! I didn't think to get out the camera much since we didn't do anything too exciting but since we were ready for church SO early I HAD to snap some cute pictures! Thanks to Em and Jesse for taking our kids for our weekend get-a-way...they had SO much fun with Aunt Em and Uncle Jesse that Ali seriously CRIED on the way home while saying I want to go back to Emy's! Then later that day the boys told Ben that Uncle Jesse is the strongest person in the world! We are so grateful they have Uncle Jesse and Aunt Em to spoil them! If you want to read more about their weekend click HERE!

Aren't they so CUTE???

I thought I'd get one with just the boys but.....

It hurt Alis feelings...seriously she thought I was being so rude and mean to leave her out! Oops!

All 4 happy...can't get better than this!

Sledding AGAIN this time with Em!

2009-02-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

We had a BIG snow storm 9 inches I believe was the total!!! It snowed the day before but only a few inches. As I mentioned before we went sledding the day before because you never know if the snow will melt fast around here...but the next morning we had MUCH more so we had Em and Stevie over for some sledding, snow ball fighting, snow angel making and we even buried both Jer and Briggs in the snow! It was quite the day! The weather was cold but we bundled up and braved the cold. Stevie didn't like it much and ended up going in early for a nap. Em and I had a blast throwing snowballs at each other and the boys. Then we topped off our day with some yummy hot chocolate!

Jer and I at the bottom of the hill...we almost ran into this fence!

Jer buried in the snow!

Briggs buried in the snow!

Emily and Briggs happily covering Jer in the snow!

Jer and I walking to the top

Cute boys!

Ali peeking out from her hat!

Jers snowball!!!! Watch out!

Jer and I going down!

Briggs, Jer and Emily making it down the hill!

Briggs snowball....these boys were CRAZY about the snowball fights and LOVED chasing Em and I around getting us!!! You better believe we didn't just sit around taking it...we were after them, and they Loved that too!

Ali all bundled up!

A Fourth Kid...

2009-02-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

No we're not pregnant....but if anyone thinks I need another baby(cause I believe I do)feel free to make a comment or give Ben a call...maybe I'll get one sooner than later! ;) Now on to the post...Briggs is such a creative kid and gets so excited about making things. One afternoon he came home from school and decided he was going to make a car out of paper, he cut and glued and finally ended up with a car that was a bit too small for him...so he did what any good brother would do and gave it to his little sister! Ali thought it was the greatest thing and sat in it while watching a movie. Briggs then found our BIG paper and made a car that really fit him! Well about a week or two later Briggs came home and decided to make a friend. He once again started cuting, gluing and drawing. Soon he found himself with a buddy named Sam!

1st Sledding of the YEAR 2009

2009-02-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

We had a snow storm and school was canceled so the kids got out all their sledding gear and begged me to take them sledding! It took a while to blow up the tube and it kept raining off and on, so finally after a wait that seemed like forever to a kid, we went sledding down our hill! Since it had rained a little the snow was icy which made our sled go extra fast. The kids had so much fun...even Ali thought it was great fun! I always enjoy doing things with my kids and this was no exception...especially because I really really really dressed warm!!

Cuties!

All three going down!

Inside where it's nice and warm...don't we look like we need some hot chocolate?

YMCA Basketball

2009-02-23T09:53:00.000-08:00

What we've been up to - YMCA Basketball for Jer and Briggs! Every year January through April I get the winter blues...not only because it is tax season and Ben tends to work late and every Saturday but also because it is COLD. I am cold when its not cold, so when it is cold I am really really cold! Plus its grey outside and just blahh! SO this year I decided we needed an outlet for the kids and I needed to stay busy during this time. SO Jer and Briggs joined the YMCA Basketball league winter 09. When I mentioned to Aunt Emily that the boys were going to play ball she decided it would be fun to be their coach, so she volunteered! This game is the 2nd game the boys have ever played in. It was so fun watching them try their best! They named their team Blue Torpedo's! Their other coach is Bill one of the boys dads. I am so excited that they are learning the rules of basketball and getting in a lot of practice but most of all I'm so glad they are have a blast!!! And I know that they are because after the first game we were in the car and I was telling them they did a great job, and Jer said I made a basket mom. And I said I know you did...great job..then Briggs said, me too...(but he really didn't) Jer then told him I don't think you did Briggs and Briggs said oh Okay, but I did my best! It was so cute that he really didn't care and I didn't have to convince him! I love these boys they are the best!!!

