Melly's Gang

Rolling Rivalry Bike Ride

2011-09-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

September 17, 2011

Jordan and I rode the first annual rolling rivalry bike ride. It started in Salt Lake City at Rice Eccles Stadium and ended at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo. It is a 100 kilometer ride aka Metric Century and is about 63 miles. The total elevation climb was 3,258 ft. It took us about 3 hours 40 minutes. There were about 80 riders and we came in about 7th place. The ride is a fundraiser for a local foundation called Angel's Hands. It is a foundation that raises money for families who have children who have rare diseases. You can go to rollingrivalry.com to learn more.

Jordan and I at Rice Eccles Stadium. The start of the ride.

Jordan and I at Lavell Edwards Stadium. The elevation climb was difficult. We climed over the point of the mountain in Draper and came down in Alpine. Jordan was the better rider. He is quick to get up hills and fast to get down. Nice of him to wait for me so we could finish together.

This is a picture of one of the families that Angel's Hands helps to support. The little boy in the chair has a rare bone disease. He was a cute little guy.

Nice ride Jordan! Hopefully we can do it again!

Presents for Baby

2011-06-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

The boys got their new little baby.......................(fill in the blank) and their mommy/wife some pre-birth gifts.

They even pitched in some of their own money. J.J. picked out some cute little shoes.
And of course some new onesies were in order as well as some a balloon to celebrate.

And mommy needed some flowers to help her get through the rest of the pregnancy.

What sweethearts! They're going to be great big brothers and a super awesome daddy!

Run, Bike, Swim for your Life

2010-11-16T18:51:00.000-08:00

So I may have received an email asking why I have not blogged about the triathlon Jaren and Jordan did together. I have now repented and am showing you why I didn't really think about blogging some of this. Oh, don't worry, you'll see...

So here's Jaren at the beginning of the race. Can you see him? Yep, right there. You see him now? What do you mean, no? He's right there...right behind the girl. You can totally see one of his arms, you know, in between the girl and the guy waving his hand. I can't believe you missed it! Don't worry though, we got an awesome shot of him when he was about a hundred feet from finishing the run part of it.

Yep, I told you...AWESOME! I don't mean to brag, but I think I might be the best action photographer I've ever seen. I asked the kiddos to keep an eye out for me for Jordan after Jaren ran past, and J.J. was completely on the ball for me. He said, "Mom! There's Uncle Jordan!" I said, "Where?" J.J. - "He ran past us! We missed him!"

The picture above is all right. I managed to get the sun shining right into the camera and Ryan's tongue out, so it wasn't a total loss.

This picture isn't quite as good. I accidentally got their faces showing in this one.

In all seriousness, these guys did great! They practically finished one on top of the other. Jaren was a little bit faster of a runner and swimmer, and Jordan wailed everyone on the bike. Way to go guys...we're proud of you! (P.S. You two are the best dog paddlers I've ever seen!)

A Happy Halloween to you!

2010-10-31T19:25:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of good times this Halloween. All the cousins got to hang out at the Pumpkin Patch and (from what I hear) had a ton of fun together!

These poor kids probably couldn't wait to get finished with this picture below. Every single one of them is squinting in pain. What great sports!

We also had a great time with carving pumpkins too. We got a really fun book that the kids were able to put faces on the pumpkins by dotting the paper with permanent markers. Ryan ended up coloring the entire paper that was taped on his pumpkin with a red Sharpee. You can see on his pumpkins face the remnant of the ink that seeped through the paper. This activity was right down his alley!

Chase was very excited to have a cat. He kept saying, "cat...meow!"

Here are the outfits Jaren put together for our family this year. I think he might have been more excited about the army men thing then the boys were. He thought the hand grenades and bullets were super cool. Do boys ever grow up? :)

Here they are...our all american heroes!

Grandma Ghostie's Haunted House

2010-10-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

This Halloween, we're trying to make the season last a little bit longer. We made a haunted house that our Grandma Ford likes to haunt sometimes at night...

Our kids really got into the spirit of this little activity once they understood what they would be getting in the morning at times. They even helped me decorate it with spiderwebs. I think they did a pretty awesome job.

It wasn't easy to lift that house with all those spider webs keeping it down though!

I'm not sure what it is about this picture that makes me think they're excited about what they got the first night...I can just feel it in my bones (buns for those who have seen Murder By Death).

Something I thought was great was how J.J. decided that he wanted to build his own haunted house that the Grandma Ghost could visit at night in his own room. He made this house out of lasagna boxes and colored ghosts and monsters on the outside.

He loves the windows on his haunted house. They gave him a sneak peek into knowing whether the Grandma Ghost visited his very own creation. (He likes the idea of Grandma being able to get inside the house by floating through the walls.)

Another good find!

One of the funniest parts about this is that J.J. didn't make the connection that Grandma Ford was the ghost that haunted the houses, although I thought he knew. We called the Grandma Ghost to let her know that J.J. had made his very own haunted house for her to haunt as well, and at first he acted kind of shy. I wasn't sure why until he said, "Hey! This is Grandma Ford, not Grandma Ghost!" He thought he caught her being sneaky. :) Well, she is pretty sneaky sometimes!

Thanks Grandma (Ford) Ghost for the fun and very sneaky surprises! You can haunt our house anytime!!

A happy happy birthday (the big ?) and raspberry fun...

2010-10-03T18:18:00.001-07:00

Yes, I am now 20-10. A little bit scary if you ask me. I did have a good day though! Jar made me a magnificent breakfast and cleaned all of it up afterwards!! I got showered with cards saying how my kids loved me and loved to play with me (presents don't get better than that!). I got to sort of listen to General Conference (more than Saturday at least). And after dinner we had a lovely cake (compliments of Jaren) and ice cream.

