Happy Little Brother's Day

So as we were celebrating Father's Day yesterday, Stephen mentioned that we should do a little brother's day and celebrate it tomorrow (which is today now). So Happy Little Brother's Day to you all.
We have been enjoying Texas and explored a National Park where the kids caught plenty of frogs and grasshoppers, enjoyed a picnic and played on the playground.
We are all exhausted.



In honor of Little Brother's Day I want to share something really sweet yet discomforting that Jack shared with us yesterday.
For some reason Jack was asking a lot of questions about dying yesterday. Like...
"When will I die?"
"When will you die?"
"Will I be a kid in Heaven?"
"In heaven when I am a grown up will I still like kid movies?"

There were plenty more, but you get the idea.
Well as he got in to bed he grabbed his kitty cat named Kiddy Katty.
He carries this cat with him wherever he goes. For example, the movies, the grocery store, the park, to the bathroom, EVERYWHERE. So the cat is filthy and disgusting. Just last night while taking Jack potty he finished going and then dropped the cat in the toilet on accident before flushing. Sad to say that is not the most disgusting thing that has happened to that cat. You can't really tell in the picture below, but the cat is drying off near the tub after that last incident.


Well anyway last night while snuggling in bed with his cat Jack said to Matt,"Stephen says that when we die we can't take anything with us." Then Matt replied, "That's right." Then he squeezed his cat really tight and said, "Do you think we can take things to heaven with us if we hold it real tight?" Matt answered, "Maybe if something is real special to us then we can take it to heaven with us."
The next day Jack asked me, "Can stuffed animals be special?"
He really loves his cat.

To end our little Brother's Day we let Jack picked the restaurant (Red Robin). He also mentioned that he would love to end the day with a little party. So we told the waiter it was his birthday (only a month off) and he got his own song, ice cream and balloon. What a great Little Brother's Day.

Even More Photos...

While my parents were here we also had to visit some local gaming stores like Gander Mtn. and Bass Pro Shop. The Bass Pro Shop was actually really cool. They had a bear cave and a huge fish tank. The whole store was decorated with outdoor wildlife. It is fun to go and just look around at the decor. Jack loved it. Although, the bear did scare him a little.

My lovely Garden

Yorktown Beach

Look close enough and you will see a cannonball that was left embedded into the house.

Parents Visit

So after about 5 years I got my parents out to the East Coast. My Dad had never been out East before so of course we had to show him everything. (Including all the great fishing areas). Between visiting all the monuments, including taking an elevator ride to the top of the Washington monument, and walking through the museums, shopping in the outlet malls, touring Williamsburg, visiting Yorktown and its beaches, learning how to catch crabs (the sea kind), and my very favorite building me my own garden; I think I wore them out. (okay I might have been a little tired too.)

My Claim to Fame

I can't believe I forgot to post this....while on my trip to Idaho I saw Phil, (the guy in the middle) on my airplane. I was completely starstruck...

Modern Family is one of my husband's favorite sitcoms and so I called and bragged it up! Would have been cooler if I had gotten an autograph.

America's Favorite Past time...

This is what we have been doing every Saturday for the last almost two months.

Matt is the coach for Jack's blastball team and the assistant coach for Stephen's T-ball.

Here are the attempts I made at trying to get a picture of Jack's team. All the kids were interested in anything besides the camera.


Stephen's team was a little more cooperative for the photo.
So funny story with this helmet of Stephen's. First off he had a nice red one that didn't have a face mask, but upon entering Dick's to buy him a bat he begged for a new helmet. We refused and had to drag him out kicking and screaming. Only to find out later that his red helmet wouldn't work because of the no face mask. So back to Dick's we went and ended up paying double what we would have (because they were on sale the first time). So parents sometimes giving into those tantrums can actually save you money.

He couldn't be more proud of his helmet though and the whole team knows it. After each game the couch gives one player the game ball. When Stephen earned the ball the couch asked "now who hit the ball every time they were up to bat" and a lot of the kids raised their hands. Then he asked, "Well who has the coolest helmet." Everyone dropped their hands and yelled Stephen. That really made his day.


