Way To Go Me!

What?  A new post and it hasn't been a full month yet?  Whoa.  Double pat on my back.

Last week the kids were out for spring break.  It actually turned out better than I thought.  The kids were pretty darn good about getting along and also getting all their work and extra chores done around the house.  I found myself thinking a few times, "If this is how summer turns out it won't be too bad."  I'll keep my fingers crossed.

The kids had been asking to go see the movie Home, so I told them if they could dig in and help get the house cleaned we could go to the matinee.  I'm really trying to keep a perspective on earning rather than just getting.  It was pretty cute and we had fun together.  Kenna was too embarrassed to get in the picture.  She's not 10 yet.  I'm afraid.  Ty, on the other hand-  now that kid loves to strike a pose.

On Thursday our Idaho cousins were in town and Grandma Israelsen and Aunt Maria had a fun Easter party planned for us.  It was so fun!  The kids loved it and it was so fun to watch them run around and giggle together.  I feel safe in saying this is one proud Grandpa (excuse the sun):

When we called the kiddos over to get a picture, they ran over and put themselves in this perfect line-up:

On the last day of spring break Jacob took the day off and we headed to Layton to hit Chuck E Cheese.  They have a worker who walks around dressed as Chuck E Cheese.  Here is how Ty feels about Chuck E:

Yep, he crawled under the table to hide!  He was terrified!  We had only been there 5 minutes and he was begging to go home.  It brought back memories of my own similar experience as a little child.  When I was just little, probably Ty's age, during Christmas ZCMI had a talking Christmas tree in their store.  I still shudder when I think about it!  It scared the living daylights out of me!  I had to have some compassion on my poor little Ty man.  He kept a pretty close eye on Chuck E the whole time we were there, but eased up a bit after a while and had some fun.

Lexi wasn't phased a bit:

She marched around so proud of herself to have a bit of autonomy.

Kenna and Allie decided Chuck E wasn't too bad, especially when they got some free tickets out of him:

Dad, the skee ball champ!

It ended up being a great time together as a family.  Although the last time we were at Chuck E Cheese we were in California with the whole Bowers clan.  It really just wasn't the same without them!  We had a bit of homesickness for our Bowers Fam while we were there.

Of course we had to get in on some egg dyeing.  At the store I found some little q-tip looking things that had dye in the middle of them.  They were pretty messy but the kids loved coloring their eggs with them:

Then it was off to Grandma Otte's house for a scavenger hunt.  That crazy bunny did a scavenger hunt a few years ago and the kids loved it.  He left it out at Grandma's house this time! 

Last week we were driving out to Paradise to visit Connie and Dustin.  As we came into Hyrum, there was a church with a sign outside that said, "Silly rabbit, Easter is for Jesus!"  This just made me smile, I thought it was so creative.  How true it is!  This year I tried to spend a little extra time throughout the week with the kids to learn about some of the events the week before Jesus was crucified.  Hopefully my kids caught glimpses of the Spirit of this beautiful time of year and what it really means.  Even now I realize I can barely even begin to comprehend the magnitude of the atonement and resurrection.  I LOVE that it was also Conference weekend.  Hearing from God's chosen leaders makes it that much more wonderful.  Of course I have much to review, but look forward to doing so. 

Ok April, so far so good!

March, Part 2

So as you drive in to Wellsville past the Wellcome Mart, it's hard not to notice this wood sculpture that is off the side of the road.

Kudos to whoever is responsible for this, it's really amazing!  It's a mountain man holding his rifle in front of him.  It's huge and appears to have been done out of one giant log.   

So we were driving along the other day and shortly after we passed this Ty chimed in from the backseat and said, "Hey Mom, I just saw the Golden Jesus!"  He was so matter of fact about it.  After a few seconds I realized what he was talking about- it was the mountain man sculpture!  I couldn't help but giggle!  I love that of all the things he could relate it to, he chose that.  For an adult it would have been sacrilege, but for him it was pure and sweet.  Out of the mouth of babes...

Speaking of Ty, we MUST document his recent major achievement:

No training wheels!

