She's a Star!

Olivia decided to audition for the Riverview Talent Show again this year.  She sang, "When You Wish Upon a Star" . . . and it was about the sweetest thing you ever saw.  Seriously . . . I'm her mom, so I'm aloud to brag it up!  We were really proud of her, especially that she had the courage to get up in front of all those people by herself.

About 10 minutes before the show, Livi had serious stage fright.  She was shaking and told me she had changed her mind and no longer wanted to be in the show.  She and I went to the bathroom, shut ourselves in a stall, and said a prayer together.  We prayed that angels would be with her to help her feel calm, remember her words and sing her very best. We hugged, and she said she felt ready to go on.

After the show, I asked her if she had been nervous when she went on stage.  She said the prayer had worked, and she hadn't been scared at all!  It's a moment I will never forget as a Mom.

Bravo Livi!  We love you!!

Turkey Day

This year, Jason and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the very first time.  I've gone 12 years without having to make a turkey on Thanksgiving.  I was totally sort of freaking out about it... What do you take out?  What do you put in?  How the heck do you know when it's done?!  After spending hours scouring the internet for recipes and watching youtube videos, I felt pretty prepared to tackle Mr. Tom.  You know what?  It really wasn't that hard!  I survived . . . and Tom the turkey turned out pretty darn good!  

I made Jason pose for a picture with the turkey as proof . . .

Enjoying our Thanksgiving feast together . . .

Happy Turkey Day everyone!!

Cheer Photos

My Dad took some pictures of Olivia's cheer squad and they turned out super cute.  Livi has had so much fun cheering with these girls . . .

#5!

These crazies have a little brother or sister coming in May . . .

This poor baby doesn't know what's coming!!

Family Pics

In November, we had some family photos taken.  Our family is growing up and changing so quickly… seriously, can't time slow down just a bit?

Our family:

The kiddos:

Joshua (age 9):

Olivia (age 7):

Ethan (age 4):

Logan (age 2):

Daddy-Daughter Date

Jason took Olivia on their first Daddy-Daughter date.  They went to the movies together and then out for treats.  Livi felt totally grown-up and special . . . she even told Jason about her secret crush from school on the way home.  She's growing up, and I'm so glad she got to spend some time with her "Pa"!

Half-Birthdays for Everyone!

Fall is half-birthday season for our family.  All our kids have birthdays within a few weeks of one another, so we get to eat a lot of cake!  They also get to choose what we have for dinner on their half-birthday.  Here are the kids in all their half-cake glory!

Logan (A.K.A. Chewbie)

Age: 2 and 1/2

Dinner of choice: Taco Soup

Ethan (A.K.A. The Ethanator)

Age: 4 and 1/2

Dinner of choice: Chicken Pillows

Olivia (A.K.A. Liv)

Age: 7 and 1/2

Dinner of choice: Roast with mashed potatoes

Joshua (A.K.A. Ja)

Age: 9 and 1/2

Dinner of choice: Roast with mashed potatoes

Happy Half-Birthday to my crazy kiddos!  I love you guys!!

Our Lil' Monster!

Ethan finished his very first soccer season.  After watching his big brother play for years, he was excited it was finally his turn to play.  His team chose "The Monsters" as their team name, and we had so much fun cheering him on from the sidelines.

Ethan is probably the most uncompetitive little boy I know.  He genuinely doesn't care if he wins or loses . . . he just likes to run around on the field and have fun.  He wants everybody to have a good time.  At first it drove Jason and I (two ultra-competitive parents) crazy.  He would stop every two or three minutes to turn and give us a big thumbs up, and we would yell, "Run Ethan!  Steal the ball!"  But after a few games we started giving him a big thumbs up every time he looked at us and we would just laugh at what a funny little guy he is.  We love our Ethanator!

Here's to another little soccer player in the family!

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet!

We had a great Halloween!  It was busy . . . as is everything in our life . . . but it was also a lot of fun.

The kiddos in their costumes:

Chewbie as his favorite superhero, Captain America!

Ethan as the Red Power Ranger (I hope he grows out of this power ranger obsession before TOO long!)

Olivia as the cutest darn dalmation ever!

