Merry Christmas!....almost

From Texas!
See the green grass on the ground?  HAHA! Mostly the days have been really cold here in the high 50's and low 60's, although we hit 80 earlier this week. I have become really wimpy and enjoy the seat heater in my car in the mornings.  But we still enjoy most of our time outdoors this time of year before the summer heat shuts us in again.

 What's been happening in the last few months since I posted?? WE took Grandma and Grandpa Westover to Sea World! Shamu thought Grandpa looked silly and splashed a lot of water on him.  WE got my test results back. It turns out I have a blood clotting disorder called "Anti-Phospholipid" (An Auto immune disease) . Right now I take two aspirin a day and they are trying to decide if I still need a stronger blood thinner or not. That's a whole other story.  THis is different from Dad's FactorV Leiden.  I was getting very frustrated as to where all these diseases in my family are coming from.  It turns out it is NOT the disease itself that is genetic.  But the bodies tendency to fight against itself in some form and turn into an autoimmune disease IS genetic.  So take the girls with severe allergies mixed in a pot with a tendency to fight itself = Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis.  Or me with a family tendency to have blood clot = Anti Phospholipid.  It's what I have to go off of for now.

Tanner Lost his very first tooth!!! My big boy is growing up even more.  We are very excited for christmas! Tanner and Brooklyn are in the FULL Santa mode.  Cristine is desperatly trying to belive what she also suspects.  She has been making plans to prove that Santa is real (or not). And, of course they are all ears listening for any clue as to what might be under the tree christmas morning.  I love hearing them sing christmas songs anywhere in the house and do nice things for eachother without being asked. Tanner has been especially nice to his sisters, even sharing all his christmas prizes from school.  I think he is hoping Santa will also be extra nice and bring him  a puppy or a real spaceship even though he asked for a fish. But a fish will have to do a Santa killed fish # 1, and is trying to keep replacement fish #2 alive before christmas morning locked away in hiding.
Brooklyn turned 7 on the 7th.  She really wanted a cooking party, but since "food" isn't allowed, we made soap bars with her friends instead. We hope y'all will make it here for a warmer christmas next year so you can be here when Brooklyn gets baptized! Put it on your Calendars!!  Winter is the perfect time to visit :)
We miss everyone - especially during the Holidays and we think of y'all often!
Merry Christmas From TEXAS!!!!!

Beep Beep & Bo Bop

So..... being in a car accident in very scary, and really really not fun.  But an awesome new car makes up for a lot =) This is my beautiful new Honda Pilot!!!!  Tyson spoiled me... but I like it!  Inside it has leather seats and a sunroof. The back seat has it's own airconditioner. But the best part is the third row of seats that we can lower for more storage in the back or lift so grandma and grandpa can drive in our car with us!

 Our fun pumpkins! We took the kids to a pumpkin patch and let them each pick their own pumpkin. The rule was that they each had to be able to carry it on their own.  That lasted for about 5 minutes, then Ty went and got the car and brought it to us instead. The super knobly pumpkins were really hard to carve! Ty broke out the drill but we ended up just putting in circles. 

 Costumes!!! I am actually impressed with myself that anything got pulled off at all this year.  It's a good thing my kids are so sweet and patient. But Tanner had to be the cutest Robot EVER!!!!  THose are glowstick on the sides of his robot head.  Brooklyn was a Ballet Fairy, and Cristine was a Cowgirl. 

 Tanner is watching me do the blog and says "Mom! You took a picture! See me? I was grumpy?!" Haha He didn't want to stop to get his picture taken. Still SO Cute!!

 For the school parade they needed to be dressed as a character in a book and then carry the books around with them.  Cristine is looking in my direction, but still didn't see me standing right in the very front.

 Brooklyn didn't see me either! I'm not that short.. am I?

 Yep.. Tanner doesn't see me either.  You can see the teacher on the right dressed as madeline.  All the grade teachers dressed in matching outfits. IT was really fun to see how creative they are! my favorite  was the third grade teachers who were fancy nancy.. each dressed up unique to a different book like fancy nancy the explorer and such. 

