Little No-No's

So anyone who knows us has heard me talking about Noah and how he has been in the "terrible two's" since he was one, and I am not joking here.  He has been such a difficult child these last two years I am actually surprised that I have made it through raising him so far.  Everyone also told me that one day he will grow out of it, I truthfully didn't believe anyone, I hoped but also didn't hope because I didn't want to be disappointed.

 I am happy to say that I think that the "terrible two's" are finally a thing of the past.  Now I am not saying that he is perfect now, but the temper tantrums have slowed down he is better at controlling himself and he is such a delight to be around (well most of the time).  He is so much fun to spend one on one time with and he is turning into quite the little lover, he comes up to me out of the blue and gives me a kiss and says, "I love you mommy", it is enough to melt my heart. 

Because he is now so much easier to deal with I am finally at a place that I find myself getting baby hungry, this is a very new feeling for me one I haven't experience before.  I really really want to have a baby but we will be waiting a little while longer before we start trying.  I think I had to wait till I knew I could handle it and there was no way I would of been able to deal with a new born and Noah when he was being so awful all of the time.    I also can't believe that my baby is 3 1/2 he isn't a baby anymore, there is no baby left in him he is all little boy. 

I didn't start this post to talk about that, I just went on a little tangent there, back to what I was going to talk about.  Two weeks ago we had a little snow storm, the snow didn't last longer than a day or so but Noah went outside to play and he wanted to go sledding, it was a nice day to be outside but because of how our house is positioned we still had snow.  So Noah went sledding in his clothes, and had a blast doing so.  He is such a determined little thing, when he sets his mind on something you better watch out. 

I'm telling you this is the way to go sledding, its not cold you can stay outside forever and you don't have to take off a million layers when your done.

Natural History Museum

So back on Valentines day Jason had taken the day off work so we had the whole day to spend together we decided to take the boys to the new Natural History Museum up near the U of U.  The only reason the boys were excited about it was because I told them that there were dinosaurs there, and that sold them.  I just have to comment on the outside of the building it is very modern and beautiful, at least I thought it was.

We headed in and Noah kept trying to make a beeline for the dinosaurs, I had to keep his interest in all the other cool things that there were to see.  If I remember right there were 4 different floors and each floor focused on something different.  The favorite was definitely the dinosaur bones, and it was fun to learn a little more about them like how to tell what bones are real and which ones are casts made from real bones. 

This room was fun and had creatures like bugs and snakes.  If you crawled in those caves you could see a snake in one area and another animal I don't remember.

Ashton's foot

It was a great outing and I would actually love to go back without the boys so that we can actually check things out instead of having to keep moving so that the children don't get bored and break something. 
Ashton was an awesome little bug

Not a great picture but the only one I got of all of us together that day.

Noah was tired of walking, he needed to take a break

Checking out the weather stuff on the roof of the museum

What were we thinking??

So I got a text message Monday morning about 7:30 in the morning from my friend Korie, she was needing a vacation and was going to take her boys to St. George for a couple of days, she asked if I wanted to go.  Now my first instinct was that's crazy I can't do that and there is no way Jason would go for that.  But I was also still half asleep when I got the message, so I called her about an hour later and we were talking and I realized that I really did want to go and I could go there really wasn't anything stopping me from packing up the boys and heading out of town for a few days.  So I called Jason and asked if he cared if I went and he didn't, so I started packing.  I got us all packed and ready to go in about an hour. 

Korie  came and got us and we all piled in her minivan, and we headed off, we had to make a stop to get her wallet from her mom but then we were on our way.  We had to stop in Spanish Fork and get gas, but then the plan was to try to make it Fillmore and stop at the Maverick there that has a playground and eat lunch and let the boys play and get some energy out.  We made it had lunch and had our first injury of the trip, Noah was going down the slide and there was a bigger drop and he went head first in the rocks.  He just needed a little love and he was better.

We made it to St. George and were able to find a great deal on a hotel that had an indoor pool.  All Korie's boys were talking about was going swimming. We headed to dinner at the Pizza Factory, and then it was back to the hotel for some swimming.  They had so much fun swimming and making lots of noise.  I felt a little bad about all the  noise they were making because the pool was in the hotel lobby, you could see the front desk from the pool, but I guess they have to expect some noise right! 

