Daniel, Mii Fit

Daniel occasionally feels left out because Josh and Matthew get to have Kids in the Park every morning and he doesn't. He also likes to exercise with me in the mornings, but I haven't been doing too much of that lately. Yesterday I dusted off the Wii Fit and got it set up. Daniel was so excited to help me exercise. After I exercised, with Daniel's help of course, I set up a Mii for Daniel and he got to do the running part by himself. Now in the running section you have a running guide that stays in front of you to show you where to go. Daniel thought the running guide was someone to race with so he ran faster to beat the guide at the end. He kept getting upset when the running guide caught up to him, but he did beat him in the end. Here's a video--I really need to remember to film it the right way. I forget until I have to download it and it's sideways--sorry:

He also tried out the aerobics section as well: He's quite the comic relief!!

The Karate Kids

We had been thinking about placing Josh and Daniel in a Karate class, but hadn't done anything about it. We had seen my nephew do really well and love his karate class so we thought we'd try it out. We also thought it would be good for working on their coordination (something Josh struggles with a little). We were at Syracuse Days Saturday and there was a Karate booth and they were able to get them signed up with a family discount. Tonight was their first class and they loved it! Watching them brought back some memories of when Aaron and I took our Karate class, but not too much. We supposedly have our Yellow belts, but that was over 10 years ago so don't ask me any specifics. In fact that is where Aaron and I met as students later becoming a cheesy BYU couple. Anyway, it should be interesting to see how they progress.

We Had A "Dairy" Good Time

Last night Aaron and I had an actual date; however, Sarah was a third wheel because she thinks her sole source of nutrition comes from me. It wasn't too bad because she was good during the whole date. I can't remember the last date without kids we have gone on so it was nice to have one. I am ultra paranoid leaving my kids with a teenage sitter with all their unique issues so I am really thankful for my sister-in-law Michonne offering to watch them while we went out. Since we were Daniel free for the evening we went "dairy" wild. I know that the dairy puns are "cheesy", and usually not "Gouda" enough, but I have to find a "whey" to "milk" them for all they are worth :). Anyway, enough with the bad dairy puns. We started out at Olive Garden in all it's cheesilicious glory. Then we went over to Cherry Hill Resort where we went miniature golfing and did the batting cages. Then to finish up our dairy fest we stopped off at Cold Stone, an ice cream place, and split a cake batter ice cream flavored waffle cone--yummy! We payed the price with tummy aches for the dairy indiscretion, but it was so worth it!! We just don't dare take Daniel anywhere like that with his dairy allergy so it was nice to partake last night. Thanks, Michonne we had lots of fun!

As for other things Sarah has been practicing her new skill of climbing stairs a lot. She has even found a new niche that is just her size under my side table. She will crawl up the stairs, straight over to the table, climb in then look for someone to find her. She's pretty funny.

P.S. We are feeling "butter" from our tummy aches if you were wondering--oh I crack myself up.

Nothing's Sacred Anymore

Sarah has been trying her hardest to figure out the stairs for a while. Whenever she would see someone go up them she would watch you longingly from the bottom. In the first picture she got that far last night with one leg straddled over the stair. She finally succeeded at figuring the whole thing out this morning. Once she figured out how to get one leg up one stair it was all over. By the time she got to the top she had that look like she is the biggest girl ever. This new skill is good and bad. Good that she is learning new skills, bad that she can have access to my very un-baby-proofed rest of the house. It is also bad that she only knows the hard and fast way to get down--by rolling very hard and very fast down the stairs...uh-oh. I guess I need to go dig my way through storage to find the baby gates.

Idol Hands...

Summertime can be an interesting time. Matthew and Josh have Kids in the Park every morning so Sarah and poor Daniel is stuck with boring old Mom. After Matthew and Josh leave in the morning that's when I start getting ready. Lately Daniel has been curious about how I get ready. He has been watching me put on my makeup the last few days. Yesterday he even asked why I was painting my lips and coloring on my eyes. I mumbled something about how girls wear makeup to be pretty. He then left and I was finishing pulling my hair back when Daniel came up and tapped me on my leg. I didn't look right away and he tapped me again. I turned to see Daniel had put on his own makeup with his pens and markers. He proudly showed me his masterpiece. I hope my makeup application looks a little better than that!! I also have to say I really don't spend that much time getting ready--the kids just know that's when they can get away with murder because Mom is preoccupied for 15 minutes. He also got a little carried away and colored his arms and legs too. That kid is a crazy kid!!

