My Amazing Wife

This past week and a half have been challenging for me as I have been in San Antonio away from my family. I love being able to skype and talk to them in the evenings, but sometimes is just isn't the same as being there to hug and hold them all. Mauri has been the most amazing woman while I have been away. She has had a rough weekend with sick kids and not being able to get out an enjoy some fresh air. She still wakes up every morning with a smile and desire to make it a good day. She cleans the house, does the laundry, feeds the kids, gives them a bath, nurses Tanzi, plays with them all, has family prayer and scripture study, gets Kyri ready for preschool, takes all three kids to the store to do shopping, calls me at night, and loves each of us so much. She is the most amazing woman I know and I love her so much for everything she is doing for our little family and for me while I am away. Less than two weeks and I will be home to cuddle you and the rest of the family. I love you Babe!

Another Day Another....

Dollar?

I wish.

No, Today it was another sicky.

Graysen woke up around 6 and snuggled me.

A while later he was standing in the middle of the floor and made "the sound" (as Gary and I now refer to it)

Our kids sound like they are throwing up, but nothing comes out.

They ALWAYS throw up some time later, though.

So, when we went down for breakfast he was carrying his cereal over to the table and threw up....all over in his bowl...and everywhere else!

Then he took a nap before 10 this morning...on my bed.

I could totally tell he didn't feel well.

Poor guy!

At least that was the only time he threw up.

I LOVE that his bed is full of his "friends" and that he's snuggling Dog Dog

I know it's a blurry picture, but I found her on her belly again :)

Kyri and Graysen played with play-do for a really long time today.

They combined ALL their colors (with my help, of course...I didn't want to be left out)....

and what color did they get?

A gross grayish color.

They mixed the homemade play-do from preschool in with it, so when they were done we just threw it all away.

I think I may be making our play-do from now on.

Now they LOVE mixing colors...and it is SO much softer and easier for the kids to work with!

After playing with the train Tanzi was showing a special interest in "Big Monkey"

She was SO stinkin' cute with it.

I couldn't decide which picture to post...so I posted them all :)

Haha!!

Too cute!

Graysen REALLY wanted to be in some of the pictures

Kyri was in time out...so she missed out :(

We made banana bread today.

I just needed to make something I knew I could trust...and LOVE!

Oh, it is so SO good!!

For dinner I made a YUMMY salad with lettuce, tomato, avocado, carrot, cucumber, and cheese.

I made one the other night and the kids ate it UP! In fact, Kyri even asked for more. Well, tonight neither of them ate more than a couple bites.

They both ate some plum and then told me, "I'm full to the brim-hole!"

I think maybe they still aren't feeling very well.

Kyri didn't eat much all day.

It's just so unlike these two to not eat much.

Tonight, after the kids took a bath and were mostly ready for bed, we got to Skype daddy.

We had Family Home Evening with him.

I think the kids REALLY loved that!!

I really loved that :)

The last couple nights, when I've taken the kids to bed, Kyri has done the CUTEST thing!!

After we blew each other kisses, Kyri blew me an extra kiss and said,

"Give that to daddy when you talk to him tonight!!"

So, daddy, here ya go:

Mwaaaah!!

Saturday & Sunday

*I caught up today...so there are a few new posts...the others actually even have pictures*

WARNING: this post may contain some graphic potty talk....read at your own risk!

Saturday morning I got up around 4 to feed Tanzi.

I got back into bed just after 4:30 (I'm not normally up with her that long, but....we snuggled for a while :) )

Shortly after that Kyri came into my room, crying.

She came in earlier (around midnight?) and said her tummy hurt.

This time she just started throwing up on my floor!

That was the beginning....of something really awful!

She threw up every few minutes for about 4 hours! It was so ridiculous!!

Then she was throwing up every 30 minutes. Then every hour.

Oh I felt SO bad for her!

While I was down getting Graysen some breakfast I could hear Kyri running up here. When I came to check on her (thinking she was throwing up again) I discovered she had a stinky accident.

She just had it coming out of both ends with such great force!!

Seriously...so bad!

Of all the times for her to be sick did it have to be while Gary is gone?!?!

Why, yes. Yes it did.

One time, in the afternoon when Kyri thought she was feeling better she was downstairs with us while we were eating lunch.

She threw up ALL over the rug!

Most other times she made it to the toilet, with a few almosts.

So, we spent the day watching TV and movies.

I did a TON of laundry and cleaning, as you can imagine.

I was supposed to teach Relief Society today, but called the education counselor yesterday and explained my situation. I told her that even if Kyri wasn't throwing up I didn't feel like I should take her to church.

I guess I could say that that was the one good thing that came out of all of this, but the thing is, I don't mind teaching. In fact, I love it and am kind of really glad that's been my calling for over 4 years now :)

BUT it was nice to not have to worry about it....with a sick child and Gary gone and all.

Today we stayed in our jammies....just like yesterday.

We had another lazy day, even though Kyri was feeling better.

She hadn't thrown up since 3 pm yesterday!!

I made some cookies.

Didn't love 'em.

Graysen at 3 of them , though, so they're not disgusting.

That's about all he ate since breakfast.

I made french toast casserole for breakfast and both Kyri and Gray ate a lot.

Then I made an Italian Suddenly Salad for lunch and added tomatoes, avocado, olives, and mozzarella cheese.

It was SO good.

The kids didn't eat it :(

Then I was feeling like a "real" dinner, so I made chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peas and carrots.

The kids didn't eat that either!! :(

I TOTALLY thought they would.

They normally DO eat that stuff.

Well, before Kyri went to bed she said her tummy hurt.

Just a few minutes ago she was crying.

I went into her room and then she threw up!!

Luckily I had a "throw up" bowl handy.

She never used it yesterday, but I sure was glad to have it there tonight!

The poor girl!!

Really?

Again?

But that's how it usually is when she gets sick.

She might throw up once a day for the next few days...or skip a day and then throw up again.

Man, the poor thing!!

At least it's not every few minutes like it was yesterday!

No wonder she didn't eat much today.

But Gray didn't either....let's PLEASE hope that is not a sign of things to come!!

I really kind of need to go to the store tomorrow....so let's hope all kids are feeling well!!

Friday

I don't really remember a whole lot about this day.

It was obviously very uneventful.

I do remember taking all the kids to WalMart.

Not only was it an excuse to get out of the house, but we were down to Graysen's last diaper!

YIKES!

When we bought our last box of diapers were were really hoping it was our last.

But Gray goes potty on the toilet when he wants...and Gary's going to work with him some more when he gets home.

I was totally ok with taking all the kids to the store to buy more diapers :)

On the way home we decided to stop at the park by our house.

We need to take advantage of this nice weather...and the kids get bored in our backyard.

Plus, Tanzi was just asleep in her carseat, so I figured it would be a nice nap outside for her.

At the store we bought some animal crackers, so I opened them and let the kids eat them at the park.

One of the times when Gray came back from playing on the toys to eat a cracker, he just said, out of nowhere, "Thank you....buying these crackers at the store!!"

Oh, he is such a SWEET boy and is always saying thank you for things!!

I do try to teach my kids manners, but I don't force them to say thank you at every random thing...he is just SO polite.

I LOVE it!!

Oh, and I really wish I could describe on here how Graysen actually says "thank you"

It is one of the cutest things EVER!!

Tawn said she thinks he sound like a little British boy.

He says "f" instead of "th" and doesn't even say the "k" at all....oh, I just want to squeeze him every time he says it!!

After being at the park for about 30 minutes Kyri came down the slide, and as she was sitting at the bottom she said, "Ummm....I'm kind of peeing. Oh...I had an accident!!"

Seriously?

You've been potty trained for over 2 years now!!

They have bathrooms here!!

I didn't get mad.

I was calm.

And made the kids get into the car.

I cleaned the slide off with a burp cloth and wipey.

So much for spending the evening at the park.

I wasn't tempted to watch my murder mystery.

I watched Extreme Makeover: Home Edition instead.

It was about a young guy who was doing some flips and landed on his neck and became paralyzed. A quadriplegic.

It reminded me so much of my friend, Matt Maw, and I really loved watching it.

(that's the best link I could find...right now)

Then, I watched 20/20

It was an interview with Bernie Madoff's daughter in law.

I found it very interesting.

I didn't keep up with the whole story when it all went down, but from this interview found out that her husband (Madoff's son) committed suicide.

I could NOT sleep that night....I think it was just as bad as watching a murder mystery!

I'm not sure if I took this picture Thursday or Friday night, but either way....

I LOVE it!

Thursday - Travel Day

Today we went to Logan and I finally got to meet baby Victoria!!

