Jace and Austin plan a day at Lagoon

I would have loved to hear this conversation.  They have become such good buddies over the summer.

Baptism Boy

February 5, 2011

Matt and I are the only ones looking at the camera. I think the kids saw Grandma walk in the door.

So handsome! What a fun day! We had fun lunch at our house after the baptism, it was so neat to have so many family members there. We love you Zack!

The night before the baptism, Derek woke up not feeling well. He ended up having a fever and a sore throat. As Matt and I were taking his temperature, pumping him full of motrin, and trying to help him get back to sleep, Zack came running into our room, crying pretty hard. When I got him calmed down enough to talk, I asked him what was wrong. He said his throat hurt and his head hurt and he was sick and couldn't get baptized! I told him he could still get baptized and he said, "Really? Can dad give me a blessing so I will be better?" Ah, the sweet, simple faith of little children! Matt gave him a blessing, we took his temperature (fever) and loaded him up with motrin as well. He woke up feeling great and had a wonderful day.

Great to Be Eight

Well, it is official, we are getting old! We have an eight-year old. Today is Zack's eighth birthday and it has been a weekend-long celebration. We began on Friday with taking treats to Zack's class. When it is your birthday, the whole class makes you cards. I got such a kick out of reading the cards the kids made. Some were funny, some were lame, some were incredibly creative and one hearth-shaped one said, "I have a crush on you." The girl even signed her name! Zack was so embarrassed. Not yet!!! I don't want to start this yet!

That night we had a friend birthday party. We had 15 boys over at our house for an "AllStar Birthday Bash." It was really fun, we played a lot of games, (favorite of the night was an "agility challenge" where they all stood in one corner of the room with there feet planted as they tried to dodge the stuffed animals Matt and I threw at them.) We had great music, like "Eye of the Tiger" playing and had an awards banquet when we finished our games. (hot dogs, chips and soda. Then we had our awards banquet (medals, etc.) and cake. It was really so much fun.

Saturday morning, after Zack's basketball game, we headed up North to visit family. Matt's parents gave Zack his scout shirt and book. He was thrilled. He has been counting down to Cub Scouts for the last three years. (not even kidding. This morning he passed off his Bobcat and started on his Wolf. He is rarin' to go.)
On the Sorensen side of the family, we have three birthdays in three days. Zack, Carson and Derek. We had little party for them and it was so fun. Such cute boys.
After the party at Sorensen's we headed over to my parents for some gifts. Zack was thrilled to receive all the Book of Mormon scripture stickers (for the scriptures he is getting for his baptism).
Today is Zack's actual birthday. He had very specific requests for breakfast and dinner. He is such a funny kid. He opened one present before church, a suit, and the rest later on in the day. He didn't get too much, but a much needed new bike was the best gift ever. He had a great time playing Legos and playing with his dad today. We ended the day with Great to be Eight. What an awesome day. Zack is such a great example. He is a smarty pants and a hard worker. He is so good with Sydney and can always calm her down. He is so much fun and we love him to pieces. Next stop: Baptism in two weeks, he can't wait!

I Spy and the Mind Reader

Yesterday, as we were driving around town, picking up some things for our soon-to-be missionary, Jamison, I could hear the boys talking in the back. Zack was talking about a friend at school, but had not named him. Derek chimed in with the child's first and last name. "Wow!" said Zack! "Derek you are so smart! Can you read my mind?"
"Yes!" said Derek.
"Okay, what am I thinking about now?"
"T-Rex!"
"No."
"S0 and So." (he repeated the classmate's name from before.)
"No," says Zack, disappointed. "I guess you can't read my mind."

This conversation turned into all of us playing "I Spy." I started by saying,

"This is something that keeps us safe while we are driving."
Derek immediately replied, "Seatbelts!" No, not correct.
Then Zack chimed in with, "GPS!" No, keep trying. (It was the traffic light.)

Next round was Zack's turn. "I am thinking of someone who is in charge of us."
My first guess was Heavenly Father. Nope. My next guess was the Prophet. Nope.
Zack intervened here to give another clue. "His name has an 'O'."
"President Obama?"
"Yes!" said Zack. I am not sure why, but I thought that was really funny.

How to Make Sugar Cookies: A Sorensen Boy Tutorial

Wait very impatiently while Mom mixes the cookie dough. Smash it to bits in an attempt to roll it and cut it out.
Try double and triple stacking the cookies. Mom says no.

