Lazy or Busy?

So I can't decide if I should call myself lazy or busy because I haven't posted on this blog for so long. So I think that I will call it both. It is amazing what happens to you when you have three kids and are preggo with number four. It is like my body is rebelling against me and screaming at me that I am getting older. It does not help that five weeks ago I was banned from exercising, so the only way that I know how to get any energy is to go to bed at 9:30 pm and drink Diet Coke. Which every time I pick one of those yummy soul drinks, my husband thinks that I am poisoning our child. I told him that I would give them up when he gave up candy, we both looked at each other, laughed, and decided it was better the way it is. So I guess there has been some lazy things going on with me.
Now to the busy part, my kids are both in different schools, which I have to cart around 2-3 times a day just to take and get them. Eric is in a charter school, and I volunteer at his school every week, and am part of the Halloween parties for both the boys. I also was crazy enough to not want to spend $200 on costumes for Halloween this year, so I sewed them. I am the music leader in primary and we just had our program yesterday (which went fantastic). And on top of that I am the Entertainment Chair for Festival of Trees and you wouldn't believe how much time that I have had to put into that already. This is just cracking the surface.
Before you feel bad for my crazy schedule, notice that most of the items are self-inflicted, so you can't feel that sorry for me. I am beginning to look into the future of next year and know that I have to slim down on some things. I mean 4 kids. I am an old mom with a big family. Time to start saying no.

Look!

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What Species is it?

Okay, so I know that I have probably been the world's worst blogger for the last month, and I am sorry. In the coming days I will try to post some photos and thoughts about what has been happening in our neck of the woods, but for tonight this is all that will be coming.
The title of my post has to do with something that my Grandpa said to me two Christmas's ago. I was pregnant with Rylee and we were at a Holiday dinner. Before we left, my grandpa said to everyone that, "all who were pregnant would have to let him know what species their child was when they found out." Of course we all started chuckling because he had said species instead of sex. He had no idea what mistake he had said, but it became something cute to remember when I think of him.
So to continue with the story...The first of July Ryan and I were planning on going up to Island Park with our family for a vacation. A few days prior to this I started not sleeping very well and generally feeling kind of blah. Well I was awake at 3 am the morning that we were supposed to leave and knew that I couldn't wait any longer, I had to have a question answered. So I grabbed the truck keys (It was hitched to a trailer and I had never pulled anything before, but I figured 3 am was a pretty good time to learn.) snuck out of my house, and high-tailed it to Walmart. There I purchased an amazing piece of science. A pee-stick.
Yep, it had two lines. But then one disappeared, so I didn't say anything to Ryan yet. We got into our truck and headed to Island Park. After another 2 days of not starting my period, I bought another pack. This was the same story. Two pink lines, 10 minutes later 1 pink line. I did finally tell Ryan and we decided that I should probably call the doctor.
A phone call to Machel, my doctor, instructed me to come back down to Ogden because she couldn't believe it either. Number Two pregnancy on an IUD. I don't know what percentage this puts me in but I am pretty sure that it is nearing 1:1,000,000.
So now you know and in answer to the question of what species it is. It is another girl. Two boys and two girls. By the words of my mother-in-law, "You couldn't get it more perfect than that if you ordered them out of a catalog."
Oh yeah, for all you curious folks, She is due sometime before March 12 and I am 15 weeks along.

A Jedi is Born

A few days after we held the boys birthday party, they were being wild and using these new foam dart guns all over the house. They would shoot them at something and a few minutes later the dart would lose it's suction and fall down. Well Eric was shooting at the light on the ceiling and happened to stick one to it. He asked me if I could get it down and I told him that it was too high for me to reach. He then proceeded to hold both hands high above his head with his fingers flexed and stare at the dart. After about 5-10 seconds of this the dart fell down. Then he grabs it, very animatedly exclaims, "YES!!!!! I HAVE THE FORCE!" So now I know what he is practicing when all is quiet in the house. It is good to have a Jedi on your side.

Oh What a July!

