Banks Brigade

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas one of my BFF's and I had a baking day. The goodies were delicious!

Christmas Eve, we went to that same BFF's house and made gingerbread houses (out of real gingerbread that we made!) It was quite the process but SO much fun.

The same night we had a delicious dinner of what Mary and Joseph would have eaten. Dried fruit, nuts, pitas, beef jerky, grape juice etc. It was very good and memorable!

The kids had a white elephant gift exchange. That was a hit.

The diva

Christmas Morning

LOVE Wes's face as they ran into the room. He got a skateboard!

For Grandma B. They are IN LOVE with their Pillow Pets...

Coco face

Throwing poppers NYE.

Merry Merry

2011-12-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Christmas! Syd had her first piano recital, ever, and she did AMAZING! (Sorry, I have NO recording of her songs, sad face.) She played, 100-Year Old Melody and Jingle Bells. She played them flawlessly (despite her weeping hysterically during the practices). Her teacher said she was so amazed on how well Syd played the songs. We decided she just does better under pressure.
Syd and her teacher playing 100-Year Old Melody, together...

Playing Jingle Bells. It was a really cute arrangement.

This is how much fun Wes had.

Syd and her teacher Aubrey. We LOVE her teacher. She is amazing!

Syd got to play her pieces on this $138,000 piano! No wonder it sounded great!

Playing around with her friend afterword.

On another note (no pun intended)
Colton is sure a handful. He is now 18 months! NURSERY! He is awesomely cute, but he gets into EVERYTHING. He loves to jump out of his high chair, off the kitchen table, unwrap his Christmas presents while I am in the shower, bug his brother (Landon), still doesn't sleep through the night etc. Here he is rockin out with dad. Despite how wild he is, our life is so complete with him in it. We love him SOO much!

Here is our pirate, One-Eyed Wes. His glasses are making his vision better (he went from being 80/20 without glasses to 60/20 with) but the doc thinks we can do better. We are patching his good eye for 3 hours a day in hopes to get the "bad" eye to work harder, giving him 20/20 vision in both eyes. He doesn't mind wearing it, and is glad he doesn't have to wear it to school. Landon is pretty jealous and really wants an eye patch too.

Jolly ol' St. Nicholas

2011-12-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

Aaron's work had a Christmas party for kids. They fed us all a dinner of pizza and cookies, got to sit on Santa's lap, watched Smurf's and do a craft. It was a smashing success for the kids. Wes said on the way home, "That was the BEST Christmas party in the world!!" Can you tell that Colton enjoyed it immensely?

October-ish Events

2011-11-01T09:03:00.001-07:00

We had a happy October...
Syd's is the happy pumpkin, Wes' the skull.

Landon's; the witch, Colton's; the happy one.

Landon the Ninja and his BFF AJ, the bat.

Wes, Harry. Perrin the bat.

Syd, Pippi Longstockings. Cherylynn, Artimus (the Roman goddess)

Baby Lion

All my little kiddies.
Lando in Wes' pants

Coco in apple orchard

Pumpkin Patch

Rugrat Activities

2011-10-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

Syd and Wes are doing cross country at school this year. We have quite the little runners on our hands. They are sure making us proud!
Wes at the starting line...

Wes crossing the finish line

He came in 13th place (out of 100 1st grade boys) and to qualify for the all city meet, you have to come in 10th or better. SO CLOSE Wes! You are SUPER FAST!

Blurry Syd

Good form!

Happy at the end of her meet. She came in 2nd out of 120 3rd grade girls. She goes to the all city meet next week.

Cookie face

We went to Greenbluff (pumpkin patch/fall activity place) and had a MARVELOUS time.
Coco found his pumpkin!

The pea pit. Dried peas makes for an AWESOME "sandbox." Want to set one up in my yard!

Syd stuffed with peas!

Hay maze

Lando pondering amongst the pumpkins

My sweeties

Coco listening to conference

First Day Pics!

2011-09-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

Sydnie started 3rd and Wesley started 1st! Love these kids so much!

Landon and Colton had to get in on the action too!

Mr. GQ

2011-09-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

Wes got glasses! The poor boy has 20/60 vision in his right eye (and 20/20 in the left). The right eye is shutting down, causing it to be "lazy" since the left eye works so much better/harder. It's hard to tell it's lazy but the Dr. said it will get worse, if not fixed. He might have to get an eye patch in a few months. Wes and his dad got to go pick out his glasses together and he picked this snazzy pair. Converse brand! We think he is just he cutestest, handsomest thing ever!

Scroll down to see another new post!

Brownie Boy

2011-09-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

We LOVE batters and dough in this house more than the "baked" product. I know, raw eggs, hate all you want. We still love brownie batter (the homemade kind). This is Colton's first sampling

I think he liked it!

Dirty Dash

2011-08-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

Aaron and six of his co-workers signed up for the Dirty Dash. It's a 10k run full of muddy obstacles and crazy people who like to get dirty. To add the the craziness, most of the 5000 people who ran the race wore costumes. We saw everything from men in tutus, wigs, people wearing their underwear over their clothes, unicorns, girls wearing mustaches etc. Aaron went as a nerd accountant (not a far stretch of imagination right? hahaha). He got a three piece suit from Value Village, and cut off the legs of the pants and got a really tight white shirt and ripped the arms off (see pic below).
The only other man (Paul) who ran on their team!

Before:

The finish line:

Coco was sooo hot and sooo tired! Poor lil man!

After (most of the mud on him was dried by the time I finally found him in the sea of people):

The kids and I ran the 1 mile race called Piglet Plunge. Here is the results:

Lando the nerd.

Summer, Summer, Summertime...

2011-08-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

Colton decided to jump back in the bath after he had just got out and dressed

31 pounds of strawberries from Green Bluff to turn into jam and smoothies

The helpers. They seriously helped a ton. They cut tops off strawberries for an hour straight!

Aaron's work rented out a river boat and so we got to go "float" around lake Couer d'Alene. It was a beautiful evening for a boat ride. We got a dinner of hamburgers and hot dogs, and saw some BEAUTIFUL homes right on the water. Aaron works with some really cool people (and their wives are cool too!!)

Enjoying their boat ride

Colton doing what he does best

Suncadia!

2011-07-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

For our 10 year anniversary Aaron surprised me with a trip to Suncadia Resort. It's a gorgeous place with golf, a spa, horseback riding etc. We just went this past weekend, and OH MY, I wish we could stay longer!
The Lodge where we stayed!

We got a "couples massage" at the Glade Springs Spa, and it was PHENOMENAL!

Aaron waiting for our massage to start.

CHEERS!

With no kids and a relaxing day at the spa, we felt like royalty! We had so much fun and it felt like we were dating again!

The view from our awesome room!

Dinner at Portholes. The prime rib was DIVINE!

Enjoying our fluffy robes. Lovely morning picture.

The view from our room the next morning with clear skies!

Breakfast for me was waffles with peanut butter mousse. Nothing like dessert for breakfast!

Breakfast for Aaron was Huevos Rancheros. DELICIOUS!

We will surely be doing a couples massage again and we are for sure going back for the food! Thanks to my sweet SIL Carrie for taking the kiddos so Aaron and I could celebrate 10 years! It was PRICELESS!
ALSO:
Look who just turned 3 the day we got back from our rendezvous! We had a hot dog roast and yummy cake with the cousins! FUN DAY! We love you, you funny and sweet Lando!

Replay of the Family Va-cay

2011-07-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER: This is pretty dang long: It's more for me for my journaling so I can remember, but you are all welcome to read! :)

Can I just say epitome of AWESOME! We had 2 reunions back to back in Boise, the Lindsey and then the Christensen, and then to Utah to see Aaron's sister and her family. I know everyone thinks their family is wonderful, but I think mine and Aaron's might take the cake! I slacked horribly in the picture taking department, but I know other people got some good ones. Those will come later...Here is a nutshell of the awesomeness and craziness that took place the past 2 weeks!!

Day 1 highlights:
Arrive in Boise at my brave sister Kristen's house (to host 41 people)
2 minutes after arriving Wesley gets a bloody nose (boys will be boys)
20 minutes after arriving me (as well as my sisters) have a laughing attack, with tears, literally!! NUDEST!!!!!! HAHAHA!)
Pizza and games at the park
Talking until late into the night

Day 2 Highlights:
COLTON'S 1st Birthday!!
Spent the day at Luck Peak res. swimming and having a great time!
Dinner and minute to win it games at the church
Colton smashing up his b-day cake all over the table (pics later)
Talking until REALLY late into the night
My NEWEST nephew Mitchell and his daddy Steve! 6 weeks old!! AWWW!

My adorable Mommy who made our LIVES possible! Chillin at the "beach."

The teenagers and Landon, who thought he was one, paddling around.
Day 3 Highlights:
Visiting the Boise State Penitentiary (quite creepy but QUITE cool)
Fantastic hike for some, while others played at the park
Visiting grandma/great-grandmas and grandpa's graves
Visiting mom/grandmas old stomping grounds in Notus and the dariy farm she grew up on! WOW, quite a production! Even I have never been to that old barn!
Hot dog roast at Uncle Darrel's house complete with tons of games and some s'mores!
Exhausted, but still visited until late at night
Lando playin at Uncle Darrel's

Wes gets a bit sweaty!

Suzie and baby Meghan pose for a cute one!

The teenagers playing Annie Annie Over

Day 4 Highlights:
Reunion was over but the fun continues
Me and 3 of my sisters went shopping all day (no kids)
Adult dinner at Olive Garden
Visited and laughed the rest of the night

Day 5 highlights:
Afton doing the girls hair for church
Church at Kris' with 35 people!
The start of the Christensen Reunion with Family history night (MAN, there is a lot of AWESOME history in this family) and some delicious ice cream. I think there was 150 people there...if the calculations were correct!
Pretty Gals!

Day 6 Highlights:
Happy 4th!
Few people running in the fun run including my awesome runner sisters!
Swimming at Uncle Mike's AWESOME indoor pool for hours on end
Eating delicious food
Chatting and getting to know all my sweet and awesome cousins and thier kids a bit better!
Homemade ice cream! UM, YUM!
Fireworks show at Uncle Roger's house
The fireworks starting a fire in the field!

