June 28, 2015

 This week was pretty fun.  Hot!  But fun.  The girls treated me and a few other moms on the block to a Frozen songs concert.  They spent all morning figuring out who would sing which song, what they would wear, and making little posters to hang on the trampoline.

 

Annie chose to dance to "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?".  Lily and her friend Shaeley hid behind the tramp to sing while Annie danced for us.

 Then Lily and Shaeley sang and danced to the song "Love is an Open Door".

 After that, Shaeley sang us "Let it Go" while Lily and Annie sang the accompaniment.

Then together they sang the new Taylor Swift song "Shake it Off" and jumped and danced too.

Annie had her first soccer game this week.  After only one practice, it was a hilarious spectacle to watch.  The coaches run on the field with the kids and help them know which way to go and try to keep the kids from touching the ball with their hands.  Both teams scored a goal for the opposite team.  Annie spent a lot of the game hanging out near her goal picking grass and flowers and spinning around Maria vonTrapp style.  She is so not into this sport, but she insisted she wanted to do it.  We all laughed so hard during the game.  I had tears coming out of my eyes.  It was also miserably hot.  89 degrees is not fun weather to be running around in - or sitting in the sun for over an hour.  We need to buy a pop up shade or sport umbrella.  Mommy just can't handle two practices a week plus two games a week sitting out in the sun on those open fields.

 Lily got hit with the tummy bug Annie and Tommy had last week.  Thank goodness it passes in less than 24 hours, but this was a big bummer for her because she had to miss her first soccer game.  She was feeling a little better by game time, but I was worried about her playing in the heat after vomiting five times in one day.  I didn't want her to get seriously exhausted or dehydrated.  She cried for a little while about missing the game, but eventually realized that staying home to rest was probably the best idea.

I set up the sprinkler for Tommy to play in.  He and his little buddy Hunter ran and played for hours in the sun.  After dinner that night, we had to take his clothes off and wash him down because he was so messy.  While we cleared the table and did the dishes, Tommy fell asleep naked on the living room floor.  I guess we know he had a great day of playing.

 A few moms on the block organized a kid water party.  One mom brought a water gun for each kid.  One mom brought water balloons.  I brought watermelon, Jell-O jigglers, and drinks.  All of our kids' favorite friends were there.  They played on the swing set, had water fights, played tag and hide and seek.  It was an awesome three hours of outside fun.  All of us were wiped out when it was over.  Lily said it was the perfect summer day.

After years of slowly working through the Book of Mormon with the kids, we finally finished it on Wednesday night.  To celebrate we took the kids out for snow cones on Thursday after Annie's soccer practice.  Now we get to start it all over again and this time Lily is old enough to read almost entirely on her own!  So exciting.

Friday night was the night Jeremy and I have been looking forward to for a long time.  I asked Jeremy what he wanted for his Father's Day and birthday gift and he said "a weekend away with you."  Our sitters took the kids at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.  We made our first stop at the Rexburg Temple for an endowment session.  Then we were off to Ririe to Mountain River Ranch for dinner, a western show, and horse drawn wagon rides.  The food was so delicious.  We loved the steak, garlic bread, amazing baked beans, and the huckleberry ice cream.  The rootbeer was really good too.  The show was a little on the cheesy side, but the musicians were awesome - especially the fiddler and the banjo player.  The highlights of the show for us were the story of the Three Little Pigs called the "Three Pittle Ligs".  It was a little confusing at times because the first sounds of all the major words were switched around.  So phrases like "Blow your house down" became "Hole your blouse down".  It was funny.  There was also a funny song called "Runnin Bare" about a guy who keeps getting caught in compromising situations and has to run away without his clothes every time.  After dinner we took a walk down by the river.  It was fun and so relaxing.  We will definitely go again.  Maybe in the winter when they do the Christmas show and give sleigh rides.

We loved our hotel.  It was hard to leave it on Saturday morning.  Jeremy asked me if we could run away and do this all over again next weekend.  I wish!  This getaway was definitely not long enough, but we're thankful for the short time we could have together before another baby is born and our lives get even crazier.  Our room was close to the greenbelt along the river.  We had an awesome view of the temple just outside our balcony window.  I didn't take any night view pictures because the temple is closed for a remodel and they are not lighting it at night right now.  The breakfast at the hotel was great.  Omelettes made to order, Belgian waffles, biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit......the best complimentary hotel breakfast we've ever had.  Before going home we had a lunch date at our favorite little spot - Cafe Rio and we watched the new Jurassic World movie.  We came back home to lots of hugs and loves from the kids.  They really missed us.

