Family Pictures

A few weeks ago Kevin's whole family was in town so we did some pictures together. 

His sister Michele and her friend took them. They did an amazing job, esp given the

children they had to work with! I'm still waiting to see the ones where all the 

grand kids were freaking out. Zack was a total punk this day but I was really happy with 

the few pictures that we did get. ENJOY! 

 West Grandkids

 US 

 OH LA LA! 

(Love this picture)

 2011 babies

 LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture

 And I adore this one except that my shirt is caught on my belt,

which i'm sure you didn't even notice

 This looks sweet, but he probably shoved her in the dirt right after

The whole gaggle

Wise Guy

So one day Zack and I were in the kitchen having a conversation. I was probably looking at mail or something and not really paying attention. All the sudden I look around and he is gone.

 I called out to him and I heard this little "im in here". 

Silly boy! Always keeping me on my toes. 

A little miss Ruby

I think she is beginning to love fireman as much as Zack

 Ruby has been walking for about 2 months now. She is in to everything, toilets, drawers, wallets,

anything she can get to. Last week we were minutes from walking out the door and I found

her half in the toilet with the lid over her reaching in, cupping the toilet water, and yes DRINKING IT!

This has happened on more than one occasion. Closing doors is beginning to not be enough because

she can open half our doors anyway. I need a leash, or maybe a straight jacket. 

 Our little dare devil

 And this little stud, where did he come from?

 You will find her frequently standing while being pulled in the wagon.

 LOVE ME SOME WATER

Can't get enough of this sweet little face.

 I can only say that because she is in bed sleeping and not following me around crying, holding her hands up in the air, saying "uh uh" for me to hold her. Ruby has become terribly clingy, she doesn't like hardly anyone anymore. Today we were at pool party and she wouldn't even play, she just wanted to sit with me and eat my food. It's every mothers secret wish to have a child that simply cannot live with out them every second of the day. After all that makes us feel needed doesn't it? But this is getting a little excessive! I don't know what to do with her. I'm leaving for girls camp in 2 weeks and I fear she will die without me, that or my AMAZING friend that is watching her will. 

I find it interesting that my son who is very cautious, doesn't do slides, swings, very reserved, would 

be perfectly fine to go home with any old stranger, providing they drove a race car, fire engine or gave 

him a cinnamon roll. 

But the girl who will walk off the top of the stairs, stand up in a moving wagon, stick her face in a freezing cold sprinkler, begs Daddy to throw her up in the air, will not let more than a handful of people near her.

  

What to do?

Any suggestions?

I leave her with people, she just freaks out and screams the whole time.

Soccer 1st and LAST season

So we decided to put Zack in soccer. He wanted to play t-ball but we thought maybe he should start with something a little more simple. He was excited, I guess. Once he heard that his team was purple he 

got pumped. His favorite color right now is PURPLE. 

Zack's coach was the mom of a set of twins on the team. She did her best, and given the kids she had to work with, lets just say we are glad she came back every week. I'm not sure how this happened but we got every single space cadet 4 year old in our city. EVERY SINGLE ONE including my son and his friend that was on the same team. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? 

{This mom in the picture ran around with her daughter on the field for 3 games straight before they decided

to quit and demanded a refund. At least our kids stayed on the field by themselves!}

They got creamed, wasted, beat, every single game. I think they made a total of 5 goals the entire season. 

One game the other team stood on the side lines, covered their eyes and counted to 15 so that our team, The Purple Ballers, could score. It was pretty funny, and extremely nice of them! To their defense they really didn't know HOW to play. They just saw the other kids running and they would run too. 

{Ruby very intently watching the game}

{For April: This picture makes it look like Carson is actually playing!}

Kevin would grab Zack when he wasn't on the field and give him a pep talk. He'd tell him to take the ball from the other kids. (How do you tell a kid that's been learning to share his whole life, to go steal the soccer ball away? Terribly confusing!) Zack said to us one night in his matter of fact way "But those green guys always take the ball" Almost to say, we could do it if the other team wasn't there.

After Zack's first game I asked if he wanted to go play again next week.
He asked "Why?" 

SHOCKER
After a few weeks I was asking myself that question. 

{He he, I love this picture, #11 Zack, standing next to # hands in his pants CLASSIC}

The boys liked playing, and I liked the social interaction. But given this experience...

I wont put a 4 year old in soccer unless he/she has a passion for the sport.

It was good for him, but I think we will explore some other sports for now. 

 {The treats make it all worth it} 

Zack did have 1 or 2 shining moments where he got the ball and ran with it.
But it was always taken away very quickly. I think if the others teams hadn't been so good
and these kids would have had a chance, they would have gained some confidence to
actually get in there and steal the ball! That is when they weren't hugging each other, or spinning around
like windmills, or hiding in their shirts.

