Oh, the places you'll go!!

   How invigorating! We just got back from swimming and sliding and I think that is how every day should end. At the top of a water slide with lightning bugs all around and the moon hanging low. Ahhh.....
  We are having so much fun and so that I don't forget here is a quick rundown of what we have done so far. It might be boring for you to read, but it sure is fun for us to live!!
  Our drive out went absolutely great!! I never dreamt that the kids could be so good for so long. I am contemplating living in our car from now on, as they are so much better behaved. Of course, Justin burnt dvds with our movies and each disc had like 4-6 movies on it. So they did watch a very large amount of movies.
  There were only two downsides to our drive. One, a 20 hour drive from Idaho to Missouri took us 29 hours total. But we did only spend $12 on food the whole way!
 They other bad thing was that Tristan and Alaina both threw up. (Tristan did 4 times!) Which was partly why we only spent $12 on food! And also a large reason why the drive took so long. We had to make a side trip for cleaning materials in Nebraska because I was tired of cleaning up with just baby wipes.     

                              This was at the Wal-Mart in Nebraska.  I was cleaning and Alex strapped Emme in and played with her. Doesn't she look worried?

 

   You know you have really sunk low when you walk into Wal-Mart and think, "What magical paradise is this, with air conditioning and everything you could ever need? Who would ever leave a place like this?" When I saw myself in the bathroom mirrors there it was kind of shocking. I looked like I was living out of my car. Oh, wait. I was.  Then we got parts for our oil pump (we're traveling on used vegetable oil) at Home Depot and thankfully everyone was fine by the time we got to Daddy's, many, many hours later.
  We had so much fun with Daddy and it was so fun for the kids to see him and him to see the kids!! They liked him right away because he was a Grandpa so that was an automatic "in" and then he was nice to them and let them sit on his lap and have his quarters that they found around his house. We spent time at his house and went to Bonkers, a huge playland that is basically a hamster cage for humans. So fun!! Tristan used all his quarters from Grandpa Cripe on the candy machine and Emme smothered Grandpa in slobbery kisses. We ate after that and by the time we got back to Mexico Grandpa was pretty well worn out. We dropped him at his house and then took the kids swimming at the hotel pool.

This picture is blurry, but I just thought it was so cute!

 They finally went to bed at like 11 pm. They were all super good at sleeping in the same room. We found that the secret is to get them so tired that they just konk out, rather than trying to put them to bed at any decent hour.
   Next morning, visited with Daddy and ate lunch with him and then started for Meggies at about 1:30 in the afternoon. Made the mistake of mentally thinking it would be a shorter drive, so that it felt like forever. Turned a ten hour drive into a 12 hour drive. At one point I was looking for the GPS charger under Lainey's seat and sat the GPS in Emme's car seat. I couldn't find the charger, so we pulled off but not on an exit, onto another highway instead. Finally got back on the road but the GPS was giving us such strange directions and we felt like we were driving everywhere. Finally after about 20 minutes of thinking we were going crazy, I thought to check the GPS again, and while it was in Emme's car seat for like 20 seconds her little toes had reset our whole trip route and we were driving who knows where! So, we got that fixed and laughed about it. But we were getting a little annoyed before that. (I thought I was going to scream if he said, "Recalculating," one more time.)

  We had fog and curvy roads and a deer run in front of us on our way to Megan's. Just West Virginia's way of saying hello. (Did you know that a couple of years ago it was on all the national news because a boy here got hit by a deer, on his BIKE?! The boy was on the bike, not the deer.)
   So, we got to Meg's all safe and sound at about 2 am and stayed up until 4 am talking. Naturally. Because we think it's fun when we're together to see what we can do on as little sleep as possible.
  The next day Tristan went with Megan and her kids to their library reading program activity, while we unpacked things here and basically took over Aiden's room. Then we went to Sam's Club and Wal-Mart, just to prove that it doesn't matter where you go in the world, you will still have to go to Wal-Mart. And they will still be out of at least one thing that you need.

  That night was their ward's swim party, so after dinner we went to that and had so much fun! The weather here is perfect for evening swimming and the pool was never over 5 feet and is really big. So fun! 

Gosh, it doesn't look like Alex is very happy, does it? 

