It's a Bartlett Life

Ethen's 6th Birthday

2009-10-09T14:30:00.002-06:00

We spent his birthday with 3 friends at Chuck-E-Cheese.

Lowe's

2009-10-09T09:42:00.002-06:00

Lowe's has an awesome program every other saturday where the kids can go and build a project with "a real hammer and nails" as Nait puts it.

This is their first project, a golf putting green. When we got there they gave each child an apron and goggles to keep, and when they completed their project, they got a patch to sew (mom fabric glued ;) on their aprons. This summer we have made a treasure chest, pirate ship, drum, school bus, paddle boat and a helicopter. We were happy to find out that they do this throughout the year. It is a great Saturday activity with the boys!

Ethen's Last Day of School

2009-10-09T09:31:00.001-06:00

Can't believe a year of school has gone by (can't believe summer is over and we are in a new school year!)

Ethen really loved Kindergarten.

He loved his teacher Ms. Purser.

He loved his friends.

He learned to love to read and loves numbers (he is so a math child, I am in trouble ;)

But, he is more excited about the end of school because that means he will be in 1st grade and get to have "hot lunch" at school.

What Nait Does at T-Ball Games

2009-09-29T16:49:00.002-06:00

Flip Flop Battles

Ethen and T-Ball

2009-09-29T16:36:00.003-06:00

T-ball lasted just over a month and a half. I wasn't sure how Ethen would do after our soccer debacle, but he insisted he wanted to play so we paid the money with the understanding that the money would come out of his new bike fund if he refused to play.

Thankfully it didn't come even close to that. He LOVED every minute of it. Even the practices. He had games on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then practices on Saturday afternoons and wished he had more (we were grateful he didn't, and it scares me to think of having 3 boys in sports!)

He was a lot of fun to watch, but hey it was t-ball. BUT it made me very excited for the prospects of little league, and I hope at least one of my boys stays interested long enough for that!

On a side note, Ethen's uncle Alex is serving a mission in England. Uncle Alex's very favorite sport is Baseball, his very favorite team is the Yankees and his number was always #3. Ethen was very excited to learn that he was on Uncle Alex's favorite team and that he got to be his number also!

My Deals for Today.....

2009-05-21T11:42:00.003-06:00

So a little while ago Matt and I went to a class to learn how to use coupons. I was VERY skeptical. I didn't want to spend my Sunday evenings "clipping" coupons, and then my shopping day sifting though coupons to find what I needed. So I went with a BAD attitude!

Let me just tell you that I was convinced! And today, I am even more convinced! Look at what I bought today:

9 Small Boxes of Jello

11 Packages of Crystal Light On The Go Drink Mixes

3 Bottles of Kraft BBQ Sauce

5 20 oz Bottles of Vitamin Water

5 Febreze Noticables Starter Kits

4 Jars of Salsa

Total price: 70.14

WHAT I SPENT: 27.46!!!!!

Definately worth the class time. Questions? Let me know! I will gladly share the wealth of info!

I was also thinking about hosting a class at my place.....Let me know if you are interested.

Happy Birthday To Matt!

2009-05-21T11:23:00.002-06:00

The boys went on the Father and Sons outing on Friday Night and then Matt spent his birthday fixin up stuff around the yard. Saturdays around here are just as crazy as the rest of the week!

So finally at 7:30 we took dad to dinner for his birthday. We went to Cafe' Sabor.

When we got seated the whole staff went to another table and sang a birthday song for someone there, and THEN made them wear a silly hat. Ethen was determined to have his dad wear the hat. So when Matt took Nait to the bathroom Ethen snagged the waiter and told him it was his Dad's birthday and he needed to wear the hat.

Matt was a good sport!

Hey, it was worth it for the FREE dessert!

On Sunday we had Steve and Melissa over for my very first homemade Ice Cream Cake

Don't know if I will be making another one anytime soon, but it worked, and tasted great!

Happy Birthday Babe! Love Ya!

Aiden's Blessing Day

2009-05-21T11:16:00.003-06:00

We blessed Aiden in Greenville on May 3rd and then had a family dinner in Beaver at my Mom's house. It was nice to have ALL of the Bartlett family together!

Grandma and Grandpa Bartlett with all the Grandkids!

The whole Bartlett Clan.

Here we are with My Grandma and Grandpa Jones.

LOVE THEM!

Best Golden Corral EVER!

2009-05-21T11:12:00.002-06:00

Went to Salt Lake for Uncle Tyler's State soccer game. It was fun to watch and they played really well!

After the game Grandpa treated us to dinner.

Lets just say it became dinner AND entertainment!

Spring Flowers

2009-05-21T11:10:00.001-06:00

Lovin'

Finally.........

2009-05-21T11:01:00.003-06:00

It is spring!

The ground is dry!

The boys get to be outside!

Which means..............

Dad brought the Skidsteer home.............

And Nait is in HEAVEN!

Easter

2009-05-21T10:39:00.004-06:00

We went to the Nibley City Easter Egg Hunt this year. Ethen doesn't like crowds so he chose not to participate, but Nait was ALL for it! Matt told him to run to the back of the grass area and then pick up his eggs.

