More gardening, soccer, and snow!!!!

We had a fun weekend. Dave's mom is in town for the week. She came to town Friday afternoon. So, we went and had dinner with her and some of Dave's family Friday night. It was good to see her. The kids are always excited to see grandma. Avery went right to her and Shirley held her a lot that night.

Saturday, our good friend, Nathan, helped Dave with the garden. We decided to cap off the sprinkler heads that are in the garden and we will water with hoses. That way we can control it a bit more. So, Nathan helped Dave cap off the heads and then add a spicket right into the garden.



That way we can have the hoses in the garden and not have to drag them across the yard all summer. It took them a few hours, but the finished product was great and I am thankful for their hard work.

Paisley and Avery and I went Saturday morning to our Earth Day celebration in town. I wasn't sure that I wanted to go, but it ended up being a lot of fun, especially for Paisley. We met my sister-in-law, Jackie, and her 2 little boys and my parents there. We just walked around and looked at the booths and Paisley got to plant a few things in little cups. We also got a free syringa bush.


(See those little sticks sticking up among the bark...that's the bush!!) :)

It looks like sticks now, but it should grown into a really pretty bush.


(I believe it is going to look like this someday! Nice, huh?)

I was excited to get a free plant! :) After that we went to lunch with them. That is always fun.

Saturday afternoon Paisley had soccer. It was her first official game. But, at this age, they aren't "real" games. After about 45 minutes of practice, they play for 20 minutes on a tiny field with 3 players from each team playing at a time. It is pretty funny to watch! They have no idea what goal they are going to and they really don't know the rules. There are no goalies, they just all kick it wherever whenever they get a chance! It is cute! Paisley had a lot of fun.

That evening we went to dinner with 3 of Dave's siblings and their families. I counted that there were 19 of us, with 10 of them being kids. It is pretty crazy! But, we always have a fun time. The kids were pretty good. Avery needed constant entertainment, but was pretty good and happy. I really enjoy being with Dave's family!

Sunday we woke up to big snowflakes. By the time we got out of church there was quite a bit of snow covering the ground. But, luckily, by afternoon it was gone. Crazy weather! We stayed home all day, which was very enjoyable. Our hometeachers came, we always enjoy their visits. Then we had family home evening.

Our family home evening lesson/activity was making chore charts for Easton and Paisley. We haven't ever really given them chores or allowance up til now. They do clean their rooms, their playroom, and the yard. But, now that they are 7 and 5 we figured they were plenty old enough to earn some allowance and help out a bit. They are really excited about getting allowance! They contributed a lot of good ideas about what chores there should be and how much money they would earn.

So, today I made up their chore charts.



I showed Paisley's to her this morning when she got home from preschool. She was so excited that she went right then to clean her room and make her bed. Easton did the exact same thing when he saw his after school. They couldn't wait to do all the chores so that they could fill in all the boxes with stickers. I hope this excitement lasts!

Avery had her first speech therapy session today. The speech therapist suggested that I go get her hearing checked. I have always thought her hearing was fine. But, the lady thinks that she could have fluid in her ear and it is making her hearing muffled. That might be why she isn't pronouncing words very clearly. That would make sense to me. The speech therapist said multiple times during the session how smart she is. So, she is very surprised that her speech isn't better. So, I made an appointment to go in and get her hearing checked tomorrow. There is a chance that if that is the case, she will have to get tubes in her ears. We will see what happens tomorrow...

One funny thing about Avery. She has this little toy that has balls and you turn it on and air blows the balls out, etc. This is the second time that I have gone in to get her up from her nap and she has been busy doing this...



She pulls her little chair over to her dresser and gets a bunch of socks out. She unfolds them and then shoves each one down into where the balls go. She stuffs them tight and gets as many in there as she can. She loves to put things in there. She has also stuffed multiple toys in there, pacifiers, and a whole box of raisins. Silly girl!

Great weekend...long post...that's all for tonight!

Finally...NICE weather...(for now, anyway!)

We have had some BEAUTIFUL days the last several days. It has been like 76 degrees some of the days. The kids and I have loved EVERY minute!

About 4 years ago, when we lived in our old house, my mom and dad bought our kids a swing set. They loved playing on it. Then, we sold the house and lived with Dave's parents for about 3 weeks before ours was done. We took the swingset to Dave's parents and meant to bring it with us to our new house with the moving van. We forgot. And since then our little swing set has been over at his parents' house. It has still gotten a lot of use from all the grandkids, but our kids have missed it. Finally, on Sunday night, Dave's brother was nice enough to load it in his pickup and bring it over here.



