Thank you!!

Winter... and it ain't no wonderland up here

It's freaking cold outside and it won't stop snowing. I have at least 8 inches of snow on my lawn... or at least what was a lawn. The roads in my neighborhood are hardly scraped of snow... and guess what that leaves? ICE! So I'm learning how to turn and break in our little red Ford Escort. So if you see a little red flash pass you at a 4-way stop, it's us... because I forgot to stop sooner and pump the breaks. The boys have been having a blast with friends building forts and throwing snowballs. I always thought of snowboots as an accessory, but now see them as a necessity as my boys cross our snow covered yard to the bus stop. And get this... they wear the boots all day long. It's so wierd up here... wearing snowboots. So I've learned 3 new things in the past couple of weeks... 1.) Don't stand under icicles when you are knocking them down. They are solid ice and hurt like crap! 2.) High heels really aren't all that cute (and sexy) when you have to cross snow covered parking lots and 3.) when driving in snow... pump breaks AND... start breaking sooner than you normally would... because the husband doesn't think it's funny at all that you don't have control of the car!

Oh and Ethan got his Wolf. It was very exciting... Now I'm just hoping to get him some arrows before he turns 9.


Leo dressed to keep him warm.


Our tree... dressed in snow.


Ethan pinning me with my Wolf pin. I love being a mom! Just wish I got the badge too!

Merry Christmas 2008!!

Family... moved. Nibley,Utah. baby. 10th anniversary.

Ethan... baptized. scouts. 3rd grade. smart. read.

Isaac... fishing. snakes. kindergarten. clean.

Leo... June 23. 5 months. big eyes. cute. SMILEY!

For Aunt Preesie

My aunt Caprese had bought Leo several pairs of pajamas. Mind you that the pajamas he is wearing are for 18-24 months. Leo is a week shy of turning 5 months.

Leo with Grandma & Papa Cox

Fall

Halloween

Here we are with Amy and Eli. Eli is 4 months older than Leo. Amy and I both dressed the boys as skeletons... and it wasn't planned.



Leo with his firsts sucker. I thought it was only right that he taste a little candy on Halloween.



The boys. Nathaniel kept the mask on for a little while. It's hard to breath in. Isaac was a Ninja, Ethan was a Boy Scout and Leo was a skeleton.

Pumpkins

Well, it was about time to carve the pumpkins. I have to admit I did have a stencil, but I still had to do the carving. I'm quite proud of how they turned out...

My lil skeleton...

Another Aggie...

We were fortunate to be invited to the USU Aggie Football Homecoming game by our Bishop (who also lives across the street). He teaches Spanish at the college... so the tickets were free. Nathaniel wasn't feeling well with a sinus infection, so he and Leo hung out at home. We had a great time and great seats. We were seated with the students and had our pick of seats. So we were up front. The boys had a great time and loved hanging out with 'Big Blue'. The game was really good and close. Lots of action in the last 5 minutes. Aggies made a touchdown and were up by 1 point. Fresno State had the ball with 38 seconds left on the clock and didn't make any great moves in the 4 downs... so with 2 seconds on the clock they went for a field goal at the 57 yard line and beat the Aggie's by 1 freaking point.

We were early to get good seats!



Even Obama and McCain took time to show their Aggie pride.



JC, Isaac, Julian, Ethan and Big Blue

See! Good seats with lots of action! (and I'm not even zooming in)

Yes, Yes... there were football players in tight uniforms, but when the cheerleaders were out, I couldn't help but stare. They were pretty hot themselves. But then they also haven't had 4 kids and aren't almost 30... JERKS!

Leo

Leo started baby food. It's very exciting. I'm much more relaxed feeding him. With Ethan, I was a stickler with keeping baby clean. With Leo, I figure I can just put him in a bath.





And my Leo is like his mommy, a thumb sucker.

