Payton is SEVEN! and other news

opening gifts!

His DC Shoes. Don't look at JuJu's hair.

as we sang Happy Birthday to Payton

Making a wish over his pancake

I'm not sure what's more weird. The fact that Payton turned seven today or that he'll be eight next year. Either way, my kids are growing up. I was so excited for Payton to open his presents today because he really wanted a new pair of shoes. Of course, he didn't want just any shoes. He wanted "DC Shoes". Aren't they a little younger to be asking for designer things? I told him we could either have a b-day party for him or buy him a present. He chose to have a present, and well, he got his wish. He couldn't stop smiling when he saw the shoe box under that wrapping paper.
I hope he's had a great day at school today because I'm ditching him tonight for what will be my last work party with the Heideman group. After working there for 12 years I'm saying goodbye (until someone has a baby or needs a sub and calls me) to Dr. Heideman's office. I'm going to be working once a week for a pediatric dentist named Cody Johnson. I'm excited for a change and love that I'm going to get to work with kids. So if anyone is looking for a dentist for their kids, I know he does a great job (because I've gotten to fill in the office a couple times and he's good!).

In other news, I chopped my hair. Well, I didn't chop it, I let Kandice do that for me. I miss my long hair but this is a good change. I just wish Kandice would come to my house every day and fix my hair so I like it better. I'll keep practicing and might eventually get it to look as cute as it did the day I came home with it cut. I do have to write what Payton said about my hair cut when I come home from work Monday night (that's the night I had it cut). Payton met me in the garage and said, "You cut your hair?" I said, "Yup! Do you like it?" He said, "Well, you're not as cute as you used to be". Ahhhh, honestly. Where's the duct tape? Better yet, don't ask questions you might not want to hear the answer to.

Christmas Tree Hunting

she reminded me of Randy from "The Christmas Story"

Porter's snow tree

making snowmen

Eating a tailgate lunch

Todd dragging the tree to the truck. Can you see JuJu?

family picture with the tree

Porter was the first to get cold...and wet.

Payton's giant snowball he made himself

This was how the kids helped...stay in the back and out of the way.

This year's Christmas Tree Hunt was an adventure. We took a detour to pick up some jerky in Glendale from Todd's buck this year. {yeah, I still haven't posted about his hunt this year, yet....it's in the process} Although it was quite the detour to get the the Kaibab it was worth it. It's DANG GOOD JERKY!! When we finally made it to our Christmas Tree hunting grounds there was too much snow! Our new truck is a little lower to the ground so we had to put the chains on the tires and we still weren't able to go as far in as we wanted. The kids loved riding in the back of the truck while we moved forward and backward and turned around a few times. We decided to stop and let the kids play in the snow while Todd walked around trying to find a tree. After a quick lunch we drove further down a different road and let the kids get out and play again while Todd hiked into the forest of pinions trying to find a Christmas tree. I was getting really nervous that we were going to be taking one of those pinions home with us {which is what our very first Christmas tree was...we will avoid those at all costs in the future}. The kids loved making snow balls and rolling down hills while their dad was on the hunt. I was so excited to see Todd coming through the trees dragging a tree behind him. I was even more excited to see that it was a Blue Spruce instead of a pinion! We loaded up the kids, the gear and the tree and headed for home. This is our first tree like this so we're not used to the soft needles and the branches that can't hold as many decorations but that didn't stop the kids from trying. There were as many as six balls on one branch until mom and dad got involved. It's going to be a long season with the decorations. It seems like we break at least one ball a day {and a record 8 balls while we were decorating}. We will be investing in some non-breakable balls for our future decorating purposes. Now all we have to do is be good so Santa will come!{That's easier said than done}

Bentley's back in the"Hood"

We really have an awesome neighborhood. There are TONS of kids constantly running around together and we've made some good friends being over here. This story is just one example of what kind of neighborhood we live in:
The first three pictures were taken when Jul's about a year old...thus the reason for the bottle and lack of hair.

Julia, Porter, Bently (the dog) and Carson

kisses

Julia LOVES Bently!

 The family across the street (The McLemore's) have a cute little chihuahua named Bentley. He comes to my house often and does the vacuuming in my kitchen. Of course he's a little more picky than some dogs so he won't eat EVERYTHING I would like him to. Julia will spend plenty of time over at Bentley's house and loves that little dog.

