Spring Break

 The day after Easter Sunday was the first day of our Spring break.  We woke up to some snow....

 ...and super sick kids.  Allie and Jake had the croup, with really high fevers and sore throats.  I haven't seen either of them that sick ever.  Both of them had a hard time breathing if they did anything but lay on the couch.  Not a very fun way to start a week of no school.

 Allie felt well enough on Monday night to dye some eggs with us.

 She and Nate spent a lot of time that night dying eggs in different colors until all of Nate's were varying shades of green and some of Allie's were dark shades of pink.

Jake fell asleep on the couch.

 It was so fun for Nate that I should have let him dye the eggs we set aside for Jake because he never felt well enough to color them before we left on our trip.

Jason wasn't half bad this year.  Things seem to be getting easier and easier as this little one gets older.  Maybe we can all have fun doing things like this, instead of it ending in a big mess and lots of tears and whining children.  It sure was nice this year.  One more Easter tradition checked off the list.

Ward Ski Night

The kids were really looking forward to the ward ski night.  Mike was out of town, but we got Grandma to watch Jason so we could go.  The kids are getting better each time we go out!

 It was weird to send them on their way without my help, but they wanted to go with friends and I had a friend to hang out with too.

 Nate ate a lot of snow...

 ...and rode the magic carpet over and over and over.  He'd ride it up and then run down the hill to catch another ride.  We had a great night.  Maybe next year Nate can try his hand at skiing.

Scary

Sometimes the older kids are watching something that is pretty scary for the little kids (nothing bad, but it doesn't take much for these littles to get scared).  For some reason, they both hide behind the couch and peek around the corner every now and then.  It's like it's too much for them to sit on the couch and close their eyes.  They have to form some sort of barrier.  They can't entirely walk away either.  It makes me laugh.  

Allie Randoms...

When I put the latest batch of pictures on the computer, I found these and thought I'd do a random post about Allie.  

Her hair is growing out and she was excited to find out that it was long enough to do this hair style.  She really likes braids.

She is a night owl like me.  We had a RS activity a while ago where we made a bunch of quilts and stuffed animals to give away to people in third world countries.  Allie saw the animals and was determined to make one too.  We already had some cute fabric, so she begged and begged until I said we could do it.

We were up pretty late, but we got it done.  She did everything but the sewing machine work...cut it out, made the face, and stuffed it.  She was pretty proud of herself.

 Here she is with the Lego plane she got for Christmas.  She doesn't devour them as fast as Jake does, but she does enjoy putting them together, especially if she does it while she listens to Harry Potter on audio.

I love this girl of mine.  She might make me a bit crazy with her nocturnal habits, but how can I blame her?  She got it from me.

Night Time

Nate loves sleeping in my bed.  I usually don't mind one kid coming in to snuggle, but when there are two little boys in there fighting for space, I start to get a little cranky.  I also don't love waking up in a puddle of pee from those friends that come creeping in (that's happened more times than I care to count).  Jason comes in every night without fail.  I put him back a few times and then I give up.  Nate usually comes in when it is the early morning hours and I don't even notice him creeping in.  I only notice when I can't even wiggle because there are children surrounding me.
Mike is even less of a fan.  He is always complaining about feet in his face...I don't know why.  :(
So, we thought of a plan.  The boys each picked out a toy that they really wanted and I bought it and set it out where they could see.  They had to sleep in their own beds for 14 nights and then they could have the toy.  Nate was really excited about the prospect of the new toy (Crusher, a monster truck from a show he likes).  He got right into the habit of staying in his own bed and just the other day, he earned his truck.  He had a few setbacks throughout the time, but he really did pretty good.

Jason was a different story.  He thought it was a great plan during the daytime hours, but just couldn't make it happen at night.  As I tried to rationalize with him in the middle of the night and remind him that he was working toward earning Blaze, he'd tell me that he didn't care about Blaze...he just wanted to sleep in my bed.  Then, in the light of the morning, remorse would set in and he'd put on his most sad and dejected face as I put a check mark on the calendar for Nate, but not for him.
We finally decided that it was nearly impossible for him to sleep in his own bed all night, but the goal for him could be that he falls asleep for naps and bedtime without me laying down by him.  He is still working toward that goal...with no end in sight.

Well, as I was saying, Nate earned Crusher the other day (insert another sad and dejected face from Jason as Nate opened his toy).  He was so happy to have Crusher and played with him all day.  Then night time came, and I had a 2 am visitor again.

This morning, we had a little chat about it in the car.  Here's what he had to say about it...

