July's End

-As you can see, Lucy is now pulling herself up on things. Which means all the things I piled on top of the coffee table & train table to keep away from her are now within her reach again. Now I have to find a new place for all that junk!

-She is also growing her 7th tooth- this does not make her a happy camper (despite deceiving above picture).

-This week she had her first taste of meat- thanks to me! I used my baby bullet to make her some chicken & rice. Yes, I'm amazing! But the amazingness may stop soon. It's getting too time consuming and she is liking thicker textured food so we might be entering the finger food phase soon...

- Today she got to see Bryce Turley because Patty's in town (yay!). They kept smiling at each other and even played footsies. I see a future with these two ;)

- She also got to hang out with her best buddy, Jaylee (sorry Karen, Jaylee kept blinking so this was the best I could get). 

- This boy has been a lot of trouble lately. Not sure what's going on with him but there has been major attitude towards me, talking back and an excessive use of the word "hate" & "sucker" (and he's not referring to lollipops). Maybe he's trying to get me excited about him starting Kindergarten in a week and a half....

-Speaking of Kindergarten, we went to do some school shopping this week- just me & him. He picked out some pretty awesome high top black & orange sneakers and some orange basketball shorts (his backpack also has orange in it too--- I sense a favorite color surfacing here). I can't wait to take first day of school pictures of him wearing his new gear. However, I don't love shopping with him. He is SLOW as molasses walking down the aisles. I thought we would be quicker with just the two of us but due to his snail pace, it took us a couple of hours. 

- Oh my Benny, he absolutely adores his shark shirt. Wears it every other day (but he would wear it everyday if it didn't have to be washed). 

-He also got a new pair of shoes this week  - black with neon green accents- and he wants to wear those everyday too. The first couple days after getting his shoes he had to ask anyone who came over if they wanted to see his new shoes. It's funny how much 1 new thing means to him. Steven got lots of stuff for school and didn't seem to care so much and all it took was one new pair of shoes to brighten Benny's whole week. I suppose that's what happens when most of what you get is hand me downs.

- A few days ago I was feeling kind of funky so I complained about it and Benny said, "I'm gonna love you!" And I said, "Oh yeah!?" And he said, "Yup! Cause love makes everything better!" Then he came up and gave me hug and a kiss on the cheek. He can be such a sweetie.

-Thursday night Boston came to stay with us and he'll be with us until Sunday, late afternoon. Both the boys fight over who gets to be his friend and whose bunk bed he gets to sleep in at night. They sure love their cousin! 

 

-And today I thought I was finally going to be cool like all my sister-in-laws and get me a pair of Toms at this Toms Warehouse sale they were having in Tempe but I suppose I am just not meant to be cool. Me & Patty went with a total of 5 children (her 2, and Lucy, Ben & Boston) and arrived to see pure craziness. After waiting in line for 40 minutes and still not stepping foot into the actual store, we decided the kids would not last the remaining 2 hours we would probably be there for so we left while everyone was still happy. No $20 Toms for me or $10 Toms for Lucy :( So depressing but at least our kids were amazingly well behaved while we were there and at least we had fun socializing. 

Camping Adventure!

This past weekend we made the trek up north to the rim for the Hatch Family Reunion. I felt like I did nothing and yet somehow the weekend flew by. Here goes the recount....

We drove up early Friday morning and once we got there we spent what felt like hours setting up the tents (the boys got their own tent this year). Here's Ben being cranky in front of his tent:

Then Tyler did archery with Steven & some of Steven's cousins & 2nd cousins. He also did archery with the grown ups (his brothers & sisters & his own cousins). It was fun to see who had the skill...and who not so much. Me & Lucy observed comfortably from a blanket nearby. 

After all the archery fun,Tyler abandoned me to go back into town to get potatoes for his potato gun (which ended up not working) and some other miscellaneous things for people. After he came back it was pretty much dinner time and socializing. As it started to get dark we got hit with a huge storm. Lots of rain and lots of crazy close lightening. There were two lightening strikes that I couldn't even count to "one Mississippi  before I heard the thunder. Scared the bejeebers out of me & the kids (and made Tara's husband jump and scream like a girl ;) ). It was exciting but it made it hard to get back to our tents for bed time and it made it hard for me to leave the boys alone in their tent. I was paranoid all night that something might happen to them & I wouldn't hear it over the rain.

