The Colleen Scene

Chloe's first piano recital

2010-12-14T08:44:00.000-08:00

Chloe started taking piano in August. She is doing so well and seems like such a natrual at it. This past weekend she had a Christmas recital. I thought I would share a couple of videos from it. Enjoy!

First song, "Willie and Tillie" - Click here

Second song, "Let it Snow" - Click here

Dancing Jack

2010-12-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Yes! Another blog post!

I know I keep saying I am going to do better and never to. Let's see if it works this time!

Here is an awesome video of Jack dancing in the car. Be prepared to laugh!

Jack Dancing

Better Update

2010-10-26T07:46:00.001-07:00

Okay okay, I'll give a SEMI-better update....

Start with the kids? Okay. I'll do that.

Chloe - she is now in 3rd grade and she loves it. I'm not sure that I do! Homework comes home (math) and sometimes I have NO clue how to even help her. She is growing up way to fast. She was having trouble seeing and we figured out that she was having trouble reading so she got reading glasses.

She is taking piano lessons and is already doing so great! I think we'll have a new Mozart before long. LOL!

Brooklyn - she is in 1st grade and is getting SO smart! She loves her teacher and hot lunch tuesdays! She's lost her two front teeth and they are taking forever to grow back in. She is also back in dance taking Jazz & Ballet. I know all moms think that their kid is great at whatever they do (even if they arn't - haha!) BUT - Brooklyn is a great dancer! Here is a picture from her recital last year. She was super excited that she got to wear full face makeup ;)

Jack - What can we say about Jack. He's 4 now and is just as out of control as he has ever been. He definatly keeps me going. This is his last year before he starts Kindergarten and I'm not really sure how I feel about that. He's really into BMX biking and wants to ride all.the.time. He's also pretty darn good at memory too:

As for Stuart and I - same ole' same ole' We just celebrated our 10th anniversary. Business is going good and we have 3 healthy kids. What more could you want?

I guess I will try and do more updates on my blog.....we'll see how it goes. *wink wink*

Should I blog again???

2010-10-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in SUCH a long time. Should I get back on board or just forget it?

Chloe turns 8!

2010-02-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

Chloe just celebrated her 8th birthday a couple of weeks ago! I can't believe that she is 8 or that I am old enough to have a daughter who is 8 years old! Does that mean I'm old??
I talked her out of having a birthday party. We let her invite one friend and we went bowling, out to Red Robin for some dinner then a sleepover! It was quite an eventful night, but so much fun!!! Here are a ton of pictures:

Isn't she just gorgous?!?!

A bunch of cuties

Chloe trying it out on her own

Jack using the cheater ramp ;-)

Chloe, Leigha and Brooklyn

Statue of Chlo-erty

Sweet Brooklyn

This is Jack's poser look for the camera. We get the same shot all the time.....

See?! He is still quite handsome!

Enjoying the free birthday sundae.

Chloe was SO SO excited to get this. Her very own ipod touch! She has been begging and begging for one. We found a first gen used on craigslist for super cheap and hse loves it!

My little cutie Brooklyn :)

Her very own set of scriptures. She was so happy to get these!

She got a fun new game. It is alot like Blokus if you've ever played that.

Chloe and Leigha. Isn't it cute they had matching jammies???

All in all it was a fun time!

Here is what happens......

2010-02-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

..........when you accidentally leave your camera in your sons room while he is supposed to be watching a movie for quiet time.....

I totally cracked up when I uploaded my photos from the camera and found these! At least he didn't break it!

**mother's note** Yeah, his room is messy from time to time....but I had been in there taking down the border in his room so we could repaint it and give him a big boy room..... hehe

Chloe gets baptized!

2010-02-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I haven't been blogger.........

Okay, so I haven't even been blogging......

Okay, so I have said before that I was going to start blogging again......

Okay, so I didn't......

but......

Here I am again!

I am going to try and do so much better. I'm feeling the desire to blog again so help me keep going!

As my first post coming back we've got big news! Our oldest child was just recently baptized! I really can't believe I am old enough to have a child who is old enough to be baptized.

I only have one picture to show right now. I will get the others tomorrow to put up but here is a REALLY cute one. (Yes, I am slightly biased, but hey, I'm entitled!)

Blogging Stump

2009-08-31T19:55:00.001-07:00

I am going to come out of it! I have SO much to update on. I'm going to try my hardest to come back to the fold :)

Swim Time!

2009-06-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

I love that now it's summertime we can spend our days at the pool! Today we went with my friend Jeni and we had a BLAST! Here are some pictures. Be warned that the first one of Jack is HILARIOUS! (After you are done reading this post....check out the others I posted today. There are about 5 of them!)

Last Day of Dance

2009-06-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn's last day of dance for the year. SAD!

Girls Pool Party!

2009-06-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

While all the boys went out on a Fathers and Sons campout our dear frield Louisa invited all the moms and girls over for a pool party. We ordered Pizza, brought a bunch of sides and just had a really fun time together.

Playgroup at Zilker Park

2009-06-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

Last week for playgroup we headed out to Zilker Park to play at the playground and ride the train. We had a lot of fun! Here are some fun pictures of our day

Jack, Jazzy and Cole

There was a turtle on the playground that found its way up from the lake. I sure hope that it made it's way back.

Jack and Cole swinging.

Having some lunch and stopping for a photo op. Brooklyn, Jack and Janae.

Cole had to be a part of the group.

Jack and Cole getting ready to ride the train.

Brooklyn and Janae. BFFs.

All aboard!!!

All tuckered out on the drive home :) Isn't he sweet??

All in all, a great fun playgroup!

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-06-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Memorial Day. We met up with a bunch of friends at a park for a pot luck dinner. You would have thought it was a perfect photo opt...which it was. Do you think I used my camera much? Nope!

I did get 2 really cute shots of the kids on a tires swings though.

Student Led Conference

2009-05-22T08:12:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Chloe's school for a student led conference where she got to show me all the things that they did this year. Mrs. Wray, who is an amazing teacher, kept everything they did this year in a big folder. It was so cute to see this little book they put together over the year and all the fun projects that they did. She has had a wonderful year at school. She's gotten all good grades and excels in all her subjects! She's been in PACE math and is reading on a 2nd grade level. (Yeah, I know that is a bit braggy, but aren't we aloud to every once in a while?) I can't believe that this year is just about over and that she will be moving onto 2nd grade! She is growning into such a big girl!

I took pictures of a bunch of the things that she has done.

This is a contract that all the kids wrote at the first of the year. They each signed it too.

She took a picture of them about every month and put it on a coloring sheet. Here are 3 of them from the year. This is Chloe at the beginning of the year. It says she can't wait to learn and she wants to learn how to catch a fish.

This one says she is thankful for her freedom and family.

This was the last one of the year. The only part you can't really read is the last one and it says that her favorite things at school is free choice friday.

I just really liked this little story about Texas. :)

This one was my favorite of the bunch. It has a catapillar and the story about it. Here is the catapillar.

You can click on this picture to read the story better.

A cute cowgirl.

A cute bunny story. (click to read)

A story about Abraham Lincoln. (click to read)

She has had such a fun year at school but she is ready for summer and swimming!