Turned out to be an AWESOME strategy! Nait scored with 3 eggs, 2 of them being ones with numbers on them so he got an "extra" prize!

After that we went home and colored our own Easter eggs.

It was some serious business.......

Sunday morning the boys got their Easter "Baskets" (we won't go there!)

And then they got to wear the outfits that Grandpa Davidson picked out for them.

Lets just say Grandpa has STYLE!

Monday Night for family night the boys had their Easter egg hunt at home.

Can you see the egg?

And we FINALLY got a smile on camera from Aiden!

3 weeks old

2009-03-10T12:44:00.005-06:00

So here I am officially caught up! Today marks Aiden's third week with us, and I can't believe it has gone by so fast! Ethen and Nait absolutely adore him and love to hold, kiss, hug, ok maul their brother as much as possible. For the most part they are awesome helpers (Nait doesn't like dealing with "stinky" diapers!) and I am grateful they have adjusted and love him as much as they do.

Me, I am dealing with the sleep loss (like I was getting any before~) but really I am lucky, for the most part he sleeps really well at night. I think this tired thing is just going to be apart of my daily life from now on!

Aiden is growing like crazy. He had dropped to 8lbs 3oz when we left the hospital, and at his 2 week apt he was past his birth weight at 8lbs 14oz. What amazes Matt and I is how strong he is allready. He likes to lay on his tummy and push his head up and look around.
I NEED HIM TO SLOW DOWN!

Oh yeah, he HATES the Bath! Really, he just hates being naked. He screams like this whenever you change him or get him dressed in the morning. He just doesn't like to be messed with!

It still amazes me how much your heart grows with each new child you are blessed with. I am grateful for my children. More than I can ever express!

First week home

2009-03-10T12:31:00.003-06:00

Ethen

Nait

Aiden

So our first week home was quite the week. We were lucky to have grandma D here with us to make us food and yummy cookies! But mostly it was a week of tanning beds and heel slices for the little man. Because of the bruising on his face, Aiden's bilirubin levels were pretty high so we got to bring the lights home with us. Now I am grateful we didn't have to keep him at the hospital, but it is very hard to have your baby home and not be able to hold him because he has to be in the "suitcase tanning bed" 24 hrs a day. Every morning we would go to the hospital lab and have his heel sliced to retest his levels. Let's just say that by the end he didn't even flinch when they sliced him.

Aiden was quite the trooper and slept really well. We had heard horror stories and we were very lucky to have such a good baby!

Days under lights: 6

Heel Sticks: 7

Brothers First Meeting

2009-03-10T12:26:00.003-06:00

Because Aiden came after bed time, Ethen and Nait didn't get to see him until the next morning. Here are some pics of my boys and their first meeting.

He's Here!!!

2009-03-10T12:15:00.005-06:00

Aiden Tomas Bartlett FINALLY made his appearance on February 17th at 8:40pm. He was 8lbs 10oz and 20 in long. He tried to come out "sunny side up" so his face was pretty beat up and bruised, but other than that he was healthy and quite the screamer.

Enjoy the pics!

My Birthday!

2009-03-10T11:19:00.003-06:00

The boys were awesome and helped Matt make a cake for me. Chocolate with strawberries and cream cheese frosting! YUM!!

More Sledding

2009-03-10T10:31:00.010-06:00

What else can you do to get rid of those winter blahs then to enjoy the snow that you have? Here was another Saturday that we spent with the Ryan, Cindy, Dax and Kelton at a park up on Clifside in Logan. It is a soccer field that is in a bowl, so it is the perfect hill to sled on.

Matt and Ethen

Ethen

Nait's favorite way of taking his sled back up the hill!

Racing!

Ethen, Dax and Nait

The boys really had a lot of fun, and I was really proud of them for trying out the BIG hills!

Here is some video for you. Ignore the crazy lady behind the camera! One of these days I will remember you can hear me!

Here are the boys racing

Ethen and Matt

Nait and Matt

Don't you just love Nait's Squeals down the hill! Priceless!

New Year's Eve

2009-03-10T10:24:00.004-06:00

For New Year's we had our friends the Page's over for food and games. We had a lot of fun, but didn't get any pictures of anything. Go figure! What I did get a picture of was 3 VERY tired boys who refused to go to sleep until they had watched every single second of the Scooby Doo movie we had for them to watch while we were playing our games. These pictures were taken just before midnight.

Nait

Ethen

Dax

Don't they all look a little bit like Zombies? Oh well. They were all awake and enjoyed the countdown to midnight, and then went to sleep around 1am. You would think going to bed that late they would sleep in just a bit! Ha, you haven't met my boys!

Snow, Snow and Sledding!

2009-03-10T10:08:00.005-06:00

Well we didn't get snow at grandma's house until the day AFTER Christmas. But it was still nice to see some white stuff at Christmas time. And it decided to dump quite a bit.

Here is Nait on the day it snowed. He was pretty excited that it was high enough to ALMOST cover him!

The next day was a pretty sunny one so we took the boys and their cousin Gracie to the park next to Grandma's house and went sledding. It was a lot of fun!

