Ethan Date

Today Brian and I decided would be a great day for me to get a little one-on-one time with Ethan. We dropped Olivia off at a birthday party and then went to run a few errands. The most important thing we needed to accomplish was getting all the supplies to start Ethan's Gingerbread Castle. I really enjoyed spending time with Ethan today. He is such a great kid and I am so proud of him. He is very funny and always up for an adventure. He is so excited to get started on his Gingerbread Castle, and while I am dreading how much hard work it is going to be I am so glad that I will be doing it with him.

Friday Night Date

Brian called me today from work to ask me out on a date! I LOVED it, it was so stinkin' sweet. After Brian got home from work I went for a quick run and then started to get ready. The best part was Olivia helping me get ready for my special date. She helped with my makeup, clothes, jewelry, and shoes. Then our babysitters (Nate & Emily) got here we headed out. First stop was TJ Maxx, there was a side table and lamp that I really wanted to get. Then we went to dinner at Patrons, yum! It was such a great night.

I Love You, Brian!

Boys at Target

Today I took the little boys to Target for lunch and some shopping.

Luke's Doctors Appointment

Luke's appointment with the specialist was today. It seems like it has been forever since he got hurt.

Here he is playing in the waiting room. He just crawled around everywhere. He hasn't walked since the mirror incident.

But he was very happy with all the trains.

After we got back to see the doctor he looked at Luke's leg and then at his xray. He said that he has an interior fracture of the tibia. They gave him this boot that he has to wear all the time and can only take off for baths. He has to have it on for 3 weeks and then we will go back for more xray's.

The good news is that he loves it and says "mine boot" all day long. He still isn't walking and the doctor said he doesn't think he will for a while. That little boot is the saddest thing on the planet. I hate that he is hurt and every time I see him struggle to do something because of his hurt leg it breaks my heart!

After his appointment we did what we do almost every Tuesday night and went to Lone Star. Our friends the Steinhafel's met us there and we had a blast. Luke was happy to see his little friend Ethan.

It was a good ending to our day!

FHE on Baptism

Yesterday after church was "It's Great to Be 8" night for the primary kids turning 8. I can hardly believe that my sweet baby Ethan is part of that group, but I have until June to accept that reality. It was a wonderful night where the children were taught the importance of baptism, why it is so special, and then got to see the font. At the end each child was given a towel with their name on it, and a book for them to keep reading and learning all they need to know before they get baptized. During the meeting each child was challenged to give a family home evening lesson on baptism. Ethan is always ready and willing to help in any way he can for family home evening, and was so excited.

Here was his set up. His special towel, the notebook they gave him, scriptures, and a true or false game. The true or false game was so awesome. He wrote 4 things on different strips of paper about baptism and we had to guess if they were true or false. He is such a fun kiddo.

Here are a few of the participants.

It was a great night and we all learned something new. Ethan is a great teacher and I am so proud of him. At the beginning of the month he made a goal to read the whole Book of Mormon by his baptism, and I am so proud of how hard he is working to get it done.

Also, Luke still isn't walking and has an appointment tomorrow with the Orthopedist.

Ethan's Talk

Topic: I can know that the scriptures are true

In Moroni chapter 10 verses 4 and 5 we are given a promise.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

These scriptures are saying that we can know for ourselves if the scriptures are true, by reading them, then asking our Father in Heaven, and he promises that he will give us an answer.

I have made a goal to read the Book of Mormon before my baptism in June. I have been working hard to remember to read each day and I know Heavenly Father will bless me for my hard work.

Boy vs Mirror

Exhibit A: The Boy

Exhibit B: The Giant Mirror

At approximately 3:12pm on the afternoon of January 19, 2011 Exhibit B came crashing down with Exhibit A under it. Some how Exhibit A ended up on the right side of the now face down Exhibit B, but Exhibit A still seemed to have been injured.

I saw the mirror falling and rushed over to Luke. I have no idea how he ended up on the side of the mirror and not underneath. He was of course screaming bloody murder. I called Brian to see what he thought I should do since I was in panic mode. After 10 minutes I did a check of Luke, moving his arms and legs and squeezing the bones. He seemed to be favoring is left leg/foot area but was still so upset I really couldn't tell. I set him down to see if he could walk and he couldn't. So, I called Brian and told him to come home so we could take Luke to the hospital.

I dropped the big kids off a my friends house after they got home from school and met Brian and Luke over at the hospital. Luke isn't a big fan of people he doesn't know so having doctors and nurse poke and twist him wasn't his favorite. He went in to have some xrays which he hated even more then the poking and twisting.

The doctors came back and said that nothing was broken but if he still isn't walking on Monday they would refer him to an orthopedic doctor in the area.

How sad does he look

Lost & Found

Yesterday I was cleaning the usual 2000 pieces of paper off the dining room table when I saw this little dog walking down our street. It is very cold outside and the freezing rain was starting again so I went outside to get her. She started shaking as we got closer to the house so I opened the door and told Ethan to turn the music off and tell everyone else to be quite.

Then I brought her in and the kids were in love. She was a little nervous and Luke was very loud but everyone else was being quite and calm. We played for a little while and then I called her owner. He came right over so we only had her for about 20 minutes, but the kids loved every second.

After she left Ethan was sad and asking for a dog, and talking about how he misses Zeke and Pearl. It was heartbreaking, but maybe in time his dreams will come true!

Luke was in heaven! He loved Sadie and kept running around like a crazy man.

He is getting better at sharing! HA

Olivia kept calling her and then moving back when ever she got close.

