Funny boys

Jackson is a funny character. Every now and again he turns on a work out video and exercises all by himself. This time he convinced Tanner to join in on the fun. It's sad when a 4 and 5 year old have to resort to DVD's for exercise since it's April 13th and it's still cold and snowy outside. No matter what the weather they'll still go out BUT a person can only spend so many months of the year being cold and wet.

After the work out Jackson says "well, now that I've burned up all my bad calories I guess I should eat some good ones." I really don't know where he learns to talk like that but I think the rest of us in this house could learn a few pointers from him!!

(don't mind the mess of DVD's. It's just another benefit of boys being cooped up inside all day)

Sickies

I know I just posted recently but I thought this was kinda funny and kinda sad.



The last couple of nights Tanner has been really whiney and then he woke up with a fever and he also got a nasty eye. At first he seemed like he was being over emotional about the move but turns out he has a double ear infection and pink eye. Jackson also was up all night sick with the flu and Jared woke up this morning feeling crummy. In our marriage I can't remember him ever taking a day off work (or school) for being sick. So I picked up some soup fixins, sprite, popsicles, and a movie. I think they are all feeling pretty well now but are just enjoying a day to relax and sit on the couch with the boys.

Yesterday Jackson was holding the baby and I hear Jackson scream "Ahh Ahh Ahh, Annie just expoded!!!" And he came running in like this. Pretty funny kid.

Fun new trick

Jared and I (particularly Jared) have promised ourselves we would never let our kids be thumb suckers. There are so many reasons according to our local dentist why kids shouldn't suck their thumbs. But when you wake up after a full nights rest and find this



It's hard to stop it.

Last night we put Annie down at 9:00 and I had to wake her up to eat at 6:30. It's now 12:00 pm and she's still asleep. What's a mom to do? Sleep while her sweet little one happily sucks all night on her thumb OR try and interfere? I take SLEEP!!!

Easter

Since we moved over Easter weekend, our Easter was a little haphazard. The Easter bunny almost forgot there are 3 kids in the family now and he showed up a little late Easter morning. Luckily the kids didn't notice and they had a great day! It all started at Grandma and Grandpa Weaver's then moved to Great Grandpa Astle's house.









The kids all had cute new Easter clothes but because of conference we decided to wear Easter outfits to church the week before to Wells' blessing but somebody forgot her camera.

It turned out to be a great Easter especially comparing it to the cold and wind while we were moving! The weather got nice just in time for the Easter egg hunt!

The obnoxious little sister

Since Jared and I have been married he's really only seen my siblings a couple of days out of the year for the past 7 years (which also means I've only seen my siblings for a couple of days out of the year for the past 7 years!!). The other day I realized he doesn't really know them that well, yet they shaped a lot of who I am.

I've always been the obnoxious little sister. My sister is 6 years older than me and growing up I know I got on her nerves a lot. We used to share a room and I distinctly remember literally holding my breath every time she came into the room because I thought people didn't breath in their sleep and I always pretended to be asleep so she wouldn't get mad at me for one reason or another. I think one of her main complaints was how I always stole her clothes but that really didn't last very long since I outgrew her clothes by the time I was 8. I also remember she got a HUGE Hershey's Kiss from a boy in JR High and I would sneak a couple of bites every day hoping she'd never notice. When she went to open her "brand new" gift to find only a nibble left, well, lets just say I was ready to say good-bye to my dear loved ones. Even though she's half a foot shorter than me I've always looked up to her. I always thought she was so beautiful and super cool and I figured if I tried to be like her maybe someone would give me my very own giant Hershy Kiss. Because of her I would say stuff like "Oh, Robert Redford is sooo good looking" while I was thinking "yuck, he's sooo old." and why "Last of the Mohicans" was my favorite movie too even though I had to cover my eyes through half of it. I was only 12 when she moved out of the house so we really didn't get a lot of time together at home but I still find myself trying to be like her. I think when I realized we are more similar than I ever imagined was when I first got married and my father-in-law said to me "has anyone ever told you you're stubborn as hell??" I just had to smile.

Now John, the perfect child, was not always perfect. I'm pretty sure he has nail marks still scarred onto his arms from several of our many fights we had. He used to tease me all the time and I tried to get him in trouble. This was no easy feat since he tricked everyone into thinking he was such an angel. I've never been much of a crier so I had to put on my best acting skills to try and cry so I could get him in trouble. It never worked. I didn't think we had a lot in common especially when on one of my first days in Jr High my TLC teacher said "oh, you're John Astle's little sister? Man, he was a good kid. What happened to you?" But once we got through the rough years I found myself imitating him too. I even joined the track team because I thought he was so awesome for being such a great runner, after my first (and only) race I learned running well is not genetic. His favorite band was U2 (so obviously they were mine too) and he even took me with him and all of his U2 worshiping friends to their concert and didn't even complain when I sang every single word to every song insanely loud. My mom told me that when we lived in Japan (John was roughly 6) he tried to learn how to jump rope. He sat outside and tried and tried with tears in his eyes until he finally learned how to do it. I've learned through watching him that with a lot of determination and consistency you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.

Both of them have given me advice and helped me countless times without even realizing the impact they had on me. So, I guess I like my siblings and I wish they were closer.

Annie Turns 2 Months

I can't believe Annie is already 2 months old!! I've already had to pack up her newborn clothes and she's even fitting into some of her 3 month clothes :( Here are a few of her poses. It was hard to narrow it down since there were so many to choose from...

Here's Magnum

Blue Steel

Still working on the name for this one.

Apline Wyoming

Last weekend our friends the Stoddards invited us to their family cabin up by Jackson. We went with them and our other friends the Saunders. We always have fun when we get together with them and it's always nice to get back in touch with some friends we made in Virginia!!

I think Jackson and Tanner had more fun slamming their heads together with helmets on than on the actual snow mobile.



Here are Andy, Ryan, and Jared going for their big ride



These boys were all born right about the same time. Tanner had so much fun having his own friends. He usually tags along with Jackson everywhere he goes.


These girls new how to entertain a crowd!


Annabelle started smiling like crazy lately. She seems to save most of her smiles for her Daddy. He's the one who can get her to put on the cheese.

Notice her nice chubby cheeks!! She's growing sooooo fast!


The last time Jackson watched Pinocchio he went around calling people "Jack &$$" This time the kids were watching Pinocchio and Jackson decided to warm his tush by the fire and learned a lesson about why we don't pull our pants down and stick our bare bums on a burning gas oven stove. Sooo, here is Jackson with a pack of ice down his pants cooling off his britches.


I think one of the highlights of the trip was when we were all relaxing on the couch and visiting when Andy rested his arm on the back of the couch and pulled out a dead mouse. Nothing like grabbing a dead mouse and throwing it up in the air. We all got a pretty good laugh out of that one!

Thanks for the good time guys!! Now back to reality...