Spring Break Day 2

This morning Eliza got up and set out her St. Patrick's Day treasure hunt. She had cut out shamrocks from green paper and made a little hunt that eventually led out out to the car where there was a little leprechaun and some gold coin chocolates as the treasure. It was very creative. Then we got ready and the girls made sure everyone was in green! No one got pinched around here! After we were ready, we headed to my mom's and then went to my aunt Deb's house in Gilbert. It was our day to show her and Emali how to make bread. It was a great day! I think we were successful in teaching them how and with a little practice they'll be making their own delicious homemade bread! All the girls had fun--6 girls between me and Em--playing and eating Deb out of house and home. I think they cleaned out her pantry!


While the bread was rising, Emali made the frosting for and assembled a cake for her dad's birthday which is today. It was a Paula Dean recipe and it looked so good! The frosting was delicious as we all sampled some and scraped the bowl.




While the bread was cooling, we went to Costco. Deb had told us they sold wheat at her Costco, so we checked it out and we got some lunch from the food court. It went well but Em and I were constantly hopping to keep all the girls happy and fed. My mom and Deb enjoyed a nice lunch at a table next to us. I think they enjoyed the entertainment.

On the way home, we got Sonic--I think we all got slushes except my mom. It was a fun, productive day!

Tonight after Brian got home and a quick dinner, we went swimming at the resort. Well, Eliza and Libby swam, Brian got in to about his knees, Hattie and Ellie splashed in the shallow part and I got up to my ankles before retreating to a beach chair. It was FREEZING! I am a wimp when it comes to cold water, but it was too cold for me. They all had fun. We even got to see a hot air balloon take off right by the resort and it went right over the pool area--it was so close and huge!! It was a fun sight.

Libby's Field Day

Here are some papparazi pictures from Libby's field day on Friday.

Spring Break Day 1

Yesterday I ended up staying home with Ellie. She didn't wake up with a fever, but I didn't want to risk it and she had a cough and runny nose. I kept Hattie home, too, so Brian could just stay in Sacrament with Eliza and Libby. I turned on BYU TV and listened to a few talks and I also put Eliza and Libby's new clothes away. That was a task because it meant I had to go through their drawers and closet. But it's done.

We went to my parents for dinner and had a simple but so good dinner--lunch meat sandwiches. YUM! I brought the stuff and made pizzokie for dessert.

Well, today was our first day of spring break! I met Kari first for a nice walk. The weather was great! After I got home, Brian went to work and we all got ready. I made our lunches and packed it up and we headed up to the outlets so we could play in their water and on the little playground thing. We got there and no water!! Apparently they don't turn it on unless it's 90 degrees or hotter!! We were bummed out!! We ate our lunch and the girls played a little bit.


Then we packed back up and headed to Westgate to play in their water since the girls were excited to play and had their swim stuff on. Luckily their water was on! They all had a blast playing and getting wet. All but Eliza were timid at first, but by the end Ellie and Libby got pretty wet, too. Hattie had fun running around and getting a little wet. After playing we got some ice cream for Cold Stone. It was a fun time!





We came home and I put Hattie down for a nap. Libby and I colored for a while, Ellie and Eliza played barbies. Later we went out front for a while until Brian came home, then we made dinner and ate it out front, too. Eliza gave our FHE lesson about Jonah and the whale, then we played dodge ball and had mini pizzokies for treat. Then it was bath and bed!

Secret Agent

That is how I felt this yesterday morning. Libby had her field day--where the classes play fun games together. I was planning to go and we talked about it this week. Well, this morning came, and Libby said she didn't want me to come. I figured that might happen. Or I was afraid I would go and she wouldn't want to do anything. So I hemmed and hawed about what to do. I called Terri to see if she was going to see if she could snap some pictures of her for me. She didn't know about it, but she was at the school anyway, so she stayed to take pictures of Libby and Carson. I decided to go and watch from afar. We drove by slowly and watched, then I saw that the activities were far from an area where I could watch. So we parked and went over to the field. I was able to watch her the whole time without her seeing me! Their last activity was the tug of war, close to where we were, but we were very discreet and hid behind the dug out so the fence camouflaged us. After they were ALL done, I went up to her and said hi and told her good job. I think she was shocked that I was there.

