We're Back...

So, we're finally home and we had a great trip. We spent the first 4 days we were gone with my lovely sister in Northern Cali. We enjoyed to Jelly Belly factory, great shopping and the Temple. We were sorry that my BIL wasn't there to enjoy it with us but maybe next time!

Then it was off to Monterey. N8 had 3 1/2 days of meetings there so we thought it would be a great time for me and the kids to join him. The weather was chilly! We were expecting cool, but it was a little cooler than we thought. Luckily we spent the first 2 days at the Monterey Aquarium and then Thursday at the park and doing some shopping. The kids loved seeing all of the fish and other creatures at the aquarium. It would be great to be able to go when there weren't so many school groups there.

It was nice to be in a place that was so green. One the drive home we drove through a lot of farm land. What a beautiful thing farming is. Maybe it's just in my blood or something. All of that Idaho farming from my grandparents somehow got instilled in me or something. Seeing the fields of growing things, the vibrant colors, the water... It was so fresh and clean.

Well here a a few pics to show that we actually left the desert!

Baby Shower...

So last night I hosted the baby shower for Amy. It was fun but man, I am wiped out today. I've been sick so I'm sure that's way but I seriously feel like I could sleep all day. To bad Bud and Emma won't let me do that. So, we had a flower theme for the shower and I realized the only pictures that I took were of the food I made. The food was fun, but I really should have at least gotten a snapshot of the Mommy and Baby. Well, Here's the food. The theme was flowers so I made a sugar cookie bouquet.
And a fruit kabob bouquet.


I think all in all it turned out pretty well. Now I just need to clean-up and catch up on some sleep!!

I've got chills... they're multiplying

Ok, well not really but seriously I hate being sick and really the timing could not be worse. Saturday night we too the kids to Denny's for dinner (kids eat free!!). So either I ate the wrong thing or I was getting sick anyway. Since early Sunday morning I've been battling the runs. Sunday I also ran a fever and was achy with chills. Augh!!! Tonight I'm having a baby shower at my house so I've been slowly trying to clean my house and prepare food. double augh!!! It's a small shower there will be 10 people at the most, but I still want everything to look nice and be fun.

This weekend we're suppose to head down to LA and go to the temple. We also really need to go to Costco and N8 needs to go to REI and look for new hiking boots for the 50-miler. So, I better be feeling better since we waited until the last weekend of the month to do our temple trip.

Here's to feeling better!!

kicking & hitting & screaming, oh my!!

So, if a stranger were to look at my two darling children they would have no idea that they are constantly fighting with each other. It is just about driving my crazy. The only reason I think I'm staying sane is that Bud goes to preschool for 3 hours each day! If Bud is sitting on the couch reading a book, Emma immediately goes and lays down next to him so she can kick him. This of course aggravates him and he starts hitting her. Then it's just a snowball effect. N8 said that he and his brothers did the same thing. I don't remember doing this with my sister, but I do remember chasing her or visa versa and my mom just ignoring us. I just keep praying that they will our grow this little phase.

So Bud is currently obsessed with the day and time. He is constantly asking "is today Monday (or Tuesday....) This weekend is Father's and Sons campout and we told him it was on Friday. So throughout the day he asks is today Friday, so I can go camping with daddy. I'm glad he's excited to go, but the week needs to go by a little bit faster so we can get to Friday.

I think a blog is a great venue to display or write about crafts I'm working on. So, I've been working on a baby blanket for baby Iris. We haven't planned the shower yet, but it will be in the next couple of weeks. I better be working faster!! I also made a new "quiet book" for sacrament meeting for the kids. We'll probably also do it at the Mother/Daughter craft night in July. http://www.enrichmentcottage.com/files/callmeonamission.pdf
http://www.enrichmentcottage.com/crafts/i_hope.htm
In primary the kids are learning a new article of faith each month, so this should be a good craft to do.

My other new venture is computer scrapbooking. We had a gift card to Best Buy and I got Scrapbook Factory. He's a page from Emma's scrapbook I started.

What a nothing day...

Well, I shouldn't say nothing but that's kinda how it feels. We got a new TV yesterday (that is something) so we gave our old entertainment center to a neighbor. I washed the van. It hadn't gotten washed since our trip up north. But it was really windy and cold and I kept getting sprayed the entire time. N8 did change the front brakes on the car. He's really getting into the car repair thing. It's great, it costs us less and he feels really good about doing it. After dinner we decided we needed to get out of the house. So, we packed the kiddos up and went to Home Depot to look at everything we're never going to be able to buy. Always an experience. Bud and Emma just can't keep their hands to themselves lately. Geesh!! Well N8 just got home with Tasty Freeze! Tomorrow I teach RS. Here's hoping for a great lesson!

Surprise!!

So N8 has been on travel for the week and I decided to surprise him. I had a ceiling fan installed in our bedroom. This is something we have been talking about for the last 3 years and I thought we would never really get around to it.

They installed it yesterday morning. The guys got here at 6:45am!! The were out and done by 8:45am though. They needed to be done before it got too hot. It looks really nice and I'm sure we'll love it through the summer. There was one little problem though. Last night I went into Bud's room to put some things away and his light didn't work. So I had to call the electrician back and they came over this morning. Apparently the wiring for his room is also in the switch box of our master bedroom. Who would have thought. But it is all taken care of and N8 has no idea. I hope he likes it!

The joys of the emergency room

So why does stuff always happen with N8 is out of town. Last night I took Ricky out to dinner for his birthday. When we dropped him off at home the kids wanted to go in and look at his fish. So we stayed a little while checking out the snails and starfish. When we went to go outside I pressed the button to open Bud's door to the van and he tripped and fell into it.

There was a gash and a lot of blood. Ricky drove us to the hospital so I could hold Bud on my lap and keep pressure on his head with a rag. Once we got there we sat and sat and sat some more. When we were finally seen the Dr. decided that it was glueable. So Bud has is going to have a cool scar on his forehead and for the time being he has his head glued shut!

The joys of motherhood.