Look at all those candles!

Of course I had to embarrass myself by not being able to blow them all out, but really, you couldn't stick them a little closer together, Jar?

Now for some more fun...

We went raspberry picking for the first time! It was so fun for the first ten minutes! Then, because the awesome mom forgot to bring water, we had one screaming child, one whining child, and one tired child for the remainder of the time we were there. Chase really impressed me though when he picked the berries. He picked the ripe ones and was careful enough that he didn't squish them in his hand.

Ryan was stalwart. He was picking berries up until the last! He'd dump his bucket into Jar's bucket and then come take mine!

Jaren was the cream of the crop. He picked so much and worked berry hard. (Jaren wrote that...can you tell?) It's true though. :)

This little guy was so super good, as always. (Of course, his bottle was remembered...)

And here's our load...12 pounds of funlovin' raspberries, all of which we made raspberry jam out of. YUM, YUM!!

The last three months in pictures...

2010-07-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

I graduated (I promise), but I can't find any pictures of it...(I sure hope somebody got pictures).

J.J. graduating from kindergarten.

J.J. after too many pictures of him graduating from kindergarten.
My Mother's Day bouquet.
Father/Son's campout.
It's really cold every year...so they weren't dressed for style. Where's the flood?
What's camping without loads and loads of treats?
And then J.J. lost (pulled really) his two front teeth! Mo money, mo money.
Sparklers bring out the actor in our children.

Except for maybe this one. I think he was focusing too hard to really enjoy it.
In my mind, this was the best part of the 4th of July. Those little neon tubey thingy's were so fun. They goofed around with them,
we played frisbee with them, and Ryan threw them in the street numerous times and got it stuck up in a tree (no picture sorry).
Then our own little fireworks show. This was the only pic I got of the three of them. Chase started just bawling and wouldn't calm down until I took him inside and watched with him from there.
Well, that's all folks! We'll see what comes next...

Ford Family Outing...Guess what we did... :)

2010-04-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

Can you tell yet?

We went shooting!! J.J. shot the gun for the first time. He'd been asking for a while to go, but it just never worked out. So this time, we ALL went. I could tell J.J. was scared when he shot it. I don't think he knew that it would be so loud or hard. When I tried to talk about it with him later, he got a little anxious until I asked him if he was a little scared. He didn't really want to say he was, but after I admitted that I got scared too, he willingly said he was a LITTLE scared.

Jaren has been wanting to show me how to use the gun in case I ever needed to use it (crossing my fingers here that it'll never happen!). I thought it was horrible and scary. I think I need a smaller gun without so much bang. The first time I shot the gun, I had my hand in a different spot and when the gun recoiled, it got my thumb. Ouch. I am glad to know how though.

Here's the master. (Jaren asked me not to write this...but since this is my blog, I can do what I want) J.J. and I watched him from the car and he nailed some pretty good shots. I kept thinking, maybe I'll be better next time. And then I'd remember that I didn't really want a next time. :)

Here are the boys...watching The Incredibles. Chase just woke up; therefore, he's not happy.

All in all, it was a pretty fun day.

A very blessed day...

2010-03-07T20:58:00.000-08:00

Yup, we blessed our sweet baby today. We had LOTS of family come and we were so grateful they could make it. The last two baby blessings we had I think one family member came to one of them (thanks Mindy!) We've finally got more family around and are LOVING it.

Sweet daddy gave sweet baby a great blessing. I'm so grateful for him!

Ryan loves his little brother. They all do. If Chase sees someone give Clawson a kiss, he has to too! J.J. is great at holding and feeding his little baby brother and they're all so good to him. He's one lucky baby.

We also celebrated Chase's birthday. He's recently loving Elmo and when he saw his cake pops (that kept me awake until 1:30 the night before), he gasped and cried "Meh-mo!" Yup, it was worth it!

J.J. wasn't feeling so good. He had a little fever and it kept him on the couch and not eating much that night. :(

Ryan liked eating the candy off the pops. I've never seen him open his mouth that wide!

Chase got some cute little toys that he really enjoyed. Thanks to his grandparents (Ford and Armstrong!) for the fun play things!

We got him a lot of batteries for his birthday so he could actually start playing again with the toys he's loved. This mischeivous look on his face is a very common one! Happy Birthday, buddy!!

He's Here!!! Welcome little Clawson!

2010-01-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

Clawson Noble Ford was born at 10:38 am on Tuesday, January 5. He was 7 lbs 8 oz (my biggest!!) and 19" long. It took pretty much exactly three hours from the time they started the Pitocin until he was delivered. So much faster than before!

This little guy is such a sweetheart. He hardly ever cries. And don't you think he looks tons like J.J. when he was born? Whenever he puckers his lips I can't help but remember when J.J. used to do it and how much alike they look.

Daddy has already been a super sweet daddy to little Clawson. He's also been a super sweet husband. I came home to two different bouquets of flowers, a totally clean bedroom that had been moved around to better accommodate a portacrib, and help whenever I needed it! What a great man (and a total hunk, dont you think?). :)

The boys were really excited to meet their little brother! This is exactly what they do whenever he's awake and around. They all crowd him and try to touch him as much as possible! Chase likes to kiss his head and J.J. likes to put his hands all over his face and lean down and put his face next to Clawson's. Ryan still has a few issues, but he has kissed his own hand and placed it on Clawson's head to show his love for him!

