Barnyard Tales

Grace's 10th Birthday

2011-05-14T09:10:00.012-06:00

This year for her birthday the only rules Grace had was NO PINK! She has decided that she hates pink. What do we do for a girl on her birthday when she wants nothing do do with the girliest color ever?

RAINBOW!!

A six layer rainbow cake with enough icing to send even Uncle Aaron into sugar shock!

It was a fun cake to make. The boys had a blast watching each layer change color while I was mixing it up.

Holy Cake Batman!

Grace liked it!

Present time, the usual girly stuff, clothes, some webkinz dolls so she can have a virtual pet as well as a real one!

She had a great day and the family had fun eating cake and ice cream!

Happy Birthday Grace.

We Love You!

Liam's 6th Birthday

2011-03-30T10:08:00.007-06:00

Wow! I can't believe that Liam is already 6 years old. It seems like yesterday when I brought him home from the hospital. He was my bald little monster who was always laughing... he still is!

Now the big guy is 6, almost done with kindergarten and heading off to first grade and all day school.

He wanted a monkey cake. Once he saw the monkey pan at the store he would have nothing else.

For his party he had his cousins, Ashley, Austin, Andrew and Abbie. Uncle Aaron and Aunt Amy too. Grandma was there of course and Kim Ure his primary president and his friend. When Kim comes over he is always on her lap.

Happy Birthday Liam.

We Love You!!!

Girl's Night/Day Out

2010-12-14T14:29:00.007-07:00

Friday night Sean took the boys and went down to his parents house for the night. This left Grace and I on our own. Oh my, what are two girls to do without the boys hanging around?
Go out of course!
First stop?

Grace was able to order off the regular menu. She was excited to get a regular sized drink and not have to have a kid's cup.
After dinner we had some errands to run. Dad needs a Christmas present so off to Kohl's we go. Shoe department. Grace was very adamant on the fact that I was choosing old man shoes for Dad. I thought they were trendy. We shall see what Dad thinks when he opens his gift. Treats from Lee's and we were home snugged in Mom and Dad's big bed watching

Ramona and Beezus

It was actually a really good movie. Made me think of when I was a kid and read the books over and over again. I fell asleep before Grace did and I have no idea what she watched after I zonked.
Saturday we woke up at our pleasure and got dressed. The deal was I would wear whatever Grace picked for me and she would wear what I chose for her. I didn't get any pics but we both looked cute.
Today was the day we have been waiting for. We were going to the expensive movie theater and were going to watch,

Tangled.
The new Disney movie.

It was an awesome movie. I highly recommend it to anyone. Boys and girls.
It was a great girl's weekend. Grace and I had fun together and I don't think we missed the boys even once!

Thanks for hanging out with me Grace. I love you!

My Right Foot

2010-10-05T13:58:00.012-06:00

On our wedding anniversary this year, our 16th actually, I decided to finally have the bunion removed from my right foot. It had become painful and I couldn't wear sneakers without a lot of pain.Beautiful ain't it!?!

The time came and Sean and I went to the hospital. I got knocked out and this is what it looked like when I woke up.
All wrapped up in layers of gauze and a big black boot, which we dubbed, das Boot. I left it on for a full week until I had my first doctor's appointment. In the mean time I was learning how to use crutches. I have to say, it isn't easy. When you are playing with crutches you know if you trip you can land on your foot but when you can't use that foot, it is really, really hard.
Here is my foot in all of it's lovelyness at the one week appointment. I know it is gross and you don't want to see it so just scroll down really fast and get past it. It was so swollen that my ankle was gone. Those are the doctor's initials on my ankle. Didn't want to operate on the wrong foot!

The weeks went by and my foot got better and better. Sean had to do all of the chores. I think laundry was his favorite. I couldn't even go into the basement so he was stuck doing all of that. He got the joy of grocery shopping, and dishes too. He got to be the taxi driver too.

Thanks Sean!

Here is my foot now. The scar will fade with time and I am still working on strengthening my ankle. Having that boot on and not walking on the foot for 6 weeks made my calf look like a 12 year old's leg. Very wimpy.
Here is the whopper. The reason for the long scar is that the bones in my foot that are my big toe had swung out so far that they had to break my foot and fuse the bone where it is supposed to be. This way I won't get another bunion in another 10 years. This is why I couldn't walk on it for 6 weeks. They put in some hardware. I wonder if I will beep when going through security! That could be fun.

Now you know the story of The Foot, and Das Boot! Thanks to all who helped us out with driving the kids, and bringing us food.

You all rock!

Conference Doughnuts

2010-10-05T11:21:00.013-06:00

Each Conference weekend we make homemade doughnuts. Well, I should say I make them and they eat them. This year was the best year so far. The doughnuts were perfect, (other than the few that I fried a little too long).

Sean ate at least 10. Patrick just as many.

Patrick helped me with the frying up. We had to be fast cutting them out because the dough liked to double up as it sat in the bowl.

The kids couldn't wait and were going nuts. Simon was taking a bite of each flavor. That is probably why I ate too many. I was just cleaning up after Simon. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

So, we got spiritually fed on all the Conference talks and being able to hear from our church leaders, and we were physically fed on some rather tasty doughtnuts.

Simon's 1st Day of Preschool

2010-09-17T16:00:00.002-06:00

Preschool started last week. Simon finally gets to go to school like the big kids. He is usually the first one up and wakes up the stragglers. He loves snack time and Grandfriends... so far. I am sure there is more but so far that is all he remembers when the 2 hours is done.
I still can't drive because of my foot so his teacher Miss Kristy comes and picks him up every day. He gets to ride in the trailer for her bike which makes it all the more fun!

I am glad he is preschool because he gets to learn and I get 2 hours with NO kids at home. (Moms get their perks where they can!)

Happy Preschool Simon!

Liam's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-08-25T21:48:00.003-06:00

Liam started kindergarten yesterday. I couldn't take him because of my foot (blog later) and I was very sad about that. Kindergarten is a rite of passage... at least for the parents, the kids don't really care, but the mom does. Dad took him. He was fine and walked right in.

Mornings have always been hard for Liam but he is adjusting well and getting up in time to get ready and have some breakfast. We have to force him to comb his hair because he likes to have "crazy hair". He is a handsome devil and we are so proud of him for being such a good kid!

Welcome to big kid school kiddo!

Back to School 2010

2010-08-23T09:19:00.003-06:00

Patrick and Grace started back to school last week. Of course I forced them to let me take pictures. Patrick, who is now in the 8th grade, rolled his eyes, tolerated it and finally smiled.

Grace, 4th grade, hammed it up of course.

Happy first day of school everyone.

Liam and Simon start later so that just means 2 more posts!

Braces!!

2010-07-24T11:13:00.007-06:00

It is time!

Patrick is now 13 and it is time for braces. I don't know a single kid who wants braces...

but to get that beautiful smile on they go. He looks thrilled right?!?

Give us a pre-smile kiddo!

Now you can see the need for the metal mouth. I think he is Dracula!

Off to the Orthodontist we go. Patrick was not thrilled that I took the camera but he should know by now that Mom brings the camera to all life altering events and he has just got to get used to it!

They put this thing in his mouth called a cheek stretcher so that his teeth stay dry while they put on the brackets. It is too funny to see him! He even posed for me.

Everything went smoothly and now he is getting over the pain of having metal in his mouth rubbing on his cheeks he is one handsome dude!

Lincoln Memorial

2010-07-06T13:25:00.004-06:00

At the other end of the reflecting pool (which by the way isn't very reflective, and full of moss and slime) is the Lincoln Memorial. Like most of these memorials you have to climb stairs... lots of stairs.

There was shade up there, blessed shade so up we went.
It was very quiet and reverent inside. Everyone showed their respect by their reverence for good ole' Abe. It was great.
Abraham Lincoln did many great things for our country and deserved our reverence.

The Washington Monument

2010-07-06T12:43:00.003-06:00

We visited the Washington Monument on our first full day here in D.C. The days are going to start blending together but I am going to try to keep them straight as much as possible.
Anyhoo, after braving the Metro for the first time,

we trudged through the heat and found ourselves at the tallest building in all of D.C..

Thanks to Patrick we know it is 555 feet high and the tip is made of aluminum. No other building (or maybe structure) Washington D.C. is allowed to be taller. Pretty cool!
By the time we got there the tickets to go inside were all sold out so we just looked at it from the outside. The kids wanted to touch it.

Apparently that is as good as going inside. Everywhere you go you can see it, and it helped me keep my bearings in a city with no mountains to help you know north from south!

