Family Pictures

Well... it's that time of year! Anyone that knows me well knows that I LOVE pictures. I really believe that a picture says a thousand words and if you capture certain moments they can be priceless and help you remember important phases of life. Family pictures have become really important to me. I feel like our kids change and grow so fast right before my eyes. I just want to capture every moment. However, knowing how stressful it is to coordinate schedules, outfits, nap-time, and the weather I have decided to only do family pictures every other year. 2017 was a "picture year". I was really excited for November 4th to come. I had scheduled a photographer (way back in September) I'd coordinated the pictures around my work schedule, Mason's basketball game and Ron's hunting season. This was the day! I wasn't worried about my older 3 kids (except for maybe an awkward smile or cheesy grin. I knew they would stand where instructed and try their best). My kids have been through enough of my photo shoots to know the routine. April is ALWAYS generally so perfect (except for those few weeks after we took her binky away a little monster emerged but thankfully she went away and my April came back) I really wasn't worried about her for picture day. She smiles for almost any and everyone (as long as her mom is close by). I had coordinated our outfits and a miracle happened, Ron didn't really have an opinion about the clothes. He was really supportive and kind about what I had picked. This is a huge step in our marriage! (Ron please don't get mad at me for saying that. It's true and I really appreciate your attitude this year.) November 4th arrived and we were off. We drove about 30 mins and arrived at the Superstition Mountains for our photo shoot. April was so happy and smiley in the car I was certain this photo session would be magical... Nope. April had other plans.
She smiled for about 3-4 pictures and then was done.
Really done.
Kicked and screamed the entire session.
I love this little girl but I do not love having a baggie of cereal in most of my family pictures.
At least we got a few good pics. I love my little family with all my heart even if our picture on the wall doesn't look perfect they are perfect people to me.

 You can't really tell but she is literally kicking and screaming in this picture of Ron holding her up.

 "Ring around the Rosie" didn't even cheer her up

Side note: At some point during the kicking and screaming I glanced at Mason (who at the time was off exploring in the desert) and I noticed him nervously trying to shake something off of his hand. Yup. Cactus. Oh Mason. Never a dull moment with this kid. He has such a high pain tolerance he wasn't crying or anything just looked more nervous because he knew we would probably be upset. Or maybe he was nervous when he couldn't get it off his hand. Either way it was funny to watch and I had to chuckle then roll my eyes and of course document it! That's what I do! 

Boys Babysitting

We are quickly approaching the age of free babysitting. I can't tell you how excited I am to stop paying for babysitting. Mason isn't quite there yet but he's close. Currently, I can leave Mason and Noah alone for about an hour or so and they do just fine. It's a little trickier if I try to leave all 4 of them home. I have tried this once or twice and I usually get phone calls about every 5 minutes (usually from Callie). Mason is a very good big brother but... he is a boy who is easily distracted. About once a month Callie has "parent week" at her Let's Play Music class which means I get to attend music with her on these weeks. This is the first year I have left Mason home to babysit April for that hour. Last week Callie and I got back from Let's Play Music and I asked the boys how it went. They responded "Great!"... no more details. Later that night as I was putting clothes away in my room I noticed a few pillows shoved under the covers on my bed. Puzzled, I asked the boys what happened and they explained that when April woke up from her nap she wanted Mommy and was inconsolable. So Noah placed the pillows in bed to trick April and told her that "Mommy is sleeping" I busted up laughing and was very impressed with their quick thinking. Apparently it worked because when I got home April was happy and content snacking on cereal in her high chair. 

Noah lost a tooth

This is a really old family journal post. But I was going through pictures and don’t want to forget this day. 

Hiking wind caves last week Noah was eating an apple as we went. And suddenly turned around to inform me he lost his tooth. We looked for it on the trail with no luck. Somewhere in the Superstition Mountains lies Noah’s DNA and tooth remains. Haha The tooth fairy still came that night so all is right in the world.

Halloween 2017

Halloween this year was fun, stressful, exhausting and cute! I love this holiday.  Saturday prior to Halloween we had a piano recital (which both boys ROCKED!), Mason's basketball game, and our ward's trunk or Treat. PLUS Ron got his deer that day! I let the kids pick their costumes (except April of course! Her crazy hair DEMANDED a Pebbles costumes from the Flinstones) 

The Flinstones! (cue the music!) Ron was such a good sport about dressing up even though that's really not his thing.

