Lazy Bones!

Man have I been lazy with my blog this school year. We have been crazy busy at our house. With 4 kids in school, 3 with homework, 3 sports at the same time, me working at Addies preschool 3 days a week, church and life! This holiday season I tried to slow things down a little. Instead of making plates full of goodies I only made caramel sauce (heaven in a jar). I did a first for me and said "no" when asked to sing at the ward Christmas party (it was a week away). I instead helped my friends make quilts for another friend. I have a friend with breast cancer. She wanted to make a quilt for each of her 5 children for their first born children. The week after Thanksgiving I gathered fabric from my quilting friends. Two quilters were generous enough to offer to quilt them for free! We got together twice a week and worked on these quiltes. I spent a lot of time sewing. I put the binding on most of them. It took a lot of time. It was SOOOO worth every minute. It was the best thing I have ever done in the month on December. We went over to her house yesterday and gave her all the finished quilts. We helped her wrap them and put them under the tree. We were all reminded how precious our families are, how important our health is to us and what great friends we have. So my excuse for not blogging? I was busy creating memories for a family going through a difficult time!

Korea?

Last night after the big kids went to bed I had a chat with Addison. I love to ask her questions and see what her answers are. I love the way her mind thinks. A few of the awesome things she said last night included:

me: what is grandmas job?
A: Ummmm (tapping finger on chin) I don't know
me: what is grandpas job?
A: oh, he is on a mission

and another one:

A: I want Andrew and Auri to come over and play....well the point is you see

(what 3 year old says "well the point is"


We have a favorite missionary....he is in Korea...and his last day is Friday. I was talking to her about Duncan and he comes home next week.
Me: Duncan comes home next week, he is in Korea
A: EWW...poops and Diarrhea....Duncan has rhea?
me: (after trying really hard not to laugh) no Korea, not diarrhea, Korea....like China it is far away (Duncan's dad works in China)
A: Oh China...Phil goes to China
Me: what does Phil do in China
A: he feeds people...bones....big bones and little bones (what?)
then noticing her dad is sitting across the couch laughing
A: Dads joking me

Oh the funny things this girl says!

Scientific Fact

I think that it has been scientifically proven that kids will only get the stomach flu in the middle of the night....never in the day time. Thanksgiving morning (by morning I mean 2 am) we were "Thrilled" to wake up with Easton and the flu. That night I was fortunate enough to go to bed and feel the same flu visit me. Friday morning Addison joined in (at least she waited until 6 am) Then in the middle of the night last night Camden started in...all night long. Poor guy. My house is germ central. Today I will be cleaning like crazy instead of the fun things I had planned (although I am running to Joann fabrics because interfacing is $2.99 for a full bolt!) Why can't the flu visit us next time in the middle of the day?

we love/hate the microwave

A few weeks ago Easton made microwave popcorn. While he was getting a bowl for it Addie pushed the popcorn button again. Minutes later the house stunk. There is almost nothing that smells worse than burnt popcorn....maybe burnt ramen. We know this because last night Brooke wanted to make some ramen. She forgot to add the water. Neil ended up throwing the bowl away. The burnt popcorn smell had finally gone away...and now the house stinks like burnt ramen. Wow I love the microwave...until it produces a burnt masterpiece!

No Guts No Glory!

The kids had a great time carving pumpkins (Brooke was at Young Womens) I love that Addie thinks the guts are great and Easton is totally grossed out!

Put him in a body bag!

Before watching my kids obsession with "put him in a body bag" you need to look back at the orginal:





This is how my kids entertain themselves...give them a camera and they remake their favorite part of the "karate kid"

Playing with Andrew wears me out!

It is no secret that Addison and Andrew are best friends! It is so darn cute watching them walk down the hall at church holding hands. Once a week the two of them get together and play. On one of these playdates they sat down to watch a movie...so of course Addie was out. I guess another picture to add to her "sleep anywhere" post!

Redemption

After the funny/interesting things Easton has said in the last few weeks (including asking if the "F" word was a bad word), Easton has redeemed himself. Last night at dinner he was "helping" Addie say the prayer. He blessed the food and then said "we are thankful we are warm and cozy in our home" and "please bless us that we will live with Heavenly Father again" It is so cute to hear Addie try to copy what he tells her to say. Most of the time she ends up saying the last two words of his sentance. Hearing Easton give a prayer is one of the perks of being a mom.

It's faster this way!

Today Easton came into my bedroom to get his hair combed. I noticed that I could see an orange shirt under his dress shirt. I said, "East, you have to wear a white undershirt...take it off" A minute later I asked Neil to pull down Eastons pants...they were a little high on his waist. Neil tries to but realizes Easton has shorts on under his dress pants. When asked why he had both a shirt and shorts on under his suit Easton replied, "I wanted to get dressed faster after church" Oh this boy makes me laugh. Of course...wear two outfits at once so that it is quicker to get changed later!

