MS150 and the Blue Bell 5K all in one day!

This year I was not alone in the early morning drop off for the MS150 charity ride.  At 5:00 am we woke all the kids up for the exciting departure.  Not only was this Jacob's first year riding, but also Samantha's third, and I've lost count how many for Scott.  Exciting, but not the reason even Nathan was dragged out of bed.  It just so happened to be the same day as the Blue Bell Fun Run that I and the twins signed up for a few months ago.  That means since January our family has been biking, running and training for TODAY! 

Jacob, Scott, and Samantha

So far these tough bikers are only half way on their ride to Austin.  All three have been raising money for Multiple Sclerosis and have been riding almost every Saturday in preparation for this long ride.  They pulled into the camping spot close to 6 pm tonight.  Tired, but proud that they didn't SAG (not sure what it stands for, but it means give up and flag down the shuttle). 

BEFORE

Anyway after their early drop off.  We headed out on our own adventure for the day.  We were cutting it a little close and barely had time to put on our new tee-shirts and use the potty before we started our race.  Alex stayed back with my sister and her family who were participating but walking.  I strapped Nathan in the stroller and began our 5K (3.2mile) run along with 2,000 people.  It was a little crowded.  I feel bad that the only person I accidently ran over with the stroller was an really nice old man.  He just smiled but I was extra careful after that. 

Joshua

The only way I talked these boys into such torture was the promise of all you can eat ice-cream at the end.  That has been our goal for 3 months.  We put an 5K App on my phone called "Zombie Run."  Its been fun to add a little drama and element into our training.  I think it was hard to envision Zombies running after us today with the mass of people and flowers along the roads, but we have had a great imagination in the past.  Especially when we would run at night on deserted streets.  Nathan is actually really fast for such a little guy and has insisted on running with us, I felt bad I never let him out of the stroller today, but he will get his turn when he is older.  At least he got to wear my shirt and still got a medal for crossing the finish line with me.  I was crying at the finish line hugging my boys.  I'm sure they just wanted to know where the ice-cream was, but I was so proud of them for working so hard and pushing until the end. 

Next year Josh wants to do the 10 K and Matthew thinks he sign up for the 1 mile Family Run.  He loved everything about today except the running.  I have really pushed him when he only wanted to walk.  Opps-- My goal was to finish in 45 minutes.  Our pace was actually slower than that training with Nathan in tow, but Josh finished in 36 minutes and Matthew in 37!! I love how they wanted to wait around for the awards because after all it was a race, and they might have won their age category... Some boy named Nathan won the 10 & under age group and our little Nathan thought that was so cool. 

Joshua and Matthew

 

As for the all you can eat ice- cream.  It was great!!  We had ice-cream sandwiches, popsicles, fruit bars, ice-cream dipped bars... No limit.  After our runs, Matthew always goes to get a cold towel at home, so I thought it would be fun to bring him a cold towel for after his run.  It was a good idea, but that cooler came in handy when Matthew walked up with a box of ice-cream bars that someone said he could have when they were trying to clean up towards the end.  Now we have some of that all you can eat, saved for tomorrow.  :)

Angela and Eric came with their family. Angela walked with her 6 week old baby.  What a trooper!  They also watched Alex while we ran and I got to see Alex cross the finish line. He walked the whole way, so he earned his medal too.  He was so excited that he earned his ice-cream. 

 You would think that with a car full of ice-cream bars we would rush home, but we took our time and enjoyed the flowers.  We actually went back to a spot on the route where I wish I had taken pictures while we were running.  I had the boys change their shirts and then we were ready for a photo shoot.  Granted there wasn't a spare brush found in the car, and it was almost noon so we have some harsh shadows, but the flowers were spectacular. 

Just as Josh was asking if we were done, a guy invited us to come park on his drive way and come take picture in his field.  Way better than just on the side of the road, and safer too.  He really did have some beautiful flowers and Alex and Nathan happily chased butterflies and ran threw his field. 

After some time and some great pictures, a sweet lady came over and invited us to come look at her flowers next door.  The boys were interested so we walked down the dirt road to find her nice and spacious field.  She taught the boys how to look for poison ivy and let Nathan play with her dogs.  How lucky to live in the country. 

As long as I am adding details about the day, I should note that the boys wanted to finish the drive around the block to see where they had run.  We ended up stopping at a park for lunch, where we ate apples, and melted ice-cream (the ones that didn't fit in the cooler).  Then we started our long drive back home.  I just happened to pull in for gas around 2 pm, and right next to our Exxon was a Sonic.  We love Happy Hour!  Everyone was happy with their second lunch/early dinner. It was way past Nathan's nap time by the time we got home, which means he missed it again.  It literally has been a switch this week and he has stopped napping, not sure what that means for my night shifts if I don't have a napping buddy anymore. 

 

I took over 175 pictures in the flowers.  What a wonderful day! 

Ameila Bedila

Samantha had the funniest Amelia Bedila moment the other day. I know that when I was twelve I could work the microwave really well, but Samantha has gone above and beyond most expectations for any twelve year old. As part of her personal progress she planned our family meals for two weeks and then made them, mostly without my intervention. I loved it! Anytime we need brownies or cookies she is pretty independent following directions and producing the perfect deserts.

Anyway we had the missionaries over for dinner this week. Samantha was concerned that my menu lacked dessert. Luckily I had a boxed dessert hidden in the pantry. Something new and different. I didn’t think twice about giving Samantha the responsibility, and kept going with my plans. I heard Samantha say something about boiling water- we have instant hot water so that was easy. A few minutes later Scott looked over and a few red flags went up when she didn’t measure the water. So he asked her how much and she said it didn’t matter, more red flags as she is empting her first packed of chocolate into the water. Water and chocolate don’t seem to go together very well. Apparently the directions read, “Place the package of chocolate in a bowl of boiling water,” not empty the package into the water. Good thing we had a bag of chocolate chips that we melted and drizzled over our yummy dessert. The drama was over even before the missionaries knocked on the door, it was a good save.

