Spring Break ~ day2

Yesterday the kids had wanted to go to the museum. We ended up doing other things. Today they wanted to invite their friends over to play and we were going to but when we woke up this morning J was sick so we couldn't. About mid morning we decided to go to the museum. We had given J some Tylenol and fed her breakfast and she was sleeping. S didn't want to go so just the three little ones and I went.

It was very crowded there. I guess everyone else in the metroplex also thought it would be a good museum day. We have season passes so we got to go in the express line and were soon on our way.


Our first stop was dino dig, one of our favorites. The weather was perfect, cool and sunny. The sand was cool and it wasn't too busy out there. All three kids had brushes and "diggers" and spent an hour or so looking for fossils. Every few minutes they'd run up to the worker and have her look through their finds. We made quite a haul today. It was SO sweet to watch them. Lucy always found either H or E to go with her to check her finds. They'd put their arm around her shoulder and stand in line with her. Then she'd proudly show her handful of dirt and when they were done she'd run over to hand over what ever was deemed a treasure. She had a big smile on her face and I had a big swelling sweet feeling in my heart watching them be so kind to each other.





As a side note, why is it when kids are small and want to put on their own shoes (and thanks to the miracle of velcro they can) they always put them on the wrong feet? You would think that they would have a 50-50 chance of getting it right each time, right? Yet they put them on incorrectly probably 75-80% of the time. How does that math work?




After the Dino dig we went inside to kidspace. It was more hectic there and I spent the whole time counting noses and trying to herd them together. They painted faces, shopped, played in the water and had a great time. We spent about another hour there and then decided to head home. One of the advantages to a pass is you can stay a short time and not feel like it's a waste.

On the way home we drove through McD. Kid heaven.

When we got home we found J watching movies with S and feeling a little better.

Tonight the missionaries are coming for dinner. We're serving grilled pork chops, french fries, veggies and lemon cake.

Then at bedtime we're getting the kiddo's jammied up and in front of a movie and DH and I are slipping out to see "Astronaut Farmer" at discount night at the theater. $3 a ticket!


We had an afternoon shower today. The sky turned dark and it poured for 5-7 minutes and now it's blowing away.

for Nana ~ DH's garden

FHE

The kids got back from the park just in time for dinner. They brought S's friend Z.
He stayed for dinner and FHE (and we didn't even make him sing:)) Brother invited him to spend the night, but Z politely declined. Brother loves when boys come over and always thinks they have come to play with him.

spring break ~day 1

this is a picture of no one jumping on the couch, no one asking to read a story, no one blaring the radio....this is a picture of S asking if she can take the kids to the park to play and me saying "let me help you find everyone's shoes!"

No big plans for today. We're having FHE, did some picking up, watched cartoons, we're making lettuce wraps for dinner. It's kind of overcast but everyone enjoyed sleeping in and it's been a good day so far.

i love warm weather

S sleeps with Jack while he's being house trained. He's doing well. Last night since she was at the dance H wanted to take her spot. DH also took a little rest with them.

Later when S got home she joined Jack and H.


Today was daylight savings time, but we forgot to spring forward. So DH was an hour late to his early morning meetings and I missed ward council, we did make it to church this afternoon and are now squared away.




My favorite shot of the day: Lucy the ballerina soccer player enjoying a sunny morning outside.



Tonight we went to Papa and Grandma's for dinner. After Papa and DH and brother played hide-n-seek stick for a long time. We sat outside and enjoyed the lovely weather. Then Papa got out his harmonica and played some tunes while the kids danced and we tapped our toes.

Belle's of the Ball!

The girls had a very fun time. J especially came home all bubbly and excited.

crazy water babies!

While I am sitting in the kitchen warm and dry with chicken alfredo fetticini cooking for dinner and plugged into my lap top, like a normal person, my crazy family is in the pool. The weather has been very nice outside the last few days. In the high 70's. Perfect for taking walks, pulling weeds, sitting on the porch. Not perfect for swimming. But they don't agree. Poor Lucy is standing at the gate wishing she could go in, but her mom is mean and won't let her.

I have a family of fish. Which is very fun. I am the least fishy of the bunch, although I love the pool and going to the beach!

They claim it's not cold.













