Belleview Park

Today we ventured out with our friends to Belleview Park.  I haven't been there for years--not since Savannah was little.  It is a beautiful park with with a creek flowing through the middle. 

 The kids first played in the water.  I didn't bring swimsuits because it was cold and cloudy when we left our house but when we got there it was warm and sunny--of course!  The water was freezing but the kids didn't seem to mind.  

(I frantically followed Madison around trying to help her avoid falling in--cast and all!  She only fell once but she quickly lifted her cast up and avoided getting it wet.  Phew!)

After the kids were too cold to play in the water anymore,  we took a ride on a little train around the park.  That brought back memories of riding it with Savannah when she was little.

Meanwhile, Hunter was off exploring up the creek with the older boys.  He came back competely soaked and very cold.  After I got him all wrapped up in a towel, he excitedly told us all about the adventure they went on--finding loads of golf balls, a basketball, a very rusty car (greaaat), a piece of tile (which he asked me if I liked it enough to keep it), and seeing a snake swimming in the creek (yikes!).  

Then we gathered together on the bank and had a yummy picnic lunch.

Then, when all the tummy's were full we played at the playground.

It was a fun full day!

  I love summer days when we can get out of the house and just play.

A busy week...

My parents came in town on Thursday.  I don't think they were expecting a full couple of days of grandchildren activities....

 Thursday night....

Savannah's Ta Vaci spring performance. 

A few months ago, Savannah's Ta Vaci --performing arts teacher-- asked Jesse if he would sing/dance the duet "Together Again" from the musical Annie with Savannah for the spring performance.   They both were looking forward to singing and dancing together on stage.   Then Jesse put two and two together and realized he would be out of the country the night of the performance.   Our Sweet Hunter stepped up and performed with Savannah last night at the Ta Vaci spring performance.   They both did a great job!  

 Thursday night 

(only a hour after the Ta Vaci performance)

Hunter's Baseball game 

Friday morning....

Hunter received the Paw Pride Award at school for showing

"Truth and Tolerance"  

The principal read the following aloud (written from his teacher)... 

"I have never met a student who can tell the truth no matter how tought a situation can get.  He finds ways to stay positive and honest whether it is himself or a close friend in a sticky situation.  Hunter has a contagous smile and a heart of gold, which truly make shme one of a kind.  I am very pround of you Hunter!  Keep up all the hard work"

Later Friday morning....

A trip to the Orthopedics for Madison

At this appointment they took out her spacers and sealed her cast with a new wrap.  They asked her if she wanted a new color (other than purple).  She looked down at her shirt and said, "Green like my shirt!"  (a true girl, coordinating her cast with her outfit!)

And of course, I have to add something about Eliza.....

She missed her Daddy!  I have never seen her so clingy--she would get upset even if I left the same room.  I think she thought I was going to disappear like her dad did. 

This is a picture of her talking to Jesse on the phone... who is all the way in Saudi Arabia!

She is so pleased to hear his voice!

12th Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary! 

 Jesse and I celebrated our 12th anniversary today.  

Madison's Anniversary Present

Since our anniversary fell on a Sunday this year we decided to go out Saturday night to celebrate.  Jesse made reservations at one of our favorite restaurants, The Melting Pot, for some delicious fondue.  Just as the hostess sat us at our table, Jesse's cell phone rang.  It was Savannah telling us that Madison had fallen and wanted to "talk" to Mommy.  When Jesse handed me the phone all I could hear was crying and not just a normal "I am going to get over this cry in just a few minutes."  I had a hard time getting an answer as to what was going on from Madison, Savannah or the babysitter--with all the crying.  I called my good friend down the street to come over and assess the damage.  So here we are at a very nice restaurant with the two of us on our cell phones--Jesse on the line with Savannah and me with my friend.  We decided since we hadn't ordered yet we would just head home.  When we walked in the door, we found Madison asleep on on the couch, surrounded by everyone.  After giving Madison a blessing, Jesse took her to the Urgent Care.

Three hours later........

Madison's diagnoisis:

Midshaft radial/ulna fracture  

(broken the two bones in her arm as you can see in the x-ray)

She came home with her arm wrapped in a splint and would have to head to the Children's Hospital in the morning to have reduction (push back into place) and casted.

The next morning, Jesse took Madison to the hospital and 3 1/2 hours later she came home with a beautiful purple cast.  (For some of you who don't remember, August 2007, Madison broke some of the bones in her elbow and had to have surgery to put pins in.  She choose a pink cast so this time around she wanted a different color--purple.  Let's just home we don't have choose another color every again!)

