School's Out Scream and Shout

It has already started. This morning the smell of sunscreen was in the air and the endless chatter of Disney channel shows echoed through the house. Bikes were being washed, tires were being inflated, and the day was being planned.  All of this was done by 8:20 and they still had 4 more hours of school to attend before calling it quits for 2 months.  It's a bitter sweet day for me.  No more sack lunches to prepare, no more planners to sign, class websites can be un-bookmarked off of our computer, no more alarm clocks, no more book reports or Chinese flashcards and no more harassing about daily homework.  At the end of all that comes questioning that chores are done, endless bickering, constant messes, constant choas, incessant pleas to go to the pool, "I'm hungry", "none of my friends are home" and let's not forget those dreaded words "I'm bored" (like nails on a chalk board I tell ya).  But despite all this, my goal is to enjoy it.  I watched several kids from our neighborhood graduate this week. These are kids that when we moved into this neighborhood were the same age as my Asher right now. Now they are graduating and preparing to leave home for college and missions.  That time went so fast, and my kids will grow and be leaving just as fast.  So this summer I want to hug them a little tighter and enjoy their noise a little more because it will all end a little (a lot) too soon. And this post is for me to read when the days are a little too long and little too tiring. I love my kids!!

buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks.

Asher had his first season of baseball and absolutely loved it.  He rocked it too.  The first half of the season was machine pitch and he had several double hitters and of course became the rockstar of his team. second half of the season was kid pitch and that became a little more difficult, but he didn't give up even though he didn't hit one ball :( It is so hard to know if the ball is in the strike zone or not! But because it's kid pitch he was able to make it to base many times he just had to suffer being hit with the ball.  His team, the Giants, were 3rd in their league and will get a trophy so Asher is all smiles about that. Who doesn't want a trophy?

(2nd base)

But something other than the trophy gave him an even bigger smile......His coach asked him if he could put his name in to play on the AllStars team!! We aren't sure what that means or entails, but Asher thinks that it's pretty exciting.

(coach asking him to play allstars)

The coach told us that Asher was his favorite player on the team "the kid has heart".  ahhh just what a mom wants to hear.  We love our boy.

You see that he is number 1?? it's not because he was the best player, it's because he was the absolute smallest on the team :) the smallest jersey is number 1, he was also the youngest. Go ASHER!

Someone had a birthday........

.....Shout Hooray!  Little Miss Ainsley turned 4 on Sunday.  Can I just say that I love that this little girl came to our family.  She is so full of energy, which on somedays is a little exhausting and frustrating, but I wouldn't want her any other way. She is so kind to everyone and loves to do nice things for people, she says she "loves to make people's hearts feel happy".

Ainsley loves her friends!  She asks everyday to have a friend over.  Some of her friends right now are Sicily, Kai, Isabella, Rachel, Annie, Kika, and Aubrey. Her friends also include some of my friends and their teenage daughters.  She adores Miss Barbie and Miss Alyson and it is common to find her giving them hugs and asking if she can come play at their house.  Miss Barbie's daughter Elsa is also one of Ainsley's favorite buddies.  

  I love her smile and she is generous in sharing it.  She is so sweet to her Brother and Sister, just yesterday at Asher's baseball she yelled out to 2nd base from the bleachers and said "just do your best Asher".  It was so cute to hear her little voice call out and for him to glance over at her and give her a tender smile.  Eden and Ainsley are perfect sister together, they do nails and play, Ainsley is always telling Eden she is pretty and Eden is always asking for hugs and kisses.  

When we asked Ainsley what she wanted for her birthday she would always respond "everything! everything that's good and girlie". I loved it! And little Ainsley, WE LOVE YOU! Happy Birthday!!

Easter 2013

I am so glad that the weather decided to warm up a little for Easter.  It made the celebration so much more enjoyable.  Our holiday turned out to be a great day  weekend.  It all began on Saturday with a birthday party for my sweet mom and an Easter egg hunt for the kids.  We had a brunch of french toast with fruit and hot chocolate (mom's request).  Unfortunately, the exterior of our house was under construction which made the egg hunt a little messy, but the scaffolding made for some great hiding spots.  My mom did something different and there was an egg with a number inside of it and a sticker on the outside letting the kids know that if they already had an egg with the sticker they couldn't have another.  When they opened the egg the kids discovered which place in line would be theirs.  After all the eggs were found the kids lined up accordingly and were able to choose a prize from my mom's treasure stash.  Eden chose a magnet wand that extends so she can get the screws that fall behind the dryer-random.  Ainsley chose a littlest pet shop toy and Asher chose a softball.  Oh!! Ainsley found the golden egg (with a little help from my sister) which contained 5$.  She was a little confused why there wasn't candy in the egg, she probably would have preferred the chocolate.

