Cute faces

I think Mack took this picture, and I love it because it's down at his level & captures Bella's blue eyes, cute little mouth & crazy hair!

This is Noah's happy face when he got his new "snap" scriptures after his baptism. He wasn't expecting them, because when we went shopping I decided they were too expensive & told him "no." Grandma & Grandpa said they'd half them with us, because they knew how much he wanted those exact ones & we surprised him!

Happy purple popsicle mustaches!

Check out the drip catchers I found in the dollar aisle at Target. No more sticky hands or stained carpet...well, maybe that's wishful thinking!

Cute Sam sporting his new orange glasses & their "sleeping bag!"

He hated all of the wire rimmed glasses that you usually see on kids. He had to have thick frames that weren't round. Sam was very specific about what he wanted, and the dr & optician both said it's important to let him choose, so he'll wear them. He did settle for orange, since they didn't have green frames, but other than that- they are all Sam!

Noah's baptism

This past Saturday, Noah was baptised & the first thing he said when he stepped into the dressing room afterward was "FINALLY"! He has been waiting for 2 months because he talked Len into performing the baptism & Len needed a little time to prepare. Len & Noah have a very special bond & it didn't surprise me that Noah would be the one to help Len take that leap of faith & let down his walls.

It was a very special day for all of us, especially Noah!

We set up a table of his favorite things: books, pokemon, soccer & school.

This is 3 of his cousins, Sarah, Bronson & Jackson with his Aunt, Nancy, practicing their song. Nancy was just filling in for Noah's other cousin, Emily, who was busy interviewing for the Miss Sandy pageant (& she won, by the way. Yeah Em!) The 4 cousins sang "Beautiful Saviour" for the closing song & it was beautiful. We were so lucky to have tons of family & friends there to join us.

My cousin, Kelcee & her little boy, Ethan came with my Aunt Gayle Sue all the way from Idaho Falls to share in this special day.

Noah was so happy to have his Daddy baptize him :) Len was very happy about everything that day too, except me choosing a jumper for him that was toooooooo small! Oops!

I'm so excited & I just can't hide it!

Whoo hoo! Bella can't wait for her first little kids book club party :)

This little cutie is growing up faster than any of the boys. She watches their every move & can't wait to read books, play in a soccer game, use the computer & go to school! It's like torture to her that her little body won't allow her to do all these things. Her out of control monkey moves got her into trouble today at the Carter's outlet. She kept climbing on top of the lego table they have for kids to play with, & chucking the lego blocks. I kept putting her back into the chair & she kept climbing back up. Finally, I told her no more table & brought her over by me in line, where there were rows of stuffed animals to play with. She'd grab each elephant, monkey & bear by their foot and throw her arm back, tossing the animals through the air! I couldn't grab them as fast as she could throw them. All I could think was, "How could I have forgotten to put the dang stroller back in the car?!" After finally putting the display back while performing a wrestling hold on little Bella, I plopped her on the counter & told her to HOLD STILL! Whatever. While I still had 1 hand on her leg, she twisted around & placed both hands on an upside down mouse pad & faster than lightning slid on her stomach over the back side of the counter head first. I screamed, which got the attention of every single person in the store, except the cashier who was in reaching distance of Bella. Her reaction was just to look at me like, "what's your problem, lady?" She obviously wasn't a mom. Luckily, as I was trying to grab Bella I was practically over the counter & saw that her head landed in a pile of lay-away bags full of clothes. It was super scary, but all turned out OK. Bella's now sound asleep in her little cage we call a crib, right where she belongs. Safe & sound. If I ever forget the stroller again, I'm turning around & heading back home! It's not worth it- my heart is barely starting to resemble a normal heart rate again.

Summer co-op kid's book club!

June's book selection

(This one's coming out as a movie soon too!)

My kids are always whining to go to Book Club with me, so I am starting a kid's book club for the summer to keep up their skills. They are so excited! I've had the idea for years, but decided to put it into action after meeting with Noah's teacher this week. She emphasized how important it is to not let up on studying during the summer months. This should be a fun way to maintain good study skills & implement some personal responsibility too!

