Piggies and Chickens

This has been a fun and busy week.  James and I had lots of fun playing at home - weather has mostly been nice and great for playing outside.  

Tuesday, Dan and James and I headed in to the school to see Evie in a littl play in her class.  The class did 5 or 6 little plays with different kids in each.  Evie was in the 3 Little Pigs.  She just loved it - she did a great job and stole the show by walking around and shaking her little piggie tail for everyone.  I only got this picture - all the rest was on video.  (James wanted to watch it over and over again) 

After school that day, we had our friends Bradley and Braden over to hang out and play for a few hours.  Dan saw that Cold Stone was doing a $1.00 scoop night, so we headed over for a bit of ice cream.  The kids had a blast (of course)  

After ice cream - I met with the other ward girls camp ladies to figure things out and get organized.

Wednesday was our usual late start morning with library after.  James was so cute singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" He sang all the words and did all the motions - he never does that!  I had choir in the evening and Eileen and Anna had Activity Days - they got to go and get make overs - Eileen wasn't crazy about the idea because she "doesn't like make up" but she ended up having a blast (because she got her toenails and finger nails painted)

Thursday, James and I headed to the Museum of Nature and Science - he LOVES going to the museum - and I'm pretty sure one of his favorite parts about it is getting to pack his own sack lunch and take it with him.  When we left he said his favorite part was looking at the animals (in the panorama exhibits) and pushing the sound buttons.  I'm pretty sure his favorite part was the water area in the discovery zone.  :)  

Friday night, Dan and I got a babysitter (which made the kids VERY happy) and we went out to dinner with some friends, then headed back to their house to play games.  We had a great time and are looking forward to doing it again!

Saturday we went over to Dwayne and Nicole's for Anaiya's birthday party.  The kids had a blast playing games and eating food and running around.  They played a sticker game where you were supposed to try and get stickers on people sneakily - the kids didn't quite get the "sneaky" part - but they had tons of fun.  While there we met another couple who live next to Dwayne and Nicole - really nice people and they just happened to have some chickens that they needed to get rid of (they had a new puppy that was terrorizing them) and we just happened to have a recently finished chicken coop and were looking for chickens - we took Eileen to flute lessons, then after, Dan and Eileen went back with some boxes to get them and we had 4 chickens.

The kids couldn't get enough of them - they are named "Dapple, Dimple, Snowy and Chocolate"  In fact they loved them so much that the next morning, they were up at the crack of dawn, in the rain, to see and hang out with and try to pet the chickens.  Then they came back in and tracked mud all over the house...

Church was wonderful today.  I got a new calling - yes again - it feels like I rarely hang on to callings for more than a year.  I'm teaching Youth Sunday School and I'm really looking forward to it!  Taught my first lesson today and I think it went mostly well.  They were pretty quiet - but a few took pity on me and answered questions :)  After church I was just exhausted - but none of the kids were - so i'm still exhausted and going to bed!

Keeping busy!

This week has been fairly normal - laundry and shopping on Monday.  Taking our friend to therapy on Tuesday.  Choir practice on Wednesday.  Thursday however, it snowed, so piano lessons got pushed back to Friday.  We spent a nice quiet Thursday warm and cozy at home!  

Friday, Addie came over to play with us and hang out - then I went to get my allergy shot - then took Heather to a doctor's appointment, got the kids from school and headed home for piano lessons.  James and Rose (the piano teacher's little girl) really play well together - but they were in a trouble making mood this week!  

Saturday, we spent the morning working outside - Eileen and Dan working on finishing up the chicken coop, me mowing the lawn.  Aaron had a birthday party in the afternoon, Eileen had flute lessons in the afternoon.  Then after a long day, Dan and I watched "Unbroken" and headed to bed!  

Come Sunday we were all a bit tired.  Church was wonderful - I got to sub as a teacher in Relief Society - I love teaching - but I love teaching the gospel most of all.  After church, we played games for a bit - then Dan insisted Evie take a nap (she's been throwing massive tantrums all day - and that's not normal) and helped her by letting all the sleepy kids snuggle up together in our bed.  

I know - short post - few pictures - but I'm tired and it's been a fairly normal week for us!  :)

Aftermath

It's starting to feel like my kids never go to school....  They had Monday off for a teacher work day.  I told them that if they got their piano lessons and some clean-up done, that I would take them to the museum or the zoo... So they played outside all day.  They did get their piano done, but that was about all they got done.  Anna prepared a wonderful family home evening lesson for us - here is me attempting to play an opening song...

