Merry, Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas this year.  The boys were so excited for Santa to come visit and they enjoyed all the parties, activities, and treats leading up to the big day.  Dylan got a camera and new scooter from Santa and Charlie got a pirate ship and new scooter from Santa.  Oliver got a Cars book/toy and a new trike from Santa.  I think one of the favored gifts, though, were the remote control cars from Granna.  Merry Christmas!

Disneyland

The week after Thanksgiving Mimi & Papa treated the entire family with a trip to Disneyland.  It started off crazy as there was no way for Brandt to get off work on Saturday and I had a craft fair in Beaver that I was to be at.  So Friday night I took the kids to my mom's house and the next morning I woke up bright and early and drove down to Beaver.  Finished that up and drove back home that night.  Finished up packing everything and went to bed.  We woke up the next morning and headed out for Disney.  We drove to Primm and spent the night.  Then on Monday morning we finished the drive to the Peacock Suites in Anaheim.  We decided to head to the beach for the afternoon and went to Newport Beach which is one of my very most favorite places in the world.  We all enjoyed a hotdog on a stick on the beach and ran through the water.  It was beautiful with the sun setting, perfect temperatures, few people.  The boys LOVED the beach.

That night Oliver puked a few times.  We still got up and went to the park.  The kids thought it was great.  They went on rides and played with their cousins and thought it was awesome.  Oliver pooped out his diaper and into his clothes.  I was hoping it was just him getting rid of whatever bug he had caught.  We grabbed a pizza on our walk home that night and when we got back to the room the boys were so tired that they really didn't want to eat.  We went to bed and I think Oliver threw up one more time that night. 

We lazily got up the next morning and packed up again and headed over to the park.  We went straight to Cars Land as that was the big thing we wanted to do.  We went on a bunch of rides again and meadered through the park.  We met up with everyone a little while later and I noticed O smelled again and he had blown out one more time!  We left and went to find restrooms and I took him in to clean him up and put him in the jammies I had brought just in case.  As I came back out, Dylan was by the stroller and Charlie and Dad were missing.  Dylan told me that Charlie had choked (their word for throw up).  So we waited and they came out and Brandt said Charlie had puked all over.  We had him sit in the stroller and Dylan wanted to go on more rides.  So I took him on a few rides cause Brandt said he didn't feel too hot either.  We went on those few rides and during that time Charlie had thrown up about 3 more times.  Finally I said we should go cause he wasn't doing well, I didn't know if Brandt was getting it, too, and I was either getting sick or my mind was making me think I was.  So we got on the shuttle and I gave Charlie the towel I had brought (just in case) and told him if he had to choke to do it in the towel.  Sure enough, choked on the way back.  We got back to the hotel and all hell broke loose.  EVERYONE got it.  Puke, diarrhea, miserable, awful, couldn't write this type of misery if I tried, disaster. 

Next day was Thursday and we were all too sick to go to the park.  Stayed in bed, or on the toilet, or on the floor all day.  I changed multiple sheets throughout the day.  Ran to the store for medicine for us.  Not good.  Had we felt able to drive we probably would have left that day but we were too fearful of throw up all over the car!  So the next morning  about 6 am we were up.  I feel ok to drive so I packed us all up and by about 8 when we were leaving Brandt was functioning enough and we hit the road. 

And drove the whole way back with nothing but stopping for gas.  I told Brandt that the best news about the whole trip was that we saved a bunch of money by not buying food.  Maybe next trip to Disney will be a little bit better.  Has to be.  Can't be much worse that's for sure.

Redwoods

Last month my entire family (minus 1 brother) made the trek out to the Redwoods in Northern California.  It was absolutely amazing and we had such a great time.  We left Sunday morning (after being at the Utah/BYU game til midnight) and drove to Reno.  We stayed the night and let the bambinos get their wiggles out in the pool.  The next morning we ate breakfast and drove the rest of the way to Crescent City, California (stopping in Medford of course to stash up on our Costco supplies).  It is approximately a 14-15 hour drive.  Long time in the car but the boys were troopers. 

 Once we were getting closer to our destination it was just beautiful.  The road is windey and the trees are on both sides of the road.  Huge, massive trees.  I tell you, I don't know that I'm happier anywhere more than in nature.  I love, love, love the forests, the mountains.  Brandt and I are determined to be camp hosts when we retire.  Anyway, I digress, trees.  We arrived on Monday afternoon/evening and unpacked, checked out the place, and had dinner. 

