These things make me happy!

Ever since Porter saw some You Tube pogo stick clips he has been wanting a pogo stick. Of course, they are like hundreds of dollars. But we have a friend, Mark, who has all the toys...and he let Porter borrow his pogo. So, we've been having some fun! (Rachelle, what was your cousins name, the pogo stick guy?)

Porter's record is 110 bounces without stopping. He has a few blisters and his wrist is a little sore...no pain, no gain right?

The stick is a flybar. It gets some pretty good air!

Bouncy

Rusty hooked up the gator (is that what is it called?) to his bike. We got this tag-a-long from the same friend, Mark, who loaned us the pogo stick.

Since we were all outside playing pogo and riding bikes, Chloe got out her skateboard. Why not?

More pogo!

Chloe tries. Some of these photos were really fuzzy, and some not. I don't how to control that with my camera. ??
Ren gets a turn on the bike. I was pretty worried that he might decide he was 'done' and just let go while Rusty was pedaling along, so Porter ran behind them pretty much the whole time! What a nice brother, right?
Even I get a try on the pogo. Porter makes it look easy. Yes, I need some shoes, and maybe even some regular clothes on. What can I say...it was Sunday afternoon. Church ends at 4, so I just put on my jammies to be comfortable. Obviously, I lack something that is required to pogo well! The kids were laughing with me, not at me!

Puzzle Time

I love puzzles. A few Sundays ago, the kids brought out this puzzle. We've done it before, several years ago...we haven't done a big puzzle since before Ren was born, I think. It's only 1000 pieces, but I don't think I could handle more than that!! It took a few weeks of everyone doing a few pieces whenever we had a few minutes. We were so proud of our accomplishment, the little kids decided we should have a photo shoot!

Ellie is like a mini Vanna, right?

MJ is proud and loud!

I always like to kiss Ren!

Two thumbs up for a job that is finished...and no missing pieces.

Ren and Ellie thought it was such a hoot to see themselves 'asleep'. I'd take a shot and they'd say...let me see. Then they'd lay down again, ok mom, ready.

A date with the toothfairy.

MaryJane finally lost her first tooth! It's been loose for months. It's been wiggled and waggled, pushed and pulled. Not by me though. Loose teeth gross me out. Mrs. Grant, a teacher at MJ's school who is known for pulling teeth (she pulled 2 of Ellie's) gave it one final tug! Voila. One tooth fairy visit, coming up! Very exciting stuff!

How do you eat your kiwi?

On Friday, I brought home about 18 perfectly ripe and sweet kiwi fruit. After school my kids were excited to eat some. (I don't buy them often apparently.) Each of my kids have different way to eat them. They are on the menu at school sometimes, and they are forced to fend for themselves instead of relying on me to peel them. Porter will just eat the whole thing. I am not even kidding! Fuzz and all. He really likes them that way too. Chloe peels off the fuzz, kinda like I have done my whole life. And Ellie. She has converted me! Genius! Why didn't I think of this? Do you all know this and I'm just the last to clue in? Anyway, I love eating kiwi! More than ever!

A grapefruit spoon works best.

Hmm. Good.

Delicous and easy...and not messy!

I just can't resist this little man! He loves playing the 'neenee' or in english, the guitar. He grabs the guitar hero ones or this recent fav, Ellie's Hannah Montana guitar. He is hilarious, and sings along as he is strumming! We just laugh! He says something like 'nananana'.

Back to the Grindstone!

Ok. This is the first year I have really been excited for school to start. My kids are so great...like I keep telling you, right? :) But they have really been arguing a lot the last few weeks. I was getting so frustrated. So, when school started yesterday, I had really mixed emotions. I am going to miss seeing them all the time, anytime. And yet, they can't be poking or teasing or picking at one another. So, on to another great school year.

Ellie (4th grade) and MJ (1st grade) were so excited! I bought them each an alarm clock this summer and they set it for 4 am!! What? I was tucking them and was able to convince them that getting up at 6:15 would more than sufficient! (School begins at 7:45) But Ellie must have set her internal alarm, because she woke at 4, then woke MJ. They were dressed, with teeth brushed and beds made, room cleaned, the works by the time I rolled out at 6:30. It's not like it was Christmas or anything, but if I didn't know better, that's what I'd think. Christmas morning! They had a great first day, even with the lack of sleep. :)

Chloe and Porter are both at the middle school this year! It is just weird. Porter in 8th and Chloe in 6th. I remember those years. I was really old and mature at that age and my kids are not. :) Anyway, we had planned to go early to go over Chloe's schedule one more time. But her hair was much more important and we spent way too much time doing it. And there was a lot of traffic and the kids only had about 2 minutes to get to homeroom when I dropped them off! Porter was so annoyed. He wasn't worried about finding his classes, he just does not like to be late. This year may be a challenge for him!

Oh, wait...Chloe needs to adjust her lip gloss. Check out Porter...it might be a long year while he waits for her!

OK, take the photo, Mom. Chloe is ready!

Welcome to the World Baby Beau! And Happy 30th to Liz!

My sweet, fresh nephew, Beauden Charles was born on Sept. 1st. We went to meet him yesterday. And he is precious. So little and perfect. He has that newborn silky hair and skin. We are all smitten with him! He was 8 lbs. 1 oz. and 20 inches long. Small compared to his 10 lb. brothers. :) But big compared to my 6 pounders! Anyway, it was a real treat to spend the day with them.

MJ takes her turn with Beaudie.

So, it's official, Liz and Charlie have 4 kids! Whew. :)

Liz turns 30 years old on Monday! She is so beautiful...despite this recent shave with death called childbirth! :) She delivers c-section and we always worry about her. Since we wouldn't be out there on her actual birthday, we had an early celebration. As I was taking these photos I realized how tired she was. And we quickly ate the really yummy chocolate cake and ice cream and left for home. I am so happy I live near her! I wish we could be neighbors. Wouldn't that be the best?! Sigh. I love her so much.

Rachelle comes to visit!

I am so lucky to have Rachelle as my friend. I've always loved her. We became friends back in 7th grade. That summer, Chelle, Brett (her brother), me and Rebecca (my sister) tried to break the record for the longest phone call. We talked for like 36 hours! I can't believe my mom let us do that! :) Even though I moved the middle of 9th grade, we kept in touch. She visited me often in Mesa, and I went Show Low lots too. Now, she's married to a great guy, Ben and has 3 cute kids. We had such a fun time when she was here. She is so awesome and still makes me laugh! One of my favorite things about her is that she makes friends with everyone. She has like 450 friends on facebook! :) Anyway, I love her. We talked till the wee hours of the morning every night. I had to catch up on my sleep when she left!

Catching some rays...Chelle and Lu. At the beach, Ellie and Rachelle spent a lot of time boogie boarding. I went out too. We tried to teach MJ how to do it too. That was cool.
Max and MJ

More dress up. Ren and Bryn.

Chelle and Lu, again.

Ren loved holding baby Lu.