Date Night

Joey's birthday is coming up next week and I am so sad to say that he will not even be here to celebrate. He is leaving on Oct 2 to go to Paris for a meeting. So last night I asked Kristine to babysit so I could take him to dinner. Since Joey is not a surprise guy I let him choose where he wanted to go. It was no surprise to me when he chose Goodwood! He ordered his usual honey stung chicken sandwich and I tried a chicken taco type salad. It was really good! I seriously love this guy! We had such a nice dinner and even better conversation. He is such a blessing in my life and I don't think I will ever tire of our date nights!!

Guess who lost another tooth?

After two failed attempts with the floss and several days of a very wiggly tooth, it finally fell out. Thanks to the help of a fiber one bar Harlee's second tooth fell out! She was so excited! The tooth fairy must have thought it was a very special tooth because she got $2.50 instead of the normal $2.00! Lucky girl! Still as cute as can be with her toothless grin!

Bobcat Award

On Tuesday night it was the scout pack meeting. I am sure that after four boys I will be a scout pro but for now this is so new to me. Luke earned his bobcat and we were so proud of him! I am sure this will be the first of many pack meetings where Luke will be earning the badges! *I took the picture with my phone but it did not turn out very well!

"Get"

Everyday when we go downstairs Gray insists that I hold him. I almost always already have Tag in my arms and today was no different. So as we were about to go down the stairs Gray said: "Mommy get PIPAD" "Mommy get Lankie (Blankie!)" "Mommy get Gray." Needless to say my hands were very full but I could not help smiling carefully down the stairs. Get Gray! Love that he is referring to himself in the 3rd person. That is too cute.

Sunday dinner

The kiddos always beg to eat dinner outside. We gave into their idea and had a fun time. Joey barbequed hot dogs and hamburgers. We ate and then played out back for a bit. I love spending time as a family and I love watching the kids have fun together. I am so grateful for my family. I am reminded constantly how lucky I am! Five kids this close in age seems like a crazy idea at times but as I think of them growing up together, I feel it was the best choice!

Family Picture

Luke is being honored as the student of the week next week because his birthday is in the summer. So we need to make a poster that will be displayed in his classroom. He was telling me that he needed to have a picture of his family on the poster. Since we really do not have any, I asked my friend Marisa to come over and take one for us. It turned out pretty cute. It is so hard with five little ones to get everyone looking at the camera. I would call this a success! Love these people!

Brigham City Temple Dedication

Today was the dedication of the Brigham City Temple. Joey opted to stay home with the kids so that I could take Luke since he is now old enough! What a wonderful experience. The spirit was so strong and I just know that everything that was said was truth! Elder Boyd K Packer presided. He has gotten so fragile. He said at the beginning of his talk that he had prayed and asked Heavenly Father that he might live to see the dedication of this temple. He and his wife both grew up in Brigham City so this temple means so much to them. Luke struggled a little bit and kept asking me how much longer it would be. As we were driving home he asked me "So was this just at our building?" I explained to him how people were meeting in building all over the world to watch the dedication. He then said "All over the world? Now I will not be bored when I watch it!" Guess he did not realize what a big deal this was! I went on to tell him that someday he will be able to tell his children that he was a part of this special event!

Childs Family Reunion 2012

It only comes around every few years or so and yesterday was the special day! The Childs Family Reunion was held at Big Springs. We met at 3:30pm and everyone brought their own dinner. After eating most everyone went on a hike together. I stayed back with Tag and Joey took the others. He said that the kids loved it. Gray even walked the whole 1.5 miles. He refused to be carried because he is a big boy! After the hike we gathered around to listen to stories about our ancestors. It was fun to listen to the stories and even more fun to get to know some of the Childs we do not get to see very often. I am thankful that Grandpa helped put this together!

Six months old

It is no secret that I LOVE TAG! He is such a happy baby and is always such a blessing. I could take a million pictures of this smily little guy and never get tired of doing it. Love him! I cannot believe that he is six months old! Time honestly goes by too fast! He is rolling all over and the days of leaving him on the bed are long gone! So grateful for these last six months and look forward to many more with this happy guy!

Kind of a stubborn boy...

Before the school year we were able to get the kids some new clothes. Since Nash did not start school for a few weeks after the big kids, his clothes were piled in his closet waiting for the first day. I mostly bought him t-shirts but I did buy him one polo shirt. I thought he would love it because it has some headphones on it. So on Thursday I picked out his outfit which included this polo. He refused to wear it. I tried everything. I told him that his teacher loved headphones and promised he could change as soon as he got home. No luck! So I called in reinforcements. I asked Luke to go and tell him how cool the shirt was. Luke took it upon himself to tell him was a "Volcom" shirt without the logo. With his older brothers encouragement, he wore the shirt! He is very stubborn with a mind of his own. It is nice however to know that if his older brother thinks it is cool it just might change his opinion. Thanks Luke!

