Jim and Me Plus Three

FHE Activity

2012-02-14T11:16:00.000-06:00

This is what we made for our FHE activity last night.

We all raced through it in teams, coming from opposite ends and meeting in the middle. It sure gets dark in there! Jim and Logan even bonked heads pretty good because they couldn't see each other. At one point I knew I was close to Alex because I could hear him giggling in front of me, but it took a while to find him. We've left it up for now because it was so much fun.

Another Dog Post

2012-02-14T11:10:00.000-06:00

This dog likes to lay in a very strange position. Check out his back legs.

I think he looks like a person laying on his stomach in a dog costume.

Temper Temper

2012-02-07T15:54:00.000-06:00

We haven't encountered the 'Terrible Two's' in our family thus far, but I'm thinking it might be coming this time. Alex has a temper. A few weeks ago he split his head open by throwing himself into the corner of a cupboard. We actually super glued the cut shut! Last week he threw himself into the corner of a door and gave himself this bump. It looks pretty bad in the picture, but it was worse in person. It was raised half an inch within seconds after he did it, and that purple area was very dark. I'm not the freak out kind of mom (hence the do it yourself super glue job) so I just kept an eye on him afterward. He didn't cry long after he hurt himself; I think the injury snapped him out of his tantrum! Then he smiled for the camera like this. No signs of concussion, and the swelling subsided pretty quickly (though it's not gone), so he's good.

Elway

2012-02-07T15:47:00.000-06:00

As in John Elway. He even has a Broncos collar, though I'm NOT a football fan. (My family members all cringe as they read this...I know.) I won't hold his name against him though. This is the puppy my sister brought us a week and a half ago.

He's decided that I'm his favorite (even though I'm the one who reprimands him when he pees in the house) and is always with me (except when he pees in the house because he's in hiding). At the moment he's taking a nap at my feet. He's a very energetic little mop who likes to steal toys and jump on anyone who has food. I have to say these are good qualities. He's effectively taught the kids to pick up their toys, and Alex to stay at the table when eating. It's great. He also takes a nap during quiet time. He's figured out that he can pee near the drain in our basement and not get in trouble (because once I reprimand him he rarely pees again in the same spot, and I figure he needs one safe spot indoors until he learns to let me know he needs to go outside). Potty training isn't complete, but he's making progress. We're having fewer accidents each day. He even had one day without an accident!

Here's one more picture. I actually had a very difficult time getting a picture of him because he wanted to play with me. In the spring, we plan to groom his 4 inch fur; maybe we'll be able to see his eyes then.

Saturday

2012-02-07T15:31:00.000-06:00

The kids had a fun day on Saturday. Jim took them to the Home Depot where they did a free kids' workshop. These happen on the first Saturday of every month, and we've been impressed with the good projects each time. This was the first time Annie was allowed to go too. Logan looks forward to it for weeks. Awesome.

Jim left again for a meeting, and I babysat some kids for a few hours. In other words, the kids had a playdate. More awesome.

Jim came home briefly, then left again for an activity at the church. I let the kids put on their aprons and help me make bread. They LOVE to help me cook. (I hope that continues when they can actually be REAL help.) Most awesome.

Sunday Photo Shoot

2012-01-30T17:00:00.000-06:00

This series of photos started because I thought Annie looked so pretty before church yesterday, and it snowballed from there.

My pretty girl.

Again.

And again.

I promised her she could make a silly face. I think this picture would be my favorite if she was smiling.

Alex was at my knees trying to smile for the camera, so he got in on the action.

Then Logan wanted his picture taken too.

He also wanted a silly one.

Then Alex was sticking out his tongue for a picture like he saw his siblings do, and I tried to get them all lined up doing it together. Alex lost patience for it before I could snap the picture and Logan ended up smiling.

Fun Weekend

2012-01-30T16:52:00.001-06:00

This past weekend, my sister and her kids came to visit. I've been craving some family time, so it was well timed! We relaxed a lot, played games, and went sledding twice. Fun fun. I really enjoyed their visit.

This picture is actually from the weekend before, but it suits my purpose since we were all there again this weekend. We have a big sledding hill just behind our house. It's VERY fun.

The kids went sledding without the adults on Friday. Here they are ready to go. Also, note the dog. He's the real reason they came out to visit. Danielle needed someone to take care of him for a while and we're it. We have him until further notice (or permanently if we decide we're attached). I can't deny he's a sweet little thing, and even Jim has enjoyed him (despite his supposed dislike for small dogs). The kids are IN LOVE and are very willing to do their share for him (for now anyway). Now if he'll just start relieving himself OUTSIDE instead of in my house, I'll be very happy. I'll give him a break since he is a puppy, but can't wait to have him trained.

Mariah

Bryce

Aubrey and Elway

We ate well this weekend. Mariah helped me make Balkan meatballs the first night (yum), and Aubrey helped with waffles and green smoothies the second night. Everyone ate everything both nights, so I'd say it all came out well. :) We also had fun treats: homemade hot chocolate ice cream floats (my invention thank you very much) and s'mores roasted in our fireplace.

Bryce and Logan had a blast together all weekend.

Alex was pretty funny the night we had meatballs. He decided he really liked them. Every time he wanted another one, he'd slide his plate to the middle of the table and wait patiently until someone gave him more.

One night we had a hilarious game of charades. After last summer, it's becoming a family favorite. We play in teams, and the teams work together to act out their own idea. Everyone fights to be on Jim's team because he's so good at it. I've finally discovered my husband's creative side! So fun!

After sledding on Saturday, I caught Bryce reading to Logan. They were so cute together.

I can't say enough how much I enjoyed our weekend. Thanks for coming to visit Danielle!

Kids Say

2012-01-27T11:29:00.002-06:00

Upon finding that Annie had hidden her fairy dress dishonestly I asked her, "Annie, did you ask me to have the dress up clothes?" Annie, "Yes." Me, "What did I say?" Annie, "No...(pauses and her face lights up)...Was that a good hiding place?"

Logan after assembling a flattened box, "Look! I just put a box back to life!"

After I said something about Annie's pretty sparkly eyes, she responded, "I didn't have any sparkles in my eyes. Just dirt."

Logan, "What is sprinting?" Me, "Running as fast as you can." Logan, "On your legs?" Me, "Yes." Logan with a puzzled expression, "Why do you have to pay your Sprint bill?"

Logan, "Almost everything has shadows." Annie, "Just not Heavenly Father of Jesus or the sun." (She inferred that by herself based on the sources of light.)

Annie, "I want my sticker on for all the days, even when I have kids."

SNOW!

2012-01-19T21:11:00.000-06:00

We've lived here in Iowa for almost a year now, and up until a week ago hadn't seen any of the snow we'd heard so much about. Apparently, it's been a very strange winter. Anyhow, one week ago we finally had our first real snowfall. It snowed more the next day, stuck around for a few days, and then it snowed again. We're loving it! (Especially since the snowplows are abundant around here...our street is always plowed early in the morning, and even little streets eventually get plowed!)

We played in the snow the very first day. Here are some after pictures. I always love the wild hair, pink cheek look.

A couple of nights ago, we went with Jim to clear snow at the church. I was totally preoccupied with a grumpy Alex the whole time, but the other two really tried to help! I loved watching them with their shovels, and then later trying to dodge the spray of snow from the snow blower! It was freezing, but a good family activity nevertheless.

Today I let Annie and Logan play in it again while Alex napped. In the first picture, they were eating a large snowball between the two of them.

She's all sorts of pink. I bet she won't get lost in a snow storm. :)

Logan has been working hard to earn money because he wants to fly on a real airplane, so I gave him this job to earn some cash. He worked really hard! That shovel is quite heavy and very awkward for him. He cleared the whole deck, though, and earned $5. It took him over an hour.

Once A Month Cooking

2012-01-19T20:58:00.001-06:00

This is my new favorite thing. A friend introduced it to me, and we jumped on the idea because I very much DISLIKE cooking every night. Three and a half hours later, we had 12 homemade meals in the freezer. They were all new recipes, too! We actually had a really enjoyable time working together in the kitchen, and were super impressed with the Once A Month Cooking book. It gives you a shopping list, and then step by step directions to make the meals most efficiently. We only did a 2 week menu plan for our first try, but I'm sure we'll work up to the 4 week plan. The best part is that I haven't had to cook all week, and we haven't had sandwiches for dinner. I have thoroughly enjoyed letting go of the nightly battle to figure out what to make and then to work up the will power to make it. Instead I look at my menu choices (AKA my freezer) the night before and just thaw it out. YES!

I took a picture at the beginning before we'd made much of a mess. We kept up with the dishes, though, and it really wasn't hard. After we were done, we went out to eat as a reward (and so we wouldn't have to spend any more time in the kitchen).

My Loves

2012-01-19T20:50:00.001-06:00

Who can resist a sleeping baby? (Who's almost not a baby...)

I can't resist these blue eyes.

This little guy has a temper, but his tantrums are so funny and dramatic!

I can't resist round tummies either.

My darling...looks like you're enjoying your treat.

Check out those ~~bones~~ muscles!

Kids Say

2012-01-06T17:45:00.003-06:00

Beware the shock factor on some of these...

As we were getting in the car after having been at the YMCA, Annie informed me, "I'm not wearing underwear." ?!! (Thankfully she didn't tell anyone else that...)

Logan, "I couldn't wipe all that poop with the toilet paper so I used that towel and it worked!" Me, "What towel?" Logan suddenly looking guilty, "The one I could reach under the sink." (Meaning the hand towel.)

Logan, "I wish we were the Petersen's." Me, "Why?" Logan, "Because we would have six people in our family!"

Logan after saying something that made us laugh, "Don't text that to somebody." (He's totally caught on to how I keep track of the things they say.)

Logan, "I wish I was twins with Annie. I wish we were triplets. So we would all have the same birthday. Then we would be March March March all at the same time!"

Annie after sipping her smoothie, "I have a brain freeze in my tummy."

Logan was explaining to us that there are various types of ambulances (ambliances in his language). "The regular ambliance takes people with all kinds of sicknesses. The medical ambliance takes kids and babies that have swallowed metal or batteries. The really important ambliance takes mommies that are pregnant with babies. Then there's this other ambliance that takes the FBRSM. There's an ambliance that takes grownups that are really sick and hurt when there's a tornado and fire and they'are in their house...even kids and babies." (I'm dying to know what the FBRSM is, but he can't seem to tell me.)

Annie in her bedtime prayer, "...and please bless us to know what happened..." That's all she said, and left us all mystified.

Annie in a different bedtime prayer, "...and please bless the food. OH!! NOT bless the food..."
Then the next night, "...and please bless the food for tomorrow..."

Logan, "When regular hunters hunt chickens, does the bottom of the gun stab the chicken?"

Logan during a slumber party with Jim, "Dad, I was actually going to sleep down here by myself...because Annie is a terror."

One morning Logan called to me from his room. So I went in there and he said, "I'm going to tell you the truth. My throat feels like it is going to throw up."

Annie, "I don't like that smell!" Me, "What smell?" Annie pointing at her bottom and wrinkling her nose, "That smell. I put my fingers in there."

Annie, "I told my mom that I was going to throw up, but I was teasing."

We had our first request for an electronic devise recently. Annie, "I want a Kindle." *pause* "I have a little Kindle. It used to have papers in it. I still have the papers."

Logan laying on our bed for nap said, "It smells like Dad. Why does it smell like Dad?" Me, "Because you're laying on his pillow." Logan, "I don't like that smell."

Logan to me, "Your mom doesn't have a tv. *pause* Oh yes she does! But she mostly sleeps."

Some more baby names that the kids came up with before everything happened: Tinkerbell, Rapunzel, and Fleecy

Annie after waking up, "The whole thing of me is sweaty!"

Logan, "I'm the fastest runner I've ever seen! Watch my legs pump themselves!"

Logan, "Everytime I see a dump truck parked with its engine on, it drives me crazy."

Me to Logan, "When did you get so big?" Logan, "On August 31st."

Annie, "What if I poop in my underwear again?" Me, "You won't." Annie, "Why? Because Minnie Mouse will be sad?"

Logan, "If spinosaurs were chasing us we would have to kick our butt and run...a football run!"

Annie sharing her grievances to my mom on the phone, "I wanted Daddy to read the yittle duckling book. I thought he could, but apparently he could not!"

Logan, "Dad! My brain is bigger than yours!"

Annie's bedtime prayer, "...and please help us to sleep longer and to eat breakfast..."

Alex was being really cute copying Annie one day. She'd been saying, "On your mark, get set, go!" He over and over again was saying, "Set, go!"

The kids were playing hospital one day and I was their patient. Logan said I had carbon binoxide poisoning and it was under my tongue, but would come out if I threw up.

In preparation for bed I said to Annie, "Go potty." She replied, "I did!! I went potty at lunchtime!" Me, "That was a long time ago." Annie, "But it was today!!"

The kids were drawing pictures and Annie says, "I'm drawing Cami's underwear!" (She was referring to her aunt, who she was drawing as a baby.) Logan was working on pictures of Alex from when he was in the womb, "I'm making his umbilican cord!"

Logan, "Mom, am I sort of a scientist?" He was manipulating objects to see what was heaviest.

