Decade Day

This week is Red Ribbon Week at school to promote anti-bullying. Monday was wear boot day, Tuesday was jersey day, Wednesday was crazy sock day, and today is dress like a different decade day. Luke opted for the 50's and could not wait to slick his hair back! Harlee went for the 80's. She sported a side ponytail complete with scrunchie and pink lipstick to compliment her neon pink shirt. They both looked so cute! I love that they go to the same school and get to enjoy these dress up days together.

He Pooped!!

After only a few days of going on the potty, Gray pooped on the potty! We are so proud of him. We immedietly got our coats and ran to Target for the "poop" toys! Gray chose more cars because he does not have enough already! I think he might be a little more like his Grandpa Childs than we thought! He was so excited. He ended wearing underwear for the rest of the day and was able to stay dry. He is really doing this!!! Will I really just have one in diapers? I don't think it has been that way since Harlee was born!

She graduated!!

I have been noticing such improvement in Harlee's speech lately. She is speaking so clearly! So I was not too surprised, yet so excited when her speech therapist Bree called from the school. She said that she wanted to test Harlee and see if she would be able to graduate from the speech program. She was tested and got 91%! She is ready to stop speech therapy and we are so happy for her. She has worked so hard and we are so proud!

Gray did it!!

For months we have been offering a toy when Gray goes on the potty. Yesterday after church he did it! We were so so proud of him. So even though it was the Sabbath, Joey took him to Target to get some new cars. He was so excited. He wore a pull up to bed and stayed dry. Then this morning he went again! Maybe this is really happening. It would be so nice to just have one bottom to change! Gray we are so excited for you. You are such a big boy!

Something about Mary...

On Friday morning the latest cousin was born into the family. Mary Lovelace was born at 6:33am weighing 7 lbs and 19 inches long. I was so lucky to get to visit her on Friday night when Joey got home from work. She is so cute. I am so happy for Jeremy and Steph. What a beautiful addition to their family.

Dad and Jazz

It was about 5:30pm when we were reminded that Luke and Dad had tickets to the Jazz game starting at 7pm! So we hurried through dinner and they were on their way. They sat by most of Luke's basketball team and watched the Jazz play the Timberwolves. The Jazz were crushed! The final score was Jazz 97 and Timberwolves 114. Because it was a school night Luke and Joey came home at half-time. So grateful that they get to enjoy these times together. Such handsome boys!!

Highlights from the SG

Have I mentioned before how much I love St. George?? How blessed we feel to have a place to go to and relax! So this time we were there from Thursday night until Monday morning. We spent most of our time in the pool. But when we were not swimming we spent time with Grandpa and Grandma, went to the park, went out to eat at the Pizza Factory as a family, and just laid around. It was just what we all needed! So fun to have these times as a family. I feel truly lucky!

The Children's Museum

On Saturday in St George, they were having the opening of the new Children's Museum and the admission was free. Since Joey was not feeling well, he napped with Tag and I took the other four out for some fun. They had a blast at the museum. They were able to do science experiments, play basketball, pretend shopping, milk a cow, and many other cool things. They even were given some free yummy cookies! The kids are getting older and it is so fun to take them places like this. Especially now that I do not feel so overwhelmed. What a great experience. After the museum, we walked over to the Tabernacle and went on a tour with Grandma and Grandpa. So fun to learn from them! After the tour the kids went to the fountains and waded in the water. It was so much fun to spend time together in the beautiful weather.

Swimming in January

Really?? It is January in Utah and we are spending the weekend in the pool! We are seriously the luckiest! We called our pool guy a few days before driving to the SG and we spent the weekend swimming. It was so great. It was about 65 degrees and beautiful. I really wish that we could live in St George. The kids were in heaven and nothing makes me happier than seeing them enjoy themselves.

12 Years and I still like him

I cannot believe that we have been married 12 years. I am so lucky to say that it truly just gets better. I have been blessed with one amazing man. He is truly an example to me and makes me want to be a better person. We were lucky to spend our anniversary in St. George. Poor Joey was not feeling well but we still went out to dinner. Darolyne was so nice to come and watch the kids. We went to Pizza Factory and enjoyed a little alone time. We are going to go to Zermatt on January 31 so this will be our belated anniversary celebration. So grateful to be able to spend eternity with my best friend. Here's to another 12 plus years...

Our quiet engineer

It is no secret that Tag is no the loudest kid! He is always so busy and loves to figure things out. The other night we were taking apart a table to take down to St. George. Joey walked away from the table for a minute leaving behind the screwdriver. Tag went over and went to work. He put the screwdriver in the hole and tried to get the screw out. What a smart boy. Now if we could only get him to say Mama!!