By Saturday morning the storm had passed and all that was left behind was mud. Lucy slept well during the night but woke up at 5:30am so she got to spend some time bonding with her daddy:

 She even got to ride with him on a child sized quad that Tara had brought:

Benny was pretty tired & crabby Saturday morning but after much persuasion I finally got him to flash his infamous happy face for the camera. That was probably thanks to the juice....

Steven spent most of Saturday morning on the hunt for frogs. There were about a zillion of them in this pond. They were super noisy during the night (making a sound that I thought sounded like quacking). Steven loved trying to catch these jumpy things and got super muddy doing it. He then had to wear flip flops for the rest of the day.

We tried to get a picture of him showing us the frog but he wouldn't open his hands because he was afraid it might hop out:

And here is an awesome picture Melissa took of Steven with his cousins at the frog pond:

After lunch we went up to the top of the rim. Steven & Ben rode in the back of Tyler's Uncle's truck and Tyler & I rode up in a 2 seater ATV . It was a pretty view from the top. Us women folk and all the kids (except Steven) hung out there while the men hiked down a bit.

 

I was a little freaked out that Tyler decided to take Steven with him on such a steep climb. After I complained to one of Tyler's cousins about it, Ben got really worried and said, "Are they going to be dead?" I had to quickly explain that I was just exaggerating and that I was sure they'd be fine (although I wasn't). Ben was still pretty worried and here he is looking sad with his 2nd cousins:

Thankfully they all survived! We took Ben back with us on the ATV and he fell asleep on my lap. It was pretty cute and it was a much needed nap. When he woke up from that one he was a much happier boy.

Then there were some games to be had. The kids had a water balloon toss with their dad, walked the plank and the grown ups played water balloon volleyball. I opted out on volleyball this year and was happier for it. No need to be hated for my bad volleyball skills ;)

And later that afternoon there was more archery for Tyler and after that he went shooting. Unluckily for me while Tyler was out shooting we had some drama. Steven & Bryson were riding on the child sized quad and rolled it. Thankfully they were both wearing helmets and weren't injured but it was terrifying for Steven (& me too!). And maybe them rolling the quad was a blessing in disguise because it was then that we discovered Steven had a small but pretty deep cut on the bottom of his foot that he then informed me had gotten it that morning. As you might recall he had soaked his shoes & was wearing flip flops all day. That meant this deep cut was filled with dirt. 

Here came the truly traumatizing part for me & Steven....cleaning out his cut. You would think I was chopping off his foot. There was shrieking, screaming, kicking, thrashing, crying...It was awful. And the awfulness spread to Ben & Lucy who also started to cry. I am so thankful that a cousin of his that is a nurse and another one that is a fire fighter helped me with the cleaning. But despite all the good helpers I lost my cool after lots of minutes of the cleaning and broke down. It was not a fun moment for me. When Tyler came back I was one huge mess.

When all that was done it was pretty much dinner time & then bed time. Lucy decided to further my unhappiness by waking up Sunday morning at 4am and refusing to go back to sleep. We would have let her cry it out in the tent but Tyler's brother had decided to park his tent right next to ours so we couldn't. I swear moments like this are true marriage testers--- Tyler & I do not get along well at 4am in the morning. We eventually put Lucy in her car seat in Tyler's truck and let her cry it out there. Then when she was asleep she came back into the tent and thankfully stayed asleep until 7am.

Sunday involved lots of cleaning up and packing. It also involved a small church service. A missionary to be, and a recently returned one spoke. Then Tyler's mom talked about Mariah. Then there was sharing of stories about people who have passed-- Tyler's grandpa & grandma and his aunt Leslie. It was interesting to hear about these people I never got to meet. Then there was a good spiritual lesson by Tyler's dad on raising up the youth of this generation. His dad always get's teary eyed which makes me get that way too. Steven on the other hand had issues with listening because he was busy letting a frog jump & pee all over him. Ugh.

