Happy Birthday Blakey Whyzoo!

My Blakey Whyzoo is 8! We call her Blakey Whyzoo, because when she was a baby we used to say, "Blakey, Whyzoo always crying?!" It has stuck after all these years.

Things I Love About Blake!

• When Blake was 3 she asked if she could play the violin. 5 years later, she is quite the little violinist, and still loving it!
• She marches to the beat of her own drum...for her "How To" project at school she decided to do "How to crack an egg." She had all those kids cracking eggs in class! I'm glad she has a really nice teacher.
• She is a self-proclaimed TomBoy. I am not allowed to do anything with her hair. She wants it down and straight, and if I do it any other way she will make me regret it.
• She always rolls her socks down...hey, she likes it how she likes it.
• Her backpack has to be full to the brim, and really heavy or else it really bothers her. She has some of my cookbooks in there! Not even in Highschool was my backpack that heavy.
• She can't wait to get baptised. She says it is going to be the greatest day of her life!
• She is a huge helper...especially if it has to do with Dylan.
• She's really good at Guitar Hero!
• She has a ton of friends. She is a loyal friend, and will get your back anyday.
• She's super smart, and a really good reader. Her favorite book is "Diary of a Whimpy Kid"
• She is the class clown. Loves practical jokes. One day it might get her expelled.

Our family would not be the same without Blake! We love you so much, baby! Happy Birthday!

Here are some pics from her party. Her birthday fell on Memorial Day this year.

Since it was her birthday, I let her jump off the top rock.

It's hard to see, but Lincoln has temporary tattoos over his nipples. He found them in the Capri Sun box, and did it himself. Isn't that lovely?

Why is Grandma choking Diddy? Just kidding!

Random

Brookie did her own make-up! Can anyone say 2 dolla?

Some neightborhood kids migrated over this week for waterballoons.
Lincoln's obsessed with whoopee cushions.
We had a little surprise party for my mom's birthday this week. She was under the weather, and got a little emotional! She's gonna kill me for posting this.


Where is that child's mother? There is a knife right there!

Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom

"Jim, remember when we only had one child?" -Kirsten

"Ummm, no." -Jim

"Me neither"-Kirsten

Have you ever been Mommied to death all day long?! Have you ever had to take 5 kids with you EVERYWHERE you go?! Today was one of those days. After TaylorBlake (we call them TaylorBlake so when we need them we just have to yell one name-"TaylorBlake!") got home from school we went to...

• Blake's violin lesson
• Krispy Kreme to get donuts for one of my Laurel's birthday, but of course we had to spend 20 minutes watching the donuts go through the icing waterfall.
• Taylor's piano lesson
• Old Navy- the zipper broke on one of Blake's 3 favorite shorts -that she rotates over and over again. I've learned to choose my battles. She found 2 pairs that she likes, thank goodness.
• Target-Blake had to buy this acoustic guitar with her birthday money. Now. This very minute. It could not wait.
• Drop the donuts off to my new Laurel.
• Home to feed the kids because they are so starving they are about to DIE! That is a direct quote from one of them. I don't know which one. "We're having roast! I hate roast. I'm not eating it." If they were really starving they would eat it.

Going to Target with 5 kids is not my favorite thing. I wish I had a dollar for everytime one of my kids said "Mom, can I buy this?" After saying "No" comes the "Mom, whyyyyyyyyyyyy?" After about 30 minutes of this dialogue being repeated about 10 times each with all 5 kids, we check out, and after everyone has to have a drink at the drinking fountain, I walk straight to the food court. The nice lady behind the counter asks "What can I get you, honey?" I reply, "I need something with alot of caffeine." We walk out the front door, and I immediately say, "COUNT OFF". This is something you do when you have alot of kids.

• Taylor -"ONE!"
• Blake- "TWO!"
• Lincoln-"THREE!"
• Brooklyn-"FOUR!"
• Dylan-"NINE!"

"Ok, Taylor grab Brooklyn's hand, Blake grab Lincoln's hand...alright, let's go."

I actually managed to keep my patience today. Despite Taylor singing in the car to Radio Disney at the top of her lungs, and Blake and Lincoln screaming "Taylor, STOP SINGING!" about a Ba-zillion times. And Brooklyn singing "Please don't stop the music" over and over again.

Sorry if this sounds like I'm ranting...but I feel 10 times better now!

Indiana Jones

I saw the new "Indiana Jones" today! I've been waiting for this movie to come out. Jim and I made a deal that if I went to seminary for him today, he would take the kids to a birthday party while I went to the movies. So, I snuck away for a few hours. I really loved the movie! I want to take my kids to see it. I still remember the first time I saw the "Temple of Doom" in the theatre. I was probably about 7 or 8 years old. I was hooked after that. I could watch Indiana Jones movies over and over and never get tired of them. My kids have seen a couple of them. I told Lincoln I wanted to take him to see it, and he said, "Is that the one where he drinks the water out of the Piston Cup and his face melts off? That was scary!"

Prom

Saturday night we hosted a little Prom dance/movie night for some of the kids in our Stake. We have moved around alot, so it's nice to actually have "roots" planted somewhere. We've made some good friends, and we are glad that people feel comfortable coming over. Our house is always open...

The girls looked amazing. They're dresses were soooo pretty!
This is our little make-shift movie theatre in the backyard.
Jim set up the projector, screen, and surround sound for them. They threw that tarp over our pool gate. Diddy likes it!
Not a bad picture, huh? The sound was awesome! It really sounded like a movie theatre. We didn't disturb them, but it sounded like they were having fun dancing. I was really impressed with the boys. They put alot of thought and preparation in this. They even came over earlier and helped us clean up the yard. I am glad to hear that kids are still doing fun dates like this. These are the kind of dates that Jim used to take me on! Anyone up for a movie night?

