tennis anyone?

Last friday Owen told me that he wanted to be a tennis player when he grew up. So friday night, Peter bought the girls new rackets and gave their old ones to the boys so we could go play saturday morning. We went to the high school and it actually was really fun. Last time we took the kids (before we moved to AZ) it didn't turn out so well. There was no crying...in fact the only complaint was the heat and we didn't bring enough cold water to drink. We'll have to prepare a little better next time.

The kids each had a turn having a little lesson with Peter. They all did really good, even Jake had a few hits by himself. We'll have to keep this up cause it was really fun to spend the time together as a family doing something different.

80's day

Today is 80's day at school.

I couldn't get Abbey's bangs just right cause they are too long. It took all I had to not cut them this morning so I could get them perfect. Quincy has been begging forever to wear a side ponytail and they both kept saying, "no fair, you got to wear your hair like that all the time!" Wasn't I the lucky one!

piano...

A couple of weeks ago, our ward had a silent auction fundraiser for scouts. I bid on and won 8 free piano lessons for the summer. I have been really excited about them cause I think it is just the excuse I needed to finally find a piano for our house and start the girls in lessons. I have been searching craigslist and it started out really fun, but now has turned out into something super stressful. My original plan was to keep it cheap, but so far all the cheap pianos that I have seen are just cheap pieces of crap (ugly too). I went to a piano store yesterday and looked around and they suggested a digital piano (yamaha clavinova). I was really impressed with the sound of it and of all it's capabilities, but they still start out at $1200.00 which is a lot more than I want to spend. We also have the option of renting the piano and if we decide to purchase we can use the first 6 months rent as credit. I also like the fact that I can put it my den (which we use as a kids family room) so it doesn't have to look good. You can plug headphones in it so the girls can practice silently and my other kids can still play with their toys, watch movies, etc. without being bothered. For those of you who know my Quincy, she doesn't like to mess up in front of people so having her practice silently may actually really benefit her. The sales man suggested to use the digital piano and if my kids end up sticking with piano, then invest in a nice piano that will last for years. Does anybody have any suggestions or input on my situation?

Beautiful Day!!

It was such a nice day today. It only got up to 75 or so and it was windy (doesn't happen very often), so we decided to go to the park after school and fly a kite! I forgot my camera so I took pictures with my phone. They turned out pretty good. The only problem I have is I don't know how to download pictures from my phone to my computer so I had to email them to me one at a time. Hope that doesn't cost too much!

Owen flying the kite with Jake watching. (mom and dad it is the kite you bought us years ago from eddie bauer!)

Abbey flying her friends kite. You can't tell but it is a pirate ship flying in the sky!

Quincy, Jake and friend Rachel distracted by a ladybug.

We haven't flown kites for over 4 years, I'm not sure why Eagle Mountain is always windy! The kids had so much fun....so much that Owen threw a fit when I told him it was time to go!

on another note...it was really nice to go another day without having to turn our air conditioner on.

my "shy" girls

Saturday I made the mistake of showing my girls how to use the video clip feature on my video camera. Well, in no time at all they filled up my 2GB memory card with a bunch of these little video clips that only a mother could love.

I'm not sure what the drinking show is and if I should be worried when they are older.

Believe it or not Quincy used to be SUPER shy. I think she is over that, cause she has been begging me for 3 days now to post some clips.

potty training...

Well, last wednesday I decided to take the plunge and start potty training Jake. Until today it has been SUPER stressful. That kid is the most stubborn of all my kids. The first day it took him awhile to figure out how to let the pee out but did really good. The next few days became more and more stressful. He was so stubborn and did not like the fact that there was no turning back for him and he fought me every time I would make him go. He woke up dry one morning and couldn't get him to pee till like 11:45 after making him sit on the pot for over 40 minutes screaming. That is pretty much how the last few days have been with the fighting it and crying time slowly shortening. Something has just clicked today though, every time I asked him to go, he would! And sometimes he would stop what he was doing and go running to the bathroom cause he needed to pee. I think he finally has the pee thing down!

I wish I could say the same for the poop. You see, he is a boy and has a big brother and a daddy that stands up when they pee, so that is what he does. I don't think he understands yet that you just can't stand up and poop. Three times he has run to the bathroom without me knowing to poop, stands where he would stand to pee and poop on the floor! It is driving me nuts! I guess I should be thankful that he is recognizing that he needs to go, right?

start them young...

Owen (my 4 year old) was cleaning up the family room today and it needed to be vacuumed bad. So when he was done picking everything up and putting it away, he asked if he could vacuum.

