New look

Okay, so I've been thinking about doing this for a long time and finally broke down and did it. So far I like it. My first thought after I did it was that I looked like De. I think it's kind of fun and good for a different look. If you don't like it, you're welcome to your opinion and you won't hurt my feelings.




Also, when Neil and Amy were up visiting on their way to Washington, I took a couple pictures of Miriam and Daniel sitting together. Miriam saw Daniel sitting and crawled over and sat by him. It was pretty cute. Here are a couple of the pictures:




Alex took this one of Sarah. I thought it was cute, so I'm adding it too.

Camera Tag

So while I was out back working on the yard a little bit yesterday, the boys decided to play a new game. They got my camera and started playing camera tag. It was pretty entertaining to watch, and some of the pictures were kind of fun, so I'll post a few here:


















And Ben had another dentist appointment this morning. He had two of his cavities filled and did really well. He's not even dreading going back to have his third one done. They would have done all 3 today, but they didn't want to have to make him numb on both sides, so we go back on the 8th for his next appointment. Just adds another appointment to our busy April with dentists and doctors.

Happy Easter and all that

Well, our early Easter has come and gone. I saw on the news this morning that the next time Easter will be on the 23rd of March will be in the year 2160. Next year it will be on April 12th. So next year, maybe it won't sneak up on us quite so quickly.

The boys had a really good time coloring Easter eggs on Friday night. Since the Easter Bunny comes to our house on Saturday, we had to make sure they got to color them then. They didn't want to go to bed on Friday night because they were so excited about the Easter Bunny coming, but when we told them that he can't come unless they're asleep, they wanted to go to sleep quickly.

I think they had forgotten about the Easter Bunny coming when they got up in the morning. They came in our room and acted like they would on any morning. I told them to run down and see if the Easter Bunny had come, then come back up. They said, "Yeah!" and took off. They ran back up all excited, saying that he had come. And mean old Mom and Dad decided to make them wait a little longer to go down, at least until all the boys were up. When we finally let them go back down, they were running through the house looking for eggs. Since they'd end up sharing the candy that was in the eggs, we let them "crack" their eggs into a big bowl after they had found them all. They seemed to think that was pretty fun.

Here are the 3 oldest boys with the Easter baskets:

Now a not-so-good shot of them hunting for eggs:


I grew up having the Easter Bunny come on Saturday and have really liked continuing that tradition. Especially this year when we had to be at the church at 8:00 in the morning so the choir could practice their Easter program. Since Bryce had to conduct the choir and the choir would be on the stand the whole time, I stayed down with the boys by myself. The boys were all pretty good for having had to sit in the chapel for over two hours. With one small exception. In the middle of the program, Chris asked me where his dad was. I showed Chris where his dad was up on the stand. Chris then decided that he wanted to go up to get his dad. I tried to stop him from getting out, but since I was holding Daniel on my lap, Chris got away from me. And thought it was so funny that I was trying to get him that he decided to run all the way up the aisle to the stand. I stood up, still holding Daniel, and chased him up the aisle. Luckily, one of the men on the stand (John Harris, who was narrating the program for Bryce) grabbed Chris so I could get him. Apparently this was rather entertaining, as I heard a few chuckles from people in the pews as I picked up Chris with my one free arm and headed back down the aisle. Of course, as I turned to go back down, I noticed Alex running close behind us with a big grin on his face. He had decided it looked like we were having good fun and decided to join us. I carried Chris back to our seat, hoping Alex would follow. As I sat down in the seat, a woman in the row across from us and the couple in the row behind us both offered to help with the kids while I went to get Alex who had chosen to keep running up and down the wheelchair ramp to the stand. When he noticed that we were back in our seats, he did decide to come back to join us though, so I didn't have to go chase him down. I had already handed Daniel to the couple behind me, so they decided to hold on to him for a minute and were entertaining him with a comb and mirror. He decided he wanted his mom after a bit, so they passed him back and took Chris back with them. He seemed to enjoy sitting the rest of the time with them and liked the pretty-smelling lotion she put on his hand. They were all good through the rest of Sacrament Meeting and were happy to be able to go to their classes after.

I was a little late getting to my class that I teach after having to take Alex to the bathroom and helping get them to class, but I wasn't the last one there at least. Bryce ended up having to take Daniel out of the class as usual, so when my class was over, I went to try to find him so I could take Daniel back from him and he could go to his class. I talked to Katie in the library for a minute and asked if she knew where he was and she said to try the nursery, that they had come in the library and asked her if she had a Christopher and she told them that no, Stacey did. She had a Josiah. "Oh, I thought she just had him." "No, she just had a Daniel." They had been concerned about the runny nose that Chris had, which of course, he didn't have when we left for church that morning. They were also probably a little more concerned about it than most people would be, since they had recently had a baby and had the baby in the nursery with them. So when I found Bryce in the foyer, he had Chris and Daniel sitting on his lap. I took Daniel to Relief Society and Bryce took Chris to Elder's Quorum. Of course, I had to take Daniel out to the mother's lounge at the beginning of the lesson, and he fell asleep, so I sat in there chatting with a woman from another ward until it was time to leave. Daniel did wake up as soon as I stood up, but was a little happier for having the short nap.

