Happiness is...

...camping with Dad! Jay took Anna and David camping this weekend with a couple other dads in the ward. I can't tell you how excited they were to go, especially Anna-since she misses out on the Fathers and Sons every year. They had a blast being up in the mountains with just Dad and them.

I don't know what kind of pose they're trying to strike here...With their friends in the hammock

I sent them up with an ice cream bucket to go lizard hunting with (Clark tradition)

They went up there thinking they would catch some lizards and horny toads, but came home with two beetles instead. Still exciting.

This is the home they made for them...see the piece of licorice?

So Kate, Blake and I got to visit with Grandma and then came home and had a McDonalds picnic on our living room floor. The whole time they were gone, we got out all of Kate's toys and she played and played for hours in complete peace for probably the first time in her life! It was an extremely quiet weekend. And THIS is what happens when I have no tattle tales around......

Summer summed up (so far)

Nothing exciting, just a few random things we've been up to this summer that I haven't blogged about yet...

1. Cousins, cousins and more cousins. This is at Kimball and Tiffin's house (fun pool!) for Father's Day.

My Dad with Blake

2. Fourth of July. In Peoria with my family, we went to Ice Age 3, swimming, had a BBQ and yummy treats, and then we got stuck on the 202 right under the fireworks finale at Tempe Town Lake. Note: do not go that way next year! This is David on top--then Brandon, Bryan and Jay

3. More cousins! We had a good time at my brother Jordan's house WAY out on the edge of Buckeye with all of his amazing water slides. He put up three this time for us!

(totally stole this from my brother's blog--thanks Tiffin)

4. Friends. The kids have loved having their friends come over to play in the afternoons every once in a while. This is Anna and her cute neighbor/church/school friend, Emma...they are always giggling!

5. Still more cousins! My sister-in-law from Surprise came and spent a day/night over at our house...these are her boys, Brandon (13) and Noah (10). My kids adore them and they all had a blast hanging out, swimming at the local pool, watching The Office episodes till 11 pm, and sleeping over in the living room with Anna. All three of them woke up to mustaches and markings all over their faces, but I forgot to take a picture. Love these sweet boys!

6. The kids enjoyed taking LOTS pictures with my camera. I've found way too many self-portraits taken by my kids this summer. They always find my camera no matter where I put it!7. Too much TV. What would summer (or any time) be without TV? I'm actually getting really sick of it. It's a love-hate relationship. And yes, these are their pajamas, but I'm not telling you what time of day this was.

8. And that takes us to the next media outlet my kids can't get enough of...computer games. We set up our old computer in the toy room and now they can go nuts with the CD-rom games without us worrying about it. They've become obsessed...I'm running outta steam for summer over here!

9. Spending time together. Since I have 3 kids plus a baby around, we've kinda been stuck around the house alot this summer. I really have enjoyed and loved having Anna at home, they all have fun playing together when she's around. We've swam in the backyard and played lots of games and puzzles this summer. Here we are playing jacks...10. And we can't forget the last thing we've been up to...all this time spent together as siblings is bound to bring about some fighting, crying and arguing! Can't you feel the love? Oh sweet music. Like I said, I'm running outta steam over here! School, nice weather, the backyard, parks...where are you?

So that's been our summer, so far. Pretty exciting, don'tcha think?

Some things I love about Blake

When he grabs his toes (my favorite!) When he sticks out his toungeWhen he sucks on his bottom lip

When he smiles his big smile

When he has a serious look on his face (which is a lot)

Five BIG months

This is just my homemade photo shoot of Blake showin' lots of skin. He loves to be naked...the minute I take his clothes off for a bath he starts smiling, cooing and getting ticklish. I wonder if it's possible for me to love this little boy any more? Okay okay so I could NOT make up my mind on what pictures to post so I didn't choose. Here they all are...no fat roll left behind... He tends to form resevoirs of drool deep in the caverns of his neck.Funny picture because he looks nervous about what Kate might do next. We got him this walker which he really loves but the kids are constantly surrounding him as he plays. By the time he's done sucking on that orange bar holding the toys, there is a big puddle of drool in his tray.

Mom, I am DONE with his photo shoot!

one, two, three..four...

Ready or not here we are. Still hard to believe we have four kids roaming around our house. Well, almost four roaming...silly but we find ourselves counting kids as we load and unload (they still have their names...no numbers assigned to them yet). I always heard that three kids were harder than four, but now I know that that's THE most ridiculous thing to say! Of course four is harder! I am even more flustered, absent-minded, rushed, and tired than ever before. And it is next to impossible to get anything 'done'. And I'm pretty sure I'm trying my hardest. But really...where does it say that moms must have it all together?? yeah that's what I thought. Wouldn't trade these little ones for the anything in the world. Think only once about the hard times life has brought you, then enjoy the small moments you've had and that are to come. I really love the song by Rob Thomas, "Little Wonders". These lyrics go through my mind during most of my days. Some of the lyrics:

...let it go, let it roll right off your shoulder

don't you know the hardest part is over

let it in, let your clarity define you

in the end we will only just remember how it feels...

...let it slide, let your troubles fall behind you

let it shine, until you feel it all around you

and i don't mind if it's me you need to turn to

we'll get by, it's the heart that really matters in the end...

...all of my regret will wash away some how

but i can not forget the way i feel right now...

...our lives are made in these small hours
these little wonders, these twists & turns of fate
time falls away, but these small hours,
these small hours still remain...

(Whether you were afraid to ask or not, I swear I never had a thing with the milkman/ups guy/ethnic whoever and Anna's bum has always been the same color as the rest of her body:)