blank.

I have been drawing a blank these last couple of days. It could possibly be because I haven't left the house and nothing has happened. Usually though a million times a day I think..."oh I better put that on my blog".

Oliver did learn how to do a cartwheel today...which is actually more impressive then it looks (it is a very hard thing to catch on a crappy camera...I was using not our regular one). I tried to show him how they are done but...I couldn't do one. I am so scared to. When my RA was bad my wrists couldn't hold my weight and my mind won't believe they can now. So I had to just tell him how to do it. He lands on his feet and everything. As soon as the school year starts I am going to enroll him in gymnastics. When we first got married cortney could do a front flip just standing on the ground(I don't know if he still can...I doubt it...well maybe). I would always tease him and try to get him to try out for the Ricks College Cheer squad. Boys that do gymnastics are cool right??

After we did cartwheels Oli thought it would be cool to jump over this ball. Here he is in action.


It never ceases to amaze me how athletic my kids are. Oli can do anything. A couple of months ago, we were at the park and Joey was throwing some baseballs for Oli to hit with a wooden bat. He hit almost everyone and he hit them far too. I am SOOOOOO not athletic. Infact tonight we had family dance time. We always put on some great music and me and the boys dance, dance, dance. I do my crazy mom dancing...I am not trying to impress anyone. Tonight though Cortney thought it would be good to get some video footage. Oh my...I looked like I was 7 feet tall and so lanky. It took me back to my younger days when I was a total spaz. I wish I could post a still shot from the video. Maybe I will figure it out. If anyone saw it they wouldn't believe that athletic kids came from that.
Rob's surprise face. He does this all the time. At church on Sunday he didn't cry in nursery. Either Cortney and I have to go with him...but at least now he isn't bawling while sitting on our laps. During singing time they would ask..."should we sing the monkey song" and he would tense his whole body untill it was shaking and with his hands in fists scream "NO". Every song he did that on. Oh my oh my. At least he didn't punch any elderly people like he did last week. That was a relief. I see people that say..."we try to teach our kids not to hit...but to use their words, at our house". It just makes me sigh. I always want to say..."ohh...at our house we think that fighting is the answer." Of course I say nothing. He did find his match though...the smallest (and youngest) girl in nursery. He walked over to her and her mom said..."Careful she is pretty rough". She hit him right on the head like 3 times and he just stared at her in awe. I really think he has found his first love. I still felt really bad when he tried to kick her in the back. Hahaaa. No I make him sound like a terror. Well he does like to fight way more than Oli but Oliver was a first child. And he could totally talk by now so he didn't have communication problems. I just know that Rob is SPUNKY like me. I can live with that.

Well that is all. Justin's wedding is on Saturday. YEAH! After that Cali and I are going to Moses Lake for like ten or so days. I love Moses Lake in the summer. It is my happy place. Plus I had so many great summer times there growing up. I always spend a lot of time remembering that.

i wish

OIiver today made himself a wishing well. I went into the kitchen and he had a cup full of water and it was filled with coins. As I walked by I heard him say "I wish I was tall".

Last night Cortney and I went on a date. It has been FOREVER since we have gone out together...with no kids. We dropped off Oli and Rob at Cali's at 7:00 then we headed to Sandy. We had already gotten tickets to the 10:30 show of Harry Potter. I have never been up to Jordan Commons before. It was crazy there were soooo many people there. We put our names on the list to eat at The Mayan. I have never been there before...they have a diving show and people dressed like Mayan indians...and Jaguars and there are drums beating and bird noises. The restaurant smells kinda like a ride at disneyland...kinda like pirates of the carribean. We waited 1 hour to be seated. I couldn't believe it Cortney and I never wait at a restaurant to eat. We'd usually rather find somewhere else. But...heck we didn't have kids so waiting was kinda nice (besides the fact we were STARVING). As we sat there for that hour I just thought about the times we had before kids. And how much having kids changes everything. I don't think people realize how different having a kid is before you have one. I love having kids but it definetly makes moments such as this one (waiting in peace) few and far between. Of course the whole time we were eating we kept thinking...I wish the boys were here they would love this.

After waiting we were ready for our "adventure to begin", as they said when our table was ready. I was plesantly surprised. The restaurant is under new manangement...so I guess it is supposed to be way better than before. Since I haven't been before I don't know. Anyways...the salsa and chips were delish. I loved the little show. I also totally expected for the food to just be slopped on there like in most mexican restaurants. But our dishes were plated beautifully. It looked like fancy food.

After eating Cortney and I headed over to the Mega theater that is at Jordan Commons. It is pretty unbelievable how many theaters they have in there. They grossed the most money of any theater...harry potter only...on opening night. Anyways we watched the movie on the IMAX screen. It was awesome and we were both so excited for it to start. Cortney kept saying how he always hopes the movies never end and how much he loves Harry Potter. HAhaaha. I am sure he would appreciate me writing that. Anyways it was amazing. On such a huge screen such a great show. I kept telling myself...I am not going to blog about this I have been blogging too much. But...Oh it was good. I have only seen nature shows in IMAX. This was better. The last 30 minutes were in 3D which was awesome. We got out at 1:00 a.m. It was a great night.

i know

I know, I know too many posts in one day. Cortney hid behind the door in the bathroom and jumped out at me. I screamed the highest, loudest, longest and most embarassing scream one could do. I couldn't believe how girly it sounded.