While Daniel and Chris napped, Bryce, Ben, and Alex watched Enchanted and I cooked our Easter dinner. I made us a ham, yummy potatoes, rolls, green beans, deviled eggs, and salad. I also made us a white cake to have with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert, but we were all too full to eat that by the time dinner was over. It was a pretty tasty dinner and I'm very excited to be able to eat the leftovers for lunch today.

As kind of a side note here, when the credits for Enchanted came on (we had seen the movie in the theater, but Bryce hadn't paid attention to the credits), Bryce said, "Her name is Amy Adams? I knew an Amy Adams who had red hair and looked like her." We ended up looking her up on IMDB and found out she's 2 months older than Bryce and grew up in Colorado in a Mormon family, so it could be the same Amy Adams who Bryce dated (one date, but still...maybe we can count that among our claims to fame, like when Grandpa Herb dated Fay Wray). He met her while she was doing a play at the Hale Theater in Salt Lake and going to the U taking acting classes and she was from Colorado. So while it may not be the same Amy Adams, it's kind of interesting to think that it could be. How many Amy Adamses with red hair (strawberry blonde is her natural color) from Colorado are there? IMDB didn't say anything about her having lived in Utah, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she didn't.

Anyway, after dinner, we were going to get on the webcam with the Toronto side of the family, but they never could get theirs working. So we just had a nice day at home with our family and are looking forward to Easter being a little bit later in the year next year.

Here are a couple more pictures, just because:

The boys are playing Blongo Ball:

Daniel is 9 months old:

Alex and Daniel's trip to the doctor

I took Alex and Daniel for well-child check-ups this morning. With all the doctor and dentist appointments we've had and will have lately, I'm beginning to think we live there.
The nurse took Alex to check his weight and height first, then checked his blood pressure and his heart rate. Alex weighs 41 pounds and is 41 1/2 inches tall, so he's in the 75% range for both height and weight. He must have gone through a good growth spurt, since he was at about 35% for both height and weight at his 3 year check-up.
The nurse then measured and weighed Daniel. He is 27 3/4 inches tall and weighs 16 pounds, 15.5 ounces. So Daniel has gained back about 10 ounces from 2 weeks ago. He's still on the low end of the chart for weight, but not too far down for height. He's about 7% for weight and 25% for height. We'll be taking him back in 6 weeks to check on his weight to see if he's maintaining or going back up and make sure he's not dropping down on the scale like Chris did.
Then the doctor came in and looked at Alex first. He had him draw some pictures for him to test his development there and did the regular exam. He's healthy and looks pretty good. He was a bit concerned about Alex's speech, since he tends to leave off a lot of the sounds, especially the s sound in a lot of words and it makes it difficult to understand him if you're not used to the way he talks. So he gave us a referral to a speech therapist and thinks we should have them test his hearing when we take him there too, just to make sure it's not a hearing issue that's causing his speech issues.
The doctor then looked at Daniel. He seems pretty healthy as well. The doctor could still hear a little wheezing occasionally, left over from his pneumonia, and Daniel still has some fluid in his ears. So when we take him back in 6 weeks to check his weight, they will also check his ears again.
At the end of the visit, Daniel got a flu shot and Alex got 4 shots. Alex was pretty brave for the shots and didn't start crying until after the 2nd shot. He kept saying that it really wasn't fun at all. But he did like the sticker and sucker he got after.
So overall, the boys are healthy. We have a couple things to watch, but nothing too bad.

Uncle John

This post is in memory of my uncle John who died early Tuesday morning, March 11th. We'll miss you, John.

Ah, to be a boy.

It's a fact that boys and girls are different. They think differently, act differently, see things differently; they're just different. There are things girls can do that boys can't do, they can bear children, people don't think they're strange because they want to buy yet another pair of shoes, they can choose to stay home with their children instead of getting a job outside the home and not be mocked. There are things boys can do that girls can't do too. Boys can be drafted, they can not shave their legs and not have people think they're gross, they can pee standing up. Okay, technically girls can pee standing up as well, but it's a lot easier for a boy to do it and not have to crouch in some creative position in order to not get anything on their clothes.

You may be wondering what made me post about such a subject, but it's not completely out of the blue here.

