CRAZY BUSY!!! (with pictures!!!!)

As most of you probably have figured out from my SUPER extended brake from blogging, we have been Crazy busy!!! Since we moved back to Shelley in June, we have been going NONSTOP!!! It has been good though! I desperately miss Moscow, and our friends there, but it is also great being back with other friends and of course, family! Since I posted last, all 4 kids have had birthdays! (okay, Shylee had had hers, but I hadn't posted on it yet. Oops!)

So, Shylee is our little 6 year old (her birthday was in August!) She has attitude like no other, and is not afraid to throw it at you, if she is comfortable around you! But she still lives up to her name and is incredibly shy! She is loving her new Kindergarten class, and especially so, because her best friend Colby has the same teacher!

Ivory is our Spunky 1 year old. I cannot believe that she is already 1! This past year has just FLOWN by! She is crazy and into everything! She is super independent, yet if someone walks in the room she doesn't know, or she isn't comfortable with, she is glued to me. The older she gets, the more she looks like Cayge and Icelynn, which means she looks just like the Bird's!!!!!

Icelynn has turned 8, yet thinks she's 18! She refuses to wear "little" girl clothes, and will only wear what she thinks is in style for older girls. And to tell ya honestly, she does a pretty good job! She LOVES school, and luckily for me, has broken up with her 1st boyfriend after she got in trouble (by me) for holding hands!!! (The last thing I need is to be a grandma in a few years!!!! YIKES!!!!!!!)

Cayge has turned 10, and is a very advanced 10 year old indeed! He pulls straight A's in school, with very little effort. He has an imagination like his father, and loves to play legos and video games till my eyes are about to bleed! He is best friends with my sister-in-law's little brother, Kelson. He recently played flag football, and just finished up fall wrestling! He is such an amazing, loving, thoughtful kid!



And of course, this post couldn't go without saying...




WE ARE EXPECTING BABY #5 IN MAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are super excited, and as of now, everything is looking great! We find out in a week what we are having. Personally, I hope it's human! But really, I hope to find dangle-ee parts hanging there, if ya know what I mean! :) We need a little testosterone in this house to help balance out all the crazy girls!!!

I just had to add these pictures of Ivory. Our great friend Kenny Bowcutt is an amazing photographer, and he just snapped these one night at his house when we were over for dinner!

This is her kissy face. When she wants a "tiss", she juts out that bottom lip and hums. She doesn't stop until you lean in and get a wet slobbery smooch!

Ivory's teasing face!

Kenny is just amazing. He just tossed her up on his couch cushion and snapped this priceless face :)






AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST.......

RAYCE IS ON SEASON 2 OF SYFY'S FACE OFF!!!!!!!!!!

This is the cast (notice the extreme hunk in the middle? You might know him as Rayce.) You can check out his, and the other contestants profiles here. You can also see the commercial here and here. It airs JANUARY 11TH at 7 o'clock (mt time)





(and yes, I know I didn't post any pictures of the older 3 kids, but I am not using my own computer, so I had to use the few pictures I had on this computer Hopefully I can get better about this!)

I think it's time...

to get it out in the open.

I had quite the experience yesterday when I was being pressed why I don't go to church, and why I haven't had Cayge baptized and why we won't be baptizing Icelynn. "Because I don't want to" wasn't good enough apparently. So when I finally broke down and told them that I am not a member of the LDS church, and that I am not a Christian, all hell broke loose (considering that I don't believe in hell!). I was told that my children will be ashamed of their parents because we are teaching them the wrong thing. And that bad things will happen to my family because I believe the wrong thing.

But here's the thing, we don't teach our children the same beliefs we have. Who are we that we can "brainwash" our children that they MUST believe in the same religious views as us? Ya we are their parents, but if we force them to think the way we do, then we are not allowing them to explore their world and think for themselves. Rayce and I were members in the church for a long time, mostly because that's what we were taught and that is what the society around us told us that was what we HAD to do. And unfortunately, we were so terrified of what society was going to think of us, that we didn't share our true feelings about this subject with each other because we thought that the other was "in" the religion and didn't want to be the one to rock the boat. You can not even believe the weight that is lifted off ones shoulder when you can talk about this type of subject and to know that your partner is still going to be by your side. AND that they feel the same way. We didn't to a ton of research to prove to ourselves that it wasn't the thing for us, we just felt it. And now, as we do research, and learn about different things, we feel confident in our decisions! And we also feel very grateful to some very close friends who have been their for us, and I know will be there for me in the future (specifically concerning this subject! But I know for everything else I face in life... And you two know who you are!)

We allow our children the rights to make their own decisions when it comes to their beliefs in religion and in a higher power. We are also not restricting them to what we believe. Our girls right now beg to go to church, but I feel this is out of fear. They have been told on multiple occasions that if they don't go to the LDS church or get baptized, that they will go to hell. And all my children know about hell is that it is a very scary place where very bad people go. So OF COURSE they want to go to church, they are terrified! So when they decide that they want to go because they want to learn about the religion, or any religion for that matter, we will support them 100%! If they want to serve missions, for any "religious" organization, then we will be there for them. Just because we don't go, or believe, doesn't mean that they can't either.

Yesterday I was told that my children will be so embarrassed that they will not go to do baptisms for the dead when all of their friends will be going and doing this type of stuff. Here is my answer to that... I did baptisms for the dead, and most of the people that knew me in high school knew that I wasn't "worthy" enough to go and participate(and I know that I wasn't the ONLY one in this matter) . So when my kids feel left out, at least they aren't lying to fit in. My kids will find a place in this LDS community. They aren't the only ones that are being raised in such a way. If anything, they will find their friends that love them for who they are, not what God they pray to.

So for those of you who now look down on us, or feel sorry for us, well frankly, I feel sorry for you. Not for what you believe, but because you are so close-minded that you can not see past my beliefs. Many of you will now look down upon me, not for who I am, but because of what I believe. And good riddance. I don't want those kind of people around me in my life, even if it is my online life! I hope that you can see me for who I am, because I haven't changed. I am still me. I am still a mother, a wife, a sister, a friend. You call, and I will answer (as long as I heard my phone!). I hope that you can open your mind enough to see past all that is between our religious beliefs, and see me for who I am. Because I promise you, I don't see you for your religion, I see you!!!

WOW! I am behind!!

Okay, once again I am doing a non-picture post :(

We have been so crazy busy through the end of summer, and now that school has started, life hasn't slowed down a bit!

For the first time, the girls are in dance with Elite Studios. They are loving every second of it! Icelynn is doing Cheer and Hip-hop and Shylee is doing Ballet and Tap. They practice ALL the time! (almost to the point where I'm gonna lose my mind!) Cayge's football finally started and is stoked to get the games started! He is just like his dad, I am pretty sure that microscopic footballs have replaced their red blood cells. They both live and breathe football. It's their everything! His games start on Tuesday, and he just can't wait!

We are all anxious to get Rayce home! He has been in Cali for a few weeks, and won't be back for four more! It's been tough, but in all reality, we saw him hardly at all when we were in his final semester at UofI! So we're pretty used to it. Like I said, we've been pretty busy, so that helps with his absence. Ivory is growing like a weed! I can't believe that she is almost a year old! It doesn't seem like a year ago that I was waddling around in misery trying to have a baby!! She has been walking for almost two months and she is FAST!! And into everything. Not just looking at the things in the drawers and cupboards, but pulling EVERYTHING out! She keeps me on my toes, that's for sure! She loves kittens, and the way she says meow is probably the cutest squeak I've ever heard!

Well, hopefully life slows down a little so I can actually post some pictures on here!