Recent Happenings...

We celebrated Cameron's birthday in between various Christmas activities and friend's parties for both Landon and Austin. We kind of celebrated in stages: Friday night: presents, Saturday afternoon: Key Lime Pie and the Happy Birthday Song, and Saturday night: a trip to Boise with just Cam and I to celebrate.

This poster{s} was from the kids. The kid's are convinced that this is a "year supply" of candy! (maybe it should be a year supply :) )

After a marathon allergy appointment with Austin and {unfortunately} a severe allergic reaction at the office, we barely made it home in time to get to Landon's Christmas concert. Landon was "Country Bob". He did an AWESOME job! After the show, his teacher introduced all the speaking and solo parts. When Landon's name was called his class went crazy, cheering for him!

I love the smile he has on his face. He and his friend are laughing at each other. Landon, really did his best and we were proud of him. I even got a text from his friend's mom during one of the songs.... it looked like Landon was doing a "turtle" dance. She texted me that she was crying because she was laughing so hard at how cute Landon was!

Isaac also had a Christmas concert. He came home from preschool one day and practiced for it. He was excited to sing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer while wearing a red nose! He made the nose himself (along with a blue one for when he wants to be a blue Power Ranger)

This was the best picture I could get of him at his party/concert. There were SO many parents there I couldn't even see him singing. It was crazy! He was sad that he only got to sing two songs and he couldn't see me while he was singing. But the PLATE-FULL of treats afterward cured him.

...and now we wait...sometimes not so patiently for Christmas Day...

Last night I took the kids to do a service project. We try to do one every year (actually, one of our family's goals is to do one once a month). We usually donate food to the homeless shelter or put allowance money together to by "toys for tots". This year, I planned an activity for the Young Women in our ward to sing at a nursing home. Since none of the Mia Maids could make it, I decided to take the kids. Unfortunately, Cameron was working during the time they wanted us there.

I couldn't take a picture because I was singing with the kids. Rest assured, though, that they were well received. Isaac wore his antlers from his preschool party the day before and sang with gusto. Austin played Jingle Bells on the piano and sang Away in a Manger, beautifully. Landon didn't want to go, but I made him. He was nervous he'd have to talk to the residents and try to think of things to say. Once he saw how happy the residents were with our songs, though, his heart melted and he was very happy. Ella did her part by clapping after every song. We had the chance to go into some of the residents' rooms and sing to them, as well. One woman was 99 and another was 103. They were SO happy to see us and hear our songs. I was proud of my kids. Their spirits were shining and their sweet voices were beautiful. They were SO SO happy after. They could tell that they made a tiny difference in the resident's lives. This definitely is a good time of year to give service. (I took this picture when we got home - after we ate dinner... :) )

September 2011 POTD Catch Up

One of my all-time favorites

We had a bounty in our backyard. I couldn't believe that our "experiment" garden grew so well. I let the kids pick any seeds they wanted and we raked up our own backyard soil and threw in the seeds. Now that I know we can do it, next spring we will "really" plant. It's true what they say about fresh veggies - and just picked from the vine is even better!

We spent a day at the Air Show on base, complete with the famous Thunderbirds show. It was awesome (and very loud!)

I didn't quite get around to doing 18 month photos of Ella, so one day I took these impromptu pictures of Ella at 20 months. She was in the 49% for height and 51% for weight. This month she developed a love with shoes, especially mine. When I'm not sure where she is, I can be on her being in my closet or bathroom surrounded by my shoes, trying each pair on one at a time.

Over Memorial Day weekend Cameron's sister and her family came to visit. We had a great time. We spent a day on the water, a day on motorcycles, and a day of church, games, and good food.

Trying to Catch Up (October POTD Highlights)

Just before the hard drive went out on our computer I was trying to get caught up on my Picture A Day Project for 2011... Thankfully, Oh SO Thankfully, our pictures were saved. So now that we got them back I'm hoping to do a few posts from earlier this year to catch up. SO, since I left off with October in my catch up that's where I'll start... Here's some of my favorite Pictures of the Day for the month of October:

Cameron and I celebrated 11 years together... crazy ehe?!

