OOOOH TROUBLE!!!

Presley has officially learned to climb the ladder on the bunk beds. Oh boy, are we in for trouble. Presley's personality has come full circle. She talks nonstop, knows EXACTLY what she wants and how she wants it. We love her and appreciate her lively spirit in our home. She is one of our greatest blessings.

Anaya is still in what seems to be the terrible two's, but at times feels like it's worse than that. She is a little pistol and has quite the temper on her. If she doesn't get it her way, then by golly, you better be leavin the room. She is so much fun! We love the temper, but we can't let her know that. :-) Anaya is really into cooking and baking lately. She is always wanting to help with dinner or dessert. Between her and Presley, we are in for a world of trouble.

Preston is into video games. He is becoming a pro at playing them, just like his dad. We definitely have to keep an eye on him. If he had it his way, he would be playing 24/7! Wouldn't any boy want to do that? He is loving school and so good about getting his homework done right after school. He reads for 20 minutes and then we review his spelling words for the week. He has a spelling test every friday and is an awesome speller. Thank goodness he has my genes! :-)

Aubree is becoming a beautiful girl and a wonderful big sister. She has grown so much in just these last few months. She is always willing to play with her little sisters and make sure they are staying safe. She is good to pull Presley off chairs and stools so that Presley doesn't get hurt. We definitely don't need anymore accidents, that's for sure.

Weekend Fun

We always seem to be super busy on the weekends. This last weekend, Greg decided he wanted to go up the canyon and take some family pics before Preston went to his friend's birthday party. Needless to say, that getting everyone ready to go took ALOT longer than expected. We didn't get out of the house until it was time for Preston to get to his party. We took him to the party. Greg, me and the girls went up the canyon. Our first stop was at Pineview Reservoir. We were there, maybe, 10 minutes when we were being swarmed by bees. We decided to get outta there.

We left and found a park just down the road and let the girls get out and play. They had fun going down the slides, climbing up the ladders and going down to look at the river. We took some pics and left. We picked up Preston from the party and stopped in Riverdale at this car show. A lot of the cars and their owners were leaving, but we did get to see quite a few cool cars. After that, we decided to go home. Needless to say, we didn't get the family pics, but we did get some cute ones of the girls with their daddy.

Busy, Busy, Busy....

We have had one crazy week! One week ago Saturday, Presley decided to climb onto a chair. The chair came out from under her and she whacked her head on the table. We took her to the doctor and she got 3 stitches. That was just the beginning. Greg and I worked all week, with crazy schedules, hardly getting to see each other. He was in the door as I headed out!!! This craziness will all be worth it in the end.
I went to the doctor on Thursday for my normal monthly ob check. I was having contractions every 5-10 minutes that day. Not good!!! Dr. Liddle gave me those pills that stop the contractions, and told me to take it easy. A little hard when I work, go to school and have 4 kids running around the house playing. Greg has been awesome through this pregnancy though. I appreciate all of his hard work to support our growing family.
Preston turned 8 on Friday October 10. We went to Chuck E Cheese's for about an hour right after school. Then Ryan and Jordyn came down to celebrate some more with Preston. We had pizza, cake and ice cream and then went SWIMMING!!!! That was the kids' favorite part. There were some other people there and one of the guys took a liking to the kids'. They were having a blast jumping into the pool and goofing around. They had a blast!
Saturday morning we got up early to drive to Delta. Hagen (a cousin on my dad's side) was getting baptized. On our way down, Jenner and Megs had little baby Zoey Grace. She gave them quite a scare, but she is doing awesome now! The kids had fun at the baptism, seeing and playing with all their cousins. They can't wait for the Christmas party so they can see them again.
On our way home on Sunday, I took Anaya and Preston to see baby Zoey. Anaya was so excited when I told her. She was so cute holding her and loving her. Greg and Presley didn't get to go in because Greg is sick and Presley's still recuperating from having bronchitis. All in all, we have had a fun and exciting (and hectic) week. Can't wait to see what this week has in store for us.

Ohh so long.....

