This and That

Miss Kendle is adjusting to having her expander put in yesterday. She is frustrated that it is harder to eat and she was really grumpy this morning as she tried to eat cereal for breakfast, she finally gave up on it and ate some banana instead. It will be interesting to see how her lunch goes. Relearning how to eat is going to be a top priority. I would have thought having the expander on the roof of her mouth would have been more uncomfortable but so far she has only complained about the brackets on her two front teeth. They only put two on and are waiting for her other teeth to come in and she has one tooth that she needs to wiggle and help fall out. I was helping her take some pain medicine for it last night and accidentally banged the spoon on her teeth. Ouch! She was not happy about that. But, she is excited to being on her way to beautiful teeth!

{Got to love the "I just got done beating up on my little brother hair"}

Have I mentioned what a little snacker Mister Morgan is lately? Every time I turn around he is eating something or asking for a snack. He is like a little bird that grazes all day long. He is so skinny though, I figure it's not hurting him. He is stretching out and getting taller and has the skinniest little legs. I'm always trying to get him to drink more milk and I don't mind when he wants a spoonful of peanut butter. He has so much energy and is always playing and running and doing something. He hardly sits still for long. Last night I found him sitting on the kitchen counter snacking on an apple. 

I've never seen a little kid that drinks as much as he does either. He is always running to the fridge to fill up his cup for a drink. I don't think we will ever have to worry about Morgan staying hydrated!

In other exciting news, I have cut my time on running the mile by 45 seconds in the last month since I started running more consistently. I am aiming to cut off another 15 seconds in the next few weeks. I am feeling good but my knees are hurting me a little. My legs tend to get kind of sore because I have one leg that is a bit longer than the other (just one of my many oddities) so I think one leg tends to get more pressure put on it and it puts me off kilter a bit. Since we moved our treadmill into our bedroom and I can't watch TV anymore while I run I have to rely on a good playlist of workout music on my ipod. It totally keeps me going and keeps me pumped up and helps me run harder and longer than I think I can. Here's a small sampling:

Airplanes - B.o.B (Featuring Hayley Williams of Paramore)

Undo It - Carrie Underwood

When You Were Young - The Killers

Spotlight (Twilight Mix) - Mutemath

Heart of a Champion - Nelly

Everlong - Foo Fighters

Let the Drummer Kick - Citizen Cope

Something Good Can Work - Two Door Cinema Club

How Do You Get High? - The Weepies

I make sure to mix it up and change up the playlist every now and then so I don't get bored. Oh yeah, and it's always interesting to see what Morgan has been doing during my run. For example when he's supposed to be watching a movie and he's really been climbing up on the counter and eating all the sprinkles in the baking cupboard. Never a dull moment I tell ya.

Everybody's Excited About Something

*Riley's team moved up to number four in the state rankings - he's excited!

*Kendle gets her expander and brackets on tomorrow and she already knows what colors she wants - she's excited!

*Morgan gets to bring the snack this week for pre-school and since they are learning about the letter "D" we have something fun in mind - he's excited!

*Yesterday I received my tickets for a concert I'm super stoked about for one of my favorite groups - I'm SO excited!

*Kendle and I can now play duets together on the piano - so fun!

*Cooper and Kale - well, they are excited by just about everything.


Lots of things to look forward to in the next little while!

And so it begins.....

