The Harwoods

Addison Jane

2010-01-22T13:15:00.003-07:00

She's HERE...and has been for about 3 weeks!

She was born on Monday, January 4, 2010 at 3:04 in the afternoon. She was 7 lbs 3 oz and 19 inches long.

Labor and delivery wasn't too bad. It took about 6 hours and she was here!!

The boys weren't allowed at the hospital but I had a room at the very end of the hall by the exit so we were able to sneak them in. I know...we were naughty! But I think it helped Ethan to see us because he really struggled with us not being home. You should have heard him talk the day we came home - he told us about 100 times how much he missed and loved us.

Both the boys are wonderful with her. They love her so much. They've been great!

We are so thankful to have her and we already LOVE her SO much!

The boys at the hospital.

Gardner Village

2009-11-16T12:07:00.004-07:00

I LOVE going to Gardner Village in October. I'm trying to make it a tradition to go every year but we almost ruined that tradition this year! Luckily the Monday before Halloween it was decent enough weather (still FREEZING cold) to go. We weren't there for very long but long enough to get some pictures of the boys with the witches. We had a good time as a family! It's the only time of year I can get Blake to go there with me some what willingly!!

Before heading in to get some much needed hot chocolate and a cookie! And we had just gotten there!

The boys aren't into posing with the witches as much as I like making them!

The boys love this one. They think it is pretty funny!

First Day of Preschool

2009-11-16T11:53:00.004-07:00

I shouldn't be posting about this because I'm a bad mom and didn't get one single picture of Dylan on his first day of school. But I did just do a post about Dylan, so it's only fair that I do one of Ethan!

Ethan is going to Aunt Sand's Preschool - the same one Dylan went to. He goes once a week for a couple of hours. He seems to like it. I don't know if he's warmed up to it like Dylan did but he does well and doesn't fight me! It's such a fun preschool and they are so good with the kids. We love it there.

Before we left for school. No, my kid is not dirty just water spots on his clothes!!

Right outside his school.

Soccer

2009-11-16T11:42:00.005-07:00

Dylan played soccer this fall. He wasn't really into kicking the ball as much as he was into socializing with the coach, wondering who was coming to watch him play, and the treat at the end! I guess you could have called him the "dandelion picker"! But he had a good time and that's all we cared about!

You Want One?

2009-09-22T08:45:00.004-06:00

Blake and I are taking our shoe business to the What A Woman Wants Expo. It's this Friday and Saturday (the 25th and 26th) at the Southtowne Expo Center. We were given a bunch of free tickets so if you were planning on going and would like some send me a message and we'll work out a way for you to get the tickets!

It's a GIRL!!

2009-07-28T11:38:00.002-06:00

We went to the doctor this morning and found out it's a GIRL!! We are so excited! This is the last baby so I was really hoping for a little girl...so were the boys! Dylan told us last night that if it wasn't a girl he was going to be so angry. When Blake called him (I couldn't because I would have started crying again!) he said "See I told you. I'm so smart." It was pretty cute. I'm glad the boys are happy with getting a little sister. I think it will be so much fun.
I have to admit I am a little nervous because I don't know how little girls work. I don't know how to do cute things with their hair. I'm plain! I've dealt with boys for the last six years and all you have to do it shave their hair off. You can't do that with girls so it's a little scary! I think we'll manage though. I've always been pretty good at picking out clothes. So at least she'll always be dressed cute!! :) So shopping here I come!! :)

June Happenings

2009-07-22T12:22:00.009-06:00

June is a busy month for us with three birthdays, Father's Day and the end of school. So here is a quick run down of the things I took pictures of!!

Dylan's school did a family picnic/dance program. All the grades did a different dance. Blake was at work that night so Jamie and Hayden had a picnic with us instead. Dylan almost missed his class dance because we were so far away we couldn't hear what they were saying! But he was so cute and did a great job!

Dylan's kindergarten graduation was on the last day of school. It was short but cute. They sang a few songs and then his teacher passed out certificates, report cards and medals for reading. He was one of the few that got a gold medal for all the reading we did! I still can't believe that he is done with kindergarten and moving on to 1st grade. He's getting so big!! We love him so much and are so glad he is apart of our family!

