new beginnings....

As I sit here and read all the things that others put out in the world I wonder what I can add to it to make it a better place?  I have often thought about this so that I can leave my mark, so to speak, and make a difference.  When I think about it that way I say to myself, "who is going to notice little ole me doing who knows what?"  I have to keep reminding myself that I may be just another person in this life living a normal, everyday life, but I am someone to 4 littles that need me to be an extraordinary person in their life.  They are counting on me to do most everything for them and teach them the "ways of the world" if you will.

With that said I am trying to be better, live better, serve better, and over all just better myself in any way that I can.  I feel that writing these things down helps to get it out of your head and clears my cluttered thoughts that can bog one down with doubt, fear, and feelings of inadequacy and brings more clarity into the mind to focus on the things that are truly important.

We moved about 10 months ago and I felt excited for a new beginning.  Not that I really needed one, but a new adventure helps kick start feelings of freshness and wiping a slate clean.  Here's to new beginnings, new friendships, new adventures, and improving any part of me that needs improving.

Spring Break "Stay-cation"

I'm not even sure if anyone reads this anymore. Oh well. Here is a new post anyway.

We were going back and forth with the idea of staying home and doing things around Utah or going to Legoland this year. We decided that staying home and saving some money would be our best bet and we are glad that we did when Noah started off the week with a running fever that the rest now have. Hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow so that we can continue with our fun week.

We had it all planned out and so far with done 3 of the 4 things that we had planned.

Monday- we went to a friend's house and played. Afterwards we went to a movie. The boys loved The Lorax.

Tuesday- it was so beautiful outside. We planned a bike ride on the trail with the boys and then had a barbeque in the backyard.

Wednesday- we were going to go to Trafalga, but Carson and Porter started getting sick. So we set up our new basketball hoop and finished just in time for a storm to roll in around 4:30.

Thursday- We were going to go to the discovery museum, but Carson and Porter were still sick so we hung around here and decided to go to Trafalga to check out what they had to do indoors since it was raining. It was a little crazy, but the boys had fun climbing the rock wall, riding the airplanes and the merry-go-round.

Friday- we are planning to try the discovery museum if the boys feel okay and can shake this virus that they have. Let's cross our fingers.
We will let you know how that goes when we make it. Until then....happy stay-cation to us. It's been fun just being together this week.

Halloween...

I know, I know it's been like forever since I posted. I have things to post about, but it seems like for the last little bit I'm lucky just to get last week's laundry folded and the dishes done. We have had a bad cold virus sweeping through our house that lasts for about 3 weeks. It's a doosy!! I have been sick for about on 2 1/2 weeks now and hopefully will be done with this thing in the next couple of days. So you will have to forgive me if I am not too up to date with my blogging.

Okay, moving on. Halloween was so much fun this year. We decided that it would be fun to start off with Cornbelly's. The boys had tons of fun jumping in the bouncy toys, pedaling the tractors and going through the corn maze.(Carson is a soccer player, 2 Ninjas, a pumpkin, and a hillbilly)

On Halloween we carved our pumpkins, watched the boys parade in their costumes at school, made some beef stew and bread, and then went out to trick or treat with the boys. It was a really fun day and the boys (combined with all 3) made a haul on the candy. Luckily Paul took one of the 2 bowls to work, so we don't so much laying around. It was a good day.

We are moving right along into November, my favorite month. It even snowed on the 1st and supposed to snow again on the 5th. ( I won't elaborate too much on how much I love the snow. That's a whole other post.) We've even started our Christmas shopping for the boys are we are almost done. Can't wait!!

WOW...

Okay, so there has been so much going on in the past month that I forgot to post about it all. So I am going to recap and pick up from here.

So, yes the boys started school and both are loving it. They LOVE taking the bus and I love it too. Walking to the bus stop is so much better than driving them to and from school every day. (Although I did love the charter school that Noah went to last year.)

September came and went with new carpet in most of the house, a tiled master bath, and knowing that we are going to be here a while longer because of Paul's new calling in the bishopric makes all that new-ness worth it.

Porter is growing too fast for his own good. I want to keep him little for a while longer, but he started crawling these past 2 weeks and he can go almost anywhere now. He scoots with one leg and pulls with the opposite arm. It is pretty cute.

To top everything off we had some AWESOME family pictures taken. I am so grateful to have such talented friends that can capture such great photos of my growing-up-too-fast family.

First day of school...

I still can't believe that I have a 1st grader this year. It's still crazy to me that he is gone ALL day. I can't even tell you how excited he was to start school. As he climbed on the bus and drove away I only had a few "eye sweats", but he was wearing a huge smile.

Last year Noah went to a charter school, which we LOVED, but we had to drive him to and from everyday. Ugh, it was challenging at times, but not too bad. With Gabe starting kindergarten this year we were going to have to drive both in the morning, pick Gabe up in the middle of the day, and then go back and get Noah later that afternoon. 3 trips to the school, lots of gas, and an 1 1/2 hours of driving time total. As much as we liked the school we decided with gas prices and our sanity that it was too much, so we switched the boys to public school. I am pleased with both of the teachers they got this year and am excited for them to jump right in.

Gabe had his kindergarten assessment this week so school for him doesn't start till next week. He is super excited to ride the bus with Noah. He walks with him to the bus stop, but can't get on the bus yet. Next week buddy. Can't wait!!

...So a week has gone by and Gabe made through the first day of kindergarten. To say that he was excited is a big understatement. He came off the bus and told what a LONG day it was. He was tired, but enjoyed it all the same. He was so proud of himself for getting off the bus at school and going to the playground all by himself. (I was there. He just didn't see me and I watched him walk over to make sure he knew where he was going.) It's hard to believe that my 2nd one is going to school already.

