Operation Save Bethany...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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