Ethan turned 3 on the 16th. For his birthday we went to McDonald's for lunch, went and saw the movie Up, went to Toys R Us so he could pick out his presents (I know we're crazy! No surprises at our house!), and then had a family party.

Opening presents. He was spoiled!

His Handy Manny cake.

Blowing out his "3" candle!

I thought this was a cute picture...waiting so patiently for his piece of cake and ice cream!

Playing with all his new toys! Did I mention he was spoiled!! :)

Dylan turned 6 on the 26th. For his birthday we went to Discovery Gateway. The boys only played for about a half an hour and were ready to leave. We had to keep them there for another half an hour just so we felt like we got our money's worth. Good thing I had found a buy one get one free coupon!! He wanted Burger King for lunch because they had Transformer toys in their Happy Meals. Then we went to Toys R Us for present shopping and ended the day with another family party!

Opening presents!

He was spoiled too!

He was so excited for this gun because it shoots all the arrows really fast.

So if you look closely at this cake it has matches for the candles. Poor kid! His mom thought that she had candles left from last year so she didn't buy any. His dad even asked his mom if they needed candles and she said no. Well we didn't have any candles from last year and we had to use matches. Good thing he had such a cool looking cake!! :)

My birthday and Father's day was also in there but when you have kids their days are so much more fun that you just don't care to take pictures of your days! I always say that June is our 2nd Christmas because we have so much going on. It's always a fun month and we enjoy it!

I'm Pregnant!!!

2009-06-23T12:44:00.004-06:00

For those that don't know...I'm 11 weeks pregnant! We are so excited! We've wanted this for the past year and it's finally happened!
This pregnancy has had me worried more than any other pregnancy. I spot with every one of my pregnancies but this time it seemed to be worse. I've been going to the doctor about every two weeks to make sure things looks good. Everything is always fine and I leave feeling good but then in about a week I start worrying again. We went in again today and the baby was actually moving when he first started the ultrasound. It was so neat. It made this pregnancy finally feel real. I know weird thing to say but it hadn't yet! But my baby is in there with a heartbeat and moving all over the place. I needed to see that!! :)
My due date is January 12th. Seems so far away! We get to find out what we are having in about 5 weeks. YAY! Dylan has told me, since before I was pregnant, that I was going to have a baby sister. And that he has prayed for a baby sister. He even had a dream once that it was two baby sisters. Kind of freaked me out but we are in the clear on that one!! :) I would love a little girl but we will take whatever we are suppose to have! Any healthy baby is a miracle!!

California

2009-06-19T13:42:00.019-06:00

Back at the end of April we went to California with Blake's family. It was a BLAST!! My kids still ask weekly when we are going back.
We decided to drive and stopped in Vegas the first night. We got there pretty late but some of us still wanted to go down to the Strip. Jeff and Janell were nice enough to stay back and watch the kids for us! It was like 10:30-11 when we left to go down and we could only stay until 1 because that was the last shuttle back to our condos. That was plenty of time though!
We left the next morning and drove to Hoover Dam to see the road that they are building over it. It was pretty cool. I have to say that I had to be talked into going to see it but it was worth seeing. But as soon as I saw it I was ready to get back on the road to California!! :)
We had City Passes so we were able to go do lots of things while we were there. We did Disneyland and/or California Adventure for 3 days, Goofy's Kitchen while we were at Disneyland, went to Universal Studios one day, and down to San Diego for Sea World another day. It was really fun going to all the different places and getting a little taste of everything in the one trip. But my feet were SO tired by the end of the trip because we were constantly going.
My family LOVED it and if we could afford it I would make it a yearly trip. I loved seeing how excited my boys were for things. They definitely made the trip a lot more fun! Hopefully we make it back before to long!!

Get ready for LOTS of pictures!

A few pictures of Vegas.

Hoover Dam

The one picture I took of Hoover Dam.

Disneyland

The first ride we went on.

I love the boys in the pink cup!

Toon Town

Goofy's house

Mickey's house

Celebrate Parade

Goofy's Kitchen

Loved Goofy's Kitchen!

They were telling each other secrets! It was cute!

California Adventure

Our favorite ride!

