Me n my Boys!

Kyler's first ride!

2011-05-06T15:55:00.006-06:00

My good friend Clint and his kids go every Thursday to ride bulls (little ones). Clint has been talking to Kyler about riding and he decided that he wanted to do it so last night we went out with them. I thought that he would probably change his mind after watching for a while...but not this kid! Heck no! As soon as he started to watch he got more and more excited even though he saw a few kids get a little hurt. Kyler's courage amazes me! So Clint's son Corbin helped Ky pick a bull, gave him some coaching, and let Ky borrow his gear. The brown bull in the middle was Kyler's bull and his name is Turnbuckle.
And here is the only picture of Ky's very first ride. He stayed on for 3 seconds which is great since he didn't start out with the "kiddie bull".

Unfortunately when he fell off he was stepped on and here is one of the marks that Turnbuckle left on him. Thank goodness for the protective vest they wear! I'm so sad that he had to get hurt on his first ride. But it hasn't scared him off, we will be going out every Thursday now because Kyler is addicted! This morning he even informed me that he needs a cowboy hat...and I think he needs his own boots since Corbin's looked a little big on him lol!

I meant to get a picture of him in all the gear but when he went under the bull, the men in the corral with him, pulled off the gear quickly to asses his injuries. Next week I will get it before he rides for sure!

Tucker, Tucker, Tucker!!!!!!

2011-01-12T20:57:00.005-07:00

The only time Tucker isn't chewing something is when he sleeps!

Sponge Bob is dead and Patrick is next....

This chicken no longer has feet either...

Caught in the act and he is guilty! These were the insides to a puffy ball with Velcro that is thrown at a target....Today he gutted the third and last one...

Unfortunately a lot of my shoes have been chewed...

Kyler had just spent some birthday money on this...

My blanket that Kayla made me!!!

I was just as mad at Gage for not putting his sheet on his bed when I told him to...

And we no longer leave Tucker down in my room while we go to church. He now has to stay in the bathroom after tearing up the carpet in the doorway!

On a positive note....Tucker finally lost his last baby tooth yesterday so hopefully he will only get better now.

Snowballs, Snow forts, and Snowmen!!

2010-12-21T13:07:00.005-07:00

I have been a huge slacker when it comes to blogging for several months now. But after a morning as exciting as this I couldn't wait! There is nothing better than waking up to this much snow a few days before Christmas. Tucker absolutely hates going to the bathroom in the snow in the morning...He will NOT do it. He stands there looking at me while violently shaking until I shovel him a little path in the snow.

Spoiled I know but he's my baby. :)
A little later the snow games began. This is the base of the snowman that Jared, Gage, and Kyler is making. I do not have a final picture yet. The other pieces of the snowman were too heavy for me and Jared to lift (I didn't even want to try) and so it will be put together later when Josh or my Dad are around.

My nephew Zach sitting on the ginormous snowball.

Zach LOVED the snow! We had a sleepover the night before and so we weren't completely prepared with snow gear for him but that didn't stop him. He played and played and discovered that he LOVES to eat snow. He didn't want to go inside but Auntie Heather finally had to take him inside (while saying "No no no...Outside") since he was getting so cold and wet. :(

Then it was time to build the snow forts. I took Zach in before they were finished and the snowball war began, but I will get pics of the finished forts and snowman later.
Here is Gage with his....

Jared in his fort..... Jared has been the funnest Uncle!! Having him around to play with the nephews is awesome for me and them!

And here is Kyler starting his fort. I love living in Utah! Its fantastic that the boys can walk in the backyard and play like real boys without any electronics! Of course when they're done they're back inside...wet clothes, coats, hats, gloves, boots, etc. all over the place... and they're back to the video games!

Tucker has decided that he LOVES to play in the snow too! He was out there playing with the boys the whole time and I don't think I've ever seen him so happy! I'm sure he will still need his bathroom trail in the morning though lol!

Tucker

2010-12-14T15:18:00.002-07:00

Last month we got a new puppy and we named him Tucker! Merry Christmas Everyone!

