Tyler's 6

The day finally came - that's right Tyler had his birthday. He was beginning to think that it was never going to happen. He asked me daily since about June if it was August yet and then when August came the question changed to is it the 29th yet? Tyler is the sweetest little guy ever. A day doesn't go buy without many hugs and I love yous from him. He is always thoughtful, caring, and my most tender hearted kid.
Tyler almost always lets Jake win whenever they are playing sports or racing each other. Jake loves his big brother he always calls Tyler his buddy.

I love that both Spencer and Brooke asked me almost every day last week for me to take them to the store so they could buy Tyler a birthday present. They are so thoughtful I didn't even remind them they really enjoyed picking out that perfect gift for him. Spencer knows how much Tyler loves basketball, and found a nerf basketball set for him to play in the house. Tyler loved it and they have been playing it nonstop since Saturday. Brookie got him one of the coolest "huge" bouncy balls I have ever seen. All the kids have been wanting a turn to play with it. It's awesome to see the joy that giving brings to my kids rather then always receiving.As you can see Tyler was just a "little" excited about one of his presents (crash of the titans wii game). I loved that I was able to capture the pure joy and excitement in his reaction. You can almost here his reaction from these pictures. Tyler was also very excited about his other presents as well. He has recently gotten into Pokemon so he got some cards as well as money from both his grandparents.

I sure love this Tyler of mine!

Happy Happy Birthday Sweetheart

Tyler's 6th Birthday Party

(why am I jealous of my 6 year olds muscles...he is so ripped LOL )

Tyler has been wanting to go to the water park all summer. So I thought it would be a perfect place to go for his birthday. We invited some of his friends and as soon as we walked in the gate they were in the water and didn't look back. This park was a lot of fun for the kids...I think it was mainly geared for younger kids, but no matter the age they all loved it. They had a couple of slides and a ton of toys to play on in the water as well as another large pool to swim in. Tyler did not want cake or cupcakes for his party he wanted cinnamon rolls. My friend Nikki makes the best cinnamon rolls ever so I went to her house and we made them together. They were awesome as usual great choice by Tyler!
I'm always a little sad when Tyler's birthday rolls around, because then I know that summer is over and school is here. However he has the best birthday date for anything fun in the water, pool, or beach. It was a very fun day and I'm sure we will visit this water park again.

Jersey Mike's

So as many of you know Jersey Mike's is my all time favorite place to eat. Yesterday I decided to go have lunch there with my little guy Jake. If any of you have ever been there they always ask you if you want your sub Mike's way or not. After being asked that Jake looked at the guy and said "I don't want to have it my Dads way...I want it Jakes way!" I was laughing so hard I was almost crying. He was so matter of fact that the whole place was cracking up. They all loved Jake and of course gave him a free cookie.

Summer Ends and School Begins

Can it really be over...my summer??? Well I guess it's back to reality and with that comes way too many schedules...soccer, basketball, scouts, and school.

My little family is getting so big I can hardly stand it. I find myself reminiscing at old pictures when my kids were babies and wondering how they grew up so fast. Well it's official the kids started school today!Jakers started preschool today and boy was he excited. He is going 2 days a week, but wishes that he could go everyday. I'm still trying to figure out what to do on the off days that he doesn't have school. He is going to die without his older brothers. He has attached himself to both of them this summer. I am going to have be very creative and find some fun things to do to keep him occupied.Tyler started the first grade. This should be a fun and exciting year for him. I expect the most growth from him with his age this year. It will be fun to watch him figure everything out. He is in a combo class which I'm not usually a fan of, however I really like his teacher so I'm sure it will be fine.
Now Spencer is starting the fourth grade. He is very excited that one of his and my favorite teachers that he had from kindergarten is now teaching fourth grade and he got in his class. This is going to be a great year. Spencer is also now in GATE so that should be fun and challenging for him.
All I can say is WOW my little Brookie is in Junior High. I love this picture that I took of her as we were leaving this morning. She is holding one of her books because she can't fit everything in her backpack...and she doesn't even have all of her books yet. I think Brooke had every emotion in the book today - excited, nervous, scared, cautious, happy, and so on. She did awesome...I picked her up after school and she is already a pro after just one day :)
Bring on the chaos and crazy schedules
I'm ready and loving it!

Temple Trip

Two weeks ago our church put on a very fun scripture camp for the kids. They had a great time and learned a lot. There was good food, fun crafts, friends, and great lessons. The theme was eternal families so on the last day the kids took a trip down to the LA Temple. They got to walk around, have lunch, and sing songs. I wasn't able to go so I took some of these pictures off a friends blog so they're a little blury.

Jakers

I love this little guy of mine! Jake is so much fun right now he is at such a cute inquisitive stage and I'm loving it. Every sentence lately starts out with Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. His little mind is in overdrive soaking everything up. There are times that he drives me crazy and I need a breather away from him, and at those moments he comes up to me and holds both my cheeks in his hands and says "I love you Mom all the way up to the sky" He melts my heart and then of course being the baby he can do know wrong. I'm beginning to think he not only has me but has all of us wrapped around his little finger.

The Wand

Wendy, Tera, and I have been wanting to get this new gadget called the wand for our girls hair. They are really expensive, but I was lucky to find a really good deal :) So this was my first attempt on trying to figure it out. I think it turned out cute especially since this picture was taken the second day after she had slept on it. I hope once I do it a couple more times I will get better at it...that or Wendy needs to come down and give me some lessons. Brooke has a ton of hair so it would take me forever to do all of her hair so in this picture I only did the top two layers.

Chinchillas

Brooke has been wanting to get a pet chinchilla for about a year now. So she had started saving her money so that she could get one. Mike and I had one when we first got married and loved it so we were OK with this new idea of hers. So last week one of her friends from her soccer team was telling us that she had two chinchillas she was kinda of done with. When she heard that Brooke wanted one she offered both of hers to Brooke. Let me tell you we had one very excited little girl. We now have two pets both girls named Scout and Sunny. They are definitely not lacking in getting attention between Brooke and the boys.
They are so SOFT...everyone is loving them!

Dons

Brooke has been playing on a traveling basketball team lately and is loving it. The girls on her team range from 4th through 6th graders which makes us the youngest team. All of the other teams that the girls are playing against are 6th through 8th graders. Now this makes for some interesting games. I'm very proud of Brooke's team no matter how huge the girls are on the other team and how intimidating it is to play older teams they always go and play their hearts out. Needless to say we did not win many games, but the experience they have gotten is invaluable. This last weekend they played a tournament against girls their own age and came in first place. Brooke is loving basketball more and more every day which of course makes me really happy...there is no greater sport!

Brooke has been invited to join her junior highs summer basketball camp. It starts Monday and is everyday for 2 weeks for 3 hours a day. She is very excited. I think the coach is only taking 2 or 3 sixth graders for the team which mainly consists of 7th and 8th graders. It would be great if Brooke made the team but it's a long shot. I told her to do her best and see everything turns out. There is also a practice team so for sure she could do that and get ready for next year. I still can't believe that my little girl is starting junior high...where has the time gone?