Betsy fell out of the tree, and birthdays

Malachi and Daddy feeding the chickens

I love my little cutie

Caleb wanted a cake made with strawberries, donuts, and bacon, this is what I came up with.

Caleb blowing out his candles

Caleb opening his presents

Caleb sleeping with his presents, especially his new scooter from Grandma and Grandpa Hardy

Sorry it's upside down, don't know what happened.  Malachi loves wearing his coat so he can go out and play

Betsy coming in from her accident falling out of the tree

Poor Betsy, she doesn't fell good

Here is the tree Betsy fell out of, she was about 15 feet up

Our lovely colorful assortment of chicken eggs

Caleb and Malachi trying to knock all the balloons for Austin's party off of the air hockey table, while the older kids all try to keep them on.  This was a great game that kept them entertained for a long time.  

Austin's b-day party, getting ready to have her cake.

Austin and her cake

Malachi fell asleep on Daddy's lap during the movie we were watching for Austin's party.

Caleb opening up his scooter from G and G Hardy

Caleb riding his scooter down the snowy hill instead of sledding.

It has been a very eventful week, full of both good and bad.  We finished celebrating Caleb's birthday on Tuesday.  He asked for a cake with bacon, donuts, and strawberries, and that's also what he wanted for dinner, so that is what we had.  He loved it!  It was also the one dinner, that no one complained about.  He also opened up his presents from us, and Grandma and Grandpa Hardy.  He was so excited to get his presents, and loved them all!  Malachi was also happy that Caleb gave him his old scooter, since Caleb got a new one from G and G Hardy.  I can't believe my little Caleb is 4 years old already, it has gone by so fast.
So, on to the next big event.  We had a big snowstorm, and got lots of snow, and the next day it was sunny and in the 60s and a lot of the snow was melting, but we had enough still on our hill to go sledding, so while Samuel's ABA therapist was here on Wednesday we were all out sledding.  Austin and Samuel were fighting so I sent Austin inside, and then Malachi needed a diaper change so we went inside.  Then Samuel came running inside screaming that Betsy fell out of the tree, and since Samuel screams about everything, I didn't think it was a big deal, but when I walked out there and saw Betsy laying flat on the ground in the snow, and the therapist kneeling down next to her, I knew it was serious and ran over to Betsy.  Betsy was conscious and not crying, but she was just laying there.  The therapist explained that Betsy had fallen from about 15 feet high out of the tree backwards (Betsy said the branch she was on broke) almost doing a backwards somersault and hitting her head and back as she fell.  After a few minutes, Betsy said she was getting too cold, and I helped her up, and walked her into the house and layed her down on the couch. She said her back and upper back hurt a lot, and after checking her pupils and noticing they weren't quite acting normal, , I decided to take her to the emergency room.  I left Austin and Joseph in charge of the little kids, and took Betsy very carefully to the Emergency Room.  Betsy said it hurt too much to sit up or stand or walk, so I helped her lie down as much as possible in the car and waiting room.  Once they called her name to check her in, they started taking her vitals and finding out what happened.  Betsy threw up everywhere, and then they took us right back to a room (bypassing the probably 5-7 wait in the waiting room).  Betsy wanted the lights off, and layed flat on her back with her eyes closed whenever there wasn't a nurse or dr. in the room checking on her or talking to us.  The Dr.  came in and checked her out, and said she needed some CT scans of her head, neck, and back, and an ultrasound of her abdomen to check for internal bleeding.  After waiting a while they wheeled her to get her CT scans, and gave her an IV, and did lots of CT scans, including a contrast scan where they pumped her full of iodine through her IV, she didn't like that test, but was very cooperative.  Finally after about 45 minutes of taking different scans, they wheeled her back to the room, and then did the ultrasound.  Everything was normal, no internal bleeding.  After waiting a very long time, the Dr. came in and said that Betsy had received a mild concussion, and had 3 compression fractures to her vertebrae in her upper back.  He said I could take her home, but she needed to just lie down in bed, and do nothing so her brain and back could rest for the next two days, then bring her back in to her dr. to follow up.  So, by this time it was almost 8 o clock, we had been at the hospital about 6 hours.  We grabbed some food on the way home, Betsy didn't eat much, and I tucked her into bed with a dose of Tylenol for the pain. Betsy slept well that night, and just stayed in bed the whole day.  She didn't watch T.V., read books, or do anything.  She listened to an Audiobook for a while, before realizing she wasn't supposed to do that either.  Betsy really wanted to go to school for a little while, so she went to school for a little bit on friday, and then I took her to her Dr. Appointment.  Apparently, Samuel had told everyone at school that Betsy had brain damage and a broken back.  So, Betsy got a lot of attention at school.  At Betsy's Dr. appointment the Dr. said that she seemed to be doing well, but her muscles were extremely tight, and prescribed valium to give to her, if they wouldnt' loosen up.  He also said that the CT scan showed some air in her chest, where there wasn't supposed to be any, so we had to go and do a follow up x ray to see if the problem had gone away or not.  And since we haven't heard from the dr. I'm assuming the x ray was fine.  The Dr. also said Betsy will need some Physical Therapy to help her recover.  He also told her she can do her normal things, but be careful, and not do any physical exercise for a while.  She also needs to refrain from watching t.v., or playing video games for a few more days.  Betsy has been an excellent patient, she has been sweet and kind to those around her, has helped out any way she can, and has not complained once.
Saturday I was in charge of the food for a baby shower I was helping to plan, so I got up at 5am, after being sick all night, and started making food.  By 9am, I had everything ready, and took it all to the baby shower.  The food was all delicious and the baby shower went great.  There was a lot of leftovers, but the kids and Travis were very happy about that.  Next I made Austin's cake and we got ready for her party that night.  There was a huge snow storm predicted but so far, it had just been a little snow and slush.  Right before the guests were to arrive, it started snowing like crazy.  I think we got about 3 inches in 15 minutes.  As parents dropped off there kids we realized that we would need to end early, because roads were going to get bad fast.  It wasn't too bad, since the last two hours of the party was just going to be watching a movie, so they wouldn't' miss much.  Everyone made individual pizzas, and we had cake and ice cream, and opened presents.  Then the girls had to start leaving, it was still snowing like crazy.  All the girls and Austin had a great time at the party.  Unfortunately Betsy had a hard time, it was too loud, and too much stimulus, because she kept leaving the party to rest up in her room.  While everyone was watching the movie, I played cards with Betsy, so she wouldn't feel too bad.  Also Joseph hit her in the back earlier, so her back was hurting worse too.
It still hasn't stopped snowing, and church was cancelled today, so we all stayed home, and made a nice big fire in the fireplace.  We played lots of games with Betsy, since her back has been bothering her, and I've given her lots of little massages to help with her tight muscles, they are really tight, but I really don't want to give her valium.  Tomorrow school has already been cancelled, so we should have another fun snow day tomorrow!

