Monday

You should know something about the Forbis house... it is always unpridictable.  This time we walked in to a trampoline in the living room!!  Calvin's jaw dropped straight to the floor and he and Paige spent just about every waking moment in it!  Such a hilarious good time.

Logan is filled with amazing parks.  This is one of our faves when we go - Ryan's Park.  The kids went crazy for quite some time.  In fact, adults also went crazy for quite some time there as well...

Jack had a wild ride in the baby swing! 

This kid LOVES to do anything outside and somewhat crazy.

I mena, just LOOK at that face!!  He is a crazy person!

I thought he would enjoy a ride on the tire swing yet this face is no comparison to the baby swing face. 

But heck , I had a grand ol' time!

We also took a trip up the hill to the USU creamery for some delictable Aggie Ice Cream. 

De-lish.

And that night Grandma Forbis was determined to show us "city folk" the REAL way of carving pumpkins, after being aghast at the way we do it down here. 

Now no offense Mama For, but I think we both know which way the kids prefer...;)

UTAH TRIP: Sunday

Well I know there is so many of you saddened and confused on our 10 day absence, and that's because we were in Utah!  We got some killer flight deals into Idaho Falls and drove down to see Pete's family in Logan for the week.  Oh, and we had a BLAST!!

One of the greatest parts about the whole thing is that Pete and I kept it a secret and didn't tell the kids until the morning we left!  It was so fun to see how excited they were and it was such a fun surprise!!

Navigating our way through the airport. I kinda loved seeing them with their little matching backpacks, total mom thing...

The flight was ideal - these two glued to the DVD player and Jacky Boy fell asleep about 5 minutes in and didn't wake up until 5 minutes left.  A true gift from heaven!!

Our car trip from Idaho Falls to Logan was also not too shabby.  It was fun to remember/relive the MANY drives that Pete and I took on that route when we were dating/engaged/newlyweds up in Rexburg.  Awwwww.

Also, you may not judge our over usage of the DVD player.  They were quite and happy and it was worth every second.  But c'mon kids, not even a quick look up for a picture??  Just look at Paige giving us a courtesy smile but not willing to take her eyes off the show. 

Worth it.

This is the face of a man that has been trapped in the darn AZ heat for too long and has just felt the first relieving swoosh of fresh, cool, crisp Idaho Fall air. 

GLORIOUS!!!

This Guy...

...had a Birthday yesterday.



So we made a sign, got together, had a yummy dinner...

  

and polished the evening off with the Peter-Patrick traditional favorite: Banana Cream Pie.

Happy Birthday old man:)  We love your stinkin' guts!

Paige: Battle Bicycle

Winner... PAIGE!

Paige finally got up enough courage to ride her bike without training wheels!  And man was that a long time comin'.  We've tried many of times but she's *kind of* a drama queen and tends to scream her guts out and stamper off in refusal whenever she tries something scary.  But today, I made her man up, look her intimidating Barbie Goodwill bike square in the eyes, and let it know that she was going to conquer it.  (There may have been a few loud spoken forceful, umm... encouraging words to go along with it, but hey, we got the job done!)

Sadly, I did not have the camera on me, so we'll have to picture it up another time.  But way to go Paige-arooni!

Pumpkin Carving - Forbis Style

Tonight we finally got around to "carving" our pumpkins.  And if you ask me... BEST INVENTION EVER.  Thank you clearance Pottery Barn Kids circa 2007.  The whole process takes about 5 minutes and involves absolutely ZERO CLEANUP!  Hooray!!  And, they turn out pretty stinkin' cute: bonus!

Just One of Them Daaaaaays

Got stood up on my lunch date
Jack would not stop screaming on our TJ Maxx/Ross bargain hunting trip
Ran into "ugly mirrors" all day (cause I know I didn't look like that when I left the house)
Paige refused to eat the dinner I actually took the time to make
And Calvin vetoed Family Home Evening right as I was getting ready to start the lesson

Now these things are not out of the ordinary, they usually happen every day to me.  But today I just happened to be extra touchy about everything and each instance just about sent me into a crying fit.  Sheesh Amy, pull your act together!  So now I can just look back and laugh... through my tears... haha

Sunday

Well today I was released as Primary President in our ward.  I've known it's been coming for a few weeks now and have been dreading it.  But it came anyways, and it was an extremely bittersweet day.  I mainly just blubbered as I gave them all hugs and said goodbye to life as I've known it since we've moved into this house - the past 3 years.  I remember praying for the day it would be over, because there was no way I could take care of over 200 kids ON TOP of having my 2, which is now 3, and survive.  It has by far been one of the most challenging things I've ever been asked to do but it has been the most rewarding.  I am just so grateful to my Heavenly Father seeing past what I see in myself, and having faith in me that I can do hard things as long as I rely on Him.  There is no doubt that I am closer (yet, still far from) to the person that my Father in Heaven knows I can become than I was 3 years ago, that's for sure.  So thank you sweet children for your kind smiles, warm hugs, and sweet spirits that you have shared with me!  I love you and will always remember our special time together!!