Sea World

Dolphin show

Sea Lion show

Shamu

Touching star fish

Universal Studios

This guy was cool!

Waterworld show

These escalators were SO steep.

Easter

2009-05-04T15:44:00.004-06:00

We had a great Easter this year. On Saturday we went over to my mom's to dye eggs. I think it's fun to let the grandkids dye eggs together. They seem to enjoy it too!
Sunday morning I had to lock the boys in my room until 9:00 - that's when Blake got home from the station. That was a challenge. They wouldn't just sit in my bed and watch t.v. they had to be right next to the bedroom door. But their reward was great. The Easter Bunny spoiled them. I think the Easter Bunny needs to start cutting back. Blake tells me every year how much the bunny over does!! ;) Dylan told me that day that I was naughty cuz the Easter Bunny didn't bring me anything. I guess I must have been!! :)
My family came over that afternoon for dinner and an easter egg hunt. The kids had a blast. We always over buy on candy so the kids always leave with a TON. We'll be eating easter candy until July!! That night we went over to Blake's parents for a Harwood family party. Those are always fun - never a dull moment with Blake's cousins!
It was a fun, busy weekend but we are so greatful that we have wonderful families to celebrate holidays with!

Todd is home!

2009-04-09T20:15:00.005-06:00

And has been for over a week!! I know, a little slow on the blogging. What's new?!? I was so excited for this kid to come home. He is definitely one of my most favorite people. I'm so lucky to have a brother-in-law that I get along with so well. We've always been close but the year leading up to his mission we got really close. So I missed him lots! He's always been super good with my boys and I missed watching his relationship with them. But I'm glad that he made the wonderful choice to serve the Lord and be such a great example to my boys. When Dylan saw him coming down the escalator he started to cry so hard (which then made me start to cry! I was doing great until then!!). I loved that he remembered Todd and loved him so much that it would affect him that way. I don't think Todd realizes how much serving a mission has affected my boys and how much they have talked about going on missions. Yes, even at the ages of 2 and 5!! :)
Love you, Todd and we're so glad you're home!

Fire Station

2009-04-06T10:48:00.006-06:00

The boys and I went with my friend Emilee and her girls to see Blake at the station. My boys LOVE to go to the station. They run around and get in and out of the trucks/engines constantly. They could stay there all night and not get bored! What a cool dad they have!! :)

Ethan loves Elisha. He followed her around everywhere.

Dylan doing his spiderman thing!!

I love this picture of him. I hardly ever get pictures of him smiling!!

So Funny!!!

2009-02-28T22:07:00.009-07:00

A friend had this on their Facebook page and I LOVED it. Everytime I watch it it makes me laugh. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I have!!
Make sure you pause my music at the bottom first!!

Visit www.MyRandomVideos.com for more random videos!

Considering Private??

2009-01-26T12:33:00.004-07:00

So I've been thinking about going private and I want everyone's opinion. Tell me what you like and don't like about it. Thanks!!

Christmas

2009-01-21T16:15:00.004-07:00

Yeah, so I'm a little behind. There was just so many pictures to go through from Christmas that I've been dreading doing this blog. So I've put them in a slide show and you can look through as many pictures as you'd like!
We had a great Christmas...we must have been good this year!
Dylan had us up at 6:00 - EARLY! Kind of surprised us cuz that kid is never up before 8:30. We had our own Christmas here at home and then had to be at Blake's parents by 9:30-10:00 for breakfast and the call from Todd. It was Todd's last call home because he comes home April 1st. YAY!! It was so good talking to him. I sure love and miss that kid!!
Then we met my family back at our house to do presents and dinner. While we were opening presents the power went out and didn't come back on until some time in the early hours of the next morning. In other words we weren't able to cook dinner so we had to pack everything up and head to my mom's. It was quite the eventful night but we still had a lot of fun as a family.

Let it Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow...And It Did!!

2009-01-12T16:20:00.010-07:00

Our first REALLY BIG snow storm Blake took the boys out to play in the snow. I stayed inside and took the pictures through the door! They had lots of fun, like they always do with their dad. I think Ethan had a hard time walking in it - he fell a lot. Dylan thought it was hilarious to throw snowballs at his dad.

