The Soter Family

Going Un-Private!

2011-09-25T19:15:00.001-07:00

Sorry to all of you! I decided to not go private afterall because it ended up being a big pain in the foot! Welcome back reader friends! Have a great day! Here's a cute pic just for good measure. A post is not a post without a picture!

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

2011-06-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

Give haircuts. Oh how this boy would have rocked the 70's!

I will tell you what we do. What do you get when you put a sprinkler...

... a super nice plastic pool...

and a slide?

You get the thrill of a lifetime, that's what you get!

Let the games begin!

Add a popcicle to the fun that was already being had and WHOA!!! Stand back!

This was Lizzie's first popcicle and she took it very seriously. I could not get a single smile out of her until she was done with this thing.

When this boy is happy he is HAPPY! I wish you could hear his squeal of delight.

I found this to be a bit of a brave venture since the end up the pool was like a foot away from the end of the slide, but try it he did and he succeeded.

This wonderland was fun for all ages. Nicholas had just as much fun as any of them.

Lizzie was not allowed to participate fully for the sake of her safety and well being, but she loved watching the kids and was a good sport about being splashed every now and again.

"My, what a happy day!" (song courtesy of Mickey and the Beanstalk for those of you who remember the singing harp)

Yet another super sweet feature of out water wonderland. Our grass is little more than patchy sprigs and so where there is water, there also is mud! Not many kids would complain about playing in the mud. Especially not my little Thomas buddy. More than once I have caught him outside with the hose covered in mud and I must confess that at those times things didn't go over so well for him as they did on this one.

I would challenge any public waterslide to give a better splash and reaction than our very own private slide.

They continued to slide for over an hour and never got bored. I was the one who first threw in the towel. Thomas did not appreciate the fact that it was naptime. I thought about skipping naptime, but since it's my salvation for the day I overruled that thought.

Oh bliss! Yes, that is Thomas catching some serious air on the sweet slide! Several time he flew out and landed flat on his little face in the mud. Luckily the mud was squishy and he would get right back up and go back at it. It was hilarious for me and I felt sorry to enjoy such sights on my own with no one to appreciate. Thanks to my handy dandy camera you can now appreciate a little bit of the fun with me.

Yet another Soter original water wonderland creation. Where else can you find a swimming pool with not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 diving boards (aka plastic chairs, a picnic table and an overturned truck), and a sweet bar to hang on? Nowhere, that's where!

Lizzie's first big-girl piggies. I love it!!!

This is Lizzie in her too-big swimming suit. Man oh man is this a pinchy little thing! She spends quality time staring out this window while the kids play outside. It's rather pathetic, but she dearly loves her big brothers and sister and will crawl to anywhere she can hear their noise. What a cute little Miss!

Look at this naughty little adorable thing! She loves to dig in the plants and I caught her in the act with the camera. She thought that was pretty funny.

Nicholas got to go to his very first cub scout camp and he had such a great time! I volunteered to help on the last day and got to bring Matthew as a "tagalong". It was such a fun day hanging out with the boys and watching how they interact with their buddies. I love those little men of mine!

It's sad to watch my kids get big, ut I love to see Nicholas becoming a big boy. He tells his little brother Matthew all the important things he knows and because Matthew worships Nicholas he hangs on ever word, even when some words may be just a tad bit exaggerated. What a great guy this is!

The boys got to make marshmallow shooters as the last activity of the day. Awesome!!!

Matthew putting his shooter to the test on a soda can. Lucky for me the boys haven't thought to shoot anything out of their shooters since they've been home and I have chosen to remain silent on that point.

This was at the egg drop. Each scout troop had to pack an egg into a styrofoam container and hope that it didn't bust. Well, our troops egg busted, but it was a little boys dream come true to watch the watermelons and canteloupe get chucked from way high and splat!

Nicholas and Matthew goofing off. So cute!!!

Lizzie turns one on Friday and this is her latest skill as of last week. What can I say, she is advanced!

Matthew graduated from kindergarten. Way to go Idaho! We loved his kindergarten teacher and cross our fingers that Katie gets her.

Nicholas made the honor roll the entire year and recieved "Most expressive reader" in his class awards ceremony. Way to go Mr. Almost 3rd Grader!

Thomas loves being a pirate. You should hear his little "ARGH!"

Things that make me smile...

2011-02-08T19:29:00.001-08:00

Meet the oldest man in our house (for the day anyway). Today was the 100th day of school and the kindergarteners got to dress up like they were 100. I didn't have anything grey for his sweet stache, but it did add a few years. I especially love the tie. He is a good sport about being dressed up.

This is the picture of all pictures for me. I swear these goggles never get old!

It's funny the things that you do to get some extra things done.

When Lizzie smiles she doesn't just smile with her mouth, her entire body has to get excited with her. So cute!!!

I love this little girl and her smiley face and pointy tongue.

Mr. Smooth!

I've never had a child that makes a better mad face than Thomas and this picture captures it beautifully. I love this little boy!

Didn't everyone own a pair of fuzzy footy jammies with the feet cut out at one time or another? Thomas came to me one night with a very distressed look on his face and proceeded to sit down and point out to me that his big toe was poking through his jammies. It's a wonder they made it this far after 3 little boys going through them, but I did the only natural thing there was to do (no not throw them away), I cut the feet out and here's the result.

I find it rather hilarious that little 2-yr olds think that "big" underwear are so completely awesome! Thomas is definitely not potty trained, but because he has such a skinny little heiny I sometimes use these cushy undies to keep his pants up a little better and when I do, this is how he feels about it.

This, my friends, is why we have thrown out every marker in our house. This fine fellow likes to write on everything but paper with them and suck them dry. I found that this particular blue marker had been sucked dry (it was white at the tip), only after Thomas colored blue on the kitchen window and himself. Nice.

This is my little Katie girl on a regular day. And with the boots yes, I mean regular. Below are pictures of the everyday life of Katie Soter.

As of this week I can't keep Katie in anything other than this fine getup. Despite my attempts to put her in regular clothes every morning, give it an hour at best and Katie will prance in wearing this, strike a fabulous pose and say, "Well, how do I look mom?" And I will say, "You look beautiful Katie", and she will shake her head as if to acknowledge that yes, she does look beautiful and then be on her merry way to do all of the lovely things that Katie does.

In her own words, "It's Superhero Katie to the rescue!" This is usually her first pick of costume, but this one is MIA at the moment. Bummer! (except not every time she needs to go potty).

This is one of her very favorites. There have been many occasions when I have gone in to check on her and Thomas after they have gone to sleep and this is what I find her in, sweating like crazy, but so happy. I love this quirky little girl!

Last, but definitely not least, here is my little princess. This is the first time that Katie, of her own choosing, put on a princess dress. It had to be documented! She looks beautiful!

Just to let you know, it is only January. Not warm outside, but here are my kids, pretending apparently that it is the summer time. They were bug hunting by the way.

This deserved a slot in the blog. It was a Sunday morning and might I just mention, like not more than 45 or 50 degrees outside. I look out the window and low and behold! What month exactly does Matthew think it is? Perhaps Nicholas is also a little confused?

It's the whole heard. What a fine heard!

My beautiful baby girl and her first time sitting up (with a little leg support). She was mighty proud about it!

The mighty men and their mighty marble tower.

That my friends is a cool dude pushing a cool dude in a sweet ride.

Lizzie is one lucky girl because she is everyones favorite. No one ever gets mad at Lizzie (except maybe when she is crying and mom hasn't come to her rescue, which makes it hard for the smaller kid to hear their show).

My beautiful girls (and yet another of Katie's many "looks". This one is affectionately referred to as "dry bones".)

My handsome boys!

Thomas was not a fan of all the mumbo jumbo I made him put on to wear outside, but he was a fan of being outside and was mad as a hornet when I made him come in. I love that when he tried to look at you from the side his little face got lost in his coat hood. The funny look of a bundled kid is my favorite part of the snow (perhaps one of my only favorite parts, other than my kids loving it!)

Katie was so excited to play in the snow. Last year she was too little so this was really one of her first experiences being let loose in the snow. She loved it!

This boy was totally decked out. He loves to play in the snow, but he is not a fan of being cold. A man after my own heart. I realize that this is a laughable amount of snow, especially since it was enough to cancel school for 4 days, but for us it was plenty. It was great powdery snow so the kids didn't come in soaking wet, thank goodness.

My biggest of boys. This is the most intense of my little friends. He will stay out long past everyone else and loves it!

This is a thing of chocolatey beauty.

The bakers behind the beauty.

It's Mr. Elf Thomas. He insisted on this belt Christmas morning. Nothing new or fancy about it. It's just a belt, but he was a happy man.

Excited little friends (to put it mildly) on Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas morning everyone!

Making Up For Lost Time

2010-10-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

Here's Lizzie all beautified up for church. She has so much hair that I was able to put a metal clip in her hair and it stayed! I love this sweet little dolly girl!

Here are my big boys on the first day of school. They were all set with their new backpacks (thanks Grandma!) and their new Sketchers (a must have for a 2nd grader apparently). Matthew went to kindergarten like a champ and Nicholas is a seasoned veteran. I can't believe I have 2 kids in school!

Matthew and his little sister. She looks a little more unsure than he does.

Nicholas being a sweet big brother.

Grandma and Papa Soter. This is Papa and Lizzie's first time meeting. (Papa's beard is due to the fact that he played part of the angry mob in the new Joseph Smith movie. You'll have to watch for him!)

Sweet little Lizzie in her sweet little swimming suit.

Thomas has a super sweet swim suit wouldn't you say? This thing has cracked me up ever since I put it on Nicholas for the first time. It still doesn't disappoint.

Nicholas finally lost his first tooth. He was a little worried that he would never lose his teeth since all of his other friends had already lost a tooth or two. He has since lost another so we are on the right track.

How the heck did he stick his little body here? I surely don't know, but before rescuing him I had to get a picture. This is a blessed boy.

Katie loves to feed Lizzie. It doesn't always make it all the way in Lizzie's mouth, but this is great bonding time.

Thomas's fancy slick willy hairdo had to be added.

Steve, being the super awesome daddy that he is, decided to take the older three kids camping on an overnighter. They had a fabulous time! It was Katie's first time being invited and she loved it (due to her age)!

More fun camping photos.

A few weekends ago we decided to go out on a hike. This is everyone (minus me and Lizzie) getting ready to go.

Our hike into the jungle.

Lizzie didn't last long on our wilderness adventure.

We finally decided that we couldn't take the sea foam green our kitchen was any longer, so we painted. I think it turned out rather nice. Another part of our kitchen.

This is the final product of our pumpkin carving night. The boys did a scary and the girls did a goofy.

She is so close to playing with her feet! That is my favorite!

Thomas's (and everyone else's) favorite thing to do outside.

This is Lizzie most of the time nowadays. She is the smiliest, giggliest baby!

Katie shoe of choice these days.

My best friend Britt with my best little Katie girl. They came for a fun visit over Labor Day (or was it Memorial Day) weekend.

My sweet little dolly all ready for church.

Thomas loves his little sissy. So much so that I cannot for any reason leave her alone while she is awake because he will find her no matter where I hide her. Cute, but exhausting!

This is cute Lizzie in her hiked up britches. I have to keep the camera out of sight until I take the picture or she gets this confused look on her face. It's a cute look though.

This is the blanket that I "scored" for Nicholas's bed. My moms were anxious to see it, so here it is! Isn't is so cute!?

Thomas thought he was funny to plug his ears and so I thought it was funny to take his picture.

Our yearly spooky gingerbread haunted house.

If You're Having a Bad Day...

2010-08-19T19:13:00.001-07:00

This outta cheer you right up!

Lizzie's blessing and other fun happenings for the month of July

2010-08-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

My beautiful baby girl was blessed this last Sunday. I can't say that it was that super special and memorable experience that I was hoping for, but I have come to realize that with 5 kids nothing is ever the way I hope or plan. I just have to go with the flow. Picture the moment Steve takes Lizzie up to bless her Thomas gets mad about something and starts throwing his bag of gold fish crackers all over the place. In the process of trying to clean up that disaster he somehow manages to escape under the pews and makes it down to the front of the chapel where my friend Carrie grabbed him and takes him out screaming! Then I am trying to keep some of my other kids quiet. By this point the blessing is just about over. Then Thomas escapes from my friend and comes zooming down the aisles crying and looking for me. I quickly scoop him up and zoom out of the chapel. That was the end of the blessing. I'm sure it was very special. The spirit was there anyway. I love my sweet little family!!!

This is my attempt at getting a picture of all five (wow, I have 5 kids) kids on Lizzie's special day. Wasn't my most successful moment, but it is still cute and funny.

This is another "failed" attempt at a great picture of my kids. Katie was having non of the picture taking scene, as you can see Thomas was given no choice, and Nicholas thought that the entire situation was hilarious! This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Daddy and Lizzie. We didnt' get a shot of them on her blessing day because he was in meetings all day, but this is a sweet picture.

Grandma Burke and Lizzie. My mom got to come and stay with me for 5 whole weeks. It was so completely wonderful. She left today and I am trying to get a grip on myself as a lone mother of five. I miss you mom! Lucky for me Steve's mom will be here on Monday and I will have help and moral support for another two weeks. I am rather spoiled with my help and I love it!

Me and Lizzie on her blessing day.

My funny little Thomas. This boy is the most adorable little friend...and there is a reason. He is the biggest handful I have ever had!!! A newborn is cake compared to this little man that we love.

This picture is just cute to me. Lizzie is now 5 weeks old today.

After the Aquaman ride Nicholas and Matthew wanted to hang out over the ride where you get totally soaked. They weren't kidding when they said totally soaked either. Luckily it kept the boys cool on a HOT day. (look at the pics below. I got these pictures in the wrong order).

