More Disney pics

Here's Landon fighting Darth Vader....I don't know if I'll be able to figure out how to upload the video onto my blog, so a picture will have to suffice. Logan got to fight him too. Such a fun idea!

Logan got to be a part of a magic show. Bryce has no idea how this guy did this trick...a floating table. Pretty fun.

My handsome boys in their matching super hot "Look out for Motorcycles" shirts. :)

Disneyland!!!

So a couple of months ago we heard from Bryce's brother Doug that they were going to Disneyland at the beginning of December. We told Logan that if he could stop sucking his thumb (he's 6), he could go to Disneyland. Amazingly, in a couple days, he was thumb-suckin' free (except in his sleep...which isn't really his fault cuz he doesn't know he's doing it. In fact, one morning he woke up with his thumb in his mouth and asked "Mom, does Dad stick my thumb in my mouth while I'm sleeping to trick me?" It was too funny.) He's done a great job keeping his thumb out during the day, so this last Wednesday, they headed to CA to spend the day at Disneyland on Thursday. It was a super cheap trip with gas prices low again, and a free place to stay with Kimberly's parents (thanks Davidsons!!). Marlee and I stayed home because Marlee wouldn't appreciate it anyway, and there's no way in heck I'd be walking around Disneyland at 6 1/2 months pregnant (I can barely walk through Walmart without my body paying for it for the next 3 days). They had the greatest time. In one part of Disneyland they had a Jedi training camp and then got to fight Darth Vader using their new jedi skills. :) I'll post video of that later. Logan's favorite ride was Space Mountain, and Landon's was the Buzz Lightyear ride.

On Friday morning they decided to visit the beach. The water was freezing from what I hear, but the weather beautiful and great for a beach day. They had such a fun time. I'm sad that I missed it, but hopefully we'll go again in a few years and we can all enjoy it together. It was fun to spend some one on one time with Marlee (even though she did walk around the house crying "find Daddy!"--she's such a daddy's girl). They all came home safely to me last night and it was good to have them home. Fun family times!

Halloween!!

I'm finally getting around to posting our Halloween pics, now that we're half way through November and nobody really cares anymore. :) Better late than never I say! So on your left you have Peter Pan, in the middle you have a cute little duckey, and on your right you have Indiana Jones. I made all of Landon's Peter Pan costume (thanks to lots of help from Nanny!), and I also made orange duck leg pants for Marlee too. We found Logan's stuff at Savers. I've never put so much effort into their Halloween costumes before. I just don't think of it till last minute, then I usually scramble for something (anything) for them to wear. They really liked their costumes this year, so it was a fun time for them. We went to our ward's trunk-or-treat. There wasn't a huge turn out, but we brought Christy Boulter and her kids with us so that made it more fun for all of us. And of course the kids came home with lots of candy that we JUST got through eating (thank goodness it's gone now). The kids had a great Halloween and are already asking what they get to dress up as next year. Fun times!

Fun Getaway!

Ok, so it's been forever since I've blogged. About a month ago Bryce and I decided we NEEDED to get away from the kids and just be a married couple! It was long overdue. We hadn't left the kids overnight since I was pregnant with Marlee, so it was definitely time. We found this cute little Bed and Breakfast tucked away in downtown Phoenix. It was surprisingly quiet and relaxing, especially being in the middle of a bustling city. Thanks SO much to Jen and Liesl for taking our kids so we could have some time alone together. It was a much needed vacation and it really rejuvenated us to survive being parents again. :) I highly recommend the overnight away from kids thing, and to make it two or more nights if possible!

The pool was a little run down, but it felt good and we had it all to ourselves.
What a pretty little place! It was old (built in the 1930s), but it was a fun place to escape to. Definitely overpriced, especially for it's age, but it was nice to have breakfast delivered to our room instead of having to get ready to eat, and having to eat with a bunch of weirdos you've never met. We'll probably do a regular hotel next time, but we'll definitely try to keep this a tradition.

It's a........

BOY!!!!!!

Logan and the Priesthood :)

So Bryce has had this annoying cold since we got back from Oregon in August. It just won't go away. At dinner the other night, I suggested that maybe he should get a priesthood blessing. He said he's thought the same thing, and maybe he should call our home teachers soon. Logan said "well I'll just give you a priesthood blessing dad." Bryce said, "you can't honey, you don't have the priesthood." Logan said "well, just tell me where it is and I'll go get it." After talking for a few minutes we figured out that he thought the consecrated oil is "the" priesthood. :) I guess we haven't been very clear about what the priesthood is. :) It totally cracked us up.

Tagged

Tagged
I got tagged by Brooke Colvin. How to play this game. Post these rules on your blog; List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5-6 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

Joys
1. My hubby and kids
2. Icecream anything
3. All my girlfriends

Fears
1. Hubby and kids dying
2. Currently....having something go wrong with this pregnancy
3. Logan as a teenager!

Goals
1. To be better able to hear promptings of the spirit.
2. Not to get too fat with this pregnancy.
3. To get to the wire brush first every morning (said in my best Irish accent.....you'd have to hear the joke to understand......).

Current Obsessions
1. My pregnancy....can ya tell??
2. Fretting over that darn Legacy school getting here in time for next year.
3. Olive Garden.....mmmmm....Olive Garden.

Random Surprising Facts about Myself
1. I LOVE the 1800's era...although I'm glad I didn't have to live back then without modern conveniences.
2. When I was like 5 or 6 years old, I used to say really bad swear words. I learned them from the neighbor across the street. Don't worry, I grew out of it. :)
3. I hardly ever make my bed. I know, sinful.

Ok, I tag anyone who reads this and wants to play.

Landon's birthday

So Landon turned 4 on August 14th. He tells everyone everywhere we go "I'm four now and I can whistle, see?" He'd been telling me for months that he wanted an Indiana Jones birthday, so that's what we shot for. He got an Indiana Jones hat, whip, and figurine. He seemed happy. We love our Lanny SO much, he's such a wonderful little boy. So thoughtful and so full of love and cuddles. I can't get enough of that, and his cute chubby cheeks that I don't think will ever go away. :)

We of course did our traditional "eat at McDonalds, play at Peter Piper Pizza." McDonalds is WAY cheaper, plus we know they'll eat the food. We wasted a ton of $$ trying to get them to eat PP Pizza once and vowed we'd never do that again. We never have. They had a blast at PPP.
Thank goodness this is the last cake of the year that I have to make. This is LEGO Indiana Jones if you can't tell. :) I had to use the x-box cover to try to make the image right. It doesn't look perfect, but it turned out pretty good. Logan and Landon both loved it, so I guess that's all the matters. :)
Now our birthdays are done, for another 6 months anyway. All of our birthdays are in the summertime, so this next baby will be the oddball of the family....with a February birthday. It'll be nice to not be big and pregnant in the summertime though. :)

Silly Landon

This morning Landon said "Mom, I like elevators better than medicine. Why? Because they go up and down." I didn't even ask him "why?"....he just said that on his own. I had to laugh. :)

The Bates Reunion

So I guess I've fallen off the face of the blogging world for a few weeks. That's mostly because we went to Utah, Oregon, and Idaho and got back this week. It was a really fun vacation and we got to see most of the Bates and all of the McBride family members. Thanks to Steph M. and Mom Bates for letting us stay with you! We had a great time!

This is our little family at a lake near McCall, ID where we camped at a church camp for our family reunion. It was a nice little camp with bathrooms and showers, and a big kitchen to prepare everyone's food. The kids actually got brave enough to get in the freezing water. Unfortunately, we all came home with coughs and colds.....those cold temp changes get us every time! Arg. Oh well, it was worth the fun I guess.

So we had a little talent show the night before we left camp. It was fun. I had to do a polynesian dance of course, and my sister Shari did one of her Mexican dances. I love her dress, it's so pretty. She did a really good job.

I think this picture captures most of the family that attended. I think there were about 75 people in attendance for the reunion, and that just covers my mom, siblings, and nieces and nephews. Some were not able to come, and we missed them. It was fun though.

Mom Bates and Lanny.
Marlee and Bryce taking a walk down to the lake.
Logan said his favorite part about camping was helping in the kitchen. Groups of siblings were assigned to cook 1 meal for each day we were there. I think Logan helped with every meal. Thanks to everyone who cheerfully let him stay in the kitchen with you!

Some pics of us waking up in the tent. The nights were FREEZING!! We're use to sleeping in temps of 83 degrees at night. At this campground, it got down to 45 degrees at night. It felt Arctic to us!

Our kids really enjoyed camping, and Bryce and I had a good time too. We all got filthy dirty, but I guess that means we had a good time right? :) We had so much fun, it wore us all out. Logan rarely falls asleep in the car, but on our way back to Grandma Bates' house, the kids slept like this for almost 2 hrs. It was heaven!

So that was our trip! It was a LOT of time in the car, and we're always glad to get back home to our beds, but it was worth all the effort and $$ it took to go. We look forward to the next Bates reunion in two years! Oh, by the way, I'm pregnant. :)

Logan turned 6!!

Ok, so it's been a couple weeks, but Logan turned six years old on June 27th. I can't believe he's going into first grade this year. Seems like just yesterday we were crammed into our small Aggie Village apartment (about 500 sq ft) in Logan, UT, bringing home our first born child. Time has flown! Logan is a sharp boy with LOTS of character and has a very strong personality. We sure love him!

So, Yoda didn't turn out as good as Elmo did, but at least I tried. Logan liked it, and that's the important thing I guess. :)

Logan and Jake couldn't wait to try out the new Lego Indiana Jones X-box game that Logan got for his b-day. Silly boys.

Needless to say, we've had lots of Indiana Jones theme music being hummed around the house, and lots of belts being turned into whips. Whenever I tell Landon to do something, he says "do you mean Indiana Jones do your chore?" Kids are funny.

Kid tag!

My sister in law, Sharlee, tagged me with the kid tag. The answers kids give are so cute and pure! I tag everyone who looks at my blog to do this on their blog. Why not, it's so fun! So here it goes....

