Cousins

Last weekend Landon went to my brother Adam's house to hang out with Avram and we had their son Brigham come to our house. He and Spencer love to play outside together. I took them to trafalga and they had a blast together! 

Jared's science fair

I don't hate the science fair, but I don't love it either. Our school makes the kids do one in 5th and 6th grade. It's torture on parents.  This year Jared used Kyle's 6th grade project. We've saved it and I am sure that Landon will use it to. Haha. (Evil laughing). 

He found a new way to demonstrate it and had a huge crowd around him. It was fun. 

Jared loves his teacher Mr. Kowallis. He pushes them pretty hard and makes them step outside their comfort zone. He makes them sing and dance in front of the whole class. It's been a roller coaster of emotions. He also gives them some fun rewards. Last week he took the whole class to the Olive Garden. He made them all dress up and had several lessons on manners a head of time. I helped drive. It was a good time! 

Scouts

I don't know if Chad and I will ever get out of cub scouts. I keep threatening to quit. But, of course I don't. We had our blue and gold banquet. I thought the decorations and theme were really cute (mostly cause I made them). Silly me, didn't get any pictures of my cute kids. Just the cute decorations! 

This one was actually taken at the last pack meeting. Spencer is showing his pin collection. 

Guess I did get one picture of their sac race.

Valentine's Day

Chad is always coaching on Valentine's day. Every year it is the state tournament. I really don't mind. I am usually busy with class parties and we wouldn't go out on a busy night anyway. I usually do go to the tournament and watch, but decided to stay home with the boys. 

Spencer made his Valentine box this year. Dr. Who. It was cute. He was also a little obsessed with finding a Valentine. The first girl he asked said no, and he was quite upset about it. His little third grade class is hilarious about their "crushes". 

Just had to show a picture of my Valentines lunch I ate by myself. It reminded me of High School and going to Harts for a pink cookie and diet coke! 

I helped put on a dance for all of the 6th grade classes. The kids all had a great time.

I fixed the boys and I my favorite dinner of Steak and Baked Potatoes and we ate it by candlelight. It was really fun! They especially loved blowing out the candles and re-lighting them. Kyle had gone to a friends house! 

Wrestling

Kyle decided not to wrestle this year. It was okay with us, although it would have been fun to have him be with Chad at the High School. It would have made all of Chad's time away worth it for me. We "made" the little boys wrestle. Landon and Spencer were willing, but we really made Jared. It is such good exercise and I felt like they needed to be doing something during the winter. Jared hated it and we only made him do one tournament. 

Here is Landon's first match at State.

Here is Jared's match

We were proud of them for going and trying even though they really didn't want to. Afterwards we took them and a couple of friends to Red Robin. That was the highlight of the night. 

Chad helped coach HS wrestling again this year. Every year I wonder if it is the right thing for our family. It is a big time commitment especially since he is already out of town a few days a week. He is gone to tournaments most weekends. They had an awesome team again this year and took state for the fourth year in a row. 

They won by a huge margin. I think they were 106 points above any other team. After they won state we followed the school bus and fire trucks to the school for a party. It was fun to see the kids that Chad had gotten close to come and thank him, That's when it's all worth it!

 

First "Real" Post for 2014

Welcome to a new year of adventures for our family. It seems as though I am always playing make up on the blog. Last year I had a goal to post once a week and then after Christmas print the blog in a book. I finally accomplished that. I didn't quite blog once a week, but I feel like I've got a great over view of our year. I would like to do the same this year. Here we are into February and I am just getting started! Better late than never. My college roommate Nora Mair, got in touch with me and asked me to be a part of a project she was doing. It's called project connection. She has put together a wonderful blog with about 40 people she has gotten to know over the years. Each has set a goal of something that they want to accomplish each month. It can be anything. So, I decided to join her. As I started thinking about all of the many projects I wanted to accomplish around my house, I actually got to work. My goal for January was to print of the blog from last year. I actually struggled while doing it. Afraid of putting my writing to print. I know that I have made several spelling and grammar errors and didn't know if I wanted it put in print for my "posterity" to see. But, I finally did it and it felt good. I am still waiting for the book in the mail, but can't wait to see it. I hope to print one for 2014 as well. I am excited to see what this year brings. So far, I've been keeping myself busy. I have also been keeping my sister in law Cathryn busy. We have lived in our house for 10 years now and I have never painted or updated, besides a little paint in the kitchen. I got a little itch and decided to change my living room. It went from buttercup yellow to Versatile Grey.