Tuesday we drove down and met Paul Bunyan and Babe.

  It was hilarious.  The Paul Bunyan talks, welcoming you to the little attraction, and comments when you are talking amoungst yourselves.  My brother Craig had said something like, "I wish I had chest hair like that."  You know, just being funny, and all of a sudden he says, "You'll grow into it, son."  We died.  One of us also called Babe a cow and he corrected us that he is an Ox. 

Anyway, you pay money and you get to go look at their little preserve they have and see all these amazing trees, and then you get to take a gondola ride up the mountain which was really cool to see the ginormous trees at that perspective. 

 Then we drove further down the coast and went to this Fern Grotto, Fern Gully, Fern Something place.  I forget what it is called.  It was awesome.  It was just a little walk but you go through streams and climb over trees and there are walls of ferns and it is breath-taking.  You think that you are in Jurassic Park. 

The next day we went to another little walking trail called Stout Grove.  Also awesome.  The kids had a blast climbing over these huge trees and playing.  Seriously in awe of the amazing creations of our Heavenly Father.  Unbelievable.  I've never seen anything like it.  It was a really, really fun day. 

The next day we drove through a tree...because you have to.  It's on private property and you pay them money and they let you drive through it.  Kinda silly but we really wanted to do it.  The truck BARELY fit.  There was probably a couple inches on each side. 

And the last day we went to the lighthouse.  It's only accessable during low tide.  We checked it out (it was closed for renovations so we couldn't go in) and walked around the ocean.  You could walk out on the rocks and see the crabs and star fish and the rocks were covered with mussels.  After that we walked down the pier and watched the birds and just purused.  Life gets so busy that it's nice to just do that sometimes.  We definetly don't do enough of that at our house. 

Then on Friday we drove home...ALL THE WAY HOME.  We got home I think about 11 that night.  It was a long drive.  Charlie puked 3 times cause we went the "scenic," quicker route.  Note to self...NO SCENIC ROUTES WITH KIDS!!!  You would think we'd learned our lesson when we took the round-a-bout way to Yellowstone.  Poor Charlie.  It was such a great trip and I am trying to figure out how we can convince Brandt's family we need to go with them.

Be still my heart...

Yesterday I dropped the twins off for preschool.  Charlie quickly got himself out of the car and had his backpack on and ran off since his little girlfriend was already running in.  I had to get Dylan's bag out so I put it on him and as he ran off I said, "Be good, have fun, love you," like I always do.  He stopped half way there and turned around and as he was running back said, "Oh mom, one more thing..." followed by "I forgot to kiss you."  He kissed me, turned, and ran off.  Ahhh - makes it all worth it.

It's all in a day...I mean, morning

Dylan woke up with a big puffy, oozy, pink eye.  I had to wait until 8am to call the doctor.  They said, "Oh, ok, we'll just call in a prescription."  Perfect, I think.  I had to wait until 10 when Costco opens.  Called to make sure they had the prescription and they said it'd be ready in 20 minutes.  Decide to go deposit some checks to kill some of the time and as we're leaving I notice Charlie has some goopys in his eye, too.  Crap.  So I call the doctor again and let them know that Dylan's twin is having the same issue so they call his prescription, too.  So - to give Costco some time I run to Michael's to get some crafty stuff, taking my time.  As I leave I look at my receipt because I paid more than I thought it should be and of course, I grabbed the paint that wasn't on sale.  No way am I going back in with my whiney, oozy eyed kids to save a buck, so off to Costco.  I went to the pharmacy and they couldn't find C's order.  Finally they did, said it will be 10-15 to fill it.  So, we wander.  15 minutes.  30 minutes.  45 minutes.  Finally it's done.  They ask if there is insurance.  I say yes.  They so their thing and because they're twins and have same birthday it is saying that the refill is too soon on the 2nd one.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME??  They tell me they'll call but it'll be a few minutes.  Ok.  So I take my cart of food to the car to load (because you can't wander for near an hour and not spend another hundred dollars).  When I come back she tells me they called and that I need to call to sort it out.  Again, ARE YOU KIDDING ME??  So, I pay full price for the one prescription and go to my car.  I'm loading the kids and a woman comes by and says, "I'll take that for you (meaning my cart)," and because I'm frazzled I thank her, grab my prescription bag, pull Charlie from the cart and get us all in and leave.  It has been well over an hour for this dang errand.  I get home and the saga of putting eye drops in my kids eyes begins.  Dylan lays down, I get the one eye done and he flips.  So I have to hold him down and get the other eye.  He's crying so of course Charlie is crying.  He's saying "Mom, I don't want the medicine."  I chase him around, hog tie him and literally have to sit on him so that I can get the drops in his eyes.  He is screaming, screaming, screaming.  Fantastic.  I get the drops in and then I hold him and sing to him for another 10 minutes while he tries to get his breath back.  I put them all down for a nap and go to call the freakin insurance.  Um, where's my wallet?  CRAP - it must have been in the cart.  Call Costco.  Yep, they have the wallet.  I'm stuck home cause the kids are all in bed.  Luckily my dear aunt lives down the street and she came up so I could run and get my wallet.  Came home.  Called insurance.  Pointless.  They said that Costco didn't even file anything for Dylan.  Only Charlie.  So the girl at Costco must have been dumb.  Whatever.