Here they are lining up to see who they are going to be playing defense against.

Jer playing defense

This is Briggs playing defense

Coach Emily telling them they did a great job!

In case you forgot what we look like!

2009-02-23T08:38:00.000-08:00

The Klaproth family...not a one missing!

Isn't my family so cute?

Sweet Ali

Briggs and Jer...best buds!

Love these smiles!

Our family!

Thanks to Nichole once again for taking these shots and being patient with all the children!

a Late Merry Christmas!

2009-01-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

A little late...Hope the holidays

were as wonderful as ours!

I LOVE Picasa 3

2008-10-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

I love the new Picasa 3!!!! I have always loved Picasa because of the organizing of my photos along with the journal feature but the new version has more features I love! I just put these collages together in minutes making blogging with TONS of pictures SO much quicker! I love the new text on pictures and I have to say that Picasa's editing program is SO easy and I prefer it over my Photoshop, now that's gotta mean something! Download Picasa 3 free HERE if you want to be as cool as me!

Family Trip to Atlanta Georgia

2008-10-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

Ben had a huge convention going on in Georgia so we decided to make it a family event. Before going I looked up activities in Atlanta and found out that Nickelodeon was having their Slime Fest only 15 minutes from our hotel and the best part was that there were tons of activities for the kids and it was FREE!

We traveled with a work friend of Ben's, Darwin and his family, Kathrine, Porter and Abby. This was the first time I had met them so I was really glad we got along and got to know each other. The road trip was 9 hours. The kids really did a great job, they only started asking us how much longer after 4 hours of the trip:)! The first night there we went out to dinner at Fudruckers and had some delicious burgers and hung out for a while there. The next day Ben and Darwin headed to the convention while I ran to Target for a new stroller(we forgot ours(we also forgot our port-a-crib...hence the photos of Ali asleep on the floor between the two beds.) After my quick trip Kathrine and I met up and ate at Wendy's, then tried to drive around to find a park for the kids to play at. We didn't want to venture off too far and get lost so we drove down the most familiar street to us, after only about 5 minutes the kids shouted they see a park, so I quickly turned only to realize it was a gated community. Someone was ahead of me and they unlocked the gate, Kathrine and I decided we'd just go ahead and go in, after all were just going to their park, how would they ever know? We parked and let the kids out. Kathrine and I walk up to the playground chatting away when we finally feel all eyes on us. I quickly looked around and saw that we were in a Hispanic gated community. My attention was quickly turned to Jer who was trying to make a friend with a little girl about his age. To my surprise and probably his this little girl started speaking Spanish to us. I tried to communicate with her but she only new Spanish and I English. Kathrine and I didn't know if we should make a big deal about it or not so we decided to let the children play a bit longer. Right next to the play ground was a basketball court, tennis court and some picnic tables and they were all filled with many Hispanic people. Now I grew up in Arizona where there are a lot of Hispanic people. I am not racist, but I did start to feel unwelcome. Finally a lady stood up and started yelling to some of the men at the basketball courts. She was pointing at Kathrine and I was she was yelling so we got the point. We gathered up the kids and headed out. As soon as we got out of the community we started laughing at what had just happened. It made us reflect on society today. Many people of different races blame others for being racist but I think often times they seclude themselves and are actually racist themselves. I won't go off on that though, just some of my thoughts from observing that day! After that Ali and Porter needed naps and Jer wasn't feeling well.