Well, Saturday, Todd and Tyler (that's the neighbor--or Bentley's "dad") went quail hunting. Todd took Payton and Tyler took Bentley. (yeah, not exactly a hunting dog but whatever?) While the boys were hunting, Bentley got lost/or scared of the gun shots. The boys looked for him for a few hours, yelling, whistling, anything to try and find him. There were eagles flying over head and they kidded about one of them picking him off (have you seen The Proposal?) and they found a "scratch mark from a coyote" (ask the boys what that means 'cause I'm not all that sure--just that there was a coyote around?) and they thought maybe Bently had been eaten by the coyote. I tried to keep telling them that he wandered to the street and someone stopped and picked him up. Of course that meant that Bently was still gone because who would return that cute pup? Oh! I forgot to mention that he wasn't wearing any collar or tags so someone might have thought he was a stray...or something and would have been more liable to keep him.

That night the boys came home empty handed and with heavy hearts thinking that Bentley could be out there in the desert landscape freezing or avoiding predators. Sunday we went to our meetings and saw the McLemore's at church. No news of Bently. Just red eyes from the crying the night before. Poor little Carson (he's 6) had cried himself to sleep that night because of the missing dog. After church we told them we were going to go back out and look for him on our way to Todd's moms for dinner. We were there for about 30 minutes and the McLemore's and the Wilson's (another family up the street from us) showed up to look one more time for Bentley. After scrutinizing every track we could find, Todd thought he could see Bentley's paw prints heading toward the paved road. It's all we could do to just hope someone had found him.

Well, today Bentley's family went to the Washington City dog pound in hopes of finding their dog. Lo and Behold HE WAS THERE! It was a great reunion. Jen called us up and let us know he had been found. Monique (Wilson) came over soon after and had painted a welcome home sign to put up at their house and with the help of another neighbor we staked it in the ground, tied some balloons and anxiously awaited the families return.

Bentley got lost around the Coral Canyon area (the opposite side of the golf course) and was found in Washington on Telegraph and 300. He made quite a journey before someone had found him and took him in. Just one happy story for the "hood" to share together...and one for my books to read and laugh about later!

Ju Ju Turns TWO!

My 8lb 8oz girl born on 11-11-08

1st B-day

in her B-day suit after playing in the mud

 We love this little stinker!

Thank Emmie for letting Jul's borrow your bike! She LOVES it!!!

Halloween 2010

It feels like we've been Halloweening for a few days now. We dressed up for our Ward Chili Cookout and Halloween Party last Saturday and then got all dressed up a week later for school, family party, and then finally trick or treating. I'm glad it's over. I've painted Payton's face four times now and Julia has worn two {very} different costumes. Good thing there's Porter that has not put up much fuss about his costume...once we decided on one.

So here's this year's results:

Dracula, Spiderman and Superman/girl {she was Tinkerbell for one night but apparently that was enough}

Julia and cousin Riley-Friday Night Family Party-

Spiderman (Porter)

Dracula (Payton)

Supergirl (Julia--couldn't get her off the bike)

We seem to always have a neighbor around while taking pictures

pumpkin guts!

carving pumpkins...with neighbors

Halloween Parade at the school

 This picture was taken at Payton's school. I really wanted to get her skirt because my neighbor {one of Julia's other mom's} across the street made it for her. I love it! This isn't a good picture so we'll try again later.

It's nice that Halloween only comes once a year. I did enjoy my dinner at Farmer's Market Halloween night! We got a burger (or hot dog), a bag of chips and a drink for $1. Todd and Payton ate TWO!!

I love this small town!!!

Buzz or Woody?

I needed to write this down because it is one to remember. We were driving home from church last week when Payton said he really wanted me to make an appointment with Aunt Kandice for a hair cut. Porter said he wanted a buzz. I told him that was one hair cut I could do at home. Then he asked, "Do you know how to do a Woody?" I looked at Todd with a {where did that come from} look. Then it hit me that he was talking about Toy Story. Todd had just taken the kids that weekend to see Toy Story 3 so when he talks about "a Buzz" he's talking about Buzz Lightyear. We {Todd and I} laughed more than we should have, but it was funny--especially when I quietly mentioned to Todd that he would be more capable of doing a Woody than me.
Well, I had to call Kandice and tell her the funny story and set up hair appointments. When we got there she asked if she was doing Buzz or Woody cuts that day. Both boys chose a Woody. {go figure} We met up with Todd for lunch and one of the first things out of Porter's mouth was, "Dad! Aunt Kandice gave me a Woody!"
Needless to say, our entire family who knows the story has gotten a good chuckle out of the whole thing. Thus, the reason for posting it here.... So Porter knows what an awesome boy he is at five years old and the darndest things he says to get mom and dad laughing!

So Much Potential

This is a quick one but well the worth the time to sign into my account and blog about it. First is Julia singing a song she picked up from Ella Enchanted (which we rented from the library so she only had a weeks worth--or less-- of learning this song). I guess she had longer because we've all been singing it around the house and she'll sing at the dinner table sometimes.

