stairs StAiRs STAIRS!!!

Van starts slow and calm but the further Conn gets up the stairs the louder and more excited he gets. He really is a great big brother.

So... while we were home, Granddad was a gem and taught Conn to climb stairs, he was only trying to be helpful right?? I was a bit worried how this was going to pan out when we got home but I figured I would have a few weeks to worry about, and then find a solution.

No such luck. First thing Conn did was climb the stairs.

He is so proud of his new skill. He just giggles when you catch him

He does make your heart skip a beat or two!!!

Then he decided to try the art of climbing. I am glad that he chose something not too far off the ground!

A baby gate was purchased and I was stumped when I found him like this.

How in the world did he manage that?

How else but by combining his two skills.

Man we are in so much trouble!!

I texted Tyler and told him of his new skill, he texted back "I'll stop at the feed store on my way home and get a halter to make into a harness, then we can tie him to the table leg."

Not a bad idea

Conn Man

I get so frustrated with myself for not keeping up on Conn's milestones. My little man turned 7 months today!! I can't believe all that this turkey is doing now.

 He started army crawling at 5 months and crawling at 6.
 He is pulling himself up on things and just today started walking around the furniture! He is happy happy and gets lots of love from everyone that meets him.
 He DOES NOT sleep and I am tired, but oh well.
Man does he have a smile. It seriously melts you when he looks in your eyes and smiles.
He adores his brothers and they adore him
He sucks on my hair when he is tired and it makes me gag.
He is very laid back and such an easy baby.
 I don't know if I mentioned it before but a couple of months ago Conn started shaking when he would eat (don't freak out he is fine). I thought and still think that he might be having seizures. It scares me to death when he does it and for awhile he was doing it once a day. He has went a few weeks with out any episodes. I went to the pediatrician twice, the first time made me mad because they advised me to feed him more often, ok?.... what does that have to do with seizures?! The second time the doctor was better. She said that she doesn't think he is having seizures because he doesn't loose conscienceness. She thinks they might be spasms that he will grow out of. I hope this is the case. Tyler, Aunt Jessie and my friend Teri have all seen Conn shake and it leaves a sick feeling in your stomach.

 love ty's technique for keeping hands out

With that being documented, Conn is in perfect health. He weighed in a 14lb 15oz today. He is adorable and healthy and we wouldn't change a thing about our Conn Man.

Viv's Baby



For father's day the boys took Tyler to Bass Pro Shop.

Tyler kept busy looking at knives and the boys stayed entertained with catching moths.

Meet Vivin's baby, he is its father now.

The story goes that the bad Indian moths killed the mommy and daddy moth, so now Vivin needs to love the baby moth and be his daddy. 

For the little Sis

Hey everyone my baby Sis is going on an awesome trip next week and has an awesome fund raiser going on. I copied from her blog so you can have her tell you about it.

People to People Europe Trip!

Jessie made this beautiful quilt for me to raffle off as a fundraiser for my Student Ambassador trip!!

Tickets are $5 a peice or 4 for $20!

If you would like to purchase one you can email me at allyallace@yahoo.com and we will figure it out!!

Thank you for your support! Thanks Jes for making it! Love Ya!

 

 A little more information about my trip so that you know where your raffle money is going. This will hopefully encourage you all to buy more tickets! (Hint Hint) Here are the places I will be going at what I will be doing while there! Thanks for your support!

Switzerland

• Tour Zurich
• Visit Scoul
• Learn avour and tour teh 400 year old mill in Ftan
• Go White Water Rafting in Scoul
• Learn some of Switerlands 4th offical language
• Walk through a forest to get to the village of Sur En
• Help clear shrubs from forest floor in Sent
• Explore the city of Lucerne

Germany

• Visit the factory where famous German Cuckoo Clocks are made
• Do a service project at a river in Freiburg
• Stay 3 days with a family in Heidelberg and do what they do which might include going to school with the children, visiting the market with the mom or helping in the community
• Tour the Castle of Heidleberg
• Visit the town of Ruedesheim
• Take a cruise down the Rine River while seeing small castles including the famous Lorelei

