We've been to the park a few times over the past couple weeks, just trying to take advantage of the nice weather that comes and goes. We're close enough now that if we have the time we try to walk. Although it takes longer, it's fun to go with the boys. It still makes me laugh to see all the pictures of the boys covering their eyes in the sun, I guess they've just got sensitive eyes. They all love being at the park. Jacob and Caleb love playing on the slides, and the big equipment, Matthew loves the swings, slides, and just being able to run all over the place.
Last week we had a field trip for Jacob and Caleb’s preschool classes. They did a trip to the fire station and I was lucky enough to get to come along as a parent helper. The kids were pretty excited to be able to tour the fire station. They watched a movie on fire safety, talked to a fireman, asked lots of questions, and loved being able to see all the big trucks and equipment. We had lots of fun going with our friends to the fire station. They even got cute little fireman hats to take home with them. Of course, the one who really loves the hats the most is Matthew. I’ll constantly catch him throughout the day running around with the fireman hat on….or wearing it while laying on the floor eating his snacks after having dumped them all over.
This weekend, we were lucky to be able to have some good friends come for a short visit. The Slade family, that we became good friends with in our last city, came down for a work conference this weekend. They were able to come with us to Stake Conference on Sunday, and then we had lunch afterward. Our kids have missed each other, so they were pretty excited to be able to play together again. They've got three boys who are close in age to ours so it got a little tough keeping them quiet towards the end of stake conference- they were glad when they were finally able to get out and run around together.
(Do you think our kids have sensitive eyes in the sunshine?)
We love being able to sit and talk with Mike and Audrey; and the boys of course had a great time together, all six of them! Even Matthew and Alex had fun playing together.
I love watching their sweet little friendships. They're all very similar in personality and get along so well together. I love the pictures of them together. Caleb and Ethan weren't thrilled about having their picture taken as you can see, but Jacob and Andrew did pretty well- the second one of them is so sweet, you can really see what great friends they are.
The Slades didn't get to stay nearly long enough, but we loved every minute. We'll miss them! We're lucky to have such good friends.*
It might have been snowing when I went running this morning at 6am... and I may have had to scrape the snow of my windows before I could drive... and the kids may be all bundled up when we go get Rita's Water Ice... but it's still Spring....
And BEST of All...
We have a new Nephew! Born the first day of Spring! Yea!
Follow-Up...Thanks Amy for the fun pictures of our Rita's Run! Even though it was FREEZING it was still fun!
I was at the grocery store today with the kids. I was standing in the aisle looking at prices and noticed a middle aged man standing a bit further down the aisle. I could tell he was watching. He stood there for a good while, and finally spoke to me.
Him: "Wow, all those kids and you look amazing! I mean, you really look good!”
Me: "Oh, thank you…"
Him: "You just look great, do you even gain any weight when you’re pregnant?"
Me: a bit taken aback "…Well... I guess I’m lucky and have good genetics."
Him: "Yea, you sure do. Wow, you just look great; do you even have to do anything to look so good?"
Me: "Well I like to run too, I just ran a marathon four months ago."
Him: "Oh that’s good…so how far?"
Me: "Uh….the race?"
Him: "Yea"
Me: "26.2 miles"
Him: "Wow! Well it definitely shows, you look awesome. Yep, you can sure tell. Keep up the great work. You look amazing!"
Me: "…Thanks…"
I wasn’t sure whether to feel flattered by the compliments, or offended at being so thoroughly ‘looked-over’ by a complete stranger. Hopefully it was meant it in a good way. But it did leave me wondering if there are really many people who have no idea how long a marathon is….
It’s been a bit of an adjustment changing church schedules again. In our last city, we were all able to go to church together at 9:30am, and come home at 12:30. Now back in the old place, Jeff leaves early in the morning for meetings, and I’m on my own to get boys and everything ready to leave for church at 12:25pm. We meet Jeff there, go to our church meetings, then I head home with the kids at 4:30. Jeff gets home about an hour after us. It’s a long day, and there’s not much time left by the time we get changed and have dinner, but there are things that I enjoy even about late Sundays.
-Crock Pot Dinners-
Tonight we had corned beef and cabbage with potatoes & carrots
-Homemade whole wheat rolls-
It's great that you can refrigerate the dough before church, come home, let them rise and bake.