Ethen and Nait

Nait and his Snow Angel

Aunt Carlie and Gracie

All Things Christmas

2009-03-10T09:36:00.006-06:00

Here are a few pics from Christmas. The Ethen got a car set and Nait got all things space men this year, but the big score for the family was a WII! Love it!

A Greenville Christmas

2009-01-12T19:34:00.004-07:00

Every year Grandma and Grandpa Bartlett's ward has their Christmas Party just a couple of days before. It is "Santa's" last stop before he heads out on his trip around the world. They read stories, tell jokes and sing songs. And then the big guy comes and the kids get to sit on his lap and tell him what they want. Then they get the candy. This year it was the giant candy bars. (And Santa ALWAYS has Mom's favorite! Symphony with toffee and almonds)

Here are the primary kids. They sang Away in a Manger and Jingle Bells.

Here they are lined up to see Santa. When Nait saw him come in he turned to me and said "THERE HE IS!" They were very excited.

I think this picture should have told me something ...............................

Nait was fine until he sat on Santa's lap. No screaming, just sadness in his face. He later said he didn't like "his white scratchy stuff"

Ethen loved talking to Santa and told him that he wanted more track for his train set. As you will see in the following posts, Santa had other ideas (Santa, NOT Mrs. Clause!)

Nait turns 3!

2009-01-10T08:56:00.006-07:00

On December 17th my little one turned 3! Can't believe it! He has gotten so big SO fast!

It was a day of Nait, so he got to pick what he wanted for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We started off with donuts in the morning (with pink milk) jelly sandwiches for lunch, and pizza for dinner.

The cake. He had been talking for weeks that he wanted a Ninja Buzz lightear cake with buzz, woody and zurg on top. I had found what he wanted (after some stress and searching) and then when he went to walmart to order JUST the CAKE with Matt, he decided he wanted a Scooby Doo cake with All the Gang.

Eating the Cake and Ice Cream

Opening Woody, Buzz and Zurg. At least I could still use them as presents!

The "Buzz Lightyear Gun" from Dax and Kelton. Yeah! Something to make a whole lot of noise and racket! Thanks!

Race track with crashing cars from Grandma and Grandpa D. This one was SOOOO big he had to get on the table to open it! Awesome pick Grandpa! Thanks!

Another gift that was too big and he had to be on the table for. This one was from Uncle Steve and Aunt Melissa. It was a flute recorder, a black bouncy ball, a gumball machine, some neon worms all in a bag about as tall as Nait. The best part was watching him reach down to the bottom of the bag for it all! Thanks Guys!

Nait had an awesome birthday, and we are really greatfull to the family and friends who could be there to share it with us. Thanks for spoiling us with your love and friendship!

Here is the song. One of these days I will remember when I am holding on to the camera, that I am MUCH louder than anyone else because I am holding onto the camera! Oh well, enjoy my off tunenuss! Oh yeah, and one of these days I will figure out how to turn the video right side up!

The first BIG snowfall

2009-01-10T08:41:00.004-07:00

The boys were so excited about the first BIG snowfall of the year. We had heard about it all week, and were not disapointed when we woke up that Saturday morning.

Matt and his new TOY. Ok it is for work, but somehow, I SWEAR, we had agreed we didn't need a snowblower this year, and yet he managed to have me agree to let him buy one.

Ethen

Nait

Nait was really enjoying the white stuff! He has found out he LOVES to eat it too. (as you will see from the MANY snow pics to come. Everytime I turn around he will be putting snow in his mouth!)

Ethen was an AWESOME brother this day (once I gave him MY gloves because his were "letting all the snow in") He took Nait on a couple of laps around the front yard.

Dad took his turn taking the boys on the loop. He got going a little too fast around one corner though, and dumped both boys off the sled with faces in the snow. After that he was told he couldn't go THAT FAST.

My boys. They are growing up so fast! It is fun to see them enjoy the simple things of life though. Sledding around the front yard isn't much, but they loved every minute of it!

A day in Salt Lake

2009-01-10T08:23:00.004-07:00

At the beginning of December we spent a day in Salt Lake with Grandma and Grandpa, and Aunt Katie and Gracie. We met for lunch and then split up. The boys went to Cabellas, a golf shop (come on they are with Grandpa!) and to look at a few cars. The girls went to the festival of trees. Can you guess which ones had the camera?

After the fun afternoon, we met up with Ryan, Cindy, Daxton and Kelton for dinner at Sizzler and a fun night of looking at the lights on Temple square. The boys were also THRILLED that we got to ride on the trax train there and back.

Here are a few of the MANY pics I took. Still trying to figure out my new camera.

Nait, Ethen and Dax

The boys: Daxton, Ethen, Kelton and Nait

My Favorite pic of the night. No professional, but I love the way it turned out!

Seeing the lights on Temple Square is one of my favorite memories from when I was a kid. Hopefully we will be able to keep this as a tradition with our boys for year to come.

Bowling

2009-01-10T08:07:00.004-07:00

While Grandma and Tyler were here for halloween, Tyler made the request to go bowling, and my boys were willing to oblige. Ryan and Dax joined us for the fun, and we had a blast!

