Happy Halloween

The kids and I headed up to Rexburg today with Cort's brother Cameron. The kids were so good in the car but I have never been so excited to be here. It was so good seeing Cortney again. (he has been gone)

The kids have been so excited to go trick or treating. They were so happy to get to go with all of their Boice cousins.

Trick or treating (man it is a lot harder in the country where all the houses are so far apart)

Rob, Leah, Morgan, Aspen, Carter, Oli
Carson, Kelton, Bodin, Cooper

Oliver the Jedi. He kept telling me he didn't have the force.

Can I please tell you how obsessed with this boy I am right now. I couldn't get enough of him trick or treating. He was so worried that they would shut the door before he got up there. Then he would be worried he couldn't get it in the bag.

Some kids trick or treating on a pony. It was awesome...they would go all the way to the front door. Gotta love Rexburg.

Robs costume/shoes made him fall about 1 million times.

All of the kids running together. Such a fun night.

I would also like to give a shout out to my best friend Amber BEA...I love you! Happy Birthday. I thought about you all day...but I didn't have my phone and Cortney's didn't have your number (good excuse huh...no really I did think about you...I always do on Halloween).

Yahoo...finally

Cali has a blog...por fin...

(she is so ashamed....hahahaa)

www.thisisformymamas.blogspot.com

ouch

Today as I was cleaning my house I leaned down to pick up a toy and hit my head super hard on our trunk. I didn't see it or something. Ohhh it hurts so bad. I don't know how babies survive all of those head bonks. Ouch.

bahhh

I don't have a camera right now...so no posts.

I did talk to my parents tonight for a good long time it was nice.

We carved pumpkins tonight. Oliver wanted the cougars Y. And Rob wanted a mean pumpkin.

I am feeling good.

My hands are still working with no pain and no stiffness.

Halloween

Tonight was the ward Halloween party. We had a great time. Cortney was out of town so I "tried" to take some pictures using photobooth (my computer). This is after the party...

Rob a ghost...Oli a Jedi (again...I can't make any new costumes this year...I have too much on my plate already), and I was a pirate (or a gypsy...hahaha).

I loved that Rob couldn't stop eating his pixie stick for the picture.

Happy Birthday

When I couldn't think of a name for my soon to be born second child...I decided that I would give him a name that meant something. Everyday I am so glad that I named my boy after my in-laws. Everytime Robbie is in trouble and I say "Robert Boice come here!" I think of my father in law. It kinda makes me feel like I am getting him in trouble (and I love it). Hahaha does that make sense??


Look at these two, Robert Boice times 2. My two Bobs. I love it. (plus what kind of grandpa really wants to hold a kid with that messy of a face?)

Today is Bob's birthday. Happy birthday! I am so grateful for you. Grateful for the patriarch you are to our family. WE LOVE YOU!

Ike and linh

Cortney took some pictures of Isaac and Linh.  They are so cute.  And such opposites in height. It's crazy.  Linh cooked for us the other night...it was so yummy.  I know that she is working on a cooking blog...and I can't wait. 

oh snap

Somehow I got in my mind that Cali was coming home this morning. Turns out...that she is coming home tonight at 11. Man, I was all ready to leave. The house was clean...the kids were dressed. Oops.

oye

I think I am finally starting to get stressed out...about the whole job thing.

I wish that I had a magic 8 ball telling me/us what we should do. Honestly...I wish we knew where to even start. Where we are willing to live...what we are willing to do? What does Cortney wants to do? My heart breaks at the idea of moving away...but there are no jobs here. We have been through that before.

How could our stable and secure life change overnight?

I think this is all coming from, having to return back to the real world, as Cali and Joey come home tomorrow.

boys

Oliver and jack just came running downstairs saying "good news". They had put a piece of fabric in Oli's mouth and Oli bit down and jack pulled it super hard. They were trying to pull his loose tooth out. And the "good news" was that his tooth was now bleeding. He said "well, I just want money super bad".

revrently

I didn't really want to take all of the kids to church today. But...I knew I should. And I knew if we could get through sacrament meeting then I would have 2 free hours of babysitting! We were up by 7 to get everyone ready to go to church. Wow that was a lot of kids to get dressed. We missed announcements but we were there for the first song. The kids were all pretty good...probably better than usual. Then they all went to class. I was a little worried about leaving Grace, Carolina, and Rob in the nursery. Together they can be a handful. I told the leaders to come get me if they were hard and I would sit in. They never came. In between classes I went and looked through the peep hole in the door and they were having singing time...I could see cute little Grace doing the hand movements. They were all split up...which is good. I am really glad we went.