Day 7 Highlights:
Aaron goes fishing this day
The rest of us goes to Lake Lowell for swimming, boating, tubing, skiing etc.
Aaron cathing the biggest trout of his career! :)
Talent show
More swimming

Day 8 highlights:
Saying goodbye (this was NOT a highlight BTW, but it had to happen)
Me and my cute fam driving to Layton to stay with Betsy (Aarons' sister) and her fam
Laurie, Aaron's youngest sister driving from BYU to come play for the rest of the week
Some shopping with just the girls!

Day 9 Highlights:
Layton Surf n' Swim! Fun wave pool all day long! Note to self: Put more sunscreen on! I got totally BURNED!
Hot dog roast complete with Woof 'ems (buiscuits roasted over the fire with your choice of filling to go on the inside)
Badminton
Talking until late into the night
Cute Jerrin

Betsy, Syd, Shan, Colton

Rousing games of Badminton

Day 10 Highlights:
Boys go fishing ALL day.
Take kids to jump house in SLC
Temple Square (I had not been there in so long, and my kids never have, so fun and beautiful, BUT roasting hot!
Cafe Rio for dinner! OH MY!
Movie night for the women!

Day 11 Highlights:
Hill Airforce Museum, A BIG hit with the kids!!
Shopping with just the girls for the rest of the day! Spent 3 hours in TJ Maxx! Such bliss for me! I love these awesome ladies to shop with they are HILARIOUS! I think we tried on shoes for at least one of those hours! HAHAHA!

Day 12 Higlights:
Waking up at 4 am to drive 12 hours home! :( SO SO sad!

Notice the common trend: Staying up late EVERY night! I LOVE IT! I am so thankful for such a wonderful family on ALL sides. They are seriously stellar people who make me want to be a better, stronger, not to mention funnier, person! Everything was just perfect! Someone mentioned (can't remember who, my dad?) that he didn't hear ONE person getting mad at someone else and there was no fighting the ENTIRE time! That is spectacular!

Dirty Bird

2011-06-22T11:42:00.001-07:00

This boy LOVES dirt. Maybe more than the average boy. I was watering the garden and he crawled a bit too close. He got mud splattered and he LOVED IT

He discovered a love for popsicles. We heart summer!

Clean birds...

These boys are pretty funny! When they are not fighting, the love each other!

Woo-hoo Look Who is 32!

2011-05-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

Mr. Lover turned 32 yesterday and so I thought I would write 32 reasons why I love this guy!
We went to the Spokane Shock (Arena Football) game on Friday night with some friends from our ward! SO fun. SO loud. My ears were ringing for the rest of the night.

1. He is passionate about the things he LOVES (as well as the things he doesn't)
2. He has a fun personality
3. He is a wealth of information about many subjects
4. He is an awesome cook (when he has time)
5. He plays and wrestles with the kids all the time
6. He has great insights
7. He is smart and logical
8. He is conscious of how I am feeling
9. He is so fun to tease because of his thick skin and loud laugh
10. He has so much energy when it comes to all things outdoors
11. He is a great landscaper (you can't tell by looking at our own yard though)
12. He can build ANYTHING out of wood
13. He's a great fix it man (again, when he has time)
14. He has a contagious energy
15. He loves his children and always compliments them on their strong points
16. He puts up with me and my girl drama and many other issues
17. He has a strong testimony
18. He gives me great advice (he is much wiser than me)
19. He is a BIG, no, scratch that, HUGE dreamer (which is refreshing from my boring practicality)
20. He has WONDERFUL family (double bonus for me)
21. He loves the temple
22. He doesn't get nervous about much
23. He is a go get-er (if he wants something done, he will do it RIGHT NOW)
24. He is not afraid to say how he feels, but still has tact.
25. He is always up for an adventure
26. He smells yummy
27. He has a nice boo-tay
28. He knows how to make people laugh
29. He is young looking (on our honeymoon people asked us if it was legal for us to be married, he looked like he was 12, ha!)
30. He loves his family very much and is extremely loyal to us/them
31. He LOVES to laugh
32. He is a great partner in this busy, crazy but fun life!

Since he has passed every level of Angry Birds ever made, I decided to do the red bird cake. My Bff Emily actually decorated it, because that is her specialty, but he LOVED it!

Why I love being a Mom...

2011-05-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

I love waking up every morning to these bloomin' cuties! I had an awesome mom's day and am so proud of my sweet, darling kids. I am also very grateful for the wonderful example of my own mom and my mother-in-law! I hope to be just as patient, loving, generous and full of life, just like them someday!
A few outtakes...

Colton's new face...the infamous nose scrunch that all of our kids have done!

This one makes me laugh out loud!

Sydnie's Special Day

2011-04-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday April 9, 2011 Sydnie got baptized into the church by her dad. It was SUPER special for her because people came in from out of town; both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, friends and neighbors and bishops! After the baptism we had a brunch at the church (Thanks Costco and all the help I got from the guests). Cake pops were requested at the brunch by Sydnie as well, so we (my friend and I) ended up making 120 of them a few days before hand! YUM! The brunch was delicious and memorable and the cake pops were a hit!! What a wonderful choice Sydnie made and what a wonderful day! Thank you all who came to show love and support to Sydnie!

Proud Parents

Grandma and Grandpa Banks

Her BFF's (I LOVE her smile, she looks so happy and she looks like she is glowing!)

Grandpa and Grandma Lindsey

Some other fun activities while the company was here...a walk down to the school to play on the playground...

Grandma even got in on the fun.

Lookin good Wes

Out of order...This pic cracks me up! Syd's brothers, minus Colton. I think he was in his carseat already..

Awesome cousins!!!!

Happy boy (as usual)

Shoulder rides at Manito Park

Lainey and Syd

Love it!

Happy Easter From...

2011-04-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

All of us! (The Easter Egg Family, in order of oldest to youngest)

I can't resist my cute Coco man! He is 9.5 months!

Curiosity...

2011-04-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder when you are stuck in traffic, or driving on the freeway "Where is everyone going?" I am a naturally curious person, and I always wonder things like this. When I see someone buying flowers at the store, I yearn to know who or what they are for? Present? Funeral? Just Because? Apology? I see my neighbors light on at 4:00 am almost every morning (when up feeding the baby) and wonder who in their right mind would be up at this hour, and WHAT are they doing over there?

My street has a plethora of elderly people and three who live close are chain smokers. I see them everyday smoking up a storm on their porches, in their cars AND while doing yard work. One of them has lung cancer and has spent weeks in the hospital. The days she gets back from the hospital she is right back out smoking her life away. If that doesn't make me wonder....why does she do it?

Now curiosity can be a tricky thing. Not to be confused with being nosy, or even judgmental. There is a fine line. I try to just keep it to lighthearted situations.

Sometimes I like to make up scenarios about someone I see in a store or restaurant, (see movie trailer below) all positive and in good fun of course. To sum up, I am a wonderer and people watcher, who likes to know a bit about the curious things in life. I know we are all a bit curious. Now I am curious, what makes you curious!?

p.s.I am not recommending this movie, I just like this scene.

The BIG 6

2011-03-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Wes had another Birthday!
He got shoes

Magic Beanz

A Bike!

Lame cake, but it tasted DELICIOUS!

We love our crazy, loud, Wii playin, Star Wars lovin boy! Happy 6th little man! (although I think this will be the year that he outgrows Sydnie; so he is not so little) Love you Wes!!

Great to be 8!

2011-03-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

Syd turned 8 last week and we have been partying! She wanted to go to Red Robin for her B-day dinner. YUM! For her presents on her day she got a whole bunch of clothes; such a fashionista!

The Saturday after her Birthday we went with some friends to get mom/daughter pedicures and manicures. It was a surprise for the girls, so that made it even more fun!

The panda's were there to "prop" them up. We thought it was so cute, and of course they love it!

The finished products...

After the pedis, we headed to Olive Garden for soup, salad and breadsticks! DELICIOUSO! (I have been watch Dora lately). Well, I am so glad I have one girl to do "girlie" things with. We had SO much fun and she felt so grown up, because we did things that "adults do!" She will be baptized April 9th. My goodness, is she really THAT old!?

On another note...Lando is Mr. Creative. He uses this stool as a tunnel for his cars. He plays with his cars for HOURS on end. Wesley never did this, so this is new to me.

Also, look what Mr. Colton can do. He is ALL over the house and pulling himself up on everything. His favorite thing to do is unplug all the cords that are plugged in. Safe, I know. Never fear Wes. The next post will be about you! He is counting down until his 6th B-day! 11 days!!

Little Miss Syd

2011-02-16T16:11:00.000-08:00

Since Sydnie is the oldest and the only girl, she is extremely special to her mom! I could not raise four kids and be sane without her because she helps me so much (especially during tax season when Aaron is MIA). She is extremely creative and REALLY good at coming up with games or activities for all those brothers of hers to play (see pics below).

I LOVE the fact that she has such a good attitude about life and I love that she is SO easily excitable! I told her we were going to the store to get her some new socks and she was so excited to go and pick them out! And that is just a little thing. Imagine how she acts when I tell her we are doing something that is REALLY fun! She makes chains, and charts and counts down the days until the event, reminding EVERYONE in the process of how much longer we have etc. Her genuine cheerfulness and happiness over simple pleasures make me so happy and keeps me young at heart!

I also love the fact that she is already making great choices. If she feels uncomfortable in a situation, she will avoid it (or she will tell me about it, hopefully this will be the case for years to come. One can only hope). My only daughter is getting so old and mature. She turns eight March 2, and will be getting baptized April 9th! My goodness, we love her so much!!

This was a game she thought of, whoever can put the money all the way up to the the armpit without laughing, wins!

She keeps Landon entertained for hours. This was one of those times.

She loves to organize. She organized the rubber bands from Wes's rubber band gun and labeled "how well they shoot." If you can't quite read it: Pink=hardest Blue=fastest, Yellow=Stretchiest, Green=fun/easy, Orange=highest

She helps me so much with Colton. He loves her a ton!!

