Happy 4th Birthday Isaac!

To say that Isaac was pleased with his birthday this year would be a very big understatement. He relished in it. We knew he needed a bike, but according to him, he really needed a new sweet sword. He received both. He ran around the house humming the theme to Pirates of the Caribbean as he showed off his sweet fencing skills.  Earlier in the week we celebrated with Vest cousins where he received a new scooter.  He said that night, "This is the best birfday EVER!" 

On his birthday I took him along with Stephen and a little friend from the ward to Thanksgiving Point Museum of Ancient Life (aka the Dinosaur Museum in our house).  We spent the morning there and then enjoyed lunch at the deli.  Listening to the little boys talk was so much fun.  I love the conversations they have. 

When we got home, the boys played with the toys his friends gave him and his primary teacher stopped by with a birthday gift and a cookie that was bigger than Isaac's head.  He was so genuinely happy that his teacher remembered his special day and he thought it was out of this world that she made him a giant cookie.  What a fun day.  We are so happy for the laughter, light and happiness that Isaac brings into our lives every day. 

Midnight Oatmeal

Oatmeal is a favorite snack of my boys. One night Isaac was extremely tired, but insisted on eating his oatmeal. Joseph and I got a kick out of watching him try to battle falling asleep and getting one last bite it.

My Prince Charming

Isaac came to me with a bouquet full of weeds and said, "Mom, I dust cutted you some flowers wif my sword." I love this boy.

Simple Joys

These cute faces can bring a smile to my face anyday.  I sure love them!

Thanksgiving Point

I have about a million and a half pictures of my kids at Thanksgiving Point riding on horses, because well, we go there a lot!   I mean really a lot!  But really, is there such thing as too many pictures of a cute face happily riding on a pony.  I think not.  Emily and I decided to be funny and take a picture with a horse.  Right after we looked down and the horse was EATING my purse.  We could not stop laughing.  This picture was taken on a day where I was really upset about something, so Emily was the best therapy I could ever ask for.  Having a sister is a gift. 

Swimming

Isaac is a pure delight to have in our family.  He did his first swimming lessons this year (he did mommy and me last year).  He was so excited to do everything.  It was entertainment every single day that we went.  Debbie kept warning us to put a life jacket on him whenever we were near water because he has NO FEAR! 

Swimming Boys

I love my cute boys.   They are my little bear cubs.  Full of so much love, energy and life.  They make me smile everyday.  

Boys!

You would think that I would learn.  I told the boys to go get their clothes on without my help.  Every time I do, this is what happens.  Aaron gets something specific in mind and the proceeds to empty out his closet until he finds it.  Argh!  The article of clothing happened to be in the wash so every.single.item. in his closet was pulled out.  Lovely!  The difference between girls and boys?  When my girls were this age, the only reason all of these clothes would have been on the floor would have been because they would have tried every single one of them on. 

The Bread Pincher

This is what happens when I leave Isaac alone with the bread.  He just can't help himself and punches and pinches it.  Argh!

A Winter Wonderland in Fairview

We attended Kyrie's baptism in Fairview at the beginning of December and we were surprised to see a fresh blanket of snow.  We don't have any snow on the ground in Highland right now.  Isaac loved it and took a roll in the snow before we left.  The only way to get the snow off of his herringbone pants was to let it melt!

My LIttle Care Bear

When I was in first grade about 26 (?) years ago I borrowed a Care Bear costume that my aunt Mary made. I vividly remember how much I loved wearing the costume then, it kept me so warm on a cold Halloween night. I remember wearing it in the Halloween parade at school and trying to balance my head so I didn't tip over.

Well fast forward about 23 years and I was telling my Aunt Mary about the obsession. I mean serious obsession that Abby had with Care Bears. I was at Mary's house for Emily's baby shower. Mary insisted that I take the Care Bear costumes home to California with me. We looked all over her new house and couldn't find them anywhere. After I headed back to California, she found them and I don't remember the details, but somehow they made it to me. (There are two.) They have been well used. I love getting to focus on their cute little faces when they put the costumes on and it also brings back a wonderful nostalgia of my childhood.

Buried Treasure!

Isn't that an amazing view!?! I will say this million times over, but we love where we live. I can't explain how much joy I feel when our kids are in the backyard running and playing and being kids, either with each other or with some of our neighbors. Just last night, the neighbor boys came over with their swimsuits on and invited the boys to come over. They ended up filling water balloons and had a water-fight with the girls. We feel like we hit the jack-pot as far as next door neighbors go and we are so grateful!

Aaron and our two boys next door were playing in our sandbox and decided to bury Isaac. I had to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn't get TOO carried away. Isaac is a great sport.