2010-10-31T11:15:00.002-06:00

This year for Halloween we went to the Zoo with Josh and Michelle. It was so much fun! They had Trick or Treating for the kids. This was the Chick-Fil-A boothe. Zach wasn't thrilled about the idea of sitting with the gorilla...but I really wanted this picture.

But he sure was having fun collecting candy!

Very fun day!!

We love the Zoo!

2010-06-11T09:17:00.003-06:00

We went on our first Zoo trip this year and it was soo much fun! We are huge animal lovers and so the Zoo is a little piece of heaven for us. We went with Michelle, Brooke, and Stephie and her man and we all got year passes and so we will be going all the time. I am so excited!

Kyler has decided to take on a more serious pose in all his pictures. Does this mean he's growing up? I am so sad! Next he will probably stop snuggling with me.

These are my favorite animals! They have 4 or 5 tigers now and the new Asian Highlands are awesome! This sign was so funny I had to take a picture.

For some reason I think this hat is sooo Gage!

Here is Gage with his favorite animal....

Here is Ky with his favorite animal....

Again with the more serious pose! I love my boys!

Mother's Day

2010-05-12T08:38:00.002-06:00

Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers! My Mom is the best...this was my Mother's Day gift from my Mom.....Thank you Mom!!

There are certain holidays that are hard when you are a single Mom and Mother's day for some reason has always been one of them. I realize that is pretty selfish of me but when you have been a Mom for as long as I have and year after year you don't get a Mother's day gift from a Hubby and your kids are MY boys who just don't get it yet....well you get the point right? Anyways, this year was different and it was so much better. My Mom surprised me with this gorgeous Begonia bush a few days early and it made my whole week! Sunday morning my boys and I stayed in my bed all morning and watched movies and ate junk food. (I guess you could call that breakfast in bed?) This year Gage totally understood the meaning of Mother's day! He was doing everything he could for me. It was so sweet. We skipped church but I really don't feel guilty because that morning with my boys was one of those rare moments. So this year I got an awesome gift and my boys spoiled me! I also received the sweetest picture mail ever from one of the greatest Moms I know! I love you all and I hope your day was as special as mine!

Our new house and Easter

2010-04-07T15:46:00.005-06:00

I realize that its been a long time since the last time I blogged....I have been very busy and had some major events take place in our lives and I have been waiting for life to settle down a little bit before writing again. Drew and I are divorced and and we have been moving on with our lives. Also I have rented a 5 bedroom house with Adam and Brooke and Brooke's sister Kaylee. It has been fun and the house is already a challenge (needs a little work) but the boys finally have a yard and swing set and life is getting better and better every day!
Easter came during the weekend that we were moving and so this year I was a major procrastinator and instead of Easter baskets and lots of candy I just got the boys these ginormous chocolate bunnies...HUGE mistake. Of course my boys couldn't resist tearing them apart into a zillion little pieces and so there was chocolate everywhere! Oh well...never again.

Then we went to Josh and Michelle's house for an Easter egg hunt and Easter dinner...YUMMY!

For everyone who is not on facebook ...this is Jason. He was my high school sweetheart and after 15 years of being apart we have reunited.

Thank you Josh and Michelle for a wonderful Easter and Dinner! I hope everyone had an Easter as awesome as mine!

McDonald's for lunch

2010-03-08T18:24:00.003-07:00

Michelle and I took our boys to McDonalds for lunch. This was Zach's first McD's playground experience. When we first got there it was so crowded it felt like a bad idea but after about an hour it emptied considerably and the boys were able to play play play!

This little slide in the toddlers section was so cute! It played music like you were really sliding down a piano.

Zach loved it! After he went down it and he got back up, he would walk away with a little skip and giggle that was so freakin cute! Here is a video of it.

Peices of my Life

2010-02-28T12:59:00.009-07:00

So after being a mom for as long as I have, I realize that scenes like this are not that unusual. Gage was sick the other night and he was very grateful for this fairly new bath rug that is really thick and soft. I tried to get him to go to bed, but he was afraid he wouldn't make it to the toilet if he threw up. He said that he didn't want to move and he was fine on the rug. Poor kid!

