I love my hubby!

Tyson is always so supportive of me. He always tries to let me get some time alone when he has time off of work and chuch. This last Saturday he took the kids for the day while I went to Chicago with some of my girlfriends to do some shopping. It wa soooo much fun. Kesseli, Janaye, Wendy, Becca and I piled in Kesseli's Pilot and headed out about 8:00 Sat morning. We hit IKEA for breakfast and some great shopping and then spent the rest of the day laughing, shopping and eating. It was great! Meanwhile Tyson took the kids to the library and the park, dyed easter eggs on the deck, made dinner, gave baths, cleaned up the house, and had everyone asleep when I got home about 11:15 that night. What a man! Now I'm reenergized for the next 2 weeks that he'll be crazy busy and it'll be just the kids and I. I love you T!

Sweet moments

Here's a couple of pictures from the week that I just love. Mariah is so good with the little boys. In these two pics she was playing the piano with both Coleman and Madden. I heard Madden laughing and found them all at the piano. I love the one on the left. She's playing around the two of them. What a great big sister.

I LOVE this picture below. This was taken a little after the ones above. I was making dinner and walked in to see this adorable scene. I love his little 7 month old body next to her 10 yr old body. I love how he's looking up at her. My oldest and my youngest. I just love it

These last two pics were taken Sunday afternoon. I think Mariah was crashing after an Easter sugar high. How cute are they? We later went to have Easter dinner at our dear friends the Kennards. Our good friends the Lasleys, Hursts, Jeppsens and Williams were there as well. It was a great evening.

Piano recital

Mariah and Makayla had a piano recital last Saturday. They both did an excellent job. I loved to sit back and just watch them. I know I'm their mom, but they are such amazing girls. I'm so proud of them. Makayla is picking up playing quite quickly. She really enjoys it. Mariah has a natural ability to play and she loves it. I find it so comforting to hear them play as I go throughout my day. It brings a special spirit into the house and I know my girls are home and safe.

We need him as much as he needs us

These words spoken durring General Conference keep resonating through my head. When we first heard that statement (durring the talk on raising "difficult" children), Tyson and I both looked at each other and said, "Coleman" and I have had to remind myself of this quote many, many, many times since. Oh how we love that little guy, but he is more work than the other 5 children combined. He had a rough week this last week. I know he's two and testing his boundaries, but oh my heck. Sacrament meeting has turned into the battle of wills. Gone is any hope of possibly being able to tell you what the talks were on or even who spoke. I now spend my time catching sacrament cups being thrown through the air, wathcing my necklace fly across the chapel when my sweet Coleman refuses to hand it to me, playing bodyguard for Madden who's just trying to survive and spending way too much time out in the foyer or a classroom while Coleman's in a time out. He does not like Sacrament meeting. At all. He's a stinker from the first prayer (or before) till the last speaker says Amen (at which point he happily yells, "Nursery".)

Then we have life the other 6 days of the week. This week he sprayed our plasma tv with a bottle of water. Luckily after 6 hours of heat and fans blowing on it, it dryed out enough to turn back on. He narrowly escaped an early "retirement" on that one :). We believe he's thrown out the tv remote and the other beater to my mixer. He drew on my family room wall, my kitchen floor, my basement wall, my entryway and my kitchen wall (thank goodness for magic erasers and yes, he has to clean them off). We learned he's been taking the vent covers off and hiding things like socks, toys, pencils, and food in the vents. He empited a bottle of shampoo on his head in Walmart. He got into Wyatt's easter candy right before church and covered himself and the family room carpet in Cadburry eggs. He got into the freezer jam and covered himself, the kitchen floor and counter in the sticky mess ( in a matter of only 3 min max). He got into the baby lotion and poured it on his bedroom carpet then preceeded to pee on the carpet as I was cleaning up the lotion (he'd just gotten out of the bath). These are only the highlights.

I really do love him. He is a fun kid and cracks me up, but oh how he makes me want to scream somedays. If he makes it safely to adulthood, I think it'll be a miracle.

Spring Break 2011...Saturday

On Saturday, Al, Amber,Tyson and I went to NYC. Without children. For 17 hrs. AAAHHHH! We had two sitters come and spend the night on Friday so we could leave by 6:00 Sat morning. We drove for two hrs and then caught the Stanton Island Ferry into NYC. Here's Tyson & I on the ferry with the Statue of Liberty behind us. When we got to NY we took the subway into Time Square. Once again, I am so grateful for Al's amazing planning skills so we could do this so stress free. Here's T and I in Time Square.

