Too long

I haven't done anything on here for a while. I've been tired and busy and tired of being busy! Just to fill in the last few weeks. My parents and sister came up to watch our kiddos while Brian and I went to Las Vegas for a "business" trip. Business for Bri, R&R for me! Before we took off though we went up to Bear Lake for a quick playtime.

In Vegas we stayed at the Caesar's Palace and it was pretty fancy. The thing that I was most surprised by was the tv in the bathroom mirror. The bathroom was beautiful!

 It was so nice to wake up and get out of bed when I wanted to, but that wasn't as great as going to the pool and reading and getting in when I wanted to without worrying that one of my kids was going to drown! On Thursday after Bri's courses we walked around a little and went to dinner, got some dessert and then fell asleep pretty early. Friday we were able to see our good friends the Heideman's and that was fun as always. We miss hanging out with them. Alicia and I hung out at the pool until the guys were done and then we went to dinner with them and then went for a little dip in the pool and hot tub. Good times!

Brian's been crazy busy taking care of all the yard work and demolition that we've needed. A few weeks ago Greg (the bro-in-law) came up with Mellie and the boys and Brian helped him put in our lighting in the kitchen. We had to get it done now because we're getting insulation in our attic and it was going to be way easier to do it now. Along with that, we had to get rid of the squirrels that were living up there too, so that seems to be out of the way. Anyway, they started on the project at about 10:30 and wouldn't you know, the first thing they did was discover that the ceiling was cracked under the fluorescent light, so they had to add in the project of cutting out the sheet rock and adding more in. Blah! Never as easy as it should be. Long story short, they finished around 2:00 A.M. That was a long long day! :) But we are really happy with how it turned out. Now...if I could get my whole kitchen clean at the same time I'd take a picture, but that seems to be a major challenge these days. I'll work on it.

This past weekend Greg (and crew) came up again and this time he was installing a electrical socket so we could use our dryer. There was a gas hook up here and we've been using it, but the dryer is majorly old and sounds like it's going to blow up, so Greg so kindly rearranged his schedule to come up and get that in for us. It was another lengthy project, but he got it done. Unfortunately, during the process he discovered mold in between the laundry and bathroom walls, so Brian has since ripped that out and there's a big hole in the bathroom downstairs. I pulled up the wallpaper (which came up so easy, like a stick on. I was amazed!) and behind that was more mold. Apparently it was just surface though, so hopefully that won't be an issue, but it's just another project to add to the list, and one that was way down on the the list!

We've had a dumpster again for a few weeks and Bri has filled it every night. I am so amazed and his work ethic and how he just gets out there and gets it done and so fast. He's amazing! This was how our backyard looked last week:

 There are a ton of currant and raspberry bushes and grape vines along the back mixed with Virginia creeper and night shade and it was really overtaking the yard. So to prepare the garden space for next year been ripping out grape vine trunks bigger than our tree trunks and making the space we need. Along the way he's been faces with barbed wire that was put behind the fence, apparently for safety precautions, and other bushes that make his arms look like he's walked through barbed wire! So here's what it looks like now:

Who knew there was a fence back there right? I was actually pretty bummed about it though 'cause I love seeing all those vines pouring over the fence and the privacy it gave, but Brian assured me he'd put more up there and train them this time, so I can let it go. :)

 Other than that we're just doing what we can around here and waiting for this baby to show up. I'm starting to get tired a lot earlier and just not having much patience or energy for doing much. This morning I was on the phone with my Mom and Bella came in just dumping juice all over our carpet and so I went in the kitchen and she had done it all in there. I finally got it cleaned, jumped in the shower and when I got out she came to me looking like this:

I know it doesn't look too awfully bad, but it's lipstick and it was all over her. I told her to make a grumpy face and this is what she did. I thought it was so funny.

Little rag-a-muffin! Yesterday her creativeness was dumping our cinnamon and sugar all over the carpet. Oh the joys! I've said it before, but I'm not sure which is worse, being pregnant or having the baby because at least I can contain the one in the belly! :) That's all for now.

