If life were easy, It wouldn't be so much fun!

Guatemala-Part 2

2012-01-29T12:58:00.000-08:00

In 2003 I took my first trip to Guatemala with my sister Sarah. Our purpose was to get the building that would become Casa de Sion Orphanage open and ready to receive children. We had both recently returned from Spanish speaking missions for our church so our Spanish was necessary. Over the years our orphanage morphed into what we call 'orphans at home' programs--for more info (http://casadesion.blogspot.com/) and (http://safehomesforchildren.org/). In Guatemala a lot of children have been placed in orphanages by their parents because they cannot feed or educate them. We decided to help those kids so they could stay with their parents. We now have our Casa de Sion building in Los Robles, which is a small pueblo near Lake Atitlan.

As mentioned in my previous blog, we just took a trip to Guatemala. While in Guatemala, I had to do a lot a translating with the employees, but I was really excited to meet more of the people we were helping. Wed my mom and I had a meeting with all the kids ages 12-20 who are hoping to get scholarships to finish school. Middle School and High School is not free in Guatemala, and the price of enrollment, uniforms and supplies is more money then most of the families we work with have--that is why so many people don't have more then an elementary education.

We had over 50 kids show up hoping to go school this year (their school year starts in Jan--it is $30/mth to send the kids to school). Most of the kids came in their best dress hoping to impress potential donors (their best dress came from donations we and other donors have brought down on previous trips).

Eneas, age 12

Florencia, age 14

During the meeting I had a lot of the parents coming up to me and trying to get me to commit to sending their particular child to school. It was really hard for me to stand there and listen to their situation and think of all I had at home, and then only be able to tell them; "we will try our best to help you".

Thurday morning my whole family headed over to Casa de Sion. One of the other programs we have is handing out formula and incaparina (a nutrient fortified milk for toddlers). Most of the women can't breastfeed because they are so malnourished, so we also have a meal once a week packed with veggies, whole grains and protein for all the moms and toddlers. On this Thurs everyone was getting together for a little party. We had been waiting for this particular party for a while. Katie has been saving all her coins since last time her and I went to Guatemala. Before we left for Guatemala Katie bought lollipops, bubbles and tattoos for all the kids (she really wanted to buy all the little girls dolls and the little boys cars, but she didn't have that much money). She started handing them out and was quickly surrounded so we had to make everyone form a line so Katie didn't get trampled. It was a little crazy, but every mom wanted to make sure her kids got a lollipop.

that's my brother Seth right behind her

It is $20/mth to feed a mom and her kids and provide formula and incaparina

Samuel and Katie

Marcus and Addy helped her hand out the lollipops, as well as a little boy named Samuel. He was really sick (crippled) when Casa de Sion first moved into the area and we were able to help him make a complete recovery by providing the medical care his family couldn't pay for. Now, he thinks he is one of us. When the line formed he came up and started handing out lollipops. Most everyone threw their trash on the ground, and I gave Samuel a trash bag and had him take it out to everyone and ask them to pick up their wrappers--I rewarded him with two more lollipops. Later, when we were handing out toys to the kids, he followed us and picked out the toy he wanted and I told him I would hold it for him but he had to wait until it was his turn. Patiently, he waited until everyone had their own toy and then came to get his.

After the lollipops, the kids blew bubbles for everyone. Bubbles are a novelty there so everyone enjoyed them.

Then, while we were getting lunch ready Katie, Scotia, Emmie and Alisa set up a tattoo booth and put tattoos on the kids.


Mark started a soccer game with some of the little kids. He was hoping to find a little girl dressed in the traditional attire that he could take home.


My little brother Seth and another little down syndrome baby. This little baby is really 13 mths, he needs heart surgery so that he can start to grow.

Right before we served lunch we handed out gifts. We had quite a few toys and stuffed animals that people had sent down to hand out. (I had brought down a suitcase full of puppies and pillow pets that a donor had mailed to me.)

We gave all the babies these little hats and mittens that some young women had knitted.

I was so proud of my kids for how generous they were being. I want so badly to teach them charity without pity (not judging). I know they are not there yet when Katie makes sweeping comments like, "everyone in Guatemala is really poor and doesn't have food" (meaning I am doing a bad job of teaching her), but they did a pretty good job of acting as Christ would while we were there.

Guatemala-Part 1

2012-01-28T07:20:00.000-08:00

We stole Mark for a week and flew to Guatemala (if you don't know why the heck we would go there, stay tuned for the next post). Our adventure began bright and early--we pulled the kids from their beds at 5 am. Addy was not happy, Marcus was confused but Katie jumped from her bed ready to get this started.

Last time we flew was right before M & A's 2nd birthday and we were too cheap to buy a 4th or 5th seat, so having 5 seats this time almost felt like we were sitting in first class. The first flight was short and easy, but as we were pulling out of Atlanta, the plane filled with a terrible smell. They left us sittting there for a while and then told us the plane wasn't safe to fly. Luckily, they found another plain pretty quickly so we were only two hrs behind schedule.

After we arrived and got out of the airport I had our shuttle driver take us to the LDS church office building where the president of my mission in Venezuela is in the area presidency. It was so great to see him.

President Martino holding Marcus

We stayed for a little bit to catch up. We finally left because the kids where acting like little hoolagins. Then we headed to Antigua where we had the cutest little hotel. We dropped our bags off and went to find something to eat. It was dark at this point, so we stopped at the first decent place we saw. We ate outside with candles and lanterns for light. (The place did have a swing set with a slide, but when the kids started to play on it, it looked like it was going to snap in half.) About half way through the meal Addy starts crying about how tired she is and how she just wants to go to bed so we head back to the hotel. We were supposed to have two king beds in our room--but it was two small double beds and a cot so Mark and I each slept with one of the kids. We both woke up to kids stroking our faces--not cool in the middle of the night or at 6 am. (The next night all three went sideways in one bed and we each had our own bed.)

After a yummy breakfast we set out to explore Antigua.

We went to the market first. I could look at all the different Guatemala arts and wares all day. The kids liked it for the first 15 shops, but then they got bored. There were some fountains in the middle of the market and a Christmas tree, so it gave them something to do.

I got a great bowl and we let the kids pick out one thing each. Katie and Addy couldn't decide but Marcus knew right away he wanted one of the 'guitars'. After he picked out his, Katie and then Addy both wanted the same thing. Right around this time, the kids were starting to lose it so we went to lunch and then back to the hotel.

The kids in front of our room door--notice one of the guitars.

After laying around with the kids for a couple hours we headed back out to explore. The city is all cobble stone streets and ancient buildings. We explored some of their old churches with their statues of Christ and other scenes from the Bible and history. We spent a lot of time on one street where all the artists sit and paint. There was one group of a father and his four sons all playing different instruments. Marcus did not want to leave them--he is really into music and instruments. We let the kids give them a tip.

There was another street performer on a unicycle who was juggling fire. The kids were pretty impressed with him as well.

Finally we went to dinner. The food we ate in Guatemala was delicious. The last couple times we have gone to Guatemala we have gotten a stomach bug/thing. So this time we avoided the authentic places (the last thing we wanted was 3 sick kids), and ate at all the places Europeans or American's had opened there. Everything was healthy and fresh. The kids were really excited about this place because the kid's menu included ice cream--it doesn't get better then that!

Sunday morning we got up and went to church. I can't sing, but I LOVE singing hymns in Spanish.

We left after the first hour since I was the only one who spoke the language. We went back to the hotel to pack up and then headed out to eat and take a final walk in Antigua.

M & A had brought their class friend, Ribbit, to Guatemala with us, so we had to snap a picture of him in our hotel courtyard.

After lunch we met Jorge our trusted shuttle driver at the hotel to head out to Panajachel. My parents just bought a place near where our programs are and we stayed in a house near theirs. There were no car seats in the van, so much to my kids delight, they were able to ride like the "big kids" with just seat belts. It took a couple hours to get there from Antigua. We stopped by Casa de Sion on the way to our house to pick up my parents van (which my kids loved even more because there were NO seat belts). Our house was pretty nice, it was located in a nice community with gorgeous views of Lake Atitlan. Our house was a short walk to my parent's house. We had three bedrooms but all the kids wanted to sleep together so we moved one of mattresses into the other room so they would all fit. It was one big slumber party for the week. At night Marcus would pull out his guitar and sing us 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'.

Monday morning we drove into Panajachel to hang out. There is the greatest market there--at this point the kids are so sick of the markets because we keep telling them to "be careful" and "don't touch that". Mark and I decide we will have to come back without them. We walked down to the lake to see the boats. There were some kids jumping in, which Marcus would have stayed and watched all day. We rode a tuk-tuk (I don't think a got a picture this time, but if you want to see what they look like, click here. They were the kids favorite thing in both Antigua and Pana) We ate at a delicious restaurant there, I had the best chow mein ever.

That night we took a walk around the neighborhood to check out some of the houses. We ended up at my parents house right as they pulled up. The kids were so happy to be with all my siblings again.

On Tues we got up and headed to be with the 'cool people". The kids quickly left Mark and I to hang with their aunts and uncles. My parents set me to work translating on all the house work they needed done (we never learned construction terminology in the mission). Mark sat out in the sun all morning reading, and ended up with about 200 bug bites all over his legs (last time he got pink eye while we were in Guatemala). For dinner we went to Pana again with everyone. After that whenever Mark and I went into Pana, we left the kids at my parents house. The kids where happier and of course so where Mark and I. Marcus loved being with Juana because she would make him homemade tortillas with honey and fresh squeezed juices. Juana is such a tiny little thing, when Marcus gives her a hug he comes up to her waist. The kids spent their time playing with my brothers and sister and going on walks with Grandma and Grandpa. One time I checked on Katie and found her climbing a rock wall using the vines on the front of it like ropes. It was pretty high, the height of one story of the house, I would have been scared for her if I wasn't so proud.

Addy falling asleep in the van on the ride home from Pana.

Friday morning we got up early and headed to Pana. There we met Juan and his boat. He took us first across Lake Atitlan to 'The Posada', a fabulous restaurant that my parents love, where we had a very yummy brunch with fresh squeezed orange juice (we had some sort of fresh squeezed juice whereever we ate the whole week).

Katie and Gabby

Seth, Scotia, Addy, Gabby, Kaite and Caleb. They were so excited to sit in the front of the boat. Notice the volcano in the background, it is one of the three around the lake.

Marcus finally got up the nerve to join the kids up front.

After eating we took a tuk-tuk to the market in Santiago, where people got really excited to see so many Americans step into their booths. We let the kids pick out one thing each. Addy got a notebook covered in Guatemala fabric, Katie picked little dolls about the size of her fingers--moms and babies, and Marcus found a miniature Guatemalan bus, complete with baskets on top of it. There was one shop that had these great candle holders that Mark and I had been looking for, but the lady wouldn't go down cheap enough and was being a little stinker (I think bc there were so many of us--and we had to be rich bc we were Americans), so I walked away annoyed. Mark went back and bought them anyway because he knew I really wanted them, and he reminded me it was only the difference of $4. I was annoyed at him for giving in until we got home and they looked perfect in our bathroom.

After the market the boat took us to Cerro de Oro where my parents used to have the orphanage. We were checking out a feeding program there. It was a beautiful boat ride.

When we got back to Pana we passed a booth where they braided a bracelet type thing in your hair. I had promised Katie that she could do this, so we got one braided in her hair while everyone else left to run an errand. While we were waiting for them to come back, Katie and I were sitting by the road playing with her new dolls, and a little girl came up to us and asked if she could put one in Katie's hair. There are a lot of people in Guatemala who come up to you and beg you to buy their product, as much as I wish I could give everyone all the money they need to have the kind of life they deserve, I can't, but I can never say no to a kid so Katie got two braids. This little girl couldn't have been older then 10yrs old.