On a lighter note, me and the kiddos spent some time out back enjoying the cool evening.  Again... GLORIOUS!!

Did some watermelon checking (our only plant that survived the summer).

Some new plant checking.

Some playground conquering.

Some wagon rides.

Some pumpkin-holding-strawberry-checking as well.

It's a fine art.

And if you're wondering why the grass looks so terrible it's cause we just scalped it to get ready for winter grass.  Hopefully this year it's successful cause I am sick of being trapped inside!!

Friday

As I said before, the weather last week was incredible.  It's like the beginning of spring in normal parts of the world... people start coming out of their homes, swings are no longer left stagnant, there's an extra hop in everyone's step... we survived the summer!! 

So Chel and I decided to take the kiddos on a park exodus.  As in pack lunches, snacks, toys, bikes, anything and everything cause we were staying at the park until it hurt.  And we did stay, and it did end up hurting, as it always does.

That's right, he's covered with a food/dirt mixture and is dressed in half jammies, half sweats.  We always get dressed up to go out.

Gussy and Cal Pal train watching on the bench. 

That is the the two tightest clenched bum cheeks that I have ever seen.

Miss Paige off on her own finding something to climb.

And Cal showing off one of the lovely bribes *ahem* treats to help us prolong the park exodus.

Don't worry, it's totally gluten free, all natural, no dye, made with stevia instead of real sugar, and organic.

NOT.  It's a Halloween oreo people.  Let the children live a little!

Thursday

I love cragslist.  No really, I LOVE CRAIGSLIST!  I could go on and on about the many steals that I've gotten from there, but that is a whole notha' story...

Our latest find was Calvin's first bike!!  It is so cute and in such great shape and was only 15 bucks suckas!  Woowoo!  He and I drove out the night before to pick it up (which is the ride he told me about all of his rainbow horses that fly, but that, again, is a whole other story) and it was so fun to see how excited he was when he first saw it.  So the next morning we got it out and let him take hist first spin on it - such a big boy!

Last Week - Tuesday

Well I took a week off after having almost met my goal of posting every day at the end of September.  And after taking so much time off I kinda missed posting so much.  It turns out that we actually do many things every day (even though when Pete asks what we did while he was at work I always draw a big fat blank, making me feel awesome).  So I shall strive to have more frequent posts in order to prove that we do things around here!  But I've got some major week long catching up to do.

Last Tuesday night Paigey had a birthday party in the downtown Gilbert area so me and the boys decided to go to one of our many favorite spots - Liberty Market.  For reals, one of my favorite spots, hands down.  Picnic salad - delicious as always.  Right outside is the original Gilbert water tower which they have now added a cute little splash/water feature.  So we spent some time out there after dinner to enjoy the MOST AMAZING WEATHER EVER!  Seriously, best week of AZ weather history.  GLORIOUS!!!

Jack had no problem immersing himself into the water every single second.

And Calvin, who doesn't really even like Jack (you know, in a brotherly way) was super concerned that he was going to climb up the water tower for some reason.  He just kept following him around and yelling at us to "Get baby Jack so he won't climb up the tower!"  A strange fear, but it was somewhat touching and reliving to see that he really does care about the little feller. 

Calvin giving Pete a stern lecture on the proper care of preventing babies from climbing up water towers...  A very important and necessary discourse for all parents.

Great date my boys!

Weekend Recap

General Conference was fantastic, as usual.  Well, other than the computer speakers not working so we had to huddle like birds around to hear and the kids screaming and tantruming in tune with the choirs... you know, other than that it was perfect.  It just never ceases to amaze me that we have a real living prophet of God here on earth and that the words he speaks are always so encouraging, uplifting, and most of all TRUE!  What a blessing to have such a constant beacon of light and hope in a world filled with so many mixed messages.  I am GRATEFUL!!

Also, this past weekend my sister-in-law, Nicole (who was married to my oldest brother who unexpectedly passed away over 3 years ago) got remarried to a wonderful guy, Treavor (who also lost his wife).  It was a sweet, beautiful and fun day and I am SO happy for them for so many reasons!  But I've never had a moment like I had that day with so many mixed emotions... I was SO HAPPY for Treavor and Nicole to get married, but I couldn't help but be sick with sadness that my brother really had died and wasn't physically there with us anymore.  But there was no question that Justin was there in spirit.  I know he is so happy for them and definitely had a hand in putting them together.  Those 4 little boys are so special to me and our family, and I can't even begin to express my happiness for them that they get to have a daddy again here on earth to do so many things with them that they have had to go without for the past few years.  So congrats to you, Treavor and Nicole and your two beautiful eternal families!  We love you!!

obituary

Of our dearest friend: Gecko Grill.