Best part: Getting Cosmic bowling for the REGULAR bowling Price.

This was Nait everytime. He would shove it down the lane and then watch, with hands on hips, until it hit the pins at the end.

Ethen: look at the boys form! All that time practicing on the Wii has paid off!

Here is Dax. He was having a lot of fun, but I don't know how much fun his dad was having watch the ball going SLOWLY down the lane!

Uncle Tyler

As you can see Uncle Tyler didn't have the game he was bragging about. He is just going to have to come up and show us up another time.

SOON, the boys say SOON!

Halloween

2009-01-10T07:46:00.004-07:00

Pumpkin carving went well this year. Well at least Nait stuck around while we carved. He still didn't want to stick his hand in the pumpkin with the "icky" stuff, but he didn't retreat to the other room like he did last year.

Ethen got a pumpkin coupon from school and used it "to make sure Aiden has a pumpkin too"

Ethen was a great pumpkin cleaner this year. Very suprising for my "I don't wanna touch that" boy!

Nait loved to look, but there was no way he was sticking his hand in there!

The finished looks. Ethen and Nait were both very clear. They wanted SCARY pumpkins this year. Ethen drew the faces on a couple of the pumpkins, and was very excited when Dad carved them just right!

On Halloween we had a ward "Trunk or Treat" Part of the requirement was to dress up your car also. Matt made ours into a Dragon. It was supposed to have smoke coming out of the mouth, but the dry ice wasn't very cooperative! Oh well. Dad will make it work next year!

After the trunk or treat we came home and had some dinner and then headed out to a few houses outside our neighborhood so that we weren't hitting the same ones we did for trunk or treat. Grandma and Tyler were here and it was a fun night. Ethen was very excited to go from house to house and didn't want to wait for anyone. Nait on the other hand I think would have been happy with just going home and eating the candy he had from earlier.

Buzz Lightyear

My boys! Ethen was loving the vampire teeth.

Our Jet Pilot Fighter Man

2008-10-27T15:23:00.002-06:00

Just a shout out to Grandma Jones.

We love you Bunches and can't wait to see you again!

Pumpkin Walk

2008-10-27T14:32:00.012-06:00

Every year we go to North Logan's Pumpkin Walk and then go to Village inn for pie and hot chocolate. Here are some of our favorite scenes from this year.

The theme this year was Heroes.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (not my favoriate IJ movie)

This was Ethen's favorite and the boys new thing is Veggie Tales

(there is a pirate movie out that they love!)

Kung Foo Panda

One of my favorites was the Noah's Ark. Especially the Elephants in the ark!

Michael Phelps and the Olympics

Moses parting the Red Sea

This was Matt's favorite. They had hooked up a water feature to come out of the pumpkin. Very Cool!

Ethen, Daxton and Nait.

This was Nait's favorite (although not a pumpkin) It is a Frog made out of different types of beans/grains. Very Cool!

The boys. Ethen, Kelton, Daxton, and Nait.

It was fun listening to them comment on the different scenes, and find their favorite "Hero"

Just So you Know

2008-10-08T12:08:00.003-06:00

This came first:

It was Matt's Father's Day present (one day late)

Then these came on Tuesday:

Ethen and Nait wanted to see its feet, legs, hands, ears and chin.

Thankfully the Technician was really willing to show them what they wanted to see.

Nait wanted to know if this was a monster.

I told him that No, it was his little BROTHER, but that sometimes he might think he is a Monster.
That's right folks, we are having another boy. He will make his debut around February 22nd. I think we are settled on a name, but we are open to any suggestions if you have them.

Oh yea, the important stuff. He looks healthy and great, everything is in its right place, and he weighs about the size of a pop. We are excited, and except for the day of dissapointment that it wasn't a girl, I LOVE my boys and I am excited to have another one on the way!

Saturday

2008-09-28T18:42:00.007-06:00

Our Saturdays are usually filled with projects.

I spent Saturday morning at a Stampin' Up class that was a lot of fun. I always enjoy the new ideas!

Matt's Saturday was filled with starting a paver pathway from the front yard to the back yard.

He always has plenty of help:

Especially with Nait. Nait would work with Dad all day long if I let him!

Ethen is always good for a little muscle:

Here is the finished look so far. The path will make its way through the gate and to the back patio.

A day in American Fork

2008-09-25T13:33:00.002-06:00

So it is really sad I don't have any pics of the couple! (they will so be added to this post when I do.)

Anyways, we spent Wednesday in American Fork for Steve and Melissa's wedding/reception. Here are some fun pics of the boys and my lovely husband

The boys with Great Grandma and Grandpa Bartlett

Ethen was asked to help out at the gift table. So that is where we spent most of the reception.

Dino Park with Grandma

2008-09-25T13:07:00.005-06:00

While Grandma Davidson was here we decided to FINALLY go to the Dino Park in Ogden. While it wasn't the cheapest activity we have done, it was worth it. The boys really loved it and I liked how spread out the park was, but with tons of things to see, plus boys got rid of plenty of energy!

Ethen wasn't really Excited to stand next to the dino to take pics. He thought it was going to get him.

