Making moments good

After a couple of gloomy days it was very refreshing to have a perfectly sunny one. Its so interesting to me how life is that way. We have a few gloomy days here and there and because of them the days that are sunny and wonderful are that much more treasured and wonderful.

I had the pleasure of going to a scrapbook party Friday. I got to do lots of talking, laughing, and scrapbooking. It was so refreshing to be with women and just having fun without little ones to worry about. I got to sleep over and spend the morning with them too. By the time I got home it was afternoon and Ry had the boys all dressed and ready to go to the park.

We took off to Turkey Swamp - the boys favorite place. On the way we stopped at an asian market and Ryan bought a box of beautiful mangoes. Ryan loves mangoes. I think its because they remind him of his mission. He now shares that love with his boys.

Ben loves to cheese it for the camera. It is so adorable. He loved following his older brothers around and doing everything they did.

Spring was finally reaching Turkey Swamp and you can find new beautiful green shoot-ups coming out of the ground. We saw mosquitoes on the pond and even found a snake bathing in the sun. Love the signs of spring. After living in California for so long, I appreciate even more now the change in seasons and how obvious it is in this neck of the woods. 

We took a walk to a big open field where Ry and I split our family in teams and played a game of Steal the Flag. I found myself smiling at the fact that we have enough people in our family to play games that require teams. I love that we have three on three. Jack and I came up with a sweet win after Jack pretended to hurt his ankle and started crying. I ran and stole the flag and made it back just before Ry tagged me. Jack said he brought on the tears by looking in the sun.  Our last game was Ry and I against the boys. They were pretty proud of the fact that they won against us. (Really we let them) Man my boys are competitive.  On the way back we sang and marched to Following the Leader. My heart was so full to overflowing with love for this team of boys I call mine.

Before we headed back to the van, Jack and I had fun taking pictures. I love that Jack will model for me now. He knows it makes me happy.

 

So, of course, I can't say no when he asks me to pose for him.


Oh boys! How I love you! Life is so good with you and I am so grateful to be your Mother.

NYC by car, ferry, and subway.

Me and my sis have had a lot of adventures together in our lifetime, but being able to take her to NYC for the first time has to be at the top of the list.  We were sad our sis Jill missed out on the weekend, but I was just so grateful to be with Shanna. It had been 9 months since our tearful goodbye in Utah and I was more than crazy with excitement to get to spend a weekend with her.

The Staten Island Ferry was our first adventure.

We got to see Lady Liberty along the way.

Lauren is like another sister.

Benny was an angel sitting in his stroller pratically the entire time from start to finish.

I LOVE this picture of Jack. That's the Statue of Libery in the distance. I love that Jack will be able to remember his adventures in the Big Apple - what a life this kid has had so far.


My other favorite picture of the day.

Next was the subway to Time Square. Ben did NOT like it at all and had a death grip around us as we rode. Of course, my boys had to touch every little thing and I was completely grossed out by the amount of germs they had on their hands that I had to hold on so tightly too . . . but we survived.

If you have to do the city with four boys its imperative that you have 2 extra set of hands along to help. . . especially when you have to carry a stroller up and down stairs.

Mack was our little trooper too. He sure loves a good adventure.

 

We were making fun of Ben being scared. . . he didn't think it was funny.
 

Time Square - it was a little chilly.
 

Rockefeller Center.
 

 

Then we walked back to Time Square and found a good place to eat and headed back to the subway, to catch the ferry, to get in the van . . . to get home.
 

Another favorite picture from the day. It was my first time on the subway and I was totally nervous. But I absolutely loved the live music, the hustle and bustle, and the sounds of the whooshing trains . . such an exciting experience.
 

It was a very long and wonderful day. . . and we had a lot of fun. What is even more exciting is that they'll be back in a couple months and we get to do this all over again.

