Last week of school

Betsy and Sam for Crazy Hair Day at school

Crazy Hair Day at school, Samuel's spiky hair

Austin's crazy hair

Austin's crazy hair from the back

Betsy's crazy hair from the side

Samuel walking in for Kindergarten graduation

Caleb and I watching Samuel's graduation

Samuel the kindergarten graduate

Samuel with his teacher, Mrs. Fields

Austin and Caleb running home

Caleb and I

Caleb putting his foot in the icy water with Daddy.  (he's soaking  his sprained ankle in the icy water)

This one is a better shot of both Travis' and Caleb's feet in the icy water.  It's not a very good shot of Caleb, but he was very happy to try and be like Daddy.  He never left his foot in for very long though.

This week was a busy week.  It was the kids last week of school, and Travis had a family retreat on Friday, that he was really busy with all week planning.  He also was recovering from his sprained ankle, and would pretty much need to ice it and elevate it once he got home from work and not do anything else.  I took Travis to a physical therapy appointment, and dropped him off, while I got Joseph from school and took him to a Physical appointment for scout camp.  The doctor said Joseph needs to go see an optometrist, and will probably need glasses, he didn't do well on the eye exam.  Joseph is actually excited by the prospect of getting glasses and contacts.  Joseph told me that he had been having trouble seeing the writing on the board at school all year, and that he had told me about it several times.  Oooops, I remembered him telling me once, but just thought it was a temporary thing.  Guess I need to listen better.  Anyway, after I dropped Joseph back at school, I went to pick up Travis from his appointment.   When I pulled up in front of the office, I saw Travis sitting on the bench in his PTs and bending down going through his black bag.  I rolled down the window and whistled loudly (you know the kind of whistle when you think someone is sexy).  The man on the bench immediately looked up and my way, and I realized that it was not Travis.  I was very embarrassed and told him I was sorry, I thought he was my husband.  They really did look identical until he looked up and I saw his face.  I called Travis, and waited until he came out, and told him what happened.  He thought it was funny, I will definitely think twice before whistling next time.  The kids were busy with end of the year activities.  Samuel went to the zoo one day with his class, they had pajama parties, pizza parties, and all sorts of celebrations.  I don't know why they bother with the whole last week of  school, it just a bunch of playing.  But the kids loved it, they all ended up with good grades, all of them getting As and Bs.  Samuel had his kindergarten celebration Wednesday evening.  He did a great job singing his songs, and we saw a slide show of pictures from his class.  Friday was Travis Family retreat that we were going to.  The kids had a half day for their last day of school, then we went to the retreat.  It was up at a castle area called Glen Eyrie and was a beautiful area.  Travis taught a class on the seven habits of highly effective families.  Then we did a ropes course, it was fun.  The lower course involved getting our group across a series of rocks using one long board and one short board,without touching the ground around us.  Samuel had a hard time understanding the rules, and kept touching the dirt, until he finally got frustrated and left, pushing betsy off her rock, and her running off all upset.  Other than that everyone in our group made it successfully to the end.  We went up to the high ropes course.  It was a 40 ft wooden wall with rocking climbing handles on.  We had to climb in tandem with our partner (tethered together) and get a cup of water up to the top without spilling.  I decided I wanted to try it, so after putting on the harness and making sure it didn't squish the baby, Travis and I climbed up to the top.  It was a little bit more difficult being 28 weeks pregnant, but I made it and had fun.  Travis carried the cup of water most of the way, I think he was concerned about me falling or something (we had be-layers, I wasn't worried).  All of the kids did it too, except for Betsy, she was the last one, and we were already 15 minutes late for dinner.  She decided it was okay that we didn't have time for her, and that she was too hungry to complain.  We had a delicious dinner, and then walked around the grounds with all the kids.  Joseph came across a golf cart, parked on a hill, and started messing with it. He accidently (or so he says) released the parking brake.   Soon after, It started rolling down the hill backwards.  Joseph jumped out and pushed the cart to stop and held it, yelling for me to come and help him quick.  I climbed in and put the parking brake back in, and told him I was glad he stopped it from rolling down the hill, but next time not to mess with it at all.   We came across and herd of rams, and followed them (at a distance) for a little while.  Everyone was enthralled with the rams, and quietly followed them(I think that was the quietest walk we have ever been on as a whole family).  Eventually the herd of rams, moved further up into the mountains and we didn't follow them anymore.  Over all it was a very nice day.  I really wish I had remembered to bring my camera, there was opportunity for lots of good pictures.  