Callie was a princess with a beautiful Tiara. 

When I got the Halloween costume stuff out of the attic I wanted to kiss Noah when he said "I want to be a pirate again" That was easy!

Mason's favorite game right now is a card game called Mafia. He loves playing it and was set on being a member of the Mafia for Halloween. This kid cracks me up. Where does he come up with this stuff? LOL 

April was Pebbles and Goofy was Dino the dinosaur.

I may or may not have talked Jenessa into dressing her son Calvin up like Bam Bam to match April. So cute!

Best friends in animation and reality.

Trunk or Treat wore this little girl out!

One of my favorite traditions on Halloween night my mom does Mexican food at her home. The kids all loved sitting listening to my mom read them a Halloween story.

Poor Goofy was not a fan of his costume. But I thought he looked adorable.

Noah's Birthday

Noah is 9!!! This kid is obedient, honest, thoughtful (maybe contemplative is a better word. He analyzes EVERYTHING just like his dad.) he is kind, good, smart, a healthy eater (which is a big deal in a house filled with picky eaters), a peacemaker (or maybe he is just really good at dodging the drama in our crazy house.) 

Noah is super thoughtful and always writing me notes of gratitude. His prayers are really sincere and well thought out as well. I love how he is always thinking of others. Last week was fast Sunday and I was chatting with him after church and I asked what he was fasting for. He sweetly replied Donna Robinson. She's a woman in our ward whose husband died tragically in a car accident.

Noah has also been really interested in writing stories lately. He has an awesome school teacher that has asked him to be part of what she calls "Writers workshop" children in the class that are ahead get to spend extra school time composing stories and writing. She edits them and puts them together in a book. He is so proud of his work and I got to read a few of his drafts just this last week when I was helping in his class. 

He is becoming a book worm! His interest in books has peaked lately, no doubt following in his big brothers footsteps. He has started reading "The Lightning Thief" book which is crazy long probably about 350 pages long. He is constantly updating me on how far he is in the book. Calculating how many pages until he is halfway and such. The other night he took his book to Mason's Boy Scout Court of Honor which happened to be held outside. I am bummed I didn't do my usual thing and snap a picture to capture how silly Noah looked in the crowd of people reading in the dark with his book held high above his head to capture some light. It was pretty comical.

Mason's Birthday

Mason is now 11. No more Cub Scouts... sigh. He worked really hard and earned his Arrow of Light and Religious knot. Cub Scouts holds a special place in my heart. While I don't agree with how pricey it is I love that it teaches little boys honor and respect for our country and others. It gives these young men a good start at becoming honest and valuable citizens in a world filled with questionable standards and hate. 

I love this kid to the moon and back! He is energetic, kind (except when it comes to his 6yr. old sister insert eye roll), he's out going, friendly, daring, confident, loves music and singing, LOVES books, does NOT get stage fright, not a shy bone in his body, and HILARIOUS! He cracks me up constantly. I’m loving the young man he is becoming. 

I don't know where he gets his love of books (Ron and I both aren't very avid readers). I also don't know where his confidence comes from. He will try anything (except healthy food) and he is so fun to talk to. The other day he asked me if I worked on Tuesdays, I answered no and he was really excited to then let me know about his field trip that was on a Tuesday and how I can finally go! (I'm not usually ever able to go on the field trips because they are always on my work days) He makes me feel so good about being his mom. He recently participated in Battle of the Books with one of his best friends Xavier. That was really fun to watch. They did great! Only missed 2 questions!

His wit catches me off guard and cracks me up. We were playing a game at my moms house a few weeks ago. The question was "Write down something you would NEVER find in a ballroom" Everyone writes their answer down and they are then read a loud. Mason's answer was "Ron" I am seriously still dying laughing and I can't believe I didn't think of that one.

He can be really sweet (even to Callie on the rare occasion). LOL The other night she asked him if he would lay by her at bedtime because I was busy and Ron was out of town. I was pleasantly surprised when he quickly replied "sure!" Such a sweet big brother. 

I've been told by his Primary teachers that he is going to be an excellent missionary. They call him a missionary zone leader. He does give pretty good primary talks and it makes me really sad to think he's only going to be in primary for one more year. It's so much fun for me to watch and work with my kids on Sundays. I really do have the best calling being in the Primary Presidency.