Evidence

Not that I'd ever really enter Tony in a "Father of the Year" contest (since I think that's kind of cheesy), but if I did here's the evidence I'd give.

• After one day of working on the house Clara and I were exhausted. Even though we were both exhausted Tony spent the rest of the afternoon building a fort in the girls room while I rocked Clara. I know lots of dads will build forts with their kids but Tony does it because he wants to, not because he has to. Seriously, he thinks it's really, really fun!

Here's the fort. It took up the entire room.

• I bought a new mirror for the bathroom. I asked him to put the cardboard it came in into the recycle bin. A few minutes later he came back the the bedroom with this creation:

He made this because he knew it would make the kids laugh. He will do literally anything to make them laugh. And he will never miss an opportunity--even if it's just drawing a face on a piece of cardboard.

• Nearly every time the kids ask him to jump on the trampoline his answer is yes. My answer is nearly always the opposite.


• Mostly he just loves playing with the kids. Sometimes I think he'd rather be outside playing with the kids than visiting with the grown-ups.

He really is an amazing dad. He is willing to do anything for his kids. He works hard for them all day long, then comes home and plays with them until bedtime (and even after bedtimes if I don't make him stop). The kids say all the time "dad is funny and mom is serious" (really, they do say that a lot!). But I wouldn't have it any other way!

You know when you have so much to do that it completely overwhelms you so you don't even start? That's how I feel about this blog. So much has happened since my last post I don't even want to try to organize it. But I don't want to stay away forever, so here goes.

Soon after my last post (where I got our kitchen floor redone) we started adding a shower to our bathroom (it was only a 1/2 bath). So we closed off our tiny closet to make a shower and built ourselves a closet out of the girls room. Every step along the way I thought "I should take pictures of this" but it turned out to be way more stressful than I could handle. Honestly, I was lucky to keep my kids fed and clothed. Half of the reason it was so stressful was that we had to have it done before our family came out for Will's baptism. That gave us less than 3 weeks. It came down to the wire, but we got it done. Now we have 2 full bathrooms, a bigger closet in our room and new carpet in all the rooms--that's because I spilled paint in the one room we weren't going to re-carpet. I don't love the new carpet, but that's a different story.

So now on to Will's baptism. He turned 8 on February 8, 2011. He got a new bike on his birthday and new scriptures the next day (when grandma and grandpa brought them from Utah). He was baptized on Feb. 12. My parents came a few days before. We had tons of fun but the part the kids liked the best was teaching William and Hallie to ride bikes without training wheels. Now they spend all afternoon outside riding circles on our patio.

The day of his baptism Tony's parents came, along with is sister, Elly, and brother, Corey. They stayed a few days after the baptism. It was so great to have everyone here. It always goes by too fast! Unfortunately for me, I got sick the day before the baptism--it started a cold and ended almost 2 weeks later with a sinus infection. But it was great to my both my mom and mother-in-law to take care of things for me. They are the best!!

So here's a few pictures of my missionary man. He also got a new suit for his birthday and it makes him look so grown up!

Doesn't he look like a little missionary? It makes me want to cry:)

Will and Tony just before the baptism. We are so proud of him!

Now that he's 8 he starts cub scouts. It's only been a few weeks, but it been way more money and time than I bargained for!

2011 has begun!

Well, we're only 2 weeks in to 2011 and boy have we been busy. New Year's Eve we played in the backyard and raked our leaves. Here's a cute video we took of the kids--notice Clara wandering around in the back. That's what she does in the backyard, it's really cute but kind of scary since you never know what you'll find back there.

We also had our kitchen floor redone. A few years ago I tore a long line starting at the kitchen door going all the way down the hall when I dragged (drug?) a dresser from the carport to the girls room. Well, now it's started to started to come apart in one place so we finally got it redone. It doesn't look a whole lot different (it's mostly just darker), but I really like it!

Before--you can see the start of the line at the bottom. Also, Gracie thought it was awesome that she could hide in the pantry. It was her "very own secret hide out."

After--it took me a few days but now I LOVE it!

Last night Tony and I went on a much needed date. We ate at one of Tony's favorite restaurant's Sonny's BBQ. Tony ordered the all you can eat ribs. He started off with 2 plates of the sweet and smoky, then decided to try the dry rub ribs. He didn't like them as much so while he ate another plate of the regular kind, I had fun the the left overs!

Christmas 2010

This last Christmas was pretty great. We stayed home this year with just our little family. It was wonderful to not have the pressure of travelling. We picnic ed at a park Christmas Eve (gotta love Florida!), went carolling that night with some friends, and spent all Christmas day playing with toys and eating. Here's a few pictures:

Two of my four monkeys, Hallie and Gracie, at Tom Brown Park Christmas Eve.