The next morning the men headed to their last day of the seminar while their families headed to the Slime Fest! We arrived just as it started. There were booths set up, one was an obstacle course, another was playing instruments, another was squirting slime, and many others. The lines were long and it was pretty hot but the kids found some fun things to do. Briggs and Ali did the slime squirt guns and won slime balls. Jer played with Kathrine's kids in the shade for a while then met up with us to get wet in the huge splash pad. That lasted a while, it felt so good to cool off a bit, making the day a little better. Jer and Briggs both wanted to climb the rock wall they saw earlier so we got in line. Just minutes after standing in line I noticed they had gotten out and ran to where Kathrine and her kids were waiting. I walked over there to talk to them. They were scared. I knew they wanted to climb it so I put some extra fire in them. I told them both I would pay them $5.00 if they made it to the top and $2 if they tried. They both quickly got back in line. As soon as it was our turn Briggs started getting strapped in and Jer quickly got out of line again! Briggs was terrified. The guy working the booth had a little crush on me(seriously he did) and so he went over to help Briggs and encourage him. Briggs fell twice (which normally falling once means your time is up) but he kept trying to help Briggs. The guy told me Briggs was shaking so I snapped a few pictures and down he went. The first thing Briggs said was...I get my $2 right? I forked over the money and headed over to Jer who was putting on his shoes. He was determined to climb that wall! He begged me to get in the long line with him so he could really climb. I agreed because I am a good mommy:) Once he got suited up he was off...he went so fast I was fumbling for my camera in order to get a picture before he was done! Jer made it ALMOST to the top...he was this close! He looked down and I think that scared him. I was so proud of him for conquering his fear! He didn't even ask for his $2, Briggs did however remind him later!

We then headed home to pack up. We left early Sunday morning for our 9 hour drive...it was too long! The kids did great...Ali did start to hate getting back in her car seat when we'd stop, but heck so did I! When we got home Jer came in asking me what all the white spots on his tongue were. I didn't even have to look, I knew he had strep throat. The Broadbent family was due to arrive in 48 hours and I didn't want a huge spread of Strep throat to happen so off to Urgent care to get a prescription. So our trip was a lot of fun and Ben felt like he got a lot out of the convention what more could I ask for?

Race for the Cure!

2008-10-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

This event was amazing! Emily posted all about the event back in June and after re-reading it just a few minutes ago I decided she wrote exactly how I felt so click HERE to see what she wrote! June 21, 2008

Ali playing "mommy"

2008-10-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

Here is sweet Alison playing mommy by changing her Carebears diaper! Isn't this so cute?

Summer Swimming

2008-09-06T14:31:00.000-07:00

Lots of swimming went on this summer! Here we are swimming at our friends Emma and Angeline's pool! It was nice and hot so it was the

perfect day to take a dip!

Ali usually doesn't get in a floaty ring but this one of Ang's had to be tried!

Jer and Briggs are both obsessed with goggles and diving for things...after forgetting to bring diving sticks we got creative and had them dive for quarters!

Cute Emma and silly Briggs!

Smile!

HAPPY Father's DAY to the BEST DADDY!

2008-09-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

The kids gift to Ben....

A decorated shirt done by them (thanks to Miriam who helped them do it while I was at girls camp)

Ben was so sweet and put it on immediately after he opened it!

Jer and Briggs also made him some cards with sweet notes...you can tell in this picture Ben enjoyed what Jer wrote!

I asked Jer and Briggs what they loved about their Daddy and what makes their Daddy the BEST....this is what they said...

Jer:

1. Because he takes me fishing

2. Because when he goes out of town he brings me back something

3. Because he likes to wrestle me

Briggs:

1. Because he takes me fun places like to the park

2. Because I like to snuggle him

3. Because he is just the BEST!

We love you DADDY!

Highlights of CAMP

2008-08-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

A huge highlight of camp was being with so many amazing people!

