On Our Own Again

Well - it's official - Dan is out of town again. :( We miss him - and always do - but we have tried to plan enough amusements for ourselves to keep us busy.

This week has kept us busy with friends and each other. Eileen has been very dilligent in practicing her piano each day. She loves to do it, and is so excited about it. She loves her teacher and wants so much to make her happy and proud. She is such a sweet little girl!! Tonight after the others were in bed - she and i sat at the piano practicing and singing and then sat and read scriptures together for a bit. I am so blessed to have her.

Anna hasn't been feeling well this week. She has been complaining of growing pains, diarrhea and throwing up... but she has no fever and generally acts completely normal and fine.... Saturday morning she had her meeting at the school we hope to get her into next year. She seemed to enjoy herself - and came back happy and excited. Now we just have to wait.... (i don't like waiting....) She has generally been a sweet and helpful girl and it's fun to watch her wanting to learn the piano too - and sometimes Eileen will teach her some. :)

Aaron is funny - he seems to be trying to test me to see if grumpiness works to get his way... and over the last week or so has been pushing it more than usual - and finding (to his detriment) that it doesn't. Fortunately, if I ignore him for a few minutes - the attitude changes. :)

Evie is such a character. She misses Daddy a LOT when he goes away and get's very clingy with me like she is worried that I will go too. She has gone into nursery at church just fine the last couple weeks - but this week, she looked around after a couple minutes and realized I wasn't there and just screamed inconsolably. I went in and sat with her - and while she was contest mostly to play and eat her snacks - she needed to come and sit with me and hold me every few minutes - and when i had to go help Anna who was feeling sick in the bathroom, she was not a happy camper. I love the snuggles though :)

The weather here has been great and we have taken advantage of it with trips to the park and playing on the playground after school - it's nice to be able to run around and play outside.

Our most exciting news of the week is the offer on our house. We are excited and hoping that things work out!
Haha - I took pics this week - but the camera's batteries are dead - so i need to charge them before i can post them :P Sorry!!

Love is in the Air....

Heehee - we had a fun and busy Valentine's Day. I woke up to heart shaped biscuits and a super yummy breakfast! Followed by the usual errands - grocery shopping, laundry... - and then we picked up Eileen from school for her first piano lesson. She is very excited about her lessons and loves her teacher! Then we came home and put the wonderful lasagne Dan had made in the oven. Dan came home to a yummy dinner - and a giant heart shaped cookie. I also made heart shaped cupcakes for the kids. A fun and love filled day :)
Well - after a day like that you would expect things to slow down some... of course not - Tuesday the weather was just beautiful so we made a lunch and met a bunch of the other gals from the ward at the park for playing and fun - after exhausting ourselves for the better part of the morning and afternoon - we went home. Then after picking up Eileen from school - we hung out there and played on the playground for awhile. Then in the evening we drove downtown to P.F. Chang's for a delicious dinner with a bunch of the guys Dan works with and their families. Since there were other kids there - the kids were happy and entertained - and we were among good company - but we got the kids home late and to bed late.

Wednesday was the usual play outside and my having choir practice in the evening. A nice break for me :) I am really loving the music this season!

Thursday was emptier than originally planned - Becky was going to come over and play but her older daughter got Strep and she couldn't :( but she was missed. Despite that - the afternoon got crazy - Anna had an appointment at the school we are trying to get her into for next school year. The appointment was a hour long - so we went back to Eileen's school so she could go to the book fair and spend her chore money. She loved walking around and looking at books - and eventually picked out a barbie book and a pen. Then we went back to pick up Anna and then home for dinner.

Friday morning I went visiting teaching and then home - at which point a pounding headache kicked in and I just struggled to stay awake. I finally took a nap during nap time and Dan came home early enough to pick up Eileen from school - so i napped until almost 6 - and still had no problems going to sleep that night....

Saturday was our normal cleaning day and boy did the house need it!! We worked all morning until the house was at least a bit neater - and then Dan ran off to do oil changes and other errands. In the evening I made chicken noodle soup which we promptly divided into two containers and took to one of the women I visit teach and a new family just moving in the ward. The kids ate left overs while i delivered - then Dan went and helped them move stuff into the house while I got the kids to bed. We finished an exhausting day with both Dan and I ready to go to bed at 9pm.