(picture by http://www.amandaandrewsphotography.com )

One day we were at Target and I let Isaac pick something from the dollar section for being good at an Allergy appt. for Austin earlier that day. He chose this mask and has worn it almost daily ever since. In fact he wore it to preschool just this morning! Best dollar I ever spent...

Ella is keeping up with her brothers, no doubt about it. I keep begging her to stop growing up but she just won't! On this day she was able to climb the steps to the slide without the help of an older brother and she was ECSTATIC...

One night we randomly decided to go to an Enduro motocross race. It started at 7 and we decided to go at 5:30. Since it was an hour away we scarfed down our dinner (no concession stand $10 nachos and hot dogs for us :) ) and booked it to the stadium. The boys are still talking about that night. It also inspired Isaac's dream to someday race motorcycles as a career and own at least 21 motorcycles so all of his "children and wives and husbands" can ride motorcycles too...

Landon spent an entire weekend constructing this entirely edible map of Idaho. He was pretty disappointed when he came downstairs and found Isaac munching on the corner of the state, Luckily he stopped Isaac before too much damage was done... He told his teacher ," my dog ate my homework... the curly blond dog that's really my brother."

Austin got a retainer - it's actually a combo appliance but retainer is just a cooler word to use! He loves it. Apparently it's pretty cool to be the only kid in 1st grade with a retainer. An awesome thing about Austin is he can make anything cool!

Landon's last football game was the last weekend of October. He still practices throwing the football almost everyday to stay in shape for next season

Ella is developing that common habit of most 2 year old's - cry and throw a temper tantrum until you get what you want. Every temper tantrum she's thrown up until now have revolved around some kind of treat - the girl loves her snacks! She carries around the step stool and stands up to counter to beg for what she wants, usually fruit snacks. Anything I've made that resembles a cookie in any way, will elicit whining and crying and eventual mini-temper-tantruming until she gets one!

I found a donut maker at Target one day. The look on Landon's face says it all ...the kids loved them and devoured 15 donuts in about 5 minutes! The donut maker is the only way I could figure out how to make gluten-free donuts since the batter doesn't hold together well enough to fry in oil. It's kinda like a waffle iron. The boys LOVE watching me open the lid and ta-da! Donuts!

This month we got a surprise visit from Grandma Perigo! It was a fun couple of days. The kids just happened to have two days off school for Parent Teacher Conferences so they kept her plenty busy - with puzzles and movies and games ALL DAY LONG. It was fun to have her here with us. Come back!!

Last Week

Last Tuesday our family joined the families of the boys in Cub Scout Troop 175 to cheer them on and celebrate their hard work at the annual PineWood Derby. Oh yes, it was an event. And to sweeten the deal our Landon came in second place. He was so proud. He could barely contain the smile after each win. BUT, he was very poised and had great sportsmanship, as he high-fived each of the kids that lost to him. After the last race, the one that determined if he'd come in first or second, his smile faltered. But only for a second; it came right back, as big as ever, as he congratulated his buddy for coming in first. AND, that is what I was most proud of that night. *You've come a long way over the past year, Landon; growing up more and more everyday. I am proud of the big kid you are and the young man you are becoming. How'd I get so lucky to have you as my son?!*