 

 Isn't this such an Emme expression?

 Then that night Meggie and I  went to stores and looked around while Danny, Brooks and Aiden played a game at home. Then we stayed up until 2 am looking at clips of Wicked online and wishing we could go see it together in Columbus. Good times.
  Yesterday we slept in pretty late, can't figure out why, and then took the kids to the cutest little town here, Marietta. Unfortunately, it was the hottest part of the day and we left all the water in the car and we thought we were all going to die of heat stroke. The funnest part was after we all got back in the car, blasted the air conditioning and drove up and down the streets looking at some of the cutest houses you have ever seen!! It all looked just like in Meet Me In St. Louis and Meggie and I were dying! But not of heat stroke this time.

Aren't they cute together? They were supposed to be sleeping, but instead they were playing with the Lite-Brite. 

This was Audrey and Alaina playing house in the bathroom. They were making "soup", which was a little scary, considering where they were doing their cooking.

  Today Danny and I drove to Charleston, got lost because we thought we could get there without the GPS, turned the GPS back on and finally got to visit with Danny's cousin who lives out here and her four kids. We had lots of fun with them and their kids looked so much like Alex, with red hair and blue eyes just like him! They had so much fun playing and visiting and Robin made some killer peach cobbler with ice cream! Yumm....

     Drove back to Parkersburg and got totally lost trying to find the swim park because someone, let's just call her Megan H., or M. Haroldsen had given us the wrong address. We finally found the park, where the library was having their end of year party. You had to attend one of the activities over the summer, and since Tristan had gone to the closing one with Megan, we figured that counted! Actually, I didn't feel bad at all about going, as they were planning on four hundred people and had maybe 75. They had ordered 100 pizzas and there were soooo many left over! They were going to take them to the local homeless and battered women's shelters. So we ate pizza and treats and then went swimming, at the same pool we did two day ago! Oh, it was so refreshing and fun and then we did the huge water slide that went down the hill. It was super fast and Aiden cried after riding it! Even Alex said, "Whoa." We rode until 9pm, when they kicked us out, and then put all these exhausted kids to bed.

    Tomorrow we are driving, again, this time to Amish country. Danny wants to visit the place that lets you taste 60 different varieties of cheese, and Megan says that she thinks maybe we should be Amish. "They have everything we want. Land, horses, farm animals and gardens. We could be Amish-Mormons. Mormish." If we come back wearing bonnets and skirts, you will know that Megan succeeded.
  So pretty much, Meggie is very silly, the kids are having so much fun playing together, we are hardly sleeping at all and we still have a week left! Ahhh... heaven! 

If Gordon MacRae were alive, he'd have some competition!

Wow! Blogger is letting me put video on here. So before it changes its mind, I am putting on the video of Alex singing at the school talent show. For some reason his music wouldn't play, so after waiting a minute, Alex just started singing accapella. This video is just from our camera, and I don't think the sound in it is very good. Plus, Danny stopped recording right as everyone started clapping, so you miss that satisfaction. But trust me, it was soo cute! The lady backstage had teary eyes and kept saying, "That was just so good. He did such a good job." Maybe they were tears of relief. Anyway, after much waiting, here is the video. Enjoy!

(This is picture is the night he got his costume and took all his clothes off to wear it. On stage he wore other clothes, too. : )

Birthdays, t-ball and babies

All right! Tristan is at pre-school, Alex at summer school, Lainey is watching Dora, and Emme is sleeping, so I might actually get this done!! Here are just some pictures of things we have been doing. I have forgotten to take pictures of a lot of things, but oh well.

