Fun on the Farm

Today was the annual trip to the farm. Usually it is in the Fall, and the kids get to pick a pumpkin. This year, though, was a really bad year for pumpkins, so they rescheduled for the spring. Princess and Dude were both in school so Honey Bunch and I got to spend some one-on-one time together. The best part was that she kept calling it the pharmacy. She cracks me up.
We saw tractors, horses and cows.


Honey Bunch's favorite part was the hayride. She got to sit next to her best buddy.

Instead of letting us pick a pumpkin, she got to plant pumpkin seeds. We'll see how well we do growing pumpkins. She also had quite the dandelion bouquet to take home.

List is Done!

Awhile back I posted a list of things I wanted to get done, and I'm proud to say that they are all done!! Hooray! The best part is that I only did two of them, and Doctor was able to do the other two. I lucked out and didn't have to tape and plaster around the new light or plant grass seed. I did unclog the dryer vent and put together the bassinet. I'm really proud of myself. I only put it together backwards twice. :)

Positively Joyful!

Dude had his Kindergarten music program last week and it was awesome! Their music teacher did a great job putting it together. It was a patriotic themed program. They did 5 songs, here's a snippet. You may recognize the first song from Dude's shower concert. I'm already excited for next year. (Dude is in the 4th row down, second red shirt after the blue star shirts)

So sweet!

My little girls have been incredibly sweet lately. I absolutely love it. Yesterday Honey Bunch gave Princess a big hug and said, "We best friends!" Usually Princess brushes Honey Bunch away, but this time she hugged back and said, "I love you, too Honey Bunch." Then this morning when she was putting on her shoes, Princess said, "Mom, when I grow up, I hope I'm just like you, because I love you." Oh, melt my heart. I hope she still feels that way when she is 15. :) And lastly, we were at the store on Saturday and Princess was telling me that she loves Barbies and Princesses. I asked if she knew what I loved. She said, "Yeah, me!" I asked how she knew that I was going to say that. Her reply? "Because your my mom and you are very smart." I love it.

Dude's White Shirt

I've mentioned before that we have a tradition on the kids birthday's to take a picture of the girls in my wedding dress and the boys in one of Doctor's white shirts. After we took Dude's six year pictures, I decided that I wanted to compare all the pictures. I was devastated when I couldn't find his 4 & 5 year pictures. Doctor is certain that they are somewhere on our computer, but we can't find them. SO SAD. Anyways....here are the ones for every other year. My how they grow! (The last two are from this year)

Six or Sixteen?

This morning while he was getting ready for school, I told Dude it was time to do his hair. I have always done it for him. A very handsome, parted down the side, traditional look. He informed me that it was time for him to start doing it himself. He then got it wet and then worked and worked and worked at it until he was satisfied. He had combed the front to frame his face in the popular boy look. He then told me, "It's the fashion way to do your hair, mom." Oh. I guess I'm old, but I don't like the crazy way boys are doing their hair these days. :) He was so proud of himself and I decided that hair is not a battle I want to fight with him at this stage. So, Doctor is giving him a haircut this weekend.
Our other issue is phone calls. He receives several phone calls from kids in his Kindergarten class and asks to call others. What do 6 year olds need to talk about? I swear this kid thinks he's sixteen. I just hope this round of "teenagehood" goes well, so that we set the precedent for the real teenage years.
When I was at the store I ran into a friend who is very pregnant and her due date is Sunday. She was in tears because her first born child hadn't made his appearance yet. I was immediately reminded of my very similar situation 6 years ago. I thought for sure he didn't want to come. I shared with her my experience this morning with Dude and said that before she knows it, her 6 year old will think he's sixteen and knows everything.

I.V.'s and Angels

When my mom gets sick, which unfortunately is quite often, she puts on a happy face, wears her best clothes and pretends that everything is "fine." Which is probably why I really don't like the word fine. It means "pretending everything is ok when its not." Anyways.........she unintentionally, or maybe intentionally, passed this on to me. When I'm sick I try my best to pretend I'm not, and I go to great lengths to make sure no one outside my immediate family knows about it. If I ask for help, I feel in some way that I have failed. I got sick this weekend, really sick, and I was truly blessed by the angels all around me. It all started on Sunday. I had a hard time getting out of bed, which isn't unusual considering my current condition. I felt not quite right, but I didn't have any real symptoms that I could put my finger on. I didn't want to go to church because I didn't feel good, but couldn't justify not going because I really couldn't say what was wrong. I tried my best to pretend everything was fine. I'm not sure how I did, but I was pleased with my performance. :) Anyways...we got home and I just wanted to sleep. Doctor (Angel #1), who was on call at the hospital Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, lovingly made dinner and took care of the kids while I slept. He apologetically left for work and I ignored all night-time routines and let the kids put themselves to bed. I'll leave out the gross details, but I will say that my sweet Dude (Angel #2) woke up about 11 o'clock and took care of me until about 4 o'clock. He wouldn't leave my side. When Honey Bunch woke up around 4, he lovingly scooped her up on the couch and they fell asleep with her in his lap. If I wasn't so sick, I would have taken a picture because it was truly adorable. I hadn't wanted to call Doctor and bother him at work but I finally relented and called. My visiting teacher (Angel #3)happens to work overnight in the ICU at the hospital and overheard that I was sick. In the morning she called Jayne (Angel #4). Doctor came and took Dude to school, then rounded up some I.V. fluids and some anti-nausea medication and came to my rescue. He arrived at the same time as Jayne who showed up because she had heard that I was sick and took my girls for the day. Amazing. My poor girls were still in their p.j.s. They did have breakfast, because they got it themselves. She got them dressed and took care of them for the day. Then she called Angel #5 who agreed to bring Dude home from school. I feel really blessed that I have husband who not only can hook up an I.V. in the privacy of my own bed, but he can do it with one stick. That is truly rare with my poor veins. I stayed in bed while the angels all around me took care of me and my family. When the kids came home Angel #6 entered the picture. My aunt Trixie had sent a package for my children. She sent a carefully thought out present for each of them. They were all truly thrilled and they were then occupied for the rest of the evening. What a thoughtful gift in of itself, but it couldn't have come at a better time. Thank you! Doctor took some quick pictures, I'll try again later to get some better ones.

