Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we didn't make any plans because Madeline was scheduled for a scope of her stomach the day before. Though this was an outpatient procedure, you never know with Madeline; so to be safe we just didn't make any plans. We are glad that we did because Madeline did have a hard time getting off the oxygen so she was admitted to the hospital for an overnight stay. We were able to get home early afternoon of Thanksgiving, but Madeline still wasn't feeling well. It was nice that Thanksgiving was a quiet day that allowed Madeline to rest and get to feeling better. Later that evening Grant nor I felt like cooking so we went to Golden Corral and they fed us a great dinner. The rest of the weekend was jam packed with project after project so we ended up having our Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday after church. It was a nice and simple Thanksgiving Dinner. Madeline helped me make the simple yummy feast and when the boys return home from an errand we were ready to dive in. Before we ate each one of us held up a piece of paper with what we were thankful for. There was no fanfare, no fancy menu options, and no fancy setup; but you could really feel the love and gratitude in our home as we gathered around the kitchen table. Thanksgiving was simply great!

Leaves are Falling all Around

Already?

One evening Spencer wanted some milk, but was too impatient to wait for Mommy or Daddy to assist him. Apparently he thought getting a cup was highly overrated and pointless. Spencer decided to skip the middle man which happen to be the cup and get right to the point, a drink of milk. I, of course, encouraged him on for pictures sake and after I got the pictures I needed I told him not to do it again. In case you were curious we do have a fridge lock, but it is no longer a "Spencer lock" he is getting to be too clever for those kind of things. At least he is nice when it comes to "locks." He humors us in thinking we have finally locked him out of something and then he goes in for the kill and shows us that he is too smart for the lock. However, we have found one lock that is Spencer proof, a key lock; too bad you can't use a key lock on the fridge. I guess Spencer is giving me a preview of the teenage years. Since no one in this family likes backwash, Spencer might just have to have his own milk jug.

I am sure the chocolate syrup is next, it is only a matter of time before I find him chugging away.

Alice in Wonderland

Madeline had her first grade musical performance. They did a musical titled "Lemonade" and cute little play filled nursery rhyme characters learning from Mother Goose on how to make Lemonade when life gives her lemons. Madeline dressed up as Alice in Wonderland mainly because it was a simple enough costume that her not so talented mother could manage on the sewing machine. Madeline made a perfect Alice in Wonderland, but I think her favorite part of the costume was her bling bling black shoes.

We had a conflict of schedule that day with Grant and Anthony having some where else to be at the same time. Early in the day the first graders performed their play for the Kindergarterns and Second grade. Grant left work early and went up to the school to see Madeline performance and Anthony's teacher allowed Anthony to step out of class and watch his sister's play. This allowed our whole family to watch Madeline shine as Alice in Wonderland.

Madeline was giddy with excitement over her performance and she did a beautiful job!

Running Bear

Madeline is now in first grade and is able to do all the things that she watched Anthony do in first grade, one of them being Running Bear. During the month of November they study about Indians and at the end of the week they perform a Indian Love Song for all the parents to see. Even though this is my second time to see the performance, I still do not know what the song really is about and the only lyrics I know is "Running Bear." That may have something to do with the fact that is the only line the kids know really well. However, it is neat to see Madeline get excited about participating in events with her class. Because of her up and down health a lot of times she misses out on the events. After the performance the kids enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast in their classroom. Because Madeline is still having stomach issues, she really wasn't up to eating so Mommy enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast first grade style.

Note: There is a benefit from saving older siblings school work and projects. Madeline was absent the day her class made their necklaces for the performance and was not able to make one in class. However, Mommy found Anthony's necklace that he made and bingo it worked perfectly for Madeline.

Anthony is 9

It is hard to believe that I have a nine year old.

Anthony loves: Math, Lego's, star wars,science, camping, hiking, and writing.

Anthony doesn't like: chores, vegetables, and most meat.

Anthony's talents: Piano, writing, math, memorization, and building anything and everything from scratch.

Mommy loves about Anthony: His strong testimony of the gospel, his desire to do what is right, complete obedience with no questions asked, his smile, compassionate love for all people, enthusiasm for life, positive attitude, family prayers he truly understands that he is talking to Heavenly Father, and the fact that no matter what he is my son for eternity.

Birthday celebration went as follows:

Thursday, November 4, started off with his favorite cereal, Lucky Charms. Serenaded him with a wonderful Happy Birthday rendition for a morning wake up call. Mommy meets Anthony for lunch with Daddy joining as a surprise, Mommy also brought Cookie Dough Pie from Burger King. Later that afternoon was able to enjoy homemade cream cheese brownies with classmates. For dinner Anthony chose to have a Pasta Bar, and then at Piano lessons his piano teacher surprised him with a rockin birthday song. While at piano lessons Daddy, Madeline, and Spencer decorate the house. Anthony comes home from piano lessons, Anthony was surprised with a little family celebration, complete with a Cookie Dough ice cream cake. Then we put Anthony to work by going on a treasure hunt to find his presents. After criss crossing the house, Anthony found his gifts hidden in the dryer.