She is SO sweet!

Both Kyri and Gray really wanted to hold her, and as they were I realized that they never did get to hold Tanzi when she was this "little"...less than 2 weeks old....although, Victoria is bigger (weighs more) than Tanzi did when we brought her home.

They did get to hold Tanzi the day she was born and then the day after. Then they never even saw her until she was over a month old.

It brought a tear to my eye....just like everything does...and I felt especially grateful that day that baby V is healthy and home!

Tanzi is very interested in this naked baby!!

Tawn was saying that baby V looks like Aunt Jemima with this hat on :)

Peek!!

Sorry about the light issues...I was struggling with my camera for a minute

But isn't this a cute picture?!

I got to Tawn's in the morning and then my parent's came a couple hours later.

We enjoyed some lunch from Rumbi's and then my dad was going to go over to Tremonton for a Chiropractor appointment and I was going to cut and color Tawn's hair and Grammy was going to watch all the kids :)

Well, Tawn's neck has been hurting for a while, so she took dad's appointment...and he drove her.

So, Grammy and I took all the kids to the park behind Tawn's house.

The kids had a ton of fun!

Even Tanzi thought it was a good time

Playing in the trees

(I could NOT get Alyssa to hold still for 2 seconds so I could get a picture of the front of her)

I didn't even start on Tawn's hair until after 5!

And I gave Grampy a haircut too.

We didn't leave there until about 7:30...good thing I thought to take pajamas for everyone!

The kids were all exhausted, but had such a fun time playing with their cousins and Grammy and Grampy!

It was the perfect day out of the house!!

Oh, and I was thinking I was just getting started with all my picture taking of baby V and our day, etc....then the camera battery died!

Of course.

That is just my luck!

More pictures next time :)

Wednesday - Orange Day

While Kyri was at preschool the kids played with play-do.

Actually, Ms. Kate sent some yellow and red play-do for them to squish together to see what color it made.

It was an activity they were doing at preschool and she thought these kids might want to try it out too.

They did!!

My first attempt at a snowman

My 2nd attempt

The kids were very impressed!

I think it's cute that they had to touch it....just barely :)

I also love how Teegon and Graysen are matching with their green shirts

After play-do we did chalk

Cute kids!

Since it was orange day we dressed Kyri up in as much orange as we could!

Her leggings are sort of a yellow-orange, but I thought they were perfect because they actually say "Wednesday" on them.

How appropriate.

To start the day off we were ALL wearing orange (even Tanzi), but before preschool even started Graysen got his shirt soppin' wet and had to change....and by the end of the day Tanzi was out of her outfit too...a blow out? Spit up? I can't quite remember.

Silly kids!

That night when I checked on the kids I found Tanzi like this.

It's the first time I've seen her sleep on her belly!

And I haven't seen it since.

I've been saying that I think she would sleep better on her belly.

Well, she had a terrible night.

Maybe I was wrong.

After the kids were in bed I spent some time cleaning.

Even though the house wasn't spotless I felt a little better about life.

I had gotten behind on dishes because I forgot to start the dishwasher....for some reason I'm okay with the rest of the house being a disaster as long as I can have a clean kitchen.

I HATE waking up to dirty dishes!

Since I haven't been updating every day I know there's a lot that I don't remember.

However, we have been able to Skype Gary every night, so at lest he's been informed of each days going ons :)

My Babies Are Growing Up WAY Too Fast

Last night when it was time for bed I was walking into Kyri's room with her.

I do this EVERY night...and then I tuck her in, turn on her music, sometimes I even lie in her bed with her and talk about the day or read her a book.

But last night, right when we walked into the room Kyri said, "Ummm....actually, I can come to my bed all by myself. You don't need to come with me!!"

Me: "I know, you're a big girl, but I like to come with you so I can tuck you in and give you kisses."

Kyri: "Well, I can go to my bed by myself. So, tomorrow night I will remind you so you don't come with me."

Me: (no, I couldn't just leave it at that and walk away) "WHY?!"

Kyri: "You can go out now."

When I got to her doorway I do what I ALWAYS do.

I turned around and blew her a kiss and said, "Kyri!"

Normally at this point she pops her head up and blows a kiss back and in unison we say,

"I love you!! Night-night!"

But last night after I said her name I got no response.

I still told her I loved her and then I closed the door.