Me:  Nate, why did you come into my bed again last night?

Nate:  Because I earned my Crusher.  Now I can come back.

Me:  You earned Crusher because you stayed for 14 nights.  You have to keep on staying in your bed.

Nate:  Why?  I don't have to sleep in my bed anymore because I earned Crusher.

Me: You earned Crusher, but that doesn't mean you get to come back to my bed!  You have to learn how to sleep in your own bed!

Nate: Well, I don't like sleeping in my own bed.  I just love you and I want to sleep next to you.  I come in because I love you.

Me:  How can I ague with that?

Happy Easter!

1 o'clock church is good for one thing...we are pretty much always on time.  Easter Sunday wasn't any different.  The kids were ready to go and out riding scooters for a little while before church.  I think they all look so cute.  Jake had a matching shirt with the boys, but I guess he's growing faster than I thought because it was too small.  I'm afraid the matching days are over now.  Sad days...  

Love these kids of mine...and I love Easter.  I'll get to see my Sam again someday and I am so grateful for that.  There are 4 kids in these pictures where one day, there will be five...all together again.  I am grateful for that knowledge, and grateful for my Savior who makes that possible.  Life is good.

Easter Egg Hunt

We got together with the cousins to have an Easter egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter.  We hid 160 eggs, so they were able to find 20 each.  

We let the little kids go first, but Jason wasn't very interested in the hunt.  He just wanted to go for a ride...

Nate found his 20 right away and got to work eating what was inside, while I was distracted with the other kids...smart boy.

The older boys set to work finding the hard to find eggs.  We hid some of them pretty well.

Allie found some of the hard ones I hid.

It was fun hanging out with the cousins.  We had a nice dinner at Grandma Bonnie's house after the hunt.  Easter celebrations are pretty awesome!

Monster Truck Maps

When we were moving Jake downstairs, we came across his old monster truck "maps".  He used to carry these things around and stare at them all day long.  He had quite a few and that's how he knew which monster truck he wanted to get next.  When people would ask what he wanted for his birthday or Christmas, he'd tell them the next truck on the list.  I think we have all of the trucks on at least one of the maps.  He earned Maximum Destruction when he was potty training and that was the hardest one for us to find.  Anyway, we came across the maps and I had them in the trash pile and Jake asked if we could save at least one.  Pretty funny...

 3 year old Jake, falling asleep while reading his "map".

Conversation in the Bathroom...

The scene...As a newly potty trained boy, Jason has left a lot of pee on the floor in the bathroom.  He tries to clean it up himself and ends up using tons of toilet paper, and then clogs the toilet.  It's been a hassle to say the least.  If it's a big mess, he'll take the entire roll of toilet paper and just set it on the pee.  It soaks up the pee and ruins a whole roll.  I get really annoyed.  So, the new rule is that only Mommy touches the toilet paper.  He needs to be reminded several times a day.

Jason: (running into the bathroom)  I gotta pee!

Me: Don't touch the toilet paper!

Jason:  I won't taptain  Momma! (he calls me "Captain Momma" when I am giving out orders).

I went in to check on him and found that he had indeed used nearly an entire roll to clean up after himself again.  I had a stern look on my face and barked "who can touch the toilet paper?!"

Jason:  Only you Momma...you mad?

Me:  Yes, I'm mad!  This is a lot of toilet paper!

Jason:  I'm sorry Momma...you still mad?

Me: (ignoring him while I clean up).

Jason: Momma...you mad?  I'm sorry Momma.  You supposed to say 'it's okay Jason'.  You still mad?

Me:  I'm not mad...I'm just sad.  You aren't supposed to touch the toilet paper.

Jason:  Let me see your face.  (I looked up).  Smile Momma.  (I grimaced a smile).  No, keep smiling Momma.  I said sorry.  You say 'it's okay Jason' and keep smiling.  You still mad?

Me: (smiling for real now).  No, I'm not mad.  Just remember to leave the toilet paper alone next time, okay?

Jason:  Okay Taptain Momma! (and off he ran to play).

I know I should be more patient and not get annoyed at these little things, but the reality of cleaning pee off the bathroom floor several times a day gets pretty old.  I also hate the waste of so many rolls of toilet paper.  Still, hearing Jason ask for my happy smile makes me feel pretty guilty...I guess these are the bad mom moments...  :(

Potato Clock

I have been going through the pictures and I found several things that I didn't write about earlier.  Jake got a potato clock for Christmas.  It's pretty cool, but the potatoes leak goo onto his dresser, so he doesn't use it much, but it is really cool to make a clock work with potatoes!