Gray is 10 months

Where has the time gone??? Time is passing by and I am so loving this kid! He is just a dream to be around. He is all over the place and loves to go exploring through the house. He loves to put everything in his mouth and loves to eat. He is such a mover and gives me a serious work out as I try to change his diaper/clothes. He loves to play with blocks and any toys that make noise. He loves his brothers and sister and gets the biggest smile when they give him attention. His health is great and we are loving that. We are just so grateful to have him in our family and I cannot believe his first birthday is right around the corner.

The Best Kids in the World

Unfortunately the stomach flu has been making it's way through our family. I was the lucky one to get it on Wednesday morning. I spent the early morning hours camped out on the bathroom floor. So when I got up the kids were so great to help out. They brought me the things I needed. But my favorite moment was when Luke made everyone a sandwich for breakfast. He asked Harlee and Nash what they would like on their sandwich and made it as they desired. They are all such amazing kids. I feel so blessed to be their mom. I love little moments like this that remind me that they will teach me so much as they are so much better than me!

More Deals

I know that the need to brag about the deals will quickly come to an end, but I am still new at this couponing and so excited with what I can get. So I bought 4 Colgate toothpastes and four Colgate toothbrushes for $2.27! The toothpastes are regularly $2.62 at walmart. So I got all of that for less than what I would pay for one toothpaste. I could seriously get use to this. Hopefully the deals are on more than just toothpaste but the Childs are going to have the best grins in town!

Dad and Jazz

When Luke played basketball this last season, he was rewarded with 2 tickets to the Jazz game. He stayed home from school sick trying so hard to be better so he could go with his dad. He finally convinced Joey he was better and off they went. Since the game did not start until 7pm they only made it through the first half. They had the best time. Luke loved watching the game and snacking on a huge Slurpee and tons of popcorn. He had not been home more than 20 minutes before losing all that he had consumed. So glad he waited until he got home! I am so thankful for these great father son moments and I know there are many more to come!

Mimi's Birthday Lunch

Today is Mimi's birthday. We are having a birthday party for her tomorrow but due to RS stuff we won't be able to make it. So, Joey suggested that we take her to lunch. So we all met at Chili's today at noon. It was so nice to be there with them! The kids were really good. The kiddos gave Mimi a cute card, a cafe rio gift card and a bag full of kisses. What a special day!
Here are a few pics:

GP and Nash



Cory Brennan GP and Luke



The Birthday Gal and her grandkiddos

Couponing- First Attempt

This is the Year of the Childs. We have made some great goals to put us in a better position at the end of this year than we were at the beginning. We have been really good to stick to a budget and save a bit of money each month. As I am more aware now of how much we spend on groceries I am a bit shocked. So crazy to spend that much money on food- I guess we are feeding 6 mouths! A few weeks ago I watched a show called Extreme Couponing. This lady got over $600 of food for $2. It was so amazing and her food storage was BEAUTIFUL! So I have been trying to learn how to do this. I have been working on the ads for a couple of days and when I went to bed I could not sleep. My mind was consumed with the deals I was going to get so I got up and went to Smiths. Am I crazy to be shopping at 11:30pm at night?? I do think it was worth it. With coupons and shopping the sales I bought $173.72 worth of groceries for $79.82. I saved us $93.90. Here is what I got:
16 boxes of cereal
10 tubes of toothpaste
20 packages of pasta (I only paid $4!!)
10 Weight Watcher meals
10 Capri Suns
2 Skittles
2 Starbursts

I know that this is just the start and once I learn more there will be much more money to save! I was seriously so excited that I could not fall asleep until after 2am. I would just love to spend little money but still feed our family and grow our food storage. It takes a bit of time to plan but I know it will be so worth it!

"Silly Old Me"

I already think that Harlee is the cutest little girl in the world. Then she starts saying the funniest saying and becomes even cuter. Love her!! If ever she makes a little mistake she will say "Silly old me!". If I do something funny or Joey she will change the phrase to silly old mom or silly old dad. It is so funny. How does she come up with these things?? The other day she came out of speech class and told me that Miss Debbie said she was so cute. I asked her why she had said this and Harlee told me. She said that she had said a word wrong and then said "Silly old me!". I seriously love it. She is such a sweet girl and I just am so grateful to be her mom.

So nice to eachother

I was so nervous about having two little ones so close together. I knew it would be crazy and I would feel like I had two babies. All craziness aside, I hoped that they would be close. So far so good! Nash has such a mellow personality and just loves Gray regardless of what he does to him. The other day Nash was laying down on the ground and Gray was crawling all over him. It was so cute. Nash just laughed! Gray also loves to pull Nash's hair and Nash rarely gets upset. I just pray this close relationship grows and gets stronger over the years. Last night they were laying by each other on the floor watching tv. I ran to get the camera and missed sweet the moment. But they were more than happy to pose for another picture.

Sisters

So fun to have sisters. I am really close to my brothers but there is just a different bond that sisters have. It was so fun for Tara to be here this weekend. On Saturday we went to Chilis with my mom. Then Sunday we had a family dinner. Then on Monday we spent the day together and just let the kids play. I am just truly grateful for my sisters!

Cousins

This weekend Tara and her family came to visit. It is so fun for all of the cousins to get together and play. They all have so much fun together. You can tell that they all just love each other and love being around one another. I love this picture of all of them but I just wish that Jer and Steph's kids were in it. So imagine all these cute kiddos plus three more. And to think that the number will just keep growing!! I know I have mentioned it before but I did not grow up with cousins to play with. So happy that my kids get this fun experience.