One Brave Little Girl

I know I mentioned it on the first day of kindergarten, but Harlee was struggling. She would get so sad when she would go to school. This lasted through the first couple of weeks. Last week Marisa drove and she did really well. I was a little worried about this week since I was the one driving. It seems that I might be the cause of the anxiety! But my fears were diminished on Monday. I drove her through the kindergarten parking lot. She kissed me goodbye, got out and went to the playground. I pulled across the street to make sure she was ok. She yelled across the street that I could go! So brave! I am so proud of her. I know that it makes her nervous to go through these experiences but she is coming out a champion!

*Love these pictures! Could she be any cuter? Tomorrow are school pictures and she told me that she was going to ask them if she could "pose" in them. Cannot wait to see the results!

School Carnival

It is that time of year again...time for the school carnival. The kids love it and I must admit that I do not! Maybe it is just the fact that we have five little ones to control and entertain amoungst all of Traverse Mountain! This year I told Joey I was not going to enjoy this without him! So after dinner we made our way to the annual fun! Besides Luke getting upset about Gray cutting in line and Harlee crying that Luke walked away mad, it was a pretty good time. It was freezing so we did not last too long. We were there long enough to enjoy the blowup slide (so tall and no fear Gray did not want his turn to end!),games, cotton candy, the spook alley, the karate show, and colored hair! Good times for all!

Still Smilin!!

I seriously cannot get enough of this smilin boy! He has had a cold but still manages to perfect his signature smile! Tag is truly a blessing and reminds me of how lucky I am. How can you not feel happy when you look at him! Thanks for reminding me daily of how good I have it! Love you Taggie!!

Day at Lagoon

Although Joey does not look it in the picture, we were all excited to spend a day at Lagoon. Harlee and Luke have been working hard to earn this special day. Harlee has been trying so hard to go to school and not cry. Luke has been trying to have a better attitude and be kind. Since they have both been so good they earned their trip to Lagoon. Thanks to Grandma we were able to go with just the two of them. It was so nice to be able to go on most of the rides together and to not have a stroller!! So we ran to Del Taco for a quick lunch and then we were off to Lagoon. Our first ride was the Old RollerCoaster. I do not think Harlee knew what she was getting herself into and it actually scared her quite a bit. Joey and I were afraid that this might be the start of a long day but soon she braved up! I told her she did not have to ride Wicked or Colossus but she willing went on everything else. By the time we were driving home she admitted that her favorite ride was the Old RollerCoaster! Luke said his favorite ride was the Rocket. We had the greatest time with the greatest kids. So grateful that we are able to go and enjoy these fun times as a family!

Aunt Tara comes to visit!!

We found out Monday that Tara and her family were coming from California for a visit. She was suppose to get to stay through Monday but has to start her new job at Hoag Hospital. So they came yesterday morning and have to leave tomorrow. It was a short visit but so great to see her. We spent most of the day together yesterday and then went to breakfast this morning. I sure wish that she lived here. I miss them so much when they are gone.

Not so toothy grin...

Guess who lost her first tooth?? Today was Harlee's big day! When we were driving down to St. George last weekend she showed me how wiggly her tooth was. I could not believe it! For months she has been saying she has a loose tooth but it has not really been the case. When she showed me how wiggly it was I could not believe it. So today it was moving so much and she wanted it out. So we got some floss, tied it around her tooth, and pulled. It popped right out and Harlee was so excited. She is so much braver than her mom- no way I would have let someone tie floss around my loose tooth! She could not wait to go show her teacher (2nd day in a row without crying by the way! So proud of her) and she cannot wait to see what the tooth fairy leaves!

Nash's First Day of Preschool

If I was wondering if time was going too quickly, this is just another clarification that it is! Nash started preschool today wearing big boy underwear! If you would have asked me one month ago if I thought he would be potty trained I would have said no way. He has come such a long way and we are so proud of him. He is attending a neighborhood preschool. His teacher is Mrs. Kayley and she taught for a few years at Challenger. She has so many fun things planned and Nash is so excited! He could not wait to get there and kept telling me that he is a Big Boy! So nice to take him and have him be so excited. Love you Nashie!

Another trip to the townhome...

Have I mentioned that we love St. George?? Anytime there is a long weekend it can pretty much be assumed that we will be spending it in St. George. So Friday Joey took a half day, we pulled the kids out of school at 1:30pm, and we were on our way. This trip felt short but it was one of my favorites! The kids were all so good including our little traveler Tag who did not make a peep on the drives. We spent the weekend going to the pool, parks, eating yummy food and relaxing! We even ate out twice, at Pizza Factory and In & Out,and the kids were amazing! We had family movie time and popped popcorn. One time we watched The Bee Movie and the other time we watched Parent Trap. One of my favorites from the trip was on Sunday night. We walked to the high school and played. We brought balls and played on the field. Harlee and I walked around the track both of us pushing strollers with our babies! The weather was perfect and it was one of those moments that make me so grateful to have all these crazy kids! We seriously live a blessed life and I am so thankful!! What a great weekend.

The way Tag rolls...

That is right- Tag is a roller! He no longer is content on his back. He has learned to roll from his back to his tummy. Now he just needs to learn what to do with his arms once he gets on his tummy! Another development to prove he is no longer a little baby! So sad but so excited for him! He is growing up and I just love him! Way to go big boy!