Rocking Chair Night

I've spent nights in the rocking chair, recliner or couch with all of my kids when they were little and sick and just needed to snuggle upright to breathe and be comforted. Well last night poor Marcus was running a fever and just wanted to be held, which is quite unusual for him, he's a mover and doesn't like to snuggle much. So I enjoyed our snuggle time and swayed him, rocked him and just held him for much of the night. Today his fever spiked to 103 while having Tylenol/Motrin in his system on the every 4 hour rotation so I called the doctor and took him in to just check him out before doc goes on Thanksgiving break. He thinks he has adenovirus and did a nose swab to confirm, mostly so we know that is what's causing the high fever because there is not a treatment. So today he's taken a few short naps in mine and Steve's arms and just been plain miserable, poor kiddo. We're praying for him and trying to isolate the other three kiddos so they don't get it.

Here are a few pics from the past week to enjoy.

Marcus loves to look at himself through the camera on my phone and Lila is the queen of selfies--I don't think she has even heard of that word, but every time I download pictures off of her camera (which doesn't have a front facing camera) there are a ton of selfies. ;)

 Sweet baby sleeping and his cute crooked smile.

















Marcus the day before his fever started discovering all the new things he could do, reach piano keys, empty tupperware cupboard, and stick a domino to the french glass door he loves to stand at and look out of.

Creeping closer to 4-0

I knew my birthday weekend was going to be crazy and even joked with Steve to postpone it, but with Thanksgiving next week then our Anniversary and all of the Christmas festivities we knew there was no real postponing. Steve was sweet and said he was going to take the whole day off and spend it doing whatever I wanted or needed, but since I knew how hectic the day was going to be I told him I would prefer he worked and took an extra day off the following week so he obliged.

A friend of mine told me that Tucanos gives you a free meal on your birthday and I have never been to a Brazilian BBQ so we decided to try it. I signed up for the club thing and started trying to find a babysitter--took me 6 people before I got one lined up, I find this process annoying especially when my girls are almost of age to babysit. . .soon, soon.

First, I had a 9am doctor's appointment about my vertigo. I had another really bad spell yesterday and had been dizzy the day before so I went back and he is trying a different medication to see of he can correct what is causing this. Then I had a couple of hours to play with the boys. Marcus took a really long morning nap and Andrew was having a rough morning, but I was still scheduled to go in and grade Lila's class spelling tests, as I do every Friday. So I let Marcus sleep a bit longer, got Andrew a snack and we landed out our friends house where the boys play while I grade, a bit later than usual. I then texted my carpool buddy and said I would just bring the girls home from school because I would be there pretty close to the end of the day. I finished grading (Lila got her first 100%, she studies the words hard and I'm glad she is seeing the results of that) and I had a few minutes before school let out so I read this talk from April 2011 General Conference, More than Conquerors through Him that Loved Us  It was what I needed at that moment and I found myself crying sitting on a bench just outside the elementary school. My Dad called to wish me Happy Birthday and we talked for a moment. Then I grabbed the girls, dropped carpool friends off and picked up the boys. 

We got home and I began final preparations for Activity Days. We were dividing into groups and making meals for families in our ward that could use it. I had pressure cooked beans that morning and made lime cilantro rice the night before and began setting out the rest of the ingredients to make enchiladas when I looked at Lila and she didn't look so well. I asked what was wrong and she said it hurts to go to the bathroom again. I realized I didn't have time to take her to the doctor and be back for the start of the activity so I called Steve who graciously dropped everything he was doing and came and took Lila to the doctor. She came back a few minutes into our cooking time, washed her hands and began helping. The girls were great cooks and we had fun conversations. We took the meal to a family that lives in a trailer, grandparents-niece-daughter-just had a baby that Tuesday and a son so a full house and they were so grateful. They brought all the girls in and showed them pictures of the baby (they had just left to run an errand) and said they were so tired and had just been eating toast and were so grateful. They even sent me an email thanking us for the delicious meal. The other groups had similar delivery experiences which made me realize the craziness of the activity prep was worth it to help the girls feel the spirit of service.

