Tyler's 6th Birthday

Tyler turned 6 today.  Tony and I can't believe it.  We asked him if he wanted to go out to dinner tonight for his birthday and he told us he just wanted to stay home and eat meatballs and rice.  So that is what we did.  He saw the carrot cake cupcakes last time we were at Costco and said that is what he wanted for his birthday.  Tony picked them up after work and we sang Happy Birthday to him then ate them.

After our cake we asked Tyler if he wanted to open one present today or wait to open them when we have the family party.  He wanted to open one today, so we got the big one out and let him open it.  Megan and Josh helped Tyler open the present.  Both Tyler and Josh were really excited to see the marble set and we plan to set it up this weekend.
Some things about Tyler:

• He likes school.  He really likes Math and is quite good at it.  He is learning to read and it doing pretty good.  
• He loves to ride his bike and be active.  He still likes to have races in the front yard and is a very fast runner.  
• He likes to play the computer and the Wii.  He is getting better at both.
• He loves Megan and plays so well with her.  He is such a big helper with her and with Josh (when they aren't fighting).
• He is very good at eating his fruits and veggies.  He isn't too picky.
• Although sometimes he can be very dramatic and emotional, he is a great kid.  
• He loves to give me hugs and kisses all day long.  He tells me that he loves me many times a day as well.  What could be better then that!
• We love out Tyler very much and feel very blessed to have him in our lives.

Loving the Sun

We were outside again today enjoying the sunshine in our yard.  I set up our chairs for Megan and I to watch the boys ride their bikes and scooters.  I got to sit a little bit, but Megan kept me up and going with all her exploring.
Tyler and Josh went to Ray's house to get a treat and they got one for Megan too.  She loved the Dum Dum and had a good time eating it all by her self...Koda enjoyed watching her eat it.  She got nice and sticky and blue.  To be honest I was glad when she was done with it.
Tyler and Josh are still loving the weather, well we all are.  I love that we are not inside watching the television and that we are all out getting sun and exercise.  It is suppose to just get nicer and warmer all week so we are all happy with that.

I have already started getting my list together of all the yard work that I would like to get done this weekend.  Tony has Friday off so we can get a good start on the weekend.  It is sad, but I kind of like yard work.  I like having our home and yard look nice.  I love flowers and plants, even though I know nothing about them.  So it is a lot of experimental gardening at our house.  We don't mind though because it's mainly about the family time that our yard gives us.

This Girl is Trouble

Yesterday Megan figured out how to crawl all the way out the dog door.  Until now she would just kind of play with the flap, but the boys were outside playing and she wanted to join them.
My main concern would be if I am in the other room and she just decides to go outside by herself.  Luckily she hasn't done that yet.

Then this morning she was in the bedroom playing and she figured out how to open the bottom drawer (luckily it was empty) and climbed right in with her bucket.  She is too cute for words and definitely keeps me on my toes.

Spring Is In The Air

 The weather has been a lot nicer the past couple of days and my kids have LOVED it.  It has been all bikes and scooters and running around outside.  Even Megan has cabin fever and is enjoying walking around outside.  Megan really likes riding around in the little car playing with the horn that keeps falling out.

I have been letting Tyler and Josh ride in circles around our house while I push Megan in the little car.  It works out pretty good because we start on the drive way and then take our side walk around by the house, to the street and then just follow the gutter back around to our drive way and start again.  I like this because the boys aren't in the street for too much of the time.  Tyler only watches for cars about half the time and Josh almost never, so it is scary to have them in the street.  It is times like these that I really wish that we had sidewalks.  
Tyler told me tonight while I was putting him and Josh to bed that "he knew why Jesus made him and Joshy more badder." I asked why and he responded "so that you can learn more patience."  Oh so true.  I then told him that they should just be good.
Lately I have been trying really hard to be more patient with my kids.  Trying to not yell as much or over react to all their shenanigans.  So I have been praying extra hard for help with this and it does seem like when you ask Heavenly Father for help with patience he gives you experiences to test your patience.  It is hard, but I am committed to keep trying to be better.  Better for my kids and Tony.  I don't want to be that mom that is always freaking out and/or yelling.  It is definitely a work in progress.  I try to remind myself that they are just kids and I need to chill out...that seems to help.

