Thanksgiving week!

Today I think I have slept more than I have ever slept since I've had kids. It all started w/ a cold that crept up on me Wednesday night. Thursday, Friday and Saturday I felt yucky in the morning and right before bed so, of course, I pushed it all those three days which put my body in complete shut down today. I didn't wake up until 10:00 am and then I took another nap from noon until about 3:00. I am still feeling very weak and tired (how can that be?), but I am hoping I will be back to my old self by tomorrow...lots to do with our Christmas party coming up this Saturday...Yeah!

So here, once again, is a rundown of the week!

Monday was just another day, except for a nice surprise from Ben...a new camera. It's the brand new Cyber-shot Sony. With an iso of 3200 and 8.1 mega pixel, it smokes our old one big time!!! It's definitely a great fix until I get the "big" one!:) I love how small it is! I just slip it right in my purse and off I go! I love Technology! Monday night we had our FHE on showing gratitude to Heavenly Father. I cut and colored a picture of a turkey (without feathers). I had cut the feather's separate and let the kids write the ways to show gratitude on them. Then they got to tape them on the turkey. The kids enjoyed doing that.

Tuesday was Aubrie's field trip to the Food Bank. Her teacher started a canned food drive at her school, and for the past month the kids have had their jobs of going to their assigned classroom and picking up the cans and organizing them in boxes. Tuesday the Sheriff Department brought a rig and loaded it up and followed us over to the food bank. The kids got to unload the food into huge boxes and got a short tour of the Food Bank. I'm glad Aubrie got to experience that opportunity of service! I can't think of a better field trip than one of service!

Wednesday Aubrie and Boston had off of school. Ethan still had preschool and surprisingly had no problem going. While I was gearing up for Thanksgiving, I decided I was going to take the kids to California Friday morning. I hurried around doing laundry and making the casseroles for Thanksgiving that night, so I could pack and get ready for our trip on Thanksgiving day. That night my Mom and I got sick and that blew those plans right out of the water. Looking back I'm a little relieved, b/c as fun as that trip might have been, it would have also been very short and CRAZY!!@!

Thursday morning we set up all our Christmas stuff and Ben put up the Christmas lights. A day early, I know, but there was really nothing else to do since I made all the food the night before!:) We headed to Ben's parents around 3:15 and ate dinner around 4:00. I brought a new appetizer, cream cheese covered in this raspberry chipotle sauce served with crackers, YUM! By the time dinner was ready I was pretty full! YIKES!! I enjoyed the left overs the next day, though! After dinner we took the the kids to the park in Ben's parent's neighborhood. After about an hour we came back home and everyone else followed, for dessert, games, etc. Julie and Brian showed up, too! It was great seeing them. They have been living in Utah for the past year and just moved back the beginning of this month. The kids were excited to see their kids and they played in the backyard the whole time they were here. After everyone left, the twins and Krista stuck around for some hot tubing and cards. We were up until midnight, I definitely felt it the next morning!

Friday was Ben's 35th Birthday! He got to spend it golfing with his brothers. He took Aubrie along, she loves driving the cart!! It actually was a little cold that day, and since they had a late T-time, I'm not sure they even got to finish their game. It's a tradition for these boys to play the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas. I need to start some tradition where I go and do something really fun w/ my friends for 6 hours!!! When Ben got home, we headed to the Outback to celebrate his birthday. Sophia was still sleeping when we were ready to leave, so my Mom said she would stay and watch her since she was still not feeling well. It was so weird going out w/ just three kids! After Outback we went to Lamps plus to finally buy lights for our posts in our yard, 6 months later!!!! I then got a call from my Mom that Sophia wasn't doing well, she cried when she put her to bed which she never does!!! So we rushed home to take care of her. She has a cold, too, and I think it's throwing her off! After I got her to bed, I pulled out the traditional cake I make for Ben every year (Lemon cake w/ orange frosting) and we sang Happy Birthday! He didn't have anything to unwrap b/c his gift from me is a new wedding ring. Since he still hasn't gotten his finger sized I have been unable to purchase the one he has been eyeing online!!! He buys himself almost anything he wants anyway, aside from the Mercedes he has been wanting so badly, but that's not going to happen!!!

Saturday we ran errands; Ben had some birthday returns! He made out pretty good, after the returns, with a new Polo dress shirt and the new Cologne I LOVE so much, RSVP! I'm not sure if that is my present or his? Hee! Hee! We had to go to the mall to get that, which was a little crazy!!! The parking lot was PACKED and we also forgot the stroller. Luckily the kids behaved themselves, after bribing them w/ a stop at the pet store and the toy store. After our errands I met my Mom at Micheal's to get some flowers to do some more Christmas decorating. While my Mom and I worked on the house, Ben worked on the electrical for the post's outside. The kids caught up on some reading and piano. Boston's reading is really coming along. I'm sure he will be reading Junie B. (if I let him) by the end of the year. I wish they made better books for boys to read!

We'll that's the week. I'll leave you with an "Ethan funny". When we were at the Outback, the kids all had their jackets on and Ethan looked at us and said, as he was putting his hands in his jacket pockets, "Look I have two hand holes in this jacket". We finally realized that was his name for pockets. Enjoy the pics!

A few more pics

An Arizona sunset!

Ethan's impromptu nap! He set it up by my bed while I was resting!

Result of the first night around the fire pit!

Weekly update and the YW Retreat

What Ethan's plate looks like after lunch every day! He is my only kid who eat's two PB&J's! I'm going to have to get a job when he is a teenager just to keep him fed!