So, of course I said yes...never too young, right??!!
He was so excited that he did it all by himself and he actually did a pretty good job!
I think I will need to take advantage of this while he wants to vacuum. Is that bad?

Big Girls Don't Cry...

So my girls love listening to Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie. Yesterday morning after I took the girls to school, the boys and I headed to target (they had tons of easter candy 75% off). On the way Big Girls Don't Cry came on. I realized Jacob was singing and knew most of the words. I didn't say anything in case it would make him stop so I just watched him through my rear view mirror as well as I could while driving. After the song was over he said, "mom, I singing". It was SOOOO darn cute! He has always loved singing and music. I've noticed since when he was a baby (around 9 months old) that when we would be at sacrament meeting and we were singing the hymns, he would make noises as if he was trying to sing too! He is just too cute!!

Move Reviews...

We rented 2 movies last weekend, both of which we heard from numerous people were really good. We rarely go see movies at the theaters, so most of you probably have already seen them.

We watched enchanted with the whole family and really liked it! Even Peter said it was pretty good (which I am sure he is happy that I let everybody know that) . The kids were super excited when the Easter Bunny brought them their very own DVD that we could actually keep!

Peter and I watched Dan in Real Life and thought it was just OK. The movie was just so slow moving for us that we had a hard time getting into it. I think my expectations were way too high for this movie, it happens to me a lot!

the petting zoo.

Thursday we decided to go the zoo, and so did pretty much everybody else around here cause it was super crowded (it must be a popular place during spring break)! We've had a zoo pass for about 4 months and have never gone to inside the petting zoo to pet the goats. Owen hasn't been ready to go inside it yet, but on our way to the zoo I told him that today was the day to pet the goats and he said OK. So we did and all the kids loved it!

Easter Egg Hunt

A couple of weeks ago our neighborhood had an Easter Egg Hunt. It's the first time we've been to one that wasn't put on by family. The girls had lots of fun but the boys cried!

Jacob doesn't like being in big crowds. Owen was in an little bit older age group so he had to go by himself. Which he didn't want to do, but was going to try anyway and as soon as they they said go he went running out and then saw all the kids charging after the eggs that he froze and started crying. All the eggs were empty(there were a few marked ones for a prize), you just had to turn them in for a goody bag. So we calmed him down enough to go grab one egg then got out of there to go get his goody bag. It worked out real nice cause he was the first in what turned out to be a long line!

Easter Eggs

Today we colored Easter eggs. The kids always have fun coloring the eggs, and I am always trying to hurry them up so I can clean up the mess!

My mother-in-law was here and told us about some "old school" tactics. You put a few drops of oil in the dye and swirl it around then when you put the egg in the die doesn't get on where the oil is on the eggs. Also we would lift up the egg just enough to put a drop of food coloring on it then drop it right back in and it was fun to see what kind of designs would show up on the egg. Of course it ends up turning the dye a different color than it originally was, but it was so much fun to mix it up a little bit. My sister-in-law bought a kit with glitter so of course almost all the eggs had to be glittery!

Abbey's Surgery

Yesterday morning Abbey had to go to an oral surgeon to extract supernumeray teeth # 8 and 9 (tooth like mass in between her top front teeth) It had to be removed because it was in the way of her roots and the roots would never be able to fully develop. They gave her IV sedation so she was out the whole time. She was really super brave and did not cry at all when they were trying to put the IV in (which was not easy for them, she has really small veins that are hard to get to just like me). They had to lift up the gums on both sides and cut through the main nerve of the front of her mouth to get to it out. She wouldn't let me take a picture of her hooked up to the machines or with the IV in. After when she was in the recovery area and they brought a wheelchair to wheel her out to the car, she was a little excited about riding in a wheelchair so she let me take a picture.This looks like a tooth but it is round and majorly deformed. They gave her the tooth to take home so she could save it for the tooth fairy. They told her that it should be worth like 20 bucks! I was like thanks for that...
She is doing really well with her recovery. They told me that she would be super tired and rest but as soon as she had pain medicine she was pretty much bouncing off the walls! Kids really do bounce back fast with stuff like this. Today she had to start doing salt water rinses which she is not a big fan of (she is my ultra-sensitive gag reflex girl) but she is doing wonderfully with them. I am so impressed with how strong she has been with this whole thing, this poor thing has never had a cavity!

good news!

Jacob just peed in the toilet! I'm so excited! I am thinking that after spring break I will take the time and potty train him. I can't believe how close I am to this HUGE milestone...NO MORE DIAPERS!! Can't wait!!

Riding bikes...

It has been so nice lately so we have spent more time outside. The boys are loving their new bikes they got for christmas. I finally went out and bought them helmets and they look so cute!