Don't hate us cause we're beautiful

I am sure it is not hard to see just why I love these amazing, shall we say ladies, for lack of a better term. These beauties before you make up our Young Women's presidency, and I really do consider myself lucky to be among them. We have the greatest time and I learn something from them every moment I spend with them, it may not be makeup tips, but trust me its always something profound. I had to share with you all just how lucky I am to serve with two of the most incredible women I have had the pleasure to know. I know I am not the only person who's life has been changed because they had the pleasure of associating with these ladies. I have learned how to be a better person because of them. 

And they are flippin' hot babes too.

 (that ones for you Shauna)

A lot of makeup, tons of hair product, a few girdles later, and not bad eh?

And one last picture for the record books. It really should be no secret that I love squeeze cheese, I pretty much eat like a kid. I love hot dogs, pizza, popcorn, sour gummy candy, processed cheese, processed meat, yes that includes SPAM, and any other food that would seem absolutely disgusting to any civilized adult. And not only do I eat like a kid, I also act like a kid, its really no wonder I love being in Young Women's so much. It gives me an excuse to act the age that I feel (16ish), so here is me and Lauren getting a little wild with the squeeze cheese. I seriously don't know what I will do when I have to start acting my age (21ish right?)

Soccer & Birthday parties, a Mothers Life.

The boys started their first year of soccer this Saturday. Of course they love it and had a blast, Im just glad that Darren played because I am so clueless when it comes to soccer. I never did get into it and enjoy playing it that much so thank heavens for Dad. Although I will admit that there is a whole new enjoyment to soccer when your watching you 5 & 6 year olds playing. Spencer got to play goalie for a while, he enjoyed it until at at one point he stopped the ball in the goalie box with his hands and another kid kicked it at that same moment. Natalie, our ref, had to mention to the other kid that once the goalie grabs it, no kicking. Masons favorite thing was of course making a goal, of which he had one, I wont mention that half of the goals made for our team were kicked in by our opponents. At age 5 its hard to comprehend that there is a my side/ your side. All of the parents had a good laugh and loved watching our future David Beckhams start their careers, no pressure boys.

Then later that day we had Mason's birthday party at the in-laws pool. Thanks guys! It was the easiest birthday party I have ever done, and the kids all had a blast. Of course we had to do a Star Wars party, my boys biggest obsession, and how do you like our Darth Vader cake? We also had a Darth Vader pinata, and Mason scored a super fun battery powered quad-runner. I dont know about you guys but I wish we had stuff like that when I was a kid, I did hop on for a ride however, I felt like I was 5 again.

Now we are back to another Monday, ready to start another week of school. My kids are getting smarter by the day, Spencer brought home his first spelling & sight word test on friday, and of course got 100%. He also mentioned the other day that he wanted to go to PE at school, I said "PE Huh?" and he says, "Ya mom, physical education."  Well it has been a few years....

Mason's teacher Ms. Oliver gives me a daily report on how many times she calls him Spencer. She knew Spence from last year and just cant help getting them mixed up. But she says that every time she does call him Spencer, he looks at her with his hands on his hips and says "Im MASON", and then laughs. She told him to just be grateful she doesn't call him Riley. 

Speaking of Riley, she and I miss our boys while they are gone to school, but we have some serious mother-daughter bonding time. She is so easy going and low-key that most of the time she is just along for the ride. What a blessing for a third (and final) kid. 

So what more can I say....Life is Good.

My little Mason man.

Its a big day in the Payne household, its my Mason mans birthday! It is still hard to believe that Mason is 5 years old. Here are a few things that I love about Mason:

He loves to ask "Mom/Dad we're dudes right" and everyone is Mason's dude. He is such a loyal friend.

He is all boy! If you will play catch with that kid, he will be your best friend for life, and never let you stop. He is a natural athlete.

He is so funny, he cracks me up all the time, with something he says or something he does. He loves to make people laugh and is very good at it.

He is such a great brother! He can make Riley laugh like no one else can. He loves to play with her and they always have a great time. He is also so kind to Spencer, always wanting to make him happy.

He is so sweet, and gives great hugs (when you can get them out of him) He is a very busy guy.

The bottom line is that I love my Mason so much. He is such an integral part to our family, we would not be the same without him. I am so grateful that the Lord sent him to our family, and consider myself incredibly blessed to be this amazing boys mom. 

Love you Mason, happy birthday!

Ah, isnt he so cute. He will be a serious heart breaker, a toe head with gorgeous blue eyes, and so sweet.

Wild things at the zoo (the animals were fun too)

The 2012 Olympic Team

Before I get to our zoo experience I have to give a shout out to some of the most amazing women around. These are just a few (about half) of our awesome basketball group that plays every Tuesday and Thursday.  I am so grateful for Tiffany who kept on me for months to join them over 2 years ago. I love these women so much and if ever I am not able to make it to basketball I miss them more than I can imagine. They are all incredible, and not only at basketball! And since I missed my chance to tell Ginger how much she meant to me, I want all you girls to know that I love you all so much and I am blessed to know each and every one of you. We try to get together once a month outside of basketball for brunch and thank you to Julie being our hostess this month, its always fun to talk when we're not so out of breath.

