photos: 14 feb - 18 feb

day 45 {14 feb 2010)

Mike asked for Valentine's Day homemade bread. The kids were thrilled.

D actually sat right in front of the oven as it was cooking saying, "dat mells gooood!"

IT smelled delicious as it baked.

day 46 {15 feb 2010)

The kids decided they wanted to have a dance party,

I went in to take some pics and found A sitting on her bed reading, not dancing.

day 47 {16 feb 2010)

D was helping me with the dishes (we had about 2 breakfast bowls in the sink that were dirty). I left him alone in there for just a minute, and when I came back he had moved all the clean kids' dishes from the cupboard into the sink. LOL!! He was so proud of himself "helpin wash dishes, mom." Oh well!

day 48 {17 feb 2010)

Made my daughter come out and pose for me. She was not all that thrilled at first...hee hee!

day 48 {17 feb 2010)

Here is my dd, A, giving me a bit of a dirty look! :)

day 48 {17 feb 2010)

she warmed up a little bit.

day 49 {18 feb 2010}

Playing with bokeh, which I am by no means a pro, but I was just too anxious to play to set up a good background. If you look carefully in the photo, you can see little hearts...they are normally circles of light in the out of focused part, but I learned how to play with a lens cover type thingy to make the circles turn to different shapes, I just played with hearts. Some day I will do something REALLY cool with this.

day 50 {19 feb 2010}

D examining his sisters' outdoor treasures. We have been loving the sun this week.

day 50 {19 feb 2010}

I love my zoom!! that I can sneak right in a get close ups when they are far away. :)

day 50 {19 feb 2010}

and they have no idea that I am snapping photos.

day 50 {19 feb 2010}

a quick shot of J while he was busy playing GI Joe/Star Wars with our neighbor.

We have had a surprise week of sunshine. It has been so so nice, I think it has tricked up all to thinking that spring is here. We need it. :) The kids have totally enjoyed the freedom they get outside. Although, it ties me up a bit more; our backyard is not safe enough for my little D to go outside without grown up supervision. We have loved it! Now if we could just keep the pink eye at bay and if my stupid sinuses would clear up for good!

Basketball

J and A are playing basketball this winter. They love it... here are some photos from the game last Saturday...

all day 44 {13 feb 2010)

A's first basketball game ever.

This was her pose about 75% of the game.

She did get the ball once or twice, and miraculously I got a picture of her passing.

J's mad basketball skills--shooting.

J's mad basketball skills--guarding.

J's mad basketball skills--dribbling.

S watching her brother and sister.

She is always so excited to get a little older, so she can participate.

D was itching to get out there to play a little basketball with the big kids.

D and S watching the game with their big sister, while A was getting a rest.

D decided it was OK to sit with his brother on the bench while he was out.

They both had tons of fun and Mike and I were pretty impressed with their first game. :) Thanks Ryan, for being their coach and helping them have fun and learn the game.

birthday and more

I have been in living in fear of what I might find out about my External Hard Drive, so I have still not even plugged that baby back in since the sad, sad day. I hope that I will be able to recover the information on it. At least some of it..like Mike's building's logo, my designing tools, and my edited photos. It makes me just a little sad to even think about it.

Here are some photos...

day 42 {11 feb 2010)

S cleaning up her fort from the family room.

day 42 {11 feb 2010)

S helped D get his shirt on--look closely--the top buttons are misaligned. :)

day 43 {12 feb 2010)

D "helping" me cut the strawberries for breakfast.

It kept him occupied for about 45 minutes.

day 43 {12 feb 2010)

S and D "helping" with Daddy's cake.

day 43 {12 feb 2010)

D enjoying a beater.

day 43 {12 feb 2010)

Mike's birthday cake...

I love that he is covering D's mouth so prevent early candle blow out. :)

day 43 {12 feb 2010)

Mike, post birthday party fun with a few friends of ours.

Thanks, Ralph and Rach, for the fun (and noisy) birthday treats!