As for me... I had a series of MRI's done last week, and the doctor thinks I may have the same blood clotting disorder as my Dad.  So I got 14 ... yes you read that right... 14 vials of blood taken for testing and we will know those results on a few weeks.  There are a lot of changes at work for Ty.  The company hired a new set of managers from GE to come over to Halliburton and change everybody's jobs. Same pay.. hopefully less stress. He is switching to a new position where he will be in charge of the research and engineering of new products before they are started.  He will be deciding if the new idea is viable or not, will it make money,  how much will this cost the company etc...  Thats all for now.... Love you all!!!

Moments

Can you tell I have some time on my hands?? this is my third "Post" this week :) I need to get a big puzzle or some new books to read .  I do good standing or walking for about 5-10 minutes, after that I can feel sharp shooting pains in my shin bones and my muscles ache in my legs.  Thus, I am learning to listen to obey the doctors instructions.  Yesterday I had a nap and dreamed a very large lady was crowding me back against a wall.  I couldn't get her attention and she started to squoosh me.  Then I woke up and realized I was sleeping on my broken rib. ouch! Now I use a pillow to keep me on my good side. 

Thursday evening we got our rental car.  We had a sweet girl come pick us up in the vehicle and then drive us to the car rental place to fill out the paper work.  She loved my kids, so I immediatly liked her too. I am kind of biased that way as I think my kids are wonderful also.  I asked her where she was from.. she said from "Cajun Louisanna!" and procceded to tell me where to get the BEST fried oyster Po Boy sandwiches and fried alligator and frog legs "Mmmmm" she said. I thought "Hmmmm?"
Then she asked where I was from and I said Utah! She asked...  "Is is true Utah is full of Mormons?"  I explained about how the Church was forced to move , and they traveled to Utah and settled there , so although there a lot of members in Utah, there are members everywhere.   She said..  "Wow, I guess your right! I was giving a ride to a lady from New York . I asked her if she had found a church yet. and she said she had found both the church and temple. Then she told me she was a Mormon and just needed to look up where to go, what is a temple anyway.. is it llike the jewish ones?" 
This was the first time a non member has asked me questions about the gospel, without being critical or rude.. it was exciting! 
I explained how, in our Temples, those who have the right authority, perform our marriages so a husband and wife can be married for time and all eternity.  I told her about looking in the mirrrors and how you can see forever in either direction. and because we love our families we want to share these same blessings with those who have passed away already so we also perform those ceremonies, by proxy, for our ancestors.  SO for example, if your grandma and grandpa have passed away - you can be sure they are sealed together for all eternity.  She was facinated and said "That is the most romantic and wonderful thing I have ever heard!"
She is right! Later she asked if my husband was worried about me when he heard about the accident.  Isaid "Yes! He came right away and got there before the police did!" She said "That's right! because He is Your Forever!"
Yes- Tyson is my "Forever" and I am so Thankful  to my Heavenly Father for putting us together for Time and All Eternity.  I am thankful for the blessings of the Temple. I am also grateful for the conference talks that helped give me the confidence to talk about the gospel to a stranger with questions, and that I felt prompted to know what to say.  It was my first real missionary moment.  It was exciting! It was another blessing I am counting because of the acccident. 

kjk

Counting my Blessings, one by one

This is the front of what used to be my car....

What you can't see is the engine sitting on the flowers underneath the car, the engine mounts and other car parts scattered across the road, my tire sitting on it's side, and the dented and crushed back of the car. 

 I was in a car accident this week.  I was simply driving down the road when a car decided to pull out in front of me and hit my car. How rude! Right? Yeah, I thought so too, until I found out the lady who hit me is one of the sweetest grandma's in the ward.  She had never been in an accident before. It must have happened in a matter of seconds, but it seemed like a long time to me as I thought logicly what was happening and what I needed to do next such as: "This car is going to hit me!" "I can't see anything!" (the air bag had gone off)  "It is really really LOUD" "I need to hold still and hang onto the steering wheel" "But, the car is still moving so I need to brake!" "Where are the brakes?" "Where are my shoes?" Then it all stopped. The air bag deflated and the first thing I saw was a lot of smoke coming out of my engine.  I tried to get out, but the door wouldn't open. Then a nice elderly gentleman in his socks came and helped me get my door open (it was pressed against the tires) so I could get out. Then my mind went into action again with "I need to find my shoes" "I need to find my phone and information" "I need to call someone to get the kids from school" "I need to call Tyson" and then my brain stopped thinking clearly. 

