its been a long haul.

 We have been struck with the bug. Whatever bug it was, we wish it would go away.

I have had sick kids since Dec 27th-January 7th.

Stomach bug, flu, fevers, sore throats, we've been through it all. 

But the culminating event happened January 4th. B came down complaining about his stomach hurting at 11 pm. I thought it was the stomach bug, gave him a puke bucket, and tucked him back in. He came back down at 4 am, still complaining about his stomach. Got up at 7, hunched over and saying how bad it hurt. I thought it could be nerves for going back to school. I thought i'd give him an extra hour, see if perked up, and send him to school. He sat on the couch, not wanting to move. If he stood up, he would ask if I could carry him, or he would scoot on the floor and drag himself around. At 11, I asked him exactly where his stomach hurt, he pointed to his right side. alarms went off. appendix?! K had the same the same thing at 5 years old as well. I figured I was overreacting. I gave it some more time. About 5 pm, i was really getting worried. questioning myself- what if it is his appendix.... what if it bursts.....I texted corey and told him we should take him to the ER and at least check it out.

We met at the hospital. They got him right in. Right away, when the nurse went to weigh him, she said she knew why we were there.  They did an ultrasound. I guess it's not always clear, but apparently, his was. They did some blood work. Corey spent the night. 

He got surgery about 1 pm the next day.

It's always hard coming out of anesthesia. He was so groggy. But it went well.

All was fine. 

G was cute, when I told him we had to take B to the hospital, he said, is it cancer?

Then he also said, so....let's talk worst case scenario... has anyone ever died from his appendix.... I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just wondering what's the worst thing that could happen. It was sweet. he was worried.

We had a few sweet people in the ward bring dinner. We also had friends who helped with babysitting and shuttling kids around. 

Grateful it's over and he's healing great.

 getting his ultrasound

 he was loving it. I stuck the DS in my purse right before  we left, genius. Kept him occupied and his mind off everything.

coming out of anesthesia

 trying to walk for the first time

awesome room for kids to play with

 feeling much better.

 had to take G to the doctor for a sore throat. they made him put on the mask. i thought it was awesome.

 this girl has been sick. keep finding her sleeping. poor girl.

 hoping this is the end of it all. it's been a long haul.

birthday boy

c celebrated a birthday. yeah! we went to dinner with some friends. he tried frog legs. ;< said they tasted like chicken.

i got him a new alarm clock (one that wasn't stuck on east coast time..), a new owl city cd and  a ski day. 

 he wanted raspberry rolls for his birthday. i also made cinnamon rolls and a key lime coconut cheesecake. kids made a vanilla cake. lots of dessert.

was going to make a big breakfast, but it was fast sunday.. next year.

happy birthday.

thanks for the laughs, hard work, love and friendship.we love you.

snow

we got some snow the day after christmas. the kids were excited to play in it and to try out their new snow clothes.

in fact, church was cancelled the next day. kids couldn't have been more pleased 

 b and c got build a bear gift certificates for christmas, they were so excited to get them. b picked a dino and c picked a multi colored zebra

 and even more snow

 snow man selfie.

she loved this little snowman.

 after all the snow, the sickness hit.

j threw up, then C, then G. then C ran a fever for 4 days- then got a horrible cough. Then i got sick. it made for a long week and half before school started back up.

we played lots of wii.

i kept finding C sleeping in my bed.

isn't she sweet? poor girl

i think we are finally on the tail end of things. hopefully. fingers crossed.

the magical morning

I love Christmas morning. I love seeing the kids excitement and enthusiasm. I love seeing them so excited in the morning that they look like they could burst with anticipation.

They didn't disappoint. I love Christmas morning.

 twin jimmies

 trying to wait to open up presents

 fun with bubbles

 we had a mermaid visit

 daddy pretending to talk on the phone

 happy about new presents.

it was fun so spend the day together as a family. relaxing, hanging out, eating, playing video games. the elders came and called their families. it was fun to have them.

we did our christmas crackers- complete with crowns. it was so fun.

we had plans to go visit family the next day, but it didn't happen because of the weather ;( 

 it was a great christmas.

christmas eve

I seriously lacked in picture taking this year!

This is the only picture i got on Christmas eve. 

But i want to document it anyway.

It was a really great night, despite the earlier stitches.

C ended up getting off work by about 4-which was so nice. He was suppose to be the last guy to leave, so we were so excited when he called. 

He got home and we did our family stockings and kid gift exchange to each other. I love how excited they get to find and give each other a gift that they know they are going to love. It is so fun.

After that, we went to dinner at golden corral. yikes. I know. But we wanted somewhere that the kids could all like and have  fun time at. They LOVED it. They had tons of desserts and individual bags of cotton candy. great start to christmas eve. We then took a bus tour of luminaries. It was amazing. There were thousands of luminaries all lit up on darkened streets. There were even some balloons that were glowing. It really was an amazing sight.

The last 20 minutes of the bus ride, kids were antsy, thirsty and wanted to be done. That part was a little long, but i loved seeing all the lumaniries. We headed home, read Luke 2, left cookies out for santa, pulled up the santa tracker on the computer and then tucked all the kids in. They were worn out and went to bed really well.

They were up at all hours of the night, but we had them stay in bed until 7 am.

I love spending time with the kids and seeing their excitement and energy. Makes it all magical.

ouch!

Christmas eve was a busy one. Daddy was working. I was running around last minute treats, making bread, getting ready for everything.

I had run a treat to a girl I visit teach. K called to tell me my youngest two had decided to play beauty shop and C now had about a gallon of gel in her hair. I was on my way home and told K to put her in my shower and I would bathe her when I got home.

I go home, washed her hair, and went to finish making bread and get her some clothes. Next thing i hear is screaming. C comes out, wrapped in a town and blood dripping from her chin.

I quickly peek at it (i am so queasy with blood...) and knew right away she would need stitches.

I grabbed a towel, put it on her chin, quickly get her dressed and then slapped a bandaid on her chin. 

we headed over to an instacare near our house.

Decided on stitches. oh my. what an ordeal. it's very difficult to hold someone's chin still. As soon as they tried the numbing shots, she was crying and screaming and moving. it was horrible. finally got them in. They started stitching her up. Her crazy behavior doubled as soon as he started the first stitch. She was kicking her legs, wiggling, screaming... poor girl. It was obvious she wasn't numbed.

He got one stitch in, and we both agreed. Derma bond.

With a few more tears, the derma bond was applied. We made it home about an hour and a half later. poor girl.

not a great way to spend christmas eve.

pre christmas festivities

Kids love seeing coyotes running across the road. It always catches me off guard and I think someone should get that dog on a leash....then i realize it's not a dog.

All gussied up for Christmas program at church

Friend and I went to get pedicures.

Guess santa need some relaxing time too before the big night.

While the older kids went to star wars with dad, the younger two kiddos stayed home with mom and we made delicious sugar cookies. love this boy!

G started scaling up the walls.

i love having the kids home for christmas break. we played the wii, relaxed, watched tv, made and delivered treats, wrapped gifts, shopped and enjoyed being around each other (well, most of the time anyway). love having them off for break.

school concerts

We were able to attend a lot of different performances for Christmas.

K had a great one with his band.

 This little cutie had such a fun one. Complete with Feliz Navidad.

WE attended J's concert- along with a few other hundred people. I was there 35 minutes early, and we were second row from the back. Couldn't see a thing. Oh well, at least we were there supporting her. It was a pretty cute program. She got to be a dancer, and she did a great job.