We watched Cali's kids tonight. It was crazy because a truck hit the electricity pole (what are they called??) and the power was out for a couple of hours. So to entertain ourselves we put together some legos jack got for his birthday. I love legos. I seriously could build all day.

barney

Rob is really into barney right now. I sat by him as he watched it today and he watches intently the whole time. Like it was the most important show he'd ever seen. He's like me watching So You Think You Can Dance. (which by the way....oh I love...have I said it enough??)

Last night I went with KaeLynn and Cali to Angelique's bridal shower. I am so excited to get a new sister in law. It has been 10 years since we have had a new sis in law in the Earl family. She is our second. So it is very exciting. I really consider all my brother and sister in laws actual sisters and brothers. I hope she will feel that and feel welcomed. It was really good to see her around her friends. She seemed more comfortable and outgoing then I had ever seen her. We had a great time at the shower and of course we always stay the latest. 8 days untill the wedding. I can't believe it is so soon.

***Oliver lately has been wanting to go around with no shirt on. Today I asked him why.
ash: "why don't you have a shirt on??"
Oli: "because its cool"
ash: "what??"
oli: "I want to be like a rockstar."
ash: "Oliver...who have you seen that is cool that doesn't have a shirt on?"
oli: "Remember when we went to get bread bowls...dad didn't have his shirt on."
ash: "?????"

I don't know what he is talking about getting bread bowls and Cortney with no shirt on. He knows exactly what he means though. I wish I could see in his little head.

i smell something burning...

Three times now I have burnt something I was making on the stove top while blogging. I always think..."this has a while before it is ready to flip I will just go and check my email real quick". Sure enough I get sucked in and don't realize the passing of time. When...I start to smell something. Today I was making poached eggs for Robbie. Ohhh. I hate when I burn things. I never realized that blogging could be so dangerous.

luv

I really want to start doing something I luv. I don't really have anything that "I" do. By that I mean, something i do all by myself. Last week I read 7 books. This summer I have been reading. Probably 30 or more books. But I want something else. I wish I was someone that LOVED to run. Someone that didn't have a good day unless she got out of bed and ran for an hour. I wish. That will never happen. But for now I am looking into hobbies. Something I can love. What should it be?? Maybe I will start painting, or drawing again. I put off doing any thing artistic for the last 5 years because I didn't see the point. I thought my hands would be too crippled for it to be useless. But now that I have my hands back I want to do something. Sewing...maybe. I don't know. Why can't it be running. Then I could be oh so skinny and its free. I would though love to have something that I close the door and do, by myself.

happy birthday jack

Today was a long day! I usaually get to sleep in kinda late (usually I get up around 9 or so). My kids sleep in so I usually just get up when they do. But today Cali and I had a lot to do so I was up at 7:55 and she came and picked us up at 8:30. It is amazing how nice and cool it is in the morning. haahaa.

Today was my nephew Jack's birthday party. We had another Star Wars birthday party, although this time it was only about the good guys. Oli loves everyone on the dark side. I keep telling myself it doesn't mean anything but sometimes I wonder. Anyways, Cali's kids only like the good guys. So we got a whole bunch of decorations in blue and green. Plus Star Wars banners, cups, napkins you name it. The party was outside at a park and we just planned on decorating the pavillion to the nines. Jack really rates how awesome parties are by the decoratations. Anyways, the first stormy day in the past month rolls in and our decorations were flying everywhere. I am not kidding it was SOOOO windy. Ohwell. The kids still had a great time.
Here he is...Jack...5 years old.
Joey played games with the kids forever. He had all sorts of things planned out. It was really cute watching him with them.
Here all the kids are running to the base (the tree)...some how Eliza missed out when they were saying what the base was. She is still having tons of fun though.
My Oli running. When we spend the day at Cali's house, he changes into their "cool" sports clothes. He changes as many times as he can because he wants to wear it all. Sometimes I worry, he totally has an idea about what is "cool" and loves clothes. He is going to drive me nuts when he is a teenager. I guess though I will know how he feels (since I always had to fish my clothes out of the trash after my parents threw them out).This picture is from last week. Poor Cortney he is always sooo tired. From where I was sitting in my Lazyboy reading I could just see all three of their round little heads. I had to have a picture.

huge blessing

i wrote earlier that cortney got a $1,000 ticket for having idaho registration still. i was so stressed out at first and after a lot of praying i was finally comforted. yesterday though cortney had his court date. he got all dressed up and went way early. when it came to his turn. he went up there told the judge he was "guilty" and told him the car was now registered in utah. the judge dropped the fine from $1,000 to $27 dollars. ohhhhh what a huge blessing. i am so happy.

just a cute picture of Robbie falling down a hill. We were all in salt lake city because Cortney was taking family photos for someone.

