young picaso's

Sam and Cara had their art admitted into the Brandywine School Districts Young Artists Exhibit. Cara has had her art work in the show for the past 3 years.

 Cara's (above)

These two are Sam's. The one above is upside down. hahaa..Obviously, someone didn't know how to hang it. He said it is an African mask.

Spring Break Day 1

I took the kids to Longwood Gardens today. It was a beautiful day and the perfect temperature. My kids no longer get excited to go to Longwood Gardens because they have gone since they were born but I still love it! After almost 4 hours there we came home to watch a movie. Michael was my biggest helper today as he cleaned the entire play room all. by. himself. It was a disaster down there so it was a huge job. So he gets to pick out dinner, his request...spaghetti. Um..ok.

We will see whats in store in day #2.

the little car that went vroom...vroom

I was filling Easter eggs for the Easter Egg hunt when I realized Zach wasn't home yet, I remembered my phone was in the van. Zach called 9 times and sent 2 messages...One of the messages sounded desperate "Please answer the phone" along with this picture...

Yes, that is his car. It really didn't survive but Zach did and that's all that matters. On his way home Tuesday night a truck failed to yield and turned right into him. The car spins. The airbags explode. Zach walked out of the car a little dazed but well. We went to the Urgent Care Center to make sure he didn't have any underlying problems from the accident, he had a seat belt bruise. The doctor prescribed him some muscle relaxers and pain killers and told him to take a day of rest. While at the UCC, a friend watched the kids. The kids took total advantage of her and Cara ended up making colored sugar for Zach. (Let it be known Cara asked repeatedly to make colored sugar and both parents said NO) Not quite sure what he is going to do with the sugar. She ceased the perfect moment, I think.

There were Get Well notes all over the house which is super sweet. Cara wrote on all the mirrors love messages to her Dad.

Signed by kids who share our last name, in case we didn't know who they were, and face less beings.

Good bye little focus! We liked you for the 10 months we had you but your dead and we are replacing you. Oh, and Isaac named this post.

an original email conversation

This is the conversation I had with Cara while Matthew was in the hospital.

Cara:

Why Why Why is Matthew in or was in the hospital? Could he die because that would be horrible. Since he kind of has a virus is it like a disease? I hope he sevives and tell him i love him so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so much!!!! I just want him to be okay.

Your awesome and careing and cool and nice and funny and humerous and sweet and thoughtful and kind and smart and most of all LOVEING Cara!

P.s Right now i would not want to be Matthew :(

<3 cara

 

Me:

Hi Cara! Matthew is sick but he will get better. The doctors are taking good care of him. A virus is not a disease. Hes having trouble breathing.
I love you!

 

Cara:

Well thats a relief. When are you coming home? Do you know what the virus is called? And how did you respond? Do you have your kindle or does your phone have email? ILOVE YOU! DID YOU TELL MATTHEW I LOVE HIM? -Cara

 

Me:

My phone has email and I have my Kindle. Matthew has rsv. Its an infection in his lungs. I will be home ton ight and will take you to school in the morning. Dad will be spending the night with Matthew. Matthew hopefully will come home tomorrow but he may need to stay another n ight. I can't wait to hear about your shopping spree with Oma.

 

Cara:

I'll try not to cry about it but i want him so so bad! P.S whats doesr.s.v mean? Poor matthew I wonder how hes felling this is probably the most horrilbe thought in his life. Would of he does die or hes in th hospitl for weeks ormaybe mounths? WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME, I WANT YOU BEFORE I GO TO BED!

 

Me:

You should be in bed now. I'm coming home as soon as Matthew falls asleep. Good night. See you in the morning.

 

Cara:

Okay bye good night

 

THE NEXT DAY

Cara:

Hi mommy i guess your staying tonite since dad stayed last night. I'll miss you (tonite). How is Matthew doing? Is he breathing better? I need my little brother right now.

 

Me:

He is breathing just perfect! The doctors have done a lot of good work on him. He's coming home tomorrow! I may come home tonight. Dad said he'll stay here again. The doctors want to get him here one more night to make sure he's all well. I miss you and your brothers and Olivia. Be good. Help honey out.
Love you!
Mom

 

Cara:

That makes me fell much better. I bet he misses us and he'll forget who we are. JK <3 Cara

 

Me:

No Cara don't think he forgot who you are. He misses you all too. Do you need to get a shower? Or do anything for school tomorrow.

 

Cara:

I already got one @ 6:30 and Olivia. And i forgot my math homework (AGAIN).

 

Me:

Well Good night!

