Love it, but hate it

I can't explain how much joy it brings me when my kids notice when something needs to be done and just get to work and do it. That's what Jordyn did for me tonight.  She noticed the kitchen was a disaster and went to work sweeping, cleaning off counters, rinsing dishes, unpacking the (dirty) dishes!!  Bless her heart, I couldn't get mad, all I could do is thank her for her hard work, put her to bed, and empty the cupboards and drawers and repack the dishwasher w/out her knowing I was undoing everything she so worked so hard to do.:):):)

BYU Idaho Wellness 5k

Last weekend out family had the funnest experience together.  The wellness center on the BYU-I campus organized a 5k for all employees, their families, and students.  It didn't cost anything except for a few achy muscles, they provided yummy, healthy snacks at the end, the course was fun and challenging, all but Kaleb and babies participated, their were fun prizes at the end, lots of cheering, music, and beautiful weather!  DJ pushed the babies in the stroller the whole way (he deserves some extra bonus points), Kaleb got to stay back and wait for us in the company of some cute college chicks:), and the rest of us ran the course.  Regan and I stayed together the whole race and clocked one of our best times, Morgan and Jordyn were pretty amazing!  This was their first 5k race and I couldn't believe how awesome they did, I was pretty sure they'd make it the whole way but never dreamed they would have such good times.  They were so tired but both finished with smiles on their faces.  I loved how Regan cheered for Morgan as she was finishing and then Morgan and Regan got together and cheered Jordyn on as she was making the final stretch and the best part was the sense of accomplishment that came from all of them finishing something pretty challenging.  Kaleb was pumped about the free Gatorade, granola bars, fruit, and good conversation--while the girls were commenting on how proud they were of themselves for finishing the race, he came up to me and said, "mom, I'm proud of myself for being such a good boy!"  Sooo cute!!  At the end of the race they had a drawing for prizes and everyone in our family got picked and everyone picked pedometers except for DJ who chose a shirt for me!  Aaaaahhh, what a good hubby!!  It was really an awesome day that left us all feeling really happy!  Regan, Morgan, Jordyn, and Kaleb are all involved in the Gem State track club this summer.  We heard about it after the season had started but they let us join late and it has been such a fun experience for the kids.  They teach the kids the true track and field events, short & long distance running, high jump, long jump, shot put, pole vault, hurdles.  We have practice 2 nights a week for an hour and half as well as several meets during the season.  It's so much fun to see the kids try knew things and find out what they like and don't like so much.  More on this later!

Die-hard Jimmer fans!!!!!!

These are two of my cute neighbor girls (Whitnee and Chelsee Berrett)  They are some of the biggest Jimmer Fredette fans I know, especially Whit, she's already spoken for Jimmer as her husband--look out ladies!  Aren't they cute? 

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Teichert!

Porter and Kamryn got a birthday card and check in the mail from G&G Teichert last week so I promised that I would take them to pick out something fun for their birthday.  Monday was the big shopping day and you would've thought it was the best day in their lives!  My kids only get toys on holidays and birthdays so being able to go to the store and pick out something to take home is quite the event!  We chose to go to Target because they were having some good sales on some fun stuff!  I have to laugh at my kids because as I mentioned before, Kamryn doesn't really care for toys, except that she enjoys playing cars with the boys and Porter is just all about cars,trucks, pretty much anything with wheels.  Soooo, here is what they picked out:

They are always so mad when we're packing to go on a trip because they're the only ones w/out their own suit cases "soup cases" as Kamryn calls them,  so you can imagine how excited they were when we saw these!  They've also had their eyes on these cute "Cars" shake and go vehicles and they happened to be on a great sale that day.  Kamryn knew exactly which one she wanted (the purple car) and Porter went straight for the firetruck!  They've slept with them, eaten dinner with them, almost bathed with them (phew), and carried them with them almost everywhere we go.  As far as the "soup cases," they won't let me put them up in the closet yet.  They pull them around the house constantly and at the end of the day they park them at the side of their beds.  Thanks again, Grandma & Grandpa for making our day.