{his car is the gold one...he designed it himself, although Cameron helped cut it out. He bought the paint for it himself too. I offered to buy him a can of spray paint from Walmart, but he insisted on "model" paint from the hobby shop. So Cameron told him since it was so expensive, he'd have to use his allowance. With Easter being the weekend before and our nights crowded by baseball we didn't get a chance to get the paint until Tuesday afternoon. The paint was still wet when we left for the Derby. Cameron had make him stop painting so we wouldn't be late! It didn't slow that thing down, though! And gotta hand it to Cameron, he spent a lot of time with Landon, helping him. He's a good dad.} The next day I left for four days of "me-time". I scribbled out notes, put a diaper bag together, left Cameron some "just in case" ideas for meals, and hugged everyone goodbye, leaving Cameron with a LOT on his schedule. There was something to do for one of the kids every night I was gone.Austin had a speaking part in his Kindergarten show and I was SO SO sad I would be missing it. Cameron said, "he did awesome!" and that was pretty much the report I got. Judging by listening to him practice his parts I'm sure it was fantastic. I love how excited he was to participate; I'm pretty sure he felt as grown up as he looks...can't believe he's on his way to being SEVEN!
Isaac's preschool held their annual Art Show the next night. He, too, was FULL of excitment about his part. He told me on the phone that day, just before they headed out to the show, "You HAVE to come see my art. It is really really good. Are you going to come in the car and see it?!" I wished I could have. But, luckily, Cameron took great pictures and they brought a STACK of artwork home for me to sort through.
Saturday, I got a text: "meet the newest member of our family." Seriously, at first I thought Cameron was joking. But when I looked closer at the picture I realized the motorcycle was strapped into the back of his truck. When I realized he had bought another motorcycle (the middle one: Landon's size), I wished I had done more shopping...LOTS more shopping. Why was I feeling guilty for the pennies I had spent, when he spent, well, lots more?! I'm coming to grips with the new member of our family that lives in the garage, but, Cameron, NO MORE! :) The boys, needless to say, are in heaven. Austin is so excited that he doesn't have to bring his bike to the pits to ride while him and Landon take turns on the little motorcyle.
And while they were doing all that, I was doing this. Thousands of women swarmed BYU for the LDS Women's Conference and I was among them. It's my second year and I hope it becomes a tradition. It was so much fun. So enlightening. A great reminder that, "By Small and Simple Things are Great Things Brought to Pass."
At this point in my life, I often find myself feeling alone in my seemingly mundane, mostly thankless, normal life. I had many points of inspiration and clarity during this conference. I realized that the "sunday school" answers are the things that I need to focus on; the things that will bring great things to pass: boys that will become responsible, loving, righteous husbands and fathers and a daughter who will know her worth and settle for nothing less than the path back to our Father in Heaven. One great moment for me was at the last session when Susan Bednar, Elder Bednar's (a member of the 12 apostles for the LDS church) wife spoke. She spoke of raising her three sons; my life seems similar to how hers was. I realized that this amazing woman - she must be to be the wife of an apostle- struggled with some of the same things I struggle with. She reminded me "not to be like Naimin"; to have enough faith to do the "simple things".
And while I was enjoying the classes I was also enjoying some GREAT company. I don't have a picture, but I drove down to Provo with a friend from here in Mountain Home, Amanda. She is so fun to talk to that the drive seemed to take minutes, rather than hours. It started the week off great. She dropped me off at the dorms to meet up with my "Colorado friends". I have missed ALL of them so much over the last couple years. It was so so fun to see a few of them again! Let me tell you, Women's Conference is NOT for sleeping. How could I? It was one giant slumber party. I laughed my head off for four days straight - in fact, I think my face still hurts from smiling!
We did some shopping in Provo and some in Salt Lake. We also spent the day on Saturday seeing, not one, but TWO movies at the Gateway. We took a peek at the "Project Runway" Fashion show going on (and took a picture with Tom Gunn's poster just to prove it!) We spent some time on Temple Square. We ate WAY too much food. And we talked and talked and talked. Our group changed a bit here and there through the conference. We met up with another CO friend, Jaquie, who lives in Texas now - it was so fun to see her, I was wishing she could have snuck into the dorms for a night to have some real girl-talk. We also stayed in a group with Colleen's friends from college and their friends and their friends... It was a great time, getting to know more girls who I have things in common with.
The week can be summed up with two words: SOUL FOOD...spiritual, emotional, and physical (yes, physical - I practically begged for extra gluten, nuts and dairy at every meal! ;) )

Sunday morning while I waited for Amanda so we could head home again, I spent the morning with my parents and Alina. It was good to be with them without distractions. I grew up wanting sisters and I'm just now (after 7 years) realizing that I actually DO have sisters. (kinda lame it took so long, I know, but when they were adopted there seemed to be so many years between us. Alina isn't a little girl anymore, she's growing up into such a fun cute girl.) It was fun to get to know Alina a little better and chat with my mom and dad. I always feel like I'm their "kid" again when it's just me and them...kinda nice sometimes.

