The happiest day of the year!

Happy birthday Sarah! Your the best! We love you.

Smile

What makes Griffin smile this big?

Playing school with his big sister.

It's a win win situation. Griffin loves the attention and Sunny has a captive audience.

I love this one. He has such joy on his face. They usually play school together every day. Mostly it is Sunny reading books and Griffin "talking" really loudly back to her. She likes to pretend she is teaching him to read.

How cute is that smile? I can't get enough!

He is precious!

Family Home Evening -- Week 9

This is how adorable little Griffin looked during FHE last night. He has such kissy cheeks.

Ryan, I know you won't like yourself in this one, but I liked the look on Griffin's face. Look how chubby he is!

Lila and Griffin were snuggling on the couch. They are so sweet and love each other so much. The problem is that Griffin is only a few pounds smaller than Lila, and she really can't hold him anymore.

This week most of us are on the mend. Poor Jax would be the main exception though. He is feeling pretty yucky and has been having problems with coughing and with his ears. Sunny still has a yucky cough, Lila still has a runny nose, and Griffin is still coughing and has a runny nose. At this point I think my kids will never all be healthy again. But I'm hopeful that some warm weather might help the situation a little bit. Regardless, they are better than last week, and I'm grateful for that.

On to FHE. This week we talked about Reverence. This was very easy for them and they knew all about it. Sunny demonstrated how to NOT be reverent and then Jax showed us the correct way. Lila provided a first hand look at what NOT to do during the prayer (laughing and jumping) and the kids got a kick out of trying to correct her.

For our activity we sang some of the kids favorite primary songs while they took turn using stop and go signs. It was pretty funny and the kids loved it.

I'm glad we are actually having FHE, but I am feeling a little discouraged with the quality. I'm trying to cut myself some slack while we are not feeling well, but I really want to do better. Any ideas for some fun activities?

Update to the "Seecrit Work"

Jackson came home today with his trusty notebook. He said he had taken it out to recess to work on the mystery. This is what they came up with today.

Clue #1 Jacob said he saw a Bear fighting a Bobcat in the winter.
Clue #2 Brianna's sisters friend said she saw a Bobcat out there.

Here is the list of clue's or things they were looking for today:

leg bone

tress on the ground

smock (smoke)/fog
dear heart
stinky leg
bobcat sadow (shadow)/bobcat fighting bear

It takes all I have not to laugh or smile while we are talking about this. He is so serious, and I play along with it. This is so stinkin' cute! What a funny kid I have.

I'll let you know the answer to this mystery when they solve it.

Seecrit Work

I couldn't pass up this opportunity to share with you the world of Jackson. I'll try to explain quickly. Tuesday after school Jax came home and said he had some important business to work on in the basement and nobody was allowed down there. He worked for about an hour and then came up clutching these 4 papers. He wouldn't show them to anyone. I have begged and pleaded for 3 days and he finally gave in and showed them to me and told me the story that goes with them. I won't be able to tell it as good as he did,but I'll try.

It all starts with this: He and his two friends Caitlyn and Rochelle are in a little mystery solving club. They have solved lots of mysteries together, but this one will be the last because the mysteries are getting "too creepy". When asked what other mysteries they had investigated he thought for a minute and said, "The one with the footprints, and this one. So just two"

This mystery is that there are some deer bones at the edge of the playground at school and they are trying to figure out what killed it and how the bones got there. The first picture is all the clues they have.

1 foot
1 stick
1 bone
3 kids
seecrit work
(you get the picture)

At the bottom it says "How did the deere die?"

Picture #2 says "how did it's bone get their?"

#3 says "What cild (killed) it?" Then it is a picture of a tooth and says "sharp teeth"

This last picture says "Why was it by the scool?!!"


After he told me about the "mystery" we talked about it and I tried to plant some answers in his mind, but I could see that he had already thought about and dismissed most of those ideas as wrong. They are going to work on it today and he will let me know how it turns out!

Hilarious!
(This is all very top secret and serious, so don't tell him you know, and definitely don't laugh)

p.s. The answer to the first mystery about the footprints on the playground, according to Jackson and Caitlyn and Rochelle, is...A Coyote!

Sunny...Again!

Sunny came down this morning for school and informed me of two things: we needed to take her picture before school, and she only wears long dresses/tops with jeans now.

