Fathers day.

Ok I totally blew fathers day this year. Usually I make Ryan breakfast in bed after letting him sleep in cook one of his favorite dinners, and try to spoil him all day.
This year we were both on a diet so the eating thing SUCKED and I was so exhausted after Trevors party and Joshua's party I was the one that took the nap.
I'm so glad he was understanding and spent the time playing with his boys. After all it is celebrating being a dad and what a better way to celebrate then to be with your kids :).. I love this man so much and so do the boys. We couldn't of asked for a better Husband and Dad.

My sitting room.

This is for you Mom. I finally finished the sitting room. I think it's now my favorite room in the house it's so relaxing and peaceful. Can't wait until I get the real pictures up then it will be complete but what I have will do for now.

Josh is SEVEN.

This is only one section of 3 sections of the water park.





Gavin just wanted to go on the water slides and not wait for pictures.

Two days after Josh turned 4 we moved to Texas. I can't believe 3 years have gone by so fast. Josh is still the sweet loving fun going child. But every now and then he can be such a stinker. He likes to tell Fish tales and they are usually whoppers. He is such a funny kid and has some of the best 1 liners of anyone I've ever met. Kids love love love to be around Josh because he always makes everyone feel so welcome. He's such a delight and I'm so happy he's mine.
Since his b-day this year fell on fathers day we celebrated his b-day on Saturday. This year we wanted to do a family party and Josh has been dieing to go to Schlitterbahn so we decided now was the perfect time. We had such a GREAT time. Unfortunately we only took one picture as we were getting ready to go on the rides and forgot to check out the pictures they take of you as you explore the park so I don't have very many pictures to document our trip but everyone left exhausted with a perma grim and haven't stopped talking about it ever since. So I think it was a smashing success.
I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THEY BUILD THE ONE 10 MINUTES FROM MY HOUSE!!! We will bet getting season passes for sure :).



We let him open presents before we left knowing he was getting a DSI and it's a hr. drive there. So it was nice to let him play and we didn't have to hear "are we there yet 700 times." Unfortunately on the way home we got the boys ice cream and Josh was so tired he was dosing off playing and eating ice cream and didn't notice his ice cream melting all over his DSI. Yup it broke it. That was one expensive hr. He was so upset so hopefully we can get it fixed. It was only played once and he has been waiting a very long time for that. Poor little guy. He also got the WII nerf gun and game that's keeping him occupied.

Scout Camp 3rd year.

Trevor's having a great time at scout camp. the 1st day wasn't the best but he's liking it better now. His favorites were the solar ovens they made and cooked smores in. And he loves the archery and shooting. (hum wonder where he got that from?). Ryan was so kind to go with him this year even during his year end he found the time. Thanks Ry. Trevor was so happy you could be there for him. And it was alot easier they trying to juggle around the two younger two.





This picture makes me laugh so hard. I have no clue who the kid is that digging for gold. But I love Micah's face watching him do it. All I can say is I'm glad it's not Trevor.

I had to throw this picture in here. Trevor's new DSI takes pictures and this is what he created. We laughed so hard. He would make a great sumo wrestler don't you think?

I hate WATER!!!

Today one of my worst fears came true. I'm super paranoid around water. I've had a cousin that drown, it rocked my family pretty hard. We had a sweet little girl in our ward drown, and my mom's best friends grandson drown. All extremely lasting effects on my fear of water and kids. I've had Gavin in swim lessons for two months and I always put the older boys in for two weeks. With it being hot here in Texas the only relief you can get is to go to the pool. I'm like a hawk and stay right next to Gavin but I turn my back for two seconds and there he goes. Sinks to where I had to jump in and save him. I don't even know how long he was under but he was gasping for air and crying super hard after I pulled him out. I've been shaking ever since. A couple of years ago I had to save Josh in the lake when he had his life jacket on he wouldn't let go of a rock he wanted and it was keeping him under. I kept the rock and I'll never forget that moment. I'm sure glad they are both OK. But that's two times to many. It makes me even more worried about the water.
Gavin's been hanging on to me all day saying. "you saved me." I'm sure glad it turned out the way it did. I love these little guys more then I can ever express. My heart is full of gratitude I get to be a Mom to some pretty amazing kids. I hope I can always keep them safe.

Trevor's 10th b-day party at Rockin river.

Trevor had such a good time at his Party on Saturday. He really has some great friends. And they were just the right age for Rockin River. I just let them go and play and didn't have to worry to much. I can't believe my baby is turning 10. His real b-day is in July but we wont be here and turning 10 deserves a friend party so we celebrated early. All the kids were wore out and had a great time. What a perfect day.


Gavin and Daddy going through the lazy river rainbow :).

Some of the boys standing in line for the water slides. They liked to race down.

Trevor giving his party the thumbs up.

Chowing down on pizza, apples with Carmel dip, crackers and Gatorade. A 10 year old idea of a perfect lunch.