Date with Mimi

The Monday after Harlee's birthday, my mom planned to pick up Harlee and take her to do something special for her birthday. Harlee was so excited to spend some time with her Mimi! She picked her up and took her to Build a Bear. Harlee has been wanting to go there for so long. She was so excited. She got a pink bear (of course pink!) in a dance outfit. She then went to Sonic for some ice cream. What a special day! I can still remember spending time like this with my Nannie and I am so grateful that she gets to do the same!

No more bottles

Well I think I might deserve a little more recognition for the getting rid of bottles than Tag. He really was ready and could not care if the milk comes out of a bottle or a sippy cup. It is so me! I did not want to give up bottles for the last time. I love snuggling with him and I was afraid that this time would be tossed out along with the bottles. To my surprise we still get our snuggle time and he is drinking warm milk out of a cup. His therapists will be so proud! I am so proud of you Tag. I promise to try hard to not hold you back as I try to hold on to my baby!

Our Princess

Today Harlee was invited to go to Addie's birthday party. They were asked to dress up in their favorite princess dress. Harlee is not too into princesses anymore but thankfully she had one dress left. She dressed up as Cinderella and looked beautiful. She even wanted her hair in a bun and a little makeup! Such a pretty girl. She had a really fun time at the party. So grateful for all the wonderful friends she has in our neighborhood.

Still loving the Cars!

n my way to the basement this morning this is what I found. This boy can entertain himself for hours with his cars. He still loves them! Here's hoping he is still loving them when we go to Disneyland in September!

Seriously Seven?

Happy Birthday my sweet Harlee! What a wonderful day to celebrate you! Martie was so sweet to come watch the kids so that I could go and surprise Harlee at school and eat lunch with her. What a great moment! I love that she walks with me into the cafeteria, holding my hand! Then we went to dinner at Chick Fila! Harlee insisted that we go and eat inside! We came home and after I got home from teaching, we watched her open her presents. She got hello kitty press on nails, a cute outfit, new earrings and a camera! So fun to watch her get so excited. Then we all enjoyed a very pink cake! I so badly want to freeze time! Right now Harlee still loves me, thinks I am cool, wants to spend time with me, is not embarrassed of me, rarely talks back to me, all things that I know will change over the next few years. I am so enjoying having such a wonderful daughter and I love this day to celebrate her. I was expressing this to Joey in an email and this is what he wrote about her: Harlee is truly one of the greats. I just love her so much and am so lucky and proud that she is my daughter as well. We both feel so lucky to have such a caring, loving daughter. She is such a blessing in our family.

Birthday Beauty

For the past few months Harlee has been planning what she wants to do for her birthday. Since it is not a party year for her, she wanted to plan a night out to enjoy some pampering! She wanted to invite Grace and Martie to come and we were all so excited. We went to Pizza Pie Cafe for her dinner. Harlee was so excited because she wanted the cookie monster the give you on your special day. Then we went to the beauty college to get pedicures and our hair shampooed/styled. For two and a half hours we sat and relaxed. All of that fun for just $56! Such a fun night. I cannot express how grateful I am that Heavenly Father blessed me with this little girl. She is honestly one of His best! So grateful she wanted to spend her celebration with me.

Should we be worried?

The other night Harlee came in the living room to tell us that Gray can do the splits. Right then our funny kid slid down to show us his talent. He is one flexible little guy! So funny! He was very proud of himself!

Our view from the Cheap Seats

For New Years Day we decided to make our way to Heber and go to the Dairy Keen. The kids were seriously on their best behavior! We had a very enjoyable early dinner and then we made our way to see the Ice Castles. Since they charge $10 a person we decided to drive by and view them from our warm car. We then decided to drive to show the kids the Zermatt hotel. Right across the way is the Homestead and they have their own Ice Castle that you can walk around for FREE! We must have been being blessed for our choice to be frugal! The kids loved getting up close to the ice and I got to stay in the warm car with Tag! After our bonus we went back to Dairy Keen for shakes! It was such a fun little trip. I so love this little family of mine. I cannot wait for more memories to come!

Welcome 2014

Another year is beginning and the Childs are excited! We have made some really great goals and can't wait to start working on them. We have decided to work on strengthening our physical, spiritual, and education. If we complete the goals that we have set by the end of August then we will go to Disneyland in September. The kids are so excited! Our physical goal is to run from Utah to California and back. It is a little over 1600 miles and we are going to do that as a family! The spiritual goal is to complete the Book of Mormon. The educational goal is to read a couple books a week. So excited to work on being our best and then enjoying a much anticipated Disneyland trip at the end. We have been promising Disneyland to the kids as soon as the baby was close to three. I remember Luke once telling me to stop having babies! Well that shop has closed and now we can actually see the trip in sight! This is going to be a great year!