PHEW, WE SURVIVED!

I know that everyone has busy weeks and I am not the only one but I just was thinking, I am so glad last week is over. It had great parts to it, like Jared's brother getting married and going to my first Suns game but it also had crappy parts like 4 days of stomach flu. Here is our week in a nutshell...sorta.
Sunday: church, primary meeting for Jared, going to Jaime's house to learn how to make homemade caramel apples.
Monday: therapy for Elias, Jared and Mike took down the bane of Jared's existence (the trampoline) and we hauled it and its 500 pieces back to the store to return it and get a new one, went on a double date with Randi and Mike to the Suns game (we had free $100/seat tickets, thank you Dad).
Tuesday: 5am, Elias woke up puking and continued to do so every half hour to hour for the next 6 hours, dragged all 3 boys to the doctors office for their regular check-ups, went and got the stuff needed for Enrichment (I am the Enrichment Leader)
Wednesday: got everything ready for Brandon's wedding on Thursday, got asked to give talks in church on Sunday, got Emma from school and as soon as she walked in the door she puked every where and continued to do so until 10pm, Jared went home teaching, canceled giving talks on Sunday, I left Jared with all the kids and went and did my Enrichment thing at the church, came home and picked up and went to bed.
Thursday: 3am I woke up and puked all over the bathroom (awesome), stayed in bed and slept, Jared worked from home and took care of the kids, got up and got ready for the wedding (along with Emma to be a flower girl), partied at the wedding and came home and went to bed. (my favorite part of the night was when the DJ announced the wedding party and he said the flower girls and Emma and Maddy went out there and strutted their stuff and spun around like they were on the cat walk)
Friday: Disinfected the house, then Jared got sick, got all the kiddos ready for the wedding reception and then went to the wedding reception with the kids and no Jared (thank you family members for helping with the boys). Aren't these pictures of Elias and Brylee cute...first they kiss, then they look like they got caught kissing.
Saturday: Randi's bridal shower, Votaws Halloween party and Marlee's 1st birthday party.

Every time weeks like this happen I think, "as soon as this is over my life will slow down and I can just sit back and snuggle babies," but inevitably it doesn't. I want to be a kid again with no responsibilities, anyone else want to join me?! If not, feel free to join me this week...3 more Halloween parties, another Enrichment, family reunion, etc.

THE BOYS' STATS!

We decided to spend an entire afternoon at the doctor's office and do 2-4 month check-ups and a 2 year check-up. Between getting all the measurements, shots, discussing fluids in Elias' ears, etc...I don't think we will do a 3-in-1 appointment ever again! Here is a picture of the last peaceful moment we had while waiting for the Dr to come in.
Elias: Weight: 32.9 pounds (90-95%)
Height: 35 inches (50-75%)
Head Size: 51.2 cm (90-95%)

Tyler: Weight: 15.0 (50%)
Height: 24 3/4 inches (26%)
Head Size: 42.3 cm (49%)

Tyson: Weight: 14.15 (49%)
Height: 24 1/2 inches (25%)
Head Size: 42.5 cm (50%)

Thank heavens for head size: the first time Tyson has ever topped Tyler on any measurement!

PYSCHO PANTS!

QUESTION: What do you do when you think you have 2 different kinds of formula in your pantry but it turns out they are the same kind and you have to mix 2 different kinds of formula to make one magical cheap concoction and your husband is out of town with all his brothers?!

ANSWER: You load up all the kiddos of course. Good thing you only need formula because there ain't no room in your shopping cart for anything else anyways.

BACK TO THE DAILY GRIND!

Well today school is back in session, dang it. It was fun to have Emma home, to get to be lazy and not make lunches, to not have to get up and get her ready, and to get to hang out with her, etc. I think she had a good break, nothing too exciting but still better than nothing. We tried to have fun this break without spending money so here are a few things we did.
#1: Had a sleepover with her cousin Maddy.

#2: Spent time with Grandpa Rodgers, he even came over and brought a giant tether ball for Emma and him to play with.

#3: Invited 10 friends from the neighborhood/ward to come over and decorate Halloween cookies while listening to Halloween songs.

