Kindergarten Here I Come

Well today was Tanner's big day. Thankfully preschool prepared mom and son for this day, so I am happy to report that no tears were shed. I did tear up a little at orientation, but that was more for that fact that I could tell that his teacher was going to be amazing and I knew this year was going to be a good one for him. It is a little sad that my boy is growing up, but it is going to happen regardless of what I do and that is why I try each day to enjoy the little moments that I have NOW! Tanner is a wonderful little man and I am so excited to see what this year holds for him and how much he is going to learn and grow. Hopefully he will be talking about Mrs. Lew for years to come. I also must mention, because I thought it was sweet, that my dear husband woke up early, got the boys ready and insisted that we all go and drop Tanner off for his first day of public school.
Tanner is back now and he seemed to have a good time. When I asked him what he thought the most important thing he learned today was he said, "We don't tell anyone that we won't play with them because that might hurt their feelings and that's not nice to hurt people's feelings." Great lesson learned and a successful day, in my opinion.

Climbing...I really dislike this stage!!!

Porter thought today would be a good day to start climbing...this is how it went.





It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt!

Whew...he made it!

So after Scott and I ran our last 5k, I injured my foot getting ready for our next one. During this brief period of time after the 5k and before the injury, Tanner had been begging us to let him come running with us. Eventually I figured why not, who cares if we have to walk for 3 miles one night. Well, and I am being nice here, Tanner ran circles around us! So when I hurt my foot and couldn't run in the 5k for Salem Days I told Scott to take Tanner. We weren't expecting much out of it except a fun time together for father and son, but Tanner ended up getting first place in his age group 1-5. Which isn't to shabby considering over 500 people ran in the race. I was happy for Tanner and he was beyond excited that he was asked to ride in the parade as a first place winner. Good times!

No worries...Tanner's here to save the day!

My son cracks me up. This is what I stumbled upon the other day. I laughed so hard when I saw him dressed like this with "weapons" in every imaginable place ready to save the world. Tanner is fascinated with Superheros and has informed us that if he becomes the real Spider-Man we will still be his parents and he will protect us...lucky us!




Later this same day I also found him dressed like this! I'm not sure why you need snow boots on and a long sleeved shirt when it is 100 degrees outside!

24th of July Outing

Well I have concluded that trying to get 3 boys to sit still and smile is IMPOSSIBLE!!! We did have a fun 24th though. We went to the carnival and ate way too much sugar, got heat stroke, spent Tanner's college fund playing some silly games in which Tanner was rewarded with a very large and very ugly stuffed Hulk(I'm thrilled)and rode some bacteria infested rides and quite frankly I am shocked that we all haven't been quarantined yet! All in all, it was a great day with the family!

Happy Birthday Boys!!!

My babies turned a year old on Sunday!!! I can't believe that a year has come and gone, but I must confess that having two one year olds is much nicer than having two newborns. For the past year I tried to enjoy every moment, but when you are so sleep deprived that proves to be a difficult task. Things started getting much MUCH better around seven months. They finally started sleeping through the night consistently and most of the time they were content and happy. Now I look forward to each day and the changes that come with them. My little one year olds are still wearing size 3-6 months, but I keep hoping that someday soon they will move on to 6-12. Mason has finally started crawling, has two cute teeth, loves to imitate whatever you do, and constantly has this look and his face that says I am content and happy and get a kick out of life. I think he is going to be our trouble maker. From the moment he started moving, within seconds he was somewhere getting into something he shouldn't. Porter has been moving for months, but has always been just fine with toys and non-messy stuff. I see great messes and lots of laughs and perhaps many tears in my future. Porter continues to pull himself up onto everything and stand without any support, he is holding at three teeth, and you have to work to get his attention. He will willingly give you the most contagious smile ever, but he likes to ignore you for a little while now and make you work for it.

We celebrated their birthday on Saturday with family and friends. We celebrated with a Bar-B-Que. It was mostly a celebration for Scott and I for making in through the first year, but the boys also enjoyed cake and presents. I made each one his one cake to eat/destroy however he chose. It was pretty anti-climatic since they didn't know what to do with it, but I am sure next year will be a different story. We had a very enjoyable day and want to thank everyone who came and shared the afternoon with us. I need to give a special shout out to my BFF, Emily for all the hard work she put in on my behalf to try and keep me sane. She made a delicious cake and cupcakes for all to enjoy along with doing countless other things to make my life a little easier. Thanks, you really are the best! (I haven't forgotten about you Austin. Thanks for cleaning out the cooler and for being an awesome camera man!)

I can't believe I forgot, but I have to give a huge thank you to my awesome husband! He cleaned the entire house for me the morning of their party, because he knew that I would never get to it and that it would make me cranky later. He also was a stud manning the grill for the party. Thanks hun, you are amazing!




That Was Then...

Porter


Mason


Porter & Mason



...This is Now

Porter


Mason


The cakes...I expected more of it on their faces...I guess there is always next year!


Mason


Porter

How Could It Be? Eleven Months Old Today!

Each month keeps getting more and more fun. The boys have us laughing and being thankful every day that they are a part of our little family! They have both FINALLY started to eat solid food and they are both comfortably wearing 3-6 month clothing, I think we will be taking the jump to 6-12 months before long. Their personalities are becoming more apparent each day and I can't believe how lucky we are. I know it will get harder and I won't think they are so darn cute when I am pulling cases of soggy toilet paper out of the toilet, but for now they are so even tempered and happy that I am taking my time to just sit back and enjoy this stage!