Tuesday was our usual taking a friend to therapy in the morning followed by the usual craziness of the evenings

Wednesday was late start for the big kids and library for James and I - then after the library, we had my friends little girl come over for a few hours so she could go to the temple.  She was small enough that James saw her more as a baby to take care of than as a friend to play with.  He was so sweet and helpful!  After picking the kids up from school, we took Evie to a dentist appointment - then home for piano, homework, choir, activity days and such.

Thursday morning, James and I took a drive to pick up some medical supplies for a friend and then enjoyed a couple hours of quiet before picking the kids up from school.

Friday I needed to go get my allergy shot - James loves going and the ladies who work there all LOVE him, so it's a nice easy errand, then we met Dan for lunch at home before heading back out to the grocery store to grab a couple things.

Saturday was a work day.  Dan spent most of the morning and early afternoon building a chicken coop.  I spent it taking Eileen to flute lessons, mowing the lawn and sweeping and moping and vacuuming.  Then we decided to relax by walking to the park to play :)  It was a great day, but exhausting!

Sunday, after church, we went up to UNC to see Dan's home teaching companion in a tuba band and then we stayed to watch a bit of the UNC philharmonic orchestra - but by intermission, James was done so we headed home.  It was a lot of fun though - in the same building, they had a fun little lego exhibit with this good giant "minifigure"

Lots of Fun

Well it's been a busy week.  My mom's recovery really went well.  My dad left town on Monday, so I was in charge :)  By Tuesday, she was walking up and down the block in front of the house, Wednesday, we attempted the walk to the nearby pond so James and I could feed the turtles and fish.  Thursday, Sandi came over with Taz and Kai and we walked all the way to a nearby park.  She tired herself out good and napped well after - and by Thursday she was off the pain meds during the day.  

James LOVED playing with his cousins - he and Taz especially get along really well.  They love to play together - but Taz has boundless energy and he would usually go to bed early and sleep late after a day hanging out with Taz.  

The kids had some fun playing with a box with old clothes to be given away - they just looked so cute!! 

My dad got back on Thursday.  He and I spent a fun evening figuring out a metal frame for a doll and chatting.  Then,  deciding that my mom was doing well, and wanting to be home for General Conference and Easter, James and I headed home on Friday.  James was great during the ride home - except that he REFUSED to go to the bathroom.  He does NOT like strange bathrooms - he was just getting used to Grandma and Grandpa's bathroom - but he wouldn't do the rest stop bathrooms - which meant that he wet himself 3 times on the way home.....

Saturday, we headed up to Newell and Becky's house to watch Conference and do an Easter Egg hunt.  The kids had a blast.  Newell and Becky's youngest is close enough in age to love playing with James and the kids had tons of fun.

After a wonderful day, we headed home - then the we let the kids play outside while I mowed the lawn, then ate dinner while Daddy headed to Priesthood meeting.

Today was another wonderful day of Conference - which is never long enough - even after 8 hours.  The kids went to play with the neighbor's great-granddaughter between sessions, then after, we headed over to Grandpa's for dinner and Easter fun with Frank and Tina and Frankie, Grandpa, Doug and Julia, Jill and Logan and Adam and Natalia.  The kids had tons of fun eating more junk food, finding more eggs and playing around.

After the rest of the kids went to bed - Eileen stayed up and played 7 Wonders with us - then she wanted to do some painting - so Dan and I played Speed - which caught Eileen's attention, so he taught her to play - she promptly decided that she didn't much like the game....

Spring Break

It's feeling like I say this every week... but this week was nuts!  Sunday night, Eileen's friend Morgan came over to sleep over and hang out.  The kids had a blast all day Monday - and had so much fun that she stayed again on Monday night.  Then Tuesday morning, the great granddaughter of the lady next door came over to play for a while, then in the afternoon, we went to the zoo.  We had fun checking out the animals (and I took some pictures but I'm too lazy to go out to the car to get the camera....)  Morgan went home Tuesday evening and the kids all missed her when she left.  

Wednesday, I went visiting teaching (yes, with all 5 kids in tow) and I had choir practice in the evening, Thursday was piano lessons in the morning, and errands in the afternoon.  I took Eileen out to get some training bras - she doesn't really need them yet - but she's getting close enough that I would rather she had them than not.  She was very excited about it and had a lot of fun picking them out.  She was so excited that she let me take a picture to embarrass her for posterity.  ;)

While all of this was going on I needed to prepare to leave for Texas.  I needed to do all the laundry, cleaning, packing, lawn mowing, cleaning the spare room for Tina, and getting some computer work done.  I managed to get the essentials done and ready and James and I took off Friday morning.  The trip was long, but easy.  James loved getting to watch movies the whole way.  Everytime one ended, I would ask him what he wanted to watch next and he would respond in an adorable voice "I don't know!"  Road trips and rest stops are a lot easier with just one kid.  James and I arrived late on Friday night and soon went to bed.  