Chaplain Retreat Weekend

The beginning of the week was very warm, and I was hot so I wasn't wearing my socks all the time, and at morning devotional Samuel said to me "Mom, you look better with socks on".  Silly boy, I guess he doesn't see me much without socks.  Caleb and I went to the zoo this week.  Caleb loved the giraffes best, but was a little scared of them at first.  When we got over to the giraffes, I got him out of the stroller, and as soon as one came over to him, he yells "AAHH...." climbs into the stroller, saying "seat belt, seat belt...hurry" Once he was safe in his seat belt, he relaxed and watched the giraffes for a while, then eventually got back out, but wouldn't look up at the giraffes, he would just cling to the railing and look down.  After a while he would finally look at the giraffes.  He also liked the penguins, but didn't seem too impressed with most of the other animals.  This weekend we went on a Chaplain Retreat to Canyon Springs Colorado, about a two hour drive.  Friday morning travis left early (4:30am) and with 17 other officers from his squadron hiked pikes peak (over 14,000 ft. elevation) until about 3pm in the afternoon.  His squadron was going up the back side of the mountain, which is very difficult, and they kept losing the trail, and hiking through waist high snow.  They made it 4 miles from the top, and had to turn back.  As soon as he got down from the mountain, we picked up Travis in the car, and drove to our retreat.  We had our own little cabin that slept eight people.  There were two bedrooms downstairs, and a loft upstairs with four little beds for the kids.  During dinner Samuel held his ear against his head and exclaimed "Mom, my ear is chewing!"  I also asked Samuel about a little girl in his class, who came up to me and told me that Samuel had asked her to marry him.  Samuel's whole face lit up, and he grinned, dimples and all and vigorously nodded his head.  His reaction to this girl's name was so quick and dramatic, that we all started laughing pretty hard.  We had fun teasing him about her for a while.  I had to pick a tick off of Caleb's head, luckily it hadn't burrowed in yet, it was caught in his hair.  Then we had to regularly check each other for ticks.  .  During free time, we went down to the pond.  Travis and Joseph were racing to the pond, and Travis fell and sprained his bad ankle.  He then soaked his ankle in the freezing cold pond (the ice had just barely melted) for 25 minutes, than hobbled back up to our cabin, where I sent Joseph back with him to get him settled.  The rest of the kids were playing in the kayaks on the pond.  Almost all of them said this was there favorite part of the trip.  They loved paddling around the pond in the kayaks.  I even got in one with Caleb and paddled around for awhile.  When Joseph came back from tending to his Dad, he saw me in the Kayak with Caleb, and  exclaimed "mom, you can't kayak, you're pregnant, and Caleb's in there with you".  I laughed at Joseph and told him, I was just fine.  Caleb finally got tired of kayaking, and we paddled to shore.  As soon as we got back onto stable ground, all the sudden the temperature dropped about 20 degrees, and it started hailing, and wind blowing like crazy.  I quickly called to all the kids to come back to the shore (although they had figured out to come back, once the weather started going crazy all on their own)  Betsy was really struggling against the wind, and accidentally dumped a bunch of water all over herself trying to paddle back towards shore.  She was just sobbing, and trying to get back to shore, I felt so bad for her.  All the other kids made it back to shore, and we had put away their kayaks and life jackets.  Betsy finally made it back, and crying and shivering we made our way back to the cabin.  Once inside the cabin, all the kids changed out of their wet clothes, (they were all wet to some degree).  Then I made a fire in the fireplace, and got Betsy in the bath.  I boiled some water and we had some hot chocolate.  Then we played board and card games in our nice cozy cabin, while the storm blew itself out.  I was really impressed with how well Joseph participated in the singing sessions, most of the songs weren't ones we had heard before, but they had the word up on a screen, and Joseph would sing heartily, even snapping his fingers to the beat sometimes.  They had several sessions, where they would take the kids and play with them, and it was just Travis and I, it was really nice.  They even gave us some alone time together, to do whatever we wanted.  I also really liked not having to cook and clean for a weekend.  I'm starting my third trimester this week, and this is the kids last week of school before summer is out.  I cancelled our Netflix last week, so no t.v. except whatever movies we have that aren't scratched.  We're preparing Joseph to receive the Aaronic Priesthood next month and turn 12.  Travis spraining his ankle, leaves me with a lot of extra work.  Travis is deploying in just over a month, and then the next month the baby will be born.  I feel like everything is coming at me at once, but I guess I just need to keep praying and prepare the best I can, and the Lord will take care of the rest. 

