Merry Christmas to Us!!

Here's an update to our entertainment center dilemma.  We were going to look at Knights Furniture because we have gotten great deals there before but decided to check elsewhere first.  One of our friends mentioned freecycle.org which I hadn't even thought of!  They didn't have anything but it made me think to check KSL.com classifieds. Right there as the first post there was a GORGEOUS entertainment center. It was everything I'd wanted and it was only $150!!! I thought for sure it had to be gone but decided to call them in case - after taking a picture of the picture and texting it to Steve to see what he thought.

We called and it was available!! I was ecstatic.  Steve borrowed our pickup we're sharing from my sister and went to Riverton to pick it up. I was stranded at the store for an extra hour but I didn't care because we got a GREAT deal!!!

So here is our Christmas present to ourselves.  Woohoo!!!

Jakob's Story

Jakob had to write  story for school.  He had to come up with a disguise for a turkey this is what he came up with (with his spelling):

Once upon a time Morris foun out that he was about to get killed! So he thout of a way to get away from them. Finaly he thout that he could steel a football players jersy. So that is just what he did.

So a few days later he found out that ther was a football game that thanskgiveing.  So that thanksgiving he went to the game and something was weird. Nobody was trying to kill him for diner. Everybody like him. They were calling him things like Max Hall. So Morris decided to change his name to Max Hall. When the game started Max Hall was all over the place! he had made 50 touchdowns in the 1/4! "he's on fire"! said the anouncer. "that is a new record for Max Hall.! Wait He set a world record!", said the other anouncer. But then he got 100 touchdowns in the 2/4. So Max Hall decided that he liked being a football player so he stayed one.

The End.

Hmmm... a little football anyone? Jakob decided he loves football recently. I'm not sure I'm ready for him to play football but the kid's got an arm like you wouldn't believe so I guess I may have to deal with it!! Meanwhile I'll just enjoy his imagination!!!

What We Want For Christmas

Steve and I have debated for a few years about an entertainment center.  Ours was okay so we never felt the need to get a new one... Until tonight!  We needed to move it over a little so we could fit the exercise bike next to it so we could put the tree where we wanted it.  Well, it decided to take matters into its own hands and let us know what we wanted/needed for Christmas.  It slid and fell and broke!  The amazing thing was that the tv stayed on and none of the speakers fell off.  I'm just thankful that the kids were out of the way! They all watched it fall. I felt like we were on America's Funniest Home Videos as we watched it fall!!  So now its time to decide what kind. :)

Here are a couple of pictures.  The first was a few months ago. Nice boxes of books, eh? So glad to have them out of our house in the store!!!  The next was right after it fell and the last is from the side where you can see the lovely broken particle board underneath.

 

Silly Boy

So Ethan decided to be big today. Steve had to be gone for church today so I was there with all five kids and had to teach Relief Society!! I tried to figure out what to do with Ethan and remembered he was only a week away from going to nursery. I decided to see if it was okay for him to go and they said we could try. I walked in and set him down - and he never looked back!! He went from the fridge to the toys and back several times and didn't look my way once! I backed toward the door and he didn't budge. He glanced at me for a split second but otherwise ignored me. So out I went. I peeked a few times before going to Relief Society and then went to teach - and hoped he would be fine!!

I rushed out of the room after the lesson was over to get Ethan. Did he cry during nursery? They told me the first time he cried was when I came to get him because he finally realized I was gone!! Now if only he'll do that for the rest of his nursery time.... Wish us luck!

Now to explain the picture below. If you ignore the mess behind him (that's my next stop for cleaning), you'll notice he's screaming holding an iron. Don't worry, it wasn't plugged in - since that happens rarely at our house. ;) But he sure wanted to take it out of the office and fought with the cord that was stuck for a good three minutes before we could get it from him. That scream was bad enough - it was even worse when Steve managed to get it away. My silly boy. :)

A Day of Firsts

Saturday we had a busy day doing errands. But there was something I KNEW we needed to do that night before bedtime. Andy's hair was just getting way too long so I decided it was haircut day. Ashley was a little bummed she wasn't part of it. So while Steve went and stained the countertop at the store, I gave them all haircuts. Ethan got his first real haircut! Man, he did NOT like the buzzer!! He screamed, trying to climb over my leg so he could get away from it. But off went all the cute little curly locks and out came my not-so-little boy!! I wish I could have gotten a picture Steve's reaction. He wasn't very happy that I got rid of Ethan's curls. Here area few of the cute before and afters. I saved the curls but sadly the before didn't get much of them!