Sunday we got up for church - wrestled 4 wiggly kids through Sacrament meeting, taught a R.S. lesson and had ward choir. Followed by Home teaching for Dan and a bit of scrapbooking for me. Finally dinner and to bed with 4 cranky kids!

Now if you made it this far and aren't exhausted - I'm amazed - I'm exhausted just writing about it... But in spite of it all - it's been a good week. We know we love each other, we know that God loves us and we are (mostly) healthy and happy!

Evie has learned to say cheese this week - she thinks it is the funnest thing in the world - and any time I get the camera out she hams it up and says "cheeeeeeeeeeeeese" over and over again. It's adorable and I find myself taking tons of pics just because she is so CUTE!

Tired of Snow

LOL - ok - I'm just not a snow person - I'm a sunshine and water person.... Now you may think - well what are you doing in Colorado!!! Well - I knew what i was getting into when I moved here - and it really hasn't been so bad - but I'm ready for spring!! (LOL - regardless of where I live - I usually am by this time of year) Anna has spent most of the week saying "Mommy I really want to go to the playground today" Well - the playgrounds are still covered in snow...like everything else.... thankfully it's getting warmer right now and should continue to do so - either way - we are going to the play ground this week!


It was nice to get some cleaning done this weekend - Afterward - the kids decided that since their toys were all put away, they were going to play with the shoes instead.... What followed was a good solid 45 minutes of putting on shoes and gloves that were too big. Eileen insisted on having all their pictures taken.

Our ward choir sang this week - for the first time under my direction. It was exciting and scary at the same time - LOL - i haven't been that nervous about a musical number in a long time. :) They really did well and I'm looking forward to many more.

I had a friend come over this week - I've been seriously missing my bff and crafting buddie from Texas and going stir crazy with all the snow. Now when we moved here - accepting a job from Dan's cousin - I was eager to meet his wife - he has such a fun and unique personality - that I just knew I was going to like anyone who could put up with him! I do like her - and have been meaning to invite her over for awhile now and finally managed to con a phone number out of Dan. It was great to have adult conversation! Her husband asked what we were going to do? LOL - well nothing of course!!! We worked on projects and sat and talked and ate lunch - but really - that's it - and it was great - the kids played happily and ooh-ed and aah-ed over her baby. Evie was so cute - she kept bringing the baby her binky and toys and anything else she thought the baby might want. Such a sweetie!

Time Together

This has been a fun - but cold week. We had sub-zero temperatures for much of the week and Eileen even had school canceled for 2 days because of it. As if that weren't bad enough, she had Thursday and Friday off for in-service - which means that she only had school for one day last week. Now she's saying stuff like "I like home better than school" and I'm thinking "how and I going to survive summer vacation...."

Dan has been rather sick most of the week - he spent most of the day on Tuesday in the bathroom and was uncomfortable for the next 3 days. Thankfully he managed to pull out of it long enough to go with me on his surprise date Tuesday evening. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe and saw James Blunt. It was a fun evening and the show was great - he only did a few songs - but he's a great live performer. I had won seats and passes on the radio! (LOL - I know - I never win ANYTHING!) So it was very exciting to win and to go and to be with Dan. A big thanks to Tina for watching the kids for us.
We took Eileen to the dentist to get her crazy tooth pulled out (she wouldn't let daddy touch it) and now she looks even more beautiful! We took her for her 6 year old pics on Saturday and she just had a great time hamming it up for the camera - she's so photogenic and sweet! After - she and I had lunch together and she went shopping for crayons, then we went to the library to read for a bit and then to a scrapbook store just for fun.

Yey for Daddy!