#4: The break started out with a date with Daddy and ended with a date with Mommy. Thanks to her school for handing out gift certificates to restaurants for not missing one day of school during the month of August. At lunch we gave "cheers" with our cups, colored together, did a word scramble together, ate lunch, had ice cream cones and headed home.

RANDOM PICTURES!

Here are just a few fun pictures that make me smile.

Elias: "until these boys can play with me I will just sit here next to them and watch my movies."

Twins: "why does this big kid who always put our hands in his mouth insist on being by us?!"

Elias: "when my legs are to short to reach the pedals...next best thing, get my big sister to give me a ride!"

YAY, I'M 2!!!

I can't believe our little Bubbas is 2 years old already, where has the time gone?! We decided not to do a party this year but instead do what Eli would really like, make the day all about him and the things he loves...being outside!

Yesterday Emma told us that she wanted to use her own money to buy him a present for his birthday. We were so proud of her for being so generous (I mean the girl only has $2 which she has saved from the tooth fairy so she ain't loaded or anything). I took her to the Disney store so she could pick out a car for him - the boy is obsessed with the movie Cars and cant get enough of them. While we were in the store Emma looked long and hard for just the right gift and after making her final selection she had 3 items that she just couldn't wait to give to him (don't worry, I kicked in the extra she needed). That night she couldn't wait for him to go to bed so she could hang up some birthday banners and wrap her gifts for him. She even wrote him the cutest poem ever, its written just like this:
to: 2 years old Eli
from: Emma

This is the day.
Your 2nd birthday.
Wak up with presents.
And fun stuff.

Love Emma

When he woke up in the morning she helped him open the presents even though he was pretty aprehensive about them. He loved sitting with his big sister but didn't quite comprehend that good things awaited him inside the cute polka dot wrapped gifts. After he opened his presents and ate Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes for breakfast we headed to the park. He was loving that as usual until he would spot a kid with a car in his hand and then we had one of our many terrible two tantrums, which was quickly followed up by a time out in the middle of the park! (Emma likes to tell everyone who called on the phone today that he had 2 time outs on his birthday). After the park it was time for a nap. During his nap Emma looked pretty bored so I asked her if she wanted to play with her friend and she said yes but that she didnt want to miss any part of Eli's birthday so she played while he napped and then after that Eli, Emma and daddy set up a tent in the backyard so we could go pretend camping. Elias LOVED helping daddy set it up and getting to use all the fun tools. After the tent was set up we had dinner and then built a fire and roasted marshmallows. Elias didn't care to eat any of them, he just enjoyed setting them on fire and watching them burn and then fall off the stick. After he was done burning marshmallows and his fingers we decided to go inside the tent and watch a movie. Nerds! That about sums up his day, I think he had a great time. He is now sleeping in bed with his new Lightening McQueen and Mater tucked in beside him. Happy Birthday Bubbas!! You can watch a video of him throwing a birthday tantrum under the video section.

DATE WITH DADDY!

What to do, what to do...what do you do to entertain your kiddos during October break that is more fun than just laying around the house watching movies but doesn't cost any money?! This October break we are going to have to get very creative to see how to make this break exciting since we are trying not to spend any money. Idea #1: Take advantage of the fact that Emma still loves spending time with her parents before it's too late. Yesterday Jared wrote her a little invitation and handed it to her at breakfast time inviting her to go on a date with him that day. They packed a picnic lunch, went to the park to eat it, played croquet or "crow-key" and "crow-ket" as Emma kept calling it because she couldn't remember the name to save her life and then we used a buy-one-get-free ice cream coupon and they went to Cold Stone and ate some ice cream!Emma had the best time and gave me every detail in order when she got home.

Saddest part of the day...Elias realized that Daddy and Emma were going to go outside and he didn't have any shoes on so he ran to his room, climbed on top of the box of wipes and grabbed his shoes off the shelf (even matching ones at that) ran and gave them to me so I put them on and then he ran outside only to discover that he was all alone, they left him :( (sorry the picture isn't very clear, no time to take a great shot, had to get it in the moment.) Don't worry, super mom to the rescue, I chased him around and around the bushes in the front yard and then when that bored me (a couple of minutes later) I brought him inside and let him eat 2 bowls of ice cream with sprinkles!! Excellent mother of the year, ha ha!