Silly Bandz!!!

Have these Silly Bnadz hit your school yet? Well if not- BEWARE, because they are coming. One day several weeks ago, Brenner came home from school with a colored elastic band on his wrist. I asked him about it and he said it was a silly band. I thought, that is silly, we at least had "Jelly Bracelets" that were more than a colored rubber band back in the day. Well turns out they turn into shapes when you take them off your wrist, some glow in the dark, some glitter, and the new ones are even tie-dyed!?!?! Brenner found another on the playground and started trading with his classmates. In no time he had turned those two into a wrist full and both boys are addicted!!! They are kinda cool (even the high school kids get into them, as Cayden made a trade with one of our priests at church last Sunday) Mia loves them too, but is having a hard time with the trading thing, she gave away her favorite (a pink glitter butterfly) the other day for something she later decided she did not really want and has cried about it ever since. Brenner, being the good big brother that he is, is on a mission to find her another one but Cayden on the other hand is just out for himself!!! He said: "trade one of my dinosaurs or sharks for a butterfly, are you crazy!"

We are sorry for the hiatus!

Wow! It has been over six weeks since our last update, and for our faithful followers- (we realize there are most likely not any, but we are hopeful!) we are sorry! Although it seems that we have been in Blog Hibernation, we have all been very busy and active, I promise! We just have not picked up the camera in a while I guess, and the one time we did, there was no memory card inserted- Crap! And as all who blog know that it is never any fun to post with out pictures- that is our excuse. I will try to reconstruct the last month and a half if I can. Here it goes-

The first week in April we had a ward talent show that several of the guys from elders quorum got together and formed a rock band. Talent or not it was lots of fun and we played Weezers Buddy Holly, complete with thick rimed glasses, black spaghetti ties, and cardboard box speakers for us to destroy and jump into at the end as all great rock stars do! I was asked to emcee the event a week or so before and it turned into quite the show, with wardrobe changes, cheesy jokes and lots of crazy fun. As this was the night that the memory card was absent in the camera, if anyone has a picture of me dressed as Carnack the Magnificent- I would love a copy! The above picture was pulled from another blog- Thanks Taylor's! Brenner and Cayden took the Georgia CRCT and both think they did well. Although we will not know the scores for sure for another several weeks, they are both excelling in school and Cayden has become quite the little reader and Brenner is our little Mathematician (did not get that from his Daddy). And for those who were wondering- Yes Cayden can now tell the difference between two dimes and a twenty dollar bill! =)
Nikki has been studying in her spare time as well and passed with flying colors another ARDMS Board the end of April. She is now certified in Obstetrics & Gynecology! Way to go Foo Foo!!!

Around the first week in May our Elders Quorum shook up a bit and I am no longer the EQP in The Monroe Ward. After almost three years in the presidency in one form or another, it was time for a "MOVE". And not the kind of "MOVE" that has dominated much of my time over the past several years! =) Looking back, it has been a lot of fun mingled with a lot of hard work, personal growth and lessons learned. If after three years I only take away the words and teaching of our extremely wise and wonderful Relief Society President, lesson and skill well learned.

"If you are going to error, error on the side of charity."

Hopefully many of those lessons learned I can pass along to the 12-14 year old "Boyz" of the ward as I am excited to be involved in the Boy Scout program. It will be lots of fun too, just of another type! Hiking, camping, canoeing, knot tying, tent sleeping, boy building and tinfoil dinner eating..... Sounds like a good time to me! We have great leaders and great boys to turn into Eagles! Let's go troop 793!!!
Brenner and Cayden's room received a bit of a makeover. It was a little unintended, but a trip to IKEA for some kitchen nick knacks, turned into new dressers, night stands, trophy shelves, and some really cool reading lamps. The boys did need them as they have been sharing a dresser, and their various trophies were piling up. But IKEA- shame on you!!!

Trip to Zoo Atlanta. That cute little baby Panda Bear is getting very big. It reminds me of our "cubs" getting to big. Stop growing kids!!!
We have decided that we are better pot and planter gardeners that entire scape ones, although our Gardenias do have flower buds on them for the first time since they were planted. Georgia is so great this time of year and although it has been a little unseasonably hot, the heat makes everything grow as if it is on steroids. This is one of our hanging baskets on our back porch- what some miracle grow won't do!

And Club FHE is steadily growing too. We see growth each month and last month it seemed to be in Washington State!?! Something happened in that corner of the country as five subscriptions came in form Washington in a week, it is funny as it is just about as far from Atlanta as one can get! Still waiting for that Alaska Subscription! =)

So other than a great Father and Son's camp out, and nice Mother's day weekend (surprise- no pictures), that just about catches us up to the current. The kids will be out of school soon and the summer will be in full swing. With all that comes along with busy summers, we will try to keep updated a little more often, and promise to take our camera with us more often!

