{k}

me: {k}, guess, what? I love you.
{k}: guess, what? I love you more... can I kiss you all day?


Then he proceeds to to attack my face with kisses. LOVE!!!!!

Random Updates...

So this post is a random, catch all for the past I don't know how many months. Clearly, I have missed posting about each of the kids most recent birthdays, and they all had one, but this is going to focus on noteworthy events that have happened since the first of the year.

 First, {k} had his tonsils out in Jan. Here is a before...

 and here is the after. :) Clearly, he wasn't all that worse for wear after the procedure. The following month was tougher for him than for his siblings when they got their tonsils out, but he recovered just fine in the end.

 The end of the school year brought {A} earning Honor Roll for his class. He was one of only a handful of kids in his class to earn honor roll. We are very proud of how hard he worked in school this year.

  

 {A} participated in the school choir this year also. He would meet about 40 minutes early two days a week, and practice. They had 3-4 concerts throughout the year, and were even able to sing at the Capitol Rotunda during Christmas time. He loves to sing!

 

{a} graduated from Preschool in May. She had a wonderful teacher, and a super fun experience! She will now join her brothers in school this year, as a kindergartener!!

 My Grandpa {G} passed away in July. He was 93 and had had a wonderful, long fulfilling life. He went rather quickly, for which we are all grateful. He is now celebrating with Grandma {L} in Heaven. Love you Grandpa!!

July also brought {K} turning 8. This meant he got to have a friend birthday party. He invited 8 friends from school/church and had such a fun time! The most favorite activity were these bubble snakes. They dipped the end of a sock into a light bubble/water mix and then blew in the end of a water bottle. These cool "snakes" would then appear.

{K} made the choice to be baptized. He was baptized and confirmed by his dad and we then had a small gathering of family and close friends for dinner after. We are so proud of you, {K}!!



The following is a synopsis of what I have had to deal with this summer: (I wrote this to a friend in an email)
 While we were gone camping the end of June, I ended up getting mastitis in my left breast. It is very rare for women to get mastitis if they arent nursing, but apparently it can happen. So far it has been two weeks.  They cultured it last week and it is staph. Not good. Last friday a surgeon cut a two inch slit just to the left of my nipple in hopes that the infection would have somewhere to drain. I head back to the surgeons office today for a checkup. It really isnt getting better. In the meantime i have had a rash from the antibiotic. I am so ready for all this to be behind me.
 Next, I wrote:
 Really long story short, we finally made the decision to see another breast care surgeon(who is 1000 time better than the first) and she was willing to try and diagnose the problem, instead of just trying to get rid of the problem. She did cancer biopsies and thankfully they are all negative. She did however, diagnose my breast infection/inflammation as glanulomatous mastitis(GM). It's basically mastitis in my glands. Then, on top of that, I ended up getting erythema nodosum(EN). This is basically an umbrella term for a hypersensitivity/inflammation reaction to (blank). The blank can be infection, inflammation, reaction to antibiotics or any combination of the above. It was extremely painful bruise-like sores all over my legs. I could hardly walk, kneel and whenever I put my legs down I could feel the blood rush to my legs. She put me on prednisone, and I am pleased to share that the meds began working almost immediately. The leg pain is completely gone, and the bruises are looking wonderful(compared to what they did look like).
The surgeon found an article that links the GM to the EN, so that proved to her that they are connected somehow. The GM is a pretty rare kind of mastitis, so she is sending me to a rheumatologist for further consultation to determine if I have an underlying auto-immune something going on.


So, there you go. Major update from our family. Now, on to back to school!! :)

follow up thoughts, and pictures!!

