I'm so stupid!

This week Travis came upstairs and asked me if he could shoot me in the butt (Oops! I mean bum) with the air soft gun. I told him no because it would hurt. He said, "I shot Wade in the bum and he said it didn't even hurt." So, like an idiot I said OK. Well, of course it hurt! I think Wade must have been wearing steel underwear because it really stung. But the funny thing is that he came up the next day to report that Wade let him shoot him in the bum again but this time with the air soft rifle, that is more powerful! I don't know who's the bigger idiot- me or Wade! Just kidding, but it is kind of funny because we got those 2 air soft guns for TJ's birthday last year, and Travis loves them way more than TJ does. Infact, he's in the other room as we speak just shooting at the wall. And sometimes I'll see him dash out the basement door to shoot the rabbits that are in our yard. (Just so you know, those guns don't penetrate the skin or anything, they just sting! So he really isn't harming the bunnies, just scaring them.) Travis has one of those guns in his hands all the time lately! I guess there are some things that you never get too old for! Oh, and Travis has a really good idea for scaring snakes, he pours gasoline on them which he says is the worst punishment because you can never get rid of the smell (until they shed their skin) and that way the snake will go home and tell his buddies not to go in our yard. And the funny thing is, we hardly ever have snakes in our yard. Our neighbors all around us get them, but not us. I guess they don't know Travis' secret!
**Here's a little disclaimer- if any kids read this, just know, you should NEVER shoot at someone even if they say it's OK! That's probably why Travis likes the guns more than TJ. TJ never gets a chance to play with them! He doesn't know how much fun they are! (Also, he has to have Travis standing next to him when he shoots.)

Last day of School!

Yee-haw! School's out! Yeah! I have been looking forward to this all month! The kids had a great day and really fun parties! They both had their parties outside. Brody got to have pizza, sign autograph books, and play games. They played this relay game where you had to put on water wings, an innertube, a hat, and goggles and then run around a tree and back to your team. It was really cute! It was fun watching him interact with his friends. I know he will really miss them over the summer. Hopefully, he won't die of boredom without his friends! TJ's party was also fun and quite relaxed. They reserved the park across the street from the school and ate lunch, signed t-shirts, played kickball and had popsicles. TJ and a couple of his friends opted not to play kickball, but sat and watched, and let me visit with them. I couldn't believe it! It was really fun being able to talk with them about videogames, music, guitar hero, sports, and their plans for the summer. I can't believe how the time has flown! It seems like I just brought TJ home from the hospital (after being born) just yesterday! Then he went to a friend's house for the afternoon and the rest of us went to my mom's for a swim. They swam for hours and Alyssa had a blast pouring water into buckets from the little wading pool. Yeah summer!

Memorial Day

Well Memorial Day was really fun this year. When I was a kid, my grandparents had this tradition of going up to the canyon and cooking breakfast on Memorial Day. I loved doing that! But when my grandparents went on their mission, moved to Utah, and then of course passed away, we stopped going. Well, my Uncle has decided to bring the tradition back and last year we started doing it again. We had a blast, and it is amazing how long it has been that I have seen some of my cousins, aunts, and uncles who live here. Anyway, we ate, talked, and the kids and men threw a football around. Charli, Lyssa and Lauren, my sister's kid who is 2 months older than Charli, kept standing on top of the picnic tables and singing at the top of their lungs. It was very cute! Then, later, we went over to my parents and the kids swam, hot tubbed, and had a great time. It was really cold and kind of rainy that day, but the kids swam anyway! They didn't seem to mind a bit. I love holidays! Travis worked really hard on the Saturday before putting the garden in and planting some plants and flowers. We are going to try growing the tomatoes upside down this year, as per Darren's suggestion, so I am excited about that! We'll see if we can get as great of a yield as Darren has gotten! I'm really excited about summer!

