Our 10 Year Anniversary

Ten years ago I married this really fantastic guy. I was glad then when I married him & even more grateful today that I did.

Aw, just look at us, so young & naive. We had no idea what we were getting into. Ten years later we may have some more gray hair & a few extra pounds but we're still living the dream & loving the adventure.

Our Sick Ward

We've been on a real winning streak this week. On Thursday, Eliza threw up twice. It wasn't a great day to be doing it as Rick's brother was coming to visit & I had vacuuming & the kitchen left to clean. Everything else in the house had been cleaned really well. I'd say my house was probably as clean as it had been in weeks. It seemed to be just a quick 12 hour-ish bug with her. 

Friday, I got sick & missed watching Rick & Ryan go indoor skydiving. I spent the rest of the day just sleeping & resting. My sweet neighbor was kind enough to get Lex & Joseph from school for me so I could just stay sitting on my couch. I also took 2 naps on Saturday. Completely unheard of for me. I really can't even think of the last time I've gotten a nap-let alone really fallen asleep during the middle of the day. Wow. My body really needed it. Plus, we re-sanitized & washed everything that I'd really touched in the last 24 hours to make sure we were all good. Hmmm...

Today, during Sacrament Meeting, Joseph said he wasn't feeling well. Rick took him to the bathroom where he only dry heaved. I took him & Eliza home. Once we got home Joseph wanted to play games & was jumping around like there was nothing wrong & he said he felt better. (I thought he was faking it to get out of church.) Fast forward to about 3 p.m. & he threw up (multiple times). Then not to be left out of the fun, Lexie & Andrew both joined in. And Eliza had a really gross diaper. Yeah, it's been a really fun evening around our house. Thus we created our own family sick ward.

And we are really hoping that it stops here & that Rick doesn't come down with it. We are grateful that he's been able to give all of these kiddos blessings & grateful for all of the faith which they have. We are looking forward to tomorrow-lots more resting & cleaning. Hopefully this is just a 12 hour bug for all of them as well.

Lexie's Restaurant

Again, our sweet Lexie created a little restaurant in our basement for us. She even set the table so nicely.

She sent us a little ticket/menu earlier in the afternoon so we could mull over what we wanted to order.

Eliza really liked drinking from her straw that Joseph made.

And Lexie provided a little music for us to enjoy while we ate.

I love how very creative our kids are & that they enjoy doing so many fun, thoughtful things for our family.

Van Halen & Indoor Skydiving

A few months back, Rick's brother called to see if he would be interested in going to see Van Halen with him since the tour was coming to Denver. Being the Hard Rockin music aficionado that Rick is (sarcasm intended - his radio is typically set at sports talk shows), he couldn't resist accepting the invitation. He ended up going with his brother as well as his brother-in-law and nephew. As an added bonus, they also got to hear Kool & the Gang open the show. Whoever thought of putting Kool and Van Halen together is truly a genius (even greater level of sarcasm intended). 

Despite their age, Eddie is still a guitar master and rocked through what has got to be one of the coolest guitar solos ever. And David, well, he sure tried hard. Definitely not what he used to be vocally. And if anyone was wondering, he really likes to slide on a well polished stage. All in all, it was a fun night and an entertaining performance.

The next day, Rick and his brother went to experience an indoor skydiving adventure. Again, they had a great time and got a pretty sweet ride (as you can see from Rick's video)...

Andrew's Crystals

When I picked up Andrew from preschool today I knew he had something in his pocket. Excitedly he told me he found lots of crystals today during recess. I said, "Wow, crystals!" To which he replied in a dignified voice, "Yes.  They are VERY royal rocks!" He carefully ran home with his hand securely holding on to his pockets to keep them safe. Once we got home he proudly pulled them out for us all to see.

Another thing to post about magnets...Andrew has hung his butterfly calendar on our wall. He's been amazed that magnets will hang on some parts of our walls & he has had a blast finding every single spot.

The Solar Eclipse

Tonight we tried to view the solar eclipse. Lexie was particularly excited about it because they talked about it in school a lot last week & made these pinhole viewers. Unfortunately, when we remembered to head out the sun was completely covered by clouds. We came in & looked at some pictures of it online and then I saw through the blinds a flash of light & realized maybe we could see it now for a bit. We only had one spot in the backyard that was still getting some sun so we hurried out & were able to see it with her viewer.

You can kind of see the crescent of the sun there on the top right of her paper.

There it is a bit later. We could tell it was getting smaller.

Of course the kids all tired looking directly at the sun to see if they could see it & said they could, but the camera doesn't show it well & I don't really see it. But it only lasted for about 5 good minutes before the sun was covered by more clouds & then set behind houses so we couldn't see it well after that. We never got to see any of the ring of fire-bummer.

We were all glad though that Lexie had the chance to use her view & it was fun to see how excited each of the kids got about it all. And we really liked seeing all of the fun pictures on facebook of the eclipse. I'm stealing one of the pictures from my sisters house because we thought it was cool to see the shadows of the eclipse on the house.

Toys

I don't know why, but it cracks me up that Andrew must always play with his toys on this part of the kitchen counter. And he does it every single day. He'll put them away most nights then get up in the morning, quickly eat breakfast, go get dressed & bring down toys with him. He sets them on the counter & sits here & plays for hours. It's very rare for my counter to be clear lately. But, at least he likes playing & it's so delightful to hear him imagine & sometimes when we're lucky, he'll even let us join in.