That night after dinner we said goodbye to my family and Juana. The new Guatemalan president was being sworn in on Sat so we had to get to the airport super early so that we didn't hit a traffic jam. We left bright and early. On the way to the airport poor Katie got carsick and threw up. I had only saved out one clean warm outfit for each kid for that travel day, poor Katie had to change into dirty, not warm, clothes.

We got to the airport 5 hours early. President Martino and Sister Martino came to the airport to see us off. It was so great to see Sister Martino! After they left we grabbed lunch and put on a movie for the kids. The kids were angels all day; for the 4 hr flight, for immigration and customs, for dinner and the 3 hour layover in Atlanta, and for the 45 min flight to Charlotte. They fell asleep on the plane to Charlotte and when we arrived at 11 pm they all woke up SCREAMING. Somehow we made it through getting bags and the car and waiting in the cold with not enough clothing on. We got them home and to bed...and woke them back up the next morning at 8:30 to get to church by 9:00.

Welcome Home!
I miss the warm weather, and vacation.

Christmas

2012-01-20T19:50:00.000-08:00

Warning: this is going to be another long post that is going to span a whole month.

We left the beach on the Friday after Thanksgiving so that we would have the weekend at our house. Mark had been working so much that he really just wanted to sit in our house and relax. We spent that weekend getting ready for Christmas. We actually put lights up outside for the first time, which made us so cool in Katie's eyes. (Of course our bachelor neighbors showed us up by having a blowup Santa, Frosty and thousands of lights, some of which blinked.)

Mark was super busy with work most of the month of Dec so I wasn't able to drag him on all of our Christmas activities.

Marcus and Addy had a Christmas party at their school. They were supposed to sing a couple of songs for us. Marcus ended up on my lap before his class got up on stage. And Addy spent 1/2 the song looking at something and then all the sudden looked up and realized the song was going on without her.


On stage

Trying to talk Santa into bringing her candy

We went to the Billy Graham library where they had carriage rides and a live nativity. They also had caroling and story time. The kids were so excited about the horses. They kept pointing out the ones they wanted to pull our carriage while we were waiting in line. The ride was a little short for the money I paid for it, but the kids didn't seem to notice. They were just upset that they weren't allowed to pet the horses. After the carriage ride we headed to the live nativity. Katie was so excited for this. I'm not sure if she thought she was going to get to see the real Mary or not. She was really disappointed that they did not have a real baby in the manger in the 35/40 degree weather. I was just proud of myself for handling three kids by myself in a relatively large crowd of people.

Katie took this picture of the nativity

My kids are obsessed with Baby Jesus, mostly Katie, so we finally got a child proof nativity. The kids LOVE it. They played with it everyday. We want our kids to enjoy Santa and all the commercial stuff that comes with Christmas, but we try hard to make sure they understand the reason we celebrate Christmas. Baby Jesus and his birthday came up everyday during the month of December. Our set came with two angels, Marcus was really excited and always wanted to be an angel when he played. He felt very justified in his claim when I told him that the Angel Gabriel was a boy. (He put on the white tutu and angel wings a lot more after that.)

The week before Christmas, the kids and I met Mark at his work. They have bears that sing Christmas carols. Marcus fell asleep in the car on the (short) drive and that always puts him in an interesting mood for doing things. He hung out in Mark's arms most the time, and watched from the side; but, Katie and Addy joined the line of kids on the fence front and center.

After we walked around and visited a child size gingerbread house. It wasn't nearly as cool as it could have been. It didn't have any candy or fun colors on it (it was made out of real 'organic' stuff) my kids could have done a better job, AND it got the kids all dirty when they leaned against it for a picture.

The weather was amazing so after getting some dinner we walked around outside and looked at all the lights.

After that the real fun started. My sister Jenn and hubby Ryan and 4 kids were in FL for a medical rotation so they came to spend Christmas with us. They arrived late Friday night.

Things got crazy fast with a 2-yr old and 3-3yr olds, not to mention the silly 5, 7 and 8 yr old girls. Christmas Eve we all gathered at Sarah's house and my parents came down for a brunch. The kids had a blast all running around crazy.

Marcus, Max, Will and Sam


Gabby, Talia and Addy

Katie was busy running around with the big girls so Addy got some alone time with Gabby and Talia. As the youngest granddaughter she was thrilled to be fully included. After food and play time, we opened some presents.

Katie had the bright idea to make Santa some cinnamon rolls this year. She thought that he might be sick of cookies and like a change...I think she was right, because they were all gone in the morning.

Mark reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'

The next morning was pure craziness!

Addy really liked her present from Marcus

Katie made Addy this little nativity set from toilet paper rolls--all by herself.

My gift from Katie

Christmas morning after presents and cinnamon rolls we went to church.

Mark made us smoked pork for Christmas dinner, so other then some cooking we spent the day relaxing and trying to ignore the noise of 7 kids enjoying all their toys.

The Swapp family left Monday morning. We were so sad to see them go, but for the kids the fun was not about to end...Grammy and Grandpa showed up Tuesday night. I came down with a terrible cold, so for me most of their visit is a haze, but the kids had a blast. Of course they were spoiled rotten; they opened more presents, they went to a movie-complete with popcorn and soda, they went out to eat, and they had someone to play with all day.

Thankgiving and everything else...

2012-01-15T19:11:00.000-08:00

So I am kinda stinking at this blogging thing lately. But I feel like I don't have enough time for anything and I would rather hang out with my kids then blog about them, so...

Nov came and went and we were super busy. We pulled Marcus and Addy out of soccer bc they were not playing (everyone really harassed me about it--hinting that if I don't teach them now to follow thru then they will never learn--seriously! They are 3 yrs old!)

Katie did great. She loved soccer and really pushed herself to progress. She didn't score any goals this year, but she really went after the ball, and wasn't afraid to hip check if needed (and she was the smallest kid on the team). We are thinking in Spring she can be the goal scoring machine.

Addy cheering Katie on

Then Uncle John when on a mission-Oklahoma City here comes a Dalia!
We are so proud of him. We met the family in Raleigh to go to the temple with him and then had a big family dinner. It was a good thing we all went bc the kids were all sick the weekend of his farewell so I made the trek to the mountains by myself.

Katie had a speaking part in the primary (kids) program. She memorized it with no effort and spoke up when she said it at church in front of everyone. The funniest part was Addy...she was around while we where practicing, I would have Katie read her part and then tell her to say it without looking. Later I overheard Addy saying the part to herself, seriously word for word. When I walked in on her and told her good job, she said, "and mom I can say it without looking" and covered her eyes and repeated the part.

Mark turned the big 30--yeah, we love him! We got him an ice cream cake, it was the twins idea, I tried to talk them into one for their birthday but they insisted on a cake and cupcakes. But, when Mark's birthday rolled around they would not let an ice cream cake go.

I didn't think it was as good as I remembered but the kids sure liked it.

Katie learned all about Thanksgiving at school. She dyed her own Native American costume and made a headdress and necklace. She told me all about everything that happened on the first Thanksgiving. The preschool version is so pleasant.

Anyway...

We spent Thanksgiving this year with my family on Dufuskie Island. In my mind it was a hassle to get there (I think I was the only complainer) but once we arrived it was well worth it. I arrived Monday with the kids and Mark came down Weds with my brother Joey and his family.

Rest stop on the way down

We drove a few hours from Charlotte and parked the car and then took a ferry to the island. The kids were so excited to ride a boat. To top it off, my brother Tripp and family were on the ferry with us, so the cousins were excited to see each other. (And Hannah came with me so that she could help me keep the kids from falling overboard.) On the trip to the island we were joined by dolphins swimming and jumping alongside the boat. I don't think it could have gotten any better.

We were met at the docks by Scotia, Bryan and Caleb on golf carts to take us to the house. As I was walking down the ramp pushing the stroller of bags, Katie's backpack rolled off and into the water. All of the workers on the dock stared at it, no one did anything...I seriously thought they were going to make me jump in as I watched it starting to sink. Finally, some guy got a hook and rescued it right before it went under.

The kids disappeared within mins of walking into the house full of their cousins and aunt and uncles.

The first two days there the weather was amazing. The kids played in the water in their bathing suits (I was a slacker and didn't take any pictures of this). The island had some really cool tide patterns so there were times when we had a ginormous beach to walk on. There were also dolphins everywhere. On Wed when Mark got there, Marcus and I took him down to the beach and the dolphins where swimming as far out as the kids had been playing the day before.

When Mark arrived the weather cooled downed a little but it was still warm enough to enjoy the beach.

Hannah, Me, Addy and Marcus

One day we took Marcus and Addy (Katie was with cooler people) out on the golf cart for a ride. We ended up on a golf course that was closed for the season. There just happened to be a golf club and a golf ball in the cart. We had a great time hitting the ball around, until Mark decided to show us how strong he was and hit the ball into the pond, that was the end of our illegal fun.

(Let me just insert here how much I hate blogger sometimes, it just deleted a whole paragraph for no reason, and while I am complaining, I will just add that the reason it has taken me so long to get this post and the future ones out is because it took me 3 tries to get these stinken pictures on.)

Thanksgiving day was great, we all made something, so there was lots of good food. It was a little interesting though because we were on an island with no grocery store so there was some creative substituting going on to make up for the ingredients we forgot.

Katie brought her Native American costume to show everyone. She was so excited but when it came time to be the center of attention she got suddenly shy.

some of the grandkids and younger siblings

The greatest part of the trip was that Marcus had boys to play with the entire time. There were no tutus (not that we brought any to the beach anyway) or princess crowns (those either); just pure sticks, cars, balls, jumping from couch to coffee table to couch, and pool table and pool sticks (I wonder if anyone will be able to actually play on that table again).

There were some really cool tree stumps and roots on the beach, so our last day we took some family pictures. If we had planned ahead a little we would have done it with better light. Oh well, thanks anyways Chris for taking them.

Carson and Katie

Oh and did I mention that we got to spend so much time with Mark that we almost forgot that he works a job that is always trying to steal him away.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-06T19:30:00.000-08:00

Halloween this year was a little rushed...and not so organized. Ok, ok I am never really on top of things, but with the move this year I am still feeling so far behind.

A week or so before Halloween the kids painted the pumpkins from their farm trips.

Then there were parties at both schools that I was able to attend with the kids.

Marcus wouldn't put on his costume and I didn't have Addy's yet-so she went as a ballerina

We went to a Halloween party at a friend's house.

A couple weeks ago I was at the grocery store with the kids. We saw this ginormous pumpkin and the kids asked if we could buy it. I put it in the cart and all three kids stopped talking they were so surprised, I guess I tell them 'no' too much.

Big strong Daddy

Katie was the only one who wasn't grossed out by the seeds. Addy's and Marcus' faces were so funny.

The kids think Mark is so cool because he can carve a pumpkin. He went into Katie's school this year and carved the pumpkin for her class. Katie was so proud. (If you noticed that Katie has on different clothes in the final picture it is because the poor girl got sick in the middle of everything. She was so concerned about still being sick on Halloween.)

(Halloween shirts)

And now,

the cuteness we have all been waiting for...

the cheerleader, the princess and spider man

Katie asked me to dress up this year, it was last minute but the kids were so excited when I said I would. Next year we will talk Mark into joining the crowd.

Mark came home early to go trick or treating with us!!!

