CHRISTMAS SCROOGE

So Jack changed his mind of what he wanted for Christmas, and we had to sneakily remedy the situation. So off we went to Walmart all together to find Darth Maul's light sabar.

To distract the boys I told them they could each pick out a small present to give to each other. Peyton picked out a Darth Maul action figure for Jack and Jack picked out an R2D2 for Peyton.

(Sounds okay so far right)?

But then they just gave each other the toys to hold and continued to play with them (still in the packaging) for the rest of the night. And I just let them.

I stink at this Christmas stuff. If I had it my way they could just open them and play with them right away. And no present would really be a secret. I seriously wanted to tell my kids that Santa was just pretend. Don't worry I didn't. But still, so much effort to keep things a secret.

SANTAS IN TOWN

I already posted this on facebook, but I want to have it here too. We finally had a successful visit with Santa this year. No crying and after a little encouragement Peyton and Jack asked Santa for a number of items.

This Christmas seems to be a big deal for Peyton and Jack. And they want so many toys it's ridiculous. I told them they had to pick three of their favourites because Santa would also have to make gifts for other kids.

Here is Peyton's top three:
1. A remote control helicopter: check
2. A hulk costume: X we thought he wanted an iron man one....oops
3. Star wars lego: X we got star wars stuff but not the super pricey lego....we are bad santa's....and our kids keep changing their minds.

Jack's top three:
1. Darth Mauls light saver...he stopped there.
(Poor Jack is going to be so sad when he doesn't get it. Santa already did his Christmas shopping and it wasn't on his list at the time)!

VIVA LAS VEGAS

Two weeks ago Cory and I went on vacation. We left the kids behind and we took off to VEGAS. I just need to say that the last time we left the kids behind was in 2009 and since then we had two more kids. This vacation was much needed and I surprised myself how easily I adjusted to being kidless. (Am I a bad mom)???
Anyway here are some fun pics from our trip!

BALLYS...our hotel. The only hotel still doing the original Jubilee. We got to look at that ladies behind a lot! I apologize for the indecency of the photo! It just happened to be there!

Hoover Dam! The boys' idea of a good time. Okay...I enjoyed myself too!

Crazy hair after our convertible ride. We were feelin a little wild!

We had an hour to spare so we went and did initatories at the temple. One of my favourite parts.

CLASSIC! We couldn't resist a shot in front of the sign.



Cory and Brad surprised us with this convertible on the Tuesday morning. My jaw dropped. It was my first time in a convertible. It was sooooo much fun, but one time was enough. That thing destroyed my hair. It took me a long time to get all the knots out and now my ends are all broken.



ROSS on the strip has got to be my favourite place! I could have stayed there all day. In the end I think I did stay there for 3 hours!!! SO nice to shop with out kids!

Tony and Tina's Itallian Wedding. So nice of them to let us come...;)

The wedding got a little crazy!

The Belagio was right across the street. We couldn't get enough of the fountain show!

The snowy scene that awaited us in Kalispell!

TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE

I have decided that there are two kinds of people. People who get irritable....or angry when they are hungry. We call it HANGRY. Hunger doesn't really bother me, so I never knew people like this existed. But I've decided that my mom definitely gets hangry and I won't mention names...but I have a few friends that get hangry too....who knew?

The other kind of people get irritable or angry when they are tired or sleep deprived. Lets just call that SLANGRY. Anyway, this is where I fall. I NEED my sleep, and I guess I assumed every other mom was the same way. But man I feel like there are some super moms out there that stay up super late just to have time to themselves and then wake up early to go the gym and then probably nurse amd so forth and they seem happy as ever! I don't know how they do it.

So it just occured to me that there might be people who aren't either category, people who can be happy, tired and hungry all at the same time! Those people make the rest of us look bad!

Which category are you?

FALL PHOTO REDO

This wasn't supposed to be a redo, but my parents wanted a new photo of the "whole" family. (Megan Stringham is our new addition, plus Rockwell, plus Evan is home from his mission).
Anyway, my mom wasn't completely satisfied with the results so we will be going to SEARS in a month or two, but the good news is Cory and I got some great pics together! YEAH!