Trey

Where do I begin with Trey? He keeps us laughing and definitely on our toes. I wanted to write about what he did on Brody's field day. He was playing on the playground for a while and when he came back to us he reported that he had made another best friend. We asked him what his name was and he said, "I don't know, I just call him sidekick!" When we went back for TJ's field day on another day he said that he sure hoped his sidekick would be there! Also, in case some of you are wondering why his blog is labeled "Captain Trey," it is because the boys used to say that they were the captains of the teams (basically, meaning they were the leaders and got to choose what they would all play). Well, Trey wasn't happy with that and always said that he wanted to be the captain. Well, one day he was telling this to my dad and my dad told him that he could be his captain and (my dad) would be the co-captain. So now, when he sees my dad he says, "Hi co-captain!" Or if he sees my dad at church he says, "Look, there's my Co-captain!" It's cute! He finally gets to lead someone. My Dad gave him a captain hat, so he's official! Another funny story about Trey happened a little while ago. He and the boys were in the Hot Tub and Brody was teasing him a little so Trey responded, "Oh yeah- well you're big gassy!" We all get a kick out of that one! Also, today, Trey had his preschool field day and graduation. He had a blast and the funny thing about it was that he stole Travis' cowboy hat and said he needed to wear it so he could be Indiana Jones! Actually, all the boys steal it so they can play Indiana Jones with it! The last thing I wanted to write about was that Trey has started doing something new after church. He disappears and you find him running around the building. When you try to get him he just runs faster. He thinks this is a great game that only ends with one of the boys or Travis tackling him down and dragging him to the car. He calls this his "Sneak Attack!" We love him!

TJ

Next, I'll talk about TJ. It's funny because he said he didn't want me to write about his play and stuff like that, but he was kind of mad at me for not writing about him yet. So, here it goes. I know I am totally biased, but TJ did a great job on his play. He was a little timid at the first of the semester, but he has improved so much! Earlier this year, his music teacher did a 4th grade musical, and to make a long story short, she picked her favorites and TJ was disappointed with his little part. So, that's why we did this acting club. I didn't want him to think all plays were bad. We just wanted him to have some fun. Plus, he does get the acting bug from his very dramatic father! As you read, he got to have some really fun experiences with it. The teacher is wonderful and is so positive with the kids! Anyway, he wants to do it next semester, so that will be great! I wanted to include a little about TJ's field day too! He amazes me! I don't know where he gets his athletic ability from! Certainly not me! Luckliy, his dad played sports, and has huge rippling muscles that enhance his athletic ability. TJ also has natural talent (and big muscles). He picks up on things easily and quickly. I didn't get to race him, but Travis did and he said it was great. We did get to go for luch after,and he surprised us with wanting to go to the "Garlic Knot." It's a cute little pizza place by the school- and it's a million times better than fast food! Yes! He is finally starting to see the light about fast food! I sure wish the other kids shared his taste! But, I think the thing that TJ and I have really bonded with is this blog. He has helped me so much and it has been a fun thing to share with each other. I was so happy to find out that he had helped Brody and Trey get their blogs set up. They have loved them too! It really is a fun way for all of us to do our journaling-thank you Kim for getting us interested and Kristy for showing us how to get set up! Now that school it almost out, we are all looking forward to the family reunion. TJ and the rest of the kids can hardly wait to see all of their cousins and Grandma and Grandpa! Infact, they wish they could just spend the whole summer in Utah! I wish we could be there for a while, but we'll see what we can do! Just so you know, I'm inviting all to come here for Brody's baptism that first weekend in September! Or, I should say you are all invited anytime you would like! Anyway, I love TJ and appreciate his help so much!

