To Sleep or Not To Sleep

That was the question this week.... Eileen's friend Morgan slept over on Wednesday and stayed and played until Thursday afternoon - the girls all had a fun time together - but I don't think they got much sleep.  They were up until at least midnight!!

Dan got home on Monday and was able to take a couple days off this week.  I went in to see the doctor about my back (which is still bugging me some since the fall) - she sent me for x-rays which showed nothing.... I have been told to ice it and see if that helps.... I also got Anna's 6 year old pictures taken and James' 6 month old pictures taken.  We had a very hard time getting a normal looking smile out of Anna - she kept giving us these forced smiles that looked rather funny.... James loved it - and he just grinned and showed off his dimples for all he was worth - picking one picture was VERY hard!

Friday evening Becky and Newell and family came down for dinner and then left Zoe here to sleep over - the girls didn't stay up quite as late (thank goodness!) but they still had a really good time.

On Saturday, we had some fun watching the Olympics and playing together.

Then I took James to get his pictures done and when we got home I found this in the front room!!!  LOL - Dan had helped the kids build a HUGE fort - they were very excited about it.  :) 

Church was fun today - I think my favorite part about being a primary chorister is doing singing time with the nursery - partly because it is so amazing to watch the power of music.  It's amazing to watch 13 rowdy toddlers run around and get excited and sing "Popcorn Popping" with me and then to watch them all calm down and sit reverently as we sing "I am a Child of God"  What sweet little spirits they are!!

Life, Or Something Like It

Dan took off for another trip on Monday morning, and my dad flew in later that day, he had meetings in Colorado Springs all week and spent his spare time with us.  The kids love having him around and I had to have them wait their turns to have time doing what they wanted with Grandpa.

James has been a bit sick this week - and just like Dan, he seems to want to do nothing but sleep when he is sick.  As a result - he has slept the better part of the last week - he is seeming better now - but still not back to 100% - though for all the time he has spent sleeping - you would think he would be.  Because of his sleeping, we haven't left the house much this week.  On Monday - I made the mistake of trying to do the grocery shopping with all 5 kids, who were hungry, tired, and a baby who couldn't quite sit in the cart on his own yet - or at least really didn't want to.... I never want to do that again.... thankfully a sweet lady behind us in checkout was very kind and being in a wheel chair (well you know - one of those fancy electric chair/shopping cart things Walmart has) , provided an opportunity for us to do a bit of service.  The kids forgot their grumpiness and whining while being helpful to this sweet lady.

We also had Morgan's mom text to say they were going to be at the park near our house, so we grabbed some popsicles and headed to the park for a bit.  I surprised the kids - not telling them who was going to be there until we got there - and we set up a sleep over for the girls for next week.

Friday we had Becky and her kids over to play in the morning - as usual we all had a blast - and if I can't get out of the house - this is the next best thing!  The kids had fun running amok and Zoe only left a few toys behind :)

As you can see in this picture, James is getting very close to crawling - he is up on all fours and rocking and he has figured out how to get up on all fours, and then launch himself forward to get to things - it won't be long now.....

Saturday morning - I met my friend Marie early at her house - dropped off the 4 older kids with her husband and we took our babies and hit the Stapleton  Yard Sale - a huge town-wide garage sale - we parked and walked around for a couple hours and had fun - then I dropped her off - picked up the kids - packed up our swim gear and we all (including my dad) headed down to my Grandpa's house to go swimming.  The kids loved it as usual and we got to play with Frankie as well - the kids love playing with him!  After, we had a late lunch/early dinner with Grandpa and then headed back to drop my dad at the airport.

 Today after church, Eileen wanted to help with dinner (actually she woke me up this morning wanting to make these for breakfast, but I convinced her to let me sleep a bit longer and to make them for dinner instead)  she found this recipe for jelly filled muffins and wanted to make them.  So she mixed them up and I thought this picture of her and Anna filling the muffin tins was awfully cute!!  Plus after dinner, Anna was my super duper helper - while I did dishes, she wiped down the table and swept the floor (and did a very good job I might add.)   I am blessed with such good kids - and it is always wonderful to see them come home from church wanting to be good and helpful and nice.  :)

Evie told me this afternoon "My back hurts - I need to go lie down!"  Sigh - apparently I have been a lazy mommy recently....

I kinda use this blog as a journal to record our family history as it's happening - in addition to being a way to keep our far flung family posted on our lives.  We had a wonderful talk in church today about leaving a legacy.  She spoke about how just like our ancestors left a legacy for us, we need to think about the kind of legacy that we want to leave for our posterity and shape our actions accordingly - She also mentioned the need to record these things for posterity - not just our deeds and events in our lives, but out thoughts, feelings and testimonies.  I don't think I am very good at sharing those things - I am just not any good at putting them into words - writing is NOT my strong suit - music and the words of others have always provided my emotional outlet.  There are things that happen from time to time that just leave people staggering and wondering - how did this happen?  9/11, Columbine, Kennedy Assassination, Moon Landing - and many others.  This Friday, I was woken by a phone call from Dan - who had seen on the news that a man had gone into a theater near our house and opened fire killing 12 and injuring 58 people.  There are events in my life that I remember with clarity - despite the passage of time - and this is becoming one of them.  Some people from our old ward were in the theater and were injured.  This is something that shakes the world - but there is something very strange about watching a news report about something like this and seeing streets that you drive all the time in the back ground.  It is strange to drive around your town and pass news vans lined up outside evacuated buildings as the police deactivate a booby-trapped apartment.  It is strange to go to church and listen to our Stake President stand and offer comfort, advice and counseling to any who want it.  And mostly it is strange to figure out what to tell my children.  My heart aches for those who lost loved ones - and yet along with the story of fear and anger and violence - there are stories of bravery, courage, love and miraculous healing.  I know that even in the midst of tragedy, that the Lord is watching over us and caring for the broken hearts - that he has a plan and that he will not leave us alone and comfortless.  Now you see why I'm not any good at writing these things out - I'm sure that what I wrote above was mostly a senseless rambling - but it was my thoughts and feelings as they came.

In a daze...

Well Dan and I aren't really sure where the week went...  the whole week kinda disappeared in a daze.  We have been enjoying being together as a family and gotten a lot done, and been closing our eyes to the disappointment of Dan leaving town again next week.  We really didn't do anything "special" or anything - just played, enjoyed the sun and enjoyed summer break.  Yesterday was our most exciting day.  Dan and I each had a list of things we wanted to get done before he left town - I figured that I might be able to accomplish 1 or 2 things on the list if I was lucky.  Miracle of miracles, the kids were wonderful - helpful, and easy going - James napped well and I managed to get almost everything done that I wanted to.  We built  bookshelves (LOL - yes more bookshelves) and a small writing table for upstairs.  We emptied a bunch more boxes.  The kids got some extra chores done - they have been saving up their money to get some Skylanders (it's part of a game they have been playing)  So after lunch, Dan took all the kids to Walmart to let them spend some of their saved money.  Dan's cousin Deb and her family have moved into the area and are in our stake (but live a ways out in the country) Their two oldest daughters came to the stake center (which is 4 blocks from our house) for a youth conference yesterday, and instead of going all the way back home between the morning part and the fireside/dance in the evening, they hung out with us.  The kids just loved them and they had fun playing Wii Fit together.  We also had friend who was having a birthday party last night, so we went to that for awhile and the kids had fun playing with friends - go figure but that evening we all slept well... well everyone but me - I slept well until James woke up at 4am.... after that i had weird dreams.... But either way - I'm going to bed early tonight - LOL - go figure, but I'm a bit tired.... So tired in fact (or lazy) that I am to lazy to go look upstairs and see if I took any pictures with my phone.... I think I took a couple, but oh well... I'll take more this next week... maybe.  :)

So Evie is in a very cute stage right now where she mis-pronounces words in very cute ways - Dan and I's favorites -  "Dindosours" (dinosaurs) and "Lippy Lops" (Flip Flops)  - and when she sings twinkle twinkle little star - "Up oh- bup oh world so high"

Dan made banana bread with Evie and Aaron yesterday and they had done everything but the final stirring - he let them stir and went to go do something else for a minute - I walked into the kitchen a bit later to find them (not sticking their fingers in the batter like you might expect) stirring in a way that the spoon would touch their fingers so that they would conveniently have to lick their fingers to clean them off!!   Sneaky Kids!!  You gotta admire their tenacity though!

Unpacked!

