Kids Love To Try And Ruin Vacays

Of course, when I have a trip planned, one of my kids has to get sick! I saw a few bumps on Casen's belly on Sunday and did not think much of it, until they started multiplying like crazy. I then realized that he had Chicken Pox! And after I had made a call to the DR., they diagnosed it over the phone as Chicken Pox too and told us to stay home.

Doesn't it seem like that MOMS? .... that whenever you have something planned, one of the kids gets sick? Well I have a trip planned to go to this Women's Conference in Provo Thursday thru Saturday... so the last couple of days, I have been watching Casen and debating what to do. I feel bad leaving him, but Matt and my mother-in-law have agreed to let me go. We have all had the chicken pox or the vaccination in our family, so we are not worried about it, but it sucks to be confined to the house and car. It makes running errands hard to do and going to soccer games hard to do. So anyway, we think he got it from a family friend, but I guess if I was not so worried about vaccinations and I would have had his chicken pox vaccination at 1 year old, he would have been fine. But I am so nervous and cautious about vaccinations now, so we just get them at a slower pace.

But he has been acting fine during the day.. no fever... no scratching (yet anyway) and so I feel that I should be able to go on my trip and not feel guilty. My mother-in -law will have him during the day and Matt will have the kids at night. Last night, he did wake-up a few times feeling uncomfortable, but I still did not see him scratching. He has also been happy and eating and no fever, so hopefully, he will not be too bad for daddy and grandma. I am in such need of this Girls Weekend with no kids. I have been looking forward to this Spiritual Uplift and Emotional Uplift...with a little shopping and some good food (without interruptions from kids) for so long....although we will not be sleeping in. DARN IT! I am guessing he has a mild case of it, unless it is going to get worse while I am gone. But I have not seen any new spots since yesterday, so wich me luck... that all will go well and I will not have to make a special trip home to comfort my baby! Grandmas and Daddys are just as good at that too; right?

Getting out of the House

After my family left Saturday afternoon, we had a few hours to burn, while daddy got a last minute flood call he had to go do. (We were in the same car). So we had the kids bikes and decided to go on a little bike ride over at the Logan Golf Course. I love this trail. It is so great for the kids and their bikes and it is a nice walk with a stroller too. I was wishing I had my bike and the trailer for the baby. I think I might want to come back as a whole family and try this ride again, but with all of us on bikes. It felt nice to get out and exercise. I have not been great at exercising lately, so this felt good! I had to do something productive to get my family off my mind, since they had just left and I was sad! I just crave family time and the enjoyment of hanging out all together. I think I crave it because they live so far away and we don't get alot of it. Holy cow, my kiddos are growing up... riding bikes all by themselves!

Short Weekend With Fam

So my younger sister Becca graduated from BYU on Thursday and Friday and so of course my parents wanted to come and see her graduate. What a great feeling to be done with school. We are so proud of her. I knew it was going to be a short weekend with them, but we made the most of it. My brother Mike came up too with his girlfriend Angie.

We all got to see each other for an hour or so on Thursday night. While Becca was picking Mike and Angie up from the airport, we let out kids swim at grandma and grandpa's hotel. Not an impressive pool, but the kids thought so. Then later that night, Cade got to open a few belated birthday presents and then we said our good-byes till morning because we could tell Grandpa Allan was getting tired and they all had to get up early. Matt and me and the kids spent the night at Brit and Tophs house, Matt's brothers and we were just going to meet my family sometime in the morning, after graduation. I was not going to try and take my kids to a 2 hour graduation. They barely make it thru one hour of church.

So Friday morning we met them after the graduation at Magelbys breakfast place. It was so good...a little crazy crowded, but so good! Then afterwards, because it was raining in Provo and there was not much to do because of the weather, we decided to head back to Logan earlier than we thought. That night we ate at Pounders, Matt's favorite place, then we watched Becca's project documentary that she had been working on all semester, in the theatre room. Then we went in the hot tub with everyone in the backyard and after I put my kids to bed, we attempted to watch Avatar on the big screen in the theatre room. Only a few made it thru the whole movie. Becca also brought up her date JR to hang out with the family. Hopefully we didn't scare him off or scare off Mike's girlfriend Angie.

