Luke's school did "Dads & Donuts" last month and "Moms & Muffins" today. Luke was so excited for me to come to his class. He has asked me everyday for the last week if I am still coming. This morning at breakfast he said "mom - don't forget to come today" apparently he has little to no faith in me (I should have told him it was in my calendar on my phone so I wouldn't forget). Although I did forget to bring books to read to him....oops!

When I got there his teacher was doing story time and I peeked in and saw him sitting in the very front row listening intently to the story. SO CUTE! Then the kids came out to the hall to get us. He took me to his table and went and picked out some books. I read him one, then he read me one then I read him another one. Then he went and picked us both out muffins (he picked chocolate chip for both of us). He was so cute the whole time. I love how sweet he is and how happy it made him for me to be there.

When we left I asked him if he had more fun with me or dad. He said "well .... I like dad better cause we got to have donuts and I really liked the donuts". But he told me he liked me more than dad. Ha ha ha. I think he was trying not to make me feel bad.

We decided that since Sophie is potty trained she shouldn't be in a crib anymore. She needs to be able to get out of bed first thing in the morning to run to the potty. Since Todd was home he helped take down the crib. Since we don't have another baby on the way for once we opted to just put her mattress on the ground to start then later get her a bed.





She was so excited....but she kept coming out of her room and crying and would sleep so finally at 3:40 am we set up the pack-n-play and she slept fine. The next night we set her crib back up. I'd rather deal with her wearing a diaper at night than no-one sleeping in the house. Maybe in a few months we'll try again.

This picture sums up Tayson and school. What can I say...he's crazy at school.


Notice all the kids are singing except Tayson (and the kid next to him). He really didn't sing any of the songs. He goofed off, talked to the other kids, picked his nose, made faces, stared off into space...did pretty much everything except sing.


After the performance the kids posed for a quick photo.


Tayson and his teacher. We love her. She is such a patient person and really focuses on the best in Tayson instead of being annoyed by his energy.

I promised the kids ice cream after so we went to Farr's Fresh - our new family favorite for ice cream night. It was so yummy!





The boys ice cream.

Tayson had 4 types of ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, tropical banana, cookies & cream) he also had the following toppings: chocolate sprinkles, rainbow sprinkles, oreos, gummy bears, & fruity pebbles.

Luke had vanilla/chocolate swirl with gummy bears, maraschino cherries, chocolate sauce & strawberry sauce.



Mine was much less exciting than the boys. We all loved our ice cream and it is always fun to celebrate with the kids.

This morning when I went in to get Sophie out of bed she was completely naked in her crib and saying "poopy". She had taken off her footed zip-up pj's and diaper and peed on her bed then covered it up with a blanket. So I stripped her bed and started the wash. Then she went in the computer room with the boys and when they got dressed she managed to take a pair of their undies and put them on (don't worry they were a clean pair since Tayson hates changing his underwear in the morning when he "just did it last night after the bath"). I cracked up when she came in for breakfast. She sat down and ate cereal with the boys then as soon as they left for school she ran into the computer room to get on the computer. It was hilarious to me.


Then when Claire woke up Sophie decided to have breakfast again with her. She is such a silly little girl. I wish I had her energy and spunk and that I was happy as she is all the time.

Yesterday the boys had to go back to the dentist. Tayson to get a sealant put on his permenant molars (which he is very proud of having). And Luke to get an old filling checked - thank goodness it was fine and we didn't have to do anything.

Well first let me give a bit of background information. Tayson had to have his book report turned in on the 27th. So on the 26th he finished reading his book (Diary of a Wimpy Kid II) and wanted to do a video scene from the book (his teacher is so much fun). So Meggan helped him figure out what to do and he, Luke and Claire made a video of the talent show (you can watch it here). After I put the kids to bed I was going to burn it to a DVD for him to take to school the next morning. This took 4 DVD's (2 of which I had to borrow from Steve) to get it so the kids didn't sound like Chipmunks. It caused lots of extra stress (yes I did smack my laptop at one point) but it was finally done so I put it out on the counter so I wouldn't forget in the craziness of the morning.

Back to how the morning went.....

