End of the Year Events

May is the month for many activities.  Macy had her first ballet recital.  I don't think it will be last because this gal is super busy.  I think she is going to take tap and ballet next year, partly because I am a mean mom and told her we are not going to start cheer until she is older and taken some dance.

Blurry picture but flash photos were not allowed and if you zoom too far on our camera the pictures are not the best.

We also had her kindergarten performance.  I felt like a loser mom because I sent her to school in the elementary school colors and jeans (I thought that is what I read in the note sent home).  All the other kids (with the exception of like 2 others) came dressed in their Sunday best/prom dress.  I was baffled and wanted to slide down in my seat.  I went straight home and looked at the note.  No mention of dresses and dress shirts.  Please wear the school colors: black, red, or white.  I followed directions.  What is up with everyone else?

By the way she did a great job, remembered her part and sang cute songs.  My parents taped the performance and when Macy watched it on TV she asked why the kids were all shouting.  Yes they also sang loud like they were told.

Torturing the Children aka chores

The girls have chores that they are supposed to do weekly and daily.  Each day they are to comb their hair, brush their teeth in the morning and night, make their beds and pick up their room.  Weekly they are supposed to clean the bathroom, dust,  and pick up the family room.  There is definitely room for improvement when it comes to these things being done.  We are far better at these tasks when Macy is out of school.

Well today I did I made them clean.  I even but Braden to work.  They were all happy with this so I was happy with this.

 Here is the little man doing his part.  Milk was spilled so I could not procrastinate the mopping any longer.  Braden also happened to be awake at this time.  Have you ever tried sweeping and mopping with a 14 month old around?  Near impossible to keep them out of the piles of dirt and off the wet floor.  He found the broom and I let him stay in his corner while I cleaned the rest.

 

Oh the Joys

Whew! Just spent 15 minutes arguing with a 6 year old about the best way to remove a thorn from her foot.  It wasn't bothering her until she saw the blood blister that resulted from the thorn.  She wanted that dried blood removed but of course she knows the only way to get it out and her way would cause no pain and it could be done softly.  I said I would remove but I would not be bound by her rules.  Wouldn't agree so I said just leave it alone but she wouldn't agree.  Can't wait for the teenage years.

More exciting stuff happened last week.  To make it a quick bath night I put all three kids in the bath tub together.  A little tight but they sort of fit.  When Kelsey bathes with Braden she loves to dump water on his head.  He must like it because he loves once he can catch his breath.  Well with 2 girls dumping water on him he had a hard time getting this breath and would suck in water.  I kept telling them to stop it or he would drown.  Of course they didn't listen.  Braden threw up his dinner in the tub thanks to them, but he laughed and smiled right after.  The joke was on them because they had to jump out and take a shower.

At our house we have had one more lost tooth (again the tooth was lost before it could make it under the pillow) and 4 more gained.  Macy is also ready to lose another 2 teeth.  Soon her mouth will be empty.  Braden is filling the gap.  He has 3 molars, 1 eye tooth and 1 more eye tooth on the way.  Yes he loves to bite.

We have a drunken sailor in the house (not sure where he gets the booze in our dry household).  The little man is finally taking more than one step.  He does a lot of standing and clapping because he has misinterpreted what he all get excited for.  He thinks we are proud for him standing.  During FHE he was wobbling all across the room.  Very distracting.

Went to the school carnival.  Brought home only one goldfish.  Forced to make a trip to the pet store the next day to get another a goldfish.  After $20 we are the proud owners of 2 goldfish.  The only reason we have a goldfish is because I convinced Macy to play the game.  Kelsey really wanted the fish.  I was afraid she wouldn't win.  I knew Macy could win and thought she wouldn't care enough and would give Kelsey the fish.  I was wrong.  So Kelsey went to pick out the new fish and Brian said at one point she refused to pick a fish because she wanted a parrot or a guinea pig.  It was quite the ordeal at the pet store.  Luckily Brian held his ground, he is not on the couch, and Kelsey has her fish.

Sunday we went to my uncle's house to celebrate some birthdays.  It was such a perfect night.  Macy loves to go over there because she loves to hang out with my cousin, Noah.  He is closer to Macy's age than mine (he is in third grade).  She had such a good time hanging out with him.  She asked when we could have a playdate with him.  She wanted to go back today.  I think Noah is a little old for that but I didn't tell her that.

