Justin Loves Football!! Happy 9th!

Justin turns 9 today.  He was super excited to have his birthday on a Saturday so his party could be on a Saturday.  (Mom - not so much.  I have 3 birthday parties for my kids on 3 consecutive Saturdays!!)

Justin Choose a Seahawks Football Party

The Party Landscape

The Food.  We had Quarterback Cupcakes, Game Day Nachos, Goal Time Pizza, First Down Fruit and Half Time Hot dogs   I wrapped the green utensils in a Seahawks Napkin and then tied a football paper around it.  

Close-up of the Quarterback Cupcakes and treat bags.  (I amazed myself here folks!)

This picture is a bunch of burping boys who kind-of ate their food.

First game we played.  Football corn hole.  Is there such a thing?

Next came the pinata.  Everyone got 2 turns then we let Justin beat the crap out of it.  He sure had fun!

We had one happy birthday boy.  I am a miracle worker today in his eyes!!  I had a lot of fun.  1 down 2 to go.  Happy Birthday to my cuddly, sweet and super hard working 9 year old!!

Pinewood Derby 2013

The Pinewood Derby was held March 5th.  The boys were pretty proud of their cars but they didn't perform as well as they would have hoped.  Maybe we will do better next year.

Victor, Idaho!

For as far back as I can remember, my family has always gone to Victor, Idaho for Memorial Day.  My dad's dad died when my dad was 6 and our tradition was going to his grave with the whole family.  Over the years fewer and fewer of the family continue to go, but if we are close and are able to go, we go. 

Grandpa Burnside & Grandma Morgan's headstone's. 

{Grandma Morgan isn't buried here.}

Justin is named after Grandpa Burnside.

{His middle name is Wesley.}

{Cold & Rainy!!}

{The girls agree!}

Thanks Victor for making me feel right at home.  You can NEVER predict the weather in Victor.  It's been super hot one year and snowing the next.  I sure miss this place when I am away!

Our rising Star

Yesterday, we had the priviladge to go to the Rising Star Assembly at Justin's school. He was nominated along with 3 others from his class as a Rising Star. He was recognized for knowing all 52 letters of the alphabet (Upper and lowercase.) We are very proud of him and all that he is doing. They had a reception after where all of us got to eat cake with all the other families. Go Justin!!

Small Update

Kennie – He is doing well in school but is daily upset by the "fun" homework Justin has and his homework is so boring. He complains daily about being the oldest, but usually just accepts that he can't change it. He likes to pretend he is the boss.

Justin – Thoroughly enjoys school. He is excited about his homework and doing very well with his handwriting skills. He is enjoying reading and is very close to reading chapter books. His favorite part of school is being able to check out a library book and read it home for us to read together. He has brought home books about Snakes, Whales and this week brought home one about an elephant and his 11^th birthday party. He started his allergy shots today and isn't very thrilled about it.

Nate – Well, it's Nate. What more can I say about Nate? He is as destructive as ever and doesn't seem to want to take a break from that. He does his best to keep up with the other boys. He even likes to "read" during their reading time after school. He will occasionally tell me he needs to go potty, but I haven't pushed it at all. I am not ready for that fight. Once he is potty trained, I am thinking about doing a home-school preschool group with a couple other gals in the ward. There would be 3-4 kids so I would only have to teach about one week a month. Totally do-able.

Maggie – Oh boy! She sure is cute!! But, she is in to as many things as Nate is. Always wanting to do what he does. She is talking like crazy. Her favorite words right now are: Costco (love this one), airplane, Mama, Daee, Nennie (Kennie), up, down, stuck and all done. She has learned the signs for help, please, more, all done and thank you. Having a girl is so foreign to me! I tell ya, it's crazy!

Aaron – he is alive! He just finished a week of nights and is trying to recover. Work is very demanding on his time and what he has left is spent on his demanding crazy wife! (Did I just say that out loud? This is Sassy – byw!)

Sassy – Well, I am alive. I have lost 16.5 pounds and have 13.5 left to go. I am so psyched. It has been a tough road, and I have earned every pound, but it feels so good. Once it is all over, I will bask in my glory and MAYBE have a Mountain Dew. That's a big Maybe!!

We are looking forward to the visit of Aaron's parents next week. We are trying to figure out some fun things to do in Alaska in October. We've heard that March and October are the worst months to visit Alaska. Hmmm….what to do? Any suggestions? Oh, and I am going to give myself props for the excellent photograph at the top of this post. Do you know how difficult it is to get all 4 kids to smile at the same time? I DID IT!!! I believe this maybe the first time EVER!! Anyway, off to figure out dinner! Ciao from Alaska!

Poor Justin

We had yet another doctors appointment for Justin today. It seems like that's all we do lately is doctors. Anyway, this one was with the allergist. We did a focused allergy panel to find out specifics on what he is allergic to. We knew grass, weeds, trees, cats, dogs, dust mites and peanuts, but we wanted specifics in each area. We are going to be starting him on allergy shots soon to see if we can improve his quality of life. Here are the pictures of my little mans back!!


Then, after all of this, I made him get the flu shot. What a mean mom I am! Hey, they just got them in this morning and there was no line...yet. When we left, the waiting line for the flu shot was at least 45 minutes!!! Now, I just have to get Kennie back for his and we are all taken care of. That is until they get the Swine Flu shot!

Have you ever been??

We were on our way to dinner Thursday night and we were playing a different version of our favorite game, "I'm thinking of an animal" called "I'm thinking of a state." It was Justin's turn.

In this story - J (Justin), A (Aaron), G (Grandma B.), K (Kennie) and S (Sassy).

J - "I'm thinking of a state..."
K - "Ohio."
J - Nope
K - "Texas."
J - "Nope"
A - "Utah."
J - "Nope."
A - "What letter does it start with?"
J - "N."
G - "New ...(enter one of the new states)
J - "Nope"
S - "Nebraska"
J - "Nope" Is this getting old to anyone else??? It sure is to me.

We go through all the N states and Aaron says this:

A - "Justin, that's all the N states. Give us another hint."
J - "Someone we know lives there."
S - Getting a clue into a 4 year olds mind, "Is it the North Pole?"
J - "YES!! You got it mom! It's the North Pole?

So, has anyone ever been to the grand old state of the North Pole?

Another funny note, we were dancing to ipod music last night when Aaron says to me, "I dance like a white doctor." (Not intending to be racist, mind you.)

Then my mom, after watching him dance said, "No, you dance like an OLD white doctor." It was pretty funny!!

Cheater

I overheard a very funny conversation while getting ready for church today. Kennie and Justin were standing at the game closet (because we have too many games!) This is how the conversation went.

Kennie: "Justin, which game should we play?"
Justin: "How about Chutes and Ladders?"
Kennie: "Are you going to cheat?"
Justin: ponders for a moment and says, "Yes, I always cheat at Chutes and Ladders."
Kennie: "Well, then I don't want to play Chutes and Ladders!"
Justin: "Well, which game should we play?"
Kennie: "Justin, will you cheat at Cootie?"
Justin: "Umm, no, I never cheat at Cootie."

It was decided and they played Cootie. A funny side note, I sat and watched them play Cootie while feeding Maggie and Kennie cheated the entire game! I think my kids learned how to play games from Sharon! (Sorry babe!)

Justin's trip to the restroom

So, we had just arrived back at my parents house after visiting the Lewis' when Justin announced he had to go to the bathroom. He was back there along time, but I didn't think anything about it. It wasn't until about 30 minutes later that I noticed a whole in his head. Well, a whole in his hair. He got ahold of my brothers shaver and shaved parts out of his hear. So, here is the final result.

Aaron arrives in 10 days. After that, we are getting family pictures taken on both sides. Now, Justin will be sporting a new dew. You have got to be kidding me!

This and that (it's a long one)

It's been a while since I did a general update, so I am going to do it today. A lot has been happening, so bare with me.

Aaron is enjoying a laid back month this month. He is doing geriatrics at the VA. He doesn't like the VA and is excited to be leaving at the end of the month. However, the first 2 weeks of November are night float, which is never good for me. He works all night and sleeps all day. His only night of the week off is Monday nights. He is going to D.C. the 19th of November and found out he gets to present his case at the conference he is going to. YA!! Maybe that will help him get his fellowship.

Kennie is doing well in first grade. He struggled in the beginning with his writing, since he hadn't been introduced to it. We worked with him conference weekend and now he is doing better. We are working with him on creative writing and including more details in his stories. Once we explain it to him, he is off with it, so it just takes us introducing things to him. He is still the top reader in his class and continues to excel in Math. He is very pleased with himself to say the least.

Justin is currently down with a stomach bug. He has missed the last 3 days of school and will miss today because he doesn't feel good. You can tell when Justin is sick (he acts just like Aaron) and he is sick!! Hopefully we are on the upswing of it and he will be back to "normal" by the weekend! He is enjoying preschool and he has started teaching himself how to read. He is really smart and is doing exactly what Kennie did last year. He has also won 2 of 5 football polls and is very pleased with himself!!

