All Because Two People Had No Idea What They Were Getting Into!

May 2011

2011-08-07T18:49:00.007-06:00

I know that if I don't catch up now I probably never will. This is all old news . . .but here goes our month of May. It was a crazy busy month. It took the entire month of June to recover. Between concerts, recitals, spelling bees, school plays, 3 kid's ball practices and two birthdays, things got a little hectic.

Peyton had his Kindergarten Concert the first week of May. He was cute and concentrated really hard to get all the words and actions right. He had a very serious look on his face the entire concert!

Landon turned two on May 13th. He was really cute opening all of his presents and was so excited. We actually celebrated his birthday a day late because the boys were at the father and son's camp-out (Landon didn't get to go-Josh says they have to be out of diapers to get invited-mean dad!)

We had a party with his cousin Mady, who was born two days after Landon. They both had their own mini-cake to eat. It was nauseating to watch them eat the frosting, which was the only part of the cake that actually got eaten.

Yummy frosting!

MaCayle had her piano recital on May 16th. This was her first year taking piano and she did really well. She has continued taking lessons in the summer and is moving right along. About another 6 months and she'll be better than me. (Which isn't hard to do-in my next life I am going to be really good at playing the piano.) I love this picture of Cayle-Isn't she getting grown up looking?

Landon spent the month making messes and acting his age. He is my first kid to hit the terrible two's with full force.

Cayle participated in the school play. It had three performances. She had a small part (she had two seperate lines), which she was glad for. She can be pretty shy and this was her first time doing something like this. I am proud of her for trying something new.

The last couple weeks of school, Cayle cleaned up in the awards department. She got 5th place in her grade's spelling bee (out of like 180 kids). Next year she actually wants to study so she can win (I couldn't convince her to study until like 2 days before). Anyone that knows me knows that I was way more nervous during the spelling bee than MaCayle was. I would of totally missed her second word. Good thing she actually has some composure under pressure (unlike her mother)

She also received two awards during her school's end of the year assembly. She got a reading award (2 kids per class received this award) as well as the Merit award that is given to only 15 kids in the whole school. She got the Merit Award for going above and beyond what is expected of her. She was nominated by her teacher, who wrote a really sweet letter about her. The winners of this award got to ride in a hummer limo with the principal (it's funny how kids think that doing anything with the principal is so awesome!) and they got to go to town and get ice cream at Mick's. Her best friend Rylie also won this award so that made it even funner!

Cayle and Rylie outside the hummer

Peyton got an award for 100% attendance throughout the entire year of Kindergarten. In Peyton's words "I went to school even when I was sick and all I got was a stupid piece of paper!" I would be keeping that information to yourself Peyton. It makes me look bad.

Bowen turned 5 years old on May 24th. He had his friend Gabe over to play. They opened presents, played DS's, and had chocolate donuts.

Bo got more donut on his face than in his mouth.

He got a new remote control truck, a life jacket (already put to good use), and something else I can't remember. Give me a break- it's been two and a half months already.

So there you have the month of May. Hopefully I will stay motivated and get the month of June done and published before Christmas!

Oops!

2011-06-24T17:36:00.002-06:00

I have been struggling with Blogger today. My first post seemed to work great, that is until I published. I checked it and there were no pictures for some reason. Weird. So then I tried again, this time only posting February through April because I was running out of time. The pictures showed up this time, but my spacing is weird. I fix it, but when I publish, it is all weird again. Who knows . . .I had almost talked myself out of doing the blog anymore. Hopefully it starts working soon . . . it's ticking me off! :)

Catch up . . .

2011-06-24T16:40:00.011-06:00

February 2011
Bo's scar 6 months after his accident. It is starting to look much better. It gets dark when he's cold, but for the most part it looks really good.

Peyton loved getting Valentines at school

March 2011
Peyton and Bo got Nintendo DS's for Christmas. They have loved playing them. This was a familiar sight throughout the boring winter months.

Landon playing with his "Choo Choo"

Cayle and her dog Ollie

April 2011

Cayle's choir concert. She is on the middle row, second from the left

Easter egg hunt (this is the first one my kids have ever been to!)

Landon was not too fond of the Easter bunny-I was a little creeped out as well!

Beating the Winter Blues!

2011-02-12T16:07:00.006-07:00

January passed by way too quickly! Nothing too newsworthy happened at our house. The kids played in the snow lots, I scrapbooked the older kids pictures from 2010 (I have a new method-I will share later after I take pictures) and we had the Pinewood Derby. I say "We" because it turned into a family affair-all the kids helped. I am the new cubmaster in our ward (try not to be jealous of me :) so one of my first responsibilities was the biggest pack meeting of the year. It went good though. I always tend to go overboard and make more work for myself than is necessary, but oh well! All the boys had a great time-that's what counts right?

Cayle and Peyton made a "snowbaby" one day. Cute huh!

Josh took the kids sledding one Saturday in January. There is a park in town that has a little hill that the kids think is great. Anyone older than 10 might think that it is boring, but for my kids it was just right.

Peyton catching some air on a jump

We only have one sled so they had to take turns

Bowen

Wipe Out!

Ready for the first trip down!

Cayle

Christmas Day . . .

2011-02-12T15:06:00.006-07:00

I know. Christmas is so last year! But I am slightly OCD and have to post in order. And I didn't want to disappoint all of my regular blog lookers (all 3 of you!) so here you are . . .

The kids waiting patiently to go see what Santa brought. They didn't get up too early-7:30ish

Peyton & Bo both got DS's

Cayle opening presents

Landon didn't care about presents-He just walked around and ate everybody's candy.

The boys and their electronics

Landon and Mom reading a book-he was still just interested in the candy.

The Christmas mess!

Landon lounging on his new sleeping bag

Christmas evening-Peyton and I are still in our jammies.

Josh and I on Christmas Night.

Olsen Christmas Party & Christmas Eve

2011-02-12T14:32:00.008-07:00

For some reason I thought I had already posted all of Christmas . . . I posted some and then got sidetracked . . . for a month or so. Anyways, we spent December 23th & 24th at my parents house in Blackfoot. It was so long ago I won't go into much detail-I'll let the pictures tell the story!

December 23, 2010-dinner, crafts, presents

Christmas Eve-pizza, games, frosting cookies, PJ's, story reading

Christmas Eve-All of the cousins minus the Hall family

The four grandbabies that are only 6 weeks apart

Olsen Extended Family Party-December 21

2011-01-05T15:25:00.003-07:00

We had the annual Olsen Family Party on December 21. Every year it seems that more families are not able to come (live too far away, too busy, working, etc . . .) but we still had a pretty good group there and it was a fun evening. We ate dinner (lots of different soups to choose from), rolls and lots of lots of yummy goodies. Then we played bingo and the kids got lots of fun presents. Josh won the "guess how many candies are in the jar" game-so he won the jar of candy. I guessed like 40 more than there was! I over-thought it a bit! After games, Santa Claus arrived and all the kids received a small gift from him and got to sit on his lap. Both Peyton and Bo were so cute when they sat on his lap. They were really shy and didn't say anything at first, and then the both quickly whispered something in his ear. Cayle blushed and laughed when Santa Claus teased her. Landon didn't cry, but he definitely didn't like it! Peyton asked for legos, Bo asked for a DS, and Cayle asked for a hair crimper (which is what Santa teased her about). Then the kids opened presents from Great Grandma and Grandpa Olsen. They get each of their Great grandkids something for Christmas! My kids all got cute sweaters. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Maynard Family Party-December 11, 2010

2011-01-05T15:11:00.005-07:00

We had our get together a little early this year-it was the only day that we could all get together before Christmas. We started the day with lunch around 2, then we had our traditional nativity reading. Cayle got to be Mary this year and was really excited. The boys were shepherds. After that we did Advent (it was Saturday but we had to improvise). Then the craziness began-PRESENT TIME!

Cayle got $ and some nail polish, Peyton got some boots and legos, Bo got a tee, bat and legos, and Landon got some $ and a John Deere toy. They also got new Christmas jammies. Grandma Maynard always spoils us on Christmas!

Yikes! Is it Really January??

2011-01-05T14:13:00.004-07:00

When I went to download pictures from Christmas, I realized that I had never posted anything about Thanksgiving. Yikes! I only took a few pictures that day. We spent the day at my mom and dads. It was a pretty typical Thanksgiving-Lots of yummy food, visiting, playing, lots of noise and the day ending entirely too soon. I contributed Sarah Salad (a Maynard specialty) and some pumpkin rolls. I made around 30 pumpkin rolls from Thanksgiving to Christmas! I may never make a pumpkin roll again.

Cayle, Peyton and Bo eating dinner. The kids took over the tables in the living room and the adults ate in the kitchen. I think my mom had meant it the other way around, but it worked. I think there was only one spilled glass on the carpet :) Good thing it wasn't my kid!

Landon eating his dinner in the high chair. He loved his feast!

One day toward the end of November, Landon insisted on eating his lunch with Peyton's old coyboy hat on. Yee Haw!

For St. Nicholas Day (December 6), the kids wrote letters to Santa and left them in their shoes. Santa came in the night, took the letters and left some goodies for them. A fun German tradition that Josh did as a kid.

All Caught Up!

2010-11-20T16:19:00.002-07:00

With the blog anyways. Everything else in life I am WAY behind on. These posts published backwards from the order I thought that I did them in. Oh well . . .

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-20T16:01:00.002-07:00

We had a pretty low key Halloween around here. The Monday before Halloween we carved pumpkins, which is in my top 3 of things I dislike the most. Good thing Josh is a good sport and can carve a pumpkin like a champ. Cayle did her pumpkin all by herself this year and was quite proud.

We celebrated Halloween on Saturday by going to our ward Halloween party. They have dinner in the gym and the kids go around to all the rooms around the church and trick-or-treat and play carnival games. They got just the right amount of candy (not too much) and then we went home to see if we would get any trick-or-treaters. We officially got ZERO this year. Good-more candy for me. :)

We had some interesting costumes this year. I told the kids that it was a "no buying" year and they had to come up with something from home. We have a big dress-up bucket of stuff so I figured they would have no problem coming up with something. The problem ended up being too much choice and none of them could make up their minds until literally hours before we left. A fireman, a doctor, a ghost, a cheerleader, what should I be??? Well Bowen decided to be a hunter, then Peyton decided that was what he wanted to be (of course) so we had to get creative on what they both could wear. Bo decided to be a elk hunter and Peyton was a deer hunter. They both ended up happy. Cayle went a little on the crazy side and went as a old lady who just got out of bed. Everyone at the party kept asking her if she was dressed up as her mom. Ha Ha. I actually don't look that good in the morning so the jokes on them :) And Landon was a pony. Same costume Bo wore at the same age. Easy.

Picture Overload

2010-11-20T15:30:00.005-07:00

I had quite a few pictures that I have taken over the last couple of months that didn't really fit into one specific post, so here is a post with a little of everything.

Landon is getting so big. :(

Our neighbors gave us a suit for Peyton since no one in their family fit into it anymore. For his birthday Gma Lu gave him some black shoes and a tie to complete the outfit. He was pretty excited that he looked like a missionary.

