Cami lambi lou is 12

Yup, this happened. I have a kid that turned twelve. Luckily she is a nice kid and will ease us into the on coming teenage years....at least I hope for a gentle entrance into the teenage years....Cami is the most organized non procrastinator ever. I don't ever wonder what assignments she has because first she tells me a month in advance and second she makes lists like no other and third they are done way before they are due. It is such a great trait! She is a really responsible kid with everything from school to babysitting. She is great to play with the littles or anyone that shows up at our house. She often creates crazy new games so all ages can play. She is great at including people. She still reads like a maniac and was particularly excited to turn twelve so she could read hunger games. I told her a few years ago that she could read them until she was 12 or 13 or 14 and she latched onto 12 and didn't forget. She had all three books done about two days after her birthday...She will read anything and everything. She also makes really good choices that will make her happy and I so appreciate that. We got lucky that Cami is part of our family. She is a joy to be around and brings happiness to others too. She's a good one! 

Anyway, Cami's big day was on a Monday and she leaves for school by like 7 and didn't want to get up any earlier than she all ready has to so her daddy daughter breakfast date happened on Saturday. She graduated from Denny's breakfast to a real restaurant and tried real food-stuffed french toast (a milestone for her because she is the pickiest eater in the universe). Later that day I took her to a make up store for a make over. She had asked for make up for her birthday, and while I was surprised since she generally doesn't care about stuff like that, I wanted her to learn how so she wont be afraid to wear it if she wants. We also went shopping and got ice cream. So basically she had a good pre birthday celebration. 

On her actual birthday I got up and made cinnamon rolls (out of the can :) ). She went to school all day (wearing make up...but not done hootchily) then had family bday action that night. It was funny that she actually got gifts from boys this year....at least it was a nice boy....AHHHHHHH! Anyway, here's to hoping she has a great year because she is a kid that makes our years and days great!

Breakfast out with Brent-his tradition to take each kid out for breakfast on their birthdays...She is still talking about the awesome hot chocolate...

Her actual birthday with make up on....

She got a basket for her bike so she could ride to and from the library without her bags ripping from too much book weight....

Yes she did lose her last baby tooth and got her last set of braces on....Still such a cute smile!

She's a pretty on the outside and she is on the inside....which is really saying something.

Soccer tourneys and cousins

So January was a big soccer tournament month for us. First Cami had a big tournament the first weekend in January and then the third weekend Cami's boy cousins her age had a tournament down here. That is the perk of living somewhere relatively warm in the winter-people come to visit and we don't have to travel for sports. For some reason even though soccer was the reason for the visit I didn't take a single picture of any of the games...

Anyway, Cami's team struggled for whatever reason but that was actually kind of a good thing. Usually they spank other teams so they haven't had to deal with losing too much and that is a good lesson to learn-losing gracefully and being a good sport even when its hard. 

Cami's cousins did great in their tournament and it was fun to have them at our house. Both Brent's sisters and many of the cousins came down and stayed. We went hiking and played and Cami and Natalie had a prebirthday birthday bash together. I am thankful that my kids get the opportunity to make memories with a lot of their cousins.

Big Boy Creed is Four...

I can't believe Creed had his fourth birthday. It doesn't seem like it possibly could have been four years ago that he joined the Weight gang and made our lives infinitely more exciting. It is so fun to have a boy in the family, especially this specific boy. He is so busy and interested in so many things the girls never even thought about-like garbage men and fire men and poop and spitting and burping...He is also the most loving, expressive, cuddly kid. He is the only kid I know that randomly, whenever the inkling strikes busts out with "I just LOVE you mommy!" accompanied by a huge hug and smooch....And he does it several times a day. He genuinely loves and shows it. I am so lucky to have a kid who loves me and tells me and shows me...

He is such good buddies with Jocelyn. They are constantly playing and fighting and playing some more. They crack each other up and keep each other occupied...usually in mischief like flooding the bathroom or making mud pies or dumping out lots of puzzles at the same time. 

It sort of stinks that his birthday is sooo close to christmas because it is really hard to think of gifts again so soon. But this year I figured I would let him have cool experiences instead of just gifts...(Don't worry I did get him a gift, his very own trash can to wheel around the yard...) 

Our first stop was the firestation and the guys there were AWESOME! They gave him a full tour of four different fire trucks. They turned on all the lights and showed him their map book. They answered all of his questions and showed him all their tools. They even let him try on their clothes which ended up being REALLY heavy. They even gave him his very own special fireman helmet and coloring book. Seriously they spent like an hour helping him have a great day and I can't say enough nice things about them.

The next stop was at Lowe's where he got his very own garbage can and his own little tool box. He can spend hours at Lowe's checking out the garbage cans and taking them for a spin...He was SUPER excited to get to take one home this time.
After we grabbed Jocelyn from school we headed up to the garbage company head quarters. The too were AWESOME! They gave us safety vests and let us wander around and climb in the trucks. They let Creed honk the horn and see the back up lights. They let him look in the guts of one being repaired. The answered all his questions and look in all their trash cans...for like another hour...At the end they gave Jocelyn and Creed mini garbage cans with suckers inside...They must have gotten instructions on how to charm little boys. Creed seriously had the best time.

After his tours we stopped and got nuggets for lunch at his request. We went to Cami's soccer tournament then hurried home for pizza, cake and ice cream and the family party. He requested a race car cake again mainly because he likes circus peanuts...there is a little Rice in him afterall....After all the days sugar he ran around crazy then fell asleep fast for Grandma while we took Cami to another game in her soccer tournament....

Uncle Mark found this amazing mask at Target. It has this funny voice modifying thing in it and Creed loves running around screaming into it...Despite Uncle Mark only having daughters he knows how to shop for little boys amazingly well.

Creed is such a loved little man. And he generally is a happy smiling ball of energy...We are so blessed to have this loving, crazy boy in our house. We are so in love with him and all the funny things he says...I just wish I wrote down more of the funny things he says because he truly is hilarious and has a super expressive face.  

He's come a long ways...he was so little and cute....now he is just getting so big and cute...

Curbside Recyclings Biggest Fan

I expected Creed to get over his trash/garbage truck obsession about three years ago....it is still in full force. He counts down the days until it is garbage day (for reals he literally does count the days). His preschool teacher lets him take in her garbage cans and watch the garbage guy that comes a day earlier than it does in our neighborhood. His cousin took him on a cousin date to empty the trash cans at the restraunt where she works and he LOVED it and is still talking about it. In order to get him to hold still for hair cuts I just put on YouTube garbage truck videos...its the only time he really sits still.  At the end of 2015 it was announced that St George would finally institute curbside recycling and Creed was out of control excited. He kept watching and waiting for the recycle can to be dropped off at our house. He watched the cans be delivered to other neighborhoods and literally curbside recycling is ALL he talked about. I actually think his obsession is pretty funny but it was to the point that I was seriously going a little crazy with all the recycle talk.Finally the can was delivered...It is still all he talks about.

 He is totally a recycle nazi. I can't throw ANY thing away that could be recycled...If I do I get a lecture and he takes it out of the trash and moves it to the recycle bin. 

The first day the picked up the recycling he followed the truck around the block until Anthony the recycle man stopped and chatted with him and offered to let him climb in the recycle truck to check it out....He is on first name basis with both the garbage man and recycle man....they are his BFFs...SO if you ever need a recycling advocate or the best garbage boy ever I know where you can find him....and he is really cute!

The day the can FINALLY came...he didn't stop smiling and moving it and talking about it...

A First Choir Concert and a Paino Recital

December seemed particularly crazy this year. It seemed like we were constantly running from one activity to the next....all good activities but just really a lot of them.. But some of the most enjoyable ones were Cami's first choir concert and Cami and Taryn's piano recital. Cami's choir concert was fun because they sang a lot of fun songs and it was short and sweet. She seems to really enjoy singing...hopefully she takes more after Brent in the voice department than me and she will do well...

Taryn playing her best Christmas carols....

Cami playing her best Christmas carols...

This picture is so funny to me. The whole concert and recital Creed was crazy...I don't think he actually sat still for an entire song...After the paino recital I tried to get one picture of the girls together and the flash aka Creed was still in crazy mode...moving so fast he was a blur...Love these kids but sometimes (like during concerts) I really can't keep up with him... 

winter one-der(gree) land....

Over Christmas break we made a trip to Heber to hang out with Papa Weight and the cousins. It was a great time but super duper duper duper cold....like -11 half way through the day. There was also TONS of snow. While sledding I watched the temperature drop from 9 degrees to -1 and then I couldn't take it anymore and we all came home to a warm house. We did A LOT of sledding. In the middle of Papa's street there is a cliff area-like a super steep cliff area- that is bush free for about a 4-6 foot wide path from top to bottom. It makes for super fast fun sledding....unless you are Jocelyn or Creed going down with Brent. Then it makes for very sad sledding when dad's feet snow plow snow into your face the whole way down in an effort to stay slower and safer....Both of them ended up in tears and happily built a snow fort in the yard instead of going sledding the next few times. The snow fort in the yard was awesome and occupied kids for hours.

We also spent time at a fun center called Trafalga. We did mini bowling, climbing walls, laser tag, and lots of arcade games and playhouse jungle gyms. It was great. Creed still talks about the mini bowling and laser tag. We also spent a lot of time just hanging out with cousins and watching movies and having fun. It was a great way to spend a week and it was hard to leave papa's.

Cami made it to the top of the really tall wall...

A Christmas miracle....for Creed not Brent....

 All the kids gave it a good attempt....several times...

 Jocelyn and her cute little princess leah buns....She got pretty high until she freaked herself out and came down....

 

 Creed made it up five or six feet...he didn't weigh enough to get down without being leashed and pulled down when he was done. 

 Three at a time....Creed Jocelyn and Taryn

 Two at a time...

 Taryn has always been small but packs a punch and is scrappy...in a good way.

The sledding hill from the heated car...it was so steep that the kids would slide down and then I would drive them around on the road back up to the top...

I think there were 12 of us loaded in the car....it was cozy...

The view of the back side of timpanogus mountain with the sun setting was amazing...

This is as close to a "before" picture as I took....

This is the "after".....luckily she has a hard head because this was and epic rat's next....