A Little Girl Time

A little while ago I got to watch my friend Nicole's darling girls. We all had a great time painting our toenails and of course, Addi and Jayda had to have every color, which meant that each toe and each fingernail were a different color. It was so much fun having a house full of girls playing girly games, singing and dancing to music, playing barbies and babies, and playing so sweet and quiet.

Happy Birthday Addi!

Addisyn turned 4 on Saturday, September 11th.  Every time we told her happy birthday, she kept insisting that she was 3 NOT 4 and that it WAS NOT her birthday.  On our way to soccer games that morning we passed the church which was surrounded by flags for 9/11.  We started talking about it and what it was and when we said September Addi said, "September?! my birthday is September!"  It actually took us most of the day to really convince her that it was her birthday.

The Cake

Addi doesn't really like cake but she LOVES Oreos!  I decided to make her a "cake" made by stacking the Oreos into a tower and putting candles on top.  She LOVED it!  Instead of ice cream and cake, we had ice cream and Oreos.

The Presents 

Addi was so excited to open everything she has been wanting and asking for for weeks - The books Pinkalicious and Purplelicious, The Polly Pocket Glamper, a Leapster from Grandma and Grandpa, and a new helmet for her NEW BIKE!

The Bike

I LOVE this little girl.  She has definitely been my 9-1-1 baby from day one and I am grateful everyday for her.  She is silly, sassy, stubborn, smart, happy, loving, sensitive, independent, and mischievous.  I LOVE the way she says "Scunscreen" and "Smarshmallows".  I LOVE her "fancy" walk.  I LOVE how she bats her eyes and says "please momma, please" and then grins because she knows EXACTLY what she is doing.  I LOVE how she calls her brothers "my boys" and her dad "dadda".  I LOVE that she refers to Jesus as "My friend Jesus" like she knows him personally.  I LOVE everything about her - even though she cut her hair!  AHHH!

Happy Birthday Addi!

My Daughter has a MULLET!!!!

Need I say More?!?!

Addisyn walked into the kitchen Sunday afternoon as if nothing were different, no sign of embarrassment or shame, but looked at me without saying a word until I noticed IT!
Sadly, I almost didn't notice it.  I was in the middle of getting dinner ready. When I did notice, I did a double take, and with my eyes WIDE open asked "What Happened to your Hair?!?"
I feel so bad because she got this sad little look on her face when she said she had cut it.  She was sad because she knew I didn't love it and because she KNEW she was not supposed to have her scissors.  Needless to say, she was quite tidy.  She had put all of her hair into the garbage can and had put her scissors away without being told and the best part is, knowing that I was still in shock, she just kept trying to comfort me by saying, "It's alright mom, hair will grow back."

Sweet and "SASSY"!

Addisyn FINALLY got to start school on Tuesday.  Talk about torture!  Her brothers started two weeks ago and she has been asking when she gets to go to school everyday since then.

 

She was so excited to wear her new "school clothes" that have been hanging in her closet for weeks.  She got up and picked out her pink and black striped outfit, and her shiny pink "school shoes".  When I told her she could just grab her pink flip flops she informed me that she couldn't wear THOSE shoes to school - and said "I need my pink "SCHOOL SHOES". 

Before we headed out the door, Addi had to load her Tinkerbell back pack full of "important" and "necessary" items from her room like her blanket, barbies, stuffed animals, barbie and doll combs, bouncy balls and various other random toys she could quickly find to put in there.

Addisyn confidently walked right into school, found her backpack hook and walked right to her seat.
There was absolutely no hesitation.  She was so excited to be going to school like her brothers.

 

Addisyn LOVES school!  However, when I asked her how school was and if she loved it she answered with a sigh and a little drama to her voice "yes,...but I don't like my teacher".  Why?  "Well, I just don't like having to go up and down the stairs - it just makes my legs SO tired". 

She seriously cracks me up everyday. And her first day of school pictures say it all!

Sweet, and Sassy with a little Attitude!

One of THOSE Days

Have you EVER had one of those days?!?!...

You know, the one where you had your day planned out, you knew EXACTLY what you were going to get done, where you were going to go, and you just KNEW it was going to be a fabulous day because you were going to be so productive that at the end of the day you would just sit back and think...."I am AWESOME!!!!" because of all of the things you were able to accomplish.