Ethan's other passion, besides eating, is cleaning. If only his future wife could see this!

Sophia's newest past time!

Whew! What a week, made obvious by my lack of entries. Monday the kids had off for Veterans day. We spent the morning getting caught up on responsibilities, piano and reading. Ben was going to join us at Chuck E Cheese, but got an emergency call so he wasn't able to join us:( I thought of bagging the whole thing, but the kids were looking forward to a surprise, so I sucked it up and took them all myself. I was mainly worried about Sophia b/c we went during her nap time. She did great! She sat in the high chair and ate soda cracker the whole time. The kids blew through their tokens really fast. Boston and Aubrie combined their tokens and dumped them all in one machine to see how long their ticket ribbon could get. They ended up with just under 200. Ethan found a machine of his own and ended up with about 80! He was so excited. I was, too, because we were in and out of there really fast and they were all as happy as could be!

I put Aubrie in charge of the FHE lesson b/c she skipped dance and had some extra time on her hands. She was really excited to do it. She did it on serving one another. She wrote "Serve One Another" on paper and cut out each letter. She put candy on some of the letters. She hid all the letters around the family room and even drew a map ( a pretty detailed one) so she knew where to send people to find the letters. She spend over an hour cutting, putting her Halloween candy on some of them (being mindful of our favorite candies), making the map and making sure we would find them in order. I was was proud of her enthusiasm!

Tuesday was Boston's birthday. We started it off by making his favorite breakfast, French toast! I then met him for lunch and went out on the playground with him. I never do that b/c I usually wait around for Aubrie, who has lunch right after him. He was so excited to have me out there. All his friends were gathering around me asking me questions and telling me about anything and everything. Boston was the center of attention. I love how, at this age, they think it's "cool" to have your parents visit. In a couple of years I'm sure they won't be thinking it's so cool! I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Tuesday night, Boston had his last T-ball practice, and afterwards we let him pick anywhere he wanted to eat. He picked McDonald's of all places. Definitely a sacrifice on our part, but the kids were happy about it. When we got home from dinner, Ben's parents came over w/ some presents. Boston had a full and happy day. I still can't believe he is six!

Wednesday was a normal day of getting stuff done (two trips go Target included), running the kids to school and piano, and Young Women's. This week was Young Womens in Excellence. It was definitely more enjoyable for me than last year, b/c I didn't have to plan it!!! Everything was very organized and focused on the girls uniqueness. It was great as usual.

Thursday...hmmm, I can't remember what I did. That's what happens when I don't keep up on journaling, ha! Oh, I remember now! I met up with some of the Young Women for lunch at one of my favorite places, Paradise Bakery. They just opened one by my house this past Monday and I have already been there 3 times! I love that place. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning house and trimming our tree's, ouch! We have Palo Brae's which are covered with thorns! Not my first choice, but the required "theme" tree by our HOA! Thursday night was me and Ben's normal TV night! We Tevo 5 shows (ER, Survivor, Smallville, Office and Scrubs) and watch them all; pathetic I know!

Friday was a very full day. It started with Bostons assembly performance. Boston did a good job; speaking clearly, remembering his line, and flashing his cute smile. I then headed over to the Cibola Vista Resort to help set up for our Young Women Retreat, that started that evening. The decorations were a Fall theme. It looked very nice against the rustic look of the convention room we had. The Retreat started Friday and 4:30 and ended at 4:30 the next day. It was such a great experience for the girls. I hope they know how lucky they are to have all these wonderfully opportunities that I never had. I'll quickly run through the schedule.

Friday

4:30 meet and mingle

5:00 dinner....steak, potato and salad. The Bishopric was in charge and several men in the ward (including Ben) helped serve

6:00 Scrapbook class by Becky Higgins

7:00 Concert by Sam Payne (great Mormon folk singer)

9:00 clean up and home

Saturday

My day started with Boston's last T-ball game. It ended with trophies and their pictures being handed out. Boston was so excited to have a trophy, and Aubrie was a bit jealous! Boston got home and put his trophy on his dresser and put his pictures up on his wall, even the paper inserts that were included in the packet..LOL!

Back to the Retreat

9:00am breakfast; eggs, pancakes and ham!

10:00 Cake decorating at Souffle's. I learned a few things myself. It was a lot of fun!

12:00 Back to the Resort for lunch and my bracelet class. I think it went well! During my class Erin and Becky took pictures of the girls. The leaders got roped into getting their pictures taken as well. I wasn't too excited about that but we had a fun time with it!

2:30 Ended the great weekend with speaker, from our ward! After cleaning up and sending the girls off with grab bags, we were out by 4:30.

It was a lot of fun, but I left there exhausted. Especially knowing I was going home to loads of laundry and no dinner plans. We went to Paradise Bakery for dinner and I did laundry while Ben went to his monthly "fight night". I actually got caught up on the house, laundry and email! Yeah!

Today Aubrie and I had to be to church early for choir practice. After church, we had an early fireside. Sam Payne spoke to us. He is a great speaker, too! He taught seminary for several years and was thinking how lucky his students were to have him! He played a few songs, too! What a great fireside. Aubrie came along and really liked it. She even teared up during the last song. I don't' know where she gets that from? ha!!!!

Well there is a weeks worth of my life, VERY condensed! I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week. Life is coming at me fast!

Happy Birthday Boston

B

Boston's Assembly

Boston's Birthday Party

The Jumper (aka life saver!)














The treasure hunt!














Cake and Song














Present time!!!