I told her I would take her picture today, but not every morning. (She so reminds me of you Aunt Jess :)

About the whole outfit thing...I don't know where she is getting this from. But she wanted me to take all the long tunic type tops and from the top bar of her closet and put them on the bottom bar so she can get to all of them herself. She says that is all she will wear (and leggings when it is warm) because she likes them. She also hasn't let me do her hair all week. If you've noticed it's a bit scraggly that is why. She is washing it and brushing it, but it is so long and thin that it is very hard to do. I'm going to try to get her to cut it if she wants to keep taking care of it herself so it might look a little better.

Sunny has such a "different" personality. I can't explain it except to say she definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer! I love it.

6 Month Check Up

Finally went in for Griffin's well baby check up this morning (kind of ironic to call it that, don't you think?!?)

I took just him and Lila since the big kids were in school. First of all, Lila was hilarious! She was so good it was amazing. She walked by herself the whole time w/out holding my hand. She talked to all the nurses and the doctor and she wasn't scared to be there at all! She held Griffin for most of his appointment, and was just a joy!

(I was also worried about taking her potty b/c I had so much stuff to carry, but she was great and went before we left and didn't have to go again. I love her being potty trained.)

Griffin was in a great mood too. It made the whole trip much easier. The bad news is that his ear that he was on antibiotics for is still not better, and the other one has actually gotten infected too. So that means more and stronger antibiotics for him. I'm so NOT thrilled about that. (I don't think I've ever shared my opinions on antibiotics - or medicine in general - on the blog before, and I probably won't, but lets just say I'm not a fan of them) Hopefully he'll finally get well soon.

Here are his latest stats:

Head -- 16.75 inches -- 12th% (up from the 7th :)
Length -- 27 inches -- 59th% (down from the 65th)
Weight -- 17 pounds 2 ounces -- 32nd% (down from the 40th%)

So, he is growing great. He is lots bigger than both girls, and almost identical to the size that Jackson was. I really like that b/c I feel like now I see that even though Jackson had problems and was born a pound and a half smaller than Griffin, he must have caught up quickly and been really healthy!

Also, I feel like Griffin is a pretty big kid. He is a good size, but it is only the 32nd%. So, no offense to anyone, but "Where are all the monster kids?" I can't imagine a 6 month old much bigger than Griffin, but they must be out there somewhere! (Along the same lines, I know where all the tiny kids are, so I'm not just singling out big kids. The tiny ones would be my 35 pound 5 1/2 year old and 24 pound 2 year old :)

So, that is all then news on Griffin. He is great, we love him tons, wouldn't trade him for the world!

Fashion Designer In The Making

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This is what makes Sunny so fabulous. She had 5 dollars that Nana had given her for Valentine's Day. Usually we just save money that the kids get, but they are starting to want to keep and and decide what to do with it themselves. We told the big kids they could use this 5 dollars for whatever they wanted.

Last night Sunny and I were at Walmart and she was looking at all the aisles and trying to decide what to get. First it was an alarm clock, but then we walked by the clothing section. They had lots of racks of clothes for 5 dollars. She was hooked. She spent forever going over each item and trying to decide what she wanted.

I was a little bit surprised when she picked this dress. It is just a hot pink shirt with a black jumper over it and is a size 7/8 (so quite a bit big for Miss Sunny). But, she wanted it and it was her money, so I let her get it. Little did I know she had a plan in mind. She came downstairs for school this morning in her new ensemble. The dress, with jeans underneath, and pink and black leopard print shoes. The pictures aren't so great, but it actually works and looks cute. She is so original.

Sledding

Sledding was obviously a big hit this year.
Here are some more things I found in his pile of stuff.


The first one says, "My favorite activity is sledding because it is fun."

The second one says, "If I had a snowman as a friend I would play with it and I would go sledding with it."

If I Were President...

I found this gem in a pile of work Jackson brought home from school after he cleaned out his desk. If I can get the scanner to work I'll put a picture of it on here later. For your enjoyment...

If I Were President...

I would help macke the logs and I would live in the withe hose and I would be like the king and I could eat what ever I want and it would be fun.

---Jackson Blair (age 6)

(If you need translation: :I would help make the laws and I would live in the White House.")

Family Home Evening -- Week 8

Since this week was even worse than last week (health wise), our FHE suffered a little. But...we did it. We had a song and prayer and then we went around in a circle and talked about what our favorite part of being in our family was! The kids answers very were cute. Then we watched the new"Penguins of Madagascar" that debuted on Nick last night. We capped it off with another song and some Popsicles.

Hopefully next week I'll have something a little more substantial to blog about! But for now, this will have to do!

Mok and Aunt Cathy's Visit

These are from last summer and I realized I never posted them. Not the best quality, but they will do.
The first is Mok with the girls after church one Sunday.

These were back in the day where Lila was not so friendly with anyone. Look how tan the kids are. Oh how I miss the warm weather and sun.

Hilarious! Aunt Cathy tried hard, but Lila wasn't lovin' it!

Sunny loves her "Aunt Caffy." She still talks about her (and Hayden and Piper).

As much as Lila hated jumping, Sunny loved it!

Mok and Sunny on the front steps of our old house.

Valentine's Day Package

The kids got their package from Mok and Pok today. Thank you so much. The girls loved the jewelry boxes. Griffin hasn't seen his present yet because he is sleeping, and Jackson hasn't opened his present yet either because he is gone with his Daddy, but I know they will love theirs too!

Lila was amazed by the whole thing, and by the fact that something so cool belongs to HER!
She kept saying, "Mine, Mine, Mine???" Yep, it's yours.

The first thing Sunny said was, "Mok sure is a good shopper!" She was thrilled and went and put all her jewelry in it right away.

It is so cute to watch the kids discover new things and get such enjoyment out of the gifts Mok send to them. We love you Mok and Pok. Thanks for everything.

So Sad

The poor kids have been so sick and sad. Today is day 7 and I am feeling very exhausted, and am starting to get sick myself (imagine that). It started last Thursday/early Friday. Lila woke up with a sore throat and cough. She had what we thought was croup (don't know if it was or not, I think it was) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. On Sunday Griffin and Sunny also started coughing and having runny noses.

On Tuesday I took the little ones to the doctor and he thought it was croup and gave L and G a steroid shot. I was so hopeful that everyone would get well. Well, it's not happening. On Wednesday night Griffin started wheezing terribly. I was pretty scared and took him to Insta-Care. His oxygen was 90% which is not horrible for a sick kid, but he was working really hard to breathe. His chest was retracting and showing his ribs and the wheezing just kept getting worse. He did a breathing treatment at the office and the Doctor said it is RSV. He said if we can keep him from getting worse by using the nebulizer then he doesn't have to go to the hospital, but he was pretty close to needing to go and to watch him carefully.

So, he is still wheezing and very sick, but I think the medicine is helping a little and hopefully he'll start to get better soon. Lila is also still wheezing quite a bit and is on the breathing treatments too. Between the two kids, I figure I am holding someone hooked up to the machine for 2 1/2 hours a day (and night for Griff). Not fun, but I'll do whatever they need to get better.

Lila loves her "fishy" medicine. The mask is a fish face if you can't tell in the pictures. At first I had to hold her the whole 15 minutes, but now she is a pro and can sit and do it by herself. Griffin is not a huge fan, but usually after the first 2 or 3 minutes he calms down.

Ignore me in these picture. I look bad. Seriously, I haven't slept since last Thursday night and I can't even tell you the last time I showered. I hate breathing stuff with kids. You just have to watch them all night and it is wearing me out.

On another note...our house is still only halfway painted. You can see a little of the brown/tan color behind me. We have some pretty burgundy/gold/brownish curtains and some 2 inch blinds to put up. Should look nice when and if it ever gets done. It is definitely not my top priority.

Family Home Evening -- Week 7

All I can say for this week is:

We did it!

We did it with Sunny being sick on the couch with her fever, Lila running around all hyper and jittery from her Albuterol treatments, and everyone not being very cooperative in general. Ryan did the lesson about Faith and the Brother of Jared.

It was okay, and sometimes okay is enough.

Shooting with Bear

Last week Bear took Jackson out to shoot guns for the first time. Bear has been wanting to take him for awhile, but we thought he'd have to be about 8 or 9 before he was old enough. Well, Bear decided it was time. Being the anxious worrier I am, I was super nervous about it, but I decided to let Jax do it b/c he was so excited and I knew Bear would take good care of him.