This her welcoming committee....

Savannah made this Welcome Home banner all by herself--with cereal boxes.

The kids also wrote her get-well cards...

My favorite was Hunter's card

"Dear Maddy,  

Welcome home you will get twice as money for handy candy then you usually do."

(Handy Candy is the name of Hunter's candy shop he has in his room--sells candy to his siblings and friends)

That afternoon Hunter was in charge of our family activity.  He was very organized.  Here are his "conducting" notes....

These are some of the pictures I took while we made our "project" for Madison....

Anniversary Presents from the Kids

The kids were very sweet and planned a few special gifts for our anniversary.

  We got a "love singing" bear (our neighborhood was having it's annual garage sale) and a journal to write in together. 

This is Eliza's reaction to the bear....

 Then they had us all take a walk so they could show us a surprise...a single rose blooming along the sidewalk around the corner.  They found it when they were walking home one day from school.  Savannah wanted to share with us that in the winter the bush was an ugly brown thorny bush but now for our anniversary it is green and blooming a beautiful rose.

Quote of the day!

"I love pizza, it's my enemy!"   --Madison Fillerup, Age 4 We had pizza for dinner tonight.   Madison picked up her pizza and said the above quote.   We were all quite confused..... Savannah:   "What?" Madison:   "Remember the guy from the t.v. show?" Savannah:   "What guy?" Madison:   "The guy with the hairbrush." Savannah:   "Oh, Samson and the Hairbrush"   (veggie tales show) Madison:   "Yes!   He said we should love our enemies.   And I love pizza!"

A visit from the Easter Bunny on Easter Eve!

Friday night, the kids put out a friendly looking chick, a few carrots and lettuce to welcome the Easter Bunny to our home.  The next morning, we had a fun visit from the Easter Bunny!   

General Conference Weekend

When I first told the kid this was General Conference weekend, I got lot's of moans and groans--having to sit through 2 days of a total of 8 hours of listening to church speakers!  I didn't like how the kids felt towards General Conference.  This should be something they look forward to.  I understand they are just kids and listening to each speaker can be overwhelming.  Let's face it, the kids have a hard time sitting through sacrament meeting.  I just didn't like hearing they didn't "like" General Conference.  So I decided to create some fun traditions that would help them have some good feelings and memories about General Conference weekend.....

First, I brought out the kid tents and told the kids that every General Conference weekend they could sleep out in their tents--a big sleepover!  We set up the tents the night before and then I read Mosiah 2:1-10, where King Benjamin is going to address his people and all the families come and pitch their tents around the temple to hear him.  We talked about how excited the families must of felt to be able to listen to their leader and a prophet of God.  Then we talked about how we get to listen to our prophet and apostles today during this General Conference weekend.  We even set up our tents so the doors faced the t.v.  "having his tent with the door there-of towards" (our television where we would watch Conference), "that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words..."  

They were finally starting to be excited about Conference....

The next morning, I made German apple pancakes.  I've heard of families making something special only on General Conference weekend so I told the kids we will have this be our special breakfast tradition!

Right before Conference began I handed out some "Conference packets" with coloring pages, crosswords, puzzles, etc. they could work on during conference.  The kids got in their tents and starting working away.  At times they would pop their heads out and listen but overall is nice and quiet so Jesse and I could sit back and listen.  I know there will be time when they get a bit older when they will be able to take in more.  I just wanted to create an atmosphere where the spirit would dwell, which wasn't the case when I felt like I was having to pull teeth just to get them to come into the room.

By the last session, the puzzles and coloring pages had lost their thrill.  So I popped some popcorn and we played "Conference Bingo."  Every time someone got a bingo they could choose a treat--starburst or hershey kiss, etc.  Wow, did they really get into this!  Everyone was listening intently and afterwards they knew what the theme of the talk was...."Mom, he talked a lot about missionaries!"

Here are some more pictures from the day!

When conference was over, the kids were actually disappointed....they wanted more!  I told them we could do this all again in 6 months--to which I got lot's of cheering!  Overall, General Conference weekend was a success....yay!

April Fools!!!

The Tricker becomes the Trickee......

Last night, I saw Savannah putting away two cereal boxes.  Then when she came around the corner she had a huge grin on her face and let out a few giggles.  Something was up!

