A little catch up

In no particular order, here are a few things I haven't posted yet....

Will's Birthday Party

The last weekend in March, the cuz Will had a bday party and we went to the fire station for it. The kids had a lot of fun. It was a nice day so we walked over there, well, some of us walked.

Cooper was really into the fire fighters and wanted to help them put their clothes on. It was cute.

These two have so much fun together. It's so fun to watch them play.

 

And here's Papa John with the boys. Good times.

 

More Bell fun

While the Bells were here we dyed eggs one day. Caroline and Cooper loved being around Daniel.

Then on Bri's day off we went to the Fun Center and did a round of bowling, a few arcade games and rollerskating. Our kids gave up on the skating pretty quick and headed over to the jungle gym. I got pretty worn out after about 30 min and took the kids home while the others stayed to play a game of laser tag. We had good times together.

The last couple of days have been nice and warm so we've been able to get out. I was trying to get a picture of Cooper and Caroline and this is what I got.

We've had several episodes of Cooper dropping his pants down outside to go potty. I mostly laugh. I mean how can you get mad at this face?

 

And just a few random ones...I love seeing the girls use their imagination. I'm not exactly sure what was going on here, but they were having fun, so it works for me!

The other day the girls went to bed without coming upstairs and I thought I better check on them to make sure they weren't dead 'cause they've been getting out of bed just about every night. Well, this is what I came upon. Can you believe they can sleep like this?! I had to make sure Caroline was still breathing. Makes me laugh!

The other day we woke up with the deer on our yard. I thought this was a cute picture seeing them look out the window at them. 

1st week of Soccer

We decided to sign both the girls up for soccer this year. It's been 2 years since Elizabeth played, so Caroline is starting at the age she did. All during the day we were having bad weather so I was nervous they  weren't going to get to play, but it cleared up by game time, so all was well.

Or so we thought. We grabbed some pizza on the way over. The bad thing about the set up here is they have the girls playing at totally different places, about 20 minutes apart, so half their games we have to split up. Made me so irritated. I wouldn't mind as much if they had to play at the same time if it were at least at the same place because then I could catch both, but there's no way with how they've set it up here. Stupid! 

The games started out fairly nice. About 15 minutes into Elizabeth's I had to take Caroline to hers and then the weather got bad. Before we even started Caroline's game I thought soccer was the dumbest sport ever. I don't like it to begin with. I mean, any game you have to sit through a couple of hours (well, not at kid level) and only see someone score maybe once or twice is too boring for me. Plus, any sport you have to sit through rain, hail and snow (we got all 3) in is dumb too. With the exception of football of course. :) Anyway, it was a horrible start! All the kids were crying and freezing. We didn't dress the kids properly for the crappy weather so I was ready to quit the season.

But the next day Elizabeth had a game and it was perfect weather and actually quite enjoyable, so I think we'll stick it out at least another week. Elizabeth is doing great. I'm so impressed with how much she's already learned. I didn't realize they had positions in soccer, aside from goalie. That's how much I know! I was so proud of her after this game. She was in the whole time and running around like crazy. It'll be fun to watch. Caroline is in the let's run around and try and kick the ball stage, but it's still fun to watch her get in there too.

AWHC and Porter Egg Hunt

Last weekend we went to the Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Ceneter. It wasn't supposed to be too nice of weather but it turned out not too bad. We started out by getting a tractor ride over to the admissions area, then after we were in the fun began. They had a candy cannon that they shot off and then all the kids ran around picking up the candy as fast as they could. It was funny.

We of course stopped by to see all the baby animals. There were quite a few.

To me, the best part was the muttin' bustin'. The kids wanted to ride the horses, but we thought they were an extra cost, however, the muttin' bustin' wasn't, so I said, "we can't do the horses, but we'll let you ride a sheep." Caroline and Cooper bought it, but Elizabeth didn't. Our kids were a few down the list, so after watching the first few I turned to Brian and said, " I don't think this is a good idea. They are going to cry and hate us." So I went over to them and explained what was really going to happen and how they were going to fall off and they were still all for it.