We immediately went to get half off tickets to see Phantom of the Opera. It was so amazing. LOVED it. Definitelyl a highligt of the day. We then set out to see the sights. Here's Rockefeller Center.

Here's me and my awesome sister-in-law Amber. Absoluetely love her guts!! She's amazing.

We went to Central Park, saw the St Patrick Cathedral, got some cute bracelets on 5th Avenue :), ate some yummy NY cheesecake, saw Radio city Music Hall, ate some hotdogs from a stand, went up the Empire State Building (such a cool view), took a taxi to China Town, did some some more shopping and some "negotiating" with the vendors, ate some delicious gyros from a stand, then headed back to catch the ferry.

This is a view from the Empire State Building. Here's a shot of the four of us as we're leaving Manhatten. Love these guys!

Lady Liberty. Isn't she beautiful.

It was an amazing day. We loved every minute of it. Thanks Al and Ambie!!

Spring Break 2011... Friday

Friday was a much needed relaxing day. We were trying to take the kids to do some outdoor activities but the weather would not cooperate. We brought the rainy cold weather with us. Sorry PA. We decided to take the kids to see the movie "Mars Needs Moms". It was so cute. We almost had the theatre to ourselves, only 2 other woman were there. Thank goodness. We could let the kids relax and get their wiggles out. The movie was super cute and I'm pretty sure we ate our weight in popcorn. That evening Amber treated us to some yummy fish tacos. I'd never had them before and fell in love with them. So good. Those babies will definitely be making an appearance on the Lee menu. After dinner the kids entertained us with their "choreographed" dance to a Black Eyed Peas favorite. It was hysterical. They had been dancing together all week and finallly we got to witness it. I love that they got to spend that time with their cousins. It's the whole reason we made the trip.

Spring Break 2011...Thursday

So, I can't start this post without saying how awesome Amber and Alan are. Like rock star awesome. On Thursday we were going into Wshington DC. Amber was so great to take the younger 3 kids for the entire day. At first I had mom guilt about not taking all 6 kids with us, but after a long day of walking DC I was so glad the little ones weren't there. They would have been miserable. Alan used his amazing ability to write and map out an agenda for our day. It was awesome. He had the play by play ready for us and it took all the stress off of us. He was even great enough to give us his car for the day and he drove his family mini van. What a man!

Here's the kids waiting for their first ride on the metro into DC. Notice Mariah's apprehension. She was not a big fan at first. Makayla, however, loved it.

Once we were in DC we went to visit the Smithsonians. The kids each had exhibits they wanted to see. My personal favorite quote for the day came from Mariah. She said she wanted to see the old ladies' dresses. I knew she meant the First Ladies' Dresses but was curious to see exactly what she meant by old ladies. She said, " You know, from like the 1960's." Ha, Ha. Loved it.

We then saw the Washington Monument, the White House, the World War 2 Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial,and Arlington Cemetary (the changing of the Gaurd). We had a blast and were exhausted. Here's some pics. After we got back in the car and got some dinner, it didn't take long for my kiddos to look like this...

Another awesome day!

Spring Break 2011... Tuesday and Wednesday

We had a WONDERFUL spring break. We went to Lancaster, PA to stay with my sister-in-law Amber, her hubby Alan, and two handsome boys. We truly had a blast. Can I just say I am sooo lucky to have such incredible in-laws.

We left home about 6:30 Tuesday morning. Here's the kids all crammed in the suburban.

They all traveled so well. We only made one stop for gas and potty use, lunch, and a quick potty on the side of the interstate. Not bad for 11 1/2 hrs. Gotta love a dvd system.

We got to the Campbell homestead about 5:30 Tuesday evening. It was so good to see them. The kids were THRILLED to be with thier cousins. All the kids, with the exception of Coleman and Madden, slept in the same bedroom that night (all nights actually) and it was so cute to listen to them laugh for hours. Literally hours. Amber actually had to go in there and "threaten" them after we all went to bed because they were keeping us all up. There was an enore of this routine every night (not the threats, just the laughter). I loved that they were enjoying each other so much, even if I wasn't so thrilled at 6:30 every morning when the laughter started back up again :)

On Wednesday all of us, with the exception of Al who was working, went to Hershey, PA. What a beautiful town. I seriously could live there. Actually I could live anywhere in Lancaster County. It was all so gorgeous. Anyway, in Hershey we toured Chocolate World.