After the activity I cleaned up and fed Marcus before the sitter showed up. Steve and I drove past the pharamacy to pick up mine and Lila's prescriptions from the day, that made us a little late for our reservation. They still managed to seat us in good time. The guava lemonade was delicious and the rest of the experience was ok. We enjoyed a salad bar and the Brazilian cheese bread was yummy. The meat started coming quickly and it wasn't as Steve remembered with big chunks of meat they rotisserie and then cut off sections, but it was small bits of meat they just pushed off one or two of at a time and because of the self serve type of environment our whole dining experience was over in 30 minutes. A little of a let down, but still we got out away from the kids and my meal was free.  Steve asked what I wanted to do next and to be honest I just wanted to go home, put the kids to bed and sleep myself because the next morning we were responsible for cleaning the church building at 8am and I had to speak at a baptism at 10am so the madness continues.

PS Oh and I took Ellie to urgent care after the baptism because she's complaining of a terrible sore throat and I was afraid it might be strep, but culture came back negative so rest and fluids.

Sweetness

I took the boys to the doctor today for well checks. Andrew kept asking every 3 minutes if it was time for a lollipop. Then Marcus squealed until the doctor gave him one too (and Mom didn't care, what can I say he's number 4).

I went to take it away when we got home and he kept trying to grab it with his hands and his mouth was wide open . . .then the pouty face after not getting it.

 
















Andrew has been taking swim lessons, excuse me swim class is what we have been calling it to avoid any residual trauma from his summer lessons. There are only two kids in the class and some days are better then others especially when his teacher Ted brings toys or today was goggles.

Other things to remember:

Marcus is an amphibious crawler. He is efficient and crawls hand-knee on carpet and then transitions seamlessly to hand-foot when he hits tile or hardwood then back to hand-knee when he reaches carpet again.  Last week he had this move I called his yoga position where he would push his hips in to the ground while extending his arms and raising his head (it looked like Cobra, I think). Pretty cute. He also sticks his tongue out to the side with this half-smile that will melt your heart and has a crooked smile. :) Oh and he huffs and puffs with an open mouth when he sees his bottle, won't put it in himself for the life of him but will throw a big fit if it doesn't make it in fast enough after huffing and puffing.

Andrew says, "gotfor" instead of forgot. And he says it so smoothly in a sentence that it takes a moment to figure out just what he 's saying. He is so thoughtful and as soon as Marcus cries after nap he will go up to make him happy. Yesterday I was working with the girls on homework when I thought I heard jumping and then Andrew say, "Marcus I'm stuck." So I went up there to find this.

I guess it's good to know he still doesn't know how to climb out even though he got himself in there. Oh and Andrew walked in on Steve in the bathroom the other day standing up and peeing and Andrew said in astonishment, "Whoa Dad how you do that?" I guess at some point will have to teach him that . . . is there an age where I don't have to worry about pee going every where in the bathroom?

Ellie, Lila, and I have started reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory together. The boys are there too, but they don't understand it as well or look forward to it like the girls, some day. Although Andrew did insist that Panca (Grandpa Stan) comes with us to the Chocolate Factory.

Election Day

Why does this election feel like a dooms day? Oh that's right, look at the two main candidates. Seriously, I dread the outcome no matter what. I like what one fellow blogger said:

“The most important work you will ever do will be 

within the walls of your own homes.” by Harold B. Lee

"I can't change the world, nor can I change others views and ideas, 

but I CAN teach correct and moral principals in my own home

no matter who our President is.

And in the end whoever wins will have our family prayers,

and we will continue to hope that American will be

 a God-fearing moral land to live in."

