Awesome News!!!

We are so excited to announce that Jon got an internship!!! He will be teaching at Frontier Middle School in Eagle Mountain.

We are so excited, this is a big answer to our prayers.

The only down side is, we need to start looking for apartments in the Eagle Mountain area. Here is our Craigslist ad, if you could please pass it along, that would be great!

http://provo.craigslist.org/hou/4490839963.html

Wish us luck!

What Did I Forget?!

I'm finally taking a break from packing for our trip to Casper this weekend! I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something....

Zabriskie Packing List:

Elizabeth

Bottles

Bottle Brush

Formula

Spoons

Bibs

Baby Food

Diapers

wipes

powder

Shirts

Pants/Shorts

Pj’s

Church Dress

Socks

Tights

Play Shoes

Dress Shoes

Hat

Swimming Suit

Jacket

Michael

Sippy Cups

Shirts

Pants/Shorts

Pj’s

Under wear

Church Clothes

Socks

Play Shoes

Dress Shoes

Hat

Swimming Suit

Jacket

Timothy

Sippy Cups

Shirts

Pants/Shorts

Pj’s

Underwear

Church Clothes

Socks

Play Shoes

Dress Shoes

Hat

Swimming Suit

Jacket

Jon

Garments Tops and Bottoms

Shirts

Pants/Shorts

Pj’s

Church Clothes

Tie

Socks

Play Shoes

Dress Shoes

Swimming Suit

Belt

Jacket

Wallet

Phone

Keys

Kristen

Garments Tops and Bottoms

Bra

Shirts

Pants

Pj’s

Church Clothes

Socks

Belt

Play Shoes

Dress Shoes

Hat

Swimming Suit

Jacket

Purse

Money

Phone

Keys

Bathroom

Baby Soap
Baby Lotion

Shampoo/Conditioner

Toothbrushes toothpaste

Vitamins

Deodorant

Q-tips

Tweezers

Nail clippers

Bobby Pins

Hair Tie

Hair Spray

Straightener

Hair Dryer

Contact Juice

Contact Case

Glasses

Razors

Make up

Beach Towels

Jon Meds

Tylenol kid and adult

Band-Aides

Ointment

Chest Rub

Pads

Sun Screen

Laundry Sheets for Bugs

Bedding

Blankets

Pillow

Night Lights

Phone Chargers

Laptop and charger

Scriptures

Car

Toy basket

Plastic Bags

Food

Stroller

Tissues

iTouch and charger

iPod

Camera

Car Organizer

Potty Treats

Other

Pack Diaper Bag

-Wipes

-Diapers

-Changing Pad

Tent

Sleeping bags

Snacks

Church Bag

Dirty Clothes Bag

Any Gifts

Anything POP OUT at you?

And the Rest of It.

We love spending time outside on the deck! And we love our Birch Beer!

Now that the trees are down, the boys like to hit the stumps with shovels and play lumber jacks

All the outside time wipes these boys out!

We learned about circles, so I cut toilet paper rolls in half and we looked around the yard for circles.

Elizabeth is so close to walking! For now, she just pushes the laundry basket around.

Jon is growing his beard out for a wedding at the end of the summer. So he's starting clean shaven!

Elizabeth keeps falling asleep in her high chair while I get the boys settled for quiet time.

Sally chose the most uncomfortable spot in the van, but Elizabeth and Michael loved it!

Triple Trouble!

Michael's first time reading scriptures (With the help of Daddy). Another proud mama moment!

I love playing cars with my boys!

It's hard to see, but we're playing hop scotch.

Tim's feet are almost as big as mine were when I was six!!! He's going to be a tall boy!

Hahaha I didn't notice her face when I took this picture! It was bright, can you tell?

Like I said in my last post, Tim can ride his bike!!! So we went for a small ride to the field behind our house.

YAY we made it back home!!!

Week 2 of Jon's no shave summer.

Yesterday I made the kids wait until we could hear Grandma get up before they could go to her room. Well she moved and they all ran/crawled in! Mom caught this moment as I was walking in to get them.

Happy Mother's Day! Talking to Elder Uncle Kevin!

Jon and Elizabeth were sick and both caught a nap in the chair. 2014 just isn't our year will sickness.

Well that's about it!!!

Tim's Bike Ride

Tim has had this bike for over a year and now he's finally gotten the hang of riding it!

I'm a proud Mama, so you get to watch all of them! Mwah hahaha!

I am a big believer in helmets, so please don't judge me that he doesn't have one on in these videos. He usually doesn't stay on his bike long enough for me to need to put one on. So now it's a rule to have his helmet on when he rides his bike. Cause he can do it now!!!

P.S. Feel free to hit mute, because my voice gets pretty high pitched with excitement.

Dentist Visit

Last Friday Tim had his first Dentist appointment!

He was such a great sport!

Dr. Brad Rodgers and Brittney did such a great job telling him what everything was and what it would do.

A super soaker squirt gun

Michael sat and watched all of us. He was a great sport being so patient!