We are now back from the crazy month of vacations. It has been a wild trip, but a ton of fun. Sorry about the many photos, but it is the first time that I have had the chance to update. Enjoy!

Lake Powell

The Dad's and their kiddies amazing Lake Powell Castle
Ryan and his sexy talent
Grandpa Hansen with Eric and Tyler inside the Indian ruins up Forgotten Canyon
Tyler and Rylee loved the slip and slide that the men made on the beach

Mommy and her girl
All the kids loved the sand, and I especially love Eric's bandana

Eric and Shae having a blast on "bumper tubes"
This was the shot of the week, taken by Lindsey. Matt was driving the boat and had already sucessfully thrown me off two previous times. On this occasion, he had me out of the wake and was still turning quickly. This caused Ryan to swing over to my side, jump the wake, land on my right side completly flipping me over. It happened so quickly that I didn't even know I had done a flip in the air until I saw this photo and the video. My ears and head hurt for the rest of the day, but it was fun.

Birthday Party

This year we had a combinded birthday party for Eric and Tyler. We invited some of their friends and held an Olympic celebration. The kids got to design their own shirt for their "olympic uniform". Had a candy toss, frisbee throw, water race, and topped the activities off with some major slip and sliding. Of course they all got medals because they were all so cute.

Island Park

This week was tons of fun! We spent many hours on the four-wheelers chasing the boys, hours on the lake teaching them to waterski for the first time, and going on beautiful bike rides. Vacationing is definatly becoming more and more work, but it is so rewarding to watch my children find something that they love and get better and better at it. Here are a few highlights of our trip.

I got tagged again.

I've been Tagged...
4 Places I Visit Over and Over
1. Sandy, UT
2. Shelley, ID
3. Lake Powell
4. Island Park

4 People who call/text/email me regularly
1. Ryan
2. My Mommy
3. Jodi
4. Christa

4 Favorite Foods
1. Fresh Fish
2. Bread
3. Cheese
4. Chinese

4 Places I'd Rather Be
1. Hawaii
2. Fiji
3. Wisconsin
4. Anywhere with my hubby

4 Movies I'd Watch Over and Over
1. Gone with the Wind
2. The Notebook
3. Memoirs of a Geisha
4. Home videos of my kids

4 Bands/Groups I love to listen to
1. Faith Hill
2. Kenny Chesney
3. Tim McGraw
4. Keith Urban

4 People I'm Tagging
1. Carly
2. Erica
3. Lori
4. Shauna

Book Tag

#1 get the closest book: The Slight Edge
#2 find page 123
#3 find the 5th sentence "Become acutely aware of who you are modeling"
#5 tag 5 other people! Clarissa, Ashley P., Mom, Lindsay, Ivy

I just grabbed the first one that I saw on my bookshelf, but I like the fourth sentence on this page, so I am adding that also.

"If you consistently associate with negative people, it's highly unlikely you will succeed at having and maintaining a positive approach to your life."

How's that for a nugget.

Happy Birthday Tyler

So I know that this is a day late, but blogger wouldn't let me download my photos last night, so it had to wait.
Happy Birthday Tyler! Today you are five, and I can't believe that you are growing up so fast. I was thinking back to the day that you were born and how excited we were to have you join our family, and I am pretty sure that it was only yesterday. You have been such a joy to have around. Your laughter and smile are so contagious, that I just can't get enough of them. I love the way that you come up to me and "give me sugar". The spirit that you carry with you is so strong and sensitive, I can tell that you are going to be a huge influence for good. I am so proud of your accomplishments already, and I can't wait to see what else you have in store. Happy Birthday buddy. I love you.

Happy Birthday Eric

I can't believe that you are seven years old today. Every time that I look at you I am so grateful that I am your mother. I am amazed with your many talents. You are such a brillant boy, and such a wonderful big brother. You carry a huge spirit around with you and I know that you were sent to the Earth and to our family to accomplish great things. I am just awestruck that I get to call you mine. I love it when you want to come up and sit with me, one of my favorite things to do with you is to sit and make up stories on the couch. Your imagination never ceases to amaze me. I will love you forever and ever, and I hope that you know that. Happy Birthday my big seven year old!