Steve and I voted last week by mail in ballot and I'm glad we did because today has turned into one of those nightmare days where I frantically run from one thing to the next:

*drop the girls off at school

*Andrew swim lessons
*pick-up coop produce basket

*A dear friend watched the boys for me so I could go to the audiologist (trying to figure out these vertigo episodes I've been having). She even wiped both of their little behinds--bless her!!

*then run visiting teaching to a sister I haven't been able to see in months who texted me and said today at 11:30 I could come visit. So by golly I loaded the boys and we dashed over there.

*grab some lunch

*put the boys down for a nap

*girls will be home any minute with playdates (Lila's friends' parents are at a funeral so I offered to watch her today and then told Ellie she could also have a friend over)

*head to the ENT, second step of vertigo anaylsis

*plumber, should be here any minute to do work on the basement

*and I happened to schedule the girls SEPs (parent teacher conferences) this evening

So the worldly news will have to wait until late later. We will watch with nervous anticipation tonight as a new president-elect is selected. We did our part and now all we can do is pray and teach our children.

Andrew's Birthday Express to Three

This year Andrew's birthday landed on fast Sunday and the end of day light savings. Ironically, this all happened to be on Steve's birthday last year so we decided to celebrate his birthday on Saturday.

Earlier this week he woke up really cranky one morning and I teased him that we'd call off his birthday-no presents, no cake etc. And in his moody moment he said, "FINE!" Then when he came to his senses he decided he wanted all of it with "ice cream too".

Saturday morning  he woke up at 5:30 upset because his nose was plugged so I went up and snuggled in his bed with him. Then at 7:30 he said he had to go potty so we got up and he saw his present waiting for him on the table and could barely contain himself. I let him open the card from Grandpa & Grandma Moore then I heard the baby so I told him he could wake up Daddy and the girls. He knocked on the girls door and said, "Come see my big present. It's huge." He opened it and exclaimed with a smile on his face, "TRAINS!" and they immediately began playing with it.

While Steve was making Andrew's most requested breakfast, hootenanny (Dutch Shoes is what Steve's family calls them or more commonly known as German pancakes) I asked him what kind of cake he wanted and he picked yellow then a few minutes later he looked in the oven and said, " Where's my cake cooking?" When I finally got it baked and decorated he just sat and stared at it for a while. :)

We had sent out an invitation for local family to join us at the train museum if they could. So we headed there to explore and learn more about trains.

 
We picked up pizza on our way home and Mimi and Grandpa joined us for a little lunch and cake and ice cream. First he got to open his present from them. He got dinosaur sheets and nice warm dinosaur blanket Mimi had made to go on his bed which is a little ironic because just a few nights ago Andrew hauled a big blanket upstairs to his room and said he needed it to stay warm so now he has his own. :)

I put the candles on the cake and Andrew said, "Now for the fire so I can now blow it out."  Steve had barely gotten them all lit when Andrew blew them promptly out.

As we were singing happy birthday he could barely contain his smile and then right after we finished he said, "Thank you everyone." He is a sweet boy with a desire to please and do the right thing. . .If he can get past the extremely stubborn feisty part of him. ;)

Later that evening Andrew was snacking on another piece of pizza in the kitchen while Steve and I were sitting in the living room when he started singing in this slow smooth voice "Happy birthday to Andrew. Happy birthday to me." It was so cute, wish we could have caught it on camera. Happy Birthday my little man! I'm so grateful you're a part of our lives! You can make us laugh and want to pull our hair out at the same time and that is quite a skill.

Foxy 37

Steve has had a few more white hairs the last few haircuts (shhh. . . you really can't see them with is light hair). I think it's foxy. And probably caused by our 4 children and our over ambitious drive to get things done, like finish the basement. Any way, today was about Steve. He got to sleep in a bit. I made him one of his favorite morning meals, breakfast burritos (we love breakfast here and have quite a few favorites). Andrew insisted on showing Daddy his card, he drew a picture of himself and Steve with a heart in the middle--it was pretty cute. Then Steve read the card again when the girls came to the table (they were practicing the piano during the first showing).

