Angry Birds

 So up until this year, I considered Halloween, my second favorite holiday.  I absolutely adore Fall.  It is by far the best season.  The food, the weather, the scenery, not to mention back to school. I mean look at this day we went to the pumpkin patch It was October 29th and it was beautiful.  We did a hay maze, picked out pumpkins, and even watched a tutorial on pumpkin carving.  It was a great way to spend our Saturday.  

 

 

 But I digress...Christmas is the best Holiday hands down.  Please people, don't even try to argue.  You will lose. But since having kids I have really started to love Halloween.  It has been so much fun coming up with creative things for kids costumes.  I had a phase where I really wanted them to be "themed" costumes every year. Where the whole family matched.  Now, I have let that go.  Let them be whatever they want.  It is the one day a year to dress ridiculously, and no one cares.  Paint your face, color your hair, wear moon boots with shorts! Decorations - fun; Candy - fun; Scary movies - fun; Carving pumpkins is disgusting - and totally fun. Look at these creative Jack-o-Lanterns.  They aren't masterpieces but the boys designed them all by themselves.

 But alas, all their hard work would not even get to be shown.  Our "neighborhood" decided it was a good idea to do a trunk or treat this year. And the kicker is they asked us if it was OK to do it in our cul-de-sac.  At first it sounded like it had potential to be fun.  Generally, I think that Trunk o treats are silly.  I mean we live in Bountiful, UT.  Really.  People barley even lock their doors.  Are we really afraid of our neighbors?  Anyway - I will not go into all the details of the night, but the kids were bored and tired, by 6:45 pm (not even dark). Joseph threw-up, and all-in all the night was a bust.  I will vehemently campaign against this atrocity known as Trunk-o-treat next year.  Anyway here are the kiddos in costume: Two angry birds and one evil wizard (Draco Malfoy).  Not to bad for one who hates to sew, right?

Now off to battle the leftover candy...

My baby's growing up :(

Today was Samuel's first day of preschool.

  Like most moms, for me, this day is met with mixed feelings. Samuel is my pal. I have drug him with me on errands, appointments, mommy lunches, Christmas shopping excursions and everything in between. He makes me laugh daily - he is ham ham ham! I will miss him (I know I know he is only gone 2 hours twice a week). Also, my aunt is his teacher. (Miss Wendy)

He is also going to school with his best buddy Jonas, and his cousin Ava.  But sometimes it is hard being a mommy. Feeling a little left behind. Love you banana!

New Arrival

Our sweet number four arrived June 6, 2011 at 6:01pm. Joseph Dexter Hess weighed 8lbs 8oz (over a pound more than my other children) and was 20 inches long. I am so happy to have my four boys; all different and unique. I laugh every day.

Ambien and Other Drugs

So last week was a bit of a doozey around here. The weather seems to think that Utah's latitude has migrated to the north west. It has seriously rained every day for weeks +Three boys at home like caged animals = three sick boys. We started the week off with all three home with colds. Christian had the added bonus of having an ear infection. Let me add that he is 9 - so it is pretty much unheard of for a 9 year old to get an ear infection. Super fun.

Tuesday, Jesse rented a tractor, so he could level out our backyard in preparation to build a pergola and patio for us. This is what he wanted for his birthday - I know he is a lune! He spent the morning in the snow, on the tractor, creating a muddy mess, trying to remove a maple tree stump that would not budge.

Wednesday was Jesse's birthday. I had to take all the kids back to the Dr. because Christian still said his ear hurt and with William's asthma, we were worried about his breathing. Alas they all just had colds. So there was pretty much nothing I could do. We did get Will an inhaler, and some potent antihistamine medicine. I had made an appointment for Jesse and I to get a couples massage and go to dinner, but since the kids were still all home sick, we spent the night at home listening to William wheeze, Christian blow his nose, and Samuel cough.

Thursday and Friday nights Jesse and I spent preparing our talks for Sacrament meeting on Sunday. (Did I mention I am vehemently opposed to speaking in public). Seriously who asks a 9month pregnant lady to speak - oh how many things could go wrong there????

Saturday I took William to Instacare because he was now complaining about a hurt ear. The Dr. told me it was the worst ear infection she had ever seen. Awesome. So now everyone is getting a least three different medications a day, we are washing our hands every two minutes and I am willing myself to not get sick! I almost bought a haz-mat suit.

Sunday morning, when your church starts at 9:00 is always pleasant. Kids are freaking out - we have to be on time, because we are speaking, and Jesse is getting a headache. He reaches in the cupboard to get some Ibuprofen, and as he is swallowing his pills he realizes he just took some Ambien. Church starts in 15 minutes. He looks at me in horror - "What do I do?" I laughed. What else could I do? I told him to drink a Coke - that was all I could think of that could counter act a sleep medicine.

