Oh the drama!

I know most of you have been going about your normal lives COMPLETELY unaware of the DRAMA that makes up 4th grade life. Well, Hannah can "put you in the know!"



Also...a couple of notes:
BFFT=Best Friends Forever Together (not sure why they decided to add the T)
Haley=Hannah's BFFT (she tends to be QUITE popular with the boys, much to Hannah's dismay)

I forgot to mention!

Over the summer, our wonderful little Hanny learned to ride a bike! Finally! She was so pleased with herself. :) It has been a tad embarrassing for her, as a nine year old, to not know. She was just so nervous about it. One day I could see that SHE had decided she was ready and she did it! Way to go, Hannah!

She is still a little iffy on the whole braking thing, lol. She tends to ride off into the grass instead.

And she's off!

Even with a few minor mishaps, she continues to try :)

Silverware OCD?

Emma recently loaded the dishwasher for me. When I went to empty it, I found the silverware completely organized. LOL...what a cutie!

A Mother's Heart

The "sappy-ness" quota in my blog has been a bit off the charts lately and I acknowledge and apologize for that in advance.

I'm not sure why, but I have been feeling very tender the last little while about my kids growing up. I seem to be having a bit of a personal crisis about the fact that my babies are...well...no longer babies. Even Bekars, the babiest of them all, is turning into much more of a kid than a baby these days. How did this happen? For nearly twelve years, I have found my identity in being the mom of lots of tiny kids. All of this is changing and I seem to find myself feeling a little lost. What happened to all those little baby bums running around my home? They are growing up. While the majority of my heart rejoices in their new-found maturity, a small part of me is mourning the loss of my little ones. So please bear with me as I make a small tribute to my sweet kiddos. I love them so...

School Days

Our first official week of school is almost over! Last year I was soooo ready for school to begin. This year...not so much. :( I have just been dreading it! What happened to summer? Don't get me wrong, I HATE the heat and am so thrilled that autumn is coming. I just did not want to send the kids to school yet, lol. This year I am a mother of FOUR school kiddos! Emmers started kindergarten, Lizzie is in 2nd grade, Hannah is taking 4th grade by storm, and Ammon is, gulp, a SEVENTH GRADER! How old does that make me?!?

I love having all four kids in the same school. Our charter school is K-9 so in a couple more years even Caleb will attend with Ammon. I think it is awesome! I really do love it.

All seems to be going very well for the beginning of school. Hannah thought she hated her teacher, but has discovered that she actually likes her a lot. Ammon was very happy to get back to school and is having fun hanging out with his buddies. Lizzie is Lizzie. She is just doing great. :) Emma was beside herself with excitement about kindergarten. She loves it!

Caleb and Bekah were not so happy. On Emma's first day, Caleb went running after her, trying to give her a stuffed animal. When I called him back, he came to me with his sad eyes and said, "Emma will need this at 'innergarten." His big blue eyes then filled up with tears. I knew he was sad that she was leaving so we snuggled together for a while and then he cheered up. He is still a bit lost (and sometimes tells me, "Emma is too witto (little) to go to school.") but I think he'll be fine soon.

Look how tall Ammon is getting!

With Hannah's new haircut, she seems so much older to me. On a side note...Joe took Emma in for her first day. Hannah went with Joe to help get Emma lined up. As the kindergartners were lining up to go into class, Joe said all the parents were taking pictures and such. Hannah piped up (in typical Hannah fashion), "Oh! Aren't they all so ADORABLE?!" LOL...one of the mothers laughed and replied, "Yes, and you are too!"

My school kids at the end of the day!

Emma Sue

My four girls!

My sweeties

Watch out world!

Eating habits of a toddler

Eating with a toddler is always interesting (and usually messy). Here are some recent "first time" food escapades for Rebekah Boyer.

We have had corn on the cob quite a few times this summer. Bekah has discovered she likes the taste, but has a tricky time figuring out how to actually eat it. P.S. The lack of bib on her Sunday dress is COMPLETELY my fault, lol. Joe asked if he should get one or if he should take her dress off and I said no. I figured she was messy from the long day anyway, but I think I was wrong, lol.

She has a tendency to try to eat the ends instead of the middle.

When she finally figured it out, she was very serious about her work :)

One of our favorite summer time treats is a nice snow cone. So yummy and refreshing. For a FHE refreshment recently, we took the kids to pick one out. I blame this mess on Joe. He was the one who suggested we get Bekah a Tiger's Blood kind. I wanted banana. In our credit, we did take her clothes off first.

It took me FOREVER scrubbing her in the bathtub to get this stuff off! I am not kidding. It was terrible! She loved it, though. :)

Thirteen Years Later...

Today is our wedding anniversary...lucky 13! And while I am not much of an expert on marriage, there are a few things I have learned about love in that time. Love is not the whirlwind romance, the candlelight dinners, or walks on the beach as the world tries to convince us. Love is much more gritty and much more real. For me:

Love is a Verb

Love is...snuggling me when I have a bad dream in the night

Love is... changing your third (or fourth or fifth) poopy diaper of the day

Love is... watching football on a crisp autumn Saturday…together

Love is... making sure I get my medicines each night

Love is... pulling my hair out of my face when I am sick

Love is... waking up at 3am with a baby to let me sleep

Love is... working that extra hour at work to feed our family

Love is... packing the diaper bag

Love is... sending me to the bath with a nice book

Love is... back rubs and foot massages

Love is... jumping on the trampoline with the kids

Love is... nearly passing out in an attempt to stay with me during an epidural

Love is... that look you give me over the children as we wrestle them at church

Love is... squeezing my hand as we walk through the grocery store

Love is... a clean kitchen and quiet house at the end of the day


I love you, Joe! I hope the next 13 (and on to eternity) are as happy as the first!