Because Nicholas read so much last year in school we got to spend the day at Six Flags while Grandma Burke stayed at home with the babies. It was so much fun! Thanks Grandma! We miss you!!! Daddy and the boys waiting in line for our first ride of the day.

I turned her on her tummy to see if she would wake up to eat, but instead I got this so sweet shot.

Nicholas joined the Rough Riders baseball team. He is just darn CUTE!

This boy loves hats. Captain Big Head fits into his 7 year old brothers hat just perfectly. I am sure his mass of curls helps a bit.

This picture is just cute. This is Katie after church.

Thomas is my wild child. We have come to find that we cannot leave any chairs in their correct position. I have started laying all the chairs in the kitchen on the floor so he won't climb, but I didn't think about the high chair...until this little incident. Doesn't he just look so innocent? Bless his adorably busy heart!

My kids and the Nicholas's best friend found the mud. This is one of those times when I wanted to yell, but instead had to find humor. They were filthy!!!

Nicholas turned 7 years old! We laugh to say that for one day we had 5 kids ages 6 and under! He is such the big boy! Happy Birthday Nickelby!

Matthew and his baby.

We are Pleased to Introduce...

2010-07-03T18:45:00.001-07:00

Miss Elizabeth "Lizzie" Jane Soter

5lbs 14oz and 18 3/4 inches

Born July 1st, 2010 @ 1:33pm

Me and my little Lizzie Jane.

Daddy and his girlie #2.

I love this picture of her. She looks so sweet and serious. I love this tiny little peanut girl!

Nicholas is the big brother of 4 younger siblings, and he wasn't even 7 yet. He turned 7 the day after Lizzie was born. His birthday has been put on hold until Monday, but he's been a trooper and loves his little sister.

Matthew is completely in love and in heaven. He is a serious baby lover and has not left her side since we've been home.

Katie loves her little sissy!

Thomas thinks this baby is so funny! He gives her kisses and rubs her cheeks. Hopefully this lasts. Cross your fingers for us. Oh, did you notice his cast? He broke his left wrist a few weeks ago thanks to his big sissy. Such fun!

3 Months of Random cuteness...

2010-05-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

I am not the best blogger in the world, but when I update I don't mess around. There are lots of fun pictures we have taken in the past 3 months. Enjoy!

Nicholas joined his very first soccer team this spring. He had so much fun and his team even won the entire division. Way to go buddy! We loved supporting our little man every Saturday as he busted out some sweet soccer moves.

It's Mr. Robot!

This is what Katie can do with scissors (notice the front of her brand new cute pink shirt).

Matthew on the pony ride at his school carnival.

Nicholas on the pony ride at Matthew's schools carnival.

This is our little Matthew on his happy 5-yr old birthday. Our kids 1st party is when they turn 5 so we celebrated big time by inviting five friends and partying at Chuck E. Cheese's. He was one happy boy. We love you Maffie!

Two super cool dudes.

Katie is our quirky little thing. This is the outfit that she requested to wear to bed for quite a few nights. She has about 15 friends on her bed with her and she thoroughly enjoys her glasses and her hat. This was right before we turned off the lights for the night. She keeps us laughing thats for sure.

Daddy and the kids looking at pictures of ocean creatures before bed.

Happy Easter from the Soter friends!

This is Katie on her big 3-yr old day celebrating with one of her very favorite friends. Meet Buggy the bug (she's holding him up for you to see). She actually caught an ant in my bathtub and loved him to death (when she discovered that he was no longer moving she bent down real close to him and yelled "Buggy, are you sleeping?!"), then she proceeded to watch a movie with him and talk to him for at least an hour before losing him in the carpet.

My cute little 3-yr old girl and her bug/frog cake. We love you Katie Sue!

For Easter this year we decided to spend our weekend with our fabulous friends the Wests who happen to live just 5 short hours away (sounds like a lot, but compare that with the 15 to get to the closest family it isn't much). We had such a great time. Thanks West's! This is Thomas and his Easter basket.

Happy kids with full baskets. Happy Easter!

Here's the best I could do with all the cute little friends on Easter morning after the Easter Bunny had left his glorious spoils. Happy Day!

This is Steve and I with our dearest of friends, the Wests. We had such a fun Easter and we love it that they are only 5 hours away!

Thomas's accomplishement. He is now (and has been for a month and a half) a walking boy. Hurray!

Just some cuteness for you. If you can't tell Thomas is saying "Cheese!"

For family fun day we decided to drive out to Grapevine Lakes, which is about 10 minutes from our house, just to have a look around. We told the kids they could walk in the water just a bit, but not to get their clothes wet. Ha! This little mischief maker started the trend that went downhill bigtime! I was sitting with my big pregnant girth watching Thomas play in the sand while Steve walked down a ways with the boys. Before I could get myself up off of my big girth Thomas decided to take the plunge. Heaven knows the bigger boys weren't going to let him have all the fun.

Daddy and Katie. Out of all the kids Katie kept dry the longest. She soaked her pants as we were rounding up the kids to go. It was bound to happen.

The boys were just going to wade up to their knees. Hmm.

The end result of our trip to "look" at Grapevine Lake. Happy wet boys!

Thomas's Naughty

2010-02-16T12:10:00.001-08:00

Thomas is the happiest little baby that ever there was. He is the joy of the house and we all love him to pieces. That being said, he's also the most mischievous. He loves the potty, the computer, the fireplace, the messy tree, and on and on. His newest thing deals with his own little person. He has been taking his socks off, which for me is not okay since it is not warm here, but then lately I have been noticing that he keeps ending up with no pants. What in the world? I keep asking my kids who keeps taking off Thomas's pants, but they have all denied it. Then the other day I came into to check on him because he just didn't want to go to sleep in his crib and there he was, sockless and pantless! I am pretty sure he is only 14 months old. What a little business! Although he can't walk he gets to wear shoes all the time now, except when he has footy pjs at bed. I thought I was being very tricky to keep him in double-knotted boots, but this is how I just found the little magic man. One shoe off, one shoe on and a big smile to boot! What a cute little pill!

SNOW?!!!!

2010-02-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Everyone! This is what I woke up to today. The boys came in to wake me up this morning with "Mom, it's snowing!!!" Anyone who knows me knows that being cold is on my top 3 least favorite things list. Anyone who knows any kid knows that it is on their top 3 favorites list! The great news is that Nicholas's school was cancelled today. It is our first official snow day...ever! How exciting! Have a Happy Day! I know my boys will.

This my friends is quite an original work of art from the one and only Nicholas/Matthew team. Look how happy they are! What a fun day!

It is barely 8:30 and I could not keep the boys in the house a moment longer. They are in heaven! If you happen to be wondering about the white fanciness that is gracing their cute little hands that would be socks with plastic bags tied with an elastic. Call me cheap, but I am not from snow country and hello, surely most of you that have lived in the snow as a little person can remember your mom doing the very same thing to you. That's what I always got for gloves growing up and it worked great!

Thomas has something to say...

2010-01-27T15:54:00.000-08:00

But he can't talk, so I'll say it...

IT"S A GIRL!!!

The Soter's Have Returned!

2010-01-20T18:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Thomas!!!! He is our 1 year old boy! He has no qualms about digging in to his cupcake. We love this boy so very much and can't imagine life without him.

Happy Birthday party #2! We celebrated with my mom on Thomas's real birthday to make it an all around happy day, rather than what it could be. Thank goodness for this blessed little boy!

I love my boys!

Our favorite thing is to share the baby swings at the park (okay not my favorite thing, I actually hate swings! They defeat the purpose of going to the park to "watch" your kids play). Thomas really was laughing seconds before, he just had to be choked for a minute for the sake of the picture.

This picture could not be left out. This is Matthew on "Silly Sock Day" at his preschool. After much talking into it I got him to wear silly socks to school. After all, I didn't want him to feel left out. The only sad part about this super cute picture is that we didn't have any silly socks for Matthew and so he is wearing his mommys silly socks. Notice the heal poking out of the back of his shoe. It was almost a laugh until I cry moment because he looked so cute but I thought "Oh, poor little buddy. His mommy is once again to cheap to go and spend money and so he has to be embarrased and wear his mommys socks". Thankfully Matthew is not aware of the fact that they are mine. Shh, don't tell.

This is the dream team right here! I surely do love these little boys. I love that they are best buddies! They really do warm my heart!

So, I realize I am obsessed with my daughters hair, who wouldn't be for heavens sake? She has my dream hair. So close, yet so far away. I love that it's getting so long! I just love this girlie!

We got to be in Utah with Steve's family for Thanksgiving. This was the best I got of all the Soter cousins. There's quite the herd I tell you. Nonstop fun!

These two are such buddies. Nicholas really is the best big brother ever!

This picture is nothing other than a miracle. Matthew and Katie have been enemies for quite some time (well, about 2 1/2 years), and just recently they have struck up some sort of comradare (I don't know if I spelled that right, but the word describes it perfectly!) They have been playing quite well about 50-maybe even 75% of the time. They even request each other on occasion. That my friends is progress!

This is what Thomas is up to these days. He thinks it is heavenly fun to take an entire roll of toilet paper and tear it to shreds. Just like a little mouse. So fun! We sure do love our busy little Thomas!

The kids got to sit on the lap of Santa Clause not once, but twice! Lucky! This Santa is by far the most realistic Santa I have ever seen! And he was so incredibly fun and friendly. (Don't judge by the lack of smile on his face in this picture).

This is fairly out of order, but I had to add a Christmas morning picture. Thomas is around there somewhere eating wrapping paper, but this is the kids. Nicholas is overjoyed, Matthew is joyed, and Katie is just...she really is happy, just caught her off guard.

Poor Matthew's head is cut off, but this is the kids on Christmas Sunday all gussied up and looking so adorable!

We went to a mall in Utah with Steve's family for dinner one night and they had this fancy little Christmas display. It turned out so fun!

This was Nicholas's hat, but it was chilly outside and besides, he looked mighty cute. He actually kept the thing on too, which made me pretty impressed.

Poor Katie, she desperately wanted her own boots to go play in the snow. Unfortunately her mommy is super cheap and was super not in the mood to bundle her up, and then go out in the miserable cold with her. This was the closest she got to winter snow bliss. Mighty cute though!

Here's Nicholas playing in the snow. It looked absolutely miserably cold to me, but there's something about little people. Cold is nothing! He was in heaven!

Here's Maff getting ready to play in the snow.

While we were staying at my moms house we went to her ward Christmas party. My sister-in-law was in charge of the Primary part of the evening, and so Nicholas and Matthew got enlisted to be part of the Nativity.

Here's Matthew being the donkey on stage. Never mind that this is the most sacred night and that the baby Jesus is about to come. He's just having a good ol' time hangin' out.

Here's Nickelby being a very serious and wise shepherd. He did a fabulous job if I may say so.

This picture absolutely had to be included just because it is hilarious! Our dear friend Kelyn came and brought us dinner while our home was in an uproar (I'll tell you why in a minute), and she and the kids played an absolutely hysterical game or two of "A Tuddy Ta". If you don't know what this game is, you would just have to see it, but it is the funniest thing ever! I love their faces!

WE'VE MOVED!!! Welcome to our new home. It's definitely different, but we are really liking it. The boys are loving school and making fun friends. Me and Katie and Thomas mostly just stay home since I haven't felt all that brave to explore yet. The good news is that I can now get to all of the grocery stores without my GPS. There's progress for you.

This is Katie's room. Isn't it so cute! I have always dreamed of her having her own room and these colors match all of her stuff! How exciting!

Nicholas and Matthew's super fancy polka-dot room.

This is our living room (but not our furniture. They hadn't moved out everything when I looked at the house). I love the floors, you can see the entire backyard through the window and I love the fireplace!

This is our fun backyard. Not only are there trees to climb, but this swing set is awesome! What luck!

We're Back!

2009-08-18T21:27:00.001-07:00

Well, here we are finally after 3 months! Sometimes blogging makes me feel overwhelmed because I just want to add all of my pictures. Notice that I finally changed my blog background thanks to my sister in law Amber. I have no idea if the colors go, but there were so many color options that by the end I felt like I had just smelled like 50 bottles of perfume. Everything was about the same and all very strong! The colors are what they are. That is also the first family picture we've had in almost 4 years. Happy day!

Tonight me and Thomas were hanging out while the kids were taking a bath. For some reason everything was just making that boy laugh so I had to not only take like 10 pictures, but make that super cute video. Have I mentioned that I so so sooo much love this little boy? because I do!!!! Oh, and notice his curly hair! I can't believe my luck to have 2 adorable straight haired blondies, and then 2 super curlies. I love it!

Just because he is so handsome.

This is the first time I have ever braided Katie's hair like this and she was just so stinkin' cute that it definitely called for a picture.

I had to post the picture because of what Katie is doing. I had been feeding Thomas some cooked green beans and after I was done I went into the living room to find Katie devouring the remains. Most kids sneak treats.

This is how Thomas feels about cottage cheese...

and this...

and after the battle had been fought. (he won, no more cottage cheese...for now).

This is always a bitter-sweet moment for me. Here is my biggest baby getting ready for his first day of 1st grade. This year has been harder for me than kindergarten. Walking him to class I even had to fight the urge to hold his tiny little hand because he's a big boy now and doesn't need to hold his mommy's hand. He will still kiss and hug me, but I need to be able to let him be a big boy with his friends. Oh my broken heart. I just love this little boy. He is turning into such a good big boy. I picked a shirt for him on the first day that had a cool car on the front. He would have non of it! There was to be as little print as possible so that the could look cool. Yet another heartache to see him starting to be his own little self. It gave me a good chuckle for sure though.

Steve got to take the boys to Lake Powell for an annual trip with his family before Nicholas started school. They had so much fun! As a side note, notice Nicholas's eye looking a little out of sorts? He got stung by a bee on his eyebrow the day before they left and unless Steve kept his doped up with Benadryl his eye was as good as swollen shut. Poor little buddy. His comment after he got stung was "It's okay mom. The bee didn't mean to sting me." That's just the kind of nice little man he is.