First day of school....again!

Well today was Caroline's first day of Kindergarten and she was so excited! But first of all, I got this idea from a friend of mine. Each year she does a new goal to focus on and has a special dinner the night before school starts. I thought it was a great idea so I decided to try it this year. I talked with Brian about it and we came up with the word "Respect". That was what we decided to focus on. So I got the dinner all ready and tried to make it seem nicer. I don't have any great stuff like China or even a table cloth, but for us, nice was putting the food in dishes, not just leaving it in pots. Then we displayed the picture at the table and briefly talked about it.

Since it was also Monday night, we elaborated on it for FHE and talked mainly with just Caroline and Elizabeth to make sure they understood what it was and what our goal was. To help them be more aware of how to respect others, I made a jar and each time any of us notice someone showing respect, we write down their name and how they did it and put it in the jar. Then in 2 weeks we're going to go over them and have a movie party. I think within the next 10 minutes we had over 10, so I told them that was good for today but to keep showing ways. The next hour and a half before bed were so pleasant and they seemed really excited about it.

Now you can see the picture right when you walk in the front door to hopefully remind all of us to show more respect. I had them sign a paper as a sort of commitment that we'll put on the back of the picture. They were excited about that too.

After our lesson Brian gave the girls a blessing and then Cooper jumped up on the stool and then after him, Bella did. I thought it was so cute. She was sitting there so still, holding her care bear and receiving her blessing. It was so sweet.

So Caroline woke up today and just couldn't wait. I signed her up for afternoon kindergarten figuring that it'd be easier when the baby comes. She just could barely stand it. We got her all dolled up for her first day and put her backpack on and took a few pictures before we left. I picked the girls up after school and they were outside holding hands waiting for me. It was so sweet and a perfect end to Caroline's first day of school.

Big Girl Bed

About 4 days ago I started putting Isabelle in the "big girl bed". I was hoping to have her room all painted and her new sheets and quilt on there, but no such luck. She didn't seem to care. She was all smiles as I put her in the bed. She has been FABULOUS so far. The first night she got out a few times and we had to put her back in the bed, but 2 of the other nights I stood outside her door and if I heard her move like she was getting out I'd open the door and say, "Bella, lay back down", and she would and that happened maybe 3 or 4 times in less than 5 minutes and then she'd stay and 1 night she never even tried to get up. This has been amazing compared to our other kids who took MONTHS to get them to stay in their bed! Of course, now that I've said it out loud, she might turn into a monster just like the others. Let's hope not!

Up until now...

Well we just got back from our trip out to PA, so here's the update since the last post. For Father's Day Elizabeth gave Brian a coupon for a date and they went to a movie. It's been a while since we've done dates, so I told Caroline I'd take her on one when they got back because she was pretty upset she didn't get to go. We decided to go bowling and it was a lot of fun. It's amazing to me how much more I enjoy my kids when they are alone then all together. It's some weird crazy dynamic when they're together, but separately it's like, okay, I really do love being with you. Brian told me that when he was out with Elizabeth, they were going to get a treat at the store and she grabbed his hand and said, "we need to hold hands 'cause we're on a date." Isn't that so cute? Caroline was so happy and fun and kept thanking me for taking her. It was a good time.

After we did our bowling we went and got a doughnut and called it a night. It was fun and I loved being with her, just the 2 of us.

We got tickets out to PA last minute and kept it a surprise. Brian was really pushing for driving, but I just knew that was going to be a bad idea. Luckily we got some tickets, not a great deal though, and were able to fly out but it was still a really really long day. We started at 6:45 AM and flew out to JFK. The nice thing about our flight was that it was direct. Then we had to take the train and changed trains 4 times. We met up with Julia 3 hours later in New Jersey and drove another 2 hours to the farm. We got there at just about 10:30, so it took nearly 14 hours. The kids were actually really great. Only towards the end of the train ride did they get antsy. They were loud, but not crying or fussing. Bella had about 10 minutes of crying in the car before she fell asleep.