Playgroup at the Splash Park

2009-05-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun time yesterday at the splash park for playgroup. Here are a few pictures.

Even though it's kinda hard to see...left to right is Jazzy, Jack, Brooklyn and Janae.

My pretty little Brooklyn.

Brooklyn and Janae getting warm.

Jack needed to get warm too!

Eating some lunch.

Jack's little girlfriend Jazzy :)

My main man Jack. He's trouble.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jack...Jack...Jack...

2009-05-11T06:59:00.000-07:00

Look at me! I don't blog for a week then I do 2 posts in one day!!

Saturday was such a busy day that Jack just fell alseep in the chair. Only a boy would fall asleep like that. LOL!

Saturday was such a busy day that Jack just fell alseep in the chair. Only a boy would fall asleep like that. LOL!

Chloe's Field Trip

2009-05-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

Chloe's class went to the Crowe's Nest Farm for thier field trip. We had a really great time.
Here is Chloe and her friends. They are a cute little group!

Listening to the farmer talk about milking a cow.

SO cute!

Going through the tunnel to the fairy land.

Here is Chloe's class. Ready to get back on the bus.

BFFs. Chloe and Haley.

A cute picture

2009-05-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

I came across this picture today and wasn't sure if I have even posted it or not. If so, well, you get to see it twice!

Finally!

2009-05-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

I finally made my blog private. Took long enough eh?

Things have been a bit crazy around here lately. When I was getting this all started, I was getting ready for a big bi-ward event. The Swapaplooza. The next day I spoke in church. Then this past Friday I had my upper wisdom teeth pulled.

Needless to say, I didn't make it here for a while. So, it's finally private. :)

Make sure you start leaving me comments now - ya hear!

Love this article.

2009-04-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine posted this on her Facebook and I liked it. I just wanted to share.
You'll want to click on the article and make it bigger to read.

Going Private Date

2009-04-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

I will be making the blog private on Wednesday. Make sure you let me know if you want to still see my blog! Email to cbontrager@austin.rr.com

:)

The Children's Museum

2009-04-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today we went down to the Austin Children's Museum with Jack's playgroup. I almost didn't go because it was raining buckets here this morning, but I bucked up and went. We all got soaked getting into the place and I personally thought it was a bit pricey - but we ended up having ALOT of fun. So I guess it was worth it. I am sorry that there are so many picutres but I really couldn't decide which ones to post! So here ya go!

My little construction workers.

Playing with some tractors.

He doesn't look happy does he?

Janet showing Jack how to work the construction machinery.

Just a cute one of Brookie building blocks.

Brooklyn and Jack with a replica of the state capitol which Brooklyn called "the temple" haha!

Waiting for the train to come around.

Milking some cows.

Brooklyn pumping gas.

This was the spanish room. Every button was either in spanish or english and it just told about the spanish culture. It was really neat.

Here is Brooklyn flippin' some meat.

Playing at the food table that was complete with tortillas and tamales!

My little rock stars!

Brooklyn was able to do a craft there. She had a blast. Probably could have spent another hour there!

The finished product. She was so proud!

This was Jack's favorite thing to do there. You put a pig on a parashoot on a clip then you pull the rope up and it goes into the cone and the clip comes off and the pig floats down. He had a blast!

So fun!

Going Private

2009-04-16T04:51:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow readers,

After much diliberation I am going to go private. If you want to see my blog please send me your email to cbontrager@austin.rr.com and I will make sure you get your invite!!!

Thanks!

Colleen

2009-04-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

As you will have read - or have read from my previous post...we had (or at least I had) a rough Easter morning. I did manage to get some pictures of the girls done. Unfortunatly Jack was sleeping. Boy did he need it. We ended up late for church because of it too so I didn't end up getting any of him at all. But here are pictures of the girls. Im bias but I think they are the cutest kids in the world!!!
Brooklyn

And here is Chloe. Her two front teeth are looking a big gangly since they both need to come out. So she has been a bit self consious about her smile. I couldn't get her to smile her normal smile :( Hopefully the next session will turn out better.

I'm hoping this next week to get out and do all their pictures together with semi-matching outfits AND include Jack this time. HA! Wish me luck!

Easter morning

2009-04-15T17:12:00.000-07:00

Easter morning was a bit rough for me. I've had this weird little rash under my eye so the night before I tooks some allergie meds to see if that would work. Instead of taking benedryl like I thought I would, I took claritin instead. I'm sure it hyped me up. I didn't go to bed until 2:30 which is REALLY odd for me. The for the actual 2 or 3 hours I was in bed, it was one of those in and out sleeps. Nothing substantial. The kids were up at 5 for the Easter bunny. The Easter bunny had hidden the baskets so we made them wait until we got up. They finally got us out of bed an hour later. I barely made it to the couch to watch them to the easter thing then went back to bed. Normally there would be 3 dozen pictures of everything, but since Stuart was in charge of the camera that morning there were a total of 6 pictures. I'm only posting 5 because one of them included me in all my up all night glory. So here are those 5 pictures

Happy Easter!

Ear Piercing!

2009-04-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

For part of Brooklyn's birthday gifts, she wanted to get her ears pierced. Chloe jumped on the band wagon and had to get hers done too. They were so scared but ended up being so brave!!! Brooklyn got little diamond stars and Chloe got rainbow flowers. I think they ended up looking great!!!!

Happy Birthday Brooklyn!

2009-04-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

For Brooklyn's birthday we took her to Gattiland. It will be my one and only time going there! HAHA! I think I prefer Chuck E Cheese and that isn't saying much. The kids had a fabulous time though! (It is just not my cup of tea.)

The Birthday Girl!

Eating some dinner. Blech! (LOL!)

Playing some games.

Opening some presents.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart! I love you!

San Antonio

2009-04-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

Monday we took my mom down to San Antonio to show her the Alamo. We had a fun time. We also rode the riverboat on the river walk. Here are a few pictures

Hello!!!!!!!!!! Jack kept screaming that into the cannon.

Don't I have the cutest kids ever?!?!

In the Alamo they had a mini amphlatheater. the kids had fun running around it.

Here is my mom and the kids on the boat ride.

Super fun day!

Brooklyn's Birthday Party

2009-03-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Brooklyn's birthday today with her friends. Technically her birthday isn't until Tuesday but Saturdays make for easier parties. We had a FABULOUS time. Usually birthdays stress me out but for some reason this one did not. Brooklyn was so excited. I just uploaded a TON of pictures so bare with this post - there are alot of pictures. Her party was a butterfly theme.

Here are the cakes that I made. The first one I decorated wasn't all that great, but I really liked the way the second one turned out. Here are the 2 of them.

This is the one I liked

I hired Kiwi the Clown to come and do face painting and balloon animals. She was GREAT! Here is Brooklyn getting her face painted.

Doesn't she look awesome?!

Ellie

Janae

Brooklyn and Janae

Nicole

Brooklyn again.

Sadie

Kiwi in action.

Vivian

Sloan

Marlee (for some reason this one is out of focus!) She really didn't want her face done, so she just had it done on her arm.