Me and my best bosom friend Brittanie. She came all the way from Texas and we got to spend 2 glorious days together! We've been best friends since high school. Oh how I love her!

The Soter and West kids. (Does my couch ever have cushions on it?) This is the best we could do, but aren't they the cutest!?

This is Thomas and Brenan, Brittanie's handsome little baby guy. They weren't so sure about the camera.

Just a cute picture that couldn't be left out.

There isn't anyone who loves this baby more than his big brother Matthew. Whenever I lay Thomas down for a nap I am in big trouble if I don't let Matthew kiss him and say goodnight. First thing in the morning Matthew is right there to greet him. Sometimes he gives him a wee bit too much "tough love" but he always gives Thomas all the love his little heart has to give.

Thomas's first sink bath. I'm thinking it was a success.

Spiderman getting ready to suite up and bust some bad guys.

Awesome pose man! The only tricky is that it seems that whoever does Superman's laundry may have accidently shrunk his costume.

This is Katie's dress up of choice. Especially the shoes. She is a shoe freak! If I pick the wrong shoes for her she promptly takes them back and picks the ones she wants out of her drawer. And thus we enter the world of little girls.

Nice stained onsies, but he just got out of the bath and was off to bed. I can't help but take about 10 poses evertime I take his picture because this is always Thomas.

Littlest and Biggest!

I have discovered that Thomas thinks stuffed animals are the happiest little buddies he has ever seen. This is an automatic face when he gets handed a stuffed animal. Cute!

Funny things and other randomness...

2009-05-14T15:45:00.001-07:00

Cute Katie and the elephant feet.

This picture doesn't do them justice, but this is what I affectionately refer to as Katie's Elephant Feet. Out comes the tom-boy again because this girl is in love with bugs. "Hi buggy!" We have lots of ants in the backyard and she loves to follow them around and just hang out with them. Unfortunately for her she is allergic to ants. She came in last night crying because her beloved buggies attacked. Thus today elephant feet. So sad, but so funny! I love that little girls quirky ways!!!

So my kids have the best daddy ever and earlier this week Steve up and decided to take Matthew camping, just the two of them. While they were gone I gave Nicholas and Katie a popcicle outside. The funny part about this picture is that Katie's popcicle broke and was all over the ground. I missed the moment, but I walked outside to Nicholas and Katie with their faces on the ground sucking up popcicle.

Katie brought me an apron the other day and wanted me to tie it on her so she could be a super hero like the boys. She is such a little tom-boy. I'm pretty sure no one is going to mistake her for a boy though.

We went up to Show Low to visit my mom for Mother's Day and while we were there the kids got to go to Uncle Josh and Aunt Amber's house. Behind their house is Amber's parents house and they have the most beautiful, fun backyard you've ever seen! They happened to be irrigating and so the kids stripped down and went on in! They had so much fun! On the side, I didn't get any pictures of me and the kids, or me and my mom and the kids, just the kids naked. Maybe next year?

This backyard is complete heaven for my kids! Everytime we visit Josh and Amber (my brother and sister-in-law) I feel like I need to live in the country where it's green and beautiful and SAFE! The kids had an absolute blast running around more than half naked.

After all the fun of running through the irrigation the kids chose up sides. The babies all went in the "baby bath". Aren't these the cutest little people!

This was the "big boy" bath. They even got the bubble bath with the jets. Awesome!

Matthew climbed to the top of their waterfall in his Captain Underpants.

My great-nephew Trenton (good grief that makes me sound old!) turned one and we were lucky enough to be in Show Low and got to attend his happy birthday! The kids were in heaven! My nieces and nephews were spoiling them and I am pretty sure Katie got at least 3 pieces of cake and I don't even want to think about how much ice cream Matthew ate. We spent the day with grandma too, which made the partying even better!

To go along with the picture below this one. These are the moments that warm my heart. See, they really have it in them to like each other. How cute that they are sharing a ring pop.

This is a moment that absolutely had to be captured because it was a moment that is completely few and far between. Anyone who knows Katie and Matthew knows that they are the best of friends, and the worst of friends (we're still working on the best of friends part).

Oh happy pudding! Normally I try to just wash the hands and face of a little grubby that has just eaten, but there was not a chance for this little thing. Into the "buddy" with her!! ( I love it, she calls her bath a buddy instead of a tubby!)

At the end of the year Nicholas's school does a Spring Sing. This is the kids standing outside, excited to go listen to Nicholas sing his cute little heart out.

Nicholas is the cute little buddy right under the teachers hand. It's great that he's the tiniest because he's always guarenteed to be front and center! He did such a great job and we were so proud of him. Katie loved it and Matthew was madder than a hornet that we didn't let him go up and sing with Nicholas.

Matthew the incredible "cheese head" Where the heck do kids come up with these ideas? They're hilarious!

Katie kept getting this particular shirt out of daddy's drawer the other day and so we let her sleep in it. It was a wee bit large, but so very snuggly.

A couple Saturday's ago we decided to make up for our lost annual Easter Egg hunt at Tonto Creak. It was so much fun. This is Matthew and Katie hangin' out in their awesome Bass Pro chairs. So cute!

This is what I affectionately refer to as the "Pee Pond". Matthew started the trend and I think that each little boy in attendance followed suit at one time or another. Don't swim in there!

Trying to roast hot dogs in a 5 bazillion degree fire. That baby was hot!!!

Nicholas the mighty (shaggy) rock hunter.

I couldn't leave out a picture of cute Katie and her cute belly in her cute swimming suit. It just wouldn't be right.

Isn't Katie so darn lucky to have such great big brothers to love her and make sure that she is 100% happy and comfortable! (She really is lucky because most of the time her brothers are the greatest, just not all the time).

Matthew forging new territory with Grandma Burke.

Happy Thomas (I'm tellin' ya, all this little boy does is smile and laugh. We love him!)

What a fine mess!

Matthew in Bernstein Bear Heaven!!! He loves these books. We are so close to having the entire collection!

How could I not include this picture? This one is for the grandma's that we miss and love!

Katie built this block tower all by her little 2-yr old self! We were mighty proud! (Laugh all you will about the dump-truck jammies. She'll get girlie ones someday, it's not like people watch her sleep!)

Thomas and Matthew are the very best of friends. Matthew loves Thomas to death and Thomas doesn't seem to mind one bit.

What the Soter's have been up to this month.

2009-04-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know that anyone can love Thomas anymore than this little, big brother. Matthew doesn't really understand (at all) the meaning of the word soft, but he loves Thomas something fierce. When Thomas wakes up I try to sneak into his room to get a second to love on him by myself, but without fail Matthew hears me everytime and comes racing in "I want to kiss Thomas's head and say hi!" What a lucky little boy Thomas is to have such great brothers to look up to (and the sweetest big sister that ever there was).

This little boy is a reading machine! As a goal for school his teacher wants her students to have read 100 books by the end of the year. We got a bit of a late start, but Nicholas is totally into it and really wants to make the goal (not to mention he gets a "prize" that mommy and daddy have yet to come up with). He has read at least 40 books in just over 2 weeks. I'm tellin' ya, he's amazing! Just 28 more to go!

Katie and her pretty dress that I totally scored after Easter at Target. Gracious do I love their clearance!

Mr. Thomas and his friend, Mr. Worm

This picture is so completely adorable to me. My squeezy little adorable, buggy-eyed boy!

My boys after an Easter egg hunt at my brothers house. This picture had to be put in. Notice Matthew's smile pretty much doesn't change in any picture. Cheeze Wiz ought to be his nickname.

Daddy and the little friends. Happy Easter!

Me and my BEAUTIFUL babies (minus my sweet little Thomas).

Poor Thomas slept through just about the entire Easter Sunday (or at least the picture taking part). This is the best "group shot" I could come up with. It is most definitely not hitting Katie's spot. It is most definitely hitting the boys spots though. Teasing Katie? Oh happy day (mostly for Matthew)

My pretty pretty princess in her Easter dress.

I'm pretty sure there are not two more handsome boys out there.

What is the Easter season without Bass Pro. This store is heaven to my little boys (and my big boy Steve).

This is how Katie felt about the whole Bass Pro experience.

Look out Miami Vice (how did this sweet background happen? I don't know but I have one word for this picture...AWESOME!)

BLISS! This is the special Bass Pro Easter bunny and I am pretty sure Matthew could not have been any more excited if Santa himself had walked in just then.

I was waiting to get a friend with more talent (way more) to give Thomas his first haircut, but one day I just couldn't take it anymore and chop chop I went. I have to say I did a mighty fine job. (Just an FYI, Matthew is the photographer in this picture and he did a mighty fine job as well).

I must say that this is a pretty goodly amount of hair for a 3 1/2 month old.

Thomas's first big boy food. He did great!

While we were in Utah for conference this is the best I could come up with taking a picture of my kids when we attempted (and attempted being the key word) to get a picture of all the Soter grandkids. Poor Katie woke up sick the morning we got there and stayed sick until we went home. No fun!

We decided to take a picture of all the babies. This was as good as it was going to get. So cute though. I love it!

That is one handsome, happy little man in his chubby nakedness.

CHEEZE!

and CHEEZIER!

I was feeling plucky one day and decided to straighten Katie's hair. Man that girl has got it goin' on with her hair (and everything else). She has more body and bounce in one section of hair than I have on my whole head!

It's my party...

And I'll cry if I want to!!! Katie was having a rough go for a section of her party. I think it was some serious overload. Notice Matthew with his ears plugged. What a sensitive guy (I can't say that I blame him though. That girls got some lungs). Happy 2-yr old birthday to my sweet baby girl!

Katie and Daddy on her sweet 2 birthday.

This picture is hilarious because OOH is this girl mad at me. I put her in timeout for one of the first times. The good news is that she stayed put until I told her to come out 60 seconds later. Way to be super mom and take a picture of her at such a brutal time. Who could help it?

Thomas's super cool new toy! He has grown quite a bit since this posting and I find him often surprising himself with some good bouncing. Everytime he gets going he first gets a look of shock and then when he catches on to the great time he's having it's a look of glee! As you can see this toy was money well spent. He loves it! (gotta love Craigslist!)

Thomas's other new-found toy (and score! A permanent attraction)! This is my very favorite of all baby toys!! (his feet of course!)

This little man just lights up everything when he smiles. Ooh I just love him so much!

My poor Katie got so sick again. It seemed that for 4 months we probably should have just quarentined ourselved. My gosh was it possible to get sick anymore than we did. Poor sweet sis

Matthew's big #4, Thomas's Blessing Day and other fun happenings...

2009-03-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

My boys on Thomas's special blessing day. These are some seriously proud big brothers and it was such a special day for our little guy. He got the best blessing and we had wonderful family there to support us.

Our sweet little Thomas on his big blessing day. Doesn't he just look so handsome! The boys were "helping him" sit up.

This is a picture of the boys on Matthew's birthday. We were lucky enough to have Sam and Jennifer and their kids here and so for Matthew's birthday we headed off to Jeeper's (we loved it so much last year that we had to do it again), and then we had a BBQ and of course cake and ice cream. I just love my little 4-year old Matthew. Our home wouldn't be complete without this sweet, adorable guy. I can't believe he's already 4. Time goes way way too fast for me.

Here's Susie Sassy chatting with her girlfriends.

The "adults" playing a serious game of Mario Cart WII!

So, Jennifer and I bought these Minnie Mouse shoes for Katie and Maggie at the Disney Store and they were so hilarious! They have a little bit of a heal to them and you should have seen Katie and Maggie stumbling all over the place, but in heaven with their beautiful, sparkly shoes.

The birthday boy and daddy.

This roller coaster couldn't help but bring smiles and laughs every single time.

Me and Katie getting ready to brave the roller coaster.

Me and the birthday boy.

Riding the bug. Fun for them, a day of sickness for mommy and daddy. Why does spinning and rides have to go together I wonder?

Happy Thomas again. His smile takes up his entire face.

The birthday boy bustin' the bumper cars. So fun!

Kyle, Nicholas and Katie zooming down the slide. Nicholas is such a good big brother. He took Katie down without even being asked.

I'm putting in this picture (much to Steve's dismay) for the benefit of Sam (seen in the background), Jennifer and Mom Soter. Downright hilarious!!!

Yet another great slide moment. Jake in heaven, Jennifer in...

There aren't many things happier than a boy and his birthday cake.

My sweet little princess and her fabulous hair.

Matthew wiith probably his top of the list favorite birthday presents. He feels super cool when he wears these sweet shades!

On one of the days our cousins were here we decided to head down to the lake. It definitely wasn't swimming weather for me, but kids seem to be immune to that and they had a blast!

Here's a picture of Steve in one of his happiest places, getting ready to go fishing.

Thomas was supposed to be going to sleep, instead he thought he would just lay there and smile.

Nicholas dancing a jig. Actually his goal was to wash one foot at a time in the lake and then hop back to the chair to dry off. Good idea, too bad it didn't work quite like he had hoped.

So, I know that everyone thinks their own kids are the cutest, but my gosh can I just tell you that this little girl is the most stinkin' cute little thing ever! I could not get enough of her in the little suit that hugs her in all the right places. Ooh! She is just downright pinchy!

Look at these handsome dudes! Notice the marker on Jake and Matthew. They thought they were being awesome by coloring their tummies. Pretty awesome!

What a stud boy!

We visited an old mining town just outside of Mesa while Sam and Jennifer were here and it turned out to be a pretty good time.

Matthew is my "potty holder". He will assume this position and over and over I will ask "Matthew, do you need to potty?" "No, I'm okay". Then all of the sudden it's sheer panic and the boys gotta find a bathroom right now. Who knows why he holds it to the death, but that's our Matthew.

Here is my little monkey boy doing his thing.