The last night of girls camp was Skit night! All of the wards did such an amazing job making each other laugh and laugh!

Are we laughing yet girls?

Some of us are a little worn out too!:)

The stake yw leaders had a good time singing a little song at each evening event that went along with the day...it was real cute!

Rock climbing was a fun activity I participated in...whenever the girls signed up for an activity they had to have a least one leader going with them...so I would go along to things the girls wanted to do. It was so fun watching these girls conquer these climbs. There were 3 ropes set up for 3 different climbs...all at different levels of difficulty...the girls did awesome!

Here is Amelia getting pretty far on the hardest climb!

I also attempted the hard climb...let me tell you what...it was hard!

Check out the beauty surrounding our climbing spot!

High Ropes was my FAVORITE activity I participated in. I had no idea how fun and mentally challenging it could have been until I did it. It was so cool to learn how to use the carabiners and make it through the course which consisted of walking on a wire with a wire to hang onto on each side of you...then walking across a log while balancing....then using Tarzan ropes to balance you while walking on a wire.....then using one wire above you to help keep your balance while walking on a wire(& kissing a tree trunk in the middle of that course) and finally Angel repelling off the platform! I also got the chance to belay, which was quite awesome!

Here is Anna-Lisa making high ropes look easy and relaxing...

Here I am doing the Tarzan part...

Another highlight was Bishops night! Bishop taught us a game we played that made me look like a crazy person....I did only have 2 hours of sleep the night before...he also gave a great devotional on all the girls being our Heavenly Fathers princesses. (we won't bring up the part where I fell out of my chair right before the devotional...once again 2 hours of sleep makes me a bit slap happy!) Bishop also brought up Ted Drew's (a famous ice cream here) which is tradition for girls camp.

Ticks, Ticks and MORE TICKS...(no this is not my hand...I got this picture of the web) you know you wanted a tick picture included in this post:)

Check out the beautiful greenness that so happens to be infested with bugs and TICKS GALORE...seriously they were EVERYWHERE...crawling on EVERYTHING and the worse part was that you couldn't feel them crawling on YOU!

I guess you'd call a tick stuck in my bum a highlight of girls camp for me...I had never before had a tick nor had I ever even SEEN a tick until I stepped foot at girls camp! Of course I was the one to get a tick barried in my rear! Ooh that's bad! I believe I got it the first day at Huck's Cove but didn't notice it until Friday morning. My poor friend Christine tried to get it out and ended up killing it inside me...oops....

....here Linda and Cheryl are laughing about the stuck tick because of course its funny if its not you who's going to die from tick disease....

....and since I was so worried about getting that Lyme disease I called Anna-Lisa (who left that morning) to find out all the in's and out's about if I was going to die from this tick(she is a conservation person who knows all about bugs and outdoor stuff)...she insisted I take a picture of it so she could be sure I didn't have the disease and I think she thought I was crazy because she said most ticks don't bury their whole bodies in you...but I was not crazy and I did take a picture but decided not to send it and yes I deleted it off the phone I took it on(just in case anyone was wondering:)!......

So she said I had to suffocate it! So I got a cotton ball, dumped a whole lot of soap on it, placed it on the tick and placed a band aid on top of it...(someone may need to know this one day that's why I'm giving all the details):) Anna-Lisa said that if it was alive it would come out and suffocate...but it did not come out, it was dead and stuck inside my skin. The next day when I went home Ben had a good laugh and then cut the dang thing out of me! And yes it really was a tick, a big, ugly, yucky tick!

Some of you may want to know that I ended up getting 3 ticks total...I consider that pretty good since some of the girls had over 30!

Okay Arizona people are you totally grossed out yet? The feeling of things crawling on you will probably go away in an hour...sorry about that! Oh and I do have to say I actually got a tick a month later after going fishing and I didn't freak out the way I did at girls camp so I think I might be getting used to this tick infested town!