The nice thing was that for Cooper, since he's only 3, they run with them and pull them off so they don't fall. They did that for a 4 year old girl so we were like, "oh good. They'll do that for Caroline too. But they didn't. They let go and hers made a circle and headed right for the fence. That's where she fell off and the thing stepped on her, but she didn't cry, which really surprised us. They actually enjoyed it but Caroline said she wouldn't do it again. At the end of this post is Caroline's video, unfortunately it's sideways. Now I know. Oops.

Afterwards we found out the pony ride was included, so they all got a turn. Bella absolutely loved it and threw a little fit when Bri took her off.

From there we headed down to Sandy and had the Porter egg hunt. It was fun to watch them running around. Bella got more into this one.

We had some good times that weekend with our traditional penny walk and then we went to a park, had dinner and the adult egg hunt. It was so funny! I don't have any pics, but really video would have been funnier. Mom and Dad, and the kids, hid the eggs and then the rule was married couples had to hold hands and couldn't let go and Caroline got a head start. Well, Mel and Greg cheated and I about died laughing so hard as Brian dragged me all over the place. One time we were going up a slight hill and started  going for different eggs. I about wet my pants I was laughing so hard. I fully expected to be sore the next day because I haven't done that much moving for a while. It was funny.

I feel like I don't get much face time on the blog, which is fine, but I know I like to see the mama's and daddy's on others too, so the other day I took a few pics of myself... I know.... again. I'm not stuck on myself, but I think it'd be nice to see a few pictures of myself when I get older. JK. So here are 2 from the other day. Phew! That was a long post!

Easter Weekend

We've had a fun and busy last few days. Brian's sister Suzanne and her family came out here and spent a few days with us and it was great fun. We were sad to see them leave today. Cooper showed the most emotion which was surprising and so tender and sweet. We really had a great time with them.

 The kids played great and because of that, the adults were able to play too. We stayed up playing games almost every night. And to add to all the fun and great time just being together, one of Suzanne's favorite things to do it clean, so every night, she and Randy would clean the kitchen. HEAVEN!!! I was contemplating asking them to move in with us! The girls did a few "creative" projects and several times asked me to put their hair in "rocker" style on the side. I thought that was so funny. I remember doing my hair like that for real when I was Elizabeth's age. They had fun putting on a rock show and dancing around.

I told them to do an attitude look... guess Sydney didn't quite get it. ;) My girls know how to throw around some attitude though!

Alison joined them at the last minute. I think this will be one of those pics they'll look back on and love. I think it's so cute.

Easter morning Elizabeth and Sydney ran upstairs to see their baskets. They had left a carrot on the table and were anxious to see if he had come. Sydney said the funniest thing, she said, "now I know the Easter Bunny is real 'cause my mom would never give me that much chocolate!". I thought that was so funny.

Later that day we hid 200 eggs around the house for the kids to find. The younger girls wanted to be easter bunnies. Caroline's nose was itching, so she wiped it off and wasn't too happy. They found all the eggs in like 7 minutes. Not too many great places to hide the eggs inside. Blasted snow!!!

Isabelle found one egg, took it in the other room and called it quits. I guess she was more for the immediate reward than looking for more.

Elizabeth and Sydney had a lot of fun together. It was cute to watch them playing together and enjoying each other so much. It made me think about my cousins and the relationships we made when we were their age. I hope they have one that lasts forever like I have with some of mine.

This was the first year I was the one fully in charge of doing the Easter dinner. It was kind of weird. I don't feel old enough to be at that point. Everything went well except for when I went to make the deviled eggs. I had Brian buy me a new jar of mayo because I knew I was close to being out. When I went to open it, I noticed the seal was broken so no mayo. Brian wouldn't have my creative ideas for substitutes, so he decided to make the mayo from scratch. Long story short, 2 tries and about 1 hour later we had fabulous mayo and fabulous deviled eggs. Of course I had to get a picture of them.

Isn't he cute?! :) My hero.

