Car Wash

Today was gorgeous. Who's ever heard of August having 70-75 degree weather? We're not complaining. We spent the morning eating french toast, dancing to music, going on a walk, and vacuuming (and scrubbing) out the atrocious van. Then we decided to give all the toy cars a wash. So I filled up some bowls and a bucket with water and dish soap--because you can never go wrong with water and bubbles. I think the kids ended up getting more wet than the cars. But it was a hit.

The morning completely did me in and I'm sorry to say that this afternoon has not been much fun at all. Darn pregnancy sucking out all my energy. But back to the happy parts of the day... :) Obviously the kids loved it. And I think those cars needed a little soaking too. Perhaps tomorrow we'll do the plastic animals?

Videos

The one above was for our 5-year anniversary (I made it back in April) but I couldn't figure out how to put the music on. Kenny showed me yesterday so I was able to finish it. That, and we finally have our own computer back. The one below is of our pictures when I went to California with my sister, Steph and her 3 kids. Once again, I was waiting on having our computer, and figuring out music. Good thing Kenny knows more than me or all my projects would be halfway done.

Our 5 Lives

This is our cute little house. I think it's about 1700 sq. ft. It's amazing how long it is taking us to get totally settled. I'm still working on getting things up on the walls, etc. Saturday was once again spent just "getting things done", other than the couple hours Kenny was gone helping a guy from work (and the ward) move. It pretty much takes up all our time. But we're getting there.

I just had to throw this picture in. Brynlee sharing her apple with Madi (who finished it off for her). Don't mind the bag of frozen veggies on the walker. I was trying to make dinner, and she is teething and especially ornery so the noisy, cold bag was fun for her to chew on.

Our sweet little Michelin baby. Madison is 8 months old now and as cute and rolly as can be. She just won't stop teething, it's ridiculous. She's got two more on the top coming in, which will make 8. She's about to crawl any day now. She pushes up real well onto her hands and knees, but only rocks or goes backwards so far. She rolls and scoots and squirms to get around, it's pretty cute. She has figured out to scream and/or growl really loud if her siblings are bugging her. If she's not noisy, it probably goes unnoticed.

Our beautiful Brynlee is always dressing up. This morning she was sporting her snow white dress, rain boots and a pirate hat. Right now she's in a skeleton costume. Every morning she says, "I wanna wear a princess", which is a dress. She loves to be a "pretty princess" and I'm pretty sure she's aware of how cute she is. I love hearing her talk in complete sentences. Although, unless you really pay attention you might not have any idea what she's saying. She loves to ride her little bike, carry around teeny tiny toys and stuffed animals all day long, and keeps us on our toes with her big attitude. She can also be an absolute angel, it just depends :).

Tyler is still very into animals and always spouting off facts about various animals throughout the day. He's very inquisitive and loves to learn. The picture below is of his shoe-tying "skills". He insists on doing it himself sometimes. Luckily only his church shoes have laces. The funniest part is how it stayed put the whole day. Somehow all is looping and knotting worked and it didn't come undone. I hear really good feedback about how reverent he is during primary, and that makes me glad. He has recently started taking Tae Kwon Do classes, and I think it's going to be a really good thing for him. We're still trying to find solutions to his flapping. I've been reading different books and what not, but I don't think it's anything that will go away anytime soon. And that's okay. He has the most thoughtful prayers, it's so sweet to hear him. He always thinks about other people.

Kenny and I are doing well also. I'm still feeling awful the majority of the day. I like night because at least I'm not aware of how I feel when I'm asleep. I got called as the 1st counselor in Young Womens yesterday. I think that's going to be a huge time commitment for not just me, but my family too. Kenny's going to have to fill in a lot for me at home, but he's very willing and able so it'll be fine. He just got called yesterday as the sunday school teacher for the 12 and 13 years olds. He's glad to be interacting again with the youth, as he misses that. His job is going well. Not his dream job by any means, but it does provide for our family and he always does a great job at whatever's asked of him.

Our June Surprise

There's no sense messing around so I'm just going to drop this bomb.

