Tom's Birthday Surprise for Kids

For Toms Birthday we sent the kids on a scavenger hunt around the house. The surprise at the end was hidden behind our family picture and it was the ultrasound pics of baby McDowell #4! They were super excited! It was so fun. (We found out that we were pregnant with Crew on Tom's birthday 3 years ago. )

Cousins

Auntie Kortney and Jhett came to stay with us while Uncle Pratt had business in Denver. It was so great to have them despite the fact that Jhett had ear infections and apparantly Crew was cutting a huge molar that we didn't realize till a day or two after they left. He was totally not his usually sweet, polite self, he was one grouchy dude! (he's always saying please, sorry, canks, no canks, yes sir, yes mam, and scuse me) We thought he was just having a hard time having company but he was probably hurting. Poor guys! While they were here we went swimming, and to the park. Jhett got a turn playing our family and my family's tradition when I was growing up of Don't Eat Pete, for FHE game. He was so cute and excited to have a turn. One of the days Auntie Kindy and Briley came and we went to the park again and brought a picnic.(Sadly I didn't have my camera that time) One of the pics is of me reading a story to all the kiddos. Notice Crew and Briley each holding their teddy bears during the story. so sweet. Crew and Jhett just happened to have matching jammies so we bribed them to sit still for 2.5 seconds to let us take a pic of them together. Right before they left Jhett had just woken up from a nap and was snuggling his Auntie Krista. Kya wanted some love so she stole him from me and was kissing on his cheeks. He just layed there soakin' up the love. It was the sweetest thing!

My little buddy

I am so lucky to have a little buddy to hang out with during the day. He helps me with laundry and dishes. We go to playgroup and storytime at the library. We play with playdough and fingerpaint and ride bikes. We like to play cars and do puzzles and read and rock in the rocking chair before nap time and sing songs to each other. We make big messes sometimes and sometimes we look like this (above pic) and are exhausted by the end of the day but as Crew said to me the other day after we dropped the older kids off at school, "Mama, we're both friends!"

Blue and Gold

The cub scouts Blue and Gold Banquet was on Saturday. The dads get to make a cake with their sons and then we get to eat them for dessert yum! (Conor is really getting good at cooking lately. He made rocky road brownies for home evening treat the other night and I barely had to help at all he just followed the recipe).

They had a great slide show put together of the past year and all of the fun cub scout stuff the boys have been doing. It was really fun to see and we even got to bring a copy of it home. Conor is so lucky to have such great leaders. We really appreciate them and all they do for these boys.

The fam

Conor helped out with a cute little presentation. He is holding the L in GOLD and reading a little poem on the back of it.

Last month at Pack meeting Conor earned his wolf badge and 4 arrow patches. This is him getting his awards and pinning my pin on me. Then he lead everyone in the cheese cheer. Great job Conor! (Crew is always saying, "I wanna go to scouts.")

Mama and Me

Kya and I got to go to a mother daughter Relief Society activity last week. We were so excited about it. She has her own calendar and she wrote on that date, "Mama and Me." She counted down for weeks and could hardly wait. We got to make sugar scrubs, treats and jewelry together. I love having a sweet, fun daughter to hang out with. We had a blast together that night.

Boys Bed

We waited as long as we could. Crew started climbing out of his crib and onto Conor's dresser. I tryed rearranging the room but their beds and dressers didn't fit any other way. So we put him in the toddler bed. He did not stay in even after many strict attempts. So at wits end we set up the pack n play and that kept the little monkey contained for a few months until he figured out how to hoist and catapult himself out of it. It was an amazing thing to watch actually. So we finally said, "WE QUIT" Conor and Crew now have a bunk bed. They LOVE it. Conor loves the privacy his top bunk gives him and Crew loves to climb all over it and swing like a monkey. So I thought it would be cute if I made matching bed spreads. I saw way cute ones at Target but they were $60. each! I decided I could try and copy them and pay like half the price for the materials. But then I found the ones at Target that were originally $60. on clearance for $15.00 each!!! Amazing. I definately could not make them for that cheap. So here they are. I really did not mean for the little monkey to be in all the pics but he managed to sneak in every time.

Best Daddy Ever!

Tom took his little Ky-pie on a date to the Nuggets/Lakers game. It was a super late game and we told her that but she was not phased at all and they had a blast. She is one lucky girl to have a daddy who adores her so much. Trust me I know, cause I have one too!

Kya's front tooth had been loose for a LONG time. While her and Conor were rough housing, Conor accidentally knocked it out. Kya loves telling people that her brother knocked her tooth out. He also finds pleasure in being able to tell people that. Crazy kiddos.