I meant not to be in the picture but Rob wouldn't stand in there. Little Grace is holding tight to my leg. I miss that about little ones.

A fun day...and an accident.

Sorry about the millions of pictures.

This afternoon I did the girls hair and we headed up to Vivian park.

Cute GG

I am so obsessed with her

CC's hair. Both girls sit sooo still while I do their hair it is amazing.

All of the kids fished.

I was so scared that someone was going to get hooked. Jack was crazy with that thing.

jack

Ty

Angelique and Justin came with us. Ang had some carrots, Rob tried them and said "I love it" He ate a million.

Carolina did good from her first try.

We were all having fun on the park look at Grace. She was loving the slide (Angelique helping her...it was great to have a couple of extra hands) everything was great until I heard Jack crying...

I ran over there calm as can be his mouth was bleeding. I grabed his sweatshirt and covered his mouth.

Whoops!

Poor boy...time to load up and head home.

I got it all cleaned and Also happened to have a big thing of ice so that helped. He is doing much better...and we even went to Denny's for the free kids meals. I think he will be okay. Hhaha I hope so.

Cabella's

Cortney's been getting cabin fever. He isn't used to this stay at home mom stuff. After yesterdays "boring" day I knew we all needed to get out of the house.

Plus...Tyson was real sad after the game last night. He was trying real hard to keep back the tears. I knew it was a moment that he needed his mom. I gave him a big hug and told him we would go to cabella's the next day. That seemed to cheer him up.

CC is hidden behind Oli's head. But here is all 6 of us. It went really well and the kids were all really good.

baby Grace loved everything there. She was freaking out the whole time. Don't worry I am holding on tight to her.

She was so tired by the end of it...begging me for a bottle in her bed.

the boys...and the worst lighting ever

We had a great time but I am exhausted now.

Rob is 100 percent potty trained. He has had one accident in the last 11 days. Yahooo. Not only that but he just takes care of it himself...I don't have to keep asking him to go and stuff like that. Such a big boy. He always says "you're so proud" or "you're so happy" after each time. If he only knew.

defeated...

Sad game day for us today. It was a pretty sad game to watch. It hurt.

Cort took some pictures but not very many...I don't want to keep posting without something to atleast look at. I know it is hard to keep reading all of these long entries I keep doing so here is one with some pictures. I wish there were more to choose from.

Rob's eyes are so brown. I love them.

I spent a lot of the day cooking. We had WAY too much food. The game sucked but at least we had great company.

CC dressed in her cute BYU cheer outfit. All of the kids had blue teeth from eating these cookies. Last game (as you know) I made blue cookies...Ty said these had to be white because we wear white on away games. I love that boy...so smart.

This isn't the best picture but it depicts just how many kids I have around me right now...well Tyson isn't in the picture. They found some sort of bug today. Cali has these two neighbor boys Jay and Steve....I love these boys, I have known them a long time now. But they were here from the crack of dawn and I told them to go home probably 10 times today. I would send them home and they would come back 10 minutes later ringing the doorbell and asking if the kids could play. Ohhh...I forgot to mention the kids are out of school today, Friday and Monday. Ayeyee. It sure is nice to have them in school. They kept being "bored". Don't get me wrong I love these boys...but once they are in school they want things to do.

Gigi...the love of my life...last night she woke up before I went to bed and I held her on the couch (just like you do cali when she sits on your tummy) and she feel asleep. I watched a show with her like that. It has been a while since I have had a little baby to snuggle.

ssshhhhh

Man. The house is so quiet right now. The kids are out of school today and all day long it has sounded like our house was under siege by a bunch of bratty pirates. But now...all of the babies are down (3) and all of the big boys are outside (3). It almost hurts to type because it makes such a loud noise in this quiet quiet house.