It was a beautiful day yesterday, so the kids and I were going to play in the back yard. We normally play in the front yard where they can ride their bikes and things, but I had just put down a weed killer kind of fertilizer in the front and didn't want them to get it all over them. So we were playing in the back. Before we could do that comfortably, I decided I should clean up the poop back there left by our very large dog. Luckily, he limits the pooping to two areas in the yard, so there was a large area where the kids could play while I was cleaning it up. I had just finished cleaning it up and turned around to check on something, when I saw Chris standing in the yard with his pants around his ankles, peeing. I had to restrain myself from laughing because it was kind of silly, but I had to talk to him about how we don't pee outside when we're close to a bathroom. He said he also wanted to poop in the grass, so I had to take him inside and make him use the toilet for that. I must say though, I was grateful that he decided to pee in the grass rather than in his pants. And I was grateful he was a boy and could do it without getting it all over himself.

So yes, boys and girls are different. My boys may be very active, but I'm glad I have them.

Dentist

So today was the big dentist appointment day. We got to the dentist right at about 8:00 and then waited for a bit. The boys went to play in the playroom while we were waiting. Chris decided during that time that he had to use the bathroom, after I had asked him and he said no, so I took him in there. Of course, he had waited long enough that he couldn't really hold it and started wetting in his pants and spraying all over the bathroom as I was pulling down his pants. So after he finished using the bathroom, I had to call Bryce to come over to the office to bring me the extra pair of pants and underpants that were in the van. While we were waiting for Bryce, they called Ben back. Ben didn't want to go, but went fine when they said that Alex could go back with him and watch. So Bryce got there with the pants and I got Chris changed and had to clean up water on their table where he dumped a cup of water, when the hygenist came back again to have me go back and try to help Ben let her polish his teeth. He had done his x-rays fine, but didn't want to let her polish. So I went back and tried to get him to let her, which he wouldn't do. So she decided to let Alex hop up and try it. Alex was really good and was cooperative for everything. She polished his teeth and then took x-rays of his mouth, then the dentist came in and had a look at his teeth. After he looked at Alex's teeth, he had Ben hop up and he looked at his. Ben kept trying to scrunch down in the chair to kind of get away from it, but did let him look. He liked seeing his x-rays where we could see his new top teeth waiting to come in. After the dentist examined Ben, he left to examine other patients for a bit and Ben finally let the hygenist polish his teeth and was actually pretty good about it. Then the dentist came back to look at Chris's teeth. He didn't want to open his mouth, so we had to have Chris sit on my lap and kind of lay back onto the dentist while he tried to get a look.
As it turns out, Ben has 3 cavaties and was referred to a pediatric dentist because he had such a hard time letting them look. Alex had no cavaties and Chris had no cavaties. It actually was a pretty easy visit, even with the little trials. It went quickly and the boys weren't running around and getting into things they shouldn't have been. And the boys loved getting the bags from the dentist that had toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, and a flosser. And they were very excited to be able to get a prize out of the prize bucket. I think they'll be happy to go back next time. Well, except for maybe Ben. We'll have to see how he does when he gets his cavaties filled.

Just because

Just to keep it a little more interesting for those of you who have Google Reader - so it won't keep saying there are no unread items, I thought I would do another post today. Aren't I nice? Well, after you read this, you may wonder why I even bothered and may think that was just a waste of time. But it's the thought that counts, right?

Last night we had our Relief Society birthday dinner. I, along with 3 other women in my ward, did a musical number for it. We sang an arrangement of "Sweet Is The Work" that actually had some really pretty harmonies in it. For some reason, I would have a hard time getting my part right when we'd sing it all together, but I think I did okay when we sang last night. Of course, they had us eat dinner first and they served ice cream cake for dessert, so it was a little bit scary at first. We all stood up to sing and all of us had to keep clearing our throats. So it was a fun beginning for those listening. We did get lots of compliments after, and made at least one person cry (and of course, she had to say the closing prayer right after we sang, so she didn't appreciate it), so at least we weren't really bad.

I finally broke down and made dentist appointments for my family. Daniel is still a bit young to have a dentist appointment and only has 2 teeth so far, so it would be a bit pointless, but the rest of us all have appointments. Bryce and I have appointments on the 14th (if Bryce can end up making it). The 3 boys go tomorrow morning at 8 am. Yes, that's 8 am in Meridian. I was kind of hoping that Bryce would be able to take a little time off in the morning to help me out, but he has a really big bid due tomorrow and didn't have time yesterday to work on it, so he only has the time today he might be able to get to it and tomorrow, so he can't. I'm trying to be optimistic and keep telling Bryce that it will work out okay and I'll be able to handle helping the 3 boys at the dentist by myself. I guess we'll see if the optimism worked by tomorrow afternoon. The good news for the google reader group is that means that tomorrow there will probably be yet another unread item for you when I leave a post about how that turned out.

Belief-O-Matic

So for fun today, I went to beliefnet.com and took their Belief-O-Matic quiz. I had read on another blog where someone had gone there, so I thought it might be fun to try. And surprise, surprise, my beliefs were 100% Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Can you believe that? At least it's good to know that my beliefs match up with the beliefs of my religion. Especially since I teach Gospel Doctrine in Sunday School. It would be kind of scary if they didn't, huh?