After everyone went to bed, I thought it might be a fun April Fools joke to pull out the cereal bags out of the boxes.  And that is when I discovered what Savannah had been up to.... she had switched the cereal bags from two boxes.  What a clever girl!  So I decided to finish the job.....

The next morning, April Fools day, Savannah and Hunter sat down for breakfast.  Savannah reached for the Cookie Crisp box and said, "Here Hunter, I know how much you love Cookie Crisp."  But Hunter simply replied, "No thanks."  Savannah continued for the next few minutes to convince Hunter that Cookie Crisp was what he wanted.  Hunter stayed true and told her he didn't really feel like having it this morning and why was she wanting him to have it so bad!  It was really sweet, at one point Savannah told Hunter that there wasn't a lot left so he better finish it off, but Hunter told her "That's okay, if you really want it you can have it."  At this point I started to feel bad for Savannah.  So I sat down with my bowl and told her to pass the Muesli box (which contained Cookie Crisp).  Everyone made their choice and began to pour....

My favorite moments....

*Seeing Savannah's face when she discovered she also had been tricked

*Having Hunter stop pouring the cereal and take a second look at the box he had chosen

*Hearing Jesse comment on how shocked he was that his cereal was almost gone when he had just opened the box yesterday--when it was actually the Kix cereal that was almost gone and not the Oh's cereal :)  Then having him pour the cereal and hearing him say, "What?!? Errrr... Brenna!!!!"  Then he started laughing.  (Gotcha... hee hee hee!)

I did try to trick Madison, but I think she didn't appreciate it as much as the older kids.  As soon as I poured the cereal she looked at me and said, "Mom, that's not what I want!"  Like it was me who was suppose to get her the right cereal; the box was irrelevant.  I tried to explain it was a trick and she ignored me and kept asking for the right cereal.  Oh well!

"Cupcakes" for Dinner!!!

I called everyone for dinner and placed a plate of "cupcakes" in the center of the table.  Savannah instantly knew what was going on and smiled at me.  Hunter was like "Cool we get to have cupcakes for dinner!"  Madison instantly called for a pink one then I saw her sneak a taste of the "frosting."  She scrunched up her face but took another lick.  Then she leaned in closer and smell it and said, "They don't smell like cupcakes."  Everyone grabbed a cupcake and started digging in ....

I couldn't believe how much they really did look like cupcakes--actually chicken pot pie with colored mashed potatoes on top.  It was a fun dinner!

"Hamburgers" for dessert!!!

For dessert I pulled out the mini "hamburgers" and told everyone we were having hamburgers for dessert!  We all had a great time making our own "hamburgers"--all with ketchup (red colored icing), mustard (yellow colored icing), lettuce (green colored coconut), hamburger (mint cookie), and buns (vanilla wafers with sesame seeds on top).  They turned out pretty cute... and were really yummy too!

Hunter is 7 years old!

Hunter also wanted a Hogwarts Birthday party (thank goodness!).  The only change to the party was "Dementor Tag."  I learned about 1 minute into the party that there is a big difference between 9 year old girls and 7 year old boys!  I had to come up with something quick for these very active boys.  Our Dementor was perfect (thanks sweetie :)!  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the night.....

Then on Hunter's actual birthday, he chose to go to "Crepes de Paris" for dinner--yummy!

Afterwards, he opened presents....

Then he requested that we all play a game of "Ticket to Ride!"

What a fun night!

Happy Birthday!!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

When Hunter and Savannah woke up this morning they realized they had forgotten to make and set out a trap to catch a leprechaun the night before.  They both asked if Madison and I could create one during the day.  This is what we came up....

We created the "Lucky Charms Roller Rink."  

Then we took the "Roller Rink" out to the backyard.....

We put gold coins around the "roller rink" in hopes that it would attract some leprechauns--you know how much they love to collect gold!

When the kids came home from school....

The Leprechaun ended up taking all the gold and left a note inside the "Roller Rink."  

"Hee, hee, hee!  

You can't catch me!

  You tried to trick me with the gold, so I have tricked you back....

I've hidden your gold around the yard.  

Each of you have to find 10 gold coins hidden around your yard. 

 Better luck catching me next year!"

A little more madness in March.....

Tonight was my first game for the 3 v 3 Women's Basketball League.....I'm tired.  I can't believe I am playing again.  I guess the madness in March is catching on!!!

March Madness!!!

Tonight we filled out our NCAA brackets.  Every March, each member of the family fills out a bracket.  The winner gets to choose where we go out to dinner.  I'll let you know how it all goes!

 (For Eliza, we had her roll a die)