Preschool and baseball

Tayden had a big day yesterday. He had his last day of preschool and his baseball medal ceremony all in the same day. This little boy is crossing the line from little boy to big boy faster than I'd like to admit. 

Can't believe kindergarten is next!! 

When New Isn't Fun

New is not fun when you own your home and your washer goes out unexpectedly.

However, it helps when you get a screaming deal on a nice set.

New is also not fun when you live in a state that does emission testing and the paid off beater car that your husband has been driving for 5 years is up for registration and keeps failing the emission test. It's even less fun when you take it to the mechanic and he tells you the repairs are thousands of dollars and will cost more than the car is worth. When knew the day was coming, but were really hoping it wouldn't have fallen in the same week as the busted washer. 

However, it helps when you married the worlds best negotiator and he brings home a great new car for the fraction of the asking price. Even if it takes him over 4 hours at the dealership. Meet Scotts new car. 2013 Hyundai Elantra. 

But, it IS fun when....Your husband gets a new job!!! You heard me right, Scott accepted the offer on a new job. His previous job has had many ups and downs over the last 3 years. While I am extremely grateful for it and everything it provided us with, I am even more grateful for this new opportunity. His new job is at Nellis Air Force Base as the Electronic Security Specialist. Basically, he will be operating the alarms and security systems for the entire base. The pay is better, way better. $7.00 an hour better. The benefits are better. And most importantly, the hours are better. He doesn't know his exact schedule yet, but worse case scenario, he'll be home by 5:15-5:30 every night. He is moving to a 5 day work week, which will be an adjustment since he's been working 4 10's the last 3 years, but it will be nice to have a set all the time schedule. And the very very very best part...No more night shift. That is my favorite.

He headed to DC today for some orientation and to sign some papers. He'll be there until late Wednesday night and then starts at the base on Thursday. He is such a hard and qualified worker. I am proud of him for landing this job. He originally thought it might be out of reach for him, but by the promptings of the spirit decided to apply anyway. And what a blessing I can already tell it is. 

 Dropping him off at the airport.

And last but not least. New is always fun when its a hair cut on the worlds cutest baby boy.

Mama Mennear

My mom came down for a quick visit this weekend. She was supposed to come in Thursday night at 7:00, but her flight was delayed until 9:00. So we didn't get the fun started until Friday. We hit Pump It Up with the kids and we all had a blast. My mom included. She is a fun grandma who likes to play with her grand kids. Even if she take a tumble or two along the way. 

The boys were so sweaty and it was making for some awesome hair. I've been letting Becketts hair grow out more than usual because of his hair cutting stunt a few weeks ago. We finally cut it yesterday though and it's looking much less mangy. 

Friday night my mom and I went shopping. It was great to spend some one on one time with her. 

Saturday morning, Scott and I got up early and went to the temple while my mom stayed home with the boys. We wanted to hit the 7:00 session, but when we got there we realized the next session was at 7:30. Not a big deal, just a few extra minutes in the chapel. Then we found out it was in Spanish. I was a little taken back at first, but once I saw how many other people where using the headsets I was much less worried. I was nervous about trying to get dressed and deal with the wires and everything else. Turns out it was fine and Scott really enjoyed it. Took him back to the mission days in Ecuador. It was incredible to enjoy the temple with Scott again. We really needed it. 

We hung out Saturday afternoon and hit up our favorite ice cream place, Neilsons Frozen Custard. On the way there I think I said about 15,000 times that I needed to get a picture with my mom and the boys. Do you think I got one? Nope. Darn. 

She came to church with us today and then I took her to the airport. We were sad to see her leave but were grateful for her visit. I love her. 

Can't wait for our visit next month!! 

Lizard

The other day as we were playing in the water in our back yard, cache started pointing and screaming in excitement. I went over to see what all the fuss was about and the little guy had spotted a little gecko. The boys watched it for about 10 minutes before it disappeared into a crack in our wall, but it added some more fun to the afternoon. 

Sometimes living in the desert is fun!! 

Friday Fun Day

It's been a long week. We've had a lot on our plates, some big decisions to make and not enough time  to get it all done.  The kids were affected and seemed to be lashing out with a major case of the naughtys. I was complaining to my mom, especially about Tayden and how he has learned to push every single one of my buttons. After talking to her, I decided to spend a full day of fun with the boys. I didn't have Korbin on Friday and determined that it was going to be a great day. 

