Pre-Halloween Party

So my sister, Missy, decided to have all the cousins over for a Halloween party. Logan and Colton have 10 cousins on my side of the family, plus I invited Rhett's Parents and his sister Holly along with her daughter, Savannah. So there were 13 kids and a lot of ciaos! But the kids had a great time! We had dinner, showed off costumes, played games and made masks! Fun was had by all. Here are a few pics from that night.

Here is Mason showing off his mask he made.

Here is Annabell dressed as a Peacock, crying, with Sara Jane and Grandma H and Elliott.

Grandpa R and Colton. Colton is not enjoying this crazy evening!


Kari and her daughter Londyn. Don't ask why this photo is out of focus.

Grandma R and Grandma H chill'n.

Savannah, Holly and Logan working on masks.

Around the table making masks, Mason in front not looking, Logan, Missy, Annabell, Max, Mitchell and Sara Jane.

Logan showing off his mask.

Thanks Missy for hosting such a fun Halloween Party! We had a blast! Happy Halloween!

ANGRY LETTERS!

About a week or so ago Logan got in trouble for not going to bed on time. His punishment was no stories before bed. Well that didn't make Logan happy and so he tried to beg, plead, cry and any other tactic he thought would make me give in. After about 20 minutes of this, I told him to go to his room, that I couldn't talk to him right now(I admit, I was quickly losing my temper and didn't want this to turn into a yelling match with my 6 year old).

A very unhappy Logan went to his room while I went downstairs to straighten up, turn out lights, etc., before going to bed myself. When I got to my room and was getting ready for bed, I notice a note on my bed. It was from Logan.



Translated, for those who can't read Logan's phonetic spelling it says:
"Mom, I know this isn't a good time to do this but I want to talk to you. Read the sign". In case you can't see it very well, underneath the last sentence, he wrote the same sentence again in 'jagged' block letters.

Logan came to my room just as I finishing reading this and asked if I got the note. So we spent a few minutes talking about his note, as well as the consequences for not obeying. He then asked if I knew what the last part of his note said and did I know why he wrote it that way. I told him I knew what it said, but didn't know why it was written in 'jagged' letters. His reply: "Those are my angry letters. They let you know I am mad!"

Even now when I think about it, I crack up laughing! Little kids say and do the funniest things! I sure do love my Logan! For as much as he tries my patience, he sure is a funny and wonderful kid!

The Tooth Fairy

Logan lost his 1st baby tooth!

About a week or so ago Logan came to me crying and said that something was really wrong. He assured me that he had been brushing his teeth and taking good care of them, but one was "moving in my mouth!" He was quite upset about it and afraid to tell me. So we sat down and talked about baby teeth and permanent teeth. Logan was quite excited when we got to the part about the Tooth Fairy. After that he sat and wiggled his tooth every chance he could.

On Saturday as we were driving in the car, he finally wiggled it free. Again this scared him a little, but soon he was talking about what the Tooth Fairy might bring him. And after Dad told him that if he caught the Tooth Fairy by her wing he could make a wish, Logan asked everyone we saw/talked to that day if they had every seen or caught the Tooth Fairy.

He even thought for awhile that he would wait and save all his baby teeth so he could "put all my teeth under the pillow at one time to see how much money the Tooth Fairy will leave me." (I love the thought process and logic of little kids!)

That night, after convincing him he couldn't save the tooth until all his baby teeth came out, we carefully put it under his pillow. Logan asked for the hundredth time how to catch the Tooth Fairy and finally went to bed.

The next morning he was happy to find a "golden quarter" which he immediately put in his piggy bank. We had to ask to see the golden quarter to then explain that it was really a gold dollar coin. That Tooth Fairy must be rich!

So another first at the Richards house! Who knew you had to explain the process of losing your baby teeth and the Tooth Fairy! Obviously not me (I know, Mother of the Year Award, here I come)! But I had older siblings who went through that phase first, so I didn't question my teeth falling out -that I remember anyways.

So thank you Tooth Fairy for remembering to stop by our house! (Especially since I took a sleeping pill before bed and slept soundly all night through!)

Happy 6th Birthday, Logan!

