Photo Gallery Week Ending 5/10/09

I thought this was cute of Wes and Aubrey.

We struggled to get a good picture.....there is always one of us that looks goofy and it is usually mom.

Brady, Wesley and our neighbor Brinsan, went camping this past weekend. It was our ward Father and Son's outing. This is the camp site.

Wesley and his friend Cyrus.

Brinsan is the one in the gray shirt. He loved camping! This was his first ever camp out. I am happy he could go and that Brady thought to invite him. The other boy is Adam, from our ward.

Aubrey waiting for swim practice to be over.

Wes practicing being on his back so he can learn the back stroke.
He missed the practice meet Saturday because he was camping. Hopefully he won't be overwhelmed next week at the his real first meet!

Chowin' down on gold fish after practice! He is doing pretty well. He made the cut for swim team; he is swim ready and gets to finish out this season. I am happy because he really loves it. He has a lot of work to get better.

At practice this past Thursday, the coaches had the 6 and unders practice like they were at their fist meet. They taught them what to do to get ready and to jump in and swim when they hear the beep. Wesley made it just about half way across the pool before he grabbed the lane rope! I was super excited. He definitely needs work on technique, but that will come. Friday he did okay, but not as well as that first day. Hopefully after next week he will be even better and more confident.

Three of my greatest blessings:)

Soooo sweet! Wesley and Aubrey love their little sister.

Cutest kids ever, don't you think???

Cali is smiling so much now! I love it. It is totally deja vu with her.....she looks just like Aubrey!!!

I just can't get enough of her!! (and she can't get enough of ME! that is why I nurse ALL DAY LONG!)

Daddy and Cali.

Family Home Evening on Monday was.....well, did not go how I wanted it to. But the kids had fun. Like how Brady blind folded them??? Silly daddy.

Mothers Day is today, as you all know. At church, the primary kids sang with Sister Bradley (the primary president). Wesley didn't want to go up because he says singing makes him tired. He really doesn't like singing time. It cracks me up.

Also, some of the girls from primary got up and sang a really cute song about wanting to grow up to be mommies and have little babies (blessings)of their own. They ended up singing it in Relief Society too, since one of the girls missed it as she was in the restroom when they went up to sing. I was glad they sang it again, in a setting where I could really listen to the words. Part of the song was an answer to my prayers of pleading.....my kids (especially Aubrey) have been very difficult to deal with lately. Needless to say, I have done a lot more yelling than normal. I feel frustrated all day long. I don't remember the exact way the song went, but it was something about being excited to be a mom and giving the kids cookies and milk and yellow balloons. I heard them sing that and it hit me that I am focusing on all the things my little ones don't do or do that they shouldn't, and I am forgetting to have fun with them. I am forgetting to look for the good things they do. I don't know why that phrase in the song woke me up to that. Maybe it is because it made me remember my Granny and Grandma Posey. We got balloons a lot at gran's house (a long with ice cream and cookies) and always got, what we called, bugles and bears, at grandma Posey's. When you are a kid and you get to have cookies and milk and balloons, the whole world feels wonderful! And though I realize life, and motherhood, isn't always cookies and milk......hmmm I just don't know how to put how I feel into words so that it makes sense. I am just so grateful for all of the wonderful mom's in my life who have given me fond memories and happy feelings that I remember. Who love me, mistakes and all. I love my little ones, mistakes and all. Even on the days that I feel like popping all the balloons and throwing away the cookies.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY EVERYONE!!!

5/4/2009 Update

LIFE IS GOOD


BUMBO TIME!!

SWIM TEAM PRACTICE

FUN WITH WATER....

LOTS AND LOTS OF RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Lesson On Crabs; by Wesley

Paraphrased below, is the lesson we were given on crabs, by Professor Wesley, this morning at breakfast..........

'Crabs have blow holes that hook up to ovens. Humans get sucked into the blow holes and go down, like marbles, and into the ovens. Smoke comes out of the blow holes, too. And that is how crabs eat humans.'

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I am gonna keep my distance when it comes to crabs.

Look Out World....Here Comes Wesley!!

Today was Kindergarten round up. Wesley is officially registered to go to school and he is extremely excited! They did a little program, which I didn't hear much of between Aubrey whining for Gold Fish crackers and Cali crying because she wanted to nurse, and then took the kids on a little tour of the classrooms. Wesley came running back to me after the tour and said, "Mom, I love kindergarten! Can I come back tomorrow?". It was so cute. I hope he is still saying that after his first real few days of school.
I am really excited for him. I was a bit frazzled today. But feeling better now that the registration is done.
Wesley is going to attempt swim team this year. We shall see how he does. His first practice is next Tuesday. He is so pumped about it. I love seeing him get so excited about life and the things he gets to do.
He is such a friendly person and LOVES making new friends. Anytime we go out to the park he always looks around for kids that can "be his friend". We went to Chik-Fil-A the other day and Wesley saw a boy about his age and said to me, "Mom, maybe he can be my friend.". That is a phrase we here a lot. I am happy about that. I hope he always feels confident and is friendly with ALL kids.
We are so excited for you to start this new phase of life Wesley! You will do great! We love you!!!

