Final Super Saturday

I remember going to the Mountain Home Airshow as a kid.  I remember how amazing it was to watch the Blue Angels fly.  We've lived near a military base are whole married life.  As a matter of fact when we moved from Tucson to Layton lots of people asked if we were transferring with the military.  We had talked about going to an airshow in Tucson, but the year the Blue Angels came Ellie was a baby and it was super hot and then, as life gets, we just never went.  Two years ago we were driving to Idaho when we happened to see the planes in the air.  We pulled over and watched a few of the shows and the kids thought it was great so I put it on my calendar to checkout the show in two years when it came back and so this event has been on the calendar for two years and we've been talking about.  The week was super hot and we are a little tired with school still going, Steve's been working crazy long hours again, and all of our super Saturday activities so we weren't for sure if we were really going to make it up.  We woke up slow and got breakfast going.  Lila was dressed and ready when Steve and I came out of our room and said, "Are we going to the airshow."  I downloaded the airshow app and we looked at the schedule.  The weather cooled off quite a bit and was only going to get up in to the 80s so we decided to go.  We decided to ride the UTA bus in so we didn't have to worry about parking and exiting etc.  It was smooth getting onto base and went quickly.  I knew there would be security measures, but did not expect lines and lines of hundreds of people waiting to get in.  To be completely honest a part of me thought turn around and go home or just sit out here and watch what you can, but we persevered. 

I sent a picture to my parents saying, "Post 9-11 security measures. We didn't do this as kids, right?"  Dad, "Nope. We walked right onto base and went right up to the airstrip."  I remember standing right next to the strip and looking up to see the planes.  Today we waited and the kids were good.  We could see the planes flying around while we waited and that was fun.  Andrew kept clapping and getting excited.

Right as we got through security the Breitling Jet Team was performing and it was the show I was aiming to be there to see so we enjoyed it as we walked closer and closer to the air strip.  The firework finale was great.

They walked through a plane and sat in cockpit replica.

Picture for memory sake.

Once we got around the hanger, I noticed the front side of it had a few feet of shade so we squeezed in between a few people.  The shade continued to grow as the sun moved so we really enjoyed our little haven to watch the show (if only we had brought in chairs, but with the stroller and baby gear we had enough to carry so we chilaxed on the cement).  If you look to the far background on the right of the picture with Marcus you can see the Thunderbirds parked.

It was a mass exodus after the show (I knew it would be--why they don't put the Thunderbirds in the middle of the day so people can come and go at different times--I don't know).  So Steve took the girls shopping for a bit (Ellie had been begging to keep looking around, but with the little boys we just wanted to stay put while it was crowded).  They came back with their treasures and we decided to leave.  We turned down the wrong street and ran into the shuttle lines--nightmare trying to navigate with the stroller we eventually folded it up, crossed the street and then began our journey back to UTA pick-up only to find a mile long line--seriously took us a 1.5 hours to get back on the bus.  It was frustrating and disappointing that it would take that long.  Steve pointed out that if we drove in to park even though we would be in a long line to get out (they did give priority to the buses getting in and out of there) we would be in AC and the kids could watch a movie.  It's all good though, the kids were really patient and good and the baby was a trooper.  They can't stopping talking about how awesome it was and zooming their planes around.  Steve and I are a little worn out--this event produced the longest lines and wait out of any of our Super Saturday activities.

Ellie says her favorite was the two bi-planes that did a show together called Dog-Fight.  Lila said the Thunderbirds were her favorite.  Andrew's favorite was the show with pyrotechnics because it made a sound like a gun (crazy boy).  I tease him because it was the show with the female pilot. ;)  He was super excited after that performance and was talking excitedly about the planes and the lady sitting next to us smiled and said, "I love the excitement."  So I guess the point is as parents we know the work it takes to get to and from the event, the kids they just remember the fun . . .so here's to another FUN Super Saturday! Peace out.