Day 1 part 2: Great Falls

2010-06-28T19:55:00.004-06:00

Once we got settled at Sean's parents house we went to Great Falls on the Potomac River. Humidity felt high that evening or maybe it was just that we are used to dry Utah summers, but it was HOT!

The water was going over the rocks and we were hoping to see some kayaking but the current was too strong.

We hiked to the overlooks, and Patrick did his usual great picture taking. It was fun and again I say HOT!

Day 1: The Airport

2010-06-28T19:34:00.007-06:00

I don't know about you but I find just being in the airport exhausting. The kids get restless, Mom gets ornery, Dad gets grouchy. That is pretty much what SLC international was like for us.

Finally the kiddos realized there were airplanes out those big windows! They watched them come and go.

Needless to say we got on the plane, made it to Virginia and were ready for some fun.

Before we even left Utah

2010-06-24T19:42:00.009-06:00

So... vacation day finally is here. Woo Hoo! We decided to go down to Salt Lake City a day early and just have some fun. We stopped at Boondocks, the new fun park near Kaysville. It was fun to watch Liam and Simon try to hit the ball with their club.

Sean and I played after all the kids had gone, we weren't keeping score, well at least I wasn't. I think Sean was because after every hole he would say, "Now, I am 5 under" he was SO keeping score. Fine, he won While the younger kids played on the soft play land Patrick and I rode the go-carts. Sean was watching kids so pictures were not an option. When we got to the hotel we went swimming and crashed. Big airplane flight the next day!

I really am going to try to blog

2010-06-24T19:42:00.001-06:00

The internet here seems to be really slow. My pictures won't load and blogger is slower than molasses in January so I am going to save it all up for after I get home and blog then.
If things change, I will start it up

Sorry guys... I shall try again later.

Simon's 4th Birthday Party

2010-06-21T15:55:00.016-06:00

Since we are going to be on vacation when Simon's birthday rolls around we celebrated early. Aaron and Amy came with their kids and G-ma came too. We grilled, got wet, and had cake and ice cream.Simon wanted a robot cake. After much deliberation about color and candy decorations this is what we came up with.The A's came over and we just hung out. Uncle Aaron performed CPR on Abbie's balloon girl Barbara when she got a hole.

The kids threw water balloons, and played in the sprinklers. I think they had a good time between the crying cause the balloons hurt sometimes.

Presents are the most important part for a 4 year old.

Cars, bubble gun, sidewalk chalk, and water balloons from Mom and Dad.

Coloring books, crayons and candy from Aaron, Amy and kids!

Helicopter, and fire truck from Grandma!

He had a great day and told me the next morning Simon told me his party was awesome.

Happy Birthday Simon. We love you!!

Liam's Preschool Graduation

2010-06-02T09:22:00.007-06:00

This past week Liam graduated from preschool.

He went to Learning Train Preschool with

Ms. Lynn
and

Ms. Kristy
(he kinda sorta had a crush on Ms. Kristy but shhhh don't tell!)

He loves both of his teachers and had fun with all the kids. He tells me his favorite part of school every day was doing his work. Let's hope that carries into regular school. They made weekly visits to the local assisted living facility to visit their "grandfriends" he couldn't decide if he like that or not. Storytime was his very favorite. It was at the end of the day and he always asked me to be late picking him up so he could listen to the stories. He learned a lot and had a great year.

Thanks teachers!

Singing "Slippery Fish" his favorite song.

Congratulations Liam and welcome to Kindergarten!!

Patrick's 13th Birthday

2010-05-29T11:21:00.005-06:00

We celebrated Patrick's 13th birthday last week.All he wanted was a new skateboard. His old one broke in half... literally.

The family came over to have cake and ice cream. I was expecting him to pick this elaborate cake that would take days to decorate. No, he picked pineapple upside down cake. The easiest cake in the world! Thank you Patrick.
As it got darker and the kids were hyped up on Popsicles and cake we decided to start a fire in the fire pit. S mores were in order. The girls ran to the market for chocolate and marshmallows, and the graham crackers were dug out of the back of the pantry.
Once the fire was blazing and the smores were gone Patrick's uncle Aaron started popping popcorn in the fire. His foil pouch wasn't working so the old family popcorn pan was brought out.

It popped pretty well. Overall it was a great party and now we have an official teenager in the house!

Happy Birthday Patrick.
We love you!!!

Planting a Garden!

2010-05-21T09:13:00.018-06:00

Monday was garden planting day. Sean stayed home from work and we got busy.

Sean had to till first. We borrowed a tiller from the neighbor. It was a very old tiller and it was fun to watch Sean wrestle with it.

Liam and Simon were excited to be able to help Dad plant the garden. They went with us to the seed store and got to help pick out what we were going to plant. Corn seemed very important, and so were pumpkins. Since tomatoes came as plants already and not seeds they both picked one and planted it. It was perfect weather and they had tons of fun. Simon would decide to pout right when it was picture time. I promise he had fun. He got very good at putting the dirt on top of the plants.

It was a warm, spring day and everyone worked hard.

Liam taking a break in the shade.

Simon came inside and laid on the floor and announced, "Mom, I worked so hard, I am tired."

I have always wanted to have strawberries and raspberries in our yard. This year I finally got my wish. I made a strawberry hill surrounded by stones that came from the fireplace I tore out a year ago. (Who said it was a waste of good rock ;))And 2 raspberry bushes. I hope the deer don't eat all of them. I am going to have to put up a fence once they start blooming. I know, they look like 2 stubby bushes but one day there will be so many berries I will have to give them away. At least that is my hope.

I will keep you posted on the growth of the Heiner Garden!
Happy Planting!

Grace's New HairDo

2010-05-10T12:36:00.008-06:00

Grace decided she wanted short hair. I figured if she is brave enough at 9 to do it then... you go girl!

Front view

Side view

and, my favorite, and her's the spiky back view.

Grace looks very, very cute and I love that she now wants me to do her hair (she never did before).
Grace, you are one stylin' chick!

Little Boys Sliding

2010-05-10T12:09:00.004-06:00

Where boys get their ideas I have no clue.

Liam and Simon decided it would be fun to slide down the slide on their jungle gym inside the indoor sleeping bags. Maybe they went faster due to the slick material or it was just warmer that way.

It has been cold lately and it was finally warm enough to play outside.

You boys crack all of us up!

Grace's 9th Birthday

2010-04-16T10:11:00.011-06:00

Yesterday was our Gracie's 9th birthday. Very big day.

For her cake she chose a Groovy cake.

Besides the cake gifts are the most important part of a birthday. She informed me she got lots of cool stuff and it was the most awesome birthday ever!

We are so glad you had such a great day. We love you munchkin!!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-06T20:14:00.012-06:00

Happy Easter my friends! This weekend was Easter and also General Conference. We just had a down weekend.

Who can say no to giant bouncy balls? We can't. They played with them so hard that all 3 popped on the first day. It was a great day though! I think Liam and Simon will always remember the year the Easter Bunny brought them bouncy balls.

The night before Liam and Simon were playing with their baskets.

They had great fun.

This weekend was also General Conference. It was nice to sit on the couch and be able to see and hear our leaders. We love them and love to hear their voices as well as their words.On Monday for family night we decided to keep the Easter theme going and talk about how Easter is more than just the Easter Bunny and candy. Jesus, our older brother, died for us and we need to remember that. I hope the kids understood the reason for the season. Happy Easter everyone.

Things Kids Say

2010-03-12T13:17:00.002-07:00

Every time the kids say something funny I always think that I should write it down. Of course I get to doing other things and I don't. So... I am now going to have blog spurts of the funny things my kids say.

Me: "Dang it, I broke it!"

Simon: "Let me see."

Me: "Look."

Simon: "Aww, snap!"

Wonder where he learned that one?

Liam's 5th Birthday

2010-02-24T22:22:00.008-07:00

Today is Liam's birthday. When asked what cake he wanted all he would say was a porcupine. I had to invent this cake. This is what I came up with...

Front view

Side view

Back view

Cake, frosting, and chocolate Twizzlers. Liam thinks it is perfect and since it was his cake that worked for me. He has been excited and giggly all day, and acting like a goof.
Present time! Motorcycles and Scooby Do were the main gifts. Grandma got him a coloring book and a preschool book. Uncle Aaron and Aunt Amy got him some cool motorcycles. Mom and Dad got him Scooby Doo cars, a Scooby Doo movie, and a motorcycle track. He and Simon have been going to town on the tile floor.

Today was a great day.
Happy Birthday Liam. We love you!!