Since the biking season is over,  and apparently 175 miles wasn’t a big enough challenge, Samantha convinced me she needed to join the swim team. I am sure that the fact that two of her really good friends on the team have nothing to do with it. I opened the door but starting a hypothetical question of how we could make it work two days ago, and today I at the pool signing everyone up but Nathan. The boys were more in favor of trying something like football or soccer, but since that wasn’t a choice and I offered to put a pause on piano practicing for a month they all eagerly agreed to join the team. Don’t worry they will have to swim and practice the piano once school gets out. It just didn’t seem to make sense to stay up late swimming and then expect them to get up earlyfor piano practice before school. We had our first sleep-in morning today and they were almost all late for school.

Jacob is continuing to grow and is taller than Samantha, I have a feeling she is never going to catch back up. He is only ten and he is already fighting acne, plus his PE coach told him it was time to wear deodorant. I hope the coach was talking to the class in general and didn’t really just single Jacob out.  :)  We don’t own any pets but he has a turtle down by the retention pond that he visits almost every day. I keep telling him to watch out for snakes, but that hasn’t stopped him from venturing into the big drain pipes and wading through the water.

He is getting ready for the science fair coming up in a couple of weeks. Samantha has taken 1st place for the last 2 years at the school so he has a lot to live up too. He is testing the best baking temperature for the highest quality cookie (aka the perfect cookie but that isn’t a scientific term). I really don’t like cookies that much but it will be hard to stay away from all the cookie dough once the project starts. We have already had a test run so I know it is going to smell good around here.

Joshua has had a few bad months with the camera but I think he is pulling out of it. When we went on our cruise in February he actually made one of the photographers crack up laughing because his smile was so comical. He was just trying a little to hard to the point that it looked painful. He hasn’t completely recovered but I have a few good pictures that show there is hope.

Every day when Josh gets home from school or early in the morning he wants to be the first to get Nathan up. He is such a good brother and talks to Nathan like they are having real conversations. I love how he always offers to take Nathan outside and play with him. Although we have had to talk about responsibility since Nathan has been found twice in the front yard by himself. Thankfully Nathan was more attracted to stuff in the garage then by those cool big cars that drive down the street.

Matthew is loving reading. I went to the library yesterday and picked up all the books he had requested from the library. A half hour after the boys had gotten home from school I actually found all three of them reading. It was hard to get mad but I had thought they were all working on homework.

I would also like to report to all our concerned neighbors and school bullies that he is no longer riding a girls bike. He has been saving his money for a new bike for quite awhile, and a few weeks ago I found a great deal on a nice bike at a garage sale. (Now that we have it, I know there are some problems) but at the time I was so excited. It was a name brand bike that looked well taken care of and looked brand new. I had the family hold it for me and took the boys back to see it and test it out, only to find out that the bike fit Jacob and Matthew was still too short for it. So Jacob now owes me a lot of money, Matthew is riding Jacob’s old bike, and Matthew is still rich.

Alex only has 5 days of preschool left. Technically I could still change my mind and keep him home one more year, but he is ready for kindergarten. When Nathan is sleeping, he gets so board when I try to get my stuff done. I used to make him do “quiet time” in his own room but he has learned if he is quiet he can go anywhere. So he is quiet! I am amazed at how long he will play by himself. Right now he is in a phase where he doesn’t want to watch a movie or play video games but he would rather sit on the couch next to me curled up with his blanket. Alex is ready for school, I just don’t think Nathan is ready to be alone. Nathan won’t go to school for 4 more years.

Alex has one week to learn to swim or they are going to kick him off the team. Originally that was my plan, let him try, but I really don’t want to be committed for that extra hour of practice. He wants to do it and is so excited that for his sake I hope he can swim across the pool next week. We tried swim lessons last year, and we worked really hard in January teaching him how to snorkel, so hopefully with some of the bases covered it will kick in. Post-update: I took Alex swimming Saturday night.  Once he had his fins, mask and his snorkle on, he had all the confidence in the world and just started swimming.  I was amazed.  I don't think fins and snorkles will be allowed at the meets, but the fact that he can do it might be enough to help him build his skills this week.  My schedule doesn't want him to make it across the pool this weekend, but he sure has the motivation. 

Nathan is now 18 months old. Last week at church we dropped him off in the Nursery class and he cried for a long time. When the leaders came to get me, I gave them his favorite blanket instead and that seemed to help him calm down enough to stay. Later I peeked in and he was playing and eating snacks. I actually got to sit in class until they had to bring him to me for a dirty diaper. When Nathan saw me in he let out the cutest giggle of relief- after that I just stayed in the room with him, we will try again next week. I knew he was going to have a hard time, but he is fine with babysitters so I knew it was more of a battle of the strongest. He knows I am close by. Post-up date: He hardly cried at all yesterday in Nursery.  It might have helped that he was too busy eating a sucker to cry, but he lasted the full two hours with out me and his blanket.  It is so silly that I have made it such a big deal, he is going to be just fine. 

His personality is really starting to come out. He loves to be outside, if we are ever having a rough day all I have to do take him for a walk and he immediately calms down. Overall he has been a tough baby, but now that he is becoming a toddler, I can see he is frustrated a lot. He is little, people knock him over, and he just wants to see what is going on. He wants me to hold him all the time, but carrying 28 pound around isn’t fun or practical.

