Mostly back to normal

We seem to mostly have shaken the sickies - except for mommy - but since mommy doesn't get to stop everything when she's sick, life has mostly been normal this week (plus I really felt fine until today) 

This week has been full of fun adventures - preschool, the library, piano lessons, and school.  Evie loves going to preschool!  She loves her preschool friends and getting to learn and play, and she loves her teachers!  James and I have been having fun hanging out at the mall play area while she's at preschool - and James loves the time with mommy's attention and getting to run around and play. 

James has gotten really clingy and we are trying to get him to be a bit more independent - he want's to be carried everywhere - in fact - Dan and I had to deal with at least 6-7 massive tantrums from him today during church because he wanted to be carried  - not sat with, not played with - carried.  The problem is that he's just getting to big to carry everywhere - especially when mommy isn't feeling so good.  :)  He's become quite a chatter box too - he is always chattering at me and telling me things and showing me things and trying to drag me to where he wants me.  It's always amazing to see how quickly he learns. 

Monday was President's day and we took the chance to enjoy a day off school and a sunny day to go to the zoo.  The kids all had a really fun time - and were really good about staying close to me - the zoo was packed because of the holiday and so I was nervous about them running off or getting too far away - but they all did really well - which made the day enjoyable for me too. 

James, I think, enjoyed it the most - he LOVED to see the animals and could only be dragged away from the current animal by the promise of the next one.  His favorite animal though was the "Water Tigers"  We saw the sea lions playing and stopped to watch them - James talked about the "water tigers" for the next 2 days straight. 

Still Sick.....

This week has been once again full of sick kiddos. Aaron was running a fever on Monday and Tuesday and stayed home from school.  On Wednesday, he was fine and going to school and I was hoping this was done... then Evie threw up.... Well she didn't throw up again - she napped most of that day and a good chunk of the next and was feeling better on Friday.  Friday morning, we had a fun Valentines' Day breakfast, and, then my visiting teacher came over for a bit.  After that, we went to a little Valentine's Day party for the kids.  In the afternoon, after the kids had finished their piano, we made Valentine's for our friend Heather and took them over to her.  Friday night, we had Eileen's friend Morgan over for the night and Dan went to watch Dwayne and Nicole's kids so that they could go out on a Valentines Day date.  Saturday morning, the kids went to a Primary Activity, then they spent most of the afternoon playing together.  In the evening, Dwayne and Nicole came over to watch our kids so Dan and I could go out.  We had a fun evening of dinner and mall walking. 

So here we were thinking that sickness was behind us.... then this morning, Anna came in and said she wasn't feeling well - then barely made it to the bathroom before she threw up.  So once again, Dan stayed home from church with sick kids while I took the others to church.  Anna slept most of the day and still wasn't feeling so hot tonight - but the kids all have tomorrow off school, so she has another day to get well...

I didn't do very well at taking pictures, so here's a fun one of James.  If you ask him what a cow says he says "mmmmmmmmm" and makes this face. 

The Sickness Goes On

Well this has been a not so fun week of sickies - Monday morning started off bright and early with James throwing up in his bed.  However after that one bad incident, he really seemed to be feeling better.  Evie picked up the baton with a chesty cough that we finally managed to get rid of around Friday, however, on Friday, Dan took the girls out and Eileen threw up in the car on the way home.  She seemed to feel ok the next day, but Aaron took it up and threw up a few times on Saturday and in the evening, started complaining about his ear hurting.  He was running a high fever this morning, so Dan stayed home from church with him.  He slept most of the day, so hopefully he will feel ok tomorrow, but we are going to have to call the Doc.

The kids had Thursday and Friday off of school and I had planned on taking them somewhere fun, but as usual, any trips were conditional upon a clean play room and clean bedrooms - and since they didn't get any cleaning done, we didn't go anywhere - turns out that wasn't' such a bad thing considering the bugs we seemed to be carrying around - and I didn't mind since I wasn't feeling up to par either and was fine with hanging out at the house - the only downside is that 2 days stuck inside due to freezing weather can make kids rather stir crazy....

Friday, Dan took Eileen and Anna to a Daddy Daughter Dance at Grandpa's church.  They really had a great time (until the ride home where Eileen threw up) They got to dress up and hang out with their cousin Lucy and Uncle Stuart and Grandpa (and of course Daddy)  Grandpa even made them some corsages to wear on their wrists! 

Hopefully, the sickies will soon be behind us and we can get back to our regularly scheduled fun! 

Snow, snow and more snow!

We have gotten a good deal of snow this week - which has made the roads a bit treacherous and has mostly kept the kids indoors.  I'm looking forward to a few days of sunshine and letting the kids run outside! 

Tuesday, I dropped Evie off at preschool and then decided to take James to the mall play area and was surprised and happy to run into almost every other kid in our nursery and their moms.  We both had a great time with friends - running around and chatting! 

Wednesday started off with a trip to the library - but unfortunately Nicole's kids were sick, so we had to go on our own - thankfully, we still got to run into friends there for chatting with and playing with.  Then of course the day ended with choir. 

Thursday was the beginning of the snow - weather turned cold and mushy Thursday evening - the girls had their school music night - so we got to listen to them sing - they even both had little solos - not too surprising, since they both have lovely voices and can sing the notes right, but it was wonderful to hear and see!  They did great!!

I tried to get some videos too - but had some trouble figuring out my camera :)  I did get Eileen's solo recorded, but it's on a rather long video that I'm having trouble uploading.  They both did an amazing job though!

Friday night, we had the Haight's over for dinner - we had a great time with them - and the kids all had a blast together too!  

Saturday was nice and crazy, I took Anna down to a birthday party and went and ran some errands down in that part of town while I was out - I took Evie with me because she insisted that she really did want to sit in the car and do nothing, instead of playing at home.... Evie had her second round of testing at Quest in the afternoon and then in the evening, Aaron's friend Ethan and his mom came over to play for a bit.  

Sundays are always crazy - but since it was Fast Sunday, we had no choir practice, so there was one less thing going on today!  Plus they got a primary chorister called, so soon I will be done subbing there - so one less thing to do on Sundays.  

James is at a fun age - he learns new things every day - today when he saw a picture of a cow he pointed at it - said "COW"  and proceeded to pucker up his lips and say "Mmmmmmmoooo"   One of these day's I'll get a picture of it - cuz it's so cute and funny, but it's hard to catch since he's usually in my lap when he's doing it. 

In Which Mommy's Computer is STILL NOT FIXED

Yep - again... last night I came home and sat down at my computer and the monitor wouldn't turn on - the computer still sounded like it was running, but nothing would show up on the screen - and the computer wouldn't turn off to restart... So it's looking like twice now we have sent my computer in to be fixed and twice now they have fixed the result of the problem, but not the cause of it.   Sigh..... So I will try and add pictures later, but for now I'm typing this on my tablet....

Dan got back into town on Monday morning, we picked him up from the airport then since the kids had the day off school for MLK Jr. Day we all went to the Museum of Nature and Science. We all had a great time - The kids always want to see more than we have time for when we go there - so it's nice to be able to say - we have a season pass - we'll come back soon (THANK YOU GRANDMA AND GRANDPA JONES!!!!!). I got some fun pictures, but I will have to add them later...

James' birthday was this week - it was on Thursday, but we celebrated on Friday.  Dwayne and Nicole and family came over and we had dinner and cupcakes.  James had a blast opening presents and reading his new books, but he had a bit of a fever and was kinda tired.  Friday night I went out to pick up a wedding present and when I came home (when he should have been asleep) he was up screaming - so I picked him and and snuggled him for a bit and he just lay on my shoulder and at one point he started rubbing his ear, so Saturday morning we took him in to the doctor and sure enough he had a double ear infection.  So he is now on antibiotics - still running a bit of a fever and really tired and out of it - but he slept a lot better last night, so hopefully the pain is going away.  He and daddy stayed home from church so mommy could do singing time and choir - but when we got him up for dinner and medicine, he was acting a lot more normal.  Poor James got to spend his birthday weekend sick though :(

Saturday we were invited to a wedding, we didn't want to leave a sick baby with a babysitter though, so I took Anna as my date and we went.  The wedding was lovely and we had a great time chatting with friends.  I think Anna also had a blast being out with just Mommy :).  Mommy kept her out too late though cuz she was tired and cranky today :)

Otherwise our week was pretty normal - school, preschool, laundry, errands, piano lessons, library, work, etc.  Poor Dan has been worked to near exhaustion (especially with a crank baby waking us up at night) thankfully he won't be traveling again for a month. 