Will spent the whole time at the park playing this game. You hit the circles when they light up. He played with a bunch of kids he had never met--boys versus girls (and the girls won every game). When I asked him about his new friends he realized he didn't even learn any of their names!

Clara loves a good slide!

Opening presents Christmas morning.

Putting together Will's new Lego car. Hallie was only allowed to watch.

Santa brought us Band Hero for the Wii. Clara played it by smashing her goldfish into the drum set.

Gracie turns 5

Last year for Gracie's birthday we went to Disney World. A day or so later she started planning her next birthday. I just kept telling her it was a long ways away and we'd talk about it when it got closer. Then as each of the other kids had their birthdays she got more and more excited for hers.

So this year for the big "5" we let her chose 3 friends to take to the movies. So our family (minus Clara who was with some friends) plus 3 little girls journeyed to the movie theater to see Tangled. The movie was really cute and I think they all had fun, except Gracie. She wanted to leave after the first half and on the way home declared Tangled to be the longest movie in the whole wide world. Then after stuffing our faces with popcorn and soda we headed home (in pouring rain) to eat some real food before having cake and ice cream.

Her birthday was also the last day of school before the Christmas break, so her school class did all kinds of fun things, from a book exchange to crafts to a visit from a "fake" Santa (Gracie's word, not mine).

Earlier in the week we got a package from Grandma Ricks with our Christmas gifts and Gracie's birthday present. It nearly killed her to have to wait 5 days before opening her birthday present. She asked me every morning if she could just open it now. The week between her birthday and Christmas was not much better. So first thing the morning of December 17 (her birthday) she opened her presents. I didn't think she could make it until all her friends were there for her party. Here are some pictures:

Mom and Dad got Gracie a new bike for her birthday. Now she has one just like Will and Hallie. She also got a big, purple My Little Pony, a shrinkydink set and a puzzle.

Grandma Ricks got her this cute outfit! Here she is with all her presents. Grandma Robinson gave her a dry erase board to practice her letters (which she usually does every day on the way to school!)

Gracie blowing out the candles on her cupcakes. Next year she wants a cake and cupcakes. We'll see about that.

So even though it's almost a month late--I love you Gracie! You've brought so much joy and laughter to my life already. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for you.

Happy Birthday!

P.S. Stay tuned for a Christmas post in the next few days!

Santa baby...

Tonight we visited Santa for family home evening. It was also pet night for visiting Santa, so there were all these cute dogs dressed in their Christmas best waiting to see Santa too.

Clara just stared at Santa--no fussing or squirming, just curiosity. After about 30 seconds she said something (you know how Clara talks) and then reached for me.

William was a little nervous and didn't want to actually sit on his lap. I'm so glad they all still believe. I don't know how I'm going to explain the last 7 years of deception.

While standing in line Hallie asked if that was the real Santa. I said (in a sort of vauge way) "yes." Then she said , "cross your heart?" What could I do? I crossed my heart and promised it was the real Santa.

I couldn't hear what Gracie asked for, but I'm pretty sure it had to do with purple unicorns.

So this weekend turned out to be a lot less relaxing than I thought, but it was great though. Thanksgiving day I ran my first ever 5K. There was about 6000 people there! Luckily, a friend of mine ran with me (thanks Liz!) making it so much easier. Then while Tony played football I took the kids home to make our part of dinner.

We ate dinner at some friends house and had a great time! Then a couple friends and I left at 9:30 to be to Toys R Us by 10pm. There were probably 1500 people there, so needless to say, most everything we wanted was gone. While one friend waited in line, we went to Walmart and got some smoking deals there at midnight. Then we came home for a few hours sleep and headed out again at 8am for more shopping fun! Even though we were tired we all had a great time and I got most of my shopping done!

After shopping on Friday we put up our small Christmas trees (1 for each of the kids rooms and 1 in the living room). We got all our Christmas decorations up before going to another friends house for a Rock Band party.

Saturday we put up our Christmas lights and cleaned out the shed--and now it's Sunday. Whew!!! I really need a day of rest. Hopefully this explains why I didn't make my last Thanksgiving post on Thanksgiving day--I'll do it now (without Tony's help).

I cannot end my days of gratitude posts without expressing my gratitude for my Savior. He has given me everything in my life that matters and everything in my life that I need. He has given me my family--forever. I never have to give them up or worry about never seeing them again. He has given me peace through the atonement. He has given me His teachings and commandments which bring me freedom and joy. Because of His gospel I have met amazing people who inspire, lift, encourage and understand me.

I have everything I could ever need and all of that comes from my Savior, His atonement, and His gospel. My greatest desire is to live my life worthy to return to Him and to have His spirit with me until then. And as the saying goes, it's not always easy, but it is definitely worth it!