See that mosquito in my hair! If you see him you have my permition to kill him! He got me while I was posing for the picture!!!

We are so not good at posing for the camera! I am actually laughing cause I can't take the whole pose seriously. Lack of maturity on my part. Guess I still get giddy looking at my hubs!

Sometimes being purposefully funny turns out better than anything else!

FAMILY PHOTO FLOP

Okay, maybe not everyone...just me. I have squinty eyes and it's been a problem my whole life trying to get a good photo. School photos always looked like I was possessed because I was trying so hard to keep my eyes open!

So my wonderful bro-in-law took some awesome photos, but with three energetic boys and my squinty eyes, it's going to be hard to pick the best.

I'll let you help me decide. (I added a few of just the kids, and a few of the awfuls)

What a cutie!



Option 1

Option 2

My mom likes this one...so I automatically crossed it off my list.

Option 3

Option 4 (Love this photo, even if none of really looke right)

This is what most of them look like!

Mom says I HAVE to cut Jack's hair, so it'll probably never be cut!

LIke this one, but not as the MAIN event

SUMMER DAZE (PART TWO)

In between summer part one and summer part 2, I litterally spent two weeks going to Mahogany Lake EVERYDAY. It was great and very HOT! This has got to be one of the hottest summers in Calgary in the last few years.

Summer part two started the last week of July. Cory and I packed up the kids and drove to the cabin where Grama Sue was waiting for us. We spent the first day shopping in Kalispell. Cory only agreed to this so that he could buy an internet hotspot so he could work from the cabin. Anyway, 10 hours later we finally arrived home. Sue and I had a lot of fun shopping...I totally broke budget and so far Cory has said nothing!!! (He must really love me)!

Later in the week the rest of the Lockharts arrived and we spent a lot of time boating, and sitting in the sun. It was 35 degrees everyday!!! The kids loved spending so much time outside and on the boat. We almost convinced Peyton to try skiing too. He chickened out at the last minute.

My favourite part of course is all the pics!

Peyton loved to jump off the back of the boat and swim in the deep water. What a big boy.

The new "TOY" of the year!

Lots of cliff jumping. This was one of the "easier" jumps.

Benjamen Kennett, Rockwell Lockhart, Jonathan Kennett

ME! Not a great shot, but if felt good to be back on skis this year!

LAZY LAKE DAYS

Sometimes I wish Cory was not self employed, and we could get awesome health benefits and such....but every summer I remember why I love that he is!
We have already taken 3 weeks of holidays together, plus some weekends. 10 days in July and 2 weeks in August. So remind me not to complain when tax season comes around again!

So back in June Chelsea and Jenny joined me at the cabin for a few days. We had so much fun. We hired two awesome girls from the branch to baby-sit for us and off we went to Kalispell for some much needed shopping. I dropped an easy $300 with out even flinching. (That's a lot for me)!!!!! Alot alot.
We also pulled out our huge home made slip and slide. A little water and soap and the kids were flying down our hill.

Then my family joined us for the July long weekend. Again, we had so much fun. The water was still a little cold, so only Cory went skiing, but my crazy brother Mark decided to jump off the bridge. FYI kids....you are not allowed to follow in his foot steps.

I think I will stop there and do the second half of our holidays in a different post.
Here are some of my fav. moments!

Ryder Goodbrand, Crew Spackman, Peyton Lockhart age 4

The kids were so quiet and behave for supper, we just had to take a photo to remember!

All the kids ready to slide!

Jenny and Andie

Chels and Rocky

Mark on top of the bridge "thinking"

family photo...definitely did not make the cut for the Christmas card!

So simple, and so much fun!

FAMILY TRADITIONS

Still having too much fun to spend much time on the computer, but I am going to attempt to back track a little and fill in some summer highlights so far.

