Spring Break!

The kids have been on spring break all week, so we have had a fun week!  Monday was the normal excitement, then Tuesday we did early piano lessons so that we could be free on Thursday.  Bright and early on Wednesday morning, my sister Sandi got into town.  She and her little girl Kai flew in to spend a few days with us!  Naturally, all the family in the area wanted to see them, so we spent the rest of the week finding fun things to do and hanging out with family!  

On Wednesday, we went to the Hammond's Candy Factory - the kids loved it - they LOVED getting the free sample at the end of the tour and they loved hanging out with Aunt Sandi and baby Kai.  We drove home for a sticky fingered lunch and then rested a bit since Sandi had been up since the crack of dawn (or earlier) and I was still recovering from a cold.  In the evening, Sandi came with me to choir practice.  

Thursday, we met up with Frank and Frankie - we ate lunch at the Museum of Nature and Science and then had fun exploring the Space Odessy exhibit (one of the kids favorites) and the Gems exhibit (which we hadn't seen before.)

Friday, we met up with Grandpa for lunch and had a fun lunch at a little Italian place near his house.  The poor restaurant staff who had to clean up after James and Kai!!  James was so funny - he spent the whole time trying to grab any food he could get his hands on and add it to his dish.

After, we went over to Aunt Joan's house for a while - we had a fun time chatting and hanging out with her and Grandpa and Jill and Logan.

Saturday was crazy - totally crazy!  We started out with an early trip to Stuart and Rebecca's for breakfast with the family.  Then I dropped Evie off at a birthday party for her friend Brinton from preshool.  Then Sandi and I (with our littles) went to the fabric store to get the fabric for Kai's quilt.  James spent the whole trip asking me to do things for him (up please!  down please!  hold it?  water please?  get it?)  Just a constant stream of demands which made it hard to talk and plan with Sandi!  It's so cute - James calls Sandi "Santa" so any time we were out of sight - it was "where's Santa?"  We finally got out of there and then went back to pick up Evie.  We got home finally and ate some lunch, then Dan took some of the kids to a baptism in the ward.  When they got home, we ate an early dinner, then took the kids out for the ice cream they earned (awhile back) with their good and kind behavior.

After, Sandi, Nicole, Eileen and I went to the Women's General Broadcast - I felt so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing women and to be there with my sweet oldest daughter and share that experience with her.  I couldn't help thinking of my mother-in-law and how blessed she must be feeling to be able to watch with her daughter and granddaughters!

The kids had some fun goofing off and doing Kai's hair - she's such a cute little girl (about 10 months old)  and the kids all thought this hair style suited her!

Church today was wonderful!  We had Fast and Testimony meeting this week and we were so blessed to listen to the testimonies of our daughters.  It was also amazing to listen to the testimonies of a couple amazing people in our ward who have been coming back to church - and to hear them bear such powerful testimony and to see them as they have changed and become more faithful - more loving and more dedicated!  Our ward had a Visiting Teaching meeting today.  Sandi and I did a special musical number for it (I was just glad to have my voice mostly back to normal in time)  and the stories that were shared were wonderful!

After church, Uncle Doug came over and had dinner with us and hung out for a while.  The kids love getting to see their Great Uncles - and uncle Doug is no exception - they had fun showing off for him and playing with him.

After a fun and wonderful week - the kids start school again tomorrow - and we get one last (mostly full) day with Sandi before she heads home tomorrow evening.  The kids are all going to miss having her around and I've really enjoyed having this fun sister time!

Sleep... I need sleep....

It's been a bit of a crazy week.... Sigh - is there ever a week that isn't??  This week was somewhat different because it felt like I spent SO MUCH of it in my car - and that drives me nuts!!  I went through a tank and a half of gas this week - which is a ridiculous amount for me!  Between the usual, choir, piano lessons, and school driving, I have taken a friend to a couple doctor appointments half way across town, and we had a family get together to celebrate my uncle's birthday.  I'm just tired of my car - lol - and this coming week probably won't be much better.  

Eileen and Anna are doing Volleyball in PE right now - so I went out and got a couple volleyballs for us all to play with.  James of course loves them - but Eileen and I have had some fun practicing volleyball skills in the backyard.  My dad would be proud (or horrified at how out of practice I am)  I told Eileen how much better Aunt Sandi is - so there's another thing to add to our list of things to do with Aunt Sandi when she visits!  

This weekend we changed James' crib into a 'toddler bed'  after we finished setting it up and making it, he went over and climbed right in and tucked himself into bed - so Anna red him a story.  It was so cute!

Friday night, I went to the Peoria Ward R.S. Dinner - it's always fun to hang out with Nicole and it's always fun to get together with friends from my old ward, so it was a really fun night!  Plus after an exhausting day, I really needed some down time.

Saturday, we started the day by going to our friend Brad's baptism, then the kids stayed at the church for the stake children's choir rehearsal, while I went to my friends daughter's wedding reception.  Saturday night, we had some friends over so their parents could go to the adult session of Stake Conference - we had fun watching silly shows on tv and eating cake and ice cream!

Today was a wonderful Stake Conference, followed by mommy-nap time and then we headed over to Stuart and Rebecca's to celebrate Uncle Doug's birthday.  It was a really nice evening - it's nice to be near family!!

These last two pictures are just ones I snapped of my cute kiddos earlier today.  Eileen came in with one of my hats on, and I just thought she was so cute so I took a picture, so of course, Evie wanted her picture taken also - she started acting goofy - and Eileen stuck the hat on her head last minute, giving me this cute, goofy set of pictures!