Well we managed to survive without daddy - but we are very glad he's back! On Wednesday, Aunt Tina came over and watched the kids so I could go to choir practice. As usual practice just sped by and before I was ready to go home - it was over and I had to go home. :(

Dan ended up staying a day longer than originally planned - so by Friday night the kids were rather cranky. After the kids refused to clean up - preferring instead to whine and complain and play, I put all the toys that were left out into the sewing room. Eileen broke down in tears and cried inconsolably for about half an hour. When I tried to talk to her about it - she told me that she was sad because I'd snatched a toy from her - we talked a bit more and she told me that she wished we still lived in Texas where we didn't have a sewing room - I told her that even in Texas - if she didn't clean up - we would put her toys where she couldn't play with them. So she told me she wished we could move so that we wouldn't have a sewing room - I told her that even in another house she would still have to clean up her toys. So she told me she wished she had different parents - I told her than even if she had other parents, she would still have to clean up her toys. She said Grandma and Grandpa wouldn't. I told her (while trying VERY hard not to laugh too loudly) that even Grandma and Grandpa would make her clean up toys. Then I told her that my mommy and daddy had made me clean up toys when I was little - and I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa Jones made daddy clean up his toys when he was little. She didn't believe me - so we sent Grandma and Grandpa Jones an e-mail asking them. Then she told me that she would never do that to her kids.

On Saturday - we took Eileen in for testing to try and get her into a gifted school near by - we had to get up earlier than normal to make it in on time - I warned the kids about this - and Eileen told me (after she had been complaining about her tummy hurting for awhile) that the reason her tummy hurt was because it knew it was going to have to get up early tomorrow - LOL - I wish I could claim that excuse.... :)

But now daddy is home and everyone is happier - except Aaron - who is the only one of my kids who seems to prefer me to Dan. Oh well - they might prefer Dan now - but the balance will even out some day.

Eileen has a tooth in front that has needed to fall out for a long time - unfortunately - the adult tooth grew in behind it and so it doesn't want to come out. Well now it's just dangling by one tiny bit - and it's GROSS - so just to warn you - if you are squeamish - you may not want to look at this...

And this picture sooo doesn't do it justice - it's MUCH worse....

Bye Bye Daddy!!

Well Dan is off to Washington DC this coming week - he took off Friday - right in the middle of everyone being sick - at this point - I'm just glad that he and I seem to have managed to avoid it. The older girls were throwing up (in fact I had to pull over on the side of the road on the way home from the airport to let Anna throw up on the side of the road) Aaron has been running a fever and is just generally cranky. Evie had a mild fever - but mostly she's cranky that Dan is gone - she is such a daddy's girl. Aaron kept waking up and coming downstairs last night - when I got up in the morning he was asleep on the floor just inside my room - and apparently he talks in his sleep and snores lightly. :) He's such a cutie. I found him like this. I"m standing right in front of the door to our room.I had my first day as ward choir director here and was very excited by the turn out! LOL - in other words - people actually came and sang - and they were wonderful! Odd how I can love music so much and be fairly confident in my ability to perform and yet be so NOT confident in my abilities as a choir director. But in spite of that - the amazing people who came made it a success - so I'm looking forward to this!

I have a 3 year old again!

Well our little boy (I NOT LITTLE!) ok our big boy is now officially 3. Poor kid he had kinda a lazy birthday - after all the excitement of the holidays - the last thing I wanted to do was plan a big party, plus we had 6 inches dropped on us the day before. So he got to pick his birthday dinner (I WANT ENCHILADAS!) He got a truck birthday cake (THANK YOU DADDY!) He had some friends over in the morning to play - which exhausted all three of the younger kids, so they all napped!! Then after dinner he opened his 2 presents - a remote control truck and some flurp (I MAKE FART!!!) yes - that's right - Dan and Eileen picked him out this gloopy substance that makes farting noises.... Then all 4 kids fought over the remote control truck and we sent them to bed.... Happy Birthday Buddy! A couple days later another BIG truck came in the mail from Grandpa and Grandma Jones. Hehe - it's a good thing he likes trucks - since he now has like 6 more of them than he did a month ago, oh well - better he plays with those than barbies....
Friday night our Bishop and his wife and kids came over to have dinner and play. We all had a great time! Eileen made dinner for us all - she was going to make it Thursday - but some other friends of ours dropped off pizza for us, and I hadn't stopped at Costco for necessary supplies, so we told her she could make dinner for the Bishop instead and she was VERY excited. She was so proud of herself and dinner was yummy!!

Let it Snow!

