Character Shirts

How many of you have shirts like this for your boys?  Or the princess shirts for your girls.

I.HATE.THESE.SHIRTS!!!

And I think we have every single one ever created

(ok maybe not every single one but you catch my drift)

At 1st I thought these shirts were fun & great but I would LOVE it if Blake would take 1 or 2 days in the week to wear something that isn't Star Wars or Clone Wars related. 

When I do the laundry I even try to hide these shirts in different spots so it's harder to find them (heeheehee)

but he always finds them (little bugger).  

What's a mother to do?

Oh well...could be worse I guess. 

Safetyville USA

 A few weeks back Blake's 1st grade class went on a field trip to Safetyville USA. I went because I've never been there & I've always wanted to check it out.
Well, we went on a tour & learned all about.....
(drum roll please)
                   SAFETY!!!!
It was fun & good to reinforce all those rules that we as parents are always trying to teach our kids. Everything is minature there & that was so cute. Mini streets, street lights & signs, garbage cans, & places of business (that of course were not real). The kids were disappointed to find out that the McDonald's was fake. We had a fun time & I'm glad I got to go. I got to meet some of the other mom's of the kids that I meet on the morning walk & that Blake talks about. There's a picture of the kids on the ground & at 1st you might think they are doing STOP, DROP & ROLL....but they are actually in "log" position. If you come across a dog & you want it to leave you alone you are supposed to stop & stand like a "tree". If you are already on the ground you are supposed to become a "log"...rolling on your back & clasping your hands behind your head. They say it works so I think I'll try the "tree" one if I need to because I am not a big fan of big dogs. It was a great learning experience with a little fun sprinkled in.

Easter Dinner

This is the beautiful ham that Brad made for our Easter dinner.

I'm not much of a ham person but I must say that this was delicious!!

I am lucky to have a husband who likes to cook!!!

Photo

I think it's fun to play with pictures in Picasa 3. 
So here's one I did but I have to say I miss
seeing the brightly colored shirts but I love the look of sepia too. 
I also like to crop the bad stuff out when I'm doing a close-up.  It's so nice.


I'm trying to figure out how to get my picasa pictures to load from the insert image while posting.
Anybody know how to do that?  Please send your help my way.  I don't mind blogging from picasa when I have 1 picture or a collage but I'd love to figure out how to blog more than 1 picture from picasa because that seems to be the place where I edit my photos most often.  Also if I'm making a photo gift on one of the many sites that are out there I can't seem to figure out how to use a photo from picasa.  If you know how to do this...please leave me a comment with instructions.  If not I'm sure I'll figure something out.  Thanks!!!

Blake & Sonny's Easter Pictures

Here are my 2 handsome boys & all the funny faces that come along with them.

Looking down instead of at me & Sonny's new "side" smile.

Looking at me....Blake decided to put his arms around his brother.

They are so cute..."side" smile again.

Pretty similar but a little bit better.

I like this one.

I ♥ this one cuz they are both laughing & look like they are having fun.

A close-up.

And the last one. 

I'm thinking that I need to go play around with the editing on a few of these to see what I can come up with.

I ♥ my boys!!!

Easter Pictures with Libby

On Easter morning we decided to take the kids out front to take some pictures.

(trying to cut back on pictures @ studios...they can be pricey plus I can practice my raw skills).

My boys were not too happy about this but we finally got a few good shots.  Actually....Kimi's pictures turned out way better than mine but she's a professional & has a way better camera & I don't have her pictures so we'll make do with what I took.  Plus...I don't know why but I alway stand off to the side when I'm taking pictures...I need to stop doing that.

Have you ever seen a boy more sad?

Now that Blake is smiling...Sonny's pouting.

I love how his arms are crossed & his bottom lip is totally sticking out.

Still a little mad.

Now Blake's pouting again.

Ok...here we go...the boys are finally smiling!!!  Yay!!!

And another one.

Doing better...Sonny looks like he may fall over.

This is a cute one.

And another cute one.

And we are DONE!!!!!

The boys & Libby have done pictures together many times but it was fun to just do it on our own & thank goodness for digital cameras!!!  I need to practice more.  The boys only are up next.

Easter Morning

Well....the boys were up early

 (but not really any earlier than any other morning)

& they were off

to find the eggs that were hidden. 

They sure had fun!! 

Don't you love those Easter baskets.  Found those at Pier 1 Imports.

Blake seems to be a "master" egg finder & I think that next year we will definitely have to go

outside...(if the weather holds up) so there is more room. 

Then we had breakfast & turned on General Conference.

I printed off confernce bingo & Blake & I played that til it was time to go to Grandpa & Naunie's for lunch.

We don't really play it traditionally...we just cross off everything we hear.  I think it's a good way for him to pay attention to the words that are being said.  I found some really awesome stuff for the kids to do all throughout the blogosphere.  Someday I will print them out & do them with the kids...*sigh*.

But what I did hear in Conference was great & uplifting and I am so grateful to have the Gospel in my life.  I feel extremely blessed not only to have the Gospel in my life but to know that I am a Daughter of God & He loves me no matter what.  I grateful for my Testimony & that even when things get rough in life I don't turn away but I embrace the Gospel because I know that my Heavenly Father is watching out for me & cheering me on & I know that I can make it & I hope & pray that I can instill this into my boys & that they will never turn their back on the Lord & always turn to Him for guidance & that I can be an example of this to my husband as well.  I'm grateful for the sacrice that my Savior made & for the knowledge that I have of all that includes.  I am very blessed.