Kneeling on rice

Last night we had a discussion about punishments for a crime in the home. We brought up one punishment Nathaniel's parents used... kneeling on wheat with Bible's in the hand. The boys thought this was a great idea and wanted to try it. Since I didn't have any wheat around, we had them kneel on rice while holding 4 lb weights up to the side. They couldn't kneel on their heels and the timer would be reset if they lowered their arms or tried to sit back down. Ethan was okay for the first 3 minutes and then cried. He thought this was a horrible punishment. Isaac was acting tough and brave for about 4 minutes. He would look at me with a look that said, "I'm being tough, but this hurts". He finally said he was done. We also took the time to also parallel the pain they felt and compare it to what Christ went through on the cross. But let me tell you, anytime we ask the boys to do something, Ethan looks at Isaac and says that they better do what we ask or they will have to kneel on rice.

Boys

The craziest thing is seeing your child pick up a snake with no problem. Last week there was a snake slithering across our drive-way. I yelled to Isaac to come see it. He ran out there and was trying to grap it. The snake then was hopping to get to the grass. Isaac finally caught it by the tail and was taking it to a bucket. I yelled to him to be careful. He turned around and told me that he knows how to take care of snakes. I was actually proud of my son.

Mohawk

Ethan was begging to have a mohawk. I finally gave in (peer pressure is bad). He kept it for 2 days and then had to shave it for church. He was very happy for those 2 days.

Block

Here's a faraway picture of our home block. You'll see that there is a lot of farm land. Mostly corn fields. However, the smell in the air begs to differ.... there's a dairy down the road.

Arizona family

For those that don't know, my brother Jonathan is stationed in Germany. He signed up with the Army 3 years ago. He is a sergeant and has also attended sniper school. He has an amazing wife, Emily who is expecting their first baby (a boy!) in February.

So Jonathan was home (Arizona) for two weeks. We were able to work things out so that me and the boys could be there for a week. Nathaniel had to work. I had an a wonderful time with my family. We did so much... between shopping for that nights dinner, garage saling, watching the boys swim, eating, play cards, site seeing (aka getting lost), more garage saling, and lots of girl talk. Although, Utah is home, I miss my family very much. Nathaniel was sweet enough to offer me moving back to Arizona so that I could be happy living near my family... but I'm staying here.

On our way down to Arizona, we stayed the night at Mary and Reese's in Vegas. They have the sweetest quads. They are 110cc and get unbelieveable speed. I felt like a little girl again.



This is what the boys did almost the entire time there. Here they are with my cousin, Katie's boys, Atticus and Cole.



Me, Jonathan, Mom, David and Mary. It was great being around my family again. It's been over a year since we've all been together like this.



If you can't tell, I'm the proudest sister. This was at the PHX airport picking up Jonathan. I made sure to make a big scene and be really loud so that everyone would look and know that my brother, a soldier was home.



The boys. Isaac, Caden, Atticus, Ethan, Riker, Cole



OhmiEMILY!! How I've missed her. She was the sweetest and cut my hair. I'm having a terrible time finding a good stylist in Utah. She's amazing. She kicks my butt at being a girl and makes me want to actually get ready and not let being a mom take over.

Smiles...

When pictures (and hair) go bad!

I promised them and you asked for it... I couldn't find the one with the lavender pants. I bet my mom destroyed it to get rid of all evidence. Well, too bad... because I have A LOT of evidence...



(if you look at the little girl walking in the background... it's Mary. She's wearing pink pants.)





(Now I'm talking... and check out my cool boots.)




(Look at my daddy. We are at a father and daughter thing for Beehives. And look at my hair. I think I'm about to fly away. You ask how I got my hair to stick out like that... You take a comb, hold out your hair, spray (Aqua Net) and blow dry)




(David is really cute here. And look at my hair.)



(I look fine here. I had to put one up of Jonathan since David was in the previous. Isn't he just the cutest? Emily's going to have such cute babies with Jonathan.)





(Mary had to show up too, since Jonathan and David are here. If you look close enough, you will see my name on the wall. I guess I wrote it and then blamed it on my sister.)





(Daughter like Mother. At least my mom thought I looked good.)

Me and Leo

School days

Ethan, 3rd grade

Isaac, kindergarten

What's up Doc...

Ethan has grown out of his church shoes and complaining that he needed new ones. I hate spending money on things I know the boys will grow out of next week... so off to the DI. I was really excited when I found a pair of dress shoes that were Doc Martens... in Ethan's size. Here was our conversation:

Me: Ethan, look at these great shoes. And they are Doc Martens... (for $5)

Ethan: No.

