"I'm your Huckleberry....."

While we were camping at Warm Lake we spent some time picking huckleberries! The night before we went I laid awake in my sleeping bag thinking of all the pies and jam and homemade syrup I was going to make with ALL the huckleberries we would pick the next day. Have you ever seen a huckleberry? After a couple hours of picking with my not-so-efficient child labor team I decided that maybe a jar of jam might be more realistic, maybe two if I was lucky. Ryan was actually pretty dedicated, he picked just about as much as I did. Connor picked 22 berries. Hailey got some stuck to her butt because Daddy dropped them down the front pack, but other than that not much from her. I think we might just make berry-picking a tradition, because I'm thinking as the kids get older their production level will go up.

Itty bitty huckleberry. I think it would take millions To make what I had in mind.

The tiny picker.

Even Daddy got in on the picking action!

Purple fingers.

They look like they are working hard here.

Camping at Warm Lake

On a tip from a great friend, and a tent trailer on loan from another good friend, we loaded up the kids, the dogs, the food, the camp gear, the bedding, and then decided camping is too much freaking work and stayed home! No, not really, and I am so glad we went! Warm Lake is beautiful. Even my little Hailey-bug had a great time!

The best little fishing buddy

The swimming was great!

Lucy was sure she could catch this duck.....

The duck was totally messing with her.

Bumbo Lady

This gal is 4 months going on 5 years! She refuses to be little! Hailey just got this spiffy new chair, and now that she can sit up and be a part of everything that is happening she is one happy camper!

Ever had a day like this???

Ryan's defense narcolepsy

I think my Ryan may have a medical condition that needs to be studied by the top minds in modern medicine. Whenever you ask him to do something awful, like, clean his room, or eat HORRIBLE, poison hot dogs he instantly falls over, and goes completely unconscious. It doesn't matter what he is doing, he will fall asleep where he stands. I am willing to volunteer him for a medical study, (for a small fee) if anyone is interested.

He kinda reminds me of one of these guys........

Birthday Celebrations!

Connor turned 6 years old June 4th! It was all about Star Wars, Transformers, and Spider man this year. I know every mom says this, but, seriously where has all the time gone?! I Love this little boy so much!

Ryan feeling a little birthday jealousy........
. Connor doesn't like cake, so I made him a giant chocolate chip cookie for his birthday. It was super easy, but the best part was when Connor said, "Whoa!! Mom, you are a GENIUS!" He is still young enough to think his mom is spectacular!

JF's birthday is two days after Connor's, so for the last few years Jf has enjoyed super-hero themed parties, and trips to fun-centers filled with screaming children. He is such a good Dad. This year was no exception, although from the pictures I don't think he suffered too much.....

Life with three kids means.......

no time, no sleep, and lots of snuggles!!

Broken husband....

"JF was run over by a helicopter." "What?" It was 6:45 in the morning, last Saturday, and I had just gotten the baby and myself back to sleep when the phone rang. "You need to find somebody to watch your kids and get to the ER as soon as you can, He's hurt pretty bad." Bad way to start the day. So, to make a long story short, JF was hopping into the back of a moving black hawk, when the tire caught his right foot and dragged him under. The tire ran over both his feet and had his left thigh pinned under the wheel, when SGT. Cook ( my new personal hero) heard JF yelling for them to stop and brought the black hawk to a halt. After JF flopped around on the pavement like a fish out of water for a while, the ambulance arrived and drove him to the ER. When I finally got there he was in shock and rambling like a crazy man about stuff that you wouldn't think would be important to a person in his condition, like his underwear. He has multiple bone fractures in both feet, and luckily his left femur wasn't broke, although his leg was squished with some pretty serious tissue damage. So, a shot of Valium, a shot of morphine, and two space boots/foot splints later, I brought my sweet-heart home. I am so grateful for him, and that he is still around to show off his mad wheelchair skills. Nothing will make you realize how much you love and need someone, until they get ran over by a 14000 lbs. aircraft!

Pop Quiz kids!!!

I usually don't do the tags that people send my way, but this one was kinda fun, plus I wasn't the one who had to do all of the creative thinking!! Just ask your little one( or ones) these questions about yourself and type in whatever they answer word for word. I learned some interesting things about the way my kids see me. Like, for instance, even though I am Connor's mother, we apparently have never met!! See what you kids have to say about you!

Connor’s quiz
1.What is something mom always says to you? Come here.
2. What makes mom happy? Flowers.
3. What makes mom sad? I have no idea.
4. How does mom make you laugh? I don’t know that either.
5. What was mom like as a child? Me .
6. How old is mom? 36. ( um, try 26.)
7. How tall is mom? I don’t know.
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Kiss me.
9. What does mom do when you're not around? Just watch TV. ( Is that really what he thinks I’m doing?)
10. If mom becomes famous, what will it be for? I don’t know.
11. What is mom really good at? Doing the instructions on Lightning McQueen.
12. What is mom not very good at? Not burping Hailey.
13. What does mom do for a job? I have no idea.
14.What is mom's favorite food? Meat. (??? I guess I do enjoy a good steak…)
15. What makes you proud of mom? Making me noodles.
16. If mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? That blue girl you like on Star Wars.
17. What do you and mother do together? Make cookies.
18. How are you and mom the same? We got the same color of our hair.
19. How are you and mom different? We are not the same size.
20. How do you know mom loves you? Because you like me.
21. What does mom like most about daddy? He’s tough and he protects us. (I’m sure JF will love this answer!)
22. Where is mom's favorite place to go? To the movie theatres.