My aunt invited us over because she wanted us all to share in the gift she gave my uncle for his birthday.  While my dad and his sister were cleaning out my grandma's house they found the old chalk board the family used for FHE.  The board still had some writing on it from my grandfather.  It was so clear as if he wrote on it yesterday.  He passed away 27 years ago so the writing had to be at least 37 years old if not more.  They decided to let my uncle have it so his wife had it framed (my uncle never new they had found this chalk board until that night).  The best part was the words that were left on the board.  There were 3 statements and they said something like: "Who am I?  Where did I come from? Where am I going?"  It was neat and I am a little envious of such a gift.  I am glad they gave it to him and we can still get together as a family.

Happy Birthday Macy!

In the midst of everything we celebrated Macy's birthday.  It was pretty much a week long celebration.  The Wednesday before her birthday grandma and grandpa took her shopping and to lunch.  She got a new Build-a-bear.  I think we are becoming the Build-a-bear warehouse.  On her birthday she opened presents from the family.  She was so excited to get the pink headband she had asked grandma for. 

She also received some more zhu zhu stuff, including the gray hamster she was asking for. I luckily found it the night before thanks to Kelsey blabbering to Macy that we got her a black and white one instead.  Macy then shouted out she saw the gray one at Build-a-bear. 

She was also given baby doll stuff and art kits.  She was one happy girl. 

For dinner she picked Red Robin, with a little influencing from Jeff and me.  Originally she wanted Sweet Tomatoes but we were also celebrating Jeff's birthday.

Sunday was more ice cream and cake at my mom's.  She didn't blow out candles the day before so we had to find some time to do it.  We also made Grandma Bonnie blow out candles because we were celebrating her's too.

I wasn't going to do a friend birthday party, but Macy begged hard enough and I felt like a loser mom for making my kids go 4 year between birthday parties.  I guess it is every other year.  Her birthday was held a week later and she had to invite a ton of friends.  We did a butterfly party.  We decorated the house. 

I made a butterfly cake. 

We had a butterfly pinata. 

We did melt-a-beads. 

Marin and Natalie

Kelsey and Jensen

Cora

They played pass-the-parcel and a game called "Quack quack".  She opened presents and had root beer floats with her cake.  I think it was a success.  Now is time for thank you cards and I know I am going to have a difficult time getting her to do this.  I mentioned this once and she said she already told them thank you.

Whew!

Family History calls and so I am popping back in for some quick re-caps.

Kid date night.  Brian has been putting in tons of hours at work trying to get the business plan put together.  (When I say tons I mean almost 17 hours a day.  The other hours of the day are devoted to sleeping, getting ready for the day, getting ready for bed and commuting.)  So a couple of weeks ago the kids and I had our own date night.  After Macy's dance we went out to dinner over in Daybreak.  Of course dinner had to include dessert so we had some over-priced gelato.  We then played around the lakes until the rain chased us home.  It was one of the best date nights in a long time.

I believe the following week was when Braden caught the stomach flu.  The little guy was miserable and got so dehydrated we had to take him to a Kidscare for an IV.  They stuck him 3 times before declaring they couldn't get a vein and sent me to the ER (which happened to be in the same building).  I then paid another co-pay, had to go through the illness history again with another doctor to again be told it was stomach flu.  They stuck him with the needle 2 times before they got a vein.  Of course we were in the ER so a 15 minute procedure turned out to be an all night event.  I was not happy.  If they hadn't have left the IV in I would have walked out (I had already paid and there wasn't more to do for him and I already knew the recommendations to help him).  After his flu recovery the girls shared a cold with him and that zapped him for another week.  Luckily it is over and he is back to normal and they way he has been eating I am sure he will surpass the lost poundage soon.  Here he is miserable in the ER.

After dance one week Macy gets in the car and tells me she is quitting ballet.  I asked her why.  She replied that she "had too much to do."  I asked, "like what?"  "I have dance, soccer and school."  "That's it?" I said.  After a pause she responded, "and a dance recital."  Man what a hectic life.  Too bad I told her she can't quit and dance is almost over with for the summer.

Speaking of soccer, here is a picture of her game today.  Today she showed a little more aggression.  I think she really likes dance and soccer.  She really likes to play with friends too and that is a big dilemma.