Cassandra

Chloe getting hers painted

Finished product. She is so cute!

Singing Happy Birthday.

Blowing out the candles.

Jack even got a spider man! He was heart broken when we had to wash it off tonight before bed.

Cake and ice cream. It's times like this I wish I had a bigger table!

The group shot. Arn't they a great looking bunch?

Brooklyn opening her gifts.

We're not realy sure what we are doing for her birthday on Tuesday but tune and and find out later!

What a "hail" of a storm!

2009-03-26T06:45:00.000-07:00

Last night the weirdest storm came through. It lasted for about 15 minutes total, but I can't believe the amount of damage that it did! Here are a ton of pictures to show you what happened.

here is when it started. It is pretty big but not as big as they got!

Look how huge this is! We didn't get anything bigger then the size of a golf ball. Apparently some areas got a big as a baseball!

Not sure why this picture is tilted but I'm not fixing it. HA!

all the hail coming out of the gutter

We had just cleaned up all the leaves from the front yard....

here is another piece of hail

The rainbow after the storm

Now we get to do all the clean up. We're going to call our home insurance and have them come look at our roof too.

Oh yeah, look at the next post too. House painting pictures!

Painting of the house

2009-03-26T06:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we started the HUGE process of painting our house. Right now we pretty much have the first coat done. We were going to be finishing it throughout this week, but then we got hit by a nasty hail storm....so it might be another week or 2 until we get it done. We're going to have to clean up our yard then probably have to power wash the whole house again...let it dry....then paint. It is FRUSTERATING! But here are some pictures of us in the process.

Jack - so you think you can dance season 32

2009-03-24T16:05:00.000-07:00

Okay. This is one funny video. Then again I may be just a little bit bias. I think Jack has got some spectacular moves. I figure if he's got them at age 3 then by the time season (insert here) of So You Think You Can Dance? he will be ready for the show! It is a fairly long video, but worth it! Remember to scroll down to the bottom and turn off my music player before you watch!

Curtains and Wall Words

2009-03-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

I have finally put up my wall words! I've had them for so long but have been waiting to put them up until we painted our living room and hall way. I had to wait about 2 weeks after to let the paint set. I got them up and I love them!

Here is the hallway wall (I do need to update the pictures of the kids, but that is another project for another day!)

These two pictures show our new curtains and my other wall word.

I think they ended up looking great!!

Keep looking at my blog. I added 2 other posts under this one :)

Waco Zoo

2009-03-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

On Monday we decided to take the kids up to the Waco Zoo for our Spring Break activity. The whole trip was fun except for the 2 hours in traffic due to a wreck! The kids still had a GREAT time. Here are some pictures from our day :)

Brooklyn

2009-03-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Brooklyn just because I think she is SO cute!!

Potty Training Success!!

2009-03-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

This was day 3 and Jack has been doing amazing!!!!

Day 1 - he had 1 small accident is all. 1. He still didn't wake up with a dry pull up at nap though.

Day 2 - Day started off horrible with 3 accidents. After those 3 he did GREAT the rest of the day!

Day 3 - Only one accident at nap time.

He is doing AMAZINGLY well! I am so proud of him!!! I think I'm done buying diapers. EVER! YEAH!

Painting

2009-03-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

I finally did the painting in my living room. It was alot of hard work, but I am really pleased with the results!
Here are some pictures during and after. Enjoy!

Now - What room is next???

Weekend in review

2009-03-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

We had a very productive fun weekend around here. Friday night was our usual movie night. The kids chose to watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua. The kids loved it. Me - eh. It was OK. Really silly. Before the movie I gave the girls Manicures and Pedicures. They were so excited! Here are the after pictures.

Chloe

Brooklyn

Saturday morning I started painting our living room/hallway/foyer. It is going to be a brown/tan color. It has turned out (from what I've done so far) really nice! I am very pleased with the color. I will post pictures of that another day. I've got about 3/4 of it done. But before we started painting, I put the kids to work scrubbing base boards!! Good thing there are no child labour laws in my house!!!

While I was painting Stuart took the kids over to the school parking lot and had the kids ride thier bikes. He ended up taking the training wheels off and BOTH of my girls are now riding their bikes without them! They are doing amazing!!! He took a video - enjoy!!!

Now, I need to go get my family ready for church!

Home Skillet

2009-03-02T16:34:00.000-08:00

For all those that didn't catch this picture on my facebook, here it is. I just had to post it. Cracks. Me. Up. He is my little home skillet. He wears it like that. I have never showed him how to or anything. It just comes natural. He is SUCH a character!

Jack's Birthday Party

2009-02-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

Look at me! 2 posts in the same week! I can't believe my baby is 3. 3!!
He had a really great birthday.
Here he is enjoying his bday cupcakes

Presents!

Playing before bed.

We had his birthday the day after his real bday, which is also Stuarts birthday! We had his party at the "bouncy place". Here are some fun pictures.

Jack and I after it was over. WHEW! We had such a blast.

My little man Jack is 3!

2009-02-23T11:06:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Jack!
My little man turned 3 years old today. I can't even believe that 3 years have gone by since he was born. He was such a surprise to our family and we really can't imagine what life would be without him.
He was SO cute when he was born!

The one year goes by....

2 years go by......

Then before you know it your baby isn't a baby anymore. He is a BIG boy!!!

Now if I could just get him to use the potty!!

A glimps of Jack

2009-02-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

Jack is going to be 3 in a couple of weeks and he is just a riot right now. I have a video to share, it's pretty long but fairly entertaining. Enjoy!
You may want to scroll down to the bottom and turn off my music player before you watch.

Happy Birthday Chloe!

2009-02-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a LONG post with a lot of pictures! Chloe's birthday was Thursday and so we've had a few celebrations over the last few days. I have it all documented in pictures!

This is on her birthday before school.

We took lunch to school for Chloe and treats for all her class.

When Chloe got home she got her first gift! We gave her a new bedset for a more "grown up" looking room!

I think she likes it!

That night we took her to Chuck E Cheese for dinner. It was a mad house there. Apparently there was an elementry school that was having a fund raiser or something that night. We couldn't convince her to go anywhere else. So we just stayed and still had fun.
I thought this picture of Jack was fun.

I couldn't get this picture to turn around. it was weird. Oh well.

I love Chloe's facial expression here!

We got home and she got to open a few gifts. She got a tumbalina barbie from grandma Perry.

She got the new blanket I made her. She loved it!

Aunt Robin gave her a really pretty CTR necklace!

Saturday we had 2 birthday parties for her. A tea party for all her friends and then a family one. Here are some pictures from her tea party.
This is Chloe is her new party dress!

The table all set!

Chloe with the table. It looks so pretty!

All her friends are here and they are making bracelets.

Lunch time!

Singing Happy Birthday!

Opening some presents. She got some great loot!

This pictures are from her family birthday. We had a bunch of family and friends over. We had a bbq with hamburgers and hot dogs. Cake and ice cream. Presents. All in all a great birthday!

I would say she got spoiled!!

