A Parade, Hives and a Baby Shower

Monday was Memorial Day so we walked to Main Street and watched our town's Memorial Day Parade. Our friends from church (the Brandley's) came along with us and they brought a friend from work. We sat by our neighbors and our neighbors happened to be sitting by a bunch of people from our Ward. Needless to say it was quite a party. The kids enjoyed watching all the cool cars, trucks, motorcycles and marching bands and the adults enjoyed chatting. I didn't get a single good picture of the kids but thankfully someone from Oakland Press did and shared them on Facebook so I could steal them:

Monday afternoon we had a BBQ with the Brandley's and their work friend. Penny was super fussy and running a low grade fever so that kind of made the BBQ not so fun for me. Her cranky behavior continued into Tuesday and on Wednesday she woke up covered in light red spots. Thankfully she had a doctor's appointment. They thought that the rash was because she had a virus while on Amoxicillin (which she was on for her ear infection) and that can apparently cause a rash. However, the next morning the light spots turned deep red and had grown in size. It was then determined that her rash had turned into hives and that she is allergic to Amoxicillin. She looked pretty pathetic and when we picked up the new antibiotics, the pharmacist gasped in horror at my babies spotty skin. Apparently people don't normally take their hive covered babies out in public... 

Since getting off the Amoxicillin her skin has slowly been improving. I still think the Antibiotics are messing with her tummy though because she has still been fairly fussy. I am so over the cranky, constantly needing to be held Penny. I just want her to be healthy!

This week I threw a baby shower for a lady I visit teach. I made the cookie dough a few days early and Benny and Lucy insisted on helping (helping to eat the cookie dough that is). I love that Lucy got out her apron without any prompting:

Friday I went on a walk with my friend Tina. She's the one who just got surgery so we did a small walk to the bakery and back. It was nice to get out and socialize with my friend. The kid's of course were pretty thrilled about getting a doughnut.

Today was the baby shower. I had fun coming up with the ideas and planning things out but I'm not super in love with stress of carrying out all the plans the week of. I also think it would be a lot more fun if I had an umlimited budget. But the end result was pretty good. It seemed like people had a good time and that's all that matters right?

Elizabeth, the one I was throwing the shower for, brought her son Zane (her husband a busy med student)and Zane happened to be wearing the same shirt as Ben. We had to snap a picture before Tyler took the kids out for a LONG walk to McDonalds:

Tyler hadn't finished staining the top of the table so I just covered it with a table cloth and it worked out just fine. I had a little banner of onesies that I had cut out of scrapbook paper, some flowers in painted mason jars, kettle corn from the Farmer's Market (which apparently was not a hit,) cookies (my "famous" chewy recipe), a rice krispy "cake", chicken salad and fruit and veggies:

Then we played a game where everyone had to match the name of a candy bar to a pregnancy term. There was some giggling so that's a good sign but it was a bit too easy, pretty  much everyone got all the answers right.

The cute pregnant lady in the middle is Elizabeth. I failed to take a picture of myself with her but at least I got one of her.

It feels good to be done with it and to celebrate the end of the party I bit down on a hard candy and lost a chunk of one of my molars. Super. SO excited to deal with that Monday. I suppose that's what I get for procrastinating going to the dentist here. I'm really good at taking the boys to the dentist but I just haven't made the time to go myself. Nothing like a broken tooth to get you there.

Canoe Rides

This past week Tyler was supposed to finish our dining room table so it would be ready in plenty of time for the baby shower I am throwing. It did not get finished. Between church responsibilities, a flaky van that insisted upon being fixed, a yard that grows grass at a ridiculously fast rate and a friend in desperate need of plumbing help- this week got away from him. Fingers crossed that with the holiday tomorrow, it might still get done in time. Time is ticking my friends! 

Back to the part on the flaky van! After changing out the relay and realizing that was not it, he then changed out the starter. AND apparently that was STILL not it. I am getting so frustrated because the only time it refuses to start is right after church. Right when I have 3 cranky, tired, hungry kids that desperately need to get home. Today Lucy threw a royal fit because she was holding a bag that she believed to be a present for her when in actuality it was a bag that belonged to the primary closet. I was sure our van was fixed so I carried her screaming craziness to the van and..no start. Thankfully this time it only took a five minutes before it magically started but holy cow. So TIRED of this.