To keep the kids busy so I have less episodes like the previous paragraph we have been doing different things. We go bowling quite a bit. The people at the Bowling Center know us pretty well and are getting to the

point we don't even need to tell them the boys' shoe sizes anymore. Yesterday to break up the monotony (crazy or brave you pick) I took them all swimming by myself. Aaron has been working crazy overtime lately so I have been a single parent for the last few weeks. The kids have been wanting to go swimming and I didn't know when Aaron would be able to go with me so I just decided to go alone with my four kids. It went better than I thought it would which is great. We went to the local aquatics center which has something fun for everyone. Matthew and Josh spent the whole time going down the big yellow slide while I sat and watched Daniel and Sarah at the little kids play area. From where I sat I could keep an eye on all four which was good. I even brought a swimming mask to play with and Josh and Daniel loved it. However, they

couldn't quite get it on by themselves very well. The picture shows how Josh liked to wear it--it basically covered his eyes and pulled up his nose. It didn't seem to bother him so I let it be. Sarah even loved playing in the water which was a plus.

Today we went and saw a movie after Kids in the Park and for the afternoon I gave them a choice between bowling or making cookies. They chose the cookies. I found some Daniel friendly dairy free chocolate chips and made a chocolate chip cookie recipe Daniel friendly and then we cooked away. I had some very eager taste testers to make sure it tasted ok--which it did. This is the second time Daniel has ever had chocolate chip cookies. He LOVES them! I am such a bad mom that's is what we all had for dinner. I will make up for it tomorrow ;). We've been staying pretty busy to avoid idol hands because you can see what happens when they are left with idol hands...even Sarah gets in on the action by hanging out at the computer desk with all the paper and fun buttons to push...If I can't find her this is the first place to check.

My Personal Roomba

I have an updated version of the Roomba and I have to say she is pretty thorough. She works on any type of floor and especially loves stale cereal and paper. I have had to check what is in her mouth so many times the kids have started checking her mouth when they see her chewing on something. She doesn't like it very much, but we have found some pretty interesting things that shouldn't belong in her mouth such as stickers, paper, rocks, etc. It doesn't matter how many times I vacuum she still finds things.

Father's Day

Father's Day started out with Aaron sleeping in. I don't know how much sleeping he got in with the kids helping me get his breakfast ready. I fed the kids breakfast before, but they always want some of whatever you are eating so we had to make extra. The kids helped him eat toast, an omelet and a bunch of bacon while he was in bed. After breakfast we realized it wasn't going to be much of a relaxing day at church because I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting. I was given the topic of the priesthood, how it has affected me throughout my life and to include personal stories. All I can say is I am thankful for the priesthood and that my husband is a worthy priesthood holder. While I was speaking that meant Aaron was going to be left to wrestle 4 kids all by himself until my parents offered to help out. That was very much appreciated by Aaron! I am very glad that is over. I HATE PUBLIC SPEAKING!! After church we went over to my sister's house for dinner and some visiting. It was nice to see everyone because it had been awhile. I want to say thanks to all the dads in my life who have helped me to become what I am today. I am thankful for the great example my Dad was for me and the great example Aaron is for our kids. Dads are great!

Yesterday in getting Sarah ready for church I was able to scrape enough hair together for some piggy tails. She left them in for a few hours until she realized there was something up there to pull out. Gotta love her.

Thievery

Sometime Wednesday night Aaron's car which was parked outside the garage in front of our house got broken into. The thief went through the car and stole the auto insurance cards among who knows what else. Good thing it was just the "commuter" car and it didn't have any electronics or anything too valuable inside. Unfortunately, it did have some bank receipts inside with our account number on it. Because of that I spent all Thursday morning changing our account numbers over at the bank and getting new credit cards and debit cards. The extra bad thing is the debit and credit cards aren't going to be here for another week and my current checks aren't good because they have the old account number on them. They were able to overnight one credit card, but that went to Aaron since he needs it for work. I guess I will be hanging out at home a lot this week since I don't have any form of payment...At least I will be saving money this week because there is no way to spend it. Hey I am trying to stay positive here :).