Yesterday was Boston's 6th birthday party. We had to have it a little early b/c next weekend I have a Young Women Retreat. Boston was a little confused, telling everyone it was his birthday and kept telling his teacher they had to sing to him. I think by the end of the day he figured out what was going on.

His party was from 4pm -6pm, which actually worked out well. Boston invited 3 kids from the neighborhood, 4 kids from church, and 6 kids from school. So if your fast at math, you have already figured out that we had 13 boys, not including Boston and Ethan, running around our backyard. Luckily we have a big backyard!! Whew!!! I rented one of those jumpers, so that helped. Between that, the trampoline and the play house, they were entertaining themselves pretty well. After about 30 minutes of playing and eating pizza, we started a treasure hunt.

Boston has been asking me to have a treasure hunt, for his birthday, for the past 3 months! That was the reason for the repeat Pirate theme this year. The night before his party Ben and I drew up some maps that sent them from one place to the next. The first map lead them to a map under the trampoline. I put the map in a water bottle and tied it to a rope that was attached to one of the springs. (That one took them the longest to find). That map led them to the pool toy box, which then led them to the grill and then to the hot tub. The one in the hot tub was floating around in a water bottle. That map led them to the playhouse, which led them to the shed which had a huge storage container with toys, mardi gras beads, gold coins and candy! This is where I made a huge mistake. Instead of establishing order in distributing out the toys, I let them go for it. That ended up in a lot of frantic crying and chaos! So I had to line the boys up and check their bags and make sure all was fair. I have learned my lesson!

After the treasure hunt, they played pin the flag on the pirate ship, had cake, opened presents and played for another 20 minutes. Besides the whole treasure chest fiasco, everything went smoothly. The only other thing that was crazy was getting the boys out the door at 6:00. Ben and I had a party to go to, which started at 6:00, so I was feeling a little rushed at the end. We had a good time at the Godowns eating pizza, playing Battle of the Sexes, and hanging out. We left around 10:30.....I was so tired!

This morning we were up early for Boston's 8:00am T-ball game. After that I headed over to our Super Saturday. I made a beautiful Christmas Wreath in the shape of a "P" and then I etched some names into some baking dishes. One of them didn't turn out, oh well:( When I got home I was sooooo tired. Ben took the kids to the park so I could get a nap. I was dreaming like crazy, so the nap wasn't the most restful. I was rudely awakened by the neighbor kid ringing our doorbell 3 times!!!! After that it was off to Target, so Boston could use a gift card that was burning a hole in his pocket! Ha! Aubrie brought her money, too, and bought that hair tool that puts beads in your hair. That left Ethan with nothing and crying all the way to the car. Aubrie felt so bad she wanted to take her thing back and get Ethan something. I told her not to b/c I thought it would be a good lesson for Ethan to realize that he doesn't get something all of the time. Of course, I was also not letting Aubrie serve her brother. I couldn't figure out what was the better good.....hope I chose wisely!

Tonight we watched Wizard of Oz and made cookies. I love the Wizard of Oz. I remember waiting every year for it to come on TV. How things have changed since I was a kid. Now you can just rent something whenever you want to watch it! Our kids are so clueless when it comes to having to wait for things. Things are so readily accessible....they even hate waiting through commercials! ha!

Some family photo's

Here are a few pictures my friend Erin took of us last Friday. She is very talented. She has inspired me to get my act together and embrace photography again. We'll see how that goes!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture of Sophia!!! What a doll! A picture of myself I actually don't mind looking at:)

Preschool Breakthrough

So I am in the middle of a dieting mystery. After watching my food intake, which is very hard when you are used to licking the peanut butter and jelly off butter knives and the chocolate off the snack pack lids, I was down 6 pounds by Tuesday. I was so excited when I got on the scale. I rushed to the phone to tell Ben my weight, when he said "Don't worry it takes time". That was a little disappointing; obviously he didn't know my beginning weight even though I moan about it all the time. So anyway, that day I stuck w/ eating right and I even threw in some extra exercise! I was thinking, "I should be down a few pounds the next day for sure"! Much to my disappointment, I got on the scale to only see that I had put half of it back on. I don't get it. I was exercising and didn't change the diet. Did I breathe in calories? What is going on with my hormonal body? I don't mean to make this blog about my body issues, but if anyone has advise I'm open to anything, except liposuction or tummy tucks!

So back to business. This week has been a little on the crazy side; but when isn't it? We did have a break through w/ Ethan. Ben had to leave work early on Monday and Sophia was needing an early morning nap, so I called a friend to pick him up for preschool. He did wonderfully. He didn't cry our complain. He simply got his back pack and walked himself to her car and was off. She said that he even talked her ear off the whole way there. She offered to take him today, and he did well again. I'm hoping we have gotten through the whole "my stomach hurts and I can't go to preschool" crying business! Monday night Aubrie complained and moaned about dance. She HATES ballet and only wants to go for the jazz. I tried to explain to her that she needs it for the technique, but she didn't want to hear it and came down stairs in her dance clothes with a piece of paper taped to her chest that read, "I hate balae!" (Yes, I know how to spell ballet, she doesn't!) I wanted to laugh, but had to keep it in and be the "parent". She does this at least ever other week. I talked to the other Moms there and even the studio owner and she said that most girls feel that way. Glad to know I'm not alone.

