Happy Birthday, Lucky!

Today is Lucky's third birthday. It is hard to believe it has been three years since he was born.
We celebrated on Thursday by going to Chuck E. Cheese's to play and eat pizza.

Lucky only played 3 or 4 games/rides. He would get stuck playing on one thing. This was one of his favorites.


Today I was not able to go to church because I have strep throat, but I sent my boys so they could sing to their daddy on Father's Day (Thank you to the Willicuties and the Foys for sitting with my boys at church so I could stay home and get better!) While they were gone I made a cake for Lucky.


He was so happy to have a Wow Wow Wubbzy cake. It was a last minute decision for me, but he loved it.


He (and his brothers) loved his gifts too.


I had a little bit of extra cake and frosting so I made this for El Guapo, just for fun.


I saw a cute idea on a random blog yesterday. A little girl was turning three and her whole family wrote a list of three things they loved about her. Just in time for Lucky's birthday...

El Guapo's list:
1~ I love his little side smile (smirk) that he gives people when he is being shy or stubborn. Cara captured it while taking our family pictures.
This is pretty mild, it is usually a little bit more drastic, but you get the idea.
2~ I love his love of technology. (Lucky can do anything his eight year old brother can do on the laptop, Wii, DS, etc. It is pretty crazy to watch, actually.)
3~ I love that when his brothers are sad he will say, "You want your daddy?" or, "You alright?"

My list:
1~ See #1 on El Guapo's list.
2~ I love his little voice and funny things he says. I don't know if it is just because he is my youngest and the other boys had younger siblings by now, but he is just so baby-ish to me still. I am loving every moment that he is still young. I feel like I hurried the other boys along too much.
3~ This could really be the #1 favorite thing for me. I LOVE his kisses. This boy can pucker up like no one else I know. I love his lips. He is just so sweet! I wish I could bottle his little kisses.

Ned's list:
1~ He's really funny.
2~ I love that he tries to make me feel better when I am sad or hurt.
3~ I like that he shares with me.

Dusty's list:
1~ I love that he has candy and he shares it with me.
2~ I love him when he shares his toys, his new present toys.
3~ I love when he says he will share things with me.
LOL! :)

Threes

They say that trouble comes in threes. After this past month or so I would have to agree.

1--Right around the first of May El Guapo broke a part of one of his teeth off. Three days later he looked like this:



And, as with many things, these pictures do not do it justice.

El Guapo had an abscess tooth. I have never seen this man in so much pain. I sat up with him late at night, watching him writhe in pain. I decided that this is what it must feel like to watch your wife be in labor. It is horrible to feel so helpless.

He went to the oral surgeon and had a drain put in and was put on antibiotics. The next week he had a root canal and still has to have another one done in the near future.

2--El Guapo had an extra day off last week to make up for the fact that he had to work on Memorial Day. So nice! We decided to take a little road trip down to a place called Meers. The post for that fun adventure should have looked like this post over at my friend, Cara's blog. Instead our day went like this:

El Guapo calling AAMCO Transmissions.

Watching the traffic quickly go by while we sit still. :(

Thank goodness for Sprint TV on El Guapos phone.

Waiting...

We never got to Meers or the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Our good friend, Mrs. Morty found a babysitter for her children and traveled an hour or so (each way) to come and save us. (THANK YOU!!!) She didn't even complain when we stopped to eat at McDonald's (not even a close replacement for Meers) to have lunch.

At least where we got stuck was a really pretty place.



Doesn't that picture of El Guapo and the boys make you think of Little House on the Prairie?...

We did have a little bit of entertainment while we waited for the tow truck.

The wind.

Mrs. Morty's cute baby girl.

She won a thumb war against Ned.

Hand clapping games.

We have had problems with our van's transmission for the last few years and knew it was just a matter of time before it broke down. It is nice to have it fixed, and it only took 3 days. Not too bad.

3--Dusty has always had not-so-great teeth. His mouth breathing from allergies and all of the medications he has had to take have not helped that out at all. Last fall he had to have a crown put on one of his teeth. When he went in for his regular check up in March the dentist said that one of his fillings looked a little loose and we should keep an eye on it and get it fixed when we could. He did not complain about it and I forgot about it (shame on me!) so it never got taken care of. About a week and a half ago he complained that his tooth hurt, right where that tooth is, which happens to be right next to the one with the crown. Two days later I was helping him brush his teeth and I noticed that his gums were bleeding. I looked and saw, above his crown, a bump on his gums. He, too, had an abscess tooth.

When he had the crown put on he had a TERRIBLE (to say the least) experience so we knew that next time he had to have anything major done in his mouth we would have to put him under for the procedure (ugh! as I type that it just sounds awful, but I don't know what else to do). They are going to fix everything that needs to be done, all at once. That will be nice for him.

All of that stuff cost a very pretty penny. If only good news came in threes!

Check Us Out

Here. Just in time for a new header. :)

The WORST Babysitter EVER!

Today I watched my friend's son while she went to get her hair cut. Dusty loves to play with Ross. They have a lot of fun together, but like all children, they have their moments where they don't get along.