Here's how he feels about it:

Oh ya!  It must be the superpower emanating from all his Ninja Turtle decor.  He just got reaaaaaallly lucky the Ninja Turtle helmet was cheaper than the others.  Otherwise he would have ended up with something a bit less turtletastic.

Ty learned that his buddy Tate could ride without training wheels, so he became determined to do the same.  He was a bit on the frustrated side at the beginning as he realized it was a skill to be learned.  At one point he came marching in to the house in tears, threw down his helmet and cried, "Why does my stupid bike have to be so stupid!"  Jacob and I tried so hard not to laugh as we explained it takes a lot of practice.  He took a tumble or two but has finally gotten pretty darn good at riding his bike and using his brakes.

Way to go Ty Man!

Now the problem is keeping him from abusing his new found freedom.  He likes to frequently stop over at the neighbors and invite himself over.  Needless to say he's lost his bike privileges a few times.

We got to go up to Idaho to see our new baby cousin get blessed.  It is SO FUN to be close enough to go to all these fun little things!  While up there, we also got to find out what Connie and Dustin are having.  The kids were so excited to each take a turn to give a whack at the pinata to find out if pink or blue candies would fall out.

Here is Kenna with perfect toe-pointed pinata whacking form:

Come on Ty, crack it open! 

Is it just me or does Dustin look a bit nervous?  That stick suddenly seems very very short.

 Swing Allie, swing!

 It's a GIRL!  YAY!  WE ARE SO EXCITED!!  

Kenna and Allie went out to the farm to help with the ditch burning.  On the way over Ty threw up so he didn't get to join in.

I thought maybe Ty had eaten something that wasn't sitting well because it seemed to come out of nowhere, but later that night Kenna threw up as well.  As the rest of the rest of the week panned out, it was obvious we ended up with a 24 hour bug of some sort as it managed to work its way through our entire family.  Every last one of us.  It was most unpleasant.  I have cleaned up enough mess out of both ends of the body to last me for quite a while, thank you very much. Good riddance to the yuckies!! 

Last weekend my brother and his family were staying at my parents, and my sister's kids were also there.  We ended up having an impromptu cousin sleep over at our place.  It was so fun to watch the kiddos play their little hearts out with their cousins.  We actually could be the hosts for it for once!  SO FUN to be close enough to do this!!  Chaos?  Yes.  

 

This is our big debut year as 4-Hers at the County Fair.  Kenna has decided she is going to follow in her daddy's footsteps and show a pig.  The piggers made their official debut last Saturday.  Behold Princess and Snooze:

What fine swine!

We especially like the owl who perches in the neighboring silo.  Not so sure he appreciates all the activity in his adjoining territory-  he pooped on Allie, but we aren't deterred one bit!  We've just learned to be very cautious as we peek up into the silo to see if he is watching.  When those tail feathers spread, MOVE!!  He has good aim.

Of course while we check on the pigs we also have to harass the baby goats.  Allie loves to get in and chase the poor little beggers:

The poor thing looks like it's trying to play dead to avoid any further torment. 

Last Sunday while checking on the new oinkers we decided to venture out for a little ride.  Love my crew!

Adios March!  Based on how time is flying, it probably won't be long until we see you again.

March, Part 1

Okay.  So March pretty well marched on by.  Once again we have a month to cram in.  Hey, the glass is half full- at least I'm not catching up on a whole year, right?  Right!  Let's get this going!  (Excuse me while I put down my pom-poms first...)

So when I took Allie and Ty in for their yearly eye check-ups in February, the doc was a bit concerned about Allie's optic nerve looking swollen.  Since he has no history with her to determine if it was same/worse/better, he suggested we go down to Salt Lake to see a pediatric opthamologist.  I lean towards the "better safe than sorry" side so we booked an appointment.  This particular doc is usually quite a few months out, but we somehow managed to get in the following week.  As fate would have it, her appointment was just a few days after my back went out and I was still moving pretty slow.  The mama bear in me absolutely REFUSED to let anyone take my place at the appointment so my dear dear dear dear father was our chauffeur for the trip.  And oh my was I ever beyond grateful for him.  Such a huge blessing!  Her appointment was first thing in the morning, so we drove down the night before and stayed at my sister's in Murray.  For my dad it was no big deal, but for me it was and I was so so so so so grateful.  Especially since we stepped out of the doc's office into a major blizzard.  He got us home safe and sound!

