Dallin turns 8

Can you believe I have an 8 year old? I sure can't! Dallin turned 8 last month and has been loving every minute of his "older" self. For his birthday dinner, he requested my homemade pizza. Happy to oblige, D-Man! Since it was such a special day, we busted out the Soda. (We're not usually soda pop drinkers, but I needed it for a recipe I made my father-in-law for his birthday dessert.)

Halli thinks we need to say prayer after each bite of food. We usually just tell her "amen!" and she's happy.

 This was a year for a party for Dallin. (My kids get one every 2 years.) Dallin requested a swimming or water party. Cauley's aunt and uncle have a great pool and an amazing back yard that could take on all of us adults and kids, so they kindly said we could use their pool. Thanks Turleys!

Cori, Aunt Jeni, Makenna, Jennifer holding the new baby Charlie (Cori's new baby) and Halli keeping cool in the shade while watching the swimmers.

Grandma and Ryan keeping an eye on the cousins.

Cauley grilling hot dogs for everyone.

Dinner! This was some unspoken agreement between the kids that they all had to sit inside the trampoline bars to eat- and stay there until they were done- which they did!

Blowing out those candles. Dallin requested blue cupcakes (the cake part matches the frosting) inside ice cream cones. I also made some graham crackers sandwiches with leftover frosting and those seemed to go faster than the cupcakes!

This was the hard part. Tyli had gotten her stitches out 2 days before and since the wound was still healing, she wasn't allowed to go swimming for another week. She sat by this fence and cried the entire night. Here is her daddy trying to console her and probably making a deal about swimming at a future time.

What an adventure- so far!

I don't know if you can tell how dirty this girl actually is, but she is FILTHY!!! This was the beginning of our summer- a summer of service projects. I believe that Tyli went and helped the boys shovel a "little" bit of rock, dirt, pavers, and a bunch of other stuff for the remodeling of their backyard. (TOTAL sarcasm when I say "little") I'm not sure just how much help the kids were, at least Tyli brought home a shovel or two of dirt in her hair and clothes and Dallin definitely brought home his share of sand inside his shoes! The boys (Cauley included) have also been busy washing other people's (and ours!) cars, mowing down an entire backyard of weeds and trash with their shovels (the weed eater broke 5 seconds into it!), and moving rock for a few families. I LOVE that my husband is such a hard worker!

Just a little leaf bug that tried flying into our house the other day. He was on our lemon tree, but I opened the door to tell Cauley something out back and he flew at me. Not every day you can find a leaf bug. Cauley and I let him crawl on us, and Tyli was going to brave it out and do the same, but freaked out when Cauley went to put it on her. (Cauley's hand is so dirty as he had just got home from helping out yet another neighbor move rock or something.)

This is actually how Halli sits while in a stroller, shopping cart, high chair, you name it. She even tries while in her car seat, but that's a little more restrainable. My favorite is when we are someplace else and all of a sudden her foot come out of her seat onto the table. (The look on other people's faces is priceless!)

And here she is just chillin. (Her favorite- outside in the stroller.) Too bad you can't see that her feet are up, and over the tray of her stroller and she is re-laxed!

Yep- you see right. No, this is not a picture from last year. I am the world's biggest klutz! I fell down my stairs again 2 weeks ago. We were called as Ma's and Pa's for our Stake Trek, and very much looking forward to it, but had to cancel at the very last minute due to severely sprained foot and hairline fractured ankle. At first, we weren't totally sure anything was broken, just badly sprained. It was about 3 days before I was supposed to walk on it, and it just hasn't healed very fast. I went in for my 2 week appointment today and found out indeed it is fractured (just a hairline fracture though!) and I have 2 torn tendons around the ankle (over the top going toward the foot, and one underneath). No surgery, just have to wear the dumb boot another 2-4 weeks and then I have a brace I'll have to wear for another 4-6 weeks as well as PT. No fun. At least I have permission to get in the pool again. (I can sit, but that's better than having to sit outside the water while watching everyone else in the water! (Especially while living in AZ in the summertime!)

Another thing about the fall. When I fell, I was carrying Halli down from her nap. When I fell, I accidentally dropped her and she landed on her right arm. That night Cauley took her in and they think she may have had Nurse Maid's elbow, meaning a partially separated elbow. She still wouldn't really use her right arm for a good week, and when she did, she didn't really lift it up, just moved her wrist. We think she also hurt her shoulder a bit and that's why she didn't use it. Even her scooting around the floor was one-armed. She's finally doing MUCH better now and using both arms/hands as she used to. I have felt SO horrible!