You did that where?

Behind our house is an empty lot. We have a block wall fence...and then the lot. On both sides of the lot are houses. The windows on the back of our house are level with the lot behind us...so the fence doesn't keep people from seeing into our house. It also doesn't block us from seeing out. This morning the kids were wrestling with Neil in the family room. Neil sees a woman walking along the fence...on the empty lot. He then sees her look around and then drop down and SQUAT in the empty lot. There are no trees...there is nothing to hide her...there are a lot of houses around. She stands up...pulls up her drawers....and continues on her jog. I know that sometimes joggers need potty breaks. I understand that. Here is a word of advice: if she had jogged up the hill and crossed one street she would have been in a huge empty field...with lots of bushes and sage brush to hide her. Next time...think before you squat!

It's all about the eyes!

Jealous....that is how I feel when I look at the eyes and lases on these two boys!

X rated...and an apology to a teacher

Easton brought home a packet from school. This paper was included....



It says: I feel bad when my brother kicks me in the privates it hurts really really bad. On the back was another picture with the caption: I feel angry when I get in trouble for nothing (spelled nofing) I say but I didn't do one thing.

A few notes on this homework:
1.I apologize to the teacher for the graphic nature of this photo.
2.Why don't I ever hear about this happening? Easton needs to tattle more (something Camden is very good at)
3.I can't tell you how relieved I am that he used the words "my privates" instead of something else...which he does try to say at home but gets in trouble for.
4.That is a fabulous drawing!
5.Easton spells VERY phoneticly (cics instead of kicks)
6.Easton hears a W instead of an R (wileey wileey instead of really really)

I apologize now if your children were in the room when this picture came up...an x rated homework paper from my 6 year old!

I have a hard time falling asleep

Addison doesn't have the same problem. We have found her asleep:


In the bike trailer

In the hallway

In the bath

Saying her prayers

and sitting up in bed watching t.v.

If only it were so easy for me! At night we now tell her it is bed time. She runs into her room and gets ready to say her prayers. After she says her prayers (which always include "bless grandma and grandpa and Auri and Andrew") she climbs into bed and snuggles down. We don't hear a peep from her. Most mornings she wakes up and starts playing with her dollhouse. She is such a happy girl....most of the time!

girl friend vs. "girl" friend

Yesterday as I was getting dinner on the table the boys were discussing the difference between a friend that is a girl and a kissing girl friend. Camden said he was not old enough to makeout with a girl. (Where did he learn that term?) He said he needed to wait until he was 15 to makeout. What? I quickly informed him he had to wait until he was married.

Ode to three

The number 3. A good number. Not the best number...but good. Cute Addison is 3. She goes to preschool 3 days a week. I am the youngest of 3. So its a pretty good number. It can also be a yucky number. Remember three's a crowd? Also 3:33 was the time I looked at the clock this morning because I couldn't sleep. I was making lists in my head...and of course planning what I would type in this blog post.

Baptism

Camden has been anxiously awaiting his baptism since he turned 7. Every prayer he has given in the past year has included some reference to his baptism. After a bit of a mix up with dates we had a great baptism day. Family and friends came to support Camden. He looked so cute in his little black suit. Last Sunday he got up and shared his testimony at church. He is a great kid with a great testimony. What a great example for his brother and sisters!




Funny story: Neil put on his blue suit coat with tan pants...they were so big on him...he has lost a bunch of weight in the last year. He went and got out a suit that he hasn't worn for years! Of course this is the night before the baptism and we don't have time to have it cleaned. It is a little dusty from sitting in the closet for so long. What does he do? Not what I would have done. I would have brushed it off and tried a lint brush. Neil comes walking in with a dusted suit and says "wow...the air compressor did a great job" He used a tool in the garage to clean his suit! What a guy thing to do!




(Yes Addison wouldn't look at the camera for any of the pictures!)

I go to school!

Addie thought for sure she got to go with the boys to school. She insisted on packing a lunch like the big kids on the first day. She carried that little tinkerbell lunch box the entire way to school. When Easton set his backpack down in line, she put hers right next to his. She cried the entire walk home because I wouldn't let her walk into the room with him. Yesterday was her first day of preschool....she is much happier now. Here are the pictures of the her on the first day of school for the boys, because he wanted her "first" day of school pictures taken too. All morning she said to me "I go to school" Dang this girl is cute!

Too much praying?

We often find Addie sleeping in odd places. When she decides she is tired she falls asleep...wherever she is. One night I walked past here room...she had been playing with her doll house....and found her like this.