BUT, Nothing went as Planned!

That was exactly how my day went today.

It started out all wrong.  Gavin woke up sick and stayed home from school, Britton got up too late to walk with me up to the school so I drove him and had to do my work out later, and what was supposed to be a quick trip to the dentist to get one tooth pulled ended by having 4, yes 4 teeth pulled instead.

About a week ago Britton got hit really hard in a tournament soccer game and broke one of his teeth.  I knew it needed to be pulled so I made the appointment and took him in today.  After taking x-rays, the dentist informed me that he had 4 teeth that needed to be pulled because the permanent teeth were coming in and didn't have room.  He (the dentist) originally didn't want to pull all 4 since 1 was on the right side of his mouth and 3 were on the left side which would mean having his whole mouth numb and probably missing a day of school.  However, after taking a closer look, we decided to pull all 4 teeth!

Britton trying to drink his Mountain Dew (a big NO, NO) but the dentist said to give him something with caffeine in it because it makes the Novocaine wear off faster. - Notice his bottom lip...we all had a good laugh watching him try to drink out of a straw.  In fact his poor mouth was so numb that he was drooling while watching TV and had no idea.  Ha! Ha! 

My Sick Little Gavin

I felt so bad for Gavin today.  Normally when he stays home sick he is up an running before kids get home from school but not today.  He  felt so yucky that I found him asleep on the bathroom floor.

I tried to wake him up and carry him to his bed but he didn't want to move.  Instead, I got him his pillow and blanket and he slept most of the afternoon on the floor.  Poor little guy.  I felt so bad for him and was even going to run and pick up some sprite at the store but, he didn't want me to go.

So, as you can see, all of my great ambitions for today were quickly put to rest by having all of my kids home from school and needing my attention.

I was just

ONE OF THOSE DAYS!

First Day of School

I love the enthusiasm my kids have on the first day of school.  They get up on time, put on their new clothes, eat breakfast, and are ready to head out the door at least 15 minutes early.  I only wish they had that kind of enthusiasm for the other 200+ days of school.
I also anxiously wait for them to run through the door to find out how their day went - you just never know.
Today I was so excited...When I asked how their day was both of them shouted "It was the best day EVER!  My teacher is the COOLEST!" 
Why is their teacher the "Coolest"?  Britton's teacher jokes around a lot, gives "fun" homework if homework at all, doesn't give homework on Friday, tells a lot of stories, they only have to read 10 minutes in English each day and 10 minutes in Spanish each day, and he was in the army so "if we ever have a lock down, he can protect us".
Gavin's teacher is really nice, gave him gummie bears, he only picked up his pencil maybe twice today, and didn't give them homework.

Gavin

Started the 3rd grade this year

It is his second year in the Spanish Immersion program

He still does not like homework or reading

He loves to be outside playing sports and riding his bike

He is playing competition soccer this year

His favorite sports are soccer, football and basketball

He is currently reading The Lightening Thief series

He loves listening to music, being silly and "bugging" his brother and sister

He is silly, sweet, sensitive, athletic,and smart and has a very contagious giggle

 

Britton

Started the 5th Grade this year

It is his 4th year in the Spanish Immersion Program

He LOVES to read, play video games, and watch TV

He loves having late nights and hanging out with friends

It is his 2nd year playing competition soccer for the Rage

His favorite sports are soccer and basketball

He likes school but doesn't want anyone to know

He will only dance and do silly "moves" at home

He is a great friend, smart, can speak and understand Spanish, sensitive, a great soccer player, and is growing up way to fast

Gavin is 8

We just celebrated Gavin's 8th birthday! 

I can't believe how fast time seems to be flying by and I am having a really hard time letting go of my "little" boy.  He has been anticipating his birthday for at least 3 months now and he was So excited to get exactly what he has been asking for.....a Dinner with grilled chicken, snicker salad, rolls, corn on the cob, and asphalt pie, Money and a NEW Bike.

Britton and Addi gave Gavin a much needed new bike helmet.
This also served as a distraction while Jason brought Gavin's mountain bike around back.

