Heart Attack!

After the Road Show was said and done the youth came to our house and "Heart Attacked" the door for Brandon! He is the Young Men's youth leader and was the writer/director of the play! They wrote really amazing things on the hearts for him! Oops. This one is upside down! You can still see the hearts though!
They left a bowl of goodies and gifts too. Gift card to Outback, candy, movie tickets and a coupon for free babysitting! (GOLD)
He sat alone and read each heart. His head is down because he started to cry. :( SO sweet. The kids really touched him and he had no idea what the road show meant to them!

Pine Wood Derby!

This was Max's first year doing the Pine Wood Derby! He designed the car himself then he went to Bishop Clinger's and he cut it out for him and gave him bullet tips to help weigh it down. Then he and Brandon painted it. (It was killing Brandon not to just design and paint it himself.) They had some super cute rub on decals that were flames and a sweet bull dog! We went to watch him race as a family and it was very fun and very nerve racking. As a mom you just want them to win! His first heat he took 3rd (out of 3) the second heat he took second and his third heat he took FIRST!!!! (you had to take 1st in 2 out of your 3 heats to be eligible to move on.) All and all it was a great experience and Max had a blast! He took great notes on the winning cars and what he can do to improve for next year! He named his car the GREEN BUTTON. (after the road show) What a cute cute boy!

light saber anyone?

These are the light sabers we made for Dash's and Kaden's birthday party! They are pool noodles cut in half and decorated with duck tape! They were super fun and easy and no one gets hurt if you get bonked on the head! (more pics of the party and the jedi training to come!)

Happy Happy Birthday Dashel Dear!

Dash turned 6 last Thursday. Blogger was down so I down so I couldn't do our traditional birthday post! Here is my sweet sweet 6 year old! He is hilarious, sweet, loving, hardworking, and just a joy to have in our family! Daddy said: "I love his ability to turn his bones to rubber when I pick him up. I love his sense of humor and charisma when he's with his family and then his change to shy and coy in front of others. His smile and laugh are contagious. I love his effort and willingness when jobs have to be done."
Darby said: "I love Dash because he likes to play with me when nobody else does and he doesn't leave anybody out."

Max said: "I like that he's a brother like no other!"
Juliet said: (with mommies help) "I like that he will play puppy with me for as long as I want him to! He is the funnest to take baths with because he splashes the most and isn't afraid of getting in trouble!"
Callie the Cat said: "Meow. He leaves me alone! Meow."
Mommy said: "I love that he is excited to see me every day after school. He isn't afraid to hold my hand in front of his friends. He still thinks I am pretty and loves to snuggle with me. I love that he can make me laugh with a simple look or a potty joke. I love that he loves to give talks in primary. I love that he is my sweet sweet boy!"
This is Dash at 4 weeks old. Sweet boy!
He looks just like B did when he was a baby!
Dash is almost 2 here. One night he was crying in his bed and B was making him "tuff" it out. He was screaming for me for a while "mommy mommy mommy" then for B, "daddy daddy daddy" after he cried for us for a good 15 minutes he gave up on us and yelled out "Miss Nannee? MISS NANNEEEEEEE!!!!" That was Miss Natalie. Brandon said to me "Did he just call for Miss Natalie?" He knew that if we wouldn't come and get him then he would try for Miss Natalie because she loved him. He loved her then and he still loves her today! He is a sweet boy that touches all those he comes in contact with! We love you baby DASH!!!

So long, farewell, we hate to say goodbye.....

Brandon left Nickelodeon and moved on to Sony Pictures a few weeks ago. It was a hard move to make because Nick was an amazing place to work for and very family oriented. They loved Brandon and were really sad to see him leave. He knew though that Sony is where he is supposed to be right now. When he left they made him this cute card. (the person in the forefront is supposed to be Brandon with his "man bag" that he carries everywhere :) He was working on Kung Fu Panda the cartoon that will be out on Nickelodeon in November.
We will sure miss Nickelodeon.!

Happy Mother's Day!