Katie and Thomas got a bit of the shaft on this wild west adventure. They didn't get out of the stroller even once. Quite the happy face for such a rip off. Thomas wasn't too fond of the sun in his eyes though, go figure!

Thomas with super cousin Kyle and Aunt Jennifer. Kyle was in heaven feeding Thomas and it was a great break for me.

This is a monumental event. Nicholas caught his first lizard after living in our house for almost 4 years now. Poor old lizard (he was definitely old because he didn't have much give left in him), Nicholas loved that lizard right to death and even beyond. After the fellow finally gave in and died it still took another couple of hours to convince Nicholas that he wasn't just taking a nap.

Thomas doing what Thomas does best...SMILING!!!

Super awesome dudes just chillin' on the bed.

The kids having a mock sleep-over on the trampoline, jammies, blankets and all. Too bad we had to lug everything back in the house for bedtime. They were pretty bummed when I busted their bubble and told them they coudn't sleep outside for reals. What a mean mom!

Matthew hitching a ride at the park with his cute little girly friend Jersi. She is our next door neighbor and best little buddy.

Katie doing what Katie loves best...COLORING! Anyone who has been to our house, specifically in the toyroom, knows just how much she loves to color (our walls are fantastic!)

Smiley Thomas and Grandma Soter

Random, (and not in any order) but SUPER CUTE pictures

2009-01-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

Here is my Mister Thomas. He is the happiest, sweetest little guy ever. All of the family is in love with this little man. He's a handsome, happy, hairy Soter boy and we are so blessed to have him!

Is this not so darn cute! He was wide awake, no gas involved and smiling like crazy. This was at 4 weeks old. He is the smiliest baby I have ever had. I love it!

I"m not sure what he was thinking here, but I have to imagine it had something to do with stress.

The boys got super cool bikes for Christmas and because on Christmas day all rules are off (within reason obviously), they got to ride them in the house all day.

Katie on Christmas day with her new pretty jewelry and her new baby and stroller. Once again to my dismay I found her baby dumped out of the stroller numerous times. She sees no need, but dang it, if I have anything to do with it she's going to find a need for her babies.

Thomas all ready for church (don't worry, his hair did get a comb after that). Me in the background, not so ready for church.

What a little sneak with his hand. What a cute picture though.

The kids on Christmas Eve.

Here's my boys (minus Thomas).

Here's the Baby Jesus in our nativity. What a handsome boy!

For Christmas this year we stayed home alone and so Christmas Eve we went solo. We decided to start a nativity tradition with our kids and so here's a bit of the action. The sheep decided to hitch a ride on the shepard.

This is the boys "bowling" with the Wii. It was so fun that they were able to play. Nicholas was pretty darn excited about his strike.

This was one of our Christmas break activities. Call me lame, but it's the first time I've ever let the boys loose with paint. They loved it!

Thomas's first tummy time. This was the beginning so he was doing pretty good. Let's just say it's not his favorite thing.

I am in love with cabbage patch dolls. It's a wonderful childhood memory and what can I say I am reliving my childhood through Katie. Imagine my joy when for the first time she played with her very own cabbage patch doll.

Imagine my disappointment when instead of being tender with her baby, Katie decided to take the monster truck and drive it on the babies head. So sweet. She doesn't spend much time in close contact with Thomas.

Sour and Sweet

Thomas and the monkey.

I love his sweet little serious face. I swear this boy looks like he could be Matthew's twin at this age.

Nicholas loving every minute. Thomas, not so much.

Oh, he is just so darn sweet and cute to me!!!

Here they are with their beloved Santa. (who knew Santa wore such sweet glasses).

This is the boys at Bass Pro. That is just about the coolest store ever. We have definitely added that to our To Do list for Christmas. The boys got to shoot a crossbow, make a candy cane reindeer, drive a remote control car, see the huge fish and sit on Santa's lap. It was great!

Is that a sweet face or what!!!

Here we are with the finish work of our gingerbread house. I promise that we do include Katie and Thomas in things. They were just sleeping.

This is the boys with our annual gingerbread decorating night. Good job guys!

The dream continues for this little boy. Can I tell you that Matthew sure loves "his baby". What a good big brother (aside from all the times I have caught him trying to launch Thomas out of his bouncy chair. We won't count that).

Introducing Thomas Kyle Soter!!!

2008-12-16T09:27:00.001-08:00

I have been meaning to post on my sweet little Thomas for a long time, but it's been kind of bitter-sweet for me. Thomas Kyle Soter was born on December 1st at 8:31 in the evening. He weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 19 inches long. He is now 2 weeks old and has since gained a good deal. He is definitely a fan of meal time. He is the sweetest little blessing in our home and we love him so much. He is definitely our sweet in the midst of some bitter. The morning that Thomas was born my sweet dad passed away after a 6 1/2 year fight with kidney disease and dialysis and finally a painful fight with bone cancer. I loved him so much and he is so very missed. December 1st will always be a tender day for me. My sweet Thomas was sent to us brand new by my dad who was able to be there to send him down. I feel very grateful for this tender experience.

This was me and my dad on my wedding day. This will forever be a treasured picture for me. I miss him.

This is me the day before I went to have Thomas. Maybe you're thinking that I don't look too big (or maybe you're not), but I can tell you that this picture perhaps does not do my belly justice.

Thomas and his proud daddy. So cute!

Here we are with our sweet new little Thomas.

Matthew was completely in heaven holding Thomas for the first time. He's been asking to hold "the baby brudder" for 2 months now and this was his magic moment!!!

What a handsome little man with his handsome little brother. It's crazy to think that Nicholas is the biggest brother of 4! Good grief, I have 4 kids!!!

The kids loved coming to visit Thomas. As you can see Katie was a little curious/unsure about the whole situation.

Here's to November

2008-11-19T14:48:00.000-08:00

I found this picture at the last minute and I just love it. This is me and my dad.

Here we are in the months of October/November. This is the happiest time of year. I don't know about you, but I am way in the thick of Christmas music and if I don't get my Christmas decorations up tonight, it will be happening tomorrow night. I am not usually this punctual with Christmas stuff, but since I will have a newborn and who knows how that's gonna be I thought I would get a good head start. I am not officially 2 weeks and 3 days away from my due date. Sorry about no prego pics yet, but they will come. I just realized today that my camera is not working, which could have something to do with Matthew dropping it yesterday. Bummer! I am determined to get at least one good prego shot (since it's definitely a sight to behold) and when I do it will get posted for sure! Happy Thanksgiving/Christmas!!!

Nicholas's school has an annual fall picnic for the families. We got to go meet with Nicholas and even eat at the cafeteria. Matthew was pretty excited about that. Nicholas loved having us at his school to show off everything. It was good fun!

Here's my little giraffe.

Here are the kids getting ready to do some serious trick or treating. Poor Katie was having a hard time keeping her costume out of her face, but she was one cute giraffe.

This is Spider Man with his cousin Brookie getting ready to go trick or treating. Is that not the sweetest pose ever! (It's actually just Nicholas).

I couldn't resist putting this picture in with her Oh so Cheezy smile. Gotta love it!!!

FHE during the month of October is always fun. This was our pumpkin carving night. As you can see Katie is in bed as usual. We missed her, but sleep is better for tiny girls. The boys had fun (despite the look on Nicholas's face).

Daddy and Maff with his SCARY pumpkin!

Nickelby and his SCARY pumpkin!

It was a creepy night. The boys were feeling in the mood to be a little creepy with their face making. I was pretty impressed.

Aaah!!! Don't worry, as scary as this picture may be, it's only my 5-yr old Nickelby.

Here are the kids just before the trunk or treat. So fun!

I didn't have a costume for Katie yet and my brother invited us to his trunk or treat so Katie got to be a little farmer girl. I thought the whole look turned out mighty cute. I love the freckles!

Here's us with our finished annual ghost house FHE. Once again Katie didn't make it staying up this late so we have left her out. Poor little thing. We still love her though! Luckily my mom was staying with us so we had help with the picture.

We did it! The house looks great! Fancy faces if ever there were fancy faces to be seen.

The boys very intent on the positioning of the candy. Doing great boys!

Nicholas figured that there was probably too much candy for the house to handle so he thought he would make things easier for the poor house by eating some (a lot) of it.

Matthew was especially helpful is making the house as you can see.

Could these boys be any goofier or CUTER for that matter! They busted these poses all by themselves.

That is one handsome little man! His next goal is to be a photographer. I am always finding him with the camera and he either wants to take pictures of me or have me to pictures of him. What a guy!

Katie cozying up with her Halloween bat from Grandma Soter.

Here's my sweet little big girl Katie. Hot stuff!!!

This is a picture of my kids with their Grandpa Burke. This picture is especially tender to me because as most of you know my dad has very bad health. My kids think that Grandpa Burke is wonderful and it cheers him so much to have his grandkids around. We just wish we lived closer. I would love to be around him more with my kids.

Here's Katie getting loves from Grandpa Burke. She loves him so much and as you can see the feelings are mutual. So sweet!

This may look just like a typical spray bottle, but oh no. Not so at our house. Katie and Matthew and Nicholas all think that this is a water bottle. What luck for me when they need a drink and turn to the bottle instead of their mom every now and again. (well doesn't that last phrase sound just wonderful. We are not talking alcohol!)

I guess if you don't know what I looked like when I was a baby this doesn't mean much to you, but I have a picture of me, in this very nightgown, with curly hair looking like her twin. Katie is definitely my child and what a lucky mommy I am!!!

Grandma & Grandpa Soter came for General Conference weekend and we had so much fun! The kids love them so much! We love it when they come to visit. We get to go visit them in December for Christmas. Yeah!

Our Camping Trip and Other Adventures

2008-09-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

On a whim last Friday night Steve came home from work early and we decided to take the kids camping. We only went about an hour away, but we had such a fun time! Katie, we have realized, loves playing in the outdoors, but does not enjoy sleeping in the outdoors. She was up over half the night, and so was her mommy and daddy. I ended up buckeling her in her carseat in the car and letting her sleep there. Bummer was that I slept with her in the front seat. Not exactly ideal sleeping arrangements for a pregnant gal, but we survived. I think this trip will make great memories!

I am always the one behind the camera, so Steve insisted on getting a picture of the "the girls!" You can't see my belly too well, but here we are.

Katie rode on daddy's shoulders for our walk. This was her first time and other than ripping his hair out, she did great and loved it!

Here's the kids playing in the dirt, getting ready to go on a hike.

Katie was feeling rather annoyed that I was feeding her her helping of Marshmallow Matey's and was beginning to get rather vocal about it, so I plopped her on the table and let her go to town on some dry cereal. Nicholas came up to join her.

We found a totally killer deal at Bass Pro awhile back on these little kid camp chairs. Katie loved hers and it made it easier to keep track of her because she couldn't keep away from her chair for too long.

Steve let the boys pick the cereal they wanted for breakfast and what do you know! They picked Marshmallow Matey's. Gotta love it!

So, I realize that tapes are not the "in" thing anymore, but I had recently found a box of old tapes that I absolutely loved. Katie apparently absolutely loved them too and this is what she made of the whole thing. What a little angel!

Matthew thinks he's a big boy like Nicholas, but every now and again I find him like this.

Position #2. I woke Matthew up and man was he cranky! Like 5 minutes later he disappeared and this is where I found him.

The other day I went to check on Katie and this is where I found her. She had turned on the tv and was sitting at the table the toyroom watching away. You never know where you're going to find that little girl.

Even though it was like 500 degrees outside, we decided to take the kids to feed the ducks on a slow Saturday. They totally loved it. Katie would have loved it better if her mom would have relaxed enough to let her out of the stroller. I am a crazy around water, so there she stayed. She was a good sport though. We all had fun (except I melted in my pregnant state).

We tried to get Matthew to throw little pieces to the ducks, but instead he threw ginormous chunks. He hooked those ducks up bigtime, but he loved it!

Nicholas totally loved feeding the ducks with Matthew.

Katie was having such a goofy day. I watched her take Nicholas's backpack and try her darndest to put it on. This is the best she could do. She cracks me up!

What's new in August and September

2008-09-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

Matthew is extremely excited to have a baby brother in the house and he has been wanting to practice holding babies so he'll be ready for the big day. The other day he kept begging to hold Katie and trying to get her on his lap, but Katie being the independant little miss that she is would have non of it. Finally after Matthew came to me feeling very dejected at Katie's lack of cooperation I took pity on him and put Katie in his lap. She looks twice his size, but she thought it was hilarious and Matthew had finally gained the victory and was feeling rather pleased. I had to take like 10 pictures, but these are my favorites! I love it that they are starting to be good friends.

I couldn't decide which picture was cuter, so they both had to go.

Here is my little princess just before church. Isn't she just the darn cutest thing!

This has been a new development in our house for almost the past 2 weeks! Katie finally started walking! (she'll be 18 months on the 29th!) The funny thing is that she would only practice walking when no one was looking so when she finally decided to make her big debut she was a pro (as pro as a walking 1 year old can be anyway). Hurray for Katie!

This is where I tend to find Katie whenever she plays in the backyard these days. Outside is heaven to Katie. And she loves to drive!

Katie and Matthew have become rather good friends since Nicholas went off to brave the great unknown of school. So cute!!!

OH the joys!

As you can see it's hard to top the demolishing of the couches for my kids. I used to cringe whenever they would want to play with the couch, but I have since learned to embrace it. They have so much fun, our couches are old and will need replacing at some point anyway and it keeps them entertained for hours. I just can't say no. Who doesn't have excellent memories of playing on couch cushions when they were little?

Nicholas is a great tree climber! We went out on a picnic with my family while we were visiting my parents and the boys had a blast! Katie stayed at home with her aunt and took a nap instead.

Nicholas and cousin Trenton wearing their earplugs. They got to go shooting with the dads while I took Matthew on a walk. Manly bonding.