For as long as I can remember, my family gets together and goes bowling. It's sort of a family tradition. Something we only do when extended family is town. The funny thing is, we really like it, and no matter how short the visit, or whatever else is going on, we always make time for it...and so the tradition continues.

So here are four generations of family 5 pin bowlers. I seriously hope we never stop!!!

I will have to look for an older photo to compare.

THINGS I WANT TO REMEMBER

So I have no excuses for the almost two-months of not writing, except we have been having a lot of fun and as soon as I have some time to play catch up, I will add photos and stories.
Lately what has really been on my mind is just how fast time is passing me by. I feel like it was just yesterday I brought Peyton home from the hospital and he's 4 and counting and writing his name and starting to put letters together.
So here are some things I don't want to forget, so I am writing them down!

1. When Jack was about 18 months he used to stomp to the rhythm of music. He would stick one leg out and just stomp away. It was so cute.
2. Jack has the biggest pout
3. Jack loves spending time with men. His grandpas and uncles mean the world to him.

4. Rockwell is a hand dancer. Whenever he hears music he puts his hands up and starts waving them around.
5. Rockwell eats almost everything....but he won't eat a mini doughnut, you know.the delicious ones from the Stampede
6. Rockwell slept through the Super Dogs

7. Peyton fell asleep during church (which he hasn't done in years) on Mother's Day! Which was the first day he would have gotten up and sang for me. What a stinker! But it was pretty special getting to hold my really big sleeping baby.
8. Peyton and Jack play pretend non-stop. They have the biggest imaginations and love pretending to be super heroes.
9. Peyton told us his first made up story today.
TITLE:   The Wife and the man with the Sword and Shield

The man and the wife went to bed and they heard a ding dong. The wife was scared, but the man with the sword and shield went to the door and killed the bad guy with his sword and shield.
The man and the wife had three babies. Nana and Scooter and ??? (I couldn't make out what he said)

That was the end of the story.

10. Last but not least I just wish I could remember all the feelings that come with summer time. I just love spending time with the boys at parks and at the Lake and even just in our backyard with the sun shining. I wish summer could last forever.

FAIRMONT HOT SPRINGS

Wow, what a great weekend. We, meaning my whole side of the family, all spent the weekend camping in a tent trailer at the Fairmont Hot Springs. This has been a family tradition for years, but last year my dad got kidney stones right before the trip and it was canceled. Since then the family has grown and at first we weren't sure if we would fit. My little bro Evan also came home from his mission on Wednesday only to be thrown into a tent trailer with the whole family on Friday. What a way to welcome him home.
Mark and Megan Dumouchel got assigned a tent with blow-up mattress. Cory and I probably should have slept there with the kids...but we just weren't sure if the kids would be warm enough. AKA, I am spoiled and wasn't sure if I would be warm enough. And so we got the pull-out king bed and yes all 5 of us slept on it horizontally...good thing we're short!
Meagan and Nathan Greener slept on the table, which converts to a double bed. My parents slept on the queen pull-out on the far side of the trailer and my little bro Evan slept on the couch which pulls out to be a single bed.
I just have to say that our tent trailer has got to be the biggest that they make...it's pretty darn SWEET. Surprisingly we made it through. The kids did great and keep asking to go back. They got spoiled with non-stop swimming, mini-put, bouncy houses, nature walks, and candy galore...oh and did I mention staying up late!
I love times like this when the whole family is together. It just doesn't happen often anymore. My mom kept tearing up, which we all laughed at, but I know that will be me one day!

MINI-PUT - Peyton and Jack's first time.

The natural springs (I personally have never been in...they just seem too icky).

Jackson flying down on the jumbo bouncy slide

Ice cream treat - very accurate of their personalities. Peyton is clean and Jack has it all over.

Little Rockwell asleep on Uncle Mark on our nature walk. Precious.

Jack said he is giving Peyton a ride. Lol.

Ice cream treats for dad and Rockwell too!

Uncle Evan was so good with the kids.

A little R N' R for mom.

Jack is wiped out. He's so precious when he's asleep.