Fall Break

Our plans changed several times, but we ended up spending our fall break in Tucson...yes, that's right Tucson. Not my ideal vacation spot, but it was fun. We didn't tell the kids anything about going until the morning we were leaving. We told them we were "going to Tucson" (in excited voices) so, of course they were excited too, even though they had never heard of Tucson. And the whole way there Maylee kept asking, "are we almost to crouton?"

After the long drive of 2 hours, we arrived at our hotel and unpacked and then headed to the Tucson mall. We just let the kids play and then walked around a little bit and then ate some dinner. Teagan was not feeling great so we didn't stay too long.

Here are the girls on the play ground.

The next day we headed to the Zoo. It was pretty fun and we were able to see alot of cool animals. There was even a polar bear there. The kids loved watching him swim. He was so big! Teagan loved watching the otters! They were actually really cool to watch. The giraffes were neat too, I love how long their necks are. And I also learned something new. A giraffe can kill a lion with one kick of its leg!

This was Staten's first trip to the zoo. He spent most of the day in the stroller, but he seemed to enjoy it...he is such a good baby!

Lunch Time! Here are the kids eating their peanut butter and honey sandwiches, which is what we had for lunch 3 days in a row. :)

There was an Aviary, which was enclosed and had a bunch of different birds inside. We were able to go inside to get up-close with the birds. It was really neat because there was a paper with pictures of all the birds that were inside the aviary, so we could look to see which ones we could find.

After the zoo we took the kids bowling. I expected it to be more exciting than it was, but we still had a good time. We paid for 2 games but ended up only staying for one...that was enough for the kids. Teagan did pretty good, Maylee got So excited every time the ball would knock even 1 pin over, and Livia was lucky if her ball made it down to the end of the lane.

They had hot dogs on sale for a dollar (which sounded good to Kevin) but we decided that this would be our night out somewhere nice. So, we went to Hometown Buffet...I don't know about nice, but it was good, and the kids lovedto pick from all the different foods. We also went swimming that night at the hotel. The pool was heated and there was a hot tub, perfect size for little swimmers. :)

Our last day in Tucson we went to "old Tucson." The weather was warm, but overall it was a fun day. We watched the end up a gun fight, a muscial called "cowgirl up," and a comedy show (which was my favorite). We rode on a train, and on some little cars that ran on a track. We took quite a few pictures, but this next one is one of my favorites. Maylee's cute little head and Kevin's big hairy arm. :)

After we got back from Tucson, we went to Schenph Farms, something Teagan has been asking to do for the past year. We went for the annual "Pumpkin and Chili party." When we walked through the front entrance there was a man sitting in a chair and asked the kids if they wanted their faces painted. Maylee, of course was the first one. She hopped right over to him. He asked her what she wanted and she told him she wanted a pumpkin. I reached down in the stroller to get the camera when I looked up, Maylee already had a pumpkin on her face and Livia was on her way over to get hers done. I was in such shock at how fast he painted it, that I just stood there. By the time I got the camera out of the case and turned on, all 3 kids had cute little Halloween pictures on the cute little cheeks.

There was a little play area with some really cool things to play one. This train was my favorite. (And the kids too) It was really neat. I am trying to talk Kevin into building one in our backyard. Hmmm...it could happen. :)

We watched the pig races too. We were there a few minutes early and so we were able to sit in the front row. There was some good ol' country music playing so the girls started dancing to the music. The farmer guy came out and the music stopped so the girls sat down. He explained that each pig has a color and said he needed some helpers to cheer on the pigs. (Each helper was to choose a color and if their color won, then they won a prize.) He asked for the volunteers and a bunch of kids raised their hands. Then he said "how about the little one who was dancing in the front." I stood Malyee up and pointed to her. "Ah, yes, there she is." So, she go t to go up and choose a color. Well, since Livia loves to do everything that Maylee does, she started to follow her up there. I tried to stop her but the farmer said she could come help too. Maylee chose the blue pig (well, blue bandanna) and it won! So she won a cute little pig nose!

Me and Staten sat out for the car ride. Cheese!

It was like a flinstone car, which you have to pedal, and since Teagan couldn't reach the pedals, Kevin had to do it the whole time by himself. It looked pretty fun though. And there were no lights on the trail so when it cut through the trees it was pitch black. Kevin said it was really hard to see and he even ran into the car in front of him...which by the way, (I just remembered) he also did as we were pulling out from the hotel in Tucson. (no worries, it was just a little tappy tap)

There was a huge slide that the kids (and Kevin) really liked. You would climb up this hill and the slide ran from the top of the hill to the bottom. It was like a huge tunnel slide inside of the hill.

