Happy Birthday Max!

It's been a very long time since February 25th, but I'm finally getting to post about Max's 6th birthday! The weeks surrounding his birthday turned out to be quite chaotic, but we love birthdays and we still managed to celebrate all day long with him!

This has been a big year for Max. He started Kindergarten and has really had to put his toddler years behind him. Dan was out of town a bit recently, which I never handle very well, but Max stepped in as man of the house and he was so good at it! I can't believe how much he has grown up! He moderates the kids' little squabbles, helps me clean, entertains Cali, helps the kids, plus he is a good little friend to me. He even said he would get up at night with the kids (he didn't quite manage that, though. :) He is such a good kid and we love him more all the time.

I asked Max what things he has loved the very most this year and here it is:

1. Doman
2. Star Wars

That honestly sums it up.

Now, onto his actual birthday! First thing in the morning we of course open presents... he had said that he only wanted Star Wars presents, but when it came down to it he gladly accepted the other things we had already gotten him. :)



Then before school we went out for breakfast all together plus a quick stop to play at the toy store.

At school his nice teacher Sue made him a crown and they sang to him. Max brought a treat to share... his favorite, coconut bread and apples.



Finally after school we were all off to Chuck-E-Cheese. Max actually planned to do something else for a change, but it would NOT stop raining so he had to stick with something inside. Good ol' Chuck E Cheese. :)



Then on Friday all his cute friends joined him for a party at the park. With such a crazy week, I was so glad we still pulled off a simple party for him and his friends. We got a Star Wars Cake, the kids played Star Wars Jedi Training games, and then found "asteroid" prizes. Max said it was the best party ever and that definitely could not make a mom happier!

And a big thanks to my friend Britney for all the fabulous pictures she took at the park! Here are a few:

YUCK!!!

Has your kid ever had a tick before? Probably not, but if someone is going to get one, it would just have to be Doman, right? UGHHH! Dan was rubbing Doman's back before bed tonight when Doman says not to rub in a certain spot because there's an owie. He has such a high pain tolerance that we never know that he's even hurt! When is this kid gonna get a break?!

Anyway, here is a picture. It isn't good enough to really see, so be grateful because it was a fat ol' tick with its head and half its body embedded in Doman's back and the legs hanging out everywhere. I wanted to scream!!! But I let Doman do the screaming while Dan removed most of it. Since the head was still stuck we had to call our pediatrician to see what to do. Friday night in the ER again... wouldn't that just be great! Thank goodness she said for now we can just leave it since the disease is carried in the body of the tick, but still watch for an infection.


Gosh, this blog is seriously starting to be my special place to vent, because once again, I feel a little better just getting this off my chest.

Happy (half) Birthday Cali!

We don't usually celebrate half birthdays, but we just couldn't resist. Our sweet baby girl is a year and a half old! Our friends who also had a girl born the exact same day thought it'd be fun to get the girls together to celebrate. Here are the happy girls enjoying their dessert. :)


And here is a little update on Cali with some of her favorite things.

1. Pointing. She doesn't say much more than "ba-ba" and "ma-ma", but somehow she really manages to express herself and get what she wants. We ask her questions and she will nod or shake her head enthusiastically. As cute as it is, we're still gonna pop that girl right in speech the first chance we get. :)

2. Shoes and getting dressed. She loves us to change her clothes, diaper, and shoes all day long which is hilarious. None of our boys did anything like this so we think it is super cute and fun.

3. Watermelon. Cali really doesn't have many favorite foods. She is a very little eater... but she devours watermelon!

4. Reading books and being read to. If Cali is ever being quiet and keeping to herself, she is always sitting next to a bookshelf looking at books. And the only thing she loves more than that is when we read to her. She is especially a sucker for any book with animals in it.

5. Being outside and playing at parks.

The Planet Museum

One of the kids' favorite places is the Chabot Science Center, a.k.a. The Planet Museum. We have been many, many times, but I don't think I've ever posted any pictures. Max has especially been our planet lover, but the other boys and even Cali all love to go explore there. Here are some pictures from last week.

Ta-Da!

He finally got his cast on and he couldn't be more proud of it!

Totally Radical

I absolutely cannot think of the last time I had such a blast! Who knew the 80's were so fun?! It was our friend Marianna's birthday and what she really wanted to do was go all together to an 80's Tainted Love concert... what a wild night! I can't thank these girls enough for keeping me young and having fun all the time!

Getting ready to go!

Here is the whole group. I was SO proud of these gals going all out and dressing up. It was definitely worth the effort because we looked awesome!

(Me, Brit, Mindy, Mindi, Rebecca, Kendra, Karley, Jenn, Marianna, Kelly, and Jeni)

We danced the night away, sang at the top of our lungs, and partied as hard as we could!

I think I'm singing here...? Another thing about this night is that it was officially our friend Rebecca's last night living here. Sad! But I'm glad we could have so much fun her last night! Plus, for now she isn't moving far, so we'll still have plenty of time to hang out.

Aren't my glasses awesome? I wore these beauties in high school.

Some girls won't rest until I've posted one of these embarrassing pictures. Don't worry, there's a story... Dan said he'd give me a super big prize if I could pick up on some guys at the concert. Sounds just like Dan, doesn't it? Obviously I don't have it in me, but Mindy would not let me fail and got some guys to take pictures with me that I could use as proof to Dan. It didn't work... he knew I didn't really have the guts. Still, it was so humiliating to take the pictures, that he still says I'm getting a prize. He'll have to make his rules a little more clear next time.

Doman and the ER

I know I should use this time to actually post some updates, but I've got to vent out some frustration first.