Chloe's new lovey

2009-01-27T19:48:00.000-08:00

Shhhh. Don't say anything yet. I've made Chloe a new blanket for her birthday. The one that she has right now she has had since she was born. I've done everything I could to make it last, but it is on it's last leg. We've talked about it and she said she'd like a new one.
This is what I made. What do you think?

My new favorite quote.

2009-01-26T20:04:00.001-08:00

I saw this quote online today and I just fell in love with it.

"... We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. ... It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."

- Marianne Williamson

My little ballerina

2009-01-20T14:06:00.000-08:00

Brooklyn has been taking dance this year. Yesterday when she got home she was walking around on the very tips of her toes! I made her put on her shoes today and do it for me again so I could take pictures. She hasn't had a whole lot of training, especially not on her toes! Crazy girl!

A Jack funny and a not so funny

2009-01-18T17:29:00.001-08:00

Why are my posts always about Jack? I think it is because he keeps me on my toes so much and he is always doing funny and not so funny things. Chloe's birthday is coming up, so I'll post about the other kids eventually. HAHA!

First I'll give you the funny. The other night I was putting him to bed and here is our conversation. (M = Me. J = Jack.)

M: "okay Jack, see you tomorrow. I love you buddy"

J: "love you mommy"

M: "Love you to the moon"

J: "Love you to the moon"

M: "Love you to mars"

J: "Love you to mars'

M: "Love you to Pluto!"

J: "Love you to Pluto! (pauses for a second) "Love you to Mickey!"
"Love you to goofy!"

He is such a sill boy!!! Cracks me up. He does it pretty much every night now.

And now our not so funny.... This morning the kids were up before us watching cartoons and we were still in bed. All of a sudden there was this loud beeping - like an alarm coming from our living room. I ran out. Jack was ON MY COMPUTER! He managed to open it and power on - and get this....

HE WAS ONE BUTTON AWAY FROM REFORMATTING MY COMPUTER!!!

I have no idea how he did it. But I was soooo mad. He definatly is a stinker!

He rocks the underoos

2009-01-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

but really lacks the skills.

He looks incredibly cute in his little disney underwear, but keeping them dry is a different story. we are 0/the many many accidents throughout the day.

1st accident - in the playroom
2nd living room
3rd my bedroom (the carpet cleaner is getting a workout today!)
4th....we were in the bathroom...he's stark naked. he runs out of the bathroom, proceeds to turn around in the door way and yell "nana nana boobooo you can't catch me" he looks down and pees on the bathroom floor. UGH!

The list goes on and on. he just doesnt. care.

We've burned through 3 pairs of underoos and 3 pullups.

I think I'm done for now. If I would have had at least 1 success I would carry on. But alas, that is not the case. We will be hanging up the unders and trying it again in a couple of weeks.

*sigh*

Potty Training

2009-01-11T19:36:00.000-08:00

So, I'm going to bite the bullet this week and potty train Jack.

I have never trained a boy before and I'm scared. Any good advice??

Caught on Video

2009-01-08T10:59:00.000-08:00

So yesterday Chloe was supposed to be in her room cleaning. I hear this noise coming from her room and this is what I found. It's longer then I wanted...but couldn't find a way to edit it...so you get the full minute. The best part is in the first 15 seconds. Enjoy!

In a posting funk

2009-01-06T18:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm pretty much in a funk in general...

I don't really have anything interesting to post. but I'm still around.

Christmas Day

2009-01-02T17:11:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting to blogging about our Christmas Day. I have to warn you that there are a TON of pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

Santa came!!!

The insane santa brought Harmonicas. WHAT was he thinking?!?! haha!

Jack looking through his stocking.

Jack and Daddy

Thanks Aunt Robin! (She loves it!)

Grandpa Bontrager - Jack LOVES the airplane!

Aunt Robin - Stuart thanks you for the beatings that he is getting from Jack these days.

Grandpa Bontrager gave the girls their first jewelry box. It is probably their favorite gift!! They play with them all the time!

Jack asked for this thing for MONTHS before Christmas. He was SOOO excited to get it! He plays with it all the time. Probably the best gift ever for an almost 3 year old!

Brooke and her leapster!

The girls playing with their jewelry boxes some more :)

You'll shoot your eye out!

Chuck came to peek in on what was going on.

Jack enjoying his airplane geo trax from Grandpa!

The dino finally all put together and charged! Think he likes it?

Here are pictures of the kids on Christmas Day at grannys house riding their scooters

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-31T14:41:00.000-08:00

Yeah so I'm a week late with this post, but I'm finally posting some pictures from Christmas Eve. We had some family and friends over. Ate Nachos, played some games and had fun!

Here we are playing Christmas Bingo

Here I am reading our yearly Christmas Story. This year it was The Legend of the Christmas Stocking.

All the kids are ready to open thier gift!

Here are the kids in front of the tree. They all loved their new jammies.

Trail of Lights

2008-12-29T11:22:00.000-08:00

A couple of days before Christmas we went to downtown Austin and went to the Trail of Lights with the inlaws. Let me just tell you - it was SOOOOOO cold. So cold. We had fun though. By the end the kids were ready to go though. Afterwards we all went to IHOP and were there until 10:30. the kids were beat!!
Here are a few pictures:

Gingerbread House Decorating

2008-12-29T11:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm catching up on the events over the last few weeks. We're going to start with gingerbread house decorating. We decorated them with the Davis'

Here are all the kids

The kids putting on the candy.

Think someone was eating it?

Here it is all done!

Arn't they cute??!?!

I'm still here

2008-12-28T18:59:00.000-08:00

I just haven't been blogging. I need to upload all my pictures from the past week and then i'll have about 10 posts to make. Until then, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2008-12-15T11:33:00.000-08:00

A weekend ago we made our annual trip out to the town of Burnet to see their live Bethlehem. It is truely amazing thing that they do. They have a whole "town" set up the way that Bethlehem probably was back in that time. They have Roman Soldiers, woodshops, bakery and at the end they have a manger scene. It is so fun to go walk through during our Christmas time. Here are some pictures of our trip!

Christmas Pictures

2008-12-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

I took my kids pictures this past weekend for the annual Christmas card. I thought they turend out pretty darned cute but then again I'm biased.
Here they are:

So what do you think? You'll have to wait for one in the mail! If you know I don't have your address, please send it to me!

Decorating the tree

2008-12-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

While Robin and I went outlet shopping while she was here, Stuart and the kids decorated the tree while we were gone! He took some pictures of the event and they actually turned out cute! (haha!) Somehow I managed to delete a SUPER cute picture of the kids in front of the tree. I could kick my self sometimes. Anyways, here are the pictures.

Thanksgiving Vacation Pictures

2008-12-02T17:36:00.000-08:00

We went to Kansas over the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a blast. Thought I would share our trip in pictures.

All set in the car! Let's go!

Daddy and Brooklyn hanging out.

Gary (grandpa) and all his kids (except for Erica) They were looking at motorcycle videos.

Jack always wanted to be outside but it was SO cold!

Tyler and Chloe went out and picked up trash that their dog got into.

Carly and Jack making silly faces.

We each made a turkeys with their handprints and said what they are thankful for...
Jack's

Brooklyn's

Chloe's

All the crew sitting for our turkey dinner.