Caleb hiding from the giraffe

Caleb (if I don't look at the giraffe, he can't see me)

Caleb and I feeding the giraffe some lettuce

Samuel fell asleep on the car ride to our retreat

Joseph, Samuel, and Betsy sitting on the couch in our cabin

peek a boo

Caleb fell asleep with his sandwich in his hand, while sitting on the couch

Austin and Caleb riding a motorcylce

Samuel riding a motorcycle

Betsy riding a motorcycle

Caleb thought that it was pretty funny that his eyes were covered by his hoodie

Samuel climbing a ladder at is OT (occupational therapy) appointment

Caleb was really worried about getting a sunburn, so he  kept at least one hand on his hat at all times, so that it wouldn't fall off.

Peek-a-Boo

I walked into my room and found Caleb was hiding under a pillow, holding completely still and quiet. I said "where's Caleb" and he giggled, stuck his head out and said "boo" (above picture) 

Last Monday night Austin, Betsy, and Samuel had their first track meet.  They all tried hard, with Samuel in the middle of his pack, Betsy in the back of hers, and Austin towards the front of her pack.  I was surprised Samuel didn't win his, because he is so fast.  He wasn't running very hard, until the very end, and then sprinted really fast.  You could tell, he could have run his whole race a lot faster, since he wasn't even winded.  That's okay though, he had fun, as well as the rest of the kids.  Wednesday, crazy cold day with lots of snow and wind.  Travis left about 6am in the morning, we piled all the kids in the car, and dropped Travis off for his two weeks in the field.  Friday night, Caleb told Travis on the phone that "I need you, come home".  It was so sweet, then that night and every night since then, Caleb will not sleep in his own bed, he has to sleep in bed with me, on "Daddy's Side". On Sunday Night, Travis was able to come home and spend the night with us, because he had to do some funerals on Monday.  Caleb was so excited that he came home, he was jumping around the a bunny and smiling all the time.  He was so cute, he has never jumped so high!  This week Caleb has been getting sick again.  I'm so tired of my little guy getting sick, hopefully he will start growing out of this soon.  Saturday I picked up a bunk bed frame for the boys room,  that I found from a garage sale site.  They said all pieces and hardware were in good condition and all there.  I had no instructions to follow, so it took me all afternoon to figure out how to put it together.  I kept calling for Joseph to come and help, and he kept taking off again, as soon as he had down the one thing I called him in for.  I kept telling him to stay and help me the whole time, but he wouldn't listen.  I finally figured out he was going and watching T.V. in Caleb's room.  Sometimes I really hate the t.v.  I finally finished putting together the bunk bed only to discover, that the last four screws for the top railing were missing, and the ones I had for the other railing were stripped, so I couldn't tighten them properly.  I was a little annoyed, and called the people I bought it from, but of course they didn't answer their phone, or return any of my phone calls or messages.  This weekend both Caleb and I have been feeling sick, so we haven't been doing much.