Josh could finally go down the water slide he was soooooo excited. That morning he got himself a huge bowl of apple sauce when I asked him what he was doing he said he needs to grow a inch and apple sauce is healthy so it will make him grow. Talk about the faith in this kid. We were there just two weeks ago and Josh was too short and he was so bummed. That was some magic apple sauce he said and I say I love it when his prayers are answered like that.

opening presents. He wanted a DSI Xl elite or a cell phone. Guess which one we gave him :). Yes a DSI. It was so funny a bunch of the kids gave him gift cards and Ryan said to him. "cool Trevor now you can save up and get that DSI." Then when he opened it up one of his friends patted him on the back and said "cool you saved up pretty fast." It was pretty cleaver.

And the cupcakes were a huge hit. He wanted cookies and cream cupcakes. So now being the foodie person I had to make a crazy one with the Oreo on the bottom, a double fudge cake with butter cream frosting and crushed up ores on top with another Oreo on the top. The boys LOVED them. I was glad they turned out so good. And I was suprised the bottom oreo didn't get soggy. The trick was to take off the top so the cream was the base for the cupcake. Gotta love OREO'S :)

Where the creepy things live.

Ryan and I were talking about how frightening it would be to be lost in the Forrest in our back yard at night. We have to turn on a fan to block out the sound it's pretty freaky. If our neighbors didn't mind I'm tempted to set off firecrackers every night just to quiet the creepy things. I had to take a video of the noise. It's really unbelievable.



And it's that time of year to deal with these again. I really wish they would go AWAY. I still get really jumpy when we are tryning to catch them. Poor Trevors job was to clean all the window screens and he took one off and this bad boy jumped out at him.

Too cute

Gavin got his Karate gear. He looks so stinking cute. Most of the kids in his class are 4 and up but he's just as tall. He still has a hard time paying attention the whole time. And now when he's mad at me he karate chops me and his brothers. But it's so stinking cute.

Hair today gone tomorrow!!!

Trevor has always wanted a real Mohawk so finally I gave in.






But he looked to mean so I talked him into this hair cut.



Isn't it SWEET???




Nope we couldn't stop laughing ether. Poor kid!!!
So the only thing to do was this.



This morning he asked if we could order Bosley hair restoration.
I don't think he'll drive me crazy about a Mohawk again :)!!!!

Last day of school.

I can't believe it's over already. Where did the year go?? I will say I'm pretty proud of my boys.

Trevor struggled with Math this year and in the end he got a %95 on his TASK test which was AWESOME!!! His strong points are English and science. And he got on the AB honor roll so I'm a pretty proud Mom.. He's such a great kid. I'm so scared for hm to go to 5th grade. That seems so old.

I guess Josh was the class clown. They made a Crazy about you book and all the kids wrote why they liked each other. Every kid wrote he was the funniest kid in class and was always so nice to everyone. I don't doubt that at all. There is something so sweet about Josh and he's the kid that will help anyone in need and usually the center of attention. He exceeded his grade level and was on 3rd grade reading. He was doing fractions in math and struggled a little bit with spelling but usually got 100% on his tests. I can't believe he will be in 2nd grade. It seemed just like yesterday he graduated from pre-school.

For some reason I didn't take a picture of them today. My brain was melted from the HEAT. Whew it's going to be a hot one this year. But they had a blast at the end of year party they brought in about 4 or 5 bounce houses and a snow cone truck. I was so glad they did it by ages so the big kids didn't trample the little kids so it worked out perfect.

So as a reward for all the hard work this year Ryan took all the boys upstairs to sleep on the deck. They watched a movie ate popcorn and even get to see fireworks from the express game. (did I mention I love my back yard and that we can see the fireworks?) Little Gavin was super excited and it will be interesting to see if he lasts all night.

As for me Ryan my sweet husband gave this to me as a gift. Seeing how Gavin has woken up every night for the last two months I haven't gotten any sleep. So tonight I get to sleep in my bed ALL NIGHT LONG. Even on fresh clean sheets. Pure Bliss..
What an amazing husband and father he is.

Now let's pray that this will give me the rest I need to survive summer. Josh has already told me he's bored. Yes it's going to be a long hot one.

Pre-school party.

I'm going to miss these little darlings!!!
Izzy you left too soon. Sorry we didn't get a picture of you too.




Well my baby is growing up way to fast. It was so fun to do a pre-school "play date" with some of Gavin's friends this year. It was mostly girls and he was always so grateful for Ezra. We had a great end of the year party. The waterside and squirty beach ball on the trampoline was Perfect for hr's of entertainment. Thanks for coming everyone. I'm going to miss you guys.

Father son campout

Ryans proud moment. This year he learned and got him a cot to sleep on. All the other Dad's came to check it out. I have a feeling next year alot more Dad's will have a cot :).



