Cub Country

Jonah got to go to Cub Country this week.  He isn't quite 8-years-old, but since we have so few boys in our ward they let him go anyway.  He was so exited about it when I asked him if he wanted to go.  They needed a parent to go the first day so Keith took the day off and I went up with Jonah. 

He was a little embarrassed that he didn't have a shirt, but oh well.  I have that on my to-do-list, but I keep putting it off.

I think archery was definitely the highlight of his day.  He did great.  He hit the target every time and I think he got one or two bulls eye.  I was excited that they let me shoot too.  I love stuff like that.

Jonah liked making this spaceship that he blew off his straw.

The obstacle course was the other thing Jonah loved. 

I had fun watching the boys.  It was cooler up in the canyon which made the day much more enjoyable.  After I heard about all of the yard work Keith did while I was gone, I knew I got the better end of the deal!

Jonah went back today.  I was surprised that he was nervous to go without me.  It poured rain today.  He came home very muddy!  He said he loved shooting beebee guns today and building a tee pee.  I can't believe how old Jonah is getting!

I think they lowered the high dive!

We all had fun swimming on Saturday.  I love doing a birthday activity as a family because it is a great excuse to get out and have fun together.  We went to the Taylorsville pool.  We loved it last time we went.

Hallee seemed a little nervous at first.  I think the water was higher than she liked it.  She always has fun getting in and out of the pool.  After a while she got used to it and had fun splashing around.

Jonah was excited for the diving boards.  He kept saying he was going on the high dive.  He went right up and went off it first thing.  I love watching the kids jump.  Caitlyn and Jonah just figured out how to swim on their own, Keith has instructed them a little bit, but for the most part they just figured it out.  I think our trips to Arizona helped them the most.

Caitlyn stressed about going off the high dive all morning.  I kept telling her she didn't have to and not to worry about it.  When we got there she looked at the high dive and said, "mom, I think they lowered the high dive."   I realized we hadn't been to the pool for two years, so I'm sure it seemed a lot higher when Caitlyn and Jonah were two years younger.  Caitlyn got right up there and jumped off with no problem.  Both of the kids did the diving boards over and over again. 

Jonah had fun doing flips off the low dive.   

Jonah also had fun hanging all over Kyle.  Jonah really looks up to his cousins, I'm so grateful they are all such good boys! 

Caitlyn and Amarie had fun going from the diving boards to the water slide.  Cousins are the best! Such a fun day!  We need to find time to go to that pool one more time this summer.

Wyatt's Birthday

For one of Wyatt's birthdays I blew up a bunch of balloons and it has become a tradition now.  Wyatt was excited for all of his birthday balloons and his favorite cereal.

Wyatt was excited to open his presents.  Hallee had a hard time understanding that it wasn't her birthday this time.  She knew it was Wyatt's birthday, but I think she thought there was enough presents for both of them!

I love watching kids open presents.  They get so excited about everything.

I'm not sure why Wyatt posed the way he did in some of these pictures, but it sure is cute.

I think Wyatt got plenty of presents.  My boys really like Trio blocks, but they are expensive.  I found a lady who was selling 4 sets of trio blocks, plus a big bin for $20!  I knew Wyatt would love those for his birthday.  Every piece was there along with all of the instructions, it was a killer deal!

We spent the morning playing with Wyatt's new toys.  Keith had fun building all of the sets with him.  Jonah was excited to pull out his trio blocks and build stuff too.  It was nice to stay home and just play for a few hours.

Wyatt wanted to go swimming for his birthday activity.  We invited my family to come along.  Wyatt got the biggest smile on his face when he saw Rockwell. 

Kyle was back in town from EFY so he came swimming too.  Wyatt and Rockwell loved playing with him and dunking him under water.  He was so good with them.  I hope Kyle had fun.  He constantly had someone hanging on him.  What a nice cousin!

Wyatt had a blast playing with Rockwell and Kyle in the pool.  Wyatt and Rockwell were laughing so hard and having so much fun running through spraying water.

They make you get out of the pool every hour for a few minutes.  We would get drinks and eat snacks.  I brought all of these snacks and drinks and cookies for Wyatt's birthday and when we got there I saw a sign that said no outside food or drink.  We took it all in anyway.  I consider myself a very honest person except for when it says no outside food or drink, I always have trouble with that one!

That night Wyatt helped me make little pizzas for dinner and then we had ice cream cones for dessert.  Wyatt loves to blow out candles so he wanted them in his ice cream cone.  You can see where I missed putting sunblock on his face.  I always miss around the eyes.

We had so much fun celebrating with Wyatt.  He is such a fun kid and I love being his mom.  He can push me to my limits, but he sure melts my heart!

4-years-old

This cute guy is going to be 4-years-old tomorrow.  He is such a fun kid.  He does and says the funniest things.  He is really into telling stories right now.  He is always trying to top someone else's story. 

Wyatt has the most adorable voice.  Everything he says sounds so sweet.  His stuttering is getting better, but it is still there.  I really think his mind is working so fast that his mouth just can't keep up with it. 

