All about Mommy!

This post was on my friend Laurie's blog and my sister-in-law Kelly's. I loved it so I thought I would ask Cooper the questions. So here it goes....

What does mommy always say to you?

"Pick up your toys and clean your room!" (I believe I just got done throwing one of my daily tissy fits about how the house is always a mess, I am the only one that cleans it up, I am going to throw all your toys away, the cleaning never stops, and much, much more...I am sure most of you have hear it all before)

What makes mommy happy?

"Cards"

What makes mommy sad?

"Tears"

How does mommy make you laugh?

"By tickling me"

What was mommy like when she was little?

"You lived with Grandma Bubba in her house with Aunt Stacy and Aunt Jacki, and I don't know what you were like."

How old is mommy?

"25 no, 26" (good boy)

How tall is mommy?

"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20..20 pounds!"

What does mommy like to do?

"Play with Peiton and go on walks"

What is something mommy doesn't like to do?

"Turn shows on for Bode" (He nailed this one! I hate turning on shows for Bode, I end up turning on 5 to 10 shows until I get the right one, it is such a pain.)

What does mommy do for a job?

"take care of kids and you use to be a doctor" (Don't I still wish I was a doctor)

What is mom's favorite food?

"Lasagna" (hummmm)

What do mommy and Cooper like to do together?

"Play games"

How do you know mom loves you?

"Because you tell me"

Camping Fun

This weekend we went camping and had a bunch of fun. I must say, it was a lot of work though, but it was worth it. The kids had a blast trying to catch chipmunks, playing in the dirt, eating junk, going on snake hunts, and just using their imaginations. It was Con-mans 5th birthday so we were able to celebrate that too. Happy birthday big boy! Cooper was fabulous, Bode was pretty good for most of the time, and Peiton, well she was Peiton, she wanted A LOT of attention. I know I have mentioned before that Bode likes to wander and really doesn't care if he wanders far away from us. So a while ago I bought him a little backpack leash (yes I know, my child is not a dog, but it is way to hard to keep track of him at times). Well I thought it would be perfect if I put the leash on and then tied a 30 ft rope to it and then tied the rope to a tree or something so he could only go so far. Well it worked for a little bit, but then he started getting tangled in the rope and really frustrated, so my idea kind of blew up in my face. But good thing for the dirt, after the first hour of being there I think he got as much dirt as possible on his little body. He loved it!

I was surprised how cold it got at night. I wasn't thinking it would get that cold. It made me worry that my kids were going to freeze. Cooper and Bode slept pretty well. But Peiton, after we got her to sleep, slept until about 4am and then woke up screaming (sorry fellow campers) she had no idea where she was and was freaked out. Collin ended up taking her to the car to calm her down and once she was calm he brought her back, she freaked out again. Back to the car they went. He ended up putting her in her car seat and got her back to sleep and there was no room for him to go because there was still stuff in the back and he couldn't lay the seats down so he tried to sleep sitting up. Didn't work so well, he ended up using all the batteries in the flash light reading the People magazine. So it was a long night (especially for Collin) and we were beat the next day.

Check out was at 1:00pm, we had lunch and came home. After we got things cleaned up Collin and I sat down and we were dead to the world, we were so tired! We both could have gone to bed at 4:00 and slept until morning...doesn't happen with 3 kids. But like I said before it was all worth it, we had a great time and hope to go camping more. Maybe next time we will leave the Pei Pei at home.

Jumping Peiton & Bode's communication skills

Peiton loves to jump! My friend Keysha let me borrow her "Johnny Jump Up" and Peiton has absolutely loved it. She has liked it so much that I am going to have to buy Keysha a new one because Peiton has jumped so much the rope is starting to fray. I had to get it on camera because she is the cutest little jumper.

When I was recording Peiton jumping, I caught a little clip of Bode trying to communicate. Life is crazy with a 3 year old that is not even close to talking. I give him props though, he does a great job at trying to let me know what he wants. Collin the other day was so frustrated that he said "I would give my right foot just to have him talk!" He was pretty frustrated, but I really believe he would give his foot to have Bode talk, it would help Bode's frustration and ours.

One HOT Fourth of July weekend!

We had a great 4th of July weekend, and I must say it was super hot! We started it out on Thursday night when we thought it would be fun to go to the parade. The parade was fun but it was sooo hot! We were faced directly towards the sun and I swear it was still 100 degrees at 7:00 at night. If you look closely at the pics of Cooper, you can see the sweat dripping from his face and his hair line is drenched. Collin and I were just thinking "we are gonna give our kids heat stroke!" But once the parade started going, you had more to think about then the heat and we ended up having a great time.