I called him Bishop Maynard all morning. Doesn't he look official?

This is how the boys always watch TV. I love how Landon never has pants on by 3 in the afternoon. That would be because I am too lazy to put them back on after a diaper change.

Peyton had crazy hair day at school. Since his hair is really short this is about all the crazy I could come up with.

One morning I came into the living room and Bo was reading Landon a story. They have fun together in the morning, enjoying the peace and quiet of having Peyton at school!

The kids had the day off from school last week because of parent teacher conferences so what do they play-school of course. Cayle has homemade flash cards and everything. She had her hands full this day with Landon and Mady as well.

Landon and Mady jumping on the bed-they like to get into lots of trouble together! As long as that trouble doesn't involve a toilet I'm good.

One Saturday in the middle of October the kids and I were in the backyard getting things cleaned up for winter, clearing the garden and putting away toys and stuff. Well Cayle had my camera and her a Landon had a little photo shoot. I thought some turned out pretty cute. Landon practically mowed the entire lawn with his little mower. He was pretty serious about it! :)

Cayle Got a Puppy!

2010-11-20T15:16:00.002-07:00

Cayle finally got the puppy she has been longing for. She had been saving her money (from her birthday, from working at Grandma's house, and from begging for donations-the boys all contributed from their piggy banks and she cleaned me out!) We looked a lot and called on lots of dogs and finally found one that we wanted and could afford. It was an older couple and they gave Cayle a really good deal on him. He is a minature white schnauzer that she named Ollie. He is a really smart puppy and has taken to training really well. Everyone loves him-except for Bowen who is scared of dogs-hopefully he will get used to him soon. I am not much of an animal person myself but I am almost liking the little fellow. He is pretty cute. Here on some pics we have taken over the last month.

If I ever can't find Landon, I find him in the laundry room sitting on the step talking to Ollie. He talks and talks to him in this high pitched voice. I swear they can understand each other :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas . . .

2010-11-20T14:54:00.004-07:00

. . . and I still haven't posted anything from October. I had planned on going Christmas shopping today, but Josh said the roads were too bad to go to Idaho Falls so I am home, pouting slightly, with nothing to do (huge lie-I have lots that I could do-just nothing that I want to do.) I thought that I better get caught up on the blog before Christmas rolls around and I get really behind. I'll start with Peyton's birthday. He turned the big SIX this year. He was excited as always and could not wait to open his presents. Lucky for him he got to open one the day before. Josh was leaving to go elk hunting the morning of his birthday so Josh let Peyton open the present from him the day before-a BB gun! Yikes. They went out and shot at targets before it got too dark. He really loved it and felt like such a big kid.

The next morning he opened his presents before he left for school. He got some legos, a bathrobe, and some sweats. After school, Grandma Lu came for a visit and after dinner he blew out the candles on his birthday donuts.

Here is a picture with all of his birthday loot-spoiled :)

Hope you had a great birthday Bubba! We Love You!

September's Month End Review (a week late) . . .

2010-10-07T17:23:00.006-06:00

I have a bunch of miscellaneous pictures from the past month, so instead of a bunch of little posts, I'll do one long post of what we've been up to for the last few weeks.
The first exciting thing that happened . . .

Peyton lost his first tooth. He worked on it for awhile and was thrilled that the tooth fairy could make him a visit

A few weeks ago the boys ran in a track meet for Spud Days. Bo's age group had to run 3/4 of a lap and Peyton's age group ran 1 lap. Bo was looking forward to it the most and Peyton was just doing it because Bo was, but when we got to the meet things changed. Bo got scared and didn't want to do it and Peyton was excited. I ended up running with Bo (his age group parents could help) and he cried the entire lap. Fun times.

Before the race

Bowen looks thrilled doesn't he??

Peyton getting ready to start.

Both were excited for the medals and the chocolate milk they got at the end of the race. Bowen has almost forgiven me :)

Bowen zonked out as soon as we got home.

Some pics of Landon . . .

He loves spaghetti

He had the stomach flu last week. He liked to curl up on the couch and watch Baby Einstein. He is such a busy guy that this was kind of nice to actually have him relax for more than 2 minutes.

Onto other exciting news . . .MaCayle got braces! These braces are just to move some teeth so some other teeth can come in. She'll get them off in about a year, wait for all of her permanent teeth to come in and then she'll get braces again.

Pink bands of course

And she's excited about it!

Don't you love when you look on your camera and there are lots of pictures that the kids took themselves. Here are a few of the hundred.

Not sure what's happening here.

Yeah.

Now that's a cute one.

And the best for last . . .

She's gonna kill me :)

EISF

2010-09-12T19:45:00.004-06:00

Here are a few pictures of the fair. We went Friday afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Maynard and Josh met us after he got off work. We took about two laps around the fair and got our fill in about 3 hours. After the mandatory scone nuggets and cotton candy, we went to Rupes for dinner and ice cream. Probably a little strange that we would leave the fair to get dinner, but it was a whole lot cheaper and more relaxing at Rupes!

Cayle loved holding the dogs at the petting zoo. This is the cockapoo that she was in love with!
(I wish we could afford her-she was $350-ouch!)

This is about as close to a horse as Bo is getting for awhile. Unfortunately he is afraid of horses now after his fall.

Peyton riding the tail-don't ask.

Cayle embarrassed that Grandma Maynard wanted her to ride the horse.

Cayle's 9th Birthday!

2010-09-12T19:26:00.005-06:00

Well another year has passed and our little girl is growing up way too fast! She had a fun day and was sad when it was over. She liked telling her brothers that she could do whatever she wanted because it was her birthday! I wanted to do a video like I have done with the boys, but I need to scan pictures first because her first 3 years were pre-digital camera. In all my spare time I will work on that :) (which means that it will be getting done about never)

Opening presents after breakfast

She was excited about her new jacket that she picked out (are we already to the point where she picks out her own presents? Sad.)

Opening presents (a DS game)

The boys where ready to help if needed

The dog bed for her new puppy that she doesn't have yet :)

Ready for school

This is Cayle's "I'm so excited it's my birthday" pose. Do you like Bo's robe? I call him my little Hugh Hefner.

Cayle wanted a donut cake like the boys have had. Then she didn't even have one that night because she said they were too sweet. Is she my child? I think I had two.

Blowing out her candles.

Happy Birthday MaCayle! We love you!!!

First Day of School

2010-09-12T19:04:00.003-06:00

We're back to the grindstone! School started for us on August 19th-almost a month ago. Cayle started 3rd grade! She was very excited and gets to go to the new school that was just completed. She really likes her teacher and is off to a good start. Peyton started Kindergarten! He loves school and especially likes recess (of course)! He has a couple of cute girls in his class that he has his eye on, but if you tease him about it he gets feisty (that's how I know it's serious!) The first day of school I was very brave! When Cayle started school I handled things really well-no tears or sadness-I was just excited for her! But I was a little nervous for Peyton. As he got on the bus I felt a little panicky and as it pulled away I had to fight the urge not to chase it down, pull him off, and take him home where he belonged. I had to go inside before I had a melt-down! But I do love my time in the mornings with Bowen and Landon. Bo loves his time with Mom-he talks my ear off all morning. Here's to a new year off school . . .

Waiting for the bus . . .

The little punks that I get to spend my mornings with . . .

The 100 piece puzzle he did on his own

Not sure what's happening here???

Playing Catch-Up: The Story of my Life . . .

2010-09-12T18:35:00.003-06:00

I will get caught up someday! I am going to back-track a little bit :) I meant to post the collages of Island Park and then write something about it, but that never happened. It has been so long now that I will do just a quick recap of what we did. We did things a little different this year and we all really enjoyed the change. Everyone had a great time!

Thurday: Drove to Island Park, went to Mesa Falls, visited with everyone at the cabin, had a cookout, sat in hot tub, played bingo, I can't remember what else . . .

Friday: Played games all morning, roasted hot dogs, shot guns, froze in the cold August weather, visited with family, sat in hot tub, watched movies.

Saturday: Went to Yellowstone, drove the entire loop, ice cream at Old Faithful, spaghetti dinner, fun conversation in the hot tub.

Sunday: Church, clean-up and home.

As always Angie went above and beyond to make it a good time for everyone. We all look forward every year to seeing everyone at the cabin. We loved seeing everyone and missed those that couldn't come!

Fun at the Cabin

2010-08-20T21:23:00.001-06:00

Yellowstone

2010-08-20T21:21:00.000-06:00

Go Chuks!

2010-08-20T21:01:00.002-06:00

Our kids love to go watch the Chukars play (they don't actually watch the game-they just like the goodies that come with the game). This summer we went to two games and each time the tickets were free-my kind of family activity. Though the Chuks were in the midst of a losing streak and they got blown out this game, we still had a fun time.

This is Landon's mischievous "I'm out of here" look. We sat in the cheap seats with no one around us so that he could roam free.

Peyton, Cayle and Rylie (Cayle's friend that she brought to the game)

Cayle and Rylie

Best Buds

Josh and Landon

Bowen's Rodeo

2010-08-11T15:08:00.004-06:00

For FHE last week, Josh took the kids out to ride horses behind the house. He put Peyton on one and Bowen on the other and had them walking around the round pen. They have done this numerous times-the kids are all pretty comfortable on a horse. Well Bowen kept crying because he kept dropping his reins so Josh stepped out of the pen to grab a longer rein. Well of course right when he stepped out the horse went from standing still to a trot. Bo wasn't even holding on and flew off the horse right into a panel. He landed like a rag doll bent backwards. Well Josh went running and I started screaming (not my proudest moment)! We weren't sure how hurt he was because his face was just covered in blood. We both thought for a second he lost his one eye (gross sounding I know but his head was cut open and the blood had pooled right in his eye) I was mortified but luckily we found both eyes. Nothing seemed broken, so we got the bleeding under control and loaded everyone up for a fast drive to the ER. On the way down he was saying he couldn't see and his eyes were unfocused, so of course that started to freak me out all over again. When we got to the hospital they took him in for a CT scan just to make sure there wasn't any bleeding on his brain. Everything looked great-he just needed stitches. He didn't even cry during any of the numbing or the stitches. The doctor said that concussions can be a good thing sometimes-he was so out of it he didn't realize what was happening. I didn't get any pictures pre-stitches (Josh did on his phone-it looked gross) but I did get some the next day.

He received 15 stitches under the surface and 15 on top-ouch!

You can't tell from this pic but he had bruising all the way to his ear.

The next morning his head had really started to swell

This was on Thrusday-the swelling had come down a lot and the bruises were starting to fade

Friday Night-He wanted to do this peace sign!

He got his stitches out on Sunday evening and this picture was taken Monday. He was so brave about the whole thing. Everyone in the ER said how they have never seen a little one hurt this bad be so cooperative the entire time. He got lots of love from everyone and is just about 100% again.