It was a little rough getting all the boys to want to settle down to go to sleep the first night, Ashton and Ethan were sleeping on the floor in some sleeping bags, they kept talking and being silly, finally we got them asleep, It wasn't a great night sleep and it reminds me why I DO NOT SLEEP WITH MY CHILDREN, Noah tossed and turned all night long.  We managed to all get ready and head to breakfast, I have to give the hotel props for there free continental breakfast it was really good, they had a huge variety of stuff from eggs, sausage, pancakes, hash browns, waffles, oatmeal, to cold cereal, toast, bagels, etc.  It was delicious and a great way to start out a day.

 We packed up our room and checked out and headed to Las Vegas, we thought it would be fun to go and see the tigers and stuff at Caesars Palace, and then check out some other fun stuff.  Well it was a good idea and would of been better had we stuck to the original plan.  We got there and decided to park at New York New York, and walk the strip, why we thought the kids could walk the strip I just don't know, we made it only a couple of hotels down before we had to stop and eat, Mason hadn't eaten breakfast so he was crying cause he was hungry, we got him some food, Ashton wasn't hungry, Noah wanted fries, and there was no way I was eating yet I was still full from breakfast.  Once they were done eating we could go on our way, we went to the M&M store, the boys had fun  with that then it was time to move on, this is where we started to run into problems.  We had a ways to go to get to Caesars Palace, we tried walking it but the boys quickly ran out of steam and we maybe could of made it there but there was no way would of made it back to the car.  So we cut our losses and decided to head back.  It was all a little overwhelming with the 5 boys and trying to keep them all contained and together and listening and walking with all the people there were on the strip.  We briefly considered staying the night in Vegas, but then decided we had enough and wanted to go back to St George.

 I think this was the highlight for Ashton, he was so excited to see bumblebee, he went right up and wanted a picture, Noah on the other hand hide behind me and when bumblebee tried to get him to come into the picture he hid his face in my back. 

 We made it back to St George and needed to find a hotel to stay at, we ended up at the Best Western Coral Hills, it had been newly remodeled, and the room was great but the best part in my opinion was the pol area.  There was the main pool but then there was also a kiddie pool that was perfect for the smaller boys.  They had so much fun playing in the 1ft of water and I was totally enjoying sitting in the sunshine and not having to be in the pool. 

We thought that the boys were having so much fun by the pool that we didn't want to drag them to a restaurant so I went to the store and got the makings for sandwiches and stuff and then got Cafe Rio salads for Korie and I and we ate by the pool.  Well I ate by the pool with the 4 older boys, Zachery was not a happy boy so Korie stayed with him in the room.  The boys ate there dinner then headed back to the pool, well actually it was the hot tub(the water was barely warmer than the pool so it was more luke warm water) this time around, they stayed playing happy and content till they were hungry again and they all had a second sandwich, then it was back in the hot tub again. It was getting dark by the time I could convince them to go back to the room.  I didn't mind at all sitting there enjoying the warmth from the sun, watching them play. 

We got up made a few stops at the outlets, nothing exciting there, and had lunch at Red Robin before heading home.  I am so glad that Korie decided to go and let us tag along with them, it was a great trip.  The 4 older boys all were awesome, we had a few moments sometimes when things were crazy and loud but they all listened really well and behaved really good.  It wasn't a vacation for Korie and I but it was something different from our normal routines.  It felt good to be so spontaneous again like I use to be.   

February happenings

So I can't believe that February is almost over, it has flown by very very quickly.  On one hand it seems like we haven't done much of anything but then on the other hand I also feel like a lot has happened.  So to start off the month I decided I was done with the ugly bathroom downstairs, if you remember I posted a very unfortunate picture of it a while ago and it has been a disaster for a long time.  I had been reading a blog recently and she had done a make over of a small bathroom and she used paintable wallpaper that looked like bead board, and I was immediately  sold on the idea.  I actually went to Lowes the next day to get a roll, it was 20 bucks a roll and I was hoping I could do the whole room with one roll.  So I got to work taking everything out of the bathroom and then I had to clean it really good, I am a little embarrassed to admit that there was still reside on the walls from the previous wallpaper that I had taken down OVER 2 YEARS ago.  I know sad, oh well once I got the room all cleaned I had to prime the walls that were going to get the wallpaper, I almost skipped this step because I was so anxious to get the wall paper up but I didn't.  I only primed the bottom half of the room that was going to have the wallpaper on it the rest of it I am going to paint but I haven't decided what to do yet with it so I just left it alone for the time being.  The next day I was able to get the wall paper up, I got almost the whole room done but ran out of paper so I did have to go and get another roll.  My brother Josh came up to hang out so he helped me take the toilet out and we tried to get the old vanity our but it was stuck pretty good to the wall and I didn't want to have to make major repairs to the wall so we left it.  I was able to finish the wallpapering and so in one day so I was pretty happy with how it was turning out.  When Jason came home I showed him what I had been up to and he seemed to like it but thought I needed to take out the vanity so he helped me get it out.  I had to do some repairs to the wall so the rest of the wall paper had to wait