Moore Weekend Fun

Doug & Joddy came to Provo for summer camps with their kids and they are always so nice to carve out some time to get together with us.  This year we had planned to go to Snowbird to do the Alpine Slide and the Coaster and other summer activities they have there and were really looking forward to it, but as I was coordinating with the group ticket salesman I came to realize that day was also "Brewfest" and it would be quite crowded which bummed us out a little bit we were excited about doing something new, but adjusted our plans and still had a wonderful time.  We ended up at 7 Peaks in Salt Lake with Doug, Stephanie, & Steve and their families.  We setup chairs and tents in a shaded area and the older kids took off to play. Andrew and Steve did a slide together then Lila and Ellie went down a slide with Steve.  We took Andrew over to the little tot pool to see what it was like while  Ellie & Lila did the wave pool while we waited for Doug and his family to arrive.  Then Sydney, Ellie, & Lila took off together and had a great time.  

Lila came back and relaxed for a bit while the other two kept playing.  The oldest cousin Ethan was nice and asked Andrew what he wanted to do and they soon became fast friend. There was lots of sliding and trips around the lazy river--even in double tubes. 

Marcus and I stayed in the shaded area most of the day and he was quite the trooper, eating and napping. I laid him on a towel at one point so I could reapply sunscreen on the kids and he loved all the people coming by and talking with him.

After we stopped and grabbed a hamburger at Apollo Burger and Doug & Joddy and their family did too.  Andrew was so excited to see Ethan again, he said, "you here too, yay!" The girls sat at a table chatting and eating and all of the boys sat at a table doing boy things (they were really well behaved considering there was 5 of them) and eating.  Then the adults sat at one table chatting a bit. It was a fun day.  I remember loving to spend time with my cousins as a kid and admiring my older cousins so I really enjoyed seeing my children interact with their cousins and even some of the cousin stardum happening for Andrew.

Weekend Summer Fun Begins

Well we're down to three weeks left of school and to be honest this June hasn't been as difficult as I remember last June being, maybe because I knew what to anticipate more or because I'm not in the first stages of pregnancy. We've enjoyed some fun while still managing school.

Memorial Day weekend my Grandma Irene Buckley was on her way to Salt Lake for a cousins wedding, my Dad had caught a ride with them since Mom was already down here so they stopped off at our house where I had some brunch snacks prepared for them and Marcus and Enzo got to meet their Great Grandma.

That evening we had a family bbq here at the house.  Jake, Marcee, and Anson were on their way up for the weekend and stopped by with Mom & Dad and Venessa, Izzy, Siena, and Enzo made it back down and then Nate joined us for a bit.  I put barbecue chicken in my instant pot and we had an easy picnic like meal.  We had the net up for bad mitten which the kids loved.  We watched pictures going across the television and enjoyed reminiscing about the memories we have together (seriously what a better way to spend memorial day weekend).  Then we made smores over our gas pit.  Super fun!  I'm so glad we made it happen even though it was a bit crazy to coordinate.  Sunday evening we went up to Venessa's new house and helped them setup their tv stuff and had a little dessert, the kids and I made smore cookies to enjoy!  Monday we went swimming at the Rush.  Mimi & Grandpa and Nessa and her kids met us there.  We spent almost 4 hours there in the morning and then Steve took the girls back for a couple of hours in the evening (we would have all gone back for a while if it wasn't for the fact that the girls had school the next day).

The next Saturday, June 4th,  Ellie had her "Silent Movie" piano recital.  It was really cute they all played a song to accompany a silent movie that was playing.  Then Monday Lila had her end of year singing/dance recital where she had a short solo again.  It was cute.

Today one of the companies Steve consults for was having a company party at Lagoon and they gave him 2 free tickets so we were excited to try it again with the kids since it has been 4 years since we went, right after we moved here.  Mimi came down to watch Marcus for us which was a lifesaver.  Although when Andrew found out Mimi was in town he was not so sure he was going to join us.  Friday night he kept saying take me to Mimi and the first thing he said when he woke-up Saturday was drop me off to Mimi.  So when Mimi arrived he said, "I stay with Mimi."  I'm telling you after the day I had with him Friday I was ready to do it--we hadn't bought his ticket yet.  We explained we were going to Lagoon to ride some fun rides and he could come with us or stay with Mimi, he chose to come and the funny thing was as we were getting closer to Lagoon he pointed out his window and said, "I want to go there. We're going there, right?"  We pass Lagoon all the time and he's never said that.  It was cute.