Brooklyn eating

Jack eating.

Their cousin Jazzy. Isn't she so pretty!

Grandpa, Chloe and daddy.

Grandpa and Jackman

All in all it was a fun trip. The drive home sucked rocks because everyone was so tired. But we're glad to be home. I am leaving my house right now to go pick up my BFF from the airport. She is here for a few days!!!

Thanksgiving Lunch

2008-11-23T07:58:00.000-08:00

Friday Chloe had a Thanksgiving lunch that we were able to go over to. It was super crazy busy but Chloe was glad we came :)
Here is Chloe and daddy before eating. She closed her eyes right when I took the picture. Oh well. Notice to her right there is a turkey and a pilgrim. Those are hers! TOO CUTE!

Before eating I was able to take her up to the book fair. She wanted this book SO badly. It's called Pink-a-licous. Go figure!

Here are Chloe, Daddy and Brooke eating their lunch.

This is Chloe and one of her best friends at school, Haley.

We had a great time!

It's cold outside!!!

2008-11-21T07:49:00.000-08:00

Even though it was 39 degrees outside this morning they still had to go outside. How long do you think that lasted? About 5 mintues!

Haircuts

2008-11-18T16:04:00.000-08:00

Last week when I was getting my haircut Brooklyn said she wanted to get hers cut short like Chloes. I didn't want her to then because I like her with long hair. Well, every day since she's been on my case to get her hair cut. Chloe needed one anyways, so off we went today for hair cuts. Brooklyn got her wish and got a cute little bob like Chloe. Here is our adventure.

I had forgotten to take a before for Brooklyn while we were there, but here is one of her from a few days ago.

Here are a few of her getting it cut and afterwards so you can see how cute it turned out.

Here is Chloe's before.

Look at all that hair!!!

Together afterwards.

Jack had to join in the photo shoot.

Jack gets a big boy bed!

2008-11-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

So Jack is almost 3. Well, 3 in February. It's getting pretty close. Everyone who has found out that Jack is still in his crib looks at me like I have 2 heads. Yeah, so what? I still have Jack in the crib. He hasn't tried to climb out of it. It's worked for us.
For now, I have decided that it is time to put him in a big boy bed. My only other option is to leave him in it until he is 5, but the thought about him screaming at me saying "MOM! I need to get up and go to school now!" well, that just doesn't work now does it? Also, after Christmas I am going to try and potty train him so we will need him out of the crib. One step at a time right?
Here are a few pictures of him with his big boy bed. He thinks that he is SO cool now.

Week in review

2008-11-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

I haven't got any picture to post or anything very exciting, so I'll just do a week in review type thing.

The last I posted was Tuesday about voting - The only thing I'll say on that is I am just sad things didn't go a little differently.

Wednesday - I really don't remember anything I did that day, so it couldn't have been very important.

Thursday - I went with some friends that night to see the movie Secret Life of Bees. I really enjoyed it. It's not very often that when a book is made into a movie that they sick with the original story line, but they did a really great job with this one. All of the actors in it were perfect. It may have been incredibly sad at times, but it was a very heart warming movie.

Friday - Movie night with the kids. Since Stuart works evenings, Fridays have become a special night for the kids and I. Usually I'll rent a movie and we'll have popcorn and chocolate milk. The kids get to stay up later then normal and we had a great time. We watched Madagascar one this week because....

Saturday - We took the kids to see Madagascar 2! All the kids really enjoyed it! Towards the end, Jack got pretty restless but for the most part he did really good! Stuart and I even enjoyed it. There was just enough adult humor in it. That is a MUST see!

Sunday - Stake Conference this week. It was a big one because we got a new Stake Presidency. Also Elder Packer's son was there speaking, so that was fun too.

Now it is Monday and I'm just taking care of things around the house and need to hit the grocery store sometime.

** One more thing that I haven't even mentioned. A couple weeks back our ward split (which was tough, but it will get better) We are in the new ward, so Stuart and I got new callings. Stuart is the 2nd Counselor in the Elder Quorum and I am the Ward Activities Chair. Which means I have 4 weeks to plan a Christmas Party! HURRAY! Wish us luck!

WooHoo! I voted!

2008-11-04T11:03:00.000-08:00

Did you?!?

Happy Halloween

2008-11-02T07:51:00.000-08:00

Halloween was alot of fun over here in the Bontrager house! I'll just share through pictures. A warning though - there are ALOT of them!

Here are the kids after school coloring halloween pictures waiting for daddy to get home to carve pumpkins! Chloe had crazy hair day at school. She wanted to spray it pink, but we could only find white. Oh well.

Carving the pumpkins. The kids don't really like to put their hands in it. They thought it was gross. Chloe did a little bit. Stuart helped Chloe to a smiley face. I was trying to do a spider web with a spider, but it was taking SO long, I never got it finished. Stuart did a Longhorn.

Cleaning it out.

This was Jacks idea of helping for the most part.

Brooke's idea of helping as well.

Look! Chloe's actually got her hand in the pumpkin!

This was as much as Jack helped. He put the spoon in the pumpkin.

Finished!

Chloe after we re-sprayed her hair. EEK!

We went over to the Davis' for dinner before trick or treating and I made these breadstick broomsticks. SO fun!

Chloe and Jaydon all ready to go!

I actually got one of all of them together! 2 witches and Batman!

I sprayed Stuart's hair blue. He really didn't think that was funny. Then I stuck the girls hats on him. Oh La La!

We hung out in the front of the Davis' before heading out. These are a couple pictures of them playing. Brooklyn on the swing.

Chloe being silly.

Batman to the rescue!

Jaydon giving Jack a poke in the eye.

A cute little witch.

Another cute one of Jaydon and Chloe

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we attempted to go to the pumpkin patch. I woke up not feeling well Saturday but we went anyways. It takes about 45 minutes from here and the roads are very curvy and hilly. We got out there and I couldn't even walk I felt so sick. Also, we couldn't even find a place to park it was SO busy. We left even though the kids had a fit. I couldn't manage and it would have been too crowded and we would have had a wait along time to do anything. I decided that we would wait until the following Saturday and be out there when it opened. GOOD CHOICE! We got to do everything we wanted to do, there were no lines and by the time we finished the crowds were pouring in. We had SO SO much fun. Here are a TON of pictures.
Chloe and Brooklyn all set to go!

We went into the kids maze and had a blast! There was no one in there so we ran a muck for quite a while! We managed to find our way out but turned around and done it again!. Here the kids are ready to go!

Jack kept getting left in the dust!

Where are they going?

Oh! There they are!

Daddy and the kids on the first part of the hay ride.

Brooke and Mommy.

They had these huge fields of flowers and for $1 you could fill up a cup with as many flowers as you wanted! The girls had SO much fun picking the ones they wanted to put in their cups.

While the girls and I picked flowers. Jack and Daddy got to go play on a tractor!

The girls and I on the hay ride back with the flowers they picked. Arn't they pretty?!

Feeding the goats.

More feeding of the goats.

Brooke and her flowers.

Chloe and her flowers. I'm really not sure what is up with her pose...