I LOVE MOTHER'S DAY!!! I think I like it more than my birthday even! I am going to do a whole blog post on my mom and mothers that I love but for this post it is all about MY kids and what they did to honor me on Mother's Day! Dash made me this beautiful picture at school! I loved it! He was so excited to give it to me! He also bought me pink frosted sugar cookies to share! Juliet made me a card that is a magnet at church! (Thank you to all the cute leaders at church that helped my babies make me something!)
Max made me a card at school that was a fold out! I cried. I loved it! He also made me a beaded book mark that I totally need because the one my friend Alison made me finally broke! Here is what he wrote in his card.... "I love you because you are nice and calm. I love the way you are. You are special because you always think right. I am glad you are my mom because you are special. Your the best mom because you help me. You are the best mom in the world because you love me back." On the back he recorded the time May 8, 2011 2nd grade 8 years old Max Jeffords Ms. Scott Wilbur Ave. School! What a sweet sweet boy. I don't know where he gets that I am calm but I will take it even if just for one day!
Max also got me a cake. He asked me in Ralph's a few days before Mother's Day if we could celebrate in 2 weeks because he would have enough allowance to buy me a cake. He is so sweet! I told him to talk to daddy and I am sure they could work something out.
Brandon had chocolate covered Strawberries sent to me! I was totally surprised. It had a card that said for you to enjoy on Mother's day! Sit back, take a guilt free nap and enjoy your day off! Darby gave me a candle.....
some flowers and a Balloon and coupon book. Coupons for babysitting Juliet, massages, jobs, clean anything, and some "freebies"!
Brandon had my blog published again! I love this gift!

Darby wrote me a card at school and I think this is one of my favorite gifts. On the picture side it said "I'm one real lucky DUCK!" The pictures are things that we do together. (one of them is lying on the beach.....we all know how I feel about the beach..... I am glad it is a good memory for her!) This is the poem she wrote me just as she wrote it:

" MOTHER DEAR "

My mothers smile is as warm as the beautiful warm bright dawn sun on a cold gloomy day.

My mothers laugh is as sweet as cotton candy flowing on a lemonade sky.

My moms brown eyes are as comforting as ten million stripling warriors.

My moms voice is as beautiful as thousands of violins.

My moms prettier than a dewwed red rose. I am sure a lucky mom! She is so sweet!

Brandon made a card for our moms this year. I loved it and I hope they do too! I hope y'all had an amazing mother's day. I sure did!

"I WANT TO NUGGLE YOU!"

Juliet has been getting into our bed for the last 3 weeks around 4 in the morning. We are to tired/lazy to put her back so we have let her. It is also really fun to snuggle with her. She is the most snuggly out of all our kids! She will roll over and put her little arm around your neck. She is warm and almost always smells good! She will sometimes open her eyes a little and say "hi mommy", with a little smile! SO CUTE! BUT some of those days she sleeps sideways and kicks you in the face, the boob, or the kidney. NOT SO CUTE!!!! Brandon decided that it was time she stayed in her bed again and that we had let it go to far! He is the bed Nazi so I let him go. Monday night....she slept all night in her bed. Tuesday night...... 4 am in our bed. Brandon got up and put her back......... this is what she screamed FOR WHAT FELT LIKE AN ETERNITY! (It was only 15 minutes)

"I WANT TO NUGGLE MY MOMMY! MOMMY WHERE ARE YOU! I WANT TO NUGGLE YOU! I WANT A BAA BAA! I WANT MY MOMMY! I WANT TO NUGGLE YOU! SISSY!!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!! I WANT YOU MOMMY! DON'T LEEB ME! I WANT TO NUGGLE YOU!!!!" The whole time, blood curdling, like someone was stealing her from me! Darby came out of the boys room, crying and begging Brandon to just let her sleep with us. (We put Darby in the boys room in anticipation of the yelling/crying) I came out at one point and said I didn't think it was a good idea to start it during the week. A weekend would be better I am sure! (I have no idea why it would be better. It just sounded right at 4 am) BUT Brandon held out and yelled at us to go away and within 15 minutes she was done! UNTIL last night when the same thing happened for only 10 more minutes! He is way better at this than me! He does their sleep routines at 4 months and I have to leave the house. Juliet sure knows how to get us! MORALE OF THE STORY! I don't really have one. If it were up to me she would sleep with me tonight! :)

Brothers and Sisters!

Sometimes you just walk in on something really cute. They were like this for a good 10 minutes then they fought over the book for 5 until they all got sent to their rooms! :)She's just plain old cute. She is getting so old and beautiful so fast. I can't believe that she is 10 1/2! I swear I just had her!

The most beautiful shower I have ever been to!!!

Saturday was my cute friend Lyndsay McDougal's bridal shower. I adore her. She is literally one of the funnest people I have ever met! I kind of want to marry her! :) Katie Canon and Katie's sister in laws put the shower together for Lyndsay and it literally was one of the most beautiful and fun things ever! (Alison you would have been proud:) The cupcakes had a gorgeous Damask cover on them! Katie has a special way to get them so they don't stick to your cupcake too! More gorgeous cupcakes! These are marshmellows that have been sliced in two I think and candy painted! SO cute! We also had a yogurt bar AND an OMELET bar! Lyndsay's brother in law to be made omelets to order! DELICIOUS!!! (Thanks Marco!)
The theme was all PINK. (Lyndsay's favorite color) We were asked to wear pink and their was a prize for the favorite pink outfit. SO FUN! ... and Springy!
Lyndsay's sister, Tiffany, Lyndsay and her mom!
Some of the table settings. Simple and beautiful flowers with pictures of the bride to be and her man.
Suzy and Lyndsay!
Miss Katie! The amazing hostest and my friend! I wish I had taken more pictures. It really was beautiful and made me want to marry B all over again! I am so happy for Lyndsay! I wish I could go to back East to her wedding to take a few pictures there! SO exciting!

