SUMMER VACATION!

Hi ho, there, I'm back! I decided it was finally time to update the blog and let everyone know how our Summer went!  So after we finished up with T-ball, and school had ended, we had a bit of a break.  For 2 whole weeks we didn't have anything to do, and it was great! We slept in every day, and just bummed around.  Then, we started swim lessons for the older boys.  

 Chase was the only one in his group, maybe because he was more advanced, but he became a much more confident swimmer, that's for sure.

  Gunnar was in a group of about 5 or 6, and even though he swam without a life jacket or floaties, he still didn't feel quite as confident as Chase did.  They had swim lessons 4 days a week for 2 weeks, and I'm certain we'll do lessons for the twins next Summer as well!

 And of course, the Twins were jealous that they couldn't get in the pool when their big brothers were swimming.  I kept promising them that they would learn soon enough, and that we would get to play in Grandma's pool when we got to Arizona.

Here are the little ones in the fridge!  They have become so independent, and have taken to getting out their own snacks when I don't act quickly enough.  They loved having all of the delicious Summer fruit around the house, like strawberries, nectarines, and peaches.  They have also become big fans of cheese, and grapes! Parker broke my Pampered Chef Mix-N-Stir pitcher (just look on the top shelf, see it? We LOVE those pitchers!), because he thinks he is strong enough to get it out of the fridge on his own, and he dropped it while it was full. 

So there are a few quick pics before we head off to ARIZONA! We had our last swim lesson the morning that we left, and let me tell ya, it was a really busy day!

ARIZONA

This was a trip that our boys had been looking forward to all year long! We had planned to have a McKnight family reunion at Aspen Grove in Utah the first week of July, and we had already planned to spend some time with Todd's parents in Arizona, so we came up with the idea that Todd would drive the family out and I would stay with the 4 boys for 2 weeks before our Aspen Grove trip.  The drive was really quite pleasant this time around, probably because we didn't have to stop too much, and our dog wasn't with us this trip.  The only bad part was that the kids never napped in the 2 days we drove out from Tulsa.  We left home a little after one o'clock, and it was the first time we had left so early in the day.  We made it to Albuquerque, New Mexico by 10:30 at night when we stopped for the night.  We stayed in a nice hotel, had a good night's rest, and complimentary breakfast the next morning.  We noticed that my car was starting to have some transmission issues (shifting improperly) and told Todd's parents that we might have to have it serviced while we were in town.  Well, things got worse with the car, but we were still managing to make pretty good time driving.  We were just outside of Mesa when the Suburban decided it wouldn't go any faster than 40 miles an hour.  So, we called in the reinforcements, and Todd's parents were there in no time flat with 2 cars to unload all of our luggage and kids.  Mason and Parker started bawling, because they had no idea what was going on, their Daddy wasn't getting in the car with us, and they hadn't napped in 2 days.  We got to the house, everyone unloaded pretty quickly, and we were settled for the next two weeks!

I'll start a new post that is all pictures, so I won't mess up how this one looks.  Enjoy!

The little guys!

I let you know what the big boys were up to, but here are a few pics to show you what the little guys have been doing.

The pictures are a little out of order, but the twins have always been able to entertain themselves very well.  Lately, they've decided chasing each other with my pot holders are so much fun.  They put them on their hands and say "ROAR!" and then run through my house, squealing with delight.

Here's Mason posing with my most recent creation- a knitted scarf (stockinette pattern)

And here's Parker posing with my scarf...

And here's the two of them together, both wearing the scarf!

Like I said, the pictures are a little out of order, but this is what I did yesterday- I completely organized Todd's closet.  It was a total disaster! Crap all over the floor, nothing made sense, and I hated putting his clothes away because it was so gross.  So, while Todd was cleaning out my car to take to Bartlesville, I started cleaning out his closet. If I was smart, I would have taken pictures of his "before" and what it looked like having just about everything in his closet spread out all over our bedroom!

Mason (smiling) and Parker.  Anytime I get the camera out, they stand and smile for me!

Organized shoes! They were once all over the floor, and now they have a home! I even downsized my shoes so I could put my shoe rack in Todd's closet for his boots!

So not only did he have shoes all over his floor, but I (at some point, I don't remember when) started putting all of the electronic cords, and anything computer related on his shelves.  I organized everything by relevance, and put them in a set of clear drawers.  Need a charging cord for the computer? Bottom drawer!

Mason has started taking Todd's Mr.Dew out of the case, and stacking them up.  I totally busted him, so in this picture, he's putting them all back.

I like how in this one they both have their hands up, as if they're saying "no thanks, we're done, no more pictures!"