Friday, November 5, was able to go to Grandma Gates house and play with Jonathan and make a giant chocolate chip cookie.

Saturday, November 6, got together with a couple of friends for an hour of bowling fun and a yummy pizza buffet.

Anthony is gift and joy to have. He is a gift that keeps on giving and it is a privilege to be his Mother and to partake of the joy he gives.

Lunch With Daddy

For Anthony's birthday, Grant surprised Anthony by coming to his school and eating lunch with him. Since Madeline eats lunch right before Anthony, Grant came early and surprised Madeline as well. The kids really enjoy having Daddy come to their school. We are so blessed to have such a good Daddy, who every year takes time out of work to come and eat lunch with them, and who is there for all of their school parties and functions.

Death to the Microwave

I can laugh now, but a few weeks ago there was NO laughing going on. Spencer sure keeps me on my toes and constantly looking over my shoulder, and this time was no exception. So without further delay here is the story on the death of the microwave.

Saturday, October 16, Grant's birthday started out as any ordinary Saturday full of lots of hard work and fun. BYU was in town that day and Grant was going to the game with his cousin to watch BYU get stomped on by TCU. Because Grant was going to be out enjoying the game, we celebrated his birthday on Friday. With the kids safely entertained and busily playing I thought it would be a good time to get the house cleaned and picked up, so when Grant returned home he would have a sparkling clean home to come home to. This plan was working and little bit by little bit I was making progress on our house. Until Spencer decided to help. I was finishing the shower in the Master Bedroom when I heard my bedroom door shut. This usually means Spencer is up to know good and doesn't want you to hear or see what trouble he is getting into. This particular time, Spencer was in and out of the bathroom talking to me and "trying" to be of help so when I heard the door shut I thought he had come back to "help" me in the bathroom. However, after cleaning the shower there was no Spencer and there was no Spencer in the bedroom either. The hunt begins. I opened the door and get knocked over the head with smoke, what on earth is going on. Obviously the smoke is coming from the kitchen. I see lying on the stove the oven mitts and I think to myself did I forget to turn off the stove and now the oven mitts are on fire. No, the stove was turned off and the oven mitts were just fine. Then I see huge flames coming from the microwave and see that the paper towel that was left in there from cooking lunch was on fire. Well there was no time to get to the bottom of it and panicking was not an option. I grab a near by container and fill it with water and slowly open the microwave and douse it with water. With the fire out, I escorted the kids outside to enjoy some nice clean fresh air, while I air out the house. With everything and everyone taken care of I began to put the pieces together. You see, Spencer closed the door to my room while I was busily cleaning the shower so he could "use" the microwave. Left at the crime scene was a stool, the culprit that allowed Spencer to reach the microwave. Upon further investigation I found a piece of plastic pretend bread which was now completely black but not melted ( now that is good quality plastic). So my conclusion is this: Spencer, knowing that he is not suppose to play with the microwave, closed my bedroom door so as to not get caught, retrieved the nearby stool in the kitchen, climbed upon the stool to use the microwave to "cook" his piece of bread. Now the mystery is how long he tried to cook the bread, but one thing was for sure Spencer didn't stay around the crime scene very long. Lucky for him, putting the fire out and every ones safety was more important than putting a clever and curious three year old in time out. However, Spencer is not the first child to blow up the microwave because at the store there were lots of nice microwaves to chose from with a child lock button for the keys. He may put whatever he wants in the microwave but with my best friend "child lock" he won't be able to "cook" anymore bread.

Oh by the way, Grant found Spencer's latest stunt entertaining when he returned home from the game. I on the other didn't find it so entertaining. With Spencer being only three, I dread knowing what my future holds. Hopefully he is alive to send off on his mission and hopefully by then his fascination with fire will be past and I won't get a phone call from the mission president of Spencer blowing something up.

Pumpkin Patch

What is October/Fall without going to a Pumpkin Patch. I decided it had been a few years before I braved the crowds and take the kids to the nearby Pumpkin Patch. However, our October calendar didn't look very promising for accomplishing such task. However, thanks to the school district and Mr. Columbus a day opened up. I knew with it being a holiday lots of people would probably have the same idea I had, and so to out smart them all we arrived right at opening. Well luck would have it, we were running a bit late that morning, but still made it in good time. Thank goodness for Madeline's little handicap sign, I didn't have to trench through the freshly new mud from the previous' day rainstorm. The kids enjoyed playing on the jump houses, and because the crowd wasn't too terribly bad, Madeline was able to climb around without being trampled on. The kids enjoyed the corn maze, and Spencer enjoyed it a little too much. It was quite the ordeal in getting Spencer to exit with the rest of the kids, he just wanted to turn around and run through the maze over and over. Thank goodness for a smart older brother who was able to chase after Spencer and bring him safely out of the maze. Anthony probably had that maze memorized after having to retrieve Spencer a few times. We were even able to tackle the hay ride, this particular hay ride didn't impress the kids much but sometimes that is okay. We ended the trip with a yummy snow cone treat and luckily for me Spencer was a clean snow cone eater, I dodge a bullet with that one but at times it is good to exercise bravery with the kids-especially Spencer.