The weather was not great Friday, but Saturday turned out nice. I could not believe that we got everybody up for Cade's soccer game at 9AM and Corey's at 10 AM. I really did not think that everyone was going to get up for it. I made a quick breakfast and we were out the door. Grandpa Allan even came over for the excitement. The games were fun. We all sat around and joked about how much Cade reminds us of Mike when he use to play soccer as a kid. And Corey was so determined to score that $10 goal that daddy keeps promising her. NOT THIS GAME, but maybe next game! Later that day, we just all hung out at the house, ate lunch, visited with Aunt Marsha, and vegged. Then to end the night, we ended up over in Wellsville, saying good-bye to gramps and just hanging out. The kids played at the park and rode bikes and Mike took Angie on a 4-wheeler ride and we just hung out. Then we all had to say our good-byes. I HATE GOOD-BYES. It was a short weekend, but at least it went by slow, so it felt like it lasted longer. So proud of Becs graduating! We sure missed Steph and Em though. Love you!

April 18th- Cade Really Turns 5

So today was the real day that Cade turned 5. Matt and I were trying to remember what time I had Cade 5 years ago and what EXACT TIME he really turned 5. I could not remember. Matt guessed about 7 or so at night. Even though I was exhausted from the day before, I wanted to make his day special. So we had to get up a little earlier and we made Chocolate Chip Pancakes, which he did not eat. (Cade does not really eat that great! Even if I let him choose the breakfast or dinner he wanted that day, he would still not eat it or I would have to sit there and spoon feed him..... unless it was a cookie or candy. SO annoying.) Then after breakfast, I let him open a few more presents that we gave him. He got a Cowboy/Saloon set, some NFL football (little) helmets, a GI Joe jet from Jaice's family, a Hot Wheels play set from Halle's family, some water guns, some other laser guns, a Leapster Batman game, a bug catcher net from Corey and a fun little riding scooter from Nanny and Norm. He had a great birthday.

After breakfast and presents, we had to get ready for church. He celebrated at church too. Then we came home and had ribs... which I again had to force him to eat. Then later we did cupcakes again and let him blow out candles and make a wish. His cousins came over later and I actually let them play outside for a couple of hours because it was such a beautiful day. He had a great day!

Oh and to top the weekend off, on Saturday, Cade had a soccer game and their team won 18-1. something like that....we stopped keeping track. It got a little sad for the other team. The other team was just really young. Cade said he scored one of the goals, but I am not so sure. The way his age-group plays...all in a clump... sometimes it is hard to tell who scored. Corey's team tied 4-4 and she did score one of the goals and assisted on another. So proud of the kiddos and how they improve every week and are loving it.

Cade's BDAY Party- Kangaroo Zoo

So today was Cade's birthday party and he decided that he wanted to have his birthday at Kangaroo Zoo in SLC. It was kinda far way so we only invited cousins and a few family friends. We had a bunch of soccer games in the morning and then we had to jump in the car and head to SLC. We had to be there at 3 PM to start the fun! The kids got to jump on the bounce houses and play the (black light) minature golf for about 2 hours. And then we had the birthday party in the BUG ROOM with cake and food and presents and bubbles.

Chad and Lynleys family game and so did Mandy and Regan and Nanny. Toph also game with Halle, cause Brit was out of town. And my sister Becca game with a date. It was really fun to see her again and to meet JR. I was impressed with JR..... So polite, easy to talk to, and very funny! And of course me and Matt brought our kids and the Bunderson Kids.

They had alot of fun! It wasn't too crowded (Norm would have been fine... he gets claustrophobic in kid places) and the kids were running all over... so much that they were all sweaty with red cheeks. Casen was scared of the bounce houses and so was Skye. The littler kids did not have as much fun, but the older kids sure did. I knew the kids would sleep well that night. They were making me tired just watching them..