We spent the first few days of this week settling back in and cleaning out our garage.  We are borrowing Dan's parents car while they are on their mission.  So we finally finished cleaning out our garage to make room for it, and we are now more unpacked than we have have been for a long time - now all that is left in boxes is Christmas decorations, kids clothing, and some books that we need to get another book shelf for.  :)  The kids are having fun playing outside - the weather has been changing between sunny and hot and rainy.  The rain has been good, especially with the fires - and our very dry and dead lawn.  

James has discovered his toes - he puts anything in his mouth that he can find.  He is getting so big and wiggly - he doesn't want to sit still for long and he loves to eat.  

Evie has been struggling a bit with all the changes, but when she is happy, she is adorable - but she is testing limits and finding out what she can't do, and she doesn't like finding out that she can't do something that she wants to do.

I got a new calling at church - I have been called as a Primary Chorister - I am looking forward to this calling - as are my kids, but today after I went in to do singing time with the Nursery, Evie didn't want to let me go back to primary - I said "I need to go Evie" and she replied "But I don't want you to"  :(

For the 4th of July, we went up to play with Newell and Becky and family.  The kids had a blast soaking each other with water balloons, a hose and some water guns.  We didn't watch any fireworks, which really bummed Eileen out - but it was probably a good thing for Evie's sake - she hates loud noises!!  Someday we will go watch some together, but for now, Dan and I are content to put the kids to bed at the normal time and spend our night together relaxing.

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get a picture of Aaron - I have to catch him unawares - or he hides behind his hand or whatever he is holding in his hand.  So most of the pics I have of him look like this...

But he had a birthday party that he was invited to on Saturday and had a great time splashing around in the back yard and eating cup cakes.  He looks so skinny with his rib cage showing, but he eats like crazy and he's healthy an happy - so i promise mom, I'm not starving him... :P  Now we are counting down the days until the next trip... just one more week, but at least he will only be gone for one week - not a month, and my back, while not totally back to normal, is feeling much better.

Home Again

This week was an eventful one.  We spent some of Tuesday visiting with Lori again - as always, we had a great time with great friends.  My dad has been having fun with his grand kids - playing with them, teaching them and building things with them.  

Wednesday, Dan got back into town just in time for Anna's birthday.  We are always so glad to have him home again.  Anna had her pink cake with pink frosting and wanted Taquitos for dinner.  Sandi and Taz came over to celebrate with us - we had fun eating good food and watching Anna open her presents and hitting a pinata.  Anna got a Lego set from Grandpa and Grandma and a Scooter from Mom and Dad, and Eileen made her a little purse with her knitting machine.  Sandi and Taz got her a cute little stuffed animal!  Aunt Pam sent her a beautiful puzzle and Grandma Penny sent an adorable outfit.  

The pinata was a bit hit (no pun intended) though after letting each of the kids (including Taz and James with some parental help) have multiple hits, it still hadn't broken open - so Dan finished it off.

I've been amazed at how well the kids swim lessons went - Eileen already looks like a swimmer and can stroke and breathe easily.  Anna is starting to stroke also and even Aaron is doing some - but all three can jump into the pool and then swim themselves to the side.  It's so funny to watch Aaron do it - he looks so small, and it worries me every time that he won't make it back to the edge with out help, but he always does.

Evie is getting more comfortable, and likes to put her face in the water and blow bubbles.  Friday we began our drive home and made good time - we got in before 11pm - it helps that we gain an hour with the time zone change, but still - it was a relatively pain-free drive.

Saturday as we were trying to get unpacked - I started carrying a bunch of stuff down the stairs, when i slipped and bumped my way down the stairs on my bum - in the process banging by back pretty hard - hard enough that for a minute or two after, I couldn't move and had a hard time catching my breath - after that (and the fact that some tylenol did no good) we headed to the hospital to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong.  They gave me an anti-inflammatory shot and sent me home with instructions to take it easy, but do some light stretching and walking to help heal.  I hurt, and carrying and picking up James is a bit hard, but I am feeling better today than yesterday and hope to be mostly back to normal before too long - of course I'm comfortably parked in Dan's new recliner - so we will see how I feel when I stand up :P  Newell and Becky came down with their kids to watch ours while Dan took me to the hospital and to celebrate Zoe's birthday - it is always good to see them - and we are so grateful to have good friends nearby to help out on short notice.

Dan left me again this afternoon - but this time not for long - he flew out to Utah to pick up his parent's car - which he will be driving while they are on their mission.  He should be back tomorrow evening.