Long story short... Both cars were totalled, as in crushed beyond repair.  The other driver was safe, and so was I, so we started counting our blessing everyone was safe.  I didn't hardly feel any pain at the accident but by the next morning knew I needed to see a doctor.  I have one broken rib, and both my shin bones are bruised-- not just the skin- the bones.  I am supposed to stay off my feet as much as possible to let them heal, but they may be sore for a very long time.

 "Ty's Mom wanted to see pictures.. they are not pretty.  It is very hard to get pictures of your own legs! I have other smaller bruises and a small cut on my tummy fron the seatbelt, but those you will just have to live without seeing ;) and they are going away quickly. 

My Dad asked me what I thought I was supposed to learn from all this, and my mind went blank again.  But after a few days, I have been learning just how much I am cared and loved.  When I called Tyson.. he dropped everything at work and came right away - he even got there before the police did! He saved my mental state and was my anchor in a traumatic moment.  He has also been there to help at every step so far. He took a day off work to get me to the doctor, and has been there to remind me to rest and take it easy.  I have wonderful friends who immediatly responded to the need to pick up my kids and babysit and drive them around to other places when needed.  I have had meals brought in without even being asked and my visiting teacher came yesterday and cleaned my house for 5 hours. 

I am so incredibly blessed! Not only to come out relativly okay from the accident, but to see the response from family and friends had been very touching and overwhelming. Thank You ALL. 

On a side note, my Dad said "You know what is fun?... sneezing with a broken rib, it's a barrel of monkeys!" Well I sneezed twice this morning, and I have a very different opinion. Thanks Dad for the heads up :)

Our new bike rider!

Brooklyn has had an amazing growth spurt! So much in fact that her feet finally touch the ground while sitting on her bike. I think that's important when starting out because there is a sense of security in being able to put your feet down.  I was thinking it would take a few weeks to get her going, but on the third try she shot off down the sidewalk all on her own!!!

 Her little feet were pumping so fast I couldn't keep up! Then her next step was to start all by herself without us giving her a push. WE kept offering as it was really hard to get a hang of, but she is on determined girl and would say "NO! I CAN do it!" and sure enough after a few more tries she can start, go, and stop all on her own :) The next time we went out riding as a family we all took bikes so we could keep up with our little superstar. I tried to get a picture of the front of her with her grinning face (she lost her front teeth) but she kept riding away from me too fast!

 Isn't he soo handsome??  I am so grateful for this wonderful man in my life :)

A Faux Fall

Fall is, by far, my most favorite season! I love the leaves changing colors, the pumpkins on porches, wearing sweaters, and taking a deep breath of the cool crisp air.  Here in TX, I have decided to settle for a faux fall.  It still can get up to 100 degrees outside!!! Seriously it is almost October! I'm sure it is ready to snow in Idaho.  A few weeks ago we had a tropical storm move in over louisana which sent some good cool breezes our way and my kids even had one day they wore a jacket to school, but the cool weather did not last. But, it still will eventually cool off. In the meantime, I got a fall sign to put by my door, a fall wreath, a few decorations in my house and I light fall scented candles and turn down to the air conditioner in my house.  I can even look out the window and see fall leaves, because although it is crazy.. the trees still know it is fall time and change colors despite the high temperatures :)
Ty has been working really hard on his Ultimate Bike Computer.  You can see here has got a prototype outer cover made.  It looks really cool!

 Sunday was a special day at our house as it was Ty's birthday!  But it was also Rusty's Birthday! (that's the great thing about twins!) and we were lucky enough to have them both here together this weekend for them to celebrate it together.  It was fun showing Rusty around, and of course the boys went biking as much as they could.