Daddy Came Home! And Caleb's Birthday Party!

Malachi kept hugging things, and cuddling them, because he missed his Daddy.  He was soooooooo happy to have his Daddy home again!

Caleb eating pizza at his birthday party at chuck e cheese

Singing a song!

Blowing out his candles on his birthday cake!

Caleb with Chuck e cheese and some of the friends who came to his party.  

Samuel being "Superman"

Caleb being "Superman"

Samuel helping Caleb in the ticket blaster

Samuel and Caleb collected over 1200 tickets in the ticket blaster 

Caleb loved dancing with Chuck-e-Cheese and going in the Ticket Blaster

It was a rough week with me feeling pretty miserable, but we made it, and Travis got home!!  Yeah, we were so excited for him to come home, we really missed him.  We found out that we are moving to Ft. Riley, Kansas this summer.  We're excited for a new adventure, from what we've heard it is a nice family friendly place to be.  So On Friday we spent the day going through our books and toys, and trying to figure out which ones we don't need anymore.  We've decided that we are going to get a smaller house when we move to Kansas, in hopes that it will be easier to keep clean, so we're going to have to get rid of a lot of stuff.  Saturday we had Caleb's birthday party at Chuck-e-Cheese, he was so excited!  He loved every minute of it. He had 9 friends come, plus many of their siblings and parents, so it was quite the party.  Malachi slept through almost the entire party, laying on a bench in a nearby booth.  He finally woke up at the end and got to play a little bit.
That afternoon Travis and I went on a hike around the red rock area, and then walked around the shops of old Colorado city, and had a lovely dinner for two at an Italian Restaurant.  We had a wonderful time for valentine's day, I sure do love my sweetheart!

nicer weather

Caleb in his carseat

Malachi in his carseat

Malachi discovered how much fun playing in the fireplace can be

Austin decided she needed some exercise and put Malachi and Caleb in the Wheelbarrow and pushed them up and down our hill

Caleb loves climbing trees

Malachi wants to climb too

Samuel drew this awesome self portrait of himself at school.  I love the grin

Malachi enjoyed playing outside

Austin helping Malachi at the trampoline park

A little boy decided he liked Caleb, and kept putting his arms around him.

