How can I ever catch up?!!!

O.k. so last night I was informed by AmyLyn that I needed to update my blog- yes, I know. Now could you please explain that to my five kids. For some reason each time I have sat down to blog, something else has taken me away. (just now I shooed Jocelyn away.) So yes I am very far behind, the holidays consumed me, Beware this may be a long blog.
Halloween was great the kids looked cute and had a great time trick or treating with friend and carving pumpkins.

Jocelyn finally was able to have her barbie birthday party. All those cute girls had a fun time and each went home with a barbie as a party favor. Jocleyn loved it. She has a lot of cute little friends. Lucky girl!

Thanksgiving we went to my parents and did the normal turkey dinner,games and the annual black friday plan of attack (which went great-mom,Laura and I got everything we set out to get-in order to do that we were at walmart at midnight after deciding toys r us was too busy)




All the single Ladies....


Usually we head up to the mountains later in day on black friday to get our christmas tree but this year to make everyone schedules work we went on Saturday. It was a great time. Each year we get better at finding the trees and this year it took just over an hour for the men and AmyLyn to return with the trees. The kids had a blast sledding, eating, drinking hot chocolate and watching a movie in our expedition. Ben picked out our best tree yet.








Between Thanksgiving and Christmas it was filled with recitals- piano, choir and dance. I can't believe how fast time went. We were able to visit temple square with my mom before christmas for Ethan's choir recital and we also went after Christmas with Ben's brother Matt and his wife Lisa. It was beautiful as always and I loved being able to go twice this year. The kids can never get enough of Temple Square.



Jocelyn and her friend Emma at their dance recital "I want a hippopotamus for christmas"

Our new ornaments - this year we let them just pick whatever they wanted. Ben and I stuck with santa,Ethan stuck with snowmen, Jake stuck with star wars, Jocelyn picked a mitten, Riley a candy cane, and Owen a gingerbread man.

We also were able to squeeze in our annual graham cracker houses at Grandmas. As always the kids loaded up their houses thinking beyond creativity and into their stomachs. Fun for all!







This is what we got as a sunday christmas picture-Riley and Owen crying. Oh well we'll try again soon.

Traditional pjs christmas eve.

Christmas was great, Matt and Lisa were fun to have for the holidays and it has seemed like parties continuously since they came. We had Bonnie and her family over a couple of times also for games and dinner.
Everyone got what they were wishing for. Ben a new tv and jeans, Me- a new camera -couldn't have come at a better time, Owen pulled the old one of the counter 2 days before christmas so now the pictures look like everyone is melting! Needless to say I am loving the new camera and keep finding excuses to take more pictures. Ethan and Jake both got nintendo ds and legos. Jocleyn got what she thinks is an american girl doll (can't bring myself to tell her it's not-maybe she can have a reall one after I see how she treats this one!) She also got a bunch of cute clothes for her doll that I have been making every spare chance I could get- pretty much consume my free time hence no blogging! Riley got a scooter of his own and Lightning Mcqueen geotrax, and Owen got little people farm and hoddies. I promised myself we would not go overboard this year but once presents were opened it seemed like a lot of stuff. Maybe it's the five kids=lots of presents!

Our Christmas Tree


Everyone in on the pictureka game.

Mat and Lisa were a blast to have for Christmas!

Fall fun

October is one of our favorite times of the year. This year was no exception. Over the UEA weekend, Ben took some time off and we headed to Hee Haw Farms- our first time ever going there. The kids loved it. They especially loved the long slides, the hay ride, launching corn cobs, and the corn pit. They were not too excited about walking around in the corn maze. I thought they would love it but three year old legs tend to get tired and bored if not stimulated (lots of whining, which made us all more anxious to find an exit!) Once we were out the whining stopped-amazing how that happens! We were lucky, it was a beautiful day, sunny and warm and hard to believe it was fall.





Jocelyn turned FIVE this month! What a cute girl! She wanted a barbie birthday so of course I attempted the infamous barbie cake- turned out pretty good and she was so excited- she had to show it to all her friends while they were over here to play. She got a scooter (she really wanted one especially since she lost Jakes, sad thing is she got a pink scooter so Jake won't even ride it as a back up!) and a new helmet and then later that night before cake I let her open on last suprise- Miley cyrus CD! Been rethinkin and singing party in the usa since! Oh we just love her to death, Jocelyn that is -Miley some days we could do without but it is just too cute to see her and her friends rockin out to very loud songs! We still need to have her party-too busy to find a night to have it although next week is lookin up.



