Happy #6 Little Dude!

 Unfortunately, Daddy was scheduled to be out of town for Dylan's actual birthday, so we decided to celebrate the day before.  It took a little bit of convincing, but once I told him he could play with his toys for a whole extra day, he was on board.  I had originally thought about making a monster truck cake for him, using donuts for wheels.  Something like this or this.  On the Friday before his birthday, he actually had pink eye.  So I had to keep him home while he was contagious, and he got to run errands with Kelsey and I.  Which means he was with me when I bought the donuts.  As we were leaving, we got to talking about his birthday cake, and he said he wanted a Paw Patrol cake.  I had no idea what that was, or how to do it, but it looked like we were going to have donuts for breakfast.  

 Which leads us to a gross teeth pic, but the wink is pretty cute :)

Thankfully, it turns out Dylan's cake wasn't too difficult to do.  And he had a pretty heavy  hand in helping to design and decorate it.  He basically just wanted a sheet cake with Paw Patrol toys on top.  And Walmart had some that were small enough and cheap enough for the cake.  

 Once the cake was made, it was time for presents!

 Nana and Pop got him some legos.

 And besides the Paw Patrol toys, he got a Superman toy and a bike bell (that unfortunately was broken :(  )

 He was super happy to be turning 6!

 Then it was time to blow out the candles!

 Make a wish!

And the day ended much like it began.  With gross teeth and lots of sugar!

Happy Birthday Little Man!  I am so glad you are mine!

This week is our Spring Break!  We don't have many plans (since we just got back from Utah), but we do have some things to keep us busy (did anyone say spring cleaning?).  So have a good week!

A Boy and his Box

Sometimes I get my children toys.  And they play with them for a while and get bored.

 And then sometimes they find a box and play with it for hours.  And I feel silly for spending money on toys.

But it is totally worth it when I see that GQ smile of his and how happy the little stinker is :)

All about Kaitlyn

While we were in Utah, Kaitlyn lost a tooth.  Actually she lost the tooth while I was in ATL and SHE was in Utah.  Which explains why I don't really have any pictures to document it.

 And when we got home, she pulled out the one on the other side.  Its a pity we couldn't convince cousin Kenna to pull her snaggle tooth while we were there, but...  she did later :)

 And the other day Kaitlyn's outfit reminded me of the 80's.  Like totally!  For Sure!  I am pretty sure I wore something like that (knotted shirt with a tank underneath, side pony tail, etc).  (Pay no attention to the huge bruise :p   She must get that from my side of the family....)

 Its a good thing she is a cutie!

I would hate to have to hide her in the closet, where everything 80s belongs ;)

This is how we cook, er, roll!

When we got back, I didn't want to have to jump right into things...  So what better to do than make cookies?!?!  As soon as I started to get things together at the mixer, Kelsey ran outside to get some protection.

 Because the girl knows her ears are very delicate.

And that is how we roll around here.

Day Seven: The Airport, Again

By the time we headed to bed, I almost wasn't sure it was worth it.  We laid down with maaaaaybe 2.5 hours to sleep before it was time for the alarms to go off.  Hubby got in the shower, but I refused.  I just got dressed and brushed my teeth.  We loaded the bags into the van, and woke the kids enough for them to potty before we loaded them too.  My flight took off at 6:15am and hubby's flight left at 7.  After going through security, we headed to our gate and thankfully didn't have long to wait.  Hubby and the big kids came to hang with us for a few minutes since they didn't have anywhere to be in a hurry.  We loaded just fine, and we were off!  It was less than an hour flight to Denver, and Kelsey did pretty well.  After we landed, I rushed to try to find our connecting gate.  Then, it was on to the nearest food court for some breakfast.  I was going to save it for our take off, so Kelsey would have something to clear her ears with, but our flight got delayed.  At first, by 30 minutes.  So we went ahead and ate our egg sandwiches and orange juice.  Then, it was delayed by another 30 minutes.  This time I'm getting frustrated.  Same airline we had flight difficulties with before.  Thankfully, it was not nearly as bad!  Total delay was 1 hour plus a gate change.  And I didn't have a connection to catch.  It was a mechanical issue again and once they realized they couldn't get the part, they brought in a new plane from the hanger.    The flight from Denver to ATL was a 3.5 hour flight, and I was a bit concerned that Kelsey would be a beast.  We had left Auntie La's house at 4:45am, so I knew she was tired.  Thankfully, she curled up and slept almost the entire flight.

