Planes and Bunnies

Cody has quite the imagination.

Today he bought a little light up bunny key chain out of a vending machine.
Since everything must, apparently, have a name, he decided on the name 'Boobie.'  Lucky, he changed his mind and switched the name to 'Buddy.'  Good call Cody.


One of Cody's favorite pastimes is making paper airplanes.  And he is very good at it.  He knows so many different styles, and is constantly on the look out for new designs.

Last week he made a paper airplane that, you guessed it, needed a name.

 He came up with 'F-bomber.'

Umm...

Luckily Brian was around to suggest that a different name might be better.

I don't want to hurt you.

Seeing your children in pain is one of the most difficult things parents have to go through. Instantly you forget about the little things they do to drive you nuts and your heart just breaks for them. 

Brylee had RSV, and viral bronchiolitis when she was 12 days old. Since then she has struggled with her immune system. Any little cold that comes along, she gets it. She has made lots of progress through the years, but her system doesn't even seem to be as strong as her little brother's. 

Brylee has had a cough and cold for a month or so now. Her nose is constantly running. We have to tell her all the time that she can't do certain things or be around other kids because she might get them sick.  A few days ago, after one of these conversations she broke down. She started crying and asking when her nose would stop running. She wanted to know how long she was going to be sick like this. Man, talk about pulling at my heart strings. I felt so bad for her. 

A couple nights ago Brylee had an ear ache. Of course. Luckily we know some tricks and had her pain-free by morning. Well, tonight the ear ache came back, but in the other ear. She woke up crying and in so much pain. We are on vacation and don't have our normal medicine we use to get rid of the ache. We gave her Motrin, but that's not going to fix anything. As I lay in bed with her, trying to calm her, she asked me when these ear aches are going to stop. 

I wish I had an answer.  I know tomorrow will be better, after I can get to the store and get the right medicine. But that doesn't really provide any comfort to a 5 year old right now. 

I told her to squeeze my finger as hard as her ear was hurting. She refused and said she didn't want to hurt me. 

Breaks my heart all over again. What a tough, and loving girl. She knows how much pain she is in and there is no way she wants to inflict that on others. 

I don't always take the time to appreciate how sweet this little girl is. I tend to get caught up on how sassy, and independent she is. But she really is a sweet heart. She just wants people to love her. 

I thought about all this as I cuddled her and tried to soothe her pains tonight. 

I'm such a lucky mom to have such a great little girl. 

I'm so grateful she was finally able to fall back to sleep.  I pray she can sleep well and feel better in the morning.  I pray her little body will continue to get stronger and better at fighting off these darn cold bugs. 

I hope I can be better about enjoying each day with her. 

I love you Brylee!  

Hobo

At school each week Dallin has the assignment of writing a letter to a member of the family.  This week he wrote to me.  In honor of Thanksgiving he took on a thankful theme for the letter.  It read as follows:

Dear Mom,
      I am thankful for are family Because if I did not have a family I wud not be here I am thankful for are family.  I am thankful for are home Because we if we did not we wud be a hoBo and I am not a hobo.

                                                                                         Love,
                                                                                               Dallin


I also am thankful for my family, and our home.  And spell check.  Poor kid.
Dallin seems to be 'coming into his own.'  He is starting to take interest in more things, not just the little kid stuff anymore.  He is really excelling in math, and actually enjoys practicing his times tables.  With Brian in school we haven't been able to do many sports or extracurricular activities, but Dallin is really excited to give football another try next year and maybe even branch out to something new.
He can be an AMAZING helper around the house, when he wants to be.  He is a good, hard worker, and is pretty dependable.  He is setting a great example for his younger siblings.
So, in short, I am thankful for my not-so-little-anymore, Dallin.  We can't believe he will be turning 9 in a few short months!  Where did the time go?

Here's to you Dallin!  Love ya, buddy!

I wasn't planning a whole tribute with pictures devoted to this big guy, I just got a little carried away.  

Oh well, he's worth it!  

Peanut Butter Dance and other Tater Tot Shenanigans...

Tate is always cracking us up.  

Since the older kids are at school all day, I'm able to catch more of his personality with the camera.  

Here's a bit of what I see.  

On our way to take the big kids to school.  

He had to have his ladybug wings.

Puppy slippers and boogers.

Eat at Andy's!

 He had to have this as his pet.  

Was not happy until I gave him a tupperware to keep it in.  

This is his Peanut Butter Dance.  

 The dance moves are:

Squint one eye shut.

Stick your tongue out and to the side.

Squat and bounce.

Optional- hold a jar of peanut butter down and in front of you.

Go crazy.

Here he is doing the dance in his car seat...

 We don't buy soda very often.  

I found him sneaking this in the kitchen.  

Made me laugh.

Here is the famous Peanut Butter Dance.

We sang Happy Birthday to Kinley tonight.  

And then Tate sang to Grandma Bushman as well.

This kid sure keeps us laughing.  

He is such a sweet heart.  