Family Home Evening

2010-02-22T21:14:00.003-07:00

At our house Monday night is Family Home Evening. We sit together, read our scriptures, and have a lesson. Most of the time Liam and Simon lose interest after scripture reading. (While we read they color their blue Book of Mormons)
To keep them quiet tonight I sent them for paper and crayons while Sean talked about being a missionary. I looked down on the floor and there was Liam... with crayons between his toes. The look on his face was priceless. He was concentrating soooo hard.

Simon copies everything that Liam does, therefore in went the crayons. I forced them to keep them stuck there while I ran and got the camera.

Tonight we were enriched in more ways than one. We got to eat pizza for dinner, read our scriptures, learn a great lesson on being good missionaries, and got entertained by the boys and their crayon toes.

Thanks kids, you make it all worth it!

A Little Spot of Cuteness

2010-01-23T01:18:00.003-07:00

I have to share this cuteness with you.

Yesterday at Activity Days Grace and her friends made flower hair clips. If you know Grace you know she is down to earth and not really frilly. I didn't think she would ever wear them. She did a great job and her flowers were really cute.

Well, imagine my surprise this morning when she came out of her room looking like this:

She did it all on her own. She chose her outfit. I about burst into tears I thought she looked so sweet and cute. She is growing up so fast and surprises us every day with her talents.

We love you Grace. You are beautiful and we love you tons!

My Playlist

2010-01-04T20:45:00.003-07:00

I broke down and added a play list. I made it so you have to start it yourself. I hate it when I go to a blog and get the crap scared out of my when a song comes blasting out of my speakers.
These are my current favorites, and a few keepers. Hope you enjoy.

ROCK ON MY FRIENDS!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2009-12-23T16:56:00.006-07:00

This year we got a real tree. I say this because we have had the same fake tree for the last 10 years.

Pitiful ain't it!?!

Well, this year we got to get a real one. I was so excited! Giddy even. Of course I didn't get a picture of just the new tree but here are some of the kids trimming it!!

It was great fun, and I love the smell that is now through the whole house.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!!

Sean's Birthday Cake Adventure!!

2009-12-23T16:18:00.011-07:00

As you all know at our house you get to pick your own birthday cake. If the birthday person wants one shaped like a car I do the best I can to accommodate them.

December 24th is Sean's birthday. After Thanksgiving he gets down my cake books and slowly flips through them deciding on what kind of cake he wants. So far he has chosen malted milk chocolate, last year was burnt sugar cake. Both worked out great, and thank goodness were just regular round cakes. (I am dreading the year he wants a crazy shaped one.)

This is the book he has picked out all his cakes from.

This year the fates were against me. This year his cake decided to not cooperate with me. The edges were full and tall but the centers fell. They were like brownies... only not.

The centers were literally goop. I cooked them the correct time, I tested them with a knife and it came out clean. I say this as a disclaimer to my abilities as a baker. I FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS!! Maybe it was the high altitude. Yeah, that's the ticket. It was the high altitude. (wink wink)

After dumping that cake I turned to my shelf of trusty cookbooks. Ah ha, Pillsbury will save me!! Chocolate Sour Cream Cake. Worked like a dream.

So, now we have Sean's Chocolate Peppermint Layer Cake. Hope it tastes good or I will just sit down and cry.

Happy Birthday Sean-Dad! We love you!!

Vacuuming is fun!

2009-12-09T11:32:00.004-07:00

Liam and Simon love to vacuum. Me, being the sly mom I am, decided to use this to my advantage. The boys room was a mess yesterday and I am sick of being the one to clean it all the time. So... why not get the boys to do it.

Our vacuum cleaner has a handle that can raise and lower. When it is in it's lower position it is the perfect size for my little boys.

Once I got them to pick up all their stuff. After a lot of complaining that it wasn't their mess (yeah right!) The fun began.

They took turns and I think that carpet got vacuumed about 3 time by each of them. Oh, well they had fun and their room is FINALLY clean. Now maybe it will stay that way since they were the ones to do the work!

Cleaning is great!!!

The Living Room Part ???

2009-12-08T10:42:00.004-07:00

I keep talking about our house to anyone who will listen and they keep saying I need to post pics. So here you go. Sorry I don't have before pictures of the dining room. We weren't sure if we were going to have enough tiles but were pleasantly surprised that we did!

In the hallway we took out a big cabinet. All of you are invited to come and see it. I am conducting tours!! When we get carpet it will be even better! I will try to be better and post our progress!

Halloween Costumes

2009-11-06T13:31:00.007-07:00

Here are our costumes this year!

Grace was a evil fairy

Liam was a ghost,

So was Simon.

Patrick was a baby Elvis!

Sean wore a Halloween T-Shirt and got a mustache painted on at the Halloween party.

When people asked what I was I said, "comfortable"!

Hope you all had a great Halloween and are now sick from all the candy!

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-27T10:14:00.007-06:00

Last night for family night we decided to go to the Pumpkin Walk. We got there and there was a line through the walk, out the door, down the sidewalk, and to the street. We decided to pick up pumpkins, hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls instead.

Simon fell asleep on the way home so he missed out on the party last night so he missed out on the fun.

Liam thought it was the most disgusting thing to reach into a pumpkin and pull out the "guts".

Grace did a lot of planning for her pumpkin. She was quiet most of the time looking at the side of the pumpkin wondering what to choose and waiting her turn with Dad and the knife. That of course didn't stop her from posing for a picture...guts and all!

Patrick did his own thing. He is old enough to wield a knife. He did manage to poke himself in the thigh but it was just a prick and blood and Halloween go together so no real harm done! (He is OK, it was just a little poke)

This morning after we took Liam to school it was Simon's turn to carve. I don't have any pictures of the process since I was the master carver but we lined them all up on the porch. He looks so proud of himself!!

From left to right the pumpkins go, Liam's, Grace's, Patrick's, Simon's and the man himself!!

It was a fun family night and everyone is now ready to light the way into Halloween!

A Halloween Party

2009-10-26T14:43:00.008-06:00

I know, I know, there are no costumes in this post. There will be in the next one I promise!!

On Friday night we had a Halloween party over at my brother Aaron's house. I think it has become party central!! We had dinner, dessert and snacks.

The reason Liam and Simon have white eyes is because they had on their costumes but a ghost costume got in the way of making goodies.

We just hung out and had fun. Amy and I were on camera duty. We just kind of followed each other with out cameras taking the same pictures. That seems to be the way it is at all the family parties.

Grandma has tons of fun helping the kids have fun!

Aaron was his usual crazy self. I wore my pajamas and bathrobe as a costume. Aaron got a hold of the bathrobe and had a little modeling session.

All in all it was a great party. We all had fun, the kids got hopped up on sugar, and Amy and I got to try out some new creative recipes.

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

A Lumpia Party

2009-10-06T22:59:00.018-06:00

Saturday night we headed over to my brother's house for a party. A lumpia party. We have eaten lumpia since we were kids. For those of you who don't know what lumpia is, it is kind of like a mini wonton roll. Veggies, meat the usual. Anyway we headed over to Aaron and Amy's with all of the kids to make a batch and pig out.

Grandma was the meat distributor so that the kids didn't over stuff the wrapper. Even little Abbie got in on the action! It was so fun watching the kids work on folding them just right. Liam was the perfectionist, Simon worked solo, Grace and Patrick worked with Austin and Andrew.

Simon and Sean had their own little factory going at the end of the table. He was so proud of himself for folding them on his own.

Ashley thought the raw meat was "disgusting" so she worked at the fry cook.

Of course Aaron had to pick on Patrick a little bit.

Over all it was a great party. The kids had fun wrapping the lumpia and the adults had fun eating most of it! I am thinking this should become a tradition.

First Day of Preschool

2009-09-11T08:16:00.003-06:00

Liam started preschool on Tuesday. He was ready!!! Backpack in hand, he was outta here. He has been excited for weeks.

He is going to a school that is run out of a home. A friend in our ward, Kristy, runs a preschool with her sister out of her sister's house. Some other friends have sent their children there and said it was great so we thought we would give it a try. After a week I have to say they were right. I think Ms. Lynn and Ms. Kristy will get Liam ready for kindergarten!! They have been great in getting him excited about school. During the summer they had a water party and invited Liam and for the 24th of July parade Liam was able to join them on their float. He had a great time and when it came time for school to start we just walked in and waved bye to me and was off. GO LIAM!!!

Simon on the other hand was a little mad. He wanted to go to school too. Thank goodness for the public library. Programs at the library are great. Support your local library, they are a great resource and have wonderful programs for kids and adults alike. OK, I am done with my spiel but if it wasn't for our library poor Simon would have been totally left out this year.

Story time has saved us. Once a week Simon gets to go to school. We call it his school at the library. He has his backpack just like the big kids, and he gets to get a name tag just like Liam did last year, and he gets to tell mom bye for a whole half an hour while he listens to the teacher.

