::Chloe's triathlon::

I forgot to post about Chloe's triathlon at her school!!  

Remember field day when you were little??  Weren't those the funnest days of the whole year??  Chloe's school had a triathlon for their field day.  It was biking, running and an obstacle course.  You could do it alone or with a buddy.  Chloe brought home the form and asked if she could do it with her friend Regan.  So, we texted her mom, and they were all for it.  Regan's mom said that she's a good little runner, and I said that Chloe wouldn't mind doing either, but she'd be totally happy to bike, so it worked out just perfect!!

So, Portie, Bubb, Avie, and I went to her school at about quarter to 9 to drop off her bike and to get a good spot to watch her.  When I got there I learned that the place I had to drop off he bike was on the whole other side of the school from where I parked.  Now I just had to figure out how to push a stroller and walk a bike over to the other side of the school and keep track of Portie and Bubb.  I thought maybe Port could push Ava in the stroller and I could ride walk the bike.  I wasn't looking forward to that though, because Bubb cries if he has to walk more than 5 steps, and Port tends to try to do tricks with the stroller.  Thank goodness, a friend of mine showed up and parked right behind us!!  Her husband was with her (who is also named Matt).  She volunteered him to take her bike over for me.  What a guy!

Here's our girl!  I'm not totally sure she knew it was a race.  She was sort of just out for a Sunday ride.  She's just not very competitive-unless its a board game (but that's a whole 'nother story).

 Cute little thing.

And this is her little buddy, Regan.  Aren't they cute??

She came over to play after school, and we all went to Perry Ice for snow cones :] 

::Portie's field trip::

I got to go on Port's class field trip to the dinosaur park.  It's the same place Chloe's class went when she was in kindergarten (Port went with us back then too).  It's a pretty fun trip, so we were excited.  Bubb was going to come, and I was going to take Bebe Ava up to Grandma Snowman about 8ish in the morning.  Sounds good right??

Things never go as planned in my world.  

Things started out great.  Chloe got on the bus on time, as usual.  We went home, finished getting ready.  Ave, Port, Bubb, and I got in the car with all of our stuff so we could be gone all day and not need anything.  We were running a little late-which is normal for us.  We dropped Avie off with Grandma.  We were coming back down the canyon and I realized I forgot the stroller (Bubb's not too keen on walking a lot).  I didn't have time to stop back by the house and get it, so I tried to talk him into not needing it.  It was working!  We were telling him about all the stuff to do there (playgrounds, dinosaurs to look at, sand to dig in, water to play in, things to climb on, etc), and he was ok with it.  So we hurried on to Port's school.  We were almost to the turn-in to his school and Port yells from the back of the "bus" "Mom!  Bubb threw up!!"  I turned around, saw throw up on Bubba, he was crying, and I was thinking what do I do??  I'm here, Port's got to go on his field trip, but so do I, but I can't take Bubb.  So I decided in my super rational thinking that I had to take Porter in, and then take Bubba home.  Nice, huh?  But how do I take Porter in, I can't leave him in the car parked across the street, and you can't park right by the doors, because they block off that driveway right before school starts, and I can't take in a kid with throw up all over him.  So I moved their cone and parked in the blocked off driveway anyway.  The lady gave me the stink-eye and I told her sorry.  I took Port in and told his teacher what happened.  I told her I didn't know if I'd be able to go on the field trip.  She's such a sweetheart, and said that it was ok and that she'd just put him with another group until I got there and not to worry.  I called Susan and told her what happened and that I guess I should come get Ava.  She said no, and to just bring Bubba up to her.  Then she said it would be faster to send Jennie down to pick him up.  So she did.  I cleaned out the car (thank goodness for leather seats and rubber floor mats!), got Bubb changed, and packed him a few changes of clothes.  After Jennie came and got him I headed down to the dinosaur park and found Port.  He was glad to see me, and I was glad to see him.