Netherlands

• See the great Catherdreal in the city of Cologne
• Visit Ann Frank's house and learn about her
• Explore Amsterdam during a canal cruise
• Experiance how the Dutch clogs are made as well as their cheese

Belgium

• Enjoy mansions of The Hague and the Peace Palace as well as the Court of Justice
• Visit Kinderdijk, a 17th century windmill park

France

• Explore Chateau de Versailles
• Ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower
• Go to an orientation in Ernest Hemingway called the Movable Feast
• Visit historic Montmartre area and Basilique du Sacre Coeur
• Meet a witness of WWII
• Visit the Beaches of Normandy and the cemetery for soldiers

Great Britin

• Visit Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London
• Tour London
• Exerience the London Eye
• See the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace
• Attend a parliamentary briefing with a British member of Parliment
• Enjoy one of London's great musical shows in the heart of the West End

These are only some of the amazing experiences I will be having but I hope its enough to show you that your money is going to a good cause! Thanks!

 

Isn't this just awesome!!! Jessie has done an amazing job on the quilt and I have personally rigged the drawing so I win, but you should still but tickets :)

You'll never guess who just bought us lunch!!!!

Today the twins had a birthday party for a friend from school, down in Littleton. Their first one ever. I can't believe they are big enough to leave at a friends house for a few hours! The family are members of the Church so that takes a lot of worry out of it, but still I kinda cried when they went in and I had to turn around and leave them (kindergarten is soooo going to kick my butt). Any who, while they were at their party, Tallon, Van, Conn, and I found some things to entertain ourselves while we waited for the boys. We decided we would grab a quick thing to eat and chose Wendy's. When I went to pay they server said "Don't worry about it. Orlando Franklin and Jerry Franklin are picking up the tab and signing autographs inside." Ok?...  I was thinking who are Jerry and Orlando Franklin and why are they buying me lunch? I pulled up the to next window and there stood the biggest man I have ever saw!!!! He was huge and wearing a Denver Bronco jersey. Oh... that's who they are!! Orlando Franklin handed me our food and asked us to pull around and come in so he could autograph a football for the boys. Of course we went in and it was a really fun thing. The boys also got to meet Wendy, so that was cool too :)

This monster of a man (a very nice monster mind you) is the one that served us our food. I wish I had more time to find a pic without his helmet on, because this guy looks awesome and is really really nice.

Jerry (we are sooo on a first name basis, remember he bought us lunch) was a bit more reserved but very nice and very polite. He visited with Tallon, told Van he was adorable, played with Conn's toes, and shook my hand and told me what awesome boys I had. So glad we got to meet him.

So there we have it. Yet another awesome memory from Denver and a great one at that.

The Broncos just won themselves some fans for life!!!

Tornado Pics

We survived the Tornado :) Here are a few pics

This is a river of hail running down the street.

 Tyler said it was crazy to see. I was to busy hiding in the basement to witness it first hand.

My poor plants didn't fair so well. The piles of hail were crazy

The little ones asleep in the basement. They never did wake up and were so confused by all the hail the next morning.

Tallon showing how big some of the hail was. He was wide eyed and full of excitement with the thought of being sucked up in a tornado 

Our front steps. The hail and rain got in the window wells and started flooding the basement. Tyler spent a few cold mins in a foot of ice water bailing it out.

The next morning the boys and I walked around the complex to see some of the damage. All the flowers and trees took a real beating. There was some roof damage on a few of the units.

It was a wild night. Talking to a few of the neighbors who weren't hiding in their basements, we found out that the police and fire departments were driving around the neighborhoods with their loud speakers tell people to get inside and seek shelter. Where we live isn't usually part of tornado's, but it has happened before. They say there were a few tornado's that formed by the house but nothing touched down.

Pretty crazy experience.

Well, its a First!

