A Fall Visit from Nama and Pa

Nama and Pa came for a visit this last weekend. Here are a few pictures from their visit.

Vance making sure he has Nama's attention. =)

Joel working on his homework.
(Photo taken by Nama.)

Family dinner.

Silly goofs with Nama.
Love these boys!

Halloween 2011- Pre-Holiday Celebration

I love having friends who love to entertain. Our good friends held their annual family Halloween party. Not only was the company fantastic, the food delicious but the kids LOVED the carnival games. As an added bonus Nama and Pa were in town for the Primary Presentation on Sunday (in our church once a year the children ages 3-11 do a program for the first hour of church that showcases the songs and religious concepts they've learned through the year) and were able to see the boys all dressed up in their costumes.

Joel enjoying the fishing game.
This game was such a hit!

Vance showing off his loot.

The cast: Snow White, Spiderman, Smurfett,
Baby Smurf, Capt. American, Pirate Carter,
Mini-Smurf, and baby Tinkerbelle

The Ladies
Brittney, Jonelle, Manda & Baby Annabelle
(Missing our hostess Leslie)

Biker Tj
It's pretty surreal seeing Tj decked out like this.

Of course the only bummer of the night was that our good friends who were founding members moved this summer and we missed them and their girls.

Thanks Leslie for planning this! You are amazing!

It's Fall (?)

So Mother-freakin'-nature can't decide what season it is. Almost two weeks ago it was cold enough to make soup, force the boys into jeans and long sleeved shirts, and enjoy crisp fall weather. This last week it was 100 degrees out! But regardless of the weather it is technically "Fall" with all traditions that entails (regardless of temperature).
Joel's school held their annual Fall carnival. Let me let me tell you; this school goes ALL out on EVERYTHING! Their Fall carnival was no exception. There were dunk tanks, train rides, carnival games, a video game truck, golf, soccer, chilli contest, face painting, digital photo booth, rock climbing wall, and of course the hammer game (what's the real name?!). We bought the boys game bracelets and they were able to play all the games they wanted.

Vance dropping the hammer.

It was so heavy that Tj had to help both boys.

Joel's turn.

Joel kicking the soccer ball.

Vance with the Chick-fil-A cow.
Probably the best picture of either
of the boys with a character.

The boys with their face paint and our neighbor
and friend Jordan with her henna tattoo.
Isn't that face painting amazing?!

The boys trying on their Halloween Costumes.
Luckily I've got two super heroes living in my house!
I've never felt so protected. :)

Visit to Cousins: Part 2

Saturday my younger sister RiKenna showed up and brought with her Eegees! Yummy! We watched our church's world wide broadcast of conference (you can read more about it HERE) and ate and ate and ate. The kids played, colored, attempted to listen and played some more. The adults ate, watched conference, and ate some more. (If you can't tell eating was a big part of the weekend, which is probably why all my pants fit so tight the following week. Doh!) Brody, Sandy and Matthew also helped their friends move. Then when Brody went to Priesthood session all the rest of us loaded up and headed to Cafe Rio. Mmmmm, I adore their tortillas. Then we headed home, put the kids to bed and the grown ups stayed up way too late once more talking.

Sunday was another day of eating and watching conference. We also made dinner in Brody and Sandy's awesome sun oven. If you haven't seen these things check out THIS website. We had roast, mashed potatoes and Lion House Rolls. Mmmm! The kids also got all decked out with nerf guns. There were some tears but overall it was a fun. Of course us moms couldn't pass up the photo op with Auntie RiKenna there. After the kids went to bed the grown ups again stayed up way too late talking and watching Thor.

First night of Nerf.

Unfortunately the friends weren't in this
picture but imagine 3 more kids decked out
in Nerf gear shooting around the house and down the halls.

Part of the Nerf Photoshoot.
Apparently Vance wasn't meant
to be a soldier or a model.

The kids all banished, I mean gathered up to watch a
movie so the grownups could watch conference.

Crazy sister pic.

Monday we packed up and headed out. It was sad to leave but it's SO nice that they're only a drive away- as opposed to an all day airplane trip. It's always so fun to visit and have the kids play with cousins. Hopefully we'll all be recovered enough to do it again in March. :)

Visit to Cousins: Part 1

A couple of weeks ago I decided that since Tj was so busy at work it was a good time to go visit my brother and his family in Arizona. After talking it over with Tj we decided that since Joel had a half day on Thursday anyway we'd make it an extra long weekend. So after Joel got out of school on Thursday we were ready to road trip. We had to make a few stops but it was a pretty easy drive- I'm so glad the boys are good travelers. We got in just before bedtime.