Me: What?! Why?

Ethan: They don't look cool.

Me: (GASP)

Me: Ethan, these are the best shoes around. They are very popular and they are quality shoes. Too bad. You are getting them anyways.

He wore them and complained once or maybe twice because they were "too big". I had to explain to him that as he's growing, that we buy shoes with at least a thumb space.

I hope that I'm not like my mom... "I think you look cool even if you don't think so". I have a picture of me wearing lavender pants with colored squares shirt and my hair was a short, tight perm. I cringe every time I look at the picture... Now I have to go find it so that I can share it.

my boys

I have to brag for a second that I have the greatest kids! My boys are sweet and thoughtful. The other night they wrote me a note that said they loved me and to have a good night. They also shower me with hugs and kisses. Their new way to send kisses is they blow kisses into their hands and then pump the other hand like a gun to shoot the kisses to me.

Those that know me, know that I'm a girly girl. Although I have all boys, I do not feel the least bit cheated not having a girl. Some may think, "Poor Sarah, she doesn't have a girl". With that I say, "Boys! Go shovel the driveway." But really.... I'm extremely blessed!

Hi Mema

I swear he was smiling before this... I think he's still mad at my mom for moving away.

Snake

Ethan and a friend found this gardener snake in the friend's backyard. They were very excited. The boys tried to get me to hold it, but I couldn't bring myself to it. Ethan asked to keep it as a pet, but Nathaniel had to explain that this snake was not meant to be kept as a pet. I look forward to the many new "pets" my boys bring home.

Yard Work

I had to share this picture because I was proud of myself for starting the lawn mower by myself. I just needed help with getting the blades to work. I was also excited about working on my tan, but I only got sun on the outside of my legs.

Nobody puts baby in the corner

Being a new mom is amazing. Even though I already have 3 boys, I still feel like a new mom. I forgot a lot of things, but I also have learned many new things. I think I enjoy it because I'm older and after losing Sylus, I appreciate being a mother and the great blessing it is to have babies.

Leo is a great baby. He loves to cuddle. He is content just letting Ethan or Isaac hold him. He looks like Nathaniel. Nathaniel has a baby picture of when he was 9 months. In the picture, Nathaniel makes some kind of scowl with his eyebrows. Leo does the exact same thing.

The boys refer to Leo as "baby". They never use his given name. One day I asked Isaac what the baby's name was. He said he forgot. I try to remind the boys to use Leo's name rather than call him baby. I don't want my son growing up thinking his name is baby.... nobody puts baby in the corner (movie trivia??)

Home

Here is our home. It has a very comfortable, home feeling. I love the floor plan and the area. So enjoy the tour.

a hello to mema and papa

Mom and dad,
The boys miss you both. When I saw that you updated your blog, I asked the boys if they wanted to see a picture of you two. They were so excited. Yesterday Ethan asked if someone was going to come visit us. I asked who he wanted to visit and he asked for you. I told them we wouldn't see you two until Christmas.

Love and miss you.
xoxo
Ethan and Isaac

Backyard

Grandparents...

My grandparents (my dad's parents) came to visit with my aunt Karen. We had a great time. They also brought over dinner and dessert. The boys loved the different ice cream bars my grandma picked out. I am lucky enough to live close to them and that they are still around. I love you Grandma and Papa.

Guilty as Charged...

So, since being a mother is full of guilt, I started to think about all the things I do wrong... and I've added my rationale.

1. I don't make my boys do chores. I find cleaning to be relaxing (I will even make their beds)
2. I don't make dinner every night. Find something in the pantry and I'll throw it on the stove or in the microwave.
3. I have cursed in front of my kids. Sometimes my boys really know the right buttons to push... and when I've reached my patience level.
4. I've listened to bad music (lyrics) around the boys. I can't help that I like music that makes me want to dance and feel young again, right?
5. I have let them eat dessert before dinner. I've only done this several times when I don't feel like fighting it.
6. I don't think about hardcore potty training until 3. They are boys, they need to reach the toilet. Need I say more?
7. I let my kids drink Pepsi and I don't pay attention to the amount of intake. I mean you are talking to a caffeine addicted here. (I'll repent tomorrow)
8. I don't always follow through with their punishment. I hate feeling like the bad person. I KNOW! Discipline is a form of love... I guess I don't have a good excuse for this one.
9. I don't teach my kids the abc's or 123's. I get too impatient and I figure I'd rather have a good relationship with my kids.
10. There have been days Ethan is on the xbox for more than an hour... or two. Hey, he's got good hand/eye coordination and (I'll use my brother's excuse) if there ever was a war, Ethan would know exactly what to do.