The next day I got the stuff to repair the wall got it up and then got to work laying the tile.  I have only tiled one other time and that was when we did the kitchen and I wasn't doing it alone.  I watched a few videos online and then went for it.  Because  the linoleum was glued to the concrete I left it there and just tiled over it.  I got the bathroom about 90% done and I was feeling pretty proud of myself it looked pretty good, it wasn't perfect but lets face it nothing I do is perfect and I am OK with that I don't have to have things perfect, but I am married to someone who has to have things perfect so I knew he wasn't going to be thrilled but I tried to make sure it wasn't going to be super noticeable.  Things were looking good then I was talking to Jason while he was on his way home and I turned around and Noah was in the bathroom walking on my freshly tiled floors.  I screamed at him and then made sure that both boys knew once again that they couldn't go in the bathroom.  When Jason got home we got to clean out the thin set that had been pushed up in between the tiles.  Jason did help me with it but all the while he was critiquing everything I had done complaining about how I wasn't careful enough and some grout lines were bigger and some were smaller, and on and on.  So in a matter of an hour or so I went from feeling pretty good about what I had done and how much progress I had made all on my own, to feeling horrible and not even wanting to finish the project.
  

That was how the bathroom stayed till  last week and I got the last two strips of wall paper up and then last night I got the tile grouted. We choose a grey grout I figured it would be easier to keep clean then white would be. I did have to make a trip to Home Depot last night because I didn't have enough stuff on hand which I was not thrilled about but I got what I needed and today the tile is grouted and I think it looks pretty fantastic.  I am now back on a role and I am hoping that I can get it put back together within the next week or so.  I am amazed at how much we are missing the bathroom.  I didn't think we used it much but we really did use it a lot.  I was able to find a new pedestal sink on KSL, for really cheap which i was thrilled about because I was not happy with how much the sinks and vanities were for the ones that we liked.  Yes we could of gone really really cheap but we both wanted something that still looked good.  I have decided to paint the upper walls a grey I just need to find the right shade, this room is so tiny and it has no natural light at all so I don't want to go too dark in there.  You just have to ignore the ugly ugly shower, those things are pricey and I don't really want to replace it right now so it stays for now.  I was toying with the idea of painting the gold part which would help but then it would still leave the awful brown stripes on the glass, there is no way to get rid of those short of replacing the glass.  I have also thought about putting a shower curtain rod up and putting a curtain over it to hide it but, not sure of that yet either. 

 Myron got baptised at the beginning of the month, so we spent most of the day with family and a ton of other people, there were problem 200-250 people there for Myron.  I only took a few pictures but after the baptism there was a luncheon in the gym.  Noah learned a new skill while we were there, sliding.  He would run and slide like he was sliding head first into home plate it was pretty funny. I know we had a family picture taken of everyone there but I don't have that one. 

Josh has been coming up almost every week and just hanging out with us.  Sometimes I run a quick errand but most of the time we just hang out and the boys play with him while we chat, it has been a lot of fun and reminded me of after Jason and I were first married he would come and spend the weekend with us a lot just hanging out.

I finally got around to making new hand prints for each boy.  I try to do it on or around their birthdays, I am only a few months late.  I want this for each child till they are 5.  So I am done with Ashton, I just need to keep up wit Noah's.  Although he will only end up with 4 hand prints and one foot print, when he was little I couldn't get him to un clench his fist long enough to do so a foot print had to do. 

 Ashton had to make valentines for his pre school class, I went the easy route this year and we just picked ones out from Target, and I had Ashton sign his name. 

There is a new pizza place downtown called the Pie Hole, they have AWESOME pizza, it is so yummy, the place is a dive and it is next door to a bar but man alive do I love the pizza, so after we went to the Natural History Museum on Valentines day we needed to have some lunch so we stopped there, the pizza slices are huge and Noah couldn't pick it up and eat it so he kept it on his plate and ate it that way. 

I had my fingernails painted and Noah wanted to have his painted to so I did it, I so need a girl cause I feel a little bad doing this to my boy.  Funny thing is I left it on for a few days before I took it off and he came to me yesterday and wanted me to paint them again.  Not sure what I have started here.