caught red handed

ohhh. I had one of those days. Those days when something happens and you can't believe it was your kid that did it. Cali and I went all over town today. We have to get our kids outfitted for Justin and Angelique's wedding. They are supposed to wear black and white...good luck finding that though in the middle of summer. So anyways. We went to burlington coat factory where they had all sorts of guido looking suits and other assorted (mostly with a gangsta pin strip) sunday clothes. We had the kids try on a million things and then as we were going to leave. Tyson and Oli were acting weird. They were trying to go to the car without us. I didn't think too much about it, especially since I was busy trying on sunglasses. But once we got out to the car, ty and oli had something they hadn't paid for. They both "snuck" out old spongebob easter eggs filled with candy. Tyson put his up his sleeve and Oli had his in his pocket. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that he would STEAL on purpose. They both seemed pretty sorry for what they had done. It would have been awesome if the alarm would have gone off. Haahaa.

collection

So...Oliver has always been someone who collects things. Pacifiers, golf clubs, he has had all sorts of collections. Now he has decided to collect money. Now I can get him to to ANYTHING for a dime. It is awesome. He cleaned almost the whole house today for a dime. I have never ever seen him hurry so fast. It was awesome. He also ate all of his dinner for me to find his "collection" (he keeps it in a ziplock bag and loses it once an hour). I tried to tell him that everyone collects money but he didn't get it. He also doesn't get that a dime doesn't really buy much.

ohhh also last night at 1:48 a.m. Robbie woke up. He sleeps downstairs but I can hear him plain as day over the monitor. Anyways. He didn't cry at all but he sang and sang so beautifully for about 10 minutes and then went back to sleep. Ohhh I love that. He loves to sing (he can't talk at all so his singing isn't anysong youv'e ever heard). He gets this real serious singing face on. He looks just like my dad singing a Beatles song on our Karaoke machine. I love it. I hope he will always sing even when he is big.

callie's cafe.

One of my favorite places to eat here is Callie's Cafe. OHHH I love it. We went there tonight for dinner. We took the kids which was a bad idea. My Oli used to be so good when he was younger but they kept crawling over the table, throwing stuff on the floor, and trying to get out of our booth.

Callie's Cafe is a total greasy spoon. A place where everyone has mullets. But the food is oh so good. They have something called "Killer's" which is basically hashbrowns topped with green peppers, onions, mushrooms, cheese, bacon, ham, sausage, and country gravy. Ohhhhh. We always order that and pancakes. So tonight we got a double bonus. Bonus 1 killer's, bonus 2 Karaoke night. That's right Karaoke night. I love Karaoke. I wanted to sing so bad (there was probably a total of 8 people in there) but I knew my kids would be going crazy and I would have to stay up there and sing for 3 minutes. I am so getting a babysitter for next Saturday night so I can go and sing my heart out. Two guys sang before we left. The both sang country songs. They looked like regulars. Usually friday is Open mic night. But the guy that ran it was sick. Saturday...the place to be, Callie's.
Cortney loves to take pictures...he of course never has time. He took his camera down to work so he could take some this morning. I would love to blow this up huge and put it on my wall.

so excited

Cortney and I are going in November on a Book of Mormon tour. My mom and dad go all the time, and they want all of their kids to go at some point. It is going to be 16 days long. We will be traveling all throughout Mexico and Guatamala. NO KIDS. I can't wait. I just booked the airline tickets, and it has gotten me so excited. I love to travel. I cannot wait. Cali and Joey have already gone...so has Justin. Both of them travel all the time. They have been all over the world and they said this is a trip of a lifetime. Awesome company...Really nice hotels. Mom and Dad and Justin and Angelique will be on this tour with us. I wish it were tomorrow.

july 4th

Well, we are back from camping. We actually got home today at 10:30 a.m.I wanted to post this picture because shane planned our whole campout and didn't make any of the pictures on my site or on his. Good job Shane. Thanks for going up early and getting us a spot.

We rode up in Cortney's Samurai which was an adventure all in itself. His jeep has no doors and no top, poor little Robbie was getting so wind blown. Once we got into American Fork canyon though it was shady and so beautiful. Rob kept yelling because he was so excited. It is amazing how much a part of nature you feel when you are driving in a jeep with no top (I was going to just write with no top on...but that would be obscene). I loved driving up there. I love Cort's samurai. We got to our camping spot around 7:00 and I immediatly started getting dinner going. Cooking while camping...or should I say eating while camping is MY favorite part. I love eating something delicious while being outdoors. I don't know why. We had dutch oven potatoes and BBQ baby back ribs. Yum. We were joined by my sister Cali and Joey and their 4 kids, our friend shane (supercords), his sister and brother in law and Celeste and Darren and kids (Celly and D only came for dinner...they weren't up for the sleeping part...I think they might have been the smart ones). It was so fun and perfect weather...the kids were running around and playing all over the place. The down sides were that we were right off a pretty busy road and it was sooooo dusty. Rob kept trying to go up to the road and I was so worried he was going to get run over. Also there was a beautiful river running through camp. This was a plus and a minus. It was scary because obviously a kid could drown. It was a plus because since it was so dusty it made for a nice place to get cleaned up...also it was a great noise blocker for when we were sleeping.

