Happy Birthday to my little Bosty boy. I felt like today needed to be one big day of celebration for this boy. He is such a character and I couldn't imagine our family without him. I knew we needed to celebrate that he is here with us!

He woke up to his door decorated with crate paper and signs about how wonderful it is to be five. I made his most favorite breakfast, "germie pankcakes" as he calls them and fixed a double batch so I was sure to not have to tell him there was no more left.

He was so excited for the day...he started off by opening a present that Aunt Jeaniece had sent in the mail...an outfit with a big "5" on the front. He was happy to wear it and show everyone he was now officially five. He then got his next present, a new bike and helmet. (we'll new to him, our neighbor kindly gave it to us a month ago when her son got a new bike and it's been covered in the garage waiting for Boss' birthday.) He was very excited for the bike and loved the fact that it has a kickstand, hand brakes and a water bottle holder. I think his older brother was quite jealous. He then proceed to show me all the things he could do now that he was 5. Like look out the window without standing on a chair...apparently he couldn't do that just yesterday. And he showed me how he can say certain words now the correct way which he couldn't say right when he was four.

Then the time came, the time he had been waiting months for. We headed out as a family to Amazing Jakes to play some laser tag and eat pizza. He was so excited he was besides himself! We spent the rest of the afternoon there having a blast watching his little body run all over the place not being able to contain his energy.

He chose cold cereal for his birthday dinner (easy enough for me) and we ate cupcakes and sung happy birthday to the little man.

His birth was defiantly the hardest I've ever endured...but having his personality in our family is worth every minute of pain he caused me. I truly love this kid and find complete joy in him. I really don't ever want to imagine our family without him. He's awesome.

I've thought about Blogging a lot the last few weeks. I've thought about things I want to write about, things I should write about and things I don't want to write about. So here I am just writing my thoughts.

Boss has been counting down his birthday for the last 63 days. Yes 63. We're now down to single digits and every time I ask him how many days left he always says the right answer with the biggest smile on his face. His smile is infectious.

About 13 days ago Buster got sick for a solid six days. Once he returned back to school and when I thought all was well Boss woke up the next day with the same symptoms. Not good. Since then Crate has been sick, then Saturday Pops got sick, Sunday I became sick and here we are today four out of the five of us are still struggling to feel 100%. Luckily the little girl I babysit also got sick yesterday so her parents didn't bring her over. I was very thankful since I knew one less child would feel like a break for me. Pops even stayed and worked from home in case I needed anything. I really appreciated that. But what I appreciated even more was the fact that he told me to sleep in and got up with Buster, got him off to school, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen and picked up the main areas of the house, plus fixed a big breakfast for the boys before I even rolled out of bed at 8:20am. I haven't slept in like that for a long time and it was great. Not to mention waking up to all those things being taken care of was even greater.

It stinks being sick when you're the parent and there is no one to take care of you. It's no fun.

For FHE tonight we learned more about the sacrament and how we can better prepare ourselves for it on Sunday. Boss was assigned the activity and his choice was to watch a movie as a family. I wasn't super keen on the idea considering it's a school night but I let that slide, the boys pulled out the hide-a-bed got their blankets and pillows and are currently in heaven watching a movie with popcorn. I'm multi-tasking by watching while I take care of YW's stuff on the computer. I'm convinced there are women out there that eat, live and breath YW's and are extremely talented too. I'm thankful they share their ideas with the rest of us. It makes my job much easier.

Speaking of YW's I told Pops again tonight that once I am done being YW president I am taking a cooking class one night a week. Tonight I made mulit-grain & flax seed pancakes for dinner. It was a combination of not feeling well, not planning ahead and having no good idea's for dinner tonight. The boys loved it, as did I but Pops wasn't the biggest fan. Luckily we had left overs for him in the fridge. Hopefully I can find a cooking class that will teach new ideas along with an introduction to foods I don't normally cook with. I think that would be a great skill to learn.

We made individual goals for 2011. The boys have actually done really well with working on them and remembering them. We're all trying to be better around here. It defiantly takes effort on all our parts.

I still feel like my house smells like a dirty diaper too often. And the bathrooms seem to have their own distinct smell. We're working on that. Pops and I rented the movie The Social Network this weekend. I can't figure out how that got best picture. I have to say I wasn't very impressed.

Buster reading skills are amazing to me. I love to hear him read. Not to mention he likes reading himself.

It dawned on me tonight while I was flipping pancakes that there are a few areas in my life that I feel I'm done with but I will exhibit patience as it is not the right timing to be done just yet. There are phases in my life that I'm ready to move on to but I must wait a little longer, wait til the timing is right. Sometimes waiting is hard. And having patience isn't just about waiting, it's about waiting happily.

Crate continues to be one ball full of chubs. The boys always call him "chubs." He's defiantly showing signs of growing up. He can say every one's names in the family and can say about a dozen other words. It's really sweet to hear his little voice trying to copy everything we teach him. His brothers can't ever get enough of him and he still gets annoyed pretty easily by all their love. If someone was always hugging and kissing on me and wanting to carry me all over the place I would get annoyed too.

I'm trying to decide if getting a zoo pass again is worth it or not.

I must finish up now and be in bed before I regret staying up any later.