The girls wanted me to take a picture of the flowers when we were in the car.

All in all it was a GREAT trip out there. We've gone out there the past 4 years and have loved it every time! It's a great tradition.

I have made 2 other posts today here below. Stick around a few more minutes and check them out! Don't be afraid to leave me comments too! :)

Trunk or Treating

2008-10-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

Every year our ward does a trunk or treat. We had ours this past Friday and the kids had a GREAT time. They had a cake walk, a costume parade and then on the the trunk or treating.

Here are the kids all ready to go.

Brooklyn got her treat from the cake walk.

As did Chloe

Chloe before she won...

What a cute little witch.

Waiting for the costume parade to start. Don't they look like they are enjoying themselves??

Daddy helping Jack do the costume parade.

My little batman.

Now...I just have to limit their candy intake! And we haven't even had Halloween yet!

Jack's Field trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

Jack's little playgroup had a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Marble Falls this past friday. We were missing Ellery and half the time we were there Zach was asleep in the car. We still had a load of fun. Here are some pictures:

Jack's arms after paintign pumpkins. Nice.

Jack, Averee and Austin

Don't they look so happy to be there?

Jack riding the tractor. What you don't get to see is right after I took this picture he pulled the steering wheel off and flipped over backwards. I really wish I would have gotten that on video!

Where's Jack?

Jack feeding the goats.

Oh the hay ride, there was a foot sticking out from under the hay and Jack got a huge kick out of it.

Jack and mommy on the hay ride.

Jack and Austin watching the pumpkins go down the water..

There was a truck out there full of pumpkins that Jack kept calling Mater. It was cute.

All in all it was a fun day!

What am I going to do with this kid??

2008-10-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

I can't keep up with this kid! I am not liking this boy 2 year old stuff. I can not keep my eyes off of him for a second. He's in his room playing with his cars. Great. I leave to go to the bathroom. I'm not even away from him for 2 minutes. I go in his room and the front of his shirt is wet. Here is our conversation:

Me: Jack what is on your shirt?

Jack: Um, water.

Me: How did you get water on your shirt?

Jack: Um, toilet.

Me: were you playing in the toilet?

Jack: Um, no. kitty in the toilet!

Me: Jack! did you put the kitty in the toilet????

Jack: Uh huh!

Sure enough, found the kitty. He's laying on the floor licking hims wet self. Bathroom has water everywhere.
Here are some pictures.

Movie Night

2008-10-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Friday night has become movie night around our house. The kids love it. This past week was extra special because we got the new movie Sleeping Beauty! The girls thought it was GREAT because we didn't even have to return it! Here are a couple of pictures.

Here they are all set up with their blankets, chocolate milk and popcorn.

When they are quiet like this.....I remember why I love them! (haha!)

Trip to Dino Land

2008-10-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

They put in a Dino Land at Zilker Park. I thought that it was WAY overpriced, in fact they shouldn't even have charged to even get in. The kids had an OKAY fun time, but Chloe didn't like it at all. Oh well. Here are some pictures of our day.

Getting ready to go in.
Jaydon and Chloe

Brooke and Janae

Jack and Jaz

All through Zilker they have butterflies you can sit in.

The whole crew.

I tried hard to get a good one of all 3 of them. It'll work.

Chloe "posing"

Thanks for looking!

Goodbye Binki

2008-10-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

We took away Jack's binki last night. I have been wanting to do it for so long, but just never had the energy to fight it. I finally decided that it was time. He is 2 1/2 soon to be 3. He doesn't need it. For an hour or so before bed last night I talked it up HUGE.
"Jack is a big boy, he doesn't need his binki!!!"
"No more binki for Jackie boy!!"
"We need to throw your binki in the trash!!"
ect, ect, ect.

Well, the first 5 minutes went smoothly. He just talked to himself. It all went down hill from there. He ended up crying for about 40 minutes. Every 5-10 minutes I would go in there, give him a hug (not taking him out of his crib) and covering him back up. He finally went to sleep. Didn't wake up in the middle of the night for it so that helped. Little stinker was up at 6 AM though.

Anyways, here's to hoping that it all goes well and that it only takes a day or two for him to forget about it!

Happy Anniversary

2008-10-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to us! Stuart and I just celebrated our anniversary this past weekend with an overnight trip to San Antonio. We ate on the riverwalk and had a great time without our kids! I can't believe that it has been 8 years. Let's just hope the next 8 are just as good.

Oh the JOYS of parenthood.

2008-10-01T17:58:00.001-07:00

Sometimes it just plain sucks. Sucks I tell ya! It is so hard sometimes to be the parent and punish the child. Here's my story.

Tonight we are getting ready for bed and it is time to brush teeth. At school a couple of days ago, Brooklyn got a teethbrushing chart (they are learning about oral care I guess.) Anywho, she got this chart and LOVES to be able to mark down when she has brushed. Whatever works right? Well, Chloe took it upon herself tonight to scribble ALL over it. Making it pretty much useless. I wasn't in there when it happened and Brooklyn was obviously upset.
When I got into the bathroom Brooke told me that Chloe had done it.
I asked her "Chloe, did you do it?"
She looked me dead in the eye and told me that no she had not. *SIGH* I asked her who did it. Without hesitation she told me Jack did it. Okay, let's ask Jack. He almost always fesses up when he's done something.
"Jack, did you do this???"
"No, I didn't do it, Chloe did."
Uh huh.
So I asked her again and she finally said that yes she had. Now this is not the first time she has lied. She has been getting into the whole lying phase lately and she just can't get away with it. She needs to learn her lesson and work through it. So, as it was 20 minutes until bedtime, she got sent to bed. You can imagine how that went. Crying, wailing, gnashing of teeth. You name it. I even got the "I wish daddy was here and not you. I wish I had another mommy, ect ect." ugh! I didn't back down though. She stayed in her room but made about as much noise as you can.
I got the other kids in bed at bedtime then went in to deal with her. Explained to her about lying, ect... for about the 10th time or more. Will it ever sink in?? She said that she wanted me to stay in for a prayer, but she didn't want to say it. I straight up told her that I wasn't the one that needed to ask forgiveness from Heavenly Father, she was. So after going back and forth about it, she finally said it. Let me just tell you it was just about the most heart wrenching prayer I have ever heard. She said the normal things but said "Can you forgive me Heavenly Father?" AHHH! I about started bawling.
Though it was sad, very sad, I think she may have "gotten it" a little bit. She said it is very hard to tell the truth and pray about it, but I know for a fact that she felt better afterwards. She stopped crying and went right to bed.

It is SO SO hard sometimes doing this whole parenting gig. I am always so sure that I am mucking it all up and making a mess out of things. I don't think i'm doing it right most times. It is just hard. Sorry if that got a bit rambly and didn't make sense. I really feel I needed to come back here and add that this whole incident that happened was done with sincerity. It may have come across that I was a bit harsh with her, but I wanted to say that I was firm, but gentle! If you know Chloe, you would know that I have to be firm and gentle with her or else it is DRAMA to the extreme!! Things are good :)

Bikes

2008-09-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Last week Stuart took the kids out on a bike ride and Brooklyn's bike broke. So this past weekend we decided to get Brooke a new bike and also get Jack a bike. He's been riding a trike and a little plastic Dora bike. After visiting about 6 different Goodwills in the area, we got Brooklyn a bike for $5 and Jack a bike for $2! Super great deals. Stuart had to do some tinkering with them and exchanging parts from Brookes old bike but he got them working. After they were finished we drove them down to the middle school and rode bikes in the empty parking lot. The kids had such a blast! Here are some pictures

Brooklyn riding her "new" princess bike.