We walked around together most of the day.  We saw all kinds of dinosaurs-even a dead one that a T-Rex had chewed up.  We had a little book we had to fill out.  We had to find all the dinosaurs in the book and write down their weight, length, where they were discovered, and if they were a carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore.  It was pretty fun.  It was fun to be with just Portie, which doesn't happen too often.  I have to confess that I got a little frustrated with him because he didn't want to play with his friends at all-even after we were done with our book.  He just had no interest in them.  They kept coming over to him and saying hi and he just didn't have any interest.  Now looking back, I think I realize that he was enjoying the alone time with me, and maybe that's why he didn't want to go play with them.  Oops.  Eventually he played with his buddies, but it was mostly the two of us for the day.

We saw a REAL dinosaur...

(Portie sort of knew he wasn't real, but he still made him a little nervous 'til I showed him all his wires and buttons on the ground)

We saw lots of "diamonds" and rocks...

Had lunch on some big rocks... 

(at 10:00 because when you've got your lunch with you, it's too hard not to just eat it!)

Sifted for GOLD!!

Climbed on dinosaur bones!!

Played with some friends...

(That's Jaken aka Jaken-Bacon.  He's Port's best buddy.  He plays at our house probably 3 times a week :)

So it was a bit of a rough day.  The start anyway (and a few minor snags during the day-not with Port).  We got in the car to go home, and I turned on a move for him and gave hint he headphones so he could hear it and I could listen to the radio.  He would laugh at his movie every once in a while, and then he'd get quiet.  Then out of nowhere, he says, "I'm glad you came, Mom."  I looked at him in my rearview.  He wasn't even looking at me.  He was looking at his movie.  I just said "Aww, you are??"  He looked at me and told me a happy little "yeah!!"  I said "me too."

And that made it all worth it.

PS

Bubb was fine all day.  No more throw ups.

::mothers' day::

"She broke the bread into two fragments and gave them to her children, who ate with eagerness.  

'She hath kept none for herself,' grumbled the sergeant.

'Because she is not hungry,' said a soldier.

'No,' said the sergeant. 'Because she is a mother.'"

~Victor Hugo

I had such a sweet mothers' day :)  The morning was a bit of a rush.  I really wanted to go to church and hear the kids sing.  The talks were an added bonus-they were so great.  One boy told a story about a man who ordered flowers to be delivered to his mom, and on his way out of the shop, he saw a girl who couldn't afford flowers for her mom.  So he gave her some.  Then he took her to give them to her mom.  The girl led him to the cemetery.  Them man cancelled the delivery and took his mom the flowers in person.  What a story!

After church, we headed down to our usual mothers day brunch at the Grand America Hotel.

Here's our group.  It's a little different than in years past.  No cousins, and we've added Gloria.  We like the Gloria addition, but we missed the cousins (we missed them last year too).

We were in the Grand Ballroom.  It was just beautiful in there!  We ate (a lot) and listened to the live band.  They were pretty good :)

Afterwards we walked around the courtyard.  There may have been a few shenanigans going on with the little boys and the fountains.  Porter might have dipped his head in the water (and Bubb of course followed suit).  I'm kinda sad I didn't get a picture of it, but we didn't think it was all that cute at the time.

Then after we got home, Matt and the kids had some gifties for ME!!  They had been so excited all day long.  They were kinda sad that we didn't do it in the morning, but with 9:00 church, we just didn't have time.  So I finally got to see all the cute little things they made me at school (which I absolutely adore).

(look at Port's silhouette!  Ahh I just love it!  He picked me some flowers out of our flowerbeds too :) & Chloe's sweet notes ;)  )

It almost goes without saying how much I love being a mother.  I am thankful every day for my sweet babies.  Even on the roughest of days when they've been fighting with each other all day, tearing up the house, haven't been listening, etc, I'm thankful to be their mother.  I love them more than the most beautiful of words can possibly describe.  I want them to know above all else, that their mother (and father) loves them forever, for always, no matter what.

::our six-year-old-boy::

Port turned 6!

(almost 2 weeks ago, now.)

We always let the kids pick where to go to dinner, and usually it's McDonald's.  This birthday was no different.  Port picked McD's, but, we ate it at the park, which was way fun.  It's nice to have a birthday in May-when the weather has a chance of being warm enough to do something outdoors :)

They ate and played and it was lovely.

Then we went back home to sing to him and blow out candles and have cake...

He liked being sung to :)

...we were excited to give him our gift...

...a big bike!!