I have loved watching them play and really enjoy seeing them improve. Just yesterday I was playing catch with the boys and while we were playing Stephen would stop every now and then to coach Jack. He said cute things like "Always watch were you are throwing" and would show him how to position his body. What a good big brother.

My Trip to Idaho

It was so fun to be with family again. Over the weekend I laughed so hard that my stomach was seriously cramping painfully by Sunday. I showcased my beautiful Karaoke skills (For the record Wendy scored lower than me! So I'm not the worst but still not good) and my brother in-law Johnathan entertained us with his late night stories of dissecting dead people.

The reason for the trip was because my littlest brother (only boy in the picture below) got married. I can't believe all my siblings are now married! He was the baby (youngest) in the family and it was fun to see how he has changed and grown and even matured a little.

Anyway it makes me emotional thinking about it so onto the randomly presented pics.

All the stunningly beautiful former Stimpson girls with the handsome groom.

My Brother and Sister in Law just chillin' with me
All the girls including in-laws with the bride

And a very out of order picture of some of my high school friends who I got to get together with when I went to my old home. (somebody needs to inform me how to arrange the pics in the right order). Katie my friend on the far left was kind enough to let me stay with her in Utah and take me to the airport in the morning. She decorates her house so cute that I left feeling totally inspired to make an effort in my own home.

And my ever hilarious Dad who while visiting took me asparagus picking in rural Declo and who also took me to the bead store. The bead store trip ended up being quite humorous because before going into the bead store I jokingly told my dad not to get too carried away. I was laughing when he said upon entering the store, "Hey these beads would be great for steel head fishing." And then ended up purchasing some. So hilarious I took a picture. The funnier part was when we went to Wal-Mart afterward and he ran into his fishing buddy who he had to take out to the car to show him his cool beads. I think he was as excited as I was to find such cute beads!! (my mom also came along with us, it was fun just hanging out alone with the parents. When you have eight siblings it is rare)

More extremely glamorous babes. (all my sisters and me..oh and my mom)

I told my brother to work it for the camera...look at that stud. In the temple ceremony both of our grandparents have passed away and they needed someone to sit in the grandmother spot and since I was the only sibling without a spouse there I got to be the grandma for the day. Really, I was called Grandma Reddington for the next two days.

The cake and the happy couple.
Saturday the family got together to have a surprise celebration for my dad's birthday/father's day at the bowling alley. (My Dad loves bowling and competes in National tournaments, ya I know he is awesome like that.) After the bowling we all went to have a BBQ at the park.
It really was so fun to just relax with the family. I wish my kids and husband could have come but I have to admit it was less stress not having to worry about my kids running off, bearing their bums, or breaking anything.

I also got to visit with the in-laws and do some beading with them. I really lucked out with in the good in-law department.

It was so fun to see everyone and I can't believe how much seeing everybody makes me realize just how much I love and miss them. Till next time....

Did I ever tell you...

HOW EXTREMELY AMAZING I AM!! (spread the word)

Why? You might ask.

Well besides the fact that I have been getting up to go running at 6:30 in the morning, I apparently am EXTREMELY AMAZING at retrieving my car keys that somehow (wink) got locked inside the car. (which I discovered after the run)

With the strength of me and this other EXTREMELY AMAZING friend we lodged a metal bar in between the door and the car and then got two metal hangers and stretched them out, making metal loops at the end. With one hanger we used it to pop the door handle out a little and the other one looped the handle and pulled the door open.

It was really pretty clever.

There were m&ms in the car so the kids were excited too when we got the car opened.

The tools we used to conquer the task. (Thanks Shannon for the pics)

The part I enjoy remembering is when one of my friends neighbors showed up to help and he looked at us and what we were doing and said he was very impressed.

He said he thought he was going to be a hero and come and help some damsels in distress when really we educated him. Well it was fun to see his reaction when we got it open.

I was so excited to get it open and so I called my husband to brag.

His comment, "I'd be impressed if you hadn't locked the keys in the car in the first place."

I choose not to reflect on that part of the story.

So I am EXTREMELY AMAZING! Right?