Here are all of the pictures of the paint. They aren't great pictures because I took them on my phone.

I made this bright new wreath out of cupcake liners with the help of my sweet little Skye Wise. It took forever and used 500 cupcake liners I hung it from an old window frame that has been sitting in a closet waiting to be hung for years.

I also painted our TV stand. I used the same color. Still not sure if that was the right decision, but o'well. I want to hang the boys pictures in some white frames next to the window frame. I need new pics of them!

Here are the curtains I picked out. I like them, but I am having a hard time find material to match for my pillows.

My last project is my favorite! I love how it looks, but only hope it lasts. I found this great coffee table at DI for $25. I didn't want to sand it, because I am lazy that way. I had heard about using chalk paint. I went to a local OVERPRICED chalk paint store and couldn't bring myself to buy it. I looked up and found a way to make my own. I think it worked, but think I need one more coat of the wax stuff. Still trying to work up enough energy to apply it. It was quite a pain! So, I still would like to find some book shelves or end tables to sit next to my couches, and then some simple cute decorations and lamps. I seem to start projects and then never fully finish them!

Last Post for 2013

This is my last post for 2013. I had a goal to post once a week. I didn't quite keep up with that, but I did pretty well. I am excited to finish up 2013 and get it printed into a book. I really think that it is important to keep a journal, and I haven't done that very well, so I thought the blog would be a great way to journal. For this last post, I wanted to make it about my personal feelings. My love for the Savior has grown so much this last year. I was called into the Young Women program. I had always feared the Young Women. I hadn't gone to Young Women's as a youth. I had never attended girls camp, trek, or any of the other LDS Youth activities. I have Never had a Young Women calling since Chad and I have been married. I never thought I would since I have four boys and I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle silly/crazy girls. Boy was I wrong. I have loved my calling. I love the Presidency I am serving with and I have loved being around the Young Women. I don't get a lot of interaction at the Stake level, but our ward YW President lets me be involved at the ward level and I love it! The girls are so fun and so refreshing. But, I see their goodness and pureness and it brings me so much happiness. I have studied the youth curriculum quite a bit and I love it so much. I love visiting the wards and learning from their leaders. My testimony has grown so much. As I watch some of the Young Women in classes, I can tell that they are still searching for answers and still trying to find their testimony. As I think about what I would like them to know, my own testimony has been strengthened. This little blog means a lot to me, because it is about my own little family. Nothing means more to me than them. Today our lesson was on the Plan of Salvation. I just kept thinking about Chad and my sweet boys and how wonderful it is that we have an Eternal Family. I believe in God, I believe in the Savior and I believe in the Plan of Salvation. I know that this earthly life is not the end and that someday we will all live together in Heaven. Chad has been inspired to read the Book of Mormon this year, and so has helped us all take on that Challenge as well. We are not very far in, but I love when we sit down together and read as a family. I have a hard time understanding the scriptures, but is seems like when we sit down and read together, I am able to understand it enough to share my feelings and help the kids understand it. Oh how I love my boys. I love Chad so much. He works so hard for us. I am so thankful that he is in a profession that he loves. My kids are everything to me. Being a wife and mother brings me so much happiness. There is nothing in this whole world I would rather do than be a mom and spend time with my family! I want them to know that I love them!

Christmas 2013

We had a fun Christmas this year. I remember as a child being so excited that I couldn't sleep. Tera and I would wake up around 4:00 AM every Christmas. The first year that Chad and I were married we stayed at his parents house. I remember waking up around 5:30-6:00. Chad thought I was crazy and wouldn't get out of bed. I have always woken up early and had to lay in bed and wait for what seemed like forever. After our kids were old enough to know better, I thought for sure they would start waking us up early. They don't. I usually have to start making some noise around 7:00 AM to get them to wake up. What is wrong with them? I like to take pictures of what it looks like before the kids come in and also a picture of the kids by their loot, so they can always remember how spoiled they were! This year, Kyle got some new snow board boots and pants. Jared got a new snowboard (and has been loving going snowboarding). Landon got a new bow and arrow, which turned out to be for the wrong hand, so we still need to switch it. Spencer got an air soft gun, so he can join his brother's in their air soft wars. They always, get a book, a movie, and a toy they want. This year, they all got a huge body pillow with their name on the pillow case and pictures of the Savior to hang in their room. I think we all had a pretty good Christmas this year.