Angels watching over me

Friday night the kids and I went down to Fort Worth to meet Dan (who was there for State BPA competition) We had a nice dinner, then headed home. About a half hour from home, I noticed that the gas light was on and I had no idea how long it had been on.... Thankfully - I was just coming to an exit - so I decided to turn off and fortunately there was a gas station on the exit. As I pulled in, I pushed the little button that gives an estimate of how much further you can go on that tank of gas.... it had passed the numbers and was now just on an asterisk.... So basically if there hadn't been an exit right there, with a gas station right on the exit, I would have been stranded on the toll way, late at night with no gas.... I am very grateful that someone was watching out for me that night!

Unfortunately they were not watching out for the bathroom floor. When I sent the kids in to brush their teeth, we discovered that the kids extravagant use of toilet paper had caused a back up - the floor was a huge puddle! EWWWWW!!!!!

The girls had a birthday party that they went to Saturday morning - they had a blast! The mother (a wonderfully talented friend of mine) had made matching skirts for all the girls to wear at the "Fancy Nancy" birthday party! So cute!! Grandpa and Grandma came over for dinner that night - I was so nice to have people entertaining my kids and keeping then from fussing/climbing all over me while I made dinner, ate dinner and cleaned up dinner. It was especially nice to have great company over since I'd been deprived of much adult company for the last 3 days.

Highlights this week....

Going to the park and letting the kids go crazy!

Aaron getting him self dressed and putting on one shirt on top and one shirt on the bottom....
Evelyn's new favorite thing to do... in fact I woke up to this coming through the monitor Saturday. :)

Bookworms

My kids are bookworms.

They come by it honestly - their parents are bookworms, their grandparents are bookworms and many of their great grandparents were also bookworms.

At the end of the day, when we try and clean up - we pick up at least as many books as toys.

This love of books has become a love of reading for Eileen - she could easily spend most of the day reading - and at 5 years old - she is already reading the scriptures (with very little help) She loves to sit and read and then talk with us about what she is reading. It is so fun to watch her love of books and reading and especially the scriptures grow as she grows.

Anna of course wants to be just like her big sister and wants to read a lot too - so she will have mommy read a line to her, then she repeats it.

Aaron is just recently starting to love books - any excuse for sitting in mommy's lap is a good one - and I find that any time I sit down (anywhere - computer, to eat lunch, couch, floor) he is right there with a book and asking to get up.

Evie hasn't quite found a love of books (besides eating them) but she did discover her toes this week. It started by just grabbing her toes while I changed her diaper - yesterday it became full blown toe - chewing. (she also decided that shoes were no barrier to using her feet as chew toys and chewed on then all through church)

One of THOSE days

I think every parent knows what I'm talking about.... the days when every kid is demandinf full attention - and if you don't give it you end up with....

...tantrums in the middle of a Relief Society Activity
...lotion all over brothers head... and the floor
...hand soap all over the bathroom counter
...tantrums during dinner...and FHE...and baths...and.... well you get the idea....

I think the best that can be said of today is that it's over and tomorrow will be a new day. And thankfully a better one (I mean hey - odds are it HAS to be!)

What happened to the rest of the week!!?!

Dan got home and we got SOO MUCH snow that he couldn't leave the house again for 2 days!!! YEY!!!! LOL - well something like that. It started snowing on Thursday and Dan managed to get home before the roads became impassable. Then it kept snowing and freezing and school and wrestling tournaments were cancelled - so we got Dan all to our selves for 3 days! WOOHOOO!!!

The kids LOVED playing in the snow - but soon realized that Mommy isn't much fun because all she does is take pictures - but look at how cute they are!! With kids this cute - how can I help myself!
I did however manage to build a small snowman with them - but I'm not much good at snow men - so he wasn't that impressive.
obviously Dan's was more impressive.... but neither one lasted long - Dan's fell victim to the neighborhood kids snowball battle.

Day Three

Aaron is still awake....it's 10 o'clock at night and I just got back from putting him in bed after I found him crying behind the door surrounded by toys he was not supposed to have out and having just bonked his head on the bed. So now the question is... how cranky will he be tomorrow....

Anna is now complaining again of her ear hurting...again, so we're going to call the doctors office again tomorrow and see if her ear infection has returned....

We spent the morning at a friends house and had fun chatting and playing! Now I'm going to see if I can get a half decent night of sleep and stay sane for one more day! Countdown until Dan arrives...approx 19 hours! Hurry home Baby! We miss you!

Day Two

Hmmm.... my super powers haven't arrived yet... still waiting... :) After only getting about 4 1/2 hours of sleep last night, my day was saved by the thoughtfulness of two friends.

Our good friends came over to play with us and this WONDERFUL lady came and made lunch while I fed Evie and then cleaned up my kitchen while I tried to comfort a fussy teething baby.

I got a phone call in the morning from our Relief Society President who had arranged a baby sitter for me so I could come to our Relief Society Activity tonight. She picked up the sitter - dropped her off here - then took me to the activity - took me home and took home the baby sitter.