Matthew loaded up and ready for our picnic. He is so excited!

Here's Nickelby loaded up and ready to go on our picnic at Grandpa and Grandma Burke's house.

Here's my sweet little sick girl (still managing a smile for the camera) getting comfort from her daddy after a dose of medicine. She loves her daddy!

Poor Katie came down with a sickness of some kind. She was miserable and one of the only things to console her at night while I was getting the boys off to bed was her daddy. She laid in his arms for an hour and a half. So sweet!

For FHE awhile back the boys desperately needed haircuts, so we decided to make it "Missionary night" and did haircuts, then we sent them on pretend missions. Nicholas went to Scotland and Matthew went to Peru (both in their jammies). Aren't they the most handsome and competent missionaries you've ever seen!

This is seriously grubby Katie, just in from the hot and sweaty out of doors wearing nothing but her underpants, a jammie shirt and of course her string of pearls. (she had just woken up and we hadn't gotten to the get ready for the day part, thus the super flowing locks of hair.) Fabulous!

Enemies beware!

Bet you didn't know that Matthew could fly!

What would an upddate on our family be without a picture of the "Superheros"?

Monthly Update on Us

2008-08-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

This is my adorable little "big boy" Nicholas on his first day of kindergarten. I feel a little disappointed to say that I never got to cry, but he was feeling a little nervous about his big day and I didn't want to wreck his confidence by sobbing. What a handsome little man he is. I can't believe he's so big. It hurts my heart, but he is doing a great job in school. I just love this boy!

This is the boys walking to Nicholas's big day. Matthew was pretty sure that it was also his first day and so he had to wear his backpack. Imagine his disappointment when he had to go home. Poor little buddy. His day will come next year.

Being at his desk made Nicholas feel much more comfortable. Isn't he just the cutest little person ever!

On our way home from Utah we got to spend the weekend with Steve's family on a houseboat at Lake Powell. They go every year and this year their week happened to be right when Nicholas started kindergarten. As you can see we definitely made the most of our short time there and we had so much fun!!!

Katie on her first big swim. She wasn't sure about the water at first, but got the hang of it pretty quick and thought it was great!

After we borrowed this tube from Matthew's cousin Matthew totally took to the water like a fish. He loved it and he kept yelling at the top of his lungs (literally) "Hey guys look at me! I can swim by myself!!!" It was a proud moment.

Matthew swimming with Daddy. It was his first big attempt at being in the "Big Water".

Katie took charge and decided that she knew were we needed to go.

Cute Katie getting ready to do what she does best...EAT!!!

The kids loved the trampoline, but some of the smaller ones (aka Matthew) got a little stressed at times.

Nicholas and Matthew got really brave in the water on this trip. They were swimming by themselves all over the place. It was great!

Nicholas (see what I mean, he had just gotten off the ski boat ride and his hair was fancy!) getting ready to hop in the lake.

Steve and the boys took the chance to fish off the back of the houseboat. It was a dirty fish, but the boys thought it was awesome!

Papa Soter took the kids for a ride on the ski boat, which was a favorite. They came back quite wind tossed and so happy.

Katie at sunset with fancy hair.

Steve and Nicholas got to go fishing when we went with Steve's family to Provo Canyon for an FHE. This has become quite the hobby for these two.

As you can see they were feeling ever so proud of themselves for braving this mountain. It was beautiful up there.

This is Katie and her cutest little cousin Maggie playing in the sand box.

Nicholas and Matthew wanted to explore the river for fish so they were on their way out to climb the rocks. Matthew was a little bit more nervous than Nicholas.

This is the boys and their super fun cousins playing at the pool. It was the best pool ever because it wasn't deep, there was no connection to the big pool and they had a kiddie water slide that Matthew was totally a fan of. All I had to do was watch. Awesome!

I"M GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!!!

2008-07-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! Yes, it's true! This tiny sweet little messy (and so sweet) faced girl is going to be a big sister and we just found out today that it's going to be a BOY!!! We love our boys and Katie gets to rule the throne in the princess seat for another go-around at least. She does her job well and wasn't quite ready to relinquish the throne. We are so excited to have another little man-child to bring us more wonderful chaos! Hurray! The little man will be gracing our presence on or around the 6th of December.

Happy Birthday to our 5-yr old Nickelby and other catching uppings!

2008-07-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, another dumb blogger moment for me. This picture of the boys on the trike was supposed to be a ways down, but I did something weird and here they are in all their glory. My boys are of the opinion that with only one trike on hand they were going to "make due or do without!"

Happy Birthday to our little Nickelby! He turned 5 on July 2nd and what a big day. He's been waiting to turn 5 his whole life. I give my kids a big party when they turn 5 and when they turn 8 (and from there we shall see how tired I am), but this was his extra special big day. He got to pick out this pinata that he was so very proud of and he was anxiously awaiting his big party at the Chandler splash park. What a day! I can't believe my little tiny boy is a not so tiny 5-year old. It makes me feel so sad to see that kids have to grow up. I would give anything for them to all stay little. It's so (hard at times) fun and such an adventure!

Happy Birthday to the birthday boy at his party. That was one happy little man to be having such attention on him and two fabulous (and melty with 100+ degree heat) chocolate cakes. He was definitely in heaven. I don't know anyone that cherished birthday's quite the way he does. Planning for his birthday begins on July 3rd of every year and doesn't stop until July 2nd of the following year. He is so fun to do things for because every little thing is exciting and wonderful for him. Matthew was the supportive brother right there to take on the challenge of eating the 2nd cake.

The kids enjoying their extra melty gooey chocolate cake and Nicholas scoping out his new Optimus Prime transformer. Awesome! It's weird to have a 5-year old that plays with big boy stuff. I desperately wanted to buy him little boy stuff, but he's a big boy now. So sad! I just love that little Nicholas Soter.

Nicholas taking a whack at the pinata.

Grubby little Katie looking rather confused at the party. She had so much fun eating dirt and getting dirty. Too bad after the party I noticed that she had bazillions of bites on her little legs. She is quite the trooper!

Katie is just really cute with her two little bucky teeth that I love and her crazy curls. She was desperately trying to crawl in this towel, but it wasn't happenin'. We are still waiting for walking since she's 15 months old, but she's of the opinion that if crawling gets her where she needs to go why would she bother with anything else?

Why would I ever be scared with such a force to protect me? Especially the power of that duck hanging on Nicholas's leg. Look out!

We went on a campout with some family and the kids got to play in the creek. It was so much fun because it's the first time we've ever camped as a family and the kids did great (except for waking up at like 5:30 because Mr. Sunshine made his way into the tent pretty darn early. They were so excited though. The water was downright chilly to me and Katie didn't seem to mind one bit.

Matthew was pretty proud of himself. The water wasn't very deep and so he just got to go and do (as long as he was in sight mind you). He thinks he is quite the big man these days.

Nicholas is one happy little boy. Just call him wilderness man. He loved swimming in the creek.

This is pictures of the kids at the water park in Chandler where we had Nickelby's birthday.

Nickelby stearing the ship.

Matthew flashing me a grin as he played. What a handsome little man!

Washington D.C.

2008-06-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

I promist that Steve and I aren't totally elaborate vacation takers and spenders. Steve won another trip through work. This time it was to D.C. and I can tell you that I have found my niche in vacationing. I thought Puerto Vallarta was fun, but this was absolutely the most amazing place I have ever been! I have never seen more green in my life and I just wanted to climb the trees and bottle all of the green to take it home with me. Best of all, I absolutely love history! Especially American History. There were quite a few times when I had to fight back tears just because of how powerful it was to be where our Founding Fathers started it all. The only thing keeping me back from packing up my stuff and moving there tomorrow (except for a few obvious things, was that the humidity was beyond tolerable! I am not a fan! I will take dry heat anyday! The one place I don't mention on this post is the Holocaust Museum. I couldn't take pictures of any of it (not even the front) because halfway through I lost control and had to sob in the corner. I couldn't even finish looking at anything. I stared straight ahead and walked past. The most painful part was thinking of what those beautiful babies and children had to suffer. It was beyond what a could handle seeing. I just kept thinking of my own beautiful babies safe at home. (P.S. I didn't mean to underline this. Who knows how it happened and I couldn't figure out how to fix it, so here we are. This is how blogger retarded I am).

This is a picture of the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" for all of those who have died without being recognized. Every 30 minutes they do a changing of the guard. It was really neat to see.

On our last day in D.C. we went to Arlington Cemetary where they bury military men and women who have died in wars. Out of all of the amazing things we saw, Steve and I agree that this was our favorite place. I have never been anywhere more peaceful or beautiful. This picture is us on the front steps of General Lee's house (yes the general in the Civil War). Talk about history. This house is where George Washington had his last birthday party and it was definitely old. Steve and I decided that we belong back in Colonial times because the houses where much more suited to our height.

Another view of the Capital bldg. (can you tell we really liked that place). We were on our way to the Archives where they keep the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution. We had to wait in line for over an hour to see it, but it was worth it. It gave me chills to be able to see the original signatures of all of those amazing men. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures, but I loved it.

We went to the Air and Space Museum while we were there because it was a "must see" on everyones list. It was definitely pretty cool. Steve was especially impressed with the astronaut stuff and so I took a picture with him and this old suit.

While we were there we got to a do a session in the Washington D.C. temple. It really is true that on the way there the temple looks like it's floating. I just wish we could have gone at night. I could have died and gone to heaven on the grounds. The only bummer is that mercy that humidity could kill you! It was so so so hot!!!!

Friday night Steve and I went to see the White House on our way back from the monuments. Just before coming around the bushes to the White House (but not quite in view) Steve lost a contact. This for some people wouldn't be too bad, but Steve wears hard contacts and they are very expensive to replace. Without contacts he is practically blind. It was dark outside and we were searching in a place with less potential for finding it than a needle in a haystack. The ground was granite and so shiny! After searching on our hands and knees with cell phone light for awhile some people came and helped us look, and then this Secret Service agent (pretty cool huh!) who had just gotten off duty (keep in mind he was off duty, they aren't supposed to take pictures with anyone while on duty) on his way home stopped and helped us look with his flashlight for about an hour. What a nice guy! After calling the search impossible, we got to talk with him for about another hour and he told us tons of super cool things. We were impressed. What a nice guy! Especially since by the time we left him it was almost midnight.

Try # 2 was successful and I was so glad we tried again. I have to say, it wasn't as big as I thought it would be but it was more beautiful than I thought and the grounds were amazing. I would definitely move in if given the offer.

What would a trip to D.C. be without this picture? They had the Gettysburg Address inscribed on the wall and it made you feel like you wanted to burst with patriotism.

This was another view of the Washington monument from the WWII memorial. Beautiful! You can't seem, but I walked barefoot that entire night because my shoes just weren't doin' it for me.

This was the WW II monument. It was so beautiful and it really made me want to go hug someone who has served in the military. It brought tears to my eyes to think of all the sacrifices that have been made for us.

Washington Monument was bigger than I thought it would be and very impressive. It gave me chills.

This was another view from the Capital Bldg. I can't get over how beautiful it is there! That magnolia tree was amazing!

Isn't this beautiful! It is a picture of the Capital Bldg. I am in love with D.C.

To get a tour of the Capital Bldg. we had to get tickets through our Congressmans office, which happened to be Congressman Flake. After the tour we got to go into his office for just a minute and of course we coudn't resist taking a picture.

This was a room where many of the old presidents had their desks. On the floor there were gold stars in random places with names of presidents. That was where their desk used to be. This room was beautiful!

Yet another blurry picture (we weren't having much luck with other people taking them, but it was better than nothing). This was a picture in a huge room that I thought was amazing! American History just gives me goose bumps!

This picture is kinda blurry, but it's a picture of me and Steve standing at the point in the very center of the capital building. That place was absolutely amazing!

Puerto Vallarta!

2008-05-24T17:02:00.001-07:00

Steve won a trip through work to Puerto Vallarta for 4 days, and as luck would have it, it was right over our anniversary! It was so incredibly beautiful and we had the most amazing adventures that we will never forget. Here are some fun pictures from our trip. (We didn't take our kids by the way. My brother and his wife are wonderful and stayed with them at our house while we were gone). This was the view right out on our hotel balcony. It really doesn't get much closer to paradise than thus. It was so beautiful and we felt really lucky to be there.

Why not have a peacock at your hotel? That's all I want to know.

This was a sand sculpture we saw as we were walking the streets of downtown Puerto Vallarta. There were some other amazing sculptures as well, but one of them is of a mother nursing her baby that is pretty graphic for a sculpture and the other was of course of the Virgin Mary. Pretty cool though and the sunset was beautiful!

This was a restaurant that we ate at in downtown Puerto Vallarta. Isn't it beautiful! The food was great, the weather was great and we were even seranaded (pretty sure that's not spelled right). That night was an adventure I will always remember. I won't go into detail because that could take a minute, but all I can say is "I wouldn't recommend riding a bus in Mexico after dark!" Lets just say that after an 1 1/2 tour of the major heart and ghetto of Mexico and being kicked from one bus in the middle of nowhere and luckily finding another bus. Then getting dropped off about 1 mile from our hotel in the middle of the night later to walk home on the dark streets. It was what I would like to tenderly call "Mr. and Mrs. Soter's Wild Ride" All I can say is that I would never go to Mexico if my husband didn't speak fluent Spanish. It is a beautiful, very adventurous place though.

If you look super close at the water you can see a little line that is somewhat darker. Oh yes, this is a true and live dolphin out in the wild. I was more than excited. Apparently the tour guide said it was asleep. Whatever it was, I was pretty excited to see something wild. I'm just glad it wasn't a shark because being in the same water with a shark, boat or no boat, would have given me a heart attack!