It has been a piece of cake this time watching Cali's kids. They are all pretty grown up now...with the youngest being two. It makes a big difference not having a couple of babies to watch. Although I will say Grace woke up 3 times in the night. I woke up this morning (after sleeping in, thanks Cortney, you are awesome) and dressed all 6 kids and my self in BYU aparel. Now we will spend the day getting ready for the game. Cortney is going home for his camera so I will take some pictures. You have got to see the posters the boys made this morning (around 6:30) They are awesome. They say stuff like "no TCU fans allowed". When I woke up they were already posted on the front door. Awesome.

Goodbye my lover...

Sigh...I just had to cancel my satellite. So sad. I know I should be willing to give that up before food. But...I can really get creative with the food I have here. But without TV...I don't know what I will do. That is pretty sad. Oh well. Luckily I have one of those DVD players that records TV So this week while I am at Cali's I am going to have to record kids shows the whole time. The time they watch TV everyday really gives me some peace and quiet.

china

Cali and Joey left this morning for Shanghai. So we are watching their kids. Our kids are so excited. I will post any updates I have. Until then I have a million kids to run to school (Okay okay only 4 but that is to 3 different schools).

haha

I guess they new guys running the course forgot to turn off the irrigation over the weekend. The whole course looks like an ice field. Looks like they won't be getting any golfers out this morning.

Oh and on Saturday morning the Pro-shop called Cortney to see when they could let golfers out...Cortney has always monitored the frost on the grass and makes the call when they can send out the first group of golfers. I couldn't believe they called him even though he doesn't work there. How crazy is that?? He told them of course "when in doubt, send them out". Of course that is not what he would have said a week ago.

Fall

It is 56 degrees inside our house right now. And it was much cooler this morning when we woke up. Ohhh I hate turning on the heat. But what a good excuse to snuggle up on the couch to keep warm.
Oh....and go COUGS!

Holy Smokes

my kids got haircuts (thanks to Cortney)...oh it makes them so lovable.

I know many of you read about my potty training issues with Rob a couple of months ago. Well...that failed horibly so I gave up...I knew when I started he wasn't ready. He has been 100% on diapers. Until the day Cortney lost his job I had started potty training that morning. On Tuesday before I found out he pooped his pants once and peed his pants probably 5 times. ( I would find him outside hidden with wet pants). From the second I found out about Cort's job...he hasn't had one accident. WOW. I honestly can't believe it. Tonight as I was putting his diaper on for bed (I am not crazy about changing sheets) and he cried and cried about not wanting a diaper. What a blessing. It came out of nowhere.

Yesterday my visiting teacher stopped by. She said she couldn't stop thinking about me all day...and finally said to herself "I just need to go over and check on her". She didn't know anything about Cort's lay off. She is an awesome woman, her 15 year old son just had a heart transplant...and she has been through a lot, she has a lot of experience in "hard times". Plus...she is just like me. She isn't super cheesy and fake. She just tells you how it is. It really helped to talk to her. She understands. I am glad she listened to the spirit.

Little things that are changing with Cortney's new found unemployment. No more loads of laundry with socks and socks covered in GRASS. It took a lot of laundry time to keep up with Cortney working in the dirt everyday. Also...In the 5 seasons Cortney has worked there he could never get up with the kids in the night...that is all me because he wakes up so early. So last night when one of the boys came in he took care of it. Plus...it has been forever since Cortney has been around in the morning. The boys barely know what to think. Rob asked Cort if they could go fishing at his work today...it will be interesting to see how we explain that it isn't daddy's work anymore.

We both are feeling totally calm now. (I am not just saying that either) I honestly can feel prayers working. As if Rob's sudden change in poop habits isn't proof enough.

Day 2

It has been amazing to read everyone's comments. It is funny how good it makes you feel. Like you have people...and they have your back. Cortney and I both woke up today (after a night of little sleep and tossing and turning...and just holding on tight to each other) feeling better. I didn't feel like I needed to throw up, I felt calm and ready to get things rolling. It is funny when bad things happen...you don't know how to get back going in your regular life. Someone knocked on our door the other night and left the "neighborhood phantom"...and I didn't know if I could just go back to normal life and make cookies so we could take it to the next people. But I did, and I feel a lot more normal now.