A Date with Dad

Back in early October I went along with a friend from church to Time Out for Women. The event was both Friday evening and all day on Saturday. Originally while I was gone, Grant was going to take the kids camping, but Madeline's stomach started acting up so the camping trip was canceled. However, he still wanted to do something fun with the kids.

On Friday evening, Grant built a fire in our fire pit in our backyard for the kids to cook hot dogs and make smores. Anthony built an amazing fire all by himself and Spencer decided to practice his independent side and insisted on cooking his hot dog himself. Spencer was not interested in Grant guiding him, in Spencer's eyes he had seen us cook hot dogs many times and so he knew ABSOLUTELY what to do! Spencer's idea of cooking a hot dog is waving the hot dog stick with hot dog attached high in the air, causing those around him to duck for cover out of fear of being attacked by a flying hot dog. After that excitement is done, time to rest the hot dog on the logs and watch it cook to perfection. Too bad no one (including Spencer) likes the taste of what he calls perfection.

Saturday they packed up a picnic and went down to Dinosaur Valley State Park for a day trip of hiking, looking at dinosaur tracks, and wading through the water. This was the kids first time going to the State Park and they really enjoyed climbing around and exploring the different trails. The favorite part by all was wading in the water. The neat thing was they returned from their day trip about the same time I returned from my excursion and we all had fun stories to share about our great day!

Halloween 2010

The week of Halloween, Madeline was admitted to the hospital because her stomach wasn't disgesting her food therefore her stomach would look full and extended. This caused her a lot of pain. Because her intestines are not normal and due to the fact that she had a fundoplication surgery Madeline is not able to throw up; so combine these two factors the food in her stomach had no where to go. Madeline stopped eating to the point that she became dehydrated and her blood sugar got to be low as 28. They were able to get things flowing and get us home a few hours before our wards' trunk or treat.

Five minutes before Madeline really took a turn for the worst, I put the finishing touches on Madeline's and Spencer's costume; so lucky for us everything was done and the kids were able to go trick or treating like as planned. Madeline was able to go twice because the hospital threw a trick or treating event while she was in the hospital. The hospital doesn't give away candy due to the dietary restrictions of a lot of the kids, instead they pass out toys and boy did Madeline luck out-two bag fulls of fun stuff to enjoy. Daddy brought up her costume and the nurses got things squared away so Madeline could participate in the festivities. Madeline had fun putting her cape on and running down the halls (with IV pole in tow) playing the part as super Madeline. Since we were on the heart floor and many of the nurses there have been taking care of Madeline since she was a baby, they got a kick out of seeing Super Madeline all bling blinged up.

Grant was able to finish up Anthony's costume just in time and it was a big hit at our wards' trunk or treat party. Even though Spencer was Maury Wiggle he insisted that he was Jeff Wiggle, and at the last minute the disposable camera became a part of his costume. This was the first year Spencer picked up on the trick or treating part of Halloween. Once he realized that he could get candy he hurried as fast as he could from car to car and at each car clearly proclaimed trick or treat. As soon as his candy hit the bag he was off to the next car and on it went. I think he circled the parking lot at least 3 times. Towards the end his bag was getting heavy, but that didn't stop him from getting his beloved candy, he just let Mommy carry the goods. Anthony and Madeline circled the parking lot a couple of times and then they were done; but Spencer kept going. As long as someone had candy he was trick or treating.

After the festivities we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then we hit the hay. When you are in the hospital you never get a good amount of sleep. We were just glad that Madeline made it home in time for her to wear her costume. Lucky for Madeline she just isn't Super Madeline only on Halloween, but she is Super Madeline everyday of the year.

PS: Thanks to Katie for the pictures. Our camera has mysterious disappeared and "Spencer" just cannot remember where he put it.

Responsible Spencer

Every six weeks at school there is a different character/attribute that can be awarded to the kids who are examples of that character/attribute. For the first six weeks Responsibility was the character and to my astonishment Spencer was chosen. I was shocked, but then I realized that there are 6 kids in his class so there wasn't a lot of kids to choose from. Spencer is a wonderful kid and brings lots of joy in our home; not to mention he always keeps us on our toes, but responsible is not a word that I would use to describe him. If you know Spencer, you know that he has done everything from spilling used cooking oil all over the house, to closing the garage while my trunk was opened, and even managing to blow up our microwave. Spencer must have split personalities and leaves his responsibility personality at school. The good side to all this is it makes me look good as a parent, he may not exhibit the qualities needed to be qualified as a responsible child at home, but as long as he does it for others then I will take it and be proud to call Spencer my responsible three year old.