Ross had been over for about an hour and a half and they had been playing very well together, I had not had to break anything up, not once. They played inside for a while and then went out to jump on the trampoline.

I was on the phone with another friend trying to help her with something on the computer and I said to her, "I cant believe how well Dusty and Ross are playing together today, they are being so good." Moments later I heard a little tap on the back door. I saw that the door was unlocked so I was wondering why they had knocked. I opened the door and found this...



Then I looked out and saw this...



They left no part of their body untouched.








Lucky watched from inside, he thought they were so silly.



They were so naughty, but how could I get mad at these cute little boys that were just doing what little boys do best, get DIRTY!




Now, unless you want to come home to your child in the shower with his clothes on, I suggest you don't ever let me babysit.

Ned's Baptism Day

Ned wearing a vest lovingly made by Nana

Last Thursday night Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, along with our long time family friends, the Andersons. Friday was Ned's 8th birthday and on Saturday he was baptized.

It was a very nice day on Saturday, which was great because we thought it would be a very stormy day. We spent most of the day relaxing and making the Raspberry Cake that was served after the baptism.

I ran around the house getting the boys their clothes and I could not find Ned's belt that I had bought him specifically for the day. I was gathering other things that we needed for the baptism (towels, extra underclothing, etc.) and when I walked past a place that I thought the belt might be I would check. As I scurried around I said a quick little prayer asking Heavenly Father to help me find the belt, despite the horribly disorganized state of my home. I felt like a chicken with it's head cut off, just running around without a purpose.

At one point I ended up in the computer room where Dusty and Lucky were playing. I stood there for a moment before I thought, What in the world am I doing in here? Then I turned to leave and for some reason (it was as if it was habit, I didn't even mean to do it) I opened the office closet door, and there it was, the belt was on the floor. Random place for it.

When I gave it to Ned he said, "Heavenly Father helped you find it because he knew it was my big day." I love that boy. He is already so faithful and really knows that Heavenly Father loves him and wants him to be happy. When the bishop asked him why we should be baptized he answered, "To follow Heavenly Father's plan for us."

The baptism was nice. My parents spoke to Ned about baptism and The Holy Ghost. There were lots and lots of children there, I loved that. The water was freezing because they had had a baptism that morning and did not want to refill the font. El Guapo tried to top it off with hot water but that did not work out too well. When Ned was baptized he was so cold. He gasped for air, the cold water really took his breath away. I thought for sure that he was going to complain about that forever but El Guapo said that the first thing he said when they got in the dressing room was, "FINALLY! I'm baptized!" :)

Later that night, while in the car with me he said, "I sure am thankful that we are able to get baptized!" He had a great day!

Thank you so much, to all of you that were there and helped out. We love you and feel very blessed to have you in our lives. Thank you for showing your love for Ned on his special day.

Here are our favorite pictures (taken by Cara, THANK YOU!!!) from the day.






I found this white vest and suit coat in the baptismal closet and Ned really wanted to wear it. I thought he looked quite handsome in it. :)

P.S. I know I need to change my header. I am easing back into blogging.... baby steps.

You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!

I might post more of Dusty's Pre-K program later, but I could not resist quickly posting this one video for you to enjoy.

FYI: Dusty is the one with dark gray long sleeves.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I've got lots of pictures for you this time. A good follow-up to my post that didn't have any pictures, I suppose.

Here are a few things we have been up to lately.

We decorated eggs for Easter.


Dusty liked coloring the eggs, but he loved eating them. I should probably make them more often for him to enjoy.


Lucky wasn't interested in coloring the eggs. He just wanted to watch Wow Wow Wubbzy and eat fruit snacks.


I was too lazy to take pictures of the boys in their Easter outfits so all I have is this picture of Ned acting like the Easter Bunny...


and Lucky showing me some of his candy.


I didn't get any of Dusty. I guess I will have to dress them up again one day and take some good pictures.

I did get a cute picture of him a few days later after licking the brownie bowl.


We got a bunch of strawberries (about 12 pounds) and made some freezer jam and other yummy treats.


The weather has been pretty nice so we have worked in the yard a lot this month.


We had Dusty's birthday. I started to get some pictures of that ready for this post but it will need a post of it's own.

15 days after Dusty's 5th birthday he lost a tooth. We were eating at McDonald's and I told Dusty to bite his apple dipper with his loose tooth (I could see that it was very loose and I wanted it out). He did and it was sticking straight out so I just pulled it out. He complained that it hurt a bit, but he was so excited to have the tooth fairy come that night. He woke El Guapo and me up by yelling, "Money! Money! Money!" It's amazing how excited a child can get about 8 quarters.


I just love this silly picture of Dusty. He is always being funny and pulling crazy faces.


El Guapo went out of town for a few days. When he came home he brought me these.


They are so pretty. He said he had a hard time finding anything because it was the day after Secretary's Day. He got as close as he could to the Laker colors... and I thought the flowers were for me. Well, I love them anyway.


Oh, I have a little video from the park. Please excuse the mommy voice. I am a tad loud, you might want to turn it down before you press play. :)