Sunshine and Summertime

Oh the joys of being a kid in the summertime. Need I say more?

The Widowmaker

Last Friday morning the kids and I headed up to the mountains past Morgan to see their Daddy ride his motorbike. Ryan was competing in a motorbiking hill-climb. The purpose of this is to see who is the bravest and who can get their bike to the top of this mountain the fastest. The event is called the Widowmaker, and to be honest I wasn't real sure if I wanted him to do it based on this name. But I will have to say, when it came down to it, I had a great time watching my husband be tough and manly. He got two tries to make it up the hill and he did it! The hill was much steeper than the photos depict, and he made it up in 13 seconds. Honestly, it was quite sexy.

Singing Time

The last few Sundays have been a whirlwind of activity and I come home from church and lay on the floor and wonder what just happened. A few weeks ago I got a new calling. Goodbye Relief Society and Hello Primary. I am now the Primary Chorister, loving referred to by the children as the new music lady. This is a calling that had me a little nervous, but I was pretty excited also. I just had no idea how much time and effort it would take. It is very intense and a ton of preparation. I think that I have probably spent 30-40 hours on it already. I hope that it pays off and the children learn to love me.
Needless to say, church has now become somewhat of a marathon. Between wrestling Rylee in a church bench for an hour, during which my boys both want me to scratch their backs, or I am trying to take away the markers that have conveniently turned into "light-sabers". Then it is straight onto Primary where I have to sing for forty minutes straight, trying all the while to keep kids attention with many games or pictures. Then to the nursery where I get to sing to 15 small kids that just want to run around, with the exception of a few who lay on the floor. Then back to primary where we finish out closing exercises with a bunch of songs. A lot of which I am still learning myself. By the time that 4 pm comes, I am exhausted and all I want to do is take a nap.
Something that I have learned through all of this.... Never underestimate the intense preparation and time it takes to make something look easy.

The Definition of Love

So the last few days I have been thinking about what makes real lasting love. Is it the never ending display of affection, the gifts that show up on special occasions, the times when he listens to your crazy thoughts, the electricity that screams through your body when you realize he is yours? Or could it possibly also include being willing to do something most unpleasant?
Two days ago it was our anniversary and Ryan came home from work two hours earlier than he told me he would. He came home to help me clean the house for the babysitter so that he could take me away for the night. I was thrilled. A night with just him, and just for fun. We settled in the babysitter and went on our way to dinner. We had a nice private booth with a great waitress at a restaurant in Layton, called Corbin's Grille. Then we headed off to see a movie. After the movie he took me up to Huntsville to a small bed and breakfast at a historical home. It was all such a wonderful evening. Later on in the morning, around 5 am, I awoke to an awful stomach ache. I was very nauseated,cramping, and had a horrendous headache. I had been poisoned by the seafood I ate for dinner. (ps don't go to Corbins) We had to leave the hotel early so I could have a comfortable place to throw up. This sickness continued all day and ended up with me throwing up for the last time into the bathroom sink, which ended up clogging it.
This is where I found out that true love happens in the bathrooms. Ryan quietly came to my rescue and told me to go lie down and that he would take care of it. He cleaned up my puke and put me to bed. That my friends, is the definition of true love.

8 Years!

Well today marks year number eight with the best man in the world. I can't believe that I am so blessed to call Ryan my hubby. I saw this tag on my cousins blog and thought that it would fit perfectly today.