State DECA Competition

On Thursday after I dropped off the kids to Margie, I headed up to Ogden.  The competition was in Layton, but I figured since I was going to be so close to Tony's work that I would go and visit him.  It was fun to see him, the machines, and the missionaries.  The missionaries are always so nice.
After being there for a while I decided I had better let Tony work and headed back to Layton to meet up with Julie.  I found her quickly and we headed to get her students their room keys.  After she got the rooms all worked out we decided to go get our stuff out of our cars and then we went to get something to eat.  We knew we would be eating dinner in a couple hours so we just wanted a little dessert.
We ended up at Red Robin.  We ordered a dessert to share, but then fries sounded good too...so we ate them too.  It was yummy.  After that we headed back to the hotel and hung out before dinner.  We went to dinner with the group from her school.  They had about 40 students, 3 teachers, me and another teachers family.  We had a good time chatting with the other adults and decided that because we totally ruined our appetite before, we would just shared a dinner (we didn't even finish that).
My dad had just gotten into his room while we were at dinner, so Julie and I went to visit with him.  It was fun just chatting in his hotel room.  He was the announcer at the awards ceremony and the mini awards were at eight the next morning, so they got him a room.
Julie had to do room checks at 11:00 pm so after that we were able to go to sleep.  Julie had to be down at seven the next morning, so we woke up early to get ready.  We had some breakfast and then got ready to go to the mini awards to find out which of her kids made it to the finials.
I had signed up to be a judge, but they had a lot of judges come so I was asked to listen to the presentations of the student from my sisters school.  So that is what I did.  I listened, asked questions and gave my suggestions for improvement.  I knew a couple of the other advisers from other schools, so it was fun to chat with them.  My sister's students did really good and more then half of them qualified to go to Nationals.  It was fun to be involved and to hang out with Julie and my dad.  I left right before the finial awards ceremony.  Tony left work right before me and we chatted all the way home.  It was a good time and I am glad that I was able to go.  I am very thankful to Margie for watching my kids while Tony was at work and for always being so willing to help us.  Also thankful to Tony for having a good attitude about me doing DECA things with my sister.  I enjoy feeling involved and part of  a team.

Home Sweet Home = FLU

All my boys love the beach, even Tony.  They had a great time playing in the sand, making sand castles, and getting wet.  It wasn't a very warm day, but they didn't seem to care.  The boys started out just playing in the sand but slowly started playing more in the water.  A big wave came and knocked Tyler down, so that helped him get started in the water.  Tyler and Grandma were able to find a bunch of different sand shells on the beach and they are his treasure.  I am so glad that they were able to go and have a good time playing in the sand and sun.  Megan stayed back at the hotel with me.  It worked out pretty good because she would have just wanted to eat the sand and she was able to play in the hotel and then had a good nap.  Margie was super awesome and took some pictures of the boys at the beach for me.  It was so fun to see them having such a good time.  I love them boys.

