James Turns 1

I can't believe my baby boy turned 1 this week - this past year has gone by so quickly!  He is such a fun little personality - he smiles and lights up the whole world!  He had no idea what to do with that candle (which was why we didn't let it any closer to him that this....)  Bu he had NO problem figuring out what to do with the cupcake - once Dan handed it to him (minus candle) he quickly shoved half of it into his mouth.  He's such a sweet happy boy - and best of all - he likes to take naps.... :)

Evie has been rather sick this week - she was running a fever for a few days, and spent those day wanting to do nothing but cuddle with mommy - and take naps... in daddy's chair.  Other than the fever - she had no symptoms though - so all in all - it wasn't a bad little cold.

Saturday was rather nuts - we were hardly ever all together at home - it started out with me singing at a funeral - and a rehearsal before to get ready.  Anna had a birthday party to go to in the morning, Aaron had his testing at Quest, Eileen had a birthday party in the evening and around 5:30 we were finally all able to be home eating a quick dinner of leftovers before doing baths and sending the kids to bed - it was a very busy day - but still a good one - we managed to have an adult home at all times (since we found a flat on the car in the morning - we kinda had to have an adult home) so James' naps were not interrupted and even Evie got a little nap in.

The weather today was just beautiful!  We walked to church and even walking at the kids slow pace with a light jacket on - i was getting a bit sweaty - it was that warm - the sun was shining - the birds were singing and it was a lovely Sabbath morning!

Cold and Warm

This has been a fun week - the temperatures have ranged from -9 degrees F to 65 degrees F - the first half of the week was just FREEZING!!!!!  But around Thursday it started warming up and Friday, Saturday and Sunday have been GORGEOUS!  After going stir crazy for the first half of the week ,we have all been having fun outside in no more than a light sweater - having a nice walk to and from church and truly appreciating the wonderful world that God has given us!

This week Frank and Tina were out of town at a Gun Show in Las Vegas, so Frankie came to stay here for a few days.  He is pretty self sufficient - all he needs is food and a few reminders here and there to work on his homework and such - otherwise, he was happy to entertain himself on his iPhone and play Black Ops with Dan.  He is a good kid and having him around was fun!  He came on Monday morning and hung out with us until Wednesday afternoon when he went to Grandpa's house until Saturday.

On Monday, Becky and Adena came down and Newell and Dan came and met us for lunch - it was fun to have Becky over - we talked and enjoyed ourselves.  Evie, Aaron and Adena got out the Play-Doh after lunch and had a blast for a while with Evie's Christmas present.

 Tuesday was piano lessons as usual - Wednesday was choir and Grandpa stopped by for a few minutes to pick up Frankie.

I got Aaron some new pajama pants - he's about grown out of his 4T clothes and needing the next size up - and they kids had a blast pulling stickers off the clothes and sticking them on themselves and on their brother.
 

James was rather confused by this sticker - he couldn't quite figure out what was on his head or why we were all laughing at him - but he thought it was a great joke. 

Friday, the kids did a movie night/pizza party.  Basically we lay a big blanket out downstairs in front of the TV and the kids pick a movie to watch while they eat their pizza and pop corn - they love it - they love eating somewhere other than the table and they love watching movies.  

Saturday we all kept busy cleaning the house - I LOVE it when we can get the house nice and neat!  Apparently we tired Evie out though - i came up and found her after she was supposed to be in bed - crashed in the middle of the floor - this is unusual for her - she almost always sleeps on her bed - but apparently she was so tired, that she just dropped and slept where she was - which happened to be in the door way to her room with the lights on.... She was so cute curled up there on the floor!

Dwayne and Nicole and kids also came over - Dan and Dwayne were gonna talk shop for a bit and we all had fun playing and chatting and enjoying the beautiful weather!  

Today was church, Dwayne and Nicole came to church with us - it was fun to have Anayia with us in Primary - we had fun acting like animals during singing time while we practiced our songs.