There was also a petting zoo area which Teagan could not get enough of. He just loves animals! Here he is petting a baby cow...also known as a calf, lol :)

Our Fall break was fun. It was nice to get away and spend some time together as a family.

Keepn' Busy

The last month has been filled with some exciting stuff! (Well, you know...exciting for little ones).
Kevin took Maylee's training wheels off her bike a few months ago (or more) but since then has not had time to teach her how to ride. Well, it finally happened. And it wasn't even planned. We were just on a little family walk and Maylee decided she wanted a turn on Teagan's bike. So she did! And she learned so fast and only had a few run ins with the street. :)
Here she is trying it out on her bike after we got back home.


It is so nice that the weather is cooling down now. The kids have been playing alot outside the last week. The other day they were outside playing and Kevin walked by the window and started chuckling when he saw this...

Teagan was pulling Maylee and her chicken in the wagon. Ah, the good ol' days when I used to play outside with my brother and my pet chicken, wait a minute...

Not sure if it's cause he is the 4th child or not, but I don't seem to take as many pictures of Staten as my other kids. Well, I thought this was a cute one. I am actually holding him and Teagan took the picture for me. :)

I was washing the dishes from dinner and I sent the kids in for their bath. A few minutes later Teagan came into the kitchen (naked) and said "mommy look." He flexed for me and I couldn't help it and I said, "holy (pause) crap" I was trying to think of another word to say but I couldn't. Not that I have seen alot of 7 year old's flex, but his muscles seem pretty big to me???

For the last month or so Livia has been doing a playgroup with her friend Maren (they didn't know each other before I started the playgroup, but now they are friends...aren't moms great!) They have had alot of fun together painting, playing house, dress-up, and play dough. Livia thinks she is such a big girl now. Here they are having their snack on the kitchen floor. (Ya, I don't know why they are not at the table...haven't you ever eaten grapes off the ground before?)

Livia had her birthday this past month! 3 years old, yeah! She wanted a flower cake (like Maylee) so I took her to the store and had her pick out some fun plates and some pretty flowers. I made a carrot cake and grandma and grandpa Lichlyter and Lunt came over to help celebrate. It was a little rushed eating cake and opening presents since Kevin had about 15 minutes before he had to go to school. But Livia had a good time and she got alot of fun stuff. She is getting so big and definitely is the greatest helper. I don't know what I would do without my little Livy!!!

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend was our first trip with all 4 kids. I usually am very excited about packing when we are going out of town somewhere and we all get our bags ready 1 or 2 days before we leave. But for some reason, I was not all that excited about packing this time. (And it wasn't until the day we were leaving) Not that one little baby needs alot of clothes and stuff for one weekend, I guess just having one more person to pack for...I don't know. Although Teagan actually packed his bag all by himself.

Anyways, we headed up to Williams to the cabin on Friday afternoon. We hit some pretty bad traffic so it took us a little longer than we had planned to get up there. We had an unexpected visitor come too...Papa! We were so excited to see him and have some one on one time with him.

Oh Papa, you little stud muffin, you

Saturday morning the boys went fishing, and the girls even had a chance to go on the boat too.

I was a little nervous when they headed out to the middle of the lake, but they all came back safe.

Those life jackets look real safe, don't you think?

Dad hooked a big one :) Luckily it just went through his shorts and not his skin.

Staten's first fishing trip...kinda :)

Right after the boys were done fishing, they went golfing. It was kinda rainy all day on and off, but they had a good time. And when I say 'the boys' that includes Teagan. He has been golfing that coarse since he was 2. He loves golfing and is pretty good at it. But he doesn't get as many chances to go as he used to.

We took the kids on 2 'nature hikes.' They love to explore the woods. We found alot of cool stuff. We found a bone, a huge mushroom, a baby lizard, R3-D4 (it was actually an old dishwasher that was just sitting in the middle of the forest...when we first saw it Teagan said he thought it looked like R2-D2 from Star Wars, so I said maybe it was his brother, R3-D4), we also saw a deer and a log bench.

Teagan looking for bugs. (Don't you love his backpack?)

I didn't put dresses on the girls to go on our hike. We were at church earlier that day and we just hadn't changed our clothes yet.


