March

Just a few more dance pictures of this gal I'm in love with!

I had heard this place called My Pie was really good, so I took my little buddy on a lunch date to try it out! 

Say it with me... GARLIC KNOTS!!! Ohhh, the goodness! Those are olive oil nuggets of heaven. If my thighs know what's good for them, I'll never go back. 

Baseball season is upon us! She's a trooper being so happy at all the practices and games!

Girl's Night with some friends from the ward to paint pottery at As You Wish, topped off with Cold Stone Creamery. And when I got home, all the kids were in bed, the floor was mopped and our bathroom was clean. My jaw gaped open when I came in. While most of the girls complained that their husbands gave them a guilt trip for even going, MY husband sent me happily then cleaned the house. What did I ever do to deserve him?!!

I finished another book with the boys. This was perfect for their age and interests. They loved every chapter about the different pickles that Henry got himself into. 

Girl's lunch at MOD pizza for Lauren's birthday. It was my first time trying MOD. Pretty good! Pretty good! Those Mormons might be on to something! ;) 

These girls have continued their weekly play dates all year and I don't know what I'd do without them! Cousins make the best of friends!

Collin had a birthday!! The big EIGHT! It actually fell on the first day of Spring Break, so I took him out of school for his birthday lunch the Thursday before.  He chose Red Robin and Dad even made it out too! Which meant we were just missing Weston. Felt a little guilty about that! He ordered the mac 'n cheese and loves the camp fire sauce as much as his mama.

Shelley and Sunni planned a whopper of a birthday party for Casey and Travis this year! A LIMO!!! Woooohoooo! My first time riding in one! It was all a surprise and with both families, we filled that limo up! 

Our first stop was Bobby Q for dinner. I am a big fan. 

Then we took the party bus to K1 Speedway to race go-karts. I and one of Sunni's sisters sat out since I don't think you can take passengers in your go-kart. I wasn't that sad to be a spectator. Stuff like this makes me nervous! Travis took second place among the faster drivers and I was just grateful no one got hurt! Although when our kids saw his medal the next day, you would have though Travis won the Indi 500. Legit cool dad moment right there.

This is a poor representation of the fun we had in that limo, but we had as much raucous fun as any non-drinking 30 year olds can have. ;) Sunni's brother in law was a true character. Possibly one of the heaviest in the group, but that did not stop him from shakin' what his mama gave him! Magic Mike style! We were fueled by caffeine and sugar and the pure fact that all our kids were at home with babysitters! Let's get crazzzzy!! 

Some friends from Gallup came into town for a girls weekend and I was so sad I couldn't join them for more of it! They stayed in Scottsdale and I just met them out there for a little shopping Saturday afternoon and dinner. I miss these women. 

On Collin's actual birthday, he invited his friend, Bryson, from school for a day at Amazing Jakes. My mom took Olive so I could focus on the boys, which was a big help. We bought the 3 hour pass and had the pizza buffet for lunch. They ran from roller coaster to tea cups to the frog hopper and back again. I let them drink all the soda they wanted and get as much ice cream as they could stomach. And personally vowed that I would never come back to this forsaken cesspool again! It cost $100 for 4 people for only 3 hours. The whole place is so worn down and gross. The food is sub-par, of course. And the video games have nasty, mostly naked women dancing on the screens. And this time, the boys noticed. As they stared at the screen I seriously didn't even know what to do! Finally, Bryson broke his gaze by saying, "YUCK! That's nasty!" To which Collin agreed. But who knows what he was really thinking?! 

Regardless, the boys had a BLAST. 

He requested homemade mac'n cheese and pulled pork hot dogs for dinner. Oh, and fruit salad. He wanted about every fruit known to man in it. I think he got 4. 

At least he was easy when it came to dessert! The donuts from breakfast hardly got touched, so we recycled those as birthday cake. 

A little about Collin...

He loves himself a schedule and a to-do list! He is very motivated by the carrot on the end of the pole. Said carrot is usually free time to watch Netflix on the lap top. So he checks off his list every day to get to that lap top.

He HATES piano. And that makes two of us. It's actual torture.

