Valentine's Fun!

Errr, I finished my post and I accidentally deleted these top two pics. They're supposed to be at the bottom. I wish I was savvy and knew how to fix these mistakes!

This is a long one... I haven't uploaded pics. in a while and I had a hard time choosing just a few. :) This pic. was the other morning and they all decided to snuggle together on the floor.

It really was quite cute, I wish I could have gotten a pic. where they were all looking, but no such luck.

I told B that Valentine's day is Auntie Sandy's favorite holiday and he wanted to make her a Valentine right then and there! It is an extra special BIG one too! I hope you got it on time Auntie Sandy, it took me a while to find a big enough envelope and then go to the post office. He drew a sweet pic. of our family and he made sure Ellie was the smallest, because Dani is taller now. "Ellie is the smallest and Daddy is the biggest."

This was too funny, he wasn't quite sure what to do with dirty, sticky fingers.

This is my darling, adorable Dani-Claire-bear. This is so her, it makes me laugh. She will be happy go lucky one second, and then temper tantrum the next. She refused to put her jammies on, which was fine, so she hung out naked for a while and insisted on wearing her sassy black shoes, which she loves. I have no idea what she's screaming about. :)

Friday night we took the kids to Raptor Reef in Hayden, ID. It's a cool indoor water park with three big water slides, a wave pool, hot tub and nice kid area. Kent, Brayden and I have been before but this was the first time we ventured out there with the girls. They absolutely LOVED it! B was so cute, on the way out there he said, "Mom if you and Daddy want to go on the big slides I can watch my sisters so you can have fun with Daddy." So sweet, of course we didn't do that. :) But we were able to take turns and take B up on the slides. I think I went with him at least 20 times, it was quite a workout hiking up the stairs. Apparently it was for him too, because when we left he said, "I am so tired and hungry." He never admits that he's tired and he fell asleep on the way home in the car, which he hasn't done in years!

The girls loved it, they all had purple/blue lips because the water was kind of cold, but they insisted on playing and going down the kids slides. I wish I had pics. they were so cute in their swimsuits and bikinis!

The bath pics. are special because lately we have been giving them showers. It is so much easier to rotate them through that way, than filling the bath and cleaning up all of the spillage!

They all LOVE the bath but Dani seemed especially thrilled!

After bath time Dad helped Brayden make a tent in his room where he could sleep. He lasted about 20 minutes, then moved up to his bed, "Where I could see my special snail blanket."

We usually make V-day cookies before V-day, but last week we ran out of time, so we made them on the actual day. This is a tradition that I always did with my mom and my kids seem to love it too! What a mess, but so fun for them, not so much for me anymore. :)

Kent was home this time around, which made it fun. I told the kids to pick out their cookie cutters. We have a box of a 100. E chose a blue star, B had a pink heart (very appropriate) and D had a green gingerbread man. Kent was not having that! He told them to give them to him and he passed out all the pink hearts, that were appropriate! I guess that was good since we were making V-day cookies!

Good to Go!

I got a call from my brother, Ryan. He told me the Dr. has cleared him to go back to work! Ryan just reached the two month mark since his heart valve replacement surgery. I am amazed to say the least. I can't believe he has recovered so quickly. He says he can already tell a difference since pre-surgery. It is easier for him to breathe and take deep breaths. All is well!

Battle Scars

I thought this morning would be a good time to check out Joe's while Brayden was in pre-school. Two kids are easier than three, right? A friend let me know that Joe's is having a great sale on remote control cars, 12.50, regularly $50! Great, I will get one for B's B-day in Sept. I drop B off at school and head to the store with the girls. It started out a little rough this morning. Ellie had a naughty twinkle in her eye, the second she woke up. She is due for some naughtiness, Dani has been at it for a long time now. Anyway, we walk into the store, one girl on each side of me holding hands nicely. I find a cart and the girls insist on sitting in the big, back part. I never let them, because I don't trust them to sit still, but I knew what I wanted and we wouldn't take long. They both cram into the back of the cart. We cruise down the aisle and they have a TON of the cars! I am thrilled, while I am looking, I turn around and both girls are STANDING in the cart. Not a huge surprise, so I tell them to sit on their bums, while an employee is glaring at us. I am trying to check out the cars because there are three different models, at this point the girls start SHRIEKING! Shrieking that is ringing my ears. I tell them to be quiet, (I am still using my patient mom voice). Then I try to load 3 cars into the cart. (One for B, and two for my nephews). These suckers are huge and only one will fit on the bottom of the cart. This is a problem.... I try to shove one into the cart with the girls, but they weren't having it. Great.... why would this be easy and quick? So while I'm trying to pry the boxes back out and bending into the cart, Ellie pulls back on the front seat and the whole thing smacks me on my lip. I instantly taste blood and almost fall to the ground. (this whole time the girls are screaming again). I gather up the damn boxes and march to the front of the store, while I'm sucking on my swollen lip. The guy at the register just stares at us, while we're walking up the aisle. Thank god it was early and not many people were in the store. He tries to be pleasant while I am trying to stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes, my lip HURTS! He was glad to see us go, and probably laughed the whole time I tried to juggle the boxes to the van with two screaming banshees!