 WE went on a short boat ride and got to feed the fish and ducks.  The fish were fast and crazy determined to get the crackers before the ducks got them.  I kept waiting for my kids heads to topple over into the water! I let them play until I thought I would go crazy watching them and pulling them back. 

 My crazy cute kids on the boat

 I got the guys an ice cream cake from coldstone.  I opted for profesionals this time. They chose mint chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate chip, oreos, and gummy bears mixed in.  These guys were so fun... Ty got Rusty a bag of gummy bears, and Rusty got Ty and bag of gummy worms. 

 Sunday morning came with the two dressing in matching outfits... no it wasn't planned! They didn't even realize it until we were headed out to church, so I snapped a quick picture. 

I have had a lot of the Earl boys at my house this summer, and I am sure grateful for a good Mom who raised them so well.  I really enjoyed having both Chaun and Rus stay with us. I saw this poem the other day and copied it to share here.  It doesn't say who the author is, but I liked it!

Mother of Twins Prayer

There's two to wash, There's two to dry;

There's two who argue, There's two who cry.

One's in the mud, Having a ball;

The other holds a crayon... Another marked wall.

... Some days seem endless, My patience grows thin.

Why did God choose me To be a mother of twins?

The answer comes clear- At the end of the day,

As I tuck them in bed And to myself I say...

There's two to kiss, There's two to hug;

And best of all, Thank You, God, for two to love.

Thanks Michelle for sharing Rusty for the weekend!!! And a huge thanks to Ty's parents for raising such good sons!

The last day...

Every good thing must have an end at some point so that some new good things can come your way too.  Today is our last day with our Chaunster. WE have had a LOT of fun with him this last few months! okay.. who's coming next to stay?

We took chaun to the Cheesecake factory for lunch.  Tanner was extremely well behaved as chaun had shared his i-pod so tanner could play games while we waited for our food.  It's also our second to last day of summer vacation.. school starts on monday morning.  WE met our teachers on Friday and Tanner has a nice seat right next to the bins filled with all kind of toys, only a few inches away.  Kindergarten is all day long, everyday here in TX. So this will be the first time in 9 years I will have my house to myself.  I think it will be very very quiet. too quiet. I will also get more cleaning and cooking done.  One of my favorite poems says
" Children grow up while we're not looking
There will be years ahead for cleaning and cooking
so cobwebs be quiet and dust go to sleep
my baby is sleeping, and babies don't keep"
although my kiddos are hardly ever sleeping, I am very glad for all the time I DO get to spend with them - not getting other things done. I guess now I will have time to sweep the cobwebs and work on my projects :)

 Brooklyn has been trialing rice! and doing very well so far (2 weeks) It was so fun today to be able to have her eat with us at the restaurant!!!!  She has been wearing her backpack (feeding tube) all day long for the last week and loving it.. she doesn't have to choose whether to eat the rice (which she wants) or drink her formula (which she needs) this way she does both, and as long as she is chewing and swallowing "something" it doesn't need to be her yucky drink.  We are sure praying hard that rice stays good for her!

This is what goes on when Chaun babysits... HAHA!

The rest of July!

So once again, I don't have any super cute photos to share... sorry, but hopefully soon!
In the last few weeks we:.....
Got my new pressure Canner! Thanks so much everyone for contributing!!! I have canned two quarts of my Chili and 2 quarts of chicken.  I am SO excited to be able to add safe foods to my food storage :) It is thrilling and terrifying at the same time to use it!

THen we took Chaunster to the aquarium to see the sharks.  I don't think he was dissapointed! My kids have been there before, but just like watching a favorite movie- it is is stil just as much fun again and again.  We pet stingrays and baby sharks. drove through a tunnel of sharks on a train, and ate lunch with some 200 lb groupers watching us.  They have a HUGE white Tiger behind a flimsy glass wall. you are only about an inch away from the tigers jaws, as he paces up and down watching you.  Okay maybe it isn't so flimsy, but when I saw the tiger jump on the glass wall in front of tanner when he put his palms up on the glass, my momma bear instincts kicked and I grabbed him.  Tanner wasn't so happy with me, but lived to tell the tale. The girls were still brave and rode the lighthouse drop ride, chaun was too scared to go. 