Fishing Part 2

I braved cooking the fish by myself tonight since Aaron had to work late. Here is what it turned out like: Everyone liked it, but Matthew which is not surprising. It turned out better than I thought it would. Josh was excited to see me cook his fish. He watched me cook the fish and made sure he ate his own fish.

Fishing

I signed Matthew and Josh up for another summer of Kids in the Park (Daniel is still too young). It is a summer recreation program done by the city. They have three hours of park activities Monday through Wednesday and Thursday they go on a day field trip. When we went to sign them up they definitely remembered Matthew from last year--I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Either way they had already discussed Matthew from last year and if he was going to come back this year. Anyway Matthew and Josh missed the first week because we were on vacation, so they both started this week. As with any change Matthew has some issues until he has done it enough to make it part of his "routine". This first week was a little rough (i.e. beating up Josh, making weird noises, not doing the group activities, running around flapping his hands), but it seems to be getting a little better. This week they went fishing for their Thursday field trip. I thought they were going to catch and release, but found out I was wrong. I went to pick them up and found them holding a bloody, dead fish inside a plastic bag. They made sure every kid got a turn to catch a fish so all the kids had their own fish baggies. Now that we have it I don't know quite what to do with it or how to cook it. I can't conviently "lose" it because they are so proud of it. I guess will have to learn how to cook it because guess what the kids want for dinner? Here is a picture of a proud Matthew and Josh and as always Daniel who is always up for a photo op. Notice the dirt flip flop line on Matthew's feet. The backside of both of them were even more filthy so they came home and took a shower. I can't get the tune out of my mind "Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads. Fish heads, fish heads eat them up yum."

Hair on Your Chest

The other night I made some home made mac and cheese for dinner. Once Josh saw what we were having he informed me that was disgusting and he wasn't going to eat it. I told him that's what was for dinner and if he didn't want it than he would have to wait until breakfast for some food. He was all right with that. I still made him sit with us during dinner. I made Daniel some dairy free mac and cheese--basically macaroni with white sauce minus the cheese. I know it sounds disgusting, but hey I work with what I've got. Aaron helped me set the table and in the process put some pepper on Daniel's food to give it a little more flavor. When Daniel saw it he said his food was dirty. I told him it was only pepper and if he ate it, it would put hair on his chest like Dad. Aaron even pulled down his shirt to show him. That is what my dad always told me that when you ate something spicy it would put hair on your chest. Anyway after saying that it would put hair on your chest Josh's ears perked up. He then asked for some mac and cheese with some pepper on top. Miraculously I guess it wasn't so disgusting after all. After he ate his whole plate he kept pulling his shirt down looking at his chest. He then asked when he would get some hair. I told him in a little while. All the rest of the evening he went back into the bathroom mirror to secretly pull down his shirt to check for hair. He was not too happy to finally find out it would take about seven years for it to start growing.

Big Girl

Today was Sarah's well check appointment. It was supposed to be her nine month, but her mom got sidetracked and didn't schedule it until she was 10 months old--oops. Anyway she is on the growth chart and on track developmentally which is always comforting to hear. With her older siblings that hasn't always been the case so I don't take it for granted. She is 18 lbs 8 oz (50th percentile), 28 " tall (between 50th-75th percentile), and her head circumference is 44.1 cm (50th percentile). She is a pretty happy-go-lucky baby most of the time which is nice. She does have some stranger danger, but eventually will warm up to strangers. She is somewhat crawling and starting to pull herself up to things. She continues to be a very picky eater. She loves oatmeal and crackers, but only if I am the one feeding them to her. She will just cry if Aaron tries to feed her. She absolutely refuses a sippy cup or a bottle. Her slogan is NURSING OR BUST (no pun intended ;)). The doctor did say he had two children of his own that were like that, but they eventually did start drinking other things besides mom. I guess that gives me hope. Until then we will be connected at the...hip among other things:). I am glad she is doing great despite her rather rough entry into the world--10 months later and it is still a very vivid memory :).

Wanna Taste

Daniel saw the jar of vinegar in the pantry and said he wanted a taste thinking it was juice. I thought with a devilish grin, "Hmmm, why not?" Here's what happened:

Aren't I the meanest mom? Hey, if you can't have fun with your kids, who can you have fun with?

