March Madness

March is just flying by. The second weekend in march we were able to spend some time with good friends and hosted a BBQ at our house while Michael and Cari were in town. Michael, David, Tyler and I were in the east stake together growing up. Now we are all married, and each have three kids who line up in age pretty well. It was fun to spend time with their families, and a bit like Woodstock in the backyard with 12 munchkins running amok. I am kicking myself for not getting any pictures. Especially non of all the kiddos, so if anyone else snapped pictures send them my way!
It seems like Peter has really amped up his game these days. He's always been busy, and all three kids have been busy; but I feel like he's gone to another level. Friday was an especially fun day. By noon he had set off my car alarm, let himself out the locked front door, written on the wall with pen, colored on the floor with chalk(after chewing on it), and taken the batteries out of the remote. You'd think I'm neglectful to let all these things happen, but he's so sneaky and knows when I'm busy doing things, like getting dressed, or going to the bathroom. That's all the longer it takes. Also, I can't do the dishes while he's awake because this happens.

Also, He eats dirt. Gross.

But we found a way to slow him down. Monday morning bright and early Peter had his tonsils and andoids removed and tubes put in. Yep, 19 months old, he beat Andi's record by 6 months. It's been a rough couple of days. We saw the tonsils after they were removed and they were massive! Typically they suggest tylenol afterwards for the pain, but the Dr prescribed him some stronger pain meds because the raw area was much larger than normal. He's not happy. I want to get these sticker temperature things.

The weather has been lovely around here. Everything is in bloom, which means our allergies are going crazy. Thad thought this would be helpful. It might actually be if I could stand to wear it for more than a minute.

The weather has had the kids outside all day long. They have been mastering their roller blades, so Thad bought a pair so he could take them on longer rides.

They love to ride just outside our neighborhood to see the horses.

Also, they love ice cream. Wonder where that comes from.

Thad finally took the beast in to get lowered a couple weeks ago, and though it's still high it's much easier to get in and out. And he switched out the blingy chrome rims. These are much more his style I think.

Oh, and Peter has decided he needs to swing like the big kids. No hands or anything.

February recap

Huh. Another month has gone by and I feel like I don't have much to post about. Thad and the kids have been talking about building a tree house for a while now, and I just can't get on board with the idea. So I suggested maybe they add another level to the current play set to settle their need to be up high. Thad quickly agreed and two days later we had this lovely addition.

 And then Thad thought it would be good to have the kids help paint/seal it. It wasn't a horrible idea, but it was messier than he calculated it would be. The kids however loved it. Sammy kept saying it was the best family project ever.

Sammy has decided that our bi-weekly trips to costco make great photo-ops. Every time we go he climbs on something, "take my picture and send it to daddy!"

 And about the only things these two can do together peacefully is this. Fishy crackers and little Einstein.

Have I mentioned Peter is a climber? He is. He can't even play with toys normally, he has to climb them as well.

Ellie had a birthday party at build-a-bear and Sammy made a dog. And named him Perry. Perry the puppy (since there were no platypus dolls to make). He loves Perry.

Okay so remember when I painted our cabinet white? I skipped one section because it was full of white appliances. My plan was to re-stain them dark to match the floors. Thad was out of town last week so it was project time again and I took the doors off the cabinets and got to work. But hours and hours later things were not going well. Whatever stain/poly they use to make cabinets that lovely orangey oak is never supposed to come off. I chemically stripped and sanded and sanded and sanded these 4 stupid little doors and the stain would not absorb. So since I had basically ruined the doors, I still had to do something to the cabinets, and I didn't want to paint them white with all the white appliances. Enter chalk paint. I decided that until our appliances die and we replace them with black ones I would paint the cabinets grey. This is not the greatest picture because the flash on my phone turns everything blue-ish, but here is the end result.

I'm still trying to decide if I should paint the stools grey to match. But I will say chalk paint is amazing. Super easy to use, no smell, dries incredibly fast. Love it. And that's about all we've been up to.

It's Great to be Eight

I can't believe we are old enough to have a child get baptized. But we are, and it happened last weekend. As is usually the case with our family we can't have just one event at a time, so we had lot's of family in town to attend both Bradon's open house and then Andi's baptism on the same day.
Andi has been so excited about it that she has been telling everyone we see for weeks that she was getting baptized. And thankfully Sammy's jealousy issues calmed down from crazy "I should be born first and get baptized first!", to just normal " I wish I were 8 already" comments. I was able to speak, which I thought might make things crazy, but my parents sat with the boys and Thad and I were able to enjoy this big event with Andi.
Here is the only picture I have of the day, yes I'm lame with the camera. Or maybe it's just that I like to be in the moment and don't worry about capturing it. Or probably I'm lame. But here are Thad and Andi right before we went to the church. And yes, his tie matches her dress on purpose.

Andi girl, I can't tell you how happy I am that you made the choice to get baptized and that you try your hardest every day to make good decisions and be an example to those around you. We love you.

Hallelujah!

We did it! It only took me two years, but I finally convinced Thad that painting our kitchen cabinets white was the right things to do. So while he was out of town for work two weeks ago, I dismantled the kitchen and got to sanding. By the time he got home everything inside was primed and painted and all the doors and drawers awaiting spraying. I'm not gonna lie, it was a long week. The rest of the house was in shambles, the kids turned heathen while I ignored them for my project, and we all lived on cereal and chicken nuggets. But it was worth it! Let's review the stages of the kitchen for a moment.

Here it is right when we bought it.

Then after some flooring and paint.

And the grand finale!

It just makes me so happy. So does the other project we finished recently. I've had a vision for the office since we moved in, thanks to some lovely blogs I read, and we finally got far enough down the project list to work on it. We got rid of our computer armiore and little writing desk and made a built in 12 foot desk. Even before we painted and stained, I loved it.

And now it's beautiful! We just have to work on wall art and chairs.

Besides the projects we've made a few small changes around here too. Like hair cuts. I finally braved the clippers with Peter and gave him a proper little boy hair cut. I can't believe the difference it makes.

Before with the mad scientist look.

And now, all clean cut and gelled.

He's getting so big he can even climb up the play house now.

 

But his favorite thing to do still is sit in the dirt and tinker with things. Such a boy.

Also, he loves popcorn. More than anything.

Fun Conversation of the week.  Thad and I watched Red Dawn last week; that's what happens when he gets to browse netflix. Anyway, after the movie is over we were discussing what would actually happen if a foreign country tried to invade and what a good plan of action would be,  Thad started listing the people he'd want with him in this event. After reviewing his options he says, "I"m like Rambo compared to everyone else we know." Dead serious, straight face. I almost choked laughing, and then he proceeded to compare said Rambo like skills and explain why he would be the one in charge in the next Red Dawn remake. Best conversation in a long time.

It's Great to be 8

Andi turns 8 tomorrow and some pretty big things have been happening around here. Friday evening we were able to go to the temple with my family as Bradon went through for the first time in preparation for his mission, which he leaves for in a matter of weeks. Crazy. Then Saturday morning the birthday fun began. Andi has been asking for a horse party for months, but didn't know what you do at a horse party; all she knows is she likes horses. So we planned a cowgirl carnival and played a bunch of games, like horse shoes, and corn hole, and even set up a shooting gallery with rubberband guns. Love Sammy's aim.

 But the main even and surprise of the party, was that we had some friends bring a couple horses over for the kids to ride around the backyard. Andi loved it, and all the kids were excited to ride.

Sammy & Kimberly

Not the whole gang, but the first the first party go-ers.

We even had a horse cake. Do you know how hard it was to find a horse cake?!

I think the party was a hit, and I'm not sure if we'll be able to top it for quite a while. Although, after the party, there was the matter of clean up. And since Andi thinks she wants a real horse, and tries all the time to convince me that she's willing and able to do everything to take care of one, we let her clean up.  She was not happy, and is now thinking seriously about what taking care of a horse entails.

The other thing she has been asking about for at least a year now is getting her ears pierced. We told her she had to wait till she was 8 and thought she'd be over it after waiting a while, but she did not forget that 8 was the magic age, and after her party was over we headed to the mall to get it done. She did really well, which surprised me because she is insane about shots and needles. No tears, no stress, and she is following the care instructions to a t.