We also got to have some friends come over and visit for a bit this evening - friends that we don't get to see as often as we would like.

These events combine together to mean that as I approach the end of Day two - I'm still sane. :) (haha - I think!)

Day One....

So I woke up this morning at 5am to go to a spin class, then came home and took Dan to school to go to his conference. Then we went to spend the morning at a friends house. I also managed to finish 10 loads of laundry, feed the kids and stay (mostly) sane! So now my real question is....

Since I'm officially Super Mom - when do I get my super powers?!?!?!?!? :)

Approaching Healthy

We are finally starting to feel like we are back to our normal selves - all except poor Evie who is so congested!! We've been nebulizer-ing her and we are now trying to put her to sleep in her car seat so she is upright - we are hoping this will get her to sleep through the night... my poor baby!!!!

Eileen has been rather accident prone this week (well her whole life - but more visibly this week) she comes by it honestly... This week her face managed to get into a position where it earned a rug burn TWICE!!! Once earlier this week - I woke up to her crying her eyes out and with scratches all over her nose. The second time during singing time in Primary - earned her a scratch on her forehead.... Leaving my beautiful little girl looking like this.....


So after a couple weeks of being cooped up in the house we are all stir crazy and ready to face the world again! Look out - here we come.

Also check in next week for an update of my slow slide into insanity as my SWEET HUSBAND leaves for a conference that my BRILLIANT HUSBAND is presenting at (yes those are both the same man - no I'm not a polygamist!)

Until then - I leave you with this adorable picture that came out of my attempt to get a picture of her adorable smile. Next week I'll try to get you a recording of the CRAZY sounds she makes.... you gotta hear it to believe it... trust me.... :)

Aaron and bugs

A while back I was sweeping up the kitchen floor and found a small bug - I grabbed a kleenex, picked it up and dumped it out side. Aaron had watched the whole thing. Just a few minutes ago, Aaron comes in while I'm feeding Evie and is very desperately trying to get a kleenex from the box on my desk. At the time I'd just figured that he wanted to be a big boy and blow his nose. After he gets his kleenex, he disappears for a minute or two - then comes back in with a bug in the kleenex (but no boogers!) and saying "side side!" He had found a bug - gotten the kleenex, picked the bug up and wanted to put it outside just like mommy. LOL - what a sweetie!

Super boring week!!!

Yep that's right -with 4 sick kids, we didn't really go anywhere or do anything all week. Monday we made a trip down to the doctor because Anna was complaining that her ear hurt. Turns out that she had an ear infection. Now after a week we are at the point where they are all starting to feel a bit better - so they are BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS!!!!! and of course the weather is now FREEZING so they can't go play outside and mommy is starting to feel sick so she doesn't want to take them anywhere... Hmmm well i guess that's winter! So here I am looking forward to spring and grateful that at least my kids are starting to feel a bit better. I will miss how snuggly they are when they are sick though. It's the one time I can get them to sit still for more than 30 seconds!


The girls had a primary activity on Friday night - so Aaron basically got mommy and daddy all to himself. He LOVED it. He loved having the one on one time. (Evelyn was asleep)

Well it's a new week....wish me luck!

Sick Kids

Well I succeeded in getting to bed earlier last week - and go figure but after getting up at 5 am and working out - I had NO problem getting to sleep at 10! The kids have all been sick this week in varying degrees - Anna and Evelyn seems to be getting the worst of it though. Anna has has a stomach bug that has us up to our ears in diarrhea, throw-up, and gas. Listening to her walk around all day letting it out like a grown man who just downed a pack of soda would be awfully amusing if I didn't know how miserable it was making her feel. We kept her home from church today and she took a nap from around 10 am to 5 pm. My poor tired baby.... The up side - mommy gets lots of sweet snuggle time. Evie has been sick too - mostly just congestion and coughing - but those two things make it awfully hard to nurse her!!

It's amazing to me the way Sundays have a way of putting things into perspective for me... Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the most exhausting days of the week for me - Dan is gone more on those days, so I miss him more and the kids miss him more. However on Sunday when he is around, and my mind is focused more on Christ, it's much easier to remember that while some days are hard, some days are great and it all balances out in the end. It's also much easier to make dinner when I don't have to listen to Evelyn scream at me while I do.... :)

This week was crazy busy - Aaron and Evelyn had doctor's appointments on Monday - both are doing well. Aaron is still on the shrimpy side - but he is healthy and progressing well. It's fun to hear him talk - he learns new words every day!!

Evelyn is also doing well - Doctor said she is advanced in her motor skills. She is getting close to rolling over and sitting on her own. Why aren't my kids ever happy to just sit and cuddle with me for more than 3 months....

We (and by we I really mean I - since this was on Saturday) took Aaron for his 2 year old pictures and they came out SO CUTE!!! What a handsome boy I have!!!! It was SO hard to choose just one! Here are some of my favs.