No Pinching Here!

Yesterday was a day full of green and surprises! It was St. Patrick's Day 2011! Luke wore green to bed the night before so he could assure that he would not be pinched. They all woke up early and got dressed in their green gear. Then we came downstairs for green eggs and ham. Luke kept looking around and then said "Guess I was not good!) "What?" I asked. He then explained if he had been good then Lucky the Leprechaun would have come and left him some treats. Who knew??? I then explained that Lucky was probably really busy and would most likely come while he was at school. I told them that they would know he had come if the toilet water was green! So Lucky made it and the work out room toilet was greened and he left a note.


They had to follow the little clovers to their own special treats that were hidden.



How great is Lucky!! They were all so excited and Harlee still has not stopped talking about it.
Mom, how big is Lucky?
How did he get up the stairs to my room?
Am I bigger than him?
Does he have a beard?
When is he going to come again?
These are a few of the questions I have been asked over and over. So happy that she gets so excited.
We finished out the night with some green pancakes and cupcakes.



Wow- this holiday has sure been turned into a big deal. I am embarrassed to say that I don't even know why we celebrate this day? Looks like many fun St. Patrick's Days to come full of green, treats, and high expectations!

Friend Day

Lacie, the gal I carpool with, has a son Luke's age and a daughter Harlee's age. Today they did not have school because of a makeup snow day. So we invited Drew and Sidney over to play. It is always so fun for me to observe what they do when their friends are over. Today Drew and Luke spent most of the time making a paper chain and Harlee and Sidney played shopping cart. Then they all had mini pizzas for lunch. It is so nice for them to grow up with so many friends nearby. If I had my way, we would live here forever!

Like Father Like Daughter

Joey was running on Saturday morning and called for me to come in there. He just pointed to Harlee and I could not stop laughing. She is following in her father's footsteps and has turned bathroom time into time to catch up on her reading! Just imagine how much she will get of it when she actually knows how to read!
*I hope the magazine is covering what should not be seen!

Who found the Oreo??

Gray would be a great detective! He can find anything that has been left on the ground. Someone left an oreo out and Gray was quick to find it. What a mess but seriously the cutest mess I have ever seen!

5 Days Later....

A few posts ago I showed the result of Nash's tumble on the sidewalk. I hate to say it but it almost looks worse 5 days later! I have been putting neosporin on it and praying it starts to heal! Good thing he is such a babe. He even looks super cute with a big scab on his little nose!
* Love this close up! He had just enjoyed a piece of chocolate and obviously he is storing some in those teeth for later!

Luke's Book about Killer Whales

I know that I mentioned it before but for Luke's Breakfast of Champions he wrote a nonfiction book on Killer Whales. It is so good and I kept telling him that his Dad would be so excited to see it. Everyday he would come home, a little disappointed, because they could not bring the book home yet. Well Wednesday was the day! He could not wait for Joey to get home so he could show him his book. Luke is such a smart boy! What a good job you did bud! We love you!

Accident Prone

Poor Nash. He is always falling. Today Joey is putting up our new lights outside and Nash got out. He ran all the way up the street. When he realized he was caught he tried to quickly run back. He fell on the road and has some scrapes to prove it. Poor little man. He only cried a minute before he was ready to go and play again.

Breakfast of Champions

Yesterday Luke had his "Breakfast of Champions" at school. This is when he invites a guest to come and see some of the work that he had done. Luke had written a non-fiction book on killer whales. It was so good. I was really impressed with all the information he had in the book. I asked him how he knew so much about killer whales. He said that one thing he looked up and the rest was just in his head. So not sure if it all was true but it sure sounded good. He convinced me for sure! After we read that book and a few others, Luke took me around to see some of the art they had done. Then we sat in the foyer by his room and had doughnuts and juice. I am so proud of Luke. He works so hard at school and is learning so much. Thanks Luke for letting me be your guest at your Breakfast of Champions!

Where is Nash??

Yesterday I was trying to get everyone dressed after going to Luke's school. Sometimes this is a lot harder than other times. So Harlee was with me in Gray's room as we tried to dress the wiggle worm. I was planning on dressing Nash next and called for him. He would not answer. So after Gray was dressed I went to find him. He quickly came running out of my bathroom looking a little different than a few moments earlier. Nash had found my mascara. He kept pointing to his eye, somewhat proud of the job he had done. This is just another example of how Nash is following in the footsteps of his quietly sneaky Dad!

Gray's 9 month checkup

Today we had Gray's 9 month appointment. I was so grateful because he actually has been a bit sick. Turns out he has bronchiolitus as does Nash. But let's not focus on that right now, let's get to some stats!

Weight: 20 lb 13 ounces- 50%
Height- 30 in - 95%

He is very tall just like the rest of his siblings. He is right on target with his development. He crawls all over the place and has started to pull himself up on furniture. So fun to go and get him after naps and he is standing up to greet me. The doctor wants me to work with him on saying Ma, Ba, and Da. He babbles a ton but has yet to make those sounds. He had his swallow study last week and he is no longer aspirating. So we are keeping him on the medicine at least another few months and then we will try to ween him off. He is doing great! When I made his next appointment I about died. 1 YEAR!!! Has it really been that long. Our little guy is growing up and I am loving every minute with him.