A 180

Eli played soccer last fall.

Well, at least he was signed up and walked around the field.

Let’s just say I was slightly embarrassed, ok VERY embarrassed every game.

He was always the one lagging behind, he never fought for the ball, if someone fell he was more worried about them then he was about making a goal.

He only made 1 goal the whole season, and it was in the last game and in the last second.

Spring soccer started up last Saturday. I went preparing myself for another game of Eli being the straggler.

Oh that kid proved me WRONG! He was amazing. He had made a 180. He was aggressive, he fought for the ball, he could dribble it down the field, and he made a GOAL!! I was so proud! We were all a little shocked.

There were three times that he dribbled the ball down to the goal, and if the goals would have been about 8” longer on each side he would have made those.

He tried so hard and did so well. I don’t know what got into that kid, but he was on FIRE!!

Of course I didn’t take my camera, because I was sure there wouldn’t be anything new to document.

Hopefully he will keep up his enthusiasm for the whole season, and he will be our little soccer star.

Grandma turns 70

Ryan’s grandma who lives in Kentucky turned 70 on Sunday.

She was going to be out here for her birthday, so they decided to do a surprise party for her. All of her kids and most of her grandkids, and great grand kids were able to drive out here and surprise her.

We love grandma Jackson. She is so thoughtful and sweet to EVERYONE. She always sees the good in everyone too.

Of course she loved it. It was so fun to see her so happy and surprised!

Disney on Ice

A couple weeks ago my brother and sister-in-law offered to take Eli to Disney on Ice with them.

Can you tell what color of Icee Luke had? :)

Eli had so much fun with them and his cousin Luke. I was able to stay home and hang out with Hallie and their daughter, Mia.

Eli was so excited when he got home, telling me all about it. Then he told me that he got a surprise for Hallie. He couldn’t wait to show her.

The boys and their cool souveniers

He said he knew that Hallie was sad that she couldn’t go, so he brought her home a present. A Minnie Mouse purse. He is such a sweet brother.

Pretty purple nightgown

My sister in law makes and sells these pretty little nightgowns for babies and toddlers.

She made this one for Hallie and she LOVES it!

It is so soft and silky and pretty.

And, as you can see it has great twirl factor.

It didn’t work

Apparently my effort to bribe Eli Friday with Ice cream and candy after his shots to make him love me again didn’t work.

All day Saturday the only person he wanted was his dad. He hung out with him ALL day. Whenever he was given the choice of which one of us to be with or run errands with he chose Ryan. He rarely chooses Ryan over me.

I was kind of hurt. But at the same time I am so happy that he has that relationship with his dad.

I thought I had been forgiven for taking him to get his shots, but I guess not.

(Ryan helping Eli plant thier seeds to start their garden)

One step closer to Kindergarten

Today was Kindergarten check-up day for my little E-Man. Not so fun for him.

He was real quiet on the way to the Dr.’s office. I could tell he was nervous. But every time I asked him if he was he told me no.

He told me he would be brave. I wasn’t so sure. As I mentioned before he is a real sensitive kid (translation: kinda wussy). I thought for sure it would be a fight to get him in there.

(waiting for the Dr. Looking pretty nervous to me) 

Boy, did he prove me wrong! He was a CHAMP! He passed his exam with flying colors. He sees perfect, hears perfect, blood pressure’s perfect, height and weight perfect. He is just perfect!

(passing his eye exam)

(taking his blood pressure)

Then came the shots. 5!!! He had to have 5 shots! Poor kid. I thought maybe 2 or 3, but 5? I got teary-eyed when they told me that!

But he pulled through. They jammed the first two in each arm. He stayed strong! Then they jammed one in each leg. That got him. He cried. Then another in the leg. More tears. Really, though. I couldn’t blame him. Honestly, I would have cried too.

(Look at all those band-aids. And that sad little face)

Oh. I felt so bad. But even though he cried it wasn’t screaming crying, just some big tears. I really was proud of him.

Then they told him he could have 5 stickers and a pencil. He was over it. Completely over it. He heard the word pencil, and life was good. Oh. So easily pleased.

Then of course I had to erase the images from his mind that his own mother would take him somewhere where they would jab him 5 times and cause him so much pain, so I took him to the Ice Cream Shoppe and candy store. Now his only memories of me are sweet, delicious ones. Haha.

(he’s definitely thinking that he has the coolest mom ever)

Baby Blessings

January was an exciting month on the Teeples’ side of the family. We were blessed with two special little babies, Roxann and Bentley. My kids are so excited to have two new cousins, and I am so happy to be able to have a new niece AND nephew.

(My kids LOVE babies. Maybe we should have another one.)

They are both absolutely beautiful babies.

We were then able to attend thier baby blessings. One on Saturday and one on Sunday. I love baby blessings. Babies are already so precious but then to be dressed all in white makes them  just glow.

(Lance, Bethany, and Roxann) 

(Leech, Cameron, and Bentley)

It was such a special weekend.

Mountain West Conference in Vegas

                       (Ryan, Lessley, Rebecca & Kimball)

 

Mountain West Conference  trip highlights

*BYU winning their first game

*Crazy drunk New Mexico fans. Hugging. Hilarious!

*Rebecca not throwing up in the car from morning sickness.

*Coaster wars

*Watching 16 hours of basketball and actually enjoying it.

*Bellagio water show

*M&M 3-D movie. Words cannot express how awesome this was. (Can you hear the sarcasm?)

*Crazy weird waiter at Hard Rock Cafe

*Hideous picture taken at Hard Rock Cafe

*Intense snow storm coming home. Took forever to get home from St. George.

*Lots and lots of laughs.

Tea for twenty and twenty for tea

I used to work with the Young Women in our ward. Unfortunately, last month I was released and no longer get to officially spend two days a week being silly with them.

Before I was released we had been planning a Tea Party with some of the older girls. After I was released I thought I would hand over the tea party plannig to the girl’s new leaders. When I mentioned that to the girls they were not happy. They insisted we still get together and live out tour party plans.

So we set our date, dressed up, and enjoyed hanging out together again. I love these girls and am so sad that I don’t get to spend so much time with them anymore.

 

Special order pancakes

Ryan is such a great dad and cook.

The other night the kids wanted Waffles for dinner. We made one waffle and then the waffle maker broke. If I would have been cooking I would have said, “Sorry kids, no waffles. Looks like cereal for dinner tonight."

Well not Ryan. He says, “Sorry guys no waffles. How about I do custom pancakes?”  Of course the kids were excited.

So of course Hallie “orders” a pink pancake with no syrup.

Eli “orders” a blue blueberry pancake with maple syrup.

And of course I “ordered” a chocolate chip pancake with chocolate syrup. (Props to him for trying, but it wasn’t as good as my dad used to make).

(the pink and the blue)

The kids loved this fun little dinner.

And I loved how Ryan put a fun spin on a boring dinner.

Definitely mine

One thing I love about being a mom is watching the different personalities of my kids develop. And to see how much they are like me or Ryan.
Sometimes it is scary how much they are like me, or even sad when I see in them some of personality traits that I also have, that I don't like about myself.

But there are also the traits that are just there.
The other day I realized just how much Eli is like me.
I went in his room to check on him before I went to bed, and this is how I found him:

Sleeping on the floor, on the heater vent, with a blanket over him.
I love doing this. (Not sleeping on it, but sitting on it).
I am always cold in the winter and I never seem to be able to get warm, unless I sit on the heater vent, in a blanket, getting toasty warm.
Eli is so much the same in this regard. He gets cold easy and always wants to sit on the heater with me.
Hallie on the other hand is just like Ryan. She is always warm, never wants covers, and is constantly asking me to, "turn down the heat," in the car because she is "just so hot!"
That boy is definitely mine!

Fun. Fun. Fun.

I took my kids and their cousins Katie and Carson for a fun day out.

First stop the park.

Second, Chuck E. Cheeses. It was crazy busy and the kids were tired, but we still were able to have a good time.

Next, Krispie Kreme. We watched the doughnuts on the conveyer belt and then picked out a doughnut. Yummy!

 

Lastly, PIZZA for dinner.

It was a busy day, but a fun day. I had so much fun spending time with Katie and Carson.  I just love them so much! They are such fun kids and I know Eli and Hallie loved being with them too.

Doe a deer

When Ryan and I were first married and lived on the benches of Provo we would see deer all the time. In the road, in fields, in the cemetery, in our driveway. It was awesome. I loved it. I know they are just deer and so common, but every time I saw them I loved it.

There is a cemetery that we passed every time we went to and from Ryan’s parent’s house in North Orem to our house in Provo. In this cemetery when we drove by at night, usually really, really late at night, we would ALWAYS see deer. Not just a few, but lots. One night we literally counted over 100 deer.

It became a favorite ritual of ours. Every night after leaving his parent’s house we would make a drive through the cemetery to scope out the deer. We would also drive past the golf course where we would find deer and sometimes even herds of Elk.

After we moved to Lehi we never had reason to drive past the cemetery and so our beloved trips searching for deer pretty much ended.

A couple months ago we were leaving Ryan’s parent’s house really late. Ryan, being the great dad that he is, had the idea to take the kids to the cemetery hunting for deer.

The kids thought it sounded fun and were excited, but I was REALLY excited.

We went and sure enough we saw some deer. Not nearly as many as Ryan and I used to see, but some nonetheless. The kids were sooo excited. It made it all so much more fun for me. I already love seeing the deer, but to see my kids so excited made it even more fun.

Since then, Eli always asks if it is late enough to go look for deer. He also is always on the look out for deer. He loves seeing them as much as I do. It never gets old for him either.

He was so excited the other day when we were driving in Ryan’s parent’s neighborhood, in the middle of the day, and he saw a herd of deer sitting in their neighbor’s yard. Of course, I stopped and we gawked at the deer. Our gawking scared them and they took off up the street. So naturally we followed them up the road, until they wandered into someone’s yard where we couldn’t see them anymore.

Yes, I realize we are geeks and deer aren’t THAT exciting. But our family loves them!!

 

This is the herd we stalked

                                  The little tiny buck

A temporary addition

This cute little guy gets to stay at my house for a week.

How fun is that?! So far, so good! We are all loving the new temporary addition to our family!