Hang On, It's Coming....

I know many of you have been patiently waiting for me to update my blog.  There's so much to write about, once I finally do, you'll all understand why it took me weeks to get caught up.  So, hang on just a little while longer and I'll make it worth your while.  (I hope.)

Thanks!!

Emergency Preparedness....

We've been planning this vacation since January.  We're taking the family on an All-American trip to South Dakota!  Mt. Rushmore here we come!  Crazy Horse monument, prepare to get more crazy!

We're leaving for this road trip tomorrow morning around 5'ish.  Boo.  If you know me at all, you know the morning and I mix like Coca-Cola and a car battery.  Clint suggested I go back to sleep as soon as we're on the road but I kindly reminded him of reality........

All the kids, except Jett, will go back to sleep and I'll be left tending to him and his demands.  When he finally crashes out, and I'm ready to join him, the other beasts will wake up and start whining to me about how hungry they are and bored and hot and how much longer and are we there yet.

By this time, I'm sure we'll only be to Denver and I'll be looking in the glove box for a pen or pencil to thrust into my jugular.  Clint will be in a dazed blur because he'll already be so high on Monster energy drinks that he won't even remember there's other people in the truck with him.

I can't wait for 4:59am.

Jett Says....

In our daily happenings, Jett often goes around babbling and giggling, pretending to be in most all conversations.  And regularly he shouts out commands for a sibling, or myself, to obey.  We think it's so cute that he has his small handful of words that he says.

It wasn't until I put it all to paper that I realized......this kid's a talker!  I sat down with the sibs and compiled all the things he says into one great big list.  36 things to be exact!

·         Shoes

·         Hailey

·         Haiden

·         Dad

·         Mom

·         Mah-ee  (molly)

·         No-no

·         Dink (drink)

·         Shhh

·         Poo-poo & pee-pee  (pointing to his diaper)

·         On (with arms up to be held; like Ron Burgundy "I want to be on you")

·         Down

·         Out (like from the carseat or booster seat at the table)

·         Na-na (banana)

·         Side (telling us he wants to go outside)

·         Des-ee (sister Destini, this is a new one)

·         Puppy

·         Keee (kitty)

·         Hi

·         Hello

·         Bye

·         Ny-ny (goodnight)

·         K (in conversation, like “ok”)

·         HEY! (like getting mad at the kids)

·         Eye (while poking himself or you in the eye)

·         B or beeee (long and drawn out for his binkie)

·         Moh (more)

·         Meh! (after a prayer for Amen, usually yelled, especially during sacrament)

·         Ball

·         Bub (for his favorite cartoon “Bubble Guppies”, said while flapping his arms and shakin' his booty.  He's a dancing machine.)

·         Hide (when he’s playing with the kids and wants to hide from them)

·         Rawr (when he’s the one scaring you)

·         Sissy (the alternate for Hailey)

·         Chee (for “cheese!” with his head tipped to one side, camera ready)

·         Whee! (when he’s flinging something around, like swinging a shirt back and forth in front of him, or on the swings at the park, or related to anything he considers fun)

It's crazy to think that we hear this everyday and we didn't even realize how many things he knows.  He's such a smart little guy.  I'm sure it's because of his wonderful big brothers and sisters.  It's good to think it's cute now.  I'm sure his future vocabulary will make me cringe.  Maybe that's where wrinkles come from.

Summer Fun....

School is finally out!!  Obviously this post is a little overdue but we've kicked off summer by firing up the sprinkler.  Jett goes with water like Peanut Butter with Jelly.  He would live in the water if we'd let him.

This little snippet shows him running the show.....as usual.  Stand back or you'll be sprayed!!  (It's a few minutes long, but worth it.  At least to me.)

And this is after the water fight....

We grabbed the first thing within reach.  These boys were freezing!

I think they might actually like each other....
sometimes.

So snugly.

Wrinkly little toes.

A sweet kiss from big brother.

 There's always excitement here, you just have to look in front of you.

Part of Our Heritage....

At the end of Fourth grade all the students were assigned a big project that traced their family history and allowed them to learn about where their family came from.  I won't bore you with stats and details but rather, allow you to take a journey through time with photos.  Ok, no I won't, but it sounded cool.   Ha!

