Swimming Lessons

So the last two weeks have been consumed with daily swimming lessons. I always dread those two weeks each summer since it means going every single day!! We decided to go to 7 Peaks this year since we didn't have season passes and they give you a free pass at the end so one of these days we can go as a family. Plus, I love going there because I can take Kade in the pool while the kids are in their classes, which isn't allowed at the other pool. This is so great because he was definitely upset that he wasn't getting to go to lessons too. On the days we didn't swim, he occupied himself climbing on everything possible.
Skylar was in Level 3 and was really worried about being in deep water but she did it! Nick was in Level Pre-2 this year and I was so impressed he was finally swimming with his face under the water. They both are still a little hesitant but they are definitely getting better! Kade is totally the opposite and wouldn't sit on my lap to go down the slide in the kiddie pool. He would say "No lap, Mom!" and make me go first. Crazy kid!

My Happy When She's Crazy Busy Girl

Skylar has been quite the busy chick this summer. I always swore I wouldn't have my kids involved in too much but here I've gone and done it. Most of the summer, she's been doing about two things a week. But last week was absolutely crazy as she had piano lessons, swimming lessons, craft class, and T-ball!! On top of this she's been baking away in her easy bake oven that she scored at a yard sale for $1.50! Definitely too much!! But at least she isn't having a boring summer, eh? She loves everything, especially piano, and loves to be busy!

The Long Disputed Search Ends

Okay, so we finally did it. We broke down and bought a very needed bigger car. Ben finally talked me into the whole mini-van thing and we got a 2005 Toyota Sienna. It's actually super nice and seats 8-so much room after being in our teeny Echo!! The kids absolutely love it-the automatic sliding doors, the windows that roll down, the extra room, and we even have a DVD player. I feel like we're a little spoiled! Anyway, after driving it around all week and definitely looking like every other mom out there, I have to admit that it's not so bad. I kind of like it.

Batman: The Dark Knight

Ben and I are both movie fanatics however I don't justify spending money on the full price of a ticket very often. I just figure I can be patient to see most movies when they come to DVD or even to the lovely $1 movies. Ben, on the other hand, wants to see a movie the second it comes out-preferably at midnight so that no one can spoil it for him. Anyway, he came to me at the beginning of the summer with a list of movies that were coming out this summer and wondering which ones I'd actually be interested in. It was a pretty short list for me this year. But this was definitely on there: So, somehow Ben scored FREE passes to go see this on Tuesday night up at the IMAX at Jordan Commons. It was sponsored by Warner Brothers and the security was tight-no phones allowed, metal detectors, etc. In fact, one security guard was totally watching Ben's friend, Kendall, the entire time because he was holding a water bottle & they thought it was a camera or something. It was kind of funny.
Anyway, so not only did we see it early, we saw it for free! Bonus! It was awesome! Seriously it was so good-Heath Ledger does live up to all they hype surrounding him. He definitely brought the Joker to life and I could see an Oscar going his way. Being pregnant, of course in the middle I needed to go the bathroom, but I was so into the movie, I really couldn't justify leaving and missing anything. Eventually I had to listen to my body since the baby was giving me some major kicks in the bladder. I practically ran so I wouldn't miss anything! Anyway, I highly recommend this movie-even if you're not into superhero flicks or anything. It was really good! Plus, the batcycle itself was the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Our Cute Kittens

So here's some new pictures of our kittens. They have finally all opened their eyes and are starting to crawl around a bit. The kids have given them all names. They are from left to right: Cheeta, Cheeto(the big fat one), Ninja, Puff, Cali, and Frodo (the tiny runt with a ring on his tail). Soffee has been majorly paranoid this time around and really doesn't like us to come near them-she's moved them numerous times and has finally settled into the very back of the crawlspace behind all of our boxes. Needless to say, we only take a peak at them when she is outside. The kids are loving it though!

Happy Birthday America!!!!

