Temple Day

The Seattle Washington Temple

Already for the Temple. On our walk up to Uncle Wes and Aunt Kristin's I thought it would look nice to have Ayden stand in front of this Rhody and get a picture, I didn't know however, that he would strike a little hottie pose. Today, Ayden had his Primary Activity which was a trip up to the Seattle Temple. He had been talking about it for weeks. Anyways, me and the boys walked up to Wes and Kristin's house so that Wes could drive Ayden and I down to the church. (Armand had the car and wouldn't be home in time.) Kristin watched the younger boys while we dropped him off. I was worried that he would be scared at the last minute, but he ran off to play with his friends and I had to hunt him down to give him a smooch before I left. He was supposed to be home at 4pm but I knew they had to drive other kids home. But at 4 o'clock, I started getting anxious and antsy. I was chewing my nails and looking out the window every minute and was trying not to cry:( Finally, he came home, I asked him all about his trip today he didn't have to much to say but this is what he said:

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  He rode with Brother Mauia and Cameron Jones. Cameron kept spitting on him so Brother Mauia flicked Cameron. I don't know why but, I thought this was so funny.


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  He ate all the fruit snacks that he was supposed to share with the riders in his car but that he did share one with Cameron. (I sent him with 7 packs by the way, which later he told me that he had a stomach ache at the temple...gee I wonder why?)


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  He liked the ice cream but it had chocolate that was gross and it had peanuts and a cone, which he was super excited about.


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  He lectured Ashten (who was so sad that he didn't get to go) that "we do not run or be loud at the temple next time when Ashten is 4 and can go to the temple."


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  They got to go in and sit on the couches inside and that there were 4 of them.

Ashten, AJ, and I stayed at Wes and Kristin's for awhile and we helped clean out their Blazer. Ashten worked really hard. He cleaned all the windows and had so much fun, But he kept asking where Ayden was. When Ayden got home, I told him that Ashten missed him the most. I know Ayden missed him also because he wanted me to go and wake up Ashten. So when Ashten did wake up from his nap, Ayden said "Ashten I'm home!" And they ran up and gave eachother the biggest bear hugs ever...it was SO adorable.

I'm so blessed to have my 3 beautiful boys, I wouldn't trade them for the world.

"Jesus is Magic"

Over Lunch:

Ayden: My teacher told me about this picture.

Me: Oh really? What did she tell you?

Ayden: The water was rocking the boat back and forth and Jesus telled the water to calm down and then the water calmed down.

Me: Do you talk to water?

Ayden: (shakes his head no)

Me: Why not?

Ayden: Cause we don't talk to water only Jesus does...cause he's Magic

I LOVE hearing Ayden talk about things that he learns at church. It's good to know that he learns something at church which means he must be paying some sort of attention and not just bouncing off the walls the WHOLE time.

Movie Day

Aren't they adorable
Ashten while scrounging for food this morning found a microwave popcorn. So I had to make a deal that they couldn't have it for breakfast but they could have it after nap time. So pretty much as soon as Ashten woke up he got this huge grin and said, "Mooommmmyyy, Poppppcorrrrn." in his sweetest voice. So Ashty set out all the blankies and we popped the popcorn and got AJ some cereal in a bowl..I just couldn't resist taking a picture they looked so cute sitting there all in a row and even AJ watched "Cars" with the big boys. At least til his cereal was gone.

I'm the Step Mother of a High Schooler!

Jazmin ready for the banquet. Armand's daughter, Jazmin, is graduating from Middle School next week. How crazy, time has just flown by. We are so proud of her. She is growing up into a beautiful young woman. She is so talented, smart, and is into SO many school activities. She's not afraid to try anything. She skateboards yet she likes to get manicures. Our boys love to play with her when she's in town...They are SO proud that their big sis taught them how to skateboard. We miss her tons.

