Under the weather…

It started out with fevers and coughs. After several days and with Swine flu going around  I took Lindsey in (to rule it out). Turns out she had pneumonia.  After 48 hrs of antibiotics she was doing better.  After 5 days ill she was much improved.  Thursday morning Jacob fell ill. We are now on day 5 and he still isn’t better. The twins had it mildly before Lindsey, and I am hoping they are done.  We have been through two bottles of chewable motrin.  A case and a half of G2 Gatorade, and countless slurpies.  Were all pretty sure its the flu. 

Did I mention last week was our first sunny and hot week of summer? This is how we spent it.

A visit with snow white….

The other day we came home to find two beautiful purple invitations on our door. Hailey and Sydney were invited to meet and have a tea party with Snow White. Can you imagine?

The girls were nervous at first but by the end they were dancing and smiling. I don’t think they stopped smiling all day.

*All pictures were taken by Susan who hosted the party. Can you imagine someone hosting something so fun? She doesn’t have any daughters but she sure knows how to make a lot of little girls VERY happy. Thank you so much Susan for doing all this. The pictures are priceless. She emailed them to me which I appreciate so much! Susan, is also a amazing photographer. If you live in the area and would like to use her check her out here… Susan Hayward Photography or check it her blog here Susan Hayward Blog, she is a wonderful writer and its a great blog!

Where is summer?

If you are experiencing summer please tell it to come my way. It rained again today all day. It was also cold. Like jeans and sweatshirt cold. It's June not October. It's normally very very hot, often unbearably hot. It actually rained this whole week. Swim lessons were canceled. To be fair we did get one beautiful and somewhat warm day on Friday. Unfortunately Lindsey woke up feverish and the twins were dealing with a serious cough. So we stayed home again anyway.

This week I went to bmx, it was cold and raining off and on (surprise surprise). It was a perfect night though. My little guy almost made my heart burst. I could tell he was trying so hard, because I was there and he wanted to show me his stuff.

I am going a little nuts. I have to give a shout out to a few things...

*Disney Channel rocks. Kid friendly and mom approved viewing all day and all night. I hate to admit how much we need this with the weather.

*Arthur is also our favorite kids show. I actually enjoy it too. The other day when all the kids were gone I accidentally turned it on (out of habit on tivo).

*My new finished (mostly empty) playroom. I have had to stash my kids down there a few times to play lately.

*Wii and especially wii fit. It's quite entertaining watching my kids run around in place (its a hard fast rule that you play the games properly or no more wii fit).

*Another shout out to netflix. I am officially converted. It's fast. It's cheap. I love catching up on new tv series or old I have missed. I am almost done with Friday night lights. Does anyone have any favs they want to share? I am in need.

*Book 3. Mortal instruments series- City of glass. I highly recommend this series.

My job has certainly increased as summer rolled in. Four loaves of bread disappeared this week. We went through an entire costco box of Graham crackers in just three days. YIKES. Have I mentioned lately how much I hate grocery shopping?

Another favorite discovery Chex mix bars- turtle. Candy bar good- less calories.

On a good note. I did actually catch up all the laundry. All my bathrooms are clean. So staying home and not playing has its benefits I suppose.

Oh and girls night saves my sanity most in the summer. I am desperate for a kid free break more than ever.

Family Fun Day

Last weekend we had family fun day.  It was overcast and cold.  Which made me wonder if it wouldn’t be cancelled.  It went on anyway. There was a parade, which I pushed the girls in their barbie jeep for longer than I ever thought possible.  Then there was bouncy houses, water slides, and more junk food than any kid should ever be allowed to eat. The kids loved every minute and I will live another day to do it all again next year. It’s a great event but I sure am glad it’s only once a year.

 

The day there was sun...

Started with repaving of our road. If you wanted to drive your car that day you had to get your car out by 7am. I opted out on that one. Who needs to drive when one can walk with four kids, right? It was also the only day we sun actual sunshine last week. My house needed a lot of attention anyway so we spent it cleaning and doing chores...
You see that 25 mile an hour speed limit sign? Yeah apparently its invisible to all. No one ever seems to follow it, even with my four little children on the side walk.



The twins room was a hazard. Even they were complaining. It took most of my day. I could do seperate post about their room. How I clean it, how they wake up before the sun and destroy it. How I clean it again and then they destroy it. Then I go on strike and won't clean it. Then it gets like this. We are all unhappy. I give in and clean it. Then Hailey always declares that she will never ever let it get messy like that again. Until the next morning before the sun, it does. It's just so fun to empty all the drawers, and toys and things. EVERY SINGLE DAY!



The kids have chore lists this summer. I declare its more work than ever for me. But its for the good, its for the good, right? I did manage to entertain the twins with vacuuming the baseboards for the better part of an hour. Which made the house stay picked up for one hour longer that day.
This is the lunch you might have if you are out of food. Can't go to the grocery store because the thought of going with kids is very scary. Don't worry I went on Monday. Oh and Egg Salad is delicious to my kids so it was a real treat. While making lunch I received a phone call I was waiting four yrs for, My sister in law, had a clean scan and was declared officially Cancer free. I cried tears of joy in all the egg salad.


I was so tired by days end. Which is beginning to be the norm of all my summer days. Alan came home and declared he wanted to do something fun. So I sent Jacob along with him golfing. Apparently driving a golf cart and helping your Dad golf is like going to heaven.


When summer began Alan declared to the kids "no more bed times". After spending just one day home with the kids, with not one single break for myself, I quickly put my foot down on that one. Bed times were negotiated in my contract.

Zion's National Park...

We spent memorial weekend and Alan's birthday at Zion's National Park.


Where some did a lot of hiking...







Hiking the narrows where the water got a little high...
Amazing views in the narrows...

Hiking Angels landing. The boys got up real early to do this hike. Which was a tough hike for anyone let alone little boys.

Horse back riding for all...


Ice cream is best enjoyed when hot and tired. Heavenly.
These three are the best of friends. Lucky little girls.
Hiking works up a big appetite.
Jacob and his cousin Andrew got really interested in becoming Junior Rangers. Jacob really wanted the badge. You had to fill out a packet and do certain tasks. The last day they got their badge. Jacob took it seriously and started a recycle box at our house. He proudly empties it every day now.


The weather was amazing. Not too hot or too cold-perfect. If you haven't taken the time to go to the National parks you are really missing out. Being outside is a highlight for all the kids and I find it some of our best family Vacations.

Our week...

This week we woke up to rain. A lot of rain.

The next day we had more rain with the additional need of sweatshirts or even coats.

My parents basement had a little flood.

We saw a lot of lightening.

A "digger truck" fell in a crater on the hill because of rain.

Yep its been raining. It's been cold. It's been miserable. Welcome to our first week of summer vacation.

Hopefully we see some summer here soon. This feels like March!

Just dreaming...

Every year I love to go to the home shows in my area. It's a fun place to get decorating ideas... and to dream.

I got my bottom braces on this very morning. It's been so painful. Amazingly I had forgotten how much it hurts from January.






Did I tell you I am getting a craft room in my basement? Not so fancy as this...
A dreamy kitchen...
This is the color I made Alan paint one of our basement rooms. He has been unsure of the color so when I saw it all over my favorite house I was sure to take pictures to show him how great it is. It's from restoration hardware and its called silver sage.
The girls came along and did remarkable well considering. I guess its a little like playing house. This was in a huge shower. Bigger than their whole bathroom.

Last week was the last week of school for the big kids. We made everyday count. Lot's of errands, and lunch. We were gone everyday all day. In the end I have piles of laundry and tons of cleaning waiting for me this week...

From the mouths of babes...

The other day while cleaning "the girls" took quite an interest in helping. The next morning they found some dry cloths and began cleaning the house. Pretty soon one was caught windexing my bedspread to "clean" it. I abruptly stopped that method. She was given freedom to clean once I took away the bottle. Pretty soon she was upset that her cloth wasn't wet. In the bathroom, within ear shot, I heard her sister sneak up and say, "don't worry I know where you can get it wet". She replied with. "oh yeah the toilet". I ran behind them to stop this disaster wondering how much toilet water had cleaned my tooth brush when to my relief she turned on the sink.

Whew... who knows I am sure the toilet has been used before. She just came up with that idea way too fast.

The other day Hailey came running in with the following:

H-Sydney Elizabeth is in BIG trouble.
Me- What did she do?
H- I don't even know what its called but its really messy.

Ran into the room to find Styrofoam. Which is really messy. But better than I was expecting especially since she has never used the middle name method before.

Today is the first day of summer. I am sure there is some limit to how much screaming I can listen to before my heads explodes right. Someone is always hurt or hurting and someone has been constantly crying. Oh and its unseasonably cold and rainy. So no good pool or outdoor time to rescue us.