Tuesday was another drama day with Aubrie. Before she got home from school, I bought her a book shelf, put it together, and organized all her books for her. My Mom also made her bed that day, so since she didn't have a bed to make or a room to clean I gave her the chore of organizing her dresser drawers. I thought she would be so grateful for what I did for her she would gladly except the "big" chore I gave her. Boy was I wrong. She cried and moaned about it more than it actually took her to do it. She kept saying how she needed my help, which I knew she didn't. Finally, after her bugging me for help, I said "fine I'll help you get started" and I dumped all her things out of her drawers on her bed and on the floor. She was so mad at me she ran in her bathroom and locked the door. I calmly told her to come get me when she was done. A few minutes later I found a note on the dining room floor (the result of her throwing it over the balcony) which read, "I am sorry so much. I gust want your to help me. I don't want you to throw the stuf on my bed. I am happy becus you got me the book shelf. I love you so much. your the bestes mom in the wrold. love aubrie pribyl", with a picture of a girl frowning at the end. Needless to say, she finished her chore (with a little help) and found some things she forgot about in the process.

Today started off early, with the kids all giggling in their bedrooms at 6:15. I know when they are teenagers I won't be able to remember these days, but for now they are killing me! Then, before I had a chance to shower, I had a million worker guys coming to the house all day to fix things for our one year repairs! At one point in the day, while Ethan was at school and Sophia was sleeping, I told the one repair guy that was fixing our vacuum to get the door for me while I was making a phone call upstairs. I actually ran up to my bedroom, locked the door and took a quick shower , dressed and brushed my teeth all in about 5 minutes. Obviously no makeup applying or hair washing was involved. He never was the wiser! So after running around showing people what needed to be fixed, and double checking work and fitting in a little Christmas Party Invitation work, school was out before I knew it. Tonight actually ran very smooth. It was quite enjoyable! I didn't feel rushed before YW, which was nice.
We had a joint activity with the YM; collecting cans for a food drive. Afterward I stopped by one of the girls house, who hasn't been to Mutual for awhile, to say hi and drop off some candy. She was sick in bed, but I stuck around and talked to her 3 sisters for awhile. It was a nice visit. Perhaps I was prompted to go there for another reason than I thought.
When I got home Ben informed me that AquaDots has been recalled. I only mention that b/c it was the Christmas present my kids were wanting the most! Talk about the luck of it all. I was actually looking forward to playing with them, too!:( I don't know who will be more upset about it, me or the kids!LOL

Grand Canyon Pictures...Finally!

The Hotel The Cowboy Shoot Out The Train Ride The Grand Canyon The Ride Back The Reason For the Trip

the weekend update

Just FYI, the working out isn't going so well. Of course, I could be doing something right now... but I don't like working out late. What to do?? I bought this swimsuit on sale at Kohls and it looks awful on me....the bottoms anyway. Why would I do this??? I figured the only time I'll be putting it on is to use our hot tub and every time I put it on it will "encourage" me to lose the weight! We'll see how well it works! Ha!!! Ben and I did go on a walk around the neighborhood on Thursday. It felt good, but I need to work out a little harder.
Friday was a normal day. Sophia slept a lot, but of course I wasn't really planning on it so I didn't' get any huge projects done. I cleaned up all the Halloween stuff and cleaned the house up a bit. Friday afternoon Erin came over and took our family pictures. I always dread family pictures. I feel like it's a circus show. First I have to get 4 kids and myself dressed and keep them wrinkle and dirt free and hair looking decent. Then actually taking their pictures is like trying to ring a bunch of animals into the circle to perform some miraculous trick...to all smile and pose perfect all at the SAME time! By the time I'm done with every photo shoot, I'm sweating and swear I lose a few pounds. Aubrie and Boston do well, except for the fact they think they know where they should pose. Ethan was the main struggle, always wanting to stick out his tongue or do a funny face. Sophia was a little fussy, too, so I felt bad for Erin, trying to work with it all. I got a quick preview of a few of the pictures, and they turned out well! Now we have that out of the way, I have to make the cards.. ugh! I did enjoy making Sophia's announcement, once I got the hang of it. I'm thinking I'll have to reteach myself, it's been so long!
After pictures, Ben and I went to Ah So (one of those Japanese Steakhouse's). I always enjoy those places, put never enjoy the bill....Ouch! Those cooks better be paid well! After dinner, Ben and I went to Best Buy to look at camera's:) I gave him some hints for Christmas, we'll see what comes of it! We then went to Sams so he could look at a DVD/VCR converter. He wants to convert our family tapes over to DVD's. I am actually looking forward to that b/c I think we will watch them more. While we were there we noticed that Guitar Hero 3 was out. That somehow ended up in the cart, not like we needed it! I hardly have time to play the other two! When we got home the kids were still up watching a movie. After it was over, I put Aubrie to bed and fell asleep scratching her back. I woke up around 4:00 and was wide awake. So much for feeling rested this morning.
Today Boston had a 9:00am game and then we headed to the Pediatrician for Flu Shots. I never get the kids flu shots, but Ethan's preschool teacher is requiring it, Ugh. So I figured I would give it too all of them. I knew not to tell them about it, b/c Boston HATES shots. He is so sensitive to shots, he stared crying when he saw them give Sophia her first round of immunizations. They just thought Aubrie had an appointment for some problem she has been having. While we were in the waiting room Boston said to Aubrie, "I hope they don't have to give you a shot"! I was feeling a little bad knowing that he had no idea, but knew it was in his best interest to not let him dwell on it. On the way to room Ben told the kids they were getting shots, which I didn't want to happen, and Boston turned into this wild animal. He started having a panic attack and was literally trying to run out of the Doctors Office. We had to hold him down while he was kicking and screaming, and it took two nurse's and Ben to hold him down long enough to give him the shot. That got Ethan and Aubrie all worked up to the point of crying and screaming. I so wish I had a camcorder to record all of it, b/c it would have won the 100 thousand grand prize from America's Funniest Home Videos. I just felt bad for all the kids in the waiting room. I'm sure it scared them to death! After it was all over, Boston admitted it didn't really hurt too much. I told him he better remember that for next time!
After shots, we went to Home Depot to get some lighting and Aubrie said, "Dad it's November 3rd, can we do the kids project!" How she remembered that, I have no idea? They were cool pirate ships. They did that , while Ben went in and got what he needed. We then got some lunch at Wendy's and I dropped them off at home, while I ran to the Youth Conference. Unfortunately, I didn't know it was Sunday dress, so I got there and had to come back home. They really didn't need me b/c they were just wrapping up with testimony meeting.
Tonight we took the kids to see The Bee Movie. It was cute, but Sophia had a hard time towards the end. She was really tired, and she needs "the crib"! When we got home I surprised Aubrie and switched her bedroom furniture around while they were watching TV. I was just laying on her bed and was looking for a space to put a book shelf, and that is where I ended up. She thought it was cool, and I thought it was cool that I was able to muscle it up enough to move her double bed (with a huge pillow top mattress)! Whew, I'm ready for bed! That's a wrap!

