Balls?

Sweet Gavin is almost completely done with this whole potty training business. HALLELUJAH!!! Anyways he woke up this morning with a dry pull up and takes it off so he can wear his "big boy" underwear today. He grabs a cute pair and starts twirling them around on his finger, smiling the whole time. One of his little basketballs catches his eye and he puts the basketball in his underwear and shows me. "Silly Gavin balls don't go in there!" I say to him. "Yeah they do mom, my balls do!" He says. My THREE year old. He knows he has "balls?" Oh man! The big brothers are in so much trouble when they come home! :)

COOPER!!!

Our newest addition is officially going to be called Cooper!

Cooper T-Bone Winston the III.

A little background to his name first. We have this cute little bird who comes and visits our house for the past 2 years now. He comes only at night and will perch on one of the nails under our patio. The boys always enjoy seeing him, and he is quit a cute little thing. So, when we got a new puppy Cooper was one of the first names the boys and Scott and I liked. We have a few other's on the table, but we all ended up just calling him Coop, or Cooper.

He has been such a great little pup so far! And easy! We all just love him. Cooper has not nipped, or barked at all. He goes potty outside regularly and is so sweet with the boys.

**An extra special THANK YOU goes out to Paul and Laura who had no hesitation in letting us use the same name as their sweet little boy. We wanted to double check and make sure they were okay with it and they laughed at the thought that it might have been offensive to use the name. Thank you SO MUCH for your understanding. We LOVE you guys!

Puppy Lovin'

We have been looking and wanting a dog for a long time now. Eventually we want like 5 dogs. All random breeds. We heart dogs! Scott's favorite is the Siberian Husky. The boys love a Beagle and a Golden Retriever, and my favorite is any small white fluffy puppy. Like a Cock-a-poo, Maltese, Bichon Frise, Havenese.....I kinda wanted to start with a tiny one because of the place we live. We can't have too large of a dog here but more importantly there is really no room for a bigger dog to run and play. Scott wanted to get me one for my B-day, but just couldn't find the right one. Then last night we met him. The cutest little Maltese pup, ever. Looks just like my sweet Taffy girl. I always wanted a female puppy. Can you just imagine that cute little puppy with a pink rhinestone collar, a pink bow in her hair, a cute pink pillow to sleep on.....Man I need to have a daughter! :)

We are considering the following names, so tell us which one you like best or if you have another suggestion. Thanks!

• COOPER


• DEXTER


• OLIVER


• ROCCO

There are actually lots of cute doggy names I like, but when I look in his eyes many of those just don't fit! What do you think?

Pampered Chef Par-Tay!

Hey ladies. I am having a Pampered Chef party this coming Saturday at 7pm at my house. I have sent out most of the e-mails officially inviting you. I still have some more to do this afternoon. But, I wanted to let ALL of you know that you are ALL invited to the show.
Valerie, the Chef lady, is going to make a YUMMY snack for all of us to sample.
If you cannot attend and would still like to order something please go to: http://www.pamperedchef.biz/valerieblake. Click on ORDER PRODUCTS and then type in my name, as the host. Pampered Chef delivers anywhere in the U.S., so if you don't live close to me that's ok!
Hope to see you all on Saturday!!

It's my Birthday!!

Today is my BIRTHDAY!!! 34 years old and still truckin'! It's been a pretty good day today. When I woke up this morning, Will had left me note with a treasure hunt attached to it! He is so thoughtful and cute! I have a little cough and stuffy nose, and poor little Brig's is a sicky. But, other than that, I am having a good day. Scott should be home soon and we're off to Texas Roadhouse for some family dinner. YUMMY! I have had a couple e-mails sent, a few text messages, several phone calls and many many posts made to my wall (face book). So thank you everyone!!

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to MMMMEEEEEEEE. Happy birthday to me!!!

