NOAH IS OFFICIALLY A BIKE RIDER!!!!
He did it! He and Bradley went out and took off the training wheels and within the next 20 minutes, he had become a pro! I was AMAZED how quickly it all happened! I couldn't believe it! It all happened while my visiting teachers were here, so I missed a lot of the first few rides, but he had quite the audience with all of his sibs cheering him on!! SO CUTE!!! I was so proud of him! He's so pruod of himself for that matter. He is ready to go celebrate! Pictures to come. 7-22-13
MURMURING
So, I'm back at the beginning of the Book of Mormon. I can't remember if I wrote about finishing it, but I did, and I'm starting over. Something stood out to me the other day when I was reading and it was what a HUGE deal murmuring is! Have you ever noticed how chastised Lehi is for murmuring? Granted he is the prophet, but STILL! It gave me a new motivation to NOT murmur. We all know it's a problem of mine. I'm doing much better.
PIONEER PARADE IN BOUNTIFUL
My Mom is a member of the DUP (Daughters of Utah Pioneers). She needed a few families to help with the Handcart Days Parade. So of course... you know who she asked :). I was not as gungho about the idea, if I'm going to go to all the trouble to go to a parade in Bountiful, I want to get some relaxing time out of it, and possibly some free candy :). I knew how excited my kids would be though, so I really couldn't pass up the opportunity. We rounded up some Pioneer clothes, thanks to our fellow Dinner group people, Linsey and Amy, we had a great selection and looked pretty pioneery if I do say so myself :). I was pretty happy with how well we looked. We had to be there by 5:00 and then sat around til 6:30/6:45ish when we were finally able to start walking. I was losing the desire to comply but man did I get a change of heart once we got started!!!! What a neat experience! Nate was pulling the handcart (Single-handedly, yes). Kelly was riding in the handcart. Not because of her hurt back and leg, but because her flip flop broke right when we got there! She was somewhat pleased with the Plan B and spent most of the parade pointing out and counting how many people she knew in the crowds :). Kelly held Jack as well. He was fine as long as we were moving. Anytime we had to slow down or stop, it was not pretty. I did have to carry him a few times, but not too much. He did really well for a baby. He waved a lot, that was cute :). I was walking alongside the hand cart, holding Erika's hand and handing her taffy to pass out :). I LOVED watching ERika!! She was having SO much fun. She would carefully choose who was going to receive the candy, walk over to them, about a foot away and then toss the candy at their feet :). We had been told not to "throw" the candy, so this was her way of following orders. I loved it. She was so happy and excited through the whole thing. Giggling when she dropped something, or running really fast to catch up when she took too long with someone :). It was SO much fun for me. I just smiled at her the whole time. Charity, Bradley, Luke and Noah were superstars through the whole thing! They walked around, reving up the crowd. Our handcart contained the sign that announced the following entry which just so happened to be the Lion House (aka: FREE ROLLS!!). They had mentioned to Nate that they would love it if we could get the crowd to scream for rolls. So of course, Nate delegated that job to our trusty little pioneer kids. And boy did that take off!!! Charity's face was bright red as she would scream out to the crowd "IF YOU SCREAM REALLY LOUD YOU GET A FREE ROLL!!!" Her brothers all caught on real quickly and we had the loudest audience in the whole parade!! It was a lot of fun to be a part of such a fun group. I couldn't help but get chills looking around and seeing our family all trudging along together. All of my "millions of kids" just right there, sticking with us, not getting lost, not trailing off, not even complaining or needing anything extra! Just having a grand ol' time! I L O V E my family. We're nowhere near perfect, but during that parade, it felt like we were :). I couldn't have been happier I don't think. Funny how dressing like a pioneer and walking does that to me. Took me back, a liitle,, to trek as a young woman. That was such a neat experience. So anyway. It ended way too soon for all of us :). With too few free rolls in our direction too :). But what a fun fun evening!