The morning started as every morning, in my bed cuddling. I told them that it was going to be full of fun and spending the day together. We started off with a hot breakfast. I shredded some potatoes in my awesome blender for some quick hash browns. Made eggs and started pancakes. And I didn't even get mad when the boys told me they wanted cereal instead. That in itself was a major success. 

I let them watch cartoons during breakfast which was a huge treat since we normally don't turn on the TV until after lunch. After breakfast we opened all the windows, turned up the music and cleaned the house together. Such a great start to the day. 

Beckett had his little preschool graduation party at a local splash pad. We had pizza, grapes, juice and cupcakes. Then played in the water most the afternoon and spent a few minutes on the dry playground. I was too busy playing with the boys I didn't get too many pictures of the picnic. 

( Sad story. My eyelash curler cut off about 1/2 an inch of my eye lashes the other day. It's been quit the issue and I've been going makeup free as much as possible while they grow back. Not ideal, but what do you do? I can't let that stop me from taking pictures of myself with the boys.) 

Me and Beckett mean muggin. He loves tough guy faces. 

Beckett refused to wear his graduation hat, surprise surprise, but was excited about his special diploma for his first year in preschool. 

I love these boys and am excited to do preschool with them again next year. 

We came home and put Cache down for a nap. The big boys and I made dinner and cookies (again in my sweet blender) for a family in our ward as well as for us. While I was cleaning up they swam outside in our little swimming pool and drew with chalk. It was the perfect evening. 

It was a great day with my boys. As I put them to bed I took a minute to lay with each of them and hold them close and tell them how special they were to me and how much I love them. It was great for them, but even better for me. I needed a special day to remember just how great these boys are and how much I enjoy being their mom. 

The fun didn't stop there, though. After the boys were in bed, my amazing friend Sheena came over and hung out in the house while Scott and I went to a concert. He won tickets to A Great Big World and even though I only knew a song or two of theirs, I was excited to go. We thought it was going to be a big outdoor concert, but it turned out to be a private venue concert. It was small and intimate and actually pretty cool. It was a different date for us and I left a fan of the band. It was the perfect ending to an already great day. 

I loved Friday. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was great this year. Tayden had a Mother's Day brunch at his preschool and put on a little program. Then his teachers served us an amazing assortment of foods and let us have a lunch date with all the other moms. It was really fun and Tayden loved showing off his preschool and introducing me to all his friends. 

Sunday was wonderful as well. Very low key with naps, snuggles and a dinner cooked by my sweet husband. We even had a second to say hi to our Uncle Matt who is on his mission in South Africa. The boys love their uncle so much and were thrilled to say hi. They didn't understand that he only had a minute to say hi and asked multiple times through the day if we could talk with him again. He is a great example to them and I'll never be able to repay him for that. Him serving a mission has really made a direction impact on them. 

Mother's Day was great, but being a mother to these boys is what really makes it great. As I have become a mother it makes me reflect on my own mom and my appreciation for her grows. The love of a mother is infinite as is the love for my mom. 

Happy Mother's Day everyone! 

Grandma and Grandpa Surprise Visit

First of all, I am admittedly the worst at taking pictures when guests are here. If you look back and read every single post about having guests in town, you might get lucky with 2 pictures. I am horrible. I really need to work on getting better at taking pictures when we have guests. With that said, Grandma and Grandpa Packard surprised the boys this last weekend.

We were at the ball park for one of Taydens games and out of no where came Grandma and Grandpa Packard! Scott and I knew they were coming but the boys were shocked. And completely elated. I think they like having guests as much as I do. We stayed and watched them game and then headed to McDonalds for an after game ice cream treat.

As we pulled into the house and started to unload the cars, we realized just how much we were getting spoiled. As if coming to visit wasn't enough, Grandma and Grandpa brought marsh mellow guns for everyone, gifts from family members and food like you would not believe. They packed our pantry to the brim. So much so, that we had to store half of it in a closet upstairs. They take care of us and they'll probably never understand just how much it means to me.

We spent time at Bass Pro Shop, going out to eat, shooting our marsh mellow guns, watching T-ball, making milk shakes and enjoying time together. Cheryl taught me how to make homemade strawberry jam, which was super easy and fun with my new blendtec. I even made rolls with the blendtec while they were here! It was my first time and I added a little bit too much flour and didn't mix it quite long enough. But I think I know where to make the changes and am excited to try again.

