Christmas!!!!!!!!!!

This past week has been a lot of fun, but exhausting! I started to post pics and realized it would take forever so I did a slide show. My sister came into town last Saturday and ever since then, it has gone by in a blur. We enjoyed the cousins party, church, Michelle and I went shopping, sledding, Christmas Eve together, and Christmas. The kids were so excited but said several times, "we are celebrating Jesus' birth." We are so thankful to have a wonderful family, friends, and neighbors! We hope everyone had an awesome Christmas!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas Party

We had our annual Christmas Cousins Party this past Saturday at my parent's house. The kids look forward to it every year and it is one of the few times that I get to see my cousins. We had yummy food, opened presents, and all of the adult cousins got to play a present game. Tyler got a new hat, Easton a Chicks Hicks car, Kylie a poly pocket car, and Kenadie a poly with some clothes. It was a fun night!




Kenadie has done really well since her surgery and even went to preschool on Friday. She still doesn't have her usual appetite and talks a little funny but I'm sure that will get better. Hopefully we can go without some medical bills for awhile!
I have been wanting a churio for some time and I finally found one on KSL for $60. It was kind of ugly but solid oak. Well, it has sat in our garage until my WONDERFUL husband decided to work on it. (He just LOVES my projects for him!) It took him four hours to sand it all and a couple to paint. It looks awesome! I am so glad my husband is handy. Now....what project is next?

Happy Birthday Sis!

I just wanted to wish my big sister a happy birthday! Man, we are getting old. I have many memories of being together. Such as: playing "big" dolls, making up dances in the pool at the hotel, scratching her with my nails, playing barbies in her room for HOURS, etc, etc. We are different in a lot of ways, yet alike. I admire these things about her:
she is a good mom to FIVE kids under the age of 8
she has a strong testimony of the church
she is a better cook than I
she has taught her kids to read before Kindergarten
she plays the piano




I hope you have a happy birthday and I will see you later this week!

Dance Recital

Last Saturday, Kenadie had her first ever dance recital. She is our child that needs LOTS of motivation to do things. She is kind of shy and likes to be home. She finally agreed to take dance because her friend, Megan, was doing so. We have been so surprised! She has loved it! She is excited for Mondays and always asks, "Is it time yet?" It was fun to watch her on stage and really enjoy it.




We found out this past week that Kenadie needs her tonsils and adenoids out! Kylie had surgery a little less than a month ago, with the same doctor. Kenadie's tonsils are HUGE so we decided to have them out before she starts school and before the year is over. I hope she does as well as Kylie, fingers crossed! This past week has been very busy with dentist appt, doctor appt, scouts, work, making bracelets with women in my ward, and my first activity in my new calling. Me and two other women are doing "Achievement Days". It is for girls 8-11. They have to pass off different things and then we do some fun activities. We decorated sugar cookies and it was fun! It will be a nice change from primary and a little more relaxed. Eric and I enjoyed a nice date yesterday seeing "New Moon" for the second time and going out to dinner. To make it even better we were able to sleep in this morning! Now I better get off the computer and finish our Christmas cards and teacher gifts.....

Past two weeks

I just can't seem to stay caught up with the blog lately....dang facebook! Eric and I went to Layton the Saturday before thanksgiving and got all of our shopping done! It helps me feel a lot less stressed to get it done early. We finished so early in fact that we went and saw "New Moon." Oh my gosh, it was awesome, and it had some good eye candy. It was nice just to be together. Alone. Thanksgiving was kind of a let down. We spent it alone at our house. We made all of the good food and spent a quiet evening at home. On Monday, Kylie had a dance review. It wasn't a formal recital, we just watched what they have been working on the past few months. Kylie looked so cute and I'm amazed at how much she has learned. She loves dance and looks forward to it every week.



Kenadie has her dance recital this Saturday so I'm sure I will post pics of that. Eric has been working a lot since this is the busiest time of the year. He is working over 60 hours this week and did the same two weeks ago. We hate to complain that much since it is nice to have some extra cash. We ended up having to buy a new TV for our basement and Easton put a nice crack in the windshield with his head. No injuries thank goodness.

I have been slacking lately! The time just goes by so fast and before I know it, it's time to update again. A couple of weeks ago Eric and I got released from our primary teacher calling. We had been in two years but it really took me by surprise. It has been nice to have Eric at sacrament (he would come on his break from work to teach) and go to Sunday School and Relief Society again. I do miss the kids though. We already have new callings. Me working with the 8 & 9 year old girls on Faith In God award and Eric is a scout leader for the Bears. We also got a temple recommend again after nearly 7 years of not having one. (Or has it been longer????) Anyways, we are excited and look forward to going to the temple soon.
Last week I took the girls to Disney on Ice. It has been a tradition the past three years to go with just the girls and enjoy an evening together. I wasn't going to take the girls this year since I WAS supposed to take Kenadie to Disneyland. Since we ended up not doing that,due to illness, I thought it would be fun. It is quite expensive especially if you want to get good seats. We are trying to not spend as much so I never bought the tickets. Then about 3 days before the show I got an email from Travelzoo. They email the top 20 travel deals every week and a few tickets to shows. They had Disney on Ice tickets for half price! I got our tickets for $11 a piece and we sat in row 17. We ate at our favorite place, Costa Vida, and enjoyed a night together.