**On a side note-Bowen has had a summer of milestones. He learned to ride his two-wheeler without training wheels. He went from still wobbling to going over jumps in about a week. He also is swimming on his own and gave his first talk in Primary. He had it memorized but of course had to have mom tell him the entire thing (he said "I got nervous"). He is starting to talk better and better. Except some of the things he is saying are not exactly appropriate. His new favorite "Holy Crap." I'd like to say I have no idea where he got that from but I can't :)

Swimming Lessons

2010-08-11T14:47:00.005-06:00

We endured another session of swimming lessons. Peyton was the only one looking forward to it (he's our little fish) and the only one that passed his level this year. Cayle and Peyton will be in the same class next summer! I thought Cayle would be embarrassed about this but she is actually excited-silly girl. She's a good swimmer but she is just a chicken when it comes to the deep end. If she can't touch she gets really nervous and stops swimming. Maybe next year! This was Bo's first year of lessons and he did pretty well. He wasn't swimming at the end (though he would go under water and put his face in) then the next week he started swimming in our backyard pool-so much for swimming lessons!

Their annoying mom made them pose for a picture and the sun was in their eyes

Bowen

Bowen's class playing choo choo train (Bo's favorite activity)

Jumping off the diving board on the last day. His teacher had to lower him in but he loved going down the slide

Peyton loved lessons

He swam great from the first day

Going off the diving board

MaCayle in Level 3

Scared to dive in

She did not want to jump

Her teacher tried to persuade her-didn't work

She finally went for it-all the kids and teachers clapped (probably because they were tired of standing around waiting for her!)

Camping Trip

2010-07-19T16:39:00.007-06:00

We took the kids camping for the first time last weekend. Well technically we've gone before-we have gone to ward campouts and father-n-son campouts-but we've never gone by ourselves. The kids have been wanting to go forever and Josh and I ignored them as long as possible! Well we finally caved! It was fun ( a lot of work for me :) but the kids had a great time and made fun memories so I guess that's what is important. We went to a place down by where Josh's parents live. There is a small reservoir with little campsites around it. Of course we got there too late and the only campsite left had no shade whatsoever (and it was 90+ degrees) but they each had a burn pit, and a picnic table with a shelter. This isn't Josh's idea of real camping but we thought we better start simple and see how it goes. We dropped Landon off with Gma and Gpa Maynard and that made things much easier for me!

After getting there and setting up our tent, we made a quick dinner of hotdogs. It was too hot to start a fire so we just cooked them on our campstove.

Then Josh and the kids headed to the lake to do some fishing. I stayed behind and set things up in the tent before joining them later

Cayle casting with her Barbie pole

Peyton doesn't quite have the attention span for fishing just yet-He would rather go exploring.

Bowen does have the attention span for fishing

He found this shell in the rocks next to the shore. He was VERY excited about his treasure.

Bowen enjoys a good S'more (I hope none of the other kids notice that all of the pictures are of Bowen :)

Getting tucked in. Peyton was out about 2 seconds after his head hit the pillow. Notice Bowen's nice clean face. I think what the kids liked best about camping was I didn't make them brush their teeth or wash their faces before bed.

Cayle getting tucked in.

The next morning after breakfast we went fishing again. This is Bowen's first fish he has ever caught, courtesy of Cayle's Barbie pole. She had cast it and got bored so Bo was keeping an eye on her pole. Lucky for him she got a bite. He was pretty excited about this.

This is the same fish-Peyton just had to get in on the action

This is the lake-pretty huh. We headed home early because it got so hot really early. The kids were a shade of purple by 11 o'clock.

I think I spent more time preparing to go camping than we actually spent camping (and I still haven't put everything away) but we had fun and are excited to go again (hopefully somewhere that actually has trees!)

Oh Say Can You See . . .

2010-07-12T21:15:00.005-06:00

For Independence day, we stuck close to home this year. On Saturday morning, we went to Pocatello for my niece Lexi's baptism. We had a BBQ after and then headed home. The kids swam and Josh and I worked in the yard the rest of the afternoon.

Peyton laid down to warm up and fell asleep. He slept for about 45 minutes and boy was he grumpy when he woke up.

Landon playing in the yard.

Jeff, Annie and their boys came up and we ate pizza and roasted s'mores and starbursts. As you can see Bowen enjoyed his!

Doing sparklers

Cayle, Peyton and Annie getting patriotic. (hopefully Annie doesn't kill me!)

We watched the fireworks in Idaho Falls from our house. You can barely see them but the kids like it.

On Sunday we went to Colvin's house and ate lots of goodies and visited with neighbors. When it got dark we settled in for the neighborhood fireworks show. We gave Frank Vandersloot a run for his money :)

Cayle doing a sparkler before the big guns went off

Bowen

One of the small fireworks (the only one I got a picture of)

The boys bundled up to enjoy the show!

Odds and Ends . . .

2010-07-12T21:02:00.003-06:00

Here are a bunch of miscellaneous pics that I have taken the last couple of months

We have a "Linus" at our house lately. He loves his blankie and carries it around sucking on the tag.

Riding his bike-a favorite activity

Bowen's yogurt beard. He told me I needed to take a picture.

Swimming in our little pool in the backyard

Peyton swimming

Cayle chillin with her Popsicle-Oh the life!

Landon playing in the sandbox

Landon hanging out at one of Peyton's T-ball games

Zonking out during lunch.

Peyton's T-ball 2010

2010-07-12T20:54:00.004-06:00

This was Peyton's first time participating in any organized sport (if you can call t-ball a sport!) He LOVED it! He gave it his all and showed HUSTLE every game. He even slid into third his last game because he had a bet with Aunt Annie.

Peyton in his uniform-funny hat huh! He hated it and didn't wear it most games but I made him wear it the last game.

Playing pitcher

Peyton's Team

MaCayle's Softball 2010

2010-07-12T20:45:00.003-06:00

Cayle played softball again this summer. It is a coach-pitch league for girls ages 5-9. She really liked it and is getting better and better. Softball is something that she wants to continue doing. Here are a few pics of her last couple games.

Playing pitcher's helper

Playing short-stop

On deck

Bowen's 4th Birthday Pics

2010-07-12T20:21:00.004-06:00

This seems like so long ago, but my perfectionist side won't let me post anything else until I get these on here.

4 Things about 4 Year Old Bowen
1. Bo is extremely competitive (and a little bit of a sore loser :) Either he is going to be great at sports or he'll spend a lot of time on the bench because of technical fouls. He is fun to watch because he is so intense in everything that he does.
2. Bo loves breakfast. As soon as he gets up in the morning he tells me what he wants to eat. It usually goes a little like this "I want a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch, then cheerios, then oatmeal, then some toast and then maybe some frosted flakes." And it has to be in that order. And he will eat it all. Seriously.
3. Bowen has the cutest dimples that have only appeared in the last few months.
4. Bowen loves little kids (anyone younger than him). He'll walk up to babies that he doesn't even know and make "ga ga goo goo" sounds at them. He has a real tender heart and loves everyone. (unless you just beat him in something and then all bets are off!)

Before opening presents

He got some blocks, chaps that Dad made, a cowboy hat and a bathrobe.

Blowing out his donut cake

Happy Birthday Bowen! We love you!

It's a Long One :)

2010-06-29T21:52:00.005-06:00

It's been too long since I last posted. I'm trying to think of some big important things that have taken all my spare time, but I really don't have any. Summer has been busy and our computer did get some nasty virus thing and was out of commission for a couple of weeks, but the biggest reason for not blogging-I haven't been in the mood :). I needed a blogging break. So now I need to do a little catch up. It is almost July and I haven't even posted pictures from Bowen's Birthday in May. I'll do a nice little recap of what each of us has been up to.

Landon is growing like a weed. Still skinny as ever but he is almost breaking the 20 lb mark finally. He is walking most of the time now (unless he's around someone he doesn't know and then he starts crawling again-silly boy) He loves watermelon, grilled cheese sandwiches, spaghetti, toast-he eats just about anything that I give him. He likes being around the kids and complains loudly if he feels like he is being left out.

Bowen is having lots of fun this summer. The first three weeks of June he got to attend a summer speech program at the school a couple a days a week. He thought it was so fun. He thinks that only cool kids get to go to summer school :) We'll just let him keep believing that. His speech is getting better. He is starting to read and loves when we have "school" in the mornings. He is also learning to ride his two wheeler without training wheels. He doesn't have it quite yet but he is so persistant with it that it won't be long. He gets to take swim lessons for the first time this summer and I think he is excited for this. He's not great in the water so it should be interesting . . .

Peyton is always full of life. He loves digging holes (and then tracking the mud throughout the house), popping wheelies on his bike, staining every shirt that he owns, and playing in the pool. He just got done with his first season of T-ball and had a great time. He loved playing and went after every ball that was hit. He could be playing catcher and would run to right field to get the ball. The sad part was he was usually the first one to the ball. At first we got after him to stay in his position, but after awhile we figured it moved the game along a little faster so what the heck. He also gets to do swim lessons in a couple of weeks and will be in level 2 this year. He is very excited to go to Kindergarten (mostly the riding the bus part) and Mom is anxious hoping that he behaves himself :)

MaCayle has her hands full with all of these boys around. It takes a lot of energy to be the mom when they play house, the boss when they play store, the teacher when they play school . . . you get the picture. She just finished her 2nd season of softball. She had great coaches this year that really taught her a lot about the game. She made an awesome catch in one of her last games that she was really excited about and she only struck out twice all season. She is ready to head back to school though-she needs a break from her brother I think!

Josh is kept busy being my slave :) He has been working on lots of little projects around here lately. We are in the process of finally getting some landscaping done. So many projects . . . so little time :)

I have been doing the regular. Driving back and forth from the ball fields, cleaning, cooking, laundry, weeding the garden . . .all the exciting things that a stay at home mom does. The funny thing is is that I really do enjoy it. Nothing better than a clean house and empty laundry baskets. I think I need to get out more :)

Well I'll post some pics of Bo's birthday, t-ball and softball tomorrow (or next month-it depends on my mood :)

**On a side note-I had my bedroom window open as I was typing this and I can hear sprinkler pipe watering the field behind our house and I can smell a skunk-I love summer in the country! Seriously I like the smell of skunk. And the sound of sprinkler pipe. They remind me of my childhood for some reason. Happy times.

Bowen's Birthday Video

2010-06-21T16:31:00.000-06:00

Landon's First Year

2010-05-18T16:12:00.001-06:00

Press the little square at the bottom left for movie to play

Landon's First Birthday Party!

2010-05-18T13:35:00.005-06:00

Where did the last year go? Landon turned ONE last week. What a big boy he is becoming. And so handsome! I could just kiss those skinny little cheeks all day! Happy Birthday Landon-We love you!

He got a new trike for his birthday-It is great because it has a handle that I can push. Now he can keep up with his older brothers!

We had a birthday party on Friday night. Pat, Rachel, Mady, Caitie, Brad, Grandma Lu and Grandpa Bob came. We just opened presents and had cake and ice cream. Pretty basic :)

He really liked his Elmo that Caitie and Brad got him. (much to Caitie's delight!)