After getting the girls off to school he went off to work. We were hoping it would be a short day, but it ended up being a buggy day (can you call it that when you're trouble shooting software/hardware bugs all day) so we didn't see him again until 7pm. I managed to save a french dip sandwich for him (the kids were scarfing them) and then we sang Happy Birthday and blew out candles on the requested brownie sundaes with hot fudge and caramel. Wonder what he wished for?

Happy Birthday love! Just like my card said you are an amazing guy, hard worker, loving husband, great father, good looking and no wonder we're exhausted all the time. Here's too many more exhausting yet rewarding years!!




Post Script: As I was writing this I felt a little light headed. Then right after I posted I got extremely dizzy and nauseated. I had a wild case of vertigo (I think). I tossed my cookies and took a unisom and went to bed.  I felt bad I couldn't celebrate more with Steve and that he was taking care of me. Then the baby managed to keep him up an 1.5 last night. Happy Happy Birthday, honey!

Frozen Halloween

This year the girls decided to wear their Elsa and Anna costumes Lila got for Christmas and I happened to pick-up on Olaf costume on clearance last year so Andrew was excited to be a part of the Frozen theme. Of course they convinced Dad to dress-up as Kristoff and wanted to make antlers for Zoe to be Sven, but alas we didn't get it done (which I'm sure Zoe was grateful for).  Marcus and I stayed behind to pass out candy.  I was a witch and he was my monkey. ;) The weather was a bit cooler, but we're grateful it didn't rain as it did the night before and morning after Halloween.


For breakfast we had monster eggs bendict.

It was supposed to be on home made sourdough English muffins. Andrew and I have been cultivating a starter. I thought it would be a good project since I wasn't able to do most of my regular activities. He had fun helping me mix flour and water in the starter every day. However I could never get a leaven to work for bread and when I actually read the bread making instructions it was like a 24 hour process, so we bagged the bread making idea and made sourdough cookies, waffles, pizza crust, and English muffins--but alas the English muffins were to thick and did not get cooked all the way. To be honest my first experience with sourdough cooking is not so good, but we may try again later.


The kids had the day off from school so we watched Halloween movies and carved pumpkins.

            I always get the guts out, but somehow Daddy always gets the credit for helping carve pumpkins because he does the carving. :) They wanted to do a traditional jack-o-latern this year except Lila who carved a witch hat, broom and cat. When they went to put their pumpkins on the front porch they found a dead bird--poor thing must have ran into a window which happens in the back a lot, but surprised us to have it happen in the entry way. We quickly disposed of it before some trick-or-treaters thought it was a prop and got bird flu.


Dinner of spider enchiladas. :)

Triumphant trick-or-treaters. They also stopped at our wonderful neighbors who provide hot dogs and hot cocoa every year.

Steve said Andrew was his usual hilarious self and insisted on being called "Andrew-Olaf". :) I guess at a couple of houses the people said you can have another piece and he replied, "I'm good, thanks." Also earlier in the week, Andrew put on my witch hat and looked at Marcus and said, "Marcus I'm going to turn you into a waffle. Zippitdy, Zap, Bop. No wait I want a pancake." I laughed so hard that he wore my hat several times trying to turn people into waffles.

Last Thursday, October 27th, the kids also had a chance to wear their costumes to Chuck E Cheese where Izzy had her 6th birthday party. The kids had a fun evening there with cousins and then we went to the library to pick-up a ton of books we had on hold and for their Spooktacular Story time. Steve met us there and then took Marcus home for bed. It was a fun evening. The girls then got to wear their costumes to school the next day for parties. Andrew happily put on his Olaf costume that morning and got in the car for carpool, but was sorely disappointed when he didn't get to stay at school. :) 

Grandpa and Grandma Moore sent Halloween cards to the kids with sticks of gum inside. Steve laughed because his Grandma used to sneak gum to them--must be a rite of passage. Andrew loved his book as he called it and would walk around telling the joke, "What do you do if you get spooked this Halloween?"  "Call your Mummy!" :)  The girls placed their cards in their treasure box of notes!

