My first concert!

Todd got tickets to go see Lonestar at the Shell. It was fun! I mean it wasn't jump out of your seats with excitement and pass out when you see them fun, and I think most of that was because I know a lot of their songs but I am not completely obsessed with the band... But considering I had never been to any type of concert (other than orchestra) it was fun. We had VIP tickets to meet and mingle with the band and we got to take pictures with them. (we don't get to pick up those pictures for about a week)

Our seats were about 8 rows back and center stage so they weren't to shabby. The best part of the whole deal was it didn't cost us a dime! Thanks Brandon for a fabulous and free date night!!

I don't know the people posing with them, but it was the best picture I could get of them while we were waiting in line to meet them.

It was hard to get good shots of them. They kept moving all over the stage (of course) and it was dark.

You can kind of see how many people were behind us and there weren't very many people in front of us!

Half of the fun was watching other people around us. On one side of the stage a group gathered that was hard-core fans, and there was a little old lady in the middle of a bunch of 20-30ish old people. The older lady was jumping up and down and yelling, just like a teenager...then when the lead singer (sorry don't know his name) touched her hand, I thought she was going to go to the moon with joy! She had to hug every person in the group. I was happy to see her dream come true! :-)

It was a fun night with just the two of us. I am glad we were able to go!

Flying

I wanted to post some pictures and video of what it looks like for Todd in the airplane some days...enjoy!

The ride is a little bumpy and the camera makes the propeller look like it's going to stop but it's not! :-) Half of the camera bumping around was me...sorry!

4 years of school- A lot

900 hours of flight time- too much to mention

Views like those and a job you love- priceless!

First day of... Schools?

School started! They boys were SO excited to start a new year at Spring Creek. We went Tuesday and met their teachers, got their school clothes and had things all ready! Wednesday they marched off to school and then...Wed morning I got a call from Freedom Academy (which is a charter school I had applied for in March) and they said they had a few opening and the boys could get in. I couldn't believe it! We weren't expecting to hear that AT ALL! So we made a mad dash Wednesday afternoon to re-school shop! I had to get all new clothes, supplies, and shoes! With some nerves very close to the edge for all of us, the cute three older boys went to their second first day of school! I think their gonna like it!

And another first for this little guy! He started preschool! Thanks to some good hunting from my (try to keep up) sis-in-laws sister...we found something that is close to home, 1 3/4 hours two times a week. So far he LOVES it! He did cry the first day...but when Amber showed up things were all better and he is having so much fun!

I guess this is his "I'm a big kid going to school now" grin :-)

TITUS!

Where does the time go? T2 turned 8! I remember when Todd and I used to talk about how we couldn't believe he was starting kindergarden, and now....They grow so fast! I love each new stage and yet long for it to slow down just a little! He will be getting baptized on Sept. 5, 2009.

We took the boys of the fam to Jumpin' Jacks the day of. I think they had a lot of fun, but were ready to go once the 2 hours I set a side to play was up. Thanks CJ and Dakota for coming! (and Jillynn and Heather to help crowd control)

Todd was gone at scout camp on Titus's birthday so the following Sunday, when the whole family could get together, we had a party at our house. All Titus wanted was a donut eating contest so that's what we did. Don't challange Todd to one...He will beat you in two bites :-) But we broke it down into ages and the kids (of all sizes) had fun! We're so lucky to have family around to come to fun things like that!

We love you Titus! Happy Birthday!

School Starting?

School starts in 2 days! Where did the summer go?

6 things I dislike about school starting..

1. early bed time! For everyone not just the kids

2. shorter days

3. homework fights

4. less frequent go-anywhere-do-anything days

5. not seeing my husband and kids smiling faces as often

6. Did I mention homework fights?

6 things I really like about school starting...

1. routine

2. a house that stays clean longer than 5 min.

3. the fact that I have 2 hours 2x's a week that it's just me and tiny kid

4. the quiet

5. routine

6. the yummy dinners I can cook because it's not to hot to heat up the kitchen

So there you have it the bitter-sweet of school...ahhhh

It's quiet, do you know what the kids are doing?

Todd has been gone all week. He is coming home tomorrow and I CAN'T WAIT!!! I have had a fun, busy, crazy week. I love being a mom, and I am glad Todd got the chance to go with the scouts I hope he is/had a good time! I'll find out tomorrow:-) Hopefully when Todd gets home the word "Dad" is still in their vocabulary. Not that they forgot him in the past week, but that I have heard "MOM" yelled so often, I am not sure their cute, (screaming, loud, mouthy) little mouths can form that particular word anymore.

This week of activities that I have (fought through and sometimes enjoyed) done this week are: Getting my hair done, going swimming, sneaking away to my mom-in-law's enrichment night, shopping for a birthday, a birthday party at Jumpin Jacks for Titus (more to come on that later), deep cleaning the house, Pampered Chef/Sentsy party (that was the reason for deep cleaning), talking 'till wee hours of the night with fam, playing at friends houses, dealing with sleep deprived children from a sleepover at grandmas, being sleep deprived myself from being woken up by thunder, and plenty more! My list might be able to go on for quite sometime. It is such an,(overwhelming), uplifting job to take care of 5 little boys. Tanner is the climber. I might add that he replaced Tobyn in this particular area. Tonight when I finally thought I had a chance to relax and put my feet up I hear the kitchen water running, thought is was Tobyn "doing dishes" but oh-no...

I didn't know wether to laugh or cry....I did both!

I know it could have been worse and it looks semi innocent sitting all cute like in the sink. But the kicker is the stinker got in there all by himself and was splashing and dumping water all over the kitchen. What is a mom to do?...Yell for their Dad as soon as he gets home!

ANIMALS!

We had a lot of fun on Saturday at the zoo with my mom! We watched the animals play, sleep and eat. The boys would stand for several minutes just watching the animals do their thing. I had to keep the boys moving. We probably could have stayed there all day, but Mom and Grandma just weren't going to last that long. So the boys had to settle for 3 hours worth :-)

I love going to the zoo and have been wanting to go for a couple of years but haven't been able to go for one reason or another. I was glad I got to spend this fun day with my kids and Mom!

This monkey (I am sure that's not exactly what it was, but I can't remember specifically what kind it is) was so funny. He would pull himself around in the bucket along the bottom of the cage. Tanner just watched and watched.
The Giraffes. There was a baby giraffe that was only 2 days old. It stayed in the building and visitors weren't allowed in so I didn't get a good picture of it. But TC got this good shot of one of the adults walking to get some food.
Grandma B and the kids takin' a break for a few! It was hot and so this was a much needed water/food break. See how well the kids say "Cheese!" LOL!

The boys and I. 'Nough said :-)
The elephant...eating...
This was the best shot I could get of us ridding the train. I had a baby on my lap, trying to stay in the train and hold the camera with one hand...now that's multi-tasking. (don't mind the girl in the background, just a visitor in on the shot)

The 24th

We had a simple 24th of July, but it was fun. We played with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins...ok the adults talked and watched, the kids played. We had a simple BBQ of hotdogs, chips, watermelon, and potato salad. Typical summer BBQ stuff.

After a little yard work, we lit fireworks and the kids did sparklers. Like I said simple but fun. Here are a few of the Highlights.

It was dark when I got most of the pictures but these two are of all the kids playing with the glow sticks. Natalie and Aaron playing with all of my boys!

A pretty good shot of mom and Grandpa. Again, it was dark so a little blurry. Some day I will have a GREAT camera and be a good photographer, for now, you'll have to deal with half way decent.