Now, many people have witnessed Jesse on Ambien. It is not pretty. He has been known to hallucinate, stumble, and/or giggle. He also tends to get really sentimental and lovey. I was worried. Luckily he typed up his entire talk so he could read it, and didn't have to remember anything, or wing it. The speaking actually went really well. Jesse did a great job covering. People just now think he is really mellow.

P.S. Jamie was at home with her brand new baby, so I was unable to go see or help her because of all the germs I was harboring. Also my Dad was recovering from his latest pancreas induced hospital stay. UMMMMMM... Do I dare say, things can't get worse? (Is it safe for me to take Ambien?)

Spring? Break

I was actually looking forward to spring break this year. I know - crazy right? Well I am 8 months pregnant and really looking forward to spending some time with my little guys before life gets even more ridiculous. And I wanted to sleep in. But this is what it looks like at my house today. Are you kidding??? And this is what my children are doing. Please note the fuzzy blankets they are wrapped in. . . What are the gods trying to tell me?

At least Monday was nice enough for William to get a token injury while playing outside. He slid off the giant boulders in our front yard and scraped all down his chest. He thought it was cool because it looked as if he were attacked by a wild cat of some kind. (Note to self: Try to feature William in a post that isn't about him getting hurt.)

I have been racking my brain to come up with things for them to do so we all don't go stir crazy. So today we went to Kangaroo Zoo. See the joy on their faces. I am the best Mom ever (if just for this fleeting moment). There is no way to accurately depict the craziness of this place in photographs. Today it truly lived up to its name. Zoo. It is a giant warehouse filled with bouncy houses, blow-up slides and crazy energy laden children who are all going nuts in this weather. We had fun and I was grateful that they were able to expel some of that energy. I am sure that next week when they return to school it will be sunny and beautiful. C'est la vie. . .

Sweet 16?? Maybe. . .

We have a few years yet, but maybe one day we will watch him on TV - though, it could not be more entertaining than watching these 5-8 year olds play. It was absolutely hysterical... there was an utter lack of respect for the whole "dribbling" thing. It was pretty much optional.

William was actually pretty good. He was one of two kids on the team that could dribble, and he made a bunch of baskets. He did get a case of the nerves a couple of times, but he always got over it.

Getting direction from Coach Lou!
This is the day of his last game. He did not want to come, because this was the day after getting 11 stitches, but we convinced him he wouldn't want to miss it. He fought us the whole way there, but then ended up playing 3 quarters of the game. Now he is getting his trophy and pictures. . . that's all they care about anyway (and the treat)!

Really???!!

I realize that as cliche as my life with all these boys can be, I thought perhaps the endless visits to the ER might in some way pass us by. This is William's third visit for stitches - the second for this exact spot. He was playing soccer at school and fell on the concrete and split his eye. I wish I had gotten a photo pre-stitches, because it was pretty grotesque. He was really brave. The doctor said he was the best patient he had ever had. We were at the hospital for about 3 hours and about 45 minutes of that was getting these 11 stitches! He never moved. I am so proud!!!

Samuel turns Three

When you are little your birthdays' are pretty much like when you get older. People have to tell you it is your birthday; you don't recognize anyone at the party; you spit on the cake when you blow out the candles; and you drip frosting on your shirt. But at three you turn a corner. You start to understand that people are celebrating you - and you most definitely understand about the presents. However, you still don't really know many of your own friends - so it was just the five of us celebrating with Samuel this year. (Editor's note: Jesse was actually with us all day - though he never appears in any photos!!)

In the morning we went to one of William's basketball games - then we went to the Clark Planetarium aka the "Buzz" museum. Samuel is the midst of a serious Toy story obsession, and this was as close as I could muster to where a space ranger would hang out.

We love our little ham. He makes us giggle everyday. I can't wait to celebrate many more with you Cuckoo!!!

Bring It On!

So bring on the new year I say. Our family had a great year last year so we are excited for what is to come - though I am not sure this particular outing was a good omen. If you are wondering why I posted a picture of nothing - look again. This is a picture of my sledding wipeout. We took the kids to Mueller Park Jr. High, where they have an awesome sledding hill. I had been sledding all day, and even broke the distance record. This was the fated last run. (I should also mention that I am 4 months pregnant and was riding with my 2 year old)




Will at the tippy top of the bigger hill!


Christian and our neighbor Joseph doubled up to break the land speed record.
Samuel was so brave and went all by himself on the saucer.
Once, the kids got over the fact that it was 18 degrees, and they were going to be cold, they relented and had a great time. It is hard to find fun things to do in January in Utah. There is the inversion - where no living creature wants to be outside breathing the air; the sub-zero temperatures; and the post-holiday blues. But I think we had a winner here - as close to skiing/snowboarding as you can get minus the cost!!!