So that was that. He got his trophy at the end and asked if he could eat it.
WHAT A NOVEL IDEA
An edible trophy!
I think because it was in a package similar to a giant chocolate bunny you see
at Easter and it was bronze, he thought it was chocolate.

Goodbye soccer, come back when you can't stay so long.

The garden of (grandma) Eaton

My mom has this amazing yard. I love to sit and enjoy the greenery while my kids play.

The other day Ruby planted herself on the sprinkler box and sat there forever.

I started snapping away with my little pocket camera. 

The lighting was perfect, and from the angle I was at it looks like she 

is in this lush garden, when in reality she is almost right next to the concrete steps. 

I love when this busy little cutie will sit and ponder life.

Cute Ruby

Video of Ruby pretending to eat the wrapping paper from Zack's presents.

Zack's Birthday

We celebrated Zack's 4th birthday nearly a month ago. 

We let him open a few presents the night before.

Here he is posing with his fire dog in his new fire boots, fire truck shirt and tool box. 

  

Nothing beats extra frosting and cake for breakfast on your birthday! 

Fire truck cake. Not quite what I had in mind, but it worked. The most important 

thing to Zack was the chocolate doughnut wheels from Dunford. 

Tip: don't buy the edible spray paint for cakes. NOT WORTH IT!

My EXTREMELY TALENTED sister in law drew this amazing mural

and my brother painted it. It was a hit at the party. 

 This was Zack's first friend party. For some reason I planned on it being 3 hours long. 

We had pizza, cake, presents and a few games. Needless to say we 

didn't have enough to keep all these firemen busy so I made them take each other for

rides on our new "fire truck" that we were lucky to inherit from Kevin's grandpa.

Ruby came for the food. 

  See our lovely caution tape in the background? 

Last minute decoration/safety measure. 

Our backyard isn't exactly kid proof. 

I love the mob of kids wanting to get a peek of the presents.

I think he likes it! 

The evening of Zack's birthday my parents had a graduation party. We were so 

busy with all our different parties that Zack didn't get to open his presents til the 

next day. You can tell he got exactly what he wanted though!

RESCUE HERO'S

Here is a funny video of him opening the second rescue hero. 

This gift, a play doh pizza shop was not as exciting. 

Apparently he wanted the ice cream shop! 

 Then came this gift. My brother Matt always seems to please. LITTLE LEGO'S 

He plays with these nearly everyday. No more Thomas the train, we are moving on to smaller pieces

to lose and easier to choke on toys... 

4 years old

Dear Zackery,

NO WAY! You are FOUR??? How did that happen?

Happy Birthday Buster. I first became a mother the day after Mother's Day on May 12, 2008.

I told my mom I wasn't ready, and i'm sure i've thought that a few more times along the way.

Zack you are the cutest little stud I have ever seen and your personality matches you perfectly. 

You are smart, witty, hilarious, sneaky, sweet and your imagination is amazing.    

You are my little buddy, my big helper, you love to play with your sister and you can keep her pretty

entertained with your wild imagination. I love when you have blankie parties and you 

and Ruby roll around and giggle. Your sister loves you SO much!

 You currently have 6 kids (stuffed dogs & a blankie) their names are Buster, Maxi, Bernie #2,
 Scott, Daddy Doggie and Baby Blankie. Each have a story behind their name and
 each of them have jobs, and drive either a race truck, Mustang, Charger or bus.
You are still obsessed with cars. Your latest love is our new van. 

When I look into your face I see joy. You are almost always happy. The other day we were in

the grocery store and you were grinning from ear to ear. I asked you why you were smiling and you

said to me "Because I love you". I almost shed a tear right there in the check out isle!

You really are a sweet boy, your soul is deep, you get life. It is such a privilege to be your mom.

I wonder what you will do in your life, and I expect that it will be amazing.

You still ask questions, it drives me nuts. (remember how much I love you?) 

Lately i've been trying to cure you of the obvious why's by asking you a question in return

to make you think instead of asking why. This morning I found you sitting at the bar very quietly next to a bag of chocolate. I was extremely curious as to why you were sitting there. I asked what you were

doing. You answered that you were just sitting there. I thought to myself "yeah, uh huh". So I asked

the million dollar question "WHY are you sitting there?" You looked at me like I was an idiot, and said "Mommy, why do we sit???" I laughed and laughed and laughed, touche' little man!

Zack you have so many people around that love you so much! Please never grow up, always keep
that innocent curiosity. Never stop giving us special hugs. (here come the tears)
You have the ability to make anyone smile, always use that for good. I pray that you will continue to
love primary and learning about the gospel. I promise I wont stop you from asking questions
when we read scriptures. Sometimes I wonder if you can really comprehend all that you
have been taught. Until I hear you telling your sister about how when we die we will go to "the heaven side" and that we will be there together forever. You also said to Ruby "You know God? Yeah, he's our Dad too."

Love you Buster,
more than you'll ever know!
-MOMMY