On the Fourth we spent the morning hanging out at home and getting the kids all napped up for our fun evening. We went over to Collin's parents at about 3:00 and the festivities began. They had their water slide blown up, a pool, and Kelly and Mat brought a bounce house, the kids were in heaven! We played and played until we were starving and had to stop to eat some yummy grub. There is nothing better than a big ole' hamburger on the 4th of July...and it was delish!
Nat, Court, Nicky

Peiton, Holly, Aunt Emeline, Grandma Ruth, Kelly

Collin and I were in charge of putting a few challenges together for everyone to participate it.

1st Challenge: Relay race- hop in pillow cases to Sports Court, make 2 shots outside of the key, make a bubble with bubble gum (hard), hop back in pillow case.

2nd Challenge: Do a triceps hold sitting on a chair with legs up.

3rd Challenge: Everyone had to put together the same puzzle..fastest wins!

4th Challenge: You got a bag of 20 large marshmallows the person who could eat the most in 1 minute wins.

5th Challenge: Huge water balloon toss.

6th Challenge: Run back and forth dunking a sponge in a pool of water and running it back to a empty bucket. The one to get the most water in their bucket in 2 minutes wins.

Everyone had a great time. The Kunz's ended up being the champs! Go Kunz's!

After the challenges some of us roasted marshmallows and we had some yummy cake from "Nothing Bundt Cakes." When then thought it was dark enough for our firework show. Cooper was so excited to see fireworks, he was talking about it all day. Cameron did a great firework show for us. By the end of the show, we were all pooped, Bode was asleep and I was about gone too. Off to home we went for a good night rest. Thanks for the great time Holly and Charlie, you always make it so much fun!

On Saturday night we had a fun time at our friends The Jones' for a barbecue and fireworks. When we first got there we were about ready to leave...Bode was having a moment, a big time melt down and there was no way we were sticking around with him acting like that. I decided to throw a hot dog in his face and that kid will do anything for a hot dog. After he ate it, or both of them, he was one happy kid and the rest of the night went smoothly until he decided he was way too tired to function. We always have such a great time with our fun neighbors.
Thanks to everyone that made our holiday superb!

Dear Lizzie

My cute sister in-law is in town for a little summer break and my mother in-law Holly thought it would be fun to go out to lunch with all the girls and no kids. She took us to this darling place called Dear Lizzie, it was so darling! The front part of the store is a boutique full of darling jewelry, clothes, home decor and fabulous little girl things...it was so fun to look at all the stuff (it was a little on the pricey side). Then in the back of the store is this little cafe. The menu items were nice and simple, not a lot to choose from, which is good, it made it a lot easier to choose what to get. The food was yummy and the cupcakes were divine. It was just great to be able to sit and talk with my cute family and eat a yummy little lunch. So, Court you need to come in town more often so we can make a habit of it. Love you guys!

Lil' Buckaroo's

On Wednesday night my cousin Deni and my Aunt Peggy came to our neck of the woods so Deni could participate in a Barrel race. We have been talking about getting together so our kids can see her horses and take them for a little ride. Well she was super nice to call us and put it together. The kids had so much fun (especially little Britta, she had been talking about it forever). Cooper was a little nervous at first, but by his second ride he warmed right up. And Bode LOVES horses, he gets so excited when he sees them, so this was awesome for him. He too was a little nervous when he got on, but he did pretty good. Probably his favorite part of the night was sitting in all the dirt and putting it all over himself, he was one dirty kid when we got home.

Thanks so much Deni for letting us see and ride your horses. The kids had a blast!

Annual Tuacahn Trip

From Top Left: Jacki, Stacy, Pam, Grandma Zenda, Peggy, Angie, Cobi, Deni

Nat, Jacklyn, Preslee, Mckenzie

Yesterday I got back from Annual Girls onlyTuacahn Trip. This is a trip I look forward to every year. My Grandma takes my mom and my sisters, her other daughter, Peggy, and all of her girls down to St. George for the weekend. We stay in her house and go to the Tuacahn plays each night. And kids are only allowed on certain exceptions...baby Max, we loved you there! We all have great husbands that make it possible for us to do this. (Really Collin, I appreciate you letting me go and your willingness to stay home with the kids, your wonderful! And thanks Holly for helping him out too, I really appreciate it!)

We left Wednesday night and came home Sunday afternoon. It is a weekend packed fun of eating, shopping, karaoke, talking, sleeping, and did I mention shopping?? I always look forward to this trip because it is a much needed break and then I get to be with my Grandma, Aunt and Cousins. I don't see my cousins to much during the year, so this is a trip we can get to know each other better. We always have such a good time, especially when we whoop their booties in karaoke!

