Our Trip to the Worlds Fair...

When our friend, Mark, came to visit us last last month, he commented I wasn't posting on my blog enough -- so here I go again boring you with more details of my life!

Jeff has been working so hard on his Worlds Fair project. Each 6th grade student picks a country, researches it to death, makes a poster with all sorts of facts, etc., and then the students line up with their displays and artifacts in the hallway while the parents walk by and ask them questions. Out of probably close to 150 students, Jeff was the only one who chose to research Colombia - and he did an awesome job. Of course, his dad served a mission there, so he was TONS of help. Most of the kids served something from their country to sample, such as meatballs from Italy or chocolate from Sweden. Steve thought since Jeff's country was Colombia, he should put some powered sugar on mirrors with razor blades and straws...but we really didn't want him expelled from school with only 3 weeks remaining. As an alternative, Steve made some agua de panela for everyone to sample. What? You don't know what panela is? It's a baked sugarcane loaf dissolved in boiled in water and then cooled to drink. Basically, sugar water -- and who doesn't love that? Just add carbonated water and it's soda pop, right?

And as a side note, just picked the first red tomato from my garden yesterday. Yep, it's that time of year! Gotta love it -- at least until July!

We Survived!

Yep, we survived a hugely busy crazy weekend. And it is with a cheerful heart, I announce to you that EVERYONE IS AT SCHOOL AND WORK THIS MORNING! I may regain my sanity, afterall. Jeff, however, probably should be home, but has the "Worlds Fair" tonight at school - it's a HUGE project he's been working on for school this past month and really needs to be at school today, inspite of what we think is an ear infection. He's a trooper and even gave his first talk at church yesterday not feeling great. All in all, we had a buzy weekend filled with Jeff's Scout Camporee, his baseball game, Sunsplash (EVERYONE WENT!), homework, and had a stinkin' good time hanging out at Mignon's last night.

Sickie Update!

Who's still "under the weather" at my house? Well, WHO'S NOT? Kidding....it's a long one, folks...and making me a little nuts. It seems everyone so far starts out with a fever and then coughing and then it kicks them in the butt for a while with little appetite, headache, light-headedness and little energy -- could this be some type of flu virus? Girls are good (We must have awesome immune systems!) Starr had this same virus, but was only down for 3 days (which is good). Jeff has been battling it for 7 days now and is just FINALLY starting to feel better today - it seems to come and go with him. Steve is still home from work (he's been home all week -- good thing he hasn't used much sick time in 10 years). He says he feels a tiny bit better each day. And Josh had a fever Tuesday night and seems to have a touch of this. We have Steve's work party tomorrow (they reserve an entire water park -- SUNSPLASH -- with miniature golf and go carts)...it's a private party - closed to the public and one my kids look forward to all year. Dang...Steve's already leaning towards not going --- we'll miss him!

Lovin' those Diamondbacks!

My family loves watching the Arizona Diamondbacks...we're huge fans! Yep, even me. I first started to really watch them when I was pregnant with Joseph 6 years ago - it was summer... hot, boring, miserable, so I would lay on the couch - under the a/c vent - and watch the games with Steve. I've been hooked ever since. We watch most of the games on TV during the season, and are fortunate enough to go to several home games at Chase Field in Phoenix. Last month, Steve's work reserved a large group of seats for their employees and families for last nights game against the Giants. My family has been looking forward to going to OUR OWN first game of the season since we got tickets, however, our 2 biggest fans are STILL sick. And let me tell you, Jeff and Steve must have really been sick to miss out on this. At the last minute, we grabbed Starr's BF Janae and my niece, Jessica to come with us. Except for Joseph, it would have been a girls night out! We had a good time -- we ended up sitting right behind Steve's boss and his family, so I tried to keep my kids on their best behavior... however, they ended up leaving around the 6th inning and let me tell you --- that's when the peanuts started flying! From the 6th inning until we left (after the 8th), we could contain ourselves no longer and got in a "food fight" (mainly with peanuts) with our group of R & K Employees. Hopefully, Steve won't get in too much trouble for his families behavior when he gets back to work from STILL being sick. (Yep, he's home again today, poor guy.)