National Museum Day

Every year around September is National Museum Day and a lot of cities have a free day to the museums. As a family we decided to take advantage of this day and go and visit four of the seven museums in Fort Worth. Knowing that this super deal would attract a large amount of people we prepared by leaving early and getting to our first museum close to opening time. We also had something else in our corner, rain. Not just a sprinkle, but a down pour. We thought for a moment of not going, but realize going to a museum would be a perfect indoor activity. Because of the rain we arrived at the museum a few minutes after opening, but because of the rain there was hardly anyone there. We went to the children's museum first and we had the museum to ourselves for a good hour before it started to get too crowded. The kids had fun doing science experiments, creating with different art mediums, and putting their imagination to use.

After the children's museum we went over to the National Cowgirl Museum. This museum is more over my kids with very little hands on activities so I saw a good opportunity to go to a museum because there was nothing to lose-it was free. Because of the lack of hands on activities and small size of the museum, it didn't take us long to tour the museum. The kids did have fun riding a mechanical bull and watching a play back tape of them in a pretend rodeo.

After this we decided to brave an art museum. The Kimball Art Museum had a special exhibit going on of Mayan art and we thought Anthony out of all of our kids might enjoy looking at the art. Well lets just say our vision didn't go as planned, but it is a good thing that it was free. The museum was quiet as a library and so every noise our kids made was magnified. We got several looks by other patrons as we tried to describe the various art pieces to our children, and I think Spencer gave several of the museum workers heart attacks because of his close proximaty to the art work. Lets just say we quickly toured the museum and moved on before we annoyed too many people by bringing three children to an art museum.

We ended our tour at the Log Cabin Village. By this time the rain had stopped which was good because this museum is all out doors. The museum consists of a handful of restored log cabins and they are set up that you can go and look inside and learn about how life was in the 1800s. The kids were able to learn how to make candles, how to blacksmith, how the corn mills worked, and how the women took wool and turn it into string/yarn. The kids really enjoyed their visit and learning about how many of their ancestors lived. I was pleased at how kid friendly the Log Cabin Village was.

By this time it was late afternoon and we had spent five hours tour the museums of Fort Worth, as parents we were successful at wearing out the kids and having a good time together as a family. I think this will be a new tradition that we will do every year.

Breakfast with Daddy

At Spencer's school, they had doughnuts with Daddy. Grant being the great Daddy that he is, joined Spencer and 500 other dads with their kids for breakfast at school. Grant reported that while waiting in line for their treat, Spencer looked up and told his daddy "this is fun." Based on that I think it is safe to say Spencer enjoyed his special treat and time with Daddy.

Farewell

On September 8th, we had to say farewell to a pivotal person in Madeline's health and well being. Madeline's cardiologist, Dr. Lashus, was moving on to greater and better things. We received news of this move in early July and I have to admit that I cried a bit. Dr. Lashus is the kind of doctor where Madeline isn't a number or another patient, but a real person. Dr. Lashus was the kind of doctor that knew Madeline would want to live a full life and he did whatever it took to have Madeline's heart allow her to live the full life she desired.

I first encountered Dr. Lashus when Madeline was first born and in NICU. It was his turn to do rotations to all the heart kids in the hospital. I was impressed with his people skills and with how he explained such a complicated organ in the most simplistic terms. I kept his name in the back of my mind as I knew I would need to pick a cardiologist.

Madeline spent the first year of her life in the hospital for respiratory distress and each time he would come and visit Madeline and check on her, even though he was not the cardiologist in charged. Whenever, Madeline would have her surgeries he would make it a point to come and visit everyday and check on her. I remember once specific trip to the hospital where he dropped by to check on his Madeline. While answering all my questions, Dr. Lashus had a flash light in the shape of a pen that Madeline was fascinated by. He seeing Madeline's fascination proceed to take the flashlight out of his pocket and give it to Madeline. Madeline, who was feeling ill whose body was working hard to breath, lit up with excitement over a special present from a very special cardiologist.

At every clinic visit, Dr. Lashus would learn of Madeline's arrival and would seek her out and say hello, he was always excited to see Madeline and Madeline was excited to see him. Dr. Lashus had a way of making clinic visits seem not too scary for a little girl who has been through so much and has endured lots of pain.

In the early days of Madeline and being overwhelmed by the fact that I was a care taker of a little girl whose heart was not whole and complete; Dr. Lashus was there to answer any questions, calm any fears, and give me confidence I needed to undergo such undertaking.

It isn't everyday that you come across a doctor with such love and compassion for not only his patient but the family as well. It isn't everyday where you come across a doctor where your daughter isn't a number or another patient to cross off for the day, but a person with a unique and special heart different from all other patients. It isn't everyday where you find a doctor that addresses all your concerns and takes the time to answers your questions even if it takes awhile and even if he has to repeat himself.

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful medical team for Madeline. Madeline eight doctors are great and together with their magic and knowledge Madeline is living a very full life. Though we are sad to see Dr. Lashus go, we know he is going to do great things and touch many more peoples lives.