Took a picture of "Taco" and Millie and Jack last night. They are getting along well and luckily Tahoe is no problem. We have had a chance to animal sit a variety of animal through the years. Everything from bulls ("which will be no problem and never escape" and which escaped three times while we were taking care of them.) to fish, dogs, bees, chickens, etc. The bull was my favorite because it made for a great story. We were a few weeks away from having H join our family and were bull sitting. Each morning and night we drove down the street to feed and water them, and the chickens. We went pretty early so often we just hopped in the car in our pajamas and went. One morning I waddled down there in my giant tee shirt, covering an enormous belly; and the girls scampered down in their jammies and flip flops. (we're real cowgirls around here:)) and the bull was out (again~ he had gotten out the afternoon before and our friends came and rounded him up and "fixed"the fence, and he was out the night before and my DH "fixed" the fence) and the police were there rounding him up. We got out of the car and explained that we were left to care for the animals while our friends were away. Then I sheepishly added that we were from CA. OH! they nodded, well that explains it. Do you want us to finish rounding them up ma'am? Yes please. We watched them, then finished our chores and went home red faced.
The next morning we went over, completely dressed.
...and the officers drove by just to make sure things were fine.


Brother had his first soccer game this morning. They won. He scored 6 goals and did awesome! I didn't see it however.
The stake had a relief society meeting and I thought mom wanted to go so I went with her.
It was fine. They had some workshops and lunch. BUT I would really have rather been watching him play.
On the way home it came out that mom also would have rather watched him play. Most aggravating. Here I was trying to be SO nice and she didn't even want to go after all!

H had a fun birthday party to go to this afternoon at Putt Putt. She and DH went and played for three hours.

Tonight J has her first stake dance. She has a new shirt to wear with her gauchos and is looking forward to going.


My neighbor came by the other night with a sample from her new business. She says it's heavenly. I don't normally take baths...because who has time really? But I think tonight I'll try it out and see if I love it.

party time

J's good friend Rikki is moving over spring break. Her parents told her they were getting divorced (the day after Christmas) and now she is moving to Bedford with her mom. J is very sad. She asked if she could have Rikki and a few friends over for a good-bye party.
A few people grew until we ended up with 18 kids.

The plan was fire in the fire pit and pizza. Kids started to arrive right after school, although the party wasn't until 6:30. A couple girls came early to "help". Then we got a stream of kids in the evening. They've been pretty good, in a wild and senseless 13-14 year old way, but funny and silly.
They played basketball, played on the teeter totters, watched the stars, made s'mores, laughed and screamed and raced around, flirted, made jokes, and now they are upstairs watching a movie. Good thing we have a big game room. They went through 6 pizzas, tons of soda and a bag of marshmallows.

The little kids have enjoyed the commotion a lot. They got to play outside with the big kids. The three dogs have also been joining in the fun.
After the dirt, fire and marshmallows all the babies needed baths. I didn't want to be out of sight of the party so Lucy had to bathe in the sink.

It's 9:30 and the littles are tucked in bed and thanks to my lap top (which I LOVE SOOOOO MUCH) I am in a main room listening, watching and secretly counting down the minutes until 9:59 the official party ending time.

*hopefully J is having a fun time. She will really miss Rikki. Her other good friend is also going thru a divorce and probably moving and her best friends at school Ciera and Sofia are moving this summer as well. I feel bad for these kids and the break down of their families that they have to deal with. :( I also feel bad for J for losing her close friends.

Friday Fun

Off Fridays. One of the many great things about being a Lockheed employee is that you get every other Friday off. Today it was very lucky that he had it off because we had a am emergency orthodontist appointment and it would have been a real bummer to have to take everyone.
When I got back he worked in the yard, and I cleaned up inside then we went to Sams. Now our pantry is fully stocked. Friday is always my shopping day. Which means Friday morning we are usually out of everything. Today was no exception. We were out of milk and bread and waffles and I don't know what else. When I got back from the ortho brother was ready for breakfast and he wanted cereal. He was bent out of shape that we were out of milk. "Can't you make some?" he asked me.
"Nope, I don't know how to make milk anymore." I told him as I was switching laundry from the washer to the dryer. "Did you lose the recipe?" he asked.
I laughed. No, there is no recipe, you have to have be a mom to make milk. When mom's have babies they make milk. Mom cows, goats, elephants, humans, everyone I tried to explain.
"Oh... then can I have pancakes?"
"Yes, my boy, I can still make pancakes."
Lucy wants to ride this bike. She tries every day. Her legs are too short. It's so cute.

Dad and brother and Millie flew a kite. Very fun. It was just barely windy enough.


