Zerins Wrestling

We have been Spending a lot of time lately going to Zerins Wrestling Matches. He has been doing so awsome, its crazy to see how far he has come. He even placed at the the state tournement. Cant wait to see what happens next year! Love you Big Z!

Getting Ready to go kick some boo-tay!



Proud Papa and his Son


 

Goofing off after he placed for State

Even Buddy gets into the action!

Kylees 7th Birthday

On March 27 my baby girl Kylee Marie Turned 7. We celebrate birthdays big time around here. Its really the only time we ever do anything (even going to the movies with our crew runs us $60.00+ just for tickets) So Rikki and Tye slept over the night before. They watched Muppets Take Manhattan for the first time and loved it.

Then I sent them to bed and decorated the dining area for Kylees Suprise Birthday Breakfast. She chose Orange Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Sausage patties and Sunny D. I got her a pink satin sash that said Birthday Princess on it to wear for the day. After Breakfast we headed to the zoo. It was the first time we let them play on the playground so they were pretty excited.

After the zoo we had some downtime while I cleaned up a bit then we headed to the bowling alley for her party. The kids had never been real bowling before and thats what Kylee wanted to do so we did that. Kylee got 2 strikes and was pretty pumped about it.

She fell asleep that night in total bliss on me while I tickled her face and played with her hair. She is such a good girl. She tries so hard to be obedient and helpful and is a HUGE help with all her younger siblings. I know when the time comes she will be a GREAT mom. She is always asking questions about different mom things like "how do babies get diaper rash?" and "how do you get rid of it?" She told me the other that that its hard work being a mom. I dont know any other 7 yr old who would say something like that. I love my Kylee Marie and am so greatful to be able to be her mom!

Another Trip to the Opry

Sol and I only get maybe 3-4 date nights a year (sad I know, we really need to work on that) but the day that our tax refund hit we went to the Grand Ole Opry again. We had such a fun time last year when we saw Rascal Flatts that we wanted to try it again. I had a coupon code for Buy One Get One tickets and Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton were playing. Not too bad for the same price of going to the movies. Sols brother and his girlfriend came with us and we had a blast!

Litte Jimmy Dickens doin his thing, he is still a totally funny old man!

Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton. Turns out she was celebrating having her first no. 1 single so it was a fun night to go

Of course I had to wear some crazy, painful heels (what would date night be without huge heels) but by the end of the show I could have sworn my feet were bleeding. So, Sol took pity on me and carried me to the truck!

Snow Days

I know, I know WAY late but I decided I needed to update some stuff on here for some family that lives across the country.

(notice the lack of snow that was called s a snow day, PLUS the deer that ran into our playground)

In January and February we had a TON of 'Snow Days' Some were really snowy, some were not. Out of the 28 days of February I counted my kids in school 9 of them. January wasn't much better. So, we had a couple to make up, They took away our 2 days off for Presidents Day and Parent Teacher Conference.

 This day we got about 6 inches of snow that turned into straight ice. It was pretty scary to drive to Walmart to get some bread and milk that morning!

Tara keeping Buddy warm while everyone was making the  6 ft plus snowman

Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam!

My Emma Ray graduated from Nursury a couple weeks ago. When we moved last year it was so hard and sad to leave that ward and we come back frequently to visit and it still feels like home so it was just natural that we would come back for this too. All her friends were in the class with her, especially her best friend Izzy. I love that they had a little ceremony for them and made each of them diplomas and made them feel so special! This is the first time in about 6 years that I have not have a child in Nursury! Gotta tell ya it feels kinda wierd to take all 3 girls down to the primary room!

They even made little sunbeam pillows for the kids to hold every week in case they were nervous about thier new class. So cute and sweet that they would be that concerned about the sweet little sunbeams!

We Give You A Name And A Blessing....

One of the most tender things I love to watch is when worthy men bless thier babies. There is always just a sweet vibe and the looks that they give to thier babies are so sweet and loving, I love it! Its hard for me to not cry when a blessing is going on.

We had the opportunity to bless Asher out in AZ at my moms house.  Sol was so cute while doing it.

First off, he packed his own bag. Well, his suit doesnt fit anymore so he just packed his khackis and Doc Martins. Well, I wanted something a little more special for this occasion as well as the pictures so my mom and I went into my dads closet and guess what? Sol and my dad are the EXACT same size! He wore my dads suit that my dad wore to two of my sisters weddings! He was even able to borrow a belt, shoes and socks! Thanks to Sol for being a good sport and putting up with my anal, OCD side! :)

Second, he loves all his kids, but with Buddy, its different. It doesnt matter what is going on or what he is planning on doing. If it is something 'manly' hes trying to get Buddy in on the action. The looks that get exhanged between them are so sweet and priceless.

He gave a beautiful blessing even thru the fussing and ended it a little early since he was starting to get louder and more upset.

