Family Movie Date

The boys have been waiting for WALL-E to come to the movie theater for a while now. They were so excited when I told them this morning that today was the first day we could go see it. Ned said that he thought it was so cool that we were going to be the first ones in the world to see it. (not even close, but probably one of the first few hundred to see it in our town) We went to the matinee so Daddy could go with us.



The boys have been practicing their Wall-e impersonations. This video isn't very good, but it gives you the idea...




The theater gave all of the children free Wall-e watches. Ned and Lucky love them.

Even Lucky was excited to see the movie. Every time he sees a picture or preview for Wall-e he squeals with excitement.

He liked the movie at the beginning but fell asleep about half an hour into it. He did love the candy, even though the chocolate melted all over his hands.
I loved watching the boys watch the movie. The very best part was going together as a family!

My Own Little Sweatshop

Yesterday was a very long day. We were up at 5:30am to get ready to go to the temple. We took our children over to my friend's house where they stayed for 6 1/2 hours. We came home and had two hours until that same friend brought her children to my house for another 7 hours while they went to the temple.


I'll be honest. I was not looking forward to my babysitting shift. My children got up a lot earlier than they usually do (they get a tad bit whiny when they get up too early) and when The Three Amigos spend too much time with the Morty children they tend to fight like siblings. Oh, and there are 6 of them, all 7 and under!


Well, it was actually a fairly pleasant experience. They played pretty well, and they all ate their dinner. Even Little Girl Morty that said, "Gross!" while I was cooking, asked for seconds.


At one point later in the evening I could see that the sweet children were turning a little sour. I knew I had to come up with something for them to do, quick. I remembered the jar of coins on my dresser that El Guapo has been filling to feed his soda habit.


"I will give you all a penny for every toy you pick up." I announced. They all went to work. It was done so quickly, and well enough that I was able to vacuum the living room and playroom, that I had to find more for them to do. I decided to have them clean windows and dust my shelves. They loved this idea, but probably not as much as I did. :)






All of this cleaning, and it cost me less than three dollars!


There was only one fight during all of the cleaning.
And only one timeout the whole evening. (Only one of these boys was in time-out, the other was keeping him company!)
My floor is vacuumed, and while my windows may not be very clean and my house wreaks of Windex, I think it was a very productive day!

Dusty wins by a knockout

My children have a new favorite game. They all race back and forth between the front and back door. It always ends in someone getting hurt or someone crying because they wanted to be the one to say, "On your mark, get set, go!"



Well, they were all playing last night (when they should have been brushing before bed) and Ned ran into Dusty's head and knocked his front tooth out. It was very loose, but I thought it would be a few weeks still before he lost it. He has lost 5 teeth now, but this was the first top tooth. I have been dreading this day since Ned started losing his teeth. I just feel like it changes their faces so much and it is the beginning of the awkward phase of life.

The sweet little baby face is gone, and I am left with this snaggletooth grin. I still think he's pretty darn cute!

Flashback Friday-Two years ago today.

Two years ago today I was preparing to have my third baby, Lucky. I was so excited to meet our baby.

I wanted to get some pictures of our family of four before we became five! We did not get any good pictures, but these show what life is really like anyway.

Looking back at these pictures I can't believe how little the boys were. They were so cute and little! Dusty is only a few months older than Lucky is now when we had Lucky. Yikes!

My mom was in town. She came earlier than the baby did so she could stay with the older boys at home. We were so glad she could come.

These next couple of pictures show how big I really got. I was HUGE. As big as I look in these pictures, they still don't do the belly justice. I was always asked if I was having twins. When strangers would ask me how far along I was I would lie. People would tell me I looked like I was ready to pop when I was only 6 months along.

Ugh! It makes me fell tired, achy, and very nauseous just looking at these pictures. I think I am done having kids. Three is plenty... right?

I love these pictures of Dusty. He wanted me to hold him, but I was too big and tired to do it as often as he wanted me to. I had the camera and decided to take pictures. I am glad I did because it was something that happened so often at the end of my pregnancy, it is fun to see it in pictures from my point of view.

hold me...

please...
um, mama?...
I can't believe she won't hold me...
mama, please hold me...
HOLD ME!!!...
Lady, you better hold me right now!...
Oh, and be nice in your comments please. I already know how big I was and I am a tiny bit sensitive about it... so keep the "you were as big as a house" comments to yourself. Thanks. :)

I didn't even know her...

Through a blog called 5 minutes for mom I read about a family that lost their baby girl on Sunday. She drowned in their new spa. The mom, Stephanie, is so amazing. She continues to post on her blog daily. After reading a few posts I noticed that she lives in the town I lived in during high school, and she is LDS. I realize that knowing that families are forever, and the comfort of our Heavenly Father's plan is what is pulling her through. I know these things too, but I can't say I would handle it so well.
A few years ago my cousin and his wife lost their son. I remember wondering how long it would take me to stop thinking about him and his parents. I could not get them out of my mind. I was so sad. I thought that if it took me this long to grieve a baby that I had only met once or twice, how would I handle the loss of my own child. It is heartbreaking.
I am so sad for Stephanie and her family. I don't even know them, but I think about them all day. They have been in my prayers, and I hope that they will continue to be comforted.

Trip to Branson

El Guapo and I were able to take a fun little trip to Branson, Missouri last week. All of the store managers in El Guapo's district won a three day, two night trip with their spouses. We had a great time, and thanks to lots of great friends from church, we didn't worry about our kids. Well, not too much anyway.

On our way there we drove under a McDonald's that Ned, Dusty and Lucky would have loved. It is built right over the freeway.
El Guapo pretended to feed the trucks his french fries. He knew the boys would get a kick out of this picture.


We arrived in Branson at about 5:30 on Wednesday night. We first went to dinner at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater where El Guapo ordered some fried pickles. I think our boys would have loved them.



We decided to go to a show with some of the other couples. We saw Pierce Arrow. One of the men in the group, Tim Storms is in the Guinness book of world records for the lowest note produced by a human. I took a little video clip. You are not supposed to take video of the show so I just turned on the camera to record how low his voice was. It is pretty amazing.

Overall the music was ok, but the comedian was the best part.

The next day we went to Silver Dollar City. It was so much fun! We were the only ones that really enjoyed it. We both LOVE to ride roller coasters. There is nothing like screaming at the top of your lungs. It's a great way to blow off some steam!
El Guapo went on a water ride and was totally soaked.

That evening we all went to the Dixie Stampede. It was pretty fun. I liked the food. There was one woman in the group that refused to eat because they made you eat with your hands. :)
Of course El Guapo had to wear his Lakers shirt because they played that night.

We had a very pretty view from our hotel room. It is really a pretty town with lots of fun things to do. We are so glad we were able to go.

Wordless Wednesday*-Branson Souvenirs

*I know that it is Tuesday (thanks for pointing that out, Michal) but I am leaving this post up anyway. :) I must be wishing the time would go by faster so I can move on to the next vacation I have planned. I am so excited to see all of my family in Utah!!!