I sit in our basement typing at 12:20 am. Why you ask. Because of the Tornado Sirens!!!! Tonight we have had a really crazy storm. We went to bed like normal and fell asleep listening to the rain. Around midnight, Tyler and I bolted out of bed when we heard the sirens going off. There was no way we were hearing what we thought we were hearing!! We didn't wait to find out. We each grabbed kids and took off for the basement. Van, Orrin, and Vivin are sound asleep, clueless to what is going on. Tallon asked to have a family prayer and it has helped to calm us. Conn is wide awake and I don't think anyone is getting much sleep tonight. Just had to record this first time event in our lives. We have the radios on and are kinda in awe of everything that is going on around us. Prayers going up from the basement tonight. Just to give a little more info. The storm is over Littleton, Eastern Lakewood, Highlands Ranch, and Centennial. We live on the border of Littleton and Lakewood, in Eastern Lakewood. There is hail and rain running down the street and sidewalks, like a river. The wind is crazy and the lightening is amazing. Tallon and I are thinking about changing our minds about living in Lakewood. Tyler is laughing at us. I am getting brave and I am going to send Tyler out for some pics. Hope he comes back!!!

Mom! There are girls in my ears!!

Growing up, Dad would always hold us down and pop our toes. Each toe that popped represented a boyfriend. Tyler has carried on this tradition with our boys, changing it to girlfriends of course :) The 4 younger boys and I were going to school and Orrin yelled out in a panicked/shocked voice "Mom! There are girls in my ears!" then he just started to laugh. It took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about. Once I figured out that his ears had popped, I died laughing.

And just for some laughs here is little Van entertaining the neighbors one night.

Whats not to love about this kid!

Jesus forgot to put eyelids on snakes

Orrin and Vivin had a snake man come to their school today. He brought a real snake, not a toy one, that was yellow and black. Vivin told me that the snake sleeps with its eyes open, it tries really hard to close its eyes but it can't. I asked if the snake couldn't close its eyes because it didn't have eyelids. Orrin spoke right up and said that Jesus forgot to put eyelids on snakes. Too cute.

Way back in March Tallon had his Blue and Gold Banquette for scouts. We had to bring a themed dessert, Spring has sprung: Your families favorite spring activity. I made a sand/dirt box with fun trucks and things. Not a huge fan of how it turned out but the boys loved it.

Tallon giving me my Mother's Pin for his bear. I was going to crop this pic but I wanted to remember Bro. Beals the cubmaster and the Bolton's, Tallon's leaders.

I not only get a mothers pin but I get mothers kiss as well.

So the amazing Bro. Beals arranged for Bro. Jackman to bring his "pets" to show the boys. We had scorpions, spiders, cockroaches, lizards, and snakes, and SnAkEs, and SNAKES!!  Tallon chose to help hold this disgusting beauty.

He didn't think much of having it try to crawl down his shirt though!

All the boys loved the snake. Tyler took the pics because I was on the far end of the building, staying as far away from the beasts as I could!

Tallon has done a great job with scouts. He really enjoys his leaders and who doesn't love snakes at pack meeting?!

Conny!!

This is what Van calls Conn. You will hear him runing through the house yelling Conny Conny Conny. It is adorable.
Our dear and very sweet neighbor, Bobbie, has been telling me about the baby owls down on the greenbelt. This afternoon the boys and I went to see if we could find them and we were so happy that we did!

You have to look close but there are three of them there. Two of the babies and mama.

Two of the babies

 The owls live right by the bike track so the boys were in heaven

Vivin and Orrin showing their approval

Van and Conn watching the action

Love Orrin's faces in these

Notice the Dana tongue

Van's wreck of the day

This is the creek bottom at the bottom of the green belt. It is about 5 min walk from the house

Is he not the cutest!!!

No pics of Viv's crash just the marks 

Viv loves this picture because both tires are off the ground

Start of Orrin's crash

Ouch!!!

Thinking he is dead

Showing how he felt right before he crashed

They are growing up so fast. Look how cool they are

A mommy and 4 of her boys (tal was at school)

The street we live on

Where we call home

We had a great afternoon. Tyler really did good when he picked a spot for us. All of that is just a minutes walk from our front door!!