I am so thankful and love that my hubby could and was able to bless our little man!

December Catch Up

December was a total blur for me. Everything went by so fast. Maybe thats because we, I mean the kids and I flew by ourselves to AZ to go introduce Ash to the family. Sol joined us a week later but it was still a CRAZY 8 days without him there.

Before we left Sol and I actually got to go on our last *and only the 3rd* date of the year. Kylees kindergarten teacher and her friend came over and watched ALL the kids while we went Christmas shopping and saw the UFC fight. It was a MUCH needed night off, especially becuase that was the weekend that Ash, or Buddy as he is called frequently, decided to tell us he is lacotse intolerant and was beyond FUSSY! This mama needed a break! So he is now on the Similac Sensitive formula rather than the regular. I guess the extra 4.00 a can is worth a baby who feels better and isn't always crying!

Then our TN Christmas. I wanted to do our TN Christmas on a day that the kids didnt have school but since they had school up until the day we left (and actually 2 days after we left) we had to do it the morning after we went Christmas shopping. After we got home I had to wrap everything. I think I went to bed at about 2 am. But, Chels and Emma got thier Nintendo DS's that they wanted forever, Those right there made the 4 hour plane ride by myself with all 4 kids so much more bearable! Worth every darn penny!

4 days later we were on the plane headed to AZ. I aint gonna lie, I cried the entire way to the airport. Why? For a couple Reasons.

1. I was not excited about being away from Sol for that long.

2. When buddy gets fussy, Sol is the only one who can get his bubbles out. 3. My mom is not quite the "grandmotherly type" She loves her grandkids but they are still pretty much my total responsibility so I was pretty much a single parent with 4 kids under the age of 7 for 8 days unless one of my sisters came over to help.

We flew in December 16 late and my sister Lisa was standing RIGHT THERE when I got off the plane with my stroller. She managed to get a temporary pass and got thru security and DOWN THE RAMP even. I have NEVER in my life been so excited to see her, no lie! While landing Emma announces she has to go potty. When she has to go, she has to go NOW! Ya, she did. And, she was so embarrased about it so she was crying in the seat next to me, buddy was hungry on my lap, Chels was in the middle of a melt down across the isle because I had to put everything away to land and Kylee (my awesome, cooperative, helpful child) was crashed out COLD totally oblivious to everything going on around her. Getting on the plane was a TOTAL joke too. Emma decided she needed travel money and stashed about 4.00 in change in her pocket. I didnt know and kept sending her thru the security check point and it kept going off. Kylee and Chels had already gone thru and were starting to panic on the other side. We lost Buddys binkie in the fiasco and the airport doesnt sell binkies at all, just in case my TN peeps were wondering. The pilot helped us on after a grand announcement was made by the gate worker so everyone saw me and all my chitlins getting on the plane first. Yes, I got a TON of crazy looks, eye rolls, "aww man!"'s. Not in any hurry to fly again with the kids by myself anytime soon!

Thursday we went out to lunch with my sisters. Totally awesome and fun. That was the thing I missed most about being gone from them.

Then Friday, I woke up feeling a little under the weather with a sore throat.

Saturday. BOOM! It hit me bad. No voice, Sore throat, Fever, The works. So my other Awesome sister and her hubby and cute baby girl came over to help watch my kids while I go to the ER for some meds. I had Strep. Sols still in TN and I have strep with a crazy fever. Awesome. Luckily, my sisters stepped up, did kids and food and I slept and rested for a couple days. It got worse when I realized I wasnt getting better. Back in November I got mastitis and got antibiotics then. The Dr in AZ gave me the same meds I got in November so I broke out in a crazy rash and had all kinds of 'fun' from that. Sols still in TN at this point and I am just praying I get better before Christmas and Sol gets there. I got all the meds worked out just in time for Sol to get there and Christmas. Everything was fine after that and we had a great trip for the next two weeks but it sure did start off rocky! I did manage to take the kids to the AZ Temple lights (with the help of my other sister and her family)in the chaos and they all thought it was awesome.

The girls, mainly Chels turned into cowgirls. Chels has that natural knack from Sols family to just instinctively ride a horse. She got on Priscilla and took off, bareback. She looked so darn cute and I was SO proud of her. She really is a natural at that!

We also blessed Ash at my moms house. All our immediate family came, It was such a nice blessing even though Sol had to end it early because Ash started fussing pretty loud. My sweet and awesome sister in law took a TON of really cute pics for me that night so I will make a seperate post on that.

We ended the year nice and quiet. Sol and I went to my brothers and played rockband and hung out then left to meet up with some other people but ended up going to get some yummy food at Filibertos and walking into my moms house right at midnight. It was a nice quiet, perfect way to end the year, all snuggled up with my 2 boys in the bed.