St. Patrick's Day

I am going to TRY and update our blog. 

Our kids build a Leprechaun trap each year in hopes of catching a Leprechaun and getting his pot of gold.  I am sorry to say that once again they were left empty handed. 

I made them green eggs and ham for breakfast and just like Valentines day they HATED it.  Oh well, it is the thought that counts.

Samantha had her first choir performance that night at the school Arts Festival.  She did great!  Samantha is pretty shy so she was very nervous.  I was proud of her for overcoming her fears.

The choir concert lasted about 10 minutes and then we spent the rest of the night doing art projects throughout the school.

The kids loved doing the projects and getting their grove on playing the Dance game.

Valentine's Day 2011

I will start this by saying...I HATE VALENTINE'S DAY! I feel that there should not be one day set aside to tell your loved one you love them, this should be a daily act. So to waste money on something so stupid in my opinion is ridiculous. That being said. I do have children that enjoy Valentine's Day and so I WILL celebrate it for them and show them that I do LOVE them and their dad more than they know!!! I woke up bright and early on this great day and made my kids a special breakfast. Heart shaped pink pancakes on heart plates with sparkling cider, boxes of chocolates and valentines. They all told me that hated it!! :)

Samantha made her first Valentine box. It was so cute and I didn't help her as much as Dave says. When I went to her class that day I had several of her classmates ask me to make them one.

Samantha and William both had class parties and Ben got to tag along to both. They had so much fun making crafts, frosting cookies and playing games!

We had a romantic evening consisted of serving a pasta bar t0 60 kids at cancer camp. I couldn't think of a better way to show my kids I love them by having them provide an act of service with their cousins, aunts, uncles and granparents. Our family loved the food, company, making valentines and watching their cousins zumba!

Not a bad day for a holiday I HATE. :)

Happy Birthday 2 Dave

Dave got older and wiser on the 9th. The kids planned a great party for him. They were a little upset that we did not get him any presents. I tried to explain to them that Dad's new car was the only present he was getting. The result of the lesson....they telling me I AM NOT A NICE PERSON.

The decorated all afternoon....so much crate paper and so much tape! It was so cute to watch them. They were so excited!

They planned dinner, nickel city and dessert. All their plans benefited themselves more than Dave but because Dave is such a great father he went along with their craziness and had a great time!

Parenting tip: DO NOT give your kids slide whistles before you get into a car! Dave doesn't like cake so the kids chose strawberry shortcake for him and cupcakes for themselves complete with cherries jubilee and daiquiri ice ice cream!

I asked the kids to tell me one thing they love about their Dad.

Samantha.......he takes me on daddy dates!

William.......he goes on daddy dates with me and he farts in my face. (Then Will laughed and said "that will be so funny")

Benjamin...... hmmm(he puts his finger on his chin while he says hmmm) He Love Me!

We are so blessed to have such a great father and husband. Dave is a very quiet, private person so many people don't know just how AMAZING he is!! We love you!!

The Circus is Coming...The Circus is Coming

The Jordan World Circus came to town and we went to pay them a visit. What is that? You have never heard of the Jordan World Circus? Well either had we...but now we know. And knowing is half the battle!



Dave picked up some free kids tickets to this circus and we hadn't taken the kids on any adventures for a couple of weeks so we decided to give it a go. Our friends the Harper's were brave enough to go with us.

We were on the edges of our seats from the minute it started to the minute it ended. Not because of the excitement but because almost every act had a malfunction. It was great! I have never seen such a crazy show in my life and the kids couldn't wait to see what was going to go wrong next. They were a little disappointed because I wouldn't let them get their picture taken next to a bear but I after all that had gone wrong I didn't want to risk them being bear food!

I say we will go again because it was so crazy that I was laughing all night, others might want to go again because of the costumes! (see below)

Samantha's Get Away

I hit a huge milestone in my life. I let one of my children go on a vacation without me. I won't tell you how many times I called or how I packed her suitcase. I will just say this was SO hard for me.

Samantha went to Disneyland with my parents, her Aunt Lisa and 3 of her cousins (Liam, Sam and Davis). She had so much fun! The 300 times I called her each day she was laughing so hard I could hardly understand what she was saying. Even though sometimes she would only say 1 word to me.

She was so excited and scared to go on the TOWER of TERROR. She did go 1 time and that was enough for her!

Even though this was one of the hardest things I have had to do as a parent, I am glad she had the opportunity to go. She will post more pictures from her own camera later!

Thanks Mom and Dad for taking Samantha and being patient with my 300 phone calls and questions!

It's Christmas

Christmas time is CRAZY we all know that. There is SO much going on and SO much to get done. This year I decided to get myself an early Christmas present...I got my gallbladder removed the week of school Christmas madness. That meant Dave had to do some serious parenting that last crazy week of school before their break and getting ready for our 2 week vacation to Colorado. I am so lucky to have such a GREAT husband.
Samantha surprised Dave twice that week. Once by telling him at bed time that she needed a gift for a gift exchange the next day and then again as she was getting tucked in bed by telling him she had to wear a SOLID red or green shirt the next day! Samantha should be grateful Dave was in charge or she might not be alive!!! She did great in her performance of Mele Kalikimaka.....who makes second graders sing those words? I love how excited she gets for everything!!

Will on the other hand needs some excitement lessons from his sister. He is WAY to cool to sing songs like Must Be Santa. Don't the Black Eyed Peas have a Christmas album? He did great though even though he looks like he is in pain. I am so proud of everything Will accomplishes because I know how hard he worked to get there. Way to go Will!

