Emma's Preschool Program

Yesterday was Emma's last day of school and end of year singing program. It was really cute and a lot of fun. Emma did such a very good job. We are so proud of her for all that she has learned this year. After the singing program was over, Emma got a graduation certificate, and then said her goodbyes to her teachers and friends. She will miss school during the summer break.

Saying the Pledge of Allegiance

Singing a Safety Kids song

With her teachers Miss Kim and Miss Deanna

Alan is Alan

I love my funny Alan-boy. I took these pictures today while he was just hanging out being cute. When I saw it, I thought of this picture of my little baby Alan right away. It's fun to see how much he has changed, and yet how much he's stayed the same.

26 months old - 9 months old

Alan's big boy chair

Since there are now 5 of us, but we only have 4 chairs at the dinner table, we needed to either get another chair or start playing musical chairs at meals. At DI the other day, I came across a cool old high chair ($8) that I thought might work. So here it is: a little glue, a few nails, some sandpaper, and a lot of paint later. Alan loves it!Before


After

My favorite kids quote of the day:

Alan: "I want my chair to be a bicycle"

Alan riding his chair like a bicycle

He's Mobile

Last night while I was painting Alan's new, antique big-boy chair, I laid Logan down on his play-gym next to me. While there, he turned 180 degrees, rolled onto his tummy, and then managed to army crawl over to me. I can't believe that he's mobile! In other baby Logan news, he's now 7 months old, has 2 teeth, with two more on the way. They grow too fast, but it's fun to watch. He's been having a bit of a hard time with these teeth. Sunday and Monday night he was up for hours whining and crying, but he was still always very sweet and lovey.
We have also discovered that he is allergic to soy. When he turned 6 months old, we started him on Gerber Rice Cereal and soon noticed a bad rash on his face and bum. I stopped giving him the cereal and waited for his face to get all better before trying Gerber Oatmeal Cereal. The same thing happened again. So now, I've started him on the Beechnut rice cereal, that doesn't have soy, and so far so good. It's a good thing we don't live in Asia.

Sweet baby Logi finally fell asleep in the car after having a hard time falling asleep because of his teeth.

Isn't he soooo CUTE!

Favorite Baby Logan Quote:
Logan: YEAH
He says it all the time

So Much Fun

After all the fun we had this past weekend I told myself that I was going to take it easy (or as easy as you can take it with 3 little ones) and work on getting my my home in order. Well Monday came, and we got ready and went to Music-Makers. It was the last one for this season (we only do it during the school year). Alan will be sad, he looks forward to it all week. He is really good at learning songs. After Music-Makers, Emma went over to Anna's house for a backyard "pool party." I walked our little inflatable pool over, after I got Alan down for his nap, so that the girls could slide down into it. They had so much fun! Once Alan woke up, Alan, Logan, and I went back over and played for a few hours. Once we got home it was time to get ready for our FHE camping trip in the backyard. Emma had been sad that she didn't get to sleep in a tent when we went "camping" at the cabin this past weekend while the boys were at the Fathers and Sons, so Scott promised that we would camp in the backyard for FHE. Emma and Alan were so excited. First they put on "camping clothes," then they helped set up the tent while I made dinner, and then we ate dinner at our campsite. After dinner we had those vanilla and orange ice cream cup things, that I swear came with little flat wooden spoons back in the day, but apparently don't anymore. After dinner we had prayer and scripture in the tent followed by a game of Memory and the grand finally of getting to stay up late watching Monster's Inc. Lucky for me Logan has been teething like crazy and not feeling very well because of it, so Logan and I got to go back in the house before the movie.
On Tuesday, after Emma was done with school and dance, I took the kids out on a little walk to see the llama and play at Kaysville Elementary's playground. I was so proud of Emma. For the first time she was able to climb the rock-wall up to the slide all by herself. She did it over and over again, climbing up and then sliding down. She may have been able to do it sooner, but I am a little overprotective when it comes to Emma possibly falling.
Today it was rainy, so I finally had a day were I didn't take the kids anywhere and worked on cleaning our messy, messy house.

Favorite Kid Quote of the Day:
Emma: "Baby I will love you forever!" Said while giving him a hug
Logan: "Squeal!"

Fun Filled Weekend

Our little family had such a fun weekend! On Friday morning my friend Kathleen and I took our little ones to the Layton Park to feed the ducks and play at the park for a while. Feeding the ducks actually turned out to be a little traumatic for the kids because of the the geese who where getting a little too close for comfort. Then later that afternoon Kathleen and I loaded up Emma, Anna, Paul, and Logan and headed off to Scott's Grandpa's Cabin. It was such a nice break and so much fun to have a sleepover. We made delicious strawberry rhubarb pie, went for a nature walk, had a yummy dinner, played games, had great conversation, and had buttermilk pancakes with buttermilk syrup for breakfast in the morning. Our boys came over after the Fathers and Sons camping trip was over and had a bit more fun before we all had to head back to real life.
The fun continued today. After church we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went on a nice family walk with Scott's brothers Eric, Jake, and Kevin. Then we spent the rest of the day at Grandma and Grandpa's house (Scott's parents). All in all it was a very nice weekend filled with fun.

Alan coming down the slide at the park. He really wanted to bring his football to the park.

Emma, Anna, and Alan loved playing on the merry-go-round thing (is that what they are called?)

Logan enjoying the swing

Alan kept climbing out this thing, but then he couldn't reach the landing at the top so he would climb down.

Emma and Anna at the park

Emma and Anna on our nature walk

Emma exploring nature

The girls chilling on Saturday morning

Playing in the last of the snow at Grandpa's Cabin

Throwing rocks in the stream at the cabin

Alan Boy fishing at the Fathers and Sons... Can you believe that kid is just barely 2?

At Fathers and Sons

Pretending to be a pig in a pig pen.

Left to right Kevin, Alan, Eric, Emma, and Jake on our Sunday stroll

My cute boys during Scripture study on Sunday night

My Favorite Kids Quote of the day:
Emma: "I want to sit on the head!" She said it to Eric while on our Sunday stroll. Apparently she wanted to ride on his shoulders. We all got a good laugh out of it.

A Hopping Good Mystery

Before leaving the house Friday afternoon I fed our 2 African Dwarf Frogs and when we got home Saturday afternoon there was only 1 frog in the covered 1 gallon aquarium. We can not figure out what could have happened to the little guy. There is a small hole in the top for feeding, but it is pretty deep and little, plus we have yet to find a dried little froggy anywhere. We also have a hard time believing that the other frog could have eaten him (especially since I fed them just before we left, and I don't think AD Frogs eat each other. Plus it would have taken him more than 24 hour to do that...right?) Well I am not sure we will ever know what happened to our poor little frog. I guess if we find him we will know that somehow he got out, but for now we know dead or alive there is only one frog in that tank. Any ideas?

Baby Logan is getting so big these days

Logan is just such a sweet kid. He's getting so big these days. He just loves to talk and play. The other morning he woke up, and I forget exactly what we asked him, but Logan answered us with a little delighted squeal and said yeah. It was like he totally knew what what he and we were saying.
Today he just happily played in his excersauser for over an hour. It is so cute watching him play with all the different toys. Another fun thing he has started doing is saying "hey dadada, hey dadada" until Scott will look at him, and then he will get very excited and start babbling to him about something. Logan is just such a talker and he also loves to sing. When I sing to him I have noticed that he will start baby singing along. He is just a wonderful addition to our family. On Tuesday we got Alan a "big boy" dining room chair at DI, so now Logi gets to use the high chair during dinner and eat with the rest of us. He just loves it. Emma and Alan really enjoy him getting bigger too. They get to play with him a lot more, but I also find myself saying things like "Alan, Logan is not a pony get off him!" and "Emma, careful not to rip off Logan's arms." But they have yet to actually hurt him... So I guess whatever doesn't hurt him can only make him stronger, right?Logan hangin' out with Daddy and AlanTelling Daddy silly stories

Showing off his new tooth (bottom front on his right)

Usually I think Logan looks just like Scott, but in this picture I think he looks a lot like I did.

A Mother's Job is Never Done

I think I may have done more in the first 2 and a half hours of this Mother's Day, than some mom do all day. Notice I said some moms. I only wish I had taken a picture of the giant mound of folded laundry on my sofa at 2 am. It was like 7 huge loads of laundry all folded in neat piles. On Saturday Scott actually took a day off from school and working (well actually he is done with school for the summer, but since he just finished up on Thursday we are still pretty used to him having school stuff to do) to just be with us and help me out a little. He let me sleep in and then we talked about tag teaming and really getting the house clean, but by the time dinner time came we had little to show for our efforts. Once we got the kids to bed we set to work folding laundry, doing dishes, sweeping the floors, and all the many other thing we had to do to prepare for mother's day. Then at about 1:3o (a.m.) I heard strange noises coming from Emma and Alan's room. I investigated, only to find Emma burning up with fever, and there was throw-up all over her bed. Scott got her into the bath, while I cleaned up the mess. A little after 2 a.m. Emma's ruckus woke up Alan and shortly thereafter, Logan woke up too. At about 2:30 I fell asleep getting Logan back to bed and poor Scott ended up staying up until after 5 a.m. with Emma. We have noticed that ibuprofen makes our kids hyper, but it is the only thing that will get their fevers down. Anyway it was a long night.
Despite its beginning, I had such a wonderful Mother's Day. I love my dear sweet little family so much. I have been so blessed with good, loving, funny, cute kids that truly fill my life with so much purpose and joy. And with a wonderful husband who loves and supports me. I am so grateful for Scott. Here are a few of my favorite moments from today.
- Emma waking up, jumping out of bed and saying "I took a nap and now I am all better!"
- Logan finally getting his first tooth.
- Alan saying "Thats not my Eric." very loudly in sacrament meeting at Eric's "homecoming."
- The kids (and Scott) giving me nice presents.
- Handing Logan over to Scott when his diaper exploded.
- The look on Alan's face when I found him in Grandma and Grandpa's room eating the Dove chocolate bar Grandma had gotten for Mother's day and then what he told Grandma - "Its OK if I am hungry."
- Baby Logan just being cuddly sweet baby Logan.
- My kids playing outside on a beautiful spring day.
- The fact that Alex Aaron Allen is a boys name (3 points in Scattergories)
- Spending time with so many relatives and talking on the phone with my mom.
- Scott giving Emma a blessing to help her get better
- Alan's desire to have a blessing too and how cute he was sitting on the edge of his bed with his arms folded telling Scott that he needed Heavenly Father to bless him so he would be safe from the big bad wolf.
- Watching Alan try so hard to sit still for a blessing.
- The peace of knowing that my children know they can turn to their father and their Heavenly Father for anything.

I am so grateful for Mothers. I am grateful that I am a mother, and for the wonderful examples that I have all around me of how to be a better Mother. Being a Mother is so hard and yet so easy. All I have to do everyday is to love my husband, my children, and the Lord... I can't think of a better thing to do with my time.
I love you Mom.

Alan playing with "the north pole"


Emma with her uncles

Alan being Super Alan