Yeah, It's Been a While

Hey, remember how I have a blog? Remember how I used to update it fairly regularly? Yeah, me too. So I'm back, but I'm not going to promise the [blogging] world. Things are busy and facebook tends to be fast, but kind of more a time suck when you add it all together. I don't know, I'm torn and apparently in a stream of consciousnesses kind of mood....moving on.

Thought you all might enjoy an update of what's been going on. One child is off to school and the other three are still asleep, so I'm going to listen to vicious wind outside and ruminate and reminisce.

So we've been up to a lot of things. I'll start in December...

Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis....We had so much fun at this event! I am continually impressed with all the wonderful work that the Arthritis Foundation does in this community and the events that they put on are amazing! Siobhan was the youth honoree for the event and she did a great job! She gave a speech that was very articulate and moving. Video will come soon-it's on Carson's phone. We had a misshap of illness though. Right after the kid's run, she had a spell of violent throwing up! So sad on her special day! But she was a trooper. We had a great time that day-vomiting aside!

Festival of Trees....Audrey and I both performed in the Festival of Trees with our Irish Dance school. We had a blast! As a result of her adorable performance, Audrey was even picked to dance on a kid's DVD which should be out in the next few months.

Christmas happened and so did my birthday-the Christmas post at least will be at another time when I can post all the pics and videos. Christmas really should be it's own post anyway, not thrown into the mix of a run of the mill update post, don't you think?

Jr. Jazz....Siobhan played basketball this winter. She had a great time and no problems with the JIA! She was the only girl on her team, but totally held her own! She was also the tallest. Favorite memory of the season, after a girl on the other team stole the ball from her, she came over to me on the verge of tears because someone 'just took the ball' away. I told her to steal it right back. She did!

Preschool for Mr. Will....Mr. Will started speech therapy back in November. He has been very delayed in the his speech and vocabulary and after a lot of testing we found out that he has concentration/attention issues and memory problems as well. So we started having a speech therapist come into our house twice a month to work with him. Now that he's three, he ages into the school districts preschool program. He goes to a 'special needs' preschool two mornings a week and he loves it! He gets to ride the bus which is the high light of his day! Oh, and he's improving so much with his speech! It seems like everyday he has new words that he can say. We are so happy! I plan another post about this very soon!

Standing Man...So Ethan can stand against anything and it's so cute! He's starting to cruise too which is so fun to watch! He still won't crawl on his knees though. The other day I put him down on the floor of the living room to play and went into the kitchen. About two minutes later, i couldn't hear him. Yeah, he was upstairs. So I put him back in the living room with more toys and turned my back. Two minutes later, he was upstairs again! Fast little guy!

Carson's Amazing!....Carson has been working out a lot over the last year and has lost 40 pounds! His BMI is down to 16.9!!!! I'm so proud of him! He's been working hard! He's also kept busy with his responsibilities in the Elder's Quorum presidency.

Vegas...We took a short trip to Las Vegas on New Years Day and stayed overnight at the Excalibur. The girls loved being able to stay in the Castle! It was nice to get away and do something fun as a family! Carson's mom met us there and stayed with the kids so we could go out. It was a very quick trip but lots of fun!!!

I'm doing some fun work with the Arthritis Foundation which is keeping me busy. I'm helping to organize the upcoming walk in May and Siobhan is helping also. We are planning on attending the Foundation's gala in a few weeks where Siobhan will present an honoree with the platter that she made. We're super excited for that! Siobhan and I were also chosen to attend to Arthritis Foundation's Advocacy Summit in Washington DC in mid April and we are really looking forward to that! Well, I'm looking forward to that, Siobhan doesn't know. We're surprising her at school on Weds at their weekly assembly!

Soccer....Siobhan just had her first soccer game on Saturday and scored 2 goals! But then she got wicked hurt and couldn't play the rest of the game. It's all good though. She's excited to keep playing!

St. Patrick's Day....Me and Audrey both marched in the St. Patrick's Day Parade down town and performed in the Siamsa. It was so fun! We also had a super fun party the night before with all the kids friends! It was so much fun!!!

So there you have it, a comprehensive update of what's going on in our family. I hope you enjoyed the read and lack of pictures. I have a reason for that. I got a new phone for my birthday and the camera on my phone is better than our digital camera so I use the phone for all of my picture taking needs. I just don't know how to get them from the phone to the computer. I know there are ways like emailing them to myself and then copying and pasting them into my picture library. But that's a lot of steps and I'm kind of lazy. I need to find an easier way. Love ya'll!

Monkeys and Elephants and Dinosaurs, Oh My!

A few weeks back (well, like a month ago) we went to the zoo! We don't venture out for things like that very often because Carson and I are seriously out numbered by the amount of kids we have. But we went with Grandma and Grandpa so that helped a lot-a few extra hands.

We've been looking forward to going to the zoo for a long time because Carson's company installed a bunch of air compressors for a dinosaur exhibit. The air compressors made the dinos move and some of them even sprayed water. Since we have a little boy in our family who adores anything of the dinosaur persuasion, it was bound to be a big hit!