Update on Joshua

My sweetie, Joshua, went in for his 2 year well check-up at his pediatrician office on Friday. So, we just found out he's 33 inches tall (10th percentile for his height) and 23 pounds (5 percentile for weight). Basically, he hasn't grown or gained any weight during the past 6 months. The doc didn't seem concerned, just commented he's probably just going to be a little guy. Both of my two sisters with kids each have a "little guy" so I guess it's my turn. However, Steve's convinced he'll still hit a growth spurt one of these days and catch up to a more "average" height and weight. Time will tell.

Also, due to Joshua's speech delay, we have a therapist coming to our home to work with him (and teach me) once a week for an hour. We had our first visit on Wednesday - and boy did she give us lots of homework. I've been trying harder to be more consistent with teaching him some signs (starting with the words: eat, drink, and more) and I try to remind and teach the kids also, but Joshua has that "I don't care" attitude. Seriously, if a 2 year-old could roll his eyes at me, he would! I asked her how long it takes for a child to pick up the sign language, and she said it depends on the child and how quickly he wanted to communicate, and that children who are desperately wanting to communicate will pick it up in only a couple of days -- well, he must not care...and his laid back personality doesn't help, cuz I think this is going to go on FOREVER! Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up already, in fact, I'm determined to help him -- and I'll start the list to the right of my blog again that shows the words he's now saying and with any luck, we'll start seeing some good progress. Hopefully, I'll read back on this blog in another year and realize how far we've come. Here we go.....

Just a Bunch of Sickies...

My kids had the day off from school yesterday ...they called it a "spring holiday," and my kids decided to spend their fun, long-anticipated, 3-day weekend SICK. Everyone but Joseph and myself seem to be either running fevers, coughing, achy, and have stomach issues. Yesterday, they all spent the day laying around sleeping and watching movies most of the day. But hey, my kitchen has stayed clean and I haven't really had to cook for anyone since they are all nauseated - that's my only positive note. It's probably all that partying and birthday cake that has brought this on. (he he) Let's just hope they feel better soon -

Another birthday...done!

Wow, I can honestly say, I'm tired of putting on birthday parties. Now I know how my mom felt while I was growing up with 3 of us kids having birthdays in December. Anyway, we celebrated Steve's birthday yesterday -- and no, he DIDN'T have ONE meltdown the whole day telling me he didn't fell special. He did, however, mention to me that he appreciated all the phone calls he received during the day of those wishing him a happy birthday.

It was just a normal working day for Steve - the girls had a softball game he was coaching at 6pm so immediately after the game ended, Steve's sister, Terri, his 2 neices and I brought down a large cake and some balloons and we all sang happy birthday to him along with his team and families. It was fun to surprise him, although it was beginning to get dark, cool, and the wind was really picking up - which caused us to move through the party quickly.

Doesn't he look cute in "pink"...actually, it's called "coral". And he wasn't thrilled when he first saw it, but I think he was very grateful for the "coral" color after a couple of weeks when he saw some teams and their coaches in baby pink and pretty lavendar.

In this picture you can kinda see how windy it was...ugh...

Whew, what a weekend!

Fortunately for Starr, when your birthday falls on a Sunday, we usually celebrate all weekend...and this weekend was no exception. On top of birthday activities, we had Jeff's baseball game, ward bbq, and of course the long awaited BON JOVI concert. So needless to say, it was a fun filled packed weekend.

As for Starr turning 10, she's been such the drama queen lately that I was worried I wouldn't have anything nice to say about her....just kidding. She really is a sweetie, always thinking of others and so good with Joseph and Josh. Of course, still is and always will be a "daddy's girl". I love that -- and of course, her dad does too! On Friday night, to start out her birthday, we went to dinner at her Favorite restaurant -- HOME TOWN BUFFET -- yep, she loves it. We did this while the guys went to the Bon Jovi concert -- So me with 5 kids .... need I say more. Actually, while at the buffet, after chowing down, I asked Joseph if he wanted some dessert and he said, "You want me to eat CRAP?" (meaning junk food -- we call it crap in my house). Boy, do we train em' right, or what? After dinner, Starr had a sleepover (which is a rare thing and reserved only for special occasions) at her best friends house next door.

