Happy 6th Birthday to Arlo & Josiah!

On June 9, Arlo & Josiah turned 6 years old & boy, did we celebrate!  When school was released for the summer, we hopped in the van, drove across the country and arrived in Virginia the day before the big celebration! All of the Hall cousins were there to celebrate dressed in camouflage & carrying their Nerf guns. After their birthday lunch, all of the kids had target practice & uncle Travis set up obstacles & capture the flag.  Kenny & Dixie brought water guns for all of the kids. They rode the zipline, dirt bike & the Kawasaki Mule. For dinner we roasted hotdogs & s'mores followed by a fireworks show by uncle Travis. It was another epic cousin party!  I interviewed the boys & have posted a few of their answers below.

My 6 year old, Josiah

 Josiah is my comedian, my artist, my nurturer & my germophobe.
favorite food:garlic bread
             dessert: homemade popsicles
             candy: orange suckers
             color: red
             animal: all kinds of dogs (wolves, coyotes, jackals, etc....)
When he grows up, Josiah wants to be an archeologist.
Josiah loves to swim & has recently become very confident swimming in the deep end & jumping off the diving board. He has mastered the art of "arm toots" (aka making fart noises with his armpit) and shows off his talent at any opportunity.  Josiah has also perfected the monkey bars & loves riding his bicycle. He only wears "basketball" shorts/pants & likes to have monochromatic outfits as part of his fashion. He likes to try new sports & hopefully we will get him in tennis camp when we get back to Utah.

My 6 year old, Arlo

Arlo is my hardworker, tender-hearted & friendly boy who is quick to serve.

favorite food: chicken!

             dessert: black raspberry ice cream
             candy: gum
             color: gold
             animal: sharks
When he grows up, Arlo wants to work for daddy @ Fox Pest Control.
Arlo loves to swim & ride his bicycle.  He loves to swing high at the playground & can jump off mid-swing! Arlo is an avid reader & works hard to learn new books. His favorite book right now is Dr. Seusses' "Go Dog Go." His recently learned talent is counting backwards from 20. Arlo is a great shopping buddy, cleaner & organizer. Arlo will only wear skinny jeans or cut off jean shorts. He prefers to wear his Tom&Jerry shirt at every opportunity it's clean.

 

Miles

The birthday boys, blowing out their candles!!

 We had a fabulous celebration! There is something so special about twins. They are the best of friends; the worst of enemies; and I couldn't imagine life without either one of them.  I am raising them together, yet they each have different strengths, weaknesses, and interests. It is obvious that these spirits are unique from each other and each boy contributes something special to our family. I pray every day that Arlo & Josiah will grow up to be successful Priesthood-holding husbands & fathers.  I am so very blessed to be their mother.

Happy birthday to my big boys!

Happy 3rd Birthday Miles!

Mercy, I'm behind on posts, but I can't forget my sweet Miles who had a birthday in April. He turned 3 years old and this year we celebrated BIG!  We rented 2 bounce houses, filled a big pinata with candy and invited lots of friends. Miles knew that the big day was just for him & he loved every minute. We also celebrated a little friend of ours, Miley, who turned 1 the day before.

A little about our big 3 year old:

• He potty trained the week before he turned 3 years old & hardly has any accidents. It just clicked for him & he figured it out without much help. A special shout-out to Daniel Tiger - Season 1, Episode 11.
• He LOVES the color orange. Like, really, a lot.
• When he gets big, Miles wants to be a cowboy and ride a horse. 
• His favorite foods are "cheesy eggs" and ice cream. 
• Miles is an adrenaline junkie. He loves the thrill of a ride on the dirt bike, zipwire or swinging really high. 
• He has the cutest little freckles in the WHOLE world.
• He is a good dancer with killer foot work.
• Miles loves to snuggle & if he crawls into bed with us at night, he keeps his arms around my neck, like a stuffed animal.
• He loves his big brothers SO much and follows them around like he's a triplet. BUT, he is definitely an independent little guy who has a great imagination when he plays alone.  
• He has really stepped up to the title of big brother. He loves the twin babies so much and works at being gentle & helpful.
• Miles is a home-body and sticks close to his family.

There is something really special about Miles & he is such a wonderful part of our family. He has an air of confidence; he is creative & silly; and he is such a good buddy. We love you Miles!