Lainey had her three year-old birthday! Yeah for Alaina! She is such a fun little girl to have and is so sweet and stinking cute that she has us all wrapped around her finger!  When Justin started work up here, he said that I had to take a video tape all day long so he won't miss any of the cute things she does! She is always saying funny things and loves to copy Tristan and whatever he is doing. Which means that in addition to being a princess, she also really likes guns and swords. She is a pretty tough cookie and tells her brothers what she thinks and can get pretty bossy to Alex. But who can blame her? She is so cuddly and affectionate and smart and I love to just hold her and squeeze her. She likes to run around in underwear, but oftentimes runs to the door when someone comes with nothing on at all. She doesn't seem to worry about what we think, unless you say that you are sad. Then her bottom lip quivers and about goes off her face, and she will start crying really hard unless you can reassure her that you aren't sad anymore, now you are happy. She loves nursery and calls it her "other church" and loves to read books. She is so self-entertaining, if she is not bothered by her brothers she just plays and looks at books on her own and takes toys and makes up stories about them and has them all play together. If you check in to see what she is doing she says, "I'm just playing with my toys." She loooves to play pretend and dresses up as something all the time. In one day she may be a puppy, a kitty, Tigger, a bee and Dora. And she will sing songs on demand that she just makes up. Usually it is just the same words over and over, but it sure is cute! The other day Danny said, "Alaina sure is in a cute stage right now." 

"Yeah, but she has been since she was a week old," I said.

"True," said Danny, as he watched her bounce on the trampoline with her little curly pigtails.

   Here are a few pics from her birthday party. She had lots of fun, was thoroughly spoiled and has talked many times since about her "pink cupcakes."

Ummm... I can't find the pictures of Tristan's birthday. We took them and I remember seeing them on here, but now they are gone. I will take more pictures of him and then tell about his birthday.

Here is Emme all dolled up for church. She is our little doll. She loves her brothers and sisters and will wait to eat, even if she is really hungry, if they are talking to her. She is sooo good and happy and content and takes really regular naps and bedtimes, for a 3 month old. She loves to zoom around in the air or be thrown up high, and talks and jabbers to you a lot, if you will jabber back. Danny says he thinks she is going to be like her Mother, as in she will talk a lot. That's fine with me, then I will have more people to talk with! She is cute and fat and roundy and I love to squoosh her and kiss her and start missing her when she takes a long nap.

Alex, a.k.a. SpiderMan

Alex came into the dining room the other day with Emme in his arms. He had gotten her out of her crib on his own and was bringing her into me. It was kind of scary. But actually, he is super good with her and loves to play with her. Mostly he says over and over in his super high voice, "Hiiii Emmmme!"

Alex started t-ball last week and really quite enjoys it. It is a special needs group of kids, so there are no outs or anything. This is pretty much how it goes. They hit the ball, then run as fast as they can to first base, with the bat. Then they bounce up and down while waiting for the next kid to hit it who knows where and run to the next base. Meanwhile, in the outfield most of the kids are playing in the dirt or maybe have left the field altogether, while a few are gathered around close to home base to try and get the ball when it is hit. Each kid has a "buddy" on the field and Tristan keeps asking if he can be Alex's buddy. (You have to be at least 12.) Of course, Alex's favorite part is just hitting the ball, or maybe catching it. When he is outfield he gets a little ansy, or when he is waiting to hit. But at least they all get a turn. I think Alex's favorite part may be his hat. He always wears it at home when he is playing with the ball and bat.

Eventually he decided he didn't like the mitt, as it was too hard to keep in his fingers. (It's not like there are many fly balls to catch.) All the people who help are super nice and it is fun to see all the kids. Some are soo sweet and cute and Alex acts like he knows one boy, though his parents and I can't find any way that they would. But they give each other hugs and shake hands and Alex looks for him when he is not on the field. I wonder........

Daddy taking a nap with spanky pants. I can't think of anything cuter than a little roundy baby holding her toes and chewing on them and rolling back and forth.

I love their little round twinkly toes!

I am going to have to go wake her up just to kiss her!! Okay, maybe not.

 Phillip has been visiting and maybe if he is ever here and not sleeping I will get a picture of him! We've been playing outside and on the tramp a lot lately and we had a garage sale last weekend. (Made $150!!) And I think that's all for now!!!

