Aidan's birthday! 9!!!

Happy Birthday AIDAN!   For Aidan's birthday, he received a little waterproof sporty video camera.  He and his brothers have been filming ever since and having lots of fun with it.  Here is a little video he had me help him take to show a couple of other things he got from his grandparents.  He had a great birthday and is looking forward to party time next week!

the Blue and Gold dinner

It's time for the blue and gold banquet!  Ethan received his Webelos badge and is now working towards his Arrow of Light.  Aidan received 3 arrow points to go on his uniform.

 And we all received yummy cupcakes that topped off dinner.  I think they turned out pretty well adn were very well received!

Happy Birthday 37!

Man alive we are in the middle of birthday season!  We celebrated Gordon's birthday two days late due to the Blue and Gold banquet this week.  He took the boys skiing, brought home chineese take out, and then we had a traditional strawberry rhubarb pie, a la mode.  It was enjoyed so much by all, that I have been informed that next year I should probably make two pies so that he can have some leftovers like he used to!  Happy Birthday!

Playing hookey

The boys didn't have to play hookey because they had school off, but Gordon played Hookey on Friday and took the boys to Timberline lodge for what has been called by many "an epic day."  After all our snow thursday, and blue skies on Friday, they really got to enjoy the day.  They all came home with mild sunburns and tales of glory from the slopes.  The rest of us tried not to be jealous!  :)

Daffodil Darlin's

Well, after worrying that we'd never have a day sunny enough to bring out these blooms, and then a snow storm that I was sure destroyed them, it would appear that our daffodil field is going to do just fine.  I finally got to take the girls out for a little portrait.

 I've seen this profile before. . .

 a real sniff. . .

 and then one for the camera.  :)  What a little actress!

Snow Day

We had quite a snow storm!  It snowed about 4 inches on Wednesday night, and when we woke up in the morning, there were trees broken all over the city.  It was so sad.  All of the blossoming cherry trees that are currently heavy with blossoms really held onto that heavy, wet snow and it broke hundreds of them.  This one, right over the neighbors fence and into our yard.

 Look Grandma!  We had a lazy snow snake on our BBQ!  The kids got a couple of hours off school and enjoyed every minute.

 We gathered some pretty blossoming branches off the broken tree and had a nice little bouquet.  It was a "make lemonade" moment, and I think we made it work.  This picture is taken the same afternoon. . . look at the sunshine!

Turtle Time

It doesn't happen every day, but when my kids come up with a game they can play all together (even Heidi got in on this one) all on their own it's like a rainbow has landed right on the house.  This time it was turtles.

 They parked at the drive in turtle movie later and had a show together. . .

Good kids.

Pet Deprived

Maybe we'll have to consider a pet someday, but until then, the kids are taking things into their own hands.

Sicky Sick Sick

Emilee has been SO sick this week.  It started Wednesday morning with a tummy bug and when she still wasn't keeping anything down Thursday morning I called the doctor.  I took her in and she was pretty severely dehydrated.  The doctor said she was walking the fence of going to the ER for an IV but if we could get things under control quickly we could probably avoid it.  They gave her some anti nausea medicine (Zofran) and she stopped tossing her cookies, and then the fluids started going down.  It was so sad to see her so sick.  She was so weak she could hardly talk.  I had to wake her up every 10 minutes to give her the fluids through a syringe and then she would fall straight back to sleep. 

 Look at those dark circles!  :(

 That night we moved her bed into our room so we could keep our ears open in case she needed us.  Then next morning she started accepting some calories through Jello and popcicles, and by Friday she was feeling much better.

 The boys were even feeling sorry for her.  They read her stories one night in her little made up bed in our room and it was a cute little moment.  I even overlooked the popcicle eating on the carpet.  (Sh!  Don't tell Gordon!)

And I am happy to report she is all better now!  Now to get the 3 lbs back onto her tiny little body.  She is down 10% of her body weight, it took me a year to get those 3 lbs on!  Hopefully she'll keep eating heartily and it will go right back on.  Poor little thing!

I am so thankful for the health we normally enjoy.  Hurray for healthy kids!

Bottoms Up!

We have just entered: "sleeping with your tail in the air" stage.  I LOVE it!

the call of the WOLF

Remember when you were a kid and you were sleeping soundly on a Wednesday morning and your dad came down the hall with a frying pan and a wooden spoon and woke everyone up and announced that you were not going to school, but instead you were going to Disneyland?  Or when you got a call slip in high school and it said "Emergency!  Call home immediately!" and you did and your dad answered the phone and said in an urgent voice to come straight home, he'd tell you why when you got there, and the whole way you think your dog died or something worse but when you get there Dad's strapping the ski's to the car because there is fresh powder up at waterman?  Well I do!  It was always the best surprise!  I love a surprise trip!

We kept this trip to the great wolf lodge a surprise for the kids as well.  When we picked up the kids from school Wednesday, Dad was in the car and they wanted to know why!  So, we said, "Let's just go do something really fun!"  Then, we all started thinking of fun things while Gordon started driving.  Then we heard wolves howling over the radio (from my ipod) and gordon and I announced that we were hearing "the call of the Wolf!"  And off we went to the great wolf lodge.  The kids nearly lost their minds and I was glad we made it a surprise.  I hope it will be a fun memory.

Here are a few pictures of our fun little getaway.  Unfortunately, you can't really take pictures of the really fun stuff, like the howling tornado because you are HANGING ON (and in a tube) but here are a few of the quieter activities. . .  Everyone had a great time!

 Heidi and I (or Heidi and Dad) spent lots of time like this:

But it was still fun!  I hope the howl of the wolf catches us again some day!

Happy Birthday 35!

Happy birthday to me!  I'm 35!  Seems crazy, I could swear it's just 25 and all of that, but don't we all feel younger than we actually are?  Here I can be seen modeling my beautiful surprise that Gordon had for me.  He worked with a jeweler and had a beautiful necklace made for me, with a stone for each of the children.  It is such a special gift and I was blown away with surprise.  I'll treasure it forever!

 And we had a lovely cake made by Aidan!  He even called a neighbor to get the last egg required for caking the night before.  :)  Thanks Aidan!  It was delicious!

 Here is the rendering from the jewler of what the pendant looks like up close.  From left to right, we've got Ethan, Chandler, Aidan, Heidi, and Emilee.  Isn't it beautiful!  I feel so spoiled to have a piece of jewelry that is a one of a kind, and was designed just for me.  Gordon knows I love family tree's, and now I have a very special one.  Thank you hunny!  This is sure to become a family heirloom.

Sushi anyone?

Last Friday Daddy took the little three and I out for a delicious lunch at a local Japanese spot.  Both the little guys tried Sushi.  Chandler didn't like it as much as he did when he was 2, but Emilee was still open to the idea.  I don't think she knew it was fish though.  :)  They both loved the "yucki soda" (yakisoba) and are hoping for more soon!  Check out the chop stick skills!

Crawling!

Our little bear is a crawling cub!  She is our first child to skip the combat crawl stage, and go straight to hands and knees.  She was wobbly at first but is getting quicker!  Way to go Heidi Bear!

the Wolf

Aidan has succeeded in advancing rank in cub scouts and has earned his wolf badge!  Proud of you Aidan!

Chappy, not happy

My poor children!  They have inherited my extremely sensitive skin, as seen here.  What started out as chapped cheeks from the slopes went on and on for a whole week!  He's finally looking a little better today, after a full 7 days of aquaphor slathers and warnings of "no licking!"