It's been snowing all day - there's got to be at least 6-8 inches out there on the ground. It's gorgeous - just don't make me go out in it.....

We drove to church this morning and as we turned on to the main road near our house we spun out - fortunately we were going less than 5 miles an hour and there were no cars on the road.... how did we spin out going 5 miles an hour?? I don't want to know....

Eileen got a cookbook for Christmas - she is so excited about it - she keeps asking to cook something - so this week we let her choose a meal and cook it. All by herself she chose to make mini meatloaves, mashed potatoes and snap peas (because - as she says - they are her favorite kind of peas.) So Tuesday when she got home from school we started making dinner. We put on our cute aprons (THANKS MEGAN!) and got to work. Eileen read the recipe, measured everything, stirred everything and spooned everything - mommy handed her ingredients and measuring cups and did the oven parts. She was amazing - and the food was wonderful! We couldn't get enough! She was so proud of herself - I hope that making and eating healthy food are always something she enjoys.


It's been a pretty easy going week for us - we are enjoying being snuggled up at home and taking it easy as we ease back into normal, post-holiday life.

And More Christmas

This week has been fun. We spent Monday playing with toys. Tuesday, Dan and I took the kids down to Frank and Tina's to spend the day and the night. They had fun playing and eating goodies and making new friends. Dan and I loved having a day to ourselves. We started our day together with a trip to the temple. We loved participating in a sealing session and serving others! It was an unforgettable experience - our sealer was awesome! After - we finally managed to make it over to the Denver Art Museum to see the King Tut exhibit. It was an amazing experience. To imagine what it was like to live back then - and to wonder what their lives were really like. After we went out for dinner to a small pub near Dan's work - the food was excellent! Then we went home where we enjoyed our evening together and enjoyed even more a chance to sleep in the next morning. We then picked up the kids and went to go pick up Grandpa and Grandma Cox from the airport. We loved having them stay with us for a few days. We got to celebrate Christmas all over again - including a new camera for me!! Dolls for the girls (which they have spent the rest of the week dressing and undressing) New suits for Dan (they were buy one get one free so he got 2!) And noisy trucks for Aaron.

For Christmas Eve we went to Grandpa's house - we had a great time making hats - playing with balloons, eating yummy food, blowing noise makers and doing the traditional puzzle. :)
Saturday we took Grandma and Grandpa to the airport and today we enjoyed our first week of having church at 9am instead of 1 pm! YEY for not having church during nap time!!!! :)

Is it Christmas? YES!

As the clock turned midnight at our house on Christmas Eve, the tolling bell we heard was not one of a stately grandfather clock, or a near by church, no the only bell we heard was Dan's phone - with it's push notification letting us know that it was indeed Christmas!



Our week has been a fun one - lots of wrapping and last minute sewing and such. We got together with Newell and family for decorating Christmas cookies. All of us, but especially the kids, loved loading up our cookies with frosting and sprinkles and trying to make them look pretty and taste delicious. As you can see - we succeeded!! We also succeeded in making a mess and loading our kids up with sugar. :)
My Aunt and Uncle and cousins flew in on Tuesday and stopped by on the way back to Grandpa's from the Airport. It was fun to see them and to see how much they have grown. They are no longer the little kids they were when I last saw them. They are now much taller and much more mature. The kids had a blast playing with them and it was nice to catch up.

Dan had Friday off - so I did a bit of last minute Christmas shopping - then barely got home in time to take off for the family Christmas Eve party. We got together at Frank and Tina's for Bagna Caulda and other yummy food. Bagna Caulda is an Italian sauce - but in our family it's more - it's a holiday tradition with tons of memories attached to it. I still remember as a child trying it and loving it, I remember my dad trying to find creative ways to break 'the rules' and dip his bread in the sauce safely. I remember singing Christmas carols around the piano with my Uncle Doug playing - I remember when I was finally old enough and good enough to play a song during the caroling. Friday was the beginning of memories for my kids as they each took their first taste of Bagna Caulda - with varying amounts of enthusiasm. Eileen took a couple tries to really like it - while Anna couldn't get enough. Aaron and Evie both just liked gnawing on the soaked bread. Christmas Morning was fun. Dan and I were tired from being up wrapping presents (lol - since I hadn't wrapped hardly anything before) But their enthusiasm was infectious. The kids LOVED finding presents - seeing who they were for and delivering them to the person. They girls were so excited to give the gifts they bought with their own money, and were so happy when they person liked their gift. They were thoughtful - willing to share and didn't once complain! We also had fun talking with family - we even got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa Jones on Skype.

