Family Pictures: 

always an adventure and a time to pull out the Smarties candy :)

 Connor

Brayden:  getting him to hold still is a feat!

 

 Did we really get everyone with a decent smile, looking at the camera? 

Happy 4th Birthday Becca!

Whelp, a twin is awake, blogging time over!   Happy Summer

Not dead, yet

So you may have wondered if I had run away, after seeing my last post.  Now you can rest at night, we are still kickin'!  It has just been an incredibly busy last couple of months.  The good news is that my weedy garden patch is weeded, planted, and thriving, pink eye is gone...but the piles and messes may never go away, just vary in their location :)  So here is what we have been up to...

Camping at the beach over Spring Break

 

 

Having a visit from my parents who helped me with Ron's surprise birthday party-We had a calculator cake and calculator pinata

 They tried to escape in the back of Grandpa's car, sorry guys, you are stuck with us!

 We went to Les Mis

 Fathers and Sons Campout

My Grandpa passed away after being sick for several years.  I went home, by myself, for the funeral.  It was an exceptional trip, so nice to see family and remember Grandpa.  We even did some shopping :) 

 Ron's sister Emily and our little nephew Eddie

The Fam 

 

 It's been awhile since we were all together.

 

 Before LASIK...I love my surgery, so great to wake up and see things, no hassles with glasses and contacts.  Ron really wanted me to be able to do it, thanks Hubby!  

 What do you do with your kids when you have to wait an hour at the doctor for a "5 minute" check up that they told you was going to be "in and out?"  We found duck poop outside while we waited, awesome. 

 Wanna find a way to give yourself a half hour to blog?  Let your kids poke teeth holes in the top of applesauce cups and they suck it out, keeps them busy for awhile :)

There you have it! 

Behind the scenes of our lives

Do you ever look at people's blogs and think "Their life is perfect" as you gaze at yours and put your messes against their perfections? I have stopped doing this because I am frankly too busy and tired to care and also, I have learned to be grateful that people take the time to post about their successes, or not so much successes, to give us all comic relief. So here is some of my "dirty laundry" for you all to get a smile or sigh out of, perhaps both....

Brayden with booger nose and double oozy eye infection-we had to go twice to the doctor today...first time I waited an hour in the waiting room with two screaming babies with another hour to go with people telling me my hands are full-I said I would just come back after their nap...

Connor, also boogery, does not sit still for anything-the twins both ignore me and rush away from me when Ron is home...what I do for them, grrrr.....

Ah, they are distracted for a few minutes while I quickly take a breather

To give us a little break, we gave them ice creams cones...nothing like ice cream and ooze smeared on your face...but they were happy, excellent

This is where I hide things when people come over, behind the couch if I am lucky

Becca's room that needs some organizing

My weedy garden that needs attention...and here I sit, blogging at 11:00 pm when I should be reading scriptures that alas, have not been read yet today....
But the blessing of the day is that we are all still alive, my husband loves me, and we have food to eat tomorrow...it was a good day!

Happy 1st Birthday Twins!!!

Wow, has it been an incredible year with these babies!!! We couldn't have asked for anything cuter or more amazing. It's so fun just to watch these babies...we can't imagine life without them. We celebrated their first birthday with their little friend Lucy, who was born a week after them at the same hospital. We had 35 people at our home celebrating with us. Thanks to you all for helping us during this past year! All the emails, phone calls, dinners, play dates at the park...

Brayden wouldn't touch his cupcake for awhile and just plunged with his mouth... he gets that from his daddy. He finally crunched it up.

Connor devoured his from the get-go and chuckled to himself while he indulged...he gets that from his mommy

Brayden

Happy Birthday, Boys!

Connor

Ron's parents visited us a week prior-it was so sweet to see our kids giggle and have fun with grandparents...who had fresh energy and helped us juggle everything!!!

Who needs an eye anyway, you've got two!

Bowling was fun, and interesting...we had one lane, with no gates to catch the gutter balls!

Ah, what fun!

Compliments, cuts, and chocolates

I had had it!! The fighting in our house was driving me crazy and I was tired of threatening, bribing, and punishing. A few weeks ago at FHE we introduced the Compliment Jar. If one of the kids gives a compliment or does an act of service for a family member, the person they do it for gets to put a cotton ball in the jar. When it is filled up, we will get a sitter for the twins and take the three oldest out to Texas Roadhouse. Dinner that night after the lesson was the most peaceful one ever. It has helped with the fighting and is a work in progress.

I got a haircut, which was a big deal for me to get a wash, cut, and blow dry at a nice place thanks to Groupon...ah, it was fun to have someone pamper my head for a wee bit

The twins also got a cut, they had cute duck wings....

Doesn't get more identical than that, from two different heads! Can you guess who is who?

Baby A

Baby B

They both had a cheerio stuck to their left cheek.

First time I've been able to volunteer at my kids' school. Becca and I are really good at pushing the play button for musical chairs :)

Brayden is walking now and Connor says "uh-oh and up"

Happy Valentine's Day!!! My Valentine gave me the best present ever. 2 boxes of chocolates. Why are chocolates so great? Because Ron knows that if I have a chocolate waiting for me at the end of the day that I can enjoy by myself while I clean up the tornado house, I am a happy girl-sometimes I even eat two for extra comfort ;)