After dinner (i am trying to do more paragraphs...my friend shane said I needed more paragraphs...I think when I don't use paragraphs it is more the way I would actually tell the story...with no pauses or breaks) we just sat around and talked it was really nice. Then came the interesting part. Cali and I and our kids and husbands all slept in the same tent. I have a huge tent and I figured it would be better than setting up two. So we had 6 kids and 4 adults. Not only that but Cali and I slept on Cots and the two babies slept in porta cribs. It really was a sight. (i will post pictures but I will have to do it tomorrow because only Cali took a camera). We started but first putting baby Grace to bed. After about an hour we snuck the boys (oli ty and jack) in to sleep. They surprisingly went to bed super fast. We tried to put Rob and Carolina to bed at the same time but took them out after a couple of minutes because they just kept jumping on the boys that were trying to sleep. At around ten Carolina said she wanted to go to bed so we took them in and this time they stayed. YEAH. So the adults had about 40 minutes of time where there were no kids bothering us. By this time we were out of firewood. (somehow we overlooked assigning someone to bring firewood oops) So we just went to bed.

Of course that is the part that always becomes interesting...going to bed. I love camping so much I just don't love the sleeping part. Right after we came in Jack started throwing up. Yep, throwing up. Cali luckily had some plastic bags (moms are somehow prepared for their kids throwing up) and he did't wake anyone up while he was sick. Besides Jack the kids slept great. Baby grace didn't wake up once. It was awesome. Poor Cortney got sick in the night and he kept having to leave the tent and run down the road to "take care of business". I felt so bad for him. We woke up at 8:00 Oli was screaming he was going to pee in his sleeping bag (which was funny because he was in Cortney's super expensive Sierra Designs bag and I specifically said I had to have someone sleep in it who wouldn't pee. Oli never pees.) Anyways I scrambled as fast as I could to put on pants and get him outside to go before he woke up the whole tent. Luckily he didn't wet the sleeping bag and we made it okay...we did however wake everyone up.

Breakfast was cereal, the kind that come in their own tinsy boxes. I wanted to make scones or something like that but there were no fires allowed on the 4th. So that was it we left as soon as we finished. Cars were coming up the canyon non stop all morning so we knew we had to get out of there before it got too crowded. We made it home by 10:30.

Was our 15 hours of camping worth it?? I don't know. It is so much work getting everything gathered up to go. And of course washed when you get home. The kids had a blast though. So I think that makes it worth it. I had fun too. I would have liked to stay another night but being the 4th of July it was just too crowded. But it is nice to have such beautiful mountains so close to our home. Plus we have tons of pictures so someday the kids will look at them and think, "yeah, my parents always took us camping."


After we got all unpacked and cleaned up. I put Robbie down and Cortney and I took a nap. I think that is one of the things I miss the most about not having kids. NAPS. I never ever ever get a nap now. And for Cortney and I to take one at the same time is unheard of. Usually it is me letting him sleep or vice a versa. I always hear couples without kids talking about their naps and I always think "I hope they realize how lucky they are". Cortney and I used to take a nap every time we had a day off together. Yeah...I miss napping. Now when my kids are sleeping I have so many other things to do that I don't even want to nap. I just want to enjoy not having someone hanging on me.

Then tonight we headed over to the knowles for a 4th of July BBQ. I love their parties. The kids swam and I just sat and ate and ate and ate. Yum. Cortney threw his back out or something like that (he doesn't really know because that has never happened to him) getting Rob out of the pool. We ended the night with a bunch of fireworks (that we didn't pay for which makes them even more awesome). It was a great night. I have to say since it is the 4th. I LOVE AMERICA. I don't know if it is because I have lived in another country, but I try to never take my freedom for granted. People always complain about paying taxes and such but I don't know if they would if they had lived in Peru for a time.

So shane...enough paragraphs for you. For me it feels weird. I like how one big block looks. I know, it isn't correct to write without paragraphs.

Pictures coming tomorrow I promise.

Here is Cortney and Oli in the samurai, the kids love going for rides with Cortney. I don't really. I always think we are going to crash...or tip over or break down. I need to learn to trust him, he is a really good driver. But I can't help it. He mostly goes without me. hahhaa OH also the smoke in the air is all of the dust. It was REALLY dusty at this campsite.

Rob and Carolina at dinner...they were the dirtiest by far. What could be better than a bottle and a hotdog. Oh and a little camp chair. Yeah yeah I know he is too old for a bottle.
Celly (with weston), Jack, Joey, Me and Rob.
Here Robbie and I are sleeping. Well...I am actually just closing my eyes, but Rob was actually sleeping. The 3 little boys slept in the entry room of the tent. It was just perfect size for them. They didn't wake up at all. (well of course except for Jack's throw up times...there were 4 I think)
Our boys are such good friends. I am so greatful that Oli and Rob are able to have cousins near by. I loved loved loved growing up with cousins as my best friends. This picture was taken in the morning.
Cort and I
Gracie having her morning bottle.
Here Carolina is crying because her bottle was too cold. Joey is trying to explain that this is a camp baba and that it is supposed to be cold.
Cali and Joey slept just across from us. It was awesome.

camping...

we are leaving camping. It is the first time we have tried with Rob. I will update when I get back...which will be tomorrow we aren't brave enough to try more than one night.

favorite things

one of my favorite things is when my kids learn to cover themselves up with a blanket. when rob wakes up in the morning i always make him breakfast real fast before i get him out of bed, because he is always frantic for breakfast. So it is really hard for him to wait for it to cool. anyways...so by the time i got down there today he was just curled up under his blanket. He looks so cozy. Usually he is just on top of the covers but when kids learn to cover themselves that is the best.