I also want to update Alex's talking progress. He definitely isn't following the same pattern as our other kids. He doesn't actually say very many words, but seems to understand more than other toddlers his age. We were thinking up the various words he does say, and were surprised to realize that he doesn't name any objects. In fact, his only nouns are, momma and aa-aa for Annie. Otherwise the things he says are: hey!, hi, whoa, okay, oh, uh-huh, uh-uh, I did that!, You okay?, Set go! He babbles a lot, with all the right expressions and expects us to understand him. So he's definitely trying to communicate verbally. That's all I can think of now. He might have a couple more, but it sure isn't a very large vocabulary. It cracks me up that he has three phrases already. I wonder if he's going to start talking in sentences one day instead of single words?

The best thing that any member of my family has said to me lately actually came from Jim, though. One night he informed me that living with me is like being in a cheesy musical where the characters suddenly burst into nonsensical song. I'm that character apparently. (All in good humor of course.)

New Year's

2012-01-02T14:38:00.001-06:00

We had a fun New Year's Eve at home. This was the first year we let the kids know it was a holiday and they were quite excited. We started the day by doing a lot of family work: laundry, cleaning, and putting away the Christmas decorations (my living room feels so empty and clean!). Everyone pitched in and then we made a deal with the kids that they could stay up late if they took afternoon naps. They were very willing and we had a nice long quiet time. Aah! The fun began when they woke up. We had a special dinner (but not a fancy one) of mini-burgers, smoothies, and homemade potato chips. Watch out Lay's! Jim has figured you out! The kids helped Jim make the chips while I made the rest. I actually enjoyed working in the kitchen since everyone was helping. :) Then we watched the kids play for a while (enjoyment in itself at times) before starting a puzzle my sister had sent us for Christmas. We actually stayed up past midnight this year thanks to that puzzle! Logan and Annie stayed up the entire time, and Logan talked our ears off every minute of it! It was fun, and we were good and tired the next day. It's a good thing we now have church at 1:00. (Logan actually fell asleep during sacrament meeting.) I can now say I've been awake for the New Year at least once during my married life. :)

Twins

2012-01-02T14:25:00.000-06:00

This picture was taken the day after Christmas and these cute boys are both in their Christmas jammies. I babysit this other little guy every day; he and Alex are the same age and I now know what it would be like to have twin toddlers. :) Anyway, their favorite thing to do together is to climb on the table, look out the window together, and giggle. It's hilarious. They crawled over to me when they saw I had the camera out and Alex "smiled for the camera".

Christmas

2012-01-02T14:15:00.001-06:00

Christmas started for us on Thanksgiving. Almost every day afterward we did something Christmas-ey and we had Christmas music playing all the time. We had several baking days, delivered lots of cookies and presents, and best of all found opportunities to serve. Two days before Christmas we hosted a Christmas party at our house. That is becoming a fun tradition, and I once again forgot that I owned a camera during it. :) On Christmas Eve we had to cancel our plans because Alex had thrown up several times that morning. That was a double disappointment because this was also our first year not going to my mom's house for Christmas Eve. So I was missing family in addition. It wasn't feeling at all like the holiday to me. BUT...we did remedy that situation. We sang Christmas carols (which helped a lot) and then we did something I knew my family was doing without us: played a game. The kids were thrilled to learn an adult game (Rummikub), although we didn't play until the very late hours of the evening as in years past. After that we stayed up quite late reading a Christmas book (The Christmas Barn...a good one) before the kids very willingly went to bed.

Christmas morning found healthy kids who all slept in! I really thought this would be the year they'd wake early, but I guess we wore them out sufficiently the night before. Jim and I were the first up and even had to wake them so we'd have time to eat and open stockings before church. After a simple, but yummy breakfast of smoothies and biscuits with gravy, we got everyone ready for church. Then we opened stockings.

That is, after I took these pictures. I've included this one because I love how Alex smiles for the camera. He is so funny.

Stockings were fun and we had just the right amount of time to enjoy them before it was time to go.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions are the letters that Jim and I put in each other's stockings each year. Writing his always helps me refocus on how much I appreciate him, and reading mine from him is such a sweet boost.

Annie and Logan were surprisingly good for church (Jim had to take Alex out). They even sat quietly by themselves when I went up to sing with the choir.  We had a nice sacrament meeting and then the rest of the usual classes were cancelled for the day.

After church we opened presents. I was a little worried that this would be the year our kids acted spoiled over their presents because we had a LOT under the tree.  We've never had all our presents in one place because they'd always receive most of their gifts a few at a time at our various family celebrations. So I was very happy with my kiddos this Christmas. They were very excited about each and every gift, and we even had to pull them away several times to open more.

The first thing they wanted to open was the large package my dad had sent us. It was a croquet set and we're excited to use it when the weather permits.

After that we passed out the presents one at a time, and I didn't take many more pictures. The kids were given a nice variety of small toys, games, puzzles, and clothing. My gift to Jim was a pile of presents to open: quite a few things he needed plus a giftcard to a bookstore (his fun gift). Jim gave me a fun gift, a Kindle, and I've already read several books on it. We're such nerds. (As I type this, Jim is at the bookstore spending his giftcard.) :)

Our special present to the kids were framed pictures of their favorite temples. Logan has been placing his all over the house so he can see it displayed in whatever room he is in.

Long story short: Jim is becoming a salaried employee for John Deere in two more weeks, and his welcome gift arrived just before Christmas. So I saved it for him to open that day. I love it.

I was planning to make Annie an apron for Christmas this year, but then I was so sick followed by the miscarriage that I didn't make time to do it. However, I was able to choose a free item after hosting a 31 party for a friend. So I chose this cute little apron and embroidered the A on it after it arrived. She's excited to have her own apron now.

After presents, we relaxed a lot and played with the things we'd opened. We've enjoyed the family games and puzzles we were given this year.

Jim's mom made the kids pajamas, so they all wore them to bed that night, and I got another cute picture.

Plus a silly picture.

Generosity

2011-12-22T20:26:00.000-06:00

We've had some sweet experiences with Logan during the last couple of weeks. The first one happened two weeks ago. We were getting ready to go somewhere and I asked the kids to put on their tennis shoes. Annie got hers and informed us that they hurt her feet. It wasn't the first time she'd complained, so I went to see if I had bigger shoes for her. Much to my surprise, not only did I not have bigger tennis shoes for her, but I actually had no shoes larger than the ones she is currently wearing. That's not a big deal, just a first for us, so I briefly mentioned to Jim that we needed to think about getting her a few pairs of shoes soon. That's all that was said and we weren't worried about it. Some minutes later, Logan approached me with his piggy bank and asked me to help him open it. I asked him why and he told me that he wanted to get his money out to buy Annie shoes because she needed them. I didn't want to deny him an opportunity to be generous, so we opened it up for him and he started pulling money out. By the time he decided he had enough, he'd pulled out almost $4, which was most of his life savings to date. :) So off to the store we went, and found two pairs (though not tennis shoes) at a great price. Logan gave his money to the cashier himself, and Jim made up the difference. We were so pleased with our boy that day. (In my defense because I picked them out, those pink mary jane's are very sturdy shoes and will match most of Annie's mostly pink wardrobe. I really do think she'll get a lot of use out of them...probably more than tennis shoes even.)

The second experience happened on a Sunday. Jim and I were talking about a family that we'd like to do something nice for, and Logan heard us say that things were hard for them. Logan has been telling me for weeks that he wanted to give something of his to someone in need, but at that point hadn't hit on someone who could use his toys or other things he thought of to give away. He finally figured it out! So, he got his piggy bank out again, and started dumping the rest of its contents. He took the rest of his money out (about $1) and decided he wanted to give all but a few cents to the family. He said he was keeping a few coins to help our family (but not himself). Annie then followed his example and donated the majority of her piggy bank. We did indeed give their donation to that family (though not quite in the same form), and once again were very pleased with our boy (and our girl). He taught us a good lesson with these two experiences. Our young child essentially gave all of his money to help others in need, and showed us how generous we should strive to be.

Twue Wove, That Bwessed Awangement...

2011-12-21T12:23:00.001-06:00

...that dweam within a dweam...

Today we get the chance to look back at the last seven years. I can honestly say that I love him more now than I did then! It's amazing to look at all the changes and experiences we've had in just seven years. I can't believe how much we've grown.

Happy Anniversary sweetheart!

Time to Move On!

2011-12-19T15:21:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd post an update here. After four days of thinking I could miscarry any minute, I finally did this morning. It was 4.5 hours of labor pain. The first couple of hours were manageable, though quite painful, and the last couple were absolutely miserable. I never had a break from the contractions the last two hours; they went back and forth between very painful and excrutiating. The contractions were much worse than with my first miscarriage. Thankfully it was all over about half an hour before the kids woke up and it went as smooth as possible. I'm glad it was relatively short, but it further confirmed to me that I never want to have a baby without an epidural! I am in AWE of women who have natural births! I can definitely see the advantage to being at home, though. As compared to having a baby in the hospital, I was much more comfortable on my couch without being hooked up to an IV and other tubes.

I am very happy with the timing of this. It started well before Jim had to leave for work, so he was able to be here with me the whole time, and the kids didn't have to see me in pain. Today has been a good day to be an invalid since we didn't have anything planned. I'm feeling like if I can get enough rest today, that I'll be back to normal tomorrow. Then we can really enjoy this holiday week! I'm so glad to be able to move on now.

Not So Happy News

2011-12-15T11:15:00.000-06:00

I debate about making this post even as I write it, but at the same time I want it known since we'd so widely announced our pregnancy. We've learned that I'm going to miscarry. About a week ago, I woke up without nausea or exhaustion and immediately felt like something was wrong because I never feel that good during my first trimester. I've had a strong feeling since that day that I was going to miscarry, and today we had that confirmed. Interestingly, development stopped probably on the same day I began to feel worried. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father prepared me for this news, and grateful that I can relax and allow things to take their course in the comfort of my own home without worry. I've been through this before and really am not scared at all. Now it's just a matter of waiting. I actually feel more emotionally calm now that I have this confirmation. I'm very disappointed. I used to think that the more kids you had, the easier it would be to be patient for the subsequent ones. I've learned that I'm just the opposite. I want each one more intensely than the last and I'll admit that this miscarriage has already been more difficult than the first. I'm a very open person, as anyone who knows me is aware of, and talking about this doesn't bother me at all. It's not a subject to walk on eggshells about, for me anyway. On the positive side, I have been counting my blessings this week and that has really helped. I am very richly blessed and my life is good and full.

Children's Museum

2011-12-13T16:32:00.001-06:00

As one of the prizes for their summer reading program, the kids all received a pass for free admission to a nearby children's museum. We'd heard good things about the museum, and the passes were going to expire at the new year, so we went recently. Considering it's $7 for admission for everyone (even Alex), I'd say we had a good deal for only spending $14 to take the whole family...and we stayed for 5 hours. We definitely got our money's worth.

There was a pretend children's hospital with ambulance. Annie and Alex made a beeline for that first. Oh, and before I get too deep in the pictures, I will point out that this was was one of those activities where the kids weren't at all interested in looking at me when I called their names. Plus they were moving non-stop, so there's a lot of blur. In the ambulance...

Logan headed to the pretend grocery store first, and after a few minutes the rest of us joined him.

Annie had the amazing bottomless pit cart! She made good choices, though; that's a LOT of fruit and vegetables, plus a turkey on the bottom.

Logan was meticulous with what he put in his cart. He and Jim went through adding up the costs and being aware of how much play money Logan had to spend.

Jim rang up the kids. I loved it.

Next we headed back over to the pretend children's hospital. Logan and Annie were very much into taking care of the newborn babies. (That's their favorite pretend right now that I'm pregnant.) Here Annie was being so cute trying to put a diaper on the baby.

After dragging the kids away from the hospital (with a promise to return) we found a room with various cool tracks. There were some golfball roller coasters, a train table, and this pinewood derby track. The kids were even able to assemble and take apart the cars. Surprisingly, Annie spent a VERY long time working on the cars while her brothers went from activity to activity.

Our next stop was the aerospace room. Logan couldn't wait to get up in the big plane and try on the goggles.

Jim and Logan did their flight simulator. (Annie did it later with Jim.) That was quite lengthy, but I stayed in there with the other kids the whole time. It was a rather large area and I even lost a kid once or twice... Actually, that happened several times throughout the day. I'm glad it wasn't extremely crowded.

Alex really liked these little planes.

We then visited the Lego room, farm room, pretend pizza parlour, and the music room. I didn't think to take any pictures, but the kids really enjoyed those rooms too. We made a short visit to the drama room, and the kids wouldn't LET me take pictures. They were too busy trying on costumes. This is the only quick poor shot I took.

And the LAST room. It was an art room with all sorts of supplies available. We painted, glued, cut, colored, etc... Considering we'd been there for HOURS by this time, I was really surprised how much attention they gave their art in here. I had to peel them away.

We allowed the kids to briefly visit their favorite two rooms one final time: the track room and the hospital. Alex was being really cute hauling around one of those baby dolls that were half his size.

One final stop at the bathroom, and we were DONE. If we lived closer, I'd almost consider getting one of their memberships. I'm pretty sure my kids could have played in any one of those rooms for hours. I really enjoyed watching their creative play; it was a nice family outing.