The kids have played with it a ton since then. They are so happy to have it back. Avery has loved going down the slide and swinging. Yea for one more thing to keep them busy outside!! :)

Last night was Easton's first soccer game. He was supposed to have one last Tuesday, but due to the SNOW it was canceled. Last night was so nice and warm and perfect for a soccer game! We got to the field a little early and so I let the kids play on the toys for a bit.




Easton had a lot of fun playing his game.



Before the game, I told him to not be afraid to go after the ball. He told me, "I'm never afraid to go after the ball!" Which is true for the most part. Easton is pretty aggressive, always has been, and it is to his advantage in sports. He got several good kicks in last night and did a great job.



The last 10 minutes of the game he got to be the goalie. He really enjoyed that!!



It is so much fun to watch our kids participate in sports. Easton is quite a good little athlete and tries hard in every sport he has played. I look forward to many more years of being a mom in the stands! ;)

I am a coupon saver now!!

I had my first really good "coupon" experience. For those who don't know, because my husband did not, couponing is getting to be a really big phenomenon. Especially, it seems to me, among blogging stay-at-home moms! :) But, there are so many websites and things that the thought of becoming a full fledged "couponer" really overwhelms me. However, on Friday I saw a deal on a website that seemed easy enough and I took advantage!

I was making hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner and I needed buns. So, I had to go to Albertsons, anyway. We were also out of instant oatmeal which my kids LOVE for breakfast. So, on this website it said they were having a sale at Albertsons on Taco Bell refried beans for $1 a can, normally $1.39/each. But, when you bought 4, a coupon printed out for $3 off your next purchase. So, I bought 16 cans for food storage. (They don't expire until November 2011, so they will last.) Here is how it went:

First transaction: 4 cans refried beans: $4.24 and I got a $3 off coupon.

Next transaction: 4 cans of beans + $3 off coupon = $1.24

Next 2 transactions: same - 4/$1.24 with the last transaction giving me $3 off coupon again.

Then, I did my last transaction. I bought the buns, oatmeal, and spaghetti and spaghetti sauce. (Easton had gone on a field trip to Albertsons a while back and they gave the kids coupons for a free pasta and free sauce).)

So, my last transaction was: hot dog buns, hamburger buns, oatmeal, spaghetti sauce, and spaghetti. With the $3 off coupon from my last refried beans transaction and my free spaghetti coupons, the total for all that was $2.38!!

Bottom line:

All of this:



For $10.34!! Total savings off regular prices: $25.34

Granted, doing all those transactions with my 3 kids there was a bit crazy. I was in the self-serve, Avery kept grabbing everything. Easton and Paisley were walking all over looking at stuff. So, I put them in charge of making sure Avery didn't grab anything, but that just made Avery mad, so she would scream. It was lots of fun! But, worth the great savings and added food storage.

It made me kind of excited about saving more money!

And, this weekend we went to Home Depot and bought all of these:



Gardening: here we come! We still need tomato plants, pepper plants, onions, and whatever else. Dave and I are pretty excited about the garden. However, since Dave worked on pulling all the sod out last weekend, his back has been KILLING him. He has muscle relaxers and pain killers from a previous back issue and so he has been taking those at night. Then during the day he has been using my 800 mg Ibruprofen that I got for my back. So, it has been tolerable, but not fun. He swears his body is getting so old! He is ONLY 31! :) Poor guy! So, we haven't got much else done on the garden this week. But, soon we will be doing rocks and getting more dirt, etc. Hopefully we can plant in a few weeks. Yea!

Oh, one last cute picture. One night I was busy doing stuff and I heard Easton and Paisley in the kitchen and the water running. I heard Paisley say, "I love helping mom!" and Easton say, "Me, too!". So, I figured I had better go see what they were helping me with.



They were both up at the sink doing the dishes. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these moments where they are so sweet and willing to help me out. Good kids!

Her heart is well...and other news

We took Avery in to the pediatric cardiologist today. About a month ago our pediatrician heard a heart murmur and wanted to have it checked further. She had to have an EKG. That was normal and her blood pressure was normal. The doctor listened to her heart for quite a while. Then she told us that one of her arteries has a noise, they call it a click. She said inside the arteries they are divided into 3. One of Avery's arteries is only divided into 2. (Please forgive my explanation...I am still pretty clueless about this.) Anyway, the bad things that could happen are that it could narrow and start to leak. She doesn't hear any leaking or anything right now.