...

I love to journal. Writing (well in this case typing) my thoughts down always makes me feel better. It is really weird for me now that my journal is something everyone reads and can judge me by. I am not a good writer. I never have been. I was always in honors english and the essays were something that never came easy to me (I honestly don't know what I was doing in advanced english, but somehow I always got good grades). I once won an essay contest "3 things I can do to make America better" I got to eat a weird dinner at the smoke filled VFW for winning. I think I even got 50 dollars. The thing was though that my sister Cali helped me out. She's the writer, she can write wonderful stories. I always tease her that she is such a good writer...but it is true. I once read a story she wrote about us moving to Peru' for my talk in church. Tons of people said I should submit it to The New Era...yikes I never told them it was her story (cut me some slack I was like 12 years old). She should be the one that has a blog. She won't (although she has 4 little kids so I don't know if she would have time anyways). I started this blog and for 1 year I didn't get 1 comment...I didn't even tell anyone I had a blog. Whenever I feel weird I want to write about it...or sad...or happy. I always have had a journal...I have soo many pages of journal entries from my teenage years. I always thought I was "going to die" that is how dramatic things were for me. Anyways I am losing my train of thought...now here it is my journal. I really try not to edit what I write. I try to write things how they are, the good and the bad. But I still what my mom to think my blog is the "best ever" (hahaaa...no I know it isn't a competition). Maybe I am thinking about it too much. But I think I would like one of those DIARIES that have a lock on them. A place for only me. Does that make sense. I love having people read what is going on in my life. And I love reading what is going on in others. I love the sense of knowing my highschool friends kids names and what they are up to. It feels like that is how life should be. I should know these people and what they are doing. But sometimes...I feel like I just need a place to write to just me. I guess that is what all my inner dialogue is for...and let me tell you I HAVE ALOT. I don't think it is normal for me to talk to myself as much as I do. I feel like J.D. on scrubs. (yeah I know I watch too much TV) Thinking about it more...I don't know if a diary with a lock would do any good anyways. Those things that said...for so and so's eyes only...that never worked. People always find a way to look in people's diarys. I would hide mine under my mattress (reaal original...I know) in highschool and still it would be read by probably everyone in my family that still lived at home. I think that if you don't want people to read it don't write it. There were always those things I wrote down when I was little that I would want to burn a month later. So maybe this is better. Maybe my deepest thoughts are meant to be just that. Anyways enough venting...

Today Oliver kept saying "Now I am missing out on all the fun!" when we had to go home from Cali's house. He is so old.

Rob also has started kissing me again. I just acted cool...like I didn't care...like I wasn't so desperate for his love. And just like that he loved me again. He is the king of ignoring. I feel so sorry for his girlfriends someday.

We had a nice day today...Sam was in town with the twins. Everytime I see her I can't believe that she is a mom of two babies. Yikes...(oh man I think I said yikes in this blog twice...that isn't good) it must be so hard being her. She is amazing. I went with Justin to Costco to print out the wedding announcement pictures. It was so weird being gone all day without my kids. Seriously...especially at costco where they are always freaking out on me and screaming "SAMPLES". Justin and I ordered every food item (except the salad) Costco serves in their deli and we sat and shared. We have the exact same taste in food. It is crazy how just being brother and sister makes us want ketchup only on our hotdog. It is great having family around. I am greatful for that.

I also wanted to write that for 4 days now I have been off of my steroids. Off completely. That is a big deal for me. I started on them a year ago this week. It is really hard to be on them. It is funny because one of the main reasons you can't be on them long term is "early onset osteoperosis" is one of the side effects, also a cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma was found in some patients...honestly there were others I was WAY more worried about:
headache,difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, inappropriate happiness (that one doesn't sound too bad), extreme changes in mood, changes in personality(that could be interesting...a roll of the dice I guess), BULGING EYES (hello worst ever), acne, thin, fragile skin, red or purple blotches or lines under the skin, slowed healing of cuts and bruises, increased hair growth (by this they mean facial hair), changes in the way fat is spread around the body, extreme tiredness, weak muscles, BUFFALO HUMP (that is my FAVORITE....described as a fat pad that is caused by too much cortisone in your system. It occurs at the base of the neck between the shoulder blades...come on really now...A buffalo hump....no that is the worst ever), heartburn, increased sweating (really can't we catch a break), and last but not least, swelling of the eyes, face, lips, tongue, throat, arms, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs.

I am SOOOOOOOO excited to be off this stuff. I have been so lucky and didn't suffer from any of those things. It would be kinda awesome if I could go to my 10 year High school reunion with, acne, facial hair, and A BUFFALO HUMP though. In all seriousness though I am really lucky...I see people all the time at my rheumatologist office have a really round face...they call it moon face...it looks like someone got stung by a bee and their face swelled up. I was supposed to "stay away" from carbs and salt while I was on this. WHOOOPS. I am greatful now though to be off of it. Yeah for me. It is a big milestone.

huh?