J.J. is such a good big brother. He's ALWAYS asking to hold him and gets upset when mommy and daddy want a turn!

Ryan is a little more shy with him. He likes to hold him for a few seconds and then, he's done!

Chase is really good at crowding Clawson...as you can tell, he's already starting to get on his nerves! :) Not really though...I think...

Well, there he is! The happy little addition to our growing family! We love you little Clawson!

Just some cute pics!

2009-11-29T10:25:00.000-08:00

The football season is basically over now. J.J. and his daddy sure had fun going to the games together.

And it's no wonder! Look at that stash...hot chocolate and hot tamales. Plus, they both got to go with friends.

Is it my turn to go do something fun yet?

Yep, this is Ryan. He's such a goober and we love him for it. Jar and I laughed pretty hard when Ryan said he wanted to be a ninja when we went to Wal-Mart. I grabbed the camera cuz I thought it would be pretty funny to see Ryan (and other people's faces too for that matter) in a big shopping center with a swim diaper over his head. He took it off when we got out of the car to go inside, but he wore it the entire ride over! He's so funny!

I thought I'd catch this moment on film too (or memory card). Chase is beginning to stop taking naps during the day. (Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!) He's taking after J.J. - not even two yet! Sigh. However, if the house is quiet and I put on Baby Einstein, he'll fall asleep with his blankie that Aunt Kristen made (THANK YOU!!!) and one of his bears (either the one pictured from gma and gpa Armstrong or the one that his daddy had when he was little - thanks again!). I could just watch him sleep all day long, he's too cute! But then I remember that this is the only time I have to get things done, so I don't.

Don't you just love these little rugrats?! I sure do! Life is fun with them around.

J.J.'s 6th Birthday

2009-11-24T15:42:00.000-08:00

J.J. had a Power Ranger Birthday party and had a really good time with his friends. When the boys first got to our house, we had their own power ranger pizzas for them to decorate. I can't believe how excited some of them were to put on their own toppings! They also chose their power ranger color of drink (just put food coloring of their choice in with their 7-up!). Kids are so easy to please! They had fun with that too.

Here are some of J.J.'s friends from school and his old pal Jonathon. They're sitting on part of the training course to become a real Power Ranger.

More friends from church. This was a fun ramp Jar put together as part of the training course too.

After they did a power stone hunt (easter eggs with candy in them), we had cupcakes. I wasn't up to decorating them, so I bought the frosting from the store that comes with a star tip spray. Didn't work that well, but they tasted good!

I decorated a cake for Sunday's family dinner and party. J.J. only really cared about the Power Ranger's on it, but I like to at least do a little decorating anyway! And Jaren has fun putting them on. :)

We were lucky enough to have lots of family here! We had Jordan and Kelly, Grandpa Clark, and Julie, and Jenny and her kiddos came and gave J.J. his own BIG bucket of licorice. Life doesn't get better than that!

Once again, J.J. got spoiled by his Grandma and Grandpa Ford. :) We've had lots of fun with the magnets, and the boys watched Jimmy Neutron three days in a row.

Can someone please tell me how to get your child to smile when he's the center of attention?

We had so much fun with J.J. He really is a sweetheart. He makes me so happy. I'm proud of the little guy he's becoming...kind and thoughtful. He really looks out for the people he loves.

P.S. Julie babysat for us last Saturday night so we could go Christmas shopping. When we told J.J. we were going to go get toys for him for Christmas, he told us that we shouldn't get him anything cuz he didn't want us to spend too much money on him. Besides, Santa would get him LOTS of presents! :) Just another way he shows his sweetness to us!

Two Weeks Later...

2009-11-14T17:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween! So, yes, it takes me a while to get to things done these days. But the wait is over! I know you've all been dying to see how we dressed up, but I'm sure (somehow) you made it through these last two weeks. :) We kept trying to get get J.J. to dress up as Dracula cuz you know he's got that great dark widows peak. Eventually he said he wanted to be him, so we shouted for joy and got some face paint.

Ryan has said for weeks that he wanted to be a tarantula, no a spitting spider, no a tarantula, spitting spider, etc........and on and on. We went with tarantula b/c who wants to figure out yellow spots?

Chase didn't have a choice in the matter. Although I think it's a bit obvious that he had some say in how much face paint we put on him. He got really good at wiping it the second I tried to put some on. He's such a cute little guy! He really got into it this year. At first he ran down the sidewalk in the other direction. Then he realized that he got candy at the houses and came faithfully. He even started saying tikoteet (trick or treat for those not affluent in toddler talk) and tantu (thank you).

This is J.J. in all his glory. He really started getting into the act!

Can anyone tell what I dressed up as? I'll give you a hint: that's a patch on my head. Pumpkin + patch = ? Not that I really expect anyone to get it. Jaren came up with it and I loved it. Nobody else seemed to get it. So, I'll tell you. A pumpkin patch! And believe me, I feel like one. It seems like it's one pumpkin after another these days.

Running Blacked Eyed Pumpkins

2009-10-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

I'm smushing together three different posts. The first is of J.J.'s fun run at his school. They had a 5k as a fundraiser. He was so excited! For the last three years, Jar and I have run a 10k on the 4th of July and this last year he really wanted to run the mile race. We told him that he might be able to do it next year and that we'd have to see if he could really run that far. This was his chance to prove himself!

He didn't want to smile for this picture, but he did...probably because he was so excited!

When J.J. saw me, he started to run faster. I was able to snap a pic before he took off out of sight!

