Playing outside

We enjoyed some nice 70 degree weather yesterday (it has been a lot cooler) and so we played outside after we got Weston from school. The kids all had a grand time. Amber went for her first wagon ride and really enjoyed it!! This has been a great wagon- Weston got it for his 1st birthday!!!
Say hello to Popeye!! J/K! This is the face that Brian makes quite often when I ask him to smile for a picture. It was just too funny not to share.
Much better!!! What a cute little Bri-bri we have!
Aaron came over and said "Me too!!! Me too!!"
Here is Weston on the zoingo boingo that he got for his birthday. It is quite fun!! It is kind of a cross between a pogo stick and those pogo balls that we used to have as kids!
Amber enjoying the ride while chewing on a straw! :)
Here is the little scooter boy in action. He was telling me yesterday all about how he would go to the basketball courts with Grandma this past fall and ride his scooter all around.
Weston got hurt and was taking a break for a minute.
While he was resting, he decided that he wanted to take a few pictures of everyone together. :)

And, for the count....just 2 more days of school!!! You know what that means......SUMMER JOBS!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!! Oh, and swimming too if it ever gets out of the 60's and into the high 80's or 90's!!! :)

Comparison

People are always telling me that my kids look exactly alike. While I do agree that they all have their Daddy's BIG, beautiful eyes, I don't really think that they look that much alike. I think that Amber and Weston look the most alike. For fun I thought that I would pull out the pictures and do a comparison of all the babies at around 9 months old. Enjoy!

This is Aaron
This one of Brian is a little blurry. Sorry!
Weston.
and Amber!!!

A visitor

I looked out my window just now after laying Amber down and I saw this cute little visitor in my yard eating some grass!!! I thought that he was too cute not to take a picture of and share. :)

We need a tree man!!!

The last few weeks we have had lots of wind and rain. One afternoon this past week when we were playing outside, I saw that one of our trees had bit the dust!! It looks like we need a tree man to help us get it down!!! This is the part that I saw first.
Here you can see that it just snapped in two right at the base of the tree.
If you look closely, you can see that one of the other trees in the yard is holding it up. The main parts of the borken tree are being supported by major branches of the big trees around it. Poor tree!!!

Amber's GI appointment

Today Amber had her GI appointment. The doctor said that she was the healthiest looking patient he had seen all day!!! :) I discussed all of my concerns about her vomiting when she ate and he said that he didn't have any clear answers for me right away. He needed to run some tests. Tomorrow we will schedule her for an upper GI and then sometime in the next few days, his office will be calling with a time for her to have an endoscopy. He said that it sounded like food allergies to him just off hand. I said that I agreed, but we had allready done a full round of allergy testing with Cincinnati Children's. He said that the endoscopy would allow him to see if there were any signs of allergies that might not show up on an allergy test and it would also allow him to rule out something like Celiacs. They will take several biopsies when they do the test. He wanted to do an upper GI to make sure that her GI tract was working properly and that there wasn't anything like a malrotation, but he didn't think that there was. All in all, I was happy with the appointment. He didn't make me feel like I was nuts, and the last comment that he made before leaving was that he would "figure this out!" His nurse said that it usually took about 2 weeks before they could get her in for the endoscopy, and the upper GI should be soon. I'll let you know!!

Husband Tag!

* What is his name? Barth Weston Yorke

*How long have you been married? 10 years this August!!!

*How long did you date? A long time! :) Barth was my first date when I turned 16. We dated during high school, although we both dated other people too. I wrote him on his mission. When he came back, we were engaged not too long afterwards in September and then we were married the following August!!!

*How old is he? 31

*Who eats more sweets? Its a toss up! I have a big sweet tooth, but so does he. :)

*Who said "I love you" first? Honestly, I can't remember. I have such a bad memory! But it was probably him. The very first Christmas that we were dating, he gave me a locket that has "I love you" engraved in the back. He is such a sweet heart! I still wear that locket now.

*Who is taller? He is.

*Who can sing better? Me, but he has got a great voice. Too bad I am so loud that I drown him out!!!!

