Ayden and Dakota's Baptism

 On September 1st, Ayden and Dakota were both baptised.

We had a good sized crowd of extended family and friends who made the boys feel loved and supported. My Mom and Dad, for example, flew in from England the night before but almost didn't make it because of the hurricane that came earlier that week. Meredith and her family drove from Orlando. The storm did prevent other family members from coming. We missed out on seeing Travis and crew, TJ and her bunch, Brent's parents, and two of his brothers. We know their hearts were with us.
Other than the storm, everything turned out wonderfully. The groceries were back on the shelves just in time for Robin and I to empty them again.

Pictured above are the cousins helping Aunt Meredith with her talk on baptism. They were just too cute to pass up a photo op! (Thanks to Jeni for snapping this shot.)

Robin and I attempted a photo shoot with the boys a few days beforehand, but out of almost 50 shots, not one made the final cut for their programs! It was pretty entertaining though. These two never cease to put on a show when they get together.

Refreshments afterwards. Dakota and Ayden had fun eating their own body parts.

The dunking crew.

We are so proud of our Ayden. He handles the duties of being the oldest child very well. A few days after the big day Ayden casually said, "Hey Mom, you know what? I really like this Holy Ghost thing. It's been helping me make good choices!" Keep it up Ayden. We love you so much, and are enjoying watching/helping you grow into a fine young man. 

Swim, Swim, Swim...

This summer we joined our local YMCA which turned out to be great in so many ways.

We swam at the pool at least three days a week, sometimes four or five. It was a win-win, because the pool was an excellent incentive for the kids to cooperate and suffer through one hour of child care while I worked out, knowing that they could swim when the hour was over. We have the tans to prove it! Josh has been utilizing the gym too, and has the bod to prove it (wink, wink!) Keep it up, daddy-o.

The Plunge

I've been trying to decide what to do with the time I will  have this school year when ALL of my kids will start school. I've brainstormed a lot over the past year or so. I thought of going back to school, but I still can't decide what I want to be when I grow up. Training to be a yoga or spin instructor was another idea. The project I decided to focus on and have jumped full force into, is sewing and entering the following products into the Baton Rouge Arts Council to sell at the Art Market which coincides with the Red Stick Farmers Market on every first Saturday of the month. Today was the deadline to submit my work, so I've been sewing like crazy and came up with this:

 Boy rompers or "John-Johns". With the art market I have to be artsy, so I created the dinosaur and car appliques and will have more-like snakes, airplanes, gators, monsters,etc...

 These are ingenious. Pacifier/Teether Holder and bib in one!

Same thing, I create the appliques. These will be made to coordinate with the dresses and rompers, along with some to sell on their own.

  Headbands with flowers

I think the judges will love these repurposed pillowcases. 

I took the term "pillowcase dress" literally and found and will have to find more vintage pillowcases to transform and embellish.

The "artistic expression" in these dresses is simply my ability to choose two contrasting fabrics to coordinate with each other into sheer fashion perfection (heh-heh).

My model. I made it all in her size so the dresses wouldn't be made in vane.

No dress is complete without a proper ruffle butt!

There you have it! I hope the judges like my work. I made sure every stitch was perfect, and used the serger for a professional finish. Cross you fingers for me! I'll know if they accept my work in 2 or 3 weeks...

In the meantime, and also if the market doesn't work out for me, I will have this all for sale for whomever is interested.

My Very First Black Eye

When I was a kid I used to wish that I had a broken arm or leg so I could wear a cool cast and have my friends sign it. I used to scream as loud as I could to make my voice hoarse on purpose. My knees were eternally scabbed from bike/skating crashes. I always wondered what it would be like to have a black eye. Well, the fourth scenario has come to play. At 33 years of age, I have earned my very first shiner. So, how did I manage this, you might ask yourself? I can't say that I got in a fist fight with another mom over the last navy blue uniform jumper in Afton's size. I can't lie and say that I collapsed from heat exhaustion and somehow managed to whack my eye on the way down. Nope. My black eye came in the most non-threatening way imaginable-while playing hopscotch with the boys. I was drawing our squares on the pavement, and Ayden was hunched over drawing the numbers and jumped up fast whacking the back of his head into my eye bone. I curled up on the lawn and cried like a baby. I'm no Chuck Norris, people.

Happy Father's Day, 2012

Happy Father's Day to my hubs and my daddy, two of the coolest men I know. We just enjoyed a manly breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, grits and eggs.

 I wonder how many griddles are working overtime this morning in honor of all of the dads out there...

I wish my dad (in Idaho) and Josh's dad (in heaven) could have enjoyed it with us.

Charles Holloway, thank you for showing me through your example what kind of man I should look for.

You set the standards pretty high! (I found a great one, by the way.) I miss you!

Spencer Hutchinson, if you can feel my vibes, thank you for raising up such an awesome man for me to enjoy my life with. I wish you could be here to see how amazing he is to me and your grandkids! You would be so proud. I know I am.

The classy family photo above can be explained in the link below:
We did yet another crazy video from across the globe.
Who knew how swampy Idaho and England can be?

http://vimeo.com/44173691

Mother's Day 2012

This is a little belated, but I have to share this video with you. For Mother's Day this video was filmed separately in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Twin Falls, Idaho, Knoxville, Tennessee, and East Grinstead, England. Then my sis, Dixie, edited all of the videos and compiled them into this masterpiece for our mother. Mom has been battling cancer with all of her might for the past 4 years. It has been a difficult time for her and all of us who love her so dearly. I don't wish this experience on anyone, but I also know that we aren't the only family dealing with such a frustrating struggle. I am so grateful that Dixie thought of this excellent idea and put it all together. We love you, Mom!! You truly are the best around;)

http://vimeo.com/42071616

This Is A Big Deal!

