Narcoleptic or just Growing???

Kaiden, Kaiden, Kaiden....this poor boy is just like is Grandpa Bodkin. He will be wide awake one moment, and the next he is cozy and passed out asleep. Usually in the most awkward places and positions that seem very uncomfortable, but he sure doesn't mind. I had to go back into our pictures to find some of my favorites to share.


At one point he was falling asleep at almost every meal. I guess he asscociated nap time with the kitchen table, because this day he climbed up to the table just to fall asleep.

This is on our drive home from Valdez, AK. He put stickers all over his face and moments later he fell asleep on Hannah's lap while she stroked his hair....

Asleep on our deep freezer in our mud room????

Potty training. He was learning to poo on the toilet and it took him a while, next thing I know he started nodding off. Does this mean that I am too harsh? I have a video clip that wouldn't upload where he is nodding off sooo hard he almost falls off the toilet a couple times, all the while I am calling his name and he wouldn't wake up. I'm tellin ya, when he falls asleep, he falls asleep HARD!

Snack time with applesauce. It looks like he finished, but apparently it was hard work!

Timeout. Might as well sleep through it, not much fun anyway....

Standing up, next to our big reclining chair. ????? Who can sleep standing up???

Classic in the car.

At his cousins house in England.

Driving home from Stonehenge in England.

?????? It will always amaze me how any child can sleep this this and find it comfortable.

Continue in Patience

I just saw this video on lds.org and it really touched me. I HAVE a 4 year old....soon to be 5. Even worse, I have a 7 year old, is it too late for him? I realize this is talking about reasearch done from a study, but I also know that children are most absorbent in the first few years of life (age 5ish depending on who you talk to). So here I am with Kaiden, we are nearly at the age of 5, and he is SO good in so many ways, but there are a lot of things like PATIENCE that he is not so great at! It doesn't help that I have such little patience regularly and Clayton has about half of what I have. This video clip gave me a check into reality. I NEED to excersize patience now, I need to be strong and not weak in those moments, because it is not about me or my frustration, it is about my kids!

Continue in Patience

Help! What should I do?!?!?!

Here is the story behind my emergency!...it was late on Friday night, Clayton's gone moose hunting so I am by myself with the kids and it is bedtime, but I was stalling because it's Friday and why do they REALLY need to be in bed by 7:30? SO, I let all 3 of my beautiful children comb my hair. Extra special for them (for some reason they LOVE it) & extra, EXTRA special for me! Who doesn't love having their hair combed??? Well, my sweet 7 year old was trying to curl my hair (with out my knowing of coarse) to make it "more beautiful". Since he obviously isn't allowed to use a curling iron, apparently the next best option is to use the comb and wrap waist long hair into itself and the comb all the way up to the scalp! When he showed it to me he said he "twisted it and turned it like a tornado". HELP!!! I need HELP! I have a comb stuck on the top of my head and it WILL NOT come out! I can't cut it, it is right on the top of my head! What do I do?!?!

It is now 3 hours later and this is the progress that I have made! This is how it looks on one side. It doesn't look too bad, but it really is. Because it is in the middle of the comb I can't flip the comb upside down toward the scalp to release the next rotation so it is totally stuck. URGH! This is so frustrating!!!

Here is the mess from the other side after the 3 hours of working on it. My arms are tired, I am tired, I am frustrated, I am MAD, I am discouraged, I am ready to cut my hair off....but....but....ugghhh, there has to be another option! HEEELLLLPPPPP!!!

So much for letting the kids stay up and play with my hair! Only a good idea in theory....NEVER again.

26.2 miles of H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS!!

EQUINOX MARATHON - If you don't know what this is, you need to Google it!

This BEAST is what Clayton chose to run as his very first Marathon (with only a month of training). Basically it's 9 miles of up and down a bunch of good hills (this is the "flat" part). From there it climbs 2000 feet in 4 miles (mile 13) and then goes up and down a bunch more hills until mile 17.5 when it drops straight down into H-E-double hockey sticks of jagged rocks and water rutted trail, 500 feet in .2 of a mile! This is what is known as the chute, which is very dangerous, and a medical team is waiting at the bottom (the only one on the coarse). After you are finished tumbling down the chute, it still is a continual downhill for the next 8 miles, almost to the end. Now, one would think that 8 miles downhill at the end of a marathon would be welcomed, but really this is why it is ranked as the 3rd hardest in the nation. When you are blistered and your knees are shot and your toes are continually being smashed into the front of your shoes, not to mention your physical/mental exhaustion, the end is still nowhere in sight.


Here is Clayton finishing his very last hill down toward the finish line.
Almost there....

He did it!!! 62nd place in the men's category. We are all SO proud of him! Now, almost a week later, he says he can't wait to do it again. He wants to try it with healthy knees and blow that 4 hour mark out of the water. I have no doubt that he will, let's face it, it's Clayton! I am curious to see how well he does in the Marathon in Anchorage in June next year. I will be doing that one too, but next to his time, I probably won't be posting mine....can you blame me?

How did my baby turn 7 already?!?!?!

Happy Birthday Weston!!!! You are such an awesome boy! We are so proud of you everyday!

His present from Mom and Dad

WESTON'S 1st YEAR! I can barely remember these days sometimes, how did I get from this day to a 7 year old so quickly?!

WESTON IS 2!

WESTON IS 3!

WESTON IS 4!

WESTON IS 5!

WESTON IS 6!

Hannah, Hannah, Hannah

I am sure this is no big deal for most of you with girls out there, but for Hannah and I this day was HUGE!! I can finally get her hair into 2 french braids! It has taken SO long for her hair to grow, it's been killing me! She is now 2 1/2, and still she has baby fine whispies on top, not really hair yet. BUT, her hair has the best ringlets and holds really good shape. Hopefully (in 3 more years when her whispies finally grow out) she'll have awesome hair!!!

Here are some funny dress up shots too. She was bored one day, so I prompted her to go uostairs and find a good dress up outfit to wear......

......only I didn't clarify who's room she should find the outfits in. She knew she was being silly. Now if only Kaiden would let me get a shot of him in her fairly costumes that he LOVES to wear! No worries, he is ALL boy. SO much in fact that he wants to "play" with the girls so he goes to the extent of playing their rediculous games. I'll get a picture soon enough. For now though, I had to share these of her.