4th of July fun

Nothing beats an awesome bbq and fireworks! Our cute friends the Moores had us over to enjoy festivities in their yard.

Luke did awesome, he was able to resist the temptation of grabbing the" sparkly firey" part and avoid getting burned

It was unusually cold that night!

We saw some outstanding fireworks....those packs you buy from the grocery store....yeah, amazing! Ok, they all looked the exact same, we didn't even get a chinese pagoda :(We had great front row seats...the guys let the two older boys light all the fireworks, so they got to just sit back and watch the show

We ended the night with a fury of fire crackers and left unable to hear each others goodbye's, but it was a fun night of patriotic bliss

Thatcher had his preschool graduation last month

It was super short and sweet

It's a momentous event for me, and at the same time I am fully aware that noone else will be fully enthralled by this post....but it's amazing to me that he is done with preschool

And will be starting elementary school...

We are so proud of him

This is his friend Connor who he got to goof off with everyday at school.

Luke is a proud little brother

We took him to the Mayan in celebration of this huge accomplishment

He had a blast...

now on to bigger and better things...

We love you Thatcher!!

They grow up so fast...

It's crazy how fast kids grow up....people always tell me that, but now I understand that it's really true! This kid especially, he seems like the baby to me still, even though he's almost two! In this picture he looks so cute and innocent...But this kid is a magnet for mischief! If he isn't right by my side literally at all times I know he is doing something naughty....

He had climbed up the stairs and was gone for maybe a minute if that, and I thought, uh oh, it's way too quiet. So I turn the corner on the stairs and find him doing his hair with some vicks....

He really piled it on, it was at least an inch thick on the top of his head....maybe the reflection of the light on his head might be a clue to just HOW greasy he was!

We washed, and washed, and washed again....that stuff was not coming out! For days after he had a permanent hair style.....sticking straight up and super greasy.

Another favorite thing of his is to climb up on the stools in the kitchen. On this particular day, there was some cereal on the counter and he took full advantage of his chance to slip away and have a hayday with that cereal!


He mixed them both together and had a feast for about 5 seconds until I caught him....seriously, he can do a lot of damage in under two minutes!



This one is probably self explanatory....he got into my mascara and wanted to look pretty just like mommy...

Having Thatcher first didn't prepare me at all for all of the fun stuff we've been experiencing with Luke. Thatcher never got into cupboards he wasn't supposed to, or made big messes, or was really mischievious at all. He was the perfect well mannered kid until about 3....that's when we had a whole lot of other fun issues! But maybe since Luke is getting it out of his system early, he'll be super well behaved by the time he turns 3.....but I'm not holding my breath!

Thatcher is turning 5 in a couple of months and is starting to do so many things! He's growing up way too fast...I don't think I'm ready! He is always wanting to play with friends, this is his best friend that he met in preschool. We've had to schedule regular playdates, sometimes once or twice a week. They have had to be separated in school, and this is the only way to get them to be ok with not being able to sit by each other and goof around during class time.

He started soccer again and is so much better this year at the whole concept of chasing the ball. The first two seasons I don't think he knew there was even a ball involved...he would spend the games chasing other kids and doing somersaults on the field and dancing around. He was always fun to watch though!

He is starting kindergarten in August, and I always thought I would be so happy for him to go! I thought, Oh, I won't be sad at all...this kid has so much energy and always needs something to do, it'll be great to have him occupied everyday. Didn't think I'd be sad AT ALL....then I went to orientation....I cried at orientation! Um, this wasn't supposed to happen! They showed a slide show of kids in kindergarten this year and all of the fun things they got to do, and it was all set to music....I was literally crying! He can't be this big, and maybe I'm not ready for him to grow up, maybe he needs to stay home one more year.... kindergarten is for older kids!

Wow, I don't know how I'm going to handle the day I have to drop him off at school. Just writing this makes me sad! He is such an amazing boy! He is so smart and absorbs every little bit of information he sees and hears. He loves playing outside and learning about nature and bugs. He loves reading, he loves to tell jokes and be funny. He loves to dance and be silly. He is the best kid I can imagine. How can I let him go to kindergarten? All by his lonesome little self.... I know he'll love it and won't think twice about making new friends or having a new teacher. He adapts so well.... I can't believe how fast they grow up!!

I want to move to St. George

I can't even talk about the cold snowy weather....  :{    

If only we lived in constant warmth!! Oh what a life that would be.....

Our trip to Sunny and Warm St. George, oh how I miss you already

Hiking with the boys

Thatcher with my Dad

A random girl at the top of the Dixie Rock wanted to show Thatcher a lizard she had caught

Hiking with the fam....my dad and sister Jen shared in the fun times

Is it sad that I once went through these narrow rocks without any stuggle at all??

Luke didn't even know how much fun he was having, but it was a lot!

We found this really cool trail by my grandma's house that we went rollerblading on. It goes along riverside drive and clear out to Bloomington I guess. It was so pretty!

I could barely keep up, Mat is so speedy on those rollerblades!

It was much harder for me to push AND try to rollerblade at the same time

This is the first time we'd been to the sand dunes, it was awesome!

The boys loved it

Thatcher and Luke of course only had enough energy for one way.... they got to be carried on the return trip. Thanks daddy!

We found this fun restaurant called Pirate Island that we ate in the last night. Thatcher was so excited, he loves pirates! (hence the name of our blog address, in case you wondered why we chose that ridiculous one!)  It was all pirate themed, the waiters were dressed as pirates, they had a huge arcade to play in..... but the food.....the food was not good!! I think  in most themed restaurants this is the case, sometimes you get lucky, but we were not.

This is how we entertained ourselves on the long drive home.... thanks sour gummy worms.

The joy of St. Patricks Day!!

I think Thatcher has as much anticipation for St. Patricks Day as he does for Christmas morning...What did those crazy Leprechauns do this time?! He even wore his green pajamas to bed so he would be prepared....

They managed to turn our breakfast green....AGAIN! Oh, They're tricky! This time they didn't just get our eggs and milk, but our oatmeal too. I know, nothing looks more appetizing than green oatmeal

Even little Luke enjoyed eating green breakfast....

I'm glad Thatcher was not agitated like he was last year when he didn't appreciate all the effort it took those little Leprechauns to to break into our house and cause such mischief.  Nope, this year he loved it and was amazed.

 He made sure he and Luke had on plenty of green in celebration of this magical holiday.

 

 He had a treasure hunt at school and managed to find some gold....how lucky is he? 

So fun to have a four year old who loves St. Patricks Day