Mason has started rolling EVERYWHERE and has started imitating our laughs and coughs. He sure does think he is funny and so do we!

Porter just cut another tooth and has recently started pulling himself up to standing. He makes it obvious that he loves life and we just love him!

My Boys Are Ten Months Old Today!

I can't believe my boys are 2 months away from turning one! They have brought so much joy into our lives, it is impossible to imagine life without them in it. I am so thankful and feel so blessed everyday for the miracle of having these two beautiful boys in our family! Add Tanner on top of it and I feel like the luckiest mom in the world--most days! :)

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is which baby is easier to take care of? Again, I feel truly blessed because they are both so even tempered, happy and content that they make my job fun. Don't get me wrong, I am constantly on the go and very busy and most days I am exhausted by the time Scott makes it home from work, but at least I have three children that make the daily journey worth taking!

Porter James is our little ray of sunshine. His smile lights up a room and melts your heart. He is an inquisitive little guy and now that he can get around he loves exploring this whole new world that has opened up for him. Porter looks like his mom, which makes me very happy, because between my three children I should get some credit.

Mason Glenn is our little shy guy who has recently become a mommy's boy. He loves to get your attention by "talking" to you. He makes more noise than Porter, but he is still content to just sit and observe what is going on. Mason looks like his dad and has his easy going personality as well. Come to think of it, I think all of our children got Scott's easy going personality--thank goodness!!! :)

Just a fun fact(if you don't believe me I have proof)Mason and Porter's heads are the exact same size! I know it seems impossible because Mason's head looks 200 times bigger, but it is true.

Pre-Easter Festivities

Some of the finished product.

Porter

Mason

Jack Jack--could he be any cuter?

Spencer & Tanner(sorry I didn't get a better picture of Spencer, Emily)maybe you could post one of yours.

Paige, doing a splendid job!

Kamae

Tanner--before he dropped his egg and had a melt down.

Saturday morning Austin and Emily came down with their family for the annual Salem Easter egg hunt. No one got anything too exciting this year(last year Tanner's cousin Ryan got a bike), but they had fun. Then we heard about a place in Mona called Young Living Farms where they had a bunch of different activities going on that we thought would be fun to take the kids to. Before that we took them to the Mona city Easter egg hunt where they got entirely too much candy. Then we ventured over to Young Living Farms where we decided it was way too cold to stay(seriously?!)so we went to Pizza Factory for lunch and then went back to our house and had the kids decorate Easter eggs. It was a great day and we were so glad to share it with the Ortons. Thanks guys for being so great--we love you!

I have decided that I am a horrible picture taker. Is there a class I can take? I would love some suggestions.

Easter Morning

Way too early Easter morning Tanner came in and informed us that the Easter bunny had come. So we got up and watched him find all of his eggs and treats and at the end of it all his basket of toys and goodies--like he needed more sugar! The Easter bunny was very thoughtful of mom and dad because he left us a little stash too. Even Mason and Porter got a little chocolate bunny, I guess we all know who will be eating those.

After church we went over to grandma and grandpa's house for another Easter egg hunt and lunch. Then we went home and I tried my hand at making deviled eggs to take over to my sister Sherri's house for dinner. This is how we ended up at her house for dinner: Saturday night I called my mom to ask her what the plans were for Easter dinner and what I could bring. I kid you not, she says to me, " Scott(my brother)has just finished making a huge batch of spaghetti so I thought we would just have the leftovers tomorrow with a salad and rolls." What? Are you kidding me! So I say, "You are having spaghetti for Easter dinner?" She says , "Yes, why should we have something else?" So I go on about the ham, funeral potatoes, gullivers corn, assorted fruit salads, and of course the orange rolls that I have been so used to having the last 7 years living in Arizona near Scott's family. And then my sweet mom replies, "I wondered why they had so many hams in the store yesterday." Over our past almost 9 years of marriage Scott has started to realize that I wasn't kidding when I told him that holidays weren't celebrated much in my house, but I think he got an even clearer picture Saturday night. Don't get me wrong, I love my family and my mom really is the nicest person you could ever hope to meet, they just don't celebrate holidays the way I like to, or the way most other people do! :)

Needless to say I made an almost midnight run to Macey's to purchase the worlds smallest ham and a few other items so I could make a proper Easter dinner for my little family. Then the next morning my sister calls me about something and I relay this story to her, hang up and continue getting ready for church. She calls back about 5 min. later and invites us over to their house for Easter dinner. I couldn't bring much since the ingredients I got were only enough for 3 people(she has 6 children)but my deviled eggs turned out okay and the rest of the dinner was fantastic and the company was great. It was definitely a packed holiday, but one that we enjoyed sharing with many family members!

Easter at Grandma and Grandpa's House

After church grandpa called and informed us that the Easter bunny had left some surprises at their house for the grandkids, so we headed over and Tanner got to enjoy his 4th Easter egg hunt. His cousins Maddie, Mitchell and Ryan joined in the fun!

This is how he felt about me making him stop for a picture before he continued the hunt.