(The tongue comes out whenever she gets nervous, I guess all the kids cheering for her freaked her out a little)

Easter morning was great the kids found their basket and searched for candy hidden around the house.  The Easter bunny had way more hiding places in this house than he did in our old house, which made for candy being found days later, in fact Ainsley just found some m&m's yesterday, 2 weeks after Easter!  I loved when I found the candy.

 (Easter outfits)

Bunny mouths

After church we headed to Cache's parents for a Easter dinner and another egg hunt.  Dinner was delicious! Ham, Au Gratin potatoes (has anyone had the Reser Au Gratin's from Costco-oh my delicious! and all you have to do is heat them), homemade rolls, Miriam's delicious cucumber and tomato creamy vinegar bowl.  It was all so good. The Merrill's egg tradition is each grandkid has a special egg color and they can only hunt for their special eggs.  They have three properties in a row, so it makes for a large territory to find your eggs.  I remember one year my nephew Perrin found an egg from the previous Easter, hahah and he was lucky because it had quarters in it.  Cute Grandma and Grandpa also changed up the egg hunt and put questions about the saviors crucifixion in random eggs and the kids would have to take the questions to grandpa and give a correct answer to the question and they would receive money for answering correctly.  The kids liked it.  

I am grateful for the Easter season and the time it gives me to stop and think about the special gift that was given to me. I am very grateful for the Savior and His atonement and I know my understanding isn't fully what it could be, but I know that everyday I am able to use it and with time my understanding will grow and develop. 

Eden's 11th

I can't let February pass me by without blogging about Eden's birthday. I can't believe she is 11!  She has gone from this.....

To this.....

She is kind, beautiful, friendly, spiritual, helpful, thoughtful, sweet, sensitive, and sometimes a little moody.  We are so glad she is in our family.  

For her birthday she really wanted a shellac light and some Sorel boots.  Lucky for her she got both! and a few other small items. 

We told her that because the items were a little more money than what we usually spend on birthdays she would not be able to have a birthday party with her friends this year. 

But...............We felt bad and arranged to have some friends over a few days later for a SIMPLE surprise get together.  

(I just went to find the pictures I took of the party, and can you believe I didn't take one Picture??)

Eden had been out with her grandma shopping for a present and when she came home, thinking that she had to babysit, her friends were waiting to surprise her.  Although, she didn't act as surprised as I thought she would. I expected screaming and yelling from excitement and all we got were a few smiles and a look of confusion. "so what? I don't have to babysit?" was all said.

They had pizza and cake and played a few rounds of bingo with some super lame prizes, but they loved it.  After the raging bingo game they watched Nacho Libre.  In the end I think it turned out to be a great birthday for my sweet Neenie!

Birthday festivities:

Breakfast: crepes

Lunch: Kneaders with Mom, Dad and Ainsley

after school she rushed off to gymnastics stayed there for 2 hours instead of 3. 

came home to her dinner of choice: Chicken Alfredo (which was cold because we had to eat before she got home from gymnastics because Cache had YM and Asher also had gymnastics)

dessert: cupcakes and a birthday song sung to her by me and Ainsley since we were the only ones home. (good thing we had that party because her birthday evening was a little sad)

Halloween 2011

I remember Halloween as a kids and absolutely LOVING it.  My kids (most kids) loved it too.  Asher kept complaining of a stomach ache the night before because he was so excited and Eden just couldn't stop dancing and hopping around from excitement.  Cache and I were a little frustrated because we wanted some down time, but it didn't come until an hour or so after bedtime.  I am so grateful to have kids that I can

 re-live these fun moments with. 

right before leaving for school.

 Our sweet little cupcake.

 Harry Potter-who was so excited that people recognized who he was

 Thing 2

 Asher with his buddies G&L.  So glad we got to go with these guys, we stayed out so late we closed the neighborhood down.  Get me, Barb, and Alyson together and we will do it right :)

 Halloween Piano recital.  How fun is this?  It made it a little hectic, but it was a lot of fun to sit outside listen to the students sing and perform their piano pieces and then gather for quick donuts and cider afterwards.

 school parade.

Eden and  her posse. 

 They all went out on their own this year.  They loved it except for the neighbor boy scaring them (eden) to tears with his chainsaw.  She didn't crumble and stay inside the rest of the night though, she did buck up and go back out.  Got to be proud of her for that.  Love you Eden and your tender little personality.  

Our pumpkins.
Asher is just a little Harry obsessed right now which is just fine because I think it is so cute.
If you are wondering where ainsley's is, it is sitting in our house un-carved because she was so ornery she had to take a nap instead of carving (mean I know) I am feeling a little guilty over it actually.

Happy Dance

Somewhere Ainsley has learned about Happy Dance.  Today I did something she was proud of (shutting the gate to our backyard so deer can't get in-random)and then she said "good job mommy, Happy Dance!" she did a short little dance and then struck a pose.  It was so funny I ran to get my camera and she gladly re-enacted her poses

This girl is so funny, she keeps us all laughing. I wish I could just freeze time with her and keep her this age forever.