Then in the afternoon, I went back for Eliza's field day. But this time I was able to go as myself and be seen. Eliza also had a really fun time doing the little games. She was excited because the girls in the class beat the boys in tug-o-war.







No kids were strangled in the taking of this photo!

Ellie and Hattie had fun, too!

Last night was Jodi's wedding reception. Phil's parents backyard was decorated so beautifully and it looked so nice. Once again, it was nice to see people from past wards that I haven't seen in a long time. My girls had a great time socializing, too.

Today Brian went mountain biking with his friend from work, then he went into work for a few hours. The girls and I did some things around the house this morning, then we went out front for a while. Eliza went over to our new neighbors. His mom was over and she had one of those really tiny dogs. So Eliza made herself at home and played with the dog for a while. They had a lot of fun and the mome said she enjoyed having Eliza over. Brian got home and I headed to the grocery store. I picked the line with the price match Nazi lady, but I was able to get all but one bag of chips because she said it was a different size. I could have protested, but I didn't. We came home and loaded up and headed up to Anthem where we got totally spoiled. My VT companion from a year or two ago has two girls a little older than ours and she started giving me hand-me-downs. Well, she has continued and has been stocking up. No kidding--the back of our van was completely filled and so was the front seat. I had to sit in the back with the girls. It took Eliza, Libby and I over 2 hours to go through everything. We felt so blessed to receive all those clothes and they are so great--the girls love them. Here is a photo pre-tornado in my room of all the bags.

Brian went to a soccer game tonight at ASU--it was some Chicago team and an LA team from the MLS league, I think who played. He went with his brother Jared and my brother Brian. They had a good time.

So I might be taking Ellie back in to the doctor tomorrow. She has her fever back and she says her ears hurt. Today was her 5th day of 5 days on a Z-pack. She shouldn't still be sick. Ugh.

Time

So last night in our camp meeting, Debbie talked about our camp theme. She is so great--in her little intro, she talked about our time versus our Heavenly Father's time. We talked about that one of our days is equal to 1,000 years in His time. She did some math before hand and figured that 1.5 seconds is equal to 1 year. From there she talked about the fact that we waited and watched 7,000 years for the Earth to be created. We also had that time to learn. Then she had us think...how long have we been away from Him? Well, let's say someone lives to the age of 80, we are only gone from Heavenly Father for about 2 hours. Maybe we are only gone for so short a time because He loves us so much and misses us and wants us back with Him. I love that thought. To relate it to girls camp, on HF's time, we have about 8-9 seconds with these girls while we are at girls camp to help teach them and build their testimony. Last night I was talking to Brian about this and we figured that if we have our kids in our home for 20 years--give or take before they are out on their own, we have about 15 minutes with them to teach them. Crazy! It sure puts it more into perspective.

Lazy Days

The past couple of days have been lazy around here. Yesterday Ellie did not feel well! She didn't wake up until after 9, then she was on the couch most of the day. She had a fever all day and was on and off sleeping. She even threw up a few times! So I was lazy with her and wiped her nose, fed her a Popsicle, took her temperature, etc. The only thing she requested to watch on TV was Martha. Funny girl. So we did watch that and it was a tribute to Lilly Pulitzer. That was fun to watch. I love all the colors of her fabrics. I am not sure I could pull off wearing a Lilly, but I do think they are cute. They did show some cute Lilly pencils where were so fun. We also watched our share of Food Network and would tell each other if a certain dish they were making looked good or not. She had a fever in the night, but happily today, she is doing much better and doesn't have a fever.

Today my mom came over and watched Ellie and Hattie while I had one visiting teaching appointment. And tonight I had a camp meeting. I am excited to go. I get to be the camp photographer and put together the slide show there (a little scared about that) and I get to be the assistant craft person with Becky. The perk is to stay in the stake staff cabin with two bathrooms. Sweet!

Seriously

Who else is going to get sick? Last night Ellie was a little fussy during the night be we didn't think anything of it. But today she complained a few times that her ear hurt. Turns out she has an ear infection, too. I told Eliza and Libby to not even think about getting sick any time soon. I am done with dr. visits for a while. I told Brian our HSA account is going to be gone if we keep up this rate. My throat is starting to hurt, but moms aren't allowed to get sick.

