more birthday wishes!

my husband is turning 33 today so I thought I would let him know how important he is on the off chance that someday he would actually check our blog!
here are 33 reasons I love you:
1. you smell good:)
2. you put up with me always having to be right
3. you like to try new things
4. you dont make me try new things
5. you have an undeniable love for the outdoors
6. you are always thinking of others
7. you are a grat artist (anzlie added this one!)
8. you love the wii (landon)
9. your wrestle fights (landon) mommy likes them too:)
10. you give presents (ciera)she has one thing on her mind\
11. you are a wonderful protector
12. you dont mind my cooking.
13. you put up with my drama tv shows and even agree to watch bachelor
14. your singing voice when you actually try!
15. I love your constant superman complex
16. I love how good you are at sales!
17. I love that you always reach your goals and prove to me that anythings possible
18. I love that you dont mind shopping
19. your kisses:)
20. your sense of humor
21. your charm (really its your best quality)
22. that almost 8 years later youre still romantic!
23. your ability to help the kids give a talk or come up with a family home evening lesson on the spot
24. your mind
25. your patience that helps balance our home when you get home and Ive already lost it for the day.
26. your honesty
27. I love that you show us love all the time. I love that family is really important to you
28. I love your touch
29. the kids love that your not too old to play figures with them or dress up or wrestle fights or watch cartoons with them
30. We are very lucky to have such a good example in our home. Im so proud that you live your life always trying to make good decisions and think of how to teach our children to do the same.
31. I love your athleticism
32. I love that we have so much in common and enjoy conversations (except when I ramble)
33. I love how we support each other at sporting events and talk about the game afterwards the whole ride home...
AS YOU CAN SEE YOU ARE VERY LOVED...HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS! WE LOVE YOU

birthday wishes!

MoM!
you are so wonderful! I hope you have a very special day. I wish I could be there to celebrate with you. I would first wrap my arms around you and give you an enormous hug, then I would take you to home decor stores and model homes and mesa yogurt! we could shop our hearts out (although this time of year is nuts!)pick out brand new outfits and finish at the salon getting our nails done! doesnt that sound great?
I LOVE birthdays and cant wait to celebate when we come but until then...I love you because of your humor, your charm, your charisma, your passion, your ability to make others feel good about themselves, your loving nature, your style, your creativity and your many talents that you are still discovering. I love when you realize that you are good at many things you do. I love that I have items in my house that I can say, my mom made that for me..I love how you can through a masterpiece meal together when there appears to be nothing to eat and how you say its nothing special everytime! you are super amazing and I LOVE you. thanks for calling me everyday to tell me you love me and help me through any trial I have. I can always count on you being there for me. Ilove you for that and so much more! my children adore you and we will all shower you with love in 2 days!

better late than never!

so we were at instacare on halloween night and didnt make it to all the festivities and trick or treating so a few days ago I dressed my kids up and took pictures and we went trick or treating!(dont worry Im not totally rude I didnt ask for candy we handed it out!) my kids just wanted to say trick or treat and ring door bells. I have to say I was surprised when my neighbors didnt have any halloween candy left! it was only a few days later and they ate the entire contents of their halloween buckets?? my kids never eat their candy I usually throw it away by the next halloween because they never ate it. that doesnt mean they dont have a sweet tooth, they just prefer fruit, popsicles and chocolate chips (like their mother!)

october in review!

this month went by fast in our house it seemed. unfortunately it's hunting season so chris has ben preoccupied even when he is home planning his next trip. I now know why so many women complain during hunting season. chris was gone from october 10 to october 19th enduring his own version of man vs. wild. He didnt come back empty handed as you can see. he shot an enormous elk. he is very proud. I just informed him that im just warming up to the idea of hunting and dont think for a minute I will allow anything to be mounted to our wall. I dont understand how people can shoot animals. I cant even handle stepping on an ant.
I completed another month of school and graduatein two weeks and couldnt be happier about it! Its hard to doing anything else at this point in life besides being a mom because theres not enough time so thank you to everyone that helped me!
Landon turned 5 and we didnt get a ton of pictures but we got his special day recorded. He had a superhero party. we played pin the cape on the superhero and decorated treats and played rescue the damsel in distress without getting hit with the nerf gun, a pinata and presents and ten it was over! it wasnt that hard incase you were thinking of doing a big party we had 18 guests come. and little clean up.
for his family party his only request was to go to ikea! so thank you ikea for having sucha play center that all my kid wants for his birthday is to come there while I shop kidless (bliss..) I would say he had a great 5th birthday.
halloween lots of anticipation for a dissappointing day. we got sick...ciera and baby cohen were running very high fevers and coughing and vomiting that we ended up in the urgent care during trick or treating time. ciera was so sad she didnt get to go this year. our neighborhood did some fun activities like roasting marshmallows, haunted houses, cookie decorating, face painting and scary stories which we missed a lot of but the activities we participated in enhanced our trick or treating experience. towards the end anzlie who was snow white and landon who was the black spiderman stopped saying trick or treat and just asked please can I have a ride home Im tired of walking...it was funny because we hadnt been out that long!
thats all for october. hopefullt it wont take me a month to update again.