As for last weekend we had the annual Halloween party with my family. Lots of food,sugar,games,sugar,crafts,sugar,and more sugar! What a rush and just as we got home the crash. Thanks mom- the kids had a blast.



Me sewing away on costumes to have them ready for the afore mentioned Halloween party. Ethan still needs a hat for his potato head and Jocelyn thinks she needs a broom for her witches costume! Why are costumes never done!

Here's a sneak peek at the potato head- lookin better each day!

Music to someones ears

So right now I am sewing Ethan's Mr potato head costume - complete with changeable body parts( it sounds cuter than what it may look) anyways Ethan and Jake are in the next room listening to a cd that Ethan got tonight at the library- Mozart! Jake is less than thrilled and just about a minute ago all was quiet while they are in bed listening to the cd, and then Jake says to Ethan "You owe me 50 cents for this!" I could hardly keep from laughing! They are such complete opposites sometimes- especially with music. Where Jake loves guitar hero 2 music- Ethan prefers music from high school musical, Paul Cardall and as of tonight Mozart. It amazes me they are from the same parents sometimes! Anyways Ben is at convention and I have been a single parent (at least it feels like it, for the past couple of weeks) and will be at least until Sunday. Conventions stink! We sure miss him but tonight a trip to Del taco and the library made it a little more bearable. Well, back to Mr. potatohead, not quite the male interaction I'm used to this time of night!

A few things I forgot...

Our cute little Rileybug turned 3 the end of August and of course we had to celebrate with Lightening McQueen. He is still (thank goodness) in love with McQueen. I love that he is still in this phase and hasn't quite gone to the dark side yet (star wars that is!) I know it will come soon and I'm ok with that I just like that he still likes the cute innocent stuff. So for his b-day we went to Toys r us to roam the aisles and pick the perfect present. It was a hard for him but it was narrowed down to geo trax mater and a Mcqueen book bought with the money Grandma Allen sent. We headed home for a Cars cake and some more presents of course lightning McQueen boots. Ethan and Jake had yellow rain boots when they were Rileys age and I remember them being wore till they smelled so bad I had to throw them away. The boys would wear them year round and in the summer when riding their bikes and other adventures. There is nothing like a good pair of rain boots for boys! Riley is just a blast to have around -he is a joker and keeps us on our toes. Still refuse to be potty trained and is still afraid of being naked. I'm still not sure what to do- we've tried everything even bribing him with a trip to Disneyland! But when Grandma asked if he was going to go potty and go to disneyland he just said "NO, I not going to disneyland"! Urgh! I've never had a problem with my kids being potty trained but I have figured out there is no forcing him and eventually (hopefully soon) he will accept being a big kid! I can't imagine our family with out him and love him to pieces!




Owen also had his first birthday a couple weeks ago and I can't believe how fast it has gone. We weren't able to celebrate on his birthday so this past sunday I made him a monkey cake- not the cutest ever but hey I worked the night before and had just woke up from a nap! That's how it goes! He is our little monkey. He has been climbing things for the past two months and is into everything! He will climb anything he can get his leg up on-stools in the kitchen, Jocleyns rocking chair, the bench in his bedroom(which then leads him to climb on Rileys bed), the stairs, the couch, and so on! A little scary when he didn't know how to get down but now he is a champ! Although I'm still not fond of his going down the stairs - he walks along the wall or sits on his bum- it's scary to watch. The boy has no fear! Last week he really started to walk and now he can pretty much get across any room without falling. He also loves to give kisses,high 5's and loves to wrestle with the boys- but watch out he also bites pretty hard! We've all learned our lesson. We took him in for his 1 year check and he is 75th percentile for height and 25th for weight. He's our smallest kid-hazards of having 5 older siblings I guess.

I'm still here!

Yes I am still here - I realized that my last post was a little dramatic and just so you know -I didn't give up . Things are still crazy here and will be for the next few months until Owen outgrows his tearing the house apart phase and Riley outgrows his terrible twos (which after having five kids I'm convinced it should be renamed the terrible 3's). So just to get a little caught up, here are a few pics I'm behind on -
The first day of school for the boys was hectic since we had only been home a day from vacation.


I love this picture of Riley as we walked home from taking the boys to school. It was even cuter to see since he was singing along the way.