I am really surprised he went in. He still won't go to nursery alone, well without a big production about Mom and Dad leaving him. (We also started potty training this week. Think that deserves it's own totally embarrassing post later.)

These two boys really love each other and are having a bit of a hard time being separated but they are doing great and are so happy to see one another after their 2 hour separation. I am glad they can find a best friend in their brother.

We love you little dudes!!

Back to School Time

2009-09-02T13:38:00.003-06:00

I am late with this I know. I was going to wait until Liam started pre-school after Labor Day to do this post but changed my mind. I figure leaving home for the first time garners it's own blog entry.

Patrick started the 7th grade. This is his second year at Mount Logan Middle School. Can't you just see how thrilled he is to be going!!

I think it might just be that he is sick of having the camera in his face at 7:30 in the morning.

Grace is now in the 3rd grade at Wilson Elementary. She has Mrs. Stauffer (who was Patrick's 5th grade teacher) and so far is loving it! She is really excited because Mom lets her ride her bike to and from school (a whole 3 blocks) by herself. Unlike Patrick, Grace is thrilled to be returning to school. Can't you tell?!?

Maybe she was making this face for the same reason Patrick was making his. Hmmmm going to have to get the camera out more ;)

Well, a week in and everyone is still happy. Keep your fingers crossed. I will have more back to school happiness after the holiday! Talk to you then.

Sunday Clothes

2009-08-20T00:23:00.006-06:00

I just had to share this. Look at these boys. Are they not the cutest kids you have ever seen? (Besides your own of course!) Liam and Simon have always just worn whatever to church on Sunday. A few weeks ago they looked awful, truly awful! I decided it was time for some Sunday clothes.They were so excited to wear ties. They were the ones who said they had to have a tie cause it was church. People commented on how snazzy they looked and they blushed and ate it up.

Liam and Simon you are two good lookin' guys!!!

Our 15th Anniversary

2009-08-19T15:03:00.006-06:00

15 years ago today Sean and I were married. It was August 20, 1994. The day after I turned 20. Sean claims he didn't marry a teenager. Here we are the summer we got married we went to the local K-Mart and they had a photo booth, they still do actually, but when I tried to get Sean to get in he refused. I guess since he isn't trying to impress me anymore he can tell me no! Look at how skinny I am and how much hair Sean has. Ahhhh, to be young.

Let us jump to the present shall we? This past weekend Sean and I took a trip to Salt Lake City. No kids, just us. Thank you Mom/Grandma for babysitting, we love you. We rode the FrontRunner train, hung out at the Gateway shopping center, watched Harry Potter #6, walked to the state capitol and checked that out. Heck we went to another movie and saw G.I. Joe just cause we could. It was great. Since we have passes to Lagoon we decided to go and ride all the rides together that we never get to ride when the kids are there. It was really fun. We went to Pioneer Village and had our old time picture taken. The shocker... it was Sean's idea. I know I was shocked too! Anyway, here we are 15 years later. More filled out, balder (even though you can't see cause of the hat), Sean can actually grow facial hair now, it has taken years but he can! It was a great trip and we had tons of fun.Here is to the last 15 years and to 50+ more.

I love you Sean Heiner. Now and Forever.

The Cache County Fair

2009-08-13T16:39:00.004-06:00

Last weekend was the Cache County Fair. For years my friends have been telling me to enter some of my canning. Come on we have tons, and it is beautiful even before I put it in a jar. The only problem has been I never remember until it is too late to enter it in.
This year I made it. I ran to the library that morning and ran into two friend who asked me if I had entered. I said no and was told I had until eleven o'clock to enter something. "Why the heck not?" I thought to myself. I had about 15 minutes to spare, I could do it. I ran home and got a jar of cherries, apricots and cherry jam. I took it over there and realized I needed 2 jars of each. I ran home and got another jar of each and made it with seconds to spare. It was fun and the kids were laughing at me cause I was like a chicken with it's head chopped off trying to get into the fairgrounds.
Fair time came and here are the results:

I won 2nd for my cherries and apricots, and 3rd for my cherry jam. Granted everyone got a ribbon and most of them were red but I don't care. I got a ribbon. I got a ribbon!! It was fun to take the kids to the home and craft building and let them find mom's stuff. I learned a lot. I learned what I need to do next year to do even better. So watch out blue ribbon, here I come!!

We love the fair!!!

The Trusty Black Tracer

2009-07-29T10:39:00.009-06:00

The year after Patrick was born we decided we needed a second car. After Sean researching, and researching, and researching. (I am not kidding! The man does his homework before all major purchases!) We found our black Ford Tracer. It was used, had very few miles on it, and was in our price range. Look at how little Patrick is! I can still remember the date we bought it. It was one month to the day before Patrick's first birthday. April 21, 1998.

We never named the black car. We just always called it the black car or the Tracer. The Tracer got us through moving to Phoenix, Arizona. Grace came along while we were there and it was our main car. 3 years later we moved back to Logan and decided we needed another car. The Tracer became Sean's main source of transportation. The kids always thought it was cool to get to go in "Dad's car".
About 6 months ago Sean's parents gave us their old car. It is much newer and bigger than the black car so Sean decided to sell. I felt no emotion at all when he said this. He posted it online and in the Herald Journal, the local newspaper. Well, he sold it this week. I didn't see any of the transaction. Suddenly I didn't want to part with the car. The night after it was gone I woke up in the middle of the night with the thought, "I hope the car is ok." I realized I was attached. I really hope I don't see it driving around town!!

The poor thing is much more beat up than the first pictures. I scraped the drivers door with the van pulling out of the garage, one of us hit the side of the garage door opening pulling out of the garage once, but this black car, The Tracer has seen us through fun and hard times. I know it is just a car but I will miss it.

We love you, and will miss you black Tracer!!

Hi-Ho Cherry-O

2009-07-13T22:30:00.017-06:00

We have two cherry trees in our backyard. These trees are very tall and very... branchy. Needless to say we got an abundance of cherries off of them this year. The last couple of years have been wormy and sparse.

Tree number one is ready about a week before
tree number two.

You can see how tall and big they are. Compare them to the jungle gym. Yeah imagine all the cherries in those trees.

Patrick play the role of monkey and climbed into the tree. He picked until his grocery bag was full and then handed it down to me on the ground.

I did brave the fence. It had a nice ledge, and I managed to get all the cherries that were hanging over the fence.

Just to give you an idea how many there were in the tree take a peek at...

They were hanging by great bunches. There were branches just loaded with bunches of cherries. It was actually very fun picking them. Look at how many we got! We filled this bin about 3/4 of the way full twice.

What do you do with all these cherries?
Can them of course!

Cherries in light syrup for pie, ice cream or just to eat out of the jar.

Cherry jam. I have never made it before but according to my brother, Aaron, it is delicious!

So, we have had a bumper crop this year. I still have a bin full to wash, pit, can and chop for jam. Sean is going to climb the tree tomorrow and get the rest. I look forward the the jobs, and love to see the jars lined up on my shelves down in the basement.

Cherries, cherries everywhere!!!

Simon's 3rd Birthday

2009-06-30T14:25:00.017-06:00

I realized that I haven't blogged Simon's 3rd birthday. Poor neglected kid!

Every time I asked him what kind of cake he wanted he would say an airplane cake. It didn't matter what it looked like, just an airplane cake. He loved it!

Present time!

Big boy underwear. Time to learn how to use the "potty"!!!

Magnet quiet games for church time!

Airplanes of course!

It was a great day and Simon had fun with his new toys and his all of his cousins.

Happy Birthday Simon!!!

Father's Day

2009-06-24T10:47:00.021-06:00

So Father's Day has come and gone and I haven't blogged in forever so I thought I better get my but in gear!!

We went to church of course and Sean actually got to join us. His calling requires him to visit different wards and some Sundays he is gone to visit. This Sunday he was there, sitting in our pew, doling out bubble gum, making sure Simon didn't throw anything outside our row. (It has happened!!) Church is always great when he is there and on Father's Day he got to be there.

When we got home it was PRESENT TIME! The best part of any holiday. The kids couldn't handle it anymore. He was bombarded with kids the second he walked in the door. They didn't even want to let him get out of his dress clothes. He got a weed wacker. He knew this already because we have had the big box wrapped and sitting in the living room half of the week. When he came home for lunch the day it appeared he asked Liam if it was to play with or work with. Liam promptly answered, "It's a weed wacker, Dad!!" Sean thought that was funny and told me now he knows how to find out lots of stuff. Liam's new mafia name is now Liam The Mouth Heiner. Of course I had forgotten to take a picture of Sean with his new toy but hey, I have an idea for a blog entry all it's own!