It seems we are already in the throes of the much dreaded cold and flu season. For crying out loud, it's not even October yet. Usually we can make it past the first few months of school without the torturous runny noses and coughs, but I feel like I've been ambushed the last few weeks. I know lots of other families have been sick too. There must be some strong germs out there. Every single one of my four children have/has been sick and it just keeps going around like a vicious cycle. There is also nothing more frustrating than taking your kids to the doctor and having them tell you "it just needs to run it's course". Umm........what that really means is it will be running it's course around and around and around our family until spring. At least one member of our family has been sick since the week before school started. {And does anything make you cringe more than taking your newly healthy children out and about and then having them exposed to more kids coughing and sneezing and rubbing runny noses?} The hard thing is, if you kept your kids home every time they had a runny nose or cough they would probably miss half the school year. The worst is the poor runny noses on the kids. The twins just start flinching when they see me coming at them to wipe their nose. At least it's not slowing them down any. They are still all over the house and into everything. They are just like little slugs (although very cute little slugs), leaving a slimy trail wherever they go. They have the wonderful ability to grab onto my pant leg and rub their runny little noses all over it.  Time to clean and disinfect the house again. At least the sunshine and this weather is making it all a little easier to deal with. The weather this week is supposed to be amazing. Perhaps these sunny days will suck up all the sickness and take it away. I hope so.........

Growing Boys

Cooper and Kale are now 10 months old and really keeping life interesting. They are trying to start walking and love to pull themselves up on drawers, tables, chairs, couches, bookcases, and anything else they can get a grip on. This often results in lots and lots of bruises and crying and hugs. The other day I looked for Cooper and he had gotten into the toy box. Apparently he had pulled almost every toy out and then climbed (or fallen) in. He was happy as a clam just chilling out in there.

Fun facts:

*Kale is a total momma's boy and loves to cuddle.

*Cooper is more nonchalant.

*They love tub time, in fact, the minute they hear any water running in either bathroom they start shrieking and clapping and tapping their feet and will crawl as fast as they can to come see if it's time for them to take a bath. And boy do they love to splash!

*Both are great eaters. Some favorites are crackers, doughnuts, peas, chicken, rice, ice cream, mashed potatoes, toast, bananas, pears, pasta and anything else we happen to be eating that they think they need a taste of.

*Wearing size 18 months and some 2T clothes and they have the fattest little feet.

*Great sleepers. Taking 2 naps a day and sleeping through the night. It's awesome.

*They never lost their baby hair so I get to enjoy their lovely soft blondish hair for a little longer.

*They love to go bye-bye and go anywhere outside.

*They love to play in Kendle and Morgan's room and get into all their stuff.

*Starting to not like strangers or anyone new and will cry when I leave.

*They love music and to have songs sung to them.

*Starting to recognize their own names better. They still turn their head when you say either name. :)

*Like to stand up by the windows or sliding door and watch Riley mow the lawn.

They are starting to develop lots of differences in their personalities and it is so interesting and fun to watch them grow and develop. They are such happy boys and make me smile every day. They put up with a lot from their big brother and sister and are happy to tag along with me whatever I'm doing around the house. I'm so thankful for their patient and easy going attitudes. They are so adorable and chubby and sweet.

Here are a few pictures:
{Cooper in Red, Kale in Green}

Lazy Morning

I should be getting ready to workout right now, but since it was so quiet this morning the babies slept in much later than usual and probably won't go down for a nap at their usual time. Why was it so quiet? Mr. Morgan went home with my parents last night to stay with them. They came to help me last night so I could go watch Riley's team play. {The game was great, but it was freezing cold. It took me a good hour or more to warm up afterwards. I am a wimp when it comes to cold weather. I had to come home, get in some warm comfy pajamas, put on some warm fuzzy socks and have some hot chocolate {{sipped from my super cute new cups from IKEA}} and then I still had to pile a few more blankets on top of my comforter before bed.} So yes, my good dad decided they could take Morgan back with them and he could spend the day playing with his cousin Moira. My sister-in-law Debbie is so fun, she informed me this morning that they would be going to the park for a little picnic. I know Morgan will love that. He has been needing a fun little outing.

It is amazing how happy the babies wake up when they haven't been jolted awake by the morning barrage of noise. They fussed a little around 6 am, I quietly snuck them in each a bottle and they drank and fell back asleep for three more hours. Pure bliss to have a quiet house all to myself. I really should have done something more productive, but I feel like the rest of the day will more than make up for my lack of motivation this morning. I'm picking Kendle up from school early for another orthodontist appointment, just one of the many that will follow from here on out. Then we'll be off to soccer practice and running a few errands.

