President's Day

The boys room was a MESS after all the birthday fun and present opening.  There was garbage, toys and candy wrappers everywhere.  I knew the only way to get it clean, quickly, was to give the boys an incentive.  I told them that if it was all clean in 30 minutes we would go do some fun things, otherwise we would stay home and clean (my house was a mess after 25+ boys trampled through it).  I was serious.  I told myself that I had to be serious and follow through.  Surprise!  It was clean before the 30 minutes were up and luckily we were able to go have some fun.
We got to Trafalga in Orem a couple minutes before 10am.  We waited for a little while and I was getting worried.  5 minutes after 10 they finally came to open the doors.

We were the first people inside and were able to do the golf course without having people in front or behind us.  It was really nice not to be rushed.  Callie is getting so independent and wanted to do everything on her own.  She even threw her ball into the water once.  Nathan really tried his best while Ryan and Annabelle Thankfully it wasn't herself.  After golf we tried the XD experience.  They were able to turn off my chair so Callie could be on my lap.  The chairs move and there is wind blowing on your face.  Annabelle was a little nervous,  but we all made it through alive.

Next stop was Menchies, a frozen yogurt place the kids got coupons for when they entered the Reflections contest.  They have been sitting in the car forever, but since we were nearby I thought we would finally use them.  One flavor I had was called Mexican Hot Chocoalte.  I could have eaten a lot of that one. 

The next stop was for me and I was worried about how the kids would handle themselves.  It was a wood cut-out store and I knew exactly what I wanted, the word LUCK.  Thankfully there was paper and coloring crayons.  I was amazed at how well my kids just sat down and started coloring, all 4 of them.  Okay, Callie just ripped the wrapper off of a crayon, but she did it calmly and quietly.  I actually was done before they had finished their pictures and they were sad to leave.  

Nathan got some money from his birthday and so we went to Target next.  Since we have been doing allowance and the kids have more money than before, both Ryan and Annabelle wanted to spend some as well.  I tried to explain about saving, especially to Ryan who just got new toys and didn't need anything.  But it was all to no avail.  Nathan got a pogo stick and a lego set.  Ryan bought 2 Scooby Doo movies and Annabelle bought a book and a lego set.  Have you seen the new Lego sets for girls?  They are called Lego Friends and they are way cute.  Annabelle loved putting her little dog house together and played with it all afternoon.  She even said the girl met all the other dolls in her room.  Callie got a 1$ set of Elmo stickers.  She was in heaven. 

By now it was a bit past lunch time and we were all starving.  I had found a coupon to pier 49 pizza that was 1$ per slice of pizza.  Their pizza is SO yummy and so we got 6 pieces.  YUM!

We got all this done in the morning so that we would be back for piano, but that got cancelled, so we were able to play, watch movies and clean (me) the rest of the day.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

 Ryan is now eight years old.  He is a cub scout!  He is getting baptized on March 3!  I can't believe how time flies.  He chose a Harry Potter birthday party and I have to admit, I was really excited to plan this one.  We love Harry Potter around here.  When Ryan started writing his list of friends, it just kept getting longer.  I had to tell him to stop, at 13, even though we could both think of a few more boys that we could have invited.  I felt bad not inviting everyone, but what do you do?!  13 boys plus Ryan and my other kids, was definitely a crowd. 
When the boys first got here I had them run around outside while we were waiting for everyone to come.  Nathan and Ryan had taught Greg and I four square earlier so they played that and soccer.  I WAS going to think up some Quidditch type game, but I think the boys had fun without the extra work on my part.
Next was the sorting.  I borrowed a cool hat from a neighbor and put a walkie-talkie under it.  Greg was upstairs with the other walkie-talkie and first sang the sorting song from the first book.  The boys were amazingly quiet as they all listened closely.  I called each boy up and Greg said a couple of silly things before putting them into their "House."  I was relieved that we didn't have any complaining about what house they were put in (we didn't put anyone but Nathan in Slytherin, but he wanted that).  

 Next we had our big feast.  Nathan had my camera and this is what he took.  I was hoping for Ryan to be in the picture, blowing out the candles, but that is what a get from my goofy 10 year old.  Thankfully Greg took a couple pictures with his phone, but I have yet to see them.  Aunt Katie had had a Harry Potter cake and so we were able to use her decor for Ryan.