Super Hero Day

My super heros are taking care of me today. We're playing dress-up (is that what you call it for boys?) and reading new books like "Just Me and My Little Brother".  Life is good.

He says the A is for Andrew ;)

I bought these beanies on clearance last year for a couple of dollars--aren't they cute, the boys of course!  Marcus won't wear his, he can pull it off in milliseconds. I guess that's what I get for not making him wear hats as a baby (didn't want to cover his hair).

Other SUPER things this week:

*Andrew is pretty much potty trained. Yay!

*Girls don't have homework because it's a short week (thank you UEA).

*My Mom helped me clean my floors so I can go another couple of weeks without having to worry about it while I recover.

*Steve is making progress on the basement and I think enjoying it.

Exhaustion

Steve and I have had a bit of a stay-cation this past week. Mimi has had the boys in Mt Green so we would get the girls off to school then I would rest and Steve would work on the electrical stuff in the basement, we'd eat, watch a show, etc.  Friday night my sister came and got the girls to spend the weekend with her. Her girls had been asking for weeks to have Ellie and Lila come spend the night so it worked out for this weekend. I've been missing the kids like crazy, especially the boys since I haven't seen them since Tuesday. Mimi brought all the kids back today at 1:30. We had muffins and apple cider waiting for them. Then somehow by 5:30 when dinner was ready we were exhausted. How could they drain 4 days of rest in 4 hours? 

I had been really good this past week at resting and not stressing about house/normal chores. As we were getting the girls ready for bed, I found their room to be in quite disarray so there was a frantic attempt to put things right there. Then Andrew, poor poor Andrew got a stomach bug again. Sincere prayers going up that this does not make the rounds, I do not need to be heaving with stitches in that area. And hopefully it does not set back his potty training, he's been doing so well.

So here it is almost midnight, I'm exhausted, but somehow I can't sleep because my mind won't shut down the worries I have about my kids. . .exhaustion. Only a parental love can push through such exhaustion, relying on the strength and comfort of a Father in Heaven.

Here are a few more quick stories I forgot in the last post. Laundry day is quite fun around our house. Lila hates laundry day and it takes her forever to fold and put her clothes away. She also has 2-3 times as much laundry as Ellie because everything goes in the dirty hamper. I tell her if she puts it away when it's clean after wearing it then she won't have to fold it on laundry day. We use to call Andrew the motivator because if we didn't get laundry put away before he awoke from nap he would run through unfolding things as fast as he could. He now has a desire to learn to fold, which is exciting and frustrating because he doesn't actually like me to show him how to fold something he just wants to do it, but then gets mad when it doesn't look right. I find if I have one of my shirts while he has a shirt we can fold at the same time. Slowly, but surely he's getting better and now there's a new motivator in town, Marcus.

Also last Saturday, October 8th we gave Steve an early birthday present to help with his work in the basement. Andrew thought it was crazy Dad's tool belt didn't come with tools so he put his in. ;) Then he got his own belt loaded and said, "it's going to get loud." and went to work on our stair railing.

Downtime

Well the blog is in need of a little TLC and I'm in need of an easy project to keep me occupied while I recover so here goes some catching up.

Let's go back to where we left off . . . Labor Day weekend.  Friday night the girls asked if they could set up the tent, I was a little hesitant, but Steve said sure--the new pop up tent makes it easy so they had fun reading and sleeping outside.  Sunday night they had a sleepover at Mimi and Grandpa's. 

Then Tuesday night after Labor Day, September 6th, Andrew had his turn to sleep in the tent with Daddy. He thought it was so cool and since then at least once a week he asks about the tent, "where is it?" "can I sleep in it again?"

After Labor Day the girls started their regular activities. Lila started a jazz class, Ellie is now in level 2 ballroom and they both are taking piano lessons and loving it.