And I did too.  Which was a good thing because I think I was just as tired as she was :)  We landed a little bit wrinkled, but mostly ok.  Hubby and the older kids had a pleasant couple of flights, and landed about the same time we did, but at home in the local airport.  Kelsey and I had a bus ride back to the hotel where the van was parked, and then had to drive home the 2 hours.  By the time we got there, hubby had got some chicken nuggets for the kids and was asleep on the couch.  That night, I put the four of them to bed at 6:30, but Kelsey and I stayed up until 8 because we had napped on the flights home.  

We had left Mollie dog in the care of a wonderful friend while we were gone.  She has 3 labs that kept Mollie from being lonely.  And she happened to be in town that evening, so instead of making me come get her, she dropped the dog off!  And she brought a pizza to boot!  We visited for as long as I could stay awake, and then headed off to bed.  We all slept for a solid 10+ hours that night.  I woke up and got the kids to school the following morning, and hubby took the day off to recover.  I think he cheated, since I didn't get to do that, but.... I can't say I blame him :)

And thus ended a trip to Utah.  It got off to a rocky start, but thankfully, no permanent harm was done, and we still got to do everything we wanted!  Yay for large blessings!

Day Six: Staying Up All Night

We got back to the house and put the kids into bed.  It was late, and they were tired.  Many late nights.  Many missed naps.  I dressed them in their clothes for the next day, and took their blankets and cuddle toys, lest we accidentally leave them.  Then, they drifted off to sleep while hubby and I went upstairs to visit with the siblings.  Now, if we were smart, we would have said good bye and given hugs and gone to bed.  But no one has ever accused us of being smart, and why would we pass up hanging out for every last second that we could?  I don't have many pictures of that night, lets just say we weren't all that glamorous or dazzling.  But I do have a nice Facebook post of our fun.  Most of it you probably won't get.  And I am sure that in 6 months I won't remember most of the inside jokes either.

I am pleased to announce that I had a laugh attack after watching a robot attempt to play soccer, and totally fail at protecting the goal.  And, apparently, Piko found my first grey hair.  Buuuuut, I am pretty sure it was blonde.

So, we stayed up late.  Like, waaaaay late.  We stayed up until we had about 2 hours to sleep before it was time to get up.  It wasn't the smart thing to do.  But it sure was fun :)

Day Six: Visiting Old Friends

After packing up and letting Kelsey sleep in the car for a minute, we loaded back up to go for our last visit.  We have some friends that we spent lots of time with, and enjoyed their company tremendously  when they lived in Alabama.  They moved out to the dreaded Utah bubble, and we were very pleased to be able to visit with them while we were in town.  We were also pleased they could rearrange their schedule, as we originally had them on "Sunday Sickday" too.

They fed all 6 of us dinner and dessert.  And let us hold their baby.

Then we were able to chat and catch up only for a short while before it was time for us to head back.  :(  It was was snowing outside, and we had to leave for the airport at 4:45 in the morning! 

Day Six: Visit C Grandparents

Monday morning we went to visit my T grandparents for the second time.  That time we hung out in their basement apartment, and Grandma was much more comfortable.  And, since there were no toys down there, my children were forced to talk to them and listen to stories.  I was so pleased!  That was what I actually wanted!  I even heard a story that I don't remember hearing before about my dad.  We gave hugs, and said goodbye for our last time that visit, and headed to visit my other grandparents.  