We had a few friends over to celebrate Mike's birthday, just for cake and ice-cream. I didn't tell Mike... so I guess I planned for it to be a bit of a surprise. I also DID NOT mention it to the kids until they came home from school that day (and only because they needed to help clean up). Well, once Mike got home from work I was busy finishing up the makings of a delicious Thanksgiving/birthday dinner, and the kids managed to keep it a secret for, oh, all of about 15 minutes. Then the cat was out of the bag and Mike knew some people were coming over. Oh well. Mike also said that a clean house was sort of a dead give away too. (Nice, Babe!) :) The turkey dinner was yummy. Then we gave Mike his presents...thanks to Josh, I was actually able to surprise Mike with a good and fun present (a psp and some games). Mike loved his mints from his mom. As we were all eating the cake and enjoying the homemade frosting, Mike fondly reminisced about his mom's homemade birthday cakes and the THICK layer of frosting between the two cake layers. mmm!!

A little late in getting out some photos and stories...

I have successfully recorded the month of January with photos. In the process of getting all these photos taken and edited, I have been debating on what I want to do with them all. So I settled on making a 2 page templates for each month that I can easily plop in the pictures. I made these little templates for my shoppe at ScrapArtist. Then, after the end of the year, I will get the pages printed and bound in a book. I am super excited about how they turned out. I can't wait to see the whole book put together. What a great treasure it will be of our year. It is already fun to glance at these January pages and remember what we've done and the things we've accomplished.

Now onto this week's photos...

day 35 {04 feb 2010)

D in his favorite spot on the counter.

He sits there while I cook, and really prefers so sit here while talking on the phone.

He is talking to his Aunt Dawn in this picture.

day 36 {05 feb 2010)

a day of painting for S and D.

day 37 {06 feb 2010)

A quick change on plans left me taking BOTH boys out to run errands instead of just one. I told Mike that I was have a Mommy/sons date, and he exclaimed in a high pitched, squeally, girl voice, "Great, the girls will do makeovers!" The girls bought in very quickly. :) When we returned their Daddy had painted their finger and toe nails.

day 38 {07 feb 2010)

The mess on our dining room table after the Super Bowl.

That was nothing compared to the mess in the basement. :)

day 39 {08 feb 2010)

The four lights of my life. love them so so much.

I want to try and get a photo of all of them together at least once a month this year. I think it will be fun to watch them change. :) I remember my sister, Dawn, doing this for a while, and I loved looking at those pictures.

day 40 {09 feb 2010)

The tricycle has a place in our living room during the winter months.

Soon, when it stops raining and the sun comes out more permanently, (well, as permanently as it gets here,) it will find it's way to our deck.

I love this little trike, I got it for $5.00 at a garage sale last summer.

day 41 {10 feb 2010)

The object of some very unhappy feeling for me.

I still can't access my files on this stupid external hard drive.

And I have a lot of files on there. BLEH!

Good and Bad news with regard to the hard drive...

The bad news is that I have been saving nearly everything since December onto the aforementioned external hard drive so as not to bog down the computers; the good news is that I have duplicates of all my original (un-edited) photos on a different source.

Kids: just some bits and pieces...

D-

*talks a ton,

*huge vocabulary,

*prefers to wear PJs all the time, and that is only because I won't let him be clothless ALL the time

*asks too many questions,

*will keep asking until you respond,

*is obsessed with body noises (toots and burps, what boy isn't), and will loudly, and proudly, announce if he makes one of the previously mentioned bodily noises, even if we are in church, and even if the sacrament is being passed,

*loves to play with the girls' pet shops,

*loves Star Wars like his brother, will walk around crouched over and limping a little like an old man, making funny noises, Mike and I couldn't figure out what he was doing until one day he told us he wanted to be Yoda, and then assumed the old man stance; then we got it. :)