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Aaron turned 5 this week.  I can't believe how big and smart and unique he is.  He loves lego's and building things - especially with Grandpa, and after getting 2 lego sets for Christmas and 1 for his birthday - Aaron and mommy spent 2 whole days building lego sets, and ended up with a police station, a fire department and a hospital.  We have a whole lego city now.  :) I neglected the house and a bunch of other things, but Aaron and I had fun.

Aaron wanted a truck cake - and daddy made him a very awesome truck cake for his birthday.  He got to go out for Ice Cream with Grandpa on his birthday.  When grandpa got there, i went down to get him and told him to go get dressed.  He poutingly asked why - and I said so you can go get ice cream, he continued to pout and not want to get dressed.  Then i told him that Grandpa was here to take him out for Ice Cream - his whole countenance changed and he ran to get dressed.  Grandpa got him his hospital lego set, Grandpa and Grandma Jones got him some pirate finger puppets, Grandma and Grandpa Cox got him some clothes (at mommy's request) and he also got some clothes from Grandma Penny.  Daddy got him Angry Birds on his iPad - Aaron LOVES angry birds, and the kids all eagerly watched him play before bed time.

On Friday Night - the kids cleaned up downstairs, then we watched Tarzan, after which, the kids had a glow stick party.  Dan pulled out some glow sticks for them - we turned off all the lights and the kids had a blast chasing each other around in the dark.

Saturday night, Dan and I got a baby sitter and we went up and met Newell and Becky and watched Les Mis.  I LOVE that musical, and the movie was done well enough that i really enjoyed it and I am now feeling a desire to pick up the unabridged version of the book that i got about half way through.

Today was a normal Sunday - fun but exhausting.  For some reason, Dan and I always end our Sundays totally exhausted and needing naps....

Oh and James got another tooth - he now has a grand total of 5 teeth - 2 on top, 3 on bottom.

And a Happy New Year

We had a pretty uneventful week - on New Years Eve, we sent the kids to bed at the usual time and I did a puzzle while we watched a movie - then we popped the lid on our sparkling cider right before midnight took a couple pictures and went to bed.  The next day, Eileen realized that it was New Year's Day and kept asking about how we were going to celebrate - were we going to a party?  could we watch a new years movie?  What could we do???  She was not very happy that the grownups had their own little party after they were in bed.  :)   

The kids were out of school all week - so they are going TOTALLY stir crazy - weather has been too cool for doing much outside.  Dan went back to work on Wednesday - which meant that he went to work in the morning, then got home around 5:30 - ate dinner with us, got the kids to bed - then went downstairs and worked a 6 hour night..... He's thinking of asking for overtime.... :)  He even had to spend most of Saturday working.

On Thursday, Crystal came over so we could meet about the primary music and get the program figured out - (It's so nice to have that all organized now!!  I love being organized!)  and she brought her kids over to play.  They all seemed to have a fun time and poor Crystal must have thought that I was stir crazy too - since i kept her there overly long with my talking after we were done and kept giving her recipes and food to take home....

Saturday was my turn to go help clean the building that our choir rehearses at - the girls all wanted to come - so we went and cleaned windows and bathrooms and the kitchen and in less time than we imagined, we found ourselves done and on the way home - the girls were great though - so helpful and cute.  :)

Today was an adventure.  Our first week with church at 1:00 pm - it wasn't nearly as painful as we were afraid.  James actually got a decent nap in before church - the kids had lunch, so they weren't hungry, And while James wanted another little nap after church, he did fine during church.  Evelyn had her first day as a Sunbeam - she was so cute - she did such a good job of sitting reverently and paying attention - she sang during singing time and waved at me while I was sitting down.  :) Nursery was much easier without my 3 year old daughter hanging on me - demanding my lap and climbing on my back.

After dinner, we all went downstairs to play - Dan got out some blocks and Aaron's "Angry Birds" Hot Wheels stuff and we spent an hour building 'castles with pigs' and knocking them over with flying Hot Wheel Angry Birds.  The kids had a blast - They totally got into it and we had a nice evening playing together.

Dan asked Eileen and Anna if they were excited to go back to school tomorrow - and both gave an emphatic yes - I guess I'm just too boring now.  :)