Michael's Back!

Michael flew home today after spending 10 fun-filled days in Utah visiting friends and family by himself. He started off the trip at his friend Will's house up in Farmington. They did all sorts of amazingly fun things, like going to Lagoon, a SL Bees AAA baseball game and Cherry Hill Waterpark. The Andres' family lived in Houston years ago and Michael and Will had their first sleepover together when Michael was just 2 & 1/2! They were pretty inseparatable as Batman and Superman until Will's family moved when Michael was 5. It is always so fun to spend time with them!



Michael continued his Utah adventure by spending a few days with his friend Bear. The McCann's just moved to Utah this spring from Virginia, so it was so awesome that Michael was able to see them too. We got to know and love the McCanns during their stay in Houston a few years ago. They have 5 great kids, one of them being Trevor's best friend, John. Trev and I are already plotting a trip for us to visit! Michael loved being with Bear, looking out their window and seeing Y mountain, and going to their grandparents awesome cabin for a night. I think he also like having the other kids around to remind him of his siblings :)

MICHAEL AND HIS COUSIN ISAAC

It was then on to my brother Scott's house. It was a week-end of Bowman fun with the baby blessing of my beautiful nephew Isaac. All of my brothers, my parents and my sister and her kids were able to be there. Michael was the lone representative from our family thanks to the astronomical plane ticket prices :(



Michael had tons of fun with the family, riding in the convertible Uncle Bob had rented, playing ball with my "little" brothers, eating awesome food (and sending me text messages while he did it, so my mouth would water...so mean!), playing with cousins, shopping at the BYU bookstore, and of course, attending the blessing and festivities! Scott and Jenny have such a cute little family and were the perfect hosts!



We were awfully glad to get him back today, and I think the tired kid was glad to see us too! Hayley and Trevor had made him a sign to hold up at the airport. Unfortunately, I just had one piece of posterboard, so Hayley's was on 1 side and Trevor's was on the other and they just flipped it over so Michael could see each side.



Michael was so sweet to buy everyone a gift from the BYU and everyone had a blast as he handed out the goodies.

MICHAEL GIVING TREVOR HIS AWESOME T-SHIRT

MICHAEL AND HAYLEY HUGGING, AND SMILING...A KODAK MOMENT FOR SURE!

JAKE WITH THE BYU BASKETBALL BALL AND GOAL MICHAEL GOT FOR THEM TO PLAY TOGETHER

Welcome home Michael, we love you!

Hayley's New Look!

Yesterday Hayley got her hair cut. It was the first time we had someone other me or her Aunt Cynthia cut it. She wanted to cut it short and donate her 10 inches to Locks of Love to help make wigs for kids with cancer. It was a little scary, but Hayley was so brave!






ISN'T SHE SO CUTE??!!

They did it!

The kids did it! They finally convinced Don to get on the trampoline with them and jump! I walked in from the store yesterday morning and the house was quiet...too quiet. I looked out the back door and had to grab the camera!

Obstacles at the Olympics

Wednesday night was Trevor's Cub Scout Pack meeting, otherwise known in our house as FAMILY SCOUTS! Jake and Hayley love to go with Trevor to Scouts once a month. There are always fun activities and this week is no exception. Because of Twilight Camp this month, the pack meeting was a little more laid back. The theme was the Olympics and the kids did different relays and obstacle courses. They had a blast. Hayley was especially impressive doing the obstacle course in a pink skirt and cowgirl boots! She adds a special touch to these meetings where all the other kids are boys!





Trevor earned lots of awards because of all his hard work at camp. Thanks to his awesome leader, Linda Eccles who was just released as Cubmaster today at church after 7 long, hot years - we'll miss you in Scouts!

Primary Activity

Last Saturday there was a Primary Activity for the kids at church. The theme was "Tell me the Stories of Jesus". It was set up really cute, with 4 different story rooms. There was a room about the food they ate in the Bible; a room about the miracle of bread and fish; the Atonement and Resurrection; and stories of Jesus healing people. In each area after the story was told, there was a brief activity for the kids to do. Like in the food room, the kids got to try different types of food, etc.

I loved the room with the story of Jesus healing people. After the leader told the stories of Jesus helping and healing people, the kids sang a song about how to treat people different then themselves (I'll Walk with You). Then they played 2 different activities with kids to see how hard it was to do easy, everyday things if you couldn't see or if you couldn't use your hands. The pictures below are of Jake and Hayley trying to open a Starburst Candy with Socks on their hands (so no fingers to help). It is really hard to do! They were great and didn't give up, but it took some work and different techniques to get the job done.

HAYLEY AND MORGAN WORKING ON THEIR STARBURSTS
JAKE, SITTING DOWN ON THE JOB, TRYING TO OPEN HIS STARBURST

One Crazy Night

Wednesday evening Don pulled up to the house just as I was buckling kids in the car. I quickly pulled Jake and Hayley out of the car and sent them running through the rain into the house with Don, so I could get through the next few hours a little quicker. Michael had a birthday party, Trevor had Cub Scouts & I was visiting teaching during the Scout time. It was then back to the church to pick up Trevor, over to pick Michael up from the party, stop at Target to get a few last minute things for Michael's trip that he was leaving for at 6 am the next day and return home by 10 pm.

The house was eerily quiet with lots of lights on. I followed the trail of lights to our room, the only room with no light, and this is what I found...



