OKay...

This is for those of you that think I don't really have any older kids because I don't put enough pictures up of them. This was the first day for ALL the big kids. Jared started the 5th grade, Hayden the 3rd. and Jillian the 1st. I cannot believe I have a child old enough for the 5th grade. As he likes to remind me only 1 more year after this and he goes to Middle school. I am really not ready. I know my mom is laughing because I tormented her with every one of my milestones. So just remember what ever you do to your mom will come back to haunt you when you have kids of your own.

Jillian's First Full Day of School

Jillian is now officially one of the big kids. She gets to walk to and from school with the boys. She sits at a desk instead of a table in class. She is there ALL day. She gets to buy hot lunch. All this on top of getting her ear done. I would say my big girls is having a big week.

PS thanks Kelly for taking this picture. Jillian didn't want me taking her to school today. Obviously she is to big to need her mom to do that.

What is for breakfast at Grandma's?

Why chocolate ice cream crepes, of course. But that is what grandparents are for. Grandpa Larry made his Saturday special crepes for us this weekend. Though Gavin's request for chocolate was a first. But for those of you that don't know to Gavin if it isn't chocolate it really isn't worth eating. He gets his chocolate gene from is Grandma Chris. The rest of us had peach, blue berry or all of the above. It is well worth the trip to Idaho for.

A trip to the mall with cousins

We had most of the big girls cousins in town for the Phillips family reunion. Kelly had just gotten her ears pierced right before coming up. Needless to say the first thing out of Jillian's mouth was "Kelly has her ears done. Why can't I?" Well I told her that Taylor and Alex don't have theirs done. Well then there mom's were we should do them all together. I said they both did it that I would let Jillian do her, too. Alex really wanted hers done but was very afraid so I wasn't sure if Jillian, Kelly and Lauren would be able to talk her into it. It took most of they day and when we were in the mall Alex kept saying she was scared but wanted to. I thought she might back out and I would get to wait till Jillian was eight like I had planned. But as you can see no such luck. Jillian instantly looks older. Every time I look at her it is like see a different girl, but she is very excited to be starting the 1st grade with her ears pierced.

Flashback Friday #6

I know that I never include me in the photos but this one isn't to bad. Thanks Ana for sending it to me. This was the summer of 2005. The baby is Gavin. Looking at this makes me sad that the boat is broken. So I don't know if we are going to be getting on the lake this year. Owen is taking it to get fixed. We should know next week how long we are going to in dry dock. Maybe next year we will be back to a boating family.

I WON an Award

I want to thank Jen and the Guys over at Two Knit Monkeys I have never won any award before, not here in blogerland or in real life so, thanks.

Now here is what I am suppose to do to share the love.

1. Put the logo on your blog. Okay
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you. Okay
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs. SEVEN I am new at this but I have 4 for now
4. Add links to these blogs on your blog. See the loving below.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog. Working on it...

I visit all of these guys everyday for a laugh and a smile, some of them are so busy sharing that I get to visit then a couple times a day. Check them all out.

Debbie at This is the Life is witty and always willing to share her diet coke. She really make me miss one of my best friends who moved away to Georgia.

Jenny at Picky Palate has great recipes that are very family friendly. A favorite at our house is Cheesy Mexi-rigatoni Bake.

A new place I have been frequenting is Vintage Thirty. Tootsie's outlook makes me giggle just thinking about blog.

Mama's Losin' It shares not only funny things about being a mom but about running an in home day care. She deserves a bigger award than this but this is what I got.

I will try to pass the love to three others I just need some time for thinking.

Thanks again Jen, Bernardo and Guillermo

Yard project done and pond pictures

So a few posts ago I showed our work in progress. You can see that Owen and Peter have finished extending the arbor over our back patio. It looks awesome. The wisteria already covers half way. It might reach the other side before the end of summer. Also I have received some requests to see more photos of the pond. Many, okay Meghan, has never seen the yard when it isn't covered in snow. So I thought I would put some pictures up, I had to throw in the one of Owen in the pond. That was the way he decided to cool off while he was building. I don't know if you can tell but, our fish are very friendly they swam right up to him and started kissing him all over. Our fish like to be hand feed so they aren't people shy. And no Owen isn't naked it just looks that way.