Summer fun

I love that all of my kids still enjoy going to the greenbelt to feed the ducks.  Those that claim they don't enjoy it much anymore, could've fooled me because they were right in the action.  We weren't aware of all of all the flooding going on until we got down there so everyone was pretty fascinated at the condition of things.  The flooding has been crazy and we just continue to get more rain so we'll see what happens.  I overheard the kids talking together yesterday about the Ririe and Palisades damns and what would happen if either of them broke.  Kaleb was so excited about the prospect of being able to use his 72-hour kit.:)  Yikes, I sure hope things don't get that bad!  Anyway, the baby geese were so adorable and pretty friendly so the kids had such a fun time.

I've often been teased about my own little trail of "geese" in the store, library, or wherever we all go together.  I think I have an idea of what it's like for this mother goose! 

Jordyn trying to coax this lonely goose to come a little closer!

Morgan can always be found off by herself feeding the lonely geese

Morgan and Kaleb thought it was funny to follow these two ducks around while making their most obnoxious duck noises.  I'm sure the ducks weren't as amused as they were! 

Here's a great picture of all the flooding. As of this past Wednesday, things are looking much, much better!

Dog tired

And....this explains why:
5:00 a.m.-woke up suddenly worrying about Regan since she left on Trek yesterday--I really wasn't that worried about her until I went to bed and all the sudden it hit me that she's not safe and sound downstairs in her bed.  I love her and miss her so much.  I guess I must have fallen back asleep fairly quickly because next thing I know it was 6:00.
6:00- awakened to Kamryn crying for no good reason other than she ALWAYS wakes up grumpy--the kid makes me crazy for approximately 20 minutes after she wakes up from bedtime and naptime.  Anyway, she crawled in bed with us and not 2 minutes later, Porter makes himself comfortable in our bed. To make matters worse, they both must have some part of their bodies touching mine...if I move over to get away, they move closer, I know, I should think it's adorable but I don't like people touching me while I sleep. 
6:30-finally muster enough strength to get out of bed and start my day--scripture study as a family, breakfast for everyone, make DJ's lunch, send hubby out the door
7:30-Tidy the house, quick shower, do a few dishes, convince everyone to change in to swimming suits and find their towels AND grab extra clothes to change in to so we can make a mad dash to the church for baseball/t-ball
8:00-get everyone out to the car and head for swimming lessons and 5 minutes down the road it hit me that I forgot my purse.  No big deal other than I just don't like being w/out my purse--what if I get pulled over??  So, the kids ask all sorts of questions about what would happen if I got pulled over and didn't have my drivers license which leads to a big discussion on how you obtain a drivers license which leads to another big discussion about traffic lights, signs, speed limits, etc.  It was actually one of the most pleasant trips in the car we've had because no one was fighting and everyone was watching for the next sign on the side of the road so I could explain what it meant. I wasn't speeding because I had 5 "cops" in the car with me making sure I was obeying the speed limit.
8:20-arrive at swim lessons just enough early to apply sunscreen to 5 very white bodies and take a few of them for a quick potty break
8:30- kids are in the pool enjoying swim lessons, while I apply my makeup since I'm totally scary without it and we're headed straight to baseball and church cleaning assignment after swimming.
9:00-out of the pool, hurry and dress everyone in the car and head for the church.  Finish out baseball/t-ball with some of our friends and ward members
10:00-run over to the church for an hour with the primary kids to help them clean the building,
11:00-gather all the kids up and head for home so we can clean our own house--try to convince the kids that they still have their home jobs to do even though they just got through cleaning for an hour---which ends up in me and the kids having a mini meltdown (aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh---I'm sure this is a result of running the kids and myself ragged every day) 
12:00- Everyone pulls it together, we finish cleaning the house, grab a bit to eat and get ready for naps
1:00-  I'm just getting ready to send everyone for naps/quiet time when the doorbell rings and of course, all 5 kids have to run for the door.  It's two teenage girls from Europe selling kids educational products.  I'm sure their products are really great but I'm also sure they are REALLY expensive so I politely try to explain that she's caught me right at nap time but she insists on showing me just a few items.  I'm sure I'm rolling my eyes but with all 5 kids swarmed around me we sit on the front porch and listen to the sales pitch.  Luckily I'm still sain enough to not spend $375.00 on 12 science books for my kids and I ever so politely send them on their way.
1:30- send the little ones to bed and the older two for quiet time--I have a gigantic headache at this point and only hope to get a few minutes of down time with no one fighting, no one asking for a drink, no one calling for me to wipe their bums (Porter and Kamryn), no one begging for a friend, etc.  I get just that and a little more accomplished, bills, some laundry, a little lunch for myself, a 5 minute doze in the computer chair and suddenly it's 3:00
3:00- Kamryn wakes up honory as usual so I try not to lose my temper with her and just sit and hold her while she trys to come out of her groggy grumpy state.  Meanwhile Porter and Kaleb both wake up and need a snack and Jordyn informs me that she needs to get piano done which equates to me sitting by her side making sure she things are done right while I'm still holding a very grumpy Kamryn.
4:00-I realized I only have a little over an hour before all the kids need to be at track practice.  I frantically fix some snacks, gather up all of our stuff, tidy the house, make some phone calls, and try to figure out what to make for dinner when we get home at 7:15.
5:15- gather everyone up, load them in the van, head to track practice, sit out in the 30 mph winds with the babies while I have a little hay fever attack for an hour and a half.  My eyes were itchy, my throat was itchy, I couldn't stop sneezing, and I was really wishing I would've remembered a sudafed for the occasion.  Oh well, I had a good visit in between sneezes with a friend of mine who's son is also involved in the Gem State track club.
7:00- load up everyone in the car and head for home, hurry and whip up some parmesan chicken to throw in the oven, made some scones and vegies just in time for DJ to make it home from the temple, everyone eats and cleans up and it's off to bed.
8:30-most everyone is in bed, DJ and I have a second to visit but I'm having hard time focusing and I can't even keep my eyes open so I'm off to bed   Poor DJ, I think he'd love it if I wasn't so blasted tired but really, I'm getting old and ragged and all I want to do is sleep. 

