A Family that plays together.....

Stays together! We went to the park last week as a family just because it was a beautiful night, and we have had an incredibly looooong winter. I brought my camera, as I often do, and we had so much fun taking pictures of the boys jumping off the swings! Here are the best shots from our evening at the park!

The girls were just loving the park as well, and were very entertained by the extreme jumping thanks to the brothers! I love our simple family walks, and trips to the park, they don't cost a dime, and it's just plain fun to be together!

A LITTLE FRIDAY FUN

Chuck has been working a ton of hours lately (or always), and we haven't had a lot of fun family time together, so the Friday of spring break he took the afternoon off, and we played! The kids voted to go to Chuckie Cheeses (Where a kid can be a kid!), and we had a great time. I was so relieved when we arrived that it wasn't all that crowded. There is nothing closer to hell on earth then Chuckie Cheese at maximum capacity!

It was hard to get a good picture of the boys while they were there, because they were so busy running from one game to the next. They only came over to me when they wanted more tokens, or money for the pop I promised they could have! Typical!

Callie and Ava were so cute and fun that day! Callie was showing Ava the Chuckie Cheese ropes, and I was very surprised at how much Ava was enjoying her self. I hate to admit that I don't take as much time during the day to play with my kids as I should, so I very much enjoyed my self too! (The free refills of Diet Coke didn't hurt either:)

And last but not least, there is my husband, who seems to turn into a kid again when we walk in the doors! The best was when he took Callie to "play", and brought her into the giant jungle jeep game where they shoot enormous tarantulas! She had nightmares for 2 nights that her bed was full of ter-lanch-a las (that's how she says it)! Next time she is going to hang with Ava and me on the kiddy side! Apparently shooting at things is a stress reliever for guys! Who knew?

All in all, it was a very fun and relaxing way to spend the afternoon together as a family!

EGG-CITEMENT!!!

Our kids absolutely LOVE to color Easter eggs! Callie begged everyday, for nearly a week to decorate eggs. She didn't care that they wouldn't last until Easter, she wanted to to do them now! On the Monday of spring break, we finally decorated our eggs for FHE. The tattoos didn't quite work out, but the kids rolled with it, and had fun anyway. We had egg salad sandwiches lots that week (Yummy).

I wonder if Ava will have any trouble finding someone to show her the egg decorating ropes next year? Yea, probably not!

CINDY LOU WHO DO!

Ava finally has enough hair for a little pony tail right on top of her little head. We now lovingly refer to it as her 'Cindy Lou Who do'!

Oh we could just eat her up she is soooo dang cute!

RECORDER CONCERT

During fourth grade music, I think since the beginning of time, kids have learned to play the recorder, and this year was no exception for our Dallin! Callie, Ava, and myself got to go listen to the concert a week and a half ago, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was! The girls were angels the whole time, and Ava attracted lots of attention when she danced to the music, and clapped at the end of each song in her stroller. Callie loves any excuse to go to "the boy's school", and she really loved seeing her big brother perform!

I could tell after the concert, when we went to see Dallin, that it meant a lot for us to be there, and I love sharing in these sweet little grade school memories with my kids. I'm enjoying and savoring the fact that my kids want to be scene with their mom at school, because come Jr. High.......well, that a whole other story! I love you buddy, way to rock the recorder!!!

CHANGE IS FUN!

For the last few months, I've been toying with the idea of cutting my hair off. Chuck says he "prefers" it long, but that it looks good short too, so he's no help in my decision making process! I haven't had it short since Grant was a baby, and decided it needed to go away, I was ready for change!

Before

After

I do like it a lot! It's not quite as big of a change as I was hoping for, and I think I will go even shorter next time I go in, maybe a little more "A line" too. I also wear it smooth, and bobbed under (Chuck "prefers" it that way:) but didn't have a picture of it. So for all you friends who have asked to see pictures, here you are!

FOUR, YES ALL FOUR ON ANTIBIOTICS!

Really, I probably don't need to go into too much more detail than that! For the first time in our family's little history, we had all 4 of our kids on Antibiotics!

Dallin had been really sick for over a week, fever, headache, soar throat, the whole 9 yards. I kept him home from school, and he did improve slightly over the week. I was leary to take him in, because I feel like it's usually a waste of money! It always seems to be a virus, and we all know they don't do a thing for viruses, except charge the heck out of you for the pointless appointment! (I've had a few of those appointments, can you tell??)

By the next Sunday, I drug him to church, and he complained the whole time that his head hurt, and he wanted to just go home. He definitely was not himself, and had been sick for over a week, and it was starting to get ridiculous how long this kid had been sick! I called and got him into Urgent care 20 min later. Thankfully our regular family doctor was on staff that day, and we were both happy to see Dr. Westling! (My kids love him, and I love that he's family practice, and can see us all!) After a few tests, for strep and mono, he showed up positive for Strep throat! First time in his 9 1/2 years!

Monday, Callie wakes up with a fever, and a throat that looked just like Dallins did. I waited until the next morning to see if she still had symptoms, and she did, so I made her an appointment for right after lunch. Grant was slightly feverish that morning as well, but being the bad mother I am, and not wanting another kid home sick from school, I dosed him up with Advil, and sent him to school! Callie tested positive for strep too, and while we were there, Dr. Westling looked in Ava's ears after I said she had been pulling on them, and she had a nasty infection (second one in a month)! I mentioned to Dr. Westling that Grant had a slight fever, and was complaining his ears hurt too. The doctor said chances were he had an ear infection, and to call and get him in if he was still complaining after school. Well, poor Grant didn't make it through the day. The Nurse at school called, and said he was in her office with a 103.5 temp, and crying saying his ears hurt. So, off to Dr. Westling.......again! Grant was so sick, he fell asleep in the car, and again in the doctor's office! No ear infection, just referred pain from his strep throat!!!!!

That was my week and a half, and it wasn't fun, but we are all better now. Until next time that is. Now it's time to pay the bill I got today (ouch! is all I can say, and if we keep this up, we'll surely meet our deductable this year!). I really am so grateful, and count my blessings that I live not only in a time, but also a place where I can get the medical care my children need, when they need it.