And the winner is.....

Julia of course!

This is Julia and her friend Macey. Macey is Eric Laney's daughter. Talk about a spit fire on the field! I was very glad that she and Julia were on the same team as opposed to being on opposites. These two are also in the same sunday school class at church. It was nice that Julia knew at least one of her teammates when joining up.

And they're off!

One cool kiddo. This day was particularly bright and very hot. I lent her my sunglasses for a bit and just had to catch the picture.

Daddy, my winner, and her other coach (Eric Laney).
She was beyond excited to get a medal. I don't think she took it off for a week--carried it around wherever she went. I'm so proud of her. :)

She discovered that she loves playing goalie. She made quite a bit of saves too--wasn't scared of going after the ball to stop it (while there were plenty of feet still wanting to kick the ball).

Everyone's gotta have their own cheering squad right? Mom and Dad and Meg were awesome. They came to almost every single game. The highlight for Julia was when her teacher from school came to cheer her on. I'd never heard of any teacher doing that for a student before. How sweet was that? Julia was on cloud nine afterwards.

Zoo Days

I absolutely can't wait for school to be officially out. I'm ready for summer days filled with being outdoors: fishing, silver dollar city, the zoo, ect. As of late, I guess we've already been hitting the zoo quite a bit. I just uploaded all my pictures from my camera and I was shocked to see how many were of different trips to the zoo.

Outside of the reptile house is the little area that has little holes in ground. It shoots fountains of water at different intervals (which no one can clock--or no one has bothered trying). On hot sunnny days, this is a favorite play area for everyone. Evelyn loved trying to kick the water as it came shooting out.

Jacob on the other hand liked to splash it upward and get everyone within 10 feet of him wet. No one really seemed to mind though.

All over the park are all these statues of different animals--and I think that all kids have this inherent knowledge that the statues are there solely for the particular use of sitting on them and getting their picture taken.

In the reptile house we were just going along and looking at all the snakes when a woman caught our eye. She was sitting in the corner holding a live snake (YUCK!). Julia zoomed over there to see if she could touch it/hold it. Jacob started looking in the cooler (you can see part of it in the corner) to see if she had anymore snakes in it. While my kids were fascinated, Ryan and I started gravitating towards the exit. :)

The elephants are always a lot of fun to see. And at the moment, there is a baby elephant in the herd. It's Evelyn's favorite.

Here we go again with another statue. And look, this one accomodates for two!

Black bear, Black bear what do you see? I see two children looking at me!

This was too precious not to get on camera. These guys are the best of friends.

I don't remember the St. Louis Zoo ever having a feeding/petting area, but ours sure does. The goats weren't too interested that day (I think they were fed earlier), but the kids loved petting them all the same.
Ryan was showing Evelyn another bear...I about freaked out when I realized how far over the fence she was! Of course he'd never let go or let her slip--paranoid mom coming out of me I guess. :) Evelyn was just having a great ol time!

A Good Day

It's truly days like these that I'd like to bottle up and store forever, to be looked at and remembered with satisfaction. Last week, I could have sworn I had the primary falling all around me. I had never witnessed such rudeness, such downright disrespect in all my life. I was ready to throw in the towel (and every child too). Thank goodness for awesome, truly inspired presidencies though. After a meeting and a strategy, we were all uplifted and ready to take it all back on today. And you know what? It was like having a completely different group of kids today. My wiggly disruptive ones actually sat the whole time and paid attention. We didn't have to speak to them once! And let me tell you, that hasn't happened since before I was made president (over a year ago). The kids sang wonderfully, loudly and yet reverently. Joycelyn, you'd have been impressed. To top it off, the bishopric told me that I'm getting two more people as primary workers. :)
Well, needless to say, I was on a great spiritual high when I got home. We figured out the quirks and everything's falling into place. The absolute best part--Evelyn woke up from a nap this afternoon and the first thing she said as she entered the living room:
"Daddy, I have a tummy ache. May I have a blessing?"
This truly is proof that very young kids can learn at their tender ages. She is only in nursery and she knows exactly what can help her when she isn't feeling good. She knows that her daddy can give blessings because he holds the priesthood. What a wonderful blessing that is. Such simple faith and knowledge on her part. And it all fits in with the theme which we've been learning/teaching in primary--my faith in Jesus Christ grows as I learn about the restoration of the gospel. It's because of the restoration that she's able to receive that blessing. Julia's old enough that she comprehends this. And she loves to find ways to equate all this knowledge into her own experiences.
It's days like this that I feel truly blessed.

Chapped

ryan's mom sent me the funniest mother's day email. here is the story that i have to share with all the mothers out there:

"So, we had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died. Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on this mat in our bathroom.Well, we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loves chapstick. LOVES it. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood. We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right--their little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind. And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth. And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's butt."

Cindy Lou Who

ok, almost since she was first born, papa has nicknamed evelyn "cindy-lou who". never watching the show, i didn't really see the resemblence--til last night.

we were having way too much fun during tubby time. and while we don't call her "cindy", here is her list of nicknames:

ev

eevie andy (short for evelyn andrea)

evil lyn--mainly for when she's in trouble or being a serious imp (and it's what jacob calls her when he's mad at her)

extra fun

the kids were having some fun out on the trampoline. and for some odd reason, they were all color coordinated this day--and we weren't even going out!








they play on this thing practically every single day--one of the best investments we've ever made! not only do they play, they're getting exercise at the same time (and are completely unaware of it!).

