Just one of those weeks. . .(9 days)

It's been one of those weeks. 9 days actually, but whose counting (me!)? The kind of week where I haven't left the house except to get groceries and see doctors. Have I mentioned it's been 9 days? The kind of week where you open a brand new jumbo bottle of Ibuprofen and it's now gone. Here is yesterday's fever reducer tracking system. I had to keep a chart to keep it all straight!

It all started with Aidan getting sick, and now it's everybody else, minus Ethan whose immune system must have seen this one before. There have been a few fun moments, like when the kids became the Wilde National Bobsled team:

TURN HARD!!!

And entertaining moments, like discovering that Aidan sleepwalks when he is really sick. (in hindsight this answers a few questions about when he was SO sick a couple of years ago) We are REALLY hoping that this little development goes away once he's all better, because let me tell you. . . I actually took a video of him last night, but it is so crazy I can't post it. Let me just say that I'm glad he's not 16, as I'm sure something or someone would have been broken a few times by now.

Here is my pathetic daughter. . .

So today when we got up and it became painfully obvious that we were in for another day at home and TV ALL DAY, I decided to tackle something. Something big. Something that's scared me off for the last two months.

You see, I got a serger for Christmas. (a serger!!!) I have been so excited, and I pulled it out of the box and everything, but then it just sat on my desk for the past 6 weeks. I've picked it up a few times, and then put it right back down. It's so scary! There are four threads! They wind all around! AH! So intimidating.

But today, I decided to be brave. I decided to take my sisters advice, who told me not to be scared of it! I assured her I wouldn't of course, but I admit, I have been a chicken. She said, "don't let it scare you. Just thread it!" So, I looked the serger in the (needle) eyes, and told her to sit still and cooperate because we were going to get this done, all the while repeating Ellen's advice, "don't be scared, don't be scared, don't be scared."

And guess what! She did!
And I had so much fun doing little test seams, I decided to try it out on something real. Look at this seam!!! Oh, the joy!
I whipped up this little pair of bloomers, to go along with this cute little shirt I bought for someone small and sweet a few weeks ago. I think I'll smile all day. . .
So, I guess I can say the week ended on a high note, don't you?

Two!

My baby is two. And I can hardly believe it! She is such a little love and I adore her.
Happy Birthday sweet girl! Unfortunately, we are all sick, (well, 3 or 4 of us) including the birthday girl. So, we are holding off on partying until this Friday, so she can really enjoy it. Happy Birthday!

a Redeeming Moment

So "he who shall not be named" but is going through a "1st grade phase" had a redeeming moment this past week. The first graders were all asked to write a report about their favorite place in Oregon to visit. This is what my boy wrote:

I like home becase it is fun. At home it smelles good. And it is nice at home. And there is love.

Be still my beating heart! My boy. . . I don't think it's exactly what the teacher had in mind, but I let him turn it in anyway, because it was such a sweet little essay. The part about it smelling good especially floated my boat, and I don't even think I can say why, it just did. At least he has his moments!

Cousin Fun

Isn't this what you imagined that it would be like all the time when you had children? Nothing but spontaneous happiness and love all the time!

It might not happen all the time, but it is fun when it does!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day! Valentines day is one of my favorite holidays. The Valentines Fairy came last night as she does every year, leaving some little treats on the table for breakfast. . . Good morning!

Then we got ready for church. Do you have a sweet little valentine to dress up at your house?

Me and my valentine got to dress up today, but not in red. . . it's also "scout Sunday" today, so we got to wear our uniforms to church. Lots of fun.

And here are the kids for Grammy, with their cards! They all loved them Gram!

Baby Balboa

Face

+

Concrete

=

black eye

But that's not the way she likes to tell it. She likes to say she's really into kickboxing.
You should see the other toddler!

a good game

Something suspicious going on here. . . SURPRISE!!!

I wonder what's going to happen next. . . Ta DA!

the Weekend Report

This weekend was filled with a flurry of activity and "get it done." We did however start by seeing Avatar, which was lots of fun, and my first 3D movie. We both enjoyed it.

Saturday morning started with haircuts for all the males. Emilee gets really jealous during haircuts, and wants to be included, so she hopped up and we played beauty shop for a few minutes. When I was done with her do, she would not get down. She sat there for 20 minutes enjoying the salon. Doesn't she have the best curls?

Rachel learned once again this weekend that there is just no better way to increase your spirituality than to have your husband go hang out on the roof for an hour. So many prayers haven't been sent heavenwards from our house in quite a while. But we do have a nice "un-mossed" roof now, which was sorely needed.

While Gordon was on the roof, I learned how to pull a tooth with dental floss, at the request of Aidan, our second son who likes to hang on to loose teeth for 6 to 8 months at a time. He decided it would be fun to have it out when Daddy got off the roof for a surprise. So, we tied the floss, yanked, and the tooth popped out and disappeared into thin air. We never did find it! But, the tooth fairy came anyway, so that's okay!

Our cute little neighbor Bethany got baptized this weekend and I took the three boys. It was a fun outing, and then I took Bethany's picture for her mom. Isn't she a cute girl?

While I can't say she enjoyed having her photo done in the park with people walking by, I can say I enjoyed doing it. She is so photogenic that it didn't' matter that she refused to smile!