I don't even know what to title this blog entry. For the last 4 days my little guy R.O.B. (I always spell it l ike that because he is Robert Owen Boice....kinda like G.O.B. on arrested development) anyways that was way of the subject. I meant to say that for the last 4 days Rob won't kiss me. Now....I am not that touchy of a person by nature. I was born with a strong sense of personal space. And because of that both of my children so far were born "not touchy" I don't know how else to describe it. When they are babies they never let me cuddle them. Then they get a little older and learn that it is the nice thing to do to hug and kiss and stuff like that. Rob though all of the sudden won't give me the million kisses a day that I have grown accustomed to. Sigh....I don't know why. Maybe he is just playing hard to get...he does that. But every time I tell him I need a kiss he just ignores me or closes his eyes or runs away. I am trying to not take it personally. He was born that way. But it is hard. I hope it is something he gets over.

babies

So...I want a big family. I don't know what "big" means but I know for right now I am nowhere near done. I know being a mormon stay at home mom people are always wondering...."I wonder when she is going to get pregnant?....Do you think they are done?" and other such questions. I have Rheumatioid arthritis as most know...it is not a good thing to have. Very sad disease. Right now though I am doing awesome...I feel almost no symptoms thanks to the study I am in at the University of Utah. I had an appointment yesterday. It always makes me so happy. Anyways I had to sign that I wouldn't get pregnant for two years while in the study. I was soooo sick before I started the study that I didn't know if I could have anymore kids anyways. So it is definatly worth it. The drugs that I am on (I take 9-11 pills a day plus two shots a week) are too dangerous for pregnant women. It has been nice to have a break....and not feel guilty about it. But today for the first time (mainly because my baby is getting old he is almost 20 months) I thought....I really want another baby. I still have over a year before I can get pregnant. It is good for me though. I was so bad before that at least now my kids get an awesome mom rather than a mom that can't do anything. I feel as if I am falling behind. I still have plenty of time. I know that. I can still have my "big" family. This picture is funny. I LOVE hospital food. This is moments after I had my ROB. I pushed him out as fast as I could because I wanted to insure I got to eat lunch. I love how happy I look in this picture. I love being in the hospital. For me it is one of the best parts about having a new baby...along with of course having a new baby.
Here is Rob in all his glory. It is amazing how kids come out just how they really are. He was El Divo as Cali and I called him and he still is today. Cortney and I have the cutest babies. I think the other best part of having a baby is seeing what they look like. I love that. So that is it...I will have another one Septhember 2009 at the earliest. And to all of you wondering...no we aren't done.

cortney

cortney is threatning to get his "own" blog. He kept wanting me to put on a picture of a fish he caught with a spear gun, but I didn't. Lazy me.... Anyways this entry is dedicated to him and the things he loves.
Cortney's number one thing he loves is ME.
I guess this blog IS about things he loves. When I was marrying him my friend Jenn told me "You are going to have to come to terms with the fact that he will always love the outdoors more than you" I think it might have been true for a while too. But now I know...I am number one...or maybe a three way tie...me, the kids and the outdoors. No, I am number one.

Number 2
Our kids. I love having kids with Cort. I think it is the best thing we have done together so far.
When I was at girls camp Cortney was the best Mr. Mom. Here are the kids when he took them to Cabela's. It rained super hard on this day so he didn't have to work. How fun for them. It was his first time watching them overnight. Cali said he would have them dressed so nice every morning. They would both have shoes on and socks. Which is more than I usually do.

Number 3
Snowboarding...he loves it...enough said.
Here is Cortney doing a road gap. He jumped from one side of the road to the other right over that tahoe. I don't know if you can see him in this picture or see how big of a jump it is but it scared the living daylights out of me. I am never around him when he is snowboarding and actually doing tricks. When we go together he just goes slow so I can keep up. We were at a friends cabin and they built this and I was the one taking the picture. I was seriously having a heart attack the whole time I was waiting for him to come down the hill. I didn't like it. It was a cool picture though.
Here is a picture of him doing some trick he photoshoped the whole trick in the picture. That is why you see him three times. Haahahaa do I need to explain that...I am not sure.
Here is the picture he is famous (in Rexburg...hahaaa) for. Every couple of years it is in the newspaper there. This was before we were married. I would be ticked if he tried that today. I do love the picture and he does too. It reminds him that he used to be quite the dare devil. Now though he is pretty conservative, 2 kids does that to a person I guess.

Number 4...
I asked him and he doesn't know. He loves so many things. I think if he had friends here that kayaked or biked it would be one of those things. Now he spends his time fishing...golfing...thinking about his samurai...and of course working.

Today he got to go up in a helicopter to take pictures of the golf course. He loves taking pictures. And he really loves his job. Here is a picture from the helicopter.
Cortney has been working at this golf course since the first seed of grass was planted. He loves this place. It is his baby. He and his friend Brian are in charge of all the grounds at Sleepy Ridge. It is the most beautiful place. Everytime I go down there I am so proud of him.
I feel so glad that Cortney loves his job. That doesn't happen all the time so we are lucky. It is great for him to be able to see all his hard work pay off when the course looks so beautiful. Plus...he gets to see the sunrise every morning (well maybe that isn't much of a plus).

