A Visit from my Sis!

My sister Nikki and her kids came to visit us last week. It's an annual tradition that we invade the others house for a week or two and let all craziness break loose. It's AWESOME. She has Michael-3, and Jax-1. I think we commented a half-a-dozen times how bad we feel for mothers with 4 under 4. The boys laughed and played and hit and cried with activities like Jump City (LOVED IT), backyard pool (LOVED IT) finding all sorts of wild life in our wilderness of a backyard (in the picture above Kade is holding a jar with "Sarah" the frog they found-walks--bike riding (Michael learned while he was here! YAY) and lots of HOT HOT weather. They like to fight over movies to watch-computer time, the hose, playing on the top bunk and really anything once they got tired. AND IT WAS A BLAST! As for me and Nik, we squeezed in scrabble games, pedicures, card games, Nik read almost all the Twilight Series (for those who have read them, a few days is all it takes!), and I read Rebekah, and talking until way later then we should at nights. I loved it Nik! Thanks for coming.

Summer Life with the Winns

This morning our ward had a 4th of July program and breakfast. The opening song made me ball like a school girl. I've never really paid attention to the last verse in Star-Spangled Banner, and it's amazing. I'm sooooooooooo blessed and thankful to live in this free land that is blessed by God. Here's the verse:

Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"
And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

The boys both loved the fireworks last night on Base. Luke was worried at first and just cuddled with Jess until he was ready to watch. Kade loved it though. We got them glow-in-the-dark swords which they loved....and had tons and tons of snacks. Turns out the show was only like 10 minutes so...we'll probably go somewhere again tonight.








Let's see, Luke can count to 30 (prety much...it get's a little crazy for bit in there but overall--he's awesome. He loves singing his alphabet and is so good at it. He loves doing ninja moves with Kaden and playing with play dough. Jess and I love listening to him talk now with so much personality--it just keeps coming and coming with that one--he's hilarious!
Kade read his first real book this week. "When Sheep Sleep" and now is all excited about reading. He loves math and counting by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's. Not to mention he's awesome at cartwheels and round-offs and is literally on his head probably 10% of the time.



So I look like such a nerd in the next picture--but I'm teaching myself to ride a skateboard. Our neighbors had a yard sale last week and we bought a skateboard for $2. The boys really like it....but I sneak my turns in there way more.
In January when I went snowboarding in Utah-- it made me realize how much I missed it and this is the next best thing right (except the whole--pushing yourself on the skateboard--I like the "lift" idea of snowboarding.)
Anyway--we have a really calm neighborhood which makes it great for riding bikes and skateboarding at night (when the heat drops and we can bare being outside). Besides the fact that I look so incredible "awesome" being 25 and learning to ride...I love it. If anyone has any tips or ideas to share about skateboarding--feel free. I could use it!

Oh, and having a yard---YIKES! I'll have to get some pics in the blog next time because our yard/dirt and rocks with some green crab grass--is out of control! So wish us luck with that. The back yard hasn't been mowed yet because it's taken us FOREVER to rake the rocks out....turns out it takes a lot more work then just mowing and watering a lawn--WHO KNEW? That's our main project right now on the house. Super fun :)


Jess has started taking his camera around more and he loves it. He loves photography. He's been slowing getting as much information and taking short classes on how do take a good picture. I've loved the ones he took two nights ago. For Christmas he wants a flash, and he can't hardly wait.

In Jess' eyes

(here is Jess' promised blog entree! You're awesome baby!)

We moved. It was worse than puberty. And anyone who knows me remembers that my teen years were unpleasant for everyone involved.