The blond girl on her team is real good and aggressive.  Today Macy kept trying to take the ball from her own team mate.  Last week I realized that to be a soccer mom in Utah I am going to have to start wearing thermals.  Today that was re-confirmed.

During dance Kelsey, Braden and I sit in the car because it is too far to head back home.  I let Kelsey play around in the car.  The same day Macy and I had the previously mentioned conversation, I looked back to find chocolate on Braden's mouth.  I asked Kelsey where it can from.  It was an M&M she found on the ground.  Then I noticed a jolly rancher in her mouth.  It too come from the floor of the carpet.  Luckily I found the wrapper so it wasn't a previously sucked on candy.

This week I did some updating to our family's 72 hour kit.  I finally purchased a large enough backpack to carry it all.  I threw out one set of diapers (size 5) and kept the other set for Braden (they were for Kelsey).  That tells you how long it has been.  I think we are all set.  I still have to replace some water and first aid stuff, but other than that we are set.  My only concern is that I might tip over if it is blowing too hard.  This thing is heavy and stuffed to the brim.  I can't wait until my kids are old enough to haul their own food.  I was able to pawn off some things to their own backpacks because Macy and Kelsey are old enough to carry some.  Here is the monster pack.  I took it for a trial run up the stairs carrying Braden.  I sure hope he learns to walk soon.  Even then I still need to hit the weights a little harder to get very far.  Good thing kids move slow.

An update on me.  Besides the kids real estate is keeping me fairly busy.  I am working on selling 2 homes and helping someone buy a home.  Plus I have an awfully picky client looking for a home.  The name starts with a "B" and ends with a "rian".

My Baby is Growing Up

Braden recently turned one and he has definitely changed from baby to toddler.  He loves to get into trouble and likes to get caught.  It is a fun game to him (in fact the older he gets the more he reminds me of Macy and how she was).  He likes to put items in anything including garbage cans.  He also likes to put his hands in the toilet and eat toilet paper.  Rocks and leaves are another favorite treat of his.  He has become quite the mover and loves to climb stairs.  He has an interesting crawl.  On carpet he crawls with his right hand in a fist, gorrilla style.  On tile the hand is flat like normal kids.  Might be a texture thing.  He is so proud of himself that he can stand and loves to show off.  In fact in the doctor's office when we were discussing his development he decided to do a new trick.  He was in the middle of the floor and pushed himself to standing and just beamed at the doctor like "I am the man.  I can get to standing all on my own."  Of course eventually his showing off led to him face planting it right before the dreaded shots.  So he was already in tears when those came.  He isn't walking YET.  He won't really walk and hold your fingers unless he wants to.  However, when no one is looking I have caught him a several of times trying to take some steps.  It is actually the funniest thing to watch because he looks at his feet trying to will them to move and then one foot will slightly tap and scoot forward.  He won't be out done by his sisters and makes sure we know he is around.  He is not a silent child and ever since I flipped his carseat around the rides are lot noisier.  Even his Grandpa Alan commented on it one night when they took him somewhere.  The first time he was forward facing I stopped and got a drink.  He saw my drink and immediately started to yell-grunt and then when I would turn and look he would smack his lips.  We repeated this several times.  I know he wanted that drink and he was using his own sign language.

The day before his birthday we had family come over for pizza, ice cream and cake.  He would have liked opening his presents but I gave the go ahead to the girls to help him understand and from that point we couldn't get the girls to slow down.

He loves balls of all sizes.  Yes that is a pink princess ball, but that was not his present and yes the girls and his uncle tied his balloons to his pants.

He still likes to eat everything in sight.

The handsome fellow standing at one of his new toys.

The adult's cake courtesy of my good friend Alacey.  I saw her post about this cake and I knew I needed to try it.  It was soooo good.

The kid's cake.  I have finally learned for babies it is best to go with white frosting and white cake.

He was so excited for his cake.  He couldn't believe mom just plopped it on his tray.  Of course he had to smash it to pieces before eating it.

Luckily my siblings didn't do "so big" with him.  They did this with Macy and she had it all through her hair.  She was a mess.  He did a good job digging in and staying somewhat clean.  He ate quite a bit too.  No we didn't throw the ice cream on the tray too.

One of Braden's new push toys.  As you can see he does more riding than actually pushing.  The girls think it is funny.  They forget that he can't get out sometimes and then he isn't happy.  He does do some pushing when they are not around.  He also likes to put balls in it.