 

We had the kids go to a few classes at the party.  We had Divination, Spells, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts.  Nathan graciously accepted the job as one of the teachers.  He did a magic show with some tricks he got for Christmas a few years ago.  The boys loved it and Greg and I are still not sure how he can guess the right card without looking.  

 For Divination I bought a magic eight ball and I was surprised at what a hit it was.  First with just my kids, and then with all the boys.  They loved hearing their "fortune."  We let each boy ask 2 questions, making sure they knew it was just a game and not real.  Some were a little upset with the eight ball's response so I had to reiterate that it was pretend a couple times. 

 Callie and I went to the park in the freezing cold one day and found a bunch of wands.   Greg became Mr. Olivander and measured the boys' arms and had them try a couple wands before finding the perfect one.  I love how he can make things up off the cuff.  For example, he would tell a boy, "Your wand is made from willow and it's core is made of marshmallows."  The boys loved hearing what their wand was made of.  During Spells I taught the boys a bunch of spells and what they do.  We kept it clean and fun, like "lumos" to turn your wand into a flashlight or "accio" to make some thing come to you.  One little boy asked for my list of spells and his dad told me the next day that he came home and taught them to his family. 

 Next came Potions.  I found the greatest thing at partyland for only 99c apiece.  It was an edible science experiment.  It came with 3 ingredients (pop rocks, baking soda, dye-I think?) and a tube.  From the boys' reactions after they tasted it, it wasn't too yummy, but they all seemed to love that they each got to try it out.  We told them it was Felix Felicis, a potion in Harry Potter that brings good luck.

 Finally it was time to go down stairs and open presents.  Ryan kept begging for this.  We of course had to do the spanking machine and I love how red Ryan's face was when he was came out. 

 And last we had our Defense Against The Dark Arts class.  I had hoped to find a dragon pinata, but the colorful bull was as close to a dragon as I could find.  The boys are all pretty strong and we had to limit hits so everyone would have a chance.  Inside was candy and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans (actually just jelly belly's with a homemade tag that said they were Bertie Botts). 

 After that we had  few minutes so the boys just went outside and ran around again, waiting for parents.  All in all, it was a successful party.  Everyone seemed to have fun, Ryan was spoiled and felt very happy at the end, and I was able to clean up while the boys played outside. 
It is amazing to me that Ryan is 8.  He is growing up and turning into a great young lad.  He is very tender-hearted and cries easy (good and bad).  He cares about other people and most of the time is aware of how you should treat people.  He once told me that he was at school when some boys playing football were arguing and he said, "You should stop arguing or not play."  And another time he told me a friend wanted to watch a show that Ry thought would be too scary and he was brave enough to tell his friend no.  We love Ryan, all his craziness and laughter.  He is a great big brother to his two sisters.  He plays with them and reads to them and helps them all of the time.  We are so lucky to have him in our family.

Happy Birthday Nathan

Can you believe I have a son in the double digits?!  Nathan turned 10 today.  WOW!  He is getting SO old and SO mature.  The boys woke up to 2 dozen balloons in their room.  They loved it.  I had to bribe them with presents to get them dressed and out of the room.  We gave both of the boys their presents today since they were the same thing and thankfully they didn't complain.  I think the bean bag chairs were a hit.  When I went upstairs to tell the boys it was bed time, they were both laying on the chairs, reading.

For lunch Nathan wanted to go out to Texas Roadhouse.  He was elected "Mighty Mustang" this week from his teacher and got a free kids meal to there.  Somewhere he heard that Texas Roadhouse has great rolls so he REALLY wanted to go there.  I picked a chicken and mushroom dish that was delicious, and those rolls didn't disappoint either.  Nathan was a little apprehensive to get on the birthday saddle, but he indulged our waiter.  It is always fun to go out to lunch with the kids.  Sometimes I have Callie, but just having 1 or 2 kids is so much nicer.  We can talk and laugh and be more relaxed.  I try to do it every month or every other month.

When we got back to the school we took doughnut holes to Nathan's class.  The class all sang to him and made him turn bright red.  Then I took the other half of donuts to Ryan's class.
We have been planning Nate's party for awhile.  He came up with a list of 9 friends he wanted to invite and all but one made it.  We had a spy themed party.  The invitations were written in code and from moms or the kids themselves, I heard they were a big hit.
When the boys first got there we made marshmallow bazookas out of balloons and cups.  It was a little harder than I thought it would be for the boys, and they didn't work as well, but it was something fun to try.  Next we ate some pizza.  I bought 4 pizzas and we only had 4 pieces left!  I was worried that I'd have a whole pizza, but those 10 year old boys devoured them.  Next we went outside and did some target practice.  Nathan had set up two empty bookshelves full of toys for the boys to aim at.  We tried the bazookas, but like I said they didn't work well.  Good thing I had nerf guns as well.  The boys took turns and had lots of fun trying to knock down a bionicle, a polly pocket, or a plastic animal.  One boy said to me, "I am going to set up one of these tomorrow!"

Next we gathered the boys together down stairs and said they were ready to go on their mission.  We passed out their ID cards and on one side was a secret code that we had "intercepted" and that they needed to solve.  Greg is really good at coming up with cool things to say about what the mission is about.  The next activity was getting through a land mine field.  We had black balloons that the boys had to get through, and pop, without touching them with their hands.  Greg said something cool about why but I can't remember.  The boys had a lot of fun and it wasn't until they were all popped that someone noticed that something had been in the balloons.  The first code!  The boys started to decipher the code, which was really hard for some, but son realized that it still wasn't complete.
Next we split the boys into two teams and gave them all flashlights and each team got a picture clue.  They were to follow the clues outside to get to the "package."  There were pictures to guide them to the next picture clue.  I was really excited about this game but forgot to tell the boys they could only take clues with their color on it.  I thought Annabelle and I had hid them well, but I think someone took one clue (it was missing) and so one team just started looking for any clue.  It kind of got messed up but everyone was having fun so oh well.  At the end of the search we had our other key and we went inside to start deciphering the rest of the code.

It said, "Congratulations! The bag is through the lasers upstairs."  I was really excited about this part.  I had strung the hallway with string and we had the boys take turns trying to get through it, without crawling under.  We tried it a few times, first not letting the boys touch the string, then letting them touch 3 times, and finally letting them crawl under (Greg said something about us figuring out how to turn some of the lasers off).  The boys loved this and in the middle one boy came up and said, "Thanks for inviting me to this party."  I thought he was leaving early, but he was just having fun. 
Once everyone made it through the maze we had cake and ice cream and opened presents. After the spanking machine Nathan was spoiled by his friends and we have had fun learning 4 square with his new ball and playing with his other toys.  He also got a bunch of money to Target that I am sure he will have fun with.

For the last 15-20 minutes Greg took the boys outside and they ran around with their flashlights.  They did tag, races and I am not sure what else.  It sounded like they were having a blast and I was so glad that the weather has been so warm for February that they were able to go outside.  I was able to get a good part of the clean up done before the party was even over. 

 All in all it was a fabulous party and the kids all seemed to have had a blast.  When Nathan told me a few of the names of people he invited I wasn't sure that he knew those boys that well.  But, I really enjoyed getting to know some new boys and I was happy to see Nathan branching out and having a variety of friends.  Nathan is getting so mature lately.  He is so quick to help and do his homework and chores.  He is great with Callie and I look forward to a day when I can leave him to baby-sit (we will save SO much money).  Nathan still loves to read and play video games, but he is also learning more about basketball and with each game gets more and more aggressive.  Nathan is in his fourth year of playing the piano and I am always amazed at how well he can play.  I am so grateful my parents gave us the piano years ago, and even more grateful that Nathan loves to play it.  Nathan got to start Webelos at the beginning of this month so that he can finish an activity badge, instead of just part of it.  He was also able to go to a Webelos PowWow and earn 2 more badges.  When I told him that there were 20 badges but that he didn't have to earn all of them to get his webelos award, his response was, "But I am going to earn ALL of them!"  That is how Nathan is with life.  He wants to do his best all the time.  Sometimes this makes him get really frustrated with himself, but most of the time it just makes him awesome. 

