Too many bows????

Is there such a thing? I am beginning to think that I am a little bow crazy. But really, doesn't a little girl need a bow to match every single outfit? Amazing thing is, this isn't nearly even half of the bows that Amber has and she is only 9 months old!!!! Most of the ones that you see above I made a few weeks ago to display for the RS so that people could sign up to learn to make bows at our craft Saturday this past weekend. All I have to say is that dressing up a little girl in ribbons and bows is sure a lot of fun!!!!!!

Another nap, another room

Friday I decided to paint Aaron's room during nap time. And this time, I catually did finish it in the 2 hours that nap time took. :) I had taped everything the day before, and it was fast and easy going!!!!! Since Aaron's blanket is green and animals, we decided to do the same thing for his room. He helped me to stick the animals up on his wall Friday before bed time and he loved the look of his new room. I rewarded myself after getting the room painted by taking the kids to the pool for the rest of the afternoon!!!! Amber's room will be up next. I guess we will just have to see if I can get it done before we leave on vacation!!!!

And ps- HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!!!!!!!!!!!

The differences between children....

I love children. I also love my job as a mother. It is very rewarding. There is always something different going on. It is almost never boring (unless of course I am doing laundry...that is my least favorite job ever!) I am so glad to have 4 children. I am convinced that the more kids I have, the less that I know. Those who only have one child are really missing out, in my opinion, because with each child comes a new and fun personality and twist to the family. Each child comes to this earth hard wired in a different way. I thoroughly enjoy seeing the different personalities of my little ones and seeing how they interact with each other. To illustrate my point, I have to share our experience at the mall playground yesterday.

We had been running errands for a goodly amount of time yesterday and my last stop was the mall. On the way in, the kids wanted to know if we could stop and play. I told them that if they behaved during my shopping, we would stop on the way out. They behaved pretty well, so we stopped to play as promised. The playground was one of those squishy ones with lots of padding and lots of things to climb on. It is a prehistoric themed playground. There was almost no one there as it was getting close to dinner time, so we had most of the place to ourselves. There were 4 other people there I think. Anyway, the first part of the time was spent with Aaron doing his own thing and sliding, and Brian chasing Weston all around wanting him to play. Finally Brian came over to me and says that Weston doesn't want to play with him. I told him that was fine and to just play something fun by himself. And this is where the fun began.

Brian decided to climb the biggest woolly mammoth in the playground. (I had him stand next to it later and it came to his eyeballs....he is like 47 inches tall, so somewhere close to that.) He stood up on top of his "buffalo", as he called it, and began to pound his chest and yell, "AAaaaahhhhaaahhaaahh!" You get the point. He then takes a flying leap off the thing and comes running up to me.

Brian: Mommy, I am SO smart aren't I? I did so good jumping off the buffalo, huh?
Me: Yes Brian. You are so smart and so good!
Brian: I am just like Tarzan. (I am not really sure how he knows about Tarzan, but I just go with the flow.)
Me: Yep, you sure are.
Brian then takes more flying jumps off of the "buffalo."
Brian: Mommy, am I so good or what?
Me: So good Brian!!! I love it! (Nothing like encouraging your child to be a daredevil)
At this point Weston decides he is ready to play with Brian and comes up to him. Here is the conversation between the two of them.

Brian: Weston, come climb up on the buffalo with me.
Weston climbs up next to him.
Brian: Okay, now jump!!!
Weston: (looking at me for help) NO WAY!!!! That is DANGEROUS!!!
Brian: No it isn't. I have already done it. It's fun.
Weston: (still standing there like a statue, not sure what to do) I don't think that this is a good idea Brian.
Brian: Then move over so I can jump. (Weston moves and Brian jumps.)
Weston, not to be outdone by his little brother, looks again at me and then proceeds to squat on the "buffalo." Deciding that it is still too high, climbs down a little lower to the ear. He squats down again and after much contemplation over whether he is going to kill himself or break something by jumping, jumps very gingerly off the "buffalo" ear. He then stands up and looks right at me.
Weston: I am NEVER doing that again. That was WAY too scary for me. (He then walks away)
Brian: Aaaahhhh!! Aaahhh!! Aaaahhhhhh!!! (More Tarzan yelling)
Brian then continues to jump from the "buffalo" over and over again until it is time to go.