Dan spent Friday home with the kids - and Aaron proved he could ride his bike to the park and back and got to go pick out his new bike.  He also got all the kids new helmets which they were very excited about!  

Saturday here was mostly quiet - James and I slept in and then got up to go see my mom at the hospital and get her checked out and drive her home.  We spent most of the day playing and reading books and getting on a pill schedule.

Sunday my dad and I tried to work a schedule so we could get to church and not leave mom alone too long.  Church was really nice - Dad's ward was doing their Easter program too and it was really nice.  It's a really great ward and it was fun to see familiar faces.  Sandi came over after church with Taz and Kai.  Taz and James just had a blast together.  We went for a walk and played in the back yard and around 6:15 James was done - Taz had exhausted him, and he threw a massive tantrum because I wanted him to go potty - so he went potty and then went to bed too.  :)

Music.....

This week has been totally nuts.  The Colorado Mormon Chorale's Easter Concerts were this week.  So after the usual craziness of a day of laundry, grocery shopping and kids, I took off in the evening for our dress rehearsal and got home in time to go to bed.

Tuesday was once again the usual kids, school, and fun - followed by the Chorale's first concert.  We performed at Denver University's Newman Center.  The performance went well and everyone said it was amazing!  Evie and Aaron also had their class concerts that night.  Dan took the kids to the concerts and tried to record them - but since he hadn't slept at all the night before, he might have dozed off a bit....

Wednesday we had the kids piano lessons after school along with our usual late start, library for story time and then watching a friends kids for a couple hours.  James LOVES having friends over to play!  Then in the evening was another concert for me.

Thursday was our "day off" So Eileen conned me into driving her all the way up to boulder so that she could meet Brandon Mull and get her favorite Fablehaven book signed.  We had a really fun time and I didn't even keep the girls up too late.  He was going to be in Denver on Friday, but I had another concert on Friday, so that wasn't going to work....

Friday, I took the girls to our final performance of "Lamb of God" the girls really enjoyed the concert - Eileen loves watching the flutes and they love having some special out with mommy time.  These concerts have been amazing and wonderful to be a part of.  They have also been amazingly well attended - they estimated over 1000 people at our Friday night concert - and we probably could have done one more night and packed it too.  After the concert, I took the kids for dinner and dessert at Chili's.

Saturday, Dan had Boy Scout training in the morning - he got home just in time for me to be able to take Eileen to flute lessons with out all the other kids in tow.  Then we spent the afternoon cleaning up before I had to leave for yet another CMC event.  We provided some entertainment for a charity event/auction.  It was just a small group of us since the venue wasn't that big, but it was a really nice event and they provided a yummy dinner.  

Today was nice - Church was wonderful - weather was beautiful so we walked to and from church.  I sang a musical number and helped out in primary again.  It's been amazing how much better behaved my kids have been for me - I can't help but think that it's a blessing from the Lord to help us survive Dan's new calling.  After church, Eileen wanted me to text her friend Morgan's mom to see if she could sleep over sometime during spring break.  So she came over this evening and the kids had tons of fun running around yelling and playing until we banished the younger ones to bed and played a game of Settlers of Catan with Eileen and Morgan.  Now I just gotta make it though next week....

Long Week....

I was a bad mom this week and took no pictures....  but in my defense, it was a LONG week.  Bright and early on Monday morning (as in 6 AM) I got a phone call from the school letting us know that school had been cancelled for the day due to a power outage.  Thankfully weather was nice, so we spent a LOT of the day playing in the back yard.  Having all the kids home prevented me from running a couple errands that I wanted to get done.  

Tuesday was back to normal - James and I took our friend to her appointment in the morning, then we ate lunch and got the other kids from school - a mostly normal day - except Aaron fell asleep in the car on the way home.  I checked him and he had a fever, so I gave him some tylenol and put him to bed.  The next morning though, his temp was back to normal and he seemed fine.  

Wednesday was the usual late start school day for the kids, followed by a library trip for James and I, then home for lunch.  I went to choir practice in the evening - our concerts are next week - so rehearsals are the the fun stage when things really start to take shape.  