I'm pregnant.

No, I'm not kidding. First we were shocked, then extremely scared and worried, and now we're very excited, but still kind of nervous. I'm 9 weeks along, and the due date is about March 7th. I have yet to find a doctor here, but I'll get on that in the next few weeks. So Madi and this next little one (which Tyler swears is a boy) will be barely 15 months apart, depending on what day this one comes. Madi was born on Dec. 5th, so we'll see.

It has definitley been that extra challenge over the last couple months. Moving is hard, with little kids and a baby it's even harder, and being sick and pregnant on top of that makes it my limit. But I will say that I haven't been nearly as sick this time as I have been with my previous pregnancies, and I know that is a blessing from the Lord. I have no doubt that I have been strengthened and sustained. Not only that, but Kenny has been amazing and I've grown to love and appreciate him even more.

So 4 kids in 5 years...ready or not here we go!

Family Cheer

For our first family home evening in our new home a couple weeks ago, I gave the lesson. I read the story in this conference talk by Richard J. Maynes. He quotes a story about a little boy that likes to go roping with his dad. I had some rope that the kids held and unraveled to show the individual strands that make up a rope. We talked about their analogy of a rope being like a family. Then I introduced our new family cheer. So now, every night after family scriptures and prayers we chant 3 times,

"We are the Westons and we are strong!"

The kids absolutely LOVE this part of the evening and are pumping their fists and flexing their muscles like crazy. We talked about how we are not just strong in our muscles, but we want to be strong in faith, strong in our love for each other, strong in our unity, testimonies, etc. That little phrase means a lot to our little family. Sometimes I hear the kids saying it randomly during the day.

My major at BYU-Idaho was University Studies. That's obviously nothing to brag about, and not very interesting at all for conversation-making, but I loved it. I had to pick 2 minors, and I did Home and Family Living and Marriage and Family Studies. So basically I went to school to be a mom, because that's all I've ever wanted to do anyway. But anyway, we talked a lot during these family classes about how family traditions can be so important because it gives the children a tightly-knit system that they're apart of. It helps create consistency and they have a life where they know what to expect at certain times. Not just Christmas traditions, but even nightly traditions like reading books together and singing a song before bed, or whatever it is. It provides that stable environment that gives them security.

I just wanted to share a little idea that's been a lot of fun for all of us, not just the kids. Ours is very simple, but it's ours, and that's what matters.

Photo catch-up

We are alive and doing well. We just got the internet this morning, so I'm going to try and quickly catch up. I just put a bunch of pictures in a previous post, in case anyone's interested (mom). Here's a bunch more random pictures...

They have these really cool parks here, I think it's called the Cleveland Metroparks and there's lots of them all over. We found one, without realizing at the time what it was. People were fishing and just out enjoying nature. We only enjoyed it for so long, then the mosquitoes drove us away. But it was really pretty, and we're excited to go back. Beautiful wooded areas with animals and lots for kids to explore.

See the frog below? It jumped ("into the pool where it was nice and cool") right after I took this.

Enjoying a fun ride on daddy's shoulder.

This was during our hotel stay. Brynlee managed to give herself a huge goose egg, but I thought it was cute how she tried to smile when she realized I was taking a picture of it.

Also in the hotel. These silly kiddos stole mine and Kenny's glasses. It made us laugh so hard! What is it about kids and big glasses that looks so funny?!

This is here in our new home. Yes, we are moved in now. The kids emptied all the toys out of the toy chests and climbed in for a good hiding spot. They love to hide from daddy when he gets home from work and he has to come find them. I remember doing the same thing with my siblings when I was a little girl.

And some cute bath pictures of the chubbiest baby known to man. Holy cow this girl is heavy. But if she weren't the cutest, sweetest baby in the world I'd worry about her. :)

She loves her reflection. I love this picture.