We didn't get any pictures from the first time, but they went again today and Bear took a ton of great pictures. Jax had a blast again, and Bear gave him B.J.'s old BB gun. It is really fun to watch Jackson spend time with his Bear, and to watch him do something that he loves. When Bear told us Jackson could shoot it all by himself I didn't believe him at first. But, the proof is in the pictures. What a cool kid is Jackson?!?!

6 Months Big

This is his "morning hair" It is crazy!
(No idea why blogger but the same picture on twice. Oh well.)

I'm a little late, but he's a baby, he won't care. So, Griffin turned 6 months old on January 31st! He doesn't go to the doctor for a few more weeks but I'll guess that he is about 16 1/2 pounds or so, maybe 17. Medium tall, and his head is actually looking not so "peanut-ish" so I think it has grown too :)

If I had blogged about him on his actual birthday I would've said Griffin can pretty much do nothing, but since it is 5 days later, I have lots to brag about. Just this week Griffin starting sitting. I have pillows behind him in the picture, but he doesn't need them. He can sit for 3 or 4 minutes at a time and he loves it. He can roll both way (that is nothing new, but just for record keeping purposes I'll write it), and the biggie -- he is starting to crawl. Yesterday he didn't know crawling existed, but today he got up on all fours and launched himself forward. Yea for progress! I don't think he'll really be crawling for awhile, but it was exciting for him anyway.

He continues to get happier everyday. He is usually just content to be held. He doesn't care for toys all that much, playing with my wedding ring is his favorite thing. He still thinks his brother and sisters are the best thing ever.

He is loving eating lots of new foods. I started feeding him regularly about a week ago. So far he has had: carrots, peas, sweet potato, avocado, and applesauce. At first he didn't care too much for eating, but each day he is wanting more and more.

It is amazing how fast he is growing and changing. What a perfect little man I have!

I was tagged...

...by Jess...my first time ever. So, here it goes:

4 shows I like to watch:

-General Hospital
-Project Runway
-Teen Mom (sad I know)
-Wife Swap

4 thing I'm passionate about:

-cloth diapers (it's not hard, they work, and they're cute...really!)
-eating healthy (for the kids at least :)
-car seat safety (even more than passionate, more like freakishly obsessed)
-my family

4 words or phrases I say a lot:

-is that appropriate?
-is that necessary?
-deal with it
-you get what you get and that's it (can you tell I have lots of kids?)

4 things I've learned from the past:

-don't quit school, it only gets harder to get back into it when you're old
-brush your teeth, floss, and use mouthwash. They are all easier and cheaper than root canals
-the grass is always greener on the other side...blah, blah, blah. But really, it's true.
-life is way better as an adult than a teenager

4 places I would like to go:

-no where. I'm happy where I am, and I can see the rest of the world through the t.v. and Internet. I'm a homebody.

But... if I did have to pick

- Egypt
-France
-Italy
-Hawaii

4 things I did yesterday:

-went to Sunny's parent/teacher conference (she's amazing as usual)
-cleaned up a lot of puke from Griffin (when is he ever gonna get over that?)
- ate red hots (my favorite)
-spent way too much time online

4 things I'm looking forward to:

-Ryan getting home from work
-bedtime for the kids
-a vacation sometime this summer (hopefully...just have to decide what, where, and when)
-Project Runway with Sunny tonight


4 things I love about winter:

-Pleh (*credit for that word goes to Audra*)
-Pleh (same as above)
-Pleh (you get the point)
-Pleh (I hate winter)

4 things on my wish list:

-an Ergo baby carrier (trying to justify buying one when I have plenty of others that will do
-a fence for my backyard (not gonna happen any time soon b/c the HOA makes you put in an expensive one)
- new jeans
-a good book to read

Family Home Evening -- Week 6

I've officially made it one month into the year and so far I'm right on track with my goal of weekly family nights. I'm really proud of myself. Sometimes it seems like such a hard thing to do. I have to make dinner while all the kids are usually melting down b/c it is 4:30 and they are getting tired, then Ryan comes home in the middle of the chaos. Then we eat and have to clean up and get the two little ones in bed, and then finally we have our family time and lesson. Tonight I think the kids really had a good time.

We learned about the Iron Rod. We talked to the kids about Lehi's vision and then turned off all the lights and blindfolded them and had them follow the Iron Rod that I had made. It went all over the main level of our house, and ended at our statue of Jesus Christ. I think they got the point (I hope they did :)

After we were done they played with it for awhile, which is when I took the pictures. They thought the whole thing was pretty cool.