Thursday, I woke up feeling lousy, but hoping that I could shake it off with lots of water and some rest, I didn't worry about it too much.  I gave myself a break and let James watch Wild Kratts for a bit so I could rest.  After school, the kids had piano lessons, then in the evening, I went to a Relief Society activity.  Dan took the school age kids to Skate City.  I didn't have a whole lot of energy still though, so I headed home and went to bed early.  

Friday, I felt worse,  I decided that I couldn't just wait it out and that I'd better get it checked - I have too much happening next week to wait and see any longer (especially with the weekend coming up)  So I got a doctors appointment and tested positive for Strep Throat.  I got my antibiotics and then at the suggestion of my doctor, We took all the kids in to get tested too.  (Thankfully they were out of school for a teacher work day)  the 4 younger kids all tested positive for strep also.  So we picked up their meds and finally headed home.  We had plans for some friends to come over, but we postponed until we were all better, then spent the evening taking it easy.  

Saturday was mostly taking it easy too - the girls got their room cleaned in record time, then Eileen proceeded to do some extra chores so she could get a water snail.  Dan took the kids to the pet store to check out prices and see how much they would need to save up.  Then they came home all excited.  Anna then did a superb and speedy clean up of the play room so she could go with Dan to the craft store.  He took her to look at models - she picked a WWII army jeep model that she and Dan have been working on together.  Then Dan stayed home with the kids so I could go to Stake Conference.  It was wonderful and a great end to a hectic week.  

Today was the main part of Stake Confrence - so the kids and I got there early (James with no shoes on *mom fail*) for stake choir which was wonderful - then enjoyed a wonderful conference with the kids mostly reverent.  Then after we had Ward Choir practice, then Eileen and I headed home, Dan went home teaching and the kids ate a quick dinner before we headed to Frank and Tina's for a big family birthday party!  

Thankfully, the medicine is doing it's job, we are all feeling much better and ready to face the insane week ahead of us....

Family Fun

I have a fun and spunky 5 year old girl.  As part of her homework, she needs to write in this book a couple times a week.  In trying to figure out what to write about, she decided to do a "Who Am I" and proceeded to do this drawing.  *Note - this is after I made her edit it.*  She came up to me asking what the bumpy part on the front.  I was trying to figure out what she was talking about - when I did, we had a talk about how that isn't an appropriate thing to write about and we came up with a different thing to write about.  Not sure what that says about mermaids when my daughter thinks their most distinguishing characteristics are a tail, bellybutton and seashell bra.....

Tuesday, Eileen and Anna had their concert.  Eileen had her 4th Grade concert (where she even got to play a recorder)  and both girls had their school choir concert.  It was a lot of fun and the girls did great - now i just need to get Eileen to look at her teacher/director instead of playing with her recorder, talking to friends and goofing off....

Wednesday I had my rehearsal with the chorale - we are getting close to the concerts, so we had a full rehearsal with the orchestra.  It's getting exciting and really awesome!

Thursday and Friday were nuts - Thursday included me getting an allergy shot, making a quick stop at the yarn shop near by, then picking up my friend Debbie to take her across town to a doctor's appointment, then picking the kids up from school, piano lessons and homework and such.  Friday started early with a doctors appointment for me (with lots of help from James) just a follow up to check if some meds I'm on are working.  Then I went to pick up some medical supplies for a friend and dropped them off at her house, followed by getting home in time to have James' little friend Addie come over for the afternoon.  Then we picked the kids up from school - got all the homework and piano and reading done, then we dropped off dinner for the sister missionaries before heading over to have dinner and play games with a friend of Dan's from work and his fun family.  We all had a great time - but we kept the kids up rather late.

Saturday was mostly doing some clean-up around the house and car and playing outside.  Weather has been gorgeous here - outside is a great place to be right now - as long as you avoid the massive amounts of mud courtesy of the melting snow piles.  

Sunday was wonderful - church was wonderful - James was mostly cooperative today.  After church was choir, then home for lunch with the kids and play time before Dan got home - then Eileen and I headed out to Stake Choir and Dan watched the kids of some friends of ours so they could come too.  Then we all went back to our house for a fun and yummy Sunday dinner.  Their boys all thought the muffins we had with dinner were cupcakes - I think they liked having "cupcakes" for dinner :)

Lost and Found: A story of my driveway....

