Double Digits!

Today is Levi's 10th birthday. I can hardly believe I have been married 11 years, let alone that I have a child old enough to be in his double digits. My life is just cruising by and I am trying to occasionally come up for air.

It is so fun to have had a boy first, it certainly adds spunk to our lives. There isn't a quiet moment at our house and I really do attribute that to having a wild boy first! His mind is always going and he always has big ideas and plans (for instance, he has been working on a book of "inventions" that he plans to edit and send to Bill Gates. He already has his speech planned and what he'll wear when he meets him). He is a dreamer and I love it. Levi has a great sense of humor, he is an awesome big brother, and he keeps us on our toes (always). The younger kids all LOVE it when Levi is home b/c he is always up for a wrestle or to read them a story. He's growing up too fast! When he is 10, does that mean he is a "tween"? I hate that word, so hopefully not!! :)

Here is a glimpse of Levi before he was all grown up!! :)

Hair Mom Envy

Let it first be said that I have always been a little annoyed with moms who walk into the store, gym, preschool, whatEVER with their children all in bows, ribbons and curls. I refer to those perfect mothers as "hair moms". But as of a few short weeks ago, I am a hair mom. Okay, not really. I still can barely master a simple braid (and french braids? NO WAY!), but I am making an effort to play with the girls hair every morning this summer and I found some super cute blogs that have different ideas with step by step tutorials for low life mothers such as my (previous) self who felt that a bathed and brushed head of hair was as much as a person could handle. My husband was horrified at the amount of money I recently spent on hair bows, hair FLOWERS (yes, i am a true convert), and flowery bobby pins. I hope to make them in the future since it cost me a small fortune to buy like 6 things. Anyway, I hope to turn a lot of heads and cause a lot of envy from any of you NON hair moms, but if it makes you feel any better...now that their hair is done every day, I rarely get a shower and my house is a wreck...and a lot of cursing, crying, and gnashing of teeth occurs during hair prep time. Just think of that next time you feel hair mom envy at the grocery store! :)

I am woman...

So most of you know that I made a trek to Utah BY MYSELF (as in without my husband). I have to give credit to my Garmin as she helped me get there without a glitch. My kids were pretty much awesome the whole trip (a few exceptions, of course) and we had an AWESOME time. Next time, I won't pack so much and I might have a suit case for each house/hotel we stay in as unloading and loading and then unloading and then loading again 6 large bags FIVE times by yourself while carrying an 18 month old is less than fun. Oh how I appreciate a man to carry my overzealous packing after this trip!! Here is a recap with lotso pix:

The new Smith Family Living Center. I can't believe how different BYU looks!! This is with Sam and Val's family. We had so much fun hanging out with that cute family!!
In front of the BYU law library where I spent many of my days studying (in hopes of hanging out a little bit more with a favorite law student).
At the creamery where Levi is wearing his newly purchased BYU beanie...I spent way too much money on brainwashing BYU paraphanelia...with ice cream to seal the deal.

On another day of our trip we visited Kif and Stirling and gang and went to "Color me Mine" a pottery store and the kids painted plates and mugs and absolutely LOVED it.
Had to document the lovely cheapskate hotel I splurged on. Here was the first time I nearly lost it on the trip as I had 6 bags a stroller, 4 very tired, hungry and wound up kids and went to find the elevator to take us to the top floor where our room was...only to discover that $40/night hotels don't HAVE elevators. Hmmmm....
The pioneer village MIGHT have been our favorite part of the whole week (though it is impossible to choose one favorite as we had so much fun everywhere!). The kids dressed up in pioneer clothes and had free reign to roam all over the village. They had "Deseret bucks" that they handed out to hardworking kids and then a town store where they could buy candy and toys with their money. This was highly motivating to Levi! There was a train they could ride at will and games, crafts, it was so much fun! (Mostly b/c of all the older kids, I got the chance to sit and visit with my SIL's).

all in all, a great trip. I hope to do it again in the future, and though trips with Spencer are a million times more fun, I am happy to know I am not housebound when he can't take off work.