How does one 4-minute car ride turn this:

Into this:(Ethan's shirt is untucked in the back. I took the picture in a hurry.)

Road Trip!

Last weekend we took the girls to Vegas for a 50th birthday party for a friend of ours. It was a bowling party. Yes, we drove 12 hours in 2 days to bowl. We love John, though, and didn't want to miss it.

Since the party has been planned for quite a while, we were originally going to leave on Friday and come back Sunday. With commitment after commitment popping up, we decided to leave after soccer pictures, 1/2 a soccer game, and part of Syd's Special Olympics track meet. Of course Ethan cannot be in the house for 5 minutes without creating something, so he made a monster mask out of the cereal box that morning as we were packing up to go:The girls recognized this sign from the internet so we had to take a picture:
We had a ladybug friend with us on our drive, which the girls took turns holding while they played the video games in the car. And I guess screaming is way more fun than just simply brushing it off your face:With a back-up at Hoover Dam, we got out and walked for a minute. Marshall commented that this will be one of the last times we will be able to drive across the dam.Which means this is also the last time I will drive this way to Vegas or Utah, since there's no way I'm goin' on this crazy piece of architecture they call a bridge:Marshall said it was the Biggest Hyperbole He's Ever Seen! which I thought was super funny and was impressed that Sydney got the joke. If you're confused look up the definitions of hyperbole and hyperbola.

And I'll end with a little juxtaposition:

Photo Book

We escaped to Tumbleweed Park today to enjoy the beautiful weather before it leaves us for good. It's a fantastic park and the boys were having a great time. I ran into my neighbor who lives 4 doors down but I NEVER see - something tells me I need to venture outside of my circle of 1.

After reaching the top of the huge climbing rock, Ethan posed Dylan and asked me to get the camera from the car. Yes -- my Ethan. The boy who has refused to look at the camera for the past 4 years: They actually waited on top while I fetched the camera.He then asks me if he can take pictures for his PHOTO BOOK! He proceeds to POSE Dylan, asking him to sit on the giant lizard and hold his arms up like this:He supposed to look tough but I don't think Dylan was feeling it. Then he asked Dylan to take our picture. Dylan said it was too dark (the sun blasted out the view window) so we thought he didn't take it, but he managed to eek this one out:Ethan then wanted a self-portrait of us. And yes, B&W until I get my teeth fixed this summer. Yeah!More posing Dylan:And me. He wanted me to pose with one hand in front of my face and the other on top of my head. I should probably be offended. But when I showed him, he said, "never mind, just do it normal."Four words I never thought I'd hear this child say, "Mom, take my picture!"
One for the road:

What Primary teachers can accomplish in 1 hour after 5 years of failed attempts from Mom & Dad

After church Ethan announced to everyone that he didn't want anyone in his room for a little bit. Everyone went about their business and so the remark was forgotten, until we were making an ice cream cake for Sydney's birthday.

Ethan: "You know how after church I didn't want anyone in my room?"

Mom: "Yes."

Ethan: "Do you know what that was about?"

Mom: "No."

Ethan: "It was about privacy. And, privacy is so important."

The kid is still in his white shirt & khakis, so he couldn't have been changing his clothes.

Ethan: "Yeah, and since it's Sunday, I decided to do something about the gospel. . .praying."

We were very fortunate to have our ward campout at Camp LoMia this weekend. Besides being at such a fabulous site, all we had to do was throw some pajamas, coats and sleeping bags in the car and go. Here was dinner -All weekend we were discussing which of our girls will be at camp with the other ones and when and realizing that in a few short years we will have all 3 of the girls up there at the same time, which is the summer before Syd starts her senior year. It's mind-blowing to think of any of them leaving home, but watching Ellie and Tab up there helped us to picture it all being very real.On the way home we had an adventure with the Browns and their neighbor Greg, who took us to a mountainside trail that had nothing but geodes on it. Tabitha and Davis were in heaven. As we were coming down the mountain it started to rain and I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures yet, so I quickly asked the boys to hold up a geode so I could snap theirs. And then, MY boy, who would rather EAT the geodes than have his picture taken with them, quickly directed Cooper into this pose. He instructed him to move to his left, then switch his geode into his left hand so they could put arms on shoulders like this. Bless Cooper for being such a good sport.Right after I took this picture it began POURING and we realized that the Maddy and my 2 older girls had taken the wrong path down the mountain. As I frantically ran to the car, soaked to the bone and furiously trying to take off the kids' muddy shoes before getting in, Marshall was racing and hollaring further down the path, while Brent ran along the road shouting their names. They would have heard him had they noticed the road ran parallel to the path at the base of the mountain. However, they missed that portion of the path and were heading back up the mountain in a completely different direction. Luckily, they stayed on the path and didn't panic since they didn't even know they were lost, so Marshall eventually caught up with them. In the end, I was just glad they had a good enough chat to keep them that distracted.

Who Knew?

I took my boys for a little outing to the fire station today. The carseat people got a hold of me while I was there. I had no idea kids were supposed to be in a booster until they were 4 feet 9 inches!! I'm pretty sure Ellie and Tab fall into that category. Yikes!