Well, Sunday was my lesson--I thought it went well. I ran out of time, so I would prefer that over not having enough material. That night we got to enjoy family dinner at my parents, along with visiting and kids playing. During Sacrament our kidlets had trouble being reverent, so after church while still in church clothes, everyone got to sit on the couch, practicing being reverent. Hope it helps or you'd better bet we'll be back there next week.

We haven't been up to too much lately--I've been reviewing my three month supply lists and trying to get the loose ends taken care of. I got some round steak at Safeway for a great deal and my mom is going to can it for me.

Library, Home Depot, Party

This morning after cleaning up the TP job, we got ready and headed to the grand opening of the new city library. We are really excited because it's close and so nice. It was quite crowded, but we got to look around and the girls watched the juggling show. He was good--even juggled three bowling balls. We checked out a few movies and the girls each got a book. While we were checking out, they had a drawing for the raffle. Well, they called Brian's name and he won a $100 gift card to Wal-Mart. Talk about exciting! That will totally come in handy for groceries! Actually he spent some of it already on a new headlight for his car and a cord we've been wanting to listen to the iPod in the car since ours was toast. Libby really wanted to stick around to hear the rest of the winners and low and behold, I won, too! I won a $25 gift card to Target. It was our lucky day for sure.

From the library we went to Home Depot where they were having an event. There were a few booths, free hot dogs, chips and cotton candy, and a bouncy thing. So we had fun doing that for a while.

This evening we had a celebration to celebrate no more chemo for Makenzie. It was lots of fun--dinner, music, visiting with friends (some we haven't seen for a while) and the kids jumped in a bouncy and danced. We were happy to celebrate this great time for Makenzie.

Now I need to review my lesson for tomorrow.

TP

The girls enjoyed seeing the TP job this morning. They wondered who did it, why, etc. Then they had more fun cleaning it up. Too bad it was a freezing COLD morning!!! Other than high in the tree, I think it's all cleaned up.

Washcloth Anyone?

This is what happens when I leave Libby in the bathtub with Ellie watching and getting the washcloths while I am watching American Idol with Eliza. Nearly every washcloth from my linen closet was in the tub. I was not happy when I went in and saw that. The next time I went in, she had put them around my tub with Polly Pockets on them. I had to take a picture, but I told Libby, "Libby I am taking a picture but I am not happy you did this." It was kind of funny.

This week I've spent taking care of Hattie. She started with a fever on Wednesday morning and throwing up on me first thing in the morning. Nice! And it was the day Brian had an early breakfast for work. Ack! She still had a fever yesterday, so after I got my girls from school for early release we zipped over to the doctor. The verdict: double ear infection! No wonder she felt so awful! So we got some antibiotic and came home! She is finally doing better today.

Today Brian's mom graciously watched Ellie and Hattie while I went to my cousin's wedding. I rode over to the temple with my parents, so that was nice. The ceremony was lovely. It's always nice to see friends and family (aunts/uncles/cousins/grandpa, etc.). It was also fun to see Jodi--she borrowed my wedding dress and veil. It was so fun to see her in it--she looked beautiful! Oh yeah, she also wore the earrings that I wore that were our Grandma Doris'. So that was special. And the alter cloth/doily in the room where they were married was made by my mom's aunt Dovetta. Special little touches always make things so nice! After the wedding, we went to the luncheon at Phil's parents' house.

Tonight we hung out at home. The girls played out front for a long time, then we came in and did dinner and baths. I was putting Eliza to bed and Brian left to get some milk from the store. I feel asleep and when he got home, he came in and told me to come here. I was like, "What?" He said to just come here and he said, "It's on." I was like huh??!! He took me out front only to see that we had been TP'd. Ha! He was coming home from the store and he caught the culprits! It was two girls I had in young women and three boys from his young men's class. When he pulled up, they ran and took off in their car. But we know who it was and can do some friendly revenge when they least expect it! LOL. We decided to leave it TPd so our girls can see it in the morning. I am a little embarrassed though! I'll have to get a picture in the morning.

