Proud Mama.

Tonight was the swimming awards banquet. Swimming is over! I have to admit that it was a lot more fun that I had planned on. It was awesome to see the kids improve and have fun. It was fun to hang out with the other families and get to know more people in our community. All around good experience.

The kids were very excited about their medals.

But what was the best surprise is that both of the kids earned special coaches awards! It's a pretty big deal in the Walnut Heights swimming world. They choose four boys and four girls in each age group and Camry earned the Most Improved award and Pacen earned the Coaches award. They said that Camry worked so hard and at the beginning of the year could barely swim a stroke and then she was able to keep up with (and even beat! I added that.) everyone at the end of the year. They said that Pacen always came to practice with a smile on his face, that he was always quiet, that he listened, always raised his hand, worked hard and had a very excited attitude. I was so proud of them! And they both were very excited for their special towels. Camry is becoming a social butterfly and was sitting with a bunch of friends and went up with a shy smile. Pacen ran up there and I just wish I had the video camera. Or even my real camera. I wasn't expecting them to get anything. But he had the biggest grin on his face and you could tell he was just happy.

I am one proud mama! Daddy was pretty proud, too. :)

It's a Pillow....

...it's a pet....It's a Pillow Pet!!! We are a little behind on the times because my kids just got their very own Pillow Pets. Grammy got them for their birthdays and I made her give them to my kids at the same time because I just know how my kids are. They would be crying and fighting and begging me for their own pillow pet and then Pacen would have been bragging and toting his around for the girls to be jealous. I just didn't want to deal with that and Becky was kind enough to do that for us. You should see the joy on their faces every night when they sleep with their pillow pets. They sing the advertisement song all the time and it's pretty much heaven every night for them. Thanks, Grammy!

Stinson Beach.

When Than's parents come to visit, we have to be on the go-go-go. You see where we get it? It's genetic. Wednesday they came and watched the swim meet, and then Thursday it was off to Stinson Beach. I LOVE it there, and this day was perfect. Perfect weather, the kids played, we didn't hit traffic too bad. It was awesome. I forget that the beach is only an hour drive for us. It's a task to get down there but totally worth it.

These two boys just played and played. They were in and out of the water, digging, throwing the ball around. It was fun to watch them enjoy being boys.

We played some Frisbee golf and tried not to hit any people.

The kids are actually getting pretty good at it.

We let Gentry eat whatever she wanted. She was loving those suckers! I only let her eat one...i'm not that bad of a mom. :)

Funnest moment of the day is when a bird pooped on Camry's leg. If you know cam, she was not amused, but now she sees the humor in it and is often saying, "Hey mom, remember when that bird pooped on my leg at the beach...."

This little girl was just a pill....

...until Papa got her to go to sleep. 10 month olds. They think they own the place. And they pretty much do!

The girls mostly stayed dry.

We did venture out to run from the waves a few times however. Why is that so fun? I remember chasing waves when I was little and I could just do it over and over again. I loved holding Claira's hand while she was screaming for her life while running. It's so fun to be a mom.

And then it's not so fun when she decides to eat sand! She's crazy.

We need more beach days in our life.

Something much more cute.....

So, amongst the craziness that has been the last weeks of our summer (swimming, than's parents visiting and having a beach day and six flags day, kyle and becca making a quick stop, Than traveling, park days, pool days, Giant's game, school shopping, planning my primary lessons, etc), I took some pictures for my sisters bff, Sarah. She had twins a few weeks ago and she let me come over and dust off those photog skills I like to pretend I have. These babies are much more cute than that cup I've had on my blog for a week. I tried to get a bunch done for Sarah since we are finally going to Utah on Wednesday (our summer can now be complete!) and I figure she might want a few pics of her kids before their first birthday. My blog, on the other hand, is getting too far behind. That's one of my goals tomorrow after we pack. Summer has been just too much fun!

So meet the cutie pies Caleb and Mallory.