Can you believe this guy turns 8 tomorrow? He was welcomed into Cub Scouts last week at Pack Meeting and last night was his first time going to den meeting. I can't believe I will have an 8 year old! Even though his den meets about a mile from our house, we let him ride his bike with his buddy, Karsen.

Ok- I am not going to get into details with this next story. It involves my beautiful daughter, Tyli, and a flashlight. Anyhow, really short story- Mike and Kathy (my MIL and FIL) took the kids (minus Halli) up to Prescott for the weekend like they were going to do when we went on the Trek. (They went up on Thursday, we were now following on Friday.) Anyways, after a long day, some excited to be in a tent/away from mom and dad overnight, some rough housing in the tent, and kids that were up WAY too late, Tyli ended up at Yavapai Regional Hospital at 11pm for stitches. It took a long time since someone else there kept "coding", so it wasn't until 2:30 am that everyone was able to go home for bed. Tyli was a trooper though and slept through the stitches. She now informs me that she loves the "bubbly water" they kept putting on her eye to flush it out. She got 3 stitches inside, 7 outside, and then they had to glue another spot on her eyelid. (lower left side.)

It really wasn't fun laying in bed, jumping as the phone rang at 11pm, listening while wondering who would be calling at that hour to my husband who is told "Is this Tyli Clark's dad? This is Yavapai Regional hospital and we have Tyli here who is going to need some medical attention and we need your permission to treat her." Yah- let's just say we freaked out! About 10 minutes later (ok, probably only 7-8, but it really felt like 30!) my father-in-law called us and we got the scoop. They planned on calling us, they just wanted to get Tyli to the hospital asap and so he called as soon as he could.) Just a bit scary/overwhelming/frustrating/alarming to get a call like that out of nowhere!

This is the day before Ty got her stitches out. I was really surprised it didn't bruise more than it did. She thought it was pretty and wanted me to put make-up on the other eye. (I didn't have the right colors to make it match though- I shoulda called Steph!) She went and got her stitches out today and was SO good, just laying there while Dr. Leavit had to remove some that had scabbed over. He then put them in a row on a tongue depressor and put a piece of tape over them so she could keep them as a souvenir. Kinda cool, kinda gross. She's happy with it though!

I had to add a picture of this guy. He is all ready for Kindergarten, although he's already getting really nervous. He went and got his shots today. He did great! I love how sweet, loving, and compassionate he is, especially with his sisters! His big worry is making friends, but honestly, he should have no problem with that!

I love these two! I love all of my awesome little family! I'll post again sometime of the many upcoming adventures we're off to have to finish off the summer. (and there will be lots more- just hopefully none that involve ER's, urgent cares, or unplanned dr. offices!)

And the winner is...

Sorry- if you're looking for a giveaway, this is NOT that blog. This post makes me SO happy for my wonderful hubby, Coach Clark. He came home Saturday night (really early Sunday morning) with this trophy- one his team won at the State Track Meet this past weekend. The Boys got Division III Runners Up (lost by 1 point) and the Girls won State! For more pictures and information, go to his track blog at higleytrack.blogspot.com GO KNIGHTS!!!

My Baby turns 1!

Halli on her actual birthday

Pigtails- a new, wild look for the girl.

These sisters love each other- or so the picture says!

I can't believe my baby is already one! Where oh where did the time go? Halli, also known by me as "monkey" and has her daddy completely smitten! is now a year old! Her birthday landed on Easter this year so we celebrated with Cauley's parents and the Greers who came over for dinner and cupcakes. (I do have pics of that, but I'll save you the time by just saying that they are just as cute as the rest of all these pictures.) For her birthday Halli got new sippy cups (she's completely weaned from nursing AND the bottle!), a ball that she adores, bath toys, some money from Grandpa Clark and Grandma Kathy, and a cute onesie and sundress from the Greers. She also got a stuffed frog which her siblings named "Hoppy" (for Happy Easter/Birthday) from her Grandma and Grandpa Ruth which she absolutely LOVES and snuggles often. She was one spoiled little girl!