YEAH Family visiting

So this weekend we had lots of cousins come to visit. And only one family had to come. Jen and Brett are up for the family reunion which isn't til next weekend. So they spent this weekend here. Grandma Chris drove home with them so she was here for as night as well. This was the first time that Jen got to meet Jason. The picture of the girls drawing on the trampoline seems like a strange thing to do on the trampoline. Until you know they are making a list of things they wanted to do together while they were here. The list included things like go for a nature walk, sleep on the trampoline, tell scary stories, play in the sprinklers on the trampoline, play Wii, have Popsicles. I am glad to report that they did everything on the list. Jillian was in heaven having the girls out number the boys. She and Kelly were inseparable. Gavin and Brooke are finally old enough that they had a blast playing together. They played hide and go seek . It was so cute.

The bookends stay with Heidi & Jason

Jared and Gavin went to spend a couple of nights with the Byars. It was one party after another. Thursday there was a fiesta pool party at the apartments. I took all of the kids to go swimming and do the pinatas. They had a cool jet ski raft for the kids to putt around the pool in and they had a DJ. Then we left so the real fun could begin.

Friday the boys got to have a big breakfast and do more swimming. Then later Jason and Heidi took the kids on base for a Thank you servicemen carnival. They had a ton of fun. So much fun that Gavin has decided that he wants to live with them instead of here with us. I guess to a three year old, all the candy you can eat and swimming whenever you want seem like heaven. The only way we were able to get him to stay at home was for Heidi and Jason to sneak away while he was sleeping. But just FYI he was DEVASTATED when he woke up in the morning and they were gone.

Flashback Friday #5

Hayden enjoying a treat in the summer of 2001. Man, he is a beautiful boy. It is funny to look back at some pictures because you have almost a duel memory. I know that when this photo was taken I thought how big he was getting. Now looking back he was such a baby. I took this photo from a video of that summer. Jared was almost three, Hayden was about 18 months and I was pregnant with Jillian. I was going to have 3 kids, 3 and under. What was I thinking. I guess that was one of those circumstances when ignorance was bliss. Now having 5, those days were easy.

Racing Gavin

The only way to get Gavin to go to bed with out a fight is to race him.

Me: "Gavin, I am going to win. Tonight is my night to win."

ZOOOOOM off he goes up the stairs giggling all to way. He races to the potty. Quick like a bunny he bounces into bed. Beating me, again, of course.

Me: "Gavin, how did you get so fast?"

Gavin: " Jesus taught me. He gave me lessons."

Me: "Oh well that explains it"

PuTTinG iT aLL ToGetHeR

** You can pause the music so you can hear the movie. Just hit pause on playlist **

As you can see Gavin is ALL boy. He likes to be helpful. When is it that they go from being helpful to not want to be bothered? Because the big boy (aka Jared and Hayden) were nowhere to be found all day during this project.

A work in progress

By necessity we have had to expand the arbor outside. When we first planted the wisteria we were told that is was slow growing and probably would not bloom the first 5 or 6 years it was in the ground. Well you have all ready seen the beautiful blooms we get and after several summers it has over grown it's arbor. We always wanted the arbor to cover the patio so now it will. Once it is done and we straighten out the plant it should over the arbor expansion at least half way. Once we have that done I will post the completion pictures.

Funniest Email From Owen

*** Disclaimer Owen sent this email I am not sure who wrote it orignally but it was so funny I almost wet my pants so I had to share it on my blog. It is something everyone, Man or Woman, can realte to.****

9 Words WOMEN Use


(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argumentwhen they are right and you need to shut up.
(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around thehouse.
3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.
(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!
(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is anon-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing.(Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)
(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.
(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says "Thanks a lot" - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say "you're welcome" ... that will bring on a "whatever").
(8) Whatever: Is a women's way of saying "Kiss my butt"!
(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking "What's wrong?" For the woman's response refer to # 3.

Feeling Usefull

So as a whole most the time as a mom I feel like I have a lot of knowledge that is what others may consider useless mom knowledge. But today when I was in THE toy store, you know the one with the giraffe. I had to go there to get a present for a party this week and only had 2 kids and a 20% off coupon so I thought what the heck. While I was wondering the game isle a nice gentleman asked me for my opinion on games for is grandson. He wanted to know what was worth getting. I knew someday that the things I have learned along the way as a mom would come in handy. While I was talk to the first gentleman and second asked if I knew of any game that were good for adults. I ended up helping several people. It felt so good to be useful even if it was just with useless mom knowledge. The only place that I like to share my useless mom knowledge more is when I am in the baby store. One day I may just have to get a job there to that I can get paid to share mom useless mom knowledge.