Can you see how Parker is getting ready to hit Mason with that oven mitt?


So that's what we've been up to lately. Oh, and things are changing for Todd and I in our roles at church.  I was released as the Young Women Personal Progress leader, and Relief Society (women's group) teacher, but I kept my calling as the Nursery Leader.  Todd was the 2nd counselor in the Elders Quorum group, but was released and is the new Elders Quorum President.  He was immediately immersed with phone calls, and meetings, and moving people.  Basically, he'll be doing a lot more service oriented activities, and organizing them.  I know it will be a complete blessing to have him in this calling, and I'll support him all the way! Well, it's late, and I'd better get off of the computer. I'll be posting what we'll be doing the whole Summer long.  My list includes a lot of knitting! I'll be finishing up a baby blanket for Gunnar's baby doll, Baby Knucklehead, and I'm hoping to post more pictures of what we're doing this Summer! 

Schoooool's out for SUMMER!

My older boys finished school last week, and we had the last of their t-ball/baseball games as well, so I thought I'd post a few pictures of them on here.


Here's Gunnar with his Pre-K teacher, Mrs. Sloat, and his TA, Mrs. Seabolt (aka Miss Shelly).  I absolutely loved them so much! Mrs. Sloat came highly recommended, and I thoroughly enjoyed having Gunnar in her class this past year.  She was so thoughtful, understanding, and did a great job with my baby! He came away from her class with so much knowledge! I'm really going to miss her next year!




Todd and Gunnar.  Todd was an assistant coach on Gunnar's team this year. This was the last game of the season, and they handed out the team trophies that night as well. Go, Cougars!



Here's Gunnar on 1st base.  The kid loves to run!



My little slugger!




I love this photo! He played at the pitcher's position (the coaches pitch to the boys in this age group) and he caught the ball for an out, but immediately turned and threw it to first base and they got the 2nd out.  I'm so glad I caught his reaction to the double play!



Todd was also an assistant coach for Chase's team this year.  Same thing as Gunnar- last game of the season, handed out trophies that night.  Chase played on the same team as last year, and they really improved! Good job, Rangers!

So that's what the big boys have been up to lately.  We sat down the other day and made up our list of things to do for the Summer, and I'm sure I'll be taking pictures of that as well!

Happy Mother's Day!

So I was pretty certain that Todd didn't get me a present, but Chase totally outed him last night at my parents' house.  Mom gave me a present, but I wasn't allowed to open until today.  I woke up this morning to my favorite breakfast- cherry pie waffles (which are Belgian waffles with cherry pie topping on top.) Then, Todd brought the older boys in to give me my presents.  He secretly went to my favorite store, Brighton, and picked up a matching pair of earrings, necklace, and bracelet.  It's not really my style, and he's told me it's OK to for me to exchange them for something else that I like.  Then, I opened my Mom's present- a set of jumper cables.  The story behind them is my car died a few weeks ago after a knitting class, and I had to call my parents to come help me out, because Todd was home with the boys.  I told her I didn't have a set of them for my car, so now I have some! Yeah, Mom!

We went to church, I was called as the Nursery Leader. Yep, that's now a running total of 3, count them, 3 callings that I hold in the ward.  I teach every 2nd Sunday in Relief Society, I am the Personal Progress advisor for the Young Women, and now Nursery Leader.  And as far as I know, I'm not getting released from the other callings anytime soon.  I taught my lesson, got set apart for my calling, then came home.  Todd fed us lunch, put the twins down for a nap, and let me basically hang out for the day.  We had dinner, got the kids to bed, and now we're just hanging out watching TV.

 And thus ends my week long blog challenge.  I've really enjoyed it, it's been fun.  I can't say that I'll be blogging on here every single day, but I will surely try to get on here more often and update my blog.  Hopefully every time I make something, I'll post it on here.  And I'm also hoping that I won't wait for months to go by before posting some fun pics of the kids on here.  We have a big trip coming up this summer, and I really can't wait to post about it! Catch ya on the flip side, friends!

Saturday, a.k.a. pre-Mother's Day...

