April Haircuts, Block Parties & Birthdays!

You know when you think your child finally understands something (like using scissors on hair) and then you wake up to this?

Great to be 8!

Thomas turned 8 on December 20th! This guy has been a blessing to have in our home!

It's Official!

We now have our first teenager in the house. Jonathan turned 13 on Tuesday. I don't know where the time has gone, but he has become quite the young man. Here we go on a mother's picture journey...

Jonathan was born in Utah right before John and I moved back to Arizona. When he was 10 days old he aspirated and not knowing what happened, all we saw was that he was turning blue. We rushed him to the hospital where he spent 5 days (long days) trying to figure out what went wrong. They figured out he had acid reflux and was much better after that.

Picture Catch Up Post

Yes, it has been a little while since I last did an update. Since it is summer, things are more laid back and repetitive, so not much going on. Here are some pictures for the month.

Rebecca's birthday. I caught her playing the piano and singing before church.

Happy 3rd Birthday Rebecca!

We just got home from our week vacation, so these pictures are all from that trip. I am exhausted, however, I wanted to write this before time got away from me.

Happy Birthday Rebecca! I cannot believe that you are THREE years old now. You are growing up so fast. I love to watch you figure things out, celebrate the small things, get excited when you see those you love come home and more!

Happy 11th Birthday Taylor!

I can't believe this handsome young man is already 11! Seems like we anticipate Jonathan turning certain ages and then Taylor comes and sneaks up on us every year. More about his special day in a moment.

Battle of the Books & Birthday Fun!

I downloaded pictures earlier this week, but just now getting around to posting something. I am stopping right before Taylor's birthday so I can do a post about that later.

After Easter, my sister Jen went home and my sister Kathryn stayed for another week. She introduced me to Gamma Glasses. They really help with the glare on the computer as well the lights in stores and church. They really seem to be helping me.

Birthdays, Conference, Company, & Construction!

We have had quite the past couple of weeks. Before this turns into a novel, of I forget something, I need to do a post. 

Taylor had one of his last pack meetings in March. He earned quite a few pins. He only has 2 left and then he has all 20 Webelos pins. Very proud of this boy!

'Tis the Season to be..."

The days are flying by right now! I can't believe that Thomas will be 7 tomorrow! He is so excited that his birthday is here. It takes forever for it to come. It does not help that it is so close to Christmas and it takes SO LONG for Christmas to come. More on Thomas later. We have had a few other things going on...

Birthdays and Family!

School is going good for the boys. Jonathan does not think Jr. High is that bad, Taylor LOVES 5th grade (due to the easiness of the work and lack of homework) and Thomas looks forward to recess. 

My dad had his birthday last Thursday. Rebecca and I took him out for lunch. We went to Liberty Market. They messed up my order and they do not have a kids menu. It was a great meal once it came and Rebecca ate tomatoes and avocado for lunch. She loved it! 

Happy 12th Birthday Jonathan!

Jonathan turned 12 years old yesterday! I can't believe the time is moving so quickly. He is becoming such a fine young man. Here are some memories from this past year that have impressed me with Jonathan. I have some random pictures from this past year as well.

Rebecca's Second Year

It is hard to believe this year is already over. Rebecca's personality has really started to come out. I went through all my pictures from the past year and picked some of the ones I love the most. They really reflect her personality. These are in order too, so you can see how she has grown and developed over the year.

Rebecca does not like to have stuff on her hands. She will come to me if her hands are dirty and want them clean.

Our Rebecca is 2!

I can't believe that Rebecca is 2 now! Last week was a bit of a blur, and this week is not much better. Here are some highlights. Since I am not feeling well, I will let the pictures do most of the talking:

We moved Rebecca into our closet and the boys into Rebecca's room. This was in preparation for my parents moving in with us. They had a great time moving everything.

We Are Just Getting Warmed Up!

I can't believe we are already to MAY! This month generally goes crazy fast as it is, I don't need any help. At work we were talking about May and someone mentioned we should just name it "Paper Plate Month" because it seems you have more concerts, activities and events during May than any other month. No one wants to do dishes. :-)

This week was no exception. On Tuesday we celebrated Taylor's birthday. We went to Red Robin for dinner and were able to get both Taylor and John's meal for free. Then John took Jonathan to his violin lesson and I took the other kids to Walmart to get some things for Taylor's upcoming birthday party. My neighbor sent me a text asking when we were going to be home. They had a gift for Taylor. I felt we should invite them over for cupcakes and ice cream. Taylor thought that was a great idea. So they came over at 8pm for cupcakes and ice cream. Their boys loved it, as did ours.