Valentine's Day

 Greg and I went out for on a date the weekend before Valentine's Day so the day of was more just a family love day.  I made a hearty breakfast, complete with bacon.  It made us a wee bit late for school, but the kids agreed with me that is was worth it. 
During the day I put on Ryan's class party.  I was really excited for it and even remembered my camera because I thought that Annie and Callie would be okay if I didn't watch them closely.  I was wrong.  Within minuted of getting to the class, Callie had toppled over backward from the keva and hit her head hard on the ground.  She was in my arms throughout most of the party.  I was a little worried I might have to take her in to a doctor, but she seemed fine after a couple minutes of crying. 

 I made a yummy fish dinner complete with Love Potion #9, roasted cauliflower and Greg and my new favorite-wild rice.  The kids never eat much of it, but we like it so I keep trying.  We also had baklava for dessert.  I had to give some of that away because I liked it so much. 

 Annabelle saw a couple of her friends with "Valentine hair" and wanted to try it the next day.  According to her, all of February is Valentine's month so it was okay to do.  The hearts were a little tricky, and didn't look as neat as her friends', but the girls were happy. 

Harlem Globtrotters

A few weeks ago I saw an ad for the Globetrotters here in SLC and thought it would be a fun thing to take the kids to.  Greg and I are VERY frugal people and don't normally do big things like this, but when I mentioned it to him, he said we could go.  I found a sitter for Callie (THANK YOU Grandpa Ray!) and didn't really tell the kids much about it until that night as we drove there.  All Annabelle cared about was getting some cotton candy, but the boys were excited to go see some professional basketball. 

I loved watching the kids laugh and smile.  They were great cheerers for the globetrotters and got really excited when they scored, or sad when the other team was ahead.  I love that I also caught Greg laughing.  Life is hectic and us parents don't always get to laugh out loud like we need to. 
At half time Ryan and I went down to the court to buy a ball.  It was really cool to be down there, especially when the players came back out.  They are SO tall!! One guy named Stretch is 7'2"!! 
That ball is pretty special to our boys.  They took it to school and to their basketball games and loved being able to practice with such a cool ball.  It was REALLY nice to spend time with the older kids and not have to worry about our little toddler named Callie.  She would have made the experience A LOT harder. 

For example, at Nathan's basketball game this week Ryan, Callie and Annabelle were walking around the court when I saw from a distance that Callie was crying, loudly.  I ran over and Callie was holding her arm.  When I asked Ryan if he had pulled on her arm he started crying.  Flashback a couple years ago when Ryan pulled Annabelle's arm out of the socket.  He knew what he did, and I knew what he did and he was REALLY upset.  I had Annabelle run and get Greg who came over a lot calmer than I would have thought.  He took Callie, made a quick assessment and then popped that elbow right back into place.  She stopped crying immediately.  He turns around with a big smile on his face and said, "The doctor showed me what to do when it was Annabelle."  I was so relieved we didn't have to go to the ER in the late evening.  I am so grateful that she was better so quick.   Ryan was still pretty upset though.  He kept saying, "I was only trying to help her and play with her."  I assured him I wasn't angry and that Callie wasn't mad at him.  A little later Callie came over to Ryan all on her own and gave him a hug. 

As you can see, Callie adds a lot of craziness to our life.  She looked so cute today in a purple sweater and black pants, but she INSISTED on wearing these red socks with stars.  That is our Callie.  And while it was nice to have a night without her, we all love her to pieces!

Dresser Space

I have a nice long dresser that I inherited from my grandma, but as the years have gone by it has become cluttered by jewelry.  I haven't always worn a lot of jewelry, but as my kids have gotten older I have become more brave with wearing more.  Greg bought me a small jewelry box to help, and then I added another basket for all the bracelets I was accumulating.  But as time went on, the dresser became overwhelmed.  I decided I needed something on the wall, since I had so much empty space there anyway.  I looked at a lot of designs and then came up with my own.  Thankfully Greg helped put my thoughts into action and I now have a nice display AND a cleared off dresser. 

Lately

Instead of doing a bunch of smaller posts, I am just going to catch up as quick as possible.  Right now I should be on my way to my nephew's baptism but Callie decided to catch strep throat from somewhere (nursery is my guess) and so here I sit.  I am not going to lie, a couple hours to myself (she is sleeping peacefully finally with some yummy amoxicilian in her), is going to be really nice.  BUT, I am sad I will miss the baptism...and the banana splits afterward.
Sooo, what has been going on with us? 

