Family Fun–Kites

The other day while shopping I found kites for $1 a piece. I was so excited since when they’re a dollar if they only last a day (because the boys inevitably always find a way to get the string all tangled, pull off the tail or lose it in a tree) then I’m not so sad and it is a dollar that we had a lot of fun with.

This day was no different! After naps we set up the kites and headed outside for some fun. When Daddy realized what we were doing he came out to join us and then decided that we should go to the park. We packed up the car and headed to the park closest to us and had a blast. Nathan was “done flying kites” and chose to play on the toys and Danny joined him. Sammy was still very much into the kites and ran until we were all frozen, picked up a $5 pizza, had a picnic in the van and then headed over to Costco to get some ice cream (our latest splurge are the $1.50  delicious hand dipped chocolate ice cream cones—they’re big enough to share; the boys had the frozen yogurt this time) and then we finally headed home. It was a great day off from work and lots of fun flying kites!

Enjoy the pictures…

		Kite Flying VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Sammy’s 1st Day of T-ball

Sammy told us some time last year that he wanted to play every sport! Sounds good to us we just want him to be happy…

In the fall we did soccer and now we signed him up to play T-ball with his cousin Troy and friend Lincoln from church. It should be lots of fun! He had his first practice on Saturday and he was all smiles. I definitely need to work with him a bit ;) to build up that upper arm strength. His team is the Dodgers and he is so excited. I think that it will be a great season!

1st Day of T-Ball VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Danny–17 months

I’ve been so busy I haven’t even read other people’s blogs and I just realized that I haven’t blogged since before Christmas! Ahh! So, here is one of my catch up posts…

Danny is definitely one of “the boys” now. He likes to run right behind them, ride on all of the toys with them and chatters up a storm (he’ll fit right in there too!)

Some of the words that we can understand are: mama, dada, ball (said about 100 times a day anytime he sees a ball anywhere), candy, Sah-y (Sammy), Nay-Nay (Nate), shoes, hat, hot, and his newest word, pee-pee.

He is a silly little guy who is a joy to all who see his giant smile. He is starting to display certain likes, dislikes and independence. He is also at the scary, “I’ll run into the street at any moment just to see what you’ll say” stage. Sigh.

He’s up to 10 teeth (woo hoo!) and loves to eat spaghetti, zucchini, oatmeal (and yes, last night he mixed them all together…fun!), tomatoes, apples, pears, and pretty much anything else that I feed him.

He adores his brothers and will jump on them to start a wrestling match! We are very lucky to have three, great boys! I just can’t believe how big he is getting…time flies doesn’t it?

Bethany’s Baby Blessing

Two weeks ago we left right after school and drove North to Utah for the weekend. Crazy? Yes. Fun? Yes! We went up for the blessing of our newest niece, Bethany!

On Saturday we played in the “snow” (leftover snow/ice), went to Thanksgiving point to see the dinosaur museum, and just played at the Keen home. The boys get along so well with their cousins!

Thanksgiving Point VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Sunday was the blessing day and it was a nice blessing. We stayed for church and it is nice to be welcomed everywhere and to know that the church is true and the same wherever you go. President Holland’s son (and President of UVU) taught our Sunday school class (and he just sounded like an Apostle and when we found out who he was later it all made sense) and the boys loved primary/nursery and it was fun for me to go to Relief Society! We even tried to take an updated family picture!

Family Pictures VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We had a great weekend even though it was over so soon! After church we ate and played together until it was time to head back. We left Sunday night and drove all night in time to get Sammy to school the next morning I took the day off to get stuff done and just in case we had bad weather and didn’t make it home in time!

More Trip Pictures VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

* We were double booked that weekend and missed out on the baptism of our niece Natalie (sorry!!) and were bummed but were told that it was beautiful too! We love you Nat!

Halloween in November?

Well, we did celebrate it in October but life has been so crazy I haven't been blogging or even reading other people's blogs! But since this is my journal I figure that I need to still journal it even if it is a few days (or weeks) late!