Grandma was nice enough to feed us lunch.  She went to quite a bit of effort with lunch meats, veggies and fruits to eat (which was lovely for the kids) and everyone got half a cup of root beer!!!  It was, like, amaz-er-ating!

After that, the kids took to playing in the play room.  It was great to watch them play with toys that I remember playing with growing up!

Then I made them pose for some pictures as well.

And we gave hugs and headed out.  

True story: as Kaitlyn gave Grandma Pat a hug she said "Are you the one that is not sick?"  Grandma said "What?"  To which Kaitlyn responded "3 of mommy's 4 grandparents are sick.  Are you the one that isn't?"  Aaaaaaaaand there it is.  From the mouth of babes.

We went back to La's house for about an hour.  I finished packing most of our stuff, and gathering anything.  And to try to clean up some of wreckage that we left behind.   

Day Five: Mandatory Family Fun Day

Saturday night we came home and threw the kids in the shower and got them into bed at a decent hour.  And then.....  And then....   We hear one of the kids awake.  In the bathroom.  Just, kinda whining....  We kept waiting for them to finish and go back to bed, but after about 10 minutes we went downstairs to figure out the story.  It was Kaitlyn.  Shivering on the floor.  She said she felt like she had to throw up.  We watched her for a few minutes, but nothing really happened.  She eventually dry heaved for a few minutes, but nothing came up.  She kept saying she felt like she needed to, but nothing ever happened.  So, we borrowed a big bowl from Auntie La, and laid her down on the couch.  She was back asleep in minutes.  Hubby and I shrugged our shoulders and went to bed.  About an hour later, Kari comes to our room and says Dylan threw up.  As I stumbled into the room (that you could smell from down the hall), he just kept saying over and over again "I didn't know!"  I am pretty sure the kid was sound asleep and threw up in his sleep.  So, hubby took our puke covered child and threw him back in the shower, while I got clean up duty: scrubbing carpets, rinsing sleeping bags and pajamas and wiping off pillows and air mattresses.  After he was cleaned up, we got another bowl and stuck him on the couch with Kaitlyn, who slept through it all.  So, since we had 3 up-chuckers, we called an audible, and decided not to go to church or visit frail, sick, old people while sick.  We decided if we made it 24 hours, we would feel safe visiting people, which meant all day Sunday (until midnight) was MANDATORY FAMILY FUN DAY!

These pictures are not all from that day, but they are all of our family togetherness.

While in Utah, La and her family were not only nice enough to bank roll our accommodations, but were nice enough to ferry our children and provide an extra car for us as well.

There were many family dinners and many much togetherness :)

Kelsey was nice enough put on a concert with Ben's "U for Ucayali".

Rock on sister!

Uncle Jonaman (while not actually sleeping in this picture) read many a story to the kids.

But he was also good for some tech support.  It is always nice to have a smart person in the family!

Aunt La also introduced us to a new came called Spot It!  And, while Dylan doesn't look thrilled to be playing, I am pretty sure he enjoyed it.  (Yes, he posed that way).

This is a picture of the same thing, but I love Benny's GQ smile!

Meanwhile, Kelsey and DannyBoy chilled on the couch.

And this is Anna.  I have heard stories that she is a favorite picker.  I have heard that she has her priorities of who can hold her and who can't.  And I was worried.  I was worried that I would not fit into the line up because I don't live there.  Thankfully, she graced me with many a grin, and allowed me to hold her a few times.  She even let me cuddle her and put her to bed.  I mean, how can you not love those cheeks!!!

DannyBoy loves taking pictures.

See!  Told you she let me hold her.  She likes to be read to.  And my "baby" gets jealous.  And then turns into a beaver apparently ;)

This was actual dinner on Sunday night.  Please note the pajamas.

And, for whatever reason, all day Sunday, everyone was fine.  They asked for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  They ran around and played.   And no one else got sick!  Yay for weird, 2 hour stomach bugs!!!  So, we re-arranged our plans again, and got ready for our last full day of Utah, full of visits and fun times!

