A Valentine Payback

Valentine's day came and went pretty uneventfully here this year. I think having it on a week day made it hard to do anything above and beyond the school valentine parties. In fact, Kelsie had to remind me about the "tub of love" scavenger hunt we always do. Luckily it wasn't too hard to throw together. Wally went to help clean the temple that night, so things were pretty quiet around here. We did, however, have our traditional Valentine Family Dance, something we look forward to every year. It was tons-o-fun, as Wally would say, and we all got our groove on. The kids were super excited about it and couldn't wait to get the music started. I'm so happy that our kids still like to do it. Wally and I love to ham it up for the kids and dance all funny and crazy. Kelsie impressed us with a few new moves of her own, and Brandon always throws in some break dancing. Caleb wasn't feeling real great during the dance so he was happy to just play with balloons and throwing his socks around the room. Isaac got into it this year and bounced up and down to the beat as much as his little legs would allow.

Valentine Dance 2012 from Ronni Paxton on Vimeo.

I told Kelsie that with her awesome moves, she will totally rock the dance floor when she's old enough to go to dances. I was never like that. I remember going out of the room with my friends during fast songs because I was too embarrassed to dance. The dance circles? No way. I stayed away from those like the plague. Not any more though. Good thing I've got Wally to enhance my dorkiness (we're pretty good together like that).

Girl You Know Its True from Ronni Paxton on Vimeo.

I guess this is payback from the kids to all the things that I've posted about them.

ABQ Balloon Fiesta

My first thought was, "this better be worth it" when I woke up the kids at 5:30 a.m. 

It was totally worth it!

Summer Lovin'

I've been trying to write an end-of-summer post for about a week now and it's been hard. Life has certainly gotten busy here with a couple of anxious kids (and parents) getting ready to start school and all the preparation that goes into that.

Summer, where did you go?

We really had such a fun summer and tried to make the most of it. We spent a lot of time with family and friends. We put on more than just a few miles in the car as we traveled around. Plenty of hikes were enjoyed by most of us. We were able to play host a couple of times to visitors and found some new things to do around here that were pretty exciting.

Of all the fun that we've had, though, I have to admit that high on my list was our nightly meet up on the driveway to watch kids rides bikes, look for lizards, play with cars, and draw on the huge sidewalk canvas. The boys were able to be boys, dirt and all. Kelsie was in her element with a bucket full of chalk and a blank driveway. The weather was great and we enjoyed beautiful sunsets and watched as the clouds rolled in for summer thunderstorms.

I'm definitely a get-up-and-go-do-something kind of gal, but these moments when the world just seemed to be at a standstill and everyone was happy and having fun were perfect for me. We certainly made the most of our summer and will look forward to the months ahead, but for now, I think we'll go out on the driveway and enjoy it.

Western Expedition 2011

I started out thinking, "I must be crazy!". Driving myself and four kids out to California, Utah and back by myself seemed a bit unrealistic. Especially since Wally wouldn't be joining us until the last leg of our trip. But like most things I do, I didn't let the craziness stop me. I packed up the car, loaded the kids, gave Wally a big kiss and then headed out into the unknown. Well, as unknown as I-40 can be to a girl whose never driven on it past Flagstaff, AZ.  

The reason for my sudden fit of insanity? Adventure? Yes. To make memories? Yes. To prove to myself (and those who thought I was completely out of my mind) I could do it? Yes. But the real reason we went was first to visit my parents, whose home we haven't been able to visit for a few years, and second to let my kids swim in their pool to their hearts content for a week and a half. Was it worth it? YES!

We had a great trip and oh, the stories to tell!  I have a lot to share about swimming, the beach, driving, reunions, and even brakes (or lack thereof!). I am glad to be home after being gone for nearly three weeks. The biggest thing I have learned about this jaunt across the Western U.S. is that I can do anything. Even with four kids in tow.

Oh wait. I already knew that.

Rock 'n' Rocks

You're in your car driving on the highway, when you hear a low rumbling noise. What could it be? You see a rocky trail not very far away. Then, you stop the car and listen. Sure enough, that sound is still there. Wondering what it is, you get out of your car and look around. Suddenly, the ground shakes. A truck is driving on the bumpy, rocky, road. What are they doing here? Well, it's

4 Wheel Driving!!!!!
(Applause)

Yesterday, Dad, Caleb and I went 4 wheel driving in our truck. The road was really bumpy, and as Caleb said "wiggly." We had to stop a few times to get pics of the rocky road, but it was totally worth it! We had lots of fun laughing about how bumpy it it was, and had a grand and wonderful time! :)
Kelsie & Caleb smiling through the sunroof

The rocky path ahead of us...

Kelsie peeking through a window

Dad & Caleb doing thumbs up out the window

Dad driving the 4 wheeler

Caleb feeling wiggly


We also took some fun videos!

Rock'n'Rocking from Ronni Paxton on Vimeo.