Thumbs up for Kindergarten!!

How do ya like father and son's matching shirts?? The shirt Wesley has on is one our friends gave us from their son. I am lovin' Aubrey's hair in this pic. Talk about a morning do!!

And a blog post wouldn't be complete without a picture of this sweet baby! Cali did not like kindergarten round up today. This is a picture of her from this past Sunday. She was a very good baby at church. It was her first time to attend, and my first time back in a few months. It was great to be back!

Wesley had his friend, Brayden, over to play this week. Brayden brought over these blocks to play with. They are really neat blocks. They are foam, which I like much better than the cardboard type blocks that I have usually seen around. The kids LOVED playing with them. Honestly, I wanted to get down on the floor with them and build something, too. I am gonna have to look around and see about buying some. The kids built everything from bird houses and towers, to birthday cakes. And then had fun "bashing" them down.
Wesley and Brayden are 2 of 3 boys in their primary class. And then there are about 7 girls. Wesley has been the only boy in there for a couple of weeks. He does not like that at all. He tells me on Sunday morning that if his teachers are not there and he is the only boy, that he does not want to go to class. Poor kid. Someday he won't mind it so much. LOL

Brayden reminds me so much of Davis, Danelle!!! Don't you think?

Aubrey was content building me cakes and other "foods".

Speaking of food..........
This is quite embarrassing, but this is a peak into my very unorganized pantry. (Uhg! I can't believe I am showing y'all this!!)

A friend of mine organized it for me once a while back (thanks Vanessa). But here it is, back to its' miserable state of unorganized food items; I need some serious help.

And this is a peak into my very unorganized beginnings of a basic food storage. We are trying to reorganize things and make better use of space so we can continue to build on what we have already stored. So, we pulled EVERYTHING out of our bedroom closet (that is where the food storage has been), and are attempting to figure out shelving and space for our meager supply of food. Well, I found the GREATEST shelves at Shelf Reliance (link is at the side of my blog to their blog). They are for most can sizes, including #10's. I WANT THEM DESPERATELY!! It would save me a lot of space, and would fit in my walk in closet. So, they happen to be having a contest right now.......a, 'messy pantry and food storage room make over' contest. These are the two pics I entered into the contest and I am HOPING and PRAYING I win!!!! The contest deadline is this very evening, and then they will pick 5 finalist. Now, IF I am so lucky as to make it, WILL Y'ALL PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help me out and vote for me??? I will let you know more, once I myself know more. Until then, keep your fingers crossed for me. :)

THANKS!

Easter Weekend and More

It was a nice weekend. It started out rough, with Brady sick and then Aubrey got sick. But, ended up okay.
The Easter Bunny came to our house Friday night. The kids made their Easter baskets this year. It was a lot of fun and something I think we will continue to do and make tradition. So, we made the baskets Friday so the kids could leave them out for good ole Peter Cottontail to fill up with yummy treats etc. What a surprise it was for me to wake at 6:00 am, after a practically sleepless night due to the fact that Cali was all congested and having a rough night, to the pitter patter of little Aubrey feet running in to show me what the bunny had put in her basket! If I had had some sleep, I wouldn't have cared. Aubrey is loud. I mean, she really doesn't grasp the concept of the word "whisper". Anyway, she was thrilled and so I got up and told her as soon as Wesley woke up they could find the eggs the bunny left. Funny, she didn't see a single egg on her way down to show me her basket. She did see a couple on the way up stairs to put a movie in to watch while she waited for her brother. So, I turned on the TV and it was up really loud; so that was the end of waiting because Wesley woke right up and came running out asking if the bunny had come. So, we had our egg hunt at 6:30 am. It was fun. And sooo cute to watch the kids get so excited. Brady slept through it all. This was the night he wasn't feeling well. Once they found all the eggs, we headed back up stairs to empty the eggs. I, I mean, the Easter Bunny was a bit stingy with the candy this year. Wesley opened up his first egg and said, "Hey! That Easter Bunny only gave me 3 jelly beans!". I couldn't help but laugh. He did cheer up as he opened up other eggs and found that the bunny left MONEY!! Money for him to go to the store and find a toy! Hooray for less candy!
Brady took the Honda in on Saturday to get new tires. Discount tire had a big barrel of Easter eggs they were letting people choose from. Wesley chose an egg and got us $44.00 off our tires!! Cool.
Saturday afternoon, one of the neighbor girls came out and asked if the kids would like to join her in a hunt for Easter eggs at the end of the street. So, our kids, along with a few other neighbor kids, had a fun hunt together. It was really sweet of this little girl to do. She numbered some of the eggs, and the kids got bigger prizes to go with whichever number they had. They had a good time.
Saturday night, we attended a baptism for Scott Brighton (in our ward). Brady spoke, and as far as I could tell, he did a great job. However, the kids were a bit nuts so I was having trouble listening.
I was so excited to go to church, for the first time in months (or so it feels), and then Aubrey started up with the fever again and Cali was totally congested and coughing. No fevers today, and they both seem to be better than before. Anyway, us gals ended up hangin' out at home.