Mine, Too!

Every Monday night I get together with some friends to watch The Bachelor. Last night was no different except I had to run a few errands before hand so I drove myself, and didn't pick up Shellie on the way to Emily's house. We watched the show and then talked until 2am, so nothing different then any other night.

As Shellie and I were walking out to our cars we noticed it was kind of raining a little bit. Once we weren't under the covered walk area we both about bit it and fell to ground, because of the sheet of ice covering the side walk. We walked as carefully as we could to our cars, scraped the thick ice off our windows, and were on our way. Only we weren't really on our way because I was sliding all over the place. Long story short Shellie was following me home to make sure I made it and well, I didn't! I had to call Brian at 2:3o am to come bail me out. And he did! And it would have been much more romantic at a much earlier hour, with much warmer weather, and me ending up in own bed instead of on Shellie's couch!

I guess he is my Knight in Shinning Armor, TOO!

Knight in Shinning Armor

olivia's

mine

happy sunday

Snow Day

"School is now closed" has to be my favorite message to get. I was especially happy to get that call today since my mom is in town, and I wanted the kids to get to spend some extra time with her. I think it turned out to be a great day.

We had a lazy start, and really is there any better way to start the day than lazily? Then everyone worked on homework/school work. We had lunch and then headed out into the snow. Since Santa was so kind we now have more sleds which makes it way more fun for everyone. After about an hour of sledding my mom went and got my snowboard from the garage. The kids were so excited to give it a try. It was awesome! They all did a great job balancing and riding down the hill. I wish I would have gotten it on video. They did keep panicking that they were going to run into a tree, but other then that they did so good! After I couldn't run up and down the hill anymore we made the kids come inside. Olivia made everyone hot chocolate and my mom brought in a ton of snow for snow cones. We didn't have Kool-Aid so we used Pink Lemonade and it was delish! We finished our day off with Pizza for dinner. It was perfect!

Luke sporting swim goggles in the winter!

The swim goggles were actually started by this little lady!

My mom with Luke and Ethan

There goes Luke and Mamaw

The bowl of snow...yumm

Lukie and his hot chocolate

Luke Goes Potty

The past month or so I have been showing Luke where we go potty. He has gone a few times but it was mostly just luck and me catching him when he was acting like he was going to go potty. However, the last couple of weeks he has been saying "potty" as he is going. Usually I can't get him to the bathroom in time, but we were getting close. Then tonight he was in the bathroom saying "potty" and we got him up on the toilet and he went poop! I got the camera and the candy as fast as I could! It was so awesome! Ethan, Olivia, and Kai were totally annoyed that I didn't wake them up so they could cheer for him.

WAY TO GO LUKIE!

Preschool Dropout

Preschool Dropout,

No Graduation Day for you,

Preschool Dropout!

As of today Kai is officially no longer attending preschool, and I couldn't be happier about it! I have been over this preschool for at least 2 months. Then FINALLY on Tuesday after school he said he didn't want to go there any more. I tried not to jump for joy and talk with him about why he didn't want to go and explain to him that once he decides for sure he can't change his mind. Wednesday morning he woke up saying he wasn't going to school, but was going to do "homeschool preschool" like we did before. I told him we would take a day before calling his school, so he spend yesterday doing school with me. Today he woke up ready for more "homeschool" we talked again about how he cannot go back once I call his teacher and tell her, and he was fine with that! YIPPEE!

His big complaints about school.... they are not teaching him to read and it is boring. My complaints are too many to list. I know it sounds selfish but I am just happy to have him all to myself again!

Olivia's Talk

Topic: The Scriptures are the word of God

The Holy Scriptures are the word of God given to us for our salvation. Alma, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, learned that the Zoramites were not keeping the commandments. This made Alma very sad. Alma wanted to help the Zoramites so he went on a mission and taught them the gospel. Because of the power of the word of God, many Zoramites repented and began to live the commandments.

We can have the power of the word of God, like Alma, when we read our scriptures each day.

I think the scriptures are awesome and I like to read them everyday. I think if I keep reading the scriptures when I grow up Jesus will say “Good job, Olivia”

*By the way she memorized it!*

It's Resolution Time

I love this time of year. It is a fresh start, a time to reflect, and a time to look forward to the future. I love making New Year's Resolutions, but I try to make them fun and somewhat easy. I mean of course it would be awesome to get in great shape, but honestly I just care more about eating treats then exercising. I am constantly trying to be a better wife and mother. Everyday I resolve to live a more Christ centered life. So while all these things (and many more) are in the for front of my mind this year my resolution has nothing to do with any of that.

I am officially dubbing 2011 the year of the concerts. My goal is to go to at least 3 concerts but I am of course open to more. So far on the list of possibilities are Bon Jovi, New Kids On The Block, Def Leppard (if they come here), and I really would love to see Lady Gaga.

Also, I want to get my hair trimmed every 8 weeks.

I would love to hear what everyone else is doing for their New Year's Resolutions!

New Year's Eve

We had a wonderful New Year's Eve. A few of our good friends came over, we ate tons of food, played Just Dance 2, and rang in the new year with the kids. This year I saw this great idea and thought we would give it a try. Every hour starting at 8 each kid had a paper bag with a surprise in it.

8 - a "Favorites of 2010" paper for them to fill out, and save for next year as sort of a time capsule.

9 - Pop Rocks.

10 - silly string. We headed out front for a little silly string fight, it was so much fun!

11 - glow sticks

11:50 - the noise makers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR