Since we were gone for Ainsley's birthday, Owen's is tomorrow, and Finley's is at the end of the month, I decided some birthday pictures were in order. Ainsley wanted some pictures with her best friend, Jordan. We like Jordan. She makes our home a happy place. She might move to Washington. And I might cry. We moved around our yard a little bit as the sun was going down, giving us some really spectacular lighting. My favorite spot was in front of my neighbor's worn storage shed. Really it's worth looking through all of them just to find the one of Owen that cracks me up every time I see it.
the one where she comes home!
My mom was doing really well until super early this morning. Ever since then, she's been in much more pain. Drinking the contrast for the CT scan yesterday created a lot of pressure that hasn't gone away. She had a fever this morning, and they thought about keeping her an extra day, but she ended up getting to come home tonight. She is still nauseated and groggy, but hopefully this will be the worst part.
hospital: day 2
Drew had tubes put in his ear today, so hopefully he will start getting better. He might be able to come home tomorrow, if he doesn't need an IV anymore. Owen is still home-bound, due to the sores on his face, and he is really missing his friends. I worked hard to keep him entertained, but throughout the day, I kept noticing his fascination with getting taller. He stood against the wall and measured himself no less than 15 times today. So I decided to ask him about it.
Me: Owen, why are you measuring yourself. Owen: To see if I got taller. Me: Why do you want to be taller? Owen: I want to be bigger than all my friends. Me: Why's that? Owen: I just want to get taller, so I can be a grown up so I can unlock dad's iPad because his has a password.
I tried getting kids to help clean once they got home from school, but we didn't have much success. Ainsley was beside herself because I was a meannie who made her clean and she just wanted Jessica (my roommate) because she would be nice to her and let her do her hair and not make her clean anything.
Owen has really been into rhyming for a while. He is particularly fond of the letter D. Examples: Ains-a-Dains, Fin-a-Din, Kens-a-Dens, Sam-a-Dam, Owen-Dowen, Mom-a-Dom. But he runs into trouble once he gets to Drew or Dad.
trunk-or-treat
We went to the grocery store so the kiddos could trunk-or-treat. 'Twas a success except for Owen's screaming. The girlies were superheroes. I didn't have the heart to tell them that Super Girl doesn't actually use guns...
Showing off their super strength...
This is Ainsley's best friend, Jordan. Yes they are the same age. Yes Ainsley is a pipsqueak.
Owen wasn't into the picture-taking thing. Actually he wasn't up for anything that didn't involve candy. Until he got his balloon. Note the elaborate balloons the girls chose.
When it was his turn, Owen said he wanted a ball. My mom said they couldn't do that, but the weary balloon-blower-upper quickly disagreed. She blew up this green balloon and Owen's eyes lit up. He chased that thing all over the parking lot. He enjoyed his ball more than the girls enjoyed their creatures. "It has polka dots!" he exclaimed to anyone who would listen.
we bought a zoo...pass
We went to the zoo. I swear every other resident of the Salt Lake Valley did too.
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| This kid? We call him bear, but he really loves giraffes. |
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| Left: drew hugging an elephant statue Right: grandma Bodily's favorite! |
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| Left: the carousel makes a great meeting place in the event that a certain 6-year-old gets lost. Right: hmm...wrong color to be Hedwig |
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| baby elephants remind me of Tarzan |
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| Left: watch out. that elephant statue sneezes. Right: see, they do get along sometimes |
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| the park and duck pond were possibly his favorite |
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| After she got lost, he refused to let go. |
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| Right: we call Ainsley the squirrel, remember? Left: polar bear cannibalism |
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| oldest giraffe at the zoo |
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| intently watching the sea lions |
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| new polar bears! the last one choked on a glove :( |
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| Drew Bear |
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| Zaboomafoo! |
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| Right before we realized Fin was missing... |
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| Do camels shed? |
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| Owen: I want hand sanitizer! Sam: Then you have to touch the cockroach! |
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| "awkward turtle, panda, duck, panda, duck" am I the only one whose heard that song? |
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| the slide is more fun when you're 3. |
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| before she got lost... |
Mi familia
In case you didn't know, I'm the oldest of 6 kiddos. I like it :) Dad: I have never met someone so focused. I would go crazy if I had to stare at a computer full of numbers for as long as he does to provide for our family. I love hearing his mission stories. He is constantly playing music while working, a habit I've acquired. He also makes a great alarm clock when my other 3 fail to do the job :)
Mom: So much like me. Or I am so much like her. Very frequently, we yell the same thing at the exact same time. We have great adventures. Like going to Walmart at 3:00 in the morning or waiting an hour for balloons we never got. We are amused by the same things and have mad love for the same items.
Sam (14): Sam is brilliant. So brilliant that it baffles me that he just barely figured out that, if you shower facing away from the faucet, you don't have to close your eyes the whole time. He is constantly trying to prove that he is responsible, and is very good at making dinner.
Drew (12.5): Probably the least aggressive boy I have ever met. He does things in his own way and on his own time-table. He loves drawing on random bits of paper. He has a sense of humor capable of putting my dad into tears from laughing. His ideal gift would be a Costco-sized box of Oreos to himself.
Ainsley (almost 11): She so badly wants to be grown up. She loves creating. We call her the squirrel because she is always in search of something to turn into an art project. Her ideal gift would be a fresh notebook of lined paper. She is smart in an unconventional way. Common sense has a tendency to go right over her head, making for some memorable laughter.
Finley (almost 7): Finley is my mini me. She loves playing with babies and toddlers because she likes to be in charge. She crumbles if she thinks she has hurt someone. She doesn't understand why all the girls her age can't be friends. She loves to act older than her age.
Owen (almost 4): My bestest little redhead. He is probably the most keen 3-year-old I have ever met. It is obvious he has a lot of older siblings because he has a very mature sense of humor, he picks up on things most kids his age don't. His facial expressions kill me. I never know what to expect from that kid.