Carson goes to the Orthodontist!

Last Sunday, I had sharing time, so with hardly any voice, I managed to make it through.  It helped that I showed a video and used a girl from the valiant 11 class to help me.  After dinner, we hung out and then had Dawn and Tyson's family over for dinner.  We had pulled pork bbq sandwiches and talked about the upcoming triathlon Dawn had signed up for.  The kids had a blast just playing outside in the warm weather.  

 Monday and Tuesday were pretty typical days with school and piano.  Wednesday proved to be a bit more exciting.  It started with Carson's orthodontist appointment that morning in North Ogden.  We went to several orthodontists, but decided to have Dr. Broadbent treat him.  His office is great and I liked his phase one plan of spreading out his mouth to make room for the new teeth.  He will wear an upper retainer for about 18 months to 2 years to accomplish this.  He will also have another appliance for his lower jaw to correct his over bite.  Then we will wait and probably put braces on  him when he is older to straighten the teeth.  Carson was so excited for his appt he got up super early.  I heard someone in the shower at 5:18 AM!!!  I went downstairs to see why he was up so early and he told me he thought it was 6:18.  So I told him to finish showering and then go back to bed for a bit.  Crazy kid!

 After his appoinment, we stopped at the lot, but nothing had been done, besides painting the black seal stuff on it.  We got home and picked up Livy from Dave's, since she stayed there after preschool.  On my home, I had called the doctors office to see if I could be seen that day for my cold.  It had been over a week since I lost my voice and started having a cold and the last 3 nights I couldn't sleep because of the pressure and misery I was in from it.  I was able to get an appointment at 2:20 so I could be back in time to teach piano.  But before I left for my appointment, we had a huge rain and hail storm.  It just poured buckets of water and hail.  It was loud!  The streets flooded up within just 15 minutes and the park had flooded probably the worst I had ever seen it.  And it was so full of hail it looked like slush.  The kids and I just sat and watched it until we had to leave for my appt.  I dropped the kids off at Dawn's (she is a lifesaver and I am going to miss her so much when we move!) and headed to the dr's office where they confirmed my suspicion of a sinus infection.  I picked up a Rx on my way home and then taught piano lessons before dinner.

 I have the sweetest students and I am going to miss them when we move.  Elli and Bode's family gave me this delicious caramel apple for teacher appreciation week.  It was divine and I enjoyed every bite I had later that night after everyone was asleep!!!  Yum!  I seriously love these kids and their families that support them.  I hope to find the same caliber of students in Pleasant View!

Class of 2015!

I am so proud of my little brothers.  They both graduated from College last Friday.  Matt got his MBA and Chris got his Bachelors.  I was excited to go and see them graduate, but since they were graduating the same day, I had to pick one.  So I picked Matt, since he was closest.  But my parents were amazing and came to Matt's and then as soon as he walked they left and made it just in time to UVU to watch Chris walk.  Whew!!  It was close!  I gave both of them a lei to wear as a gift.  That evening we all gathered at R&R BBQ in SLC to have dinner and celebrate.  We got a sitter and enjoyed the company!  

So I asked Krissy to take a picture a few times, one of Nick and I and one of me and my brothers.  When I looked at the pictures later that night I realized just how much I love her!  Before each time she took a pic, she took a picture of herself with the cutest expression!!!  I have a feeling I am not the only one she does this too!  Haha!   Oh, it made me realize that Chris has married the perfect person for him!  

Oh how I love my family.  I only wish my sisters could have been there too!  I hope someday they will be a little closer and we can spend more time together.  But in the mean time, I will take what I can get!

Van repairs and Scouts!

A few weeks ago, I noticed my van had a weird leaking sound and my AC wasn't working very cold.  So after a few attempts from Nick to fix it, we took it into a shop and had them fix it.  They recharged it and changed a few valves and sent us on our way, after a $175 bill.  I wasn't thrilled about it, but wanted it fixed.  However a few days later is started to not work again.  Part of the repair included a re inspection if it didn't work again.  So we took it in again and they decided it was the condenser that was not working.  They gave us an estimate of almost $700 to fix it.  I about died!!!  We are trying to save every extra penny right now so we have a good savings once we move into our house.  We have our down payment covered, but would like a good savings as well since we want to be able to put in a yard soon, finish at least the two rooms downstairs soon, and of course buy a new fridge and blinds when we move in.  Oh, and did I mention we are putting braces on Carson soon?  So ya, it wasn't the best news I had heard all day.  So Nick looked into doing it himself and found the part at Napa for only $200.  So that evening he came home and got it all replaced himself and it has worked great since!  I am so glad that he is so handy and can almost always fix things himself for a fraction of the cost it would be if we took it to a shop.  It also reaffirms our plan to save for a van in two years.  But until then, we will make do with the van we have.    

Thursday was a crazy day!  I watched Zeke that morning while Dave took the preschool kids to a field trip to the animal hospital.  I also was watching Tyler Messina (3 yrs old) while his mom went on the field trip with the kindergarten to the zoo.  I watched him until about 2.   During that, I also watched Dawn's two kids so she could take a swimming class for an upcoming triathlon.   At one point, for about an hour, I had two of those kids crying.  Both, because they missed their mom.  It didn't matter if I held them or offered them food, so we just dealt with it and we managed just fine.  But it confirmed that I should never do daycare.  It just isn't for me!  But I am very happy to help my friends with their kids since they help me all the time with my kids.  I just can't even tell you how blessed I am to have such good friends!