And off he goes. I totally love his helmet.

He was a little grumpy because he kept on putting on the brake and couldn't get it to work.

Stuart bought this handle bar to put on the back of Chloe's bike so she can learn to ride without training wheels.

What a dirty little face!

Dirty, but super pretty!

All 3 of them. Don't they look like they were having fun?

Jack on the way home. He wouldn't take off his helmet and wouldn't let go of his bike.

Jack's Playgroup

2008-09-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

Jack is in a little playgroup this fall. It is for 2 hours once a week. It is perfect. He is really enjoying it. This is a picture from when they were all at my house. I couldn't believe that all 5 of these 2 year olds sat and ate thier ENTIRE lunch for at least 20 minutes. It was a riot!

The Reason Why...

2008-09-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

I do not allow my kids to have pretend makeup. There is a good reason for this. It is NOT pretend! It is a mess. A huge mess. We were over at a friends house and her daughter has some. (Thanks Jeni!) We let them play in it for a while. This is what Brooke came out looking like. Pink and purple glitter ALL over her face. Chloe and Janae hooked her up. It was the hugest pain to get it off. She still hade glitter in her eyebrows and eyelashes for days. Never again Jeni, never again. haha!

Brooklyn's first day of preschool

2008-09-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn was so excited to have her first day of preschool. She went right in with no problems and had a fantastic day! She really seemed to like her class and her teacher. Let's hope for a wonderful year! Here are some pictures:

Showing off her "first day outfit"

All ready to go!

Brooke and Daddy.

Isn't she such a big girl!??!

Putting her lunch box in her cubby. Her class is the Busy Bees

Brooklyn really did like her teacher despite what you see in this picture. She was just being really shy.

CAT UPDATE! We have named the cat. It is comfirmed that it is a boy. We have named him Chuck Norris.

Brooklyn goes to dance....and shoes

2008-09-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn had dance today. This is her 2nd week in and she LOVES it. She would go every day if she could. This morning first thing, and for the 2 hours until it was time to go - she was asking "is it time to go yet" ever 10-15 minutes. LOL. I am glad that she loves it so much! Miss Lyndsee is her teacher and we are so glad about that! Here are a few pictures.

Ready to dance!

A little shuffle kick action going on here.

Can't you tell she's having so much fun?!?

This past summer while I was out in Utah on vacation, we were at the park one evening for dinner and they were having a fair. In one of the booths they had these shoes that I *LOVED*. Best yet, they were CHEAP to go with it. Unfortunatly, there were none in my size.
My friend Robyn just gave them to me for my birthday!!! Arn't they fabulous! Brooklyn sure adored them and wouldn't take them off for about an hour!

Now I need a chance to wear them!

New addition to our family

2008-08-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

Isn't it the cutest?? We don't know yet if it is a boy or a girl. The lady we got it from said it was a boy. My friend Jeni said it was a girl. I think it looks like a boy. We take it to the vet Tuesday so I will find out for sure.

Problem is we have no name. Any suggestions? A girl I was thinking Paisley.
For a boy Stuart was thinking Uncle Rico (If you haven't seen Napolean Dynomite, you wouldn't understand that name)

If you have a suggestion, shoot it my way.

Chloe's First Day of First Grade!

2008-08-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

Getting her shoes on!

Ready to go!

Walking with Jack.

Chloe and her teacher Mrs. Wray

Sitting at her new desk!

Good luck Chloe! I can't believe she's already in first grade. She was so excited but pretty nervous. She could only eat her yogurt this morning for breakfast. HAHA!

Dancing

2008-08-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

I know i've posted a bunch of videos in the last little while, but I promise you that this one is worth the watch!

Last night we were at Stuarts parents house for dinner. We were all sitting in the living room and Jack was the center of attention. He was up table dancing. SO. FUNNY! I got some video of him busting his moves. Make sure you scroll down and shut off my music before you view it.

I'm an Aunt.....AGAIN!

2008-08-12T13:16:00.000-07:00

My brother and his wife Janel just had their second baby today :)
They had a little girl and they named her Xylee.

He sent me a text message with her picture, but for some reason I can't get it to work on here. I will post a picture as soon as I can.

Yeah! I'm so happy for them!

I'm a bad blogger

2008-08-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

I have been terrible lately. I just haven't had much of anything to blog about. We had Stuarts family reunion this past weekend and I didn't even take a single picture to post.

I am sick of my layout too. For some reason it takes FOREVER to laod. I will change it soon.

Oh yeah. And can school start alread????

Oh Jack......

2008-08-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

What will we ever do with you??
Barbie,
Thank you for letting your daughter teach my son such wonderful "tricks"

A Cute Video

2008-07-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

Just one more reason Jack cracks me up.....

Make sure you turn off my music so you can hear it.

You gotta watch this

2008-07-25T17:49:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I find a video that I can't not share. This is great. You really don't need the volume, so don't worry about turning off my music.

Happy Birthday Barbie!!!!

2008-07-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

Barbie - I know your going to kill me, but I just couldn't resist! For those who don't know Barbie, she is my sister-in-law. Our husbands are brothers. I had to publicly wish you a VERY VERY Happy Birthday. What a better way to do it then post a tribute to you. So, I dug up all the best pictures of you that I could find. I hope you enjoy your wonderful day!

Jack gets a hair cut and.....a shiner

2008-07-24T14:24:00.001-07:00

Jack was starting to look like a bush monkey again, so the dude got a hair cut.

Jack also got a shiner. We have Uncle Johnny to thank for that! haha. He "says" Jack tripped over his shoes and fell into the corner of the table on his cheek. But I'm pretty sure Johnny pushed him. Kidding. He really did trip.

Here are 2 pictures to show you what he now looks like.

Sea World

2008-07-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

What kind of nutty family decides to go to Sea World on a Saturday you ask? Um - that would be us. CRAZY. NUTTY. INSANE. Take your pick. It was super super busy. Stuarts brother (Darren) graduated from the Airforce bootcamp and they had a family day at Sea World so we thought we'd tag along.
The morning actually wasn't too bad. We saw a show, did some rides, had some lunch. After lunch (didnt manage to do that until 2) we decided to head to the waterpark side to cool off. That is when Jack fell asleep, you'll see in the pictures. When we got out of there about 4:30 and got out of the waterpark...the main areas were wall to wall people. It was absolutely rediculous! We quit. Packed it up and headed home. We got season passes, so we don't feel totally gyped. Were going to go again a few times on weekdays when they aren't so busy! It was just nuts. Fun though. We got my mother in law to even ride the big loopy rollercoaster! Anyways, here is some of the day in pictures....