Austin decides the dough needs a little more flour.
You need to sprinkle the flour evenly across the dough. (Or until you can no longer see the dough.)
Roll and roll and roll until you are completely covered in flour.
Wait impatiently for the cookies to bake.
Here is where I would add a photo of the finished product, but they didn't last very long. I have a delicious frosting recipe that my sister found somewhere and it is sooooo good. I will share it with all of you because I am nice like that:

Sugar Cookie Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 lb. butter (Not margarine!)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 Tbs. milk

Mix until you reach spreading consistency. Add any food coloring and enjoy!!

The Birthday Boys....Now it is Derek's turn!

Zack, Carson and Derek blowing out the candles at their joint family party.
I know Derek looks grumpy in this photo, but he was just teasing his Dad. When I woke him up this morning, I said, "Derek, it is your birthday! Wake up!" He jumped out of bed and said, "Am I four now? Can I go to school?" He wanted to open his presents first thing.
He was so excited to have a leapster! He borrows Zack's everyday. After presents, Matt asked him if he would like to go out to breakfast, like Zack and Matt had. Derek said, "No, thank you. I would just like to stay home." So he had a delicious cereal breakfast. (I let him head to the basement and and pick out a "sugar" cereal. He was so excited!) Then, we got ready for his birthday party. He is my boy who always need a little more attention, a few more cuddles and I don't know if it is middle child syndrome or what, but I had been thinking he needed to do something special for his birthday, without having to share the spotlight with either of his brothers. I decided to throw him a little party and he was thrilled. This was his first birthday party and he was so excited. He helped me get everything ready this morning and then couldn't sit still in anticipation. When I had asked him what kind of party he wanted, he immediately said a Pirate party. We invited a few of the kids from his Sunbeam class and I am sorry to say that I did not take any pictures. I didn't even think about it. We found a treasure map and had to complete certain tasks before we were true Pirates and able to find the treasure. Walking the plank was the biggest hit, they did it over and over again. Derek loved every second of it. After the party guests headed home, we headed out to lunch with my sister and her two boys. What kind of fancy lunch did Derek want for his birthday? Costco hot dogs. So we went to Costco and all his dreams came true.
Derek is such a sweet boy and he keeps our family charged with energy. Things would definitely not be so much fun without him around. He is such a great helper and loves to have a job to do. He has recently decided that he likes to play with his little brother and they have so much fun together. He is so loving and he also loves to tease! When he had finished opening his presents this morning he ran to me and gave me hug and said "Thank you, mom!"
Just a few days ago, I was changing the sheets on my bed. Derek and Austin, both kept trying to climb under the covers while I was making the bed and I was getting irritated. Finally, I made them both leave my room until I was done. Something happened and I left my room before I had finished the bed to help Matt with something. About 10 minutes later, I went back to finish, only to discover that Derek had made me bed for me:

Didn't he do a great job? P.S. Don't all of you keep American Flags in your bedroom? (The Flag was never put away after Pack Meeting.)
Derek loves to have jobs to do. He loves to place with "guys" aka action figures. He loves to build things with Legos and loves to be outside. He is so much fun.
Happy birthday, Derek! We love you!

The Birthday Boys....Beginning With Zack

January is a month of celebration in our home. We begin with the New Year, Aunt Meagan's birthday, our wedding anniversary and then have Zack's birthday, cousin Carson's birthday, Derek's birthday and cousin Davis' birthday. Whew! (I should probably mention that Zack, Carson and Derek's birthdays are three days in a row!) Zack started off his day by waking up at 11:30 pm, rushing down the stairs to find Matt and I watching a movie and being bitterly disappointed when we told him he had only been sleeping for a few hours and it wasn't his birthday yet. When he finally did get up for the day he opened his presents and then Matt took him out to breakfast. Zack was thrilled to go do something special with his Dad. As they were waiting for their food, Zack said, " This is such a fancy place. This must be where rich people eat!" (They were at IHOP.) After breakfast, Matt asked Zack if there was anything else he wanted to do. Zack said he we would like to go to a toy store. He looked at toys for a while and eventually asked Matt is he could get a Hot Wheel car. On the way home he said, "That was so fun. I was enjoying myself so much, I just forgot it was my birthday!"

Later in the day, he wanted to go practice basketball, so Matt took the two older boys to the Church to play for a little while. After that, we headed to the dinosaur museum.

We came home and had cake and watched a movie of Zack's choosing. I think he had a pretty fun day.
It is hard to believe that he is seven! He is such a wonderful son and big brother. He is a great example of obedience and kindness. His favorite things to do are:
Draw
Read
Build legos
Happy Birthday Zack!!! We love you!

