Week of July 1 - 4

Blogging just isn't happening lately.  It makes me sad.  I try everyday to find time and it just isn't there.  I'm trying to get a few things written down.  Something is better than nothing. Here's a quick recap of the first week of July....

July 1st --

With Max and his medicine you never know what you are going to get.  This morning I asked Lily to get Max out of his crib while I took the dog out.  She came screaming outside, "There's poop and its everywhere!!!"  We always are excited for poops because it means his medicine is working, but this time his medicine worked a little too well.  And Lily was right...it was EVERYWHERE!

We also have been tasked with watching for unusual bumps/leasions/rashes on Max.  How is one supposed to tell if this is one of those or if it is a bug bite.  Oh well, I'll document it anyway.

 

I wanted to take a picture of me and Max.  Max just wanted to see if he could get a hold of my phone.  Little stinker!

 

July 3rd -

Russ came up with a scam for us to get rich quick.  Charge people to come see Jesus who appeared on our water dispenser.  Hmmm...time to clean that think I think. (For those of you who don't know Russ and his sense of humor he would NEVER actually do something like that.  He is just witty and likes to joke around.)

July 4th -

The bishopric was in charge of a pancake breakfast.  I offered to come early and help but Russ assured me that he would be fine going by himself so I didn't have to stress about the kids.  Russ and Bro Coon were in charge of the "specialty" pancakes...chocolate chip or apples. They all were yummy and it was a lot fun to get together with the ward on the 4th.  Lily was excited because she got to help make some pancakes.  She has now declared anytime that we have pancakes she should be the one to make them.

Charlotte will randomly ask for me to take a picture of her.  Who can resist taking a picture of this sweet girl?

 

Breanne still is up to mischief.  She steals my phone on a daily basis to take her own photos.  She captured this one of her feet today.  This girl loves shoes.  She is particularly attached to her slippers right now.  We had to sneakily throw away a pair that was too small for in order to get her to wear these.  She wasn't happy about for a few days but now we rarely see her without these Minnie ones on her feet.

 

It wouldn't be the 4th of July without some carmel popcorn to munch on.  This is a pot of ooey gooey goodness!  

 

I also made some rice crispy treats and some pecan bars.  Russ made some stuffed jalepenos.  All these yummy treats went with is to our neighbors house, The Wilcox's.  They had invited us and the Coon's over for a BBQ.  I really enjoyed being able to sit back and enjoy good food and company.  We don't get out and socialize enough, so this was really nice.

Before heading off to the fireworks I snapped the standard group picture of the kids. 

To keep the girls occupied while we waited for the fireworks to start we gave lit up some glow sticks.  They enjoyed making them into bracelets, necklaces, and earrings.  Max could care less.  He was tired and just wanted to sleep.  Breanne freaked out at the loud booming of the fireworks when they started and covered her ears and eyes.  I got her to look at the pretty fireworks while I covered her ears.  Eventually she realized the fireworks weren't going to get her and I could put my hands down.  Poor girl is terrified of loud noises!  The fireworks were nice and we enjoyed them.  The local police finally figured out how to control traffic this year.  Instead of waiting in traffic for an hour we  only waited five minutes!  Thank goodness!

Sunday Ramblings

Daylight Savings time....it isn't my favorite time of the year, but this year it isn't too bad either.

Last night Allie went to bed at 5:00 complaining of tummy ache. I wasn't sure if we would be making it to church or not because of this. I was nervous that she had that nasty 24 hour flu bug again. This morning I went and woke her up to see how she was feeling.  She was tired but felt better. I jokingly told Russ later that her body must have known it would need the extra sleep because of daylight savings so it "faked" sick on her.

The morning was rough. We pulled into the church lot at 8:55. I was stressed that we hadn't gotten their early enough to claim our seat Russ had saved for us.  Apparently whoever fixed the church clocks for Daylight Savings doesn't use an apple device because I looked over at the clock when we sat down and it was 8:50! Phew!  Church went rather smoothly. It still feels like I am running from one thing to the next at church and barely get "spiritually refueled" there. I try to remind myself that this is just the season of life we are in and there will come days in the future where I will long to have my kiddos back and keeping me crazy busy.  That pep talk works....a little.

We were able to spend most of the afternoon resting before Russ had to head back to the church. He had a baptism to attend to. I probably should have went I'm just too worn out anymore to go places once I'm home.  Lily volunteered to help make dinner while Russ was gone. I think she was trying to get out of cleaning up the living room, but whatever.  She helped me with a few things before I assigned her the task of feeding Max. I finally felt like he had the hang of eating, so she could go ahead and feed him.  She was so excited to do this and actually did a rather decent job. Towards the end her interest was waning and she started to shove it all over Max's face but that's ok.

After dinner Russ did chore money with the girls.  They were so excited to count their piggy banks, spending money, and tithing. Normally we don't count all of it, but we had extra time tonight so Russ helped the girls with that.  Everyone went to bed. Max even went to sleep in his own room for the 2nd night in a row! It's been hard letting him go into his own room, but I guess it's time to start letting my little man grow up.

