Damon Jeremiah

My Big Guy turned 4 on September 15th.  I don't have any stats yet because his appointment isn't until Thursday, so I'll have to come back and put that in.  Anyway, this guy is awesome.  Sometimes I feel like he gets a little left out, so since it's been his birthday time I've been trying extra hard to realize all the little things I love about him and all his wonderful qualities.

 He can really make me laugh, his silliness is just that and when I'm in the right mood he can bring a smile to my face.  He is such a good friend to others and play super good one on one.

 He plays really well with his brothers one on one too.  Jaron absolutely adores Damon.  Damon can always make Jaron smile and most of the time Damon is very happy to oblige, it's come in very handy with my latest projects going on.  Whenever I hear Jaron fuss and then stop, 9 times out of 10 when I go check on him Damon is with him.

 This afternoon Damon was playing with Tragon for a couple hours, while Logan was away at a friend's house and there was absolutely NO fighting, it was amazing!  And they had a great time.  Three's are hard for Damon though...and for most people, but he's getting better everyday learning how to play with more than one friend/brother.

 He got pretty spoiled with presents this year because I would just pick things up here and there if I saw a good deal or something.  He's been such a champ walking/riding the mile to school to drop off Logan and the mile back home, so I just couldn't help myself.

 And, now that he's wearing the same size clothes as Logan he can't really have the hand me downs now, so he's been getting a lot of new shirts lately to get ready for the cooler weather and he has loved it.  He's never complained about always getting Logan's old clothes, but you could just tell he really loved getting something new.

Damon loves to empty the dishwasher and climb up on the counters for me.  He doesn't really like doing "chores" but he really likes getting the money.  More times than not he'll pick money vs rewards for his extra chores.  I hope that's a good sign that he'll be money smart.  :)  My favorite part about him being four is that we decided that four year olds don't whine and complain, so anytime he's starts the whine, I just ask him how old he is and remind him and that usually stops it and he can change his tone on a dime and get the help he needs.  (Most of the time....)

I also love when he comes and cuddles with me if I'm ever laying down.  I love how excited he gets when we read his favorite stories.  I love how happy he his when he is happy.  I love it when he asks me to come play with him and I want to be better and doing that because someday he won't want to anymore.  I love/hate how he is still stuck in the mimicking phase and will copy Logan or Tragon, or whoever he happens to be with, sometimes the results are hilarious and fun...other times not so much. :)  I love his big blue eyes and the puppy dog face that he's learning to give.  I just love my Damon so much!!!  He's learning so much right now and I hope and pray that I can teach him the things that are most important.  I love you Damon, until next time...

The Latest Happenings

The last couple weeks have been pretty crazy.  We're starting to find a good routine with walking to school and I'm loving that the weather is cooling down.  I've been working out 3 days a week with a group of friends from my neighborhood/ward.  It's been really good and kicking my butt.  On those days that I don't wake up early and work out though, I like to sleep in as long as possible.  This must have been one of Morgan's late days and all the boys woke up before he left, and somehow they all make their way into our bed.  I love seeing all my boys together like that.  They are the coolest kids ever!

 I also had another canning adventure.  I truly detest the store canned peaches, I think they're gross.  While, bottling your own peaches isn't super cheap, it's so worth it for the flavor.  I bottled my first batches of peaches the other day.  It was a lot of work, but the kids were champs.  Damon especially helped me by keeping Jaron company in the crib when he woke up from his nap so I could finish.  After two separate days of canning I ended up with 38 quarts of peaches, not nearly as many as I had hoped, but when I had to buy all the jars too, it was getting pretty pricey.  I'm really looking forward to eating them though.  We'll have to pace ourselves or they won't last even a few days!  :)  I am definitely looking forward to canning more next year, in the meantime, I'll keep working on my meats.

 I love how pretty they look right after they are done.

 We also celebrated Damon's birthday last Saturday, but I'll do that on a separate post.  We were going to do family pictures that same day, but things fell through.  We were able to get it back together though and Morgan took a half-day on Tuesday, and I excused Logan from school (it's only kindergarten) and we went up to the Heber Valley Railroad station and took pictures.  I really hope that some of them turned out, it was pretty chaotic.  :)  Anyway, that evening  (tonight) I was getting the boys ready for baths and while I was changing Jaron I hollered to Tragon that it was bath time.

I heard a clunk and shouted, no trains in the bathtub Tragon, that will ruin the batteries.  I ran in to salvage the trains and this is what I saw...Tragon waist deep in water...fully clothed....I did have to take a train out, but it was Tragon that made the big plopping sound.  Luckily at least his shoes were off AND he had a clean diaper, whew!  What a silly guy.  I decided that I want to be done being upset by stuff like this, so I just busted up laughing and got the camera.  Oh, my little Tragon, what will you come up with next?