Arguing with Anna-Lisa over who kept up who till 4:00 in the morning the night before because they talked and talked and talked...seriously it was her!

Smelling the aroma of bug spray on every single girl...I seriously wore the same pair of pants all 5 days because they were covered in bug spray and I hoped it would help keep all the bugs and ticks off of me!

Also the wonderful smell that came from our latrine...it was pretty bad by the 3rd day and we were the first group to camp there...thank goodness we weren't the last!

This is my tent...if you want to call it that! I always thought of tents and completely enclosed where bugs couldn't get in(at least not too many)...lucky for me I purchased a "bug net" to keep them off of me at night....if you click on the picture it will get big and you can see the net...anyways this helped somewhat keeping the creepy crawlies away...occasionally I would feel something on me(at least I'd think so) and I'd jump quickly out of my net to get it off! Anna-Lisa thought it was funny...but I had my laughs when a cockroach fell on her face after she made fun of my net! Ha Ha...who's laughing now!

Going to Huck's Cove the first day! Huck's Cove is a place were there are water slides and zip lines and rope swings! I did the zip line, it was really fun...here we are eating dinner after playing in the water!

Every night after our evening activity the youth leaders would hand out candles and light them while we sang "Steadfast in You" the spirit was so strong.

Having an AWESOME time with all the leaders! We are all attempting a "mean" face (Amber recognize my"scary face"?)

Taking our swim test...it was more tiring than you think!

Watching the girls grow spiritually...

Being with the girls while they were silly and having fun!

Early morning Testimony...and the beautiful view!

Bonding time...

Getting to know the girls (Brianna & Aubrey)

Going on a 5 mile hike...and experiencing the miracle of prayer because of Alison's lost retainer being found (& yes it was a clear retainer) (what a blessing!)

More fun just chatting and getting to know our young women!

Getting to know Anna-Lisa and how she is a complete nut! (and a really good story teller...if you think a good story means exaggeration!) But also finding out that she is an awesome person!

Becoming an expert at braiding hair

and getting to have a great friend (Jen) there for part of the time!

Overall girls camp was a blast...and YES I really wanna go next year!

Girls Camp First day CONT...

2008-08-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

After unloading our "girl like" camping gear (yes most of us girls over packed..including myself:)) setting up our stuff and having our flag ceremony we got to experience lunch, our first meal at camp! It was definatly edible and some girls even liked it but McCall and I had a different opinion...we both must be picky eaters because some girls were going back for seconds!!

Doesn't it look yummy? (to be fair there were a few meals that were pretty good, mostly toward the end of the week!)

Here we are at Flag ceremony where during roll call each ward would stand up and yell a cheer that had to do with their value (we were the value faith..hence the white shirts!) on the first day our cheer was a fun little clap and yelling at the end "we have faith" but by the end of the week the girls made up a little song/cheer from one of the songs off of "Grease" It was really cute!

All of the youth leaders did an opener, it was a dance to a song from the six flags comercial last year. It was really cute. They are wearing hard hats because our theme this year was: Building Our Lives with N.A.I.L.S. (n=never speaking ill, a=attitudes of gratitude, i=immovable hearts and minds, l=love of all men and s=steadfast faith in Christ)

The YL also did a skit that introduced the young women to the theme. The YL made it up and you could tell they had a fun time doing it...they were "Barbie the Builder" and each girl had an assignment to act out a situation that they needed help on and "Barbie" would help them with their problem by giving them one of the "N.A.I.L.S." tools. It was cute.

This is Sister Linda T. and Sister Harris the other leaders in our ward that helped out the whole time at camp. Both were awesome and I couldn't have done it without them! We also had a few other leaders/parents come a few of the days, Sister Anna-Lisa T., Sister Christine D. and Sister Jen B. They all helped so much and helped the girls have a great experience at camp!