Spring Break Fun

We had spring break a few weeks ago and finally got around to posting some (a lot!) of pictures.  We were able to go up to Denver to spend some time with family for the last half of our break, something we haven't been able to do for a really long time.  I guess that's another advantage to living closer to family now!  We had a lot of fun and Grandma and Grandpa and all our cousins made sure we had a great time!  We were able to go to the Butterfly Pavillion with Grandma one morning.  I was really impressed with Kelsie, Caleb, and Ryan who each took their turn holding Rosie, the tarantula.  Brandon really didn't want to do it but was so excited about all the butterflies!  It's always so fun to see them in their "natural" habitat and to see so many flying around.  They also had a great time running through the maze and trying out the zip line!  That night we spent time at the rec center swimming and sliding down the water slides.  That is until the pool was closed because some other kid had a diaper explosion, and not just the wet kind.

Clockwise from top:  Caleb holding Rosie; Brandon lovin' the butterflies; Kelsie smiling at the camera; Ryan holding Rosie; Mom and Isaac; Kelsie holding Rosie; Butterfly; Look, butterflies!

Clockwise from Top: Isaac chillin in the stroller; Ryan sitting on the big caterpillar, All of us standing under the giant praying mantis; 3 kiddos posing on the caterpillar; Ryan having fun swimming; The three girls smiling; Brandon and Ryan hanging out in the spider's web, Trevor and Caleb.

The next day we went to the Natural Museum of Nature and Science to see the Pirate Exhibit.  It was pretty cool to walk through the ship and see how pirates lived back in the day.  We also saw treasure (and lots of it!) and get sweet pirate hats at the end.  We also spent some time looking around the museum and had the most fun in the Health and Wellness area.  We were also able to take a tour of the capital building downtown and even got the VIP treatment from an old high school friend of Wally's sister.  The best part was going all the way up to the Rotunda and getting a birds eye view of the city.   

Out on the balcony of the Capital Building in Denver.  We had to climb out a window to get there!

We were also able to celebrate Grandpa's birthday while we were there and had a great time hanging out with as many cousins, aunts, and uncles as we could!  We ate homemade pizza cooked in Uncle Rob's super cool brick oven.  It's now on the list of things to have when we finally buy a house and have a yard to build one in! As, you may have noticed, those girls were glued together at the hip the entire time we were there.  It got even better with their older cousin, Aubrey joined the ranks.  She's so awesome and the girls had so much fun hanging out with their cool cousin! She even watched the BYU basketball game with Brandon, and he had fun playing with her ipod later in the evening.

These girls had a great time together! 

What's a party without cake, a trampoline, and a little basketball?

Grandma taught Kelsie and the other girls how to sew the simple skirt they are wearing in the photo below.  She took them to the fabric store to pick out the fabric and then spent one night sewing together.  They all did an amazing job and Kelsie is very proud of her work.  We're so happy that Grandma has the patience she has to be able to conquer such a feat!

All in all it was a great spring break and we were completely worn out by the time we got home Sunday night.  It's great to be so much closer to family to be able to make quick trips up north to see them now!

Wagner Farm

I am trying really hard to not let things get by without updating the blog, but it seems that my life is getting more and more busy.  I'm sure that it has nothing to do with the fact that we have a baby whose growing waaaaay to fast along with the rest of our kids and life doesn't ever seem to slow down.  At. All.

The beginning of October, I took Caleb and Isaac to Wagner Farm.  I can't believe that we hadn't been there before.  Caleb loved looking at all the animals.  He would run from one thing to the next.  Isaac is such a good baby and is so content to let me push him around in the stroller everywhere I go.  It was a beautiful, warm day and all the animals were out.  It's not a big farm, so it didn't take us very long to see all there was to see and do all there was to do, but it was a great way to spend a morning together. 

Lincoln Park Zoo

It's only been two weeks of school, and the kids have already had two holidays--Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah.  While we're not Jewish, we were grateful for the holiday and hope our Jewish friends had a very Happy New Year!  I decided to take the kids down to the zoo for the day since the weather was perfect and it just seemed like a great thing to do.

We had such a fun time together!  It had been a while (a little more than 2 years) since the last time we came and Brandon said over and over, "I want to come back everyday!".  Caleb couldn't get enough of all the animals, and Kelsie had a great time naming each an every animal that we saw.  She had to write the names on her hand so she wouldn't forget.  Isaac had no clue what was going on and was probably wondering why he couldn't just stay home and sleep in his nice warm bed.  Kelsie made sure to get a picture of me too, since there aren't too many of me on here.

Caleb loved this crocodile.  He looked at it over and over.  He (the croc) sat so still and according to Kelsie, "freaked her out".  I like his teeth.  It almost looks like he's smiling...I wonder what he's thinking!

This gecko was pretty cool too.  He was just chillin out on the glass.  He didn't seem to mind all the little fingers tapping at him on the other side.

 My favorite animals were the gorillas.  We must have caught them during their resting time, because this is what they were all doing:

 The funny thing was that they were awake and just stared at us.  I wonder if they were as curious about us as we were of them!  We even found a "human" species in the gorilla house...

On our way to the giraffe's, Caleb fell and skinned up his knees pretty bad.  After a bit of crying a some TLC, he decided those giraffe's were worth seeing.  We loved how they were sticking out their long tongues.

Next up, the polar bear!  He was swimming around and they all loved watching him through the glass.  He was huge!

 Isaac was a trooper throughout the day.  He came home and took a loooong nap.  Funny how exhausted little babies get! 

We really had so much fun at the zoo!  We love Chicago and all the fun things that we can do while we're here!