Sarah's 4th Birthday, 6 Shots, the Fair, the Weinermobile (snicker, snicker)

The other day we were driving on the freeway when we came across the Weinermobile.  You know you are a mother of 4 boys when just seeing that elicits a bunch of giggles.  The boys didn't believe me when I told them that the actual name of the car was the Weinermobile--they thought I was joking.  When they realized I was serious that just made them snicker that much more.  Oh boy.  Poor Sarah doesn't even have a chance.

Kids seriously need a mute button.  Josh is 9 years old and still has not developed that social filter that tells him not to say things even if he thinks them.  The other day the kids were playing with our neighbors and they had been in and out of the house all day long so when the doorbell rang I just assumed it would be one of the neighbor kids.  We sent Josh to answer the door.  He opened up the door turned around and yelled, "Hey there are two OLD people at the door!!!"  Embarrassingly enough they happened to be one of our home teachers and his wife who came for an unscheduled visit.  Oh how embarrassing because Josh yelled it so loud I am sure that anyone within a mile radius now knew that we had two OLD people at our door.   Thankfully they just laughed about it--they really aren't that old either which makes it that much more embarrassing!

Anyway, as of yesterday Josh still hadn't developed that filter yet either.  Early intervention came yesterday morning.  The visit had slipped my mind so I was in the middle of taking a shower when I heard the doorbell ring.  I yelled out for Josh and Matthew not to answer the door, but of course they didn't listen and opened the door right up. They came to tell me it was for me. I hurried and jumped out and got dressed as fast as I could while trying to pull on clothes on a wet body which is frustratingly slow. When I was presentable I went to the door and realized it was a visit from Early Intervention for Noah.  DOH!!  The lady waited on the porch while I got dressed and to be a good host Josh waited with her.  When she walked in she apologized for not having time to get her hair colored because this month has been so busy.  When she saw the confused look on my face she explained that while she was waiting on the porch with Josh he informed her that she had a lot of white hairs in her hair.  I apologized, but I am sure by our next visit her hair will be good and colored.  Thanks Josh for keeping me humble!!!!

I am so ready for school to start!!  One reason happened the other morning.  I was half asleep in bed when I was suddenly awakened by intense screaming.  It took me a few times to try and decipher the scream.  When I finally figured out it was Daniel and he was screaming, "THE TOILET IS CLOGGED AND I NEED TO POOP REALLY BAD!!!!!"  I wanted to hide under the covers and pretend I hadn't heard any screaming, but Daniel wouldn't let me do that with such urgent matters at hand.  What a pleasant way to wake up (not really).  I had to hurry downstairs to assess the damage.  Thankfully it wasn't as bad as I had thought.  Someone had gone #2, filled up the toilet with toilet paper and forgot to flush.  All I had to do was flush the toilet and things were all right with the world again. Daniel quickly pushed me out of the bathroom after I had fixed the toilet problem and finished what he needed to do.  In speaking of bathrooming issues....Monday during family home evening Noah snuch upstairs during the lesson.  A few minutes later we heard him telling us that he just went pee pee.  Yay for Noah--that was until I went upstairs to make sure.  He had dirtied his diaper while he was up there.  He then took off his diaper after he had dirtied it and had sat down on the toilet to go pee pee.  Unfortunately he is a little short so in order for him to sit on the toilet there was a lot of scooting involved.  He did go pee pees, but the toilet was now covered in poo poos.  YUCK!!!  I couldn't get too upset because he had actually gone pee pees, but ewwww!!  Only less than two weeks til school starts....I can do it, I can do it, I can do it......
 
Sarah's 4th birthday was last Thursday.  I can't believe my baby girl is 4!!!  To celebrate we went to Sarah's place of choice for the day which somehow Matthew convinced her she REALLY wanted to go to the Train Museum.  After we parked we headed over to look at the water fountains in front:

 When we walked inside they were having an art show that we went and checked out.  The kids' favorite was the painted horse.

