Easter Play Date

Today was our turn to host the Gilroy Play Group.  Since it is so close to Easter the kids and I decided to give the play date a little Easter feel. 

We planned an Easter Egg Hunt.  Fortunately the weather cooperated with us and it turned out to be a beautiful day.  Payton and Lincoln helped pick out fun little toys and candy for the eggs and Dave stuffed them last night.  Fun times!

For dessert we thought it would be fun to decorate sugar cookies.  Payton's teacher, Mrs. Drucker, shared some pointers to decorating sugar cookies with little kids.  She said, "Give each child a plate with a cookie, a spoonful of frosting, and some sprinkles.  That way no one ends up licking a spoon and dipping it back into the tub of frosting or drinking from the sprinkle container."  It has worked great every time.  What kid doesn't like decorating AND eating cookies?

 

Lastly, we printed off Easter coloring pages.  Payton and Lincoln have really loved coloring and drawing lately and it seems most of the other kids do too.  After the play date, when I was cleaning up I found a bunch of coloring pages that Payton had done.  They made me smile, she does such a good job of coloring in the lines.  She is also not afraid to give someone green skin or purple hair, her coloring pages are always exciting.

 

 

 

It was a really fun play date.  Again, I am so glad the weather was so nice.  The house seems so much bigger and/or less crowded when the kids are able to play inside and outside.  The kids got along great and were so cute with their rosy red cheeks.

The Flu

I have the flu...

I am miserable.  I have body aches.  Chills.  Headache.  A cough... 

Austin is sick too.  :o(

 

 

We have been down for two weeks.  Thankfully my grandma was so willing to come and take care of us.  I couldn't have done it without her help. 

 

I don't know how people do it without the support of family and friends.  I don't think I could have.

Donner Museum

Let me tell you, this vacation has been one for sick kiddos.  We woke up this morning to Payton throwing up.  She looked miserable.

The plan this morning was for all of us to go to the Donner Museum but with Payton being sick we couldn’t all go.  So Dave volunteered to stay behind with her and I took everyone else to the museum.  I remember the first time I went that I was afraid it would be boring but it turned out to be really interesting.  I think my sister and Anthony had the same thoughts about going but Anthony told me after that he thought it was pretty cool.

There is a movie that you can watch that tells about the Donner Party’s journey, a small museum with artifacts found in the area, a cool monument that shows how deep the snow was that winter, and a self guided tour of the area around the museum including where one of the cabins stood.

The kids weren’t too interested in the movie, in fact Caeden thought it was scary and decided she would rather sit in the lobby than watch it.  They were a little more interested in the museum because of the “really big bear” and all the guns.  Haha!  But the hit of the visit was the self guided tour; we made it into a scavenger hunt for the kids and had them find all the number markers.

 

 

I am so glad we went.

Thanksgiving

What a wonderful day! 

I have SO much to be thankful for. 

First and foremost, I am so grateful to be alive.  I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has allowed me to stay on earth and be a part of my children's lives.  It is scary to think how close I came to not being here.

I am so grateful for Dave.  I really think I am the luckiest girl to have him as my husband.  Loving, patient, thoughtful, hard working, awesome father...these are just a few of the qualities he possesses.

I am so grateful for my kiddos.  I love them so much and feel so lucky that I was able to have them.  Especially my little Austin.  Being a mother is the hardest thing I have ever done but also the most rewarding.

I could go on and on but I won't.  ;o) 

It has been so fun having my family here.  Crazy but fun.  We took this opportunity to take a family picture.  The last time we took a family picture was when I was about to deliver Lincoln.  How time flies.  All things considered (5 small kids, one being sick, and trying to get them to look at a camera with no photographer that has been set with a timer) I think the pictures turned out pretty well.   

 

We are so silly.

I can't forget to talk about the food!  Dave has been talking for years about wanting to fry a turkey and this year we finally did it.  The turkey was so good!  It was the moistest turkey I have ever tasted and it smelled so good cooking.  The rest of our meal was super yummy too.  We also had salad, broccoli, mashed potatoes, rolls, deviled eggs, and our usual Sweet Potato Casserole.  Jen agreed to do the desserts and boy oh boy did she deliver.  Homemade apple, coconut creme, and chocolate mouse pies and rice crispy treats.  So so yummy!

Truckee

We made it!  Yay!

Jen has been going hard core on the working out and looks great.  I am jealous!  I know.  I know.  I just had a baby, almost died, give yourself some time blah blah blah.  I just want to magically be like I was after I finished "Making the Cut" with Jillian Micheals after I had Lincoln.  It is so hard starting over again.

Jen brought Brazilian Butt Lift to Truckee and asked if I wanted to do it with her.  "Absolutely!  Let's get a jump start on working off what we will eat tomorrow"  Haha!  It was a fun work out.  I felt silly doing it in front of the whole family but hey, whatcha gonna do.

Maddix has had a rough day.  He was super whiny all morning.  Jen and Anthony thought he may be teething but at one point he came and sat on my lap and I happened to catch a glimpse of a sore on his tongue and then after looking into his mouth on the inside of his lip.  I immediately thought, "Oh crud, he has Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease."  Jen looked and hoped it was just canker sores.  We decided to go to Rite Aid to ask the Pharmacist their opinion and hopefully get something to help with his discomfort.  The Pharmacist said it just looked like a virus and that we could try OraGel and Mortin.

Soon after we returned from Rite Aide and gave him the medical  he started screaming and screamed for 2-3 hours straight.  We decided to take him to Urgent Care.  Tranquilizer anyone?  :o)  Anyway, we pull up to what we think is the only Urgent Care to find it is closed.  What?  Fortunately, there was another Urgent Care just a few blocks up the street and we were able to get in.

Diagnosis.  Hand, Foot, and Mouth.  Great...We have one miserable boy.  At least Caeden is feeling better.