Nathan is developing some new skills he can now climb up the bunk beds, unscrew lids, and ride a scooter. I love that he is in a very obedient phase, if I tell him stop he stops. I told the boys to turn off the TV and they all just sat there, but Nathan walked up and pushed the power button. We all started laughing. He has also become a very good parrot. You can’t really understand what he says but you can tell he is trying to copy what you said. Yesterday he said, “I love you” to me for the first time. Of course I had just said it to him, but it still counts. I love listening to his baby babble, I really need to get it on video just so I can sit and watch it over and over. My baby is growing up…

All the kids are growing up too fast.  I have been trying hard to keep pictures posted this year, so just in case you missed them check out Samantha in the MS150, Nathan in our Easter pictures, the boys school talent show in Kid Stuff, and Alex in our Camping Adventures. 

Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?

"Are you Smarter than a 5th grader?"

This is a little phrase that has been floating around in my mind on occasion this past year. I have never had the chance to play the game, but I would be afraid to find out. I think of all the time I spent in school growing up and wonder how much I really remember.

The nice thing about having a lot of kids is that I get to see some of those things that I once learned. Bit by bit I catch a glimps of what they are learning in school. Right now the math is easy, but when they get older I hope I will still be able to explain the complicated steps. As for the spelling, I admit that even this morning I had to check the list to make sure Jacob was spelling a word right.

Well Samantha is wrapping up her 5th grade year and leaving elementary school behind. She has had a busy year! She started out stretched a little thin, she was in choir, orchestra, piano lessons, dance lessons, the Nutcracker, plus church activities. She loved the days where she had nothing and could just come straight home and not worry about anything else. Over the course of the year she dropped a few activities and seems a little more balanced. I can trust her to get her homework done, and we never check out enough books from the library because she goes through them so fast.

She has really shined this last year. In December she was in the school Geography Bee and made it to the top 5. As Scott helped drill her in preparation I was humbled by the fact that she knew some of the answers that I didn't. We made a big deal about the Nutcracker knowing it was a one time thing, since it was too much of a commitment to ever do it again. I had fun watching her in her orchastra concert, in February but she never liked it as much as I did growing up.

For the past few weeks she has been giving a lot of thought to her science fair project, she came up with her own idea.  She wanted to see what kids of germs we come in contact with on everyday things we touch.  I am not sure how the school felt as we tested the doors, handles and drinking fountains, but it was fun to watch the bacteria grow. 

Well, today I had a fun day.  Scott and I got to go judge the science fair at the school.  I love to see the experiments and hear the kids present.  Samantha had a great project but I really feel like she put her poster together last minute.  Anyway I didn’t believe her when I picked her up from school that afternoon (because it was pouring rain) and she said she got 1^st place.  What?  It wasn’t until we were in the car and she pulled out her trophy.  I know she had a great project, but to win 1^st place two years in a row!!   What a lucky girl.  After being a judge I can appreciate how it all depends on what the judge thinks, what they like and what they decided to deduct points for.  She was really excited and I am really glad that she has done so well.  She really like her project and all week end long keeps coming up with ideas of what she will want to do for next year. 

I got to judge the classrooms so I started asking the boys about their classroom experiments and practicing presenting.  The next thing I knew we were recreating the experiments that their classes had done and other ones that they had heard about.  Looks like we have a family of scientists. 

Where are the memory collectors?

You hear of bill collectors but where are the memory collectors. I will admit that things in our house hold have been a bit chaotic since adding another baby to the family. I have had a few bills slip through the cracks but I am immediately aware of the problem. A water bill got sent to the tax collector (they have the same name-) and I knew something was up when we got a notice that our water was going to be turned off. I ignored the budget for a few months but then I was itemizing receipts in February from October; needless to say Christmas was long gone.


However since I got pregnant last year my precious productive time when Alex is napping from 1-3 pm disappeared as I joined him for the afternoon on the bed. I was shocked in mid June when I went to post ultrasound pictures on our family web page for 2010 was blank. I tried to fill the year up and make up for it, but I never got those 6 months updated. In fact in that period of time Jacob was baptized and the pictures were never uploaded to the computer, they were erased months later when we assumed that everything had been backed up. No one else took pictures that day. Here is a picture of Jacob 1 year later.

Everything else in my life has deadlines. Church stuff, money stuff, homework, but there is nothing sending red flags that our memories are being lost. I have spent the last few days busy driving, running errands, and cleaning. I was determined today to dedicate the day to the computer and mostly my kids pictures. This post are my meager results. My baby has been crying all day, my sister is in Japan in the middle of the earthquake, our credit card has been stolen… These are only adding to my list of fun things that happened yesterday and I never want to repeat the 24 hours before that.

Sometimes I think in Facebook mode- like "this would be a good status post…" but I rarely ever post because I don’t really want that much information public or but the time I think about posting 3 days later the moment is gone. In January I tried writing status posts in my journal. I really liked it, something to show for that day instead of a year of naps. I had to catch up every few days, but I kept it up. Then February happened, my status list is now on my fridge with short word reminders but if I don’t write down my thoughts soon those shorthand notes will mean nothing and the memories will be lost again.

So send me to the memory collection agency please. I need a few deadlines to put the journal writing, scrapbooking, blog posting, back on my priority list. I also think a daily dose of caffeine would help around lunch time, but for now we will just try a dose of motivation to not lose any more pictures.



Click Here for more pictures of Nathan's Blessing Day. Today was one step in the right direction, however I have stayed up way too late which means I am going to need a nap tomorrow.

A new phase of life begins...

Obviously with a new baby in the house things are changing. Although, baby news is on the to do list(pictures are posted), this post is about our cute little toddler who was the baby in the family until last Wednesday.