Then Cristine turned 9!! WOW! She is getting so grown up!  Ty got her an I-POD shuffle, declaring she was now big enough to appreciate it and care for it.  He was right and it showed on her face when she opened it! She squealed with joy at finally being deemed "old enough".  Then she got to have a princess birthday party with another friend.  THey played "pin the kiss on the frog", "The Princess and the pea bed roll" and a princess challenge where they had to make a modest princess dress out of toilet paper, balance books on their head, wear high heels an drace across the kitchen.  The girls were so good at the games, we ended up getting done quite early!  Cristine is such a sweet girl, how we love her to pieces!

I got a "mini claw" like grandpa westovers to weed the garden. Then I braved the 100 degree temps and set out to weed my yard that had turned into a tropical jungle during our vacation.  I found that if I  turned on the sprinkler on top of me so I stayed wet- it was bearable! The kids had a blast until we uncovered a monster fire ant pile under one of my bushes. thousands swarmed all over- so I had to take the fire ant killer to it- then wait it out until they were gone, unfortunatly they just moved and tanners foot found them later and got bit 11 times. Ouch! but I finally got rid of them and my yard is now weed and ant free!

Ty and Chaun are both doing good at work, and they are both very very busy.  Chaun gets covered in a gooey "Mud" and has to change clothes at work and then clean them later at home.  He has a picture with him covered in the gooey mess - you have to ask him for it. Ty worked on some cool circuit boards for gramma and grampa earls bat caves.  It amazes me to see him put the tiny parts together, and do all the designing.  He is also very very close to being done with his ultimate bike computer.  He has the boards nearly done and is working on getting the outer cases made.  Amazing!

We hope y'all are surviving the summer heat!

vacation tid bits

"WE started on the trail on June 24th (this is Cristine Singing).. we are going up to Idaho to se y'all. singin kai ia yippie yippie yea yippe yea singin kai ia yippie yippie yaaaay."

WE totaled 64 hours driving in the car, 16 days of vacation, two family reunions, one funeral, and the best vacation EVER!!!

 unfortunatly we are having software issues with our pictures and I can only upload some from the first few days.  hopefully we will get it fixed and I can post them. 

 WE spent an extra day in Durago CO. so Ty could get in some sweet mountain biking trails.. The kids had a blast swimming in the bubble pool and going to see CARS 2. 

 Then we stopped for a 3 hour rest stop to see the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde.  These were really cool! It amazes me that the indians were not only able to build these homes, but that they were able to get up the cliffs at all to do it.  I bet those mommas kept a close on her kiddos ALL the time. 

since I don't have all the fun pictures to describe our trip, and a picture says a thousand words... I asked my kids what their favorite parts of the vacation were.. here is what they said:

When we went to see the indian homes

When I go to see the penguins and monkeys

When I went up the canyon and got to do BIG craft and do hand prints

When we got to play in the waterfall

When we went to the Zoo

When we went to Monkey Island

I got to buy a Barbie with Grandpa!

I got to see the swans

When I earned 5 dollars for painting the sand box

SEEING MY COUSINS!!! (ALL the kids said this together!)

Making Caleb happy

PLaying fairies with Hannah and Sierra

more to come.....

My cute kids...

I'm not biased.. no really I'm not! It just so happens that I have some awefully cute kids.  Which is a good thing too.  Then when Tanner rubs his strawberries into my carpet, I can say "It's a good thing your so cute or you would be OUTTA HERE mister!"  I am excited for summer so I can have my sweet adventerous kids home everyday.  Brooklyn gets to skip the entire last week of school because she got her tonsils and adenoids out on the 26th.  It just so happens that kindergarten graduation was also on the 26th.  Since the kindergarten was practicing the whole program the day before,Brooklyn's teacher let her wear her cap and gown so I could come wach and get pictures. That's why she is the only one in her cute outfit.  I think Brooklyn liked it just as much and I got the BEST pictures because  was the only one there and got to go right up to the stage, rather than trying to zoom from the back of the cafeteria. It still made me cry to see her grow up so much, knowing all she has been through this year. I am so Thankful for her sweet teacher who taught us so much about her disease and took Brooklyn under her wing. 

