The BEST Preschool

My awesome sister-in-law, Kristen Player, is the best preschool teacher around and she still has openings! Woot Woot!! So if you or anyone you know is looking for a preschool for their child 3-5 years old..........you can stop looking..........this is the place! Kristen does so many amazing things with the kids to help them grow, develop their imaginations and strengthen their learning skills.

You won't be disappointed with this preschool. A wonderful preschool at a great price! Check out her blog to see what she did this past year with her preschoolers, see rates, schedule and location.

Please spread the word to your friends!

http://happyhandscc.blogspot.com/

You'll get more than you pay for at Happy Hands Preschool!

~Mr. Grant LOVES Mija~

While Mac tutors Hunter and Kiersten we get to play with Mija................and Mr. Grant LOVES it! Mija is so good with him. She licks him to death and Mr. Grant just giggles. Oh Mr. Grant is getting to be such a big boy! He has started to pull up to things and get on his knees..........which means TROUBLE! He's been crawling for a few months now. He use to stay in the room where I sat him down, but not anymore..............he can be found anywhere in the house. You can tell he is loving exploring!

Mr. Grant kept trying to get Mija's ball.

Giving kisses!

Sugar Baby!!!

Logan was just being a nice big brother by sharing his sucker with Mr. Grant. I came into the room and this is what I saw. It was soooo cute! "Not giving it back" Those were Logan's words............"Mom he not giving it back!" I love Logan's expression in this picture!

I think Mr. Grant thoroughly enjoyed his first sucker.........what do you think?

I love how big Mr. Grant has his mouth open.

YUMMY!

I don't know who had more fun.........Mr. Grant eating the sucker or Logan feeding it to him!

I don't think his mouth could open any bigger! It's crazy how with my first baby, Kiersten, I'd never give her a sucker at 9 months old............but by my fourth I'm just happy Logan wasn't trying to feed him a bug or something!

Fun CKC Pictures

I took some pictures of the Cluff grand kids to surprise my father-in-law for Father's Day.

They turned out so cute! Taking pictures of 15 kids is no easy task.......but they all did so good.

I decided to snap a few of my kids and get some prints for Justin as well. I got this printed on a piece of acrylic with metal rivets in the corners to hang it up. It turned out so nice and will look great hanging in Justin's office at the plant.

The skedster made the perfect backdrop!

It was Hunter's idea to sit in the cab of the skidster. He pose himself and everything..........good job Bud!

Adorable Right! Hunter was so excited to hold Mr. Grant. Hunter is a wonderful big brother. He is a great help when it comes to Mr. Grant.

The future of CKC!

Actually I just want my boys......and Kiersten........to do whatever they LOVE. There is no pressure here to end up working for the company. I hope my kids are lucky enough to have an occupation that they are passionate about!

Seriously what a guy!

I love how he already has the old man hangover belly in this picture......so cute. Why can't a roll like that look good on us adults :)

Logan was thrilled to get to ride on the "daddy tractor" with Uncle Brian.

I asked Logan to wear a hard hat a couple of times.......

His response, "NO I want 'dem to see my hair!"

Really buddy what hair?

Kiersten is getting way to grown up. She is getting a little more sassy..........oh getting paid back is going to be fun! YIKES! For the most part Kiersten is a sweetheart and a wonderful help to me! I love all that I am learning through her.

Isn't she gorgeous?

We copied Brian and Tif's idea of a family picture. I would have worn Levi's had I thought of this picture. It was a cute idea, thanks Tif!

This is the "daddy tractor" Logan and Hunter were so excited to ride in.

Uncle Brian took them and Doyle on two rides........lucky boys! I keep telling Justin that I want to go on a date and drive one of these around the plant. I think it would be fun to use the loader bucket and stuff.........sometime we'll get around to that date!

The cousin pictures turned out adorable........I am getting these kids trained. Well....... Uncle Justin bribing each of them with dollar bills didn't hurt!

POPCORN WAR

When there is a milk carton full of popcorn in your fridge.........you know there is a story behind it!

And so the story of the popcorn war begins like this.....

This past Thursday, while at the boys baseball games Kiersten, Mac and I all got bags of popcorn. Kiersten ate half of hers and then had given it to Carson Shupe.........Wendy's girl. I walked by Carson and she wanted the remaining half bag of my popcorn as well. So I gave it to her. Wendy said.........no don't give that to her she already has Kiersten's popcorn and has dropped it on the ground and picked in back up........dirt and all. I of course don't listen to Wendy and I let Carson have my popcorn.