Friday morning cousins played hookie from school and we headed off to a splash pad. These are some of the greatest inventions ever, ESPECIALLY when it's a billion degrees out. We went to a really fun park that not only had a great splash pad, but also had a train ride, carousel and a really neat shaded park. We didn't even have time to play on all the different areas.

THE TRAIN RIDE:

Corbin
(This was before he decided I wasn't a
crazy lady invading his home & life. lol)

Joel and Matthew

Vance ready to ride.

The Kids
Matthew, Corbin
Emma, Vance and Joel

THE SPLASH PAD:

THE CAROUSEL:

JASON'S DELI

Since we were in town we hit up the Deseret Bakery for their yummy Orange Rolls and a new favorite Raspberry Pull Aparts. Friday night I treated the grown-ups to No Pain Lo-Mein, one of our favorite recipes. Sandy became a short order cook making chicken nuggets any thing else the kids asked for. Oh, and did I mention she also was watching her friend's 3 kids. So if you're counting that's my brother's 3 kids, my 2 kids and 3 friends. It was a little CRAZY! But the kids had a blast. Later that night my cousin and his wife came over with their baby. She was so FREAKIN' cute! We stayed up and talked WAY too late.

Vance Update: Oct 2011

Vance is my mighty-mini-man. He continues to be a bit on the small size- but not for lack of eating! That kid has an AMAZING metabolism. :) Of course all kids go through phases but if he continued eating like he is right now Tj'd have to get a second job just to buy groceries. Vance really wants to grow up so he can FINALLY ride in a booster seat in the car- unfortunately it's probably a ways off for him.

Vance likes going to preschool most days. He's still my little snuggle buddy though and most days would prefer to hang out with me- although once he's there he thrives and has a really good time! He's become really good friends with Miss Mel's son Ryan and loves playing with him. He loves to paint, draw and has even learned the Pledge of Allegiance. He's super smart and witty. I constantly laugh (or groan depending on the scenario) with the things he comes up with. The other day we were driving and here's our conversation:

V: Mommy, what did the banana say but the tree?
Me: What?
V: what did the banana say but the tree?
Me: I don't know.
V: Nothing trees don't talk. (Insert laughing here)

I did have to explain the use of "to" and "but". It was a funny conversation though. I have no idea where he heard that joke but it totally made me laugh.

Vance does not want to be left behind in anything Joel is doing. So shortly after Joel learned to snap Vance started practicing snapping as well. Now we have two more good snappers in our house. He will occasionally practice handstands with Joel. However, as soon as Tj gets home from work Vance attacks him and begs him to wrestle. We need more space for the three boys to wrestle- or at least a yard. :)

Vance likes to "read" too. Of course he prefers to be read to but if Joel is reading then Vance wants to read too. He especially loves "The Monster at the End of this Book." It's hilarious to hear him read it with the same voice inflections that Tj and I use when we read it.

Vance is truly my little sweet heart. I get woken up every morning with little pitter patter of Vance coming in to snuggle before we get up. He still loves his "fuzzy blanket" and it's so sweet when he offers to share it with someone who's sad or hurt. He loves to snuggle and be with his family. He will often pucker up his lips to give me kisses wherever we are: home, Michael's, church, before bed, or when I'm leaving somewhere. He really is my little buddy. It's fun to have so much time with him- just the two of us- although we both miss Joel when he's at school.

When we were visiting my brother's
family Vance was coloring with markers and
accidentally drew on his nose.
Then when he was telling me about it he drew on it again.
It was pretty funny.

Joel Update: Oct 2011

I think sometimes I will never forget some things. And sure enough 6 months (sometimes sooner, sometimes later) I can't remember when something happened. So here's an update on some of the every day things going on with Joel.

Joel LOVES school. There are some days when he can't believe that he has to go to school EVERY day. But most days he's excited to get his stuff together and head off to school. One thing I wasn't prepared for was lunches in Kindergarten. His school doesn't do full day kindergarten and so I figured I'd feed him before he went to school- but no he eats lunch AT school. He is a really good lunch packer. Although, we do have a ways to go before he can pack his lunch entirely on his own. Here was his first attempt: At least he got his fruits covered. :)

He also likes to buy lunch at school. This typically translates to pizza and fruit- so we've limited school lunch to once a week. You wouldn't know it to look at him but he's trying to eat us out of house and home. Luckily we love him so we'll keep him around. :)

Joel's coordination constantly amazes us. He wanted to learn to snap (this may or may not be my way of getting the boys attention when I can't yell their names; ie church) and so he practiced and practiced and practiced. He's a pretty good snapper now- although he's quickly learned that it's not an appropriate way to get MY attention. He also wanted to learn to do a handstand. So again after much practice (which continues) he's learned to do an adequate hand stand. He loves to practice though and is constantly doing handstands all over the house. Joel also still loves to ride his scooter and run. After being in school much of the day he does a lot of running.

