Some Pictures to Satisfy Your Cravings :)

So I haven't posted pictures since January, and my kids are waaaay too cute to not share their awesomeness with you! Here is what we have been up to for the past couple of months:

Rix is loving second grade. I think he loves it the most because he is super competitive (to put it mildly) and he loves to be number one (or think he is number one). All his subjects right now are easy for him. He aces math, reading, spelling, science, and recess (yes, he said so, he is the best at soccer). The only thing he hasn't mastered is paying attention in class, but it's hard for him since he usually already knows what the teacher is teaching, and he's bored. But he has lots of friends and loves being at school.

Rix also just finished a great basketball season! This is his third year playing for the city league, and when he started this year I was a little worried because his other teammates seemed so much better than him! But he was just a little rusty from not playing for almost a year, and he quickly got back into the game. He scored lots of points during games, got better at dribbling, lay-ups, and rebounds. His team came in third, which wasn't great (there were only four teams) but the best lesson Rix learned was that losing is okay. If you know Rix then you know that is a huge lesson for him! He had fun and worked hard, and their team by far improved the most during the season. The best team is made mostly of third graders, and the first time Rix's team played against them they lost by like 30 points or more. The last time they played against that same team the only lost by around 8 or 9 points. Rix was really excited about that game!

Bryce is in kindergarten and really loves going and learning new stuff and then coming home and telling me about it. He is the most excited that he has learned to read and do math, which he does quite a bit. He loves his teacher and has several friends at school, but my shy little boy doesn't have a best friend, or a friend he exclusively plays with. Rix at this age did, but he is more outgoing than Bryce.

Bryce is starting his first sport in a couple weeks - t-ball! I am so excited to watch him play because I've never seen him do a sport before, and he's not overly competitive. I just hope he has fun and learns to love playing with others. His laid back demeanor and his sensitivity issues tend to keep him from trying new things or doing things that are hard. He gets his feelings hurt or he doesn't want to put forth the effort. So maybe this will change things!

Cole is my little buddy. He stays with me all day: at the office, when the kids are at school, running errands, taking naps (every once in a blue moon), and we are just best buds! He says the funniest things and he seriously has no filter. Like, for example, the entire Fred Meyer store knows now what Cole does in the bathroom. And they heard him explain it several times, because apparently me saying "Cole we don't talk about those things right now" means "What? I didn't hear you please say it again but louder." Life is an adventure with that kid! He is so ready for school but doesn't start preschool until next year. He loves to spell things, color, and most importantly play the Wii, which causes some problems because we only play the Wii two or three days a week. So needless to say there is lots of whining on the other days. But we're hanging in there!
Jacob is basically the rock star of the family. His older brothers love him so much, that I honestly had no idea that they would love and care for him they way they do. They are so patient when Jake turns off their Wii game, or if he eats their homework paper (yes, he has done that), or if he destroys their huge Lego castle. Jake is crawling like a pro and pulls himself up on stuff all the time. This causes lots of bonked heads, but he is doing so well! He still doesn't sleep well at night (which is a huge bummer but it can't last forever, right?) and he is such a happy baby. Seriously, he only fusses when he's hungry or tired, and even then he gives out huge smiles to strangers and laughs easily at his brothers, who he finds to be very funny.

He just had his 9 month appointment and he is 70% for height and 20% for weight. The doctor was concerned he wasn't gaining enough weight (which has been a problem for him since birth) so we have to try to feed him more. He may be lactose intolerant, but we aren't sure yet. All I know is he loves to eat solid food, and doesn't love the bottle so much. But we are trying to get as many calories in him as possible!

Here are some random pictures of what we have been up to lately!

Now that Jake can crawl, he gets into everything! I have to vacuum like two or three times and day and sweep even more. And he loves to get into my purse!

Rix is getting really creative with Legos! He built this drawer out of Legos and uses it for his special items.

He also spelled out everyone's name with Legos (I am only posting his name) and displayed them for a couple months on the entertainment center.

This is Jake's first bath with his brothers. He loved being in there with them, but was weirded out that they were all in there together.

I love his facial expressions!

Dad getting Jake's neck.

Remember I said Jacob ate the boys homework? It's true. Every word. He has a paper fetish. Here he is destroying my Sunday paper!

