An Insignificant and Unimportant TAG!

I've been tagged. I get to share 5 insignificant and unimportant things about myself. That shouldn't be too hard, right? Here goes...
1. Popcorn...my number one weakness. I can even pass on the popcorn itself, but I'll ALWAYS go for the half popped little kernals in the bottom of the bowl. Movie popcorn is absolutely irresistable (and who could turn down the butter on top???).
2. I have absolutely NO athletic ability in me. How could this be, since I come from a family of athletes? I just lack in the coordination department, that's all! That's probably why I like to run so much. It really doesn't take a lot of coordination, but I've still been known to trip and fall while running. Oh well.
3. I find a great satisfaction in throwing things away. It gives me a strange thrill to finish a box of cereal, or a gallon of milk, and to throw away the container. That 'empty spot' in my pantry or my fridge just looks so nice! One of my favorite family projects is to clean out closets and visit the DI. I just love to rid myself of clutter!
4. Green bananas, YUMMY! I won't eat a banana unless there is at least a little green on the peel. The yellow ones are only good for banana bread, but that's not a bad thing either!
5. I love to read a good book. I used to allow myself a 'sick day' every now and again (totally faking it), just to sit around and read a book all day long. Ya, this was after I was married with kids! I don't have to fake it any more though. Derrick just knows and understands that sometimes I'm going to take the day off. Just me and a good book!

Thanks for the tag Katie! Now I'll tag Becky (because you haven't blogged in FOREVER), Whitney (same reason), Brayden (because you make me laugh!), Jenna (I'm laughing just anticipating it), and Nicky (to give you something interesting to do that doesn't require movement, ha ha). Have fun!!!

Happy Day!

Myah had a really great day yesterday. Her cousin, Abby, who has been living in India, just returned to the U.S. and came to spend the day with us. The two girls are very nearly the same age, and get along fabulously! They are just weeks apart in age, and it's so funny to see how similar they look and act...like two little peas in a pod. Cousins are great!

Skyler got to spend the day with Ian. I've never really noticed how similar they are too. They were happy to spend the day playing board games, and had a lot of fun. (no pictures of the two of them though, bummer)

It was a real treat to have friends to play with yesterday (for me too!). Thanks Amy, for making the drive and taking the time to hang out with us!

Worth Waiting For

Last June, all Zacary really wanted for his birthday was to go on a backpacking trip with Derrick. The kid (like his father) absolutely LOVES to hike, but we've never actually been able to take him backpacking. So for his birthday (last year) we bought him a backpack and got him all excited...but it never happened! Life just got in the way I guess. So we rainchecked him. Now, a year later, Zac finally got to go on his long awaited backpacking trip! I think we should make it a habit to make the kids wait a full year for their birthday wish, since they sure seem to appreciate it more! I was so happy that they took a lot of pictures, because it's fun to see exactly how happy Zacary looks in all of them. He looks like he's about to burst with excitement! So Derrick, Skyler, and Zac spent three days hiking Palisades Creek. They hiked up the first day, about seven miles, and spent the whole next day at the lake. Then they came home on the third day. I was a pretty jealous woman, since I also LOVE to hike, but I suppose it's good for the boys to have 'guy time' too.
Tannon (still just a bit too small to make the hike) and Myah and I stayed home and had a fun time too. We went to see Kung Foo Panda (GREAT SHOW!), went out to dinner at Texas Road House, and spent the day at the pool on Saturday. I thought all of the fun would wipe me out, but it was great. Life was pretty easy with just two kids. It made all of the difference in the world!

The highlight of the trip was that they caught TWELVE fish! Derrick's one failure in his twelve and a half years of fatherhood (this is according to him, not me) is that he's never once been able to help his boys catch a fish! He doesn't know how to fish himself, and try as he might, he just couldn't seem to get that first catch! At first, he used to take the boys quite often, in hopes of the big catch. But over the years, he's gradually given up on the whole fishing thing. Poor guy. Once, he even asked if there was someplace he could go for 'fishing lessons'. But Zac insisted on taking fishing gear up to the lake...and they did it! Who was happier, Derrick or the boys? I'm not sure! They weren't actually able to EAT any of the fish, since they didn't know how to clean them. I guess they'll learn that little bit of information for next time!

The first catch! Wahoo!!!!

Skyler has waited twelve long years for this catch!

What kind of comment could I possible write about this picture???
This picture sums it all up for me...the kid was even happy to wash dishes!!!

So this was a good weekend for everyone! The boys saw everything from mountain goats, to moose, but thankfully no bears. They even made friends with a rock chuck! And I really loved the time I had with Tannon and Myah too! Time together seems to be something that we never have enough of, so we're always thankful for every chance that we get!

Question of the Day...

I love being a mom! Sometimes my kids ask me a question that really gives me a good laugh! Most recently, Tannon's question of the day brought a smile to my face...

"Mom, does this match???"

Happy Father's Day!

A little belated, but nonetheless, Happy Father's day to all of the really great men in my life! When I was in high school and college, I always used to say that if I could marry someone even half as great as my dad, then I would be very very happy! Derrick more than exceeded my expectations, and my kids are really lucky to have such an awesome dad! So thanks to my dad who helped me set the bar so high. Thanks to my father in law who really taught Derrick to love and respect women in general, and of course, a huge thanks to my sweetheart, Derrick (aka 'superdad'). I love you all!!!

My dad

I don't really have any pictures of Derrick's dad, but this is still a fun picture. He's pushing Derrick in the swings, and it looks like fun!