The next day we surprised some of the family and then just had a great time with everyone. Within the first few days Caroline lost another tooth. It was her second tooth. She lost her first one about a week prior and was so excited. She came running into me and telling me that Bri had pulled it out. She was so so excited. She's been wiggling her teeth for months trying to get them out. Her second one came out and then the next day her third came out. It was crazy.

Even crazier than losing them so fast was how fast one of them grew in. It was like over night it was popping up and she was NOT happy. She cried and cried about how she wanted a hole there for a long time. I mean, she waited so long for it, and already it was closing in.

We had lots of good times. Tons of game playing, swimming, talking, breaking up Cooper and Jacob (cousin) from fighting. Lots of sleep overs, good food and a very thought out fashion show by the girlies. Suzanne helped them pick out their outfits and all accessories and then they got the music and walk down and Ali wrote the whole commentary for the show. It was really cute. Elizabeth didn't crack a smile. I couldn't tell if she was nervous or focused.

Caroline rocked it! She had the hip pop down and did her walk like she was born to do it. They covered all four seasons and it was really fun.

There were a few quick runs on the horses. They aren't really ridden anymore, but the kids got a lap or two in and they were happy. Isn't Brian such a handsome guy?! So rugged and studly in this picture. I love that guy.

                                                                      A cute picture of the boys.

Our trip back was less than fun by far! Bri's parents drove us to the airport and that actually wasn't too bad. A few irritations from the kids, but the drive wasn't bad at all. We left around 1:00 and got to the airport at just before 5:00. Our plane wasn't scheduled to leave until just after 7:00, so we got some food while the kids were running around and fighting. That was the start of it. Then we didn't have our seating assignment, so we tried to get it and they told Brian to step aside while they finished the other flight and then they started loading our plane and we still didn't have seats. Finally they worked with us and our seats were in 6 different rows, so they had to shove us aside again and try and fix it. Turns out 3 were together and the other 3 in different rows, so to start out we had Caroline, Cooper and Bella in a row and then Bri was going to be in the row behind on the aisle, but they said they couldn't sit by themselves (duh!) and I was like, well we have 4 kids 7 and under so what do you want us to do? He was like, "

uh, that is a problem." One guy gave up a seat so there were 2 next to each other on the aisle, but the other one was still behind. Brian ended up with the 2 little ones, Caroline and Liz were by strangers on the aisle which I was NOT happy about and neither were they and then I was behind them watching these people making sure they didn't try anything fishy with my girls. All the while I'm wondering why the idiots next to me didn't offer up their seats to trade when clearly my kids were in front of me. I finally asked them and they were more than willing which almost bugged me more because I was like you idiots, why didn't you just offer. Oh well, so it worked out fine and the kids slept most the ride back, but then we had to drive back to Logan and I totally struggled. I got to a point where I couldn't even keep my eyes focused. It was probably the most tired I've been driving 'cause usually I'll pull over and switch Brian but we had both cars, so there was no out. We pulled into our driveway around 1:20, so another 14 hour day. Blah! Won't do that again, but we were glad we made it out there to see the family. We've missed them.

Not much happened the next day because my brain was in a fog, but I tried to get the girls a back to school outfit since it started today, but we went to 5 stores and they were so picked over and we didn't find anything for them to wear now. A few things when it cools down, but no first day outfit. They didn't seem to really care though. They had fun trying on the clothes. Liz kept saying she was nervous for her first day, but when I picked her up she was all smiles and said she really liked her teacher and it was a good day, so no tears here. Caroline starts next Tuesday and she cannot wait!