Happy Belated Mother's Day

i thoroughly enjoyed mother's day...a day full of pampering, chocolate, kids singing in sacrament, chocolate, husbands being extra attentive, chocolate, beautiful flowers...did i mention chocolate? ;)
i read the funniest quote in my reader's digest "the more i go through parenthood, the more i realize that i owe my mother an apology". ha! isn't that the truth? so here you go mom--

i am sorry for.....
1. playing the "mom game" at every family get together. how you didn't duct tape our mouths shut is beyond me--for my siblings and cousins out there--you know EXACTLY what game i'm talking about. for those who don't--we decided to yell "mom! mom! MOMMMMMMM!" a million times in a row. can you say at least 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there? and for absolutely no reason.
2. thinking you never did anything during the day--oh boy, many apologies on this part.
3. trashing my room and furniture
4. my sassy mouth
5. always saying i needed to use that bathroom when it was time to do dishes and then never coming back
well, the list can go on really. i must say, i am so appreciative of my own mother. especially now that i am one myself. and it's not for all the big things she ever did for me. it's all the little things. like, i remember one time joycelyn and i were scared in our room at night. mom got on the intercom and sang us lullabies on it til we fell asleep. i remember her sitting on the floor between joycelyn and my beds and stroking joycelyn's head all night long because she had an ear infection and she couldn't stop crying. she wrote each and every one of her children letters each year expressing her great love for us. i remember her letting me wear her lipstick and doing my fingernails when i was very small. and then she let me pose in front of her mirrors because i knew she turned me into a princess. she had incredible patience for a mom trying to raise four very rambunctious kids. she ALWAYS took us to church after working all night long--when it would have been easier to just go home and sleep. with that, she instilled how important the gospel is. i'm thankful for all the help and guidance that she's given me since i've started my own family. she didn't jump in and take over, she's just hung out in the backround and helping out when i needed it. that's the absolute best. since i have this aversion to "being told what to do" and there i was a new mom without a clue, my mom was always able to just nudge me in the right direction without being overbearing.
so along with the above apology, here's a big thanks to my mother--for everything you've done, for being who you are. i love you.

reasons i will never move to oklahoma

last weekend we had to go through oklahoma to get to texas. i've gone into that state a few times before and have NEVER had a good experience. this last episode just reiterated to me why i really can't stand that state.

1. toll roads--since when does it cost just to drive on a stinkin road?! and roads full of pot holes! if they're going to charge us, dude, at least make it a smooth ride. why am i having to pay to have my bladder jostled? you'll find out in reason number two.....

2. we honestly passed a sign reading: Free Restrooms--No Purchase Necessary. um, excuse me? free restrooms as opposed to?????

3. another sign which read: Do Not Drive Into Smoke. ok, and just exactly where is this smoke coming from? and if there's smoke, are we supposed to get off on the side of the road and wait for it to pass?

i'm never moving there or going through there again if i can help it (knock on wood, what do you bet that that's where ryan gets into PA school). i'll never live down the first time i ever went on through their tolls....i had no idea that i was going to have to pay. randy was with me (we were going to pick up jason, karen, gloria, and diane). between us, i think we had about 55cents. so what happened? i pleaded and was able to pay by CHECK. and then i was told that if i didn't have any cash next time that i would be arrested. so i pulled off to the nearest gas station (dumb decision, i just had to pay to get back on--but i didn't know that at the time) to see if i could buy something and get some extra cash back. when we bought a bag of candy and i asked the cashier about it, she spoke in a huge voice asking why i needed cash back. i explained why and she repeated in a shocked/amused voice that filled the entire place "you wrote a check at the toll booth?!". so then i had the whole gas station in laughing tears about it. grrrrrrr.....thanks a lot lady. whatever!
the second time i went there was to pick up joycelyn when she was coming home from china. her email said oklahoma airport, so i went (prepared to pay their dumb toll). i get to the airport and am waiting and waiting. finally i hear my name being paged on the intercom to pick up the phone. i find one and low and behold, dad is on the phone telling me joycelyn's at the airport waiting for me to pick her up.
"uh, i'm here!" i told him.
"she's at the airport in springfield" he tells me. excuse me?!

*sigh* always an adventure there. anyone else have good stories to tell about it, i'm all ears.

family ho down in texas

ruby is so sweet! she's half thinking she likes the water at this point.

joycelyn's "mini-me".
such a happy baby...of course how could he not when he's surrounded by all his happy cousins?

mr. marcus hung out with me (there was NO WAY i was going to get into that pool! you people are nuts!).

nana (or lola) here with ruby. ruby isn't so sure she likes the cold pool now.

jon with ruby and isaac as they're trying to warm up. i love jon's contagious energy.

the best part of swimming (well, at least for all the parents) is the daze that the kids are in after using all of their energy swimming. here's evelyn zoning while drying off.

and this is the reason for the entire trip--spend time with family that we simply don't see often enough (or as often as we'd like). to have fun with each other. i love this photo.

jon and ila? i think it's ila...her hair is lighter than ruby's dark hair.

what does it take to get ryan to jump into a cold pool?

having julia try and see if she can swim all by herself...and she can't--that's how. so i guess we'll be signing her up for swimming lessons this summer. :)
here's jon again with ila and ruby (for those who don't know, jon is my brother).
evelyn had soooo much fun! she's been asking for a while "when are we going to go swimming?". i kept telling her that we have to wait til daddy is out of school. then we can all go to chesterfield (our gym) and go swimming there. but this was good enough!

two cutie pies!
i couldn't resist the ruffle bottom! that is one of the cutest swimming suits ever!