Today Kylie had surgery to get tubes put in her ears. She had it done about a year and a half ago. She complained of her right ear hurting one night and when I looked at her ear I could see that her tube had fallen out but was stuck in her ear canal. We went to the doc and he said she had another ear infection. After some antibiotics and three weeks we went back to find that she already had fluid behind her left ear and mucous behind her right. This morning we got up bright and early. Kylie did well but has thrown up a couple of times. I was able to watch the surgery on a TV and was shocked at all the pus in her right ear. Poor girl! Hopefully, she will feel better soon and should be able to go to school tomorrow.

Halloween & Kylie's Room

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love all the kids dressed up and it's just fun! This year was Tyler's first year going without parents but he went with a big group of boys. I took the rest of them but only made it to the end of the road before Easton was done. After I took him home, the girls and I went all over the neighborhood. We were so tired when we got done. The girls got so much candy that it filled up their bags. We had to stuff it in our pockets and Kenadie used her witch hat to hold it.




We finally painted Kylie's room. I picked out the paint and surprised Eric. He wasn't too excited but it didn't take very long since one wall was already painted pink. I was going to do stripes but I never could decide on what I wanted so I just went with plain brown. This picture is on her little wall when you walk in.



I already had this board so all I did was add a little glitter spray. It's behind her door and it's nice for her to have a place to hang her purses and jackets.


We changed her room around and I really like it this way. I think it just opens it up.


I made these little frames with sayings on them. I just spray painted some frames I already had white. Then I used my cricut (love it) to cut out the letters. I already had the flowers so I just put them on the wall.


I got this shelf at Hobby Lobby for $8. I just painted and put glitter spray. I hung up her baby shoes and her outfit that she wore when she came home from the hospital in. I may add a thing or two later.


I really didn't buy too much. Mostly I used things from around the house or that was already in her room.


Now I want to redo the "play room" and my scrapbook room. I guess that is one good thing about the winter.....now I can concentrate on the inside of the house!

Fall Traditions

This past weekend we enjoyed doing some of our fall traditions. We went to the pumpkin walk on Saturday, then ate at Grist Mill, and home to carve pumpkins. The kids all love the pumpkin walk but were scared of the witch handing out cookies. It makes me sad to think that in only a few short years the kids probably won't be as "into" it.





I was able to get some things done on my list which included going through ALL of the kids clothes and switching them for the season. It truly horrified me to see how many clothes they have! I have been doing really good the past six months on not buying stuff but I guess I'm still finding clothes that I bought a year or two ago. I even found some things in Easton's closet that still had the tags on it! I even did some Christmas shopping! Yes, it is never early enough. I usually am almost done by now but my goal is to be done my mid November. I also am planning on FINALLY painting Kylie's room. If anyone has any cute ideas on stripes let me know. Hopefully, I will get it done this week and can post some pics. That's all for now!

Update

It seems like things are finally back to normal. I feel so much better than I did even a week ago and am still trying to get caught up on cleaning. Since I don't have any new pictures to post, I thought I would give just a little update on each of us.
Eric: He has been busy working at Schreiber's since it is their "busy" season. He has mandatory overtime every week but the extra money is nice. For those of you who don't know, he has a stress fracture in his right foot. It is healing though and is finally starting to feel better. He is busy watching all of the sporting events and loves his fantasy teams.
Me: I am back to work and glad to get back into the routine of things. Of course, I have a huge list of things I need to do like Christmas shopping, scrapbooking, and going through all of the kids clothes. It seems like my job is never ending, like most moms. I am very excited for the "New Moon" movie that is coming out next month and I've been reading the series over again. I also started to help in Kylie's classroom once a week with reading.
Tyler: He is our most active child. He loves school and especially math. He is in the top of his class and got invited to a math club once a week. He just finished flag football but has started basketball. He loves to play any sport and run around. He also has scouts once a week so he is a busy kid.
Kylie: She has really surprised us this year by loving school. She has really taken off in her reading. She loves taking dance and all things girl. We found out this week that she will need new tubes in her ears and will have to have surgery pretty soon.
Kenadie: She loves her new preschool and her teacher. She has also surprised us by loving her dance class once a week. She has been full of "attitude" lately and her goal is to tease Easton everyday. We are working on her behaviors and hopefully it is short lived.
Easton: I can't believe he is 3 1/2 years old! He talks constantly and is my shadow. He loves to go play at friends house and hang with the older kids. He is still obsessed with trains but has also included Spongebob and "Bolt." He is always saying funny things and keeping us on our toes.