 After seeing all the stuff at the train museum I finally caved in and let the kids get their own souvenir penny.  They have begged me every visit to get one, and so I finally had four pennies and the two dollars in cash to do it.  They were excited to hand crank out their creations.

 Thursday evening was pretty busy between soccer and I had a dinner group I had to go to so we decided to have her birthday dinner, presents and cake on Friday evening instead.

Friday morning we went with some friends over to the splash pad up on base.  The kids loved it and they actually were wearing their swimming suits this time.  Yay for small things ;).  While we were there Daniel found two empty cups and was trying to tell us he could pour one cup into the other through his ears.  He even showed me that he could do it:

What a funny kid.  Later on that day we had a picnic in the park and then came home to have cake and open presents.  She got two cakes this year.  A princess cake with a tiara and scepter:

 And a Barbie cake.  Hey you get spoiled rotten when you are the only princess among 4 brothers! 

 Noah and Sarah got a head start on the cake while my back was turned getting the candles out and trying to find some matches.  They stuck their fingers in the side.  I guess someone has to make sure it's safe to eat right?!

Sarah was excited to wear her crown and to hold her scepter.

 She got a Wiggle Car for a present and she rode it all around the rest of the evening while wearing her tiara.  What a tough princess!

The Davis County Fair was going on this past weekend.  Now this fair reminds me of when I was pregnant with Sarah.  We went and walked around and around and around hoping it would start my labor.  Little did we know that it would and then some.  So now every time we go I just think about how miserable I was four years ago, but so thankful to be having a girl that time around.

 

At the fair this year they had the creature interactions where you could see, touch and hold different animals, spiders, scorpions, sting rays, etc.  Josh was all over that.  He had to see touch and feel as many as they would let him.  Matthew, Sarah and Noah were just as brave.  As for Daniel he stayed as far away as he possibly could since he is afraid of any living creature.  Here are the boys checking out the lizards:



 Noah even got in on the action by trying to pinch the snake.  He was not afraid of ANYTHING.

 Sarah was a little timid, but she still tried everything.

 Matthew's checking out the tarantulas:

 Here's Josh and the scorpions:

 They even got to do their pony rides again this year.  Daniel is not afraid if the animal is tied up and muzzled, though.

 We were afraid Matthew might be too big to ride this year, but there were no problems there.

 Sarah loved riding too.

Josh didn't want to ride the pony because he thought he was too big for such things.  We made him do it anyway.  However, he tried to climb up on the saddle and ended up pulling the saddle down to the side of the pony.  It took a while to fix it and while Josh was waiting to get on he was embarrassed even more so because he didn't want to ride in the first place.  Here are the guys fixing the saddle:

Every turn around Josh gave us crusty looks because he wanted to make sure we knew that he did not want to be doing the pony rides in any way, shape or form.  Oh and the complaining he did afterward....Holy cow!!  I can't wait until he's a teenager--that should be loads of fun....(not really).

 Noah even got a turn.  Last year he screamed and screamed until we took him off the pony.  This year he couldn't wait to get on and he loved every minute of the ride.

 Afterward we headed over to the petting zoo.  Noah knows no fear.  He followed all the goats around so he could pet them.

 Again Daniel stayed as far away from any animal as he could while Noah got as close as he could to them.

 I was able to coax Daniel into petting a very docile bunny hiding under the bench.  The other kids came to check it out as well.

 Sarah stayed timid, but she still petted the different animals.

 Sunday G&G T came up for dinner and to give Sarah her birthday present.  While they were here my kids were wild with excitement.  When they finally calmed down Noah snuggled up to his big brother and they were watching a movie while the adults actually got some visiting done without interruption.

 Monday Sarah had her 4 year old well child check.  She was all smiles during the visit until she had to get her immunizations at the very end.  Poor Sarah we have held off on all immunizations until now so that means she has never had a shot in her short four years. 

 She was excited to get her blood pressure taken.

 She was even more than happy to lay down to get examined.

 Her smiles and good will all ended when she had to get 6 shots all at once especially since she has never had a shot before.  Oh she screamed and screamed.  Poor thing.  She ended up getting a fever that night and the next day her legs were sore.  She was pretty pitiful.  She is feeling better today, but she won't let me take off her band aids on her legs.  I guess she still wants her badges of honor :).  We have to go back in two months for the next round of shots.  It will be interesting to see if she will be all smiles again.  As for her stats she is 36.6 pounds (65th percentile) and 40.75 inches tall (73rd percentile).  She is one all around healthy girl that will be ready to start preschool this fall.  Again how did my baby girl get big enough to turn 4 years old?!?!

Speeding Scooters, NICU Reunion, Mooooore Gooooood!!

I have been trying to come up with various activities to keep the kids busy during these last few weeks of summer.  The kids helped me out by pulling out our game of Twister.  Daniel and Matthew enjoyed playing for awhile.  When Sarah and Noah saw them having fun they came over to play as well, but their idea of playing Twister was piling on Matthew.  Matthew didn't like that 'game' too well and we had to put the Twister game away shortly after because Matthew didn't like getting wallered by his two youngest siblings as you can tell by his face.

 Noah has discovered the bar stools can help him achieve his goals of reaching things he shouldn't be able too.  The other day I was getting ready for the day in my bathroom when I heard him just screaming outside my bedroom door.  I went to check it out only to find he was quite upset because he couldn't get his bar stool to slide across the carpet so he could get into stuff in my bathroom.  Poor guy.  It's hard being a little shorty ;)--I didn't mind too much though.

 Lately the kids have discovered the yumminess of Ramen noodles.  However I think they drop more on the floor, counter and themselves than they actually get inside their mouths as you can see.  What a mess!!

 Sarah loves watching Dora the Explorer.  The other day she went and found this whole outfit by herself and got dressed.  Don't you love the Velcro shoes, backpack, tight shorts and matching socks?  What a funny girl.  Afterward she wouldn't answer to Sarah anymore she would only answer if you called her Dora.  If you dare called her Sarah she'd firmly tell you that her name was Dora and to call her such.  She is one strong willed girl!!

 Last Thursday was BYU football teams' open practice.  You could go see the team have their practice on the field.  Aaron thought it would be nice to take all the kids to watch them.  He also had some ticket vouchers he had to exchange while we were down there.  While we were there we went inside their sports museum and looked at all the different awards the BYU athletes had won.  I didn't know who most of them were, but Aaron did.  The kids did find someone I did recognize ,though, which was Jimmer Fredette.  We took a picture of them standing in front of his jersey.

 After that we went and met up with my old college roommate KiLee and had lunch with her and her two kids.  It was lots of fun to catch up on things.  Her husband just finished physical therapy school in Pennsylvania and they have since moved to College Station in Texas for his first physical therapist job.  She happened to be in town for her brother's wedding so we were lucky enough to meet up.  It was nice to see her again.  Thank goodness for blogs and Facebook these days.  It makes keeping up with people a little easier.

In the downstairs bathroom the kids have been having trouble getting the shower curtain all the way closed.  We have tried to teach them how to close it completely, but we keep finding all kinds of water all over the floor every morning.  The last straw happened a few weeks ago when Aaron went to clean that bathroom and pulled the wet bathroom rug away from the kick board to find mold growing on it.  Ewwwww!!  That's when we decided to buy a shower/tub door and install it.  This is what Aaron did on Saturday and we are hoping it keeps the floor dry and the mold away:

 Hopefully it is easier to completely close than the shower curtain!  It doesn't look very nice, but we are going for practical rather than looks at this point!

Last night I went to turn out Noah's light before I went to bed only to find him asleep on the floor again.  At least this time he made sure his baby was next to him and was covered with her blanket.  What a sweet boy!  I then noticed he had pulled off the door stop again.  I can't count how many times I have had to put that stupid doorstop back on only to have him yank it off again.  Also as you can see I still have not cleaned off his crayon wall art yet from the time he snuck a crayon in with him during quiet time.  What a stinker!!

