Haskell Girls Night Out

My sister in laws and I met for the first of (hopefully) many fun girl's nights out. Thanks Stacy for the already scrapbooked pictures. We went to the mall for pedicures, dinner at Red Robin and a little shopping. It was so fun. I hadn't had a pedicure before. It was super relaxing. I loved the massage chairs. We had such a great time I hope we can get together more often. Andy was a sport and took the kids to the BYU basketball game. They had a great time too. Abby came home with little pom poms and thinks she is a super cute cheerleader.

A visit to the cabin

Last weekend we took our first trip to the cabin this winter. The kids always love our trips up there. Riding on the snowmobiles, tubing, and all the treats. Whats not to love????

Abby's preschool has a snow day where they play out side for part of one day. The teacher made spray bottles using about 1/2 cup vinegar, a few drops food coloring, and the rest water. Abby had a blast with those at school, so I made some for the cabin. She thought it was so cool to spray the snow and "paint" it.

Warming up after playing out side. Nothing can make a little girl feel better faster than listening to and I pod. I don't know why, but Abby thinks she is soooo cool when she doe that.

Stock had some fun on the big hills and then tubed with mom by the cabin on the snowmobile track.

Crazy Mommy Days

I had one of those crazy mommy days last week. The kind where you don't know if you can handle one more thing--- and then you get one more thing to deal with.
I am glad to say that I have only had a handful of these in my time as a mom. Even though it is so hard at the time, you can look back (even a few days later) and laugh. After I survive one of those days, I look back and think how much I grow each time. I feel like I get pushed to the edge of what I can do and

handle--- then go past it. It helps me grow so much in patience and learn about myself. That may sound dramtic, but if you have had one of these days, you know exactly what I am talking about!

It all started when Stockton got home from school the other day with a sore throat. I didn't think too much about it. He seemed fine going to sleep that night and everything. I went to bed about 10:30 that night and just as I lay my head down I heard some coughing and then dramatic screaming/crying saying "I can't believe this happened to me." I went in to see what was going on before he woke up Peyton. He had thrown up all over!!!! It was pretty bad. I had to put him in the shower and tore all his bedding off and started doing the wash right then. So we were up until about 3 am or so taking care of a puking boy. He finally fell asleep. Then I almost killed the washer trying to wash his pillows. (They are small kid pillows). I swear I had washed them before, but I guess not. I thought the washer was going to bounce right into our room. So I ended up just throwing the dripping wet, half washed puke pillows in the garbage.

It was about 3:30 and I layed down again trying to relax and just go to sleep. Right as I did, Peyton started screaming and didn't stop. Since I was already awake anyway I decided to just go rock him. So I did that for about 45 minutes until I could get him back in his crib asleep. I finally layed down and fell completely asleep until I heard Abby's sweet little voice waking me up. I looked at the clock and it was 5 am. She was ready to be up for the day and wanted breakfast and cartoons. Shortly after that Peyton woke up for the day--- so I was up with about 1 or 2 hours sleep.

I just knew that Stock had strep which he did, and once we got him to the doctor he was feeling better. But that left me with a ton of laundry to do. I am not kidding, the pile was almost to my thighs!!!

Which brings me to the pics below. I was in trying to remake Stock's bed when I heard a strange noise in the bathroom.

This is what I saw!!! Usually we try to keep the bathroom doors closed, but I guess we didn't quite get it done.

The little bit that made it to his room got shredded and he was trying to hand me the pieces.

This is when I sat in his chair and thought I can laugh or cry right now. On the first few crazy mommy days I might have cried. But I have survived a few of them now and so I decided to laugh. Hysterically actually. I think I was delierious! Anyway. We survived and although it might not sound like such a bad day to you, it was hard for me. But I am laughing as I write this post. I hope some of you moms will get a good laugh too.

A curious mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Have you ever wondered how many magnets will fit under a fridge? Peyton has, and let me tell you its more than the amount we own, because all of ours are under there and there is still room.
He has to check out every item in the lazy susan. He checks each packet of oatmeal and instant breakfast for quality.

Peyton has started walking all over the place. He has been going for about a week now. He is starting to get more sure of himself and can go quite a little ways before he falls down. Now there is no keeping him out of things. He is curious about so many things. It is amazing how you can forget all the little things babies do and all the stuff they get into.

He loves to go through every drawer and cupboard he can open in the kitchen. He always has all my dishtowels out on the floor. He recently discovered my potatoes and my lazy susan with all my baking food supplies. He loves the little packages of instant oatmeal. (his hands always smell like maple and brown sugar for some reason) One of his favorite things is the kids' snack drawer. I keep a little drawer full of healthy snacks for the kids. That way if they are starving and needed to sneak something the only choices are pretty good ones. He loves to get in there. He gets the packages of peanut butter sandwich crackers and carries them all over the house whining for someone to open them.

It is a total pain to have to clean up all of the cupboards and drawers he empties out about 10 times a day. But I am glad that he is curious and investigating his world. It is fun to watch him figure things out and think he is a big boy!

Peyton's First Birthday Party

We celebrated Peyton's birthday a few days late. We just had ice cream and cake with the family. I had the hardest time finding any presents for him. We have lots of hand-me- down clothes and toys from stockton that he really didn't need much. We had fun playing with the cousins and making messes with the cupcakes! We had as much fun as you can have when you are turning 1!!!!

Testing out the cupcakes
The party scene

For some reason he loves to rub food in his hair and ears. It was really fun cleaning blue frosting out of all the little places in his ear!

Ty and Ash gave him a funky dancing and singing cow that shakes its head to music. It is so funny. We weren't sure if he would like it or be afraid of it. But he liked it.

Grandma Haskell shared some of her ice cream with him.

We did Peyton cakes instead of a big cake this year.

New Years Eve

Andy and I decided a few years ago that we wanted to make New Years Eve a special fun night for our kids and have some traditions with just our little family. So every year we try to do fun things together and make it a fun night for them. This year we watched all our home movies from the year to remember all the fun things we had done. We played a little with our new Chistmas toys, had Fat Jack's pizza for dinner and counted down to the new year with our blowers and cool glasses. (our new year came at 9:00pm, but they didn't know the difference and weren't grouchy when they still woke up at 6:30 am the next morning) Andy and I had a few hours to ourselves. We actually made it to midnight this year! It was a great night for all!!!

We're So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!

Daddy is definitely the fun parent at our house. Lately the kids have talked him into making a house for them out of our couches. He turns them on their side and puts them next to each other. Then uses the cushions to fill in the gaps.

The kids have always liked tearing the cushions off and building houses, but this just takes it to a whole new level!

It usually keeps them busy for an hour or so, until Peyton or Abby start knocking things down.

These days are when I ask myself why we have a basement full of toys everywhere. All we really need is a couch!