2013 - list style

Hmmm...haven't been doing so well on that blogging every day thing have I?!  Oh well!  I felt kind of put out that I left 2013 behind with nothing to show for it.  I plan to get back to it someday....like that every happens...lol!  So I decided to do something about that.  I quickly ran through our pictures and picked out some of the things that we did in 2013.  To say that this list is long would be true...but it barely scratches the surface of all we did last year.  So if you don't mind reading...here is 2013 List style! (On a sidenote I started this post over a month ago.  Yeah that was a quick run through of things!LOL!)

January

• Breanne rolled over
• Charlotte and Breanne got blankies from Grandma Suzy
• Lily got "A" honor roll and perfect attendance.
• We played outside in the warm weather a lot.
• Russ saw his mission president while at a training in Houston...RANDOM!
• I started my 3 credit class to renew my certification.
• I kept creating LOTS of scrapbook stuff {Did this monthly but not going to put it on each month}
• Breanne began to laugh...alot!
• Lots of preschool and puzzles with Allie. 
• Went to the Houston Zoo

February

• Charlotte dances excitedly for baths.
• Charlotte is obsessed with dolls and glasses.  They go everywhere with us.
• Charlotte ate her first ice cream cone, before this she shared with me or Russ.

 

• Charlotte read books to Breanne.
• Girls sent homemade Valentine's to our family.
• Lily made reading team at school.
• Breanne tried solids and was unimpressed.
• We spent a lot of time having indoor picnics.
• Lily raised $100+ for Jump rope for Heart.
• More Breathing treatments for Charlotte.

• Practice hand washing for Allie to be ready for kindergarten.

•  Breanne at four months.

March

• Breanne played at the park for the first time.  Was very intrigued by the grass. Allie dug in the sand...as usual!

• We planted our garden.
• During Spring Break daddy built a playset for his girls.
• Spring Break playgroup with friends.

• Lily was in the ward talkent show.
• A leprachaun left us a Lucky breakfast.
• I began writing scrapbooking blog posts and getting paid for it. Like real money not just product. :D
• We went camping at Huntsville with many friends from our Stake.  

• Charlotte had a BAD asthma attack/allergy attack while camping.  Good thing we had electricity and had brought her nebulizer.
• Eater bunny left us some cool baskets.
• Sprinkles got her first professional haircut.  We took in a Shih-Tzu and left with a Dachshund.

April

• Breanne and Sprinkles are good friends.  Bree loves on her and Sprinkles lets her.
• i finished MY HUGE project for my class.  And got an A in the class :D
• We played at the park a lot.
• Breanne learned to crawl.

• Charlotte wore her first ponies in her hair.
• Russ and I had our 9th anniversary.
• Lillian is becoming a book worm!
• Started my 2nd class for my certification.

May

• Russ put together his coin collection.  It used to be in a shoe box. Now it is in a binder.
• We spent lots of FHE weeding our front garden.

 

• Went to the library more often.
• Went to the LEGO convention.  The girls were in HEAVEN...as was Russell.  If you have a child that likes LEGOS you should look into going to a convention near you.  It is worth the $$$.

 

• Breanne sat up in the bathtub by herself.
• I had an awesome Mother's day.  Spoiled rotten as usual!

 

• Lily showed of her SEARCH portfolio.  She loved this year since it was all about art.

 

• Lily got a black eye playing softball with dad.

• Breanne began to get curious.  She is into everything!
• I removed a tick from Charlotte's side.  EEEKS!
• Charlotte is obsessed with Doc McStuffins.
• We had lots of bubble parties outside.
• Breanne began to self feed.
• Allie always want to paint.  Huge step for her since she does not like getting messy.

June

• We went to the Galveston Sandcastle competition.  A favorite tradition.

• Lily received A honor roll and 100% attendance award.  Seriously, how did we accomplish that?!
• Lots of swimming in our kiddy pool.

• Playdates at water splash parks.
• Russ enjoyed Father's day getting new Legos and a old school Ninja turtle shirt.

• Allie had a Snow White birthday party.

• Spent many Sundays putting together Legos.

• Swim lessons for Allie and Lily.
• Charlotte got hand, foot, mouth.

July

• Watched firewrks at the mall.
• Allergy testing for Charlotte.

• Saw Despicable Me 2 in theaters.
• All the girls except Breanne got 5th disease.
• The girls enjoy dressing up Breanne.

• Charlotte found the novelty of chapstick.  All chapstick has to be hidden!
• Russ had a birthday.
• Russ and I wore mustaches for Easton.
• More swim lessons.

• Lots of dress up parties.
• More playdates at water parks.
• Allie and Lily got birthday bounces at gymnastics.
• I finished my class and received an A :D
• Russ traveled to Vegas for a conference.
• Art party for Lily.  She received a "fake" American girl doll from Russ and I.  She was VERY excited.