The sacrifices moms make for a bargain! (My lip just has a huge gouge out of the inside, no bleeding now).

Another mom of the year (MOY) entry

I have been dreading this day for a while now.... the day before book club. Which means, I HAVE to clean my house thoroughly. None of this surface stuff that I've been doing for months and months. So, I spent over TWO hours just scrubbing gunk and milk off of the dining room chairs, table and stools. Yeah, TWO hours. So when Kent brought the kids home from the one hour trip to Costco I decided they would have a picnic on the deck. I didn't want them touching anything. It's ok that it's 24 degrees out, right? Get your shoes on, you're eating outside! They thought it was a great idea. However, they were somewhat naughty and had to come in faster than I anticipated. So, I had to resort to them eating on the kitchen floor. This I did feel bad about, because it is still not clean. I couldn't take pics. of this, because I didn't want to be reported to CPS. They were happy enough because it was different and the girls weren't locked up in the boosters, so they could roam the floor. I still have 4 more meals until book club gets here. What is a girl to do? Mickey D's anyone? Notice the girls don't even have matching shoes on, which is becoming normal for Ellie's wardrobe.

These pics. are from the other night when I made pudding, never a good idea right before bed. It's messy and there's pudding all over faces and pjs.

E

D

New Hats!

Yesterday I was cleaning up the breakfast mess and Ellie walked out like this. I busted up laughing, then of course Dani wanted a hat too! I am assuming Ellie got clean underwear out of Brayden's drawer!

Cousin Owen is ONE!

YAY! Owen turned one, he is the youngest of our clan. Between us and Kent's brother and sister we have seven kids who are four and under, with Hunter being the king of the hill at age six. There are a TON of pics. because they are all so cute, I can't ever choose what to cut out. This one cracks me up, because Owen was sitting there like this for quite some time before someone helped him out! He is such and easy going, mellow guy, he just waited!

Ellie is ready to party!

Auntie Sarah giving Owen his yummy cake!

Owen seemed to love it!

So did all the other kids.

Dani was too busy to stop and eat cake.

Ellie ate hers for her.

Ally had her fair share too. Doesn't she look just like Elizabeth in this pic.? You know our kids and their kids share half of the same genes. So they are kind of like half-siblings, but that's too weird to think about.

Owen and Uncle Kelly getting ready to open presents!

Grandma Phillips and Auntie Helen enjoying the chaos from afar.

Dani thinking she's helping Owen.

Joey Seaboldt, he is too adorable.

And last but not least, Ellie pooped on the potty again! (I won't post a pic. every time this happens, but it's exciting)!

Dani brushed while Ellie sat on the pot.

We FINALLY figured it out!

Life has been a little frantic lately! The girls are almost two and busier than ever. I am only allowed two second showers, and they still have time to destroy half the house. Even with their big brother keeping an eye on them and running into the bathroom screaming, "My sisters are being naughty!" I am hoping all of my neighbors work and are gone by the time I am running through the house with a towel wrapped around me halfway. It's not pretty. I don't have the nerve to look out the window to see who is peering in at me with a bewildered look on their face.

Just last week I came out to find Danielle behind the couch (yet again), with a marker in her hand and ink all over the blinds and windows. I really was quite proud of myself, I have really been working on more patience, I just looked at her and said, "Not ok, go to your room." The girl was smart enough to know at that point, to get her little bum out of my line of sight. Luckily the ink was crayola and washed right off. Then I turned around and saw Ellie on top of the counter going through our junk basket, a bunch of random stuff, paperwork, mail, choking hazards. I hauled her into time out and decided things need to change!

This was about the time I took the high chairs out of the kitchen (they pushed them over to the counter, then crawled up). This solved the counter situation (our stools are too heavy for them to lift and are all lying on the floor in the dining room). Next I needed to childproof the doors.

HOORAY! The best invention ever! I didn't need these with Brayden, but they have made my life so much easier in the last week. I hope they don't figure them out anytime soon! Now there is no way they can get the markers out of Brayden's art supplies in the hall closet, no dipping hands, feet, or faces into the toilet and B has his own stuff in his room safe and sound! Life is good!