Halli is such a mamma's girl, unless her daddy is around- then she ONLY wants her daddy! She's a bit different from the rest and wants to be held at all times. (Not always so easy for a RS president to do!) Halli has all but 2 of her teeth, but she's working on them. She loves balls just like her big brother Dallin did. She loves to make animal sounds and the duck is her favorite. She loves to eat just about everything except rice, and LOVES to drink milk. Halli doesn't have near as much hair as Tyli did at this age and it is SUPER thin and blond. (who knows where that came from- we don't do thin hair in our family- it's all or nothing for us!)

One unique thing about Halli is that she still doesn't roll over, crawl, pull up, or walk. At 4 months old, we were sent to the Children's hospital for an ultrasound on her hips looking for a dislocation, but all was found ok. Then we were sent for x-rays and that showed that her hips are formed correctly. Now we know that she has very loose hip sockets, allowing her hips to dislocate easily, but mostly at her will. Weird- I know. We figured this out as whenever we'd put her on her knees to try and crawl, her hips would fall to the sides and she's sit there on her pelvic bone with her hips in a weird position. Also, it does this whenever she tries pulling up. Basically, her feet are under her body, feet together, toes on the floor, and knees on the floor. Halli also does this thing when she is tired where she'll put both hands on her left leg while sitting upright and move her right hip in and out of socket, just going in a circular motion. When she does this, you can see a pained expression on her face. She DOES, however, get around the house at will by scooting on her bottom! What is funny about this is that she puts one leg out, other in like she's stretching her hamstrings, and scoots, then switches legs and scoots and so forth. (Left, right, left, right, etc.)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this little girl so much and am so happy she is a part of our family. She definitely brings character to our home and is loved by all of us here.

1 Year stats

Height: 32 inches tall

Weight: 19 lbs 4oz

Cuteness: ADORABLE!!!

I guess it's our new favorite pasttime?

Don't let your eyes fool you- McKade is squatting down. BUT Tyli is pretty tall! (McKade had come home from Father and Sons missing the screw that holds his lenses in, so no glasses for him for the hike!)

I carried Halli and all of our water about 3/4 of the way due to Tyli wearing shoes that were too small and Cauley having to give her a shoulder ride.

Where we stopped for water.

like father like son!

Did something die in the path? Nope. It's just McKade literally playing possum! (too much Jeff Corwin for him!)

One thing we really like to do as a family is to hike. We have a great excuse to do right now too as Cauley and I have been called to be Ma's and Pa's by the stake for the Youth Treck coming up next month. We borrowed a baby pack, and loaded up the troops to hike the San Tan Foothills. This hike is SUPER EASY and perfect for little kids. (my kids prefer a bit more of a challenge though, but they still had fun.) We only did about a 3 mile hike but it was a good time nonetheless. I just can't wait until the kids will carry their own water!

Our Digorno Houseparty!

All of the loot that we got sent to us for our party! What you can't see is the coupons for the FREE Digorno pizzas I was sent to feed our guests at the party along with coupons for $4 off a Digorno pizza that we gave to our guests!



Some of the partiers!  (This may be the only shot I have of anyone even eating the main event- PIZZA!) Check out my mini basketball sugar cookies I made.



Tye Christopher was a very tired little guy.

and so was Bryce! Oh wait a second- I DO have another shot of the pizza being eaten! Way to go Brad!

Taylor just had a great time riding the zebra.

If you haven't yet signed up for Houseparty.com, DO SO NOW!!! This was the 2nd party I have hosted for them and it is AMAZING! It is free to sign up, and mostly free to throw a party. (You just provide all filler stuff like extra food and drinks and any decorations or anything else you want to add to your party.) Anyways, once you register, you basically fill out applications to become hosts for the parties that you would be interested in throwing. They'll email you if you are chosen to be a host, and then they send you lots of cool, FREE stuff! My first party I was chosen to host was the Just Dance 2 party and I also received Just Dance for Kids as well in my host package. Basically I had people over for lots of fun and a little yummy food- all for FREE! This time around, I was chosen for the Digorno Hoops Party. (That's how behind I am- this party was in March during March Madness.)

As a host, I received a over-the-door hoop and ball, FREE pizza coupons, plates, hand wipes, a kitchen timer shaped like a basketball, refrigerator magnet, basketball shaped hot pad, pizza cutter, spatula, LOTS of LOUD blow-up noisemakers (which all of the kids quickly turned into swords out in the backyard!), and a tournament sheet thing that we didn't use. We also had chips, pretzels, cookies, wings, bread sticks, and PIZZA! Thanks to everyone who came and partied the night away with us! Now GO and sign up for Houseparty.com! (they have their Ball canning one coming up real soon, and if I'm not chosen as a host, PLEASE invite me if you are!)

