April 2010

#5 and his friend Jake at the park. #5 is crazy social, so when brothers are not available, there are lots and lots of play dates.

We love the park in the spring. We go often to enjoy the short-lived amazing weather.

Mike seriously enjoys these boys of ours. He's had one-on-one trips with both Michael and Noah before (more than once), but this incredibly non-squeaky-wheel-type (#2) has never gone. We remedied that with a trip to camp next to the Guadelupe River, check on the drive through safari next door, explore the caves, and yes, even enjoy a trip to Sea World (#2's dream since he was little because he adores animals and wildlife).

At one point on the trip, #2 looked at Mike and said, "This trip is pretty much every boy and girl's dream." #1 got to go to a band contest. The band got the top ratings, and the proud Dad who accompanied this tuba player on the field trip is pretty sure you can trace the excellence right back here.

#5 gets some much needed rest...hey, it's better than when #s 1 & 2 fell asleep across their new bikes!

We got to have Uncle Rob join us for Easter dinner! We love remembering on Easter about life, hope, and the Savior.

The lovely table runner for Easter dinner was handmade by Sandra.

The older boys hunted up high, while the younger ones found eggs in

After the big hunt...

Proof for Gram that we did, indeed, dye Easter eggs. Aunt Allie must be a good influence on us.

We love you, Gran!

This is one enthusiastic little jay-walker at Fire Safety Town on his kindergarten field trip! Of course, #4 does everything he ever does with gusto.

#5 also had his kindergarten program. He is supposed to be a longhorn. Since mom forgot, this is what we can up with: bunny ears with yellow horns pinned on, a motorcycle vest from Halloween with white "spots" pinned on, and black clothing borrowed from various brothers. Good thing he himself is so cute! The little girl next to him is Jessica, one of his best buddies.

A lovely little song about worms from the kindergarten program

One of the band's performances

March 2010

March was a huge, super fun month for us! #3 (curly blonde on the top row in the section of white wall) had his program in January, but I forgot to post it!! I loved watching him dance to every single water song--he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

#2 got his braces off just before his birthday.

We did several playdates during SPRING BREAK. Here #2 and friend make paper mache.

We always love having the whirlwind over!

We got to go the the BYU vs. TCU game and had a blast! We had to laugh, though, that #1 was most interested in the tubas and #2 was most interested in the mascots. #3, at least, seemed to enjoy the BASKETBALL.

#1 got his tenderfoot, 2nd, and 1st class scout ranks. We're super proud of his efforts! He's already working on several merit badges getting ready to turn 12.

#2 (far left taller of the two) had his school program and even had the guts to perform a solo!

Grandma sent homemade sweaters. We LOVE them!

#2 had a big Camp Half Blood birthday party (here they're attacking "Medusa" with the swords they decorated--mike made these wood swords in his workshop in the garage...AWESOME--wearing CHB shirts and necklaces they made).

Allie helped #2 and I decorate the cake--Thalia's pine tree (complete with golden fleece fashioned out of starbursts and baby dragon to guard it from Sea of Monsters).

Dad surprised #2 with this amazing shield. Seriously, coolest dad on the block honors for the month! Mom also made a shield just for decoration--Aegis, with Medusa's head carved in the front.

A sample of #4's classwork from open house. I absolutely adored his artwork! (You can see it all on lebarons.blogspot.com because I couldn't choose. :D While I know others won't be as drawn to his artwork as I am, email me or leave a comment if you ever want an invite.)

Sample from #3. They studied animals' habitats, adaptations, etc.

Sample from #2's classwork--visual representations of our family members. I'm guessing his was the biggest project in class since he had 7 people to do. :) This is me. My boys are my mouth. My eyes and hair represent spaghetti and meatballs, #2's favorite dinner. My eyebrows and nose show how much I love my family. #2 was at least this creative and specific with each member of our family. I really enjoyed having him describe each of us.

Got a little jab in at Krista by putting these shots from Rescue 911 Canon Ball Kid on a cake for her birthday. Happy birthday to Krista and Dave (to whom we gave a hampster and a decorated car--no one tell them when our birthdays are!!!).

More time at the zoo with #5, his best bud, and whirlwind! LOVE IT! So glad Aunt Allie is always game to go...

Chopped my hair off. I think I like it. Pretty sure I'll grow it out again shortly, though.

#4 was sent home because the school thought he had pink eye. Since he was excused and it was allergies, we took him to the zoo. Hooray for pink eye possibilities!!

#2 celebrating his birthday with cupcakes in the classroom--his teacher is helping him conduct "Happy Birthday."

PINEWOOD DERBY--#2 got our first ever first...in a single heat! He did it twice and was super excited. I am counting down the years...with 5 BOYS...and 3 derbies each...

Quotables: #4 threw up 5 times in one evening. When #2 heard suspicious sounds in the morning, he called to see if #4 was at it again. His response? "No. I was just practicing." For more quotables, click here or here.

February 2010

Only including these cause I loved them...nothing special that we did these days...

...just cute boys (first #5, then #4) all ready for church.