And me...... I just sat on the bench, smiling and laughing to myself at my two fun, yet very different little boys. Weston has always been the cautious one. Always making sure that it is okay with me before he tries something. Always wanting to please and have people happy with him. Brian has got a tad more of a wild hair to him. He loves to try his hand at new and interesting situations, and do his own thing. He rarely fears anything. He forges ahead without permission and then apologises if things go wrong. (You know, like the nickel that accidentally slipped out of his hand and fell down his throat, but he was "very sorry" about it later!) Yes, children come to our families with different personalities. All the differences make life and motherhood a little crazy and hairy at times, and yet so enjoyable and rewarding all the time!!!! I love my little family!!!!! :)

Yesterday's nap time activity

Yesterday at nap time I decided to paint the boys' room. I like how it turned out!!! They want to decorate it in a space theme. That will be the next thing to get done!!

ps- this is my 500th post!

I'm still here!

I know that you were wondering if I had fallen off the face of the earth, but I haven't. Things are good here and just hum drum. Amber is doing well and you wouldn't even know she had tubes put in her ears a few days ago. She is all recovered. We are enjoying the summer time. The boys have been doing jobs, and we have been to the pool a few times. We are headed off to the park this afternoon. I had planned on going to the pool, but a cool front came through last night and it is only supposed to get to 71 today. A little too chilly for swimming if you ask me, but just right for an afternoon at the park!!! :) Last night we had a baptism FHE for Weston. He had fun writing down the promises of baptism. Aaron and Brian both drew baptism pictures, and Amber, well, she tried to climb the stairs. :) So that is what is going on here!! Happy Tuesday to all!!!!!

Our lucky Friday the 13th!!!

The day started off with a bang with Amber having her tubes in. She is actually already back to her regular self!!!! After I got home, I noticed that Weston had a bad hivey rash all over. Turns out that the sunscreen that we found to be non-allergenic last year changed their formula over the winter and he is now allergic to it!! He has a rash ALL over!! Poor little guy. Then, after nap time, Brian came up and told me that he was very sorry!! He said that he was looking at a nickel in his bed during nap time when it "accidentally fell into his mouth and he swallowed it!" Yuck! We went and took him for an x-ray and they said that it was in his stomach still. Now he is complaining that it is hurting. Poor little guy. We had a storm roll in this afternoon and when I drove in from taking Brian to the x-ray, found this in the backyard. Looks like we don't need that tree man after all!!!! Barth said that it was REALLY loud!! I bet! Thank goodness no one got hurt and the house is fine!! Hope your Friday the 13th has been a good one!

All done

Amber got her tubes in this morning. All went smoothly. Our doctor was on time and we were the first ones in the entire place in and out of there this morning. The doctor said that she still had quite a bit of fluid on her right ear so they drained it first. She was not herself when she came out of anthesia, but is doing better now. We were home by 9 this morning. It should just be an easy day around here of recovery.

I love haircuts!!

The boys' hair had gotten way too long for my liking. So, yesterday after playing in the sprinkler, I gave them all a cut. You can't tell on Aaron as much. I do love the look of a fresh new haircut!! They just looked too cute, so I decided to take a picture.
Brian and Aaron were helping me sweep. I love having good helpers.
I like the sun on their faces from the morning's swim. :)

Updates

Amber had her pre-op physical today for her tubes surgery this Friday. We also had it count for her 9 month check!!! (although we didn't get shots) Here are her stats from her appointment today:

Weight: 23 lbs, 2 oz. ---97 %

Length: 27 inches ---50 %

Head: 47 cm --- 95 %

So, in other words, she is short and fat!!!! She still has fluid on her ears, but not very much and otherwise looks great!!! After her appointment today we ran some errands including getting Weston some new piano books since he finished his last ones! He was so excited about that!!! On the way home, Amber fell asleep in her new (to her anyway), comfy car seat that I installed the other day!!!!

