Party Time

So the kids have been out of school since last week. Well last week Peanut and JP both decided that they were each going to have a "party" upstairs in the playroom. They were going to do a list of things together. I was so happy to see them playing nicely together. So for JP's party I found this list lying on the ground when I went to clean up a little a few days later.
Party Time

Cars
Video games
Life (the game-written in all block letters)
Movie Peanut's choice
Wii

And then each had a line crossed through it once they had done it. I love finding cute things like this.

Cuponk game from Bubba


Truck from mommy and daddy

In Christmas Eve the boys all decided they wanted to sleep in Bubba's room. We made a new rule that we wanted to go downstairs before them so that we could get their reactions on tape. So they decided to all sleep together and take in the mini tv and watch movies if they woke up before 7 am. At 4:30 am I heard Coconut making noise. I thought that he had maybe had a bad dream and went in to make sure he wouldn't wake everyone else up. Wrong. They were putting a movie in. I think a certain older brother may have woken everyone up. So I made them turn off the tv and go back to sleep. At least one of them didn't go back to sleep, but I'm not sure about the others. They came in at 7 am on the dot and woke us up. We didn't get to bed until
1 am so we were a bit tired.

Santa brought JP a bike-with gears, which mom and dad hadn't been able to find anywhere, so Santa brought it. Bubba got a new bat and a football. Peanut got a scooter and a little truck that had a canoe on it. And Coconut got a Buzz Lightyear tent which also has bean bags to toss into the holes on the side. We also got a couple of movies and a Wii game from Santa.

Scooter from Santa

It was a nice morning. The boys were thrilled with everything they got. They were especially excited about their football jerseys with their favorite players numbers on them. Bubba commented that Santa knew what you really needed because he had asked for an XBox, but Santa knew that he needed a new bat.


#2 is Austin Pettis-wide receiver

B got me a really pretty amethyst necklace. He also got me a couple of books on writing a book and how to get it published, etc. He was so proud of himself for thinking of that all on his own. He always surprises me.

Can you tell what a zombie I was? I went back to bed as soon as we were done.

I got him a Blue Ray player, which is the one thing I have NOT wanted to get. I didn't want to have to pay more for movies, but since it has the ability to play Netflix through it, we can just watch instant movies with Blue Ray quality. Anyway, it was really the only idea he gave me, so that's what he got.


The three oldest boys also wanted to buy each other gifts this year, which I helped out with a little. I thought it was really nice of them to actually think of each other.

Run Run as Fast as You Can...

You can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man. That's a story that we love around here. B has been reading it to the kids since JP was little. There's a part when the Gingerbread Man jumps on a fox to get across the water. The fox tells him to come a little closer and JP used to repeat it and say, "Come a wittle cwoser." I love to look back and remember the cute things they used to say.

Anyway, we made our gingerbread house last week. Actually it came already assembled, which I didn't know until I opened the box. But that was okay because then we didn't have to wait for the icing to dry before decorating it. It even came with coconut to create snow. Everyone got in on the fun, even Jo Jo. They decided that they didn't want to waste the candy this year so they would have a little each day. Bad thing about the coconut-it's all over the table everyday. Even after I clean it up, it comes back.

Fri. I took the boys to the radio station to deliver the stuffed animals that Grandma Susan gave us for the kids at the hospital. The kids wanted to see the hospital kids open the gifts, but that's not something they let you do since some of them have to be isolated. But a local station was collecting all kinds of gifts to take over, so we dropped our stuff off there. They even got to meet Lucky-the evening DJ. They never look like what you expect from their voice.
Then we went to Costco with dad and got our new camera with some money that Grandma and Grandpa Randall sent us for Christmas. It's a Sony DSLR, or something. I don't understand all that jargon. But B has already been taking pictures with it and they look great! So much better than our poor dying camera. It will be great for sports next year. I plan on reading the manual soon so I will know how to do manual focus and stuff.

Sat. morning we had just enough snow to go on sled rides behind the 4 wheeler again before it all started melting. I went first this time. It was the funnest thing EVER! B went pretty fast so I was sliding all the way across the road in the part of the neighborhood that still doesn't have houses. Then everyone took a ride just on the 4 wheeler minus sled. Our poor sled ended up a little scraped up on the bottom from the places on the road where the snow was already gone. We keep getting a little snow here and there, but it doesn't last long because it rains the next day or melts from the sun the same day.