Triple Threat

2011-02-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

My 3 boys...all around 7 months old. You can tell, by the 3rd child, the overalls are a bit stained!

Photo Shoot FAIL

2011-01-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

I tried to take pics of my 2 youngest the other day, since Colton has never had his pics taken processionally (YES, bad mom moment) and Landon's is outdated. I DID get a few of Colton being adorable, but check out Landon! YIKES!

Allow me to Sum Up...

2011-01-06T08:26:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened in the past few months in my blogging absence. I will now do a "sum up" with some pictures as well...

*Had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving in Seattle (just for the record, it might have been the most delicious Turkey Day I have ever had). Spent the week/weekend with Aaron's rad family. We did TONS of talking and tons of eating and mega shopping. Aaron had his first Black Friday experience with Tyler (bro in law, who is a BF DIE HARD) where they were out from 10:00 pm Thanksgiving night until the next morning at 9:00! I was at home sleeping, thank goodness, but I think he had a great time (and got all of our Christmas shopping done).
Colton with his adorable cousin Lila (5 weeks apart)
*Wes and I get strep throat
*Lots of snow

*Driving to Boise for Christmas!!!! We went to Boise to stay with my sister Kristen and her family! They were nice enough to have us for one WHOLE week AND even spend Christmas day with them! It was a mad house (15 people in total), and my parents even came to join the festivities! My goodness, it was fun and SUPER relaxing!
Kris and me cooking and baking!
Lando and his BFF cuzzy Spencer

Colton getting so spoiled being held by Trevor (and EVERYONE!)

Santa Baby...

The Christmas Morning Line

*On Christmas Day, we ate the best dinner in history at Uncle Roger's house. It was beef tenderloin. Talk about MELT IN THE MOUTH! Along with twice baked potatoes, jello salad, and a plethera of pies! I think there was at LEAST 15 pies, AND who could forget the homemade ice cream? For the pie feed, I think there were about 80 people there to enjoy the delicious goodness! SO FUN!

*Colton turns 6 months

* My cousin came home from his mission, and there was a crowd of 80 (I think) to greet him at the airport!
*My parents took 25 of us out to Chilis! Good food, GREAT company!
*Park (2x)
*Getting to see my OTHER siblings because their in laws live in Boise too!!!! :)
*Cabellas
*Shopping
*Boys going to the movie Inception
*Poor Brenna getting so sick! :(
*TONS of games
*Watching a Western!
*A SCRUMPTIOUS breakfast at Uncle Larry's (consisting again of about 80 people)
*A snow packed drive home
*New appliances (dishwasher and fridge-MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME)
*Lando gets ear infection
The list could keep going, NO better way to spend the holidays than with family! BIG OL' SHOUT out to our WONDERFUL family...extended and immediate! YOU ARE ALL AWESOME and we LOVE YOU! Thanks for the partying and memories!

Check Out the Cuties

2010-11-18T11:18:00.000-08:00

Got a new lens for the camera...checkin it out on the little man (who is almost 5 months old!)

Mouth full of popcorn chicken, yet still soo cute!

He walked around with this on his head for 20 min!

The weather has been SO crazy this month. Super rainy, cold, cloudy, AND snowy. Makes for great sunsets though.

We/Aaron is doing a mini home revovation project. Can you guess what this is? All will be revealed in a few weeks (or whenever Aaron gets it done)

Happy Haunting!

2010-11-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

Syd's, Wes's, Lando's (in that order)

Our Brood...

Little Bee Man Colton

Southern Belle Syd

DARTH Wesley

Elmo/Lando (he went as grunge Elmo)

The Belle and the Bee...

We surely had a Happy Halloween. Uncle Danner/Aaron's brother came over for the weekend to play with us, what a treat (as opposed to a trick). I think that was more exciting for the kids than Halloween, they LOVE their uncle! With Danner we went for a hike at a local park (in the rain) ate food, talked, watched movies, went to church (complete with primary program). The kids did great in the PP. They said their parts clearly and with out help, and were so dang cute! For Halloween we went to a church carnival and trick-or-treating on Friday, and then did regular trick-or-treating around our neighborhood on Halloween night. They got very little candy, which makes mom happy!! A great time was had by all!

Cross That Country!

2010-10-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

All City Meet

Sydnie had the opportunity of running Cross Country in school this year. We always knew she was fast, but little did we know HOW fast! There were only 3 meets in the 2 month period, my kind of sports..."low stress". The first 2 meets were qualifiers. Syd came in 4th after running the mile (out of 8 schools' 2nd grade girls). She qualified for the all city meet which consisted of 33 schools, ALL over Spokane. There were 880 students running that day for the all city meet! HOLY COW, that was one crazy event. Syd came in 29th place (against 120 2nd grade girls). We are so proud of our SUPER FAST gal! Even if she wasn't fast, we would still be proud. I am just so glad she decided to compete. She normally hates competition and despises people "watching" her!

On a different subject; at school, Sydnie was asked to write 5 words to describe her (for an art project) and this is what she said: Excited, Sweet, Cool, Fast, Kind. That describes her perfectly! We love our one and only girl!

Qualifiers Meet

Syd and her running BFF Megan

I had to throw one in of our growing boy Colton...He will be 4 months on the 30th.

The Man of Many Names

2010-09-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is with nicknames in my house, but they are free flowing (meaning there are many). This cute little dude has had about 50, most which revolve around Coco. Coco-Nut, Coco-Puff, Coco-Krispy etc. Then there is Tiny, Tiny Sir, Coke, Cokey, Colty Man etc. I love creating nicknames because I for one, love when people call me by my nickname (Shoonie) because it means they are comfortable around me. Hopefully Colton will know his REAL name by Kindergarten! :)
These photos were too cute NOT to post...

Hi my names is Colton and I have a rubber neck!! HAHA!

The kids know how to pull some weird faces, and they have been asking me to put these crazy ones up...Despite their weirdness, they really are good sweet kids!!!

Blanket Bonanza!

2010-09-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

Each time I have a kid, I make a special fleece blanket for them. Just the easy kind that you tie, on 2 ends and sew on the others. Four kids and four "special" blankets later, here is the result. I just got done making Colton's on Saturday. I am not one that has the talents pouring in. I don't have musical talent, not good at public speaking, leading a group, decorating, etc. but I CAN make a MEAN blanket! Let me know if you would like one ;) I think this is the first time I tried to take a pic of all the kids together. It was hard!

Coco has the cutest smile, but it is hard to get it on camera...here is mine and Wes's attempt to capture it!! WE LOVE HIM!

Noteworthy Events

2010-09-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

Colton turns 2 months old

1st day of school for Syd (2nd grade) and Wes (Kindergarten). So grown up...sniff.

A visit to Great Grandpa Paul (Aaron's Grandpa). This is very special because this is my kids ONLY living great grandparent and Sydnie and Wesley will remember him from this visit! It was so nice to see him.

Colton was blessed at church Sept. 6th. Aaron's parents, brother, and sister with her family got to be here for this special event. We got to spend the weekend with family, eating and talking. We visited great grandpa, then drove back to Spokane and ate yummy pizza and swam at the pool at the hotel, that was a big hit with the kids! I heart family! Thanks to friends and family near and far for coming to Colton's day!

This is Coco on his blessing day, but I failed to get him in his church clothes. Actually, I never put my kids in "white clothes" for their blessings, not a big fan (plus I am cheap).

Also, this past week (not pictured) my friend Emily and I canned 16 jars of salsa and 24 jars of peaches! YUM!

Lando Face Montage

2010-08-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

Landon's 2nd Birthday was July 15th and I didn't even post about it. To make it up to him I am making a "funny face montage" purely dedicated to him since he is FULL of AWESOME and funny faces! From an early age he pulled the funniest faces and here they are in RANDOM order:

Lazy Summer Days

2010-08-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

Since we like to do a lot of life changes all at once around here (aka: get a new job, move 2 times in 6 weeks, and have a baby) we decided to take it easy for the rest of the summer. What can I say, being lazy has it's perks, no schedule = realaxing days at the pools, parks, visiting family (see pic below), swim lessons, watching movies, riding bikes...it's nice for a few more weeks until the routine starts Sept 2!

Typical weekday morning. Wes playing video games with Colton.

Colton has acid reflux and colic so he cries...A LOT. He LOVES being held and Sydnie will hold him for HOURS on end. It is the BIGGEST help to me so I can get stuff done (aka take a shower). I couldn't do it with out my Syd!

Lando has OCD, ya think? Cars, trucks, trains, anything that "goes" he LOVES!!!!!!!

Baby cousins! Lila and Colton are six weeks apart.

Coco doing what I WISH he did best!

A Day in the Life of Colton...

2010-07-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

Eating...Here he is "smoking" his bottle (which he no longer takes cuzz he has gained over a pound since birth!)

Sleeping...(yes, he has a purple blanket, the other side is brown, see above pic)

Chillin'

If you click to enlarge this pic, you can see the "swirl" in his hair on his forehead, earning him the name Superman.

Colton is doing great! He is very sweet, has bright eyes, and fuzzy hair that will not lay down! We have been SOOO spoiled this past week with my parents (and nephew Brady) here. They took great care of us, entertained the older kids, made meals, did laundry, cleaned etc. We even went to Coeur d'Alene one day! They are being missed....A LOT! Pictures to come...

Welcome to Colton!

2010-07-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

Colton Andrew Banks made a FAST and grand entrance on June 30, 2010! I started having contractions at 8:30 on Wednesday night, got to the hospital around 9:45 and then he arrived at 10:20 pm with NO time for an epidural; much to my dismay! When we arrived, I was already dilated to an 8 and ten minutes later, I was at a 10. We made the nurses scramble, for sure! If you have the option of an epidural or not, I would say EPIDURAL all the way!!! Colton was a tiny 5 lbs. 6 oz. Since he was so tiny he couldn't keep his temperature up and his blood sugar was low so they put him in the NICU for 24 hours. He regulated himself fairly quickly and we got to go home last night (Friday). We are now doing well and resting a lot. The other kids sure love their new baby brother. They are treating him well! We love our little man Colton!!

Colton in his "pod" in the NICU with all his wires and cords

Getting ready to go home!