Marcus was the trick or treating pro this year. He was running from door to door. I did have to bribe him to get the costume on, but once he realized that people were giving him candy because he had it on, he stopped whining about it. We brought some extra bags to empty the kids candy into and Katie and Addy gladly lightened their load, but Marcus refused to let us touch his candy. He would not even let us help him carry his pumpkin. By the end of the night he was almost dragging it because it was so heavy. But the only way we got him home is because he couldn't carry it anymore (and because we told him he could eat some).

The only thing better then getting candy for free is counting and eating it!

Mi vida

2011-10-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

Some random moments in our life . . .

Last week when I dropped the kids off at school everyone was standing in the hallway with lunchboxes in hand. When I tried to walk Marcus and Addy to their classrooms everyone looked at me expectantly, like I was doing something wrong, I was so confused. Long story short, it was field trip day. They had sent the notice home, but somehow that notice missed Marcus and Addy's bags. I had a long list of things I needed to get done that day but decided to go with the kids on their field trip instead. They were going to a farm for some fall fun. There were some fun animals to look at, a wagon ride, and a pumpkin patch. They had these great slides that the kids (and I) had a blast going down.

one of the slides

They told the kids they could each pick one pumpkin, so Marcus loaded his bag with as many as it would hold.

We are all settled in our house and are really enjoying our neighborhood. One of the reasons I love this neighborhood is because we are within walking distance to the local YMCA. It is like a big family, within days of joining they knew all of our names. They have great childcare where I can drop the kids off to workout. I put all three kids in soccer this year. I think it might have been a mistake to put Marcus and Addy in. They are stinkers during practice--they keep distracting each other. It doesn't help that they don't quite understand that the objective is to take the soccer ball from other kids and then kick it towards the goal. They keep getting mad when someone takes the ball from them. Addy did score a goal during a scrimmage at one point. We have high hopes for next year.

Katie on the other hand is doing awesome. She is a feisty little thing on the field and isn't afraid to get in there and get the ball.

Another thing we have been enjoying is the weather (it is perfect) and the park across the street. Everyone hangs out there after school, so we have met all sorts of friends. Marcus has been practicing on his new bike and is doing pretty well.

Katie has been bugging me to cut her hair short so we finally got to a salon and (against Mark's wishes) chopped it all off. Katie was so excited, and it didn't take Mark long to come around to her new short-haired cuteness.

Katie and Addy doing their most favorite thing, coloring and drawing. Katie has started writing stories and drawing pictures of everything we do.

Katie had a birthday party to go to so Marcus and Addy and I decided to have a little fun, we went to Earth Fare and ate dinner. The kids were so excited to push the little carts through the store. We put our food in them and went outside to eat.

If they look a little crazy in the picture...they are. Marcus and Addy have so much fun together, they are so hyper together and totally feed off of each other. Of course when you add Katie to the mix I feel like I am loosing my mind.

No more babies...

2011-09-26T05:27:00.000-07:00

So we are officially in a house without babies (although there still seems to be plenty of crying going on). Addy and Marcus turned 3 last Friday. So weird!

My sisters went to the beach for a week and invited us to join them. We went for two nights, coming home Friday afternoon so the twins could be with Mark on their birthday. It was a lot of fun.

We got to the beach and the kids wanted to immediately get in the water like we did in May. They were not happy about having to haul everything up to our room and change into swimsuits. But then Talia showed up so they stopped complaining--cousins fix everything. We went swimming in one of the hotel pools and then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening on the beach.

Thursday was a beautiful day. Everyone in our little group spent the day on the beach. Katie and I jumped some waves; Marcus and I built some sand castles (safely away from the waves) and Addy did a little of both. Mostly they just played with cousins and I just gossiped with my sisters.

Both nights the kids got to stay up late to go out to dinner with everyone.

Chris, Adam, Will, Marcus, Cooper, Addy, Carson, Flossie, Katie, Talia and Sarah

Thurs night, after dinner we hit up Krispy Kreme. The line was long and we didn't get back to the hotel until late, but obviously the kids really enjoyed the donuts.

Katie and Talia

Friday was a wet and cold day, but a great day to have a birthday! With our room we got a fabulous breakfast where we could eat whatever we wanted. Friday morning Marcus and Addy had a little of everything; french toast, fruit, yogurt, bacon, bagels--you get the idea.

We spent the morning hanging out at the indoor pools and hottubs and then packed up to head home.

Katie's school was having a kids concert and dinner and we thought that would be a fun way to celebrate turning three. We met Mark there and danced the night away.

(That night as I was getting Addy out of the car to go to bed she said to me, "Hey! you didn't make me a cake!" It was so accusatory in her cute little voice, like I was trying to pull something over on her.)

Saturday we partied!

We opened presents and ate.

Addy wanted cake, Marcus wanted cupcakes, I made both.

Happy Birthday Marcus and Addy! I can't believe it's been three whole years.

1 step forward and 2 steps back...

2011-09-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

Warning this post is going to have some major complaining in it...

Since we moved in 6 weeks ago (the date on this post should be 9/13--I don't love how blogger has changed things)--I have been dealing with contractors. Every time one came out to fix something, another thing would come up.

The first thing we had to do when we moved in was get our kitchen fixed. Our builder had his drunk uncle install our IKEA kitchen cabinets--seriously he was drunk. He did almost everything wrong. We kept asking our builder to fix and he wouldn't. We finally stopped asking and decided to have an IKEA crew come in and do it themselves so that it was done right. The IKEA guys said it was the worst job they had ever seen. They had to spend two whole days fixing what we thought would be a 4 hour job. Luckily, the IKEA crew was able to fix everything and now the kitchen looks fantastic.

We didn't have gas for the first month. It was hooked up twice, but both times there was a leak and we had to have it turned off. Do you know how hard it is to make spaghetti without a stove top!

Mark was unpacking one of our closets and found the carpet wet...there had been a leak somewhere since we moved in. Five holes in the wall later the plumber finally found the problem. The builder had nailed the laundry room shelves into one of the pipes. Luckily we caught it when we did and two weeks later it was finally patched up (thank goodness for our warranty).

We had the electrician come out to fix the motion sensor light. Within 20 mins of leaving 1/2 the lights in the house were not working. We had to watch the first BYU game using an extension cord from the garage.

Now before you think we got a bad house--like Mark and I have started to wonder--our house is beautiful and we got it for a great price, so we are dealing with the crap.

On a brighter note...

The kids summer ended with a bang. First, they had music camp.

It went Monday-Thurs. It took place the first full week we were in our new house, so it was perfect timing, I was able to unpack and deal with contractors without kids underfoot. Thursday night they put on a concert for us. Poor Katie got stuck in the back so it was really hard to see her. Addy was SUPER animated and dancing and singing--so cute. And Marcus got on stage (unlike a couple other kids) but he sat down, at one point he saw me and became brave enough to stand up.

Right before school started Hannah came down to stay with the kids so Mark and I could escape to NYC for a long weekend for our 7th anniversary. With all the stress of the house going on we didn't get to plan anything ahead of time and packed 20 mins before we left for the airport. And Hannah didn't have any gas in the house. But she and the kids survived and the trip was amazing.

Statue of Liberty in the background.

We stayed at a new European style hotel a short walk from Times Square. We spent tons of time walking around and of course eating.

We saw one of my mission friends, Heather, and her kids and we met Mark's cousin Berkelee and her husband for lunch, we went and saw the Addam's family broadway, we braved China Town to get a new purse (you actually feel like you are breaking the law when you buy something there now--when everyone started running Mark got a little nervous about getting disbarred. He warned me that if the police came he was gone, but that he would come bail me out.) We didn't take a lot of pictures because we were having to much fun to document it and because it is New York and we have seen it all so many times before.

When we got back we closed on the house, but that did not stop the problems from happening, we continued to deal with crap until mid Sept.

Marcus and Addy started preschool the beginning of Sept. They are going 3 days a week. (I tried them in separate classrooms for the first couple weeks but I didn't feel like it was going well for Marcus and just had them moved back to the same room. Hopefully Marcus will start loving preschool again.) Katie didn't have school that day so we had a special day. We looked for furniture, got our nails done and went to eat bagels. Everything was Katie's choice (except for the furniture shopping, she could have done without that).

Katie requested one of these pictures that we take ourselves. She thinks it is so cool.

So the last big "thing" we have had to deal with since moving in is Katie's school. One of the reasons we chose (and stuck it out with) this house is because there is a great school 5 houses down the street. Our school district is not the greatest and the closer to the city you get, the harder it is to find a good public school. This school accepts kids based on a lottery, which we applied for, but we had to apply with our old address and after some appeals still did not get in. We looked at some other options, the local public school, private schools, charter schools, etc. But long story short we want all the kids in this school and because we now live in what they consider the priority zone we should get in. The other problem we were facing is that it is hard to get into the school in any grade other than kindergarten. So we found a transitional kindergarten M-F in the mornings for Katie and will apply to this school next year with Katie as a kindergartener. I may or may not push for them to move Katie into first grade after she gets in, but that is a whole other blog post. I was very upset and negative about the school issue in the beginning, but it has turned out to be the greatest thing. Katie's school is in the city, one block from Mark's work. She rides to work with him and he walks her to school every morning. A few times he has needed to go in a few mins early, so Katie hangs out in his office until it is time to take her to school, Katie has Mark's secretary print out Hello Kitty pictures for her to color and has free reign of his tape and stapler. Both Mark and Katie are in heaven. It takes me a little longer for me to grab the kids since I pick up from two schools, but it is not too bad. And at least my little 5 year old is not in school from 9am-4pm every day.

First day of TK

All in all, we love the house and the move. We love our neighborhood. Mark is only 5 mins from work (15 mins door to door) so he has been around more. Our house is super cute and we are now done with contractors (fingers crossed) and we are enjoying the decorating and shopping aspects that come with a new house.

Up next - the yard.

B's wedding

2011-09-12T17:31:00.000-07:00

After being in our house for 5 days, we packed up and headed to DC for my little sister's, Bethany, wedding. It was a little difficult finding everything, I had packed with the intention of unpacking the next day, so I had not pulled all the wedding clothes. We were able to find everything we HAD to have. We spent Friday morning getting a few boxes unpacked and then we piled in the car.

Our first stop was in Richmond, VA where the groom's parents hosted an open house (they were leaving directly after the wedding to go on their honeymoon). Most of the cousins were there and everyone was so excited to see each other.

After the open house we drove to DC, despite Mark's bad attitude (he was mad at Bethany and Eric for getting married in a city with lots of traffic; he has that right you know to tell people where they should get married) it was uneventful and there was minimal traffic. We stayed in a great hotel close to the mall. My whole family was staying in the same hotel, which is always an adventure.

Sat morning was the big moment.

The bride was beautiful and my kids were cute.

Bethany and Eric decided not to have a reception, and just do a family lunch. So after the temple and pictures we all headed to a great Italian restaurant.

All the grandkids and my youngest siblings

This is just my side of the family!

Bethany and Eric

After the luncheon, we headed back to see some of DC. That night we went to the Natural History and Air and Space museums. The next morning we went to the Zoo. During and in between all of this the kids played with their cousins. Marcus and Max (Jenn's son) became best friends (it started off with the love of trains, Max had an oldschool movie on trains that he was watching at the luncheon, every single little boy was squeezed around his little DVD player trying to see).

Carson, Talia, Katie and Addy at the museum

Marcus and Max being silly in the car

The Adventure...

2011-09-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

As we watched our stuff being loaded into the moving truck and going to...STORAGE, Mark and I were both on the verge of a mental breakdown. This has all been too much for us, but we were trying to stay positive for the kids. We called it an "Adventure", Katie was so excited.

The kids hung out with our neighbors while Mark and I finished packing and directed the movers.

The kids with John our neighbor, they helped him "move" everything from his room to the steps, they even packed it in boxes.

Then around dinner time the kids and I got in the car and headed to a friend's house for dinner, leaving Mark to deal with everything else. After dinner we drove to my cousin's studio apt. She lives about 15 mins from the house we are building. Ashley has two kids, a daughter a couple months younger then Katie and a son a month younger then the twins. Needless to say, all the kids were super excited about living so close to each other. Bennet asked if we could stay forever. (please no)

Getting stuff to storage took longer then we expected so Mark ended up sleeping at the old place (technically he was squatting, but he was gone in the early morning so no one ever knew). I spent that night on a tile floor while all the kids slept together in the bed. I think that night set the tone for the week.

The first day we went to the Discovery Place and met Mark for lunch.

Addy on a bed of nails.

That afternoon the kids took a nap, and I did paperwork on the tile floor of the bathroom. Tuesday we met Bethany and Hannah for a day at Sarah's pool. Addy started swimming by herself while we were there. She was so proud of herself. Because she had been practicing the moves from her float all summer she could instantly swim as well as Marcus and Katie. She had been afraid to jump in the pool before, but once she realized she could swim, she realized she could jump in--it got a little crazy with all three of my kids trying to swim independantly.

Wednesday we went wedding lace shopping with Bethany. And Thursday we met Hannah (she was babysitting Talia and Will) at the Nature Museum and then went to the mall. Every night the kids would play with Bennett and Miller when they got home.

At night we had Addy and Katie sleeping on our Love Sac (a big bean bag for those non-Utah people) and Marcus slept on his old crib mattress. Mark got home late every night that week so I would watch Roswell on my laptop with my earphones in while the kids slept.

I don't think I officially lost it until Thursday. But our dag-blasted builder was taking his sweet time on everything and it was looking like it would never going to be finished.

Friday morning I left with the kids and went to my parents house. Sat was Bethany's bridal shower. The kids had a blast, but I was losing my mind. Mark and I looked at short term rentals, but none seemed to work out or be a good idea. Friday afternoon the electricity went on in the house. So Mark and I decided we were moving in--like it or not Mr Builder. (He has told us we could move in before we closed, and we had already signed a lease, but then he kept pushing back the actual move-in date, yet NOTHING was really being done at the house. We figured it would get done faster if I was in the house to "push" people.)

My mom offered to watch the kids so Sunday morning after church I drove to Charlotte to help Mark move in. When I arrived the house was a construction zone. I spent the day cleaning, etc trying to make it livable for the kids. At this point everything was working except the gas and a few odds and ends with plumbing and electric. That night we moved in. My mom kept the kids until Tuesday morning, and my sister Flossie brought them to me. I spent those day stressing out and trying to get things together. The kids spent those days sliding down homemade slip'n'slides (read more about this here-lol-http://ericandbethy.blogspot.com/2011/07/ghetto-water-slide.html/) and playing with animals. The cat even had kittens while they were there. It truly was an "adventure" for the kids--they loved every sec of it.

Homeless...

2011-07-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

So, yes, we are homeless.

Thank you to all the kind people that offered their homes to us, I wish I could come stay with you. Mark wants me to stick around to harass the builders, although at this point I am on the verge of doing more then that.

We had to be out of our rental Sunday. Saturday Mark and I stopped by the new place and realized there was no way we could move in, that night nor the next day. We thought it would be just a day or two thing so we moved into my cousin's studio apt over her garage. Don't get me wrong, I love my cousin and am so grateful that she moved her brother's girlfriend who was staying here into the house for us; and I am so grateful to have a place to stay for free. But there is something to be said about doors.

So anyway, as each day goes on, it is still going to be another day or two before we can move in...

I don't know what we are going to do, I am trying to have a good attitude, but it seems to have escaped me at times.

Addy summed it up best; when we got here, after a long day of moving she just sat on the bed and started crying and said "I just want to go home." If only we had a home to go to.

Limbo

2011-07-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

So, building a house is not all it is cracked up to be. The house was supposed to be done in June. Our current landlord is making us leave at the end of this week, and we don't know if we have a place to go or not. As of Sat our house had not passed final inspection, did not have carpet or appliances OR electricity. But, we have movers for this Saturday, so we have started packing and things are getting a little chaotic around here. We are trying to keep things as normal as possible for the kids.

I let Katie make dinner last week, she was so excited. She studied her cookbook (thanks cousin Ella) and decided she was going to make bagel faces and a chocolate/banana shake. We made a list and hit the grocery store. She did everything herself (except for cutting with the sharp knife and getting the bagels out of the toaster). Addy and Katie had so much fun making the faces. And, Katie was so proud of herself.

Marcus was just focused on drinking his chocolate shake.

After dinner the kids had a little water party.

Addy didn't join in, she just wanted to do my hair. Her new thing is to play with my hair and try to put it in ponytails. She does it in church and distracts everyone one around us (because she is so cute).

And, just a cute picture, I caught Marcus by surprise, I love that my kids love books so much.

Now the big question is...are we going to be homeless this weekend?

The summer of 2011

2011-07-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

We are a having the ultimate STAY-cation this summer. We have been taking full advantage of everything around us. We go to the pool almost every day. I'm not sure I will ever be able to post pictures of this because it is almost always just me and the kids. Marcus and Katie can swim almost the width of the pool. They run and jump in, and can get things off the bottom. Addy is the master of her float. The first couple weeks of the pool she wouldn't let me put her down, now she won't let me hold her. She wants to do her own thing and goes all over the pool in her float.

We spend plenty of time outside riding bikes and playing with the neighbors. We hike some, but not that much lately since it gets hot so early here. We have gone to some of the kid museums here in Charlotte. We have also been enjoying the free movies at the local theater every week. As crazy as my life is with 3 kids so close in age, it is nice that they all love to do the same thing at the same time.

We had Talia and Will spend one night with us, Katie was so excited to have a sleepover.

At the end of June Katie had an adventure camp at the Nature Preserve near us. She loved everyday. She learned about a different type of animal everyday. On the day she learned about fish, they sent her home with a gold fish. She was so happy, she named it Princess Fish and carried her everywhere (in the jar they gave her). She cried so hard when her fish died the next day.

The week that Katie was at camp, Marcus and Addy got a little bored...I bribed them with taking them to the movies with their friends. My neighbor joined us with her son John, Marcus' best bud, and we brought Addy's favorite friend, Kate. It was very entertaining to watch a movie with 4 three year olds.

Marcus and John

The crowning moment so far this summer has been Katie's birthday. There has been a countdown going on for the past month (we are now counting down until Sept for the twins birthday). We spent the week before Katie's birthday celebrating--we tried to do something special each day. We had a "mixed up day" where we ate dinner at lunch and then a picnic lunch for dinner at the pool so we could swim all evening. We went for ice cream. We went to a movie. On Friday we went to the park and then on a hike. We ended up at the lake because the kids wanted to throw rocks in.

It started with this...Katie went in to get some shells and fell...then Marcus joined her.

Then Addy joined them.

And ended with this. A full blown swim fest.

Grammy and Grandpa showed up Friday evening. While we waited for Mark to get home we went to the pool, when we arrived some little girls asked Katie something about Marcus and Addy. I'm not sure what they said, but I heard her say, "Some families are different colors".

Saturday morning was the big day.

Katie started the day with a yummy breakfast then we headed to check out the progress on our house.

For her birthday Katie asked to see Mark's office--his building has so much security that the kids haven't gone up yet.

She got her picture taken and got to wear a name tag

They are using dry erase markers on the window

After lunch complete with ice cream and then nap time we opened presents.

Emmie had this horse while she was at our house, her and Katie played with it everyday. She was pretty excited to get her own horse, she just had to tell Emmie.

Our church always does fireworks the weekend of July 4th. This year it fell on Katie's birthday, she decided the whole thing was for her. We got there around dinner time and spent the evening hanging out with friends.

Talia, Katie and Addy

Katie getting her body painted--she wanted dots all over her arms and face.

Other kids kept jumping in front of Addy so finally I just decided to paint her myself.

Mark and Addy and Charlotte--Charlotte is a twin almost exactly 2 years younger then Addy. She is so cute she almost tempted Mark into wanting another child-almost.

We were at a Native American Reservation in SC--meaning that pretty much anything could go with the fireworks. It was quite the show. Marcus wasn't scared this year, he just said what he always said about noise; "too loud!".

Katie trying to comfort Liam and Charlotte

The next day after church we had cupcakes and sang "happy birthday", my baby is getting so big!

Emmie

2011-06-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

I know I am a total wuss, but I had no idea how hard it was to take care of 1 almost 5 year old and 2 almost 3 year olds (and to try to sneak in a few hours of work). It doesn't help that Mark has been super busy at work. I begged my little sister Emmie to come stay with me for a little while to help out. The kids love their aunts, so they were so happy to have her with us.

We had a lot of fun while she was here. We went swimming everyday. On Friday we went to our favorite spot--the nature preserve and roasted marshmellows and then went on a wagon ride after dark in search of "coyotes and owls" (that's what they said). Really we watched the sunset, and then looked for spider webs. The kids had a little too much fun with flashlights.

Emmie and Katie

Mark with Addy and Marcus on the wagon ride

When Emmie was ready to go home we met Flossie and kids at Tweetsie. Thomas the Train was there and my aunt got us tickets. We got to ride on a train pulled by Thomas. The kids were pretty excited. (Marcus still mentions it at least once a day)

Flossie with Cooper, Addy, Carson, Katie, Emmie, Marcus, Me and Melissa with Jayden (my cousin's wife and son)

After Thomas we headed up the hill to the rides and to have lunch. We were having lots of fun until a major storm came and made us clear out.

Aunt Lianne and Marcus

Me and Cooper

The kids got to each pick out a gift--Marcus picked a Thomas umbrella, Katie got a pink cowgirl hat and Addy got a pink horse.

Emmie headed home with Flossie and I headed back to Charlotte alone with three kids.

Beach

2011-06-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

WARNING: pictures galore

I had one of the greatest weeks of my life. I have been a little too stressed out and I just had a week with almost no stress-- I say almost because I was still with 3 kids.

Mark's sister Rachel flew in to join us for the week. Her and I and the three kids drove to SC to spend the week in a condo on the beach. The drive was only a little over three hours but you would have thought it was 3 days if you saw our reaction when we arrived. We headed straight for the beach.

The kids got thoroughly drenched before we unpacked the car. After we unpacked and found our bathing suits we headed back to the beach.

The next morning we got to the beach early. The kids were angels the first day. They loved everything about the beach. Katie proved to be quite the daredevil having both Rachel and I take her as far out into the waves as we could.

The days quickly became a blur...

I would wake up (Marcus would wake me up) early to read alone (Marcus would watch a show) on the deck, listening to the waves. I even got to go for a run a couple of mornings. The kids and I would go on a walk to find shells and then come back to eat breakfast. Then we would pack up and head to the beach for the day. Our days were filled with playing in the water and the sand, flying kites, looking for shells and snacking. Katie and Addy loved the waves, Marcus was scared, he preferred to play in the water that would pool when the tide went out.

Katie made a friend

After a couple of days on the beach we decided to head into town to find somewhere to eat. We wanted some yummy fish tacos, authentic beach cuisine right? But they were nowhere to be found. After driving around for way too long we ended up at Blackfoot Landing (a boardwalk type area with shops and restaurants). Everyone was tired and hungry when we got there. Marcus had fallen asleep in the car and was not in a good mood when I woke him up, so I had to carry him.

I am trying to deal with all the whining and find a place to eat, we walk around the corner and stumble upon this...

Yes, real live tigers! And they were so close.

They also had baby tigers. The kids were in heaven. You could pay to hold the baby tigers, and there were some people holding them while we were there. Of course Katie started begging me to let her hold them.

We headed back to Blackfoot landing another night to get ice cream and see the tigers again. We stopped to feed the turtles on the way.

When we got to the tigers, the kids headed for the cubs. I had already told Katie that I was not going to pay for her to hold the tigers. But the more we looked the weaker I got. There was also a monkey there that people were getting to hold.

Finally I couldn't handle the cuteness of all the animals anymore (or my daughter's pleading eyes); I knew Marcus would never actually hold the tiger but I wanted to pet it, so I arranged for Addy and Katie to hold it. All of us went in and I held Marcus while Addy and Katie took a picture with the baby tiger. Then we were able to pet the tiger and the monkey. Addy and Katie got to take pictures with the monkey as well (but I didn't want to add $20 to my bill to have one).

(That night and the next day Katie was on a high, she spent a lot of time looking at the picture of her and the tiger. She spent even more time trying to draw the picture above-the picture is of her and Addy holding the tiger.)

Then we went for ice cream.

Our condo had an elevator. The kids fought over who go to push the buttons every time we got on it. One day Rachel took the kids and headed down, I followed them down a few mins later. I am standing in the the hallway and I hear Marcus screaming and Rachel panicking and the alarm button goes on. Finally, the elevator comes back up and Marcus falls in my arms crying. The kids had been fighting and Marcus stuck his had in the door and it shut on his hand. Rachel couldn't get it open and had pushed the panic button. Finally it had opened on its own, poor Marcus was so sad and scared. He was a little more careful on the elevator after that. A couple hours later the police showed up--a follow up call on the alarm button.

Our photo shoot on Rachel's camera.

We had run out of fruit snacks by the time Rachel got in the pictures

The last day at the beach the kids were tired and cranky. We headed down to the beach early to get in a few hours before we left for home. Rachel and I had heard rumors of shark teeth found in the sand and we wanted some. We grabbed our shovels and buckets and started digging. Marcus and Addy started whining and being little stinkers and driving us nuts. Finally, I gave them some juice boxes and sent them away. They started playing a little bit away from us and were finally happy, so I let them be. About a 1/2 hour later I noticed two black women go up to them and start talking to them. I quickly go to where they are to figure out why they are talking to my kids . . . I guess some women down the beach had stopped them as they were walking and told them there were "two little black kids by themselves down the beach, and did they know them and if they did not know them, would they go help them!" Seriously!!! We were no more than 50 ft away from them the whole time. And if these ladies were so worried about the kids why didn't they check on them, instead of sending the first black people they found? The funniest part about it was that when they asked the kids where their mom and dad was, Marcus and Addy said "at work" (cause Mark was) and when they asked them where they lived they pointed towards the condo. It was so funny, and the women were relieved to know that I was their mom, and that they were not stranded kids on the beach.

Anyway, we found our shark teeth and lots of great shells and finally forced ourselves to go home. At least we had Mark at home waiting for us.

House update

2011-06-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

Our house is moving along so quickly. Currently our builder says we are still closing June 30th. Mark has his doubts. Here are some shots of what is going on (these are old according to the date of this blog, but current for the timeline of my post.)

Our shower...

Our paint color...

In other news...

2011-06-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little crazy around here for the past month...since school has ended life has been a blur and I spend too much time with my kids.

My birthday was the Friday before school got out. The kids had the best day ever. First, I took them strawberry picking. It wasn't near as much fun as I remembered as a child. After about 5 mins they all stopped helping me pick (which is probably what I did as a child, and explains why I had such fond memories of berry picking) which left me to pick the rest of the box by myself. At least they played together well and brought me flowers--it was my birthday after all.

At some point some lady asked me if I knew where "their mom" was, pointing to Marcus and Addy. I politely explained to her that they were mine, hence the reason I kept talking to them.

For the kids, the best part of the whole experience was the group of animals the kids were able to pet and feed grass to. They had a pig, a goat, a lamb, a miniature pony and some ducks.

After strawberry picking, I took the kids to the Butterfly Museum for the afternoon.

Then we headed to the pond to feed our leftover lunch to the ducks.

Someday my birthday will be about me again. At least that night I had a hot date, and Mark and I escaped the kids for a few hours.

The last day of school was a party for the kids, which I had/got to attend. Everyone was pretty sad to say goodbye to their teachers.

At lunch the Little Caesar's mascot showed up (with the pizza). Katie and Addy ran up to say hi--Marcus went crazy with fear. He clung to me with his eyes closed, burying his head into my chest. At one point he opened his eyes and realized the mascot had come closer and he got down and hid under the picnic table. He begged me to go hide, pointing to the woods. Finally, we left and headed to the bathroom for Addy. Marcus calmed down when we got out of sight of the mascot and was standing in the open doorway while I helped the girls. All of the sudden I hear a blood curdling scream and Marcus is banging on the door of the stall. I get to him as fast as I can, he can't control his screaming. I finally calm him down a little bit and try to find out what happened, when a man walked out of the men's bathroom with the mascot costume thrown over his shoulder. Poor Marcus thought he had gotten away and was then left alone to face the terror. I guess Disney World is not in our near future.

Katie and Addy got umbrellas last month and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use then. Luckily, we have been getting some pretty crazy storms.

Our pool opened up around the same time school ended. We have been in it almost everyday we have been home. The kids took a couple days of swim lessons. Katie is swimming and getting stronger each day. Addy will go in the water and under the water and everything else as long as she has my hand (she is driving me crazy) and Marcus...is a little fish. He got in the water this year and started swimming. I am still in shock. I was worried about some of the kids being scared of water this year, now I am just worried because no one wants to wear their floaties--they think they can do it on their own.

Our neighbor's son turned 3 and had a big birthday party. They had a bounce house and a balloon guy, at least some people are willing to throw parties like this otherwise my kids would never experience them.

Marcus helping John open things

Katie with another neighbor, Everly

Marcus new favorite thing to do is blow bubbles. He could sit outside for hours and blow bubbles.

PS: I think we need a new camera, that or I need to learn how to use the one I have because the quality of these pictures stink.

Mother's Day

2011-06-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

Let me start this post by saying how much I hate blogger...I wrote this blog originally right after Mother's Day but when I went to post it, it was gone. And then when I tried to start over it disappeared again. I have been on blogger strike but seeing how this is my kids' scrapbook and our family's journal, and I am getting really far behind, I figured I better stop being stubborn.

Mother's Day started early this year. Thursday the kids had "Muffins for Mom" at school. I got to hang out with them for a few mins before school started and they gave me all sorts of fun little things they made for me. Katie made me a book in which she said "I was 18, that I looked beautiful when I go to church, that I like to go out with Daddy, that my favorite TV show is doctors, that I love to take her to the mountains, and that I weigh 5lbs".

Saturday morning Mark got up early and smoked ribs for me. That night we had a delicious dinner, and then used the left over coals to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. The kids where so excited.

Now I think we are ready to go camping!

Sunday was a blur of doing nothing and cards from the kids. Yea for Mother's Day!

One of many

2011-06-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

Katie graduated from preschool this year. Mark thinks it is hilarious that there is a graduation for preschool, but I think it is cute. What is cuter then a little blonde girl in a white cap and gown. As long as these continue for the next 20 years I am okay with them starting now.

Addy and Marcus were pretty excited when Mark walked in.

Marcus with Kate (his and Addy's favorite friend--the little sister of Katie's best friend, Ella)

Katie singing a song they have been practicing in Spanish (she is so proud of the fact that she is learning Spanish and she tells everyone that I speak Spanish)

Ella, Serrin, Katie and Addy

Katie had a great year at preschool. She made great friends and had amazing teachers. She learned so much and has progressed so much. She stood out as a kind and helpful friend. I just cannot believe she is starting Kindergarten this year.

Katie with Ms. Anne

Katie with Ms. Sandy

I thought mine and Mark's parents would appreciate the 'W''s on this report card.

Announcing...

2011-05-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

No, no more kids...

What does this

and this mean?

Hopefully this!

We are having a house built, LOTS closer to Mark's work. We are so excited! It is a custom builder and I am getting to make a bunch of the decisions on what goes on the inside.

Here is the progress so far.
Our closing date is the end of June so hopefully he stays on track.

Safe Homes For Children: In honor of mother's--giveaway

2011-05-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

Safe Homes For Children: In honor of mother's--giveaway: "As I am sure you notice, we have a new look! Thanks Jane (and Meredith), you are both amazing!!! In honor of our new look and Mother's Day ..."

Easter

2011-05-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

I love Easter.

It is my favorite holiday--probably because it is not quite as commercial as Christmas and it is a little easier to focus on the real meaning.

Saturday we drove up to the mountains to hang out with my family. We had a huge Easter egg hunt and an even bigger lunch. We drove home that same night.

We had our party near the same spot where Mark and I had our wedding reception. Katie is really in to that kind of stuff, so it was really fun to show her around.

Katie, Seth, Marcus, Gabby, Karleigh holding Chole, Emmie and Tony

Easter morning we checked out what the Easter bunny brought (following Mark's family's tradition, the Easter bunny hides the baskets in our house).

After hanging out for a little bit in the morning, we put on our Easter outfits (sadly only the kids got new clothes for Easter-maybe next year the Easter bunny will bring me new clothes as well), and headed to church.

Not super professional, but at least we are all looking at the camera at the same time!

Spring Break

2011-05-01T18:12:00.000-07:00

We had Spring Break last week. I wasn't really looking forward to it. This was what was on our schedule:

1. Potty train Addy

2. Sleep train Marcus

Fun right, both those things meant we were going to be stuck in the house the whole week.

We did start our Spring Break a little early. Flossie came down with her two boys and Bryan's two boys (and to bring Bethany to the airport - tear). We went to the Discovery Place with them and Sarah and her kids. The cousins had a little too much fun together.

Thursday, the kids had Easter egg hunts at their school.

Friday the fun started.
Marcus has been sleeping in our room (on a mattress) since last time I posted about this. I had been warning him for a week that he was going to be sleeping in his room. Friday night I moved his mattress into his room. He fell asleep fine, and woke up around 3 am. We locked his door (I also warned him about this) and turned on 2 fans in our room and Mark and I went back to sleep.
Did we feel terrible, yes; did I sleep well, no.

The next night Marcus slept through the night without waking up. The next couple nights were a little rough, but we never had to lock his door again. He is now sleeping in his room, and usually wakes up one time at night and goes back down without any issues--we'll deal with this when we have more energy.

Mark put on his glove to play catch with Marcus--Marcus ran inside and got his 'glove' (as an aside, Marcus got his first real baseball glove on Easter).

Sunday we started potty training Addy. It was not fun. I almost gave a up a few times, but I think we are there. She is now doing pretty well.

The weather was great all of Spring Break, so we blew up up our little pool and spent a lot of time outside.

We got ready for Easter.

Mostly, I just went a little crazy dealing with all three kids by myself all day long. Is it bad to say that I am a little nervous about this summer?

Sunday Will Come

2011-04-24T04:12:00.000-07:00

Grammy and Grandpa

2011-04-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

Grammy and Grandpa came for a visit, the kids were so excited. There is nothing like getting spoiled rotten, right? They came in on a Thursday night. Friday morning we took them to our favorite outdoor spot and went for a little hike.

Addy showing us she can climb a tree, she had quite a hold on the tree.

Marcus and Katie tried it, but couldn't hold on by themselves.

Saturday we spent the day hanging out in Charlotte and eating at some fabulous new places.

Mark and I escaped the kids twice, Friday night we had his parents babysit and Saturday night we got a babysitter and we all went out.

Monday we drove around and checked out preschools for Addy and Marcus, and then dropped Eileen and Kerry off at the airport. It was a sad moment for everyone. (Of course Marcus--who has been sleeping in our room for the past 2 weeks, and didn't sleep well the night before-- ruined it by crying at the top of his lungs all the way from lunch to the airport.) Despite the tearful trip, it was a great weekend!

I may lose my mind...

2011-03-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

The two nights before we went to the mountains to help Bethany with Bryan's kids, Marcus woke up crying in the middle of the night. Both times Mark went in his room and rubbed his back and he fell back to sleep. When I was at my parent's house, Marcus woke up crying and wouldn't go back to sleep. At home I would have let him cry himself back to sleep, but in this situation we had 4 other kids within ear shot so I couldn't. I finally put him in bed with me. The next night he slept with me again. When we came home from the mountains we put Marcus back in his room, he woke up crying multiple times during the night. My mind is so foggy I don't remember how it progressed, but I know we tried letting him cry it out, we had him sleep on a mattress in our room, we tried sleeping in his room, etc. He would not cry it out, the crying never stopped, and when he would fall asleep he always woke up every 2 hours on the dot. He refused to stay in his room, and would come into the hallway screaming. It finally progressed to the point where he had to fall asleep in my arms. All this time he is not getting more than 6-7 hours of sleep at night and refusing to fall asleep during nap time. This is the same child who was used to getting a 2 hour nap and 10-12 hours of sleep at night. Finally we moved Addy into a different room (onto a big girl bed). Also, during this same time, Mark's work picked up like crazy and his average come home time was 11pm, with some nights him staying later. Mark never made me deal with it by myself during the night, but just dealing with cranky Marcus by myself during the day was pushing me over the edge. Everyone in the family was suffering from lack of sleep. The crowning moment was when I decided that he was going to have to be locked in his room and cry it out. I tried to switch the doorknob around on his bedroom door so I could lock it from the outside and somehow broke the whole thing. Mark got home really late that night and we decided to turn on our fan to see if we could sleep through him crying. ***remember we are extremely sleep deprived and desperate at this point*** At the same time I pulled our bathroom door shut and it just happened to be locked...the next morning, after about 4 hours of sleep, Mark tried to take the doorknob off. Long story short we couldn't get the door open. Mark couldn't get ready for work, but had to be in early. Only desperate prayer finally got the bathroom door open. I finally bought some Melatonin, which helped Marcus fall asleep at night, but he was still waking up 3 hours later and then crying the rest of the night. At this point I am imagining all the things that could be wrong with him so I called the doctor. They told me to lock him in his room and let him cry it out that night and bring him in the next day. We tried to let him cry it out, but at 2:30am and 4 1/2 hours of crying I gave up. Everything was normal at the doctor. They had no idea what was going on. They agreed with me that the first waking was maybe night terrors but didn't understand why he was crying the rest of the night. When I told them about my experience with him crying for 4 1/2 hours they told me to just go in every time he cried and calm him down. To try that for a week and check back in. Obviously they were not the ones that had not slept for 2 1/2 weeks. But I committed to try it. That night after sleeping from 7:30-10:30pm Marcus decided to wake up every 30 mins. After just two times of getting up with him, Mark and I both said screw it and moved him into our room on a mattress on the floor. He has slept in our room for the past week. He did sleep, without night terrors even. The first morning he woke up so happy because he hadn't had that much sleep in soooo long. It has been great for him, but not so great for me and Mark because Marcus is a LOUD sleeper and now has a cough so he wakes us up a least a few times a night. BUT... miracle of all miracles, he said he was going to sleep in his room last night by himself, and he did. He woke up a few times, but went back to sleep each time with a pat on his back. Here's to hoping that the nights will soon be filled with uninterrupted sleep. (And that Mark's work will slow down so he can come home and hang out with me.) And P.S. all of this has taught us that neither Mark nor I can handle getting up every few hours at night, so I guess 3 kids is the perfect number!!!

The simple things...

2011-03-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

Katie loves flowers. She thinks that all flowers should be in our house and in a vase. And she doesn't understand why they die, and why I eventually have to throw them out. I like flowers. I think they are pretty, but I think that if you have to put them in a vase they are kind of waste of money. Mark agrees (he's cheap), so we never have flowers in the house - other than, the ones that Katie picks outside in our yard, of course.

I was at Traders Joe's the other day. Katie saw some flowers and BEGGED me to buy some. I said OK, she stopped and stared at me in surprise for the longest time. She was still a little dumbfounded when we handed them to the cashier 10 mins later (of course that didn't stop her from hugging and kissing and telling me thank you over and over again). When I put them on our table I felt happier. Katie declared I was the 'best mom in the world'! And I felt like it. (Until they died and I had to explain to Katie why I had to throw them in the trash.)

Operation Save Bethany...

2011-03-15T16:23:00.001-07:00

My parents are in Guatemala this winter. Bethany who is on winter break from college is staying at their house so my brother Johnny can finish highschool. Last week, Bethany had to play mom to my brother's (Bryan) kids. She was going crazy with them and Johnny, so I drove up to help her. I don't know how much of a help I was, but the kids sure had lots of fun.

Marcus and Cohen put on their capes and went to the workout/orphanage donation storage room and started playing on Grandpa's elliptical.

They pulled all the cushions off the couches to pose for pictures...

All five kids took a bath in Grandma and Grandpa's big tub, and used Grandma's shampoo and special soaps and bubbles.

Is is bad to put this picture on a blog?

Johnny pretending that Marcus and Addy are his kids.

The night before we were supposed to leave it snowed. I had been wanting to take the kids sledding all winter so the timing was perfect. Friday morning before we packed the car, we all got bundled up and headed outside.

Bethany looking gorgeous with Dad's boots and snowpants on (she later completed the look with Mom's mismatched socks for her hands--oh the childhood memories that brought back!)

I looked equally great in Caleb's boots and coat.

This was Marcus' and Addy's first time sledding. They loved it, except for the time we got air and the other time we hit the flowerbed wall.

The trip wouldn't have been complete without a sickness or an injury...we went with injury. Marcus got his first football injury when Johnny dropped a helmet on his head while they were playing.

There were no tears, just a sad look. And the bandage came off within mins of this picture.

We completed the trip with a very scary drive down their very snowy, very steep mountain. And headed back to 70 degree weather.

I don't know if I really saved her but I sure had a lot of fun hanging out with Bethany and eating her yummy Italian cooking!

Random...

2011-03-15T16:22:00.001-07:00

The weather here has been amazing, we have been outside as much as possible soaking up the sunshine. It is amazing the things kids can find to 'play' with.

Addy is picking "beans"

Katie is adding to the meal with who knows what

Marcus is 'on his way to school' (they don't wear shoes at the school he is going to)

Addy's new favorite thing is toilet paper...

We got Addy's hair done last month. She was in love with the beads, she kept shaking her head to make noise.

Katie's chore was unloading the dishwasher. She can't reach where the dishes go, so she left me with the pile (she has a little Sanofsky OCD)...

Her preschool recently had a wedding between the letters Mr Q and Ms U. Katie was a flower girl.

Katie and Beau who she walked down the aisle with

Marcus is getting as much Daddy as possible...

It's a small world after all...

2011-02-27T12:15:00.000-08:00

Life is so full of little things that remind us how small the world really is...

My first friend at BYU was from New Jersey, and then a few months later I got a new roommate and she was from New Jersey; and then, later my companion in the MTC was from New Jersey and last, my Mormon neighbor when we moved here to Charlotte was from New Jersey...all from the same little area.

Mark and my brother-in-law (Jenn's husband) grew up next door to each other, that's not how Mark and I met, but we bonded over Ryan Swapp on our first date;

And...my best friend from highschool (I went to highschool in Maine) has a little brother that lives in my sister Sarah's neighborhood, so when she comes down to visit her brother I get a little best-friend time!

Me and Kim and the kids
The kids were equally excited to see her. There is nothing like blowing off responsibilities while your kids are in pre-school and sitting around gossiping like the old days!

Student of the Week...

2011-02-20T13:21:00.000-08:00

Students in Katie's preschool class have been taking turns being student of the week. When it is your turn you pack a bag full of "you" and do a show and tell for the class.

This is what Katie put in her bag...

Lambie I, Eliza, Lambie II and her blanket

We bought this book for her before the twins were born, she loves it, and has it memorized. It has been taped together 3-4 times.

She had about 5 pictures from when she was a baby

She loves Christ, church and singing

Daddy and Mommy married in the temple (and she loves my dress & flowers)

Marcus and Addy

My family

Mark's family

Her closest friends and dance

A little love...

2011-02-15T11:22:00.000-08:00

Just in time for Valentine's Day Marcus and Addy have learned the power of saying 'I love you'; they know they can get what they want because it melts my heart. When I ask Marcus who he loves, he yells at the top of his lungs, "I love Mama!!!". I give Addy a hug when she gets in the car from preschool and she says, "Wuv you Mama".

Katie is also being smart with love...last weekend a certain nameless sister, who might have a reason, was looking at wedding dresses with Katie. Katie picked her favorite dress in the magazine, a huge, puffy princessy dress on a girl who happened to be in the arms of a blond boy. My sister said to Katie "maybe that can be you someday" (she meant in the dress) but Katie said, "no, I am not going to marry a boy with long curly blond hair". Mark was very proud of her for being so selective.

Katie's Valentine artwork.
The 'e' on "love" was cut a little in the scan.

This Valentine's Day Marcus celebrated by singing "Happy Valentines Day to You" (to the tune of 'Happy Birthday', if you couldn't get that) to me first and then to Katie and last to Addy. Mark didn't get home in time to earn the song.

Addy and Katie putting Valentines on the door of our neighbors. Shhh!

The good mom...

2011-02-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

There are some times where you feel like you are doing it right, that you have it all figured out. Every once in a while you think...I am a good mom. I don't have those moments very often. I am usually more stressed out then I need to be and trying to figure out how to get it all done instead of focusing on how much fun my kids are.

I have noticed that my 'good mom' moments seem to come more often when I am outside with the kids. I grew up in the country, and still love to go there to escape. So, when I am outside, preferably surrounded by trees, I feel like I can breath--and then I can let everything else go.

We had a break in the cold last week and the kids and I hit our favorite place in Charlotte for a little hiking. It is right behind the kid's preschool, and they get so excited when I pick them up and instead of heading home, I keep driving to our hiking spot. We hike, find rocks and throw them in the lake, pick up sticks and hit things and make as much noise as possible.

Throwing rocks in the lake

The big kid beds...

2011-02-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

So, since I mentioned it last post I thought I would update you on how it was going with Addy and Marcus sleeping in their big kid beds... We laid the twins' mattresses on the floor next to their cribs. We prepped Addy and Marcus during the day. They were excited about sleeping in their beds--or maybe they just liked jumping on them...

