Pumpkin Patch

Landon's Pre-School class went to the pumpkin patch for a special day choosing a pumpkin, riding on a tractor, and playing on a hay maze.

These are his cute teachers who are so patient with the kids. I don't know how they do it day in and day out. 

 Landon and I had so much fun riding on the tractor together. It was a really cold day with lots of fog.

 Landon LOVED the hay maze and went through it several times. There is something magical about haybales and kids. They had a really fun slide that all the kids slid down about 75 times each.

 Landon picked out the perfect little pumpkin and seemed quite proud of himself.

 Landon and his class.



Spring "Sock Hop" Concert

 Addison had her second choir concert and it was a 50's theme. We had exactly one weeks notice to come up with a themed costume for the night. I was thinking, what in the world am I going to come up with. Then Addison and her bestie, Faith, hatched a plan for our neighbor, Cindy, who was not only super nice to take on this project, but super talented for us non-sewing moms. The skirts turned out great and the girls loved them. The bonus is that this is also going to be their Halloween costumes this year. BONUS!

 Aren't they adorable together. Watch out boys in a few decades  years.

Doesn't she look like a Peggy or Sue or even Peggy Sue! Har Har

The concert was cute and they sang all kinds of cute songs from the 50's . I did take video, but the lighting was so dark it wasn't worth sharing. Sorry.

Logan's Big Day

Logan had his big baptism day. In our church at the age of eight a child can choose to be baptized. So, Logan had an interview with his Bishop(who happens to be his dad) and showed that he was worthy to be baptized.

He was so excited to for his big day. Here he is all dressed up and ready to go.

Here we are as a family. Logan was so excited to get a new suit for the occasion.

Here is Logan with a couple of the cute girls that are in his primary class.

We put out a little display of some of our favorite pictures of our boy Logan. It was fun to gather some pictures and put them in frames to honor our special guy. He is such a smart kid and is growing up to be such a wonderful young man. We are so proud of him.

The Gardner munchkins.

Logan with his dad in their baptism outfits. Aren't they lookers!

It was a great experience for Logan and He had a wonderful day. Thank-you to everyone who came and supported him on his big day.

It's Great to be 8!

Today is my little Logan's 8th birthday! He is a busy kid with LOTS of energy. He is smart, funny, and great at all sports. He loves everyone with his full heart and is a very generous kid. He is also our family comedian and always has us in stitches.

Logan loves to learn about new things and remembers almost everything he is taught. His big brown eyes are going to be lady killers one day, but for now girls are icky to him. He loves to play outside, dig in the dirt and play in the water. He is always looking for a nice big hole to dig and then fill with water.

I just love this boy with all my heart. He is growing into such a great young man. He loves his siblings and (most) of the time is a great example to them. His teacher recently told me he is the hit of the class and everyone wants to be Logan's partner. She also said he is so great about staying on task and not getting distracted by other students. What a boy!

Logan is my hardest working child too. He LOVES to help us with the garden and has recently discovered that mowing the lawn is really fun. He is my one kid who will go out into the garden with a bucket and bring in anything that is ripe, whether I am ready for them or not! :) He is a gardener for sure!
He is so excited to be turning 8 because he now gets to be baptized into our church. He had his interview with his Dad (who is the Bishop of our ward) and Robb was so proud of the knowledge that Logan has gained in the past few years. He listens so much more than we think he does, and so much of the knowledge sticks. I love that as a parent.

We are so lucky to have someone as great as Logan in our family. We love is energy and the fun he brings to our family.

Happy Birthday Logan!

Happy Earth Day!

We love our beautiful earth and decided this year to clean-up the trash along our little road. It is sad to say that we filled 3 garbage bags full of trash and our road is only about 1/2 mile long.

We gathered our bags and headed out the door. It was like a treasure hunt to the kids. They proudly collected 47 pieces of pink packing peanuts.

This is our neighbors dog Buddy. I think he wanted to come along and help out, that or run around the neighborhood checking our the goods. He is the sweetest boy ever.

I was very proud of the kids, they did a great job and the road looked so nice and clean when we were done. Happy earth day!

Boys of Summer

Yesterday was opening day for our little towns baseball league. Logan decided he wanted to play this year so we signed him up for coach pitch and away we went. Robb took him to the opening ceremonies that introduced all the teams and players. Logan has loved getting all new gear and being the center of attention for a while. Being the middle child he tends to get left out of things, so this has been great for him. Logan is in the middle in front of his coach Gina.

We all bundled up in our warmest coats and headed to the field for his first game. His team did great at his the ball really well. Logan cracked several off on the first pitch and took off.

His other teammates got him around to 3rd base, where Robb was the base coach. Here they are having a little Father/Son bonding time.

Here he is coming into home plate. Somehow I managed to catch him mid run so it looks like he is running on air. As fast as he is sometimes, I wonder if that is what he does.

At one point in the game he looked up at his Dad and said, "I am having so much fun!" That makes it all worth it in the end, because isn't that what kid's sports should be all about, FUN!

Turning 3

Three years ago I gave birth to my last child. He came into the world with a bang and an emergency c-section because he got a little crazy with his umbilical cord and had it wrapped around his neck twice. The nurses told me it was a blessing because his noggin was not something I would want to have to deal with.

It was really hard to have him in the nursery and not with me. I thought it would be so great to rest, but my mother instinct kicked in and that was it. I painfully made the walk into the nursery several times a day to snuggle with my chubby cheeked little baby. He was a charmer from the beginning and had ALL the nurses wrapped around his little finger.