Jake got this toy for Christmas and loves it. See him standing?? He is getting so big!

Yes! A picture of Bryan and I! We went to see Oklahoma! at the 5th Avenue Theater. It was a fantastic show!

He is one handsome kid :) This is pre-lost front tooth.

Jake takes up to three or four baths a day sometimes. He is just so cute begging by the tub that I can't say no!

Do you see what is wrong with this picture? Yes, we went out in public that way and I didn't even notice until we got home. This kid is such a goofball!

Jake still has a hard time sleeping, so often times at night he falls asleep on Bryan. I think Bryan loves this so much!

Rix playing basketball. I was so proud of him!

Rix and his BFF Ethan. I could not get them to take a normal picture.

Look how big that cucumber is! Luckily Rix and Bryce love cucumbers!

Review: Old Navy's New Tees and Tanks

So you all know I am involved with a company called Crowdtap - it's an awesome site that mashes together consumers (like me!) with companies seeking opinions and reviews to enhance their products and customer service. The company that I've worked with the most (by far the most) is Old Navy. And I am sooooo not complaining! I've always been an Old Navy girl: their clothes are trendy and fit well, and it completely fits my small tiny miniscule budget. And their kids' clothes are amazing. I still have jeans that Rix wore, that got passed down to Bryce, that now fit Cole, and will survive all the way down to Jake. Now those are good jeans (genes??). Anyway...

Old Navy has a new improved line of layering tees and tanks. They were gracious enough to send me a  coupon to try a couple out (for free! See why I love Crowdtap!!) and I also got a coupon to give to a friend. I took Carissa, and we set out for our local Old Navy to try these new tees and tanks out. Now first you must now that it's a safe bet that I will be wearing a t-shirt and layering tank on any given day. My usual tanks are from Shade, Modbe, and Downeast. I love them all, but the length on most of these tanks have gotten shorter in past years (or I've hit some weird 30-year-old growth spurt in my torso). Needless to say I was in the market anyway for a nice long tank that was somewhat fitted so it wasn't bulky under my shirts and sweaters, but that also was a decent price and came in a variety of colors - not just white or black.

I also needed some tees that weren't falling apart, faded, or stained (seriously, I'm a mom of four boys - my clothes have stains people!). I wanted them to be somewhat fitted but forgiving of my tummy (have I mentioned that I had four babies??), and a little longer in length. I think longer, leaner shirts give of a slimming look and who doesn't want that? In the past my tees from Old Navy have gotten mysterious holes in them. It used to be a joke that if it was from Old Navy, it had a hole somewhere. They also pilled easily, the only store I own t-shirts from that pilled! Weird, right?

So I went into Old Navy looking for longer, leaner tees and a longer layering tank.

And Old Navy delivered. Like a million times over.

There are a ton of new tee styles and tanks to choose from. And so many fun colors!

Click here for the link to Old Navy's new line.

I really liked the vintage styles the most. The colors were fun and really vibrant. I tried on the vintage crew neck in a dark purple, and the fit was really cute. It looked really casual, like something I could wear every day, but it also had a sort of sheen to the material that makes it easy to dress up with chunky jewelry and dark denim for a date with Bryan. My only wish was that it was a little longer in length, but luckily you can get this style in "tall" sizes online.

Carissa got the vintage v-neck and I really like this style! It's really flattering on any body type, and it's fun to mix and match tanks to layer underneath for different color combos. She got it in light blue, which is a great color for Spring and Summer.

I also got the jersey knit tank. LOVE IT! It came in several colors in store (I found more colors in store than online) and it is long. Perfect for layering and super comfortable. The material is thin enough to not be bulky yet thick enough that I don't feel it's going to fall apart the minute I wash it.

My store didn't have the fitted scoop neck tees, but they look very very similar to the white layering tees I bought from Modbe last year. And they are a way better price! It's been a week or so since I've been to my Old Navy, and since all their tanks and tees are buy one get one free, I plan on going tomorrow to see if they have more in stock.