They had a spot where the kids could dig up and brush off dino bones.

It was interesting to learn how many different types of Velosirapters there are. Sure glad they are not still around. They are mean little buggers!

This is sooooo true!

So the pic is kindof blurry, but this is a rainbow trout that is about as big as they get. Matt sooo wants to break into the park at night an catch this thing just so he can get his picture with it, and then let it go. This thing was HUGE!

Anyways if you are in the area and have boys, this is an awesome place to go. They also have a museum indoors with lots of petrified stuff and the skeltons etc. If nothing else it is a great advertisment for the Jurassic Park movie trilogy. Mom, Matt and I have decided we need to have a marathon evening with a T-Rex.

Ethen at Kindergarten

2008-08-27T13:47:00.003-06:00

Suprise Suprise! I didn't cry! (I think I got it all out with preschool!)

I am very proud of him though, he is sooooo ready to be a school and sooo excited.

He wanted to ride his bike to school and park it on the bike rack "Like the big kids, Mom."Ok, I lied. I did cry, but only when Ethen turned to Nait, told him goodbye, gave him a big hug and said "be good for mom Nait, I will be home later".

What an Awesome Big Brother!

My Joys for the Day

2008-08-21T11:14:00.005-06:00

My boys tried (without complaint) and actually liked the dreaded "suckini" I made for dinner last night!

I now have blinds hung in the downstairs family room! (my through the field and across the street neighbor had commented on a movie WE were watching the other night)

And best of all: I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, Ethen's kindergarten teacher. She is the BEST and he is so excited to start school on Tuesday!

The Weekend

2008-08-18T22:16:00.004-06:00

This weekend Ethen and Matt went to Flaming Gorge/Vernal area with some good friends of ours Ryan and Daxton and Daxton's Grandpa. They had a weekend full of fishing, dino's, 4-wheeling, and best of all .. . . . . Sleeping in a tent, WITHIN a tent! Silly boys!

Meanwhile, Nait and I had a fun filled weekend ourselves visiting 3 parks, shopping, renting movies and eating popcorn, and best of all . . . . . . .

Taking Wendy's food into Costa Vida. HEHEHEHE, Nait thought we were being soooo naughty! Hey I don't care how many dirty looks I got from the Costa Vida Staff, Nait got to eat what he wanted and I got to eat what I wanted. Can't get any better than that!

Boys Comforters

2008-08-18T21:32:00.004-06:00

Here is my latest find! The boys room is soooo close to being done. Just a few last decor items, and it will be one more room TOTALLY finished!

On a side note: Can I just tell you how much I LOVE Target! And how I WISH WISH WISH they were putting one of them in here instead of ANOTHER walmart! Why Why WHY do we need 2 walmarts in Cache Valley!? I might be able to find great things like this more often if I didn't have to drive ALL THE WAY TO LAYTON to get to a target!

The Basement

2008-08-18T12:15:00.003-06:00

So yea! The Basement is done! At least most of it is. We have a few things here and there to add, but the walls are painted and the carpet is in - - - so it is livable. And of course one of the first things done was to put Matt's tv on the wall! MEN!

This is the family room. Long and lovely! Don't ask about the green paint (it was a nightmare to pick out!) but it turned out wonderfully in the end.

The boys crawl space toy storage etc. Ethen picked out the color (I know I was feeling brave!) but we think he did a great job! They even got to help paint it.

This is my laundry room. I still have flooring to do in here, but I am SO excited about the color. I know it is a little wild, but hey it is a laundry room, and who needs to love it but the one doing the laundry!

This is what will be the "guest bedroom". As Ethen and Nait put it "Grandma and Grandpa's room. I still need to put up the glaze stripes on the wall, but just didn't get them done before the carpet came. Could have been worse!

So now all we need now is a bed and we are set. Come visit whenever! We FINALLY have the room to have you over! I am sure there are little things here and there we will always be working on, I mean, come on, the walls can't stay bare forever!~ But we are LOVING the space!

Fruits of our Labor

2008-08-04T08:20:00.003-06:00

Here are the first things that have come out of our garden.

I probably let the zuchinni go to long! Oh well

(and it is a mini golden tomato - I wasn't in a hurry to pick it!)

The boys were so excited about our first "sukkini" and wondering when another one will grow, but of course they will never eat it!

Thanks

2008-07-31T11:28:00.001-06:00

To my wonderful friends (you know who you are!) thanks for dropping by. You will never know how much I needed to just have a night of catch up and chatting. And margarita's on a stick! To die for. Love ya both tons!

High Flying

2008-07-14T12:34:00.002-06:00

Here are some fun pics from Nibley heritage days. It wasn't huge, but it is getting bigger every year. The boys (well . .. Ethen) were excited about all the big blow up toys and wanted just to play on those. Thankfully they had a 5$ pass to ride everything as much as you wanted.

They had some awesome miniture horses that were so cute. I could so go for one of those one day!

No problems here! My boys are definately climbers!

But I think I should start worrying about the dare devil side of them. They saw a kid jump on the top of this before he slid down and thought it looked "cool" as Ethen puts it.

