Happy Birthday to my Brocky Boy!

I can still call him that even though he's 11.  ELEVEN?!?!?!?  When did he get that old?  Seriously now.

This morning's breakfast of choice.  Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream.

As I type, Dad is at school w/ Brock eating lunch with him and his friends.

Dinner request is ham, egg, and cheese casserole and he wants a chocolate cake w/ white frosting and mint & chip icecream.  YUMMY!

He got an itouch at the beginning of the summer as his EARLY bday gift... so today will be "giftless" at least from mom and dad.  Nana & Papa already got him an "otterbox" cover for his itouch and he has some cards waiting for him here at home!  Happy day!

More to come later, but I just wanted to give a birthday shout out to my fav 11 year old boy!

Love you Brock!

$9.92 out of pocket...

LOVE couponing and CVS!!!

Funnies...

I am trying to remember all the silly and funny things my kids have been saying recently-- especially Bauer... his vocab astounds me!

On a bike ride w/ mom
He's sitting in the seat behind me on my bike and he says, "Ouch- my hands hurt."
I said, "Why?
Bauer: "Mommy-- my hand hurt really bad."
Me: "Why do your hands hurt Bauer?"
Bauer: "You sitting on my hands mom!"
He had put his hands on my bike seat and I sat down, not realizing I sat on them! ha ha

Today Bauer was at our friend's home playing upstairs.  Apparently they were reading the book, "Going on a bear hunt."  They read it all the way through and Bauer comes up to my friend Anne with his 'finger gun' and says, "I killed the bear."  Gee, thanks Bauer.

Reading The Lion King w/ the 3 little boys at bedtime--
Bauer is LOVING "Hakuna Matata" and dancing around.  I move on to the next part and he puts his little chubby hand on my cheek and says, "I love you mom." (awwww!)  I said, "I love you too Bauer!!"  He replies, "I love you MORE!!!!!!!!"  Ok, I'll read to you again tomorrow!

Barrett: "Moooommm!!  Can we watch DIARRHEA Wimpy Kid?"
Me: "Yes Barrett, you can watch Diary of a Wimpy Kid."

Bauer when Bill is changing his diaper--
"Dad, you got the cheese touch."  (also from diarrhea wimpy kid)


There's more-- I'm just drawing a blank right now.  I'll be back.

Two words... or is it one?

FOOTBALL  FOOT BALL FOOOOOOOOOOOTBAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!

It is running our lives!  8 hours of Brock's practices and Bill coaching, Daily 6:15 drop-offs for Hunter's middle school football, going over plays, practicing stances, watching preseason NFL football, cheerleading (for football), buying cleats-mouthguards-jockstraps-compression shorts-gloves, Football LAUNDRY... don't even get me started!

But guess what?  I love it! (sort of)  I love watching my boys play football.  I love the bond it creates between father and sons.  I love watching Bill's proud face when he sees our boys find success in a sport he loves.  I love a cool crisp fall afternoon (in late Oct.) and football announcers saying my son just got a sack.  I love the discipline it teaches.  I love the respect it demands.  I love that my kids are enjoying it.  It is a good thing!

I have to remember all those things I love about it when we rarely sit down as a family for dinner, I wake up at some crazy hour to exercise before I take my son to practice, I hardly get to see my husband, I empty the laundry baskets of one load of clothes and start the next, and we are packing everybody up to be gone ALL DAY at games and scrimmages.

It really is a great thing to have kids involved in sports and doing something they love.  Can't wait until the games start and I have pictures and stories to share!  But for now--- I'm a football widow.

The First Day of School Post!

It's the yearly picture... everyone holding up their grade...

Hannah is in 3rd

Her teacher is Ms. Walker... she was the student teacher in Hannah's kindergarten class, so she knows and LOVES Hannah already!

Brock is in 6th (middle school!)

Hunter is in 7th

The two middle schoolers... watch out for each other!!!  Brothers first!

The three musketeers at home!

Barrett starts preschool on Sept. 8th... he's pretty excited too!  He'll get his very own post about that then!

Articles of Faith Party

This summer, while at my friend Tricia's home, I was utterly impressed with their family's knowledge of the 13 LDS Articles of Faith (click to read them).  If they didn't do scripture study, they recited articles of faith.  It was awesome!  Even 4 year old Porter knew them!

After coming home from our trip, we had a speaker in Sacrament Meeting who was talking directly to the primary children.  She challenged them to memorize the articles of faith.  Two VERY STRONG prods was all I needed... (one should have been enough!) and we were on for the challenge!!

Cramming!

Of course, my children are motivated by food--- just like their mama!  So what did I do?  Entice them with an Articles of Faith Ice Cream Party!  One scoop of ice cream for each article they memorized.  That could be one HUGE ice cream sundae!

Last night, our FHE lesson was reciting them.  We video taped it and I'm trying to figure out how to share a few on here--- it was hilarious!  And our treat was the ice cream sundaes.  I would say the kids rose to the challenge!  We went through a lot of ice cream!

Final Score: Hunter = 13

Brock = 13

Hannah = 5 1/2 (working on it!)

Barrett = 2

Bauer = 1/2

Dayne = too cute for pictures

Dad = 7 (not bad for a guy who never went to primary!)

Julie = 11 (I've gotten forgetful in my old age...)

Everyone did so great!!  The older boys even beat their parents... young minds!

Proud of you guys!

How cool is my dad?

COOL.

Poop Skating...

 YUM!

 But he sure is happy!!

My first party

Tonight is my first Shelf Reliance party.  Yes, that is my new adventure... being a Shelf Reliance consultant.  I did Pampered Chef YEARS ago and loved it.  I was pretty good at it too, if I should say so myself!  So when my cousin's wife started talking to me about selling Shelf Reliance at our family reunion, it started wheels turning in my head.  I ended up signing up and have been educating myself and cooking with "THRIVE" food storage products ever since!  Tonight is my first party at a friend in the ward's house.  I hope it goes well!  I'm more nervous presenting in front of people I know than total strangers.  Weird, I know- but true!