This was one of the stops on an all day tour that we took. I think this is where we began our hike to the waterfall. The tour was super fun. The only catch is that it ended up being on a booze cruise boat (all you can drink alcohol) and we were the only ones not taking advantage of that offer. Let me tell you what, people get pretty fancy when they have a little alcohol in them.

Isn't this so pretty. This is the falls we hiked to. It wasn't as big as the picture of the tour made it look like, but it was beautiful and the water was so nice for swimming after the 45 minute hike to get there. It was such a fun day!

This is Steve and one of the horses that we could have been riding on for just $15 each way! They offered to let you ride horses instead if hiking to the waterfall. It sounds romantic to ride one, but no way! It was so hot and they were seriously so stinky! Walk it was and we are all the better for it. Look at that handsome man!

Catching Up With the Soter's!

2008-04-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, so bear with me. It's been a minute (or a month and a little) since I posted last. I have lots of cute pictures that were not to be excluded. I am not good at keeping up on the posting thing, but I will definitely bring you up to speed when I finally get around to it. These are just a few of the fun things the Soter's have been up to this past month.

Just to start things off right...So Katie come crawling out of her room yesterday with this special little surprise in her mouth. Um, who knew that golf balls were a hazard. Of course I was worried enough to get the camera and take a picture before removing this obstruction. She thought she was pretty darn hilarious! Needless to say, golf balls are no longer readily available at our house.

What a cute little family I have! We took advantage of some play time and beautiful weather before heading off to bed. It was Katie's first trampoline experience and she thought jumping was great! I promise my kids do wear clothes, but mostly at home when it's hot we try to be free and easy. (if you can't tell). (In Matthew's defense, he was potty training at that time).

This is Katie's first swim ever (if you don't include the bathtub) and Nicholas was showing her the ropes. She thought it was the best thing she had ever done. Too bad our Matthew buddy was asleep! Bless AZ weather for being more than warm enough to swim in April.

This is a picture of the boys in Utah with their super fun cousins. If you could see better you would notice that Kyle (the tallest of the bunch) has not 1, 2 or 3 missing teeth. Oh no! This proud little boy has 4 missing teeth and he has been seriously hooked up by the tooth fairy. Nicholas absolutely loves Kyle. If you could see closely you would also notice that Nicholas's face is totally beat up courtesy of him falling off his grandpa's golf cart in mid drive. SAFE! He came out of that with some pretty sweet scabs! Matthew and Jake are like 2 months apart and they had so much fun! At one point I couldn't find Matthew, and me in my living in Phoenix panic brain started imagining the worst. At grandma's house it's okay to let the kids run around the neigborhood because they live in a safe little Utah neighborhood, but I am a stress. Luckily we found that Matthew and Jake had wandered over to the neighborhood park (not to worry it is right by the house) with their tiny little 3-yr old selves and were having a great good time!

This is just a fun picture of the boys hanging out in the truck. Blessed be the day for backyards! My boys love to play outside, and for the most part they are the very best of little buddies.

HAPPY UN-BIRTHDAY TO NICHOLAS!!!

Nicholas's birthday is in the summer so they celebrated his unbirthday at preschool. Let me tell you that this day was heaven for that little boy. Life revolves around his next birthday. He got to be the teachers special helper and he had so much fun. What a cute little sweet man this Nickelby is. I just love him so much! He is kind and helpful and obedient (most of the time). He is the best big brother a little person could ever ask for. I am a lucky mommy that's for sure!

This is Nicholas with Mrs. Axtell. She makes a crown for all of the birthday kids and he got to bring Milo and Otis, his cat and dog, for show and tell. Nicholas loves Mrs. Axtell and I think that she is the most amazing preschool teacher ever! If anyone is looking for a good place to put their little one in preschool she is definitely the way to go. We love her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!

For Katie's birthday this year we decided to go to the zoo. I realize that she has no clue what an animal even is, but last time I checked 1-yr olds have no clue about lots of things. As you can see she was having a great time, clueless and all. Katie is the happiest little girl I have ever seen and our entire family is absolutely crazy about her! She has been so wonderful since the day she came home from the hospital and she is mommy's little friend, definitely daddy's little girl (he is the only one she will pucker up and kiss, I can't get her to kiss me!), and the boys worship the ground she walks on. We love our sweet little Katie Ann Subers (strange how nicknames come about isn't it?!)

Matthew needed a break every once in awhile. Luckily we took the double stroller. Those things sure do come in handy!

This is the boys just hanging out with the most ginormous turtle ever!!! They thought it was great!

Katie's birthday was her first experience with cake. Too bad she was feeling so horrible! We went to the zoo on her real birthday, but celebrated with presents and cake the next day at my brothers house. My poor tiny little friend had somehow aquired an ear infection over night and oh was she the saddest little girl on her happiest birth of days! It took some coaxing for her to eat her cake since she didn't feel well, but as you see it brought a smile to her sweet little face. Yeah!

Happy 1-yr old birthday to this sad little thing. Isnt' this such a sad ending to a sweet little girls happy birthday. Darn it do we ever hate ear infections! Nicholas and Ethan (our little cousin) didn't seem to affected by her plight, they dove right in to help her out with the present opening. Sorry boys, it's just a Cabbage Patch doll.

Happy Birthday Matthew!!!

2008-03-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to the Birthday boy!!! Matthew turned 3 years old today and he had the best day ever! I can't believe he's getting so big!
This is the cutest picture ever! We went to Jungle Jim's Amusement Park for his party and it was so much fun! This is the boys riding the roller coaster. I gotta tell ya, it went pretty fast for little people. I rode it once and felt pretty sick afterwards.

This is Nicholas, Matthew, Crew and Jersi braving the roller coaster sans adults. It got huge laughs every time.

Nicholas and Crew getting ready to ride.

Matthew and Jersi on a jungle jeep safari. Aren't they the cutest little friends!

The carousel was Matthew's favorite thing (oh and a metal roller slide that he went down a bazillion times). Just about everytime he finished something he would want to ride the carousel again.

This is Matthew's cake. He desperately wanted an Emily Elizabeth cake (Clifford's owner for any of you who don't know who that is), but I have searched everywhere and they just don't sell her). It kind of turned into a bunch of characters, but I thought it turned out kind of cute. At least we got Clifford on there.

This is Katie hanging out at the party. She is such a poser. The second she saw the camera she flashed a huge gummy grin. Cute girl!

This is Matthew's super cute truck that he got for his birthday. Woohoo! ( I promise he really was excited, I just caught him off gaurd). Notice Jersi hopping along for a ride in the back of the truck.

Hurray for Katie!!!

2008-02-27T12:54:00.001-08:00

Today while I had a break from my sick little Matthew I took Nicholas and Katie in the backyard to play. This is the first time Katie has been let loose to go where she pleases in the grass because she just learned to crawl last Friday. Woohoo for Katie! We were beginning to wonder if this day would ever come since Katie while be 11 months on Friday. What a big girl!

Nicholas and Katie were outside playing in the grass. Nicholas is the best big brother! Katie loves him to death. No one can get her to laugh the way that he can. Poor little Matthew was in the house so sick! This is the sickest that one of my kids has been in at least a year and a half. Poor baby!

Adventuring Out Into the Wild Frontier

2008-02-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

I am so completely blogger retarded! This picture was supposed to be at the end as a random little cuteness, but here it is at the beginning. I took this picture of Katie this morning because she was so darn cute in her "piggies" after I finished her hair.

Okay, so this post has like a bazillion picture on it, but I could hardly choose. I was being way controlled by only putting this many. Last Saturday Steve was finally available for an afternoon (yeah!) and so we decided to take advantage of having him and the good weather. We took off out into the desert and found such a fun spot. We roasted hotdogs and made smores. Then we went on an "adventure" walk. It was such a great day. There's is nothing better for little boys than dirt and their daddy! (and little girls too!)

Nicholas and Daddy building the campfire. Way to go guys! It's lookin' great! Notice Katie in the background cheering them on.

My men roasting marshmallows over an open fire. Such fun! It was the best day ever!

We introduced smores to the boys and they were not at all disappointed

This is me and my sweet little Katie girl. She didn't get to appreciate all the dirt and grime, but just give her a minute and believe me, she will be in there with the big boys. I think that girls should be able to enjoy the dirt just as much as the boys.

We found the best spot to roast our hotdogs and marshmallows. This was a ginormous rain water lake. The boys had the best time throwing rocks in. I am so excited that it's getting nice outside. How often do little boys get to go out and get as dirty as they want and throw all the rocks they want without getting in trouble. I definitely call this little boy heaven!

This is Nicholas digging for "treasure" out in the desert. I am not one to say the desert is pretty, but it really was pretty and the weather was beautiful! He was bigtime into our wilderness adventure. What a cute little man.

Here's the angry Matthew face again. Just remember that he's only saying "Cheese!" He's just really fierce about it! This is my grubby little man being a real boy and getting dirty. I love it!

I realize that overalls are not the "in" thing, but my gosh this little boy hits my spot in these overalls, with his little Converse shoes. What a handsome little dude!

Update on the Soter's

2008-01-31T13:12:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! We have been off the globe for the past month so I thought that I would just do a quick update of the Soter family in the month of January. First of all, Christmas and New Year's were the best! We were in Show Low for Christmas with my family and we actually got snow on Christmas day! Yeah! Then forNew Year's we were here playing with Nate and Brittanie West. So fun! January has been lots of craziness and lots of fun. Matthew is in potty train mode, Katie is moving her way into big girl mode and Nicholas is just enjoying playing the big brother and going to preschool. I just enrolled him in kindergarten at Franklin for the fall. That is so sad and hard for me to believe that my sweet little guy is growing up. I am not a fan of that (except it's so fun to see the kind, polite, sweet little boy that he's turning out to be). Steve is crazy busy with work, which has been a great blessing. Life is so good for us!

This is Katie having graduated to eating "big girl" food. Remember the days of your first child when it was baby food to the end my friend. No junk, nother wavering from the outlined infant diet. Well, here comes baby #3. This is Katie's first experience with lasagna and just last week she was introduced to the wonders of the McDonald's cheeseburger and french fry diet. Just call me Super Mom! At least my kids think so and that's all that matters right?

This is my beautiful baby girl with some serious bedhead. Hurray for bedhead! There aren't many cuter things to me and Katie has finally got it!

Here Maff is in his super cool unders and Nicholas in his super cool unders. Let me tell you what it was underwear all the time at our house. The only dilema I've found is that Nicholas takes great pride in being as naked as he can get away with. Matthew on the other hand prefers modesty and so with potty training he thinks he needs to be fully dressed until it's time to go. Let me tell you that makes for some serious laundry issues. (Is there anything cuter than little tiny underwear friends?!)

My underpants Matthew. Lookin' pretty confident! By the way, we seem to get this look a lot from Matthew in pictures. He isn't angry. He's just yelling "CHEESE!"

Nicholas and Matthew's favorite thing to do these days is to take apart my couch and make tunnels and forts in the cushions. It used to stress me out, but then I realized that they are having so much fun, it's not hurting anyone, I am free to get things done, and they know how to clean it up themselves. What have I got to lose? They were mighty proud of this little number so we had to memorialize it with a pic.

We have the best time playing with our best friends the West's on New Year's Eve. What luck that with their crazy schedule we got hooked up with the best hangout night ever! Their beautiful girlys were so much fun for my little guys. (I would say that we have two little matches made in heaven but alas, notice the height difference, not to mention the fact that they are like 2nd cousins once removed or something fancy like that). It was the best night ever!

Our Day at the Railroad Park

2007-12-21T08:26:00.000-08:00

Here we are on the train, getting ready to leave the station.

This was Katie's first pony ride and I thought she did a great job! Bummer about the binkie! I love binkies, but they kind of suck the personality right out of a little person. She is such my beautiful little princess! (try to focus on her cuteness, not my nerdiness if that's okay).

I just want to squeeze this little guy and take him home with me. What luck! I get to!

I don't know about you, but that's just about the cutest little penguin I've ever seen!

The boys ridin' the crazy train. Woo woo!

This is the biggest Christmas tree ever! The boys were completely in awe.

Katie was such a good girl. She hung out in the stroller the entire time (except for the awesome rides that we went on). She never made a peep. What a girl!

This was the boys cruisin' down the railroad tracks. So fun!

We had the very best day at McCormick Railroad Park. Give my little boys a train and they are completely in heaven! We went with my sister-in-law Amber who nanny's for two families in Scottsdale. She is wonderful and we love her! We will definitely be doing this playdate again!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE SOTER'S!

2007-12-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! We are officially into the season and I am loving every minute of it! This year is extra great because Nicholas as a four year old is in the thick of Christmas cheer. It's so much fun to see him dressing up like Santa, writing letters to Santa, drawing pictures of Santa and so on. Christmas was so much fun when I was a little girl, and I just want to make it so special for my kids too. Matthew loves to sing "Jingle Bells" and talk about Santa too (even though he doesn't really get it). Katie is totally clueless, but what a cute little clueless girl she makes! I hope you are all having the greatest Christmas season as well! Here are some fun pictures of our adventures in tree decorating. Nicholas and Matthew look a wee bit perplexed. I suppose that sticking a large artificial pinetree in the living room is not an everyday "To Do".

This is what I tenderly refer to as "Katie's cheezy face". She looks rather pleased with herself. Nicholas is working diligently in the background.

This was the crowning ceremony of the night with the topping of the angel. Steve is the man to take on the task of tree decorating. He assembles the tree and helps the boys. What a great dad! Don't be deceived about the tree. It is fully decorated, it just happens to be decorated only in the reaches of little hands. Try not to let the "Trick or Treat" sign in the background detract from the spirit of the season. (I'm not too tall and so I don't tend to look up that high very often. It has come down since this picture though).

Katie is an innocent bystander in the craziness that goes with letting little boys loose with glass balls. I had to get out the dustpan and broom a couple of times, then I finally got smart and kept it close at hand for shattered balls.

