The best present

Last night Gilbert needed to "run some errands" so I conveniently skipped out of the house for some ice-cream with a friend. Gilbert took the kids to the store and let them decided what to do for my birthday. Apparently Preston found a card with a 'good-looking' guy on the front that he wanted to give me. Thank goodness he didn't understand the questionable nature of the card and Gilbert was able to convince him to look at something else. (Sheesh, what a kid!) The kids found these letters in the craft area and wanted to spell out my name. They each painted a letter and Gilbert helped. Logan painted the "L", can you tell? He picked it because L is for Lakers and he painted it yellow and purple for their colors. Then Gilbert helped him spell Kobe Bryant on it. It's so cute our little basketball connection Logan and i have. Paris helped stamp pink flowers on some of the letters. When I came home the house was clean, the kids were in bed, and my name was waiting for me on the kitchen table. It was so AWESOME! This was seriously one of the best presents I've gotten because of the thoughtfulness and time that went into it. And that's why I wanted to share it with all of you. Aren't my kids great!?

Perfect Pedi

I have the most awesome friend in the world. By BFF Jeanne took me to get my first pedicure today as an early birthday present. It was so much fun and SOOOO nice. Aside from being a slight bit ticklish during the scrubbing part, it was very enjoyable. Don't my piggy's look nice? Thanks Jeanne, YOU ROCK!

Saying funny things

Paris is always saying the funniest things. Having a 3 year old has it's moments, but I love all the cute things she says. Today after pre-school we ran some errands with Dad since we didn't have to be home until 3pm for the boys. Unfortunately the cute shoes Paris wore to school gave her a blister. We put a bandaid on, some socks and her comfy shoes. Despite my best efforts it was still hurting her. Once in the car, and after she removed her shoes, socks and band-aid, this is the conversation that followed:
Paris:(crying and in a demanding tone) "Mom, my blister is still hurting me. Get me a band-aid!"
Mom: "I'm sorry, I don't have a band-aid. I can fix it when we get home."
Paris: (almost screaming) " Mom I need a band-aid real soon"
Mom: "Honey, I'm sorry it hurts. Don't bother with it and it won't hurt so much."
Paris: (in a more calm, 'don't you know anything' tone) "I'm not bothering it, It's bothering me!"

Gilbert and I just looked at eachother and started laughing. She's such a little fire-cracker. This was definately one for the record.

Back to School

The kids started school today. I hadn't decided until yesterday

to send Paris to pre-school. I just kept going back and forth. But she was so excited today and didn't even look back. I know I made the right decision. Preston was so matter-of-fact about today, but he's that way about everything. I could tell he was excited. Logan was smiley, but I could tell he was a bit anxious. My cute little worry wart. He has two friends from the neighborhood in his class so I think that made him feel good. The kids aren't even half as excited I am though. I still can't believe that I have 2 whole hours to myself every Mon, Wed, and Fri. I remember telling a friend of mine that I wanted 2 extra hours in a day and that when I could figure out how to do it, then life would be great. Of course, this isn't exactly what I had in mind, but I feel like my prayers were answered. With this little bit of extra time, now I'm ready to go back to school.

As Promised

We get used to having storms pop up quickly in Utah, especially during the summer months. This picture was taken just a couple of weeks ago from my front porch, and I'm finally getting around to posting it. The kids were outside jumping on the trampoline when it started dumping buckets of rain. They were so wet before they even got inside the house. Aside from those dark clouds, you can see the sun was still shining brightly (keep in mind it was early evening and the sun was behind the house at this point.) Anyway, I glanced outside to see the rain and there was the biggest, brightest rainbow just in front of the house. I had to get a picture and Paris and Logan wanted to be in it. So we might have crazy weather, but we get to enjoy some of the most wonderful treasures created.

I survived!

Well, Gilbert made it home last night safe and sound. He may have been empty handed, but he had lots of stories to tell. His potty served him well, but can you believe he never even tried the shower. Yuck! I didn't even want to let him get in bed to go to sleep last night without showering first. I had a nice weekend with the kids. Not a lot was going on. Allison was a HUGE help. She watched the kids while I went to work and I got to help with a trauma. (Yay!) It was a 16 year old boy who got into a bicycle accident. It wasn't too bad, but he did have a broken femur which we got some awesome pictures of. Monday was fun though. We woke up in the morning and did some driving around Mapleton and Springville looking at nursuries to see if there were any good deals on trees and shrubs. Didn't find any. Then I got a sitter and Alli and I went to the mall. I got a haircut while Al went shopping for a bit. Afterwards we drove Al back to Lehi and hung out there to celebrate her friend Saffron's birthday. It was lots of fun, and yummy food. I even got to meet a couple old missionaries that served in Cali and knew the fam. We didn't get home until after 9pm. The real good news is this: SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW! woo hooo!

Weekend Widow

"We interrupt this marriage to bring you......Hunting Season."

Archery Deer and Elk open today and Gilbert's already up there ready to get a trophy. I just have to laugh at how excited he gets. I tease him a lot about it, but it really makes me smile. I just have to remember, when he talks hunting it's the same as me talking fabric. He started packing monday. Of course, when we went to Disneyland for a week he didn't pack until the night before, but for hunting he had to start 5 days early. This year he even made a toilet (a 4$ toilet seat screwed to a 2x4 frame) and he was going to make a shower until we found a cool one at emergency essentials. Sounds like it'll be 'Home Sweet Home' to him up there. I always dread hunting season because that just means more time single-parenting for me. Proud to report that my first 24 hours have been pretty good. Mostly everyone went to bed on time last night (can you guess which little girl didn't?) and they've been playing nice this morning already. I have to rely on the little things to save my sanity or the time goes by too slowly. So last night Trevor came by for dinner and I was able to enjoy bits and pieces of adult conversation. And today, Alli is coming to stay for the weekend. I'm so excited to hang with my sis. I hope the kids don't bug her too much. On sunday Zach and Deanna will come for dinner. All these simple things to look forward too, but they make the weekend so much better, and the kids love it too. Today we're going to play all day because the kids were willing to do all their chores last night. We also rented Nim's Island and Eragon. We're just going to have lots of fun and hope that there's not a lot of fighting and arguing. Maybe this weekend won't be too bad afterall.

So Paris

So this is what I get when I beg her to let me take a picture of her new earrings. She ran around grabbing props and making silly poses. I just love that little scrunched up nose. The first one is definately my favorite. As you can tell, she just got out of the pool. Usually I make my children wear pants... at least Paris anyway.

Ear piercing!

Ok, so if I was a true blogger there would be a cute picture of my 3 year old with her brand new earrings. but of course that cute 3 year old has not let me take a picture yet. For those of you who don't know the story, Paris has been begging (literally) to get her ears pierced. I finally decided that the only reason not too was 'giving in to her every whim and desire' so I made her earn it. We decided that if she could quit sucking her fingers then we would take her. Now this was not like the cell-phone deal where she quit for a week, got her toy phone, then promptly went back to sucking. This time, it's stuck.... so far. A little tabasco helps her remember. Anyway, after I was convinced she'd stopped we prepped her with all the gory details and took her to the mall. I kept telling her it would hurt but she wanted to do it anyway. She sat in that chair so good, but I could tell she was so nervous. They pierced them at the same time (well, close) and she did cry, for a minute. then we all told her how beautiful she was and she started strutting around like she does when she thinks she's so cute. So there you have it. So she got them pierced saturday and she's already taken them out twice. One time I had to crawl around on the family room floor to find them (and I did). the other time I asked her where she put her earring and she said "In the garbage. It was bothering me." Ew, I could just get her. Anyway, luckily it was after garbage day so there was next to nothing in the can. They're back in now and oh so cute. I think she's getting used to them now. She made me put in little studs too, so when it's cleaning time, she cleans and turns mine, and then she allows me to do hers. What a girl! Anyway, now that she's getting more used to it I think I'll take another try at getting a picture.