Moving

This is what several long days/weeks of packing and moving does to you!  This poor boy was exhausted and this is how he insisted on falling asleep during nap time.  (no crib, it's packed)  And I sure wasn't going to refuse a short break from the monotony and boring tasks I've been doing!  :)

Hiding

This little cutie thinks it's hilarious to hide in the girls armoire now that it's emptied out as we are packing stuff up!  I have to admit, I'd much rather open it up to this sweet face instead of a bunch of toys any day! :)

Packing

This is what kids helping pack looks like!  Oh so helpful! :)

Mouse trap

We got this game as a gift a while ago and haven't gotten around to playing it till now!  The girls decided this would be a good way to start summer vacation!  So we put the boys to bed and started playing!  Lainey won this round and both girls had a blast!  Hooray for summer!

School's out!

Today was the girls last day of school!  Let summer officially begin!  Lainey loved her pre-k teacher this year, Ms. Fritz, and we did too!  She really helped Lainey excel this year!  We are excited for summer, but it's always hard to say goodbye to your friends and teachers!  We are so grateful for all that teachers do!

A few days later...

After a few days in the hospital, Aleece is feeling much better!  Not 100%, but definitely better than she has been.

Thank you Granny and Grampy for the adorable bear and to everyone else who sent gifts and checked up on her!  It's so nice to know you have the unconditional love and support of your family!  We are truly blessed with the amazing family we have!

Poor Aleece has missed 6 1/2 days of school, but luckily it doesn't affect our little smartie pants! :)  She still made the honor roll and got a cute little trophy!  This week is the last week of school and she hopes to makes it back tomorrow and the last half day. She made it a half day today, but was exhausted at that point, so we checked her out.

We were lucky enough to have about a 3 year gap from the last time she was hospitalized and here's to hoping it will be a long, long time never happen again!

Ambulance

For the 2nd time in her life Aleece had to take a ride in the ambulance.  They picked her up from the pediatrician's office and took her straight to the ER.  

Poor Leecy T started to not feel well a week ago Saturday.  We were out running errands and when we got home I took her temperature, only to discover she had a pretty good fever.  Sunday morning (Mother's Day) she said she was feeling a little better and she went to church.  A small group of about 10 primary kids (Aleece and Madelaine included) sang a special musical number in Relief Society, "I Often Go Walking".  Aleece even had a little solo.  She has come SUCH a long way in her journey to overcome her fear of being in front of people.  It was so beautiful and I was so proud of the girls.  I know now that Aleece, probably didn't feel 100%, but she came and sang for me anyways, because of Mother's Day.  She is such a good girl.  

As Sunday progressed, Aleece started to feel yuckier and yuckier and her fever came back.  She stayed home from school on Monday and Tuesday and on Tuesday night one of our home teacher's came over and helped Val give her a blessing.  On Wednesday when I went in to wake the girls for school, Aleece's eyes were bright red and she was kind of gasping for air. We had been treating her for the past several days with breathing treatments (she had also had a cough), but this worried me, so I called and got her an appointment for as soon as I could.  At her doctor's appointment, she had another fever and her oxygen was about 93 (it is supposed to be 100 at room air).  So they gave her a breathing treatment and checker her again.  This time it was 94, but she was still wheezing, so they gave her some steroids and another breathing treatment.  Strangely, when they checked her after that, her oxygen was even lower at about 88-89.  So not safe!  So they called an ambulance to come and take her to the ER.  I had the boys with me (Lainey was at school), so I called Val and asked if he could leave work right away.  He did and came and picked the boys up from the pediatrician's office shortly after I left (they couldn't ride in the ambulance with us--no seatbelts). Luckily the pediatrician's office said they were well behaved!  

In the ER they started an IV (took 2 tries--she has some awful bruises) and took a chest x-ray, which showed she had pnuemonia.  They gave her 2, hour long breathing treatments, which were less then fun.  She had to wear a mask the entire 2 hours and it still didn't really help, so they checked her into the hospital.  The hospital is the same one I had Harrison at, and is very nice. The nurses were all sweet and attentive.  The only problem is you don't get much rest in a hospital.  They are literally coming and going ALL day AND night long.  They treated Aleece with antibiotics, steroids, iv fluids, and breathing treatments.  Her oxygen was still pretty low and she kept setting off the alarm.  They had to do some bloodwork one of the days as well, and so they had to poke her again.  On Friday evening one of the dr's from our pediatricians office came and checked on her.  They asked her if she wanted to stay another night.  Aleece most definitely did not.  Her oxygen still wasn't where they wanted it, but we were allowed to go home.  We have been medicating her and giving her breathing treatments every four hours, and we took her back to the doctor yesterday.  She still has some junk in her lungs, but the wheezing is pretty much gone and she is improving every day.  It's so hard to watch your children in pain!

Our ward family has taken amazing care of us.  They provided us with dinner two nights and two of my friends helped watch the boys.  The boys actually were at the hospital all of Thursday morning and they were having a hay day with all of the buttons!  So I was extremely grateful when one of my friends volunteered to watch them.  It was a huge blessing.  

Our wonderful family has been great at checking up on her too and it really made us miss having Granny and Grampy so close.  We were definitely spoiled for the year they were here!  We are so anxious to get to see them in less than two weeks!  Yay!

 

Field day!

I was lucky enough to get to help out at Lainey's field day this month!  They had lots of fun games and activities, like scooter races, an obstacle course, lots of water activities, music, and more!  Lainey had a blast!  The weather was beautiful and I love ANY opportunity I get to spend time with my kids!  Doesn't she have the most adorable smile?!

Sock hop!

The girls school had a sock hop last night.  The kid's got to dance and run around and each of the grades also performed a dance routine they had been working on.  The kids had an absolute blast as you can see from their smiles!  And let me tell you Lennon has some pretty sweet dance moves!  He was out there dancing the ENTIRE time!  It was awesome!

Field trip!

Aleece had her 2nd grade field trip today and I was lucky enough to get to chaperone!  We went and saw "Born to be Wild" at the Imax theater in Memphis.  Such a cute film!  We got to learn all about 2 different women's rescue efforts of orphaned elephants and orangutans.  I think I heard every child say that they wanted one or the other (or both) of those animals as a pet as we excited the theater!  They were pretty dang cute!  So glad I get to participate in these fun activities with my sweet children.  It's so fun to watch them interact with their friends! 

Twins?

People always say Aleece and I look alike (which we do), but I don't often hear that about Lainey and I.  I never realized how much we look alike until I took this picture today.  (I'd say poor girl, but I happen to think she is beautiful!)  That smile melts me every time!

Kindergarten?!

I got a phone call from Lainey's pre-k teacher today.  She told me she had spoken with the principal about Lainey and they thought it would be a good idea for her to start spending some time each day with a kindergarten class.  So for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day she gets to be an early kindergartner!  Her teacher even won the  teacher of the year award for our county last year.  Don't you LOVE how excited Lainey is?!  I sure love this girl!

Picnic time!

After our ward Easter egg hunt today we had a picnic at the park!  It was such a beautiful day and it was nice to just sit and relax with the family!  These are the moments we will cherish forever!

Happy Good Friday

We love this time of year, with all of the blossoming flowers, warmer weather and the opportunity we have to celebrate our Savior's sacrifice for all of us!  We are so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who loves us so much He sacrificed His son so that we can be eternal families!  I remember my mom making hot cross buns for us when we were kids at Easter time and I thought it would be fun to do the same for my sweet kids!  So here's a picture I snapped before we devoured them!  I hope you all have a glorious and happy Easter!

In their genes.....

Our future musician!  Like the rest of our kids, he plays the piano any chance he gets!  So grateful we are passing our love of music onto our children!

Happy 2nd Birthday Harrison!!!

Our sweet baby boy turned 2 today! How in the world has 2 years passed since this little guy blessed our lives? Harrison has such an infectious smile and the best silly laugh I know! :) He loves to spend time with his big brother and sisters and he loves to make them laugh! He is such a great mimic and attempts to do everything they do! One of my favorite things that he does is raise his hands in the air and say, "woohoo! I did it!" or "woohoo! I won!" He saw Lennon do this once and immediately picked up on it! So now he does it for any accomplishment, no matter how big or small! It is awesome! He loves to dance, run, and climb! He loves Cars and pretty much any sport involving a ball, just like his brother! Last night I kept asking him how old he was going to be and I would say "2", to which he would respond by saying, "no, 1!". He thought it was pretty silly! He is such a blessing to us and I am so thankful to be his mom! He brings such joy to our home and love watching him learn and grow! Happy birthday baby boy! We love you so much!

Getting ready to blow out his candles!

Birthday dinner at Incredible Pizza. This ride surprised him a bit and he loved it!

So proud of himself for climbing up onto the back of the booth at dinner.

2 years old today!

Happy birthday Harrison! We love you!

Dr. Suess week

To celebrate Dr. Suess's birthday this week the kids got to have a dress up week at school.   There was crazy sock day, funny hat day, pajama day (the girls favorite!) And today they got to dress up as Dr. Suess characters!  So we chose thing 1 and thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat.  Aren't they the cutest thing 1 and thing 2 you've ever seen?  I sure do love these girls!

My 3 guys!

I love when music fills our home.  We had a special treat with these handsome guys serenading us to Beatles songs tonight while the girls danced around.  It doesn't get much more fun than that!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

These four beautiful kiddo's make our hearts smile and we couldn't feel more blessed! They truly light up our lives and provide us with immeasurable happiness! We hope your Valentine's Day was filled with as much love and laughter as ours was!!! Happy Valentines day! Much love!

Thanks Granny and Grampy!

	The kid's were so excited to open their Valentine's outfits from granny and grampy! Lennon immediately changed into his! Thank you granny and grampy! We love you! (Sorry for the sideways photo!)

Mmmmmm......

Our big boy can now pretty much get whatever he wants....I guess that means I can't leave treats on the counter anymore. :)  It's hard(impossible!) to get mad at a face this cute!

Just because

Don't forget to smile today! This sweet face always makes me smile!

Honor roll

Our sweet Leecy T  once again got straight A's and was on the honor roll!  She is so dang smart!  She gets a different set of spelling words then the other kid's in her class to challenge her more and she is spelling words like vegetarian, principal, amphibians and  civilization.  Pretty impressive for a 7 year old!  We are so proud of all her hard work!

All done!

This is what happens when mom doesn't realize I'm done with my dinner!  I perform tricks!  Tada!

Lennon's nursery graduation!

	My little boy graduated from nursery today and became a Sunbeam! How is it that my children seem to be growing at warp speed?! We hope he manages to keep his Houdini-esque skills to a minimum! :) He is such a sweetie and we can't wait to watch him learn and grow as he learns more about his Savior this year in Sunbeams! We love you big guy!