Football.

I have a football player...a tackle football player!!

Noah absolutely loves it!

His first game is this weekend.  I'm pretty excited for him!  I asked him a couple of days ago if he was nervous for his first game.  He said "kind-of".  I asked him why and he said "cause it hurts when you get tackled".  Obviously, it doesn't hurt too bad because he gets right back up and continues to play.

He is tuff!!!

Baby Cody.

Cody is now 3 weeks old and his siblings can't get enough of him!  I will just say that he isn't lacking any love!!!  Noah thinks it is so cool having a brother, while Kyra seems to ask me non-stop "where is your baby?".  I always remind her that she could ask where her little brother is, but without prevail, she still asks me where my baby is:)  One of these days, she will get it. They are both so willing to help out with the new baby in the house.  But amongst all the help, having three kids is a huge adjustment!!

Oppositional Children!

I feel as if my prayers have been answered, and I cry right now because I'm happy.  For the past 6 months or so, I have had this constant nag to get control of my boy Noah.  Our 10 year old son is exceptionally rude, grumpy and disrespectful and defiant at home.  School is a different story and always has been.  He is a wonderful student, a leader, teachers enjoy him and have great things to say about him.  They are always shocked when I share the difficulty that we experience at home.  None of this behavior is ever displayed at school.  He has many friends, plays sports and piano.  He is a welcome guest at play dates.  Parents of his friends often comment on his polite behavior.  Obviously, many convey to me of what a great kid he is, and I truly believe this!  I've always said that he's 85% great but the 15% that's hard, is absolutely grueling.  For the last couple of months, many ideas have gone through my head, of what might be triggering this at home....I have thought to myself that maybe we need to go and talk with a counselor.  Maybe he needs to talk with someone or maybe I need to go talk with someone.  I'm not someone who looks at counseling as a bad thing.  We all need counsel in our lives, whether it be from a friend, from a professional, or simply from our mother's.  We all need someone we can trust to talk with.  I have also thought alot about how our situation, use to be, before meeting my wonderful husband Brandon.  I have also considered that his behavior could be coming from him being an only child for so long, and not having a stable father figure in his life.  In which, I know he has always had stable people in his life, especially ones he has been able to look up to.  So, I know for a fact that this isn't it.  But who knows....this is why I have had my uncontrollable nag, because I don't want him treating me like this anymore!  I've been tired of it for a long time and just thought that this was his personality and who he is.  I should have delt with it along time ago, but I guess when you don't know....you just don't know.  Thia is the website I found to be very helpful.  What a relief it has been knowing that other parents are dealing with the same issues as I am.  Noah is truly a wonderful kid!  I Love Him So Much!!!

Grammie & Papa's House

We spent the day over at Grammie and Papa's house.  The kids helped Papa plant the garden and some flowers.  Kyra had a blast playing all day outside with Calan.  Especially since the kids don't get to play outside during the summer.  The whether has been getting nicer and so it was one of those days that they got to spend all day outside.  It was pretty difficult getting my kids packed up for the ride home, as if they hadn't been there long enough.  We all had fun!  Thanks for letting us spend the day with you!!

Silly Bandz

Silly Bandz are the latest fad in kids collectibles.  I found this out the other day when Noah came home from school wanting to go buy some.  Silly bandz are rubber bracelets that are shaped like animals and objects.  I guess they aren't as bad as some of the fads we had growing up.  Just to name a few...slap bracelets, garbage pail kids, pogs.  Wow, those where the days:)  It is just so much fun being a kid, isn't it??  I took Noah to the store yesterday to buy a pack.  Kyra seemed to love them just as much, if not more:)  Noah can't wait to wear them to school and trade them with his friends.

Fourth Grade.

Holy Crap!!  I have a 4th grader...

Noah's first day of school is today.  I couldn't tell you if he was more excited to see his friends again, or more excited to wear his new shoes.  I'm sure it was alittle of both...

Mrs. Tate is his teacher this year.  I don't know much about her, but I am sure she will be great for him.  I'm excited to see what this school year brings.

Mr. Balloon Man!

Eric never ceases to amaze me....He has all kinds of hidden talents up his sleeves!

Balloon Pro, Balloon Man, Balloon Twister, Balloon Artist

Whatever you wana call him. Noah, Pace, Kyra, and Cade all got to enjoy Eric twisting balloons for them.  This was a first for all of us.  Noah got a motorcycle, Pace got a monkey, Kyra got a teddy bear, Cade got a dog.

From what I hear, Eric did balloon twisting at restaurants way back in the day.  This was his job throughout High school.  He said it made pretty dang good money, and that's all that counts:)  Right?

My kids are so lucky to have an Uncle like him!  He is great!  Eric taught Noah how to make a lizard.

Eric didn't forget about us girls...He twisted me a heart with 2 love birds and Beth got a pretty flower.

The kids also got swords & parrots.  Kyra's sword was purple, how cute is that!!!

Done Away w/ "Slug-Bugs".