Notes

I forgot to mention that late Friday night, a few friends and I went and saw Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was a cute movie. I loved the yummy popcorn and drink a lot, too! :)

I wanted to type up my notes from conference, so I wouldn't forget. This is from Elder Shumway.

--keep covenants and pay tithing
--we are on earth to gain an eternal family
--5 most important words are: I am proud of you. 4--What is your opinion. 3--If you please. 2--Thank you.
--dedicate all we are to our families
--have family dinner
--don't neglect spouse or family for work, business, school, etc.
--love, teach & respect children
--pray with and for your children
--our spouse is the only possession we take with us.
--don't be lax with your marriage
--his personal opinion is to not spank children.
--ours is a custodial relationship with out kids. Welcome them into your homes and nurture them and love them with all your hearts.
--Satan is on the loose, so watch out! The only power Satan has is the power you give him.

His speaking style was for sure rapid fire, but I really enjoyed it and got a lot out of his talk.

On Sunday, we had the 9 AM session. I joked that we should just start out in the primary room and watch it from in there. But we didn't and our girls actually did great. I didn't get to take too many notes, but I did manage to write a few things down about missionary work for my lesson on Sunday.

Hattie's Two!

Yesterday was Hattie's 2nd birthday. Where has the time gone!?!? I think she had a fun day. I would sing to her several times during the day and she loved it. I have been trying to teach her to say "two" when someone asks how old she is. She is learning, but when I ask her how old she is, she'll say, "Good." I'll remind her "two" and she'll put her hand out like she is showing you how many, then she'll say, "Two." It's cute.

Kari and I hiked the morning, and when I got home she and Ellie were up. First thing, she wanted to wear one of her new dresses. She wore it for a while, then when I got her up from her morning nap, she saw another one in her closet and wanted to change! Then she changed again when my mom brought over another one she had to get at a different Target. Three dresses in one day--total girl! During the day we went shopping for her gift. Talk about procrastination! I won't be able to do that when she gets much older, but now I can shop for her and still hide it. We got her a pair of sandal-y shows that are quick on and off and good for warmer weather. Ellie and I also made her cake during the day. It was torture for them to see the cake but have to wait until the evening to eat it! Hattie kept asking for her "birthday" --meaning her birthday cake. When Brian got home, we had dinner, then cake and ice cream. We decided to take Hattie's dress off so she didn't get it dirty. Well, Libby and Ellie had to follow suit. That leads me to a funny story...Ellie was eating and she had some on her chin, so when she looked down, she got it on her chest. I said, "Ellie be careful, you're getting it on your chest." She looked down and said, "What chest?" She didn't mean to be funny, but both Brian and I found it just hilarious and it got us all laughing. So true and funny! Just a recap of Hattie at age 2...she loves to pick out her own clothes and has some true favorites, although I think her new dresses will top the list. She is picky about the shoes she wears and always wants to wear something different. She has to bless the food every time she eats ANYTHING. You could give her a cookie and she will fold her arms and say, "Bless it." So we have to stop to let her pray. And she loves to say the prayer. It is really cute when she does. Hattie loves to dance and loves to sing. I am always surprised at how many words to songs that she knows! Makes me laugh as she sings along to High School Musical or Sam Payne or Sara Evans! Her favorite toys are Barbies--loves to get them dressed (or pick out the clothes to have me dress) and she loves her dog and cat stuffed animals. She also LOVES watching Kidsongs or HSM. She is lots of fun and loves to laugh. Happy birthday, Hattie! Oh I almost forgot. When I would sing to Hattie, at the end she would blow like she was blowing out the candles. Well, when was put the cake in front of her, we sang and near the end, she got close to the cake all ready to blow out the candles. When we were done, she blew both of them out so quickly and perfectly. I think it shocked us all and we weren't expecting it. We squealed and clapped for her. She loved it and seemed so proud of herself.






Today Brian left early for basketball followed by setting up chairs for stake conference. I was hoping to sleep in, but Hattie called right when he left. Eliza had a birthday party to go to, so we dropped her off there, then headed to Costco. We had gotten our rebate check, so we decided to shop so we could cash it. We had lunch first--love a cheap, good lunch--then we got the few things we needed. We hurried home, then I went grocery shopping, picked up Eliza, then Brian zoomed off to his 4 PM meeting. I got the girls fed, bathed, then picked up our sitter for the adult meeting later that night.