Here he is finishing up with Dad. I was so proud of him!!! Most kindergartners stopped running the race after the first lap and got their ice cream. Not J.J.!! He wanted to do the whole thing...and he did! He ran almost three miles! Jar said he walked some of the way too, but WOW, I was so impressed! He's got a real competitive side to him and didn't want his Dad to beat him. I think he won! He didn't even want to stop to get water at the tables...he had to keep going.

J.J. having his well deserved treat at the end.

Well, I don't know if you can see it very well, but this is the second post. Look at Chase's left eye. How many colors can you see? The other day I was doing dishes (yes, it's a miracle), and Chase was in the front room with J.J. I heard a thunk and then crying. When I got in there, I could see some color and swelling already starting to form by his eye. He was not a happy camper. Chase wouldn't let me put ice on it, so I just held him for a while. It was so sad...but at least he still has his eye! I was a little worried when I saw how close it came. Apparently, he got onto the couch and fell off right onto the coffee table. OUCH! Sorry, buddy. That'll teach me to clean house!

Post #3. Carving pumpkins for FHE was a lot of fun. J.J. couldn't wait to actually do some of the cutting. Ryan just wanted to eat the Sweettarts he had picked out at the store for the treat (well actually, he opened it at the store; therefore I HAD to buy it for our treat). J.J. pretty much designed the smaller pumpkin. Ryan was supposed to help daddy with the big one, and I think he did get out some of the "guts".

As always, Chase had to be right in the middle of things. I gave him one of the Sweettarts, thinking he'd chew it up, but he swallowed it instead. He had a hard time breathing for a while, but eventually he puked it up. Poor, poor Chase. What's it gonna take for Mommy to learn her lessons? Maybe some carpet cleaning (yes, that was my job for FHE).

What a cute bunch of guys! As you can tell, this is Chase's first experience with pumpkins and he was totally enthralled with the candle inside. We had a lot of fun!!!

Does the Tooth Fairy have wings? and The Tooth Fairy's rich!

2009-09-01T15:14:00.001-07:00

Those are just some of the things J.J. had to say about the tooth fairy. He had many other questions too, but I can't remember them all. Seems like we talked for ages about her ever since his tooth first started getting loose. He was so excited when he pulled, yes PULLED, his tooth out at the suggestion of our home teacher. His other bottom tooth is loose as well, but not as much, and he tried to pull that out too! But it just wouldn't come. I told him to give it a few days!

J.J. very carefully put his first tooth in a baggie and put it under his pillow. He woke up at about midnight, got his money, and went to the family room and turned on the tv! Jaren went out and told him to go back to bed. But he made sure in the morning to show us his money bag and begged to go to the dollar store today. We did...after he cleaned his room. He got another big spider, kind of like the one Grandma Ford gave him, but it's hairy with wiggly legs and is attached to a pump that makes the spider jump. He LOVES it! Thanks Tooth Fairy!

For the other exciting news in our lives...

Jaren is ecstatic about football season coming. He went to the BYU bookstore today and got ANOTHER flag to display proudly on his truck. He gets a big grin whenever he mentions how soon the football game is. He's going to a friend's house in the ward to watch the game. But about 4 hours before the game, he's having a bbq with them and watching other games going on at the same time. And then after, there's another game! Looks like I'll be doing homework that night!...all night!

It's a....

2009-08-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Drumroll please....

BOY!!!

J.J.'s ecstatic; Ryan's in denial; and Chase is oblivious.

Mommy and Daddy are very, VERY happy!

Here's to sports, dirtiness, and wrestling! Cheers.

Nacho Libre meets the Three Amigos

2009-08-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

Around bedtime, Ryan came out of his bedroom with a swim diaper on his head, on each of his hands, and on each of his feet. He was acting crazy! Then J.J. came out of the bathroom and saw what Ryan was doing and laughed his head off, then proceeded to pull out another five swim diapers and came out dancing. They were hysterical. This is the epitome of our household fun with the little guys.
Chase mostly just wanted to watch and be in the middle of the craziness, but towards the end, he got brave and asked Jaren to put one on his head in his own way. I almost didn't get a pic b/c he took it off so fast. Towards the end, J.J. and Ryan both had the "masks" completely covering their faces and started acting like blind ninjas or wrestlers. Oh, the fun we have!!

Catching Mice

2009-07-22T07:08:00.001-07:00

Eww. This blog post is not for the faint-hearted. Nor is it filled with happy pictures to make you feel good inside. This is a true, and very ugly story.

We have had a guest living in our house without permission for at least 8 months now. We have tried at least two different traps, poison, and cornering it. Yup, that's right. Cornering it. Yuck. The first time was about three months ago (maybe four). Jaren saw it one night go right into our stove. He was determined to get it. So we both started getting ready for it. We taped three garbage bags together and attached it to the stove with tape. When we finally opened the stove (like 45 minutes later) the mouse was not inside due to a large hole in the back that he would easily have fit through. Yes, exasperating.

Lately, we'd been seeing the mouse a LOT more. It's like he was finally getting really comfortable here. I actually saw him stop a few times in the middle of the room before dashing back behind the entertainment center. (I thought he was cute!!!) But, regardless of his good looks, he's scared the heebie jeebies out of me too many times. I really wanted him gone, and Jaren even more so.

Not last night, but the night before, 24 robbers came knocking at my door. OK, no. And it was actually in the afternoon. I opened the pantry doors to get ready for dinner and the mouse was RIGHT THERE! Yes, probably at chest level, right in front of me! I screamed, the mouse jumped super high, and then dashed to the back of the pantry. I stood for a second, completely mortified. Then I got my head back, closed the pantry, and told my sob story to J.J., who immediately put his sandals on and went to tell Dad. That's how he fixes things you know!