He loves riding his skateboard outside or trying tricks on his bike. He also LOVES to give me the play by play for each and every moves he makes on both.

I did a personal talk with him on a Sunday once, and now he asks for one almost every Sunday. He will also write up a "program" for these talks. He needs quality time to feel loved.

He loves to give FHE lessons.

He loves to argue.

He is suddenly into books! The Big Nate books are his favorite.

His best friends are Bryson, Lane and Rusty. He also loves to play with Kate, up the street.

He hates when people are sad. Especially myself or Olive and will do anything he can to cheer us up.

He sleeps in his underwear, but under his sheets and two blankets. 

He is an early riser.

He pays attention to every detail. If you say it's 9 o'clock and it's 8:57, he'll tell you it's not 9, it's 8:57. 
He has THE stinkiest feet I've ever smelled in.my.life. (I wash his shoes, spray them with Lysol, have him wash his feet with anti-bacterial soap. STILL, they stink. WHAT is a mom to do?!)

He has tried to flat out refuse to do something I ask and that provides for a very lively lecture on why he WILL do what I say. "As long as live under MY roof...!" Just kidding... but seriously. 

He still asks a million questions a minute.( He must know the WHY behind everything.) He wants to talk about anything and everything. All of the time. But really... all of the time.
He has a tender heart and truly wants to do what's right. 
I feel myself tested, stretched and pleading for help on a daily basis with him. I have so much love for this sweet, freckled faced boy.  

SPRING BREAK!!
I signed the boys up for a kids camp at the Freestone Rec center every morning from 9-12pm, which they LOVED. Then we filled up our afternoons with more fun! 

We met some of our Evans cousins at the I.d.e.a Museum! We rarely get to see Carrie so it was fun to be out with her. 

These overalls are my FAV right now!

Our first time at Hamilton pool! 

Goofy golf, bowling and the movies!

We saw the Batman Lego movie and I tell you what. These are the moments I will be paid back for someday in heaven. YAWN!

A new jungle gym type place opened up in North Mesa called Urban Jungle. This was like the second day it was open and it was CRAYYYY-SIE! Serious madness. The line alone wrapped around the building. Luckily, we had Leah and Marcie who were on their game and got there early enough for us to escape that line! The kids had a blast in all their green, St. Patrick's Day glory!

We ran into our moms' cousin, Julie Perkinson. She's a hoot and a half. 

Then the Goodman's treated us to a BBQ at our parent's house and.... SWIMMING!! Jkjkjkjkjk. Just the kids were psycho enough to jump in. 

Possibly my favorite pic of the year so far.

David is obviously all about babies. 

Della's face, hahahaha!

She's thinkin, "Really?! I'm cute. What's your deal?"

I think this picture of our ward was taken at the beginning of the year but I'm including it here to represent the Stake R.S. conference I got to go to this month. I love the classes and being inspired by great women. Allen Ranch has been a tremendous ward to be a part of.

Oh, this girl!! Words don't even START to describe how obsessed with her I am!!

I had to laugh...

For my parent's birthdays, they requested a family bike ride around Tempe Town Lake! It was a tad toasty, but the spray bottles helped. 

We only had one mishap at the end when Casey's chain broke. We had to transfer the girls to the other trailer and he got a pull from my Dad using a beach towel, haha. 

Strettttch!

Then they treated us to Matta's and Baskin Robbins. How about that?! For THEIR birthdays! 

Grandpa getting in on the fountain playing.

Some friends from Farmington walked in the door and were seated right next to us. The odds! Too fun running into them.

He's in deep meditation. ;)

The Evans' were celebrating Collin's birthday the Sunday after he had it, so I helped him make a big sheet of homemade brownies. He did EVERYTHING! I just talked him through it and may have thrown in some math/fractions problems too. ;) He really loved it and wanted to know when he was old enough to make dinner.

I guess the latest kid trend is to announce how many "girlfriends" you have after blowing out candles. The ones you missed = how many you have. Well he had quite a few left over and was getting teased when I heard him say, "I only have ONE girlfriend!! Lily!" 

Oh my!