Christmas Kickoff

2011-11-30T14:51:00.000-06:00

We did celebrate Thanksgiving, though it was more of a Christmas kickoff in my mind. :) The day before we prepped most of the food. We had all the normal fixings, and ate well, but the best thing we ate was the treat we had the day before. I was making a big pumpkin pie, per Jim's request, and since I don't like pumpkin pie I decided to make a few mini apple pies. The kids helped me make them, and they came out super cute and delicious. I only made a dozen and we devoured them straight out of the oven on Wednesday.

Immediately after Thanksgiving dinner (no pictures) we put up our Christmas tree. Then Annie crawled under it and promptly knocked it over.

Then we had a big family nap. Aah! We spent the evening decorating the tree and listening to Christmas music.

Ta da! We have several clumps of ornaments at about 2 feet high, and several very bare spots at that same height.

Over the past few days, the bottom portion of our tree has been un-decorated several times, and then Logan helps re-decorate it which means the clumps are ever growing and moving.

Kids Say

2011-11-26T19:22:00.002-06:00

I was encouraging Alex to use his spoon during a meal instead of just holding it and Logan piped up trying to make a joke, "He thinks it's just to cuddle with?"

Logan, "So acorns have peanuts in them for us to eat."

Annie's justification for being on the kitchen counter, "I'm not worried that I'm going to fall."

Annie, "What color hair do I have?" Me, "Blonde." Annie, "No, I have gray hair."

Logan, "Dad, I am not sad that you lost my balloon on our trip to Colorado. I'm not mad about that anymore." (This was 3 months afterward.)

Annie, "I like humongous food!"

Logan telling a story inspired by the fact that Jim had just eaten a spicy bite of jalapeno, "Have you ever heard of the witch pepper? Wanna hear what this pepper was called? The witch ghost pepper. Seriously Dad. This was really hot. He ate the whole pepper in one bite and his mouth was on fire and there were flames in his brain. And he told his parents that he needed to go to the hostipal so they took him to the hostipal." 'pause' "Do ghosts eat ghost peppers?" 'pause' "And that was a true story Mom."
Me, "I'm recording this bud."
Logan, "Why?"
Me, "For your posterity."
Logan, "What's posterity?
Me, "Your kids and grandkids."
Logan, "You're texting that to my prosperity?!!"
Then a little later after we'd corrected his word, "Mom am I your posterity?"

Logan, "Mom, are you an Allison or an Allidaughter?"

Logan was running around yelling, "Valitation!" When we asked him what it meant this was his reply, "It means you throw stuff in the air in a parade. And it means you throw stuff in the air at Christmas. We're pretending we're throwing stuff in the air that will make us remember Jesus' birth."

Being silly I said to Annie, "Bite the wall." Annie, "I can't." Me, "Why not?" Annie, "Because I don't have enough teeth!"

Logan, "Do you want to know how long I will love you? I will love you for 21 summers and 23 64 years."

Annie, "I'm a meal, but I'm a people meal." Logan, "I'm a loke. I'm a deer head fake deer. I'm a deer beside me. I'm a block chopper."

Logan, "You have to starve if you're hungry."

Logan, "I have an idea for when Joseph Smith is alive again. If he lives in a house that doesn't have lightbulbs, I will put some lightbulbs in so he won't have to use candles anymore."

I asked the kids what baby names they thought would be good and Logan had one that I thought was funny: Rainbow.

Logan, "Mom!! We just ate alfresco!" (He was using it correctly and was very excited to realize it.)

Logan, "I feel my blood! I feel my blood taking water to my brain!"

2011-11-20T15:06:00.000-06:00

Four Things

2011-11-15T19:13:00.001-06:00

First: two pictures of a cutie.

Second: a Christmas project. I figure I can share this one since he's young enough that I doubt he looks at my blog. I made a pair of pajama pants for my 7 year old nephew. Then because I had just enough fabric left, I made him a pillow case to match.

Third: Alex's first slumber party with Daddy. Jim has a slumber party with Annie and Logan every Friday night, and he decided Alex was old enough finally. I hear it wasn't the most restful night.

Fourth: A Saturday raking leaves. We had a major carpet of leaves in our backyard, so we decided to take care of them last weekend. It was a good workout!

LOTS of leaves!

We decided to throw the kids in the big pile, but I wasn't expecting Jim to throw them quite so high. Thankfully she wasn't hurt, but she didn't like the fall on this one.

After a lot of work (we've learned a lesson for next year) this was our final pile. Hopefully the truck will come soon to take them away...before they all blow back into our yard.

Announcement

2011-11-02T16:28:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd see how well people would notice our hidden announcement in the last post, but now I'm going to make it obvious for anyone who didn't see it. (Doubly obvious if you look at our sidebar.) We're expecting baby #4! He/she is due around July 6 and we're very excited!

Halloween

2011-11-01T16:44:00.000-05:00

We had lots of positive, happy, un-scary fun this year for Halloween. First of all, we went to a pumpkin farm (details and pictures on the school blog). Then we went to a trunk or treat at the church. That was a little overwhelming for me because they decided to hold the trunk or treating in the hallway instead of the parking lot and I could barely hang onto my kids and help them! There were just so many people there since it was a combined ward activity. The kids definitely had fun, though.

Here's Annie all ready for the trunk or treat. She was very happy to wear the same costume again this year (good thing because I didn't have another option for her.)

Logan at the last minute decided he wanted to wear his old costume too...that's three years in a row! He REALLY had to get out of his comfort zone to allow me to put facepaint on him. Then he didn't want a picture of it. Afterwards, he decided he enjoyed the facepaint. He overcame an anxiety, though! (Big deal here. This kid has an unusually high level of anxiety, and we work with him on it a lot in SAFE situations where he can feel okay if he fails.)

I was so excited to use the duck costume again this year. Alex was one cute little bird!

We also decorated our pumpkins last week. (More details and pictures on the school blog.) This is the biggest masterpiece of my lifetime. Too bad it's rotting on the front porch. (Not normally an artist here...)

Last night we went trick or treating. The kids had a blast, and it was such a fun family activity. We really enjoyed walking around together and seeing the kids interact with the nice people that gave them candy. Logan decided to wear his new-to-us costume.

We also had a little stowaway along for all of our activities. He/she sure was secretive!

After trick or treating we had a good time hanging out as a family. It was seriously one of those evenings where the magic of family time happened. LOVED IT.

Kids Say

2011-10-26T16:40:00.001-05:00

Annie admiring herself in the mirror, "I have big eyes! Do you have big eyes?"
Me, "Yes."
Annie with a shrug, "I guess I'm a mommy now. I guess I'm bigger than you."

Logan, "I think we should have a rule that you should not go ice skating with a baby in your arms."

Logan, "I think a good Christmas present is to a call a table company and a chair company and have them deliver a table and chairs to someone who doesn't have a table and chairs."

Me going over our family standard, "What is an appropriate touch for family members?"
Logan, "No crabs. No crabs pinchers."

Logan, "I wish I was named Autumn."

Annie looking at the weeds in our yard, "We have broccoli in our yard!"

Annie, "I died when you and Daddy and Logan were on the bus and I was in heaven. And I drinked alcohol. That story is bad."

I heard the last part of something Annie said from the down the hall, "...fell in the toilet!"
Me coming into the bathroom, "What fell in the toilet?"
Annie, "I did!!"

Annie, "Mom, why are you cleaning? Because you have a consequence?" (Our kids earn extra chores as negative consequences.)

Logan, "That was a loud piece of thunder."

Logan, "I wish we would build a huge palace that had monster faces."

Logan, "Annie, wanna play wild downstairs?" (She actually turned down the offer...)

Logan, "Get out of my shadow! My shadow is my personal space!"

Logan in one breath, "Mom I'm going to get a sewing machine for my birthday when I'm a grownup. I will get a space shuttle sewing machine or a racecar sewing machine or a dinosaur sewing machine. I wish I will live forever and not die. I wish I never had blood."

Annie, "My feet are sick. Can I have medicine for my feet?"

What is Normal?

2011-10-19T16:33:00.001-05:00

Most of the time I don't care if my life is 'normal', and in fact I'm often glad it's not in many ways. Sometimes I find myself hoping that certain aspects are 'normal', though, usually in relation to my kids. Like when my kids ignore my instructions even with consistent consequences. I'm pretty sure they have selective hearing. Or when everytime I turn around they've unrolled toilet paper, climbed on the shelves of the fridge, poured water all over something, or other mischief. Or when they whine about 'no' answers. And especially when they pick on each other and scream all day. Those are the days that I hope my kids are 'normal' because if they're not I must be doing something wrong. Today isn't actually one of 'those' days, but yesterday was. So are your kids 'normal' like mine? Do they have days where it seems they whine and fight all day? If not I don't want to know, but if so it's nice to know there are other moms out there having 'those' days.

Happy Birthday Jim!

2011-10-18T16:52:00.001-05:00

Jim had a birthday on Sunday. If you want to know how old he is just ask Logan. I'm pretty sure he shared that information with most of the Primary on Sunday, so you could ask one of his friends or teachers too. :) After church we had a nice meal of Jim's choosing, my making. Then he opened his present.

Puzzling over what could be in the box.

Oh boy...

A Kindle!

He actually knew what most of his present was. I was so careful to leave no evidence, and I had him thoroughly convinced that he wasn't getting an e-reader even though that is what he wanted. I even knew what I was going to tell him if he saw the purchase on our bank account. Food storage! And he would have totally believed me. I was SO careful. Then he checked the mail one day. Of the two days a year that he gets the mail instead of me, and the one day a year that it was hours late so I didn't see it, it had to be the day that the warranty for it came! Sheesh! So he found out a few days early. He had to wait to open it, though, and he really did not know what was in the second box (it was the cover for it). I must say, we're both enjoying his Kindle. It's so nice to get free books that we can't find at the library! (I've already read an entire book on it...it really was for him though. I promise!)

After his present, most of us had a nap. (He began searching for books.) Then we had dessert for dinner. Aren't I a good mom? Here's my justification: If I made another meal the kids wouldn't touch it anyway because our lunch was so late and full, but Jim and I would. Then we would all still have dessert anyway because it was Jim's birthday. If I didn't make another meal, I would save myself the chore and some calories for the day. :) (Not a normal practice...)

Anyway, Jim wanted homemade ice cream sandwiches again this year. Delicious!

Little Mozarts

2011-10-18T16:36:00.000-05:00

Please notice the foot. Alex has been doing this a lot lately. I guess he's noticed that I use the pedals when I play the piano. Cute!

Christmas Prep

2011-10-18T16:32:00.001-05:00

Last week I started thinking about Christmas which prompted some preparations.

First a good bubble bath; I figure this should keep them clean until Christmas. (Actually I just didn't want to give these pictures their own post.)

He really disappeared into those bubbles!

Nude no more...

Logan just wanted his picture taken after he saw me taking Alex's.

Anyway, my Christmas-ey thoughts led me into some sewing and I've already completed one very cute gift........................

But I can't post that here or she might see it. Sorry. Nor can I share my other Christmas-ey thoughts on here because others might read about them. Sorry again. I do hope to make Alex's stocking this year. That being said, I don't have any pictures yet because I haven't started it. Triple sorry. This post is really getting to be a bummer, heh? (And maybe I'm feeling unusually silly right now.)

However, the aformentioned Christmas-ey thoughts did inspire this little project which I will gladly share. :) I had this candy corn fabric in my fabric pile and I went to work one day while Annie was taking a nap.

She's so cute, and I'm thrilled that she's too little to think my sewing is unfashionable.

Once again, someone wanted his picture taken after seeing a sibling in the spotlight.

Kids Say

2011-10-07T16:29:00.001-05:00

Logan, "Are my hits and kicks made out of molecules?"

Logan's phrase of the day (today actually), "That just occurred to me."

Logan after choking a bit on a piece of popcorn, "I found out that I'm allergic to popcorn." (I'd recently told him that eating food that you're allergic to can make you choke.) Me, "You're not allergic to popcorn." Logan, "But I choked on it!" Me, "It just tried to go down the wrong pipe." Logan incredulous, "There's pipes in my body?!"

Last night I asked Logan if he had any ideas for a birthday present for Jim. Here's his fabulous list:
-a 'lid bowl' for work to take lunch in
-a lunchbox
- a remote control airplane (something Logan's been asking for recently)
-a wrench (my favorite)
-a door for an office (which we would then build office walls for around the desk in the living room)
-a new water bottle

Annie all week has included this in her prayers, "...and please help us go to bed safely." Apparently there are hazards along the way. :)

Annie to me, "You're the sweet child of Papa."

Annie looking at Jim's arm hair, "I have some of these!! Look! They are growing! I have some hair on my arm. They are white so you can't see them."