I guess 1 in 100 kids are born with this defect. It is the most common birth defect. Most of the time they lead totally normal lives. We just have to keep an eye on it. There are things they can do if it starts to change or not "grow with her." The doctor wants us to come see her once a year just to make sure it is still okay.

So, that is a relief. Nothing to worry about, really. I wasn't too worried, I mean she is my healthiest child. She has energy that doesn't stop. But, as a mother, I couldn't get rid of all the worry. I am glad it is okay.

One fun thing happened today. Paisley started reading! She has been there for a while now. She can sound out words really well. When we spell a simple word or write it, she can figure out what it is. Last night I took the kids to the library. I checked out a Dick and Jane book. That is what Easton first started reading in. They are simple and repetitive. So, today she picked that book up and took off!! She read like 70 pages in it and then I finally talked her into taking a break. She was so so proud of herself. It was really cute.



Easton has gotten to be a good little reader, also. The problem is that he does not enjoy it at all. He still throws a fit just about every time it is time to read. So, I am really excited that Paisley has this love and hunger for reading. It is very different than the way Easton was, so I am looking forward to it.

One last item...yesterday, Easton had a spring singing program at school. They sang some patriotic songs. He did a great job and I really enjoyed the program. None of my pictures turned out that well...but here are the best...




Poor Easton, he was supposed to have his first soccer game last night. But, unfortunately because of the rain/snow/cold, it was canceled. He was so bummed! Tonight was supposed to be a practice, but again, it will probably be canceled! I don't think they should start soccer in Idaho until June!!!


****Just an update: Paisley is doing so good! She basically read from 2:00 until 8:00 this afternoon. Not the WHOLE time, she did play a bit and eat dinner. But, she read the better part of those hours. I can't believe this little smarty pants!! She is reading so well...why didn't I get a book for her sooner??? ****

Strawberries, Garden, and Easter Bunny...Oh My!

Friday night my sister-in-law called and told me that they were selling strawberries for $8 a flat. That is better than you can almost ever get in a store. Plus, they are fresh and sooo good. So, she bought us each a flat and Saturday afternoon we made jam. We made about 5 batches of jam and ended up with about 45 jars full.



It turned out so good. We made some toast when we got done to try it out and it was yummy yummy! So, my first canning experience of the year is complete!

Dave had a big project for Saturday. Two years ago when we laid our sod, I tried to talk Dave into leaving room for a garden. He really didn't want to. Well, two years later, we decided to do a garden! So, now, we are having to pull up our sod, and pay to have our sprinkler system refigured in that area so that we can have a garden! :) Dave went and rented a sod cutter on Saturday and cut the area. It is going to be a 20 by 20 foot garden. That ought to do it! :) I hope it isn't too much. The sodcutter wouldn't get the area right by the house or the fence and so after he returned it, he had to do all that with a shovel. That took him all afternoon.



Most of the sod cutting is done now. Our next project is getting all the rocks out, and then putting wood around the outside to build it up a bit. Then we will bring in a bunch of good dirt. Dave and I have NO idea of what to do with a garden. This will definately be a learning experience, and I am so excited for it.


Saturday night we went out on a date. We have a babysitter in our ward that we really like come babysit. She is always good about playing with the kids and getting them to bed on time and making sure the house is clean. :) All important in my book! When we got home she told us that the kids wouldn't go to bed until she wrote notes for the Easter Bunny and hung them up. So, they dictated notes and she wrote them out. They also left carrots and water for him. They wanted to leave milk, but our babysitter convinced them that Easter Bunnies don't drink milk. So, this is what they left our for him...





Cute! They asked questions and so we answered them. They had even left out a pen so that the Easter Bunny would be able to write. They wanted to know funny things. I love their innocence!

Easter morning was a bit chaotic. Just getting through the excitement of the baskets and candy and trying not to get them to eat any before church and breakfast. And then getting us all ready to leave for church by 8:45. Kinda crazy. I am really mad at myself. I had TOTALLY forgotten that last year we started a new tradition...that obviously we didn't follow through with...but we did the baskets/candy, etc on Saturday. I know several people do that and I love the idea. That way, you can totally enjoy the Easter Bunny part, let the kids eat candy, lounge around, etc and then on Sunday it will be all about the Savior and the true meaning of Easter. I loved doing that last year. And, for some reason, I totally forgot this year. So, next year, we will go back to the Saturday thing.