Funky Sleeper

There are so many times I walk into the boys room while they are sleeping and I am shocked by the way they are sleeping. One time Will was lying on stomach with his butt way up in the air. Other times Tyler and Jackson limbs or head is hanging off the mattress. Or they are totally curled up all weird with their head all the way back. It looks to uncomfortable, but they are all snoring away. Gavin and Jackson snore the loudest. Louder than an adult! No joke! All children are like this. They sleep so weird and crocked, but it doesn't seem to bother them at all. Especially in the car, their heads and necks are so jacked up. So funny! To be a kid again.

Here is sweet little Brigham totally asleep in a totally funky way.

Valentine's Day!

Have you ever had a Valentine's day that was a little disappointing? Not exactly what you were imagining? If so, i am so sorry! I have NOT for many, many years! Scott is so wonderfull. So thoughtful. So kind. Sometimes he goes all out and other times it's small and simple. Either way it's always wonderful!

I am sitting at my kitchen table right next to my 2 dozen long stem white roses. They smell so wonderful! We went out to lunch yesterday which was a lot of fun. We haven't had lunch out in a very long time. we played games on the Wii and then I made a very delicious dinner for all my little Valentine's! The boys and I made some yummy cookies for dessert. Scott was very sweet to me all day, like he normally is, but kept reminding me how much he loved me and kept wishing me a happy Valentine's day. We watched a cute romantic movie together after the kiddos went to bed and then he gave me a nice little massage.

Thanks babe! Happy Valentine's day to all!

Gavin's Birthday

Happy, happy, birthday Gavin dear....Happy days will come to you all year! If I had a wish that it would be, a happy, happy birthday to you from me!!

Gavin turned 3 years old on Wednesday, February 11th. We celebrated it on the 12th because Scott was out of town until then. I made him an extra special breakfast and then he choose lunch also. We ran around doing a bunch of errands and he was as good as gold. We then had to go to the book fair at the brother's school and everyone there remembered and wished him many Happy Birthday's. It totally made his day and he couldn't stop smiling! It was real cute. That night for dinner we went out to pizza as a family and had a great day. We all sang to him many, many times during the day. He always got all excited about it.

In the morning he was taking a bath and I heard him singing happy birthday to himself! It was so cute. I ran and got the video recorder!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEETNESS!!!!

Christmas X4

OK. This year was a little crazy when it came to Christmas. We usually, (okay always) go to Santa Barbara to be with my mom and spend the majority of the holiday vacation with her. This year we decided to go to the snow and PLAY! Scott and I did NOT want to hall all the presents across the states so we opened them all on the 23rd. It was fun and a little strange. Christmas #1.

On Christmas morning, we were in Salt Lake City, and there were some more presents but they were all from Santa. Yeah! We also did a gift exchange with our cousins which was a lot of fun. The boys helped to pick out gifts for 4 Girls. Ages were 14, 16, 19, and Angie would be 30-something. :) That is a story in it's self. Christmas #2.

We arrived back home form a wonderful vacation with great weather, and awesome family fun. My mom sent a couple huge boxes a couple weeks later full of Christmas presents. Christmas #3.

Then, last week my mom send yet another 2 huge boxes, again stuffed, with many many presents for us all. Christmas #4.

Each big boy received 3 Bakugan's!! The boys were in heaven!!

Nana also send everyone a plush toy of their favorite character or animal. Some got more than one!
Brigham was a little skeptical of Elmo and Grover at first but really loved the dancing and singing Valentine's pig Nana got.
When Gavin opened the bag and saw that it was Mickey, he just stood there and held onto him like it was his long lost friend. Gavin sure loves Mickey.

We all LOVE Disneyland!

Those were some pictures showing only the last Christmas. #4. Not sure if there are more to come....I'll keep you posted!

THANKS NANA!! You are the BEST!!!

Bathtime!

We usually don't do this at our house. We alternate the boys and out them into groups to manage the bath time a little better. This was taken at my cousins house in Utah by Scott's phone. How cute is that!