He is such a smart kid.  He knows all of his letters and their sounds and he can write a lot of them.  He loves to learn.  He is so different from Jonah.  He is happy to sit still and read books or work in a work book.  He has been pretending he is at school a lot lately.  He wears his backpack everywhere. He seems to really understand things.  He asks questions that show that he really thinks about things. Wyatt's personality is more like Cailtyn's, but he is not shy like she was at this age.  He loves to talk to people. 

Wyatt is a very sensitive kid.  He is always telling me he loves me and giving me hugs.  He also has a nasty stubborn streak though.  He gets really upset pretty easily and will yell, scream and cry.  It is so tough because you can't reason with him at that point.  He isn't a great sleeper.  It is really common for him to wake up at night and he always wakes up way too early. 

Wyatt is a very social kid.  He loves to play with other kids and he will walk up to them at the park and ask if they want to play.  He loves to play with other people, but he is also pretty good about playing on his own.  He is a good big brother to Hallee most of the time.  He loves when she will play with him.  He loves to play games.  He loves one-on-one time with mom and dad.  He loves primary and gets really excited when he gets to talk in the microphone or sing in Sacrament Meeting.  He even bore his testimony this month. Wyatt really is a great kid.  I feel very blessed to be his mother!

You want a piece of me?

Wyatt has been saying "do you want a piece of me?"  It is usually pretty funny when he says it, but he also says some other things that are not nice at all!  He has been very defiant lately and I'm not really sure what to do about it.  We have been having a rough couple of weeks.  There isn't any huge problem, but a lot of small things that add up and seem overwhelming.  The kids have been fighting a lot.  I try to find a good balance of getting out, but not doing too much that we start to feel overscheduled.  I think it is just summer vacation with four kids!  There are good and bad things with everything.  I love summer vacation and having time with my kids, but the fighting is driving me crazy!

Here is a picture of Hallee on her birthday.  She had to sleep with her new toys. 

Monday was one of those rough days. Keith had a bad day at work and mine wasn't much better.  We decided to go out to dinner and go see the 24th of July float preview.   Sometimes you just need a night out! 

The kids were pretty good at the restaurant and they loved looking at all of the floats.  Keith and I both enjoyed throwing everything out the window and getting out!

I forgot to put this picture in on Hallee's birthday post.  I try to get a picture of Keith and I with the birthday kid every year.

Today we went to my mom's for a barbecue for the 24th of July.  Tiff snapped this picture of Wyatt and Rockwell, love it.  I love watching my kids have so much fun with their cousins.  Hallee and Tessa were being really cute today too.  We took some sparklers and the kids had fun with them, but Hallee ended up burning herself on one.  She did great with the first two and I got distracted and didn't watch her close like I should.  I feel horrible.  I didn't even take my camera because I have been working on blogs for days and I swore I will never take a picture again!

Kyle

Kyle flew into town Saturday night to spend the week at EFY.  We were all excited to see him. 

My family met at Leatherby's that night.

It was a great way to end Hallee's birthday.

After playing musical ice cream for a while I think everyone ended up with something they liked.  It is hard for these boys to order when they really have no idea what they are going to get.

On Sunday we went over to my parents to spend some time with Kyle.  He is such a good kid.  He is always happy and he loves to tease. 

Wyatt and Jonah loved rough housing with him. 

Keith always has to get in on the rough housing!

Wyatt loved Kyle!  He thought it was so funny that he put Kyle in handcuffs.  I love being an Aunt. It is so fun to see all my nieces and nephews grow up into such great teenagers.  It gives me hope for my kids!  I can't believe Kyle is almost seventeen!  It seems like just yesterday that Julie and I were dressing him up as Elvis for his first Halloween!

Hallee is a toddler?

I said something about Hallee being two-years-old now and Wyatt yelled, "Hallee is a toddler now?"  Funny kid.

We filled the front room with balloons for Hallee's birthday. Hallee was so excited when she came out and saw all of them.

All of the kids had fun playing with them.

After they played in the balloons for a while we went in and opened presents.  Hallee was really excited about opening presents. 

This is the first time that I can remember that I didn't have birthday presents ready and waiting long before their birthday.  I was drawing a complete blank.  I finally found some things on Amazon that I thought she would like.  We used our credit card rewards and ordered hers and Wyatt's presents for free! 

I also don't remember a time where our kids have loved their presents so much, even days later.  We got her this adorable purse and picnic basket.  She loves to carry things around.  She is constantly saying, "where's my purse?"   She wants to take her purse and basket everywhere!

After we played inside for a little while we headed outside to play.  We set up the little pool in the back yard.  Hallee loved holding the hose while we filled it up.

Caitlyn and Jonah had a great time in the pool. 

Wyatt loved going down the slide into the water.

It was so hot, so I got in the water with the kids.  The water was freezing, but it felt so good!

Wyatt was so happy all day.  He loves playing outside!

The kids had fun painting with water on the cement.  I saw this idea a while ago and thought it was the best idea ever.  No mess!

But, I guess everything is more fun with a mess!  They started making paint out of chalk and had a great time painting with that for a while.

Hallee and Wyatt helped me make cookies the night before.  Hallee said she wanted birthday cookies instead of cake. 

Hallee was very happy with her cookies and ice cream cones! It was fun to spend time together and celebrate with Hallee.