The next big thing we had that day was that Andy showed us he is really a shark! He was showing me something in his mouth and I made him open wider. I was quite surprised to find TWO teeth coming in back behind his front bottom teeth!! One was barely loose and the other wasn't at all. Then there was the sequin we found stuck between the two teeth but that's a different story. Anyway, here's a picture. It doesn't show up great but if you look hard you'll see the teeth coming in! One is still barely loose and if you wiggle it, it bumps into the one behind it... So I think we'll be off to the dentist. The funny thing is, I had kept reading blogs about different kids having their first tooth out and wondered when Andy's first would fall out. He had had one that was loose for a long time(although its actually not anymore!). Then I go and find out he has TWO growing in! I guess he decided to do it the unconventional way!

Halloween

I LOVE Halloween. Its my favorite to decorate for and I'm excited to get out my sewing stuff and sew costumes - even if they also stress me out. :) But they always turn out better than I'd hoped which is great.

The first pictures are the decorating of the pumpkins - and I realized I have pictures of the finished products! Ashley painted her ENTIRE pumpkin so we had to wait a couple hours for it to completely dry before we could take it outside. They all had a blast. I gave Ethan a marker for his. :)

Steve was Scottish holding Ethan who was Squirt from Finding Nemo. The picture is a little dark but hopefully you can see his cuteness. Andy was Spiderman. Ashley was the red Fairy(Rosetta?) from Tinker Bell. That was one costume I fought with but LOVE the turn out! So does Ashley since she wears it all the time - I did get to wash it yesterday. :) Gavin was Diego and he was PERFECT for it. He loved being Diego and was surprised he didn't care that his blue shirt was an inside out shirt because usually he doesn't like that!! Oh and I was a Gothic Pregnant Mommy. Like my nose and lip ring? My kids didn't!! They were happy when I took them off. Jakob was a knight. His costume was a pain - which is funny since I thought it would be easy!! Doesn't work when the neck somehow gets sewn together!! It was fine when it was inside out, but as soon as I turned it the right way it was sewn together. So I plucked it all apart and did it MY way and it turned out awesome! If I do say so myself. :)

My little Girl

We went to get our 2nd and "real" ultrasound on Wednesday. Poor Steve had to stay in the car with the kids because all kids have been banned from the office thanks to H1N1. The technician said its made a HUGE difference and there has been a lot less sickness. I'm glad for that but sad Steve had to miss Heidi and her gymnastics.

Everything was great. She decided that she was going to roll up into a ball so her feet were clear above her head!!! It was hilarious. She refused to move for a while so it was hard to get a few things like a picture of the umbilical cord but it was sure funny to see her playing peek a boo. She even covered her face with her hands a few times!!

They still have her due date as the 8th of March which isn't quite as good as February 20th but whatever works. I supposed I can wait a couple extra weeks until she's born... HAHAHA. We'll see how I feel then.

Anyway, here's a picture of the ultrasound. I LOVE the picture of the toes!! And just so you know, you want to scan an ultrasound in grayscale and not black & white... works better.

Update

Just so you know before grabbing the torch and pitchforks, Andy just has a cold. My other kids had one - he decided to get a fever. We checked him out at the doctor today and he has no strep and no flu. We wouldn't have taken him out if he'd had his fever at the time. So don't hurt me. :)

The Money Flu

Want to know how to get rid of the flu? According to Andy its by winning money... here's how he came to his conclusion.

Last night (Sunday) after the farewell party for the Kelley's, Andy decided to have a fever. And not just a small one. 102 was where I finally just stopped. My kids are great at wearing themselves completely out, end up with a fever and headache and by morning they're up and ready to go. I was HOPING that's what it was.

Nope. 8:00 rolled around and poor Andy still had a fever. This time a little higher. He still wasn't very hungry but ate okay. We kept him home from school like good parents - or so we thought. We got a phone call from the school informing us that Andy had sold the most items in the whole school for Sally Foster!!! So they asked if we would be willing to run him to the school for a 30 second chance in the money machine. He managed to catch $13 but the fundraiser lady gave him $20!! He felt MUCH better after that. We told him it was just enough to get Lego Batman if he wanted it - or he could decide on something else.

The kids went down for a nap with Steve and I went to pick up Jakob. Andy woke up happy, alert and feeling better. So off we went to Jakob's school's carnival. Jakob had a BLAST with his friends and we all enjoyed ourselves. Andy had no appetite but the others ate their fair share of pizza. They played with hula hoops. Here are a few pictures.

I wish I could figure out how you get video on here because I have an awesome one of Gavin doing his hula and a nice little dance in between. They had a blast.

We even tried our hand at the auction. We had a gift certificate for our store that sold for $20 which is cool. I did get a desk and chair set but someone came in after the auction was supposed to be done and outbid me - which is what they saw when they came to "close it." Oh well. Why? Because I got what I REALLY wanted.

