Family Journal Idea

My friend Christa Johnson gave me this idea and I think it's a great one. Especially after the time I've spent journaling today. Since my kids have been born I have kept journals for them (along with scrapbooks). I usually just type up my own about once a month and then copy and paste what is applicable for them and glue it in to theirs. Sometimes I'll have them tell me stuff to transcribe too. But this takes a lot of time and lately is a task I dread. Since doing this blog I decided to just copy and paste the text and then add in the other things I want to mention. It is much quicker, but I still have to individualize for each kid. Well starting next year that's going to change. At the end of the year I'm going to copy and paste the whole blog, including the pictures, into a Word document to make the format nicer. Then I'll print it out and make it into our "Family Journal" for the year (in a small notebook in page protectors). The kids will be able to look at it and someday if they want copies of them they're welcome to do that. We'll still keep their journals to transcribe or write their own words. It will also help me keep track of the dates of my pictures for scrapbooking (since I'm getting way behind). I'm still going to scrapbook because I love to and I take way more pictures than I post, but for those who don't like to scrapbook I think this is a GREAT idea!

The Hilda Story

For those of you who know Savannah, you know how important Hilda is. Hilda is Savannah's stuffed hippo, and she goes everywhere with her. Dallin bought it for her when she was born. It has been her favorite toy since she was about 10 months old. She uses Hilda like most little girls use dolls. She talks to her, gives her piggyback rides, rolls the ball to her, pushes her in her shopping cart, etc. Well Connor has decided that Hilda is his FAVORITE thing to chew on. He'll see Hilda clear across the room and go for her as fast as he can. So today I went to the store and got a new purple hippo. This way at least one of them will hopefully be clean at naptime and bedtime. I also bought Connor a little turtle. He does like it and will chew on it, but got very excited when he saw that there are now 2 hippos to find.
HILDA UPDATE: The purple hippo is now named HEIDI on some days and PURPLE HILDA on others.

THE Round Rock

Today we went and saw THE Round Rock. The round rock is in the middle of Brushy Creek. Some guy used to fish off of it and they asked him to name the town...hence Round Rock, TX. It is in Round Rock Memorial Park, which is actually really pretty. We took a picture by the Submarine Memorial in honor of Uncle Jeremy, who serves on a nuclear submarine in the Navy. The kids had a great time skipping rocks in the river and feeding the ducks. There is also a pretty fun playground there. I'm sure we'll be going back.

Christmas!

We had a great Christmas! The kids got to do a "treasure hunt" from Santa to find their presents. They thought that was so fun! Savannah got a shopping cart and a tiny kitchen, a large "coloring" (Magna Doodle), and some princess stuff. Connor got a squishy police car, but he just likes to turn it over and spin the wheels. He also got a star stacker, but he just likes to throw the stars all over the kitchen floor. He was very frustrated that he had to spend most of the present-opening in his playpen. Zach got a Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine which has definitely been the "hit" toy at our house. We've already had many fights over it. Jacob got an almost brand-new bike (that someone gave us...lucky boy) and a set of little Transformers. All the kids got some Moonsand. If you haven't heard of it just picture messy, messy play-doh. It should be renamed "Big giant mess in a box." It took longer to clean up (kids, wash clothes, table, floor, pans, everything) than they actually played with it. Oh well. Dallin got a new razor and I got a beautiful new bookshelf. I made my first turkey and we actually had a traditional Christmas dinner (although most of it went cold while we waited for the turkey to finish). Overall it was a great day and we couldn't be more blessed!

Savannah's dress & school fun

Savannah is quite picky with her clothes lately...especially dresses. We finally settled on this dress for Christmas (which I like because she can wear it all year long). We made a matching bracelet with Aunt Melinda at Thanksgiving and Grandma gave her matching hairbows. She looks pretty as a princess.
Zach had a music performance at preschool and had a fun time. He got really into it for most of the time, unless he looked over and noticed we were watching. They even did a song in sign language and one in Spanish.
Jacob had a Christmas party at school and I got to go! They had lots of treats and watched a movie and made a craft. He's very excited for 2 weeks off of school.

Grandma LeSueur's visit

Grandma LeSueur came to visit from Dec. 15 - Dec. 22. We had a great time! She was here for Zach's birthday and watched the kids 2 different times so we could go out for our anniversary. She came to Savannah's music class, Zach's music performance at preschool, watched Jacob play basketball and learn to ride a bike with no training wheels, held Connor tons, and helped me frost dozens of sugar cookies. Connor even took his first step to her. It was so nice for me to not have to load all the kids in and out of the car every time I had to take and pick up kids from school. I also got to go help at Jacob's school and attend his Christmas party while she watched the other kids. We went to a very fun park in Georgetown with the B's. M is Savannah's best little friend and E is exactly between the boys in age. All of the kids have missed Grandma lots since she left.

Zach's Birthday!

Zach had a very fun birthday! He's 5 years old. He was so excited to have Grandma here. She came the night before. She gave him Scooby-Doo characters. He also got a Hulk bike and loves riding it over on the basketball courts at the school. For his cake he didn't want any "guys" on it...just chocolate. But he picked out sprinkles and green frosting, so it ended up pretty colorful. We had our friends, the B's, over for dinner and cake. They gave him a Jungle Fury Power Ranger, which was coveted all week by Jacob.

My favorite day of the week

You know how you get those email questionarre's that you're supposed to fill out and send to all your friends? I always thought it was weird when it asked what your favorite day of the week was. They all pretty much blend into one another...that is until now. The last few weeks Thursday has become my new favorite day. Zach has preschool and we don't have any other committments. So I have a couple of hours to run errands with only two kids and then they both usually sleep for 2-3 hours at the SAME time!!! (Because it's so quiet) The other thing that is nice is that I have to be super quiet or they'll both wake up (they're both really light sleepers, especially Connor). So I have to just do stuff on the computer or read a book. That is why I love Thursdays.

Santa!

We went to our Ward Christmas Party on Saturday. It was a dinner and then the kids got to see Santa. Jacob and Zach were so excited, but Savannah freaked out. After I held her hand though she calmed down and actually talked to him. Connor just stared and wouldn't look away until we were far away from him.

Jacob's playing basketball

Jacob started basketball on Dec. 6. They have practices this month and start their games in January. He's never played before but he's learning a lot and totally LOVING it. Both times we've left his practice he says "Basketball is the most fun thing in the whole world. Why can't we have practice every night?" I think he mostly likes being part of a team. His coach is in our ward along with two boys on the team.

Decorating the tree

On Dec. 5 we finally got around to decorating the Christmas tree. Zach had been bugging me about every 10 minutes for a week. It took me a while to figure out where to put it where we could block it off the best. Connor is into everything right now! With it in this corner I just slide the playpen in front and it's completely out of reach for him. It's a very traditional (and artificial) tree, with ornaments from when I was growing up and also that I've collected. It has colored lights, but you can't really tell in the picture.

All better!

Well we made it past the flu. Jacob got it Friday evening. Dallin got it Saturday evening. By Sunday morning Zach, Savannah & Connor were pretty much over it. By Sunday afternoon Jacob was fine too. Yeah! Dallin's was short and he felt much better by Sunday evening. I don't know how I got through the week without getting it, but I'm so thankful I didn't...since I was the one taking care of everyone!

Update

Make that 4 kids with the flu.