So today my oldest 'baby' turned 6 years old. How did that happen?! He is growing up way too fast even with my constant nagging at him to stop growing up! (Children - they never listen!) :)

We had a party for him with his cousins and a few neighbor kids. There were 8 kids total and it was totally crazy! But we had a good time.

Logan is obsessed with a cartoon character called Ben 10, so we had a Ben 10 themed party. We had cupcakes and ice-cream. Then we opened presents and broke open a pinata (with Rhett's help). Would you believe Colton slept through all this?

After the chaos of a broken pinata spilling candy and toys, we grabbed our towels and sunscreen and walked down the street to the Splash Pad...which unfortunately was shut off for the day. Huh? We, along with a ton of other parents and kids, couldn't figure out why it was not on. (I even made Rhett call Herriman City offices to find out why, but of course he only got someones voice-mail) But with the playground next to the Splash Pad, the kids still had fun running, playing, chasing, yelling, crying, etc.

Later when I asked Logan if he had had a good birthday, he said "Are you kidding me?! It was the BEST!" So even with the slight hiccup at the Splash Pad, we had a great time! Logan got lots of fun gifts (thanks) and will have wonderful memories of this day!

Logan, I can't believe you are already 6 years old. Time sure does fly! We love you Logan and are so proud of you! You continue to amaze us and make us laugh! You are a great kid and we are lucky to have you as part of our family!

1st Day of Kindergarten

Today was the 1st day of Kindergarten for Logan at Herriman Elementary. He was excited, I was sad. This is the first summer I have been home with my boys and have loved every minute of it! So needless to say, I am not ready for him to be in school yet! Since Logan has afternoon classes, we were able to have a lazy & relaxed morning to get ready.



I was a little disappointed that when we arrived at the school, they wouldn't let the parents go into the school with their kids. So I had to say goodbye at the door, snap a quick picture and off he went. Like a few of the other parents there, I stood outside the school door for a few minutes waiting-I don't know for what. And yes, I did cry a little.




After dropping Logan off at school, I met up with a few friends I haven't seen in a while at the Marble Slab for ice-cream. Dani lives in Texas and was here visiting family for a week so we tried to get our little gang together. Andrea only lives a few minutes from me, but we are both so busy with kids, husbands, etc. that we don't get to see each other too often. Unfortunately one friend, Julie, was not able to make it due to sick kids at home. We missed her, but still had a good time catching up on each others lives and re-living memories. I must admit though, I did check the clock on the wall every few minutes to see if it was time to get Logan yet.

After ice-cream I went straight to Logan's school. I waited outside the Kindergarten doors for his class to come out. After Mrs. Geisa brought out the kids, she had them stand in a line till they could locate their parents. When she got to Logan and he pointed at me, she waived then asked me to stay after for a minute. Uh-oh, that can't be good. It's the 1st day of school and already the teacher wants to talk with me. (Sigh)



I guess Logan decided he had had enough and after trying to hid from Mrs. Geisa in the classroom, he tried to leave the school to go home. Mrs. Geisa wanted to let me know what had happened, and that she had to "put her foot down and be firm". But after that Logan did pretty good. I am hoping this is a one time incident and that the rest of the school year will go a little better!


So my oldest baby is now a big kid in Kindergarten. I can't believe how fast time flies! He will turn 6 years old on Friday! How can he be that old already?! As all parents do with their kids, I just beam with pride because of my kids! They are both wonderful and my life just wouldn't be complete without them!

Finish The Basement Or Update The Kitchen?

Well, Rhett wanted to finish the basement and I wanted to update the kitchen. Guess who won?

It's not that our kitchen was that bad. It functioned fine and everything worked just fine, but it was outdated. When we built our house 8 years ago we were poor so we put money into upgrades that we knew we couldn't change after the fact - structural upgrades. So our kitchen ended up with "builder-grade" everything - meaning basic and cheap.

And when I worked full-time, it didn't really bother me since I was never home. I worked between 6-8 hours and had about a 2 1/2 hour commute each day. So I didn't cook much or spend much time in the kitchen at all. But now that I am a stay-at-home mom, we spend lots of time in the kitchen so I wanted a nice one. Selfish and materialistic? Yes, but since we plan on staying here, I want to make it as nice a home for our family as I can-and that includes a nice up-to-date kitchen. :)

Shameless plug: Thanks to my wonderful neighbor, Jannah, we got a great deal on everything! Jannah is a supplier and does model home kitchen design and interior decorating. It is thanks to her that we were able to do it in a reasonable amount of time (about 10 days)and for a reasonable amount of money! Her website is http://www.idcwholesale.com/.