Halloween was “celebrated” three times but it still wasn’t enough for Sammy!

Sammy was a Boba Fett (I think) at the first activity and then a pirate at the other two activities because his other costume was too small.

Nathan was a very eager Buzz Lightyear, Danny stole everyone’s hearts as Squirt from Finding Nemo, oh, and I dressed up as Jessie (from Toy Story).

The week before Halloween we had the Ward Halloween party which was a bit stressful since it was also doubling as a YW fundraiser and we were in charge of the baked goods/drinks. I didn’t get to see/do much there besides manage the selling! But I think that the boys had a good time!

On Friday before Halloween, Sammy had a “character” parade at school where they dressed up and walked all around the school showing the parents and other kids their costumes!

And then on Saturday, we went with my sisters to their ward party and I just got to play (no assignments) and had a blast! They had a huge trunk or treat after and the boys had a lot of fun. (To the right Nathan is playing a silly donut game that he loved!)

On Sunday, being the party poopers that we are, we didn’t allow Sammy and Nathan to go trick or treating because it was the Sabbath. Later, Sammy told me something about Halloween being ruined because it was on a Sunday and that it wasn’t fair. Fair? He had Halloween three times! Oh well. It was a good time for all…

View Full Album

Character Award: Caring - Sammy

We were so excited last week to find out that Sammy was getting an award from his preppie-k teacher Mrs. MacInnis! We weren't sure what it was for but we loaded up the kids (and I got someone to cover my last class) and we headed over to Burbank. After a choir Halloween concert we got to the awards ceremony.

Sammy was the first one announced! He got the caring award for his  class! They also gave out an art award. The funniest thing was that he was the tallest kid who received an award out of all of the kids (it was an assembly for 3rd grade and below), oh, that and he didn’t want to smile so he was making a silly “I’m trying not to smile face!” Either way we were proud of our little guy!

Happy 5th Birthday Sammy!

Better late than never right? At least I got him a birthday cake made in between school and soccer practice! :) I had planned on posting something on Friday but I passed out right after I got the boys in bed!

Sammy boy likes….Legos, especially “big boy” Legos, Star Wars, Special Agent Oso, Backyardigans, Veggie Tales and anything else that he can watch on Netflix, trains, tying things up with rope or anything that resembles rope (including important cords ugh!), school, riding his bike, throwing tantrums when he doesn’t get his way, eating cheese roll ups and ham and cheese sandwiches, anything camouflage, his brothers, bugs, telling me what he’ll do/allow his kids to do when he’s a parent, train chasing, oh and his new “crossing guard chasing” where we search for crossing guards on the way home from school—he told me that Norwalk must not have any schools because he only has seen crossing guards in Cerritos—ha!)

He dislikes timeouts (especially now that he is five he tells me, “I don’t like being five!), having to hurry in the morning (or any other time), eating pasta, not being able to play outside every minute of every day, having to go to the grocery store with me instead of play and taking pictures when I ask (unless he thinks of it!)

Other little facts about Sam…he’s literally growing like a weed and I’m having trouble keeping clothes and shoes in the house that fit him. He’s four feet tall and still has that strawberry blonde hair that glistens in the light. He loves to smile, giggle, be tickled and wrestle. He loves to wear his suit on Sundays (and throws a fit if he has misplaced his suit coat) and loves Primary. He is a joy to have around (well, most of the time—as long as he has eaten and is well rested and isn’t throwing a fit about something!) He’s growing up so quickly before I know it he’ll be in high school and then on a mission, in college and eventually married. And I know that we’ll enjoy it while it lasts…

View Full Album

One other fun or silly thing…I still remember the cute little hats that they give you on your birthday! I remember this one especially from Mrs. Harvey when I turned 6! I took a picture of Sammy with his on…he didn’t take it off all day long and now he is sleeping with it.

View Full Album