Samson Musical

Adia and Avery have been in a choir/drama class for the semester and finally all their hard work has paid off. They both did such a good job at the performance! It was a super cute musical with a super great message. When my mom gives me the video I will see if Kyle can get it on here somehow.

Mother's Day

First of all let me just wish each and every mother, every girl who wants to be a mother, every girl with no kids but mothers plenty of people in her life and especially all you first time moms a very HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! I appreciate each of you for what you have taught me on this journey!

So here is a glimpse into what we did...

On Saturday Grandma Jenny joined us on uor trip to the Folsom Convalescent Home to help put on a Mother's Day Tea for the residents. We had worked very hard making the tissue flower arrangements for each of them and we even got to deliver them to the rooms with people who were not up to attending the party. It was a lot of work but we are so glad we did it considering the joy it brought to some of their faces. These ladies deserve so much more than we could ever do for them. It brings tears to my eyes every time I go there and see how "forgotten" they seem to be. THANK YOU so much to Grandma, Ashley, Danielle, Linda, Stephenie, Jovie and Cheryll for joining us for that special day. It was the highlight of my weekend!


Cute story: We had planned on "entertaining" the guests for about 15 minutes worth of singing and the lady who heads the event asked us to keep going for another 25 minutes after that. So the kids were amazing and just kept singing songs. At one point Kenyon gets up and says "I've got one" and he goes and stands on the piano bench and sings a cute turtle song ending with pretend hiccups that everyone seemed to love. Well, he must have loved the attention because about 5 minutes later he says he wants to do another and total impromptu he writes his own song to me and sings to an unknown tune "I love my mom and I love to kiss her everyday" then jumps down and runs to me with a hug and kiss and says "that was for Mother's Day".



On Sunday I thought it would be nice to go to Tahoe (to escape the heat) and take the kids on a nice walk or something outdoorsy (I like that word). Well, I think I forgot that I HATE being outside in real nature (as opposed to landscaped beauty) and although I got tons of great pictures and the kids had a great time I left this event in tears and swearing to never go outside again. Kyle wasn't very happy with me either and had a few choice words to describe how out of control he thinks I am. I honestly think he thinks I'm the only person on earth who isn't into going on long walks in the dirt while bugs jump all over me. Thankfully he got over it quickly. I so badly wish I liked that stuff and I keep trying thinking someday I will change but it's not working. So for the record - I do not like bugs, I do not like dirt and I do not like heat!!!! And I HATE anything that combines the 3 of those things!

After my traumatic experience in the forest we came home and blew up the kiddie pool and while the little kids played in the water Kyle, Adia and I (yes, I) finished my garden. Not a fun thing but I needed to get it done and was SO glad Kyle was willing to help me because although I want my kids to learn to garden and appreciate all things natural it's a far stretch for me and being in the garden area too long gives me the creeps. I should never have taught the kids about insects this year - all it did is freak me out all the more about nature!

This is from a couple weeks ago when Kyle brought in the dirt for the beds... Adison LOVED helping daddy and it was SO CUTE watching them work so hard together. Everytime Adison walked by she would say "I'm making you your garden mom"... ahhhh.

And to finish off the weekend Kaden stayed up late and was in the best mood ever! He was so silly and so fun. Kyle, Adia, Avery and I seriously laughed at him for an hour straight.

And that's it... I'm so glad I'm a mom and so grateful that Kyle is the father of my kiddos (and so lovingly puts up with me). I feel BLESSED for sure!

Oh Kenyon...

Kenyon and his butt buddy!

(WARNING: you might be tempted to judge me as a mom after reading this and that wouldn't be nice... I swear the girls never had any of these issues and are usually bruise free)

Here are just 3 of my highlights with Kenyon this past week... for real!


1. Kenyon loses our bird and 2 days later when cleaning his room for company I pull back the sheets to find bird poo all over under there and ask Kenyon if the day he lost the bird he had taken it in his room. He says "oh yeah... I was playing my game and she was bugging me so I put her under there to be still". He has a queen size quilt and it is heavy enough to keep a little parakeet stuck in one place for sure. Needless to say I got Avery to come in and help me because I am now aware there will be a dead bird appearing at any moment. Well Avery ended up finding Blueberry (bird's name) alive and only slightly damaged. When I look over at Kenyon he has this sad look on his face and I ask him what is wrong and if he wanted to have killed our bird. He responds in all seriousness by saying "well, I wanted to see a real dead bird in my bed. I've never seen that before."


2. I'm downstairs visiting with a friend the other day while our kids are upstairs playing in the girls room, that now houses the teeter totter, and hear a bunch of kids screaming "Kenyon's on the roof". For a second I think it's a joke and then realize they said Kenyon so it probably is true. At that point I run upstairs and find a guilty looking boy standing next to the ripped screen, talking a mile a minute and trying to somehow blame his stupid choice on his sisters!




3. Today right after getting home with the kids and telling Kenyon that he can not go with the girls down to the nature trail and I am busy getting Kaden laid down for nap my neighbor (2 houses down and across the street) calls me and our conversation goes something like this...