*highlight of his day is picking the kids up from school,

*loves to tease (ie. when I wrap him up in Mike's towel after a bath, he finds his dad and says, "I hab you towel," in a very teasing tone; we have even had to call Mike at work so D could tease him),

*whenever he sees my itouch he wants to play a game,

*loves to talk on the phone as long as you are willing to sing songs, bark like a dog, or make just plain ridiculous noises,

*and just recently has discovered the joy of ichat,

*is better behaved now in preschool when we go to help out in S's class (he no longer takes toys away from the boy with down syndrome or hits people on the head when he doesn't get his way),

*loves to rough house and is completely capable of bringing down all his siblings with a little momentum,

*will willing give me kisses all over my face if I claim that my eyes, nose, cheeks, forehead, noggin, chin, and/or lips are owee,

*still loves to snuggle (at least for a minute or two)

*is 100% spoiled and loved on by everyone around.

S-

*getting sassier every day,

*full of spunk and trouble :),

*still needs a nap but refuses to take one, resulting in frequent melt downs in the evening hours,

*loves washing the dishes and cleaning the bathroom,

*hates most pants but especially jeans, she prefers to wear skirts almost everyday,

*likes her hip hop class better than tap/jazz/ballet class,

*can pull off a fake cry like no other and loves to use it to get her older siblings in trouble,

*loves building forts with blankets and chairs,

*doesn't like wearing her shrugs over her dresses with tank top sleeves (a rule at out house), and has been caught recently taking them off in the privacy of her own primary class where mom wouldn't see her, but unfortunately for her, her mom is now IN primary and can catch such acts of mutiny,

*happy to play by her self and be in her own little play world,

*very well behaved and helpful in preschool,

*needs her mom to crack down on teaching her the ABC sounds so she can start reading,

*loves being silly

*still makes up her own songs and sings them in public

A-

*super helpful with her baby brother,

*loves her ballet class,

*tender, sensitive, and emotional,

*will help with nearly anything I ask, and loves praise,

*has ears that hear just about anything and a memory that can get me in trouble (and also REALLY helps me),

*super helpful in school, dare I say the teacher's pet,

*loves to find J at recess to play with him,

*finally is understanding that to match clothes doesn't mean that the whole outfit has to be pink, or 100% blue, etc,

*can't wait until she is old enough to babysit,

*trying to read the Book of Mormon on her own,

*mature beyond her years,

*anxiously awaiting her baptism and turning 8 so she can go to activity days,

*loves to sew, draw, paint, color, and do any sort of crafty thing,

*recently discovered her love of basketball, which is surprising, since she doesn't like to sweat,

*LOVES to read!

J-

*can't get that boy to sit still at home, yet he is VERY well behaved in school,

*loves to play sports,

*will practically ONLY read to earn video game time,

*loves playing video games, but can't quite deal with the frustration that comes with playing,

*doesn't think it is fair that I have been working on decorating the girls' room and not his,

*loves all things sports (especially the Yankees, Cowboys, and BYU, hmm, sound like anyone else?)

*will drive me crazy with his non stop teasing of his sisters,

*loves to talk trash to Mike's nurses who like the Broncos,

*will rarely wear pants, even in the middle of the winter, he prefers shorts, and I don't fight him on it,

*is very good at math,

*is very proud of the 8 arrow points that just barely got sewn on his cub uniform even though he earned them 6+ months ago,

*really listens and learns at church, he regularly shares what he learns with us and he has a great memory of stories and teachings,

*super sensitive, and very hard on himself when he does something wrong,

*regularly wants his dad to take him fishing on a Saturday morning,

*really sensitive to others' feelings, he will feel bad and stand up for a kid at school that is picked on, and he is the first to recognize when Mom has had enough and needs a break, and changes his behavior to help out.

Those are the kidlets, just thought I'd write a little about who they are becoming. I sure love them to pieces!

mainly just posting photos...

