I love 4 year olds

Alec is my third 4 year old that I have raised and I have realized that there are some really fun things about 4 year olds:

* They are "allergic" to all foods they don't like. The other day Alec informed us that he is allergic to the purple cabbage in the bagged salad we were eating.

* They love to help with all household tasks. Alec begs me to clean toilets and mop floors and fold laundry. This phase is very short lived, so I take advantage as much as possible.

* They start to write words with all the letters they know and then ask you what it spells. I love when Alec brings me a peice of paper with GJDUSADF written on it and asks what is spells.

Weight loss blog

I have decided to move my Friday Weigh Ins and other weight loss progress to another blog. That way it is doesn't interfere with my family blog. You can find it here, or on the side of this blog on my blog roll.

Friday Weigh in

Posting my weight loss really helps me stay motivated so I plan on doing Friday Weigh In again.

I have decided to get serious about my weight loss again. After 5 weeks of dealing with post pardom depression by emotional eating I have gained 6 pounds. And while I really would love to sit around and eat my way through my emotions, (because that is easier to do then getting off my butt) summer is coming. I also need some major exercise in order to deal with my depression right now. It really helps.

So today I am going to start exercising at least 2 hours a day, though next week I want to get up to 3 hours. And no more pounds of chocolate!

I am back up 6 pounds so my total weigh loss is 20.6.

Thankful Thursdays

I haven't done Thankful Thursdays for awhile now. To be honest, it is hard to be positive about things right now. It is probably time I tried to find the positive things in life again.

Have you seen that Tide commercial with the snotty man saying something about how there are very few things in life that are more tragic then watching a fabulous essential fade after a few washes? That commercial irritates me to no end.

Guess what snotty man: There are many things more tragic then that!

The only good thing about tragedy is that it makes you realize what is important in life.

Today I am thankful for the 4 most important people in my life. The ones here on this earth, that I get to enjoy everyday.

Smart Alec

Alec reminds me of his dad in many ways. One way is how mechanical his brain is. Another way is how smart he is. He also loves Legos like Brett.

A couple of weeks ago he put together this Lego dinosaur all by himself (Brett only helped him fix a couple of pieces). He worked on it for a whole week. He is only 4 and can follow the Lego directions and put together a complicated Lego. He is amazing!

Big Fat Update

I have a lot of things I have wanted to post on here, but have gotten behind. So in order to get them all down for posterity sake, this post is going to be fairly long.

Gavin had a little friend party on the Friday after his birthday. I told him he could invite 4 friends. He then talked me into adding one girl from his class. They are good friends and I know her family so I agreed.
On the day of his party another girl showed up. It was a girl in his class that he has a little crush on. He had invited her on his own without telling me, and she showed up. He was so silly around her. Crushes are way cute at this age, but we now can see what is to come in the next few years. It scares the crap out of us!

So Gavin had his first boy/girl party this year.

We kept it pretty low key. We made pizza, sundaes, and watched the "Star Wars Clone Wars" movie.

(Clockwise: Gavin, Ryan, Parker, Kelsey, Jan (the girl he likes), Cooper, and Seth)

Brynn participated in a piano recital that was judged by 3 judges. She has been practicing for this for months and did an awesome job. She got perfect scores. We are very proud of her!

Brett did get a cake for his birthday. And Mario Kart for the Wii.

I went to Spencer and Kim's house with my kids last Friday. Kim and I played Dr. Mario. She kicked my butt. I think that is because I can't play and talk at the same time, and we were talking, laughing, and crying our way through hours and hours of Dr. Mario. (That is my story and I am sticking to it. There is no other reason that I know of that she should win so much)!

(Jace, Brynn, Brynlee, Alec)

A friend of mine asked me to come to St. George and do her brand new baby's pictures. I took my friend Jen with me on a road trip over the weekend. It was a fun little trip. It was sunny, green, and warm there. We didn't want to leave!

The baby didn't want to cooperate much, and it took me 4+ hours to get some good pictures. He was very cute though.

Kindergarten

I registered Alec for Kindergarten today. When did he get that big? He was a very high maintenance baby and while I would carry him around all day in the baby back pack in order to get things done, and never getting any sleep until he was 3, and would have to hold his hand while driving, I wished for this day. When he would be big enough that he didn't need me so much.

That day is here and today I was reminded of it. While there is some benefit to your child growing up, there is also some sadness. It just makes you want to put bricks on their heads and make them stop growing up so dang fast!

Alec (2 years old) and Mommy

Happy Birthday Brett!

Today is Brett's birthday. He is the big 35!

(Brett has a tradition in his family on their birthday they have a grapefruit with a candle in it for breakfast. He has done this since he was a little boy, so we have kept the tradition going. He gets cake later, don't worry).

Brett is the best husband I could ever ask for. I love him dearly. He is such a comforting presence in my life. Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Snow

Yesterday we looked out the window and all the snow in our yard was gone. It looked like Spring might be around the corner.

Today we looked out the window and this is what we saw:

And it is still snowing!

I actually like winter, but this has been a long, hard, crappy winter for our family and honestly we could use a little more sunshine and Spring. I guess we will have to wait a little longer.

Nice Try

Gavin: "Hey Dad I think you said once that on Saturdays we don't have to do chores and we can play video games all day."

Dad: "I don't ever remember saying that."

Gavin: "Yeah once a long time ago. I think I remember."

Dad: "Nice try Gavin. That isn't going to happen."

Gavin: "Ah man!" (As he stomps off).

Sometimes it blows me away at how stupid our kids think we are. Silly kids!

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Today our little boy turns 9!

I don't know about anyone else but when my kids have a birthday I always think back over their years. I can't believe my first born is now 9. It seems just like yesterday that I gave birth to him!

(I still need to take his 9 year old pictures. When he was younger I insisted that I take him and have his picutures done on his birthday (a little OCD I am). I have let that go and if I get it done within the month I can live with that).

Gavin has a smile that can melt anyone's heart. He has always loved to smile and started smiling way early at 5 weeks. He hasn't stopped since. He is a character and everyone's friend. We love our Gavin. Happy Birthday little boy!

Reminders

Gavin: "Mom I wish the baby didn't die." (He is referring to the first baby. They don't know about the second one).

Mom: "Me too, Gavin."

Gavin: "I would have really liked to hold a new baby. That would have been fun."

Reminders make my heart break a little more. Especially reminders from my kids.