Santa Barbara Zoo

We went to the zoo this saturday with our very good friends the Nilsons. We have known them for so long, since Spencer and Tyler were 9 months old. Since then we've had our Mason and Alex, as well as our Riley and Brad. (oops I broke the cycle) And now Julie is 3 weeks away from her 4th boy! She is more than welcome to break the cycle for me there. We used to live just down the street from each other, we both moved a few years ago, and now we are about 30 minutes away. But we still keep in pretty close contact, not only for me and her but also for our boys who always have the best time together. Labor day weekend seems to always be our weekend together. We started the tradition a few years back with camping at the lake and there have been many fun adventures since. Here's a few shots from our latest.

My mother in law always comments that she thinks its funny Julie and I are such good friends because we are so different. This is true, she is the sweetest person you will ever meet, so I am just grateful that she puts up with me. Thanks Julie you are the best!

Welcome to the next 18-20 years of your life.

Mason started kindergarten and Spencer first grade today, sad right? For me the saddest part is that this is what they will be doing for the next 2 decades. I feel for them, the crap that they will have to deal with and go through, why wish that on anyone. But for now K, and 1st are exciting for them so why spoil it. It was crazy to me this morning making a lunch for Spencer, he always eats lunch with me, however he of course was thrilled. He is in a 1st grade-2nd grade split so I'm a little worried, what are those big 2nd graders going to be teaching my man. Mason on the other hand only wanted to make sure that he got a treat for his snack, he has his priorities. I think he will have a great time in kindergarten and know that he will love Ms. Oliver, and she wont be able to resist loving him!

And for all of those out there, like me, who keep losing another kid to the public (or private) school systems, this songs for you!

Things that make me happy. (in no particular order)

CheapER gas prices-

Now I realize that $3.93 is no bargain, however I went to fill up my tank the other day and the pump stopped at $94.38. Usually for me the pump stops at either $75 or $100 depending on the gas stations limit. (I did get up to $120 once at Costco) So it took me a minute to figure out that I had just filled my tank for under $100. This was a magical moment.

The fall line-up-

I hate to admit it to all of you, as well as myself, but I am a sitcom junkie, I am so excited for September when all my favorite shows return again. In my defense I ride on my recumbent bike about 5 times a week and the only thing that gets me through the hour ride is a good show to watch. I have already checked out the websites and I am pretty sure there will be plenty to keep me riding! 

Kids who behave when it really counts-

Darren had to sit up on the stand today in church because the bishop was by himself, so I had the kids all by myself. I positioned myself between a couple of good friends to help me when I had to take Riley out. But after we made it through sacrament with no incident the bishop got up to the podium and said, "President Payne and I were having a good laugh because usually by now he has had to take Riley out at least twice, but neither of us has heard a word from her today. So maybe we will have to keep Darren up here more often." After I gave him the over-my-dead-body look I had a good laugh with the rest of the ward, and gave my kids an extra kiss for behaving when it really counts.

Oldies music-

If any of you know my Dad you know that I was raised on oldies music, and I still love it. (Hence the new playlist, just some of my fav's) I really do think that oldies music is what helped me pass my drivers exam, let me explain. I am a terrible parallel parker, still can't do it, my driving teacher also knew I couldn't do it. But every time we were out on the road driving with him he had the oldies station on. It became a game for him to see if I could name the song and the artist, I was rather impressive I must say. So when the driving test came and I totally bombed the parallel parking part, he told me that he would pass me but suggested that I not parallel park for a while, I listened and still don't. So I would like to attribute my drivers license to oldies music, may you live on forever.

These are just a few of the small things that make everyday an adventure for Laura Payne.

Consolation

Well I'm sure you will all be sad to know that Janet and I lost first place by half a game, and the trophy's were pretty cool this year too. Oh well, I imagine there are more important things than winning bowling trophy's (I'm still trying to figure out what) and I love it all the same. Janet and I always have the best time together, I will miss her so much next season as she goes off to nursing school, ah how quickly they grow.  But I have been fortunate enough to recruit another wonderful friend to play with me. And so another great season begins.

I had to throw this next picture in because it struck me as funny that even with this huge group of kids, this is not even half of the grandkids in Darren's family. So double the amount of kids in this picture and you will have an idea of the mass chaos when the whole family actually gets together. Its pretty rare that we actually get all 9 Camp/Payne kids together but when we do just imagine the raucous party that ensues. You gotta love big families right?

Well, it is now days until school starts up again, and the kids are so excited. What I'm not really sure of is if they are excited because of school or because the summer is over and that means they can play wii again. I decided last April that we were going to take a hiatus from the wii this summer, I figured there has to be better things to do with our summer right? I refuse to believe we bought a house with a yard for nothing.  And so ever since I hid the wii games Mason has been asking, "Mom, when is summer going to be over?" He has not however been pining away the last few months, they have been forced to find other things to do, and I think they have had a good time. So at the surface I may seem to be the worlds meanest mom, and although sometimes I DO deserve that title, I think a video game free summer has been a tradition I may keep in the years to come. SSHH, dont tell my kids, they may never look forward to summers again. Ah mmooomm!