Professional Window Washers

The kids were doing chores the other day when Joe decided to pick up the camera and take some shots. . I love seeing how Hannah was helping her younger brother learn how to wash the windows.

Rock On

Is there anything cooler than a girl band??

A Boyer Baptism

A few weeks ago, we took an unexpected trip to Idaho. Our awesome nephew, Jordan, let us know that he had been taking the missionary discussions and had decided to get baptized! We were so happy for him and knew that we wanted to be there for his big day. Jordy was around Bekah's age when we got married (which makes him almost 15 now!!!!) and we have always loved him sumthin' fierce! It was a great baptism and we were so happy that we could attend. It was nice to see some of the Boyers...we hadn't seen some of them since Joe's mom's funeral three years ago! Jordy was confirmed on the three year anniversary of her death, and we know she must have been so happy up there in heaven. "Total Awesome!" she would have said. :)

We were running a tad bit late for the baptism and since I was playing the piano (oops), I missed getting any photos at the church! I don't have any shots of Cindy and Brent and most of their kids. The worst part is that I don't seem to even have a single shot of Jordan, lol. Oh man. We love you anyway, Jordy. :)

We stayed at my sister Em's house. Unfortunately, it was the weekend of the Burton family camping trip, so my parents and siblings were all out of town, lol. We just took advantage of them and stayed at their place anyway. :)

Bekars was EXCITED to see her cousins!

Hannah was worried about the length of the trip

After we arrived at the Richards empty house, Joe did fly duty. Catching those little buggers on Em's big windows was a challenge that the kids LOVED. :)

We're taking over the house, lol! It was kind of weird to stay there without the Richards. :)

Bekars and her Mama snuggle after the baptism

It was fun to see Dan and Steph after three years! They look just the same...only Joe and I have gotten older it seems. :)

What a good lookin' couple!

Beautiful Dawn

Dan and Joe play a little wii

Cameron (aka Bubba), Cindy's #5. Aren't those freckles just delicious?

Joe with his big sis Dawn

Dawn got out the water for the kids after the baptism. She even let our girls borrow clothes (since we were still in our church stuff). Emma was very tentative at first, but finally caught on to the fun

Steph acts as Connor (Dawn's littlest guy)'s chauffeur

Wet Lizzie

Cameron zooms down the slip-n-slide

Cindy's little Brooklyn was Bekah's special friend

Bekah trusts Brooklyn

Playing a little XBox at Aunt Dawns

Sweet Ashley is turning 13 (and seems to be a tad camera shy). I was there for Ash's birth and it scared the pants off of me, lol!

Cute girl cousins (Isabelle, Emma, Lizzie, Brooklyn, and Bekah)

Two Bites to be Polite

Every family has their own rules and regulations when it comes to eating. At our house it is pretty simple. First, each child must eat "two bites to be polite" of each dish. In addition, if they do not eat enough dinner, they do not get any sort of dessert (if one is offered). While I consider myself to be a master chef (haha), there still seem to be some children in this household who do not always appreciate my culinary prowess. The other night at dinner, Ammon was suffering through his "politeness" bites of the delicious Au gratin potatoes I made.

And people wonder why I am insecure about my cooking abilities!

Everyone was chanting "Ammon! Ammon! Ammon!"

Doing okay so far...

Trying to keep it down (believe it or not, we have had vomit on our dinner plates on more than one occasion!)

He did it! After all that fuss, he actually decided he quite liked the potatoes and had no problem finishing up. Sigh...

Gibbons Gang Get-Together

Last weekend, we had a fun family gathering with my Gibbons loved ones (my mom's side of the family). We met at Liberty Park in SLC for a Saturday brunch. It was a very chilly day, but the fun and family warmed us all! One of my favorite things from the day was watching my kiddos have a blast with their second cousins. So fun! Here are some pics from the big day.

Caleb and Emma snuggle in a blanket to warm up from the cold

Joe chats with Dan, while Ammon tries to warm up

It was nice that Aunt Ruth brought some blankets, hehe!

Ruth was happy to see Sam and his gang. We were just happy that they were later than us, hehe.

On the playground

Sam pushes Calvin and Colin on the swings

Hannah and Kayla became marvelous friends

Ammon really enjoyed "goofy golf." I think he played against every willing fool he could find. :)

New mom Michelle and sweet little Gracie

Molly with her big brother Ben (and little Graham)

Alex with Gracie, Lisa with Luke, McKay, and Jim

Sweet wonderful Grandma and Grandpa

And Bekah is off...

She loved the slide and quickly learned how to do it all by herself

I'm sorry, but this picture is just adorable, hehe. Calvin and Emma are both going into kindergarten and quickly became the best of friends. Ben and Melissa had to keep reminding him, however, that Emma was his COUSIN and NOT his girlfriend.

Ammon's biggest nemesis was Grandpa! He just couldn't beat his Great Grandpa

Sam and Kelli

Hannah and Kayla

Some nice chatting

Auntie Ruth is almost as good as Nana. :) Caleb thought is was pretty cool that Ruth was his Nana's SISTER!

Cuties

The big boys had fun too. Josh, Jonathan, and Aug had fun jumping out of swings. You can see Josh in green has just landed, Jonathan (in brown) is in the air, and Aug is poised to take off

Adorable little Colin Stoneman

Joe and Alex play a little frisbee

Gibbons girls (Annie, Julie, and Abby) with Caleb and little James watch the festivities

My wonderful uncles! I love them both! Uncle Al and Uncle Dan

Hannah, Kayla, Emma, and Caleb enjoy the tire swing