Kind of weird to have him be the man of the house and fulfill those responsibilities too. He did great though and we had a very nice Easter dinner.Our menu was: Ham, brown rice, mashed potatos, green bean casserole, jello pretzel salad, pea salad, bread sticks, deviled eggs and sweet potatos. A lot of food and a lot left over, but it was  A wonderful end to the wonderful conference sessions this weekend. I felt like so many of the talks were directed towards me and my need to improve as a mother. Lots to work on, but we have hope! So grateful for the Savior and the example and sacrifice he made for us all! Thanks to Him, not all hope is lost. :)

Bella

We got this webcam last year and the kids will literally spend hours on it. I was watching a few of the videos and saw this one and thought it was so funny how Bella thought it was so funny. I can't believe how much her hair has grown since then.

And time goes by...

Wow! Almost a month since I last posted. So unlike me! We've had a lot going on lately, so I better do some catch up.

First, we had Cooper's 3rd bday. It was pretty uneventful. He wanted a car cake and I lacked the enthusiasm for making a cake, so we ended up with a sadly decorated car cake. He seemed pretty excited about it though. We did presents and cake and called it good. He was pretty excited with his presents.... thanks to Gma and GranChud. All his presents were from them. It was bad timing that I was so sick of all the toys we already have, feeling like they never get played with and already putting together a DI pile, so I decided the presents from Grandparents would suffice! And of course they were.

The next day Elizabeth had her first recital. She's been taking piano for just over 2 months. I was nervous about her actually getting up there, saying her name and song title and being okay. She was terrified not too long ago to even get up in church to give a prayer, so I was praying she'd be able to do it, and she did. Beautifully at that! No mistakes. She's doing really well at the piano and we are excited about her newfound interest and talent.

 

Caroline and Isabelle have both been doing well too. We just registered Caroline for Kindergarten and she's really excited about that. I can't believe she's already old enough! Isabelle has been quite whiny and clingy lately. Not a fan! Brian admitted she's much worse when I'm around than when it's just him.

I've had 2 weekends away this month and Brian has been so supportive of it. My first one I went to a photography course down in Orem and then got to hang with my sister Caroline. That was fun. I got to sleep in too which was lovely. The next weekend I had some friends call and ask me to play in a vball tournament in Jackson Hole and Brian even said he'd skip his rehearsal so I could go. That really surprised me. That's a big deal for him so it meant even more to me! It was so fun to be in Jackson Hole and playing a little volleyball with my girls from dental school. We played on a team back in the day and it was a lot of fun. I wasn't much help though. I was so freakin' tired!!! Plus, the next day I was so incredibly sore, but it was fun to have girl time out. I don't do that very often. Not only that, being able to sit or do whatever I wanted without having to get up and get milk, food, change diapers, break up fights, etc. was heaven alone! Thanks to Brian for being so awesome and letting me do both these things without a single complaint! My only complaint was that I got home both times to a spotless house, all the laundry done and the kids were still happy and alive. All my time convincing him it can't be done was totally shot to.....

I had another wedding last week in Salt Lake and due to some unfortunate events, my sister Melanie wasn't able to watch my kids so my Dad was so awesome and drove them all the way back up to Logan. He saved me a ton of stress trying to figure out where to cart them off to for a whole day and all that kind of drama. Thanks Dad! You saved me big time! My sister Caroline hung out with me for the day and helped me out.  She's the one that got me the job too. Thanks sista'. I was exhausted by the end of the day, but thanks to Dad, I was able to drive back home from Roy instead of going back to Sandy and then driving back up to Logan the next day. Oh bless my Dad!

We've been looking for a house to buy ever since we moved here. Well, looking, but now we're ready to buy and we had an accepted offer yesterday, so as long as everything goes well with the inspection, appraisal, finance and any other hoops we have to jump through, we will be closing at the end of April. We'll take the next month or so and fix it up. It's a great house but needs some updating. We're really excited about it. The back yard is great too. They have a garden area set up with sprinklers just for it (Bri was thrilled) and plenty of running space, a few really big pine trees that offer a lot of shade with a picnic table underneath them and about 7 fruit trees. We are excited about that! We've been watching HGTV a lot now and Bri's been on the internet pricing out wood to do the hardwood floors. We went to Lowe's for part of our date to get a better idea on what we want for carpet, counter tops, appliance and such. Just when you think you throw down all the money for a house, you have everything that needs to go in it and to help fix it up. Yikes! But we're excited about it. Pictures to come....