Princess carefully takes them off to eat, so nothing yucky gets on them, but other than that (and preschool) she has worn them ever since she opened them.

Sorry for the novel, but I really do appreciate all my angels, and a loving Heavenly Father who has blessed me so much.

Kid Comedy

Having kids in the house pretty much guarantees humor. Here are some of our recent gems.

In the town we live in we have "clean up days" every spring. People put their junk out on the curb, and then people come pick up any junk they want. It cracks me up every year. It definitely is true what they say about one man's junk being another man's treasure. Anyways...Princess doesn't quite get the concept and she was panicking when a lady came and took an old broken baby gate that we put out. I tried to explain that we put stuff out, and other people can take it. Well, a few minutes later, some more people pulled up and she starting shouting, "We have our next customer!"

I was making lunch when I could hear Honey Bunch screaming in the other room. Princess raced in and said, "Honey Bunch hit me, then bumped into the wall." I replied, "Did you have anything to do with Honey Bunch bumping into the wall?" Princess' response, "um......"

Princess went to play at her best friends house on Friday. When she left, Honey Bunch looked at me and said, "Mommy, can we go to a dot com?" It cracked me up. My 2 year old was asking to play on the Internet. Craziness!

And the piec de resistance (or however its spelled). Dude has an upcoming kindergarten music program. The other night while he was in the shower he was rocking out to this patriotic tune. Don't tell him I did this, he had NO idea I was there, and he's a pretty private shower guy. :) In case you can't make it out, the words are "We are grateful, positively joyful, grateful for the USA." I'm not sure why the movie box is black, but if you click the play button it will work.

Kids and Money

When I was a little girl I thought that all you needed in order to buy something was a check book. I would ask for something and my mom would say we couldn't afford it. I would then tell her to just write a check. As I got older my parents would say that me and money weren't friends because as soon as I got any, I would spend it. On what? Anything. Gum, silly toys, anything. If I had money I looked for anything I could buy with it. Thank goodness my good parents taught me about saving and spending wisely. Anyways....I've been reminded lately about the naivete of children concerning money. Dude asked me the other day if we could go visit some friends in Hawaii. I told him that I would love to, but we don't have the money. His reply........."But I got a dollar from the tooth fairy." I love it. I wish it only cost a dollar to take a family of 5 to Hawaii. Then, later that night Dude said this to Doctor, "If I build a robot that could go to the hospital for you and you wouldn't have to go to the hospital anymore and you wouldn't be exhausted, would you give me $10 for it?" Uh, yes. Deal.

Honey-I'll Do-List

My poor husband has been working an insane amount of hours lately. He is so exhausted and worn out. There are a few projects that I have been waiting for him to be able to get to, but I recently realized that if they are going to get done, I'm going to have to learn how. So I'm setting a goal for myself to learn to do the following:
*unplug the dryer vent
*plant grass seed (how lame is it that I don't know how!)
*tape and plaster the sheet rock around our new bathroom light
*put together a bassinet

I'm putting this in writing so that I have more of an incentive to get these things done. If anyone has any tips, please let me know! If all else fails, my Dad is coming in May. You always need a project, right Art? :)

Blessings

So my OB discovered that I have a Protein S deficiency. That means that I have an increased risk of blood clots. As a result, I have to take a baby aspirin every day. In order to make sure that the baby is doing ok with the aspirin, I have an ultrasound and stress test every week. It has been so great seeing my youngest every week. He even smiled once(honest to goodness). I can't wait to hold him and love him and kiss him. Thanks so much for watching my girls, Jayne, you're awesome!
These are some of the ultrasound pictures from the last few weeks. The top left is a foot, the bottom left is a profile, and the one on the right is his face. And for the record, he is neither Gerry or Bconrad. :)

Princess' Mommy Dress

My grandparent's sent this adorable dress for Princess. She calls it "an almost mommy dress." She had planned a pretend birthday party for today so she got up and dressed by 6am in the perfect outfit for a party. She didn't want to be cold, so she put on a "strong sleeved shirt" underneath. I'm a little biased, but I think I have the two most beautiful girls around. :)

Dude Lost a Tooth!

Dude lost his first tooth today! I can't believe how big he's getting. He's super excited. He gets to be on the "tooth board" at school, and he can't wait for the tooth fairy. He told my Dad that the tooth fairy was putting an X-Box 360 under his pillow, I'm glad we squelched that idea.

It's Soccer Season

Princess and Dude had their first soccer games of the season on Saturday. Unfortunately it was only about 30 degrees outside and super windy. It was actually Princess' first game ever, and she did great at first. She was goalie first, and then she got to kick the ball at the beginning of the second quarter. I don't think she realized that everyone else would be trying to kick the same ball, so as soon as someone pushed her out of the way she was done. She sat on the sidelines while we tried to keep Honey Bunch off the field. Go figure. :)

Dude did great. He had a couple of good blocks while playing defense. He was goalie for a quarter, but his team did such a good job with defense, the ball never came close to the goal.

Our good friends have an 8 year old that is really fond of Honey Bunch (the feeling is mutual) and he played with her during Dude's game. I tried to get a picture of them holding hands, but the batteries died in the camera. I'll try again next time. This picture is a little blurry, but you kind of get the idea.