This is just about how every day has been this summer and I only have myself to blame. Luckily swimming lessons will be over this week, baseball will be moved to 10:00, track will be over soon, and Regan will be home from trek on Friday, life might slow down, maybe........or maybe not:)

We're BIG!

Porter and Kamryn turned, "BIG" on Saturday.  Actually they turned "3" but whenever you ask them how old they are, they reply, "I'm BIG."  Who can argue with that??  They day was great!  It started with their birthday breakfast request of "Germo pancakes" (German pancakes)  This is their absolute favorite breakfast!  I think it's so cute that they have many of the same likes and I'm not complaining because otherwise I'd be cooking two special breakfasts!

German pancakes look awesome for approximately 1 minute after taking them from the oven and then all that buttery, fluffy, crawling up the side of the pan stuff goes away and this is what you are left with.  Oh well, it's never stopped us from enjoying every last bite of this yummy breakfast! 

Since they are big now, they would have nothing to do with us cutting up their pancakes so while Kamryn carefully cut bite-sized pieces (didn't even know she could do such a thing), Porter just opted to shovel the whole thing in his mouth, a boy after his daddy's heart!

They've both been begging for sunglasses for the longest time and Kamryn made it very clear that she didn't want any toys for her birthday, just cake and fun stuff (not toys).  She honestly doesn't play with toys, I mean your typical little girly toys.  She loves baby dolls but doesn't really play with them in the true sense of the word. She would rather build blocks, dress magnetic dolls, ride her bike, organize and arrange colorful items of any kind, play in the sandbox, play cars with Porter, play outside, jump on the tramp, and play "house" with the other kids.  I kept naming off ideas for toys for her B-Day and she kept getting irritated with me and saying, "no toys" so she got a new swimming suit, a ball, her own water bottle, and she and Porter both got the coolest portable bean bag toss game that we found the night before their birthday at Big 5 Sporting Goods.  The kids have had a blast with it and she's excited because apparently this isn't a toy.  Funny kid!  Grandma and Grandpa Rose bought both she and Porter the cutest portable saucer camp chairs and G&G Teichert sent them both money which they haven't spent yet!  Thanks Grandma's and Grandpa's!

Porter loved his new church outfit and was happy to get the same things Kami got, sunglasses, water bottle, ball, and bean bag toss game.  Though they have some differences in food preferences, they pretty much have the same likes and dislikes.  And, whatever one has, the other one wants, which might explain their bathroom habits being right on schedule as well. (I know, too much information but it's true)

Porter is ALL boy.  He loves trucks, trains, tractors, mud, sticks, wrestling, hitting, spitting, pottying outside, etc.  The being said, he's one of my most snuggly kids and has the most contagious smile.  He's definetly more mischievious than any of the other kids and has quite the temper.  My mom reminded me the other day of my terrible temper as a kid, hopefully he'll grow out of his :):) 

As far as B-Day cakes go, I really thought they'd be more adventurous in their choice but they made it very clear again that they wanted a blue cake and a purple cake with 3 candles to blow out.  The kids kept giving them ideas for race track cakes, butterfly cakes, etc. but no amount of convincing worked.  (thank goodness) I was perfectly happy with their easy choice!