Cleaning up Poo

This past week, had really only one major event.  Thursday evening after we put all the kids to bed, except for Joseph and Caleb, I was cleaning up after dinner when Joseph came running downstairs (he was taking a bath) with a plunger in his hand and told me to hurry because the toilet was flooding everywhere.  I told Travis to take care of it, since I was still putting away food from dinner.  He ran upstairs, and then called Joseph to come and help him, and bring towels.  I had just finished putting away the food, when all the sudden poopy water came pouring down from the light fixture above, and running down the wall from the light switch outlet.  I yelled for Travis and ran up the stairs  to see what was going on.  The toilet was pretty clogged, so he told me to call maintenance.  I called them and fifteen minutes later they arrived on our doorstep.  They helped unclog the toilet, then took off the light fixture to get all the icky water out, so it could dry out.  Travis, Joseph, and I finally cleaned up all the poopy water, and mopped everything, and then bathed/showered ourselves.  I felt so gross, it's taken my days to feel clean again.  It turns out that the toilet had been clogged due to a bunch of ink pens, and pencils.  Joseph stuffs his pockets full of pens and pencils, so they must have fallen into the toilet when he went to the bathroom. 
Tuesday this week, we had 3-5 inches of snow.  The kids still had school, and Travis had to work.  So Caleb and I enjoyed this spring snowstorm, and went outside and played in the snow and built snowmen.  He enjoyed laying down in the snow and eating it, and building snowmen with me.  We built 3 little snowmen, one for Caleb, Mommy, and Daddy.  After we had finished building a snowman, Caleb would hug it, kiss it, than either lick it, or bite it.  He sure loved that snow. 
Joseph quit track this week, his grades were suffering, so he is working on bringing his grades back up. 
Friday night, Austin threw up all night long, so our weekend plans were ruined.  We didn't get to go to the temple, but Saturday evening we had a babysitter, and we went to the adult session of stake conference together. 

Austin's science project, making yogurt out of different kinds of milk

Caleb drinking Austin's yogurt, he liked the rice milk

Caleb's Happy Dance

Caleb found a box of chocolates my visiting teachers gave me, and this is the resulting happy dance