We are inviting any of our friends that have interest in participating to join us!

Here's how it works...

You can decide what your child needs to do to earn the reward of going to book club every Friday. We decided on an age appropriate amount of reading, math, writing & hiking or exploring time each day. We also made charts, but you can do whatever works for you. There's no keeping track or requirements by the book club!

All ages are welcome!

Book Club will be more of a weekly playgroup at the park for young kids, under 5, who read or are read to everyday. The day we meet will be decided later.

Kids over 5, who meet their goals, will be able to meet Friday night at 5:00 for a yummy kids dinner at one of the members homes. Then, at 6:00 they will gather somewhere fun (like a tent with flashlights or the backyard) with lots of yummy treats & listen to the member's Mom or Dad read the selected chapter book until 10:00! What a fun late night together with friends & just think how much reading time the kids will get over the summer! :)

The parents, when not hosting, can enjoy a date night free of babysitting charges while their kids are at book club every Friday night! Bonus :)




We would love to have our friends join us,

and your kids are welcome even if you can't host.




Email me or comment if you are interested!

Sassy pants!

Random quick update

What we've been up to in 6 seconds...

Laura: folding lots of laundry

Len: working way past dinner

Bella: eating toothpaste

Mack: relaxing & stealing Bella's sippy

Sam: inventing new hair styles ("the wave")

Noah: scouting & schooling

That's all for today.

Viva Las Vegas

We went to Las Vegas for spring break & here's a re-cap...

The morning we were going to leave, Bella had been up all night with a stuffy nose & was not happy. I called my niece & her hubby on the off chance that they could watch her, since we knew she would be miserable in the car for 7 hours with a cold. They were excited to do it, so her already packed bags went to Draper instead of Las Vegas!

We sure missed her, but many times thought how hard it would've been for her. I really thought this on the way there, when we were at the do-it-yourself car wash spraying puke off the car seats. Mack apparently gets car sick easily & finally let loose in Mesquite! After stopping to let him get air, go to the bathroom & wash the car, it took 9 1/2 hours to get there.

It was Noah's request (for Grandma, of course) to go to Las Vegas because he had such a fun trip to Vegas in December with Len. He really wanted to go back when it was warm & told Sam & Mack all about it, so they were excited too. We got asked "are we going swimming in Las Vegas today?" everyday for about 2 weeks before the trip!

One of the favorite parts of the trip for Sam & Mack was the HOTEL! Sam wants to live at the hotel for the rest of forever because it has a huge bathtub, a pool & elevator buttons! It is a nice hotel that Len & I had found years ago when he worked for Marriott. It's about 15 minutes west of the strip & it's very peaceful, beautiful & not typical tacky Vegas style.

Apparently eating very large brownies after swimming isn't a good combination for our sensitive Mack. He puked in his sleep all over the bed & it soaked through to the mattress. Thus, we got to experience "living" in 2 different rooms of our cool hotel! Wow!

The Easter bunny visited on Easter Sunday. The boys were so amazed that he found them at the hotel & left baskets in the room :) heehee!

There was a big Easter egg hunt at the hotel out in the S U N! It felt amazing after leaving the snow & wind. The kids had so much fun!

Noah got the most eggs & was proud of it!

Sam & Mack stopped to shake each egg to make sure they were getting the goods, but they didn't get very many eggs & realized it wasn't a good plan!

Not as warm as it looks, but heavenly compared to the weather we left behind in SLC. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for such a fun trip!

We agree with Sam that this would be a great place to live.

We stopped in St. George on the way home to have lunch with Len's parents, sister & to wash the car yet again. We also picked up some Dramamine & made it home from St. George puke free. It was smooth sailing from there, other than that little speeding ticket we got!

I guess you have to experience the bitter to appreciate the sweet! :)

That's the motto for traveling with kids.