Day Four: Temple, Movies, Maddox and Hot Pots

After we left my grandparents house, we headed north.  One of the things I like to do in Utah is visit Maddox Ranch House.  Since I only get to go to Utah every other year or so, I figure it is an ok thing for me to do. :) Since we were going in that direction, we added a few other things to the schedule that day.  

First, La and Danny Boy, Hubby and I headed up to the Brigham City Temple and spent a few hours inside.

My sister and brother were brave souls and took all 7 kids (including Kelsey who is 3 and Anna who is 18 months, both of whom have never been to a movie theater) to the movies.  Auntie Piko is a movie buff, and wanted to share the joy with the kiddos.  She and Jonaman shared popcorn and corralled the kids between them, only needing to take a potty break or two.  In my book, they are amazing!  My hats off to them! :)

Then, we headed up to Maddox to get my bison burger! 

Uncle Jonaman and Dylan had a swell time while we waited for our table.

 It was everything I had always dreamed of, and I stuffed myself on the rolls and raspberry butter before it ever arrived!  So good :)  On the way out, we let Kelsey make friends :)

Then, since we were in the area, we headed up to some hot springs.  Danny Boy had been there recently with some of the boy scouts and thought it would be fun for the kids.  When we got there, it wasn't exactly what we expected.  We thought there would be a small hike to a rustic area.  Turns out it is basically a pool, fed by the hot springs.  Less rustic.  Less smell.  More people.  Hubby and Jonaman offered to be our pool boys, and watch all our belongings, which included everyone's heavy coats.  It was cold!  But everyone else go in and ended up having a good time :)  A pool is always a hit with the kids, and it was warm enough that even the adults enjoyed it.  We also found a spot that was not nearly so crowded and had to occasionally get out to cool off a bit.  At one point, the kids were "diving" in the pool and Dylan inhaled a bit too much water.  He coughed and gagged and threw up a tiny bit.  Auntie Pickle was sitting beside him, and rather than just splashing water at it and hoping it went away (like I would have done) she just scooped it up and threw it out over her shoulder!  Auntie La (who is pregnant) was most grateful that she didn't have to keep smelling it :)  Public locker rooms are never fun though.  We rinsed off before we changed and got dressed and Kaitlyn said to me "Mom, when I got in the shower, there was a big girl in there.  And she was naked.  She didn't have on any clothes.  And she was big!"  I never did get into whether big meant old or large...  Maybe it is better that I don't.  :)

Day Four: Visiting T Grandparents

We interrupt this travelogue for a moment to give a brief shout out to the Dyl man!  Today is his 6th birthday!!!  Happy Birthday Little Dude!  Celebrations to follow :)

We now return you to our regularly scheduled program.

Saturday morning we got two families of 6 (well, one is only 5.5) ready, fed, and out the door by 9am.  We were super proud.  We headed to visit the other side of grandparents that we haven't seen yet.  Grandpa had taken a pretty dramatic turn around Christmas, but has thankfully made a pretty good recovery once some of his meds were adjusted.  Grandma is having some memory issues, and was unfortunately a little bit overwhelmed by all the kids.  They live in the basement of the house they built and have lived in for almost 60 years, with my Aunt and Uncle living in the main house upstairs.  My aunt and uncle were nice enough to let us visit upstairs where there is more room, but I think it maybe backfired.  Grandma was concerned about the mess the kids were making and how much space they had to run around in.  

Nevertheless, we got about an hour of visiting before I convinced them to take a picture or two with us.  Don't mind Dylan.  He is actually happy to be there.

We got one of La's family too.  We made DannyBoy kneel down, so we wouldn't cut his head off.  I love that when La walked in to give Grandpa a hug, he asked her if she was "packing" again.  :)

After we helped to clean up, we all got in the cars and prepared to drive again.