Busy Weekend

Friday

Kailyn's school had a carnival Friday night. Ken had to work so I flew solo--not a new experience. The kids had so much fun.

Jordan and Kailyn on the swings. (The thing you see wrapped around Kailyn's head is something she got from school. They are learning about Japan right now.)

Jordan

Caden on the swings. Doesn't he look so small? He was so excited to get on and loved it.

Caden and Kailyn going down the slid. They loved it. This is their second time going down.

Caden

Kailyn

Jordan wanted to make one of these (a tube filled with flavored sugar) so bad. She choose it over ice cream.

Kailyn, Caden, and Jordan enjoying their treats.

Caden got a bit messy with his fudge bar.

Saturday

-Woke up, did laundry, and made cookies.
-Went to the church for a ward activity--breakfast. Yum! The kids loved all of the food, especially the strawberries with whipped cream. (Ken was actually able to join us but then had to go to work)

Ryan

Caden, Jordan and Kailyn eating their yummy breakfast.

-We (minus Ken) then went to Claire's Day at our local library. Unfortunately, I have no pictures. I couldn't find the camera (of course, I found it in a small pocket in my purse as we were leaving the library). The kids painted watercolor pictures, made bookmarks with stamps and beads, made pinwheels, made a mini flower arrangement, and listened to a story.
-Delivered some cookies
-Made a Costco run. We just recently got a membership (a birthday present from Ken's parents) and the kids have loved going to get samples. Saturday did not disappoint, there were many delicious samples to be had.
-Came home and cut Caden's hair.
-Kids got a bath and ate dinner.
-Headed to a baptism at the church (unfortunately, Caden had missed his nap due to our running around and was not the best-behaved or quiet for that matter)
-Put kids to bed
-Did a little cleaning of our poor neglected house.
-Worked on my Teacher Development class I taught on Sunday.
-Went to bed.

Not mentioned in our day are Kailyn falling and getting hurt, Caden throwing a fit, and another, and another, etc, etc, etc, taking kids to bathroom, again and again (Caden didn't have a single accident!), trying to make Chase happy and wishing he would like his carseat or stroller so I didn't have to hold him all day.

The Boys

CADEN
So can you guess why we are so proud of Caden?

That's right, Caden is finally potty trained. Somehow I talked Ken into doing the initial day of training, thus the reason it took so long to get Caden trained. We had to wait for Ken to have a whole day off (it has been a while).

Caden has been doing really well. He was up and down in the beginning, but he has been doing much better. No accidents yesterday, and only one after we had put him to bed tonight. He loves how we get excited for him and always makes sure we know that he is going to go and use the bathroom. When he uses the toilet, he says, "I make Mommy so happy. I make Daddy so happy. I make Grandpa and Grandma so happy."

The only problem we are having right now is that he does not like to try and go--like, if we are going to the park, I normally make the kids try and go before we head out, but Caden doesn't want to. Not only does he not want to, but he actually freaks out. Not really sure why he gets so upset.

CHASE
Chase has been our fussiest baby. He is doing so much better now! Thank goodness. He continues to spit up a lot, and thus has been growing slowly (he is my smallest baby). He is smiling more and with some work might let out a little laugh.

Chase's new thing is that he loves to grab his right foot. He does it when he is just sitting there, when he is happy, when he is sad, etc. He also loves to try and pull himself to a sitting position. Yesterday he was in a bouncer chair when I suddenly heard Chase crying/screaming as if he had been hurt. I went in and found that his foot was caught under his other leg, and he was leaning forward trying to find that right foot that he likes to hold so much. He was upset that he couldn't grab it. He has been sitting up more, sometimes 20-30 seconds at a time, unassisted. All of this makes me happy because I'm more able to set him down and do other things, and he isn't constantly crying like he used to.

Chase was lying in the corner of the couch and pulled himself to a sitting position.

He loves that right foot.

(Yes, there are a lot of pictures of Chase but he is the baby. We did the same thing with the others when they were babies).

