To Grandma's house we go...

So we are on a little vacation to Grandma's here in Richfield. Of course Chris couldn't come with us cuz he had to work but we are still having fun. I have tons of pictures to post later. We have been on a huge waterslide for a cousin neighborhood party and we have had movie night with grandpa, Indiana Jones series. The pictures will be coming as soon as I figure out my dad's computer. Oh and poor uncle Brandon took the girls for a wagon ride and they all toppled over. The two that got the most hurt were Katelyn and Zulema. The next day, a bunch of Roses showd up for the four little girls from uncle Brandon, what a sweetie. I have pics of that too.

Sage Caroline Barton

You know that song "Sweet Caroline, BomBomBom" now try it with "Sage Caroline, BomBomBom." Ohh so cute. I just love how this sweet little baby sucks her thumb. I tried to get Jenner to join the club but she just wouldn't do it. She does love her cousin though.

Sage and Jenner

Well I guess trying to get a picture of Sage and Jenner proved to be harder than it sounds. A 4 month old and a 9 month old just don't listen to suggestions very well. My favorite is Jenner patting Sage's head very gently...haha.

Here it is, 1:12pm and this is what is still in my bed...Yep, Chris and not me. We all know that I am not a morning person but Chris, come on, something must be wrong with him. His excuse is that it is raining and he can't get anything done anyways...I think he's telling a fib. And further more, I love that he's being lazy for once.

Movie Night

After a long hard day, Grady was already asleep, Taylor and Rhett wanted to watch a movie in our room and have a late night. They also requested that Jenner join them. This is what we found about 20 minutes into the movie...How cute!!

Going on a "Frogstalk"

So I admit I blogstalk, but for this day...I went on a "frogstalk." We headed over to Jensen Nature Park for a nice Sunday afternoon picnic and "frog hunt." This is probably Grady's most favorite thing to do aside from fishing at the park. It wasn't the most sunny day but we had a good time. Check out the size of the net. Chris crafted this net after we didn't have much luck catching the frogs with a smaller one. We had to laugh at the other people there trying to catch frogs with a 1 foot net, Yeah right, we have a hard enough time with the 10 foot one. Anyways, it was a good Memorial Day Weekend Sunday.

ZZZZZzzzzzz's

After Sacrament Meeting, I came home and switched with Chris because Taylor wasn't feeling good. Taylor is such a good help with Jenner and she wanted to hold her and try and get her to sleep. Jenner would have rather played though. After some time, she just passed out and this is how she took her afternoon nap...talk about uncomfortable.

Last one for today...I promise

Jenner waved bye bye tonight, all while eating mac n' cheese! She's so cute!

Vroom Vroom

OHH to have a chopper for all three of my guys...What a day that would be. We found this place on main street in American Fork that has some really cool choppers. The guy there was nice enough to let us sit on them and take pictures. Can you just see Chris and the boys cruising down the street in 20 years from now...with their cut off shirts and Midnight Rider logos all over their bikes...Hee Hee! That was for you Tyler!

Wassssssup!

Here we go, Grady our comedian decided to dress up like a "Dude" one day and Rhett followed suit. Grady loves to break dance and act all "cool" and stuff. If he is trying to impress someone, you can see it in his walk, the way he sort of holds his chin and his hands, Hilarious! Rhett is our shy sensitive one who just likes to be loved. He only took this picture because Grady did, again, following suit. How cute are my little "Dudes."

More Recipes...

So here is another recipe for you all...

The kids love it when I make their favorite cookies, Hopscoth Cookies, and yes they named them. They were originally called Chewy Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies, I like our name better.

Cream together:
1 cup butter flavored shortening
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
Add:
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
3 cups oats (I like to grind half of them in the blender)
Butterscotch chips

Bake at 375 degrees for 9-10 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen and cookies will be soft.

For those of you who don't know, Jenner was born on August 10, 2007 and only weighed 5.8 lbs. She was 3 weeks early and so tiny. She was 17 inches long and when we brought her home 2 days later, she had dropped to 4.12 lbs. TINY!!! The picture above is Jenner, 4 days and Mason (nephew) 10 months. What a huge difference. The other picture is Jenner next to Taylor's bitty baby, which is about 18 inches. She was so little that even her preemie clothes were too big. My mom and I had to go to Babies R Us in Riverdale just to find her some clother that she could wear. Wal-mart carries preemie clothes but not enough, because every time we went, they were out of them. She remained tiny for weeks and weeks, I don't think she wore newborn clothes until she was about 6-7 weeks old. And newborn clothes are for 5-8 lbs. I just took her to the doctor for her 9 month check and she weighs 15.13 lbs and is 26 inches long. I guess she will be our little petite girl forever. The funny thing about her is that she is little but isn't lacking in the "smartness" area. She is so smart and so alert all of the time. She has turned into a little comedian and loves to make other people laugh at her. She will often give her dad and I a courtesy laugh when are trying to make her giggle, maddening. She also fake coughs and fake laughs for attention. Her vocabulary includes, "da da", "ba ba", and her newest is "oo oo." She is adorable and is the highlight of our lives. We all can't get enough of her (except at 3:00 in the morning.) We love you Baby Girl!!!