The Lord is Aware of Me

It's been far too long since my last post, but I would ungrateful if I didn't express my gratitude to the Lord and the people that He has put in my life.

Jason's VERY busy work season is in the spring/summer and he travels 4-6 weeks at a time, with a quick visit between trips.  This is our 5th year in the pest control business and I've become accustom to busy season - but this is my first year to have 5 children while he's gone for so long. I'll admit, it's much harder than the 2-3 children I've had in past busy times. I seem to hit a wall at 2 weeks - my emotions are tender, patience depleted and showers are far & few between - that was me all last week as I endured week 3 of his absence.

As I reflect back, I can see that each day got a little easier - Heavenly Father heard my prayers and friends answered them with acts of service & love toward me. I hadn't vocalized my struggles to anyone, but somehow all of these amazing people came to me this week and offered what I needed most.  I know that in times of trial, Heavenly Father is aware and He sends to us, what we need at the time.

So that I wouldn't forget the blessings in my life, I decided to sit down and list just a few of the tender mercies that I experienced this week. I am so grateful to the people in my life.

Mother's Day flowers from my husband

 -A friend called to see if she could watch my kids so that I could attend the temple - and while I was at the temple, I sat next to a new friend who attends my ward.
-A sweet neighbor brought dinner to our family on Wednesday. 
-A phone call from a long distance friend, who also has a husband in the pest control business.
-A neighbor offered to take my boys to/from soccer so that I could keep the babies home during the cold & rainy game - this same friend also brought me honey from her bees & a bar of her homemade goat milk soap.
- I spoke to both my mom & sister on the phone this week - for over an hour with each person!!
-I received a mother's day note in the mail from my mom.
-The teenage boys in the pew behind us, held & played with my baby boy during Church.
-My husband sent me mother's day flowers - and hand delivered by more friends.
-Another friend brought me a "bucket of sunshine" - just because.

These Babies....

The babies are now 3 1/2 months old and they just get cuter and cuter! I must have mom-goggles because, seriously, come on....look at them....I die.  Not only are they ridiculously adorable, but they are rockstar babies - they are now sleeping for 8-11 hours straight each night, plus another 2-4 hours before they stay up for the day.

We are getting into the really fun stage where they are smiling lots and are building their social skills. Abigail laughs out loud and Henry does this funny growl/grunting. Those are the moments are definitely my "mama paychecks." We are moving out of the newborn stage and into the infant stage - instead of taking a million little naps during the day, Abigail and Henry take 3 big naps a day. (If I can keep a tight schedule.) And what would be a blogpost without shamelessly posting photos of my beautiful children.....

Happy 2 Months (August 2014)

Happy 3 Months! (September 2014)

Happy 3 Months! (September 2014)

Looking at all of these photos, makes me want to go upstairs and wake them up and squeeze them. But, then I come back to my senses and realize that this is my ONLY free time.....enjoy the quiet moments alone. :)

Relaxing at the park while big brothers play.

Henry playing with big brother, Josiah

Abigail & big brother, Miles  (wow, I still have a hard time with the realization that Miles is a BIG brother!!)

On September 28, Jason gave the babies a "name & a blessing" at Church. They were beautiful blessings full of promises for their future. I took lots of notes & shed a few tears of happiness during their blessings. We had an army of friends and family who showered us with love & support that day. Not only was it the perfect blessing day, but we also celebrated Jason's 33rd birthday with "Lemon Frozen Dessert" from the Burnham family.

KINDERGARTEN!!

About a month or two ago (my days are kind of a blur....it was either August or September....) Arlo & Josiah started Kindergarten at River Heights Elementary! The week before starting we had a chance to visit the classroom, meet the teacher and check out their awesome name tags all over the room.  The night before the boys started school, we went to the store and picked out "hunting" backpacks and got haircuts and baths. The first day of school was quote, "AWESOME!"  Arlo & Josiah spent the next week strutting around and bragging to strangers about how they are now kindergardners. :) It was pretty darn cute.

