What the....?!?!?

We have a blog??? Where did this come from? Hmm.


Anyway (see how I didn't bother to make lame excuses or anything about not updating my blog?),
Eric had a brilliant idea for the kids to make their own pizzas tonight. Too bad he got all the stuff ready for me and then went to work till 11pm. ;) So I'm in charge...it actually wasn't too bad.

Robbie made his first:



Then Allie:


Ethan with his gigantic heed! Heed! Move Head! ;)


Jordan, well, what can I say? He had to be different! He made an upside-down pizza. Crust, then cheese then toppings THEN sauce. Then he decided he wanted more cheese, so you can't really tell anymore, but he was super proud of going against the norm:



Spencer:


Liam: Since he pulled all his blankets out of the dryer, piled them up on the living room floor, and fell asleep in them...



...I made his pizza. I also figured I'd share it with him. And don't you think that for one minute I piled a ton more cheese on top after I took this photo. Because I didn't. Did not! You can't prove anything! :



Can we say, "Yum!" ?



The kids all agreed... fabulous idea, Daddy!

Oh my heck...

Lamest blogger ever!

A year and a half?

K, so quick update, youngest to oldest:

Liam (2.5): He's freaking adorable and spoiled rotten. By the WHOLE family. We love our baby!

Robbie (4): Finished his first year in preschool (with Allie) and they absolutely loved it. They are both "Tiny Dragons" at Bushi Ban Martial Arts & Fitness (where I work). Sweetest stinking kid, always fast with a hug and a kiss, and boy, can he tell stories. With sound effects and everything. He is the snuggliest kid I've ever met in my life. Best hugs ever!

Allie (4): Preschool & Karate too... and she's such a girly girl. We had her ears pierced a few months ago, and she loves to "accessorize" and for me to do her hair. She gets dressed several times a day, but prefers the fancy dresses. She is tough(5 brothers, Hello?), stubborn and beautiful. She shares a room with Liam, and she's always looking out for him. Our family wouldn't be complete without our princess.

Ethan (6.5): He just finished Kindergarten, and also graduated "Lil' Dragons" to an Orange belt (in the "big" kids/adults program). He really enjoys karate and is totally dedicated to earning his black belt :) Ethan is so sensitive and comes up with the most off the wall, DEEP comments and questions. He can really throw you sometimes! He's also very obsessed with Pokemon and playing video games with his brothers, and with NOT trying new foods. But Eric has been awesome with getting him to try things in a myriad of creative ways (did I say myriad? What a nerd. It just sounded better than "bunches"). The softest heart :)

Jordan (9 in a month): [Jordan-left, with his friend Indy after a grappling tournament] Jordan is also in karate(green belt), and just finished 3rd grade. He's wearing a patch right now for a lazy eye we've been trying to treat since KINDERGARTEN. He's actually keeping it on this time... so maybe we'll beat it! Jordan is sooo smart, and knows billions of facts. Put this kid on a game show! But it's really not fun arguing parental decisions with an ADHD smartypants...sometimes I give in because I'm laughing at how genius his argument is. I know... not smart on my part. Jordan is also very obsessed with video games and Pokemon. (hmm... sensing a theme.)

Spencer (10): [Spencer's car for the "Drive-In" at school] Spencer finished 4th grade and is a purple belt(intermediate... highest rank in our family-at Bushi Ban anyway), and he works so hard in karate. He has Asperger's, but has grown in so many ways over the last year or two- He is my hero! Even though we might think he has some stumbling blocks, he doesn't even see it that way. He just works 10 times harder and is that much more dedicated to whatever he's trying to acomplish. We credit martial arts for a major chunk of this! He is almost always thinking of ways to help out mom & dad, and begs to stay up late during the school year to "fold laundry and clean". Can you believe this kid? He's amazingly smart and takes in more than you think, and comprehends even more!

Me (Um... ok. 29.): First... hello? My last year in my 20's? *groan* I do have until December. Better live it up ;) j/k I'm evening office manager at Bushi Ban, and ... ta da! An Orange Belt! Ethan and I received our orange belts at the same time. [bottom pic: We're in the Saratoga Springs Parade... we'll be in the American Fork and Alpine this year too] That was really cool. And seriously... what a great workout! Wowzers! My sis Rachelle and I have started a jewelry biz (www.allisonivydesigns.com), [2nd pic] I just wish we had more time to spend on it. I also just designed a T-shirt for our karate school, which was a lot of fun, and my uncle and aunt made them and did an amazing job (www.inkedwear.com)... I'm so proud of our end product! I've always wanted to do graphic design. [Top Pic] March 21st Eric and I celebrated our hard earned 11th year of marriage!

Eric (He doesn't want me to say ;): One more semester to go!!! He will graduate the nursing program from SLCC in December!!!! (Can you tell I'm excited?) Eric is also working (when they call him! grr) night shifts at the VA hospital. He has enjoyed working in the field he's been spending so much time working on in school. Eric also has been doing a really great job being Mr. Mom in the evenings while I'm at work. He put together a play house for the kids in the back yard and is trying to finish more of the "remodeling" projects that have been on our lists since we bought our old house 10 yrs ago.

So... really exciting, huh? At least you know we're still kicking, right?

The World's Most Fabulous Hot Chocolate!!!

Yes, Boys and Girls, I am divulging the secret of how you too can make The World's Most Fabulous Hot Chocolate in your own home!

I am sipping on this as we speak/read/write/whatever and it's just too yummy to not share.

In a different life I might have been inclined to take pics and make this post all fancy schmancy, but that would involve getting my camera out and posing my cute lil' snowman mug with the whipped cream overflowing the top, which might take too long and might cause my hot chocolate to be merely warm chocolate and my whipped topping to become a milky puddle, and come on now, who could live with that?

To make this fabulocity, you will need:

Stephen's Mint Truffle Hot Cocoa
Stephen's French Vanilla Hot Cocoa
(Stephen is a freaking genius!)
Milk (Not WATER like the label says!)
Whipped yumminess in a can
A nice LARGE mug for your mug ;)

Fill the mug 2/3 the way up with milk and microwave 1 minute, stir, then 1 minute more. Stir in a couple good size tablespoons of BOTH Mint Truffle and French Vanilla cocoa mix. Make a pretty swirl with the whipped cream (You know the rule about whipped cream, right? No such thing as too much. Same goes for cheese. Yeah, I know. Why I don't weigh 800 lbs is a mystery to me too.)

If you want to get *really* fancy, you can stick a candy cane or a Pepperidge Farm Pirouette (those cream filled cookie things in the cute cylinder can). I'm liking the Mint Chocolate ones!

yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum

ENJOY!

Robbie and Ethan will be minus some tonsils/adnoids pretty soon

Aug 5th, we're taking those babies out! Poor guys...they snore and wake at night alot. Both seem to get quite a few sore throats too. Spencer had his out a few years ago (we did a sleep study and he had quite a few apnea events: when ya stop breathing in your sleep! So scary), and it's been a really good thing.

So here's us doing a happy dance that Robbie and Ethan will be breathing a little easier at night soon. Time to stock up on popcicles.

Mother's Day Photo Shoot

Oh look...the kids are all dressed matchy and cute and it's actually 30 minutes BEFORE church starts (9 am church is just wrong) Let's attempt a family picture! Let me illustrate why we have no current family photos:

Wow, didn't even get the first shot before we have an escapee.

Kiddie Wrangler Daddy to the rescue...
And Liam's not going for it, so we try a silly face to get it out of their system.

Ok... that's good.

I think Spencer just got chewed out here...he's all splotchy and upset. :(

Q: What kind of CHEESE isn't yours? A: Nacho CHEESE

Um, yeah.

Oh no, it's contagious!

Ok, that one's not too bad! Liam looks adorable and is in the frame.

And he's off again!

Sigh. 6-1=another missing child shot. I have a LOT of those over the years.