Joshua as Darth Vader (There aren't many Star Wars characters left for him to dress up as!)

Jason's office goes ALL OUT for Halloween.  They spend weeks decorating, with each department choosing a different theme.  Then they invite all the families to come see it on Halloween night.  It was seriously amazing!  There was a lego land, a zombie apocalypse, a land made all of candy . . . I don't think they got any work done leading up to that night, but it was fun!

Steve and Alyse hosted dinner and trick-or-treating at their house.  We had to split up this year.  Jason took the older kids so they could run from house to house.  I took the little guys who refuse to even get out of the stroller.  Chewbie is at the age where he says literally whatever he is thinking, and there were definitely some embarrassing moments . . . At one house a little, old lady (not dressed up as anything mind you) opened the door.  Chewbie pointed right up at her and said, "Mom, look at that scary, scary witch!"  I pretty much wanted to die right there.  I do love trick-or-treating with my kids though.  I'll be sad when they no longer want me to take them.

Happy Halloween from us!!

Taxi Mama

Jason and I both believe really strongly in encouraging our kids to develop their talents and pursue the things they're interested in.  If there's something they want to try, we will find a way for them to do it!  For this reason, our kids are involved in A LOT of activities . . . soccer, cheerleading, pre-school, cub scouts, knowledge bowl, talent shows, lego club, school musicals . . . and more recently Joshua has decided to join a little league track team.  Our lives are CA-RAZY, but we have so much fun cheering everybody on and watching them grow.

I have entered this new stage of motherhood that I've heard so many moms talk about before me, but never really understood until now . . . The "Taxi Mom" stage.  Seriously, I live in my car.  In fact, two days of the week I am in my car for 4 and a half hours straight driving back and forth between practices.  (There's a park I stop at to stretch my legs and use the restroom!)

We have mastered the skill of doing just about everything in the car- changing clothes, doing homework, eating dinner . . . we even do scripture study in the car sometimes.  Chewbie is such a little trooper.  He doesn't have any activities to go to yet, but he's just happy to tag along.  (Sometimes I worry he's going to look back on his childhood and think he was raised in the car!)

It all takes an insane amount of planning.  The kids have learned to set everything out the night before so we're ready.  My bedroom floor usually looks something like this . . .

My life is busy, but I wouldn't trade what I do for anything.  Look out!  Crazy Taxi Mama coming through!

The Ethanator Starts Preschool!

The Ethanator is now officially a preschooler!  A week after the kids started school, he had his first day.  He was SO excited to have a school of his own to go to.  On the way to preschool, I told him how much I was going to miss him while he was away.  I asked him if he was going to miss me.  "No, Mom," he stated.  Well then . . .

He loves his teachers.  They go by their first names . . . Miss Cathy, Miss Summer, Miss Amy, etc.  It doesn't matter how many times I've corrected him, he still insists on calling them SISTER Cathy, SISTER Summer . . . it's a good thing we live in Utah!

Everyday when they enter the classroom, the kids get to choose a center to play at.  Ethan always hopes for the cars or the blocks.

Oh Ethan . . . I just love that kid!  It isn't the same without his overly-loud Boston accent around the house.  (For those who don't know Ethan well . . . he sounds like he has a Boston accent when he talks.  Seriously, we don't know where it comes from!)

I'm so proud of my little preschooler!

Back to School!

"Back to Life, Back to Reality!" . . . that's the song I've been singing the last few weeks.  My kiddos are back in school!  We all had mixed emotions about going back.  Joshua and Livi were ready to see their friends again, and I was ready to do grocery shopping without four crazies tagging along . . . but we also enjoy our summers together hanging out at the splash park and staying up late.

For the first time, there really weren't a lot of nerves on the first day.  Joshua and Livi both got awesome teachers, and they both had lots of friends in their classes.  They didn't even want me to walk them to their classrooms (They're growing up! sniff, sniff).  Here they are in all their "first day of school" glory!  

Olivia:  

2nd Grade

Mrs. Adams

Favorite thing about school: crafts and recess

Joshua:

4th Grade

Mrs. Phillips

Favorite thing about school: P.E. and art

It sure is quiet around the house with these two gone!  Happy Back to School!!