The kids were pretending to be nurses and I was texting Jim the updates of their creativity. I loved it and they loved 'being in charge' of me.
Logan, "Everyone who stays here stays for fifteen days."
Me, "What kind of a hospital is this?"
Logan, "It's a daycare hostipal. There are no doctors in this hostipal, just nurses."
Then he wheeled me on my hospital bed into the elevator to the lab for shots. Annie gave me a shot in the cheek and a bandaid on my wrist. Apparently the lab couldn't find enough needles, so I also received shots with dinosaurs and baby bottles. Then Logan gave me a nasal swab to get the germs out for testing.
Logan while giving me shot in the neck, "This shot goes down to the end of your legs... I'm going to fill the bottle with medical medicine. This medicine is for your heart... Now we got to give you an IV. It's just a piece of plastic in that little hole now... This is a knife to stick into your arm. This has to slice into half your arm. K mom? Be brave. We don't put a bandage on these... We gotta look at your heart. This is a special heart looker up. Your heart looks good.... One more day for you to stay! This nurse has a special pet for you." Then Annie gave me a stuffed animal.
Logan, "Now there's going to be something that you'll have to kick and scream. And it won't hurt if you kick and scream... You're in a ambliance. We have to go to a different hostipal." (He has always mis-said ambulance and hospital, and has taught Annie the wrong way to say them too. Cute.) "You'll have a lot of pokes at this place. This hostipal is really dirty. This is the last medical hostipal. Every day you get half a snack. You have to have snacks all night in this hostipal. You have to stay here for 21 days. This is a different hostipal. This one is called 21 days for kids and teenagers and grownups!... This needle goes all the way through your arm and through your whole body to that wall."
Me, "I guess I have the stomach flu."
Logan, "That's right. We have supplies. Real sharp supplies."
Logan, "We have to cut that bone and that will take off your leg. And then we have to glue the bone back together." He then proceeded to cut off my leg and glue it on again just like he said. "Okay, you can walk again, but your arm is broken."
Me, "Can I go home yet?"
Logan, "Yes the ambliance will take you home. What is your address?"
They finally put me in a wheelchair (our rolling desk chair) and took me for a ride. Then the game ended.

Logan to Annie, "Do you know what a heart breaker is?" Annie, "Someone who breaks your heart." Logan, "No, it is someone who gives you a huge shot then checks your heart with a special camera."

Logan, "Mom, you'll be dead by the time Annie's a grown up. Because you'll be really old. Like old Grandma and Grandpa and Dad." Annie's response, "I didn't die when I was old."

Annie in her prayers on a day that she bit him, "Please bless Logan not to have teeth marks."

General Conference

2011-10-04T16:42:00.000-05:00

We had another fantastic General Conference weekend! This is really becoming a holiday for our family. We set everything aside for the whole weekend, we have special meals and snacks, and special games for the kids. I love how excited the kids get for conference, and they are getting so good at letting us listen. I was able to really listen to all four sessions this time! So wonderful! I asked Logan if he liked conference or Christmas better (because he really gets that excited) and he told me that he liked both the same. He said he likes conference because he gets to see the prophet and Christmas because we get to celebrate Jesus' birth.

They were all ready while we were setting up.

Admittedly, they didn't sit for all eight hours, but they did really well.

Kids Say

2011-09-28T17:52:00.004-05:00

A story by Logan:
"Once upon a time there was an old fashioned lady. Her husband had died when she had her first baby. Heavenly Father resurrected him. When her husband was resurrected she died. She was resurrected at the same time as the dinosaurs. She no longer died. A tornado came by and wrecked their whole house. The whole city was wrecked. It (the tornado) came off of water. They had no place to stay. All they could do is sit in a little cardboard box. That's it! No food...nothing! They had to stay in that little cardboard box until all the cities were put back together. They had to build the heaviest buildings that were not wrecked. When they were finished they could come out and go into one of the buildings. Another tornado came by. It did not wreck the buildings. When it hit all the buildings, it died out and went away and fell off. For the whole day tornadoes came by. The last one was in March. It's January which is the day they were first born but they were already born a long time. It was the day after their first Thanksgiving when they were old. But March was the last one and that was the last Thanksgiving and they died."  The End

Logan after putting away an adventure book, "We should read that again. I like it.  It's cute."

Logan, "Mom will we have shadows when we're resurrected?"

Logan, "Mom guess what?  Joseph Smith will be alive when the dinosaurs are and we'll get to see him in General Conference!"

Annie, "Heavenly Father loves me, but Jesus loves me better. I usually love Him a lot. I sent Him on earth." Logan, "You didn't send Him on the earth!" Annie, "Yes I did. There is a song about it!"  When questioned we found out she was referring to 'I Am A Child of God' where the words go, "I am a child of God and He has sent me here."

Logan, "The propellor on my plane goes so fast!  You can't even see it. It goes as fast as the world spins. That is why you can't see it."

Annie's little friend (who is also three) in all seriousness came up to me and said, "I'm almost ten."

A bee was following us one day so I ran to get away from it. Logan asked, "Where is that bee?" and Annie responded totally seriously, "It's in my pants."

Logan, "Mom, I have prayer acorns."

Logan, "I saw a cow horse!"

Jim, "Am I old?" Logan, "No, you won't be old until I am a grownup." Jim, "Oh." Logan, "And Mom is definitely not old."

Annie, "There are brownies in heaven right? Cause I love brownies!"

Logan, "Your tummy looks like it is sticking out. You look like you're pregnant." (What a self esteem booster!)

Logan, "You are Dad's ideal wife and I am his ideal son and Annie is his ideal daughter and Alex is his ideal son. Our pictures are ideal. Even the ones we draw!"

Camera Fun

2011-09-28T17:23:00.002-05:00

I often look at my children and fall in love with their sweet little faces. Sometimes I get out the camera and go crazy trying to capture them. Here we go:

She makes this expression all the time.

What a handsome kid!

I was trying to catch some long eyelashes here.

I love this girl's big blue eyes!

When we looked at this picture Logan asked what that hangy thing was. Ha ha!

There's that hangy thing again...hehe.

My supermen...

My good looking brood after church.

When I look at this picture I can understand why so many people ask if these two are twins.

A library day. It's wonderful how they can't wait to unload the books when we get home!

I forget why she was so exhausted, but it was funny.

It was even funnier when I discovered she'd moved several feet a few minutes later.

Alex has officially decided he's a big boy. No more booster seat (unless forced)! He will either sit on the table...

...or on a chair...

...and he uses his napkin!

Sarah's Visit

2011-09-21T16:34:00.002-05:00

And I thought I was all caught up...ha! I totally forgot about these other summertime pictures. At least they all go together and are in order.
My sister, Sarah, was kind enough to drive home with us in our un-airconditioned car on a very hot day for 15 hours. (At least I think that's how long it took.) She took all of these pictures.

In the car. We were sweaty and the weather just got stickier the further east we traveled! HOT HOT HOT!

Home at last. Apparently she was taking pictures while I was in the shower or something one day because I know I wasn't around for these.

We went to a place we have here that is kind of like a McDonald's playland on steroids. It's three stories high, the tunnels are wider, and they encourage parents to play too. We had a great time.

There were a lot of slides in this thing, and this particular one was very fast. It reminded me of one of those speed slides at the water parks. I only went down it twice; that was enough for me.

He did not just go down that slide or he wouldn't look so calm. I sent him down it once before I realized how fast it was and he did NOT like it.

The big ball pit is very fun.

Another day Sarah and I went to visit some historic German colonies near here. Jim and Alex stayed home which was fortunate because we ended up being rained on the whole time. Notice how dry our clothes are in this picture? This was our five minutes of dry weather. We'd decided to walk around and it started pouring as soon as she took this photo.

It was raining buckets, but we bravely ran through it from shop to shop. Everyone commented on our poor wet kids. We weren't complaining, though. It was fun to get wet, and it was also the first day we weren't miserably hot.

The kids did eventually get a little cold, so I walked back to the car and picked everyone up. We ate our picnic in the car and got it nice and steamy. They thought it was fun to draw in the steam.

After lunch, we visited the rocker museum. It was actually our favorite place even though it was small and out of the way. Here is Iowa's largest walnut rocker.

They had a store with all sorts of wood made items and lots of neat wooden toys. The kids played in there for an hour and didn't want to leave!

We went around the building to use the restroom, and Sarah discovered Fabio in the outhouse.

We also discovered a big bug while waiting on one of the kids to use the actual restroom. I believe it's a cicada.

Then because the rain had let up, we checked out the 'display' in front of the rocker museum. Here we are with Windmill Willie.

There was a sign on these saying something like: Don't climb on the horses, they buck.

Annie's tractor got a little stuck.

We got into the car after our last stop to discover that the key wouldn't turn in the ignition. Since we were 30 min. from Jim we had a bit of a wait. Another reason why it was fortunate he wasn't with us.

Sarah only stayed for a couple of days and then our summer vacation was officially over. On to fall!

Summer Catch Up

2011-09-21T14:30:00.002-05:00

Now for a very random post of all the pictures taken this summer that didn't make it up here on time...

A few more Colorado pictures. I don't remember what day this was, but it was super busy like the rest. Alex was totally wiped out. He just laid there passed out while we talked and even moved him around. He didn't even wake up when I changed his diaper and put on his pajamas.

A few minutes later and he'd remained asleep the entire time.

He loved these little chairs at my mom's house. I think he felt like a big boy.

We had several play dates with friends in Colorado, but I didn't take many pictures. Here is Logan and Hannah.

We had a picnic in the mountains with my mom, brother, and sister one evening. I swiped these pictures from her, although I know a bunch are missing. In addition to our picnic the kids waded in the stream and got very wet and cold!

Here is Annie with her 'spicy' rootbeer that she later referred to as an alcohol bottle.

A bearded lady...

This picture will remove any doubt about my vanity. It was too funny to leave out, though. I know there are pictures somewhere of Sarah and Josh doing this too. We found this cool log and ended up having a very silly log throwing contest.

Another friend picture out of order. Logan and Gabrian.

Back to the picnic...

Now rewind to July. I uploaded these pictures from my mom before she headed home, but then forgot about them because things became so crazy the very next day.

Mariah with her birthday cake.

Being silly in our basement. Josh and Aubrey

I took everyone to a waterski show that we have here. They were really fun to watch.

My mom and Kayla at the temple on one of the days we went to Nauvoo.

Kayla and her little Mason at the park where we had a picnic before the pageant.

Aubrey

Again out of order, but at least it was the same day... I took the three littlest kids for a drive (AKA nap) while everyone else visited the Joseph Smith homestead.

Back to our pre-pageant picnic. Bryce

Mariah

Annie

Alex

Logan

The temple after the pageant.

The beginning of the pageant.

Before the pageant... There was a very fun old fashioned fair that we enjoyed. They had all sorts of things to do: tug of war, baseball, handcart races, sack races, dancing, a puppet show, pioneer toys and games, and I don't remember what else.

Bryce, Logan, and Annie participated in a sack race. Annie isn't in the picture, but she was on the end with me. I ended up carrying her the whole way.

The second Sunday they were visiting, my mom took some pictures of the kids after church.

Danielle's kids love to play chess! I was surprised and impressed. Logan and Bryce had a fun match. Jim had a good time playing all the kids.

All six cousins together for lunch.

We roasted s'mores over the barbecue on their last night here. Mmm..

Silly random picture...

I can't believe this is what Alex used to look like. He looks like a totally different kid with his haircut now!

Back to the s'mores.

Here's Danielle on her second brief visit to our house the next day.

July still (again?) and more pictures of Alex. I just can't get over how he looks.

S'mores again...sticky hands.

Fast forward a lot to Labor Day. In the morning we fixed our car and in the evening we watched the final water ski show of the summer. Very fun.

We played on the playground a bit after the show. Good times.

The End.

Colorado State Fair

2011-09-21T14:01:00.000-05:00

We went to the state fair with my mom and brother during our vacation. It was dollar admission day, plus kids were free. We had a great time and definitely got our $3 worth!

First we wandered around a bit and found a few horses.

Then we found the petting zoo. The baby pigs were very cute.

The kids played in the corn for a long time. Alex was really mad when we finally left!

They lassoed a cow...but Annie was a little nervous about the guy who was helping her.

Logan was IN LOVE with these puppies. He spent a very long time looking at them.

Next we discovered some pony rides which my mom was kind enough to pay for. I wondered if they would be nervous about it. Logan stopped smiling as soon as the pony started moving, but he said he liked it afterward.

Annie was all smiles the entire time.

After the ponies we had good timing, and saw three free shows in a row: movie stunts, dock diving dogs, and racing pigs.

We also found the fountain and the kids got wet. If I'd been smart I would have at least removed my boys' shirts, but I didn't. Some cloud cover came in about that time and the kids were a little cool, but they still had fun.

I'm guessing Annie had been surprised by a stream of water at this point.

Alex LOVED the fountain. He played in it a lot longer than the other two. He was hilarious to watch because he was so little compared to the other kids.

After we'd had enough wet time, we watched an amazing juggler. He was quite the comedian and very talented. Our $3 was well worth just this little show. He really did juggle those torches on that unicycle. He also juggled large knives (three different sizes) on a unicycle.

Kids Say

2011-09-15T15:26:00.000-05:00

Logan, "Our car is a Ford Focus because it focuses where it needs to go. Does it Mom?" Me, "I can focus it where it needs to go." Logan, "Yeah and that's why it is called a Focus!"

Logan after doing five somersaults across the living room, "Our living room is 5 inches wide."

Just For Fun

2011-09-13T16:17:00.000-05:00

I was going through old pictures today and came across this gem. Let's see how long it takes Jim to check the blog...hee hee.

Kids Say

2011-09-13T15:25:00.000-05:00

Annie looking at her bruised finger, "My finger is turning purple and blue! It's turning pretty! Yay!"

Logan, "Can I have a piece of candy because you love me?" to which Annie pipes up, "Can I have a piece of candy because I love you?"

Logan, "I might teach pirates when I'm a missionary. Then they might know that the church is true."

During a very long visit to the doctor, I said, "When it rains it pours," in reaction to yet another stressful moment. Logan responded, "I don't want it to rain while we're here!"

