Cousin Exchange

 We did the cousin gift exchange a couple days before Christmas. It was mad chaos but it's always mad chaos when all the Zockolls get together.

Can you see in a pattern in Nick's gifts? All sports. Rebel shirt, Steelers PJ pants, and a glow in the dark basketball. Nick also adores his cousin Henry. He loves to hold him.

 
 
Sammy loved her gifts.

 
This was Parker's favorite gift. This kid loves Alvin and the Chipmunks. He carries this guy around everywhere. Even though it's a Chip n Dale stuffed animal. Shhh don't tell him the truth.

Noah got an elmo dvd and loves it. It's all he wants to watch.

 
Then we attempted to get a picture of all the grandkids with grandma and grandpa Zockoll. Total failure. It's nice not having my kids be the criers for once:)

December Happenings

As always December was a crazy happening month. I had great intentions of doing something fun every single day. I would say about 50% of them happened. Here's to hoping I can follow through with all of them next year, right? The things we did do were fun and I know the kids enjoyed them. Here are just a few pictures from our holiday adventures.

We started the month off by dropping a letter off for Santa at his mailbox. The kids were very excited that they were able to do that this year.

 
After that we went and saw Santa. Of course the older kids did well, and Noah did fine for the first bit and then started to freak out. The sucker helped him to not completely lose it.

I had to take a picture of the kids in front of these freaky bears. I wasn't the only one who thought they were scary. Look at Noah! I love it! He was so terrified of them.

We also made gingerbread houses. I was not completely prepared and didn't have little milk cartons to start with. After many attempts I decided to hot glue them and it worked perfect. Best decision ever.

The boys just threw candy on there but Sammy took her sweet time. Can you tell which one she did. She is so great at all the details. I love it.
 Sammy's

 Boys

Next we had our school's Grinch breakfast. Me being the loving wife I am volunteered Luke to play the Grinch. He was not very happy about it but he knew the kids would love it and it was a great fundraiser for the school. Of course he couldn't say no. Nick told his class all week that his dad was going to be the Grinch. Then the day came and the kids saw the mask he had to wear. They wouldn't get within 20 ft. of him. I don't blame him. It was one scary mask.

Then right before Christmas we did the Santa Train in Boulder City. We went with the Humphries and had fun. The older kids were a little bored but Parker and Noah loved it. Worth $5 to me, even some freaky elf lady came out. Laura and I couldn't stop laughing. Also notice Nick's sleeves in all the pictures. This is his new thing. I think his little group at school all do it. He thinks he is pretty cool.

 
 
 
 
Noah was like this most of the ride.

Last but least a family picture.

Then we had our ward Christmas party. It was a pajama party breakfast. Best idea ever! Food was good and I was comfy.

I didn't get pictures of all the fun things we did but it was fun and we made a lot of memories.

Sammy's busy month

Sammy had quite a month. I wanted her birthday post to be separate from all the fun things she did this month. At the beginning of the month Sammy was able to go to Disneyland with her Grandpa and Grandpa Zockoll. My parents have started a tradition that they will take all the grandkids to Disneyland for their 5th birthday. Things got crazy last year and it didn't happen for Sammy. Then the summer came and my parents didn't want to fight the crowds. So they decided to make it her 6th birthday present. She spent 5 days with my parents in California. They only did Disneyland one day but spent time with my sister and her baby, and my grandma. Sammy and Great Grandma Clark were able to spend some quality time together. She loved it and it makes me so happy that she gets to have these memories.


 The next weekend Sammy came out to dinner with us. She earned enough money to have a date with mom and dad. We decided to take her out while we did my birthday dinner. She loved it. We went to Sammy's pizza Kitchen. Of course we had to take a picture of her with the menu.

She thought she was pretty cool being the only kid in the back.

Lastly a group shot. Don't even ask me about Luke's face. I laugh every time I see it.

 It's amazing how good kids are when they get some one on one time. I really enjoy it. I love being able to talk to them without other kids trying to get my attention. Even though Parker hasn't earned the money, we are taking him out. Oh how he needs it.

Then the weekend after we had her birthday party. I always have her party about 2 weeks before her real birthday because people are still in town and it's just easier. She wanted a Fancy Nancy party. It was super easy but girl parties are always easy.Well as long as you have jewelry, nail polish, candy, and boas it is.

Once all the girls came we did crafts. I made salt dough ornaments and they painted them or put glitter on them.

Once they finished that I gave them all a jewelry set(i scored for $.99 after Halloween sale). It had earring, bracelets,necklace, and rings. Then I gave them all a boa and read them a Fancy Nancy story.

They loved posing with their boas.

Then we painted nails. We have done this the last 3 parties and it's always a hit.

Finally it was time to open presents. She loved everyone of them. This present was a hit with all the siblings.

Too bad Noah broke the leg off the next day. Can't be fixed. Oops!

Cake was next. Sammy wanted a butterfly. I loved doing this cake. A big thanks to Luke for cutting it out for me. If I did it, it would have been totally lopsided.

Last we did a pinata. Sammy has always wanted one. I have to say these girls are tough little things.

 Me and my girl


We had fun, but I am kind of partied out. Good thing I have 6 months before I start our party cycle all over again.

Sassy 6 Year old

My little girl turned 6 yesterday. She is growing up and I can't stop it. I think I get sadder when Sammy has her birthdays. Okay that sounds bad. It's not like I love her more than my other kids. I think It's because she is my only girl. I will never have another baby girl and I think I want her to stay a little girl forever. Some things about my Sammy Girl.