"The Host"

Just like all the other Stephenie Meyer books, I couldn't put it down. I'm sure my family is glad that I finally finished it. I didn't like it as much as the "Twilight" books, but I still loved it. Everyone should read her books. There are so many books that I've started and had to stop reading lately, because of language or other things. You can't go wrong with a Stephenie Meyer book, though. In case you're wondering, Costco has it for the cheapest, or you can borrow mine! I think I'm going to read Twilight again. After seeing that movie trailer, I need a dose of Edward.

Confession

Ok, I have to admit that my best days are the ones where I roll out of bed, put my sweats on, and stay that way all day long. Today is one of those days. I haven't even washed my face or brushed my teeth, and I've already picked Lincoln up from Kindergarten and done the pre-school carpool. The best part is...I don't even care what I look like. There's a freedom and happiness that comes with having no expectations for yourself. Not having to look "put together". It's a good day. Lincoln did ask me, when I picked him up, "Mom, why are you wearing your jammies?"

Jim, Taylor, and Diddy have the stomach flu. My day has consisted of washing things that Dylan has pooped all over. Whatever...it's part of being a mom, right?

I don't want to do anything except read "The Host". Halfway through and loving it. I don't even know who got voted off "American Idol", because all I want to do is read this book. Don't tell me!

OK, this post is really lame, but I am avoiding all the laundry that I have to do. I once had a conversation with my neice Hailey about how people don't know what their own house smells like. You can smell someone else's house, but not your own. I was trying to explain what her house smells like, and she told me my house smells like laundry. Sounds about right! Have a good day everyone! I promise, I'm fine Lisa :)!

I'm a Big Slacker

We had a fun, busy week last week. I didn't have much time to blog, so now I have a really long post. Sorry. Here are some pics...

The pool's finally warm enough! For the kids...it's only 84 degrees. I don't get in until it's about 89 or 90. Looking forward to summer, though. I love hanging out by the pool with the kids.

Lincoln's kind of insane. He is only allowed to do this once or twice a year... with adult supervision. It scares me to death.

This is a great mom moment. It's too quiet, so you go looking for them...I love it!

Piano Recital

Taylor is an amazing girl! She is literally perfect. She never does anything wrong. She always follows the rules. She does whatever I ask. She comes straight home from school and does her home work right away, without being asked. She always asks permission before she does anything. She is sooo smart, and such a loving big sister! I love you, Tate! Great job on your recital piece. It was perfect!
"The Entertainer"

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers! This weekend was really fun. Jim and I partied all weekend...

Friday Night we got a baby-sitter and went over to Legacy High School to see some of Jim's seminary kids in a Broadway Review. It was cute! Great job guys!

Saturday Night we had a really fun date night. Got another baby-sitter (this doesn't happen much lately)! We drove down to the Town Square Mall. If you haven't been there, it's the coolest mall in Vegas. We went to Claim Jumper for dinner (Bleu Cheese Wedge Salad is soooo Yummy). We went to H&M (love that store). Went to the movies and saw "What Happens In Vegas". I was prepared that we might have to walk out halfway through(thought it might be racey), but it ended up being really good. It was funny. I loved it.

Sunday was great! Got up really early...takes a while to get us all ready. The kids made me pancakes (all by themselves-yikes) with LOTS of butter and syrup. I guess they were starving because they all hovered around the pancakes and took turns taking bites. Thanks for helping me polish them off guys! Came home from church, ate lunch, and everybody took a nap! Love that! Later, we went to Jim's mom's for dinner. It was a really nice day. Thank you my family!

Thanks Joey for getting me "The Host" for Mother's Day. I wanted that book really bad! Already started it.

Spoiled Rotten!

Jim and Lincoln had a blast this weekend in Pheonix! It must be great being the only boy. Lincoln gets Jim all to himself! He is way into baseball right now, and I have to say, he's pretty good at it! It's nice of him to show interest in a sport that isn't in the X-Games...

He made it up onto the score board!

Of course he got all new Mets gear!

Bouncy House

Jim's mom bought the kids a bouncy house! I actually really like it, even though it occupies our whole loft. It keeps the kids entertained, and it has a zipper so I can keep Dylan contained. Thank you to Blake for posting the rules of the bouncy house...

1. No eating
2. No crying
3. No drinking
4. No doing flips when everyone is in the middle
5. No yelling
6. No teasing
7. No fighting
8. No pushing people on the walls
9. No being ruff

Ok, so Diddy doesn't like it that much...everytime I put her in she says she's FAY-ODE. I'm pretty sure that means scared.

Feelin' kinda lazy

So, I worked really hard the first half of the week...but I have to admit, I haven't done much the past couple of days.

My girls have had hot lunch everyday this week. Sorry girls (they hate hot lunch)!

I went to the movies and dinner with my mom and Kelly. Saw "Baby Mama" (really funny).

Got caught up on all my shows...finally watched Grey's from last week.

I think I only cooked dinner twice this week. Maco and PBJ don't count as cooking, I guess.

Showers have been twice as long this week.

I don't feel down or depressed at all. I just needed a break from being obsessive about everything. One day I will admit to everybody how completely OCD I am. This week has been really nice. Jim's been around building cabinets for his brother's kitchen. He never ceases to amaze me. He has a gift. I will never understand how he can take a raw piece of wood and turn it into a gorgeous cabinet. He might as well cut the tree down, too!

Jim and Lincoln went to Pheonix today to see the Mets play the Diamondbacks. We were going to have a fun girl's weekend, but Brooklyn's been puking her guts out all day. So, I guess we will just hang at home. Diddy's grounded anyway for coloring all over my house in permanent marker...