So, Jaren came in and decided that what we needed to do was take out all of the food in the pantry and have the trash can and some cardboard blocking/waiting to catch him. Again, I was mortified. I was sure that the mouse was long gone and that this was a waste of effort while at the same time worrying my head off that he would pop out and scare the living daylights out of me again. Grudgingly, I agreed to help my dh. So, guess who held the trash can and cardboard and who had to reach in and grab the food items one by one with her bare hands? I know, I must be totally insane to let him talk me into doing that.

So we went shelf by shelf until we got to the bottom one. Then, when we (I) was halfway through getting out the food from that shelf, I reached in to grab the vanilla and the mouse jumped up again right by my hand!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! And shiver too. Then the mouse ran into some bottles, so we knew where it was and I quickly put my hand back in the lion's den to get rid of the rest of the food. When we got to the bottles, I grabbed the broom and with the stick part started poking around in there. It got scared and ran around until it ended up in the trash can. Jaren quickly covered it with the cardboard and then opened it to look and make sure that it was in there. It tried to scramble up the side, startling both of us, and he slammed the cardboard back down and ran outside with it (after having to dodge three excited little boys who wanted to be right in the middle of this adventure).

We all went out for a second when Jar started to smash the trash can on the side of the steps. I didn't realize he meant to kill it...what an idiot I am. I was concerned that he let it go far enough away from our house! Silly Melinda. I was kind of grossed out and ushered the kids back inside who definitely didn't need to see that (and neither, of course, did I). He came back in after a minute and told me that after he slammed it a few times, the trash can broke, and the mouse got out and started slowly walking in a dazed manner. Then Jaren slammed the trash can on top of it and killed it. Ewww. He showed me. Double ewww. Then he put it in a bag and stuck it in our outside garbage.

So, there it is. The adventure that made me scream in horror. Hope you enjoyed it as little as I did.

Ryan's 3rd Birthday

2009-06-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Ryan's birthday at his Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong's this year since we were already there for his birthday. After much discussion and deliberation, Ryan decided he wanted a Lightening McQueen birthday party. (This changed from day to day and varied in themes from ocean to princess - that's my boy!!)
He got this cute tool box from Grandma and Grandpa Ford.
He made the funniest faces while opening his presents. Ryan was SO excited for this little flashlight that my Grandma Butler gave him.
He got the same face when he opened up his bike (I think he made this face before he even knew what it was!!! So funny!)

And he made the face again when he saw the card Grandma Sperry sent him. He loved it and really had fun picking off all the cute stickers of Lightening McQueen and friends.

I put this picture on because I thought Chase looked cute in it.

Need responses!!!

2009-05-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

Please leave a comment with your interpretation of this photo...

We're going to Kentucky, we're going to the fair...

2009-05-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

So I know this title has nothing to do with this post...but J.J. got a cd of songs from his Grandma and Grandpa Ford and this song is on it and it's stuck in my head!!

It's finally park weather here again, and the kids were beggin me to take em. So, after much ado about finishing their lunch, we went. Ryan's favorite thing to do is slide, and J.J. is obsessed with the "monkey bars". (Yeah, I know they're rings.)
The most fun thing about the park though was that the sprinklers came on while we were there. J.J. got a huge grin, so I asked him if he wanted to run around in them. He was thrilled that I suggested it!! I'm sure he was expecting me to say no because he was saying thanks a million times over! So here he is, running around in them. I was lucky he actually stopped for one pic instead of having his back to me, going crazy in the rainstorm. I laughed my head off at him, he was too funny!

J.J. and Ryan Are Fighting - AGAIN!!!

2009-05-08T20:07:00.001-07:00

I know that sounds bad, but it’snot what you think. J.J. and Ryan have started playing really well together actually. But they make ENORMOUS messes. I wanted to show you one!

They have fights with tons of their “guys”. They line them all up and have them face each other. They can play for hours like this. They have only one problem: Chase! He’s into everything, which means he is all over their stuff. If they’re in a separate room from me, I usually hear just after a couple minutes, “MOM!!! Chase is grabbing my stuff! MOOOOMMMMM!!” Then I have to rush in there and grab Chase before he ruins their fight.

I can’t wait for the day when he can actually play with them. But for now, I still think it is pretty cute that he wants to be in there with his older brothers…even if the older brothers don’t think it’s so cute!

New website!!!

2009-04-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

Hello All!!! I just wanted to let you know that I've started another blog to house all my crafts, cakes, and other gift type ideas. It was cluttering up our family blog, so I thought I'd give it a new place to stay! I actually transferred all of the craft and cake posts I had on this blog to that one...so if you are looking for an old post and it's not here, it's there! If you want to visit the site, here is the address.

http://stayathomemomcrafts.blogspot.com

Halloween in April

2009-04-25T12:28:00.001-07:00

The boys have been paying a lot of Star Wars lately and asked if they could get out the costumes they had. So they played a little dress up and ran around getting the good guys.

Wooooooooooohooooooooooooooooo!!!

2009-04-22T11:32:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah...school is offically done this semester and I have the whole summer off!!! I kicked it off with an early morning run, some gardening, and a little bit of vinyl cutting. (And just a tinsy bit of cleaning.) I have a feeling I'm really gonna like this summer!

At the Beach

2009-04-19T14:03:00.001-07:00

Yes, Chase is eating sand here. I thought it was hilarious to see him reach down, grab a handful and shove it in his mouth. And apparently it tasted all right, cuz he kept doing it long enough for me to get the camera out and take a few pics.