So Dan left town for Orlando last Saturday.  While he was gone we got the most snow in a one week period since we have lived here.  I don't think it totaled more than a foot and half - but we had days in between with some of it melting off.  Though we have a 3 foot high area in front of our house which is in the area that gets piled up during shoveling and is in the shade so it doesn't melt.  The snowing set in again in earnest on Wednesday afternoon and snowed until Friday morning.  I don't mind shoveling snow, but I do mind having to get up and 6:15 in the morning for 2 days in a row to clear a driveway so I can take the kids to snow - partially because I'm losing sleep and partially because there's no sun and it's COLD!  When Dan is out of town, I go into survival mode - which means I just try and not fail too epic-ly.  I was really stressed out about Thursday night - we were supposed to have piano lessons after school, Eileen and Anna's choir concert, AND Activity Days.  I was worried about how to get it all done and how timing would work.  I've never been more grateful for snow.  It snowed all afternoon and everything got cancelled!!!  Instead we spent a quiet night at home snuggling up together!  Stuff got rescheduled - and I didn't have to stress about it.  The Activity Day's activity got rescheduled for Friday night - they were going to see a bunch of the youth from our ward in "Seussical the Musical" I went and watched too.  It was a lot of fun and really well done.

Dan came home safe and sound on Friday afternoon.  It's so good to have him back, and this should be the last trip of anything longer than a couple days.  He's much more needed in the office than on the road, and we all prefer having him home!

The kids have been having fun playing in the snow and getting cold and dirty.  James needs constant reminders that it's not summer and he needs a coat and shoes.

Evie came home from school one day and promptly went to sleep - I checked on her and she was running a fever.  She was still with fever the next morning, so I kept her home from school - and instead took her on all the errands that I needed to run.  We needed bread for lunches and I needed to go do my allergy shot.  Fortunately, there didn't seem to be anything else wrong with her - she wanted to sleep more - but didn't seem sick otherwise.

Church was great today!  Dan conducted in Sacrament meeting for his first time.  He did great - no mistakes and no sticking his foot in his mouth.  Sacrament was wonderful - would have been better if I got to hear all of it - but that doesn't happen much with 5 young kids. :)  I got to go to Sunday School and Relief Society today, it was really nice!  The lessons were wonderful!  After church, the kids had lunch - James took a nap.  Eileen and I went to Stake Choir and then we had dinner and put the kids to bed.  Eileen stayed up with Dan and I to play 7 Wonders - Eileen and I both lost BADLY to Dan.  Then we called Dan's brother Steve to chat for a bit.  Steve and Claire are going to be moving out to Laramie and we are so excited to have them only a couple hours away!

Rough Week

It's been a really hard week - but since I'm not at liberty to talk about some of it right now, it will have to wait.  We've been busy this week - the normal choir and piano, and homework, reading, etc.  The kids had Monday off school for President's Day - I told them I would take them to the museum - but they didn't get piano done until noon, and then there was so much snow, that we ended up not being able to go.  We've had a lot of snow this week - which makes me a bit crazy since the kids can't play outside as much.

Wednesday James and I went to the library, then I went to get my allergy shot - James loves going to get his allergy shot since it means that he gets a lollipop and a sticker.   (And all the ladies there tell him that he's adorable and so cute and sweet and funny)  Then in the evening I had choir.

Thursday Addie came over to play for the day.  She and James have a lot of fun together and play well together.  With some help from Stephanie during piano lessons, I managed to also pick up Merydth from school and take her family some Lasagne while they try and get her little brother feeling better.

Friday we had a nice quiet day - Dan and I bribed the kids into cleaning up, so the house got mostly clean and then we played games with them for a bit.  (at least with the ones who cleaned up)  Then we sent Evie to bed and played another game with the older girls.  Evie really didn't want to go to bed with out her sisters though - she kept coming up with a new excuse for staying up - the best was "I can't go to sleep, I think my skin is about to change colors!"  One we thought so funny that we called Dan's parents to let them know - and in return got some good news - Dan's brother Stephen and his family may be moving out not too far from us - in Wyoming, but only a couple hours away!

Friday night it started snowing and it hasn't stopped for long since - this is what our backyard looked like earlier today - and it's still snowing and is supposed to snow all night.

Dan left town on business early Saturday morning.  The kids and I mostly played and took it easy - I was a lazy mom and let the older kids play games while James napped - which bought me some peace and quiet and sanity.  (and kept my house somewhat clean)

Sunday mornings were much the same as usual since Dan is always at meetings in the morning.  A friend of ours came over and shoveled our driveway for me since Dan was gone (probably a good thing since I would have forgotten that it needed to be done until about the time I was trying to pull out of the garage....  While we were getting ready for church, the second big blow of the week fell - I realized that I was bleeding heavily and had miscarried....again.  This past year is really starting to feel like a "bash Deanna on the head repeatedly with a large mallet" type of year.  I was supposed to go sing at a fireside with the Chorale tonight, but it was cancelled - I was sad to not get to sing, but it was probably for the best.  Probably would have cried through the whole thing anyway.

