And here we have Idaho

We've officially arrived. The journey was long and wet. It rained in Arizona, Utah and Montana and was cold, but as soon as we made it over the pass into Idaho the sun came out and it was 80. It's just gorgeous here and was beautiful the whole drive. Everything was green. In Montana, it looked like the hills were covered in bright green velvet and the canyons and rocks near Kanab were beautiful and bright red with the water and the sun coming through the rain clouds. The kids were really good throughout although Laney puked a bunch of times again. The only time in my life massive allergies were a blessing. I couldn't smell the car. Our hotel in Provo didn't have a second pack n play, so I slept with Laney and Charles slept with Kenna. I use the term slept loosely. We haven't really slept much in two nights. We did swim with all the kids last night and that was fun. Laney wowed 'em with the new skills. It was crowded in the pool though. I love that about Utah--we fit in just fine. We were joined by a family with a least 5 kids and then another with around 9 or so. The circus effect of our family is definitely blunted in that state. On the other hand, cribs can be scarce...

Mash it with a Can

Laney was doing patty cake with Elizabeth and here's the words:
patty cake, patty cake baker's man
roll it up roll it up mash it with a can

We're having a good time with Liz. I don't know if she's having the best time of her life, but Laney thinks it's awesome to have her to play with. I'm busy busy busy trying to get everything done before we leave and I suspect tomorrow will be crazy. Not to mention the endless drive that I am completely dreading. It will be a bummer not to have Charles in the car with me. Lonely. I have lots and lots of kid dvds to listen to though. yeah

I will post like crazy once in Idaho, I promise.

One Small Step...

We have a new walker. Look out world, Kenna has taken her first steps! Laney had a horrible rash yesterday from some unknown source, but it seems to be better now. I guess she touched something she was allergic to. The G man is eating like there is no tomorrow. I'm not sure where he's putting it all, but seriously he eats more than Delaney. I'm still pretty sad about the cat. I keep expecting her to be there--like maybe she's just sleeping somewhere. I just feel weird without her and Des around. I realized that this is the first time in 13 years that I haven't had a pet. We finally got our storage unit emptied yesterday and then I ran errands all afternoon. Today I did yardwork and blew off the yard. There is something about blowing off the yard that seems to attract the neighbors to me. I'm covered in dirt and sweat and snot (allergies make me sneeze like crazy) so that is of course the time they all come to say hello. Yeah! They probably wouldn't recognize me with a clean face now.

Goodbye LC

I'm feeling bummed today. I need to take the cat in and decided this was the day (but we'll see if I don't chicken out later). I feel like there isn't a lot that is exciting to report. We don't seem to be doing much lately. Desi is doing ok at Mike's but she discovered skunks the first night there. She's also been trying to go home with anyone who opens a car door. That sounds more pathetic than it probably is though since she always tried to get in our cars if a car door opened and she was there. Kenna is doing a lot more stands on her own. Griffin is being Griffin. He's playing with the tank right now. They all love that thing--I bought it as a gag gift for Charles for Christmas and the kids think it's the best. It drove into G's tummy yesterday and he laughed like crazy. Swimming is going well, though G is still having troubles rolling. I'm looking forward to the end of it. A bug stung me twice yesterday at the pool and I had a brief panic moment, but it wasn't a bee.
Our big deal yesterday was that we had an entirely diaper free day and no accidents with Laney. Good job! Griffin was up last night a whole bunch of times and I was just not sleeping well anyway, so I'm fading already and it's only 8. Not good. I have to go retrieve Kenna from the time out pen now. I've instituted the time out pen for stair climbers...

Getting a Do Over

I think I need a Mother's day do over. The majority of my day was spent in the car with screaming children. Charles fought with Laney on every leg of the trip. We spent the day at Mike's place at it wasn't too bad actually. But it was hot hot hot and really dusty. The kids rode quads and horses, played with the chickens and turkeys and generally had a great time. I went around the corner and found Laney on a horse so I volunteered to get up there with her. The horse was not super cooperative and I was afraid to insist too much with my baby up there, so Mike had to come get us when we got stuck. At first I wasn't too keen on letting Laney go on the quads and Ernie gave me a hard time about it. Since I was willing to let her get on a horse I decided perhaps I was being unreasonable. I should have been more specific and said that I didn't want her to get on the quad without an adult. The babies both went for rides on the quad with Ernie. We returned home hot, dirty and tired after a long screaming trip. I put everyone to bed early and took a bath.
I called my own mom later in the evening since I thought she'd have company last night. She was pretty bummed that neither my brother or sister came by yesterday--especially since they told her they would and she got home early just for them. So I think she deserves a do over too.

Happy Mother's Day

Ah, Mother's Day. I woke up at 6:15 and thought "that's weird, the kids are still sleeping" and about 30 seconds later I heard Laney's door open and in she came. Chaos has ensued since. I need to be quick here because I have to get us all ready to leave at 8:30. We're going to Mike's today to BBQ and take him the dog. Hopefully she has a good summer with him patrolling for illegals on the property.
A small hawk just landed on our back fence. How cool.
It is supposed to be cooking hot here today again. This will be our 4th day over 100 I think. Makes me glad to be leaving for the summer, however I checked Idaho's weather and it's in the 50s. Yikes! So we will be having a rapid cool off. I need to pack warm clothes as well as summer stuff.
Charles and the kids are making me a mother's day card right now (I had to suggest it, but it got them all out of my hair long enough for me to write a post and drink some coffee).
Happy mother's day to all the moms who read this blog. Especially to my own mother.

Unscrewed

The screws are out and Charles is at home recovering. Everything went well today but it was weird not being there with him. That is definitely something we won't do again. It wasn't good for him to be alone and I worried all day.
Kenna graduated from swimming class today with lots of long floats. She's so calm and collected as she works and then is all smiles when Shannon picks her up. Griffin and Laney also had good lessons. Two more weeks until we're all done. Although we will go back again in the fall for a refresh and to teach the babies the swim and float technique once they are walking.
Ollie came over today to help and who knew how incredibly handy that would turn out to be. Thanks to Olive for helping me out!!

What's Goin' On

Mom pointed out that it has been quite some time since the last post. I'm a slacker lately. Charles was in Hawaii all last week and I'm always a lot more pressed for time when I'm doing things on my own (and I read two books, naughty me). Pretty much same ol' thing around here. The kids have been swimming and doing the occasional play date. Somehow, the last week and a half or so I have been unable to have an uninterrupted night's sleep.
Swimming lessons are going great and today is Kenna's last day. I'll post some pictures once I get them off the camera. Griffin has another week and Laney has two. G is going longer because he's had a problem with tummy bloat and his lessons have been shorter. Laney is doing the swim and roll to breathe now. Diane and Leah came to lessons on Wednesday and we all went to lunch at Burger King. Charles went yesterday. It looks like Olive is coming today.
It's a good thing that Olive is going to be here since Charles went to the doctor yesterday for his follow up and he has broke one of the larger screws in his ankle. So he is going in for surgery this morning. This seriously throws a wrench in my plans, since I was counting on a functional hubby and now he'll be back in his brace for a week or so. Great. He had a big meeting this morning so he went to that prior to going to his appointment. I have to go pick him up after swimming lessons I guess.
We went to dinner with his boss and all our children last night and it was nice--as a dinner can be with three little children.
This weekend I'm supposed to go to Debbie's on Saturday but I'm going to have to see how functional C is. Then on Sunday we're taking the dog down to Mike's and bbq at Debbie's.