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.