 This past week Aaron has been MIA quite a bit.  Between working late and soccer he has been really busy.  That has been really hard on me since it is summer, Kids in the Park is over and I am with the kids 24/7 without a break.  I finally had hit my limit of kid craziness and went on a girls day out with my mom sans kids on Saturday.  We left that morning to go school shopping and I didn't get back until that afternoon.  It was a splendid day!  Aaron knew that I was pretty frazzled so while I was gone he cleaned the whole house for me and installed the new shower door in the boys' bathroom downstairs.  What a nice guy!  It was a great day!  I finally regained some of my sanity, but I am still counting down until the start of school which is three weeks away.  I can do it, I can do it, I can do it....

While we were out shopping I picked up a new princess backpack for Sarah since she will be starting preschool this year.  She was so excited when I showed it to her.  She has been toting it around ever since she got it. 

 She even packed it full of random stuff.  I peaked in it this morning only to find the carbon monoxide detector, a toy phone, a baby rattle, the Password game buzzer and other various items.  I think her preschool teacher will be all set with such things ;).  What a crazy girl!

Noah is turning into quite the chatter box.  He lets his wishes be known and if talking doesn't work, he has perfected the shrill scream that will certainly get anyone's attention within mile radius.  He has figured out that the squeaky wheel definitely gets the grease (attention) in our family.  Geez you would think he has four other siblings to compete with or something ;).  However, he does let you know when he really likes something.  He says, "Moooore Gooooood!"  I finally got him to say it in front of the camera this morning:



He really loves to scream it after receiving the bread for the sacrament on Sundays.  It's pretty awesome (aka embarrassing).  At least everyone in church knows that he really enjoyed his bread and that it was, "Mooooore Goooooood!"

Speaking of Sunday....Matthew seems to keep things very interesting every Sunday.  Lately he has been really excited to let everyone know that he will receive the Aaronic Priesthood on his next birthday.  He tells anyone and everyone he runs into about it whether they know what he is talking about or not.  This last Sunday right after sacrament meeting ended he felt the need to tell the bishop about it.  As soon as the closing prayer was over, he jumped up out of his seat and ran up to the stand and I mean jumped up and ran up to the stand.  He then proceeded to tell the bishop about how he was going to receive the Aaronic Priesthood on his next birthday.  It happened so fast that Aaron and I didn't have a chance to grab him before he took off.  The whole chapel could hear his whole conversation with the bishop, too, because that kid only has two volumes--loud or louder when he talks.  Finally Aaron was able to run up to the stand and grab him.  The bishop was gracious enough to talk to him about it until Aaron went up and grabbed him.  Hey at least he is excited about it--that's one positive way to look at it. 

One exciting thing happened yesterday--after dinner Aaron and I heard Sarah tell everyone that she needed to go stinky and went into the bathroom and locked the door.  Aaron and I had to look at each other to make sure we weren't dreaming.  That is the first time she has ever done that on her own initiative.  After a few minutes we decided to check on her to make sure she was ok.  Since she had locked the bathroom door, Aaron had to grab the door unlocker and unlock the door.  When he went into the check on her she jumped off the toilet and Aaron could see the toilet was filled with toilet paper.  He then asked her if she went stinky.  She exclaimed, "YES!" and before Aaron could stop her she proceeded to stick her hand inside the toilet and pushed away all the wet slimy toilet paper so Aaron could see that she had actually gone stinky.  He was so grossed out that he almost forgot to get excited for her.  She was so proud!  I was excited for her until Aaron told me what she had done to show him her stinky.  Umm I don't think you can ever have enough hand sanitizer for that.  Ewwww!!  But I need to stay positive and just be glad that she actually took care of it on her own without kicking, screaming or fighting me in anyway!!  Yay for Sarah.  Now we just need to teach her that the toilet is disgusting and to never put your hand in the water without a very good reason...

