First Day Of School!

I love and hate the first day of school. I am so tired of cleaning my house five times a day I could scream, and if I have to hear "mom there's nothing to do here" one more time I am going to go looney! I love having a schedule every day, and I love the time that it's quiet at my house, even if it's just for a few hours.
I hate sending another one of my kids to kindergarten. It makes me so sad that they are getting so big. Carter was so excited to go today. I hate seeing Katlyn go to a 3rd grade class this year, because that just means that time is going by faster than I'm o.k. with. I hate hoping that they will be o.k. and wondering if they will miss me, which they don't, but it makes me feel better to think that they do.
Katlyn and Carter both got awesome teachers, and are both going to have a great year. Katlyn was a lot less nervous this year than she usually is and so that made me really happy. Their classrooms are right next to eachother, which they both think is pretty cool. Carter did not officially go by himself today, but he loved being in class with all the kids, and even has a friend from his preschool class in there with him, and a lot of kids from our ward. Katlyn also got lucky and got a lot of her girlfriends in her class. School gives me mixed emotions, because I love sending them, but a part of me wants to just keep them home and make them be little forever. I just need to cherish the time that we have I know, but they grow so fast. Gage and I are going to have some good one on one time together, although he keeps asking when he gets to go to his school and take his backpack that Grandma bought him. It will come sooner than I want it to!!!!!

Las Vegas

On Wednesday we left for Vegas with our friends Danny and Mandee to take a little break! Not much sleep, but it was a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time just lounging at the pool because walking in the 110 degree heat during the day was not that fun, but we saw plenty at night too. (The pool was pretty cool, but I won't post any of those pics because lets just be honest who wants to see me in a swimsuit 5 mos. prego? That's the great thing about Vegas though. Nobody there cares, so I enjoyed it!)
This is Danny and Mandee outside the Bellgio watching the fountain show. Thanks for coming with us guys. Hope it was well worth the 8 hour drive for ya! We decided that Danny looks like Jessie James in the had that he's wearing. What do you think?

We were able to go to "The Phantom" which was amazing. Mike and I saw it last year, but it was just as good to see again. Everyone should go to it! Amazing. Even if you are not a musical person you will love it!
After the show we decided to go and get the purse that Mandee had seen earlier and loved. Her birthday was the next day and Danny wanted to get it for her. Mandee and I both thought that we had seen it in the Forum Shops, and Mike thought that it was at he Eifel Tower shops. After looking all over the Forum Shops and not finding it, we decided to see if Mike might be right. The thing was that it was 10:45 and the shops close at 11. So, we raced to the shop which was not very close and poor Mandee had heels on! We got there right at 11 and this is a pic of her checking out the battle scars she now has on her feet! (Mike did a great job of rubbing it in that he remembered where the purse was!)
Tada! And the beautiful purse. What a nice husband! Happy Birthday Mandee!
We were all hot and thirsty after our little adventure, and so we sad down for a while. Mike and Danny decided to get some Krispy Kremes and this pic is of Mike stuffing two of them in his mouth at once. Nasty!

These are some of the goofy pictures that I got. Mike and Danny got a little more outgoing in about two seconds when we saw these girls and asked if they could have their picture with them! Anyone who knows Mike and Danny know that that is not something that happens very often!!!
I just love the big cheesy grin on Mike's face in this one! And it only got better as the night went on!
They are probably both going to kill me for posting all of these pictures, but nobody gets to see this side of these guys very often.
At the wax museum this was Mike's funniest pose, and the one that had the girl with the most clothes on! Mike does not like Oprah in the least bit.
Perfect example here! Jessica Simpson was right in the door as we walked in, and he just couldn't resist! Neither could the old man behind him that looked about 70! Men!

Happy Big 5 Carter!

Today was Carterbug's Birthday! The big 5. He has been so excited to be able to have a Transformer Party. I am one of those mom's that doesn't do well with the big parties. I did it once with Katlyn, and I was grouchy and all the girls fought!!! Ticked me off. All that time and money for nothing special, and so we pretty much just do Birthdays with the 5 of us now. Anyway, Carter isn't much for sweets, but loves my cinnamon rolls. So, that's what we had, and pizza of course he loves that too! He set the table with all the Transformer loot.
Then, we all sat down to a dinner of Little Ceasars $5 pizza!
Present time! He actually picked out most of the things that he got. Pathetic I know. He picked out these things called "blendy pens" that he saw on T.V. and they stink at the blending part, but he colored all 10 of the pictures that came with them already. A Transformer was hiding in the bag, and a huge puzzle. Easy to please little boy!
We stuck 5 candles in the cinnamon roll that Carter picked and he smiled a huge smile while we sang Happy Birthday. I love this little guy!
I don't know how this started, but this is how he always eats his cinnamon rolls! All in all it was a great little party. Carter is Mike's hero! We can't believe that he is already 5 and going to go to Katlyn's school this year. He is by far the easiest going guy around this house. Happy Birthday Carter. We love ya!

Carter the Artist/Architect?

This is Carter's new thing that he LOVES to do. He draws many, many pictures every day. He works very hard on them, and they take quite a long time to complete!
Some are Robots. Others are Spider Monkeys. He even has an Optimus Prime. He even drew one with him holding my hand! What a sweet boy! When all the hard hours of drawing are done, he goes looking for the scissors and tape to put them up for all to see. These pics are taken in our family room, and anyone that comes over gets a complete tour. He insisted on posing with his "B" that Nana made for him. This is his favorite blanket. He sleeps with it every night. It's not quite an obsession, and so Mike has let him keep it, but he does love it, which I am o.k. with. So, this is the artist in him.
Now on to the architect side. Carter loves his legos. He builds all kinds of things with them. The awesome thing is that they are all completely symmetrical. He's very good at it. These are usually Transformers. He made a computer the other day.
I had to document these and so that he could see them when he gets older. So, hopefully he will use these talents one day and get filthy rich and support his old mother and father! I love this boy. He is my easy going child, for the most part. He loves unconditionally and teaches us every day to stop and just love being together at home!
I had to post this one, because this is Gage's favorite thing to do. He waits, waits, and waits some more, until finally Carter is done with his masterpieces and then he moves in!!! His convoy of trucks and trailers come and demolish the prized pieces, and he laughs his evil laugh. Don't think that Carter just takes it though. He may be scrawny for his age, but he can still take either of his siblings down! Brotherly love!

Happy 4th of July!

We headed over to Eagar for the 4th this year, and it was a lot of fun! This is the best picture I could get of the kids at the parade. If you know my boys, you won't be surprised. They all waited patiently for everything to start, which was a little tough because it was hot!!!
Mike and all the OLD LADIES! I don't know how he scored this seat, but I thought it was cute. My Aunt Sylvia came from New Mexico for her 20 year reunion, and wouldn't even get on her float. Mike kept threatening to throw her up on it! The others are my mom on the left next to Mike, my Grandma's sister below her, my Grandma below Mike and my cousin Shaina. We don't get to see these guys all that often, and so it's a lot of fun to get to spend some time with them.
These guys were so patient waiting for some candy. Carter is missing in the picture, but if you know him you know why. This kid does not like candy. He would rather have chips and ketsup any day. He was happy to sit under the shade in a comfortable chair, and eat crushed ice. Gage on the other hand was scrappin' up all the candy he could, and Katlyn was sweet to help.
This was the best float of the parade. It says "kickin' ass ranch" on the side, and "haulin' ass" on the back. It was hilarious. Honestly though the parade was the best one we have had in a while. Very patriotic! I love that. They had some military helicopters fly down mainstreet in the middle of it, and it was really great. I always get teary eyed at stuff like that. The thought of what the military does for all of us just gets me. We are all so lucky to live in this country!
I had to post this one last picture of my Dad and my Grandpa. My Grandpa is getting up there in age, but he still cuts a rug at all the dances in town and in Greer! Funny, he loves it but I have never once seen my Dad dance! I love my Grandpa! He served in the Korean war, and although he doesn't talk about it much I know that he's proud that he did it, and we are proud of him. I am also thankful that my Dad has always taught us to be patriotic, and to show love for our country. I love these guys!!!!