Innocence lost

Spring time photos

It is full blown spring in Georgia! With spring flowers everywhere, the dogwoods in bloom and also all the "popcorn" trees that Mia keeps trying to tell us are just flowers- what does she know!

Three cute little spring chicks!

The Easter Bunny came as you can see and the first thing out of Brenner's mouth after finding his basket was, "Thanks Mom and Dad"- Innocence Lost! I think it flew right over the heads of the other two, but Cayden has his doubts also. The only childlike innocence left around here anymore is in Little Mia.... LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY BOYS!!!

Cayden has become a Minute To Win It fan and thinks the new game show is the greatest thing ever! (His Mom and Dad like to watch too!)
The other morning we caught him stacking cups out of the pantry. Who knows, you just might see him on one of the upcoming shows.
Brenner's soccer pictures were last weekend and right after the pictures, they destroyed a team much to Brenner's excitement! Good luck this season Brenner!

Another "what is new" update!

March is almost over and here is what is new-

Caydens friend Birthday party was great fun. Each soldier was given camo head and arm bands for either platoon Brown or Green and their Dog Tags with their army names on them. Cayden's AKA was B-Day, I thought it was clever even if it did go over the heads of all the kids. AKA's like Bazooka and Grenade were more liked by the kids, go figure!

This is a picture of Human Battle Ship, they loved it!
Saint Patrick's Day also came and went and we had some friends over for the traditional Green Dinner. Celebrating the luck of the Irish is always a good time!

Brenner's 2ND pinewood derby was this week and he came in third after two other very fast cars. Daddy thought we might have had it this year... but there is always next year! Third is not bad I guess out of 12+ racers. Everyone loved Brenner's yellow wheels and beyond the 3rd place trophy, he was given the most "Cubtastic Car" award.

Thanks for those cool yellow wheels Grams!
The Winners podium, Good job Bart and Josh... Oh... I Mean J.J. and Brett on your first and second place wins! =)
Brenner and his blue and gold "Cub Racer" and trophy
There was also an elders Quorum derby for the "Big Boys" to show off their stuff.

It was crazy fun and after all the re-racing (Jeff is most likely still in doubt/denial of the outcome), almost disqualifying (Zach and his "Non-starting device" remote control motor and propeller) and extra weight removed (Chad and his car keys and wedding ring in the bed of his very cool derby truck) I was awarded first place. To make Jeff feel better about it all he was given the second place award with "first" written over second. There is always next year Jeff!

Some other happenings around here-

The boys helped me put up a basket ball pole and hoop and they are loving and learning how to shoot hoops.

And Mia and Morgan are "Best Friends" and play together all the time. Dolls, strawberry milk and the trampoline are some of their favorite things.

Easter will be here before we know it and on to Summer!

Happy Easter to all!

We love ya!

Seven on the Seventh

Can you believe it- Cayden is Seven!

Oh for this years party, as we all know, Cayden is very creative and had lots of great pie in the sky ideas (wow), but with a little help, direction, and several trips to Party City, he decided on having an Army themed party. As His "traditional" Birthday cake is actually a cookie, he asked if Mom could make him a "Tank". I suggested a big round cookie decorated with camo spots, but as you can see- Cayden got his wish. Mommy is great at that! Just look at those chocolate bar "Tank" treads, Oreo wheels and Tootsie Roll gun barrel- very cool! His family party was lots of fun and we had our first cook-out with hamburgers and hot dogs (but ate inside as it is still a bit cold, come on Spring!)
Two of the stand out gifts came from Mimi and Granddaddy and Grams and Pa, and the DS game From Mom and Dad ranked a close third. Mimi and Granddaddy heard that Cayden was recently learning (and struggling a bit with) counting money and the names and denominations of each coin. Granddaddy filled a "Bank Tray" with a full roll of each coin type and gave him a poster all about money. When he opened their card and a 20 dollar bill fell out, Cayden said "Wow, twenty cents!" As you can see, the teaching gift could not come any to soon!

From Grams and Pa, Cayden got the three disc set of all the Jurassic Park Movies. Ever since watching them with Uncle Justin, Cayden has been obsessed with them and dinosaurs in general(one of his other party theme ideas by the way). Grams noticed and the look on his face says it all! He just can't wait to see another innocent human be devoured by a spooky eyed velosa raptor. His "friend" party is next Friday and with some life-sized human battle ship planned it should be a great time, but..... Mommy..... I'll need another one of those cool "Tank" cookie cakes!!!

