Easter Sunday March 31

So, it turned out to be a late night last night.

We did not make it to 9:00 church this morning.....which was kinda sad, cause the kids got some really cute Easter Sunday outfits....

I will make them wear it next Sunday, even though it is Conference :)

I need to get some pictures!!!

Easter sure is a great day to attend church :(

But we did talk about Easter with the kiddos.....so that kinda counts.

*****

So my voice has kinda come back today.

Dad is coughing more.

Little coughs here and there from the kiddos.

So we spent the day doing pretty much nothing....after we had an Easter egg hunt.

It took us a while to realize it was a beautiful day outside.

Once we did, we spent most of the rest of the day out there.

The girls had the bunnies out for a little while playing with them.

Appropriate for the day :)

 



saturday march 30

WE ARE DRIVING HOME RIGHT NOW.

SO I AM BLOGGING FROM MY PHONE :)

IT WAS A GOOD DAY.

WE WENT TO EVANSTONS EASTER EGG HUNT.

THEN WE CAME HOME AND GOT PACKED UP.

THE MATTHEWS FAMILY GET TOGETHER WAS AT 1:00.

IT WAS FUN TO GET SO MANY TOGETHER.

THE FAMILY JUST GETS BIGGER.

UM...WE JUST BLEW A TIRE. 

GUESS WE ARE GONNA BE A LITTLE BIT LATER....

Friday March 29

We finally got to ride Strip today.

Little Elsie bug has been waiting a long time for that!

Before riding Strip we took lunch up to Grandpa and dad at the feed store.

Then the kids got to work helping him sweep the back out and load up the feed.

Once we did that, we went and found Strip.

Elsie loves that horse.

It's hard to really explain how much.

And I am pretty sure that horse knows when Elsie is around.

She is so gentle with her.

She is a good horse anyway.....but seems even better with Elsie.

So the kids all took turns riding her.

Even I hopped on her for a bit.

I told the kids they need to keep working on their dad.

They all want a horse so bad.....

But Dad doesn't.

We will have to wait and see what happens :)

After riding Strip, the big girls went back with dad to help out Grandpa.

I put Porter down for a nap and Elsie and I just rested with Grandma.

Took it easy.

I still have no voice.

I keep talking and no one knows I am talking to them.

I have resorted to clapping wildly in the air to get their attention.

I think the kids think it is pretty cool that they haven't gotten yelled at for a couple days.

Once Gramps and dad and the big girls came home, we had dinner.

And then after dinner clean up we went to see those Buffalo's.

I guess today was a dream come true for Elsie bug :)

She would just sit and watch those Buffalo's forever.

But I don't think the other kids would have....

We took Lexi with us too.

It was fun to have her around.

After the Buffalo's, we went and got ice cream cones from McD's and played in the playplace.

I think it was a fun day for the kiddos.

I think we might head home after the Matthews party tomorrow.

I think we are all vacationed out!

But I need to get prepared to have Easter stuff the morning after we get home.....

But Em and I did go shopping together the other day and picked out some cute Easter clothes :)

(I do have pictures......later!)

 

 

 

 



Thursday March 28

Well.....time to get back to the blogging!

I feel so out of it....like I won't remember anything from the last week.

And I wasn't even good at taking pictures to help me out!

But I won't worry about catching up today.....

I am gonna need more time to sit down and think it out :)

We stayed an extra night at Emmys' hoping to get a little bit better....get rid of whatever bug it is that we have.

Emmy was awesome to let us stay another night....I know she was anxious to have her home back :)

She really is the best and the kids loved the time they got to spend with her this last week.

So we headed out to Evanston this morning.

Stopped in Heber for a little while....Elsie was feeling car sick.

So we ate some lunch and she was feeling and looking better.

We got to Evanston in good time.

We are being very careful around Grandma.

Don't want her sick.

I think whatever I had has developed into some kind of Bronchitis.

I have completely lost my voice.

Wheezing.....coughing....mucus...and I still have hives

I felt like I was breathing through straws.

So we gave Grandmas inhaler a try.....I needed something.

I can't believe how awesome I feel when I can actually breathe!!!

We may need to go into a doc in the box tomorrow to get me checked out.

Anyway....

We just hung out for the day.

Kids watched some TV.

Cassi was so cute with Grandma helping her to make dinner.

She sure loves that one on one time with Grandma.

I know I say it all the time but I do need to be better about giving her that time.

That encouragement.

Not so many negatives.

She will be more positive if I am more positive with her.

Tomorrow we plan to spend a lot of time outside....riding Strip of course.

There is one excited little girl here.

She is also very excited that we are so close to the Buffalo's!

She cannot wait to spend time with them!

(Picture later....I forgot my card reader.....)

 

 

 



Wednesday March 27

Tuesday March 26

Monday March 25

Emmy and the kiddos

More later :)

Just saving the spot.

Frontsight

To be filled in later :)

Yep....I am WAY behind!

I will catch up.

I will :)

Wednesday March 20

It was a crazy packed filled day.

And we still have lots of packing to get done to leave tomorrow!

I went with Elsie on her school field trip to Planet Kid.

Right away I felt a little sad.

Elsie couldn't do all the ropes courses and climbing stuff that all her little friends were doing.

She could crawl up into one little net entrance into the ball pit with some help.

And then she ran around on the pads.

But that is all she could do.

Mrs. Jodie and I watched her....she didn't care.

She didn't feel sorry or like she was missing out on anything.

She was loving it.

Mrs. Jodie even got clearance for her to go into the spot that was reserved for the 2 year olds and under....which had a ton of things she could do.

But she wanted to stay near her friends.

And I don't blame her.

She was so excited to see her friend Sam, who changed to the afternoon class last month.

His mom and I watched them in the ball pit.

Sam had his arms up protecting Elsie from people throwing balls.

Sam saying "Don't throw the balls. Your gonna hit Elsie! Don't hit Elsie!"

And he followed her around to help her and protect her.

It really was just the sweetest thing.

I LOVE Elsie's class.

There is a certain tenderness that each of those kids have.

They all have so much love for Elsie and don't think of her as being different or weird.

It makes me smile that these are the kids that will be her cheering team as they go through Elementary school together.

And I know they will be there for her, even if they aren't in the same classes.

They will have her back for sure!

*****

After the field trip, I came home and made cookies for our activity days activity tonight.

We went roller skating....and besides two really hard falls I took, it was a lot of fun.That took up three hours of the night.

It was fun for me to be there with the two big girls.

Dad took the little ones out for some fun too.

Gun buying fun :)

And exploding target fun.

Once we all got home, we got the kiddos all packed up.

Now Brent and I need to get packed....and get the car stuff ready.

Earlier in the day, after the field trip, Porter and Elsie packed their own bags.

We have enough stuffed animals to last a lifetime :)

I packed them new ones.....I sure hope they aren't mad.

I have a feeling that the boy will be a little mad.

As I was putting him to bed, i said I would have to add a few things to his bag.

He looked at me with a crazy face, "Why?"

I said "Did you pack pants?"

"Yup"

"Did you pack shirts"

"Yup"

(that one was a silly question.....he packed his spider man shirt and his Batman shirt, of course....)

"Did you pack underwear?"

"Yup"

"Blankets?"

"Yup, my Emmy blankets and my little blankets"

I said, "Do you want to take your little blanket to bed tonight?"

"No, I am fine."

He was very sure he was completely ready and packed for his trip.....maybe I will just take his packed bag as well as the one I packed....

*****

I have pictures to add......

Maybe I will get to that sometime soon.

Hopefully.

Tuesday March 19

I am so thankful these boys have each other :)

 

 

So I think we will stick to our plans.

Dad is feeling a little bit better......bending a little bit better.

I still think the car drive is going to be brutal.

But I also think that he needs the lift in spirits that only shooting a bunch of ammunition can bring :)

Monday March 18

So dad was NOT able to get into the neurosurgeon today.

And we are not sure he will get to in the next few weeks.

So his Dr. called in an oral steroid.....man I hope it works some magic.

Dad is hating life right now!

And we feel up in the air right now with regards to this 'gun retreat'.

If he is like this....he will be miserable.....

So we are hoping things get better...soon!

Madi started track today.

I was on carpool pick up today.

After I dropped those kids off, we all headed to Fred Meyer to gets dads medicine, then to McD's for some nuggets.

Then to D&B for some chicken food and a new fun gun target thingy that they tried out once we got home.

But before we headed home we went to the library.

I am kinda in love with our little library here.

It is a smaller branch, but it's just a great little place.

We got a TON of books.

The little one plopped down on the couch for a good read before they had to get in the bath.

Elsie came home with mostly Buffalo's books she has already gotten before....but we did find a new one.

After the bath, we needed to try out the target.

So we did some shooting before the sun went down.

They all got to bed a little late....

Hope they all sleep good.

Hope we sleep good and dad has a miracle on his back over night :)

 

Sunday March 17

The Leprechaun made a visit here last night.

Elsie calls him the sneaky Leprechaun.

He tipped the furniture over.

Put green footprints all over the fridge while he was getting in to turn the milk green!

He got green footprints on the toilet seat while he was going potty in the toilet, making the water green.

And he covered the bedroom floors and hallways with gold!

A big ol' pot of gold!

The kids thought it was just the greatest.