I guess now I'll put away our 10 loads of laundry.  Yuck.  Can only go up from here....right?!?

DONE!!!

When it came time to buy booster chairs for the twins I looked into them and found that I was looking at about $60-70 for the chairs I wanted at Babies-r-us.  I also found them at Costco and when Brandt and I looked at them, the price was right around there.  Later on when we were discussing it he said he thought they were like $40, not $60.  I thought he was crazy and went ahead and purchased 2 "girly" boosters on KSL with the intent that I would just recover them in cute fabric and wha-la, stylish booster chairs for my kiddies.  I started work on my project and immediatly thought, "What in the crap am I doing?  This is way more labor intensive than I anticipated and I have TWO to do."  And following that proclamation I went to Costco again, ran into the chairs and found them for $34.  WHAT?!?  I must have seen the wrong sign.  So...I paid $25 for each of my boosters, about $30 in fabric for a grand total of $80, AND I'M OUT ALL THAT FREAKIN' TIME I spent working on the dumb chairs.  So, moral of the story is double check the price tags at Costco but at least my chairs are done.  Grrrrrr.....

Preschool

After much debate on whether or not to send D&C to preschool I finally gave in and we started preschool this year.  Good move on my part I think.  Their teacher is Mrs. Melanie and they had a great first day.  They were so excited to go and went right in and sat down and didn't care that I was gone.  I know it helps that they have each other.  When I picked them up they said that they were naughty and had to put their heads down.  I asked if it was just them that got in trouble or more kids, too.  Apparently there were more (but I wouldn't be surprised if we were the leaders of the "naughtiness").  I can't believe I'm taking my kids to school already.  They were a little disappointed that they didn't take the school bus.  They asked why Brother Allphin didn't take them.  Time sure does fly. 

{FOURx2}

Dylan & Charlie turned FOUR this year.  WHAT?!?!?!?  Take a step back, seriously, what happened?  I cannot believe we've made it to four.  Four amazing, trying, funny, exciting, and awesome years.  I'm so lucky that I get these two wonderful little boys (or big boys, I guess).  I love them both dearly and have enjoyed every moment being their mommy.  To celebrate we had a big Superhero Party at Grandma & Grandpa's house.  I made all the kiddies masks and capes, my friend made an incredible Superhero cake, and had dinner.  Sorta low key but I think they had a lot of fun. 

 

Four....wow.

O's 2!

Our baby is no more a baby.  Oliver turned 2 last week and I cannot even believe it.  He is still my little boy and I'm afraid he will always be.  We still rock him before we put him to sleep and snuggle a little longer and you know...I'm not in a hurry to change it.  He is a sweet boy but is learning to whine and cry a bit now.  Mostly this occurs when he doesn't get his way or a toy is taken from him.  He is spoiled.  I see it.  It is probably a bit of of "baby of the family special treatment."  Not that I'm opposed to that being that I fall at the end of the line, too.  But he's the best.  Brandt has asked me if i would have another baby if it would be just like Oliver and I said, "right now, without a doubt."  He has been an AMAZING child.  I couldn't ask for a cuter, more fun kid.