It started off as a promising day, but somewhere I got into a funk of an attitude.  Todd took Chase to his baseball game, and after doing the dishes and laundry, we ate lunch and got Gunnar ready for his game.  He said his legs hurt too bad for him to run the bases, and after some near death threats from my husband, Gunnar parked it on the couch and wasn't allowed to get up and run around.  He missed his game because of his stupid shots! Whatever... after a little bickering with the hubby, I decided to take a nap.  It didn't last long, because as soon as I laid down, Todd came in and decided to take a bath with the whirlpool jets on, and it was much louder than I was hoping it would be. Then, as I was drifting off, the twins woke up from their nap. Nap fail- awesome.  Then, I asked Todd to make baked beans while I took a shower, and he did, but to my dismay, he neglected to do a few things that I usually do in the recipe, and I didn't think they would taste very good.  So, we loaded up the kids and headed over to my parents' house for dinner with my siblings and their family.  It was a fun night with some good grub, and presents for my Mom and Dad (celebrating Dad's birthday, and Mother's Day.)  So we came home, got all the kids bathed and in bed.  I finally prepared my lesson for church tomorrow, (it's going to be a good one!) and now I'm on here to give my day 6 post.  I know, kinda short, but hopefully tomorrow will be a little better.  I'm actually enjoying posting everyday...maybe I'll keep this up! Naw...better not get too hopeful. ;o)

Friday night blues

I'm sitting here watching all of our DVR'd shows we didn't get to watch this week, and Todd's about to pop some popcorn.  Today was a busy day, or at least just another day.  I hung out at home with the twins today, did laundry and dishes, and prepared myself for taking Gunnar to the doctor.  I got a note from the nurse at school saying he wasn't up to date on his immunizations, so I made an appointment and took him in.  His vision is 20/20, perfect hearing, Dr. Gordon said he looks great on his height and weight, and he's an overall good looking kid. So after all of the preliminary stuff, we had to get down to business. The nurse came in with 3 shots, and he started to freak out.  I had to hold down his arms and upper body, while the nurse laid across his legs and stuck him.  Ya know that kid who screams bloody murder, and you're in the next room just shaking your head? Yeah, that was my kid today.  He got some candy, a sticker, and a few kisses from Mommy, and he limped out of the office.  I was fortunate enough to have my Dad babysit the twins for me so I could take Gunnar to the doctor's office, and they were happy to see us when we got home.  We ordered dinner in, and then took the kids for ice cream at Braums.  Everyone was in bed and asleep by 9:20- a little late, but still not bad.  Tomorrow we have 2 baseball games and a family Mother's Day dinner, and I still have that lesson to prepare for Relief Society.  Let's get this Mother's Day weekend started!

p.s. this may be a short post, but I vowed to post and I'm sticking to it!

Day 4 of my post challenge- FAIL!

I know, I know, I'm posting this on Friday, and not Thursday.  I missed Day 4 of my challenge to blog everyday this week! I do have a good reason, though.  Every night I read a book to Gunnar, and stay with him until he falls asleep. Well, last night, I was so exhausted, I fell asleep with him around 9 pm! Well, I did want to post about the new project I made, so here it is, and I'll post again tonight as well...ya know, to make up for not posting last night...

So, I had previously mentioned that I went to my friend Heather's house earlier in the week.  This is what I got- a plank of wood, and some vinyl letters.  I sanded down the wood, and prepped it for painting.

Like the red?

I decided to distress the edges of the board, and sanded the board again to give it an antique look.

another view of the edges...

Here is the vinyl lettering.  I chose this phrase because my Mom used to sing this song to me as a little girl.  Heather has a vinyl cutting machine (a Cricket Cutter I think?) and she was so awesome to cut this out for me.  I pulled all of the "negative" pieces off, and figured out how I wanted to place it on the board.

Heather explained that using Glad Press 'n Seal wrap was perfect for transferring the whole phrase at one time.  I placed the wrap on the phrase, then used my Pampered Chef scrapper to adhere the letters to the Press 'n Seal.

Then, after I  found my placement on the board, I used the scrapper to adhere the letters to the board, and pulled the Press 'n Seal away from the lettering.

Pretty great, huh? It was a bit of a process, but it was a lot better than placing the letters individually!

Finished with the letters!

Added a few coats of glossy modge podge for some shine, and...



VOILA! The finished product! And yes, my Mom has already seen it.  She came over to watch the twins for a bit last night, and I didn't have time to get it put away before she arrived.  I told her I'd add some hardware for her to hang it, and then she I would give it to her.

So that's it, TADA! Now you know why I've been so busy this week, aside from the 18 item "To Do" list I started my Monday with, the baseball games, the incoming 3rd graders meeting, birthday party, and usual list of wife/Mom duties I've had to do this week.  And, I still have to get a lesson ready for church this Sunday ( I am one of the teachers for the adult women's group, known as Relief Society...yeah, I know, I am teaching on Mother's Day, but I teach on most major holidays that fall on a Sunday!) That's all for now, I'll be posting later tonight, hopefully, if I don't fall asleep with Gunnar again!