Here are some before and after pics., as well as some in-between.

Since I didn't think about recording this event on film until we had already torn out most of the kitchen, I had to scan the photo below from when we first moved in 8 years ago, hence the wonderful quality of the pic. And sadly, in 8 years not much had changed in the kitchen area except for a new table, chairs and stools.

To save money on labor we (and when I say 'we' I mean my mom, dad, Rhett and myself) pulled out the old cabinets and the flooring ourselves. We also painted and will eventually tile the back splash. These pics are of Logan pulling out staples from the sub-floor in preparation for wood flooring.

Getting ready to tear out the rest of the cabinets, and disconnect all the plumbing. Time to say good-bye to my dishwasher for a while! :(


New kitchen practically done....


Finally...
The new kitchen-minus the back splash. Who new picking out tile could be so hard?! We put in new knotty alder cabinets painted in a toffee color, hand-scraped hickory engineered wood flooring, carmel colored quartz counter tops, a granite composite black sink, and an oil rubbed bronze faucet as well as oil rubbed bronze drawer pulls and nobs.

I love it and couldn't be happier with how it turned out! One day I would like to get new appliances in black, but couldn't justify spending the money for them yet since I did go a little over budget and everything we already have works so well - dang it! But maybe next year...

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY COLTON!

I can't believe Colton is already 1! Where did this past year go? He is such an amazing kid! Colton turned 1 on June 2nd, and we had a family party for him on June 7th. Here are some highlights of the party!

The Birthday Boy, Colton! He loved the balloons. In almost every picture I have of him, he is hanging on to those balloons for dear life! If I had know that was all it took to entertain him, I wouldn't have bought him any other presents!Birthday Cake # 1. We had a second Birthday Cake because we have a lot of birthdays in June. Besides Colton there is my niece Sara Jane, my brother Mike, my mother-in-law Carole, another niece Annabell and another niece Brooke.
This pic is of Matt, trying to lit the candles on the 2nd b-day cake(it was windy!), along with Sara Jane, Elliott, Missy and my Mom. Missy and my Mom are holding Missy's twins, but in this pic I can't tell which one is Charlie and which one is Jack.
Colton about to get his first bite of birthday cake. (Notice the death grip on the balloons)

In it goes....
This is the face Colton made right before he threw-up the birthday cake! Oh well. Maybe cake isn't his thing. (And no, I don't let my kids dive into the cake with their hands and mouth. I am a bad mom that way)

We had a pinata for the kids. Colton taking the first turn at pulling a string on the bottom. We let Logan go second, and he pulled the right string to send all the candy falling out the bottom so no one else got a turn! What can you do? But I think the candy and toys inside the pinata made up for that!
Then it was time to open presents!
Logan was a good big brother and 'helped' Colton open presents

I think everyone had a good time. Here are some misc. pics of the family:

Grandpa Harker

Sweet little Annabell (one of Missy's daughters)

Mitchell, Logan, Elliott, and Max playing tether-ball (at least in this photo, no one is crying!)
Mitchell and Max belong to Mike and Meredith, Elliott belongs to Jeff and Missy.

My mother-in-law Carole sitting on the steps with my niece Savannah, with Rhett's brother Robert, and sister Holly next to her. Then Rhett's brothers Randy and Ryan with Ryan's daughter Brooke and son Jacob. And in the foreground is Colton playing with the balloons!

Meredith, Max, Mike, Missy and Jack.

Amberly(Ryan's daughter) on the slide, Max in front, Mitchell behind him, Sara Jane and Mason(Mike's son) on the swings, Mike on the grass.

Colton with all his new toys!

And there you have it, Colton's 1st Birthday! What a great day! We are so happy you are part of our family, Colton! Although we have only had you for a year, it seems like you have been part of our family forever! We love you!

(Cotlon eyeing Logan's balloon)