Love is a Many Splendored Thing

Monday was our normal laundry/grocery shopping day.  Dan has been working from home in the mornings - Without the kids bugging him he is able to get more done here than at work where he is often interrupted.  

Tuesday was busy.  I started out with the usual trip to take our friend to her therapy appointment.  James is a great little kid and is happy to hang out there and play with the legos, read books with me and eat a snack.  We got back home then left James with Frank and Tina, and Dan and I headed for our day in court.  We met our lawyer there who took care of everything and got both cases dismissed - we left much relieved and ready to put it all behind us.  

Wednesday was the usual insanity - Late start, library fun with Riley, Tayanna and Nicole.  Then James and I made a quick trip to Walmart, where James tried to pick up everything to put in the cart.  Then we headed home and had a quick lunch before going to get the kids from school.  After getting back home I made a cake, then I went to Choir, and Eileen and Anna went to Activity Days.  

Thursday, James and I got up - packed his lunch into his backpack, then headed up north to get Dan's Valentine's gift and to meet up with Becky and hit some quilt shops.  We hit two shops - one to find some information on Aunt Joan's sewing machine and what I can do with it, and the other to get some fabric :)  with Kai's quilt as done as I can get it now - I'm ready to start on another one! 

Afternoon was piano lessons and the usual fun :) 

Friday was the usual school day.  The weather has been beautiful all week - so the kids have had tons of fun playing outside.  The hard part is getting them to come inside.  The kids had their Valentines' Day parties at school - so they came home all sugared up and I've spent every day since trying to keep James from eating it all....

Saturday was Valentine's Day!  Dan made us yummy heart-shaped biscuits with home made jam.  mmmmmmm.  He made me Chocolate truffles and Chocolate Covered Strawberries!!!  I got him an expansion for 7 Wonders - so we played a game with Eileen to try it out.  :)  After breakfast, we went for a walk and ended up at a nearby pond feeding the geese and ducks.  Then Eileen and I speed walked back to make it to her flute lessons in time.  

That evening, Dan and I had a baby sitter (who the kids loved) and we went to the mall and then to Outback for dinner.  Maybe not fancy - but I'm just happy to be with Dan.  :)

Today was a lot of fun.  Church was wonderful - I subbed for the music person in primary which is always fun.  Then after church was choir which was fun as always.  Dan's cousin Becca and her husband Jeremiah came over for dinner and played games with us.  It was a lot of fun having them over - they are fun people to hang out with and we all had a great time!  Then Dan and I put the kids to bed - but since the kids have no school tomorrow, we let Eileen stay up with us and play a couple more games of 7 Wonders :)

Really LONG Weekend

Monday was our usual laundry day.  James has figured out how to start the washing machine on his own.....  He wants to be so helpful sometimes - I just need to figure out how to contain the disaster while encouraging the sentiment.  

Tuesday we had our first trip taking our friend to her therapy appointment.  I had Chasity with me too, so it was a bit crazy, but she and James had a lot of fun together.  By the time we were done and taking everyone home - James was sad to see he friends go. 

Wednesday was our usual library story time, though we didn't get to have Nicole and Riley and Tayanna come with us this time.  Riley has decided that he wants us to be part of his family.  :)  Nicole came over to help out with the kids so Dan could go to the church for meetings and such, and Riley was mad that he couldn't come too.  :)  Choir was a lot of fun.  I love the chance to get out and sing!  

For some reason the kids had Thursday and Friday off school.  I promised the kids that if they got the house clean, I would take them to the zoo.  Weather was beautiful and so they got clean up done and tried to keep it fairly clean.  They had piano lessons in the afternoon and then I had my first Girls Camp prep meeting!  I'm excited, but a bit overwhelmed!  

Friday, the kids did their piano practicing, then we packed up and headed to the zoo... only to discover that it was a free day, so the zoo was PACKED!  It took us almost an hour to find parking.  When we finally did, we walked to the zoo, I took the kids to the bathroom.  I asked Aaron to take James in and help him since the family one was locked, the women's one had a LONG line and I didn't want to leave the stroller.  Then since it was about lunch time, we walked to some tables and ate our bag lunches.  They all got unpacked, and started eating when James said he had to go potty again, but I really didn't want to pack all the kids back up and walk to the potty, so I asked Eileen to take him to the nearby potty - I could see them walk there and back, They came back 5 minutes later.  James started eating again, then promptly wet his pants....  We packed up and headed out to go home.... We spent more time looking for parking than we did enjoying the zoo.  

