The Adventures of Battle Bear

This Post is dedicated to some

pretty cool kids:

Lisa, Emily, Tori, Natalie, Luke,

Cort, Nick, and Annie.

Everyone, meet Battle Bear! Here he is packed up and ready to go.

Battle Bear is on deployment to Iraq. To get there he got to ride a big commercial jet liner and he even got a window seat.

It is exhausting flying to the other side of the world, so Battle Bear chills out on his cot.

Battle Bear is an excellent Chess player, he schools some of the soldiers in the checker-board battlefield before skyping with his family back home.

Battle Bear is not to be trifled with, as he has supreme weaponry.

Battle Bear gets to drive one of the meanest trucks on the road.

Battle Bear gets to fly around on the coolest military planes too!

Greetings from Iraq, Battle Bear sends his best to the kids back home:)

Stay tuned for more adventures of Battle Bear!

Pumpkins...Cousins...Pumpkins

It's the middle of October, so keeping with tradition, we made the trek to the famous pumpkin patch. Ok, it really isn't a trek, but it felt like it. Who knew it was going to be almost 80 degrees on October 14th?! Does it matter when your toddler is dressed in boots, tights, and a black long-sleeved shirt and it is 78 degrees outside? Or, that all of the kids have red faces from running

through the corn maze and playing on the tractors?

Nope, it doesn't make a difference what it is like. Just add in some cousins, dirt, wheel-barrels, corn, hay, a few pumpkins, and you get smiling, giggling little kids.

Did I mention the corn maze? It's free, it's short, it has one path to follow.

This way, none of the kids get lost when the mom's let them go through the maze all by themselves. At least that should be the case.

But then the 10year old boy is bored and feels like he needs to wander on and off the path. I know, shocking. This is where patience starts.

Annie discovered her own corn maze. It wasn't so much a maze as a field. Try and keep your one year old out of that!

It takes patience to go to the pumpkin patch.

Thank goodness for cousins. They are the perfect distraction. They play tag with you all through the corn maze climb up, over, around and under the tractors. Most importantly, they help you get enormous pumpkins into you wheel-barrow and when your wheel-barrow is too heavy to push because of the enormous pumpkin, they will help you shout, a lot, for your mom to come and help you.

Really, did I mention patience?

These would be the cousins, when did this gang of boys get so tough? Look at them, it's hard not to think about the 5 of them together in another 7 years.

I enticed the boys with a climb up a giant haystack in order to get a picture of the 2 of them together. It wasn't easy. To get them to smile, I told Luke and Cort that there dad would be seeing this. It worked. Sort of.

As crazy as the afternoon was, it was a great time. The sunshine made us all smile and feel grateful for our Indian Summer.

Did I mention patience? And of course, great sisters and my own cousins to help me get through the afternoon.

And this is when you know it is time to go home.

It's Been 1 year already....

It is hard to believe that our little princess has turned one year old.

It seems like we were just headed to the Hospital.

Annie has been all over the place....

Annie loves Titan. Sometimes they are best friends and share food. That means that Annies tries to take from Titan every once in awhile.

Annie loves her hair bows.

Mom insists she always has them.

Accessories.....

Christmas was a bit exhausting for such a young princess...

This little sweetheart likes to be

adventurous and snarky.

She tends to be a little rough

and tumble some days too.

Pink, the house has been plastered in PINK!!

And... she takes the cake.

Gender Jobs

Gender Jobs

A conversation Sandie had with the kids today...

Luke carried bags of groceries from the car in the garage to the kitchen, set them down and started watching TV.

Sandie: "Luke, help Natalie and Tori put the groceries away, please."

Luke: "Putting away the groceries is a girl's job."

Sandie: "We don't have girls' jobs or boys' jobs in this house."

Luke: "What about the trash? I always take the trash out."

Sandie: "Yes, you are very good about it, but I take it out too. What about the laundry? Do you think that is a girl's job? Your dad is always good about helping with the laundry and folding the clothes."

Luke: "So.."

Sandie: "Here Luke, take this ground beef out to the freezer."

Luke takes the meat out into the garage and places it on the floor by Tori's feet while she is stocking the freezer with other frozen foods. Sandie comes from the kitchen to the garage and sees this.

Sandie: "Luke! You can put that in the freezer while she there, don't just leave it there for her!"

Natalie is putting groceries in the fridge that is in the garage right next to the freeze and in front of Sandie's Expedition. Natalie is looking at the grill of the Expedition...

Natalie: "Ewww! There is a dead bird inside the car."

Sandie leans over and looks in the grill. Sure enough, smashed firmly against the radiator, there is a most unfortunate sparrow, whose last full measure wasn't enough to escape the moving automobile.

Sandie: "Yuck, Levi gets to take care of that! I guess that there are some 'boys' jobs'.... ;)"

Her hypocrisy knows no bounds.....

Watch Out World!

August 3, 2010 an animal was unleashed in a small Utah suburb. What could have happened to cause such chaos? His name was Cort, and he ventured out of his home and into a local elementary school. Kindergarten teachers, beware. What was I doing as this happened? Oh, yes, that's right...grinning from ear to ear. Cort is so excited to finally go to school! He has been very ready. He is tired of hanging out with me all day and not having any friends to play with because they were at school. With his new backpack in place, off he went. Of course, I had to get first day of school pictures. That is when something unexpected happened, Cort willingly sat for a picture, AND he smiled. Yep, I am pretty sure I saw lightning. He even posed in front of the school. An amazing feat. As Cort and Nick, walked into the classroom, another shocking moment...Cort turned back to wave goodbye, and I felt my eyes well up with tears and I felt a little catch in my throat. I guess it was a little harder than I thought it would be to watch my baby walk through the door. And, yes, I know he isn't my baby, but he had been for the last 5 years.