So I got him his pillow and a blanket and he spent half the night there. He never did throw up.

Now that my boys are getting older they have grown out of the quarter machines that give you candy or prizes...until they spotted one that produced fake mustaches!! How random. Then we went to the movies after and Kyler actually wore his. It was so fun.

Friday has turned into my favorite day of the week. It is the start of the weekend AND I get to spend the whole morning with this handsome little guy! While Michelle sleeps after working all night I get Zach. Here he is with chicken nugget in his cheek. So cute!

Yes he is eating on my unmade bed... He is the only kid allowed to do that. I absolutely love to spoil this kid! Being Auntie Heather is as awsome as being a mom!

Just one of the kids

2010-02-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

This post has a few repeat pics since I accidentally deleted the post about our new dog Sandie. Since this blog is our scrapbook I needed to get these pics back in here. On Jan. 1st we got a new dog named Sandie and we are loving her! She is a sweet little Jack Russel terrier. Of course I made sure she was girl so that I had someone to buy pink for!

She has separation anxiety and HATES to be left alone. She rarely gets left home alone since I'm currently a stay-at-home mom but when she does get left, she claws and bites at the front door and this is what we have come home to a few times! Poor girl! So after some advice from my dad we did some re-arranging in the living room so that the couch was under the window and now she can look out and watch for us to come home. Yay! It worked... her nose is getting better.

Sandie is definitely one of the kids. She gets into mischief and always makes me laugh. One night at my parents house she ended up with white all over her. It took me a while to figure out what she had gotten into. Long story short...she climbed into my little brother's bathtub and rubbed along the side of it like a cat and ended up with soap scum on her sweater and face! Time to scrub the bathtub Jared! lol She has an obsession with bathtubs. It's the funniest thing.

Often she has her tongue out a little. Cute huh? She doesn't drool at all when she does this in fact her tongue gets completely dry. We just LOVE it.

Sandie is definitely fitting in perfectly with our family. This is my dad she is snuggling with in the above pic. He shares his food with her which is code for I love Ya! Sandie really loves my mom too. Every time we go to my parents, if my mom is sitting on the couch, Sandie rolls around in her lap for a minute. It drives my mom nuts! It's really sweet though.

I want Sandie's previous owners to know that she is doing great. She moped a lot the first week but I really believe that she is happy with us now. My boys LOVE her and she is played with a lot every single day. She sleeps with my youngest son and when I say "Go to bed" to my boys she gets up and goes too! She is so smart! We love her and she is truly a part of our family.

Piano lessons for Ky

2010-02-04T23:09:00.000-07:00

Kyler had his first Piano Lesson on Tuesday. He was so excited that he started watching the clock an hour before and counted down the minutes! How cute is that? He smiled through the whole lesson. This is his teacher Jenni. She is in our ward and I know that she is going to be awesome. She is fabulous with kids. She just started teaching and so if your looking for a piano teacher...

The curse of ADHD!

2010-01-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

So...Gage is your typical ADHD student. Growing up in a house where ADD and ADHD is common, we knew he was ADHD probably by the age of 3. School of course has been a challenge. Last year was the worst! He was in a class that didn't have any structure. This class was chaotic without Gage in it! Some kids do very well in a class like that but NOT Gage! And of course it was the biggest year for Drama at home. I do need to take a lot of the blame. So he has gotten very behind in reading and writing. Now the reason I say he is TYPICAL ADHD is because he is ahead in Math and Science. We just got done testing him...and I mean the whole pack of tests that looks for learning disabilities, IQ, and all that jazz. He is in 5th grade this year and his Math is on a 6th and 7th grade level. His reading level however is way behind. The most interesting part is when he does his math he doesn't show his work. It's seriously like he doesn't know how he got the answer. He has the answer and it makes sense to him but he can't explain it on paper. AAAAHHH! We all know that you have to show your work to get credit in math! It is sooo frustrating. Poor kid! I remember my mom having the same trouble with my siblings. It is the curse of ADHD. Anyways, this year he has an amazing teacher, Mrs. McClain. She has been so wonderful. Today I met with his teacher, school psychologist (another wonderful lady Mrs. Crandall) , the special ed teacher and Vice principal for our Post testing meeting. I'm happy to report that he does not have a learning disability and his IQ is NOT below average. Gage is going to be in special ed for about an hour every day to get caught up on reading and writing. The 4th grade was just a horrible year for him... Hopefully we can get caught up!