This last Saturday we got the opportunity to attend the McKay Dee NICU reunion.  It was held at a water park Saturday night.  They had one last year, but we didn't make it so this was the first one that we have gone to since Noah had been born.  The kids were excited to finally go swimming this year for free--that is if you don't count the $105,000 NICU cost.  Thank goodness for health insurance!!  Anyway, when we got there Aaron and I had to split up because the older boys didn't want to spend their time in the kiddie pool with Sarah and Noah.  They even provided dinner for us, but when we went to get dinner, Noah screamed during the whole thing because he didn't want to get out of the water for any reason even if it was for food.  He LOVED swimming!!  He would follow Sarah around and when she went into water that was too deep for him he still followed her.  I had to rescue him a few times, but he got mad anytime I tried to pick him up for any reason even if it was to get his head above water.  Don't come between a baby and his swimming--Geez!!  When it was time to go we went over to dry off.  Noah was just a screaming.  That's when a guy Aaron used to work with up on base came over to say hi.  He had since retired and was helping to take care of his grand kids.  He brought his daughter over who was a tech at the NICU to introduce her.  Aaron started telling her about Noah's NICU story and about how not only Noah had a NICU stay, but his cousin Sydney had a NICU stay there as well.  She knew all about our story which was funny.  Her 5 year old daughter then came up to stand next to her mom.  That's when Josh told her, "I thought all your kids would be grown up!"  meaning boy you sure look too old to have young kids!  Aaron and I were so embarrassed!  Good thing Noah was screaming his little head off so we were able to get out of there ASAP!!  Noah continued to scream all the way home because he was so mad we took him out of the water.  What a crazy night!

A few weeks ago we were able to have the missionaries over for dinner.  The kids were pretty excited to have some guests for dinner.  While I was fixing dinner Josh was talking to me about having them over.  I told him he could ask them any questions he had about going on a mission.  When they first walked through the door one of them was darker skinned.  Josh immediately asked him if he spoke English.  Seeing as he was from Missouri I tried to quietly tell Josh that he did speak English, but he wouldn't take my word for it.  He kept asking the missionary what language he spoke until the missionary answered and said English.  Oh, Josh, what are we going to do with him?!  We are trying to teach him tact, but as you can see it is not sinking in very well....During dinner our conversation happened to bring up food allergies.  I have been wondering about Daniel's ability to serve a mission since he has such severe food allergies.  We were so excited to hear that another elder in their district did have some severe food allergies and he was able to go on a mission.  That made my night.  I am hoping that Daniel will be able to go when his time comes which is only 12 short years away.  EEEK!! 

On a final note of our family craziness....Matthew has been really fascinated with policemen lately.  It doesn't help that we have three policemen living in close proximity to our house, either.  If he ever sees them drive up in their police cruiser he immediately runs over to them and asks them if they put anyone in jail that day and if they will turn on their police lights and siren for him.  Well a few weeks ago we went to a parade.  One of our police neighbors was helping patrol the parade and Matthew saw him and ran up to him.  That's when the policeman gave Matthew a police badge sticker.  Ohhh boy....Matthew went berserk!!  He started yelling trying to sound like a police siren.  Right then a little girl came scooting past up on a scooter.  Matthew took off screaming at her with his police siren yell.  She looked at him like he was crazy and tried to get away from him on her scooter.  That just encouraged Matthew to go after her even faster.  Finally I caught up to him and stopped him, but not before the little girl was freaked out and kept looking back at Matthew like he had corn growing out of his ears.  I told Matthew that he couldn't do that, but he just told me that the little girl was speeding on her scooter and he needed to give her a ticket.  What a crazy kid.  He certainly keeps us on our toes.  Good thing school starts in three weeks!!  Not that I am keeping track or anything ;).  I can last three more weeks, I can last three more weeks, I can last three more weeks.....Hopefully we have no more speeding scooters come by us in the next three weeks or they will be in trouble!

Birthday Surprises, Jalapeno Bites, Soccer

This past week it was Matthew's 11th birthday.  I still can't believe he is 11!!  As always he adds some spice and excitement to our family and we are thankful for him. 