We made sure to cool ourselves down (AND to celebrate Noah learning to ride a bike) with some yummy yogurt at the Frozen Yogurt place by Shopko. Yum. Even if we did look a little like a polygamist family (without all the wives I guess). We were bummed later in the week to find out that the carnival only lasted through the 24th! We had planned on going back for Nate's birthday. That was a bummer. We haven't missed that carnival in years! 7-23-13
EXCUSES
I decided I'm really sick of hearing people's excuses. Now hear me out... I'm not talking about wishing people didn't have excuses for things they can't do or whatever, it's the people who think they need an excuse for things like not having more kids, or not staying home with their kids, or spacing theirs out really far. Drives me CRAZY!!! Just because I've had a lot of kids, close together, and choose to say home with them doesn't mean I think everyone has to!!! On the contrary! If you don't want to have more kids, or can't or whatever it is, then don't!! Everyone is better off doing what they think is best. I think it's rude for other people to assume that because I have a lot of kids my pregnancies must be easy. Nobody knows what anybody's pregnancies are like. I do not think that everyone should have 7 kids. And those of you who have kids, who do not stay at home, I understand that it's not an option for everyone, I do not judge you, please stop feeling like you have to tell me your reasons!! I DO NOT CARE!!! Let's just talk about something else! :). There. I'm done.
7-24-13
PIONEER DAY!!
We got to have the Maynes Family celebration here at our house this year! That was a lot of fun. We had waterballoons, played in the creek, some of the older boys fished at the ponds, volleyball, Lawn Darts, BBQ... it was a really nice, relaxing time. I hope everyone enjoyed it. 7-24-13
HAPPY 34th BIRTHDAY, NATE!!!
We did a good thing this year! We got Nate something that he has been wanting for a long time now!! A new smoker! We were SO excited to give it to him because we knew it was exactly what he wanted :). Luckily he did all the research :). We also went the night before, to Walmart, to pick out his other present, a new bike! We couldn't wait to give him that and as soon as he opened it, we were all out on the road, on a big family bike ride!! Heavenly! We also went out to dinner for Nate's birthday, to Famous Dave's, that was a nice time too. I love that our kids are so well-behaved in restaurants (most of the time) and we can sit and enjoy the time. Even Jack now. Good stuff. I can't believe how much food our kids can put away though! The kid meals are almost not cutting it anymore. We will be going to cheaper restaurants in the near future. Then we came home for some cake (I did a German chocolate cake with Butterscotch pudding poked in it) and Root Beer Floats. I totally messed up and didn't buy enough Root Beer flavoring, so it was more like Cream Soda for some reason, but it was fine. My parents, their sigs, and Steve and Jauslin came and showered Nate with gifts. It was a nice evening. Hopefully Nate felt good and spoiled. 7-25-13
ERIKA AND NOAH
These two have been just melting my heart lately. I have my theory about those two and how long they've known each other. I know it's been longer than 44 months (Erika's age). Anyway. When we went on our bike ride on Nate's birthday, to the snow cone place, the very first thing Noah did after choosing his own flavor, was run over to the bike trailer, stick his head in and ask Erika what flavor she wanted! It was the sweetest thing! He was totally thinking about her and didn't even pause to get her on board. Even with the situation of her being carted around in the trailer, and him on his bike, he still treats her like the little queen. I loved it. Then later, when they were eating their snow cones, and Noah had spilled some of his on the table, she ran and grabbed some napkins and was right there wiping it up for him. They're just adorable. I want to always remember what good friends they are. I hope it lasts. 7-25-13
14 MILES
Nate got up early Friday morning and took Bradley with him on a bike ride. They rode the bike trail and just kept going! Bradley keeps bragging about how they went "14 miles!!!" Way cool! It's fun that they get to spend some good quality time together every once in a while. I love that. Then they spent the rest of the day together, putting together Nate's smoker.
7-26-13
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