We also saw elephants, and I didn't know this, which are apparently Audrey's favorite animal. We spent a lot of time there listening to the one of the zoo people (docent?) talk all about the elephants they had there which were a grandma, a mommy and a baby girl. So fun!

This is a big elephant outside the habitat. It does a little bit of moving and water spraying which Carson's company also did.

We also saw the monkeys which is always fun! There was this one baby monkey (I can't remember what kind-black with big, white, long tails-sort of look like a skunk) who kept bouncing all around the habitat and he had fun jumping up to the window and making faces at the girls. So cute!!!

We had a great time at the zoo!

Blog Lovin' For The Boys!

There has been a serious lack of blog love for the boys in this family. I don't have any big stories to tell per-se.....og wait, that is not true! Mr. Will broke his arm last week, which is so sad. He has a blue cast like Thomas the Tank Engine. Also, he loves Thomas so much! He's mostly potty trained with the exception of #2 and night time. But we're working on it! Sir Ethan is rolling around which is so fun to watch. Also, he got a hair cut and always, he's so handsome. We had to graduate from the bumbo because he tipped over in it a few times. He's the happiest boy in the world!

Mr. Will while we were in Portland wearing my grandfathers old cowboy boots.

Is it just me, or does he look so tired in this picture?

Ethan doing what he does best-being adorable! (pre-bumbo tipping)

Mr. Will watching Thomas The Tank Engine while reading Thomas The Tank Engine with Thomas and his Friends.

Mr. Will loves the dishwasher. Also, he changed a setting on my camera so that for a while, it was black and white and green. It took be a while to fix it.

He loves his saucer!

He always mugs for the camera every time I pick it up. So funny!

Doing what he does best-playing with his trains!

Right after his first hair cut.

Mr. Will was very insistent about wearing Carson's Jazz jersey.

Iamges From The Fourth

Mr. Will, Kate, Audrey, Siobhan, Caroline, and Lindsay...all the cousins (who were present) waiting for the parade in Grandma's neighborhood.

Carson and Mr. Will

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge? Nope, just William and Kate

Audrey loved the parade! She and Siobhan received lots of compliments on their dresses from the parade participants.

Why My Kids Rock!-Mother's Day Pt. 1

A post about the people in my life who make this day a reason to celebrate.....

Siobhan

*Siobhan is silly little five year old who loves to play outside and scares the crap out of me on a daily basis with her tree climbing.
*She frequently wants to bring worms inside to keep as pets.
*The other morning, she said, 'I'm glad you're awake!' It was the best way to start the day. I even wrote it down so I wouldn't forget that she said it to me.
*I think Siobhan has found her calling in the culinary arts. She loves to help Carson cook. She loves to bake with me. Maybe we'll send her to cooking school.
*Siobhan pretty much sell you on any product that she see's a commercial for. The other day she came to me and said, 'Mommy, there's a bed that eliminates back pain. It's call the Sleep Number bed. You should get that.' She's done that with Swiffer, Cedar Pro Steamer, and Packit. She might watch too much TV. Or she has her mommy's memory.
*She wants to be a big girl so bad! I'm content to keep her little!
*Siobhan got a pair of black skinny jeans with embroidery on the back pockets....very grown up! This is how she styled herself.


Audrey

*Audrey has a beautiful smile but whenever you pull out a camera, she instantly goes into serious mode. I think it's a trait she got from my mom.
*Always the jumper, we decided to put her into Irish Step Dancing and wouldn't you know, she's really good at it!
*Audrey is such a girly girl so, true to form, I get a bouquet of flowers almost every day from back yard. They're usually dandelions.
*Would prefer to wear dresses which is great since she owns a million dresses and skirts but not so good for the millions of jeans she has.
*She's the method actor of the family. Pretty much all day every day she is in character and, in her mind, you are too. Right now, she's Repunzel from Tangled. Siobhan is Flynn, Ethan is Pascal, Will is Maximus (sometimes Will and Siobhan are flipped) and Carson and I are King and Queen. When she decides to be Buzz, Carson and I are Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. The thing about it is that we always have to refer to her appropriately and if you don't respond in kind, there are problems. The other night, she said the blessing at dinner and referred to everyone in her prayer by their Tangled characters. It was hilarious!

(In her fabulous hat while watching the royal wedding....another post to come)

Mr. Will

*I may have posted this before, but he loves toilet brushes, toilet plungers and brooms. Either he's trying to tell me to clean more or he's destined for a career in the janitorial services.
*He has the most piercing blue eyes!
*He decided that he wants to be potty trained. He pulled me over to the toilet and pointed and said please. I put him on there and he just went. I wasn't planning on potty training him for a few more months, but I guess we're doing it a little sooner. The boy can't really talk, but he sure can pee on the potty.
*The 'compliment' that I get from pretty much everyone is 'Will is so cute....he has soooo much energy.' I don't really know what to do with that.
*He's at that stage where he likes to put on everyone's shoes. Case in point, look at the pic below.
*There's a hilarious story about him going down for his nap, a problem with his diaper and boy parts and the word 'stuck'. Carson won't let me put it on the blog, so use your imagination.



