Invasion of the giant termites

Termites- you know those dirty creatures that destroy wooden things and then leave "piles" around? Yep, we got 'em and we 'em bad. But let me tell you, these are not your garden variety termites. They are HUGE. I've never seen termites quite like these but based on their behavior there is no denying that is exactly what they are. About three days ago they invaded (I believe they caught a ride from my parent's house). Their destruction began almost immediately upon their arrival. They dug three holes in our deck, they've eaten the corners off what's left of our deck and planter boxes and yep, they've even left nasty piles of "stuff" all over. Oh the piles. Don’t even ask Kole or you will certainly hear an earful. Even worse, I agreed to let them invade. Crazy, I know. The other strange thing is they have names; names that would almost make you think they would be cute and sweet- names like Misty and Cutter. I will try to contain the giant pests as long as I can but beware; I hear there are others out there like them. I took a picture of them just so if you ever see any like these you will know to protect your stuff!

Exhibit A and Exhibit B

The kids in the middle are actually the "good" ones in this picture.

(Did I mention THEY DUG THREE HOLES IN MY DECK!)

Mom and Dad, your bill is in the mail.  I am sure it will we waiting for you when you get home.  XOXO

On a much happier note, it's park weather again.  Happy warm (and not just "Utah warm") and sunny, almost like a real spring day!  Boy am I glad to get the kids out of the house and into the sun.  They need to run off their energy on something besides my treadmill.  Here are some pictures from our day at the long-lost park right across the street from our house.  It has been so long, I practically forgot it was there. 

Eve is getting so big.  Last fall I would have to stand right under her everytime she wanted to climb something on the playground (She is a little clumsy sometimes.  Hey, I'm not being mean.  She has the scars to prove it) but now she is a master climber.  Sigh of happiness/reminiscing.

Is this fear or fun?  Hard to tell but he refused to go down the slide the whole rest of the time.  Big baby.

Just ignore all the weird bean pods that look like dead snakes all over the ground.  Can you say Creeeeepeeeee?

I was highly tempted to just leave them hanging there... but I'm not that bad of a mom... despite what everyone may think as they read this blog.

Ok, also here are a few other pics from over the last little while...

More sleeping in random places

Mommy's little helper- all decked out.  It's beyond me why they don't make manly aprons for boys this age.  What?  Boys have to clean house too, ya know.

Lunch and a real train.  Kids thought that was so cool.

Ok, now that you read my blog, get off the computer and go enjoy the nice weather!

It's my day. It's all mine.

Can you tell from my new bright and beautiful blog background that I'm a little antsy for some spring flowers? It is now officially March and the sunshine and warmth seemed to arrive on queue. No flowers yet but the left-over snow is brown and ugly and my lawn has mud-puddles.  It's a good sign.  But am I going to sit here and talk about the weather like you and I are in the middle of some awkward conversation forced by a random run-in in the grocery store? Of course not. Let's get back to life.
So, anyways, here are some pictures. I'll tell what's up as we go along...

To start out with we have some pics from my little birthday party yesterday.  I love the close family parties but I told Kole that next year I want an all out party with all our friends and family.  Mark your calendar now because you are invited.  Even though my birthday is not until March 2, I have been soaking up the attention for days now and I intend to continue to do so as long as I can.  Kole has been a super-duper hubby to allow me to use the "but it's my birthday" excuse all weekend to avoid doing things I'd rather not.  So sweet.  I wonder just how long this can last. 

I love the intense look on Jack's face in this picture.  It's like he's had some long battle with the cupcake and now he's going in for the kill. 

I think it was a very good thing that her dress is purple because after last night it would have ended up that way anyhow.

What?  This isn't how you wash your hands?

Thanks Deb for taking the time to look at and "read" every book they brought to you.  You have patience like Job. 

Me, talking on the phone to my Grandma Louise who lives far away in warm and sunny Southern California.  Sooooo jealous. 

Grandma Wendy and my little monkey man Jack.   No more monkeys jumping on the bed!  Just after this picture was taken Eve decided she wanted to join Jack jumping on the bed.  Bad idea.  Her bed is definitely not made for so much fun.

This ubber-cute guy is my bro-in-law Grayson. (I love ya, Grayson. Don't hate me for blogging about you)  It appears he has become a black-hole of cool almost overnight. It's like all the cool just gravitates to him.  Obviously, this hat is super cool but also obviously, I am too old to truly comprehend its amazingness. I know all you ladies are swooning but he is much too young for any of you and besides it appears he is currently taken or "in a relationship" as his facebook status states. Believe me, this is huge news! If this all works out he may just be the first of Kole's brothers to completely disprove he's gay. ;) (Sorry if you are feeling out of the loop here. It is a long running family joke that it seems will never die.   Our family suffers from "homobrophobia" aka the fear that your brother is or will turn out to be gay.  I am sure I am going to end up offending way too many people here.  But what else is there to say when I have so many single brothers-in-law?)


Like just noted, my bros-in-law are single.  Please see the post titled "Party Time" and look for picture of all the boys on the stairs for a preview of the available merchandise. 

End of Birthday Party.  Next event. 

Also this weekend, our ward had our first Primary party of the year.  From my point of view (having never thrown nor been to a primary party before) I think it was a great success!  It was a PJs Bishopric Breakfast.  Everyone showed up in their favorite pajamas and we had breakfast and then we did activities with the acronym "PJs" while members of the bishopric taught us about each subject.  It was really fun. 

I hope no one is too picky about having their kid's faces on the web but I just had to include a couple group pictures because everyone looked so darn cute... I hardly ever see everyone in anything besides church clothes.  (Eve is on the bottom left)

For "P" we learned about how prayer helps us know Jesus Christ and then the kids colored prayer rocks.  My mom was joking with me that whoever originally thought of prayer rocks must have been crazy.  You are supposed to put them on your pillow to remind you to pray but then you end up forgetting to take it off your pillow and when you turn out the lights and crawl into bed you hit your head on the rock.  Then you throw the rock on the floor and when you wake up in the morning and stumble out of bed you stub your toe on the rock.  I suppose it ultimately does serve its purpose because how can you forget to pray after that? 

For "J" we learned about the joy we experience as we come unto Christ and the kids played games involving stuffed animals and sleeping bags. 

For "S" we learned about how the scriptures help us to know Christ and the kids made scripture ribbons to bookmark their scriptures. 

Overall, good times.  It was a really cheap and easy idea if anyone needs to put together a primary party in the future.