With 15 minutes left to go in the auction I sat right by the baby basket I wanted. The principal wanted it for his daughter's new baby and a few others were interested in it. I played the sympathy card and it helped that my round belly is rather noticeable. So no one bid after I did and I got it. After wondering if the basket was worth it we took it apart. We totally got our money's worth and so much more!!! Heidi's going to be in good shape with supplies when she's born - although I'm thinking one package of diapers may not cut it. ;) But I was thrilled.

Afterwards we let Andy get Lego Batman. In the car he declared "I think this was a Money Flu because as soon as I got money I felt much better!!!" What a cute boy I have! Unfortunately by the time we got home and were ready for bed, he was starting to shiver and was slightly warm. Poor kid. Off to bed he went after a happy day in the life of Andy. So I apologize to everyone we were around. We wouldn't have brought him out and about if he hadn't been doing better!

The Results are In...

So here is where I would put the cute little ultrasound picture to help us show what we're having - except that our scanner has gone on strike and won't work...

The answer is: 64% of you were right! We're having a girl.... Or at least we about 95% positive we are. That little girl wanted to be very modest and we could only get glimpses. But there were certain parts that were definitely missing. The technician even tried tickling her with the ultrasound tool to get her to move around. She sure kicked a lot but refused to show her immodesty. Such a good girl. :)

We also found out that we have to wait an extra two weeks for Heidi Pearl to grace us with her presence!! She is due on March 8th now which is fine because our birthdays in our family will be March, April, May, and July. :)

We will go in again on the 21st to check all the vitals and measurements etc since 18 weeks is a little too early to look closely at her heart chambers, etc. I'm excited to see her again in two weeks. :)

Good job all 64% of you that voted! Only Andy was a little sad to not get a brother but otherwise everyone was very excited. Ashley's SOOOOO excited to get a sister! And I can't wait to redecorate the nursery. ;)

POLL TIME!!!

Well its that time in, uh, life again! We get to have an ultrasound done on Monday the 5th so I decided it was time to start a poll. Boy or girl? Not sure if I have a prize. I'll think about that part. Now, remember that even though you know what I WANT, make sure you vote for what YOU think we'll have. :) Due date is February 20th.

In unrelated news, we finally have a store for our store. And it should be open by the end of October... we hope. :) Its been a long time in coming but we're very excited and can't wait to get started!! Website is www.dragonsandfairytales.com

Kids are doing awesome. Life is good. Its rainy outside... I'm done. Don't forget to vote!!!

The Wedding Cake (and Wedding)

My sister got married this last weekend and we wanted to make it a nice celebration for her.  Everyone pitched in and did the different preparations.  Invitations, flowers, decorating, etc.  My job? The cake - which is why I have so many pictures of it. :)  I had lots of help and with my sisters and Mom we ended up making a great cake!!!  Here are some pictures of both the cake and the wedding.

I made the lilies a few days before out of gum paste.  So first a picture of those:

I was going to try the fondant for the two styrofoam layers at home before leaving for Idaho but it was rough because there was too much icing.  So off it went and I waited till Idaho.  The first layer I had everyone helping me roll out to get the right size before putting it on the cake.  Kristen helped me smooth that part out! With help from Mom and Jill too. :)

The second layer I did myself and got the rolling out down better and smoothed it a little easier.   With critiques coming at me from family members I got that one smoothed out.  It was all in good fun and everything turned out great!!

Then on to the last layer which was the actual cake.  I've decided real cakes are SO much easier to put fondant on than styrofoam is! It just plopped right one and smoothed out perfectly.

 

Next came the stacking and the ribbons.  All of us made sure it was all even, and then it was time for the flowers:

And here is the finished product:

The ring ceremony was beautiful and my dad did a GREAT job with his speech and the ceremony part.  One that will never be forgotten - by anyone. ;)  Jeff and Rachelle looked so happy and Zoe and Emily were adorable in their white dresses with their flower baskets!!

The weather was perfect, the food was perfect, the decorations were perfect. It was great!!   Here are some of the pictures from the wedding. Sorry, they're a little smaller than the rest.  They didn't want to get bigger for some reason. It was a great day and I'm so happy we got to share it with Rachelle and Jeff. Congrats! We love you guys!!

     

My Soccer Girl

We've hoped since last year when Ashley started dribbling the ball between her feet, that she'd be good.  She didn't get it from me! Considering I've never played before. ;)

Last week she had a rough time. She didn't like being pushed around but held her own.  This week was a different story.  Daddy had a little pep talk with her and told her to go for the ball and run.  She did!!  

We missed her FIRST goal for various reasons.  The other team was great at scoring goals in our goal in between.  her teammates made several goals.  With a few minutes left to go in the game, Ashley decided to take over.  One time down the field she got within a few feet of the goal when the other team got it from her and scored - in our goal.   The next time down the field she was about to make a goal when a member of the other team decided to pick it up... Whoops!!  She decided to make up for it and took off down the field and kicked it in!  So the last time down the field she was running after her teammate who was about to score, he missed a kick, she took over and scored.  So yep, THREE goals for my little girl!! She just can't seem to stop beating the boys. ;)  That's my girl!!