Halloween

Funny how something is staring you right in the face, and you know it's there, and then one day your like how did this happen?! Yeah, that was me when I got out of the shower today. I know I'm still carrying some pounds and my body is less than desirable, but today I had more of a reality check. I guess I knew it all along, but figured it was baby weight that would eventually come off. After looking through baby pictures of Aubrie at Sophia's age, I'm realizing that without some work my body isn't going ANYWHERE! So after talking to Ben this morning about it, the only time for me to do anything about it is at night. Of course, I was asking him when? "By the time I get the kids down", I said, " I have projects to finish up, a house to clean, my blog, and TV shows to catch up on". He made me realize I can watch TV and do our elliptical at the same time. As for the blog, I'll probably have to bring it down to a couple times of week. We'll see what happens. Just a heads up!

I did get some exercise last night! The kids were planning on going up and down a few streets in our neighborhood, but ended going up and down every street. Of course our particular section of the neighborhood is set up against a mountain, so we we going up and down hills. We all know that in the beginning the kids are so excited running with their empty bags from house to house. However, by the third street I was holding Ethan's bag and Ethan was sitting in the front of the double stroller between EVERY house. He wouldn't even take his bag to the door. He would just hold out his hand and then walk back and hand the candy to me and get back in the stroller. How lazy is that?!! Oh the life of a kid!

We kicked off our Halloween night with a Halloween dinner. I made blood(red sauce), guts(spaghetti noodles), eyeballs(meatballs), and green slime( applesauce dyed green). The kids thought that was cool, but Ethan wouldn't touch the applesauce which usually is his favorite. The kids then got all dressed up; Aubrie, Sophia and I were cats, Boston was Batman, Ethan was Superman, my Mom a witch and Ben....well he was the party pooper! We then met the neighbors at 6:00 to go trick or treating. It ended up being about 4 Moms following the kids and having their hands full of all the accessories they didn't want to keep on anymore, and about 5 Dads ignoring what was going on around them as the talked about who knows what! They should have just stayed home! ha! My Mom stayed behind and passed out the candy. I failed to give her instructions and when I got back all the candy was gone!!! I asked her how all that candy was gone already ( I had a large cauldron full of chocolate bars) and she said I only gave THREE to each kid!!! I was so looking forward to my Almond Joys! Oh well!

When we got back we put Sophia down and headed up the street for Chili Dogs, bobbing for apples and socializing. They offered us a beer, but they probably felt dumb after Ben made the comment "You know us Mormons" referring to a comment made my a neighbor about us having so many kids! It's still weird for me to see people drink in front of their kids. We do have some great neighbors , though, and I'm so glad we moved on this street! After the street party, we came home and had the kids finish up some homework while we watched the Haunted Mansion. They ended up going to bed at 9:15! Best of luck to their teachers today! LOL!

Still sick and carving pumpkins

Here is a picture I took the other night when the kids stayed up late to watch a movie. Guess Ben makes a good pillow!

Anway, today didn't really go as planned. I was planning on dropping Ethan off at school and then head off to Sophia's 6 month appointment. Instead, Ethan woke up throwing up, so I had to call Ben home to stay with him while I went to her appointment. Poor Ethan was so pathetic. He couldn't even keep down some Tylenol I gave him for his fever. It all ended up on himself and Ben! I had a lot of laundry to do when I got back. I had to strip his bedding and so he got the special "sick" bedding. It's old Buzz Light Year bedding that I put on the boys beds while I wash their sick ones. It makes them feel a little special.

Sophia's appointment went well. The wait was a little longer than usual, about 20 minutes, but once I got in it went pretty fast. She had Dr. Mitra. I like him a lot. We just talked about different medical philosophies until we realized we were ignoring the main reason we were there, to check Sophia. I like a Dr. who doesn't make me feel rushed. Anyway, he said that she looked great! She weighed in at 14lbs. 5oz, which was the 15th percentile. He said she is still following the same growth curve, and so there was nothing to be worried about. She was just petite! She is tall, however, 26 3/4 inches...the 75th percentile. Definitely Ben's genes working there. Poor thing had 5 vaccines today, along with a flu shot. She did pretty well, considering. She cried as they were sticking her ( Hate that more than anything), and as soon as I held her she stopped crying. She slept well this afternoon, but tonight was a little fussy. Poor thing!