We couldn't believe how hot it was when we got home.  That one night of air conditioning at the hotel was such a treat.  We slept like babies.  We pulled out the swimming pool for the kids and filled it up.  The cold water was shocking at first, but really felt nice after a while.  And of course we all slept in the basement where it's nice and cool. 

 We had spaghetti on the menu for dinner, but it was 82 degrees INSIDE the house and Mommy couldn't bear to cook.  Instead we had bread and cheese with fresh fruit and a veggie plate and lots of cold lemonade.  We all ate outside in our swimming suits and had a marvelous time.  The kids told us all the fun they had with their sitters while we were gone and Lily and Annie decided it was the best dinner ever.  I think we'll be eating like this a lot this summer.  This prego mama just can't handle standing at a hot stove anymore.  Only six or seven more weeks until this little bundle arrives.  We can't wait! On to next week - more soccer, sunshine, hot weather, and the Fourth of July!

June 21, 2015

Happy Father's Day!  We had a week full of ups and downs.  It felt so good to be home after our trip, but all of us got sick with a nasty cold that is still lingering a week later.  Hopefully we'll kick it soon.  We've got a summer to enjoy!  The good news is - the kids are improving faster than Mommy and Daddy. 

Last Sunday we had stake conference. It was nice to get a break from our regular meetings and be done with church at noon.  Lily asked us to take the family to the temple.  She loves to explore the grounds and be near the temple.

Sunday evening we had our usual dinner with Brady and Madison.  The kids loved jumping on the trampoline with them.  We're so lucky to have them near us.

Monday afternoon I had a prenatal check up.  After the check up we went to Smith Park to play.  The kids were very hot and tired so we stopped for Italian ices at one of our family's favorite Rexburg spots - Karie Anne's.  We split a mango and a red raspberry ice between the four of us.  Super delicious.  They were playing music outside for customers to listen to.  Lily and Tommy had a little dance party in the parking lot.

We decided the girls are old enough to start helping more at dinnertime.  They now alternate jobs each day to help in the kitchen and assist with clean up after dinner.  So far, so good.

 

Monday night we took the kids to the Shrine Circus in Idaho Falls.  Just before the circus was scheduled to start a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the area - with a chance of tornadoes.  The black clouds in the distance were worrisome.  We figured we'd give it a try and if the conditions got too bad, we would leave.  We decided to sit under the covered area.  We got lucky.  The storm passed quickly and wasn't very intense right where we were.  It was windy and chilly.  And we were so far away from the circus rings that it was hard for the kids to pay attention.  Cotton candy helped for a little while.  Tommy spent a lot of the time huddled under his blanket to stay out of the wind.  He finally emerged when Spider Man came out.  Spider Man did a fabulous show.  He was our favorite part of the night.  The second runner up was a Frozen acrobatic routine.  Nine women dressed like Elsa from Frozen did a gravity defying rope routine high in the air to the song "Let it Go".  The girls were mesmerized.  We don't think we'll do the circus again any time soon.  The kids got in free so we only had to pay for Mommy and Daddy, but for the cost of the tickets, we could have seen a new release movie, gone to the local water park twice, or gone out for dinner.  Plus the kids only really enjoyed two of the many acts we saw that night.  Lesson learned.

Tommy was the first to get sick.  It hit him while we were in Boise.  So he's been the first to improve.  He is always playing with his new train set - or sneaking outside to play with the spigots and hoses.  We are going to buy a couple of spigot locks to keep him from flooding the basement.

On Tuesday I took Annie into the pediatrician to talk about her potty issues, and Tommy got to visit the doctor too to have his hearing checked and talk about how slowly his language is developing.  Doctor was not worried about either of the kids.  He said Annie's potty problems sound like an emotional control issue rather than a physical problem.  So now we're trying to find a super awesome motivator that will inspire her to go potty and avoid having accidents.  He also told me that boys are slower with language than girls and that his hearing checked out fine.  But he did give me a specialist to see if I'm still not satisfied with how Tommy's language is progressing by the end of the summer.  I love these silly pictures of the girls.  They decided to match from head to toe that day - and while I was talking with the doctor about Tommy, the girls took pictures of each other on my phone.  There were over twenty posed pictures like the ones above.  Silly!