Caleb. Mallory.

Oh man. Twins. That's a lot of work. Although the idea of twins is always fun, to actually have two babies would be crazy!

Congrats, Sarah! Your babies are adorable!

Two. Both favorites.

Sometimes you just need funny things in your life, you know? Just things that make you laugh so hard you almost pee your pants. These are two of those things.

On Friday, Walt, Becky, all the kids and I went out yard-saling. At the second yard sale we went to the ladies were super nice and they let each kid fill a gallon baggie with as many toys as they wanted for a dollar. Pacen and Scottie filled their bags to the brim and were in heaven. Camry picked a few choice items. In Claira's bag, she had three things. Two rings and a small cup. They thought it was so cute that they didn't make her give them any money. And then the lady said something to me like, "Well, I guess you can just paint that since she likes it so much." I wasn't really paying attention. I was just trying to get the kids off the concrete and into the car. When we got home, the kids were showing us all of their loot. This is Claira's small little cup.

At first glance you're like, huh...what is that? A don't do drugs cup...I'm safe now....no, that's not it....and then it hits you. And then you look at the name.

It does say what you think it says, and those are what you think they are. I completely lost it and almost peed my pants. Adios, little cup. You are safely in the garbage now. But thank you for the laugh.

Second thing started out simple enough. On Saturday night, Pacen lost his second tooth! Congratulations, bud!

Then on Sunday morning, Pacen comes into our room with a sad face and says, "I left my tooth under my pillow last night and it's still here." What kind of lame tooth fairy is that??!?!!? Seriously need to get that chick more organized. So the next night before bed we ask if everything is all good for the tooth fairy. But big problem---the tooth is missing!!!!

In was a family search project, but we could never find it. Instead, we wrote the tooth fairy a note. We helped him write it so it was clear. "Dear tooth fairy, I can't find my tooth. I had it ready last night. But you didn't come. I hope you understand. From, Pacen." I walk away and see Pacen writing as fast and as secretly as he could and at first he wouldn't let me see it. But then I saw his finished product......

...and I couldn't stop laughing. And then Pacen was like, "Mom....don't laugh!" So then I felt bad. It's like, no seriously lady...give me some money!!! She got the oh-so-subtle hint and even left an extra dollar under the pillow for him. She must have felt horrible!

I love when life just makes you laugh.

I love being married to this guy. We're busy having a fun day at six flags. Can't everyday be saturday?

Tim! And a new favorite!

Tim....you know we love you. And I do mean 'we'.......Than loves you just as much as I do, if not more.

So back in June....Pacen's last day of school to be exact we headed out to Marysville to watch Tim!!! We bought Walt and Becky tickets for a combined mother's day and father's day present, and of course we didn't want to miss out on the fun so we bought tickets for ourselves. It was a three concert ticket so we also get to see Rascal Flatts and Toby Keith. Toby I could live with or without but I'm pumped for rascal flatts.

It was a super fun day. The weather was perfect and the music was awesome. The company was okay, too. :) Than ran (of course) to get us the best lawn seats and they really were the best. He's crazy like that. And I found my new favorite band....The Band Perry! I love them. I had never heard of them before.....that has something with the Bay Area having ZERO country music stations on the radio....but after I heard them I went out and bought their album and I love it. I listen to it the whole way through and Than said the other day, "Why don't you just go to a band perry concert!??!" And I would. So there. :)

I need to find some cute western plaid shirt to wear next time though. I was a little out of place in all my modesty.

I love this guy. He's out of town right now and I can't wait for him to get home! And I haven't talked to him all morning and that never happens. Apparently he 'works' on these business trips. He is very thoughtful and kind to his mother. I hope Pacen is just like that when he grows up. Becky can always talk to Than and Than can always talk to her. We can't make a big decision without consulting them first. We bounce ideas off each other and that is what family is for after all.

