New Heights

Oh Yeah, that's my boy.

Jon has taken up Volleyball 
and well, you can see he is dominating. 

We are so proud of his hard work and perseverance. 

It is an absolute joy to watch him soar to

New Heights.

If you're wondering what that is on the face of his competitors...

It's Fear.

Octo-Val

Now, I've heard of co-sleeping...

but this just seems

Ridiculous!

Me, minus a few brain cells.

 Tonight at dinner Vee asked me,

"mom, why do you have on 

two different earrings?"

Yep.

That's how things have been around here

lately...

Friday Flashback

The Four Musketeers

1998

Mike & I met at BYU in Provo, married and lived there while he finished his degree. 

My sister Lori & her husband Dwayne also met at BYU, married and lived there while completing their degrees.

We had our first babies within weeks of each other & our second babies within 6 months of each other.

Our kids went to the same babysitter during our working/school years.

JT and Chan attended the same preschool.

We lived nearly next door for several years.

We shared vacations, holidays, birthdays,

happiness, heartache & many "firsts".

Our boys were best buddies, partners in crime, inseparable.

The Four Musketeers

MacDaddy

Case

JT

Chan

All for one, one for All.

Laughing in my Sleep

I think I've said it before...

I love sleeping babies. 

Mr T never fails to give me a 10:30 

(okay, in my dreams... more like 11:30) 

giggle as I check on him before I go to bed each night.

Sweet Dreams Nerdo

Tangled

I'm sure you are all familiar with the 

Tangled

Ball 

of 

Christmas

Lights

But

have you ever seen a

Tangled 

Ball

of 

Phone/iPod/Camera

Cords?

the gift that keeps on givin'

the whole year

Teens, Gorillas & the subsequent Nightmares

Now, don't get me wrong...

i LOVE

having the teenagers crash my pad

for an impromptu

Pah-tay.

love

LOVE

love

However, when the party involves an impromptu gorilla showing up and scaring the knickers off my little peeps...

I must draw the line.

Because, believe it or not

I Do Not Love 

having 3 extra bodies sleeping in my

Queen Size

bed.

Swing Low

THIS 

is common sight at the 

Taylor house...

Mr. T running half-naked 
with his diaper about ready to "blow".

Not that I particularly enjoy it 
when his diaper fills 
to the point of explosion, 
but you try catching this boy 
AND
keep him still long enough to change a diaper.

Sounds like a 
"Would You Rather" 
question...

Hmmmm.

Friday Flashback

August 2001

Our little family of 4 went to 

Michigan to visit family.
We visited Dow Gardens.

goofed around with the fam...

(believe it or not, this is a regular occurrence with my family)

and played at the park

but my favorite part of the trip was the day we spent at 
Lake Michigan...

we were visiting 
the Burtch family in Holland

we spent the day sightseeing

took pizza to the beach

played in giant holes in the sand

walked out to the lighthouse

it was a beautiful day...

the water was so tempting

but only a couple of us had 

swimsuits on

So... in a moment of pure genius 

my mom jumped in the water, 

fully clothed

before long my dad joined her...

and Mike...

and eventually the entire family ended up in the lake, 
laughing & splashing...

 We were still smiling as the sun set on this perfect day.

Oo-da-lolly, Oo-da-lolly, 
Golly what a day!

Good Mom/Bad Mom

The kids had a half-day of school...

We were looking for something fun, unique, cheap to entertain ourselves.

The kids decided that they wanted me to paint their faces.

And why not?

We had a whole bin of craft paints 
in my closet.

So after deciding on their designs 
and

trying very hard to sit still  
(for what seemed like forever), 

they happily lined up to admire 
themselves in the mirror...

Tony

aka: Mr. Sneaky Snake

Valerie

aka: Miss Flower Fairy

Courtney

aka: Miss Mis-Matched 

* life was good 
in the Taylor home

* my little Peeps 
were so very happy

* and proud 
of their artistic masterpieces
 

until

the itching began...

which led to  

*

*

*

*

V

an extremely long (2+ hours), painful removal.

rats.

fyi: a combination of vegetable oil & vanilla handsoap will remove craft paint from skin... not that we will EVER try this again.

Sleeping Beauty

Here's my big 7-year-old girl 

trying to get some  
"Beauty Sleep".

She was so excited to wear her 

divalicious sleep mask.

So, of course I had to 
snap a few photos...

Night #1

Yes, she is sleeping on the floor, but isn't she working that mask?

Night #2

She made it up to her bed 
this time, 

but as for the mask...

And yet, she still woke up beautiful.

Epic Fail + morning addition

Some days I question my sanity, ok MOST days I question my sanity... however every once in awhile there is a day that must be classified as
EPIC FAIL
...............
Sure I'll make 40 amazingly beautiful AND delicious cookies for our Young Womens meeting tonight (from a recipe I have never tried, but looks & tastes delicious in my mind)
Of course I'll make a "you are beautiful" sign to hang at the meeting (which I had planned on sewing {yes, out of fabric} but ended up being scrapbook paper on poster board...bleh)
and it's a early release day for school?
Well why wouldn't we invite
half the neighborhood over...
when the house is
unreasonably (and atypically) clean?
...............
So here I am
baking cookies, tweaking recipe, baking more cookies, tweaking recipe again, baking cookies, telling kids to get their paws off the cookies,
borrowing cream cheese from
Karen & Kristin, (seriously, thanks!)
breaking out in a cold sweat, tweaking recipe...
BREAKING
MY
BOSCH
(actually, just the beaters, but it still hurt)
...............
crying & cussing
(on the inside)

the cookies were finally made...
I thought,
"Hey! It's going to be ok."

until I took a stroll around my house and found
THIS
...............

And
THIS
...............

And actually, something like
THAT
in every room of my house

EPIC FAIL
by the way, Brooke, you're a gem and I heart you
...............
And, oh, did I mention that I rushed the cookies & sign over to the church at 8:05 with my 3 youngest, barefoot, half-naked, not-yet-fed children in tow (husband working late) for a meeting that started at 7:00 that I was supposed to be attending?
...........

**Morning After Addition... i woke up this morning with a realization
In my weary, dreary, beaten-down state last light, I failed to acknowledge the fact that the children (and me... there MAY have been some mid-cookie disaster dancing to some very catchy tunes) had a glorious day.
And... for the record, cleaning up the aftermath was nothing short of therapeutic. There's just something about picking up, sorting, distributing & re-organizing that gives me oooohhhhhhm.

Living Off The Land

The girls first attempt at gardening...

Pretty impressive, eh?

Bet you wish you had an eggplant, tomato, avocado, kiwi, broccoli tree...

Friday Flashback

February 2003
Courtney Love

Could you just melt?

Bros

Good Quality Bro Time =
a riveting episode of Teen Cribs
matching white t-shirts
a good back scratch

Oh yeah, it's good to be a BRO.

Summer Lovin'

Love Is All You Need
Price cousins

Sisters

Little Bro
Papa Bear

And even a little bit of
Puppy Love

Friday Flashback

August 2005
The Taylor Family Final Summer Blow-Out!
We went to Flagstaff for a little bit of...
Scenery

Light Reading
Napping While Snuggled In Your Baby Sister's Blankie
Wheat Thins

PJ's all day
YEAH

Jumping On The Beds

Card Playing
AND
Teething On End Tables

Unfortunately our magical getaway didn't magically eliminate baby diarrhea blow-outs.

Doesn't One Summer Blow-Out Deserve Another?