Year in Review from Facebook 2013

January
·         Looking forward to a great time. Thanks mom and dad for the tickets and looking forward to the season tickets Liz bought for the rest of the year! — with Liz McKnight at Desert Star Playhouse.

·         Checking in for my Christmas present from Wes. So excited, thanks hun!
·         Just got home from a party and the kids are in bed, the house is clean, and Wes is downstairs doing Yoga. Is this a dream? This never happens.
·         Good old Taco Bell. You never know what you’re gonna get.
·         I’m feeling the organization bug this week. Cleaned out the laundry/food storage room the other day and today I’m tackling our “junk room” and files. I better get back to work before the bug goes away.
·         Oak and I had fun digging a tunnel out of the huge snow mound at the corner of our driveway
·         Hanging out at the zoo with grandpa and cousins. We finally get to see the new sea lions.

February

·         My boys are so handsome! I love them!
·         Yay! My friend jeana is finally made it home from russia with their beautiful new edition to their family. So happy for them!
·         Thank you pinterest. Now I have a valentines wreath that costs me nothing.
·         Chill’n with my dad at East Canyon, helping him figure out his smart phone and finding fun apps for him. Now that’s quality bonding time right there ;)
·         One more shirt to add to the collection. (Women’s all-nighter vball tournament)

March

·         Are those homemade chicken nuggets? Why yes...yes they are. Not quite chick-fil-a but pretty darn close.
·         Somebody's sure enjoying all the sunshine lately. He just can't get enough of it. (Tyson sliding)
·         How do you get rid of the back pain you’ve had from throwing your back out you might ask? Just sprain your ankle. ;(

April

·         Liz McKnight's good parenting quote of the day "Tyson, do you want dinner or are you just going to keep eating stuff off the floor?" Serious question. LOL
·         First bike ride today. Love the sunny weather!
·         Since everyone else is posting about national siblings day I might as well show off my awesome siblings. Especially our sweet 80's picture. I love my family!
·         First place baby! Love my partner! She gets the mvp award for all her kills and triple blocks. — at St. George Spring Opener.
·         My beautiful grandma passed away today at the age of 95. She was so sweet and always happy and I'm glad I got to live with her for a few years. She can now be with her sweetheart and not have any more pain. A joyous day for them, but bittersweet for all of us. We love you mor mor and will miss you.
·         Does anyone know somebody that could give my sister a lift from Vegas to Salt Lake? She is flying in from Boston for my grandma’s funeral and SL flights are full so she’s heading to Vegas. If so, let me know, thanks.
·         It’s never a good thinkg when your four year old comes out of the bathroom holding his wet pants and underwear and says “I dropped them in the sink”.

May

·         These two cousins absolutely love each other. They even have to sit as close as possible while eating lunch. (Kayla and Oakley)
·         Fun day at the zoo! A little busy, but great weather and the animals were so active. Thanks gma for taking us.
·         Guess what I just did. (Chopped hair)
         Our back yard is going to double in the next few days. I'm so excited!
·         The fence fairies surprised me while I was gone for two hours. I was so surprised to drive around the corner and see this.
·         How do you keep a 4 year old occupied while you shop at three different stores? . . . Let him use your camera phone the whole time. Needless to say we ended up with about 200 pictures of his Star Wars encyclopedia (some of them extreme close ups of Luke’s hands and feet), 100 pictures of the floor, 50 picture of his brother in the stroller, about 20 pictures of my behind, and 10 more of the back of my head. What a funny kid, but I got done what I needed, hehe.
·         Had a pretty cool missionary experience on the Frontrunner tonight with the YM/YW. It made it all worth it. And thank you to the anonymous guy sitting behind us and listening to our conversation, who handed out “investigator” The Gospel is Restored book on his way off the train. Whoever you are, you are my hero.
·         There’s nothing like getting caught in a downpour as you’re walking with your kids out to the car. Talk about throwing everything in the car in record time, even the kids.

June

·         Everyone get excited! The avp is coming to slc! Less conference was today and it was fun to be a part of.
·         Doctor says allergies but to me he looks like he just went 12 rounds. Lol! And this is better than it was thus morning. (Oak’s swollen face)
·         Congrats to my nephew, Adam Della-Piana. Valedictorian of his class in Berwick, Maine. We are so proud of you!! Great speech!
·         Also have to give a shout out to my oldest niece. She is an amazing woman. "Go amber!!!" (Make sure you turn the volume up) — with Katy Thompson Westenskow and 4 others at Amber Radmall is graduating from Open High School of Utah.
·         Happy Fathers day to the best dad these two toads could ever have. You know you're their favorite Love you! — with Wesley McKnight
·         Happy Fathers day Dad! Thanks for everything you do for me!
·         All bundled up after trying to swim in this chilly weather. They still loved it though. Thanks Nicole Russell Wallace for inviting us.
·         I only have one child today! I feel like a free woman. What should I do?
·         Had a fun mommy-son day today with this little guy. We went shopping, took a nice long nap, dinner with dad, and then more shopping. I think he liked all the attention for once.

July

·         1st place again baby! I love this girl! Great job Ashley Murray — at Park City 31st Annual July 4th Tournament.
·         The views from our table tonight at my birthday dinner. (Temple, The Roof Restaurant)
·         My two little iPad addicts. It's amazing how even my little one can navigate his way around.
·         Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! (Flat tire)
·         Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. I’ve had an awesome birthday week full of movies, lots of eating out with delicious food (it’s so much better when you don’t cook it yourself), two volleyball tournaments, fireworks, chocolate (yum yum!), relaxing, Trafalga, and my very own tablet to top it off. My hubby sure did spoil me this year. Love you all, and thanks again.
·         It’s amazing what two hours away from the kids and spending time with wonderful women can do. Loved Relief Society tonight!! Thanks Amy, Megan, Cletah and Gina, and everyone else that helped!!

August

·         Attention volleyball peeps: One of my good friends is the AD for a 4A High School here in Salt Lake. She just hired the setter from BYU to be their head volleyball coach there, but they are having a hard time finding any assistants. If you are interested or if any of you know someone who might be interested please let me know. The season starts next week and they are pretty desperate to find someone. Thanks!!
·         Watching four kids all day isn’t too bad, especially when the two youngest take a nice long two hour nap at the same time, and the oldest two are plopped down in front of a movie. Yay for a few minutes of peace and quiet!!
·         The courts are going in at liberty!! Getting excited!!!!! Everyone buy your tickets at avp.com
·         Oak robbed his piggy bank today to pay for an app on the Ipad. Little did he know the Ipad doesn’t take coin.  Fail, but cute.
·         Yup, that's Kerri Walsh. I told her I love her mommy posts on facebook. Haha!!
·         Tyson just discovered that if he holds his nostrils closed his voice sounds funny. He’s such a character.
·         Thanks Wesley McKnight for doing all the hard work and going through all the photos to find the best ones. It was the best weekend ever! Topped it off with a free game ball signed by all the champs. #avpslc
·         Anyone know a good plumber . . . or better yet, anyone want to come gut and remodel our bathroom?
·         Carver's steakhouse, Anniversary Inn, Baskin Robbins, FatCats bowling, The Pizza Factory, beating the pirates game at Trafalga, Seven Peaks, and finished it off with Popeye's chicken. I think we hit every hot date night joint in the last 24 hours. Happy anniversary to the best husband ever! Love you hun!

September

·         Not to self; feeding the kids energy bites an hour before bed time dos NOT help them fall asleep.
·         My eyeballs are still burning from the pelting horizontal rain that we tried to play volleyball in this afternoon. That was a crazy storm. Wish I had gotten a pic but we were too busy trying to stay alive.
·         First day of preschool. Today marks the end of my "leisurely" life sleeping in and doing whatever we wanted all day. Oak loves school so I guess it's worth it.
·         I love my husband! Three weekends in a row he stayed home with the kids so I could either play or ref volleyball. What a great dad! Thanks hun!
·         We made it through the first night without the binkie. Hopefully tonight will be better.
·         First permanent marker incident as a mom. I'm surprised I made it this long with two boysrunning around.

October

·         Oakley turned 5 yesterday and he wanted a pirate party. Good thing there is Pinterest Happy Birthday Oak!! Can't believe you are 5 already.
·         Can I give my 2 year old a cough drop? The poor kid is coughing every 20 seconds. ;(
·         Happy Halloween, from Spiderman and yoda!

November

·         Me: “Oakley, whose birthday do we celebrate on Christmas?” Oak (deep in thought)…”Mine?” Looks like we need to change a few things around out house this season.

Christmas

I didn't get many pictures of Christmas this year. I did get Oakley and all his loot, but does it end up being a ton. The big thing that the boys got this year were all of Wes's old Star Wars figures and ships. Over 170 figures and 30 some odd vehicles. I think Tyson loved them the most. He played with them straight for the next week. He always had two guys in his hand and were flying them all over and bouncing them off things. In the pictures he had a stormtrooper who's helmet comes off. He loved it. We had a nice relaxing Christmas, which is what I needed this year. It was perfect.

 

 

 

Here are the boys helping us decorate our tree. Tyson liked taking the ornaments apart more than putting them on the tree itself. Oakley was a big help and put all of his ornaments on the side of the tree by the fireplace.

We had some pretty big snow storms this month. I love when there is snow all over the trees.

Randomness

A few random pictures from my phone.

First: Oakley playing in the leaves. He was looking forward to this for so long. As soon as the leaves started to fall he would ask me when we could rake them up and play in them. Finally, enough leaves had fallen so we waited till Tyson was napping and went outside to rake them up. He loved being buried in them and throwing them up in the air. I'm glad we only have one tree that drops leaves cause it is a workout to rake those things up.

 

 

 

 Tyson loves having his friend Ellie over to play. One night I found them behind the rocking chair laying on their bellies and reading books together. It was so cute.

 This is a funny picture, only because I am also in there. I'm laying on my left side under the blue blanket. Oakley is sitting in front of my tummy and my legs are curled up around Tyson. This is how I relax. Give the kids the Tablets and let them sit on me.

 I love this boy. He's such a funny kid.

This was our first big snow fall. I love the snow. I don't even mind being cold and shoveling it. I think it is so pretty.

The Dentist

 Oakley had to get some work done on his teeth. He had a chipped tooth, so the dentist had to put a crown on it that will just come off when the tooth falls out. Oakley was so good for the dentist. He didn't cry at all, and he loved sitting on the chair under the little monkey they had hanging from the light. I think he actually like going to the dentist, and he didn't mind that they had to put his tooth to sleep a few times. Hopefully all dentist trips will be as easy as these ones were.

Halloween

These pictures weren't taken on Halloween because when Halloween came around Tyson wouldn't put on his costume. He was excited to be Yoda, so I let them get dressed a few days before to make sure the costumes fit. Good thing I took pictures then cause he wanted nothing to do with the costume a few days later. Oakley loved his costume. He loved pointing his hand like he was shooting a web, and he loved that the suit had built in muscles. I'm glad I found it last year on clearance that day after Halloween, and that it fit him this year. Note to self: Always buy costumes the day after Halloween.

 

 

Zoo trip

We got to go to the zoo with my sister and her family while they were in town for UEA. It was a little busy, but not too bad. We still loved it. Oakley of course had to have his map the whole time. He loves looking at maps. If only he could read them.

 

 

 

 

 

Another New Door

We always have a house project in the making. Our most recent one was turning our living room window into a sliding door so we didn't have to go through our garage and around to get to the back yard. It wasn't very high on Wes's remodeling list, but on mine it was, and I'm the planner/designer so I get what I want, usually. I just hated how the kids were so far away if they wanted to be outside and I needed to be inside. With this door, they can go right out onto our patio and play all day long, and I can see them right there.

 Anyway, we hired my friend Rich to come and install it for us. Of course I forgot to take a before picture, but here's a during picture:

 and an after picture. The original window didn't go all the way to the ground so he cut the brick outside and tore out the bottom of the window to make the opening. Then we just slid this huge thing into place. We could tell a temperature difference right away. The windows we had didn't close all the way and they let tons of air in and out, and it was so drafty in that room. Now it's nice and temperate. We love it!

 

 I can't believe how much we've used it already, even though it's getting colder. I love the stairs and the openness of the windows. I especially love that I can open the glass and just have fresh air blowing through the screen. It was well worth the money.

A sore nose and scones

Our little Tyson is such a tough guy. He beats up on Oakley and usually wins. He is so active and always on the go, but sometimes his feet aren't fast enough for him, and this is the result:

 

 Poor little guy was running around playing in the back yard when he tripped and fell on the cement. The only problem was he was holding a stick in his hand so he couldn't catch himself and landed flat on his nose. He got a nice nose bleed and a pretty good scrape. I'm just grateful the stick didn't end up in his face.

 

 One of our favorite Sunday meals is scones. It's so easy and everyone loves them. Oakley is a big helper when we make them too. He loves to roll out the dough and he actually does a pretty good job. You can't really mess up though when the Rhode's dough is already shaped in a ball.

 

Pirate Party

This year Oakley asked to have a "Pirate Party" for his birthday. One of his friends got him watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and we borrowed The Lego Pirates game from my sister and he's been playing that, so I guess that's where he came up with the idea.

It was actually pretty fun to plan. Thank goodness for Pinterest!

Each of the kids got a pirate hat and a mustache, although the mustaches didn't stay on very long, and that hats were kind of small, but it was the thought that counts right?

 

We let Oakley invite five friends cause he was turning five years old. I think that's a good rule to go by. It was much more manageable compared to last year.

 

First they all got to walk the plank that I made. They loved walking and running across and then jumping in to the lion pool that we have.

Even the two littlest ones tried it. Tyson loved it, but Parker wasn't so sure about it.

 

Then we played musical islands, which is like musical chairs but you had to find an "island" to sit on when the music stopped. This pretty much just turned into a run around game and pile on the island game, but they liked it.

Afterwards we had pizza and root beer, one of Oakley's favorites.

 

Then I let each of the kids take a 30 second turn digging for buried treasure in our turtle sand box. I had put plastic coins and little treasure chests and pencils in there. Once everyone had a turn then I let them loose to just find whatever they could. I think they liked it.

The best part of the night was the treasure hunt. I had taken pictures of different places around the yard and in the house and I hid them at each place. So they would look at the picture and run to the place and find the next picture. It was so funny to watch them run from place to place. They were really good at taking turns opening the envelopes. A few times Oakley would look at the picture and then yell "Follow Me!" and start running to the next place. 

The end of the treasure hunt was inside the hot tub building. At first they went in and were looking for another clue, and then they finally realized that there was a treasure chest right there on the floor in front of them. Haha, they were funny. Inside the chest were some chocolate coins, an inflatable pirate sword for everyone, and a goody bag for everyone. They had fun sword fighting afterwards.

Then last but not least we had cake and ice cream. My friend Sheri made this adorable cake for Oakley. She is so talented. Maybe some day I'll attempt one myself, but for now I won't stress out about it.

Oak loved his party and I enjoyed throwing it for him. He's grown up so much in these five years. He is usually very thoughtful and loving, and he is my big little boy. Love him!