And also a big THANK YOU to brittney and Jason for watching our kids. They live like 5 minutes from the amphitheater....how fun is that?!?!?!Come down for a date in the city....we owe you!!!

And all photos courtesy of Becky...how backwards is that?

Monday Monday.

Look out world! Gentry is crawling up the stairs!

I tried to teach her to go down today but she would have nothing to do with that. She is so darn proud of herself for going all the way up! I chase her and pinch her fat little legs and she squeals with delight and it's such a fun game. The other day she crawled up and the door was closed at the top of the stairs and we hear this crying and we head up there and she's standing on the little piece of carpet that is there flat against the door with this look like, "Why is no one helping me!?!?!" We have to keep our eye on that one, that is for sure.

This was the other day when we were trying to reenact her STANDING ALL BY HERSELF!!!! She was holding onto my leg and then just let go and stood there for a few seconds and plopped right down. Than said she did this the other day, too. That girl! Can't she just slow down for a minute and just be our sweet little baby! No, she has to like grow up and stuff. Whatev, Gench. I guess we can't do anything about it! Better just love you anyway. :)

Oh yeah, and Pacen has found his new calling in life....Baby Whisperer. She was crying after about 45 minutes into her nap (very typical Gentry!) and after I huff and puff about her not sleeping very well he says, "I'll help her." And this is what I find. He's the best.

For being such a good kid, I reward him by doing stuff that I hate doing. Like putting together legos. BLEH! I'm just not that into that, but I sat down with Pacen and we dumped out all the little, itty bitty, tiny lego pieces and got the book out and put Jack Sparrow together just like we knew what we were doing.

Pacen really got the hang of it towards the end and finished it all by himself. The thing about legos is that Gentry and legos do not get along. Her sitting on my lap while I try to put legos together with Pacen was not happening with all of her grabby-grabber-ness. But we were victorious! We ended up only losing one piece and we didn't really need it anyway. And I loved that Camry was just as excited to play with Jack as Pacen was. That's my girl.

Here is a picture of some Gentry lovin'. I was unsuccessfully trying to get a picture of Gentry's top tooth that has come in.

AHHH, too much love.

What else have we been doing? Oh yes...swimming. It's consumed our summer but it's been so much fun. Every meet is like a ward party. There are five LDS families that swim (including us) and we stake out our little spot and watch everyone's kids and just have a great time hanging out and watching the kids swim. And they really are just getting better and better.

I think Pacen has had it harder because most of the kids that are 6 have swam for at least one, if not two years already and so he's been a little slower, but he is catching up. They are finally getting the whole 'race' thing down and are excited when they beat their times.

Camry's freestyle time is only 6 seconds away from Pacen's time. She's really getting it!

Today she won a prize at swim practice for working hard and she was so proud. She said that she didn't stop once on a lane line all practice. Pacen was so cute too. He said, "Camry, dad is going to be sooooo proud of you." I love my kids.

Wednesday is our last meet for this year. There is the big end of the year meet that we might do one event, but it's the same day that Than bought us Giants tickets all the way back from Christmas. But we have basically spent everyday at the pool so I think we're good. The kids have loved it, become super swimmers and super tan. Those tan lines are just ridiculous. Even Claira has crazy tan lines from hanging in the baby pool everyday.

What else is going on with us.....I'm eating the end of a gigantic bag of costco trail mix and I've pretty much eaten all the m&m's out of it and I just keep reaching in and grabbing out handfuls of nuts and raisins and putting it all back until I can find some more chocolate. Why not just buy m&m's? I probably would have. This was Than's purchase.

