Bowling!!!

Since we always do movies we thought it would be nice to go bowling for a change. The kids are still a bit young, but I think they had fun. Cooper was the most into it. He would clap and cheer and jump all around when his ball knocked the pins down.

Cooper's reaction when he misses the pins . . . a big, "Awwww" and little pouty fit.

Cooper's reaction when he knocks the pins down . . . a big cheer and clapping and jumping.

Goofy Girls at Bedtime!

Cute sisters! I always refer to these two as "the girls" like they are one set. I love them so much! They are looking entirely too grown up lately. 

Our Primary program is this Sunday and the Sunbeams and CTR 4's are singing the first verse to "Give Said The Little Stream". Lindsey got confused in this video and started singing the second verse. Also, there is a part of the song that says, "As it hurried down the hill," and Lindsey always sings, "As it hurried down the . . . mountain." She has to say mountain really fast to fill in for the word hill, and it cracks me up every time. She didn't do it when I was recording them though, so I recorded a second bit and told her to sing mountain.

I noticed that one of the kids dolls' head was closed in the drawer under Lindsey's bed and we all got a good laugh out of it. Nothing makes me happier than to hear my kids belly laughs!!!

Dentist

With all our moves over the past several years, we've neglected to see the dentist. Gracie went when she was 2 or 3 when we lived in Virginia, but none of the others had been. We finally scheduled appointments and I found some cute you tube videos of kids at the dentist to show the kids before we went. I think it helped them to not be as scared. Coop still fussed a bit, and they were only able to polish a couple of his teeth, but the hygienist said that he did really good for a two year old, and she told me that our children were really well behaved.

Tim and I had appointments too, and I thought they would have one of us go at a time while the other stayed with the kids, but we were all seen at the same time. It made me nervous, but it all worked out. Next time we won't schedule all of us at the same time though. Luckily we had gotten a babysitter to stay at home with Olivia.

None of us have cavities except for Poor Gracie. She has two that need to be filled and two more little buds starting. Once they get in there they will decide what to do about the two little ones. The dentist said she will need to get the numbing shots and that it would be best not to talk to her about them at all ahead of time. Poor Roo! Those mouth shots are the worst - I feel so bad for her. He said we will decide whether to use the gas too and I hope for her sake that she is able to. I feel so bad that we didn't get her in to a dentist sooner.

One of the hygienists was so cute and she took pictures of the kids and then texted them to me. So sweet! She said she was obsessed with pictures and wanted to capture every "first" for her kids, so she wanted to take the pictures for me. I really liked all of the staff there. The kids did so good!!! It was funny because I was in the room right next to Lindsey and Cooper, and Lindsey was talking non stop to her hygienist. I heard her saying, "My birthday is August 19th, and I had ladybug cupcakes, and on and on and on." It was so cute because I don't think I've ever really heard her talk to someone that much.

We Can't Get Ahead!

We were all excited to start saving some money so that we could possibly fly instead of drive to Idaho for Kirsten's wedding, but it's not looking so great now.

We just had to pay for Tim to have a root canal, I have a biopsy on the 27th (nodule on my thyroid), and now Lindsey might have a hernia (epigastric). Geez! So much for saving money, but even worse, I sure don't want Linds to have to have surgery. She's had a little lump about 3 or 4 inches above her belly button for a long time. I figured it was just a bulgy vein but I asked the doctor about it anyway. After she looked at it and felt it, she said it's probably a hernia, so she scheduled an appointment with a specialist for Oct 7th.

As for the nodule on my thyroid, if it is benign, I just have to get ultrasounds every 9 months or so to make sure it doesn't get bigger. Worst case, cancer (I can't even think about that word), but the doctor said it doesn't look cancerous because it didn't have calcifications and there was only a little bit of extra blood flow to it. A lot of people have thyroid nodules and never even know it. It's especially common in women and following pregnancy, etc. so I'm sure it's fine. It was funny because he asked me how many kids I had and when I said four, he gasped, "FOUR! How old are you? Are you Catholic?"  Haha! "No, Mormon." "Oh, that explains it. . . so tell me about Mormonism." Then he went on to tell me that he visited the tabernacle in Salt Lake and was very impressed with it and he's done a lot of research on Mormons. He said he was going to present a forum on Mormons in his church and as he was driving home, two missionaries rode by on their bikes so he chased them down and asked them to attend. He said it was a great forum and they went on to do a second one with more churches. He has an anesthesiologist Mormon friend too, and he says they always talk religion. It was pretty neat!

Olivia was really struggling to breathe at the beginning of the week so we took her in and she had croup. I was really worried about her! Then Cooper got it really bad too and he couldn't stop coughing. They both got a steroid and are doing much better now, thank goodness. I can't remember where I was (either the store, or a piano lesson) when Tim decided to give Livi a blessing. After the blessing, he asked the kids if they would each say a prayer for her too. He asked Cooper to pray first, and he walked over to Olivia and gently put his hands on her head and closed his eyes intently. Tim said it was the sweetest thing! He was immitating Tim giving her a blessing. Another night when Cooper was really struggling, Tim gave him a blessing also and he said that his little body just immediately relaxed. I am so grateful for the priesthood and that Tim can give us blessings when we need.

I went to an overnight Relief Society Retreat and when I got home, Tim had bought me roses and candy and he had the candy glued to a poster board, spelling out "We Love You Mom" and the girls made me cards and pictures, and then Tim had a steak dinner planned with strawberry cheesecake for dessert. He spoiled me! Thank you Tim! Love you.

Boosterthon Fun Run!

Gracie had her first fundraiser for school. It was one of those "get pledges for every lap you run" things. It was so fun to watch her participate! We weren't sure exactly how it worked, but they let them stop and get drinks whenever they needed and they could walk if they wanted. At the water booth they also had people misting water on them with those little sprayers. The DJ was really great with the kids and they did fun things like - dance this lap, boys vs girls, hop this lap, etc. For one lap they even had little balloon limbo sticks and the kids could limbo under them as they did that lap.

The poor teachers had to mark off each kids lap on their back as they finished it.  The lap was only 1/16th of a mile. We were hot and tired just watching them. Their little faces were all red and blotchy by the end, but they were smiling! Gracie was so cute! I was so proud of her! She ran/walked 31 laps!

She was so excited when she got home from school the other day with prizes she got for getting pledges! She also got a giant frisbee. Thanks to all our family who pledged!!! She earned $107.50 for her school thanks to all of you and her laps! I learned that next year I need to have her wear shorts, and not a black shirt, on the day of the run.

This is her friend Alli from church. She is in Kindergarten too, but another class. Gracie said they always play together at recess. My little Grace is growing up, going off to school, and making friends!

They let the parents walk with them on their final "cool down" lap.