Mohawk??

This morning as we were getting ready for church, I hear Dan come out of the bathroom with Aaron and say "Do you want to show mommy your hair?" So I head out to see what they are talking about. This is what I find....
It actually looked pretty cute while it stayed, but about an hour later it started just looking kinda trashy - so this evening he got a buzz. :)

This week has been kinda crazy busy - not with anything terribly exciting, just usefully busy. I finished each day tired - but a good kind of tired. We had fun with friends, doctors appointment (and the baby is still doing great!) choir, preschool, piano, Relief Society Broadcast, service and life to keep us busy.

The Relief Society Broadcast was wonderful. An evening full of good food, good friends, and most of all uplifting messages. Now I just have a week to wait for General Conference (and to hope that I actually get to hear any of it...) :) Dan leaves town this Friday, and I hope to get a bunch of dinners made before he goes so that I don't have to worry about cooking much while he is gone. Gonna be a busy week again. :)

And for anyone who in interested, here is my 22 week belly... It was such a pain to get Dan to take this picture, that I doubt there will be many more.

Aaron

Aaron has kept up a constant stream of chatter all day. He just told me "Mommy - all the boogers moving around in my tummy are making me laugh!" His nose has been running all day - he's not sick - just drippy - I think he and Evie must have a slight allergy to something in the air right now.

Birthday Girls

Well mama didn't get her birthday wish.... actually, Dan and I would have been happy to just get through one day this week with out cleaning up one kids poop. Despite this - Dan did his best to try and spoil me - including making me a YUMMY angel food cake!

Well - I won't gross everyone out by going into poop details, just know that there was WAY too much of it this week - and the problem was not any one kid in particular, but the three youngest combining their efforts to make this week rather stinky....

Evie's birthday was also this week. On Friday, we had cupcakes and let her open her presents. She loved the cupcakes and has been trying to sneak one from the leftovers ever since. She enjoyed opening her presents. She got a couple birthday cards - both with cats on them. With each one, she opened it and looked at it very seriously. Then she looked at the cat, cocked her head to the side and meowed at it. She also loved her cute outfit and socks (which she has insisted on wearing every day since) and the pillow pet from Mommy and Daddy.

Since she has figured out how to climb out of her bed, we went this weekend and got a mattress for her. She is now the proud occupant of a big girl bed. I just wish she would use it for something other than a trampoline.... Unfortunately, this has led to 2 very late nights for her. She can't seem to go to sleep with so much to entertain her. Tonight, more than an hour and a half after laying them down, I went upstairs to find her in the kitchen, trying to steal some banana bread and wearing Aaron's clothes. Aaron was fast asleep. She had also gotten into his drawers and scattered his clothes all over their bedroom. I don't know why she hasn't passed out yet - she has been EXHAUSTED all day! Sigh - oh well - hopefully she will get used to this and get into a routine before too long.

Thursday evening, we went to look at some more houses and found a couple that we liked, but we still aren't so smitten that we are making offers. We aren't in any rush to move, so we figure we will wait until we know for sure.

Friday I had an appointment with the ultrasound people at the hospital, we got to see the newest little Jones and we now know that we are expecting a little boy! And here is our first pic of our little man!


Saturday evening we went to a ward potluck. Yummy food and good company and letting the kids run amok with other kids their age = a fun evening. :) But we left a bit early because we had some VERY tired kids....

What Mama Wants for her Birthday

After two days filled with more bodily excrement than any person should have to deal with, I have decided that what I really want for my birthday is a day off. A day where I don't have to clean up poopy accidents and wet accidents. A day where I don't have to spent 15 minutes in the Wal-mart bathroom cleaning up my son's underwear and pants. A day where I don't find poop smeared all over the kids bathroom. A day where I don't have to pick up my daughter from school wearing pants that aren't her's because she had an accident in her own.
Sigh....
well a girl can wish can't she??

Insane is my Middle Name....

...well, not really, it's Lynn, but it might as well be after this weekend... So for the most part Evie - after figuring out how to escape the crib has wreaked minor havoc on her room - then fallen asleep on the floor. She has however decided that her favorite way of wreaking havoc is to change her clothes, and in the process, remove her diaper.

This Friday we had a bunch of friends over for a pot-luck fondue party. The party was Dan's idea and he planned it in his head, but I wasn't totally sure what he had in mind, or what he had told people. Plus, he kept inviting more people last minute. I was rather paranoid that there would not be enough food. We ended up with 6 families (with their kids too) plus the missionaries. There was more than ample food however. The food was delicious, we ended up with delicious appetizers, yummy cheese dip, great meats and dips, and of course Chocolate....mmmmm. We had a great time with some great people. We have been trying to finish the dishes from the party for the last 3 days now....