Now this is normal behavior for Nait. He has never been one to FEAR much.

Yes, that is ETHEN flying high. He is really coming out of his shell and trying new things.

I think I should start worrying now!

Catching Up

2008-07-07T18:52:00.004-06:00

So yes, it has been some busy times, and I haven't really been able to keep up with the time as it has flown by. Also I have been a little depressed because my beloved camera is missing. I have had no urge to do anything but sit and sulk.

Acutally we really have been busy, BUT good news the basement is almost done! Just the windowsills to do and then we get to paint. Carpet is allready bought and is ready to install as soon as we are ready for it!

With so many activities and things going on time just seems to pass me by, but I will try to be better about my posting.

So here are a few things we have done in the last month:

Ode to a Tractor

2008-07-07T18:45:00.004-06:00

Thank you dear tractor:

For the thousands of hours of fun

For the many loads of dirt you hauled

And most of all, for the entertainment you gave a 2 year old for so much time.

I will miss you greatly, my new bike just doesn't do or haul half the things I made you.

Love you and I am mad at my dad for throwing you away while I was gone.

Nait

(We as parents are eternally grateful, and are very sorry that you broke in half!)

Swimming Lessons

2008-07-07T18:11:00.004-06:00

Ethen had 2 weeks strait (Monday-Thursday) of swimming lessons at the aquatic center.

At first I thought it would be great, Nait and I would swim while Ethen was in lessons, and then we would get to hang out for a while afterwards in the outdoor pool.

YEAH . . . . That lasted all of about 2 count them 2 days! Oh well. Ethen had lots of fun and really learned a lot. He went from a level 0 to a level 2.5 after 2 weeks.

He learned to freestyle swim.

He learned the Rocket. (which will help them learn to dive later on)

He learned to back float. (by the end he was doing it himself)

The team cheer at the end.

He really had a lot of fun and loved his instructor Paige. (Unfortunately I can't convince him he probably won't have Paige again next year.)

9 Years

2008-07-07T18:07:00.004-06:00

Grateful for the 9 years we have spent together, and the many years to come. I have been blessed to have such a wonderful husband, friend, confidant and father to my 2 awesome boys.

I am truly blessed.

Love ya babe!

Ethen Turns 5

2008-07-07T17:56:00.004-06:00

Ethen turned 5 on June 19th.

Here are the TOP 5 reasons why we love the guy!

5. He has ALWAYS been a wonderful helper and BIG Brother. No matter what he DOES love his brother and looks out for him!

4. He is SUCH a smarty pants, Sometimes to his mom's dismay, but he loves to learn and is ALWAYS right!

3. He has such a sweet and loving personality. He is always making sure you are OK.

2. His Laughter. I LOVE to hear him Laugh.

1. Look at that face! How could you not love the boy!

I count my blessings every day I was blessed with such a wonderful son. I love him and I am glad is his my first! Happy Birthday Ethen! Love ya bunches!

Ethen's Birthday Party

2008-06-16T18:24:00.012-06:00

Ethen is turing 5! This is the first year we have done a REAL friend party and he was VERY specific about what he wanted to do.

Invite 4 of his VERY BESTEST friends . . . . .

Take them miniture golfing. . . .

And go down the VERY BIG slide on "those bean bag things."

Now, I will say that golfing with 5 kids 5 and under. . . . . .

is a challenge . . . . .

and we had our casualties along the way . . . .

But they all had a lot of fun and it was WAY worth the time in the sun. Matt and I had a blast watching them run all over the course and running up and down the soft play arena.

And best of all: "It was my best birthday ever Mom!"

(I am not sure how to flip this. It was right when I filmed it! oh well)

Zoo Day with Grandma

2008-06-13T08:43:00.004-06:00

Yesterday we got to spend a WoNdErFuL day at the Hogle Zoo with Grandma. Talk about a perfect day to be there! Not too hot, not too cold, JUST RIGHT!

The Ghost of the Bayou, one of 10 RARE white alligator (or is it crocadile?) he has 9 other brothers! If his eyes hadn't been moving, I wouldn't have believed he was real!

This is the boys favorite part at the new Elephant exibit. It is a HUGE wooden elephant that sneezes and blows water all over whoever is in front. The boys thought it was hilarious!

Nait

Ethen and Grandma

Can I just tell you that the bird show was FABULOUS! So worth the 25 min and there isn't a bad seat in the house! Just make sure you keep your hands in the car at all times!

And of course you had to have the talking parrot. Nait thought it was very funny.

We got up close and personal with Rinos

and the Giraffes.

And it was great to see a tiger AWAKE!

Look Mom! No Training Wheels!

2008-06-04T08:06:00.004-06:00

So I have to give MAJOR props to my friend Linda, who gave us the tips on how to teach Ethen to ride his bike without training wheels. I have to say we had our doubts that it would work, but DOUBT NO MORE! It REALLY works, and I would suggest to anyone the same technique.