We went to the bumper cars first but they were having technical difficulties so we went back to the kiddie area and rode a few rides.  The first couple of rides Andrew would scream, "no, no." but then he would enjoy it and get off and say fun.  So after a few rides he stopped screaming.  While he was riding the rocket ride with the guns you could move around I sent Steve and the girls over to ride Tidal Wave.  Lila was nervous, but I told her it would be like a swing and then Ellie talked Steve into riding in the very back row which was the most dramatic seat and it upset Lila so she was a little nervous the rest of the day.  Andrew can't stop talking about the "gun" ride (he rode it probably 5 times while we were there and kept asking to go back to it after dinner).  He also liked the "robot" ride (Scallywags is the rides name which is ironic since that is his nickname, but the kids thought the inside looked liked a robot so they called it the robot ride).

The day was overcast and raining, but we had a wonderful time.  It was only lightly sprinkling most of the morning then around noon it came down hard for a little over an hour.  It happened to be right when Ellie and I went on the Roller Coaster so I got soaked.  The kids were all wearing their rain jackets and Steve didn't pack one even though I asked him if he wanted to (he didn't think it was really going to rain) so he ended up wearing the one I packed since I was already drenched after the coaster ride.  I packed a change of clothes for everyone, but left them in the car because the backpack was full with the kids jackets--that's the one thing I wish I would have done different is just had them wear their jackets in so the change of clothes were in the bag to use, oh well.  We rode a lot of rides with the kids, enjoyed a meal provided by the company and then when it started to rain hard again around 6pm we decided to call it good.

We came home, got Andrew and Lila in the tub and Ellie really wanted to go back to ride some other rides that Andrew was too small for or Lila was too nervous to do. Steve had an unfortunate experience after dinner on a ride so he did not want to go back, but I kind of did so Ellie and I changed into warmer clothes and went back (that's the nice thing about it only being 10 minutes away).  We were there for two hours and rode 10 more rides including Colossus twice.  There were no lines and the weather was perfect when we went back.  It was a lot of fun to spend that time with Ellie and I will always cherish that memory.  She of course thought it was great and could not contain her excitement when telling Daddy that she rode Colossus twice.  Although I couldn't talk her into trying Cannibal with me--maybe next time.

Direct Correlation

Steve's in Yuma this week for work (it's amazing how his clients always seem to have deadlines around the same time so he gets super crazy busy for a month or two then he just stays busy juggling 5 customers).  Anyway I sent him a text tonight telling him that there is direct correlation between whether or not Andrew naps and my mood at the end of the day--no nap day.  It was a rough evening.  I love Andrew.  He is in this wonderful phase of learning and soaking in everything.  Today, he told me he was frustrated because his block tower kept falling over (what 2 year old uses frustrated in the right context), but his busy-ness and my lack of sleep  make a bad combination then you add the girls' homework, chores and other activities that have to happen in a short amount of time after school and it can leave a Mom frazzled--ok this Mom for sure! 

Ellie also has a weird thing about eating leftovers, she chews and chews and in her mind can't swallow it, even though she ate it a few nights ago fresh and loved it, well tonight was leftovers and she was driving me crazy with that.  I sent Lila to the tub with Andrew who was happily playing and they started fighting after a stern talking to, Lila managed to make things work (I told her I don't expect her to give Andrew everything he wants, but to figure out a way to play together).  Then I sent the girls upstairs to shower and Andrew was mad so he threw out all the bath toys including a one gallon bucket full of water onto the floor--guess that was my motivation to mop the bathroom floor.  He went to bed straight from there in tears.  I told him he knows better than to throw toys out of the bath tub.  Not to mention Marcus has been fussy all day today so my nerves were already on edge.

So the conclusion is even though Andrew may not really need a nap, I need it and I'm ok with him waking up at 6:30/7am because he took a nap, I'm up at that time anyway. I think it's a tender mercy he hasn't tried to climb out of the crib yet--if I put him in there before he's tired he'll sing and play with his stuff animals.  This morning when I went to get him he was pretending to throw balls to his friends by the light fixture (definitely is getting creative with his pretend play which I love too).  Now I'm off to bed to get some rest and try to be more patient tomorrow.  I pray my kids will remember the fun times and understand Mommy's rough days as a part of life and be forgiving.

Mixing dry beans and wheat while I grind two kinds wheat, make pancake mix, sweet wheat bread for kids after school, and wheat berries.  I also tried making buttermilk from a start . . .we'll see.