After school twinkies! The boys were sooo excited- I never buy twinkes- I think they're gross!



Jake turned nine in August and we celebrated with a joined birthday party for him and Ethan. They had a great water park party with all their friends. Tiki themed with plenty of water slides and water balloons to keep them entertained for hours.



Soccer also started the week we got back from vacation and has kept us busy all week and each saturday- I may need to rethink having 3 kids in soccer!



Jocelyn also started preschool at the Monkey Treehouse again. She really likes her teacher and also likes that she goes 3 days a week. I do too! Here she is showing off her new bag I made for her. She picked out the fabric and I whipped it up- too cute!



Labor day we headed up the canyon to roast hotdogs and smores- so did everyone else in north Utah county! it was busy but we managed to have fun and Jocelyn had her first outdoor peeing experience. In the picture of her she is washing the potty off her foot- it stinks (literally) to be a girl sometimes!



So those are the big things happening at our house and in between it all it is filled with this:




And finally the best picture ever-

One busy night while trying to get the kids to bed, Riley was playing with Jocelyns toothbrushes(one she had just gotten 2 days prior from the dentist). I asked him to put them away and I guess in his mind the toilet was a good spot! Good thing I purchased a toilet snake- see my previous blog! and memorable experience. Anyways Ben was not too thrilled to go through this again.
It's been pretty entertaining around here!

I sooo give up!

Today is just one of those days! Now that I think about it the last month has been one of those days that just keeps on going! Highlights of today ( and mind you it is just 1 o'clock and most of this happened a while ago) The boys were late for school because of the new (not really new,I have just started to really enforce it) rule of jobs done or you don't leave for school. I don't ask much- just beds made and rooms clean, piano practiced, and dishwasher done. Ok enough of my tangent- Riley has taken the cake today-stack of puzzles on the floor, smooshed peas at lunch, tormenting Owen, and while outside digging up potatoes for dinner tonight - I asked Jocelyn to push Owen in his swing, she pushed too hard and he hit his face, so while I headed over to console Owen, Riley threw our potatoes-bucket and all - down the window well. Not a big deal on any other day but just an hour before, I sprayed this window well completely down with bug spray to kill two HUGE black widows AND their eggs sacks! GROSS! Creepy! I gives me chills to just type about it! So I had to spend more time digging up potatoes and Owen was bored by then and fussy and I had already hauled Riley off to bed for a nap- Urrgh I just want to scream! Everything I do seems to take 10 times longer than need be and some mess is usually the end result! I so love my kids but man I need a break!!!! (so husband if you read this -HELP! I may be insane or very cranky when you get home.) I still have 3 dentist appointments and a soccer game to survive. Oh my I should start praying now!
Ok I feel better I vented and I may be up for blogging after Owen goes down for a nap- lots of stuff happening around our house!
As for now Owen is crying at my heels and Jocelyn is in desperate need of attention!

I need a vacation from my vacation!

Yes we're back I swear the entire valley grumbled as we came rolling into Salt Lake! We were dirty and tired and cranky and just so glad to be home. What a great vacation- a little bit of camping, the beach, educational fun, relaxing, and lots of family- what could be better? Almost two weeks ago we headed through Oregon, stopping in Portland for a few days and then ended up in Port Townsend Washington for the Allen family Hoo-Haw. I seems like years ago since we packed so much into those 10 days.

Suckers were the only thing at this point to keep Owen happy. When we got to our first stop he was a sticky mess.

The first night we stayed in Ontario- right on the snake river. The boys loved it. The next day we traveled to Portland and made a few stops on they way- one memorable stop was a park where all the wind surfers hung out at - mostly really old (and I mean over 55) wind surfers and a young kid among those old guys smoking weed just out in the open like it was a cigarette (luckily the boys didn't notice) We arrived in Portland late and had dinner, played at the park and then headed for bed. The next day - the Tillamook Cheese factory.


The kids loved it. They were so entertained by watching the cheese be made and packaged. Of course we couldn't leave without having some tillamook icecream and sampling all the cheese. YUM! We then headed up to rockaway beach.





The kids had a blast. They were able fly their kites and wade in the ocean and make sand castles. It was even sunny and warm- a great day at the beach. We also did some shopping at the local shops where Ben bought a skim board- much to Ethan and Jakes delight and for the rest of us we picked out about 100 different flavors of taffy. We continued up the coast and stopped at Mcd's for dinner and then headed back to the trailer- exhausted! The next day we went to the mc escher exhibit at the Portland Art Museum.

