Right now

(Okay so I just finished writing a marathon post! I guess I had a lot on my mind. So it may take a few minutes to read.)



Tanner is asleep and Courtney and Jake are at school and I have maybe a 1/2 hour of peace and quiet before all heck breaks loose. So, I was playing a mindless game on the computer (Bejeweled - totally a waste of time but I love the little noises it makes) and I was deep in thought, so I decided I would blog!



Porter comes home late tonight after 16 days of being gone - I can't wait!!!!! I was thinking about taking the kids to the airport about midnight and surprise him - but midnight? Seems a little late! He'd probably love it - but I would pay with onry (sp?) children for the next 3 days. Still might do it.



I just have to say I am so thankful for my family. I honestly don't know what I would do without them. I know people always say that - but I truly mean it. I was thinking I was getting pretty good at basically being a single mom - but it's only because I have great parents and a brother and sister-in-law who help me out a ton!

I'm sure my mom gets sick of me calling to see if she can take Tanner for an hour while I help in Jake's class or have some appointment - but if she's sick of it - she hasn't said anything to me and she's always happy to do it. Like yesterday, It was Courtney's bday and my dad took Tanner most of the day so I could get ready for her party and have the party with just the girls. Totally saved my day! They save my day on a weekly basis!



Just a cute side note- yesterday when my dad took Tanner this is what he said to my dad, "Papa, I have a plan. First, we are going to have a Creamie. Then, we will go plant flowers. Next, we will go on a bike ride then we will play basketball." Tanner had the whole day planned out, and they followed it exactly. At the end of the day, Tanner was so proud because they did his plan.



Thankfully, my boys love working with their grandpa and he's teaching them great things. Usually every week they help him weed his planters and do jobs around the yard. My boys live for it!!! He makes it so fun and is so patient with them, and of course throwing a baseball, playing hoops and a bike ride are usually involved!



So, Courtney turned 9 yesterday! 9????? How old does that make me feel. Way to old. I remember being that age and it doesn't feel like it was too long ago. She is way fun right now! Sometimes a little emotional - but hey she's a girl! She's my little helper - the boys 2nd mom. (Which can be good and bad!) She is almost 5 feet and wears a size 6 1/2 women's shoe. At least I can say she's 9 now -not 8 - because nobody believed me. She's a smart girl - she'll go far in life. Okay - I'm going to brag a little so if you don't want to hear it - just skip to the next paragraph- but I am so proud of her. She scored in the top 10% of the nation in 5/6 categories on the national Iowa test. Way to go Courtney pie!



So - for my sanity I am taking a quilting class every Tuesday night. I love it! I have the cutest babysitter come and I get to leave!!! I think when my quilting class is done - I am still going to have her come so I can do something for just me. Learn something new each week so my brain doesn't turn to mush. Anyone want to join me or know of any fun classes???? Or girls night every Tuesday?



Jake, Jake, Jake - he's my little superstar. He's so sweet and happy. Things roll off of him like butter - maybe that's just part of being a boy. (Do things even actually roll off butter?) Anyways, he's happy go lucky! He just wants a ball - baseball, soccer ball, basketball - and he's happy. If you want Jake to know that you love him, just spend an hour playing 1-on-1 with him! And sad but true - it happened (Emily you know what I'm talking about) -the other day, I reached for his hand - like always - and he dodged it, smiled a little embarrassed and asked me if he could just not hold my hand. :(



My Tanner boy had his last day of pre-school today! I can't believe it's been a whole year. He is my little angel. There could be nobody cooler to hang out with all day. I love it - every time we ride in the car, he asks me, "What do you want to talk about?" He loves to be a big boy and play with Courtney and Jake and their friends. He is also riding Jake's old bike with training wheels on. He could probably do it without them, but they are for my peace of mind. He also dribbles a ball like nobody's business!



So this was long and sentimental, but I haven't blogged one of these in a while. So if anyone made it all the way to the end - thanks for listening!

Florida continued.......

Here we are at the Magic Kingdom. Disney world is huge! There are 4 parks in Disney world and it is as big as the Salt Lake Valley. Who Knew? We had so much fun. It wasn't really busy -luckily we didn't have to wait too long for anything. It was so much fun to spend time with everyone.

Jake would not stay out of the water! I don't blame him - it was hot. Especially when you go from snow to 90 degree weather on a 4 hour plane ride.


This is at Tom Sayer's Island. The kids loved it there - there were fun caves, bridges and this cool fort.

You can't go to Disney world without riding in the tea cups!
We spent an afternoon at Daytona Beach. The kids loved playing in the waves. The day we were there - several miles down the beach - a 6 year old boy was attacked by a shark in a foot of water. Crazy!!! I'm sure glad it wasn't Jake - he was in way deeper than a foot!

Brenda celebrated her 33rd bday while we were there. Brenda is 6 days older than Porter and he's so happy he's not the oldest anymore. This cake was absolutely amazing. My mom ordered it from a place called Sprinkles - I guess the guy who made it is pretty famous for his cakes. He is on the food channel and has won a bunch of those cake contests. Brenda loves cakes - so it was really fun! It was the best cake I've ever had.This is the pool at the house we stayed. It was so great - everyday after we got back from a park the kids would run to the pool. They spent hours and hours in here.

Here we are at Epcot Center. This was my favorite park. They have some fun rides, but the best part was all of the countries. They have about 11 countries represented. They have the coolest things to do and learn in each one. The best part was the different country stores - they were so fun to look at!They had the coolest Nemo ride, part of it was a big tube through a huge aquarium with dolphins, sharks, turtles and tons of fish. Bruce!

This is in the Norway store. I got some of the best perfume I've ever smelled here. China. The gardens were amazing.

Jake is the year of the snake, good thing since he's "Jake the snake"MexicoItalyJapan. So, so beautiful!

MoroccoUmmm......num.........she........bob...................Um.. what am I supposed to do?

We had a great time! It was nice to get away from everyday life for a while. Then you get home and reality hits - but it was so much fun while it lasted. Vacations always go way to fast!

Portirats

I had pictures taken of my kids this week at Le Gardin in Sandy. My friend Kris took the pictures and did an AWESOME job! You can go to her blog to view a few of them. Her website is www.kdportraits.com then click on her blog.

We are in.........

FLORIDA!!!!! We've been in Florida for almost a week now and we are having a blast! We've been to Sea World, Animal Kingdom, Disney World, Daytona Beach, and still have several places left to go. The weather has been amazing - we've gone from Utah snow to Florida sun. A day lying on the beach is what I needed! Louis and Alice (my brother and sister in law), who live near Miami came up and went to Animal Kingdom with us too! Here are just some of our pictures so far.


Daytona Beach Sunday after church on Sunday. We were just going to go see it - but Jake lasted about 2 seconds before his shirt was off and he was soaked.

Alice, Louis, and Baylee came up and stayed Sunday night and went to the Animal Kingdom with us. It was so much fun to see them.

This is Monday at the Animal Kingdom.
It's almost 1 a.m. here in Florida - so if any of this doesn't make sense you will know why. It's so good to get away and just spend time with the kids, Porter and my fam.