Can you see Dylan in this picture?

Okay, maybe it was Dylan who had the problem standing up in the snow!

This would be a really pretty picture if the ugly building wasn't in it!

I was afraid the slide was going to break.

They thought it was great fun though!

Funny thing... so the neighbor guy across the street came over and was taking pictures of Blake and Dylan snow blowing so I thought that I should be a good wife/mom and get out there and take some.

Helping the next door neighbor clear his driveway.

I made Ethan stay inside with me and he got tired of looking out the window so he fell asleep!

Gingerbread Cookies And Advent Calendar

2008-12-22T17:46:00.007-07:00

My mom bought a gingerbread man decorating kit for the grand kids and I got some stuff so they could make an advent calendar. This is the advent calendar that I remember making as a kid. Everytime we would have a Christmas party with my mom's side of the family all the grand kids would make one of these - just different candy! Dylan has gotten more excited about the calendar now that it is getting closer to Christmas. He loves counting the candy to know how many days are left! Ethan just likes the candy!! The kids had a lot of fun decorating the cookies. You'll see by the cuteness of each of their cookies!! :)

Their finished cookies!

The Advent Calendars.

They were there long enough to get their candy in the order that they wanted it and then they ran off to play while we stapled it all on!

Got A Package For Dad

2008-12-22T17:22:00.005-07:00

Blake got a package in the mail and Ethan decided that he was going to take it to him at the fire station. I thought he meant that he wanted all of us to pack up in the car and go to the fire station so I kept telling him no. Well he had a different idea. He told me bye and blew me a kiss and headed out the garage door. This is what I found.

He got the packages loaded up...

And he was on his way!!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-19T18:47:00.007-07:00

Thought I would get this posted before Christmas was here! :)
We had Thanksgiving with Blake's family this year. We went bowling in the morning (it's a tradition in Blake's family to go every year). The boys loved it. Ethan still asks me about every other day if we are going bowling. Then we went over to Blake's parents for the first Jeff Harwood family Thanksgiving. We usually do Thanksgiving with extended family but this year it was just the kids and their spouses and their kids. It was really nice. The food was great and I think we had a good time spending time with each other.

Sorry, I just got pictures of the bowling!! :)

Tell me how a 5 year old does this? Tell me how anyone does this?? Crazy!

Our attempt at a family picture. We took about four and this is the best one and it still wasn't a good one!!

The Things Boys Do

2008-12-19T18:34:00.006-07:00

I was on the computer one night and the boys were over playing with Ethan's bucket of toys and this is what ended up happening.

I was laughing so hard I was crying. I called Blake and he told me that I needed to take pictures of it so he could see what was SOOO funny!

Halloween Night

2008-11-06T14:08:00.006-07:00

Blake was at the station this year for Halloween so I was on my own. Dylan had school in the morning so we got him all dressed up and off to school. They didn't have a parade for the afternoon kindergarten so we didn't get to go see him at school. :( He had a little party and said he had lots of fun. Then we just hung around home until my mom came over that night. We went and got dinner, then got the boys in their costumes and left to go to Grandma and Papa's for some trick-or-treating. Jamie, Hayden, my Mom, Phillip, Kristen, Dylan, Ethan and I went out around the neighborhood for some candy!! Ethan was done about the third house into it but we made him keep going. I paid for that cuz I forgot the stroller so I had to carry him!! They got plenty of candy for them then we headed back to Grandma and Papa's for a few minutes. We finished off the night with coming home and having donuts and apple juice. I LOVE that tradition!!!

My Optimus Prime.

My little pirate.

Watching something quite interesting!

The boys before we left.

Out trick-or-treating!

Pumpkin Carving

2008-11-06T13:35:00.007-07:00

We carved pumpkins at our house with Blake's parents, Bailee (Blake's sister), Jamie and Chad. It was a lot of fun. It's always nice to do stuff as a family!
I made a deal with Blake that I would clean them out if he would carve them. I stink at the carving thing. I'd end up doing the traditional face and would still manage to mess it up!! So we let the man, who is good at everything he touches, do it!!
We had 8 pumpkins to carve and everyone got a little tired so we ended up with a lot of the traditional carvings. Me being me didn't get any pictures of the finished project. Sorry!!