Since that first day, Arlo & Josiah continue to love school, make new friends and excel at academics. Monday is computer day and Tuesday is library day. They come home with a homework packet each Monday and spend a little time each day completing it before the next Monday rolls around. They've already participated in a fire drill and today they had a fireman visit their classroom for fire safety week. Their teacher is Ms. Jelke and has loads of personality, energy and patience. I went to parent-teacher conference last week and  Ms. Jelke said "Your boys are not the 'sit-in-front-of-tv' type. Arlo and Josiah are adventurous and creative." I sure love those boys and are so proud of them. I hope they always love school as much as they do right now.

Our 2nd Annual "First day of School Ice Cream" Trip. (Cold Stone Creamery)

I'm THAT lady! Sympathy Discounts.

That's it....it's official folks....I have become that "poor lady"....the one that gets sympathy discounts without even asking. The mom who is obviously so overwhelmed that people give her a discount, just because. I didn't want to believe it, but it's happened twice in the past week. The first time is when I rolled into Les Tire Center with a half-flat tire. A nail had punctured my tire and air was quickly leaking out. I asked the man how much to fix it - $15 - totally reasonable. In fact, I would have paid twice that price to make sure that I didn't get stranded on the side of the road with 5 small children while my husband was working out of state. When the job was done, he said that it was free. SWEET! I drove away, all proud of myself & thinking that I was hot stuff - still had the charm & good looks to get free stuff.

Haha....And then a few days later.....

It was a CRAZY BUSY day (not counting the fact that I had 5 small children to care for.) I needed to grocery shop and get the house cleaned/prepped for several guests who would be staying with us for the week and Jason was MIA getting ready for his annual work banquet. In fact, I didn't have time to do my hair, makeup, or even put a bra on. I was pretty ratty looking in my sweatshirt & jeans, but it was bottom of my priority list. Moving on....

Our van battery was having trouble the past few days, but Jason was able to clean off the corrosion that we believed to be the problem. So, I jump-started the van & took the kids to school. Then jumpstart #2 when I picked them up. Jumpstart #3 at the school.  We headed to Wal-Mart because tampons & diapers can't wait for daddy to come home. So, I drag all 5 kids with me through the aisles of Wal-mart (Please visualize 1 shopping cart, 1 double stroller & 3 kids walking with me - I look like a circus.) After getting diapers, tampons & only the critical groceries we head to the check-out, only to realize that I left my purse SOMEWHERE in WALMART!!! CRAP! We wander through the entire store searching until we get word that someone turned in my purse at customer service. All money still in my wallet - tender mercy of the Lord.

We get to the van in the parking lot and Surprise! Dead Battery AGAIN. (Just kidding, I wasn't really surprised at this point.) Oh, I should mention, every time I have a dead battery, my fancy sliding doors don't open....so we have to all climb in through the driver/passenger doors....and baby carseats too. So, I load up kids & groceries through the front seat while we wait for a shopper to return to a neighboring parked car. Nice lady parked next to me jumpstarts the van (#4) and I FINALLY get the brains to drive to Autozone. The guy tests my battery and it's bad (Duh!). So, I purchase a new one & the man installs it for me while the big kids are whining in the backseat and babies are screaming bc it's time for them to eat. Who knows what I even looked like at this point - it must have been pretty bad because the man gave me 10% off my battery purchase. I drive home and silently cry a few tears because I'm SO tired.

So....yes, I love to post happy/funny/cute photos of my children. And I like to put on a front that life is easy breezy & filled with rainbows.  I feel like Facebook should be filled with happiness - not a place to complain.  But let's face it moms.....we all have those days. Tomorrow will be better and we'll laugh when we tell the story. :)

Our Middle Child

With all the excitement of have 2 sets of twins, sometimes our sweet middle child gets overlooked. So, to make up for it, here's a whole post on my charming Miles.

Miles is only 2 1/2 years old, but he can keep up with Arlo & Josiah as well as any other 5 year old. Anything they can do, he can do it too (or so he thinks). One day he will grow up and realize that he isn't a triplet with A&J. lol. 

Seriously, this kid is AWESOME! I don't care what kind of trouble he is causing or the ridiculousness of his temper-tantrum, he melts my heart. I can't say no to him. And if you haven't noticed, he LOVES the camera.

While I was taking this photo, he was waving his bat around and saying "I get the orange zombies & I eat them!!"

He would follow his older brothers to the moon.

Our Official "Welcome to the World" Announcement: