The Rest of the Story

It is so hard to blog about the past when life keeps happening. So here is the rest of our Oregon story. Probably a little disjointed but the highlights will be covered at least...well, in pictures anyway.


Pirate Baby Squirt
Most of us went to the Aquarium. Thanks Rhonda! Some cousins at the aquarium.

Diver ET

Squirt's Aquarium experience

Diver Thumbelina

Going for a ride

Diver Munchkin

Obligatory shark picture.Munchkin watching the fish

More cousins

Inside the fish tank

Uncle Andrew's head gear.

ET with his favorite two people--you know since he only has sisters.

Thumbelina's reluctant pose

Munchkin trying to eat the berries on the bushes.

Other highlights include: walks on the beach, Rockband, playing in the ocean, smores on the beach, hubby's dunebuggy ride, new Oregon T-shirts, ET covering himself with sand--multiple times, taking baths and showers with cousins, playing and fighting with cousins, kite flying, and all sorts of fun stuff with aunts and uncles. I missed much of this due to the nature of babies and nursing. Squirt saw the beach from the car and the balcony because she is still in the -I can't breathe if it's windy stage. It was such a fun trip. Maybe next time we do it closer?

More of the Story

We were gone for a week. Monday afternoon to 12:30 am early Monday morning. All in all we were in the car for around 34 hours. With 4 kids. But the non-driving part was fun!

Munchkin packing for the trip

We spent 2 nights with my parents. The first night, ET woke up crying. He needed to blow his nose so he went into the bathroom and turned the light on. Then it was so bright, he couldn't open his eyes. Munchkin woke up next. Sometime around 2 am, I think. She had a bad dream about something. (I am sure she tried to tell us but we went to sleep around midnight and I don't remember.) She wouldn't go back to her bed. I tried to get her to snuggle with hubby but she wanted me. So I tried to get hubby to go somewhere else but he wouldn't leave either. It was already a snug fit going from our king sized bed to a double. Add in a Munchkin and it was not fun at all! The next morning, my parents took the kids to the park. Hubby and I cleaned out the car and repacked. That night, we rearranged the sleeping situation. We put the girls in the double and hubby and I slept on a futon in the living room...until about 2 am. Thumbelina had a bad dream about ants and ran screaming (like I have never heard her scream before) down the hallway. My Dad caught her and I tried to take her and she was holding on for dear life. I handed her off to hubby to check on the othe

r girls, and as he took her past the door of the room she'd been sleeping in, she started screaming, "No! I don't wanna go in there! I don't wanna go in there!!" So another night of sleeping with a kid. This time I left and slept on the couch. I let my 15 year old sister cut my hair. She had cut her own hair and I liked it so I asked her to cut mine. It involved a lot of cutting, thinning scissors, and a razor. I have no hair left.

And I have to do it now or it looks like the second picture. The ocean air made doing my hair pointless.

Maybe it was a buy one get one free sale?

Then drive, drive, drive. Stop to pee, stop to feed the baby, pump while we drive. (Oh yeah, while at my parents' house, when Munchkin was trying to get into bed with us, she stepped on my pump and broke it so only one side worked. But, the medela people are awesome. We called to order the part and they sent it to us for free. "As a courtesy." Fantastic, especially because it's my sister's pump and I didn't want to have to buy her a new one.)

Squirt liked the movie

And then we got to Oregon.

That's Right, Ladies

This one's all mine!

(Check out K rocking those drums. At 8, he's way better than me!)

Road Trip

We joined hubby's family for a vacation in Lincoln City, Oregon last week. It was lots of fun, little bits of sleep and great food.

The weeks leading up to it were filled with, "Not now--we'll do that when we go to Oregon."

*One time I asked Thumbelina to go potty---about 3 days before we left. She asked me if we were leaving. Then she asked if there was a potty in Oregon.

*Every time ET saw a river or lake he would scream that it was the ocean and that we were there! Even when we passed the Great Salt Lake.