*Who is smarter? He is!! He has got an awesome mind, but I had better study habits in school. :) When we were at BYU, we took a few classes together. He would always wait until I took the test to see what I got before he took his test. That way he could make sure to do just a little bit better than I did. It would drive me nuts!!!

*Who does the laundry? Me!!!

*Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? When you are looking at it, he does.

*Who mows the lawn? He does!!!! Allergies and all!!!! :)

*Who cooks dinner? I do. He makes it on special days like Mother's day and my birthday and does a great job, but I mostly cook.

*Who drives? He does. He doesn't like my driving!! I think that more than anything he just like to be in control of the car and what is happening. It drives him crazy to sit in the passenger seat! :)

*Who is more stubborn? Probably him. I am a pleaser.

*Who kissed who first? He kissed me. If you ask, Barth will tell you that he got my ear at least a dozen times before I would let him kiss me! :)

*Who asked who out first? He asked me out first. He came to my ward on my 16th birthday and then we went out the following Saturday!!!

*Who proposed? He did. He came home from his mission and then out to BYU to see his brother. (yeah right! We all know that it was to see me!!) One of the nights he was there he was teaching me some Portuguese. He said something and I asked what he had said. He told me that he had said he loved me. I asked him what else he had said because there was an "e" in there and I knew that it meant and. He said that he had said he wanted to marry me. I, of course, said yes. The official ring proposal came about a month later when I went back home.

*Who has more siblings? Me with 3 brothers and one sister.

*Who wears the pants? Hard to say. He does on some things and I do on the other things. So, I guess you would say we both do!

*Now I am supposed to tag some people. I would tag Jessie, but I never did her tag from a while ago. (Sorry Jess!!) I tag Amanda, Momma, and Jenny. You don't have to do it, but it would be fun!!!

Little Indians by Weston

Grass

I've been working on this for a while now. I first pulled up all the weedy/ dead part right there in front. Then, last Friday I laid 10 rolls of sod. So it went from this above and below....

.....to this. And today, I got 20 more rolls of sod and laid it during nap time. I know that there are still a lot of dead spots and weedy spots, so over the next week or so, I will finish weeding and then we will put seed in those bare spots to try to get our lawn to the way we want it. I am tired, but I like the way it looks even though it isn't perfect. Thank goodness it is cool today and not even 60 out!! Otherwise it would have been a HOT job!!!!!

Brian's preschool promotion

Today was Brian's pre-school promotion program. It was so cute! He had been looking forward to it for a long time now, asking me nearly every day if it was almost time for his "anniversary"! He kept forgetting the name of it. :) There are 3 classes of pre-schoolers in this school, so each class had it's own colored graduation hats. (Brian's class was black and the other classes were blue and red.) Doesn't Brian look cute in his? They had the "graduates" stand and the other classmates (the kids range in age from 3 to 5) sit on the floor. The kids sang 3 songs for us and then they had the ones graduating on to kindergarten walk across and get their certificates. It was cute. I was video-ing because Brian wanted Weston to see it too!!! :) Barth was in charge of taking the pictures.
Brian wanted to look extra nice for this day today so he picked out a nice shirt and had me iron his clothes special for today. He looks mighty nice if you ask me.
Here he is getting his "diploma". We realized later that the camera was in the wrong mode and so that is why it turned out a little blurry. Brian was so happy!!!!
After the ceremony, we all went back to the classroom for cookies and a little socializing. Here is Brian with his good friend Mason.
Brian with one of his teachers, Ms. Barb! He had the BEST teachers!! They have been so kind and loving. The reminder note that was sent home yesterday about today's program said that after all was done, the kids could go home with us, although they didn't have to. When it came time for us to go, Brian didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay and enjoy the rest of the day at school. I am so glad that he has such great teachers that make school so enjoyable for him!!!
Here is Brian with his two other teachers, Ms. Joan and Ms. Shannon. Shannon is the actual teacher and the others are her helpers. It is her first year teaching and we have just loved her!! She is so kind!! I am so glad that Brian was able to have such a wonderful pre-school experience!! Congratualtions Brian! I can't believe that you are almost in Kindergarten!!!