Got Eggs?

We had several opportunities this year to decorate eggs. 

We got together at my parent's house with my sister's & their kids (all boys)

 to color eggs & we then colored more at our house because for some reason there was a surplus of hardboiled eggs.  I also had Blake glue faces on some of those eggs to do something different.  We also decorated foam egg shapes with stickers & hung those up on the door for decoration. 

Naunie with the grandkids...Mason, Gabe, Blake & Sonny (heads)

Here's my boys.

What's up with the whisks?  Let me explain.

Amelia (my sis) said she read in a magazine somewhere that putting the egg inside

a whisk makes coloring eggs easier for little ones.  I thought it was a great idea.

The kids thought it was cool too.

Gabe & Blake

Gabe getting serious about this egg thing.

Mason...he's so cute...mom took his shirt off because he was bound to get

colored.

Stop taking my picture mom

Blake did the most...he is a little older & able to stay focused just a little longer.

Here we are at home & Sonny is showing me his plain white egg.

Do you like how conference is in the background?  I was trying to watch it at the same time.

Blake showing me his plain white eggs.  I wanted to to the extra eggs when we got home because I wanted to make eggs with really vibrant colors.  The eggs we did @ Grandpa & Naunie's were more of a pastel color.  They were pretty but I wanted them to be bright!!!  So I used vinegar instead of just water to see if that's the key.  Maybe it's the vinegar & the brand. 

These turned out much brighter & I liked them a lot!! 

 (we used Paas brand which is the best I think).

The boys also decorated eggs with their cousin Libby & Grammy

earlier in the month but those pics didn't turn out.  Oh well.

Next time.

A Night with Friends

While my friend Sarah H. was in town visiting with her girls we were able to get together over at our friend Sarah C's (I know...lots of Sarah's but I haven't met a Sarah I haven't liked yet) house to hang out & have fun visiting.  I decided to venture out without my boys because sometimes it's just nice to go by myself.  I love my boys & they probably would've had fun with the girls but sometimes mom's need a break.  It was fun visiting & watching  Sarah C's husband Josh throw the kids around on the "love sack" (ginormous beanbag).  Before I went over there I was able to finish up some baby bibs & a couple burp cloths that I made for Sarah H's bun in the oven.  Haha. (yes, I really said that).  I am finding that it is a much smoother process if I cut out all the bibs in one day & then sew them up on another & I think I've finally figured out how to sew them w/o the flaw that I always seem to have. Yay!!

Here's Sarah H & her 3 girls with the 4th girl on the way

Here's Josh with the girls.

And here's Josh with the 2nd girl.  He loves those girls!!!

And here's the fronts & backs of the 6 bibs I put together.

It was so nice to see Sarah H. in person. 

I wish we could've had more time but I grateful for the 2 days I did get to see her.

Someday my family will make it out to her neck of the woods & then I could visit my

brother & his family too.  Wouldn't that be nice :)

A Visit to the Park

Last week was Spring Break!!  Yippee!! 

I wasn't sure how everything was going to go seeing as how the weather didn't look so "springy".

And it's always a "joy" to find things for 4 kids to do when it's raining....hahaha.

BUT....I got a text from my friend Sarah H. saying that she was in town & she wanted to get together at a park so the kids could play.  I think it's been at around 2 years since she & her family moved back out to Utah & she & her family have been greatly missed!!  I was so excited & happy that I'd have a chance to see her while they were visiting.  I told Blake & he was excited too!!  So we set up a day & time to go to the park.  I packed lunches for the kids & we set off to go to the park.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was only chilly & not raining outside.  Thank goodness for that.  We had a few other friends join us too....Miss Rose traveled with Sarah so of course she was there & Heather with her family as well.  We had 8 kids there altogether & Sarah has 1 on the way.  It was sooo fun to get together with all the kids again.  We were there for 3 hours & it was a great way to play the day away & for us girls to catch up on what's been going on.
Here's a ton of pictures from our fun day at the park.

Colby on the slides.

Sonny

Here's the whole gang eating lunch....

(adults are...Sarah, Heather & Rose)

Here's Sarah's oldest upside down!!

Colby & Blake strategizing their next move.

Rose & Heather...sisters-in-law.

Here's Kylie & Sarah's youngest....(for now).

Sonny B (that's Kylie's cup)

Here I am again.

Action shot.

Laying on the bridge.

Here's me & my friend Sarah H. 

I tried to fix my teeth in this picture but I couldn't figure it out.

NO!! 

 I'm not missing any teeth...it's a shadow...

or I really need to get my teeth whitened!!!

Blake & Colby in action.

Blake being attacked by 2 girls while Colby just stands in the background watching &

wondering...what the heck!!

And the girls conquered him!!

Don't they look sooo pleased!!

Here's all the kids in a group shot.

Sonny, Colby, Kylie, Blake

& then SD, MD(Heather's girl), SV, & SC

(the S girls are my friend Sarah's & I'm not using their names cuz their mom prefers it that way)

Well it was a really fun day at the park & I got the kids all packed up & ready to go &

of course....

Kylie had a poopy diaper....bleh...so I changed her in the back of my car & we were ready to go.

Not 5 mins after pulling out of the parking lot it started pouring!!!

Seriously!!!  I must say that luck was on my side that day.  Thank goodness it didn't start til

after I was done cleaning up the poopy diaper!!!!