Proud sister! Syd is SUCH a help, and is SO in love with Colton

Wes wants to hold Colton all the time and make sure he is okay

Lando loves to poke and hold Colton. He calls him CoCo

Colton's first photo shoot at home!

Happy Summer!

2010-06-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

Lando enjoying a DELICIOUS pineapple smoothie!

Peek-a-Boo!

Wes lookin cute. This shirt is his OBSESSION!

Syd lookin all OLD!

Our summer officially started last Monday. Sydnie's last day of school was Friday, we moved Saturday and have been enjoying the warm weather Spokane has to offer ever since! Warm weather, how I have missed you!!! We have been busy unpacking, going to parks, dr. appointments, libraries, movies, playing outside, drinking smoothies, catching up with old friends etc. We are currently living in a 2 bedroom apartment, which isn't half bad! It takes me 2 seconds to clean, and I don't have to unplug the vacuum, not ONCE, when I do the whole house! Here are some recent pics, since I noticed a picture shortage lately.

Normal-ness!

2010-06-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day that I felt like we were a "normal" functioning family. Dad at work, mom with the kids doing "normal" things. Let me tell you...it felt good!! The move went well, life is sweeeet, the kids are happy, the belly is HUGE.

Get a Life!

2010-06-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

We finally are starting a new chapter in our life! Aaron started work today (hopefully, it's going well, we haven't spoken yet). We are moving BACK to Spokane in 2 weeks (on the 19th of June) and then most likely a week after that, I will be having a baby. How is that for getting our life back??!! So, here are some of the details that you have all been so curious about...

Aaron is staying with some AWESOME nice friends of ours for the next week or 2. He will come home on weekends and help me pack etc. We DO own a house in Spokane but have unfortunately outgrown it. Also our renters (who are awesome, I might add) will not be out until August. We need a place in 2 weeks. We have been diligently searching for a BIG place to rent (for cheap), but still no luck yet. It's a bit nerve racking knowing we are moving and don't have a house yet, but I know it will happen. We are also cutting out of our Seattle lease one month early and our "understanding" landlord is MAKING us pay for the WHOLE month of July, and we won't even been here. No slack there! So if you know some one who wants to take our lease July 1st (and beyond), CALL ME! We also have to have enough faith that our house that we OWN will get rented by August.

So...there is much going on in our household, a lot of which is out of our control, but we are just excited to be moving on and getting a life! Now lets just hope I don't go into labor too early, I really would like my hubby to be in that delivery room with me!

Sweet Relief

2010-05-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

For the past two years, our road has been…well…really rocky.

Sparing you all the BORING details, lets just “nustshell” it. Bought a house that we wish we hadn’t. Got a new job (in a different city) and lived six months apart (THAT was a tough one). Tried to sell my house as a single mom (don’t recommend that one). Never sold it. Moved back in together (FINALLY) for 4 months and then laid off for six. Finding out I was pregnant 4 days after the lay off—

Now that we have a job back in good ol Spokane, I can breathe easy and express the joy (as well as the heartache) that we have experienced.

Now this is not a complaint post, but let me tell you…being laid off might be one of the scariest, heart sinking experiences. It seems that life is stuck in one spot, literally. All you are THINKING about is all the things you want or actually NEED, and affordability is just not in the cards. It can be a real downer, even for a self-proclaimed optimist like myself…

Although our life has been on hold for the past six months, the blessings came pouring in. Here are some of them:

Became very close as husband and wife
Learned how to rely on the Lord
Humbled
Family stepped in mentally, physically and emotionally (2 million times more than EVER expected)
Learned how little we can live on and STILL be okay
When sick when preggo, my hubby was here the WHOLE TIME (including not having to find a baby sitter for all my Dr. appointments)

I could keep going, but the picture is painted right?

I now feel empowered, strengthened, a serge of adrenaline as we are moving back to where we started. I feel like we can go through anything now. Not invincible really, just toughened and blessed. Taking it ONE day at a time is and was key here. Rock bottom is not a good place to be, but the ride up will sure be fun!

Ka...BOOM!

2010-05-19T10:04:00.001-07:00

I'm 32 weeks (about). Wes, the photographer, took these pics and actually the ones that turned out best are the ones where I am not smiling or looking at the camera! Go figure. For some reason my babies like to come at 37 weeks, so if that holds true with this little dude, he COULD be here in 5 weeks! HOLY COW!

One Happy Mom

2010-05-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

How could I NOT have a happy Mothers day when I get to wake up to this every morning!?

Syd had a choir concert at school! Very cute! We were sitting in the back row, hence the bad picture...

Look at those baby blues!

Lando ran into a chain link fence, just right (or just wrong) last week. I thought he might need stitches at first because the cut was DEEP. I put a band aid on for a while and when I took it off it looked SO much better. He is doing just fine, but will probably have a big scar there! Poor dude!

For mom's day I enjoyed a delicious breakfast of an egg scramble, a nap, church, grilled steak burritos for dinner, and cheesecake for dessert with the in-laws! Perfect day! I love my little family sooo much!

Top 50

2010-04-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

Time for my annual 50 things I am GENUINELY grateful for. It REALLY helps me to count my blessings, there are so many amongst the trials! Here it goes:

1. HEALTH
2. Sunshine
3. Date night
4. Chocolate Cake
5. Clean kitchen
6. Eternal families
7. Donuts
8. Baby in my belly (even though he does flips ALL day long)
9. Watermelon smoothies
10. Knowledge
11. Family coming to visit (like this weekend!!)
12. My BIG TV
13. Painted toe nails
14. Emails
15. Spicy food
16. Temple (going tomorrow!)
17. Toothbrush
18. Waffles
19. Blankets
20. Lotion
21. Washer/dryer
22. Foot soaker (for my aching feet-OUCH!)
23. Hilarious Kids
24. HARD working hubby
25. Serving hubby
26. Plumbing (think about this a lot, I REALLY am thankful for flushing toilets-BIG TIME)
27. Vita-mix (I am IN LOVE)
28. Napping Landon
29. When Aaron talks about fishing (after he catches a big one-PURE JOY for this boy)
30. BBQ anything
31. Grandmas and Grandpas (LOVE that we live close to a few)
32. My BED
33. Smores with Caramello candy bar instead of Hershey's (cooked on my gas stove with my kids)
34. Grass (to play on or lay on)
35. My memories
36. Brisk walks
37. The words "I love you mommy!"
38. Loving family
39. Fresh flowers
40. Bargains
41. Strawberry jam
42. Beach
43. Freedom
44. Food Network (YUM)
45. Organization
46. Lots of trees (good thing I live in a forrest-sort of)
47. Laughing
48. Face soap (makes me sleep better at night if I have a clean face)
49. Crock pot
50. RS program

Okay, so you have to realize I am pregnant, I really like food right about now! I am SO grateful for food though!! WOW! What are you thankful/grateful for?? Write a list! I dare you!

The Goof Off Gang

2010-04-19T17:50:00.001-07:00

The WILD children of mine

Lando always pretends to sleep. He even throws a snore in once in a while...

Bowl head

Aaron crackin some jokes!

Don't know what is going on here, just funny...

The Visitors Came...

2010-04-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

Have you read that book? The Visitors Came? The month of March was EXACTLY that at the Banks household! We had so many visitors (17 different people to be exact), and along with that comes SO much fun. Here are some fun pic of all the activities!
Syd showing off that she lost her 1st tooth (finally). She was SO happy!

Playing Apples to Apples with the Tophams (cousins)

Seeing the Tulips (the 1st time)

Landon's new trick

Aaron taking a snooze on Rosario Beach

Beach Dock

Beach Hike with Tophams

2nd Time Seeing the Tulips (the sista shot...we need you Laurie)

It was a blast if you don't mind serve wind chill!

The cutest lil' man Jarin!

The girl sleepover. Lets just say lots of giggling took place!

All the cousins (minus Jarin). Doesn't Landon look like he is having a smashing good time?

Who is coming to visit us next? I promise we will show you a GREAT time!

olympic peninsula

2010-03-30T01:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my dad I went on a great fishing trip over to the olympic peninsula. We fished the Hoh river in the Olympic National Forest. We floated a long section of the river; upper hoh to lower hoh. It was really gorgeous the whole way but the best part was through the "canyon"; wow, talk about being in a different world. The river is a cool greenish gray color lined with huge boulders and moss covered trees and cliffs. I had a great time catching fish, enjoying the scenery, and being with my dad. Here are a couple pictures.

Look who's 5!!!

2010-03-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

This big ol boy just turned 5 on March 18th.
Five is a big deal to this boy's mom! Not only is it the start of Kindergarten, but it is also the start of MANY memories (that he can ACTUALLY remember). We had 2 parties. One with family and one with 14 friends. I must say a good time was had by all, and the theme of this years presents: Weapons of mass destruction. Wes is REALLY into 1) sports and 2) weapons. He got the latter...
The family party:

The kid party:

Favorite Pics of the day (Thanks to my friend's hubby Jim):

No post is complete w/o a crazy face from Lando

Happy Birthday to my favorite little jokester who is so full of personality, insight and light! Love ya Wes!

Look who's 7!!!

2010-03-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

My baby girl is 7. FOR REAL? Don't old people have 7 year olds? We celebrated Syd's day of birth by eating McDonand's with her at school (in which we made all the other kids jealous). Then that night we had Grandma and Grandpa Banks as well as Uncle Danner over for an EXTRAVAGANZA (aka dinner). I told Syd since we had such a HUGE b-day party for her last year (if you don't remember, 17 of her closest friends came to the raging party at our house) we were just doing a family one this year. She was okay with that. For dinner she requested shrimp linguine for a main course and cheesecake for dessert. So I did just that. We also had salad, and bruchetta (made by Aaron). The cheesecake was no ordinary cheesecake either! It was chocolate raspberry cheesecake, complete with a chocolate layer over the top! DELICIOUS, if I say so myself! It's so nice to have family around to just come over for the night/party! We LOVE IT! We also love our cute little 7 year old who brings so much joy, life, pizzaz, not to mention DRAMA to our home!! Here she is with all her fun presents and cake!
Syd around her 1st B-day! AWWW!

All the goods. LUCKY!!