When I got home I told Ethan he needed a nap. He was so cooperative. He just walked upstairs, climbed in bed and was out within minutes. He apparently wasn't feeling well. He woke up around 3:30 and was feeling himself, again. He wouldn't stop eating from the time he woke up until dinner. Guess he was making up for not eating anything before then. Poor boy could hardly drink water this morning!

After dinner tonight, we decorated our pumpkins for Halloween. They are small pumpkins and so we were able to finish them really fast. Good thing, since Monday's are crazy with Aubrie's dance, FHE, etc.

While we were carving pumpkins I asked Ben to get my Halloween container, hoping that I still had one of my carving kits. Unfortunately there wasn't one, but Ethan found some stuff in there he liked. Here is what he did with the fake flowers he found in there.

Hopefully tomorrow will be uneventful. We are having our year walk through tomorrow. I can't believe we have almost been here a year already. Time has flown by!

Aubrie's fancy nails!! They don't even look like kid hands, huh? They only lasted a few hours! Long enough to scratch my back!

Aubrie's new 150 piece puzzle...she couldn't keep Boston away!

Boston Sweeps World Series!

The Red Sox did it again! For some reason them winning the World Series wasn't as exciting as it was in 2004! Of course, it had been 80 something years since they had won it and now it has only been 3. It was cool to see them win it again, and we even thought for a second it would be somewhat cool to wear our Red Sox shirts in our Christmas picture. Ha! We did figure out that every year I had a baby in Arizona the Red Sox have won the World Series. Good thing I'm fixed, our who knows what Ben would do. LOL! Anyway, good series! Too bad Boston fell asleep and missed them win!

McGee's visit

There is so much to catch up. I'm sure I will leave out some things. The McGee's got in Monday night. After Ben picked them up from the airport, they came here for a quick dinner before we headed up to Williams. The drive up was uneventful, which is a good thing. Ben and Jason talked up front, while Abbie and I caught up in back. The kids watched a movie and fell asleep about 20 minutes before we got to the hotel. When we got there we were all starving. Ben and Jason left to get food only to come back with a bunch of junk from the gas station. Apparently nothing else is open past 10:00 pm in Williams. We were also planning on swimming, but this particular Fairfield had to be the only one w/out an indoor pool, except for the one at Disneyland, but that's in California. HELLO! The kids were disappointed, but found a way to have a good time in the hotel rooms. So much so, one of our neighbors banged on the wall. The kids just hit the wall back. I guess they thought it was a game. A few minutes later the manager came, and we decided it was bedtime!

Tuesday morning we started off w/ the free breakfast. We were starving! The kids loved it...and I loved that they were old enough to serve themselves!!! After breakfast, we headed over to the train. Before departure time, they had a cowboy shootout performance. The kids had a good time watching that. They didn't enjoy the smell of the horse poop, but luckily they scooped it up pretty fast. I don't know how Abbie held her breakfast down? She is 14 weeks pregnant and still has a queasy stomach. At 10:00 am our train left for the Grand Canyon. It was a 2 hour ride. The kids liked the music and the refreshment car. They made a few trips back there and filled their bellies w/ a lot of junk.
The Grand Canyon was nice, but didn't really compare to the Havasupia experience. It was still amazing to see how deep the hole really is and all the layers, etc. I wish we had more time to stop at more points. Boston was really freaked out at first, because a four year old girl just recently fell in and died. Once he took a few looks, he got almost too comfortable. Boston, Aubrie and Sydney had fun looking through their binoculars at all the different spots. I purchased one of those backpack harnesses for Ethan. He didn't like it at first, and neither did Ben. He wanted me to take it off him, but I figured my son's life was worth more than what others thought. We didn't even get any looks. I think everyone was glad to see we were using precaution! Ethan got used to it and by the end liked it. After we finished taking the free shuttle around, we had lunch at Bright Angels Lodge. The food was overpriced and average, but we had a view of the Grand Canyon while we were eating, so that was nice. Ethan was so tired he fell asleep in Ben's arms before the food came. We had to box it up for the train ride. I guess he isn't used to so much excitement. After lunch, we strolled back toward the train depot and then headed back home. The ride back was the same; entertainment, refreshment car, free drinks. We did have a little more excitement. The cowboys held up the train and "took our money", or more like our donations. They spent a lot of time talking to the kids (they recognized them from the shoot out) and the kids ate it up. The kids were giving them a hard time and our car was getting a good laugh out of it. We have so many pictures from it all, I don't know what ones to post. I do know that I want a new camera. The McGee's have a new 10 MP camera and it takes the BEST pictures. I thought I just lost my touch b/c my pictures were so much better when I used to have my 35 mm. Now I want their camera...so NICE!!!
Anyway, on the way home we had a little excitement. Our suspension warning came on and when we stopped to check the car out. Our tire was hitting the rim of the tire well. Ben tried driving it for about 5 minutes, until he realized it wasn't going to work. We put our spare on, which is a normal tire, and that luckily got us home safely. Thank heavens for our custom wheels! I never thought they served a purpose till then. Also, I'm so glad our car is still under warranty. Whew!