Once present time was done we decide to walk to the park. We loaded up the wagon with blankets, drinks, books, the camera, and Simon. Patrick had his skateboard and Grace and Liam had their bikes. To Ryan's Place Park we went.

Grace got banged up on the way. She crashed on her bike just as we got to the park. Her knee was scraped but being the trooper she is she got right back up and went to play. I love this picture of her flying on the monkey bars.

Simon and Liam soon figured out the misting stations. They decided to go and get wet. You wouldn't think a misting would get you so wet but they proved that you can do it.

Sean and I did get to just sit on a bench and watch the kids. I was nice to sit and chat, we don't get to do that very often these days. Everyone is busy running around.

Patrick even got some skateboarding done. The stunt stuff not the going from point A to point B stuff.

After a while the kids were ready to go and play. What would they like to play? Well, soccer of course. They went over in the field and kicked around the ball.

Father's Day was great. We got to go to church and be spiritually uplifted, and we got to spend time together as a family. Everyone went home happy.

Hope you had a great day Sean, aka, Dad. We lurve you!!

Patrick's 12th Birthday

2009-05-26T08:48:00.009-06:00

Holy Crap we have a teenager in the house!

Patrick turned 12 on the 21st of May and is now officially a teenager. Since he is such a drummer I made him a drum cake. I think he liked it. I didn't get any complaints and it was a spice cake which is his favorite. There wasn't any left!

SONG TIME!!

We had a party with some family and friends. We cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, hung out, played football, and generally just enjoyed one another company.

What would a party be without presents? Patrick made out pretty well.

He got an iPod shuffle.

Some shell and pooka shell necklaces from Grandma.

His best friend John gave him a iTunes gift card.

Patrick is a big skateboarder. He likes to go to the skate park. We gave him some wrist, knee and elbow pads so that hopefully he makes it to 13 without breaking a bone!

Patrick has spent time watching YouTube videos learning how to solve a Rubik's cube. Now he has one that he can play with. He has the thing all the time and is really driving me crazy with all his clicking. :)

It was a great party and Patrick had a good day. He is happy to be able to go to Young Mens on Tuesday night. I think he is most happy about the fact that he no longer has to go to sharing time in Primary.

Happy Birthday Patrick!!!

Trees

2009-05-15T09:09:00.017-06:00

There are, or were, 2 very tall poplar trees in our backyard. I mean very, very tall! I don't know much about trees but I have been told that poplars should never get as tall as ours are. There is the risk of a good wind knocking them down or, as it is with our trees, they start to die.

Sean decided this year was the year for tree removal. The guys from Total Tree Care came bright and early Tuesday morning. I am sure the neighbors wern't happy with us. Who wants to hear a wood chipper in the A.M.?

The boys and I went out front to watch since the backyard was off limits. Liam couldn't believe how those guys could swing through the trees on the crane. We sat outside and listened to the wood chipper work. Liam and Simon were surprised at the sound. I was cracking up and they were looking at me like I was a crazy woman.

Needless to say it was an exciting day. Patrick and Grace missed it and were very mad that they did but Sean was home and he and the little kids had fun watching out the back door.

Once the workers were gone, the trees were hauled away and the kids were allowed out again the stumps were entertainment too. What can you do on a tree stump? Boogie of course!

Grace's Baptism

2009-05-03T21:45:00.013-06:00

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, when a person turns eight years old they get the choice of being baptized into the church. On Saturday Grace was baptized. She was able to share the day with her cousin Austin.

The dress she is wearing is the same dress I wore when I was baptized at 8 years old. My mother made it for my sister and I. I am really glad she got to wear it too. Hopefully one day she will have a little girl who gets to wear it too!
Uncle Jim with Austin, Sean and Grace.
She was baptized by her dad, Sean.

Her Grandma Heiner and our neighbor Shelia gave her gifts so she took some time to look at her cards.
It was a great day. Unfortunately Grace had a fever most of the day. We dosed up on Tylenol before we went to church to keep it down but afterwards she kind of faded.
We are very proud of Grace for making the choice to be baptized. We love her very much and are glad she is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

Rites of Passage

2009-04-20T10:27:00.017-06:00

At our house a lot happens when you turn 8. For girls there are 3.

Number 1:

You get to get your ears pierced.

Number 2:

In the state of Utah your children have to be in a carseat or booster until they are eight years old. Well, turning 8 means you get to get rid of the evil booster chair and sit on the regular seat like the big kids. Grace got to throw away her booster seat. It was an event.

Number3:

You get to get baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Grace is getting baptized on May 2nd. She get to share the day with her cousin Austin. It is going to be a great day and I will have tons of pictures and stories to share. A blog unto itself!

Grace's 8th Birthday

2009-04-15T14:30:00.007-06:00

Today, the 15th, is Grace's birthday. We had her parties early due to soccer games. I don't think she particularly cares because, really who get upset when they get to celebrate EARLY?
On Saturday we got together with Sean's family and celebrated Easter and Grace's birthday. I attempted to make this cake,
Well, that fell flat. My yellow version kind of fell in on itself. We got this:

it fell over, the flowers fell off and the bottom buckled. I totally admit I am an amateur cake decorator. I didn't want Grace to do without so I made her a batch of cupcakes.

Last night my brother and his family came over for cake and ice cream. Our kids got to run around with their cousins, teased by their Uncle Aaron, and kissed by their Aunt Amy.

At our house big birthday parties, with school friends only happen on significant birthdays, 5th, 8th, 12th. With 4 kids it is impossible to pay for big parties every year. This year Grace got a big party. She chose to have it at the Cache Valley Fun Park. There was pizza, cake, rollerskating and soft play. She and all her friends from school had a blast.

She got a bike from us since her last one kind of died a slow death. Due to the weather she didn't get to ride it for a few days but finally she got to get on and go. After her party on Saturday she got a fever and had it all evening Saturday and most of Sunday. She is feeling better and hopefully we can slow down a little and just chill!!

Happy 8th Birthday Grace!

Easter

2009-04-15T13:54:00.004-06:00

Easter Sunday at our house is always chaos. We have 9 o'clock church and Sean always has meetings so even the thought of getting pictures was not there. I don't ever dress up the boys in new clothes but Grace looked really cute in her new pink polka dotted dress.
The day before was Heiner Family Dinner. Sean's sister Emily provided the house, and his sister Mandy provided the eggs and candy. We let the kids out with their bags and let them have at it.

Everyone got the proper massive amount of chocolate and by Sunday afternoon were sufficiently in a coma.

Easter Sunday was great, we had a fulfilling church service, chocolate, roast for dinner.

It was a great day!

Spring Break

2009-04-13T16:12:00.016-06:00

This year we just stayed home. Sean had to work and really who want to go away on a trip without Dad? Not Mom!!

Of course that didn't stop us from having adventures.

Patrick, being the almost teen that he is hung out with his friends. The only thing he stayed home for was to practice his drums. He even brought in a friend with an electric guitar. I am now thinking when we finish the basement we should soundproof it too.

Grace went to her friend Hallie's birthday party. It was a nerd party. Imagine a bunch of 8 year old girls trying to dress like nerds. It was very funny. I thought she was cute but she assures me that she was very nerdy!

Liam and Simon were very quite one afternoon. That is never a good sign. I walked into the kitchen to find this... They had taken the labels off of the water bottles and with the sticky ends entertained themselves.
They were also rolling them to one another. Those two are like a whirlwind. They can cause havoc when you turn your back! Gotta love em'.

On Thursday we had a lunch with some old friends celebrating a birthday. I really wanted to try out making cake pops. They are harder than the blogger where I got the recipe made them sound. Trial and error I suppose. They will be easier next time.
I made Easter chicks. I attempted to make sheep. You can't tell they are sheep but hey, I tried.

Patrick had fun decorating the chicks with the edible markers.

My attempt at sheep. I have to admit the chicks were cute.

We topped off our week by getting our new wagon. Every year Sean's parents give us Lagoon season passes. We have been using our red double stroller but the wheels have been warn down to the spokes so we decided rather than pay 14 dollars every time we visit Lagoon this year we would invest in a fun wagon. They call this a KUV. Kids Utility Vehicle! It is great.

So, we didn't venture to far off lands, or even out of the valley but we still had fun and everyone is happy.

HAPPY SPRING!!

Patrick's Band Spring Concert

2009-03-27T10:23:00.012-06:00

Last night was Patrick's spring concert. They had the 6th through 8th grade bands play. Patrick, as you all know is in the percussion section. During his last concert he was hidden the whole time and I couldn't get a good picture. That didn' t stop me from blogging it of course but this time we had a prime spot and I have a better camera.