Two Great Testimonies

School is out!! And though it hardly seems possible, that probably means I will be on here even less. Yes, I know that all my loyal fans out there (all three of you) will be heartbroken, but it must be. I do feel so insanely busy, just like there is no end in sight of all there is to do. All. The. Time. I am going to have to make better use of my mornings (meaning getting up earlier) and my evenings (meaning going to bed earlier).
  But I just wanted to take a quick minute and share what I thought were two really cool testimonies from our ward. One was Sister Bithell, who I just love, and she was telling about being in Salt Lake Memorial Day weekend. I missed part of her testimony (thank you, Emme) but the jist was that while at their hotel in the lobby, they saw President Monson! He was visiting with some youth and she said he took so much time with them all. They just waved hi to him, not wanting to take his time, but she said he came right over and talked to them for at least 15 minutes! He asked all about them, where they were from and what they were doing here, etc. She said that he was soo kind and that there was such a glow about him and that she had such a strong impression that he was truly the Lord's prophet on the earth.
  The other testimony was last month, and it was Sister Murdock, who you know I love to death, too. Her and Frank had gone to Utah for the funeral of Frank's old mission president. She went to the restroom, I think, and when she came out someone said, "Oh, you just missed President Uchtdorf!" She was trying to find her way back to where she had come from and got a little lost and was passing by the chapel or the foyer, can't remember which, when she saw a little ways off President Monson! She said that he was surrounded by about 10 to 12 little kids and that they were all gathered around him in a circle. He was talking to each one and would pat their heads, or touch their cheeks as they all gathered around him. She had tears in her eyes, as she said that as she looked on that scene, she felt just one person removed from our Heavenly Father and bore her testimony that she knew he was the prophet on the earth today.
  They were both just such neat testimonies and really touched my heart. I wish I could remember the details better.  But I know that as they bore their testimonies, the Spirit was so strong in the room.
  I have been reading President Kimball's biography, and it is so interesting and he is so humble and sweet and hard working, despite being beset by sooo many health issues. And he spends soo much time counseling individuals and those who seek his advice and help. I just can't get over how much time they spend serving and how non-stop it is. It really makes me appreciate our leaders today.
  Anyway, I just wanted to share those with you! That's all for now, but someday I will actually post pictures of Tristan and Alaina's birthdays!

All because I washed my windows

We finally had warm weather in Idaho for a few days and I finally got my front windows clean. As proof of how sparkling they are, we have had several birds fly straight into them already. Inspired by my cleaning, I decided to take a few pics of the kitchen, like I am always telling myself I am going to. Then, inspired by that, we ran down to Home Depot and finally bought new blinds for the kitchen windows. Happy day! So in honor, I thought I would do a couple of pictures of how our kitchen looked when we first moved in.

It wasn't horrible, but it was definitely wanting some updating! The different colors of paint were put there by me, trying to figure out what color to put in the kitchen. I didn't use any of them. I think I will do side-by-side pics, to make it look better! I think you can tell the difference between the befores and the afters.

 Not "done", but a lot better. It was really hard to change the kitchen with the kids running around, and having to clean up everything every night so we could use the kitchen again the next day.

One of the things we will do someday, is to replace the black dishwasher with a white one. But as long as this one holds out, I guess we will live with it. I would try to make it look better, but it is really old and I think won't last much longer anyway. I think it will look a whole lot better when we get a white one.

One of the very best things we've done was to replace all the old brown doors with new white ones. But the best of all was the french door going to the deck. It lets in so much light and makes it easy to know when the kids or the cat want in!

And here is a picture of the old blinds, as we tried to get them back down. They were so broken and we couldn't raise and lower them. It is soo nice to have new ones!

I should have turned off the light over the sink, but I didn't realize that until it was too late. And I am too lazy to try and take more pictures right now. I think you get the idea of what they look like. A lot better, that's what. And they look a lot better on the outside of the house, too!

To end this post, here are some funny things the kids have said:

Alaina is very aware now of "Mommy milk" and always says that she has "Lainey milk" and pretends to nurse toy rabbits and dolls and things. The other night Danny was getting her dressed for bed and she said, "I have Lainey milk, and you have Daddy milk!" Danny told her that no, Daddies don't have Daddy milk. She looked confused and asked, "Do you have cow milk?"

"No," said Danny.

Now thoroughly confused she asked, "Do you have apple juice?"

We have a set of little laminated dolls that represent good and bad behaviors. For example, there is Rudy Red and Greedy Green, or Bully Brown. This morning Tristan woke us up, very upset. Apparently Alaina wouldn't share a toy with him. He came into our room yelling, "Lainey's not being Polite Paula!!"