Logan when he was eagerly awaiting Jim's return, "I hear pieces of car outside."

Annie, "This root beer is spicy. I'm not good at picnic tables. I'm not good at root beer." Uncle Josh, "Are you good at Sprite?" Annie, "Yes."

Logan, "Uncle Sarah, you do it."

After finishing a bottle of root beer Annie asks, "Will you fill my alcohol bottle with water please?"

Me, "Logan, did you have an accident?" Logan, "No, it was the sweatness!"

Annie out of nowhere and in public, "Why are you not my mommy anymore?"

I asked Annie to hold still so I could fix her hair and she did a very nice job. A minute or two into it she says, "I'm hold stilling."

Logan and I were talking about different kinds of meat that we eat and he says, "A cow?" Me, "Yep that's where hamburger comes from." Logan, "And a porcupine..."

Logan, "Get the sha-bam machine out Annie!"

Logan when he didn't want to eat his vegetables, "I'm a meat eater!"

Annie, "Look at the moon. It is going to grow big when someone feeds it!"

Annie to Jim, "Look! Your tummy is full! I need to squish it!"

Annie looking at her teeth in the mirror, "I'm teething."

Annie while getting dressed for bed, "My jammies match my underwear! That's weird. How'd it get like that?"

A favorite word of Annie's: 'handitizer' which means hand sanitizer.

Logan to my mom, "Grandma, do you have a coffin?"

Alex's word of the week is, "Uh oh." He says it for everything and I think it's super cute.

Camping

2011-09-12T18:51:00.000-05:00

While in Colorado, we had the wonderful opportunity to go camping with my dad and brother in the MOUNTAINS! I've never appreciated my Rocky Mountains so much until they were out of reach. They were perfect. They were beautiful. They were cool. They were DRY. I wanted to stay a month. We seriously had the best time. To top it off, it was the most relaxing camping trip I've ever been on. We stayed in a cabin which took most of the work out of it. It was just a rustic, first come- first serve cabin in an isolated area, but we didn't have to take our food in and out of our cars, everything was up off the floor, and no one froze in the middle of the night.

We arrived late afternoon on a Wednesday and the kids set to work checking things out. The first thing Alex discovered were cookies. Yum.

See the chocolate on his face? We'd been there 15 minutes. It gets better.

After 30 min. Alex was having a great time playing in the dirt.

"I want to touch that campfire!"

By the way, he started walking the day before our trip; it was just in time.

After 45 minutes I was wondering where that sweet little baby face went to.

We enjoyed our campfire for hours that night, had wonderful tinfoil dinners, played cards, and the kids went to bed willingly! In the middle of the night Josh woke my dad to go looking for bears; he was absolutely serious and he'll never hear the end of it. Hee hee.

Good morning! We relaxed some more...

The kids had some great quality time with their Papa.

We eventually decided to go to a nearby lake for some fishing.

While waiting on our fishing poles, the kids did some more digging and Logan got creative. He was trying to knock pine cones off of a tree.

I took Annie and Logan on a little hike around the lake.

Alex got tired and snuggled up with Josh.

Four hours later, we hadn't caught a thing! The closest we came was when a fish swam right up to the shore and I almost scooped him out with one of our sand toys! We did enjoy ourselves, though.
That night Josh built a huge fire that lasted us for hours and hours, and it was still glowing red in the middle of the night. Annie stuck a sharp black rock up her nose once it was totally dark just to make sure we had a little adventure. It took us a bit to figure out why she was crying so hard. Thankfully it came out pretty easy. In the middle of that night (good thing it was our last), Logan wet the bed and I had to give him my sleeping bag. I'm glad it wasn't very cold in the cabin!

Good morning again!

We needed a couple of farewell pictures at the cabin before leaving.

I like this one much better. It's too bad we didn't get any with all of the kids looking.

This is going to spoil tent camping for me from now on. Thanks for a great campout Dad!

Happy Birthday Logan!

2011-09-09T14:58:00.002-05:00

We were in Colorado for Logan's birthday, so he had some major celebrations this year: three parties in all. What a lucky kid! Now Annie is asking if she can have three birthday parties. Sheesh! Sorry sweetie, not all things in life are equal.

The first party was with Jim's family before Jim headed back home. He didn't want to miss his son's birthday.

Hanging out before the party started. They were outside alone just swinging and I thought it was sweet.

Jim's sister, Cami, arrived having just been at a three day Indian wedding. She had some neat outfits and agreed to dress up if I would too.

Birthday cake #1: a quickly assembled volcano (like 2 minutes quick). Don't look too close; I wasn't trying to make it look good.

Presents round one...

Birthday party #2 was a friend party. He wanted the same friends and the same park as last year. Easy kid!

This was the cake I put some effort into. I was really easy actually, and I used my favorite chocolate cake and chocolate frosting recipe, yum! The track is made of crushed cookies, and the grass is coconut.

He was feeling nervous when we sang to him and refused to blow out the candles. It took a few minutes of encouragement before he finally blew out the last couple that the wind hadn't put out.

Some friend pictures...I apologize in advance to any friends who don't like their photos. I think you are all beautiful (and your sons are handsome)!

Gabrian and Hannah

When I said smile...

Angela, Lucy, and Nicole

Laura, Ben, and Hilary

Presents round 2...

He received a bat and ball from one friend, and wanted to try it out. Their little baseball game was hilarious.

Birthday party #3 was with my family the day before we left (Logan's actual birthday). My mom wanted to do a dragon cake, but since Logan loves dinosaurs, she left the wings off and called it a stegosaurus. I ended up helping with the frosting, but she did everything else. The funny part is that after it was finished, she was convinced the body looked like a dead chicken...hee hee. Can you see it?

My sister, Sarah, had been the lucky recipient of some free party stuff at a garage sale, so she put it to good use!

Presents round 3...

Pin the tail on the donkey...

I think it's funny that Sarah is sticking out her tongue in these pictures. I wonder if she'll appreciate me pointing that out...hee hee.

Josh was so meticulous, that on his second spin Dave (Sarah's husband) hid the donkey in another room.

Once again, Logan had stage fright when it came time to blow out the candles.

He was quite happy to play with Dave's old toys for the remainder of the evening. He eventually had all the types of vehicles organized.

Happy 5th birthday bud!

Car Trouble and Blessings

2011-09-08T16:59:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks before our trip, I prayed for humility...and my prayer was answered! First Logan was sick and in the hospital, then Annie redecorated our house, and then we broke down as we arrived in Colorado. We cancelled the Utah portion of our trip as a result, and spent an entire week working on our car. When we thought it was all over, Jim accidentally left his car keys with me and didn't realize it until he was ten minutes from boarding his flight (two hours away!). Add to that an enormous amount of unexpected bills in just a few weeks, and I was a mess. However, we've learned some good lessons through all of this, and I have been impressed to realize the blessings we had with each trial. Each time I wanted to cry (or did cry) the good things about each situation would come to my mind and I could see how the Lord was with us the whole way, even though we needed to be challenged some. At moments when I was feeling very stressed, I was sometimes blessed to realize someone else's challenges, and it made mine seem so little.

Challenge: Logan's illnesss

Blessings: He recovered fully with no lasting effects. We were blessed to have adequate coverage for his medical expenses. We were blessed to meet many caring nurses and doctors who showed genuine concern.

Challenge: Annie's art

Blessings: We had the internet and therefore a quick source of useful information. The most important areas came clean, and Jim and I had a chance to work together.

Challenge: Car trouble (which happened once again this week)

Blessings: When we broke down, we were only 9 miles from family. We broke down in a place where we had help (my brother Josh) to do most of the repairs ourselves which saved us money. The car didn't break down until we were all the way to Colorado, so our vacation wasn't cancelled as a result; at least not entirely. We had the opportunity to sacrifice a portion of our trip, our desire to simply replace the car, and our comfort (because the a/c never got fixed and the LONG drive home was VERY hot). It is very difficult at times to say, "We can't afford that," or, "We really want to do that, but it's not the right time," but I know there are longer term blessings by doing so. Sacrifice is a blessing.

Challenge: Jim forgot his keys

Blessings: This was the little thing that nearly broke me because it was in the midst of everything, but was also the moment I realized how many times we'd been blessed. The airline changed his flight for free, so I was able to bring him his keys. Then, because his flight had been moved to the morning, I was able to spend an extra night with him before he headed home. My brother was kind enough to watch the kids and we had an unexpected night alone.

Challenge: $$$$ in unexpected expenses

Blessings: The Lord helped us to be prepared, so that not only were we able to pay these expenses, but also to pay all our other bills on time. The medical expenses, car repairs, and other surprises could very easily have put us in a desperate situation (and I did feel desperate a few times). Each time we thought we wouldn't be able to pay, we were either relieved that we could, or discovered that there'd been a mistake in a bill.

Anyway, I really wanted this list. I really don't want to forget how we were blessed all through this last month. Here are the few pictures I took of the car stuff. I'd intended to document the whole thing because I knew it was going to be a big process, but didn't after the first day.

This is the bar we were towing the car with...after it was ripped out from under our car.

Jim pulling the damaged parts off.

The damaged we caused from trying to tow it ourselves. Off to the junkyard to find parts!

Jim and Josh putting the "new" parts back on. That was the easy part. The hard part was that we still had to pay for a tow because it wouldn't start after that and we couldn't diagnose it. If only we'd known...

After we had it towed and found out what was wrong with it, we had the shop do one repair and we did the other major repair. It turned out that the fuel pumps put on our model and year were faulty, which explains the half dozen times our car mysteriously broke down on us over the last year. The pumps were replaced on most cars by the dealer (ours didn't qualify), and the only way to get one that would fit in our tank was to pay an enormous amount from the dealer (and we weren't even sure that it wouldn't be the same faulty pump). Instead, Jim got a fuel tank from a car one year newer than ours, and used the inexpensive pump that we could get at the auto parts store. It was much cheaper. We're calling it creative engineering, and it totally did the trick. He did some more creative engineering this week when our ignition lock got stuck (another typical problem for our model of car). Instead of getting it from the dealer (because they were closed and it would have been more expensive), he got one that fit from the parts store, but didn't have the necessary electronic chip. Then he went to a hardware store where they created a key that matched the new lock and had the electronic chip in it (copied from our old key).

Let Our Vacation Begin!

2011-08-20T12:47:00.000-05:00

Well, it seems our storm has passed for now. We finally got the car largely working last night. The only thing that is still damaged is our a/c. In one week we replaced seven major components on that vehicle: radiator, radiator fan, radiator support bar, a/c condensor, timing belt, fuel tank, and fuel pump. Whew! Now I just need to hunt down the remaining hoses for our a/c if we decide to fix that too. This was a pain, but it was less expensive than replacing the car. In theory, our car should be in good shape again...may it not break down in the middle of nowhere when we're traveling home!

So now we can officially start our vacation. We have our own transportation yet again, and time to enjoy. Let the fun begin!

It's Still Pouring

2011-08-17T16:05:00.000-05:00

I've decided that adulthood is very serious sometimes. I'm not really referring to events in my own life, but that as an adult I have the opportunity to witness real problems. It helps me realize that my troubles aren't so troublesome. Anyway, our own storm hasn't stopped yet, but we're hopeful it will soon. We're working on fixing our vehicle and trying not to break the bank. Sometimes it would be nice if money weren't required, but only effort. The good news about a storm is that it gives much needed water to the ground, and I have no doubt ours will produce a similar effect.

When It Rains it Pours

2011-08-14T21:09:00.001-05:00

So...Logan was finally admitted to the hospital at 6am and we rested for some of the morning while waiting to see the doctor. Even sleeping a hospital recliner felt good at that point! We finally saw the doctor in the afternoon, and she set us up with a cardiologist. The cardiologist did an echocardiogram which showed that his heart was perfectly healthy! We talked with the doctor at that point, and she said we could go since he was feeling pretty good. If we want to research what is going on any more at that point, we can do it outpatient. So we were able to leave the hospital around 4:30pm. It was an exhausting night and day, but we had our piece of mind.

We headed home, finished packing, and decided to head out on our trip. Jim drove the entire night, and was surprisingly alert the whole time. Phew! It took us 13 hours to get within 9 miles of Jim's parents home. The drive was very uneventful to that point, and the kids slept pretty much the whole time. (I wish I'd slept as well as they did! Two night without going to bed is a lot...) However, when we were 9 miles away our engine shut off! So Jim's mom came with their truck and started towing us. As we were being towed, the line went slack and then jerked hard pulling the bar we'd attached it to out from under our car. It also pulled our radiator entirely off as well as part of the body of the car.

That's where we're at. We don't know what we're going to do now. If anyone is selling a vehicle, or knows someone who is please let us know!

4:30 AM

2011-08-13T04:36:00.000-05:00

So it's been another hour and a half, and they've finally drawn blood. Now that I've had a chance to talk to the nurse, it turns out that we've lost a whole night's rest for nothing. Our doctor sent us here and told us that they could do the necessary tests whether it was night or morning. So we opted to get it over with sooner and came in the middle of the night. Big mistake. They can't do anything until morning anyway. I don't blame the doctor or the hospital. It was just poor communication. I'm so tired and disappointed, though, that I'm ready to cry. He needs to be admitted because he can't just wait in the ER for so long. Since we have to wait until morning (isn't it morning yet?) I prefer that too. Those rooms are much more comfortable! Now we wait until he's admitted, and spend tomorrow doing tests. Oh I wish we'd just sent him back to bed when he woke up tonight!

