3 year olds....

Ryan found me in the kitchen yesterday while I was canning some pears. He looked up at me and said, "I want some strange cheese from the kickin." Huh? I finally figured out he wanted some string cheese from the kitchen. A while back he was talking about the 'toremaydoh'. Tornado. Another time he was enthuised to tell me that Bella was not barping (barking) at him anymore. Lately, if you ask him what he wants he will say 'anything'. What he really means is 'nothing'. Very confusing. He also likes to change his mind constantly. I will say "Ryan, do you what ...... la la la. He will say no. Then he will change his mind back and forth at least 5 times before I loose my patience and put it on the counter. Then he gets mad and throws it on the floor. huh. 3 year olds. We love em. But they have a mind all their own. :)

Heavenly Cowgirl...

Last night Caitlin, Ryan and I were driving in the car. Caitlin said "Mom, what will Jesus turn me into?" I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but I said, "When we die we will live with Heavenly Father, and we will look like we do now."

She was very disappointed and said "OH. I wanted him to turn me into a Cowgirl".

Here are a few pictures of one of Caitlin's 'gardening' outfits. This was when Jessica and I were putting in most of the plants in the backyard. She had to get 'dressed' appropriately to help plant the flowers around her cottage. She even did her own hair with bows and everything.

Wow! I wish my legs still looked this cute in a short skirt and boots. Giddy up!

Cowgirl Lessons....

Cait has been taking horse riding lessons this summer. (Again, sooo cute. Isn't she always? Her legs are so short... she has special stirrups. And when she tries to kick to giddyup it is hilarious because the horse can't even feel it.) Anyway, she is funny because when I pick her up from lessons I always ask her what she learned. She never really has much to say...I rode 'Grandma' the horse yada yada yada. But she never really gives me any details. So it is my favorite when she randomly tells me about what cowgirls do, usually we are out running errands or just hanging around the house when she mentions things like....

"Hey mom, cowgirls don't need water bottles. Cowgirls drink from a hose".

"Hey mom, this is how you are supposed to hold the reigns. (Demonstrates to me from the back seat) Cowgirls do it with 1 hand, not 2."

"I think I need those sharp pointy thingys for my boots". (spurs, uhhhh not a chance Cait)

"We should NOT get a bull. It would run us over"

"Cowgirls don't hold on to the horns, just when you want to lasso a cow" - Good to know. I wander if I could round up the kids for dinner that way?

"Cowgirls don't have to go fast, you can go slow if you want to." (Are you guessing she does not like to gallop? Therefor it is just fine to go slow. This is why she chooses to ride 'grandma' everyday.)

So, according to Cait, now you know how to be a cowgirl!

Ryan's Cootie Catcher

So today was Stake Conference at church. A 2 hour meeting with no breaks, hundreds of people crammed into the chapel and cultural hall. I have to admit, with 4 kids it is hard to really feel the spirit or hear anything for that matter, but we do our best. Isn't that what is important? :) Okay, so I was pretty sure the meeting was almost over. We'd heard like 6 people talk, the choir had sung twice, the congregation had sung the intermediate hymn. I looked over at Mark (who I am pretty sure was downloading midnight sun on his phone. Men can get away with that though, they just pretend they are reading their scriptures. uh huh. whatever.) Anyway, I asked him what time it was...10:07. Are you serious? We had a whole nother hour!

So I took Ryan for a little walk. We got a drink. La la la. Got back to our seats, and Mark had made Cait a Cootie Catcher. Very appropriate for Cait. The only friend names from school she can remember are all the little boys. Okay, so Ryan decides he wants 'one' too. Mark won't make it for him, so I told him I would. I am half way through folding the paper when Ryan shouts "I want my Booty Catcher". He will not stop screaming this over and over. I was laughing so hard I could not continue to make it, so he kept screaming, and I kept laughing, and he got so mad he wadded the paper up and threw it across the aisle. The man it hit just smiled. Nice of him to do so since we were disrupting the whole area we were seated in. So I had to pick Ryan up, screaming about his Booty Catcher and haul him out of the chapel. Him and I did not go back in. We went outside to look for weird bugs.

Ryan is probably the funniest kid I know.

Everyday is fun...in all kinds of adventurous ways!

Caits 'Red' Friday

School is back in session. I haven't blogged that yet, or alot of other stuff, I will do a recap later. For now, you get to hear about Cait. She officially started Kindergarten a few weeks ago. SSOOOOOO Excited! She could not wait to go to school like her big brothers. She loves all her new friends. She loves them so much she cannot stop talking during classtime.

The kids start each day with a green light. If they misbehave during the day, they get a yellow light, and if they are really bad (gasp) they get a red light. Well, too many days are Red days for Caitlin. Almost everyday we get a note home from her teacher letting us know how many times she had to talk to Cait about not talking. Cait will say "today, I got really really really red. Like 6 times red". It is so cute it is hard to get mad at her. (You know what I mean if you know Cait.) We have talked to her over and over about sitting still and trying really hard not to talk to her neighbors, but is just isn't working.