And when we finally headed home---this one passed out with a half finished PB sandwich sitting nicely in his lap:

Oh these Hatch Family Reunions are always an Adventure :)

Kids Will Play

I only nurse once a day now and then pump about 4 times during the day. And while I am pumping the kids can do what they wish and I am completely unable to do anything about it. It's always just so much fun! Can you sense my sarcasm? But sometimes they do productive things, like take pictures of each other that are actually pretty good. Not all of them but there were some real gems in this batch. So all the pictures in this post are compliments of Benny & Steven.

Lucy is positively trouble now. I can't just sit her down and know she'll stay there. She army crawls her self all over the house and is now opening cupboards and emptying the contents of them. Her favorite thing to do is to find little pieces of paper to eat (& then gag on). The other day she managed to find a sticker and I had the hardest time getting it off her tongue. With all the Legos & Squinkies floating around our house it's a miracle she hasn't choked on something big yet! 

Also this week, we got out to the play place at the mall & the splash pad at another mall and both times Lucy was lucky enough to meet some other girl's her age. So much fun to watch babies interact- which basically their interaction is trying to steal each other's toys :)

This picture will be used against Ben someday in the court of law, of this I am sure. Poor Lucy!

Ben is super silly. The other day he showed me the above face and said, "Look mommy, this is my happy face!" If you think this is creepy, you should see the face that he actually labels as creepy. 

This week as Lucy & Steven got some new clothing (I made a mistake of going to Carter's- oh that place is my Kryptonite) Ben finally complained about his middle child status. He wanted new stuff too! Thankfully he has an amazing Grandma who heard his complaints and she got him an awesome shark shirt and she even got him a new "baby" (an Easter chick doll).

Sunday when we were walking back from church I was curious to see if Ben knew what state we lived in so I asked him, "Do we live in CA? How about MN? How about UT?" He did a good job of saying "no" to all of the above so I thought maybe he did know, so I asked, "How about AZ?" And once again he responded with a "no". Wrong answer! Then I asked him: "Well then where do we live?" His reply, "Walmart!" Walmart strikes again! Steven will be working there when he grows up so I guess it would be convenient if we all just lived there anyways...

And I think Ben is growing out of naps...at least long two hour naps. Lately his naps have only lasted an hour. It feels like I just put him down and then he's awake again. So depressing :( 

Steven is constantly trying to carry Lucy around- it's driving her (& me) cRaZy! He has also been big interested in Calvin & Hobbes. He loves to look at the pictures and then is always wanting to do things that Calvin does. 1) Get a box so that he can make lots of Benny's, Lucy's and of course, lots of Stevens. Daddy got him a box from work & I think he was pretty disappointed to find that it didn't actually work. He went inside, the "button" was pressed & then nothing. He's gotta work on his imagination if he wants to be like Calvin... 2) He also wanted a paper bag so he could pop it and make a loud noise, instead he settled for popping plastic baggies. Like several hundreds of them...

This week Steven drew a picture of an anatomically correct girl- do you catch my drift? Maybe you will when I tell you this... When asked about his picture he responded, "It's just a girl. She just has cookies. Chocolate chip cookies..." Yeah, 2 chocolate chip cookies with just 1 chocolate chip in the middle? O-M-Goodness this boy is trouble!

As for me, I have discovered the joys of late night cleaning. It is a wonderful thing to be able to clean the house uninterrupted! No more fights to break up, no more baby to feed- just pure cleaning bliss. Ok, cleaning is not blissful but it is sure a lot easier with the kids in bed. And it is worth the lack of sleep that night--- so worth it! 

Tyler Turns 30

Oh my husband is all grown up & 30 now! It's so nice to be the younger one, I still have 2 more years in my 20's- ha! 

Anyhow, I had high ambitions for his birthday week but due to my previously discussed sickness and a really awful backache that came to pass this week, they were sort of ruined. Forest fires didn't help my plans either. We were going to go camping & shooting- sans kids- Friday night through Saturday night. But it didn't happen. Instead we got to hang out at our house - sans kids- and actually it was still pretty great.

