our brave man

Parker has had to be poked and prodded quite a few times over the last couple months. We've discovered that Parker has a Growth Hormone Deficiency. We're still trying to figure out what all this means and determine treatment. Unfortunately for Parker, the poking and prodding has just begun. This week he had to have an MRI {which will only be his first of many in the future}. They had to sedate him, but he didn't even make a peep when they inserted the IV. He was so brave!

{Happy as ever, moments after getting the IV placed, picking out a treasure!}

{Parker and Daddy}

{I know, this picture is so sad.
The nurses prepping him before they put him into the MRI machine.}

{Sleeping peacefully after the procedure was over.
We couldn't wake him for hours after they were finished.}

The good news is that Parker has no idea what is going on. He is just loving all the attention he is getting. He doesn't care why people are giving him cards, cupcakes and cookies...he'll take whatever attention he can get! He loves going to Primary Children's and playing video games, picking out of the treasure box and getting spoiled rotten.

playroom mini makeover

I consider our playroom my organizational nemesis. I am never at peace with this place. It's the one room in our house that I can never seem to keep clean or organized to my liking. Probably, because it's the kids domain. Probably, because it's something that easily overwhelms me.

I've frequently be heard sharing my disgust of ALL the toys we have. For ALL those toys, I'd like to give thanks to extremely generous grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc who have donated to this cause.

Every six months we give away bag{s} of our toys and yet they still seem to duplicate in record time. I swear those toys are reproducing in the closets!

Once again, it was time for me to give our playroom some love and get rid of more crap, I mean, toys. I want the playroom to be a place for the kids to explore, create, play and have fun. However, I believe that when there are too many options the kids get overwhelmed {just like me}.

I wanted our playroom to encourage play and creativity, without being overwhelming. I made a quick trip to IKEA and bought a few items that helped give our playroom a mini makeover. So far {it's been two weeks} the playroom has been a sanctuary instead of a dumping ground. Let's hope it lasts for at least a couple more weeks!

{I bought these artists smocks to preserve my children's clothing when they want to use the chalk, markers or paint. They love them and have wanted to use them all the time.}

{I bought these glass jars to store the scissors, markers, crayons, colored pencils & regular pencils. I had them in drawers before, but they were always out and everywhere. Plus, this has encouraged the kids to use them more often. For me, I love the way they look!}

{I also pulled all the coloring books out of the drawers and put them in this basket. Once again, they are getting much more use because of the exposure.}

{My favorite idea, which I think would be so darling for a little girls playroom, is the garment rack. I bought this at IKEA for $20. I also bought some wood hangers, which were only $2.99 for 5 hangers. I hung the boys costumes that they love to wear.}

{As you can see, I'm trying to remind my boys that they can do other things besides video games. Payton hasn't caught on yet!}

{Luckily, Parker and his friends have totally caught on and they are loving our new playroom!}

year round school

Have I mentioned before how much I love year round school?
If not, let me express my love now.

I looooooooove it!

It's so nice to get a three week break a few times during the year.
I think that I would prefer this to three long months of summer.
It's the perfect amount of time to have my child home with me.
Just about the time the kids all start fighting
and we've had too much fun,
It's time to go back to school.
I can't imagine school any other way.

I love being able to play and relax with all three of my boys.
We try to pack as much fun and relaxation as we can into our time off.

Our first official day off track we always spend sleeping in, hanging out in pajamas, playing games and doing nothing but relaxing. It's wonderful! We also take the time to plan out the rest of our time off track. I have the boys make lists of things they want to do. Here are their lists:

{Payton's To-Do List}

{Parker's To-Do List}

I'm happy to report that we were able to successfully check off {notice Payton's list} everything the boys wanted to do. Here are some of the notable things we did while Payton was off track:

{Trips to the Park}
{Bike rides}
{See "How To Train A Dragon"}
{Go to the Library}
{Have a read-a-thon}
{Swimming}
{Arctic Circle Ice Cream Sundaes}
{Hogle Zoo}
{Lots of Video Games}

{Visit Grandma and her new puppy}

{Slide Down Stairs in Sleeping Bags}

{Sleep Together}

{Play with Friends}

{Go to Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum}

{Wrestling}

little acts

"It is the aggregate of the acts which I perform through life that makes up the conduct that will be exhibited in the day of judgment, and when the books are opened, there will be the life which I have lived for me to look upon, and there also will be the acts of your lives for you to look upon. Do you not know that the building up of the kingdom of God...is to be done by little acts? You breathe one breath at a time; each moment is set apart to its act, and each act to its moment. It is the moments and the little acts that make the sum of the life of man. Let every second, minute, hour, and day we live be spent in doing that which we know to be right."

-President Brigham Young
(Journal of Discourses, 3:342-43)

hogle zoo with cousins

I woke up to a beautiful spring morning and knew that we had to spend the day outside. With rain in the extended forecast, this would be the perfect day to enjoy the sun before the spring weather switched it up on us again.