Last week was once again a crazy and busy week. I keep telling myself I'll slow down one of these days but that remains to be done. Ben & I celebrated our 11th anniversary last Tuesday. Happy Anniversary babe!!! I meant to post about how much I love and appreciate him and all that mushy stuff but never got a chance. So, I will keep it short and simple. Ben, you are the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. I feel so blessed to be your wife and the mother of your children. I love you with all of my heart!! Okay, mushy stuff over. We got a babysitter and went out to eat at the Olive Garden and went to see the Hulk since we had free passes. Nothing too spectacular, but after our cruise earlier this year we decided to keep it simple. We had a great time though!
Thursday began the Independence day celebrations! We did our traditional rise at the crack of dawn trip to see the hot air balloons take off with the Tongs. This is always so much fun. I can't wait for the day when I get to actually go up in one of those balloons. It'd be so cool! The kids were even more excited when we got to see the life flight helicopter take off from the emergency room across the street from the balloon field. Afterwards, Adrianne and I decided to start a new and very yummy tradition of going to Magelby's Fresh for the all-you-can-eat French Toast. We all shared our plates and didn't even make it back for seconds. It was so delicious but we were sooo full!!
Later that night, after some long naps, we went to the Owlz game-once again with the Tongs. We had a fun time and even ran into some old friends, the Sumners, that we hadn't seen in a long time. It was great to see them! The Owlz, unfortunately, did not play so well and lost the game but there was a great fireworks show afterwards so it was all good.
On Friday morning we got up way early again so we could hit the 4th of July parade. This year they had changed all the rules and you couldn't put stuff out to reserve your spot unless it was attended and since I had no interest in camping out this year we just hoped for the best. We got down there about 7 am and lucked out on finding a pretty good spot on the street. Even though Ben swore he wouldn't go to the parade, he was a good sport and said he'd at least drop me off so I wouldn't have to lug all the gear and kids myself. He ended up sticking around though for the whole parade which was so nice!!! My parents also joined us which was fun. The weather was actually great too. It was supposed to be like 101 degrees but there was an awesome cloud cover so it wasn't nearly that hot. The kids definitely had a blast and I'm glad we did something patriotic to celebrate this great country we live in!
We all took some major naps the rest of the day and just took it easy. The Hanamaikais came by for a bit and Ben and Quinn played some tennis. Later, we had a bar-b-que, did some fireworks, and then hopped in the car and headed down to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks.
As exhausted as we all were on Saturday, the kids still were awake by 7:30 so I decided to go ahead with my crazy plan of having a yard sale. I had abandoned the idea the night before since we were so wasted but I figured we were up, we had the stuff ready, and we mine as well do it and see if we can make any moola. We were actually hoping to get rid of our bedroom set and couch that was recently redesigned by Kade and a marker, but the big stuff didn't go. However, the rest of our piddly junk did and we made about $60. Not a great amount, but enough to get us into Yellowstone Bear World in a few weeks!
Saturday afternoon we spent some time test driving mini-vans since it is something we really need to get doing. I'm still a little resistant on the whole idea but I know I must accept defeat and get one!! We did some more fireworks on Saturday night. Despite my wise husband's wishes, I insisted on letting the kids have sparklers (which they absolutely loved!!) and poor little McKade burned his hand after watching our menacing next door neighbor kid stick his hand on one and thinking it looked like a good idea. Luckily, it wasn't horrible but I think we'll be skipping the crazy sticks with fire on them for a few more years.
We had a great weekend celebrating our country's birthday. Lately it seems as if the media has been concentrating on all of the problems as our country has. However, I know that we are truly blessed to live in such a wonderful country. Sometimes I think about how it would be to live in some other country and all of the little freedoms I take for granted everyday and I am overwhelmed with thankfulness to Heavenly Father for blessing me so much. I am so thankful for those who have fought in the past and continue to fight every day for the freedoms we have. Isn't it great that we have the 4th of July to remember all of this? Happy Birthday America!!!

The Invasion from St. George

So the last few days have been utterly crazy busy with fun visitors from St. George. Last Thursday my brother, Ed, and his family came in town from St. George. We hooked up and went to the zoo in the morning, then swimming at my mom's in the afternoon, and later on had a family get-together dinner. It was such a long day but so much fun.
My sister, Steph, joined us at the zoo with her girls. They headed home afterwards because it was my sister's anniversary and she and her husband had a hot date planned. We had a great time at the zoo and got to see the usual animals along with an awesome bird show. That morning, Skylar wasn't really excited about going to the zoo because we really have been going a lot lately but quickly changed her mind and afterwards said, " Mom, I guess there's always something new to see at the zoo." Having a different group there also adds to it. I can't believe how big of a group we ended up with when you just put half of the siblings together with their kids-there was 11 (and 1/2!) kids. We had to keep counting to keep track. Crazy, but fun.
That afternoon was officially our first swimming of the summer (besides our backyard). It was an absolutely perfect day for swimming and the pool felt awesome. Skylar was swimming great since she had her little floaty things on her arms, Nick totally had fun having Grandpa help him, and Kade just wanted to jump from the side of the pool the entire time. He definitely was not too happy being stuck in his tube. The kid has no fear and doesn't even mind going under the water!
Later on Ben, my brothers, Al, and Jerry's family came and we had dinner and celebrated Ed & Al's 40th birthday. Crazy that they are that old!! Of course, they still act like teenagers, so that's good!? We had some good grub and then the kids put on an "awesome" talent show. After that, we headed outside where Jerry led the kids in a game of not getting wet in the sprinklers. I was proud of my kids because they made it to the top 3 finalists! Perfect for a nice dry ride home!!
My niece, Cassidy, came home with us that night so that Skylar and she could have their traditional sleepover. This was the first time at our house and the first time for two nights. Cass just slept in Sky & Nick's room because Nick was not about to be left out. Both nights they were a little too excited to get right to sleep but eventually they did and they had a lot of fun. Ely, Cassidy's brother who is Nick's age, and Nick have already started planning how they can get in on these sleepovers next year. They've decided that 5 is a good age for them. We'll see how they really feel about that next year. We don't see them too often so I'm glad they got to spend some extra time together.
Ben had a camp out on Friday night with the Scouts-he is now working with the 11 year old scouts in the Spanish Ward in our stake. The kids and I just played at the park all night. On Saturday, our ward had a big summer party. Ben arrived home in the middle of it and was able to help the kids on the giant waterslide on the hill. They had so much fun, except for poor Nicky, who fell back on his head after his first run and decided he was done for the day. Needless to say, by Sunday we were exhausted and after church, everyone but Skylar took a 2-3 hour nap. So long, but so needed!
Today my friend, Lisa, was in town, who is also from St. George. We went out to lunch with her mom and sister and then headed to Thanksgiving Point to the dinosaur museum. We had so much fun! That place is so cool because it's so hands-on. I honestly think Lisa had as much fun playing as any of her kids! It was fun to get to spend time with them. Lisa and I always have so much fun together. I love it when she comes in town!