Lexie's 3rd Haircut

Driving home from getting some frozen yogurt for Andrew's preschool fundraiser (after which he told me he wishes he could live at the yogurt shop because I like all of the kinds of yogurt), Lexie said, "Mom, I want a haircut. Can I do it today?" So, we made a quick little detour & got her a haircut. (As well as one for Joseph.) 

The before:

 The after:

The donated:

Again Lexie wanted to donate her hair to Locks of Love. She loves her new "cuddly & soft" hair & wishes that she had a blanket made out of her hair because it's so soft. She cracks me up!

Also, I was reminded today of a sweet story about Lexie I'd like to document before I forget about it again. A few months back I asked Lexie to run out to the car & grab something for me. In the front of the car I had a baggie of those icky sweethearts from Valentine's day. I use them to keep Eliza happy at times or to bribe or reward kids for different things. You know, just good to have a treat in the car & boy do they like them-for whatever reason. Well, upon getting the thing I asked her to get (can't rem'ber now), Lexie saw the baggie & said to herself, "Yum, I want one" and picked one out to eat. She picked it up the candy & saw that it said "angel" on it. Immediately she thought, "An angel girl wouldn't take this without permission" and put it back & came inside. Then she told me about it. What a sweet girl! I sure know that I wouldn't have been like that at her age. I would have eaten it. I love that she is honest & thinks long and hard about things before doing them. I love my Lexie so much!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always fun. The kids have been excited for this (& Father's Day) for months. The day started out bright & early-as usual. They did tell me I could sleep in until 7, but that didn't happen. Then the kids started bringing me in all of the cards & some presents from school. They made this cute candy gram (some of it had even been eaten but they saved the wrappers for it). We saw one awhile back we were thinking of doing for Rick for FD, but I was shocked that the kids came up with one on their own for me.

Then they gave me about 15 different cards they've been working on. I don't think I've ever received so many in my life at one time.

Andrew gave me his hand print he made in Joy School. I love it!

Then Rick & Lexie went down & made me an egg/toast sandwich for breakfast with a big glass of orange juice & brought it up to me. While I fed my sandwich to me & Eliza, Andrew drank all of my juice. It made me laugh. And poor Rick who had been up from about 2-4 with Eliza fell back to sleep so I got to go down & make breakfast for everyone else. Much to Rick's credit, about 15  minutes later he came down & helped finish up a few of the last things for them.

On Thursday, Andrew's preschool class had a Mother's Day activity. He decorated this lovely flower pot for me & helped me plant this flower. He also gave me a questionnaire & I was super impressed with how well he answered all of the questions. It sure made me laugh. He is very observant.

Here are some of his answers: She loves to play with me and do lots of other stuff every single day! Mom's favorite food is egg sandwiches for breakfast, smoothies for lunch and burritos & tacos for dinner. We play in the basement with small legos without Eliza together. I love her more than every single thing!

Lexie made me these cookie flowers at Activity Days & this tissue paper one at school during knitting club I think. She was the ring leader in all of the creations & was truly in her element making this day special for me.

And here's cute Liza who loves her apples. I'm amazed at how well she will eat almost the entire thing. This poor little girl also desperately needed a nap today. Unfortunately, it didn't happen until after church & only if I was holding her (& I'm certainly not one who can hold a baby & sleep as well). It made me think of how this really is a Mother's day & a mother never really gets a day off or much rest from doing what is really important. Not such a bad thing.

After church, Joseph made me another card that he got from his primary teacher. It made me smile, too. I'm so glad that he thinks I'm "the very best mom in the whole wide entire universe. Even better than alien moms in alien worlds on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and all the planets except earth. If aliens are real." He cracks me up!

And Rick made us yummy lemon raspberry cupcakes for dessert tonight. He did a good job & even better that he took all of the left overs to his coworkers (less a few for FHE treats).

I'm so grateful to be the mom to these amazing kiddos! I sure love them & they make me smile everyday. And I finally put more of their silly quotes up on the side. They surely make me laugh & I wish I would remember to write more of what they say down. You'd think I'd remember it all, but I don't. Grrr.

Father's & Son's Camp out

It's that time of year again & this year it was rainy & cold. But, the boys all seemed to love their camp out together! They also enjoyed playing with friends & lots of sticks. They were definitely chilled when they got home but the boys promptly asked when they get to go again.

  

Lexie, Eliza & I sure enjoyed our girls night in together with lots of girly stuff & eating pizza & getting donuts for breakfast. What a blast! Lexie even picked out some for her brothers to have when they got back. Always a thoughtful sister.

Big Girl Bed

I realized today that I no longer had 5 months or 4 months to get Eliza acclimated to a big girl bed & have her forget the crib. I only have 3. So, today I switched out beds & brought up the twin mattress, threw it on the floor for her & we put her to bed in her new bed.

She did better than any of our other kids on their first night. She did not get out of her bed & she was so quiet. In fact, after about 45 minutes of silence I decided to peek in on her & see where she had fallen asleep. I was shocked to find her still lying on her bed but playing with her toes instead. I got super nervous that since I disturbed her all bets were off & she'd come running for the the door after me. But she didn't. She stayed right there & slept all night long like a champ! 

*Update: The next morning she woke up & called for me. She wouldn't get out of her bed herself. I have no problem going & getting her each morning-none at all-if it means she'll stay in her bed & sleep.

*Next Update: She naps there without any issues either. She has ventured from her bed but not very much. She does sleep there every night & almost always without any issues. I think she really likes her new bed. Hooray for easy trasistions!

The Stairs

I don't know why, but the stairs seem to be the favorite place to play. Go figure.

The Lollipop Guild

Today's treat: lollipops. I think they like them.