The Mischief Continues

Mr. Mischief, AKA Zachary, has advanced to greater levels of danger. Seriously can't take your eyes off him for a second. The first pictures aren't what I'd call dangerous, it's the ones following them. This is where I found Zach after brushing my teeth.

I wasn't home when this happened. Lane didn't even tell me about it before I had found these pictures on the camera. Lane was playing with the kids and Zach had walked away for just a moment. He decided to check on Zach and would you believe how he found him? Fortunately the oven was NOT on, and neither were the burners. I couldn't believe what I saw. This kid stops at NOTHING. He's only 14 months old.

On another day Zach had ventured upstairs. I decided to check on him. I knew the boys bathroom door was closed so I wasn't worried about that. However I found him in the bathroom in my room splashing in the toilet. When I said his name he jumped out of his skin and then tried splashed faster. He was so mad after I picked him up, changed his clothes, and washed his hands. Mom's just have a way of spoiling the fun!

A Lesson in Giving

Back at Christmas time while out doing some grocery shopping, Jeremy saw a display for small pillow pets. He insisted that we should get Zach one for Christmas. I said no and we moved on. About a month after christmas Jeremy said to me,

"Mom, I want to save my money and buy Zachary a pillow pet so he can have one too."

On a side note, Riley and Jeremy have pillow pets. I told him that is very sweet. We counted what he'd already had saved which was probably not even a dollar. Jeremy never lost sight of the goal. He asked for extra jobs, from grandpa too. After setting aside his tithing and savings for his missionary fund, Jeremy finally saved enough money after about two months.

He took extra care to make sure Zach didn't see it when we bought it. He insisted on wrapping it and making a card, then he gave it to him. Zachary fulfilled my hopes and showed a lot of enthusiasm about his present. He grinned and proceeded to shower the pillow pet with kisses and hugs.

My favorite part about all of this was watching Jeremy's face. We asked Jeremy how it felt to give. He said what his face proved. Giving can be better than receiving. Later on he suggested,

"Maybe Riley could save his money and buy Tyler a pillow pet so we can all have one."

Jeremy has such a sweet and giving heart and I love it!

April fools dinner or is it desert?

This year for April fools I decided to so a fun dinner. When the boys came to the table this is what it looked like.
It took Riley a really long time sitting there before he started eating to discover what it was. Jeremy on the other hand quickly started whining and complaining that he doesn't like peas and demanding to know WHY I put them on his plate. Once he gave something a try he didn't say a word but ate and ate. Once the boys realized that their plate of food was actually all candy and ice cream, I handed them the cupcakes from the middle of the table and said that it was their dinner. The cupcakes were actually meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top.


All in all it was a good trick. The kids were actually fooled and we all enjoyed it.

Kisses for Pa!

Zachary loves giving kisses. Zachary also loves his Pa. When he is around, he spends a lot of time giving him snuggles. He gets up and does things but he always comes back to Pa! Just look at that WET kiss. Your jealous aren't you! No in all seriousness, I love those kisses they are the best!

What I love about these two pictures is that Tyler had not been, and would not be riding his bike. He simply woke up in the morning and relentlessly asked me to put his helmet on. He's my safety kid.

Lots of Kisses

Zachary loves to give kisses. I'm showered with them. The awesome wide opened mouth kisses. He kisses me and walks off then turns right back and gives me more. I just love it!

Zachary has turned 1

This was Zachary when he was born. It seems like it was yesterday. Time goes by too fast! He is such a sweet baby and we all just love him to pieces! He is pretty easy going but he gets into more mischief than I can say. He started walking when he was 8 months old and he is BY FAR my busiest child.

These are his 1 year old pictures. A good friend of mine took them. I think they turned out great! He's so darling and I think he has such pretty eyes.

Zach has been the perfect addition to our family! I have enjoyed him so much. Jeremy is completely infatuated with him and watching him love his brother makes my heart so full.

Strictly for documentation purposes: Zachary has many nicknames. We call him Zachary Lucas all the time, but we also call him Little Zach and Zach, Muffin, and Danger Baby. He gets the danger baby because he is such a daredevil.

Pinewood Derby

Riley has absolutely loved being in cub scouts. The pinewood derby was a favorite. This was his derby car. It's a stretch suburban. He won an award for best impersonation of a family car.

Trip to the Japanese Gardens

Recently we took the kids, and went with some great friends of ours, to a place we love. The Japanese Gardens are so Beautiful. On this particular day they had booklet full of things to find. The kids LOVED that! It made it so much fun.

Riley's Baptism

Riley was baptized February 5th! It was perfect and Riley was so happy! About a month before he was baptized we started helping him read the scriptures on his own. We always do a family scripture study but this was in addition to it, to help him learn to do his personal scripture study. I love how he loves to read the scriptures. Since his baptism he has said a few times that he feels so big doing grown up things.

Riley Over the Years

It doesn't seem like I could possibly have an 8 years old, and yet I do! Riley turned 8 this past January. (I know I know...I"m so behind on posting!) I looked back at all his pictures and how much he has changed.

6 days old

2 months

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old

7 years old

8 years old

Riley has changed so much! I realize I think I have changed just as much! It's funny to look back and see how I was before I had kids, then all of the "1st time parent" quirks that I had. (sorry if you are a 1st time parent, you'll understand later). And now here we are Riley is 8 years old, in the second grade, he was just baptized and we have 4 boys. Time really does fly. And the ride with "you Riley" has been amazing!