Try This On For Size

Ashlyn came downstairs looking like this...
The picture isn't the best, but you get the picture. Ashlyn + Clothes= trouble. Lately, she steals everyone else's clothes. Today, she got out a stool and rummaged through Kamryn's drawer to find a polka dot onesie from Kadi and a polka dot skirt with attached panties from Cami all in 3mo size! She REFUSED to take them off, she was quite comfortable! I could barely keep a straight face when looking at her. She reminded me of a cheerleader with a tiny outfit- no offense to those who are/were cheerleaders. Sadly, I can't find either piece at the moment. However, not due to the move.
Needless to say, we will be starting a daily clothes therapy session where we will be learning:

• to pick ONE outfit and stay in it the remainder of the day
• not sneak and steal other's cloths
• appreciate having so many clothes to choose from and from so many great people
• appreciate clothing advice when given after it was requested
• articulate what is it about the clothes that makes them desirable

If you would like to be a guest speaker, please leave your information and availability in the comment section.

Don't Eat Pete

I have so many wonderful childhood memories of playing this game during Family Home Evening. It had occur ed to me a few months ago that I never got a copy from my mom to play with my kids. So our dear friend Ali came to the rescue, she read my mind! She gave us a super cute copy when Kamryn was born. It has swiftly become a family favorite. We have started using cheerios since most of us (not Corbin) were getting worn out on the skittles and M&M's. It is quite strange, however, that no matter what figure we pick to be Pete, Corbin will always clear the board. No, we don't let him cheat, we play fair. He never fails to amaze us!

So if you don't have a copy of this game, google it immediately for a fun, fast, easy FHE activity!

Called to Serve

Whenever we have moved we have always received new callings (due to relocation.) This move is no exception. I of course was starting to feels the pressures from Connor's calling in YM. We had not seen him much due to mutual activities, meetings, fundraising activities, and scout camp. I assumed a call from a stake leader meant he was being called to stake YM and I was pretty happy about that. However, instead he has been called to... Yes, we will be having early morning seminary in our new home starting in September. I sat in front of our stake leader shocked and if it hadn't been too odd, Connor would have done a back flip for joy. The fun part is that we can dedicate a room in our new house just for this cause. So now we need to start practicing early retiring each night!

Red, White and Blue

We had such a wonderful 4th of July. Saturday we had a few families in our ward over for a relaxing pot luck. It was so fun to get to know them all better and I truly enjoyed their company. I wish I had taken more pictures, but by the time I remembered to get the camera out half of them had left. We ate a lot of good food and then lit a few fireworks on the drive way. The kids of course loved the show.

We had a variety of reactions:

Dylan- Enjoyed every minute

Ashlyn- still a little leery of the big, loud ones (Last year she cried the whole way through them).

Corbin- Loved throwing the little poppers on the ground

Kamryn- thought they were way too loud.

In our attempts to find everyone a patriotic outfit we noticed that Kamryn had a plethora of such. So my little Ashlyn "borrowed" a few to make her own gear. She also happens to be very photogenic:(It might make you laugh to click on the collage to get a better look)

Let me explain: Ashlyn is a clothes hog! She will sneak in a snatch an article of clothing from someone else if she deems it awesome enough. Recently I caught her wearing Corbin's pajamas and tried to cover up her snatch with her own clothes over them!?!?! So needless to say, she was pretty thrilled that I gave her permission to wear these ridiculously small clothes. However, she has now confiscated them and labeled them as "hers."

Danny gave all the kids his one-of-a-kind "tattoos." He can melt a child's shyness with one of those! He also took some really "good" pictures of us. One of me and Kamryn during our driveway fireworks:

And one of his amazing wife Amanda:Sunday we went to see fireworks with what ended up being a huge group of friends. It wasn't a hard to request to have Ben, Ashlyn and Dylan hold hands until we arrived at our stake out. We found a great spot on a hill where it was not crowded and the kids had space to run. Unfortunately, someone made Dylan think he could run with a sparkler. That scared me to death. It was dark, and combined with uneven ground and Dylan's speed, I feared the worst. Our dear friends Danny (who is a Special Forces Soldier) and Amanda who are hopefully having their little baby Hazel as I type:

We really enjoyed teaching our children the history behind this special day and how this great event was a precursor to the restoration of the church. We are grateful for this wonderful nation and for many men and women to risk everything for us. I continue to pray that as a nation we will not forget that God has truly had a hand in the birth of The United States of America.

Last Move?

It has taken me a couple weeks to realize this is for real... Our first home!!! Wow, what a crazy few weeks. We are super excited though. We just have to actually get into it, that is the hard part. I dread moving! I even had to look up my old posts to get my own moving advice. It has been a long two years since we have moved (our longest stay.) We know this will be such a fun step in our lives and we have many wonderful hopes and dreams for this house. It also has a lot more room, room for more visitors. So if you come you actually get your own room and possibly your own bathroom!

Two Front Teeth

Last week we had our first visit from the one and only...This guy lost two teeth in one week...As a parent, why is it so exciting when our children have loose teeth? Are we more excited than they are since we know the tooth fairy personally? And is it an instinct to try to "help" them get those danglers out?

Connor has vivid memories of his Dad playing the "masterful tooth puller." So he of course was determined that he inherited this from his father. Let's just say it didn't go over too well when he tried it out.

From Dylan's perspective I am sure it is quite frustrating to have a tooth literally hanging out of your mouth, yet your pain tolerance is like ZERO!

Connor and I each took turns nudging the first tooth out between screams and crying. Dylan had asked us to pull it but then became quite angry when he felt the pain and saw the blood. Later in the evening I got lucky with my fast twitch finger and freed that little tooth! So two days later when the first tooth's next door neighbor was also very loose I decided to try my lucky finger twitch again. I realized that tooth must not have been so loose! Let's just say Dylan was not too in love with his mother right at that moment. Low and behold a little wrestling allowed that little tooth to join his neighbor in the tooth fairy's pouch, where they are superbly happy!

And here is to many more!