We made it home last Sunday with little to no drama, which was very nice.  We drove to St. George on Saturday and made it there without any problems.  The weather was nice and so was the traffic.  The kids did really good in the car and I was feeling okay.  My fever wasn't as bad and I no longer had the body aches and hot/cold chills.  We first went to Nana and Papa's house and hung out for a little while before going over to the hotel.  Then we went and got into the hotel and took the kids swimming.  They all LOVE to go swimming and are like little fish in the pool.  Megan was not feeling good and spent the whole time with her head on our shoulders.  Which was fine with me since I was still sick.  Megan and I just laid low.  Josh is a mad man in the water.  No fear at all.  Tony was throwing him up so high and having him do flips, he was loving it.  Tyler also enjoyed floating around and doing cannon balls into the pool.
After dragging the boys out of the pool we got changed and headed back to Nana and Papa's to have some yummy dinner.  We really enjoyed eating a home cooked meal.  After dinner Tony and his mom started fixing their coffee table and they needed some extra screws, so we all headed out.  Tony took the kids and me back to the hotel to get ready for bed.  When we got to the hotel all the power was out in that neighborhood, so we all went to the hard ware store.  They had a back-up power source, so they were still open.  By the time we finished at the store, the power was back on at the hotel.  Tony helped me get he kids ready for bed and then went with his mom to go fix the table.  Then he got back and we all crashed.
Sunday we decided not to go to church.  I was still sick, Megan was fussy and we just wanted to get home.  A storm had come through that morning so we didn't want to leave too early or too late.  We checked out after breakfast and went back to Nana and Papa's to pick up Margie.  It was another good day of driving.  We had some snow at times, but for the most part the roads were clear.  I felt a little better, but still had a lot of coughing.  Megan started showing more signs of being sick, so that really sucked.  We got to Tony's parents house in good time and packed up our car and headed home.  It was nice to be back.  It is always a lot of work unpacking and getting things back to normal, even harder when you are sick.
Later that evening we decided that Megan should be looked at and so Tony took her to the InstaCare.  The doctor said he didn't think she had the flu, but they tested her anyway.  For some dumb reason they couldn't test it there so they had to send it out for the results.  They didn't call us back until 5:00 pm the next day to say she did test positive for Influenza A and gave us a prescription for Tamaflu.  I was so mad that it took them so long to call back, she could have been on the medicine a whole day sooner...and with the flu the earlier you take the meds the better.  Then the kicker was that our insurance only covered like $25 of the prescription so it cost us over $100.
Tony, Tyler, and Josh still hadn't shown any symptoms of the flu so I was hoping it would stay like that...that is until Tyler came home from school on Monday with a fever and runny nose.  So we decided to watch it to see if it got worse.  Tuesday he still had the fever so after dinner Tony took Tyler into the pediatricians office and got him tested.  They, of course, could get the results immediately and Tyler tested positive fore Influenza B.  So then he needed Tamaflu.  Awesome, $100 more dollars gone (good thing we have a flex spending account).
Wednesday and Thursday come around and Josh still doesn't show any symptoms, so I was really happy about that.  I decided to just keep Tyler home for the whole week from school just to be safe that he wouldn't give it to any other kids.
I took the kids over to Tony's parents on Thursday afternoon so that I could go and help my sister with the state DECA competition.  Tony met up with them after work and then they all spent the night there.  Then the kids stayed there while Tony was at work on Friday and he picked them up afterwords.  After we had some dinner that night, I noticed that Josh was sniffing and he felt warm.  So we decided we had better take him in too.  So Tony to him to the Urgent Care and the doctor just decided to treat him for the flu, he didn't even test him.  He said that since the rest of us had it, that he was sure that what was wrong with him and gave us yet another prescription for Tamaflu.  He did let us know that one of Josh's ear tubs is out and the other is almost out.  Good to know.  Josh really doesn't act sick at all and didn't feel too warm today.  He has gotten the medicine the quickest out of everyone, so maybe he will only have a mild case (like Tyler).  I think Tony said that the flu has costed us about $500 all together.  That is just nuts. 
I am feeling tons better but I still have a cough and I get light headed really easily.  Megan seems to be doing better.  She wasn't as fussy today.  She almost never coughs, but still has a very active runny nose.  Tyler has had it the easiest so far.  He has a little cough, but that seems to be the only symptom he still has.  Josh seems to have just a low grade fever and really not much more.  He'll sneeze every now and then, but doesn't really have a cough (at least not yet).  I am still hoping and praying that Tony doesn't get it.  He seems to be good so far, but I thought Josh had dodged the bullet.  It is funny how long it can take for an illness to manifest its self.  I will be so glad when we are all healthy again and the weather is warmer.  Bring on spring time, we are ready.

Sea World and Disneyland

Unlike Sunday, Monday's drive down to San Diego was great.  We made great time down to Sea World.  By the time we got all unpacked and in the gates, we didn't have to wait long for the park to open.  The weather was nice and sunny, but a little cool.

We got to see all the fun animals and see all the fun shows.  They didn't have the Shamu show running because Shamu just had a baby.  But we did get to see the baby and watch the trainers train the whales, that was really neat.  We almost missed the training because it was hard to find where they were doing it, but it worked out in the end and it was fun to see so many tricks up close. 

We of course loved the dolphin show.  Dolphins are Tony's favorite animals.  They also have divers who do flips off of things, that is fun to watch too.  We got some popcorn to eat while watching the show and Josh just loved that.
We also enjoyed seeing the animals and riding the few rides that they have.  They do have one new roller coaster, but non of us rode it. 

The kids loved the play ground.  Sea World has an awesome play ground for kids and even a little padded area for the little kids (like Megan) to play.  So much fun.  We got to go on some rides and Tyler loved the water rides.   Josh liked the flying ride.  We got to feed the sting ray and the seals.  The boys chickened out on feeding the sting ray, so Tony and I did it.  It was neat.  The boys did like feeding the seals.  Grandma really spoiled us with all the fish we got to feed the seals, so fun.

The next two days we went to Disneyland.  It was cloudy and rained a little off and on during the first day.  One time it started raining pretty bad, but we were able to be under a cover and then on a ride while it was the worst.  We were out in the open for the first little bit of it, so that was an adventure.  We were glad to be protected when the down pour came.  The next day was sunny and better.