 Cristine and Tanner were determined not to be leftout of the cuteness contest (not that there is one). and decided to set up a "Water Stand" this morning.  I told Cristine that people can get water for free at home, so "what makes her water different so people will buy it"? she responded "My secret ingredient! Which is ice and LOVE!" How can you say no to that? So Ty and I each bought a bottle. I gave me lots of ideas though as I realized that it is the perfect thing for my kiddos to sell as they can't have much else. I think I will organize a fundraiser for CURED, A non profit group raising funds for researching a cure for eosinophilic diseases. We can sell water and put up a poster explaining why. Hmmmmmm.

 But for now, my kids will enjoy a HOT summer day, while Brooklyn gets some much needed rest.

Ty got her a pillow pet when she got out of surgery. As soon as she saw it, she grabbed tight and hasn't let go! She has wanted one for a long time so for her, it was a dream come true :) Brooklyn is doing very well! They almost kept her overnight at the surgery center, but since she was doing so well they let us go home early.   There was a LOT of infection in her tonsils, adenoids, and sinus'.  Since coming home, despite the pain, she is actually feeling much much better and her g-tube is cleaner than it has been for months. 

Awareness...

Last night we took our sweet kiddos and Chaun to Red Robin to celebrate Ty's closing a project at work.  I received what I call the "Restaurant Snub".  The waitress was nice and friendly at the begining , she took the time to be sure to write down Cristine's allergies, and talk to the Chef to be sure her meal was safe. Then came the inevitable question... "I see two kids meals, but three kids... What does she want?" (pointing to Brooklyn)  I answer that she can't eat anything. For the remainder of the evening I got nothing but the evil glare from our waitress who was sure we were punishing her or that we were rude and insensitive for eating out when she can't. In my defense, I didn't have a chance to explain, we were in a 6 person booth in a loud restaurant and she was at the opposite and of the table.  I think she may have spit in my drink... at least I never got a refill, and when I asked for coctail sauce, she plopped it down in front of me along with a fork I had also not gotten earlier, glared at me, and walked off. 
This same senario happens more often than you might think.  But the truth is... Brooklyn really can't eat anything.  That's right.. not a single morsel or crumb of regular food.  She is sustained with the help of a feeding tube that feeds her a special Amino Acid formula during the night and she drink the same formula during the day. 
Brooklyn has Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis.  Her body reacts with an overactive immune response to food protiens/  When she eats food, her body attacks it with white blood cells called eosinophils.  The cells cary toxins with them ready to fight... much like a parsitic infection.  It causes inflamation, lots and lots of pain, and more damage along her esophogus, stomach , and intestines.  Why am I telling you all this? This last week has been Eosinophilic Awareness Week. 
One of the hardest parts with this disease is that it is invisable to others.  I can't explain to everyone why my daughter doesn't eat food for lunch at school, can't participate in food related activities, and doesn't like to be in a crowd of people eating.  But I do think we should all be more tolerant of eachother and give someone the benefit of the doubt when you may feel quick to judge.  Before you think something mean about somebody else, please remember to stop and remind yourself that you don't  know the whole story.  If we all carried around little signs telling our stories, we would be less quick to judge the man who just lost a job, or the Mom who has been sick, or the child who needs attention.
 To the waitress at Red Robin, my sign would say... "For my child , Food = Pain, but going out to eat is a fun experience for her. She gets to color on her menu and get a special cup of ice water with a straw that she gets to take home.  They have balloons she can also take home.  We are trying to focus on the event and not the food itself, please be be nice."

So in honor of my sweet girls who have so much to deal with, and never complain.  Spend the rest of the awareness week to be patient with others and give someone else a little service.  You never know just how much it might mean to them :)

What have we been up to?

Our family has had a lot of adventures lately!!!! Mostly we have had the opportunity to see our family grow.. That's right we are proud to announce a new addition to our clan...well for a few months anyway.  Chaun was able to get an internship at Halliburton so we get to steal him away from y'all for the summer.  I know you are jealous... don't worry we are taking good care of him.  He has a bathroom all to himself complete with three kids to help keep it "clean". We make sure he gets enough excercise with three kids who want to wrestle all the time.  And the kids are trying to share all their potato chips too.  

