Our Family: Week of 9/15-9/21

When Mike lost his second job back in June, any "extra" money went with it.

Which means our Cafe Rio days are long gone.

So, when I saw some free lunch passes being given away on Facebook, I jumped on that.

We had a fantastic lunch there on Monday... poor Adam and Grace missed out, being at school and all, but what they don't know, won't hurt them.

;)

It was insanely good.

And, in other news, Mr. Sam popped in some more teeth:

That evening, Josh was in charge of Family Home Evening, and he chose a short lesson with park play and making Grandma Hansom's popcorn balls as the treat.

They are his favorite...  both for the taste AND the fun-making factor.

***

Last Tuesday, I neglected to mention that Nevada Early Intervention had came and checked out Sam.  I wasn't worried, his doctor wasn't worried, but my good friend who works for them was a little worried.

Which made me worry a little afterall.

So I gave them a call.

Sam has really flexible hips, and goes from laying to sitting via the middle splits.  His hips are so flexible that he can't stay in the crawling position for long.

They came and checked him out, and he didn't qualify for help (yay!), but the physical therapist showed me some exercises to do with him to strengthen his hips.

We worked on them all week... and on Tuesday he crawled for the first time.

That cute thing is pretty proud of himself...

... and, well, we are all pretty proud of the sweet thing, too.

***

Sometimes I get a little sad about the huge age gap between my kiddos.

But, when you have your older ones begging to do things like feeding, rocking, and taking care of the younger ones, it makes up for it.

It warms my heart, I tell ya.

Love this big older brother.

And I think Sam's pretty much in love with him, too.

***

Thursday was filled with to-do lists, piano practices and lessons, little tooth-y smiles, and 11-year-old Scouts. Grace will soon have her volleyball games on Thursday evenings, so that's going to be busy (and fun).

 ***

On Friday we baby-sat in the morning, and then and headed out to football practice.

It's on the other side of town in the Summerlin area, so heading out is a whole ordeal.

Especially when you are bringing another 4-year-old + another baby with ya.

They all had a blast playing together, while Adam had a great time practicing football.

Afterward we were happy that we were on the other side of town so close to a Krispy Kreme (there aren't any on the east side), because it was "Talk Like a Pirate Day".  Some quick makeshift costumes ensued, and each kid claimed a dozen donuts (most of which we brought over to D.I. to spread some happiness among the employees).

***

On Saturday, Adam had his first flag football game.

He did a great job as Center, and they won.

That evening we had a ward party, complete with a kids cookie baking contest.

So we busied ourselves making 3 batches to take.

Grace took lemon sandwich cookies (and won a prize for "Bellybuster Cookies").

Josh made Rocky Road cookies, and won "Best Topped Cookie."

Adam was going to make the Andes mint cookies, but no Andes mints were to be found. So, he topped them with some Symphony bar pieces instead... he won "Most Chocolate-y."

We had a great time making (and sampling) them.

The ward party was a blast.  It was an outdoor picnic-themed party, and they had a lot of games, stilts for the kids, and fun activities.

***

Sunday was spent with meetings (for Mike), lessons taught by both of us, church attended by all, a family dinner, and games.

A nice end to a busy and fun-filled week.

Our Family: Week of 9/8-9/14

(Still using the cell phone, so please excuse the blurry - and lack of - photos here).

On Monday, we had a little FHE bike fixin'.

These guys were too happy having fixed bikes to ride around on and play with... and use to jump off the ramp that Papa helped them make.

On Tuesday, it rained!

And if you live in Las Vegas, my friends, rain is a glorious-sweater-worthy thing.

***

On Wednesday, Grace and I made a Barbie princess cake for our sweet friend who just turned 3.  Her mom recently had a baby and we thought it would be fun to help her out.

Josh helped with licking the beaters.

Someone had to make sure it wasn't poisonous.

***

On Thursday I got to go to the kids' school for "Lunch With a Loved One."

I went ahead and made my life easy, and grabbed a macaroni and cheese pizza from CiCi's.

They loved that pizza.

And Sam, Josh, and I loved eating lunch with those cute school kids of ours.

***

On Friday we baby-sat.

Sam attacked the cat.

The cat is very drawn to him and puts up with all kinds of abuse.

Maybe it's because he's so stinkin' cute.

That afternoon we went to Adam's first football practice.

The kids had a blast playing on the playground together and eating a picnic lunch in the beautiful weather.

Sam was determined that pine needles must taste good.  He would pick up a handful, cram them into his mouth, make a horrid face, and then do it again.

***

We had a quiet weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Cleaning.  Playing at the park and hitting the library.

Going to church.

Football and volleyball games start soon, so we are taking all of the quiet weekends we can get.

Our Family: Week of 9/1-9/7

On Monday, we celebrated Labor Day.

And by celebrated I mean, we all labored in the yard + house.

Except for Sam, who was much too busy making messes to bother cleaning them.

                                       

***

On Tuesday, the kids + Mike went back to work.

Josh and I decorated the house for FALL!

My favorite season!

And once September 1st hits 'round here, fall decor is totally legit.

Afterward, I made Josh lunch (a cheese crisp with barbecue sauce), and began sewing Grace's baptism dress.

Soon after, I heard lots of "Mmmm" noises.

Sam had found Josh's leftover barbecue sauce.

It's safe to say that he is a big fan of that stuff.

***

On Wednesday I cleaned and sewed some more.

And got all teary when I went to get the kids from school and saw how big this guy looks in the carseat.

Babies grow much too fast.

Mike had mutual that night and I finished sewing the dress.

Which is gorgeous, but Grace and I decided it needs some more "poof."

***

On Thursday Josh had his first day of preschool.

I had been heartbroken about it all week, because he did not want to go.

I would find him randomly crying around the house, and when I asked him what was wrong he said, "I don't want to go to pre-school.  Mama's not there."

But, we can do hard things.

So he went with his BFF.

And his darling teacher, Miss Michelle.

Sam and I ran to Joann's to get tulle.

When we picked Josh up, he was all grins.

Turns out pre-school wasn't so bad after all.

That afternoon, I finished the underskirt (with all 10 yards of tulle).  

Poof factor achieved.

Grace went to her first volleyball practice, and loved it.

We cleaned the house.

And got ready for a fun weekend with family celebrating Grace.

***

On Friday we baby-sat... and early afternoon, the R* family starting pouring in.

We had a fun dinner that night together.

Followed by a little movie-watching at the end with Kelsie, as everyone else left.

***

On Saturday, my sweet Gracie was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

And lucky for her, her best friend, Katelyn, was getting baptized the same day.

It was a wonderful experience.  The talks were good, the children were beautiful... and seeing this guy that I love so much baptize our little girl, made me so thankful for the both of them.

I don't know how I got so lucky.

Afterward, we headed back to our house for an ice cream sundae party.

We had a blast eating ice cream, visiting, and playing.

Afterward, everyone except Ethan, Cameo, and Kaylee left.

We got to spend the evening with them.

Josh had a blast chasing that cute niece/cousin of ours.

We had a great time together.

***

On Sunday, Ethan and his sweet family left.

We went to church.

And relaxed from a week of laboring, family, friends, and spiritual growth.

It was a good week.