J.J. found a shell that he wanted to take home. He found another one too, but when Jaren told him that it was broken, it lost its magic and he threw it to the ground. I guess Jar's perfectionist attitude got passed down a generation.
Here's our beautiful drip castle. I am so happy that I got to teach my boy how to do it. This is an art that comes after numerous years of time intensive labor. LOL. Ok, not. J.J. caught on really fast and we spend most of our time on the beach working on it and having a lot of fun together.

Well, there they are, the pictures of the beach when we went down to California. This was definitely my favorite part about going down there. Yes, I thought it was even better than Disneyland (what can I say, I'm a cheap date). We had so much fun being back together again with my family and enjoying our favorite pasttime...well one of them, anyway. We played smashball (thanks Melanie!), frisbee, and built sandcastles (thanks Melanie!). It was a great, great day! I've got some fun pictures of the rest of the family too. I'll post a link to the slideshow when I get to it.

Star Wars + Disneyland = FUN!!!

2009-03-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

This was a really cute little Jedi Training Camp at Disneyland. We were really bummed when all the little boys by J.J. got picked to go up and J.J. didn't. But we were ok. Besides, if he had gone up, Darth Maul wouldn't have come by to scare him and take that great picture at the top! When he came over, Ryan screamed bloody murder and ran behind me, hugging my legs. He begged to get up. So after the picture, I put down the camera and stuck him in my lap. Darth Maul was really good at what he did...scaring people. He even startled my mom! We had a lot of fun that day. I might post some more pictures later...and I want to post pictures of going to the beach too, but the pics are on my parents camera. I'll get them some time though! It was so fun!

Catching St. Patty

2009-03-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

I got inundated to this family tradition last year when Jaren's mom came down for Chase's birth. I love it...it's so cute. We decorate a box and set up a trap to catch St. Patty when he comes to our house that night. We make sure to leave some type of treat to entice him into the box. Then when he tries to eat it, he pulls on the string, which makes the stick fall down, thus trapping him. When the boys wake up in the morning, they "peek" while slowly lifting the box to make sure he can't get out before we see him. Unfortunately, we didn't catch him this year, but he left us chocolate coins, a mini chess set for J.J. (which he LOVES), a sticker and coloring book for Ryan and some bubbles for Chase, plus a lot of green dust and a note taunting us. We had lots of fun doing it for FHE on Monday night. Plus we went and got ice cream at the creamery...YUM!

JJ's answers to some very important questions

2009-03-04T08:24:00.000-08:00

Why did God make moms?
So that they could have babies

What ingredients are moms made of?
Blood and nothing else

What kind of a little girl was your mom?
Melinda Armstrong

What did your mom need to know about your dad before she married him?
I don’t know. I’m trying to think but I can’t think. They tried to look for a perfect man.

Why did your mom marry your dad?
I don’t know. Because she like him.

Who’s the boss at your house?
Dad. Because he yells at me and stuff.

What makes moms and dads different?
I don’t know. Because they look the same but they, but they, but, but they have different faces. Even one's a girl and one's a man. That’s the difference of moms and dads.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
Take a sleep. Go to sleep.

What would make your mom perfect?
Umm, umm, umm, umm, that they wear dresses. That’s what makes them so perfect, that’s what.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
Put makeup on her lips.

Chase tiene un ano!

2009-03-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

Yep that's right! He is ONE! Well, not officially, but we celebrated tonight anyway. We figured that would work out a bit better than having his party on Tuesday, which is the same night as scouts. Anywho, we had a lot of fun. Aunt Jenny (aka Aunt Skittles) and her family, and Jordan and Kelly, and Grandpa Clark came over for dinner, dessert, and the opening of presents. Chase was asleep for about half the time he had company over. And then he was a bit moody. All well. We all had fun for him. :)We celebrated Sarah's birthday too, seeing as they are one day apart. Isn't she cute? And get this, she cut her hair by herself!!! I would never be able to pull that off!

Chase mostly got new clothes (which I love) and a few toys that the boys fought over from the moment he opened them. J.J. was a big helper and tried to keep Chase happy and then borrowed the piano only when Chase and Ryan weren't fighting over it because they both decided they wanted the keys Grandma and Grandpa Ford sent.
Here's my big helper!

Yes, he is eyeing the keys now that Ryan gave the piano back!

Our little helpers really felt the need to serve their brother by helping him eat his cake.

Chase seemed to really like the cake at first. When he discovered that chocolate cake was inside the frosting, he'd try to shove as much of his cake covered hand as he could fit in his mouth. He was a bit bothered that the frosting wouldn't come off his hand though.

And now he's more than a little bothered. As good as cake is, he's had it with the mess. It's sticky and ooey, gooey. Come save me daddy!!! ...And he did.

And it wouldn't be a party at the Ford household without licorice, would it?

10 Things I Hate About Poo/Starcraft

2009-02-21T11:08:00.000-08:00

10. Poo smells.
9. My almost one year old pulls out my hair when he gets poopies.
8. My five year old still sometimes doesn't get to the toilet in time (tell me how that's even possible).
7. When that happens, I have to do laundry immediately (like I don't have enough laundry to do already).
6. I have to mop the floor, clean the toilet, and wipe legs...
5. during the only nap time I get.
4. I have to deal with a five year old crying his eyes out because it has now lost him Starcraft...
3. and worry that it will wake up Chase.
2. Starcraft is the only thing that my five year old is willing to clean his room and be nice to his little brother for.
1. Nobody comes to dinner (that I either slaved over or didn't want to make at all) if Starcraft is on.

Such is the life of a widow Starcrafter and mother to three lovely, but disgustingly poopie boys.