Girls Camp...the first day! (Tues. June 10)

2008-08-15T13:43:00.001-07:00

I had the awesome opportunity to be the camp director for our ward of young women! At first I was a little overwelmed since the last time I went to camp was when I was 17! But they assigned me an assistant Linda T. who has been the ward camp director for the past 8 + years in this ward...so I felt much much better! She & I have worked together in a past calling & I've had so much fun with her so I knew we'd have a great time planning & carrying out this event!

Here are all my girls except for the youth leaders who went up to camp the day before with Linda! Back L to R: Sarah, Me, Sis. Harris, Aubrey, Front L to R: Nadiana, McCall, Savannah, Alison, Brianna, Anisa and Alexa

Just arrived at camp - S-F Scout Ranch Swift Explorer Base! Here we are recieving instructions about our campsite from our PC Erica. She is the one that went over our medical information to make sure it was correct, helped us set up and was our go to person if we needed anything.

Washington Ward Girls! Back L to R: Lauren, Brooke, Amelia, Linda, Brianna, Sarah, Cheryl, Me, McCall, Front L to R: Nadiana, Aubrey, Angela, Savannah, Anisa, Lynnie, Alexa and Alison.

Here we are waiting for our first flag ceremony. I am braiding Brianna's hair (you'll notice there are several pictures of me braiding girls hair:))

I wanted to include this cute picture of the YL (youth leaders) that went up the day before with Linda. That day they had training from the stake leaders and from what I heard a lot of fun! From L to R: Linda, Brooke, Amelia, Lauren, Lynnie and Angela

Couch Flipping!

2008-06-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

The ONLY way I could get a picture with Crew and Kosten! Gotta love those crazy personalities! (Crew even "taught" me how to flip off afterwards!)

Viva Las Vegas - Girls Only Trip

2008-06-18T06:33:00.000-07:00

This trip ROCKED! We took a 5 hour road trip from AZ to Vegas. We stayed in a sweet condo, got pedicures, walked the strip, watched several shows including a magic show with tigers, went shopping at the huge outlet mall, stayed up late talking, ate yummy food, chilled by the pool, played games, rode rides at Circus Circus, made a few boyfriends:), ate too much junk food, and much more that I can't say...after all what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!!!! It was so much fun hanging out with my mom and sisters....thanks mom for making this all happen!!!

Last Day of Kindergarten!

2008-06-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

Jer was so excited to give his teacher Mrs. Pecka the gift he made for her. He had so much fun making it. I know he's going to miss her. She was a great kindergarten teacher especially for Jer!

Strawberry Picking

2008-06-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

The strawberry pickin group!

Emma has this down!

Briggs showing off the few he got

Shaina looking for a good ripe spot!

Anna-Lisa, Joshua, Emma, Me, Ali and Briggs picking away!

"I found one!"

Stevie was wishing he could pick um too!

Ali eating another strawberry!

A friend of mine Anna-Lisa told Emily and I about Theirbach's Orchards where U-pick your own strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, cherries, and apples. So a group of us met up and picked strawberries. It was fun watching Briggs and Ali look for the ripe ones. Ali did the tasters test several times (thank goodness the owners believe that is part of the experience). She loved filling up her own basket. I was having too much fun...it starting becoming addicting! As I'd walk by I couldn't help but stop to pick a ripe one if it was there! As we were leaving I kept stopping because I would find a nice patch of ripe strawberries...it was terrible walking away from them! I ended up making strawberry freezer jam that was so delicious! Even my family would agree it was the bomb diggity(that is what all 3 of my men said)!

Raining at the ZOO

2008-06-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

The Elephant mommy and baby

Ali loved watching the Elephants

Being cute!

The zebras

Silly Jer

Check out those teeth!

Ali thought this snake was real

The little bears Briggs really liked!

Nothing like riding a gorilla

Stinky penguins in a freezing cold room (usually this is a favorite but since it was a cold day we wanted to get out of there as fast as we could!)

The polar bear was really putting on a show!

