Week 7 ... Eliza turned 4!

February 12: So we had a little bit of an emergency on Saturday: Lincoln got his foot stuck in the bathroom stool that we had my cousin Trevor make for us.  We love this stool because it has saved me from having to break up any more fights at brushing teeth time.  But last week it was not Lincoln's favorite place as he was contemplating having to live with it for the rest of his life.  In all seriousness, it was STUCK!  Neil was working and there really isn't any way that I could get a hold of him, so I called over to my parent's house.  I just wanted someone to help me, walk me through different ideas because whenever I would get close to pulling it out, Lincoln would scream and just loose control.  So Dad said that he would come over...well, not only Dad, but Mom (who was told to get off of the phone because of an emergency), Chelsea and Christopher all came over.  We carried Lincoln out of the bathroom so that everyone could fit around him better and we went out to the kitchen.  Mom put some lubricating oil to help it slide out.  Still, it wasn't working and Lincoln just was starting to get really scared about having this appendage on his leg.  Finally, Christopher suggested that Lincoln lay down on his back and that we maneuver the stool instead of maneuvering Lincoln.  And that was the ticket!  His leg came right out.  After that was all said and done, the boys started teasing Brendan and Eliza and asking if they wanted a turn.  They were playing along and saying sure...and Lincoln was the traumatized one and was so worried for anyone else who would have to endure what he had just endured.  Even now, Lincoln is still scared of this picture.  We may have to hide it from him for awhile.

February 13: Sunday night games at our house.  Tonight we played Blockus and had fun along with Lincoln who had taken a late nap.  It seems more and more like he is taking late naps just so he can stay up later to party with us.

February 14: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!  It would appear that Neil wasn't too excited about my Valentine's kiss....hmmm....
And can I just say CUTE about these heart raviolis that I found at Costco.  Super easy, super yummy, supper CUTE!
Usually Brendan is really anti-kissing about anything, but today he gave me a Valentine card and a kisss and when we watched Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration for Family Night tonight he confessed that he could watch 2 true love kisses a day...but only 2.  Maybe he is coming around...   :)

February 15:  My favorite part of the day was listening to Neil work with the boys to put together an office chair.  He was so cute with them and they were just really excited to be able to work with their dad.  They love our growing collection of allen wrenches.

February 16:  Middle of the day, Brendan announces:  "Mom, I need to go and make a surprise for you.  Stay out of the kitchen.  I'll be right back."  A few minutes later he ran in and handed me this flower.  How cute is this!  WOW he just really made my day!  I love it when my kids do this!

February 17: OK, I loved walking into my closet this morning.  (Sorry, I would not be caught dead showing a before picture).  Chelsea came over last night and helped me pull everything out of my closet.  I tried on clothes all night for her.  If they didn't fit or if they were just really frumpy or if I hadn't worn them in a long time...we put them aside.  I have been wanting to do this for SO long.  If the clothes were acceptable, they were put back in the closet...in a very organized fashion.  I love the way it looks and functions.  Neil got home at 1:30 am and walked in on an almost cleared bed.  He was quite impressed, but stayed out of the way until it was all done.  He warned me that just because there was room in my closet, I didn't need to go out and buy more stuff to go in there.  Thanks honey...THANKS CHELSEA!

February 18:  Blake, Madison, and Trey Bedke (our cousins) and aunt Chelsea came and played at our house all day today.  We loved it!  Brendan has been obsessed with Star Wars as of late.  He is trying to understand how Anakin turns into Darth Vader.  We have explained  that he turned bad because of bad choices.  He is still trying to make sense of it...and sense of all of the buttons on the front of Darth's costume.   He asked Chelsea today: "So did those people switch him to bad?"  And she answered, "Yes."  And he asked, "like with a button?"

February 19: HAPPY BIRTHDAY #4 ELIZA!This little girl was grinning from ear to ear ALL DAY LONG on Saturday.  We took her out to PF Changs and she loved everything about it...especially the ice cream.  We talked about all of the things that she did when she was a baby and when she was one, two, and three.  Then we asked her what she wants to do when she is four.  She told us that she wants to try ballet.  Where that came from is unbeknown to us!

Here is her birthday cake.  She wanted a Sleeping Beauty birthday cake, so I tried my best.  I worked on it on Friday night and had it ready for her when she woke up on Saturday.  She beat me out to the kitchen and then came running back into my room with her eyes wide and said, "I love it, mom!"  If that didn't make my day, the hug that followed sure did.  Eliza gives the best hugs and this one included her legs wrapped around my waist.  Loved it.  Love her!