We just had a family party for him this year.  He got a Wiggle Car as a present and everyone has had fun with it.  It is not made to be a two seater, but try and tell Noah that.

Matthew was excited to go to church on Sunday because they were going to sing to him for his birthday.  The primary presidency forgot to do the birthday song, but Matthew didn't catch it until the bishopric member was in the middle of his object lesson.  When Matthew realized they hadn't sung to him he kept interrupting the bishopric member reminding him that they needed to do the birthday song.  Finally the bishopric member finished his  short lesson and they were able to recognize the birthdays.  It was Matthew's and another girls birthday this week.  When Matthew got up to the front of Primary so he could be sung to he said, "I would like to invite every kid and their family over to my house for dinner and my birthday party."  Uhh that was news to me!!  Everyone then looked at me and I was so surprised I didn't know quite what to say. I am sure I had the deer in the headlights look plastered on my face. I just cringed and nervously laughed and tried to shrug it off while secretly hoping that no one would take him up on his offer.  He then found out that the other girl's birthday was that day.  He then told her in front of everyone, "Hey you need to invite me over for your birthday.  I am sure my mom knows where you live.  I can come over for your party."  She just looked at him and then went and sat down.  It was a little awkward, but they have learned to go with the flow in this primary so it wasn't a big deal.  Matthew is quite the character to say the least.  He keeps them on their toes at all times--that's for sure.  If they forget something he will be the first to remind them.  He even kept yelling to the chorister that he could come lead the songs if she'd like.  Thankfully she is a really laid back lady that works really well with him.  She just told him that she was prepared and didn't need any extra help that day.  Thanks Matthew.  However, one sweet girl from his primary class did end up coming over later that day.  She had made him a plate of cookies and a card.  The card had a big train on the front because she knew how much he loved trains.  She brought them over to wish him a happy birthday.  Matthew was so excited he didn't know quite how to react so he kept trying to walk away.  I had to hold him in place so she could actually talk to him.  It was such a sweet thing to do.  Here's the front of the card:

Here's the inside of the card:

 

It said, "Dear Matthew, Happy Birthday!  You're AWESOME!  I missed seeing you at school this last year. I get to see you at church though!  You're a nice great friend!  I hope you have a super duper great birthday!  Your friend, Ashlyn."  It was so sweet!  The cookies were really good, too.

Aaron had to work on his actual birthday so it was up to me to entertain the kids.  We had had a big party at Chuck-E-Cheeses on Saturday so we had already done some celebrating beforehand.  Anyway, I let Matthew choose what activities we did that day.  It was a rough day because Kids in the Park is now over so we have the whole day to play instead of only half.  We went to the Train Museum (Union Station Museums in Ogden) in the morning and then we went to the Dinosaur Park in the afternoon.  I had a little chit chat with the kids before we left and told them they only way we could go to these places is if they cooperated, obeyed and helped me.  Luckily, we had a pretty good day and I got some extra help from the older boys.  Here's Matthew holding Sarah's hand helping her walk into the Dino Park.

Matthew also got a telescope for his birthday and he tells us every night that he needs to have a late night so he can look at the stars.  Um, yea, that worked for one night, but we are the mean parents and won't let him have a late night every night.  If he has a late night we pay the price the whole next day because he becomes 'Chuckles' aka Mr. Ornery.  He has figured out he can see things in the day time, too--thank goodness! 

 

I think Matthew had a pretty good birthday.

Sarah is now old enough to start soccer.  She had her very first practice yesterday.  To get her ready she got to wear one of her brother's old uniforms.  She was excited to go play.

 When we first got to practice I tried to drop her off with the coach, but she would have none of it.  She wanted me to be right by her side at the beginning.  I had to stand right by her while she kicked the ball.  Finally after a while the coach got her away from me and I was able to go and sit on the sideline.  Sarah is probably the youngest on her team and it really shows.  She had a little bit of a hard time paying attention to instructions and doing what she was supposed to during practice, but what kid doesn't at some point?!  She did have fun, though. 