Then we got to go to the BUG ROOM at about 5:00 and we had some food, we did Cade's cupcakes (cake), and then we let Cade open his presents. It was a hit. We had a hostess named Ariel that was great. She made my life easier and she made the party go really smooth. It was a great place to have a party and I would do it again. Cade was really pleased! And I think the kids had fun too. I was so exhausted by the end of the day, but everything went awesome.

First Soccer Games

This time of year is my favorite when soccer season starts and it starts to warm up. I use to play soccer and miss it alot, so it is my favorite sport to watch. Corey got really aggressive and good towards the end of last year, so I am excited to see her again this year. And this is Cade's first year.
Corey is in an older league this year with all girls. They actually play positions and they have a goalie... so it is alot harder to score. And this season, her aunt Lynley and cousin Teisha are her coaches, so I am sure she is loving that! And she is on a team with her twin cousins too, which is always a plus for her. Corey was a little timid this first game, so hopefully she will get a little more confident and agressive with each game.

This is Cade's first year and so he is on a team with one girl and all boys. It is actually Corey's friend Shaina who is the only girl, but she does not mind. But Cade was a little scared this first game and started to cry because he "DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO." So I calmed him down and told him his coach will be out there to help him. Once the game started he was fine. He did dance around the ball a little, but I am sure he will get better as well and more confident as the season goes on. He actually scored a goal. It was funny... he kicked off from the middle of the field and it went straight in. In his league they do not really keep score, so it was not a big deal, but in a real game that would not have counted because it does have to technically touch a player from the other team before it goes in the goal, to count as a goal. But we counted it and Matt gave him a dollar for his goal. Matt was saying Cade reminds him alot of my brother Mike when he was little and played soccer. Matt cracks me up because I think he is ready for his kids to be SO GOOD at sports ... the best on the team, but I have to remind him that they are still young and working on their skills and confidence. It cracks me up! But I can tell they are excited.

And hopefully it will warm up so I can let Casen play outside while we watch the games. He was a pain in the butt at their games because it was freezing and he wanted to be over on the playground. He is too little to be over their alone, but Matt and I want to watch the games. And he will not let me hold him or sit in a stroller when he can see a playground he wants to play on. This could be a tough season for me and Casen. I finally had to go sit in the car and watch the game from the car to keep Casen warm and contained. I am having flashbacks of my other kids at this age and I think this is when I kept my most trim... trying to keep up with them!

The Finished Guest Bedrooms

Just finished decorating the downstairs bedrooms. We actually do have 2 more nightstands coming for this first bedroom shown, but for the most part we are done and it feels good. We are having alot of my family come to stay for a weekend, so it was a good excuse to talk Matt into finally getting a bed. So excited! And I finally got a dresser for Corey's room too. She has had plastic tubs for a dresser for the last 5 years. I thought it was time for a change. And Matt is a KSL shopper, so he found a bargain of a deal on a home weight set. So we made some adjustments to our old storage room and made it into a weight room. We still need to vamp that up with a TV and a mirror and all that, but it will do for now. I have learned to be very patient and get things gradually as we save money. It is so exciting when you finally get to do it! Now I just hope the kids want to stay upstairs because I like having the downstairs be the guest quarters, but I know someday when they get older, they will just want to be as far away from the family as possible.... down in the basement! That day will be a sad day!

Kids Spring Break 2010

Here is one last pic. Dad came with us to St. George on Spring Break and this was probably the highlight of his trip because he was not with the kids. J/K. He just likes to bike with this buddies. I got to do this ride to....later. It was fun!

Kids Sping Break 2010

This week was the kids spring break and we wanted to do some fun stuff.... to get out of the house. Unfortunately, the weather in Logan is not considered spring break weather. So we did a few indoor things in Logan at the beginning of the week and then towards the end of the week, we headed south to St. George where it was alot warmer.

We took the kids to a few movies. We saw the Toothfairy and we saw How to Train A Dragon. I get mom amnesia and forget how bad Casen is at the movies and I always regret bringing him mid-way through the movie. Both movies were cute and the kids enjoyed them. We also went out to breakfast at McDonalds one morning which was fun. We were suppose to go with Auntie Becca Monday morning before she headed home to Provo, but we all slept in and my kids were bummed. So we went to McDonalds just us and I let them play for an hour or so. It was a nice start to the morning. We also went to the Fun Park one of the days and I let the kids skate for a couple hours. They sure are getting better. I love taking my kids places, but sometimes it is torture as a mom. The Fun Park is torture. So boring for me and Casen wants to run all over. But I love to see my kids having a good time and I wanted them t0 enjoy their spring break.