Ahhh, a nice brake from Blogging. I have to say I've enjoyed it.

Here our some pics of our Christmas...

All the boys in their matching ties the Sunday before Christmas.


One of the gifts I made for the boys bedroom this year. I really liked the way it turned out.


This is at my family's Christmas party a few days before Christmas. They boys were chosen to be wise men for the Nativity Scene.


This is what Santa brought for Crate and he loves it still!


The boys were very excited for their new Star Wars bedding...they just aren't in this picture


Now I have a very tired one year old crying at my feet so I'll have to finish the pictures another night.

How another year is over. Looking back I really have to say 2010 was much better than 2007, 2008 and 2009...those were some interesting years. I'd happy to be able to say that I think I've been taught a few lessons over the last few years and hope to not have to repeat them. I love the new year time. It's like a re-birth a time to start anew. I love making new goals and looking back to see what goals were accomplished over the past year.

I've been thinking lately about what goals I want to set this year and that maybe I'll pick a theme that I want for myself or my family. Some word or phrase that will describe what we want accomplished by the end of the year.

Thanks to P90X and Mr. Tony Horton I'm happy to say that 2011 will be the first year in the last several years that "loose weight" won't top my list...although I think I've put on a few extra over the holiday season but I know how to get that off. I'm thankful I was able to workout almost everyday of my six day a week workout program. I feel like I really accomplished something and it feels great to have started a program, stuck with it and to see the end results.

And I am VERY thankful that the year has come to a close with this Blog. I know I will enjoy putting our year into a printed book and read the memories but I am ready to take a break and not post every single day (or almost every single day). There was a lot of details, feelings and emotions I left out or kept to myself but I still feel like I made our lives known to the public and I'm ready to be a little more private. I haven't decided how often I will post next year. Still thinking on that one.

2010...you were good to us. Thank you. Thank you for a break from some hard years. Thank you for the memories.

And now I am listening to lovely fireworks...I think I liked it better when the state banned them. They almost sound like gun shots. Lovely.

Today it snowed in Phoenix. That's not something you see everyday. It's crazy to be on the freeway and look out and see snowed capped mountains. Now I feel like singing Bette Midler's song "From a Distance" you know the line that says "...and the snow capped mountains white..." Anyhow the boys were defiantly excited to see snow. And it was literally freezing today. Yes, freezing. I was thankful to be reminded how being out in the elements can make you frigid. Like bone cold. I defiantly will take my hot summers over long, freezing cold winters. A day or two in the snow is fun but anymore of that just isn't for me. Plus I think I would put on 20 pounds each winter in the cold from drinking QT hot chocolate. That is good stuff.

We had pictures with all the cousins on Pops' side today. And despite being outside in the frigid air it went pretty well considering there were nine kids and Buster was the oldest of the group.

I told Pops it's date time again. You know, just the two of us. Ahhh, the thought makes me smile.

I've got a ton of pictures to download from the camera...I just never want to take the time to do it and then they get backed up and then it just takes more time...its like a never ending circle.

Today we did tons of laundry...and watched a movie. Pops was supposed to work a half day but it didn't quite happen. The boys and I had fun at a birthday party this morning until it turned frigid then we headed home. They picked up the playroom and vacuumed it. I was able to de-junk it a little again without them realizing what I was doing. They helped sort laundry and folded a little. Crate cried most the day because he wanted to go outside, however the grass outback is more like a swamp from all the rain so I wouldn't let him out. He did not like that at all.

Tonight I took the boys shoe shopping. I was tired of buying cheap shoes and having them fall apart in the first 30 days. I've never splurged on shoes for them. My neighbor always gives me her one sons clothes and shoes so I've always just used those. This last time she gave me Nike shoes that fit Buster and he has worn them every single day for four months and they are just now starting to shred. And he is REALLY hard on his shoes. So I was convinced to spend a little more and get each of them a decent pair of shoes. Luckily Famous Footwear was having their buy on get on half off sale so it worked out perfect. And each pair of shoes I bought was on sale. I'm hoping they'll last a REALLY long time. Now if I can just get Boss to wear tennis shoes...he only prefers flip flops and even wore them all day today...it's only 50 degrees and rainy. I was proud of myself that I didn't even walk to my side of the store and look for shoes for myself. Pops would have been proud too. :)

Speaking of Boss I have to say he likes to talk A LOT. And sometimes I want to shut off my ears. He's a fun boy but always has something to say or a question to ask. Oh man...and when he was little I was so worried about him not talking, he was in speech therapy for a year. I guess I shouldn't have been so concerned. Either that, or the speech therapy REALLY payed off!

Can't believe the year is almost over.

It's been a busy few days. Lots of family and lots of activities.

Today it was just me and the boys and some perfect weather. We decided to pack a lunch, load the truck with bikes and the stroller and head to a park we had never been to in Tempe. Three hours of hanging out together in the perfect 65 degree air made for a blissful afternoon. The boys got tons of exercise from riding all around. Crate enjoyed being outside as always and we played "Monkey in the Middle" with the Frisbee. If life could be like this everyday I think it would be heaven.

Tonight we had a family movie night and all hung out here on the couch. I love when there are no meetings, no school in the morning, no obligations and everyone is in a good mood. It makes for a great night. Now it's bed time...we'll see how easily this goes...