Double Milestones

I guess since Benjamin just turned 4 months old, he decided he was going to start moving up (well, actually over) in the world. He rolled over from his back to his tummy 3 times today! Emmalee saw him do it the first time, and then I had to see for myself.

Look at those cute, adorable eyes! And then he decided to also cut a tooth--yes, he has a tooth poking through.

This (below) is how he spent most of the time at the ball games--how he sleeps through so much screaming, cheering, whistle-blowing noise I'll never know. But I guess he started out doing this :)--he has been sleeping through most of the games since he started attending them 3 months ago!

State Basketball Photos

We're back from Boise--and we survived the long drive with a cramped & crowded van! (More to come about the non-basketball side of the trip.)

Although we lost both of the games, it was a great experience for Ethan, and the other children enjoyed it too.

Here is Ethan on day 1--he's #20. (Orange--Bobcats)

I couldn't post very many action photos because most of them turned out blurry. So here are some free-throw photos.

In the photo below, Ethan's on the left--he usually doesn't play more than a few minutes in varsity--so he was excited to play the last 2 1/2 minutes in the 1st game. We were behind by 20 (didn't stop those 3-point shooters in the 1st half, & by the time we shut them down in the 2nd, we were behind too far.)



These are pictures of game 2 on Friday. It was a really close game, so we weren't sure if Ethan would get any playing time. But we got behind by 7 in the last minute, so Ethan (& the rest of the bench) got to finish the last 25 seconds of the game.

We lost to Richfield on Thursday (53-32), and on Friday, lost to Summit Academy (69-61). Our boys have a great potential, and now if they can just make it one more year to state (when Ethan is a senior), we believe they can win!! I don't think the school has ever been to state back to back years (went last year, but Ethan was on JV so I took him & some friends to watch). We are only losing 1 senior next year, so we hope to be back next year :)

Ethan had a wonderful time and created a lot of memories. Our children also had a great time, and I will be posting more about our trip later.

Photo "fix" for the Weekend :)

My sister, Pamela, requested "lots and lots" of pictures since she won't be able to see the kids this weekend {she WAS planning on coming to visit this weekend, but we are off to the big city of Boise for some exciting ball games :)}

This picture was actually taken by Callum--good job, buddy!! He wanted to capture him smiling, but Benjamin was a bit hungry :)


This is what Benjamin did this afternoon while I cleaned the house. (I like to come home from a trip to a clean house.--there is enough other things to do when you get back, like laundry, unpacking, baths...)

Benjamin thought that I was being silly taking pictures of him. I love his laugh and smile :) Makes my heart melt!

Here's my helper, Emmalee. She loves to clean and help me with whatever I am doing.
On a side note--I HATE having carpet in the dining area--but we are renting for now, and so I "deal" (by grumbling and complaining).
Our house we build will never have carpet in the dining area or in the master bathroom!
She had sooooo much energy--she is dancing and flipping around, while she is vacuuming. After the kids (and Dad) came home from school, she gave them strict instructions to wipe their feet "really, really good" and to eat only to the table!!

And then she cried when Zane walked inside and tracked in some snow :)

It was bath time for Benjamin. He loves getting undressed--he wiggles with delight and laughs. And he likes to suck on his hands when they are wet.

I kept dripping water on his hands and belly--he loves bath time! Look at those chubby, chunky baby legs--he is getting sooo big!

This is Emmalee right after her bath tonight. She had wild hair, but we never got a good picture of her--she was too excited about going to Boise and acted like she had jumping beans in her britches :)

Notice the Mii's in the background--Brienna and I were playing one last game (while I was nursing--pretty talented, huh!) since I didn't get a chance to play with her the other night.

Well, Pamela--hope this holds you until Sunday. I plan on posting lots of pictures from our adventures at state basketball!

Go Bobcats!!

I Can't Believe I Forgot My Camera!

That's right--I forgot my camera! I walked over to the school for the big send-off to state. And when I walked in, I remembered that my camera was on the couch.

But I can see how I forgot it--I had to dig the stroller out of storage--under bikes and behind boards. Then I bundled the 2 kids up, strapped Benjamin into his car seat (yes--I put the car seat into the big stroller since he can't sit up on his own yet), and then squished the 2 into the stroller. And I had to dig out an umbrella, also. By that time I had worked up a sweat!! And the school is only a (small-town) block away.

I didn't have time to run back and get the camera, though. I guess you'll just have to imagine the wonderful send-off :)

All the students gathered in the commons area, sang the school song, and yelled a few cheers. Then they made a "tunnel" to wish the boys luck as they boarded the bus. The community pitched in and made t-shirts for the team (and they are selling extras). The dad handing them out said they really made the shirts so they wouldn't get lost in the big city :)

After the send-off, I walked "downtown" to get the mail and to the credit union (gotta have $ for the trip to Boise!). When we first started walking, it was sprinkling, but by the time we ended, it was sunny and 37 degrees out! It really was a nice walk. It's great that the roads and most of the sidewalks are now clear/dry (I guess there are puddles) so I can finally get out and walk!!! Yeah!

Now I just have to make sure that my camera is in my bag for tomorrow :)

Late night fun :)

What am I doing up this late at night (besides blogging and reading blogs)?

Yep--Laundry. Why? It can usually wait until tomorrow. Except----when your 16 your old comes running out of his bedroom, and in a panicky voice say "Oh, crap! (I don't like this word, but he has a bad habit of using it)--I need my warm up pants and shirt washed TONIGHT!!"