Couple things about O:
1.  He loves anything that moves.  Trucks, cars, motorcycles, planes, traines.  You get the idea.
2.  He doesn't like to talk much.  Lots of sounds like "uh", "nuh", etc. with a finger pointing.  He does say some words and more and more are coming along each day.  Our favorite right now is if we ask him a question, any question, the answer is "no."  Typical for a 2 year old but when he says it is so darn cute.  He says no and will shake his little head and look down.  We egg him on and just laugh.  Terrible parents we are.
3.  His brother's names are "Na."  I don't know if you remember, but the twins called each other "Na" when they were about this age.  I don't know where it came from and then the crazy thing is Oliver just started doing it, too.
4.  He is the MESSY kid.  Oh my.  I thought Dylan was bad, oh no, Oliver definitely has him beat.  When the kitchen chair needs to be wiped down we state that the chair has been "Olivered."  It is incredible how quickly and thoroughly he can goop up anything from the table to himself.
5.  He still sits in his car seat backwards.  What a guy.  I need to get the twins boosters so I can get rid of their current seats and hopefully have room to flip Oliver backwards.  He comefortably rides facing the rear of the car and it is all possible to his...
6.  Eensy, weensy legs.  This poor kid is all torso.  Brandt fondly calls O Stump.  That Curtis gene is pretty strong and all my boys are long in body and short in legs but O got the worst of it.  Stubby little leggies for this one.
7.  O will eat just about anything.  He loves food and doesn't make a fuss.  I'm the only one who makes a fuss cause of the aforementioned mess he creates.
8.  Oliver loves to drive his cars, motorcycles, trucks on the ground.  He'll lie on his side and rest his head on the ground and drive the vehicle around and around.  Occasionally he'll scooch up, down, to the side to accommodate the driving area but it is super cute.
9.  Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is his favorite song.  He sings it all the time and my heart swoons.  When he was little I would sing it to him and he would shake his head back and forth like he was embarrasssed.  He won't do that anymore but he will sing it in his crib, while he's playing, or sitting at the table.  Anywhere.  So cute.  Lately I've heard him humming As A Child Of God from the primary program this year.  That is Charlie's favorite song so he will sing it quite often and I think O has picked it up from him.
10.  Oliver has the STINKIEST & SWEATIEST little feet.  Man those things are fierce.  Cute little chubby feet but man oh man watch out.

Oliver is my buddy.  I sure am lucky to have him choose me to be his mommy.  I can't believe how big he is getting and I am convinced one day he will be the same size as the twins and passing them up.  He loves his brothers and tries to keep up and does a pretty good job of it.  Occasionally I'll hear one of the twins crying/whining in the other room and when I go in to check on them Oliver is laying on top of them keeping them down.  Don't mess with this little boy.  He'll take you down.  He is the best.  Oh, and those little front teeth of his are slowly making a comeback.  He'll be a bit of a snaggle-tooth kid but snaggle-teeth are better than no teeth in my opinion.  Gives him character, right?  Happy Birthday O.  Love you lots and lots and lots.

High Hopes

Brandt and I had a lot of years to anticipate and plan being parents. Now that we're the proud parents of two almost 4 year olds and a 1 year old going on 4, too, it's funny to look back and imagine how we thought it would go. I always said that there is no way I'm going to have "sticky kids." You know the ones I'm talking about. The kid that has a white Tshirt on with fruit punch all the way down the front of it. A matching fruit punch mustache and probably no shoes on. Oh, I so have those kids. I also said that my kids will be too afraid to make a peep in sacrament meeting. We would all sit there quietly, they could quietly color or whatever, and there would be peace all around. Not even close. I have major anxiety for that whole hour ten each week. I also knew that my kids would mind. If I said to jump, they would. Fast forward to swimming lessons today. Torture to sit there and let your kids goof off. I had to walk over and give not one but TWO "stern talking-to's" to the twins.  Did it do any good?  Not really.  And I absolutly knew my kids would NEVER be the "why kid".  Me: Dylan, grab me that.  Dylan: Cause why?  Me:  Charlie, time for naps.  Charlie:  Why?  Me:  Stay close to me.  We don't run in parking lots.  Twins:  Why? (if I even get a response before they dart)  So help me.  I don't know if I'm going to survive this parenting gig.  No one told me how hard it would be.  Thanks everyone.