Overall I was really impressed with the new tees and tanks. The material is lightweight, which is great for summer, but you can totally layer them for added warmth in the colder months, or layer sweaters or jackets over them. The colors were really fun and mostly pretty flattering (except orange, my pale skin does not love orange!!). They fit me really well, and I love having more t-shirt options than I had before. I hate waking up early and getting out of my warm jammies. For the life of me I can not roll out of bed and get into a stuffy blouse or sweater or anything, even if it is cute. So my go to comfy outfit is jeans and a t-shirt, but now I feel a lot more put together and dare I say cuter (as if I could get any cuter). Haha, just kidding. Sort of.

Below are some pictures of Carissa and I doing our Old Navy Sample & Share!

I love how Carissa chose the dark blue shirt with the lighter blue tank. Cute!

I almost got this outfit. I love the v-neck and the color of the tee (charcoal) with the pop of color from the tank.

Carissa didn't love the vintage crew neck - but I love her color choices (sort of reminds me of the cute picture above this one...)

I love this light blue vintage v-neck. And hey, that other super smoking chick in the mirror is sporting the same look!

In the end this is the outfit Carissa chose. I love how the blue shirt matches her eyes.

This is the vintage crew neck I got with the charcoal jersey tank underneath it. I love it for now, but I'm going to need to go back and get more summer colors!

My Kids Are SOOOO Funny...

My die-hard blog followers will remember Rix-isms. They were the funny things my oldest son Rix would say when he was younger. Unfortunately, Bryce and Cole weren't quite as funny as Rix. But things have changed! My kids are funny again!! At least, I think they are funny, and really that's all that matters. They make me laugh!

*Rix and I were on a late night run to the grocery store the other night, and I was telling him we needed to start planning his baptism date. We got to talking about the day and the food he wanted and stuff, and he mentioned that he didn't want to die before he turned eight because he really wanted to get baptised. Then he changed his mind and said he didn't want die before 12 because there were lots of games he wanted to play too. So I said (and discussing death with my kids is always weird for me) "Why don't you decide you don't want to die until you're really old so you can go on a mission, and go to college, and get married, and have kids and go on vacations and stuff." He paused, and said, "Yeah, and go to meetings!" Bryan and I must make meetings sound fun, because he wants to live long enough to go to one!

* Cole is a product of his environment. I know this because he asked when we were going to rootbeer.com to buy root beer. I don't know if you can buy root beer there, but him thinking of that just goes to show you how many things we really do with computers these days - I swear my 4-year-old can run the computer better than me!

* And Rix is a product of his environment too! For school he had to come up with an invention, and he came up with a Lego robot, and it would clean your room, bring you food, and play sports with you. Oh, and it would always be on sale. Yes, he wrote that on his paper. The robot would always be on sale (because I only buy things if they are on sale).

* Cole is sort of obsessed with New Mexico right now and he thinks we can just up and go to New Mexico whenever we want. He doesn't understand planning and gas money and missing work and school. He just wants to go dang it! Well we were going over our fire safety plan (something we do every year) and we changed the meeting place to Bryan's truck. I was explaining to them that the truck is far enough away from the house and the road and we are all to meet there if we ever have a house fire. Well, Cole took this (somehow, I don't know how) as the beginning of our road trip to New Mexico. Like our house would burn down, we would all meet at dad's truck, and drive to New Mexico right there. He was very concerned that dad would make it out of the fire so he could drive.

* Cole saw a pile of branches that someone had left in their yard after doing some yard work (it wasn't our yard because, uh...we don't do yard work...) but any way he said "Hey mom someone ate all those branches!" Now you have to understand when Cole says things like this I like to ask lots of questions because he has the best answers. So I said "Who ate the branches?" And he says "Nephi...he likes branches." He is interpreting the Book of Mormon in the way only Cole can.

* Rix was trying to convince his brothers that Sonic (as The Hedgehog) is the fastest thing on this earth. And Bryce says in amazement "Faster then a speeding bullet?" And Cole says, in as much amazement as Bryce "Faster than Carissa?" I told Carissa this, and she is sure Cole has never seen her run, but we should set up a date for her to show off her running skills for him. And I'd like to see this.

* I have to be honest, Bryce isn't very funny. And I know he says funny things, but nothing crazy like Rix and Cole. But when he does I'll be sure to post it. It will be a momentous occasion!