 
Here are the stats from the doctors visit.  He has gone long and lean.  He hasn't put on tons of weight since his last appointment but he sure has grown in height.  He is only 21 lbs (25%) and 30 3/4 in (88%).  We might have problems with clothes not being long enough or being too wide.

Happy Birthday my little guy!

Days Gone By

There are days when I wish I could go back to when I didn't have to worry about a place to live, putting meals on the table for others, and all the other responsibilities that come with growing up.  Those were the days when I couldn't wait to be an adult with a job and/or family.  I didn't really appreciate that I never had to worry about providing the basics because my parents took care of that.  I took for granted that the fridge was always filled because my mom went grocery shopping.  I could take showers because someone remembered to pay the utilities.  Oh what I would give some days to have my only worries be about getting up on time, finishing my school work, and hanging out with friends. I can't go back so I will just have to go forward and figure out how to enjoy my responsibilities again (my mind sometimes forgets to do this).

Here is what we have been doing while Macy has been off-track:

1. Had FHE with my family at the South Jordan Rec Center.  It was Braden and Ellie's first time swimming and both seem to be water lovers.  Macy loved the water slide.



2. Spur of the moment trip to St. George.  We took a hike, went to dinner, did some swimming and tried to thaw out.  Mostly we relaxed.  On the hike the girls had to have their pictures taken about 100 times.  Kelsey was the worst and wanted her picture taken every few feet.  This was a complete 180 because for some time she has hated the camera.  Not sure what changed.  If you ask Macy she hates hiking although she seemed to enjoy it the whole time.  We got lucky and only Kelsey only had to make 2 pee breaks in the short timeframe.  We found an old candy store right by the Tabernacle and a delicious sandwich shop near Croshaw pies.  The quote of the trip was from Kelsey.  The pressure in her ears was off and it was making her made because she couldn't fix it.  She shouts out, "I hate ears.  I wish I didn't have any."



3. Brian has been working really long hours.
4. I am working on my first real estate deal.  I am helping my cousins find their first home.
5. We finished swim lessons.
6. Braden turned one.  (This requires a post of its own.)
7. Easter came and went.  It felt a little like Christmas because there was snow on the ground, but instead of presents there were eggs hidden.  For the first time the girls were so excited for the Easter Bunny to come.  They kept asking when he would come.  On Sat a friend came to the door.  When Macy saw her she started jumping up and down screaming the the Easter Bunny was going to come that night.  This in turn got her friend jumping and screaming.  Kelsey then had to join the fun.  Easter morning came and as I was lying in bed I heard some high pitched whispering.  The whispers were talking about "there is your Easter basket.  Where is my Easter basket?"  "I see some eggs.  Where is your Easter basket?"  Soon Kelsey came in complaining that Macy found her Easter for her and that wasn't fair.  In their Easter baskets was a baby Zhu Zhu pet (they have been begging for these for months).  This small gift consumed all thoughts.  They didn't even care about finding eggs because Macy's Easter basket hadn't been found yet.  They didn't even care that the Easter bunny had put money in the eggs instead of candy.  I thought for sure the money would excite them.  Alas, the hamsters stole the show.  We did have one tragedy.  The Sunday before the Easter bunny visited a friend's house to drop off Easter dresses.  Macy came home crying after church because the Easter bunny didn't bring her a dress.  I told her the Easter bunny doesn't bring Easter dresses because Grandma Carol buys dresses and she could wear the dress the Sunday after Easter.  That didn't really comfort her and she was upset the the bunny left her out.

Here are the Easter pictures.  We had very few good ones because we did mostly video of the day.

Braden sporting his new Easter duds.  The girls received an outfit from Grandma Wendy and a dress from Grandma Carol.  Of course Kelsey only wore a portion of her outfit on Easter and we forgot to take a picture of Macy in the new clothes (that and she only had on part of hers for about an hour, too much accessorizing I guess).  Then yesterday I thought they would wear their new Easter dresses that they have been begging for.  Only Macy would wear hers. Kelsey said it was too cold for hers.  Then I forgot to get pictures of Macy.  I even put on a outfit to match thinking it would make for a cute family photo.

Here is the picture of the baby Zhu Zhu hamster that stole the show.