Taylor is the big 10!

Hard to believe Taylor is TEN! He is becoming the most amazing person. Here are the top ten things I love about Taylor:

1- He has drive, passion and not afraid to get it done. He set a goal when he became a Bear in Cub Scouts. He wanted to have his arrows match on both sides, which meant getting 10 silver arrows + his gold. He also wanted to earn the Leave No Trace Award.  Well...on Sunday night (4/28) we passed off the last two points, so at the next pack meeting he will get his Leave No Trace + two more silver arrows for a total of 10 silver!

Birthday Week + Day Trip = One Tired Mom!

"One year older and wiser too! Happy Birthday to YOU!" The end of April is always a fun time around our house because John and Taylor have birthdays that are only 6 days apart. John had scouts the night of his birthday, and I was not feeling well. I went and bought a cake for him and everyone loved it!

What a Week! Part 1 (Mon - Thurs)

So you know you have had a week when you download your camera and out of the 268 pictures you pick 65! I decided to break this week up into two posts. 

So...Monday I did this little girls hair and she looked oh so cute!!!  She modeled it for me and was so excited to be riding her horse and holding her pony!

 Monday night was the only night that John could take the boys to the Mesa Easter Pageant.  We ate dinner and he got the boys out the door.  About 20 minutes later I got a phone call.  Apparently there is no Easter Pageant on Monday.  Unfortunately, it was the only day this week we did not have something going on. They were all bummed. I don't blame them.

Ninjago Party for Thomas!

So our Thomas turned 6 and one of his most favorite things is Ninjago.  He really wanted a Ninjago birthday party.  So thanks to Pinterest, the Internet and a stroke of genius, I was able to get some ideas for him.  The stroke of genius came late at night with the cake.  I figured out I could make the Ninjago eyes out of chocolate and just put those on the cupcakes.  It took a few hours to do, but I think they turned out really well.

Happy Birthday Thomas!

I can't believe today is Thomas' birthday!  This boy has grown up a lot this past year.  He is still our night owl.  We thought that being in school would fix it.  To a degree it has...he goes to bed at least before midnight now.  Thomas is one of the most polite child I know.  Even half asleep he will thank me for a glass of water.  (Makes getting out of bed worth it.)  He also loves to play!  Even when they are not his toys.  Thomas gets along great with Jonathan.  Taylor and Thomas are so much alike that they play well, but also butt heads. Thomas loves Rebecca!  I can't imagine not having those two around.  He has taught her the ways of play already.  She will walk Thomas like a dog, she will tackle him and bounce on him and she knows he will give her food.

Thomas is learning to read in school.  Everyday he comes home with a report as to how his behavior was that day.  O for Outstanding, S for Satisfactory and N for Needs Improvement.  95% of the time he comes home with an O.  In fact as soon as he gets in the van he says, "Hi Mom, I got an O." When he does not say that, I know something happened.  He loves school though.  I think he loves recess, music, PE and library the most though.

My Son Thomas

So...Thomas has a birthday tomorrow.  He will be 6!  All year long he has asked when his birthday is.  He saw all of his siblings have their birthdays and when he would ask when his birthday was, we would tell him his birthday was right before Christmas.  So at the beginning of the month when we asked who had a birthday coming up we were shocked when he said, "Rebecca?"  I think he gave up hope he would ever have another birthday!

Yesterday he got a birthday card from Grandpa Skabelund & Grandma Maxine.  Inside was a dollar.  You would have thought that it was $100 the way he acted.  He ran to me and said, "MOM!  I know what I want to get!!!"  He was jumping up and down and could not contain his excitement.  I said, "What do you want Thomas?"  thinking I would have to immediately take him to the store. He said, "I want to download a game on your phone."  Now his head was bobbing up and down, he was smiling from ear to ear and it was hard not to be excited with him.  I said, "Which one?"  He said, "Angry Birds: Star Wars!"  He promptly handed me the dollar and said, "Let's do it now!!!!"  To which I replied, "I will download it, but you can't play until homework is done."  You have never seen homework done faster than it was by him.