Moving, for those of you who are lucky enough to not have endured it yet, goes like this: You put everything you own into boxes. These boxes are required to stink, but just a little bit. You tape the boxes shut. The required tape is available for purchase at several fine retail locations. It is the stickiest substance on earth, with the single exception being when combined with cardboard. It does not stick to cardboard. It will tear the skin right off your bones if (heaven forbid) you get in on you, but closing boxes with it is like trying to push a rope up a hill. Once all your belongings have been placed into stinky no-stick boxes you put it all in a truck. The interior temperature of this truck will be hovering right around 200 degrees. This is a convenient feature provided by the moving truck company to make sure all the liquid in your body exits via the armpits. Your belongings will not all fit into the truck. This is physics in action. Driving to the new place of residence is usually uneventful. The top speed of the furnace/truck is nine miles per hour, so plan ahead. You will arrive at the new house and unload your things. This has basically the same effect as dragging wet garbage into your new house (it will rain the day you move, guaranteed), provided the wet garbage has a hefty helping of tiny cardboard fragments, which you will find in your house until two weeks before you move again. Once the belongings are safely stowed in the new house there is a mandatory two-week waiting period before you can unpack the stinky no-stick boxes. I think this rule is tied to the 72-hour handgun laws. The stinky no-stick wet garbage cardboard boxes will have had time to infuse your clothes with the cardboard stink, so hang them up. The remainder of you stuff can sit for who knows how long in the attic/garage/backyard because you'll be a monkey's uncle if you're ever going to move again. It's a pretty straightforward cycle.

You know what? If I was in charge, we'd never leave here. I would get old in this house and demand to be buried in the back yard under a headstone that says, "Now you may move, but I'm still staying put."

However, I'm not in charge...I'm not even close to in charge. The latest Gallup polls show me in fifth place for "Boss of the Winn House." (I'm neck-and-neck for fourth position, just behind the lizard that lives somewhere near the front door!) We're going to have to move again someday. I'm preparing for that day, and I've compiled a little collection of notes to myself to help reduce the number of inevitable coronary episodes I'll experience next time we relocate.

Hopefully by sharing the small lessons I've learned I can alleviate some pain for any of you who get roped into moving someday. Here's the skinny:

- Get the insurance on the truck. I came so dangerously close to buying a severely damaged U-Haul that I was literally thinking about which organs I don't really use very often so I could sell something on the black market. (If you're curious, it was pancreas, followed closely by left kidney...head's up lefty...) I banged up the side of the truck pretty seriously, and destroyed a fence in the process. This is entirely Cari's fault. Maybe one day she'll tell you about how she caused the incident.

-Get to know the missionaries. They're easy to please, and they're usually in pretty good shape; they had my stuff out of the house in less than an hour. Plus, FREE!

-Have a back up plan. My back up plan was: panic. This was not a concise enough back up plan. Next time I'm going to involve a decision-making process and then panic. I'm betting I'll be much better prepared. We ended up having to stay two nights in hotels because the closing on the house didn't go as planned. Flip side: we destroyed a housekeeping cart that got left outside the door. No more buying tiny soaps and cheap shower caps for the Winn Family!

-Strap explosives to your body. This lets people know you're serious. No threats, cause that's a crime, but having explosives (I'm pretty sure...) isn't illegal.

-Remember you love your family. Someday the move will be over, and you'll be sitting in a beautiful, new house with a stunning wife and little boys who have been better than angelic through the whole experience. Whatever angry, frustrated, fed-up feeling you have about moving five years of junk from one place to another on the hottest day of the year, keep it to yourself. Nobody wants to hear your stupid, whiny voice complain about how bad it was. Just sit back with your baby, cuddle with your boys, and enjoy the feeling of being in a place where you can finally feel "home."

Moving/Homeless/New House

So..our move was exciting. Jess will detail it to everyone soon...but since I don't know when "soon" is, I thought I'd give the basics and later you can be amused by his mad writting skills! I've made a list of the good and bad experiences from moving. Here we go:

NOT SO GOOD:

On closing day (the 30th of May), the letter from the termite guy had not been approved by the underwritters---closing delay-till Monday (and then Tuesday...then Wednesday...then Thursday.)

Jess missed his promotion ceremony (He's a Staff Seargent now! WOO WOO)

Cari get’s stung by a bee--and falls down the hill (it really did look awesome)

Jess wrecks the Uhaul and our apartments fence (no insurance on the UHAUL)

By Tuesday..we've been assured that we'll probably be closing--we get all moved out, still no closing...so we pile it in the new homes garage.

