Mother's Day

I had such a fantastic Mother's day. It started out with the big kids behaving in the morning and Mommy being able to sleep in. We all got up and moving and the kids did some skits they planned while I was still sleeping. One was about them being wizards and doing spells and the other was them jump roping 7 different ways. It was cute and fun. After the show Jay and the kids made a cake before church. They made a from scratch dark chocolate cake with homemade chocolate butter cream frosting. I couldn't wait all day to dig in to it. We all got dressed for church and went to church. When we got home Jay and the big kids got started on dinner. They made the most delicious baked potato soup. It was so incredibly tasty. That with the Rhodes rolls we baked dunked in it was so yummy. After dinner Jay cleaned up and then before bed we dug into the cake. It was so yummy! This has definitely been one of the greatest Mother's days yet. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy the day. 

Thank you to my wonderful husband for his patience and letting the kids help make the day so great. I love my family so much. I am so grateful to be a mom and especially to get to stay home and take care of my kids every day. I know I am truly blessed and I continually try to be grateful for the blessing of motherhood and for my wonderful kids. I can't imagine my life without any of my 4 little crazy yahoos. 

Zoey made this sign while I was sleeping this morning. There was no way I could miss it when I walked out to the living room. Love it!

 Look how happy they are making dinner for Mommy. I should let them do it more often. :)

 Aiden just hung out in the high chair while we ate dinner. He's just so darn cute.

 The kids set the table and made place cards for everyone. Very cute!

 My delicious soup, rolls and milk. 

 I would say this is a good indication of just how good it was.

 My wonderful hubby frosting the cake.

 This by the way is the very first time in 9 years together that Jay has ever baked for me. It's so not his thing doing all that measuring but he sure was successful. 

 The place cards.

 Here is Jay apparently torturing our daughter by forcing her to eat chocolate cake. He wasn't really but that's what Olivia made it seem like. Too funny!

And of course I need to mention my mother. I am grateful for her and for all the things she taught me in life. She taught me how to cook and bake and how to do laundry and about keeping a clean home. She took me to church and made sure I was raised with the gospel in my life. She has always been supportive and loving. She has helped myself and my family out so much. She cares about me and would do anything for me. And one of my very favorite things about her is that she is a wonderful grandma. I am very grateful for the mom I have been blessed with. Happy Mother's Day Mom! Hope you enjoy your magic cookie bars.

Fine Arts Night

Zoey and I recently went to fine arts night at the school. It's always fun to walk the campus and have a look at all the student art on display. There are some talented, creative kids at the school. I am posting way too many pictures but I couldn't resist. There was just so much I loved. I had a great time walking around with Zoey admiring all the wonderful art.

Her beautiful sunflower, painted with her fingers and her fist.

Pointing to her reproduction of Monet's Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies.

 Wassily Kandinsky circle art. Love the color. Zoey has one of her own in very light pastel colors hanging on our wall at home.

 Presidents.

 These really colorful ones were some of my favorites as well.

 Some pottery work.

 I'm sure you can guess what this is from. Who doesn't love Chicka Chicka Boom Boom?!

 How cute are these ducks in a pond?!

 Another classic and another favorite book of ours, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

 Splatter painting.

 Some abstract sculpting.

Some of these urn/vase drawings had such detail.

 Snapped this one for my hubby.

 We took pictures of Noah's art since he was sick and couldn't come with us.

 I think he did some really nice water coloring in this one.

 Zoey's flag is the one in the top left corner with the Z on it.

 This giraffe pic is for me. I love giraffes! There were a bunch of different ones but this was one of my favorites.

 So much beautiful, vibrant art!

Good Ole Magna Doodle

I love that from age 7 on down to age 2 the Magna Doodle holds equal appeal. These toys have had the greatest longevity around our house and I love it. No batteries, no technology, just draw and erase draw and erase draw and erase. Plus I had all 4 kids hanging out on my bed with me happy and relatively quite for a good 45 minutes. This picture and the simple memory of my 4 kids happily hanging out in my room with me just makes me smile. Just a simple, sweet moment in time but I know these moments with my little ones will be gone before I know it.

Ribs and Missionaries

Just couldn't resist snapping a quick picture of Elders Johnson and Carter when they had dinner with us this week. We fed them beef back ribs not thinking it may not be the easiest thing to eat without getting their white shirts all dirty. My husband being the greatness that he is offered them some t-shirts to put on over their white shirts. I believe as he put it "Hey, I am a pretty big guy. Would you like a huge shirt to wear?", or something to that extent. They gladly accepted and spent dinner swallowed up in Jay's t-shirts. So they got the best of both worlds, a finger lickin' good beef rib dinner and walked away with spotless white shirts. :)

Multipurpose

Olivia may not be able to ride her tricycle yet but it sure does make a nice seat for her while she watches some Disney.

Just a Cute Baby

 The little guy is loving the bumbo. He will sit in it for quite a while. He loves sitting up like a big kid.

 Our skinny little guy looks like he might just be developing a sweet, baby, double chin.

Oldest and Youngest

Zoey wanted to hold Aiden the other day and I couldn't resist snapping some pictures. She loves him so incredibly much, and I love that. Don't mind the name badge on Zoey's shirt. Four hasn't gotten me so forgetful I can't remember their names, she was indeed on a field trip that day. 

 She found a secret button on him. If you touch his nose he opens his mouth. She demonstrated several times and found it incredibly funny every time.

Let's be honest, sweet moments between my kids are not a regular occurrence. I so much enjoy witnessing them though.

Olivia's Pretties

Thank you to Aunt Jenn, Aunt Steph, and Aunt Pam for contributing the money so we could finally get Olivia's ears pierced. Even though she just turned 2 she has been asking for earrings and she got the money for her birthday to do it. We couldn't decide which earrings to pick so Jay said to let Olivia pick. I didn't think she would really care but as soon as we showed her the options she chose the CZ flowers. She definitely knew what she wanted. It was a process to get done, she was not cooperative in any way. She freaked out when the girl used the alcohol wipes on her ears and only Mommy was allowed to use the purple marker to mark her ears for the earring placement. I wasn't so excited about that because I am always so worried about them being even. Then when it came time to do the piercing Jay had to hold her down, especially for the second one. We got it done though and she looks even cuter now than she did before. We didn't think that was possible. Thanks for the great birthday present. Olivia loves her pretties!

Puzzles

Olivia really likes doing her new puzzles she got for her birthday. She is a pro at them already.

A Visit from Julee

We were lucky enough to get to have Julee around for almost a week and a half. We got to see her a lot and she spent a few days sleeping at our house and hanging out with us. I can't believe she is getting ready to turn 15. I must say the best part of having her around was just getting to know her better. Julee is an amazing young woman. You can tell she has a testimony of the gospel and is a good kid. She is in many honors classes in school, is in the band, and plays on the JV volleyball team. Julee is a dedicated student and really works hard to get good grades. She even spends her time between after school and volleyball working hard to get homework done. Julee is a confident, helpful, wonderful young woman and I am so proud of who she has become. Thanks for coming to visit Julee and thank you for all your help with the little ones. It sure was nice having you around. We miss you!

We spent some time playing Wii,

and some Scrabble Go,

 posing for some pictures,

 being a little bit silly,

 and just enjoying being together.