Can anyone relate?

While Matt and I were making dinner tonight, I took a look around the kitchen and wondered - does anyone else live this way: A pile a towels and blankets on the floor that need to be taken downstairs to get washed

A pile of pots, pans, and bowls that need to be washed

A few library books drying out on the kitchen table. I am now accepting that we're going to have to pay for these books that one of our kids left out on the trampoline the same day that it rained a whole bunch

A baby crying at our feet.

I sure hope other people can relate because I wouldn't want to have all the awesomeness to myself.

My Buddy

There are some times when I get annoyed at how often I find Rex at my feet wanting me to pick him up. But he's a sweet baby and I very much love my little buddy.

It happened!

At some point it happened. Rex finally decided to walk and I really have no idea when since it was a very gradual acquisition of skill. But what I do know is that now he's a free man!

Raingutter Regatta

Our boys got to participate in a Raingutter Regatta this year instead of the Pinewood Derby. They planned and shaped and sanded and painted with pure excitement. So after the awards portion where Howie received his Wolf (GO HOWIE!), the sailing began. Donovan and Howie each won a few races and called the night good.

Howie's Way

Sometimes Howie can be stubborn, and when it comes to riding his bike, he won't budge. He knows how, but he will never get out and ride. Instead I see him on this: It's almost his size. Sometimes it's hard to let him do things his way, but sometimes it's funny. I love these funny boys. And yes, Cameron is giving himself bunny ears.

Done up just right

When Nina got dressed this morning, I thought to myself....you know, a really long piece of black lace fabric would really finish off this outfit perfectly. Especially if she were to wrap it around her waist so that it flowed behind her. Looks like we were thinking the same thing.

Spring Recital

In the midst of all the end of the year activities, Nina had her spring dance recital. It was once again a very cute performance. Even our boys enjoyed watching Nina dance. I know she is already looking forward to continuing lessons in the fall with Miss Muffie.

Soccer parties

Howie just finished his 4th year as a member of the Cheetahs. It's fun to see the growth and improvement that the team shows each season. Howie's team was 5-2-1. He scored 5 goals and has some pretty sweet saves as a goalie. He also enjoyed challenging opponents as a defender.

This is a pretty fun bunch of boys.

Donovan finished his 1st year on the Spurs. His team was 6-2-2 and Donovan got off several shots on goal. His next one is going in for sure! He also continued to learn to control the ball as a defender.

Donovan loved hearing Coach Adam tell everyone that Donovan shows that you don't need to be a big player to make big plays.

Coach Miguel

After all the birthday festivities, Michael, Randell and I wanted to catch some of a high school track meet. I was surprised that the first person I saw there was my former track coach. He was a big favorite and I was so glad to see him again.

Dad's 60th Birthday

I hate when I load pictures to the computer and notice that I didn't take any pictures of important events. Like the big surprise party we threw for my dad. Maybe I'll come across some of my siblings' pictures from that night, but all I have for now is one picture of the family dinner we had:

And one picture of my cute grandparents from the surprise party:

And for the record, Jill and I got to be stalker photographers and we made sure that every single person who entered the building got their picture taken with this sign. We were obsessed. And maybe a little scary.

Together in the temple

This was the first time we were all able to be together in the temple. It was pretty awesome!

Look who has their eyes closed now Mikey!

A new family picture

Shortly after Cameron finished opening all of his presents, I boarded a plane and headed to Reno to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday which was the next day. Look who else was there:

When was the last time this happened and when will it happen again?? ps. This is the exact same pose as a family picture we had taken maybe 15 years ago. Yes we are special.

Cameron's happy birthday

Cameron was a sleepy little guy the morning of his birthday. The older kids were up, fed, dressed and almost ready to leave for school and Cameron was still asleep. Since everyone wanted to see how Cam reacted to the new tradition and wish him a happy birthday, we decided to wake him up. We knocked on the door a few times and called out to the birthday boy several times before we finally heard him waking up. We could hear him sounding a little panicky: "OH! My Birthday! Oh. Okay, okay, my birthday is today." You can tell he wasn't quite awake when he opend the door:

He got dressed and enjoyed his favorite doughnuts from Krispy Kreme to start his day off right.

Then we worked together to make his Star Wars and Sprinkles birthday cake.

Cameron was very patient and waited all day to start the treasure hunt for his presents. He wanted dad and company to get home from school and help him read the clues.

And I think everyone loved helping him.

Matt found this Broncos helmet a few months ago and knew it would be perfect for Cameron's birthday. No concussions to report yet.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Bentley for the Star Wars Trouble game. It makes all kinds of funny R2D2 noises. We all love it. A lot.

And thank you Grandma and Grandpa Marshall for the awesome Star Wars Snow Speeder. You will be glad to know it can even speed around without the snow.

Happy Birthday to our favorite little 4 year old.

A new birthday tradition

Matt and I used to blow up a bunch of balloons the night before a birthday and toss them all over the room of the child whose birth we would be celebrating. That was good in theory. What led to the discontinuation of this tradition was the fact that we never had balloons anywhere when we needed them. And that some kids (read: Howie) loved to pop other kids' (read: Nina) balloons which led to lots of crying, screaming and other annoying noises. And also that we got bored of it. So we changed the rules cause we are allowed to. Now we hang streamers in front of the door and wait for birthday boys and girl to burst through. We'll see how long this tradition lasts. But on the trial run, it seemed to be a fan favorite.

Paper Rockets

Along with the Science Fair, the Museum of Nature and Science was there to host a paper rocket launching event. Or something. Basically, the kids wrapped up a piece of paper, stuck a film container in the bottom and a cone on top and plopped it on some launching machine. Over and over and over and over and over and over again. The launching part that is.

Science Fair 2012

This was our first year participating in a science fair. We were proud of our kids and the effort they put into their experiments. Nina tried her hand at a gardening experiment. She wondered if it mattered which direction you planted a seed. She was certain that the only way a plant would grow was if you planted it vertically. She was relieved to know that it doesn't matter which direction a seed is planted.

Donovan and Howie worked together on their project. They wondered how a no bake cookie is affected when you change the amount of time you boil the sugar/milk/butter. So every Sunday for a month they made two batches of no bake cookies. Bummer for us as we all had to taste them and give our input. Sundays just aren't the same anymore. Sadly Howie was sick the morning we took the projects to the school and Donovan was at Scouts the night of the science fair so we never got a picture of them together in front of their display.

At the end of everything, I learned I don't really care what a no bake cookies looks like, they all tasted pretty yummy and I want some every Sunday. I also learned that I want a better camera after I saw how badly all the experiment pictures looked.