When Plans Change

2011-08-13T03:07:00.000-05:00

It seems our plans have been changing a lot recently...
Anyway, right now we should be waking up and starting our road trip. The kids were (still are) excited, we were excited, and we'd started packing about 7pm. However, we are not in the car right now; Logan and I are at the hospital once again. He still has not recovered from his mystery illness and it's been three weeks. We went to the doctor this afternoon (yesterday afternoon?) for a follow up to make sure there were no indicators that we shouldn't take our trip. Things seemed okay, although he still wasn't 100%, until his bloodwork came back. His white blood count was down to normal. Hooray! His platelets were high and his sedimentation rate was extremely high, though. That's an indication of inflammation somewhere. Between that and the presence of a heart murmur he'd never had before, the doctor was very concerned. So here we are at the hospital again. The doctor determined that he needed more testing, including an echocardiogram. However, he didn't necessarily need to be admitted to the hospital, so we are in the ER. She said we should go tonight or in the morning, and the second was our plan until Logan woke up excited to get on the road. He wasn't very happy about coming to the hospital, so we gave him the option of going at night or in the morning. He wanted to go right away in hopes that we could still take our trip. I hope we can still take our trip.

So, just now I'm on the computer trying to pass the achingly LONG minutes. Today was an unusually exhausting day as it was! We've been here 2.5 hours already and no tests have been run yet. He's snoring away on the bed...lucky kid. It's so tempting to cuddle up next to him! Come on doctors! Let's run some tests so we can go home!

If this made no sense bear in mind that I'm extremely tired...

How To Remove Permanent Marker 101

2011-08-11T16:54:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday night, Logan and I went on a date. While we were out, Jim very helpfully went downstairs to take care of some laundry. During that time he heard Annie and Alex running around and giggling upstairs. He thought, "Oh good, they are having fun together." When he returned minutes later this is what he found:

Except they weren't in the tub of course.

Then he had another shock... (These pictures are way too bright because I didn't want to take time to adjust my flash, but this was DARK BLACK marker.)

And another...

And another and another and another of which I didn't take pictures. Let's just say that her artwork included five cushions, four walls, three chairs, a table, a dresser, a bed, three articles of clothing, two faces and bodies, three doors, a mirror, and a floor.

After three hours of cleaning we decided to head to bed and had yet another surprise.

So here's the crash course on cleaning permanent marker.

Step 1: Resist the urge to ground child FOREVER.
Step 2: Remind yourself that child is more important than house.
Step 3: Send child to bed for the night.
Step 4: Get out the rubbing alcohol and toothpaste, and send husband to store for more supplies.
Step 5: Make sure husband forgets his cell phone, so you can't reach him when you have a new item to add to his list.
Step 6: Discover the magic of rubbing alcohol and toothpaste. Seriously. At least on some surfaces.
Step 7: Work quickly. Time is the key!
Step 8: Remove ALL writing utensils from child's reach until further notice.

Anyway, I started on the couch and before Jim had returned from the store it was totally clean...all five cushions and dozens of marks. I think I had such good success because it was the first thing I hit.

He returned home as I was ready to start the dining room wall. That wasn't as easy. We tried several things, including magic eraser, and had the most success with toothpaste (not the gel kind) and rubbing alcohol. It took a lot of scrubbing and we didn't get it entirely out. You can't see it unless you look for it, though.

By the time we decided to give up on the dining room, it had been three hours so we quickly made an attempt at the other walls (very little success on flat paint) and the table and chairs. The table and chairs came clean with toothpaste very easily. Phew! I had zero success with the kids clothes, but I think that was because they'd been sitting for so long. I decided they had enough clothes and those weren't worth trying to save so I didn't try very hard.

We thought we were done and headed to our room to go to bed. That's when we had our final surprise. She'd colored on our sheets (something I didn't even try to clean because I was too exhausted), our wood floor, door, closet doors, mirror, dresser, and wall. The rubbing alcohol largely faded the marks on the floor and doors. The mirror came totally clean with rubbing alcohol and the dresser with toothpaste. Jim surprisingly managed to get the marks somewhat off the wall with a dry erase marker. The key was to do a little at a time and rub it off the wall very quickly.

She has lost all art privileges until after our upcoming vacation and I've moved all our writing utensils way out of reach. They are almost out of my reach... May this not happen again. And may it be laughable soon...it almost is. :)

Disaster Preview

2011-08-09T23:25:00.001-05:00

This post will be coming soon, but here are just a few words:

Annie
permanent marker
baby brother
four walls
five couch cushions
three articles of clothing
table and three chairs
dresser
bed
mirror

She's very lucky I wasn't home when it happened.

First Day of School

2011-08-03T17:24:00.000-05:00

On Monday we had our first official day of school. That being said, I'm writing on our school blog again. So check that out too. http://1-2-3-school.blogspot.com

Here's our first day picture:

Here's another picture just for fun. I wish I could sleep so soundly and flexibly. :)

And a final picture. FHE wouldn't be complete without treats!

Kids Say

2011-08-01T14:26:00.001-05:00

Annie, "Yes, I am going to marry myself."
Logan, "No, you have to have a boy."
Annie, "You can marry myself."
Logan, "I have to find a girl that I don't know and after we get married I might know her."
Me, "Annie, who are you going to marry?"
Annie, "Logan."
Logan, "No, you can't Annie. That is against the law."
Annie, "I'm going to marry Alex because he is my baby brother and I love him so much."
Logan, "That is against the law! What does against the law mean?"
Annie, "It means yes."
Logan, "It means NO!"
Annie, "A big grown up is going to marry Alex."
Me, "Who will that be?"
Annie, "You are."
Me, "Should you marry a big man?"
Annie, "No, I can't because they are too heavy. I noticed that."

Logan, "When I'm a grown up I'm going to get a job to make John Deere tractors." (This is Jim's new job starting next week.)

Annie, "I want antifreeze."

Annie again on her most charming subject, "I have white pee, but it can't come out because it's going to be painted."

Annie, "I'm a big lady."

Annie while hugging my legs and looking up at me, "I'm bigger than you!"

Logan when feeling a bit better because his fever was going down, "Mom, guess what? The fever is at my ankles."

Back to Normal?

2011-07-28T16:50:00.002-05:00

I hope so.

After our seven eventful weeks in a row, I started this week hopeful that we could get back into our regular routines right away. Aside from the fact that my car was still stuck at a shop two hours away, I didn't see any reason why my plans would need to be changed.

Our company left on Saturday, and I put Logan to bed with a fever that night. Then I stayed home with him on Sunday; it's not so unusual to have a sick child. On Monday I got busy with household items right off, so I could have time to do school with the kiddos. (Side note: my kids LOVE school and were super bummed that we took a seven week break, so it wasn't planned torture. It is actually one of the very best ways to create harmony in our home.) Then school didn't happen because Logan was really quite miserable. That was okay, though. I gave Alex his first haircut instead.

Here are the pictures before I get to the un-normal part of this week:
Before...he didn't want to look at me.

Still before...this is what I got when he did look at me...all three times.

After...AAH! I cut off most of his baby look.

After haircuts, most of us had lunch while Logan laid miserable on the couch. He'd been complaining a lot during the morning, but that afternoon he started crying out in pain! I asked him where it hurt and he said it was his right side. He'd wince if we touched it at all, so I called the doctor who, of course, told me to go to the ER. Jim was home on a break, so I was able to leave right then.

At the hospital, everyone suspected appendicitis so he had an ultrasound which didn't show anything. Then, because they didn't want to do a CT scan on such a little kid, he was transferred to a different hospital where he could be examined by a pediatric surgeon. So the two of us went on our very first ambulance ride...Logan actually said he liked it afterward.

At the second hospital, they did another ultrasound which was a little more successful. They thought they had spotted the appendix, but weren't absolutely certain. If it was the appendix, they said it looked normal. The pediatric surgeon said that he thought his pain might be from something else, but wasn't comfortable releasing him in case he got worse. So he was admitted. At 11pm he was finally in his own room, but was even more miserable! You see, he hadn't had anything to eat since morning and had thrown up twice that day. He was begging and crying for something to eat or drink, but he wasn't allowed anything. It was breaking my heart, and I had to leave at that point (Jim was there though) to get the other kids.

Monday in the second ER.

Jim informed me that he had a terrible night and fought the doctors the next morning when they woke him up. They had pretty well determined that it wasn't appendicitis by that point. So I came back to the hospital thinking he would be released that day. I was wrong and I wasn't prepared to stay the night, but I stayed anyway. I think they kept him longer to be sure he was well hydrated and to rule out any other serious illnesses. He was very upset about being stuck in the hospital and wasn't very cooperative on Tuesday. Poor kid.

Tuesday

He slept well that night (I didn't) for the first time in several nights and actually started feeling a bit better. On Wednesday morning he was feeling well enough to throw a tantrum over having wet the bed and later over being confined to his room when he wanted to go to the playroom. (They were testing for respiratory illness which meant confinement. It came back negative about the time he was released.) He also fought tooth and nail when the nurse drew his blood. He was so successful that he pulled the IV out of his arm and she didn't get a good enough sample. So later she came back with extra help to get that sample. Again he kicked and screamed. It took three of us to pin him. He was definitely still feeling sick the whole day, but the doctor said he could go home. Hooray! We never did get a diagnosis. Every test had come back negative at that point and we were waiting on one more which I still haven't heard about. Basically it was determined that he had a bad virus.

Wednesday about 30 min. before discharge. He was mad in general about everything so he wouldn't look at me.

We made it home yesterday about 5pm and Logan made up lost time. He was either constantly chattering or constantly whining (he was still VERY tired), and was thrilled to see Annie and Alex. I was EXHAUSTED. I bathed the kids at 6:30 and had them in bed before 7:30 which is more than an hour early for our family. I was in bed by 8:00. Oh sweet relief!

Having a child in the hospital was an interesting experience for me. I wasn't actually worried about him at any point. He'd had a couple of blessings before going to the hospital which promised he would recover, and I knew it would be so. I generally felt calm about the whole situation. Mostly I felt sad for him that not only was he miserably sick, but that the various things happening in the hospital increased his anxiety and discomfort. I don't regret taking him, though, because I didn't want him in a dangerous situation with his pain. I'm grateful now that he's home and feeling a lot better.

So, today has been my definition of normal. (Aside from the fact that we still need to drive two hours to get my car.) May it stay that way for at least two weeks!

Our Vacation Continues

2011-07-22T13:03:00.000-05:00

We've been home from our trip for almost three weeks now, but our vacation has continued non-stop since we've had family visiting the entire time.

Mariah was here with us a few days before everyone else arrived. One day we went to the county fair. Here are the kids inside a firetruck.

Then we waited in line for a train ride.

On the train ride...most of us enjoyed it.

Alex clung to Mariah the whole time!

We had to check out the big tractors.

Next we watched some chain saw carving. This guy was amazing!

There was a petting zoo with a very large sandbox.

Logan could have stayed in that sandbox all day.

Moo!! A lead in for the next day...

We checked out all the birds. These ducks won an award for tallest birds.

They had these signs all over in the poultry barn.

The kids climbed on a few dinosaurs.

They had a science tent with cool stuff for the kids. This was a swimming pool full of ooblick...oh how I love ooblick!

We checked out the tractors again because Logan hadn't had enough.

The next day was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick Fil A. We had so much fun dressing up last year that we did it again!

We were the ONLY ones dressed up at Chick Fil A...which is also in a mall here. I guess it's not as big a deal here as it is in Colorado. We had our free meals, though! And it was fun!

We ended up being busy enough that day that we wore our cow outfits all day...even to the train station to pick up my mom. As a result we stopped at a different Chick Fil A for dinner and had another free meal!

Some down time another day...

Mariah had her birthday while she's been here, so we had a surprise party for her a few days early while her mom was here dropping off her other kids.

Ariana helped me prep the decorations for the cake while I was visiting her two states away. The fondant loops for the bow and the tag survived the drive more or less and I was able to make a cute cake. Other than the fact that I got too much frosting on the bow, I was pretty happy with it.

Ariana made the tag, but it melted a bit on the drive and was slightly out of shape. It still looked awesome though!

We had dinner, cake, and presents.

"Heavy, heavy, hangover" has become a birthday party tradition in our family the last few years.

I love Mariah and Jim's faces in these pictures.

Annie was cuddling up with Bryce during the presents.

During the next week, we had lots of time to hang out.

Josh had these three doing all sorts of silly contests.

Bryce found out how painful it is to hold a story book over your head for a long time....so did the girls. Bryce won the somersault contest, though. He did 100 in a row!

We went to Carthage and Nauvoo one day. Here's a picture of the upper jail cell.

Everyone except me and Alex under the window.

Everyone except my mom on the temple steps.

Bryce and Logan helped make a rope in the Family Living Center.

Part way through the week, Kayla and her son came to visit as well. We discovered the two babies jumping on the bed together one night.

We went back to Nauvoo with Kayla to see more of the sites and the pageant. It was a crazy, HOT, fun, and exhausting day.

The kids enjoyed the pioneer games.

This is Kayla's son, Mason.