So I had to teach spin then I knew I had an 8:00 am conference call with our marketing staff in Europe so I was very rushed to get ready. I kept thinking to myself...somethings gotta give either work, kids or beauty at this point because I didn't know how it was all going to happen. Somehow I managed to get ready by about 7:50 and hurried to get the kids breakfast. I poured the cereal, we said prayers and even got a few minutes of scriptures in. Then it was 8:00 and today of all days I had to lead the call. Usually I get on and listen while I'm doing things and when it's my turn to do my update walk in another room for 2-5 minutes. Not today I had to talk 90% of the time. So I'm talking, pointing at the kids what to do, giving them dirty looks to tell them when they weren't doing what they should be, unloading the dishwasher, etc. All the while frantically searching for the DVD which I somehow managed to lose. Let's not forget Sophie running around naked saying "poopy" so I kept trying to get her to sit on the potty and even muted my phone at one point and asked Claire to take her to the potty. Nice. I still can't find the DVD and it's 8:08 (they are supposed to leave for the bus at 8:05) so I hurry and write a note to his teacher that he did it and I lost it and will bring it in later then rush the boys out the door telling them to run to the bus. I finished my call around 8:20 and call my dad to see if he has any DVD-R's since I used all of the ones in my house last night and really don't want to go to Wal-Mart. Luckily he did and he was on his way out anyway so he dropped it by. He walked in to see me holding naked Sophie on my hip, with make up and hair done but still in my bathrobe and says "do you need help?". Not much he could do at that point besides what he had already done to help. Thanks dad that DVD saved me A LOT of time. So I set up my laptop to burn another copy and go to get dressed. I had to fight Sophie off the laptop 4 times during the burning process. Then about 30 seconds before the DVD finishes Claire walks in the room holding the other DVD and says "I found it in my room". What???? How did it get in there? She blamed Sophie - but I'm pretty sure that the night before when she was up during one of her nightly walks around the house before she decided she was finally tired enough to go to sleep she picked it up. Once I finished getting ready and Meggan got there at 8:30 I ran the DVD to Tayson's class and then off to work. Quite a morning. Thank goodness most mornings aren't like that.

I posted something on Facebook about how overwhelmed I felt while I was driving to work (yes I facebooked while driving....SOOOOOO bad!) That night one of my awesome neighbors made me dinner to help with the stress. It was so awesome. I was back to normal by the time I got home from work that day and could have done it. But it was so nice to not have to rush through making dinner for the kids. We just sat down together and enjoyed a few minutes of family time.

This week we did 10 miles. It actually felt good - no cramping at all for once. I drank 20 ounces on the run and a full water bottle before. This picture is at the top of the hill at the Temple. We had a few really good hills on this course and ran at a good pace. I am so excited for the Wasatch Back - our team is so much fun. I just wish that we could all run together instead of each run our legs alone.

We took the kids to Farm Day at a neighbors house. My parents were watching Heidi and Jeannie's kids so we offered to take some of them with us. Steve, Todd and I had the following kids: Eric, Allen, Ryan, Tayson, Luke, Claire, Sophie, Lexie, Annabell, Lilly & Talon. The kids had so much fun. And to top it off it was a beautiful day. A few of the kids milked the goat, they petted a horse and cow, played with and even held the baby goats. They were in heaven.




We are for sure going back again next year. It was fun and educational. The kids LOVED it!!!

was a bad day for me.

I don't know why I can't keep it together. Meggan needed to leave early and since I've been at work so much this week I thought it would be great to spend some extra time with the kids. I don't know how stay-at-home mom's do it. I had to do homework and reading with Tayson, get 5 cups of juice, clean up 3 potty accidents, plunge the toilet, finish washing the sheets, make the bed, cook dinner, answer emails from work, feed the kids, read scriptures and get them ready for bed. I was so worn out and tired I took a hot bath and got in bed as soon as I put the kids down. I easily could have fallen asleep before them but I was so excited that Todd was coming home I waited up. By the time Todd got home (a little after 9:00) 3 of the 4 kids were in my bedroom and I didn't care enough at that point to punish them for getting out of bed. Claire cuddled up in bed with me, Tayson was texting Todd and Luke was just in there bugging Tayson. I honestly just had to turn off.

The thing that really gets to me is that I lose it with my kids. I am embarrassed to admit how many times I raised my voice, completely yelled, swore and cried within a few hours. My family means more to me than anything in the world and some days I yell at them more than I laugh with them. I don't want to be like that but I can't figure out how to be better. Sometimes I just feel sorry for myself and think I have the hardest life...then I look around and realize I have it all and I should stop complaining and start being grateful. I know I need to try harder and do better as a mom - the last conference was all about that and I need to take it to heart. I just don't know how to do it.