It's an 18 incher.  It's red with yellow wheels and flames on the sides.  

He loves it.

The next day we had a friends party for him.  It was, of course, Mario themed.

His invitation...

We had the whole thing outside in the backyard because 10 little boys in the house=no bueno.

We played a few party games...

Pin the mustache on Mario...

Princess Peach Tiara Toss...

Yoshi's Egg Race...

(They were supposed to get from one end of the yard to the other with their egg on the spoon and one hand in their pocket without dropping it-if you dropped it or touched it, you had to start over.  Port might have cheated. :)  )

He opened some fun presents...

They had some treats...

And beat a piñata to finish off the party...

Look at this boy!

He's six!  I feel like that sounds a lot older than 5 don't you?  I get a little frustrated with his manners (i.e. burping at the dinner table and such) and sometimes he'll throw a fit when he doesn't get his way, and Matt will say, "Honey, he's FIVE!!"  That's so fitting to his personality too-being 5.  Well, he's not 5 anymore!  He's 6!!  Time to straighten up, Buddy!  Just kidding!  He's such a fun kid.  He's silly, crazy, happy, excited, difficult, gross, lovey, tenderhearted, soft-spoken, cuddly, and lots more Porter-ish things.  He still loves his mummah (blue blanket), and sleeps with it every night.  He's still very into Mario, and gets SO super excited when he talks about it-he talks louder and faster.  He likes to play outside, ride his bike, play catch, hit the baseball, kick the soccer ball, run, climb and do the monkey bars.  He loves to build with blocks.  His all time favorite food is chicken Fettuccine Alfredo.  His baby sister adores him.  She thinks he's the funniest thing in the whole world.  His older sister kinda goes back and forth-sometimes he's totally annoying to her, and sometimes he's pretty great.  His brother thinks the sun rises and sets in Porter. They fight, of course, but Bubba couldn't survive a day without Port!  His measure of time during the day is how long we have before we have to go pick Porter up from the bus stop.  He's happiest when Porter's home.  He gets horribly jealous when Port has friends over.  I really feel like Bubba thinks (whether he knows it or not) that Porter exists just so he has somebody to play with :)

We sure love him.  

Happy birthday, Port-Port!!

::over the weekend::

The kids got their hair cut.  Which usually ins't that big of a deal, but this time CHLOE GOT HER HAIR CUT!!  Isn't' it cute??

She told me probably about a week or so ago that she wanted to cut her hair.  I wanted to wait a bit to make sure she really wanted to cut it.  She kept holding her hair up and looking in the mirror and telling me she thought it'd be so cute short.  I agreed.  So we went to Cookie Cutters in Logan to get a little hair cut.  I love it on her!  She was excited to go to school this morning to show all her little friends.  So far, the two of them who have seen it want their hair cut just like it :)  Cute girls.

(How 'bout that pose?!!? She might like her hair cut too!)

We got our garden planted.  

Tomatoes, corn, peppers, cukes, strawberries (they came back from last year, peas, carrots, and radishes).

Avie!!!  Baby girls aren't possa play inna mud!!!

We played kickball in the backyard.  I kicked it over the fence and had to go knock on the neighbors door to get it back.  I made Chloe and Brianna come with me.  It felt a little like the sandlot.  There was even a VERY scary dog involved.

Then we cooked out-for the first time in 2 years.  We didn't cook out at all last summer (on a count of our yard being dead last summer (we killed it on purpose).  We had some neighbor kids join us...

(Chloe, Brianna, Porter, Bubb, & Alyssa)

Sunday was good too.  We were only about 10 minutes late for church (Matt loves that).  But we still got a bench, and we didn't miss sacrament.  The family in from of us probably loved handing us our stuff that kept rolling forward and hitting their feet (crayons, sippy cups, binkies, etc) over and over again.  I skipped Sunday school to come home and put a chicken in the oven.  I cooked a whole chicken (a first for me) and it turned out SO good! recipe here  We made brownies and ate the whole pan in one afternoon (which is not unusual for our family :) ).   Then we skyped with my mom and my Grampa and Aunt Karen for almost 2 hours!  It was way fun.  I love Skype! 

So that was our weekend.  How was yours??