So we headed down to St. George Thursday at about noon.(Oh, so a few of my pics are repeats and I did not get very many because my camera died down in St. George, on the first day and I forgot my charger. I was so BUMMED!) And it was not an enjoyable ride down.... just to put it lightly. We probably got there around 6:30 PM, but Casen was terrible. He cried and whined the whole way and did not fall asleep once. I don't know if he was having flashbacks of 3 weeks ago when I went to St. George with Mandy and Nan, but OHHHH he was terrible. Once we got there, he was fine. He just hates to be confined to a car seat. I think it must be that age because Corey did that too us once, when she was that age... drove to CA. 12 hours later and she had not slept once and kept throwing fits. But St. George was really fun . We stayed in the condo with Ryan and Kelley Bunderson and their 4 kids and we met Marsha and Dan (2 kids) and Ammon and Alison (3 kids) down there with their families. They just stayed in a hotel near by. We tried to do as much stuff together as you can with a big group and it worked out pretty good.

Thursday night we got there, unpacked and then went to The Texas Roadhouse. It was nice food and conversation, but Casen was so tired that he was a mess and I ended up being outside rocking him to sleep for half the meal. When he does not get a nap, he turns into a madman. So it was not super relaxing. But as I looked around their were families with 5-6 kids all close together in age and I realized I was not so bad off.

Then Friday we went to that really huge park that the kids loved in Bloomington. The adults and kids all brought their bikes, so we used them at any opportunity we could. I did not bring a bike because I had the baby, but most everyone did. We stayed at the park for a few hours and let the kids play. And the husbands all went on a 30 minute bike ride for their morning fun! Then later that afternoon of course we ate at IN-N-OUT. Whenever Matt is with us, we have to eat their at least once a day. I love hamburgers, but not once a day! Then we headed over to the Washington Pool and went swimming for a few hours. The kids loved that and it was nice to have Matt their helping me keep an eye on the kids. This trip my bowels were well, so I could actually get in the water. Then later that night, we went and got dinner and took it to a park. We have found that that is the best way to go. We all eat and then the kids play while the adults hang out and talk. The guys and the older kids even played a game of football at the park. It is amazing how kids never get sick of parks.

Saturday was also an eventful day. We got to go on that same bike ride the guys went on the day before. Dan let me take his place on the bike ride and he watched Casen and a few of the other girls kids and Kelley watched my two older ones at the park. It was fun. I got to stick with Marsha in the back of the pack and it was alot of fun. I do admit I am a wimp and I walked my bike down a few of the hills and I am super cautious, but it was also my first time. I did not fall the whole time until the very end, when we were done, I ran into this guys laid-down bike and skinned up my shin on his tires and spokes. Not to mention I was wearing my daughter Corey's tinkerbell helmet. WOW I looked hot. EMBARRASSING! (Matt insisted I wear a helmet.) Later that day we went to the Red Rock Cliffs and did some climbing and hiking. Then we went over to the fountains at the city buildings to cool off. We also walked to a local bakery store and bought these awesome $1.75 cupcakes. Best I have ever tasted! Half our our group had to leave and go home Saturday night. So we went back to the condo, BBQ some hot dogs and just relaxed the rest of the night. We had had enough sun that day and needed some time to be inside. Then Sunday morning we got up, cleaned up and left to come home around noon. Casen was again terrible in the car, but at least he had 2.. 30 minute naps. I do not know if Matt will ever go on another road trip with Casen. It was a little taxing on the nerves.

So I hope the kids had a fun spring break. Sucks to be home and starting the week all over and it is so depressing because the weather here is still gloomy and cold. When is summer going to be here?I am dying.