WARNING: not for the squeemish

I've been needing to write this all down so the memory is fresh, but scared to do so because I know I will just weep throughout it.  We experienced our first ER visit last Friday.  I was home with the boys and doing our normal routine.  I had made the boys Mac 'n Cheese for lunch and D & C had eaten and were off somewhere playing.  Oliver was having a hard time eating so he brought his bowl into me (I was sitting in the living room) and wanted me to help feed him bites.  I gave him one bite and he turned and walked over toward the fireplace where his toy was sitting.  He tripped over his feet and fell foward, right into the edge of the fireplace.  He started to cry, I ran over to pick him up to find blood pouring out of his mouth.  I ran him into the bathroom and sat him on the counter/sink to see if I could find out what was the problem.  I couldn't see his front teeth and blood was oozing out of his lip and all up in his mouth so I didn't know if the teeth were bleeding or somewhere deeper in his mouth.  I started panicing and screaming at the twins to find me a phone.  Charlie just stood there in the doorway of the bathroom while I was yelling at him to get the phone and said, Dylan will.  I think he wasn't sure if I was mad at him or if he was in shock from the blood and crying from O or what.  I realized that they weren't moving so I had to pick O up and go into the kitchen to grab the phone and look up our neighbor's number.  I called Debbie franticly and said "Oliver's fallen and he's bleeding, and I don't have a dentist here, and I don't know what to do."  She said, "I'm on my way," and was at my door within a minute.  She took Oliver and told me to call our doctor even though she is out on Fridays just to see what they'd say.  They told me I'd have to take them to a dentist.  I've never taken my kids to a pediatric dentist yet and my own dentist is well into Salt Lake so I just picked a pediatric dentist in Bountiful.  They told me to come right in so I loaded up Oliver in his blood soaked shirt and left the twins at home with Debbie.  As I drove away I didn't know if I should call Brandt or not but I knew I needed him as I didn't know how severe this was going to be.  He met me at the dentist's office and before we went in he gave Oliver a blessing.  I am so grateful that I have such an amazing husband who honors and uses his priesthood.  It gave me such comfort to know that the power of God was with us as we started into the office.  The dentist took one look at Oliver and said, "He needs an oral surgeon."  He explained that the teeth would either have to be removed or they possibly could come back down.  They called the oral surgeon across the street and they didn't answer.  This was odd because they said just before us a 3 year old boy came in with the same exact thing and they'd sent him down there.  The doctor told me that we should go down to the ER (literally a stone throw away from his office) at Lakeview (kill me now...HATE that place) and they should have an oral surgeon on-call and they'd need to stitch up his lip anyway.  So off to Lakeview.  We told them we needed an oral surgeon and when a doctor came to look at O he told us that if we needed an oral surgeon we should have gone to Primary's.  Thanks for the info...AFTER we were admitted.  So, we were stuck there.  Oliver was such a trooper.  He had all this trauma and it was right at his nap time so he was wiped out.  Brandt just held him in his arms while the nurses and techs kept coming in to check his vitals and give him some medicine.  When they came in to do the IV they were worried but Oliver didn't make a peep.  Brandt just cuddled him and whispered to him and he was so good.  Such a champion.  Then they took us to another room and Brandt and Oliver layed on the bed.  Eventually they finally came in to do the stitches.  They gave Oliver a bag of fluids and they gave him a medicine that doesn't completly knock him out but puts him in la-la land.  Hilarious to see it work.  They said like 5 minutes but it was more like 5 seconds and he was gone.  They had to give him 2 doses as he started coming out of it while he was still stitching and for the last 2 stitches the respritory therapist was holding O's head, Brandt had his one hand, the RN had the other hand and I had the legs held down so they wouldn't have to administer another dose.  8 stitches in the lower lip.  They gave him 2 pints of apple juice (sucked down with no breath) and a popcicle.  Finally we were released to go home.  During this whole ordeal the Nurse Practicioner (who did the stitching) had called a couple oral surgeons to see if we could be seen that day.  They told him that we were ok to wait until Monday as the teeth would either just need to be pulled or we'd just wait and observe so it wasn't an emergency at this point to go in.  They had set us up to see them at 8am on Monday so we were going to have to deal with the unknown all weekend.  Awesome.  Also, my parents had come up in the afternoon to relieve Debbie from the twins.  Brandt took O home and I ran to Costco to get prescriptions and all the fruit/soft foods I could find.  By the time I got home I had a raging headache and felt like garbage.  I hadn't eaten or drank all day and I figured I had a lack-of-water headache.  As the night wore on I couldn't breath and was catching Oliver's cold.  Bless him.  I'm sure I wore my immune system right down.  Once home Oliver was running and playing just like always and had no idea he was hurt.  Kids are so resilient.  He has been so amazing.  Here are some pictures of the episode.