Cleaning them out!

Papa making the pattern darker so they could start carving.

Starting to carve.

Papa gave up and Blake took his turn.

The beginning of Dylan's spider web pumpkin.

Hayden chilling in the swing being his cute, happy self.

Still carving...

Wheeler Farm

2008-10-27T14:03:00.004-06:00

We went to Wheeler Farm with my mom and sister and her kids. We went last year with some friends and thought it was a lot of fun so we went back this year. You pay $7 per kid and they get to do a few games or activities and then pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch and then decorate it. Oh yeah, and go on a wagon ride. I thought it was a little better last year, but the kids had fun and that's all that matters. We went a little late so they were out of decorations for the pumpkins so all the kids could do is draw on them with markers. Kind of lame! Oh well, we'll end up carving them anyway!!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-27T13:23:00.004-06:00

We took the boys to a pumpkin patch a little over a week ago. We've never been to one and I thought it would be fun to try. Dylan had fun running around picking out pumpkins. Ethan hung out in the wheelbarrow for most of the time cuz he tripped and fell and didn't like the dirt all over him! We got a pumpkin for each of them and one family pumpkin. It was a lot of fun. I think it's going to become a tradition!!

Gardner Village

2008-10-20T17:24:00.000-06:00

I LOVE Gardner Village at this time of year. All the witches and just the fall atmosphere. Fall is my favorite season so I like to be out doing fall-ish things. So I decided to drag my boys along with me. Blake told me the next time I want to go to find someone else to go with and he'll stay home with the boys. I'm taking that as he didn't have as much fun as I did?!?! Well now I know! We'll keep it to my mom and sister or Jamie. A fun girly day, I guess!
It was SOOO cold the day we went but we (Jamie and I) still had fun shopping and looking at all the fall decorations in all the shops. And the boys loved all the treats they got.

Yes, Ethan's lips are blue or green. He had been eating a sucker. We took it away so we could get a picture without it!

Sorry, the witch is kind of blurry. Dang sun! Or probably just the photographer!!

She's catching fish! I thought it was quite cute!

All the boys (minus Hayden) having oh so much fun!!

My boys were afraid of this witch and did not want to sit by her. We had to make them!

Too cute!

We had to stop in this bakery to buy some hot chocolate and other treats!

Murder Mystery

2008-10-13T14:09:00.001-06:00

I have always wanted to go to a murder mystery party/dinner but they always seem to be a little expensive. I talked Blake into us hosting one. So one day I got looking on the Internet and found a website that you can buy the game from. They have quite a few to choose from. I decided to choose the good ol' Clue style one.

Mr. Rochester has died (or been murdered??) and you are invited to a party to hear the reading of his Will and someone else happens to die... It was great fun!!

Thanks to everyone that came and for dressing up and playing your parts so well. It was a blast!! We'll have to do another one!

Mr. and Mrs. Worthers (butler and maid)

Neil Worthers and Elizabeth Rochester. (chauffeur and Mr. Rochester's daughter)

Look at Melissa's costume. She was great. She has the dog and all. She was my favorite!

Officer Welsh and Jessica Rochester (detective and Mr. Rochester's ex-wife)

Bob Bucks and Jean Thoughtful (accountant and psychologist)

Fabio Fabulous and Allison Rochester (pool boy and Mr. Rochester's daughter)

Fabio was quite hiliarious. He played his part well and had us all laughing. He was my next favorite!

The detectives!

Here are some random pictures of everyone scheming, bribing, lying, eating and just having fun!

Ethan Being Ethan

2008-10-13T13:40:00.000-06:00

Whenever Ethan would go in the backyard to play, and didn't have his shoes on, he would put on anyone's flip flops that were close by. It didn't matter who's they were he would put them on and head out. This was too funny to not take a picture of. He just looked so stinkin cute in his little shorty shorts (as we liked to call them!), my big, huge flip flops and Dylan's gun. Maybe I shouldn't say this but...he almost looks like a little redneck boy!! Out doing his nightly dinner catching for the fam!! I had to take a picture. This kid does some of the funniest things!

oh...that looks like it might make a mighty good dinner. Good thing I've got my gun ready to go and my 3" flip flops on for a good run! haha! I know, I'm a mean mom!