I sure love my kids for as crazy and as busy as they keep me.  And even during those down times where I feel totally overwhelmed, all it takes is a little hug or kind word from them to make me feel better.  Until next time...hopefully I'll have some good family pictures to post.

Kids (Damon) Say the Darndest Things

This boy comes up with some of the funniest stuff...and he doesn't even know it.  Some random comments that have just had me and Morgan in stitches as of late go as follows:

Back story: Tragon has been acting like a ram lately in that if you're not careful he'll charge at you with his head down at full speed...this happens to be in a very uncomfortable spot for a few of us.  He came charging at me one day and I said, "man, that hurts, it gets me right in the stitches" (the incision from my c-section..yes 6 months later and still a little tender) of course Morgan follows that with "I know he gets me right in the nuts" and Damon out of nowhere says, "it gets me in the carrot"

Back story: Morgan has a fun game that he likes to play with the kids that will get them out of some pretty sour moods at times, it's the "eat me" game.  He goes to each boy saying, "mmm, I think I want a (insert child name here) snack, I sure love the (neck, leg, arm, ribs, etc)"  The boys love it...most of the time.  Last night Damon and I were sitting at the couch reading a book when Daddy came up and said, mmm, I think I want a Damon snack.  Of course Damon starts squealing like a little girl and says, "no Daddy, have a Mommy snack" so Morgan starts looking at me like he looks at the boys and of course I'm giving him the evil eye, so not in the mood to be "eaten" (it had been a long day).  Then Damon follows that up with, "Daddy, eat Mommy, eat her pecks"  Oh boy! Laughter is the best medicine.

Until next time...

Yellowstone 2012

We went to Yellowstone over Labor Day weekend for a Goodman Family Reunion and it was a blast.  It was a long drive, but I think the kids all did really well.  We stopped at McDonalds for breakfast on Friday morning.

 Kashlynn, Tragon, Harlee, Damon, & Logan.  These cousins sure love each other.

 Kash loved to be wherever the camera was and made sure she posed too.  :)

 My mom wanted a lot of pictures this trip, so this was pretty typical over the weekend.

 There was a playground and the cabin/camping/RV park that we were staying at and I think that was probably the kids most favorite part of the entire trip.  :)  They had fun playing pirates and going all over the playground, it was really nice to have a place for them to go while food was being prepared.  And for the most part, they had it to themselves almost everytime they were there.

 Papa got to have a little Jaron time and I think they both quite enjoyed it. :)

 I love my little bear.

 He was awesome the entire trip.  He got a little fussy in the car a couple time, but really I think he loved being outside all the time and watching everybody.

 Logan took this picture all by himself.  He's getting pretty good at the self-pictures.

 Logan and Kashlynn were just two peas in a pod.  Kashlynn was all over him most of the time, but I think he really liked having all the attention.

 Grandma loved playing with the kids on the swings and the kids loved it too.

 These are some pictures of Mammoth.  It looks like snow, but it's actually other minerals that have come out.  This area is in constant change, so if you've ever been there, it probably didn't look like this then.

 We went and saw Old Faithful too, but I forgot the camera on that one.  The kids liked the little hikes and all the geysers.

 It was really pretty and the weather was pretty much perfect the whole time.

 It would get pretty chilly at night and it rained pretty much everynight, but during the day, it was perfect.

 I think I was expecting something more along the lines and looks of Zion National Park, but it was soo different and I loved it.  The trees throughout the forest were mind-boggling.

 Tragon loved his sunglasses that we got for the Nerf games.  :)

 Damon sure was a trooper, we had our moments, but I think he had a good time, despite his expression.

 We took our baby backpack and Jaron LOVED it.  He was so good for all the hikes and walking around.

 And of course we saw a lot of Buffalo.  As you're driving through the park, people will just randomly stop and pull out and you know that there must be an animal nearby.  We saw buffalo, coyote, wolf, and some bears at the bear and wolf preserve.

 We got a whole bunch of darts and made vests for a Nerf war. The little ones had a blast, the older folk didn't really get to play, but it was fun watching the kids run around and I think we only ended up losing 1-2 darts.  Pretty impressive.

 Of course, a couple more collages of the park because the kids had so much fun there, and because I had my camera at that point, so that's where most of my pictures came from.

All in all, it was a great family reunion and we're excited for the next one.  Next time there will be two more babies bringing the total up to 11 grandkids...and Logan is the oldest at 5  :)  Yep, it's pretty crazy, but man it's fun to have them all so close to each other.  Until next time...