I am so glad he LOVED it!  He jumped on and rode around until it got dark and then was up early the next morning riding again.

For his PARTY we took all of his friend to a park in American Fork and slid for 2 hours down an ENORMOUS water slide.  

We at Gavin's favorite flavor of popsicles (cherry mango) , opened presents, and sent everyone home with a new beach towel and dog tags.

It was a perfect way to celebrate a summer birthday - Hot Sun, Water, Friends and Food! 

First Trip of the Summer!!!

Every Year, As soon as school gets out, we take a trip to St. George.  We LOVE it there!  We usually head down the day school gets out with no set plans other than to swim and spend time in the HOT sun, and get a tan!

We did A LOT of SWIMMING!
We usually spend almost all day, every day at the pool.
This year Addi hit a milestone.  She started putting her head all the way under the water, jumping from the edge of the pool to anyone who would catch her, and SWIMMING!

We did A Little Geo caching

We Played at the park where Addi insisted on selling me tickets to "the movie".

And we spent an Afternoon at the splash park in downtown St. George.

On our last day we took a drive out to Gunlock Reservoir and found some amazing waterfalls.

Gunlock was our "new" discovery this year.  We had never been there before.  It is beautiful and we would love to spend an entire day there the next time we are in St. George.

"You Might Be a Redneck..."

If your water slide consists of a banquet table with hoses attached to it!

Thank goodness for kids and their creativity!

They played for HOURS on this homemade water slide which is now lovingly referred to as

the "Ghetto Slide"

And nothing ends a long hot summer day at a water park like Popsicles

Happy Father's Day!

I wish I could say that I was the greatest wife in the whole world, that I had gotten up at the crack of dawn to make Jason his favorite breakfast, music from the Tabernacle Choir was playing softly in the background, that all of the kids were fed, bathed, dressed for church and ready to walk out the door 20 minutes early, and that we were all smiling as we loaded into the car.

Like I said...I WISH!  As it is, I am not the greatest wife in the world.  We all ate cold cereal, there was no music playing in the background, Addisyn got a bath, her hair got thrown up into a bun minutes before walking out the door - she wore flip-flops because we didn't have time for the fight, I was still frantically grabbing things to stuff into my bag to teach my lesson, and Gavin was not happy that he could not take

his markers to draw with at church and proceeded to condemn us until he walked through the doors of the church.

Never-the-Less...I have an absolutely WONDERFUL, AMAZING Husband, who despite the fact that it was Father's Day and he should have been able to relax this morning, got up, helped feed kids and get them ready, and waited patiently as I ran around the house like a crazy woman trying to make sure everything and everyone was ready to head out the door to church on time...and we almost made it!  Only 3 minutes late!

I LOVE this man.  He is honestly my best friend.  He is a great husband and father.  He is fun, energetic, determined, trustworthy, a hard worker, and loves his family.  He is a great example for our kids and for the young men he is in charge of. 

I also LOVE my dad.  He is an amazing grandpa, full of energy and love for his kids and grandkids.  He is always willing to go outside and play a game of catch, push kids on the swings, take them for 4-wheeler rides, teach them how to plant a garden, and support them in all of their school and athletic activities.  We have so much fun together and I am so grateful to have such wonderful men in my life.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day for our family has always involved traveling to the Orem Cemetery on the Sunday before Memorial Day to honor Jason's relatives - Grandma Coe, Grandma and Grandpa Bobo, Cousin Lance etc. 

Britton, Gavin and Addisyn really enjoy finding each marker and placing flowers on each relativ's grave while Jason tells fun memories he has of each relative.   They also love running up and down the rows of military flags trying to see who will find their great grandpa's flags first.

On Monday, we travel to Morgan, Coalville and Wanship to honor my relatives.  Grandma and Grandpa Durrant, Great Grandma's and grandpa's, great aunts, uncles etc.  After visiting each cemetery we all gather at my great aunt Deon and Great uncle Gerald's house for a chicken BBQ complete with aunt Deon's famous marshmallow brownies.

It is a tradition we have all come to love and appreciate.  It gives us time to reflect on the many memories we all have of our past relatives and how much of an influence they had on each of our lives.