Our Lazy Monday

Adam didn't have any school on Monday, so Tessa declared it Pajama Day....and I was totally fine with that!

The kids stayed busy reading, having a birthday party for Tessa's pet cat "Tim", a picnic lunch, and a fun night out with Daddy to the BYU Creamery. 

Watching (and now listening) to my kids read never gets old. I am so grateful they love books!

Adam and Tessa threw a birthday party for "Tim the Cat". Tessa had me make him a special pancake for his cake, they made birthday signs and wrapped presents for him. 

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 We sang and blew out candles. What a lucky cat!

  Tim got a birthday card from Adam and a stuffed dog from Tessa. 

 I didn't get a good picture of it, but while Gwen was napping we had an awesome indoor picnic! 

 For FHE, we were hoping to go bowling, but the wait was like an hour and a half. So, we decided to go get ice cream instead. Even thought it was like, 9 degrees outside. 

It was fun to have a day off. It made us all excited for summer!

Week In Review

I think we are finally on the mend! This week we started to get back in the swing of things....and then Mommy got sick. But, we still had some fun!

There have been many art projects going on around here lately. Adam and Tessa love to draw and create, so we always have new creations decorating our bulletin boards and refrigerator. 

Tessa drew this for Adam. She wanted to throw him a Prince Ball, and this was his invitation. She pointed out that everyone in our family is in this picture and we are all wearing necklaces and crowns. Adam was less than thrilled to have a necklace.

Tessa is also starting to spell words on her own. I love seeing her interpretation of words she hasn't learned to spell, like "dear". 

When I picked Adam up from school on Tuesday, he got in the car and burst into tears. When I finally got him to talk and tell me what was wrong, he handed me his math quiz and told me that he had failed it. (I had to try hard to hide my giggles.) This poor kid is an over-achiever and this is the first math problem, or any problem he has missed in school. He hasn't even missed a spelling word this year. I tried my hardest to calm him down, but he was pretty upset. This was the text I sent to my Mom later that day.....

"So, I thought all my struggles through math classes were to benefit my high school or college age children....not my first grader. Over-achiever, Adam, came home in tears today, totally convinced he had failed his math test because he missed one problem. Hearing his mom sucks at math helped cheer him up. Glad I could help....."

He has proudly brought home every math test from the rest of the week, all with 100% on them.

 Last Sunday, Mommy got to rest for a couple of hours while Gwen napped. Daddy, Adam, and Tessa made paper ducks. Tessa has been playing with her duck all week. I may have to laminate it.

 More drawings from Tess. She made this picture for Sister Hilgendorf and worked on it for a long time to get it just right. (She said Sister Hilgendorf loves giraffes. I have no idea if that is true or not.)

 We finally started Mommy School again! This weeks theme was Winter Fun. Camdyn was over playing, so she and Tessa made marshmallow snowmen. 

 We also made Defrosty the Snowman treats.

 

Later in the week when I had a little more energy, we took a trip to Target so the kids could spend their Christmas money. 

 Adam and Tessa found every baby they could for Gwen. She LOVES baby dolls!! She ended up getting a stuffed bunny rabbit. 

 Adam bought some new playing cards.

 Tessa got a Brave doll.

Friday night, Mamma and Bampa invited Adam and Tessa over for a sleepover so we could get some rest around here. They had a blast and are already planning their next sleepover. It was relaxing to only have one baby to worry about for 24 hours. Eric and I got some much needed down time and we even got to sneak off to the movies to finally see Les Mis. 

Saturday evening, the kids turned the box from Gwen's new car seat into a car. They colored it for hours while they watched the Jazz game. 

 Adam filled the inside of their car with tic tac toe boards. They played multiple games during half time. 

 It is nice to finally get back to normal and feel well again. This next week will be a busy one!

 I am grateful that we are all finally healthy!

All About Me

A couple of weeks ago, we had our annual "All About Me" night. I always love hearing what the kids have to say and to see how their answers change every year. 

Some of Gwen's favorite's include:

Eating her snacks-she loves her puff snacks, crackers, and baby food pouches

Dancing

Baby dolls

Climbing the stairs

Sitting in the tupperware cupboard

Her binky and her green and pink blanket

Playing chase around the couch

Being outside

When Daddy comes home 

Playing "Where's Gwennie"
Watching the kids play on Mii TV. She runs for the living room if she hears someone turn on the Wii.
Bath time
Praying-she loves to fold her hands and she looks so cute when she does it!

Finally Finished!

Over the weekend, I finally finished a project that I have been working on for a year and a half! My recipe books are complete!! I have been working hard to type up my recipes, add pictures to them, and compile them in a cute and accessible way. I guess I am not totally done, as there will always be more to add, but it is so nice to be caught up and at a place that I can consider finished. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Baby Fight Club

As if strep, the flu, and RSV weren't enough for us, poor little Gwen came down with pink eye as well. Eric said it looks like we put her in a baby fight club. 

A New Phase

I adore my children and being a mother. I also love having a baby in the house. That being said, I really hate the climbing phase that all babies go through. It is exhausting and terrifying. Gwen is now climbing into and onto everything she possible can. I haven't snapped a picture of her scaling her baby gate yet, but she just started doing that this morning. She loves climbing around the tupperware cupboard, but then gets mad because she can't stand up straight.

 She discovered that she can climb up on to the dishwasher.

 And the kids chairs.

 And her birthday presents. 

I think she views everything now as a climbing challenge. Hopefully we both live through this phase of her baby life!

Gloomy

Gloomy is the only word I can think of to describe how our January has been so far. I was so excited for the beginning of the new year, to start on some new goals and get going with Mommy School. But, none of that has happened. 

We had some wonderful snow storms the end of December, and then the haze came and the temperature dropped. For about a week and a half it has just been plain miserable outside. The air quality has been so bad and we have been lucky if the temperature warms up to the low teens. 

 The view of the mountains from our house....you can barely see them! There is just a nasty layer of gross in the air. 

 The kids have loved watching our icicles grow larger and larger each day. Since it has been so cold, they aren't melting. One finally fell the other day and I thought something had fallen off a closet shelf the noise was so loud. I searched all over the house, looking for what made the loud noise, when I realized the largest icicle  was no longer outside our window. I'm glad no one was under it when it fell!

 We cannot get the ice off of our driveway. I have been so worried about someone slipping on it! 

Our car is beyond filthy, but we can't wash it because the water will just freeze. If the previous owners saw it so dirty, I'm sure they would have a heart attack. I'm quite positive in the last 10 years, this car has never seen so much dirt!

 Then things got gloomy inside. All 3 kids have been sick. We are going on 2 weeks now of someone being sick. Adam was sick first with what the doctor said was the chest flu, and then they called and said his strep tests were positive as well. As always, when he gets sick, everything moves to his chest and his asthma flares up. So between the horrible air outside and being sick, he has been pretty miserable. He still wore his Jazz hat faithfully and played lots of Star Wars Angry Birds. 

 A few days after Adam got sick, both girls started coughing and sneezing. Poor Tessa woke up in the middle of the night on Saturday and her only request was a blessing from her Daddy. We finally took both girls into the doctor and he said they both have a mild case of RSV. Thankfully, both of their lungs were clear and their o2 levels were good. 

 I feel like my kitchen has been turned into a drug store. The chocolate is my drug to get me through this...

 Although it stinks to have your babies sick, and all 3 at the same time, we feel like we can't complain too much. This was Tessa's first sick visit to the doctor in her life. 4 years isn't such a bad run. She got 2 suckers, so she was totally fine with having to be there. 

 Poor Gwen has just wanted to be held non-stop. She seems to be getting better, but still has a nasty cough that gets worse at night. She hasn't had much of an appetite (none of them have) so I am grateful for these baby food pouches. She loves them and will at least suck on those. 

Hopefully we will be on the mend soon. We are generally quite healthy, so to have everyone be so sick has been hard. I am lucky to get a solid hour of sleep a night. I am going on night 6 with little to no sleep. Gwen had just started sleeping 12 hours solid too. Why do they always get sick and mess up a good thing?! I am ready for healthy kids, a good nights sleep, and the opportunity to watch a "mommy show". If I never see or hear "Dora the Explorer" again, I will be a happy girl!

Here's to a better month! And hopefully soon!!