Mommy Becomes A Zombie Part 2

Dan stayed home on Monday, though he had to spend most of it working anyway - but it gave me a chance to get the grocery shopping done.  Monday night for FHE, we went to the Nickel-a-Play - a fun little place near by.  The kids had a blast (except James who couldn't care less about the games - he only wanted candy....)  The kids had a ton of fun playing games and winning tickets - then they had a blast picking out their prizes at the end.  We found that a nickelcade is a great place to take cute little kids, because everyone wants to give them tickets and candy and coins.... the hard part was cutting it off when we were trying to get them home and to bed.  :)

One of the best parts about it was that a lot of the arcade games there were free - games that gave tickets and some "big" games still cost coins, but there were a lot of games the kids could play even after they had used their allotment of coins.

Mommy's favorite is Skee Ball - Eileen proved to be quite good at it - winning herself a good sized chunk of tickets.  Evie had a lot of fun trying it out, but had a hard time getting to go past the metal cover since she was close to throwing it than rolling it.

Oddly enough, this little merry-go-round was a huge hit with the kids....

Our week since has mostly included the usual insanity and lack of sleep.  Dwayne and Nicole came and watched the kids so I could go to choir.  

Evie has preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays and she just LOVES it - and she loves being able to talk about 'when i was at school' when her older siblings are talking about their days at school too.  

Saturday morning we went to a baptism - it was wonderful!  James was rather beastly during the whole thing though, so we went home after and I put him down for a nap and he slept all afternoon.  The weather outside has been GORGEOUS the last couple days and so we spent Saturday afternoon outside enjoying the weather. 

Aaron lost his first tooth on Saturday - the only problem is that he lost his lost tooth - he didn't even remember losing it - he just realized that it was gone.  

When we got home from church, the same wonderful weather prevailed, so we spent the time between church and dinner outside enjoying it!  We played tag and James made a muddy mess of himself going down the slide.  

Now we are all eagerly awaiting Dan's homecoming tomorrow - though he may need 2 days sleep to recover from his week...

Mommy Becomes A Zombie - Part 1

Dan was out of town through late Friday this week - and weeks are always much more exhausting when he's out of town.  It always feels like I can't seem to get anywhere near enough sleep.

Monday, my friend Heather came over to hang out in the afternoon and to get my help with doing the primary bulletin board.  After getting stuff together and heading over, we decided we needed a few more things - but it was too late that night.  So she came over again on Tuesday and we got more stuff together.  LOL - I spent 8 months as Primary President meaning to get that done - and we finally manage to get it done 2 weeks after I have been released.  :)

Wednesday was the normal insanity - we went to the library in the morning - it was really good to see Nicole and the kids again - we haven't seen them much since the holidays started.  It was also nice to get back to normal routines.  Dwayne came and watched the kids on Wednesday night so I could go to Choir.

Thursday was Preschool for Evie and Piano lessons in the evening - by this point in the week, I was worried about making the drive across town and falling asleep at the wheel - but a good audio book kept me awake and us safe.   Then we quickly grabbed some dinner and I bundled the kids up to go to the Relief Society Activity.

Dan finally got home on Friday, but it was pretty late at night - after the kids were in bed.  Friday was also Aaron's birthday - I can't believe he is 6 already!!  He is getting so big and so smart!

Saturday morning we spent the day cleaning house (and car) and getting ready for Aaron's birthday party.  I've been feeling kinda guilty about never really doing much for his birthdays - they are close enough to the holidays, that I'm usually to tired to contemplate doing anything but a little family party with cake and ice cream.  So this year we let him invite some friends over for a birthday party.  Dan blew up balloons and made swords and we made pizza and had spider web cupcakes

If you notice Eileen isn't in any of the pictures, it's because she went to hide out someplace quiet while the party was in full ear-splitting swing!  LOL - she's already starting to act like the big sister :P

Happy New Year!!

We have had a mostly quiet week - Dan worked every day but New Year's Day, trying to get a big project done before he left on his trip Sunday. Dan and I spent a quiet New Year's Eve watching a movie, doing a puzzle and drinking some sparkling cider.  After the bustle of the holidays, it always feels nice to do a quiet New Year's Eve at home. 

Friday, we met up with Heather and Chasity and Jonah and her boys at the museum of Nature and Science.  We got a family membership with the money Grandma and Grandpa Jones sent for Christmas and had a fun time checking out some of the exhibits. 

One of the kids favorite was in the Health area - lots of fun interactive exhibits about our bodies and how they work and how to take care of them.  It also had a great little kid area to keep James contained which was a lifesaver since it was insanely busy!!

Their other favorite part was climbing on the statues outside....

 

Weather turned cold and snowy yesterday - we've been shoveling snow and bundling up to keep warm and staying inside when we can - which means the kids are all going a bit stir crazy and are looking forward to starting school again!