*Munchkin developed a fear of public potties. So she held it for over 10 hours. YAY for no accidents!

*Thumbelina developed a love for peeing on the side of the freeway. At first she didn't want to do it but we were just past Podunk in the middle of nowhere. Then every time we would announce a potty break, she would ask if we were going to pee on the side of the road.

And that only got us as far as my parents house in Glenns Ferry, where we were already so tired of being in the car, we stayed for two days.

Lookit!

This is what we did today:

Can you see it?

How about now?

The Piercing Pagoda is gone!!! The tattooed and pierced guy who did Thumbelina and Munchkin wasn't there to take care of Squirt. So we went to Claire's. A pregnant lady came in to watch because she's having a girl and wanted to know how babies handled it. Squirt gave her quite a show. She screamed when the girl cleaned her ears, screamed when she dotted them, screamed when she pierced them. Then she found her thumb and all was right with the world again. Now she's happy as a clam...and asleep.

Double First

Today, ET had his first day of first grade.And here is his slept-in-the-car-Saturday-night-smashed-my-foot-at-Grandma-and-grandpa's-house-got-home-last-night-around-midnight-need-a-haircut-but-settled-for-a-shower first day of school picture. Doesn't he look excited!! Poor guy is so tired. Hopefully he was good for his new teacher.

Tidbits and Problems Solved

Karate Munchkin

She wants to do everything her siblings are doing. Good thing we have three karate suits. She just looks like a midget or she's kneeling down. But she does have her punches down.

Octopus

We saw on another blog where they made hot dog octopus dinner. The girls wanted to try it while ET was at karate. They were just supposed to put 8 noodles in the bottom. That wasn't enough noodles. They started making humans with lots of hair and arms and legs. So at the end, some of the hot dogs had about 30 pieces of spaghetti in them. ET and Hubby wouldn't even try them, but the girls loved them and have requested they make them again.

Jelly Roll

Thumbelina wanted a Strawberry cake for her (real) birthday. I was out of cake mixes but I had ingredients and strawberries. Easy to find a recipe, right? Wrong! All of the recipes I could find got their strawberry flavor from a box of strawberry Jello. So we made this instead. My first jelly roll. It was more like a sugar cookie roll, and the filling did include a box of jello, but it was yummy!
My second jelly roll: Much easier than the first...and less messy.

Problem Solved!

Remember this kid and her inability to keep a blanket on no matter how tightly she's wrapped up?
A 30 year old solution. This came from hubby's mom when we had ET. She made it when hubby was a baby...or before. Try kicking out of that!

Love The One You're With

Last night, I got to go on a date with my husband. Like a real date. You know, dinner and a movie. (Mind you, it has been so long since we have been on a date that we didn't recognize most of the movies at the real theater and hadn't seen any of the movies at the dollar theater--so dollar theater it was.)

We went to that Mexican restaurant on State Street in Orem. Right next to our beloved Burger King. It was so colorful and bigger than it looks from the outside. Hubby and I both got combination dinners. Can I just say SO MUCH FOOD?! I got a (all beef by the way) taco, tostada, enchilada and burrito with a side of rice. I ate the taco and half the enchilada so I would have room for the fried ice cream. So much food for so little money!

Then, on to the dollar theater to see Wolverine. (Yes-that's how far behind we are in movie watching!) We were so full from dinner that we didn't even want popcorn. And I was looking forward to the popcorn all day long!

After the movie we had to make a tooth fairy run because ET lost another tooth right before we left. One set of Fairly Odd Parents 3D reels for our ViewFinder and a box of Swedish fish and we were home by 9:45. (By the way--what are you supposed to do with fallen out teeth? I think we are going to make a necklace out of them and present them to our kids on their 18th birthdays. Have you read that book? Weird!)

And finally, because we are such party animals, we were in bed by 10:15.