We have Christmas break for the next two weeks, so even though I hate snow, I hope we get enough to stay so that the kids have something to do outside. They've already been killing each other today. It's always over the dumbest things too. Peanut has had a crying problem lately. I'm trying really hard to gently tell him that it's not something he should be crying about and that if he asks nicely instead of freaking out, it might change the outcome. It doesn't help when big brothers call him a whiny baby. I seem to remember a certain #2 brother that had the same problem at this age. I pray that it doesn't last long. Sometimes it's really hard being a mom of 4 boys. Okay, who am I kidding, it's ALWAYS hard. It would be nice if for ONE day they would all be kind to each other and have fun together. B keeps assuring me that someday the two oldest will be great friends. I sure hope so, and I'm glad he's so confident. Today we're going to find some Christmas books at the "livary" since we've run out of stories that we already have. I'm hoping to find the cartoon version of the Grinch because I never know when it will be on tv. We have to watch "Santa Clause" 2 and 3 this week and "Elf." We already did #1 and "Rudolph", "Polar Express", and "Frosty" #1 and #2. Hopefully I'll come up with some more ideas of indoor activities as well. Here's wishing you a wonderful Christmas week.

Welcome Home Elder Williams the Manly

Hugs from Peanut


Together again after 3 years

This is how my brother Todd distinguished himself from my brother Chad since for a year they were both out on their missions. Two years goes by fast. I'm not sure if it went that fast for my mom, but it did for me. We're excited to have him home. Unfortunately he came home last Thurs. so we weren't able to see him off the plane. But we drove down Sat. afternoon, got In N Out for dinner, and then met my mom, sister, and BIL at the temple to see the lights. We got there just about the time the visitor center was supposed to close, so made a quick trip upstairs to see the Christus statue and downstairs to see some of the displays and check out all of the languages that the Book of Mormon comes in now. It was really cool to see them. Then we walked around and looked at the lights. It was warmer than years past. We pointed out the suns, moons, and stars on the temple building to the kids and explained what they represented. Then we went over to our hotel where my brother Chad and his fiancee Brianna met us. This was our first time meeting her and she's a great girl that fits perfectly with him. The wedding will be in May. Sun. we went to hear Todd speak in sacrament. He bore his testimony in Visayan (the language he learned) and it sounded SO cool! You can hear the Spanish influence in some of it. I can't believe how fluently he speaks it. He has been blessed with the gift of tongues and never once struggled with the language. We had a lunch after at my mom's house and then left in the afternoon to head to see Susan (B's step-mom). We made it around dinner time and opened presents. It was fun to see her and then go next door to see Great Grandma and Grandpa. We got home pretty late, but it was worth it to get to see everyone.


With the boys ALL on his lap. That's Brianna in the background.

Peanut loves piano. His teacher said he's so cute and trying so hard. Bubba learned how to play Jingle Bells this week and has been playing it over and over to practice. It sounds great! I can't believe how quickly he can pick it up and read music as well. He's so good at everything he tries. JP will start swimming in Jan. He's excited to learn all of the strokes and hopefully join the swim team after that. Fri. is the last day of school for two weeks. I think the boys are excited. I'll have to try and think of some Christmas activities. We found out that a local radio station is collecting the gifts for the children at the hospital. Susan had purchased 20 stuffed animals for the kids to give, so we'll try to get over there on Thurs. after school. I'll be making cookies for my visiting teaching ladies and school parties tomorrow. I love school parties. I was in charge of the Halloween one and it was fun, so I'm looking forward to helping out. JP will be celebrating his birthday in class on Fri. They are doing all of the summer birthdays. To change it up, they're having them choose a country and do a little show and tell-really relaxed. So I think I'm going to have him choose Ghana since B went on his mission there and brought home a kente cloth that he can show and he can tell them what his birthday name is. In Ghana there middle names are usually the day of the week they were born on, so JP's is Yaw for Thurs. Fun times this week.



Oh, lastly I made Cashew Chicken Stir Fry for dinner last night. It has a peanut sauce and while my back was turned this little stinker got on his stool and stole the spatula to lick off the peanut butter. At least I was all done with it. :)

So I hate when I don't post in forever because then I have to write a novel to catch up. I'll try to keep it as short as possible and I'm setting a goal right now to at least post twice a week.

A couple of weeks ago I went to the doctor finally for some pain I've been having in my knee and also one of my fingers. It's a finger I jammed or broke in high school, so I assumed it was arthritis. The x-ray confirmed this. JP was happy to know he wasn't alone. The x-rays of my knee didn't show any arthritis, so my doctor wanted me to get an MRI. At first I said no because even with only having to pay 10% that's still a lot of money. Over the weekend though I had a really sharp pain and pop and fell to the floor. I fasted and prayed about it on Sun. and felt like I should get one. I was able to get in on Mon. If you've never had one, it's a strange experience. It's the loudest thing ever. Luckily I was able to go in feet first and didn't have to go all the way in so I was able to listen to music through headphones. It was still really loud, but the funny thing is that I actually drifted off. So I went back to the doctor yesterday for the results. They showed absolutely nothing! I'm seriously upset. He said there's no arthritis and that my cartilage looks great. So then why the heck does my knee hurt so bad and why is the pain getting worse?! So he said to exercise for three months and see if it helps and if not they can go in with a scope and see if they can see anything more. Um no thanks. Plus, the other knee is achy too. And it hurts to go up the stairs. So what the heck is going on? Can you tell I'm seriously frustrated?





