Spring Break 2012!

Monday--Service Day

As is now the tradition during Spring Break at our house, we have a different theme every day. Today is Service Day. I wanted the boys to have opportunities to work hard and be satisfied with knowing that what they did helped someone else.

I also decided that every morning this week I would get everyone out of the house and exercise in some way. I had these great pictures in my head of all of us jogging in line down the sidewalk and everyone stopping to watch us. Scary. But I braved the idea anyway. So I loaded Brett in the stroller and Brock in the umbrella stroller for Bradley to push and off we went. After quick jog down our street, we ran some sprints down an incline at our park. It was an incredible 70 degrees outside with a slight breeze--perfect for running outside. We ran around the street behind us and back to our house, took a quick water and potty break, then loaded up in the car for our next stop--Grandma-ma's and Grandpa Long's.


They had a great task for the boys--washing Grandma-ma's car. Grandpa gave everyone their instructions and the boys did a pretty good job following directions.


Grandpa hosed the tires down first, told the boys to get their rags wet in the soapy bucket and then make those tires shine! After that they moved to the other parts of the car as directed.


Bradley was Grandpa's right hand man and learned a lot about the right way to wash a car.


Baby Brett stayed cool in the shade of the garage and played with Grandma-ma for a while. After the crew had cleaned to make Grandma's car sparkle and cleaned up the rags and soap, they were invited inside for a soda and cookie break! Brock was so proud that he made Grandma's car sparkle! As we drove away they all agreed that washing Grandma's car was soooo much fun! The cookies and soda only sweetened the deal!

Next, we journeyed down the 202 to Kaley's house. She had a list of chores for them to do. And while not quite as much fun as washing a car and having Grandpa get them all a little bit wet (they loved it!) they did a good job cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting and steam cleaning.


Happy Aunt Kaley and her Cleaning Crew (Brock fell asleep in the car after our lunch break!)

After lunch, Bradley and Bryson went to Mom's house to help Dad with some yard work in the backyard. I took the little kids home for Quiet Time which was sort of quiet but no one really got a nap so there were a few cranky kids later on. I should have asked Dad to snap a picture on his phone because apparently they all but chopped down a tree in the backyard! Mom said Bradley had been sawing on the same piece of branch for an hour! However, when Dad dropped them off they didn't look as tired as I thought they would, so I sent all four of them to our backyard to hose off the table and chairs and clean up the toys outside. It was a GREAT day and a very productive day. I think (hope) they all learned to enjoy or appreciate serving others more than they did before. We'll have to have a repeat Service Day another time. In the mean time preparations for tomorrow are already in the works. . . . .

Sweet Moments

I wish I had a picture like this with each of the boys. I love it when they are so little, finally fall asleep in your arms, and you can take a deep breath to drink in the peace of that moment in time.

My Cute Boys

Trying to look ahead to Christmas Card season we went with Kaley, Chase and Madi to take pictures. This being the Year of the Rockstar, I decided to use that as the theme for our cards. So here is a smathering of some of my favorite pics!

Happy 6th Month Birthday, Brett!

I don't know if the tradition started because of wanting to celebrate family milestones or just because we like to give presents but in our family we celebrate EVERYTHING! So today, we celebrated Brett's 6 month birthday. It was pretty low key, for a Rockstar. One Happy Birthday Dude wrapped gift with a DJ Club Penguin inside. I'm sure he was elated!


So obedient to pose first and tear open second!


Trying to figure out how to get around the tape.


Not really sure it's worth the effort because he knows Grandpa has ice cream somewhere nearby!


Yeah, ice cream sounds better right about now.


Happy 6 Month Birthday!

A Rockin' Halloween!

Halloween and I have a love / hate relationship. I love being with my kids, ignoring homework and laundry, dressing them up crazy, dressing Scott and I up crazy, and spending fun, family time together. I hate all the candy that comes in the house and all the candy that goes out of the house for school projects and parties. I hate the hassle of kids who whine because their costume isn't perfect. They should've learned by now, if it's perfect in my head, it's going to turn out (at least) OK. And so this Halloween I continued my Totally Unfair tradition of picking out the kids costumes for them. I REALLY wanted them to be Rock Stars in honor of our cute little Brett. A few were not so thrilled but in the end everyone was happy. (Ok, the bribes of colored hair, blow-up guitars and funky glasses definitely helped my plea!)

So here is my Totally Scary Rock Band of Boys:

Bradley--The Classic Rocker


Bryson--The Punk Rocker


Blake--The Hottest Rocker


Brock--The Grunge Rocker (check out the Pleather Pants!)


Brett--The REAL Rocker (He'll "Poison" your heart with his cute smile!)


After invading Mom and Dad's Halloween Carnival in their neighborhood, we went over to Grandma-ma's and Grandpa Long's to show off our costumes. After pictures and treats we wandered around and ended up at Chris and Cassi's house where we tagged along with them Trick-or-Treating in their neighborhood. The kids had fun going around together collecting more candy than they could ever eat.


So, another successful Halloween was crossed off the calendar. Good thing I have a whole year to think of how to top our Rock Star Band!

Fall Fun!

I'll just say that Groupons are Great! Mom and Dad found a Groupon for the kids to visit the DeWitt Ranch for some Down Home Fall Fun! One of the first things the kids ran to was the mini horseback rides. They loaded kiddos up on ponies and rode around a little track--so cute! Kaley, Dad and Bradley went on BIG horses for a 30 minute ride. I think Bradley's only complaint was that it could have been a longer ride.



They also rode tractors and roped and lassoed things to their hearts content, bringing out the inner cowboy and cowgirl in each of them.


I toted Baby Brett around in our nifty babypack which proved to be an excellent back and abdominal muscle workout! He's a very sturdy little boy!


We piled into a covered wagon to go to their pumpkin patch where the kids got to pick a pumpkin. On the way there, the driver let Blake drive the horses--scary! On the way back all the kids got a turn. It's a wonder we made it back alive! Here I am with my little pumpkin, looking at a little pumpkin-Ha Ha Ha!


Yeah, this is about right if it had been back in Pioneer Days. Some people happy, some not so happy and of course all of that would change 2 minutes after this picture was taken. But it was a lot of fun to be down on the farm for a while and enjoy a simpler way of entertaining the kids!

Rice Cereal Vs. Ice Cream

You can probably guess how the score of this game is going to turn out. The first feeding of rice cereal for all the boys has been fun to watch unfold. I was pretty much a one man show trying to feed Brett, take pictures and not spill the cereal all over. As is so his personality, he was very patient through the process and willing to endure the unfamiliar taste and texture I was forcing down.


He's definitely thinking about giving it a second taste.


Nope. Second taste not so good.


Do we really have to have a third bite?


Patience is beginning to wear thin.


Contrast that to this picture of Dad giving Madi her first taste of ice cream. Brett (who knows the goodness that comes from a spoon on Grandpa's lap) waits anxiously for his turn!