On a side note: One thing nice about cardiologist at the Children's Hospital is that the cardiologist work closely as a team, and so our new cardiologist (Dr. Schutte) is already familiar with Madeline and her heart history. Plus for the first time in Madeline's earthly existence Madeline will now have a female doctor.

Labor Day 2010

Life has been kind of busy and so we welcomed a four day weekend where we could relax at home and get some much needed projects done around the house; so I guess you could say we labored on Labor Day. However, to start the weekend off we had a family camp out in our backyard complete with smores and family movie night in the tent. The kids were so excited that they were eager to help get things set up, but they were not so eager in taking the tent down. Anthony was excited to be able to set up his tent and sleep in there; but I have to say the highlight was making smores around the fire pit. There is something magical about a fire pit, roasting sticks and yummy marshmallows. On Saturday we kept busy with normal errands and chores. Grant took the kids to the bowling alley to sign the kids up for a bolling league. You pay 8.00 when you go the kids get to learn how to bowl from a coach, and then they get to play 2 games for free. If you don't show up then it is okay. Plus by signing the kids up they were able to bowl two games for free. The kids love to bowl so I think they will have fun participating in a league. We may not go every Saturday, but it is an inexpensive activity for the kids to do and plus they really enjoy it as well. Sunday after church and Sunday afternoon naps Grant went and picked up my brother for a sleepover; the prospects of my brother coming got the kids all excited. That night we slept out again in the tent and enjoyed a round or two of smores. On Labor Day itself Grant spent the morning working on the tree house with Anthony and Jonathan, while I busy myself inside cleaning. After lunch Grant and I worked together out in the garage giving it a good cleaning. We were able to fill up the car with lots of donation items so that is always a plus. We were tired and a little sweaty after the garage clean up so off to happy hour at Sonic for some nice cold drinks. After a little rest it was time for Grant to take Jonathan home. So Grant loaded up the kids in the car and off they went and I was able to enjoy a nice quiet house for a couple of hours. After taking Jonathan home, Madeline was excited to show me a pie for her doll house that my mom gave her. She was really excited to include it in her doll house and allow her dolls to enjoy some yummy pie. She was sure thrilled to get a special treat. The day finally cooled off and so we thought a yummy picnic and a quick trip to the park sounded like a fun activity to do to end such a wonderful weekend. Surprisingly the park we went to didn't have a lot of kids playing on the playground which makes it easier for Madeline and her parents don't have to worry so much about her getting knocked over. After playing for a few minutes we took a walk around the duck pond and then headed home tired and ready for bed.

It was a nice weekend staying home and accomplishing many projects around the house that needed to get done, and thank goodness the rain waited until after Labor Day. Now the kids are all back in school, doctors appointments are behind us so hopefully things will slow down a bit and we can get/find some normal routine around here.

Back Surgery

Madeline was able to go to school for two days before her back surgery. Every six months she has to go in for lengthening of her rods and it has not been done for a while due to her heart. Now that the doctors have been able to fix her heart as good as they can her back doctor was given the green light to proceed. We told Madeline about her back surgery a few weeks before and her response was to tell the doctor if he could fix her foot at the same time. We all got a chuckled at her response and it helped to put everyone at ease, because Madeline was so calm about her upcoming procedure. A few days later we learned that Grant's parents would be in town during her surgery. Madeline then wrote a letter to her Grandma and Grandpa asking them to come in their RV and see her at her back hospital. The invitation was accepted and Madeline was excited to see her Grandparents the evening of her surgery. With the lengthening Madeline only spends the night in the hospital and then goes home. Madeline being the trooper that she is, usually comes home and jumps right back into life with no pain or hiccups. This time while she was in the hospital, Madeline wanted her snuggly (favorite blanket) covering her eyes so she couldn't see what was going on; for her this brought a lot of comfort. I don't blame her I wouldn't want to see what was going on around me either.

Visit with Grandma and Grandpa

On their way back to Tampa, Grant's parents stopped by to visit for a few days and to help out while Madeline was in the hospital. These are the highlights of their visit.

1. Anthony and Madeline getting a special treat by riding in the RV over to Cabela's where Grant's parents spent the night. We also took some time and walked around the store looking at stuff animals, seeing the fish in the aquarium, and testing our shooting skills in the laser gun shooting gallery. After all the fun, we were able to end the night with Daddy and Grandpa giving Madeline a special blessing before her surgery the next day.

2. Grandma, Grandpa, and Grandma Smith answering the request of a little girl by coming to see her in the hospital, and Anthony getting to have the best bike ride of his life when Grandpa picked him from school.

3. The many bike rides Grandpa took the kids on; the kids surely enjoyed it but with the heat, and many hills Grandpa was worn out.

4. Eating at a yummy Mexican Restraunt and having a fun special treat at a frozen yogurt buffet.

5. Sitting outside or relaxing in the house and just talking about whatever came to mind.

Thanks for a wonderful visit; Christmas can't come soon enough.

