is this really happening?

This is not a joke. This is not a Halloween costume. This is Payton! This is how he would dress every day if we let him. (Although he wasn't happy about me taking a picture of him). He is obsessed with wearing basketball clothing. Normally, he is wearing a T.E.D hose on his arm (They are the tight leggings that you wear during surgery to help with circulation. Tim cut one to fit on his arm.) If you'll notice in all the pictures we have of him recently, he is always in a jersey. He has three jersey's; Boozer, Williams and Lebron James. He got them for his birthday. Thank goodness he only has three. And, thank goodness we have a rule that you can only wear a shirt one time a week, which means that at least four days a week he has to wear something besides a jersey! And, thank goodness this was taken on a Sunday afternoon...we have a few more rules when going out in public. I love that Payton is passionate about basketball. I love that he has found something he loves, but it is hard to watch your children grow up and make their own choices...especially clothing choices! I'm sure this phase will only get worse before it gets better. Wish us luck!

parker and gigi

Eric, Jenny and Gigi came over to visit. Parker LOVED holding his cousin, Gigi.  Actually, he kept correcting me and telling me that her name was Gwyneth.  Apparently, he does not prefer the nickname!

memorial day fun

We had a marathon day of fun on memorial day this year.  We started off the day with brunch at Tim's parent's home.  We celebrated Kent's birthday and mine.  I was just happy to be able to hold sweet little Gwyneth!

After we hung out for awhile, Andi & I took our kids to see this...

While the boys went and saw this...

After a fun morning with Tim's family, we headed over to my Grandma's for some more celebrating.  We celebrated mine, Clint's and Les's birthday.  

Party Animals!

Parker was ready to start opening presents.

It was so fun to have my sister, Erika, in town for our party.  We were lucky to spend lots of time with Erika and Brian while they were in town.  

After the parties, we decided we better observe Memorial Day so we went and visited my Grandpa Chesnut's grave...

AND my Grandma Bergstrom's grave.

It was a long, fun and exhausting day!

girls weekend

I was able to have one of the best weekends with some of my favorite girls.  Michelle, Dani, Heidi, Camille & I all had a fabulous weekend together.  We started off the weekend by doing a session at the Salt Lake Temple.  

Michelle, Me, Dani & Heidi

After the temple we went to lunch, did some shopping and then went to the salon for pedicures and manicures.

Heidi, Dani & Camille

After the salon we checked into our hotel.  We got freshened up and then went to an AMAZING dinner at Cucina Toscana.  Seriously, the best restaurant I've been to in Utah.  Our server was incredible, the food was amazing and the ambiance was just right.  Not too mention, having four of my best girlfriends for company was perfect!

After our incredible dinner we went back to our hotel and did crazy girl things like...

TAKE PICTURES OF OUR FEET?!?

Then we laughed so hard about what we were doing...

We also tried on our new clothes that we purchased earlier in the day.  Pregnant brain, Dani, needed a t-shirt to wear so she grabbed this shirt from Nordstrom Rack.  When she tried it on at the hotel she realized that there was writing on the front AND the back (or so she claims).  We just think that she really is an "Original Gansta."

We all bought these cute dresses.  Actually, Dani bought two and made me buy one from her.  I'm a sucker!  Can't you tell how forceful she is?  She's even making me smile...

  Camille gave me this cute platter for my birthday.  (Today was also my birthday.)  Anyway, I was just displaying our delicious dessert that we had that evening.  

AFTER we tried on clothes, ate all our "dessert" and talked the night away we actually did go to sleep.  We woke up on Saturday morning and Camille & I did a short run up City Creek Canyon while the other girls worked out in the hotel gym.  After we got ready for the day, we said goodbye to Michelle who was needed at home and then went to Gourmandise for lunch.  

The food was delicious, but the desserts were INCREDIBLE.  See for yourself!

This porcupine looks so cute and tastes even better!

We finished off our weekend by shopping till we dropped.  We went to Gateway and shopped all afternoon until our feet hurt and we were so exhausted.  

I feel so blessed to have these incredible women in my life.  It was such a fun and relaxing weekend.  It was the perfect amount of time away from home.  It gave me just the boost I needed to be a better wife and mother.  I recommend everyone enjoy a girls weekend every once in awhile.  I'm already up for another one.  Thanks Ladies!

parker's last day of preschool

This little heartbreaker finished his last day of his first year of preschool (did you get that?).  One huge milestone accomplished and a million more to go. Parker is such a smart boy. He often lives in his brother's shadow, mostly by his own choice.  He idolizes Payton and wants to do everything he does. Because of this, sometimes, we tend to forget Parker's age. We are often reminding ourselves that he is only four-years-old. Parker has had such a wonderful preschool experience. 

He was in school with two of his best buddies; Kyle and Ryker.  They had so much fun being together.  Their teachers were constantly telling us what sweet boys they were.

The kids did a little program for the parents.  They sang some cute songs they learned!