Double Digits

Friday before her birthday we had our Activity Day recognition night and she prepared a poster with a goal she completed regarding planing, preparing, and cooking a nutritious meal.  She cooks simple meals most Thurdays, but wanted to cook something special for the poster so we could take pictures.  She made chicken lime tacos we took up to Venessa's new place to share with everyone while they were moving. The recognition night went well and I'm so grateful for Steve and all of his support in my callings.

She woke-up Saturday morning and I gave her her first clue while Steve made the requested breakfast nachos (thinly sliced fried potatoes topped with scrambled eggs, crumbled bacon, and cheese sauce).  

Your nose is always in one of these.
So go and look if you please. 

She found something wrapped on the bookshelf in the front room-a choose your own ending book.

After breakfast came clue 2:

You may not be tall,
But this could help you catch a ball.

She found another present in the garage by her softball gear-a larger mitt that she's been needing, now to break it in.

It was a stormy morning so softball practice was cancelled and we had a few hours before we were to meet Mimi & Grandpa for lunch so we watched Harry Potter 2 (she's been asking to watch it since she watched the first one during her late night last month).  Then we loaded up and headed to Texas Roadhouse for lunch per Ellie's request.  Towards the end they came over and sang to her and she smiled and blushed it was great.

After lunch we sent the boys home for nap times and the girls went to the mall to get Ellie's ears pierced.  We went to Claire's because they had two people piercing so both ears could get done at once, but there were 4 girls waiting and I decided it probably wasn't a good idea to have her watch 4 other girls get their ears pierced so we went up to Icing and unfortunately the other lady just went on lunch break, but Ellie decided to brave it and did one ear at a time.  There were a few tears, but she loves having them pierced.  We bought a few earrings there (and I had to tell her she had another present waiting at home so she would stop looking at them).

When we got home Steve gave her a present and said:

You look so cute,
here's another present to boot.

She got several pairs of earrings from us and Mimi & Grandpa gave her a jewelry box and other fun stuff. 

Venessa and her kids came down to play for a bit and I whipped up the frosting--literally whip cream frosting (she doesn't like regular or cream cheese frosting so I was trying to find something she might like).  Then we sang and had cupcakes.

Side Note: Lila was feeling really neglected while in Icing.  She wanted to buy something and kept trying to get my attention, but I was trying to focus on Ellie who was nervous.  I almost didn't bring Lila along, but she wanted to come so I let her.  Now every day I hear, "I really want to get my ears pierced." Even a my 10th birthday is on a Monday not a Saturday Mom how are we going to do it.  I told her the store was opened on a Monday.  When Venessa came down she brought a belated present for Lila along with Ellie's present--it is a girls movie night and I was so grateful for that so she had something special that day too.


Just before bed she got her last clue.  When I asked if she was ready she said, "Wow I wasn't expecting another clue."

Before you go to sleep,
there's one more present you may keep.

She found a new nightgown under her pillow (both the girls need new nightgowns as their old ones aren't long enough any more--guess that's what a winter of growing will do). Andrew was helping take the picture on the right hence it cut the top of her head off. ;)

We sure do love Ellie and I cannot believe she's double digit 10 now!  She's smart, thoughtful, and fun. Happy Happy Birthday, Ellie!

Getting it Done

We've had a crazy couple of weeks.  Steve has been working long hours because one of the companies he consults for is getting ready to go to China to work on production.  He also has another company who is gearing up for a big deadline.  Then last week he was asked to speak on Mother's Day (he did a great job!), but it added to what needed to get done so a few other things slipped behind so today we tried to catch-up.

I managed to squeeze in a trip to the nursery yesterday so we could plant our garden this morning.  We went out right after breakfast because that area is shaded in the early morning.  I pulled weeds, Steve tilled the boxes, and then I laid out the plants.  Marcus started fussing so I washed my hands and sat in one of our deck chairs and fed him while the girls and Steve planted.  The girls were wearing their gardening gloves I bought on clearance a couple of years ago and Andrew kept saying, I want gloves, I want gloves.  So I told Steve to just go get a knit pair of gloves from the winter box.  He came out as happy as a clam with little blue mittens on.  I wanted to take a picture at one point they were all working in the same area and Andrew with those little mittens, but I didn't have my camera and neither Steve or I had our phones--I'll just have to remember it and smile about it.  Andrew's job was to take the little containers the plants came in and put them in recycling which he thought was a great job.  He also tried to pull out a couple of plants after they were planted--oops.  We told him they have to stay in the ground so they can grow food, hopefully he gets it now.