Grandma Plays Wii

When Grant's parents were here visiting, Spencer had Grandma join him in playing baseball on the Wii. Grandma managed to hit the ball a few times. After baseball Grandma and Spencer decided to give bowling a try, but when Spencer wanted to do boxing Grandma handed the remote over to Grant where Spencer gladly knocked his dad out of the game.

Sea World

After our tour of the mission and San Antonio; Wayne and his family had to head back home to Utah. We stayed an extra day and went to Sea World. We figured it would be one of those things where we go and take the kids once and enjoy it. We got there shortly after the park opened and stayed until closing. The first thing we did was head for the water park. I went down the water slides with Anthony and Grant took Madeline and Spencer down the lazy river as well as the kid area. We played for a few minutes before it was time to head for the shows. The kids were a little unsure at first but once the whales started doing their tricks they were hooked and enjoyed every minute of it. After lunch and one show, the kids were starting to get hot so we found a splash area and splashed around their for a minute to cool off before the next show which was Azul, featuring the beluga whales. That show was my favorite especially when they had the acrobatic divers do their tricks. Those were the only shows that we were able to see, and so after that we toured the penguins, walked around a few gift shops so the kids could pick out their treasures with their money that they saved, and towards the end of the day we went over to feed the dolphins. Madeline was going to feed them, but when daddy picked her up so she could see he forgot to tell her what he was doing and she got scared thinking that he was going to throw her in the water with the dolphins; so that ended her feeding experience. Anthony enjoyed feeding them, and Spencer wanted nothing to do with the dolphins or their food. After looking around a little bit more, the kids were tired and done and so we headed back to the hotel a little sunburn and very tired. Sea World was a fun trip and something the kids were looking forward to doing all summer long. Grant and I went for our first anniversary so it was neat to go again ten years later and experience the fun through our children's eyes.

Lost Tooth

Anthony's tooth was really lose and just hanging there, but he would not let anyone pull it out. As his mother I could not look at him with a tooth hanging there, but despite my best efforts at encouraging him to pull the tooth out he would not budge. Anthony was perfectly content letting it hang their until the tooth itself fell out. I on the other hand visioned in my mind his tooth getting caught in some food and he accidently swallowing it. Anthony being the smart boy that he is saw a golden opportunity to negotiate with the tooth fairy on getting his tooth pulled. After a few minutes of going back and forth, the tooth fairy and Anthony finally reached an agreement (which will remain a secret) and with one easy pull from daddy the tooth was gone and Anthony became a little richer.

Royal Feast

Madeline's crown with her place setting; the place mat that I made for each child to remind them to be constant like the North Star; a view of the whole table with lanterns and all.

Another back to school tradition we have is the night before school starts we have a Royal Feast. This year my Mom, Jonathan, and Mr. Gates joined us for the festivities. With our Royal Feast, I bring out the fine china, make king and queen crowns for each of the children and decorate the table according to our theme. This year our theme was Let Your Light Shine, and we talked about how we can be an example to our teachers and friends at school this year. I chose to talk about President Hinckley's analogy of the North Star and to be constant like the North Star. I used the North Star as my decor around the room, from their place mats to the lanterns on the table. I tried to sprinkle the North Star wherever I could as a reminder to be a constant example to others. After our dinner which consisted of Hawaiian Haystack, we shared our testimonies and then Grant gave each child their back to school blessing. I always look forward to nights like this; it just sets the mood for going to back to school and I feel that I arm my children with words of wisdom that will help them throughout the year. The kids get excited too and love the special treatment they get on the night of their Royal Feast.

First Day of School

Anthony Third Grade; Madeline First Grade; Spencer Preschool

San Antonio

Our big summer vacation this year was down to San Antonio. Wayne and his family came for a few days and then together we caravan down to San Antonio so see Aunt Daphne and Uncle Gene and see the sites of San Antonio. The day we arrived in San Antonio we were thrust into the mayhem of what is known as rush hour traffic. After coming close to colliding with other cars as we tried to navigate our way through changing freeways we made it safely to our hotel. It was past dinner time and the kids were hungry, but I was in no mood to go out into that crazy traffic again so we ordered take out and Grant braved the traffic and brought dinner back to us safely where we enjoyed it in the comfort of our hotel room. The next morning found us leaving bright and early to head for the Alamo, where we walked around helping the kids complete the treasure hunt and where we also watch a brief movie about the Alamo. After our visit we walked a few blocks to the Riverwalk where we took a boat ride along the river. By that time it was getting pretty hot and our tummies were grumbling so we headed over to the food court for lunch. After lunch we bought tickets to go up a tall tower where we could see all of San Antonio from the observatory deck. I chose to spend my time by some table and chairs as I am not a fan of heights. Afterwards we zig zagged our way through downtown where we found the water gardens and the kids were able to cool off playing, splashing, and running through and around the sprayers. When we were all cooled off we hoped in the car to drive to San Juan Mission, when we got their Madeline and Spencer were asleep so I stayed in the car with them while Grant and Anthony joined the crew touring the mission. After all the tours it was time to eat and we were treated by Aunt Daphne and Uncle Gene to delicious Mexican food at one of their favorite Mexican Restaurant. After dinner, we headed back to their place where Grant and Wayne helped Uncle Gene with his airplane. By this time it was late and the kids were exhausted and gladly welcomed going to bed when we got back to the hotel. Though our visit was short, it was nice to see and spend time with family.