My sweet guy!

Here at Last!!!

I thought summer would never come to Pocatello! But to our suprise, the weather man was actually somewhat accurate this week! Most of the week was rainy and very very windy, but by Friday things had turned around. Now we are on our third day IN A ROW of warm sunshine and blue skies! This is my favorite time of year, since it's warm but not hot. The grass is green, but not burnt. And the sun is shining, but there is still a nice breeze blowing. I love to have the windows open and enjoy the fresh air. It is a good day!

Yesterday, the neighbors invited Myah and Tannon to come play on their totally awesome slide. Of course, they were out playing on it first, while Myah was watching them (and drooling) from our deck, just longing to join them! I love having awesome neighbors! It makes life so much easier. Doesn't it look like great fun?!
Home sweet home. We just wanted to take a pretty summer picture, in case we ever have to sell our house in the winter months (so ugly). My favorite part of this whole picture is the beautiful BLUE sky above!

The Little Red Hen I Am!!!

Today, I was feeling 'homemakerish' (not a real word, I know), so I decided to make homemade whole wheat bread. For the first time EVER, I even pulled out my fancy new wheat grinder (thanks mom & dad), and ground the wheat to make the flour to make the bread! The whole time I was thinking of the little red hen too! Only I am much more blessed than that little red hen, because while I was grinding the wheat, Derrick was at work making money to buy more wheat, Skyler was folding the laundry, Zacary was cleaning the house, Tannon was cleaning his room, and Myah was on a stool next to me adding more wheat to the grinder and keeping me company! And then, to top it all off, while the bread was raising, I went to the park and ran into a great friend who sat patiently and listened to me gripe about my current condition (meaning pregnancy). Thanks Jen! I don't know how that little red hen did it all by herself, but today I'll just count myself blessed!

Down at Downata

We spent last weekend with Derrick's family at Downata HotSprings (what a dumb name!). It was really cold, so we were grateful to have a warm house to sleep in. Grandma had a hard time staying warm, but Kira and Myah took good care of her. Thankfully, they keep their pool pretty warm too. It was great to kick off summer with something fun. I think the kids got enough swimming in to last them a while too. I know they certainly swallowed enough water to last the summer! (Eeww, yuck)

Poor Tannon got pretty sick while we were there, but
doesn't somebody always get sick??? He had a high fever and was throwing up for a couple of days. He's still not quite on top of things. Just one more reason to be thankful we were in a house rather than a tent.

Besides swimming, most of the family played horseshoes too. It's definitely not my game, but they had a fun time. The competition was stiff, but I think Derrick was just happy to see Dave beat his mom!
All in all, it was a fun weekend. My kids don't really get to spend a lot of time with their cousins (we all live just a little too far away from eachother to have it be an easy visit) but we'll take what we can get. So now we're home again, and I'm still trying to recover. These things wear me out!

Big Belly Mama

How's that for a big ole' belly!? Yep, I'm growing by the minute, and I still have two and a half months left! This is gonna be fun, I just know it! And why would I post such an aweful picture of myself??? I really hate it when Derrick gets ahold of the camera. He always takes unwanted pictures of me. I guess I just figure that if I can't laugh at myself, I'll probably cry...so I choose to laugh!

My Little Monster!

Not much to say. Just a picture. We had a warm spell a while back so I packed up all of the winter clothes. Since then, it's turned pretty cool outside again. I guess Myah found some warm clothes (an old Halloween costume) to go outside and play in. I must say, she's the sweetest little monster I've ever known!

...And Then There Were Five (Part 2)

In the previous post, Derrick took five crazy boys to Lagoon for a day. I failed to post what Myah did for fun that day. While the boys were away, she stayed with Aunt Nicky and played with her cousins, Emilie and Jarin. They pulled out the water toys, and judging by the looks of it, they had a great time. I wasn't there to take any pictures, but I did manage to borrow a couple from the Crawford's blog. Thanks Nicky (for the pictures, and for the fun play day for Myah)!

Emilie, Jarin, and Myah

Myah

...And Then There Were FIVE!

Today is Zac's 10th birthday. Happy Birthday Zac! Year after year, Zac gets ripped off on his birthday. One year, we were making the 12 hour drive home from a job interview in Klammath Falls Oregon, and we stopped at McDonalds and ordered an ice cream sunday and sang happy birthday. The year we moved here, we didn't have our landscaping done yet, so we bought him a tether ball on a string and told him we would have it installed when we landscaped. Three years later...no tether ball. Bummer. Last year, he wanted to go on an overnight backpacking trip with Derrick. We took him out and bought a pack and planned their hike. A year later...no hike! This year, we tried to convince him that he needed to have a birthday party, but he wasn't interested at all. He said he'd rather have a fun day with just our family. That's ok too, right?
So in celebration, we decided to run the kids down to Lagoon for the day. We figured we could grant his birthday wish and have a fun family break all at once. In the end, I opted to skip out, since it would have been a waste of a ticket for me right now (not great at being on my feet for very long). Therefore, we decided to keep the girls at home (although I'm sure Myah would love it), and Zac invited his two cousins to join him in our place. So instead of a family day it turned out to be a 'boys day' at Lagoon!
Derrick always has his hands full with just our 3 boys, but yesterday, he earned a gold star. He had 5 crazy boys at Lagoon all day long! I never even heard him complain either! Way to go my sweet man!

Skyler, Zac, Nathan, Tannon, Brayden
Zac, Brayden, Tannon, Skyler

Tannon, Brayden, Nathan, Zac