We also went down in the basement to do some more cleaning up.  Steve managed to throw away a couple of bag fulls of stuff (he's been holding on to spare computer parts for a long time, which I don't blame him because he's always rummaging through there and finding something to fix a problem, but a lot of it has become really outdated).  He also found a couple of old cell phones the kids are more than happy to play with.  Andrew already dialed 911 once so we threw out the chargers and left them on all night so the batteries would die and there could be no more dialing.

It was a good, crazy, productive day.  Thank goodness tomorrow is a day of rest!

What the?

Andrew has quite a large vocabulary now, but still enjoys repeating what we say which seems to be at humorous times.  Like when Steve said, "What the heck?" and Andrew repeated it at least 5 times with some serious drama in his voice.

We work on memorizing the Articles of Faith during Family Home Evening and recently Andrew started memorizing the first one, "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." Now when he sees a ghost while playing the scooby doo game on the extra phone he'll say, "It's the Holy Ghost."  I'm working on explaining the Holy Ghost to him.

He likes to say booya and yeehaw when he gets excited.  Oh and the other day when Steve offered to help him with something he said, "me help me." Classic 2-year old independent stage.

Here he put on special shoes so he could go to work with Daddy. He loves to pretend he's going to work or school. Today I even packed him a lunchbox and he thought that was great.

Marcus is growing like a weed and finally sleeping a little better he now goes from 8pm-1am and then to 5:30am which is so nice to get a little extra sleep.  Things I want to remember:  *He's a snorter.  It cracks us up, but from day one he has breathed through his nose heavily causing a snorting sound.  He also has had rather large boogies we get out every morning-now I don't know if the snorting causes the boogies to surface or if he snorts because he has boogies, but either way his snorting makes us laugh.  *He has the cutest little sneeze at the end of a series of sneezes.  *When he really gets crying he gets all raspy and it sounds pitiful which really pulls on my heart strings.  *He gives the biggest smiles right after eating especially when somebody is talking to him oh does he love to have someone's attention.

Good News the Final Week of Break

This last week kind of passed by in a fog.  Steve woke-up Monday not feeling too great and decided to work from home.  The girls had a couple of friends over (the same ones we've had over each break so the Mom can work).  They had a blast playing outside all day and we even made a little Mother's Day craft.  It was a great day until the end when I got hit by the bug.  Tuesday I drug myself up to the school with Ellie at 7:40, she had ballroom and put up the teacher appreciation bulletin boards I had volunteered to do for the girls 3 teachers. Steve started feeling better so he went to work, he had a big presentation that day and I muttled through the day.  That evening I was feverish and really not feeling well so I texted Steve to make sure he would be home in time to help get the kids to bed. He obliged and took the baby that night even though he was still not 100%. 

Wednesday I had scheduled Lila's follow-up at Primary Children's Urology.  She was not happy about having to do that test with the catheter again, but when we met with the doctor after the imaging tests we got good news.  She no longer has reflux to the kidneys--YAY!!  She never has to do that test again.  The doctor said she may still be prone to UTIs so to keep her drinking lots of fluids and using the restroom frequently, but the kidneys are safe.  She then said, "well I guess you're done with me."  And I said, "well we had a baby in February they think may have double ureters."  She said, "oh maybe you're not done with me. kidney reflux does tend to run in families."  She then gave me a few helpful hints and we'll just wait until he gets his follow-up ultrasound in a few months to see what happens.  Mimi was nice to say in town so she could watch the other three kids. On the way home I got a phone call from the eye doctor saying they had messed up our appointments for the next day and if we could come in that afternoon.  So when we got home I gathered up the older 3 kids, left Marcus with Steve who was meeting with a friend of Jake's about working on the basement, and we headed to the eye doctor. Mimi came and got Ellie so she could run her back to piano lessons.  The kids eyes are good and Dr Jensen (a neighbor friend) was great with them.  He even took the time to talk with me about my stye problem. It made for a super crazy day, but it was done. I met my sister and Mom at Olive Garden for a birthday dinner for Nessa and Mom again--they got free dessert. My stomach was still not doing great so I took most of my food home. Thursday we took it easy--it was a lovely day so the kids played outside and we did a couple of chores.  