He is now Tanner's best buddy.. Chaun understands him.  Tanner will get into trouble and Chaun says "I remember doing that!"  Today we took Chaun to find the building where the singles ward meets (he says he needs to find his "Lafawnduh") and since it is right by the Houston Temple we got a few Pics and Ice Cream too.

No... He didn't know the ice cream was on his face... It's just how he naturally grins at me.  A few days ago He snuck a pudding from the fridge, sat at the table eating it with it all over his face, and when I asked him why he got the pudding out he simply said "What Pudding?"

 Brooklyn got a cup of ice cubes to chew on  (Brrrrrr) And Cristine got an Italian Ice.  Brooklyn is doing okay. She gets her tonsils and adenoids out on the 26th as well as getting her lower sinus cleaned.  Then we should have a better idea of when food is hurting her throat from a reaction rather than a simple sore throat infection.

 Last week we took Chaun to the beach at Galveston.  It was 95 degrees and a little overcast and breezy. Perfect for a really bad sunburn you didn't realize you were getting.  Good thing I slathered the kids with sunscreen before we left, but us mature responsible adults ended up looking like the crawfish in the pictures below.  These cool clams or oysters or whatever they are were so fun!  They are still alive! WE would dig down and find a ton of them... lay them back on the top of the sand and about a minute later they would turn on their side and dig themselves back into the sand.  In this picture some were wiggling themselves down inbetween my fingers.. it felt so weird!

 The girls had life jackets but were quite happy to play on the beach.

 I was very glad Tanner had a life jacket... here was a rare moment in which we weren't out chasing Tanner in the water... He didn't quite realize there are sharks in there! He looks like a tasty little snack!

 Yummy! Look at those beady little eyes and wiggly antennas.. doesn't it make your mouth water?  We cooked up a bowl of live crawfish for Chaun.  They are similar to a lobster only smaller and live in fresh water.  It was worth the entire 1.50 it cost me to see my kids squeal when we picked them up with tongs at the store and put them in the bag. They did not go without a fight... I think they knew what was coming.  

 It was was fun to see my kids squeal but it was nothing compared to the gut splitting laughter watching Chaun and Tyson try to eat them.   It took all their manly emotional strength to pull off the tails and see the gooey insides and still try it.  Tanner however kept on asking for more and the girls were playing with the claws. Ty and Chaun finally gave up and got Hamburgers later.

Happy Birthday to Tanner who turned 5 and Chaun who turned 23.  We celebrated with a Mt. Dew Ice Cream cake, but clearly I need a LOT more practice on Ice Cream cakes.  The guys were so nice and siad it was good... but never ate more than once piece either.. HAHA! The truth is in the leftovers. 

 



Baby Chicks

 

First... I did not take these pictures... but I wish I did!  This cute tiny chick is a Killdeer bird.  WE have a nest of about 5 of them, plus the Mom and Dad across the street from us.  They like to run around all over the neighbors driveway.  They are tiny enough to fit right in Tanners hand... but we stopped him. 

I took Tanner out earlier today to see them, WE followed one of the parents at what I thought was a discreet distance as it walked along the sidewalk.  We got clear around the corner and then she took off.  We searched in the grass where they like to snuggle down and camoflouge themselves, but didn't see anything. As we walked back up the sidewalk we saw the other parent snuggled with the babies right under our noses.  Sure enough, one was a decoy leading us away.  Killdeer birds are famous for nesting in plain sight and using distraction methods to protect their chicks.  WE took the girls out to the field when they got home from school and searched and searched while the mom and dad flew around one side, we followed them around and around (I didn't learn the first time) and sure enough they were keeping us away.  when we turned and went the opposite way we found them huddled in the grass.  One of the parents then did this broken wing display:

It's saying to a predator (like Tanner) "Come get me! I'm hurt!" She did that all the way across the street in our own yard until we left her babies and then she simply flew away.  Smart Birds!! The chicks are sOo darn cute too. I promise I won't let Tanner keep any ;) But we have a lot of fun watching them run around from across the street. 