And I also thought that I would put in a picture of our grass. Now know that it isn't the best looking yard there is, but a lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into getting it to look the way it does. The sod is taking nicely and we put down seed in all the bare spots that you see. Not all of it took, but there are quite a few patches of new baby grass out there when you look up close (you can't see it in the picture, you just have to take my word for it). The neighbor down the street said that even if all of the seed didn't take right now, a lot more of it will this fall when it gets cooler. :) Anyway, I think that is it for us today!! Have a wonderful day!!!

Amber Tag

Tag from Sabrina Collins

8 Things about Amber:
1. Amber LOVES to dance. She even daces to the hymns at church!! :)

2. She can wave and say, "Hi!" but never does it on command!! Silly girl!

3. She has recently become very attached to me and will cry hysterically if I walk more than 2 steps from her.

4. However, she doesn't mind crawling away from me and exploring the house, pantry, piano room, laundry room, or basically any room that the door is open to. It has to be her idea though!! :)

5. She absolutely LOVES her brothers to death!!!! Each one of them can make her laugh and laugh. Lately she has even taken to copying the funny sounds that Aaron does to make her laugh. It is really cute.

6. Even though she was quite a fussy baby in her first few months of life, she has gotten to be quite a happy little baby girl and is fairly placid most of the time.

7. Because of her strange problems with eating, she still nurses every 3 hours, even though she is 9 months old. And she absolutely WILL NOT take a bottle!!!!

8. She looks just like her Daddy and will lunge out of my arms to him when he comes home from work!! We are so glad to have Amber in our family. :)

Amber tags her cousin Pierce!!!

A is for Aaron

I have been working with Aaron for a while now on how to write an A. Up to this point, he could only do it if I held and guided his hand. This last week he has been really working on it a lot and kept telling me, "I can't do it!" I would tell him he could and then would help him to write a few more A's. At Amber ENT appointment this past week, there were coloring pages for the kids to do. Aaron turned his page over though and got to work writing A's. He did this whole page himself and was SOOOO proud! I thought that he did a really great job so I just had to blog it! It is hard to believe that he is almost 3. He is getting to be such a big boy. :)

9 Months Old!!!

I can hardly believe how the time has flown!! Amber is 9 months old today. In honor of her 9 month day, I decided to do a ponytail. It won't stay very long, but is SO cute! I am so glad that Amber is a member of our family!!!

OUCH!

A few weeks back we decided to support a fellow ward member in their new video gaming business since they were just opening and had decided to stay closed on Sunday. Their first day open was a Monday, so we decided to try it out for FHE. Basically the place was full of big TVs and different types of game systems. We are not big on the whole video game thing, so this was a BIG treat for the kids. We decided to give the Wii a try. The boys wanted to do baseball and bowling. Weston and Brian played baseball first and after a few games decided to give Barth and I a try. All was going well. It was pretty fun. Those little remotes are cool, but I was swinging mine just like I would a bat, kind of hard. Well, while I was up at bat, Weston decided to move where he was standing to get a better view of the things. I swung, he moved, and my right hand connected with his head! He started crying, and my hand hurt like crazy. I had hit him HARD!!! Above is what happened to my ring during this little accident. I had to apply tons of soap just to get it off. Weston's head got a huge goose egg on it and the prongs on my ring cut him. I felt SOOOO bad. Weston is a tough little guy though and after a few minutes and a few hugs and kisses was ready to move on. We spent the rest of the hour playing bowling which was really quite fun. Even with the accident it was still a fun night. I guess if we go again, I will have to remember to remove my rings and make sure to tell the kids to stay put!!! :)

Baby-proofing :)

Amber is almost 9 months and about as mobile and inquisitive as they come. After a short tumble down the stairs to the basement the other day, I decided that it was time to invest in a swinging gate so that I could leave the door open to downstairs and have Amber safe, and yet the boys could come up and down as they pleased. Here is our new gate. We haven't had to have gates before. This is our first two story house. Most all of the baby-proofing things have been done, but now we are safe with stairs as well! ! The day that I put it up, the boys had more fun playing with Amber through the gate than doing anything else!!!

