My 8 year old and a new addition to our family...

Today is Jacob's 8th birthday. A very special birthday in our family as he will soon be baptised! My mom and Morgan came over this morning right as we were getting ready for Jake to open his presents. He opened my mom's first, a new Lego set, Star Wars. After that it was time for him to open my sisters gift to him...Another snake, yes, we're trying it again folks. This time instead of a king snake we have a ball python and she is up on a higher counter and Miss P has been seriously instructed that she is not to get him out on her own. She is a beautiful snake and very calm, as ball pythons are. I am excited to have a snake in our home again and hope that this one will live in the tank rather than roam freely in our house!

She has no name as of yet and if you have any ideas please comment. Our last snake was named Porter and we loved that name. Jacob is thinking maybe Scarlett ( I know, funny that the Saunders have a boy named Porter and one of the girls is Scarlett).

The typical 8 year old presents in our family are a first set of scriptures, complete with the childs full name, a scripture case and a journal (Jacob is very excited about his journal, he has been saying he has a lot of stuff to journal about.) We continued the pocket knife tradition as well, Micah got his for Christmas that year, but Jacob wanted one for his birthday.

He can't believe he got one, he thought he wouldn't get one until he was 9. His is just like Micah's but instead of red it's black.

Jacob is a very smart and outgoing boy. He is doing well in piano and is now practicing on his own, without being reminded. He loves Legos and building things, jumping on the tramp and playing outside, he also still loves video games and has been enjoying Lego Harry Potter which Micah bought with his birthday money (Jacob is very happy about that) and baseball on the wii. this morning he told me that his arms have been really sore and he had a hard time believing it was from a video game. I knew this only because Tyler and I played the other night and both experienced the same thing, that pitching is good exercise! We love you Jacob and are excited about your decision to get baptised. You will do great things, I know.

I got Legos from my husband for our anniversary...

11 years of wedded bliss. Ok, so maybe actually more like 8! Just kidding. Tyler and I celebrated our 11th anniversary last night, even though it is actually today. Money is tight because we are trying to be good and live within a budget and get and stay out of debt, so we had to be thoughtful and creative this year.

Tyler is a drummer, which I think is pretty hot. He asked me a few weeks ago if I thought he was ever cool. I told him no, but that was ok because I loved him and had fun with him, he didn't need to ever be "cool". Well, I have been wanting to get him another drum set since he got rid of his last one about 5 years ago. I knew it was definately not financially feasable at this time. I heard Melissa Bogle talking about her husbands new drum set and my wheels started turning. I told her that if he was getting rid of his old drum set I might be interested in buying it. That night I was like, "What am I thinking, even if he was only asking $100 bucks I really couldn't do it, Ty would be mad." Melissa's husband Darrin found me at church and told me that we could have it. I asked him how much and he told me he couldn't take any money for it, that it wasn't that great. I felt elated, and a little guilty, but it really was ideal, an answer to my prayers. Ty is always doing and getting great things for me and I really wanted to do something special and nice for him. He cleaned it up and I went and got it, he loaded it all up in my van for me and I brought it home! Tyler was very happy and told me that it is the nicest drum set he's ever had.

Ok, so back to my mean comment about him not being cool. I gave him a card first that said...

"Remember the other day when you asked me if you were cool and I said no? Well, I thought of something that you used to do that was cool. I know you think you aren't very good, but you are and you need a hobby and to develope your talents." That was something like part of what I wrote in his card. I really do love to watch him play the drums. It sounds good and he'll sometimes turn his hat backwards and I think he looks hot, yes, hot. I think my husband is a very good looking man and I love him dearly and I often wonder how it was that I was so fortunate to snag such a great guy.

So here he is still in his work clothes and no baseball cap of course, so he isn't looking hot here, but you can see in his face how happy he is. I did good this year, thanks Bogles!

So, Tyler was very romantic and creative this year with his gifts to me. One of them was a Lego set. Ha ha! It's true, but there is more to the story. I'll tell it with pictures, the idea is really that each gift is a substitute for what he really wanted to get me. Read the notes to really get the full story, it's cute...



This Lego set is actually one I've been wanting the boys to get. I think it's pretty cool. Hannah and Tanner Dockstader are moving in down the street from us and they came over today and helped me put it together. They have the same set at their Grandma's. It was cute how excited my kids and my kids friends have been that I got Legos.


So, we had fun. We saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 (don't take your kids unless you want them to see a bit of nudity though) and then we went to Taho Joe's so I could stay on my diet ( I did really good and I was down again this morning! I also had 3 servings of chicken left after I finished my dinner!). It was a great anniversary, Thanks also to my parents and sister for having all 4 kids overnight. We also got to sleep in, it was awesome.