I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty heartbroken!

What happened to my little girl?!

Don't worry, tonight she forgot to remind me that she could do it herself and we were back to our normal routine!! :)

Graysen never bothered going peeps in the potty today.

But tonight after baths I was waiting in my bedroom for him so I could put his diaper on.

He told me he needed to go peeps first.

He sat on the toilet and I'm not really sure if he went or not, but then he washed his hands.

He came into the bedroom, threw the hand towel at me and ran back into the bathroom.

I waited for a few seconds and then said, "Graysen, what are you doing?"

Gray: "Going stinky!!"

So, I walked into the bathroom and, sure enough, he just went on the potty!!

Yes, this is the same boy who, just yesterday, went in his underwear.

Now, remember, we aren't really pushing the potty training, but I love that he is just training himself!!

A few minutes later we were in the bathroom for something and I said, "Oooh. Who made it stink in here?"

Gray smiled and said, "ME!!"

I said, "Does that make mommy happy?"

He got a big grin on his face and shook his head, yes.

You bet that makes mommy happy!!!

What a big boy!!

Last night Tanzi woke up just before 3am. I let her cry for about 15-20 minutes is all and then I went and got her. I changed her bum and tried giving her her binky, but she just really wanted to eat! I gave in. I fed her!

And then, afterwards, I was just rocking her and became extremely emotional.

I couldn't help but think about how much I have complained about her not sleeping well, which means I'm not sleeping well.

And I thought about how frustrated I get listening to her cry in the night and wishing she would just sleep.

And then I thought about how truly blessed I am to have her!

Tanzi has a few friends from PCMC that have been taken from their Mommy's arms much too soon.

I can only imagine what those mothers are going through.

Wishing that they could feed their babies in the night.

Wishing that they weren't getting hardly any sleep.

Wishing that they could hear their babies cry....all night long.

And then I felt guilty for all my complaints.

I decided then that I'm no longer going to complain.

We went through the trial of having Tanzi in the NICU for over a month for a reason. And I feel like maybe we still haven't figured it all out. Maybe there are still too many things we are taking for granted. Maybe our trials aren't even over yet. Maybe, just maybe, I should appreciate the fact that I have a baby that I can hold in the night.

And so, last night I held Tanzi for an extra long time.

And then I gave her some extra kisses.

One for her.

And some for her friends....

who have been taken from their mommies much too soon!

Underwear? Under There!

Tanzi had a bad night.

She woke up around 1 am and I finally got up with her around 1:45. She was stinky!! I think that's the first time she's had a stinky diaper in the middle of the night since she came home from the hospital!!

Then she wanted me to feed her, but I just gave her her binky and rocked her for a while.

I couldn't go back to sleep after that.

I finally fell asleep close to 3:30, then AT 3:30 Tanzi woke up again!!

I was so tired I just got up and fed her.

She slept til 6....I fed her again.
Then she slept until after 8!!

Kyri and Gray woke up at 6:15!!

I was SO tired and was hoping for a nap today.

That didn't happen.

I guess I better go to bed early tonight.

When I was making breakfast this morning I heard a gasp from Kyri.

When I looked at her she pointed to Graysen, but didn't say anything.

It took me a minute, but then I saw a HUGE spider on his chest.

I didn't want to freak him out, so I calmly (but quickly) brushed it off his shirt.

When he saw the spider on the floor he said, kind of excitedly, "Oh!! A fly!!"

I wish it was just a fly!

Good thing it wasn't Gary that had to kill the spider...I think the whole house would have been freaking out! :)

Today Graysen told me he wanted to wear his underwear without his diaper.

I didn't want to discourage him, so I let him, but wanted him to play outside....in case there was an accident.

He had one about 10 minutes after getting his underwear on!!

I put a diaper back on him for his nap and afterward he wanted to go pee. His diaper was wet, so I threw it away and told him he could just play outside...naked. What boy wouldn't jump at that chance? Graysen. He threw a fit and wanted me to put his wet diaper back on. Then threw a fit because he just wanted his underwear on.

Did I mention that he threw a fit?

Well, this is what we ended with:

He later went stinky in these underwears, so I told him from now on he just has to wear his diaper and can take it off to go peeps and stinky on the potty, but I am NOT cleaning up accidents while Gary's gone.

Can't do it.

I would go insane!!

Graysen has had a runny nose for weeks now!