Weekend of Estrogen!

2010-02-26T09:25:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to meet with all my sisters, sis-in-law and mom at my sister's house in Austin...and what a fun weekend it it was! We all left our kids at home with the hubbies (except for Janet, who hosted. Her hubby and kids were there, but they were GREAT sports) and so it was TRUELY a relaxing, girl filled weekend. Here are some of our activities:
We went on the river-walk in Downtown Austin with all the dogs (it doubled as a dog park too).

My cute nephew Noah posing on the walk (I love this pic)

Stevie Ray Von (sp) the musician (Austin is famous for music/live music).

A little bit of texting...

A WHOLE lot of gathering and talking. Talking until like 2 AM every night! We just couldn't stop!!

A cool gazebo

Turtle Tree

Girlie Pic! I heart my fam!!

Me and my niece Emily (and a random dog)

Em turns 9! I ended up frosting the cake and then making a crack in it. It was a disaster, but it still tasted good! HA!
Austin, Noah, and Em by the river

Some other activities NOT pictured:
Eating some good Tex Mex food. Best shrimp tacos of my life.
Eating of donuts (might be the best EVER) My donut had fried bananas, cream cheese and brown sugar on top. Others ranged from peach, to chocolate raspberry, to quadruple chocolate...can you say YUM!?
Church
Visiting the kids at school for lunch
Pedicures (OH YEAH)
PTA lunch for school (I did more PTA stuff away from home than I do AT home)
Shopping
Sushi Night
Bowling
I feel so relaxed, rejuvenated and like I can be a good mom and wife again. What an AWESOME weekend (well it was actually 5 days) with an awesome family! I missed my kids and hubby a lot and this trip makes me appreciate them even more!

Fun in Feb

2010-02-16T11:14:00.000-08:00

A bed made by Syd and Wes for "baby" Landon

For Valentines day we had some friends come over and frost cupcakes. It was a messy good time!

We went to our favorite local beach and hiked around, and threw rocks in the ocean for hours! Can you see Aaron, Syd, and Wes among the rocks? Wes is camouflaged...

Mr. Rock-Thrower-Man

After this picture he sat down in the water and got soaked and sandy, but had a marvelous time!

Fun with Uncle Danner
Aaron did it again! He made a fly fishing bench/table so he can organize his mess, I mean, materials. This boy has mad carpenter skills!

Adding to the Family

2010-01-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

If you haven't heard, we are expecting baby #4. I am around 14-15 weeks due July 17th. The technician said it was a little early, but she is pretty sure the baby is a boy! Poor Sydnie. She is still at school and so we haven't told her yet, but I have a feeling she will take the news kind of hard. She wants a little sister! We are very excited though! Landon and this little guy will be 2 years apart (almost to the day) and they will be good buds. Here are some ultrasound pics. I think he looks like a teddy bear/alien, because that second picture his face looks like a bear (with his arms up). LOL! Warning: the quality of the pics are bad...I don't have a scanner.

Bringing Chaos to Order...

2010-01-19T10:17:00.000-08:00

My VERY talanted husband made me 16 foot shelves (well, two 8 foot shelves) for my garage! HOLY COW, they are AWESOME. Well, the pics speak for themselves...take a look!!!
Before:

During:

After:
Yes, yes, we were living like PIGS before, not something I like showing off, but NOW, I am not so embarrassed. Not 100% organized but 200% better than before (excuse the file cabinet on the end, we have to find a place for it still). My honey is SO handy to have around. He is also in the process of building a fly tying table. Pics on that one later! Thanks for making me one happy gal honey!

Entertainment...

2010-01-10T19:44:00.000-08:00

I have gotta say that having kids is pretty HILARIOUS. One minute I want to collapse out of exhaustion and the next minute I am laughing so hard I can't stand it. These kids are pure comedy (when I don't want to kill them). Anyway, these pics are entertainment to me...
Wes and Lando srike a pose. The other day Wes fell ALL the way down the stairs, from the top. He was in quite a bit of pain but he was okay. He had a mondo bruise across his shoulder and back. Then he rammed his face into the window sill and got a black eye (which you can almost see in this pic). The poor kid is just one big bruise.
The boys watching the rain...wow, didn't know how dirty the window was until I posted. How embarrassing! :D
They do this a lot. Push each other around in the laundry basket for hours. The other night, Landon stayed in the laundry basket for an hour AFTER they were done pushing him. Serious cheap entertainment for the rascals.
.Landon loves being naked and he also loves wearing his shoes. When I see these pictures I laugh my head off...he is so COMICAL!

Christmas and the Bearded Man

2009-12-30T11:54:00.001-08:00

The shepherds on Christmas Eve...

Coming down Christmas morning...

Santa presents (A COOOL scooter for Wes) He also is enjoying new slippers from Uncle Danner, Legos from Grandma, and a Cars Race Track from cousin Brady.

A keyboard for Syd

A talking dog for Lando

Landon's favorite thing right now, besides marshmallows, BALLS! Not to mention he LOVES his "hammer train" from cousin Kelsi...

Syd LOVES her "at home Build-a-Bear" from cousin Noah. We made it on Christmas day. SO CUTE! She is also loving her slippers and "scrapbook/card kit from grandma" PERFECT for her!

Practicing, look at her go!

Surprise! The bearded man in NOT Santa, but AARON. Since Aaron isn't working right now he decided to take this opportunity to NOT shave. Here is the result...

He shaved yesterday, and I have to say I like it a lot better. We continue the job search like CRAZY. Nothing as of yet but hopefully the first of the year. Sorry no pics of me (Shan) on Christmas, but I did have a good one!

What we do During Christmas Break...

2009-12-23T15:23:00.000-08:00

Oh, just a little crazy dancing to High School Musical...

Some headstands...

We take some cute pics...

We play with our neighbors all day long...

We also: Wait for Santa, Drive around and look at Christmas lights (I am turning into my parents, but this is NOT a bad thing), Spend lots of time together, Watch Christmas Movies, Make Treats, Remember the TRUE reason for the season (trying hard to help the kids remember that), and Wait for Santa some more...hurry up Santa!!!!!

Crazy Mr. Flashlight Head

2009-12-01T16:38:00.001-08:00

Wes and Landon are little buddies. They both found headlamps today and tried them out. I didn't have my camera when Lando made FUNNIEST face going cross-eyed trying to look at the light in the middle of his head, MAN it was FUNNY! Excuse the booger nose child of mine, it's cold time at our house. We are all doing well. We are happy it's December. We decorated our tree last night! YAY!

New Moon!

2009-11-22T13:21:00.001-08:00

The night it came out, I went to the midnight showing of New Moon! I went with my friend (who happens to be Wes's preschool teacher) who happens to have a 17 year old daughter who is WAY into The Twilight Saga. This certain daughter brought 2 other friend who are 17 also. Let me tell you, I came away from that night feeling 11 years younger than I am! WHAT FUN!!! We went out to eat (Spaghetti Factory) before hand. Then we headed to Seattle for a 9:00 showing of Twilight. It was fun to see that first. Then we had an hour break in-between shows. It was nice because we got to stay in the same theatre, same seats, no waiting in line...etc. AWESOME!

The teens I was with, were fully equipped with their T-shirts (which read Tyler's Van Team, if you don't get it I will tell you, I didn't get it either) and a WEATLH of knowledge about Twilight, New Moon and all the characters names and bios. This might have been the best part for me. I learned so much about the movie and remembered so much I had forgotten about the books, thanks to these girls. The movie was better than I was hoping (much better than the 1st) and Jacob looked WHOLE lot better that I ever imagined (every time I see him, I still think Shark-Boy and Lava-Girl, but I think this movie got me passed that) and Edward is still a bad actor, although very enduring.

Needless to say, I had a blast acting like a 17 year old girl again, screaming, laughing, and talking about the on-screen boys, not to mention getting to bed at 3:30 am. What a night to remember, if only I could recover from lack of sleep now...

Hug a Kid

2009-11-11T21:38:00.000-08:00

Today my friend and I made a trip to the mall with 6 kids to play at the squishy (and germ infected) play place. It was overflowing with people and kids of all ages, since there was no school: Veterans Day. Thirty minutes after arriving, a lady stands up and starts searching for her child. She was just ignored for a bit but then, she started getting frantic. She couldn't find her daughter. She started screaming her name and running up and down the mall. When she came back around to the play area, with no luck, EVERYONE at the play place bolted into action. We were all quizzing her name, age, what she was wearing etc. We found out she 22 months old! SO YOUNG! There was a major search party heading around the mall, people running in and out of stores and asking EVERY passer-by if they had seen a lost little girl. By this time the mother is HYSTERICAL, and rightfully so! (it had been about 15-20 min)

As I watched this young mother so frantic and scared, my heart ached for her. I could not fathom the idea of losing one of my babies. Not knowing who they might be with, if they were scared, if they were kidnapped...you know, those kind of thoughts. The bad ones. The worse case senrio ones. I have been a bit on the negative side lately, in dealing with my children. I have felt, overwhelmed, under appreciated, burned out, ungrateful, not to mention very selfish, this past week. Today those negatives were wiped clean as I watched this mom deal with such panic and pain.

Back to the story...30 minutes, start to finish, the little girl was found, happy as a clam, in The Disney Store. The reunion between mother and daughter was BEAUTIFUL. The mother bawled and bawled (I could hear her halfway down the mall.) The little girl just held still in her arms, and hugged her mother tight. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and then hugged their own children.

As I have thought about this incident the remainder of the day, I have thought about all of the joy my children bring me. They are amazing spirits, who are smart, witty, fun, innocent, positive, HILARIOUS etc. I need to take some lessons from them in the positive category. I have got my little family and that matters MOST in the whole world. Literally.

I also have to say, on another note, I was very impressed by the other parents in the mall. Every single person was ready to help and jump right into action. They were genuinely concerned for this mother and daughter and helped until the end! Impressive Lynnwood, impressive!

Love these people!