We did LOTS of fun play dates--made treats, decorated flags & aprons & hats, painted, etc. This is #5 and his best friend in aprons they created decorating cupcakes.

SNOW!! We've had so much snow this year and have thoroughly, truly, completely enjoyed it! #5 and #4 play super well together--especially outside--and really loved a snow filled trampoline.

#2 (second from the left) and #3 had their basketball seasons end. Both improved tremendously and had a ton of fun. Mike coached #3; #2's coach said Caleb is an example of the reason he continues to coach because he was sincere, hard working, and much improved.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief came out!! Mike was gone a lot in February, but we sure made the most of it including this party that lasted most of the day. We made our own Camp Half Blood shirts and camp necklaces, went to see the movie, took the quiz to find out if they might be a half blood, and played half blood all day. While we were NOT IMPRESSED with the movie (they messed up our favorite characters, made no effort to follow the plot, and even added some more grown up parts to it), we had a blast! (#1 has glasses, #4 is right in front of him, #2 has #5's friend on his lap, #3 is the curls on the right, and #5 is wearing a striped shirt.)

Can't get enough of the zoo. We go every time the weather permits and mom can clear her calendar. Since all but #5 are in school, we usually have #5's best friend, #5, and cousin "whirlwind" (left to right).

We were able to stop and walk around the temple grounds. When the boys got home from school that day, #5 shouted, "We went to the TEMPLE, and I felt the SPIRIT!"

Snow days were a terrific break from the mundane, especially for #5, who made 2 snowmen, some snowballs, and lots of footprints.

More time at the zoo...

January 2010

January was a quiet month. Our very favorite part was the remainder of our time with Grandma and Grandpa. This is us at TX Law and Order on our way to drop them off at the airport.

#4 wrote this story to go with the snowman he made for kindergarten.

#4 with his snowman.

We are so glad this friend of #3 moved into the neighborhood. We love the swords, time at the creek, and yes, even the wii time.

December 2009

Christmas morning 2009...

#4 shows the fun book he made us in kindergarten.

#2 so thrilled that he couldn't stay sitting up.

#5 and cousin "Whirlwind" opening the video that was the hit of Christmas. #5 actually refused to open more presents or stockings until about 2 in the afternoon in favor of watching.

#1 got the makings of a reading nook for his room. We can't keep these boys' noses out of books! They even try to hide them on their laps during meals...

Scary mom who had insisted on sleeping in the same room as her boys to see her favorite part of the celebrations--her boys waking up! That was more involved this year since we picked Ann and Adam up from the airport in a freezing rain storm after midnight (during the ride I managed to pull off a crown eating a popcorn ball--so exciting! (: ), didn't get to bed until after 1am, and woke to Caleb's alarm which he had accidentally set an hour ahead. Luckily, since I let Michael play his tuba to wake up the household, everyone else (including B,A,+Whirlwind) was too tired to be aroused at 4:45am. So if I look a little scary, hey, I earned it.

Tiny Tim or the Grinch? I'll let you decide. We sure loved having these guys with us!

Ann and Adam got a lot of little things this Christmas...because after 4 years of waiting and hoping for a baby, little Charlie is finally on his way!

Dad traditionally hands out, then gives time for playing, exploring, and sharing before the next round. Would drive grandpa nuts if he had been here, but instead grandpa had a present-feeding-frenzy that could rival the pirhanas. I think they were done in under half an hour with their group! Ours didn't finish until like 2:30.

Breakfast at 6:00am. Normally we do our huge brunch mid-morning, but since all the boys and I were up at five and under contract not to awaken anyone else until 6, we got going early. We make a favorite of everyone in the family plus a few staples and really chow down. Then, since we do our big dinner Christmas Eve, mom gets the rest of the day off from cooking!

This is our Christmas Eve pageant with my sweet friend Jerilyn's family. We had a lovely dinner (they brought fabulous edible creations, rolls, and popcorn balls--we really got to FEAST!), read the Christmas story, had our pageant, and opened our pictures (how we tell which wrapping is for whom--we each open a wrapped baby picture and then trade to whomever it belongs so we know which wrap is ours) and pajamas. A little later A+B+"W" came over. Late that night we added Ann and Adam.

We got to go with the scouts to welcome home some of our troops for their R&R. A really humbling, terrific experience that left me filled with gratitude for these sacrifices and for our country.

We got to deliver our hats to Parkland. From this pic, you may be able to tell that Mom MAY have been just a wee bit stressed guiding these 5 yahoos through the hospital.
I think we had 120 hats this year!We were so blessed to have so many wonderful guests this year. My camera had issues, and I don't have many pics, but Grandma and Grandpa and Eddie and Miranda also joined us. We loved every minute!! We even got Eddie to ride a bull on Ann's birthday--automatic sainthood? One of the things we were able to do was to celebrate Charlie's coming with a baby shower. Now, I asked them to write "pea IN the pod," not "pea on the pod," which sounded suspiciously like "pee on the pot" to this potty training mom.

Annual chocolate dipping. Absolutely nothing like honey pretzels and oreos heavily dipped and sprinkled. I think #3 ate as many as he dipped!