Happy Memorial Day

The bikes all lined up on Daddy's trailer Ayden very proud of his accomplishment
Ashten acting tough
This morning while we were getting ready to go to lunch (which we didn't end up doing) the kids went outside and were lining up all their bikes on one of Daddy's trailers that he brought home this weekend. It was so funny to watch them struggling to lift them up so high onto the trailer and it was so cute to see them using team work.
So as a punishment he was told to get the whole room clean.
Less than 5 minutes later this is how I found him!
Isn't our floor pretty now? This is the half cleaned up version...
All the bottles are cleaned up and I wiped up polish as much as I could at this point. While we were in the basement the kids were playing in their room making a huge mess! Which they were, but when I came upstairs I found Ashten in the garage playing with my nailpolish. He got 6 bottles opened and emptied onto the garage floor. One of them was shattered! Luckily the only damaged thing was his shirt and the garage floor. I also found some nail polish on his door molding in his bedroom but I think that will come off with a little nail polish remover or some magic eraser. I guess Ashten is finally into the terrible two's he's just a year behind.

ER

Poor little Ashty waiting for the blood draw

This is his "rooster" he played with it for hours and he fell asleep with it, holding it like one of his "babies" and his ankle bracelet that kept scratching him, he wanted it off so bad that finally, after a couple hours of trying, he was able to stretch it over his heel.

Last night, we sent the kids to bed around 7pm because no one had had a nap and everyone was cranky. At 8pm Ashten came out of the room crying that Ayden was being mean or torturing him I'm sure, so I told him to go get his blankies and lay on my bed which is where he naps anyway. So he went and was quiet right away which is normal. Just after 9pm Armand and I went in and were getting our jammies on forgetting that Ashten was there we were turning on lights and being loud til we saw him then we were laying on the bed looking at how cute he is haha, I was thinking it was weird that he didn't wake up because the other day I came in (he had never waken from his nap so he was still on the bed) and he woke right up and asked me what I was doing. So anyways, then I went to the bathroom and saw a random pill on the floor...then the completely empty foil (Dulcolax). So, I tried to wake him up and saw 4 benadryl empty foils on the floor (luckily there were 3 pills (chewed on and leaking but at least they were there.) We had a really hard time waking him up, so I called Poison Control and told me to look in the bathroom for anything else he had possibly taken. When I looked more I found that he had gotten into Armand's travel bag (later he said he was looking for a Band-Aid) there was a bottle of Tylenol half opened:( So we were told to go to the hospital ASAP. I took Ashten to St Francis and they got him right in. We sat there waiting for the blood draw that was supposed to happen at 12:45am...Ashten was bouncing off the walls by this time! He was SO excited to get a shot<---seriously, I'm not joking that's all he talked about as soon as we walked into the hospital. When the nurses (one to take the blood and one to restrain him) came in to take his blood they swaddled him like a baby with one arm out, thinking he would freak out. I told them he was ready and excited but they looked at me like I was crazy. <-- I would too. He laid there so calm and didn't even flinch when they stuck that needle in his arm. The "restraining" nurse said: "I guess you don't need me afterall." HAHA After that Ashten had some juice and graham crackers and we cuddled up on his 1/2 twin size bed (it was TINY) and slept til just after 2am this morning, when they said he could go home. We are so blessed that he is healthy and well. I hope that someone will read this and think about where they might have medications that aren't in a good place right now (diaper bag, purse, anywhere reachable to little ones) and MOVE THEM.

He got full?

Today was a first for AJ so I thought it was blog worthy. Obviously looking at my blogs almost anything IS blog worthy to me. HAHA So we went to lunch at Skipper's and I ordered the kids a 3 peice basket for all of them to share plus Armand had all-you-can-eat so we knew that if they were still hungry they could sneak some fish or shrimp or whatever from him. (I know we're theives.) Each boy got a huge peice of fish and french fries. Each boy finished their food and was done except for AJ, he wanted more so we gave him Armand's clam chowder and then more of my french fries. Finally, he pressed his lips tight together and leaned way back...I can't believe that he actually stopped eating! But of course, by the time we got to the car he wanted his milk! Sick, right?