Here is the picture he wanted me to post. He caught this fish with a spear gun. I am sorry to any animal activists. There are so many of these fish at the golf course that they have to get rid of a lot of them anyways. He really is an animal lover. But look at his face he is oh so happy. He goes fishing almost everyday at lunch. They have a little canoe with a trolling motor on it. You might also notice the funny thing around his neck. I am always so worried about him being too hot. So I bought him a neck cooler, hahaa...it is filled with gel crystals that soak up water and as the water evaporates it keeps you cool. He looked like he was from the village people when he wore it for the first time. I love it.

rice krispies

I love to cook. I am good too. Hahaaa. I don't bake very often though. I am not one of those people that has a cookie jar full of goodies. Today I realized why. On Saturday I stopped by target and I was starving. I bought every kind of chocolate chip I could...thinking...I am going to start making more cookies. I also loaded up my cart with rice krispies and marshmallows. Today my children and I (mostly I) ate a whole batch of rice krispie treats. I fed them dinner and lunch but in between it was just a million rice krispie treats. I would try to sneak one so they wouldn't see me eating because I knew I would have to share...but I swear R.O.B. can smell food a mile away. So that is why I don't make treats. I don't need us eating dessert all day long. Especially when buttered bread is what I eat for breakfast lunch and dinner. No sir I don't need dessert.

I am having a very weird day. I don't know exactly why but it has been weird. Maybe it is because Cali and I didn't get together. And it was just me and Rob while Oli was at summer camp. Which by the way I loved....Rob is the best one on one. He is so funny. I can't wait until he can talk. He has lots to say I can tell already. Weird day. Cortney is sick. We have been passing the stomach flu around here. It is horrible because we love having fun and we can't resist being with our friends and family so in turn everyone gets sick. So Cort was home today. Oliver said "mom, Cort is a girls name." I told him to tell his daddy that. He said "I heard him tell Byron (Our funny old neighbor) that Cort was a girls name". Cort said that to Byron almost a year ago. Oliver has the best memory. So because Cort was home we tried to play outside so the kids wouldn't bother him. When he is home all they want to do is fight him and Rob kept trying to body slam him right in the stomach. So our yard is the BEST. We have 3 huge trees so our yard is shaded the whole day. I just layed in the back and read. My kids played in the baby pool and drove Oli's four wheeler around me. Rob loves to drive it but he doesn't understand that he is the one controlling it. Sometimes if he holds it just right he will go around in circles, and he will do it forever. Our grass will die I am sure from the circle he made today. He was going for like 15 minutes straight. He ran my leg over...ran my book over...and ran into the house a number of times. HE LOVES IT. It was fun playing outside. Rob put two towels in the pool. He would put it in the pool and then cry because it was too heavy for him to carry. I would run in and get anther one...for the whole thing to be repeated. They would come and lay their little wet bodies on me or try to snuggle me so by the time we went in I was just as wet as they were. I did finish my book. I love reading. Well that is all. Now it is time for me to clean up. It doesn't matter how much I clean how many hours it takes. My kids can have the whole house messy in the 5 minutes it takes for me to roll out of bed in the morning. I swear that is the most annoying thing as a mom. I just want my house to be clean.

new bunks

I went to IKEA for the first time on Saturday with my Mom and sister. It was AMAZING!! Wow. I even had the stomach flu while I was there and it was still awesome. My boys are soon going to be sharing a room so I have been looking for bunk beds everywhere. I really wanted a small one. The bedrooms in our house are small I didn't want the bed overwhelming the room. So my Mom had seen this bed before at IKEA and bought it for us. IT IS PERFECT. I love that it isn't very far for them to fall when they do (it is inevitable, they will fall I am sure). Also the bed on the bottom goes on the floor. I think it is so cozy and will make a great fort. Plus I won't have to worry about R.O.B. rolling off in his sleep. You may notice in the pictures that there is no mattress on the bottom. We went to get them from their spot at IKEA and the man in front of us grabbed the last two. Just another excuse for me to go back. Yeah! Oli with a pixie stick and his bed. (he watched a little movie in his bed fort today)
Posing like he is going to bed.

Oli's 4th b-day

A long long time ago in a galaxy far away (well actually one block down the road) a little jedi was born. Hahaa Oli had his 4th birthday party today. His actual birthday is on Sunday but since we can't have a sweet party on Sunday we celebrated today. He of course had a DARTH VADER theme.
I LOOOOOVED these masks is there anything funnier than a baby in a darth mask? I don't think so. I only invited Oli's cousins that live here. It is still a lot of kids. Brooklyn, Tyson, Zac, Jack, (front row) Oli, Rob, Carolina, and Eliza...she doesn't have a mask on TOO scared. We told her she could be princess Leia.
Oliver got up this morning and had to dress in all black. He wanted to look like he was darth. (that is why he isn't dressed super cute for his party)
We started the night of as most good parties should, with a dance contest. I of course downloaded a whole bunch of star wars music and weird al star wars parodies for party music. Here is Rob going crazy. I love jack in the backround, he is REALLY dancing.
My nephew Zac doing some impressive ground work.
Some of the adults laughing.