Candy Corn Parfaits, thanks Kirsten!

As promised, and a bit late, here they are. I am lazy and not posting directions, but if you want them you have to look on Enjoying the Journey blog found on the right of my blog. I made them mostly the same but I used crushed Oreos instead of Coco Puffs and I didn't use the chocolate pudding but I'm sure it would be great in it.

I am so glad I made these before I started my diet as they were SO yummy. Peyton ate one bite and was done, she didn't like the crushed Oreos for some reason. I ate hers.
I made Tyler a big one, he said the small one would have been better, it was filling and he could hardly finish it. I think I would have been fine with the big one though ;)

Candy Corn Parfait

Ninja, Flight Commander, Robin, Princess P, what do they have in common?

They all belong to me!
Oct 28
Every Thursday I help in Benji's Kindergarten class. The Thursday before Halloween they got invited to go trick or treating at the district offices. Peyton saw all of the kids there that morning in their costumes (we had to bring one to Ben because I didn't know they could dress up) and she wanted to get dressed up. She sat like a little angel while I curled all of her hair into ringlets, even the ones that are already in ringlets got curled, and did her make-up. She wanted to be a fairy, in her same costume from last year.

She was very happy.

This was Ben getting off the bus, it was his first school bus ride and first school field trip. I grabbed the spider-man costume because it was the most handy and only one piece. He was happy to have it, he only complained later that I didn't bring the mask. Shame on me.

Oct 30

Halloween for the most part. Trunk or Treat.

Micah was a ninja. Nana Paula got him this costume for his birthday, an early birthday gift. He was not up for something reused, recycled or repurposed.

Jacob was a flight commander. Aunt Lindsay got Micah this costume for his birthday a few years ago on after Halloween clearance. Jacob was very accomodating this year and had no complaints about reusing, this costume was never even worn for Halloween, it was perfect. He was the cutest pilot or flight commander I've ever seen.

I found this at Goodwill for $4 several years ago. Jacob wore it for Halloween once and now it's Ben's turn, a very adorable Robin.

The Linfords gave us this very pretty princess dress (a hat too) that was Lauren's. I am so glad that Peyton wore this, she was so stinkin cute. We had a nap issue that day and she went to sleep about 30 minutes before it was time to get ready. I had to wake her up (not a good idea) She did not want a costume on, any costume, she didn't even want to go to trunk or treat. My sister Morgan came over early and helped me to literally tackle her hair with a few curling irons and we did without the make-up. It worked, I am so happy she got out of her funk and was dressed up so cute. At the time we took this picture she was still in her funk and did not want to look at me, that's ok, you can see her curls better this way! Oh, her little crown comb was from Stefanie Adams in the conference basket she gave us (she's my VT).

First trunk of the night, Sis. Tanner. The boys were off on their own. Peyton moved slower that molasses, she didn't even make it to every trunk before the candy ran out. She was enjoying it though. She gave away most all of her candy anyway.

Suckers are one of her favorites, funny, I always traded suckers or ended up throwing them out as they were the last thing left.

We had an old fashioned stick pull. Next to the chili and cornbread it was my favorite part of the evening. All my kids lost. They were all paired with people about twice their height though. Leg length makes a huge difference. I beat Margaret but she was good competition, then Kendra beat me (mostly because Margaret wore me down and Kendra's about a foot taller than me, no, really, I could have taken her). Melissa Bogle beat Kendra (but only because I wore her down and Melissa really is like a foot taller than Kendra, maybe 2 feet taller than me) I wish we had pictures of the girls, it was really fun.

Oct 31

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year we opted out of trick or treating and instead let the kids dress up and pass out candy at my moms. It was perfect really. They are always wanting to pass out candy but never get to because they're always out trick or treating. We also picked up Grandma Kay and brought her with us, it was a nice night.

Still more backtracking to come. Next up, candy corn parfaits.

Tonight...

We celebrated Micah's birthday with the Laing side (as many as could be with us!). I also let my kids play in the rain. Peyton wore her new rainboots that my friend Deann bought her.
She thought it was pretty nifty that she could stand right in the puddle.

The traditional Laing birthday song includes some "tooting" noises between verses

Here is the group that was able to come, minus me.

Mom and Dad with the birthday boy.

So, I have finally uploaded the pictures from my camera from the last several weeks and there are a lot of good ones. Apparently more was going on than I realized and I will have to get to posting! Next up, Halloween.