Brody's field day and zoo trip

I wanted to write about a few of the things that have happened over the last couple of weeks with the kids. First, I will write about Brody. I had so much fun watching him at his field day. He did really well in his events, but what I loved most, was how he cheered on everyone else when they were racing. He was excited for everyone! He would cheer and give them high fives! He was a great sport and won several sportsmanship ribbons. He just has such a kind heart. Also, for days before field day he would "practice" for it by running laps in our yard or the around the house. He said he needed the practice so he could be the fastest in his class. But when field day finally came, if he wasn't the fastest he was OK with it and then would just cheer everyone else on. I even got to race against him a couple of times. Of course he totally whipped me! After he asked, "Mom were you going easy on me?" I guess that's what happens when you get older- your kids just start beating you down. We got to go out to lunch together after and one of his friends and his family sat with us so Brody was in heaven! He is such a social kid. He loves to be with friends and doing something every minute of every day. The first thing he asks me when he gets off the bus from school is, "Mom, what are we doing fun today?" The second thing I wanted to write about was going to the zoo with his class. We had a great time and it was the busiest I have ever seen the zoo (even on free days). They said there were over 80 buses of school kids that day! But the kids had fun and the day went so fast. I had 4 kids in my group and they each had a little booklet they had to fill in about their favorite animal. Brody and his friend finished it in about 5 or 10 minutes. Then we were off to find the Zebras for the girls. We were "observing" the zebras for- no kidding- one hour. The girls just took a little more time!! Anyway, while the girls were doing their work, I got to take lots of pictures with Brody and his friend. Brody and his friend were anxious to get going and see the rest of the animals. Brody really wanted to see the tigers. We finally found them the last 15 minutes (because of my terrible navigating skills) but at least we did and so the trip was a success! On the way back to the school on the bus, the kids were doing "bunny ears" behind me and counted hundreds of boyfriends! I remember doing the same things when I was a kid. We had a great time! Also, Brody was very excited to loose 2 of his front teeth this week! He said he was so glad to loose his buck teeth (they were sticking out kind of funny)!

MAY

Hi everyone! This has been a busy month of course, but everyone is busy! The biggest problem is that TJ and I have wanted to add pictures to the blog, but because the kids use this computer it has viruses on it and somehow, this prevents us from getting the pictures on. I have no idea how or why, but I believe TJ. He is MUCH more technical than I am. Travis says we just have to reformat this computer and since I don't know how long it will take for Travis to get that done, I will just write. Hopefully, we can add pictures soon! So anyway, this month has been crazy! I think teachers try to see just how much they can cram into the last month of school! (I know they don't do this, but it sure seems like it!) We have had field days, field trips, parties, plays, many school projects, bringing home fish and frogs, helping in the classroom and then of course Alyssa's broken arm. I am excited for school to get out on the 30th of May so that we can have a breather.

First, I think I will talk about Alyssa's broken arm. On April 27th, the morning of Stake conference, we were trying to get everyone ready. I was getting Alyssa out of the tub, and she was not happy about it. She was wiggling and trying to get free, and well, she did. She squirmed right out of my arms and I couldn't get a grasp on her because she was so slippery. Luckily, our bathroom has carpet, and so she didn't fall as hard as she could have, but hard enough to break her arm. Actually, I thought that she hurt her head or neck. It happened so fast that I didn't notice she broke her fall with her arm. I actually didn't know it was her arm for sure until she was trying to climb up on something and she started screaming! We took her in the next day and she had actually broken her radius and ulna. I felt, and still do feel, horrible about it! The doctor was really nice and said that it is a common injury with kids, but I still feel bad. We've had 3 of our 5 kids break bones early on. Anyway, the story gets better. After she got her cast, she figured out how to take it off within about 5 days. I don't know how she did it. I went to get her in the morning, and it was off. So, I took her back and asked the doctor if he could cast it higher on her arm, and he said that they don't really do that. Well, I'm sure you can imagine the rest. Within hours she had that second cast off too! This time I watched her. She just pulled it right off with her other hand. She kept saying, "Off, Off!" and then she would just take it off! I didn't want to have to go back again, and since they wouldn't cast it higher anyway, I had an idea come to me. I just taped it on with some medical tape, and then wrapped around an ace bandage on top of the cast. It worked! She now only has one more week to go! Yeah! Although, I should say she has really been a trooper, and hasn't acted like it has bothered her much. When she first got her cast, Trav would ask, "Lyssa, do you want me to kiss it better?" And of course she would give her arm over for Trav to kiss. But then, she started kissing it herself. She would look at you with these sad eyes, and say, "Ouch!" and then have you kiss it or she would. Well one more week and she'll be free!