Had to stay in Hotels for two nights

Didn’t close until a week later then planned

GREAT:

Our plan was to move on Tues. anyway so the delay wasn't soooo bad

I really probably did look AWESOME falling down the hill grabbing my neck from the bee sting--and talking on the phone. (just ask Jess-he was cracking up)

Awesome friends helped out with kids and watched them during much of the moving madness.

The Uhaul and Fence cost drastically less than imagined!

The fact that we got to put our stuff in the garage at all was awesome.

Good friends offered their homes to us so we didn't HAVE to stay in a hotel. (Jess has a thing about intruding–but it was nice of them to offer anyway.)

Free continental breakfasts!(I love those!)

We got to eat out a ton!

We played with our boys sooooooo much!

Jess and I learned from their amazing spirits and attitudes–smiling and laughing all the while...

We got to take the kids to Kung Foo Panda– Luke was hilarious to watch--doing his version of Kung Foo through out the film---complete with volume. The boys loved it and it was fun to watch them and the movie.

Jess and I saw sides of each other in stressful situations that were beautiful.

So ya--all and all--it was awesome! And we love love our new home and other then sprinklers that are positioned outside the fence and squirt the fence directly...no negative surprises! It's been wonderful and we're so so so blessed. We love you all!!

Our 2 Year Old!

So in commemoration of Luke's birthday this last month--I thought I'd write a bit about him and the joy he spreads! First--you should know, he's crazy! Just crazy. Always running and pirating, making exciting messes to clean up, and just being Luke!

Seriously–Luke has this power over my heart though. He could do the worst thing ever...and when I try to discipline him–he smiles, gives hugs, says--"I love you mommy", and looks at me with these sweet eyes–and I just melt. It’s ridiculous. Kade never tries to get out of anything like that–but Luke–oh my...it’s almost like his eyelashes are literally fluttering all the time. Goofy kid. I’m in tons of trouble though with him and I know it. Cause see, he’s going to try a lot... he’s so sneaky and so curious--and, I might have mentioned this before--he's just crazy. And ya know what–I already know that he’s going to get away with most of it. AHH-I’m going to need a lot of help with this whole mothering thing.

He’s so funny–the other day I was getting the boys breakfast ready while they were playing in their room. I hear Kade yell, “MOM–Luke's doing something bad!!!” So I ran upstairs and see a solid white child. Luke had covered his body in Desitin...oh so so covered. It was so funny though cause he was just smiling and continuing to smooth it all out after he saw I was there. And here is case in point to his getting away with anything-- I said–don’t touch anything–I need my camera-and ran downstairs...
After taking a few photo's and realizing that it was ridiculous to tell a two-year old covered in bum cream not touch anything–and then turn my back–I put him in the bath. LAME-O! He he, I’m a nerd–a cream that’s purpose is to keep a child dry–is more then likely water resistant–he he, so after fighting that thought and scrubbing his stomach for 5 minutes with soap (thinking–“really....–it’s really not going to work?”) then I took him out of the bath and just took a towel and rubbed him down. I can’t believe how much he had on him! He he, it made me and Kade laugh so much. Silly kid. (Because of my awesome “discipline technique” on this last one–he probably still thinks it’s a fantastic idea to have more desitin fun tomorrow! I’m awesome.) -(ewww, this is what happens when you wait a minute or two before taking care of a problem--on the lips! gross)
Here’s the thing though–he’s always doing stuff like that. Jess found him in the bathroom the other day, wearing jess' glasses--and brushing his teeth with everyone's toothbrush's--complete with toothpaste everywhere! (He’s always trying to break out the toothbrushes–he LOVES brushing his teeth. I think it’s hilarious that I have to limit him to 3 times a day–he'd do it all day if I let him.)
While waiting to fall asleep the other day he was just shouting letters out in a random order to a random song. It doesn’t sound strange until you imagine it–just all by himself–shouting....so loud–he he. Oh, he totally knows all his letters! He surprises me so much–cause he learned it without me. (If anyone wants motherhood lessons--I'm totally open!:) That's what ya get for being the second child I guess. I'm pretty sure it came mostly from Kade and the “Word Whammer” on the fridge that Grandma gave Kade for last years birthday. Oh, and he can count from 1-20 (well, 16-19 sound mostly exactly the same...)
Anyway--I love him sooooooooo much and I am just so much happier because I have him in my life! FUN!