I think I was so exhausted after that day, that I stopped taking pictures because this is the last picture I have and it's been another week of vacation. Anyway, this week has been more hanging out than anything else because we haven't had enough vehicle space for everyone. We made it to a beach one evening which was very fun, and last night Jim and I helped at the pageant. (Our car also broke down on the way, so we're even more without transportation.) Tomorrow everyone leaves. It's been fun!

Kids Say

2011-07-12T15:37:00.000-05:00

Logan, "There is some gas inside of me that is making me sick. I'm too sick to eat."
Me, "Do you have a tummy ache?"
Logan, "Yes, but I can't feel my tummy ache."

Annie, "I have a new baby in my tummy and she's crying."

Logan while digging in the dirt was convinced he found a fossil, "It's a pteranadon horse! It's a dinosaur fossil!"

Logan in time out, "I'm just guilty!"

Bryce (my 7 year old nephew), "I think I'm having angina!" The best part is that he knew what it meant!

Annie, "My poop is purple and my pee is red." (This is my charming daughter's favorite subject. It wasn't really those colors.)

And my favorite of the week:
Alex when I changed his diaper, "Thanks. Thanks. Thanks." He's starting to talk...just a little!

Travelogue

2011-07-06T17:02:00.001-05:00

Last week I took a trip with the kids, but without Jim...it was quite the adventure.

My dear friend, Ariana (who has been one of my best friends since age 10, college roommate, etc.), has been a three day drive from us for the last five years and we haven't seen each other in that time. This year we both moved closer together, so we're only 7.5 hours apart now. I jumped on the chance to go visit! So the Saturday before last, I loaded the kids in the car and our trip began. They were AMAZING during the drive out there...not a single argument!

Our first morning there I woke up to discover that Annie had slept in Alex's playpen with him...no wonder he had trouble going to sleep!

We mostly visited and occupied ourselves with normal mommy-busyness, but one day we had an excursion to a very beautiful hiking spot. We met up with another old friend, Maria, for our adventure.

We had a picnic lunch before setting out.

These little girls couldn't wait to get started.

Group shot at the beginning of our hike.

This was an incredible bridge...and it scared me too.

These girls were two peas in a pod all week. They had the time of their lives playing and making mischief together. They even look like they could be sisters!

There were some VERY cool caves and tunnels on our hike.

Ariana is one tough momma...she lugged that baby in her arms the entire way!

We stopped in a gorgeous cove with a waterfall and pool that were surrounded by cliffs. Alex sat at the top of the little hill spellbound for a while.

Then he started scooting down on his little bottom to get to the water. Afterward, we could see a nice little trail where he'd been.

We let the kids wade in the water...fun!

Annie soon attempted to go for a swim...

While we were at the same spot, a group of Chinese ladies started taking pictures of our babies and Annie. They were probably at it for 30 min. before Annie finally had enough and burst into tears.

Some of us were exhausted before we were back in the cars to leave.

I asked some of the kids what they thought of our hike. Here are their responses:

I couldn't possibly forego a picture with my dear friend Maria...even if it was after the hike.

Here's another shot of us eleven years ago! It's too bad I don't have an older photo...we've known each other since we were babies!

Maria also took a lot of pictures of our day, and hers were much better than mine. Here are just a few:

This is the part where that bridge scared me. Alex was moving around a lot, trying to see all around, but he was throwing me off balance. Annie wanted to look too, and I just knew one of them was going to make us all fall off.

Down into a tunnel...

At one point the little girls took off running ahead of us and we soon lost sight of them. I then noticed that the trail ahead of us ended at a road! We quickened our pace and soon noticed them scrambling through the trees to get to a trail below us. They bolted down the trail until we caught up, and this was our view from the trail (after capturing our mischief makers).

We preferred letting them admire the pool from up close instead of high up.

Maria also captured some pictures of the photo shoot with the Chinese ladies.

They went so far as to pick up Annie (with my permission) to pose with her. The end of it was when one of the ladies took off Annie's hat; that was too much for my confused little girl.

This was a very cool drop in the creek...it looked like a very fun (and dangerous) waterslide.

By the time we dropped off Maria, the kids were wiped out.

The next day, Ariana made cookies and the kids decorated some.

Some play time...there was LOTS of that.

The night before I left I realized I needed a picture with Ariana...once again my hair is in a ponytail. Oh well...

Here we are again eleven years ago. Not sure why it scanned crooked, but I don't have time to fix it now.

This one is fifteen years ago. Also in the picture are Marissa, Liz, and Jaime.

After staying up late talking our last night there, I packed the kids into the car once more and headed to Detroit for a couple of days. We had a wonderful visit with Danielle while we were there.

The first thing we did was load the kids up on sugar.

Then on to the beach!

It was a HOT day and the beach was the perfect thing. Danielle's girls took my older two to play and I was able to relax, soak, visit, and enjoy Alex.

We did use sunscreen, but apparently not enough. This kid was pooped.

Same day a few hours later...

On Sunday we went to church, visited, relaxed, and got a little silly.

The kids really enjoyed their Aunt Danielle.

They had fun playing with Juan, too.

On Monday, we headed home with one extra passenger. My niece Mariah came with us for a little visit before the rest of our company comes and our adventures continue. The drive was again uneventful, and the kids did great. Phew! Some of the places we drove through: Illinois, including part of Chicago; Indiana, including Indianapolis and Gary (aka scary); Ohio; Michigan; and of course Iowa.

Sam

2011-07-06T08:10:00.000-05:00

Since I posted about Sam's illness a few weeks ago, I want to give the final update as well. After she became so sick right before we moved, she regained energy and was acting very normal two weeks later. Two weeks ago Thursday, I decided to give her a bath because I'd been avoiding it since she'd been so weak. I gave her a really nice brush down, which she loved, and a bath which she didn't love as much. It was good to see her so energetic again, but when I bathed her, I had a feeling I was doing it for the last time. On Friday morning, I found her very lethargic once more, barely able to stand, and having trouble breathing. She'd also thrown up and it contained blood. I was quite distraught that day and in tears most of the morning. We ultimately decided not to try for surgery to remove the tumor because it gave such little hope of recovery at a high cost. I watched her closely that day, and Jim watched her closely over the next few days while I was out of town. Poor girl, it was so hard and sad to see her suffering like that. We both had a feeling that her time was short, so we had the kids say goodbye before we left on our trip. On Tuesday night, she became so weak that Jim determined it was time to end her suffering. He took her to the vet, but she collapsed as he was signing in and had passed on her own a minute later. They determined that when the tumor burst this time, it had been filling her lungs with blood. On the one hand I'm grateful the kids and I were away when it happened because it made it less difficult, especially for the kids. At the same time, I wish I could have said goodbye one more time. Considering I didn't even want a dog when we took her, I'd become very attached to her. It's a little unreal to me that this strong, energetic, independent dog isn't here, and that I can't hug or pet her now. I am glad she is no longer suffering, though.

House Pictures

2011-06-23T23:06:00.002-05:00

So we finally took a picture of our new house...here it is!

We had to wait to take the picture until we'd both lost twenty pounds and looked seven years younger. What's that? You don't believe me? Why not? Okay, I admit it. Here are the real pictures. (We took that one when we were doing our engagement pictures.)

I'll start with the week before our move pictures because chronological order is always best, right? (And it adds to the suspense.)

The kids kept themselves busy during the three days that I packed. Yes, I packed in three days (because I avoided it for 6 out of the 9 I had). It was some sort of a miracle especially since packing is the WORST chore ever! Here's one of their activities.

Here's another activity. Inside each bowl is a newborn baby...ssh!

I forget what Logan was building here...maybe a space shuttle.

Timeline (to give an idea of the exhausting weekend, and for my memory)
Thursday: 5 to 10pm- Plan to pack kitchen, but take dog to vet instead and deal with sick dog
Friday: 10am- Close on house; 12-5pm- Take kids to babysitter (thank you Blenda!) then move all fragile and loose items to new house by myself; 6pm- Pack everything we missed; 9:30pm- Begin packing kitchen
Saturday: 7am- Drag kids out of bed and take them to a babysitter (thank you Sarah and Lynette!); 8am- Pick up moving truck; 8:30am to 3pm- Load and unload three truck loads (thank you more men than I can name just now!); 3:30pm- Oh my aching back! Eat some lunch (thank you Becca!) Pick up kids; 4:30pm- Short rest; 5:30- Re-motivated, arrange all the bedroom and living room furniture and boxes;6:30pm- Dinner in our new home (thank you Paula!); 7pm- Assemble all the beds; 8pm- Bathtime and bedtime; 9pm- Make our bed and collapse! It had never felt softer!
Sunday : Truly a day of rest!

On Monday I was totally motivated and excited to unpack. By some miracle (seriously) I had the kitchen finished in 2.5 hours! Total boxes unpacked that day: 35. There must have been angels helping me. To occupy the kids I threw all the empty boxes and packing paper into the living room as I finished with them. It worked and they were great all day.

I worked hard the rest of the week, and could actually consider myself unpacked by Saturday. I decorated this week and finished up some details. I can't believe how fast this went! I am very grateful to be organized and enjoying our new home!

Here are the official house pictures. (Which I took tonight as the sun was going down.)

Our house which we love, except for the unfortunate driveway. The price was right though! (Let's just say that we'd be lucky to rent a two bedroom apartment for the price of our mortgage payment...including insurance and taxes.) This house was custom built in the 50's and the original owners never sold it. They took immaculate care of it, and eventually passed away. Their sons were selling it and that's why we got such a good deal.

A view from the backyard. It's not the best shot, but I felt embarrassed to be taking pictures because the neighbors behind us were outside. I'm silly, I know.

Our large shade tree in the backyard...I have no idea what it is, but Jim thinks it's an oak.

Our living room! Yay! It has carpet! Nice carpet! Don't you ever DARE to walk on this carpet with shoes!

Another living room shot. It's actually a pretty large room.

The "office" which is really a nook in the living room. I gave Jim the desk and chair for his last birthday and Christmas present (I know...they don't even compare to my last few birthday presents), and he finally has a space to study.

I LOVE my kitchen! I'm sure unpacking went so fast in it because I had so much cupboard and drawer space. I still have empty drawers and unfilled cabinets! It has so much counter space too...wonderful!

The other side of my kitchen and the dining room.

From the kitchen you head toward the stairs and receive a surprise. Can we say retro? That's the best word I have to describe our basement.

In the basement, we have an enormous family room (which will eventually become a bedroom and family room), a large laundry/ storage room, a full bathroom, and the garage. Our garage is air conditioned and heated...

Anyway, here is one view of our very long family room.

A view from the opposite end. I actually really like this carpet. It's very soft, shag carpet and I can tell it will hide stains of all sorts. It looks a lot nicer in real life, too. I could do without the wood paneled walls, though. They make the room too dark.

Our bedroom. We have lots of space and the coolest 1956 curtains ever (they have a copyright on them...it really is 1956) which are in excellent condition. I actually think they're really pretty and would like to make a blanket to coordinate.

This is our bedroom closet. It is one very HUGE closet with two openings. This thing is the full length of the wall! The picture really doesn't do it justice. You'll just have to come visit to see. All of our closets are very spacious actually. To give an idea, our coat closet, which is the smallest one, is 8 feet long and fairly deep.

Alex's bedroom. This room isn't very big, but it's perfect for a baby's room. I don't love the orange carpet or wooden walls. No real complaints, though, since everything is in great condition.

Here's a look at some of the funky patterns we have in our house. This is the covering on our downstairs counter. I like it, but it clashes with the cool carpet.

Wallpaper in the kitchen...I actually like it.

Downstairs bathroom wallpaper...I do not like.

The other bathroom's wallpaper. I really don't like this stuff. I don't spend all day in the bathroom, though, so I'll get over it. It just adds to the fun and charm of this place.

We have an entryway in this house! Yes! I'm really loving that we don't tramp right into our living room with our dirty shoes.

Our doorbell is pretty neat. It plays a little tune, and if you want you can take the mallet and make your own.

The kids bedroom, I'll admit, isn't decorated very nicely. It's got all their stuff, though, and that makes them happy. This is actually a pretty good sized room.

It has a very cool 70's mirror with gold streaks all through it.

That's it for now. We're feeling quite settled, and are making progress with the few repairs that needed to be done. We had a crumbling sewer line replaced today before it had a chance to totally collapse and back up. (Logan sure was excited to have a backhoe in our yard all day!) Jim and I also repaired a stuck shower faucet ourselves. I figured it out and was pretty pleased at my new plumbing knowledge. :) We're planning to install a dishwasher soon (the only downside to my kitchen), and that's really all we're doing to it for now. There will be projects in the future no doubt, but for now we're happy with it.

Moved!

2011-06-16T22:06:00.000-05:00

One of these days I'll post a picture of our new house (maybe I should first take one), but today still isn't that day. Anyway, we moved on Saturday and what a day that was! Especially considering I spent Friday moving car loads of stuff that I didn't want on a moving truck, and didn't start packing my kitchen until 9:30pm. We received so much help with the physical move, babysitting, and meals that weekend, though. We're incredibly grateful for that. I'm pretty sure it would have taken us weeks on our own to do what was accomplished in one day. The next time anyone needs a favor, please call us!