1. Where did you meet? The first time I saw Ryan was in the church foyer at my brother's welcome home. It was just like a movie, where everyone else gets real fuzzy except for "the one". (I know, way cheesy, but true)
2. What was the first thought that went through your head when you met? All I could think was, "I hope that he is one of Matt's friends and is coming over to our house!"
3. Do you remember what he was wearing? White dress shirt and khakis. Later he changed into some wranglers, and I must admit that I was caught way off guard. I remember a conversation that I had with Carly, where I told her that I would never date anyone who wore wranglers. I guess God has a sense of humor, and I will admit I think they are cute now.
4. Where was the first time you kissed this person? On the corner of the houseboat down at Lake Powell.
5. How did he ask you out? We were eight hours apart (me in Cedar and Ryan in Rexburg, so we only got to call each other.
6. Where did you go for your first date? Ryan drove down to Cedar to visit for the weekend, and we went out on a double with my brother. We built a campfire and roasted marshmellows, and of course snuggled and kissed.
7. How long did you know this person before you became a couple? It was pretty intense from the very first second (at least for me), but I don't think that it was very long for him either. The first time that we said the "M" word, was on my birthday.
8. Has this person ever proposed to you? I guess you could say that we proposed to each other. On October 10th, we were laying out on the tramp in Idaho, and I said, "Let's just get married and stop talking about it." So then we set a date. Later on in November he came down to my dance concert, and in front of the whole audience came up on the stage and proposed before my concert. It was elaborate and public, and perfect in every way. I have it on film and it was played repeatedly on the local college news station.
9. Do you and this person have kids together? Three wonderful beautiful children, all of which remind me of Ryan in there own separate ways.
10. Have you ever broken the law together? Not unless you count speeding.
11. When was the first time you realized you liked this person? Right away, but the moment I knew that I was going to marry him, was only the second day that I saw him. I was playing flag girl for him while he was water skiing, and I just heard a voice say, "You are going to marry him." It was so loud that I almost looked around to see who said it. I must say, I was taken quite by surprise.
12. Do you get along with this person ex's? I don't think that he has any.
13. What's the most expensive thing this person has given you? Rylee, she cost $39,000 in hospital bills before we could bring her home. (Good thing for insurance)
14. Where do you see each other in 15 years from now? Kids grown up, one still on a mission another in high school. Retired and playing every day, and living life to the fullest extent possible.
15. Wedding date? June 9, 2000
16. Wedding day memories? My whole life I wanted a garden reception, and the whole week prior to our wedding was nice, but it was supposed to rain on our day. I prayed and asked that if I had any blessings in store that they would come on our wedding day and it would be nice for our reception. While in the sealing room a major storm came through the city and there was lightning and thunder like crazy. The sealer said, "I hope you don't have an outside reception planned." I wanted to cry, but by the time we were sealed and out onto the temple grounds, the rain had stopped and it was overcast. (this was perfect for photos because the rain scared everyone away and no one was squinting) Later, at the reception the sky was blue and there was not a cloud in it. I guess I did have a few blessings in store and I was so thankful for them. The day was perfect, and everything was just how I always hoped and dreamed it would be. It was a perfect start to an incredible life with the man that I love.

I love you Ryan, and hope you know that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me.

Visit from Jodi

My amazing friend came for a visit last week. It was so good to see her, but it went entirely too fast. She surprised me one morning by jogging to my house from her grandmother's house in Ogden. We let the kids play on Tuesday and it was as if it hadn't been almost two years since they have seen each other. It is amazing how they can pick up right were they left off. Then the next day Jodi and I went to get pedicures together, then out to Cafe Rio. It was a joy to have her around for a moment, and I am looking forward to September when I get to go out and see her.

Eric's Exciting News!

So I thought that this was worthy of a seperate post. Eric has been accepted into the acelerated learning program at a new school for next year! Along with one other student from his class, he was recommended by his teacher to test for this program. 45-50 other kindergarten kids from the Ogden School District were also submitted to test for a classroom size of 22. Teachers and Parents had to submit evaluations on each child and Eric had to attend two days of testing at a different school with the other children. It was hard for me to wait for the results for so long, but I am so proud of him. It shows you how well he is doing because he is in the top 22 for his grade in all of the school district. Way to go Eric!!!!!!

Graduations!

We have been busy with programs and graduations for my boys. Tyler from preschool and Eric from Kindergarten. It was fun to watch them sing the songs that they had learned throughout the year. I can't believe that they are already this big!