Double Digits!

A very Happy 10th Birthday to my oldest baby! I love you Micah.

Micah has almost 3 years of piano behind his belt and is doing really well. He continues to excell in school and is finding 5th grade to be more challenging. He likes his teacher at school and church as well. He is an amazing big brother, most all of the time and is much more willing to help out. Micah is still quite an artist and has found a new liking for basketball and would like to play for the school this year. Keep up the good work Micah!

Found

My sister in law Marcia had them! From now on I will make more of a note of who I loan movies and books to, especially family. I usually pay pretty good attention to it unless it's family because you see them and, I don't know. Anyway, they are back on the shelves for us to watch or loan again. I now also have Monk (1st season) thanks Marcia, to borrow. I am excited to watch it and hope it will be a show that I can enjoy WITH Tyler.

I have so many great pictures on my camera to upload and I like so much better to have the pictures to go along with my blogging, so...I hope to get to that soon. I have too many responsibilities and interests that some have to fall by the wayside from time to time. Recently blogging and photo organization have been the ones to go. Well, more later!

2008 Scrapbook

Click here to view this photo book larger

Flag Football

Ben is playing Flag Football right now. His last game is this coming week. It is so much fun to watch him. He really goes after whoever has the ball, he wants that tackle. His favorite part however is throwing and catching the football which they don't do much of. I hope he'll stick with it a few more years so he can get to the "fun" stuff. Not sure I really want any of my kids playing football, but it is fun to watch, but when it's my child out there I'm not sure I'll be able to get past the worry enough to enjoy the game!

Oct. 2nd Tyler was out of town for work, so, once again he missed picture day, sniff, sniff. Micah and Jacob didn't want to play until we got out there the first night and then they felt a bit different. They are looking forward to baseball though, and now that Micah is in 5th grade he can play for the school (yay FREE!).

Potty Training and catching up, somewhat.

My life for the past few weeks has been somewhat consumed by potty training Miss P, exercising and meal planning. I think I can say now that my sweet little girl is potty trained! A few weeks ago I thought she was NOT ready, and now it's been something like 6 days since her last accident. She tells me when she needs to go potty and sometimes goes all by herself! Happy Day! 4 down, none to go! I hate potty training and P made it easy, as easy as can be anyway. I am so proud of her.
This, above, is my latest favorite way to do her hair. She has super curly, ringlet hair, but only underneath. The topmost layer is pretty straight, so I have found that if I wash it and brush it with a wide tooth comb it dries in perfect ringlets underneath and on top I can just curl it, about 5 additional ringlets. So Cute, and pretty quick and easy (as long as she can watch in the mirror!).

I made Peyton and my nieces these dresses and matching baby clothes for Christmas. I wish I had a pic of them all together in them.

Sept. 6th was the last Grizzlies game and we went, minus Jake who was hanging out with his cousin Essien. I now love baseball, go figure. I'm working on football, well, planning on it. I just need someone to take the time to explain all of the many details. You cannot love something you know very little about. So, do you notice how old Micah is looking? He's almost 10 now!

Peyton is pretty girlie in some ways, but in many ways she is very much a tom boy. Micah asked if she was going to be a cheerleader, she said no, she was going to play football.

The first month of school both big boys at the first awards rally got Sparthenian. It's basically like student of the month. I was very happy for that. They are good kids and I am lucky to have them.

Many years ago I did a Rainbow Fish craft with Micah and he loved it. We read the book and then made a rainbow fish. I decided to repeat it with Ben and Peyton. It was so fun to watch Peyton glue on the scales. She was so precise with where she placed each scale and she did such a good job, reminds me ever so much of Micah.

Ben wasn't nearly as particular about the placement of his scales, he was more interested in cutting out his own scales. He is learning tons in Kindergarten and enjoying school quite a bit.

Ben is playing flag football and Tyler is helping coach his team. Ben is very good at throwing and catching the football. I enjoy watching him dance around the field during his games. I think we need to get that boy in a dance class. His latest is break dancing which I think he actually has some talent in.

Peyton often joins me in my exercising. She is so cute. She now has graduated from Girl Pushups ( like Anita) to Regular Pushups (like mommy and Natalie). If you have ever done Jillian Michaels 30 day shred these names would mean something! CHECK OUT HER FORM!

Here she is, watching my dvd while EATING CHIPS!

Notice the diaper? I no longer see that anymore!

This picture I love, it's old news too, she likes to use the "Big Potty" now. Life is good, busy. I'm going to attempt to be better at blogging, but who knows.