Thomas

We went to Durango this last weekend to see Thomas! Rylan was so excited...Hannah was too. Bethany was a little over it...but hey we all have to sacrifice a little. I'm sure Rylan could of done without their ballet recital.Anyways...we parked at the mall there and rode a bus over to the train depot. It was so much more convenient then trying to find parking there. Plus, the kids love riding buses!

While we were waiting for the bus, Rylan was showing me thomas on his shirt.

Dallen having fun pushing the stroller. He has started to take a few steps by himself...

Before our train ride we went and did some of the fun activities. Playing with the train table was Ry's favorite..he wasn't very happy when we pulled him away and could of stayed there all day.

Rylan was so anxious to ride on thomas. He enjoyed all of it!

Maybe he enjoyed it a little too much and wore himself out! Or maybe it was the fact that he woke up at 4 am and didn't go back to sleep. He did stay awake for most of the train ride though.

As opposed to last year when he feel asleep the minute we got on it. Silly boy.

We had a fun little getaway. It's always nice to get out of town. We stayed the night in Farmington and discovered that they have a Costa Vida (pretty much identical to Cafe Rio) there...so we got our sweet pork salads. yum! That was a nice surprise! We also had fun swimming at the hotel...that was probably the girl's highlight of the trip.

redecorating

Rylan decided to redecorate for me. There were some nails on the wall, where I had taken down some pictures. He thought that these would be a good addition. I left them up for about a week, just so I could laugh every time I passed them. As more and more of his personality comes out, I am finding that he is very creative. He got tired of standing on his chair in his room to turn his light on, so now he uses this hook. He will also grab one of daddy's shoes (since they are the biggest) to help him turn on lights. Or whatever else he thinks will work.

I feel like I am finally being able to enjoy this little boy again. The last year has been a hard one with him. He is as stubborn as they come and has enjoyed throwing huge temper tantrums that would last over an hour, and happen throughout the day. I discovered that a lot of this was due to lack of sleep....skipping his naps and waking up between 4:30 and 5:30. He was a little terror. But I feel like we are coming to an end with this phase, and he is once again, my sweet little boy. I enjoy him telling me randomly throughout the day...I love you mommy. He has the funniest sense of humor, and likes to make us all laugh. He loves his little brother and will go give Dallen a hug and tell him that he is his buddy. I keep saying that is it so nice to have Rylan "back". I just hope he decides to stay awhile!

harry potter... our way

Bethany decided that she wanted her own room. She was tired of Hannah keeping her up at night and waking her up in the morning, (which only happens once in a while.) I didn't want to move Hannah and Rylan together...they would play too much, and Rylan is a early riser...6:00 is sleeping in. So I didn't want to take the chance that he would wake Hannah up that early. For the same reasons I didn't want to move Rylan and Dallen together. And I'm afraid if I put Dallen and Hannah together, Hannah would be a little too much of a mommy to him. She is a great helper, but sometimes can help a little too much. So I wasn't willing to move any of the other kids out of their rooms, so Bethany could have her own room.

So I told her that we could set up a air mattress under the stairs if she wanted. She was so excited about this idea. So yes, she is sleeping in the closet under the stairs, by her own free will. I thought it would only last a couple days, but it's been over a week now. She is loving it. Funny what makes them happy.

punishment

We had a talk with the kids about what a good punishment would be when they choose to not obey or to argue with eachother. They came up with lots of good ideas, but my favorite was one of Bethany's.

"I know, we could not be able to play with Dallen for a week."

That is how much he is loved. It would be a punishment to not get to play with him! But I think that would be equally a punishment for Dallen, and he is still too little for that!

On other news, the man of the hour is 13 months today.

He is still toothless, and is so close to walking, which I have mixed feelings about.

His favorite foods are banana's and strawberries...he doesn't like to eat much else.

He has learned how to express his opinions by screaming...and lets you know what he does or doesn't want.

His favorite place to be is in his brother's room playing with his train table and cars.

A true boy!!

never ending ballet week

This last week was recital week for the girl's ballet class. After two nights of pictures, (their class pictures weren't on the same night.) 1 dress rehearsal and 3 recital nights, we are done! The girls had a blast, and it was fun watching them perform...but it was a long week!

Getting ready for their dances!

The girls did a great job and we are so proud of them! They are great little ballerina's!

slip n slide

Summer is in full swing at our house! Now if we can just get the a/c working in the van, that would be wonderful! I will never take it for granted again...especially in 100 degree temps!

This is one of the highlights of our summer at our house! The kids love the slip n slide. And I guess the parents do to, it brings out the inner kid in us! The girls kept sliding on their knees, so I had to show them how it was done! They thought it was so funny that I would do it with them. We had a good time though!
This one justed watched this time. But next time I'm sure he will be out getting wet too!

family pictures

We got some family pictures taken. It was about time...the last ones we got taken, was when Dallen was a week old. I love how they turned out!

(click on the photo to see the rest of the pictures)

newsies

Bethany's school class put on the play "Newsies". She was a Judge E.A. Monohan, and a newsie in it. She is now a newsie expert and can sing all the songs better than I can. She did a great job! I was so impressed that these K-4th graders could memorize and perform a 30 page play. Bethany had so much fun and they all did awesome!

grandma J

Ky's mom came to visit a few weeks ago. We all love when she comes to visit. We went to Cliff's with Bethany school class, went to the garden's and just hung out and enjoyed her company.

She kept posing and asking me to take her picture!

I love his face in this picture. So funny!

This boy was spoiled and was read book after book by grandma. He would sit there all day letting her read books to him!

She really doesn't like getting her picture taken, and often pulls funny faces. We did make her get a picture with the kids though!

#5

That's how many haircut's this little guy has had in his 1st year!

His hair grow like crazy...even faster than his brothers I think. I've decided that I really don't like it this short though. So I have another month or so to figure out how to cut it while keeping it longer.