  

Brendan got her a CTR ring for her birthday.  Before this she didn't believe that she could make good choices because she didn't have a ring.  So now that she has one, we will be holding her to the good choices part.  We love Eliza and love that she makes us all smile so much. 

week 4 and more

I promised...
Week 4: Jan22-28

 January 22: Lincoln loves having Grandpa time almost whenever he wants to.

 January 23:  This little girl in nursery found her voice today.  It was really cute to hear a voice just going on and on when most of our little ones aren't talking that much yet.

January 24:  I made this little flannel board/box for preschool to tell all of our fun stories on.  Preschool starts tomorrow.

 January 25th:  This CUTE boy helped uncle Christopher ask a girl to the MORMAL (the mormon formal).

January 26th: We love it when Chelsea drops by and tonight we shared a little bit of smoothies with her for our treat.

 January 27th: I thought that I had taught my children and anyone else that would listen to NEVER wear socks with sandals.  With that said, whose child is this?

January 28th: We went to the $1 movie...Christopher's payment for Brendan's help...we saw MEGA MIND in 3D.  Lincoln slept through the whole thing.  Good thing it was only a buck...(actually $1.50 for the 3D) but still a great afternoon outing.

Week 5: January 29-February 4

January 29th: Neil got me this for Christmas and I am just getting around to opening it and playing with it.  I LOVE IT!  I am excited to use it with my scrapbooking.  I hope that I can play with it often!  :)

January 30th:  Stake Conference...but with everyone sick, I stayed home with the kids while Neil went to the Delano ward building to be on call if there were to be any medical emergencies during the conference.  When he got home the kids were still in their pajamas and Dad played Superman by blowing up 3 balloons at once.  It provided much needed entertainment for the kids that day.  For some reason, Eliza's kept on popping, but the kids LOVE balloons.

January 31st: With Lincoln still not feeling well, he stayed home and fell asleep early and slept sitting upright which helped with his congestion...Neil was a super-dad again and took Brendan and Eliza out to run errands.  It gave me some much needed silence.  LOVE that every so often.

February 1st: Lincoln stayed home while Brendan and Eliza and I went on our first trip to the library.  We visited Beale Library which is the same one that my mom took me to when I was young.  It brought back lots of GOOD memories and we were able to make some new ones, too.  We hope to visit this place a whole bunch.  :)

 

February 2nd: So I sent everyone into the bathroom to brush teeth before bedtime.  When it was taking a little bit longer than necessary, I went to check it out.  Lincoln decided to comb his hair with his toothbrush and took all of the liberties needed to wet himself with all the water he needed from the sink.  Bless his heart.

 

February 3rd:  Lincoln brought out all of his tools to help us out with fixing up the house.  He first measured with his tape measure "Stretch" and then used "Philipe" to tighten a few loose spots.  He made sure to put away all of his tools when he was done.

February 4th:  I was so lucky to be invited to the temple with my mom and sister Chelsea today.  We had such a good visit on our way to the Fresno temple.  It was peaceful for sure.  Then afterward we went shopping for some things for Chelsea's mission...and I picked out a few things for myself as well.  :)  It was a fun girls day and I have Neil to thank for making it possible.

Week 6: February 5-11

 

February 5th: We finally did it!  We rode all of the way to Grandma's house on our bikes.  Well, Brendan and Eliza rode all of the way there while I pushed Lincoln in the stroller.  The kids loved it.  While the first time that we were out riding bikes, Eliza was not very fond of the wide open spaces, today she LOVED it.  The whole way there, she never stopped talking about how much she loved it and how much fun it was.  At one point we rode over electrical boxes under the sidewalk and the kids asked me what they were.  I didn't know the answer right off the bat and Brendan hollered back, "Why don't you know the answers to everything anymore?  Did you just forget everything?"  I guess I need to be really careful of when to say "I don't know."  And plus, isn't he a little bit young to be thinking that his mom doesn't know everything?  I thought that didn't set in until the teenage years.  Andrew rode home with us and showed Brendan how he can ride standing up.

February 6th:  It was a little bit crowded in my bed when I woke up this morning which made it easier for me to get up early and get myself ready for church.  Eliza joined me shortly thereafter and we both got ready even before these boys woke up.  For some reason...and this doesn't happen every Sunday, but we were ready and headed out the door at 10:20 am for our meetings that start at 11.  It is crazy, but there are so many people in our ward that we have to leave by 10:30 at least to get a soft seat and not have to sit in the cultural hall.  I love these boys though!