4th Grade

Eden is entering 4th grade!! Which is so crazy to me, I remember 4th grade. It wasn't that long ago (wink). I had Mrs. Nissin at C.H. Taylor Elementary in Ogden. I remember learning cursive. I remember thinking John M. was cute. I remember the new girl Mariesa. I remember long division. I remember thinking I was so close to being an adult (wink, wink).

Eden thinks she is an adult, she is learning cursive and long division, she is the new girl (in a round about way), and as much as she denies it I am sure there is, or will be a boy that she is going to think is cute.

Welcome to 4th Eden!

I am so glad I get to be the mom of this sweet girl.

July 4th

Yay! for the 4th of July and the annual neighborhood parade. When we told the kids we were going to be moving back to Utah, they asked if we would be back for the bike parade. This is definitely a short lived tradition that is one of our family favorites.

Our neighborhood gets together for a breakfast and bike parade on the morning of the fourth. It usually consists of a program, flag raising, and the national anthem, but the kids are so ready to get on their bikes it is hard to contain them.

The blue and white six-tuplets.

And the parade would not be complete without brother Haugen's wildfire water extinguisher that he fills with soapy water and fills the street with bubbles. Good times which causes a huge mess on the clothes, but clean asphalt afterwards :)

Ainsley dressing up diva-style at Ms. Barbie's house after the parade.

Culinary Institute

I guess I am one of those weird women that loves Mother's day. I do sometimes feel guilty with all of the 'ode to mother's' talks in church, about how so and so's mother is so great because she can clean the house, do laundry, cook a nutritious meal, play games with the kids, sew clothes, run 10 miles a day, look beautiful and stylish all while she remodels the house. Ya, that's not me, therefore I feel bad or guilty, but that guilt is easily erased when I am served breakfast in bed or allowed a nap after church. This year our friend Than, asked Cache if he wanted to surprise me with a Culinary Institute cooking class for mother's day. Cache couldn't spend the money without consulting with me first, so it wasn't much of a surprise. How often would I get an opportunity to cook in a culinary institute kitchen and Erica was going and that would make it all the more fun.

Thanks Cache, it was an amazing experience, even though the class turned out to be less of a class and more of an experience. Erica and I were hoping that we would learn some great techniques, but were a little embarrassed that we didn't know how to do a lot of things (that's why you take a class, right?). The Chef at first was a little frustrated, but I think in the end he began to like our amateur personalities.

It was such a beautiful building in the heart of wine country (napa).

I could have taken pictures on the grounds all day.

chef Erica cooking her Pad Thai with THE Chef.

Erica knows all the Thai names of the dishes we made, but this is the spicy coconut chicken soup I made. It was delicious! I have since made it at home and can pull it off pretty good. (I will pat my own back at this time)

mmmmm, delicious. Especially the mango rice you see in the top left corner.

Happy Birthday Cache!

Happy Birthday to the best husband ever. I hope you like your TOMS.

Cache turned 34! Although he thought he was turning 35.

Because he is getting so old he forgets his age.

Sunday #9/Easter

Dressed in their Easter best for the 2nd time.

They rushed in from church and quickly changed before I could get a picture.

Being the mean mom I am, made them change back into their Easter outfits.

We had a Great Easter!

We were lucky enough to have Cache's parents here for the weekend and it was fun to be celebrating a holiday with family again.

After church we had a quick basket hunt (there were no eggs so I can't really call it an egg hunt). We were really lazy and hid each of their individual baskets and then hid two seperate baskets full of candy instead of hiding individual candy pieces. The candy baskets were for everyone, but Asher got to find one and Eden found the other.

Asher was the first to find his personal basket.

Asher had been asking for a Beyblade for awhile, ever since he saw that his buddies in Utah had one. He is OBSESSED with the show, he would watch for hours if we allowed it, some days it is so tempting to turn it on and let him stare at the TV so I can get things done. Anyway, lucky for him the Easter bunny was able to find the very LAST Beyblade at Target.

Eden actually struggled finding her basket, and there were almost tears involved, but she spotted the monkey peeking at her from behind the BBQ.

Poor little Ainsley was actually asleep while Eden and Asher were hunting for their baskets. But she got to have her very own personal hunt-lucky her. she loves her Lily the unicorn pillow.

This wasn't on Easter, it was a few days before. I wanted to have a big Easter egg hunt for some friends, I was planning on doing a huge ward BBQ, but our plans had to change. So, instead I quickly threw together al hunt for Asher's Pre-school friends and families. It was fun! Everyone brought candy to hide and it seemed all the kids came away with fully baskets and bags, which is always a good sign at a hunt.

I think the most special part of this Easter though was studying with Cache the last few hours of Christ's life with the study packet found Here. I gained a deeper understanding of the atonement and the sacrifice Christ made for me.