Spring is in the Air

The sun is shining, (kind of) the mosquitos are thick and everything is so green and beautiful! Spring has definitely arrived so we decided to beautify our yard with these lovely flowers. While Jenna was napping, the boys dug in the dirt, played in the water and investigated the creepy crawly things that are making themselves at home in our yard.

Awww, isn't Dallin such a good boy to help his mommy!

I have such nice boys! They were so proud of their finished product!

My Baby's Growing Up!

My baby has officially graduated from kindergarten! I can't believe it! Everyone always says to enjoy your kids while they're young because they grow up so fast!

Dallin had a wonderful year at school. He loved his teacher, Mrs. C, and really took off with reading and writing. Of course he especially loved the social aspect of school! He is so girl crazy already! We are soooo in trouble!

I am amazed by how much he learned this year. Brett and I are in shock because when we were kids, kindergarten was a time for learning ABC's, numbers and colors! Now they enter first grade already reading novels, publishing books and doing algebra! (Okay, a little exaggeration, but it's fairly close!)

Dallin loved his teacher......"with the long, blond hair"! He was so well-behaved that he didn't even have to pull a single card the whole school year!

Dallin's school put on a very fun field day for the kids. He was anxious to get the potato sack race started!
SWING batter, batter! I taught him everything he knows!

Dallin and his friend kicked everyones' cans in this race! They really worked together and were pretty fast!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!!

Okay, so the snow is gone, my depression is over and I'm ready to blog again!=) This has been such a wonderful weekend. Yesterday Jenna and I had fun hosting a baby shower, cleaning the garage, shopping, and getting cleaning projects done while the boys went on a Father-and-Sons campout. Whoever planned the campout on the same weekend as Mother's Day deserves a medal! I was able to get so much done and had fun spending time playing dollies with Jenna. The boys had a blast on their campout and were so excited to tell me all about it when they got home.

Mommy spoiling continued early this morning when Dallin slipped a present under the door. At school he had made a spectacular picture frame for me with a handsome picture of himself inside. Then I was treated to a lovely heart pancake breakfast, made by Brett and the boys. I even got to eat off of the red plates!

I am the luckiest mom in the world! I received a soft pad for my lawn chair, plants for the flowerbeds and lots of beautiful cards! (Jenna was just a little unhappy this morning!)

The best present of all was having my hunk-of-a-honey make dinner for us! We had chicken with potatoes and carrots, a salad and angel food cake topped with whipped cream and strawberries! Yum! While he was busy in the kitchen, I took a nap and called my mom! Can life get any better than this?!

Oh, aren't they cute! Dallin and Jared really wanted to take the big tent, but Brett wanted the small one so they could stay warm. A compromise was made, and they ended up with the small tent inside the big tent. That gave them room to stand up and have room to hang out but kept them nice and toasty! (I swear my husband is a genius!)

They came home and told me that they didn't have any success fishing. Hmmm, I wonder why?! I mean I'm the queen of casting (ha ha) and even I can't cast my line that far! (Later they did go down and actually fish in the water!)

I sure love my boys! Jenna and I enjoyed our clean, quiet house and girl time, but we sure missed these handsome fellows!

Go Away Winter!!!!

Our snow was almost gone....for the second time. Our weather lady said, "There will be one to two inches of snow on the upper hillside." Hmmm, I think she was a little off!!! (Can you just hear me screaming that, with heavy sarcasm!) Our one to two inches turned into 17 inches on Friday night! I was thrilled and spent most of the day Saturday down in my room so I wouldn't bite any heads off! (Brett just loves my weather moods!)

Jenna's little car is kind of trapped! A lot of it has melted today, so it gives me hope!

What a stud! I'm so glad Brett is around to calm our household when things like this happen! =) (This was Friday night and it snowed 6 more inches over night!)

Jared and Jenna had fun playing in the paths that Brett made with the snow blower. Dallin was inside with the stomach flu, missing out on all the fun.

The boys threw a lovely picnic together for us to enjoy. They invited their furry friends and had delicious food for us to enjoy. It was pretty cute, because they did the whole thing by themselves. Jenna was napping, which explains why everything stayed untouched and in order!

Happy Birthday Jenna!

Jenna had such a fun birthday last week! She received some clothes, a tricycle, a tutu, a little broom and dustpan, and a doll set complete with stroller, highchair, swing, baby carrier, diaper bag, bed and carseat. However, her baby doll, Mylee, was the biggest hit. (She named her doll after a friend of hers in the nursery at church.) Jenna loves feeding her, pushing her in the stroller and putting her to bed. She and Jared have had to compete for the fun dolly toys! (Jared is very into this whole baby thing! He hoards the dolls in his bedroom!)

Jenna's ladybug cake was a big hit and very yummy! It was probably the easiest cake I've ever made! Jenna wanted to feed her baby some cake too, but plastic bananas were a lot less messy! Jenna will make such a good mommy some day, don't you think?

Jenna's friend, GiGi, gave her these beautiful jewels! Dallin doesn't think it's very fair that girls get all of the fun toys!

I have no idea what fashion statement Jenna was trying to make, but it reminds me way too much of Michael Jackson! We had a little party with our playgroup friends. They had fun playing ladybug games and painting ladybugs. Jenna has pretty good dating odds some day, don't you think?! We do have girls that come to our playgroup but they weren't able to come.

Yum, yum! Lip smackin' good! Jenna was ready to devour these, but was very patient to let me get this picture.

Dinomania!

HELP! My house is being taken over by dinosaurs of all types, colors and sizes! Save me! (I know this is a lovely picture of Dallin, but I just had to show all of you what I experience on a daily basis.) Most of you know that Dallin is a big lover of dinosaurs. He has quite the collection and I think owns every kind that Anchorage sells! He has quite the imagination and can impersonate a T-Rex better than anyone I know! He just cracks me up!

Of course his "real" dinosaurs just aren't enough so we trace, color and cut out more each day! But wait, the real fun comes when those same pens, pencils, markers and crayons used to create additional dinosaurs become dinosaurs themselves! He lines them up on counter tops, floors, tables, bathtubs....anywhere! I wanted to get Jared some Tinkertoys for his birthday but as you can imagine, I'm very, very afraid!

Oh no, not Jared too! Move over groceries, make room for the dinosaurs!

Even Superman is not powerful enough to stop them! (FYI, I did not set this picture up. This is what I found when I walked into our computer room!)

Marshmallow Mania!

Picture this....The Gardiner Gang has just wrapped up a nice Family Home Evening by playing the game "Don't Eat Pete!", (If you've never heard of that game and don't know how to play you must ask because kids love it! You'll notice the chocolate chips stuck in their teeth. We really do brush, I promise!) when Dr. Gardiner, the king of sugar, starts chucking marshmallows
everywhere! The boys run to their positions, behind the counter, and open wide! A few lucky ones end up in their mouths, while most others have to be chased down and picked up! My kids love this and it just cracks me up every time I see it happen.

The master thrower at work! My kids are so lucky to have such a fun dad!

Dallin and Jared look like they're experiencing lock jaw, but are actually preparing for the big catch!

Jenna is usually right there by the boys, but being trapped in her high chair didn't stop her from joining in. Dang my kids have big mouths! They must get that from their father! =)