 I took Alivia to choir and Preston and I enjoyed a quick trip to the park.  That night we attended Pack Meeting for Carson.  He earned his Bear this month!  He loves scouts and I am glad to see he enjoys it so much.

How Firm a Foundation!

We have a foundation!!!!  We went up to our lot on Tuesday after piano and a quick dinner.  We had heard they had poured the foundation so we wanted to check it out.  They should be doing some back filling this week and then hopefully soon start to frame.  It was pretty exciting to see it and to finally see it look more like a possible house.  I think it will really be awesome when they get it framed.  Here are some pictures of the foundation!  

 Check out that view!!!!!!

This is the view of our house from the porch of the house across the street they are currently building too.  We ended that night with a short visit to Nick's cousin's family.  Scott and Sara Erling live just around the corner and so we stopped by to say hi and to introduce them to our family, since we haven't seen them since probably Nick's grandpa's funeral 11 years ago.  I think we will be seeing them more often now!  They have three kids, ages 12, 9, and 6.  She is a runner and I imagine some fun bbq's in the future with them!  On our way home, we talked about how great this is going to be for our family.  It is so sad to think we are leaving our Woods Cross friends, which sometimes feels like family, but it will be a good move overall.  

Maybe play dough isn't that bad...

Our plans changed a lot Saturday night.  Nick had planned on working on the house in Tremonton until late and then driving home, but there was so much work still to be done that he felt it best to stay up there and do some more work the next day and THEN come home with the older kids.  So they managed to find some pj's (Grandpa's tshirts) and used their finger to brush their teeth and had a fun spontaneous sleepover at grandma's house.  They loved every minute of it.  So that left me and the two babies at home.  We did some grocery shopping on Saturday and found some new play dough for them to play with.  I normally dislike play dough and the mess that comes with it but it was the best purchase ever, giving them hours of entertainment over Saturday and Sunday.  We got up for church on Sunday and even though it was hard not having Nick to help wrestle with Preston during Sac. Meeting, we survived.  Luckily I didn't have any meetings after church, so we came home and after lunch Preston took a long nap and Alivia played with play dough.  I was able to get some sewing done and finished the rest of the CTR Towels we are giving our baptism candidates this year.  I wanted to get them done before we moved so they would have them the rest of the year.  One thing I found interesting while Nick was gone is how it affected the babies.  They always sleep in their own room the whole night.  I have never had them sleep with me, but they must have known Dad was gone because at midnight Alivia came in and wanted to sleep with me, and at 5 AM Preston came in as well and so I let him lay with me.  When I got up to get ready I took a picture of them in our bed since it has never happened before.  I was afraid they were going to want to sleep with me that night, but they went right to bed in their own rooms without a problem!  

 Dad and the older kids got home around 5, just in time to have dinner with us.  I had made a pork roast and potatoes.  We got the week started on Monday with school, piano, and a tutor for Carson.  We did homework for FHE but for dessert that night, we made gorilla poops.  On of our favorites.  Tuesday, Alivia had talking time and made the cutest dinosaur tail.  It was a fun afternoon and she did a great job!  We did her IEP after and they said she is making great progress and still recommends she continue with talking time in our new school district.

Field trips, plants and Lagoon!

April stayed pretty busy to clear to the end!  We have been enjoying the warmer weather.  I have been out several times running pushing the kids in the stroller.  A few weeks ago, I watched Gavin for Erin while she went on the 4th grade field trip, so he came along for the run too.  With it getting close to the end of the school year, both kids have been going on a lot of field trips.  Kaylee went to the Natural History Museum and Carson went to the water treatment plant and recycling center and has another one soon to the "This is the Place" Heritage Park.  Kaylee also has a walking field trip Hogan Park she has asked me to come to.  It is hard to make it to field trips since I have two kids at home and I always feel bad asking someone to watch them since I already ask for a lot of help with them.    

 Kaylee's class has been planting seeds and she has brought home a  total of 9 different plants, which currently line the window by the table.  They are getting pretty big!  I don't know what to do with them since we are moving and we don't have a place to put them here, but we may take them to my mom's house and see if we can plant any of them there!

 It is our normal craziness though.  Piano lessons, scouts, pta stuff, primary stuff, house stuff, homework, and just keeping up on laundry, cooking, bread making (which I am loving and it is really easy) has made the month of April fly by!  My biggest challenge is keeping the two youngest entertained during the day while the older kids are at school.  Luckily, Alivia has preschool in the mornings three days a week, but the amount of tv is probably way too much for both of them.  So I have been trying really hard to make them play outside, do puzzles, play games or anything that isn't a phone, kindle, or tv.  It is hard!

On Saturday, we got chores done in the morning and then headed up to Lagoon to spend an hour or so riding rides until it was time to leave and meet up with Dad at Hill AFB after he got off work.  We had found out that Uncle Aaron was coming to Utah to work on their rental house and they could use Nick's help.  We decided it would be fun for the older kids to go with him.  So we met up and I dropped the kids off to him and took the younger kids home with me.  We can't wait for the rest of summer and the chance to use our Lagoon passes more.  It is such a fun place and the kids just love it!