Tubes

Amber had her ENT appointment this afternoon. She was well on her way to another ear infection and had a LOT of fluid on her ears. We scheduled today to have tubes put in. It will be next Friday, June 13th at 7:30 am. Hopefully this will make for a happier and more restful little baby girl!!!

A to Z About Me

Tagged by Kristin

A - Attached or Single? Attached! :) Married to Barth for almost 10 years now.
B-Best Friends? Barth and my Momma
C-Cake or pie? Either one and I like lemon the best!
D-Day of choice? Sunday. I love having a day of rest!
E-Essential Item? The scriptures!!
F-Favorite color? Pink! (Is there any other choice?)
G-Gummy bears or worms? I don't really have a preference.
H-Home town? Carrollton, TX
I-Ideal Vacation? Going to TX to see family!
J-January or July? July for sure. I LOVE the summer.
K-Kids? 4 beautiful ones!!! Weston-8, Brian- 5 and a half, Aaron- almost 3, and Amber- 9 months
L-Life isn't complete without? My family and the gospel
M-Marriage date? August 15, 1998
N-Number of brothers and sisters? 3 brothers, 1 sister
O-Oranges or Apples? Apples probably, but I love the little clementine oranges
P-Phobias? cockroaches, the big water bug kind!!! Yuck!!!
Q-Quote? "Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." Henry Van Dyke
R-Reasons to smile? a wonderful family, a beautiful world, a home, a supportive husband....there is ALWAYS a reason to smile and be happy!!!!!
S-Season of choice? Summer!!!!!! I love to swim!
T-Tag 3 people: Momma, Andrea, and Melissa
U-Unknown fact about me? I can't type, but I am the fastest hunt and pecker in town! :)
V-Vegetable? Cucumbers or broccoli
W-Worst habit? Hmmm....I don't think I'll divulge this one. I want you all to continue thinking I am perfect!!!! Ha, ha, ha!!!!
X-Xray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound....I would much rather be finding out about a baby than worrying about a broken bone.
Y-Your favorite food? A good, old fashioned PB& J sandwich. I know, I know, I am a little strange. :)
Z-Zodiac sign? Virgo

Ending with a bang.....

Today was the last day of school!! The majority of the day today has been stormy. It actually made me quite happy. The thunder and lightning and heavy rain reminded me of home. And since our air conditioner has still not been fixed, I got to enjoy it even more with the windows open. That was all fine and good until it came time to get Weston from school. Amber had just woken up from her nap. Aaron was still upstairs fast asleep. I had just told Brian to get his shoes on..... and then my heart stopped. Loud and clear and blaring through my windows came the warning sirens. I knew what that meant.....a tornado. I quickly turned on the TV. All over the news was the warning being displayed. Although there wasn't an actual funnel sighted, there was a wall cloud and a hook and the top of some cloud had fallen. According to the weather people, that was something that usually happened right before a tornado dropped. I quickly ran upstairs and got Aaron out of bed. I then grabbed shoes and the radio on the way down to the basement. The darn signal had gone out on the TV by now because when there is bad weather, it always knocks it out! Once the kids were set up in the bathroom downstairs, I got the phone and called Weston's school. Although I was confident that they wouldn't release school when there was a tornado warning, I had to hear it for myself. The school reassured me that the kids had already gone to the tornado places and were in position. No one would be allowed to leave until the warning had passed. I must admit that by this time I was just about in tears. Barth will tell you that I always think up the worst case scenario. This was true for sure this afternoon. In my mind I could see my poor little baby up there at that big school when a tornado hit. I could imagine the damage and debris that would lay all over the road blocking me from getting him and bringing him home safely. I was having a hard time keeping it together just thinking about it. We had a good prayer down in the bathroom while we waited. We had the radio going so that we could find out when the storm had passed. At last it was all over. There was no touchdown around us. I was so thankful. I can't tell you how glad I was that all was well. When I got to the school to get Weston I had to hold myself back so that I didn't squeeze him to death after such an ordeal that turned out to be nothing more than high wind. The kids were no worse for the wear. Weston said that he had to kneel for about 30 minutes in the tornado position and that was bad because he had skinned up his knee yesterday. :) And so, our school year ended today with a big bang..... and one that I hope not to have to repeat!!!!!