Loving those monkeys!

Ben and I decided last year when we went to the zoo in August that we would go before it gets so hot so we went Saturday May 24th. When we left our house the weather was beautiful so we expected a perfect day at the zoo. As we arrived we realized many, many, many other people thought the same thing. There were so many people there we ended up parking at the art center and walking quite far to the zoo. We were able to see the bear exhibits, and the penguins before it started to rain. It wasn't just a sprinkle but it wasn't down pouring either, just a steady rain. Instantly the zoo became less crowded. We decided the rain didn't bother us and since it wasn't crowded any more we'd continued our day. Briggs loved seeing the bears but especially the little bears. Jer liked the hippos the best and thought they looked funny swimming in water. Ali liked almost everything we saw and loved repeating their names over and over and over again until we saw a new animal!

Jer & Briggs "Yard" Sale

2008-06-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday May 17th the young women in my ward held a rummage sale to raise money for girl's camp and my kids and I went. As I was looking I told Jer and Briggs they could look through the toy/kid stuff if they wanted to use their money to buy anything. So they looked and looked and then found the signs that said how much money things were if they had a certain colored sticker on them. They caught on quickly knowing how much money they had and what they could afford. Jer ended up buying sunglasses, an x-box watch, and a dragonfly eye. Briggs purchased roller skates. 2 days later on Monday morning I found a sign on their wall saying "SALE" I walked in and found them sitting like this ready for customers to buy their things. I love the sign that has colors matching the cost of things especially since none of their things had colored stickers on them :). They wanted to have a sale so they could earn money for a new ps2 game. They wanted to invite all their friends over but only if their mom or dad could come because they have more money (this is what Jer told me). Aren't they so cute? This reminded me of both my brothers Brent and Tyson. They were always finding ways to earn money and I believe they had little sales of their own. Finally Ben and I told them we would have a garage sale sometime this summer where they could sale some of their things and earn money....guess I better get on that!

Playing Some Baseball!

2008-06-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

Jer pitching

Ben trying to hit with a kid bat

Nice stance!

Ali putting grass up her nose! Who does that?

Ben catches a picture of me doing my "yes I hit the ball" pose!

Go Jer!

Nice try Briggs!

Me pitching before I get hit!

Mommy and her boys!

We all fall down! (I lost my balance...imagine that)

Go Jer Go!

Nice hit!

Briggs was a great pitcher!

Briggs sweet smile

May 17, 2008 - Now that the weather has been just BEAUTIFUL we have been playing outside as much as we can! After the boys went bowling we decided to take them to play some baseball. We didn't really play a game, just took turns pitching and hitting. Both Briggs and Jer were really good hitters after practicing a bit. And Jer was really getting the hang of using a glove to catch the ball. Briggs really like pitching and thought it was really funny when I swung the bat and missed! Ben was having fun teaching them how to hold the bat right and some of the rules of baseball. I was just having a blast hitting the ball as far as I could and I really liked pitching until Jer hit one right at my jaw...OUCH...that hurt! Thank goodness it was a whiffle ball otherwise I may still be hurting! Ali just ran around gathering all the balls for a while then she wanted to sit in her stroller (she is obsessed with her stroller :)) She was being so cute just sitting there getting excited when the ball was hit. Ben even snapped a picture of her picking her nose, or so we thought....when I walked over to see why she wouldn't take her finger out of her nose I discovered she was shoving grass up there!!! This is not the first time she has put things up there...what is the obsession? After playing baseball we threw the football around for a while and just wrestled in the grass. On the way home Jer and Briggs were talking about how this day was one of their luckiest days EVER, they got to go to a rummage sale (see next post), play at the park with some friends, go bowling AND play baseball and football. I would have to agree that that any day spent together as a family is one of my luckiest days ever!

