Papa's Dinner

Yesterday was Papa's birthday so today we went to celebrate. The kids and I went to the store to pick out something to make for dinner. Sissy really wanted to walk so she had to hold someone's hand. She decided she wanted to walk with her big brothers. They are pretty good to her. 

Once we had food for dinner we headed out to Sandy. I made some delicious cheese dip and shrimp risotto. 

Then we sang happy birthday with enough candles to burn down the house! It was a good night. 

Beauty Night

Today I worked an extra shift. When I got home this afternoon my cousin, Michelle, stayed to hang out for a while. It was nice to see her and have girl chats with Rhayn. After we she left Rhayn decided she wanted to do my hair. She did a really good job. 

The she decide to work on another project to prepare for some crazy makeup she wants to do on herself. She was using hot glue and wax paper. I'm curious to see how it turns out. She is thinking she wants to be a special effects makeup artist for a career. She would do really well at it, but we shall see if that thought lasts. 

Sissy was sitting with her baby in her chair so I snuck a quick picture in. 

When it was time for bed I got her pajamas on her and told her to toss her diaper in the trash. Then I went to look for her and found her in her room, door shut, lights out and music on with her in the crib. She is getting to be such a big girl. I'm happy she is growing and maturing, but sad to admit my baby isn't so little anymore. 😢

Long Day 1/25/16

Loyal had a flight early this morning. Kian woke up to go with us. 

This afternoon the kids all did crafts together at the table. It was nice to see them all doing something other than watching tv together or playing video games.

When they were done with it I tried to put some of it in boxes so it will still be accessible for use, but move ready. 

Tonight I was a little on edge. Kian broke the tv stand door while the dogs were barking. In the midst of this I was trying to put away groceries, needing to do nightly chores, and having the neighbor come over to complain about the dogs who were barking, topped off with a sinus headache. Can I say I am ready for bed? Oh I forgot to mention the plumbing is acting up again in both of the kids bathrooms. #addittothelist

Dance Night

The kids went to GGma's today with grandma and papa. They sent me videos of playing the piano. 

Tonight I was excited by the price of gas! It hasn't been this low in a long long time. 

When I got home I surprised the boys and took them to the school dance. They had a lot of fun and liked the surprise. They got free candy and liked the bubbles. We were only there for a short 30 minutes by the time I got home, but it was worth it. 

Egg Surprise

The kids are addicted to watching "egg surprise". When I came home they were watching it on the computer. I can't believe they like it so much. I wish I would have thought to open up eggs with stuff in them on YouTube first. 

Even O'rien couldn't keep his eyes off the screen while we were eating dinner. (It was just the two of us eating, because my dad made dinner for the rest before I was home. I'm definitely spoiled!)

My parents also brought us all gifts from the beach. The kids all love it when grandma and papa go out of town for a weekend. They even spoiled me with a cute new purse too. :) 

1/27/16

Tonight Rhayn wanted to help make dinner. She said she was in the mood to "cook" so she helped me with the preparations. She had already made blueberry treats today out of her new brownie cookbook, and I think she was enjoying it. She helped make the lettuce wraps. 

After I took a picture she asked why I was taking so many pictures lately. I told her she would know one day as she was posing. She said I had been taking horrible pictures of her lately. Little does she know that one day she will look back and thank me for capturing the memories. 

Sunny Day 1/24/16

Rhayn had disappointing news today when she found out the doctor suggested at least another week home from school. I think this is the first time she has actually wanted to go to school. We went to the school and she was a little overwhelmed while we walked the halls to collect her work. She asked the student who was walking with us if we could slow down. Then she asked relatively quickly after we started if we could go home. I thought it would be too much for her to handle, but being a teen she of course didn't want to listen to me. She thought interaction would be good, but didn't realize that it would be more than she could handle. Maybe next time she will trust my decision a little more. 

Loyal and I took the 3 younger kids to eat and the park since it was so nice and sunny. I wanted them to be able to do something fun with heir dad before he left again. I think he enjoyed himself while they played. It was good to see them all laughing and having fun together at the park. It definitely beat sitting around the house all day. I hope we get to have more family outings like this again soon. 

Mexican Dinner

Loyal requested carnitas tacos for dinner. It was a little too late for me to make them since the pork needed to simmer so we went to grab them at a little Mexican place down the road. 

Sissy wouldn't smile for a picture while we waited. 

I snuck in another picture while we were on the couch at home. She was coloring pictures with a pen she found in her sisters room. 

1/23/16

O'rien had a wrestling tournament today. There were 21 kids in his weight class. He had 2 wins and 2 losses. I think he made it middle of the road. Not a bad start for him since he had only been in a few tournaments ever. He got slammed pretty good, but his goose egg actually came from the dog tonight. 

Family Dinner

Tonight we had family dinner at the table. Loyal wouldn't let me take his picture and Teagan was just a smidge too far away. It was nice to eat as a family since we haven't been able to for a while. 

Rhayn is showing signs of improvement, but she is still not 100%. I hope she can snap back to normal soon. I'm not quite sure what is still off, but she is definitely not fully recovered yet. Fingers crossed that in the morning there is more improvement. 

O'rien had weigh ins for his meet tonight. He weighed 47.8lbs I believe. He has a big match that Loyal is taking him to while I work. I hope he can kick some butt like he did at the last match.

1/21/16

Rhayn is still so out of it. I had to help shower her, brush her hair and make her change her 3 day old clothes. I hate that she is feeling like this. I don't think I can stand another day of her requesting to watch "Hannah Montana". 

