Arizona Vacation

We took a trip to Arizona with my parents and Dustin, and Chelsey and Heather and her kids met us there. As I looked through the pictures, I realize that I hardly have any pictures from when we were actually in Arizona, that just shows you how much I was enjoying myself :)

The picture on the right says everything you need to know about Macy. We left about 5 in the afternoon, Macy took a short 1 hour nap immediately, and then she didn't fall asleep the rest of the way. This picture was at about 11:30: all the other kids were asleep, but you can't slow Macy down. She watched Sleeping Beauty twice through while everyone else slept :) The picture on the right shows how happy Kate was to get out of the car for a little break :) We stopped at a couple of indian ruins along the way. It was a great time for everyone to stretch their legs while we saw some pretty neat ruins.

I like this one because it shows how Kate was determined to do everything all by herself :) I'm sure people wondered why I was carrying my toddler and making my baby walk :) At least it wore her out for the rest of the drive.

Chelsey just finished up hairschool, so of course we needed her to show us her skills :) Macy got probably 5 treats in an attempt to have her sit still but that didn't work out. We were satisfied with an "almost straight" finish. Like I told Chelsey, she'll never sit still long enough for anyone to see it so it's all good :) By the way, Chelsey cut my hair too and all I can say is that she is AMAZING and she better come back every couple months to do it again :)

I had to throw these pictures in of my brother Dustin. He is a fairly reserved and private man, so most people don't know how awesome he is. But he is amazing. He puts up with a lot of noise and chaos from all our kids when we get together. And he is the kindest uncle ever. Every single one of our children have been in love with him at some point in their life because he is so patient and kind, he lets them examine and explore things on their own time, he encourages and helps them do things that other people would tell them they're too little for. He is just a stud and I love him. And besides all that, he never lets me take a picture unless he's holding a kid and thinks I'm taking a picture only of the kid :)

Kate was funny on this trip what with plugging her ears on the drive (you'd think she hadn't grown up in this loud crazy family her whole life :) , and her utter excitement when she first got in the pool :)

We went swimming everyday and our kids worked really hard learning how to swim. Of course Macy was the most willing to try everything (she was out there in her floaties kicking her legs and dogpaddling as fast as she could-she'd just step right off the ledge and would get mad at me when I'd hold on to her when she didn't have her floaties- "LET GO! LET GO OF ME! I CAN SWIM!"). Avery followed next and could have jumped off the ledge to her daddy for hours. I trying to get the earplugs to stay in. Dang tubes. Carston of course was the cautious one :) He did pretty good by the end though, and he loved playing with the water bat and ball from Chelsey. Thanks Cho!

This picture is for you Todd. This is THE Denny's. You know which one. The one you slept in with John. Thank you for making it a priority that we eat some nasty food for the sake of keeping the memory alive :)

It was a great trip (aside from the driving-which really wasn't too bad). I love my family and I love spending time with them. We missed you Jordan!

Carston is 7...okay, he's been 7 for a month...no biggie right?

This year, Carston was set on two things: he wanted to have an Army Party and he wanted to have it on his ACTUAL birthday (as opposed to the weekend following). So we had ourselves one awesome Army Party! We had about twenty kids there so it was a little bit crazy, but definitely a lot of fun.

My cousin's husband was so nice to come at the end in his full uniform. He spent time answering their questions, led them in some pushups, did some army crawls, and let some awestruck boys chase him around with their toys guns. Thank you so much Nathan! I can't ever tell you how much that meant to Carston. I love this picture that shows how happy he is when Nathan let him put his helmet on :)

John helped me build these bunkers for the kids (my neighbor thought I was a little crazy when I wanted her branches that broke off her tree). They were the perfect place for some games. We did one where the kids had to go rescue a fallen soldier, bandage their wounds (with toilet paper) and get them back to base on the gurney (blanket). At the end we also had a water balloon fight while they tried to capture the other sides flag. I had to get a picture of this kid. He was hit by a balloon right at the beginning, and he fell down and played dead for the next five minutes until the flag was captured. It is an understatement to say these kids were fully committed to their personas :) Carston's face is awesome when he captured the flag :)

Here is the army tank I made for the cake. We also did a big obstacle course for training, painted their faces, gave them dogtags with their code name, opened presents, and pretty much just had a great time. Thanks to John, my mom, dad, Mary, and Jordan for helping me pull off an awesome party for my little boy who is not so little anymore. I love you Carston!

Maybe this is why...