  Last week I got the opportunity to go and try out a couple new scrap booking classes that will be taught sometime this year at a Creating Keepsakes event.  I dropped the boys off at Buddy Bin and I went and did these two classes and had a lot of fun, it has been quite a while since I have done actual paper scrap booking it  got me motivated to get back to it.  I also came home with a HUGE goodie bag full of new stuff.  The first pages I did, were cute but not my favorite, the second one though I loved, it is totally my style and it will be perfect to use for when Jason and I went to Hawaii last year.

We now only have three cats, we discovered last week that Noni has been peeing in the house, I CAN NOT HAVE A CAT PEEING IN MY HOUSE, I just can't handle it at all, I was trying to get the mess cleaned up and she did it again so I took her to the Humane Society, now I know some people might think that was a little harsh, I know the lady who first was helping me at the Humane society did, she made me feel awful but I just can't handle my house stinking like cat pee.  It is such an awful stench that is so hard to get rid of.  After I dropped Noni off I actually sat in the parking lot and sobbed, I felt so awful for leaving her there.  I cried most of the day and even now if I think to much about it I feel bad, but then I think about my house and how it smells and we had to actually cut out the carpet and pad where she did the most peeing to make the smell go away, then I don't feel as bad.  So right now I have a lovely corner of carpet gone in the living room.  We are trying to decide what flooring to put down.  Jason ended up buying a black light off Amazon and we went through the whole house to make sure she hadn't done it anywhere else, and she had, they were small spots and I was able to clean them up but it was still awful knowing that was in our house.  As soon as we decide what is happening with the flooring the rest of the carpets will be getting cleaned.

Happy Valentines Day

So I got an email a couple of weeks ago about the Odyssey Dance company about their upcoming shows at Kingsbury Hall.  We try to go and see Thriller that they do, every Halloween so I decided to check it out.  They had Romeo and Juliet playing this last weekend and I had a great idea about it being a perfect pre Valentines date for us.  So I managed to get some great seats for a great price and was thrilled for our surprise date.  I kept it a secret from Jason till Saturday morning, I had it all arranged with my mom she was going to be coming to get the boys and would keep them overnight and we would pick them up Sunday and have dinner.  I also made us reservations for dinner at Market Street Broiler, the reservations were for 5pm which was a little early and I felt like and old person but I knew the show started at 7:30 and didn't want to be rushed.  It all worked out perfectly, dinner was fantastic we both got steak and crab and I was in heaven it has been a while since I've had crab.  They also had these amazing Au gratin potatoes that I couldn't stop eating.  Overall it was a fantastic evening, another reason I planned this night early was I knew Jason would be working and then he had school on Valentines so I wasn't even really even going to see him.  Well as it turned out he took Monday and Tuesday off but he has been crazily studying for midterms so it was almost like he wasn't home. 

The boys found a fun surprise this morning when they headed to the kitchen for breakfast.  They each got a little mailbox with a few little prizes inside.  There was one for each of my boys, there were also hearts all over the table, chairs, wall, and window.  The boys thought that was the  funniest thing ever having hearts all over the place. 

Jason said he wanted to go and get a coffee and was going to pick us up some breakfast (I was going to make us something, but who can turn down food I don't have to make or clean up)  So he headed out and came home with breakfast and these

I am one luck girl, I was totally not expecting anything, Jason thinks these kind of holidays are silly but I still love them.  So far this valentines rocks, I am thinking that I will take the boys to the new Natural History Museum or something like that to get out of the house and let Daddy study in peace!

Happy Valentines Day to all my boys!!!

Forts

So I was trying to be the fun mom and do something fun for the boys and they have been dying for Jason to have a sleepover with them in there room, I wasn't going to sleep with them but I did make them an awesome fort in their room.  I even let it stay that way for over a week before I couldn't take the chaos any more.  They had fun so that is all that matters.

We read books under the fort with flashlights

Noah wanted to sleep in Ash's bed.  So we let him, Ash was happy on the air mattress still on the floor, funny story the first night Noah slept on Ashton's bed I went to check on the boys before heading to bed.  Noah was no longer on Ashton's bed he was on his bed.  I am not sure but I think he fell off the bed.  So I got him all set up in his bed for the rest of the night.  When he woke up the next morning he was upset because he wasn't in Ashton's bed.  That night he wanted to sleep in Ashton's bed again, so I let him and there was no falling out this time.  Also for the record I tried to take off the sheet from the bed but that was how he wanted it so I left it.