baby boy and busy

The week after spring break was incredibly boring compared to spring break week.  I can tell I'm going to have a lot to write about this summer.  The kids were back in school, so I was able to breathe much better.  Caleb and I hung out during the day, and things were crazier once the kids got home from school.  All the kids started track this week.  Joseph has track every day at the middle school until 5pm, he comes home exhausted every day.  Also the Monday after spring break  he finished up his dog sitting, and got paid $65, and was able to pay off his debt to me, for melting my blendtec blender, so hooray!!  Austin, Betsy, and Samuel have track practice only on Tuesday and Wednesday, and they all love it.  The weather here has been crazy, and twice in the past two weeks have had track practice and/or school cancelled due to blizzard or high wind warnings.  Apparently Spring in Colorado Springs means a few nice 60-70 degree weather days in between major storms and blizzards.  We found out we are having another baby boy.  I really thought it was going to be a girl, so now I have to return things I've already gotten, for more boy appropriate colors.  Caleb is finally healthy again, and has been much happier, and sleeping better.  He's been doing his "happy dance" a lot, it is really cute.  The other day, the spun honey bucket fell off the shelf in the pantry and was spilling all over the floor.  Caleb discovered it and stepped in it, and got honey all over his legs and feet, and started doing his "happy dance" all over the kitchen.  I realized what was happening, before he left the kitchen, and quickly scooped him up and stuck him in the kitchen sink, and gave him a bath right there.  He thought that was quite fun, and enjoyed the new experience, and got water everywhere.  Then I spent the next 20 minutes, cleaning all the honey off the floor and pantry.  I'm very grateful it was confined to the kitchen, and didn't get in any carpeted areas.  Caleb thought this was all just great fun, and keeps asking me for honey, and then points at his feet.  This week has been absolutely crazy busy.  Monday I had a FRG (family readiness group) meeting to attend, so Travis watched the kids all evening.  During the day I was getting things ready for an FRG Coffee (no actual coffee) I was hosting, and feeding dinner to 16 ladies, and preparing games and prizes.  I made individual size bath salts, and single serving deep dish chocolate chip cookie mixes.  I also made a cheesecake for dessert.  Tuesday, I made the carmel for the cheesecake, a vegetarian lasagna, homemade French bread, for garlic bread, and got the games all ready.  I also went to PWOC (protestant women of the chapel) for 3 hours in the morning.  I was able to leave Caleb in childcare and he did pretty well.  One lady there asked me if I was pregnant with twins.  No one has ever asked me that during any of my pregnancies, so it made me feel pretty fat.  I've gained 15 pounds so far, and that's more than any other of my pregnancies.  Travis says I'm beautiful, so that's all that matters.  So that evening, as soon as Travis got home from work, he dropped me off at the ladies house we were having the coffee at.  We got everything ready, and ladies started arriving.  We had a great time eating, and talking.  Everyone loved the food, and the cheesecake was an especially big hit.  We enjoyed talking so much, that we didn't end up playing any of the games.  By 9:30pm everyone left, and I got a ride home.  Travis was supposed to have taken Joseph to scouts, and the girls to activity days, but he didn't take them.  I found Travis asleep in bed, with Caleb sitting next to him playing puzzles on his kindle.  I put Caleb to bed, and quickly fell asleep.  Wednesday I spent the day planning for Travis' marriage seminar/game night.  He asked me to plan games to strengthen a marriage relationship in five different ways.  Know, Trust, Rely, Commit, and Touch.  Wednesday Samuel also had a psych appointment, so I had to get ready for that and take him to that in the middle of a blizzard.  The roads weren't too bad, just very wet and snowy, but the visibility with the blowing snow wasn't very good, but we made it.  Sam's making progress, but we're still working on getting him some behavior therapy.  All after school activities were cancelled due to the weather.  Wednesday night, Travis had bible study, and I had lots of food leftover from my "coffee" so I took some neighbours some dinner.  Thursday, was filled with finishing up the games for the seminar, I made more prizes and got all of the games ready.  By 4pm Travis came home, and we loaded up the kids and all the stuff for the games that I had put together and drove to the Elkhorn lodge for the event Travis had planned.  We put the kids in the room for childcare, and started setting everything up.  There were supposed to be 25 couples coming, so we had a lot to set up.  I had divided the games/activities into 5 different stations.  The couples started arriving, and we handed them a people scavenger hunt to do, and had them do that for the first half an hour.  Only 13 couples had shown up, so it was a lot less than we expected.  Travis welcomed everyone and gave an overview to what he wanted to teach, then we ate dinner, while watching a video segment about sex in marriage.  I thought that was an interesting choice, while eating dinner, but the couples didn't seem to mind.  After dinner, I explained all the stations, and divided into groups and then had fun.  The first station, was KNOW.  Each couple played the newlywed game.  The second station, was Trust, they did the trust fall, took a trust quiz, and drew a silhouette of their spouse, and wrote in it what they trusted about their spouse.  The third station was a blindfolded obstacle course, they had to be guided through by having their spouse talk them through it.  In the obstacle course they had to step over a broom, set on two chairs, build a tower with blocks, pour water into a cup and then into a bowl without spilling, guide them in a zig zag pattern through cones, and play the first part of "twinkle, twinkle, little star" on my colored hand bells.  The fourth station was about Commit, each couple had a booklet with 10 categories to discuss their relationship and a calendar to commit to things like date nights, talk time, and so forth.  The last station was Touch, first they stared into each other's eyes for a minute, then they had to stick together like "glue" while putting together puzzles, and playing twister, making sure they were always touching.  The couples were supposed to stay after completing all stations so Travis could wrap things up, and talk for another half hour or so, but everyone kept leaving, so Travis didn't end up doing his wrap up.  Everyone seemed to have a good time though, I know Travis and I did.  We cleaned everything up, and took the kids home and put them to bed.  I was so exhausted.  Today the kids have no school, and Travis has another event, for single soldiers this time.  Too much stuff going on, I'm ready for a break.   Today we have to do Austin's science experiment for the science fair, and it should take about 5 hours, so we're going to be busy doing that. 

Here is Caleb singing "you are my sunshine"

Caleb is happy

I forgot to upload our pictures from our easter egg roll, so here they are

Caleb going down the slide head first

Austin won the easter egg roll

Caleb needed a hug

I'm leading Travis through the blindfold obstacle course

Travis and I putting together puzzles while being "stuck like glue"