Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's birthday, and I didn't want the day to pass without making sure I recognized it in some way. So, here's to you MOM! Love you.

De-Junking

I LOVE to throw stuff away. Seriously, it brings great joy to my heart. I think it stems from living in a fairly small house with 8 other people growing up. We just didn't have enough space to save all sorts of random stuff. When Sean and I got married I brought about 2 boxes of "stuff." We've moved 8 times in the 7 1/2 years we've been married (with another one coming up in the next month or so) which is a little tiring, but also a great chance to de-junk. I'll admit I don't love the packing and cleaning and such that comes with a move, but I love to clean out ALL of my stuff and get rid of things I don't use. Plus, I use my moves as a measuring stick: if I haven't used something since the last time I moved - I get rid of it. I remember when my dad got remarried, and they were moving from their two separate homes into one house. I went down to CA to help, and I was just in "throwing-away" heaven. Man, I was tossing things left and right. I've been doing a bunch of that again, but this time I decided to have a little yard sale before I take all my stuff to the local church thrift store. I've never had a yard sale - EVER (not growing up, not since I've been on my own - NEVER), but I was getting this big accumulation of "stuff" in my garage, and I thought, "why not?" So this morning was my first day (I've noticed that here in Kingman everyone advertises for yard sales for both Friday and Saturdays, so I followed suit). To my surprise we actually made an okay amount of money for a couple hours Friday morning. One of my favorite parts was when I was putting all the stuff back in the garage, and only about half of it remained (YAY for getting rid of stuff). We'll see what tomorrow morning brings. Kind of fun!

Spring Break

We spent a fun-filled week in California during Spring Break. We went to the beach twice (pictures in post below), played at a train museum, celebrated Ben's and Grandma's birthday, went to the park a couple of times, enjoyed Easter at Grandpa and Grandma Taylor's house, watched movies, and just enjoyed time together. Sean and I even snuck in a date night. We even managed to fit in the flu (yep - Megan, Nathan and I all got a good case of the throw-up flu, and then Caelan caught something the day we got home). But, overall it was a great week.

Fun at the Beach

All in a Days Work

Yesterday I:
*Was up and dressed and ready for the day by 7:45 AM
*Got Caelan off to school (a little early, pretty amazing with 5 kids in tow, 4 under the age of 2 1/2)
*Fed and dressed Megan and Nathan
*Picked up the house
*Cleaned the bathroom
*Swept and vacuumed all floors
*Fed lunch to all 4 kids (my two, plus two that I was babysitting)
*Put the kids down for a nap
*Swept the back patio
*Weeded the front yard
*Washed and folded two loads of laundry
*Tried to read an Ensign article as I played with Nathan (who woke up early)
*Picked up Caelan from school (this was quite a feat. Picture this: a double stroller with a two year old girl in front, a two year old boy in the second seat with Megan sitting behind him, and me holding Nathan in my arms as I push the stroller up to the school to sign out Caelan)
*Said goodbye as the two extra kiddos went home
*Helped Caelan with her homework and reading
*Ran to the grocery store
*Made dinner
*Fed Nathan and then the rest of the kids
*Put Nathan to bed
*Had Family Home Evening with the girls
*Put them to bed
*Sat down (for the rest of the night).....Ahhhhh. So nice!

Happy Birthday Ben!

Ben's 4th birthday was on Sunday. He was in CA with Sean, so we didn't do the whole "celebration" thing (that will happen this week), but we did sing to him over the phone. Ben is our man of many questions these days. He always wants to know what is going on, and what will be happening next, and why people are doing this or that. It's especially fun for Sean when they are driving back and forth to CA (they get a lot of good father-son bonding). Currently Ben loves:
*his flip flops (seriously, he'll sleep in them)
*shorts (it's almost impossible to get this boy into pants)
*strawberries and olives and cereal
*the beach (he went a couple weeks ago and can't stop talking about it)
*little hand toys (any animal or figurine he can hold in his hand)
*running
*going anywhere anyone else goes (he doesn't really care where - he just wants to go)

We love Ben. He is such a special and fun part of our family. Happy Birthday Dude!
And, in honor of his birthday here are some pictures from the past:

Camping in Joshua Tree

We had a fun little getaway this weekend. I took the kids and met Sean in Joshua Tree. Grandpa Sorensen and Caleb and Corbin also came along (Brook and Grandma came out in the morning as well as Erin and David). We camped in some BLM land (no potties). We set up a tent which Caelan and Ben and Megan slept in. Sean and Nathan and I slept in the van (right next to the tent with the windows open)...actually Megan joined us late in the night as well). It was cool, but not cold and hardly any wind (perfect for the fire). We ate tinfoil dinners on Friday night and eggs, potatoes and sausage on Sat. morning. Then we spent the day climbing rocks, hiking and riding bikes (it was more like "coasting" downhill for 10 miles - very fun). We had a blast, and have a little sun-kissed skin to show for it. It made us realize that we need to camp much more often - so fun!