Five things for Friday 8/31 (I forgot to post this before we went out of town)

Blythe got her first set of immunizations and it was quite the ordeal!  

Another fun trip to the lake

School starts and Rand does his first homework assignment:)

My creative girls design a princess dress out of a batman cape.  Meet "Princess Batman"

Last, but not least I am still bike shopping and I think I have made me decision!!!

Thursday

Today it feels like I have been extra busy, but when I think back on the day it was really nothing out of the ordinary.  I got up, got the kids ready for school, and dropped Ainsley, Channing, And Blythe off.  I stopped by the park on the way home from the school to talk to a friend I haven't seen in awhile.  Then we went home and Farrah took a nap while I cleaned the house and did laundry.  Rand lucked out and got to watch a movie because I really needed him to be entertained since we are getting ready to go away for the weekend tomorrow:)  We ate lunch and then it was time to drop Rand off at Kindergarten and pick Blythe up.  We made the switch and Blythe ate lunch and went down for a nap when we got home.  Farrah also went down for her afternoon nap.  I usually work out during this time but today I cleaned some more and did some more laundry while I caught up on my netflix!  Before I knew it, it was time to go to the school for round three of picking up kids.  We came home and turned on some music so we could dance/ clean their rooms:)  It was actually pretty fun, excluding the part where I had to threaten Rand within and inch of his life to keep him from tackling his brother:(  But like I said nothing out of the ordinary.  Finally we made dinner and they ate it in the backyard since I just cleaned the house.  Does that make me a mean mom?  If so, I don't care because it was totally worth it!  Now they are all showering and getting ready to watch their "Friday night movie" since we'll be gone tomorrow night.  Then they will go to bed and Nick will come home from work.  Speaking of that I will need to find something to feed him... the kids ate leftovers and they are all gone.  Anyway,  at 8:30 I will go on a night bike ride with Nick's cousin Tyler, come home, shower and then pack for tomorrow!  That concludes the run down of my day!  Wow could I get any more boring???? Oh well, that's all I got today.

I leave you with a picture of a baby foot. Those are always cute and appropriate for any situation, Enjoy!

This one's for the kids

My kids always find creatures and then beg me to take a picture for them.  

After I dropped them off at school this morning when I swung by the gas station to fill my car up.

 I saw this little guy and I thought of them:) So this one is for the kids.

Baby Grows Up

My baby turned 1 on Sunday.  Happy & Sad!

Saturday the whole family went out to lunch and to the toy store to pick out her gift.

Here is her Owl cake.  

We are going to make one for Aunt Candice on her birthday in a few weeks:)

 We had friends over for dinner followed by cake and ice cream.  

I think she enjoyed it even though I couldn't manage to catch her when she was actually smiling.

Like it, Love it, Can't live without it

A baby in a Spiderman mask being held down for a picture of course!

Who wouldn't like, love, or be able to live without that????

5 Things For LAST Friday

A little late but here it is...

A confirmation that my kids are weirdos:) 

 Can you see her little head peeking out from under the bed? 

As near as I can tell she spent most of the night under there!

We start 'em early on bikes over here.  

She made it almost a whole mile the other day on a family ride!

Pretty good for a 3 year old with no pedals.

The great bike weigh-in.  

In honor of Nick's new ride we decided to try to weigh our bikes.  

Yes, we are nerds for sure!

We had friends over all day Friday while they're mom gave birth to baby Micah!  

So happy he is here and that we could help out.

Last, but not least... so excited to celebrate this little girl's 1st birthday on Sunday!!!!!

I did it!

I climbed the entire Madera Canyon on my bike!!!!  

This has been a goal of mine for awhile. It is 18 miles from my house to the top.

In the past I have been too chicken to ride up the last three miles that include up to an 18% grade.  On July 2 I decided it was time to man up:)  I made it all the way up and on a super hot day too.  It was tough but not as bad as I thought. I've done it 2 times since then as well, and it gets better every time.

A little down hill section right before the going gets tough.  

It is a welcome respite from the miles of false flat that proceed it, but a bit deceiving.  

Made a pit stop 3 miles from the top (My usual turn around point).  

Since it has been so warm and I have drunk so much water by this point I usually have to stop and use the restroom.  I can't blame my bladder I mean I do have five kids!

Check out the temp. (97.9)  This was standing in the shade during my rest stop.  At one point it read over 104 degrees!  The only thing I was bummed out about had to do with this little device.  This is actually Nick's Garmin.  I couldn't find mine so I borrowed his.  I keep mine on auto pause for when I stop.  He doesn't.  I stopped it when I reached the top and I forgot to restart it when I headed down, but I didn't realize until 5 miles into my descent:(  I lost all the fastest mileage that would have upped my average and I failed to record my personal fastest time ever 41.5 mph!  I probably could have gone a little faster than that but I am a chicken and I was sitting up to catch wind and coasting not pedaling at all. I was quite disappointed but it just gave me more motivation to ride it again.