Might not have them on the right feet but he sure does know how to get his toes in the right place!

Learning to Write...But on the Carpet?

2008-10-06T16:26:00.000-06:00

After Dylan's first day of school we went to see Grandma and Papa Harwood. We visited for a little while and when it was time to go they walked us out to the car and helped us put the boys in their seats. I was pulling Dylan's worksheets out of his bag, to see what he had done at school that day, when Janell says "we have that name written upstairs on our carpet in Isaac's room...in black permanent marker." I was so stunned I didn't know what to say. She just laughed it off and said they need to replace the carpet anyway and not to get upset with Dylan cuz it wasn't that big of a deal. Well it's a big deal to me. If he would have written on my carpet he would have...let's just say he would have been in A LOT OF TROUBLE!! I guess I could learn a few things from my very patient mother-in-law! The next time we were over and had the camera Blake went up and took a picture of it to show me what he had done. The little stink!

The things children do!!

First Day of School

2008-09-28T15:37:00.000-06:00

Dylan started kindergarten this year. I know, I'm getting so old! Having your first kid start kindergarten really does make you feel old. He is getting so big, so fast. It makes me sad :( My first baby is already in school and out of my care for part of the day. Such an adjustment. I was thinking, before he started school, how much this is going to change his life. He doesn't get to sit in front of the T.V. all day anymore (I know, I'm a bad mom!), run around and play with Ethan, and play with his toys. He is now in school and will be for the next 13+ years. This is his life now. But what I didn't realize and probably wouldn't have if my mom wouldn't have said something is that now my life has changed too. I don't get to just pick up and go. We can't go do whatever we want whenever we want. Life really has changed for the both of us. But that's okay, we'll deal!!

But Dylan LOVES school. He is in the afternoon class and we really like that (at least I do. I don't think he cares!). He has lots of little friends already and is always telling me to tell people how much he likes school. Hopefully he continues liking it :)

Ethan had to be apart of the fun too!

Labor Day

2008-09-23T16:33:00.001-06:00

We hung out with the Harwood family for Labor Day this year. We had a good time. We were going to go to Thanksgiving Point to the dinosaur museum but decided to go shopping at Jordan Landing instead. We ended up at WalMart so Papa and Grandma could buy the boys a toy for not going to the museum. Nice grandparents, huh?!?! Bailee told us about a park in West Jordan that her and her friends had found so we decided to go there. We bought a bunch of food to pig out on and made our way to the park. What a COOL park it was! It really was pretty fun. It's one that Blake and I will be taking the boys back to.

Wouldn't you say that it looks like a fun park?!?!

Blake and Dylan digging in the dirt. Dylan had a hard time moving it around on his own. It was a little big for him though!

Jamie pushing Chad and Ethan on this HUGE swing.

Chad pushing Blake in the swing. How cute, huh?!? For some reason I don't think that we were suppose to be playing in the big swings ;)

Ethan on this horse thing. What are they even called?? Anyways...he loved it!

The boys in the barn.

Everybody piggin out before the sprinklers came on and ruined our fun :(

There are a lot more pictures but I don't want to post them all. This took long enough. I don't know all the tricks to this yet (if there are any!). Anyways...We had lots of fun at this park and a fun day as a family!

"My do it"

2008-09-23T16:23:00.000-06:00

Ethan loves to tell me "my do it." Meaning he wants to do it all on his own. NO help from mom - at all. Because of my OCD it sometimes drives me nuts but there are the times when I just have to laugh at him cuz of the things he gets himself into. This is one of those times I laughed and grabbed the camera. I just wish I could laugh and grab the camera a little more often!

Trying this...

2008-09-19T15:04:00.000-06:00

Okay, I don't know how into this I will be so I'm going to TRY it -to make Jamie (sister-in-law) happy. I'm not cutesy or funny so it might be a bit boring. Sorry! We'll see how it goes. I'll get some pictures up as soon as my camera is fixed. It has all my more recent pictures on it. Might take awhile so until then...