Friday we went to dinner at the Gecko Grill (not bad but I don't think it was quite as great as everyone claims it to be...) and then we went and saw "World War Z" ( a VERY intense zombie movie- these zombies were the fastest ones I've ever seen!). Saturday morning we slept in until 9am- beautiful!- and then lazed around. We finally made it out to breakfast at The Farmhouse around 11am. The waffles there were delicious and they drown their cinnamon rolls in frosting. 

After that Tyler went gun shopping, he is saving up his plumbing funds to get himself a 1911 hand gun. Oh boys and there toys. He didn't buy one but a friend in the business is going to keep his eyes out for what Tyler wants. Then we ended our time together by renting and watching (at long last) "The Dark Night Rises."

The next day was Sunday and his official birthday. Tyler got to open his awesome gifts I got him-- a "power" tie (a tie that has the power symbol all over it), a mug I made him with his favorite Tommy Boy quote "You know a lot of people go to college for 7 years" "I know, they're called doctors," lots of shirts and parts for the helicopter he is building...

That night I threw him a family party at his parent's house. I didn't take a picture of the cereal bar but it was awesome- 5 kinds of cereals nestled inside cute little sand pails- it was every child's dream. I also served steak and eggs and a fruit salad as an attempt to counteract all the junk food cereal. The best part though was the Lego contest. I told everyone to construct something out of Lego's that represented Tyler. Here were the 3 winners:

Keshia & Scott (like those crossed eyes?) made a math equation, that even stumped Tyler ;)

Tara made Tyler on a "throne" (aka potty)

 And because Tyler feared for his life he gave my cousin Fred third place for the gallows he made

 After all the Lego fun, we sang "happy birthday" to Tyler. I know my cakes are never as great as his but at least I kept with the cereal theme.

Then Tyler got to open some more gifts (more helicopter parts), a squirt gun & a restaurant gift card.

Parties always stress me off so I must admit I am grateful it is over. But I am also thankful that it turned out well. However, I really need to work on my over planning. I bought like 5 boxes of cereal too many, and 2 gallons of milk too much and some cereal toppings that nobody used plus I had too much ice cream and cake left over.... I always say it's better safe than sorry but I think sometimes I should just aim for the sorry because that is probably still more than safe...

The 4th of July

The whole week before the 4th of July I was miserable. I always like to misdiagnosis myself so I thought maybe I had the flu--- I had a sore throat, achy body, fever, I would get hot & cold, no appetite, queasy, tired-- but a physician friend told me it was probably something else. Whatever it was, it was no fun. Thankfully Tyler was able to take off work early one day, and ditch his class another day to help out. My mom and dad also took the boys for a couple mornings. And now  (a whole week later) I am finally starting to feel normal- thank heavens!

Anyways, back to the 4th of July. I was feeling yucky that day but I couldn't miss out on the celebrations so I still went with my family to my parent's house. We had a BBQ, the boys splashed around in a kiddie pool and then we had some birthday cake to celebrate my dad's birthday (which was the next day). My mom was sweet enough to let Steven decorate my dad's cake. He did such a fabulous job ;) :

And when the sun went down it was time for fireworks. We kept with tradition and watched a nearby fireworks show at the park by my parent's house. We can't hear the music, and the booms aren't ear splitting and sometimes the lower fireworks hide behind a tree but I love it! We don't have to save a spot hours in advance and wait in the heat, we don't have to fight crowds and we don't have to endure awful exit traffic. It's perfect for us! 

This is Steven striking his "cool" pose 

Ben was so proud of himself for not being scared of the fireworks. He kept saying, "See mom. I'm not scared anymore! " And then he would run off by himself. At one point him & Steven were both running down the street in attempt to "touch" the fireworks. Silly boys!

Lucy was a little nervous at first but by the end she was more interested in the arm of my camping chair than actually watching the fireworks. Silly girl!

Another fun holiday bites the dust :)