Wednesday I moved the kids piano lesson to the morning, so we could head out to the state fair early. Wednesday is dollar ride day at the fair. It's such a good deal! We got there around 2:00 and it couldn't have been a better time. It was so empty! We had a GREAT time! Sophia was perfect and I only ate a funnel cake (big accomplishment). We bought 80 rides between the two families and the kids rode about every ride they wanted, except the ones they were too short to ride. Poor Ethan had to hang back on a lot of rides. He was fearless, running up to rides that were clearly too big for him. We actually snuck him on a few that were harmless, like the log ride. We squeezed 6 on the ride, so Ethan was pinned in between Jason and I and he wasn't going anywhere. He LOVED that ride along with the other kids. I would say that was their favorite along w/ the GREEN roller coaster. Jason and I rode most of the rides w/ the kids. Abbie couldn't ride anything and Ben refuses to do the water rides or any of the "motion" rides. I had to go on a few of the spinning rides, and almost lost my water! Oh how I sacrifice for my children. Ha!
We got home around 5:00. We just picked up some take out and enjoyed the hot tub. After the kids went to bed, we finally played some cards with the McGees. That is something we have always done with them. We used to hang out at each others house almost every night when Aubrie was a baby. We started with Canasta, and some how started playing Spades. So now we always play Spades. It's Abbie and I against Ben and Jason. So far Abbie and I are the reigning champions and still are:)

Thursday the girls went shopping while the boys hung out and did guy stuff; fix our electronic set up for our TV's, watch Transformers for the millionth time, etc. We then swam, fed the kids some dinner, and luckily were able to find a sitter so we could enjoy a dinner out. We had a nice time at the Cheesecake Factory. I got my favorite dish; the fish Tacos. When we got home we had a few hours to play some more games and finally after midnight we called it a night and went to bed:(

Friday morning the kids went to school b/c the McGee's left that morning to go back home. I was so sad to see them leave. Their trip went so fast. Aubrie and Sydney had such a great time together. They were inseparable and enjoyed their late nights bunking in Sophia's room (she slept in ours) in their blow up sleeping bags. They did everything from playing Uno, listening to music, playing w/ dolls, playing w/ their webkinz online(under supervision of course) playing in the backyard, shopping and buying matching cloths, etc. They are already planning their trips to visit one another:) Aubrie wants to go to there house first b/c they have 7 cats! Not a big surprise from my little animal whisper! LOL
Friday night Ben and I had our date night. We had dinner at In and Out! How funny is that? Nothing else sounded good to us after all our eating out w/ the McGee's. That also gave us plenty of time to catch a movie. We saw "Dan in Real Life". It was such a great "feel good" movie. When we got home the kids were finishing up their movie "Meet the Robinsons". That was a "feel good" movie, too. So we went to bed on a high note. Ha!

Saturday we didn't do much. Boston had another T-ball game, but Ethan had pink eye, so I kept him home. Boston had a great game, so Ben stopped at Sonic to get him something. Ben swam w/ the kids while Aubrie and I tried to find some black Sunday shoes. Doesn't anyone go to church anymore? It took me 5 stores before I could find some decent ones, argh! After we got back, we made our dreaded weekly trip to Walmart. It's really not so bad, but going on a Saturday isn't the best idea. Unfortunately we were pretty wiped out after the company, so we had to restock on a few things. Of course, you just don't go there for a few things. So we ended up coming out w/ several things not on the list, including a Halloween costume for Ethan. I realized that he never has had a new costume. He has always wore the hand me downs. So this year we let him pick out something. He picked out a Superman costume and is already wearing it around the house!:)
After we got home, Aubrie put on some fake nails the I reluctantly bought her. What 7 year old need nails, right?! Well I definitely changed my mind after she scratched my back, arms and legs!! The best $4.oo I ever spent. Aubrie got smart today and started charging money for a back scratch (not me of course). After she scratched Ben's back, she said I need 2 dollars. Ben asked her why and she said "because this is Aubrie's Spa and that's how much it costs".
Saturday night we watched the Red Sox win another game. Ben had to run and give his Mom a blessing during the beginning of the game and when he got back they were ahead 6 to 0! I told Ben he should take off and serve someone else to clinch the win! Ha! While Ben was gone, I was trying to hold the fort down. Boston was so sweet, wanting to help me bathe Sophia. He was so gentle with her. He, too, will make a good babysitter! Oh, speaking of Boston, Saturday morning Ben said he came out front to find Boston in the small garage. He asked him what he was doing and he told him "he was organizing the garage b/c it was driving him crazy!".....he is so my son. Anyway, back to Saturday night. While Ben was gone, Aubrie wanted to put Sophia down. She rocked her and fed her a bottle and put her in her crib. She did that tonight, too! She definitely has that mothers instinct! When Ben got home I played Uno with the kids while Ben finished watching the game. As we were putting the kids to bed, Aubrie's eyed started looking crusty; darn it! That's when we knew we wouldn't be making it to church.

Today we just took turns taking naps, we have had too many "wake up calls" the past few nights! We also made some Halloween sugar cookies, practiced piano, watched some church videos, and had our home teachers over. Oh, we also had to get some more eye drops. Our first trip over there they were trying to give us eye drops that cost 55 dollars. I told them I never have spent that much for "pink eye" drops. Finally, an hour later, Ben picked up another type of eye drop that only cost 3 dollars! What were they thinking?!!!! I was almost panicking there for a second, especially since I needed two!
Now it's very late! I hate playing catch up on journaling, but there was really no time while our company was here. I'm sure I left out plenty, but something is better than nothing! Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow!

Go Red Sox!!

