Is Febreze safe for skin???

This is a story about three little boys that LOVE playing outside.

Then they come inside and smell like wet dog. Does anyone else have this problem??

Hippity Hop Hop

What did the Easter bunny bring??

Coloring eggs with Kailey and Alyssa

Getting ready for the hunt...doesn't Jonah look thrilled??

Cierra swooping down for an egg.

Is there one in there??

Don't know what that face is about.

Jonah says that Cierra looks pretty cute in this picture.

Cascarones are messy business

Crack an egg on your head???

Easter was wonderful. We were able to attend church and then come home and relax together as a family. It is so wonderful to have the kids home. Then we had some friends come over for Easter dinner. The kids colored eggs and then we went on an Easter egg hunt. My friend Sarah brought over cascarones (which are eggs filled with confetti that you break over your head). The kids loved those. Jonah cracked us up because he got confused and tried to break a hard boiled egg over his head. Didn't work too well.

Happy Easter

Last night Ron and I went to Target to get the kids' Easter goodies. It was crazy. It was almost like Christmas Eve. The parking lot had hardly anywhere to park, then walking in, there were crowds of people all fighting over their dollar section that was completely picked over (dang it). I couldn't help but think that people (including me) miss the mark not only at Christmas, but at Easter too!! Both of these wonderful occassions to remember our Savior that are used for an excuse to buy presents.

Of course as a kid I loved searching for my Easter basket and I continue that tradition with my children, but this year I want to make sure that I really teach them what Easter really is. That it is the celebration of our Savior's Resurrection, not only what the Easter Bunny brought them in their basket.

Anyway, I have really been thinking about it. I guess with Dylan so close to baptism I have been thinking a lot of how I need to help prepare him as much as I can. Some friends and I were talking today about how much an eight year old really understands about what it means to get baptized. One of my friends said that she read an article about it on LDS.org that said that as much as it is for for the child getting baptized, it is also for us as the parents. It is our responsibility to lead them to baptism. I thought that was interesting and I should really get the link to that article and post it at a later time..I need to research it a little.

So, Happy Easter!! Have fun coloring those eggs!

Bless their little hearts!

The babies are driving me crazy (bless their little hearts)!!!!

They can not be left alone for a SECOND!! All of the damage done in these pictures is done within a matter of minutes. They move fast. With their brothers and sister gone for the week it is even worse. I really don't know what to do with them!!

Notice the laundry basket...yep all of those clothes were freshly folded laundry that I hadn't put away yet.
I had already emptied one of the shelves for this exact reason. My fault for not getting to the other shelf.

A daily occurance.

New Blog Name

I changed the name of our blog to give it a more personal touch. Seems like everyone is changing theirs for privacy issues. So "Seventh Heaven" it is...well, plus two parents.
Let me know your opinion...is it too cheesy? I was trying to be clever. I really wish my name rhymed with seven... like Kate and eight...as in Jon and Kate plus 8. Anyway, let me know what ya think.

I don't enjoy cooking!

Here I go playing off of the Mormon Mommy Wars blog, but it hit home again with me today.
So there it is...I don't enjoy cooking. We have never made friends. I believe that when I do cook that it turns out decent, but the planning and execution of a meal is more than I can take sometimes. Every week (almost) I plan out my meals and then go shopping accordingly. Then the list sits ON the fridge and the ingredients sit IN the fridge waiting for me to follow through. Also my creativity with cooking is nonexistant. I think I have the same 7 meal ideas and they get old. So maybe what I am getting at is....Does anyone have any good ideas for me. Easy ideas?? Any words of encouragement? I have done recipe swaps with my wonderful friends and they have wonderful recipes but they are for a motivated person. I need EASY!! Ron tries to encourage me. He tells me that I need to think about dinner first thing in the morning and not wait until everyone is starving and then decide. I hate it when he is right. But who thinks about dinner at breakfast? Maybe a lot of people do. Speaking of which...it is almost lunch and I haven't planned dinner...great.

Question

So I love this new layout, but I'm confused. On my laptop the background with the polka dots is pink, but on my pc the background is white. So....which one is it? Pink or white??

Pedi and Mani

Cierra got a home pedicure and manicure today. She got to use the footbath thingy and then a couple coats of polish on toes and hands and then a massage. She loved it and it was so fun to do it for her. She said to me, "You are doing service for me huh mom." It was fun to make her feel special. Of course Dylan and Jonah couldn't just watch, they had to partake too. I drew the line at the nail polish though.

Fiddlestiks...no really

Tyler's favorite thing..sit and eat and drink

Isn't he cute???? Even all banged up.

Jonah and Alyssa doing some hard labor.

Jonah digging for dinosaurs.

Landon on the roller coaster.

Tyler's turn.

For playgroup this week we went to a play place called Fiddlestiks. It is a huge room filled with kid toys. They had digging for dinosaurs, a pirate ship, dress up, art supplies, and much more. It was really fun. And the best part was that I didn't have to pay for the babies!!

All Day I Dream About Soccer

So this is me at 5. Nice shorts eh?