Malachi loves cake and ice cream

Caleb was helping me fold laundry and decided to hang up an envelope

So, Travis has been out in the field all week, and won't be back until friday this week.  On Friday while his soldiers were doing their training exercises  one of the tanks carrying six soldiers went over a cliff and rolled several times, killing one man instantly and injuring the rest, some severely.  Two more soldiers were injured during the rescue.  It is very sad, as Travis knows each of these men, and I also knew the man who was killed, as he and his wife attended one of our marriage retreats we did.  Travis is still in the field, and is when he returns will probably need to spend all of his time preparing for the soldiers funeral and memorial.  I'm just grateful that Travis is safe, and the kids and I have been praying for the families involved.
The kids and I had a busy week as usual.  The weather was really good this week, and we've spent a lot of time outdoors and going on walks.  Joseph got his boot off on Monday and the Dr. said he should be good now, at first he walked a little like a duck, and his foot has been sore, but he is getting back to normal now. Caleb is feeling mostly better from his cold and was able to go to preschool this week.  Malachi is still fighting it, and I started getting sick on Thursday.  Samuel had a birthday party to go to at the trampoline park, so we all went, and the kids had a great time playing.

I don't like peanut butter

Samuel with his spelling bee participation award

Malachi "helping" with the dishes

The peanut butter jar broke my spatula

yummy, monster cookies

So tonight after dinner, I asked Travis if he needed anything before he leaves for the field tomorrow (he'll be gone 10 days)  He told me he needed me to make monster cookies for him to take to the field.  So I started making the cookies, I realized that I needed to open a new jar of peanut butter.  I use the kind of peanut butter where you have to stir in the oil and then you can use it.  It is one of those things that I find really annoying and hate to do it, but I still keep buying that kind of peanut butter.  So anyway, I saw on facebook that a friend of mine, her son had the idea to use a hand mixer with one beater to mix up the peanut butter.  Well, I thought that was brilliant and got out my hand mixer to try it.  So I stuck the beater in and turned on the hand mixer.  Instead of it mixing up wonderfully, the peanut oil sprayed all over me, the counter, and everything within a 4 foot radius.  So not only did it not work, but the oil that I need to mix into the hard peanut butter was basically gone.  Travis told me just to throw it all in the kitchen aid and mix it up with the cookie dough.  So I was trying to use my spatula to scoop out the peanut butter, and it broke it.  Man that peanut butter was hard.  So I threw that away and got out a knife, and was able to get out the rest of the peanut butter.  Now Malachi was up on the counter with me, because that is where he insists upon being while I am baking.  He picked up my second jar of peanut butter and dropped it on the counter and it broke.  So I had to throw all that peanut butter away and clean up the mess.  By this point, I really don't like peanut butter.  But the cookies were made, and tasted good so it all worked out.  I'm just completely out of peanut butter, which doesn't bode well for making school lunches tomorrow.  Also while travis was putting some pans away, my glass 9x13 pan fell and shattered.  Let's just say the kitchen floor was swept many, many times tonight.  In other kitchen mess news, yesterday I was baking some cinnamon rolls for a friend in the ward who broke her ankle, and Caleb was helping me, and was adding a cup of flour into the mixer while it was mixing.  The mixer hit the measuring cup he was trying to dump in, and it sprayed flour all over me, from head to toe, I even had my mouth open (ewwww), I wasn't too happy about all the flour everywhere, but Caleb said he was sorry, and helped me clean it up, and we finished making the cinnamon rolls.
So Caleb and Malachi have been sick with bad colds all week long.  And now Travis, Betsy, and Joseph are also sick, so Austin, Samuel and I were the only ones who went to church today.  I took Caleb and Malachi to the dr. on Wednesday, because Caleb has been having high fevers, and complained of ear pain during the night.  The Dr. said that Caleb's ears are fine, and to just keep doing what I'm doing to take care of them.  I've had to cancel a lot of appointments and other things during the week, so I am looking forward to the time when they are feeling better, and we can go back to our normal things.
Samuel won his class spelling bee, and participated in the school wide spelling bee, and out of 12 people, made it to 5 people left, before he was eliminated.  He was pretty cute, spelling his words, and he did a good job.
The last couple of days, I have been thinking a lot about how blessed I am, and feel grateful for my family, church, and friends.