Funny Face

I am not always sure that Dylan is the best example for Kelsey.  Observe:  What big brother does, I must do also.

I am fairly certain she didn't know what she was doing, just that it made mommy smile and take pictures.

Dylan, on the other hand, knew exactly what he was doing...  Silly boy!

Its alright Stinker.  I love you.

Froggy face and all!  May your weekend be full of funny faces and smiles :)

Light Drawing

One of the nights I was knee deep in laundry (or higher) Kari had an activity at church.  I dropped her off, and came back home to change the washer and dryer and remake the bed.  Then I had nothing to do but to wait.  While I was waiting, I figured I would give light drawing a try.  I got the idea from this blog (who happens to be a friend of mine in our current ward) and thought it looked easy enough for me to give it a try.  This is Kaitlyn's flashlight and her attempt at a heart.

I used Kaitlyn as my model to start with, adjusted the shutter speed on my camera, and went and found a dark room, and a sturdy object on which to place my camera.  Kaitlyn got Kari's circus toy, and gave it a whirl (literally)....

Then she tried to make a bigger heart.  I failed to explain to her that the shapes had to be in one motion, so, it just kinda looks like a couple of circles.

This was a B or a butterfly.

And this was Dylan.  He went for the more random approach.

This is definitely something I will try again.  Maybe around July 4th with sparklers.  It also clicked in my head how to take some good fireworks pictures, and that one picture I wanted to get at the circus a long time ago.  I always love learning new tricks with my camera :)

A month of sickies and laundry

December was a "not so fun" month for me as far as the kids and sickies went.  We went to the doc in Nov (before our trip to UT) for something (I can't remember) and I mentioned to the doc that Kaitlyn's head itched.  He looked to make sure she didn't have lice, then told us to try Head and Shoulders.  So we went on our merry way, enjoying a trip to UT and then heading to Pa's for Thanksgiving.  In early December, we went back because both Kaitlyn and Kari had a rash.  Kari's turned out to be 5ths Disease.

It often starts in the cheeks and then spreads to the rest of the body.  

The problem with 5ths disease is that you are contagious 2-3 weeks BEFORE you get a rash...  How are you supposed to know what to avoid?!?!  So, all 3 of the older children got it, about 2 weeks apart.  Good news is that it doesn't seem to cause hardly anything other than a rash.  (Notice poor Dyl's cheeks too).

Kaitlyn's rash turned out to be ring worm.  Don't have a picture of that.

I had the doctor look at the kids again because their heads still itched, and this time, she found....  LICE.  Yes.  Lice.  She prescribed something for them, but the insurance didn't cover it, and I couldn't afford $200+ per kid.  So, I went to wally world and picked up their version.  Turns out the treatment isn't that bad.  Shampoo dry hair...

Let it sit for 10 minutes, rinse out, then nit pick...  And with 4 children under the age of 9, that was most assuredly the best part.  Did you catch the sarcasm?  Actually, the children did decently well, so I guess I can't complain.  You can treat 2-3 times, a week apart, depending on if you find lice/eggs when you continue to comb every 2-3 days.  And every time I found some, I felt the need to wash everything again....  

So, in one doctors visit I found out we had lice, 5ths disease, and ring worm.  You can imagine I was a super happy camper.  I can and will complain about the laundry though.  After you treat the children, you are supposed to wash pretty much everything that can be washed, and spray things that can't.  So between bedding, pillows, clothes, towels, coats, comforters, baby bedding...  I didn't feel the need to work out because I was going up and down the stairs Sooo.  Many.  Times.  I also treated myself and my bedding, etc, since I figured at this point they had probably had it for 5+ weeks, and I couldn't account for everything they had done in that time period.  I also warned my family in UT and everyone at Pa's house, apologizing for my ignorance. 

Just when I felt fairly comfortable proclaiming us lice free, and after 3 of the 4 children had 5ths, and Kaitlyn's ring worm was pretty much gone, my SIL came and visited, and we got the up chucks.  Thankfully, this kind of stomach bug didn't really seem to bother them during the day, they would just throw up about once every 24 hours for 5-6 days....  Often in the middle of the night.  I stopped putting anything but sheets back on the bed.  I did allow them one blanket though...  I am not THAT mean.  Needless to say, December was full of contagious, annoying, but thankfully not horrible, diseases and laundry.  Lots and lots of laundry.  I feel a bit like I personally kept the laundry detergent people in business.  Now that we are into January, we have 2 kids suffering from some mysterious fever (with NO OTHER symptoms) and 1 ear infection...  I can only hope that things are bound to get better, right?