Cierra's team warming up.

Cierra all ready to go.

Dylan doing some drills.

Dylan looking quite like a soccer player.

Cierra and Dylan have started soccer. They have their first game on Saturday. I found a picture of me when I was in soccer. I was Cierra's age. My team was called "The Grasshoppers" and I was coached by my mom. Mom says that she realized I had no athletic ability during soccer because I would stop playing and say, "My side hurts" or "I'm sweating." Can I just tell you that I am teased to this day because of that. They both are doing well. Dylan LOVES it and Cierra does too, but I think Dylan enjoys it a little more.

Jonah

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT JONAH

1. Well, to go along with Dylan's, Jonah hit a milestone this year. He is now tall enough to ride Shamu Express. It is the kid roller coaster. It was so wonderful to go yesterday and discover that he is finally able to ride it. He has been patiently watching his brother and sister ride it for a couple years, now it is his turn too. I can honestly say that it made my day to know that he could join in the roller coaster fun.

2. Jonah is a talker. The boy can talk and talk and talk and talk. There is no interrupting him. He either ignores you, or he will start over and over until he is able to get out what he wants to say. I have stopped trying to tell him to tell me later or to hold on a second. One day when I was picking him up from his Sunday school class, I looked inside the room and Jonah had the full undivided attention of his teacher and was quoting lines to her from Peter Pan. She said that he had been doing it for about 5 minutes. He is so funny. He has a lot to say. He loves to quote movie lines...another characteristic from his dad.

3. Jonah loves to dress up in cowboy boots and his cowboy holster that he got for Christmas. It is too big for his little waist so he slings it over his shoulder kind of like a purse. Quite innovative. He is sometimes the bad guy and sometimes the good guy. Dylan and he fight over who gets to be the good guy sometimes.

4. Jonah loves to build with blocks. He will do it all day if I let him. He builds "busy cities", "the Temple", "the mall", "Seaworld", anything his imagination wants. He does a really great job.

He loves to show me each one. He leads me upstairs and then makes me close my eyes and then yells "Ta Da". It is fun to see how excited he is.

Cierra

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT CIERRA

1. Cierra is, as we all know, the only girl amidst all of her brothers. Apparently we are a sight to see, so when we are out and about everyone feels they need to comment on our family. They will always say to Cierra "Oh, you are the only girl", and she will ALWAYS say, "No, my mommy is a girl."

2. Cierra has the most tender heart. She is so kind and sweet. The other night at soccer practice it was very cold. Their was a little girl (who Cierra had never met) with a blanket around her that kept slipping off. Everytime it did Cierra would go over and pull it back up and tuck it in for her. It was so cute to see her concern for this little girl. She likes to write notes to people in our family and her friends to tell us how much she loves us. It is so wonderful to walk into my room at night when they are in bed and find a note taped to my door, or on my pillow.

3. Cierra is a fast learner. She is quickly improving with her reading and writing. She loves to do her homework. Most days after she is done with her homework, she will ask to do more, so I get her another page out of her workbook here at home. She is really good at drawing and cutting things out. She likes to spend a lot of time coloring. A new coloring book, or notebook and crayons are heaven to her.

4. Cierra loves to sing. She is really good at remembering words to songs. She has a pretty singing voice too. Almost at anytime you will find her walking around the house or playing in her room singing songs. She loves to make them up too. She has a cd player in her room and it is constantly playing and she is constantly singing and dancing to it. She can't dance without putting on some type of costume. Usually it is a leotard that is way too small that shows me her way too long of legs that are going to be a concern for her parents in later years.

Dylan

My sister in law put this on her blog and I thought it was cute so I decided to to it.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT DYLAN

1. Seaworld season has begun so we went yesterday...and da da da da da-Dylan is tall enough to ride the Steel Eel. It is the big roller coaster there. He and I rode it and while in the middle of it he yelled "I can't take it anymore", however the second it ended he wanted back on.

2. Dylan is now playing soccer. He loves it and counts down each week until practice. He is great at running so it is a perfect sport for him. His team is called the Lackland Scorpions.

3. Which leads me to this one...two days last week Dylan came home with awards for running at school. The first one was an award for running 11 laps on the track- 2 3/4 miles. The second was for walking three miles on the track. He said his legs were too sore to run it again. I guess he is going to be a cross country runner like his dad.

4. Dylans loves mustard. I tell him he loves it so much because when I was pregnant with him that I loved it too. He dips everything in mustard including chicken nuggets and french fries.

5. Dylan is a great reader. He has 100% in his reading class and is in pictures all over the school because he is such a great reader. He has finished reading "Captain Underpants", and "Stink, the incredible shrinking kid."

6. Dylan is a great big brother to all of his siblings. He is a great helper to me and I am so thankful for him. Every morning when we get up he helps carry one of the babies downstairs for me, then he gets out 2 diapers and the wipes, and if I am not fast enough, he will get all 3 of their cereal bowls and spoons out. He does all of this without me asking. He tells me that he just likes to help me. I am so blessed to be his mom.