Anyway, the kids loved their baskets and candy. They each also got a new movie and a Sunday outfit. They looked so nice for church.






I was so excited about the girls' matching dresses. I love it when they match.



After church we let them go out and find the eggs that they had colored that the Easter Bunny had hid for them. They really enjoyed that. I definately made sure that we found all the eggs and didn't leave any out to rot and find later! That would be fun! :)





We went to my grandparents' house for Easter dinner. It was really good and so fun. Pretty crazy. There were 12 little kids running around. My grandparents live in a condo and they basically have no backyard. It is a hottub, patio area with no grass. But, all the kids liked playing out there. Or, they would be inside running around the 14 adults. I could tell by the look on my grandparents' faces at the end that they were exhausted and kind of glad that everyone was leaving! But, it was great to be able to visit.

All in all it was a really nice (and busy) weekend.

Easter fun begins!

I haven't posted in a while. It has been a crazy week, or should I say a crazy month. It seems like it has been one thing after another. I am a worrier, anyway, but my worry has been in overload. It has been hard to think about blogging all week.

But, here we are to Easter weekend. The kids have been looking forward to Easter all week. Paisley keeps asking when the Easter bunny is coming. Of course, we have talked about the real meaning a couple of times with them. But, that darned ol' Easter Bunny steals the thunder at this age. Oh well, as long as they know the meaning, I am all about them having fun.

Last night when Dave got home from work we went through the whole bedtime routine and then sent Avery to bed. That smart little girl knew something was up! She didn't want to go to bed. We were letting Easton and Paisley stay up to color Easter eggs. I really wanted Dave to help this year. He somehow "gets out of it" every year. So, we waited until he got home. But, by then it was 8:00 and bedtime. Plus, Avery is Avery and I am guessing that Avery + egg dye = mess and disaster! :) Next year...

I bought "glitter egg dye". Basically, it is like any other egg coloring kit. But, at the end, you can add glitter. That part was a bit messy and didn't turn out as good as planned, so we only did a few eggs. But, the kids had a ton of fun dying them.




Dave and I had fun, too. (Can't you tell that Dave LOVES to dye eggs?)




It was fun for them to mix the colors and see what they got. It was interesting that out of 6 colors and 18 eggs, they were pretty much all different.




After the kids went to bed, I got all the eggs filled and the baskets made up. We are having a busy day today and going out on a date tonight, so I didn't want to be doing them at midnight tonight. That is another task that Dave hasn't been involved with before. So, I asked him to help me. I got out all the eggs and candy. He said that he would be right back. Well, that turned into 10 minutes or so, and by then, most the eggs were filled. :) Oh well...next year I guess... But, we got out the girls' Easter dresses and they really needed to be ironed. So, Dave was very nice to iron them for them. I can't wait to see the girls in their dresses! I love them!

Today, Paisley starts soccer. Easton has already had 2 weeks of practice. She has never played. She is really excited. I am a little worried about how her asthma might act up. I was telling Dave that we might find that soccer isn't a great sport for asthmatics. We will see. But, she sure looks cute in her soccer uniform! ;)

4 a.m. ...are you kidding me?

Well, we did succeed in having a pretty low key weekend. Friday night was quiet, just the kids and I at home. Dave and I watched a movie when he got home.

Saturday morning we slept in a bit and then hurried to get ready before conference started. The kids and I watched the first session. They did pretty well. (Dave was cleaning the garage, but listened to it on the radio.) My friend, Haley, had sent us a Conference packet for the kids on my email. It had all kinds of activities for them to do during conference. They had to write down the speakers, color the ties they wore, write the names of the songs that the choir sang, etc. It really did keep them busy most of the time.