Newell and Becky and family stopped by to have dinner with us - then Becky took the guys to the airport.  It was a lot of fun and a great dinner - but as usual, Dan and I overcooked.... lol - lots of leftovers!  Dan's going to be in Vegas until Friday - back just in time for Aaron's birthday. 

Christmas!!!

Monday was mostly a day of preparations - however in the morning we took time for a fun little nearby museum.  There is a nearby museum called "Wings over the Rockies" that was right up his alley - so the kids and I, my cousin Julia and my dad all bundled up and headed over for a morning of fun and exploration - they have a fun area of math games that the kids just loved.  It was a fun morning - we went home and put James down for a nap, then Julia and I spent the afternoon singing at the piano.  :) 

 

In the evening, we went to Aunt Joan's house for Bagna Caulda night - a fun family tradition, followed by more singing!  We finally got the kids home and to bed with their new slippers and started getting set up for Christmas - pies made, presents set out and finally, bed time for the adults! 

Bright and early the next morning, the kids were up and ready to get going.  They had a blast digging through stockings and unwrapping stuff - they all seemed to be happy and loved what they got, so i guess we did ok :)  My big presents for the year were a serger from Dan and a Game boy 3DS from my parents.  I got Dan a bike rack and bag for his bike so that he can ride his bike to work once it warms up :)  (don't look at me like that - it was his idea)

We tried to skype with Great Grandma Penny and Aunt Pam, but had connection issues - but the kids now have a whole new wardrobe of very cute clothes :)

The rest of the week has mostly been recovering.  My parents headed home on Friday and decorations came down Saturday - now we are (not really very) quietly enjoying our vacation together - well the kids and I are - Dan has had to work to get a project done, so he's been at work every day except Christmas Eve and Christmas.... 

Last night I got to go hang out with a friend from Texas who was in the area - we had a really fun quiet night playing games and chatting!  I left to over an inch of snow on the ground - and today we have a nice soft blanket of white covering everything. 

More Holiday Fun

We've had a busy week getting ready for Christmas and company.  We had school, pre-school for Evie - helping our dear friends move, and of course Christmas activities.  The kids all had their last day of school on Thursday, I went in to volunteer to help out in Anna's classroom party - we had fun reading stories together, doing crafts and eating treats. 

Friday, we had Becky and her girls over for making Christmas cookies - Becky and Zoe and I did most of the making and decorating - my kids were still trying to meet the "you must clean up the play room before you can decorate cookies" requirement that they had been trying to meet all day.... not that the play room was that messy, but they kept forgetting that they were supposed to be cleaning.  They did finally get to decorate a couple cookies before dinner.  Then they got to pick one to eat after dinner. 

Saturday was busy with cleaning and such, in the evening, we went over to Grandpa's for a Christmas carol sing - my cousin Julia was supposed to make it in time to sing, as were my parents, however delayed flights for Julia and treacherous weather for my parents meant that neither one made it on time - they did however eventually make it safely.

Sunday we all headed to church for the Christmas program - it was beautiful!  Sara really did an amazing job of bringing everything together, even though she had hardly any time to prepare and plan!   After, Uncle Doug and Grandpa joined us and we had a great dinner of waffles and hash browns - which James insisted on helping to make! 

Holiday fun

It's been a fun and busy week. We had preschool here this week and had fun reading books and playing games and coloring. After preschool on Tuesday, I helped out one of the moms by watching her kids for a bit after preschool - when she came back to pick them up, she locked her keys in the car and had to hang out with me while she waited for her husband to come unlock it for her - I fed them lunch and as a thank you - she helped out with the pile of dishes that was the result of me forgetting to start the dishwasher the night before. Which meant that when Dan got back on Wednesday, the house was relatively clean.

Dan got back on Wednesday, just in time to make it to Eileen's concert - she has been singing with a choir at school and they had their first concert on Wednesday - she did such a good job - it was so much fun to watch her!
 

We have some good friends who are getting ready to move - I've been helping out with packing and cleaning as much as I can - on Friday, Taylee came over to spend the night and have one last sleepover - her mom was really sweet and provided some fun gingerbread stuff to decorate and the kids had a blast decorating and eating gingerbread men and trains.  And of course they had a blast just hanging out and being together.  

Saturday we went over to Grandpa's for some caroling - we walked around his retirement center and sang Christmas Carols - the kids had fun singing and enjoyed even more all the sweets that everyone was handing out.  :)  They also loved ringing the bells and making lots of noise....

After the caroling - I went to my concert and the kids went home.  The concert went really well and I really enjoyed singing with the group. 

