Glad

Glad he's home, Glad he had fun. Glad he gets to do things like this with his son. Glad he has such good friends in the other scout leaders, 2 men who he can depend on, who he looks up to, and appreciates. Glad they all got home safe. Glad there is not much laundry (i'm not sure Ty ever changed his clothes) Glad to have a full house again. Glad to have someone to talk to. Glad to share my bed with him, not an 8 yr old.

(But secretly, quietly, GLAD because it means spring break is over)

PS... Todd said I had to edit this to at least tell people he and the scouts went fishing at Lee's Ferry at the Grand Canyon. Not sure why he was bugged that I did not say this, because he has only seen the blog 2 times...

Cousins

Tyler and Kaylee have no first cousins anywhere close to their age. I guess that is what happens when your parents get married so young, and then no brothers or sisters get married, or has kids any time soon. They have always complained about this...like it is something I can do anything about.

Lucky for me, I have several cousins close to my age. There were 3 boys and 4 girls in a 2.5 year span. We always had fun when we were growing up. Some of my favorite memories are with them. ( do any of you remember the dime into the funnel tucked into Matt's waist band at the rocket ship park?)

Most of these cousins have kids my kids' ages. So Ty and Kaylee at least have some cousins. We only see each other about 3 times a year, or less for those in Kansas. We finally got them all together, including Porter, who was meeting some of them for the first time ever I think.

My house was full of teenagers, and I have never enjoyed it more. Pizza, games, 007 (we did not lose anyone!) and a plethora of laughter. I love seeing all of these kids get along so well. (I keep telling Ty and Kaylee that someday they will want to date their cousin's friends, or at least have their cousins set them up with cute boys/girls. I'm not sure they get it yet.)

I wasn't sure where it would go from here. But as everyone was leaving, they all told their mom's about their grand plan...getting together the 1st and 3rd Fridays of every month, always at different homes so each family would host only every 3 months.... Boy that sound ambitious, yet fun. Hopefully we can get them together soon, but we will sure miss Porter if he's not here.

I'm grateful for such fun cousins who made wonderful memories with me, and also that we can help our kids make fun memories together too.

The whole crew Top row: Ashton (not related, but a friend of Elyse's), Michael, Braelyn
Middle Row: Porter, Elyse, Ty, Conner
Bottom Row: Hannah, Audrey, Kaylee, Elisabeth

Travis loves trains and building

Travis spent several hours at my parents last weekend. He loves to build things, and my dad has a soft spot for Travis. So when Travis asked Grandpa what they could make, my dad took him out to the shop to create this train. Travis worked hard for 2days to make 3 trains, 1 for him, and 2 others for cousins. He was so proud. Today, as we sorted toys in the basement, he found a train engineer hat in the dress up box. (see previous post about why the dress up box was out) When I told him to put it away, he said "no mom, this is perfect for you to take a picture of me with my train." So for documentation of Travis' favorite things...Enjoy.

What my sister can make me do...

Someday, these pictures will be used for blackmail. I can already see it. Then people will ask me how old he was, and I will have to admit he was almost 10. What was Tanner thinking? I'm not sure he was. We had a cute friend over playing with Kaylee, and they decided to dress Tanner up. He enthusiastically went along. And he had a blast. When I told him I would blog this, he said "All right!!" Can I start planning the blackmail yet, or does that make me a bad mom? (and yes, we know he looks alot like Kaylee)

One down, three to go

Ty got his braces off. It was no big deal to him. Just another day. He only had them for a little over a year. Notice the self portrait. I made him take the camera to the appointment. I would say this is a good scrapbook moment, but let's be honest... it's been years since I scrapped. Now I just think "is it blog worthy?" He got them off while I was doing preschool, so Jessie graciously picked him up to take him to school when he was done. (thanks) I did not see him until late afternoon, and then for only 3 seconds, before heading out to coach.

But for mom... this was a big big deal! I was more excited than him. My uncle and cousin did the work... www.arizonabraces.com Thanks (both) Dr. Petersen! It went way faster, and did not cost us nearly what I had anticipated. His teeth look great, and I think he has a cute smile. Look out girls...he's almost 14!!

And in other news, Travis must be feeling a little neglected. He had to take pictures of himself. Here's a few I found on my memory card when I went to download Ty's pictures. What a goofball! Yep, he's gonna need braces too! PS. I think he was trying to prove that he brushed his teeth...see the toothpaste?

Where I have been lately...

I feel so loved that people have asked why I have not blogged lately. I have been crazy busy. So here is a quick update. Of course, preschool, coaching, my yw's calling, and surprisingly enough, real estate has kept me very busy. Along with all the mom stuff I'm supposed to do. But in addition to all that......

January found me making and glittering suits and headpieces for Kaylee's first meet. (She did great.) The meet was 2 long days, but she looked great and swam very well.

To start February, I've been making more headpieces. I also made personalized cookies for the kids' classes for Valentine's Day. Every year I say no more, but always get sweet talked into it.

So today, I took the day off. Todd and I took the kids to hike Fremont Saddle in the Superstition Mountains with some friends.

However, mostly Todd and I have been moping around feeling sorry for ourselves that 1 year ago we were on a cruise... relaxing on the top of the mountain is just not the same...

Update

Christmas was fun, New Years was tiring, I was glad the kids went back to school.