My Mia is 7

Amelia Mae. Such a beautiful, delightful, responsible, and often madening child.

"I wanted my hair in ponies today...like this, no like that, you're not doing it right"

{get the idea?}

Going to school has really given her a great deal of confidence, and has really let me see how responsible she can be.

Some favorites:

school subject...math

movie...Aladdin

song...Praise to the Man

food...left-over macaroni & cheese, chicken noodle soup, s'mores

clothes...pink and white striped t-shirt with denim (jeans, capri's or shorts)

to do...play with cousins

place to be...at cousin's house...(better than at home?) oooh, home....I love being at home. No, Disneyland.

restaurant...Olive Garden

best thing to do at Washington DC...swim

favorite thing at home...play outside, ride bike

She checks the school menu regularly and has a ham sandwich cut into triangles if the school lunch doesn't work for her.

She's very helpful if she wants to be. If not, don't even bother.

She is quick to bring me notes and notices from school, and takes her school work seriously.

She has not been quick to read, but is finally trying to read things, and is catching on. She's much more mathematically minded.

She loves to have things to do, especially anything active like swimming, bike riding, or helping her dad with projects.

She won't leave for school without a hug and a "love you mommy...see you at 3:40" and everyday after school she jumps up and runs to me with her arms stretched out..."mommy!"

For her birthday she wanted an umbrella and a hamper. hmmmm. It doesn't rain much here...it's for the sunshine, mom.

I got her a fuzzy blanket too. And some clothes.

She wanted to see a movie with her cousins for her birthday this year, so we did. It was super-fun.

Oh, and the cake. She wanted butterflies with bright colors.

That was fun too. Except that I put the big butterfly on the white cake, and she wanted the big butterfly on the chocolate cake. Can you say meltdown? It didn't really matter too much because by the time it got a booster seat thrown on top of it, and jostled around in the car on the way to uncle Darren's, it was a mess. Good thing I took pictures before we left=)

Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh Bear

The kids have been begging to go to Disneyland forever. I guess that I'll admit I was anxious to go again too. We had such a wonderful trip the last time that we went...

Nate and I decided to go in June when there was a conference that he wanted to attend. When that date turned out to have a conflict with wrestling camp, we decided not to go. We couldn't go any later because of the baby...not to mention not wanting to be there in the hot California summer. Any earlier and we'd have to take the kids out of school for a week...so we did. I'm not sure how, but we managed to keep it a secret until the day we left. It was pretty fun.

4 days at the Park.

(note to self: never go on a Friday! No matter how enticing the parades and fireworks seem to be, they are not worth the crowds)

Overall, we had a great time. It was good to get away from the stresses of life for a few minutes and spend some family time together. But we've got our fix of Disneyland, and have convinced the kids that we can't go again for at least another 3 years.

Here are some favorite pics=)

But, the breakfast is fun with dancing, characters to meet, and the most delish Mickey Mouse waffles. My kids ate cereal..(really?)

We figured out a few systems that worked, and the older boys got to ride their favorites multiple times in a row without too much waiting.

California Screamin' seriously my favorite roller coaster, and what I missed most by being pregnant this time. This would be the 4th ride in a row for them.

Henry like watching them take off. And the water, loves the "wa."

Henry loved the carousels, especially the one with a horse. (You've got to hear him make a horse noise...it's priceless)

OK, so you can't really see the delight in this picture, but I promise. He screamed and cried, and grabbed onto the belt when I tried to take him off.

And knuckles and high fives for all the characters once he warmed up to the idea.

Mia likes the roller coasters, especially the Matterhorn.

Good thing Amelia had the umbrella she got for her birthday. We had a good bit of rain one morning.

Emma didn't seem to like very much, and spent quite a bit of time with me and Henry waiting while the others rode things that she was sure she wouldn't like.

She did like the little roller coaster in Toon Town that lasted like 28 seconds, the characters {we waited 1/2 hour at least to see Tinker Bell...no complaining}

the Winnie the Pooh ride (which we rode 3 times in a row, and maybe a total of 5 times altogether). And the carousel next to California Screamin'...perfect placement of that ride.

Aladdin ranks up there with one of my favorite Disney shows. We saw their production of the show, and it was fabulous!!! Henry was even good during the whole thing. And then, bonus, we got to meet Aladdin and Jasmine. {see how thrilled Amelia is? and Emma told Jasmine she wished that she could pet tigers too}

We wore all the kids out. It was a quiet trip home:)

Gonna Try The Private Thing Again

Hi family and friends.

Just gonna let you know that I will be making the blog private again. While I love sharing, I don't feel I can be quite as personal or candid as I would if I knew exactly who my audience is:) If you want to keep up with us, just drop a note to my email and I'll send you an invite in a couple weeks. If you don't accept the invite within a short period of time, it will not be valid anymore, and you'll need to be invited again.

