Do YOU know where your children are???

Well, apparently I don't! My nephew Parker just informed me that my children are on You Tube!....Whaaaaat? Yes, I thought I knew where they were. They were just outside playing with the neighbor kids, right? Right. Except I didn't know that our 15 year old neighbor was filming their shenanigans and posting it on you tube. I was a little freaked out at first, but I think it's all good now. We had a nice long talk about what is appropriate and what's not, peer pressure, CTR, and all that good stuff. Not that we haven't had this talk before, but it's always good to reinforce!

p.s. They are not on until almost the end, so fast forward, it's a little boring. ......Those crazy kids!

This is NEVER good!

This ad made me laugh today. And believe me, I needed a good laugh...one of those days! Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks!

Yesterday was the boy's last day of school. I can't believe it's summertime already. It was so nice not to have to wake up at the butt-crack of dawn today! Anyway, to celebrate this momentous occasion, we decided to crash the K. pack's pool (they're gone to Disney World). The Martin and Boover families joined us and we had a fabulous time! I thought I would make it a little easier on myself and put Ava down for a nap at Mom's house. But I soon realized it was Emma that I should have left behind. Ummmm....that kid was a beast to keep track of. She has absolutely NO fear of the pool. Em, Jen, the boys, and I were nervous wrecks the whole time. I think next time I might just let her fall in, instead of running to the rescue every two minutes. Maybe she needs to see that she should be a little afraid. I don't know...any suggestions?

Tonight David and I took the boys to see the new Indiana Jones movie. The movie was really good, but some of the angles of it were a little much for me (too much E.T., if you know what I mean). But, the boys loved it. They especially loved staying up so late. For those of you who don't know, I'm a bit of a nazi when it comes to bedtime. I'm sorry, but that is MY time. The only time all day long that I get to do what I want or need to do with out anyone talking to me or touching me or fighting, screaming, crying, etc.! All in all we had a great time. Most of all we just enjoyed being together. The boys are getting to an age where we can actually take them out in public and enjoy ourselves...what a milestone! And what a great way to start off our summer break!!

Piano Recital

I must say I am very proud of my boys! It has been a bumpy road at times, but well worth it. There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth, yet in the end they're both so glad they didn't quit. I was worried that they wouldn't want to take lessons next year, but they've both told me they want to keep going...YAH! Matthew played "March of Victory", and also did a duet with Grandma, "Follow the Prophet". John played "Ode to Joy" and "Banjo Picker" was his duet with Grandma. They made this Mama proud! John's class at school had a talent show today. He was emphatic that he WOULD NOT participate. But when he got home this afternoon he proudly informed me that he did share his talent. Another girl in his class brought a keyboard, so he borrowed it and played both of his recital pieces from memory. Wow, was I shocked! What a brave thing to do. It's one thing to perform at a recital, but quite another to get up in front of your friends at school. What can I say...another proud moment! And lastly, no event would be complete without Emma trying to upstage everyone and steal the show. As her brothers and cousins got up to play their pieces, she would yell over and over, "Mannie's turn Mannie's turn(Maddie); "Caronine's turn Caronine's turn"(caroline); "Mattmoo's turn Mattmoo's turn"(matthew); "Johnny's turn Johnny's turn"(john). Yes, she is rotten, but oh so funny!

Freedom of "Speech"

As you can see in these pictures, Emma is her own woman. She definitely has her own way of doing and saying things. In fact, right now she sits on the couch wearinga red crushed velvet Dora the Explorer christmas dress trimmed at the collar and sleeves with white fur and pink striped pajama pants. I would post a picture of this, but Emma threw away my memory card last week. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Recently I've noticed that she leaves the prefix of numerous words off. For example: "kinkle = twinkle", "ittle = little", "ar = star", and my personal favoite "ass = grass" ("mommy, me pay outside ass"). Let's just hope we won't need to say the word "grass" out in public anytime soon! Here's one more funny before I go. Last week at naptime we were singing I am a Child of God. Emma loves this song and knows the first 3 verses by heart. At one point I stopped singing and heard her singing, "I am a child of God, and so my needs are grapes"! I didn't dare correct her, it was too dang cute. Now that is what she sings everytime. And I don't care...I like it better that way!

My Family

Ok, so I'm sure you are all wondering the same thing...what is up with David's beard??? Actually, this picture DOES NOT do it justice. It is a sight to behold...you cannot even imagine. So, for the last 5 months he has very lovingly grown this beast of a beard. For those of you who don't know, David is in the Army and works in a unit that trains soldiers before they are sent to Iraq. It is actually a very cool job, and he loves it. Anyway, for some crazy reason they chose him to be their "poster child". Literally, he was asked to grow this beard and "let himself go". When there was sufficient growth, his picture was taken and a wanted poster was made with his scraggly face on it. The soldiers in training were supposed to be on the lookout for David, this fake Iraqi, who my sisters so lovingly referred to as "Osama Bin David".

I am pleased to announce that this week we bid farewell to the beard and welcomed our David back. He got promoted to the next rank and had to shave it off for the ceremony. I think he was a little sad to see it go. He and Parker informed me that any man with a penis dreams of being able to grow facial hair of that caliber...whatever! I'll be honest, I cried when I saw his clean shaven face, but they were tears of pure JOY!

'Happy Munners Days!"

Emma is an avid Nick Jr. watcher. This week her favorite shows had special mother's day episodes. So, all week she's been talking about "Munners Days". This morning she was so excited to tell me "Happy Munners Days". And of course, as soon as sacrament mtg. was over she ran up the aisle screamimng it to Grandma. Then, after church when we were all together at Mom's for lunch, she went around to all the aunts and proudly (also very loudly) wished them all a "Happy Munners Days". The kid is a hoot. She cracks us up all the time. Sometimes she is so bad and so rotten, but oh so stinkin' cute! Talk to anyone who knows and loves her, and they will tell you it is very hard to resist any request from Emma wearing her sweet little glasses.

Today was a wonderful day. I was able to spend the entire day with the people I love and barely had to lift a finger...it didn't last nearly long enough! As is our tradition, the men took care of the meal, the clean-up, and the little extras. It was great! Thank you to them for making us feel loved and appreciated.