Doman was at preschool yesterday when he fell off his bike and the bike landed on his arm. When I picked him up he seemed fine, but seeing me made him all teary again. At home we watched a show and ate snacks and he was fine so long as he was holding his arm against his chest. I really wish I knew how to tell if my kid had a broken bone! But he couldn't really use his arm or put pressure on it, so Dan came home from school and took him to the ER around 4:00 in the afternoon...

And then they wait... the ER was packed and no one seemed to ever be leaving the waiting room. AND, Doman couldn't eat or drink anything in case he needed anesthesia. I think Dan would have just left except Doman's arm was really bothering him. SEVEN hours later Doman finally gets seen only to find out they don't have whatever specialist there they need to look at the x-rays (a radiologist?) Seriously?! But they're pretty sure it's fractured, so they wrap him up in a splint. Now we have to wait for someone to check the x-rays and then go back and have a cast put on it. So frustrating.

Doman and Dan got home at mid-night, and I was sure Doman was going to just walk in and pass out because he'd be so tired. But surely enough, he came walking in with a big smile, proud of his splint, and even more excited to show me the little stuffed animal he got. To say he is a trooper is an understatement.

This poor kid has been through so much already. Plus he's been really sick the past couple months and spent many days and nights in pain. I can't stand to see him hurting! Then he breaks his arm, waits in the ER for seven hours (they did finally let him eat around 9:00), with his arm hurting while also feeling a bit nervous. But he's always so tough and cool about it. I guess if he doesn't seem traumatized by all this medical crap then I shouldn't work myself up either.

Ah, I feel better. Thanks for listening. :)

Here's the sweetheart...

Monterey Bay Aqaurium

On New Years Eve Dan had the day off and wanted to go on a big outing with the kids. He took them to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is a couple hours away. We've been down there before but the kids have always wanted to go back. Here are a few of the pictures they took:

Getting ready to start exploring!

The Jellyfish:

Looking for whales:

The fish:

The penguins:

They all had so much fun and no one got lost! Way to go Dan!

Happy Birthday Dan!

Dan's birthday was the end of December, but I'm still attempting to catch up on our blog for a bit. At a whoppin' 29 he is only one year away from the big 3-0! :)

Now, we all know I'm not a mushy girl... but, I can't help saying how lucky I am to have married this awesome guy. He takes amazingly great care of me and he is the best daddy to these kids there could be. We all adore and love him more than imaginable. So, happy birthday Dan!!!

We had a really fun day with the kids. First we went shopping all together which Dan always wants to do but I refuse (it is quite an event!) and then out to lunch as a family afterwards.

When we got home while Dan was taking a nap with Cali, me and the boys decorated the house, made a cake together and wrapped up his presents.

The kids picked him out some cars or star wars toy they thought he would like... he of course did. He loves toys as much as they do!

Here's his colorful cake... that's a lot of candles!

So. Cal Family visits

Josh and Alex's family were able to visit us on their way to see Alex's family in No. Cal last week. We're so glad they stopped and were surprised at how much fun we can have in such a short time (hint: there's a lot more time if you stay up until 4:00 in the morning!)

Here's a few pictures we got:

Lunch... quite a crew! We realized Brooklyn is the same age that my oldest sister, Casey was when I was a baby... that's a whole lot of little kids!

And here are some cute pics we got of the kids walking Max to school.

Our First Christmas... at home :)

I just keep pluggin' away at this blogging thing... still not giving up! It's that time of year when at least one person in the house is sick at all times, but I think we might actually be done! Hence, I finally have some time to try and catch up on the blog. Starting with Christmas:

This was the very first time since Dan and I have been married that we spent Christmas by ourselves. I was a little nervous, but pleasantly surprised to find out how much fun it was. Dan had been working like crazy since we got home from Utah so we didn't get to do much as a family. But Christmas Eve and Christmas Day he was home and we had a great time.

We had to go up to the Temple and see the lights... it looks like it was snowing (ha!) but it was just raining like crazy. It's always so pretty (not that you can tell from the picture), but we're still glad we went!

The kids making cookies for Santa and decorating Gingerbread houses. Poor Lincoln started feeling sick right in the middle of it all and kept throwing up. He would make a weird face, say his tummy hurt and then throw up everywhere. But then he was right back into the fun... he refused to let being sick get in the way! He is one funny kid.

Our little Christmas Eve program. We sang songs, played a game, did the nativity and talked about the Savior's example to us.

We let the kids open a couple presents. First their Christmas jammies. They were so thrilled to have Star Wars pjs! Lincoln was still throwing up and threw up on his pants. He was so upset that he couldn't wear them to bed.

Then their presents from each other. They had all picked out books for each other.

Dan read Twas the Night before Christmas and the kids went right to sleep.

Christmas morning once all the kids were awake we started the unwrapping. By now poor Cali had gotten caught up in the sick bug, but she was a trooper.

Max and Doman were so thrilled they got Lego Star Wars from Santa (and I was happy they didn't mind getting a shared present from Santa!)

Lincoln got a little racetrack from Santa.

... and Cali got a ball. :) Seriously, we just don't need any more toddler toys around here!

She also got a few pairs of shoes. :) I had already gotten them, so I wrapped them up and she was so happy. She is way in love with shoes right now so it was perfect.

Then we spent the entire day in our pajamas playing with all the new toys. It was so fun and actually a bit relaxing. Plus with Dan home we got a lot of cleaning done. :) We were sad we had to miss our nice dinner with some ward friends, but the kids were so sick we thought it'd be mean to give it to other little kids on Christmas. But we had a great time playing at home.