August

• Tyler, my mom and dad, and Russell's mom and dad came to visit....at the same time!
• Lily chose to be baptized!

• We tried to see alligators at a park...no dice.
• Went to the beach with the family.

• Noticed something on my back...more on that later.
• Lily got impetigo on her nose.
• Took the Galveston Ferry and saw dolphins. The girls were so excited to spend so much time with Tyler.

• Explored Ft...Travis I think. Played at the playground there.

• Went to the railroad museum. It was really neat.  The girls even enjoyed it.

• Said goodbye to our babysitter Cheyenne.  Poor Charlotte lost her best friend :(

• Played a lot of card games.
• Built indoor forts.
• I painted all the girls fingernails in preparation for school.

• Allie began Kindergarten...sniff...sniff.
• Lily began 3rd grade.

• Allie was admitted to the hospital for difficulty breathing.

September

• Breanne and Charlotte spend lot time playing together.
• Breanne claps hands.
• Allie is released from hospital.
• Lots of blood testing for Allie.
• Playtime outside enjoying the "cooler" weather.  By this I mean low 90's high 80's. LOL!
• Breanne decides she likes to eat dirt.
• We did a lot of art projects together.
• We had an Avatar party at a friends house to celebrate the beginning of Season 2 of The Legend of Kora.
• Lily cuts of her LONG hair for shoulder length hair.

• Allie got her first hair trim EVER.

• I noticed the spot on my back had gotten larger...
• Lily gave herself a hickey on her forehead
• Bike rides for FHE.
• Breanne learns to walk!
• Dermatologist removes the spot on my back to do testing.
• Breanne gets a swing for her birthday.  Completely in love with it!

October

• Daddy gave lots of laundry basket rides to the girls.
• Lots of evening spent in the backyard...the girls playing...Russ mowing the lawn...me trying to keep Breanne out of the way.

• I started to work out at the gym every day again.  The girls love to go the the kid area there.
• Spot came back with poor results...not quite cancer but close enough they were concerned about it.  Decided to more aggressively remove it.  10 - 15 stitches on the inside, 10 - 15 stitches on the outside.
• Pajama day and dress what you want to be day at school.

• Charlotte has new obsession -- trains.

• Went to the local pumpkin patch.

• Girls ran in the Monster Dash.  Allie somehow got stuck with the big kids and ran the whole thing!
• Painted and carved pumpkins.

• Made spider cookies.
• Trunk or treat and trick or treating on Halloween.  Lily - princess. Allie - Raspberry Torte. Charlotte - Strawberry Shortcake. Breanne - Spider.

November

• I am going INSANE.  Breanne is into everything and soooo super stealthy about it!

• Daddy lets the girls do his hair sometimes.

• Tried to go the Christmas Light Parade but it was too cold.  It was actually snowing! We did manage to get our yummy fair food though :D

• Lily and daddy play chess.  Lily spends the rest of the month trying to teach Allie and Charlotte how to play. LOL!

• Had a nice Thanksgiving here at home.

• Bought our Christmas tree.

December

• Everyone got flu shots in effort to keep Charlotte healthy.
• Allie cut a chunk of her hair because it was "bothering her"  Good news...you couldn't even tell.

• Watched the Christmas devotional. 

• Wrote letters to Santa.
• Found out that I was expecting Baby jones #5.
• Found out that I was allergic to the stitches inside of me.  Medicine for now...shots when I get cleared from my doctor.
• Picture day at gymnastics. 

• Hot chocolate on cold days.  Texas should not be this cold! In the 20's and 30's if you are wondering.
• Allie found my lipstick and used it all over her face...nice.
• Lily and the other 3rd graders sang at the city Christmas Festival. We saw Santa there too! Breanne was mad at us for giving her to a strange man.

• I tried to make Christmas goodies for friends.
• Russ got the flu even with his flu shot.
• Charlotte had a BAD asthma attack.
• Breanne had RSV again!
• Charlotte, Breanne, and Allie all had breathing treatments...at the same time!
• Breanne loves popcorn -- discovered on our Sunday Christmas movie nights.
• I got a Silhouette for my birthday. YAY!!!
• Breanne had her first ice cream cone.  Would not let anyone get near it.  Funniest thing to watch!
• Had to get THREE ultrasounds to find out if the baby was ok.  He/she was...just very tiny.

• Russ and I bit the bullet and got iPhones. The girls love taking pictures with them.

• We cancelled cable.  We now have no TV except netflix.  Best decision EVER!
• Cookie the Elf came to visit.
• Enjoyed a quite Christmas at home.

• Charlotte got Doc Mcstuffins dress up and doctors kits.  Everyone and everything is getting a checkup!

• Charlotte got crazy sick again!!! She spent several days sleeping on our floor as we tried to combat her asthma.
• Played Headbanz for FHE.  Crazy fun game.

• Celebrated the new year at 8:00 with strawberry shakes.

Well there you go.  Our year in a nutshell.  There were quite a few big events, and quite a few small events.  Overall our year was stressful, happy, and crazy busy.