After dancing we played..."Obi-Wan says" followed by "Yoda may I" then we were on to present opening, by far Oli's favorite part of the night.
Legos...the perfect gift I love them. From Cali's family.
Opening a book and flashlight from my grandma.
Cortney and I bought Oli a power wheel back in February it was on major clearance at Costco (more than half off) it has been so hard to not give it to him. It has just been sitting down stairs. I thought it was too big a thing to just get for no reason. The only down side of course is it is a Dora one so it looks a little girly but hey...it goes 5 mph. It should be fun. ANyways in this picture I am trying to get his reaction as Cortney brought it in. The only thing was he had no reaction. He just stared at it in disbelief. It was funny.
Here he looks a little happier though.

I decorated the house with red and black crate paper. The only problem was the kids are so short I don't have 1 picture of the decorations. Ohhhhhh. I am so sad. The whole ceiling was covered. We also had a million red balloons everywhere. Oh well.
I made really cute cupcakes but just like the decorations...no pictures. Here you can see though, they were dark brown (as close as I could get to black frosting) then I bought some little space ships and put one on each cupcake. (you can see the ship in Oli's hand) Each kid had a different one and they kept asking me which were good ships and which were bad.
We got some sparkler candles. I had some cute pictures of Oli trying to blow them out...but I LOVE Rob in the back round of these acting so surprised.
and of course messy rob. He loved the party. I thought he looked like Don ROberto from spain with this beard.

It was a great day. Birthdays are sooooo overated. Oli thought it was awesome though. I am listing what he got because this is my journal and I love to read what I got at birthday's or Christmas and my dad wrote it down sometimes. I am not writing it down to brag to you all. If that is bragging....I don't know.

From Cali and Joe and kids...Lego Bucket.
From Mike D...Nerf gun.
From KaeLynn and Jason (Jason bought this...I thought it was so cute and considerate)....Nerf dart gun, and Nerf basket ball hoop (the kind that go on doors)
From Grandma Connie...a tee ball mit and a base ball (plus church shirts, jersey shorts...and tons of other things)
From Aha...A cute Noah's Ark book with action figures, and a flashlight. Oli loves flashlights.
From mom and dad....dora power wheel.

Man, I tried not to invite friends just family. We are a huge family. I fed sloppy Joes and Rootbeer floats to 18 people.

spelling

okay everyone....it is no secret I am a horrible speller. I just have no attention span for spelling. So as I type these I always misspell things, and since I have a mac instead of a pc the only option of posting that I have is in HTML. SOOOOO when I put on pictures I can't spell check. It thinks the picture code is a whole bunch of misspelled words. Two words I have the most problems with are definitely and delicious (I had to look those up online to put them in right). No matter how hard I try I cannot spell those words. I always try to sing the fergie song in my head to get the spelling of delicious but i still can't. I always want to put delicious down...but instead I have to replace it with YUMMY which isn't the word I use to describe good food. When I was 13, I was in a spelling bee. I was one of the first ones out. My cousin Alex who is in the special ed class was in longer than I was. Sigh. So there you are, I am a bad speller. I was always more of a math girl.

eight years

Cortney and I have been married 8 years today. WOW. That seems like forever, but it has gone by so fast. You would think after 8 years together we would have a picture of us without kids. I don't have a scanner and we got a digital camera after Oli was born. So of the files I have to put on the blog that are in our computer here we are...in mazatlan...with Oli. (hey at least we are both in the picture)


I have made it my goal now to always get a shot of just Cortney and I. I know Cali has some on her camera just like I have plenty of pictures of her and Joey. Anyways...

As I woke up this morning my wedding day 8 years ago. I immediatly thought of 4 of my best girlfriends. On the night before my wedding I shared the queen bed with Missy Heslop and Laura Hardy. Amber and Tiffany Merrell slept on the floor. They spent the night for the last time as girlfriends and roomates that night. Ohh I love them. It was so nice to have them there. None of them were married yet so they weren't at the wedding but they helped me get ready and were waiting outside. I don't know why I thought of my best girlfriends as I woke up this morning I just did. Cortney and I were married at 11:47. My Grandpa Earl always used to watch for the exact time that people were sealed. My mom said she had never seen me that happy.

I don't really know what to say. I was so young when I got married. I feel so greatful and blessed (not to mention lucky...I was only 19, did I know what I was doing???) that I married Cortney. He is a perfect match for me. Since we did marry so young we were able to go 4 years before we had children. I am also greatful for that time that we got. We did so many fun and crazy things in those times. I also will say I am greatful for Cortney...for who he is. He LOVES me so much. I am not bragging...it is just the truth and it is a wonderful quality that he has. It doesn't matter how I look or what I do he still is head over heels for me. He has never yelled at me. Not when I backed into his car, not when I am acting grumpy...never. I feel so safe with him. I am also so greatful for the opportunity to have a family with him. What could be better than being surrounded by little boys that look and act like the love of your life???

So that is it...it has been 8 years. We have done so much and he is still my best friend. I am pretty proud of us for being such a great couple. Hahahaa. I don't know how that sounds but it is the truth.