Survival of the Fittest...or cutest

Joseph's been gone for a couple of weeks now and I've been trying really hard to keep up on the house while he's been gone. On the 5th day after he left, I was working hard upstairs. I had the boys in the toy room and they were playing really well. I started to fold a load of laundry. I finished folding and hurried to put the clothes away. I was so proud of myself for being so on task and getting the clothes folded and put away so quickly. While I was in my closet I thought I heard Isaac crying. He was no longer in the playroom so I ran downstairs. He wasn't crying, but it was a good thing I rushed downstairs. He had climbed on the counter and was taking handfuls of Nesquik throwing it on the floor and counter. Ahh lovely! I used my wet/dry vac to get it up and then wiped and wiped and wiped and wiped and wiped with a damp cloth. It took alot of wiping to get it all off, but I finally got it clean. Oh, and I threw the canister of chocolate powder away. It's a good thing he was blessed with an extra dose of cuteness. I have a feeling he's gonna need it. :)

He Shall Laugh...

We've always thought the meaning of Isaac's name was interesting, "he shall laugh..." and we've wondered what exactly that means. Perhaps it is because it's quite "laughable" that Abraham and Sarah were having a baby at such an old age. Who knows, but we know that it has been so fitting for our Isaac. He helps us to laugh and enjoy life every day. Someone is Joseph's family has nicknamed him "Sunshine" because he has the lightest hair of any of our children and because he was born in California. He is a ray of sunshine for us and we are all so happy to have him in our family.

Aaron's New Suit

Last November Aaron needed some church clothes, so the two of us set out to get some pants and a white shirt. When we arrived at Burlington Coat Factory Aaron told me he wanted to "yook yike Daddy" so he picked out a suit, white shirt, ties, and black shoes. He looked so adorable sporting his new stuff. He loves looking like a "missionary" every week. Isaac has also caught on, and now when he wakes up on Sunday mornings he says, "Time to put my mishimary on?" I love all 3 of my boys with all my heart. I hope all of them always choose correct paths to be the men God wants them to be.

Happy Birthday to Isaac!

Isaac

I love my little Isaac. He has been such a blessing to me. I love all my children and each of them are a blessing, but today I want to write about why Isaac is a blessing. He is a blessing because he helps me to stay focused on what matters most. I love the way he climbs up on my lap multiple times a day with a book and says "read 'tory, read 'tory." If I'm at the computer when he's sitting on my lap, he puts his right hand up, without looking and guides my chin where he wants me to look. It is the sweetest gesture and helps to remind me where my focus and attention should be. I love this little boy. He brings so much joy to our whole family. He literally bounces around the house with a smile.

Ice Cream Buffet

The other day Abby asked what a buffet was. I tried to explain to her that it was a place where there was lots of food for you to choose from and you could eat as much as you wanted. The girls said, "Okay, like Subway, it's a buffet." They didn't really get the idea of eating as much as you wanted. A couple days after that, I was working on the primary program at the computer. I walked into the kitchen and saw Aaron and Isaac helping themselves to all of the ice cream. I called the girls in and told them, "This is kind of like a buffet, see they have different choices and it's all you can eat!"

What a mess! Isaac even stepped on the sticky lid, but it sure made for some happy boys!

Domesticating the Boys

My boys love to be in the kitchen. Not only do they love to eat, but they love to help prepare the goods too. It doesn't matter what I'm making, when they hear the sound of the Bosch, they are on or around the counter in two seconds flat! Aaron is always asking to make "tookies." As messy as it makes things, I love it!

I have fond memories of sitting on the counter helping my mom make yummy things too. I remember her telling me not to get my hair caught in the beaters, or I would be scalped. I remember her telling me not to taste the batter or I would get worms in my tummy. Luckily, I made it through childhood without being scalped, and even though I always snitched a little bit of the dough, I never got worms either. ;) Whew!

A Perfect Match

Isaac has a funny little obsession. He likes to keep things on the tip of his finger. He'll walk around the house with marker lids, legos, math cubes, certain sippy cup stoppers, Barbie and Ken's shoes, small lipstick lids, and any other household object that fits snuggly on the tip. He'll carry the object around on his finger all day long, he takes these items in the car, to the park, they have become his little security object.

Well today, this was taken to a whole new level. We introduced him to penne pasta. We gave him a few before the blessing on the food to keep him quiet. During the prayer he was super giggly and excited. We all looked over to see what was so delightful about this little appetizer...and you guessed it, he has found a food that fits perfectly over his little finger. It was fun to watch him carefully place the pasta on each finger, nibble it off and finish with a huge grin. You can bet that we'll be having penne alot more often at our house and maybe we'll throw a few OLIVES in the dish!