Here's a look at the final product; our display board.  I say "our" because the project was supposed to be for the kids and parents.  This was to involve the parents in the kids' school work and allow them to spend time together.  The final presentation was given by the student and their parent or aunt/uncle/grandparent, or whoever was available to help them.

That's right!  We're soo-perr Svedish!
The guitar shape in the middle is the branching off of our family tree.

Here's the family detective and his evidence.
Maybe I should have taken this with me in there....Hmm.

This half naked child represents...a half naked child.
Who's part Swedish.
And half naked.

There was a pin marking the city where we're from
but Jett decided we didn't need it.  I'm fine with it.
It's funner to point and ask, "Here?", "Here?"
"How about here?"

This cute little section represents our ancestors livelihood.
They lived in a lush area and were great farmers.
Apparently it's the recessive gene.
My houseplants are staging a coup.



Pictures of the typical period clothing they wore.
I imagine for a hot date, the ladies would just wear the vest
with no long sleeve shirt underneath.  Sassy!
Nothing says 'Pedicure please" like a flashy pair of wooden shoes.



Food.  My link to history.
This would explain my love of Swedish Fish.
No really, they were invented in Sweden; land of licorice lovers.

A little history about the town; Kristianstad, Sweden

You thought the clubs were hot on Saturday night.
They've got nothin' on this place.
Here they are, tearin' it up before the sun's even down!
As for me, apparently I'm genetically wired to be this good.

I think this picture speaks for itself.

So there it is.  A slice of our family history in a nutshell.  The oldest relative we went back to was born in 1410.  We don't know much about him, but that just leaves it open to do more investigating.  This was all found on my dad's, dad's side and I've barely scratched the surface on his mom's side, or even my mom's side.  Confused yet?  Me too.  Whose blog is this??!

Jett's 1st Zoo Trip....

Jett went to the zoo for the first time a few weeks ago.  I love to see things through his eyes.  He LOVED it!  We plan on going alot this summer and can't wait to do it again when Destini gets here.

He liked the giraffes the best.

It looks like they're kissing.  They're not.

He was laying down, peeking under the fence, calling this baby giraffe.

He clicks his tongue, tries to snap his fingers, and makes suction sounds.
Animal whisperer in-training.

Hard to see but this is the Meerkat display.  He screamed when he saw them.

Getting dirty.  Another perk to the zoo.

Monkey see, Monkey do.

Feeding the birds.

Notice the grandpa pants pulled up to his moobs.
I had to lift him over my head to reach these little Thanksgiving appetizers.

Jett didn't know whether to be excited for the bird on my shoulder
or eat the seed on a stick.  What to do, what to do??

Ethan wanted to take this thing home.
Then I happily showed him the poo-colored concrete.
Crisis averted.

Cotton candy for the first time!  There's only one picture because
I have enough of him having melt-downs.
No need to continue the documentation.

This is my favorite!  I'm going to do some crop magic to make it closer.

Coming out of the wolf den.

Me too!!

We found the face painters.  Notice the eyes...

You'd think he was a little Prince used to getting facials.

He was so tired I was physically holding his head up so she could finish the painting.
He just melted when that brush stroked his cheek.

Hand on boob.  Now he's good.
Rawr!  (To the baby Tiger, not the boob.)

So cute!

My little snake lover!

This guy was super close.  I'm so glad that glass is 20 inches thick!

Cutest zoo babies ever!  The Orangutans are my favorite!

He just couldn't do it anymore.

Done.

I just missed this shot.  The baby was at the glass and put his hands on Ethan's.
It was adorable.  I made an Orangutan lover out of Ethan too!

Ok, don't be too bored.  It's all over with.  Until tomorrow when I add a post about our recent trip with Destini!!  I don't take tons of pictures with animals; we've all been to the zoo before.  I just like to capture my kids' reactions to things, or get those blackmail shots for future use: Prom, dating, graduation, wedding receptions....and so on.

Wild Boys....

I've mentioned many times that, even though I have three of them, boys are still a mystery to me.  I often find myself asking The Hubs, "Is that normal?".  I forgot I took these videos a few weeks ago.  I laughed so hard while filming them, and laughed even harder when I watched them again.  Here's a little peek into my life with my wild boys.

These boys are so funny.  It makes me a little nervous to imagine what they might think of next.

And now the conclusion..

Oh the hilarity continues!  All I have to do is wake up.