The little ones had green oatmeal for Breakfast.

And then we got ready to go to church.

The girls got some green colored chalk in their hair.

That turned out fun :)

We left dad home from church today.

He was supposed to be on shift....but he got a doctors note not to work.

Poor guy is miserable.

I mean he hurts...

But the miserable part comes form just having to sit and not do anything.

I sure hope they can get him in first thing tomorrow so we can figure out what we need to do!

We are supposed to leave Thursday.....we need to know our options!

It's turning cold again.

I am not happy about that.

But Cassi and Elsie still hung outside for a while.....before it got too windy.

And for dinner we made cob salad...

Once we got the bowls filled, we saw that we were making a rainbow!

Perfect for St. Patricks Day!

Happy St. Pattys Day!

 

Saturday March 16

Porter donned his Batman shirt/Spider man shirt again all day.

This kid makes me laugh all the time.

He got himself all ready....

My favorite is the Ninja Turtle sword stuck into his underwear as a holder.

Smart kiddos :)

*****

Yesterday I got one of the apple trees pruned with the help of one of my friends who knows how to prune fruit trees....with 15 of her own.

So today I decided to finish up another one.

I have 3 more to do.

I think I am getting the hang of it.

Hopefully this year we will get some apples!

I am not taking too much off like we did last year.

So I hope they aren't in shock and that they will produce!

When we first moved in there were tons on the trees, it was the end of the season.

And they were so good!

So I am hoping we get those back this year.

Elsie hung out with me the whole time.

She is so happy about this nice weather.

Once you get her outside, she doesn't want to go in.

Her imagination is in heaven out there.

She plays for hours!

And she loves when Mater joins her.

She loves that dog.

It is cute to watch her play with him.

 

Friday March 15

 

A few weeks ago Brent had a mishap while carrying a large person down some stairs on duty.

He hurt his back.

That's not unusual.....he throws his back out quite often.

Herniated disc.

But usually it takes s couple days of him taking it easy, and it settles back down.

Well, this time it wasn't getting any better.

He went to the chiropractor a few times.

First time it felt awesome.....for a couple days.

The next time he went, he left feeling 100% worse.

After talking to a guy at work who just had back surgery because the chiropractor messed up something.....and hearing his horror stories.

And after talking to the Fire Department Dr....he decided to get an MRI done.

Well, he just went in today to talk about the results with the F.D. Dr.

The disc is now herniating and bulging in towards the spinal chord.

He thinks that getting a steroid shot will help to relieve the pain and hopefully reduce the swelling so the disc can slip back in, if that's what you call it :)

But he can't get in with the other Dr. for the shot until the beginning of next week.

So the doc wrote him a note to keep him off duty for the next shift.

And he is not supposed to do anything.

The doc doesn't want him doing any more damage.

I sure hope things get better.

We leave on Thursday for a VERY long drive.

I don't know how he is going to do that in his present condition.

And then I don;t know how he will hold up doing the hand gun course.

So lets just hope that the shot helps him, and quickly.

He laid on the floor today, cause sitting hurts.

He piled up pillows under his back and then rotated ice and heat.

And he and Porter got to watch lots of boy shows.

So it's not all bad :)

*****

Porter carried his Batman shirt, jacket, and Spiderman shirt with him all day.

He kept rotating between Batman and Spiderman shirts.

But he always had the other one in hand with him....

It was kinda funny.

That kids makes me laugh.

*****

I took Madi and Cassi to Kara's surprise birthday party tonight.

They had so much fun.

And it sounds like they really surprised her good :)

And I got 'Rise of the Gaurdians' for the little kids, Dad and I to watch while the big girls were gone.

So it was a fun night for all.



Thursday March 14

 Tonight was Cass's third grade music performance.

She did a great job and she was so cute up there.

The kids favorite part was when they got to pull out the kazoos.

They sang different songs from around the world.

They had some speaking parts...

Cassi was a little sad that she was sick the day that they handed out the speaking parts.

But she was happy to just be singing.

 

 

 

Elsie's little friend, Eric, read a book with her the whole time.

There was no seating room...so we were in the back against the wall.

So they plopped themselves down on the floor and stayed happy the whole time.

Wednesday March 13

Dad put me through another Crossfit workout today and then when Madi got home, we went for a run.

She starts Track/Field practices on Monday.

She is excited about it....me too.

She has gotten fast!

I have not been able to beat her in a sprint over the last couple of days.

I am excited to see how well she does after some practices.

 

 

I heard Elsie giggling and I went to check on her and she was out the front door playing with Mater....

Just having a grand ol' time :)

 

Cassi had a friend over today after school.

Chloe, and they wee so sweet to let Elsie hangout with them too.