He's also really smart and a dedicated student. I took him to the dentist and when he got to pick out of the no cavity treasure chest he chose crayons "so (he) could use them for his homework." He enjoys coming home and telling us about his day and the things he's learning. It's really fun for me to be able to help out in his class and watch him in his own element. His class has learned most of the letter sounds using 'Jolly Phonics' and he really likes to sing the songs to go along with the letter sounds. He also read his first book last Friday! It was so exciting. I LOVE reading and hope that the boys will love it too. He was really proud of himself too- as were Tj and I. What an exciting time!

Life is really fun with Joel around. He's such a good brother, son and friend. He tries really hard to get along with Vance and they usually feed off each other's funny energy. He has really gotten into football this year and his favorite team is the Philadelphia Eagles because they're green (his favorite color) and because of the Eagle on their jersey. He's learning the hierarchy of school but is slowly making some good friends there. He loves going to church and seeing his friends there (most of whom don't go to the same school).

I thought this was kind of funny.

Joel at 1 year.

What a difference 4 more years will make......

Joel at 5.5 years.

Random: Lunch Box Love Notes

So Manda is getting up on her soapbox here. I think it is SO important to take time to have a one on one individual relationship with each of our children. In our family this means that Tj and I take each of the boys out on "dates" where we can visit with them. And I personally try and capitalize on any moment that it's just me and one of the boys to give them my full and undivided attention (I fail at this often but I keep trying). Sometimes this means reading with them, or dancing silly to the ipod, or really listening to them (instead of half listening to them and nodding my head as I read a recipe or blog). Well I found this CUTE blog with all sorts of printables (and cute gift ideas too). I think these little lunch box notes are such an easy way to give a little love to your kids even when you're not around. So you can find her Halloween notes HERE. She also has every day notes HERE and HERE.


I will be blogging about all the craziness going on around here after my HOT breakfast date. (Kids in school+ Tj with a day off for Columbus Day= Hot Date for Manda. And I don't even need to get a babysitter! ) But here's a teaser before I go:

More Pics from August

Here's some more pictures from our August.

Vance and his loot.
(His "theme" this year was a Pirate Party.)

Probably Vance's favorite gift of the year.

Isn't this a great picture?!
These boys are BFFs and I LOVE it!
This is how Vance reacted to Joel's gift.

These (there were TWO) torture devices, I mean toys,
were from Pa- bless his heart! Not only are they
megaphones but they also twist and distort
voices too- did I mention we have TWO?!
Fun times- or something. :)

Pirate Joel

Joel is my tender sweetheart.
Love my two boys!

Around Vance's birthday the boys also got to go on individual dates with Nama to Build a Bear Workshop. Vance also got to go to lunch with Nama- all by himself! Joel got to go to the candy store and play with Nama.

While Joel was at school one day Vance and I
went on a quick field trip with our friends'
Carter and Jonelle to the Natural History Museum.
It was a rush trip but so fun!

Isn't that a funny cheesy face from Vance?!
I love that kid!

Jonelle started work recently and before her nanny started
the boys and I watched our friends Carter and Annabelle.
Isn't Joel so cute feeding Annabelle?!
It's so great that our friends keep us supplied
with babies and friends to help and play with. :)

First Day of School

The day after Vance's birthday Joel started school! He was so excited- and so was I.... mostly. The boys spent the night at the hotel with Nama so I was able to get ready and have my little emotional breakdown before they came home. Then I was able to just be excited for Joel!

Joel's first day of school 2011
Kindergarten

Joel and Mommy

So it's been a bit since he started school. He LOVES his teacher, Mrs. J. His first day of school he came home and said, "I have the nicest teacher EVER" and I believe he's probably right. I got to go to Back To School Night and get an overview of his class' year and I'm so excited for him! I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I get to volunteer in his class for the first time. But more about things going on with us later..... hopefully not too much later. :) He's doing really well and loves to come home and tell us about the letters they worked on that day, how many friends he has, and all the highlights from the class. He's a great student and really tries hard to focus on his homework. His handwriting is already improving. I think it's going to be a great year!