And I'm nice too...

2009-01-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

I just had to share a funny story about my little guy, J.J. I was up the other night until almost 2 in the morning doing homework. At about 5:30 in the morning, Jaren woke me up, and told me he didn't know what to do for J.J. and could I get up? So I did. He was complaining about his tummy hurting. I sat him on the couch, got him a bowl, and told him that, yes, he could watch a movie. That was when he started spilling his stomach contents. And then did it again and again and again. He was crying and saying that he didn't like it. When we got everything cleaned up and a movie on for him, I told him that he was doing so good. That was when he said (between sobs), "And I'm nice too."

I just had to laugh. That moment made getting between 3 and 4 hours of sleep that night worth it. What a sweetheart. I hope he always thinks of himself that way...I certainly always will.

Cutest Blog on the Block

2009-01-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

I noticed that a lot of my friends and family who do blogs use the cutest blogs on the block backgrounds...and still have the little square at the top left corner. If you want to get rid of it, you just have to delete some of the html code. Here's how:

Go to layout. Click on your configure html/javascript. When the window pops up, you'll see code inside of the textbox. Keep the text from style to style. You'll need to keep the brackets as well. (Sorry, I tried to put the exact text, but it won't show on the post that way.)

Delete the rest. Voila! It's done. Save changes and view blog!

Merry Christmas from the Prophet

2008-12-26T18:19:00.001-08:00

I believe Great Grandma Blank is the last remaining widow of President Monson's. He had a good visit with her this Christmas Eve. He was even nice enough to let us get a picture with him. He told some great stories and why he decided to visit the widows he had as a bishop even after he was released. He is one great man. But I guess everyone else knew that! :)

No, I did not photoshop this!!!

Santa's Elves

2008-12-18T07:37:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Grateful Hearts

2008-12-11T19:30:00.000-08:00

Well, lately I've been thinking about the economy and how people are doing with losing their jobs, crime on the rise, and those who have so much vs. those who have so little. My prayers and fasts lately have focused on asking Heavenly Father to touch the lives of those who have so much, that they will be willing to give to those who have very little or nothing, and that as a nation, we will become more righteous, less prideful, and more willing to serve and give to others. Just the other day in class, we talked about who was worried about the economy and why. Some comments given by my class members were focused on how this was actually good for us because now prices were lower on commodities and homes, that stock markets were down at the right time so they could begin to invest at lower prices, and that they were going to have good paying jobs. This economy was actually better for them! I was shocked and totally disappointed. Everyone seemed to be focused only on how this financial crisis affected them. I began to be really discouraged and thought, "If this is how some of the best and brightest and most righteous young people think, where is our nation headed? We don't have a chance of making it through these hard times as a people." I cried in class, and thought about what I could do to help others.

Then today, we got a package in the mail from Jason and Kristen. They had sent us some Christmas presents, just because. We were amazed that they did this for us even though everyone agreed not to do presents for siblings this year to cut back on costs. They are such a good example of being willing to share and give to others. They have always been this way. They have taught us so much. We also got a check in the mail from the Robisons. Jill had told me that she wanted to pay for us to go see Twilight because she knew how much I wanted to see it...so she and Aaron gave up a date night to go see it and sent us the money instead. For something that might not seem to be a big deal, it sure was to me. This gesture of kindness showed me how much her family cares about my family and how unselfish and kindhearted they are. I hope someday, I am half the woman Jill is.

Then tonight, we got a loud knock on our door. Jaren opened it briefly, then closed it again. Then I heard him call my name. I went into the other room and he said that someone had left presents for us. He called J.J. and Ryan to get out of bed. When we were all gathered, the kids opened the door. There was a large basket of presents and two smaller gift baskets filled with gift certificates, candies, and other items. I won't go into too much detail, but it was obvious that a lot of thought, money, and effort went into these presents. Someone had gone WAY out of their way to do something very incredible for us. We both couldn't stop crying. I cannot even begin to express what we feel about what has happened today. I went from feeling discouraged and disappointed in society, to feeling overwhelmed by the amazing generosity of others close to us. My intentions for praying that people would feel inclined to help others was not for us to receive that help. But, as always, Heavenly Father answered my prayers in ways that I did not foresee in order to help our family as well as restore my faith in humanity. If by some chance, the people who did this for us ever read this blog, I hope they know just how much they touched our little family. It's not so much the money that they spent on us (although goodness knows it was a lot), it's that someone wanted to share the blessing that our Father in Heaven had given to them, and I'm sure were guided by the Spirit in doing so. We will remember this great kindess for the rest of our lives, and they have provided us with a sterling example of service. As Jaren and I talked about it, we have decided that these are the people we want to emulate. We are trying to rededicate ourselves to service...whether that be with our time, money, talents, or anything else. We want to be the people who give liberally to all and do it with a happy heart. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope that if you have, you will also feel touched to help someone else this season, and for the rest of your lives as well.

Jaren's Birthday - 32!!!

2008-12-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

Jaren's birthday was fun. He joked that now it took all of the members of our family (that could hold fingers up anyway) to show how old he is. Jaren and I got to go to Red Robing, as is our tradition, thanks to Dad and Mom Ford's gift certificate and Jordan, who babysat our children for us. Thank you, thank you!! J.J., Ryan, and Chase got their Daddy his favorite treats for his birthday, and then proceeded to eat a good portion of them! We love you Jaren! Hope your day was great.

Christmas fun for the boys!!