We haven't done a whole lot with the house lately. Well, mainly I haven't 'cause I just couldn't handle it and I've been so tired and blah blah blah, but here's kind of where we are at now with the kitchen. Still have to paint all the drawers, but we're functioning and it looks a lot better than when we started. The blue is a little darker than it shows in the pictures, but you get the idea. Still need to replace lighting fixtures, but we'll get there.... in 10 years or so. Ha! So that's where we are up to date.

Here's a long one...

I have a little catching up to do, so here we go.....

Brian's birthday was celebrated in the mountains for the Porter "reunion". Just my sisters (their families too) and parents, so not the big one. We headed up there right after he got off work and got everything set up just as it was getting dark. Brian is amazingly quick and had everything set up and in there in like maybe 40 minutes... by himself. Then we had a quick cake, singing and present opening moment. He's the big 32 now but definately not any slower yet!

I was in charge of making the breakfasts. We had sausage and eggs both day and one day we had pancakes with that and the other hashbrowns. It was yummy. Here's Coop and Will enjoying their breakfast in the morning.

I thought these were cute of Bri and Caroline. Bri looks hot even in the morning after camping!

After breakfast we got ready and headed out to Deer Creek for some water fun. It was a great day. The kids had a blast, as did the adults of course. If the kids are happy, then I'm happy. We took turns on Jill and Paul's jet ski, which everyone loved, as well as the fun on Mel and Greg's boat. Our kids were loving it!

Cooper had a midday nap, which was kind of amazing to me and Brian rocked his sunglasses don't ya think?! Ow baby!

That night we hung out and talked and laughed and just enjoyed each other, especially because we didn't light the fire this night. It was too stressful keeping the kids away from it the night before! The next morning we woke up and went fishing for a few hours. As is tradition, Brian, or those fishing with him, caught nothing. We were so close so many times. I think we lost all of our worms because those fish were so dang smart! They nibbled and ate them and we watched that dang bobble thing go under, but no fish ever came up with it. Oh well. The surrounds were beautiful!

That Sunday after all the camping, I had to have my Dad remind me it was Bella's bday. I would have remembered eventually, but how sad is that. I had her presents at home and we headed back up to Logan and had her very little party there. She started falling asleep during dinner so I hurried and wrapped her 2 gifts and made her open them so her bday didn't go by completely uneventful. She has been liking mermaids lately so we got her an Ariel doll and a Barbie mermaid movie. She seemed pleased enough.

I seem to be getting progressively worse at my cakes. That or just less time available to make them. Maybe both. Either way, she's been loving Max and Ruby (blah) and so I drew a Max on her cake. I asked her what it was and she said, "Mac", so I figured good enough if she can recognize it! Brian told me to take a picture of it but it was so..... unpicture worthy! Next year. :)

I think this was the next day eating some bday cake for breakfast. It was so funny all the faces she was making. I was glad I had my camera close and snapped them so fast. I rarely get her personality in her pictures.

The house is coming along. After my breakdown Brian took a step back and slowed down a little which has been nice for me. I need him to help keep me sane, so he's done good with that. I did face painting with the kids one day and they enjoyed it so much we did round 2 the next day. Cooper remained Batman, but you couldn't call him that, he'd get mad 'cause he's Cooper.

Saturday morning we got out earlier in the day to pick all the raspberries and red currants we could before it got too hot. The kids lasted about 20 minutes, maybe a little longer. I tried to get them to pick the berries on the outsides and let Bri go in the bushes, but they wanted to be in there with him. We got at least 5 pounds of raspberries on our first run and there are plenty more to pick. I'm going to make some red currant jam so we can decide if we want to pick more 'cause there are plenty more of those too!

I'm now down to just about 10 weeks to go, assuming they'll induce me again because of the Strep B stuff. I'm not too uncomfortable yet although sitting in church for 3 hours starts getting me there. That and without fail I'm falling asleep during Sunday School each week. Either need some sugar or the AC turned on. Other than that, all is well. We're moving forward with all our house stuff and the summer is almost over for the kids. School starts August 18th this year which is so early, but  I think it'll be good for all of us!