Blog Plug

So Jared's family is pretty amazing. It was a little daunting to marry into this family because they are so creative and talented and beautiful. There are 10 kids in Jared's family and they all have an amazing eye for design and art and music and they all portray it differently. Many are teachers, and others entrepreneurs. When they throw a party - it's done right. Let's just say most their homes could probably be in magazines the way they decorate and use their creativity. Anyways I could go on and on...

Jared's sister is a mother of 4 and stays at home. She is incredibly organized and creative and has super great ideas for raising children and just some fun ideas for teaching and doing fun things. She created a blog for her outlet of ideas. I here give them to you free...I really think she could write a book. I hope you check it out.

raisinglemons.com (in case it didn't work)

Enjoy!

Pine Wood Derby 2011

It's that wonderful time of year again that we all look forward to (a little sarcasm implied)...Pine Wood Derby!! This being our second year you think we would have planned a little better and known what we were doing...not really. Jared was out of town for the actual event, so I begged him to get as much done with Rees as he could. They cut it out and Rees sanded it and Jared showed him how to paint the base coat. That's about as far as they got. I got to take over and try to implement Rees' design idea.

Rees doing a little last minute sanding. We tried to paint stripes but the paint was kind of old and somewhat watery and bleed through the tape.

We miraculously finished it. I touched up a few spots one night (the things we do for our children). I somehow got those axles and wheels on. We needed to add weight to it so I taped a bunch of quarters to the bottom of it, that's what you get with a couple hours to go and mom is in charge. :)

He said it turned out better then he thought after seeing the paint bleed.

The boys sitting front and center watching the racing. Did I mention we all had to be there early to help set up because I pretty much took over because our cubmaster was taking a final.

The boys cars.

Rees heading back to the top of the track with his car. It did pretty well.

The red blur is his car.

Rees got 3rd, not sure where he tucked his ribbon. The boys had fun and we had some fun yummy treats and some great help. It is over and on to next year...when we will be making 2!! Ahhh.

Boys Basketball

We convinced Rees and Luke to try basketball this year. They actually loved it. Luke did a Saturday class that taught them basics. I'm kicking myself because I forgot my camera on the last day. They gave them certificates for completing the class. Luke had fun and caught on pretty well.

Luke with his certificate and prizes.

Rees had actual practices and a team (Blazin' Heat) that played games once a week. He was with a lot of his buddies from school and really enjoyed it. Here he is warming up.
Sorry I don't know how to take pics, if anyone has advice let me know. Maybe a newer camera?

He's in there somewhere I think. I was trying to find the best setting for my camera and might have missed him.

After their last game they had a party at a pizza place.

Luke tackling Tagg in the balls. Tagg and Darin loved the balls.

Darin hanging out in the balls. Love the grandpa glasses, he's such a stinker by looking over the top of them all the time.

Tagg loving the balls!!

Rees giving his buddy an extra push on the arcade games.

Rees getting his trophy and certificate with his coaches.

Rees and the trophy. They both had a great time and learned a lot. It was entertaining to watch and fun to see them learn a new skill.

Wii Fun and Wii Patch

The boys are addicted to the Wii. I thought it would die off after Christmas, but they are still going strong. Taggy loves to think he's playing along with his older brothers.

Tagg was hopping up and down in this picture having fun with Rees.

Luke getting in on the jumping fun.

The Wii Patch.
Darin has one bad eye and to help strengthen it he is suppose to wear a patch for a few hours a day. Since he is addicted to Wii, we called it the Wii patch and he has to wear it when he plays the Wii. It's worked out pretty good so far. We'll see if it makes a difference.

Sportin' the wii patch. Rees sick on the couch playing with Darin.

Bday Celebration with Uncles

Jared and his brother Tyler have birthdays 2 days apart in February. Last week we invited his two brothers to come down for some birthday dinner and fun.

Of course 2 uncles + 4 boys = crazy wrestling, ball throwing, Wii playing fun. Luke and Tagg are taking it to Uncle Tyler by dumping all the balls on his face.

Uncle Garett talking to Jared and taking Wii turns with Rees.

More craziness. Tyler's girlfriend watching all this unravel from a far.

I made a dinner of Tyler's choice and a dessert of Jared's choice. They both shared in the candle blowing. I love Jared's face. :)

Blowing out the candles. We had fun catching up with them, they are some great guys. We went up to Portland last week to see Uncle Tyler in concert live. It was amazing! Some very creative talented boys.

Rees' Amazing Lego Mind

Rees is constantly coming up with new lego creations. Every once in a while I will take some pics of his creations. He loves having his own room to create in. Tagg is always wanting to come play with his creations though. :) Here are a few of his recent creations.

Battle base.

Aerial shot.

Close up of the battle.

A star wars ship creation.

Side view.

Side view of his mega ship.

Aerial shot of the mega ship. I am still amazed how well he builds and creates. They look like real sets to me.

Swim Lessons

Luke and Darin needed some physical activity besides teasing and beating each other up so we put them in swim lessons. It's been about a year since we had them in them. They were excited to head back to the pool. It worked out perfect with Jared working from home on Tues. & Thurs. Rees stayed home and babysat Tagg while Jared worked and I got to read while at the pool instead of trying to keep a 2 yr. old from jumping in. We all win.

Luke & Darin before lessons.

Waiting for their lessons to start.

Luke getting instructions from his teacher.

Luke's back kick.
sorry about the pics I don't know how to take pictures in an enclosed space with bad lighting.

Darin waiting for his turn hanging onto the wall.

Rocky

I recently watched the Rocky movies and was inspired and started taking up boxing lately to release some of my inner stress and got this awesome shiner...

Sorry for the ugly, no makeup, too closeup, messy hair shot. I'm posting this for posterity. I wish I had a cool story how this happened...I was defending my kids and got in a fight with another mom, I jumped in front of a car to save a child, I wrestled a vicious dog to protect my young, or I simply took up boxing. No, none of those.

My eye was a little irritated from cosmetics (apparently I should get more sleep so I don't have to use eye concealer as much.) It is the one eye that I wear a contact in (yeah, I'm weird that way) and some contact solution got on it and it burned like none other. It was a little red and I proceeded to put Neosporin on it to help it. A few days later it starts to swell and burn and itch and is swollen. The doctor said I had an allergic reaction to something. It actually looked a lot worse the day before this shot. It was half swollen shut. Rees looked at me, like what the heck happened to you! I felt fine despite the pain, so I had to proceed with my life of dropping kids off and going to appointments with no makeup and wearing my glasses. I felt so embarrassed because I knew they were thinking that my husband probably beat me.

Some Benadryl, baby shampoo, and hydrocortisone later, it feels much better and is looking better too. Crazy.