Tired Mommy....

Mommy has decided to make an effort to go to bed earlier.... It's not going to be easy - but after a week of feeling exhausted all week and feeling like I don't know where the week went - I've decided to make a change - starting tonight - So - I'm heading to bed after I write this with the hopes that it makes me able to get up at 5 am tomorrow to go to the gym.... :) wish me luck!

Eileen gave a talk in primary today - she did an excellent job!! She told daddy what to write down for her talk - then she stood up and read it all by her self in primary. Everyone was very impressed - I'm just happy that she isn't afraid to get up and that she loves the scriptures enough to do this.

Dan had a meeting this morning so I was left to get the kids fed, dressed and out the door for church by myself. I learned one thing....I need to get up earlier and go to bed earlier.... That way maybe I won't get so exhausted when Aaron decides to come visit me while I'm feeding Evelyn with a mouth full of food that he is dripping all over the house....or when the kids spend all of Sacrament Meeting fighting over who gets to sit on mommy's lap....or when Evelyn won't nurse in the mothers lounge because it's not the right place....

Oh well...maybe next week I'll be perfect.... well maybe not - but better anyway! :)

Anna drew a picture for Evie and put it on her lap - then they all posed around her playing with her and kissing her - they sure love her!

Made with "A Day in the Garden" by Fanette and Mimilou Designs. Template by Colies Corner

Happy Birthday Aaron

I can't believe my little boy is 2 years old!! We had Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Sandi and Uncle Jon up to celebrate. Daddy made an Oreo cake and Aaron had fun opening presents and playing with toys! He's such a sweet little boy (LOL - at least when he's not screaming and wiggling and kicking....) :) He got some Legos and some Thomas the Tank Engine train pieces. Fortunately his sisters like them too which makes him want to play with them even more!

Happy Birthday little guy! We all love you and are glad to have you in our family!!

Our Week

We've had a fun week - Temperatures here have dipped down in to the teens. The newsman actually said that on Wednesday it was colder here than it was in Anchorage Alaska! As a result, school was canceled for Dan on Thursday! We love having him home - but I think it was a little anti-climatic for him since it's one day off that he doesn't get later in the year and holidays just ended this last week!

More good news - our fish replacements are still alive! They have now lasted almost a week and we are excited to have managed to not kill them! The kids happily show them off to everyone who comes over! The kids have also decided that the fish like to be read to, so they will stand near the fish tank and read (haha well Eileen reads - Anna tells the story to the best of her memory and Aaron just jabbers) and hold the book up for them to see. Here is Aaron reading his upside down scriptures to them!

Made with "Man's Best Friend" by DDBN - Template by Pure Creativity Designs

Eileen is reading everything and this Monday during Family Home Evening - we all made New Years goals - Eileen made the goal to read the entire book of Alma this year! Anna's goal is to not peepee in her panties (so far so good!) and Aaron's (set by mommy) is to potty train. Eileen wants him to start now. :) She tries to sit him on the potty before every bath.

Evelyn is growing like crazy and is just a beautiful, sweet baby! Too bad she doesn't like me.... she is SUCH a daddy's girl!

Made with Morning Mocha by Nibbles Skribbles

Fish.....

The kids have been asking for pets recently - so Dan thought it would be a good idea to get them a fish tank for Christmas. We found one on sale and grabbed it and set it up for the kids Christmas Morning. We then followed all the instructions from the people at the pet store about getting our tank ready for fish then on Friday, we went down to the pet store to get some fish. For two days we were the proud owners of two cute fish.... then they died.... I think I am cursed with fish. I remember as a kid, we got a fish tank for my dad for his birthday... we had it set up with fish in it and hidden - when we took him to it - there was a dead fish floating on the top. Poor Fish. The kids are taking it well - but I think Eileen is the only one that gets it at all. So we will try again and hopefully somehow we will get some to survive into adulthood (or at least a week or two!)

For New Years Eve - my parents and Grandpa came up to play and watch a movie and eat food and do puzzles. Aaron and Anna loved trying to help - Eileen was entranced by the movie "Up" which (as usual) scared her. She's so sweet and gets so worried during movies that she hasn't seen before when something bad happens in them. Unless she already knows it will be ok - she worries. Sometimes I forget she is only 5....

Yesterday, while the kids were getting ready for bed, Dan and I were laying on the floor together and Dan looks at me and says "I'm sorry - but I'm SO ready to go back to work" HAHA - well at least I'm not the only one who gets exhausted by my kids!! :)

A new year and a new church time today had Dan and I rejoicing. (More than once I almost spontaneously broke into the Hallelujah Chorus.) The kids were much better behaved today - hopefully this will last! Anna is now officially in Primary and when we picked her up after church, she was all smiles and fun - she has some of her good friends in her class and a wonderful teacher! Eileen also got a new teacher for the new year and said today after church that she was Good! Her teacher is also a wonderful woman that I think will work well with Eileen's personality.

Anyway - HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!