Nate is getting cuter by the day. He is learning all kinds of new words and won't stop talking. While Grandma and Grandpa Lewis were here, we cut out his nap and is doing so much better with it gone. We actually sleep through the night most of the time. Now, we just have to work with him about not throwing objects. I have many a bruises from him.

Maggie (this is where this post will turn into a book. This is more for me to remember than anything, so please bare with me.) We have had a couple of rough months with Maggie. She hasn't been a happy girl since August 13th (the day of her 2month shots.) She cried a lot, went from sleeping a lot to hardly sleeping and just no fun to be around. I was really at the end of my rope and didn't know if I could handle much more, so I took her into the doctor for her excessive crying and a 4 month check-up. Well, she weighed 10 pounds 11 ounces (she was 10 lbs 6 oz at her 2 month check up.) This was quite concerning to the doctor. (Let me take a minute and thank Troy. He is in our ward and just happened to have appointment openings when I needed an appointment. It was so nice to know that the doctor knew my family and my kids more than a normal doctor.) 5 ounces in 2 months isn't good. At her 2 month check-up she was in the 50%. At 4 months, she was in the 2%. Yes, that's right, 2.

What we decided in her appointment is that we upped her Zantac from .5 ml's twice a day to 1 ml 3 times a day. I also cut just about everything that is worth eating out of my diet. Gluten (wheat, barely, and rye to just name a few), dairy, nuts, eggs, sugar, artificial sugar, caffeine (that means chocolate) and carbonation. So, you might be asking yourself what I ate. NOT A WHOLE LOT!!! I was at a loss. It isn't too difficult to do one of those. But to do wheat and dairy was the killer. So, that was last Thursday. I noticed a change by that afternoon. She took an hour and a half nap. By Friday night when Shelby came over to hang for a bit before girls night, she took one look at Maggie and said "welcome back Mags!"

We have our old Maggie back, almost. She isn't quite sleeping through the night again, but we are getting there. I took Maggie back to the doctor today for a weight check and to touch base with the doctor about how things were going (we also did a mini appointment in the halls at church on Sunday and he said that since her change was so immediate, I could introduce wheat back into my diet because it wouldn't change that fast if it was wheat.) Anyway, so today Mags weighed 11 lbs. She gained 5 oz in 1 week. PERFECT. I don't have to go back for another 2 weeks for a weight check.

Now, we had some fun things at our appointment today. Troy heard a slight murmur while listening to Maggie's heart. For those of you who don't know, I also have a slight murmur. My heart is turned almost 180 degrees (they call this dextrocardia). It hasn't caused me much grief other than to limit my sports activity (like they could stop me) but I do have to be careful and I get winded easy. So, if she still has the murmur in 2 weeks, she will have an EKG and maybe an Echo and an X-ray to see if her heart is turned as well.)

There is also a chance that her hip socket is out of place. We will know in the next day or two if it really is. We went and got an X-ray. If her hip is out of place, she will need to wear a brace for 2 months and then we will have it re-examined to make sure all is well.Other than that, Maggie is doing a lot better.

So, you may have noticed that I have left myself out. What more is there to say. With all of this going on, I haven't had much time to do anything. Stamp camp is tomorrow night and I haven't finished the layout. I have a swap due the 1st of November and I haven't even started it. My house is a mess, my laundry is almost caught up (thanks to a throwing up kid I had to wash everything so we could live in this house with the smell.), I haven't exercised in 3 weeks (but have still lost a total of 11 lbs). I go to bed exhausted at the end of the day and wake up exhausted at the beginning of the next day.

I better head to help out with the screaming children in the bathroom who need their teeth brushed, medicine administered, prayers and kisses. Peace!!!Just a quick picture of our new Mags. Enjoy!!

4 minus 2 times 2

Okay. What does that mean? 4 wheels minus 2 wheels times 2 boys. We took the training wheels off the boys bikes today. They did great. Justin picked it up like he's been doing it forever. It took Kennie a little longer, but Aaron only had to work with him for 20 minutes. Here is video.


Both Boys



Kennie riding his bike

Justin riding his bike

Back to school

Kennie headed to Kindergarten and Justin is in his last year of preschool. Kennie was so excited to start school that he was up at 6:30 this morning. Here are the pictures. Kennie asked me if I would take his picture and go. "I am a big boy now Mom, I don't need you here."

I am ready!!

He loves his Superman backpack with the cape.

Standing by his backpack. He is a little nervous. He has a new teacher and new classmates this year. He knows 1 girl in his class from church. He did say at the end of the day that he misses Robby in his class. Robby & his family moved to South Carolina in March.

Walking in the building.