Visitors

A few weeks ago, Grant's brother Wayne and his family traveled from Utah down for a visit. About the same time Grant's parents came from Florida, and Grant's cousin Darrell and his family came from Oklahoma. For a few days my house was full of hustle and bustle; but I wouldn't have it any other way. Since it was August and in Texas that means hot, hot, and HOT so we had to get created in the activities that we did, which were mostly indoors. The day that everyone arrived we took them all over to the Omni Theatre (which is a big IMAX screen) and we saw Adreline Rush which was about sky diving; it was fun and enjoyed by all. On our way home we went by the spray fountains outside the museum and enjoyed an impromtu playtime with the fountain. The kids enjoyed getting soaked by the water and I am sure it felt good in the heat as well. The kids favorite was to wait for the fountain to shut off and then run over and stand over it and then wait again for the fountain to turn back on and get sprayed; they did that over and over I don't think they ever got bored of it. The next day we hurried off the local water park before it got too hot and too crowded and played their for a couple of hours. The kids had fun, especially Spencer. He had no fear with those water slides and enjoyed running around getting as wet as he could by all the water. Leaving was definitely hard, but we had to eat lunch and head over to the bowling alley where we met up with Darrell and his family for a game of bowling. The kids really enjoyed playing and cheering each other on. With the help of the bumpers the kids managed to get a few strikes, but Darrell was the lucky one with three strikes in a row. I don't remember who won in the other families, but Anthony came out ahead with Madeline a close second and good old Mommy came in last-even with the help of the bumpers I still cannot manage to get all the pins knocked down. After bowling it was dinner time and the highlight of the evening Nerf Gun Battle. After the Battle was conqured all the bullets found, those who wanted to stay up late did playing a Star Wars strategic game. It was definitely a busy day, but a lot of fun and lots of memories.

Wise Spencer

I caught Spencer one day playing with my glasses, couldn't resist snapping a few pictures before I told him clearly not to play with my glasses.

Poof!

One night Grant was making cookies with the kids and while Grant was putting the sugar away in the food storage closet, Spencer decided to do an experiment with the flour. He wanted to know what would happen if he got close to the flour and then blew as hard as he could, and the answer was.....POOF!

Back to School

In our house we have a tradition around back to school time. I take each kid out on a date and we pick out their school supplies, pick out an outfit to wear on the first day, and go out for a yummy treat. The kids really enjoy the one on one time as well as finding the supplies they need and crossing them off their list. I enjoy getting to know each child on a personal level and seeing their excitement for the upcoming school year as they buzz around the store finding the things they need.

Cabin Camping

Anthony, Jonathan (my brother), Spencer, and Madeline the cabin camping troopers.

Grant had a business trip during the first week of August and I thought it would be fun for the kids and I to do something exciting while Dad was out of town. The kids love to stay at hotels because you can watch cartoons with their cable tv and swim in the pool; but to me it seemed a waste of money. While brainstorming with Grant, camping came up. The idea was shot down due to the heat, but then I thought we could cabin camp. I decided to go out of my comfort zone and do something that I normally wouldn't do without Grant and packed up the kids and off we went cabin camping. Grant was surprised that I would do such a thing and I have to admit that I was surprised too; but I new the kids would enjoy it. The day before we were due to check in, we packed up the family and drove to the site so I would have a feel of the location while I had Grant available to help me with directions. I am glad we did, the location was awkward to get too, and finding parking and the exact location of our cabin took us a bit to find. Overall we had fun camping and the kids stayed busy with the activities that we brought. However, we won't go back to that cabin. It was dirty, small, and didn't offer family activities on site. I am glad that we went, but we are still looking for the perfect cabin away from the city.

One night we made our own lanterns using soup cans, a nail, and hammer. The kids had fun making their own designs and then we lit tea light candles in them and read stories by candlelight.

Before it got too hot outside we whipped up some sidewalk chalk paint and had fun painting the front porch of our cabin. The kids enjoyed painting each plank a different color of the rainbow; our front porch was covered with different sizes and kinds of rainbows.

Another big project we did was mosaic. I thought it would be fun to teach the kids how to do mosaic and I thought it would be fun for them to take home with them a souvenir of our cabin camping experience. This project was perfect to do during the heat of the day as it took a few hours to complete. The kids enjoyed making up their own designs with the tile and gluing each piece in its perfect place. Afterwards they all took their picture in front of the cabin for them to place in their frame.

Friday Night Fun

Sometimes the simple things in life are fun; like sleeping altogether on the couch bed. Life can't get much better than that!

