Pulling out old toys

Brynlee loves Hailey's old rocking horse that we pulled out for her today!

And Callie got to join in on the fun because she surprisingly didn't have any school today.

So maybe it's not my week...

Blogs don't always have to be about sugar coated or happy things right?  Good, I didn't think so either.  Because right now I am going to just use my blog to complain :)  My title pretty much says it all.  I have tried really hard not to complain, tried to just be easy going and optimistic through it all, but the past few weeks have really just been no fun.  First off, we have all been sick like a bizzillion times, and I'm just over it already. It has just been one thing right after another.
And just when I thought we were over all the sickness. I got a nice case of mastitis over the weekend, complete with a fever for 24 hours.  I started feeling a little better yesterday morning thank goodness, but Brynlee started a fever last night and was up every few hours from teething.  She just cut through two more top teeth yesterday.
So I was a feeling little unrested this morning when I was leaving to take the girls to school.... and I BACKED INTO MY HUSBANDS TRUCK!     Uggghhh..... seriously. It was just one of those moments that I wish I could take back and use a little more of my brain than I was using when I did it.  In my defense, his truck is almost always parked in the garage and even though I did a quick check in my rearview mirror as I backed up, I did not look over my shoulder to the left (where I would have seen his truck as I turned into while backing out). 
Accidents happen I guess. What can you do?  Kayla burst into tears when it happened, maybe from me hitting his truck, or maybe from her hearing me say my first cuss word ever!?!?!  I know, I know, mom, no lecture needed.  I definitely won't be getting the mother of the year award. Kayla just pretended like she didn't here it even though I know she did.
So since I am feeling the "poor is me attitude", I am going to make a list of all the things I am thankful for, all the good things that have happened to me lately. Maybe that will help me feel better.
1. I have been able to spend a lot more time with my husband the past few weeks, and it has been so nice just getting to hang out with him.
2.  We have been having some new investigators at church and have had the opportunity to share the gospel with friends.
3. We just had a great Stake Conference, and all our girls were well behaved and excellent for. They are all growing so fast, and I'm  so proud of the good kids they are.
4. Even though I hit my husbands truck, I hit it in probably the best place I could have with the least amount of damage.  So I guess that is a small blessing.
5. And despite being sick lately, our family is overall healthy and whole, and I am thankful for that. 

And last of all for those of you that might be curious, here is the damage to our vehicles:

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Girls night out

Last night a group of some of my girlfriends  and I all got together for dinner.  It just so happens that all these ladies are also my neighbors :) I don't know how I got so lucky to live in such a great neighborhood really.  All of us that live on the block are relatively the same age, and we all had some sort of connection with each other before we moved here.
First, there is Beth and Brandon who live right next door to us. Beth went to high school with Brad, and they also have a sweet little boy who is a toddler.  Adam and Tiffany are newlyweds, they live next door to us on the right side, and Adam is a good friend of Brads from school as well.  Across the street from us, is Amber and Brad.  I didn't know Amber before she moved here, but she knew almost all of my other neighbors, and we just clicked right away as good friends.  Next door to Amber is Jerribeth and Matt.  They also went to school with Brad, and have a little boy and a newborn baby girl.
One thing that I love about being around these girls is that they are all really down to earth and just real.  They are not fake in any way.  That is the type of person that I look for in a friend, someone who is genuine and just fun to be around.
We had an awesome dinner together prepared by Amber.  She is a great cook and hostess.  She always has herself put together and her house decorated so cute.  I think she needs to be an event planner or something, because she is always throwing a fun get together. Anyway, I just wanted to write all this down because no matter what direction all of our lives end up taking us, I hope I always remember the fun time that we had being neighbors and becoming friends.

The things little kids say....

I just wanted to record a few things that my kids have said, just because I know someday I will forget.

The other day Hailey was getting ready for church and she wanted to wear some shoes that had little heals on them.  I said "Are you sure you want to wear those ones, they are for big girls and they might be hard to walk in?"  She cried and said "YESSSS!!!!"
Meanwhile Callie was in the background listening and she said "Hailey, you probably shouldn't do that.  You know everyone at church is going to see you walking around like a Penguin!"   Ha ha ha.... Callie is so funny.