February 7th: I was trying to work on sewing tablecloths toady and didn't really end up getting that far because I had a certain someone that wanted to sit on my lap and help me sew them.  He wanted to push all of the buttons and guide the fabric and everything.  If he weren't so cute, I don't know what I would do all of the time.

February 8th:  Our cleaning party in the kids' bathroom.  Notice also, Lincoln's hair bow.  I love the help that my kids are with cleaning around the house.

 

February 9th:  I love family dinners together.  Tonight was simple and the conversation was light.  I really like eating and talking with my family at dinnertime.  Plus we enjoyed the company of Chelsea tonight.  We have to enjoy her a whole bunch right now before she leaves us for her mission on the 23rd of March.

 

Can I just say that Lincoln just likes to help...and serve and brings so much joy to our family.  He is making tuna fish sandwiches for us for lunch.  He insists on doing things by himself...and most of the time he does a great job.  Thanks Lincoln.

 February 11th:  Neil and I got to go out on a date tonight.  We enlisted Christopher and Andrew to babysit the kids and since it was pizza night, they agreed.  Christopher gave us a curfew of midnight and when we got home this is what he looked like.  Thanks guys for babysitting so that we could go out.  I think we need to make it more of a priority because I just really love my husband!

And there you have it...
And I will return soon with more pictures from my Project 365

update...and this is a LONG post

I'm here and here is what I have been up to this year.
I am taking a picture each day and hopefully I will have a book to share at the end of the year.  This has been REALLY good for me to focus on something good every day...and I am loving it!
So I thought that I would share what I've done so far:
Week 1: Jan 1-7

 Do I really want to do this project 365?  Better get started

 Sarah's favor tags.  My life is filled with wedding stuff right now.  Good thing I love these two!  :)

 Everyday the kids break out these workbooks.  They love them and I love that that they love learning.  I love learning from them everyday.  Most of all, I am learning that I have a lot more to learn.

 Took down the tree today and was sad to put all of these lights away.   I hope that the light of Christmas and the light of Christ will continue in our home all year long

 Smoothies with our new VitaMix.  The kids were HAPPY

 Trying out our new bikes outside.  I really was getting tired of the kids riding around the kitchen island and using that as a racing track.  Brendan was excited.  Eliza, not so much.  Hopefully she comes around.

The kids love it when they get a bedtime story and especially loved it tonight when the aunts and uncle Andrew were hosting it.

Week 2: Jan 8-14

 Building and painting our first model airplane...well, Brendan building and painting HIS first model airplane.

And then later that same day, could Sarah's wad of gum get any bigger?  Does she really know this guy that she is marrying?  We had a blast at her bridal shower!

Lincoln INSISTS on having me do his hair with a barrette or bow or something.  I hope he grows out of it sooner than later.  I don't mind him wearing one right now, but will probably think differently if he is a teenager and wanting me to still put a bow in his hair.  I think he is SO cute though! 

 

Monday was my mom's birthday and Eliza found this pink flower ring for her at Kohl's (our new favorite store). (p.s. I took a picture on the 10th but it was with Sarah's camera and now that Sarah lives in the mountains, I don't know if I will ever get the real picture so I cheated and took another picture here.)

Packing for the trip to Utah...Sarah is getting married on Friday!!!  The kids are so excited to see Tessa and Cody...and everyone else too :)

 

Traveling ALL DAY LONG in the car is not really our favorite thing to do, but the reception at the end of the day is all worth it.  We love our grandma and grandpa Erickson.

Here is a picture of all of the girls in front of the temple.  We took a similar one at girls camp about 10 years ago after I got home from my mission.  That was the year that all of the girls in the family were able to go to camp.  This was the first time that all of us were able to go to the temple together.  It was such a special day.  We went through the Bountiful temple with Sarah!  And then we played all night long...here we are getting pedicures.

Sarah got married on Friday...YEAH!  Here, the kids are warming their hands over a fire at the reception in Orem.  No open flames inside the church though.

Week 3: Jan 22-28

 Can I just say, the KIDS LOVED the snow in Utah! 

We have been wanting to update our Erickson cousin picture for awhile.  I was so excited that we got it right before we left for home!

 We started following a schedule today...we are excited to see what happens with it.

 We found Eliza and Kaleb under Christopher's bed at grandma's house

Instead of going to the movies, we invited Kaleb over and let the kids veg out on our couch...mission accomplished.

 Eliza was the photographer: while I did yoga, she read her Clifford book.

The day of the reception.  It was so fun to work with and see so many friends and lots of family here in Bakersfield.  Good times.

And now I am tired, but I will continue and show you week 4 to the present, soon.
I promise...