We had to get there a half an hour early so that he could warm up and so we could get a decent seat. We all just hung out and Patrick got to come up to us for a visit and I think a little nerve calming chat with his dad.

He was on the timpani drums for most of the time so he wasn't hidden. The percussion section did a solo and thank goodness the band teacher got out of the way or we wouldn't have been able to see him again.

It was a great night and everyone enjoyed the music. And just for ole time sake here is one of the top of Patrick's head!

Go Mount Logan Middle School 6th Grade Band!!!

My Drummer Boys

2009-03-12T11:35:00.009-06:00

Tuesday night our ward held their annual talent show and pie auction. The youth put it on in order to earn money for the various camps that they go to over the summer. This year Patrick is turning 12 so he got to participate. He and Sean played a drum duet. Sean wrote it and they practiced for a few months.

They auctioned off the pies and the young men and women auctioned off service. Patrick auctioned 2 lawn mowings. I bought them. It was rather funny. Now he has to mow the one lawn that he really didn't want to mow.

It was a great night and the kids made some good money. I am proud of Patrick for getting up in front of people and performing.

The Living Room Part 1

2009-03-04T12:30:00.016-07:00

Since we moved into our house 5 years ago I have wanted to tear out the fireplace. Both Grace and Simon have hit their head on the mantle and had to go to the emergency room. Last week one of the boys bumped into it again. They didn't hurt themselves (we padded the edge with a soft edge) and they kept bringing me loose stones saying, "Mom, this fell off." Finally it was enough to put my butt into gear so I took out the whole wall.
I didn't remember to get the camera out until I had already gone TWANDA! on the thing but I did manage to find a really old Christmas picture that has it in it.

It was very self-satisfying to say the least. I enjoyed taking the sledgehammer, hitting the stone and watching the stone and mortar just fall off.

There was a bench on the side that had newspapers in it and various things that the kids liked to hide. That was the first to go. Once I got to the bottom of the newspapers there were some interesting things. A funny page from 1958, a 38 cent package for eyeliner. I want to pay 38 cents for eyeliner! Oh, yeah there was stinky mold too. Joy of joys.

When Patrick got home he got in the spirit and he and his friend
John tore down the paneling and drywall underneath. They willingly tore it down but when I said that clean up was part of the job you would have thought I was speaking Chinese. Yeah, I did the clean up. Patrick did help with the stone!!

When Sean got home he didn't say a word. I didn't really know if he was so angry he couldn't speak or if he just had nothing to say. By the next morning he got in on the action. He decided to put more plugs in and update the wiring. He really should be thanking me ;)

I will blog more pictures and info as we make progress. Hopefully this isn't more than a 3 parter but if it is I will drag all of you who read this along with me!!

I Love Construction!!!!

Liam's 4th Birthday

2009-02-25T14:18:00.005-07:00

Yesterday was Liam's 4th birthday. He is very into numbers and letters now so he went around for about a week chanting the alphabet and the fact that he was going to be 4.

The Heiner family has family dinner every month so we celebrated his day last Saturday with the available Heiners.

His aliens had their pods and neon green frosting. He thought they were cool and had fun eating them.

Liam found it extremely funny to try to bite the head off of his alien.

Since the Heiners live an hour away and the Whiteheads live here in town... well most of them, we always have a second party on the actual birthday with another cake and that is when Liam opened his presents.

The purple aliens!

Liam helping me decorate.

We had a great night and had great fun with our family and the new toys that Liam recieves. He got his Geo Trax airport, a Wack-a-Mole game from his grandma, and playdough from his Uncle, Aunt, and cousins. Needless to say it was a late night and the boys crashed and slept in the next day.

Grind your bones to make my bread.

2009-02-16T19:05:00.008-07:00

Yesterday in church a member of our bishopric gave a talk about self-reliance. The whole time he was talking I was thinking about how I have 2 buckets of wheat in my basement, a wheat grinder and the ability to make bread. Why am I paying $1.00 to $1.50 for a loaf of bread? I could make my own and freeze it

Today the kids didn't have school so we decided to make some bread. We started from scratch. Even the flour!

We started out with this:
After lots of hand grinding, mostly on Patrick's part,

we got this:

wheat flour!!

It was killing the kids to have to wait for it to rise.

But it was well worth it when you end up with:

I haven't perfect even loaves yet but I am working on it. Besides if you get a dud you get to eat it right away to hide the evidence. Right?
When you get a good loaf you get to make something like:

A ham and cheese sandwich with pickles and lettuce on wheat. MMMMM!

13th Ward Valentine's Dance

2009-02-12T22:39:00.012-07:00

Heidi this one is for you!!

On Tuesday night we had a Valentine's Day Dance at the church house. There were games.

Twister rules!!

There was dancing!

Amber and her kids.

Lynn Hobbs doing the chicken dance!!

Sean giving Grace a dip.

What would a party be without the food? Well actually I didn't get a picture of the food but I did get a few picture of people eating the food!

Todd eating a chocolate sucker.

Kyle eating cake!

Valentine's Day is about love so I did manage to catch a few loves, and a few friends just having fun together.

Don't ask.

Robert and Calista Burbank

Todd and Justin hangin'.

Heidi, here are some of your girlfriends so you don't forget us!!

Sally B.

Kim and Shelia

Me in all my curly glory.

We miss you chickadee and look forward to seeing you this summer. Keep up your blogging and send pictures to us too. Hope you enjoy these pictures, and we all love you tons!!

Cupcake Mania

2009-02-10T16:15:00.004-07:00

I found this really great book called Hello, Cupcake!

It had tons of really cute ideas. My kids have all chosen their cupcakes for their birthdays. It should be an eventful year. I will be sure to blog my results. The only problem I am having is finding black chocolate covered sunflower kernels, without paying for 5 pounds at a time, and finding the ice cream containers for the aliens, again without buying an entire case. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

Since Valentine's Day is coming I decided to use their idea for the Ward Valentine's Dance. It is supposed to look like a box of chocolates.

I don't really know if I succeeded, you will have to tell me. I have found that when I do the work I am critical and notice all of the mistakes rather then the overall beauty.

Enjoy the Cupcakes!!

Liam and Simon Twins?

2009-02-10T15:49:00.009-07:00

I get asked daily if Liam and Simon are twins. Of course they aren't but they look enough alike that people have to ask. I find myself treating them like twins alot of the time. They share clothes whenever possible, and for a while had matching coats. Yesterday we got back from the store and they had fallen asleep in the car. When I opened the door they look so much alike, same features, their head turned the same way, even the same leg pulled up. The peace of them both being asleep at the same time very, very rarely happens so I had a nice afternoon with no kids squaking at me.

Today Liam and Simon wanted to put gel in their hair like dad does. All started out with the fauxhawk, but when it was time for Liam to go to storytime at the library he didn't want it anymore. He flattened his out. Simon has had his all day and even had to get a refresher gel application. Once Liam saw this he got another and I think he is still running around with his hawk.

The Boys!!!

Their new game this week is to take all the blankets and pillows off of my bed and use it for various games. One is jumping. Another is to burrow under the fitted sheet and pretend to be hiding. They get in trouble for this one because once they ripped the sheet.

So, they are the youngest of the brood and I find they have the run of the house and me way too much but so is the way of the world. I love the little bugs and just have to remember that they are going to get older and probably won't like me taking pictures and making them smile for me but I will enjoy it while it lasts!!

On a Sunday Afternoon

2009-02-08T20:02:00.003-07:00

Now that we have church at 9am instead of 1:30pm, we have the whole afternoon to hang out, take naps, play video games, fight. Tonight all of us were in the living room at the same time and no one was bickering with anyone else so it was a good time to get out the camera and snap a few shots.
My mom is living with us for a while. She just moved back up to Logan and her new apartment isn't ready yet.

I sort of got a nap but being the mom it never works out that great. Now I am awake and will probably be up late tonight.
It is great to be able to hang out with the family and take pics and have everyone happy.

I love Sunday afternoons.

Time for Haircuts

2009-02-02T23:22:00.015-07:00

I finally got my new camera in the mail and I am now trying it out. I think I have gone a little wacky because I catch myself taking pictures of everything. Thank goodness for digital, you can erase the bad shots.

For my first entry with the new camera let's talk hair.

Today Grace and I went to get haircuts. She was super excited because she got to leave school early.

Here are our before pictures.

Most of the appeal of going to the hair dresser is being pampered. I love having my hair washed. Brianna gives the best shampoos. You get the whole head massage. It is heaven... pure heaven.