Bowling with Grandpa & Grandma

2008-06-17T06:27:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Steve and Grandma Kathy took Jer and Briggs to do one of their FAVORITE things, bowling! After going as a family last Christmas bowling is on the top of their want to do list! They love trying new ways to roll the ball and really getting into it when they get a strike! When they got back I asked them who won and they both giggled and said of course Grandpa did, he always wins! Thanks Grandpa Steven and Grandma Kathy for such a fun time!

Jer's K Graduation

2008-06-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Jer's Kindergarten class along with 2 other k classes put on a music performance about the sea. Jer loved singing the songs especially the one about the Marlin and the SHARK. He was pretty loud and we could definitely tell him apart from the other kids! He and Briggs are known for their loud singing in primary so this didn't surprise me! After their performance the principle handed out their "diplomas" and then we all had cookies and punch! Briggs and Ali both loved watching Jer. Briggs kept asking if he gets to do this next year and Ali tried following the actions Jer was doing! Jer was so glad his Aunt Emily was there to watch him and so was I! My camera battery died right at the beginning and luckily Em had her camera, yeah! Jer is excited for school next year but is glad summer vacation is here! I will have to agree!

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

I love being a mommy and I don't mind being honored on Mother's Day! Ben always lets me know how much he appreciates me and always tells me how lucky our kids are to have me as their mom and I love hearing that because sometimes I really need to hear it! He got me some pretty flowers and a sweet card. Jer made a cute flower card that has coupons for helping me, he was so excited and proud to give it to me. Briggs made me a cute card out of a paper plate(since that is what Jer used:)) and he also was so excited to give it to me. I felt very spoiled by Ben with a clean house, cooked meals and just telling me over and over how grateful he is I am the mommy of his kids!

a family photo...took several tries with an active 2 year old!

me and my kids!

Me, Emily & Kathy after a yummy dinner and delicious cake!

Jer's gift to me

Briggs gift!

Vinyl

2008-05-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

This book is what inspired me to put this saying in the boys room. It was one of the first books Briggs checked out of the library and when I read it to him and Jer they kept getting SO excited about all the things the brothers did together because they did all those things too! I think we renewed it and then borrowed it again after that because they loved it so much! It is such a cute book and it really does remind me of them! Tiffany did the vinyl for their room we just hung it this last weekend. Thanks Tiff!

Outside

2008-05-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Best Brothers!

Jer going fast!

Briggs riding his scooter!

And now on his bike!

Ali loves riding this up the hill and then lifting her feet up to go back down fast!

I got braces!

2008-05-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

I got braces 1 week ago! So far I have learned 3 things:

1. I can chew lots of food using the roof of my mouth and my tounge!

2. Never leave home without a toothbrush, chapstick and wax!

3. Talking, smiling, eating, and kissing are VERY strange!

Newspaper Hats

2008-05-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

One day Briggs asked me if I could teach him how to make a hat so we looked on the internet and found a cute you tube video of a young boy teaching how to make a hat out of newspaper. Briggs loved watching it and making him and Ali a hat! I remember making newspaper hats when I was little just like this!

Big Squeeze!

2008-05-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

Ali loves to give hugs but they aren't the ordinary soft hug, she wraps her arms around your neck as tight as she can and gives a big squeeze! Just like the one she's giving Briggs!

Ali's New Braclets

2008-05-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

Ali LOVES her braclets Grandma Angie sent her!

Can't just wear one!

I'm so silly!

Fun Friday Family Night

2008-05-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

My mom sent Jer and Briggs some little plastic punch out Model Jets and Race Cars. They started working on them and then came to Ben and I to help them. Some of the pieces were tiny! We actually had to get out pliers to help us pick up the pieces and put it in the right spot. It was pretty addicting working on one and wanted to finish it. After working on one we all pretty much understood the best way to put them together and got them all done. The boys played with them for a while but then decided to take them apart and do it all over again! Thanks mom for a fun Friday family night!

Batman Brothers

2008-05-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Jer and Briggs hamming it up in their Batman attire! Enough said!