Today was Alexander's first day of preschool! Granted he was a little sad that I didn't go with him, but reports are that he perked up quickly. Then when he came home, I asked him how he liked preschool and his response was, "I LOVE IT! WE HAD SNACKS AND PLAY DOUGH AND EVERYTHING!!!" Actually I had to ask prodding questions to really find out what he had just so excitedly yelled, but I think we got the idea that he had a good day. :)


Every year the parents are asked to write an essay about their preschooler to help the teachers get to know the child a little before they come. So for all who want to know a little more about Alexander here is what I wrote over a month ago.

Alexander just turned three this last summer. Currently he has one older sister, and three older brothers. However our family is expecting another baby boy around Halloween so will get to be a big brother too. He loved having his siblings to play with over the summer, but now that they are all back in school he has had to readjust to life with just mom.

With so many boys there are a lot of trains and cars at our house. Alex loves to play with toys and has a great imagination. His new favorite game is to stand up tall on a bed or table, hold his arms straight out to the side and yell, “I’m flying.” He doesn’t usually pick Toy Story as his favorite movie to watch but apparently Buzz Light-year has made an impression. His favorite movie is Cars, and thanks to his older brothers he has inherited quite a nice collection of all the characters.

This little guy has the most like-able personality that he can even get strangers to smile at him at the grocery store. He needs lots of hugs every day and will still hold still enough to cuddle. He is big for his age, topping out in the 90th percentile; so he has had a hard time with my pregnancy because I can’t carry him around anymore.

He loves books, and will always insist on reading time before bed. He does great at story time and the library so I am not too worried about him at school. He can sing his ABC’s and can almost count to 10--except he always skips #2 for some reason. He hasn’t taken much interest in coloring, but he does love puzzles.

This is obviously his first school experience so of course I want it to be nothing but positive. Having sent my three older boys through this program I know he will be ready for kindergarten when that time comes. He loves to be with his friends and on the go so I know that he will enjoy school this year. I am worried about his adjustment with a new baby and school starting at the same time, but hopefully school will be a good outlet for him, and he will enjoy his time learning.

Thank you for your love and concern this upcoming year,

His Mom :)

Our Prize Winning Pumpkin

Officially we are into the final countdown before our baby comes. Of course for the last few weeks we have been on alert that it could be anytime, I contract constantly, the doctor is noting my progress towards labor, but it seems that my body doesn’t know how to kick things into that final gear. However, with each false labor episode I have gotten a few more things done.

To help get the kids ready and help our littlest one understand what is about to take place we have let them watch a few “Baby Story” episodes. On most of the shows they show the nursery and the preparations the families have made for their new arrival. One night I dreamed that I was one the show and we went around the house showing how we were not ready. The clothes were still in bags in the closet, the drawers empty (at least I had cleared space for the clothes), the pack n’play that will serve as our bassinet was full of boxes and suitcases, all the swings and bouncers were still packed away, and of course I hadn’t packed my bag yet, and we still didn’t have a name… It was a scary realization that I had been so relaxed about when this baby was coming that I hadn’t done much. Since, I have spent the last two weeks cleaning equipment that I forgot I had, washing clothes and blankets and filling the drawers. Last Saturday Samantha and I had a little girl time and I took her for her first Spa Pedicure. Her toes looked cuter than mine, but I think we are officially ready.


Every year the kids get Columbus Day off and traditionally we head to a local farm to go pick out our pumpkins and get some pictures. I made the kids work hard that morning and we packed a lunch for a picnic. We drove the 25 minutes to our special farm only to see the gates closed. Apparently they had changed their hours and that included Monday as their day off. We took the scenic route home and found a farmers market complete with pumpkins and a cute set up. It was fun having our pictures in a different setting. What do you think of our prize winning pumpkin? (Click here for more pictures) It has been fun to have a fall baby and we can’t wait till he makes his appearance.

Alexander loved my tummy. I let the older kids help me paint when he wasn’t around, so when we were almost ready to go he got quite the surprise. Following our outing I was too busy to wash it off, so the little pumpkin just stayed under my shirt until bedtime. When I was tucking him in I told him I was going to wash it off, and he got so sad. I stayed in his room extra long just so he could snuggle with his new pumpkin. Up until now he has pushed on my tummy and had little patience to stop and feel the baby move, but since that day he has a new interest in my belly even without the pumpkin. He has been a little gentler and attentive to my belly and talks a little bit more about when I will “go to the hospital to push the baby out.”

Hopefully, it will be sometime in the next week!

2 Months Left to Grow

Friday, September 10, 2010

Actually, officially I have 6 weeks left today(but this picture is two weeks old.) Unofficially who knows... Jacob was 10 days late, they finally made me induce the twins at 38 ½ weeks, and despite all my contractions and early labor with Alex he didn’t come early either. The nice thing about reaching this point in my pregnancy is I have made it this time with no bed rest. As my doctor said this last week, this go around I am just boring.

I am measuring big, I feel big, and I weigh as much as I did with twins, but all this only comes with one. For awhile I wondered if they missed something in those ultrasounds, but my doubts are all gone. I am tired, but with twins it was a different kind of tired. I remember giving up vacuuming at 24 weeks, and by this time in my twin pregnancy, I would only go down the stairs once a day because I dreaded going back up. Currently my floors are clean and sometimes I forget I have a basketball tummy and skip up the stairs like I used too. Of course I get to the top and go lay down for a second while I catch my breath.

I always think about taking pictures for documentation, but never get around to it. Plus it is one of those things I think about when no one is around. Ironically I can’t find any pictures of me the summer when I was pregnant with the twins. My first belly shots are in October a month before they were born and when I was already huge. At least this time I was more aware of the lack of pregnancy pictures and this last summer if a camera was out, I didn’t try to hide my bulge.