-She is a great helper
-She loves to get her nails painted
-She loves to be tickled. If my nails even touch her back a little bit she begs for me to tickle her. I was the exact same when I was younger.
-She is my only brown eyes brown haired child. Actually out of 20 cousins on the Lund she is the only brown eyed girl.
-She is loving Kindergarten. Her handwriting is perfect! Not brag but her teacher told me a 5th grader came into her classroom to help and pointed to Sammy's paper and asked if a 5th grader wrote it. That's my girl!
-She loves being a big sister to her "baby" brother Noah
- She begs me for sister all the time.
-She loves music. I have tried to get her into sports but she really has no desire. I think she will be my piano/singing girl.
- She is very tall. She towers over most of her class mates.I will force her to try volleyball when she hits the right age.
-She can do crafts and color for hours.

Sammy has really come out of her shell in the last year. She is making a lot of friends and loves riding her bike. We love this girl so much. I always think of her as this chubby little "Michelin" baby.

And now she is this beautiful 6 year old.

Can time please stop?
Happy Birthday Sweet Sammy!

It finally happpened!

By it I mean Sammy learning how to ride her bike. It only took her older and younger brother riding without training wheels, and all her friends doing it too. I knew she could do it but her cautious personality holds her back a little. One day I walked outside and she was just riding it. She loves it now and wants to be outside all the time. It's kind of fun having 5 out of the 6 people riding bikes. We can go on bike rides and really enjoy it. Noah is now determined to learn. This kid is crazy so I would not be surprised if he was doing by his 3rd birthday. Yay for Sammy!

I'm 32!

This can't be happening people! I'm freaking 32 years old! Here's the thing. I am so not afraid of getting older. It happens, right? The thing that freaks me out is that 16 years ago I was taking my test to get my drivers license. 16 YEARS AGO!!! I feel like it was just last week. I remember every single detail about it. So if 16 years just flew by like that, then that means the next 16 will go so fast. I don't even want to think about how old my kids will be in 16 years. So I'm 32. Here is what a 32 year old looks like

I know, I know I don't look a day over 25. And of course I don't go around taking pictures of myself. I was about to leave for church and I sent this picture to my very fashionable sisters to see if they were proud of me for wearing a bright lip gloss. I was proud of myself. To think it only took me 32 years to branch out and be a little stylish. Since I always do a few things about my kids on their birthday, I thought I would do the same thing. I'm really not that interesting, but maybe in 16 years I will look back at this post and think "wow I was super cool back then!"

-I love the color green
-I have this love/hate relationship with running, but really I do love it.
-I have a great husband who is still just as good looking as he was the day we tied the knot
-I have 4 kids- ages 7,6,4, and 2. I love being their mom. They challenge me in many ways. many many ways.
-I have great friends. Really I do. I cherish my friendships and think it's so important to have.
-My favorite kind of food is Mexican
-My favorite candy is laffy taffy
-My favorite candy bar is Twix and Snickers
-My favorite movie is Big Business and How to Lose a Guy in 10 days
-My favorite book is These Is My Words
-I make Luke tuck me in every night. I know weird but I love it!
-I really want to start taking piano and voice lessons. One day.
-I would love to back to school when Noah is in school full time. I am thinking maybe a Masters in Education.
-I would love to move to another state. I think it would be a great adventure.

Man I must be one boring person. I can't think of anything else to say. This I know. I have a great life. I am a wife to an awesome man, and I have 4 gorgeous kid,s who yes drive me crazy at times but man my life would be so boring without them. We are all healthy. What more could I ask for? The day before my birthday we went out. We decided to take Sammy with us since it's her birthday month too and we owed her a date with mom and dad.

2 going on 16

 
Our little Noah turned 2 in November. This kids has been with us for 2 whole years! He has grown up so much in just the last couple months. He definitely doesn't act 2 , and I think that has something to do with having 3 older siblings. Noah is on the go all the time. He never rests. If he wants something he will get it. For the last year Luke has heard me vent to him about how Noah can never be alone, and how I can't even take 20 min to get somewhat ready. If I do disaster strikes. I don't think Luke believed me until he started this new job and is working at home a lot more. One time I was out running and Luke was getting ready. He wasn't upstairs for very long but when he came down he saw Noah painting our wall with nail polish. He climb on my dresser and got the polish. Just one of many stories. There is never a dull moment with Noah. We are so glad he was sent to our family. Here are some fun things about Noah
-He can hit a baseball and throw a ball almost as far as his older brothers
-He wants me to sing the Wise man every night before bed
-He is currently obsessed with Elmo
-He loves babies
-Parker is his little buddy/partner in crime
-He pretends to fart all the time
-He still has the biggest lips and I kiss them all the time
-He has to do everything himself, don't even try to help him or he will freak out
-He is memorized by Christmas lights. It's the one time he is not screaming in his car seat to get out
-Yes he still hates his car seat, which makes us want to never go out of town
-He thinks he can ride Nick's bike, which always results in falling. Still he doesn't learn.
-Loves nursery
For Noah's birthday I had a cute Elmo party all planned out but that weekend our family was hit by a nasty flu that had both Luke and I in bed. I had no desire to make the Elmo cake I had planned on. So i called around to see if anyone had one. Albertsons said they did. Um not quite what I wanted but he is 2 and could have cared less. He loved it.
 
His gift from us was this basketball hoop and let's just say he loves it and never leaves it alone. The older boys love it too.

He also got a basketball and football from Grandma and papa Lund. He wouldn't let them go.

He actually slept with it at night for a couple nights. Not the best picture but you get the idea.

He had a great birthday...see for yourself...
 
Happy face= total success!
Happy Birthday Noah!