Buzzed

My boys have been needing hair cuts for awhile now.  I didn't expect Dan to cut James' hair quite this short - but he sure looks cute!  He looks so different that it's taking some getting use to - but I love rubbing his fuzzy head and he doesn't seem to notice anything is different.  This was him saying "Cheeeese" while I tried to get a picture of his new hair cut.... 

Aaron's hair is cut too, but I can't seem to get a picture of him....

The rest of our week has been mostly normal.  It's always great having Dan home.

Wednesday, Dan and I dropped off Evie and James with the Young's and went to his cousin Becca's wedding.  It was a lot of fun and she's married a really great guy - plus it's always fun to get together with family - and the new hubby fits right in.  She was so cute and happy!

Thursday we had the normal piano lessons and that was followed by a rush to get home so Dan could take the older 3 kids to Skate City and I could take the younger two to a Relief Society Activity.

Friday night, we had friends over for dinner.  We had 8 adults and 8 kids here - somehow we managed to feed everyone with a bit left over and we had a BLAST together.  We played Scattergories and had a ton of fun goofing off while the kids hung out downstairs.

On Saturday, Dwayne and Nicole came over - Nicole and I made taquitos and Dan and Dwayne hung a door.  The girls ran around the house singing the music from Frozen.  The boys ran around the kitchen trying to see what the men were doing outside.

Fun with Grandma

With Grandma out here for the week - we got to have lots of fun!  Monday was mostly settling in - and a follow-up appointment for Eileen and her orthodontist.  Tuesday, we had preschool here, which is always a lot of fun and crazyness.  They are all such fun and good kids that it is never a bad day. Then Aaron had a dentist appointment in the afternoon.  (I'm not sure how this happened, but all the doctor and dentist appointments got scheduled this week....)  

Wednesday morning, Eileen had her wellness check up.  She was great - healthy, happy, smart and growing well!  After that, the littles, grandma and I met with Grandpa, Stuart, Doug, Tina and Frankie for lunch.  We had lunch at a fun little place called Geatano's which had a history of mobsters meeting there - one of whom went to school with Great Grandpa!  In the afternoon, Grandma took Aaron out shopping for his birthday present (only 2 months late!)  He was very excited though and picked out some new skylanders.  

Thursday Aaron had a doctor's appointment - he is also heathy and happy and smart - doing well!  I am so grateful that my kids are healthy and happy!  Then we had preschool at our house again, and grandma took James out for his birthday shopping - no big surprise, he came home with more cars :)  Then after piano lessons that afternoon, we went to Stuart and Rebecca's to celebrate Grandpa, Aunt Rebecca, and Sara Jean's birthdays.  The kids all had a blast.  James LOVED their new dog - tinker - whom James called "Stinker" 

These two just love having their picture taken.  Evie thought she was so cool for putting sunglasses on Eileen's penguin!  And once I'd taken her picture, I had to take James' too.  This little boy has surprisingly good table manners for a 2 year old - he uses his spoon or fork (which is more than some of the older ones can say) - he says please and thanks (which is more than some of the older ones can say) - and he uses his napkin or a rag instead of his clothes to wipe off his hands (which is more than some of the older ones can say)  LOL - you get the picture!

James' vocabulary is expanding every day - each day he pops out a new word that I didn't realize he knew.  And he speaks in 4 - 5 word sentences.  I came in to get him up from naps one day to find this.  :) 

Late Saturday night, I got a call from a friend who needed a ride to the ER.  I ended up staying there with her all night until she was finally admitted this morning around 9 am.  After a night of no sleep, I took an afternoon nap today and now I am good and ready to head to bed again!  Heather is thankfully ok - just unable to handle this without some intravenous help.

Hot and Cold

This week started out with mommy trying to recover - I slept most of Monday (after sleeping most of Sunday) and by Tuesday was starting to feel back to normal.  We had a fun day of preschool at our house on Tuesday and the kids all had a blast.  It's so fun to watch them all play together - they all get along so well!  

Wednesday morning, we got Nicole and the kids and headed for the library for story time.  James actually paid attention for some of it - usually he just wants to walk around and get books for me to read to him.  This time, he actually participated in story time some.  

Wednesday night was choir - I'm excited to get to do a solo in our upcoming concert, and I'm really excited to get to sing with this choir - we have some new directors who are determined to take this choir to the next level - and it's amazing to watch the choir grow and get better!  

Thursday our preschool group went on a field trip to the Fire Station.  It was really pretty cool - we got to check out all the equipment and the kids got to sit in the truck and they all had a great time checking everything out.  

Thursday morning, we also said good-bye to Daddy as he headed off to Nashville for another trip.  Thursday afternoon was piano lessons and I hadn't managed to think ahead to needing dinner that night, so instead of another night of mac n' cheese, we stopped at Firehouse Subs on the way home.  

Friday morning, Evie and James had doctor's appointments.  I was amazed (and yet not really surprised) to hear that Evie weighed in at 32 lbs and James weighed in at 28 lbs.  making them 2 years and 4 lbs apart.   No wonder my back hurts.  Otherwise they are growing and developing well - James talks incessantly - and he actually want you to pay attention and respond - and his continuous commentary on what he sees, what he's doing and what he wants you to do are adorable, but rather exhausting sometimes!   

Saturday, Heather came over to hang out and we spent some time cleaning the house, then the kids had fun pulling out their summer fun passport books and adding some more pictures and lots more stamps and stickers.

Grandma got into town today - it was kinda nice to have someone else to take some of the kids attention - she spent most of the afternoon knitting with the older kids and playing and reading with them.  By 7 though, they had managed to exhaust both of us, so we figured they might be tired too and put them to bed.  :)