Here's Wyatt and Madden waiting yet again for their sisters to use the bathroom.

We got to ride on the cutest ride that showed us the process of making the chocolate, and more importantly, gave us free chocolate at the end. We rode this ride a few times :)

When we were finished trying out all the fun activities we got to do my favorite part of the trip... we knocked back a few of their delicious Hershey shakes. I'm craving one right now, they were seriously sooo good. After we done is Chocolate World Amber and I took the younger kids home for naps and some girl time while Tyson took Mariah and Wyatt to Gettysburgh. They really enjoyed learning more about the Civil War. It was a great day.

My little "foodie"

McCoy is a planner. BIG TIME. When he wakes up he likes to know exactly what he is doing for the day. EVERY hour of the day. He also likes to know what he will be eating, all day long. You can't give him a simple answer like, "We're having chicken ." He has to know what the side dishes are and what we're drinking (usually water or milk). A little OCD, I know. Lucky for him, I plan out our meals for a month at a time. Well, a week ago Friday night Tyson and I were going out for dinner and I hadn't planned a meal yet for the kids. OH NO :0 So, McCoy asks what's for dinner tonight. I told him I didn't know. He looked at me like I was from another planet. He turns and walks away and goes to find Tyson. This is what he said, "Dad, I can't believe Mom doesn't know what we're having for dinner." Are you kidding me? Tyson said he tried so hard not to laugh because McCoy was so serious and concerned. What a hard life that poor boy has :)

Conference Weekend!!

Yay! It's conference weekend! One of my favorite weekends of the year. We've had such a great weekend so far. My testimony had been strengthened and my heart is full. I so love this Gospel. What a peace of mind it brings me.

We've eaten our way through the last 3 sessions and are on track to do the same for the 4th. Kayla helped me make some yummy cinnamon rolls this morning. She loves to help me cook.

Madden just couldn't make it thru all the sessions :) He could be found in this exact spot at some point durring every session.

I can't wait to hear what else our church leaders have to say.

Nice try Kayla :)

Last Sunday evening the kids rushed in asking if it was ok to play PIG. At the same time Tyson said, "yes" and I said,"no". We were all discussing if playing PIG would be keeping the Sabbath day holy when Kayla sweetly said, " Well Mom, he IS the Bishop." I started laughing. Nice try Midge! That may be how it works at church but not at home :)

Career Day

The kids had career day at school this week. Wyatt and Makayla decided to dress up. Mariah opted out of this one :) Wyatt went as a football coach. He really wants to either play football or a football coach. Tyson loves this :) Makayla decided to go as a mom. Needless to say, I was so proud. We dressed them up and sent them off to school. Later that evening we were discussing how it went and Kayla said some of the kids laughed at her choice. At first I was mad that someone would laugh at my sweet girl's dream. Then I was saddened that it's considered funny or dumb for a little girl to dream to be a mom. I told her how wrong those kids were. There is nothing she could be that has more impact, more importance, more reward, and more happiness than being a mom. I told her how much I LOVE being a mom and I would never want to be anything else. Oh how I hope my girls continue to grow up with the knowledge of the divine role of womanhood and not be swayed by the world's view of what a woman should do and be. Hold tight to those dreams my sweet Kayla!!

Making Music

The other evening I was making dinner when I heard "Joy to the World" being played on the piano and Kayla's sweet voice encouraging the "player". Curious, I walked in to find this:

Kayla was trying to teach Coleman to play the piano. It was one of those great mom moments when my heart swells and I'm full of such love for my sweet children and the friendship they share. I sure love my kids!!!

Slumber Party!!

Every Friday night the older 4 kids can be found sleeping on a floor together somewhere in the house. They LOVE to do this. They're even willing to go to bed earlier than their normal stay up time if it means they can sleep together. I love that they love to spend this time together. I know sometimes we have to go tell them to quite down or quit jumping on beds, but it'll be sooo sad when they've outgrown this. I hope they always stay this close. I love you guys!!

*We've tried to let Coleman join in but he goes crazy and never goes to sleep. Sometimes we'll just let him pretend to have a sleepover and then put him down later.

Naked Madden

Sunday night is treat and family game night at our house. Last Sunday night, Madden managed to make a huge mess with his dinner (a suprise I know) so he joined our game night naked. Don't you just love his thighs and tummy? I just love this little guy.