I love my kids!

I just wanted to write down some funny things the kids have said and stories about the kids before I forget them. ;)

Today Emily asked Tyler if he knew how old mommy was.
Emily- "Tyler try and guess how old mommy is?"
Mommy- "I am 29."
Tyler-"I already know that. Mom, you quit growing, right?"
Mommy- "Yes, I will never be older than 29 yrs. old."
Emily- "You will never grow again?"
Mommy-"Never."
Tyler- "Emily you will never grow past 29 either, because girls stop growing at 29."
I have to laugh at this. They are so cute and believe everything we say. I guess that makes me a bad mom for telling fibs to my children.

Emily is so cute and such a WONDERFUL helper. She really does help me out tons! She always wants to be around Ethan. She is like his miniature mommy. She is always calling my mom or my dad. She will spend hours on the phone talking with them. One time my dad hung up on her and she called him right back (she has their numbers memorized) and when he answered she said, "you better not hang up on my again, I know your number." He still gets a kick out that story.

Isabelle, what can I say about Isabelle? She loves to be a princess. Whenever we are home Isabelle is always wearing her pink leotard. She loves singing and dancing. She has the best laugh. When we are out in public and she starts really laughing I have had several people walk over to me and tell me that her laugh puts a smile on their face.

The best Isabelle story was this past December. We were shopping at Wal-Mart buying food for the Christmas dinner. This man in a wheelchair wearing and eye patch wheels right past us. Isabelle points at him while shouting, "That man thinks he is a pirate for trick or treat!" I hurry and cover her mouth. I was very embarrassed, but had to laugh because it was so funny!

Ethan has ZERO fear! He climbs on top of tables. He can pull the oven door down and climbs on top of that- talk about scary! He WON'T turn around and go down the stairs, NO he has to go down the normal way. He almost always falls on the stairs and almost always gives me heart failure. He can say, "dada", "mama", "stop", and "uh-oh". He is so cute! He used to not be affectionate at all, but now he gives hugs all the time and kisses. He tackles two of the little girls at the daycare and has them screaming till someone rescues them. Crazy boy- You better learn soon that no means no. ;)

Less is More

This week seemed alot less chaotic compared to last week, but then the weekend hit. I was so tired last night driving home, that I was falling asleep. I stopped off to get gas and I picked up a bottle of water to wake me up. It reminded me of paper route days Some mornings I would be so exhausted I would fall asleep at the wheel and sometimes have to pull off to the side of the road. I guess I am just getting old and can't handle all the excitement of one weekend. ;)

Friday afternoon Sean met with the plumber that my brother told me about. Holy Cow! That first plumber gave us an estimate of $900!!! This guy is going to do MORE work and charge us $210!!! My brother, Steve says that this plumber is VERY good and VERY fast! Steve has had him do work on his house so I know he must be good! I am so happy for this blessing! We are at the bitter end of moving in!

Friday night my dad watched the kids so Sean and I could go out on a date. Our wedding anniversary was April 10th, but Sean wasn't feeling well then. So, we were going to try to go to T.G.I. Friday's, but the wait was way too long to waste precious babysitting time so we ran to Lowe's and Home Depot to look at bathtubs. We found one! Yay! It was getting late, so we settled on Qudoba's to eat at. Yum! We went and picked up the kids. I am glad my dad was able to watch them. He seemed very excited to spend an evening with the kids. They ate Happy Meals, played games, colored, and watched AFV. The kids were having a great time when we arrived.

Saturday was a busy day. Our stake had a Personal Enrichment Saturday. It was good. We were served breakfast and lunch and were able to choose from some classes and babysitting ws provided! Tyler had a soccer game, but Uncle Greg was going to take him. I felt guilty for not taking Tyler, but I am glad I took a little time out for myself. During the PES I went to change Ethan's diaper and the diapers were out in the car. Well, I ended up locking the keys in the car. So, waiting for the Pop-A-Lock person to show up took up some of my class time.

Later, I picked up Tyler. His team won and Tyler scored twice, again! We hurried home and changed for a baptism and a birthday party all at the church. Tyler's friend Abby was getting baptized. And Sean' uncle had his surprise 47th b-day party.

Came home had a few snacks and off again to Home Depot to pick out tile for the bathroom floor. Sean and his friend, Steve actually laid the floor last night. By the time, we purchased things and went back and forth picking items up the guys didn't get started until 10:30pm. They finished around 1am! At least it is done. Thanks Steve!