We're planning on going to Logan to see baby Victoria on Thursday so today Tawn text me and asked how Gray was doing.

My response?

"He's MUCH better!! Now his nose only runs when he cries....which is ALL day..."

And that's the truth.

I love this picture because it kind of looks like Tanzi is the one taking the picture :)

The kids all had a rough afternoon.

They were all fussy....and naughty!

In the late afternoon/evening Tanzi just cries and wants to be held.

It's SO hard because I just have to listen to her cry while I make dinner. And then I'm trying to make her happy and then I have to listen to Kyri and Gray cry because they're hungry and I'm not making dinner fast enough!

Aaaahhhh!!

Tonight I made spaghetti squash with a YUMMY sauce.

It was SO delicious!!

Kyri, Graysen, and myself ate the ENTIRE squash!!

After giving the kids a bath we got to Skype Daddy!

The kids are always so silly in front of the camera. It doesn't really show how rough things have been all day!!

The kids did help me clean a little today, though. Hopefully we can finish tomorrow....it still looks like a hurricane hit.

It's just SO hard for me to get caught up!!

ALL 3 kids were in bed and ASLEEP by 7 pm.

There is still some hope for my sanity!

After they were in bed I had to pump.

Even though Gary is gone I still feed Tanzi a bottle every night at 6. It's just our routine, so I figure I might as well keep with it, even though I don't love pumping. I am now finding it kind of relaxing. I have a good excuse to not think about the house work that needs to be done, the laundry, dishes, etc. Maybe I should pump for an hour or something :)

I miss Gary.

I miss reading scriptures with him. He reads in Polish and I read in English. And I ask lots of questions. And he just listens to me. But we're sitting right next to each other and the TV is off and no one is at the computer. And we are bonding.

I miss that.

Monday, Monday

Well, Kyri and Gray both slept until 7:oo am!!

Too bad Tanzi had a terrible night...and woke up at 6:30!!

It's just not my luck to have all kids sleep til 7...unfortunately.

This morning we made Pumpkin Muffins with chocolate chips for breakfast.

YUMMY!!

We also roasted our pumpkin seeds today.

But I had to take them out of the oven slightly early because my friend, Jen, text to see if we wanted to meet at Arctic Circle for lunch.

We did want to.

I turned the oven off, but left the seeds in the oven.

Even though they could have used 10-15 more minutes they are still very delicious!!

The kids had a lot of fun at lunch.

To be honest, we have never taken our kids to a restaurant with a play place.

My friends were shocked.

In fact, our kids don't know "McDonald's" or "Arctic Circle" or anything.

They know "drive-thru"...that's it.

So, they loved it!

And I loved that it was special for them and not the norm.

They were a little out of control, since some of the other kids were being wild, but they had a great time!

Except the time Davis pinned Kyri on the stairs because he didn't want her "playing with the animals".

Kyri cried. Davis got a time out.

We later found out Graysen was trying to pull Davis off of Kyri!!

What a GOOD brother!

Oh, that brings a tear to my eye.

When we got home Gray and Tanzi went down for a nap and Kyri and I worked on her workbooks.

This seems to be our new routine.

And I'm okay with that.

In fact, I'm kind of loving it because every day I realize how smart Kyri is...and she makes me SO proud!!

Want to hear a secret about Kyri?

At the beginning of the year, in Joy School, Kyri made a goal she was going to work on for the year. Every other child chose to have the goal of learning to write their name.

My Kyri girl?

Her goal was to learn to read!!

At first I thought, "Seriously, Kyri? You just turned 3!!"

Well, I'm not saying that she'll be able to read by the end of the year, but I AM saying that I think she'll be awfully close.

Way to go my sweet pea!!

Tanzi really does know how to get up "on all fours" :)

See?

Go, Tanzi, go!!

Scooching her knees a bit :)

Tanzi makes me laugh when I feed her because after each bite she just opens her mouth and patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) waits for the next bite.

Why the red eyes? Oh that's because she cried all afternoon!

The only time she wasn't crying was when I was holding her.

Yeah, as you can imagine, I am already missing Gary.

I think part of it is because I know he's going to be gone for a long time and so I'm already dreading it and think that it's already hard!

Someone tell me to just buck up!