I have a confession to make, I have sinned! I have somehow managed to instill a "no sports" rule on Sunday, which is a miracle to say the least. Ben grew up in a home that was full of sports games on Sunday. I, on the other hand, grew up in a home where we never watched sports. My Dad would watch an occasional baseball game here or there, but that was about it. After we had kids I slowly started this no TV rule (except church movies) and that also included sports. I thought time could be better spent as a family. Of course, I didn't impose that rule on Ben, but after the kids got after him so many times he resorted to watching them in the bedroom and eventually resorted to catching a few highlights at night, after the kids were in bed. To me that was progress, and I am happy with that. However, today I broke my own rule. I knew Ben was probably wondering what I was going to do about the whole thing, but when I came down stairs in my new Boston shirt he had a huge grin on his face and gave me a huge hug. The kids had fun catching the first few innings while we ate dinner. After dinner we missed the middle of the game while the kids practiced piano, took baths, read and went down for the night. We picked things back up around the 6th inning and Ben and I enjoyed about an hour of watching the Boston win the Pennant. I have to admit it was fun spending that time with Ben. It is a rare moment where he and I are both "into" a game. Now I must go and repent! ha!!

The rest of the day has been great! My lesson, though very rushed, turned out well. The girls were very quite at first, not wanting to comment on anything. I brought that to their attention, and after that they contributed a little more. It's such a delicate subject and I put a lot of prayer into it!!!!! I hope I handled it well. I think I did, so I'll just keep believing that! After church, the kids and I watched some Living Scriptures while Ben and Sophia napped. We then spent most of the day out back. It was so cool and breezy outside; it was wonderful! Around 5 I left for a visiting teaching appointment, and when I got home Ben had dinner going...how nice!!! Tomorrow I have to gear up for the trip. It shouldn't be very hard to pack for one night, especially since I won't be packing for Sophia. This will be the first time I'm away from her overnight! She does so well at home, and I'm sure my Mom will have so much fun with her. She is starting to put on some baby fat, finally! I love squeezing her little thighs, and love watching her make her "cheese" face. She is also trying to get on all fours and push herself around. Personally, I hope I don't see any crawling until after Christmas, but it's nice to see that she catching up!

relaxing weekend at home

Last night was fun. We had some semi-new couple ,from the ward, over for a BBQ. Ben went to High School w/ the wife, but didn't know it until they started talking at church one day. We have been trying to get together for quite awhile, but our schedules never seemed to match up. They are a very nice couple and so down to earth. They have a 4 year old son who played wonderfully with Ethan. We just sat outside and talked until 10:00! Luckily the kids had their new Transformer movie to keep them entertained between playing in the backyard.
Today was relaxing, for the most part. Ben took the boys to Boston's 8:00 am T-ball game, while I stayed home w/ the girls. Aubrie and Sophia were still sleeping and waking a sleeping baby is just not right!!! Ok, I have to admit I was enjoying the fact that I got to sleep in a little, too! Ben said Boston had another good game and Ethan behaved himself.
While they were at the game I started one of my love/hate tasks...washing all the bedding. I HATE making up the boys beds! They are pushed against the walls and it makes it so hard to get all those corners and sides tucked in. On the other hand, I LOVE the smell of clean fresh sheets, AH!
After the boys got home , Ben planted the 45 gallon pygmy palm that has been haunting him on our back porch for the past two weeks. Ethan was so cute out there w/ his shovel, thinking he was helping him. While Ben did that, Aubrie, Boston and I took some Halloween cookies to some neighbors. As a result, a few neighbor kids came over to swim. The weather was so nice, I was able to sit outside and prepare my lesson while I watched them. After about 3 1/2 hours of swimming, lunch, playing in the backyard, and swimming again, we had to end the fun to run a few errands.
Boston got all greens last week, which is an accomplishment for him. He is learning to keep his mouth shut when he finishes his work, which has been very hard for him. The teacher said he finishes so much faster than every one else, and since he has the gift of the gab it is actually quite the miracle. To reward him we took him to the dollar store and let him pick out a toy. He thought that was the coolest thing. I better enjoy it while it lasts! Boston and Aubrie brought their own money w/ them so they also bought a few things on their own. Ethan had fallen asleep in the car on the way there, so Ben sat in the car while I took them in. Aubrie said, "Mom, don't let me forget to buy something for Ethan because I don't want him to be sad". It's funny how they all fight, but then also look out for one another. I told Ben about that and he told me that today at T-ball one of the parents brought doughnuts. Boston went up to the Mom and said "Can I have a doughnut for my sister, b/c I don't want her to be sad when she finds out we had one"! I guess we are getting through to them on some levels!:)
After a few other errands, we came home and watched the Boston game. They crushed Cleveland 12-2. YEAH, go RED SOX!!! One more game and they are off to the World Series!!
During the game, Boston (our Boston) started complaining of a stomach ache. He has been getting them frequently, so I didn't think much of it. He kept complaining more and more until he started running to the trash can. He just threw up in the kitchen trash can, while the other two kids were eating dinner (YUCK)! He didn't' cry or anything and when he was done he just walked away like nothing happened, and finished watching the movie he had on. I think Aubrie was more affected by the whole thing. She told me she couldn't finish her dinner b/c she was too "sicked out"! Boston feels good as new, but was very tired and fell asleep during scripture.
Ben is off to another one of his "ultimate fighting" nights....whatever?! I put up with it, but don't understand it! After he left, I finished up few things for my lesson.
I have the pleasure of giving the "Sacred Power of Procreation" lesson. I'm actually not nervous about the content, but nervous that I might leave something really important out. I hope it all goes well. Luckily I'm teaching the Laurels and not the Beehives. Maturity will definitely help my lesson....no giggles, smiles, gasps, etc.!