New Blog

Pretty much everyone who knows me has an idea of how much I like to read. Because of my love for reading and books I have started another blog just for that purpose. I'm excited to have another outlet for putting some of my thoughts and opinions down without doing it on my family blog. So if you share my passion for reading, or are just looking for some ideas for new reading material you can visit me at The Book Addict. (I even made my new header all by myself, you can take a peek at some of my favorite books.)

Dressing Up

We call this look "Army Chic"

Rainy Kind of Day

The rainy and overcast weather I woke up to this morning was the perfect
encore to the night I had. I don't know what it is, but our kids always get sick when Riley has to go out of town for work. My night was spent cuddling Kale back to sleep because he was stuffed up and needed some extra loves, and getting up with Morgan as he coughed and hacked his little heart out on his little bed I made on the floor next to me so he wouldn't keep the other kids awake. Those are the type of nights where I am afraid to even close my eyes and get comfortable as I settle back into bed because I know I'll be awakened at any moment and it will just be that much more torturous to once again haul myself out of bed. I called Riley around 11:00 last night to tell him about all of the fun he was missing out on. He tried not to rub it in that he had been treated to a fancy steak dinner by their corporate office and then enjoyed a nice quiet evening catching up with everything on Sports Center and was about to enjoy an uninterrupted night of peaceful sleep.

My morning started off with a bang when I went in to get the twins up and their room was full of the worst stench ever. Ugh......both of them had total blow outs, and so two clothing changes, diaper changes, bedding changes, and baths later we were finally able to get on with our day. I opened the window in their room all the way to air it out with some fresh rainy air and it was better in no time. I put Morgan in a hot steamy shower and he is breathing a little better, ate some pancakes, and is now laying on the couch watching Monsters Inc. for the one millionth time. Don't think I'm going to get a workout in today, but I think I've already burned enough calories to at least count for something. I'm thinking it's going to be a lazy type of day.

Live - Breathe - Sleep - Soccer

I feel that it is very ironic that my previously least favorite sport is now an all consuming part of our family life. I'm sure the soccer gods are having a good laugh at me. To be fair, where I grew up soccer was pretty much non-existent and to be honest it was kind of the sport we made fun of. They didn't have it as a sport option in the schools and there were few if any local youth leagues. Anyways fast forward all these years later after I met my husband and I feel a bit tricked that it has become such a huge part of my life. In all fairness, he was a football coach - not a soccer coach when we first started dating, but I did know he was definitely passionate about sports - playing, watching, and coaching.

I first started to rethink my previous opinions about soccer when Riley and I were dating and I would go watch him play "Mexican league" soccer. I was blown away at how tough and fast those guys were. I couldn't believe they could run so hard and fast for that amount of time. I got tired just watching them. Most of the games were pretty exciting, Riley was (and is) a very physical defensive player and a master at slide tackles so he was a fun person to watch and cheer on. I being a soccer newbie, had no idea really how the game was played except for the obvious tactic of kicking the ball through the opponents goal. It seemed so backwards to me, I mean really, what kind of strategy is it to pass the ball backwards to in essence move it forward. Riley would throw soccer terms and lingo around in attempts to educate me on the game and my eyes would just instantly start glassing over with the overload of information.

Fast forward more years and now I'm literally entrenched in soccer fever. With Riley coaching three or four teams and Kendle now playing I have a bit more incentive to be knowledgeable about it and have even (dare I say it) started to really enjoy watching soccer. It is still not my most favorite sport, but it continues to grow on me. Our kids all have soccer gear and jerseys and our garage looks like a sporting goods store.

