Rewind- recap of things missed

Oh my, where does time go? Here is a recap of somethings we missed blogging about. I want to get these on here in case I ever find a blog printing business that I like and can print my blog!

Emily


She is mommy's girl. Her favorite place is home- this is not an understatement. We can be driving down our street, just leaving home, and she will announce, I just want to go to my home and my castle (her swingset). She is so sweet and patient with Matthew even though he daily practices wrestling moves and football tackles on her. She LOVES books and has expanded her TV viewing from just Little Bear to also Max and Ruby or Maggie and the Beast. Em likes to say she is Ruby and Matthew is Max!

Miss Em keeps us laughing with her unique style and sense of humor!

Ellie

Wow, when did the teen years and all the stuff start at 5! She hardly ever is allowed to watch Hannah Montana but for some reason she is in love with this character. I can't figure it out. She spends lots of time still dressing up but now usually has a microphone and is singing and dancing.

Ellie recently has started sneaking up on me and saying , "I am sneaking on you Mom, just be careful what you do!" Ellie and Brandon left for Texas last Wednesday and she told Brandon and I she would be sneaking on him during the trip to make sure all was okay. This was followed by her pointing to her eyes and then Brandon's as she said, "I will be sneaking on you Daddy!" I can't wait to hear what she found out as she was "sneaking" on him!

This is Ellie's first primary talk. She recited to me what she wanted to say on the creation (topic given). I wrote down her sentences and then we found pictures to go with it. She practiced and practiced and had it memorized for 3 weeks. Sunday we went to church early so she could practice in the Jr Chapel since she was nervous. Well, poor little thing, nerves got to her and she didn't get through it, I don't even know if she really started it! Here is a video of her saying it at home though. We had to take this so we can remember how well she did on her first primary talk at home (you know, rather than church).

Matthew
Matthew will keep me young for a long time. He looks just like Brandon and he has Brandon's energy, maybe more. He is adored by his sisters and adores them. Typical guy, he shows his loves for El and Em through tormenting them! He does have a very tender, loving side though. He is the exact opposite of Emily in that he loves to GO! He cries if someone is leaving and he has to stay. His favorite place to be is outside. Grandma Dorothy thinks he will be the type of child that spends most of his time on adventures outside!

This is when Matthew finally decided to STOP for a minute. He fell asleep on the window sill.

I didn't know I was having a 3rd girl when I took this pic. I know it is blurry but I remember snapping this picture and thinking Oh, I am for sure having a 2nd boy for Matthew's sake! His sisters love to put make up on him , dress him up, etc... I guess he is going to be a sensitive little boy with 3 sisters!

Bedtime

Brandon puts the kids to sleep a lot of the time. Here is a night when everyone was so exhausted that they couldn't make it to the beds. Priceless!


Taser Gun

Brandon volunteered (don't ask, I can't explain it) to be tasered (spelling?!) at work. Below is the fish hook that penetrated his skin and delivered the shock. He said it was painful. I have a video of it but can't bring myself to put it on the blog. You'll have to come by to see it at our house- it is too embarrassing to share over the web.

Larry the Leprechaun

Every year since I began teaching I have been haunted by St. Patty's Day. Larry the Leprechaun finds me no matter where I am. This year the damage was not so bad, thank goodness since I have been very tired! Here are some pics Brandon took of how things were when the kids woke up.

Larry spilled a huge things of flour or maybe sugar over our table and then preceded to walk across the table. Ellie and Brandon set a trap for Larry and taunted him with a piece of gold. However, once again, 10 years now, Larry outsmarted the Leprechaun trap.

No, this is not the chairs pushed over to ensure Matthew's safety! Although, our house looks like this a lot due to Mr. Monkey :) This is another thing out tricky little leprechaun did.

Grandpa and Grandma Haney & Grandpa Bird Visit

Back in March we had a wonderful visit with the grandparents from California. Oh my, Grandpa Haney came and just worked so hard on projects we never thought we would be able to do. We felt so blessed. He ran electricity to the back of our yard and then decided to cut the cement in our driveway to relieve stress help it from cracking too much. And Grandma Haney was so adored by our children. Emily kept saying "I need Grandma Haney" even after she left. Of course the kids were super excited to see Grandpa Wayne too. Ellie enjoys playing around with Grandpa.

Thanks for coming and visiting us. It was so much fun even though I got sick. Thank YOU Grandma Haney for stepping in and tending my kids when I was ill.

Grandpa Wayne, Grandpa Haney and Brandon cutting our driveway

Matthew and Grandma Haney at Scheels.