We have a 5 year old!

We originally thought Daddy would not be home until after Ruger went to bed, on his birthday, so we decided to celebrate the Saturday before. 

We went to the mall and let the 2 little ones ride on these mechanical animals and then afterwards took them all to the candy store.

Then we went home, had Ruger's favorite meal (Taco Salad), opened presents, and then had cake.

I had to put a picture of him and his movie.  This kid won't stay still for anything but a computer game.  And even then, he gets up to jump around now and then because he can't handle it.  Sometimes it gets so bad, that if he is on my bed while playing on the laptop, he stops and digs his head deep into a pillow and screams!  He can't stay still or quiet for long at all.  BUT, when we watched The Greatest Showman he stayed in the living room the whole time!  The whole time!  And it wasn't even a cartoon!

On his actual birthday, I took cupcakes to his preschool class and they all celebrated his big day.

Ruger loves school, loves people, loves rocks, loves the computer, loves outside, loves babies, oh goodness....I could go on and on.  He just loves life!  I mean, he really truly does.  I guess with his kind of energy, how could he not?

Animals, animals, animals

Ruger was invited to a friend's birthday party last week.  They had a company bring some animals for the kids to pet.  Which reminds me of something cute about Ruger.

There is this baby that he sees almost everyday that he has preschool.  He "pets" her everyday.  It is the cutest thing but I wonder how many times I am going to have to tell him that "you pet dogs, not babies" before he actually gets it!

 So, they had hedgehog, a boa snake, a bearded dragon, a ring tail, and a chinchilla.

 I saved my favorite 3 for last.  The turtle, tortoise, and skunk!

When This Man Comes Home

I don't know which is more telling.

The look in this man's eyes or him cuddling in.

His being gone during the week has played a toll on my emotions but I can't deny the closeness it has brought us during each and every weekend.  I am grateful for what this experience has forced us to realize in purposefully making time for each other and realizing just what each other does for one another in building a strong marriage.

Halloween 2019

Halloween began with a church dinner, activities, and trunk or treat the Saturday before the actual holiday.  The older boys dressed in dark clothes as they did their part of the activities (they were in charge of a "haunted" room).  And even though they apparently made a little kid cry, I was still proud of them for helping out with the festivities.  It is fun watching your kids grow to take on responsibilities like this.  They could have been out and about having fun but instead they were entertaining others.  I don't know why it made me so happy but it really did.

 Ruger was Batman/Spiderman!  He couldn't make up his mind on which one to be so I thought, "Why can't he be both?"  It turned out to be a pretty funny costume considering the 2 super heroes come from 2 totally different comics/universes.  David pointed that out to me after I had decided to get all the stuff Ruger needed for his costume.  I knew Uncle Chuck would be proud!

It had been a real tough week for me so it was hard to put on a happy face but I'm glad I went.  It forced me to socialize and it was a good reminder that our family belongs to a really great Church full of members who care about each other.

 On Halloween, Levi actually dressed up for school...if that is what you want to call this!  So, he already had this hoodie that everyone says looks like the 90's Solo/Dixie cup, so he decided to get the matching joggers and went just as that.  That kid cracks me up.

Hyrum got with a few of his friends from school and they all dressed in some kind of blow up dinosaur costume.  He went out with his friends on his own while David and I went trick or treating with Ruger.  Brigham had a friend come over and they just played games and ate a lot of junk food.

It was a very cold night but that didn't slow Ruger down one bit.  David and I laughed often that night as we watched him run from one house to the next, never once getting tired or complaining that it was cold.  Oh, to have his energy!

For King and Country

My favorite band/group is For King and Country.  I love that they are a Christian singing group but they also add a love song here and there in their music.  Because of this, I can listen to any of their music around my kids and know I don't have to worry about the influence of it.  Add to that, that they are just amazing musicians.  If you watch any of their live performances on youtube.com you will quickly see that they are not just singers.  And even better, they don't play just one instrument.  They play multiple!  I love their way of writing music and it often makes me sit and think about certain things.  These are the reasons why I love them so much.

Hyrum and I had the opportunity to watch them in concert last night in the Salt Lake City area.  I've only been to a few concerts in my life.  I'm sure its because I'm cheap.  I just can't get myself to spend so much money on watching a performance when I can use that money for other needed things.  I mean, I can watch them on youtube.com right?  

A year or so ago, our family was at Frontier City in Oklahoma City.  TobyMac was performing there.  It was Hyrum's first time seeing a musician perform in that type of setting.  He already likes Christian music and he was familiar with his music because I have a few of his C.D.s.  Watching Hyrum at that concert was a memorable moment.  He got emotional during a few of his performances and I knew that I needed to take him to similar events.  

The For King and Country concert last night was our second concert together since the TobyMac experience.    Though I don't like spending money on concerts, it is worth it to me to do so when we can.  Hyrum's connection to Christian music is something that I really enjoy watching.  

 At one point in the concert, the two brothers of the group, separated and started to walk in the stands full of people.  Joel Smallbone walked right past us!  I know he is just a human being like anyone else, but it was still super cool!

At another part of the concert, the brothers presented an organization that helps individual children in impoverish countries.  The children need financial help with obtaining food and education as well as being able to attend church services.  They gave everyone in the audience a chance to sponsor a child.  Sadly, I have to admit that I didn't want to look at Hyrum during this part of the concert.  I know his tender heart!  I knew he would want to do it.  Sure enough, even though I wasn't looking at him, he asked me if we could do it.  

I get so caught up in trying to save money to get to a better financial place for our family that I can force myself past that sweet Spirit that tells me that I should use our money in a different way.  And that's exactly what I did...until Hyrum asked me what he did.  After that, it came so easy.  I asked him if he would be willing to commit to one year.  One year of helping me around the house to pay for this opportunity.  He was eager to do so.  

At concerts that I have been to in the past, I have always wanted to leave before it was over.  Always.  I love music.  I do.  And some are better at performing it in a way that keeps my attention. But there just always seems to be something in the back of my mind that I want or need to get done.  Or its late and I don't want to travel tired.  Those are usually the 2 reasons I want to leave before a concert ends.  But this concert I really did not want to end.  Every second of it was wonderful.  Even waiting during the intermission wasn't "painful" because I got to just talk to my son, one on one.  

Happy Fall Y'all

Over the weekend, we went to the He Haw Farms in Pleasant Grove.  It's kind of a corn maze/pumpkin patch/fall activities type of a place.

A week or so ago, I made a "Happy Fall Y'all" sign to remind me of Oklahoma.  So I brought it with me in hopes I'd find a picture opportunity for the boys.  The farm didn't disappoint!

There were things to do from zip lines to most farm games you can think of at this place.  The older boys got tired of it a lot faster than Ruger...well, Ruger never got tired of it.  We had to force him out of the place!  But all in all, we all had a good time and I'm really glad we went.

TEAM LEVI !!!

 A few weeks ago, Levi had his first cross country meet.  After I picked him up, I asked him when there would be another one that parents could go to.  He said something like, "Oh, you could have went to this one."  I told him that I wished I would have known because (somewhat jokingly) I would have came with signs and a blow horn!  He quickly told me that people don't do stuff like that at these meets.  

He should have never told me that!

Yesterday was the next race and so I brought a sign that had a picture of him on it with "TEAM LEVI !!!" written on it.  I had planned on waiting until after the race to use it and the instant he saw us, to hold it high in the air.  But Ruger saw the sign and was so excited about it that he waved it every time Levi would pass by us (which was several times) during the race!  I really had planned on being somewhat nice about it but Ruger was just so cute wanting to yell and show his brother!

GO LEVI !!!