About an hour before dinner the kids had grapes, kiwis, and apples. I never care if they eat a lot of healthy snacks, even if it IS right before dinner. But since they ate so much of that I knew they wouldn't eat much dinner so I just made them a grilled cheese sandwich. And I had these for dinner, but with chocolate chips, of course :) Yes, I'm serious. That's what I had for dinner.

While I was feeding Tanzi her cereal and making the kid's sandwiches, they decided they would practice their Frisbee throwing

Gary worked with Kyri a bit in the last couple weeks and she's getting really good...

See the pink Frisbee?

She threw it right to me!!

Tonight we got to Skype Gary.

It was JUST what I needed.

I was sort of about ready to lose my mind.

All 3 kids were fussing and not listening and there was fighting and crying.

Oh, his call came at just the perfect time!!

It made the kids SO happy to see their daddy too! Tanzi was even being happy!

Kyri has been working really hard at saying her personal prayers.

We really slack at reminding her to say them in the mornings, but she got a paper from Primary that has been helping her keep track of her prayers AND scripture reading.

So, tonight she was saying her personal prayer.

She did REALLY good!

Her prayer went something like this,

"Heavenly Father, please bless I can sleep good. And bless my dreams.

And please bless we can't pick our noses anymore!"

Hahahaha!!

And I'm really not sure what she said after that because I was too busy laughing!!

It's true, though, Kyri and Gray BOTH have a serious nose picking problem...and I'm not sure how to stop it.

Maybe praying about it will be the key!

The kids all went to bed SO good tonight.

I made sure Kyri was asleep when I took Graysen in.

Neither of them ever got out of bed tonight!

The house is an absolute disaster!

I debated on whether I should clean or blog.

I knew what Gary would rather have me do...so here I am :)

Tomorrow better be a cleaning day, I guess.

He's Off!

Before getting into today I need to make mention of a couple things I forgot in the last post.

We haven't worked much with Graysen on potty training. Gary keeps telling me he wants to potty train Gray, but he really hasn't had the time. (And I'm more than willing to let Gary do the potty training!!) Anyway, lately Graysen has been wanting to go peeps on the potty. So, if he wants to we let him, but we don't push it.

Well, yesterday Kyri was going potty and Graysen told me (about 20 times) that he was going to go peeps when Kyri was done. When he got on the potty I kept asking him if he had gone yet and he kept saying, "No, not wet (yet)" And then he said, "I'm going stinky!" And about 5 seconds later he said, "Me all done, Mom!"

I wasn't expecting to see anything in the potty, but sure enough Graysen went stinky in the potty!!!

Time to start potty training?

Nah, I'll wait til Gary gets back and let him do it :)

But I'll let Gray go potty ANY time he wants!!

Last night the light in the kid's room was on and after quite a while Gary went in and turned the light off. Later I went in to check on the kids and this is what I found:

How ironic that it was the Obedience tape he ruined!!

This morning Gary went in to kiss the kids goodbye around 5:45

They never went back to sleep :(

Before he left Gary said it was worth it.

Worth it to who?

The one who leaves and doesn't have to deal with tired, fussy kids ALL day!

I'm glad the kids got to say bye to their daddy, but boy did we have a rough day!

In fact, I told them they had to take a nap before church.

Graysen fell asleep just after 9 am and Kyri went in around 9:15, but after 30 minutes Kyri came out and said, "I already took a nap!"

She didn't, but at least she tried.

I had to wake Gray up about 10:15 to get the kids dressed and ready for church.

Tanzi fell asleep during Sacrament in her car seat.

Kyri and Gray were actually really good, but then Kyri had to go potty.

I tried to get her to wait 10 more minutes until Sacrament was over, but she couldn't. I left Tanzi and took Kyri and Gray. Of course once we got in the bathroom Graysen decided he wanted to go potty too. I didn't want to say no, so I let him (try...nothing actually came out), but then I had to put his wet diaper back on him!! Oh well.

When we got back into Sacrament Tanzi was awake and Brother Arnold, who was sitting behind us was just rocking her car seat with his foot. Haha....of course she woke up while we were gone!! Thank goodness for nice people!!

During Relief Society Sister Reynolds told me she wanted to hold Tanzi. And she held her the entire time. And when Tanzi got fussy Sister Reynolds just stood up with her and never once thought about giving her back! It was SO nice!! And she didn't even know that Gary's gone and thought that might help give me a slight break! What a fabulous ward we live in!!

Gray and Kyri with their pumpkins from the pumpkin patch....just before we cut them open.