Halloween Visitors

2009-11-05T08:04:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year, my sister flew in from Phoenix. It was sooo much fun with her and her little girl here. She got here the day before Halloween and left this morning... (sniff). WE of course did tons of talking and catching up, did Halloween school parties, trunk-treating at the church, and regular trick-or-treating. We also went to Seattle, did lots of shopping, the beach, Pacific Science Center, etc. Why does the fun always have to come to an end? Now I am just sitting here in a big empty house wearing rice on my tux, wondering what happened to my life (what movie is that from??????)

I feel like the worst mom because I didn't get a picture of all my 3 kids together on Halloween, but I did manage to get a shot of them separately... Landon the Elephant and Miranda his cousin (in which they have a love hate relationship) the bee.
The baby elephant drinking a bottle (I know he is too old to drink a bottle, we are working on that one :)) Wesley the Ninja...
Sydnie, the ghost (in which she changed to a baby the next day for her school carnival and then the next day for trick-or-treat she was a ballerina) A pretty day in Seattle!!Nice view from the Space Needle, my first time going up!! It costs a mere $16.00 to go to the top! YIKES! At least I can say I have been to the top now!
Since we went to Seattle on Halloween day, we saw some interesting people/costumes. This guys was working at Pikes Place and offering apples to kids. Kinda scary, but Wes wasn't scared, probably because there was food involved.
We ate at a seafood place near Pikes Place. Here is Aaron "downing" an oyster for the first time. We weren't quite sure he would like them...all raw and slimy...The Verdict???? Thumbs UP! Now I need to work enough nerve up to try them!

Octoberish Activities

2009-10-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

The kids, just being crazy kids.
Landon got his first buzz cut, courtesy of his father, since I am not a fan of "mullets" (not sure if anyone should be a mullet fan)
October Sky
The boys on the (soggy) pumpkin farm. Sure has been raining a lot here. You would think we live in Seattle or something...
Can you tell whose is whose??
From left to right Sydnie's, Landon's, Wesley's. Happy Haunting!!

Chicken Tacos w/ Mango-Avocado Salsa

2009-10-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1924691

(sorry it would NOT make into a link)
Here is the recipe y'all wanted. The only think I changed was I used flour tortillas instead of corn. DELICIOUS!

Calling all Decorators, or Otherwise...

2009-10-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

You know who you are...you extremely talented individuals who decorate, or organize, or just have the best ideas in the entire world!! I need your help!! I have an EXTREMELY large "shelf" in my front room that I am at a loss of what to do with. I need some inspiration or creative ideas on how to dress it up! I want to get a HUGE pot and put something in it (is that lame?), but what else? Tell me your thoughts, ideas, suggestions etc. Thanks...

PS Ignore the big blue ball. My kids threw it up there, I guess that is their decor pick!

Fun with the Parentals...

2009-10-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

Not sure if Parentals is a word, but it is now.
At the beach...it was a nice warm day! This is my idea of BLISS!My parents had never been to Seattle before and so we had to do all the "Tourist-y Seattle" things. We took a ferry over to Kingston just for the heck of it. We ate ice cream over there and then sailed right back. This is us on the ferry, FUN!Lando enjoying some good grub! BBQ ribs!
One of the days we went to the Pacific Science Center (and got in free!!!) It was VERY cool for the kids and even the grown ups. We spent almost ALL day in there!

Now, I am no expert at physics, but this cool bike was at the Science Center. Because of the weight suspended from the bottom of the bike, you can not fall over unless you are OVER 500 lbs. Of course ya gotta see the Space Needle and ride the monorail to Pikes Place!!!! I have never been to PP when it was SOOOO crowded. It made it fun though!!
Just LOVE this colorful pic at PP!

We went to Deception Pass....SO pretty. We walked over the billion mile high bridge and then went to a rocky beach where rocks were skipped for hours on end and AWESOME memories were made! That night we went out to dinner with mom and dad Lindsey WITHOUT kids (courtesy of mom and dad Banks)!!!! What an excellent time! SO, I made this post REALY long and put lots of pics up on purpose to make you all jealous and so you will all come visit! You are all welcome ANY time!! We had such a fun time with mom and dad!! We love you!!!!

Mom and Dad...COME BACK!

2009-09-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

My parents have been here for the past week and it was soo much fun. It's always a let down after company leaves. I guess I have to get back to normal life sooner or later, right? I'll post pic later of all the fun stuff we did, but for now here is a family picture that my dad took of us...

Cleaning Therapy

2009-09-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Some may think the words CLEANING THERAPY are oxy-morons....I on the other hand really believe in the words. Nothing warms my heart more than a sparkling clean, everything-in-it's-place, completely organized house. I have an on going battle within me at all times, because if you have ever been to my house, you know it does not meet the above mentioned standards. And if you have a child, a dog, a husband, or are a human, you know that it's IMPOSSIBLE to keep up on it as well. BUt I really do try... What is most heart warming about a clean organized house is the ability to "SEE" the results....turning a stinking, dirty mess into organized bliss! I heart dramatic results!!!

Where do I get these odd genes from, you ask?...my mother. She so willingly passed them on to me. I always find myself thinking...what would mom do with, OR where would she find a home for 10 random paintbrushes and some rubber gloves, or if mom were here she would tell me to...(fill in the blank). I also find myself asking the same question about my cutie sis-in-law Betsy (BTW, who just had a baby 2 days ago!!!!!!). She is known for her mad skills of cleanliness and organization...If only I could be more like them!

Just wanted to share a little bit of my "obsession" because maybe if I write it down, it will motivate me to keep up on it. Look who is taking after me...

I swear he did this ALL on his own!! He likes cleaning almost as much as his mom!

Landon Pants!

2009-09-08T09:40:00.001-07:00

Look whose walking...

...almost

He walks about 50% of the time, and the rest of the time he crawls. He is practicing a lot and will be a pro in no time!

FDOS 2009

2009-09-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

It's my baby's first day of 1st grade! WOW! That is all I can say...WOW! It's going to to be quiet here for 7 hours with out Syd around. Her teachers names are (yes, she has 2) Ms. Miller and Ms. Brink and they seem really nice! I have had ONE excited girl for the past few weeks. I am glad school FINALLY started! Poor Wes is gonna be pretty bored. I am trying to find him a nice preschool to go to. We will see!

ALSO

Yesterday Carrie (Aaron's sister) and I turned 56 lbs of tomatoes into DELICIOUS salsa! I think we got around 44 jars (?) I have to say TONS of work but SOOO worth it! It turned out soo good! We have no pics of this but thought it was blog worthy! Lets not do it again for a long time OKAY Carrie!? How bout 2 years when we are all out!?

The New Crib...

2009-08-27T11:24:00.001-07:00

Well some of it. I have had many requests to see pics, so here are 2! There was only one room that was put together enough to take pics of. The green couches, we just got last night and we LOVE them. We are really liking the space, the neighborhood, etc. You will all have to come to Lynnwood to see us if you want to see more of the inside, or just wait until my house is clean enough so I can take pics of the rest (don't hold your breath, this might NEVER happen!!)

Landon's 1 year Reign

2009-07-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Landon's ONE year B-day this past week (the 15th). I can hardly believe it! This baby boy is so delightful to be around and so animated and fun! He has inherited quite a few nick-names over the last year and here are some of them, we are talking names that he is called on a regular basis, at least a few times a day:

Lando
Buddy
Tiny Man
Lando Face
Chubby Face
Chubby Head
Chubba
Bubba
Tubby
Tub Tub
Little Dude
Baby Man
Landy

Here is the buddy testing out one of his presents:

Here he is eating one of them!

Dragon cake!

Devouring the dragon!!!!

Celebrating Independence!

2009-07-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the 4th with Aaron's sister and family in the 'Burg! Her husband happened to be in charge of the town celebration including, mechanical bull riding, pie eating contest, face painting, hay stack lasso, stick horse ride, 3 enormous bounce houses, carnival games and of course fireworks. I don't know if the kids have ever had so much fun, I don't know if I have either!! Once again, thanks Carrie and Tyler for ALWAYS showing us a good time. Syd is stayin with them for the rest of the week! Thanks auntie C!!!

href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_chE933DgXG4/SlIidmDuVYI/AAAAAAAAA88/52WzOJbv3iI/s1600-h/DSC_0012.JPG">

1/2 Marathon Man

2009-06-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

At the concert:

The Seattle Rock n' Roll Marathon took place yesterday where a band was stationed at each mile-point through out the race, and Aaron really ROCKED it!!!! He ran 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 30 min. He actually injured his knee pretty bad, and had to walk for a bit, so he would have even got a better time if he was able to run the entire time!!!!! He said it was SO nice to hear the music playing in the distance because then he knew he was getting close to the next mile marker! This marathon made history in Seattle, as it was the largest one to ever take place here. There were over 15,000 half marathon-ers and over 5,000 full marathon-ers.

Aaron's parents, the kids, and I went down to cheer him on and it was a BEAUTIFUL day (which is asking a lot for Seattle). The kids had a blast watching all the people and seeing their dad doin his THING! The kids made homemade signs and were so proud of their dad! Check out the website for more details http://www.rnrseattle.com/ and to see when the rock n roll marathon is going to be at a city near you!!!! Maybe we will come run it with you (Arizonians, Californians and Texans).

Also there was a big concert held last night for all the runners and their families. Aaron and I went and Grandma baby-sat! It's been a long time since we had gone on a date. We got to see Keb' Mo' (Jazz) and Ryan Shaw in concert (which I have never really heard of) but it was so incredibly fun! We are so proud of our Dad/Aaron! You ROCKED the ROCK n' ROLL 1/2 marathon!!!!!

A New Home...

2009-06-17T09:06:00.001-07:00

We have moved and guess what? We all live under the same roof again!! It feels good being a family again after 6 1/2 months. We are living with Aaron's parents temporarily, they are so nice (and very brave) to have 5 extra people living with them!! As I pulled away from my house yesterday, I was filled with relief, sadness, exhaustion, but most of all just joy. I don't know if I have ever had so many different emotions at once. On to the next phase of life, and it's about DANG time!!!

running

2009-06-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

I ran a 5k today....i tried to go fast...i ran it in 17:29 minutes

I'm kind of happy

My 1/2 marathon is in 3 weeks

Party on Wayne!!!!

2009-05-31T20:50:00.000-07:00

Go Aaron go!!!