EASTER WEEKEND

Yes Spring has arrived.... I GUESS. And Easter is here. In Logan, Easter has come and gone, but it sure does not feel like spring. It has been snowing here like crazy and COLD. All of our local easter egg hunts were outside and in the snow and kids were in snow boots and winter jackets. HOW SAD IS THAT? But kids just love it and they do not let anything affect them or their fun.... NOT EVEN THE WEATHER! I am kind of a scrooge when it comes to being cold and the weather. So we did not go to any local egg hunts, but we still had a fun weekend. We got to go to The Thatchers Easter Party on Friday and my kids loved it. Marsha had so many cute craft ideas and it is so fun to get together with the girls and their kids. It was a hit!

Then Saturday we just hung out around the house and did chores. But that night we had friends and family over and had some good laughs over Jen's OLD SCHOOl Photo Albums. WOW... how times have changed. Toph and Brit were here, Mandy and Regan, Becca and her roommate Rachelle came up from Provo, and Ryan and Kelley came over too. All the kids got to play and hang out and so did the adults. Then it was time for everyone to go home, so the kids could go to bed and get ready for the EASTER BUNNY!

Sunday Morning was fun and the kids did their traditional Easter Egg Hunt and Scavenger Clues Hunt for some extra little treats and treasures. But by mid-morning, the kids were fighting and I was trying to make Easter Dinner Assignments and Matt woke up grumpy and snapped and me and so I was in tears. WHY WAS I SO EMOTIONAL? I do not know. No, I am not prego. I just always want to make everyone happy and when things don't run smoothly, then I get upset! So I was overwhelmed with all the confusion and broke into tears. But I needed the cry, felt better after, and had a great afternoon. We went over to Nan's for dinner, Halle's (cousin) belated birthday party, Easter Egg Hunt, and just hanging out. The food was awesone. I always wish I had a bigger stomach around the holidays so I could get more food down. I always end up too full on the holidays, but doesn't everybody?

I love hanging out with family and friends! It is so much fun! We also got to watch some of General Conference on Saturday and Sunday. There were some really good talks I needed to hear on being a good example, motherhood, reading our scriptures, etc. I always feel so enlightened after conference. I do want to go back and listen to a few more of the talks, cause with kids around the house and Easter the same weekend, I did not get to listen to it all. But overall it was a great weekend. I hate to see family go home. I always miss them. I love having at least one of my family members here on the holidays, so I was so happy Becca came up! Love ya!

SISTERS..... You gotta love em'

The reason I chose to write on this topic is because I love my sisters. I love my brother too and my whole family. We are all just so close and we laugh at the same things. We can read each others minds in certain situations and just bust up laughing. I just love how close we all are. And I get sad around the holidays because I miss all of them. We are all growing up and going our separate ways and it makes me sad that we cannot all be together on the holidays. But we still remain close!

But I wanted to write this because I had so much fun the other night with Em and Becs. We wish Steph could have been there, but CA is way to far away to come up just for the night. But we met to go to dinner cause Em is leaving for 5 months for her hubbys job and we wanted to say good-bye. We will miss her. 5 months is a long time not to see a sister. But we just met for dinner and a little shopping. I left my kids at home, so I could enjoy myself. Em and Becs wanted me to bring the kids cause they miss them, but I told them NO. I wanted to be able to get caught up with their lives and to hear all the juicy gossip. I wanted to know how Em's fam is and how Beccas school life and dating life is without having 3 kids tugging at me. So I totally enjoyed myself. We talked and we laughed through dinner. We shared a table with 4 guys cause we went to TEPANAKI where they grill is right in front of you and they try and cram as many people onto a table. We were nice to the guys, but were kind of talking amongst ourselves. They left about 15 minutes before we did and so when we went to pay our bill, the waitress told us that the older guy at the table paid our bill. We were so confused because we did not talk to them much. But what a nice guy. We were shocked. We all were saying we hope we can PAY IT FORWARD one of these days. It really made our night!

But it was fun to get together. We need to do that more and we need to get Steph up here with us and MOM and MIKE and DAD! Love you girls! Wish we lived closer and could share our lives everyday with each other! (I just found a few pics of us together that I thought were special. Lots of memories!)