Oliver woke up this morning and said he didn't have to go to school today because daddy wasn't at work...and when dad isn't at work then it isn't a school day. It was nice to have Cortney here in the morning. It isn't something I usually have.

I have also had a crazy "so you lost your job miracle"...Robbie today just started pooping and peeing on the potty with out my help. (and trust me yesterday he was NO WHERE near potty training).

Cortney and his boss Brian managed like 5 other employees. And they were not laid off. But this morning when the owner's son came to do Cortney's job...not one employee showed up. Every single one of them quit. So down at the links the greens weren't mowed today...because no one from the landscape company knew how to do it. So that helps with the sting a little. I know I shouldn't want revenge...but it was so amazing to see the support that their crew gave them. The whole maintenance crew hung out today...newly unemployed and went golfing in Spanish Fork. It helped Cortney to get his mind off of things.

Thanks to everyone...I feel your support.

I am so thankful for our plethora of friends and family. Wow.

suddenly

I am not really sure where to start. Cortney got laid off (permanently) today...not only did he get the axe but also his boss and the main mechanic. The golf course owner thinks it would be a lot cheaper if he got rid of them and tried to do the job himself. I was reluctant whether or not I should even post about this but...heck this is the story of my life and you would think something this big would make the story. This all came so far out of left field...that I still feel like I can't breathe. Cortney and I are both reeling and don't even know where to start. I feel a little like this will most likely take us out of Utah though. We'll see. I know we will be okay. I am worrying about the little things, like keeping Oliver in school...it is kinda expensive...and we were already sacrificing for him to go. I know that should be the least of my worries but for some reason...that is the thing that makes my eyes well up. Cortney said we could tell him that school is almost over for the year. Hahaa. Cortney just said "well...I can get rid of a lot of clothes now that I am not working there (all of his multi-seasonal early morning coverall's and such)". I am sad for him. He loved his job...he put his blood sweat and tears into that place...for five years. It really was a labor of love. We have always had problems with the owner (ethics wise) but it was worth looking over. He says that he is sad because they are taking away his best friends....he loves loves loves the guys he works with.
The best part is they waited until the winter when they didn't need them as much any more...and also the winter is the hardest time for them to find work. What golf courses do you know that hire right before the slow season??

So now...I am sorry for the pity party. I write this because most people that read this love me and would want to know. Plus...if there is anyone out there that has any ideas or knows of any jobs around...let us know. Or maybe if there is someone out there that would like to buy a house in Orem Utah...hahahaa...no seriously.

I love my family. I am so sorry that Cortney has to go through this. But I know that everything will be okay. This isn't really anything in the grand scheme of things.

How beautiful...right?

Ahhh I can barely look at the logo on the flag without wanting to break someone's neck....breathe, Ashley, Breathe.

On another note. Today was my last dr's appointment. It went well. So strange for it all to be over. I was getting pretty teary eyed as I left the hospital. It was a big part of my life for the past two years. No pills for me to take tonight. I am down to four on Fridays. WISH ME LUCK!

Sheesh I am sorry this is depressing.

anxiety

Ahhh. Every time I have to go to the doctor, I am anxious about it for at least a week. I just dread it so much. Even tonight I can't sleep because I am nervous for some reason. It is so lame, I know. My first appointment I was so nervous that they had to wait to take my blood pressure and pulse because the first time it didn't read. Anyways....just thought I would put that out there. Tomorrow...is my last appointment. So because of that I have EXTRA anxiety. I have to turn in all of my meds and I am done. SO WEIRD. I have to get some x-rays and things like that...they want me to get an MRI on my shoulder. I don't know...I think those tubes will freak me out...I don't think I can sit in there for an hour. The MRI is optional...I don't think I will get it. Anyways. I am off to bed now, I know everything will be just fine...I hate that I have to get all worked up anyways.

my 80's dream come true

For the last long time (years) I have wanted a perm. Every time I tell people this they think I am crazy. But...having had really straight hair my whole life...I couldn't stop dreaming of one. So this last weekend...my wonderfully talented sister-in-law agreed to give me a perm. Hahaa. It was so funny buying a perm and telling people you are getting one...and then the smell. I think Nicole described the smell as sausage country gravy thrown up. We had a great (long poor nicole) night of eighties music...and eighties hair. It was funny. But we did it. So far I have only styled it a couple of times...and I am still getting used to it but I think I love it.

