Memorial Day!

Due to lots of things going and a baby being sick - we stayed home and enjoyed the sunshine. Darren cleaned out the garage, I planted flowers and the boys played on the slip-n-slide and on the bike ramp. I love spending a day getting things done but we were a little sad to not be spending it with family.

Here are a couple photos from our day. The flowers that I planted will eventually be so huge and cover the entire area - I will post a "after" picture in about a month. The pictures of the yard are just to show how great our trees a blooming and growing this year. Everything is bigger and better than before! I just love walking down our front path.

Hope you all had a great day!


OKAY - I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO UPLOAD PICTURES BUT I KEEP GETTING AN ERROR! I WILL KEEP TRYING AND TRYING AND TRYING!

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

Well - this post is going to be a bragging post. But I have to say that I had a wonderful birthday and I have an amazing husband. It goes like this...

My birthday was on Wednesday and it was going to be a full day. I had taken the day off to volunteer at Blaze's school, take Pierson to the doctor, swim lessons for the boys and then Scouts. Not too exciting huh? Well - Monday night Darren drops a bomb. He has arranged for me to have Tuesday off as well - he arranged to have the boys taken care of for the day, the night AND the next day. My best friend took them Tuesday, Ranie took them Tuesday night and Wednesday. He arranged for me to get out of teaching preschool and scouts the next day. He told me we were shopping on Tuesday then heading to Wendover to eat at my favorite restaurant, staying the night then coming back and having the evening to spend with the boys.

Well get this - at first I said NO WAY. I cried for an hour claiming I just couldn't do it, couldn't leave the boys, couldn't leave my responsibilities, had to do laundry, I was coming up with every excuse. I finally realized all the trouble he had gone through to make this happen - I agreed. I have obviously lost my sense of spontaneity. My schedule being all messed up didn't sit well.

I had a great time though - our friends Kim and Kurt went with us and they made it so much more fun. When I told the boys the next morning - they wished me well and could have cared less that I was leaving them. Ouch!

Ranie and Colin helped them make Birthday cards for me and they turned out so cute. I can't take them down.

I had a great birthday - thanks to everyone who helped get me out of town! It was worth it!

Science Fair!

Canon recently had a project due for the science fair - he was to create and design a miniature golf hole. He thought of it all by himself. It had a Madagascar theme so it was decorated with the Madagascar characters and a tree, a watering hole, etc. Darren and Canon constructed it and it took two whole night. They painted carpet, glued PVC pipe, spray painted boxes, etc. We are so proud of him and his creativity. We took his project in to the school Friday morning and then by the afternoon - parents were allowed to come see all of the kids entries. Let me just say that Canon had by far the largest hole There were a couple that were better than his but that won't happen next year - just ask Darren.

Here are a couple of pictures of the project. You had to hit the ball up the ramp trying to make into the hole on the box. If you made it - it would slide down a pipe in to a "hole in one". If you missed, the ball would go down the ramp and you would have to putt it into the hole from there.

He was excited for all the kids to see what he had made and his project was pretty popular! Too bad I won't let him keep it!

Random Pictures!

Just thought I would post a couple cute pictures of my boys!

Not A Good Idea!

So I realized a little too late that when you are waiting around for family to show up - it's not a good idea to pitch wiffle balls to your husband. It only took two pitches before I was struck right in the eye with a wiffle ball! He was aiming for the fences but my face got in the way. I immediately fell to the ground, lying on the driveway while Darren and the kids came running.It didn't take long to swell up but thank goodness it wasn't a real baseball. Each day my eye got a little darker, a little redder. Looked like I put on a little too much makeup on one eye.

Anyway - Darren was so proud of smackin me in the eye - he wanted it documented - here is the proof!

My Baseball Stud!

Blaze has been deemed the best kid on the team and we are so proud. This boy is truly amazing when it comes to sports. He is such a natural that he doesn't even have to try to be good... he just is. Everyone is telling us how great he is at batting, throwing, running, etc. It feels so good to hear such great things from other parents when their kid is out there too. He is always placed at first base since he is the only one that can catch with his mitt, throw to the pitcher or catcher and touch the base when he is supposed to. He loves to play and makes us so proud to watch him succeed. I often wonder if we may have a professional athlete in our midst.

Pierson Lawrence Don DeGracie!

Pierson has turned one! Today was his birthday and we had such a great day celebrating it! Last night he generously woke us up at 4:30 in the morning and we started talking about where we were at 4:30 in the morning a year ago. Pierson decided to come a month early and I went into labor in the middle of the night on May 16th. I was in denial of course, as I was with the other two boys when they came early. Once it started to hurt REAL bad I demanded to be taken to the hospital...hee!hee! At about 9:50 in the morning Pierson was born a perfectly healthy little boy!

So much has happened in just a year. It is so amazing all that a baby accomplishes in just one year. He gained a ton of weight, grew 6 teeth, feeds himself, throws a ball across the room, kicks any ball like a soccer ball, sits up, crawls, WALKS, can pick things up while walking without falling, can get up from the ground and start walking without the use of furniture, can say a few words, recognizes a ton of words and family members, torments the dog, sleeps through the night, well 6-7 hours anyway, and rules the house. We would do anything for this little boy. He can pour the dogs food and water out, empty the cabinets, pull everything out of the pantry, unravel the entire roll of toilet paper in each bathroom and empty the contents of the garbage cans and we still love him to death! He is such a cutie and we are so excited that he is ours! I am just so sad how fast it went.

For his birthday we had my family over for a barbeque. We had lots of food and a HUGE chocolate cake! He opened more presents than the days he has been alive and had cake in every crevasse. I think he did it on purpose because he LOVES to take a bath! He received lots of toys, the cutest clothes and some great books. Thanks so much for the gifts everyone....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PIERSON! You are so loved!

At the Park!

We spent Mother's Day afternoon at the park with my boys. We had such a good time and it was fun to watch my boys play. I don't get to sit and relax and watch them play often so this was a special occasion. We played football, golf, soccer, baseball, played on the swings/slides and ate a picnic. I absolutely love being a mom and am so grateful that I have wonderful, kind, obedient boys - most of the time!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I just wanted to wish my Mom a Happy Mother's Day! She is so dedicated in taking care of all of us even though we are all grown up! She has always put her children before herself and continues to do so. She is still so beautiful and we love her tons! Hope you had a great Mother's Day mom! We love you so much and are so grateful to have you in our lives!