About 3 weeks ago we took off the training wheels AND the pedals of Ethen's bike. He didn't like the idea at first, but got used to pushing himself around with just his feet. On Monday I took him with me on my walk with Fonz at the Logan River Walk. It has hills and bridges and Ethen did really well on the 4 mile walk. At one point there is a hill that he picked his feet up and just cruised all the way down, and then wanted to do it over and over. At that point I knew he had his balance and was ready to try with the pedals on.

Matt held on for the first little bit until he got a handle on his balance..................

And then off he went. All on his own, without looking back.

And we haven't been able to get him off since!

So here is a little video of my BIG BOY riding his bike WITHOUT training wheels. What can I say, I am one proud MAMA, and yes, I cried a little!

2008 Preschool Graduation

2008-05-27T09:23:00.005-06:00

Friday May 23rd, Ethen graduated from preschool. Grandma Davidson, Alex, Steve and Melissa all came to celebrate with us.

It was done at Logan High School, which I thought was crazy until I saw how many people showed up. It was amazing to see that many friends and family there for a preschool graduation - great turnout for the plays that the kids wrote themselves.

As you can see, Ethen was a spider. It was a take on the little red hen, only it was about a little red kitten who was making Macaroni and Cheese. It was really cute and you could tell the kids had a lot of fun writing the story.

The teachers each said a little something about the year.

And of course the kids got nice and squirmy, with plenty of waves to the crowd.

As they got their diploma each was asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. They have been practicing this for the last 2 weeks and even that day in practice Ethen's answer has always been "A DAD" but tonight: "A Transformer" just like all the other boys in his class. Oh well.

The Graduating Class.

Ethen's Reading Teacher

Ethen's Art/HomeRoom Teacher

One Proud Mom!

The Graduate! Congrats bud, WE LOVE YOU!

Newspaper stuff

2008-04-13T22:01:00.002-06:00

So if you didn't see it or don't live in the area, here is the article they put in the local paper about the housing program. Yes I am quoted, no that is not Nait in the picture, it is Ethen, and no we didn't do the house though habitat for humanity, it is though the Neighborhood Non-prophit housing corporation Self-help program. Boy, newspaper people, you would think they could get their facts strait!

http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2008/04/13/cache_magazine/story01.txt

Mom Momements

2008-04-13T20:46:00.007-06:00

So I thought I would share my week of MOM MOMENTS.

Monday: Ethen decided I could brush his teeth before school that day. Mid-brush he says "Mom your eyes are really beautiful, I really like the color green." Talk about an ahhhhhh moment. Nothing like making your mom cry while she is brushing your teeth. That boy got brownie points today!

Thursday: No work for Matt because it is ANOTHER snow day in the middle of spring. (that's Cache Valley for you) We spend the 1st half of the cleaning out the basement and arranging our crawl space. Ethen and Nait were great helpers it was nice to see them share and WANT TO HELP CLEAN! The 2nd half of the day going from place to place to get bids for our landscape and basement project which meant lunch at Sams club (pizza and churros!) and NO NAPS! One of these days I will learn that no naps means cranky boys at 6pm.

Friday: Spring break for Ethen, and while it is nice to have him home, BOY DO I MISS THAT 3 HOURS OF ENTERTAINMENT AND LEARNING! It was cold in the morning, but look how my boys decided to go outside and play:

Ethen in short sleeves and no shoes, "but I have my hat on mom!" and Nait in his pajamas, no socks or shoes, cowboy hat, and the diaper I had asked him to get for me so we could change him. GOTTA LOVE BOYS!

Saturday: First nice day in a while, and it was a really nice day. We had planned on working out in the yard all day with a couple of our neighbors. We started out with breakfast and sunscreen and making sure everyone was appropriately dressed for the day. Lunch comes around and all is well. Kids are happy and fed, and the 3 yards are coming along smoothly, but of course that sunscreen could use some re-applying. Do you think we did? . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After lunch Ethen decided it was too hot for his jacket and his hat. I of course was busy and didn't think about it because I had "allready put sunscreen on".

So his poor ears this morning both have blisters on them. His face doesn't look as bad as it did yesterday, but those poor ears.... talk about mom feeling really crappy to say the least!

Nait on the other hand kept his hat and jacket on for most of the day so only his cheeks got a little burned. But of course they were playing so well that no one got naps AGAIN today, (when will I learn!~) so by 6 he was really cranky and while I was fixing dinner . . . . . he fell asleep. YOU Try waking a 2 yr old up to have dinner when he hasn't had a nap

And of course us moms don't need sunscreen right! As long as the boys are covered I am good! Hahahahaha. Don't you just love the glove line. SOOOOO fashionable. And boy did I look good in church today!

Oh boy. The life of a mom!

Easter

2008-03-31T17:31:00.005-06:00

Yep, it was a cold day in Logan..... Of course it was. So we did Easter inside. Oh well.

My boys and their trucks/cars......Of course it was their favorite part of Easter!

The Boys "New" Beds

2008-03-31T17:20:00.006-06:00

For their new room we decided to paint the boys bunk beds blue. It took some time (and some of mom's patience), but after a week of sleeping on the floor in the nursery the boys got to finally sleep in their new room on their "new" old beds.

Ethen was so excited to help dad put together his bed. He held it "like a strong man mom" while Matt put it together.