My kids are big into reading. They start early, they seem to be ahead of what people think is appropriate for their age. I get asked a lot what I do with them to make them such big readers, but I never really knew how to respond because I never felt like we did anything out of the ordinary. Today though, I came up with a theory :) Today was library day. Library day is a little crazy in the Roberts house. First we have to round up all the books, cd's, and movies and make sure everything is accounted for. We had to round up 100 items today, so it took us about 45 minutes. Then there is always that lone book that has been misplaced, and it is a miracle if I don't find myself uttering a sincere prayer to Heavenly Father explaining how our time before naps (and consequently meltdowns if we are late in taking those naps) is fast approaching and we need help in finding the missing book. And He never fails to answer. Today the answer was an immediate thought to go look in the car of all places and I found it tucked in a pocket. So, after the roundup and prayer, we drive down to Provo. Why Provo when the Orem Library is a mere 5 minutes away? Because they have a much better selection of children's books, and their movie and cd rentals are free. So we drive the 20 minutes down to Provo. The next step is to unload everyone from the car and precariously balance 100 books on a double stroller with 2 children still sitting in it. I've got mad skills now when it comes to that particular challenge. We hurry in and try not to draw everyone's attention as we return our 100 books "One at a time" into the book drop. That usually takes another 10 minutes. Then comes the fun part of letting the kids go wild and choose out all their books in a mad rush to finish before Kate has had enough. Again, we balance precariously and head over to check them all out-which takes another 15 minutes. We had a new record today: 116 items. And to think that before it all started I advised everyone that we should maybe try to not get as many this week. Yeah right, like that was going to happen. We make the drive home, and the 3 hour library adventure is at an end....at least for the next three weeks. It's pretty crazy. And I'm definitely at the point where I feel like everyone is staring and wondering why in the world we have so many books. But most of the time, they read every single one. It is a lot of work, but I just love to see my kids excited about books and learning and reading. I don't want to squash it. Even if it means that I'm the crazy lady at the library with her four kids and a million books shoved into bags hanging all over the cart. Because I looked around today at all the kids with 5 or 10 books and realized that I'm definitely in the minority category in my approach to the library. I don't think most people get nervous as they near a hundred items because they are wondering if that is the maximum number of things you can check out. So yeah, maybe our library experience has something to do with my kids and their reading :)

Love

I sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that I can't post if I don't put pictures. But it's my blog right? I can do whatever I want. So right now, I want to say that I love my life. I love my husband. I feel so blessed to be married to a man who loves me, who does things just because they'll make me happy, who'll sacrifice for me, who doesn't carry a record in his heart of all the mean or stupid things I've done, who wrestles with his kids almost every day, who goes to work every day and brings home the bacon even when there are times it has been awfully hard, and who can still make me laugh. I love that I get to be at home with my four beautiful kids. I love that I can plan picnics, field trips, fun projects, and adventures whenever I want. I love that my kids get to be my primary focus every day. I love that my kids love being with me, that they all scramble and squish to fit on my lap. I love that I have sisters who are my best friends. I love that my brothers are good men who I know are there for me when I need them, and who treat my kids so kindly even when the noise level has ventured into the "going to make you insane" range. I love that my parents are so loving and generous with themselves. I love that I can live close to them and visit with them often. I love that I get to study scriptures everyday and be inspired to be better. I love that I can counsel with God at any time of the day whether the need is small or overwhelmingly great. I love that I can go to church each week and feel the Spirit. I love that I'm making progress, even if it's small, in becoming a better person. I love looking back and knowing that I have improved even if I still get frustrated with myself for my shortcomings. I love watching my children grow and develop. I love hearing the funny things they say. I love hearing random "I love you"s. I love that Macy kisses me on the forehead. I love the fact that it is summer and I don't have to relinquish my kids to someone else. I love that the sun is FINALLY shining :)

I love my life.

And now that I've got that out of my system, it's on to something I don't love...making dinner.

Avery Ballerina

Avery had her dance recital. Her daddy brought her flowers (not at all because her mother said
"I think we should do something special for Avery?" and elaborated with "You should get her flowers.") We were ten minutes late (they had already started the warmup when we got there) because there was a blizzard. A blizzard at the end of May. My big truck was sliding around. I couldn't see anything on the freeway and had to get off because it wasn't moving. Carston said a prayer that we'd be able to make it safely. We had pictures of heavy snow in April and we thought that was crazy. It is almost June. My yard is covered in snow, I don't know if my garden and peach tree will make it, all the branches of my lilac bush broke off, and I am pretty upset that my kids have on their snow clothes and want to make a snowman when school is getting out this week! But...I digress :)

This is her class and her teachers. It is hard to say if she enjoys the lessons or not :) She likes dancing, I don't know if she likes having to go first thing in the morning, or having someone "correct" her dancing. She's already perfect right? Why in the world are they telling her to do it different? But she was super cute and loved having everyone come to her recital and get all dressed up in her costume.

Macy and Kate took it all in. Macy saw Avery dancing on the home videos, and she was practicing, trying to do it all the same :)

In case you couldn't tell, which I don't know how anyone could miss it, they are Angelina Ballerina. And if you don't know who that is, well then, all hope is lost :)

Avery Graduated Preschool

Avery is so awesome! She finished preschool and had her graduation program. They sang songs and everyone had a part. Before we went, Avery told me she was going to sing really loud for me, and she didn't disappoint! Everyone could hear her voice loud and clear :) John was surprised to finally have the kid that is singing louder and cuter than anyone else :) I was the sappy parent who sat there listening and watching with a huge smile on my face, knowing that I looked a little ridiculous, but totally incapable of toning it down. Avery worked really hard this year. She got a certificate for the most home reading books. Avery practiced reading just about everyday since school started, and it has been so fun to see her learn how to read and to really enjoy it. She was a little hesitant at first because she didn't like not knowing things, or making a mistake, and as I worked with her it was pretty clear there was some sort of dyslexia thing going on, but she did so awesome. The last couple of months, she has just taken off like crazy. She reads like crazy, sometimes 10 books a day (thank heavens for the library so we can check out a hundred books to hold us over for a few weeks :) It makes me so happy to see her enjoying the fruits of her hard work.