Church today. I helped out in nursery today. Ethan was so cute playing with the bowling ball set and the bubbles. I can't believe next week he will "officially" be in the nursery.

How do they do it?

How do the parents with children in so many different activities getting everything done? I only have one child in a couple of activities during the week and I am struggling for energy and time to get done everything on my to do list. Well, here is what the family got accomplished this week.

Taxes are done!!! What a great feeling it is for this task to be marked off. I am also pleased with the refund we will be getting. :)

Soccer practice. Tyler is doing pretty good in soccer this season. I REALLY like his coach (he is the same from last season). He knows the game and is good at teaching the kids.

Took the kids shopping. I let the kids spend the $ they have been saving, minus their tithing. I was trying to teach the kids about saving. First I wanted them to pick an item from the store and really work hard to save their $ for something they really want than to buy something they didn't really care about. It was difficult at times for them to pass on candy or dollar store things. Emily is pretty good at keeping her eye on the target, but Tyler likes to spend money. I wonder where he got that from? Anyways, they worked hard so I let them have their reward. Tyler had $12 saved. He bought Pokemon cards. Yes, he has ventured into the Pokemon World. :) Emily had $20 saved. She bought a Hannah Montana video game. Isabelle had $5. saved and bought her baby doll some diapers. Everyone was happy!!! :)

Fun day at the zoo!!! We met up with family and friends at the zoo. The weather was beautiful and the kids were great! It was so nice that we were able to spend some time with Aunt Jessica and her girls, Gabby and Kennsy. I will post some pics later. After the zoo, my dad took every one out to eat at Olive Garden. 9 adults and 15 children. The kids were very good. We also had a very good waiter so that was a major help. I ate waaay to much, but it was so good! Thanks dad!

More soccer practice and scouts for Tyler.

Oh yeah, let's throw in an earthquake. Yep, we had an earthquake! Actually, IL had an earthquake 5.4 and we had a little quaking of our own. The kids slept through it, but we told them about it when they woke up. Tyler ran to the window and said, "I don't see any gaps in the ground." I think they have watched The Land Before Time too many times. ;)

We finish the week off in victory with Tyler's soccer game! His team totally stomped the other team!! Tyler was on fire! He played great defense and offense. He scored two goals!!! I need to work with Tyler on dribbling the ball down the field. I was VERY impressed with how well the Tyler's team did! It was so cute, after the game Tyler said, "Mom do you know who helped me make those goals?" My reply, "No, who?" And very sweetly Tyler said, "Heavenly Father, because I prayed that I would score." Tyler has such a wonderful testimony of prayer for such a young boy. I love that!

Friends + Family + Fireworks= FUN!!!

This past Saturday was Thunder Over Louisville. For some people who don't know what that is, Thunder Over Louisville is the kickoff event for the Kentucky Derby Festival. It is the largest annual firework show in North America!! There is an airshow too! Anyways it is alot of fun!

This year our really good friends invited us to hangout with them at their office. The office is practically smack dap in the center of all the festivities. We had a really good time hanging out with friends, munching all day on yummy snacks, and watching the planes and fireworks. The weather this year was a bit on the chilly side. I wasn't as brave or tough as everyone else, so I mostly stayed indoors.

Friday Sean had to work until 8:30pm, but we still hung out at our friends house. The kids played and the adults just talked, but it was nice. I really needed that. We haven't hung out with our friends in such a long time it seemed like so even though it was really late, I enjoyed it. Sorry, Sarah we kept you all up late. :)

Saturday was the big day. It really was so much fun! Sean requested Saturday and Sunday off of work so it was very nice to have some family time with daddy!

When the alarm went off this morning reminding me of church, it was so hard to pull myself out of bed. I guess we were real party animals this weekend so we were hurting in the morning. We made it to church, alittle late.

After church we all laid down for our Sunday nap. I LOVE naps! I felt so much better for taking one. Jessica and Will are in town until Thursday of this week and we were going to get together tonight, but Gabby is really sick. I was kind of bummed, but hey kids getting sick can't be helped! I totally understand! We will get together before they leave.