The meeting was great. I will have to type up my notes of what I learned, but I loved our visiting general authority and loved his style. It was a great meeting. We grabbed some Chipotle (me) and El Pollo (Brian), then came home. I'm calling it a day!

End of an Era

I was so sad! I've had the same make-up organizer thing for YEARS!! Probably 15 years or so and today it completely broke. I have loved it--I got it at Clinique and it was a gift with purchase. It fit my make up so nicely and fit perfectly in the medicine cabinet. A while back it had cracked, but it was still usable and little by little it got worse. And yesterday it totally separated all together. I don't know what I am going to do now!

Yesterday morning I went visiting teaching, then hung out the rest of the day. It's been shorts weather the past couple of days--which is good and bad. It can't warm up yet! We love being outside too much for it to get hot. Then yesterday afternoon my parents come over and we loaded up for Target to shop for Hattie's b-day. I suggested they get her some dresses--both for Sunday and for everyday. We lucked out--they had some darling dresses! She is set for the next little while. Then we all went to Paradise Bakery for dinner. Actually Eliza got Subway and Brian and my dad got Chipotle and we all ate it at PB. Yum! I topped it off with a ginger molasses cookies. I love those! Our last stop was the mall for Hattie to pick out an outfit for her build-a-bear. She had a LOT of help from her sisters trying to convince her to get a certain outfit, but Hattie was drawn to the princess shirt and a silvery skirt. Instead of shoes, she got a little purse with a brush. The girls showed her how to "wash" her bear at the store and she was all into that, so we figured a brush would be fun for her so she could do it at home. She loved it! After we got the outfit, she found a little chair and set her in it. She was having fun. We didn't get the chair, but she had fun playing. From there we went home!

Target

Have you see the Orla Kiely stuff at Target. I have really LOVED her stuff for a while, then the other day I saw she has a line at Target!!! It's darling! If money were no object, I'd get one of her purses sold at Nordstrom. The lady I used to do Activity Days with had one and it was SO cute. But for now I have my eye on some dishtowels at Target.

Can't believe it's almost the end of the week. I did sweep and mop my floors this week, finished a baby shower gift and went to a fun baby shower today. Tomorrow is visiting teaching and Friday is Hattie's birthday. Two years has flown by for sure!

Trying to think of what else I want to be sure to document and not forget...Hattie talks up a storm and Ellie is just so sweet and fun. She'll come up to me and say, "Mom, you're cute." How sweet is that? Libby has been going to bed better the past little while, knock on wood. But it has been a welcome change and an answer to our prayers. Eliza is having fun at school and is looking forward to starting soccer next month.

Bye for now.

Grandpa Bert's House

Sunday morning always comes so early! We made it to church on time, but Hattie was a bit difficult during sacrament. I don't think she has been feeling great, so I guess she had an excuse. We had a great lesson in Relief Society about the marriage covenant. She went over the different things we covenanted to in marriage--it's just a good reminder about what our priorities should be. We hung out at home until time to go to dinner at Brian's parents'. We had enchiladas and a few sides. Rob brought his bucket of gum and had another mentoring session. I did okay--he failed to get a picture of my biggest bubble, but I think it was my biggest on record. Exciting, huh? Eliza and Sara even participated this time. After we got home and the kids to bed, Brian and I started watching Fireproof. It's really good so far. I couldn't stay awake, so we stopped about halfway through and hopefully we'll finish it tonight.

Today Kari and I hiked. The weather was so nice. I had to take my sweatshirt off about halfway through. It's also getting lighter sooner, which is nice. The girls got off to school and I tidied up at home and Ellie and Hattie played. This afternoon, Terri dropped the girls off, then took Eliza and Ellie on a little hike with her boys. Since Hattie wouldn't nap :(, she, Libby and I went out front until Brian got home. Tonight we went to my grandpa's house. He needed something done on his computer, so he asked if Brian would come help him. I think I should have just sent him! The three youngest girls were wild! I think they were hungry and tired, so that didn't help. But they were running all over the place! When we left, my grandpa was nice enough to give us some money to get dinner as a thank you for helping. He is always so thoughtful like that. We stopped at Burger King for a much needed dinner! We were all starving! It was fun to go over and visit though.