So tonight was Jenner's first night in Taylor's room...It's now about 10:30 pm and guess where she is...You guessed it, in our bed nice and cozy with Chris...The story goes like this: At about 9:00 pm we decided to put Jenner's bassinet in Taylor's room for a trial run. We had Taylor set up her sleeping bag in our room since we didn't think she would get much sleep with a crying baby. We said good night and put her in her bed and left. She cried. She kept crying. After maybe, and I mean maybe 5 minutes, Chris went in to check on her...She had rolled over and had started to climb out of the bassinet. This coming from a baby who hasn't rolled over or attempted to crawl/climb ever!!! What she won't do to get her way, I don't know. The crib will be set up soon and after my trip to Richfield next week, we will start over. Hopefully she can't climb out of the crib. Look at how sad her face was when I put her in her bed...I know, I'm pathetic. I give in to her every cry and every whimper but I can't help it...She's so sweet and she loves her mama so much!

Ear Piercing...again...never again!

If any of you know poor little Taylor's story of getting her ears pierced when she was 5 and later having such a bad infection that we had to take them out. Well, in November of last year we decided it had been long enough and that she would be okay to get them pierced again. All went well with the piercing and I teased her that she would have to wait until June to change them so we could make sure they were totally healed up. Today is May 23 and she mentioned that there was some "goo" coming out of the back of her ear. I checked it out and it just looked like there was a little sore there. I wiped her ear and some dry skin came off and then puss started pouring out...another boil or abcess or whatever. Poor kid...ouch! We took her to the DR. because of the puss and infection, I was worried, he put her on an antibiotic and gave us some antibiotic cream and declared it a staph infection. So, I don't think we'll try the ear piercing thing again until she's 18...

Last day of school...

So today was the last day of school for the kids and so I thought I would put a couple of pictures up of them. Taylor's teacher Mrs. Forrest, is absolutely delightful. She really challenged Taylor and I was very impressed with her. Rhett's teacher Mrs. Tomison, is a fun loving, free spirited woman who loves all of her students. Grady's teacher, Mrs Henderson, taught him so much about his letters and sounds that he is definitely ready for the 1st grade. We are so proud of him. His reading tutor, Mrs. Hammer brought his ability from 48% at the first of the year to 90% at the end. What an amazing group of teachers that we had the privelege of being in their classes.

Recipes anyone...

So I thought it would be fun to put up some recipes. This first one is Grady's very favorite and a crowd pleaser at that. We love it at our house and people who have tried it seem to love it too.

Tortellini

1-2 bags tortellini prepared
equal amounts of marinara sauce and alfredo sauce (I like bertolli marinara)
provolone cheese

Mix tortellini and sauces together and put in a greased casserole dish. Lay cheese on top and bake at 350 degrees until warmed through. About 20-25 minutes. You can add shredded chicken to make it a protein friendly meal.

I'm obviously not very computer savvy, but I try. The recipe section was supposed to be different but who gives...Anyways...It's wednesday and my kids' last day of school is tomorrow and can I say...SLEEPING IN!!! WOOHOO!!! Not that I get much sleep anyway. I am an insomniac to an extent, I can sleep, just not very easily. Adding salt to the wound, my baby doesn't think sleep is for her. She likes to wake up all night long and use me for her comfort. I know, I know, I should just let her cry it out. Easier said than done. We tried it, and needlessly to say, I didn't do so well. I spent two days telling my husband what we were going to do and how he would have to be strong when she is screaming her head off. Yeah, me comforting him when it was me who lost it. At about 3:30 am, we (I) gave in and just nursed her. She still didn't fall asleep though, it took another hour or so for that to happen. So this has been going on for awhile and I am so exhausted I can't take it anymore. On Friday I plan to have Taylor watch the baby in the morning so I can sleep in!!! I can't wait, but after that what do I do? Any advice would be appreciated and welcomed. I am not doing so well with what I think will work.

So here we are, into May already. Time flies. It's Mother's Day tomorrow and I wanted to tell you all how much I love being a mom. I feel like I have the best kids in the world. I feel so lucky to be their mom and to be able to share their lives with them. Taylor scored her first soccer goal today, Yahoo!!! She absolutely loves soccer and watching her little sister. Rhett scored his first goal last week, Yahoo, and he is getting so smart in school. He brought home a chapter book from the library the other day and read the entire thing that night. Grady decided to get on his "big" bike today, and he rode it without a hitch. Those of you who don't know, Grady has been riding a 12" bike for the last 2 years. He was afraid of the big one until today. Jenner has three teeth now and has already learned how to grind the three of them together...drives me nuts! She's decided that getting up 3-4 times a night to nurse is pretty cool...I'm exhausted! Chris and I are still doing our thing...I started a new job recently, I teach people how to make clocks. It is so much fun, we have parties with 10-15 people and we all make clocks and have a great time. We both love watching our kids grow and learn everyday. When I was growing up my dad always told me to make sure I learned somethin new everyday, well now I am making sure I learn something new everyday about my kids...I love them!

Till next time...