We have been fairly sick here. I suffer from chronic sinusitis in the winter here, thanks to all the mold and mildew, my dr believes it is allergy induced, along with allergy induced asthma. If I am a good girl and do my sinus rinses, nasal spray, and flovent inhaler daily, I can stay decently OK. However, when life gets busy and I forget everything gets VERY bad. So when it gets bad, or my immune system gets compromised I end up with a nasty lung thing, throat things, or ear infection, or all of the above. The end of last week through today has been pretty crummy. And since I am such a good sharer, I shared with Mike and he has been yucky sick, too. Thankfully, I think the kids have been relatively well. J had something quick, and I think D might be feeling yucky because he has been a grump. LOL! Hopefully we will all be on the mends soon. :) anywhoo... some new pics for this last week:

day 30 {30 jan 2010}

bad lighting--cute boy riding his horse after prayers and right before bedtime. :)

day 31 {31 jan 2010}

another sunset

day 32 {01 feb 2010} one

D-brushing his teeth, giving me a cheesy grin. :)

day 32 {01 feb 2010} two

D-brushing his teeth, looking cute.

day 32 {01 feb 2010} three

D-brushing his teeth...

"oh, is that Elmo on my toothbrush?"

day 32 {01 feb 2010} four

D-brushing his teeth...

"Hey look Mom!"

day 32 {01 feb 2010} five

D-brushing his teeth...

"It IS Elmo on my toothbrush."

day 33 {02 feb 2010}

one of my favorite hats resting on my new stack of books from amazon. :) woohoo!! I love books. And craft books are even better! :)

day 34 {03 feb 2010}

new shoes...shhh! don't tell. :)

We all know I have a impractical shoe problem. But these were a steal!

They are normal about 50.00 and I got them for 6.99! They are actually less yellow than in the photo, although I would LOVE a pair of yellowish ballet flats. But I can't find any that I like. :)

Well, thanks for those of you, all four of you, who visit my blog. (granted I know this get emailed to a handful of family members.) :) Thanks and have a great week.

Surviving week one of training

Photos first...

day 26 {26 jan 2010} two

after a complete full day of potty training it was definitely a peanut butter jelly kind of night. :)

We stayed home all day, other than going to pick up the kids from school, and spent every 15 -30 minutes making a potty run. There's not much better than being tethered to a toilet. Yeah, right!

day 27 {27 jan 2010}

um..yeah...just plain cute!

day 28 {28 jan 2010}

A's dance bag. I snapped this on the way out the door to A's dance class.

day 29 {29 jan 2010} one

post bath cuteness, and I just love his curls! They are real, not just baby curls!!! :)

day 29 {29 jan 2010} two

Our mini clone. D playing Star Wars by himself. He had full reign of J's costumes while the kidlets were at school, so he was playing with J's most prized red clone trouper costume.

day 29 {29 jan 2010} three

(bad lighting photo-sorry) I love how D helps with dinner. I was supposed to cut that tomato for the taco salads we were having. I washed it, set it down on the cutting board on the counter next to D (yes, he was sitting on the counter again), and went to wash the other two tomatoes. When I turned back around this is what I saw: PB ad J in one hand and my tomato in the other with two huge bites out of it.

Full week of training.
Whew! This week has been totally crazy. I finally left the house with D on Wednesday. We had to go to S's dance classes and J's Scout Pack meeting. Between the two trips to the mall for dance and then the pack meeting we went to the bathroom 7 times. hahaaa! But we made it everywhere without a problem. :) GOOD BOY! :)

I think D has been feeling vulnerable with this new phase. He has been dragging his blanket around with him, and he is attached to me at the hip. I can't go anywhere without him. If I head downstairs while he is up, in a few seconds I hear, "Mommy, where are YOUUUUUU!" and if D wants to go somewhere and I try not to go with him, he sweetly looks at me and says, "Mommy, will you please come wiss (with) me." Did I mention how sweetly he looks at me when he asks?? I just can't tell him no. :) He sits on my lap all the time and is very snugly. I can't really complain too much. :)

I have a coupla funny stories to share. Some are old (and the tomato picture above reminded me) and some are new.