What's going on...

Don't they look happy?!

WE took Gramma and Grampa Earl to Sea World

They were very good sports with all the walking and crowds.  Note to self: It is very crowded during spring break.  But really.. it was a lot of fun!!!  I don't care how many time we do it, it is still fun to feed the seals and sea lions.  They are soo funny! Grampa wanted to dive in and go swimming with them.  But, Ithink the stars this year were my very own kids.  They put on quite a show for gramma and grampa and loved every bit of the extra attention. 
Brooklyn hurt her arm at the playground a few weeks ago and hurt her elbow.  It isn't bad just a small hair line fracture and the fat pocket on her arm was out of place.  I laughed at the doctor when he said "SHe could just wear a sling if was very very careful and still with it for a few weeks" Apparently he doesn't know Brooklyn well... nothing can keep this girl down! I have been glad many times so far we put it in a cast.  and she only needs it for three weeks.  We took gramma and gramp to the park so the kids could play and Brooklyn went to the climbing wall fast.  Sure enough she made it to the top!  She failed both Apple and Carrot food trails this month.. hopefully next month will be better. 
Cristine got her expanders put in her mouth.  It was pretty sore for a few days and for a girl who already has a limited diet and a picky eater.. feeding her was tough!  I made lots of smoothies.  THen I made her a hamburger patty and put it in the blender with some spaghetti sauce.. to me it looked SO nasty, but she LOVED it! She is reading like crazy and getting faster at doing her math.  She always amazed me at how fast she learns and loves to go to school.  What a sweet girl :) SHe has also been extremely sensitive to Brooklyn and helping her quite often with the things she can't get to with her arm. 
Tanner has a new Pet Beaver... which he has named ... beaver! and everywhere he goes the beaver goes too.  Don't worry we are not poaching the wildlife, Grampa got him a cool super fuzzy puppet beaver. This one act made him and grampa pals for life.  The rest of us will have to be content with second place for now. He makes me laugh so hard. The other day he said "What sound does a rabbit make?" I told him they kind of squeal when they are upset or hurt. He said "Oh.. what about a bunny?"  Today he came to me with his teeth all sparkly clean and freshly brushed, without me asking him to do it.  I praised him and he said "Can I have a dollar now?" I offered him .10 cents. He siad he already had a dollar in his pocket though. I asked him where he got it and he said "From your purse.. that's why I brushed my teeth!"

Texas Program

A few tid bits from Cristine's 2nd grade program...  It was awefully cute to see all the kids in their little bandanas singing about how much they love Texas. Cristine is on the front row on the right side inbvetween two kids wearing blue.

Here she is in the front (right by the teachers' left shoulder) playing the xylephone. Her teacher is the one singing.. pretty good!

 playing the xylephone.  I ran out of memory on my camera before we got to her favorite song... the Texas State song.  Tyson can sing most of the Idaho state song... I don't even kow if there is a Utah state song...Cristine will be happy to sing it for you along with reciting the pledge to the Texas flag they do every morning in school. 

Meet George and Sarah

I was picking up The girls from school yesterday when Brooklyn's teacher came outside with a cup of dirt.   She said they had been learning about living vs. non living things, and they were comparing real worms vs. gummy worms.  Well, Brooklyn can't eat the gummy worms the rest of the kids got so her sweet teacher sent her home two "pets" instead.. Brooklyn named them George and Sarah.

 Tanner got to hold the cup in the bike trailer while we biked home and I kept hearing him squeal behind me... I had no idea what he was doing to the poor worms, but he was very excited to be holding them. 

 Brooklyn told us all how the worms eat the dirt and then poop it out so it will be good for gardens.  So we went out in the yard and planted my tomoatoes and peppers, then brooklyn made two nice little holes and inserted her pets into their new home. 

 Good Luck George and Sarah! We hope you multiply and replenish our earth so we can grow something this year!!!! And I'm glad Tanner didn't eat you or squoosh you on the way home from school :)