Carole and Russ came to visit mid-September.  They split their time here and with Stephanie and in Logan looking at properties.  It was fun to see them again. We managed to see Stephanie and her family too on Lily's birthday, September 17th, for a little celebration. The kids always have fun together and Andrew managed to fly off their trampoline through the opening just as everyone was watching, spectacular. ;)

That same weekend we had a mother/daughter game night on September 16th, for Activity Days that was a lot of fun--I didn't manage to get a picture because I was busy running a family back and forth from Park Village (I really hope my kids understand that I try to balance my service and time with them . . .).

The next weekend Anson and Enzo had a joint birthday party on September 24th with a fun pinata.

These two sized each other up for quite a while before going their separate ways.

It was also the weekend we started working on the basement. YAY! After 6 months of working on the plans Steve submitted them and they were ready a week later so the guys started framing while I was finishing a talk. ;)  We came home that Sunday, September 25 to Andrew singing, "Follow the Prophet, Follow the Prophet, don't go a-straight". It was so cute. We kept telling him it was "astray" not a-straight, but he didn't get it. Steve and I had one-on-one interviews with the kids that Sunday as our Family Home Evening lesson. We talked about being obedient with Andrew and he now says, "I want to be obedient." He really has a tender heart and wants to do what's right, he's just a little curious and mischievous at times. He knows when I tell him I need to see him he comes out and says, "look, see" while twirling his hands to prove he no longer is doing what he shouldn't be doing. One time he even said, "somethings going down my back" because he shoved the item he wasn't supposed to be playing with down his back to show me his hands were empty. ;)


We managed to catch a stomach bug that week too that seemed to linger between each person.  Andrew had a particularly rough night where his diaper leaked diarrhea all over the trundle bed then he climbed up on to the big bed and threw-up. That was lots of fun to clean up and caused me to do a deep cleaning General Conference weekend before my surgery.

Andrew and I were invited on a preschool adventure to Black Island Farms on September 27th. Steve decided the night before to go with us. We have fond memories of Black Island Farms. It was one of the first things we did with the girls when Steve joined us here after finishing writing his dissertation. We had a good time with Andrew, but I think it didn't quite live up to the memory. They also had huge mosquitos there. I saw one on Andrew's face from a distance while I was feeding Marcus and told him to swat it and blood went every where it was disgusting, but he sure likes to tell the story.  

The following Friday, September 30th, we had our traditional fall ward party of pumpkin picking in the neighborhood which was good for us to take the girls to get their pumpkins.  The kids love to socialize and go out to the pumpkin patch. We found a couple of good carving ones and a nice red one for my spider pot.

Steve and I needed to put our faces in there and set Marcus out front, but we could never coordinate it . . . maybe photoshop later.

We also made a last minute attempt to preserve as much of the garden as we could. We froze tomatillos, raspberries, plum barbecue sauce (on pork, deliciousness), made 9 quarts of applesauce and 2 gallon ziplocs of dried apples that are yummy!  My helpers, the big dilemma, do I eat it or put it on the sheet to dry.

Of course we have to capture Marcus in all his cuteness. 

He used to make this face where he didn't show his lips, cracked me up.

Testing the kids light saber (I think this one belongs to Ellie).

Pulling up at 8 months old--crawling and sitting was so last week Mom.

And this cute picture was sent to me this morning in the hospital as I was missing my baby.

Mimi took the boys back to her place today so I could rest at home. I've missed them terribly, but so grateful for the time to recuperate. Andrew discovered the little training toilet downstairs this past weekend (last month we decided to take a break from potty training because he was so adamantly against it), but with Mimi and his new potty he has set off on a new adventure and even packed himself some underwear to take to her house. It really is something they have to decide to do--no amount of bribing will work (believe me I tried, Lagoon, chocolate coins, m&ms). Fingers crossed! 

Tonight we enjoyed watching Goosebumps with the girls. It was a fun movie to get in the Halloween spirit. It's kind of a weird twilight zone here with only the two older girls around.