I picked up Noah today from being at Nick's.  He has been there for two weeks which has been the longest he has ever stayed with him.  It was hard not being able to see him.  Noah really had a hard time being gone for so long!  He really missed us, it was quite sad:(


On the was home, Noah and I played the new version of "Slug-Bug".  We played PT Bruiser.  Everytime you spot a PT Cruiser, you get to slug someone in the arm.  Since you never see Volkswagen Beetles around anymore, I guess kids have come up with this new version.  It was pretty fun and I never realized how many PT Cruisers are on the road, especially red ones.  Personally I think they are pretty ugly, and I would never own one, but obviously alot of people like them.  Glad Noah is home and we get to enjoy him again!!!

Noah's Lego Gym.

Here is a picture of what Noah decided to build today.  He thought he was so clever, and I like to think so too.  I hadn't seen him for awhile and just as I noticed this, he came down the stairs with his sweet lego gym.  It had two yoga people, a lego dude bench pressing, a lego dude rowing, a lego girl arm curling, and a bicyclist.  I loved it!

Day Camp 2010.

Noah attended day camp for his first time this year.  I volunteered to be a leader, so I was able to go with him.  We both had lots of fun!

1000 Pages.

Noah has set another reading goal.

He read 800 pages throughout the summer last year.  This summer he is stepping it up, and said that he wants to read 1000.

I know he can do it!  All he will need is a little more reading time on his part and a little less playing time.  haha:)

The 1000 pages doesn't include his daily scripture study.  Right now he is reading "The Light Thief " by Rick Riordan.  It is book one from the series Percy Jackson & The Olympians.  They recently came out with a movie of the first book.

First Book of Nephi

Noah and I finished the first book of Nephi this morning.  It was exciting to see that we are getting somewhere.  He loves chapters 3-5 where it tells about the story of Laban getting his head chopped off (as Noah would say) by Nephi so that he can obtain the plates.  Nephi must have been one great man, because I couldn't have done that even if I was told by the spirit.  It also makes me think just how important it really was that Nephi was to get these plates, because it wasn't an everyday occurrence where the spirit tells you to kill someone, let alone him being a ruler.

I'm amazed by how many visions Nephi and his father Lehi had.  The vision of the tree of life always seems to stick out.  Nephi and his family traveled in the wilderness with no food for their families.  All they had was a bow & an arrow and stones & slings.  Nephi's bow breaks and so they don't have food.  He makes himself a bow out of wood and a stick for his arrow.  Nephi built a boat and his brothers rebeled against him.  They tied him up and great storms came, and because of their wickedness, the compass stopped working.  His brothers repented and so they cut him free, because of this the liahona worked again.

Nephi was a righteous man with great faith.  I really enjoyed reading first Nephi.  Hopefully Noah continues to enjoy reading with me.

Noah's Journal.

Noah has seen me do some blogging and has shown some interest in it. He asked me a few months ago if he could have his own blog, and I thought no way. He doesn't know much about how to use a computer besides playing games on it.

So today, the question was brought up again...Mom, I really want my own blog so I can write about what I do? Well, I thought about it and then thought about it some more, and came to the conclusion that maybe it isn't a bad idea. He could write in his own journal and learn how to use a computer at the same time. He could also perfect his writing skills., and hey all in all it's paperless. Which to me....is a great thing.

Noah's journal is private, so if you are wanting to keep up with it, well I will just say that you will have to take that up with him:) I'm hoping this lasts longer than I think, but hey who knows he might become a devoted writer.

Scripture Study.

While I was sitting and listening to our last General Conference, what really stood out to me was how much we need to be teaching our children, so our children will be ready for the obstacles they will be faced with in their lives. It was as if I wasn't already having family pray or family home evening with my family, it was the fact that I haven't been having scripture study with my kids.

While growing up, my mom showed us the importance of daily scripture study. She would always read to us kids while we ate our breakfast before heading off to school. I know now that eventhough I hated sitting there and listening to my mom read something that I never really understood, that her hard work payed off and because of her hard work I know that it has made me a better person than what I would have been without it. Realizing that, I know that it is important to read to my kids and hopefully they will recognize how important daily scripture study is.

Let me just tell you how much Noah can understand. We have been reading the Book of Mormon together for the last month now, and he just is something else when it comes to knowing exactly what is going on. I sometimes think that he really is not my kid, I mean how can he be. When I was his age, it was just a bunch story's that didn't make sense and words that I couldn't even pronounce. Noah really is the exception.

I really enjoy reading to my kids and taking turns reading with Noah. I hope that I can continue reading with my kids, so they can gain a testimony of the scriptures and get to know who their savior is

New Living Quarters.

We have been living at our new place for about month now, and we don't miss our old house one bit! There are so many things we like about our new living quarters. Here are just a few...

1. The Extra Space
2. Our Neighbors
3. The Backyard
4. Our Ward
5. Closer to My Sisters
6. Closer to Noah's School

Noah loves having the stairs and he loves having shutters in his room. It's funny cause every time I walk in his room he has them open a different way. Kyra loves her new big bath tub. She adjusted to the move without any problems. So like I said...it's been a month and we still have a few boxes to unpack. Hopefully that is normal when it comes to unpacking. I'm tired of putting things away, so I took a break, hoping that they would either disappear or that someone else would finish unpacking them for me. But lately nothing ever gets done around here, if I don't do it! So that was some wishful thinking...