Sweetest boy on the block!

I have this one child, who really is the sweetest boy. When I brought home baby Gavin from the hospital all the boys were excited to see this new little creature and hold him, poke at him, and laugh at him. But, Jackson was a little different about it. Yes, he too enjoyed those things but he was also a little more attentive, more gentle, more caring towards the baby. As Gavin grew older Jackson was still right there willing to give up snacks, toys, blankets or whatever Gavin wanted in a heart beat. Jackson has also been very kind and thoughtful to Will and Tyler, and other boys his age. Then baby Brigham comes home from the hospital and once again, without any hesitation there is sweet Jackson to help any time and in any way he can. I hardly even ask him anymore for help. He is always right there for his little brothers. Sometimes when Jackson is trying to comfort them and the babies are still crying sweet Jackson will start to cry too. Knowing he is trying with all his might with no avail. Whenever Jackson does something to help his brothers he never tells me about it, is never hotty about it. He just does it because he is so full of kindness and love towards mankind. I wouldn't trade him for the world! I love you Jackson Even Thompson!!! You are a dream son. A wonderful brother and a great friend. We are all lucky to have you!

Great friends!

During our holiday break we drove up to SLC, UT to hang out with good friends and wonderful family. One evening we had Michelle and her husband Robert come over with their 4 kids. It was great to see her and her growing family. She said to me, "I can't believe you have FIVE boys, that's crazy!" Umm, Michelle I only have one more child than you! :)

We also had over Steve and his wife Jen and their 4 kids. Steve is such a little comedian and had us all laughing continuously. We snacked on food, and chatted about the old times, while all of our children played together! It was fun to hang out with some old friends and it was wonderful to see our children playing so well with each other!

What a GREAT lookin' group of kids! That's a lot of little blessings.

More!!!

Last night Scott decided to get a nice big bowl of ice cream and try to eat it in front of sweet baby Brigham! Brigham was so excited to see what dad had and walked over to him and starts flapping his arms around squealing all sorts of cute baby sounds. It was real cute, but he's never had ice cream before so why was he so dang excited about it? I told Scott that it was a defendant NO to give my baby ice cream. (he's almost 11 months, but still!) Scott only lasted a few short moments before he started shoveling it into Brig's mouth! I told Scott to at least make Brig's sign "More" before he gave him another spoonful. Cute Brig's would take a bite and then immediately sign "more".

Yee Haw!!

Today was a very special day for my sweet little Gavin. It's his 3rd birthday party. He choose a cowboy theme with a Diego cake! Go figure! We started the party off with the kids drawing their own "Wanted" signs. We hung them up in the "Sheriff's Office". We did that until the majority of the children arrived. Next was drawing the vest that Scott cut out for me. They turned out real cute. Again, the children seemed to enjoy having a little scribble time. We stayed inside for the next activity. We have this cute little shooting range came set up with a "Shooting Gallery" sign right by it. Each child had a turn and we posted their scores on the sign. Next, we went outside where we had a bail of hay and we took pictures of each child with the Birthday boy. Inside the bail of hay I pushed in a ton of change for the next activity. Each child had a small bag to collect their change in. We cut the ties and let them have at it. The totally destroyed the bail of hay. That was a lot of fun, but very dusty and stinky. The kids enjoyed it. Next, we had a Boot pinata full of candy. Each child took a turn starting with the Birthday boy all the way to Will. A few pieces came out when he hit it. We asked if any of the parents wanted a turn.....none of them wanted to. So I took the small stick and gave it a few good swings. The boot flew open and candy pored out. You know you have too much candy when the kids are done collecting it in the their bags and there is still candy on the floor!

While we were doing that activity the hot dogs were cooking. So we ate a little meal. Hot dogs, chips, Capri sun's/water, and beans. After the kids we're done eating I bought out the cute Diego cup cake cake. We sang to Gavin and he blew out his candle. Gavin opened all his gifts after and then the kids just played around until their parents came to pick them up. It was an easy and very fun party.
HAPPY Birthday GAVIN!!!