Saturday morning we got up and met a real estate agent to look at houses. We saw some stuff we liked and some stuff we didn't. Nothing that we fell in love with and had to grab right away, but there were a couple houses we aren't totally ready to discount either. We still aren't really sure if we want to do this now or in 6 months or so, but we figured we might as well look :) We spent the whole morning looking at houses, then we quickly drove back to the house for me to change and grab lunch before heading off to Denver for the Rockies game. The Colorado Mormon Chorale (and me included) got to sing the National Anthem at the game. It was rather exciting to be down in the outfield at a major baseball game singing The Star Spangled Banner! After I met up with Dan and the kids and sat down to watch some baseball. I tried to explain the game to Eileen, and explained enough that she got very excited when we had scored 2 home runs in the first inning. It's funny, the Rockies have had a rough season, but they have done well the only times we have gone to see them! Unfortunately Aaron wasn't feeling good, and threw up all over Dan in the second inning.... we went home after that.... then he threw up again in the car about 30 seconds from our house. My sweet loving husband dealt with the car (which I couldn't have dealt with without throwing up myself) while I stuck Aaron in the bath tub. Fortunately, he seems to have got out whatever was bothering him - he's been fine ever since.

Sunday was Stake Conference. 2 hours with 4 wiggly kids is exhausting in itself, but Dan also helped out with ushering, and I joined the choir (last minute) since I knew the songs already. Some how we survived with no serious damage done and Dan and I even managed to feel the spirit and learn a thing or two. :)
Dan has been learning how to make balloon animals. The kids LOVE it. They are so excited when ever he gets out the balloons and pump. Eileen has decided lately that she wants to learn how too. So Dan taught her how to make a dog and a mouse. She can now do all the twists and such to make a dog or mouse all by herself! As you can imagine, Anna and Aaron also want to try and they have fun twisting and playing with the balloons until they pop.


Evie is a very polite little girl and is prompting her older siblings to being more polite too. Any time anyone does anything for her or gives her anything she says "Tank you Daddy!" Whether or not it's Daddy who is helping her. It's so cute and she says it so often that it's a common occurrence to her it many many times each meal. Oddly enough - for being the youngest of 4, she is not a loud child, so her sweet little voice is so kind and gentle saying it!

Evie's new trick....

Evie has officially learned how to climb out of her crib....

Yesterday, I laid her down for a nap. Within 20 minutes or so, I heard the pattering of little feet on the floor, then banging on her door. I went up and checked on her - she had a stinky diaper - I changed it and put her back in her crib. Half an hour later, I heard more little feet on the floor. Then about half an hour after that I heard the toilet lid closing and flushing. I dashed upstairs and found Evie - totally naked in the bathroom. She told me "pee pee - pee pee!!" I took her back in her room, put on a new diaper, put her clothes back on (which were in the clothes hamper) rescued the other 3 sets of PJ's that she had pulled out of drawers - put on, taken off and then discarded to the hamper and gave up on nap time.....

Anna is the Best

Last week at school Anna collected the most 'gold coins' of anyone in her class. The kids are given gold coins for behaving well and doing good things, and black coins for disobeying or breaking class rules. Last week, Anna earned 39 gold coins and no black ones - she even got a coin during Friday Fun Time (which is the reward for kids with 10 gold coins or more.) She was so excited and proud of herself. She told us "I'm the BEST! I got 39 gold coins. I'm even better than James and he's taller than I am and he's six! I'm the BEST!!!

Labor Day Fun

For Labor Day this year, we packed up and spent the long weekend up at the cabin. We were joined by the Bessendorfers for a wonderful weekend!

We spent the the weekend walking the beautiful trails, cooking over fires, enjoying nature, playing games and letting our kids run amok! The kids had fun exhausting themselves together. The weather was perfect and the company was wonderful. The weekend was relaxing and fun.

Eileen and Zoe were thick as thieves. Evie got VERY attached to Zoe and Jacob and Adena and spent the whole time talking about, or talking to or just calling their names and looking for them. She still keeps asking about Zoe and where she is.

The kids loved campfire cooking - which of course HAD to include s'mores. Mmmmm - yummy. Evie couldn't wait for her marshmallow to be cooked - she just helped herself to what she wanted at the table.

Anna was enthralled by an old hula-hoop she found. She spent most of the weekend playing with it, and has since been telling us over and over that we need to get her a hula-hoop of her own.


The kids were all exhausted when we got home, and we sent them to bed early to get ready for school the next day.

Last week was a bit crazy - besides the usual craziness, we had the sewage shut off in our neighborhood on Thursday. Becky was nice enough to let me crash there until I went to pick up the girls - at which point, we expected the water to be back on - they had said no more than 8 hours.... well after about 12 hours it was turned on.... How they expected a pregnant woman and 4 kids to go 12 hours with out using a bathroom - I don't know....

La La La La Life goes on.

This Tuesday Aaron and Evie and I met some friends at a nearby theater which does kids movies for only $1.25 on Tuesdays. We was the new Winnie the Pooh movie. It was cute - Aaron loved it. Evie thought it was rather loud, but as she got used to it she really enjoyed it also.

Thursday morning, I had a doctors appointment. I am about 18 weeks along, the baby is healthy and doing well - now I am just waiting on a call from the ultrasound people to set up an appointment to find out the gender. So hopefully in a week or two, we will know. :)

Thursday was also the girls school party at Skate City. They wanted daddy to take them, so the picture is just from his cell phone, but they had a blast. Apparently the only time Eileen would go near him was when he was offering food. They came home exhausted but have been talking about it ever since.



Saturday we went out and looked at houses. We aren't really sure if we want to buy and move right now, but we figured we would look around. We had a couple houses in the area that were in the price range we wanted that we had a realtor take us to. Neither one would suit us, but it was kinda fun to look and think about a house of our own again.

Normal?

Well I think life is finally settling into some sort of normal. I am back to being healthy, the two older kids are in school and adjusting to new schedules and new habits. Life is beginning to get back to a routine.

Mornings around here are pretty quiet. The two older ones get off with Daddy nice and early, then Evie and Aaron enjoy the morning with mommy's attention - having books read to them and playing with toys.

I finally saw a doctor who put me on antibiotics and I'm finally starting to feel like myself again. I can breathe, talk and sing again, so I'm good :)

This was a week full of birthdays. Monday was my Dad's birthday. I called him and we had a nice chat. He has since been enjoying his birthday present - a Nintendo 3DS - his favorite part is the ability to take 3D pictures....

On Friday, one of my friends had a birthday party for her son who was turning 8. There was yummy food, lots of friends and a magician. The kids just LOVED the magician and are still talking about it 2 days later. They just watched in rapt attention and laughed and giggled and oohed and ahhed the whole time.

Saturday we went down to celebrate my Uncle's 60th birthday. We got to eat roast pig, and have fun playing with cousins, including water fights, and cake and ice cream. I had a really nice time chatting with Aunt Joan and other family members there.


Evie is talking a lot now. Dan took the kids for a walk and any time Evie got ahead of him - she would keep turning around and saying "come on!!" After our preschool group on Tuesday, one of my friends took one of her kids out to the car, while the other kept playing in the back yard. When Evie heard him out there, she yelled "BIGGG" (his name is Brigg) then ran to the back door and front door yelling "BIGG BIGGG BIGGG BIGGGG" afraid that his mommy was going to leave with out him. She is so cute and helpful and thoughtful. She is also adventurous and explorative....

Anna has been loving school. Her teacher gives out gold coins for good behavior and she loves to talk about how many gold coins she has and how the naughty boys have black coins. She makes sure to tell me every day how she has been good. :)

Eileen is adjusting, but still misses her Park Lane friends. I have been meaning to invite her friend over, but figured I should wait until I was healthy! Didn't want to bring a little girl with asthma over to a house where I was congested and coughing....

Dan has decided that he needs a hobby. So he has decided to learn how to make balloon animals.

Eileen has been listening to a CD from her piano teacher with a bunch of classical music from Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Bach. She loves the ballet type music and loves to dance around the room to Swan Lake. Evie likes to copy her by spinning in circles on her toes with her arms in the air. This was the best pic I could get of them dancing.

First Day of School Part 2

Anna is now officially a Kindergartener. She has been very excited about starting school all week, so off she went with anticipation this morning. This afternoon, after school, she said it was boring.... but she seemed rather excited about it either way :) And here she is all dolled up and ready for her first day of school!

Cough cough, sniff sniff....

Well - we managed to come back from Idaho with a few colds... Anna was coughing, but I think that was the dryness more than anything else. I thought Colorado was dry... Utah and Idaho are much worse. It was actually a relief to get back to CO. We have also had a cool summer here, so it was nice to get back to that too. Dan had Tuesday off, so we spent that day un-packing, and doing laundry and settling back in. Wednesday and Thursday I moped around the house while the kids went stir crazy and got into everything. Dan took Friday off to let me try and get some rest and try and shake the cold that has been hanging on for more than a week now. I finally gave up and made an appointment with the doctor... I just hope he can do something about this... I can't take another week of this!! Evie and Aaron have had some runny and stuff noses, but theirs seem to be clearing up, while mine just seems determined to hang around and make itself comfy.