Here are our after pictures.

The pictures of me I took myself. I think the before one is even in the mirror. No other able body was home to take pictures. Man I really can't wait for my contacts. I miss them!

P.S. Don't you just love Grace's toothless smile in the top pic??!! I do.

Sesame Street Fun

2009-01-14T11:25:00.007-07:00

I love Sesame Street. I always have for as long as I can remember. I can't say I am a big fan of a few of the new characters (Elmo, his voice grates on the ears!) but overall I love the show.

When Patrick was little he would watch it every day, so I went out and bought some VHS videos for him to watch when the show was over for the day. He absorbed those stories. They are the classics with all the characters we loved when we were kids.

Now that Patrick is almost 12 I had forgotten about that movie. Of course we don't even have a VCR anymore and the tape was DIed long ago. We were at the library for storytime and I saw the DVD Sesame Street Learning about Letters. I hate to admit it but I got a little giddy. I grabbed that box! I figured the boys would watch 5 minutes and be done with it. Nope! They love it. Their favorite part is Lena Horne singing the ABC song. It is from the 80's. Very nostalgic. I wish I had a video camera so you could see how they sing and dance to this song. It cracks me up. I have to keep hitting the back button because they want to watch it over and over. My favorite is Bert and Ernie singing the L song. If you ever have the chance to get it at your library or buy it do. It is entertaining, not annoying when they want to repeat it, and of course it teaches kids their letters.

Go Sesame Street!!

He Broke It!

2009-01-04T20:41:00.002-07:00

Well Simon finally did it. Somehow that kid has had the ability to find my camera no matter where I put it. One minute it is up where I think he can't reach it and the next he is bringing it to me wanting his picture taken. On Friday he brought it to me and he had tried to push in the lens. Needless to say he broke it. Can't say I am too broken hearted, it wasn't the best camera in the world. The picture color always was just a little off. So now I am looking for a new camera. Any suggestions? I am hoping to be able to spend, at the most, $250.00.

I hope I can get one soon, but until then I will just describe in vivid detail here on this page everything that is going on at the Heiner house. Just what you wanted right??? ;)

Christmas Goodies

2008-12-30T20:58:00.018-07:00

Ok, so I am a little slow. Forgive me. Christmas around here was crazy this year. Santa was late getting to our house so his helpers didn't get to bed till the wee hours of the morning and then the kids were up at 7. They devoured their gifts and then Mom went back to bed for a few hours.

I think everyone got what they wanted and asked for.

Patrick got his new "trick" skateboard and a new Tony Hawk helmet.

Grace got her giant dollhouse complete with furniture. Barbies too.

Liam and Simon got Geo Trax train. These trains have a remote control, and they can build the tracks on their own. Woo Hoo!

Sean got new church shoes, hiking boots, a new white church shirt and 4 new ties. Of course I never got a shot of him opening his presents. I think he did it on the sly. He did hang with the little guys while they tried to wake up and realize that Santa had come. We had to wake them up and they were a little annoyed until they realized that Patrick and Grace were getting new stuff, then they perked right up!

I got and I.O.U. Santa was out of Amazon Kindles. Mine is on back order. For those of you who don't know what one is, it is an electronic book. You instantly download books, newspapers, or blogs. It has the same technology as a cell phone. If you are sitting in the airport and decide you want to read the new James Patterson novel you just look it up and buy it. The books are also less expensive due to the fact that there is no paper or publishing costs. I am very excited to get mine!! With as much as I read it will cut down on shelf space ;) (You can go to amazon.com for more.)

I hope all of you had a great Christmas and Santa was good to you too.

Sean's Birthday

2008-12-29T14:28:00.004-07:00

Sean turned 36 on December 24th. He is now officially middle aged!! We had family over and ate enchiladas for lunch and a cake of course! Every year I ask the people in my family to pick a cake. The kids all go for character cakes, cars, shoes that kind of thing. Sean usually just picks a kind of cake. This year it was a burnt sugar cake, or a caramel cake.
He got all 4 Indiana Jones movies in a DVD box set. Happy Birthday Sean!!

You've Been Elved!!

2008-12-23T15:19:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Concerts

2008-12-18T12:18:00.009-07:00

It is that time of year! Patrick and Grace both have had concerts. Grace had 2 choir concerts with the Cache Children's Choir, and Patrick had his band concert at school.
Grace had her first one out at the American West Heritage Center. It was relaxed and fun. She got to sing, then we went on a horse and wagon ride, wassail, hand pulled candy canes, and gingersnaps. We pet the animals and all the good stuff you do at a historic farm. Luckily it wasn't too cold yet!She really likes choir but told me she gets stage fright and can't smile. I suggested that she imagine everyone in their underwear. She smiles a lot more now!
Later she had her regular concert. It was at the Kent Concert Hall on the USU campus. This concert included all the different classes. Grace is in the Cadet choir. That includes 2nd and 3rd graders. That is Grace in the front row third from the right.
Patrick plays in the percussion section of the 6th grade band. That means that he is in the back, and is practically impossible to see. Actually, last night he was impossible to see. The best I got was his ear.If you look in the center in between the rows, that black dot that looks like someone shoulder... that is Patrick!!! He did really well.
We are very proud of both of the kids. They both work hard and are doing great in their extracurricular activities.
I have discovered that my camera is not a good one. It is great for outdoor shots but indoor are really bad. I am working on getting a better one, so bear with my poor pics. If you have any suggestions for a really good camera let me know!

My Weight Tracker

2008-12-15T13:36:00.003-07:00

If you scroll down you will see that I have added a weight tracker on the bottom of this page. I see it this way... if the public can see my weight loss or gain I just might get my butt in gear and lose those pesky 20 pounds. This is my early New Year's resolution. I have never kept one before but that is why we do it every year right!!! Wish me luck.

Simon and the Kitty Kats

2008-12-02T00:38:00.003-07:00

Over Thanksgiving we were at Sean's parents house. They have two cats. A boy and a girl. The boy is named Loki and the girl Freda, I think. I can't really keep them straight but the boys love these cats. Especially Simon. One night we were all watching a movie and I look over at Simon and he is sitting in a chair with these cats, calm as you please. The cats were loving it and so was Simon. Of course I grab the camera and start snapping away. Simon is not camera shy at all and cheesed it up. Enjoy my favorites!

Trimming the Tree

2008-12-01T19:50:00.008-07:00

Every year on the first Monday in December we put up the Christmas tree. Here is a little background on our tree. When we lived in Phoenix, AZ. real Christmas trees were close to $100, of course we couldn't afford that, so we went to Target and there was this little plastic put it together yourself job for $15. We bought it and have had it ever since. Patrick was about 2 at the time. Sean informed me tonight that when Patrick turns 14 we will have paid a dollar a year and that it has been well worth it. OK, whatever! It is a longstanding joke between the two of us that our opinions on that tree differ. I think it adds variety to our marriage. If I agree with him on everything then where would we be I ask???

This is the first year that Simon really gets what is going on. He helped put the ornaments on, and put the snowflake on the top. It is fun to watch him. Of course he likes to fiddle with it now and I have to tell him to leave it alone, but that is OK, I like the fact that he and Liam love the tree.

It is strange really how I can hate a tree for the way it looks and yet love it for how it brings us all together, whether to joke, or to decorate, or to even argue about where a certain ornament goes. I think we will keep this puny tree for a while longer just for the heck of it!!

Happy Turkey Day!

2008-11-30T20:20:00.008-07:00

I don't know about you but I love to eat. Which national holiday is centered around eating? That's right.... Thanksgiving. This year Sean, the kids and I went to my brother, Tom's house. Well really Tom and his wife Vanessa's house. My family was there and Vanessa's family was there too. It was a houseful. We had a great time. There was a lot of Rock Band, food, and chasing of children going on. Here just view the pictures and enjoy.

Not that all Thanksgiving is about is food. I am thankful for many things. Here is my list:
1. My family
2. My home
3. Sean has a job
4. Everyone is healthy
5. We have great friends and family

Be Happy!!!

Twilight

2008-11-22T18:45:00.011-07:00

Ok, I just went and saw the Twilight movie. Two friends and I went an hour early and we were in the doorway to the theater freezing our butts off. Oh my gosh it was sooooo worth it. I wasn't a big fan of the books, I couldn't grasp the connection between Bella and Edward. After seeing the movie, ummmm, yeah I can see it. I think I am going to have to read the book again sometime. Oy, that man is HOT!!! I want to be his heroin. See the movie you will know what I am talking about and get a giggle ;) The movie was very well made, and the characters were great. Yes, I know I am a 30 something, married with kids woman but geech it was a great love story and had a very handsome lead. What can I say I loved it. I am really looking forward to the next movie coming out. Go and see Twilight and then when it comes out on DVD call me and we can have a Twilight viewing party!