 Yesterday Brandt used a sick day so that we could get the twins to their lessons while I took O to see the surgeon.  He couldn't eat or drink anything in case they were to do surgery on him.  They pulled us back and there was no cooperation from Oliver. 

He had enough poking and proding the other day and wasn't gonna have any of it.  They got a blood pressure and that was it.  The nurse had to bring in the doctor to help get a xray.  The doctor came in and it happened to be a guy that I worked at the orthodontist office a hundred years ago (ok, maybe just like 12 years ago).  I was glad that it was someone I knew and could trust.  The xray showed that the roots of the baby teeth were up by the permanant buds forming.  He thought that there might be some more growth in the root of the baby teeth which should push them down again possibly.  Because of that he recommended watching them.  We go back for a check-up next week (I assume to check healing) and then we'll check in 3-4 months to see if they're moving.  If they aren't we'll have to take them out but that'll be a long 8-9 years without any front teeth so we're hoping and praying they'll move down on their own.  Oliver looks silly but he is doing awesome.  His mouth looks so much better now that it's been 4 days or so.  His lip was HUGE for a few days but it's not that noticable anymore and you only see his crazy vampire teeth if he smiles. 

I love this little boy.  He is so special and sweet and I'm so lucky that his is mine.  As a mom you hate to see your kids hurt but it is wonderful that he is ok and bouncing back like he is.  Truly a miracle.  (and yes, there have been Goonie references...you only can make them yourself if you do so with love.  Otherwise I'm gonna come find you and beat you)

Comings and Goings

Always lots to post, never enough time/desire to do so.  So here's my quick recap. 

The end of April my boys were pretty much the closing exercise for primary with Dylan in charge of the closing prayer and Charlie saying the scripture.

I practiced all week with Charlie to get him to memorize his scripture and he had it ready for Sunday.  "For thus saith the scripture, choose ye this day whom ye shall serve."  He got up to the mic and froze.  I whispered to him "do you want to say it with your eyes closed" and he nodded so he proceeded to close his eyes and repeated after me.  I was so proud of him.  I know he is a little shy and it is really scary once you get up there and all eyes are on you.  Dylan did great, too.  I helped him and he didn't hesitate.  They were so proud and so was I.  I think if it were me sitting in the back of the primary room instead of daddy I would have been a blubbering idiot, but luckily I'm up on the piano anyway so I got to be the helper. 

We've finally learned how to ride our bikes.  Little pros.  We spend a lot of our time riding in circles around and around in our driveway.  I haven't been brave enough to go down the street since it's a slight incline to get back to our house and I fear they'll poop out half way there and I'll be stuck carrying bikes.  Selfish I know...but what you gonna do about it? 

Mother's Day came and went.  Each year it has come around since having the twins it has been surreal.  Crazy that I'm a mommy but how lucky am I?  I mean, look at these 3?  They are awesome and I love them so (even though they have tried me all day today).  I wouldn't change it.  Love my boys.

And last week I went to the zoo with my momma and the crew.  We played on the playground, rode the carousel, and rode the train.  Saw the rhino and the elephants and that's about it.  A quick trip but a fun one. 

And here's what we're doing every day about noon.  Stop on by if you need a pb&j, too.

**SWINGSET**

It's up!  It's up!  The swingset is up! (except for the swingset part - haha)  Last weekend we worked HARD and got the playset and slide up in our backyard.  We gave up once we got to the swing part but figured we'd wait until fall since the boys can't pump on their own yet anyway.  We need to dig a big ol' hole to put part of the swingset in so that it'll be level and I just couldn't get myself to dig anymore.  So, that's put off for awhile and the boys couldn't be happier.  They ask everyday to go out on the "swingset slide" and have so much fun.  We're so blessed.  Seriously, the best investment yet!