Jail anyone?

At Darby's 4th grade Spring Fling they had a jail cell! It cost 2 tickets to put someone in jail. I had no idea what it was and Darby told me that it was a ticket booth like at Chucke Cheese where you go in and tickets blew all over the place. I was busy with my other kids so I told her how cool that was and went on my way. A few minutes later she said they needed me over there and FAST! I went over and she told me that she had paid for me to go in! I was SO worried that I would look so lame and only collect like 5 tickets. Low and behold it was a jail cell! Tricky little lady! She and her friends had a good laugh. The ticket taker made me wait out my 3 or 4 minutes in Jail! No special treatment for parents even thought the ticket taker was a fellow parent!
Towards the end of the night as we were getting ready to leave a young man in Darby's class had paid for HER to go to jail! AHHHHH Vengeance was MINE and it cost me NOTHING!!
I hope you rot for the full 4 minutes little girl!
The sweet sweet boy who paid for her to go to jail! What a great night we had as a family and a school! The fourth grade raised a ton of money for next years activities and graduation!

A SUPER FUN FAST F.H.E.

Last night was Family Home Evening for us and we did a fun one that I wanted to share. Let me just say that I got this idea from a book (that I love)! It took all of about 10 minutes. The impact was great and the kids had a blast.

I started by hiding 15-20 small objects in the living room that didn't belong in there. I had them wait in the other room for this. Then I called Dash into the living room and showed him where everything was. We got the rest of the family and told them that we were going to have a scavenger hunt for all the things I hid. I wanted them to win so do your best and find the most! Of course Dash found the most! (whew, it would have blown my lesson if he didn't.) After we counted and it was clear Dash had won I asked them if anyone knew why Dash had won! Max, very heatedly said, "Because Dad held my shirt! OR I would have been the winner!" He is a bit competitive! I told them that I had given Dash a HEAD START!!! I asked what we could do to have a head start every day! Something that would put us a head of everyone else!? Of course daddy said PRAYER!!!! Prayer gives us a head start over anyone else helping us to be winners every day! Max said again "NO WAY I would have won if Dad hadn't held my shirt!" SO we went over it one more time! FINALLY he got it! We sang a song and had a prayer and moved on to some ice cream! DONE AND DONE!!!

So there you have it! Super fun, super fast, and super easy! I will post next Monday's FHE lesson too. ANOTHER fun fast one! (this book is really a good one. "Keeping your family awake for Family Home Evening")

grocery shopping is SO exausting!

This is Juliet while finishing up our BIG shopping! She was DONE! I was trying to get her to hold out but I turned around for one second and this is what I got! Sam's Club has the best carts for napping! I love her little flip flops dangling! I wish someone would let me sleep in the middle of grocery shopping!

Star Student!

This month Dash was selected to be the Star Student in his class along with Corey! They get to go up in front of the school and have everyone cheer for them on spirit day! They also get a Wilbur coin purse!
Then they go to the Mural and get their picture taken with all the kindergartners who were chosen from each class and that picture hangs in the window box at school for the whole month! He was pretty excited!

Easter Egg Hunt!

After Church on Sunday Uncle Jamie and his family came over for an Easter Egg hunt in our back yard! The kids were so excited! Marilyn had a super idea to put stickers on the eggs that were for the babies and the older kids would leave those ones alone. There were a couple eggs with some money and change in them and Uncle Jamie put one out there with 12$ in it! WHAT? Dash was the lucky one that found that one and when he did B and I just shook our heads. I was really hoping a teenager would find that one! Yes, she wore her "win soup" all day. I was lucky to get it off her in the morning to put on a dress for church. She almost wore it underneath her dress. Yes, it is too cold to be in only a swim suit. No, I did not fight it.
Darby searching for some eggs!
Cute Journey found one! (I love that she is using her elmo trick or treat bucket. Juliet has one of those too that she uses as a purse a lot! )
Baby Jermemy got in on the action as well. I can't believe that he is big enough to walk let alone hold his own in an Easter Egg hunt! I still look at him as a tiny baby! He is getting so big so fast! I wish I had more pictures of the other kids but they were all running too fast! :) We had a yummy dinner and got to enjoy each others company. We love living close enough to family to be able to do fun things like this!