I feel so lucky to have him.  

M&Ms

When Brylee left for school today she left a mini bag of m&ms out in the living room.
It wasn't long before Tate found them.  I reminded him that they weren't his, and he should leave them alone.  He assured me he was "just looking at them."
About a minute later I caught him with an open bag of m&ms, eating them.
"Tate!  I asked you not to eat Brylee's m&ms."
"WHAT!  She's sharing!"




What a nice sister...

Today was school picture day.

The kids were up and dressed before my alarm went off.  

So when I got out of bed, and I saw they had put so much effort into what they were wearing (minus Cody) I didn't have the heart to make them change.  

Brylee's teacher had said to her class that they should dress 'fancy.'  Brylee took that to heart and picked out a pretty church dress.  She also wanted her hair curled, so she slept in curlers last night. 

Dallin wanted to look good, so he wore a nice button-up shirt and tie.  Even though they didn't match I thought it was cute that he was trying to look sharp.  He even combed his hair.  That's saying something.  

Dallin and Brylee tried to convince Cody to dress nice for pictures, but there was no convincing him.  He dresses for comfort at every opportunity.  

Tate was just along for the ride.  Trying to be like his bigger siblings ALL the time.  Even though he was in his PJs, he couldn't miss the photo.  

Anyway, these guys make me laugh.  And scream, and want to pull my hair out, and question my sanity...

But I love them.  Even in all their mis-matched glory. 

Buckets

At school Brylee's teacher read a story about being bucket fillers or bucket dippers.  I can't remember the name of the book now, but I'm sure a lot of you have heard of it.
Well that book has made a big impression on Brylee.  She and I have kind of butted heads, so for me to try and teach her to be nice to people is not the easiest thing.  But, when she hears it from her teacher she listens.
She is not constantly using the terms 'bucket dipper' and 'bucket filler.'  A bucket filler is someone who does nice things to fill someones 'bucket.'  A bucket dipper would be the opposite, things that are hurtful and dip out of someone's bucket.  The idea is to keep a full bucket, and that equals being happy.
Brylee now lets me know when someone is dipping into her bucket.  :/
She also tells me when she is trying to fill others buckets as well.
Overall it was a good lesson for her.
Her teacher told me that Brylee has been trying hard to follow the rules at school and help to watch out for others and their feelings.
I'm proud of her.  Those things show changes from her old attitude.  I welcome those changes.

Also, if you haven't seen the sneak peaks from her Dreamers Fairy Photo Session, you should check them out here, and here as well.

Old news

I'm sure most of you know that I have a food blog.  It's nothing new.
However, I have a new contributor on that blog, and that IS new.

My friend, and running buddy, Karissa, just joined forces with me on Eat It & Say Yum.

We both love cooking, and blogging, so it was pretty much a no-brainer.  

So, we are going to give this thing a go, and see what happens.

If you haven't done so already, go like us on our facebook page.
Then tell all your friends to do the same thing.  'Cause who doesn't like friends spamming their facebook page with a bunch of recommendations?!  Just think, you'll be doing me a favor, and that should make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Also, while you are checking out the blog, find a recipe and try it out!  We would be thrilled to get some feedback.  (Positive is awesome, but as long as it is constructive we will take what we can get.)

Until next time, my friends.  Take care.

Back to School

Yay!  School is back in session. 

 Oh, I mean umm...  The kids went back to school this week.  No big deal.

Brylee was SUPER excited for school.  I was surprised Brian was even able to get these smiles.  

Cody was excited as well.  Except not enough to let me comb his hair.  He insists that combed hair is for church.  He was lucky enough to have the same teacher that Dallin had for 2nd grade.  We are happy about that. 

We are still shocked that Dallin is old enough to be in 3rd grade.  When did that happen!?  

He was ready for school to start about two weeks before summer ended.  He likes to have some structure and enjoys most subjects in school.  He was thrilled to find out that he gets to learn to play the violin this year!  

Tate is silly as ever.  He was happy to go to preschool.  I really enjoy picking him up from school.  He gets excited to see me and runs up to give me hugs.  Love it!  He is very mischievous.  He thinks he is hilarious and likes to entertain us.  

All these kids are super special to us.  We are excited for this new school!  

Sand Dunes and Splash Park

After the Bushman reunion the kids and I hung out at the Flamm's for a few days.  

We took the kids to the sand dunes.  Tate kept asking if the Sanders (some family friends) had 'done this!'  

Meaning had the Sanders made the sand dunes.  

Pretty funny.

Aunt Emi is counting to 3 for the kids to jump.

 The landing.

 Then they had to roll down the hill.

 Tate crawling over to the edge to check it out.  He was too scared to jump.  

 So he just stayed there. 

After the dunes we went to the splash park so the kids could wash off a little.  

Who wants all that sand in their house?

 It was a little cold. 

 But they still has fun.

 Sand in the teeth.

 "I'm freezing."

 Sand in the hair and ears.

 Tate did NOT want to be in this picture.