Cropped the silly brothers out of this photo, and it's pretty cute.

Awww...I think Allie was asking Robbie a question.

I think it was, "Why are your tonsils so huge?"

Ok, let's give this one more try. Liam?

Drum roll please: Here are the chicklets' final photo(hey, at least Liam is in this one AND not crying: Pretty pathetic if you ask me, lol
Oh wait...we need a family photo too. Just kidding kids. Get back on the couch while mommy figures out the timer. Apparently that was not the timer.

Silly face to get the wiggles out...

Ethan falls over at the last second. Totally accidentally on purpose.

Well almost...let's photo shop!

So, after I photo shopped it to take out the thermostat on the wall, cleaned up some "junk" off the floor and added more area above our heads because the camera slipped down a little, we have the finished product:

Both photos have had copies made and are ready to hang on my wall, should the frame ever magically appear there. Grandparents, I have copies for you as well, you lucky dogs.

Oh and yeah, it's really July 11th that I'm posting this. I'm really behind on posts. Deal. ;)

For those of you just tuning in...

Quick run down of last couple months:

Eric FINALLY started the nursing program at SLCC in Jan! It's hard work, but he's doing well and enjoying it. The end of this month will mark the end of his FIRST semester! 3 more to go! He will graduate December 2009! (He started back to school Spring 2002. After several semesters of pre-reqs, he's been on the waiting list forever.) Imagine, we started this path when we only had 2 toddlers. Now we have 6 kids. Don't talk me about time flying.

Because of school (and the many, many hours of studying), Eric has gone to part-time work at Terminix. Here's his schedule: Monday: School all day. Tueday: Work. Wednesday: School. Thurday: School and 1-2 Tests. Friday: Work. Saturday: Work. From 3:45-8:30 he's in charge of the kiddos, and after 8pm each night, he studies, often till midnight. Satuday and Sunday he studys every "spare" moment too.

Shayla started working at Bushi Ban Karate (you can see the site she made: http://www.bushiban-utah.com/) in December. Tuesday-Friday 4-8pm (or later). She likes working there, but it is HARD being a working mama. It has helped incredibly that Eric happens to be a FABULOUS "stay at home daddy" every evening. Seriously, he rocks.

Spencer, Jordan and Ethan have been in karate since Feb. They love it, especially Spencer. Spencer and Jordan are now gold belts, and Ethan is a gold-white(he's a Lil' Dragon).

We left the one-car-family circut and bought a "new" car. 94' (or 95'?) Subaru Legacy/outback. It's spent more time in the shop then being driving. But we think it's now operational. It's a nice little car.

Eric and Shayla celebrated their 10 year anniversary on March 21st.

Shayla has had pneumonia for the last several weeks. She's worn out and can't do much but lay around, hence, you get a family blog!

Liam had a BIG week!

About a week ago, in ONE week, at 15 months, Liam took his FIRST steps, super excelled into a very good walker, sprouted his FIRST TWO teeth, and said TWO WORDS!

He says: "Boh"= "Boom!" He spent a lot of time sitting on Mommy who's been laying on the couch (still feeling the blahs), and we watched "Myth Busters" for many hours. They like to blow stuff up alot on Myth Busters. He even jumps up when he says it (like he's exploding, lol). And he also says "Bah" = "Ball". Yes. There is a difference.

Then yesterday, he said something very close to "Spencer", and something else that was obviously "cookie" when all the other kids were cheering for the freshly baked out of the oven cookies. And last night he also gave me a very nice and clear, "Mama" before going to bed. Awwww.

See, you still get excited over these things even if it is your 6th kid! Plus, I was getting worried that at 15 months he hadn't taken any steps, grown ANY teeth, and only says 1 or 2 words. (He's got Dada down pat! Sometimes when he's really whiney or tired he says, "mmmmmmmm." Like Mama. You know what I mean.

Ok Liam, we get it. You're big. Stop now.
Just stay wittle :( Pleeeeease?

I really wish I hadn't lost my camera, I wish I could share some pictures!!! Grrr.