Made it to the top, finally.  

I have to admit I was super slow.  

Oh well, you gotta start somewhere right?

Happy, but hot:)

Venge

Nick got a new ride!  It is beautiful and I am envious.  He has also suggested that the the Venge get a  special lady friend.  How can I not be on board with that idea?  Only time will tell, but I have high hopes for a love match:)

First Day of School 2012

Today was the first day back to school! Everyone was really excited AND wearing 'Angry Birds' shirts!  

Even baby got dressed up in matching clothes for the occasion.

They all came home happy, loving their teachers, and excited to go back.  

As for me I had a great first day of school too.  In the morning I dropped of Ainsley, Channing and Blythe (to preschool).  Then I came home and put Farrah down for a nap and Rand and I enjoyed some quality time together.  He and I tend to butt heads a lot, and sometimes I feel like I am always getting on his case for causing issues with the other kids.  It was nice to spend a morning all alone having fun together.  After we ate lunch I dropped Rand off at afternoon Kindergarten and picked Blythe up.  We headed home and the little girls had lunch and went down for naps.  I then had a couple hours to myself which was awesome.  I think I am going to like this schedule.

Like it, love it, can't live without it

School supplies

School starts tomorrow!!!!

Five Things For Friday

We've had a couple great lake trips to a new place we are coming to love.  

The best part is its closer to home.  Here we are on our way.

We finally got around to lighting our sparklers from the 4th of July!  A but late but still just as fun:)

I was sad to see the end of the Tour de France.  Watching had become a art of my routine and it was hard to see it go.

We created a grape family while waiting for Nick to come home from work.  This is what happens when boredom strikes!

My funny little SB jamming out to some tunes at Target while we were school shopping.  This girl cracks me up sometimes.

A day to myself!

A month or so ago I was feeling a little.... like I needed some alone time, so on one of Nick's days off I left him with all the kiddos and went and hung out by myself.  It was just what I needed to recharge.

I drove up to Tucson and started with a snack

 

Next I hit up this place.  Browsing at my leisure in REI was awesome... does that make me a nerd?

I decided to do some shopping and ran across this shirt.  It reminded me of my cousins Debbie & Connie who LOVE James Dean so of course I had to instagram it for them.

Then I decided I may as well try it on:)

Along with a few other things like this... which I would never be able to wear in real life because its cut way to low in the back:(  I was sad because I loved the bright colors.  Anyone who knows me well will tell you that my mostly black wardrobe could definitely use a splash of color:)

I did end up finding a few things which always makes a girl happy.  Finally I grabbed a bite at Chipotle and swung by Walmart to get Nick some ice cream on the way home.

Oh and I almost forgot... Nick called me while I was at the grocery store and gave me a list first aid supplies to purchase.  It turns out that the kids were playing on the water slide (a blessing & a curse remember) and Channing jumped off the top and landed on Ainsley kneeing her in the head. It split her ear open and gave her a mild concussion.  It was a long night once I got back so I was extra grateful for my lovely afternoon on my own.

Baptism

Ainsley was baptized on July 7th! 

It was such a special day for our family.  I am so overjoyed that Ainsley made the decision to be baptized.  I am proud of her dedication this year to learning about the gospel, working on her testimony, and studying the scriptures in preparation for this day.  I was so grateful for the opportunity to be there to watch her achieve this milestone and to feel the strong spirit that day.  I consider myself lucky to have started out my family with such a sweet girl.  Thanks to all the friends and family that came to support her on her special day. 

2 Birthdays

In the last couple of weeks we have celebrated two birthdays in our family! 

Blythe's birthday was a few days into our big trip so we had cake at home before we left.  We did it that way partly so that Nick could be there and partly because I am way to lazy to make a fancy cake on vacation.

A new little 3 year old modeling her "princess".

She requested a pink and purple heart cake. Here's how it turned out.

Rand on the other hand want BATMAN

His 5th Birthday was the day after we got home from our trip.  We made a last minute decision to take him to SunPlash water park and it was a blast, even for the grown ups:)  I haven't felt like a kid in awhile and it was nice to fly down those slides and forget my age for a few hours.

Like it, Love it, Can't live without it

Cooling off after a good work out.

Ok maybe this one wasn't so smart... going for a run when it's 102 degrees!  I am still glad I got in a  run today even if it wasn't in the ideal conditions.  The temperature made for a slow, steady, sweaty time:)