And I thought I was tired! Apparently the kids didn't like the rainstorm going on and were not happy about me being gone. So the 3 of them just laid on the bed and were talking until they all just konked out. I loved the pose of Hayley's hand protectively laid across Jake's back. I just had to get a shot of it before I moved everyone to their beds for the night. So sweet!

You've Been Tagged...

I have been tagged by a couple of different tags recently (ok, some were not so recently, see tag line #3!), so I am going to just combine a couple questions from each of them and tag you too...

What was I doing 10 years ago:
Living in Houston, working in accounting, serving in Primary, married to a newly graduated lawyer who was studying for the bar exam, and being a Mom to Michael, age 2.

What is on my to-do list for today?
Babysit for another family w/4 kids who are moving tomorrow, vacuum, laundry, make bread & cinnamon rolls for FHE, take Trev & Hayley to the Denist, Library, YMCA for swimming this afternoon(but it rained so we stayed home & played Uno & Hide & Seek inside instead), work on Primary stuff, talk to Michael on phone, & F.H.E.

What are 3 bad habits of mine?
1. Eating endless chips and fresh salsa
2. Blog Stalking...so fun to read other blogs, even strangers!
3. Not calling, emailing people back...or answering blog tags until the guilt is so bad I can't sleep at night :)

3 Things You might not know about me:
1. I love the smells of bookstores, fresh cut grass, bread cooking and a new box of crayons.
2. I like to read cookbooks & try to check out a new one from the library each week.
3. I am crazy about spreadsheets and charts...just ask my kids :)

Four Movies/TV shows I love:
1. While You Were Sleeping
2. Miss Congeniality
3. The Office
4. Reba reruns

Four Fun Books I Love:
1. To Kill a Mockingbird (not really fun, but it's my favorite)
2. The Harry Potter Series
3. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
4. All the scrapbooks my MIL Diane makes me!

Four Jobs I've Had:
1. Hand Car Wash Detailer (not that you can tell by looking at my car now!)
2. Receptionist
3. Accountant
4. A MOM

Five Places I've Lived:
1. Tennessee
2. Utah
3. North Carolina
4. Massachuetts
5. Texas

Five of My Favorite Foods:
1. Chips and Salsa
2. Milk Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts
3. Homemade Bread
4. Chicken Bryan from Carrabba's
5. Fajitas

Five Bloggers I'm Tagging:
1. My SIL's...all of you!
2. My Houston Blogger Buddies
3. My Arizona Blogger Buddies
4. My Washinton Blogger Buddies
5. Any other Blogger Buddies out there who love to play tag

Consider yourself tagged :)

Summer Reading Program

I love the Summer Reading Programs at the libraries here. They have great promotions and activities all summer, plus great prizes the kids can earn by reading books. And did I mention it is FREE and AIR CONDITIONED?!



Monday we went to the library to get more books and Trevor noticed that they were starting a magic book show in 30 minutes. So we stuck around and it was great! Trevor was picked as a volunteer and was so funny. It was a great show!

Twilight Camp

A couple of weeks ago, Trevor had a week-long Cub Scout camp in the evenings called Twilight Camp. He had a blast, learning to shoot bb guns, doing archery, woodwork, art, science and much more.



The last night of the camp is Family Night which the other kids really like. Don was with Michael at the Astros game but I went to camp with Trevor, Hayley & Jake. What an adventure we had...

FIRST, THE PICNIC DINNER




NEXT, THE MASSIVE SLIP N' SLIDE WATERSLIDE












AFTER PLAYING ULTIMATE FRISBEE, WE STOPPED AT THE WOODMAKING TENT AND MADE PLANTER BOXES...OR BARBIE BEDS, DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ASKED!








NEXT STOP, WATER BOTTLE ROCKETS, WHICH WERE, AS JAKE SCREAMED, "TOTALLY AWESOME!!"


WE ENDED THE NIGHT GETTING A COOL SCOOP OF ICE CREAM (I know, you are thinking, what a nice mom. But really, it was just a premediated bribe on my part to get the kids out of camp an hour early...it was so hot out there!). AWWW, GOOD TIMES!

Father's Day Fun

Father's Day started a couple of days early here with a trip to the Astros/Yankees game Friday night for Don and Michael. It was great to boo the Yankees in person, even though they did end up beating our Astros. Sunday morning Don got the royal breakfast in bed treatment with all kids eating with him. Good times...I think Don even got to eat a half of bagel this time! It was an exciting day of turn your clothes around backwards in the middle of Mom's Sharing Time presentation at church...oh wait, that was just our sweet, innocent Jake, otherwise known as "Padre" the rest of the day. Apparently he and his other classmates also decided to lose their socks and shoes during classtime. That poor substitute teacher... What, don't your kids come home from church looking like this? Later Sunday afternoon we headed up to Don's parents house to celebrate Father's Day with dinner and some funny entertainment. The kids put on a quick skit about a murder and then Trevor led Jake and Hayley in singing a Bazooka Bubble Gum song he learned at Scout Camp last week.

Professional Help

Yes, it is true. I think we might need professional help. For Father's Day I once again attempted the insane task of one perfect picture. This time I even had cute matching shirts for the boys (I am sure you heard the groaning from your house!). There was a reason it was listed as a "CHORE" on the to-do list for the day. After more than 90 shots, I am not kidding, 90, we got a couple of shots without closed eyes, crazy faces, tears, etc. I really am starting to think the problem is the photographer! But here are the best of the shots and a few of the others to give you an idea of the extremes we go to around here.

THE KEEPERS:

















Now a sampling of the ones that somehow didn't make the final cut...







Is is over yet?