On Friday, Cait came home with bad news. She had so many redlights she got a behavior improvement paper aka BIP. Uh Oh. Not only had she talked all day (by the way, I am taking no responsibility for that trait, it is all on Mark. If he wasn't such a chatterbug and social butterfly, Cait would have inherited my quiet shyness and perfect behavior!) Anywho, so she got busted for talking, playing in the bathroom, and cutting off her hair. (GASP...not sarcastic this time) I have been nice mom about everything until I saw the haircut she gave herself during art time. Remember, we did this last Halloween! Fortunately last year she cut hair underneath so that the longer hairs covered it up. Well, not this time. This time she cut off half of one of her ponytails. I WAS NOT HAPPY. So she was grounded Friday night in her room. We cut paper. NOT HAIR! NEVER HAIR!

Long story short, she went to Ellie's saturday. Ellie's mom does hair. She gave Cait a really cute bob. Cait loves it. She can't stop flipping her hair around. So Cute. We love you Caitlin!

She really looks like me in this picture! How crazy. I will have to look around for a similar one of me. She had me take several photos of her with her new haircut. I loved her long hair, but I guess it is time for something new. Cait...you are growing up too fast!!! I wish you could have stayed 4 forever!

Wicked

Last week Mark and I took the boys to Phoenix to see Wicked. We had a great time!!! (We are however, very glad we do not live in Phoenix. Way too hot. 108 at dinner time, wow...) Anywho, we had a really fun time. Matt has been listening to the Wicked soundtrack on his I-Pod since we got home. Josh is excellent at playing Glenda...toss toss. :) Josh, you are soooo popular.

Mark and I went to see Wicked in New York in April. We had never seen it before. Loved it so much we saw it twice. :) I am sure it helped that we got kickin seats both times. (It's all about who you know. Seth hooked us up......With all of his military and bodyguard training and his swankified Lawyering skills, he was able to rig it so we got great seats, met the stars of the show, and even did some crazy recon black ops stuff to sneek us backstage to see all the props. :) How totally cool is that? Hee hee. Love you Seth. The girl that played Elphaba, that Nicole Parker girl... She was really good! So excited we got to see her perform! Nicole you are amazing! Thanks for everything. Bill and Susan met us in New York. What fun we had! Who knew we all had it in us to go to a show everynight, then go to dinner until wee hours of the morning, and still walk through time square at 2am. Whew, makes me tired just remembering it. :)

My name is Amy, and I'm addicted to....Webkinz.com

Ok, stop laughing! Were any of you wandering where I was?????? I have not been blogging, or facebooking for the last 3 months because I really love to play on webkinz. (It uses up all my daily alotted computer time.) It all started when we gave Caitlin a webkinz for her birthday in March. I got addicted to playing Pizza Palace...then I got sucked into webkinz gardening. I am NOT a green thumb in real life. So what is better than a virtual garden that I can grow, and then sell my crops? So about a week after Cait's birthday, I had to buy myself my own webkinz. I got a cute little Lamb that Josh helped me name..... Fluffy Biscuit. My favorite game to play right now is Quizzy's word challenge. It is not timed, so I can start a game and do a new word everytime I pass through the kitchen. See, I am HOOKED. I garden, feed my pets (yes, I have 3), and do all the daily activities while I eat breakfast every morning. So, there you have it. I have blogged my addiction to webkinz. Sad but true. I have recommited myself to updating all the fun and crazy things the Redford's have been up to since March!!!! :)

Cait Turns 5

I can hardly believe that Cait turned 5 in March. Time seems to just fly by! Her birthday happened to be the first day of Josh and Matt's Spring Break , and Mark had the day off..so everyone was home celebrate with her.

Her daddy went out early and picked up some of her favorite

donuts for her breakfast.

Lucky Girl! After breakfast, we packed up the crew and

went to the Phoenix Zoo.

Cait loved the animals, and the cotton candy!!!!

We had a cute cake just for Cait, then she opened presents.

She was excited about her 'My little pet shop" animals.

And her new Princess Bike!!! :)

Happy Birthday Cait. We love you.

Bananas.....

The other morning, Ryan was in the kitchen and shouted "I want this Naked!" I quickly ran into the kitchen to see him holding a banana. LOL. So I 'stripped' the banana for him. Then it broke in half and he was sad. Cait heard the commotion and decided she wanted one too. I love my little monkeys! :)

A Walk in the Rocks.....

This weekend we decided to go to Watson Lake (a local lake) and hike/walk around. It was such a beautiful morning. The water was smooth and the sky was a crisp blue. It was fun to hike up around all the Granite Dells (the huge rocks). I hadn't been hiking through the rocks before... Mark has taken Josh & Matt a few months back. What fun we had! Jessica was still with us. (She came down for a girls weekend with me! :) I'll blog about that next!)
Watson Lake

Ryan

Caitlin

Joshua

Jessica, Ryan & Mark

Matt & Ryan

Mark, Ryan, Matt, Josh & Cait

Jessica

Josh's 11th Birthday

This is my darling Josh on his 11th birthday. I know it is a goofy picture, but Josh is a fun, goofy kinda kid. He loves to joke and have fun!