Church, Space, Nails and Chairs

Derek, just home from church. Sat in his chair all through Sharing Time, with the promise of a peanut butter bar when we got home. He did great, even in Sacrament meeting. Matt's new trick is to read to him out of the Book of Mormon during Sacrament Meeting. Derek loved it. At one point he brought his scriptures to me and said, "read to me! We were on the part about they have to leave their house."
Austin stayed in nursery the whole time with minimal crying and even had fun! Since we came home from Uruguay, he has hated nursery and many weeks of sickness has left him unfamiliar with the nursery routine. (Plus, he has new teachers, who are actually awesome. I think they were a big part of the reason he stuck it out yesterday. But, he was quite anxious at first. It was the first time Matt has been able to go to Priesthood, probably since I started Primary. He was either in nursery with Austin, or subbing for a Primary class last minute. What a good husband!)
Zack loves being a big kid in Primary. He loves his class, loves his teacher and loves having mom in Primary. (Notice they all have the post-church untucked shirt and messy hair.)
They are just cute together and have been playing together so well the last few weeks. Derek keeps saying to Austin, "Want to go on an adventure?" And then Derek thinks of an "adventure" for them to go on.
Zack's Grandpa Sorensen told him all about the first landing on the moon, which led to other discussions about Space and eventually the Apollo 13 mission. Zack had to make his own Apollo 13 out of paper and promised Grandpa he would put a picture on the blog. He loves to make things. Also, his disgusting thumbnail situation is greatly improved. His nail is really close to falling off, and thankfully, there is a brand-new nail already growing. We were worried the nail may not grow back after the infection. He is kind of excited for his nail to fall off. It has been hanging on, bothering him for a while.

Also, I received an email from my cousin-in-law with a link to ksl classifieds. Someone was selling chairs that matched the kitchen table I bought a few months ago on ksl. I had really wanted more chairs, but hadn't taken the time to look for them. We currently have seating for five, which will be fine for another year or so, but we need six! So we called on the chairs, they were available and a decent price and Matt is picking them up today! Hooray! Now we will have seating for eight, which is what we wanted in the first place. Thanks for looking out for us, Diana!!

Overheard.....and Dinotopia

Yesterday, the boys were playing/supposedly cleaning their room, Matt was playing with Austin and I was on the computer pretending to work on Primary stuff. Zack and Derek started to fight, Zack tattled, I told them both to figure it out themselves. Zack walks back into his room and I hear him say to Derek, "Do you have an issue with me?" I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my chair. Where on earth do they get these things?

On a side note, we took the family to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point yesterday and we ended up buying a family pass for the year. I am looking forward to taking the boys there often, they all loved it, even Austin. He kept saying, "Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaar, disoaur!" Soooo, if any of my friends are around and would like to come with us, you get 50% of your entrance fee with a member. (The pass also includes Farm Country and the Gardens....I know a lot of my local friends have been doing this for years, I am a little slow to catch on.) So come play!

Derek the Sunbeam!

Oh, my little Sunbeam. Derek was really excited about being out of the baby class (nursery). He really liked it and although he is the oldest kid in his class, he would not sit in a chair, only on the floor (?) and insisted on standing next to me while I taught Sharing Time. That is definitely better than screaming or tantrum throwing (which he isn't in to, but I really didn't know what to expect.) I just had a scary thought. What if Derek never sits with his class, always with me, and Austin, who refuses to go to nursery without Derek, is on my lap and my new baby is in one arm while I scan class lists in the other. (I was thinking specifically of when Matt goes backpacking this summer or something. Can you imagine? The image of myself with my entourage of three children while trying to maintain order in Primary made me laugh pretty hard. I think the weekend he goes backpacking, I will be going to stay with my mom or his mom.)

One of THOSE Days...

You know those days that crazy things keep happening over and over again? That would be yesterday. The morning went great, I got some things done around the house, had a sock fight with the boys and pretended to make them into their beds while I changed the sheets. Pretty good day, huh?
At 2pm, we left the house to go pick up Jamison from the hospital in Provo. Derek has been potty-training and doing pretty well, but I usually put a pull-up on him if we are going to be gone for more than an hour. And I was out of them, darn it. I figured the trip to Provo wouldn't be too long, and just had him go before we left. There was quite a bit of traffic driving down there, so it took about 30 minutes. We got James settled in the car and decided to get his prescriptions filled in Lehi so I could stop at the bank while the prescriptions were being filled. After another slow drive back to Lehi, we stop at the pharmacy only to find out that the doctor had not put Jamison's name or a date on the Percocet prescription. The pharmacy, of course, refused to fill it and probably has my car on alert for trying to obtain false prescriptions or something now. We called the doctor's office and they said we had to come back to Provo to the doctor's office (which is waaaaaaaaay farther away than the hosptial) to get a new prescription. I would have dropped James off at home and gone myself, but the had to give the prescription to him. The kids were all crying, please can we go home.