I also had a memory of something that happened when Kayla was just 5 years old.  I don't think I've written it down, so I wanted to share it.  At the time, we lived in Rexburg, Idaho and Brad and I were still newlyweds.  Kayla and I had gone to the local Mcdonalds and were sitting in the play area eating our lunch.  There was a girl that was working there cleaning the tables and such and you could tell that she had special needs.  Kids are always quick to pick up on things like that and quite a few of the kids were staring at her as she was working and talking.  I wasn't paying much attention to it, when all the sudden I hear the girl breaking down saying "Why is everyone staring at me?"  "What are you looking at?!"  This of course made the kids look even more and Kayla was one of them.  I was trying to nudge at her across the table and was whispering, "Kayla, stop staring at her, turn around!"  Kayla kept looking and the girl came up to our table.  She yelled "Why are you staring at me!"  By now my face was red hot and I honestly did not know what to do, because I was so embarrassed.  Kayla looked straight at the girl and without hesitation she said "I was looking at you because your so beautiful."  Immediately the girl relaxed and tears started falling down her cheeks, she said "Really?  No one besides my mom has ever said that to me before!"  She had a huge smile come across her face and went back to work. 
I just sat there in awe.  I too teared up.  How was it that I (an adult) did not even know what to do, yet my five year old child immediately did exactly what the Savior would have done.  She extended love to the girl, exactly what she needed.  I will never forget that example that Kayla was to me that day.

Big Girl

This little girl is getting so big.  She has been potty training now for a while.  She started at 18 months (which was crazy I thought) but she wanted to do it, so I let her.  She is now two and is in the final stages of her potty training (she might even be done!?!)  She has worn her big girl panties everyday for the past couple weeks.  I kept putting her in a diaper at night or when we would go out in public for fear if she had an accident though.  Well a few nights ago she told me she didn't want to wear diapers to bed anymore, so we gave it a try.  And she has woke me up when she has needed to go.  Today she even wore them to church.  I'm so proud of her, she's getting so big!  She even went to big girl primary with the older girls because there was no one in the nursery at church today.  We love our little Hailey!  And can I just say, I wish I looked this good when I was two!  Ha ha... I have a feeling she's going to be a knock out.

Can I just say...

That I love the Herstyler curling iron that we got Kayla for Christmas! I first heard about Herstylers when I saw Michelle Thompson's blog. I asked her how her daughters (with such long thick beautiful hair) always got their curls to stay in.  She told me that they had bought a Herstyler.  Turns out they sell them at those little booths in the mall (where they always try to stop you and curl your hair for you).  Except we didn't get ours there, because at the mall they sell them for anywhere from $100-$200. We got ours for about $45. And that included 3 different size barrells.  Got to love Amazon!  For those of you wondering what is so special about the curling iron, it doesn't have a clamp.  It is like a long hot rod that you wrap your hair around.  Sounds like it would be difficult and it is at first (yes, I burnt myself a few times). But once you get the hang of it, you can curl a full head of hair way faster than using a traditional curling iron, because the curls actually stay in.

And while I am at it, let me add that this has been one of the longest weeks EVER! You know how I wrote that Hailey had the stomach flu last Saturday night and Sunday.  Well... that followed with me and Brynlee getting it on Tuesday. Callie getting it on Wednesday, and Brad getting it on Thursday! Kayla was the only lucky survivor.  So all I did all week was take care of sick people and clean, clean, clean.  It is pretty much the first time we have all gotten sick, consecutively one day right after the other. I am just glad that is over!  Is it just me or does it seem like everybody has been getting sick lately?  I saw on the news that it said the flu season was off to a slow start.  I had to laugh out loud at that one, because in our town it sure hasn't!

Time with the girls

This week we have spent a lot of time indoors it seems.  It has been pretty cold here these past few days, even reminding me of home a little bit.   Wednesday night we had a family friend over for dinner and a discussion with the missionaries from our church.  It went well, it is always nice to be in good company and to share our beliefs about the things that matter most to us in this life. Since Brad was called as the Branch President, it seems that we have had a lot more opportunity to have people in our home that are learning about the gospel.  I love the "idea" of this, however I am not always so sure it is the most effective tool with four little ones running around.  Ha ha... it always makes things interesting anyway. But I think it is good for our girls to get to hear the missionary discussions and to listen to some of the questions that are asked by those who are learning about our faith. 

On Saturday we just hung out at home, played a lot of games, worked on Callie's spelling and reading (she is learning some new words), and the girls even made their own pizza's that evening from scratch.  They made the dough and everything! 

I also got my lesson ready for church the next day and thought I had everything all set to go for church. But Hailey ended up getting the stomach flu at about midnight.  I ended up sleeping (or not sleeping I should say) on her floor, while Brynlee crawled around and on me playing and laughing thinking it was a slumber party.  Poor little Hailey threw up about every 30 minutes through out the night. I think she is finally over it though. She is such a sweet little thing, and is always so agreeable and good even when she is sick. It seems that if our kids are going to get sick it is on the weekends 90% of the time.  It is always when we can't get to a doctor, and always when I will miss church.  Oh well, I guess it is just part of having little ones.  

Speaking of little ones, this little booger is turning into quite the character.  She's kind of silly and mischievous kind of like an older sister I know (Callie).

Best buddies

Who needs to spend hundreds of dollars on Christmas toys, when the best ones are free anyway?

I love that these two are starting to play together, isn't it the best having a sibling around to make things more fun?

This is how these two wanted to take their nap the other day.  Every time I would try to take Brynlee out, Hailey would say "Leave her!" and Brynlee would cry.  Soon as I would set her back in they would start giggling again.

Ramblings

What to blog, what to blog?  What can I say.... I'm not much of a "January" person. I personally feel that January and February are the worst months out of the year for a few reasons:
1. It is cold and dreary
2. There are no holidays to look forward to.
3.  The kids are tired of school, but don't really like staying indoors at home either.
4.  And there is never really anything going on in January or February as far as activities around town.

So yes, I find these months "boring", but I will suffer through them and hopefully my blog won't be to boring while I do.
In the meanwhile, I have been setting and finishing a few goals that have kept me motivated:

• Brad and I have started working out together and I love it.  Hottest workout partner I've ever had :)  
• I just finished reading the Book of Mormon again and now I will try to figure out what I want to study next.  It worked out perfectly because I will actually be teaching the Book of Mormon to the teenagers at our church this year.  
• I am also trying to be more patient with my kids and am trying to not use "threatening" or "bribery" as much as I usually do.  I will try to just sit them down and talk to them one on one.
•  Brad and I have started looking at house plans.  We will not be building quite yet, but hope to start in the next year or two.  I am also thinking about where to go back to work and trying to see if we can figure out a way to make it all work. If not, I will wait to go back, but I would like to work starting in August if I can figure out a way. That way we can build a nice house the way we want it and won't have to settle or move around anymore.

Well, that's all for now.

Just because we are bored

Well this is the last day before the girls have to return back to school.  We have had two full weeks of fun, laughter, family and lot's of happiness. But we are also ready to get back into our routine.  Kayla is ready to return to school to show off her new clothes, and I think Callie is missing some of her friends. And I am ready to relax a little.  We stayed home today and have had lots of fun, doing pretty much nothing ;) Callie is trying her best to teach Brynlee to walk.  Brynlee loves it when Callie helps her and keeps crawling up to her wanting Callie to help her stand up.  It is pretty sweet. 

I am excited for this coming year and all the changes that will come with it.  I love seeing our girls grow and sometimes wish I could slow down time.

Video of Brynlee crawling

This one is Brynlee crawling, it was taken last month.  She can get around even more now, and stands up on almost everything.  I think she will walk faster than any of my other girls.

Video of Brynlee

My family said they wanted to see some videos, so I will try to post some for them.  In this one you can see Brynlee shaking her finger at me "no no!"