T-ball and Soccer...

Noah and Gabe started t-ball as soon as we got home from our family reunion and vacation to Hawaii. They both had some good coaches that really cared about how well they both did and taught the techniques they needed to know. Noah got really into it and went to almost every practice and would take the appropriate "stance" so that when the ball came his way he would be ready for it. He LOVED it and after getting him a tee to practice on at home he became a pretty good hitter.I know that Gabe had a fun, but at times seemed like he was a little bored when he was waiting for his turn at bat.

After t-ball the boys started right up with soccer. Gabe can't get enough and talks about what a fast runner he is. (He is pretty quick, in my opinion.) He is enjoying it much more than t-ball. I think this is his sport. Noah likes it as well, but I think he enjoyed t-ball a little more.

Both boys are playing well. In fact both boys have scored a goal in the last couple of games. They really like the interaction that soccer has compared to t-ball. It's really fun to watch them grow and develop their skills and see what they like best.No matter what they are having fun and that is what really counts, right? I am proud of both of them for trying something that they have never done before. When they tell me how hard it is I just let them know that it's okay to try and that they can do hard things.

No posts....

I do realize that it has been a while since I have posted. We have had a busy month. There are a few things that I need to blog about, so keep looking. I just need to download some pics.

Hawaii...

After the reunion Paul, Porter, and I left the 3 older boys in WA with family and we took off and celebrated our 10 year anniversary a couple of months early in Hawaii. I had never been there before so I was super excited. (View from our balcony)
(Monday) We had a really fun time. We went to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. It was a bit eerie to think that 1177 people went down with the ship and are buried there still under the water. I've never really been a real history buff, so I didn't really know what exactly Pearl Harbor was all about. All I knew was that Japan blew up a bunch of our warships and killed lots of people. (I know, I know, lame.) It was interesting to learn all about it before we took the charter boat out to the memorial. We had the rest of the day to do what ever we wanted so we went up to North Shore to eat at the Grass Skirt Grill. Mmm, mmm, that is some good food. After that we drove around looking at the beaches, resorts, and stopped at the temple to walk around and go through the visitors center. The Flowers were all so beautiful on the grounds. We drove back around the other side of the island (it takes about 1.5 hours to drive around the whole island of Oahu BTW) and back to Honolulu where we stopped at a place called Leonard's Bakery and picked up some malasadas. A malasada is sorta like a donut without a hole. Whatever they are they are one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten, but you have to eat it while it's hot. It's just not the same cold. Just sayin'. (Tuesday) The next day we wanted to do some shopping and went up and down "the strip" to all the shops. Holy Cow!! If you want to get something in Hawaii you can definitely find it. There are a TON of shops and anything that you can think of. We walked along the beach and decided that we wanted to take this fun thing out on the ocean. I'm sure people thought we were quite the sight with a baby and a backpack, fully clothed out in the water. We didn't care much. It was just fun and spur of the moment.

That night we went out to eat with one my friends from high school who lives in Hawaii. It was good to see her and catch up.

(Wednesday) We went back to North Shore and visited the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). We were there all day and had a great time visiting all the different "villages" and ending with a Luau and the Ha: Breath of Life show. We ran to the car in a downpour and then drove back to our hotel. It was a great day.
(Thursday) We went to the beach in the morning and rented a paddle board and an umbrella with 2 lounge chairs for the morning. After that we had to check out of our hotel at noon, but we still had the rest of the day since our flight didn't leave till 9:45 pm. We went over to Ala Moana Shopping and WOW!! that place is amazing. 4 stories of shopping and eating. What more can one ask for.

Over all it was an awesome trip and Paul and I had a great time. I love Porter, but next time there will not be a nursing baby in tow. We have plans to go back in the next 2-5 years. There are still lots of things that we wanted to do, but didn't get a chance.

Happy 10th (early) Anniversary to us!! (Our real anniversary is in August, but who says you have to wait till then to take a trip.) ;)

Family Reunion...

On June 7th we left our home in Utah and made the long drive to WA for a family reunion that we have every 2 years. The boys did surprisingly well. I had no idea that Carson loved to talk so much.

We broke the trip up into 2 days. Let's be honest, driving for 14+ hours is not that fun with 4 boys 6 and under. After 9 hours we stopped and stayed the night in Pendleton, OR. We had a hard time finding a place for dinner. We love mexican food so went to a place called Joe's Fiesta something. I can't remember the whole name. That is how good (I mean bad) it was. Let's just say that we won't be going back. We were glad to arrive in WA the next day just in time for a home cooked meal.

I won't go into too much detail about what we did day to day, but we did have a really fun time.

Highlights of the Hirschi/Fillmore/Wilson Reunion were:

• Hiking down to the Spit and watching all the cousins play together
• Ally's caterpillar (that was really a millipede)
• The obstacle course
• Service at the Old Folk's Home (this was really an awesome experience for me)
• Salmon BBQ
• Adult's night out at the yummy Bistro (the lemon dessert was the best)
• Potato Gun shooting out candy
• night games with all the cousins

After all that we were worn out. Thanks for the fun and great food.

Lemonade for sale...

Noah asked me if he could sell some lemonade. Don't know where the idea came from, but I couldn't find a reason to say no. He sat out on the sidewalk for about an hour and made $4.85 (thanks to all the very generous neighbors). He was so excited to make a little money to go towards a lego set. Gabe wanted to get in on the action as well. He was out riding his bike and when our neighbors would drive in their driveways Gabe made it a point to ride over there and let them know that Noah was selling some lemonade and to "come and get some". Great team work if you ask me. So I told Noah that he needed to pay Gabe for his hard work. Gabe made a dollar out of deal.

Love my boys.