And last but not least, I had my first Dr's appointment today. We even got an ultrasound, so here is a pic of our new Chud Nugget to be. Yep, we're expecting our 5th (and final I might add) Chudling. Due date is October 16th which is even more fun since my sister Jill is 2 weeks after me. That was a super fun surprise. We aren't planning on finding out what it is because I think it would be so fun to hear them say, " It's a .....". But after the ultrasound today and seeing that little baby move around, I don't know if I'll be able to contain myself at the next ultrasound, so we'll see. So  there's the last month in a nutshell. I've been super tired and Brian has been amazing at picking up the house and just filling in everywhere I'm lacking. I haven't been too sick. Throwing up has been a minimum. Only 3 times to date and the last few days I've been feeling pretty good. Still crazy tired, but good.

Wee-Mama

I have such a great Mom. Always has been. But not only is she a great Mom, she's a great Wee-Mama (grandma).The kids love her and she loves them all so much. She's always doing fun things like tea parties, decorating cookies, making white chocolate suckers (I wish they were for me!) and all kinds of fun things. She's always trying to do fun things with them and she's always so great to help out when we need her. This last trip down there Isabelle was so clingy to her. Brian mentioned it may have been how well she and Papa John took care of her when we went to AZ and she got pneumonia. I think I have to agree. She didn't really want anything to do with me, just Wee-Mama. I was trying to get some hat pictures of my Mom and Isabelle wouldn't let go. I caught this cute one.

And love this one. So funny. Isabelle hasn't gotten the closed lips thing down yet. :)

Mom even got her to put the hat on. Funny girl. Love ya Mom!

Yo - ho!

  The other night I had put all the kids in bed and sat down to work on pictures from the wedding I did last week. Everything was quiet and calm and I turn to see a figure standing in my doorway. It kind of freaked me out, but then it made me laugh. This is who I saw! Cooper in his pirate hat, with his "sword" wearing Isabelle's orange sweat pants. He just puts a smile on my face.

We took some cute pictures after a mid-day shower yesterday. Not much to do around here these days, so the shower/tubs are the highlight at times.

Funny girl

I have 2 people left, Mom and my sister Caroline, to complete our "hat project". I tried getting some of Isabelle today and she was not all for the hat, but I LOVE the last one. In the second picture she was getting mad at me and shaking her finger at me. So glad I caught it because it was so funny.

February 9th, 2010

So I finally got a picture of Elizabeth. Her nose and mouth swelling went down, but she lost another tooth. Well, not but, just that it's a little off from what she would have looked like on her bday, but I think it's so cute.  I love this little stinker! She so did not want to take pictures, but there's always a bribe that works out okay.

When I saw this one it kind of freaked me out because I think she looks like she's 12 years old. What the heck?! You can kind of see her cute freckles though and I love that.

Brian and I spent a few days last week at Jill and Paul's house in AZ. Well, Bri was in courses all day, but I had 2 days to play and it was a great break! We spent some time at shops, hanging in the hot tub, going out to eat and one of my faves was picking fruit from the trees. I don't know that I've ever picked an orange from a tree... and then eaten it. We picked oranges, lemons and grape fruits.

We also stopped by the temple since it was close and since I forgot all my "necessities" on the bed at home. Thank goodness there was a distribution center close by!

Here's a cute picture of Jill and Maya. We had fun together. We even had a mini photo shoot. If you wanna see how they turned out, go here.

Better than picking the fruit was eating it. They were the most delicious oranges, and we made some serious lemonade. I'm not a huge fan of grapefruits, but it was a good one.