Our Christmas!

2009-12-31T22:06:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had an amazing Christmas. The week before was really rough but as soon as we got Christmas started we smiled, laughed, spent time with family, felt the spirit and remembered why we celebrate Christmas. When was the last time you watched a Charlie Brown Christmas? Last week my boys climbed into my bed and we all watched a Charlie Brown Christmas. Through the whole show Charlie Brown is wondering what the meaning of Christmas is and the show ends with Linus telling the story of baby Jesus and the Christmas story that started the biggest holiday of all time. What a wonderful show!! Unfortunately after it was over we stuck in a Sponge Bob Christmas DVD and there was NO message at all with that show. Big surprise right? What has happened to child entertainment these days?
Anyways, we spent Christmas Eve with Drew's parents. We rode the trax to Temple Square and ate at Crown Burgers (YUMMY). I haven't been to Temple Square at Christmas time for as long as I can remember! It was so beautiful and we had SO much fun. Thank you Garry and Marie! The next day Christmas was your typical open the presents and stay in your pajamas all day kind of day. And you know me and my boys...any reason to stay in your pajamas will work for us! The day after my parents took all of us to see the new A Christmas Carol and I LOVED it. It was fabulous! What a perfect week! We were missing a few family members but we were so surrounded by family and friends that it was a complete success. Thank you all of you for your love, support, and friendship. I love you all! I didn't take very many pictures this year. I sat back and just enjoyed watching. I realized when doing this that you see a lot more when your not fussing with a camera! So here are our favorites...

2009-12-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

Gage's favorite present this year was definately his nintendo DS! He didn't even ask for it this year and boy was he surprised.

2009-12-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

Kyler's favorite present this year was his keyboard! He has decided that he wants to take piano lessons and so now he can. He also LOVED the ipod shuffle that he got from Uncle Josh and Aunt Michelle. Kyler is helping me blog tonight!

My special gift!

2009-12-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

This was my favorite gift. My Mom found this ornament and bought it for me before Mitsi died. She almost didn't give it to me because she didn't want me to cry on Christmas... so she warned me before I opened the present and I am so glad that she gave it to me. It means so much to me and it will sit on a shelf year round to represent Mitsi. I have a couple other willow tree peices in my living room that I hold close to my heart also. I love em!

Scrooge as a boss

2009-12-22T19:29:00.000-07:00

So...I used to work for Scrooge and Marley (before Marley died and Scrooge was haunted)! Yesterday I was laid off a few days before Christmas!! Seriously?! So I lost my Dog and my job in the same week. Talk about getting kicked when I'm already down. But at least I get a little unemployment and I get to spend Christmas break with my kids.

It's Great to be 8!

2009-12-09T22:01:00.001-07:00

Kyler was baptized on Dec. 5th. What an awesome day! He was able to share this experience with one of his best-friends Riley. How cool is that? They are only one day apart. When I think back to my baptism I remember being baptized on the same day as my cousin Carrie and we are only a day apart also! After we were baptized we went to dinner with our families and Carrie and I got a free piece of pie. Anyways... My brother Josh baptized Kyler. He was also the one who baptized Gage. He has always been there for me and my boys! He has been an amazing example and the boys really look up to him. Thank you Skwosh! And thank you everyone who came and shared this day with us! I love you all!

To Grandmothers house we go!

2009-12-09T21:40:00.000-07:00

This year we went to California with my parents for Thanksgiving! We stayed with my Grandparents and I got to see family that I haven't seen for 8 years! It was so wonderful to spend time with them. I am so grateful that I was able to take my boys out there. I only wish we were able to stay longer.

Here are the men watching the BYU and U game.

The house we stayed at was right next to the river! The boys had fun trying to skip rocks.