Surprise Visit - First stop -Pinewood Derby

A few weeks ago I was surprised by a Southwest itinerary that showed up in my inbox. It was my sister Shanna telling me she was coming to visit. I was so excited and have been anxiously anticipating her arrival. My cousin Lauren lives in New Hampshire so she planned a bus trip down to spend the weekend with us. We had such a blast.

Friday we spent just hanging out and being together. That night we went to Jack's first pine wood derby. He and Ryan had worked long and hard on his car. When it finally came his turn to race it he ran out of the room so worried he would lose. He was more than happy to find out when he got back that he had actually won. He went on to win the cub scout races and had the third fastest car over all.

There he is in the lead.

 Victory!

The 3 fastest cars.

 

Jack and I love our lucky number 7.

Good times

I'm running out of post titles. How do you sum up in a few words this . . .

That's right! He got into the paint again. It was suppose to be all secretly hidden but somehow he found the paint. Sad thing is, I was so so happy when I found out it was acrylic instead of oil. It meant it was easier to wash off Ben and the tub (as compared to last time), but there is a stain on my carpet in the perfect shape of a handprint. I now have a pile of clothes with paint on them and I'm trying to decide if I put in the effort to get them clean or just throw them away, its times like these that I hope I don't have another boy; so I figure I won't need those clothes ever again. Sad I know, but so true. (5th boy if you read this, I love you and I am so glad you came to our family . . . you just better not be as crazy as your big brother Ben.) No I am NOT pregnant.

Jack had a Blue and Gold breakfast and got a few more badges. He was pretty excited about it. Yes! He is short and very well aware of it. . . poor guy.

Poor kid, his Mom forgot to tie is bandana thingy majig right. We love our awesome cub scout.

Ben loved the cupcakes. Every time I turned around the kid had another one. Of course he had to smear frosting all over his face and clothes.

I forgot to put up a picture of Jack and Nate's finished cake for Nate's birthday. Its suppose to be Yogi Bear. . . we tried.

Mack and Ben are total buddies these days. They were eating bananas this afternoon and dancing while singing, "I got a banana, I got a banana, I got a banana hey hey hey hey." (They love Little Rascals)

Ben's awesome dance moves.

Totally getting into it.

Mack took this picture that I love. Its me in my pajamas at 2:00 in the afternoon - yes, I do that a lot.

Mack's dance moves.

What they do to each other when they aren't buddies.

Mack was a good sport and let Ben do it to him.

Love these boys of mine . . . even if they have sticky fingers, bed head, stinky bums, dirty feet, and food covered faces.

Nate's birthday in pictures

Nate requested that I buy him a hooded jacket for his birthday. So our first stop Saturday was Old Navy. The boys had fun with the hats. It was hard for me not to buy Mack and Ben one. They looked so darn cute in them.

Jack and Nate thought they would have fun doing Caps for Sale. (Good times Joy School ladies)

Then we went for a carousel ride at the mall. The boys have been begging me forever to take them and I thought it would be the perfect day to do it. It was so cold and windy outside that we didn't have a lot of options of things to do.

Nate the monkey has to climb on everything.

Mack's face of pure delight. That kid speaks volumes with his face.

After the ride. When Mack saw this picture just now he said, "I love you Mom." and gave me a hug. Such a sweetheart.

Then we played around for a bit.

Happy Birthday Boy!

Sunday was Nate's birthday and after church him and Jack got right in and started making the cake. Jack thought he could guess on the ingredients and almost ruined the cake, but luckily we caught the error in time to fix it before it went in the oven. They had so much fun coloring the frosting and decorating it.

Our neighbors and friends Michie and Frank came over for dinner and the fun. We played a game of Hoopla and I had a good laugh.

Michie and Frank were such good sports to play . . .

I think you can tell by that face that Nate had a super good birthday. Nate is saving his money up for a Nintendo DS so we don't have pictures of him opening presents. He is also excited to go shopping with his Dad for a baseball mitt. He is so excited for baseball to start.