My friend left this comment on my previous post. Oh, she is so wise. :)

 “My message to you today, my brothers and sisters, is simply this: the Lord is in control. He knows the end from the beginning. He has given us adequate instruction that, if followed, will see us safely through any crisis. His purposes will be fulfilled, and someday we will understand the eternal reasons for all of these events. Therefore, today we must be careful to not overreact, nor should we be caught up in extreme preparations; but what we must do is keep the commandments of God and never lose hope!”
M. Russell Ballard, “The Joy of Hope Fulfilled,” Ensign, Nov. 1992


 Just know that although I am not happy with the State of the Union, nor of it's current leader, I am happy with the State of my family Union and really do not plan to concern my time or thoughts about things I really have no control over. I will pray for him and hope the leadership as a team can work together.
I get to be a momma of 4 beautiful children, and so I will work on teaching and training them to be strong, courageous, thoughtful people instead of worrying about other things. :)



On a more fun note, we got school pictures back and thought I would share. I know lots of moms refuse to pay the high price of school shots, but I choose to because this way I know I have one really great picture of each of my children to document each year.

{A} age 9, 4th grade

{K} age 7, 2nd grade

{a} age 4, preschool

{k} age 2

thoughts and updates

I know I haven't posted much lately, but I did want to mention a couple of things. I have a pretty heavy heart this morning after yesterday. I am very disappointed that Mr. Obama has been reelected. I was so hoping for this country to wake up and see the good in Mr. Romney. I fear for this country. I worry about my children and the evil they will have to overcome. I will pray that Mr. Obama will make good choices for the better of the whole country and not for his socialist plans.


It has been fun to watch my boys learn about the election and how hard the teachers worked to help them understand the electoral system.

Also, {K} started in a new classroom this week. He was tested for the full-time GATE program recently at school. He is now in a 1/2 combo class. So far, I am really impressed with his teacher and hope for the very best for him!!
{A} has been in a 3/4 full-time GATE class since the beginning of this school year. He has struggled adapting to the rigors of a much more difficult program, but I have seen progress in his organization skills. Next, we are working on helping him to listen more intently to the lessons at school, and to use his time more wisely during class. I am still convinced he is where he needs to be though. He received high marks on his report card which tells me he is learning the material, we just need to work on time management. I am excited to see what he can learn this year.
{a} is LOVING preschool. She has a wonderful teacher who is helping her to be completely prepared for kindergarten. There are 8 kiddos in her class, which is a great size. She is the oldest in her class. I love that she loves it!!
{k} is ready to have his tonsils out. Unfortunately, he is not old enough yet to do so. In the mean time, he is miserable and snoring all night long. He wakes regularly and makes noise. It has been a rough couple of nights.

End of School

I thought I published this in June, but apparently not. These are the teachers for 2011-2012 school year.

{K} with his first grade teacher Mrs. O

{A} with his 3rd grade teacher Mrs. C

we have had this trike for a while now, but we recently replaced the tires so the kids all ride together.

{k} turned 2!!

Holy Smokes!! My baby turned 2!! {k} turned 2 last month, and I thought I would give a quick recap.

{k} is an adorable, sneaky little boy. He is really fun, and funny. He is entirely too busy, and gets into everything. He keeps me on my toes and has us laughing regularly. He loves attention, swimming, motorcycles and spending time with his Dad.

{k} got a battery powered atv, motorcycle, bubbles, sandals and a truck/trailer with motorcycles on the back for his birthday.

The Dr. says he is in the 85% for wight and somewhere similar for height.  He had a double ear infection when we went in for his yearly checkup. We really didn't even know! But, we are aware that within the next six months (or so) that he will have his tonsils out. Currently they are huge and know that since all his siblings had their tonsils taken out at about age 2 1/2, that {k} will get his taken out soon, too. LOVE YOU BoBo!!

