Memorial Day

Memorial Day.  It used to be the day (or weekend) we'd have a family BBQ with the Petersen's and visit graves with flowers.  It still is, mostly.  Me and my brood haven't made it to many graves in the last few years, but we do attend any and all BBQ's we can manage.  

This year, similar to the first Veteran's Day after Justin joined the Navy, felt a little different.  I used to notice the flags on many of the graves and knew what it meant.  It obviously means something different to me now.  Justin even attended the BBQ via Face Time.  

May 17-27

May 17
3 kids at Costco.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

May 18
Trip to the zoo, just the 4 of us.  I'm not sure why I got it in my head that I was taking the kids to the zoo by myself.  It rained most of the day but cleared up in the afternoon, so we went.  I might get the hang of this 'me and 3 kids' by the end of the summer!

May 19
We walked down to our playground for a bit.  Here's Kate.  Be afraid, be very afraid.

May 20
Dinner with the missionaries.  I have to invite a small army in order to feed them without Justin, but we manage to do it as often as I can.

May 21
This was today's project.  No crumbs and it's so organized.  I might just try and keep it that way.

May 22
Walk to the park with all of the kids Boston Hats.

May 23
We try and get to Hyrum's game early most days so the kids can play at the park.

May 24
We met April at Scheels so she could stay the weekend with us.  The kids went on a Ferris Wheel ride while we were there.

May 25
Another trip to the zoo.  This time with April.  It was a crowded day and the animals were pretty boring.

May 26
Dinner at my parents house.  Ever since I started having my own babies (and more so since I've pretty much decided that we're done having our own babies) I love holding little babies.  And this one most of all!

May 27
Memorial Day BBQ at my aunt Karen's.  We tried to get a quick little picture of the Hardcastle (Lafeen & Flint) cousins.  Maybe we can try again around the 4th of July.

April 29-May 16

Yikes... a little over two weeks.  Oh well, better late than never!

April 29
My favorite drink is ice cold water.  (A close second is diet coke).  I usually don't need anything to dress it up, but for some reason I was getting a little sick of just plain water.

April 30
That is my license plate.  Registered by the end of April for May.  Wow, you say, you're so on top of everything that you're getting your car's inspected and registered early??? I did it on accident.  I had it in my head that the Honda's registration was in April.  So, I had it done by the 2nd week.  When I finally got around to putting the sticker on the plate I realized it was the van that was due in April, the Honda was due in May.  So, I had two days to get the van done too.

May 1
Milo is finally getting the sitting up thing down.

May 2
Those rocks are about 15 feet up.  Kate decided to climb up (further down where it was closer to the ground) and started walking along the top during Hyrum's game.  I was wearing Milo and couldn't get up there.  I thought 'there's nothing I can do if/when she falls, but I guess I'll be able to tell the ER doctor what happened'.  A guy from the other team noticed my predicament and climbed up there and walked with her until they were able to get down.  No ER visit that day.

May 3
It's getting warmer, we decided to go to Wheeler Farm with some friends.

May 4
Tball pictures.  7:30 am.  In Herriman.  We made it on time.

May 5
This was Milo's dinner.  It was a lot more, but this is basically what it consisted of.  I was sick.

May 6
Dropped the kids off and went to Insta-care.  Hoping for something that could be treated.  I was in luck.  Strep throat.

May 7
I still was feeling pretty bad and we didn't go to Hyrum's game (which was cancelled anyway).  We were all still rooting for the Red Sox though!

May 8
My mom was down and helped me get my house back together and Hyrum AND Milo slept over at Mimi and Papa's.  This was Kate as we were winding down for the night.  She got the iPad without her brother trying to get it from her.

May 9
Jodi and Trevor came to Hyrum's game and we had a little picnic before.

May 10
No kids!!!! I had an exciting evening of the gym, grocery store, Blue Lemon for dinner, and a red box.

May 11
I met our book club to watch The Great Gatsby in the afternoon and ice cream.  I meant to take pictures of the tickets, or the ice cream, but I forgot.  This was the kids about 5 minutes after I picked them up from Grandma and Grandpa Lafeen's.  It's pretty much how they always come home from their house.

May 12
I knew we'd have a new baby in the family by the end of the weekend.  Jodi started having contractions Friday morning and by the end of the day they were getting more 'productive'.  I was sort of hoping she'd have her early in the day so I could go down before the movie with my friends.  She ended up having little Stella right as I was going into the movie, by emergency C-section.  We spent Mother's Day visiting our new niece/cousin in the hospital.

May 13
I think this was the first visit to the park this spring.  The kids were bored and we needed a break.

May 14
I don't think my hair has ever been this short as an adult.  I like it.  I don't like 'selfies', there must be a trick to taking your own picture with a camera phone.

May 15
Hyrum's spring program for preschool.  We missed his Christmas program because he had pneumonia  so this was super fun.  There were 5 or 6 kids that had a special part in it, and Hyrum was one of them.  Justin was able to see it with face time almost the entire time.  And, I took a lot of video, which I'll hopefully get up on his blog soon.

May 16
This may not look like much, and it's not a great picture.  But, Kate did something last night that she hasn't done in over a month!  And, she got a present (and some chocolate, and as much dancing and excitement Hyrum and I could muster).  I don't want to jinx it, but I'm hoping we're done with 'potty training'.

Nearly Back

I'm a little behind in blogs (and just about every thing else).  My mom came down today and my house looks livable again and I just finished folding my third load of laundry.

