Father's Day

For Father's Day the kids and I let Daddy sleep in, while we wrapped Daddy's present and got his card ready. When he woke up Jax couldn't wait for him to open his present, which was a new blower, then we made him some breakfast. After that Jax and Daddy went outside to try out his new present, I don't know who thought it was cooler, Jax or Nick! Then we all got ready and went for a drive up the canyon, we went to snowbird and walked around for a little while, the whole time we were up there Jax kept saying "Dis is my favorite thing!" After we got home we made some dinner and then went on a walk. Happy Father's Day Nicky! We love you!

Swimming lessons

Jaxson and Gabe started swimming lessons today. They are at my dad's pool with a couple of other friends. When Jax woke up this morning he asked me what fun thing we were going to do today, I told him that he had swimming lessons this afternoon. He said "Mom, does dat mean dat I will be able to swim without a lifejacket?" I told it's so he can learn to swim without one and so that he can be safe in the pool. Then he said "Mom, how long will it take until it's time to go?" I told him it wasn't for several hours, he said "Mom, what do I have to count to till it's time to go? I can't wait any more Mom!" After him asking me every few minutes if it was time to go, he was so excited when it was FINALLY time to put on his swimsuit and leave to go to Papa Kirk's. Jax and Gabe loved their first lesson and they both did really well! Jax can't wait to go back next week.

Congrats Colby!!

Yesterday we had a party for Colby to celebrate him getting his Eagle Scout! He actually got it a while back but, we finally had a party for him yesterday. I am so proud of my baby brother...who actually isn't a baby anymore considering the fact that he just graduated from high school!! But he will always be my baby brother to me. He is such a good kid and we all love him so much! We had the party at a park yesterday, with it pouring rain while we were eating. Good thing we were all under a pavilion! My mom even had a cake made with an eagle on it, it actually looked more like a turkey...but it was still really cool. All the kids (both big and little) had fun running around the park playing. Nicky even tried skateboarding, which inevitably ended with him falling off the skateboard and bruising his knee and elbow and maybe even his ego a little bit. But he looked good doing it...at least I think so! It was fun to be able to see all of the family and to be able to celebrate Colby's accomplishment! We love you Colb!

New pictures

Last week my best friend Janelle was nice enough to take pictures of the kids. I know I may be a bit prejudice...but they are absolutely precious! I knew they would be good because the pictures she took of all 4 of us were so good, but these are adorable!

Fishies

On Monday I took Jaxson, Ella and Gabe to the aquarium. I knew it would be quite a task to take the 3 kids to the aquarium by myself but I needed to get out of the house and I knew the little munchkins would be entertained by the fish. Those of you that have 3 kids and take them places by yourself on a regular basis...YOUR BRAVE and I don't want to hear that it is no big deal to take them, or that they are perfect little angels wherever you go, because you are in DENIAL! Regardless of the fact that it was hectic trying to keep track of them when they all wanted to be looking at different things, it was fun to see their little faces when they were looking at the fish. I think the highlight for Jaxson and Gabe was the tank with the sharks, every time one would swim by the boys would say "Wow dat one is HUGE! I wouldn't want to be in da water with dat!" Keep in mind that this is a small aquarium and that the sharks are rather small, but to little kids they are huge. Ella would point at the fish and say "Mommy fishies! Mommy fishies! Fishies cute!" When she says cute it sounds more like toot, which makes it even cuter. Whenever I would tell her to come look at another fish she would say "Mommy I want fishies first." Which meant that she didn't understand that we would be looking at other fish, she thought we were done looking at fish and Ella wasn't ready to go. After we had seen all of the fish, several times and the kids had crawled through the little coral tunnel it was time to go home. This did not go over well with any of them and they all took turns throwing fits while we were walking out to the car. Later that night when I was putting Jaxson to bed he said "Mom, remember da octopus? He had a big head, just like Daddy!" Needless to say, this made me laugh! Nick thought it was pretty funny too.

I think next time I decide to take the 3 of them, I will have backup, I was out-numbered, but the kids had fun!

Miss attitude

Since I just blogged about how big Jaxson is and how fast he is growing up I feel that I should blog about how fast Princess Ella is growing up. She has always been our little princess, but now she really acts like a little princess...and sometimes it's not a good thing! She has mastered the art of temper tantrums and throws them every chance she gets. Ella know exactly what she wants and exactly when she wants it, and when she doesn't get her way, or when someone makes her mad, she does not hesitate to let you know! She is talking a lot now and her favorite things to say are "Princess Ella" "No Mom!" and "Ouch!" oh ya and "I had it first" which doesn't actually sound like she is saying "I had it first" but she is. If her brother has a toy that she wants, she takes it from him and says "I had it first" or if she plays with something she isn't supposed to she says "I had it first Mommy" she even says it with an attitude. She has figured out that it is really fun to run and she loves to say "Watch Mommy" and then run across the family room, then she stops and looks at me and grins! She has become quite a Daddy's girl lately and runs to him as fast as she can saying "Daddy! Daddy!" when he gets home from work. Sometimes she is even so much of a Daddy's girl when he is home that she wont let me wipe her hands and face off when she is done eating, or when she needs her diaper changed, only daddy will do for these tasks sometimes. Which I am totally OK with! It's nice to have a little break from doing those things sometimes. She still absolutely loves her big brother and loves to follow him around the house doing what he is doing. Just like Jax, she is growing up way too fast! She is so much fun (even with the tantrums) and she is constantly entertaining us.

Last day of Preschool

Today was Jaxson's very last day of Preschool. When he woke up this morning I asked him if he was excited to go to school and have "circus day" he said "Yes I'm excited for circus day, but Mommy I'm sad dat dis is my very last day of preschool. I will miss both of my teachers and all of my friends dat I have made." I told him that the last day of school means that it is summertime and we get to do all kinds of fun things...his response to this was "Does dat mean I get to run though da sprinklers whenever I want?" My guess is that he will be outside as often as he can running through the sprinklers and playing in the mud!

After I dropped him off I realized that was the last time I would ever pull up in front of preschool and watch him walk up the driveway with his school bag on his shoulder, and a grin on his face because he couldn't wait to see all of his friends. I was sad driving home...however my princess daughter made me quickly forget that I was sad when she started throwing multiple temper tantrums and whining throughout the 2 1/2 hours that Jaxson was at school. When I got to preschool to pick him up and pulled in line with the other parents waiting for their kids I was sad once again. I wont get to watch him walk out of preschool with his arm shading his eyes because the sun is too bright, and looking down the line of cars to find me, then waving with a huge grin on his face when he sees me and getting into the car excitedly telling me all about everything that had happened at school. Luckily my camera was in my purse and I got a few pictures of him standing in the driveway waiting for the teacher to walk him to the car for the very last time. I can't believe he will be going to Kindergarten next year! He has had so much fun at preschool learning new things and making new friends. He even got a preschool diploma! I'm so proud of him and can't believe how fast he is growing up!