Happy Mother's Day

Boy was I spoiled this year for Mother's Day. Ken actually had some time off. It has been a VERY long 3 months, February and March probably being the most challenging time in my life. I think Ken was trying to make up for it, and I think he did a fabulous job. First off, he had Monday off and took me up on potty training Caden (Caden is a boy, after all, and it is only right that a boy should train him, don't you think?)
Saturday evening he took the 3 oldest kids shopping. After he got home he offered to help the kids clean any room in the house. I, of course, chose the messiest--the garage, aka family room, aka toy room. After cleaning the garage, he gave the kids a bath before bed.
This morning he got up with Caden and Ryan at 6 am and allowed me to sleep in. It was wonderful. Then I was treated to breakfast in bed. Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Mmmm! Treating me to breakfast in bed is one of Kailyn's favorite things to do.
Ken was asked to speak at church today. The topic was...you guessed it, mothers. He did a really good job and highlighted all of my greatest qualities, with a little help from me. You should have seen the first draft of his talk!! Thankfully, he ran it past me, and I was able to set him straight on a couple things. At one point, I did mention that he may have embellished the truth a little bit. He didn't agree (lucky me--still have him fooled!!).
After church he made dinner and cleaned the kitchen, got the kids ready for bed, then had the kids help him make a new dessert--a treat with a story. Back in February when my mom was visiting (and after a particularly productive day at home when I had cleaned the whole house, done all the laundry, helped paint the upstairs bedroom, and made 14 freezer meals), Ken was teasing me about how lazy I am. He said that all I do all day is sit on the couch and eat chocolate bon bons. My mom, who was sitting next to me, was a bit confused as too who 'chuckle bum bums' was. Apparently, she thought Ken said I sit on the couch with 'chuckle bum bums,' an unusual nickname she assumed we had for Chase. So, in honor of my laziness (sitting on the couch eating chocolate bon bons all day, accomplishing nothing else), Ken made me chocolate bon bons for Mother's Day and insisted I stay on the couch to eat them. Of course, he called them "chuckle bum bums."
Today was a wonderful day, thanks to my wonderful honey!

Chocolate bon bons aka 'chuckle bum bums' (they hadn't quite set up yet).

A medallioin Kailyn made for me at school.

Why

Why does Caden insist on pouring his yogurt into a bowl before he can eat it.

Why does Jorden lift her dress up and flash everyone before she can sit down when she is wearing a dress.

Silly Kids

We were in the backyard and Caden said, "Mom, snow."
I looked around to find this supposed snow but couldn't see anything that resembled snow, so, I asked, "Where is the snow?"
Caden pointed to the sky.
My response, "Uhh, that's not snow. Those are clouds."

I told Kailyn to practice the piano after school one day. She told me she was too sick and would probably throw up all over the piano if she tried to practice. After dinner (Kailyn felt too sick to eat) I went out in the front yard with Jordan and Caden so they could ride their bikes. Kailyn appeared at the door and anxiously called my name. I turned just in time to see her throw up all over the front porch. When she was done, she calmly said, "See, Mom, I knew I would throw up all over the piano if I practiced."

Beautiful Saturday

The weather was absolutely gorgeous on Saturday. We spent almost all day outside. Ken and I doing lawn work, fighting over who got to mow the lawn (we both wanted to), and the kids playing next door with our neighbors. We have some great neighbors they have helped us out so much over the last two years, they have let us borrow so many tools. The kids love their girl Mina who is 12 years old.

Kailyn, Jordan, and Caden sitting on the neighbor's swing.

Ryan helping (for about 2 minutes)

Chase doesn't smile a whole lot so we had to capture the moment. Here Chase is smiling at Ken who is playing patty cake with him.

Chase spits up A LOT. Seriously, it is an insane amount. The one positive thing is that he seems to have to develop some good ab muscles.

Jordan was a little creative with her cereal at breakfast time.

This one needs no explanation.