Once the games were over and we were loaded up in the car leaving the parking lot Wendy stopped us. She was on Mac's side of my car. Mac rolled down her window and Wendy gave her the two, half full bags of popcorn.

I thought..........Okay it's on.......and the popcorn war begins......

On the way home from the games I can see that Stewart, Wendy's husband is in front of us and that she is behind us. She heads into town, thank goodness and Stewart goes straight home. So Mac said to pull in behind Stewart and give him the popcorn and ask him to give it to Wendy.

So I do just that......Stewart wasn't quite sure about that, but I told him Wendy had left her popcorn and that she REALLY wanted it so could he please make sure she got it! And so he gave it to her when she got home and explained how much I emphasized how much she wanted it.

I then hear the doorbell at about 9:30..........go to the door........no one is there, but a car is driving away with it's lights off and YES the two, half full bags of popcorn are on my doorstep!

I then decide to leave them in Wendy's car..........I know she doesn't lock that beauty..........I figure she'll have a fun surprise in the morning and so she does.

Then two days later after returning from Walmart I go to put milk in the fridge and this is what I see.................a milk carton FULL OF POPCORN! It just made me laugh.........clever, very clever! And so it has just began............I need ideas people! I already have a plan as what to do next, but without a doubt this popcorn war will continue...........any clever ideas?

I'd Rather Be Fishin'........

....that's what bumper sticker Hunter would have on his car.........if he was old enough to have a car. He is quite the fisher man!

Hunter goes down to the pond several times a week to fish. He LOVES playing with Kendall and Kaden. Hunter was so excited to catch the biggest Cat Fish...........he caught 4 Cat Fish today. Those are some HAPPY boys! It surprises me that Hunter always finds friends that are older than him. Kaden is 10 and Kendall is 8, while Hunter is just 6. Hunter has always played better with kids older than him. I don't know what that means exactly but it works for Hunter. I am glad Kaden and Kendall like playing with Hunter just as much. They are quite the three musketeers! Hunter and Kiersten have been fishing a lot this summer. We've even went night fishing at the pond with the kids. It's quite fun to sit out with friends.........with headlamps on our heads and just chatting away.......regardless of your age!

"I'm a MAN!"

I re-shaved the boys heads the other day.

It is nice with all the swimming we are doing, to not have to comb their hair. When Hunter saw the hair on his chest he was thrilled. It was so cute........he ran around cheering,

"I'M A MAN........I'M A MAN!"

He then told me, "Mom, you just have to blog about this!" You can see the joy on his face and the excitement in his eyes........ I LOVE IT! Thanks Hunter for being such a fun kid!

"We're the OREOS right mom?"

I can't count how many times Logan has asked me what the name of his t-ball team is......the Orioles. No matter what Logan says...."yeah the OREOS right mom?"

And so we've just given up and Logan's team, to us, is now the OREOS.

When we eat oreos or see them at the store Logan gets all excited and says, "Mom it's Oreos just like my t-ball game."

Justin helps Hal Moore during the games most of the time. Brinner is quite the character and one of Logan's best buddies. Ryker Shupe is Logan's other buddy on his team. We should have gotten all the neighborhood boys on the same t-ball team I think. They would have loved it! That would be Brinner with his glove on his head. It's pretty comical to sit through a t-ball game.

This would be Ryker standing backwards because the sun was in his eyes facing the right way.

Look at the Stud! Logan is all smiles when he runs the bases.

I love little boys!

Logan loves to run to each base and jump on it when he gets there.

My kids are really lucky to have such wonderful grandmas. My mom comes to almost every game which I love just as much as the kids! Justin's mom comes when she isn't working at the temple or watching other grand kids. We all love it when she comes as well!

These two boys have a great time together!

Silly Boys! I just love the setting out here. The fields might not be that great but the view of Mt. Graham more then makes up for it.

Logan and Brinner are the giggliest boys I know. They can't help but laugh when they are together and they just make Stacy and I laugh because they are laughing.

I tell Logan he needs to be a good friend to Brinner because he's a big guy and he'll protect Logan. Five weeks of baseball is about all we need. The month of June has been so busy with baseball games and swim meets. We are looking forward to July when things will calm down. We will miss seeing all our friends, lawn chairs in the back of the Yukon, eating out (not sure we'll really miss it), late nights, towels everywhere, a back car full of: towels, baseball hats, gloves, water bottles, ice chest, lawn chairs, sunscreen, goggles, swim caps, etc.