I stopped at the grocery store and left the kids in the car with James and ran and bought some cookies and juice to keep them pacified for the drive back. It was nearing four o'clock now and traffic was getting worse. We made it out to the doctor's office in around 40 minutes. We got a new prescription, took Zack and Derek to the bathroom and then got the prescription filled in Provo, just in case anything else was wrong. We drove home through rush-hour and made it home in time to discover that poor Derek had wet his pants just moments before. I got him cleaned up and tried to finish straightening the family room and kitchen,while making dinner, because the cub scouts and my visiting teachers were coming shortly. Derek wet his pants twice more while I was cooking dinner, that dang juice! Scouts was underway, I left the mess in the house and sat on the deck to eat my dinner and watch the boys play in the back. All of the sudden I heard a knock on the window behind me and Matt tells me that my visiting teachers are here. I had totally forgotten. They came in and I asked them to sit in the family room so I could still keep an eye on the boys out the window. We were chatting and having a good time when Derek comes running in the house. He had had another accident, the bad kind, and needed immediate clean-up. My visiting teachers waited patiently while I cleaned him up, cleaned up the underwear, etc.

We start visiting again and the scouts start to leave and then Derek throws up on the tile. The V.Ts decided to leave at that point, can you blame them? Once we got all the kids in bed, made sure Jamison had taken all his pills and finished the dishes, Matt and I sat on the couch exhausted. Okay, I was exhausted, he was just in pain (mountain biking accident yesterday, six stiches in his hand, all swollen and goopy...ick). Poor Derek feels fine today, slept great. James is glad to be home and is doing really well (he had four abdominal hernias removed on Friday and because of his history they kept him for a few days.) Just one of those days that you have to laugh at and hope don't come around too often. :)

Photos Galore....AKA Can you guess what Matt (bought himself) for Father's Day?

We spent Father's Day afternoon out in the country with Matt's Grandpa and family.
Doesn't Austin look excited to be at the hospital? (Visiting Uncle Jamison, of course.) Derek, not so much, that is him huddled on my lap.
Oh, wait, back in the country...Derek and Jordy, bird watching. (Did I mention these photos are in no particular order?)
Ahh...I realized that Austin was thrilled at being at the hospital as much as with the Jamba Juice we gave him.
Zack's last soccer game. He and his buddy have their "game faces" on.


Austin scowling, he does that a lot lately.

The new camera is actually pretty fun to play with. More to come, have no doubt.

Some Funny Things This Week

We are loving summer vacation! I, personally, love having Zack at home and keep trying to talk him into never going back to school again. He won't agree. Dang it. Derek loves having him home too, and seems to get into less mischief when he has a Zack to play with. Unless, mom goes to Enrichment and while dad tries to put Austin to bed, Derek opens a jar of peanut butter and spreads it all over the pantry. All over the inside of the door, the walls, the shelves, inside the sugar bucket, all over the tile floor. How he can accomplish this in 5 minutes, never ceases to amaze me.

Yesterday, I was able to help with a Primary Service activity. I was assigned to Zack's class, which he was thrilled about. He said, "I have always wanted you to be my teacher!" Awwww, thanks Zack! We were supposed to make some cards and then pot some flowers to take to an elderly lady in our ward. Zack was writing his card and first wrote: "I no your nice." Then he asked me how to spell maybe. I told him and then I was curious, so I asked what else he was going to write. He said, "Maybe your old." I nixed that line. He just ended with Hav a nice day.
But it was really fun to hang out with him.

We have a lot going on this week, Lagoon, upcoming sleepover at Tara's, wedding reception, and one more surgery for brother Jamison. He will have just a few days in the hospital and then he is moving back in for the rest of the summer to rest and heal. We are so excited to have him back. We have been so lucky this last year to get to spend so much time with him and my boys love, love, love having him here.

And I save the most exciting news for last: We are going to Uruguay for Thanksgiving, and this time all of my kids and Matt are coming along (also Tara and her family.) My boys are so thrilled that they will be seeing their grandparents soon (22 weeks to go), by the time we get there, it will have been 2 1/2 years since they have seen my dad. We are so excited, we just can't stand it.

It's What Fun Is

We took the boys to see the Thunderbirds at Hill Air Force Base yesterday. I was kind of ambivalent about going, but it was amazing! The boys loved it and I was very glad I brought ear plugs. We got there just minutes before the Thunderbirds began, so we didn't have too much time to look around at all the other great planes there. We are definitely going back when they returnin four years.