 After practice she knew that everyone gets drinks and treats from going to her brothers soccer games.  However, the coach didn't bring any this week, but that didn't stop Sarah.  Sarah followed the coach's daughter over to where they were sitting and helped herself to the coach's drink.  I tried to run over and grab her before she got the straw in her mouth, but didn't get her in time before she had chug a lugged part of the drink.  I had to sheepishly hand the coach's drink back to her while nervously laughing and say, "Um, sorry 'bout that."  I felt pretty stupid.  Oh well I guess that will teach the coach not to bring treats or drinks **SIGH**!  She is a little stinker!  Earlier that day Sarah had been doing something and I jokingly said, "You are a twerp!"  She turned to me and told me very angrily, "I NOT A TWERP! I A LITTLE TURD!"  Good thing we got that all cleared up.

Our garden is growing.  It is not impressive by any stretch of the imagination, but we are getting a few things from it.  Sunday we found a huge jalapeno pepper.  We picked it and Aaron talked Josh and Daniel into trying some.  Aaron took a big bite off the end to show the kids that he was brave enough.  He didn't tell the kids that the end of the pepper didn't contain the hot seeds so you could take a big bite without burning up your mouth.  Josh and Daniel came over and took big bites, too so they could be like dad.  Wow when Daniel started to feel the burn you could hear him just howling.  He was not happy with Aaron at all.

 Here's Josh trying to shove an ice cube in his mouth to cool his burning mouth off.  He did handle it a bit better than Daniel, though.  There was no uncontrollable howling.  I don't think the kids are ever going to try something Aaron recommends again.

 Saturday we came into some peaches and I spent the evening watching the Olympics and bottling them.  We got 15 quarts.  Wahoo.  The kids have already asked to try some, but I am not done looking at them yet.  So much work goes into bottling them, that I want to look at them for a bit before we open them and eat them.  I guess I am weird that way.

 Noah LOVES cars.  You never see him without at least one Matchbox car in his hand.  He even brings them to lunch, too.  The other day we had Ramen for lunch.  As I was cleaning up I found his car with noodles stuffed inside.  I guess he decided to give some of his noodles a ride.  MMMM yummy.

 Saturday we had Matthew's family party.  We went down to G&G T's house Friday night.  We fed the kids dinner and got them ready for bed.  G&G T were nice enough to watch them while Aaron and I went out on a date.  The next morning we let Matthew open his presents.  He had some unwanted help from his brothers, but he didn't get too upset.

 

 While we were packing everything up the next morning the kids were playing in the back yard with G&G T.  Noah was swinging and his brothers made sure he was swinging in the swing at all times.  When we brought him inside he ended up barfing everywhere.  We decided to watch him for a few minutes to make sure he really wasn't barfy sick just motion sick from being in the swing.  Luckily he seemed to be fine so we then headed over to Chuck-E-Cheeses to play.  We just wanted to make sure since we didn't want our trip to become upChuck-E-Cheeses.   Thankfully he was fine.  After playing for a bit we had our pizza and Matthew got to blow out the candles on his cake.

 The kids had fun playing.  Noah had a hard time at first and all he wanted to do was scream, but he did lighten up.  He even was excited to wave to Chuck-E-Cheese when he came over to say hi.

 We split everyone up.  There was one kid to one adult except for me I got the two youngest, but they weren't hard to please.  I think we spent most of our tokens on this stupid horse ride.

 Noah was quite crusty at first, though.  He did not want to do anything, but I made him do it anyway and he was NOT happy about it.

 Here's Grandma helping Matthew:

 Grandpa helping Daniel:

The theme to Chuck E Cheeses is, "Where a Kid can be a kid!"  It seems it is where adults can act like kids, too.  Aaron was supposed to be helping Josh, but it seems he was trying to see how many tickets he could earn alongside Josh.  Here he is showing off his huge collection of tickets.

 Here's a picture of Matthew's cake: