My Little Piggies!

So I was crazy busy this last week and was gone 3 nights in a row. I was taking a break in the afternoon and decided to catch up on some DVR'd shows. The side door that goes out to our back yard was open so I could "keep an eye on the kids". All I heard was giggles and giggles. I'm thinking great they are finally playing together instead of fighting, I was totally engrossed in my totaly brainless t.v show and realize it's been 20 or so minutes of giggling.... a sure sign something naughty is going on... and this is what I found. Two totally wet, dirty giggling kids splashing in the mud. My little Piggies. Needless to say we had bath time at 3 in the afternoon that day.

Sometime you just know there is going to be a prices to pay for a break.... and it's worth every lovely, lazy relaxing minute!

Exciting!!

So those of you that know my mom know what an awesome lady she is. She has never been one to complain and is ALWAYS willing to help and go the extra mile. She was so concerned for everyone else after my dad passed and never wanted to make anyone worried and sad over her own grief and loss. She is one of my hero's and I will never be able to repay her for all of the life lessons she has taught me. Now she is going to be a hero to who knows how many strangers in the Vancouver, Canada mission. She just opened her call tonight. I am hoping to make the trip to SLC for her farewell in April. I am so excited for her and all the lucky Canadians that get to get a taste of what an incredible, talented, giving person she is. LOVE YOU MOM!

Tipsy Toddler

So another day another adventure. I'm in the bathroom getting ready (it is 12:00 after all), and in runs Cannen. Mom, "icky" he is saying frantically. So I pick him up and get a big old wif of rubbing alcohol. I go to the front room to find a bottle opened on the floor. I am looking at it thinking that it doesn't look like much is gone and assuming that he dropped it as soon as he got a taste of what was inside. I decide to call poison control just to be safe it is 91% alcohol after all. The guy on the other end gets our info and tells me to give him something sweet to eat and drink since the real danger is if his blood sugar drops. Then he goes on to tell me if he starts to act drunk to take him to the hospital. So I gave the kids all this Valentine's candy and making him chug on apple juice. He was at his best singing Twinkle Little Star at the top of his lungs and chanting, "I'm naughty". Hmmmm, so now I am left wondering is this from the alcohol or the pound of sugar I just forced him to eat????? BTW, when I called Ryan to let him know what was going on in case I had to go to the ER, his end of the line was pretty quiet. I realized he was laughing hysterically. Don't worry Cannen is just fine! But he is definitely naughty!

Long Time

Wow so it has been so long since I have blogged that I wonder if anyone even checks our blog anymore! So much has happened in the last while that is hard to even know how to begin. I think one of the reasons I haven't blogged in a while is because I just didn't feel right sharing the everyday family updates when I haven't taken the time to write about my dad. I have been avoiding it because well it sucks and it hurts. He passed away in September and it has left a big hole in our family and in my heart. It was not expected and left me feeling cheated that I haven't been able to see him much in the last 7 years since moving to Texas.
It is hard to imagine all of the family get together without him there. He is a man that loves and lived for his family. I know that great sacrifices were made on his part to provide for us. I can't say the words "he was", because I know he still is and that he still watches over my mom. I do and will miss him. Even as I write this, the words seem so inadequate and casual, but it is the best I can do for now. I still struggle to accept it and I am not quite ready to open the vault of memories, because I know it will be hard. I am not ready to face the memories of times that I felt him so proud of me, the times when I felt proud of him. The life lessons he taught through example and quiet discussion. One of the perks of being the youngest is that I got my parents all to myself for awhile as an adult and I loved the long gospel chats we would have. I wasn't ready to have him leave just yet.

HOORAY BRYNN!!!

SO I received a great call from Brynn's teacher today. She was so excited she had to call to let me know the things Brynn has been doing in class. She has been working on using a button communication device called a BIGMAC. The teacher records her voice saying certain things and when the child pushes the button, it repeats. She said today while singing, she let Brynn use the MAC and she "sang" with the class, by pushing the correct buttons to fill in the words of the song!!!! This is HUGE for her. It proves that she understands WAY more then she has been given credit for. To top it off tonight after baths and teeth brushing, I couldn't find Brynn anywhere. I walked by her room and Cannen was putting his finger to his lips saying shhh. Apparently she had gone into her room, closed the door,climbed into bed and covered herself up!! I was so thrilled, I ran in and grabbed her giggling and told her I was do proud!! (then she didn't want to go back to bed of course!) Way to go big girl!!!!

another great giveaway

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WHAT!

Summer is almost over! How can that be? I remember worrying how I was going to manage it all. It hasn't been too bad at all. Now I am trying to figure out how to get all the stuff done for school already!
So what have we done this summer? Hmmm, I wish I could say that we have spent hours at the pool, but with Brynn and Cannen that is way out of the question! Those two wouldn't survive for 5 minutes! They are both way too fast, have no recognition of the word danger and go in opposite directions!! So we have been splashing around in the kiddie pool out back.
Ryan's mom got us a bouncer that has come in mighty handy on a hot humid afternoon. We just push all of the furniture out of the way and blow it up in the middle of the room. It's a great way to blow off some energy.
Aden is missing school and can't wait to go back.
Brynn is getting so big.
Cannen is starting to say all sorts of cute "I want to squish him" sort of stuff.
Ryan has been working hard and studying for the LSAT.
I have been working part time and just got called into the RS pres. as the 2nd counselor again--I guess I didn't get it right the first time!
Other that that things are same old around here. I am ready for some sort of change.... Do you ever get bored with life? Not that I am unhappy or discontent, just ready for some thing exciting to happen....

Milestones

Today was Aden's big day! He is officially out of Kindergarten and now on to what he calls the "big kid stuff." I took him to a book store on Saturday to get ready for some summer reading. he informed me that picture books are not cool anymore. It is all about chapter books now. He picked out a Scooby Doo to start with and we will go back ever week for a new one.

As for the graduation ceremony-Aden was pretty stoic through the whole thing. Not sure what that kid is thinking we didn't get any pictures of him smiling until the end when he had his certificate and I forced him to smile. He can be pretty serious. He walked across the stage with his hand in his pocket. I guess he is practicing for a GQ shoot. He was very handsome and we sure do love this little big guy. Here are some pic to mark the day.
P.S. I think that was the only time I have ever seen a pledge to a state before!--After the pledge of allegience, the kids then said a pledge to the Texas state flag. These Texans sure are full of pride!

Memorial Day

Here I am a few days late as usual. We took our annual totally unplanned trip to the beach on Memorial Day. The kids had fun,fun fun! I am glad we took Grandma and Aunt Kristin because there is no way we could have kept Brynn and Cannen together! They were all over the place.

This kid is forever running everywhere. Always in a hurry!

He is not shy. He is "borrowing" another family's diggin tools.
Of course he was not interested in the bucket full of sand toys I brought!

Who needs a spa? Aden had is very own mud bath here on the beach. Brynn is such a water baby. I don't think she got out of the water for 2 whole hours.

I had to force her out to get out kicking and screaming.

This is our after beach barbecue at grandmas. Cannen threw all of his food all over the table. Then he happened to look at my plate and noticed something extra tasty! Who wants a burger when you can have a T-bone? Love the sly look on is face---I see at all the time. He thinks he is pretty sneaky...



Enjoying the spoils! We sure love our cute kiddos! Hope everyone else had a great holiday and is all geared up for summer fun!!!!!!!!!

Giveaways!!

My friend is fabulously talented and is doing some giveaways on her blog....
www.theivanovskys.blogspot.com

SK8 or Die!

So Ryan and I had a date night last Friday. You know the typical go to dinner sort of thing. Afterwards we were wanting to do something a little different and the night was still young, so Ryan suggested roller skating. What! Any of you that know me very well-know that I am what I call a "heavy footed person". I am not a good dancer, ice skater etc. Anything requiring grace or fancy footwork looks and feels awkward to me. I'm not too swift on my feet and putting wheels under them-not such a good idea. I was never any good at it when I was a kid. Ryan on the other hand is pretty much opposite of me. He is a great dancer and used to rollerblade all over the place. He has been asking me to go for awhile now to Sk8town. I agreed. Lets just say we wasted 14 bucks and had a good laugh as did the rest of the speeding skaters. I am pretty sure that any moving I did was with my hands clenched to the 1976 shag carpet walls. Anytime I let go, my legs ended up "splitting". Too bad we didn't have a camera-you could have had a good laugh.