Flaskback Friday #4

This is from the summer of 2005. Three is one of those ages that you dread while you are going through it but when you look back on it in photos it is one of your favorite memories. This is one of those photo that just happened. I love the fact that the Bean has on the boys "KyBoy" hat. Her hair was still damp from taking a tubby and still had that baby curl to it. If I close my eyes I know exactly how she smelled. This was the age that she was always asking "Whobody did that??". If something was out of place, "Whobody moved it??". Even back then she was trailing after the boys trying to get into whatever they were. Something don't change no matter how much they have grown.

Family and Fireworks

As I said before we were in Idaho for the holiday weekend. Owen and Kory took all of the kids to Lewiston for a home town fireworks show. (Steph and I stayed home with sleeping babies the show didn't start till 10pm) Aren't the pictures what the 4th is about? Laying on your back in the grass watching the lights in the sky with your cousins. You can not buy those kinds of memories.

Boys day at Rattlesnake

We spent the holiday weekend in Idaho at Steph and Kory's. As normal Owen could not keep away from Rattlesnake. I swear I think that mountain has an unnatural pull on the guy. It must remind him of his youth. This time though he took ALL of the boys (except Hayden, he wanted to hang with Alex). As you can see they had a great time. It wasn't all play Grandpa did put them to work. He made them clean out an old trailer he bought to take up the mountain. He also had them mark and water some new trees he planted. Cameron got to drive the Rhino and Jared got a shot a driving the BIG 4-wheeler. On a side note, Cameron not only is looking like a teenager he is sounding like one to, His voice has started to change. I am only his Aunt an I am so not ready to have a teenager in our group.

Visiting Great Grandma Deedee

Owen's Grandma, Deedee, Is in town visiting from California. It has been a long time since we have seen her. I think the last time we saw her was when Gavin was as big as Sabrina. Though we a glad that she loves living with Cindy and Dale we hate that they live so far off the beaten path. It is hard to squeeze in a visit when we go down there. We went to see her at Andi's house. The kids love to see and play with Taylor. One of the drawback of moving back to Sandy is that we don't see aunts, uncles and cousins on a weekly basis in the summer like we did in Logan. The kids summer will be very short this year we are going to try to cram as much family visits in as we can. The kids had great fun. They got to tube down the canal. Everyone but Gavin, he had to settle for jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler on.

Flashback Friday #3

This is from the summer of 2005. Stephanie and the kids were living very close in Draper while she was doing her student teaching. The apartments she lived at had a pool. It was GREAT. We saw our cousins on almost daily basis and we got to swim. Thinking back I really miss sharing cooking duty. We really ate well when Steph was around to mix up my standard meals. I really should pull out some of her recipes that I know the kids love. Maybe after it cools down some and we start cooking in the house again. Man we miss having them close by but we are sure glad we now have Kory and more cousins to play with. We are going to be spend the 4th of July with them so we will have new pictures and memories with them. Check back later for new photos.

What channel is a kids show, Mommy?

As you can see Sabrina has the sitting thing down, now she is working on how to use the remote. I was trying to get her to look at me for a picture but she was way more interested in what was on the View.

Six Months & Growing

Wow, times flies. Mom is about wanting me to get bigger wanting me to stay a baby. For an update for those that want to know I now weight 12 pounds and am 24 inches long.

Other interesting facts:

• playing with my toes keeps me well entertained
• rolling over is a breeze though I don't go from tummy to back if someone is watching
• thumb sucking only happens if I am very tired and in my car seat
• Mom can see tooth bumps which explains why I am always chewing on my hands
• I practically have this sitting on my own down
• I love to be tossed in the air, it makes me giggle
• I like to ride in the shopping cart like a big girl, if I am in car seat I get mad and don't let mom finish unless she is carrying me
• I light up when Hayden gets home from school and tells me about is day
• I get very chatty when Daddy get home so I can tell him what my day was like
• Sometimes I sleep for 6 hours at night (from 7pm to 1am)
• at least two naps a day keeps me a happy girl
• I sleep best on my tummy
• I like blowing raspberries at everyone
• I still like to snuggle with mom, dad will do in a pinch

watch for future posts about how I am growing and changing. I hope Mommy does get to mad at me I used her new computer and us kids aren't suppose to touch but I am way cute so she may forgive me.