We had date night and went out to a Mexican restraunt and science museum. It was fun and especially nice to not worry about hurrying home to a babysitter who's getting paid by the hour! We also had a great fry-night, one that contributed to my 3 pound gain that weekend! We got to watch Paul writhe in agony while freezing off an undesired "blemish" on his finger. Crazy man! The only bad part of the trip was while we were boarding the plane my parents said they decided to take the kids, Cooper and Bella, to the dr's office. After 3 days of crying and moaning, long story short, Bella had pneumonia AGAIN! and Cooper had a nose infection and double ear infection and possibly pneumonia. They didn't do xrays (thank goodness) because the medicine for his ears would have taken care of the pnuemonia anyway. Oh so sorry to Mom and Dad but thank you thank you thank you for watching them and loving them  and taking care of them in their time of need.

The things kids say....

All in all I'd say January was a pretty good month.  However,  I AM ready for more sun, I AM ready for warmer weather, I AM ready for cleaner air and so it's a good thing I'm going for a weekend break with Brian to Arizona! But to recap the past week, Elizabeth thought she'd doll up Caroline. This was her finished product. Later that day she said, " Mom, I want to be a person who does hair and make up when I grow up. I don't know what it's called, but I'm good at it aren't I?". So cute.

Elizabeth talked me into letting her have a friend bday party. Brian.... not so much. I started out telling her she could have 3 girls, but somehow we ended up with 7. It was fun though.  First we started out with them painting their own shirt. It was fun to see how creative they were. I remember doing this with my parents when I was younger. I think my Dad still has his... just kidding Dad. (Actually, I might need to check his closet!) I forgot to mention it to the Moms so they wouldn't wear nice clothes, so last minute I came up with this great idea of cutting a hole in the bottom of a trash bag and slipping it over their heads. It worked great as an apron!

Elizabeth wanted to play all the games like Twister, pin the tail on the donkey and Limbo, so we did. I thought this picture was so cute of all of them.

After Twister, we had a treasure hunt with about 8 different clues and at each spot there was an envelope with 2 puzzle pieces in it. Once they collected all of them, they were to put it together and figure out what it was. It was a picture of Elizabeth.

After presents, cake and ice cream, we watched the annual bday video. I love watching my kids and how much they love watching them and love showing their friends. Makes it worth the time and effort of putting it all together.... like 8 times. (Our program was wacked!)

I think they all had a great time. A final shot with them all in their creations. Good group of girls!

I'm a little behind in getting Elizabeth's 7 year old picture done and now we're going to have to wait even longer because last night we had an incident! I was wrapping the kids up in a sheet and they were trying to get out. They were laughing and having so much fun and then they wanted to make it harder and do it one at a time. Well I wrapped Elizabeth up and tied it behind her back and put her on her stomach on the floor and said I'd be right back. Well a minute later she came hoping in behind me and right as I thought.... bad idea, she full on face planted it onto our scale. I mean full on facial impact. No bent knees, no hands bracing her fall, just her mouth and nose. One step more and she would have smacked either into the counter or the handles on our drawers. She was bleeding out of her nose and her mouth so I couldn't figure out where the problem was at first, but then, of course, it was both places. She immediately had a bruise on her nose and her lip was swelling by the second. No teeth were  knocked out though, so that was good, although we could have easily fixed that! :) Her nose didn't seem to be too bad. The bleeding was minor and the swelling wasn't too bad, until later that night. Then I was worried she had broken it. I ended up taking her into the doctor and they said she should be fine. No xrays were necessary, just some good old ice and time for the swelling to go down! I wouldn't let her look at it because I knew she freaked out, but a few hours later she caught a glimpse and said, " that looks painful." Such a funny girl. She also said," Mom, I learned an important lesson today didn't I?" I didn't know what it was, so I asked, " I learned you never walk with your hands tied behind your back." Glad we're learning something!

On a side note, I was rough housing with Cooper and Caroline, and Cooper had me in a choke hold, so I prenteded to die thinking he might give up. Well, about 10 seconds of my charade Caroline threw her body on top of me and was sobbing. I had no idea what had happend. "I thought you were dead and it made me so sad." How sweet and sad is that? I said, "well that makes me feel good that you were sad instead of jumping up and down saying "yay, she's dead". Oh the sweet moments. Ha!