3 Men & A Little Lady: 2013

Monday, December 30, 2013

{Winter Break Fun}

We headed back to cold Colorado from Kansas and were greeted by the snow! The kids continue to find the snow majestic! We spent the rest of Christmas break just playing! It was fantastic :)

Weapon or icicle??? Drew couldn't keep his tongue off of it!

Having the aunties around always means more fun! We attempted taking the kids ice skating for the first time. I loved every minute of it!!! However, not sure if I will be able to convince the aunties to ever go again! We needed some adult size cones :)

Ian didn't attend this adventure with us :(

Drew caught on quickly....and Mya was brave to keep trying, but

she much preferred me pulling her around in circles!

We took our "moves" from the ice to the ball room!

Kim and Carol taught the boys how to dance!

Starting early practicing because I am afraid Drew is going to take after Kenny and be standing up against the wall when it comes time to dance!

Cold weather meant lots of ice time. We decided to try our hand at hockey...minus the skates! It was the Summers vs. the Whites! We played our hearts out!!!

Christmas toys were played with and cool creations were made!

Grandma taught Ian how to sew a towel!

Owen putting some muscle into cleaning! He loves his Christmas mop! I would have loved one of these when I was his age!

Mya and Penny splish-splashing in the tub!

Mya trying out her new straw glasses!!

If the kids do not go to BYU or K-State, our third pick is UTEP!!! I'm sure Aunt Connie will let them live with her :)

Mya wanted to make sure I got her shoes in the picture! Can't get enough of her posing!

Talk about some posing...

Owen and Mya went through the Summers' old dress up clothes!

We had some good laughs!

Owen tried on Kenny's Donkey costume!!!

Clown Mya...another adorable pose!

These two crack me up!

These monkeys love the camera!!! I would pay money to see Kenny dressed up as a monkey now! I can't believe he wore this!

We ate at Pablo's Pizza downtown. One of the best pizza places I have ever eaten!

We also played at Kids Plex, which I think should be called Moms Plex because my kids let me sit in a chair uninterrupted for hours!

After playing for 4 hours, I dragged them out of there with them whining that they didn't get to stay long enough! I could take me kids here everyday!

A lot of time was spent playing games. Q-Bitz has quickly become a family favorite around here!

Having a break from school and getting to spend time with my kiddos is always a treasure! I am grateful for their sweet spirits and the joy they bring into my life. I wish they would slow down from growing up so quickly. I want to always remember these care free days!!!

Friday, December 27, 2013

{There's No Place Like Home}

One of the big perks of moving to Colorado is being a day drive from home!!!

We were all very excited to see the Kansas sign, knowing Ge and Grandad were close.

It had been several years since the last time I went home for Christmas. I could not wait to spend the holidays with my loved ones and the kids could not wait for some cousin time!

Mya loves nothing more than being with her girl cousins!!!

Especially baby Tenlee!

We loved having a baby around!

Crazy Boys!!!

Ge and Grandad with all their GRANDS!!!

The Gift Giving began:

Mya was so pleased with her new doll that she ran over to Ge and Grandad to thank them!

Since I was a little girl, my parents every Christmas come up with a creative poem that sends us on a hunt to find some Christmas $$$$

This year the poem stated that we must have a snow ball fight to receive the clue to where the money was hidden.

Each kid was assigned a cup and the person with the last cup standing was then given their clue.

These 3 were ready for a fight!!

Everybody received their clue and went dashing to find their treasure!

Everyone was a winner!

Even us big kids got to play!

Matt means business!

I love this tradition that my parents have kept up over the years. They are so creative and make the holidays so much fun!

Talking about Fun....

We celebrated the birth of Jesus by throwing him a party on Christmas Eve!

The kids got to decorate their own "cookie"

Then a piñata was brought out!!!

The kids took turns wearing gloves and trying to open the piñata.

The kids eagerly grabbed as much candy as they could stuff in their shirts!

Christmas music was played by Drew and GE...

and Kenny read us the Christmas story. It was such a peaceful and tranquil moment!!! (except for when I dragged Owen out of the room by his ear) LOL!!!

Christmas morning meant more gifts:

Drew loves marble runs and this one was a stunt maze!

Ian was questioning if this was a REAL gun...he was shocked to find out that it was!

Owen loves legos and Super Hero's, however he was very excited about his real mop and broom!

Mya with all her fun girly stuff! Favorites were the Anna and Elsa princesses from Frozen.

Toys were played with. Gotta love when cousins share their new toys!

Owen went straight to work cleaning... boy after my own heart! Ge even gave him her red dust pan! Christmas cleaning!!!

We filled the days we were in Kansas with fun adventures! We took the girls to go see Frozen with GE!!! Best movie of the year!