All Boy + Baby

Because I am an equal opportunity photographer, I took some pictures of my other two children as well.  And while I was looking through the shots of Dylan, I noticed something.

 He is all boy.

 He looks like he is getting ready to ram something.

 See, look!  Here is is, getting his aim perfect.

 Everybody yells before they attack!

 At least he was nice enough to share his "crash helmet" with his baby sister.

 Whose feet weren't quite long enough to reach the pedals.

 But that didn't stop her from having fun!  Fun is possible anywhere there are sticks!

 Or anywhere there is family around.

And a good time was had by all who went outside.  The End :)

Kaitlyn's Two Wheeler

The other new fantastic thing about Kari getting a new bike was that she handed down her old one to Kaitlyn.  Kaitlyn has never ridden without training wheels, but hubby was pretty confident she could, so, rather than adding training wheels back to the old bike, we decided to give it the ol' 2 wheeler try.

 So, with daddy helping...

 ... she actually coasted a few times by herself right from the get go.

However, she then got a bit scared, and had to come inside for a bit (have I said it often enough that she takes after her mother?).  Kari tried to give her a pep talk through the glass door.

 As a bit of a comedy relief demonstration, Daddy decided to show Kaitlyn just how easy it is to ride a 2 wheeler.

 Have you ever seen a clown at the circus?

 Or maybe a trained monkey?

 Surprisingly, he made it all the way to the bottom of the yard!

And he was successful after all.  Kaitlyn tried again, and this time pedaled all the way down the yard.

 Ready for a congratulatory hug.

 Look how happy she is after being comfortable and confident enough to do it!

 She did it again and again.  Daddy had to catch her at the end.  Brakes aren't her thing yet :)

 It prompted a family bike ride too.

 And they all biked happily ever after :)

Kari's New Bike

As the kitchen isn't the best place for riding a bike, she took it outside.

First we tried it across the softer grass.

Then out on the "grey road" for a real test drive.  Thanks to Santa for providing all the kids with new, better fitting helmets.

Going up-hill is a bit harder...

But it makes for a happy girl, when her bicycle fits her longer legs.

Twas a good time for everyone else too....

Kari's Birthday

My New Years Eve Baby turned 9 this year.  We had everyone at the house a few days earlier, so we decided to do most of our celebrating then.  She wanted a chocolate cake with strawberry icing and some ice cream.  When I asked her what flavor she wanted, she said Neapolitan because then everyone else could still pick their own flavor.

I didn't ask her what her birthday wish was.  I wouldn't want to mess with any of that juju.

Happy Family grouping for a birthday girl!

On her actual birthday, she asked to go out to dinner as a family.  When we left, we offered her the opportunity to have the restaurant bring her a birthday treat and sing to her OR to take everyone to Krispy Kreme and let them pick out donuts.  She picked donuts...  Girl after my own heart :)

That night, we let the 3 older kids stay up to celebrate a Chilean New Years (they are 2 hours ahead) with Grandma and Grandpa.  Then we put them all to bed and hubby and I barely made it to our own new years where we drank our bubbly and then got to start a load of laundry because Dylan came down after throwing up in bed...  That's a story for later.

She got presents throughout those few days.  She opened S & M's while they were here.  Then she opened one or two from us on her birthday.  The next day she went and picked out her own beyblade set (from nana) and her own model (she picked a pirate ship) from us.  The last present was mommy's responsibility to put together while Kari and daddy went out to get her other presents.  I kinda love her face when she finally turned around :)

Thankfully daddy to finish putting it together...  Mommy was only able to do the parts for show, not function (its difficult to do that kinda thing with a grumpy, sicky toddler baby not letting go).  So, daddy stepped in to make sure she could, ya know, brake and stuff.

Which lead to a fun day outside....

Kari is 9!!!

My oldest baby turned 9 this year!!!  Aaaaaah!

In her own words: "This year I went to school and did some projects.  I like playing with the xBox.  I played soccer and started dance.  And I got glasses."

As you can tell, it has been a fulfilling year for her.  She is a bit timid to go back to the dentist, as they will be pulling some teeth to allow for the grown up teeth to come in.  She is a loving older sister, and most of the time a great helper.  She is super smart and well behaved (most of the time).

At her 9 year well check up she was 52.5 inches tall (25%) and 66 lbs (25-50%).  She can officially be out of a booster seat and she is quite happy about it.  Her younger sister is extremely jealous.  We also discovered that she has a mild form of scoliosis and were sent to get an xray.  Just something to monitor for now.  Love this big girl!