This is one of the many restaurants we ate at...The Egg and I. It was pretty good, I had a yummy whole wheat, raspberry and granola pancake that was delicious!!
I would just like to thank my grandma for the wonderful time I had. Like I said before it is one trip that I always look forward to and it is always such a good time. I am so thankful for her for making it possible for us. Love you Grandma!

Hollie we missed you this year! I sure hope Jerry Seinfield was worth it! O'yeah, and you just had a baby 2 weeks ago, that gives you permission for missing out on the fun. And hopefully Alisha and Rachelle will be able to join us next year, you will have a blast!

The Bachelorette Part 2

Alright so here I go off again about The Bachelorette. For all those fans, wasn't last night crazy??? I was mad, happy, and in tears a few times during the episode, it was crazy! Yes call me pathetic, but I am really liking this season and it was a very emotional episode. It first started out with Jason and his son, now that was the cutest little homecoming ever! It did make me like Jason a little more. I have always liked him, but he just really hasn't done it for me. Maybe it is because I see Deanna with him and they get along great, but there isn't really that physical connection between the two of them.

So, lets move on....Graham is outta here. :( I was routing for Graham, I was hoping he would put himself out there and open up and just tell her how he feels.) He was great with her at the begining of the date and then he started to show his true colors. I actually admit, he was bugging me, he was being such a jerk when they were sitting on the bench and at the rose ceremony when he was just standing there laughing when he didn't get picked...he is kind of prideful I am thinking. But it killed me when they were talking and you could really tell that he did like her and then he gave her the letter....holy cow! I felt so bad for him at that point, but then he blew it himself by the way he acted. I was way proud of Deanna for letting him go because she is so in to him and that had to be way hard for her to do. But now the question is, who is she going to connect with like she did with Graham? For her sake I hope she connects with one of them because she really wants to find someone (or so it seems). '

Jeremy...still not liking him.

Jesse....I kind of liked him more during their date, but still he just doesn't do it for me yet. Maybe he could cut his hair and he would look a little better.

So here we go again, give me your thoughts on the episode. And I probably sound like such a dork, but I am really loving this show!

"Sweet Sweat"

This morning when I came home from my run, I was sitting upstairs on the floor stretching looking at all the coloring on the walls that Bode did about 3 months ago. I took my foot (my socks were still on) and started rubbing some of the crayon and trying to get it off (I have already scrubbed the wall and didn't want to use the baking soda this time because it takes a little bit of the enamel of the paint off) and to my surprise, the crayon started coming off. I was amazed! I wasn't sure if it was the fabric of my socks that took it off, or if it was my "sweet sweat," it could have been a mixture of both I suppose, but whatever it was I was loving it. Now this kind of gets disgusting, but I was convinced to get the rest of the crayon off and I was running out of sweat. So, I would take my sock and rub it on the sweaty parts of my body to get more sweat...I know disgusting, but it was saving me so much time and it was working. So thanks to great socks and some "sweet sweat", my walls are now clean. And don't worry, after I was done I did clean my walls with an antibacterial cleaner to get off the "sweet sweat." I think in the future I might extract as much sweat from my body and use it as a daily cleaner....not really!

Bode's Preschool Graduation

Today our little Bode had his 1st year of Preschool Graduation. It was such a fun thing to see and it was short and sweet which is always the best. We were so proud of him, he did such a good job. Truthfully I was expecting him running around the stage and not participating at all, it seems like he does that whenever his parents are around. Surprisingly he was such a cutie and did just what he was suppose to, except wear his hat, but that I can deal with. It has been such a great experience for him going to preschool. He has loved the bus ride to and from, he loves his teachers (they do such a good job with him) and he seems to love all the activities they do. And mom loves it because it gives me a break twice a week for 3 hours, next year will even be better.Bode doing the graduation walk...without the hat of coarse.

Who is number 1? Bode is number 1!

Here is a little video of the graduation. I tried to cut some things out but there were to many cute things that I had to put on it. It is kind of long, but so fun to see (at least his parents think it is fun, you could think it is super boring...but you might as well give it a shot). :) Ignore the laughs from Collin and I, we were just so surprised to see him doing all the actions.

Neighborhood block party

Yesterday we had our Annual block party. I believe this is the 3rd one since we have lived in our house. We absolutely LOVE our neighborhood and our fabulous neighbors. We have made so many good friends and have made so many fun memories with our neighborhood. Here is just a few photos to show the fun time we had.

Sweet baby Peiton