Sunday morning Kate woke up at 4 am to go to the bathroom and I noticed my throat hurt a bit.  I had a hard time falling back asleep and Milo woke up screaming around 5:30.  I got him settled back down just in time for Kate to be up for the day.

I didn't fell great, but I figured I just had a sore throat, a little tired from the early start, and I had worked out quite a bit the past week, so I must have been sore because of that.  I was wrong.

I somehow made it through teaching my lesson in church (should have been a clue to me that I couldn't keep my train of thought and felt like I was going to tip over at any moment).  I had to play the organ of course, and I don't know how I got through that hour.  My kids were more out of control than ever, and all I could do was sit there and shiver.  By the time I made it home my temp was over 103 degrees.

We muddled through the night.  The kids seriously ate snacks and fruit the rest of the day -most of which they got themselves.  I poured a handful of finger snacks out for Milo on his tray and he munched away for dinner.  I remember laying down on the couch thinking I should call someone to come over and put Milo to bed because I didn't think I could get him upstairs by myself.

Spent some time on the bathroom floor.  Somehow got the kids to bed, and hoped for the best.  The best did not come that night.  More time in the bathroom, fever wouldn't go lower than 102 despite what I took.  The morning was a fog.  Hyrum was so good to let me sleep while the kids went down for their nap.  I finally looked up the symptoms for Strep throat, which I hadn't had for more than 10 years I think.  Figured it was worth going in to the doctor.

A neighbor watched the kids and I went into an insta care.  Strep throat.  I was still pretty out of it, and I had them sent my antibiotics to the wrong pharmacy.  I finally got everything, including the kids, and I actually got them dinner and to bed.

Tuesday I felt mostly better, the fever was down to about 100, which is surprisingly manageable compared to what I was dealing with the previous two days.  I took Hyrum to preschool, and then my nice neighbor how had the kids the day before offered to take them again, so I took Kate there during school and took a nap while Milo had his morning nap.  I ate a few graham crackers yesterday too and managed to keep it down.

Anyway, hopefully I'll get to more exciting updates in the near future.  And I REALLY hope they won't include the kids catching the bug!

In the meantime...

Milo and his dinner 

Kate slept in that dress and was still wearing it the next day.  And, the pajamas, that was all Hyrum!

April 11-April 28

Apr 11
This girl is a natural!

Apr 12
I fed the missionaries with a neighbor.  There was a misunderstanding, and last minute it ended up being a picnic in my 'backyard'.  But, my new, pretty salad utensils still looked nice.

Apr 13
Cake for Jodi's shower.  I didn't manage to get any other pictures, but it was decorated super cute and Jodi got a lot of useful and cute things.

Apr 14
Hryum relaxing at my mom's.  Comfy.

Apr 15
Kate wanted to play hide and seek, and this is where she was. (It's usually locked, not sure why she was able to get it open).

Apr 16
Milo had been pretty sick for about a week.  This was the first day he seemed back to his old self and I caught him laughing.

Apr 17
We had a death in the family.  Jake, our beta fish died.  I felt bad.  I told Hyrum, and he responded by saying, "It's okay, we can get a new pet.  I really want a dog".

Apr 18
Mailed dad a package.  I got the address wrong, but it still made it -in record time.

Apr 19
My mom helped me with a few organization projects.  We put a small shelf in the garage, a couple in my kitchen closet and I finished up with cleaning and organizing another cupboard and pantry.  This is pretty dang organized for me

Apr 20
Jodi came up and we went swimming with the kids.  I almost started thinking that maybe I could take the three of them swimming (by myself) until I had to get them changed at the end.  No way.

Apr 21
A gift from Mimi.  Hyrum is a great gift-receiver.  He loved these.  Wore them all afternoon and kept changing between the two pair.

Apr 22
Here's a cute little plumbers crack of a nearly potty-trained little girl.  She doesn't even use pull-ups during naps and bedtime!

Apr 23
First game of the season.  I'm so glad I didn't have the little kids with me, it was freezing!  And, sense Hyrum and I left at 3 pm (I also had a meeting that afternoon so my aunt Karen was nice enough to watch the other kids all night) I was unprepared for the cold weather.  Hyrum was a trooper, not to mention he has SO much more of an attention span this year.  He hasn't made huge leaps and bounds as far as ability goes, but I'm also happy that I don't have to pull him out of the volleyball sand pit too.

Apr 24
Bath time.  I know he's too big the baby tub.  But, it's too hard to do baths upstairs with two other kids running around. So, for the time being we're still doing baths in the baby tub.

Apr 25
Preschool field-trip to the Aquarium.  Just me and Hyrum.  My mom came down to watch the kids during their naps.  (I also took the opportunity of only one child to get the oil changed in the Honda)

Apr 26
This is one of too-many-to-count meltdowns Friday afternoon.  Drama, drama, drama.

Apr 27
Today was the MS (Multiple Sclerosis) walk in Salt Lake City and we went down to support Denise.  We learned a little this year for next year.  We needed to check in at 8, but the race didn't start until 10 -that's a lot of time for 3 little kids to stay content.  Also, it's not so much a race as it is a walk.  And a leisure one at that.  We'll try to get closer to the starting point next year too.

April 28
Sunday dinner at the Hardcastle's.  We were celebrating Big Matt's birthday and Trevor's graduation.  Gordon went out front and was racing the rock climber and Hyrum.  The boys won every time