Here are the girls and I getting ready to ride the kiddie rollercoaster. They loved it!

Jack and Daddy watching a show.

Jack - how is that watermelon bud?

Dadddy and Brooke eating.

Here you can see Brooklyn, Chloe, Uncle Adam and Granny (right behind Brooke) Enjoying some lunch :)

Such a silly boy.

Getting REALLY tired and edgy!

Jack finally fell asleep and we just layed by the pool for over an hour. Isn't he sweet?

Adam Returns!

2008-07-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

Stuart's brother Adam has been serving in the San Fernado mission for the last 2 years. He got home last night! We all met him at the airport to great him. Here are a few pictures.

Welcome home Adam!

Giving mom a hug!

Glad to be home!

Jack and Daddy. Jack was being a wild man the whole time.

Stuart and Adam

Yeah! We're so glad to have Adam home!

I just have to share a few pictures of Jack even though it doesn't go with what I was talking about before. They are just cute. Jack had to wear these goggles during lunch and he looks hilarious!

Wake Surfing

2008-07-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here is Jack giving it a try.

Chloe's turn.

Brooklyn decided that it is just not for her! haha. We had a great time at the lake yesterday!

Chloe's New Haircut

2008-07-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

Chloe had to get a new haircut. The whole time we were in Utah she threw fits everytime I had to brush her hair. It was getting to the point of ridiculous. Her hair is super thick and gets tangly really easily. I warned her that if she didn't quit, that when we got home I was going to have it cut. (She had been wanting to grow it out) Well, it just got worse, so yesterday we had it cut. I love love love it though. She does too, so it's a win/win.

Here she is on our trip.

And here is yesterday after.

What do you think?

I've also just posted 2 other posts from the last of our trip. Don't forget to check those out. I am so glad to finally be home!

Our Weekend in Kansas

2008-07-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July!!! Here are pictures of our fun weekend in Kansas. Warning: There are a TON of pictures.

Chloe, Brooklyn and Carly sporting their 4th tees.

Here is Jack just having a great time.

Jack didn't go to the movie with us so I took out his car seat. Bye Jack!

All the kids wanted to ride in the van with me on the way to the movie. Here they are being silly.

Whenever we go to Kansas, I have to get a picture of Brooklyn and Owen. They have always looked so much alike.

The girls and I.

Getting ready to watch Kunfu Panda.

Here are the cousins eating dinner.

These are some dirty dirty girls. By the end of the day all the kids were SO SO dirty!

Grandpa had an old powder gun that everyone wanted to take a turn shooting. Here is Barbie taking her turn. Isn't that a neat picture?

They made me have a turn as well. I'll have you know that I hit my target dead on - Thank you very much!

Uncle Scott helping Carly "shoot" the gun.

Daddy and the girls

Chloe and Jack. Don't they just look happy? They were having a great time!

Grandpa giving the kids a ride.

Jack and Daddy. This was Jacks favorite spot to be. Isn't that so cute?!

Brooke, Owen and Jazzy. She is so stinken cute!

Chloe and Tyler. These two are like peas in a pod.

We had a little birthday celebration for Tyler when we were there. This is all of my FILs grandkids.

Jack and Carly sitting on Tylers dirt bike. Jack loved this thing. It was just about his size. I can see him asking for one in about a year or so. HAHA!

Coming Home

2008-07-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

Finally it's time to pick up daddy and start our trek back to Texas. We drove from SLC to Denver the first day, then the next day we drove from Denver to Kansas where we were spending the 4th of July weekend.

Here are the kids waiting for daddy

The really loved riding the people movers at the airport.

Here is Jack just chillin in the car while we were driving.

Once we got to Denver, we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese to play and let them get out their energies.

It was a long long drive. But now let's look at pictures from Kansas....

Our last day

2008-07-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

Well, we survived our last day here. Barely. My kids have been in quite a mood all day. I am thinking that they are just ready to go home. I am too. Stuart flies in tomorrow and we start our trek home.
Today was okay fun. We met up with Stuart's cousin and her kids. Chloe was pretty excited. And would you believe I forgot my camera?!? I was so upset. I took a few pictures with my camera phone so the quality is just not great. We went to the Childrens Gardens at Thanksgiving Point.

Left to Right: Maya, Annika, Chloe and Brooklyn

Jack

Chloe and Annika

Brooke and Maya

Afterwards we had manditory rest time. Then tonight we had dinner at the park with my Mom and Robin. I forget my camera again! UGH! What a day huh? We're ready to leave I think. We've had such a fun vacation though! I am hoping to update while were vacationing in Kansas before we come home. So check back! See you all Texans soon!

Monday Madness

2008-06-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

Wow. What a day. We sure had fun though. Chloe and I had our Lagoon day. We were there for 8 1/2 hours. We pretty much rode ever single ride that she could except the two biggest rollercoasters. We had a BLAST! We met up with some friends and had a fantastic time. Here are pictures of our day.

Chloe showing her stamp. Ready for action

Riding the tram.

I'm not entirely sure what we are riding here....

Waiting to ride the Log Flume. We had ridden the Rattlesnake Rapids before and I got completely soaked. I had the camera put away, so there are no pictures of that.

Stopping for some dippin dots!

Chloe and her friend Tori. They had SO much fun together and always wanted to ride together without mommy (for the most part)

Lou, Tori and Chloe. We were riding the Tidal Wave. SO fun!

Chloe and Tori swinging.

Waiting to ride the Wild Mouse. That ride is nuts.

Chloe and Tori making a point that they ARE big enough to ride most of the rides. Chloe was just barely 46in. They made her check every single time. It was kinda annoying!

What idiot made them have to post this sign??

Chloe getting ready to ride the Spider. I can't believe she rode it!

Mommy and Chloe

Waiting to ride the bat. Patiently!

And the day comes to a close...

What a fantastic day! Chloe had a blast as well as I did. It was especially fun to play with friends!

Tomorrow is our last day here then Wednesday we make our trek to Kansas for the weekend. Have a great week everyone!

Super Sunday

2008-06-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

It was a pretty good Sunday. We started our day off by going to the Ward that we were in right before we moved to Texas. It was okay, other then the fact that my kids were complete monsters! The whole room was pretty quiet (there are alot of older folks) and then there were mine, making all the noises! Joy.
Afterwards we drove the Alpine Loop (up through American Fork and Provo canyons) with my mom and stopped at Cascades Springs to walk around a bit.
We got home late afternoon and had dinner with Uncle John and Aunt Mary and just hung out at thier house.

Here are the kids with Great Granny Miller (Stuarts Grandma)

Here we are at Cascade Springs
Chloe was a touch onry. can you tell?

Jack and Brooke in a tree.

Isn't it pretty?

Cute kids.

Chloe and Brooke playing the piano

Going for a tractor ride. Jack was in heaven!

Uncle John taking the kids on the 4 wheeler

The kids had fun this evening playing in the river in Marys backyard.

Todays been a pretty good day. Bed time though. We have a busy day. Brooke and Jack are spending the day with Grandma Perry and I'm taking Chloe to Lagoon. Look for really fun pictures tomorrow!