Jocelyn and Riley outside the Portland art museum- waiting for dad - he had to go buy a t-shirt.

Thank goodness for the native american exhibit and the discovery room for the kids. We left Ben to investigate each m.c escher print. The kids couldn't stand how long Ben stared at each print-funny- I couldn't spend that much time either. So I roamed with the kids and as we left I'm almost positive I heard a collective sigh from all the museum security and a hooray from all the other visitors. It was like a herd of elephants in a library- a library that echos and the elephants know it so they keep stomping and trumpheting just to hear themselves make noise. That was our attempt of a little culture for our kids- we will probably wait another 4 years to try that again! Anyways since we so much resembled a herd of elephants we headed of to see some at the portland zoo.


As luck would have it it was 2 dollar tuesday and it was packed- yeah for saving money -bleah for the crowds. The kids didn't seem to mind and enjoyed themselves. Off to Dennys for dinner in the scary part of portland-why can't the GPS tell you -turn right, you have arrived at your destination in the scariest part of the city-recalculating now! Again we scored and it was kids eat free night -seriously we weren't trying to be cheap and I only mention this because Ben and I thought it was pretty funny. The next day we met up in Ocean Shores with Ben's brother, Sam and his wife Stephanie and their cute little Courtney who we haven't seen since she was a baby. We had an amazing view and listened to the ocean crash on the beach all night.




It was pretty cold so the kids didn't swim but somehow found the way to always get wet. They collected a ton of shells and had fun with crabs and even saw a starfish. It was a beautiful beach, just too cold to really enjoy. The next day we headed back to Port Angeles to stay at Sam and Stephanies. Of course we had to stop in Forks- yup Forks.

I really didn't care to go but Ben found a way to get us there and I'm glad he did. We did all the touristy things from twilight, stopped and ate pizza and shopped at the outfitters. We spent that night at Sams and the next day did sight seeing in port angeles for a bit-picutres of bella italia and more twilight shopping. Friday we met up in Port Townsend with Bens family at Fort Wardon for the Allen family reunion. What a good time! it was a blast to see all of Ben's family again.

The Allen fam lining up to pick sides for the kickball game.

A game of kickball started it off and the weekend just kept going. Trips to the beach, the batteries, farmers market, sightseeing, sea glass hunting, wiffle ball game, hot rod store, stupid hichew lady, black berry picking, an amazing talent show, a great game of balderdash and apples to apples, kite flying, and just good ol' hanging out. A ton of fun!

The kids running in and out of the batteries and cousin David on the top of the battery- I wouldn't let the kids do this!-Too scary for me!

Jocelyn and her cousin Gunnar- each kid had a flashlight and had a blast exploring the tunnels. Gunnar kept saying I done now. I think Uncle Dan coming along and scaring them ended it for Riley- he cried he was so scared. Thanks Dan!

Jocelyn and Griffin kite flying on top of the battery - she kept walking backwards which we kept yelling at her to stop since there was a 15 ft drop not too far behind her. So scary!

Who knew Owen loved to fly kites? He got a hold of Rileys McQueen kite and had a fit if anyone tried to take it from him!

The family talent show- what a blast! Sam doing the family math.

Uncle Dan juggling while Jake played guitar hero.

Ethan performing his escape from a sleeping bag. Pretty funny!

Our last day in Port Townsend. Kids found a jelly fish and a starfish.

Do I look ready to go home?!!!

One last moment of fun at the batteries

One of the last things we wanted to do was the ferry ride of course the kids loved it. We ran into some of our fam crazy since we had seperated hours before! A good ending to our vacation.

Jocelyn and cousin Hannah- Jocelyn didn't want to leave, she had so much fun with her cousin and she has a way of charming her uncles as well.

The kids wanted me to take a picutre of the gps while we were on the ferry.

The kids didn't want to leave but man I needed to do laundry and school started -today! Not much choice uneducated and unclothed is not an option for this fam. And man oh man Ben and I need some sleep! We're already looking forward to the next vacation and I am so glad we drove up the coast -what a beautiful drive. Everything was so lush and green and we had great weather-it was even sunny in forks- so no I didn't see any vampires! What great memories! Definitely one to remember!