Sunday, November 25, 2007

We're not THANKFUL for the flu!

Well, what can I say that the title doesn't? And yes, the flu hit us in the midst of Turkey Day! Baby Josh came down with it the night of Joseph's birthday and then just as we were getting ready to head over to Mignon's house for Thanksgiving on Thursday, Joseph got sick. Poor Steve had to skip out on dinner and stay home with him while the rest of us went on to Mignon's. Then I came home around 5pm to trade places with Steve so he could go to Mignon's and watch football with the guys and about 1/2 hour after I arrived home I became ill with the stomach flu. (Yes, that means I had to miss BLACK FRIDAY sales.... ) I came out of it enough to spend a little time with family on Friday night - but that's when it hit Jeff. As of this moment no one new has gotten it in the family...knock on wood. Regardless, my kids really enjoyed their cousins - and it was great to see all of my long lost cousins! Can't wait to do it again in 2 years. And hope we didn't get anyone else out there sick!

Joseph turns 5!

As you can see, we had a busy week, so I have some catching up to do! Well, Joseph turned 5 on Tuesday. He's growing up so quickly and is so stinkin' adorable, we can all hardly stand it! For his birthday, he had a small birthday party at a park close to the school he goes to -- (gotta love these winter birthdays in Arizona!). He only invited 3 other kids plus baby brother. They enjoyed playing at the park and eating McDonald Happy Meals and cupcakes before heading off to afternoon pre-K.

His brothers and sisters also wanted to celebrate with him, so after school, we all went to a new Build-A-Bear at the new San Tan Mall where he "built" a monkey that he named "George". Joseph is crazy about monkeys!!! He also picked out a spider-man outfit for the monkey to wear, so the monkey's new nickname became "spider monkey". The 2 of them are so cute together and have since become quite inseperable.

After the monkey thing, we ate dinner at the mall and just strolled around and let the kids play in the play area. Then it was back home for more cupcakes and presents. What a day!!






Friday, November 16, 2007

Happy Birthday, Amanda!

First of all, I don't want this post to be depressing. I guess perhaps I just wanted to do something public to acknowledge her 15th birthday since every year I struggle with a way to celebrate it. Not much planned today -- Steve and I will go out to dinner tonight (a rare date for us these days) and spend some time with each other reminiscing. Maybe a small cake with the kids before we go. Wow, can you believe she's been gone almost 10 years? It just seems like a different lifetime ago. I'm just grateful for the peace I have and the knowledge that I have that we can finish raising her during the Millennium if we stay worthy... And I'm especially grateful for FOREVER FAMILIES!!






I was hoping to scan better pictures, but not having much luck.... oh well.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Fancy Hair!

Seems like with 5 kids there's always something to blog. In other words, never a dull moment around here! Tonight while the Jeff and Steve were at basketball practice, I took the girls and little boys to San Tan Village, a new outdoor mall that just opened last week. There is this adorable little store called The Glitter Box that will give little girls free "up-do's" on Monday nights. The girls were thrilled with how their hair turned out -- you can't tell from the pictures, but they saturated their hair with glitter....hopefully, with as much hairspray as they used, their hair will still be cute for school tomorrow. While the girls were getting their hair done, the boys played in the water and on the soft toys at the mall. Made for a great FHE.






Thursday, November 1, 2007

Halloween!

I believe we experienced a "Halloween hangover" this morning. Boy, was it hard to get the kids up and going this morning. And I can only imagine what the poor teachers at school are going to go through today. I think they should change Halloween to the last Friday of the month -- just like they have Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November. It should would make things easier for everyone.

ANYHOW, we had a great time last night. We attended a HUGE (bi-ward) trunk or treat across the street from our house in our church parking lot. Cousins Jessica and Becca joined along with us. Along with trick or treating they provided hot dogs with all the fixins and a D.J. for some additional entertainment. I could hardly pry Emi off the dance floor at the end - she was having a ball with her 2 little girlfriends dancing away. As for costumes, Emi went as a rock star, Starr a movie star, Joshua was Superman, Joseph was some Star Wars guy, and Jeff....we're not quite sure if there's a name for him, he just threw on some stuff. As for Steve's costume, he couldn't resist dressing as a hippie basketball coach. Oh, and Katie is in a picture..see if you can find her. Enjoy the pics!