This is a picture of my sweet little friends. I realize with the more kids you have, the less chance you have of capturing the perfect moment, but I love to look at the faces they make and remember their sweet and funny little personalities that I love so much. Oh, did you notice our such fun new wood floors?!

Happy Thankgiving!!!

2007-11-22T06:25:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Today is a beautiful day! We are in Orem, Utah staying with Steve's parents and we are loving it! We haven't been to visit since last Christmas and so it's been a nice little reunion. It is absolutely freezing here. We left AZ with a beautiful 83 degrees. Today the low is going to be 23. Yikes! Nicholas and Matthew are having so much fun with their cousins. I always forget that as little people, the cold doesn't bother you. Nicholas was let loose with the chalk on the driveway and he was out there so long that I had to beg him to come in. His poor little tiny hands were freezing and I had to run tepid water over them so they would defrost. Matthew had me go on a walk with him and it was so nice to have one on one time with that little guy. He is a tad bit quieter than Nicholas (in some respects anyway) and so I don't always get to spend as much time with him. He has become such a little mama's boy though. He is right by my side in cooking, cleaning, and other such things. It's so funny to see the different fazes that my boys go through. Matthew is just following in Nicholas' footsteps. Last year it was a horrible thing (for Nicholas) if we didn't have "Jingle Bells" playing in the car 24/7. Now Nicholas is on to talking about Santa and presents and isn't quite so fierce about the little details, such as "Jingle Bells". Last night Matthew woke up screaming and Steve and I went in to see what was wrong. By this time Matthew had woken up Nicholas. Nicholas gets so sad when Matthew wakes him up and so to get them calmed down and back to sleep we had the request to sing "Jingle Bells" and then all was right with the world again. The boys have been so excited to see what Thanksgiving will hold for them. They can hardly wait for all of this "All the pie you can eat" business. In preshool Nicholas learned a turkey song and made a turkey hat and placemat. He can't wait to use them today! Matthew just keeps saying "I want chocolate pie". We are eating at a Thanksgiving buffet at the Mariott so that the craziness of tons of adults and kids can be contained elsewhere. This will be different than any other Thanksgiving I have ever had, but I am up for different and you know the food will be fantastic! My little Katie girl has been confused in all of this commotion. She never cried once (except once in her sleep) the whole drive up here. We got her into Grandma Soter's house, she saw all the people and just lost it! I could barely calm her down. I guess she thought that she had been nice for long enough and wanted no part in anything other than her own home and her own bed. Poor baby. It has been a bit of an adjustment for her to be somewhere completely different for so long. For all of our kids as babies, coming to Utah was always a bit tricky because we stay for awhile and they don't get the change. She is a little trooper though. I love dressing my kids up in warm clothes for a minute. It's all been great and as long as I can find something in the ads today that I want to purchase, bring on Black Friday in all it's insane glory! I love love LOVE this time of year!

6 Random Facts about Me!

2007-11-13T11:17:00.000-08:00

My friend Stephanie had this on her blog and tagged everyone who read it and it sounded like fun, so here goes!

1. I am a food freak! I love baking. The thing that most people would find to be nerdy about all of this is that I totally love doing food storage stuff. I don't get excited about new and exotic recipes. If it has anything to do with ingredients that can be found in food storage I am all over it! I just got called to be the assistant ward canning specialist and I am so excited! My friend just gave me some white wheat that I am going to use this week to make homemade wheat flour tortillas. That kind of stuff excites me to no end!

2. I am reliving my second childhood through my kids. I love looking at toys in the Toys R Us catalog and I love reading childrens stories. Today my kids and I sat on our trampoline in the backyard and read Christmas stories and talked about what Christmas will be like this year. I can't wait to buy Katie her first Cabbage Patch doll and I love little kid music (Little Einstein's, Backyardigans, etc.). I guess I just love it because I had such a fun time as a kid and kids are just so innocent. Those kinds of things make me happy.

3. I am terrified of the dark! If Steve goes in our room before me at night I turn off all the lights in the house. If I forget to turn off the light in the hall that goes to our room I have to walk all the way across my living room in the dark Before I turn off the light I scope out the living room and tell myself there is nothing there, but sure enough, the light goes off and I go into panic mode! My adrenalin starts pumping and I usually end up running as fast as I can to our door and stop quickly so I don't look like a crazy to Steve.

4. Beside being scared of the dark just about everything else scares me. When reading Harry Potter #7, I had to put the book down at least 1-2 times per chapter because my heart was beating in my chest and it was way too intense for me. I don't know what my deal is. My poor husband. Last Halloween we cozied up on the couch and watched "Anne of Green Gables". What a man my husband is. He really wanted to watch something with at least a tiny bit of intensity, but I couldn't do it. Just my luck, last year Steve was out of town for a week and the first night he was gone the phone rang 3 times just after midnight with no one on the line. I was so scared that I called the police and asked if they would send someone to drive down my street to make sure everything was okay. The lady said no and so I stayed awake on the couch all night with the lights on and the TV on to make sure that my kids and I would be safe.

5. I am a total thrift store, bargain junky. Yard sales and sales at thrift stores are a downright addiction to me. When I go yard selling it's hard to stop because I keep thinking that the magic item is just around the corner. Yesterday I took my kids to Saver's for their 50% off Veteran's Day sale and had to scope out everything. That brings joy to my heart!

6. If it wouldn't kill a body to have a baby every year (along with your sanity), I would probably be in! I used to get so stressed with babies, but Katie has brought a whole new love of babies into my life. I am sure that I will never again have a baby as sweet as she is, but right now I can't wait to have another and another and another! I do want 6 kids so that we can have a house full of craziness! My kids just absolutely melt my heart and I can't wait to have more!

I tag anyone who would like to join this fun little letting it loose party! Have a great day!

Update...

2007-11-12T13:31:00.000-08:00

Just an update on the whole sick thing. The night that I made my last post, Nicholas woke up in the middle of the night with some pretty fierce croup. What are the odds! Yuck! I realize they say that croup (as long as it doesn't turn your kids lips blue) is not serious. It freaks you out, that's for sure. Poor little guy. Luckily we were able to give him some albuterol breathing treatments that we had for Matthew, my little winter bronchial asthma boy). I don't know if the medicine itself helped, but it calmed Nicholas down so he wasn't panicky anymore. I ended up having a sleepover with him on the couch and we watched Clifford's Really Big Adventure and Aladdin until 2:30 in the morning. Then we had a sleepover on the couch together and let me tell you, that was not so comfy! As of right this minute my kids seem to be doing okay, with the exception of their coughs that seem to hang on forever, and life is starting to get back to normal.

This weekend we are tearing out our carpet and linolium (spelling?) in the living room and kitchen so that we can install our hardwood flooring. I am so excited! I have hated our carpet and kitchen floor since we moved in. It sounds like a big project, but the kids and I are hoping to stay in Utah for an extra week after Thanksgiving so that Steve and a friend can install the new stuff without the little friends getting in the way. So fun! Life is good her in the Soter house!

Oh, today I went to Saver's (one of my all time favorite places) and it was 50% off day because of Veteran's day. I got some pretty fun stuff. There aren't many things that bring more joy to my heart than a good bargain every now and again.

Update on the Soter's (with some cute pictures!)

2007-11-08T14:22:00.000-08:00

The Soter kids (I don't think they are really getting the point of their costumes. They are soon to find out that Halloween brings on a boon of candy!)

She is the cutest little chubby blue monster ever!!!

Super Man veggin' on the curb

Katie the happy blue monster!

This is the Soter kids at Halloween (well the trunk or treat). They looked awfully cute and we had such a fun time! Now I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas! This is baking season for me! Woohoo! Today I set about to baking cinnamon rolls. I have never made them myself, but today I was ready to bust out a double batch. Unfortunately I didn't realize until after I had been raising the dough for an hour, that my yeast wasn't working anymore. I had to throw the whole batch out and when Katie wakes up we are off to Costco so I can purchase new yeast. Then I will be back in the saddle again.

I love this time of year. I am having such the quandry about Christmas music. It's all I can do not to turn it on, but last year I started it in October and by the time Christmas rolled around I was a tiny bit burnt out on it. That is a sad thing for me. This year I am trying to hold out as long as possible, but I don't know how much more I can take. There is nothing better than baking with Christmas music playing in the background. That is my idea of heaven.

My kids and I have been going on and off through sickness. Blast this beautiful fall/winter time. I love it, but it's a guarantee for sickness. My poor little Katie girl came down with strider (a really yucky form of croup) last Friday and that was terrifying. Luckily there are such things as pediatric urgent care. They gave her a shot and she was breathing better within the hour. Then just yesterday I took her in because she has another ear infection (she had one just last month). Poor baby. Matthew is on for another year of albuterol and pulmicort treatments for his bronchial asthma. No fun! I got a call from Nicholas' preschool teacher today to come and pick him up because he wasn't feeling well. He managed to squeeze by the illness we've all had, until now. Yikes! All I can think is that maybe we will be sick now, so that in a week and a half we will be doing better for our Utah trek. We are crossing our fingers for a healthy Thanksgiving and we can't wait to be up there. Life is great!

Bouncing Baby!

2007-10-24T09:07:00.001-07:00

This is Katie and her daddy hanging out. I definitely think that she is going to be a daddy's girl.

I put Katie in this boucy occasionally while I am cooking dinner, and usually she looks at me like "Why am I in this thing?" because she doesn't know what to do in it. Well, today she got it! She was having such a grand time and this video doesn't even begin to show the volume this little girl can have when she's happy or excited. What a cute little Miss!

It's Halloween Time!

2007-10-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, if you can't believe your eyes it really is Darth Vader and Super Man in our very own house.

Darth Vader and Super Man have formed an alliance.

Yummy black icing! The boys even had some seriously black teeth, but they thought it was delicious!

Our finished project. This is the spookiest ghost house ever!

Every Family Night this month we are trying to incorporate a Halloween activity of some sort into the mix. Last Monday night we went and bought Halloween costumes, and last night we decorated a ghost ginger bread house. So fun! Next week is a Halloween sugar cookie party and the week after that we are doing pumpkins. We were going to carve, but that isn't really a kid friendly activity (not so much with the knives), so I think we are going to bust out the paint. I love holidays!

By the way, Katie was home through all of this, she just happens to go to bed at 7:00 and so she misses out on the fun! I don't think she minds though. She dearly loves her bed. She is going to be a little blue monster though (because we hand down costumes and that is what Matthew dressed up as 2 years ago). It's downright adorable even if it isn't all that dainty. I am sure you will see it.

My Katie girl

2007-10-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Katie is 6 months old and is still working on the rolling over thing, and the sitting up thing. She definitely has the smile and the talk thing down though. So cute! She is getting so big and so chubby! I love every minute of this tiny little person! Here is a short video of her (because the camera ran out of space. It's a cute little minute.

Nicholas Story Time

2007-09-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

We were eating dinner the other night and Nicholas decided that he wanted to share some stories while we ate. They were downright hilarious! I caught this one on video and it doesn't make quite as much sense as the first 2 because he was a little nervous in front of the camera, but I loved it. He is telling a story about some little ducks that are playing hide and seek with their dad. "There you are!" is when the daddy duck finds one of his babies. It's his rendition of a story that we read at least 2 or 3 months ago. Notice how he calls a mother a "mudder" and a brother a "brudder". Then you hear that fancy little noise and Nicholas looks over and says "Say excuse me!" That just happens to be my young polite little Matthew burping. We really are working on our manners. Nicholas gets it, but Matthew is still in the works. Matthew is hilarious to me. He is just such a sweet little funny man. Anyway, I loved recording this video and it makes me laugh every time I watch it.

Memory Lane

2007-09-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

My High School Musical:
1. Who were your friends? Brittanie Kivett, Jenny Brewer, Keisha Ricketts
.2. What sports did you play? I'm not the sportsy type and I moved too much to get involved with anything. I lived in Coolidge my senior year. Big bummer! Try driving 45 minutes just to get to school every morning.
3. What kind of car did you drive? Silver/tan Nissan Sentra. It was a cute little car, and I had to have something dependable for heaven sake so I didn't crash on the Indian Res on the way to school.
4. On a Friday nights what were you doing? I hung out with Brittanie and Jenny. Mostly Brittanie and I would cruise the town and have good times getting chased (you know what I'm talking about Britt), or making fools of ourselves. I wouldn't change a thing about the fun times we had.
5. Were you a party animal? Definitely not. I have always been such a goody goody. Thank heavens for that now. I had the most fierce concience of anyone I know.
6. Were you considered a flirt? I guess I could have been if I hadn't been so shy in high school.
7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? I was in the choir in 10th grade, but it was only because I went to a school with only 20 in my class and your choice was to either be in choir or band. I don't play anything other than the piano so by default I was a choir nerd. I can't sing worth a darn, but in choir at least I can either mouth the words or blend in with the crowd.
8. Were you a nerd? Um, probably, but I am totally okay with that. I had the best time being that way because I didn't have to try to be cool. I already wasnt' so I just had fun instead.
9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Nope I was a goody goody, remember?
10. Can you still sing the fight song? Did I ever know the fight song?
11. Who was your favorite teacher? Mr. Mahon. Britt and I had the best time in that class!12.Where did you sit during lunch? In the cafeteria closest to the doors. Sometimes Britt and I would go sit up by the library, or outside in one of our cars. Super cool!
13. Name of school? Heritage Academy, Carey High, Highland High (in Pocatello, Idaho), Gilbert High
14. School mascot? Heritage didn't have one I don't think, Panther, I don't know and Tiger
15. School Colors? black&gold for Gilbert
16. Rival high school? Since I didn't know much about sports I suppose I wouldn't know the answer to that question.
17. Did you go to Prom? Yes, but the darn thing about going to formal dances was that I was out of my comfort zone being all gussied up and so I never felt all that pretty. Senior prom was probably the best.
18 If you could go back and do it again, would you? Absolutely not! Brittanie and I definitely had the best of times though. I would be her best friend over and over again.
19. What do you remember most about graduation? It was one of the happiest days of my life.
20. Where did you go for senior skip day? I floated the Salt River with a group of girls and we had a blast!
21.Favorite memory? Where do I begin with that? I loved sitting outside the library upstair with Brittanie, having water fights, PE senior year with Brittanie, spending the night at Britts and talking til all hours about our latest crush and that he just might be the one. Zuka Juice. Cruising the streets looking for guys, Taking pictures at different stores and restaraunts with random people. My list could go on forever, but it really didnt' have all that much to do with high school itself.
22. Were you in any clubs? Nope
23. Where did you go most often for lunch? We stayed at our trusty table, but one time me and Britt did ditch and I remember hiding from the security guard forever trying to sneak back to school. It was miserable because I just knew we were going to get in huge trouble. I am not cut out for rebellion.
24. Have you gained some weight since then? I am only 3 lbs away from being back to my high school and original weight thanks to my good friend Denise.
25. Who was your Senior prom date? James Hansen, my RM that didn't work out (thank goodness, I am so in love with my husband)
26. Are you planning on going to your 10-year reunion? Absolutely not. No one would even remember me. Besides, which one would I go to? I have 4 to choose from?
27. Who was your home room teacher? I have no idea.
28. How many fights did you get in? I'm a lover, not a fighter.
29. Who was your high school sweetheart? OH, probably James Hansen
30. Do you still talk to people from high school? Yes, some
31. Did you win prom queen or king? Hah!
32. Where did you work in high school? I didn't work because I lived in Coolidge and that would have been way too difficult.
33. What were your grades? I did pretty well, but not awesome.
34. What was your dress style? I'm pretty sure I didn't have a set style. I wasn't what you would call a fashion guru by any means.
35. What year did you graduate? 2000
YOUR TURN: Brittanie, Kelyn, Valerie, Stephanie, Brittney, Ashley and anyone I missed. (Don't worry if you don't do this. It was just kind of a fun distraction from house cleaning))