We picked up Loyal at the airport tonight and Rhayn just curled up in the car. I'm not sure she even knew he was getting in the car or was with us the entire ride home. 

The other kids were all happy to see daddy. Teagan held his hand most of he way home and Kian was excited. O'rien was asleep in the car, but when we got home he lit up. I think we surprised them good! 

1/20/16

Today Kian and I took another baby step towards preparing for the move. I feel like I should be kicking it up a notch, but I just haven't been feeling 100%. I hope it goes away soon. We were only able to accomplish going through his drawers to purge out stuff that was too small. We managed to collect an entire box full. The next step will be getting it sorted out into consignment, garage sale, donate and junk it piles. Once we get all of the kids clothes sorted out and into one area I hope I can come up with a method that works quickly. I'm ready to feel like I am actually accomplishing something and like a weight is lifted by purging the house out. It has been so many years since I have uncluttered the junk it is I know it is going to feel good. 

Rhayn made a little progress for recovery today. She was like a zombie still. It was really odd to me. She asked for permission to put on a shirt and starred blankly at me quite a few times. She managed to eat food and drink which was good. Jade came over to visit and so did Tanner. She didn't talk much to them, but I think it made her feel better knowing that her friends were with her. She struggled to get many words out today. It was pretty much like a small child in a lot of ways. Fingers crossed she recovers soon. She ended the night by watching Hannah Montana which I never thought I would see her watch again in my life. I am thinking it must have just been comforting, because she use to watch it religiously when she was younger. She didn't actually even recognize what she was watching when I asked her, but she kept asking if she could just watch one more until it was done. 

The kids also played their new video games tonight. I'm a little worried that they have started to play them, but hopefully I can still keep them interested in other activities at home. They also decided to take pictures on my phone. It was pretty random. 

Those are Kian's toes in case you are wondering. The other pictures were just a blurry mess. It is always interesting to see what they end up taking pictures of. Maybe one day the pictures will be more worth while to look at instead of a lot of blurry images. 

Unexpected Outcome

Today Kian, Teagan and I ran a few errands. We stopped by to get Kian's glasses tightened and checked on the clothes we had on consignment. Then we headed up to see GGma and my mom. We all colored at the table. GG decided she would keep shutting her book so we let her head out to watch a movie with he kids instead. 

Tonight is where the action came in to play. Rhayn was at cheerleading and I got a call that she had a potential concussion. It turned out that she had to be sent to OHSU by ambulance and she did have a true concussion. Just so she will remember one day she kept asking for Jade and Tanner. Poor girl was so confused and I felt really bad that there was not really anything I could do for her. I hope she has a fast recovery. 

(This is the water bottle she at least got out of the deal)

Homework Marathon Day

Today was a serious homework marathon. Rhayn had about 7 assignments to complete I think. It felt like the never ending story for math. My brain is a little tired, because I had to learn it all so I could then teach her all of the material. I hope it helps on her upcoming chapter test since we were at it on and off for about 8 hours today. I'm impressed that her attention span lasted long enough to stick with it. She didn't start to completely lose focus until the last assignment when she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. 

Since most of the day was spent on the couch we really didn't get to much else. Teagan did try to feed the dogs their dinner tonight. She thought it was time for them to eat. I had to help her out, but it was sweet of her to try and help. 

O'rien did a little mini workout when we told him if he dropped to the smaller weight division this weekend he would have an easier time beating all of the kids. He thought it was a cool idea. (And don't worry, we aren't starving the kid or making him do something crazy...it is only 3lbs which is the size of his poop I think for one sitting!) If he doesn't make the weight it isn't really a big deal, but he liked the idea of having an easier time beating the smaller kids. 

We also tested out our egg experiment tonight. We had placed an egg in vinegar a few days ago and so today we took it out to see the results. Rhayn and O'rien tested out the bounce that it had and then we put the egg into some corn syrup for the next part of the experiment. I forgot what they said their predictions were, but I think they are both going to be surprised with the results as long as it works as planned. 

Sunday!

Teagan and I went over to see GGma for a little while this morning. She dug into the cupboards for snacks while I helped grandma get a bath. When we came home my friend Angi came to hang out with us for a while. We all played Toy Story 3 Memory together. Then the kids all ran around like wild animals. I think we might just be scaring her away from children if they keep acting like this when she comes to see us. I guess you have to be prepared for the zoo when you come over. 

I made our first start at healthy dinners again. We all ate it, but I think I should have made more. Our healthy dinner was somewhat ruined by the snacks we ate after dinner, but one small step to a healthier habit I guess?!

After dinner the dog thought it would be fun to do his business on the couch again. I'm pretty sure 2 days of carpet cleaning the same spot is more than enough for me. It did at least give me motivation to clean the stairs since the cleaner was already out. It does always feel nice once they are clean. Now if they would only stay like that. 

Rhayn has also been working on cleaning her room all day long. Fingers crossed she might actually have it done by bed time ;) 

Just Another Saturday

The boys fell asleep with me on the couch last night. I had one on each side as I peeled them off at about 1:30am. They were both laying so sweetly together once I got up that I had to get it on camera. 

Then I took off Kian's glasses and snapped another just to catch the resemblance between the two of them. 

This morning when we got up Rhayn had homework to do before she was allowed to go to the cheer competition. I was helping her with her geometry. It sure brings me back to the days of studying since I have to teach myself the math again so I can teach her. 

The afternoon adventure was to the library with the littler kids while Rhayn was out. They love to play with the toys in the library.