So for my sister who keeps forgetting that I am even pregnant here is the proof, and by Halloween we will hopefully have a cute baby boy to show for it.



These pictures were taken in early August by a cute 3 year old photographer. Isn't he is going to be great when he gets older? What perspective--

Our family webpage has been sparse this year, but I have plans to remidy that over the next few weeks. Click Here for our Back to School Pictures.

Our little surprise!

For my birthday more than a few weeks ago the kids were surprised to see that my final present was a gift for them. They all receive brand new shirts with a fun message. They all wore their shirts proudly the next day to school and spread the news to their friends that a new baby was coming to our family.

Today we got a little peek at that new little baby and we are proud to announce that it is going to be a .....









We are excited to report he is healthy and growing well. During the ultrasound he was moving around and waving at us. We will look forward to his arrival around October 22nd--but until then we are really going to have to start brain storming on names.

The Lost Little Boy

Our Spring Break this year was a little boring, we hit the park, went to the library, went swimming, and baked a lot of cookies. It probably was a good foreshadow of what our summer will be like since we have no big plans. However, a month later Scott's sister came with her whole family during their spring break and we packed in as much fun as they could handle.

We went to the Beach, the Space Center, Sea World, the Alamo, the Water wall and the Galleria Mall, not to mention all the fun places we went to eat... Anyway I just wanted to share a fun story excerpt from one of our travels.

On one of the days we took the kids out of school early around lunchtime. We headed to the Johnson’s Space Center. I love going to the Space Center but I am always glad we give it a couple of years in between. They had fun exhibits and Alex sat really well during the movie. It was hard keeping a group our size together. We did a great job of not loosing anyone. *Cough Cough*

For dinner we found a fun all you can eat buffet just about 10 minutes away and headed there with the hungry bunch. It was right in the middle of rush hour and we wanted to buy ourselves some time before heading home. I tried to make sure the kids all got some substantial food on their plates before letting them loose with the cookies and ice-cream. At one point Joshua asked to use the bathroom. I pointed him in the right direction and gave my usual command, take a buddy. My kids are use to the buddy system, they aren’t suppose to go anywhere alone. After we were all stuffed and ready to roll out of the restaurant we made plans for the rest of the evening. There was a new movie out that we thought we could make, but we had to hurry. Everyone filed out and split into the two different cars.

There are two theaters by our house, and if we made good time we could still get to the earlier show, but if traffic was bad the other one started a half hour later at different theater. It took us about an hour but we made it and thought we could still make it to the earlier show. We forgot to give the other car enough warning to get off, so they had to take the next exit and back track. Scott and I waited at the theater box office ready to by tickets. When the other half of the group walked up, we were short one person. Joshua! He hadn’t been in our car, and he certainly wasn’t in their car.

Thanks to great technology we were able to look up the phone number of the restaurant we had been at and call right away. They confirmed that Joshua was there and they had the police en route. We explained that we were an hour away but we would get back as soon as we could. They said that they had found out our names, and his school, but they didn’t get any useful information from Josh to help them find us.

He is six years old and he didn’t even know our phone number! For anyone who knows our phone number that is hard to believe, every kid in the neighborhood knows our phone number. I guess we have just always taken for granted how easy it was and thought the boys knew. Granted, normally a house phone number would not have worked in this situation, but on this particular day I had our house number forwarding to my cell phone. We would have only been five minutes away when they called, not an hour and 45 miles away when he was discovered missing.

Luckily the rush hour was winding down and we made a lot better time getting back down to the restaurant. There were no flashing lights waiting for us. The police had come and gone and decided it was a closed case. Joshua was sitting by himself at a table with a big bowl of ice-cream in front of him. The manager said he kept an eye on him and just kept him loaded with the goodies.

He was real quiet on the ride home, but we got a few answers out of him. He had gone to the bathroom again, but by himself. No one knew he had gone and when he came back and saw the empty table he went outside just in time to see the last car driving away. Joshua had ridden over to the restaurant in the other car, so I had assumed that he got in that car with Samantha. I hadn’t even taken a second thought to count heads since we were running low on time, but Scott’s sister just assumed he was with us. When he walked back into the restaurant by himself the clerk flagged him right away and tried to help him. Without any useful information, they finally called the police. The police didn't arrived till after we had called and after they talked with him for a minute they left. End of Story?… not really the story goes on.

The next day we went to Sea World. We had another long trip in the car and we sang our phone number song over and over again. By the time we reached the park both Matthew and Joshua knew our number and even Alex was getting some of the numbers down. Once again in a crowded place we set up rules and what to do if you get lost or separated. We had a great day, never lost anyone, and arrived at our motel tired and ready to crash.

We had booked our 3 rooms over priceline and found out that they were more like condos. Each building had 8 units and our rooms were all over the place. When checking in we all stayed in the car while the guys got things situated. They at least got the rooms moved to 3 building next to each other, but that was the best they could do. Everyone piled out of the cars towards different rooms. There was a room for each family, and an extra room for the older kids. When we got to our room we just had Alex and Matthew. The other kids had gone to check out the “kid room” or so we thought. I didn’t even know where the other rooms were at first. It was late so I tried to get Alex down first, and arrange our room and set up.

At one point Jacob popped his head in to tell me how cool his room was and a little later Samantha came by for her pajamas. That is when I asked her to go get Joshua and bring him back to our room since I was ready to put the twins down. Joshua? He wasn’t with them. I am not kidding when I say that we had been there almost an hour again. We called all the rooms to verify that Joshua was once again missing.

