Bear up to Bat

My baby gets to play baseball for the first time this year. He is super excited.



You can't really see the excitement in this picture, but trust me it's there.



He is a natural at the tee. He hit the ball off the tee the very first try.



He even knew right were to run. I think this is going to be a great baseball season. Of course, I'm going to be living at the ball park with three kids playing. The only one that didn't get to play was Bug. She is just out of the play for fun and into the competitive sports bracket, which wouldn't be too bad except their season starts a month earlier and I missed the boat on signing her up.

Trust me she tells me every day how unfair it is that she's the one who loves to play and she's the only one not playing. I try to make it better by telling her she's all signed up for soccer this fall, but I'm still in the dog house for baseball.

Family Birthday Party 2010

We had our annual family birthday party at a gymnasium. Brook and Andy were in charge this year and they did an awesome job. We played at the gym for about two hours then went up to a park to do our BBQ and presents.



We had fun racing up a big blow up obsticle course. Some of the adults, I won't name who (Brook), used their wife's head to help him get over the top. Beaner is being patient waiting to help me up to the top. Good luck with getting me up there the last time I had to use Jason's head to get up.



Bug didn't want Rae Rae to be left out so she helped her through the course too.



There were so many fun things to play on that no one got bored and no one had to stand in line. Bud is very proud of his balancing skills.



Some kids brought some tude with them so Auntie Ann stood behind them during picture time to help them with their smile. Grandma Lovely didn't want to her smile to be left out of the picture so she snuck right in there at the last second.



Uncle Jason was a favorite among all the youngens, including little Rae Rae.



This is Auntie Marie and her fiance, Walker's, first family function together. I think they really enjoyed themselves. Hopefully next time his kids will be able to join us and meet the rest of the family.



Uncle Brook is such a poser.



See what I mean.



I think he's also rubbing off on his wife. It's too bad Big D and Uncle Itchy had to work and weren't able to enjoy the fun with us. We decided we are going to try and rent the gym for Bud's birthday. Maybe then they can play with us.

Anyone Need a Contractor?

A couple years ago Big D and the kids were wrestling on our bed when Big D put his foot through the wall. I thought a quick patch job is all it needed until I started taking down the broken sheetrock and discovered black mold. We were in no position to fix it so we didn't bother it for awhile, I know that probably isn't the smartest idea but when you don't have the $$$ what are you going to do.

I finally decided to tackle the wall and see just how far this mold went. I was scared it went all the way into our restroom and up in the ceiling. I ripped out one complete wall and it kept going and so did I. I had to rip out our closet but it stopped before it reached our restroom, yeah! It also didn't make it up to the ceiling, few.

In order to fix our bedroom, which is in the basement we decided it is a good time to upgrade at least one of our windows and make it an egress window. Long story short we had to move out of our room to get every thing done that needs to be done.

We ended up getting rid of our toy room and turned it into our quiet room/office. The former quiet room is now our bedroom, yes, that would be upstairs :0(



The last time the toy room was painted was ten years ago when it was our oldest, Bug's room. We took every thing out and I figured I could live with patch marks on the walls before I could live with big holes every where.



So our little contractors in training helped patch the 150 holes. Grandpa would be so proud. I think construction is in the blood.

Needless to say, all our bedroom project has told us, is we need to redo our whole house. Thank goodness we can do it one room at a time.

Primary Activity

We took all the kids, that were interested, to the temple for a tour and a picnic. A lot of people thought we were crazy for wanting to take that many youngens to the temple grounds. They all did fabulous!



Bug standing in front of the Baptism for the Dead entrance which is going to be remodeled starting next month.



Bear and Bud standing next to one of the oldest trees. It is a Linden tree and it will probably be ripped out in the near future.



Beaner is standing in an arch that they use to take bridal shots.



Bear is standing in front of the temple holding his card he received from the visitors center after we watched movies about sharing.



Beaner enjoying being center of attention. She's going to make a b-e-a-utiful bride one day.



Bug hopefully practicing for when she comes back to get her bridal shots in front of the temple, but not for at least another ten years.



Bud showing off his card as well. I don't know why they felt like they needed to hold those up, maybe they were just proud of their trip.

Charlie, Kinz, and Bug Play

Kinnzi was so cute with her babies. She was such a good mama and when it was time for them to all go to their new homes, she was just fine with it, probably because now she doesn't have to share the attention anymore.

After Princess left, a week before Charlie, Bug treated him like a prince. We actually started calling him Prince Charles because Bug would carry him around on top of a pillow. He spent more time outside his kennel than inside. I had to put my foot down when she begged to have him sleep with her. I didn't think it was appropriate for a puppy to sleep on the top bunk.

Charlie knew when Bug was around because first thing in the morning she'd get him out. When we'd come home from running errands, she run to get him out. Those two bonded so much I thought there was going to be tears when he left. I think she always knew he wasn't hers to keep.

A Day of Haircuts

The Primary Presidency took all the kids from Primary to the temple for an activity. We had a nice tour of the grounds where they showed us plants that aren't grown anywhere else in Idaho Falls (just because they won't grow) Flowers that are going to be ripped up next month to make a reflecting pool, and the entrance people usually use for Baptisms of the dead which too is being remodeled next month.

We watched some movies in the visitors center, learned about nebulas (places where stars are born), and how tiny our planet really is in the grand scheme of the universe and all the Lord's glory.

On our way home Bud got ahold of some putty which ended up in his hair, so guess what we got to do when we got home?



We get to cut hair. Since I had to cut Bud's I figured I'd torture Bear as well. If you look close you can see the putty in Bud's bangs.



This is how he looked after I just removed the putty. I asked him if he wanted me to leave his hair like this, he said probably not.



I usually shave both boys head, and Big D's too, but I wanted to leave it a little longer on top with Bear, Bud didn't have that choice anymore. I think they turned out pretty cute. It will be a nice summer haircut, at least for two weeks until we have to do it again.



The girls and I decided we wanted nice summer dos too. We looked at a bunch of different hairstyles on the internet and which haircut looks best to match the shape of our faces. Each girl picked the cut they wanted and we were off to the barber.



Beaner chose a cut pixie haircut. She has so much trouble with her brushing her hair, it's so thick and gets rats nests so easy. She gets mad every time I make her brush her hair ten times before it looks good. I think this is the best choice for her, I'm glad she decided on this one.

Bug and I actually chose the same do, a layered bob. I think it makes her look so much older, which I tell her every day she really must stop doing. This will be nice because she wanted it off her neck, which it is, but it isn't too short as to accentuate her round face and make it look rounder (if that is even a word).

Both girls have already had a lot of compliments and I can't quit running my fingers through Beaner's hair, because I can.

Now the only one who needs a haircut is Big D, where's my razor?