And, yes, Kyri is wearing her pajamas over her shirt and Gray has a filthy face.

They had fun helping me get all the seeds out.

Actually, Gray would take about 5 seeds out and then ask sister to get the rest.

And she did AWESOME!!

It wasn't until the kids were in bed that I pureed all the pumpkin.

And I can't wait to try some yummy recipes with it!!

Looks like tomorrow is going to be baking day. (Good thing I got all the laundry done on Saturday!)

Gary called this afternoon and let us know he made it to Texas.

We miss him already.

Tanzi fusses whenever she sees me. It's like she wants me to hold her or feed her or something. Too bad I won't get a break from that for a few weeks...she's always good for Gary when I'm not in the room :)

Gary informed me that his hotel does not offer free Internet...which may mean no Skype. The kids will be SO sad! But he's going to try to see if it's something he can get his work to pay for :) Now that would be nice!!

When Gary's home our normal routine is that after dinner he takes all the kids upstairs and gets them into the tub and I clean the kitchen.

When he's gone one of two things happens. Either the kitchen doesn't get cleaned up after dinner...until the next day. Or the kids don't get a bath and I listen to them cry about not getting one.

It's a lose/lose situation!

Ah well, it's not forever. I can handle 3 weeks.

Can't I?

Since the kids were up so early I figured I would put them to bed early. Kyri was SO tired. I put her down at 6. Normally I turn music on for her to listen to (unless she loses out on that privilege), but tonight she told me she didn't want music. She said she was too tired. She crawled into bed and I thought she was asleep before I left the room!

I took Gray in 10 minutes later and Kyri was still awake and had nothing on but her panties!

Normally if she's still awake she will still just go right to sleep.

Not tonight.

They were up for 2 hours after that!!

I went in and turned their light off 4 times!!

Really?!

If they don't sleep til 7 tomorrow morning I am not gonna be a happy camper!!

And since I've also been up since about 5:30 I guess I better get to bed....so if my kids do decide to wake up early tomorrow I won't lose my mind....completely.

Movie Day

This morning Gary woke up early and got ready to go pick up our bountiful basket. Before he left he realized the kid's light in their room was on. He went in and Gray was awake, sitting on Kyri's bed...she was still trying to sleep. So, I guess I can't always blame Kyri for waking up early and turning the light on :) Gary took Graysen with him to get our basket. A few minutes later Kyri came into my bedroom and asked where Daddy was. After I told her she asked where Graysen was. She likes having her brother to play with in the mornings! But I was able to talk her into snuggling me...for a few minutes. She definitely isn't our snugly one, so I have to take advantage of it when I can. She even gave me a back rub! What a good girl!!

We made Swedish pancakes for breakfast.

Kyri's and Graysen's favorite breakfast.

They used to ask for them every morning, but soon learned we only have them when daddy's home because mommy doesn't like to cook them. So, I usually mix the batter and Gary cooks them. This morning Gary did it all!! And we won't have Swedish pancakes for at least 3 weeks now.

Around 11 we decided to have a movie day. We wanted to do something as a family and knew the kids would love this! We watched Shrek 2 and ate popcorn and M&M's and drank chocolate milk. Graysen only sat still long enough to eat his treats (as usual), but Kyri really liked the movie. She only recently watched the first one at Grammy's for the first time. She is very nervous about watching new shows because she gets scared VERY easily, but she really liked these.

After the movie we went to Walmart. We thought it would be nice to get some food for meals while Gary's gone. I couldn't think of anything I might want to make for just me and the kids. So, we just got chicken nuggets and fish sticks, upon Kyri's request....it's gonna be a long few weeks!!

For dinner we got pizza from Pizza Hut. I think most families order pizza on a regular basis. We RARELY eat it. I'm just not a huge fan of pizza, but it was really good tonight and hit the spot. Our kids don't love pizza, especially Kyri. She obviously gets it from me. She ate the sausage, olives, mushrooms, and green peppers off the top.

Then we went for a walk and took the triple stroller again. This time Gary got to push :) We just went a few blocks away to the Devlin's so Gary could give Brother Devlin the lesson manual so he can teach the YM tomorrow. We chatted with Jen for a while and came home and got the kids ready for bed. I read them a couple stories and then we read Book of Mormon Stories. After that Gary told the kids a story and then they both wanted to tell us a story. Graysen's story was HILARIOUS! And it was about 15 minutes long!!

