5 pinches

On February 19th, 2007 Kimball made his grand (harrowing for me) entrance into this world. Mike and I were so eager to meet our first born, to be parents. Five years, and it seems like it was just yesterday. At this rate I will be writing about his mission farewell in a few days!

To celebrate the big 5 we went to Utah on the 18th and with Mike's parents went to the planetarium in SLC (which was a blast), to Chuck E Cheese's (not a blast for the adults... but the kids loved it), and enjoyed a Star Wars Legos cake made by Marge. On his birthday he had his favorite pancakes for breakfast (whole wheat), had a birthday song sung to him at church, had surprise visitors (Corey and family), ate his fave foods (shrimp and fish), opened more presents, and ate more cake! If I might say so, he had a wonderful two days.

So here we go, by the end of the year I will have a child in kindergarten, he is so so excited! I will definitely be crying on that morning.

Waiting for the UTA Frontliner train to take us
to SLC. Kimball and Brandon had a blast!

Dad and boys on Mars:) The planetarium was a blast, they had
moon and mars landscapes that kids can play around on


Playing games at Chuck E. Cheese's with Grampy!
What more could a kid ask for?

Grammy and Grampy did awesome making this Star
Wars cake for Kimball, it was quite a surprise
for everyone

Kimball was eating heart shaped pancakes (with a candle of course)

Kimball's face in this picture is priceless, I was so lucky to
have captured that moment! He was so surprised to get
a big Star Wars ship!!

LOVE

Valentines day is not a big thing with Mike and I, it never has been. Don't ask me why, I'm not sure really. However this day does hold significance for me because it is one of the days in the year where I make sugar cookies (the only other times being Halloween and Christmas). I love sugar cookies, especially when they are in the shape of a heart with pink frosting and sprinkles.

We celebrated V day on Monday night, Feb 13 during FHE. Our lesson was about love and how we show love to each other. Then we sat down and made a sugar cookie for one another. Brandon kinda went overboard on the sprinkles while Kimball was a little more reserved. Mmmm, they were superb sugar cookies (if I can say that about my own baking).

Can you do this?

Brandon can sleep anywhere, doing anything. I can't think of a more uncomfortable position to sleep in than this, on a hard chair with only half of my body on the chair.

The next day he fell asleep while eating his snack. He wanted to go outside in the worst way, and I told him he needed to eat a snack in order to go outside. He got his jacket and boots on and sat down and started eating. I don't know if he was extremely exhausted in the first place or if it was the warmth of sitting down in winter gear, but he fell asleep sitting up... crazy kid that Brandon is!

Wierdos

All I did was tell them to get dressed for bed, these two crazies were the masterminds behind HOW they put their pajamas on.

Meet Shelby

This little spitfire is Shelby:

Named after this car:
She comes over to our house at least once a week while her parents are at work. We love having her around the house, it is a nice change from having all boys. Shelby has taught me a few things.
First, having 4 kids is much harder than 3.
Second, girls really do bring more drama with them, even at such a young age.
Third, a spilled bowl of macaroni and cheese (Moore style) splatters in the most unexpected places when dropped from the table.
Fourth, all the efforts taken in watching Shelby are well worth it when she wants to sit by me at church:)

The New Year

January, how do I sum you up in just a few words? How about one: Kids!! My home is bursting at the seems with kids sometimes, whether with my own or added children as well. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from January:

A visit to ISU's Idaho Natural History
Museum elicits smiles from Brandon...

And from Kimball (and from Mommy
because it is free, fun, and educational)

Water fights at bath time! The simple
joys of being a kid

Cuddle time with Mom

Mr. Zach attack is sitting up

The terrific trio

How can a New Year not start off superbly when we are blessed with so much? Motherhood is challenging, and I will be honest that it is not enjoyable sometimes and in fact can be quite messy and stinky and frustrating at times. However, when moments like the ones I have shared with you come along, I try to stay there for as long as I can and relish the moment.

I have really had to work on my patience while Mike has been gone so much with school starting back up after the Christmas break. I take regular "time-outs" when it seems like I can't handle another hectic moment trying to keep our home running smoothly. My time-outs consist of getting into a quiet room, pleading with the Lord to continue to be with me through the rest of the day, and yes perhaps shed a tear or two. After those few minutes alone I find that I can come back to the chaos with a clearer vision and purpose in our home with our children and like it says in D&C 31:9, govern my house in meekness. Mike works so hard while he is out of the home, we are so grateful that he is sacrificing for his family, to support us. We love when we get to spend time with him, and cherish our time with him because it is limited.

Still here...

Dear blog followers,
I am still here, life has been so busy and crazy that I have purposely put off updating my blog so that I could focus on other aspects in my life. I think that in order to get to a place that I can blog in "real time" and not in the past, I will quickly give an update for December and January. Starting with December, this is how we spent our time (in a nutshell):

Thinking about why we celebrate Christmas

Spending time with my parents

Having Mike's parents up from Utah for
Christmas day

Eating good food:)Laughing

Opening gifts

Celebrating 6 years of marriage!!!

December was a beautiful month, it was bitter sweet to see it go. The new year has brought new opportunities and challenges though and I have already learned so much. So lets move on to January...

Creating a foodie!

Remember this post? I remember crunching all my numbers for that post, it seems like only yesterday that I wrote it. I am back at it again, making homemade baby food for Zachary. So far we have made peas and green beans, and I have carrots in the fridge that need to be cooked, pureed and frozen in cubes. Zach is loving food, although he still turns up his nose when I try to feed him breast milk with cereal in it, silly boy. Peas though, he downs those in no time, go figure?? I'm excited to try bananas and applesauce on him soon, I'm sure they will be a hit. Here is what I really want to try, homemade crackers and graham crackers. I always hesitate giving my babies boxed crackers because of the salt content and preservatives. Hopefully Zach will be a foodie, at least that is what I hope to create!

First feeding

So we have tried to feed Zach cereal, several times now in fact, and so far it has not been a very successful endeavor. I have never had such a stubborn little baby thus far, it is going to take persistence and coaxing to get him to like eating cereal. He acts like I am feeding him manure when I give him a bite, it is quite comical to watch and at the same time a bit frustrating. When he starts to get impatient with me trying to feed him, I have to simply smile and say "I guess we will try again tomorrow" and that is the end of it. Maybe he will take better to veggies and fruits in a week or two... maybe not though. All he wants to do is nurse, little stinker!

Mike's Birthday

Mike says he is old, but I disagree! 28 is not old, end of story.

I really wanted to spoil my "old" husband this year and hopefully I achieved this goal. I took him shopping for clothes that he needed (he hates spending money on himself but I made him!). I bought him a dipping oil set, that included Olive oil, Balsamic Vinegar, dishes made especially for dipping oils, spices, and a little recipe book. I think I made a wise decision in that gift for my italian speaker
I wanted some part of his birthday to have an element of surprise involved, and I accomplished that with the cake (thanks to my momma for helping me with this one). It was a cannoli cake, oh so delicous!

Happy Birthday to my "old" hubby, I love you!