Days were spent playing games with Grandad!

And we relaxed and cuddled with the ones we love!

Being with my family was the best Christmas gift I could have been given! It was sad to leave everyone and all the fun. I love my family more than anything and am so grateful to know that we are an Eternal family!

They say the cutest things.....

Mya, my little girl, said in her prayers last night, "Please help us to be strong and healthy like the Hulk!"

Owen almost ran straight into a woman as we entered a dark parking garage. As I told him to watch out, he quickly yelled, "Well she's all black!" Coincidentally she was African American! She was wearing a black dress, which is what he was referring too!

Owen told me today, "You are the best mom I ever had! I love you all the way up to Jesus!" He also loves kissing and told Kenny, "I just want to stay home from school and kiss mom all day!"

Drew lost a tooth at school when he bit into his apple. He felt the tooth inside his mouth as he was chewing and when I asked him about it, he said, "I didn't realize it was mine and I wondered if it was one of the workers!"

While at church, a teacher asked the kids what happened to Jesus right after he was baptized and brought up from the water. Ian enthusiastically raised his hand and said, "He asked for a towel!"

After a long struggle with my boys, to get them inside, bathed, and into bed, I yelled, "I am done, go to sleep!" Owen looked up at me and said, "Mommy I'm sorry you're sad, but the problem is that you don't beat up Drew and Ian. Just beat them up and I will be on your team!"

We are not a family who eats beans, so when Drew went to a friends house to play and eat dinner, he was hesitant to eat the burrito that had refried beans in it. When I picked him up he said to me, "Mom she put mud inside the burrito!"

Aunt Connie pleaded with Owen to shoot his daddy with the gun instead of her and his response, "No, he's the best daddy i've ever had!"

I begged the boys to quit fighting and Drew looked at me and said, "Its not Mothers Day anymore mom!"

Owen got kicked in his "man hood" and said, "Oh, I hurt my Tenders!"

Drew asked this morning, "Mom in 2011 can we get a cat?"

Everytime I feed Mya prunes, Owen comes up to me and says, "Me like chocolate mom!" I give him a bite and his face turns to total disgust.

Owen ran up to me after wrestling the dogs and said, "Me see Cassie's boobies!"

While I was nursing Mya, Drew walked in and said, "Is she done drinking from your boob?" I replied, "No and it is called a breast, thats the proper way to say it." He looked at me puzzled and said, "No thats the Spanish word for it."

Kenny opened the fridge and said, "Something in here stinks." Ian looked at him and said, "Dad, sometimes I toot over there!"

Last night as the boys were saying good night to Mya, Drew looked up at me and said, "Mom, Mya has a boy haircut!"

Drew was reminding me about how when we saw macaws in Hawaii, that one of the macaws was chewing on a woman's hair. He said, about the macaw, "Thats not very nice, it's not choosing the right."

My favorite word Drew and Ian used to say when they were toddlers was, Laddie- for water. I thought it was such a cute word. Owen comes to the fridge and points his little finger and says, "Wa-Wa" for water. So cute!

Last night Kenny went in on a call to deliver a goat and Ian came into our bed. He climbed in and snuggled up beside me, he usually snuggles into Kenny. I asked him why he was snuggling with me and he said, "I can snuggle you because daddy isn't here mom!" He is such a daddy's boy.

Ian is such a daddy's boy. The other night Kenny had to go to the clinic and Ian was sobbing for him for a good twenty minutes because he wanted to go too. When I asked him why he was so upset he replied, "I just want my daddy, he is my favorite boy!"

Birthday parties celebrated in California are usually BIG! There is always a huge jumper, pinata, food for the whole family, and tons of presents. Well we went to a party last night and the boys spent 2 hrs. jumping in a big jumper. On our way home we saw another party going on that had an even bigger jumper with a slide attached. Ian asked, "Can we go to that party too?" I replied, "We don't even know who those people are. " His response, "Well lets just go ask them their names."

As we prepared to go to the Glenwood Springs pool in Colorado with Kenny's four sisters Drew impatiently said, "Come on girls, you're taking too long!" Kenny told him, "Get used to it, this is what men do, wait for girls to get ready."

Much to my dismay I found black ink all over our white sheets on our bed. I of course went straight to Ian and asked very sternly, "Did you write on my sheets with a pen?" With an innocent look he replied, "I was just trying to write my name."

Drew was watching me as I divided my hair into sections with clips to straighten it. He looked up at me and said, "Wow, you look beautiful!" Then when I was completely done with my hair he said, "You're a cute little mommy!"

Ian was dipping his finger in Kenny's contact solution and then touching his eye. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Just putting my eyes in mom!"