Oh and just and FYI, this picture is from last week.  I wanted to get a picture of her adorable pigtails with the orange and blue ponytail holders but she took them out too fast!!  We decided they are her good luck charms!!!  She also had a super cute orange skirt too. Quite the clash. ;)

Conversations with 3 year olds

Sometimes I forget how much Gavin knows.  He started talking early and his first sentence at 15 months was "don't do dat!" Just as clear as can be.

So today I was trying to get Gavin to eat his spaghetti. He wants a ding dong for his dessert and knows there's two left.  I told him he needed to eat fast or someone would eat them.  He thought for a second and asked if Jakob and Andy were going to eat them.  I told him maybe a monkey would eat them.

He thought again for a second and started eating pretty fast.  

G:  Mommy, there are no monkeys in the house.

M: They could come through the front door. 

G: Monkeys only eat bananas.  

M: Well what if they want a Ding Dong?

G: They only like bananas!!

 

M: Well then maybe a cow.

G:  Cows only eat leaves.  No giraffes do.

M: How do you know giraffes eat leaves? 

G: I don't know.  Cows  say MOOOOO. Mommy say Moo(he wanted me to put food in his mouth).

A few minutes later he decided he better hurry and eat so that the monkeys won't come.   Guess it WAS the monkeys!!

Lightning Fears and Ear Infections

We've had interesting times in our home lately.  Well, with 5 kids and one on the way that's to be expected. Add 3 kids in soccer and getting a bookstore started up, we're quite busy! But that's not what I'm talking about.

Jakob had a HUGE fear of lightning storms for a while.  He watched the weather like a hawk and if there was even a slightly dark cloud he would get very anxious.  A few Sundays ago I thought he would have a meltdown because of the thunder booming. 

We had to talk to him many times and finally starting showing him that while yes, lightning is dangerous, you don't HAVE to be afraid of storms!  That started as we were driving to Ikea last week. The weather was TERRIBLE and he was looking at all the lightning.  We got out of the car and I had him inhale the wonderful smells that lightning and rain bring. He LOVED IT.

So then comes today.   He had a scrimmage for his Arsenal soccer team and it was rainy.  Lightning was everywhere and he sat there being goalie just as calm as could be. HE learned to enjoy the lightning.  I had to keep telling myself that I couldn't freak out for his sake. It worked for both of us!!  The lightning never got close but they did get dumped on.  Jakob was great and even stopped a goal with his head!!  So I was very proud of my son and his overcoming of his fear. If only I could do the same with heights and spiders...

On to the ear infections.   We have gone swimming a lot lately and forgot Ashley needed ear plugs with her tubes.  WAY TO GO MOM AND DAD!!  The first time we went, she complained about her ear and after that there was no problem.  Then we went to the lake last week. I didn't expect her to go under so I didn't worry... I forgot that I have 5 little fish.   

A couple days later her ears started draining. I was thrilled because I knew the tubes were doing their job and all was great - until Sunday in St. George when I noticed it wasn't so... fresh. BLECH.  So on our way home(We had an AWESOME time in St George by the way!!!), we took her to the doctor and got drops and medicine.  

Her ears are finally doing really well after 4 days of drops and medication.  One awesome thing came from all this.  My little 4 year old can count to 60!!! And I have to stop her a lot of times because she keeps on going.  Its because she had to let the drops soak in for 60 seconds so I had her count.  For the first few times she missed all the 4's.  She'd miss 15 and then 24, 34, and so on.  I noticed last night she was counting perfectly all the way!! Probably not the most ideal way to teach your child to count but it worked for her!!

New Table!!

Today we decided to go to Ikea (sorry Katy, I know you wanted to go!) to check out the bookshelves for good ones for our store.  We found some awesome ones and can't wait to get them.

We found a few really nice tables and fell in love with one. $599 wasn't too bad for the size but we knew we couldn't do that for now.

We were down next to the checkout and decided to check out the clearance items - and there was our table!! It was bein

g discontinued so we got it for WAY cheap and we were THRILLED.   After maneuvering things around in the car Steve managed to get the whole thing(gotta love Ikea and their do-it-yourselfness) in!! 

We got the whole thing put together and it is SO NICE... Here is the table we had before. Don't mind the knife on the table. The kids were in bed and we had to use the knife to open the box...

And here is our new table. the picture doesn't do it justice. Its a good 8 feet long and will be 10 if we put the leaf in it!!! The whole china cabinet and cupboards we were thinking of doing may have to change a little but its so worth it!! Now we just have to work on the folding and patio chairs we're using...