We also had a fun bout of pink eye with Benny and Penny this week. When I took them begrudgingly into the doctor (I was hoping to just get the drops without coming in) I found out Penny had a double ear infection. It was a good thing they made me come in. I had thought she was getting yet another tooth and that was way she was so cranky but boy was I wrong. And to add to the fun of taking 4 kids to the doctor and pharmacy, I shut the car window on Steven's fingers. It looked much worse than it actually was and I think I came out of it more traumatized then him. Lots of parenting win moments this week. 

Anyways I'm complaining too much. Onto a happier moment. For Family Home Evening this week we talked about Nephi's broken bow. Each kid got to take a turn playing Nephi and Lucy was definitely my favorite. She stayed "in character" for the rest of the night...

Penelope got to try on Tyler's headphones. At first, she hated them. Nothing but tears. But then he changed the song to "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars. This is not my favorite song because the lyrics sound questionable but Penny dug it:

Thursday night I went to Enrichment and it was a talent show. As I sat in the audience I realized I shouldn't be in the audience. Not that I love public performances (I hate them with all my heart) but I have really neglected the piano. I used to be so good and I am not so much anymore. I really need to start taking time to practice again and I would love to be able to get Steven interested in the piano as well. Time to start being musical again!

Friday night was too much fun! Tyler and I borrowed a canoe from some friends in the Ward and took it to Proud Lake. I hadn't been in canoe since Girl's Camp a million years ago but with Tyler steering us we got around just fine. We took the canoe into the lake and down a river that stemmed off it. The scenery was beautiful and green. We saw a little family of swans (though I failed to get a good pics of the babies) and all was quiet and peaceful (we were the only ones out in that neck of the lake). Loved it so much!

Equally awesome about that night was that Penny (who normally freaks out anytime someone else holds her) did not cry at all for our babysitter- not even a whimper when we left. We are so lucky to have a babysitter that our kids love!

Seriously Fun

Last Sunday was Mother's Day. For Mother's Day Tyler made me delicious strawberry crepes for breakfast, and he got me a new comforter (one that is not covered in children goo!) and he got me some flowers to hang from our porch (see picture below). Lucy invented a song on Mother's Day so I will consider that my present from her. It is a chant that goes something like this, "A mommy! A daddy! A baby! A mommy! A daddy! A baby!"

Monday night we had our usual Family Home Evening. FHE is always interesting, especially when you have a crazy toddler like Lucy. Before we started she put on some styling shades. Then while singing our opening song she decided that she needed to bounce along with the music in Penny's Jumperoo: 

Later she left the Jumperoo and while we were rebuilding our plastic cup church (it was a lesson on the restoration) I heard her munching behind me. I looked over to see her hogging down on salad. I mean who doesn't love to snack on raw salad?:

Penny wanted to get in on the silliness too, so after the lesson she attempted to drink her bottle with her hands inside our "church." Doesn't she look like she's having so much fun?:

Yes, most of our Family Home Evenings are just pure chaos but we keep on having them in hopes that something good will slip through and enter their silly little brains.

This week the weather was spastic. It was hot, it was cold, it was rainy, it was sunny. It was confusing! But we did manage to get out a few times. My silly kids think it is just too much fun to be pulled around in their purple sled:

We also realized that Penny is sitting up well enough that she can go for wagon ridea with Lucy. I'm sorry but as the baby of our family, she just can't be big enough to do such things! 

Seriously, she needs to stop growing. This girl has 8 teeth, she is the speediest roller ever (she can roll from the kitchen into the bathroom in 30 seconds flat) and she is starting to hog down baby food like crazy(as long as it has apple in it or I mix it with applesauce). 

Steven is also growing up to fast. He is doing well in school and I enjoy hearing about the things he is learning. This week he told me all about rainbows and baby rabbits. Recently they had chicks hatch in their classroom. Tyler loved to tease Steven and ask him how his baby dinosaurs were doing and if they had all hatched yet. Steven did not appreciate this teasing. On Friday they brought their chicks back to Green Acres Farm and he had so much fun holding all the animals there. He came home that day with a sunflower seed to plant. We'll see if this one can survive the wrath of Lucy (she has destroyed all other plants that Steven has cared for). 

Lastly, Benny has been using the word "seriously" quite a bit this week and it has seriously, been pretty funny. He asked for a treat once and Tyler gave him something and he said, "Seriously? You're giving me this for my treat." If you could only hear the tone in which he says that word I promise you would smile too. Seriously!

A Social Week

 This week was a very social week- you should be so proud of me for all my socialness!