My reward

Today is Mother's Day. I don't like Mother's Day. In fact, I really DISlike Mother's Day. I love the quote a friend gave at church today- in her own words she said, "I was once a perfect mother- for about 2 seconds until my first child was born." It's true. That's how I feel every day of my life. I especially dislike going to church on Mother's Day and hearing how perfect every other mother in the world is/has been. (Especially since I just yelled at one of my kids for not having shoes on as we walk out the door after they've just spent the past 5 minutes fighting or throwing a tantrum, or that one of my children usually has their lunch down the front of their church clothes even though they didn't even have their church clothes on when they ate the said lunch, or my daughter's hair, which looked absolutely ADORABLE a few minutes ago now has been taken out and redone to HER specifications, and so on.) Anyways, this Mother's Day was that way. I was happy to head out of the chapel during the prelude for the Sacrament hymn with Halli in arms to find Tyli who was MIA/in the bathroom since BEFORE the meeting even began. I was being overcome with my own doubts and bad feelings about me as a mother. As I stood in the foyer with both girls, these doubts and feelings became overpowering. A reminder of the squirming 1 year old in my arms who doesn't roll over still, doesn't crawl, doesn't pull up or cruise made me feel like I was doing everything in life wrong as a mother. However, right after I leaned forward and whispered for Tyli to fold her arms for the Sacrament prayer which was to be said, I caught a glimpse of this little baby who is delayed- arms folded, head bowed, and a sweet smile on her face. It was then that I KNEW. It was then that I received my best Mother's Day gift ever. My doubts about being a good enough mom flew away as I received confirmation that, although I am not a perfect mommy, I am doing my best, and more importantly, I doing what is expected of me by teaching my children the gospel, sharing with them it's truths. Teaching them things that they need to know and do in this life so we can be together forever. I hope I don't forget this lesson, and I pray I may have more Mother's Day rewards like today.

Check out this Boutique!!!

Hey everyone. I have several friends getting ready for the big day- The Pecan Creek Boutique which will be coming up real quick. Right now they are doing a giveaway so head on over to their website pecancreekboutique.blogspot.com and enter to win some fabulous prizes!!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Halli sure enjoyed her mashed potatoes and her valentine from mommy!


My sister, Jeni, makes her family a special Valentine Dinner every year. I decided to follow suit and make a candlelight dinner for my family this year too! It wasn't anything out of the ordinary food wise, but my kids were excited to have my homemade lit candles on the table (t-light candles inside baby food containers so wax didn't get everywhere and more importantly so the kids wouldn't keep blowing them out during dinner!) as well as lots of candy hearts sprinkled on the table (which was dessert!). We had onion chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn, and purple juice that Cauley and I got to drink out of some plastic goblets we got for our wedding but have never used. It was so fun, and the food was yummy. Oh how I LOVE my family! (And I have the most handsome, hardest working, sweetest, and sexiest Valentine of all!)

One last picture I forgot to put in the soccer posts: the most supportive sisters, Tyli at one of the early games. It was definitely COLD this year and we usually always had a game that started at 8am!