Ryan’s quiz
1. What is something mom always says to you? Kissin
2. What makes mom happy? Flowers.
3. What makes mom sad? You climb up the roof.
4. How does mom make you laugh? About potato head.
5. What was mom like as a child? Cute.
6. How old is mom? I don’t member.
7. How tall is mom? This big.
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Clean up the mess. ( This is not my favorite thing to do!)
9. What does mom do when you're not around? Walk.
10. If mom becomes famous, what will it be for? I don’t know.
11. What is mom really good at? Momma Loves me.
12. What is mom not very good at? Playing basketball.
13. What does mom do for a job? Put pictures up (????)
14.What is mom's favorite food? Pizza.
15. What makes you proud of mom? Don’t play games on Sunday.
16. If mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? E.T (What !?!!)
17. What do you and mother do together? We go to a slide.
18. How are you and mom the same? So cute. (True, very true.)
19. How are you and mom different? So Tall.
20. How do you know mom loves you? Hugs.
21. What does mom like most about daddy? He went to work. ( HAHA. I’m sure by this he means I Love that Daddy provides for us…)
22. Where is mom's favorite place to go? To a hotel

More Hailey Pictures

Mom and Hailey

Ryan, Memo, and Connor with baby sister

Sleeping

Enjoying the heat lamp

See how big I am

Pictures from Hailey's Birth Day!

Hailey Ann McDaniel

I would like to introduce our new little chubby lady! Weighing in at 10 lbs. 5 oz., 20 inches long, this is Hailey Ann. She was born this morning at 8:00. So far she is the most calm, mellow baby, and she sure loves her daddy!

Pregnant and worthless.......

4 more weeks to go until our family welcomes it's newest member, and I have become completely worthless. Jf has completely taken over the house work, witch has been very humbling, because, when I was in charge of house work our house never looked as good as it does now! So he works all day and still manages to keep this place looking tip top. I'm not really sure why I need to be here.... Just a glorified incubator I guess! On top of not being able to help with housework, I also shouldn't be aloud to do anything around the house that could be potentially dangerous. The other day I thought I might be a good mommy/wife and whip up some chocolate chip cookies. I had a hard time standing on my feet that long, but I was pretty proud of myself until I went to take the second batch out. I looked around for my oven mit to get the cookies out of the oven, but I couldn't find it so I grabbed a kitchen towel and opened the oven door. Out came clouds of the most horrible smelling smoke, and there was my oven mit, stuck under the cookie sheet! I had baked it for 11 minutes at 350 degrees!! I'm lucky I didn't burn down my nice clean house! So the pregnancy makes my body worthless and my brain dysfunctional. I'm and so lucky to have my amazing husband, who is so patient and useful, and my wonderful little boys, who pick things up off the floor when Mom drops it, and will help me put on my shoes and socks, cause I can't even see my feet!

Guitar Hero with Dad

I took this video of Ryan because he was so into his guitar playing. I never noticed the dancing, (or is it a seizure?) going on in the background until later. Poor guy, he feels the music, his body just has no rhythym......

my collage

it's all about stuff I like! Of course a collage about me wouldn'tbe complete without....

Home sick today

I woke up this morning to the sound of a little person throwing up in their bed. Any mom knows this is not the best way to start your day, although, I think most people could figure this logic out. Why is it we can have a four day weekend with not even a gag, but when Tuesday morning rolls around and it is time to grace our preschool class with our presence we must suddenly evacuate all contents of our stomach? Hmmmmm, the world may never know.....





Connor's new thing

Since my last post Connor has been skiing again, and it definetly looks like this is going to be a favorite past time of his. Ryan also went skiing with his dad, and let's just say we are gonna give him another year to "think it over". I would post a picture of Ryan"s trip to the hill, but instead just imagine him laying in the snow, complaining. JF thinks Connor is ready to head up top, and if he were any more proud, his head would blow up.

"First run of the day, and my boy is skiing!!"

Connor went skiing for the first time today. For JF this was a moment he has been waiting for for a long time. JF called me from the ski hill, just bursting with pride. " It's the first run of the day, and my boy is skiing!!" According to JF, Connor is a natural born ski man. I was sad to miss it, but it sounds like there was some serious father-son bonding going on today!

Dancin' Around the Christmas Tree.....

It was a contest, so you are welcome to pick a winner! I think Connor wins on style and originality, while Ryan wins on degree of difficulty.

Trip to Salt Lake City

Road Trip!! We took the boys down to Salt Lake City this past weekend to do some Christmas shopping and other Holiday fun stuff! We even stayed in a hotel, which the boys think is really living it up!! We bundled up so nothing but our eyeballs showed, and then we, and thousands of other people tromped through the snow to check out the lights at Temple Square. We had a great time with Memo and Pompi.

Little Baby Girl

Can I just say that technology is truly amazing! We had a 3D ultrasound of the baby, and I can't believe the detail! We were also able to get the whole thing put on a DVD, and if I were more techno-savy, I would be able to upload that here so you could watch that too. Maybe JF can figure it out..... Anyways, it was so neat to be able to see her face and her little fingers. I really can't wait to have her here to snuggle.......