6 quick things+ 1 funny

1. Last week we went on vacation. Vacation at our home looks like camping. We spent two nights/days riding our four wheelers. Day 3 we went to a hot springs, and day 4 we went to another hot springs. Day five we came home. We had such a fun time. I love my family.
2. I am wondering if we all got a little bug from swimming--we are all itchy, and have headaches.
3.I am horrible at taking pictures. The only pictures DH took were two on his phone.
4. DH is in charge of his family reunion this summer. Translation: I am in charge of DH's family reunion this summer. It's been an adventure to say the least.
5. {k} turned 2 this week. He just isn't a baby anymore. It kinda makes me sad to think he is probably our last, and our last isn't a baby anymore. :(
6. I am still running. I started week 5 yesterday, and haven't had to push a stroller the last two times I ran. It was heaven. :)
1 funny. {K} said something cute the other day. After sneezing, he said, "Oh Great! When I bless you, snot comes out of my nozzle!"

i can do hard things

It's hard.
Really hard.
and yet, I still desire to get out and do it.
whenever I hear my "running songs" I yearn to be out running.
but, it's hard.
like really hard.

i have started Couchto5K over and am on week 4.
only this time i get to run while pushing 95 pounds of wonderful kids.
so, today we needed to return some movies to the library. why not kill two birds with one stone, as they say.

we set out.
i thought, I can do this.
but, it was hard.
really hard.
i didn't quite run all the time i should have, but i did almost all.
and between running and walking, we made it down 1.2 miles to the library, and back 1.2 miles home.

and now, i am exhausted.

here's to tomorrow, because i know i can do hard things!!!

6 quick things.

Saw the idea of 6 quick things today on another blog, and thought, that is something I could do. Get some thoughts out there, share what's up with us without the pressure of any pictures. We'll see how it goes...

1. DH is out of town for business, again. It feels like a very regular occurrence lately.
2. Next weekend is Scout Overnighter, again. It definitely is a very regular occurrence. (for the past 4 years)
3. {k} is crazy busy. He REALLY wanted to go outside today in the pouring rain, so I let him. I honestly thought he would stay on the covered patio and play on a bike or in a car or something like that. He didn't stay on the patio. He meandered all over the back yard, through the mud, to the rocks, all without socks, shoes, or a jacket. Silly boy was loving life. He told me it was "wet".
4. {a} can't hardly wait for preschool. She knows that it will start after {K}'s birthday. His bday is the middle of July, and preschool starts after Labor Day. It was the closest milestone I could think of.
5. I have been baking up a storm lately, and have really been enjoying it.
6. {A} got some great news recently. It meant some big conversations between DH and I. Not ready to share, but it means a fairly large change for him in the coming months.

{k}'s blanket broke

so {k} has attached himself to one particular blanket, and one particular corner of that blanket. It is really quite gross. He sucks on it, sticks it in his ear, eyes and nose. It was very ratty. So, I cut it off. I sewed up the corner on his blanket, and he really doesn't seem to care. The video is cute.

He says quite a few things now. "oke" broke, "up" cup, "uh-uh" for yes or no(he now will nod his head to agree when he wants something), "nore" more, "ball" ball, "u-key" monkey. eta: "ninner" dinner, "um" some, "um" yum, "eese" cheese.
He received an adorable stuffed monkey for Christmas and has totally attached himself to it. It's really cute how much he loves it.

He is 20 months old now. He loves nursery and being funny. He is silly and loves to laugh. I can already tell he is going to be hilarious and a joker/teaser when he grows up. Much like {K} and his Dad. :)

quick update

I can't believe it's been since July that I have posted. Here is a quick update of life around here since then. School started. {A} is in 3rd grade and is loving it! He finally lost his first tooth early in the summer. And not long after school started he lost his 2 front top teeth. He is working to earn an allowance. His goals for allowance are to make kinder choices and to not have attitude toward Mom or Dad. He has tried for about 3 months and has made wonderful progress. He will earn his first payday tomorrow. {K} is in 1st grade and is doing very well! He is quite the reader. He works so hard every day. I am amazed at his reading skills. {a} is in a music and movement class right now and after about 6 weeks of class, she is finally warming up to being there. Thank goodness there are 2 classes left for her to show the class her fun personality. She has recently learned to write her name. She is quite the corker. {k} is 16 months. I can hardly wait for nursery so I can actually join even 1 hour of class at church. He is SO busy, and SO noisy. But, he is also fun and funny and loves being the center of attention.

budding photographers, and burned hand

Recently, I let 3 of my kiddos have a chance to take pictures around our yard. It was fun to see what they found important enough to take pictures of. Here are my 1 fav from each child.

The Tree by {A}
Corn by {K}
Baby by {a}









Also, I wanted to mention for journaling reasons, that {k} had his hand burned recently. We had a hot small bbq grill out, and he touched it with his right hand. It blistered right away, and popped that evening. He has had it wrapped in a bandage for a week now, but seems to be healing nicely. Poor little guy. We feel so horrible, but are grateful there shouldn't be any scars.

has it been a year already?

Our little bo-bo turns one year old today. It's amazing how much they change their first year of life. He has 3 teeth, is choosing to crawl rather than army crawl most of the time now, he can get himself to a standing position by himself, he sucks his thumb, and is generally a happy baby. He has an ear-piercing scream that definitely gets your attention, and has wonderful hazel eyes. We love you little one! Happy Birthday {k}!!

christmas 2010

These are from Christmas this year. We didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few. We had a wonderful season, and a Christmas day was full of wonder! We had a great day!

little bits

We were Pac-Man and the ghosts for Halloween this year. {A} was Pac-Man, {K} was Clyde the orange ghost, {a} was Pinky the pink ghost, {k} was Blinky the red ghost, and I was Inky the "dead" ghost. I had been "eaten" by Pac-Man.--hense why I was in white...

{A} FINALLY lost his first and second teeth on Nov 27 and 29th. The tooth fairy brought him $2 the first night and she FORGOT the second night! eek! So, I snick back down and made it work a few minutes later. Out of guilt, he got $2 for the second tooth, too! He has been taking piano lessons for over a year now, and recently played in a Monster Concert.

{K} is LOVING his little neighbor friend. On Thursdays, when they come home together from kindergarten, he usually announces to the friends mom that he is coming over to play after lunch. He then marches himself over to her house to play.

{a} is BUSY! She is in to EVERYTHING! She turns 3 soon, and gets to join her brothers in primary at the first of the year. Crazy!

{k} decided to roll over yesterday. He finally figured out how to roll from back to front. He doesn't particularly like being on his tummy once he's there, but he tolerates it for a little while.

hodgepodge

ok, LOTS has happened in the past 2 months. Hold on for lots of pictures.



First, first day of school. {A} is in 2nd grade, and {K} is in morning kindergarten. He was so nervous. But, after about 3 days, he TOTALLY settled in and has done wonders! The next two are of {k} in his blessing outfit that I made. The booties are from my Moms beighbor that has taken a liking to me. She is from Uzbekistan--I am SURE I spelled that wrong, but I thought it would be fun to have him wear them at the blessing.

Next, {a} actually fell asleep while leaning on the chair...

{k} at almost 3 months old.

{a} Little sis decided she wanted to wash her feet, only she didn't think to pull up her pants.

I was going to post on this when it happened. {a} wanted to play a game, so we did. She is getting so interactive lately.

{a} I absolutely {adore} that she loves to wear these goggles. and she wears them all the time!

{K} and {a} playing super heroes.

{A} was chosen as Citizen of the Month for Sept.

{a} I LOVE her sense of style. She wore this flower to the store the other day, and got more giggles out of people... :) She is 2 3/4 years old here.

{A} at 7 1/2 years old.

We were taking pictures of each other.

This is one of {K} upset because, well, I don't know why... :)

Smoothie 'staches.

{A} was so excited. He got to go with Dad on a scout overnighter, and this time he got to wear a "real" backpack.

{K} wanted me to take his pic with the pumkin. He is 5 years old.

{k} at 4 months old.