Starr and Janae heading to her sleepover.....
On Saturday, Steve and I split up -- he and his BFF, Mark Brown (here from Seattle for the Bon Jovi Concert) took the little boys to Jeff's game and I took the girls ice skating. I actually told Steve I was only going to watch them until he piped in, "That's too bad, it would really be a good work-out for you." So of course, the guilt set in and I reluctantly agreed. I would have burned off some good calories, but Emi and I were tired half way through skating and decided to split a chocolate bar - so much for the calorie thing. I also decided while skating.... and I've only done it twice -- I REALLY DISLIKE ICE SKATING. Holy cow, there are little 5 and 6 year olds skating circles around me and though my legs and chasing each other -- I thought I was going to die a few times. I'm really sad to say I didn't have a good time. Don't get me wrong, I didn't fall one time, but I was close to hugging the wall a good portion of the time. And Starr and her BFF, Janae are troopers -- twice they would stop to rest, take off their ice skates, examine and whine about their blisters and chewed up feet from the rented skates, and then 3 minutes later put their skates back on and go back out on the ice....kids! Well next year, lets hope she picks something else. Either that, or I'm watching from the window with the other SANE mothers.


On Sunday, we had a great family day with Mark Brown still visiting and then family and friends coming over for presents and cake in the evening. We loved meeting Bryce's girlfriend, Heidi -- LOVE HER! Even my kids thought she was pretty terrific. Katie stopped by with her friend from Utah, Dave, for a few minutes -- so it was fun to finally meet him also. And of course Starr's BFF, Janae and Uries were all here to celebrate with us. By the end of the night, Starr decided her birthday, which in the morning was pretty lame (didn't help it was our fast Sunday) was pretty cool.

Starr did a beautiful job decorating her cake.

As a side note, Steve, Jeff and Mark had a blast at the Bon Jovi Concert Friday night -- for those that don't know, it's Steve and Mark's tradition to get together and go whenever Bon Jovi has a new tour (which has been every 2 years) -- so this is the 3rd time they've done this. ROCK ON!


These last pictures are for Mark. Erica, thanks for sharing Mark with us this weekend -- we wish you and your whole family could have come down! We love you guys!

Joshua turns 2!!

Wow, I can't believe my baby is 2 today. Time flies when you're having fun...or when you're busy up to your eyeballs with 4 other kids! Anyway, as I reflect upon these past 2 years, I can't imagine our family without the cutie. He has brought so much more joy and love into our family. These are just a few of the things I love so much about Joshua...(nicknamed little peanut, Mr. Chompers, peanut putter (Joseph calls him that), and chub of love:

**His smile (or giant grin) - not only his he always smiling, he has a great smile with these perfect teeth!

**With Joshua's wonderful disposition, I don't think the "terrible twos" have caught up with him yet. He still likes to hold my hand when we walk instead of trying to run around everywhere. Just a pretty mellow kid.

**He is so loving and cuddly -- last child we had like that had to be Starr.

**Not only is he a "mommy's boy", he's just as much a "daddy's boy" -- he just lights up when he sees either one of us and doesn't seem to prefer one over the other.

We celebrated his birthday today at the park. I finished decorating his cake during the morning session of General Conference and soon there after went to Tumbleweed Park in Chander for the informal festivities. This was a new park for us -- but we had heard great reviews about it. It was so windy when we arrived, but Josh didn't seem to mind. He loved his presents, the cake, and playing on all the fun stuff.

Aunt Katie brought bubbles for the kids to play with... and it was a little easier to eat our cake sitting on the sidewalk verses in the wind at the table.

The playground was massive with a huge cover over the top for shade....(which came in handy today since it was a tad bit warm).



Josh received this water/sand table his from his mom and dad -- he LOVES it (and so does the others).