3-D

Aden got to go and see Monsters Vs. Aliens in 3-D with his aunt Kristin. He had a great time and we had fun playing with his 3-D glasses. They are pretty cool . I was expecting the good old red/blue glasses, if that gives you any idea of how long it has been since I have seen anything in 3-D!!!! Peace out.

Man am I a lazy blogger or what. Honestly, I forget I even have a blog most days, even though I check everyone else out all the time. I just told an old friend about my blog on Facebook and realized I hadn't written anything for some time now. Writing seems like too much brain work by the time I get around to it (kids in bed, house clean, etc.). My brain seems to have been shrinking lately. I have to admit I have been having some deep thoughts though. I should do better at putting them down, since I forget so quickly.- I would tell them to you now, but I've already forgoten... That will be my new goal.
Nothing really new around here. Ryan has been working like crazy and is headed to Mexico next week. I have been teasing him about finding a Latina and setting up house on the beach somewhere. I just hope the trip is without event. He has been to South America 2 times. Once with me once with work and both times ended up in a sticky situation that had to be resolved with a little $$$ if ya know what I mean.
Aden is loving school and doing great. He is a wiz with his spelling, often getting 108% (they have bonus words and a sentence).
Brynn is making progress. I think that Cannen is giving her a little motivation at home. She is very jealous and since they are on the same development level in a lot of areas, she is becoming competitive. Poor Cannen also becomes her punching bag! I'm thinking he is either going to grow as the most patient sweet guy or have a huge chip on his shoulders!
I am trying to get back to running more regularly and fiddling with the idea of trying a triathlon. They are very popular here.

Update

Results for Angelmans Syndrome=negative.
Still looking for some answers....

LOVE

A little late, but it's still love! Here are some Valentine's hugs and kisses from our house....

Ryan's mom surprised us with balloons, treats and a yummy fruit pizza, which I am sure I ate the majority of! Hope you all had a good one.

WHAT THEN?????

So I called the Dr. to see if Brynn's test result for Retts came back . After the girl helping me put me on hold for 5 min three different times, I started to think, Oh it must have come back positive and she doesn't know how to tell me. I wanted to say, "look- this isn't a surprise to us or anything so just spit it out already." So you can imagine the confusion as she said, there seems to be no abnormality present based on the test result. -Hugh????!!! So here I am thinking that finally we were going to get answers, you know have a tangible real live name for what Brynn has. Nope back to square one. Her aid at school suggested Angelmans Syndrome. So of course I spent hours reading about it. And of course she seems to fit the criteria pretty darn well. That is the frustration-so many symptoms over lap for all of these conditions. I just called the Dr. and asked the nurse to ask the Dr. to order the test so we can have it done before her next appointment in March. I figure why bother going if there just going to tell me what the girl on the phone just did. These appointments and tests aren't cheap ya know!
So I'll keep you posted. We already feel like she is a little angel, so maybe it is Angelmans syndrome :)

Good Times

We have a streaker at our house. This little kido loves to be in the buff. He is so quick too. I get him all undressed in the morning and he is off before I can get a clean diaper on him. He seems to think he is unreachable on the top of this slide. It is the first place he runs to when he is trying to get away from me!

All smiles! More smiles! We had blood drawn last week to test Brynn for Retts Syndrome. It takes 6-8 weeks for results. We learned the waiting game a long time ago, so it doesn't seem like that long. I had a friend that was totally shocked when I told her we had to wait 6 weeks to get Bryn into a neurologist. I told her I was happy to get her in that quick. When I first called her geneticist, they told me it was one year wait and to just let them call me! I can handle 6-8 weeks!

I was so happy we found this robot. Or should I say Santa found this robot. Apparently it was on Aden's list but we didn't find out about it until the week of Christmas. He had made a list in his class and was telling me he was worried Santa wouldn't get it. I had no idea he ever wanted a robot. I am sure if he did not get one, he would have figured the whole Santa thing out. I already had to tell him there is no tooth fairy. After he lost his first tooth, he was freaking out because he didn't want the tooth fairy ( a strange man with a beard, according to him) to come into his room in the middle of the night and he refused to go to bed. I am sure I could of come up with a creative way around the truth, but I must have been too tired at the time, so I just told him it was me to get him to be already! I was surprised after that he didn't suspect anything with Santa.

Cute boy. He had a fun morning!

Ryan took most of Christmas a New Years week's off. It was nice to have him home. It really helped out tremendously. I am not sure how I will manage this summer with all the kids home all day. It is quite the feat with Brynn and Cannen. They have such a love/hate relationship. I am sure we will be at the YMCA lots!!!

LOTS OF PICTURES!

OK so these are in reverse order of occurrence. This is Cannens 1st B-Day. We were flying in on his actual birthday, so we celebrated on Sunday afternoon. He was a fan of the chocolate cake. He paid no attention to our laughing at him. He was in his own chocolate reality!

He knew exactly what to do when it came to the presents! Christmas should be fun.

Aden with his cousins at the cabin in UT. He was sad to say goodbye. They had so much fun and played so good together. Much better than when he was a toddler and bit the same cousin about 20 times when we visited 4 or so years ago!!!

It actually snowed while we were there. Aden said a prayer for snow at dinner time and a few hours later it snowed. Unfortunately. I didn't get any pics of him playing in it. My mom was giggling as she told me how Aden exclaimed he was going to make his first snow angel. Then he laid down in the sand box and started flapping his arms. What a funny head!

Thanksgiving at the cabin. I was pretty busy taking care of the little ones, so this is the only picture I got of the whole event. It was fun and yummy. You know all that good stuff.

Our visit to temple square. Nothing says nativity like a spiderman pose, don't ya think!

Up on the observation deck of the Church Office Bldg. Ryan kept freaking out when the kids would run to the window. It is a little weird being up that high.

Strike a pose Brynn.

Ahhhhh

BYU vs UTAH with the Mendenhalls
They were red, we were blue.


THE END

WHY IS THAT?

So we are leaving for our trip to UT tomorrow. SO it goes without saying, I have lots to do. So Why do Brynn and Cannen pick today to refuse naps?????
They are both sitting in thier cribs yapping away. I have too much to catch up on before we go. You know the drill. I want all of the laundry and bedding clean before we go, all the bathrooms scrubbed, the fridge cleaned out, because who wants to come home to a mess. Then the packing-clothes, gifts, airplane bags with busy stuff for the kids. It is crazy and near impossible to get anything at all done with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum pulling everything out right behind me. So wish me luck. We'll be gone for a week. Can't wait. Aden woke up at 5:oo this morning because he thought we were leaving today. He is so excited to go to my parents cabin. I asked why and he said because there are guns (b.b.) and video games and fire. Sounds like a 6 year olds dream come true. I'll take some pictures, so you can get a feel for what it is like. The cabin is huge, but gets pretty crowded when you put 60 or so people in it!!!!
p.s. Burnside's, what happend to your blog??

Happy B-Day Brynn E.

She is now 4! Is it just me or does time go faster and faster the more kids you have ands the older they get? This last year seems to have gone the fastest for sure! Brynn has made some great progress. We are so excited for accomplishments. Her teacher informed me that she can now open the door to leave the classroom by herself. While we are all so proud of her for this, I know the teachers are going to have fun keeping her distracted and in the classroom! She has her first field trip with the school next week to Old McDonald's farm. I am anxious to see how she does. I have no doubt she will have tons of fun as she LOVES to be outside. I just know she will be all over the place.

We are getting excited to go the UT for Thanksgiving. Aden is hoping for snow once again. I hope it works out for him, seeing as we only get to visit every other year or so.

Cannen is battling a touch on pneumonia right now. Poor kido has to do albuterol with a nebulizer and he hates it. He fight and fights until he realizes he doesn't have a choice and then he just sits there and hums while I song him primary songs. I can't believe he'll be one next month!

Brynn had fun "blowing" out her candles. We practiced and she almost got it, but then decided she was going to lick the wick instead, so I hurried and blew it out for her. We had pumpkin cobbler--yummy!

Hope everyone has fun and stays safe on Halloween! Over and out.