He had lots of help opening presents. I think he almost got to open one!

He was pretty sleepy at his party-We were doing errands right during his nap and he ended up not taking one-oops.

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Not too sure about it

Now he's digging in!

He looked like he had blue mascara.

"I can't believe I just ate the whole thing!"

Headed to the bathtub!

After his bath-nice and clean and ready for bed!

Happy 1st Birthday Landon!!

Wedding in Vegas

2010-05-18T13:14:00.003-06:00

My cousin Marie was getting married down in Las Vegas last week so Cayle and I went with my Mom to the wedding. We left on Tuesday, drove to St. George, and stayed the night there. On Wednesday we did a little shopping in the morning and left for Vegas after lunch. The wedding was at 4. It was fun to see everyone from that side of the family. It had been years since we had seen them all-long over due! About 8 we headed back to St. George for the night. We left first thing on Thursday, picked the boys up in Downey, and continued on, getting home around 6. LOTS OF DRIVING! We had lots of fun on our "mini" vacation-Cayle loved all the attention that she got. She didn't want to come home yet. The only hitch in the entire trip was my fault. I left my debit card at Target in OREM on our way home. The only time I have left my card at a store and it's four hours away! And of course they can't mail it. Oh well I needed a new one anyways. I owe a special thanks to Grandma Maynard for watching the boys. Not only was Landon newly weaned (and whiny), but he and Bowen had the stomach flu as well. She is awesome!

At the reception

You may want to put sunglasses on before you look at my legs-YIKES

They had a BBQ after the wedding

Cute girl! I had lots of fun spending time with MaCayle.

Cayle's Spring Concert

2010-05-18T12:47:00.002-06:00

Cayle had a music concert on May 6th. She did really well and didn't even rub her eyes very much! (when she gets nervous she blinks a lot and rubs her eyes) Last year she blinked and rubbed the entire concert-this year only the first song (much to my relief!) The concert was short and sweet just the way we like them! Good job MaCayle!

Walking in

Waiting for the concert to start. She was smiling at someone (not us-she never did find us in the crowd!)

During one of the songs. (This is most of Cayle's class)

Cayle and her teacher, Mr. O'Brady

Cayle and one of her favorite friends after the concert!

What a Week!

2010-04-26T11:50:00.004-06:00

We had a exciting time at our house last week. Landon took his first steps on Tuesday. This isn't a great picture but whenever he would see the camera he would sit down and crawl over to me. We were all having a good time cheering him on.

Peyton learned to tie his shoes. It was the last on his"Things I have to know before Kindergarten" list. Watch out world-Peyton is ready for school!

He was so excited he tied shoes all day!

We can't forget Bowen-No big accomplishments last week but he does look cute on his bouncy horse

It was my 32nd birthday last week. 32 seems old. I know in 40 years I will look back at what a young pup I am now, but 32 seems old to me. Way older than 31 :)

The kids could hardly wait to blow out the candles with me. I chose donuts, mainly because they are easy! We actually had to light the candles twice because there were tears the first time-Bowen's- not mine :)

In other news, here are some pics of Landon in the last week.
Taking a nap with all of his favorites-his blankie, his binkie and his puppy

"Help Mom!" Getting caught up in the bar stools

His common sense has not caught up with his climbing skills yet. We've had lots of falls and bruises lately.

Random Pics . . .

2010-04-15T21:36:00.005-06:00

I think that Peyton has the Easter Bunny confused with Santa. He wrote this letter the day before Easter and made sure that I set it out with his Easter Basket. He did it all by himself (he did ask me to spell "ship") and I think he did a great job.

**It says "Dear Easter Bunny bring me a Lego StarWar ship Candy Peyton"

The other night the kids insisted on eating dinner outside even though it was only in the low 50's at the time. They thought it felt like summer! Silly kids

Landon is now 11 months old. He is sporting a couple of bruises after a trip down the stairs. Before anyone calls the authorities, I did have a gate up-He leaned on it enough to loosen it and he and the gate made the trip down 14 stairs. I felt HORRIBLE but he was super lucky and only had a little bruise on his forehead and a cut above his lip.

He keeps himself busy getting into everything in reach. His current interests:

*Unrolling toilet paper (and then eating it)

*Changing channels with the remote

*Chasing the vacuum while Mom tries to vacuum

*Unloading the dishwasher while Mom tries to load it

*Opening cupboards in the kitchen and taking everything out.

*Giving big open-mouthed juicy kisses.

We love our Landy!

The other day after a rough nap :)

*I have been trying to load a funny video of Peyton for like 4 hours. Any suggestions??? It keeps saying "processing video" . . . I don't have a clue what to do.

Spring has sprung . . .

2010-04-15T21:33:00.000-06:00

and it's about time! :)

Easter 2010

2010-04-07T14:38:00.008-06:00

Easter was lots of fun as usual. We spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa Maynard's house. Grandma spoiled everyone like she always does!

The Easter bunny hid the baskets this year. Cayle had to follow her trail of pink eggs to find her loot. She had trouble finding it for awhile! She got lots of candy and a new DS game

Bo had to follow the green eggs to his basket! He got lots of candy, a little lego thing and a new mitt for T-ball

Peyton thought it was pretty funny that the Easter bunny left his basket in the bathtub! He got the same thing as Bowen (it's safer that way!)

With their baskets

Landon loved his basket. He immediately spilled jelly beans everywhere and started eating away! He got a little bit of candy and a magna doodle of his very own!

After we got ready we headed to Grandma and Grandpa Maynard's house. We listened to conference on the way

After dinner we watched the afternoon session of conference and then had an Easter Hunt. They didn't hunt for eggs, but found lots of fun things hidden around the room.

When everyone comes for Easter/Conference weekend (usually one or the other) we always play games for prizes. This is the silly string game. As you can see Josh and Bo were losing!

Landon cuddled with Grandma to stay warm

Cayle showing off her hula-hooping skills

Peyton and I won the hula-hooping contest-Peyton because he was really good and me because I looked ridiculous!

Here he is with his prize!

Me in the finals of the dice game. Konnor won 8-6 and with it won the coveted chocolate bunny. He was so happy after he won-very cute!

*Random pictures of the boys-Last week after his bath Bo wanted me to give him a mohawk-he thought he was a pretty tough guy. He wanted to take pictures of his cool hair.

Peyton didn't want to be left out . . .

These are a few of my favorite things . . .

2010-03-19T16:26:00.004-06:00

No . . not brown paper packages tied up with string-These are a few of Landon's favorite things (this week anyways)

Pretending to play the Wii while the kids play it

Playing outside

Taking a bath, especially with Bowen

Playing with cars and the Magna Doodle.

Landon at 9 months

2010-02-23T16:26:00.005-07:00

Well I have been a bad mom and have one picture of Landon over the past month. I need to write down a few things though so that when I get my rear in gear and do his baby book, I remember some things about this age. At his doctors appointment last week he was a little over the 75% in height, 60% for head and 5% for weight. I swear I am feeding the kid. He is tall and skinny like his Dad was I guess. But other than that he was doing great. Some things about Landon at nine months

*He loves music, especially when I sing (i'm not kidding either)

*His favorite songs are primary songs, patty cake, twinkle twinkle, and a song I call "Tell Landon I Love Him" (a version of a Keith Whitley song)

*He eats great and will eat whatever I give him. (and lots of things I don't give him)

*He bobs his head back and forth to be funny

*He has two bottom teeth (two very sharp bottom teeth!)

*He likes to play whatever the boys are playing, but especially likes to push little cars around.

*He says one word "Mama". I have been trying to teach him to say "Dada" but only in the middle of the night.

*The little bugger still doesn't sleep through the night-totally my fault.

*He is starting to clap his hands and wave.

Landon is getting so big. It makes me sad.

Is it summer yet???

2010-02-23T16:00:00.002-07:00

. . .cuz we're ready for it at our house. I went to download pictures from the camera to the computer and realized that I had only taken 6 pictures in the last month. (MaCayle did take around 20-mostly self portraits of her nose)
There is not a lot to update around here. We've tried to do a few fun things with the kids to make our cabin fever not too bad. Saturday, Josh took the boys to our friend's house for a Indiana Jones movie marathon. 9 hours of Indiana Jones. They had a great time though and have been sword fighting and using pretend whips ever since.
Last night we took the kids swimming for FHE. I took my camera and never took it out of the bag. They were SO excited to go and had lots of fun. Bo doesn't know how to swim yet so we had him wear those arm floaty things. He kept yelling "I'm floating I'm floating" with a huge grin on his face. If you know how Bo talks you'll know it was really cute.
We had a fun valentines day. Cayle slept in the boys' room and they were "heart attacked" in the night. (For the record . . .I think "heart attacking" is super corny for anyone over the age of 12 . . .just so you know) I made the mistake of doing it last year and now they expect it every year. But they love it so I oblige.
Here are some pics that I took before church on V-day

The Boys

Cayle was really embarrassed about this

Their heart attack

*As proof that we are ready for summer, Bo was surfing Cayle's ironing board yesterday.

Catching some waves

Landon's First Haircut

2010-01-28T14:27:00.003-07:00

Landon had his first haircut last week. He is my first baby to actually have hair that needed to be cut before turning one. My others were more on the bald side. It was a challange to get him to hold still long enough though! Josh shaved, I held, and MaCayle was the official photog. I kinda wish we hadn't cut his hair though because now he looks all grown up. His hair is a lot lighter too. Oh well I guess it will grow back. (probably too soon for Josh-that was probably the hardest haircut he's ever given!)

Getting started-not too wiggly yet

On the move-He just had to kiss that cute baby in the mirror

Pretty proud of himself

Phew . . .almost all done

***Funny story . . . Peyton came up to me last week and told me his amazing discovery.

Peyton: Mom, guess what I just figured out!

Me: What? (kind of scared)

Peyton: Hannah Montana is Miley Cyrus and Miley Cyrus is Hannah Montana!

Me: Wow, I had never realized that.

Peyton: Yeah me neither!

Should I be concerned that it took him this long to figure that out?

January Blahs!

2010-01-20T17:44:00.005-07:00

We've had the "January Blahs" around here. This is my least favorite time of the year. Christmas is over, there's nothing fun to look forward to, the kids are cooped up and acting bad, and the snow and cold have lost their charm. BLAH! Josh says that blah is not a word, but I beg to differ! I have taken some pictures though. Having a new camera has helped in that area!

Josh and Bo taking a Sunday afternoon nap. I like how they fell asleep in the exact same position.

Peyton throwing snow

Gant (neighbor) pulling Bowen on the sled

It was freezing this day (9 degrees when I took these pics).

Who needs a 4-wheeler when you have Gant. Pulling Cayle over a jump they made.

Cayle had to get 6 teeth pulled yesterday, orthodonists orders! Ouch!

Poor girl bled for hours. She was really great about it though! The tooth fairy rewarded her accordingly!

Cute pic of Bo

I think Landon looks just like my little brother Pat (when he was this age) in this picture. Creepy! :)

A Little About Landon

2010-01-20T16:33:00.007-07:00

I was just downloading our camera onto the computer and realized that I had a ton of pictures of Landon that I haven't put on the blog yet. He is already 8 months old and is getting to be so fun. He is a busy little guy-constantly getting into stuff-but he's such a cutie we forgive him! He is definitely getting an opinion about things. He loves to eat and will eat just about anything that is given to him (and even things that are not given to him-paper, things from the garbage, etc . . .) He likes music and will bob his head back and forth when I sing to him (I love that he can't say "Mom stop singing" yet, like the other kids do!) We tease that he is going to be a newscaster because he loves to watch the news! No joke when he hears Jay Hildebrandt or Jamie Kagol's voice (Channel 8 is his favorite!), he crawls over to the TV and sits and watches with fascination. Seriously. He crawls like a crazy man and he is pulling himself up to things already. He still doesn't sleep throught the night though(mostly my fault)! He is growing up too fast!
Here are some pictures of the last month or so . . .

On his 7 month birthday, December 13

All tucked in with MaCayle. He stayed and cuddled with Cayle for almost 30 minutes. He laughed and thought it was great.

Playing on our bed

Cute!

Watching the boys bathe. I love the look on his face in this picture!

He wants to be a big boy too!

8 month Birthday-January 13

"Save me Mom!"

"I've stood up and I can't get down!"

Eating mashed potatoes for dinner. I wish I could hose him off sometimes after meals. It is such a mess! He did have a bib on at the beginning of the meal but he kept ripping it off!

Quite pleased with himself.

A Little Catch-up!

2009-12-28T20:29:00.003-07:00

These posts are a little out of order but I tried! December was a busy month as always. We had our usual Christmas parties and activities to look forward to. One new tradition that we did was setting our shoes out for St. Nicholas. This is a tradition in Josh's family but this is the first year we have done it with our kids. They had lots of fun doing it and it is definitely something that we will do again next year. Christmas stresses me out but I am always sad when it is over. It is the most WONDERFUL time of the year!

Our tree

Cayle trying to put the star on (she chickened out)

Josh putting the star on

Putting out their shoes

I told the kids to go get their shoes and Bo came back with his flip-flops. There is no talking that boy out of anything. They left their letters to Santa in their shoes and if they were good kids this past year, Santa takes their letters and leaves them a small gift.

MaCayle's Letter to Santa:
Dear Santa,
I want a nintendo DS and earings, clothes and doll stuff and books. I have ben good.
Love, MaCayle

Peyton's Letter to Santa (written by himself):
Dear Santa,
Darth Vader, a bike and megatron.

Bowen's Letter to Santa (with help from Mom):
Dear Santa,
I want a light saber, a chess set, a Wall-e toy, and dress-up clothes and a megatron. I've been a good boy this year.
Love, Bowen

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T20:04:00.001-07:00

Christmas Eve at the Olsen's

2009-12-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

Olsen Christmas Party 12/21/09

2009-12-28T19:51:00.001-07:00

Maynard Christmas Party 12/13/09

2009-12-28T16:16:00.001-07:00

Christmas Card 09

2009-12-28T16:15:00.002-07:00

Pictures November 2009

2009-12-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my life!

2009-12-11T13:29:00.005-07:00

What started as this . . .

How sweet! Quickly turned into this . . .

Not so sweet! Which escalated to this . . .

And this . . .

And this . . .

And finally this!

**Thanks Kara for capturing a day in my life!

Viva Las Vegas

2009-12-07T17:14:00.006-07:00

Josh and I had the chance to go down to Las Vegas for the NFR this year. We have been before, but that was 7 years ago so we were excited to go again. We haven't gone anywhere in a long time (years!) so it was probably long overdue. The kids stayed with Maynards, but we had to take the baby because I am his food supply! He was a good boy though and no trouble at all. We went with some friends of ours, Daren and Shayna Cox and their two kids, Keely and Kyler. We drove down Wednesday, went shopping and to the rodeo on Thursday, Friday was more shopping and a drive to Hoover Dam, Saturday was more shopping (yes I got a little tired of shopping, mainly because I didn't buy anything) and Keely and I rode the roller coaster at New York New York. In between all the shopping we did eat good, which I enjoyed. I didn't take many pictures for some reason. Not having the kids there kind of threw me off I guess! It was fun to run into people from home. It is pretty sad that we had to go all the way to Vegas to see people that live in our same town! Everywhere we went people couldn't get enough of Landon. You would of thought people in Vegas had never seen a baby before (maybe they haven't-that place is crazy!) Good times.

Our tickets to the rodeo-we were in the nose-bleed section. Seriously we were in the last row.

This is where I had to put Landon before we left so I could get something done. Peyton pushed him around.

This is the aquarium at South Point. Landon really liked it!

Here is the gang at the rodeo.

Waiting not so patiently for the rodeo to start

This kid is from Pocatello-He didn't do so good this round.

Kyler LOVED pushing Landon around all the shows. People thought they were so cute!

Hoover Dam

The new bridge at Hoover Dam. This is so people can no longer drive over the dam.

Where we stayed.

Thanksgiving!

2009-12-07T17:00:00.004-07:00

This year we went to Josh's mom and dad's house for Thanksgiving. We drove down that morning and left about 9:30 that night. The day went way too quickly! We had lots of fun and the kids had fun playing with their cousins. Here's a few pictures of our day!

Landon and I hanging out!

Peyton with his turkey he made

MaCayle and Bowen

The wild boy table!

The quiet table minus Taylor

Shooting clay pigeons after dinner. I had a big old bruise on my shoulder the next day and I was only shooting a 20 gauge. Yes I must be a wimp!

Josh and Olivia playing the piano!

Bo getting ready for Christmas! Notice the ears-too funny!

6 Months Old!

2009-11-30T12:34:00.002-07:00

I can't believe it has already been half a year since Landon was born. He is growing so much. At his doctors appt a couple of weeks ago he weighed 16 lbs (25%), was 27.25 inches long (75%) and his head circumference was 50%. So he is tall and skinny. His doc was a little concerned because he hasn't really gained much weight in the last couple of months, until he saw how active he is. He is still trying to crawl on all fours-he has been so close for a month. His new skill is going from a crawling position to a sitting up position. He is constantly moving! We tease that we have a new puppy-nothing is safe anymore. He chews everything he can get his hands on! But he has such a sweet smile-everyone loves him to pieces!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T14:13:00.001-07:00

Some pics from the last few weeks

2009-10-30T16:49:00.003-06:00

Here's a little of what we've been up to

Cayle found this heart potato when Josh took the kids on a walk to find pheasants. They didn't find any pheasants, but Cayle found this show-n-tell treasure. She couldn't wait to show it off at school. In her class you have to write a small essay about anything you show-n-tell, and her essay was titled "The Butato I found." She thought that's how you said it. Grandpa Bob would be horrified!

Landon had his first solid food last week. He does pretty good with it, though the kids get him laughing and he ends up spraying food all over me.

Peyton was cheering him along

That's gross.

Carving pumpkins. Josh let the kids draw their own faces this year. They turned out good considering. . .

Cleaning out the guts-I was glad not to have to do it this year.

Peyton's pumpkin (pre-carved)

Bo's Pumpkin

Cayle's Pumpkin

With their lit pumpkins. The wind was howling . . .spooky!

It's that time again . .

2009-10-30T16:19:00.002-06:00

. . .time to baby-proof the house that is. Landon is way too young to be as busy as he is! He is starting to get up on all fours and can pull himself across a room in no time. He's already almost had a trip down the stairs (Josh was watching him-that's all I will say about that) so I need to get the gate up ASAP.

He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. Usually he face plants after he gets tired.

Chasing a ball-He's better than a puppy.

Time to put away the bouncer too.

He's not very happy about it-I'm not either!

I think I'm in love!

2009-10-27T17:30:00.002-06:00

My mom got this for me when I had Landon. It is a little pricey, but it works like a champ! It first steams the fruit, veggie, or meat (in less than 15 min) and then you dump it in the blender and it purees it perfectly. It looks and tastes just like store bought babyfood. Landon just started eating solid food so I've only done a few things (squash, pears, applesauce, bananas) but I'm excited to try new stuff. This gets a 5 star rating from me!

I think I need to get out more!

Bubba's Birthday!

2009-10-17T15:36:00.005-06:00

Peyton turned 5 years old this past week. He was so excited for his special day! We have been on the count down for some time. Peyton is turning into such a big boy. He has really started to grow up and come into his own these past few months. He is very helpful to me and has become his Dad's hunting partner. Five words that describe Peyton at age 5:
1. affectionate
2. playful
3. smart
4. active
5. handsome

Here are some pictures of his birthday.

He got to open one present in the morning-He woke up at 6:30 he was so excited

His dad bought him a hunting coat, gloves and hat-He thought that was very cool!

He also got a dummy and new rope to practice roping.

He chose donuts again this year instead of a cake. Yummy!

Loving that donut!

Happy Birthday Peyton-We LOVE you!!!

Big Boy!

2009-10-17T15:03:00.004-06:00

Landon is now 5 months old! He is such a sweet little guy and his personality is really starting to show. I forgot to give his stats from his Dr's appt. last month. At 4 months he was 15.5 pounds and was 26 inches long. He hasn't gained a lot of weight this last month though-he has been a sick boy. He got the cold/flu that everyone has been getting and it hit him harder than the other kids. He ended up with bronchitis (not sure if that is how you spell it!) and had the doctors pretty concerned for a few days, but he is finally doing much better. A few of his stats for this last month . . .
1. He is sleeping through the night occasionally-not every night-He likes to eat sometimes at about 4 am.
2. He likes to spend time on the floor. He rolls and scoots all over the place-nothing is safe anymore. He's going to be crawling soon.
3. He loves to suck on his toes when I am changing his diaper.
4. He has said "mum mum" 3 different times-it's usually when he's super ticked off, but I still like it.
5. His eyes are definitely a different color than the other kids. They're a little blue, a little brown, a little green . . .in other words I have no idea what color they are-more gray than anything.
6. He has lots of hair-unusual for my kids.

Here are a few pics from his 5 month birthday

MaCayle's Baptism

2009-09-29T18:33:00.006-06:00

Cayle was baptized on Saturday, September 26th. She had a great day. She was able to pick everyone on her program and she thought long and hard about who she wanted to have. Here's the program:
Pianist-Grandma Lu
Chorister-Mom
Opening Prayer-Great Grandma Lois
Talk on Baptism-Aunt Caitie
Talk on Holy Ghost-Grandma Maynard
Closing Prayer-Peyton

Josh baptized and confirmed her. She was really excited for her special day and I think she really enjoyed it. She especially liked her scriptures that Grandma and Grandpa Maynard gave her. She loves to look up scriptures and mark them. After the baptism we came back to our house and had lunch. Lots of yummy food! (too much actually-we are still eating it!)

Josh and Cayle right before the baptism

Cayle and her pretty dress

After her baptism with Dad and Mom

Cayle and Aunt Caitie

Cayle and her cousin Lexi

Cayle and Great Grandma Lois

How many boys CAN you fit in one room??

2009-09-29T18:28:00.004-06:00

I'm not sure, but we've fit three. We (and by we I mean Josh) finally finished painting and putting up bead board in the boys room-I think it turned out rather nicely. We then set up the boys bunk beds and set the crib back up. I have yet to hang anything back up on the walls. I've spray painted a couple of things and I have decided that I REALLY like spray paint. You can spruce anything up with spray paint!

Here are a couple of pics of Landon in his jumper-I thought he would just sit there since he is still pretty young, but he really liked it. He was a wild man in it-I think we are going to be in for it with this guy!

Landon's 4 month pics

2009-09-29T18:18:00.002-06:00

Landon is already 4 months old. He is starting to become really active. He is quick to smile and loves interacting with people. He is an expert roller-he can roll across the room if he thinks he is getting left out of something. He just started sleeping through the night (only 2 nights now so I'm not holding my breath) but it has sure been nice. I am enjoying it while it lasts! We sure love our Landon!
Here are some pics from his 4 month b-day.

EISF 2009

2009-09-29T18:10:00.005-06:00

We went to the fair on the last day this year. Josh was hunting, so luckily my mom, Rachel and Mady were able to go with me for crowd control. The kids (especially Peyton) enjoyed looking at all the animals. Their favorite was once again the Ag booth. Fun times at the fair!

Peyton at the petting zoo. This llama (I think it's a llama-I'm such an animal person!) chased me and I screamed-not my proudest moment. (the term "chase" is probably an exaggeration-more like walked towards me with a mean look)

Peyton and Bo checking out the ducks

Bowen could have hung out here all day

I wish she would clean like this at home.

Peyton making his daddy proud

Enjoying their scone nuggets

After the fair we went to Jenson's Grove (or "The Beach" as only a native Blackfootian would call it). Did I just make up the word "Blackfootian?"

They had lots of fun playing in the water and taking a ride on Uncle Chris' boat.

It's Great to be 8!

2009-09-10T18:01:00.004-06:00

MaCayle had a birthday this week-8 YEARS OLD! She had a fun day and loved all the attention that she got. Cayle is such a good girl-We love you!

Posing with her presents. She wanted to wait until after school to open presents this year.

Opening presents from Grandma Lu and Grandpa Bob

Cayle gets to have her ears pierced-OUCH!

Cayle's bike (she's actually got her bike a few weeks ago-it was an early b-day present)

Grandma and Grandpa Maynard

Cayle decorated her cake-chocolate layer cake with strawberry frosting

Blowing out the candles

Make a wish . . .

And some pics for Annie . . .

Here are some pics of the boy's room that we are remodeling. We just painted it and are in the process of putting up bead board (we still have some trim and all the caulking/touch-up to do). Hopefully it will look decent when we are finished.

Do you want to join this club??

2009-09-04T17:16:00.003-06:00

My kids built a fort in the living room the other day and decided to make a club. They made a list of rules and hung them on the wall When I saw what they had written I had to laugh-you have to know my kids to truly appreciate this list!

1. NO Spitting
2. NO Farting
3. NO Kissing (that rule is for Peyton-he's got a problem with that!)
4. NO Boogers
5. NO Touching
6. NO Kicking
7. NO Hitting
8. NO Pulling Hair

Sounds like a fun club huh?

Quick Update

2009-09-04T13:37:00.004-06:00

Not much has been going on around here that is blog worthy (if there is such a thing as "blog worthy"). Cayle is liking school, the boys are being, well, the boys and Landon is growing like a weed. Typical of this time of year, Josh is obsessed with hunting (I just ate my first antelope-it actually was really good). I'm cursing the garden because it produced way too much stuff-Call me strange but I would much rather weed the garden than preserve all the veggies. I've got beets, potatoes and peas finished, still working on beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and carrots, and still to come are corn, onions and pumpkins. Remind me next spring how much I hate the garden when I go all crazy and want to plant everything!

Here are a few pics from the last couple of weeks.

Landon started to roll over last Thursday. He can now roll across the room. He gets his momentum going and he is off.

He also started sucking his thumb and fingers lately-He can't decide if he prefers his binkie or his thumb.

Sunflowers from the garden-I made a bouquet for my neighbor for her birthday-I love the purple sunflowers.

One of Cayle's many self-portraits. She must take after Aunt Caitie!

Here is a picture of most of the garden. Stupid thing! (Can you tell I am tired of the garden :)

Back to School!

2009-08-20T11:07:00.004-06:00

Well it's official-summer is over at our house. Cayle started school today! Things went well this morning, considering it took her two hours to fall asleep last night. We have been bad about bedtime this summer. She rarely went to sleep before 10:00, and it showed last night. Hopefully tonight she will be tuckered out and actually go to sleep on time. The day has been long-the boys have asked when Cayle would be home around 20 times already. But I've been able to get a lot done today. I don't know if it's because I got my rear in gear before the crack of 9:00 am, or if one less kid really does make a difference. Here's to early mornings, early bedtimes, and maybe a little routine around this place!

MaCayle and her backpack that she was very excited about.

We woke Peyton up for a picture with Cayle. Bo was too cold and grumpy to be in the picture!

Landon's 3 month pics

2009-08-20T11:04:00.004-06:00

Here are some pics of Landon. He is now 3 months old. Yikes!! Time goes too fast. Josh swears he changes every day while he is at work. Where did my newborn go?? He is babbling a lot-I have entire conversations with him. They are a little one-sided, but I am sure he is telling me many important things. He is trying to roll over but that darned arm is always in the way, and he can hold his head up like a champ. Occasionally his head starts a bobbing, but he is getting lots stronger. He has been a horrible sleeper lately-I think I jinxed myself when I said he was sleeping great-not so anymore. Mostly my fault though because I feed him every time he wakes up-I've got to work on that. You would think this was my first kid instead of my fourth. I am a slow learner!

Look at those eyelashes. He's the envy of every girl out there!

Taken on his three month birthday. (it looks like he is sitting up-not so. Cayle is out of the picture holding him up!)

I couldn't get him to smile for the life of me.

He likes to sit in his bouncer on the counter while I cook.

Laying on the floor (Peyton wants me to mention that Landon is laying on HIS blanket!)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame . . .

2009-08-20T10:59:00.008-06:00

We try to go to a Chukars game at least once every summer. This year we had free tickets so all the better. I am a retard though and didn't read the time on the tickets and made us late so we had seats really far away (which turned out to be a good thing because the kids could walk around and not bug people). It was way less stressful for Josh and I. My family was also able to get free tickets (BYU-I alumni night) so we were joined by my mom, Annie, Jeff, Jake, Beck, Rachel, Mady, Brad and Caitie. I didn't actually watch much of the game-isn't that how it always ends up- but it was still lots of fun.

Grandma and Landon

Peyton holding Mady

MaCayle

Bowen enjoying his cotton candy

The whole gang (minus the photographer)

Jakey and Bubbo(Bubba and Bo combined -Jake's name for all of my kids, Cayle included)

Happy now :)

2009-08-06T16:44:00.000-06:00

This post is for Caitie-see, you are loved!

What we've been up to . . .

2009-08-05T22:03:00.006-06:00

We've been busy! My dreams of a lazy summer home with the kids and the baby didn't quite happen. Cayle starts school in two weeks-Crazy! Peyton has had a good week though-he has learned to swim and ride his bike without training wheels! That is about as exciting as it gets for a 4 year old. After swimming lessons today, he said "I am a swimming maniac!" Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks.

Landon sleeping during swim lessons

Riding our bikes at the cemetery.

This is a picture I took almost a month ago and forgot to post. I love this picture of the baby-he looks like a little man.

At the zoo in Idaho Falls.

Poor MaCayle-she's has to be my little helper

MaCayle and Peyton have been taking lessons the last couple of weeks.

Peyton did great and has become quite the little fish!

MaCayle . . .not so much. But she is getting better!

Ross Park Water Park

2009-07-25T19:27:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we went swimming at Ross Park with some of my family. Grandma Lu and Grandpa Bob, Kara and her kids, Annie, Jeff, Jake, and Beck and Caitie and Brad came for an afternoon in the sun. The kids had fun and were 100% worn out by the end of the day (so was I for that matter)!

Bowen and Peyton's favorite part-all the good food that Grandma brought! (ignore what Bowen is doing with his hand :)

Peyton playing in the kiddie pool with Grandma and his cousins

Splashing Grandma!

Bo "swimming"

The babies hung out in a little pop-up tent of Cayle's

Bowen, Peyton and Annie floating the "crazy" river

Cayle clinging to the tube

Sunbathing beauty

Update on Landon

2009-07-25T19:11:00.003-06:00

Landon is now over two months old. It's weird because those two months have gone really fast, but at the same time I can't remember what our family was like without him. He fits right in. At his 2 month doctors appointment everything checked out great. He was 11 lbs, 10 ozs and 24 inches long. He is starting to smile more and jabber a little bit. He is also sleeping much better, waking up usually around 3:30. He eats, burps and is right back to sleep so I can't complain. It's funny how much more optimistic I am about motherhood when I get a little sleep! Here are some pictures from last week.

After his bath

He does this crooked smile a lot

"Lady, you'll do anything to get me to smile won't you"

"I'll smile just a little so she'll stop !"

Island Park and Yellowstone

2009-07-25T16:16:00.008-06:00

We went to Island Park and Yellowstone once again this summer for the Maynard Family Reunion. I don't have a lot of time to tell everything that we did, so here's a quick summary:

Wednesday: Mesa Falls, played at a park, great dinner by Tracie, visited with family
Thursday: Josh fished the Madison, I took kids to Virginia City, Harry Potter Movie in West
Friday: Kids fished with Josh, hot dog roast, Big Springs, Games at park, Grandma's Bingo
Saturday: Yellowstone (lots of traffic, a few elk, a bear, Mammoth Hot Springs, Old Faithful, yummy ice cream cones) and HOME! I love being away but I also love coming home!
Here are some pics of our fun time.

Mesa Falls-A tradition every year on the way to Island Park

Bo was very excited about this bench (I'm not sure why)

At a park in Island Park

Peyton learned to do the monkey bars all by himself

Enjoying the hot tub at the cabin

Virginia City

Hot dog roast

Bo and Karsan posing with Landon

Notice the intense concentration

Cayle's blister from all the foosball

"Mom, I saw a fish this big!"

Pictures at Big Springs-another yearly tradition

Playing games at a park in West Yellowstone

Picnic at Mammoth Hot Springs

Old Faithful ("Hey Bubba, look at dat lady over der")
*Bo's reaction to seeing a lady in a string bikini top at old faithful-I think we are going to be in for it when these two are teenagers!

Bye Cabin . . .we had a great time. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Independance Day!

2009-07-07T16:46:00.008-06:00

We had lots of fun on the 4th and we didn't even have to leave the neighborhood. In the morning, Josh and the kids rode horses and then in the afternoon we went to our neighbors, the Colvins. The kids played on their blow-up water slide and had a blast. Fortunately for everyone there, me and swimsuits are not yet compatible or I would have been sliding with the kids-It looked fun! After a brief rainstorm, we had a BBQ, visited, played games and then did fireworks. It got a little crazy, but was lots of fun. I still don't think I have my full hearing back!
Here are some pics of our day!