Friday, was Venessa's birthday so we had her kids over for a few hours so she could enjoy lunch with Nate and do a couple of errands.  I managed to juggle the 7 kids and we had a good afternoon.  Today we did a little yardwork before the bad weather rolled in then we've been relaxing (the nasty stomach bug is still haunting us a bit) and talking about the basement plans.  Oh and Steve put in an extra shelf in Lila's closet which will be nice especially this time of year when you could where a short sleeved shirt one day and long the next.  I can't believe the kids will start school again on Monday . . . this break flew by and I could have used a few extra days because now there are no breaks until July 1st when school gets out for the year, hold on!

Baby Animal Days Take 3

I was pregnant with Andrew when my sister, Venessa, first convinced me to go to baby animal days. That was an adventure a little farther away than we thought.  The next year we went to the Kaysville location and had a great time.  This year they had a venue in Morgan close to where Venessa lives and I had to vacate the house today so Steve could turn off the power and upgrade our electrical box so we ventured to baby animal days again. I was a little stressed because it took me a bit longer to get out of the house. Ellie had her big AIM performance this morning (side story below). Then I was worried about getting the kids lunch and Andrew down for a nap and juggling Marcus, but we made it there and a had a little adventure.

Andrew touched the pony right when we got there then refused to touch anything else.  He was too excited to ride the train which they did twice.

And wouldn't you know the one thing I forgot in my rush to get out the door was the pump and a bottle to feed Marcus and it was so windy at the event that I could not nurse him there so we bribed the kids with a pony ride on the way out and back to Mimi's in Mt Green to enjoy the rest of her birthday afternoon (we had gone out to dinner as adults the night before to celebrate).

Ellie's AIM side story: two weeks ago I had her play her pieces for me and one she really struggled with so I told her to only practice her AIM pieces and then I taught her that just because the teacher says to play it twice doesn't mean that is all the practicing you need to do. I told her to circle the part she was struggling with and I wanted her to play the whole song once and then play the part she struggled with at least three times before playing the whole song again and that all practicing should include--a little extra work on something you struggle with. Her teacher called me the next day and said she noticed how Ellie was struggling with that song and suggested we switch to a song she played last year. I talked with Ellie and I told her I wasn't really concerned about her score, but I wanted her to learn to work/practice something and see improvement so we chose to keep the original song and she worked hard.  She received her scores and she got 100 on the first song and 99 on the song she struggled with.  So proud of her for sticking with it!

Boondocks Bowling

Remember how last break I was too big and pregnant to take the kids bowling like I promised so we did Wii bowling instead.  Well, I decided this break I could venture out with the 4 kids to bowl.  Venessa met us there and the kids had a blast.  I just sat on the bench with Marcus and watched.  Andrew was pretty good about coming back and sitting by me while he waited for his turn.  Then he would pick up the ball and walk over to the dragon to push his ball down.  He did it all by himself.  The girls were good about moving the dragon back and forth because they tried bowling without it a couple of times.  Andrew did actually get the high score.  Then we walked around and did a few games with some arcade money we had leftover, picked a few prizes and went home for lunch.  Good adventure for everyone especially since it is raining hard today so we were able to have a break from the house for a bit.

 

G&G Moore Meet Marcus

The kids were so excited for Grandpa and Grandma Moore to come.  Lila was even counting down to their arrival before counting down to her birthday, "1 more day until Grandpa and Grandma get here and then they'll be here for my birthday".  Their timing was perfect they arrived just as the girls were getting out of school and going off track so we were able to spend the week together.

 

I felt like the week went by super fast--maybe part of the reason I feel that way is because I was sick in bed for a couple of days in the middle and then dealing with a headache a couple of other days (I'm sure I made a great host in that condition).  Overall the trip was a success, we enjoyed visiting as adults in the evening, Marcus was held and loved by all, grandkids spoiled during the day with puzzles, reading, jewelry making, shopping trips, flower planting, painting, easy bake oven making.  Good times!  Now they are on their way home and I'm out numbered again. ;)