I think I can, I think I can

Am I setting myself up for failure by deciding to get back in the saddle again? Maybe...but it's worth a shot. As I was walking down memory lane looking at old blog posts, I realized how grateful I am that I actually wrote a few thoughts down about the ups and downs of our life. Sooo, I am NOT going to try to catch up but just simply start from here. Today. Right now.
The mornings are actually bearable now so Quinn and I spend a lot of time on the driveway after we send the boys off to school. Each morning she drags out everything she can out of the garage onto the driveway one at a time. Three tricycles, two strollers, two beach chairs, one bike pump, one booster seat and anything else that is light enough for her to move. If you were to drive/walk by our house you might think we were having a garage sale (it's a good thing she isn't strong enough to pull out all my old furniture that I am going to redo someday).

Yes, that is a QT slurpee in her hands. On occasion- oh, who am I kidding?- more often that not Quinn and I will visit QT with Jackie, Jessica, and Chea for some breakfast of the champions, a soda and a donut!

ketchup

I realize it has been a really, really, really long time since I have posted anything but I wanna ketchup, or rather catch up. This is what we have been up to the last 4 months:

maybe not the end, just an addition

Obviously Star Wars and Ninjas have not ended at my house. So I guess I should rephrase my last post to "an addition to Star Wars", not an end. Reed and Blue were ninjas and Beau was a power ranger. For so long, my boys weren't allowed to watch power rangers and I'm not sure why. I take that back, I know why- it's because my mom detested power rangers and refused to let us(my brothers) watch it growing up. I have decided that there are far worse shows out there for my boys to be watching so now they are allowed to watch power rangers. Quinn was still the cutest witch ever, even the second time she put on the costume! Before we went trick or treating we headed over to Chea's house for pictures and pizza and a little bit of whiffle ball. In the past, we have walked neighborhoods that have half acre lots. We've always had a great time but it required so much walking and so much time. So, this year we went to a neighborhood where the houses are closer together. It was perfect. One loop of houses equaled less walking and more candy! The boys had a blast! They get so excited over the cheesiest decorations. I should probably suck it up and hang more decorations like that. I just can't bring myself to do it. I know I'm a selfish mom.

An end to star wars

In years past, Halloween around our house has been all about Darth Vader, clone troopers, Luke Skywalker, Obi won, and a ninja here and there. Well, I finally have a little girl to play dress up with at Halloween! Good-bye to the dark side and Star Wars, and hello to the land of enchantment and princesses and fairies! Yesterday was our ward trunk or treat and I still didn't have a costume for Quinn. I had bought a mini witch hat that I was going to tweak a little. Well, I put it in the microwave to loosen up the hot glue and within three seconds the innocent little hat burst into angry flames! Whoops. After cleaning up that soggy black mess in my microwave and trying to get rid of the burnt plastic smell wafting around my house, I tried again. This time with no microwave involved. Take a look at the cutest good little witch ever!

Movin' right along

I just can't get enough of this little baby girl! She is crawling everywhere. She is having a great time exploring every room downstairs. She will go into Colby's office and just stare at all the deer mounts. I haven't decided if she is scared or intrigued. She doesn't cry so I assume it is the latter. She likes to explore the kitchen and will sit at the back door watching the chickens scratch in the backyard. She loves to play with all the plastic bowls and lids, they are probably her favorite toy. She likes to come into my room and mess up all my primary papers. Leaving a big crumpled mess. I even caught her on the second stair the other day! Won't be long before she will be climbing up the stairs and getting into the boys' stuff. Before Quinn was born, we talked with the boys about what they would do if she got into their toys. They all agreed they wouldn't get mad and would let her play with them. We'll see how true this is within the next few months. Her two bottom teeth have come through also. She loves her brothers and will laugh at any silly thing they do. They boys get a kick out of this and they are constantly trying new ways to make her laugh. Yesterday morning Reed said, "I'm so glad Quinn came to our family!" I couldn't agree more!

chicken wings

To keep our chickens from pooping all over the back porch and in the barn, we (when I say we, I mean Colby) clip their wings so they stay in the pasture. Well, last week we needed to clip the wings on the younger batch chickens. The boys were in charge of chasing, cornering and catching the chickens. It was hilarious to watch as they tiptoed behind the chickens, trying to sneak up on them and then pouncing on them and still missing the chicken. With some help from Colby, all the chickens were caught and clipped.

Blue was the self appointed gate keeper. This allowed him to sit around while Reed and Beau chased the chickens.

The boys have a punching bag in the barn to practice their "moves" on. Sometimes the punching bag gets the last shot, but not on this day...



Reed is a tough guy when it comes to the goats. He likes to push around the babies and ride around on the mama. He looks like on tough cowboy, doesn't he?

american pickers

We love to watch American Pickers at our house! In fact, our boys love it so much that Reed has decided that when he grows up he wants to be a "picker". Colby has tried to explain to him that it isn't a profession but just a hobby (in hopes of encouraging Reed to aim a little higher). Last month we held a boy scout yard sale (Colby is Scoutmaster) at our house. The week before the big day, the scouts went around our ward picking up donations and then put them in my garage for safe keeping until Saturday. There was so much stuff/crap crammed into my garage! I couldn't believe it. This was a dream come true for my boys. They went picking in the morning before school, after school, and late into the night. Oh the treasures they found- a radio alarm clock, a remote control robot, a gazelle exercise machine, all sorts of '80's vhs tapes, and all sorts of toys! I told them that they were going to have to buy what they wanted just like everyone else. So, on Friday the boys were doing all sorts of jobs for me to earn enough money for all those treasures they just had to have. Bright and early Saturday morning, my boys purchased their finds. By eleven o'clock, we were winding down and there was still a ton of junk! So my boys went to town buying as much as they could for mere pennies. I was so exhausted and overwhelmed to put up a fight with them.

The only picture I took to remember this whole ordeal is of Beau in his first purchase of the morning, a size 18 month-24 month santa suit (nevermind that he is almost 5 yrs old) He loved it and wore it for the next week!