We were really happy that Josh was tall enough this time to go on more rides.  Tyler wanted to go on Splash Mountain first so we decided that would be a good one to take Josh on too.  He said he didn't really like it.  He didn't like the drops.  We think he doesn't like the feeling he gets in his stomach when he drops.  Also I think he didn't like the dark.

So Josh went on Winnie the Pooh while we took Tyler on Splash Mountain again.  Josh is still really scared of the dark/scary rides.  He didn't like Snow White, or any ride like it.  It is pretty funny how many rides are scary and dark.  He did like the Rockets, Dumbo, Buzz, the Carousel, Pooh, etc.  He liked the outside rides that were fast, or went up and down.  I think he liked being able to see what was going to happen.  That is hard to do on the dark inside rides...maybe.

Megan seems to like Disneyland too.  The first day she did better being held while we waited in lines, but day two she had enough and wanted to walk around and explore.  So we would let her get down and walk around.  We would get lots of "looks" and comments about how little she was to be walking.  She would just look around and take it all in.

She didn't nap a ton.  She would fall asleep in the car on the way to the park and then she would fight taking another nap later in the day.  The first day she fell asleep in the evening and Tony decided to just hold her so we found Tony a nice and dry place to hang out while Grandma, Tyler, Josh and I went on some more rides.  It was getting chilly that night, but we did pretty good with just our jackets on.

We ended up eating at the place that Tony was hanging out with Megan.  After dinner I took Megan and they headed over to do some more rides on the other side of the park.  Megan woke up pretty quickly after they left, so then I went and met up with them.  On the way Megan and I were able to see the last part of the parade, so that was fun.  We decided to go home after that.  It was getting cold and we were done.  It was a good thing that we left then because on our way back our car it started sprinkling, then about an hour after that it down poured and even hailed...hard.  

The second day the weather was much better.  It was a little cold in the morning, but nice and sunny.  We did go over to California Adventures, but we were not able to get on the new Cars ride.  The line for the ride was always just too long.  That is the one ride that we didn't get to go on this trip just because of the wait time.  It's too hard to wait over an hour with three little kids for one ride.

We did go on Woody's Roundup ride.  It is one of my favorites, super fun.   We had some lunch and then Megan went down for her nap so we decided to let the boys play in the big park they have.  They enjoyed that and I found a nice spot to sit and hold Megan while they played.  Grandma and Tony took Josh and Tyler on Soarin' Over California and Megan and I went for a stroller ride.  I walked her over to the main street and we got to watch the parade.  I also enjoy watching the performances and Megan just sat their nicely in the stroller.  We were able to find a great spot to park the stroller and watch the whole thing front and center.

After that I really wasn't feeling well.  I had starting coughing a little earlier in the day and now my chest hurt when I coughed so we decided to leave the park and Tony took me to the Urgent Care.  The doctor told me I had bronchitis and sent me home with some medicine.

The next day I felt even worse.  So we switched days we were going to go back to Disneyland to Friday in hopes that I would feel better by then.  So they all went to a swap meet in the morning and then after lunch Margie, Tony, and the boys went to the beach.  Megan and I stayed back and hung out at the hotel.  I was feeling  a little better, so that worked out good.  Megan would just eat the sand and be fussy.

I went down hill that night.  Hot, cold, achy all over, coughing, etc.  So Tony took me back to the Urgent Care and they said that I probably have the flu.  So currently, I am at the hotel while Tony and the others are at Disneyland.  I feel really bad that I have messed up plans and that I am putting the others out.  I just really hope that I feel better tomorrow because that is when we start the journey home.  We are going to drive to St. George tomorrow and I hope that it all works out.

Valentine's and The Bigginging of Our Trip

Tony and Megan in the hot tub

We have been busy people at our house.  We celebrated Valentine's Day (and my birthday) last Thursday and then we started on our trip to California the next day.

Margie and Josh playing in the hot tub

The boys had a good time celebrating Valentine's Day.  They both had school and got to pass out Valentine's to their classmates.  After school they liked going through the Valentine's that they had received.  I spent most of the day packing for our vacation.  When Tony got home from work we took the kids to grandma's house so that Tony and I could got to dinner and a movie.  We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  It was really busy and we were glad that we had called ahead for our seats.  Then we saw a movie about witches, it was pretty good.  Tony got me a candy thermometer for my birthday.  I am the big 32 now.  Good times.