Enjoy the pics! They are not in any particular order, but I thought you'd enjoy 'em.


Cali is starting to stay awake more during the day. She is sooo beautiful! We are lovin' her! Even with all the crying, she is a sweetie.

Directing the music for Family Home Evening. Tonight we sang "walk beside me" for our opening song. (that is what Wes called 'I Am A Child Of God'. LOL

Wesley held Cali for me so I could play frisbee with Brady for a bit. Doesn't he look thrilled?

Love this picture!

Resting with the babe.

Since the girls didn't get all dressed up yesterday, we played dress up today and put them in one of the pretty dresses Grandma Tingey sent. This was all Aubrey's idea, by the way. She wanted to be a princess. :)

Our two pretty princesses.

After the neighborhood hunt; Enjoying their candy.

A few of the neighborhood gang.

Can you read her jammies?? The shirt says, 'Candy Makes Me Happy'. That couldn't be any closer to the truth. Thanks Granny Ann for the super cute jammies. Aubrey loves them and they are sooooo her!

The morning after the bunny came.....

I bought these cute frog eggs for the kids and then only put one out! I don't know what I was thinking. Oh! I mean, I don't know what that darn bunny was thinking. LOL! Anyway, Aubrey found it. Wesley wanted it. So he says to her, "Aubrey, do you want to trade for this pink egg?". Boy does he know his sister! Pink! Of course she'll trade for it if it is pink. So, he gave her a big hug and thanked her for trading. It was cute to watch the whole exchange between the two.

The bunny baskets. Of course, Wesley had to have green and Aubrey had to have pink.

Here's "the van"! I LOVE IT! And I really didn't want a van, but I am so happy to have it. Every time we get in to go somewhere, I get all giddy. I feel like a 'real' mom. Kinda like when we bought our home and I felt like a 'real adult'. Silly, I know. We all love it and are very grateful we were able to get it.

Just an Update......

We were lucky enough to have Uncle Joe and Grandma Tingey here for the past week. It was nice to have them here. (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING GRANDMA!!!) Just to visit and play, and help out with the kids and keeping the family fed and things some what in order. We already miss them. Today was my first day on the job all by myself. Things went well. I think I can do this........:)

Cali likes her swing. She likes mom even more (because mom has the food). She is growing well. She has gained 8 ounces since last weeks visit and grew 1/4 of an inch. That is small potatoes compared to her cousin, MJ, who is seven weeks old and has grown 4 inches and gained about 5 or 6 lbs since birth!

Thank heavens grandma was here to help take the kids to the doctor on Wednesday. Wesley ended up getting 5 shots, Aubrey got 3. They all did well for their exams. Wesley weighs exactly 10lbs more than Aubrey. Wesley passed his vision and hearing test with 100%. They are both healthy and doing well. It was so sad to watch them get shots. Wesley really had a melt down about it. But then once we left the office and grandma bought them a prize, he was fine. He wouldn't get in the bath this morning because he is convinced water will get in the holes in his legs! I couldn't convince him otherwise. He wouldn't get in the bath tonight either. We will try again tomorrow:) He is so funny. Oh! Another funny Wesley story: Last night we were talking about the color of our eyes. We all have blue eyes except for Brady (at least we think Cali will have blue...we shall see). Wesley asked what color his dads eyes are and I told him sometimes they look green, sometimes hazel or yellow like tiger eyes. So he said, "I want green eyes mom". I told him maybe when he is older he can get green contacts but that I thought his blue eyes were great and that he was very handsome with his blue. So then he says, "Mom, when I get 16 can I get green eyes?". Oh man! I have no clue where he got that. But it was funny.

Grandma got to hold Cali first Aunt Laura!!! LOL

Aubrey talked Grandma and Joes ears off. She has A LOT to say, and it would be nice if we had a translator so we knew what all the stories are she tells. She made us laugh tonight.....she stood up on this cute bench grandma bought the kids and just sang her little heart out and danced and went on and on. Cali slept through it all.

Wesley and Aubrey loved having Uncle Joe here to play with them!

Proud Uncle.

Combing our hair is fun to do, fun to do, fun to do.....

Brady busted out the G.I. Joes and everyone had a blast with them. Even Aubrey. She cooked for them.

This is one of Cali's first baths....she wasn't to thrilled about it. The kids helped me bathe her tonight and she made it happily through all the washing and then put up a fuss at the end.

I thought this was a cute pic of Cali. She has her little leg tucked up and her foot turned in like she must have been in the womb. The leg she has extended must be the one that she had stuck up in my rib those last few weeks before her birth.