Night One
We did the normal routine and laid them down on their beds with the blankets, a pillow and their stuffed animals. Within a few mins we heard noises and had to to put them back to bed with a strict warning to not get back up. About 20 mins later we hear something out of the ordinary and I go into their room and find both Addy and Marcus on Marcus' bed reading books--in the dark. I lay them back down and threaten all sorts of things if they get back up. About a 1/2 hour later, I sneak in to check on them. Finally! Addy is sound asleep, upside down with her feet on the pillow. Marcus, on the other hand, is laying in his bed clutching every stuffed animal in the room and staring at me with fear in his eyes. The poor little boy was so scared to be out of the comfort zone of his crib. We had mercy on the scared boy and let him sleep in his crib.

Night Two
Addy was excited to sleep in her bed but Marcus didn't want to sleep in his. We said that Marcus could sleep in his crib, and this made Addy uneasy so she changed her mind and wanted to sleep in her crib as well.

Night Three
They both wanted to sleep in their cribs.

Night Four
In case you didn't get it yet, we gave up. Marcus still climbs out of his crib but Addy doesn't, and we are too lazy to force them to sleep on mattresses. Maybe if I ever get unlazy they will be sleeping on beds (and be potty trained)--here's to someday right!

Marcus kissing Addy good night

2011-01-20T04:24:00.000-08:00

Mark went to his brother's wedding in Utah two weeks ago. I had really been dreading the weekend alone with the kids--especially because it was was a long week at work for Mark complete with super late nights. He flew out on Thurs and came home on a red-eye Sat night. The kids and I survived the weekend with flying colors (I had to loosen my TV rules and got them movies to watch both nights). We were all so excited to spend Sunday with Mark but it wasn't all we dreamed it would be because he was so tired--duh! I was really dreading Monday and the long afternoons by myself again. But the stars aligned and it snowed and Mark's office was closed Monday and Tuesday (yes, we only had two inches)!!! Of course he had to work from home, but who really works from home? (oh wait, I do!)

But then because of the snow the kids didn't have school Wednesday or Thursday but Mark did have to go into the office, so that turned into another REALLY LONG 3-day week for me. But thank goodness for Martin Luther King because Mark got Monday off as well--and, thank goodness for Preschool because my kids are there!

Ok so not that I am done ranting and raving, and seeing how this blog is really supposed to be my kids baby book I realized I haven't done a real update on the kids lately.
We had some good weather at the end of these snow days

Katie
She is such a good girl. When I dropped the kids off for school yesterday, her teacher was having a panic attack because the other teacher had called in sick last minute and they could not find a sub and there was a new kid in class and he was a little wild. I told her I could stay for the first hour to help out. It was so fun to watch Katie in class. She is good and listens and loves every second of school. Her teacher told me that Katie is so ready for kindergarten next year. We have been working on her reading she is doing so well, she can read short, short stories all by herself. She is still into princesses but she loves her baby dolls more. She is my little helper and cleans her room and unloads the dishwasher for me.

Addy
She wants to be a little princess. Everything should be pink and princessy. It is actually getting a little annoying because she fights with Katie over the pink plate, cup, spoon and fork--she thinks she should have it every time and not take turns. She is my little helper and likes to repeat what I tell Marcus to do--sometimes I will catch her disciplining him. She also helps Marcus take off his shoes when we come in from outside. She likes to tell us when Katie is mean to her; "Katie mean." If we ask Addy "why" she did something, she always says "cause." She always tell me "just a second, Mama." The other day she was sitting quietly on the couch a while after I had sternly disciplined her, Mark asked her what was wrong. She put her head down and stuck out her lower lip as far as she could and said, "Mama mad at me."

Marcus
He is very good at being the baby--my baby. At the beach my little brother Seth started teasing him calling me "my [his]mommy"; Marcus went nuts! And now it has become a common fight in this house about whose mommy I am. Marcus has also started saying things like "where'd MY daddy go?" Marcus started counting a couple months ago and can count to 13 by himself. He refuses to say his own name. If I ask him his name, he laughs and says "No!" I have tried to trick him before while helping him pray, I'll say, "thanks for Addy, Marcus and Katie," Marcus will repeat, "thanks for Addy, me and Katie." Little stinker.

Last Friday morning Katie came running into my room gasping--she scared me--she said, "Marcus and Addy got our of their cribs and came into my room!!!"
Mark and I had a babysitter for Saturday so we had her come early so we could look at bunk-beds. We bought them on the spot and they are being delivered Friday night, we are going to put the twins on mattresses on the floor this weekend, so check back next week for some fun stories about that. Today, I heard Marcus screaming at the top of his lungs when he should have been sleeping. I ran into his room to find his big little body out of his crib and stuck under his crib. He was so scared because he couldn't move. Addy was standing in her crib telling me to "help Marcus, help Marcus, Marcus crying."

I heard Marcus out of this crib yesterday, and this is what I found. Obviously the capes are not working as well as they should be. (Addy fell asleep reading books in her crib)

Christmas pictures

2011-01-14T12:39:00.000-08:00

Growing up we always had 'Christmas outfits'; I think Christmas is a great excuse to buy something new to wear. Mark doesn't, but I do it for my kids anyway. They always wear their outfits to church the Sunday closest to Christmas. It didn't really work out this year, since we drove to the beach the Sunday before and got snowed in the Sunday after, but...nonetheless they eventually wore their outfits to church and here they are...

(I think the pictures turned our pretty good given that we took them on our little camera, with a timer. It's all because Mark's little sister Emily edited them.)

To Christmas and Beyond!

2011-01-08T11:17:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas craziness started with the kids preschool presentation. For some reason they had it during the day and Mark had to miss it. Luckily my kids' classes were seated next to each other on the stage so the teachers put my kids next to each other. It was really funny when Addy and Marcus saw me they both started pointing and waving. The kids sang a bunch of songs with hand motions. Marcus sat stone still, while Addy and Katie sang and motioned away. Half-way through Addy's shoe fell off the stage and when the teacher pulled her down to put it back on, Addy came running to me.

The kids were bowing after their skit and Katie pulled the line down.
After there program we had lunch and Santa was there. This was the first time the kids got to see him this year. Marcus waved but didn't want to get any closer.

That weekend our church had their Christmas party.

Katie is in the front row of angels, very center.
The primary had a live nativity--Katie was an angel. We invited our neighbors and Marcus and Addy had a blast running around with John.

Then the real party began. My parents got 2 beach houses starting the week before Christmas. Mark had to work so the kids and I took off Sunday afternoon. Johnny rode down with me. When we were a couple hours from the beach Marcus reached over and rolled down his window. The air wasn't cold, and he wasn't crying so I didn't worry about it. Five mins later I look back at him and noticed his monkey is missing off his lap. . . "Marcus," I said "where's Uh-ahs?" He just stared back at me with a weird expression on his face. "Marcus", I said "did you throw Uh-ahs out the window?" He looked scared. I pulled over and searched the car--no monkey. Panic sets in for me. Marcus can't make it through the day, much less the night, without his monkey. I had to find him. We are on a freeway but luckily there was very little traffic. I didn't see an exit in either direction and I was afraid I would lose the spot if I kept going to the next exit and turned around, so I backed up on the shoulder--probably about 2 miles . . . yes, it got a little scary a couple times when cars were coming towards me. After a little bit, the shoulder ended, so Johnny gets out and sprints down the freeway for me until he finds the monkey. (He needed the run, he had played in an all-star game the day before and his coach had told him to run the next day for his muscles--plus Johnny doesn't mind being a hero.)

The beach was a lot colder this year then it had been in the past but we still had lots of fun. All my kids favorite people in one place.

Talia and Katie

Addy and Marcus

Scotia and Addy

Making ornaments with Grandma and Grandpa for the tree at the beach.
Bethany had been worried that she lost her place as favorite aunt to Hannah while she was in Italy...I don't know if she regained her #1 spot but she made a quick comeback. The kids now ask for Hannah and Bethany, not just Hannah.

Marcus trying to squish Bethany

Me and Marcus

Alisa and Katie

Alisa and Addy

Chris watched my 3 kids and his 2 one day so I could join all the girls for lunch (thanks mom)and shopping. Seven sisters, one sister-in-law and one mom makes for a lot of gossip, even more harassment and lots of fun!

Another day we went to Roanoke Island Museum. It had something to do with the early settlers, first babies being born and a massacre--can you tell I had 3 little kids to watch while I was there? But it was really cool, complete with a ship to board and villages to tour.

Marcus and Johnny on the ship.

Katie and Talia in the Native American Canoe

On the balcony of our house--it was right on the beach.
All the cousins were in the same house--it got a little insane with 9 kids that were 4 years old and under (add to that all my younger siblings...and wow!)

Katie, Addy and Cooper in the Armoire

Take out Addy, add Cohen

Take out everyone and put Addy back in with Marcus

We had our family gift exchange on Wed night.

Addy opening her doll from Grandma and Grandpa--with the help of Seth and Tony

Katie showing Grandma and Grandpa the photo book we made them

We headed back Thursday because Mark would be off work on Friday. We were sad to leave but so ready to be with Mark.

Christmas Eve was a day of wrapping presents and hanging out.

After getting ready for bed and putting out milk and cookies

Christmas morning the kids slept in--seriously, I even took a shower because I woke up before them. After they woke up and came down stairs they went straight for their stockings. Marcus found fruit snacks and ate them right away. Then he started crying because he wanted more and didn't want to open presents. After a brief time-out he snapped out of it and the havoc began.

Katie helping Mark with the present she gave him

Looking at the star Katie made me in preschool

Katie and her cheerleading costume-- #1 on her Santa list

Addy wouldn't take off her bunny towel

So in the aftermath with all the cool toys she received Addy chose to sit and color in her tiny little princess notebook--thanks Grammy.

I got Mark a helicopter and he and the kids spent the rest of the weekend playing with it. Who knew I had 4 children.

Marcus in the cape I made him--trying to break the tutu haibt.

Christmas day we laid around and enjoyed our gifts and being together. We had caught something at the beach and by the time Christmas evening came I was really feeling it.

They canceled church the night before because we were expecting snow--which we got. Sunday morning we woke up expecting a repeat of Christmas day--laziness, watching our new movies and playing with toys. At 8:30 the electricity goes out...someone had run into the electric pole outside our neighborhood. We did not have electricity for 12 hours. It put a little bit of a damper on our day since the only heat source we had was our gas fireplace, and Mark had planned on watching football the whole day. Poor sick me laid in front of the fireplace ALL day, the kids didn't notice, and Mark used my phone to keep an eye on his fantasy football--he was the Champion! We ate dinner by candle light and played with flashlights before bed--here's to a day without technology (except for cellphones with internet).

Playing in the snow from the day.

The kids had the next week off from school, which we spent in our house sick--all 4 of us, while Mark escaped to work.

At one point we must not have been too sick because we did go outside and build some snowmen.

New Years Day was gorgeous--we went hiking at our favorite place in the Nature Preserve.

Marcus spent the whole time copying Mark's every move.

Yeah for the Holiday's and for family time!!!

The girl who cried wolf...or the case of the bad mommy?

2010-12-11T09:26:00.002-08:00

Everyday around 2pm I put the twins down for a nap (or a "jump in their cribs" depending on if they are tired or not) and send Katie to 'quiet time'. This is my last chance of the day to get any un-interrupted work done.

On this particular day I was talking on the phone in my room. I heard Katie yelling "mommy". Now when Katie is in quiet time, she is in her own little world of "playing mommy" or "princess". More then once I have responded to a call of "mommy", only to be given a look that I have interrupted a pretty important imagination and Katie telling me that she wasn't talking to me.