Friday was the father son campout. I dream of the day where all three boys can go and I can enjoy one night's peaceful sleep with out playing musical beds. I can eat a bowl of ice cream with out someone begging for bites, and watch a show that makes me cry with out anyone telling me I'm weird :)... But I can only handle one night of peace before it gets to quite then I get lonely and want my boys back. I kept Gavin with me this year because they are camped out by a stream. My boys are water and fire magnets and it's so hard to chase all three at once. So I thought I'd help Ry out a little and leave the 3 year old with me. I went and got him some Knex to built a Ferris wheel, we went to chick-Fila his favorite restaurant and played at the playground. Came home built our Ferris wheel and watched a movie. I think he was just fine with staying home. Until he stuck a Knex up his nose it was pretty traumatic. Crazy kid.
The older boys had a Blast. They stayed up till 1:00 and came home caked in mud. I love that they do this it's such a great bonding moment for the boys and their Dad.

Trevor's b-day treat

Poor Trevor always seems to get the short end of the stick. Here I make a extra special treat for Josh's class and then this week it was Trevor's turn to bring treats to the class. Seeing how they have summer b-days they always do celebrations the last few weeks of school. After talking to his teacher I learned I can't do homemade treats due to some kids food allergies so Trevor decided he wanted Round Rock donuts. Yes they are amazing and all the kids were super happy. But I felt so bad that Josh got something from the heart. So I made Trevor his own special treat. A chocolate banana peanut butter ball muffin. Yes it was pretty dang good (or so he thought :)... In a few weeks we are having a party for him at a water park. I can't believe my baby is going to be 10. Am I really old enough to have a 10 year old??

the circle of life

The boys love to catch frogs. We get billions of them. I hear they eat scorpions but these dumb frogs must not be doing their job. But they attract snakes which is always a delight.

The other day the boys were out catching frogs and they also caught a HUGE Caterpillar. I've never seen one this big. Apparently they are the caterpillars that later turn into the giant bat sized moths. They boys think they are pretty cool. So they put the frog in a bucket and then Josh decided the frog needed a friend so he put the Caterpillar in the bucket. Just as they asked me what frogs eat I heard them all scream. They got to see 1st hand what a frog eats and there will be one less giant bat moth in the world. It was a pretty funny scene. The boys looked like they were in shock.
Josh said "why did he do that? Frogs are sick."
Trevor said "I thought they just ate flies."
Little Gavin kept saying. "poor Caterpillar what a naughty frog."
It gave Ryan and I a good chuckle.

Karate kid #3.

They have a tiny tiger class at the boys karate. Gavin is very big into yelling the hiya. And saying yes sir so the instructor told us to give it a try. He was super excited. Now this is a kid that is FULL of energy and is always on the go. He's also in his own world. Although he minds fairly well for a 3 year old he has a hard time avoiding touching things or running to things he wants. So it was so funny to see. He'd be doing the instructions so well and then see the nunchucks and jump up and grab them. Then he's get re focused and see the boards they break and run to them. Ect Ect Ect. I think he wore out the instructor. But they said to bring him back again next week and I'll tell ya he did TONS better. It's so fun to watch and I can't wait to see him in his uniform.
Oh and a big thank you to his amazing big brothers who helped out. Josh stayed in the class the whole time and Trevor was cheering him on from the bench. (melted my heart.)

Josh's class b-day treat

Josh wanted something unique for his b-day treat. So I searched my food blogs and found this cute recipe for hamburgers made out of cupcakes and Brownies with sugar cookie french fries. They were so fun to make. (although it took me ALL DAY) The hardest part was making the trays that you put it all in.
It was a huge hit with the kids. I didn't know it was hamburgers for lunch day today and alot of the kids didn't want one at first because they said "we already had hamburgers" but Mrs. Bridges told them to try it and promised it would taste different then their lunch hamburger. I had 3 kids tell me it was the best hamburger they have ever eaten. So cute. I love 1st graders they are sweet.
Josh was super happy. I sure love that kid.. Happy Early birthday buddy :)...

Good old mr. fixit.

My Dad ROCKS!!! Every time he comes up I feel like I have a new house again. He fixes all the things that my traveling husband just can't get to.
This time was the dreaded laundry room. You would think a 5 bedroom house would have a big laundry room but it is so small and had zero storage so it was a nightmare.

So we decided to stack the washer and dryer and add some storage system. Also my STUPID washer was leaking and so I had to mop the floor every time I did laundry. So another gasket had to be installed. Which was quite the job.
Thanks again Dad.


The finished product. So much better.

Nap time.

My Mom sat down to watch her fox news. Gavin just cuddled up next to her and they both fell asleep. I wondered who wore who out first.

I hope when I'm in my 70's I have as much energy as my Mom. She chased the boys around the house, helped cook and clean, and yelled at Fox news. Gotta love her. I know I do and so do the boys. Thanks for comming we really enjoyed you here.