The finished product:

Nait was so excited about his bed, that he was twirling circles inside the frame. Needless to say, he got dizzy and bonked his head on the frame.

He's one tough cookie, as long as he has his bear Trampus with him!

Our New Home

2008-03-31T16:59:00.010-06:00

So I think we are finally "kindof" setteled. We have painted most of the house, (not sure what to do on my own bedroom yet....open to any suggestions, and the nursery/scrapbook room hasn't been touched yet!) and most of the boxes are unpacked. We can even fit a car into the garage! yeah :) So here are a few pictures of the house....... Now if I could just figure out the 'finishing touches'

Here is the living room:

Love my red wall, it really turned out well. Now if I could just find the right black clock to fit in the middle of it we would be in business!

Our front door:

Here is the kitchen/dining room/computer desk:

The boys room turned out great! Thanks to Grandma for all the painting she did, she is awesome!

The boys bathroom:

Matt and his friend did the tile in both bathrooms the weekend before we moved in. It wasn't fun going with out a toilet for 3 days, but it turned out wonderfully, and we are glad we did it!

As you can see, not too many accessories in the place, but we will get there. I just have to find the 'perfect' pieces. The search continues, but if you find anything good let me know.

Love to you all and thanks again for all the support as we made this big move in our life!

Our Home

2008-03-11T18:31:00.002-06:00

I've Been Tagged!!!

2008-03-06T20:22:00.007-07:00

Five Things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Just turned 18 and enjoying my last days as a Senior at Beaver High School
2. Getting ready for the Junior Prom (I went as a Senior)
3. Working at Mike's Foodtown
4. Finishing up the wrestling season (I did stats for the team! Best Job EVER!!)
5. Waiting to start my new adventure at Dixie College

Five Things on my to-do list today:

1. Price out tile for the bathrooms (check)
2. Find out how much to put beadboard in the boys room (check)
3. Clean toilets and window tracks at new house
4. Clean toilets and do laundry at apartment (got some laundry done :])
5. Pack (hahahahhahaha this may never happen!)

Five Snacks I enjoy:

1. Cadbury Mini Eggs
2. Cadbury Cream Filled Eggs (ok can you tell it is Easter time?)
3. Penny Candies (watermellons, sour patch kids etc.)
4. Most types of FRESH fruit
5. Bread, bread and more bread!

Things I would do if I were a Billionaire:

1. Pay off the house or perhaps buy a new one
2. Travel
3. Save for kids educations
4. Buy a new car...not a minivan!
5. Give where needed, put some in savings and live life to the fullest

Three of my bad habits:

1. Procrastination
2. Trying to have things 'just right'
3. Stressing about the small stuff

Five places I have lived:

1. Rexburg, ID
2. St. George, UT
3. Grand Coulee, WA
4. American Fork, UT
5. Beaver, UT

Five Jobs I’ve had:

1. Full time mom
2. Dental Assisting Instructor
3. Office Manager at a Dental Office
4. Temp Job as a Teacher for an At risk youth high school
5. Cashier at Rite Aid

5 Things people probably don’t know about me:

1. I'm worry about not doing everything right (ok maybe you knew that one)
2. I get a little bit of road rage at times
3. I am horrible about getting into something (scrapbook, beading, crafts) and then getting bored with it and moving on to something else.
4. I spend way too much time surfing the Internet
5. I read WAY too much sometimes

Ok so I will now tag........Fonz. The only other one I know that hasn't been tagged yet...... I think!

Table Drama

2008-02-25T18:24:00.005-07:00

So the table drama is over (or at least we hope so!). After spending all day in Salt Lake going to 15, yes 15 different furniture stores we finally found the table we both agreed on. It isn't even close to what we set out to find (black pedistal table), but we both love it and will be glad to not have the card table when we move into the new house.

For the most part the boys were wonderful about being dragged from one store to the next and were really well behaved. But who can blame Ethen, after going into the 12th store and not "finding what mommy really wants" for saying

"Mom, we allready have a table, why do we need a new one?"

"Ethen we don't have a real table, we have a card table."

"But mom, it works as a table, do we really have to keep looking for a new one?"

"Yes Ethen, we really need to keep looking for a new one, it is time for mom and dad to grow up."

Finally in the last store we find what we want, but they won't deliver to Logan. I should say fortunately, but unfortuantely we have the same store in Logan, and they had the table on display there the whole time! Why oh why did we not go there first? Who knows. It is my life, and we like to do things the difficult way sometimes. But we were able to order the table on Saturday, and hopefully it should be here within the week. Yes folks after 9 years of marriage Matt and I are finally growing up. A mortgage of our own, and a 'REAL' table to match. Our families should be so proud!

Blogger Craze

2008-02-21T15:16:00.003-07:00

Ok, after much debate . . . . . . we shall JOIN the blogger craze. Who knows how good I will be keeping up with it, but it seems like a great way to keep in touch with everyone. I guess just pictures on shutterfly are not enough!

We will try to keep it up to date as much as possible, and hopefully have a virtual scrapbook for the kids (hehehe, it may be the only way they get one!)

This is us. It's a Bartlett Life. Join us won't you?!