The appointment was at Primary Children's.  While heading to the doc's office, we came across a Spiderman statue.  We MUST get a picture for Ty!  Okay Allie and Grandpa, shoot out some web! 

Golly I love my Dad.

At the appointment the doc determined that Allie has what is called pseudopapilledema.  Basically that means a condition that causes the optic nerve to appear swollen when it's really not.  Her cause of the pseudoyadayada was due to what he called drusen, or rather bumps on the optic nerve.  He wanted to send her over to another opthamologist to have an ultrasound just to confirm the diagnosis.  Hmm, well let me just go out back and pluck a few bucks off the money tree.....

But, once again, mama bear wants to be sure, especially when it comes to my kids' eyesight!  So we made an appointment for the ultrasound and headed back down to Salt Lake a few weeks later.  I need to add here that Allie has become a HUGE champ.  At her first eye checkup this year, we about had a major catastrophe when the doc went to put in the dilation eye drops.  Severe drama.  Pull out your hair craziness.  But, I am happy to report that Allie has made a major turnaround with eye drops and I am so darn proud of her!  There may or may not have been some bribery involved.  But let's be serious-  I am not at all sad to leave some of that drama behind.  Even if sugar is a factor.

Here we are waiting once again in the hot seat for another round of eye checkup shtuff.  We decided to have a little fun with it.

What a character.  She so gets it from her dad.

Thankfully, after literally 10 seconds with the little ultrasound wand on each eyeball, the doc confirmed the diagnosis.  Simply harmless calcium deposits on the optic nerve.  He then had me hop into the chair and do a quick ultrasound on my eyes to see if I had passed this on.  I have to admit, that's pretty darn cool- I was all game for it.  Drumroll please...........I am not the culprit!!  I sure hope we happened to show up on buy-one-get-one-free-ultrasound day though....



So we have a little friend who frequents the backyard.  He's gray and furry and the kids love him.   

He's a cat.  

We have no idea who he belongs to, but the girls decided to name him Buddy. Quite a likeable little guy, actually.  It really is a win win situation.  The kids get a pet (sort of) and I don't have to feel completely obligated to take care of it because it's not really ours!  He's full grown, super friendly, and STAYS OUTSIDE.  Love it.  I may have possibly bought some cat food for him.  Much rather that than have the kids keep asking for a gerbil or a hamster.  Oh that just gives me the shivers. 

Here is Allie one morning with Buddy.  The same morning she insisted on getting a picture with the little orphan goat before it left to its new home:

Not really sure how to caption this next picture.  Maybe it should simply be titled, "Blackmail."

Oh wait, while we're at it, here's another one.  This time, however, Lexi is dressed in Ty's stuff.  Including his underwear.  Which is over her pull-up.  I completely absolve myself of having absolutely anything to do with any of this.  They just show up like this and then I can't help but take a picture.

Oh dear.  As I scroll through the rest of the month I found yet another.  It's Aunt Connie and Uncle Dustin's wedding revisited!

I know, I know.  Borderline disturbing.  The other day Ty was out with Jacob and called me to say he needs a brother.  We may just have to look into that....

Kenna made a little leprechaun house out in the backyard.  The girls were so cute to watch with this.  They had convinced themselves that a little leprechaun was really in there.  They apparently had put some clovers or something in there and were certain a green little fellow had been eating it.  It was so fun to watch them chatter and run out to the backyard to investigate.

There is actually a part of me that is just relishing in this.  Kenna is already starting to grow out of "little kid" stuff and I love that she can still hold on to some of the fun and joy of early childhood.  She keeps asking me if I am Santa/Easter Bunny/Toothfairy and it is driving her insane that I keep skirting around the issue.  Part of me struggles with this because I feel like I am basically lying to my children, but then again I just want them to eat up all the magic and imagination that comes with it.   We'll see how this one all pans out.

And that wraps up at least half of March.