Lounging in the pool-Peyton said the water was COLD!

Bo would only go down the slide with Cayle at first!

The "hot tub" filled with warm water

Watching all the fun

Bowen

Peyton

Landon

Watching the fireworks

Only in Idaho do you have to bundle up on the 4th of July-It was cold during the fireworks.

Bo and his sparkler

Peyton and his sparkler

Yummy (and more importantly) EASY Bread!

2009-07-07T16:44:00.004-06:00

I have never been able to make a decent bread. I've tried a few times in the past and produced something resembling and probably tasting like a football. I was always on the look out for a good and easy bread recipe and I finally found one-seriously you can't screw this recipe up. If you could I am sure I would have by now. I have been making it since March and I have never had a bad loaf yet, and with a mixer it is super fast.

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD-makes 2 large loaves
1 T. yeast (instant dry yeast, not active dry that is in the packets)
Small handful of potato flakes
3 c. whole wheat flour
1 T. salt
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. oil
1/2 c. oatmeal
3 c. warm water (pretty warm-almost hot)
3-4 c. white flour

Mix the first 4 ingredients. Combine oil, honey, oatmeal and 1/2 c. water in measuring cup and add to dry ingredients. (combining oil and honey in measuring cup makes it a lot easier to work with the honey-no sticky mess and adding the 1/2 c. water helps to soften oatmeal) Add the remaining 2 1/2 c. of water. Mix until everything is incorporated. Add 3-4 cups of white flour. If you do this by hand you may have to add the last cup of flour while kneading because it gets pretty stiff with a spoon. I use a mixer with a dough hook attachment. Even so, after about 8-10 minutes of adding flour and kneading by machine, I take it out of the bowl when it is still sticky and knead it a few times and add the very last of the flour. I think it turns out better when it is still a little sticky. Put in greased bowl and raise about an hour. Punch down and roll out, forming 2 loaves. Put in greased bread pans and let rise another 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. When done, immediately take out of pans and let cool on wire rack. Seriously you can't go wrong with this recipe.

*One thing that always made me not want to make bread was the mess, but I made it easier by keeping all the ingredients in one place in the cupboard so it is easy to grab everything at once. By letting the Kitchen Aid do all the hard work also keeps the mess to a minimum.
*All the ingredients are things that are recommended for long term food storage so this recipe is a great way to rotate those things.

Cayle's Cheer Camp

2009-07-07T14:22:00.004-06:00

My cute niece Ali is a cheerleader at Bonneville and Cayle got to go to the cheer camp that they put on. She had lots of fun-they performed for the parents on the last day. Cayle looked really cute and really embarrassed! She was blushing the entire time. I thought after 3 years of dance she would be comfortable . . .oh well! She stayed at my sisters in Idaho Falls from Monday until Wednesday. She thought that was great-Cam always spoils her and makes her feel special. It was probably a much needed break from her brothers as well. She has lots of responsibility on her little 7 year old shoulders and she deserved a little vacation. The boys were EXCITED to have her home on Wednesday. You would have thought she had been gone a year instead of 2 days! An hour after dropping her off Peyton was complaining that he missed her. She was smothered with hugs and kisses as soon as she was done. We sure love MaCayle!

Landon's Blessing

2009-06-30T13:10:00.008-06:00

We blessed Landon last Sunday. It was a really nice day. Josh did a great job on the blessing and thankfully Landon was a good boy and didn't cry. Afterward, we came back to our house and had a BBQ. We had lots of family come and support us (thanks everyone!) It was fun to visit with everyone and we missed those that were not able to come! I took these pictures after church on our 5 year old camera that has been dropped numerous times, but I think they turned out rather well. Landon is smiling now-what a handsome guy!

Great Grandma Olsen holding Landon before church

The kids before church. It was nothing short of a miracle that we had time to actually take a picture!

My good looking gang!

Josh and Landon after church

Landon and Grandma Maynard

Playing at the Park and Cute Pics

2009-06-30T13:04:00.002-06:00

When it finally stopped raining, we hit the park. The kids have been asking to go all month, but the weather would never cooperate. They had lots of fun.

Our little monkey MaCayle

Peyton would not hold still long enough to take a good picture

This is a picture of Peyton after throwing a temper tantrum and being sent to time out.

Bowen's latest sleeping position-too funny!

Hey Batter Batter

2009-06-30T13:01:00.002-06:00

MaCayle played softball for the first time this year. She had a great time and learned a lot about the game. She still has lots to learn, but she got a ton better as the season went on. She had 4 games rained out, but the last week of the season she had a game (and sometimes two) almost every day to make up for all the rain outs. Her coach said that he loved pitching to her because she always had a huge smile on her face every time she came to bat.

Playing short stop

Waiting to bat

Go #3

Cayle's best friends, Madison and Hailey W., were on her team. That made it extra fun!

One Month Pics

2009-06-30T12:23:00.002-06:00

I took a couple pics of Landon on his one month birthday. The boys were excited and sang happy birthday to him a few times. I kept having to explain that it was his one month birthday, not his one year birthday. As you can see he is getting chubby cheeks and lots of rolls. I weighed him a couple of days after this and he weighed 10 lbs 9 ozs. He had a horrible case of baby acne around this time. These pictures were after he started healing up, but it was BAD for a couple of days. I even took him to the doctor because they looked like they were blistering. They had me put some cream on them and within a couple of days they were better. I hope this is not an indication of his teen age years-poor kid!

This picture shows his acne a little-but it was way worse than this.

First Bath-June 12, 2009

2009-06-30T12:06:00.003-06:00

Landon wasn't able to take his first full-fledged bath until he was over 4 weeks old. His cord took forever to fall off (weeks longer than my other kids) and he was long over due for a good bath-those sponge baths just didn't cut it anymore. I thought he would scream the entire time because he would cry during the sponge baths, but he really liked it. Mmmm . . . nothing like the smell of a clean baby!

My bath helpers (Cayle took some of the pictures)

He didn't like the drying off part!

Typo Disclaimer!!! I have done these posts typing with one hand because Landon will not let me put him down today. What can I say . . . I'm a sucker for a cute boy and Landon has figured it out!

A quick update

2009-06-10T19:50:00.006-06:00

We're surviving this new baby thing. Things are actually going really good. Landon is a fussy baby, but he's so cute we don't mind too much! He is loved a lot-he gets hundreds of kisses every day (I've actually had to restrict the amount of kisses he was getting-it was getting out of control . . . seriously hundreds a day and most of them from Peyton). He is starting to take after both Josh and I. He has Josh's receding hairline and my acne. Poor kid is not at his most handsome this week. He's starting to put on the pounds. I weighed him yesterday and he weighed in at 9lbs, 4 ozs. He has gained almost 3 lbs since we left the hospital.
So that the other kids don't feel neglected . . .MaCayle started softball a couple of weeks ago and has had a couple games. She hit a double and a single in today's game (to keep it real she also struck out once!). She is starting to catch on to all the rules and really has fun. She does forget to run sometimes when she is on base, but we're working on that. Peyton and Bo are busy playing outside (that is when it is not raining), fighting, and making messes wherever they go.
We had a busy weekend last weekend. On Friday night we had Rachel's baby shower, Saturday was Brant's baptism in Utah, and Sunday was Sophie's baby blessing in Pocatello. I had my camera at all three things and of course neglected to take a single picture-I'll blame it on the lack of sleep. Here are some pics that I did remember to take.

After a hard day of playing in the sandbox!

Bo falls asleep in the strangest positions

Landon at two weeks

Landon at three weeks

Landon at four weeks (today!)

My best helper!

Happy Birthday Bo "Three"

2009-05-25T14:57:00.004-06:00

Bowen had his third birthday this past weekend. On Saturday we went to my mom and dad's house for a BBQ so we made it into a birthday party for Bo as well. He got a guitar and some clothes from Grandma and Grandpa and a game and fishing pole from us.

Bo was mortified when everyone sang to him. He almost started crying.

It took some talking to get him to blow out his candles. He is definitely the most shy of my kids.

Sunday (his actual birthday) Bo got to open a few more presents from us.

Happy birthday Bo. We love you!!

Baby Pic Overload

2009-05-25T14:22:00.004-06:00

Landon started smiling like this in his sleep. I like to think that he was dreaming about what a great mom he has, but most likely he just had a monster gas bubble!

One Week

Eleven Days

All the new babies in my family-
Kara & Sophie, Annie & Beckam, Rachel & Madysen, Me & Landon

Madysen, Landon, Beck, & Sophie

Landon and Beck elbowing each other for a better position.

He's a Keeper!

2009-05-19T09:31:00.006-06:00

Our sweet baby boy is finally here! Landon Charles Maynard was born May 13th at 8:39 in the morning. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz, was 19 3/4 inches long and has lots of brown hair. We all love him to pieces. Everyone is adjusting well and the kids have lots of kisses to give (too many usually)! He was really healthy and my surgery went really well. I've recovered quicker than my other C-sections (and my other c-sections were fairly easy for me) so that is a blessing. We got to come home from the hospital on Friday. He is a little jaundice, but is eating, sleeping and filling his diaper like a champ. He looks a lot like Peyton did-a fact that Peyton loves! It looks like he is going to have blue eyes like the others, but it's still too early to really tell. He has the longest fingers and toes-almost freakishly so! He had his little "procedure" done yesterday, but I think that he has forgiven me finally! Here are a few pics of his first few days.

Under the heat lamp while I was in recovery

All bundled up

Our first picture, right after getting to our room

The proud papa

MaCayle is great with the baby

The little twins

Bowen loves "Lannon"

Landon and Grandma Lu

Landon and Grandma Maynard

Dressed and ready for home

Four days old

I Guess It's About Time!

2009-05-08T20:46:00.002-06:00

My sister thinks that I am retarded because I haven't said anything on my blog yet but . . . we are expecting another baby . . . in 5 days! Next Wednesday morning I am scheduled for a C-Section bright and early. We are having another boy! Peyton and Bo were excited about this-MaCayle not so much but she got used to the idea pretty fast. We (or should I say I) have been busy busy busy getting ready for baby #4. I actually announced on the blog back in January, but you had to be pretty observant to catch it (scan to the bottom of the blog). I know I am weird but I get shy about telling people I am pregnant. My neighbors and people at church just barely caught on a few months ago. I don't really have any pics of my pregnant self (thank goodness) but I borrowed a picture from my sisters blog to show what I currently look like! I'll post some pictures of the baby soon!

Okay, maybe I'm not this big, but I feel like it occasionally. (To quote Bowen "Mom, your bum is big!" Gotta love em!)

Congratulation . . .

2009-05-08T20:37:00.003-06:00

. . .to Annie, Jeff and Jakey on their new baby boy. Annie had him last Thursday (April 30). He reminds me of what Annie looked like as a newborn. For all of his stats, click here. Congrats you guys-he's a cutie. We can't wait to hold him!