That evening we had birthday extravaganza for the Bulkeley January Birthdays. And Sunday evening we had birthday dinner for Andi & Bradon. That's 3 parties and cakes in 2 days people. Sunday evening as well I got to take Andi to the "it's great to be 8" fireside that the stake puts on about baptism for the kids turning 8 this year, and Andi felt very grown up and special getting to go. She gets baptized February 1 and is so excited.
Another big step happened last Sunday as Andi fasted for the first time. Since she is so young, she just skips one meal, but considering how often the girl snacks, this was a huge deal. But she did it, and did really well about not complaining. She told me she felt like she needed to be helpful and make good choices that day, which really is a big part of it. Putting off the natural man and coming closer to the Lord. I was very proud of her efforts, and her behavior throughout the day. It's amazing how quickly the spirit can make changes in us when we let it happen.
In project news, we built a desk this week. I've known I wanted this desk since we bought the house, but there were other priorities to be tackled first. Now that it's done though, we love it. And I do mean we, Thad is starting to appreciate my vision. I love all the added workspace, and the dark wood top against the white cabinets. I'm a sucker for contrast. I do need to find some chairs still and some pulls for the drawers and doors, but I'm super happy with how it turned out.

Also, this keeps happening and it's making me crazy.

Out with the Old

Christmas is over, but this year it feels like the holidays are still in full swing. I think that's because we still have family in town this week and lot's of gatherings happening. We had a small group this year for Christmas eve, none of the out of towners came, but we still had a great time. We veered off the traditional dinner menu and had prime rib this year and it was lovely. We read the santa letter and talked with the kids for quite a while about the true meaning of Christmas. It's fun to realize how much they really do understand.

Christmas morning we opened presents at our house and tried out the new toys. The older two could not wait to get their roller blades on, but after 30 seconds realized this was going to take some work.

Andi's hair looks like this every morning without fail.

Peter loved his new car.

 

Then we went to my parents for a big breakfast and more presents. These kids are definitely spoiled. Bobby & Kelsie were in town for Christmas morning this year. After naps all around, we had Christmas dinner at our house that night and played an intense round of rumikub.  We won. And we've spent a rather lazy week puttering around our house, and Thad's parents house, doing projects. Dinner and a movie date night with the grown ups in my family. And now Kelsie and Cameron are in town so we have another week of hanging out and eating too much to enjoy.

Peter has been climbing this week and enjoying his newly discovered freedom. 

There is no going back from this. I have to watch him like a hawk now. And yes there is saw dust in Thad's hair. Don't worry about it.

After months of car shopping on line Thad finally decided to buy a new truck. A monster truck as the kids and I call it. It's huge, like there is no way the kids can even get in it without help. And he's bringing it home today.

Tis the Season

Well, our annual bout of the plague has passed and Thad escaped this year unscathed. I thought the coughing would never end, and I was pretty tired of Dr's offices by the end of it, but everyone is healthy again just in time for Christmas! The kids, sick as they were, managed to have fun in all our visits.

The last couple weeks have been fun. We have been caroling, and been to visit family for my Aunts 50th birthday, and been to Christmas town at the museum. This is the first year Christmas Town has happened, and it was a really cool set up. There were lights everywhere, ice skating, sledding down a giant slide,(both with man made snow/ice) a rockwall, tractor ride to see the lights, bounce houses, and music (of the Jr high band variety). Excuse the grainy phone pictures.

The pictures of the kids on the slide did not turn out, and these ones from the climbing wall aren't much better, but Andi got all the way to the top. Sammy had a hard time, and we found out after that it was because they were on the hard side. Apparently there are easier sections of the wall. Who knew?

Peter spent the night like this, and had a great time watching all the activities.

We have been baking goodies, and watching Christmas movies, going to parties and crafting with my new silhouette. Yes, it was a christmas present, but it came last week so I opened it early and have been loving it! Here is one of the projects I got to finish. We also made little teacher gifts with it, and used it to make Christmas gifts for the families, so really, it was a necessity that I open it early.

Story of the week. Tuesday it was time to get Sammy from the bus and I could not find my keys anywhere. I called a friend to pick him up for me, luckily, because I spent two hours searching high and low all over the house for my keys. I knew Peter must have wandered off with them and I checked every kitchen cupboard, under beds and couches and everywhere I could think of. Oh, but why didn't I think to look in the shutters first!

Apparently this is where peter rat holes his treasures. Now we need to find a Peter proof place to store keys. And this is what happens when Thad goes shopping with us.

Today is also noteworthy because it is our anniversary. And not just any anniversary mind you, ten years people! We wanted to do something big to celebrate, but December is a crazy month and there was just no time, so we are planning a trip a little while down the road. We were talking last night about how fast the last ten years have gone, and what ten years from now will look like. Like Andi will be in college, Sammy will be getting a permit, and Peter will almost be out of Primary. Crazy to think about how quickly that will come.
Here's to hoping the next ten years are as kind to us as the first ten!