More evidence that Tommy loves his trains from Grammy.  I put his set up on the table so I could vacuum the living room and sweep the kitchen.  Bubba didn't let that stop him from having train time.  He climbed onto the table, created a track, and played away while I worked.

Lily had her final soccer practice before her first game.  She came in third place in the team's long run/dribble warm up.  She used to be near the back of the pack.  Her speed and skills have really improved.  This week coach had the kids take turns being goalie and defender.  Lily is a great defender.  She's not afraid to get right in front of the ball and kick it away from the other kids.  She obviously doesn't get that from her mother.  We can't wait to see how she handles her first game on Wednesday.

We've had a couple of hot nights.  Thank goodness for a cool basement.  The girls asked us to set up a tent for them to sleep in.  They love sleeping in the basement together.  We love having a cool place to escape to when the weather warms up.

Annie's team finally got a coach - just before their first game this Tuesday.  She had a great time at her first practice, but since all the players are only 4, their attention spans are very short.  Annie is not as aggressive with the ball as the other kids and her team is mostly boys.  But she said she liked it and can't wait to try playing a game.

The last time Puna and Papa came to visit, Papa gave us a set of silicone popsicle molds.  They are amazing.  I remember trying to make popsicles as a kid and not being able to get them out of the molds half the time.  These silicone mold release so easily.  We made all fruit popsicles with fresh watermelon, strawberries, and raspberries, plus some juice.  The kids loved them.

The sickness hit Mommy and Daddy really hard Thursday - just as the kids were all starting to feel better.  Daddy felt so crummy he took two days off work to try and rest.  We took it easy and rested all day Thursday and Friday.  By Saturday we were still sick, but feeling much better.

Annie got a little upset stomach in the middle of our battle with the cold too.  She threw up twice, wanted to take a bath, fell asleep for three hours, then woke up feeling better.  Thank goodness she was the only one who had to deal with that too.  Poor little bug!

Daddy has been worried about Tommy and neighbor kids playing near our window wells.  We decided it was time to have covers made.  They were reasonably priced and the store had the shape and color we wanted in stock so we didn't have to wait for them.  It is so nice having the covers now.

 

By Friday night, Daddy felt well enough to get out and mow the grass.  Tommy loves to ride with Daddy.

 

This weekend was our county rodeo - Jefferson Stampede Days.  We missed the parade because Mommy and Daddy overdid it on Friday and needed to sleep in a little on Saturday.  But we did get over to the rodeo grounds to watch the teamster pulls.  Teams of horses compete to pull thousands of pounds at least 20 feet.  The audience has to be silent during the pulls because the horses might think our cheering or talking means they have gone far enough and can stop.  But after the pull, we can yell and clap.  The horses were beautiful.  We also ran into some friends and sat with them.  They were kind enough to share some cotton candy with the girls.  The kids really liked seeing the horses (Tommy would yell "Horsey!" every time the teams passed by), but it was hard for them to be quiet and since this event is not a race or exciting show, they wanted to go home after one hour.  Fine with us.  It was a free event.  We enjoyed what we saw; and took the kids to the park  to play afterward.

Sunday was Father's Day.  Daddy wanted breakfast in bed with the whole family Say what?  Mommy convinced him to let us set up a kiddie table at the foot of the bed.  Lily helped make waffles and raspberry syrup.  And we had bacon and orange juice.  The kids helped Daddy open his presents, Lily made Daddy a puzzle and a card, Annie made two cards.  He got some new socks, a new book, and the gift he wanted most.....a weekend away from the kids with Mommy before the baby is born.  We have a college married couple coming next weekend to watch the kids while we "escape" to Idaho Falls.  We can't wait!  Tommy consumed his breakfast in record time.  He loved the almond waffles and Mommy's raspberry syrup.  We've never seen him eat like this!  After church Brady and Madison came over for dinner and play time.  It was a wonderful day.  Now if we could just get well!