Tonight we got a third dog. Our friends are going out of town for spring break and we are baby-sitting their 100 lbs mutt. He's a cutie. It's going to be a doggie week.

Jack update

all's good on the Jack front. He went to the vet yesterday. He weighs a whopping 5.3lbs., got dewormed, got his shots and a clean bill of health.
He's a very calm dog, which I am surprised and pleased by. He seems to want to be house broken as well. When we take him outside he almost always does his business, and he gives a little whine when he wants to go out. I don't want to jinx it but I think he will be easy to train.
He's a cutie and follows me around and loves to snuggle.

playing catch up

This was my week for preschool. Our theme was "Asia". Tuesday we learned about China and Japan. It was very fun. We read some stories, ate fortune cookies, played with Chinese battle sticks, made koi puppets and learned about "boy day". Today was a little off theme. I actually sat down to lesson plan a couple of times and never found anything that really struck me. We went to the library but had no luck. So we played outside a lot, which they loved. Read some books. Made fruit cocktail cake (thanks Anne!) and did some beginning consonant sounds work and some math papers. I had Austin and Ryan all day and also K after preschool so it was busy. The boys had a lot of fun. They played star wars guys for a long time. This morning before school they played "flood", which I was not very happy about. They were upstairs by themselves for about 15 minutes. During which time they set up all the guys on the table and brought glasses of water out of the bathroom and flooded them off. They were in BIG trouble when I saw their creative genius in action.
Tuesday night we were having FHE when our good friends stopped by to meet Zeus, Bob, Goliath, James, Paris, and back to just Jack. We had a fun time. We finished our lesson, ate mom's treat and then were treated to a song by Tori and Holly. (beware of dropping by during FHE you may be forced to eat cake and sing!)

Wednesday we went to the library.

Now I'm caught up on the news. I've been distracted this week with new puppy stuff, allergies, and trying to decide where to send our kids to school next year. But that will be another post.

puppy with a flower (for scale)

like a hole in the head....

we needed another something in the house to make noise, and chew things, and poop. :) But need it or not here we have it. The newest member of the family: Domino, Jack, ???. edited March 6 edited again to say now we don't know because D called and said she "called" that name for her son and a son certainly outranks a dog, although she's not even pregnant now and isn't going to be for awhile and wants to name her first son something else and her second son Jack and who knows if she will ever even have two sons...look at me 5 girls and 1 boy, stranger things have happened. But S is the namer and she's at school and I told her all the info so for today he's puppy and we shall see. And, further I already gave up a name to her. When we were expecting little Lucy we wanted to name her Ariel and DH and I both liked it and D "called" it and we gave it up. Which was silly but seemed right at the time and now Greg doesn't even like the name Ariel so it's solely a mermaid name now.
I was driving to pick S up from school and she said, "mom, what would you think if I brought home a surprise puppy?" Nope. "What if it was a poodle/yorkie mix and SOOOO cute?" Well...maybe (thinking yea right that'll happen). Then she said her friend Diana's dog had puppies and her other friend Carrie got one just that morning and it was so adorable and she could get one too.
S has been wanting a puppy for a long time.
And she's a really nice girl, who's really responsible and easy to parent and delightful.
And we had been talking about getting a second dog and while DH wanted another lab the rest of the family was really leaning towards something small and purse-carrying-able.
So I said maybe.
By this time I had S in the car with me and DH called. I asked him and after a few questions he said he wouldn't mind. I was surprised, and I didn't mind either.


So being the plan aheaders that we are we hopped in the car, drove across town and picked up a darling curly boy. Who S called Domino. (who isn't yorkie at all but poodle something mix)

gymnastics

H has been wanting to take gymnastics. Finally we signed her up for a short course at the high school in the evenings. It's a lot of fun. It's pretty much just an introduction to the different pieces of equipment and things you can do. Tonight H got to do the trampoline and the uneven bars. She had been waiting for those. As she does with all things H has approached this with a lot of energy and stick-to-ivness. This is a great activity for her. She was trying to do a flip on the bar for a long time. I think she was the only one in her class with enough tenacity to stick with it until she made it. She's pretty strong and coordinated so this may be a great activity for her.

yea! She's home!

things to do while waiting for your sister to get home from school

query

If you were a big yellow lab, with a cute two year old accomplice, where would you rather take your meal?


Of course you would.

sunday night all ready for bed

welcome welcome Sabbath morning

And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just- yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them- therefore Alma though it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.
Alma 31: 5

A prayer said on behalf a child, what to do?, how to help?

An answer given.

*photo "shared" by my sister Anna. Go see the rest of her lovely trip (unless you don't want to break the 10th then don't go :))

a meme

10 Things MeMe
(my sister tagged me and I'd do anything for her:})
So, here goes:
10 FAVORITES:
1)Color: red
2)Food: too many to name
3)Musical Group: is Josh Groban a group?
4)Song Right Now: The Prayer
5)Movie: not going there
6)Sport: walking
7)Season: summer
8)Day of the Week: Sunday
9)Ice Cream Flavor: Mint 'n Chip
10)Person: my family
9 CURRENTS:
1)Current Mood:content
2)Current Scent: JLo's something in a pink bottle which exact name I can't remember and I don't want to go in the bathroom to look at.
3)Current Clothes: cute blue dress with a leafy print on it in darker blue, black sweater, black flats.
4)Current Desktop: tropical paradise
5)Current Ringtone on Cell Phone: star wars theme
6)Current Music: None
7)Current Time: 4:03pm
8)Current Surrounding: My bedroom
9)Current Event Happening Today: We went to a baptism for two of H's friends. After we went to a party for Olivia that was so fun, bouncy house, lunch, lots of friends! tonight is girls night out. Fun day.
8 FIRSTS:
1)First Best Friend: Julie we were best friends when we were 3 and are still friends now
2)First Kiss: Two boys kissed me when I was little Ricky and Richard. I didn't kiss them. My first kiss was with Mark (who I later married)
3)First Screen Name: txmommy
4)First Pet: a cat named Heidi
5)First Piercing: My Ears
6)First Crush: A boy named Adam Dustin
7)First Music: Probably a lullaby
8)First Car: VW bus, blue, that stalled if you ever took your foot off the gas so I drove with a sideways foot, heel on gas toe on break the other foot worked the clutch.
7 LASTS:
1)Last Class: RS last week
2)Last Drink: Water
3)Last Trip: Ohio for Christmas
4)Last Kiss: I kissed Lucy good night for her nap about 1/2 hour ago
5)Movie Seen at the Theater: I walked out of Ghost Rider last night and spent 2 hours in the bookstore waiting for DH
6)Last Phone Call: J
7)Last CD Played: YoYo Ma's Latin Rhythms something
6 HAVE YOU EVERS:
1)Have you ever dated one of your best guy friends? No
2)Have you ever broken the law? Yes. parking violation and other small motor vehical things
3)Have you ever been arrested? No
4)Have you ever skinny-dipped? Yes
5)Have you ever been on TV? No
6)Have you ever kissed someone you didn’t know? No, how would that happen?
5 THINGS:
1) 1 thing you’re wearing: shoes
2)1 thing you’ve done today: played on a teeter totter with DH and Lucy
3)1 thing you’re bothered by: Disobedient children.
4)1 thing you can’t live without: DH
5)1 thing you do when you’re bored: I don't get bored
4 PLACES YOU HOPE TO TRAVEL TO:
1) Disneyworld
2) Africa
3) Church History Tour
4) Iceland
3 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO:
1) DH
2) My sister utmommy
3) my sister Anna
2 CHOICES:
1)Black or White? black
2)Hot or Cold? Hot
1 THING YOU WANT TO DO:
serve a mission


If you made it this far...Tag...You're it!

snarfly, sniffly and otherwise grouchy

She woke up congested and with a little fever. It's been down hill since then.

Normally cheerful nothing can please Lucy today, except for apple juice, in a juice box, that is just as fun to squeeze out as it is to drink.

motrin & triaminic are our friends today.

spring wardrobe!

what it's like to have grandparents close by

Last week, or maybe the one before I don't remember for sure which, Papa and Grandma came and got J after school. She had a broken violin string and they took her to get it fixed. On the way home they stopped at Taco Bell ( a favorite of J's ) for dinner. They had a fun visit and now she's back to fiddling away her time. Sunday while we were cooking Papa asked her to accompany us. Which was so fun.

A couple months ago H had a turn for a special one on one day.

These days are real treats for the kids. It makes them feel special and loved. They get to hear the stories of "back in the day" and to hear wisdom.

When they leave for China I will be most excited for them and their new adventure. We'll also miss having them nearby to share our days.

Hopefully the other kids will have a one on one turn before they leave too.