Amy "hello"
Phoenix "Hey Amy"
"yeah, what's up"
"well, did you send Kenyon over"
"No, was he over there just now?"
"Yeah, he was saying something about how you wanted him to invite me to your mothers day party"
The conversation quickly ended after we realized what had happened and when I look at Kenyon he is standing there guilty and scared but can not help the giggle as he says "I don't want a spanking" - obviously what he wanted and what happened are two very different things!

Now all of this is a problem in and of itself - just trying to figure out how to deal with him and keep him alive. But it gets worse when I'm telling you Kaden thinks Kenyon is so cool and is actually a bit ahead of Kenyon in all that he does at the old age of 12 months.


Here is Kaden on top of the play structure getting all upset because he sees his mean big sister Adia has come to take him down.



Going Down...





Totally defeated...


Here is one to show off his new bruised up head - just like his brother!

And here he is after bath tonight when he decided to sneak outside to hang out on the table. This picture is actually of him when he was ready to get down... I missed him walking around up there. (BTW - for all of you who think I am a horrible mom now... I watched him sneak out and do this just to see what he was up to)


Kenyon - I love you so much and am trying so hard today to remember that God made you just the way you are and someday somehow all of this creative energy is going to be used to bring Him glory. I don't know how but I know it's possible. You really are so sweet and although you are in trouble most of the day (or you should be) you are such a happy kid and for that I am so grateful! I don't know what to do with you but what comes natural... laugh at you and love you and that is exactly what I am going to do. Oh and just so you know - no matter how hard you try to wear me down...

I WILL SURVIVE!

and you better!

Happy Birthday Avery and Kaden

April 21st we celebrated 2 of our kids birthdays. Avery turned 6 and Kaden turned 1. Thank you to all of our friends and family who came out and celebrated the wonderful gifts both of them are to us. This is a long post but I'm not apologizing for them anymore - you all know I like to talk and this is kind of the same thing.

Kaden John - 1

Foods: All of a sudden you stopped letting us feed you and really want to do it all by yourself. We are trying to figure out what finger foods you will eat. So far we know you like eggs, sausage, crackers, fruits and not much else.
Family: Mom is your favorite but dad takes a close second. Adia takes such good care of you even though you are so strong now that changing your diaper has turned into a big task for her. Avery is super good to you but forgets you are only 1. Kenyon already influences you and that scares us. It's already obvious you think he is cool! Adison is a bully and you get the raw end of that quite often. She thinks she loves you but more often she just wants to push you around a bit.
Favorites: Animals, balls, and mostly you LOVE to roam free
Walking: You stunned the world by taking steps at 6 1/2 months and fully walking at 7. You are a pro now and are beginning to be a good climber and problem solver which for me is a BIG PROBLEM.
Talking: Mom, Adia (a-ya) and dad are your most frequently used words. You have also said Avery (a-vee), Kaden, Sarah and ball a few times. Other than that you use your good old screams, cries and whines to get what you want.
Personality: You are very independent and although you scared me that you would never be sweet lately you have begun to give me lots of love and I LOVE it!

Avery Taylor - 6

What is your favorite food? "brocolli and cherries because they are really healthy"

What is your favorite animal? "Ummm... cheetah, horse and cat"

What is your favorite sport? "Soccer and basketball"

Do you already know who God has picked for you to marry? "Well, Adia said I should marry Ian but Trevor said I should marry Ethan."

Well, what do you think? "I'm not sure yet"

What is your favorite thing to do? "Kiss my mom and dad and jump rope and love my mom and dad also"

How smart are you? "Pretty smart like super duper smart"

Do you like school? "I like doing Kindergarten book 2 and my 1st grade books and I liked doing school with Grandma"

What is your favorite subject in school? "art class"

What is your favorite book? "The Dr. Seuss book Grandpa Paul always reads me"

Where is your favorite place? "To Grandma's house because she has a pool"

What do you want to be when you grow up? "An artist or a nurse"

What do you know about God? "That he created the heavens and the earth and this whole wonderful world."

What does God think about you? "I'm great"

Tell me about your mom - "She is so pretty and sweet"

What do you like to do with dad? "Jump rope"

Tell me about Adia - "I like her because she is my sister and God created her"

What do you like to do with Kenyon? "Shoot rubber bands at Adia"

Tell me about Adison - "I like to play with her because she is nice and is careful with my ponies even though she already broke one of the legs off"

What do you think about Kaden? "He is so cute and cuddly"

Party Pictures

My wonderful friend made the cupcakes and toppers for me and as you can see they turned out AWESOME!

Ready to party!

Kaden really wanted to pinch the candle not blow the candle.

Kyle and I with our 2 birthday babies.

Avery kept posing and asking me to take pictures of her.

This is the first time I have seen him push himself down a slide.

Adison enjoying the treats.

Kaden and his favorite toy.

Kaden taught cousin Carson to pose.

Uncle Ty trying to help ware Kenyon out.


Water balloon volleyball


Dinner time!

More volleyball!

Looking for the bunnies that kept peeking out at us and then going back to hide.

This was the cutest thing ever... such a boy already!

Avery spends most of her day wandering around doing stuff like this.

Here the kids are all chasing Adia with water guns.