Oh how I absolutely CHERISH the summer time!

My Heart Stopped For a Minute Today!

Mr. Grant was taking a nap in the playpen in my room and I was busy on the other side of the house helping the kids with some fun school booklets. I knew the Levi's that were in the dryer were done but figured I would just wait until Mr. Grant woke up to get them out. I usually take the laundry into my room to fold them. I am not one to go into a room where the baby is sleeping unless absolutely necessary and defiantly wouldn't normally do it just to fold laundry.

Three or four times I had the same impression to go get the Levi's out of the dryer and go fold them in my room. I finally told Kiersten I would be right back and went to do just that.

I had my arms full of laundry, opened my bedroom door as easily as I could and gently put the Levi's on my bed. I then could see that Mr. Grant was actually awake. He was laying on his back kicking or more like flapping his arms and legs, but making no sound. It seemed strange to me because he usually isn't so quiet. I then could tell he was actually choking. I run to grab him........pat his back and then swipe his mouth with my finger......

.........he was choking on a NICKEL! Yes a NICKEL!

And at that moment my heart stopped...

....I couldn't believe it a NICKEL in his playpen that I had put him in. I was immediately grateful for the promptings of the Holy Ghost and that our Heavenly Father is so patient with me. It took 3 or 4 impressions telling me the same thing....get the Levi's out of the dryer and take the laundry into your bedroom.... before I actually listened. It seemed like a silly thing to do because Mr. Grant was asleep in the room and the laundry could wait. Well the laundry could wait but Mr. Grant could not! What a scary thing it was but I am grateful to my Heavenly Father that that's all it was............ a scare and a lesson. The outcome could have easily been different. I was thankful that we had said our family prayers and read our scripture this morning, not that bad, tragic things can't still happen when you remember to do those things but I know they help! As I was rocking Mr. Grant to sleep this afternoon, while he sang himself to sleep.........I cried. What a sweet boy Mr. Grant is! Today was one of those days that reminded me of what is truly important in life and I am grateful I was reminded with a scary event, instead of a devastating one. I hope I can try to enjoy life more and worry less, treat others around me better and show those around me, I love them always.......even when life is so hectic. I LOVE MY MR. GRANT!!!

The Cluff Family Scripture Vacation Begins............

We have been working hard reading our scriptures regularly this year. My sweet mother-in-law came up with the idea to put some money away for everyday that each family read their scriptures together. For me this task isn't always or even usually easy, but I looked forward to the challenge. It was a huge incentive to do it because we had to "report" to someone else wither or not we had read. Generally speaking we read about every other day.............but we knew we could do better...........and we DID!

It was a great experience for our family! We weren't perfect by any means.................but we did pretty good. It was fun to have the kids remind us to have scripture study. Over the year I have realized for me I just HAVE TO MAKE scripture reading a habit...........that's the only way it gets done. For us it's not one of those things that just falls into place. It seems like we are either too busy, too tired, running late, etc, etc. After a year of really trying harder to make family scripture study a habit I have learned a few things that help us. The main thing is just scheduling what time of day, morning or evening, that would be best. The next thing is JUST DO IT! That's all there is to it! This experience has strengthened my testimony of the importance of family scripture study.

So with the money we all earned we took a family scripture vacation to Phoenix. We left on a Thursday and got home on a Monday. The first place the women and kids met up at was Makudo Island. The men couldn't come until after work. Oh the fun....

When we first got to Makudo Island Mr. Grant was so cute to watch. He LOVED the carpet and acted like if he tried hard enough he could pick up the leaves in the carpet design. Mr. Grant with his cousin Jordon Curtis. They are only 2 weeks apart.........Mr. Grant being older. He looks like such a giant next to Jordon. Having fun building a fort! Some of the kids danced with Makudo.

Ashley, Logan and Maliya..........three silly four year olds! They had a blast together!

Jared, Maliya, Jacob and Ashley

He had a ball and it shows.

Mr. Grant and Maddie

Hunter won some serious tickets..........he was thrilled about that!

Hunter, Logan and Doyle

Kiersten and Kaley showed off their awesome dance moves. They were so fun to watch............they both got so in to it!

Nice chair Bud!

I Love This Picture!

Just being silly! We always have a fun time visiting Makudo on his Island! Oh the fun has just began.