At the zoo last week with our friends the Livseys for Hayden's birthday. They're showing their STAMPEDE faces!

Luke turned 2 on Sunday! woo woo! Sunday after church and naps--Kade hid Luke's presents, and was so excited for Luke--when I asked him why, he said, "because he'll good some good stuff and maybe he'll share with me."
And Luke did--and he's trying to share--I'm sure of it(Luke just hit the "MINE" stage and it's not always so pretty) At any rate we sang "Happy Birthday 4 or 5 times cause Luke kept wanting to blow out the candles and it was fun. Then on Monday some of his friends from the neighborhood had cake and ice cream with us.
Luke wanted a sponge-bob square pants cake for his birthday so that's what I made (I know he's only 2 but it's just so cute to hear him say his whole name.) Mom Adams gave Kaden a musical book at the beginning of the year with a bazillion songs about sponge-bob. Now Luke knows all the songs and is a HUGE fan. Anyway--it was nice and easy and now he's 2! FUN.







There's a place called Phinizy Swamp Nature Park about 15 minutes from our house. Jess and I took the kids to it a year and a half ago--and it was winter--and it was ugly. But I kept hearing good things about it and took the kids last week. IT WAS GORGEOUS!

They loved walking around and we even saw a water snake, regular snake, and tons of turtles.(and a hiker said there were two otters in the lake area and a biker said he kept seeing an alligator, but we couldn't see either.)

Anyway--this time around it really was so pretty and we loved it.

Jonathans Home!

WELCOME HOME JONATHAN. I am so so so happy. My brother-in-law Jonathan has been in Kuwait for the past year and was finally able to come home yesterday and I'm soooooo excited for all of them!!! Welcome home and thank you for your service--We love you guys!!!

Camping & The Masters

A couple of weekends ago we went camping and it was sooooooooooooo fun! here's the thing. If it were up to me, we would have brought EVERYTHING. Toys, DVD player, tons of food, tried dutch oven cooking....I have learned something huge from Jess:

That way's lame.

Jess lives the simple life. This was our trip: We packed the tent, mattresses, and sleeping bags, Packed p'j's and poptarts, pick up a pizza on the way to the camp sight and that was it. APPARENTLY...nature is a good entertainer. Who knew? Anyway it was so fun and our first family camp out. The boys loved it and because it went so well, odds are we'll do this again--with Jess' way of packing (which apparently is from Dad Winn's influence...so thanks! (you're so smart).






Yesterday my friend Sarah and I went to the Masters Golf Tournament (well, kinda--we sorta just asked a guy outside to sell us a cheap ticket to just see the grounds on one of the practice round days.) and it was gorgeous! I also learned that I probably wouldn't be a very good golf spectator....Apparently it's a "quiet watching sport". Any more questions? I've never once been mistaken for a "quiet" type person. I'm more of a screamer--I accidently screamed once...you know...like a wooo hoo (cause it was a great hit--is that what you'd call it, a hit--a shot--a clubb'n???) that was a little too much I noticed very quickly. he he...ooh, Cari you might be saying--you're a big nerd.--Oooh, the lessons you learn. But the grounds were awesome and we had a great time!


The LAWN MOWER TRAIN

JESS IS AWESOME!

Jess has spent the last 6 weeks at Shaw Air Force Base completing Airman Leadership School. The point of the school is to train the Airman who qualify for Staff Sergeant how to lead and inspire those that they will be over. Jess' graduation was last night and he received the most prestigious award of the night--the "John L. Levitow Award." It's recipient is determined by their displayed leadership ability, their grades, and over-all "freaken awesome-ness" (I might have made that last one up). I was sooooooooooo excited when they called his name. Jess "knew" he wasn't going to get it because he felt he did poorly on one of the important tests and wasn't expecting it at all. It was so beautiful to watch his face when they called his name! Anyway--it was a beautiful moment and I have an AMAZING husband!!!!