life is busy cont'd

I need to vent a little. Chris has been gone for days and I am handling it all pretty well, but every once in a while I feel worn down. Last week I hurried and got anzlie to the bus stop ( I made sure I was early because if she missed the bus we had to walk since we are down to one car right now). we were the first ones there! unfortunately we were also the last because there was no school that day due to teacher prep day (there are way too many of those). I went home to check the calendar wondering why Im the only one who didnt know and sure enough right on the calendar (on the fridge even) in capital letters it says NO SCHOOL yep, Im losing it people.
Chris was even absent for church on sunday and I took all four by myself. every man that walked in ciera ran too and yelled daddy and hugged them. it was so random, but cute. this day almost did me in.
I got a lot of crafts and games for us to do this week with fall break and we have had so much fun so far. the weathers been nice so we have had some fun outdoors as well.
this morning I woke up tired. Im hardly sleeping at night and when I finally go to sleep the baby wakes up. I dont know how many more days I can handle this! onto more venting...I got up this morning and got anzlie ready in time for school. I told her she could ride her bike to the bus stop and she went really slow stopping to smell every flower she could. im at the end of the driveway yelling to her to hurry down there. and she ignores me. when the bus comes she didnt get off her bike, and watched everyone get on the bus. Im yelling for her to get on the bus and she didnt move. I was so mad! so we had to go back home and load all four kids in the van and take her all because she didnt feel like getting on the bus today...not her best decision. I think she thought that if she didnt get on the bus we would all bikeride to the school and it would be great in her mind but instead she is grounded from her bike all week. if any of you know anzlie you know that is brutal in her opinion.
after that I worked out and showered, made lunch, washed 2 loads of darks one whites and sheets. dont ask why I did it all the same day. I did dishes, taught piano lessons, made dinner, did landons plasma infusion by myself which was horrible. the needle I stuck in his back hurt him he was screaming hysterically and it was all I could do not to cry myself out of frustration as this is chris's area. he does landons infusions every week. I babysat all evening while I folded all the laundry and put it away...does it ever end???
tomorrow Im off to park city!! I need a little break from my everyday routine!

life is busy...

dont give up on me. I started this blog for family and friends to get updates when we moved and I still want that to happen. there isnt a lot of time to get it done these days. I will have to update you individually since I waited so long!
ANZLIE
Anzlie is doing great since she changed teachers at school. She is growing up fast and is still my little mommy helper with the baby. she loves to sing and pretend to play schhol when she gets home (the barbies are her students) she is so cute about things. she still loves coloring and riding her bike. the other day she came home from school missing teeth! she is now missing her two bottom front teeh and talks with a cute lisp or however you talk without front teeth!

LANDON
Landon is struggling knowing that all his friends became kindergarteners this year and he missed the cutoff being an october birthday! I decided to teach him things and have class at home. He loves walking anzlie to the bus and even brings his lunchbox and backpack everytime witout fail. I know he will be very excited for school next year! landon said the other day, "mom, can we twade our baby in fow one that doesnt cwy so much?" me: "no landon that would make me sad, wouldnt you miss him?"
LANDON: "no mom! I said twade! you would still get to have a baby," it totally made sense in his mind. I mentioned this conversation to anzlie and she freaked. She is way atached its cute! landon is into wrestling, riding bikes and playing with friends. he hates to be alone and is not often found entertaining himself. he is my social one. This morning he discovered the chocolate chips were all gone and he seriously started crying. Being a sandberg I totally understood his anguish but it was so cute to see how upset he got over it. he is almost 5 and he's so excited about it.
CIERA
Ciera is very hard these days. she hit the terrible twos late. Here she is almost three and I thought I was lucky and bypassed the hard stage of toddler. she is stubborn and refuses potty training we are doing it anyway but its a work in progress. she is very independent and quiet. she never asks for help before trying herself and needs constant supervision. she keeps trying to put a knife in the outlets. I am so lucky to be near her both occasions. no, I dont leave knives out she got a chair and opened the drawer and got it herself. I now have to take precautions. she doesnt want help o brush her teeth, wash her hands, and if she'd make her own food if we let her. She sneaks things and stashes them for later when she knows she can get away with it. I ve found her in the pantry with the door shut my bedroom with the door shut under the bed...you name it she 'll go there, eat fast and hope no one notices. A few nights ago she woke up in the middle of the night and helped herself to the donuts on the counter. we woke up to very chocolatey sheets and a messy gooey donut covered ciera. she is so funny. I cant believe her sometimes. she loves to sing kinkle kinkle little staw over and over and youve never heard a cuter voice singing it!
COHEN
Cohen is 5 months old and recognizes faces now. He loves to give slobbery kisses and Im happy to get them. He can roll all over and just started scooting.He lost all his gorgeous black baby hair and now sprouted blonde hair all over. he laughs whenever he hears laughter and learns a lot from his siblings.
CHRIS
Chris is hunting- a very time consuming hobby if you ask me. I have always been the supportive wife but he said he'd be gone the weekend and now its but we might be out 10 days instead. What! I am lonely already! he works hard and deseves it-thats what I keep telling myself everytime im overwhelmed (over and over) he also sold his car and is on the hunt for a more family oriented car instead of his sporty one but until he does I have been carless and walkng everywhere! its good to exercise though!

