Mini Vaca!

A few weeks ago, we went to Denver and Fort Collins for 6 days. Dallas had to go for work so me and the kids took the week off of school and made a Vacation out of it. Too bad Dallas had to spend most of the time in class. The kids had fun though! We went to Denver first and spend a night with Chris and Staci. While we were there, we went to the Denver Zoo for a day.

The kid’s favorite part was feeding the birds. I took my old camera and the battery died really fast so I didn’t get too many pictures but better some than none!

We got to see baby Camden too! He sure is a cutie!

Next- we moved on to Fort Collins where we basically had a repeat of last Year’s trip there. The kids painted ceramics again. I need to get a picture of the final product- they turned out pretty cute!

We went shopping in the “Old Town” which is always fun. the kids had fun looking for souvenirs, playing the piano in the street, and we of course had to go to our favorite place- The Silver Grill Café and get some of their cinnamon rolls. Best cinnamon rolls ever!Of course the kids picked out a stuffed animal. Mackenzie got a giraffe, Gavin got a snake, and of course Avery got a monkey. Mackenzie and Gavin hadn’t picked theirs yet at the time we were taking pictures. Avery took hers everywhere we went!

The kids love this painted horse. I was taking a picture of the kids and a photographer that works for National Geographic stopped and offered to take one for me. Then it was Chuck-E-Cheese’s for dinner!The kids wanted to go back to the Swetsville Zoo as well. Avery still didn’t like it. She was scared of the “monsters”.

We spent a lot of time shopping, then went to the park so the kids could burn off some energy!

When Dallas got out of class, we went miniature Golfing. It was lots of fun!

Then it was on to the super slide. Avery wanted to go up until we got to the top, then she changed her mind! But- I figured it would be easier to drag her down the slide then it would be to carry her back down the stairs. She screamed the whole way! Mackenzie and Gavin loved it though!

Most of our evenings were spent in the swimming pool. They couldn’t get enough of it! One night we did go to see a movie in 3D because Dallas and I had never seen one. Sad huh!

Avery loving her monkey- She named it Tinkerbell’s heart. She gave me quite the scare while we were there. She had had strep before we went then the first night we were there, she ended up with a croupy cough. She coughed and cried all night. So I stopped and picked up some cough medicine and some chewable Tylenol before we went to the hotel. She never needed it. After that first night, she didn’t cough again. It was weird. Anyhow, the second day, I had gotten in the shower and the kids were laying on the bed watching tv. I came in and Avery showed me a handful of tylenol and told me she was saving them for later. I took them from her, dumped out the bottle, and figured out that she had taken 13 of them. I panicked and called poison control and after being asked about a million questions, I was told she would be okay. She had taken 60% of what would be a harmful dose. Thankfully, she didn’t need to go to the hospital. So much for child-proof lids!

Living With Ghosts!

Gavin is adorable! He lost yet another tooth and he has actually lost another one since this picture was taken. Gavin has had a European mounted deer skull and antlers in his room for a long time. The other night though, he asked Dallas to take it down and said he doesn’t like it in his room. We asked him about it and he said that it scares him at night when it gets dark- Then he told me that he thinks it is a ghost because it moves. Apparently, it starts off on one wall then he wakes up during the night and it will be on a different wall. He says it moves around in his room all night and it scares him. So, of course Dallas took it down! 

Happy Valentines Day!!

Just a few pictures from Valentines Day! We had a great day! Pink heart shaped pancakes, parties at school, valentines, and going out to dinner!

Mackenzie is so proud of her valentines box! She made it with Grandma Sill and it turned out so adorable!I just had to put this picture of Avery up.. This is her baby that she got for Christmas. Her baby’s name is……Sanitizer! She named her months ago and has not forgotten. She loves Sanitizer so much. She takes her with us when we go in the car and she takes her to day-care with her. She is such a good mommy!

What a weekend!