We went to get our Christmas tree on Sat. It was freezing and snowy, but we just went to Costco. The bad thing is that all the trees are wrapped up so you take what get. B decided to pick the biggest tree they had. The guy said he hadn't seen a tree that big all year. It's about 8 feet. He realized when we got home and it took three of us to put it up that he may have gotten in over his head. But it's pretty and smells great. There are a lot of branches with two ornaments on them and some of the bottom branches are really sagging, but I love it. They had so much fun putting them up. Dad put a couple of heavy ones up high and I put up my girl ornaments, but the kids did the rest. Coconut really got into it. Almost a little too much. My grandma and mom buy each of the kids their own ornament each year so that they'll have their own collection. My favorites are there first Christmas ornaments. I also have several from when I was growing up. Everyone also insisted on having a village piece in their rooms. That's good because the fireplace is full with the other pieces already. I'm actually excited for Christmas this year for the first time in the last several years. I've been such a grinch the last few years and I'm not sure why-maybe all the commercialism. But I'm excited this year.

Peanut started piano lessons this week. He is SO cute with how excited he is. He came right home and showed me what he learned. Bubba loves to practice everyday. I feel lucky because I know so many kids who were forced to take lessons and hated to practice, and I got TWO boys who actually asked for lessons!

Tues. night Peanut started throwing up around 10 pm. He ran to the bathroom and made it to the floor at least rather than the carpet. Even though it was a huge mess, I was so happy it wasn't the carpet. He told us he was sorry he couldn't make it to the toilet, but we kept telling him how proud we were that he made it to the bathroom. Even after getting the entire floor and part of the counter, he still threw up a ton in the toilet. Poor little boy. We figured it was his turn to get the flu because JP had a bout with it for a day. Until B got up several times in the middle of the night and so did Bubba. I had an upset stomach, but never threw up fortunately. Unfortunately my entire body started to ache. It hurt so bad that it was hard to walk. We're pretty sure it was from our dinner the night before. We had sloppy joes and used some buns from the fridge that had been in there for awhile. They smelled a little off, but we figured they'd be fine since they were in the fridge and there was no mold on them. We were wrong. Luckily Coconut refused to eat dinner that night and JP never got sick. The only thing I could come up with was that his body had built up something strong to fight off his flu the week before. I think it's lame that the flu shot doesn't cover all of the viruses. What's the point in getting one? Peanut made it to school since he has afternoon kindergarten. He was like, whatever, once he got it all out. Bubba had to stay home, though. So we pretty much sat on the couch all day except that I had to gather as much strength as I could so I could get to the doctor. Everyone seems to be better today although still a little weak.

Coconut asked if he could watch "Wall-E" a little while ago. "Memo" as he calls "Finding Nemo" is his new favorite, but he also likes "Robots" and "Wall-E." When he asked me he said, "I like Wall-E. He's funny. I wish he could come to our house. That would be funny if he was driving around our house." Such a funny guy. I can't believe he'll be 3 next month!

And finally, my brother Todd will be home from his mission in the Philippines tonight at 9 pm. His homecoming is in Utah this Sun. so we'll be heading out Sat. to stay the night. I can't believe it's already been two years. It goes by so fast. Maybe it won't feel that way when I have missionaries out, but as a sister it seems to have gone by quickly.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

So we had maybe like 2" of snow on the ground from a few days ago. This morning we woke up to this. We have 8" of snow in our yard. We have no plows here. I swear they have like 4 for this entire ginormous valley and they only do major roads and highways. So we pretty much have to drive over and through it if we want to get out of our neighborhood. It really ticks me off to put it lightly. I got up this morning and came down and made lunches and the kids showed me the snow in the backyard. And it was STILL snowing. They decided to try and shovel enough off the driveway so that we could get out to go to school. I texted B to tell him since he's in New York right now for more classes for work. He texted back asking if the kids had a snow day. Dee dee dee. I didn't even think about checking before that. So I got online and sure enough no school. I went out front to tell the boys and you would've thought it was Christmas. They ditched the driveway to make a mountain of snow to try and sled down and then saw the neighbor and went over there to play. They said to tell dad they were sad he wasn't here because they really wanted rides again. They've only been in the house for a half hour or so all day-including little Coconut. Can I tell you how NOT fun it is to put his snow clothes on and off like 3 times. Ugh! He fell over and couldn't get up again. The snow came up to about his knees so I had to make a path for him. I went out to shovel so we can get to scouts later but gave up about a third of the way through. I didn't even have a coat or snowpants on I was sweating so bad. I'll back out after a little break. It's really pretty, but I really hate snow. I don't remember ever having this much since we've lived here.