I kept in contact with Cam, mostly through texts because, during the day I was in class from 9-5 and at night I didn't realize what time it was until it was WAY too late to call him. I am so lucky for a great guy that will let me get away. I got two texts from him that will make me smile forever when I think about them. One was, "For the life of me I CAN NOT get the elastic thing in Ella's hair!" It was so endearing to me that he was trying to do a squirmy, short-haired one year old's hair. And also, a video text of the meal he made for dinner on Sat. with all the kids telling me they missed me but how good of a cook Dad is. Watch out Cameron, you're gonna be on dinner duty now!! I came home to happy kids and a clean house; in fact I'm not sure they missed me! The kids seemed to have grown up in four days, especially Ella. She went from walk/crawling to running and became a little tornado of destruction - every article of clothing is on her floor right now because she emptied her drawers one by one while I was making dinner. Thanks, Cameron for holding down the fort {flawlessly!}. love ya.

Oh WHAT a Summer!

We have had so much fun the past six weeks; The stuff lasting memories are made of! School starts on Monday so it's back to the real world. I'm trying to frantically get caught up on everything from housework, to email, to haircuts (no kidding, Landon hasn't had a hair cut since June!), to all the errands and responsibilities I've been putting off the past month and a half.

-

Most recently, we gave ourselves our first ever real family vacation. The first time we weren't traveling to visit family (although, you know we love to do that! And there are plenty of pictures of us doing that this last month too - we had a great time with our families this summer). Just the six of us; we went to Big Sky Montana. Montana, you ask? Yes. Montana. A resort town 40 miles from West Yellowstone. The perfect combination for a family of {mostly} boys all different ages. It was a great great week.

click on images to enlarge (it REALLY bugs me the way this all downloaded - sorry about the spacing and jumbled sentences. I might try to fix it later, or not. Gotta get going on dinner and then Young Womens... no rest for the weary, I tell ya!)

We spent an afternoon eating at a motorcycle-theme resteraunt and watching the kids do "rides".

We took the kids to Toy Story 3 one day, after a hike, exploring Bozeman, lunch at a great mexican place, and play time at a park. Isaac loved the 3D glasses and called them his Popcorn Glasses from the Popcorn Place. {I think that's the only reason he cares about movies - popcorn}

We stayed in a 3 story town home in the middle of the woods at the top of a huge peak. It was so beautiful there. In the winter you can just and ski down to the lifts from your front door. (200 acres of lifts) We were at 8,000 ft and surrounded by trees and mountains. We saw a bears just outside our "little house" twice.

We spent a day at Yellowstone Park, of course. The kids LOVED it. So did I, actually. They kept saying how awesome it was. Isaac kept telling us it was
"goy-geous". Perfect place for three little boys to run around. How do you know they had fun? They were covered in dirt by the time we were done.


One morning Cameron took the older boys on a white-water raft tour (I wanted to go but the hotel daycare was closed for the summer - next time!!). They all had a blast, and came back exhausted. While they were doing that I walked around "down town" with the little kids, and explored. Isaac found a tee-pee and a playground so we were quite entertained.











More pictures of Yellowstone. It is beautiful there.

The wildlife was unbelievable. I've never seen so many buffalo! We probably saw over 200 - including one up close and personal in the parking lot where our car was. We saw every animal listed on the map of animals in Yellowstone. Seriously, we were in wild-life heaven.

Ella was an angel-baby, as usual. She was so so good. Didn't mind the stroller, car, or strange bed. Little champ. I love her!

To be honest all the kids were so well-behaved. We had little fighting and lots and lots of family bonding.

I love how he is so excited about little things like this tree trunk.

Good kids, I have. I just love 'em!