Brandon still needs to finish up the garage and I need to finish doing some decorating. Even though we don't now how long we will be here, this is our home for now and we love it!

London's Run.

It was cold!

Noah with his ribbon

I've been meaning to blog about this, but keep forgetting...so here it is!

I decided to include Noah in my running adventures.

I have been wanting Noah to set goals and not only set them but achieve them too. So I talked him into running London's 2 mile race with me and finishing it without walking. This would be a race that wasn't too tough for him but still something that he would need to practice at so that he would be able to finish it. Last November I had him start waking up earlier then the norm to run with me daily so that he would be able to finish the entire race.

He did it!
I could tell that he was proud of himself...he said to me once he crossed the finish line that he felt good and that he wants to do it again next year. This was a great experience for the both of us and something that the both of us will probably always do together!

I am so proud of him!!!

Girl Crazzzyツ

Noah admitted to me the other night that he is girl crazy....Ohhh no, I'm in trouble now! He said that he likes Kennedee Martinez and he thinks that she likes him too. I said oh really, so how do you know that she likes you too? He said that he over heard her talking about him....hehehe...isn't that so funny!!

FYI: This is between you and I, so don't go asking him about his girlfriendツ

Way Too Long.

WoW...It has been way too long since I posted last! I am still alive, for those that were wondering:) I will have to update my blog later...cause there is ohhh so much!

Life is busy for the Harrops!! Besides selling our house, being busy with Avid Off Road, and being a mother & wife....we are all good! I continue to count my many blessings! I was getting ready today and just began to cry. I have felt pretty overwhelmed lately, about whether or not Brandon and I were making the right decisions for our family. I now know that my Heavenly Father is aware of us, he loves us and wants the very best for my little tiny family!!! I definitely feel good about the things that will be happening, and I'm excited!

We had a buyer for our house, but the buyer dropped. So now it is back on the market, darn it! I'm tired of all this headache! Anyways, we will be moving to Gilbert, in about a month. We are going to rent from Beth and Eric for awhile. They needed a renter and so it worked out just perfect. We should be able to save and eventually be able to move into something bigger and something that works for the company. This house will be closer to Noah's school which will be nice:) I always hated driving him so dang far....but since I am so picky about his schooling, I had too.

Brandon will be quiting Toyota soon...Yeah! He is super excited and we are too! Avid is really picking up, and we aren't complaining:) It has been just 6 months since we started Avid and what a great experience this has been! For all those who haven't heard or are wondering what the heck Avid Off Road is. It's a off road fabrication company that we originally started for some extra income, but it has begun to take off and it is becoming more and more of a full time job for us. We recently purchased a Xiom system, so that we could offer powder coating to our customers. That is fun news!! Brandon just thought he was up to his ears, but now he really is.

The kids are all well, finally!! The flu has been crazzy this season! Ever since Kyra got back from our Halloween trip last October, she has been sick with ear infections. They just never have seem to go away with any of the antibiotics. She just finished her last medicine and if this medicine didn't work then they were going to put tubes in her ears. I took her in to see the doctor on Wednesday and got some great news! She is free of ear infections, Yeah! Noah is busy with school, trying to keep those grades up. Him and his homework keep us busy! I am so proud of him though, I never really have to study with him, he just seems to know it! It makes it alot more easier for me let me tell ya...He is still playing piano, and is getting better with every lesson! He can't wait for summer to be here, so he can play football.

As for me, busy has become my middle name. I'm trying to stay sane and be there for the kids and my hubby. I don't know how well I'm doing but I have almost lost my mind a few times, just ask my 9 year old. He will tell you how crazy his mother is:) I've been waking up at 5:20 every morning just so I can get some alone time in for myself. It has been working out pretty good. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I absolutely love to exercise. So that is just what I have been filling my alone time with, and I simply love it!!!

Shots¿?

I had picked Noah up from school and we where headed to the doctor. Noah needed to get 2 shots. He is always really good when it comes to shots and I never have to worry that he is going to flip out on me while at the doctors office. I guess that comes from going to the doctors all the time, at such a young age. While I was driving, Noah and I where talking about how he needed shots and how he wasn't scared. He mentioned how most of his friends hated getting shots and how he was so brave. Anyways, I will get to the point....

Noah asks "Mom, Promise you won't tell anyone?"

I responded with a quick, "yeah."

Noah responds, "Um...Shots really do hurt." He pauses, "I just hold my breath, until the nurse is done."

I smiled and said, "oh really, so your not scared..."

Noah with a smile on his face, "Yep, but you promised you wouldn't tell anyone, not even my friends at school."

I started laughing at that point. "Haha, I promise!"

Noah did great, with the shots, that is:) He is still a pain in the butt!! I s there any way to fix that ¿?

Joseph Noah.

For our ward Christmas party, the primary did a live nativity. Noah volunteered to be Joseph. He made a cute Joseph!