Disneyland Vacation

This past week we have been in Disneyland and it has been great! We left at 4:45 am last Saturday (although very few there are some advantages of being an insomniac). We picked up Grandma and Grandpa T and drove all day and reached our hotel that afternoon. When we got there I discovered they charged $20 extra a night for a roll away bed. Being the frugal (aka tightwad) person I am I asked if how much an extra crib would be and found it was no extra charge. I am embarrassed to say that's where my almost 4 year old Daniel slept. In my defense he mostly fit inside it and he didn't seem to care so that makes it ok, right?!? Anyway, our hotel was within walking distance to the park and we were able to watch the fireworks from our balcony which was an added bonus. We even got adjoining rooms with G&G T which was nice for us even though the boys loved knocking on their adjoining door every chance they got. That night we packed all our day packs so we could spend the next day in Disneyland. I bought each kid their own fanny pack and sewed it to fit their waist. I filled it full of snacks and water so we wouldn't hear any complaints about being hungry and it worked. I also found a great book that had very organized itineraries just for Disneyland so you could be efficient and yet get to see and do everything--I admit I am a nerd. Anyway the next morning we set out for Disneyland with the itinerary in my hand only for it to be lost somewhere along the way. I didn't realize it was missing until we got in the park so we just had to wing it. We started out at Space Mountain. In hindsight that probably wasn't the smartest thing to take Matthew on very first. Throughout the rest of the day we had to bribe and coax him to go on different rides until he found his all time favorite ride--Autopia. After he discovered that ride, that's all he wanted to do. After five days of riding the Autopia track it is ok if we never see an Autopia car again! He did enjoy parts of Fantasy land such as Peter Pan, Snow White, etc. , but his all time favorite was Autopia. Josh as always was Kamikaze Josh. He loved EVERYTHING especially anything scary or any roller coaster. His favorite ride was the Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror. They show you a Twilight Zone movie about an elevator being electrocuted and then you get into the crazy elevator to unexpectedly free fall 13 stories and bounce up to free fall again. He has no fear about anything! He was tall enough to go on most everything except for one ride and it about broke his heart to not ride it. Daniel liked every ride he was tall enough to go on especially Astro Blasters (Buzz Lightyear). He even liked Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion after Grandma T explained to him they weren't real ghosts. Daniel was a pretty good sport about not being able to go on some of the rides which was nice. Sarah loved the Carousel. She would giggle every time it started and the horse would move up and down. Sarah spent most of the time in the stroller since she couldn't go on too many rides. She came up with her own entertainment, however. She figured out she could reach into the basket under the stroller and pull things out. I lost a pair of sunglasses and who knows what else because she would pull it out and drop it as we were walking. If we didn't see right when she did it, we never saw what was dropped until it was lost. We had a five day park hopper pass and we took advantage of it. I brought my pedometer just because I was curious. We averaged about 12 hours and walked about 10 miles inside the park every day. By the time we returned to the hotel at night we were EXHAUSTED! It even wore Matthew out to the point he slept during the morning chaos of getting ready which says A LOT since he always seems to have limitless energy. Daniel even fell asleep waiting in line on Grandpa's shoulders with drool and all.

Our first breakfast in the hotel's breakfast room didn't go over so well. It was very tiny and not equipped to handle a family with more than 2 boisterous children. After much spilling, yelling, playing with the lights and the door which would lock when closed (and the kids were pretty bad as well) the other mornings we had breakfast in our room. Grandpa T who is an early bird and our alarm clock would go prepare us breakfast and bring it up to our room to eat where it could be a little more organized and quiet. It was very nice.

While we were there Aaron and I celebrated our 9th anniversary. We put the kids to bed and G & G T listened out for them while I, Aaron and Sarah went and enjoyed a couple hours in the park. Sarah protested loudly when we tried to leave her with the other kids; also since she only loves to nurse and no one has the proper equipment but me, she got to tag along. It was nice to have somewhat of a date even if Sarah was the third wheel.

We got to see some Disney characters off and on throughout our visit. Josh even got a picture with Mr. Incredible. Afterward he said, "I don't think he's real. I think he's wearing a costume." Aaron asked him why he thought that and then hurriedly changed the subject. Josh is getting too smart for his own good!