The kids checking out R3-D4.

We went spotlighting one night and looked for deer. The kids always love that. We saw quite a few deer, a few bucks and 3 skunks. Kevin is so funny with the spotlight. He hops out of the truck and chases the deer with the light so the kids can see.

The weather was SO nice there! It was hard to come back to the 110 degree valley. But it was Labor Day, which means swimming at mom and dad's. But I forgot our swimsuits...since we went straight to their house from the cabin. So we got a little creative with the kids swimming attire. But darn I didn't get any pictures of it. :)

It was a pretty fun-filled weekend...but it's always nice to come back home again.

Orange what?

So this started out with me sitting on my bed feeding Staten. I didn't have a book near by (which is what I normally do while nursing) so I flipped on the TV. Now, since we don't have cable, the choices are minimum. Well, there was a cooking show on channel 8 called "Christina Cooks." I REALLY like it. She cooks how I do, using no white flour and no sugar. All whole foods. Anyways, I was just about done feeding Staten and Teagan came in to my room and glanced at the TV. She (Christina) was just starting to make some yummy chocolate cupcakes. "oh, those look good" Teagan says as he climbs up on my bed. A few minutes later Maylee walked in. "Maylee, come look at this." Then Livia came in. "yummy!" They all sat there on my bed and watched Christina make orange scented chocolate cupcakes. They looked delicious and I think I might make them for Livia's birthday! I might have to try them before that...just to make sure they taste okay. :)

My Little Helper

Livia is really the best little helper.
(Almost) anything I ask her to do , she does it, and even some stuff I don't ask her to do...like shove Staten's binki in his mouth any time he makes a peep. :)
The other morning I was sitting in bed feeding Staten, probably around 6am, and I heard someone in the bathroom making some noise. I thought, okay, whoever that is will come out in a minute. Well, about 10 minutes later I still heard some noise. I got up and walked in there and saw Livia, doing this...


I asked her if she had gone to the bathroom on the floor (she did that once before and had wanted to clean it up herself). She said "no," so I asked her what she was doing. "me cleaning."
And what a good little cleaner she is, look at that, down on the floor scrubbing away.


You can see in this picture how good she is cause of the blurriness of her hand, scrubbing so fast!
Thanks Livia for all your help!!!

Sisters

This past week Keri was down from Utah with her kids. It was so fun hanging out with them. It's only about once or twice a year that I get to see them, so I was glad that they were down for a whole week. Although, I didn't get to see her as much as I would have liked to. (brand new baby, kids 1st week of school, Keri staying at mom's house who lives 45 minutes away...)

But we had some good times.

Some of the highlights of the past week...

-Eating veggie burgers :)

-Brushing each other's hair (one of our favorite past times)

- Keri giving Maylee and Livia new jump ropes

-snuggling together after Keri's nap (okay, not really...but I tried) lol






Teagan and Drake...they always have so much fun together!

Birthdays, Blessings, School...

The last few days have been pretty eventful. My sister Keri (and Drake and Selina), came down from Utah on Saturday...YEAH! My dad's birthday (don't worry dad, I won't tell anyone your age :) was on Friday so we had a party for him on Saturday. A swimming and BBQ party. Sadly, Maylee and Livia had fevers so they stayed home with Kevin. We usually have chicken but this time we had hamburgers and hot dogs. (Keri was awesome and bought some veggie burgers too!) It was a great time spending time with family that I don't get to see very often. (Matt and Amanda came down too.)

On Sunday was Staten's big day. At only 2 weeks old I was unsure about blessing him, but knowing Keri was going to be here, we decided it would be fine. And it was...no big party or dinner after, just a nice blessing and some family pictures. It was a great day!

Sam was not very happy and did not want to be in the picture. So, Matt tried to help out, but it looks like he is in time-out or something, facing the corner :)

Today was Maylee and Teagan's first day of school!!! They were very excited (one, more than the other). We picked out their outfits and made their lunches last night so we would be all ready for the big day. After I picked them up from school (it was 500 degrees outside, I think Staten got a sunburn from being out there for 5 minutes) I asked them what their favorite thing was. Maylee said "eating lunch" and Teagan said "recess." So, my kids aren't thrilled about the academic part of school, but whatever...

Livia jumped in the picture before I could say anything...and I was in a hurry so I figured it was okay.

I am very excited for when it cools down so we can walk to school again!