Kid #3, Broken arm #3

I don't know if this is a very good stat- broken arm #3 for our household. (Dallin and McKade broke theirs a few years ago, remember?) Anyways, we were at Cauley's Aunt and Uncle's house for a family get together when Tyli, who was getting off the trampoline in the backyard, fell forward and landed on her arm. There was no absolute scream, just crying, but I could tell she was really hurt. the problem was, I couldn't tell WHERE. I decided we should have her daddy who was at home doing homework take a look at it so we loaded up and went home. After a blessing and Cauley looking at it, we decided I had better take her to the Urgent Care. She cried every time I went over a bump on the way there, but still didn't know exactly where it hurt. It was 8:20 when I arrived at Urgent Care and was told I had a 4 hour wait. RRRRRRR! Well, I occupied my time by making friends with others waiting to be seen. Tyli fell asleep in my arms somewhere around 11:00, and even though she was really heavy and hurting me, I didn't dare wake or move her as she would cry. Sometime around 12:40 I was finally called back to see the dr. (we were somehow the last patients seen, even though there was about 8 people who checked in after us!) We didn't ever see the dr. at first, just the radiologist who needed to know where to x-ray. Tyli was SO out and so we had a hard time finding exactly where to x-ray, but would cry whenever we moved her wrist so we decided to start there. Well, when the radiologist moved her wrist to x-ray it, it woke Tyli up and she started screaming. Hmmm...mystery solved? No. We then go to talk with the dr. who told me her wrist was fine.(?) When the dr. moved her arm though, Tyli again woke up screaming and so we went back to x-ray where they x-rayed her elbow. This time the dr. said there was a "suspicious" part where the fat had been pulled away from the bone with a small streak of blood underneath which usually means a break, but she wanted to just put it in a sling and send us home. I asked about her wrist, and the dr. said "oh yes, Bonnie (I can't really remember her name) said it was very badly sprained." Then she said again that she only needed a sling and that is when I told her no, put it in a splint! As I was saying this, the nurse walked in with everything to make the splint and so the dr told her to put it on and that in the meantime, she was going home. The confused nurse said, "I thought she might have a broken elbow and a badly sprained wrist so why wasn't she going to put it in a splint?" Hahaha! Good question! I was SO ready to scream! Anyways, we got it splinted and then went home, arriving around 2 am. (see the above picture of Tyli) Well, 2 days later, I got a call from the radiologist who read the x-ray saying indeed it was broken, and not even where the dr. thought it was suspicious. So I made an appointment with a Phoenix Children's specialist to get it casted and called to have them transfer records and x-rays from the urgent care. That Friday we drove over to the specialist's office for more x-rays. The dr. again couldn't see a break, just the "suspicious area." I asked about the radiologists finding, and he told me he had no such report and to come back in another week so they could look for bone growth and at that point they would cast it. I was quite frustrated at this point! So, after another week of wearing the splint, we again went back to have more x-rays. This time we saw the nurse practitioner. She looked and at first saw nothing, but went back and re-read our file. Then, she grabbed all x-rays, and showed me where the radiologist found the break- right on the outside of the elbow! It was pretty much healed, and miraculously healed correctly since it was just in a splint! Apparently, they got the radiologist's reading AFTER my first appointment with them and just tucked it into Tyli's file. She got stuff ready to cast it, and me, being cheap like I am, asked her not to. The cast would come off in less than a week, and I didn't want to pay for them to cast it, take it off, and another follow-up appointment after all the frustration of is it broken or not from the past 3 weeks! So, Tyli wore her splint like a good girl for 3 1/2 weeks, not ever getting her pink cast, on her BROKEN arm. But she was such a good sport about it all, even though it hurt her pretty bad for about the first 2 weeks.

McKade Plays soccer!

McKade being a monkey

McKade (5) and cousin Parker (4) (TEAMMATES!)





A throw-in by McKade with instruction from his coach- his Daddy!

Halli enjoying being outside

showing off some of her teeth (and her BEAUTIFUL brown eyes!)

Mom and Tyli hanging out, cheering on our boys. (this one is actually from Dallin's game, but oh well.)

McKade has been SO excited to turn 5 so he could play soccer like Dallin got to. That is wat he asked Santa to bring him this last Christmas- a soccer ball and shin pads. (Of course Santa fulfilled that!) McKade was excited for the fact that Parker, his cousin, would be on his team and that he was coached by 2 men that he knows and loves: his Uncle Brad who was the head coach, and HIS DADDY who was an assistant! (Cauley had to coach so we could get these two boys on the same team.) McKade is VERY left footed- he ALWAYS kicks with his left foot. (and it looks so wrong!) McKade made one really good break away and scored a goal against a really good team. He scored another goal toward the end of the season too.  He learned a lot and had a blast! (and he had suck cute kids on his team this year!) (and great coaches!) GO GOLDEN EAGLES!!!

Dallin Soccer

This was D-Man's 3rd year playing soccer and we really loved watching him play! His team was a lot different from past years as this was most of his teammates first year playing. (lots of room for improvement and improve they did!) Dallin took on a more "offensive" approach this year, but still loves to play the defense part. He only got to play goalie for 1 quarter of 1 game this year, but after he figured out how rewarding it was to score goals, didn't mind. This was a VERY COLD season too! (I almost wanted to go buy snow pants and make my boys wear them like my mom did for us kids!) Go COMETS!

You couldn't lose the members of this team! (tem color: high lighter!)

Go Dallin!