Old Faithful

I don't know how popcorn goes in most families, but when I married Doug I had NO IDEA that one person could enjoy and consume so much popcorn!  This love for popcorn has been passed onto our children.  To give you an idea when it is just Doug and I watching a movie he makes two batches.  Not because I need one to myself I can't eat that much, but because Doug wants the leftovers when I am done.  When we make popcorn for our family of five we make do with two batches but really need like three maybe four because of the boys.  If we go to a movie theater he is sure to get the free refill before we leave so he can eat it the next day.   

 

Several months ago we decided to have a family movie night with the kids.  I started to make the first batch of popcorn and all was well.  When Doug started the second the popper just stopped.  There was no air moving, no noise. . . nothing!  I have never seen my husband in such distress.  He was very disappointed that he was going to now have to use microwave popcorn for the night. You may think I am kidding, but his mouth dropped open when it stopped working.  I will give him that this popper was one he had before we were married and was purchased at a thrift store so it had a good life of at least 10 years with us.  I tried to put his mind at ease and said we would go looking at the thrift stores for a new popper later in the week.  He was quick to inform me that later in the week was not an option we needed to look the very next day.

 

Rather than going to a thrift store (where I am sure I could have found one) the kids and I headed to Target the very next day.  We found a newer model of the old popper.  When we got home and showed Doug, he couldn't have been more happy.  I am pretty sure he made popcorn every night for the next week. . . he claimed quality control.

 

Nothing gets between my family and their popcorn!

 

 

5K at 5 months

 

As some of you know I started to run a little bit as of last year.  In fact, the first I ran was a Saint Patrick's 5K in March 2012. Now a year plus later I have ran four 5K's, would have been five but I got injured and was told not to run in August of last year.  I know it is nothing compared to some people I know, but a big deal to me. 

 

Doug and I found out in November last year that I was expecting our fourth child.  I didn't want this to stop me, I ran in the Colorado Springs Turkey Trot and thought I was going to die!  At the time of that race I didn't know I was pregnant.  I am sure between the hills, elevation, and being pregnant contributed greatly.

 

In January of this year I had a friend ask who wanted to run the Saint Patty's day 5K again this year.  I was unsure of how I felt about running it but thought I could at least walk if I needed to.  I signed up not really sure how I was going to do. 

 

I kept running  and preparing for the race.  I told Doug several times I would be lucky if I could run the whole thing, I mean the day of the race I would be 20 weeks pregnant.  I set a goal to finish in 35:00 minutes. 

 

Well . . . I didn't finish in 35 minutes I did  finish in about 38 minutes ( I don't remember the exact time).  I was so glad I was able to run it with some awesome friends and even convinced Doug to run with me, he wasn't sure when he saw the team name, "Hot Mamas on the Run" posted on his time chip. 

 

It was fun and I was glad I was able to run most of the race.  I am already looking for a race to sign up for after the baby comes.  

Ayden and Scouts

Ayden started scouts when he turned 8 in September last year.  He has really enjoyed the experience.  He earned his Bobcat badge in December 2012 and then his Wolf in May 2013.  Here are some pictures of him earning his awards and his pinewood derby that Doug helped him build.

 

 After receiving his Bobcat badge

 

 Receiving some belt loops at pack meeting

 

 The pinewood derby car for 2013

 

 

Ayden pinning Doug with his wolf parent pin.

 



I can't seem to find the picture of Ayden's face paint for the Wolf badge.

 

See what happens when your husband is out of town

In the middle of May I took Ryleigh to school on a Friday like I did every Friday since school started.  On my way home Masyn and I are playing the alphabet game.  We are just about home and then we hear a loud noise.  I ask Masyn what he thought it was and as I turned around I saw it.  My furthest back window on the passenger side of my van had shattered.  To this day I can not tell you what happened other than I was driving over the railroad tracks. We were lucky that Masyn was in the middle row of the van and only had a few pieces of glass that ended up at his feet.  Most of it was on the seat and the floor.  The scary thing was it was the seat Ryleigh was sitting in on the way to school.  I am thankful it didn't happen then.

You can sort of see the shards of glass on the car seat that Ryleigh was sitting in.  This was only a small portion.



Father's day

As many of you know my husband loves bacon.  To be honest I don't know what he likes better popcorn or bacon.  I am positive if there was a way to mix the two he would be in heaven.  For Father's day this year I was struggling with what to do.  I had a friend that made bacon roses for her hubby on Valentine's day.  So I thought I would give it a whirl.

 

 

Doug discovered them before the kids had to chance to give them to him let alone see them.  I guess that is what happens when you put something in the fridge and hubby comes home and puts his unfinished drink in the fridge from work first thing. 



Ayden's first head injury

Not too long ago I took the kids up to my parents house to help my mom and let the kids play.  As we were leaving that day Ayden decided to start a snowball fight with my mom.  Well as it happens it is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.  Mom was chasing Ayden to give him a hug goodbye when something caused a trip for Ayden or my mom or both.  My mom instinctively tried to catch him and he still ended up hitting his head pretty good against the side of the garage on the corner of the bricks.  Needless to say we took a trip to urgent care to get it all taken care of. 

 

After it stopped bleeding and it was getting numb

He ended up with four staples.  I guess heads and stitches don't mix well

Getting ready to leave the doctor. 

 Ayden ended up with the four staples, a very minor concussion, a sprained knee and a little bit of road rash.  He was feeling much better within a couple of hours of leaving the doctor's office.

 

The wound healed nicely, although he will probably have a permanent bald spot.  Thanks goodness for a cowlick that covers that part of his head.

Masyn turns 4!!

Four years ago Masyn came into our family.  He has been such a blessing to our family!  He keeps everyone smiling and laughing.  Masyn still enjoys school and comes home asking to do homework.  Who knew a 4 year old would enjoy homework so much.  Here are a few pictures from the last year.

 

 

Playing Frisbee with Quincy at 4th of July



Ice blocking with cousins and grandparents

Masyn was a cowboy for Halloween

Masyn is always causing mischief somewhere in the house

Masyn's Lego and Angry Birds cake

The Call. . .

One Tuesday morning had started just like any other morning.  It was my week to drive carpool.  I had all of the kids up and getting ready for the day.  It was 7:15 am and everyone is dressed, fed and ready for school.  Our neighbor shows up and we head out to the garage to get in the van to go to school.  Jade (our neighbor girl) takes a step and I hear a crunching noise.  Guess what she stepped on. . .

 

 

That's right a DEAD MOUSE!!  I tried to stay as calm as I could.  I really wanted to scream and jump up and down like a little girl- but I had to be tough that is what moms do, right?  I calmly asked everyone to walk around the mouse and get in the van.  We all avoided the dead mouse at ALL costs!  After we back out of the driveway I call Doug (who is at work and only left a mere half hour before us)  to tell him what had happened.  I get his voicemail and tell him to call me immediately because he needs to take care of something. 

 

Doug calls me back within 10-15 minutes.  I told him that there was a large fat mouse dead in our garage and he MUST come home to take care of it because I refused to go in the garage until it was gone.  All Doug could do was laugh at me. . . eventually he was able to get out that he would come take care of it.  He was quick to share the story with his co-workers and all had a good laugh.  He came home pretty quickly to take care of it and set up some traps in case there were more.  Thankfully, there hasn't been any!

 

Tell you the truth, I refused to go in the garage until I was done running errands and picking up kids for the day.  I still can't go in my garage bare feet anymore -slippers aren't even enough.  I used to do it all of the time (the freezer is out there) but no way, what if another mouse comes out to get me??

Ryleigh is 6 years old!

 

I can't believe she is SIX years old!!  Ryleigh still loves to play with babies and anxiously awaited for school to start.  Ryleigh adores school and can hardly wait to go back (too bad she only goes Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons).  She has completed many different dance classes and just recently her first gymnastic class.  Here are a few pictures of her throughout the year.

 

Her first dance class

With one of her friends Spencer when he came to visit from Montana.

 

 

At a face painting party this last summer.

 

Reciting her nursery Rhyme at school in front of the WHOLE class and parents (Baa, Baa Black Sheep)

 

First Day of Kindergarten

 

 Riding the tramway in downtown Salt Lake City, with her cousin Katie Jo.

   

Ryleigh asked for a castle birthday cake. It isn't the prettiest, but the best I could do.

 

As with most birthday's everyone sang Happy Birthday.  At this party we were celebrating Ryleigh and her cousin Adriana sixth birthday and her cousin Delaney second birthday.  See if you have figure out what happened in the following sequence. . . .



 



Yep!  You got it Masyn blew the candles out not only for Adriana but Delaney too.  So we had to relight the candles and try again.  Needless to say Masyn had a time out.

 



Christmas

Trying to get caught up on the blog is hard.  Whenever this happens I promise myself that I am going to be better.  Yet here I am again! 

 

Nothing too exciting happened around here for Christmas.  Doug had to work but was able to have some time at home with everyone. Here are some pictures that show our day.

 

Best Friends can be amazing

There is something to be said for best friends.  I have several friends near and far.....but there is one special lady that I can't wait to meet up with, or talk to.  She has always been and inspiration to me, and helped me through some tough times. 

 

 

 

The best thing is that we can go months without talking to each other and when we do get to talk NOTHING has changed!  We can still be just as silly (okay almost, I mean we have kids now) as we were in college. 

 

Thanks for being my friend, Ms. Jenny!

Ayden's Baptism

 

 This last September Ayden turned 8 years old.  He chose to be baptized and had a wonderful experience.  We were blessed to have quite a bit of family come into town for the occasion.  I think the biggest take away from his baptism was watching his face when Janet (Doug's Mom) break a glass bowl in her talk about baptism.  I am sure it is something he will won't forget.  

 

Halloween

Halloween is always fun.  The kids figure out what they are going to dress up as and then change their minds a million times.  Our tradition is to carve pumpkins the Monday before Halloween.  So here are a few pictures  of the pumpkins.

 

It is hard to see but Masyn's has a pirate eye.

 

 

The kids in their costumes just before trick or treating.  We went around our neighborhood.  The kids got quite a bit of candy. 

 

We also went to a Halloween Party at our friends house and had a blast.  We did our best to dress up like Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games.

Suicidal Frog

On Tuesday I took Masyn to school and then headed off to the grocery store.  I had to pick up a few things for the Halloween dessert I was making for a party that night.  I get home about 12:30 and start making my cake.  I have been home about a half hour when I got to put a dish in the sink and find this. . . .

 

 

Pedro our frog decided to jump out of the fish tank (which has a lid  - so I don't know how he did it).  I eventually got him back into the fish tank, but he wasn't the same.  He died the next day.  The kids have asked me why he jumped out, and I have no answer.  Now they are asking for more fish.

Where does he get it?!?!?

Masyn is always making people laugh!  He loves the attention, and will do anything to get it most of the time.  Here are a few picture showing that side of his personality.

 

 

He is pretending to be a drummer from the band Love Handel in Phineas and Ferb

 

Hide and Seek with his backpack is almost a daily activity

 

Sometimes there is nothing better than a sleeping Masyn

 

The funny thing with this one is he was singing "I'm a rockstar" over and over

 

This is what happens when you don't hear anything from Masyn and you know he went to the bathroom

 

 

 

Bad picture

I have been told it is a right of passage to have a bad school picture.  Well guess what! Ryleigh had hers right off the bat!  We missed retakes because she was sick so we will always look at this picture and wonder what I drugged her with in the morning.

 

 

Police Family day BBQ

Every year the Loveland Police Department does a Family Day BBQ and every year it has fallen on a drill weekend for Doug.  Last year it was cancelled because of weather and this year I went without him.  This is a big step for those of you who know me.  I don't know many of his co-workers let alone being put in an area with their families that I don't know.  It is never a pretty sight.  I usually stand on the side and just watch, only speak when spoken to, and avoid eye contact while watching time count down. 

 

It was fun and I am glad that I took the kids.  The had the bomb squad truck out with the robots, and the K-9 guys did a demonstration for everyone (Masyn and Ayden even got to help out).  Each of the kids also got to sit on one of the police motorcycles.

 

Even without Doug it was fun and I was even able to meet some new people on the force and catch up with ones I hadn't seen in a long time.