Kenadie turns 5, CornBelly's, and feeling like crap

I finally am feeling well enough to give an update on what has been happening around here. Kenadie celebrated her fifth b-day the end of September. She got her ear's pierced and got to pick a place to eat with just mom and dad. Since this was her main present, she only had one present to open on her actual birthday. She got Hello Kitty PJ's from us, a gift card from Grandma Pat, money from Aunt Niki and Grandma and Grandpa Swanson, and a savings bond from Grandpa Ray and Janine. I think she did pretty well! She is looking forward to going to Walmart to pick out something....a baby I'm sure! Our big surprise for her was a girl trip to Disneyland with our neighbor and her little girl. We made reservations for a princess character dining, ordered princess dresses, etc, etc. Kenadie was very excited and so was I! I can't believe she is fine:( I still call her my baby girl and I'm sure I will continue to do so. She is a mellow child and just kind of goes with the flow...a lot like her dad. She also is very stubborn which is a lot like dad! Here are some of her favorites right now:
Favorite Show: Biggest Loser
Favorite Movie: Coraline
Favorite Food: Ramen noodles, applesauce, torilla's
Favorite Toy: Babies, of course!
Favorite thing to do: Playing with friends, Preschool
Favorite color: Rainbow color
Drink: Sprite
Subject: making puppets
Place: funpark, San Diego
Want for Christmas: purple camera
When grow up: a mom!
She was our easiest baby and our only "unplanned" pregnancy. She loves to cuddle and gives kisses. She is very mothering, especially to Easton. She is a great helper and loves to pretend to do "mom" things. She also is getting sassy and is full of attitude lately. She says funny things and keeps us on our toes! We love her!



Over UEA weekend we went to SLC and got to see Grandma Pat and Aunt Niki surprised us! We stayed over night in a hotel which is always the kids favorite. We ate yummy food at Spaghetti Factory and then headed to Thanksgiving Point to Cornbelly's. We had never been down there so we didn't know what to expect....but it was awesome! They had so many things to do. Corn mazes, pig races, jumping pillow, paint ball shooting, slides, tractor train rides, princess area with dress up, and the list goes on and on. I think we ended up being there four or five hours and there was still plenty more we could of done. I highly recommend it! Unfortunately, my head started to hurt pretty bad but I still felt able to do everything....more on THAT later. The next day, after much deliberation, we decided to go the Museum of Natural History. I didn't know what to expect but we were so surprised! They have lots of exhibits about bugs, rocks, earth, and dinosaurs. Tyler especially loved it! He is always reading books about history, rocks, space, and dinosaurs. It was educational, affordable, and fun. My favorite was the dinosaur lab where they actually work on getting the bones out of the plaster. Very interesting. We enjoyed seeing Aunt Niki and Grandma and wish it would of lastest longer.















Now for the "feeling like crap" part. I apologize for those of you who have already heard this but since this is my journal......My head had been hurting for several weeks on and off but I was able to work, take care of kids, etc. In SLC it started to hurt bad and I was pretty sure I had another sinus infection. Coming home really bothered my head and my ears so as soon as we got home I went to Instacare. They diagnosed me with sinus infection and sent me home with some meds. Sunday (conference) it got really bad and we ended up going to ER due to the pain was so bad. My head was throbbing all of the time and started to effect my vision, appetite, etc. They did a CAT scan, labs, but everything was normal. They sent me home with 3 more meds and to come back if it got worse. That night I started throwing up and was unable to keep any liquid or food down. It got so bad that we went to ER again on Monday. They didn't know what to do with me so they sent me over to my primary doc's office. He immediately gave me a shot of antinausea/pain meds plus prescriptions for more meds. The next couple of days were a blur of laying in bed, throwing up, fever, headaches, and the worst neck pain ever. I took pain meds, antinausea meds, muscle relaxors, etc, anything to try and feel better. It took all I had just to get kids off to school, Kenadie to Preschool, and make a quick lunch. My poor husband did everything while I layed in bed. Everytime I got up my head would feel like it was going to explode and then the dizziness and throwing up would start. We were getting worried that nothing was getting better, that I hadn't ate in five days, and that I might have meningitis. Finally by Thursday, I couldn't take it anymore so we headed up to the ER for the THIRD time. They did another CAT scan, gave me some fluids, a lumbar puncture, and tried to get blood. I was so dehydrated they couldn't get any blood out of me even after two different people and being poked six times. The results: everything was normal! So frustrating! So we went home completely worn out. That night I was able to eat and feel a little better. Friday I felt quite a bit better but still not even close to normal. I couldn't even drive since I would see spots and feel dizzy. Everyday I feel maybe 10% better but not quite normal. On Friday we went to a Chiropractor and he really helped relieve the tension in my neck. I've never heard such a cracking noise....especially when he cracked my neck. Then he put these electric nodes on my neck with ice and had me lay like that for 15 minutes. Heaven! I am so thankful for all of the help that we have received. We have the BEST neighbors, friends, family,, and co workers. It helped to have dinners brought in, laundry put away, anything to help relieve Eric's load. We are especially thankful for our neighbor who came over on a moments notice to give me a Priesthood blessing. THANK YOU EVERYONE. The real bummer to this is that Kenadie and I can't go to Disneyland:( We were supposed to leave tomorrow but it's just not fair to anyone to try and go when I don't feel 100% I am thankful that Stacey and her girl are still able to go and I hope they have soooo much fun! Kenadie is being a good sport and I promised her we will go soon. I am hoping this week is much better and I can get things back in order. Sorry for the long post!