Annual Neighborhood Lego Gallery

more fun with Jenny and the boys!

I forgot that later the next week we got to meet up with Jenny and her boys at Lagoon - we spent the day with them and it was great fun.  Tyler went with the big boys to the big rides - and Jenny and I played with the little boys...  Danny is in that in-between stage and not quite wanting the thrill rides - so he was happy with Skye and Tucker.  

After Lagoon - we brought Tyler home with us for another sleep-over.  This is proof of how our days were exhausting us - hee hee

We had enough bikes in our garage to make a trek on bikes to the local 7-11.  I got everyone a slurpee and we hung out looking at Spiders while cooling off.  Ahh - I miss those summer evenings!

12 years and 10 months... but who's counting

I've been changing diapers for 12 years and 10 months.

There is a time and season for all things and this is a time and season I'm happy to have behind me!! 

Yay Skyler!!   He filled out his potty chart!  

(thanks to his cousin Julia for motivating him! I couldn't do it)

He chose paints for his prize! 

And bye-bye diaper changing table.  You've been in our home for almost 13 years and I wish you the best at your new home! 

7 YEARS OLD!

Danny is 7!!

He asked for waffles, and by golly - he got a lot of them!  (JK that's the stack before we passed them out to everyone there for breakfast!)

Nana sent treasures from Europe! 

This is year is an odd-numbered birthday so that means a special date with mom and dad - he gets to chose the activity and meal.  We still do a family birthday party but no friend party this year.  He chose to go to a local wall-climbing place and bring his brothers too.  It was AWESOME!  There were all sorts of different themed walls to climb.  Danny's favorite was this 'building' climb - he'd climb all the way up and jump off the buildings singing the Batman theme.  

That night we had Cheesecake - I didn't know this was a favorite (I learn something new about my kids all the time!)  Grandma and Grandpa gave him the awesome snake - Danny is a huge stuffed animal collector. He was super excited about this addition!

And the big present from mommy and daddy was this Lego creation - it's from the Lego movie.  Danny put it together all by himself and he was just plain giddy while doing it.  We've also managed to keep it on display in our Lego room - that's another miracle!

Danny's favorites:

Toys: stuffed animals

To do: play with his friends - especially on the trampoline and riding bikes

Foods: cheese enchiladas (Mi Ranchito), Sushi - unfortunately he can't it anymore since he had an allergic reaction but he still claims it's a favorite, and eggs.  I can make him eggs any time of the day!

Color: light blue

TV show: Simpson's

School subject: reading

Danny is an intense boy - when he's sweet, he's super-duper sweet.  When's he's mean, he's probably hungry!!  Out of all my boys - he's the most physical boy.  Luckily, he's spent a lot of time working on his push-ups and pull-ups.  You should see this kid do pull ups!  He climbs walls, poles, and really is my monkey.  He plays soccer in the fall and spring, and basketball in the winter.  He did T-ball last spring too, and well - there doesn't seem to be a sport that he doesn't want to do yet.  He's a fast moving, active kid and I have to make sure he eats protein to keep up with himself.  He takes piano lessons and is quick to learn and memorize his songs.  I especially loved watching him take care of his cousin Mack this summer - like I said, when he's sweet, no one can be sweeter than this boy.  He's thoughtful, kind, and generous.  Just stay out of his way when he's got that black-look - it's real!!

Cousin Time

We decided to add some more cousins to the fun before my sis left with her "littles" - Here's the crew together - Just missing Alisa's kids!  Our Texas cousins are here for a visit!

My boys basically fought over Tyler - Danny wanted him to himself - but Tyler also loved being with the big boys since he loves the same video games that Hunter and Cole enjoy too (Danny doesn't like to play video games much).   It all worked out though - we got to have Tyler sleep over for a few nights and they got lots of play time together.  

Tucker and Skyler also had fun together - I have a feeling that these two are going to be running the show in a couple years and pushing those big boys around.

On July 24th - we went to the SLC Days of 47 Parade.  We had family saving us a spot along the route and Jenny and I decided to just go for it.  We filled up my van with lots of boys and we took off for a day in the sun.  I loved watching Danny and Tyler together - too bad we live so far apart!

