Taylor's Bucket List

For one of Tay's 5th grade creative writing assignments, he was supposed to come up with his very own bucket list. You know, the things you want to do in your life before you kick the proverbial bucket. He was supposed to come up with 50 things. This is what he came up with.

1. be a Football player
2. be a baseball player
3. be a basketball player
4. travel at the speed of light
5. be a Dad
6. be a marine biologist
7. participate in three different track meets
8. invent a rocket that will go as far as Neptune
9. build a robot
10. make a mini dinosaur by manipulating the traits of a bug
11. make a new paper airplane
12. find a metal that is strong but doesn't rust
13. own a generator touch computer
14. go to college with enough credits to be a Junior
15. be a millionaire
16. make a new language that many people know
17. go to Disneyland
18. go to Disneyworld
19. go to the Oregon Coast
20. go to BYU for college
21. be a pilot
22. fly an F-14
23. fly an AV-88 Harrier II
24. Travel at the speed of sound
25. go hunting with my dad
26. go to China
27. get married
28. own an ipad
29. make an art sculpture
30. go to Mars
31. go into space
32. be a considerably good cook
33. invent a recipe
34. create an identical image of myself
35. make a movie
36. meet someone famous
37. be part of a play
38. earn the all-20 scout award
39. own a lamborghini
40. read the Ranger's Apprentice series
41. be able to dunk on a fully raised basketball hoop
42. skip a grade
43. be a comedian
44. make a shrink ray
45. write a book and have it published
46. create my own website
47. make a hover craft that runs on bubbles
48. go to Paris
49. live in a mansion
50. get a scholarship for my sports
51. go sky surfing
52. go sky diving

Wow! Just reading through his list makes me feel a bit exhausted! He is an amazing boy with a brilliant mind and as I was typing these in, I kept thinking..."you could do that, you could do that too" Aren't children amazing...and don't they have such amazing potential? I hope that Tay has a long, long time to spend doing all of these wonderful things before he even gets close to his proverbial bucket.

Stuck on Repeat?

Taylor and Rachel were such a funny pair when they were little. They kept me so busy, they were always running everywhere. They are 18 months apart, and as soon as Rachey could walk (which was at 10 months) she was running after Taylor and was his little shadow. The trouble those two caused...oh boy. but they were and still are good friends, which I love...and they are still getting into scrapes and causing me stress! But just when I think that I've got this little duo under control...

enters the next dynamic duo. Matthew and Lainey. Oh boy, if I thought Tay and Rachey kept me busy...they were just warming me up for the real challengers! Ha ha!

Just like the other two, these two are good buddies most of the time, and Lainey is Matthew's little shadow, running after him as fast as her little legs can carry her. And they are always busy doing something...many things which make mommy crazy half the time!

Whew! Thank goodness we have Brooklynn around to keep us all sane!

Family Photo Shoot 2010

I've used some of these photos in some of my most recent posts, but I'm finally getting around to posting all of my favorites from the photo shoot we did last October. We went out after the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference and were fighting rain showers...but they turned out so good. I am loving all of the fun shots that our photographer caught of the kids, she is awesome! Sweet baby Lainah...not yet two years old.
Me and my girls

Ahh....sweethearts...

Matthew being silly...as always

My favorite picture of Matthew...love the dimpled hands and fingers

I love how his hair is so bright white in this picture. That's what it does in the sunlight.

Just having fun together

My handsome boys

And our cute girls...having fun with the telephone. Uh oh...

Brooklynn Belle taking a phone call....

I love this one of Tay. He is such a handsome boy.

Okay, I love this one too. Hard to believe he's starting middle school next year.

Handsome little Matthew. He thought this truck was so AWESOME!

And our sweet Rachel

trying out some fun poses

Brooklynn always giggling

Such a cute little 1st grader!

Lainah had so much fun pushing this stroller around. I love her little tongue sticking out in this one.

Love the dimpled elbows.

This is not posed. Lainah just climbed up there and started playing around. It was too cute.

I love the cheeser on Matthew's face. All five kiddos.

Here are the boys in front of our red barn...they grabbed the hammer and the football on their own, and it just cracked me up.

Tay had just finished up with his first football season and wanted a picture of himself and his football. This section of the barn is now gone so I'm glad we got documentation of it.

The traditional family pose. This section of barn is now gone too! We're slowly clearing off the land...ready for new and bigger projects!

I love this one of Andy and I. I'm so thankful for my beautiful, wonderful family and love them all so much. They are all so full of life, and personality...and make life very, very full.

That's Easy Mom!

Okay. I LOVE cub scouts. Taylor will turn 11 years old in just a few months, which means that he only has a few months to work on all of his Webelos badges, so we've been doing a lot of scouting lately. He has set a goal to earn all 20 activity badges...and has worked really hard.

Last night we were working on the Family Member one, and one of the requirements is to make a list of everything that our family spends money on each month and then to discuss ways that he can help us to save money on our family budget. I love requirements like this, because it gives me such a great insight into how our 10 year old views things. Here's what he came up with. Verbatim.

Stuff My Parents Spend Money on All the Time. (Seriously, it makes us sound so bad!)

1. Food (Come on! Listed first!?! No wonder we're a little chubbier than we used to be!)

2. Clothes (guilty)

3. Utilities: Electricity, water, sewer, trash, gas, phone and internet

4. Stuff like lotion and soap and shampoo, toilet paper

5. Cleaning supplies: lysol, laundry detergent, toilet cleaner, windex, and everything else under the kitchen sink. (no kidding, that's what he said)

6. Car stuff: gas, washing sometimes, scentsy car fresheners Mom buys. (guilty again)

7. Fun stuff: toys, activities, going out to eat, Mom and Dad's dates

And that is what he came up with for expenses. Now is the fun part.

Things I Can Do to Help Save Money:

1. Food: Not eat as much

2. Clothes: Not ruin my clothes as fast. Stop tearing holes in my knees. Buy my own clothes.

3. Utilities: Electricity (turn off lights) water (don't shower very often and go really fast) sewer (don't flush the toilet) WHAT!??? Trash (well, I don't know Mom, we have to throw things away. I guess we could just burn stuff instead of putting it in the trash cans.) Gas (What? Like the smelly kind? Me: No, like the kind that heats our house with the furnace. Tay: Oh, um, well, I guess I could just turn off the thermostat or something. Mom: Hey Tay, is the back door closed all the way? Tay: Nope Mom: What do you think about that? Tay: Oh, I don't know. Maybe Brooklynn should close it. Mom: Do you think that effects the gas bill? Tay: Hmm...maybe a little bit, but not a lot. Me: Hmm...actually it does effect it quite a bit, so could you go close the door? Tay: Where's Brooklynn? Me: What's the deal with you and Brooklynn today? Tay: Oh, no deal, I just think she should close it. Me: Big sigh...and then I give him "the look" Tay: But I'll just go close it instead. Me: Good idea.

4. Personal Hygiene items: Not wash hands as often, and forget about the lotions. Only shampoo when hair is really dirty.

5. Cleaning supplies: Oh, that's easy Mom. We could save money by just not cleaning as often, you know, like maybe once a month or something.

6. Car Stuff: Not drive around as much and stop buying car fresheners

7. Fun Stuff: (This one was my favorite.) Well, us kids do need to do activities once in a while, and it's good family time to go out to eat together, and toys keep us from watching too much TV, so maybe if you and dad just stopped going out on dates that could save some money. Mom: Hmm...that might be dangerous. Tay: Why? Mom: When you are the dad of 5 rambunctious children and you and your sweetheart don't get to spend much time together...we'll talk about it. Tay: Uh, okay Mom.

Well, Tay's way we would for sure save some money...but our house would be filthy, our hair dirty, we would freeze in the winter, how long could we go without flushing a toilet, and we'd all be a little skinnier...but we'd still be able to go out on family outings. Hey, there's priorities...right?