Ever since the girls got their hair cut, Kami has begged me to take her to get her's cut.  I'm cheap so I decided to cut it by myself and it actually turned out pretty darn cute.  I'm happy because I saved myself $10.00! 

Stinking cute kids in some stinking cute chairs--Grandpa and Grandma and pretty darn cute themselves!

Happy "Big" Birthday, Porter and Kami!

peace

Need I say more?

The task at hand....

.....teaching Porter that it is NOT okay to drop his pants and whiz wherever we are at whether it be in our front yard, tennis camp, soccer games, or at the neighbors.  This morning he decided to try out the garage as his watering hole.  YIKES!!  This kid is something else, nothing like his older brother Kaleb and he's giving me an education on how most little boys probably are.  On the other hand, I guess I could be glad that he's chosen other places as his bathroom because when he actually uses the toilet, I end up having to scrub the toilet and walls surrounding:)  Gotta love little boys!

My Montage 6/7/11 at OneTrueMedia.com

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Summer....so far

We've been out of school for 17 days now and somehow it seems like it's been a month.  It's great having the kids home, even though we've been running our heads off since the moment school let out.  It's great doing things together and having all of us together in our home more often.  I knew we were busy during the school year but I don't think I realized until now just how little I see each of my kids when we're all involved with everything during the school year.  I won't lie, it's totally stressful having all 6 kids home because of the crazy amount of food I'm preparing each day, the piles of laundry that adorn our laundry room, the non-stop action of kids in and out of the house, kids in and out of the fridge, a billion pairs of unmatched shoes/flip flops all over our house, yard, garage, etc., the disgustingness of the bathroom (okay, that was a totally made up word but that's the best way to describe the condition of our bathroom), and the list goes on but in spite of all that, I really do love summer break.  I love my kids and I love being together.  This is what we've been up to together:


*  Free 3 day tennis camp at Bonneville High School-I signed Regan, Morgan, and Jordyn up and as a bonus, Kaleb got to participate the last 2 days.  You should have seen the smile on his face when one of the coaches came and asked him if he'd like to play. 
*  summer reading program at the library-even though the prizes are a little lame, my kids are still motivated to read during the summer and look forward to our weekly trips to the library.  We went to the library last Wednesday and came home with 45 books. Jordyn checked out 12 of the 45 and by Saturday she was begging me to take her back to the library for more.  I enlisted her help in reading to Kaleb since I'm having a hard time getting all the little ones read to.  Thank goodness for little helpers!
*  The girls participated in piano duet festival and all ended up with really great scores. Jordyn and Morgan played two songs together and scored a 99% between the two.  Morgan played again with her partner Kylee Andrus and between their two songs, they scored a 99%.  Regan and Lindee played together and scored a 98%.  Once the older girls get 8 lessons in, they get a small break from piano.  Jordy isn't so fortunate, she's still new in piano so she'll take all summer.  They are all preparing new songs for their summer recital in July. 
*  Swimming lessons-  Lessons are bright and early in the morning at 8:30 and everyone but Regan is taking.  We have 3 lessons left and the kids have been troopers, even enduring some pretty yucky weather days (43 degrees to be exact and yes, it is an outdoor pool) Aaahhh, I felt like such a jerk, there I was decked out in my winter attire and their are all of my little ones in their swim suits and flip flops hopping in to the pool looking at me like I am one crazy mother.  Thank goodness the weather decided to cooperate the next day and actually made it to a whopping 65 degrees--Idaho weather is the BEST (in my best sarcastic voice)  For the record, I plan to sign the kids up next year for this exact time--even though the weather has been questionable, the class sizes are so small--no more than 4 to a class with 2 teachers.  Can't beat that! 

This is our 3rd year participating in the free camp and my kids love it!  If I could fit it in the schedule I think I might consider signing them up for a round of tennis lessons.  Now if I could only find the time.