Since he was already going to bed, I (being the awesome mom that I am) agreed to stay up and get them washed and thrown into the dryer so they will be ready for him 1st thing tomorrow morning. (Alright, the truth is that little Benjamin wasn't asleep yet--he just went to bed a few minutes ago). They leave for Boise (state basketball tournament) tomorrow at 10 am. But he leaves for seminary at 6:30 am and needs to have everything ready by then.

Now--the only problem (and it's not really a problem) is that this laundry queen has been a busy queen bee this week (and last week). So while my piles of laundry usually look like the picture above, it really looked like this:

So I didn't have a full load. I had to go looking for dirty clothes, and washed a coat and some towels to get a mostly full load. At least my dirty pile doesn't look like this:

I hope to post again tomorrow, since we leave Thursday morning (early). If not--I will let everyone know how our trip to state basketball went!

My babies are going up!

I can't believe that Benjamin is almost 4 months old already. Time sure flies by sooooo fast! Emmalee loves to hold him, and she got giggling today because "he is too wiggly".


He is losing all of his dark, thick hair--the cradle cap didn't help! You gotta love this face!

Emmalee is peeking from behind Ben--she loves holding him, but he is getting so big. He has a very healthy appetite and I can tell he is going through a growth spurt because he is nursing a lot again.

Benjamin is such a great baby--I needed a nice, mellow caboose! He is only fussy when he is messy or hungry. Sometimes he gets a little vocal if he wants to be held--or sat up. I think he just wants a different view. Today when I was stretching (after exercising--yay), I was laying on my back and thought--things sure look different from this angle! Sometimes you forget how big and different things are from that perspective!

He has already learned to poise for the camera--what a ham! But this last picture is my favorite--he smiled on his own. I was telling Emmalee to smile, and this is what I got:

A smile from Benjamin, but not from Emmalee. Alright, you two--slow down and don't grow up too fast!

Van update

It's fixed!! Rusty put the new radiator in on Friday, and we drove it around town Friday and Saturday morning.


I decided to take Brienna (& Benjamin) into town to watch "Twilight" and do a little bit of shopping. We loaded up, drove to the interstate ramp, and that's when I tried to accelerate--35, 40....engine revving....45...sounds terrible--the engine is not shifting. Shooot!! I am on the interstate, can't turn around, and the van isn't working!!


No "Twilight" movie--I can't drive 17 miles to the nearest exit pushing 40.

So I use the "Authorized & Emergency Vehicles Only" turn around about 3 miles out. (I know, I'm not allowed to use this road, but it would be an emergency if I burned up the transmission!!!) Putt, putt---back home.

My husband was outside, and was surprised to see me back so soon. I figured that the transmission was ruined too (not just the radiator). But he said he hadn't put any more transmission fluid in because he thought not much had drained. So he checked the level, filled it up, took it for a test run (just on the highway, not the interstate) and within 15 minutes, we were back on the road heading to see "Twilight"!!! :)

We first stopped at Sonic for 1/2 price drinks, then shopped a bit at Wal-Mart, bought Brienna some more material for sewing projects, and then went to the movie!!!

Benjamin nursed through most of the movie, so I was actually able to sit through the whole movie! Great movie, now I just need to read the book (I have read the first 2 pages--just haven't had a lot of time yet for a book).

When I read a book, I like to have big chunks of time to read, and read, and read, and read :)

So--it was a great Saturday--the van IS running (thankfully), the girls saw the chick flick (and got some shopping & dinner date in), and I got a break from home!

State Basketball!!

We're going to state!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We did it!! For the 2nd year in a row :)

Last night our boys won their district basketball game (42-33). We took 2nd in our district.

And now we're headed to state (in Boise, ID) next week. Last year I drove my son & some friends (JV team) across the state to watch the games. It was the 1st time back to state since 1977--so to go 2 years in a row is exciting! And Ethan gets to go as a player :)

My kids are going to LOVE me!!

I did it!!!

Start humming the Baby Bumble Bee song (I'm squishing up a baby, bumble bee...)

I sorted and folded the pile of socks,
Now my children will shout out--"She Rocks!"



I folded and sort-ed, finally--
Won't my children be so proud of me?



Only about a dozen mismatched socks--that's not too bad!





Oh--there's more dirty!!

Cooking Blunder

Okay--I thought that after 20 years of being out on my own, I knew how to cook food!! Sunday we had a big family dinner to celebrate my husband's uncle's 80th birthday. So we were asked to bring baked potatoes for 30 people. Knowing that Sunday was Ward Conference, I decided to get prepared on Saturday (you know... Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday!)

So I scrubbed 30 potatoes and decided to bake them in my big roaster pan. I've never baked potatoes in it before (just turkey), but read that it would take about 1 hour to bake. So before I stacked the tators in the pan on Saturday night, I decided to poke them with a knife (one less thing to do on Sunday) and then I staked those tators.

When we started eating, I thought the I had bought a rotten bag of potatoes--all of them had brown marks in them. It was only after the dinner (thanks to everyone for not commenting on the discoloration) that I figured out that the marks were from the oxygen getting in the holes that I had poke the night before!

This is what they looked like when I peeled the leftover ones. I cooked a few extra so we could have potato casserole on Monday.

My lesson I learned: while it is great to prepare some things before hand, don't poke the potatoes until you are ready to bake them!!!
Needless to say, the potato casserole was still delicious, so it wasn't a total failure! And our uncle had a wonderful day & meal.