Horton Hears A Who

Today Grammy called to see if the boys wanted to go to the movies to see Horton Hears A Who. How lucky for us to live close enough to family who is willing to take the kids out. Ayden and Ashten had fun and Mom said they did good sitting still and paying attention. She also said how cute it was that Ashten was laughing out loud, which he got from Armand. Anyone who knows Armand, knows that he is the loudest person you will EVER hear at the movie theater. One time before we were married we went to the movies on a double date with my best friend, Megan and her date Matt which is one of my brother's best friends. We went to see Toy Story (I think) and he was SOOO loud (it was probably one of the first movies we went to with eachother), I was so embarrassed. Anyways, when we got out of the theater and were talking about the movie he said it was a stupid movie and I was like WHAT are you saying? You were laughing your head off the whole time! Now I find myself laughing louder at movies but usually not in public.

So anyways, it was nice to have a little break, I was hoping to have alone time with AJ but of course he slept the majority of the time. So what do I do? Clean:(

"You'll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid"

Today we had a car...YAY! But that always means we have lots of errands for one day...BOO! So we went to McDonald's for lunch, anytime we have a car that's where the kids want to go to play on the toy. So they played for a few minutes while we waited for our food and then they came and ate pretty quick so that they could go play some more, but of course instead of playing on the toy there the whole time all we did was make runs to the McToilet and play with this McToy:

Which by the way, after taking one of the kids to the bathroom for the McBillionth time I came back to my Dad asking me "Which kid would you like to be blind?" hmm let me think... I guess when I was gone they discovered that the little arrow that shoots out of the front trap door could take out an eye. Now yes I may have a blind son but it would make me:

$$$Mrs. Amie 'Mc'Nicolas$$$.

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Grocery Shopping

Ayden is choosing out what he's going to put in his grocery bag... which is his pillow case.
Ashten has his Wal-Mart cart loaded to more than max. capacity.

with all kinds of yummy food causing the bottom of the cart to bow. HAHA
I was making some chili for dinner which required some canned goods. Anytime, I leave the canned goods spinning cabinet open I know it will be a mess. While the food was cooking, I went to nurse Baby J and when I came back I found them playing grocery store. At least it wasn't the usual game of let's empty the whole cabinet and roll them all over the floor!

Just Me

It has been brought to my attention that my own blog has 2 pics of me (1 which is from my wedding almost 6 years ago and 1 is just ugly! HAHA) So, I gave Ashty the camera and let him snap away 'til we got a good one (with some cropping). Don't you love digital you can just erase all the ugly pics and there is no proof that they ever existed! Anyways, it's like I don't take part at any of the events or non-events in our family's lives: I'm always trying to hide behind the camera. Oh Well, Here I Am, Hope You're Happy!

Laundry Day

Round 1 Round 2
Looking back 5.5 years ago I thought laundry was so annoying and it was only Armand and I and Armand actually did all of the ironing for me! What was I thinking?!? 3 Kids later I dream about those days of laundry for 2 instead of 5. The piles take up our whole living room floor (the pictures don't do the piles justice) and this does NOT include anything needing ironing, hanging, or our down comforter, sheets, and 3 pillows that Ashten got Orange Juice all over (freshly squeezed by the way), or round 3 which is in the washer and dryer still. But I see the light... I'm almost caught back up...And then in 2 more weeks I get to start ALL over again. LUCKY ME!!!

Anderson can stand!

Yesterday, I tried so hard to catch AJ standing up because he did it 2 times and

I wanted to have pictures for his scrapbook, so wouldn't you know today while

he was totally naked he stood up like he was an old pro.

(later when he was dressed I tried to get him to stand again and he didn't want to...of course!)

FUN IN THE SUN

Ayden running up to do a big splash in the pool. Ashten "Momma don't take my picture!"
What studs!
AJ was eating the yummy pink watermelon.

But he enjoyed the white and green parts equally or more!
WooHoo what a hottie!
Dad, "uncle" Dave, and Gavin
"aunt" Storm, Ashten, and ArmandAyden, Ashten, and MomGavin...mmm yummy S'moresGrammy taken by Ashten Finally, a nice day. We went outside and blew up the pool (which took forever!) Only to find out that it had a HUGE hole in it (which is why it took forever!) So, me and the kids walked down to Walgreen's and picked up a new one. When we got home... Armand was there! What a great surprise! Mom and Dad invited us over to their house for a BBQ so we headed down there with our new pool. We had a blast playing in the water and BBQing. It was a perfect day!