My day and my kids

2007-09-18T17:30:00.001-07:00

Today started out pretty good, but then it got a little bit bummerish. Katie had a tiny bit of goop in her eye yesterday, but it was only after a nap, so I didn't think too much about it. Then this morning she had full on goober city in her eye. Poor little thing. When I went in to get her she had her usual huge smile on her face, but it was rather pathetic because her poor little eye was gooped shut. Thankfully my next door neighbor had some eye drops that get rid of that sort of thing. I was trying to figure out where in the world she would have gotten a yucky eye from, but then I remembered, "Right, she's got 2 big brothers that occasionally get caught poking at her eyes for their own amusement". Now, we do wash hands at my house (Nicholas is a well trained machine), but little boys have grubby hands just because they're little boys, even if they were sitting in a completely anti-bac free white room in their Sunday best their little finger would be digging in a nostril or something. Then bummer number 2 is that after I dropped Nickelby off at preschool I started feeling symptoms of a very unfriendly cold virus that Steve is just getting over. I am okay being sick (well it's not my favorite thing) when it's a sickness that I can still keep going with, but I am such a freak about the thought of my kids getting sick. I will fully admit that I am a downright germaphob (did I spell that right? You get the idea) about my kids. Anytime one of them so much as coughs my stomach tightens and I start to think the worst. I really need to relax, but it is what it is. Anyway, other than that my day has been great!

Nicholas is learning a new song in preschool each week about how to spell different colors and they are downright hilarious! After just last week he can now write his name all by himself. I am thinking this preschool thing is the best idea ever! It's so exciting to see what he can do.

Matthew is going through the most terrible two's phase ever! He is so incredibly proud that when he falls down and gets hurt, instead of crying about it he jumps up and tries to act like it never happened, and if you acknowledge it he will get embarrased, look at you with the evil eye and say "No!" and walk away. And to get him to do anything I have to give him the impression that it was his idea and that he will be doing it himself. "Matthew, do you want to go sit at the table for dinner, or do you want mommy to help you?" "Matthew, do you want to put your books away, or do you want mommy to put your books away?" If I ever just tell him to do something he absolutely won't do it until I have phrased it to sound like it's all him. It's quite the funny little quirk, but it gets rather frustrating and a little wearisome to the brain to think of how to word things. Ever phase has an end (I keep telling myself anyway). He is the cutest of little boys though and he has such a tender spot.

Katie is in the phase where she can roll from her back to her tummy, but not the reverse. I have finally weaned her of being bundled to sleep and so now she is free to go where she pleases in her crib. The bummer is that she does the roll in the middle of the night and I have to go in and roll her back over. She screams and screams until I roll her and then she goes right back to sleep. I have not resorted back to bundling, but I did go back to using the wedge that you use to keep them in one spot. Baby steps to being a big girl. Today she was in her walker playing with a rattle and ever time it made a rattling noise you should see the look of shock on her face. It was hilarious!

My Cruisin' Little Wild Men

2007-09-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

My boys were having quite the great fun in the backyard the other day. I don't know about any of you, but if my boys are in the backyard, it is a rare thing to catch them in anything but their underpants. Usually it's me that strips them down, but at least this way I am not doing 500 loads of laundry everyday. I am all for letting little people get dirty and have the time of their life, but I am also for preserving clothes for future use and so with that I say "Long live the underpants!" They were both trying to make good use of the tricycle and Matthew, as you can see, thought this was hilarious! Nicholas was having a good chuckle as well, but he had just gotten shots that morning and so he wasn't feeling so hot. They always make me laugh though.

Labor Day Weekend (a little late)

2007-09-10T16:12:00.001-07:00

We went up to Show Low for Labor Day weekend and had such a great time. The boys loved being able to play outside and get dirty dirty dirty! Nicholas is big into tree stuff lately (tree houses, tree climbing, etc.) and so he built a fabulous "tree house" (so he calls it) with his Grandpa Burke, his Daddy, and Matthew. Katie and I stayed in the background and just took in the sights. I bought a Snugli at a yard sale on our way out of town for $5 (smokin' deal) and I put her in it to go for a walk. She laughed so hard with every step I took because it bounced her. It was hilarious. Picture me and Katie walking all alone and both of us laughing our heads off. It was so cute!

My Beautiful Balding Baby!

2007-08-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is my sweet little Katie girl at 4 1/2 months. She has the cutest littke pigtails in this picture. Unfortunately because I put such tight pigtails in her hair she is now balding on top and her cute little pigtails are no more for right now. Thats okay though, I am sure she will have plenty of hair soon enough. Any of you who know my boys know that hair is definitely not something they lack. I did have someone the other day tell me that I had such a cute little boy though and I felt rather annoyed about that. Maybe it's because I'm her mom, but she definitely does not look like a boy!

Pajama Time!

2007-08-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

We were putting the boys to bed the other night and they looked so cute in their matching jammies that I had to take a picture. They are both in the cheezy picture mode where everytime they see a camera you hear "Cheese!" They were being awfully cute! Do you ever have those days where you're kids just completely hit your spot (not that they don't always hit my spot, but they don't always hit on the right part of my spot). They were hitting my spot all day. It's fun to have them sharing a room because they don't get scared like the would sleeping alone. We have bunk beds though so that keeps them a little bit seperated. Cute boys!

2007-08-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

I always thought that crayons were pretty safe for little people to use (as far as not making a mess of themselves). Matthew is my little one that likes to get into things. On Saturday I walked into the kitchen to find him with a beautiful bright crayon face. You can't see it as well in the pictures, but he looked pretty fancy. You're probably thinking "At least he didn't get it on the walls". I would ask that you not look too closely at my walls should you ever come over because more often than not you will find more of Matthew's art work. Oh well, there's always paint and he's pretty hard to stay mad at.

Our 5th Anniversary Trip

2007-08-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

Steve told me when we got married that he wanted to take me on a cruise for our 5th wedding anniversary. I had totally forgotten about that promise, but he didn't and he came through on it. We had such a fun time! We didn't do anything very crazy, but with 3 kids it was great to be alone for a minute. It has always a dream of Steve's to tour a submarine and it just so happened that in San Diego they had a Russian sub right off the boat that we were able to tour. It was an cold war submarine and let me tell you, I have no idea how those guys didn't go crazy! I felt out of control just being in it for a short time. We also got to tour the boat they used for the movie "Master and Commander." These are some fun pictures of our trip.

Too Much TV

2007-08-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday night I brought home a pizza on the way home from the grocery store. Nicholas was helping me set the table and I had decided to use paper plates since it was late and I was ready to speed up the get the kids to bed process. Nicholas says to me, "Mom, these are Dixie plates". I thought it was kind of funny that he knew they were "Dixie plates". I asked him how he knew that and he says to me, "I saw it on TV. It's a Dixie day". I don't know if any of you have seen the commercial for Dixie plates, but that is what they say. It gave me quite the chuckle, then I felt a little stressed out for a minute because I realized just how much Nicholas is a little sponge for everything he hears and sees. Yikes! (This is a picture of Spider Man. It may look a lot like the body of my 4-year old son with Katie in the background, but don't be deceived. Spiderman just happens to live at our house).

2007-08-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I used to be totally anti working out. I just couldn't get into it. But now I have 3 kids and it seems harder this time to get back to my normal size. I desperately wanted to lose weight before Steve and I went on our cruise and so my friend told me about Denise Austin's workout on Lifetime every morning. I was skeptical about being able to stick with a workout, but I love Denise Austin and so I gave it a try. I have been doing it now for over 3 months and it is definitely true what they say about excercising. I feel so much better than I used to. I have energy and I am 100% more enthusiastic and optimistic than I used to be. Normally I am kind of negative when I first wake up, thinking that another day seems so monotonous. Then I do my Denise Austin and towards the end I am thinking to myself. "What a beautiful day this is! I just love my kids, they are so wonderful (not that I don't think that on a regular basis, but you know what I mean). I can't wait to clean my house." Denise Austin is the best workout for me too because she is not hard core, but she makes you feel so good. "You're strong, you're lean! Tighten that tushy, if you don't do it, no one else will! Work on that glutius maximus, making it our glutius minimus." Anyway, I just got done working out. Can you tell by my enthusiasm? Have a great day!

2007-08-05T20:44:00.001-07:00

AFTER

Katie's First Haircut

2007-08-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

My little Katie girl had long hair from the get-go. She can have pigtails and everything. So cute! The only dilema is that she was sporting a serious mullet in the back and although I have heard they are quite the fashion statement in Europe, it just so happens that we don't live in Europe and I was never that trendy anyway. My dearest friend Kelyn consented to cut her hair and so we went to work. I will post the before and after. She now has quite the cute little bob (Isn't that so crazy for being just 3 months old for a first haircut!)

AFTER

Our trip

2007-08-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

Steve and I got to go on a cruise for our 5-year anniversary and we had such a blast! I think anyone else would be totally bored by us, but when we were on the boat we were either reading, watching movies, eating, or sleeping. I loved every minute of it! Those are the things I don't get to do at home (very much anyway). Off the boat we had such a fun time. We went snorkeling, we toured an old Russian submarine (very interesting and kinda creepy), and we also got to tour the boat that they used to film "Master and Commander" with Russell Crow. I heard that movie wasn't very awesome, but I kind of want to see it now. The only down side to our trip is that when I got off the boat my world did not stop rocking. I have been on a cruise before and wasn't affected at all, but this time (2 days later) I am still sailing the seas, without the seas. Not so fun because I am feeling rather motion sick these days. Oh well, this too shall pass right? The great thing is that when we got on the boat I was thinking to myself that how could 5 days possibly be long enough to feel satisified with a break from my kids and housework. I am happy to say that 4 days into it I was really missing my kids and I couldn't wait to go home, cook dinner and clean my house. I have been 10 times more patient with my kids too. Being away for a minute really makes you appreciate things. I will post pictures when I empty my camera.

For now I will just post a cute picture of my kids.

My baby girl and her baby

2007-08-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

I realize that Katie is only 4 months old, but she really does love this baby. Everytime I hold it up to her she smiles something fierce. She is so much fun!

Off to church!

2007-08-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

These sweet moments of being all dressed up and happy don't last, so I had to seize this moment (even if Katie does look a little squashed). My boys definitely love their baby sister. They are always happy to go to church, except for my sweet little Katie girl. Church holds nothing for her other than a missed nap. Nursery and Sunbeams are a highlight of the week for my boys though.

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

2007-08-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

I realize that this is a month late, but birthday's are the love of Nicholas' little 4-year old life so I had to post these pictures. Happy birthday to my little Nickelby! The theme was fish. We had fish cake, pet fish and a fishing pole. Fun fun!

2007-07-20T16:45:00.000-07:00

I realize that Katie is as mad as a hornet in this picture, but is that not the cutest thing ever! Katie is by far my chubbiest baby and this swimming suit shows off her girlish figure quite marvelously! She is 3 months old in this picture.

2007-07-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

My last post was over a month ago so I am going to try again, and maybe this time I will be more consistent. I thought to get started I should introduce the "small fries." Nicholas and Matthew are such big helpers with their little sister Katie.

Nicholas is newly 4-years old. He is very proud of that. If you ask him he will tell you that his name is Spider Man! Matthew is 2 years old and he is trying to take a ride on the "potty train." He sits on the potty and we sing "Push it out, push it out, way out!" It always sends him into an explosion of giggles and it has worked everytime so far. Katie is my sweet little angel baby. She is all smiles all the time and we all love her! That is quite the large jumbled intro to the Soter kids.

Well - Here goes!!

2007-05-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

My best friend Brittanie has been on my case for months to start a blog so here I go!! Here's hoping I actually do anything with it! Watch out world - here come the Soters! (Sorry about the picture. I had to because Nacho is my husbands favorite! It just seemed to fit.