Spring Updates

The kids finished out their ice skating lessons.  Liv thrived and loved it.  She could twirl circles around us and skate so fast.  Her instructor told us she could actually skip the next level when we sign her up next time.  I guess she was in a combo class and was skating as well as the kids the level up.  The boys teacher supposedly passed them, but they spent more time off the rink and refusing to go back on that I'm not so sure that was wise.  I don't think I'll put them in lessons again until they are a bit older and beg beg beg to do it.

We've had a quite a few play dates with Julie Riley's Martha lately.  She's the easiest kid I hardly even notice she is here.  Carter particularly takes to Martha which is weird.  Normally when kids come over Camden and all the girls play and Carter generally is happier to do something quieter on his own.  But when Martha is over, he and she usually play together and Camden and Liv do something else.   I thought it was funny that she wore this bike helmet of Liv's the whole time she was here one day.  Here she and Carter are playing play-dough.

The other day we had the younger Oler kids over while Gelic and Neil were bringing home their new baby brother home from the hospital.  I thought all the kids were so cute all snuggled up on the couch together for rest time.

I feel like each of my kids now has a their token picture with Lily's baby Ammon.  They are all cute and obsessed with little babies and always want to hold them when one is around.  Here's Camden holding Ammon:

We switched to 1 o'clock church this year which is rough.  Someone often falls asleep on Dad during sacrament and by the end of church all the kids are usually hungry and tired and cranky.  We put a little show on one Sunday after church while we were preparing dinner and by the time dinner was ready Carter was passed out on top of the couch.

It was cute one night before bed Camden was riding this horsey around yelling "Yee-haw!"  He came up to Carter and said, "Get on!"  Carter climbed on and they galloped off to their room together for bed.

There's been a lot of dressing up going on as usual.




Camden is actually a really good policeman.  Almost daily he comes to me and says, "Mom, Carter is getting into trouble.  Come see! Come see!"  And, Carter is always doing something naughty.  Anytime that kid gets alone (which is generally) I swear he thinks to himself what sort of mischief should I make.  Lately Camden has clued me into Carter squeezing ketchup all over the kitchen floor, smearing Vicks rub on himself by the fistfull, squeezing a whole tube of toothpaste into the potty...it goes on and on.

That kid can drive me nuts with his naughtiness, but he can also be so sweet.  He is generally the one most eager to assist if I ask for help with something.  He always sits with me and likes to help me cook.

And he's the sweetest little guy when he's sick.  He is currently battling a stomach bug.  He woke up last night calling me, I go in his room, and he says his stomach hurts and he can't sleep.  I should have taken it more seriously because he rarely wakes up.  Instead I sang him a song and tried to get him to go back to sleep.  Not long after, he's at the side of my bed, "Mommy, I throw up."  I rush him to that bathroom and to my amazement he actually got me to say he was going to throw up and all of it went in to potty and I had no throw up to clean in his bedding!

I let him snuggle with me for a minute and we got a plastic bowl just in case.  He laid there for a while and then says, "Mommy, I want to throw up now."  So I grabbed the bowl and miraculously it all was caught in the bowl.  Then, Derek asked him if he wanted us to make a bed for him on our floor.  He said yes and Derek comes in carrying his whole mattress and sheets and places them on the floor.  Carter says "He's so strong."  Little cutie sick beyond belief but being so cute.  The poor guy proceeded to throw up every 15 minutes for the next 3 hours!  At some point Derek removed himself to the downstairs room, so I got throw-up duty while he got sleep before a crazy day at work.  Carter was so good and grabbed his bowl every time.  I am sure that if it had been Camden there would have been throw up everywhere!  Even Liv doesn't seem so great at catching her puke.  He seems to be good as new today, but it was a rough night.

It was of course all complicated by the fact that I was hobbling around taking care of this poor kid on the knee I injured playing soccer 3 weeks ago.  Planted, turned, something ripped sort of thing.  It's really depressing.  I can't run, definitely can't play soccer, can't even walk without a limp.  It gives out on me occasionally.  It's definitely getting better slowly.  It's just not better.  Derek let me get a pass at the Orem Rec, and I have been swimming which has improved my mood a little since it's the only form of movement I can do for any amount of time pain-free and without my knee giving out.  I'm doing physical therapy which seems to help.  I'm hoping I didn't do anything too serious, but if it keeps giving on me after a few more weeks I think I will have to MRI it to see what the deal it.  This is by far the worst injury of my life and the whole thing just makes me feel old and no longer indestructible.  Boo!