Our Ocean Experience

2009-12-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

While we were in California my Dad took us to the Monteray Bay Aquarium! This was so exciting since it was the first time my boys saw the Ocean! Kyler has had a passion for sharks ever since he saw the movie Jaws and so he was in his very own little Heaven. I was so proud of both of them for touching things in the water since they refused to touch anything when we went to the aquarium in Sandy a few years ago. After seeing everything at the aquarium we went to the beach. My Dad took pictures of us at the beach with his camera and so I will post pictures of that experience as soon as I can. What a wonderful experience this trip was! I am just so sad that Drew couldn't be with us.

Me in the kitchen?

2009-11-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

Yay me...I canned for my very first time and I did the first batch all by myself! My parents have an apple tree and this year I canned apple pie filling. It was so much easier than I thought it would be.

The Queen, The Thing, and a Zombie!

2009-11-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

Mitsi was a Queen for her first Halloween with us. You can't see it in this picture but her little robe has THE QUEEN written in gold on the back. She went trick-or-treating with us and loved it! She loved wearing the costume too. I was really suprised that she didn't try to take it off!

Gage was pretty difficult this year. We originally got THE THING costume for Kyler but Gage couldn't agree on ANYTHING! Gage liked THE THING costume and when Breanna asked Gage about being a ZOMBIE Kyler decided that HE wanted to be a ZOMBIE so they traded....Thank goodness....I was getting ready to freak out!

So Kyler was a Zombie this year. Aunt Breanna did his make-up for him! She actually did his make-up 4 times since he needed it for school, ward party, and trick-or-treating...and once for practice. Thank you so much Breanna for all your patience and hard work!

Happy Halloween

2009-10-20T18:04:00.000-06:00

One day, back in May, Kyler came home from school with a little Styrofoam cup. In this cup was some dirt with a seed in it. Since this seed was a pumpkin seed we had to borrow some (a lot) garden space from Grandpa (since I only have a flower bed). Now look what Kyler has grown! And this isn't all the pumpkins either. He has managed to put pumpkins on several porches this year! He has been almost as proud as I am. Thank you Grandpa!

2009-10-20T17:58:00.000-06:00

This has been a very exciting month for Kyler!! We all remember when his front teeth were knocked out... and 3 and a 1/2 years later he finally has front teeth again! YAY!

Back to School!

2009-08-22T20:42:00.000-06:00

Yay Summer is over! Only a mother would say those words. This year Gage is in 5th grade and Kyler is in 2nd grade. I am not looking forward to doing the homework battle but I am looking forward to this school year. Stepping down as store director was a scary experience but my new job allows me to be with my kids. I only work Mon-Fri from 7am to 1:30pm. I make less money but I am off work before they are out of school! It was definately worth it.

Happy Birthday Gage!

2009-08-22T20:38:00.000-06:00

2009-08-22T20:34:00.000-06:00

For Gage's 11th birthday we went to Libertyland... I would NOT recommend this place to anyone... and we rock climbed and played laser tag. The boys had a blast.

2009-08-22T20:26:00.000-06:00

So Kyler made it 3/4 of the way up the rock wall!!! I hadn't been watching him since I was taking care of a whole party and when I saw how high he was I expressed my excitement. He looked down at me and then climbed down as fast as he could. He was so focussed on climbing that he had no idea how high he was! He spent most of the party climbing.

Everyone meet Mitsi!

2009-08-22T20:19:00.001-06:00

This is our new dog Mitsi! Isn't she beautiful? We love her so much! Michelle's mom was looking for a good home for her and we were the lucky family. Thank you Linda! You have given us a priceless gift and we will take good care of her.

2009-08-22T20:18:00.000-06:00

Take your kids to Iggy's Sports Grill!

2009-08-22T20:14:00.001-06:00

Yes that is a ginormous meatball! Iggy's is a great place to take your kids! For only $5 your child gets a great meal all the drinks they can slurp down and after a huge ice cream sunday that my boys couldn't finish!

2009-08-12T22:29:00.001-06:00

Look at me Michelle I did it! I have finally made my own Blog! Being computer stupid is a huge challenge. You would never guess that I sit at a computer at work! So I will start out simple. This is me and my little family.