It snowed in May...

I know this year it's not that far fetched, but it didn't really snow. We woke up this morning to a beautiful pink covering over our front yard and over the car. The cherry blossom tree in our front yard was dropping it's petals all night, I tried to catch a picture before I went to bed but I don't know if it turned out. If so I'll post it tonight when Armand gets home. Anyways, the kids were so excited about the "pink snow" and they were playing with it like it really was snow. They were throwing "snowballs" at me and taking big handfuls and throwing it the air. They had to clean the "snow" off of Daddy's car. Anyways, here is a picture of the big boys throwing the "snow" in the air... I guess it's hard to see the petals falling from the sky. Oh well, here's a picture anyway.

Squirrely

Today I looked out the window and what did I see? Just kidding. Anyways, out on the front porch and garden there were several squirrels and crows I guess they were having a party. There was one squirrel sitting on the front porch with that large stick and it was peeling the bark off of it. Ayden and I watched it for several minutes before it took off but it was pretty cool watching it claw the bark off and using it's tiny little paws roll it up into a big ball. I wish I had the camera here today so you could get a better view (this is from the cell phone camera).

Bathtime Buddies

Ashten and Anderson
It would have been sweet to have all three of the boys together but if you know Ayden, you know he can't sit still so once he got out I put AJ in. (His first time ever in the big bath tub.) He LOVED it but he kept getting SO excited that he would straighten his whole body out flinging himself backwards...it was quite scary so maybe we'll just stick to the kitchen sink for a few more months.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a great day blessed with perfect children (at least for one day!)

Sad that this is the only picture I have with me and all the boys and it's so bad! I wanted to get a new one taken today but Armand left the camera at work.

Party Time!

Kristin and Wes at their new house.

Gabriel and Ashten watching Aunt Kristin cut her cake.
Ayden being himselfAnderson SOOOO tired!
We had a great time with yummy food and cake at Kristin's Birthday / Housewarming Party. I spent all day on the cake and the last hour getting food prepped. I was worried that no one was going to show and we'd have all this food leftover but they had a great turn out and we went home with no leftovers. The boys had a blast playing with their cousin Gabriel having paper snowball fights. It's so cool how kids can bond so quickly with their friends/cousins even when they only see them 2-3 times a year.

DDR

I just had to post this picture of Ayden doing Dance Dance Revolution. One because 1 Ashten took the picture and he is so proud about it. And 2 because the boys got this dance pad from Uncle Wes and Aunt Kristin and when they first got it for Christmas they were super lame and got lots of "Boos" not from us but from the game. But when I started watching Ayden doing the DDR he was doing really well considering he doesn't play on it regularly. He must have got his dance skills from Daddy.

Playgroup

Today I had a car! WOOHOO ...I had big plans for today. We started the day at Heather's for playgroup. Even though playgroup can be a hassle sometimes...I love getting together with the other girls from the ward. They are funny!! There have been times when I just sit there and say nothing How I love hearing adults talking. HAHA Most times its crazy and chaotic but still there are other kids to keep mine busy. After playgroup, my big day was supposed to start. I wanted to go to Costco, Wal-Mart /Target, and JoAnn's/Michael's then run over to the UPS Store and ship out some late Christmas gifts...Christmas gifts??? you are thinking about it, I know you are...Yes I am super SLOW this year. O well better late than never. Anyways, we got to Costco did our shopping and then the boys were hungry so they got hotdogs and I got the Turkey Wrap I don't know if it's new but it's definitly new since last time I went to Costco. (Yummy) While we were eating we ran into some friends from the ward it was good to chat...it's always refreshing to know that all mom's have their crazy moments with their kids and that I'm not the only one whose husband has to go away for several weeks at a time. So everyone is eating and the kids start wrestling with their friend Payton and going crazy. (We probably offended all of Costco) Meanwhile Anderson started losing it from lack of sleep. So what do we do next??? GO HOME AND NAP!
So I accomplished nothing compared to the list I had BUT at least we now have 6 months worth of Toilet Paper...Thanks Costco!!