The soundtrack is really good too. iTunes has 3 bonus tracks if you like some of the instrumental stuff and Amazon.com has just the regular 12 track version. Downloading it tonight!

P.S. - Thanks for going with me Tara and Crystal. We will have to do it again when number 2 comes out! Sista Power :)

The Little Brothers Band

2008-11-18T13:51:00.009-07:00

Today Liam and Simon came to me and asked for some pans and spoons. I had no idea what they wanted them for. I followed them into the living room where they proceeded to lay them out and beat them vigorously. They were so cute I had to capture it on "film".

Their first jam session!

Go Liam! Go Simon!

A party wouldn't be a party if Simon didn't pull a Godzilla and stomp on the instruments.

To say the least they had lots of fun and are now napping. Of course there are tons of pans for Mom to clean up, but that is ok with me!

Enrichment Night

2008-11-11T20:41:00.007-07:00

For those of you who don't know, I am the Enrichment Leader in our ward at church. Essentially I am the person that gets everything ready and everyone fed. I can not do this alone. I have a committee.
These are the girls. Alice, Shelia, Shanna, Me, Jen, and Kim. We all work together to get entertainment provided and dinner out to everyone that comes. That is what has occupied our time for about the last 3 days.

We have a friend Heidi who used to be on the committee but recently moved to Texas. I figured I would blog her a little bit of home. These pics are for you Heidi.

I know the pictures aren't the greatest. My camera doesn't seem to like the lighting in the church house. Tonight was fun. Someone Shelia works with came with his daughters and they sang, and played the piano and got everyone in the holiday spirit. The food was a hit and everyone enjoyed themselves. The husbands or significant others were invited so they got to eat good food too and not have to scrounge like they usually do on Enrichment Night. Hope you liked the pictures Heidi and that everyone else liked the glimpse into the Logan 13th wards Enrichment Night.

Let's go Jazz!!

2008-11-09T20:44:00.004-07:00

Last Wednesday Sean's parents invited all of their children and their spouses to join them in the Zion's Bank suite at the Energy Solutions Arena to watch the Jazz play the Portland Trailblazers. Sean and I finally got to have a night out without kids. It was great. We got dinner, and time to hang out with all the Heiners.

I haven't gotten in the habit of carrying my camera everywhere yet. You never know when a blog moment will hit you, ya know! I have to thank Brandy for remembering her camera and sharing with me. Thanks Brandy.
Forgot to tell you... The Jazz won. Can't remember the score, but they won. (I like to watch just not that great on the remembering the scores or stats, sorry.)

The Picture I promised.

2008-11-07T08:51:00.003-07:00

Brandy, Sean's brother's wife, says I don't have enough pictures of myself on here. There is a reason for that. It may be a selfish, self centered one but there you go. I promised I would try more to put my mug on. It is a family blog and I am a member so I am trying. Here is a picture from Halloween of Sean and I. Sorry it took so long.

The Title

2008-11-07T08:00:00.003-07:00

People have asked me, Why barnyard tales? To be honest I really have no idea. The day I started this blog I had been cleaning all day and cursing my kids cause the house was such a mess. Odds are I was mumbling to myself "What do they think this is? A barnyard?" I mumble when I am annoyed. It is better than swearing which I am trying not to do. (With little success!) Anyhoo, I finally got to sit down and so something that I wanted to do and noticed that my sister-in-law Amy had just started a blog. Well, hers combined with Brandy's (another sister-in-law) I figured I could start one too. We have tons of pictures that just sit around in the computer and we have family and friends that live out of state so I started one. The title was based on my mood for that day. While thinking of one I looked around the room, which is our bedroom and is always cluttered with various sundry, and mumbled to myself again, "Man, this is a barnyard!"
So there you have it. Barnyard Tales. Tales of what happens in my own personal barnyard. I love my barnyard and the animals that live in it. I would still change the title if I could but I can't so it is growing on me.
So, I invite you to visit our barnyard and enjoy our tales. Leave your comments and just enjoy yourselves.

Halloween with Pumpkins

2008-11-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is that time of year. Candy, pumpkins and kids in costumes. Here are some pictures of my monsters on Halloween.

All four together ready to go out Trick or Treating.

Patrick decided he wanted to be called Patricia for the evening, minus the shoes, they hurt his feet!

Grace was a mermaid. She gets custom made costumes made made by Mom!

Liam and Simon were monkeys. I think they only wore their hoods for pictures.

I do have a picture of Sean and I but it is blurry so I am waiting to get a copy from my sister in law. I promise I will post it ASAP.

We finally carved pumpkins on Saturday night. The deal was the kids cleaned the living room and once it was totally done we would carve. Well, it took them about 3 days to realize we were serious and wern't going to do it for them. Saturday night we finally got to carve.

Grace is pouting because she thinks the guts are gross and she has to pull them out herself.

Patrick is working on his Frenchman with his beret and mustache.

Finally done and lit up in the dark!

Jack-O-Lanterns and a Trip to Church

2008-10-30T16:49:00.000-06:00

Here is this years newest model of Jack-O-Lanterns. Comes with hair, eyes, a nose, the only thing it is lacking is teeth!!
We walked to church for probably the last time this season and I thought Liam and Simon were so cute I had to snap a shot of the trip!

Canning and Coupons

2008-10-21T15:15:00.000-06:00

There are 2 things I like to do with my time. Well, other than taking care of my family that is. I love to can and to coupon collect.

The canning is out of necessity and the fact that we have grapes, apples that come in every year and cherries and apricots that come when they feel like it. The apricots when the wind is right and it can cross pollinate with the other trees in the neighborhood and the cherry trees were topped off when the city needed to make room for wires. I don't think it did them much good to be topped off. I am hoping for more next year.

Anyhow, back to the subject. I can the apples for pie, juice and applesauce. The cherries for pie, and the apricots I made into jam. I am finally done.

I love to go into the basement and see all the pretty jars lined up on the shelf.

The other thing I love to do is couponing. It saves us tons of money and being the organizational Martha Stewart freak that I am I love the looking up, making of the list, finding the right coupon packet and the cutting. Granted going to the store with 2 crazy boys is not my favorite thing to do but getting my food storage up and seeing the savings on my receipt is well worth it. I have to say my favorite is when Smith's paid me 75 cents to take 6 boxes of cereal bars. The free cereal was good too. It is very satisfying to be able to save our family money by clipping coupons.

I am glad canning season is done for a while. My kitchen was sick of being sticky all the time. The end result is wonderful and I am happy to be able to stock up.

LDS Temple in Rome

2008-10-06T15:40:00.000-06:00

Those of you who know me know that I love all things Italy. I love the food, the language (even though I don't speak it...yet), and I really want to visit there.

Anyhoo, Saturday in General Conference it was announced that the church is building a temple in Rome. It is still in the planning stages so there isn't a picture or anything yet, as soon as there is I will get it up here asap.

Sean went there on his mission and still speaks italian fluently. The church building a temple there makes me want to go even more. My goal in the next few years is to learn the language and be able to go through an italian speaking session. Somewhat lofty but with the help of Rosetta Stone language system (I hope!!) I will be on my way!

Back to School

2008-10-01T16:23:00.000-06:00

I know! I know! School has been back in session for a month but I am new at this blogging thing so this is where I am starting and I will try my dangest to stay up to date.

School started on my and Sean's anniversary. Woo Hoo Happy Anniversary to us. (14 years by the way)

Patrick started the 6th grade in middle school and I think I was more nervous than he was. We live about 3 blocks from the elementary school so he always walked but this year he got to ride the bus. He is loving it so far.

Grace is now in 2nd grade and is a great reader. She is hard to get up in the morning but once she is up and ready to go she is excited to go. She thinks she is big stuff because Mom lets her walk home alone sometimes.

Liam and Simon are the same crazy boys. Their latest escapade was a giant jawbreaker. Big brother got one so they had to too. It was blue. Need I say more? I don't think I got a shot of Liam (he is very neat) but check out Simon. More than just the blue, look at the gleam in his eyes. Now you know what I am dealing with. Simon is a magpie and repeats everything you say, and I do mean everything. I have gotten into some trouble with that. I think Mom needs to watch her mouth!!!
Liam is train mad. Anything having to do with trains Thomas the Tank Engine or not if it goes on a track he loves it.

Both boys are obsessed with the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. They sing along.

So that was my first blog entry. I hope it is all a blog should be and more. I will do more after Halloween. I love seeing all y'alls blogs and hope you will enjoy mine.