Saturday morning we got to pick up the fruit we ordered from Bithell Farms. We ordered fruit from them 2 years ago and made lots of yummy home made jam with it, but we have run out and so Becky came up last night to help us make jam. We did a few batches last night and a few more tonight. Hopefully we will be able to finish it off tomorrow. I've been eating the foam we scrape off the top on everything I can find, there is just nothing quite like homemade jam on homemade bread... mmmmmmm. The best part is - that this year we ordered purees - which comes already ready (and de-seeded) to make into jam - so most of the hard part is already done! :)

Back to School - Part 1

Well Eileen started school this week. She started at the Quest Academy - and she is missing her old friends - but slowly making new friends. Anna won't start until next Monday, but she did get to go in and meet her teacher and see her class room this week. So here is my beautiful girl, all dolled up for her first day of school - Mommy was sick in bed still, but got up long enough to take a picture, and give lots of hugs and reassurances. Then Dan drove her to school. Good luck big girl first grader!! We LOVE you!

Back Home

Last Monday we left the wonderful hospitality of Paul and Candace for Idaho and Grandma and Grandpa Jones' house. We arrived in the afternoon - tired and ready to be out of the car, but happy to be with Grandpa and Grandma. Eileen quickly ran for the back yard to check out Grandpa and Grandma's new play house and swing set - in testament to the spotless house that Grandma keeps - she ran promptly into the transparent back door. Haha - she's never seen glass so clean! Thankfully that didn't dampen her excitement.

We got the girls hair cut - Eileen and Anna have been asking for shorter hair for awhile now - and so Grandma called a lady in her ward and let up a time for them to get their hair cut. I told them that they could have it cut however they wanted - they both look adorable!

The kids had a blast running around with cousins, playing with Grandma and Grandpa, going swimming and running around outside. Mommy and Grandma had fun sewing, and choosing out the fabric for Evie's quilt.
On Thursday more cousins started to arrive. Steve and Claire showed up and Eileen loved having an older girl cousin to play with - she and Elise got along wonderfully.

On Friday, the rest of the gang arrived - Paul and Candace, John and Melissa and Dave and Stephanie all showed up with their kids in tow and best of all - Dan got in from Florida. We all got together for a wonderful hamburger dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The kids all had fun running amok and playing together and even doing a bit of eating. It's amazing that SO many kids and people can get together and still have so few traumatic situations. I was excited to meet Stephanie finally - she's awesome - she fits right in with this crazy bunch!


Saturday we headed up to the cabin - but it wasn't "ready" for us - so we spent the morning and afternoon down playing in the river. The water was FREEZING for those of us spoiled by Texas water and weather - but it was a beautiful spot. The kids all had tons of fun - Eileen and Anna (and some of the other younger kids) were a bit scared by the current. Evie with lack of nap time and too much play, got a bit cranky at the end. Finally we were able to head over and settle in. We had a yummy dinner, played some games, put the kids to bed, played more games and crashed hard for the night.
Sunday we went to church near by and doubled the size of their nursery and primary. Then came back for an afternoon of crafts, and games and relaxing. The kids (and some adults) got their faces painted by some of the older girls - LOL - some of the paint really didn't want to come off though.... We had a family home evening together that night and had fun singing and learning together.

Monday morning, we loaded up the car with kids and stuff and hit the road for the long trip ahead. The car trip was uneventful and late that night we arrived back in Colorado and quickly went to bed.

On The Road Again

Monday and Tuesday this week were filled up with getting ready to leave again. We returned library books, ate lots of leftover food and stocked up on snack food for the car. Wednesday Dan took off for Florida and the kids and I packed the car (VERY poorly....) and took off for Colorado. The trip was a familiar one to me - having made it many times in college to visit my grandparents. It was also short after our trip down to Texas. We passed the hospital where Eileen was born and I pointed it out to the kids - Eileen thought that was really interesting and said "I guess I was born here - that's the hospital i was born at mommy said!" We arrived that evening before bed time and made ourselves at home with Paul and Candace. We have had a wonderful few days with them - playing at the park, playing outside in the sand box and just wreaking general mayhem - which was copious with 9 kids under one roof! The kids all had a blast playing with cousins. Aaron loved having boys around - and Cannon and Christian were great at playing with a boy many years younger than they are. Bianca, who is 11, is vying hard for position of favorite cousin with Evie and has spent lots of time holding her, playing with her and spoiling her! I promise i took pictures, but I'm too lazy right now to go get the camera. :) This evening we had a surprise visit from Logan and Ashley and family. (Candace's brother) I haven't seen them since we moved out of Utah - so it was fun to see them and meet their kids. They were as surprised to see us as we were to see them! But throwing 2 more kids into the mix could hardly increase the amount of craziness! Friday, I met up with a friend from college and we had fun playing and chatting. It's been a fun and busy week - and the kids are all tired! The girls kept wanting to stay up late the first couple of nights and play with their cousins, but now they can barely stay awake until bed time! Tomorrow we take off for Idaho and Grandpa and Grandma's house!