Parker was lucky to have two AMAZING teachers; Mrs. Teresa and Mrs. Camille.  He learned so much this year.  He writes his name so well.  He knows all of his letters and most of the letter sounds.  He knows all of his addition facts up to 10 (which he actually learned at home).  He really likes to learn and  loves to read stories BY HIMSELF (just like Payton does).  He always comes and tells me that he finished his reading.  We are so glad that Parker enjoyed preschool so much and can't wait for another year!

hogle zoo field trip

I was able to go with Payton's class on their field trip to Hogle Zoo. We got to the zoo and his teacher sent me off with 5 crazy boys and 1 cute girl to explore the zoo. Really? 1 adult and 6 wild first graders?!  I was a little nervous at first, but these silly kids were actually so much fun. We had Payton J., Payton K., Chase, Bridger, Carsen and Callie in our group.  We had a great time together.  I've loved all the time that I've been able to spend in the classroom this year with these students. Payton has been lucky to have such a great group of kids in his class this year.

snack box

As I was filling up my snack box this week I realized that I don't know what I would do without it.  I love this thing!  I have this snack box in my pantry.  I fill it once a week or more if necessary.  This is where my kids get all their snacks.  Here are more reasons why I love this box: 

*If friends come over, and they ask for a snack (which they always do), I pull out the snack box and they can choose whatever they want.  

*Payton takes a snack to school for recess everyday so he is able to choose whatever snack he wants each morning without even asking me.  

*Whenever I am running out the door to soccer, baseball, run errands, church, etc. I grab snacks for my kids from the snack box.  

*This little snack box has saved me so much time, energy and arguments with my kids.  LOVE IT!  

"piece of cake"

This morning before church we were in the kitchen eating a snack. While we were eating Payton disappeared. After being gone for a little while, I walked down the hall to check on him. He came out of the bathroom with something in his hand and said, "piece of cake." To which I replied, "huh?" He stated enthusiastically, "I just got my tooth out. It was a piece of cake!" I couldn't believe how proud, shocked and excited I was. He was so happy and I was so happy for him!

Apparently, while we were eating his tooth felt pretty loose. Without telling us, he went into the bathroom to check on it. He started playing with it and just pulled it out. What a crazy kid?! He is so funny! I love that he just quietly disappeared into the bathroom and pulled his own tooth out by himself. Needless to say, it was a pretty exciting moment for all of us. Payton couldn't stop looking at his empty space in his mouth in the mirror. This is his second tooth that he has lost and he has a whole mouthful more to go!

healthy?!?

This is the cupboard where I normally keep Cooper's cups and bottles.  However, recently those things have been crowded out by these things... 

This has been Cooper's daily regimen of antibiotics, steroids, breathing treatments, creams, etc.  This poor little guy has been sick since January.  The first 9 months of his life he was a very healthy baby.  Since January, however, things have changed.  He has had one thing after another plaguing his poor little body (ear infections, bronchiolitis, reactive airway disorder, more ear infections, pink eye, eczema, more ear infections, more bronchiolitis, a weird bump on his foot, and more ear infections!)  After four months of nagging ear infections, we decided it was time for tubes.  Although it won't relieve ALL of his health problems, we are hoping that he will be on his way to good health.

Here is the nurse practitioner checking his lungs, while Mommy & Daddy were praying that they sounded well enough to do the surgery.  Luckily, they sounded great!

Cooper got to play with all kinds of fun toys while he waited for his surgery.  Primary Children's is the best!  Don't you love his cute hospital clothes?

Here is Cooper about ten minutes after we left him with the doctors to do the surgery.  It's amazing how quick this little procedure is and  how quick they can wake him up.  The longest part of our stay at the hospital was spent waiting!  Cooper was angry that they would only give him sugar water.  He was STARVING!

FINALLY, they gave him some Jello and he was so much happier...apparently, so was I!  The surgery was a huge success.  It's been a few days now and Cooper is actually (dare I say) healthy?!?  

monsters vs. aliens birthday party

2:00 pm - Make Monsters while Children Arrive

(Prepare ahead of time different google eyes, noses, mouths, teeth, arms, legs, bodies of monsters or aliens out of construction paper. Let the children create their own monster.)  

This isn't a great picture, but the kids monsters turned out really cute!

2:15 pm - Monsters Save the World from the Aliens Relay Race 

(Ride bikes through cones, eat a marshmallow, make a basket in hoop, run and jump through big box, go down the slide, put on big shorts, big shirt, big boots and run and tag the next person in line. Children will wear masks and be on two different teams. Bob & Missing Link Team One; Mad Scientist & Insectosaurus Team Two.)  

This was the favorite part of the party for most of the kids.  They LOVED cheering on their teammates very loudly!

2:30 pm - Capture the Alien

(Freeze aliens in popsicles. Children must try to get the alien out of the ice.)  

The kids loved taking a break to have a treat AND find a little alien inside their popsicle.

2: 45 pm - Mad Scientist Experiment

(Make Slime. Put in bags for children to take home with care instructions.)  

This was another highlight of the party.  The slime turned out really well.  The kids were so impressed that they were able to make slime.  

3:10 pm – Find the Missing Link

(Open presents and see if Payton can find the missing link somewhere hidden in the presents.)  

Obviously, this was Payton's favorite part of the party.  It's fun to see how excited kids get to GIVE their present.  So cute!

3:20 pm – Alien Cupcakes

(The kids successfully captured the aliens and can now EAT THEM! Sing Happy Birthday to Payton and eat cupcakes.)  

These cupcakes took a lot of preparation effort looking for the right ingredients that I never really found.  I had to improvise from the original cupcake recipe, but I think they turned out okay.  The kids loved them!

3:30 pm - All the Monsters Head Home! 

(Hand out goody bags filled with pop rocks, glow sticks, outer space stickers, and little alien guys. Also, have the kids take home their monsters, homemade slime and monster masks.)

The party was so much fun!  It didn't feel exhausting or feel like a lot of work (besides the cupcakes), it was just a lot of fun.  The kids are at a really fun age and all the activities turned out to be really fun!