2008-12-06T13:07:00.000-08:00

Thank you Grandma Ford for the gingerbread surprises!!! The boys had fun putting together their own gingerbread houses and playing puppets. Ryan immediately loved the puppets. J.J. took a little convincing, but I've seen him covertly playing with them. I wonder if he thinks that he has to be a really big boy and not like stuffed type animals. He has never really bonded with any, but I think he could enjoy them if he gave them a chance! I put on a little puppet show for them and pretended to give them candy and stuff. That opened the door for J.J. to start thinking they were fun. What a silly boy I have. As you can tell, Ryan thought these were the best things ever. He keeps bringing me one and telling me to make it cry or have it open his presents.

One of the things my children like the most about the holidays is how much they get to eat and the kinds of food they get to eat. They are sugar and chocoholics. I made pumpkin chocolate chip bread the other day (because we had no food so I had to cook), and they were so excited. J.J. got mad at me for taking a picture of him while he was eating...it starts already. I think I have Jaren to thank for that! :) Ryan was pretty upset about finishing his beater until I showed him that he had spilled a little on the chair. He proceeded to lick it clean. That's my boy!

More Star Wars Pictures

2008-11-24T21:18:00.001-08:00

JJ had been so excited for his birthday party for weeks before his birthday. He couldn't wait for all his little friends to come over and play. When the boys first came to the party, they decorated their goody bags with crayons and Star Wars stickers and played around for a little while. Then they played "hot Vader" (or hot potato) to Star Wars music with a little Darth Vader and got prizes when they were out.

After the game, we went outside and each of the boys got to break open their own little pinata Death Star with a lightsaber. Some of them flew!!

What a great day! After the party was over, JJ went to Robby's house with Jaren to watch a BYU football game, but I think they basically just ended up playing lightsabers with each other. LOL. We just can't get enough Star Wars!

Independence!!!

2008-11-15T12:25:00.000-08:00

I know these seem like totally random pictures, but they represent a scenario that has made me realize just how much my little JJ is growing up. The other day, we were having leftover mac and cheese and JJ really didn't want it. He could tell I didn't want to make him what he wanted by my response, "Sigh, I don't think so...let's just have macaroni, k? His response to my response was, "Don't worry, I'll just make it myself!" So he gets out the bread, peanut butter, honey, and a knife (because who needs a plate?). He was so proud of himself for doing it...and so was I! I don't know how others feel about their kids growing up, but I love it!!! I have so much fun seeing them change and do new things. Makes life fun and new for me too! Oh and really quick, another cute thing JJ did was to deliver the invitations for his party himself. He wanted to make sure I didn't come with him. When he found the address we were looking for, he'd run to the door, turn around and give me a huge grin and a thumbs up...how much do I love this kid?!! Here's the invitation...

Aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper?

2008-11-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

This Halloween was so fun! I can't believe how much more my kids and I enjoy these holidays as they get older. J.J. saw this stormtrooper costume at Target and had to have it. Because it was Star Wars, he got it a few weeks later. They loved going trick or treating. We were actually out doing it for probably and hour to an hour and a half. And the only complaint we got was when J.J. had to go to the bathroom right in the middle of it. Go figure!

The next day, J.J. wanted to share his candy with his mommy and daddy, so he divided them up and put our names on different papers so we each knew whose was whose. He's so cute and giving. We love you J.J. (P.S. you might be interested to know that later that day he decided that he wanted to keep his candy, so he put it all back in his bag!)

Blankie Boo-boo

2008-10-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

Some of you might know that Ryan has a blankie he adores. My sister Miriam made it for us. Ever since he was little, he has needed it to sleep. The blankie has graduated to different stages over the years. At one point, it was just used as a night-time comfort. Then he started carrying it around the house and needing it every time he cried. Then he used it as, well, I don't even know what. He would grab just a little piece of the yarn and get it in between his fingers and stick it to his nose and just hold it there. Weird, huh? And now it is his pillow as well and he wants to take it in the car, to the store, and drag it around the house. When he is in a really caring and sharing mood, he will put it on Chase to let him know he loves him. So cute! But all this love is doing something to the blankie...

It's dying...and Ryan is helping it! He likes to play with the yarn that is loose, and I don't know how to fix it. I really don't want it to get ruined cuz he loves it so much and it would be a great keepsake for him. Somebody help me! Miriam, could you please come down to Utah? It's urgent!!!

Ryan's temple

2008-10-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

I just had to post this picture b/c it is so typically Ryan. He loves to build things with blocks, train tracks, and pretty much anything else he sees. While I was sick this last week, I had rolls of toilet paper everywhere and my house was a disaster. I was laying on the couch trying to rest my eyes when Ryan started telling me/screaming at me that he had a temple. So I looked and oogled for him. Then he said, "Picture, Mommy." So I complied - but only because he was just so cute and proud of himself. I think it shows in this picture.

Halloween Pumpkins

2008-10-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

For family home evening last week, we carved some fun pumpkins. Grandma Ford sent the boys a little Halloween package with these patterns and face decorations. JJ was so excited to do these! As the boys get older, things like this keep getting to be more fun! We had a blast doing it. Jordan and Kelly came over and did a couple of their own. Can't wait for Halloween!

Friends in July

2008-07-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

So...my first blog. I first got motivated to do this by Jill Robison who knows everything about everyone because of these little blogs people are doing. Then by Desta Gillice, who also knows just about everything people in our old neighborhood are up to. I figured maybe I could give it a whirl too.

We had a fun little picnic today at a park in Mapleton with Rachel, Gaby, Trisha, and Desta. It was so fun to see them all and how their families are growing. We just loved being able to get together with them all again, catch up, and let our kids play together. So much fun! I LOVED that ward we were all in together!