Bra shopping

I have needed to go bra shopping for sometime now, but it's always too complicated toting around 5 boys all the time. Yesterday Scott was home for a couple of hours, this was the right time to run out and get some of my errands accomplished!

I picked up the three big boys from school and off we went. I did warn them before hand though. I told them I needed to do some errands and if they didn't want to come with me they could take the bus home instead. They all wanted to come so off we went on our way. Post office, library, Half Price Books, Ross, and then to the mall.

I went to a store I usually buy my bras at and warned the boys a few minutes before hand what I was needing to buy. We walked up to the lingerie area and all three of the boys just stopped cold in their tracks. Will's eye's got all big and said, "There is NO way I'm walking in there!" Jackson just stood there and laughed shaking his head. "Come on boys, mom needs a new bra. I'll be really fast." I said trying to convince the boys it was really no big deal. Tyler reluctantly agreed and Jackson followed still giggling at the variety of bras I had to choose from.

I was looking through the sizes of the one I needed and right next to me are the bras that are padded and look like there are boobies already in them. Tyler pocks at it. Jackson is immediately modified and tells him, "You can't touch that!" Tyler shoots back, "I'm not toughing the private part, I'm just touching what holds the private part!" With that Jackson left the bra and pantie area to hang out and wait with Will.

Tyler stood close and kept looking around at all the colors and styles as I kept shopping. It was pretty funny. After I asked who wanted to hold my small bag for me and again it was like asking the boys who wanted to hold some poo in their bare hand. Will freaked out, Jackson laughed shaking his head and saying, "not me!". Tyler looks up at me with a cute little smile and says, "I will mom!" I guess next time I'll go by myself. :)

The things busy moms will do, or is it just me?

Oh, man! I can't believe I did this! I've never done thins before!
But this morning I have been crazy busy getting some vinyl order completed, working on my boys book fair that's coming up and doing normal everyday things. Brigham, who is almost 11 months keeps walking into the computer room where I am trying to work and unplugging my computer! So, I put him in his high chair with some candy! AWW!
I know I am totally terrible. I have never done that before with the other brothers. A small little Dumb-Dumb. He LOVED it. He was happy. I was happy.
Please tell me I'm not alone and you've done this before!

3D Puzzle

One of the many gifts Will received from Nana for Christmas was a 3D globe puzzle. It has 540 pieces, and it's 3D! YIKES. On Friday night Will asks me if I'm any good at puzzles. Nope. Sorry. SO he started working on it all my himself. I thought for sure he'd wait for Scott to come home on Saturday. He completed about 1/3 or it and then it was bed time. The next morning he wakes up and stars immediately on it again. By noon he had it done! He is so smart and creative.

Well done Will!

Super Bowl + Cardinals = dumb mistakes

Aww man! It was so exciting that we made it to the SUPER BOWL!!! The Cardinals, to the super bowl! A-Maz-Ing. It was a fun and very entertaining game. We almost had them! There were a few DUMB little mistakes that cost us the game. Bummer. Towards the end there we were all screaming and jumping around the living room. We must of looked like crazy people. The kids would stop and just look at us funny. It was cute.

The commercials were ok. Only a few I remember right now being funny. Not like most years where we're laughing our heads off. And what's up with half time? I do like Bruce, he was the first concert I ever went to. But come on! First off his head was about to explode as he's screaming to us to put down the guacamole and the chicken wings. (which was kinda funny) But the songs sucked! What about "Born in the USA"? It's a classic!

We had our annual Super Bowl Party. There was lots of yummy food and lots of wonderful friends! We had 9 adults and 12 kiddos running around our small little house. Thanks Jim and your wonderful family for coming! Thanks Bryce family! Thanks White family! Thanks Mann family! See you all next year!