Slight Fire Hazard

SNIFF! SNIFF!
WHY DOES IT SMELL LIKE MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE?

Preschool

I just uploaded these pics of Dyl on his first day of preschool.
He's usually very smiley for pictures. It's certainly not because he wasn't super-excited. I think it must have been the blazing hot sun.

At the DMV

Ethan: "What does this sign say?"
Mom: "It means you can't bring guns or knives in the building."
Ethan (pointing to the sign below): "And no boats."
(On the way out.)
Ethan: "They should put no swords and no whips. Nothing that can kill people."

Tired, Hungry and 3

So, Dylan was on one this morning - BIG surprise. He refused to eat his omelet. He would only scream for milk, and when I calmly explained to him that he needed to ask politely, he replied at the top of his lungs with, "PLEASE, MILK!!" Oh, no no, I don't think so. He was lucky I was in a good mood this morning or the Tabasco sauce would have made an appearance.He then refused to get dressed, throwing his clothes off the balcony so that his shorts landed on the light fixture in the entryway. The yardstick is what Tabitha used to get them down.Even after a hug and some kind words from Mom, he wasn't sold. Until. . .da da da da. . .

MY KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR came on the scene.

He told Dylan he wanted to be his servant, and asked him if he wanted a sippy cup with fresh water in it. He proceeded to cozy him up on the couch with a book and several stuffed animals. Then Dylan asked if Ethan could read this book with him, and of course, being the servant, Ethan obliged.I couldn't even get in the shower because I was so enjoying listening to the conversation that ensued after this. Ethan taught him all about the bugs in this book. It was one of those precious moments you just savor.
After about 25 minutes, Ethan got up and declared that he was no longer his servant or his cheetah (I missed that part), and Dylan said, "Yeah, I'm not your master anymore." When I told him later how great that was and how helpful it was, he just said, "Yeah, I was tired of the screaming."

When Your Microwave AND Oven are Broken. . .

. . .this is how you reheat pizza for the kids' lunch. My super-sneaky (and very nice) sisters and mom brought me an early birthday lunch today. And yup, you heard right - we're going to be appliance shopping and calling our favorite fix-it-guy Don tomorrow.

Future Fantasy

"When I grow up I want to marry a man with brown hair and brown eyes - just like me. So our kids will have brown hair and brown eyes. And he couldn't have had blond hair when he was little. It always had to be brown. And I want 3 kids - 2 boys and 1 girl."

"Why 3, Tabitha?"

"Because 3 kids fit in a Slugbug. My Slugbug will be light blue, and I will take white paint and paint clouds all over it. And, can you have 8 letters on a license plate?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Then my license plate will say LUVMYKDS. And then I will have my kids put their hands in paint, in primary color paint, and put handprints all around the license plate. So there will be all these cool primary colors in the clouds. Maybe my license plate will be my last name with the vowels taken out and then MOM."

"Cool."

"My girl will be named either Brooklyn or Sariah. One boy will be named Mario."

"What about the other boy?"

"I don't know. Maybe Donald."

We still can't believe we got such a great car without having to fork over extra cash. The kids found this little gem of a smiley face imprinted from a vacuum on the back of the driver's seat. We think it's definitely a sign of many happy times to come in our new burb!

. . .And Away!

The reason I only took Dylan to the movies? My other kids had already seen it with my parents. And no, not all together. My dear mother (and father sometimes) took each of my other 4 kids to see this movie individually this summer. It's a tradition. She takes each one of the school-age grandkids for a week. They shop, go to lunch, make cookies. This summer she also had all 5 of the girls choose fabric and make a skirt with them. And they always go to the hit summer movie. I think she saw Up SIX TIMES!! We seriously hit the

GRANDPARENT JACKPOT!!

It is the definitely what my kids look forward to each summer. They come back a little more confident, a little more at ease. Having individual time for an entire week does great things for their soul.

This was Ethan's first year of being able to go to Grandma's. I didn't even recognize him when he got back. One noticeable difference - he used to always shirk his duty of saying the prayer when it was his day. He would always just whine a little and then the only thing that would get him to say it was if he got help from someone. When he got back from my parents, he not only easily said it on his day, he even VOLUNTEERED to say the prayer at other times. I know it's a small thing, but definitely noticed and MUCH appreciated. We love Papa and Nani.

Up, Up. . .

I have been looking forward to school starting for weeks now. And not just because I get my schedule back. When I realized time was slipping away in the summer for me to take Dylan to see the movie Up, I thought it would be the BEST to go to the movies with him while everyone is at school. Which, BTW, I'm looking forward to doing by myself on occasion once the kids are ALL in school, if you ever want to join me.

So I began keeping watch on the movie schedule to make sure it would still be in the theaters. Luckily it lasted just long enough for us to catch it this week. It was way too fun. We had time to pick up candy at Target on the way.

The WHOLE candy isle in front of him and what does he choose?? RAISINS!! That's the power of marketing. Look who is on the packaging. I caved on the popcorn. I told myself we weren't going to buy anything - just our drinks - but he was soooo cute when he asked me I couldn't say no. He documented our errands afterward. This is the Verizon store. He also got a picture of me at the dentist dropping by a check, but it was a terrible shot of my backside, and yes, I can be quite vain.