He started by telling us how one time we went for a walk and a bird pooped on him.

True story.

Have I ever mentioned it?

I'll have to some time because it's pretty funny. And both Graysen and Kyri like to tell it...over and over.

Gary still has to pack for his trip.

And I still need to fold laundry.

I normally do laundry on Mondays, but decided I better do up all the wash so Gary can take what he needs....clean.

So, I guess I'll fold laundry and watch him pack. Then maybe at 9 we can watch my murder mystery together :)

He leaves around 6 tomorrow morning.

That means I'll be at church with all 3 kids!!

Let's just say if Graysen still has a runny nose and I can't take him to nursery I might not be too sad :) Although, he LOVES nursery and Kyri would be sad to miss primary...so I guess it might be worse to listen to them whine about not going. Plus, Tanzi is usually pretty good and sometimes even sleeps at church.

I'll keep you updated on how it goes!

Tanzi was happy to be going to the store

Kyri wanted to wear her boots to the store.

I'm glad I got a picture in before Gary told her to go change them.

We talked her into wearing her crocs instead

It's been a fun day with the family!

We're sure going to miss Gary, but will love being able to Skype him during this trip!

Plus, I will probably update the blog daily since Gary is gone...so he can keep up with all that we're doing while he's gone.

Happy Friday

Most Fridays are SO great because it means the beginning of our weekend. The beginning of our time with Gary for a couple days. But today I have had mixed emotions about it being Friday. While I'm glad we get to have Gary home ALL day tomorrow I am sad that we are that much closer to him leaving for 3 weeks!

That's far too long.

I'm already missing him...and he's sitting right next to me!!

I don't want Sunday to come.

Today was a really fun day!

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather.

The kids talked me into taking them to "the big park", which is a little farther away than the park we normally go to. And it has 2 playgrounds.

The kids had fun,but there were SO many kids there! I've never been there with so many other people! It was crazy! Wasn't it a school day today?

Then there was a boy who wasn't being very nice and the kids told me they were ready to go home.

It's been a while since I've put the kids in the triple stroller.

The last time we used it Tanzi had to sit in the back because she couldn't sit up yet.

Which meant Kyri had to sit in the front. And there was so much weight on the front wheels that I couldn't turn the corners. So, whenever we came to a corner Kyri would get out of the stroller and then get back in after we turned the corner. Haha....it makes me laugh just thinking about that.

Well, today Kyri didn't have to get out even once...I pushed all 3 kids the entire way!

Gray's big head getting in Kyri's way

A better picture of Kyri girl

I love that I took 3 pictures and never did get a good one of all 3 kids.

But I love even more that this shows all their true personalities....which makes it a pretty good picture :)

Tanzi has been on rice cereal for a couple weeks now.

Recently we decided to add prunes to her cereal. Not because she's been constipated, but because for her entire life she has had tummy issues and we just thought we would try this to see if it helps "regulate" her. So far so good. She doesn't seem to be having a hurt tummy as often and gets more poop out when she does go. So, I guess we'll keep it up for a while until her body seems to get the hang of things on their own.

Anyway, today we started baby food for the first time.

Green beans.

For the first couple bites she didn't seem to mind

But that didn't last long

She didn't even eat half of one of those tiny jars.

So, for dinner I mixed it in with her cereal and prunes.

It was a success!!

Gary really wanted to roller blade outside with the kids when he got home from work today. I'm sure part of the reason is because when he gets back in 3 weeks the weather might not be as roller blade and bike friendly.

After a while of going shoeless, Kyri decided to put on her boots.

Awesome!

Getting a push from Daddy

Faster, Daddy, Faster!

Graysen is getting really good on sister's scooter.

And I LOVE his face in this picture!!

Even Tanzi got a push!

The kids had SO much fun outside with Daddy!

They definitely didn't want to come in for dinner tonight.

We made nachos, again, with homemade chips. They were delicious...again!

I think all the playing outside really wore the kids out because they all went to bed SO good tonight.

And here I am updating the blog while we watch a murder mystery on Dateline.

Oh, how I love these shows!

Too bad I can't watch them for a few more weeks. Nope, freaks me out too much without Gary being home!

So, now I'll go enjoy a good murder with my love....it's about a woman who may...or may not...have been killed by her husband....should I be scared?!?!