A creepy river

I love my little Aaron. He is at a fun age right now. He loves to tell me about all the things that he knows about. He tells me about the cows by Weston's school. He tells me that he likes to feed the fish at the pond. He tells me which way to turn when I am driving. He is a big talker and I love it. Aaron also is very sure of himself. He never thinks that he is wrong. Part of it is his age, the other part is just his personality. :) Aaron and I have conversations over and over again. Let me share one of my favorite.

Aaron: Look Mommy, a river!!
Me: It sure looks like one doesn't it? A river is bigger than that though. Since this water is small, it is called a creek.
Aaron: Oh! A creep.
Me: Close....a creek...Kkk! Can you say "K"?
Aaron: Kkkk....creek
Me: Good!!
Aaron: It's a creepy river! It's spooky! I LOVE the creepy river Mommy!!!
Me: (sigh) It is a very nice creek isn't it?

One of these days he will know that it is a creek. Until then, we will just keep having this conversation over and over again about the creepy river. :) I just love kids. They keep life fun!!!!

I'm not crazy!!!!

Sometimes I think that I am crazy. When I look at my kids, they all look like normal people. This is why the doctors think I am crazy too. Normal looking people don't have wierd medical problems!! I don't know anyone that has a kid with crazy ketotic hypoglycemia. That is Brian's trouble. Weston's is asthma. Amber can't eat, and Aaron, well, he is small. But today, I am not crazy in thinking that. We went to the doctor about 2 weeks ago about Aaron's growth. The endocrinologist seemed to think that I was a little strange to think that Aaron was small. She said that he was right on track to be his projected height of little- 5'8". I am not tall, Barth is not tall, so none of the kids should be either. Not a problem, I don't mind being short. The problem for me was that he just seemed to not be growing. If we had lived in one place and had seen the same doctor for the last 2 years, I am sure that no one would question me. He has grown less than an inch in the last year. But we have moved too much and, like the doctor said, both of his parents are small, so in looking at his chart....he was fine. But, to be on the safe side, she ordered a few blood tests. I hadn't heard anything in the past almost 2 weeks, so I figured that everything had turned out normal, just like the doctor had thought. Yesterday afternoon I got a call. It was the endocrinologist saying that the test results were in from Aaron's blood tests. She said that while the majority of the tests were normal, he did have some abnormal results. She said that his growth hormone levels had come back low. She wanted to see him back in 6 months for more tests and to monitor his growth. At last!!! I knew I wasn't crazy!!!! I guess that we will just wait and see now. I have no idea why each of my kids has to have something strange medically, but I count my blessings that at least nothing is major!!!!! Now that I know I am not crazy, it gives me courage to face Amber's GI doctor's appointment on Tuesday. Hopefully they won't think that I am crazy too!!!!!!

Her poor little ears

Yes, the title says it all!! Amber has yet another double ear infection. None of the boys ever had this many. For the record, so far this year, she has had 2 sets of infections in January, 2 sets in February, one in March, one in April and now one in May. Since she has had so many, they are referring her to an ENT. She had to have a shot of antibiotics yesterday and a re-check of her ears today to see if they were better from the shot. They were not. She got another shot today and they decided to put her on a hard antibiotic to help resolve the infection. Poor baby!! And just when she was starting to sleep through the night. Here's hoping that these pesky double ear infections resolve soon!!!!!

Brian's last game

Well, I have been meaning to post these pictures since Saturday, but am just now getting around to it!! Brian had his final soccer game on Saturday. He has had a lot of fun and his coaches were fantastic. I loved that there were really no practices, just right before the games. It was just my speed. I know that there are lots of parents that might not think that this was enough practice, but with 4 kids, less is more!!! I thought that it was just right for kids ages 4 to 6!! His games were supposed to be done last week, but we have had so much rain that several games had been cancelled and made up. Weston still has 2 more games. :) Above is Brian practicing before the game. They cut the practice short because it started to rain.
Here is Brian during the game. He was ahead of the ball here! :)
Here they are "building a wall" for defense against the other team. As you can see, most of the team is really paying attention to what is going on in the game. Brian was most likely singing or calling to the birds or something not related to soccer. :) Oh well!
After the game was over, the coaches took the kids up to the nearby pavilion and handed out the trophies. Brian was SO excited to have a cool trophy and wanted it displayed!! It is on our fireplace for all to see!!!! That is Brian with one of his coaches.
And here is the whole team. They were called the Maroon Monsters!!! It was a fun season for sure!!! Way to go Brian!!!!

