Never a Dull Moment

As any mother of boys would tell you, there's never a dull moment. I had my laurels (girls from church) over one night. Zane comes in from outside. He simply states, "Mom, I caught two grasshoppers, but one of them got loose in the house." nice. Hopefully, the cat with catch it.

Here's the one he managed to keep in hand:).

The "Z" Machine

The Painting of the "Z" Machine. Yes, it's Pinewood Derby time!
Ready to Race!

Zane and his fellow cub scouts.

Job Well Done!

The Call of the Bobcat

At last month's Pack Meeting, Zane earned his Bobcat....already! Thanks to a den leader that is soooo on top of it all! He also earned a couple of belt loops from a Sat. workshop that his den attended. He is enjoying being a cub scout & he's off to a great start!

Todd had to hold him upside while the pin was put on Zane's shirt. I don't think I've ever seen Todd's face so red.:)

After a while, the effects of all the blood rushing to Zane's head start to take their toll on him!

Way to go Zane! And, thanks to Kelly for taking some pics since I was gone to a YW activity.

Super Saturday

Zane and Wes had some fun jumping on the trampoline. They even mixed in some water for added fun. Although when Todd sprayed the hose straight on them, they thought that was tooo much cold water.

But, then the boys found the mud and the fun got dirty!

Here's Wes trying to wash off the mud...aka. evidence:). Somebody smeared mud all over the guest house. Wonder who it could be? Two guesses.

Playing in the MUCK!

So, we got irrigation yesterday for the first time this year. And, of course, the boys were out in it today. Neighbor boys came from all over to play in it. The older boys were busy skimboarding in it. (Yes, once again, I missed the photo-op of Lance riding the skimboard...and what was the funniest was that for some reason he was wearing Wes' Batman Cape - see previous post - I really should have gotten that pic.) The younger boys just enjoyed running around in it. Here's Cole and Zane after rinsing the muck off in the outside shower. They had a lot of fun out there....and ended up with a little bit of a sunburn unfortunately.

Wes was avoiding the rinse off for some reason....gotta love the mud clot on his back...and especially the cute crack.

He decided to rinse off in the pool. The problem was that he only dipped his feet in the pool. As one can see - that left an awful lot of MUCK still on him.

Houston Spring Carnival

Last Saturday was our elementary school's carnival. We had a great time together. I was in charge of all the games, so I had been preparing for it for about a week and a half before. I headed down that day at 7:30 am to set up. The carnival was 11-3 and so by the time I cleaned up, I was home around 4:00. It was a long day for me. But, it was all worth it because the kids loved it and the school earned a few bucks:). Here's Wes at the Frog Toss.

Here's Wes showing you one of his prizes....I can't tell what it is though. He's got quite the cheesy expression though.

Zane and Weston after bouncing in one of the inflatables.

Sierra and Wes going for a train ride.

Here they go down the big inflatable slide.

And, no carnival would be complete without a snow cone (and cotton candy for that matter....which they also had:).

Zane on his train ride.

My three cute kids with their snow cones (cause we missed Zane in the first shot when he was on the train).

Zane trying out the Ping Pong Toss.

And, lastly, the three of them trying the Tic Tac Roll. Lance did make an appearance at the carnival but he hung out with his friends....far, far away from my camera. I don't think that was a coincedence.

Here's a couple of movie clips from our fun at the carnival. The top one is Weston going down the slide. The bottom one is Sierra and Wes racing through the inflatable obstacle course.

Lunch at the Farm

A couple weeks ago, I was reading one my ol' high school friend's blog. She had a post on this cute restaurant that looked so fun. Her kids were running around playing outside at the restaurant. I thought to myself, "That is the kind of restaurant that I need for my kids."
Well, this weekend Lance was gone snowboarding with the deacons and teachers from church. On Sat., Todd and I were out running errands with the three younger ones. I remembered her post and that the restaurant was out where we were going. And, so my easy-going, spontaneous husband said, "Let's go there for lunch today." As we drove up to it, I realized that I had noticed it once before a long time ago, but I don't usually drive down Ray. It's the cutest restaurant made out of an old farm house....with cute picnic tables outside. And, to make it even better, we loved the food. Well, not Sierra. She had a hot dog. Apparently, they use "natural casing" hot dogs that she thought had a too chewy of a outside. (Todd tells me later it's cause it's the intestine? hit my gagger)