Next off is Porter sporting his new jeans from G-ma Julie and a new shirt from his GG-ma Wittwere. This outfit had so much potential...just maybe not all together--and without the boots?? (or maybe tuck his boots inside his pants instead of vice versa?)

Porter Turned FIVE!

Porter's b-day invites for the family party

We celebrated Porter's fifth birthday on Friday. He got two parties this year. One with friends {a first for Porter} and one with his family. I decided to hurry and get the pictures on a scrap page before I got lazy so I think the pictures tell how his day went. We're so happy to have Porter part of our family! Here's FIVE of my favorite things about Porter:
1. He's so loving and sweet to his little sister; in the mornings he will say, "Good morning, Sweetheart" in a high pitched voice that I just smile at.
2. He's my social boy; it's all about the friends to him. He looks forward to getting up each morning so he can go play with friends! {one quick story. One night it was time to come in. I yelled for Porter up the street and he didn't come--even though I knew he had heard me. I finally walked up the street to get him and told him he was grounded for the rest of the night from friends because he didn't listen to me. He cried and cried begging me not to ground him. Little did he know he couldn't have gone out to play anyway.}

3. He loves to "dress up". It's not in girly things of course but he loves dressing up as a cowboy or a  superhero.
4. He will do anything that his best friend (or cousin) is doing. This might mean he can't decide on his own or just that he loves those other people so much he wants to be like them. Whatever they're wearing that day, eating, drinking....he has to ask what they're having first and then he'll decide {usually the same thing}.
5. He talks big about his dad's boy but deep down he's a momma's boy. He always talks about hunting and fishing with his dad but when it's time to go he'd rather stay with mom {most of the time dad likes that because he gets to tired or cold when they're out together}. Of course he may only be staying to play with friends but I'm going to take it that he'd rather be with me!

No Time Like the Present

I keep thinking I will post about things...and then I never do. It's just so much easier to read about other people than it is to write about my own family. So here's what's happened lately...

Payton crashed on his bike: It was his mom's fault because she had tightened the front tire with her fingers thinking it would do the trick. NOPE! He went for a bike ride with the neigbors and did a "pop-a-wheelie" and his front tire came off. Where did Payton land? On his face, of course. He got a little bruised and his mom learned to use a tool other than her hands to fix things like that.

Payton loses a front tooth: It had been loose before the bike incident but I'm sure the face plant helped to loosen things up a bit more. His dad pulled it out Monday morning before school. Of course he was so excited about it he had to take it to school to show it off. The tooth fairy didn't show up that night because the tooth had been left in Payton's desk at school. Funny thing is his permanent tooth is already growing in and the other front tooth is barely loose. He'll look great for fall pictures.

Kelsie, Payton and Porter-ready to ride!

Turek Family Reunion: This was held over Labor Day Weekend. It got Tiff and I out of doing the Peach Days Volleyball Tourny this year. It was fun to be in the mountains and even more fun to let the kids wander and play together. They're favorites this year; 4-wheelers and the Mammoth Caves.

I have mixed emotions about the caves because we had an "incident" this year that makes me "Mother of the Year" in my book. (that was me trying to be facetious) Porter got left at the caves--on accident. I knew everyone was out of the caves and we even did a head count so I knew my kids were ready to go back to camp. When it was dinner time, we couldn't find Porter. No one had played with him. No one had seen him recently. The only place left to look was the caves. Luckily we were only a couple minutes away from the caves and a VERY nice and PATIENT family had found him and were waiting when Tiff and I flew up on the 4 wheeler. It was an emotional reunion and one that I won't forget. I kept a little better tabs on him the rest of the weekend.

Julia's finger got smashed in a big heavy door but it's turning into a tradition for her to have a hurt finger at the reunion. She sure looked like a beauty though when Aunt Kandice pulled out the "kids makeup" (that doesn't come off too easily by the way) for the girls. The boys even got in on it calling it war paint. Julia looked like she belonged on the strip in Vegas.

Kolob Retreat: This last weekend Todd took our family to Kolob to stay in one of his friends cabins. He hunted that night with Payton and early the next morning by himself. It was just nice to hang out with the kids, read my book, watch movies and then we rode the rhino almost all day Saturday. It's so pretty up there! It was fun to spend the weekend with my family!

Porter's B-day: He's going to be five this year and I'm so excited for his party (ok-so his present). I love when there's something we can get him that doesn't cost a fortune but that he will just LOVE! What is this gift? Well, you'll just have to wait until I post about the b-day. Here's a hint.... It is a SUPER HERO themed party (ok so he actually gets two parties. One with his friends {boys only he says!} and the other is with family).

Well, there you have it. More procrastinating novels yet to come!