Chalk Paint Fun

Continuing our quest to having a fun filled summer, we adventured out to the back yard for fun with side walk chalk paint-homemade style. With 2T of cornstarch, 2T of water, a few drops of food coloring, and a cup cake pan we have paint and hours of fun and creativity. We of course had to do our activity in the evening because of the heat advisory we are under. The heat is too hard on Madeline and can make her sick. We don't get out much during the summer months, but we sure come up with lots of fun things to do inside and thankfully it stays light well into the evening.

What a Quack

It's Jam Time!

I decided one afternoon to be brave and make jam with the kids. Strawberry jam is pretty easy and there are plenty of things the kids could do to help out. They cleaned the strawberries, cut the stems, took turns mashing the strawberries, and took turns stirring the strawberry goodness in the pot. When the goodness started to boil, Mommy took over from there. With there help we were able to make lots of Strawberry Jam that will last a while not to mention be delicious on our homemade rolls. Hopefully the kids are learning lots of new things, that will help them when they leave this nest.

Making Bread

Carrying on with our tradition this summer we combined our cooking activity and learning something new by learning how to make rolls. These rolls are absolutely delicious and the kids love them. Their favorite part was being able to mix the dough with their hands. While the rolls were cooking we whipped up some homemade butter. I think next we will use the roll dough to make some yummy cinnamon rolls, they should love sprinkling cinnamon and sugar. With the kids in charge could be some sweet cinnamon rolls.

An Unbirthday Party!

The kids wanted to throw a party, so we decided to have an "Unbirthday" party. Anthony and Madeline spent all week planning all the details including activities and food. After looking over their plans I did have to scale things back or we would be celebrating for a week. They wanted to set up the food like a restraunt where we order our food from a menu, and they then prepare the food a call out a number when our food was done. I decided to just go for it and prepare everything that was on their menu since I cut a lot out of the activities. After our food we played a good round of life game followed by movie night. It was a fun way to spend time as a family and has sparked a new interest in our family...party planning. I believe Madeline is planning her next party I think she told me it would be a music party. This time there will not be an extensive food selection.

A Trip to the Store

In keeping with teaching my children new things and good life skills, I took them to the grocery store for a lesson in grocery shopping. I divided my list among each child, they had their own basket to put their items in. They learn how to locate the items on the list making sure they selected the right one, and they learned how to find the best value. The kids had fun and it sure made what could have been a stressful situation a lot easier. I just might have to do this again.

Oklahoma Fun

For Fourth of July Weekend we headed up north to the great state of Oklahoma to see Grant's cousin's family (Darrell and Staci Bartholomew). They have kids about the same age as ours and for the whole weekend we never saw the kids for they were busy off playing together. We met them up at the Oklahoma City Zoo and were able to explore for about an hour before it closed. I have lived here essentially for my whole life and I have been to the Fort Worth Zoo so many times that it has lost its excitement, so it was neat to see another zoo and to explore the fun activities that they have; it was also nice that it was a lot smaller than the Fort Worth Zoo. After the zoo we embarked on Braums for dinner and some refreshing ice cream. All that happened on Friday. Saturday started out with rain and ended with rain, but that didn't hamper a fishing trip. Staci and I were smart and stayed home while the Dads and kids went out fishing. All the kids were able to catch at least one fish. This was Spencer's first time fishing and the report I got back was that he didn't know what to think when he saw the fish hanging from his hook, but the fact that he didn't hook anyone else or get is fishing line tangled with another line was amazing. They had so much fun fishing that they brought those beastly critters home to eat. I am all about catch and release, I believe sea food stays in the water and not in my tummy; lucky for us the fish never got fried up while we were there...darn. After dinner on Saturday we actually caught a break in the rain and went for a family bike ride, which was interesting to say the least. Spencer didn't understand why he had to stay to the side of the road, Madeline didn't know how to break going down the hill nor did she understand that you cannot watch your feet while riding your bike, and Anthony didn't like riding his bike at all. Through it all we made it to the lake and back in one piece, not all people in our party were happy but we all made it back alive. After being medicated with root beer floats we were ready to shoot off fireworks, which was amazing for Anthony because we live in the city we are not able to shoot off our own fireworks. Madeline hung out inside the house where it was quiet and shortly after Spencer joined her. Madeline will at least look at fireworks from a distance, but Spencer on the other covered his eyes and kept them that way. Anthony was in his element and for a couple of hours was having fun shooting off fireworks after fireworks. It was a good thing that we did our own fireworks because it rained on the fourth of July and we were left to watching fireworks on tv all the way from Washington D.C. It was a great show and best of all Spencer and Madeline both enjoyed them, not too loud and not too scary. A win win situation for all.

Now it wouldn't be a trip to Grant's cousin's house without playing some kind of strategic game, and Gene had one that was both up Grant and Anthony's alley. I don't remember the title but it was an old Star Wars game. Now the short time that we were there the boys managed to squeeze in a couple rounds of playing and Joseph and Anthony played a couple of rounds by themself. So we are now looking on e-bay for one of our own.

Overall the trip was fun and a nice get a way from our crazy life!