MMMM Tomatoes

A while ago we were shopping, me and all four kids. I was in the produce section and assigned each child something to get: J was to get the carrots and lettuce, A was off getting cucumbers, and S and I were picking out some tomatoes on the vine. We love tomatoes at our house. I seriously can buy a bag of 15 or so and we will still run out by the end of the week. And we are also very picky about the tomatoes we eat. Anyway, this particular day, D was sitting (or more correctly, standing at this moment during out trip) in the cart. I was helping S pick out the best tomatoes and bagging them. As I turned to put the bag in the cart I see what D has been up to. That little rascal, had grabbed two Roma tomatoes and taken a bite out of each of them. I scolded him (very gently because I thought he was too cute at the same time) and quickly gathered up the rest of the clan and went up to pay for those two tomatoes. The lady that checked us out with the purchase to the two tomatoes thought it was about the cutest thing she had seen. Of all the things a little man can choose to munch on he grabs tomatoes. :)

Toilet Time Conversation

D and I have been spending a lot, and I mean A LOT, of time together in the bathroom this week. Well today we had a funny little conversation. It went something like this...

D says to me while he was sitting on the can, "I don't wanna fall in."

I responded, "Well, the little one [referring to the training toilet] would be better."

D, who has refused to sit on the little toilet since day two, says, "I don't want to use the little one."

Me, "be careful then."

D, doing his balancing act on the big one, "don't flush me, Mom! Don't flush me!"

Me, "I would never flush you."

D, smiles his sneaky little grin, and starts moving one leg up to the seat, and says, "Can I dip my foot in?"

Me, "Uh NO!"

He is such a funny boy.

Reading for Video Game Time

It is working!! It is working!! I really love seeing the timer on the microwave set and running by someone other than me, because it means J has set the timer, and is reading. :) It makes me so so happy that he is reading more. This week, he earned a full hour of video game time, which means he read for two hours this week. That is huge for him. He is also focused more on their reading program at school, it makes me so happy!

"Art comes from my Mom"

J loves to draw. I guess he has been drawing a bit at school. Some of his friends have asked him how come he can draw so well. He told me he said, " Well, the art stuff comes from my Mom, if you want to learn, she'll give you lessons." hahaaa!

Basketball for the older two

We are going to be a bit busier for the next few months. We have J and A in basketball. We have never done it before, but decided to let them try it out. Mainly because our good friend is going to be their coach. We had their first clinic today. I was pleased with both of them. A, who normally doesn't like to run and sweat, really loved it. J scored a basket and was pretty proud of himself. I hope they both enjoy it.

The dreaded thumb guard...

S has been wearing the thumb guard for about 3 and a half weeks now. I think it is going well. We have taken it off about once a week to clean it out and let her thumb air out. The first time it came off, she looked at her thumb longingly; she really wanted to suck it. The next time, it wasn't quite so bad, I had her color to keep her hand busy. Today we took it off and I actually forgot about it, so it was off for about 3 hours. She didn't suck it at all. She didn't even want to, she said she didn't even think about it. We did put it back on, but I am glad that she is doing so well with it. She still chews on the thumb guard. I am hoping that habit will stop soon. Then we will think about removing the T guard permanently (well, at least during the day time).

little mini me

My sweet daughter, A, is growing up so fast. She is becoming so so helpful and sweet. She is always willing to give me an extra hand. And because she is so sweet with D, she can comfort him when he is sad or hurt, if I am not around. :) She is the first one to thank me for dinner, or for doing the laundry, or for braiding her hair. She is my little gopher, and she really thrives on helping. She gets to "be the teacher" at school fairly regularly because of her good behavior and maturity. I am pretty proud of her.

Oh, we have skype (for a bit now) and ichat up and running, so if you have them and want to chat shoot me an email or call me and we can become each others' friends or buddies. :)