Wes and Landon (with his girlfriend, they are 5 weeks apart). I don't know what triggers the hilarity of his face, but it cracks me right up!!! Trying to impress the ladies I guess!

My little jumping fish!

We swam and played for a good 5 hours and Landon fell asleep before we even pulled out of the driveway!

It's finally warm here on the Eastern side of the state and we celebrated by SWIMMING! Our friends invited us to THEIR friends house who have an awesome pool. Here are the pics of the festivities! The Arizonians reading this are thinking "Swimming! We do this everyday!" I wish we could! We would if we lived there! My kids LOVE the water, especially Sydnie! :0) We chatted, swam, and of course ate delicious food (BBQ ribs and a smoked roast) Side note: Aaron now wants a smoker-they are only $700-HA! Sydnie and I are the only ones that got sunburned, but only minor burns! What a fun filled day in the sun! I am a true Californian-nothing is better than playin in the sun!!

May Long Weekend and Fine Dining

2009-05-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

I know "May Long Weekend" is a Canadian Holiday but I LOVE the name of it. It cracks me up! So for our May Long Weekend we spent it with the fam. Have you ever been to a restaurant that every part of the meal was DELICIOUS? Every bite was more tantalizing than the bite before??? As every morsel of food hit your taste buds, your mouth has a party, not to mention, the "party" lasts ALLLLLLL the way down until it hits the stomach????? WELLL....that is what this WHOLE weekend was-ONE BIG PARTY IN MY MOUTH! Carrie (my awesome cook sis-in-law) has seriously become a gourmet chef (although culinary school was never attended :0)) and we ate like Kings and Queens ALL weekend! She claims she just follows recipes, but I know it's more than that. She picks AWESOME, intense, involved, delicious looking, no-crazy-ingredient-you-don't- have-in- your-cupboard-recipes, follows them but adds her touch of love (my guess is love, why else would they be so good?). What did we eat, you ask? WELL:

Burgers and Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Banana Pancakes with Coconut Syrup (all homemade of course, the syrup is to die for)
Black Bean Tacos
Turtle Cheesecake (thanks honey for having a B-day so we could eat this)
Sweet Pork Salad (this is LITERALLY the most savory, delicious meal I have EVER eaten)
Apple Rubarb Crisp

I could go on, but I will spare you! Now, for one that LOVES food, it was the best weekend my testbuds have experienced!!! Now before this gets too long we also had fun playing! The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE playing with their cousins and they even got to see Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Danner for a day! Aaron had his 30th B-day! YUP! He is officially old! Carrie and Tyler, how do we love thee? Let me count the ways!!! Thanks for the fun May Long Weekend, letting us mess your house up, the great company and for the AMAZING food! LOVE YOU GUYS!

Happenings

2009-05-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, Landon overload...but nothing else has been happenin around here. Just waiting for school to be out in 30 days (but whose counting). We have decided to rent our house since there has been no offers to buy in 7 months. So after Sydnie gets out of school we are outta here!!!! 6 months of being a single mom can wear on a person. I have been thinking of all the positives that came out of this. 1) I am stronger and a more independent woman 2) I realize that I LOVE my hubby, DEEPLY! (I knew this before, but it just made me that much more grateful) 3) Made me realize how much Aaron does around here to care for the house, kids, me etc. 4) I get to watch ANYTHING I want on TV!!! I am just soo glad it is almost over though! HALLELUJAH! Hopefully we never have to do this again!!

The pics: Landon is THE BIGGEST HAM ever (wonder where he gets this from????). He was eating a cookie/cracker and was pulling the SILLIEST faces. I LOVE the one of the kids in the bath, they all look soooooooo happy! When the kids are happy, I am happy!

Sicker than Dogs and more...

2009-05-11T09:03:00.001-07:00

It's been a SICK week here. I got bronchitis, and then Landon got a very high fever with cold, then Syd got a fever. This laid us out for days! UGH! Aaron came home on Friday and took care of us! Nice hubby/dad!!! We did very little all weekend, just recovered. We watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (wasn't too fond of it, and Aaron hated it) and we went to the park yesterday for Mothers Day! It was a beautiful day and we ate lunch there and played frisbee, which I failed to bring my camera! Oh well. It was a fun Mom's day complete with BBQ hamburgers for dinner! Yum! I love being a mom, there nothing greater!!

Here are just some random pics. Syd and Wes LOVE to do "head wraps" after the shower and Landon eating chicken nuggets for the 1st time!

Pic Tag

2009-05-05T11:50:00.001-07:00

It's a "PICTURE TAG" and this is how it goes. Go to your pictures and go to the 5th folder. Then open up the 5th picture and post it. Then tag 5 people when you are done. Have fun! I tag whoever wants to play!!!

This is Syd at 11 months. Sorry about the nakedness, just following the rules! LOL!

Worth 1000 Words?

2009-05-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

I think this IS worth 1000 words! The flash bugs him, hence the crazy face! I can't stop laughing!

I'm in trouble...

2009-04-22T12:41:00.001-07:00

Look what this little man learned how to do on his own??? Climb up on stuff. Theses stairs will be my biggest worry! He has been a busy boy the last few weeks. He has 3 new teeth, learned how to crawl (the correct way, no more army crawl) had/has an ear infection and is pulling up on everything! STOP GROWING!

Photo Tag

2009-04-14T12:55:00.001-07:00

Here are the rules:
Take a picture of yourself right now.
No primping or preparing.
Just snap a picture.
Load the picture onto your blog.
Tag some people to play.

I tag Stef, Marsha Kris, Karen, Suzie, Janet, Carrie and Betsy!!! (all my sis's and sister-in-laws)

The Middle Child of Mine...

2009-04-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

I am not one to brag about my kids because I think that every parent thinks their own children are smart, funny, brilliant etc, but: Be Ye Warned, I am going to brag!!!!

Wes just turned 4 a few weeks ago and he learned how to ride a 2 wheel bike! I took his training wheels off and helped balance him, but then he did the rest. We went to the park and practiced. Within minutes he picked it up and then he rode around the WHOLE trail at the park all by himself. I was shocked.

This type of thing more his older sister's mentality to pick up on things so quickly. Syd taught herself to whistle, snap, blow a bubble with bubble gum, she picked up on writing and spelling at an early age. But Wes beat the pants off of her at learning how to ride a bike! The poor middle child gets a bad rap sometimes, but he is dang awesome in every way and I hope he knows that we (his parents) know it! Good job little dude!

HAPPY APRIL!!!

2009-04-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

We had a great spring break in Lynnwood seeing Dad/Aaron. During the week we:

Got a new van
Saw Monsters vs Aliens
When out for seafood with the 'rents and no kids!!! :0)
Kids enjoyed Build-A-Bear with Grandma-sooooo much fun for them. (Sydnie's bears names is Tootsie and Wesley's is Mark-sorry Sydnie took this pic of the bears not the best but you get the idea!)
Enjoyed each other company
Shopped

It was even sunny the last 2 days we were there so we got to spend some time outside! I LOVE the sun, it makes me feel so happy! I can't think of anything my kids like more than grandmas and grandpas! BLISS!!!

Our van was so needed and it is INCREDIBLE! We have so much room now. NO more squishing 3 car seats into the back of the 4-runner and no more driving dangerously in the Oldsmobile!!!!! HALLELUJAH!!

Van details:
2006 Kia Sedona
15,000 miles (WAHOO)
Gold
GOOD DEAL!

Happiness is:

2009-03-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

I have had some negative energy lately prob cuzz I am missing my man like crazy and this market is in no shape to be selling an old cruddy house...so I decided (with help from my sister) to blog about everything that makes me happy, I want you all to write one thing, in my comment box, that makes you happy too:

1. Kids in bed, asleep (like right now)
2. American Idol
3. LOST
4. Sunshine
5. Chapstick
6. The beach
7. A very clean home (one good thing about trying to sell a house!)
8. Temple marriage
9. My warm cozy bed
10. Pedicures
11. My family-BOTH SIDES (including all the extended ones...I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU ALL)
12. Wonderful friends (past AND present, even the ones I don't talk to anymore...except maybe on FB :0))
13. Receiving e-mails
14. Facebook
15. Chocolate covered strawberries
16. Shopping at Costco
17. Giving and receiving true compliments
18. A big fat hamburger (I just saw a Carls Jr commercial)
19. A fixed shiny wedding ring (just got mine back)
20. COOOLD water for drinking
21. Fresh air clean breathable air
22. Mama Mia (my current fav movie)
23. Cute shoes that I got from Kohl's
24. My little man Landon crawing around the room (just learned this week)
25. Good smelling soap
26. Facials (have you had one? They are heavenly!)
27. My 4-Runner (I miss you car-Aaron has it right now is Seatown, and I am driving the other one)
28. Maggie Moos
29. The ability to get a lot accomplished
30. Doing Yoga
31. Picking Syd up from school and when she sees me she runs to me and hugs me
32. Growing a garden
33. Listening to my kids play together (they put Landon on top of this big stuffed dog and pulled him around the house on it)
34. Shaved legs (not that this happens too often for me)
35. Clean folded put away laundry
36. My slippers
37. Chocolate milkshakes
38. My parents example and influence
39. The gospel
40. That my hubby is soo funny and he always makes me laugh
41. Waking up and realizing that you still have an hour (or more) to sleep
42. Deodorant
43. Garage door opener (I used to not have one, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE having one)
44. Music in my car
45. Thoughtful people
46. Laugh out loud funny movies
47. Seeing my lover over spring break (2 days!)
48. Getting my back scratched (thanks for the genes dad...itchy back)
49. Pj Pants
50. When my cell phone rings and I can see Aaron's picture pop up...

Landon Face!

2009-03-18T22:03:00.000-07:00

This boy makes me smile BIG TIME!!

Scroll down to see another new post...

Big ol' Wes

2009-03-18T21:50:00.000-07:00

It's Wesley's b-day and he is 4!!!! It seems like he is older than that cuzz he is huge!! Wes is so fun-loving and has such a hilarious sense of humor! We love him! (The cake is supposed to be a rocket ship)

I really liked this video.