HELP please....Ben IS crazy, really crazy! One of our biggest parenting regrets thus far is teaching him to make a mean face. Every time you ask him to do something he looks at you like this. Over our Christmas break in Colorado he discovered the Dance Star Mickey Display and loved to dance right next to Mickey!

We spent the Christmas break in Colorado with Dave's parents. Dave's oldest brother Sean and his wife Amy recently moved to Colorado Springs and his brother is working at the Air Force Academy. Sean took us to Peterson Air Force Base and we got to go inside the plane the Wings of Blue (Air Force Parachute Team) jump out of. The kids loved jumping out of the plane, pretending to fly the plane and running in the hanger. We then went to Sean's office at the Academy and drove around the campus with our final stop to the AF visitor center. Thanks Uncle Sean!

Christmas Eve we spent at Sean and Amy's with good food and company. The kids love being with their cousins and they get along great. Later that night we returned and opened their 1 Christmas Eve present. I think since they show no excitement in new pajamas we should surprise them one year with something FUN or get them something really boring like pots and pans! They did look cute though in their new Jammie's!

Christmas morning dawned with mixed emotions. Sam and Will could not wait to open their presents and Ben cried because he could not see the GI Joe guys he asked for. We tried to explain to him that they might be wrapped under the tree but since he could not see them he could not be consoled.

At last, the GI Joes were found along with Sam's DSI XL that she SO wanted, and nerf guns and Star Wars toys galore! Oh and don't forget the pillow pets (that we refused to buy) they had to ask Santa for. I love watching their excitement and how they can't stay focused on 1 toy long enough to see how it works.

Our kids always love to visit the Denver Railroad Museum when we are in Colorado. Their is something about running around, on and through a bunch of trains that kids LOVE! I loved that is was such a nice day outside for us all to enjoy the trains!

On the way back from the train museum we stopped at Buffalo Bill's Grave and Museum. The museum was closing so we had a quick photo shoot and went in the gift shop instead.
During our visit we got to see our new niece Cara and her mom Becky. They were visiting from Virginia and we had never met Cara before. It was great to spend some time with both of them. We did miss James and the boys though.

To bring in the New Year we went to Skate the Lake. With the temperatures a Nice Warm -11!!! Who doesn't want to bring in the New Year outside on a Lake in artic temperature! It was fun and we survived without (much) frostbite. Dave skated with Sam and Will and I pulled Ben around in the sleigh. We went on sleigh rides, got our faces painted, roasted marshmallows and ate treats!!

We had a great Christmas break and are so appreciative to Dave's parents for opening their home to us and our puppy. Next time we will conveniently forget the puppy (at my their house... they love collecting dogs)!

McLay's Giving Thanks

I don't want to sound ungrateful but if I am being honest I am glad Thanksgiving weekend is over. It was a crazy but fun few days that all started with MANNERS LUNCH!!

Samantha's class turned their classroom into a cafe and had a MANNERS lunch. She was so excited to get all dressed up and practice her manners. Since she is my child I was afraid she would get kicked out of the manners cafe not to mention that she was NOT happy when she left for school because I would not let her wear her baptism dress. I felt bad that I was crushing her dream but since they were drinking RED punch and had recess OUTSIDE in the MUD before and after their lunch, WHITE was not an option! She did get over her wardrobe issue and had a great day!

Our next major event was CHRISTMAS... Even though we had not yet celebrated Thanksgiving, the Harmer family was not going to be together for Christmas, so this year we had our gift exchange early.The picture above is my mom's famous don't talk to the hand pose, something all her children are familiar with!!

I have come to accept that my family is crazy...fun but crazy. This picture below with my nephews (Riley and Chad) "embracing" and my mom in the back not even phased by their actions is far to common with my family! (Heidi however, is enjoying the moment). Dave is sure we break all fire codes when we are together because there are so many people, but the more the merrier especially for Harmer CHRISTMAS!

After dinner it was presents, presents, and more presents. My parents insist on everyone opening the presents one at a time, so to get through all 38 presents took awhile.

Ben got some golf clubs he now uses as weapons! (Tara added a "beard" for effect).

Will got Star Wars Legos....Legos + Star Wars= HEAVEN for this boy!

Samantha got a Moxi snow girl and continues to make snow for the doll every week! (Tara was really bored today and added some more "graphics" to this one).

After presents Grandma taught the kids how to gamble with her version of quarters...we are so proud of our Mother! Samantha did win the "little kid"version and she is now rich!!

Thursday, we ate Thanksgiving dinner but I forgot to take pictures....boo! Ben did come over and throw up at the adult table while we were enjoying our meal. Maybe Samantha should teach him some manners.

Friday night, the family spent the night in the Little America hotel (in downtown SLC). Samantha and William wanted to stay for 10 days....Little America probably wanted us to stay for 10 minutes.

We went to Temple Square to see the lights. We wanted to see them turn on, but some people had to use the restroom so we missed the big moment, the lights still looked great though. The kids just wanted to get back and swim so they weren't too excited. After the lights, we swam, ate pizza, played games, and witnessed Ben throw up yet again!

My Dad took pity on the sick "baby" and held him while he slept on Saturday. I am sorry to say he doesn't get this treatment from his mom.

All in all it was a great but tiring HOLIDAY. My favorite part was that Dave had a week off of work and we could just hang out as a family. I am so thankful for my wonderful husband and my cute kids. I am also thankful for all our family and all they do for us!