Short & Sweet

This morning Brian let me sleep in. Actually it was me waking up the same time as everyone but not having to get out of bed until later. It was nice though. Brian went on bike ride with his friend, then right when he got home, my mom and I left for my cousin Jodi's bridal shower. It was fun to visit with old friends, eat and watch her open gifts. While I was gone, Brian took the girls to watch my nephew's little basketball game. I did a couple errands on my way home. The afternoon was spent watching part of High School Musical 3 and playing out front. Tonight we went a 1st birthday party for the little boy of a family Brian home teaches. It is actually our Bishop's son, too. But it was such a fun party. First they BBQ'd hamburgers and hot dogs and had lots of sides. The kids played in a jumpy thing they had and they banged on Chad's drum set that they had set up, which they used later along with Barry on guitar and Connie on the bass. They sang some rocked-out versions of several Primary songs. It was so fun. Then it was cake and ice cream, a monster truck pinata and finally presents. It was a good time.

Libby's Field Trip

I didn't realize I was so behind. On Wednesday morning, we ran, then after the girls went to school, we dropped the other two off with Brian's mom while we got our taxes done. It's always a good tax day when you don't have to pay! So we were glad about that. The rest of the day was just the usual.

On Thursday, Kari was nice enough to watch my girls while I went with Libby on her field trip. I got to her school around 10 and went to her classroom. She was excited to see me. We got our group of student we were in charge of, then got on the bus. It was Libby's first time on a school bus. She seemed to like the experience. It is funny to see how she interacts with the other kids. She was very quiet, but I do think it was because I was there. I was her security blanket. I wish I could be a fly on the wall and watch her when I am not around! We went to Cactus to see the Childsplay production--Ferdinand the Bull. It was a cute little play--lots of funny parts, too, and some that only the parents would get. Libby enjoyed it. We got back to the school and ate our lunches on the playground, then I headed back to Kari's. That night I had to go back to Karlee's to use her machine--mine broke making Jodi's apron! I think it was too thick. Her bridal shower tomorrow and I made some dishtowels--kind of how I do the burp cloths. But I took three white dishtowels and added cute fabric to match her kitchen colors. Then I also took a white apron from Wal-Mart and dressed it up with fabric. I got a little technical help, but I think it turned out so cute! I had Eliza model it for a picture--and before I took it, she said, "You're not getting my face are you?"


This morning Kari and I hiked, then came home for the morning routine. After the school girls were off, I cleaned. I had been putting it off, so I decided to plow through. I was glad to get some things done around the house. This afternoon went pretty smoothly. Brian came home a little early and we rode with the Headricks to the temple for our ward temple night. We had a good time and had some Cafe Rio after. Yum! Brian thinks I need an IV drip of that dressing. It's the best.

Hattie's Turn

I think Hattie felt left out because Sunday night she started with a fever! She has been up and down, so hopefully she'll get over it quickly. So other than taking care of her...let's see...Sunday evening we went to my parents' for dinner. Dan and Chris came up from CG. We had a nice mix of Mexican food, which was good!

On Monday, Kari and I ran/walked in the morning, then I came home. Brian decided not to go into work, which worked out well since Hattie needed some extra attention. Later in the morning, the cousins got together at Brian's parents'. Brian stayed home with Hattie and I took the other three girls over for playing and lunch. The rest of the day just consisted of playing outside, errands, family home evening, dinner, etc. My parents also came over for a minute to bring Hattie her Build-a-Bear. Since she is turning two, they were going to take her, but since she was sick they picked it out for her. (They had a coupon that expired yesterday--wouldn't you know!) They picked out a darling gray kitty cat with pink accents. They'll take her back when she is well to pick out an outfit for it. She loves it and carries it around everywhere.




Today the girls were back to school. We stayed close to home except for a jaunt to Wal-Mart. Tonight I went to Karlee's again for more fabric. My cousin's bridal shower is coming up and I have a couple of projects in mind for her gift. Hope they turn out!