2009-03-17T18:23:00.001-07:00

It's less about Honda and more about thinking outside the box. I like the optimism in the video, there are lots of problems but there are also lots of really smart people. I also like how the under tones in the video correlate with my religious beliefs that we are stewards over the earth and we have to be cognisent of what we leave behind for our children.

Aaron

I'm the Mom!

2009-03-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

So I asked my kids a series of questions....and here are their creative responses. You should do it too cuzz it's fun!

Wesley's answers are first, Sydnie's second:

1. What is something mom always says to you? Put your jammies on! Clean your room!

2. What makes mom happy? Saying thank you; If I clean my room

3. What makes mom sad? If I kicked you; When we live apart from dad

4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tickle me; Tickle me

5. What was your mom like as a child? Like a kid; Like me

6. How old is your mom? 20; 27

7. How tall is your mom? grown up; 40 feet

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Make food for us; Play a game with me

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Clean the house; Play with Landon

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Being on TV; Being on TV

11. What is your mom really good at? Singing "We Will Rock You"; Taking care of Landon

12. What is your mom not very good at? Basketball; Answering the phone when it is ringing (I seem to miss a lot of calls I guess)

13. What does your mom do for a job? Make cookies; Clean the basement

14.What is your mom's favorite food? Shrimp; Curry

15.What makes you proud of your mom? When she makes cookies; When she decorates for my birthday party

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Troy Bolton; iCarly

17. What do you and your mom do together? Play; Go to Wendy's

18. How are you and your mom the same? We both like Landon; We miss dad a lot

19. How are you and your mom different? I am a boy, mom is a girl; She doesn't really want to take me to Build a Bear and I want her to

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Cuzz you are the mom; I am your kid (duh!)

21. What does your mom like most about your dad? Everything; That he loves Landon

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Costco; Seattle to see dad

All Because I am CRAZY!

2009-03-05T16:13:00.000-08:00

All because I am WACO this little girl got to play "pin the purse on the girl"

All because I am a LOON this girl got a whole bunch of loot (we are talkin NICE gifts here)

All because I have a DEATH WISH, this girl of mine got some yummy cupcakes (courtesy of WinCo :0)

All because I am a NUT JOB this happy girl invited 17 (YES....SEVENTEEN) of her closest friends (I don't know where she gets so many friends, I don't even have seventeen friends!) to her sixth birthday party and had a MARVELOUS time! The crazy mom did have a lot of help from a few of HER closest friends...(thank goodness!) since dad is MIA! (we miss you DAD).

A good time was had by all, but I can safely say that I won't do this again...at least for a year (jk). Happy 6th Sydnie! We LOVE you!!

Be Mine in 2009

2009-02-16T21:52:00.000-08:00

What do you get when you get these two families together?

And then you add these two girls with these creative shirts their thoughtful hubbies made

And those same nice girls go on a nice brisk 4 mile walk, and then got to get cute toes: a very relaxing pedicure (WITHOUT KIDS).
AND the day goes on...
Add to the mix: Babysitter takes all 5 kiddos so parents get to have a nice quiet evening and get to eat at the most delicious place in the Burg...AND later when the kids go to bed...these very happy parents get to act like kids themselves and play Wii bowling, baseball and tennis for the rest of the night.
Result: The best Valentines Day I have ever had!

Kids Photo Shoot

2009-01-29T21:50:00.000-08:00

New Hair...AGAIN

2009-01-25T21:04:00.000-08:00

Dyed my hair red again...what do you think?...HONESTLY.

Gramps Pics

2009-01-24T09:18:00.000-08:00

A few more pics from CA...taken by grandpa! 1st pic: the cousins are watching the making of chocolate (YUMMY) 3rd pic: I am eating a delicious turkey avocado crepe at Fishermen's Warf!! 4th: Wesley and Breaden under the bed, being boys!

Who's Who?

2009-01-18T09:11:00.001-08:00

I found these pic, wearing the same outfit...which one is Landon and which one is Wesley?

3 weeks of straight partying...

2009-01-17T18:02:00.000-08:00

For Christmas break, me and the kids were gone for 3 weeks and let me tell you how much fun it was:

-Spent 8 days in the 'Berg with Carrie (Aaron's sis) and fam
-----Made cookies
-----All kinds of DELICIOUSNESS
-----Spent Christmas there
-----Got my hair hacked off (hence the before and after pics)
-----Made LOTS of good memories
-Spent a few days in Seattle
-----Shopping and more shopping
-----Spending time with Grandma and Grandpa
-Flew to San Jose (by myself with 3 kids...they did great)
----Went to the beach
----Enjoyed a seafood dinner on the pier with the fam (WITH OUT KIDS :0))
----Beach (although it was raining and cold)
----San Francisco (this is THE MOST fun place to visit, and when I go there, I think of HOME and awesomeness, and childhood because I have been there A LOT)
----Played with some friends (THURMANS and Peter too!!!!) I haven't see in ages (miss you guys!!)
----Chuck E Cheese
----Played with grandma and grandpa (I have NOT been to their house in over 3 years!!!! TOOOO long)
----Went to Oakland temple (where Aaron and I were married!)
----Visited and ATE (OF COURSE)
----Syd had a sleep over with her AWESOME cousins that are sooo nice to play "kid" games with her (even thou they are way older than her)
----Flew back to Seattle for a few days and then drove home. Here are some awesome pics I took! What GLORIOUS va-cay!!!

NOT so perfect day

2009-01-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

We have been out of town for 3 weeks (and having a marvelous time). While out of town we missed 79 inches of snow. 2 days before we came home, it warmed up and decided to melt ALL that snow (WELL MOST of it). Aaron and I drove home from Seattle to Spokane Friday. I knew there were be a lot of flooding around, but I didn't expect it in my basement! So we got home Friday night and my basement was FULL of water (a few inches in some spots). Our floor is uneven down there, which sort of worked to our advantage, since the water gravitated toward the dips in the floor and NOT everywhere else. We instantly went to go buy a shop-vac, which we went to 3 different stores to find one. While out, we were starving so we thought we would buy a take and bake pizza...ALL the stores were out of the ALL kinds (except cheese).

Two hours later we finally bought a shop vac and some pizza. When we got home Landon started screaming hysterically and we couldn't figure out why. Half hour later we discovered he had a NASTY diaper rash, not to mention a huge cold coming on.

While Aaron was trying to park the car he got the car stuck on a mound of snow (right in front of our house). It SERIOUSLY would not BUDGE. We shoveled and shoveled and poured on hot water etc. after a half hour we finally got it out. We finally ate at 8:30 and then tried to find the kids beds under all the mess. They finally fell asleep around 10:00 and then Aaron (and Landon) and I started on the basement with Landon crying the whole time. Not too much was ruined...just a bunch of the kids old clothes got wet and a lot of ruined boxes. At 12:00 I was to tried, stressed and grumpy to do anything else. So after drivng home from Seattle, spending $100 on a shop vac, driving around to find a dinner, eating dinner SO late, unpacking, laundry dealing with screaming children and a diaper rash, a flooded basement, a stuck car, an EXTREMELY messy house, I cried a bit and we went to bed.

I am actually not writing this to complain...now that it has been a few days and we are slowly getting back to normal, I just wanted to share our adventures! Never a dull moment around here. Aaron went back to Seatown last night. I am sooo glad he came back with me...I couldn't have handled it by myself! We threw out all of our carpet in the basement and cleaned up a lot of stuff. It's still leaking a little but we now have it all under control. Now that the basement is trashed, does anyone want to buy our house??? :0) We might take it off the market for a few weeks until it returns to normal...

Skunk...

2009-01-10T08:36:00.001-08:00

We were driving home from Seattle last night and we see and smell a dead skunk on the road and Aaron's and Sydnie have this conversation:

Syd: WHY does it still stink, he is dead?

Aaron: Well...a skunk has a bag of smell and when he got hit that bag broke and went all over the road.

Syd: oh, okay

me: CRACKING up!

White-out Part II

2008-12-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

This is mostly for Aaron...he wanted some weather update pics since he is not here to join in the madness! It was getting dark when I took these so they aren't that great. The second pic down is taken from the other side of the street...there have been NO plows down our street at all. The 3rd one down is looking East from our house down the street.

White-out!

2008-12-18T09:56:00.001-08:00

17 inches in 24 hours...a new record!! And it is STILL snowing! Schools, busses, roads etc. ALL closed! Snow Day!! The kids are happy to play in the deepness! Landon even liked being out there for a bit! I had to capture how much we really got, although the pictures don't do it justice! Hopefully I can make it to the "Burg" this weekend...I guess we will play it by ear (or sight!)

I had to show the trail the kids "blazed" to our neighbors house, our BBQ accumulation, and the BIG tree is usually high above our heads but with ALL that snow, it is almost touching the ground! Our little "Christmas tree" in the yard (well it is permanently there but it looks like a Christmas tree) is almost buried!

PS Click HERE to to my sis-in-laws blog...she recently lost 76 lbs. She is amazing!!!

I Can't Resist...

2008-12-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

This little man! If you are sick of Landon pics, stop looking now. If not...ENJOY! He fell off the couch the other day for the first time. I guess it's time to keep him on the floor. He's almost mobile! NOOOO! His hair is not really that red...it's just the light.

The Festivities

2008-12-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

We had a happy Turkey day. Aaron ran the Turkey Trot at a local park (5K) and so the kids and I went to cheer him on. It was a chilly 30 degrees out so by the time he was done, the kids and I were frozen solid, but fun nonetheless. We we invited over to a family's house in our ward (Aaron also used to work with the guy). It was soo fun and delicious of course!

Friday and Saturday we set up our Christmas tree, went Christmas shopping, went on a hot date (the last one before Aaron left for Seattle), and did a lot of relaxing. Also baby Santa came to see us. My friend Megan sent this cute little santa suit for Landon. It fit him perfectly! Thanks Megs! Yes my hubby is MIA now. WAHHHHH. Sad day, but he is really enjoying his new job. Now if my house will just sell already!

GASOLINE

2008-12-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

I spent $27 today on gas. This filled my 4-runner up from, "gas light on" to ALL the way FULL! YIPPEE SKIPPIE!