Ethan

*Ummm, best.baby.ever!
*Ethan has been sleeping through the night since he was six weeks old. He seriously is such an angel!
*Sir Ethan is such a smiley guy!!!
*I don't have much to write about him because he's so young. But I'm so excited to get to know this little guy!

Sleeping Babies

I think that there is nothing more peaceful than a sleeping baby! Case in point.....

*Sir Ethan, sleeping soundly which he does so well....are you totally in love with his face???? How could you not be?*

That is not the case, however, when it comes to toddlers and young children......

*Mr. Will...we always find him in funny positions in his bed. But he's always in his bed and never in his closet or on his floor. Such a good boy!*

*Audrey is usually always on top of her covers which she insists on having on top of her when we tuck her in. Her and her brother definitely inherited their mommy's sleeping habits which include but are not limited to sprawling, flip-flopping, kicking and taking up as much space as possible with a tiny body....seriously, ask Carson how many times I've come close to kicking or pushing him out of bed while I'm asleep.*

Well, Siobhan may be a little more peaceful than the other two.....

*She may not look all that comfortable but at least she's not sucking her thumb!*

First Meeting

Here's some fun pictures of Siobhan, Audrey and Mr. Will meeting Ethan for the first time at the hospital. Siobhan and Audrey were immediately taken with the handsome little guy and Mr. Will was just excited to have all the Oreos and Sprite that a little guy could want from the snack area. So all in all, it was a pretty great experience for all involved! Now, enjoy looking at how cute my family is....especially the kids!

Siobhan loves being the biggest sister. She's even changed Ethan's diaper...one time by herself without telling me. She actually did a great job, but was instructed that from now on, she can only do it with Mommy or Daddy's permission and while we're there with her. She loves him so much!

Love this picture!!!! So sweet!

Audrey is, as always, her sweet loving self with him! Every time he cries, she says, 'Mommy, I think he wants more boo boos milk!' She enjoys babysitting him while he's in his bouncy seat.

While at the hospital, Mr. Will just pretty much ran around and was very cute yet very indifferent to Ethan. However, things have changed a lot in the last six weeks. He loves to give Ethan hugs and kisses and is always concerned when he cries. Even though I caught him dragging Ethan across the floor one evening, he just wants so badly to play with his little bro!

Best picture we could get of all four.


Wow, this family is getting big!

****************************************************************************

BTW, the stuff on Siobhan and Audrey's faces are Utah Jazz tattoos.

Haircuts

Yeah, I keep promising meaningful posts and they'll happen eventually. But for now, here is a post about Siobhan and Mr. Will getting haircuts on Monday. We went to a fun place called Cookie Cutters which is pretty much just like every other kids salon. They did a great job with both kids and were super patient. When Mr. Will was getting his hair cut, Audrey was very insistent that she did not want her hair cute but as soon as Siobhan was getting started she wanted her hair done. We decided that we would keep her hair long like Repunzels. So here are the final products.

Carson was very against the idea of a full on mohawk. He's kind of conservative that way. But in the end, I won out-like usual :) I just think that while he's 2, he can get away with it. Although while he's wearing that camo outfit, he kinds of looks like a hellian, but that's okay.


You may remember this post about the first time we cut Siobhan's hair. Well she's been begging us to get it cut again so we did! We cut off 6 inches! I asked her how she would feel about getting it cut up to her ears and she said she wanted it cut up to her eyes. But we stuck with a cute little bob. I love it!

Friday Funnies!!!!

A few of the goofy things that have happened this morning...

The girls came upstairs after their showers, asking me to tie their towels around their necks like super heroes. Siobhan said that Audrey's super hero name is Super Pinkalicious. Her job is turn the world pink and sweet. Siobhan's super hero name is Coconut Green Apple and her job is to turn everything in the world into lollipops. I love those girls!!!!

Usually, they really love each other!

Mr. Will came running upstairs wearing only a diaper and Audrey's princess bike helmet backwards. He knew he had the helmet on wrong so he had me fix it. Then he ran over to the garage door asking to go ride bikes. I told him not right now so he started to get into the pantry. Can you just picture him wearing only a diaper and a princess bike helmet? Go on, picture it....it's hilarious!!!As handsome as they come, no?

Make Me Better Monday-A Pledge

I didn't do a pledge last week because it was my birthday and I didn't feel like it. Now, I'm feeling sad and a little frustrated (not to worry....just normal life stuff getting to me). So this may be short and sweet.

*Get Christmas as done as possible so that next week is as stress free as possible.

*While I've been praying everyday for the last few weeks, I need to bring them back to a place where they are more meaningful and more sincere.

*Find a way to liken the scriptures that I'm currently reading to myself a little better. (That would definitely relate to the one above)

*In all of the Christmas prep, get to bed a decent time.

*Patience, patience, patience, patience, patience!
*Me and the boy who doesn't like me. I was going to edit this one to be black and white or sepia because my freckles are very prominent but it just didn't look right. So here I am in all my speckled glory!