Big Girls!

Riley Turns 3!!!
Riley had her birthday almost 2 weeks ago. She is now a big
3 year old! We had some family over for a little shin-dig. We played in the pool and had way too many presents. She is truly a girly girl and loved every piece of bling that she got. She had been asking me for weeks to have balloons and a butterfly cake, so she got her wishes along with things she didn't even know she wanted. She loved trying on all her new clothes and playing with her new toys.






By the end of the day she was worn out but wouldn't part with her fun stuff so she took it all to bed like a true goober! We love that crazy kid!!







Lexi Goes To Nursery!
So after 5 months of having 2 babies not in nursery, we finally got to enjoy a Sunday with just one. Lexi went to nursery last week and loved it. Whenever I would peek through the door she would be standing there sucking her thumb or playing with the toys. She was cute. She didn't cry and just walked right in. I'm sure it helped to have Riley in there with her. Eliott was a little sad, he has had Lexi for all of church since she was 4 months old. They were church buddies and she would always cuddle with him on Sunday so it was a little bittersweet for him. But I say YAY!!

My Hike!!

So I had this awesome opportunity to go on a hike with 3 of my 4 brothers and 4 other guys. It was a blast. Yes I was the only girl. Which really wasn't that bad. I was a little worried how that would go, but my brother's father-in-law was the only one that was a wimp and grossed out by my having to go to the bathroom. It was kinda funny.
So this hike was in the Paria Canyon. It is on the border of Utah and Arizona, near Page. It was 50 miles and we did it in 6 days. It was so much fun. It is gorgeous country. The canyon walls the first 2 days were so close you could touch both walls at the same time for most of the 24 miles. It was crazy pretty. We had to walk through muddy water holes, and climb over, around, and through huge boulders that were stuck in the canyon. It was definitely an adventure. Most of it was through sand too. So it was pretty tough hiking. I carried all my own stuff. My pack weighed in between 40-45 depending on how much water we had to carry. I even had to set up my own tent (which I never have had to do before so I was pretty proud of myself!!) There is this one part where the boulders have created a "boulder jam" so there is a rope tied at the top and you have to lower your pack down and then repel down. That was sooo fun! So after the first grueling day, that was supposed to be only 8 miles but really ended up being 12 miles, the question for everyone was, "would you do it again?" That day and every day after my answer was always the same. "Heck yes I would!!" And now 12 blisters, 50 miles, 1 case of near heat exhaustion, and a sore knee later my answer is still "heck yes" I had a blast and am so grateful for that opportunity! I wouldn't have been able to do it though, without the help of my awesome friends, Kristine and Melissa and my wonderful hubby who all took care of my adorable kids! Thanks to you guys and to my awesome brothers who included a "girl" on their hike!

My fun laundry room!

Okay so I decided one night that if you have to do laundry, and we all do, that it should be as fun as possible. So I gave my laundry room a makeover a little bit ago. I painted it this way fun color (my brothers tell me it is the "fish bowl" room. And then I hung the baskets on the wall. So now I don't have laundry all over my floor anymore and I can sort it as it gets dirty. And to top it off, 1 full basket is a full load! so I know exactly when to do laundry, no half loads. Then I hung a cute curtain in front of it so I can pretend I don't have a mess when people come over. There is also a shelf on the right side to put my bleach and what not. Okay so cool baskets!
Next I had this weird empty space in the corner so I built some shelves into it. I put all my small kitchen appliances on it. Can I tell you I use them so much more while they are there? I love it. I also gave the kids a shelf for their crayons and markers and play doh and now they see it more often and use it more. To top it off I don't have to stop what I am doing to get it for them. And I put a small laundry basket under the bottom shelf for the "outside shoes" so now I don't have dirt clumps coming off shoes all the way through the house and we just keep the really dirty ones in there and the cute ones in the closet (the reason for this post is, a friend of mine had a good "after" method of laundry, you know folding and putting away, so I thought I would share my good "before method of laundry). Now if somebody could come and mop my house for me I will be all set! (And by the way I did this all by myself other than Eliott helping me hang the board that went behind the baskets on the wall! Just giving my self a little pat on the back! that's all!)Anyway that is all!

Lyddie is a big girl now!!

So Lyddie is a big girl now in two senses of the word. She now weighs 18.5 pounds! So I thought she was a little small and needed to grow more so we started her on cereal! (if you don't know me very well, I am being way sarcastic) Ok so she was just hungry so she gets real food, well kinda real. Anyway... She was so cute, she was excited to sit in the chair and just smiled till we gave her the first bite and she was not impressed. After a few bites she decided it was okay and when we were done she was all smiles! Now she just gobbles it up like a pro!

Just Pathetic!

Seth was feeling sick the other day. He had been throwing up in the morning and didn't eat all day. A little bit before nap time I looked over at him and he had fallen asleep like this. My favorite part is the foot in the throw-up bowl (unused, but there just in case) It was so sad, so like a good mother I had to take a picture of it. He is so sweet, and feeling better now!

Too Cute To Pass Up!

There is just something so sweet about a sleeping baby! And I love one when they are just in their diapers! (but I do get her dressed too!) Man she is getting big!




And this cute little dress reminds me of "heidi" she looked so cute and had so much fun wearing it that I couldn't resist putting it on here for all to see!!













Have you ever had those days where one of your kids just makes you laugh? Well today is a Lexi day! She woke up the other day with these dress-up ballet slippers tied around her neck and she gave us the hardest time taking her picture. For some reason she just didn't want her picture taken, but we won.

How Do You Do It?

So I always have people asking me "How do you it?" Well I always think, you just do, I don't know how, but it just works. Well I was looking through my pictures and came across

these and thought it was a very accurate description of how I do it! With 4 kids under 5 and 3 of those are under 3, I do alot of this...

And generally, I love every minute of it!