Tyler getting his feet wet

Tony and Megan at the temple

Megan liked playing on the statue at the temple

After the movie we went back to our house and finished packing and then went to Tony's parents to sleep there with the kids.  We got there and packed up the car so we'd be ready to leave early the next day.  The boys woke up super early and woke us up and then we all got ready and headed on the road.  The drive to St. George was awesome.  It went by really fast and the kids were really good.  We got to visit with Nana and Papa for a couple of hours before we headed onto Las Vegas.  The boys were so cute with Nana.  She had given them a couple of things (wooden flutes and bandanas) and then she gave them some quarters when they helped pick up branches.  Josh said, "I like Nana." Then Tyler helped Nana cross the street after she got her mail, it was super sweet to watch.

Tyler and Josh at the temple

We got to Vegas and checked into our hotel.  I hadn't brought any swim diapers for Megan and the hotel was charging $3.50 each, so Margie and I went to WalMart to find some.  Turns out that is a "seasonal item" and they didn't have any.  We were pretty annoyed because the traffic was so bad and it took us a long time to get there.
So we decided to just put Megan in a regular diaper and went to the pool...which was freezing.  So we all just got in the hot tub instead.  The kids all loved that.  Tyler said he didn't want to go swimming so he didn't get on his suit, but within three minutes of just having his feet in the hot tub his clothes were pretty wet, so he just went swimming in his underwear.  He had a great time.

Josh with his fat lip

Us in front of the cool tree at the temple

Then we got ready and went to dinner.  After dinner it was bedtime and then we headed to California the next morning.  We took our time and visited a couple stores and then checked into our hotel.

More us and temple, Josh didn't want to be in the picture

On Sunday we went to Church and then came back and changed our clothes before we headed out to see the LA temple.  It was beautiful and fun to go back.  I hadn't been to that temple since my mission.  While we were looking around the outside of the temple Josh lost his footing and slipped on a stair and hit his mouth on one of the stone steps.  He was bleeding pretty good and had a pretty sweet fat lip for a while.  But he was a tough guy and said it didn't hurt or bother him after the first couple of minutes.

Us in front of the Temple

After we decided to go to the Santa Monica Pier...worst idea ever!  It seemed that everyone else in LA decided to go to the Santa Monica Pier the same time we did.  So many people everywhere and so many cars, it was madness.  But we got out of it and got some dinner that night.  Then it was off to bed to be ready for a fun day at Sea World the next day.

Megan's Toes

I painted Megan's toes for the first time and they are so cute.  At my brothers wedding, one of the guest told me that if I painted her toes and then put socks on her for a while, the socks would remove the polish from the skin and make the toes look great.  She was right.  I hadn't even thought of doing it because Megan moves around so much and it would just be a mess, but they turned out cute.  I look forward to the day when we can go get pedicures together.  Yeah for cute toes!

Early Morning Ramblings

Megan was fussing this morning and we got her back to sleep, but now I am wide awake.  She has been sleeping a little better the past few nights.  She has only been waking up once to have a bottle versus two times.  She is a total pro walker, has been for a while.  She never crawls anymore.  It still cracks me up to see her toddle around the house since she is just so little.  I think that she is getting two teeth right now.  They haven't come through, but I hope they do soon.  Otherwise, she just has the two teeth so far.  She has been doing this grunting thing lately...it is super annoying.  I need to remember that she is just a very small and young baby and be more patient with her grunting and neediness.  She really is adorable and a good baby for the most part.
My patience has had a hard week this past week.  Tony started working the late shift this week and whenever he works that shift I have such a hard time.  It is just dumb that I let it effect me so much.  Just knowing that he won't be home for an extra two hours totally effects my whole day.  I am less patient with the kids and more anxious all day long.  I am a totally nut case.  I really need to find a way to get over my issues.  It is not fair to my kids for me to be more uptight just because Daddy works later.
We are getting ready to go to California next week.  It should be lots of fun.  The boys are super excited to go to Disneyland.  We are going to go to Sea World too.  Tony and I love Sea World.  The animals are so fun to watch.  We are so spoiled by Tony's parents and totally appreciate them taking our family to Disneyland.  Tony's mom is the only one going, but we recognize and appreciate Tony's dad too for working so hard so we can go.
Wendy had Baby Ben yesterday.  He had some breathing problems so he has been in the NICU since birth, but they hope he can go to the regular nursery today.  I wish I could be there to see the baby and support Wendy.  It's fun to have more babies and to see our family increase in size.
Well I guess I will get ready to go weigh in at Weight Watchers.  I will meet Julie there and see how I did.  I have lost almost 20 pounds so far.  I have been a slacker this time around and haven't been loosing as fast as I did the first time.  I really need to step up my game.  After Disneyland I will recommit to tracking better.  Until then, wish me luck.