Star Spangled Banner

This is too cute. It's my sweet Nolan singing The Star Spangled Banner (listen closely to the words he says). . .and Simon trying to steal the spotlight.

A Few Random Things. . .

I thought I'd post a few random things from the last month or so.

Simon has been playing soccer this Spring. Thankfully, for Ben's sake as well as my own (because now I don't have to hear Ben whining about Simon's skill level), Simon is a ton better! He actually goes for the ball instead of following in the back of the pack. His new love is being goalie.


This is what Bella does when she doesn't get her way. . .and she looks like this a lot. :)

I found this little fella in our laundry room. Nolan wanted to keep it as a pet, but I told him he needed to take it outside. . .he'd be happier there. :) When Nolan didn't come back, I went to check on him. I found him sitting on our porch with his new buddy.


We went to this great place for the ward camp out. We only stayed for an evening to let the kids play and have s'mores. . .but they had a great time! I definitely want to go back there again.
Nolan, Simon and Bella played in the lake, and used their water bottles to catch tadpoles. Malia was fascinated by the little frog Ben found. The poor froggie got a little squished. . .I'm sure he was happy to get away from Malia's tiny pincers.


Last but not least. . .for Mother's Day, Simon woke up early and made me breakfast in bed! He's such a cute boy. He made me oatmeal (which I'm sure he made before he got anything else), got me milk with ice, an apple, string cheese and a rice crispy treat. He gave me a pink cup and green plate and bowl because he knew those were my favorite colors. It was his idea to do breakfast in bed. He said he wanted me to have the best Mother's Day ever. Ben told him to wait until 7:00 to bring it to me. . .but as you can see from the clock, I think he got a little excited.
Here is this year's Mother's Day picture. It's not the greatest, but it's the best we can do after church, before nap time, and with four kids who hate getting their picture taken. As you can see, they aren't interested in smiling or looking at the camera. I do love these kids! With breakfast in bed, a three hour nap, dinner and dessert at a good friends house, and me not changing any diapers. . .this was the best Mother's day ever. :)

Malia Walking

I was super worried that Malia would start walking while she is with Ben in Utah. I wasn't very happy about it either. Lucky for me, she took her first steps yesterday! I'm convinced that it's because she wants her mom to be happy. :) This video is the second time she walked. . .after trying to get her to do it again for well over an hour. The little stinker! See it Here.

Simon's Bubble Trick

Simon learned this trick at school. Who knew you could do that with a little soap and water? See it Here.

Super Fast

I'm sitting outside on a blanket with Malia. We're watching the kids ride their bikes. . .LOVING the fantastic weather! Anyway . . . Isabella made up a cheer. This is how it goes. . .

Bella: Who is supa fast and not so slow?
Mom: Bella! Bella!

Repeated a gazillion times.

Beaches, Bikes & Birthdays

Here are some pictures from our latest trip to Myrtle Beach. Ben was supposed to be running the marathon, however, he hurt his leg in January and wasn't able to run. We had the hotel room booked already, so we decided to go anyway! It was a little depressing that Ben couldn't run the race after training so hard, for so long. (The last run he did was 18 miles) But we did have a good time. I do miss the mountains. . . a ton. . .but I could see myself being a beach girl. I really enjoy the ocean. . .almost as much as the mountains.
The first picture is Malia in the car eating chicken nuggets on the way there. She was so happy to have those nuggets! I love how she scrunches up her little nose when she's super happy.


We went to Broadway on the Beach one night. If you've ever been to Disneyland, it's just like Downtown Disney. . .a whole bunch of stores and such. Anyway, we gave each of the kids $10 to spend. Nolan and Simon immediately found their favorite stuffed animal. Bella bought $10 worth of candy. . .and it was gone five minutes later. That girl has a serious sweet tooth!

We got the kids new bikes and helmets. They were thrilled to death! We got them on a Friday night. The next morning, Malia and I woke up at 8:00. . .the kids never sleep in that long. . .ever! I went to go see what they were doing and they were all outside riding their new bikes! Simon had helped Bella and Nolan get their helmets on, and they were having a grand time!


I had my 29th birthday. Ben surprised me and came home early to take us all out to Chili's. I was very glad I didn't have to cook! We also went to Target and Ben told the kids they could each have some money to buy mom a present.
Nolan said "I know what I'm going to get. . .a fishing pole!"
Ben replied, "I don't think mom will want a fishing pole, Nolan."
Nolan, in a very matter of fact sort of way, said "Well, I'm going to get it so she can share with me."
Love that boy! :)

Simon turned seven yesterday.
I can't believe my baby is seven! I tried to get a couple of good pictures of him. He was itching to play his new Pokemon game. . .so this is the best we could do. . .


Then, today Malia turned one! She was so happy today! I think she must have known it was her birthday. :) Here are some pictures that I took of her little party and a few that we took in the yard, just for kicks and giggles.





And I just think this is a cute picture of the sisters. . .

Explanation and Myrtle Beach

So I decided to make my blog private for a few reasons. One of them is because Ben showed me how to get our HD videos on the computer. . .I'd like to put video on here occasionally and I'm not terribly comfortable with the videos of the kids being accessible to all the crazies in the world. Another reason is that a while ago, the people who lived in our house before us searched for us on the internet and found our blog. The lady read one of my posts that said how dirty the house was and how we had to do some major cleaning (and it was disgusting!) and got offended. She was worried that our neighbors would read our blog and think less of them. She also thought that we should have been grateful for getting new carpet yada yada yada. Anyway, among some other things, we decided it would be best to only allow our friends and family to view our blog. :)

Anyway, if you are interested, click here if you would like to see the video from our latest trip to Myrtle Beach. I will try to post some pictures soon. This is a sort of long video. . .but you should at least watch the end of it to see Malia on the beach. Trust me. . .it's worth it! :)

Going Private

Our blog is going to go private in a few weeks. If you would like to continue reading the horribly infrequent updates, you can leave a comment with your email address. I have changed the settings so I have to approve any comments. That way, nobody will be able to see the email address you leave but me. :)

Family Pictures 2010

Out of over 400 pictures taken. . .we got one good one. I guess that's all that matters, right? :)
The individual pictures of the kids weren't nearly as difficult! Thank goodness.



Simon



Nolan



Isabella



Malia

Our Little. . .Friend

Here is our lovely visitor. It was living in the garage. . .yikes!
And after pictures. . .it got squished by a wonderfully big shoe.
I hope you enjoyed your stay little spider! :)