Last night I was getting the girls ready for bed and Sophie did NOT want to wear the jammies I gave her. She came into Claire's room and picked out a pair of hers then Claire wore the same ones (old Nu Skin shirts I got for Claire for pj's). Then they both put on Claire's shades. It was too cute. When I tuck Claire in at night I read her a book and sing her a song. Most nights Sophie climbs into bed with her and gets under the covers with her for the book and song then she'll go to bed. I love it!

Here is half of the team for the Wasatch Back relay I'm doing this June. We have been doing hill runs on Saturdays the last few weeks. It's an 8 mile run with a half-mile straight uphill. I love that I have so many awesome friends to run with. They keep me motivated and push me hard!

Claire had a play date with our neighbor Emmalie and the 3 girls decided to do makeovers with Claire's makeup set. They came out to show me and I asked them if I could take a picture. I couldn't for the life of me get them all to smile and look at the camera. When Claire looked at this picture she said "what a gorgeous picture...we look gorgeous!"


Earlier that day I met 9 of the girls from our Wasatch Back team (10 out of 12 was so fun) and we did a run up the canyon. We wanted to get a picture to post on our Facebook page so we asked this construction worker to take a picture of us. He happily obliged then asked us if we would wave at his friends. It was SO FUNNY! I guess having a few scary men missing teeth thinking you're cute isn't that bad :)

You suck. It was your fault that Todd's flight was delayed 3 hours - crew issues. Then instead of holding the last flight out of Denver so he could be home for the first time in 2 weeks for 10 minutes you went ahead and shut the gate so you could report an on-time departure and you didn't even really leave. Honestly was it worth it to you? Because I can tell you right now it wasn't worth it to me. I REALLY wanted my husband home. I realize you made up for this by giving him a $15 food voucher to the airport (which probably only bought a drink), getting him a room at the Holiday Inn and putting him on the next flight out in the morning - which is also currently delayed.

Thank you so much for caring,
Mom of 4 who is really missing her hubby

Picture this....Tayson and Luke are wrestling. Then Claire jumped in then naked Sophie pile drives on them. (Sophie was naked because of potty training.)

Sophie has shown a lot of interest in potty training and has been telling us before she goes in her diaper for a few weeks...but with spring break I was putting it off. We decided back at home it was time to give it a go. I told Meggan to have her completely naked and it worked like a charm. She went in the potty all day and her only accident was when when she put on training pants. She even went in by herself a couple of times. She would tell me she needed to go then go sit on the potty then get down then get back on then get down then do a little potty dance then finally she would go. We sang (her favorite song right now is Old MacDonald ... she loves EIEIO), we read books and I painted her nails (which is what she is showing off in the picture). I can't believe that I might actually be diaper free for the first time in almost 8 years. WOW!

Sunday we went to Owen's blessing. My kids were so impressed that Uncle Todd conducted the meeting. The blessing was great and the kids were great in church - thank goodness. After church we went back to Amy's house for lunch and then the long drive home began. Timmy flew down to Cali on Friday night after work and stayed with some friends then drove me home. It was soooooo great. The trip would have been so hard and stressful alone. We made great time too. It took us just under 9 hours with a 30 minute stop at McDonald's for the kids to eat dinner and play at the play land. We forgot to top off the gas in St. George when we stopped for dinner and ended up making a 3rd stop to fill up with only 30 miles to go. The kids woke up and were SCREAMING for about 10 minutes. I can't believe we almost made it home with 2 stops. I stopped 7 times on the way down over a 2 day period.



I need to get a better picture of the girls - their skirts are so dang cute and you can't even see them!

Even though Easter is over there is no reason not to celebrate it so Saturday morning was a breakfast and egg hunt at the park. It was a little chilly at the beginning but it ended up being warm and sunny. We had lots of yummy food (donuts, eggs, ham, potatoes & fruit) then Amy, Uncle Mark and Matt took the kids on a walk and we hid eggs, granola bars, capri suns, and fruit roll ups for them to find. The kids had a blast!

We decided to go to Disneyland on Friday (busy day I know but it was the day Todd would be there). The last time I went was when I was prego with Claire. Before that I think I was a kid - and can't really remember much from that trip.
















It was an amazing day at the happiest place on earth. The lines weren't bad at all and everyone had a blast. And we couldn't have done it without grandma helping us out.

We hit these rides: Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Nemo, Small World, Princesses (girls), Train (boys), Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise & Space Mountain.