Gecko Grill is the ultimate Gilbert, Arizona landmark, staple, must have, must eat, everyone knows about place.  It's mexican food is unlike any other and can never EVER be replaced.  It has served the town of Gilbert for so many years, and has somehow had a terrible leasing misunderstanding that has caused us to say so-long for now.  But hopefully one day it shall return such as glorious as a phoenix, rising from the ashes and returning the joy and hope and satisfaction to all local bellies once again.  We love you Gecko Grill.  We will all be waiting faithfully.  But until then, farewell dear friend...

Yes, we did fight the crowds to enjoy the Gecko one last time today.  And it was worth it.  Goodbye bean dip, goodbye crabby burro, goodbye shrimp-mango quesadilla, goodbye *sniff sniff* southwest shrimp burro smothered in red sauce.... Our love will always live on... goodye...

Survival

Oh shoot, I've missed two nights in a row!  Not to make excuses, but I was expecting this week to be so nice, relieving, and easy breezy... but it has turned out to be the most emotionally and physically exhausting week ever!  Details to be discussed at a later time, but needless to say, my head has been other places than blogging.

However, I did want to give you a little glimpse into our bedtime routine.  It's magical.  And by magical I mean the most torturous 30 minutes of the day.  Granted, every now and then we have a great night, but they mostly go as follows...

Jack takes a happy fast bath but for the other two, bathtime is a wrestling match of screaming and splashing.

Naked buns in fishy towels run to Paige's room for jammies, scriptures and prayers.  Calvin then starts his "I hate the world" bit.  It usually consists of tongue spitting, article throwing, and on this special night it even graced us with a big ol' whomp in the face for Paige. 

Tears are shed, and screams of agony/heart-ache are heard.  We each take man-on-man defense to try to diffuse the situation (and sometimes snag a picture while stifling a laugh)...

Calvin is told repeatedly to apologize.  He doesn't. This is the face that he likes to put on.

big bully.

So we muscle through scriptures and prayers - practice makes perfect, right???

And in the midst of everything, Jack likes to play cowboy/mountain goat atop the dollhouse.

Humor really is the best medicine - oh child of great wisdom.

Every night is a definite reminder that parenthood is the ultimate rollarcoaster. 

Touche children... touche.

We Did It!

Sunday's Primary Program was a success!!  And now it is over and I am SO RELIEVED!  You'd think I wouldn't be so stressed about it since it's #3 for me, but nope, I was still up the entire night before and shaking the whole morning of.  But our kiddos did wonderfully and I just love hearing their sweet testimonies through the songs they sing, the smiles on their faces, and the joy in their hearts!  It's easy to see why the Savior favors the little ones!  I absolutely adore every one of those 175 kiddos!!

Our little Miss Paige has a disease of stage fright.  Each time an opportunity comes along we work with her, practice with her, give her multiple pep-talks and so on.  We thought this time she was for sure going to conquer it!  She had her part completely memorized and had no fear whatsoever in practice!  But when her moment came to go up, her hands went straight to cover her mouth (her nervous habit), her face turned bright red, and tears started rolling down her cute little face.  I tried to mouth her a few encouraging words, but it was a no go.  Oh well!  But she sang her little heart out and actually sat on the stand - so that's a step in the right direction!

And although it was Jack's real birthday, I have to say it was much less eventful from the day before.  But that's the beauty of one year olds!  We still managed to sneak his birthday hat on him another time or two throughout the day:)

And today... I sat around in my sweats, recovering from it all.  ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Pre-Birthday Party Anyone?

Well to report on last night's sleepover with Grandma Forbis at her hotel...  I went to bed around 11:30pm with only one child in our home and woke up at 5am to two children in our home.  Turns out Calvin decided at 1am that he wanted to come home.  Thanks to Super Pete for going to get him - I owe you one!

Today we had Jack's 1st Birthday Party and it was a blast!!  Here we go in picture story format:

Jack wasted no time to claim his cupcake.  Not even a little common-courteousy for a photo.  Sheesh!

Fam Shot.  Jack couldn't stop starting at the balloons off to the side.

Present opening was no problem for the big man.

"Back off Dad.  This one is mine."

He wasn't too keen on the singing.  Mostly because I had multiple cakes inches away from his mouth that he couldn't have until the darn song was over and the fire was out. So we called Paige over for candle blowing out reinforcements.  She didn't hesitate.

"Finally, that's all I really wanted folks." 

No hesitation whatsoever.

"Oh Mother dear?!  Please fetch me another cupcake, would you?"

"What do you mean I've had enough???"

Me and Elmo.  We know how to have a good time.

Our attempt at a group sunglasses shot.  As much as a success as always.

And Jack's post sugar feast hose down.

And he in his Birthday Suit.  It's only appropriate you know...

Then he spent the rest of the afternoon in his new found presents.  

Fun fun day for our big man!!