 

Our ward held the father-son outing a couple of weeks ago at Sealander Park just a few mile out of town.  It was a perfect overnighter for the boys with dad, perfect weather, yummy food, smores, scavenger hunt, outdoor movie, games, etc.  Kaleb and Porter couldn't have been more excited to have a camp out with DJ.  It was all they talked about for a whole month before it actually happened.  They had a great time and the boys came home looking and smelling just like I had anticipated--s'more covered faces, grimy clothes, bonfire smell, and big smiles pasted on their faces--I wouldn't have it any other way!  And, DJ said they slept awesome, and he knows, because he was up all night:)  He'd enjoy camping if it weren't for the nights!

Memorial weekend

We spent Memorial weekend with DJ's family in Cokeville.  It was a great weekend to go home because we were able to see several of DJ's siblings and spend quite a bit of time with mom and dad.  Dad recently had a bad fall in his garage and gave us all a good scare.  He still doesn't remember what happened but my niece, Tanna  that is Jordyn's age found him lying on the garage floor with tons of blood on his face.  He doesn't know if he passed out or tripped but whatever happened, it left him with a huge bump and gash on his forehead and a very achy body.  We've been really concerned about him so we were thankful that we had already planned to go home to visit for the weekend.  The morning after we arrived, DJ and I took a run up to the Cemetery in Cokeville.  It's not too far from their home and sits on a hill overlooking the town of Cokeville.  DJ has several family members buried there including his dad's parents, Minerva and  Herman Teichert, Herman Teichert (DJ's Uncle), and  Jan Anderson Teichert who was married to DJ's brother, Matthew.  She passed away of cancer shortly after DJ and I were married, 16 years ago.  Though I didn't get to know her as well as I'd hoped, it didn't take long to realize what a great wife, mother, friend, and daughter she was.  She is loved and missed by everyone that was privileged to know her.   Later that morning we rode back up to the cemetery with DJ's parents and took the kids around to visit the graves of family members.  Jordyn was particularly helpful in decorating each grave with Grandma's flowers and showed genuine interest as we talked a little bit about the people who's graves we were visiting.  After spending a while wandering around we headed back down to DJ's house but first made a stop at the park where the kids played until the rain started to fall.  Just as we made it back to the house, DJ's brother, Mike, pulled in from Nevada with two of his sons, Jeremiah and Jed.  They are such good kids and we had such a great time visiting with all of them.  Ann and Val showed up later that afternoon and brought 3 new picture holders for grandma's hall.  She used to have what she called the "wall of fame" where she had individual pictures of each of her grand kids but it was just really huge and a big pain to load and unload the pictures so Ann and Val built her some awesome wooden picture holders to replace it.  Dang, I wish I would've taken a picture of it, but I didn't.   DJ helped hang them on the wall and then we worked on replacing all of the pictures.  The end product was awesome and I think DJ's mom was pretty thrilled. 

Here's a picture of the damage done by dad's fall, although I think it looks a ton better than what it did according to mom!

Kamryn found a new best friend on this trip, Uncle Val.  Grandma has a bean bag pillow that the kids love so Kamryn and Val threw it back and forth to each other for probably an hour.  She loved the attention she was getting and wouldn't leave him alone.

Janae and Jordyn playing the piano!  Two blond Teichert beauties!

Grandma Teichert slaving away in the kitchen. My kids love going to Grandma's house because she serves pizza and ice cream!!

Leona--another blonde Teichert beauty!

Johnny and Trinny (I'm not sure if I should call her Johnny's girlfriend) but she did spend the weekend with our family and we thought she was really sweet.  I'm not sure what will come of it, so we'll just wait and see.

Leona, Regan, Janae, and Yoli (Trinny's daughter) and I probably slaughtered her name. 

                           The kiddos having fun at the playground in Cokeville.  My kids beg to go and play on the playground every time we come to Cokeville so I'm happy that the weather held up long enough to squeeze it in.  The cousins have so much fun when they are together. 

Jordyn and Ali are having a makeup party!  Ali is DJ's niece, Ashlee's daughter. She's Kaleb's age and is so stinking cute.  Jordyn talked her in to having a little makeup party and surprisingly, she didn't come out looking to bad.  Jordyn was so proud of herself because she actually applied mascara on Ali.  YIKES!!!

Game time with Jed, Chris, Johnny and Trinny!

Yet another blonde Teichert beauty!!