A tale of two Cities

I don't know why for sure we are addicted to the Olympics, but I do know that for the two plus weeks they are going on every other year, we cannot pull ourselves away from the TV. I don't know what to make of our addiction as neither of us watch much TV or are really "sports" minded in any other way or at any other time. Could it be that we are both from Olympic Cities and we have been in some way hypnotized by the Olympic movement? Whatever the reason, we are hooked! We watch during dinner and it is on in the background during homework and piano practice. We even find ourselves watching until midnight some nights because we just have to see who won what. It is Crazy! For a couple of weeks I get the mindless "ESPN Obsession" most guys have for watching anything sports on TV! It is very strange. With the closing ceremonies coming up very soon, Nikki and I asked ourselves what we are going to do with our evenings as soon as the Olympics are over, as we can't seem to remember life without them. I think that we will live!

In the end I think that it is the excellence of everything Olympic that keeps us coming back for more. It is the exciting traditions of the opening, awards and closing ceremonies, the stories of these no-name un-paid athletes from all over the world that train all their lives for several seconds of greatness, and also the stories of defeat and of 4th place and no medal. The whole thing is just exciting and we think that they are great! Do we really have to wait two more years for more!!!

Is anyone else addicted? We could start OAA- Olympic Addicts Anonymous. We might need a support group!

FLASH BACK- Nikki and I at a 2002 Olympic downhill event in Salt Lake City. The energy of the games is truly unique- Long live the Olympics!

The latest with us

The Latest with us?

Some new snow, a silver medal and two new holes.

In a moment of weakness, the girls broke Daddy down and we all ran to the mall to have little Mia's ears pierced. Although I do think that it is adorable, tradition holds that girls are a bit older, but that tradition seems to get younger and younger every day, so why not three, right? As we ask them a 16, 12 or even eight, the answer is always going to be the same- yes! It is very cute and Mia loves them. She can't wait until she can change them to the other "pink" ones that Mommy got her. She is a little girl through and through!

Brenner finished his winter indoor soccer season and he and his team got second place in the u-10 tournament. It was a very tight game ending with a score of 1-0.Southern Cotton Plants. . . or Georgia Snow?
With this last winter storm we received almost 6 inches on our lawn by the end of the blizzard!!! Wow for Georgia!
The kids played and played and it looked every bit like out west for a day, but it never seems to stick around long here in the South.

A Little snow Devil!
The start of a snow man. What fun! Cayden could not stand it and wanted to spend the whole evening and the next day outside. Crazy boy.

Our trip out West

This post is a bit late, as we have been home for almost two weeks now, but better late than never right?!?! We spent some time in Utah and had a great time. It is always great to be able to visit and catch up with family that we don't get to see enough. We spent a day in the snow, many nights just hanging out with family and the cousins, a afternoon with Bing and Lady, a morning with Stacy and Michael and ate at Nikki's favorite places, Rumbi's and Bajio's (twice).

We really had a great time only wishing that we would have had several more days to spend.

Up on the tubing slopes with Grams and Pa.

Although they did "tube" Stone Mountain this year, the boys had so much fun on a "real" snow hill with "real" snow. Check out those snow bibs on the boys form the late 70's- thanks for keeping us all warm Grams- retro is back in style....Right?

The kids had fun on Pa's snow machine but they did seem to get the most fun out of a good old fashion sled and a steep hill.

Little "Snow Angels".

The Bad Boys of Winter!

The visit with Bing and Lady- time always well spent! We love you guys!

This picture I just think is cool- it could almost be Cort and I, even down to the matching "twiner" camo pajama bottoms. Cayden had so much fun with Austin!

Hanging out with the Herrens- Thanks guys for all the fun and the great breakfast! You always remind us what the word "Friend" really means!

You can't visit Salt Lake City with out a picture like this!

Thanks to Grams and Pa and everyone else that made our trip "Home" so much fun, we truly had such a great time, and it is all because of all of you- We love ya!

Jesus wants Mia for a Sunbeam.

This last Sunday our little Mia got a little bit bigger. She is now a Sunbeam! She graduated into the Primary and is excited to be with the big kids. I do not think that she has realized quite yet that the toys, treats and Sister Alvis and Prater will be left behind in the nursery. Oh she just keeps breaking her promise she made to me to stay little forever!

Let's all sing:

Jesus wants Mia for a sunbeam (jump) to shine for him each day. In every way try to please Him at home at school and play.