First Grade, Buddies, and Picnics

This post is a little late, but life is busy and there's not a lot of time for extra's. However, I do feel it's important to post fun things and milestones for my "blog book".

Riley recently started 1st grade! He is doing really well and seems to love his teacher. I got some pictures on his first day and by the last picture he was giving me the "Enough all ready, mom" look.

All ready!

Found his seat, and it's across from his friend (the little blonde girl). They gave eachother the cutest, shy smile. Malia (as seen in yellow pajamas) thought this was her big day and that she would stay too. She protested loudly when I made her leave with me.

And he's ready for me to leave. The look sais it all.

Malia with her little buddy. They are so cute together. They are about the same age and exactly the same size.

Riley finally got a long awaited sleep over with his buddy. They had such a great time. Lot's of junk food and running around and movies. I remember being a kid and loving sleepovers with friends!
We went for a drive one Sunday up on the Nebo loop. It was so pretty and felt so good. Just a little breeze. The kids had a good time throwing rocks off the moutain.

I love having a boy and a girl! They are both so cute and different, and yet they have funny similarities too both in the way they look and act.
Big huge puffballs for Riley to blow.

Camping is Fun.

A long awaited family reunion with my mom's side, the Blackers!

This was on the drive there......I love that chubby neck!
Riley discovers hand surfing.

Nothing beats cramming a smallish vehicle with everything you need to live in and live on for 2-3 days! I was voting for hotels for all future trips until we got to the beautiful woods near Mirror Lake and I realized how fun camping can be, especially if you are a kid and have no real responsibility!

From left to right: Grandma Lynn Blacker, Ali (my Aunt), Me, Malia, Julie(Aunt), Laura(Aunt), Ary(my cousin, Laura's daughter)

I LOVE Malia's double chin. Riley was so bugged by Malia because she kept toying with his pillow. I swear, she knows how to push his buttons and she really gets joy from it.

Our first morning! Ben cooking breakfast, the kids looking adorable.

Me and my honey's by Mirror Lake.

Nothin's cuter on a little girl than a big brown butt stain. This is mudd, not the other.

I love when we can get a cute picture of them together, smiling!

My beautiful Aunt Allison. I know, she is so young. They look so cute together!

Ben picked this flower for me, and I loved how the roots and dirt clump were part of the gift :)

Stirring the chicken with a piece of wood. Yum.

Here's where it turned ugly! Packing up in the rain. Blah!

Oh you can bet the family bonding was intense on the way home. None of us were grumpy or tired. Nope.

Another Fun Weekend!!!

My Mom came for Riley's Birthday weekend. We had a great time, as usual! Malia got some high quality "girl time" with her Grandma. This is so funny because my mom is so NOT girly. You can't even say the word "purse" around her without her gagging. But when there's Malia's nails to paint pink, who can resist?

This may be the first time my Mom has had pink toenails! I also painted mine pink. The little feet aren't mine though. They are Malia's.

We took Riley to Cowabunga Bay for his birthday, and it would not have been nearly as fun without his best cousin Kortley! It's fun watching these two grow.

Kortley getting a big kiss from Auntie Darci :)

We would've wore our bikini's, but they were at the dry cleaners.

My mom, the rapper. Riley got this awesome new BIG bike from us for his birthday. This kid LOVES to ride his bike.

Apparently my mom likes to ride Riley's bike too! It looked like a choreographed v-formation, these three coming toward me.

Awwwwwwwwwwww.

Awwwwwwwwwwwww.

Awwwwwwwwwwwww. (Meow! Help!!)

Riley's 6th Birthday

Last year for Riley's outdoor birthday party it began to pour just as friends and family were arriving. This year for his outdoor water party, we got a lot more water than we bargained for. Just as people were dropping their kids off, it began pouring. But determined me (determined to not have all 11 kids running around inside) I went ahead and set up the slip n slide and all the other stuff. I looked like a drowned rat! About half the kids went for it and played out in the rain. The other half weren't so sure and opted to come in frequently for breaks from the rain. CRAZY RAIN! You'd think it was safe to plan an outdoor party for August 1st.

You can see the rain coming down in this picture.

Kids taking a break in the house. Who doesn't love lot's of wet kids running around the house :)

Doggie Pile! I miss those. Maybe I can still get my friends to do one with me.

"Red rover red rover, send Riley right over!"

Riley looks fierce running during the red rover game. I keep telling him to stop growing and he usually answers with this "I have to grow mom. Don't you want me to be a cop?" I am shocked that my little 7lb 12 oz baby boy is 6. Sometimes I try to curl him up like a little baby and rock him. I love watching the changes in his personality as he grows, and they way he has gone from baby to toddler to little boy to big boy! It's kind of sad. But I have made him promise me he will never move more than 30 minutes away.

Finally Having Fun

Hallelujah I no longer work every weekend! I got a new job and now only work one weekend a month, and it has already been so awesome. For example yesterday we went boating with Sam and Stacia (Ben's brother and his brother's lovely wife) to Utah Lake. Afterwards we hung out with the kids for a little while in shallow water and set up our chairs in the water.

I feel as if a Jimmy Buffet song would be appropriate with this picture.

As usual, Riley is very safety conscious and wears the life jacket that is now too small for him. And Malia knows how to work the camera with her bikini pose.


Riley's tip for fun in the water: Grab a handful of rocks..........


...............and toss them!


Check out Malia's water logged diaper. I couldn't find any swim diapers at Walmart (what????) so she looked like she had a lot of junk in her trunk, and in the front! I like big butts and I cannot lie........

Surfing! It was definately exhilirating and frightening and I'm told my facial expressions conveyed both emotions quite well. I fell many times, and used so many under utilized muscles that today I feel like I could use a wheelchair.

I love this picture! I think Ben intentionally flexed his arm for the picture. Not bad :)

Ben was pretty good at surfing!

These little dimpled hands are going to be so missed someday when she's all grown up :(

It was a PERFECT day to be on the Lake. Utah Lake always creeps me out a little though. It's shallow, and I always wonder if there are dead people stuck at the bottom not far from my feet. I know that is so disgusting to even think. But apparently my bishop waterski'd over a big dead bloated cow in Utah Lake. That only adds to my disgust. Anyways, I think this pic of Ben and Malia is cute!

Riley has his moments where he is comparable to a PMS-ing teenage girl, but MOST of the time he is my sweet little angel who does things like brush Malia's teeth, and he coaches her all the way through it. "Okay Malia, now let's do your cheezers. Okay now stick out your tongue, like this."

Project Basement: framing.....check

everything else.....hopefully before the kids are grown

Above is the built in shelves/entertainment center. The basement is going to be so wonderful, and I must say Ben has really impressed me with his know how, and determination to find out how to do all this! I think I will keep Ben :)

We had a neighborhood friends BBQ recently and it was SO MUCH FUN! I thought I would be stressed the whole time but I really enjoyed talking with everyone and the kids all had fun running around the yard. The weather was perfect. It's hard to see, but in the back corner of our yard we are growing vegetables and amazingly they are doing well! Next year I think I will plant less, because it's looking like a jungle. I planted everything too close together.

We love our kids so much! I was just telling Ben this morning that both our kids are so funny right now. Malia, because she is at a funny age, and Riley because he THINKS he is so funny :)