And that was just part of Saturday! I'm almost glad to see Monday back again this week, the weekend was so busy!

Emmi-loo-hoo

The other night Gordon was in charge of little people baths, and he rushed into the bonus room asking for the camera. Upon delivery, this is what I found!

I'm not the only one who just has to play with her hair! :)

My Ducky

Chandler has turned a corner. I think I can still say that he has been by far our most challenging toddler, beginning when he was about 10 months old. At times I have felt like I was just "surviving" his toddler years. 3 has been a challenging year for him (and by him, I mean me), but he's finally kind of coming out of it. I can finally kind of reason with him, and he understands. His non stop talking is now non stop conversations, instead of just being one way. And, he's just been SO happy lately. I think he's finally getting enough sleep for his needs, and is a little ball of sunshine and energy to be around. He has been such a little ray of sunshine and joy that I keep thinking he reminds me of this little ball of happiness. . .

One of my favorite characters in a movie ever. When I used to watch this movie as a kid, I thought I would like to have my own little ducky. And now, I kind of do! He wakes with unbridled joy every morning ready to spread his happiness to all who are willing to soak it up, and is still just an innocent little love who likes lots of hugs and kisses. I'm loving this stage. And, I'm so glad it's come along, because someone else, who shall not be named but is in the dreaded 1st grade stage, is going through just that, "a stage." At least that's what I tell myself every night when he finally goes to bed. This too shall pass, and he'll grow into the next fun stage. Just like Chandler did!

the blue and gold banquet

Last night was the cub scout Blue and Gold dinner. It was the 100th anniversary of the start of boy scouting, so we had a birthday theme. I made the cake! (are you shocked?)

Ethan received a couple of new awards. . .and then we chopped up the cake after every one's awards. This cake was HUGE. 6 cake mixes, 18 eggs, 2 pounds of butter, 2 pounds of cream cheese, 8 pounds of powdered sugar. . .

and it was enjoyed by all.

When we decided to have a birthday theme I knew I was destined to make a huge cake. Check out this cake, twice as big as the one I made, made by my mother for a cub scouting event when I was around 2 years old. TWICE AS BIG!!! I can't even imagine how long this must have taken! Notice that it COVERS a dining room table. (I can't get the photo to turn, so you'll have to turn your head) :)

Happy Anniversary Scouting!

a picture problem

Here is my big Aidan. He is about to lose his first front tooth, and I just wanted to get one more picture of him with his baby teeth in before it is a bloody gaping hole, and forever more a big tooth. So, we tried to get a real smile out of the boy that just can't seem to smile for a camera. Here are some samples. . .

almost there. . . just a little happier please!

Um, this is a little too happy. . . Okay, Mr. Silly, let's just try to smile. . .

Oh, it's just so natural and relaxed, don't you think?

Oh, this is getting painful!

There we go! A little more please! Teeth!!!

Ah, there we go. That's my boy! There is apparently a 30/1 ratio for taking a natural "posed" picture of my son Aidan. But, at least I got it done!

I needed a nap after all of this!

Away!

This past weekend, I had a chance to go on a little Mom-away with some dear old friends who used to be in our ward, but have moved on. It was so fun to see everybody together again!

We headed to Seaside, Oregon, where one of the gals has a family cabin. The weekend started out great! We arrived at the cabin, all piled in with our stuff, and then decided to just run down to the boardwalk to see the ocean. So, we locked the front and back door, and headed out. We were gone about 20 minutes. Here is a picture!

Upon returning, we discovered that somebody must have been watching us come in from the street. Because the back door was kicked in, and 6 out of 8 of us had missing wallets, purses, and cell phones! UGH. What a start to a ladies weekend! We called the cops, filed reports, canceled credit cards, boarded up the back door, and then stayed up all night (well, some of them did) playing cards and chit chatting.

The next morning, at 9, an officer pounded on our door and said he had found much of our stuff, dumped on the beach. It was about half of the loot. My wallet and things (minus cell phone and AmEx) were returned in that batch. We went and hunted on the beach and found the other half of the loot, buried in the sand. The only things this creep kept were cell phones, keys to the van, cash, and all of our costco AmEx's. Weird, I know! He must have needed to do some Costco shopping! We were all so thankful we didn't have to go through the hassles of the lost wallet, new drivers licenses, etc. . . thanks Officer!

This turned out to be an interesting experience. We really didn't do anything stupid. We locked the front and back doors before leaving, but obviously looking back we should have carried our purses anyway, I suppose! Also, we all really felt blessed that no one had stayed behind in the house to greet Mr. Creepy. The other kind of neat thing was that I REALLY felt like I should drive to this event, even though there was no reason for it. There was plenty of room for me in the two other vans. I just had this nagging feeling I should drive, so I insisted, even after much questioning from the girls. If I hadn't driven, I wouldn't have been parked right behind Robyn's van, and it probably would have been gone because he took both sets of her keys, and got into the van to snoop around. My car blocked the gated entry. I am so grateful for the promptings that come my way, and so grateful I listened!

Even with all the drama, I think we're all looking forward to next year! And we may even carry our purses to the beach! :) Thanks girls!