Carston is a Soccer Star

If you've seen 6-7 year olds play soccer, you'll realize the silliness of that statement :) It was fun to watch Carston progress in his abilities and courage :) The first game, he held back and stayed on the outskirts of the "soccer huddle." Surprisingly that was when he scored a goal. By the last game though, he was going after the ball and showing a lot more of aggression (the positive kind). His favorite part was probably the uniform and the medal they all received at the last game :)

Catch Up Pics

I have so many pictures I intended to blog about, but apparently I was too busy enjoying life to get around to it (at least I hope that's the reason :) So here is a slew of pictures that mostly my family, and maybe no one, will appreciate!

My mom bought all the granddaughters "Twirly Skirts" Avery really wanted to have her picture taken without Macy in the way. She felt pretty special :) In case anyone wants a twirly skirt and doesn't want to pay an insane price, we found them at Quilted Bear for around $15

My mom had free tickets from work to see Alice in Wonderland. We took Avery and Carston and were pleasantly surprised that they didn't find it too scary. They have an awesome Grandma!

This was about the only time I had the 3-d glasses on. I don't know if it's just me, but I find them so annoying that I'd rather watch a blurry movie then wear the glasses and watch it in 3-d!

Once you have a party for a more insignificant holiday, your kids won't let you escape making it a tradition :) So here is our now annual St. Patrick's Day party with cousins and friends. We decorated cupcakes, hunted for shamrocks, had a treasure hunt, and I can't even remember what else.

Oh yeah, we made St. Patricks Princesses with dress-ups and crepe paper :)

I turned my back on the kids painting pictures and came back to find this. They apparently got bored with paper and decided to decorate the animal crackers.

I love Macy's concentration. She never does anything unless she gives it her complete focus :)

This picture is entitled: Mommy is Smart. I put some syrup to heat up in the microwave while I was trying to multitask with a million other things before running out the door. I guess I didn't punch in the time I intended. The thing in the middle use to be my tupperware, and my house smelled like syrup for days. Woops :)

This was John's Birthday party, and I don't know how I got a picture of him genuinely smiling, but it is rare, and definitely one of my favorites. All John requested for his birthday is that our kids spend the night at my parents while we partied and then slept in the next morning. It is amazing to remember that sleeping in wasn't always such a luxury :) My parents were awesome to watch the kids.

Easter Sunday with new jammies from Grandma

Carston lost another tooth bringing the count to 5. We didn't understand why he wouldn't eat breakfast that morning, and then John wondered what was up with his unusual facial expression driving to school: he was nursing a seriously loose tooth that would fall out at school :)

This was the conference set-up. I was hopeful it would mean that I'd get to listen more than play mommy :)

I know it's blurry, but I love this picture :)

I had to snap this picture because I loved that Avery put her arm around Macy, and Macy just snuggled right in :) Oh yeah, this was the day they wanted their hair in all braids. I know if Heather was in town she "would be embarrassed to be seen with me!" Just kidding Heather :)

Macy is chomping at the bit to have the opportunity to do all the fun things she sees her siblings involved in. When we picked up Avery, she wanted to get out and wait on the grass for her, and she "weelly likes Miss Jill."

Not enough room on the lap. You think I'm trying to be funny, but it is a serious problem-especially in Sacrament meeting.

The kids always have so much fun when Emma comes to stay.

Macy's adventurous side was very evident at Kangaroo Zoo. I had to try really hard to get a picture of her because she was a blur as she ran from one slide to the next. We laughed at how much she loved the tallest ones and how there would be a huge line behind her as she slowly climbed her way to the top :)

My girls can't get enough of their cousin Hallie who now lives in Texas. Heather and I love how as soon as she walks in the door, they take off playing with no warm up time and rarely a disagreement.

How do you get four kids smiling and looking at the camera all at the same time? It is nothing short of a miracle.

I hit the After-Christmas 75% off sale at Target. With a little creativity, gingerbread houses can turn into Cupid Houses for Valentine's Day :) I'm a little addicted to Target's 75% off just in case you didn't know :)

"Daddy...I'm poopy and I have a brush in my hair." John didn't know what the heck she was talking about until she turned around. This made my day :)

"Mommy! Take a picture of me!" I think she got this from Hallie...what do you think Ho?

I guess my mom set the standard high when it came to Valentine's boxes :) I remember making a hot air balloon one year for mine. I went a little crazy for Carston this year, and John enjoyed teasing me about how much of a kid I was. But it was fun. And it was fast and easy. And Carston thought it was totally awesome :)

John and I were working in the bathroom one night after all the kids were in bed. We came out to find that someone, who we thought was sleeping, decided to make Sadie a little more cozy in her bed :)