This is an off year for Josh's birthday, which is supposed to mean that he didn't have a 'huge' party with a bunch of friends, cake, ice cream etc. Well, Josh managed to drag his birthday out so that he ended up having a birthweek, instead of birthday. Monday, 2 days before his birthday, we went to eat at Texas Roadhouse, his favorite restaurant, we gave him our gifts that night. Then on Wednesday his birthday, I decorated and we had 'the family party' which included yummy chocolate cupcakes and balloons. Then on Saturday he managed to talk us into having a 'small friend party', which included 2 friends and pizza. Josh had the evening scheduled. Seriously. I should have taken a picture of the 'to do' list. It was something like this...

1. open presents

2. play nerf guns

3. Eat Pizza

4. play video games

5. Ride bikes

Mark and I are total suckers! Josh ended up having a whole week of celebrating instead of just a day! He said it was better than having one big party!

We love you Joshy woodle doodle bug! Happy Birthday!

Cookies for New York

Hi y'all. Mom and Jess wanted a picture of the cookies I did for some magazine in New York. They were pitching something to Nivea. Hope it went well!! I am having to much fun to call this work! :)

Valentine Dinner....

For Valentines day, Mark and I went to dinner with Bill & Susan, and Laura & Gregg. It was really nice to sit and visit with adults for the evening!!!

I love you Mark. Happy Valentines Day!

Valentines Day

We spent Valentines Day weekend in Irvine visiting Marks family. I was hoping for warm weather with lots of green grass, lush trees and of course SUN. Well.....it was cool and rainy... With a little bit of sunshine mixed in. We still had alot of fun. Friday, the kids really wanted to go swimming. So we went, in the rain! It was cold, I had conveniently forgotten my swimsuit this trip, (It's only Feb. I am not swimsuit ready!) but the kids and Mark had theirs, so we found a heated pool and spent an hour or so splashing and diving.

Saturday it was sunny, and a little warmer. So we decided to take the kids to the beach. We are smart enough now to take extra clothes with us whenever we go to the beach. Even though it's February, and we told the kids the water would be very very cold, they wanted to 'Wade' in the water. Wade means swim, so we put their suits underneath their clothes. Good thing too!

I was worried about Ryan. He can be a loose cannon, and I really didn't want him in the water. Well, luck was with us. He was scared of the sounds of the waves crashing. So he didn't even want to come down to the water. He kept running back to the parking lot. Eventually, we distracted him by getting him to chase the birds.

Grandma and Papa Redford were watching James for the weekend, so the 3 of them came to the beach with us!

So here are the 3 brave kids venturing into the water.....

Finding lots of fun stuff to play with....

Matt is always the one who wants to be buried in the sand...

Josh was so ready to get in the freezing water. I think we must have dropped him too many times when he was a wee one. :)

After swimming for a little bit, he got out complaining that he was cold and ready to go.

Uh...we did tell him it would be cold. They just don't listen. Literally.

Caitlin is my picture girl. She kept hitting funny poses demanding that I take pictures of her.

After seeing Matt buried, Ryan decided he wanted to give it a shot.

Laura came down to the beach to see us. This was a really cute shot of her and Susan.

It was such a fun day. I love the beach. It is so relaxing to sit and listen to the waves crash onto the shore. I really didn't want to leave........but we dried the kids off and headed home.

I guess I can't really say I didn't want to leave. Mark got me a really cute little red surprise for Valentines day, and I was a little anxious to ride home with the top down.

I know, I know, I am incredibly spoiled!

Let it Snow

It has finally snowed enough to stick! This year we haven't had as much as last year. The kids have been waiting anxiously for

Snow, Snow, Snow.

It snowed a few inches yesterday and last night, enough for the schools to declare a Snow Day. Which means No School today. They are excited, not sure if I am yet! It is amazing how kids are. On a normal school day, Mark and I have to drag them out of bed to get them going. This morning, it is like they just new there was no school...Josh and Matt were both up around 6 am. I don't get it. Hmmm. Well anywho. I took some cute pictures of the kids playing outside. Bella Loves to run in the snow with the kids. It is funny to watch her tear around the yard in the snow.

So Happy Snow Day Everyone!

Matt running in the snow

Caitlin

Matt again. He loves posing for the camera!

Ryan making snowballs. So Cute!

Bella playing with her bear in the snow

The view out the front door this morning. Beautiful!

Silly things we do....

We were all being a little silly today. Cait ran around with under wear on her head.....
While the rest of us tried on a Grill that was all Bling! Mark would be so proud of our 'Sparkling Teeth!'