MaCayle's Dance Recital

2009-05-08T20:18:00.005-06:00

Phew . . .we are glad that is over. Dance recital time can stress a mom out! MaCayle's dance recital was a couple of weeks ago (April 25th). Her class did three dances-ballet, jazz and clogging. They did really well and MaCayle had a great time. I took some video of it-I got a new video camera for my birthday and when I get around to figuring out how to download it to the computer, I'll post some video of her dances.

Before the recital

Striking a pose (notice the tan line-I swear the girl can get tan being outside once in 50 degree weather-I wish I could say she got her skin from me)

MaCayle loved the flowers from her brothers and Grandma and Grandpa Maynard (the morning of the recital she commented to me that she bet she got lots of flowers-I had to make a quick phone call to Dad to pick some up on his way home from work!)

Grandma and Grandpa Maynard came from Downey to see her dance!

Waiting for spring . . .

2009-04-14T15:21:00.005-06:00

. . . and we're getting a little impatient. It is snowing outside as I type this-It had better get warm soon or I am going to lose my mind. Not much has been going on around here. Cayle has now lost both of her front teeth. She had her spring music concert last week and is practicing hard for her dance recital next week. Peyton has decided that he wants to be a policeman when he grows up. During sharing time in Primary a couple of months ago he was asked what he wanted to be when he was older and he responded "A policeman so I can pull people over and give them tickets." I was so proud! He also told me later that the reason he wants to be a cop is because he wants to give old ladies tickets because they drive too slow! I have no idea where he got that idea from. And we finally solved the mystery as to why Bo calls himself Bo-Two. For the last several months when you ask Bo what his name is he responds Bo-Two. I always just figured that it was because he knew he was 2. Well we hadn't realized that he first name is Bowen (Bo-One) and since he is 2 he figured his name was now Bo-Two. I wonder if his name will be Bo-Three when he turns three next month! Here are a few pics of Cayle's concert

Easter Fun!

2009-04-14T15:05:00.002-06:00

We had a fun Easter this year. On Saturday we had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard for the kids. This was the first year in awhile that we have been able to have it outside. It was later in the day and a storm was starting to blow in, but they still had fun finding all the eggs (I am sure that we will be finding some more eventually-I forgot where we hid them all!) The Easter bunny also came early this year. I "emailed" him and asked if he could come early. Josh has meetings on Sunday morning starting at 6:30 and after church we were headed straight to Downey, so Saturday night worked best for the bunny to make his visit. We always have a trail of eggs that the kids follow to find their baskets. Cayle got a tennis racket, and a summer outfit, Peyton got a transformers (just the one that he wanted), side walk chalk, and some new underwear (transformer of course), and Bo got a transformer, chalk and boxer-brief undies that he is quite proud of. They all got lots of candy too. I have a weakness for Easter candy-it's my favorite of any holiday!
On Sunday after church we headed to Downey for Easter with Josh's side of the family. We ate yummy food, found Easter baskets, had the annual bowling for bunny tournament (which Dan won . . .though Josh thinks he was robbed), and just visited and enjoyed catching up with everyone.

Easter 2009 Pics

2009-04-14T14:42:00.000-06:00

My once a month update!

2009-03-09T17:27:00.004-06:00

I know . . . I am a bad blogger, but not much has been happening around here. We've all been sick with colds and flu (except Josh-somehow he lucked out), but we're all on the mend. Here are a few pics that I have taken lately. Maybe March will prove more exciting!

This is what I found when I got out the shower Saturday. MaCayle said they were soaking in the sun. I think they are a little tired of winter.

MaCayle had a snaggle tooth in the front that had been loose forever. I told her she had to pull it out before class pictures so while I was at Relief Society last week, she and Josh worked and worked on it. She finally got it out by putting dental floss around the tooth and pulling. She was super brave about it.

I experimented with super-couponing a couple of weeks ago. I got all of this for $34.00 and saved $116.00. Yes I know I am a dork.

Tag of " Firsts"

2009-03-09T16:33:00.005-06:00

I haven't had much to say lately so I thought I'd do this tag of firsts.

1. Who was your FIRST prom date? Jonathan Packer (junior year)

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love? . . . .no.

3. What was your FIRST time you drove like? Great :) At least I thought so (I was only 12 at the most-one advantage of growing up in the country!)

4. What was your FIRST job? Working at Bingham Coop in the office on Saturday mornings-I started when I was 14.

5. What was your FIRST car? A little 2 door Grand Am that shook like crazy if I went over 40.

6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today? I don't text. I just barely got a cell phone last year. I'm a little technology challenged.

7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning? Josh (I was trying to get him up so he'd stop pushing the snooze button)

8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher? Mrs. Kotter (one of my favorites)

9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane? California

10. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk? Teri Nelson and occasionally

11. Where was your FIRST sleep over? Probably Teri's house

12. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? Josh

13. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time? Cam and Clint's

14. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? After getting Josh out of bed I went and woke up MaCayle.

15. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? I went to Boyz 2 Men in SLC my junior year with my older brothers girlfriend. Weird.

16. FIRST tattoo? Don't have one

17. FIRST piercing? My ears when I was 10

18. FIRST foreign country you've been to? Does Canada count? (pathetic I know)

19. FIRST movie you remember seeing? I remember seeing "The Chipmunks Adventure" at the theater when I was really young. I thought it was pretty cool. Probably not the first movie I saw, but one of the most memorable

20. When was your FIRST detention? 7th grade in Miss Stock's class. But the whole class had detention so it really didn't count. :)

22. Who was your FIRST roommate(s)? Ricks College- Rebecca, Lauren, Dawn, Taryn, and Tina. We were a different bunch but we got along pretty good.

23. If you had one wish, what would it be? That when my kids grow up, they will be good and faithful people (hopefully I haven't ruined them too much!)

24. What is something you would learn if you had the chance? Play the piano better.

A Little of This . . .

2009-02-06T11:46:00.004-07:00

. . . and a little of that. We haven't had much going on around here to blog about, but I'm tired of seeing that 80's thing on my blog, so I'll try to come up with a few little things that we've been up to. January passed us by in a blur.
MaCayle has kept herself busy with school-she just got her report card for the first semester and she's doing great. She is reading 108 words per minute (the goal being 35 wpm!). She loves to read, play the piano (she says she wants to do piano lessons instead of dance next year-yeah!) and boss the boys around as much as possible.
Peyton has moved on from his GeoTrax obsession to a Transformers obsession. He sits and studies the little pamplet that came with his transformer deciding which transformer he needs next. His biggest desire in life right now is to go to Kings and look at Transformers. He already has his birthday and Christmas list ready for next year.
Bowen's current love in life is doing anything Peyton is doing. He is starting to talk really well and is pretty much potty trained. (still wearing pull-ups at night, but he hardly ever wakes up wet anymore so I've got to get rid of those-I'm just lazy at this point!) I am also going to have to put him in pull-ups everytime he plays hide-n-seek because he wets his pants without fail every time he plays it. A couple of weeks ago within days he peed in the front coat closet, the bathtub and Josh and I's closet while playing hide-n-seek. No more hide-n-seek around here!
Josh has been busy with work. This week he is in Portland at a show. This is our big show for the year so hopefully he is able to sell lots. He left Monday morning and he does not get home until next Monday. It makes for a long week around here.
I have been busy breaking up fights, cleaning up messes, trying to catch up on all of last years scrapbooking, working at the store, doing stuff for primary, etc . . .
Here are a few pictures that I have taken over the past month. They are kind of random but I guess that's what January is all about.

MaCayle's snowman. After this picture was taken Peyton kicked it over and MaCayle started sobbing. Oh the joy!

Cayle and Peyton hanging out.

Bowen fast asleep-You have to be way too tired to fall asleep in that position

That cannot be comfortable.

Peyton listening to a book on tape we got at the library. He listened to this Toy Story one about 10 times.

Bowen fell asleep on his favorite person "Cece"

Peyton decorated Bo with stickers. This is what happens when I try to get something done.

I have been meaning to post some cute things that the kids have said. I have already forgot some of them, but I do remember a few.
*At Christmas, Peyton favorite song to sing was "Feliz Navidad." But he thought the words were a little different than they actually are. Instead of singing "Feliz Navidad" he thought the words were "Feliz Mommy Duck."
* When I was getting ready for Caitie's wedding reception, Peyton came into my bathroom so that I could comb his hair. As I was combing, he rubbed the side of my dress (which was a slick, kind of slingy material) and said "Oh mom your dress is tight-I like it! You look kind of . . .kind of . .cowish! The sad part is he was complimenting me. The dress did have a print that looked like an animal print. At least he didn't say I looked like a pregnant zebra (that one's for you Annie!)
*Whenever I get after Bowen for something or he gets mad at me, he yells at me "I love Cece!" in the meanest voice he can muster. That's his way of saying he loves MaCayle and not me. He has now started yelling at me "I love Bubba" when Peyton gets in trouble.
*The other day at Cayle's dance we were sitting in the waiting area and some little girls were giving Peyton a hard time. They were just taunting him saying he couldn't go by them or he'd get spanked. They were just teasing him. All of the sudden Bowen walks up to them and yells "I love Bubba!" The poor kid-that's the only comeback he has but I though it was cute how he was defending his brother's honor.

I know there are more stories, but that's all my brain can muster right now.

Did you grow up in the 80's???

2009-01-15T10:30:00.003-07:00

I got this list from my sister in law a while back and I thought it was pretty funny. . . it brought back lots of fun memories.

You Know You Grew Up In the 80's IF:
1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word SIKE.
2. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do the Carlton
3. You know that 'WOAH' comes from Joey on Blossom
4. If you ever watched 'Fraggle Rock'
5. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
6. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
7. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.
8. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.
9. You played the game 'MASH'(Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
10. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.
11. You know the profound meaning of ' WAX ON , WAX OFF'
12. You wanted to be a Goonie.
13. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (Some of us...head-to-toe)
14. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off, his cheeks shifted and his nationality became questionable.
15. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
16. You took lunch boxes to school...and traded Garbage Pail Kids in the schoolyard.
17. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
18. You still get the urge to say 'NOT' after every sentence.
19. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.
21. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.
22. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying 'I know you are, but what am I?' 23. You remember 'I've fallen and I can't get up'
24. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
25. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
26. You remember boom boxes and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.
27. You remember watching both Gremlins movies.
28. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.
29. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
30. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool... and don't even flinch when people refer to them as 'NKOTB'
31. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on 'Saved By The Bell,' The ORIGINAL class.
32. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.
33. You just sang those words to yourself.
34. You still sing 'We are the World'
35. You tight rolled or french cuffed your jeans. And still debate on which is the right term!
36. You owned a bannana clip.
37. You remember 'Where's the Beef?'
38. You used to (and probably still do) say 'What you talkin' 'bout Willis?'
39. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you!
40. You're laughing because you relate to at least 35 of these things-Yep-you grew up in the 80's!

Too funny! I think I'm feeling a little old right now . . .