Today I checked the office supply store ads and started my back to school shopping that Merideth got me started on a few years ago. 25 cents for a two pack of dry erase markers....1 cent highlighters and pencils....50 cents for a four pack of glue sticks...you can't beat that! And I got two reams of computer paper for 1 dollar (with a mail in rebate that I already did online!) I'm pretty proud of my bargain shopping. I can't wait to see what the special sales are next week! I printed off the kids back to school list and we got a lot of it done today. Only one month left of summer. Boo. We have been having too much fun for that school thing to get in the way. :)

This little boy is OBSESSED with music. He is constantly on my computer choosing music off our itunes and creating his own playlists...it's quite funny. The current favorite songs of the house are Journey's Don't Stop Believin'....a classic, I love it......I Gotta Feeling...to a 6 year old it never gets old!.....Dynamite....Bruno Mars' Runaway Baby....and the Jimmer songs--Teach me how to Jimmer and The Show Goes On. We hear those songs many times a day. On Sunday, he's getting his primary song mix going, too. He cracks me up that he cares already, and just the fact that he actually knows how to use itunes.

I love these shoes. I bought them this spring and I've worn them over and over again this summer and I feel like I can be cute and still wear flip flops. Best purchase of the summer. That and my Zella workout clothes. I love feeling semi-cute while exercising. I've started up crossfit with my friend again now that she's had her baby. I love it because I feel like I'm on the biggest loser. Burpees are not my friend but I feel like I'm actually getting stronger. I do like push ups and sprints and box jumps and feel like I'm gonna puke. It's pretty awesome.

This girl makes me laugh on a regular basis. We did a Pioneer themed FHE tonight and we played the game and I'd ask a question and she's raise her hand all kid-like and everytime she'd answer with, "Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and Holy Ghost," or she'd say, "Follow the gospel and walk and walk and walk and walk." Yes, that Primary song has had an affect on her.

We went and saw Harry Potter finally. Than was about to divorce me because we didn't see it on the opening week. I just LOVED the books and I just like the movies. This movie was really good though, but they always mess with the best parts of the book and I just can't get behind that. Just do it the way she wrote it!!!! You don't need to take any personal liberties!

Than is out of town until Thursday, and I forgot how much I don't like him being out of town. When he's gone all the time, I get used to it, but he's been home so much I forgot what it was like to be a single mom. Pacen, Cam, and Claira are all snuggled up in my bed and I left them crying because they all wanted me to sleep next to them and so I said that I'd just sneak in where there was room and so then they were shoving each other over so they'd have room for me. That's when I just said, "Good night," and walked out the door. I don't hear anything now so they must have figured it out.

I got to rock this little baby to sleep tonight.

It was so sweet. We sang songs and rocked and loved each other. It doesn't happen very often that all the stars will align so we get all that time just the two of us at night, but they did and I loved it. She's just growing up so fast. A lady in church was so funny because Gentry is just loud these days. And the lady comes up to me and says, "Well, she is sure finding her voice these days, isn't she?" That is the polite way to say, "Take your baby out!" I'm kidding, she's a sweet lady and wouldn't say anything mean ever but Gentry is seriously LOUD in church. But that duty is going all to Than because now I'm Camry's only primary teacher. No more switching off weeks for me. It's good bonding time for Than and Gentry. He can get her to sleep every afternoon right towards the end of Sunday school. He's got the magic dad touch.

What else......oh! My sister's BFF (I think you are supposed to say bestie now...I'm behind) had her twins today and I get to take some pictures of them next week! I'm so excited. Get this...the babies were 7 lbs 7 oz, and 6 lbs 10 oz! Those are some HUGE twins!!!!

Alright...time to go do something productive. Maybe. I always have grand plans when Than is gone to do all these things that I don't do when he's home but then I just want to plop down on the couch and watch some TV. Than's been making fun of me because I've been watching the Oprah Season 25 Behind the scenes. I could watch stuff like that all the time. I love seeing how shows are made and what people are really like. Although I just watched the Inside the Actor's Studio with Jennifer Aniston and she's just boring. I'd rather like to think that she's fun and bubbly and cute but she was just boring boring boring. Okay, this blog post is derailing quickly. Let's quit while we're ahead. :) And I'm pretty sure that it's official....all the m&m's are gone. Sorry Than.