Apparently Joshua had been following Jacob, but then Jacob turned a corner and ran away. That’s the story. Josh had no clue where to go. He eventually made it to the check-in area and told the front desk his name and that he was lost. He even told them our phone number! Yeah!!-except that the hour before my cell phone died and when I plugged it in I forgot to turn it back on. The front desk didn’t know what to do because none of the rooms were listed under our last name. I'm not sure how but eventually they tracked down the “kid room” and returned him there-- I think they were just knocking on random doors. This happened within five minutes of discovering he was missing, but the poor kid had gone through an hour of torture.

He said he checked and saw our cars still there so he knew we hadn't left him again, but he really was sad when we got him back. I think two days in a row was a little much for him. Jacob would have benefited from one of these experiences, since he really is the one who always runs off and gets ahead of the group, but he always finds his way back. I myself learned not to assume, it got me in trouble twice. I should have been making sure I knew where everyone was, but when you are carrying a arm full of luggage and a toddler at the same time I was just looking for the numbers on my key and went that way thinking everyone was following along.

Alexander's document

I am in charge of the 8 year old Scouts. This week we talked about computers and all of the boys had to prepare their own document and show competence using a computer. Alexander is by no means competent, but he does like to use the computer. Here is a nice letter he wrote this week.

Kdlksdsklfjrfojdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddseddrrrwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwsw22222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggtttttttttttttttttttaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa AAAAAAAAA

Can you tell he really likes the letter "A?" He was really happy when he found that one. It is funny because I can remember all of my kids going through this phase when they think they are really grown up and can do what you do. I think my sister, when she was on her mission, got a lot of goofy letters like this a few years ago when the twins were competing for my computer time.

P.S. I finally have updated our Thanksgiving pictures and also posted our 2009 Christmas Letter.

The Best and Worst of January

Yes I know it is half way through February and time just keeps on ticking. I am still working on Thanksgiving pictures, haven't touched Christmas, and now I have birthdays and Valentines stacking up.

Here is the post that was meant to be a couple of weeks ago, but I was waiting to put up the Thanksgiving link with it. I know no one cares about Thanksgiving when we are all covered in hearts eating too much candy, but it is more just for me to have something to look back on in the years to come. So on to the best and worst of January and we will keep working on all that other stuff that is backed up. :)

Every year our family puts together a Best and Worst list for the year. We have tried on several occasions to put together the 2009 list and we come up with the highlights but that is all we can remember. We definitely need to give it more attention, but over the last month I have thought of a lot of things that need to go on the 2010 list. January is normal an uneventful month where I can catch up from all the holidays before our February birthday’s start coming.

Best:Scott's sister Audra got married and Scott got to go be with the family.

Worst:Jacob glued his eye shut with super glue over the weekend Scott was gone.*Note: picture was after we had been to the eye doctor and pried his eye open and removed what we could of the glue. I never think to take pictures in the moment.


Best:The twins both got “All A’s” and improved their grades from last term.

Worst:Alex got locked in the car for over an hour and had to be rescued by the police and fire department.

Best:Alex loved the firemen and gave them all high fives.


Worst:All the kids got their flu shots, but earned ice-cream for being so brave.

Best:Samantha and Jacob improved their grades and got awards.

Worst:Scott's 94 year old grandma passed away so he took another trip to Salt Lake.

Best:I got to work all my shifts this month. (I got cancelled 6 times in December.)

Worst:I think my salary this month got eaten up by multiple plane tickets to Salt Lake. (1 for the first wedding, 1 for the funeral, and 4 for another upcoming wedding.)

Best:Samantha has passed all my tests and can now officially baby-sit for our family, which means regular date nights again. (We trade for privileges—one night she practically begging me to go somewhere because she wanted something)

Best:Our family has been really healthy this whole season; beside a random runny nose we have been really blessed.


Best:I got to go on a field trip with Samantha’s class and had a lot of fun helping and demonstrating at my station.

Best:We got a screaming deal the TV we have been waiting for, it was $400 off an already discounted price.

Funny thing is I started this list with a lot of the worst floating around in my head and I am glad to see the good out weighs the bad. Plus now some of those things that seemed bad are just plain funny.

M.I.A.

WOW! Looks like I have been missing in action, life some how stopped in October. I didn’t go to the gym, didn’t check the budget, never updated my blog, and even the family web page that I thought was updated was missing links in cyber space. I think I checked face book a few times, but I have never had much action there anyway.

Scott has been out of town the last few days so I have been up late every night. I guess when there is no other adult to tell you to go to bed that means no bed time. Granted I have had a very hard time getting the kids to school in the morning, but we haven’t had a tardy yet. It took two days of endless receipts to get Quicken in order. There really was nothing good on TV so I was itemizing at receipts at 2 am one night and watching General Conference. PARTY!

I finally made it back to the gym today. I probably should go again really soon to get my money’s worth. My one visit in November and then one more in December turned out to be very expensive workouts. It is funny that I would be thinking of canceling when most people are joining to lose those holiday pounds. However, we were privileged with both Thanksgiving and Christmas visitors this year, so between once a month visits to the gym and endless yummy food, I will not be canceling my membership.

As for the fun report on our festivals and pictures, I only have Halloween to give. I promise I updated this before Thanksgiving, but then I never checked the link to see that it wasn’t put up. In addition I have pictures from when we celebrated Scott becoming a new private pilot, and from the twin’s birthday celebrations.

Roll Call

Roll Call… It’s time for a kid update

Samantha—aka Saimee (Say-me), Essie (es-see), and mostly Hermonie. Since the end of the summer Samantha has read nothing but Harry Potter. She has read the 3rd book four times (that one is her favorite) and she is slowly reading the 5th book with Scott (so he can edit). Before bed she often asks for me to braid her hair so it will be wavy the next day. Ironically I have the perfect Hermonie wavy hair and I straighten it most days. She has offered to trade hair, but we haven’t figured out how to make that one work yet. Although Harry Potter has been great fun for her imagination, I think I am ready to see her reading other books again. Her birthday is in 4 months and she has been planning her Harry Potter party. I am not sure what is really involved, but she has been making props over the last month and it seems pretty elaborate.

Jacob—is our second grader. He has the same teacher Samantha had in second grade so we expect great things from him. I finally started Samantha and Jacob with a piano teacher this summer and it has been fun to watch them progress. Jacob obviously has a natural talent and is catching up to Samantha. He wants to play everything turbo fast, and I constantly have to remind him that not everything sounds good that fast. The biggest problem with going fast is that it is really hard to fill a half hour of practicing every day. He lost his first front tooth a week before school started. It was super cute! But I never took a picture. The next week we were at the pool and he knocked his other tooth out. I took a picture right away. Ironically it is the second tooth that is growing in. At this rate I will get the one tooth missing picture after all.

Joshua—is a smartee. A few weeks ago he got to be King for the Day at school. He wore his crown all day at home and then snuck it in his backpack and took it back to school the next day. When I picked him up from school, he was wearing his crown again. I wonder what the teacher thought about that. He loves that kind of attention. One of his favorite tee-shirts is the one I brought back from Washington in April; it says “Future President!”

Matthew—is really coming out of his shell. Granted both twins are plenty noisy and rambunctious at home, out in the real world they are a little more quiet. In Sunday school they just sit like perfect angels and never talk (well maybe not always). Well with the start of school that changed for this guy. His Sunday school teacher says that he completely changed. He is constantly raising his hand and wants to talk and answer questions. Apparently he is the same way at school.

Funny story: When we were getting ready to go to the beach a few weeks ago he was dressed ready to go, but I mentioned he needed to bring an extra pair of clothes. 10 minutes later I found him double dressed with underwear and all over his swim suit. I tried hard not to laugh, but he got the hint and took them off.

Alexander—our little boy. He decided that he didn’t need his crib anymore. I was ready to keep him in there forever after all there was no rush to put him in a bed. He could climb in and out anytime he wanted, and that is what he did. He started climbing out of his crib after we put him to bed and I would find him in the guest bed in his room. It only took one fall before Scott pulled the toddler bed out of storage. I haven’t seen him use his crib since.

The other day Alexander really needed a hair cut. He did a great job last time sitting still, but I was short on time so it seemed easier to buzz. After all it will grow back. Well I hope it grows back fast, I miss his hair. He looks cute, but I swear it made him look younger. I thought hair cuts made kids look older.
He really is talking these days. His favorite phrase is “What?” He will say it over and over and then once he comprehends what you are saying he repeats back what you said. He is a little parrot. The kids have fun telling him things to say.
He has discovered the world of Thomas the tank engine. I cleared out a lot of toys a couple of years ago and since we had plenty of Geotrax that is the train system that won. We only kept a few trains, but those are like gold around here. He loves the books and insists on a story every time he goes to sleep. He tries to take them with us everywhere, but I have already lost 2 library books, so now they stay home.

What is most important?

Thursday, September, 10, 2009

Most nights I feel like I am scrambling to get kids to bed, I tuck one in then move on to the next, but the first is out of bed before I know it. With five kids this game seems to goes on for a while, needless to say bed time has been a struggle around here for years. By the end of the day I just want kids to jump in bed and stay there. Quick hugs and kisses are all I need. Then I have those random days where I stop and really take advantage of the special time at night.

Last night Jacob was just lying in bed when I came into his room, surprise, surprise. How could I not stop and talk to him, I didn’t have to tell him to do anything. He already has his P.J.’s on, brushed his teeth and was just laying there (no toys hiding under the pillow either). --so I laid down next to him for a chat.

One of the questions I asked him was what was most important in his life right now. I was expecting an answer like, friends or Xbox but he said money. That got my curiosity. Of course the Nerf gun and the huge $100 Lego set he has been asking for pops into my mind.

Me: “Why money?”
Jacob: “Well I need it for my mission, and to buy a house… do you need money to get married?”

Those are pretty deep thoughts for a little second grader. Apparently Jacob wants to be a doctor, because my brother is a doctor and Scott told him that Craig makes more money than he does.

We really didn’t get to talk too long, because after awhile there were plenty of interruptions and once everyone knew I was talking on Jacob’s bed they all wanted me to lay on their beds.

I guess I should take more time at bed time, but it just always seems like a crazy time and by the time I win the game with all 5 in a bed I am done. I am glad Scott takes more time with them when tucking in, I guess I should learn from his example.

School has started

Pictures and stories HERE!

Out Past Curfew

I guess I will forgo the long post about our pet bird in the microwave vent, since things didn’t end to well for him. Apparently birds get dehydrated after 24 hours and you have to feed them with a syringe of water to nurse them back to health. Ignorant, we released our trapped bird of 2 days and put him outside; happy to have him free but then he didn’t make it. (We didn’t know he was trapped, we thought he had found a nice home--just a little to close for our comfort). Anyway that is old news, on to today happenings. Last night I stayed out past curfew. In fact I was up so late I had a hard time finding a grocery store that was open. I am a night person and work graveyard shifts, so pulling an all nighter isn’t that big of a deal. However, usually I am earning money not spending it.

I have only been couponing for a year now, but I got excited when I heard that for one day only Kroger would be doubling all coupons up to one dollar. It took me a while to get organized, cut my coupons and get my spreadsheet ready. I meant to go at midnight, but it was 2am before all was put in order. As I pulled into the store lot there were a good handful of cars, but I was told the store wasn’t open. I had 4 more stores to choose from, but I didn’t want to guess wrong at which were 24hr. stores so I decided to back track home and look up them up to avoid any further delays. Apparently, the Kroger site was not accurate. Kroger stop #2 was also closed. At this point I was ready to call it a night, but I pushed on to store #3.

The store was hopping with activity. The lines were long, there was beeping everywhere, a girl was even sorting coupons on the floor. I grabbed my two carts and took it slow. I knew I had all night, and I didn’t want to back track. 3 hours and 25 minutes later I exited the store. What a fun night! Remember I work nights so at 6:30 am I was still chipper. I bought $400 worth of groceries for $160. Sorry I am too lazy to pull the receipts and get exact numbers. I took a picture (frozen and fridge stuff excluded) but not a good one with everything stacked nice and neat. It was the most groceries I have ever brought home. The kids were amazed, and excited and at the goodies. Surprisingly even though I was 3 hours late to the start of the sale, there were some items that were already gone. No fruit snacks for us. Plus I didn’t make the best decisions. Who buys oversized sandwich baggies? Those aren’t going to work in school lunches.

Couponing is a fun hobby. Scott pointed out that I would have had a bigger profit if I had just spent the night at work and skipped the coupons hassle, but where is the fun in that? It would have been just as fun holding little babies at the hospital, but the accomplished feeling of being organized and walking out of the store a head my game is hard to beat. Plus checking out at 6:30 had some benefits. The late night frustrated people were gone, and the early birds were just getting started, so I had no competition at the cash register.

As a closing note, Alexander wanted to let everyone know that he appreciated the gifts and calls and that he and Scott had great birthdays last week. Click Here for the Birthday Post.

A picture is worth a thousand words

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what do you do if you have a thousand pictures. My hard drive is on over load. While visiting Salt Lake last month I took a couple hundred pictures, Scott took over 200 in just one weekend, then I shared my pics with my family and collected a few more. The result---not what you might think. I had to simplify which means this is just the tip the highlights and the rest of the pictures will just have to wait for scrapbook. Which might be a few years. I still owe my mom her Christmas present, my 2007 scrapbook.

One of the reasons for my desire to drive to Salt Lake involved two new little family members, so I gave these girls their own page. So visit the New Cousins first and then check out what we did last month. Salt Lake 2009

A lot of two's

Two days ago my hubby celebrated his birthday and in two days my baby will turn two. It is always fun to have birthdays come in two’s. Alex has already had two parties and I still don’t think he has a clue. Of course both of those parties were combined with his daddies so maybe when he is the center of attention he will enjoy the day.

He is not a baby anymore though he loves to still be cuddled. Last night he crawled into bed with me somewhere around two and it took me a while it register there was a little boy sleeping next to me. He was not happy when I put him back in his crib and it took two more times and a gate before he settled back to sleep. We are trying to get back into a schedule since our trip, so I put the kids to bed at a decent bedtime but they took over two hours to go to sleep. Unfortunately I think Alex got out of bed more than two times tonight, it was more like twenty. This is going to be a fun year of terrific twos.

As for Scott, I hope he had a good day. I got up some decorations up but we were recovering from our drive and trip so there was no cake/ice cream on his special day. He is a wonderful husband and great dad. Alex jumps to hug him anytime he comes home. He really didn’t want to do the whole drive to Utah thing, but he really was sweet to drive and then fly back home to work while we played. We missed him this last month and are glad to be back home. Be looking for more updates, but it may be a day or two.

Happy
Birthday Boys!

Salt Lake Party

Houston Party

Eat my bubbles!

That is the kind of trash talk you hear at swim meets these days. My kids thought it was funny. It was fun to hear them learn all the team cheers and have some team spirit. After 8 weeks we have a lot of stories and a million pictures. Here is the recap...Swim Team.

I think it came with a warning?

A few years ago I bought the coolest slicer from Pampered Chef with my birthday money. I was so excited! My sister in-law had one and I loved it. Can you guess the first thing it cut? My thumb- I guess I wasn't holding it right and my thumb slipped over the blade cutting a diagonal line from the top middle down to my corner of my nail. Luckily back then we lived .2 miles from the ER, but 6 hours and a few stitches later I returned home. No dinner was served that night. I thought I would always have a lopsided thumb, but now you I don't even notice it. My thumb has grown back nicely, although I have no feeling on that side.

The next Thanksgiving it took out Scott's thumb. Well who wants to spend Thanksgiving in the ER, so we just did our best to bandage it tight to stop the bleeding and Scott managed and suffered for the next few weeks.

Since it has been years since either of these incidents, I am sure you can guess where this is going. We had a third incident this week. Joshua has acquired the new job of unloading the dishwasher once a week (minus the glass and now anything sharp). A sharp blade was tucked underneath and he held it just right and whacked half his nail off. I thought for sure it would be another ER trip, but after a Popsicle, we got a good look. Then we put pressure on it for a while as Josh ate a bowl of ice-cream. Then after consulting with the family Doctor (aka Uncle Craig) and sending him a photo I used my rusty nursing skills to bandage the thumb up. Joshua got a piece of gum for that procedure.

Now that we have digressed to just a band aide it doesn't seem that big of a deal. But he was glad to have a no-swim pass for a day. He is getting better at the swimming, but 8 weeks of swimming 5-6 days a week has not been his favorite. We are on the count down. One more practice and one more meet, then swim team will be over.

On a side note-- At first I went to the Pampered Chef site to get a picture and they have made some cool improvements. I also noted that all extra blades are now stored in their own enclosed casings. I guess our warning only applies to the older models.

**Here is the first installment of our family vacation...The Beach.**