All the girls in Cassi's class think these Monster High dolls are so great.

I don't get it......oh well.

 

 

*****

Porter declared today the 'Boys day'.

He got to spend all morning with Dad while I taught Art Smart for Elsie's class.

And then when Elsie got home from school, she had speech.

I didn't put him right to bed, since it was 'boys day' :)

If I went out to check on him he would tell me that I was ruining 'boys day'.

Oh that kid.

Dad made sure to set him straight and told him to talk to me nice.But obviously this 'boys day' was very important to him!

Dad even made Porter some Ninja Turtles 'weapons'.

He is super excited about it!

 

 

While Cassi, Elsie and Chloe were playing.....

Madi entertained Porter by drawing him some Ninja pictures :)

She's a good kid.

And he is pretty dang cute watching her draw.

 

Tuesday March 12

We spent a lot of time outside again today.

But somehow the house is still a disaster....go figure :)

 

 

*****

Tonight we had our Stake Relief Society activity.

I had always planned to go until a couple weeks ago they said they wanted to have the activity day girls sing in it.

Well, there goes my babysitters, since dad is working.

I figured I would just drop the girls off and maybe try to wait in the halls with the little kids so I could hear them sing and then take them home.

Then after talking to the one who is leading them, she said they wanted them to stay the whole time.

So my plan was to drop off the girls and then have someone drop them off at home when it was over.

But then Madi came home complaining of a sore throat and coughing a lot.

She didn't want to sing and cough up there the whole time.

So things worked out for me to be able to go and hear Cassi and the other girls sing, and I got to stay for the program.

Poor Madi is coughing her head off right now....Ports got the cough too.

Coughs are the worst.

And they seem to really linger on.

Hope they kick it quick.

Other than the cough and a little dry throat they seem fine.

I have the throat thing, but no cough.

Maybe my cough will come later on....hope not.

One more week until Brent and I go just outside of Las Vegas for a handgun training course.

I think it will be a fun time...I think :)

Everyone (of the female gender) I have talked to says it is just amazing....and they had a tone of fun.

So that is what I am hoping for.

I do know I have a bunch of little kiddos who are so excited to see their Emmy!!!!

But since it is a week away....I need to start getting things prepared for the long trip :)



Monday March 11

I helped in Elsie's class today.

Going through the class work I came across Elsie's and saw this.

I just thought it was the cutest thing :)

This girl loves her Daddy so much!

 

I also loved seeing so many cards with Cassi's name on it one the wild-cat pride wall.

Kids write a note when they see someone doing something nice.

Then the principal reads them over the intercom in the mornings.

Cassi had a handful stapled up on the wall.

I am very proud of her...and love that people notice how special she is :)

 

I made some banana bread for the kids after school snack.

We also walked some down to Bubble and Eldon.

We stayed and visited for a while.....

They are just the sweetest people and I am so thankful for them :)

And the kids played outside a lot today.

It was a beautiful day.

I can't wait for more of it!

 

 

After I worked out, I took the kiddos to the library.

Madi had a book on hold, and we needed to go get it before our 'hold' time was up.

We always pass by this stone when we go to the library and it makes for a very happy Elsie Rose :)

 

Sunday March 10

So.....

Madi and Cassi are really testing my patience.

I really wish they could get along....just being in the same room together without fighting would be great!

Today in Sacrament meeting they were pretty bad.

They had to sit by each other....which I try to avoid.

But today they were by each other.

And they just couldn't handle it.

I was disappointed with how they acted.

I warned them....if they kept fighting and didn't listen then they would have to sit together for an hour after church.

Well, they just couldn't do it.

So when we got home, I let them eat lunch, but then they headed to the playroom.

I told them they had to sit at the table and read the scriptures back and forth and if I heard them fighting then I would add 10 minutes each time.

Okay...maybe a bad parenting move for me to put the scriptures in with the punishment....

I see that now :)

BUT.....I think it worked beautifully.

There was no fighting and they were happy that they got so far in their scripture reading.

Maybe next time (hopefully not a next time....) I will let them chose what they will read, but they HAVE to read it together.

They need to learn to do things together.

Love those girls....and they drive be bananas!!!!

Madi looks grumpy in the first picture, but that is cause I opened the door and surprised her with the camera snapping a picture :)

Once they were done.....we just hung out a bit.

They went outside...it was such a beautiful day.

They drew on the trampoline with chalk and played out there for quite a while during Porters nap.

Dad bought a boomerang thing from the Monster truck show last night.

Well, it got stuck way up high in the tree this afternoon.

After a few failed attempts (and a big gash on his head) he found a good way to get it.

He attached fishing line to the arrow and shot it up there to grab it out.

Worked like a charm :)