How to open a bottle of bubbles.....

by Brian Yorke

1. Get the bottle of bubbles and take them to the kitchen.

2. Make sure you do this while everyone is outside.

3. Open the blue cap.

4. Try to get the lovely child-proof foil seal off using a spoon.

5. When that doesn't work, try the next best thing.....a butcher knife. (Remember, mom is outside, she won't know)

6. Make sure you are in your swimming suit because you are supposed to be playing outside in the sprinkler like everyone else.

7. Stick the knife through the foil and then pull back while holding the bottle against your stomach.

8. This will give you a nice cut all along your stomach with that knife.

9. Run outside and yell "Help! Help!!" to your mom and send her into hysterics when you show her your bleeding stomach.

10. Tell her it was from opening bubbles and that you are SO SORRY!! Make sure you are crying hysterically while doing this.

11. Finally tell your mom that you opened the bubbles with a sharp knife.

12. After all the trauma, decide that you don't want to do bubbles anymore!!!!!

*As a side note, thankfully the cut didn't end up being much more than a regular surface cut. I am grateful for that because it could have been a LOT worse. :)

Amber's upper GI

Amber had her upper GI test this morning. This test is the one where she had to drink barium and then they take a series of x-rays to check what her digestive tract looks like to make sure that it looked okay. The test actually took a lot less time than I was anticipating. Amber did good and all looked just like it was supposed to on the test. The one thing that I found interesting was that about an hour after the test finished, Amber threw up all the barium that they had given her. This is consistent with when she throws up food. She throws it up about an hour after eating it. They told me that I would find barium in her diapers, but there has been none of that. It makes me wonder if the problem is further along in her digestive tract......Anyway, I am still waiting to hear when the endoscopy will be. I will call them tomorrow to see if they every got it scheduled. :)

Also.......
Tomorrow is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!! Then, Wednesday is Amber's ENT appointment!! Oh, and our air conditioner doesn't work!! They didn't put freon in it when they hooked it up in December. It was 90 here today but it didn't get above 84 inside and that wasn't until late this afternoon when we were playing in the sprinkler. We are finally warm here. The people are supposed to be coming to fix the air tomorrow. The good thing is that it is still cool here at night and in the mornings, so we can open up all the windows in the morning and cool the whole house down. :)

Weston's last game

Weston had his final game of the season yesterday. It was finally warm enough not to have to wear a jacket either! :) It was a beautiful day and Weston did a great job. He even scored the first goal of the game!!!! In his current age division, they play 7 on 7, but since there are only 8 kids on the team and one broke his arm a few weeks ago, all the boys play the entire hour. It has been so fun to watch Weston play this Spring and to see all of the improvements that he has made. He has gone from fairly timid, to much more aggressive in his playing. His favorite position was wing, but he also played full back really well. Yesterday he got his first taste of goalie. His team ended the season with a bang and won something like9 to 1. Go Panthers!!!! Enjoy the pictures of the last game.
Weston trying to get the ball away from the other team.
Here he is doing a corner kick.
Here he is playing goalie. He thought that it was pretty fun to get to wear the cool gloves.
This is the only time the entire last quarter that the other team got anywhere near the goal, so I had to get a picture of the action with Weston in the background. :)
After the game, there was a "banquet" put on by the association. It was a nice picnic lunch of hot dogs, chips and cookies! Here is Weston's whole team eating together. Weston's main coach is the one in the hat. The assistant coaches are all the other men standing around.
Here is his team. They were posing for a silly picture!!
We LOVED Weston's coach. He was so patient and nice to all the boys and made the practices such fun. We are sad that he won't be coaching next year, but the assistant coaches will and they are just as nice.
Weston got a cool trophy just like Brian to celebrate his season.
Here he is with his cool trophy. Great job Weston!!!