I suppose she was saying her prayers before she went to sleep?!

1st Grade

Easton is a first grader....how can that be. He is a little ticked that I insisted on walking him on the first day. He loves that he can walk the two blocks with the rest of the neighborhood kids. At the end of the first day I asked how it went. His reply "my friends gave me a headache". He has had a little trouble adjusting to being gone all day. Easton is a homebody. He loves to snuggle up and read books with me and Addie. I think he misses his leisurely mornings. Now he has to be up and out where before he could lay around until he was fully awake...and boy does this kid take a long time to be fully awake!

Eastons friend Travis is in his class. He actually had quite a few kids in his class. In the mornings there are only like 15 kids in there (I think 4 more join them in the afternoon) I am loving his teacher and small class size!

2nd Grade!

On the same day....one month ago....Camden started 2nd grade. He is very excited. I must say his teacher is already hooked...she has fallen for Cam. She has told me already how cute he is and how she and a few other teachers were discussing how beautiful he is. I couldn't agree more!

Camden got got glasses this summer. They are only for reading and screen time. He has taken really good care of them so far...and only called me 3 times because he has forgotten them! I finally told him no more, since all 3 times were within 1 week!

first day of 6th grade!

A month ago the kids started school. Thought it was probably time for me to blog about their first day.

Brooke is now in the 6th grade. She now attends the intermediate school. (here we have 4 grade levels...k-5(elem)6-7(intermediate), 8-9 (middle), 10-12 (high). She has to be out the door at 7:20. This has been our biggest challenge...we are night owls at our house.

We have set up a car pool with a few friends. Here are Brooke and Bri ready for the first day!

(You would think after all this time I would know how to flip my pictures...I just can't get it done!)
Addie was sad to see Brooke go....she loves having Brooke around. Brooke does a great job entertaining her. When I picked up Brooke from school I asked about her day. That one question lead to her chatting about school the entire way home. She loved it. She was a little nervous to change classrooms, but found it to be very easy. She loves most of her teachers (yuck for p.e., yeah for math, science and language arts). I am still in shock that I am only 22 years old and have a kid in 6th grade... how did that happen:)

Physical Therapy required?

Neil plays basketball on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. He goes at 5:30. One morning I heard Neil in the shower and when I looked at the clock it said 6. I figured not enough guys showed up. When he got out of the shower he said he was on his way to the ER He had "done something" to his finger. After an hour at the ER and $1000 bucks later we were told he would need physical therapy for his pinkie. What?! After a visit to an ortho. doc we were told no he doesn't really need physical therapy. Thank goodness we have great insurance and it didn't cost us a dime!

These pictures don't do justice. It looks like his finger is just moved to the side....but that is as close to his other fingers as it could go. He couldn't move it at all.

Let the festivies continue

Since we celebrated the kids birthday on Camdens actual day, we did cake on Addies birthday. She loved blowing out the candles, so we relit them about a billion times for her to do it again. Addie picked out a mickey and minnie cake...which worked out great for a double party...half boy and half girl! SO what makes these two so special? Camden is my little charmer. He can just about get anything out of me with his little grin and batting those long lashes. He seems to win over just about everyone. Camden is very excited about getting baptized and has been talking about it since he turned 7! He has a sweet little testimony and a strong desire to choose the right. He is so cute with Addie and can get along so well with Easton (on the days they choose not to fight!) Camden is also a great athlete. He loves to try any sports...but his specialty is soccer. Addie is our funny little angel. She is always saying the funniest things or giving the funniest looks. Sometimes she shakes her little bum and head while she is telling me things...like duh mom. She LOVES her big brothers and sister. She always wants to be with them. She likes to stand at the top of the stairs and yell down at the kids either to tell them to "shape up" or its "time to eat" Addie loves going to nursery and being with her friends. She is very good at entertaining herself and already has a great imagination. She is always making her polly pockets talk to one another. She also LOVES Grammy and Grandpa! I loves these two and can't believe how big they have gotten!

8 is great and 3 is...what rhymes tree, free, weee?

Camdens birthday was the 8th and Addison's the 11th. We opened presents together on Camdens birthday and then went to their favorite place: Pirate Island Pizza. It is basically a chuck-e-cheese, but with decent food. The kids were very excited and had a great birthday!

Cousins take 2

The weekend after Neils brother Bryce stopped by, Neils younger brother Owen and family stopped by on their way to Cali. The boys loved having them stop. They have two kids Alissa and Devin. Alissa is Camdens age and Devin is just between the boys. We had a fun time trying to get them all to smile. Take a look:




So 2 siblings down....only 6 more to go and we will have had them all stay this summer!