So as you can see, the perfectionist in me really hasn't converted the mother in me to being perfect. But who cares?! My boys love me and I love them and that's what matters.

P.S. The list could go on, but I don't know how much space this blog has.

Pioneer Day

July 24th... We went over to Amy and Jeremiah's home for a BBQ to celebrate Pioneer Day. Later Nathaniel, Adam, Jeremiah, and Samuel were blowing up a wasp nest in the basketball hoop pole. It was quite cute watching the big boys acting like little boys... killing bugs.

I love Drama

So I am more of a homebody since Leo was born and I decided that I would start watching soap operas. Young and the Restless everyday at 10am. It's wrong and I'm a bad girl, but it gives my mundane day a little lift. Folding laundry to soaps. My drug of choice, PEPSI. There's nothing like combining soaps and Pepsi. Maybe it reminds me of my grandma. She is a devoted soap fan... even with her diet drink.

Time with Mom

Yesterday in Relief Society, the lesson was on Elder Oaks' talk from conference, Good, Better, Best. During the lesson I thought about a conversation I had with my mom. Being a mother is full of guilt. You either are doing too much and not teaching or not doing enough. My mom feels guilty for working and not spending enough time with us kids growing up. I thought about how my mom drove me to school every day my 9th grade year so that I could be Student Body President. My mom also would drive Jonathan to school so that he could attend Mesa High. Driving us to school and out of her way may seem like a waste of time to many, but to my mom it was precious time that she had to spend with us. We were always important to her and although she may feel guilty for working, she always made her kids her number 1 priority. We even got to go to work and learn to clean... the right way. If you ask me, I don't think there's anything my mom should feel guilty for. She always gave her all.... plus I know she loved me the mostest :).

Oh baby!

Leo is a month old. Although many say that he's so small, he is actually getting bigger. He is more alert. He smiles when he's eating... I think Sylus is around talking to him. He was the last with Sylus. Leo is a sweet baby. He cries when he's hungry or tired. If he makes any small noise, Ethan is right there to pick him up. The boys love him. They love having a baby to dote on. One morning I was really tired and I guess he made a noise... meaning Ethan was right there to pick him up. I'm assuming it was about an hour later Ethan came in and said that he had fed and burped Leo.

Many people may give me slack for the space in age between my boys, but it's actually wonderful having a son that is so helpful. (Yes, yes. I am aware that I do not want to be one of those mothers that assumes it's the oldest child's job to raise the younger ones.) I do give Ethan the option to help out. If he chooses not to, it's no big deal.

Home Sweet Home

Many years ago when Nathaniel and I were dating (post mission), I was a weird girl and besides praying to get my answer, I also liked special signs that Nathaniel and I were meant to be. One of them was that my hand fits perfectly into his.

When we were dating, we spent a lot of time together. When we weren't together, I missed him. I thought that where ever he is, it's home to me. Not many days later, Nathaniel told me that he thought that home was where ever we were together. I loved that he thought the same thing as me, without me speaking my thoughts.

Even after 10 years, home is with my husband, cardboard box or mansion. Home is where my boys are.

I also have to add that I am blessed with a mom that taught me how to make a house a home with sweet, comfortable touches.

So with that, we have moved to Nibley, Utah. It is about 10 minutes south of Logan. It's a quaint farming community. The picture is looking out the kitchen window.

Sushi

We went out to a Japanese restaurant last week... because cookware was packed. Ethan asked for Sushi. We were really impressed that he wanted to try it. I won't even try it. He tried yellow tail for his first time.

Ode to Mema

Mom, You are amazing and a wonderful grandma to my boys. You will be missed!


Mema with her grandsons.


Mema holding Leo.