Easter was fun, we went to a Easter egg hunt for the city on Thursday and the boys had about a bazillion eggs to pick from. LOTS OF EGGS. They loved it! We actually celebrated Easter on Saturday for a couple of reasons but one is because Jess had to leave after church on Sunday to go back to Shaw. So Friday night, we had The Easter Bunny call our house and have Kade answer the phone. He said he'd be stopping by our house one day earlier so to go to bed quick. Kade got in bed so fast!

Jumping Fire!

Just a little something the kids like to do....Just kidding, nobody worry--it was all supervised and had a purpose...some of our best friends out here, are our neighbors the Mozifarri's. They're both Persian and this Thursday is their New Years. So...one of the cultural traditions is to jump fire on Tuesday night in preparation for Ash Wednesday (correct me if I'm wrong Sarah) to rid yourself of the bad of the last year and get the fires energy-for a healthy new year. (it's different then the real Ash Wednesday--but that is the literal translation of the Persian term). Then that same night is their Halloween sort of; but apparently they eat healthy, with nuts and dried fruits being handed out! Awesome! Anyway--they invited us to do it with them and it was lots of fun. The kids loved it! (when will they ever get the chance again---Awesome!) So here is some of the fun:

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Happy St. Patty's Day

"A real leprechaun? AWESOME"
"Gr-een, o-meal"
Kade's been looking forward to St. Patricks Day since last year when we sorta forgot about it. So this year we did it right. Luke loves oatmeal, so for breakfast--while they were cleaning up their room, I made green oatmeal. It was so cute, cause Kade was so excited that a leprechaun snuck in and turned our breakfast green. (So when does it not feel like lying...it was so cute to see how excited he was though.) So he wore as much green as he could and we had a great day! exactly why we paint outside! It was adorable yesterday morning because we went to a park that has a track around a playground. Often when I made my way around, I'd be joined by Luke or Kade--running with me (which is when I realized that Kade really is faster then me!) or jogging (I love watching Luke run!) or riding their bikes along side. It was adorable. Anyway--the day was great and we even decorated our Easter Eggs and paint with friends outside. I hope every ones St. Patty's Day was as awesome! my canvas



Do your ears point up?
Do you have a lot of luck?
For gold do you dig?
Can you dance an Irish Jig?
If you answered yes,
You're a leprechaun I guess.
Do your ears point up?

So, I have been "tagged" by my sister Nikki to tell to write some of the words from the nearest book I'm reading...so here goes:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next five sentences.
5. Tag five people.

So just so y'all know, the book I'm currently reading is "Porter Rockwell--A biography". (also--for those of you who don't know--he was Joseph Smiths friend and bodyguard.) I heard a song that said Porter was a "modern-day Samson" and I had no idea that Joseph Smith told Porter not to cut his hair, and to live faithfully, and that his enemies would have no power over him, that they would not be able to take his life. I told Mom and Dad Winn--and apparently lots of people knew that..soo, I decided to do some research. Porter Rockwell was mostly illiterate so nearly all the book is taken from others accounts. Anyway, it's super interesting. And now, here are the sentences:

"To the nearly deserted streets of Nauvoo, Porter finally returned. While walking down a lonely road he quietly reminisced on his former friendship with the Prophet, and chanced to come upon his son, Joseph Smith, III, a 13-year-old lad.
Young Joseph mentions in his memoirs, "I saw him coming down the street, and I ran across our yard, climbed the fence , and jumped down on the other side close by him, greeting him and extending my hand. He shook it warmly, put an arm affectionately across my shoulders, and said, with much emotion, 'Oh, Joseph, Joseph! they have killed the only friend I have ever had!'"