Anyways. We had a great time. Todd had some pesto burger and I had the same thing but in chicken. Yum! The kids loved being outside. There was this HUGE, old tree that we had to get a photo by. Isn't it neat the way it splits off into 3? But, they do have signs up saying no climbing...talking about torturing a kid:)

Zane is having fun taking pictures lately and so he took this one of the rest of us by a citrus tree.

Oh, and how can I forget?!!! My son's got talent, so I need to share! Here at the restaurant, he doesn't have a straw for some reason, so he proceeds to show me how he can make his very own homemade straw...with his own tongue! Way to go Zane! Always entertaining!

Thanks Jennifer for the great tip to eat at Joe's Farm Grill:)

The Coolest Straws EVER!!!

I think that Todd is a lover of gadgets & gizmos, and so he passes that fun on along to his sons. He came home with a couple of straws...or rather, pieces of straws where one gets to assemble the tubes and connectors however he wishes to create his own unique straw. And, so the fun began. They were originally getting out drinks...some yummy SunnyD. But, when they realized they were having Top Ramen Soup for dinner (cause Mom and Dad were going out), the straws quickly went to use for sucking up the liquid in the soup. Gotta love it!

Quite the masterpiece....even includes a convenient handle. The looks of it remind me of that MouseTrap game for some reason.

But, when the liquid was gone, the fun continued. I guess their Mom never told them not to play with their food!

YUMMY. I bet you're craving some Top Ramen now:). It's one of our children's favorites. They like it even better "dry" with egg cooked in it....one of Todd's mission specialities. But, I don't think that would come up through the straws very well.

Time to Party!

Our kids get to have a birthday party every other year with their friends. Zane had a great time celebrating his birthday this year with his friends at Makutu's Island in Chandler.

Happy 8th!

Zane is lucky to have such a great, big group of friends (back row: Cameron, Jeremy, Zane, Zack, and Cole. front rrow: Kael, Mason, Jamyn, and Drai). He had a lot of fun playing with them and eating pizza, cake, and ice cream....talk about A LOT of energy there:)

Zane's Baptism

On Saturday, February 7th, Zane was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. by his father. He was so excited. He started counting down the days. We are proud of him for making this important choice to follow his Savior. He had a room full of family and neighbors that came to support him. It was a very nice meeting.

One of his good friends, Drai, was baptized also.

Doesn't he look great?!

Happy Birthday Zane!

-8 Reasons Why We Love Our Zane-

1. Zane was such a easy baby to take care of. He was beautiful inside and out. He so easily compromises and gives in to others when there is a conflict.

2. He grew to be so chunky. The rolls went right along with his happy smile.
He was always happy. I always had people commenting on his endless happiness and smiley face.

3. Zane was, and is, so fun to be around. His happiness is contagious. At 18 mos. old, he loved to jump off the diving board and go down the slide at our house in east Mesa.

4. Zane is brave. At 22 mos old, he was riding a gas-powered quad by himself. At age 4, he took his training wheels off and was riding his bike like a big kid. This last year, he rode the scariest roller coaster at Magic Mountain...the X2. Even though he screamed the ENTIRE ride (and even a little bit after it stopped:), he ready to go on it again!

5. Zane was, and is, so dang cute. (shown at 4 yrs old here).

5. Zane is overflowing with personality. Sometimes, it's hard to contain in school and church settings where he needs to sit still though. But, you can always count on him for some entertainment. Remember his dancing skills....guaranteed to bring out smiles on everyone else's faces.

6. Zane is good hearted. He wants to do what is right although sometimes his little brother tries his patience. He really tries to do his best.

7. Zane is a smart kid. He learns easily. He does well in school.

and

8. Simply....we love our Zane because he is OURS. We are so blessed to have him in our home.

Happy 8th Birthday Zane!....aka Oompie Scatta-scoompie (in his younger years)