This is not me...hahaha...although it does kinda look like my sister Cali. But this picture was my inspiration. I was going for loose, messy wavy curls.

So I thought I would do a picture similar to the inspiration photo...this is funny I know that. Please don't think that I take myself that seriously. I know that I am not a model. Trust me. Because lets be honest I would give almost anything (except giving up delish food and actually having to excercise) to have arms that looked that skinny.
In these pictures I had just woken up and hadn't done anything to it but kinda comb through it. (I need a pick...hahaa isn't that what people with perm's use??)

We'll see how it turns out and how I get used to it. But today when I went out in the rain I didn't have to worry about my hair getting wet. The rain just made it curlier...before the rain was not my friend. So yeah for me, I finally got my wish of a perm.

Oh and by the way. I love conference. Today was awesome. I loved loved Elder Holland's talk. Today has been great. I slept in (we all did...the boys woke up at 9:00) and watched a wonderful session of conference. Then I met my Merrell girls and Cali at Mimi's Cafe and we talked and ate for two whole hours. We could have gone on all day but we all had to be back to watch the afternoon session. Ohhh man there is nothing like eating out with girlfriends, and getting to spend the day cozying up on the couch and listening to modern day scripture, while it rains outside0 (oh and with a new perm...hahaha).

Game Day

So it is another BYU game day.

We put up our flag...as we do on game day. My neighbor across the street puts up a Ute's flag so I feel like...now I really have to put up a Y flag.


I made some cookies for the party tonight. They turned out pretty dang cute...considering...I don't have an icing bag (not to mention a pretty short attention span).

Go COUGARS!

I used pioneer woman's recipe found here
They are so cute...and you paint the cookies before you bake them with tinted egg yolks.
So fun to do with the kids. I bought some halloween cookie cutters this week so we can make these again halloween style.


*****NEW NOTE*****
My friend Natalie mentioned in the comments that she doesn't use this recipe very often because it has raw egg whites in the frosting part. I had forgot this...so now that I remember a couple of notes on the frosting. I too thought the raw egg white was freaky so I left it out. And the recipe for the frosting uses a whole bag of powdered sugar. So that is obviously WAY WAY more then you need for these cookies. I just made my own recipe...I wasn't crazy about the one I used. Next time I will find a better recipe. But for now leave out the egg white and cut the frosting recipe AT LEAST in half.

pj's

So I stayed up pretty late last night reading....and because of that I slept in and woke up 20 minutes before Oli needed to be to school. As we were getting ready to leave he said;

"mom, are you going to wear your pajamas to school today?"

Me: "yeah, why?"

Oli: "well, I don't want people to see you in your pajamas"

Me: "Oli, no one will see me (I am saying this absolutely dumbfounded), I will stay in the car"

Oli: "well, yesterday you didn't. (stay in the car that is)"



What???? I hardly ever wear pj's to Oli's school...but I did yesterday and they were not the cute kind of pj's. Cortney's flannel pants and a bright green t-shirt. I can't believe that I embarrassed Oli. I can't believe that he even cares. What is that all about??

another reason

Oliver told me that a lot of kids have to go to time out in his preschool class because they cry for their mom. It has made me so grateful that I decided to wait to put him in kindergarten. So glad he is the oldest instead of the youngest. He is one of the only kids (if not the only one) who can go into the school by himself from where I drop him off at the curb....and as little as that is it changes my life. Because he can find his classroom by himself...I don't have to be dressed every morning. Not only that but before...I would have to find a place to park, and make sure that Rob was dressed and had shoes on. And Rob would always say "my stomach hurts" from having to walk too far and then I would have to carry him. So...I am just saying I feel good about it.