Cort is so excited to be going to school. He loves having something to do every day. His favorite thing so far is computers and complains that he doesn't get to go to the lab every day. I haven't gotten a note from home, or a call for school...hopefully both good signs. He has informed me that I don't need to walk him to his classroom. He is "big enough" to do it himself. Sheesh. I am so happy for him and the fact that he is loving it. I just hope it stays this way.

Oh, and here's Annie. Eating and smiling, and cute as ever.

A month, REALLY?!

Yep, it has been over a month since my last post. It's shocking. Every time we would come home from doing something, I would have my post written out in my head. But then, my brain is full of random thoughts, to do lists, things I don't want to do, but must lists, schedules, friends to call, places to take children to, honey do lists (the biggest list of all). The next thing you know the blog post has gone to "someday" I'll get that done list...yep, really.

So, again, an unorganized of "things we have done lately" is what I am writing about. Luke was in school forever this year. I mean really, the last day of school was JULY 2nd. And, yes, I had summer break fever on behalf of him. He was checked out of school to go swimming twice, lunch, and whatever other reason I could think of.


Luke has started horsemanship with the 4H club this year. He had a rocky start at his first show, and we could not get him to do any of the speed events (poles, barrels, and keyhole). Today was his second show. He commited to all 6 events, 3 of them judged and 3 speed events. He did an amazing job. Let me just put a huge shout out to his Aunt Brenda and cousin Val who have worked with him a lot to get him ready. We told him we didn't really care what ribbon or what his time was, just that he did it. He did, and he had a huge smile on his face at the end. All of us were there to witness it, I have a sunburn and a cranky baby to prove it.





Yes, I know the person running the camera could use a little help. But, let's not make him feel bad.

We have started a second session of swimming lessons. The boys love the water. We spent a weekend in St.George about a month ago and had a fabulous time swimming, movie watching, Tarzan watching, sleeping, and doing a whole lot of nothing. All in all a fantastic weekend to kick off the summer!

Not to mention, the boys finished baseball season (thankfully, it makes for a really busy 3 months!).


The boys have seen pretty much every movie. I've figured out the best system, Levi takes the boys to some action movie...aka, "A-Team", "Iron Man 2". I choose the time, that way Levi doesn't have to worry about it. So what if it happens to be Annie's nap time and end up with 2-3 hours to myself and a quiet house. I'm just thinking of the boys. They need to spend some time with there Dad. We did see Toy Story 3 together. Annie did amazing, the boys were on the edge of their seats, and I sobbed like a baby. Oh yeah, good times.


Then of course there is Annie, she is getting so big, I mean 5 months already! Seriously!!! She rolls over and smiles like she is all that and a bag of chips. Yep, she knows where she fits in. She has blue eyes with to die for eyelashes, and yes, she knows how to use them. Seen here enjoying her bumbo chair, the best invention ever.

Side note: conversation with Cort

"Mom, for my birthday, I want a camero."
"Well, you won't be able to drive it."

"I mean when I turn 16."

"I don't know Cort, that's a lot of money."

"How much?"

"$30,000."

"So, if we take my piggy bank with us, we should have just enough."

Yep, the kid is always one step ahead of me.

Milestones

The last week has been a busy one when it comes to "Raising" the 5 of us. Luke turned 9, Cort graduated from preschool and learned how to ride a bike, and Annie, well let's face it, she's just stinkin' cute.

(See what I mean about cute?! Yes, I know I am biased, but I am the one typing.)

So, Cort's graduation was first. What could be more fun than a bunch of camera toting adults smiling and clicking away at 20 4 yr olds? The 4 yr olds sing, tell stories, smile, pick noses, wave, giggle, stare at the donuts in the corner, get mad at their neighbor. I mean seriously, what could be better. Did I mention the donuts in the corner that were being eyed by every single 4 yr old? Thankfully, Cort has an amazing preschool teacher. Miss Shannon managed to keep a smile on her face the entire time. Cort adores her. She even gets input on setting rules in our house, well, according to Cort anyway. Cort is very ready for kindergarten, and we are excited to watch him start this new adventure. Oh, and remember those camera toting parents? Yep, this parents camera battery died after one picture. Big sigh...

Cort has also learned to ride his bike without training wheels. We owe much of this new skill to his cousin Tori. She somehow managed to drag Cort outside, get him on the bike, and then talked him into trying. An amazing accomplishment when dealing with a very stubborn 5 year old. The army uniform? Cort's gift from Levi. And yes, he wears it a lot!

Luke turned 9 on the 31st. Every few years, I think 7 to be exact, Luke's day falls on Memorial Day. In our house, we couldn't think of a better day to have a birthday. For some reason, Luke was up at 0530 (military time for 5:30 am). He thought it would be a great time to start cleaning for his party. Instead, Levi took the opportunity to teach Luke about putting the flag out for Memorial Day and all that this day means. Luke was thrilled and told me why we do that and who we are thankful for on such an important day. Love it! Later in the day came the bounce party for Luke, Lily, and Gabby. We have 3 birthdays within a couple of wks. So, it's a great way to celebrate all. It goes without saying, the little monsters enjoyed every second!

With an empty bedroom now available, Luke has decided to take the room downstairs. As a gift he received new bedding and wall stickers. We went and picked out the bedding yesterday. Luke, Tori, and Natalie had a fabulous time putting it all together. Big surprise...Luke is thrilled to have a new room with no cartoon decor involved. Yep, he's that age.

It has been a busy week around here full of milestones, cuteness, and a whole lot of little boy attitude thrown in, a few tears, and a whole pile of smiles. And a mom who is trying to take it all in without too many meltdowns. Yep, it has been a successful few days. When it comes down to it, it's pretty much the norm when raising5boards. ;)