Basketball season is back and the boys are enjoying it.  Ryan and Nathan are very different with their sports.  Nathan likes to know what he is doing and follows anything Greg tells him, but he isn't as aggressive as Ryan.  Ryan just wants the ball and he does anything to get it, his face is usually red with sweat at the end.  Nathan has scored 1 basket so far and Ryan has scored 6.  We try to make sure the boys know we don't care about the number of baskets, as long as they are playing their best.

My kids are so great with their little sister.  They help me SO much when they are home.  Whether it is reading her books, playing with her, or wrapping her up like a taco, I am so blessed to have older kids, especially at dinner making time.

 We finally got some snow.  It wasn't much, but the kids were so happy that I let them not do their homework and just play for a few hours.  Which later came back to haunt me since it was time for bed and nothing was done.  Oh well.  We haven't gotten any snow since, what a crazy winter!  A fun side note, Callie is wearing the same little snow suit that all the other kids wore.  It is still in great condition and I am so glad it lasted one last winter.

Callie is growing up and learning and remembering a lot.  She found this potato head toy and immediately wanted candy.  She even said, "trick or treat."  This little girl loves candy and she wanted to take the little toy outside and knock on a neighbor's house.  Luckily daddy was working from home so we knocked on his door instead.  Callie's face lit up when he went along with the game and gave her some candy. 

The last few Saturdays have been filled with preparations for Greg's baby sister's wedding.  Katie and Kameron got married on January 28 in the Bountiful temple and it was a great day!  The whole family (11 kids, 10 spouses, and 17 grand kids) were there and it was a lot of fun to see everyone and to celebrate Katie's happy day.  I didn't get any pictures of her, but a few of the rest of us.  We spent the whole day together-the wedding, the luncheon, playing with cousins, and then on to the reception. 

Annabelle has become my mail girl.  Everyday when she gets home from kindergarten she loves to run out and check if the mail has come.  One day this week, Callie wanted to join her.  These girls play a lot together lately and it is a lot of fun watching them become best buddies. 

Greg and I decided it was time to say good bye to binkies.  We had never dealt with this before since our other three kids wouldn't take a binkie, so we had no idea what to expect.  I got some advice from friends and family and set my plan in action.  A few days before we took them away we started talking about the binkie fairy and how she comes and takes binkies to give to new little babies all over the world.  We talked about how Callie was getting bigger and that if she gave her binkies to the fairy she would get a present in return.  So for a few days if you ever mentioned binkies you could have a little conversation with her that went like this:
Me: "Is the binkie fairy coming?"
Callie: "New babies!"
Me: "Yes, the fairy will give the binkies to new babies."
Callie: "present!"
Me: "Yes, they will give Callie a present."
Callie: "CANDY!!"
Me: "Yes, they will bring you some candy."
We could have this conversation a few times every day and I loved how she knew what was coming.  After church on Sunday we made the present for the fairies and Callie put the binkies in.  I had cut the tips off and let her suck on them so she wouldn't want them.  Then she went to bed and cried for an hour and a half.   "Oh no!" I thought.  "What are we going to do?! Can I handle this?"  Thankfully, that was the only time she cried for them.  Annabelle was my fairy helper and she picked out Elmo, M&Ms, and gold fish.  She couldn't wait for Callie to wake up so she could watch her open the present.  Callie takes a little longer to go to sleep at night, but she doesn't cry for them.  She likes to have a book and her Elmo toy the fairies brought. 

We had teacher appreciation week this last week and as a room mom that means I get to help out a bunch.  First I got to help decorate the door of her classroom.  My friend Mikelle came up with the idea and used her nifty cricuit to cut the words out.  From what I have heard from Ryan and other moms, the kids loved putting a mustache on.  I also got to sub in the class for a half hour and make goodies for a luncheon.  I like helping out at the school, especially when I have lots of help from other moms. 

 

One last picture to show what I do in the mornings when it is just me and Callie.  Sometimes we run errands, sometimes we go to the library.  And sometimes we just hang out at home.  We started a mom and me class at the library (something I wasn't able to do with the other kids much since I was either pregnant or had another little kid), and it is a lot of fun.  She is getting so old and turning into a toddler.  She is already 21 months, almost 2?!  Time certainly flies and even though I hate when she is sick, I don't mind the extra hugs and cuddles I get from her.