Kendle had her first game this last Saturday and did a great job. She got to play goalie twice and had some great saves and a great kick that made it all the way to the other teams goal which would have been awesome if one her players would have been there to kick it in. She was really excited they get to play four on four this year because she has been dying to get to play goalie. When she was playing out in the field she was able to score two goals. She is listening to my coaching from the sidelines a lot better this year. Ha! At least no more dirty looks when I yell "run faster" and "hustle" every five seconds. I love it when she is excited after her games about how she played and tired because she knows she worked hard. I think they have a pretty good team this year and the girls had a lot of fun together.

Riley's team played West Valley on Saturday and beat them 2-0. This was an exciting game for them because WV is a very good team, I believe they were the league champs last year. It was great for them to get that win and have it behind them. Southridge went up a spot in the state rankings from 7th to 6th, so hopefully they can hang onto their winning streak and keep playing hard.

Riley mentioned to me the other night that by Thanksgiving we are going to need a vacation. It probably won't happen, but I think he's right.

Today I am:

::Glad I worked out::

::Craving Kung Pao Chicken::

::Turning a blind eye to my messy house and concentrating on folding

10 loads of laundry instead::

::Trying to be patient with my three year old who goes outside and sprays

the house with the hose every five minutes::

::Loving the sunny weather::

::Planning something fun for FHE::

::Trying to think of something yummy for dinner.........hmmm,

Kung Pao Chicken?::

::Going to soak up some of the sunshine while relaxing

and reading my new book::

::Glad that it's Monday which is our least busy day of the week::

::Going to kick butt - at nothing in particular, just at whatever comes my way, laundry, making snacks, changing diapers - yes I am that hardcore::

Big Things Happening

It has been a busy couple of weeks around the Dodson house. We are back in full swing with soccer, school, piano, and coaching. It can definitely be challenging to keep up with everyone's different schedules and make sure we don't forget anything.

Sometimes Morgan gets pushed aside a bit and can be the child that's always along for the ride. He's a good sport most of the time. So I was excited this week for him to start his first year of preschool and have something that is just for him and to make new friends. He goes two mornings a week from 9-11:30. He has been really excited the last week or so to finally get to go. His teacher is fantastic and really tries hard to reach out to each of the kids and make them feel welcome.

Here he is getting ready to go yesterday morning for his first day:

{Can you tell he was excited?!}

{His super scary dinosaur backpack, don't think we'll be getting it confused with anyone else's. Ha.}

Morgan is a little more nervous sometimes about things like this than Kendle was. Kendle wanted me to always just drop her off and leave quickly. Morgan kept asking me if I was going to stay with him. I felt a twinge of momma worry for him until we got there, walked in the front door, and his teacher was there to greet him and he got whisked away to do something fun. After picking him up to go home he had lots to tell me about his day. They read the Rainbow Fish story and painted their own fish. They also had a yummy snack, got to do show and tell, and played outside. He can't wait to go back next week. I can't believe what a big boy he is getting to be!

Another new and exciting development around our house is this:

I know a lot of people can get their babies to hold their bottles a lot earlier, but I was trying to enjoy every last minute of cuddle time I could. To be honest though, it can be really difficult to handle the crying of one baby while you are trying to feed the other. So the day had to come. I let them both get really, really hungry, laid them on a blanket, and without any difficulty this is what happened. To most moms this is not that big of a deal, but let me tell you how much better and easier this makes my life. I can lay them down for a nap together now, they can eat at the same time, they are sleeping better than ever, and on so much of a better and more consistent schedule.

Life is getting better! Yesterday I took Morgan to preschool, came home and fed the twins breakfast and let them play for a bit, put them down for a nap, I got a really good run in on the treadmill without any interruptions, got showered and dressed for the day in a quiet house with no one crying at my feet, got the babies up and dressed to go pick Morgan up and everyone was happy! It was a great thing.

Turning 8, Part III

One of the most important reasons Kendle was so excited to turn 8, was that she would finally be old enough to be baptized. She has attended baptisms for older cousins and friends and anticipated the day it would be her turn. She has talked about it for months and months and crossed off the days on her calendar.

She was able to be baptized at the Parley Street church building surrounded by lots of family and friends. Riley performed the baptism and confirmation and my father, my grandfather, and two of my older brothers - Jeremy and Richard were also able to help with the confirmation. She wanted her grandpa to give the talk on the Holy Ghost and he gave her some good advice. One thing in particular he counseled her and the other little girls that were baptized was to take a moment in the morning before they rush out the door for school to just pause a minute and let the Holy Ghost "catch up" to them so they could have it's companionship on their way to school and through the rest of their day. I reminded Kendle of that this week as she was heading down the sidewalk for the bus and I think it has helped her. It was a good little thought.

One thing I will always remember about Kendle's baptism was her smiling face as she came out of the water and as I was helping her change her clothes, she just had a perma-grin the whole time. I have thought about what that day would be like for a long time and I was very proud of her.

She was excited to receive some really nice scriptures from her grandma and grandpa Tovey and a pretty CTR ring and bracelet from Riley and I. She was afraid she was going to lose her ring if she wore it to school, but she's worn the bracelet every day - even to soccer practice which I had to warn her might not be the best idea, although with how wild things can get at soccer practice maybe it's not a bad idea after all. Ha.

Another thing about turning 8 that is really exciting to Kendle is that she is able to attend Activity Days at the church two times a month on Wednesday afternoons with the other girls her age. She's been really looking forward to being able to start going to that and working on her Faith in God requirements. She got to go to Activity Day for the first time last week and had a great time and loved her leaders. They played a get to know you game and had some little candy treats for getting answers right. Totally right up Kendle's alley. She is already super excited to go again next week.

So far being 8 really is great!

Photo memories of the special day:

{Typical family picture of us - Cooper was just about to grab Kendle's flower in her hair, Kale and Morgan aren't looking at the camera, and Riley is super sun burnt from coaching his soccer game earlier that day.}

Turning 8, Part II

Since I let Kendle have a big friend party last year for her birthday and we took her to Silverwood the week before we decided this year to just have a family birthday celebration. We asked her what she would like to do and she wanted to go swimming one last time at the aquatic center in Hermiston and then go to Fudruckers for dinner. So that is what we did. I dropped Kendle, Morgan, and Riley off at the aquatic center for a few hours and headed to my parents house to make Kendle's cake while they swam and played. For dinner we all met back in Hermiston at Fudruckers and by we all I mean our family and also my mom and dad, and my brother and his wife and their three kids. Kendle is so excited that her cousins moved closer to us this summer and that she got to celebrate her birthday with them. It was a lot of fun. The food was super yummy, they have my favorite - sweet potato fries. Delicious! The twins loved them too. Kendle and the other kids had a great time eating and playing games. Then the employees came out and sang to Kendle and brought her some ice cream. She loved it. After that we headed back to my parents for birthday cake and presents. Kendle's cake was a big hit and she was also excited about her cool birthday presents. From us she got a nice little camera and photo album, grandma and grandpa bought her a guitar, and from her cousins and aunt and uncle she got lots of cute lip glosses and finger nail polishes (which she uses everyday). She told me it was one of her best birthdays ever.

A few days later her grandma Dodson came to pick her up and have an evening out as part of her birthday present from her. She also gave Kendle a really nice art set in a cool wooden case that she can close up and store (up high away from little hands). Kathy took her to the library, shopping to pick out a Webkinz she had been wanting, and out to dinner. Kendle had a great time.

Here are just a few pictures of her birthday night:

Turning 8, Part 1

Kendle has looked forward to her 8th birthday for quite some time. The months could just not go by fast enough for her. She is the type of girl that has high expectations for things and really gets them built up in her mind. I'm always worried she's going to be disappointed because she sets her sights so high. Well, you only turn 8 once so I was really determined to help make it special for her. We were able to drag it out a bit and really make it last.

The week before her birthday Riley, Morgan, Kendle and I went to Silverwood to spend the day. The kids had so much fun. We spent the first half of the day at the water park portion and Kendle had a blast riding the waves in the wave pool, swimming to her hearts content, and sliding down the super scary high water slides. Morgan enjoyed the kiddie pool and slides, but his favorite was the lazy river ride. After our sixth time down the lazy river I had just sat down to rest on my towel for a bit on the grass when I happened to look up at the really steep water slide that goes almost straight down and just by chance got to watch Kendle and Riley both take their turns down the slide. I about had a heart attack watching them. I hate heights! After we were sufficiently worn out from the water and the sun we took a break for some lunch and to rest a bit. Then we headed back into the park to hit up all the rides. Kendle is a daredevil to her very core. She made Riley go on some rides that even scared him. I couldn't believe some of the rides she went on and didn't even bat an eye or get nervous. She definitely does not get that from me. I took Morgan around to some more tame kiddie rides while they rode the roller coasters. We stayed all night. The kids rode the carousel in the dark and it was so pretty all lit up. Before we left we hopped on the last train ride of the night and it was really fun to head through the woods by the light of the moon and see all of the flashy lights of the rides lit up against the night sky. It was the perfect way to end our time there. As we walked to the car to go home pulling Morgan behind in the wagon, I think Riley and I both agreed that we've never been that tired in our whole lives. (Ha) We were all so sore and tired the next day. It was great to have a day entirely devoted to the kids who had been so patient this summer with our busy schedules. They really deserved it and Kendle said she had the best time ever. As a parent, that is always awesome to hear.

Pictures of our day:

{Morgan enjoying a five dollar ice cream bar that he took about three bites of.}

{Riding the flying elephants. He was thrilled!}

{Isn't Riley a good sport?}

{Getting ready to go up on the "Panic Plunge"}

{See, they do love each other afterall.}

{Kendle was a good sport as well and rode some of the "kiddie" rides with Morgan.}

{Looking a bit tired. I was worried he would fall asleep and slip off.}

{Riding on the train. That was one of their favorite parts.}

{Notice there is not one picture of me. Yes, being the photographer is sometimes a thankless job. Ha.}

I am so glad we took the opportunity to take Kendle and Morgan for a day of fun to kick off Kendle's birthday. We made some great memories together that I'll never forget.

*More coming this week on Kendle's Birthday and Baptism.*

Nature's Bounty

This year I decided since I was so busy I would only plant a few little vegetable plants and call it good. I am a low maintenance type of gal and I don't really like to mess around with high maintenance plants. I planted two tomato plants, one zucchini, and one yellow zucchini squash. Four plants total. I didn't even plant a cucumber like I usually do so I can make this summer favorite. I literally put the plants in the ground and basically forgot about them. Someday I would love to have a huge garden I can tend when I have the time to devote to it.

This year we have had an overabundance from these four little plants. Huge plump tomatoes. Juicy little baby tomatoes. Crisp yellow squash. Ginormous zucchini on steroids. I think we have some good soil where we live since it used to be all farmland, maybe there are still some rich nutrients left in the soil. Whatever it is, I loved going out with the help of my little farmer boy Morgan and gathering up big bowl fulls of ripe veggies. My plants have produced more this year than ever before. I love summer tomatoes and I can eat them up almost as fast as I can pick them. They have literally been little miracle plants, it seems like the moment I pick one there is another ripe one in it's place.




Every summer I never ceased to be amazed at watching what can come forth from a tiny little plant.

It is a good reminder to me that from small beginnings can come great things.

Kendle's Baptism Information

Kendle's baptism will be this Saturday, September 4th at 4:30 pm at the new Parley Chapel church building here in Pasco for anyone who would like to attend.

Kendle has been anxiously waiting for this day for a very long time and we are excited for her to make this important step of baptism. We look forward to the special day it

will be.

It's Great to be Eight!