Woo-hoo! I finally figured out how to post videos on the bloggity!

Here is a very important milestone for Ian caught on camera.

When we got home from the RocketKidz race last week, he decided that he wanted his training wheels off.

Going, going, GONE!

His cheerleader!

 Go, Ian, GO!!

Later on in the day he learned how to start on his own too!

He is now a pro!

Rocket Kids Triathlon, 2012

We decided to register both of the boys in the Rocketkidz Triathlon this year. They both did great and were so determined! Dakota raced again too, as did a couple of their friends. The weather was perfect and the event this year was a lot more organized-thank goodness because last year was a little chaotic and stressful. The location was changed to a new waterpark here in town. The swimming portion was in the park's lazy river (with the current turned off, of course). 

Ian swam 25 yards, biked 0.5 miles, and ran 0.25 miles

Ayden swam 25 yards-mistake made by the coordinators b/c it was supposed to be 50 yards, 

biked 0.5 miles and ran 0.5 miles

 I helped Ian with his swimming.

Then he was on his own for the bike part. Look closely to see how focused he is!

He was getting tired toward the end, so I tried some motivation. 

First I told him he was a rocket, but that didn't get a reaction.

Then I said, "IAN! YOU ARE A STEAM ENGINE!" 

He smiled so big and started chugging faster.

Coming in for the finish.

Victory spin on dad's shoulders.

Ayden was next. He was ready to go, like an old pro.

You can just see his head and black suit. He swam strong.

Getting started on his bike. 

Run, Ayden, RUN!!

The boys were so proud of themselves and so are the parents, of course!

They were so tough and stuck with it, even though they were tiring out toward the end.

We will definitely make this a yearly event for them. Afton can join in next year if she wants to.

Kliebert's Alligator and Turtle Farm

Travis and his family were in Louisiana during Memorial Day weekend, so we got to spend a day with them and Aunt Videt, Uncle David and Court. First we hung out at Aunt Videt's for a little while.

Then our bunch and Travis and Raegan's bunch ate lunch at Trey Yuen.

DELICIOUS!!! Seriously, unless you are actually in China, you can't get better than this place.

After lunch we headed to my home town, Ponchatoula, for a tour of the alligator farm.

Here the kids are with Mike Kliebert, one of the original "Swamp People."

The kids all got to feed this kid. He was so adorable.

All of the cousins, watching the turtles.

The highlight of the tour-our guide, Mikey, teasing "Crush" a 17 foot gator. It looked like they were dancing.  It was so amazing and terrifying at the same time. These Kliebert boys know their gators so well. It's pretty amazing to watch how brave (or crazy) they are.

Crush is going to get Mikey one of these days!

The majority of us took turns holding the 5 footer below.

Ian wasn't going to until Aunt Videt bribed him with #1 cash, then he jumped right on!

 

 The kids loved the little baby turtles! Some of us held the little gators.

 We had such a great time with everyone! We can't wait to get together again. 

Our van load couldn't leave Ponchatoula without having Bootsy's burgers for dinner. Holy gluttony! 

Stacy's Adventures Sans Hubby And Children

Hey Kids! Do you want to know what your Mom is up to while she's away? Here's a sneak peek into her recent adventures...

 A few weeks ago, I went with a group of friends to an Ugly Bride's Maid party.

The idea was to get creative and be the most hideous bride's maid possible.

There were prizes for the most cheesy,  most tacky, most ghetto, ugliest shoes, and ugliest dress. 

Here's our crew. I was a runaway bride, Robin, Lindsay, and Helen were my bride's maids. Amy (the one trying to stop me from running away) was my mother. Sarah (in white) was a poser, and Paige (in red) was the wedding crasher. Other than the hostess, we didn't know a single person, and we were the only sober ones there. Let's just say we had some great entertainment!

BTW, that is my actual wedding dress.

The whole group...

The winners...

I took my second trip to a Chick-Fil-A grand opening. This time it was in New Orleans and it was HOT! 

My friend, Helen, camped with me. We were there from 6am to 6am. A full 24 hours! Along the way, we snagged some more crazy peeps-her Uncle Craig and a new couple in our ward who had some free time  and thought, "Why not?!" 

 I was the only adult female willing to have ice water poured on my head repeatedly. 

I won a banana shake for my troubles. But really, I enjoyed cooling off. I was back to heat exhaustion after only 20 minutes. In the end, was it all worth the suffering? Oh yes. For 52 more free meals, I'd do it again.

 Here we are in front of our tent after surviving the full 24 hours! 

Global Wildlife

We took yet another field trip (and most certainly not the last) to Global Wildlife in Folsom during Ayden's last week of school. 

This trip was the most fun, though because Aunt Videt joined us! Also, the giraffes are very shy, so one should feel super privileged to have the rare opportunity to feed them.

 Please do not feed the zebras your children's ears!

 Majestic moment

 Aunt Videt was our own personal safari guide. 

She probably knew more about the animals than our actual guide.

We had a great time!