Blake's 4th Birthday

Blake turned 4 on August 1st, and he INSISTED on a transformers birthday. We kept it small and invited only a few friends, but it was still loads of fun. We started out with an obstacle course. I told them that planet earth was being attacked by the decepticons and we needed to save it. So, we blasted into space from Cyberton (the slide).
We went through the black hole. (tunnel)
We rode around the moon in our spaceship.
Then we launched into earth's atmosphere.

We fought the decepticons.
And then we defeated Megatron. (Punched a balloon with Megatron on it)
Blake got an Optimus Prime costume for his birthday, and it's been permanently attached ever since.
We played a few other games like Transformers memory and pin the gun on Optimus Prime. We played autobots vs decepticons with balloons attached to their ankles, and had them try to pop each other's balloons. Sooo....I guess they were a little young for that game, because there was a lot of crying involved. Woops!
We ended the party with Transformers cupcakes and a scavenger hunt to find the allspark cube (the source of the transformers power) which had the party favors in it. The kids had a great time, and that's all that matters.
I thought I'd include a picture of our new swingset. This was our birthday gift to Blake and it only cost us $20. I love craigslist!Happy birthday Blake!!!

A Proud Dad

For the past year or so, Scott and the kids' favorite game has been the "ice cream game." Scott has the boys wrestle each other, and then when one pins the other, they both get a bite of ice cream. Surprisingly the boys are pretty evenly matched even with the age difference. That's probably because they actually weigh the same. It's so funny to watch the three of them during the game. The boys are wrestling hard, sometimes even talking a little smack (which is soooo funny), and then there's Scott on the sidelines coaching and yelling things like, "Brittany! Did you see Blake do that half nelson! He's a natural!" Does anyone know what a half nelson is???

Caden & Blake Want to Tell You Something...

Yes... It's true. I'm 12 weeks along now and we are all so excited! Caden and Blake talk about the baby all the time. Anytime we're going anywhere, they say, "Mom you need to be sooo careful so you don't hurt the baby." They're already protective of their little brother or sister. It's really cute. A few weeks ago I was drinking a glass of water and Caden said, "Mom, I bet the baby likes it when you drink water, because it gets to go swimming!!"

Open WIDE!

Scott's schedule was open Wednesday morning, so he decided he wanted to bring the boys in for their first official dental visit. They were so excited to go and see daddy at work. The office manager let them raid the goody box for cheap rings, frogs, erasers, etc. Then it was off to the chair. Blake was first and he chose the bubble gum toothpaste. It wasn't a big hit, and he was starting to get a little difficult. Scott put the suction thing in his mouth and Blake found his new best friend. He just wanted to play with the suction, puckering his mouth around it so it would make funny sounds, he didn't want to let it go. To finish his cleaning, Scott had to keep rotating between polishing a few teeth and letting him play with the suction for a few minutes. It was pretty comical.
Caden was next up in the chair and he was a pro. He chose the orange toothpaste and said that he really liked it. He also like playing with the suction, but he was a lot more cooperative, so he didn't need it as much.
Scott wasn't able to do flouride with Blake, but Caden wanted to try it out. I can't believe how good he was the whole time! (I hated that foamy flouride that makes you gag!! Is anyone with me??) Caden was loving everything about it. Maybe it's just because it was the first time, and just like helping me unload the dishwasher, the novelty will wear off after a few more times.
Anyone love the goggles???
And Scott is proud to report that they didn't have any cavities!! Yeah!

A New Chapter

Well, I haven't posted for about two months because things have been a little crazy around here! Scott graduated on May 16th from the USC School of Dentistry. We were so sad to leave such good friends behind, but excited to start a new chapter in our lives.
To say goodbye to a few friends, we met at the park and we moms all sat and talked while our kids played. After a little while, we went over to see what our kids were doing and this is what we found.

They were so proud of their little snail farm. I really try to encourage the boys to be boys and not to be scared of lizards and other creepy crawlies, but this isn't really what I had in mind!

The day after graduation we said goodbye to California and made our way to Arizona. The boys really love it here, but it is VERY hot! Basically, all of our activities have to do with water. Going the the pool, slip n slides, sprinklers, etc.
The parks in Arizona have the right idea. A lot of them have the typical slides and things, and then they have a separate area called a splash pad where they have some water features for the kids to play in. FUN!!
Scott officially starts work on Monday as Dr. Jensen, D.D.S.

Caden is 5!

Caden had his birthday last week, so he's officially 5! I can't believe it. He has grown so much. Caden decided that he wanted a pirate cake and to go to Disneyland for his birthday, so that's what we did!
I brought the cake to share with Caden's preschool class. Everyone loved it, but one little boy came up to me and said, "Caden's mom....Caden's mom....Caden's mom....I don't like the cake!" What do you say to that?
All day Caden kept saying, "Mom, are you so proud of me 'cause I'm soooo big now that I'm five!" And then when Scott came home he said, "Dad!!! You haven't seen me five yet!" He was making us laugh all day.

Caden is such a blessing in our family. Here is a little bit about him. He is getting so big and is always wanting to help me out. When I'm cooking, he comes in and asks, "What can I do to help, mom?" And when I'm cleaning he asks the same thing! Caden is as outgoing as they come. The second we go to the park, he finds someone he wants to play with, walks right over to introduce himself, and in seconds he has a friend to play with. Also, anyone who knows Caden knows he loves babies. He is always the first one to run over and play peek-a-boo with any baby. Whenever I babysit for friends, he always begs to feed the baby and asks if we can keep it. A few times I've been flipping the channels to find a cartoon for him to watch, and I've passed "A Baby Story" on TLC, and Caden has stopped me because he wants to see the baby. Almost every night in his prayers he asks Heavenly Father to put a baby in mommy's tummy. He is so sweet. Caden is currently into transformers. He got Optimus Prime and Bumblebee for his birthday and he hasn't put them down! Caden has a ton of energy, but is still so sweet and helpful, I can't believe how fast he's grown.

Welcome to Arizona!!!

We took a little trip to Arizona a few weeks ago and for those of you who don't already know, we've decided to move there when Scott finishes school in May. The boys are really excited about moving to Arizona. Everyone we visit there has a house and a backyard, so they think Arizona = House + Backyard. (Which may not be true for us for a little while.) Also, to compound the problem, when they were so sad that Santa didn't bring them a dog, we told them that Santa knows we don't have a house so he couldn't bring a dog. So, actually, they think that Arizona = House + Backyard + Dogs!! What little boy wouldn't want to go there??

They also think that cactuses (cacti?) are pretty cool. Just not in my front yard, PLEASE!!!
Here are my three tough boys out in the Arizona wilderness.
We had a really fun time visiting friends, and we got to see our good friends Jacque & Tyler from Utah! They moved to Arizona last year, so Caden & Alyssa got to have a little reunion. Aren't they sooo adorable! Here's one of the last photos they took together before we left Utah.