Last Friday I had an appointment with my doctor to have a routine check-up done on my thyroid. I had an ultrasound done in October but didn’t see the doctor so I had to go in and see him before I could get my prescription renewed. As he looked at my thyroid, and compared what he was seeing to my ultrasound measurements from October, it looked like the one lump on my thyroid has almost doubled in size. He has been watching the 2 lumps on my thyroid for over 6 years and during that time, they have not grown at all. Now- all of a sudden the one lump doubled in size within a few months so my doctor decided he needed to do a biopsy and have it checked for cancer. No big deal, right? He says it will take about 30 seconds. He was right. He got it done quick! And then I passed out. I was out for a while and was breathing pretty shallow and I started convulsing. My doctor said- as soon as you started shaking, I looked over at your kids thinking that they would panic. But then I saw that they were all giggling so I figured they were going to be okay. When I woke up, I was so disoriented and I didn’t know where I was or why and as I started looking around, I realized I was in a hospital. My first thought was “I got in a car accident” and then I started panicking trying to remember who was with me and where I was going but then it all came back to me and I remembered where I was. Then, I passed out again. Thought I was okay, sat up, and passed out again, and again. 4 times total! Towards the end, Mackenzie started getting pretty nervous.  After that, I started puking my guts out. My doctor said “I really want to give you something for the nausea but I would have to stick you with a needle, and I really don’t want to do that right now!”  He gave me some sudafed to raise my heart rate, and the nurse brought me some orange juice. I was alone with the kids- Dallas was gone hunting, and I couldn’t even stand up straight let alone drive. Luckily my mother-in law was able to come rescue us. The second she walked into the door, Avery said “look at my new boots!! My mom bought them at the post office!”  obviously she was oblivious to what was going on! She is so funny. We shop on-line so much, she thinks the post office is a magical place where you can go to get anything and everything! Anyhow, My doctor said that I broke all of their records! He said “I have seen a lot of people pass out- but I have never seen anything like that.” I felt really sick the rest of the day and pretty sick the next day too. I will go back next Wed and have another ultrasound done and get the results from the biopsy. Hopefully they will just remove the whole thing and be done with it. Even if it’s not cancerous, which it’s probably not, something will need to be done eventually. It already bothers me quite a bit and if it keeps growing it will only get worse. Sometimes I just sit and massage my neck, trying to relieve the pressure, and sometimes when I swallow, it feels like I’m swallowing a tennis ball. I have been complaining to Dallas a lot the past few months. I thought my medication just needed to be adjusted but the reason it’s bothering me more is because it is growing. I guess I will wait to see what the doctor says on Wednesday!

When I grow smaller…

Avery has always fought growing up. From rolling over, to crawling, to walking, she has taken her time. She was perfectly content to be a baby and was in no hurry. She was walking by the time she was a year old which is normal. But, she still wanted to be held and carried around as much as possible. She still does. We go anywhere and she wants to be carried. She has been the total opposite of  Mackenzie and Gavin- as soon as they could walk, they wanted to walk. They wanted the independence. Avery is so funny because she talks all the time about “when I grow smaller”…. “when I grow smaller, I will be a baby.” “When I grow smaller, I can have a binki.” “When I grow smaller, I will sleep in a crib.” And don’t even think about telling her that she is wrong because she will argue and no matter what you say, she will not believe you.  She is going to be pretty disappointed when she finally realizes that her baby days are over. She makes us laugh every day and I just want to be sure to write some of these things down because with the other kids, I didn’t. They do and say these these things that are so funny and you think that you will never forget them but you do. I wish I had written more down with the other kids but I just didn’t think to do it. I guess I thought I had a better memory than I actually do!

Happy 9th Birthday Mackenzie!!

Mackenzie celebrated her 9th Birthday on the 15th of January and Dallas celebrated the big 30 on the 16th. My mom even surprised us by coming and spending the weekend with us! All Mackenzie wanted to do was go ice skating for her big day so she had Jaydee sleep-over and then we went ice skating. This is how the kids entertained themselves friday night… They made a big “spider web” in the living room. They wanted to sleep under it but I was mean and made them take it down. Avery kept getting all tangled up in it which was hilarious but I really didn’t want to get woken up in the middle of the night because a disoriented child had gotten tangled up and was screaming bloody murder. They sure had fun with it while it lasted though!

Avery had a blast with my mom here. Grandma played with her and read to her and Avery couldn’t get enough of it. I wish I had taken a picture when they were snuggled on the recliner and Avery was teaching Grandma how to play angry birds. So cute!

Avery was so excited to go ice skating.

That excitement only lasted about 30 seconds! She hated it! Good thing grandma was there so Avery could sit out with her and I didn’t have to go out because I love ice skating!

Mackenzie and Jaydee took right to it! They did great and they both loved it! Mackenzie could have stayed all day!

It took Gavin a while but he got the hang of it too and had a great time!

I pulled the girls around the rink going as fast as I could and they kept up pretty well. They only fell a few times!

Here’s one of those times! Luckily they didn’t pull me down with them! Grandma Sill came later and brought Shelby, Trey, and Tage with her. The boys didn’t really like the ice skating but Shelby loved it as long as Dallas was holding onto her. After ice-skating, we went to Nelson’s frozen custard for lunch and ice-cream, then we went to the store so Mackenzie could pick some things for her Birthday. She picked pet shops. I thought she would have grown out of them by now. She also got a new TV for her room.

The next day, which was her actual Birthday, we made some Birthday cakes for her and Dallas and they both blew out their candles.   Happy Birthday Mackenzie and Dallas! I love you both!!

I just had to add these pictures. Avery has this weird thing she does and my sister Sherin pointed out the fact that I have never taken a picture of it. She started doing it when she was just a tiny little thing. She quit for  awhile after I took her binki away because it goes hand in hand with the sucking. Then she started sucking her thumb and started doing it again.

She pulls fuzzies off of her blanket and puts them on her nose.

Then she rubs the cotton back and forth across her nose with her finger. A lot of times in the morning, she wakes up with cotton in her nose. Sometimes I will be sitting there and she will reach over and pull a fuzzie off of my shirt and stick it on her nose. It’s the funniest thing! I think she is absolutely adorable!