Standing in her crib

A slice of heaven!!!!

Look how cute!! This little sweetheart has been sleeping GREAT as of late. (I must knock on wood here!) The last few weeks she has been sleeping from 12 to 8am and it is so nice. Last night though, she went down at 8 with the rest of the kids and woke up at 3 to nurse and then slept until 7! To me, this is like a slice of heaven. I could get used to this!!!!! :)
And this is my other heavenly thing for the day! This is what I see every time I look out my back window. I just love it!! It makes our home feel so private and nice!!! After looking into our neighbor's houses all winter, this is a nice change!!! I posted the picture below so you could compare what it looks like in the winter to now!!!

Lots of Rain

It was nice the last few days, but today it is raining. I just love rainy, lazy days when I can just cozy up at home!! The yard is coming along, but will have to wait until at least Friday. It is supposed to rain until then!! Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!!!!!

Ducklings

I meant to share these last week, but forgot all about it. A few Saturdays ago when we celebrated Weston's birthday as a family, we saw these cute little ducklings on the way home. Barth saw them first and then went back so I could snap a picture. As we slowed to take the picture, the mother duck decided that it was a good time to cross the street. And then she just kept walking in the road. The people behind us were honking, but she wouldn't move. I had to finally go and chase the ducks out of the road. They were sure cute though!!!!

Tired and sore!

I have a bunch of pictures to upload of Weston's party, but for right now, I am takin a break!! In case you didn't know, we have a yard full of weeds. We decided when we bought our house that instead of having the landscaper come and put in a few things, we would do it ourselves and take a lower price on the house. Well, now that Spring is here, we have to get busy ripping out all the weeds and re-seeding. SOOOOO....since my mom is gone and I have no one to talk to during the day (besides my cute kids of course), I decided I would start to tackle the front yard. I got a lot accomplished today, but am SO sore and tired. The boys "helped" me out and I think that I now have more rocks planted in my yard than I started with, but that is okay!! :) Hopefully I can get it all done this week so that we can get the seed down and have a half decent looking yard soon!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

On Mother's Day I wanted to publicly thank my mom for all of the wonderful things that she does for me. She is my best friend and I talk to her all the time. I am so glad that unlimited long distance was invented!!!! :) Here are a few things that I love about my momma:
*She encourages me to be the best that I can be at all times
*She is always willing to give me advice on the things that I need
*She is an awesome grandma too!
*She helps me with the things that I need- like coming a thousand miles to help me unpack my house......I KNOW that it wouldn't have gotten done otherwise!! :)
*She has a wonderful knowledge of the gospel and has taught me well.
*She is caring and generous and ALWAYS willing to help others.
*She is always smiling and is a naturally happy person.
*She is always honest.
*She is hardworking and tries to do the best in everything she does.
*She is just a great person all the way around.....I am NOT prejudice!!!

Now, also in honors of Mother's Day, I would like so share a few of my favorite memories of my mom. I think that the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of my momma, is not one thing in particular, but many nights of the same thing. As I got to be a teenager (and still now when I come to visit) she and I would go out shopping together. We always had such a fun time. We would be out sometimes until 2 in the morning, shopping at Wal-Mart and having fun just browsing around. We could look at everything under the sun and have a marvelous time. Another thing that I love is how she always helped me. In high school I was SO busy. During those busy times, she would take time every night to sit and brush and dry my hair as I did my homework or read my required reading. It was extra things like that and ironing all of my shirts that just show what a wonderful person she is!! I think that one of the best things that I learned from my mom was seen by her weekly visiting of those in need at the nursing home. Sometimes I would go too, but she always seemed to have someone to visit every Sunday. She taught me by her example that life isn't just about you and your family, it is about others. It is helping and serving those in need and going the extra mile to make someone else feel loved and cared for. Hopefully one day I will be as good and loving as she is!!

I love you Momma!!!! Happy Mother's Day!!!!!!!!! Have a fun week camping this week!!!!!

Rainy Day Fun