Grandpa gave him this ridiculous giraffe pajama costume and I dare say it's his favorite gift TO DATE. He wears it constantly. Such a goof!

Beware the cankles!! 

What gives though?! Seriously! I've never had this as a constant problem with any other pregnancy. But my legs and feet get so swollen every day that by 5pm I'm just hobbling around with as much dexterity as a blow up doll. Travis has officially taken over bath time for Olive and my new norm is to lay comatose with my feet in the air by 7pm. I'm so over it. 

The boys had their first dental check up since we moved here! Yup. A+ parents!

Collin was dismayed to learn from his x-rays that his teeth are still no where near ready to fall out. In fact, it looks as though Weston will be losing teeth before him. 

Collin's first day of Cub scouts! He has awesome leaders in Bro. and Sis. Bentley. And it's the best thing ever that he gets to just run across the street to the church building.

Unfortunately, if he has any memories of this day, it will probably be of his cranky mother yelling at him because he was running late. Again with that A+ parenting.

How can this not melt my heart?! I love how it was so natural too. 

Well, two days after the boys dental exams, Weston was back in the chair! But this time it was for a split open head. I got a call from the school nurse right after Olive's dance class. She calmly informed me that Weston ran into a pole at recess and had a 1/4 inch cut on his forehead. Then she stopped talking. I wondered if this was just an FYI call or a summons. 

 I said, "Uhh, soooo, does it need stitches."

She LAUGHED, then said, "Yeah, it's going to need stitches."

Great.

 I was at Target for heaven's sakes! ;)

Weston is our crier for little things but he's pretty darn tough for the big things. 

I love the look that's being exchanged here. 

My bump didn't lend itself to having Weston in my arms so I just held his hand. The worst part for him was the numbing shot. He cried and I could tell it was really painful but he didn't move a muscle. 

The actual stitching up part was a breeze for him but a little traumatic for his father apparently! Travis started getting pale and sweaty and had to take a minute to put his head down after the first stitch. His assistant, Leslie, started spraying air from the hand instrument on his face and giving me confused looks. I didn't even know what to do! He finished up then the whole office was at his side, offering him water and snacks. Poor guy! He recovered pretty quickly. He does the blood/stitches thing all day but for whatever reason, doing it on his son's forehead made him woozy. We are SOOOOOO grateful that our Daddy saves us from trips to the ER though! What a blessing to be able to just run him over to the office instead of the hospital. 

Remember those Sunday talk programs I mentioned earlier?? And the sweet cards he always writes? :)

After the General Women's Conference meeting we all gathered at Grandma's house to eat take-out and visit. Grandpa joined the fun at the end too. I think it's always entertaining to hear my aunts get together and tell stories. They've "been there" and we're "doing it" and it's a riot to hear their funny stories of raising kids. 

The Sunday after Collin was baptized he got to sit on the stand and be recognized. They had him share a scripture and it was pretty cute watching him heave his new set of scriptures onto the podium, carefully unzip them, pull them out, then find his spot. Most of the kids just bring their phones up there. It happened to be fast Sunday and he wanted to bare his testimony too. I love his desires to be righteous.

I had two cute ladies with me at my last doctor's appointment! 

But I have to say, I'm getting a little done with appointments. It's the same thing every time. Your blood pressure is great! The baby's heart rate is great! Buuuuuut, you've gained too much weight. 

Ugh.

I KNOW!!!

Do you really think I don't know?!

Well, I do. Why don't you just make yourself a little note there in my file that says, "Patient is aware she is fat. No need to remind her. Please and thank you."

I'm being a stinker now and not going back until my 36 week appointment.

Us girls had a fun birthday brunch at Snooze for my Mom! I wasn't super impressed the first time I went here, but it really is super yummy. Minus the spider in Marcie's poached egg. Blech! And they didn't even comp her meal! 

The waiter brought this chocolate, pomegranate pancake with espresso crumbles out for us to share and MY WORD. I'm seriously tempted to leave the computer right now just to head down there and get another one!

We finished another book. It was supposed to be funny but I thought it was kind of lame. Plus, coming up with 10 different voices for all the pets was a struggle! The kids probably liked it OK, but it's not one I'd really recommend.