This is Why We Never Go Anywhere

Today, hubby took his last vacation half day and we schlepped the kids to the free movie in Spanish Fork. The kids have been passing around our Monsters, Inc. book for weeks and wanted to watch the movie. Now, being Redbox people and having long since given up our movie store membership, we couldn't find it anywhere. But today, they were playing Monsters, Inc. So free tickets, one big bag of popcorn, and two drinks (well, three if you count Squirt's bottle) later we were ready!

The kids did okay. They were kids--laughing really loud, talking about parts of the movie, talking to each other--you know, kids. But the whole theater was full of kids so it was no big deal. Nice.

Then, about an hour and 15 minutes through the movie, I see hubby leaving with Munchkin, and ET and Thumbelina holding their noses and giggling.

All that popcorn and drink Munchkin had inhaled? All over the floor in lovely scented juices. Munchkin and hubby covered in puke flavored fruit punch popcorn. YUM!

The kids moved to the other side of me, away from the stench, and we watched the last 15 minutes, while hubby cleaned himself and the child in the bathroom.

Then we hit Sonic's Happy Hour on the way home. The Puke Princess picked Grape.

My Grandparents

My grandparents can be described as quirky. Now, that is in no way meant as a put down. They are awesome! They are very loving and humble people. But definitely quirky.

For example, they wear jams. My favorites are the fish ones my grandma is sporting. One time, they went to get professional portraits done. Now these were going to be from the waist up so my Grandpa wore a nice shirt, tie and jacket...with jams. The photographer thought it was so funny, he had to take a full length picture.

The portrait in the picture with them is my grandfather's aunt Mabel. They weren't quite sure what to do with it, so they decided to "bring her along on the trip."

(Aunt Mabel, Grandpa, Grandma, Shannon)

This is a picture of a sheet they made with their family tree on it. My family is up and to the right of Munchkin.

We had a lot of fun with them but my favorite part was when Grandpa played along with Munchkin's diner. She made a table out of legos and served him cake and fishies. I wish I had a picture of that. Last time they were in town, Grandpa taught ET how to blow bubbles. We are already looking forward to their next visit in 2 years.

The 2 Year Old Diva War Cry

"You're being mean. You're not my friend. You're not invited to my tea party!"

Did You Know?

Have I mentioned how much I love this girl?! (And not just when she's sleeping!)

Or how much she loves that bear?

Or how much she moves around at night?

(All of these pictures were taken at the same angle, on the same day. She managed to flip herself all the way around in that last picture.)

Come Together

My grandparents were in town for a couple of days. They live in Florida and North Carolina (about 6 months in each place.) Every two years they take a trip across the country. Just the two of them in a van for days and days visiting relatives as they work their way across the country and back home again. I said to my Grandmother, "You must really like each other to spend so much time together." Her reply, "Well, there's always sleep, and libraries."

Since we have the biggest place of the local family here, we got to play host. Hubby was working, but the rest of us had a great time. It was so nice to not have to keep the kids out of other people's stuff...too much. My cousin, Logan, used the locks on his cello case for the very first time.

They have this game they made up called Wellingo. (Their last name is Welling.) It is bingo but with Welling relative names. My grandpa will read off a blessing, acheivement and goal for each person and we all guess who it is and get to mark off that box on our card. Thumbelina got the first Wellingo. Then she got her prize of a chocolate bar and was done with the game.

Logan let the kids play his cello and was very patient with them. (Not that I think Logan is an impatient person, I just know my kids.) ET did great:

Thumbelina does not enjoy the spotlight so if anyone was looking at her, she would clam up and hide. But ET got the camera (again) while the adults were talking and got her real personality on video:

Sneaky

The kids keep stealing the camera. At least this time they brought it back with real pictures instead of 30 shot of the carpet under the desk.

Not too bad.

Another Project DONE!

We have a boppy. We actually had two but now we have one. We got it from my great-aunt's daughter when we had ET. ET used it. Thumbelina used it. Munchkin used it. It got a little tear in the middle curve part. Then Munchkin threw up on it. So I washed it. Anything that cannot be washed does not last long in our house. I was pulling it out of the washer, forgetting all about the small tear and I did this:

Munchkin was done using it. So I just put it away figuring I would fix it later. Enter Squirt. I pull out the boppy and realize I never got around to fixing it. Not that she seems to mind or anything.

But with hubby working a ton and everyone in bed by 8, I find myself with some time on my hands. And, seriously, if I am sewing, I am not eating. (That's right. My freezer is half full of bags of milk for the baby and the time to lose this weight is here!) So about an hour and 12 not-so-straight-anymore pins later, we have the new and improved boppy:

It's bigger...

It's softer...

And it's my very first zipper!

Sunday Fun

I woke up early this morning (5:45 am) with a massive sneezing fit. I probably sneezed 20 times. After that I couldn't go back to sleep. So I figured I would get a jump start on getting ready for Church. I hopped in the shower, and said good morning to hubby, ET and Thumbelina who all came in to go potty. **Note to self--get a less see-thru shower curtain.

Thumbelina tried three different outfits this morning because the first two were too small. So we took them off of her, threw them at Munchkin and said, "Here you go!" But Munchkin, instead of putting on one of Thumbelina's hand-me-downs, went a different direction:

She almost had it. Then when I went to put it on Squirt, Munchkin had totally stretched out the elastic in the sleeves. So that went into the sewing pile.

Squirt used to wake up at 6. We were always ready on time. Then she started sleeping until 7. So I did too. This morning, it was 7:25 and I went in to wake her up. This is what I found:

I guess we will adjust her schedule again. Right now she eats at 7, 11, 3 and 7 and then goes to bed. Tomorrow maybe we will try 8, 12, 4 and 8. The crazy thing is the bathroom is right by her room and the door was open and she slept through everything.

It still amazes me all the things you can find in Blogland. I found this tutorial a while back and was determined to try it. We made them today and they are yummy! I need to find smaller molds--Wal*Mart didn't have any.

1 ice-cube-size gummy is the equivalent to a whole pack of fruit snacks.

My kids ate 2 each and asked for more.

Five

Well, almost anyway. Thumbelina had her 'pretend sleepover' birthday party last night. I had gotten everything ready beforehand so it went really smoothly (thanks to the trampoline breaks in between everything!) I didn't get pictures of dinner. We had pizza (are my kids the only kids who go to town on a pizza?!) and fruit kabobs. Munchkin ignored her pizza while she loaded her skewer full cantaloupe and strawberries, ate them and repeated until the fruit was gone. It was so funny getting a glimpse into my future. Three girls sitting around the table, talking non-stop.

I also missed the shoe relay because I was inside pumping. I bought dress up shoes for all the girls and they had to run and find the match to their shoe. Apparently, the shoes only fit Munchkin and then only barely. So instead of wearing the shoes, they just had to carry them. And instead of getting to take a pair of dress-up shoes home with them, Munchkin got 5 new pairs!

Then they colored sleep masks. When they were done, they got on the trampoline and were jumping with the masks on. I ran to get the camera when they started playing catch with the masks on. It was hilarious! (There were other children at the party-but I don't have permission to put their pictures on the internet, so you will see my children and random arms, legs and backs of heads.)

Thumbelina under the table waiting for her turn to 'pin the pillow on the sleeping bag.'

Munchkin after her turn.

ET still eating.

Hubby decided to mix things up (because they were all cheating by looking out from under the masks) and make them spin around with their heads on a bat and then run and time them. It didn't work very well because they spun so slow. No one really got very dizzy.

Munchkin making bracelets.

Thumbelina and ET making bracelets.

Then we decorated cupcakes.

Munchkin kept licking off the frosting and telling hubby she needed more.

Opening presents:

And finally, the magic show. We invited the families for this. A girl in my Visiting Teaching Group offered her husband's magic skills for the party. It was amazing!

After the show, the kids went back to the trampoline, while the adults puzzled over the magic tricks.

Then, ET concluded the evening by dropping trou and 'watering' the tree. In front of everyone.

Awesome!