After a quick stop at Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen's we headed out to Lagoon. It was the perfect time of night to be there, cool and not too crowded. Zack and I went on some "big kid" rides while Matt took the little guys on the "baby rides," according to Zack. When we met back up, we headed for the train, only to have to evacuate a few minutes later because of a medical emergency. (Supposedly) one of the workers fell and hit her head a few cars back from us. The kids were sad to leave the train, but it was late so we headed for the merry-go-round and then called it a night. Derek's favorite ride of the night was the fighter planes. Austin was about jumping over the fence to go and here is how that went:
Loves his gun,won't look over for a photo.
A look of pure joy as the ride is about to begin. (That is Zack behind him).
He screamed almost the entire time. Zack was patting his back and trying to help him, but he was completely freaking out. Now we know.

My new favorite song

Scooby-Dooby Doo....and Shaggy too!

*The boys have loved watching Scooby-Doo recently. The other day I was getting Derek ready for bed and I said, "Derek do you know where Zack is?" Derek says, "No, I guess we better saw (solve) this mystery! Daddy has a saw!"

*We met up with my brother Chris and sister Tara and her kiddoes to go on a tour of the Sweet's Candy Factory and then to the Church History Museum yesterday...they have such a cute fun, little kid area there. We were picking up Chris at the Park and Ride near our house and I mentioned to Austin that it was time to go get Chris. Now Austin loves Chris...he always ditches me for Chris, he won't do that for anyone else. As soon as I mentioned Chris, Austin started calling out loudly: Tis! Ti-is! Tis? It was very cute and it made Chris' day.

*Zack has always been really good at praying about everything. He prays for very specific things like, Help me remember my sight words, or bless mom to change her mind about getting me Pokemon cards. That kind of stuff. It is neat to see his complete faith that prayers are heard. Derek has started to copy Zack's style of praying too. He will ask for such funny and cute things. He used to be so rowdy during prayers, lately he has been much better. Every FHE, we practice what we do to get ready to pray. Not the most reverent game, but it helps us remember what we need to do to get ready to pray. Either Matt or I will yell, We.......FOLD OUR ARMS! and everyone will quickly fold their arms. Then someone will say, We....KNEEL DOWN! and everyone will rush to kneel down....you get the idea....but it has helped Derek understand that there are specific things we do to get ready to pray. And then for the first time, the other day, I heard Derek praying on his own, while he was playing, without any prompting from me, that had never happened before. Even Austin is starting to pray. When I sit him in his high chair, if no one else is around, he will clasp his hands together and say, "buuu,, dduuud,,, nnaananaa, MEN!" It is oh so cute. Now we need to work on hitting, punching, biting, running across the parking lot while your mom chases after you and not taking toys from your baby brother.

General Conference Idea

I have been trying to think of ways to make General Conference special for my kids. We were going to go up to Temple Square and listen on the grass tomorrow, but since there is snow on the ground and I am wimp about the cold, we scratched that idea. We made a yummy, special breakfast and then set up our tent.

Last night, my sister, Tara, told me about this cute idea she had seen on this website. The night before General Conference, the family spoke about King Benjamin and how he gathered his people together to hear him speak. They pitched their tents to face him and everyone had to be quiet enough so that his words would carry to everyone. Last night, I spoke with the boys about King Benjamin and talked to them about how neat it was that we were going to hear Prophets speak and so forth. Following the lead of the family I mentioned earlier, this morning we set up a tent, facing the TV, we filled it with treats and crayons and General Conference coloring packets (thanks, Christina!). (The family on the site built a fort.) We put a sign on top that says, "Shhh, Reverent Zone". The boys loved it and did pretty good. Zack and Derek were pretty quiet throughout the first session, but were definitely ready for the break. (Thankfully, Austin was asleep, or it would not have been quite so calm.) It was a fun idea and so I wanted to share. Everyone have a great weekend!!

Is there anything more adorable....

...than freshly scrubbed babies ready for bedtime stories? Well, actually I think babies covered in mud, or pudding, or markers are pretty cute too!

Spring Cleaning...I love it!

One of the things I love about my house is that it has plenty of storage space. My favorite would be the cold storage area under the porch. I went to a case lot sale recently and picked some things. I didn't have room for them on the shelves, so I stacked them in the middle of the room. :) I knew that there would be catastrophe for someone in the form of smashed toes, if I didn't take care of the mess in near future. So today, I cleared off some of the shelves and got to work. The only problem was that I decided that the rest of the basement could really use some work and now all the books are off the shelves, there is a massive pile of clothing headed to the D.I. and I think I have about three more hours of work to put in down there before it looks decent. But at least this part looks good: