My Sister Elizabeth and her family came and stayed over on their way to southern Cali and we had a great visit. It was just such a breath of fresh air to see family, it has been too long. Dallin had SOOOO much fun with his 3 boy cousins. They played with his toys, jumped on the trampoline and jumped some more!

At some point during the day I took out all of our boxing glove sort of toys and threw them on the trampoline. I think there were 4 sets all together. As you can see in the video it was a Huge hit! My favorite thing was watching Eden, man she is one tough little girl. I guess being between 2 brothers will do that. She loves being girly girl and also can be a total tom boy. I was the same way. What you see here literally went on for hours, it was so fun to watch them having such a great time. Tanner was smart enough to stay away so I was glad for that:)

Puzzles and Games

Game and Puzzle boxes never last long for us for some reason, can't imagine why! When they wear out, I turn to the trusty zip lock bags. They are easy and cheap. I have a small stack of game boards and the plastic bags full of pieces in a little tub on top.

I also started cutting out the front of the puzzle box so the kids have a reference when they are putting them together. It saves so much space too. I just have them all in one small drawer.

Photo Practice

I have been enjoying my camera so much lately. I am trying to get the hang of it. My list of wants for photo equipment grows everyday. I was going to edit these before I put them up, but I didn't get to it and I was tired of looking at the poop story so these are as taken. I am loving my class and I am totally going to take another one next semester. Dallin's finger painting.

This little friend was such a nice subject. He just sat there and held still which is so much more than I can say about my 4 usual subjects!

We made sugar cookies for FHE. The kids got to pick out their cookie cutters and then frosted their cookies and of course made a huge mess!

Just being silly.

I wish this pic was sharper but still cute little feet.

Best Poop Story Ever

As you know, I love poop stories. I know, I know, there is really something wrong with me! But I am still going to write my new favorite one. Today Dallin used the restroom and proudly proclaimed to Peter that he made a "CANDY CANE POO POO". According to Peter it really was very impressive. They were so exited about it that Peter suggested that they show Mommy(I was upstairs at the moment). Before Dallin could come and get me Eden came in to look and promptly flushed Dallin's work of art!!! Dallin pretty much thought the world had ended. He mourned the loss for a few minutes and then Peter came upstairs to tell the tale. I could not stop laughing for....well, I am still laughing.

Magazine Article about Peter

Today Peter's boss came into his office and gave him a copy of an electrical magazine that talks about one of the scholarships that Peter has received. What is even cooler is that his boss was in southern Cali recently and it was one of the owners of the company that had pointed it out to Peter's boss. I guess they know who Peter is and he is making a good impression. Peter really likes being an estimator in the office and really tries to be an asset to the company. People seem to notice him and like him. He is pretty awesome if I do say so myself!

Following the Leader

Since we started at the new Kindergarten I have been shuffling the kids in and out of the car a lot to drop off and pick up. I really dislike all of the nagging to get the kids out to the car and in their chairs. Then the other day I decided to give a little leadership responsibility. When it was time to go I announced that Dallin was the leader and that we were going to follow the leader to the car and get in our chairs. All of the sudden Dallin stood up straight and assumed his responsibility. The other kids thought it was way cool to follow him as their leader too. So now I pick the leader and then we sing the "following the leader" song as we march to the car. It works great. The older two get in and buckle up. I still have to buckle the two year old but he is pretty good at getting in his chair, so I just have to drop the baby in his car seat base and we are off. I love it and the kids love it so everyone is happy!

Busy Days

Life is so good that I haven't even had a lot of time to post. Being busy really feels right to me, but I haven't really been having any computer time. I still don't have all my pictures updated from my camera and I am even more behind on videos, but I will catch up soon. So here is my boring fill in the cracks post for now. I have been trying to de-clutter and deep clean our house. I still haven't gotten all caught up from having a hard pregnancy. I am spending a lot of time organizing, like the other day I rotated the kids clothes to their winter sizes and realized that since we moved here, I have been throwing all outgrown clothes into random bags in the garage. It took about 6 hours to sort all the wardrobes into sizes, fill a bunch of goodwill bags with stuff I don't want, put away this summer's stuff and pick out what will fit for the winter! I am very grateful that all my boys birthdays are less than a month apart. That worked out great because the hand me downs work perfectly for the seasons. I thought it was funny that my girl clothes are about double the amount for any given size, I think I was a little clothes crazy for Eden her first couple of years. Then there was the toy room. Man, talk about needing to clean out and organize! Tons of garbage toys and a couple of goodwill bags later, it is in tip top shape. The gym is occupying my nights, which I think is good because I can't sit around and watch TV or snack and who needs that anyway. I guess I will have to figure out more time for pictures and blogs somehow, but I am loving how much less time is wasted around here. I don't really even miss evening TV shows (don't worry, I still catch The Office, and John and Kate on the DVR). During the day, I admit to listening to BYUTV or Oprah a lot while working, but that is multitasking so it isn't too bad. Okay that is quite a rambling spew of random thoughts, but oh well. This is my blog about not blogging :O)

Carmel Apples

A couple of weeks ago we made carmel apples for FHE. The kids did great unwrapping all those candies and not eating ALL of them in the mean time. Then everyone got to dip their own apple. It was pretty fun and sticky.

Sleepers

Between my photog class and the gym, Peter has been putting the kids to bed 3 times a week. When I get home, I am finding this quite a bit: They look so much alike in this one.

Lights out with Carter.

Photo Class Presentation

In my photo class, we are supposed to bring 3 photos to share with the class on the projector. We have to do this 4 times during the semester. This was my second time so here are the pics that I chose to share:

Prop 8

The members have worked so hard on the campaign for prop 8. There have been people waving signs on almost every corner and countless other efforts and really made a stand for what is right. No matter what the outcome is, I am just so proud of our church and the members for their efforts. I am glad that we live in California right now to experience these wonderful saints following the Lord's will. The world has literally turned wrong to right and I am very grateful to be a member of the true church so that I can know what is right in the LORDS bounds, not what the world says. We can always look to Him for guidance and know the real right from wrong. I know the polls are not looking good, but we know we have done what we can. What matters is that the saints have drawn the line and will not follow what is popular. If prop 8 does pass, the future will be a better place!

A Happy Thought

I just found out in my Oregon Autism Yahoo group that Intel is considering covering ABA therapy (the therapy we moved to Cali to get) for families dealing with autism soon. It just makes me so happy to see things going in the right direction in Oregon. I know it won't affect me personally, but if Intel could be a leader in this area maybe it would catch on more. Go Oregon, Go Intel!!!!

Apple Peeler

I have been wanting one of these great little gadgets since I took a cooking class at BYU and just have never gotten around to buying one. I finally got one for my Birthday last month! It cores, peels and slices all at once. I just break the curly apple into pieces and the kids love it for snacks. It is great for quick apple pie or cobbler. It also works for peeling and slicing potatoes. I love it and can't believe I went so long without getting one. It was only $20 on Amazon and is really easy to clean, just wipe with a damp cloth. I love it especially since it is apple season.

Another Pumkin Patch

Last week I got to go with Dallin on his class field trip to a pumkin patch. We have been to 3 different ones since we have moved here and they have all been different and fun. It was really fun to see Dallin interact with his little friends. Petting a baby bunny.

Clapping to a song. This really old grandma and grandpa had a cute program they did with singing, showing animals and telling jokes.

Big Kindergarten Boy. I really love the fairytale pumkins. They are so cool.

There were a couple of tractors, which Dallin said was his favorite when I asked him about it later.

Quite a discovery!

Girly Girl

I took Eden to Target the other day to buy her some new clothes. She was very enthusiastic about picking out three separate outfits. At one point she got so exited that she said "I like shopping with you Mom!" and then added "I LOVE buying new clothes!" She is so funny.