So, I dropped Sean off at the house and he did ALOT of work there organizing! I took the kids and myself to see Phil. He looks so much better. He seems to have made some progress. He got up to use the bathroom and he walks with a walker. You can tell is legs are very weak, they were shaking when he was trying to get into his bed. He still needs prayers to recover completely. He will be fine, but only with the Lord's help and he needs to realize that!

We came home and Sean and I made dinner. He was doing all the cooking, and I was just getting the table ready. It was a nice little treat for us that daddy cooked. He is such a great cook- Fajitas. YUMMO! Thanks Babe! ;)

That's our weekend!

Rain

I don't know if the rain is causing my children to act insane because they haven't been outside since forever. I could be wrong, but I think it is supposed to rain all weekend. I don't care if it does rain all weekend I am just happy it is Friday. The kids (especially the girls) have been bouncing off the walls. I am glad that we get to sleep in tomorrow morning. I am kind of glad to, in a way that Tyler's soccer game is canceled. More time I have to do the stuff that I need to get done. I love rainy days ONLY when I don't have to go out in the rain. I love to stay home and bake or clean. Imagine that staying home baking, doesn't that sound nice. It probably won't happen, but it sounds nice.

Anyways, yes we have had a crazy amount of rain lately. On my way to work there was a road blocked of because the street had turned into a lake. I couldn't believe how much water was on the road. Then I REALLY couldn't believe that a car was stranded in that lake. Who on earth drives into that much water on the road. The car was almost COMPLETELY covered. You could barely see the roof of the car. If it wasn't for the police man taking pictures I would have never noticed that a car was in there. I hope who ever was driving was safe and insured.

Today Tyler had a Family Friday Presentation. His whole class wrote what Springtime meant to them and they had to stand in front of the whole school and read what they wrote. Talk about EMBARRASSING! Tyler was very nervous, but he did GREAT! Then after the children read their paragraphs they sang two springtime songs. They looked SO adorable up their. I got a little teary eyed watching my baby boy up there. He is getting so big!

Ethan started saying the word "stop". That is great. He can say the word stop, but he can't say momma. Thanks alot kid! I guess he hears me saying that word all the time. "Stop Ethan! Don't climb up there.", "Stop Ethan, don't get into that." "Stop Ethan! That is yucky." It never ends with that boy. :)

Well, we might go to the library this weekend for a puppet show and to return books. We are also going to see Uncle Phil at the rehab center. Also General Conference is this weekend! How exciting we get to hear from our new Prophet!

Family Update

Lots has been happening here!

Early Easter morning my little brother got off of work and ran out of gas in his car. He was pushing his car home and almost made it into a parking spot at his apartment complex, but at the very end slipped and fell on his back. He wasn't able to get up. He called out for help and a couple in the apartment complex heard him and came to his rescue calling 911 and my mom. He was sent down to University of Louisville. He had tons of scans, xrays, and test and we found out last Monday that he suffered a spinal cord injury. He has had two surgeries. The first surgery the doctors went in the front of his neck removing his C2 and C3. The second surgery the doctors went in the back of his neck and the secured what was done in the first surgery with metal brackets and a bone graft using bone from his hip. He was released from ICU a couple of days ago. About two days he will be transferred to Frazier Rehab.

Phillip can move his legs a little, but they are two weak to walk or stand. He can move his arms, but his hands are very weak. He can't grip anything. He has a burning/tingling sensation running through his upper body. The doctors say with time they feel he will be able to walk again. With lots of hard work they gave us a time frame of 6 months to a year.

He has lots of people fasting and praying for him. Phillip is in good spirits most of the time. We know this has happened for a reason. We know the Lord loves Phillip and will keep him in his care.

Other than the Phillip accident on Easter, our Easter was very nice.

Spring Break was this past week. Tyler described his Spring Break to a tee, "This is the worst Spring Break ever!" I couldn't agree more. We all came down with the flu, except for Sean and Isabelle. It was horrible, fevers, headaches, migraines, achy body, runny nose, congestion- the works. We were sick from Monday through Friday.

We did go the Fun House at the very end. (The Fun House is like Chuck E. Cheese) The kids loved that. We also went to our cousins house to fly kites and hang out with them. That was fun, too. So, maybe Spring Break wasn't completely ruined or the WORST, but it was pretty bad. ;)

Also, during Spring Break I turned 29! I am in shock. I was looking at myself in the mirror and asked Sean, "Do I look like I will be 30 next year?" Of course he said no it was my birthday and I was sick. ;) THIRTY next year!?!