prom pictures emergency

Our neighbors called last Saturday night wondering if I could help them with a prom emergency.

There was a wardrobe malfunction.
Causing these guys to miss their prom pictures.

It was fun.

Even in my ginormous state.

And I realized I kinda can't wait to get back into it.......

After I take about 3 million pictures of my new baby.

Thinking of you, Grandpa.........

...........Mary Coyle's Ice Cream Parlor.

This place holds some great childhood memories for me. Specifically of my Grandpa Doyle.
He liked to take his grandkids here because it was one of his favorites.
He had such a big personality. Always the life of the party. You always knew when he was around. And I always felt special just being around him.
He passed away about 12 years ago & I miss him dearly.

I haven't been to Mary Coyle's since I was a kid, and last Saturday as we were passing through Phoenix on our way home from Marlee's volleyball tournament, we decided to look it up & stop by.

It's a classic old-fashioned ice cream parlor (opened in 1951), which are hard to find these days.
Pink striped wallpaper & everything!

And it was just as yummy as I remember it.

the Caramel Cashew sundae

Oh, the nostalgia!

I'm thinking FHE at Mary Coyle's next Monday..........

baseball

Max is our only baseball player this season (which has been rather nice).

We usually have three playing, which is a little crazy & we would end up having either pizza or Sonic for dinner about 4 times a week. Not Good.

So Max has had our undivided baseball attention this year.

I tried to talk Zane into trying it & he thought about it for a second & then said "Hmmm......No, I don't think I want anything flying at my head that fast."

Hilarious.

Max is our lefty. And this year they've had him switch-hitting.

He loves being part of a team, & it's a cute little team. He's having a great time & improving alot.

Gooooo Max!

big mama

It's so weird that I can be this big, and yet it still hasn't fully sunk in that I'm going to be holding a brand new baby in a few weeks!

I still find myself sitting in my OB's waiting room flipping through Fit Pregnancy magazine, surrounded by young 20-ish moms, and thinking, "I can't believe I'm doing this whole thing again!"

So surreal.

Then off for a tubal ligation we will go!

Well, actually it's been rather fun watching people's reactions when I tell them this is my sixth.

Strangers making small-talk will almost always ask "so is this your first?"
"No, this is number 6 ", I say. And their mouths drop open and they don't know what to say for a couple seconds. So funny.

The best was a Nordstrom cosmetics saleslady in LA a couple months ago. She looked genuinely stunned.....frozen, staring at me for like a full minute. She just couldn't comprehend the insanity, I guess.

Brian gets a kick out of it, too, like when we go baby shopping together.
So we were thinking it's almost worth it to go for a #7 just for the reactions.......

And then I quickly came to my senses.

I think it will be so fun to see the other kids with this baby.

Most of them don't really remember Gus as a tiny baby, so it will all be new to them, & they don't really know what's coming.

I'm stocking up on duct tape, though.

My boys seem to be absolutely incapable of being quiet.
I'm hoping they'll be able to rise to the occasion & mellow out. Not likely. But I'll be ready with my duct tape & dead bolts.

Gus has had some great ideas about this whole baby thing:

How did the baby get in my tummy?

"You stuffed it in there."

What is she going to look like?

"She's going to have tiny hair & pink eyes."

Are you going to be nice to her?

"I'm not going to fight her. I'm going to find toys for her."

How is the baby going to come out of my tummy?

"You're going to spit her out of your mouth."

Love it!

Is it wrong......

..........that Father & Sons campout weekend is probably my most favorite weekend of the year???

Poor Brian was in charge of the whole thing this year too.
He pretty much collapsed on our bed (without taking a shower first - gross) when he got back.
But the boys...........they loved it!


Mars & I went shopping & went to dinner & slept in & enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Man! It was great. (Though much too short)

Only about 363 days til the next one!

Not that I'm counting.

Easter Sunday

What a wonderful, chill Easter we had this year!

The Easter Bunny found us & brought Marlee what she wanted.......a whole basket full of Cadbury Creme eggs.
Gross, I know.

And I love it when Easter falls on General Conference Sunday, or "church-on-TV" as the kids call it.

I quickly noticed a theme this Conference.
The primary role of parents as teachers of the gospel to our children.
I felt they were all talking specifically to me.
I fall way short in this & I felt very inspired.
But the inspiration faded so fast & the busyness of everyday life just shoved it out of the way.
Must. Stay. Inspired.
But right now I blame everything on the fact that I look like this!

A big slug is what I am.

After General Conference we had a fabulous dinner,

then on to the Easter egg hunt!




I don't normally condone "potty-talk" in our home, but I let this slide.
Every year we have a Poo egg. One that spent too much time in every color of dye to end up a nice brownish color.
There's alot of excitement when someone finds the Poo egg.
Weird, I know. But I have 4 boys so this kind of stuff happens.

Happily checking out the goods.

Then.......

the first egg was thrown..........

..........which quickly escalated..........

...........to this!

HAPPY EASTER !!!

And I had to include this picture because he looks just so dang hot!

Cute cousin Blake.

It was a beautiful Easter Sunday, with my beautiful family of seven......soon to be eight!

Only a few more weeks to go!

coloring easter eggs

it's one of our favorite things to do

we all kind of get into it

but we never end up eating them

i'm always afraid they've been unrefrigerated too long

the neighborhood egg hunt

Our annual neighborhood Easter egg hunt is shrinking a little each year as all the kids grow up.
I don't like it. I don't like it at all.
So I'm doing my best to keep our neighborhood young by having this baby.
No one else is willing to help me. Chickens.
This poor baby will be the only one born this year in our area.
I'll have lots of babysitters to choose from, though.

LOVING Gus's face in this pic. WOO HOO!!!

family party at the park

It was a springy sunshiney day and perfect for a party at the park.

So we rode the paddleboats around the little lake & hung out with grandma & grandpa & aunts & uncles & cousins......

.......like Collette & Blake.

It was cousin Jolie's birthday. I love the look on her face in this picture!

Good times!

Finally!

Zane finally decided he wanted to learn how to ride a bike.
He's 7 1/2 and it's about time.

It's not that he wasn't coordinated enough earlier, he just did not want to.

A couple years ago when all his buddies were learning to ride bikes we asked him when he wanted to learn, and his reply was, "but why would I want to ride a bike when cars are much faster?"

A totally typical Zane comment.

We laughed our heads off.

Later he declared he was going to be "a skateboarder guy & a scooter guy, but not a bike guy".

He's so very proud of himself.

And so are we.