Of course you can't have together time without a few embarrassing moments. Here are just a few that we had to endure. One night we were watching fireworks from our balcony. In front of our balcony door we had some tall trees so we moved down a few doors to be able to see the fireworks. After a few minutes Daniel decided he had enough and ran back inside our room or so he thought. He ran into someone else's room and ran all the way through their room and into their adjoining room door which happened to be open as well. This meant I couldn't see him and he couldn't hear me yelling for him to get out. I didn't know quite what to do. I could either walk into a stranger's room looking for my lost kid or I could try and find the owner and ask him to find my kid. I decided on the latter and the owner was more than happy to get some strange kid out of his room. Another moment happened when we were in the busy sidewalk in front of the hotel. My mom and I were talking when a lady with her arms full of luggage came walking up. Josh went and stood right in front of her and told her to stop with his arm outstretched. Josh decided out of the blue he would start directing traffic and this poor lady with her hands completely full of luggage was his first victim. I bet she loved that.

Our last day of vacation we decided to head over to the beach. The water was a balmy 60 degrees. Needless to say it was too cold and we didn't do any swimming, but we did walk along the shore finding sea shells and clams. We also saw a jelly fish and a sting ray swimming in the water. Sarah loved playing the sand. Josh loved playing in the waves. Daniel and Matthew loved chasing the seagulls. Daniel would only get near the waves if Grandpa was carrying him on his back. It was a fun, relaxing day. That afternoon after returning from the beach we found a discount Disney outlet store just down the road from our hotel where we bought some souvenirs. All in all it was a pretty fun vacation.

Anniversary

Next week will be our 9th anniversary. It is crazy how time flies. I found this old engagement picture. Looking at it, it looks like Aaron is 12 years old. It is funny what time and kids do to you!! Anyway, it was about 9 years ago I was wondering what I was getting myself into. Little did I know what the next 9 years would entail. We have had our share of challenges, but also we have had many great times. I wouldn't change anything and there isn't anyone else I would want to go through life with. Love you, Aaron.It's amazing we went from 2 people to 6. I still don't feel like I should have 4 kids!! It's been an amazing 9 years considering I almost didn't go through with it. Aaron was nervously waiting at the temple wondering if I was going to show up--good thing I did!!

Do As I Say Not As I Do and Other Random Pics

I have to say Sarah will be one tough girl. She has been steamrolled, stepped on, pushed, tickled, hit, and fed by her brothers. Lately Matthew and Daniel think they are big enough to pick her up. That hasn't always turned out well--I know imagine that. It just shows how tough babies are. I included an action shot of Daniel trying to hold Sarah, but accidentally dropping her before I could get to her. Don't worry Sarah was ok because she is one tough cookie.

Josh is learning how to read and loves it. He will pick out one of the easy reader books and read it to Daniel. I found them in the chair Sunday morning reading a book. It's nice. He is also starting to pay more attention to things. For example Josh is learning about healthy eating in school. It has made me think twice about what I eat. I was fixing breakfast the other morning when Josh out of the blue said that soda must be a healthy food. I quickly said it wasn't. He then said well YOU drink it so it must be healthy. I didn't quite know how to respond. I was just thinking do as I say not as I do please!! He then asked if Poptarts were a healthy food. I just poured on the Mommy guilt and changed the subject. I console myself thinking kids have grown up in a lot worse circumstances than eating poptarts and drinking soda and have turned out all right, right?!? He is also starting to think about the future. He has told me he wants to be a Dad among other things. He really loves to draw and this is

a picture he drew for his teacher a couple weeks ago (without any help or suggestions from me). In the picture it says, "I can bee Like you sum day." It really makes me want to be a better

person if someone wants to emulate me (which is a scary thing). I hope his teacher feels that way too.

My kids fall asleep in the strangest places and positions. Here are some of the latest of Sarah falling asleep on the floor wherever she ended up and Matthew scrunched up in his bed.

Daniel always seems to have a runny nose that never ends. He has had this since I can remember thus we affectionately nick-named him "Boogers" and the added picture explains why. I am afraid to say this happens more often then I care to admit. I have learned the hard way it is important to carry some form of Kleenex where ever I go.

Even More Trouble

This is what Josh and Daniel found this morning:Luckily they came and told me before she could fall out on her head. She just has that look like I have been doing this for ages. I guess it's time to lower the crib. She is getting too big way too fast!