Crawling, kind of

September 14





This was just 4 days before Peyton hit her 8 month mark. She is not exactly crawling, but she gets around. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth, she pushes with her legs and scoots along a bit like a caterpillar, she gets one foot up under her and pushes that way too. She is most motivated when something is out of her reach and she wants it. Her brothers are very nice and bring her toys to play with usually.

Look at that leg!




Almost!
Ahh, sweet success!

Tagged by Becca

It's ok Becs, I'm a big girl, I can handle it. I was tagged by Becca. You have to take pictures of certain things, just as they are, right now, no straightening up or anything. So, here it goes


#1. Kitchen Sink Not bad at all, this is it, and I don't do Fly Lady yet and I never "shine" my sink, clean is all your getting. I do not like dirty dishes in the sink, ever. After every meal I wash them and load the dishwasher. If I find someone else's dishes (which happens all the time) I take care of them too. I do not, however, steal the cup or glass you are using to drink from, that doesn't bug me, just don't put it in the sink!

#2 The Toilet Yep, it's gross, that's the master toilet, and for Nicole, it is in a room all by itself, that's why it is the toilet room, also known as the water closet which is it's correct name, but whenever I've said that I usually get a blank stare, so I'll dumb it down for everyone, the toilet room! It used to be clean more often when I was pregnant, who likes to vomit into a dirty stinky toilet? NOT ME! Now, this is what you get, at least for a week or 2, sorry. The boys toilet is also the guest bathroom toilet, so it gets cleaned more frequently but is almost always gross, I have 3 sons. Enough said.

#3 The Laundry room I really had to resist tidying up this one. It's usually messy though. Right now it has sheets from Ben's bed in the sink, 3 nights in a row of Ben bed wetting, ugh. He seriously went 2 weeks with no bed wetting, he woke up to pee. I guess he's just been to wiped out to wake up these last few nights.

#4 The Fridge It's ok, we go as long as possible between grocery shopping trips and we are needing one about now, so not much is in there. When food gets low I clean it out before the stock up, it's freshly wiped, mostly! The door is a little messy. Thanks Ty for doing a good portion of the grocery shopping! I hate it.

#5 What is your spouse/kids doing right now? At the time I took the pics this morning, Tyler was working, Micah and Jacob were at school and Ben was following me around while we were getting ready for playgroup at the park and taking these pictures and Peyton was on my hip. Now that it's after 11pm, they are all in bed, sadly, this is my internet time today.

#6 My favorite shoes From left to right, fun, fun, comfy, cute (painful), practical and well worn.

The little leather X's are starting to come off, time for some new brown flip flops next year. I wish you could see in this picture that there is carpet fuzz on the toenails that I just freshly painted, when I sit down I curl my toes under and I did it too soon, before my polish was dry, oops!

#7 Favorite Room, that would have to be our bedroom. It isn't very clean right now, it's next on my to clean list, but the bed is always made and I love our furniture and decor. It is too hot in the afternoon in the summer, but I love our room. I also love the loft that got the toys out of the old playroom, but the master bedroom is still my fav!

#8 Your Dream Vacation, good question. I really love Disneyland (kid at heart I guess), but I would love to go to Hawaii or somewhere else tropical and I have always wanted to go on a cruise.



#9 The Closet, we cleaned it our majorly this summer, but there are a few things needing tidying. Our kids for some reason like to play in it and move stuff around. The animals like to go in there too. I like it though, plenty of room for my size 6-18 clothes.




#10 Self Portrait, this is me and my sweet little girl. We are all clean and ready for our playgroup at the park today (we of course already did that since I am typing this up tonight and these pics were taken this morning) we were 10 minutes late because of this!!! No big deal really, we still made it before most people! If anyone really wants to see one with no makeup, I don't mind, really, most of the time I actually go out in public with no makeup, I know, the shame! My little sister thinks I'm nuts.

I tag Michelle, Cassie, Nicole, Brooke and Donna, you know I love you!

When it rains it pours!

This morning had to be one of the most disastrous mornings we've had here in the Laing home. It wasn't one of those bad mood yelling type of mornings, so that was good. We were all able to keep our cool, part of that due to the fact that my dear sweet husband went to work later than usual and took the boys to school for me. Yes, they usually ride their bikes, but there was just not enough time for that this morning. Last night we stayed a wee bit too late at Tyler's parents, we were playing scrabble with Dad and Brent. That being said, I let the boys sleep in a little, only about 15 minutes extra. I went in and woke them and then decided to go through their bags as I had not yet done that since they got home from school Friday, big mistake. That is when I discovered his unfinished line a day and 5 a day, I was upset about this, then I discovered something even worse... Yep, staring into space. That does sound like my son. In his defense, the work they are doing right now is a bit like preschool-kindergarten stuff. There was color by number and cut and color and match the color word to the color kind of thing. I don't know if he's getting bored or if he's tired or what. This is a whole new set of challenges than I faced with Micah. Any advice???
So after getting Jacob going on his work with Tyler's help, I fed Peyton, made lunch and then Ben walked in, he had wet his bed (of course). It has been weeks since that happened. Micah couldn't find his shoes...Anyway, now it's over and all is well. Ty got them to school just in time and now I know to check the backpack everyday!

Bob Barker would be very pleased

September 12

Charlotte was spayed Thursday before last and Diego was missing her while she was gone. She spent the night at the vets and poor Diego was depressed. I kept catching him looking around for her. He was really lonely without her to chase around and play with. When we brought her home he was very cautious around her and also very happy. The kids really wanted to hold her, so after a few days I showed them the right way to do it. They were so cute though, especially Jacob, they would go in and visit her in the toilet room and keep her company and give her love. It has only been 10 days and she is completely back to normal running around and jumping everywhere. Poor girl was shut up in our toilet room for 3 days. She's a good girl though. The lampshade is gone now and Diego has his friend back as good as new.

Messy! The loft gives him nightmares

Ok, so, for a little less than a week our house was pretty messy. Micah decided about 3 months ago that he is not going to sleep up in the loft anymore because it gives him nightmares and in the summer it gets very hot up there. He wanted to be closer to his brothers. So, he was sleeping on a little pallet on the floor all summer. Tyler bought plans and hardware for building a triple bunkbed, but it's not going to happen until we have the money for all that wood! I was feeling sad that we had that cool space up there not being used, so we decided to give away the bed and put Micah's mattress on the floor for now and we moved almost all of the toys and the tv with the gamecube up there. It looks fun and they like it, it will keep the little toys out of baby's reach and keep messes down when I host playgroup. The only toys in our old "playroom" ( really what's supposed to be the dining room)are for younger kids and they are out of sight in the cabinets. So here are a few pics during the move so you can see what a disaster it was.

All those toys and the tv are now in the loft!
The bookshelves no longer divide the room and are now against the wall. All my exercise stuff ( my bike and Donna's eliptical and my mom in laws ab rocket) is still in the front room and fully visable, but at least it gets used where it is!

Oh the peace, until 3:45...

September 10

I have really been enjoying having my 2 little ones at home. I do miss Micah and Jacob while they are at school, but it is amazing how easy little kids are in comparison. Our house has been so peaceful and quiet, there is such a happy feeling here all day, until about 3:45 when I hear the rumble of the garage door closing, the back door slamming, backpacks being thrown to the floor, shoes being kicked off...and then the chaos begins. Homework, karate (twice a week), piano practice, dinner and bed. Those poor boys have no time to kick back and relax, I can't blame them for being so tired, worn and and just plain grumpy. So, until the summer begins again, I enjoy those moments of peace and quiet with my babies.

Playgroup has been fun, a great way to get and of the house and keep the little ones entertained and happy. Last Wednesday we went to the zoo. The only thing much different was that we actually got to see the seal and sea lion feeding for the 1st time and learn about the differences between the two. Sea Lions have visable exernal ears, seals do not. Sea Lions can walk up on all fours while seals undulate, kind of like a caterpillar, on their bellies. One of our zoos sea lions is blind and the other is paralized from the mid back down, so they are in the process of putting a slick coating over the cement so she doesn't cut up her underbelly as she drags it along. I got tons of cute pics, but these are my favorite from the day.

Ben's favorite part of the zoo is the petting zoo. He's very hands on, and, like Jacob, has a very special place in his heart for all animals.
I'm not sure if this is a llama or an alpaca, but I just couldn't resist, it was recently shaved and looked too cute.
I happened to have my camera ready at the right time to catch this loving moment between brother and sister. Ben and Peyton love each other so very much.
Another favorite that has left the zoo since our trip are the sting rays, hopefully they'll be back next year.
My friend Stephanie got this picture of Peyton and e-mailed it to me. She was a very good baby all day.
Later that day at piano practice, Jacob, Benjamin and Peyton were watching a movie with the Ward kids and I snapped this from behind, my little stairsteps, I wish Micah was in it too though.

Peyton's 1st bath in the big tub!