I am really bad about updating my blog. I also don't like to update unless I have pics, but since my last post, I have my computer back and that doesn't have the pics on it. So, here is another blog without pics. Oh well! The kids are playing in the living room right now, and getting along for the most part. Aubree is here for the weekend and they have a blast when she's over. She is very creative and has an imagination like you wouldn't believe. She definitely is the mastermind behind most of the kids' antics. Preston is going to be 8 next Friday. He is so excited. He has been counting down to his birthday for the last 15 days. He hasn't told me what he wants to do for his birthday, but I'm sure he'll think of something between now and then. Anaya and Presley have been going to my friend Celeste's house for the past week while Greg and I work, and I go to school. Anaya loves playing with Felicity. They get along so well. Anaya is constantly talking about all the fun she has with Felicity. We are also going down to our friend's Dusty and Lacy's house today. All the kids are excited about that because they love to play with Ryan and Jordyn. Anaya is also really excited about Jenner and Megan's baby Zoey to come. She keeps asking if she's here yet. Not yet, but anytime now. We can't wait!!! Poor little Presley has been really sick this last week. She is on the verge of having bronchitis, but at least it's not RSV. I can totally handle bronchitis. She is on antibiotics and doing so much better. Presley is so funny to watch from day to day. It seems like she is getting bigger and bigger, but she has only gained 2 lbs since her 1 year old checkup. She is getting taller and taller though. She eats like crazy, but doesn't gain a pound! How would it be!?!?!?! I will definitely post updated pics of the kids when I can get them transferred to my computer.

School Days, School Days

Well, it is that time of year again when we all head back to school. Aubree and Preston have been in school for one week. They love their new school. They get to ride the bus together in the morning and afternoon. They love that they get to see each other everyday. We see Aubree during the week after school, and then still on the weekends. Our family is so excited to be living so close to Aubree.
I am also back in school. I have started my 2nd week at Weber State. It has been one crazy transition moving from one college to the next. I finally have my schedule all worked out. I only have to go to school 2 days a week. I will be working on campus a few days a week. This will allow the girls to go to a relative's house for a few hours a day. They will love it.

Vacation, Vacation, Vacation!!!!

We returned from our 10 day vacation from Phoenix and San Diego on Monday the 4th. The kids had a blast and so did Greg and I. We started our trip to Phoenix to visit gramma and grampa ledbetter. It was very hot so needless to say the kids did a lot of swimming. The pool in gramma's backyard was a lifesaver. Aubree and Anaya were the biggest fishes of all. We did go to a park that had an area of fountains that we could all play in. Lil Presley wasn't quite sure what to think about that. Once she got over the shock of getting wet, she had just as much fun as the others.

We left Phoenix on the 31st and headed to San Diego for the Crickmore family reunion. The reunion was 3 full days of activities. The first day was the beach and bonfire. We definitely hit the beach. The kids went boogy boarding, and played in the sand. aubree and Preston's favorite part was the ocean, of course. The second day was more beach, but we also went to a San Diego Padres game. We sat in grass area in the outfield. After the game, we went to our favorite roller coaster at Belmont Park. Aubree, Greg, my brother and sister, mom, and some cousins went on the roller coaster while Megs, Dad, Presley, Anaya, Preston and I watched. Preston did get to ride the big Merry Go Round at Belmont. We were all so tired that no pics got taken at Belmont. The last and final day, we went on an EARLY morning walk on the beach to see if we could see crabs, starfish, and all the sea creatures that live in the tidepools that are mostly covered during the day. We were able to see some little crabs, and some sea anenomes, but that was pretty much it. After the beach, we went to the park and had the best donuts in the whole world.....totally better than Krispy Kreme.....VG's, and milk and juice and had a cool family meeting. We all expressed what our favorite part of the reunion was. It was unanimous that it was spending time with family, even if it is only every 3 years. Later, we went to the San Diego zoo. The first thing we did was hit the Sea Lion show. The kids got to sit on the front row, which was exciting for them. We then took a bus tour around the zoo, which is one of the best ways to see more of the animals because the zoo is so big. The zoo is more exciting at night, because the animals are more active. The kids were also able to go to the children's zoo which has a petting zoo in it, and lil presley really took to one of the baby goats. I couldn't keep her away from it. To sum it all up, we had a blast and can't wait for the next Crickmore family reunion in 3 years.