-Cooking a yummy dinner that's quick AND easy...thank you crockpot!-
(in my favorite apron of course)
-Spending time my sweet husband-
even if only for a couple hours during the day
-Watching the boys playing together in their pajamas-
-Watching Matthew run around in his diaper-
happy as can be to finally be free after being held still for four hours
-Watching Jeff play with the boys-
horse rides, and tickle monster are favorites
-Being able to spend even a little time together-
Jeff’s been gone almost every night this week with lectures, surgery, meetings, etc. It was nice to have one night with him home.
Matthew loves shoes, especially his own! Almost every morning, I find him like this:
holding his shoes or trying to put them on. Eventually, Matthew will bring me his shoes and want me to put them on him. It doesn’t matter what else he’s wearing or not. I think he may start a new style; shirt, diaper, and shoes.Oh well…whatever it takes to make him happy. He loves his shoes.
So the other day, Matthew was playing with a little picture of me. He carried it around for a while and eventually it ended up here… in his shoes. Now I KNOW Matthew loves me, especially since he thinks my picture is special enough to stash in his precious shoes.
One of my new year's resolutions was to get more into sewing this year since sewing on scrapbook pages and cards was about the extent of my adult sewing experience. After seeing so many talented others, (and getting advice from many of them)I thought it would be fun to try my hand at a baby blanket. So about the middle of January, I got some material and started my first "rag quilt" for a cousin who just had her first baby girl in December. Then in February, I got material for another one, and made a baby boy rag quilt for one of Jeff's co-residents whose wife just had a baby the end of February. I'm definitely not an expert, but it's been fun to branch out into other areas. I've really enjoyed it, and wonder why I waited so long to get into sewing. The pictures are okay, but they looked much better in person. I don't think pictures really do the 'ragged' edges justice, they end up just looking a little sloppy. In reality, they look and feel soft and fluffy. I did, at least, get a picture of the front of the boy quilt so you can see it without all the fluffy edges.
Two weeks ago after coming home from work, Jeff took the boys outside to go to the little park down the road. Partly to spend time with them, partly to get them out of the house, partly to give me some time to pack. I made them stop for a picture before they left, and I'm glad I did. I love these pictures. I love these boys.
Today Jacob and Matthew had Dr’s appointments. It was Jacob’s 5- year old visit, and Matthew’s 15-month visit. I know we’re one-month behind, but I wasn’t about to make a 5 hour drive for a couple Dr’s visits.
Jacob weighed in at a whopping 48 pounds, and was 46.5 inches tall. He's 88th percentile for weight, and 97th percentile for height. I knew he was tall, but I didn't expect him to weigh so much- to me he looks more on the 'skinny' side. I guess it's the weight of all that muscle right? It’s amazing to think how much he’s grown since he was born! No wonder I have a hard time carrying him in from the car when he falls asleep. He was great for the appointment, passed everything with flying colors and didn’t even flinch during his shots.
Matthew weighed in at 23 pounds, and was 32.25 inches tall. He’s definitely dropped down into lower percentiles for weight (20th percentile) since he’s started running around and climbing on top of everything. He’s too busy to pack on the pounds, but he’s still a little taller than average (almost 70th percentile). This was a sad visit for Matthew in that he had to have blood drawn (they test for lead and get a general blood count) plus 3 additional shots. It’s hard with babies because their veins are nearly impossible to find. The nurse stuck both of his arms with no luck, but sweet little Matthew didn’t even make a peep. The doctor finally came in and was able to get an IV in his hand. Matthew cried a little, but not much. Now the shots were a different story, I think by the time they got to the three shots, he’d decided he was done with needles! I’m glad it was quick & over with.
We've been to the park a few times over the past couple weeks, just trying to take advantage of the nice weather that comes and goes. We're close enough now that if we have the time we try to walk. Although it takes longer, it's fun to go with the boys. It still makes me laugh to see all the pictures of the boys covering their eyes in the sun, I guess they've just got sensitive eyes. They all love being at the park. Jacob and Caleb love playing on the slides, and the big equipment, Matthew loves the swings, slides, and just being able to run all over the place. 
