Every year it happens

Every year I think, Wow I can't believe he (Spencer) is ONLY (fill in the blank). I know it is supposed to be the other way but with Spencer it is different for some reason. I don't know if it is because he does everything that Preston does or if (because I am an honest person) he is a little bit of a difficult child. But I can't believe that he is ONLY 6. Having said that....I really do love this kid. He is super smart, and funny and is so nice to everybody but his sister. We had a great day on his birthday and we are excited for his upcoming birthday party (he has decided to wait until our neighborhood pool is open so he can have a swimming party- it is under construction for repairs).

We started the day with our traditional cake for breakfast and because it is a year when he gets a cake at his birthday party I didn't have to make this one super cool or anything. (side note. we only have friend birthday parties on even birthdays)

 Spencer wanted to go to the rain forest cafe for dinner. I am not a big fan of the place. It is really expensive and always crowded. But I couldn't talk him out of it not matter what.

 He got some really cool presents this year, these water guns and a microscope (which dad got some blood samples from work)

 Vaughn was a big fan of the food, as always!

 Mallory was just so excited about the place that she kept giving daddy loves.

 Afterwards, in a moment of weakness, Garett agreed to go on a horse ride. The kids likes it and so I guess that is all that mattered.

Spencer, we love you so much. We are proud of the young man you are turning out to be. Thank you for all the cuddles and love that you give us. Happy Birthday

April ( a little back tracking)

Just a few random pictures from April.

 Vaughn is growing super fast like all babies do but he just keeps growing and growing. The kids is a beast and I love him. He loves to crawl and stand up all over the house and as a result he always has bumps and bruises all over his face. He looks a lot like Spencer and when he get a bump he looks exactly like Spencer did at this age, minus the red hair. He is a really good kid and already listens better then Mallory does. He loves Salta and in fact that was his first word, before mama and dada.

In April I got really sick, actually we all got really sick but I seemed to have gotten it the worst. So Garett got this great idea to give me an IV. Well the first time didn't turn out so great. Let's just say that there was kids screaming, eyes totally dilated, breathing stopped and Mallory calmly telling Garett that I was dead. Somehow he conviced me to let him try again the next day and here is that picture.

Vaughn is the 4th kid and has learned how to take care of himself. They boys no longer leave their lunch on the ground.

Mallory, Mallory, Mallory. What can I say. I love her and it is a good thing that I do cause I would have sold her a long time ago. Garett says that I created her to be the way she is but I totally disagree. Just because I dress her in amazingly awesome outfits does not make it so she can't hear. She has her moments. Like when she is at Dance class, which she has her recital in 2 weeks. She is also in Swim lessons. She loves to play make believe but only if you play with her and Vaughn playing with her is not good enough.

We busted out the Signing Time videos to help Vaughn but Mallory loves them more. Here she is signing dirty after she put on her black lipstick. So pretty!

He is a little of that standing up action that I told you about.

They love watching things cook. They will sit there for  30 min. just watching the German pancake rise up.

We moved Vaughns room over to the other side of the house. Farther from Garett and I am in a room that has better air conditioning. The first night the kids wanted to welcome him so they all slept in his room with him.

This is Vaughn on the other side of the room. So basically I am not really sure why we bought such a big house cause we could totally make do with a 2 bedroom.

We have taken pictures of the kids almost every Sunday. I just thought these ones where cute.

He still looks just like Garett. He is really starting to grow into a man. We have been working on being a gentleman alot lately. There is a girl here who is just his buddy but she sure likes to push Preston's buttons and she knows that he is supposed to be a gentleman and so she makes sure that he is.

Love this kid!

It's funny that he looks so different in clothes then his brothers did. I am still trying to figure out what colors and stuff look good on him. But in the end it doesn't really matter cause he will get whatever is handed down to him

When we go to the store, every old lady has to stop us and ask me where he gets his red hair. Now I like old ladies (my mom is one) but sometimes I just don't have time. So I decided that it was time to cute his hair, hoping that if it was shorter then people wouldn't notice the red as much.

Actually all my other kids got there first haircut when they where just a few months old but Vaughn with his hair being so light never really needed one.

Oh and I just wanted to show off my latest project. I glass etched my front door. It used to be just glass and anybody could just see in. It turned out pretty nice.

Mother's Day(S)

We don't really do anything big for our anniversary and at Christmas time we really just focus on the kids, and most years I buy my own birthday cake but Mother's Day is my day. My first Mother's day I told Garett all my expectations(snobby, maybe) and he has never failed me. But this year was EPIC.
So Thursday before I was a little grumpy...I don't remember all the reasons but I know that I had dropped our camera and broke it that day, hence no pictures. So Garett gives me a card and immediately I was giddy. The card had the next 3 days planned out. It gave me the times, dress code and a hint (which was in scripture form). Now just to clarify I would have been happy if that was all I got because I could see that Garett put a lot of thought and effort into planning. Cheesy I know but he works a lot and doesn't have a lot of time so the fact that he gave some of the time to planning this for me was awesome. Ok so I don't want to make this super long, especially since I don't have pictures.
Friday- Temple and dinner
Saturday- Corsage making with the boys, this year they really helped and it was so much fun. I made a total of 16.
-Then a hike, picnic and cold stone. Oh and we went shopping for a mother's ring. Ended with a chick flick.
Sunday- Breakfast in bed. Then Garett took all the kids to deliver the rest of the corsages while I took a extra long shower (best gift ever). Then dinner and desert followed by presents. I got an outside trashcan, bike rack, bedframe, and a bunch of other things that was on a honey do list. Best gift was the boys made a angry jar. So when I get mad at them, I go and pull out a piece of paper. They say stuff like "mommy you are beautiful and stuff. They thought of it all by themselves. I also go all the cute homemade school stuff.