So ya--that was a sad part, and really--lots of the book is about how hard his life must have been, but it's documented really well and has helped me learn a lot about that time.

Okay...Thanks Nikki. love ya!

Getting back into the swing of things...

So I realized that I don't have any new pictures since we got back from Utah, so to make up for it I added two of my favorite commercials for your viewing fulfillment. (if your new to this blogging stuff.. (mom, he he) Just pause the music on the side until your done watching.)We'll start this off with one of my favorite videos:



We're getting back into the groove of Georgia and loving the weather. Just a few nights ago I watched a lightening storm that lit up our house for close to an hour--it was awesome--and the thunder is so loud...I love storms!

Jess is at Shaw Air Force Base Sunday nights thru Friday and we get him on the weekends. We've been managing but missing him like crazy. Luke sees the car home all the time and get's so excited and says, "Daddy home Daddy home". It's so sad to have to remind him over and over again that it's us that's home with the car--Daddy will be home later this week. But the weekends are sooooo great!

Here's one of my favorite commercials ever--it makes me laugh everytime (Emily, Melodie, Nik and Chris plus more have seen this lots of times cause really--I just think it's so funny!) Wait...now there's way too much build up--go into it thinking--regular commercial--there--that's better. Here it is:




Oh, oh, by the way--Jess recieved the VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD for his Squadron here at Fort Gordon and we are soooooooooooooo proud of him (he's super modest about it but he works so hard and is just...just awesome. So Congrats baby! And sorry--I had to put it on the blog!)

Also, another shoutout for my little brother Scott-He was in a bouldering (rock climbing) competition last week and is just awesome! I saw the pictures and he's so good! Anyway--good job!

Oh, and Luke is officially in a big boy bed now--the crib is down and the bunk bed is up--it's so cute! He has the Superman bed on the bottom and Kade braves it in the Spiderman bed up top. As some of you know, Kade occasionally wakes up in the middle of the night screaming that he has to go to the bathroom but he's not awake enough to figure out how to do that--just enough to scream...so that's a little more interesting getting him from the top, but what else could you want in the middle of a peaceful night--some excitment!

They love how easy it is to make the bottom bunk a fort/ a spaceship/ a time machine...anything really. They're so cute together. The other day Kade told me that Luke wasn't his brother anymore, he was his buddy. Now he knows that he can be both and loves that!

Last week Kade gave a talk in primary on the Brother of Jared. He told Grandma and Grandpa Adams all of it on the phone but Grandma Winn wanted to see it so...here it is for anyone who wants to join her. It was a bit of a struggle to do it (what with Luke crying and my amazing camera work...)but it's beautiful in it's raw form I'm sure!

Utah Vacation!!!

So as most of you know, me and the boys spent a month out in Utah. It was great! We missed Jess like crazy and are now glad to be back but it was so so great seeing so many friends and family. It had been way too long! We miss you all and love you like crazy! I was able to spend time at mom and dad's house which was crazy busy and so fun because Nikki and her two kids were there visiting as well. Christy came down with Gavin when she could and Kade and Gavin LOVED EACH OTHER. I've never seen Kade play so well for so long laughing the whole time. It was so cute to watch! We played in the snow, made snow drinks ( ya--we know snow has lots of pollution but when you add sugar, vanilla, milk and more sugar--it's so yummy! plus--we did it all the time as kids and wanted to pass it on.), celebrated birthdays (Scott, Jared, and Val--happy b-day again), and had many-a sick days with the kids (not as fun). I can't even tell everyone how fun it was to visit with so many friends, play, go snowboarding with, have roads close and stay longer, and just have fun. Plus, I got to drive up to Oregon and stay with Jess' family and it was a blast! I laughed so hard and had a great time. Emily and her little boy Brody were there too and the boys played so well together! Kade saw his first basketball game, we went swimming, we tried to pull them in the sled in the backyard but when you're running in a foot of snow--well, it's not so fast and they get a little bored I guess. All-in-all, we played games (games are my FAVORITE!!!) ate junk food, watched movies, and just laughed the whole month! I love you all and miss you already!