I'm setting up another blog to be public, so you won't miss out completely if you want to hear about some of our comings and goings. It'll just have a little different slant...

(gonna do this in all my spare time:)

So, for this blog...email me at lesterbunch@gmail.com

for the other...www.crazywith8.blogspot.com

(for grandma...just have mom do what she did last time, and you'll be all set)

Seeking Sunshine

Spring Break...*sigh*

The first couple days were spent nagging, begging, urging, and pleading for my kids to get some work done around the house. not really very fun.

And, the weather was chilly to say the least...wind, snow, rain...

Then we packed up the car and headed to warmer weather and some days of fun with cousins.

{Nate's cousins}

We stayed with his beautiful aunt and her family...3 kids still at home.

It was a lovely change in pace for us. Things just slowed down a bit.

We went to the zoo

had a picnic at the park

went on a date to the temple

dyed easter eggs

played football

had a couple egg hunts

helped with Josh's Eagle Scout Project

flew kites

went for walks

got ready for Easter, laughed at Henry who loved the fish, baked cookies, watched movies {some better than others}, swam, ate In-n-Out...

ok, so that sounds like a lot to do in just 4 days. But it was rejuvenating, refreshing, and inspiring to spend time with such good, kind family. We found all kinds of sunshine:)

Chicken Pox?!?!

So I'm changing Henry's diaper the other day and I notice some funny spots on his little tush.

Cleaned that baby up and didn't think again about it until the next day. Changing his diaper the next day there are spots going down his legs and up his belly. uh-oh

I call the doctor. WOW the nurse says...that kind of sounds like it could be chicken pox. I think we need to look at that.

Quick scramble...get the kids dressed and ready, make myself look presentable, convince Ryker that he has to wear his shoes and not his slippers, switch the truck for the car at the dealership since it just barely got worked on, got Ryker's car seat, drive an hour in less than an hour.

It was strep.

Feel a little silly, like a bad mom, really because I'm thinking now that maybe he's had this for weeks.

On the bright side I got a little Olive Garden goodness and a new dress to fit my expanding belly:)

And the kids were good:)

The Big One-O

Clay....

You just have to love this child.

He is kind and tender hearted.

He is inclusive of everyone.

He smiles that lovely smile, and his dimples just melt my heart.

He loathes work, and loves to play.

He reads, reads, and reads.

He likes to build things.

He could be severely addicted to video games...{if we had them in the house}

He loves football...watching it and playing it.

He is never in a hurry to do anything.

He loves his little brother and adores his big brother...working on that with the sisters.

He's gonna go out on a limb here and say Spaghettios as his favorite food.

{In my defense...I have not bought those things in over a year, and just bought some in a desperate attempt to find something new to add to Emma's repertoir of soft foods}

With some birthday money that he got this year he bought a little football and poptarts because he had some money left over.

He designed the cake that he wanted for his birthday. {huge, elaborate, and quite specific} But of course, Greenbay Packers. I modified it to fit my skill level.

I asked him a couple of weeks before his birthday if he wanted to have a birthday party with his friends.

"no" he said. "i just want to go to {bowling place} with Dad and Sam on Saturday before my birthday"

A couple days before his birthday. "mom, i want to have a party on Saturday with all of my friends."

I laughed {at him}

They went bowling, watched a movie, and had dinner with Clay's bestest friend, cousins, and 2 siblings.

He had a great birthday!!!!!

{silly computer...this post won't let me do pictures now}

Tonsils

Emma had her tonsils out on Friday. {phone pics...not so great}

The previous Thursday we had gone to see our ENT because Emma had been having bouts of strep since January...just didn't stay away for very long. Every three weeks we were on another round of antibiotics or in for a shot. Funny though, she never complained about it. I knew something was going on because she started talking as though something was in her throat...and she would snore at night. Anyway, she was positive for strep again.

She was really funny about having her tonsils out. She asked lots of questions about how it would happen, what she would feel, how long it would take, what they would use, and how they would get to her throat to take them out. Did the countdown for this one too. When the Dr. mentioned the laser, she seemed to be contented. I think she envisioned the cheap little flashlight Sam has with a red laser light attached to it. Whatever contented her little heart...

Now it's what can I eat? Can I have my medicine? Do I have to take my medicine? When will it be better? Why can't I have my favorite food? {pretzels and ranch or hummus} Will you buy my three different kinds of ice cream? {i did...} Mia got me a puppy, Clay got me a coloring book, Mom got me a movie...Dad, why did you not get me a present yet...I want the doll with a cup and food. {he did...}

She was so brave!!! She has not complained about the pain...a few cries in the middle of the night is all. She's quiet. She feels decent if she has tylenol or advil consistently. If not, it's still not good yet. But she's eating...popsicles, ramen, bread, ice cream, pudding, eggs, raviolis...she's almost eating better than she would on a normal day...she's ASKING to eat...amazing.

Love that chick.