I am busy trying to cram for school and learn all I can before graduation in november. I cant even think about the holidays until I get through this. I have a very needy baby. he needs to be held all the time and he is only content on his own until he realizes he is on his own. the thing that keeps me sane is that he is a good sleeper! I am still teaching piano and soccer, and playing in a league myself. its so fun to see my family on the sidelines cheering me on.
life is good and we are very busy right now and its not slowing down yet. we are most likely moving soon and so we spend a lot of ou time packing up so we arent overwhelmed when moving day comes. thats enough of an update for now pictures to come!

hairbows and flower clips

Lisa, I havent stopped making hair bows and flower clips since I left your house! I usually make a ton at once. It's turned into a business. hairbows anyone?

family photo shoot

we decided that we were going to snap a family picture today and it kept getting post-poned. we finally got home and decided to do it and then ciera fell asllep as soon as we walked in the door (literally right in front of the door) so we couldnt get it done today but I managed to get some pics here and there. cohen has not been photographed for a while. I am trying to get better at that but life has been very hectic lately. more posts to come stay tuned.

back in the swing of things...

I have had the most disappointing blog for quite some time. I am constantly surprised at how busy life has been lately. I cant seem to find time to be on the computer at all. I have a brother on a mission and I try to write him when i get a minute on the computer and then Im too tired for blogging. I havent even taken pictures of much lately. poor Cohen doesnt have the last 2 months. that s half his life! I dont even know where to start for this post so Ill break it down by kid
Cohen turned 4 months at the end of august. he is hitting his milestones quicker than I want him to. he started rolling at 3 or 4 weeks and he can sit up on his own at barely 4 months. he gets very excited if he sees anyone eating anything. he tries to grab it from you and never ever seems full. he is in the 50 th percentile for weight and 10 -20 th for height. still a shorty! he looks so much like landon did as a baby. we were at the store the other night and a we walked by a guy who just went nuts over how big cohens eyes were. it was wierd. he was so wierded out by the size of cohens eyes that it made me uncomfortable! I just thought calm down man, he'll grow into them! I for one think he is very handsome. I love his smile. he is just as happy as my other kids but not as giggly.however; he will giggle if you randomly giggle at him its hillarious. I compare it to situations for me like when someone starts crying i cant help but tear up a lot! its so fun to watch their personality unfold. he is very high maintenance. all my kids are great sleepers. I hardly ever have to wake up at night but during the day, he wants constant attention. I dont know what I would do without my little helper mommy anzlie!
anzlie started first grade. she comes home so animated and vocal about how first grade takes forever!. she is very into fashion. I asked her yesterday if anyone said they liked her new pretty dress and she said, well, I know they were thinking it because I look fabulous (its her new favorite word along with fantastic) but they were just too shy to say anything..I was thinking OKAY, Im not sure how to teach her the necessary life lessons here. She has been in trouble a lot already. she always tests her limits immediately and has lost priveledges and had to have her parents called. she is so sweet and cute for a troublemaker! she is manupulative and you dont realize that she will always try to outsmart you. she likes to change her name and when people ask her name she usually makes it up. I dont know why. she is so funny. her imagination runs wild and I think she needs to get into acting. the best is when we go somewhere or someone asks her a question and she hides behind my leg when we all know that she is SO not shy! she loves attention of any kind!
landon is into wrestle fights and games. he loves to wear superhero pajamas all day long and never really wants to play by himself. he is my otgoing people person. he is so sweet. last night he wanted to go with daddy to church basketball but we had just put his needles in his stomach and back and I told him he could still go but he had to be careful and hold his pump and not play around. he got quiet and said I cant go then because people will laugh at me. I took advantage of this teaching moment! I told him that no one would make fun of him! they would thin kthat you are really brave for having needles every week without even crying! this huge smile came across his face and he went to basketball wit daddy very proudly! I m so thankful for him. he has the cutest little voice. lately he comes p bhind me and hugs me and then kisses me. I dont know why but Ill take it! landon and anzlie can ride a two wheel bike without ever being taight and they can do flips on the tramp and land on their feet. I have a few daredevils in my home.