The Flu (not for the queasy)

What's worse than a sick kid throwing up all night long? Two kids throwing up all night long with a sick baby on top of it. Last night Zach came in about 1:45am having just been sick. So I went to clean up him and his bed (and the wall and the carpet and anything within a few feet). While I was pulling his sheets off I hear Savannah getting sick in the next room. Of course she freaks out and hers hits a much wider diameter. So I get them both cleaned up and clothes changed, etc. I'm starting the washer and it begins all over again. So I clean them both up again and pull off the second pair of sheets, blankets, pajamas, etc. and take them to the family room. I laid blankets and towels all over and made little beds. They each got a nice big bowl next to them. As I'm in the middle of this Connor wakes up screaming. I wake Dallin up and he takes care of Connor's diaper, who is having the "Big D" as my friend Kristi calls it. We finally get Connor calm and back to sleep and Dallin heads back to bed. I finish starting the first of 4 large loads of laundry (all soiled within 30 minutes). I run back to the family room in time to help Savannah. I lay on the couch and help the two of them take turns with their bowls about every 15 minutes until about 5:00am. We finally sleep for an hour until Connor wakes up. He made it through the night without throwing up (he started throwing up Monday night...and has been doing so ever since), so I give him 4 oz. of formula...which he promptly throws up all over one of the floor blankets (load #5). I wake up Jacob to get ready and take to school and then drive to Walgreens where I stock up on Pedialyte, Gatorade, 7-UP, and apple juice. Savannah and Zach try to convince me they want yogurt for breakfast (bright blue Trix yogurt). Yah right. They get 7-UP and 2 ritz crackers each. We've watched cartoons all morning and luckily it all seems to be on hold...for now.

The end of the trip...Friday - Sunday

On Friday we had family pictures with the Strongs at the temple. I actually got a decent shot of all the grandkids...all 13 of them! Afterwards we went back and had a barbeque for Daniel's birthday (Dallin's brother). I got to go to a movie with most of the girls in the afternoon...we saw Enchanted. Saturday morning we left Maricopa around 10:30am and got to El Paso, TX around 5:30pm, where we stayed the night. It was snowing as we got there, which was really fun for all of us. The kids had fun going to Applebee's and it was their first time sleeping in a hotel (that they can remember). The only problem was that we didn't have a pack'n'play, so Connor was rolling all around and trying to crawl off his blanket all through the night. The next morning we loaded up and set off about 8:30am (TX time). We drove through snow for about 5 hours. We let the kids out to play in it once and they loved it. But then pretty much everything in a car was splattered with mud from their shoes. Oh well...how often do they get to play in the snow? We got home about 6:30pm. It was nice to be home again. Dallin had Monday and Tuesday off work so I was able to do laundry and wash the car and stuff. He also went and did all the grocery shopping. Connor's been pretty sick the last couple of days. He was supposed to have his 9-month well-child visit on Tuesday but it turned into a sick visit after he threw up all night and couldn't keep anything down. He's better today but still really tired and fussy. The only good thing is that he just wants to be cuddled, which I love to do. Overall it was a fun trip and we loved seeing family and friends. But it sure is nice to be home!

Thanksgiving Day

We had Thanksgiving with the Strongs this year. Including the babies there was 27 of us. But we all fit with the new addition on the Strongs' home. After dinner (lunch) the kids got to make oreo turkeys and open up the "Great Turkey." The Great Turkey is a tradition started by Aunt Melinda 2 or 3 years ago and the kids get so excited. There is a surprised all wrapped up in crepe paper that resembles a turkey. This year it was play-doh and they had a blast. After that we went to my Aunt Marilee's to see my mom's side of the family. Savannah had fun playing with all the little girls there. It was nice to see everyone.

Thanksgiving Eve

Wednesday we stayed at the LeSueur's for the day (we slept there every night but drove into Mesa most days). In the morning my dad took Jacob, Zach & Savannah over to the train station and watched them very up close. Savannah said it was too scary, but they had fun. My Aunt Marilee came over and brought her daughter Shae over to play. The kids had a great time jumping in Grandpa's bouncy house. My best friend Alisha Shumway came over and spent the afternoon and evening also. It was so fun to see her and Savannah became pretty attached also. For dinner (which was my family's Thanksgiving) my brother Steven and his wife Sarah were there. I also got to see our friend Eun-Sook Yi from Korea. She is an old family friend and is living in the U.S. for 18 months with her son, Tae-Wan. I hadn't seen her in over 10 years, so it was a nice reunion.