The kids were pretty good while Grandma and Grandpa were here. We had to have a few reminders about how we act, especially when guests are here, but other than that they were fine. Cache has a new found independent attitude that he discovered while his grandparents were here and its not my favorite thing. But we're learning how to deal with it and keep everyone happy.

I am so grateful for the visit. I was started to get family hungry and they rescued me from the doldrums. I love my in-laws so much and feel blessed that they would take the time to drive down and see our family. Thanks for the visit! And for taking pictures. And letting me steal them! We love you guys.

Grandma and Grandpa wanted a family picture with our new toys. So of course we waited until the morning when everyone was still in pj's and mom was fresh faced. haha. I laugh at this first picture because it is so us. I love that Cache is finally holding the gun right. He rode it around like a horse all weekend. 

 Notice our new sweaters? They say, "Keep calm and let Scott handle it." So appropriate. 

And we wanted to get a picture of grandma and grandpa with the kids, but this is the best we could do. haha. Beckett decided he was done with pictures and took off running and was not coming back.

Thanks again for the visit. 

Can't wait to make it to Idaho. Only 8 more weeks! 

Beckett (Doesn't) Struggle

This post is pretty personal to me. I have had MULTIPLE conversations with a slew of different people over the past few months about this particular topic. This is not about one specific person or conversation, just my general feeling. Very few people read my blog anymore. The only people that read my blog are family and close friends. So chances are if you are reading this, its not about you.

My Beckett. Where do I even start? He is creative. He is funny. He is kind, loving, generous, helpful, and a stinker. He has a speech delay. He is not dumb. He is not stupid. He is 100% aware of his surroundings and he knows he doesn't speak clearly. He knows he goes to speech to help him talk better.

As we have been working on his sounds, I haven't been pushing the other learning as much. I haven't done as many letters, shapes, writing or school work in general as I should. I spend alot of time reading to him and helping him learn his sounds. That is the most important to me. Apparently, some people have no problem labeling Beckett. Apparently, some people think they can tell me how behind he is. And apparently, some people think he will struggle through life because of this one small delay.

Guess what, they are wrong. The past few weeks I noticed how much I have been underestimating Beckett. I was incorrect thinking his little brain couldn't handle sounds, letters, math and everything else at once. He can handle it. More than just handle it, he thrives in it. Today as we were driving to speech he started yelling, "MOM!! MOM!! A 'B' for me! 'B' for Beckett!" He was right. There was a B on a sign, he saw it and it clicked that it was for him. Not a big feat, but considering I have only been helping him identify the letter B for a day or two, I was pretty happy. We have been working on spelling his name. Every time we are in the car, we work on spelling every ones name. Today, on the way home from speech we started spelling names, when he informed me he wanted to do it by himself. He has never even attempted it by himself so I was thinking I'd have to help him through it, but I didn't. He said, clear as day, "BE-CK-ETT." I yelled with joy!

I know I haven't been pushing him as hard as I should. But that should not reflect on him. And it hurts me that because of my lack of faith in his ability, other people think his articulation delay is something more. Something deeper. It's not. I think this is where nature vs. nurture comes in. Yes, Beckett may require more time and effort from me. But if I give it to him, he will succeed. I will not let Beckett struggle because of me. I will not. Nor will I ever give up on him because of unkind words from strangers. He is three. You can not predict the outcome of a child who is three.

He had an amazing session at speech today. Brandon, his speech therapist, moved. So today he saw someone new. I was worried he wouldn't respond to her as well or would throw a Beckett size tantrum. He didn't. In fact, he really liked her and she had alot of good ideas for him. We have a new goal in place to put the end sound on each word. So haT, instead of ha. Or naP, instead of na. He did wonderful. Watching him succeed today in speech, finding his first B and spelling his name-- I vowed I would not hold him back any longer. I will work harder to help him academically. I will push him so he can reach his full potential. I will work day in and day out with my son to prove to everyone what a smart boy he is. There is a reason he didn't qualify for preschool with the school district. He was too smart.

This articulation delay does not define him. It does not tell of his future struggles. And it will not hold him back. I refuse to let him be any less than the potential that our Heavenly Father gave him. I am proud to be his mom and love him so incredibly much. I will not let anyone speak ill of my child to me or try to shake me with their negativity. I will stand up for him and be his advocate. And more than anything, I will never ever ever give up on him.