September 8



I gave Peyton all of her baths in her little pink tub until this day. I wanted to wait until she was sitting up really well on her own, now that she is I figured it was time for her to advance tubs. She was so happy, and so was Ben. They played and splashed together and had lots of fun. I felt a little sad thinking that she would never take another bath in a baby tub again.

Micah lost another tooth! #3

He was such a big boy, his tooth was loose for literally like 5 months. Micah let me wrap dental floss around it and yank it out. It popped right out! Sadly, several days later I convinced him to let me do the same to his other front tooth which was loose for almost as long, just not as loose. I ended up breaking 3 pieces of dental floss on it and it never came out, but it sure bled a lot! I guess I'll let it loosen up a bit before we try it again. On a side note. Micah knows that the tooth fairy is real, Jacob thinks it's just parents leaving the money under the pillow. Fortunatley, Jacob knows that Santa is real!

9-7-08

My one eyed pirate girl

9/5/08

Since birth Peyton has had a blocked tear duct. They usually clear up in the first few months, hers, unfortunately, did not. We have been waiting for the last few weeks for a referrel to an eye doctor so she can have it surgically clearned. In the meantime, this is what she looks like most mornings. She is very good natured about it all and for the most part endures me picking the gunk from her lashes throughout the day with minimal complaint.

Peyton Rocks Out, well, sort of.

I'm going to be blogging a bit out of order. I just got this video of Peyton today and I thought it was just so cute. For a few days I have noticed her doing this head thing. It looks like she's nodding in agreement to something. It seemed like she was always doing it when there was music on, or something that is at least somewhat similar to music! I wasn't quite sure though until today if it was really her "dancing" Now I'm sure. She is such a quite, mellow baby that this just fits her. She loves music, but even her response to it is like her response to everything else, she is so MELLOW! Her little personality is getting bigger everyday though and I am having more and more fun with her. She has a funny sense of humor, nothing is overstated for sure. I can't wait to see all of her developments.

Castle Cake- thanks Becca!

The last Wednesday in August we had a birthday party for mutual for my beehives. It was both my birthday and my advisors birthday is August and we just thought it would be fun. Since Nicole has no oven right now it was up to me to make the cake. As you may well be aware, I'm not the best with cakes. I was just going to do something plain but I remebered the cakes that my sister-in-law did for her kids birthdays just a few months ago and I knew I might have the stuff I needed. So, I gave it a shot. Micah loved the cake and wants me to make one to look like Hogwarts for his birthday, ANY IDEAS? I got some practice and I'm also thinking of doing a princess castle cake for Peyton's 1st birthday because she really is our little princess!


2 squares stacked with frosting in between frosting on top and sides and a few cones with a little cut off the bottom, stick em into the cake a bit and a sugar cone for the middle spire...

Fancy it up a bit with some colored frosting...
Sift through a few mini bags of MnM's I had on hand from our Missionary Moments stash and sprinkle on some more cake decor and you have a pretty princess castle cake!
These are most of my Beehives and me...I love these girls!

If you want a good laugh, check out my other blog.

click this title... Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

Is Nacho Libre a church movie?

On Sunday's we don't let our kids watch anything, with the exception of church movies. Jacob, just a few minutes ago, called to me while I was in the kitchen. He was looking at the movie shelf in the living room and this is what he said, "Mom, Is Nacho Libre a church movie?" I laughed and said, "No honey, sorry." He said, "But it has the church in it." Micah said, "Yeah, but it's not our church."
On that note, I've been meaning to do it, and now I'm going to. Right after I post this I'm starting another blog! It's going to be all the funny or interesting things that I've recorded in my little My Kids Make Me Laugh book. I started it a number of years ago, so I'll post them from the beginning to the present. Find it HERE!

Micah's test results

Towards the end of the school year last year Micah took the Star test (Standardized Testing and Reporting) that everyone takes in school. Well, a few weeks ago they sent us his test result and he scored very high, advanced in both sections of the test. He is such a good student and always strives to do what is right. He is a very quirky kid and we enjoy him a lot. He is a wonderful big brother to all of his siblings and he is very helpful. Micah we love you! Keep doing well in school and choosing the right!

Some interesting info, if you liked the Twilight series.

I for one loved every book of the twilight series and I loved how it ended. I think Stephanie Meyer is an excellent writer and develpoed her characters really well and keeps them true to themselves. This just gives you a lot more info about the books, especially the last one, and it tells you all about the cover art (and it makes a lot of sense!) Click here.