Oh but wait there was a bonus day...Tuesday we went the the 5th game and saw the SPURS play. Yep, we are now spurs fans. Go Spurs Go

Thank you Garett for all the awesomeness. Thank you kids for all the love and attention (Spencer gave me his bell to use for the day, all I had to do was ring it and they all came running). And thank you to a Father in Heaven who gave me the opportunity to be a mom. Best thing ever!!!

 I told you I drop our camera so these are all from my phone and I don't have a cool smart phone so...
Above is the boys making corsages.

 Garett and I on our hike

Yummy

He's got some skills

10 years ago if you would have asked me if Garett was handy with tools I would have laughed in your face. 5 Years ago, I would have shrugged and said a little. 2 years ago I would have said he was more of a brains type of guys but he could hold his own. Ask me today and I will tell you he is amazing. Since we moved into this house nine months ago he has built from scratch..Washer and dryer stand, bunkbeds, turtle cage, garden planter, bench (not really the whole bench but he did some serious overhauling), bike rack, and literally 5 min ago finished a bed frame.He has also put together a half dozen Ikea pieces. We have realized that over the years he can't do fragile and cute stuff. He does heavy, sturdy and unbreakable. It is up to me to make them look nice. Below are just some of the projects he has done. 

  This is our garden. It is growing so well. In fact in another day or two we will be eating our first squash. (Shout out to Garett's day who helped to build it)

 Here is the bike rake that he finished today. Super cheap, super easy and make the garage super organized.

 The bunk beds that he put together. They can either be in an L shape or as is. They are stained blue and it looks way better in person.

He is a link to the bench http://ncjacksonfive.blogspot.com/2012/07/vaughn-everett.html. I will take pictures of the bed when I get it all finished and pretty.

Turtles Cage. Which we are to the point where we almost have to get him another one. He is growing so fast. As you can see I haven't put much effort into making this one look good. It is just so low on the projects list. Turtle doesn't seem to mind.

As much as I love him and am so proud of his skills. I can't end this post without tooting my own horn. All of the above projects (except turtles cage) were thought up/designed by me or pinterest (which I found). He of course wished I would stop thinking and searching pinterest.

Big Red

Vaughn is 8 Months old. Can you believe it? We love this little dude and the addition he is to the family. He has many nick names, such as, tub of goo, moose, lump and big red. He LOVES to eat and hasn't met a food he doesn't like. He is weighing in at 19.4Lbs which puts him in the 95th % He is a pretty good sleep and even if he wasn't we would still just ignore him because he is number 4. He love to go outside and actually listens when you tell him not to put things in his mouth, at least until he finds a new leaf and forgets that you told him no. He is a mamas boy during the day but likes dad to put him to bed. He screams if somebody leaves the room. As in all of us could be in the same room playing but if Preston leaves then he is sad. He has the best smile in the entire world and some crazy red hair.

Just some random pictures

We have the coolest playroom. And because we are cool parents we made it even cooler and put up a rock wall and a swing. This was like the mid way point of the rock wall.

 In November, two of our most favorite people came to visit. Auntie Sues and Ms. Imelda. I didn't hold Vaughn or change a diaper the whole weekend, but that is not the reason we love them just a bonus.

 So back to the coolest playroom, yeah we can rope climb out of the barn door. It's pretty rad.

 Oh, and we also have the coolest HOA. They hosted a breakfast with Santa. Well after Santa was done visiting with the kids he decided to come play on the playground. It was so much fun. My kids who know the truth about Santa thought it was the best.

 The kids and I decided that daddy was working to much so we left him and went to Phoenix for Christmas. Thank you Grandma for driving to and fro with me and these cute kids in Christmas PJs

 Before we left we did give Garett some presents. If you can't tell what he got, that is a grill starter. I am a cool wife like that.

 Christmas morning!!!

 Preston with his birthday cake breakfast. I am not sure what face he is making but it is the best shot I got of him.

 Preston and mommy on a date at Denny's for free birthday breakfast.

 He is such a stud, and a he is also a whole lot bigger now.

  The only snow the boys saw this winter....in El Paso.

 Preston's birthday Volcano

 Vaughn's first taste of food. He loved it so very much

 Mallory making sure that Daddy know what he is doing. What would he do with out her.

I think we are finally caught up with picture. Maybe I can be a regular poster now. Hmmmmm