After the first session we went to Geraldine's for lunch. Avery for some reason was SOOOO cranky. We got her a bowl of soup, she doesn't eat sandwiches too well. But, it was hot and I didn't want her to make a total mess with it. So, I fed her. But, she wasn't having that. She did not want me to feed her, but she FOR SURE did not want Dave to feed her. She wanted to do it herself. And, she wanted the bowl right in front of her. Anyway, finally, finally, after some major tantrums, she let me feed her. I swear, I had visions of myself leaving her there in the restaurant! :) No kidding! But, I decided I had better not do that and I took her with us. :)

That evening, Dave went to the Priesthood session. Afterwards, our friends, Trevor and Krista, came over to play games. We played games until about 12:30 a.m. Then, we just sat around the kitchen table talking and the next thing we knew it was 3:15! So, we walked them to the door and ended up talking there for another half hour. By the time we got in bed it was 4 a.m.!! Dave and I are getting old :) and we have not been up that late in YEARS! I knew the next day was going to be rough. But, we had so much fun talking and playing games that it made it worth it. ;)

Sunday morning the kids got up at 7:30. So, yea, we had gotten 3 1/2 hours sleep by then. Easton and Paisley are good about going downstairs and playing quietly until breakfast. Avery can not get out of her room, so she just played also. But, I didn't hear Avery up until about 8:30. Dave got up about 9 or 9:15 and let me sleep a while longer. When I got up, he had waffles and bacon going! That was sooo nice of him. We were definately dragging! But, as the day went on and we woke up a bit more, it wasn't too bad. We both got in afternoon naps while Avery napped. We will definately be going to bed a little earlier tonight.

It is funny how when we were teenagers or dating after his mission, we would stay up really late and not be affected too much. When you are 30, you don't snap back quite as easy! :) There is a big difference now, also, that we have kids. Back then, if we were tired, we slept. Now, we don't have that option readily available to us. I think we will be "catching up" for another couple days!

It was a fun night, though!

And, it FINALLY was a warm day today! We took the kids our between sessions and let them ride bikes and play. Dave raised Easton and Paisley's seats on their bikes and filled the tires and got them all set for the summer. Avery loves playing on her new tricycle we got her for her birthday, and Paisley's old 3-wheeled scooter. It was so beautiful outside. I just soaked it up!

We went out into the backyard today and tried to decide exactly where and how we were going to do our garden. I am really excited about the upcoming garden project for our family. We have been told to plant gardens and we are finally going to do it. I am a little overwhelmed because I don't know anything about gardening. But, through trial and error and some advice from others, I am sure it will be fine. The kids are excited about helping us with that. (I hope that excitement keeps up when they are out there weeding during the summer!)

Yea, my tiredness is kind of hitting me now. I think I may go to bed...

We love spaghetti!!

My friend, Brandy, recently blogged about a night they had spaghetti and how messy her kids were. Well, here is our version...




Yea, it was pretty bad! She was a TOTAL mess! She looked like a clown with the red all around her mouth! But, she ate her dinner really well. My kids LOVE spaghetti. I think that they get that from their mom! It is one of my favorites, too. So, I enjoy when we have it because the kids just eat it up and don't complain a bit!

And, on a more sad note, this is what we woke up to...



It never ends. Yesterday it snowed a bunch, but melted by afternoon. Today is like a blizzard! Not too much wind, but TONS of snow! It is April! I know I complain about the weather a lot on here. But, I have 3 kids and myself who have a serious case of CABIN FEVER! We need to get out of this house!! AHHHH!!

Anyway, enough of that. We are looking forward to a really good weekend. Just a lazy weekend for a change. Conference is this weekend and I am looking forward to hopefully getting a few sessions in. Other than that, not too many plans. Looking forward to being LAZY!

Baking with the girls...

Easton had soccer practice tonight. Our neighbor's son is on the same team. So, they took Easton to practice. Dave is still working, of course, so it was just the girls and I. I wanted to do something fun with them. I have really been craving homemade cookies, so we put on our aprons and went to work.



They each got to dump some ingredients into the mixer. They thought that was great! Of course they had to taste test, and Avery said, "mmmm".



They turned out really yummy and filled my craving! :) (Not so good for the biggest loser contest, however!)



Today we went to a play place with my sister-in-law and her kids. The kids had a lot of fun. I meant to bring my camera and unfortunately, I forgot. But, they had a good time playing with the cousins. Even Avery had a great time. And, when she got home she took a nice long nap, which I was so grateful for.

The kids go back to school tomorrow. I am kind of glad to get back to "normal" routine. But, it was fun to have them home for a few days. I am actually looking forward to summer. A while back I was kind of dreading summer because I didn't know what I would do with them all day. But, now I am totally ready for it! Bring on the SUN!!!