He brought a lot of joy into our home when we were going through a rough time in our lives. He has always been such a joy. It is really hard not to smile when he is around. He is everyone friend and very free with the smiles.

Being a boy, he is very busy and very curious. He has been into about everything and thinks he is much older that he is. He thinks he should be able to do ALL things that the older kids do. We joke that he is 3 going on 25, always in such a hurry to grow up!

Landon also loves animals as much as the rest of us. They don't intimidate him for one minute! His favorite are the goats. He thinks he is a showman already!

Here he is hanging out with one of his pals.

Lover of all things boy! He is always up for a good Monster Jam race! He is also the best Wii player in the house. We have no idea how he is so good, but he beats all of us regularly. One or our babysitters said she tried really hard to beat him and he still won.

So, Happy Birthday to the baby of the family. Landon we love you and are so grateful that you have been sent to our family. Heavenly Father must have a lot of faith in us as parents to trust us enough to raise you. We love you so much and are thankful we are allowed to be your parents.

Water Boy

What is it with boys and water? If there is water anywhere around, my two boys are in it at some point.

So, living in the northwest and it being a La Nina year we are getting a TON of rainy weather this year. When it rains part of our field fills up with water and the boys cannot resist it. The other day Landon wanted to go out in the worst way and "look" at the water. He put on an old pair of cowboy boots and headed out. I new right away what he was up to and grabbed my camera. He LOVED checking out all the water and how far up his boots it would go.

He came back in with a beaming smile on his face.

Back to School

We survived our 1st day of school yesterday. It was a cool rainy day, so it was a perfect get in the mood for school weather. The kids were very exited to see their friends and get to know their new teachers. The big bonus is always to get to wear new clothes. Addison even got a back to school haircut that she loves.

Logan learned how to tie his new Converse and was so proud of himself for tying them all by himself. Landon had a huge hissy because he thought he was going to school too. So we decided to do "school" at home for him.

Ready set go!

I thought I would share a couple back to school tips that I am using this year. I have gotten these ideas from other people, so don't think I am miss super organized.

It got two of these plastic hanging file boxes from my Mom when she was cleaning out her office. I originally didn't have use for them until a friend of mine told me that she uses these for her kids school papers at the end of the year. She puts in a few of the special projects and saves them from year to year. So starting in kindergarten you have a great place to store special projects, awards, grades, etc. I am going to have my kids choose 10 of their favorites to put in here each year.
I fell in love with this Mommy binder to help me be organized with all the mountains of papers that come home with the kids each week. Last year everything ended up in a heap in my desk and I was constantly pulling the stack out to find one permission slip. So when I found this little gem I couldn't wait to put it together and start using it. I found the idea at a great new blog called My Computer is my Canvas. Click here to see her site and make your own copy.

The next thing I use is a "lunch box" for all the kids & hubby's lunches. When I get packages home I divide them up in Ziplocs, so when morning rolls around I can make sandwiches and grab everything else I need. I got this idea from the Idea Room, where all great ideas come from. It makes like so much easier.

I hope you all have a great back to school week. Now onto the holidays. It will be here before we can say Santa Claus.

Summer Sun

After an unusually rainy spring we have FINALLY gotten a few nice days. The kids have had so much fun playing out in the sun. The boys love to take off their shirts and act like manly men!

My kids love the jump on the tampoline with the sprinkler under it or hang the sprinkler from the basket ball hoop and run through it. One of these years we are going to have to get them a swimming pool.

Looking forward to many more days like these this summer. There is just something about soaking up some vitamin D. Happy Summer to you all!

Turning 7

My little Logi is turning 7 today. I can't believe that much time has gone by. It seems like yesterday I was pregnant with him and we thought he was going to be a girl. A few days before I had him I had the strongest dream I have ever had. I dreamt of the hospital room that I delivered him in and that he was a boy and his name was Logan. The day finally came and there he was! He, in his strong personality, was telling me to stop calling him a girl. He still has that strong personality and is a bundle of energy.
He is my parenting child. He keeps me on my toes when I get sloppy at parenting, and puts me in my place. One minute I can be pulling my hair out and the next I am gushing to tears because of something sweet he does.

This is Logan with "Black Pearl" at the fair last year. We did a costume parade around the fair and they got LOTS of comments on their matching outfits. They had so much fun.

Logan loves to watch his Dad shave every morning. Once he even got in the action with his toy shaving kit. He loved it.
Don't you just want to squeeze him. He has such a desire for learning. He is like a little sponge at school, coming home with all sorts of facts and figures. I have learned to believe pretty much everything he tells me about what goes on at school. So many time I thought he was wrong only to find out he had every detail down. Such a funny kid.

Always one to explore and have an adventure. So many times I watch him when he doesn't know it and I wonder what is going on in his little head. When I ask him he always says, "I don't know."

He loves the rodeo, and I am pretty sure he will either choose to be a rodeo clown or a great calf roper. I was amazed that he roped the straw bail on the very first try. He is our little cowboy, who funny enough doesn't like horses. Go figure.

We love our crazy little munchkin who keeps us on our toes and warms our hearts with his generosity. I am sure he will grow up to be one of those men who would give you the shirt off his back if it meant it would help you out. Thank-you so much Logan for coming to our family and warming our hearts. We love you tons!