So when I heard her calling "mommy" I didn't think much of it and kept chatting away (it wasn't even a work call!). After about 10 mins, I realized she was still calling out "mommy", let me defend myself at this point and say that it wasn't a consistent "mommy, mommy, mommy"; it was more of a "mommy" wait a minute or two and then "mommy". Anyway after about 20 mins I was off the phone and decided she was going to wake up Marcus and Addy if she didn't quiet down so I went in her room to tell her so. This is how I found her.

After I told her to be quiet, she said ok but can you please help me get out.

20 mins of me laughing and chatting on the phone with my friend, and she had fallen into her baby doll pack-n-play and couldn't get out.

It's beginning...

2010-12-05T16:04:00.001-08:00

I have always loved Christmas, but I never new how much fun it could be until I had little kids. They get so excited and love EVERYTHING about it.

Thanksgiving weekend we decorated the house and put up the tree.

This past weekend we went on a "Journey to Bethlehem" at a local church with some friends. They tell a 'live' story of Christ's birth as you walk through--it started with the angel telling Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus and ended with the scene of His birth. On the way we had to pay taxes in Bethlehem, we got to pet some baby animals and take a gift to baby Jesus.

Hanging out in Bethlehem (Marcus, Katie, Addy and Ella)

Being blessed

Angel's proclaiming to the shepherds

Marcus and Mark

Katie in front of the highlight--baby Jesus!

On Saturday Katie and I went to see the Nutcracker Youth Ballet. Katie was SOOOO excited to get dressed up and go watch the ballerinas. She was also pretty excited that I bought little bags of candy for us to eat during the show. She spent most the time picking out what ballerina she wanted to be--which of course changed every time a new dancer entered the stage.

Sitting on our coats so that she can see better

The kids are practicing for their Christmas program at school, they like to take bells off the tree and sing Jingle Bells--and then they just get a little crazy.

Please notice Ah-Ah's (Marcus' name for his monkey) glasses, that is the point of this picture, Marcus was pretty proud of himself.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-02T16:03:00.001-08:00

Happy Script Christmas

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Thanksgiving...

2010-11-30T13:15:00.000-08:00

We had a very low key Thanksgiving this year. The kids didn't have school all week and luckily work usually slows down around the Holidays so I was able to focus on having fun with the kids and working during their nap time. Right down the street is a great park with hiking trails and a lake. The trails are flat so the kids can walk/run them.

There is a small sandy patch of beach with shells. Some ducks came to visit us this time. We brought lunch and ate it on the rocks and had a little bread left over to feed the ducks.

Mark only got Thursday and Friday off (I know, welcome to real life, right!) so we decided to stay in Charlotte this year. Hannah came down and spent the weekend with us.

I know I've said before that my kids love Hannah, but really they do. Addy and Katie did not leave her side the whole time she was here. Today in the car I mentioned Hannah's name to the kids and Marcus said "I want Hannah." (This coming from the same little boy who has decided that he is in a bad mood today and has literally said 15 words to me ALL day).

Hannah, Addy, Katie, Marcus & Me
We bought a 18lb turkey for the 6 of us to eat and still have leftovers, but no one is complaining yet. We made lots of other yummy food and stuffed ourselves all weekend. Hannah and I did some Black Friday shopping and we all laid around and were lazy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Life as we know it...

2010-11-21T13:06:00.001-08:00

I feel like I have gotten really bad at this blogging thing, it might have something to do with the fact that I am now a single parent 4 1/2 days out of the week . . . although now that I put that in writing it doesn't sound as bad. But really, I put the kids to bed by myself Monday through Thursday. And at the end of everything, I don't feel like doing anything. If you notice the date on this post, I started it quite a while ago, now I am just trying to finish it before the start of December.

So some of the things I was supposed to blog about when I was in the "single parent,working with too many birthmothers and adoptive families and now doing fundraising for the orphanage mode . . . "

Mark's job is going well. We have kinda gotten into a grove and gotten used to the long hours (if that is possible). We get in lots of family time in the mornings and on the weekends. Marcus is taking it harder than the girls. He doesn't leave Mark's side on the weekends.

We celebrated Mark's birthday on the 13th. Katie was pretty excited to help me make the cinnamon rolls that Mark requested this year. Everybody had lots of fun eating them. I made too big of a batch and we talked about giving some away but then decided it would be better to go ahead and start gaining that Holiday weight--so Mark and I ate them all (well, the kids had a few).

We had a little mini-Maine reunion a couple weeks ago when my best friend's (from Maine) parents were in town. Their son Dan lives nearby so all three of them stopped by to say high and to play Nani and Papa (until their kids can start producing for them--hint hint Nate). My kids didn't mind at all, accepting presents and showing off comes natural to them.

The weather has been amazing this fall. This is why we moved here. We have spent so much time playing outside. The leaves have started falling and we have been waiting and waiting to get enough leaves to make a big pile, we are almost there.

Marcus and John
(Have I ever mentioned how much we love our neighbors, we have lots of friends for the girls at church, but seem to be missing someone for Marcus--and now we have John!)

Can you help...?

2010-11-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am going to force this post on you, by emailing it out to most of my contacts. Most of you know my background and know about the organization my parents started in Guatemala 6 years ago. We are currently helping the Mayan Indians, so many of which, have been devastated by mudslides from Hurricane Agatha. Safe Homes for Children is focusing on community programs and trying to help the Mayan people better themselves by encouraging education. We provide school lunch (sometimes the only meal they get to eat that day), provide tutoring and some other programs which you can read about here.

Among the Mayan Indians the average age to drop out of school is 12, not because they don't want to continue, but because it costs money for uniforms, supplies and enrollment that their families don't have. How can they change things for their children? How can they end the poverty that they live in? How are they supposed to have a better life then their parents if they don't receive an education?

Go here (http://casadesion.blogspot.com/)and look at the kids and to get more information. I know that most of the people that read this blog are not wealthy, but with Christmas time coming near, it is a good time to search out those in need.

You can pick a kid to sponsor for this upcoming academic year, or throughout the rest of their schooling (yearly), you can split a sponsor with someone if you need to (let me know and I will take care of it). I am very involved in everything in Guatemala so you can come to me for an update at anytime. Their school year is different then ours (runs January to October), so the money is needed in the next month or these kids will not move on to middle school.

Cuteness galore...

2010-11-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

The Sanofsky family loves Halloween, Mark and I started dating around Halloween 7 years ago--7 years and 3 kids, wow that is fast right? It was even more shocking when we had only known each other for 5 years and had 3 kids!
Halloween started this year with a costume parade at the kids preschool, I knew what the kids were going to dress up as but I was a little behind on getting the details together so Addy and Katie wore different costumes. I had to bribe Marcus with candy to get him to put his on.

Then Friday night our church had a 'trunk or treat'. Addy wasn't feeling well so she wouldn't put her costume on--there is no bribing Addy, either she does it or she doesn't. It took the kids two cars to learn exactly how it works and they were hooked.

She was cute enough to get candy anyway.

Saturday we carved a pumpkin with the kids.

The big day.

Here we have Addy as 'Princess Tiana' (Princess and the Frog) and Katie as her sidekick 'Lotte,' Marcus was supposed to be the frog prince but we could not find a frog costume anywhere, so he is the alligator 'Louis' (ignore the fact that he has wings--which would really make him a dragon).

With the 'trunk or treat' fresh in their minds, they didn't need much help. Addy and Marcus would follow Katie to the door, she would ring the bell. They would hold out their little pumpkins for the candy and say "trick or treat" (Marcus and Addy to the best of their ability-sooo cute!). Addy was a sneaky little one and would slip her hand in their bowl while they were giving Katie and Marcus candy and kept taking candy until they (or I stopped her).

After an hour and a half they were all tired so we came home and hung out with our neighbors in the driveway handing out candy until bedtime.

Our neighbor, John

Road trip...

2010-10-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

Mark flew to Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon, so I was home alone until Wednesday night. We have been wanting to go visit Hannah at college for a little while now, and I decided Monday was the perfect day. Flossie decided to join me. It was a 3 hour trip and Flossie and I met up halfway and rode together. Once we got to Buena Vista, we crammed Hannah into our already full car and headed to a park for lunch. The kids were so excited to be with each other and to run so they had lots of fun. Flossie, Hannah and I sat around and gossiped--oh how I love my sisters!

Carson and Katie

Cooper and Addy
(please don't pay attention to her hair, I had it fixed all pretty but the 3-hr car trip gave Addy enough time to rip out her hair clips and matte it up)

After the park we went to Goodwill which surprisingly had some good finds--it brought back a lot of memories of shopping in high school. The kids ran around like hooligans, but luckily no one seemed to mind, we lost Cooper a couple times because we kept forgetting how fast he is. When the store had enough of us we went back to Hannah's to check out her apartment (I think her roommate got a little scared when she saw the five kids). The we headed to her campus for some ice cream (that adventure also included jumping in the piles of leaves that were being raked up and feeding/trying to get the gold fish in the pond).

The car!

Some of our craziness...

2010-10-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

This whole summer has been a whirlwind of trying to do everything we wanted before Mark started his new job...the last 4 weeks have been no exception (and that has led to me being a total slacker with the whole blog thing).

At the beginning of the month I had some friends over that had adopted through us; actually, we became friends when they adopted through us. Both families adopted from the same birthmother, so they were excited to get together. (Both have very crazy stories, and if I ever do an adoption blog I will write about them--I'll ask first, Richele.)

We had 2 preschoolers, 5 toddlers and one baby in the house--it got a little crazy, but oh so much fun.

Jess, Katie, Cambriah, Jasper, Brandon, Addy, Fletcher and Marcus
Marcus and Fletcher became fast friends and were so funny to watch together.

My kids are all still obsessed with babies

Katie has been doing great at soccer. Her last game she was a superstar. She isn't afraid to kick the ball anymore and she has some serious ball handling skills for a 4-yr-old.

Marcus is ready to play, he keeps trying to get on the field

I flew to Washington State last week to have my wisdom teeth removed (Mark's cousin did it for us since we currently don't have dental insurance.) Kris and Liz (Mark's aunt and cousin) picked me up and we spent the day in Seattle. After some site-seeing we met Emily for dinner (wouldn't be nice if I had taken a picture of us at dinner with Emily).

the 'fish market'
The next day I had my teeth removed, and the rest of the trip I was 'couped' up in Aunt Kris' house on the sound, watching TV in their theater room and getting room-service of ice-cream shakes. (thank you Kris and Phil for taking care of me!)

Sunrise on the beach in front of their house

Mark survived surprisingly well without me, and the house was clean when I got home!
We spent the last week just hanging out.

Mark used his smoker one last time... (doesn't it sound like he is going off to war or something.)
Of course he had to make this delicious food while I was still recovering so I didn't really get to enjoy it, but Mark ate enough for the both of us.

Mark also grabbed some pumpkins for us to carve. The kids were pretty excited about them.

Bend it like Katie

2010-09-26T12:34:00.001-07:00

First day of practice
OK, just kidding, she isn't really bending it at all, but she is on a soccer team.

The first day of soccer Katie was really nervous and afraid to kick the ball without me by her side. During the practice scrimmage she stood with one of her friends in the goal. But Mark did some bribing and by the time her next practice rolled around she was kicking during the drills without looking at us and chasing the ball during the scrimmage with the best of them. Now if she would just kick the ball when she gets to it.

Katie had her first game on Sat and what she lacked in courage she made up for in looks!
She did a good job running after the ball and even made contact with it a time or two during the game.

Ella, Katie, Jazzie (some of her church/dance friends)

Katie and Jayden (another friend)

Her real skill was when she was in the goal. She did a really good job, and wasn't afraid to run out and get it when it came close to her.

Mark giving Katie some pointers on being goalie

The team