That about does it. I'll put up pictures of our house when we finish getting unpacked and settled. Our lives are returning back to normal now, and it feels good. I was telling my mom how I think living with other people and in a hotel was so hard on me because it was like I was unemployed for so long. I am a homemaker, and I had no home to make. But my life of juggling little kids with laundry, cooking, and cleaning is quickly returning and although most days I'm sure I fail miserably, I am happy.We are very grateful to be all living under the same roof, and in our own home. It's a cute little 3 bed, 2 bath ranch house in a darling neighborhood. There are lots of young families, and my favorite feature: a neighborhood pool. That's where we go to escape from the boxes and what not.We've got new library cards, we're making friends, and we're settling right into our new lives here. If only the boxes would disappear faster...

Ten on Tuesday

1. I am really bummed that I cannot put pictures on for now. Not only are they more boring to read, but it's going to take me a while to catch up when adding them later, before printing it off. Maybe I should just go buy a cord for my camera and this lap top, instead of waiting to be able to stick my whole memory card in on our desk top.

2. The movers are in Katy, TX at our storage unit loading up a big truck with our stuff at this very moment!! I CANNOT WAIT TILL IT GETS HERE!! Oh my goodness to have our own things again is going to be wonderful.

3. Last night we went and finalized our decision for the house we've been looking at. We will move in on Saturday, even though our stuff's not coming until Monday or Tuesday. Looks like we'll be asking around for some spare blankets from ward members until then. But we don't want to stay more days in this hotel than we have to. Ugh.

4. Speaking of ward members...we totally fell in love with the ward on Sunday. It was our first time attending and everyone was so very welcoming and kind. There are lots of young families which we are SO excited about, including a few in our neighborhood. Hooray for not being 20-25 mintues away from everyone like we were in Illinois. There are a handful of guys that work with Kenny that are also members of our church, and they're all in our ward! How cool is that!? We can't wait to dive in and really get to know everyone.

5. The longer we are in this hotel with TV, the more I am convinced that we will never get TV!! We haven't had it the entire time we've been married. At first it was just a luxury we really couldn't afford, but even after graduation, we had no desire for it. What a big fat waste of time! Instead of watching a couple favorite shows a week on hulu/netflix, the kids are constantly wanting to turn it on. Tyler, especially, has developed an addiction. He also happens to be a big sucker for advertisements and has a big long list of toys and other things he wants (and needs!!). It's actually kind of funny. He'll say "Mom did you see that! Those bags make your food healthy and fresh just like a fridge! We have GOT to get those at the store, okay?!

6. I am grateful for parks, especially when there's other kids there for mine to play with. That's where we go every morning for a couple hours. Okay so Brynlee doesn't want to get out of the swing the entire time, but Tyler says "I'm going to go make some friends" and then goes and plays with people. Although it's pretty obvious he's been very sheltered and doesn't understand how some kids work. He doesn't realize how mean some kids can be. There's a daycare, or some kind of program for kids whose parents work all day, and they're usually at the park too. This morning Ty was playing soccer with a few of the other boys, and 2 of them started fighting. Like, real kicking and hitting. I told them to stop (they weren't being very well supervised by the staff whose job it should have been to stop them). Tyler said, don't worry mom, they're just practicing their karate moves, and he starts doing a few of his own off to the side of them. hahaha. He's such a sweet boy. But we had chat about kids and fighting, and what he should do if he has a run-in with a bully at school. I was worried that he seemed kind of excited, and almost hopeful that a bully will attack him at school. He had a smile on his face as he explained how he will dodge his punches and go under, and fake him out, etc. Apparently he watches Kung Fu Panda and The Furious Five too much.

7. Madison has been teething for a while, and now has 5 teeth. I knew she had been cutting her top 2 teeth, but a couple days ago I noticed a third one coming in on the bottom. Poor girl. Teething for babies is the pits, although she seems to handle it much better than my other two did.

8. The hallway outside our door smells like some animal died and is decomposing in the heat. I nearly lost my breakfast.

9. At home I would vacuum my floors every day, or every other day at the most. Here I have to wait till Wednesday when they come and clean. Our floors are disgusting, and I'm sure Madi's going to get some awful disease by the time we leave here.

10. Okay, no more complaining about this hotel. It's only 2 weeks. I can do anything for that long, right? Right??