Leo's 90th

So when you're turning 90 years old are you going to invite your mailman? You are if Brandt is your mailman! We have an invitation on our fridge for Leo's 90th Birthday Party. He is one of Brandt's customers. How stinkin' cute is that? He is Brandt's buddy who eats lunch at the senior center every day and compliments B's nasty beard and jokes the way old-timers do. I have a very soft spot in my heart for old men and I love that this man loves his mailman! How lucky I am to be married to a guy that is friendly with everyone no matter what age, race, or lifestyle. This invitation is evident that he's not just a great mailman but a great guy. Love him lots and lots.

Yes, we're still here...

I guess it's gotten to the point where I'm posting once a month. Come on Drea...you're better than that! I have created my own insanity and Brandt and I are working hard to "stop it." We've been really busy lately with kids, work, and more kids, and more work. Brandt has about 4 different side projects he's working on getting wrapped up so we've been out in the garage a lot lately trying to re-claim the garage. Brandt's been working a ton of overtime so 10hr days 6 days a week plus the woodworking in the garage takes its toll on our family. Once all the cabinets and such are out, the swingset from you-know-where is moving in. A few weeks ago I had gone to Costco to buy the swingset they're selling this year since it was a couple hundred dollars off. Apparently everyone else had the same idea so there were none in the state of utah (except St. George). They were anticipating a shipment in the Saturday before the sale ended so I kept calling each day to see if they were in so that I wouldn't miss them. That Friday they told me that there were only 3 units coming the next morning and to call in the am to make sure it arrived. I called that morning 1/2 hour before opening and the guy said there were 6 there and he had a lot more calls than that so he suggested being there early. Brandt's dad was gracious enough to meet us there since it was just me and the 3 boys cause B had to work. We got there, with a few others, but we were #2 in line. Oh yeah, we have a swingset. Problem is that our backyard is a hill so we need to level out the part where the playset goes and the plans say it takes 12 hours for the playset and 2 hours for the slide to set up. So we're going to widdle away at it each night and then once Brandt's long weekend comes up next week, hopefully we're ready to just assemble it all together and wham-bam we are in business. I'm excited for it. A little stressed/worried about setting it up, but I'm sure it'll be ok. We're quite resourseful.

Easter has come and gone. It was busy but great. We partied ALL day on Saturday and had a low-key, very nice Easter Sunday. At the end of the day I said to Brandt, "Today was a good day." One of those that you stuff away in your memory and cherish. Happy children, beautiful weather, family bonding...loved it. I made the boys capes for their easter baskets. They love them and wear them almost every day.

We have started swimming lessons this week. It is way more worrisome for me than for the twins. I expect a little too much from them sometimes, I think. They are crazy little boys and it kills me when they're off in la-la land and should be paying attention. I must have a mild ocd problem. I just want to walk over to the pool and explain behavior to my kids when they're goofing off but I have sat like a good parent and just watched. The first lesson Dylan kept climbing out of the pool, wandering to the other side of the pool area, just la-ti-da-ing like only Dylan does. So the last couple days we've been trying to reiterate that you need to pay attention to the teacher and do what the teacher says, etc. Then today came and D was great and Charlie had his head under water the whole time. Great, you would think. No, not when the teacher is trying to talk to you and do other activities. Charlie would rather just keep dunking his head. So, the rest of the week we'll try to explain that you have to do what the teacher says and keep your head out of water to hear instructions. The teacher did say that they did way better so I guess that's an improvement.

And some other randoms. I did a Costco run and the boys played with the leftover boxes. They were robots.

And lately the twins have been talking about Aspen non-stop so we made a trip out to their house one day and played all afternoon. Thank you Craig&Tree for letting me crash into your home and play at your zoo. What a fun house they have. They boys had a blast.

I know this is a rambler of a post but we had some catching up to do. If I want anything recorded as a journal, this is it, so I gotta keep up on it and let the rambling continue.

Let it be known...

I constantly think of cute things that go on in my life that are worth writing down and NEVER get to it. *sigh* Now that I'm here, I don't know what to record.

Let it be known, that if you have a "marker" around our home it is usually referencing the phrase "that's going to leave a mark" - Dylan

Let it be known, that the first bad words were spoken at our home today...and it wasn't learned from me or Brandt. Promise. It was a phrase that I don't say and I don't believe I've ever heard Brandt say it. Yea for friends and the brilliance they share with each other. How am I to survive 12 years of school??? Lots of soap and tabasco?

Let it be known that Oliver was a little sniffly today. Please don't be sick. Cause if you're sick, Charlie will get sick. And if Charlie's sick, Dylan will get sick. And if Dylan is sick, I'll probably get sick. And if I'm sick, Dad will get sick. And my own mom & dad will probably be sick cause they kissed on all the kiddies today. It is a vicious cycle.

Let it be known that my daffodils opened up today! SPRING!!!

Let it be known that I'm crazy and I'm making myself that way all.by.my.self. I convinced my mom to buy an embroidery machine. I've spent 2 days at a conference with her. I'm taking a sewing course with her (came with the machine) once a week for 4 or 5 weeks. Then I'm taking an embroidery class. Then I bought me a quilting class. Whhhaaaatttttt am I thinking?

Let it be known that the twinners are going to take swimming lessons!! I'm so excited for them. I really think they'll like it. Charlie, for sure. Dylan, hopefully. The water is the one thing in his life that he has shown some cautiousness over. I'm sure it will pass quickly and soon he will be diving off the high-dive.

Let it be known that the Jensens are FINALLY getting a swingset! Woot woot! That's what I'm talking about! I may survive the summer. Maybe.

That's all for now. On to the next thing. Laundry? Sewing? Cleaning? Sleep? My vote is for sleep. hahahahahahaha.........

Comings and Goings...

Lately it's been a lot easier to sit on the couch and read other blogs rather than to update my own. I've had some brilliant, brilliant I tell you, thoughts going through my brain but to actually summon the energy to actually put it into words and into the computer has been impossible. We are good. Boys are growing. Mom & Dad are getting smarter at how to corral the crazy. I'm a year older and actually IN my 30ies rather than just 30. Yuck. I don't know how that happened. I think I'm ok with it but it is just a little surreal I suppose. I was never supposed to be this old. I never have imagined, dreamed, or thought I would be 30+. I still feel so young (most the time) that it never occurred to me that I would some day be out of high school, have kids, a husband, a house, grown-up responsibilities, etc. Just wierd.

The boys are busy. Oliver is trying to be big, big, big. He is mighty cute and we just love him so. The twins are hilarious. Just this morning I was downstairs getting something and as I came up the stairs Charlie popped his head around the corner and stated, "I'm Kierstin" (who is his auntie) and he had a HUGE bag from the RV show slung over his shoulder. I assume Kierstin must have had a large purse one time he saw her. I literally laughed out loud (and then took a picture and sent a text to Auntie Kierstin). Dylan has been saying for the last few months, "I want a big one" whenever he wants something. Whether it be a cookie, a piece of paper, or a toy...he wants a big one. So, the other day when he said he wanted some bread and I told him to wait and we'd have some bread with his dinner he threw me off when he responded, "I want a huge one." I laughed out loud again. They do try me and run me ragged, but they make me laugh and cry because they are just so darn sweet. The other day they wanted to play outside and I let them and just told them they had to play in the backyard. I was upstairs and thought I heard something out front so I looked out the window. We had that big windstorm back in December and it blew down one of our downspouts. We had put it in the garage and planned to fix it in the spring. When I saw the boys out front, they were carrying it to the lawn to "fix" it. I told them to take it back and so they obediently did. I love this little story because it reminds me of the time I saw the cute little boy across the street in his tighty-whiteies carrying a long piece of handrail or something across their front lawn (this was years ago. he's now like 10 and I'm sure he'd be mortified to do that now!). I remember looking out my window and laughing at how cute/funny it was. Little boys...I love their shenanagans they get into.

What else?? My little nephew was baptized a few weeks ago and I tried my hand at some machine embroidery. I am in love! I think I've convinced my mom that we NEED an embroidery machine. It was so fun and so easy! The things we could use it on are endless. I'm getting back into my crafting again. Trying to post and sell some new ties and get somethings lined up for the farmers market this summer.

I also gave in and finally let the boys finger paint. I've never let them because it can get so messy but they did well (got messy but what do you expect) and had fun. They keep asking me to paint again. I need to be brave and have a paint party again. Oliver has learned how to color, too...on him. We're busy around here but we're good. Very fortunate to enjoy what we do and have what we have. I couldn't be more happy being mom to my sweet boys. I'm going to go grey and lose my mind but I am super lucky. I don't know what I did so right to have what I have.