Dr. Brad teaching Tim about how Flouride makes his teeth strong like Spider Man!

Tim did a great job holding still and getting his teeth cleaned.

Jon wasn't so great of a sport, but he held still anyway :)

A New Sport

It's taken a couple weeks, but my parents have been cutting down a couple trees.

Mom pulling down a stump

While doing this, my parents have invented a new sport: Chain Surfing! You stand on the chain and hold on tight! 

Mommy Tips: Scissors and Screws

Mommy Tip #1:  You might call me crazy, but this is actually a great idea that I got from Tim's future Pre-School teacher.

Take a breath. Let the kids cut scrap paper with scissors. I know! Who in their right mind would trust two and three year olds with scissors?! Tim's teacher says it's a great age to start learning to cut, so they will have the hand-eye coordination for school.

My boys love it! I remind them every time it's "Cut time" that the scissors don't leave the table, fingers stay out of the way, and the paper I give them is the ONLY thing that they cut. This is an activity that I have to make sure I do when the baby is napping, so I don't have to walk too far away from them.

I bought Michael the scissors that spring open, because his little fingers aren't big enough to spread the blades apart. Michael is always asking to cut and Tim and Braxton will chime in that they want to too after he suggests it.

Mommy Tip #2: Every woman needs to know how to use a drill. I grew up using one and I use it all the time.

The latest is when I installed baskets in our bathroom. I was tired of our rolls of extra toilet baby, baby powder, smell good spray, and my lady things getting thrown every where, just because we don't have enough storage in our bathroom. So I used our limited budget and went to the dollar store and bought baskets to put up high on our cabinet. 

I drilled two screws with enough distance to fit in the little holes of the basket. Careful not to go too far in that the screws went through the cabinet wall.

Hung them up and easy as pie my bathroom stuff is out of reach!

I didn't want my pads out in the open for everyone to see, so I hung one in the dead space in my sink cabinet.

I want to spray paint the baskets, so they aren't so bright, but I still can't decide what color....

Anyway whether it's hanging up a heavy picture or putting up bright baskets, every mom should know how to use a drill, just in case.

Mommy Tip: Leash Backpacks

I know I mentioned these in the Aquarium post, but I wanted to get into detail a little bit.

When I first saw these before I was married I thought that they were horrible. People should just learn to control their kids or keep them buckled in a stroller! Oh silly me...

A couple years later, our nine month old baby was walking! Now if you don't know, a nine month old doesn't understand the words "no" or "come back here!!!"  I still was against the leash thing, so we kept him buckled in a stroller, which wasn't as much fun, because if we wanted Tim to see something or get up close, we would have to unbuckle and then wrestle him down to buckle him back up. But we did, because that's what I thought should be done. "Kids aren't dogs!" I would say...

Well, add another baby and a trip to Casper, where we wanted to go to a lake, but it was full of rocks, so a stroller wouldn't work. My wonderful mother-in-law convinced us to go to Walmart and get a leash. I was kinda upset, but I went along with it, because I hate confrontation and would rather fight inside my head. We go to the lake and snap Tim in his Monkey Backpack (This is how I could feel a little better, by calling it a backpack) and wrap Michael up in a blanket and set outside. Tim of course was wanting to go to the freezing water and we would let him put his hands in while Jon held his other hand and leash. We all start talking while Tim is throwing rocks in the water, his wet hand slips from Jon's grasp and Tim is falling head first towards the water. Jon, luckily, still had the leash around his wrist and he was able to pull Tim back, just as he was about to hit the water. That's when I became a believer.

Now that Michael is older and pretty stable on his feet, we bought him an owl backpack for this trip to the Aquarium. This isn't a life saving story, but there were multiple times where his little hand would wiggle it's way out of mine and he'd be off. Not everyone is courteous in crowded places and makes sure kids are going through the crowd with their parents. If I didn't have my arm connected to his backpack, I could have lost him in the crowd.

I love these backpacks and think it's a must have for going places like the zoo or a lake. I am, however, against using them as a crutch at a store, where the kids are running around crazy and knocking things over. I make my boys and the kids I babysit hold onto the cart, and if they let go and start grabbing things, they don't get a treat or TV time or whatever is coming up in the day. 

Anyways... Animal backpacks are great!

Teething

This little one has been teething for forever! So she's been getting lots of cuddles from everyone.

Tim is a major helper when she wants some loves.

Babysitting Fun!

I know that I say this alot but, babysitting is so much easier when I'm not pregnant! Even on my days when my back pain flairs up  we've really had a lot of fun.

We're already running through sprinklers and enjoying the warm weather!

Dominik and Braxton hit puberty early

Last week was teacher appreciation week at Alpine School District and Braxton wanted to bring me flowers like the other kids brought their teachers flowers. So sweet.

Yesterday we played with bubbles and straws.

These two really made quite the bubble tower!

I didn't get any pictures of Michael, because well... He found out the hard way we were blowing and not sucking... He was busy rinsing out his mouth :)