Saturday was busy, but good.  Dan had a couple small errands to run in the morning, Eileen had flute lessons, Aaron had a birthday party, Dan had meetings.  I took the kids to a park while Aaron was at the party.  The on the way back - I saw a quilt shop.  I was a bit early, so we went in for a few minutes.  I learned about some quilting classes that I might try and take over the summer.

Today was great.  We remembered to sit on the other side of the chapel so we could see Dan.  The kids made faces at Daddy (Eileen kept putting bunny ears on James while he stood on my lap and made goofy faces)  And were mostly well behaved. After church, I put James down for a nap (and took a little one myself) Then Dan got home for dinner and we played some games.  Sundays are wonderful! Time to refresh and renew our spirits and be together as family.

This new calling has been tiring on Dan - they are still in the "Busy trying hard to get everything put in order" stage - hopefully things will calm down soon!

Getting Back to Normal

 Monday morning, I took James to get his pictures done - while Grandma and Grandpa Jones took a quick nap (since they had already been working all morning)  They came out SO CUTE!  This is just one of them.  He was so cute and sweet during the pictures then after threw a grand-mal tantrum when I wouldn't carry him around the store to pick up a couple things.  Grandma and Grandpa Jones took off Monday evening to head back home for a quick rest before heading out to visit Stephen and Claire and their new baby!  We are so glad they were able to make it out - even if only for a couple days.

My cheese ball was so excited about taking pictures that he insisted on me taking more pictures... lighting isn't as good.... :P  

Tuesday we went to meet a friend who I will be helping take her daughter to therapy appointments.   The girls had choir after school and as usual it was a bit crazy.  

Wednesday was the usual fun - library, school, choir.  

Thursday we had Addie come over and play with us.  She and James get along really well, so it's fun to have her over.  She's a sweet, quiet girl just a few months younger than James and they play well together.  After Dan got home, we made hamburgers and guac for dinner and had Addie's parent join us before her mom (Ally) and I headed out to the Relief Society Activity.  It was a fun little getting to know you activity, and it was a lot of fun to get out and hang out with friends.  

Friday was our normal business.  The kids had a lot of fun enjoying some great weather.  Dan got home a bit early - but then left again to go give a blessing to a friend's baby who was sick.  

Saturday was flute lessons, cleaning house, watching the snow fall and working on this.  I've been working on this quilt for over 9 years - not consistently - I get a bunch done, then it sits and waits for me to move on to the next part - I think it spent at least 3 years waiting for me to get it quilted... and at least another year waiting for me to start working on the binding - but it's now 100% finished!  The Sunbonnet Sue squares were found in my Grandma's basement after she passed away - we're not really sure who started them - but we think it might have been my Grandmother's grandmother.  So to me its' a bit of family history - now we gotta find a place to hang it... 

Today went well - Heather sat with us and helped out with the kids so  Sacrament wasn't too bad.  There are lots of wonderful people willing to help out the families of our bishopbric members - all of whom are 40 and under and all of whom have young kids.  It's really a great ward to be in!  Fast and Testimony meeting was wonderful - Anna fasted through breakfast with us - but I don't think I did a good job explaining why or what exactly we were doing - so I think she was less than excited about being hungry...

And More Visitors.

This has been a fun and eventful week. I had an extra kiddo around the house on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.  She and James had a lot of fun playing together.  The kids were all obsessed with play-doh this week and had fun making big messes all over the kitchen with it.  Hopefully they have gotten it out of their system for a bit now.  

Tuesday was just normal, around the house crazyness - followed by a phone call that threw us into even more crazyness.  We were asked to come meet with the Stake President that evening.  So we made and ate  dinner, then headed over to the church so Dan could get a new calling.  

Wednesday we went to the library and the kids had a lot of fun as usual.  They have lots of fun noise makers that they let the kids use during story time - James LOVED it.  In the evening I had choir - but attendance was a bit sparse with all the snow we had gotten earlier that day.  

Thursday morning James and I met up with some friends at the Museum of Nature and Science.  James loved it there - it was fun being able to go with friends and it was SO EASY with only 1 kid to look out for!  James and I stayed until we had to leave to get the other kids from school.  Then of course piano lessons in the afternoon.  

Friday was James' birthday.  I can't believe my little boy is already 3 years old - he is so fun and full of energy and personality!  Grandpa came and took him out for ice cream after lunch which he LOVED (and then tried to con grandpa into taking him out again)  We decided to save the rest of his celebration for Saturday night when Grandma and Grandpa Jones would be here.  