Sunday night was Dan's company dinner - Dwayne and Nicole came with us and we had a lot of fun - I always have fun with Dwayne and Nicole and Newell and Becky - the food was really good too and we had a really nice time. 

Baby It's Cold Outside!!

Monday this week, we went out after school and work to get our Christmas Tree - we headed to Home Depot and had fun picking our tree  :)

We then took it home to decorate it - it was kinda late by that point - so we just let the kids hang their ornaments.  James mostly just wanted to play with them and it's taken a few reminders (every minute) that they aren't toys and he can't touch.   He just has such a hard time not playing with the "BALLS!"  

The kids were fighting over who would put the star on the tree - so Daddy decided that Mommy would put the star on.  So for once, there is a picture of me :) 

Tuesday, the temperatures dropped drastically and we got snow - unfortunately, the snow caused one of Dan's co-workers to slip and break his ankle - which meant that he couldn't go on the show this week and the only other person who could go was Dan - so bright and early on Thursday, Dan headed off to Florida (and somewhat warmer weather)  We have been below freezing since Tuesday - which means that there isn't a lot of ice - but by now the snow has been so packed down it is a bit slippery.  The kids have still been having fun playing outside though - and Eileen came home from school on Friday and said "Mommy, when I finish my homework and piano, can I go shovel the drive way?  Why yes, Eileen, yes you can!

Eileen and Anna were both very good shovel-ers and helpers and because they were outside, everyone else wanted to be outside too!

This little girl came inside after playing outside in the snow and she just looked so CUTE with her rosy cheeks and all bundled up in her winter clothes!!  

Saturday and Sunday have been a bit insane - Saturday I had my first Christmas concert with the Colorado Mormon Chorale - I brought meatball subs for everyone since we were gonna be there for almost 5 hours without break (mostly I made the mistake of asking the president if there were any plans for feeding people...)  

Sunday since Dan was gone, I couldn't go to ward council meeting, so I watched the kids of my counselor so that she could attend meetings - which meant that I didn't have enough room in the car, which meant that we all walked to and from church in below freezing weather - they way there wasn't so bad, it was chilly, but sunny so we made it there with cold noses, but otherwise fine.  The way home 4 1/2 hours later was not quite so nice.  It was colder and the sun was going down and all the girls were complaining horribly about being freezing before we got home (and that was with hats, scarves, gloves, snowboots, big coats, tights, and everything else we could find.  Church was eventful - as it always is with a grumpy (almost) 2 year old - but James did well as long as I was willing to hold him the whole time - then he was sweet and cuddly and quiet - but now my back and arms are a bit tired!  LOL - a good work out though!

After we got home we had hot chocolate to warm us up and nice hot oatmeal for dinner.... yeah - I was tired..... and then we put James to bed and the rest of us went downstairs to enjoy the Christmas Devotional - it was WONDERFUL!  such a wonderful way to start the Christmas holidays with our family!  It's so nice to be able to enjoy it at home with out having to drag a bunch of tired cranky kids and a cranky momma out of the house to watch it!

Home Again

We really enjoyed a fun few extra days with our Utah family - we kept very busy!  We made and played the Thanksgiving game.   

 

We helped Paul and Candace take care of their chickens - feeding them, cleaning their coop, collecting their eggs and catching them to put them back in their coop after cleaning.

We hung out at the Haymore's cabin and had all kinds of fun on swings, zip lines, ATV's and more!  (Well Dan and the older 4 hung out at the cabin - James was horrendously cranky and needed a nap. 

 We ooh and aahed and cuddled with an ADORABLE new little baby!  The kids really loved little Eliza - even James was fascinated by her and did a good job of being gentle with her. 

Poor little Evie got sick - and slept for most of 2 days, then felt mostly better :) 

 We all had a lot of fun playing outside - the weather was cool, but sunny and James had a blast with all the big boy's balls - soccer balls, basket balls, baseballs - he would have spent all his time outdoors if we let him - but the kids all spent a lot of time outdoors, playing, riding, jumping, running.  James loved getting lifted up to make a basket - he would run after the ball - walk in front of the hoop and say "help me!" 

Thursday we drove home - the kids were all sad to leave, and we are already planning another visit!  We spent the next couple days settling back in and re-stocking our fridge - The kids had oatmeal and cereal for dinner on Thanksgiving day :P  I had potato skins, I don't think Dan had anything....

Sunday we got to church early to meet with a member of the Stake Presidency - Dan got a new calling, he is now officially the Executive Secretary, which is going to mean some changes around here.