That evening we went to Stuart and Rebecca's for Dinner and gift exchanges. It was a huge mess and tons of fun!! The kids had a great time running amok with the kids and Dan and I had a great time enjoying the food and the company. :)

Dan and I gave talks today in Church - I even managed to talk for nearly 10 minutes - that's a record for me.... Then for the rest of church - I played piano for the primary - and loved every minute of it!! Now we are hoping the kids are sleeping well and recovering from lots of excitement and not enough sleep!!

We are so blessed this holiday season with love and friendship and family!!
Merry Christmas!!

It is Christmas???

So Dan found this app for his iPhone called "Is it Christmas" and you click on it and click on "Is it Christmas?" and then it tells you if it is Christmas or not... now many of you probably think that is the most ridiculous thing you have ever heard of... well that may or may not be the case, but if you know my hubby - you know that he LOVES Christmas. As soon as it is over - he starts counting down to the next one - so he LOVES this app - he even has is set to give him push reminders every day at noon. I'm just wondering how many times he is going to check it on Christmas day - just to see it say YES!

It's been a fun week - Dan had Monday off - we were going to go see the King Tut exhibit... but it's not open on Mondays.... :(

Eileen's last day of school was Thursday and she's looking forward to having some time home with us - she has been missing mommy recently.

Friday and Saturday I had concerts again. I was so excited to have my Aunt and Uncle and Cousin come on Friday night and my Grandpa come on Saturday. It seemed strange to have a concert with out my dad there watching and laughing/crying. After my Saturday concert - i went out for dessert with my Grandpa - I'm so glad to have this time with him - I really enjoy our time spent together - he has always been a special part of my life and I'm glad that I live near enough to him to have these times together. The concerts were just amazing and once again I am soo excited and grateful to have the opportunity to sing with this group and I'm looking forward to many more seasons. My Aunt, Uncle and Grandpa actually talked it up enough that Dan is considering going to one one of these days :) (please don't take that wrong - he supports me soo much by watching the kids and giving me this time to do something I enjoy this much - but classical music isn't really his thing... ) :)

Sunday was our Christmas program - which was beautiful - I LOVE Christmas Music!! And after church we went to Grandpa's for caroling, dinner and tree decorating. The kids had lots of fun...at least until they got cold, hungry and tired... :) It really was neat though - I've never really done much caroling - so I really enjoyed it. Plus my Grandpa and Uncle provide wonderful harmony!

We found out that Sandi is having a baby boy - so I'm getting very excited planning and creating!

Saturday - i took the girls out to use their spending money to get Christmas gifts. It was so sweet to watch them think about what their siblings might like and decide what they would get for them. Eileen really puts a lot of thought into her choices and both get soo excited about how much their siblings are going to like the gifts they got them.

Party!!!!!

Well - Dan got back on Friday and since then we have been running running running. That night I had my first concert with the Colorado Mormon Chorale. What an awesome experience!! It was just amazing! One of the soloists lost her voice just before the concerts - and I was asked to fill in. The solo was in the song "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" Which is one of my favorite Christmas songs. Both concerts were well attended and went well.

The kids were just excited to have daddy around. They miss him when he's gone and are always so glad to have him back (well, I am too, for that matter)

Tonight was Dan's company Christmas party. It was a lot of fun - nice people and good food. Dan was saying how nice it is to belong to a company that does nice things for it's employees - ya know - stuff other than complaining, chastising and treating them like 5 year olds.

Why I Clean....