On the way home, I realized we were close to our Great Uncle Mark's home so we did a surprise visit to him and my great-aunt Donna.  Mark is a WWII veteran - and Tyler is a history buff (to say the least).  I really wanted Tyler to meet him in person.  He got to try on the Nazi uniform and hear about Uncle Mark's experiences with General Patton.  He is a treasure trove of WWII stories.  I believe he is around 95 years old!!  

We also had to take Jenny to legendary Shaved Iced stand in our little town - it's a special treat to go here and we were celebrating their visit!

Here is play-time at the local children's museum - I wish I had taken more pics!

Oh - and this is the best shot saved for last.  This was while Julia was still here - we had just bathed all these little munchkins and then they were doing a show for us - HA HA!!!  Tucker, Skyler, and Julia.  I'm positive this pic will come in handy when they are teenagers!

what I REALLY did this summer

In July, my sister and her hubby got to travel to Europe for 16 days as chaperones with a group of high school students.  They live out of state and months ago I offered to help with her 3 little ones so she could go on this trip (I got to go 2 years ago).  So, they arrived a week before the trip to help the little ones adjust to being in my house and adjust their sleeping schedules.  It was a crazy month, but a great one.  I've had a lot of family help me while Shayne and I travel over the years and I wanted to be a part of the solution to help my sister enjoy this opportunity.  I'm so happy they went and I had that time with my little nieces and nephew.  It was a lot of work - I won't lie - but it was worth it.

I had twins (16 mo's), two 3 year olds (practically twins), and my 3 older boys.  It was a house of 'littles'.  I took random pics on my phone throughout the weeks to show my sis what we were doing that day.  But our days were quite uneventful - I stuck to a schedule of 2 nap times and little outings (usually to the park nearby), sometimes a quick run to a store, or perhaps an outing to play at my brother's house in their indoor playhouse.  We kept life simple.

BTW - This is how we started out the visit.  His Mommy was helping at a rehearsal and his Daddy and I were the ones home with the kids.  You'd think that this would have changed their minds about leaving these little ones with me for the next few weeks!  He fell off my couch and hit his head on my ottoman, which is padded.  He just hit it PERFECTLY on the edge.  Nice aim, Mack!

So the adventure begins - 

I told Shayne I'd do all the work (he did not volunteer for this! and he felt a little overwhelmed by 7 kids) but I still needed my morning workout time.  So, he did early morning shift.  If the twins woke up early - which they typically did every day - he'd bring them to bed with him and put on a mesmerizing show to entertain them until I got home.  This was actually helpful for my sis, because up to this point, these little ones DEMANDED breakfast IMMEDIATELY when they woke up.  Shayne broke that cycle real quick.

Danny loved taking care of Mack.  He adored him and luckily, Mack loved Danny back!

Elise is a shoe lover.  

*everyone else's shoes

I taught these kids about vacuuming, I vacuumed a lot - the floor was dirty a LOT!!!

Julia shared a room with Skyler.  The twins had pak-n-plays in the Lego room.

Heading to the park.

Aren't they ADORABLE?  And they played GREAT together!  They kept each other happy and I kept the little twins happy.

More vacuuming lessons...  Mack loved the vacuum.

This is Elsie, my neighbor.  She was my helper every morning and many afternoons too.  I managed to get the parks with her help.  We loaded up babies in her bike trailer and the 3 year olds in my bike trailer.  Or we'd walk.  Elsie helped me everyday - just because she loved it.  She was a HUGE help.

This car was loaded with car seats!

Lots of high-chairs.

Lots of tantrums too.

biking and selfie??

The ONE fight between Julia and Skyler - She pushed him off the trampoline and he broke his collarbone.  Gotta have those lasting memories.

I started off the visit fixing Julia's hair.  After a few days, I gave up.  Too many other little kids - so Elsie took over hair duty.  She is so awesome!

I left Hunter with her for a short time - he gave her yogurt.  This is why someone invented bibs and high chairs... contains the mess.  

Two sets of twins

We miss these guys.  It was fun to get those baby snuggles and love.  It was especially fun to get to know these kids for myself.  When their mom and dad got home, it was in the middle of the night.  The next morning, everyone was happy to see mommy and daddy.  But whenever I left the room or the house, Elise was very upset that I wasn't there and would cry.  Lara kept saying, "Mommy is right here!"  hee hee....  I guess I got it right!  I hope they remember me a little the next time I see them!