ciera is my mellow child. she doesnt need constant stimulation and can be happy just laying on the floor. she, like any 2 year old, gets into things and Im constantly surprised at what she gets away with. she'll ask for a snack and Ill say after you finish your healthy food and she says ok mom and I think what a sweetie only to find her hiding behind the couch covered in chocolate. sh is so good at that! she waits until Im distracted and bam! she gets her way. I am working on this and she is all to familiar with timeout right now. she discovered singing and loves to sing songs. she has a cute voice and says catch phrases a lot like are you kidding me?? and holy cwap! all too cute. she likes to tell me how cute I look when I get ready and its so cute to hear a two year old say that one is so extra cute mommy! she is really into hygiene. she does not have to be asked to put her dishes in the sink and wash her hands or brush her teeth. she does it all. she wont leave the house without a hairbow and her hair combed. its awesome. I love having girly girls. I am dedicated time to try and get my kids to gain some weight. landon doesnt have enough fat on him since his growth spurt so it makes it really hard to pich enough skin to put needles in and anzlie is 31 pounds and 6 years old so we have them on pediasure and lots of little debbie snacks. we'll see if it works this time. I honestly never thought I would have a problem with my kids being too thin iven it wasnt my life long problem.
today anzlie went to the doctor for an ear infection and he said that she has to have a tube put in now. she also needs her tonsils out according to them so we will see what the ear nose and throat dr says tomorrow. we were in the waiting room and we were putting our hands around our wrists and I said you have tiny skinny arms. you get that from me I think. and she said mom, youre not skinny. I looked at her and she said your just a little bit fat .I was thinking thanks kid, too kind. I think its cute how her comeback of Im just a little bit fat was supposed to make me feel better! speaking of weight, I am 8 lbs away from my starting weight before cohen and I am very motivated and not because I want to be that perfect size but because I have nothing to wear people. I stare at the clothes in my closet and then go grab my strech pants! I have been so busy with school, teaching piano, making hairbows and keeping up with the housework that chris and I have found it difficult to find any time for each other. luckily saturday night we are going on a date to see my favorite musician, jon schmidt play at thanksgiving point. how lucky am I?
stay tuned for some pictures to come. life is busy but I am not giving up on blogging.

august overview

in august we started the month off with a vacation to az! we spent time with the cousins and visited friends and went swimming everyday! a great trip, but I dont think I'll do it again too soon. I got so sick on the way home that we had to stop at a hotel because the hospital was too far away. It was miserable. it took days to recover from and the only good that came of it was that I lost 6 lbs! something only i would celebrate. any method of weight loss is welcome after having a baby. am I right? we got home and back into a routine and before I knew it school started.
anzlie is in the first grade now. I atleast have one in school and three at home. she is very excited to go to school all day.
I am going back to school right now to get advanced education. I will soon graduate with confidence and help everyone in health and wellness.
chris is busy getting ready to do his hunts comng up. he became quite the outdoorsman when we moved here and really enjoys hunting and fishing. he had surgery on his face recently to remove skin cancer spots and had some dental issues to work out. so he is an example of someone who never is sick and never goes to the doctor and then all the sudden they cost tons of money at once. he is doing good now:)
ciera decided she prefers her middle name instead so dont be surprised if she corrects you when you say ciera. she'll say no my name is paige! we'll see how long it lasts. landon is really into wrestling and ninja fighting. he has a lot of coordination and often ends up hurting someone by accident so we are working on it.
cohen is 4 months old and is just getting to the cute stage where they cant stop smiling. I love his kisses and giggles. he is a great sleeper but pretty high maintenance during the day just meaining that he prefers to be held. anzlie is my big helper and loves to take over for me. Life is really busy at the moment and I keep expecting it to slow down but Im realizing that our life is just busy at the moment and its not going to slow down yet. the more I think about it though, I didnt know if I want it too. I love our happy home.

arizona here we come!

it's true i'm crazy! you should all be visiting me, yet I am going to the heat? it's bananas to go there in august but here we come. if anyone wants to get together we will be there saturday to saturday! see you soon!

happy birthday natalie!

I better take a moment to wish my big sister (I mean older sister) a happy birthday. Time gets away from me on this day because I am so busy trying to plan our own family party because I decided to have a baby on the same day as your birthday! you are very important to me and I want you to feel remembered and appreciated. When I think about it, there isnt anything I dont like about you. you have so many admirable qualities. I have always felt that way. I remember growing up i wanted to be able to do things that you did someday but you took the cake in the artistic area. you were amazing at art and piano and singing. you always had solos at school and you had a lot of friends-what could be better?
now that we are grown and both have four kids, I find myself still observing you as I try to solve problems or think of simple ideas for birthday parties, cakes or halloween costumes. you are so creative. Someday your kids will realize just how gifted you are with your creativity.
I know you have heard this a lot but the thing I admire about you the most is that you have your own style. Im always still figuring out who I am and what I like and when I get those surveys on my favorite movies tv and books....I dont really know my style. youre that girl that knows what she likes and I am envious of that. sometimes I see something and say that so looks like natalie! it could be a brightly colored room or an outfit that when you first see it you wouldnt put it together but when you put it on it looks like it was made to go together! I like that you have your own opinions without making others feel like there opinion doesnt matter. Ive noticed that you are really good at letting your children make their own decisions. I still am a little controlling in that area and I always am impressed with you. I love your confidence and that you arent afraid to get up in front of people and show them your talents. you are very gifted natalie. I love how calm you are all the time and how you seem to handle trials well. I know times are tough for a lot of people and I love getting pointers from you on how to save money. you can always come up with inexpensive ways to still have a great time on a budget. I love that you dont seem to ever age. you're just as cool as I remeber you being way back when! I wonder if your kids feel that way.
if I were there with you I would start the day by going to the spa and getting the full treatment and then we would go to the cheesecake factory and pig out followed by some shopping to pick out a very cute outfit to wear to the concert we would go to that night. the other thing I admire about you-even after all that fun you wouldnt be tired-you could pull an all nighter and Id be asleep in the car on the way home from the concert like a toddler in their carseat. how do you do it? I guess thats why for all these reasons I think your so special and you deserve to have a special day.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cohen's blessing day

today was the blessing. Chris gave him a wonderful blessing and he looked so cute in his blessing attire. For a smiley baby, I cant seem to get a picture of him smiling!
my parents came up for the big event, but since it was a holiday week most of our other local family members couldnt come. the daniels came and we had a fun family filled weekend . we spent the rest of the day watching home movies and seeing how much weve changed in the last 6 years. I hope you had a happy fourth of july!

holiday weekend

we were lucky enough to see chris's brother brian and his family this weekend. we went to lunch at the mayan. I was camera happy this weekend and everyone was probably annoyed with me! its fun to get pictures to see how much the kids change over the years.
my parents are in town for the weekend and we have had so much fun already. we went to the living planet aquarium on friday it was a full day of fun and great memories were made. my kids adore their grandparents!

rainy days and rainbows

such a beautiful sight. this is the third time there has been a huge rainbow this month so I had to get a picture! they said on the news that there were only four days in june that it didnt rain.

results are in...

Cohen's results came back....NEGATIVE!!!!!.... Im so excited. A huge weight is lifted off my shoulders. thanks for your thoughts and prayers everyone!

first trip to the dentist

man, kids have it good these days. a trip to the dentist was like a day at the spa. tey have great toys computers and video games in the waiting room and then when you get your teeth cleaned, they let you pick a movie and they put headphones on you so you can watch a movie on the ceiling! no more boring posters. they get a goodie bag and to top it off-at the end they get to pick a toy from the toy basket. to a kid, that is the royal treatment. the best part- no one had any cavities. hopefully they never will. I ve made it 26 years without any:) ciera was hard to photograph. she doesnt allow antone to touch her and once she heard the tools she freaked out and this was her face she was trying to find the quickest way out of there.

thanksgiving point fun!

sadly, this was our first time to the dinosaur museum. They have some fun things for the kids to do. they dug for fossils and played in the sand. we drew pictures of dinosaurs and the whole trip only took an hour. we tried to get a picture of the kids in front of the shark and ciera started to fall backwards into the sharks cage. she fell and was so scared all while chris was laughing at her! poor girl was traumatized. we had so much fun!