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Logan: "I love you."
Landon: "Don't make Ni-Ni cry." (Ni-Ni is a nickname for Marlee).
2. What makes mom happy?
Logan: When I give hugs and kisses to you.
Landon: Playing with Ni-Ni.
3. What makes mom sad?
Logan: When I kick you.
Landon: Hitting you.
4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Logan: By tickling me.
Landon: Tickling.
5. What was your mom like as a child?
Logan: Mean to Jennie. (I told him about this for a teaching tool....:))
Landon: Playing with toys.
6. How old is your mom?
Logan: 28
Landon: 28
7. How tall is your mom?
Logan: 20 feet
Landon: "Like THIS big" (showing with hands as high as he can reach)
8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Logan: Spend time with friends.
Landon: Washing the dishes.
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Logan: Cook.
Landon: Make baby stuff.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Logan: I don't know.
Landon: You are Nettie. (??)
11. What is your mom really good at?
Logan: Bunco.
Landon: Cleaning the dishes.
12. What is your mom not very good at?
Logan: Basketball (SO true!)
Landon: Playing baseball.
13. What does your mom do for a job?
Logan: Work at home.
Landon: To clean up.
14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Logan: Pizza.
Landon: Raisin Bran. (??)
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Logan: When you take me to somewhere that I like.
Landon: Playing baseball.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Logan: A princess.
Landon: A skeleton (??) (I'm totally cracking up.)
17. What do you and your mom do together?
Logan: Play games.
Landon: Play frisbee.
18. How are you and your mom the same?
Logan: We both like going for rides together.
Landon: We both like to eat icecream.
19. How are you and your mom different?
Logan: Cuz I'm a boy and you're a girl.
Landon: We're different standing up.
20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Logan: Because I'm in your family.
Landon: Cuz I'm special.

Memories

So my friend Jen did this on her blog and I though it was cute... so here we go.
Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2.Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :) If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Birthday girl!

Marlee turned two on Tuesday! She's getting to be such a big girl. She still LOVES Elmo like he's her best friend, so she got a bunch of Elmo gear for her b-day. I made the cake and she loved it, tried to give it kisses actually. :) We're going to try to put her in a big girl bed next week, we'll see how that goes. She saw her GI specialist last week and is 25 lbs 11 oz now so she's finally big enough for her heart surgery. Yippee! We'll see her cardiologist in August and he'll tell us when the surgery will be. We're glad she's growing and seems to be mostly healthy. Marlee is a JOY to our family and we're glad she's healthy enough to celebrate her birthday!

Duck lips face. :)
Not too shabby for homemade.
Our pretty little birthday girl.

Logan's school fiesta

Logan's school had a "last week of school fiesta" and they took a picture of our family for free. This is actually a picture of a picture since they didn't give us a digital copy, and our scanner isn't usable right now. But I'm sure you can tell who's who. :)

Chocolate faces

So after swimming at the pool a while ago, I took the boys to McDonalds for a hot fudge sundae to ride home with. Amazingly, the only mess they made in the car is what you see on their faces. I was glad I didn't have to clean anything sticky off the seats. :)

Out of the mouth of babes....

Landon says some pretty funny things sometimes. Today he and Logan were wrestling and Logan tooted. A few seconds later Landon said, "Ewww Logan, your smell tastes yucky." It was too funny. :)

Random things....

Marlee devoured a peanut butter sandwich (which she never does) and had leftovers all over her cheeks. :) Good girl to eat!

So I planted 2 rose bushes last year, and added 3 more right in front of my house. They are growing way better than I expected them to. I LOVE having rose bushes. They grow surprisingly well in the desert.
Below are last year's bushes, they're off to the right side of the house where an ugly bush and tree use to be. It's all hooked up to a drip system that came with the house, so there's little work involved with keeping them up. Nothin' beats that! (Actually, self-grooming bushes would beat that, but I'm pretty sure they don't make those yet.) :)
Ok, so Landon came out of his room the other day dressed (or undressed?) like this. We had to laugh and take a picture of course! Silly kid!! I have no idea what possessed him to do this.

Slip 'n' slide!

So the kids have been excited for summer to come so that we could go swimming. It was a hot day so we decided to pull out the slip 'n' slide and the kids had a blast. Even I got into the sliding action, but I'll spare you the pictures of that. :) We're looking forward to swimming lessons this summer. Our local pool is really cool. It has a kiddy area, just right for babies and toddlers. Plus it has a deep area for older kids and a water slide to boot. Adults get in for $1.50 and kids are a buck. When we lived in Logan, there was a city pool just like the one here and it was $3 per person, so we were excited when we found out how cheap we could get in for. The kids are itchin' to swim!

Tired little girl

The other day I put on a recorded show for Marlee and Landon to watch while I got lunch ready. When I was just about ready to bring them to the table, Bryce came out of his office and found Marlee on the couch like this:

She gets tired so much earlier in the day and easier than the boys did (that's a symptom of ASD). I have to say that I love how she takes 3 hour naps still, and sleeps 11-12 hrs a night. I hope that doesn't change after her heart surgery! Anyway, I'm just glad she didn't fall off the couch!! :)