Vacation...here we come!!!!!!!!

We are so very excited to see our family in Phoenix and San Diego. We are leaving on Saturday July 26. We are going to drive to Phoenix. We will be visiting Greg's mom and stepdad for a few days. While there, being as its so dang hot, we will be swimming lots and staying inside. The kids love to go to the pool. They have a high dive and a low dive that the kids love to jump off. It's a good thing they are great swimmers. Then on July 30, we will be driving to San Diego for a family reunion on the Crickmore (Ali's mom) side of the family. There we will get to play on the beach a ton, going to a San Diego Padres game, and last of all, going to the San Diego Zoo. The kids are so excited for this vacation. They have been waiting all summer to go.

Anaya the Artist!!!

Isn't that smile soooo sweet and innocent? Um, yeah, not so much. She is a little devil when she is being curious. Here's a little story about the devilish angel that we are raising. She is sooo funny!!! Greg and Anaya started making a cake this morning around 10:30-11ish. They also decided that they were going to make it a princess cake by adding food coloring to the cake batter. All is fine and dandy...at least for a minute. Greg walked out of the kitchen to change Presley's diaper. Anaya, the darling little angel that she is, came to Greg and was covered in food coloring....not just one color but ALL the colors. They were up and down her arms, all over her face and clothes. She then began to tell Greg that she was helping him. By this time, Greg gets a little nervous and decides to walk into the kitchen. When walking into the kitchen, there is the cake batter that is no longer pink (as planned) but a very blackish purple cake batter. Greg looks at Anaya and asks "What were you trying to do?" Anaya very innocently, but happily pleased (because she of course is our little angel) says "I'm making a rainbow cake daddy!!!" (all the while eating the batter) Greg didn't quite know what to do from that point on. Anaya was so happy all the while daddy is in complete shock!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, Anaya got a very extensive bath as well as her clothes!!!! Let's pray all the pretty colors come out of Anaya's yellow shirt!!! he he he he

1st Grade at Grandview

Well, I just wanted to post a little something about Preston's Ist grade year! His teacher was Mrs. Coyne. She was so kind and patient and really enjoyed having Preston in her class. They went on many field trips. To name a few they went to Macey's, Thanksgiving Point, and to a play about Amelia Bedelia. His favorite field trip was the trip to the play. They did a little play in their classroom about Mother Goose. All the kids acted out several nursery rhymes. Preston and a little girl named Brooklyn acted out the Old Mother Hubbard. It was sooooo cute! He invited grammy J, mom, dad, papa and lacy and ryan. All but papa were able to come. It was so cool to have such a big support group for Preston.

Another activity they did this year was a 1st grade program. They sang and spoke about all the things they did in their classrooms during each of the different seasons. Preston talked about the activities the kids would do during the summer. They sang many songs and had many actions to them as well.

At the end of the year the students, Mrs. Coyne's class painted pictures of whatever they wanted. Preston painted an awesome picture. Then all the pictures were put in a contest, and can you believe it? Preston won 1ST PLACE!!!! Way to go kiddo!!! He won a sculpting set. He was so shy about it when I asked him where he got it, but once he saw how proud we were of him, then he was more willing to talk about it. How cute is that?

Preston and Baseball

Preston has become quite the baseball player this year. He had so much fun! His team's color was gray, and their team name was The Cougars. We had fun watching Preston play and learn more about the game of baseball. He has improved from last year. He has decided that his favorite position is catcher. He loves being on the home plate with the ball when the other team players come running home to score. He loves the chase that some of them give him. He was always excited and looked forward to every game.

Summer!!!

Summer is here and it has been a busy one so far. We have been going to Preston's baseball games and swimming at the pool. Thank goodness for the pool. It would definitely be a hot summer without that. The kids love going swimming and are definitely not afraid of water. We are getting excited about our family reunion in July. We can't wait to go to the beach and the wild animal park in San Diego. It will be so much fun!