On Monday I was social but not for a happy reason. My friend Tina had some major surgery done and was in the hospital. On Monday night she had a major craving for a Slurpee so I had to comply. This poor lady is not having good luck as of late so I was glad I could at least satisfy her craving and lend a listening ear.

Thursday was a nice warm day so we joined some friends at Mercer Beach. I didn't think Lucy would get near the water since last summer she only wanted to play on the playground there so I didn't even put a swim diaper on under her swimsuit. Boy was that a bad idea! She was super brave this year and actually made me nervous A TON as she waded further and further out into the lake. And regular diapers, well they don't hold in lake water so good. She was kind of a disaster to clean up but at least she had fun (and at least I had a functioning hose to spray her done with).

Thursday was opening day for our local Farmer's Market, so that evening we went to it with our neighbors. The kids got to do a little craft at one of the booths and then we got some AMAZINGLY delicious (and expensive) lemonade. But really, that stuff was delicious!

On Friday my friend Laci and her son, Wesley came over to our house to play. Wesley is only 18 months old but Ben loves him. He told me that morning (after we passed by a Minion Windsock) "I love Minions because they are hilarious and I love Wesley because he's cute" I think that boy wishes I had given him a little brother. 

Friday night was the Ward Youth Silent Auction. It had a pretty good turn out and they got some pretty good donations so I think Tyler would call it a success (even if his boys were lazier than Tyler would have liked). But I would NOT call it a success. I think I am just too cheap for auctions. I bid on like 6 different AWESOME thing and ended up with NOTHING. Steven, however, bid on a kite (for $3) and won. Probably because once he bid on it, he stood in front of the bid sheet and gave dirty looks to anyone who got near it. Maybe I should have tried that?

Saturday morning Steven went to a birthday party for a friend in the Ward and got some awesome face painting done (super hero mask):

When we came home from the party we found Piper, a girl in our Ward, at our home! This girl is a treat to watch because all sibling rivalries seem to cease when she is around. Near the end of her stay, they were all getting bored so I figured a walk to the bakery for cookies would fix that. It did:   

After she left, the boys had some fun wrestling with the neighbor kids. Dog pile!

And I'll end this post with pictures of my adorable Penelope. My neighbor across the street gave me more bibs and an adorable balloon cover. Once again didn't want to be paid for them but just wanted more pictures for her website. I like free things and I like taking pictures of my cute baby so that was a done deal:

Warm & Sunny

And...it's warm again!!! So on Tuesday after a traumatizing experience with am intense roundabout (literally had to go in that awful thing 3 times before finally getting out at the right spot) I decided we were in need of a little relaxation in the sunshine. So on our way home we picked up some food at DQ and had a little picnic at a park in Kensington. The kids were super happy to be outside AND warm:

 And with that one taste of fresh air and warmness, we were addicted and had to spend the evening outside as well. 

Besides the enjoyment of good weather, I have also got to enjoy seeing Lucy in lots of different dress up clothes this week. She was constantly clomping about in her play high heeled shoes and frequently twirling (and sometimes singing too) in a skirt. But I think my favorite ensemble that she wore this week consisted of scrubs, an apron and one high heeled shoe (see top middle picture). This girl is just bursting with personality:

She is also bursting with naughtiness and stubbornness which has made this week tough. Gotta love when she colors on her forehead AND Penny's forehead. But at least she took a break from that naughtiness to sit down and read with me. Love the picture above with her legs crossed and her face buried in a Duck Tales Graphic Novel. 

Lucy wanted to share her love of dressing up with Penny and I came into a room to find that she had put a skirt on top of Penny and was attempting to jam a crown on her head. With a little help from me we were able to turn Penny into a proper, happy Princess:

The boys have been earning "Strong Family Jewels" for being good during prayer time, family home evening and family scripture study. They finally filled up the jar with jewels and for their reward-- a trip to the Science Museum:

It was a fun time until it was time to leave and van didn't want to start (not the first time this has happened). It finally started after Tyler had given up on it and was calling AAA. It is frustrating that it always does this when we are far away from home. And though we are glad that it miraculously starts again, that also makes it hard for Tyler to find out just what is wrong with it. Hopefully we get it figured out SOON because a dead van with 4 tired kids (because they always seem to be tired when this happens) is never fun.

And btw, the Girl's Night last week was a success! It was so nice to get out and hang out with friends and it was just the right amount of people and there was a wide range of ages and fun people and... I did this! 

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