Saturday was NUTS.  Eileen had flute lessons as usual,  Anna had a birthday party to go to in the afternoon, Dwayne and Nicole came over to hangout and make food with us.  (We made the final batches of jam, and re-stocked our freezer with burritos and taquitos.  Then Gene and Ann arrived in time for dinner.  After dinner, James got to open his presents followed by his green cupcakes.  As usual Great Grandpa hit a home run with a sand box.  Grandma Penny send some handsome outfits, Grandma and Grandpa Jones made a card-table-house (another home run), and mommy and daddy made him an angry birds blanket and his own little doll (finally)  

 Sunday, was a big day for us.  Eileen and I headed over to church early for choir.  Her debut performance with the ward choir was today.  She accompanied the ward choir on her flute.  She did such a great job - especially for having only been playing the flute for 4 months - but she worked really hard, and it paid off.  I also got a new calling (in addition to ward music chair person) as the ward Young Women Camp Director!  I'm so excited to get to be part of girls camp - our young women are awesome and I love girls camp!!  Dan also got a new calling this week - he was called to be the second counselor in the bishopbric.  Which also means that he was ordained as a High Priest.  Gene and Ann came out so that Dan could be ordained by his father.  This new calling is going to mean a lot of crazyness - a busy daddy, and maybe some stressful Sacrament Meetings, but Dan is going to be serving with an awesome group of guys and I trust that the Lord with help me survive it!  :)  I do have to say that I feel a bit old now though....  :)

We had a fun afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa, playing games and the kids had fun playing with (in) James' new presents.

Visitors!

Monday we had the pleasure of having Sandi and Jon and Taz and Kai come to visit us for a few days.  James and I picked them up from the airport and headed home for lunch and laundry and to get them settled in.  They came to talk to Dan about a programming project that they want to put in motion - to flesh out the ideas and get an idea of time frames and all that fun stuff.  But we got to enjoy playing and hanging out with them for a few days because of it - so YEY!  

We used our museum pass to head to the museum for a day of fun - we packed lunches and everything.... after we had been there for half an hour, the whole museum lost power.  They herded us in to sunlight areas of the museum to await the solution to the problem.  The solution ended up being that they shut down and evacuated the building.  We walked around outside and decided we could brave the zoo - so we headed over there and the kids had a blast!  

We went to the tropical discovery area (because it's a large indoor area and Kai had no coat) and the kids loved all the fish and frogs.  The kids had fun sneaking up on a peacock and managed to not scare it too badly.  The day was nice - a little chilly to be outside for a long time, but there were enough indoor areas to make it still a nice place to be.  We headed up to get the rest of the kids from school, then spent the afternoon playing.  

The kids all had a blast at home together too - but especially James and Taz.  They are at the age and both big enough, and close enough in age that they got along great.  They had a blast together!!  I'm so glad my kids have cousins that they can play with.  Sandi and I didn't ever have cousins our age as kids - I'm so glad my kids do!  Dan took Wednesday off to work on the program and work with Jon.  They started the morning off nicely by going to a gourmet donuts shop and getting us all breakfast.  Sandi and I tried to take the kids to the library for story time and get them out from under Jon and Dan's feet.  They had a great time - our library is good for little kids.  

Here's a massive doggie pile - I think Dan is under there somewhere.....  

I just loved this picture of James and Kai in a little plastic tub, playing together.

Sandi and Jon had to head back home on Thursday afternoon.  We're glad they came and hope to be able to have them out here again soon!

Thursday night, Anna had her class music concert.  She sang beautifully!  Sorry for the bad picture - I forgot my camera... this was a phone picture.

Saturday was busy - Eileen had flute lessons, I had a baby shower, Aaron was getting his 7 year old pictures taken, and around all of that, I did a purge on the girls room.  We cleaned off everything - the floor, the desks, the dressers, the beds (kinda) and sorted through it - threw away 3 big bags of garbage and now mommy is happy with an organized and neat room!  After all that hard work - we had a pizza party!  We had pizza and watched "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" I loved that movie as a kid and wanted to watch it with my kids.  They LOVED it.  I don't know that I have ever heard them laugh so hard at a movie!

Church today was wonderful!  We had a couple of just amazing talks today.  We had some cranky kids, but somehow I still managed to hear and be uplifted by the talks.  After church, we had choir practice and Eileen tried out the flute part with the choir.  She is working so hard on it - I hope we can have it ready by next week.  I also got another calling today - I'll talk about it more next week when I'm actually called - but I'm so excited about this that I've been grinning ear to ear about it all day - it's something I've been wanting to do as long as we've been in family wards!!!