Well...actually... I'm really not sure some times. Why do I spend all day Saturday cleaning when it's impossible to tell by the end of Sunday - for that matter it's often impossible to tell by the end of Saturday!! So obviously I don't clean so that I can have a nice looking home... since no amount of cleaning seems to be able to make that happen for more than 3 seconds. :)

• I clean because I want to teach my kids to clean up after themselves and care for themselves
• I clean because I can't stand the mess anymore and I have to do something - ANYTHING!
• I clean because I love my sweet husband and want him to think I'm a good housekeeper (LOL - I know I can't hide the truth forever - but he's sweet and turns a blind eye on my lapses so it may last awhile yet!)
  
• I clean because it's the cutest thing in the world to watch Evie copy me by picking up everything and throwing it in the garbage.
  
• I clean so I have room for more fun pursuits. It's hard to play on the floor with the kids when we can't find the floor!
• I clean so I don't feel guilty when i reward myself with whatever dessert happens to be upstairs. :) (not that that stops me from eating the desserts at other times - I just don't feel as bad about it) heehee

Why do my kids clean? lol - that's easier...

• They clean because i told them not to (LOL thanks Claire for the idea)
• They clean because I'm bribing them with treats later
• They clean because I'm threatening to take away their toys if they don't clean them
• They clean because they want to be like mommy and daddy
• and Finally - they clean so they can throw paper airplanes with Grandpa.

The kids had a blast - Eileen was actually pretty successful at getting the airplanes to fly - but she was impossible to get a picture of! Anna got fed up fast - but was pretty cute while she was trying
Aaron was the best - he would wind up like throwing a shot put and then let it fly - it would then careen off somewhere. Then he would get soo excited and say 'watch me momma' Evie just walked around picking the planes up and throwing them away. She did win Grandpa over by babbling 'pa pa pa pa pa pa' every time he walked into the room.

I'm Thankful!

What a week! Between Thanksgiving, Friends and Harry Potter, it feels like we've been going non-stop. Dan got to spend most of the week at home with us which has been wonderful!

I am SO thankful to be married to such an amazing man. Honestly - he puts up with so much and does so much for me - I am the LUCKIEST woman in the world!!!

I spent all day Wednesday cooking - but it was sooo worth it! Yummy Rolls, Yummy Pies and Yummy Dip.... what more could you ask for! Thursday was of course full of family and food. We went to my Aunt and Uncle's for Thanksgiving. The food was DELICIOUS and the company was of the best kind.
Friday we had friends over to eat and play games. We shooed the kids downstairs and put on Finding Nemo and had fun being adults and playing games.

Saturday, Dan's cousin, Newell and family came over for dessert and then stayed to baby sit the kids while Dan and I went to go see the new Harry Potter. I always have a good time being out with Dan, and I always enjoy the Harry Potter movies... obviously the combo was perfect!

I am SO blessed to have my family around me and my WONDERFUL kids! These kooky kids light up my life.

He's Home!!!!

We are all excited to have Dan back home! We survive with out him - and even manage to have fun - but life is just never quite as good as when he is home. I realized this week that no matter how much time and effort I put into trying to keep the house in perfect (well perfect for us) order - that it is just not possible with Dan gone - so instead of stressing about it this week - I did what I could and didn't stress about what I couldn't do. Plus we managed to get through a whole week with out anything major breaking or anyone getting seriously sick!

We managed to keep ourselves pretty busy. My aunt was very kind and watched the kids for me while I went to choir practice. Being able to go to Choir always provides some stress relief for me. The kids had a blast and came home nice and late and loaded with sugar! They loved it! Tuesday I had the opportunity to provide some meals for people in our ward and once again was reminded how the best way to forget your own minor trials is to help others. Thursday we went to the park with friends who then came over for lunch after. It was nice to have some adult conversation. I have really missed the friends I left in Texas, and really appreciate the opportunities I find here to slowly make new ones. Daddy came back on Saturday in time to help clean the house for Sunday. We also baby sat for his cousin's baby so the rest of the family could go see Harry Potter 7. They are planning on returning the favor. Their baby is less than 2 months old and sleeps most of the time still. I think they are getting the rough end of the deal! :)

Evelyn has mastered the stairs. She now goes up and down with ease. Dan took a video today and then had fun playing with it. :)


He also played with a few other videos he had taken recently and if I do say so myself they are hilarious!! You can see the others HERE my favs are the "putting on a shirt" and "brushing teeth"

Enjoy!!