Sam

2011-06-10T08:24:00.000-05:00

Last evening we noticed that Sam was acting very unusual. She was VERY lethargic and listless. She didn't want pizza when I offered her a bite, she wouldn't lick me, and she'd only stand up when forced, but then would walk very slowly. The day before I had chased her down the street at full speed! I had a feeling something was very wrong, so I took her to an animal hospital last night. It didn't take long for the vet to determine what was going on. She has cancer. She'd had a tumor burst yesterday which filled her stomach with blood, and also meant rapid dehydration. That's why she had such a dramatic change in behavior. I wasn't expecting that kind of news, and I was surprised at how sad I felt over it. This is the dog that I was so reluctant to take only a few months ago! I've become really attached to her, though, and I don't like the thought of losing her so unexpectedly. Now, we need to make a decision if we are going to have the tumor surgically removed. It's expensive and it may or may not have good results. I'm torn over it. If this dog was declining in other ways, I don't think it would be a difficult decision. She's relatively healthy, though. She's stronger than I am, and energetic!

One positive side of this is that it has helped me appreciate how healthy my children are. We have been incredibly blessed with these kids to have no scary medical episodes. I know they've been watched over and protected to this point. Our sweet Logan last night shared his very wise perspective on the situation. He reminded me that when Sam is resurrected her tumor will be gone and she will feel good. Then he said a very heartfelt prayer asking Heavenly Father to help her feel better. The faith he expressed when he said that prayer was absolute. I'm grateful for the teaching of this little child of mine.

Bigger or Better

2011-06-09T10:23:00.001-05:00

We celebrated my birthday on Tuesday with cake and a date.

The secret to hiding a frosting disaster: let the kids put sprinkles and candles on and give them all the credit!

I turned twelve this year...if you don't believe me count the candles!

We had cake and then Jim and I went on a date. We went out to eat and then discovered a discount bookstore where we perused for a long time. We even came home with four of our favorite classics for $6.50! We also stopped at the library and perused some more (and grabbed more books). I know we're nerds, but we really did enjoy ourselves! I get my present tomorrow. For the past three years it seems Jim has been trying to outdo himself with my birthday present; hence the post title. Two years ago he bought me a digital piano. Last year he bought our table and chairs. This year we're getting a house! We close tomorrow morning and I'm SO excited to finally settle down somewhere permanently! That's really the best part...being able to work towards owning the roof over our heads and not moving! Granted, we would have purchased all of those things even if it wasn't my birthday (except for maybe the table) because they were all things we were seriously considering anyway. It's just awesome that they all worked out right around my birthday! If Jim tries to play this game next year, he can't possibly go bigger, it'll have to be better in some way. :) (And I'd better get thinking about his birthday.)

For the LAST Time

2011-06-03T16:36:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I started something for the last time. Here are the clues:

Logan sitting on a box...

Annie and Alex on a box...

Alex climbing through boxes...

Last clue...bare bookshelves...

Can you guess? Yep. We are moving yet again! That'll be FOUR places we've lived in nine months! Whew! This time is VERY permanent, though. Pictures and details to come...

Also, I have to throw in a few cute pictures, since blogging is what I do instead of scrapbooking.

Who can resist a cute sleeping baby? (And who has the heart to wake him...even though it's almost time to leave for church?)

On Memorial Day (was that really part of this week?!) we had a house cleaning race (very successful endeavor), bathed the dog, and gave the big boys haircuts AFTER we slept in and BEFORE we decided to make it a day for fun. That probably doesn't sound like much of a holiday, but the above work took only two hours (and it made me happy...when Mom's happy, everyone is happy, right?). We did make it to the park, though. (And swimming on Saturday.)

Annie is quite the dare devil. That's 25 pounds of tiny recklessness there.

Logan is a little less of a dare devil, but he's a good climber.

Alex beats them all. He's 25 pounds of "you'd better not take your eyes off of me or you'll be sorry". We're totally in the 'hover' stage of playground time with this kid. The swing is a nice safe spot. :)

And today. Apparently our air conditioning works overly well. (They were pretending to play in the snow which was in the kitchen and bathroom. Bundle up before you come to our house.)

Random thought: So did you catch that Alex weighs as much as Annie? He's a solid one, but the other two are little shrimps. Today I had someone ask me yet again if Logan and Annie were twins. They were even standing next to each other at the time! I have to wonder if people will start asking if the kids are triplets once Alex loses his baby look.

Dinner, Summer, and More

2011-05-18T16:27:00.000-05:00

I'm getting pretty un-creative with my post titles lately...maybe I should start numbering them. :) Anyway, I uploaded recent pictures and decided it was time to blog about them.

Jim made spaghetti for dinner one evening and it was fabulous! (In my opinion, dinner always tastes better when it's made by someone else, but that's probably because I dislike cooking...it did taste good though.) Alex loved it!

The kids like to play in our closets, and lately Alex has joined the fun. They are sitting on top of tub which Alex later fell off of...three times. He just kept climbing back up though!

Summer weather hit us for a few days last week. Welcome to the humid midwest! It was mostly around 80 degrees (I hear one day got up to 90), but that moisture sure makes it feel hotter! All in all I can't complain, though. It really wasn't that bad, and we got to wear shorts. :)

This is a train. The next time you need to take the train somewhere, just come to our back porch. We won't even charge you.

See the sweat?

It cooled down again very fast, so long sleeves were in order a few days later. I think this baby is the CUTEST THING EVER!

The "pampered pooch" has been getting a lot of loving lately. She even had a haircut two days before we sampled summer...just in time.

And this random picture is just to remember what our living room was like for a few days. All of the wheels broke off of our piano during our move out here, so it had been balancing on 2x4's. I finally had someone give me an estimate for the repair, and was pleasantly surprised. He had to glue one leg back together before putting the new wheels on, so it sat like this for a few days. (We also found out that our piano is 116 years old!)

Crayon Remedy

2011-05-16T15:54:00.000-05:00

Annie LOVES to color lately, and she's really good at staying in the lines. She will sit for hours just coloring, and she doesn't want to stop when it's time for something else. So we've had the crayons out for her constantly. Yesterday, she must have become bored with the paper she was drawing on while we were in another room. I discovered black crayon on the fridge and a large portion of a wall colored on. While she scrubbed the fridge, I tackled the wall, but to no avail! That crayon wasn't going anywhere. So Jim researched remedies, and I just have to share this simple, amazing solution! You put baking soda on a damp cloth, and wipe the crayon off. It came off SO easy that way. Alex could have rubbed it off. This is one for us mommies to remember!

Kids Say

2011-05-11T19:11:00.000-05:00

I'm behind on logging the funny things I have in my phone...so I've lost a month's worth. Time to catch up before I lose more!

Logan often tells me what he wants to do when he's grown up and one thing he often says is that he wants to deliver packages to people (because he's really enjoyed receiving packages since we've moved). This was his idea about that one day. "Then I will send a moose to keep in the backyard and we will build a fence around him so he doesn't escape. But if he jumps over the fence I will say, 'Bad moose!' and take him back!"

Annie, "My stomach is growling for pee." To which Logan asks, "What if we had a two person toilet?"

Annie walks up to Jim one day and say, "I have a cute shirt." We'd better watch this little girl!

Logan, "What if our skin was greenish red?"

Annie, "I got my hair wet." Me, "How did you get it wet?" A, "It was wild so I got it wet." M, "Yes, but HOW did you get it wet?" A, "In the toilet." Sure enough, she'd dipped her head in.

Logan, "I'll learn math first, then I'll learn physics, and then I'll go to space!"

Annie, "Boogers taste like cupcakes!"

Logan, "When I'm big I will have a house the same size as Sam's club! And I will put a really big real Christmas tree in it!"

Logan, "Dinosaurs can't get married because they can't go in the temple. They aren't allowed in the temple because it's a sacred place!"

Logan, "Can cars jump over bridges?" Me, "No." L, "Lightning Mcqueen jumps over bridges. The next time he does that I'll say, 'No, Lightning Mcqueen!'"

Logan, "Dad, I like to play chess; it is my most favorite game."

Annie while going potty, "I just put water in the toilet with my body!"

Logan, "Someone's pretend puppy climbed in bed with me last night."

Logan, "Why is Daddy becoming an old man?"

Annie was using a public restroom and I asked her if she was ready to wash her hands because she had her pants pulled up. "But they aren't perfec!" (referring to her pants) "Perfec" was a favorite word for a few days.

Logan, "Mom say 'dandelion'." Me, "Dandelion." Logan, "You just made my hair stand up!"

Here's part of a hilarious text conversation between my brother and Logan. I don't know why we texted back and forth so long with this; eventually I just had Logan call him. It was a totally silly moment that Josh and I enjoyed, though.
Logan was saying that he would buy Josh an airplane. "Mine will be really fast. His will be really really really fast. I'll get him a jet! And I'll have a really long jet that will have 26 seats in it. It will go the same fast as Josh's jet. His will have one seat in it and mine will have tons of seats in it."
Josh, "My jet will have 27 seats in it with a swimming pool too."
Logan, "His will have one. MINE is going to have 27 in it. Actually his will have 27 seats. I will roll it into the airport for him and he will be waiting in his car. I will have a pool and slide in mine too and the kids can swim and slide in it. The parents will go in the grown up pool and the kids will go to the kids pool. And they will have enough steps to go up to it and they will slide, SLIDE, and SPLASH (with hand motions) into the swimming pool! If the airplane turns over they might land on the ceiling so I will turn over so they will land on their seatbelts that are on the swimming pool."
Josh, "Sounds like fun."
Logan, "Why does Josh say that sounds like fun?"
Josh, "Because I want to ride on his airplane and play in his pool."
Logan, "No. I'll have just a swimming pool for kids, but not for grown ups. Did you hear that?!"
Josh, "Can I at least fly the plane?"
Logan, "No. He's going to be the passenger. We'll share an airplane and I'll live in the same house as him. And when my wife's baby is born and we go visit them then they'll see our baby and think that my baby will be so cute."
Josh, "Ok. Tell him to pick me up. I have my swim suit on and am ready to go."
Logan, "I can't go get him. I'm a kid. I can't fly an airplane because I might crash it."
Josh, "Well I am happy to live in the same house as him."
Logan with a smirk, "Why? He's not."
I was cracking up listening to Logan responses, and at that point I had Logan call him. When Josh answered the phone Logan said, "Okay, let's settle this," and then went through all of the details of the previous conversation.

Easter

2011-04-27T14:28:00.000-05:00

We've never been very good at planning ahead for Easter, and I've finally realized why. It's never on the same day! I can plan for Christmas and birthdays because I automatically think, "That's coming up in three weeks, I'd better finish getting things ready," but Easter sneaks up on me every year. At least two years, I've been having a new baby too. (Annie was born 4 days after, and Alex one week before.) These are my excuses. Anyway, we did do some things this year.

On Friday evening, we started making sugar eggs from a kit my mom gave us for the kids. They were so difficult to make that Jim and I were amazed that we ended up with a finished project! They weren't exactly a kid's project, but we had fun with them. Next year we'll do them again, now that we've learned from our mistakes.

The boys did a yellow one...

The girls did a pink one...

On Saturday we had a family day out because the kids had filled up their "obedience beans" jar. It had taken a month and a half to earn this day, but it helped with obedience around here. We went to an awesome indoor playground where the parents are encouraged to climb around with their kids. It was like a McDonald's play area on steroids, and it had a big ball pit. We seriously had so much fun...even when the kids made us crawl through the tunnels with them. Then we went out for lunch (also part of the reward) and brought ice cream home for after dinner. That night the kids were so wound up and excited from late ice cream, a very fun day, and anticipating Easter surprises that they went to bed, but stayed up talking for two hours! In the morning we had to wake them up, and we learned that they'd both slept on the top bunk which probably didn't help them go to sleep.

The kids found their Easter baskets Sunday morning before we rushed through breakfast and getting ready for church. (This was the first year we've done baskets...like I said it totally sneaks up on me!)

They all had new Easter clothes and I managed to snap a couple of pictures before we headed out the door (because I knew it would be a disaster to try for pictures after church).

Alex's were actually hand-me-downs from Logan, but he hadn't worn them until that day.

After church we all had naps, and then visited with some new friends we met at the kids' gymnastics class. They had made dessert, and prepared an egg hunt with lots of candy for the kids. The kids had already had some sugar, and they had plenty more while we were there. That night, they went to bed okay, but once again stayed up talking. They really couldn't sleep! I was hearing them until just after midnight...three and a half hours after bedtime! I couldn't believe it! It turned out that they once again camped out on the top bunk, too. It was obvious they didn't feel real great the next morning, too. So now I've been severely limiting their sugar intake all week, and enforcing sleep in their own beds. It's going much better. :)

On Monday, we finally decorated our now very dry sugar eggs. Jim was much more tedious than I was and the boys' egg turned out best.

Ta da!

Happy Easter!

Recent Pictures

2011-04-26T16:55:00.000-05:00

Apparently Alex is getting close to that hilariously cute toddler stage because I'm taking more and more pictures of him doing funny things...

This day we were in the front yard for a few minutes when we came home and Alex decided to eat the dirt from some pots by the porch. He's mad because he was tired of my attempts to get a picture of his face.

I finally got that picture by backing him into a wall and holding his face. Most of the dirt was gone by then.

He loves his blankie.

Annie begged for this photo shoot.

And Logan joined in.

Alex was sleeping SO good one Sunday morning...it was a real shame to wake him for church.

He likes to put things on his head.

He LOVES to climb!