I love the Sabbath

a quote I like, has nothing to do with today :)

Today is the best day of the week.  Unfortunately last night Ethan was sick.  He threw up about 10 times in the night and has a fever today.
Rob stayed home with him and the girls and I went to church.  Unfortunately Rob hurt his back while we were gone and now we have two boys on the couch feeling poorly :(

Anna brought us "the world's best mac and cheese" and salmon from Seattle.  For dinner tonight we had the mac and cheese and chicken.  It really was very good.

We had some face time fun!  While we were talking to Dani and the girls J called and we had a fun multi user conversation.  Love those cute kids of mine!

Tonight Hannah and I went to a wonderful fireside that honored people in the community that exemplified family values.  The Sunday Night Singers performed and they were amazingly awesome.  The families honored were so sweet and inspirational.  I saw lots of people that I knew from before and it was fun to say hello!
I also ran into Becky Nichols brother and sister in law.  They were very sweet and it was very nice to see them.
It is a small world!

poor sick boy and the comfort dog

Saturday

We had a soccer game this morning. It was sooo hot. Ethan made some great saves as keeper and also played well as mid. We won 3-0.

Today is dress like a pirate day. If you dressed like a pirate at Krispy Kreme you got a free dozen donuts. We made some costumes out of paper and fabric scraps and headed over for our free 3 dozen!!

Hannah went on a double date with Sawyer and Shelby and Jordan.

She also had try outs for cats. 

It has been a busy day!

Last day

Everyone woke up grouchy and still tired this morning. Too much fun syndrome. After we got the kids out the door to school the boys requested Mickey Mouse pancakes. For the record Anna makes it with cool whip but chocolate eyes were "ok" too.

I did some cleaning and they did some fighting. I separated them, D watched Big Hero 6 in the living room and J watched 

Wild Kratz in my room. We were ready to hit park #3 by 9:30. 

Before we got to the park there was a go-gurt accident in the car. While we were at the park there was an accident of another nature and there were lots of tears and wailing.

Eventually we went to the mall (I needed new fall soaps) and the little sith lord got new pants on clearance. Then we went to the indoor play area. It was lame but the boys liked it fine. As luck would have it I have been driving around with a bag of clothes that we need to donate so I found a tee shirt to cover nak*d buns.

On the way home we stopped at the store. Then has Mimi club, then picked up the kids.

Finally it was nap time!

After school J and G went in the clubhouse with pillows and laptop for some more Kratz brothers.

And now Ethan is at soccer, Hannah is at Shelby's and the boys and Grace are taking another polar bear plunge. Anna is coming back tonight. It's been so fun to have the boys! They will be happy to have mom back though. 

fun fun fun til the sun goes down...and then some

We spent the afternoon playing.  The boys watched Hotel Transylvania.  When the kids got home from school Deo took a nap and Grace and J swam, then we all went to the park by our house.

big boy!

For dinner we had pizza and R took G to audition for CATS.

biking fun

Ethan played driveway basketball with Joneaux while Deo rode his scooter and we ended the night with some hot tubbing fun.

It's been so fun.  When I was a mom with young kids I tried to be fun and interesting and creative and patient.  Sometimes I was and sometimes I wasn't.  Thank goodness I had littles before pinterest and facebook.  It would have been the death of me.  Even so it was just too much.

One of the great things about having young nieces and nephews and of course grandchildren is you get to go back and do it a little better.  The time we spend together is limited so I can muster up the energy to be pretty great fun. That's what family is all about.  I am thrilled to take the boys for a couple of days and spoil them and love on them.  It reminds me of the sweetness (and the work) of the toddler/little kid phase.  It's great for all of us.  The girls are really good with the kids.  Ethan is too but he tires of the commotion.   It's good to serve and adjust our schedule to someone else's.  It's good for the kids to know how many people love them.  It's good for the parents to know they are safe and well taken care of. 

When my kids were little Val and Anna were teens and even younger.  They often baby sat for the girls, and played with them, and loved them and were great examples to them.  I am glad to return the favor.  This is definitely something that modern families miss out on, those close extended family relationships. There is a lot of joy therein.  

Exotic Feline Breeding Compound

We took a little field trip to see the wild cats. The boys were pretty excited. J wanted to see a puma and D wanted to see the gift shop. We got there right when it opened and saw the cats coming out. It was nice and cool and we were the only guests there. This was good and bad. Good because we had a great view of the enclosures. Bad because the volunteer security guards  enforcers docents had a good view of every rule two rambunctious boys broke.

ready to go

Deo loved the peacocks and the cats. J got to see a puma and we saw jaguars and jungle cats and leopards. The tigers weren't out but the gift shop was open so success! A great outting!

Sitting on statues: against the rules. As is climbing on the fence, running, making noise, eating gold fish crackers....

Happy boy with his new tiger train!

Lunch break!

starting with the oreo is just fine when you are with your aunt!

Flashback

These boys were such delightful companions all day. We get up early, 5am, and I hoped we would be quiet enough that they would still sleep. Joneaux didn't wake up until I got back from taking Hannah to seminary. That was still pretty early!  Deo did sleep until I had to wake him to hop in the stroller and walk Grace to school.

We got everyone off to school and then I "let them" pick a movie so I could clean up and shower. 

Around 9 we headed out the door and went to Apollo Park. An old favorite. The lunar capsule was gone:( and the play equipment was different but we had a great time. The weather was perfect. The boys were complete monkeys, the geese were mean and we saw airplanes land and take off. What could be better?!

We stopped for lunch on the way home. Anna told me they love in-n-out. Nope. J even refused to order. Oh well no one was starving. 

Deo took an afternoon nap. J played Legos and dragons by himself so quietly for two hours! I couldn't believe it. He's a smart little guy and very funny. It's fun to have him around, he reminds me of Ethan when he was little. Deo is a snuggler and a giggler and just enough baby that it melts your heart. He's sleeping in our room and I love waking up and peeking over to see him laying there so angelically. 

These two little polar bears braved the chilly water for some diving and swimming fun. It's nice for Grace to be the big kid and she played patiently and happily with the boys all afternoon.

We had Mimi club. We read "no girls allowed" the Bernstein Bear book about the boy cubs building a fort that Sister couldn't go into and then Sister building one that the boys couldn't use and then in a surprise twist ending Mama stepped in and helped them see how much better it is to share. Then we built our own super cool fort.

J loves E. They played tic tack toe.

Tonight we went to the scouts court of honor. I only took one picture because it turns out that 2 year olds need a lot

of attention at courts of honor, oh yea.

The house is a bit of a tornado but we had a lot of fun. 

Nephews!!

We get to keep the two little tow heads for a few days! It's part of the silver linings, we get to live relatively close to family. 

They got here in the afternoon. We hung out, discussed our plans for the week, ate spaghetti, went swimming, watched "how to train your dragon" and read five stories before prayer and bedtime.

I'm looking forward to a fun week! Love these little dudes!

Rob took the girls to a Cats (the play) audition prep. They both hope to be in it.

Ethan had, for literally the first time ever, a considerable amount of homework. 

Another highlight of the day was chatting with Tara. She moved this spring and we commiserated with each other about the challenges of leaving a place you love, and kids adjusting (or not). Love her. It's such a blessing havering awesome people in your life: little nephews, old friends, new friends, kids, moms, the whole gamut!