It was Payton's "Day Before His Last Day Off Track," which meant that we had reason to play today. As my parents can attest, I am infamous for making an event out of anything.

I called my Grandma, "Do you want to go to the zoo?"

She thought that was a great idea, but she had to finish up a batch of chocolate candy she was making {at 9:00 am on a Tuesday morning...really? I tell you, she's amazing!}

I sent a text to my sister-in-laws {well, all of them that live in the state}.

Hooray for us, the cousins were coming too!

We picked up my Grandma and her sister, Aunt Nell, who she invited along for the ride. We met Mahina, Eme, Dax, Jenny & Gygi at the zoo.

The weather was bliss.
The animals were fun.
The exercise was nice.
The company was fantastic.
We all left exhausted.
It was a perfect spring day!

{Cousins}

{Some of the crew taking a snack break}

{Payton & Parker Snacking}

{Cooper Snacking & Gygi Making a Funny Face}

{Little Eric...I just noticed it today. Wow!}

{Sweet baby Dax. I love the pink & brown blanket.
His sister could not hold still long enough to be
photographed or I would have one of her too!}

krista & willis

I've been told that I don't blog enough about these two...

"Krista & Willis
Sitting in a tree,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
First Comes Love...
Then Comes Marriage!"

The rest of the song will have to wait until
after they've been married a couple years, right?
These two are getting married in June and we couldn't be happier.
We absolutely love Willis and he is the perfect addition to our family.
We all adore him {especially my boys} and he adores my sister.
What more could we ask for?

I've had a lot of fun playing wedding planner.
Can't wait to see how it all turns out.
Now I'm off to plan a bridal shower!

meal planning with kids

My friend Michelle gave me the best idea and I just had to pass it along! She recently told me that she's been having her kids help with meal planning. She lets them each pick out a meal every week. I loved it and decided to find a way to implement this in our family.

I printed pictures of my kids favorite meals {I found pictures online using google pics.} They get to choose one of each...

Main dish

Vegetable

Fruit

They absolutely love it!
They get so excited to pick out their meals.
They love helping make their meals.
The best part is that they love eating their meals!

I was nervous to give up control because I absolutely love picking out yummy meals to make during the week, but it seems to work out perfect. My boys get two nights a week and I get to choose the other three nights {we usually eat out one night and do family dinners on Sunday). It's a great balance and a good way to get the kids involved. Thanks Michelle!

friends

I was talking to someone recently {you know who you are} about friends. This person was telling me that she doesn't really have any friends that she hangs out with. She has friends, but doesn't see them often and doesn't really care. She's happy just being with her and her little family. I've thought about this a lot and concluded that I could NEVER live without my friends. Not only these girls above, but the many different friends and associations I have. Yes, I'm admitting this. I am codependent. I need friends. My friends are my lifeline. My sanity. My friends teach me and inspire me and have helped me become the person I am. I just couldn't live without all the amazing friends in my life. Each one of them offers me something that I'm lacking in my life. Each one of them helps make me a better person.

Thanks friends!

time management tip #4

Raise your hand if you recognize these pretty pages? Oh boy, do I. These are the "blooms" Franklin Planner Refill Pages. They bring back so much nostalgia from my days with a trusty planner. I absolutely loved my Franklin Day Planner. I got my first one when I was 10-years-old and used it faithfully until I was 28 years-old. Obviously, Franklin was doing something right if I could use the same planner for 18-years of my life. I always received my new inserts for Christmas and loved spending Christmas Day adding in all my information to my new planner. I loved the fresh clean pages. I loved using a nice fine point pen to write so neatly on those pages. Yes, I am already well aware that I'm a complete nerd! However, about 4 years ago my love for this planner started to change. I now had two kids I was hauling around with their toys, diapers, jackets, etc. I didn't have room to carry a bulky planner around anymore. I also didn't have time to spend all Christmas Day neatly filling in my pages. It was heartbreaking, but I had to say goodbye to my first planner. I was brokenhearted, but quickly rebounded with ical. The new planner love of my life. It's a Mac thing so if you don't have one you are totally missing out, but I'm sure you can find something similar with your PC {Entourage I believe}.

With that said, time management tip #4 is...Use A Time Planning Tool {aka a Planner}

*Choose a daily or weekly planning calendar that works best for you.
*Take time to learn how to use your new planning tool.
*Record ALL of your activities in your planner.
*Refer to your planner often to help you stay on task.

Here's all the tips...only one more to go! Is anyone still following this?

Tip #1: Define Your Goals
Tip #2: Examine Your Time Usage
Tip #3: Plan Your Time
Tip #4: Use a Time Planning Tool

cooper's second birthday party

We had such a fun time celebrating Cooper's birthday! Payton and Parker loved that everyone came to their soccer games. They both asked if we could do that again. Cooper is having fun playing with all his fun new toys and balls. Thanks to all our family and friends who celebrated with us. It was such a fun day!