 

Cara:

Good Night mom see you when you get home maybe. Thanks for watching Matthew. Tell Dad i love him and good night. Love you both! Bye

 

Me:

Dad said he will sing you a song tomorrow. We love you too!

 

Cara:

Stop your making me cry.! Bye Hope dad has a good nite

 

Dad said he will sing you a song tomorrow. We love you too!

for my viewing pleasure

My sister took these pictures at her daughters birthday party last year.

 Aunt Britt, Matthew, and Cara

 Matthew and Opa

My handsome Sam



a small request

Cara has her own blog. She talks about some pretty neat things, mostly cupcakes and other desserts she makes. Cara wants to open her own bakery when she grows up. She is very talented in her cupcake baking.

So here is her blog: http://cakesforcara.blogspot.com/

She asked me tonight if anyone reads her blog and I sadly said "no". If you could just follow her and leave a comment once on awhile I know she would LOVE it.

Thanks!

Happy Valentines Day!

It is truly the Day Of Love around here. This year I was super excited for Valentines Day! I planned a lovely breakfast for the family complete with pink pancakes, strawberries, strawberry milk, donuts, and heart shaped bacon. I had it waiting for them when they got up in the morning. I purchased a small gift and left a valentine card for each of them.

Zach is so good at getting each of us a special lil' something on the holidays. He likes to give each of the kids something from him only. I think this is adorable. Here he is assembling his boxes of candy for everyone.

Cara wasn't having an official Valentines party at school but she wanted to make her class cupcakes. She baked red velvet with cream cheese icing, sprinkles, and chocolate hearts. They came out amazing. She is so talented.

I wanted to pack the kids a lunch that reminded them of Valentines today and how much I love them!I stuck with my pink/red theme. In their lunch box they will find: strawberries, pepperoni, Uncrustables (strawberry of course),  strawberry applesauce, pink wafer cookies and yogurt covered pretzels, Valentine fruit snacks and a love letter. I was so happy putting them together that I am sure I had a big silly smile on my face.

Since I have slaved over the stove already I decided to just order pizza for dinner. I have a few Valentine games planned but I didn't mention it to anyone in case I am too tired and forgo game night...maybe a corny (haven't used that word in 20 years) love movie...maybe just bed time...ANYWAY, I wanted to show my family how much I do LOVE them so I hope I accomplished that.

I also need to say (because obviously showing would be inappropriate) how much of an AMAZING husband I have. He is really the best! He is so supportive and encouraging and thoughtful. I am grateful for him!

 My Kitchen Helpers

 

This is what we had for dinner. Costco sells their pizzas for 6$ which is basically the best deal in the store. The pepperonis are huge so I took them all off and used my heart cookie cutter to cut the shapes.

 

Happy Valentines Day.

 

Caras birthday fun

My little girl is growing up and its happening so fast! Cara turned 11 recently. We don't do much for birthdays around here besides the "big" years. First birthdays, Kindergarten birthdays, turning 8, 12 and when it arrives 16. These are the years we throw birthday bashes. Friend parties, family parties, baptism parties...we party for a month. This year Cara didn't get a friend party but I told her instead of going out to dinner as a family I will take a few of her friends to wherever she wants. It was a hard decision for her to pick a place but she finally settled on ice skating. Afterwards, I planned on driving her friends back to the house for cake and ice-cream but with the constant sickness over here I opted to take them to Berry Yummy.

 There was a tragic accident while at the ice skating rink. I was sitting in the snack bar(not eating snacks!) to keep warm since it was the only area with heat when Cara came in crying saying she made a man bleed. When she was out on the ice she couldn't stop so she just fell, which is logically the next best thing, right? A man didn't see her and fell over her hitting his head on the ice. She said he turned around and blood was running down his face. She was so upset repeating how she felt horrible that she hurt a man. It took me a bit of convincing her that it was all an accident before she would go back out. There were cones around the blood on the ice which made it even more devastating for her. Oh my!

 I am sure she forgot all about the man slaughter accident while at Berry Yummy.

 These pictures are phone shots so they are pretty bad but I love Brighams expressions while she was opening her gifts. m

I had a fun time with Cara and her friends. She is one funny girl and always gives me something to write about.

Cara

Cara will be 11 years old this week. I can't believe it! First that she made it to that age, second that I am still alive (because I said she WILL be the death of me) and third because she is growing up so fast. This will be here last year in Primary. She will be in middle school next year, also. I am so thankful for her! She is my biggest helper with chores and her siblings. I love how she has unconditional love for everyone. If her brothers hurt her feeling she forgives them and makes them a card or a picture saying why she forgives them. When Isaac got all his Christmas presents taken away (they were given back) she went right to work making him a canvas painting so he would have something to open. She felt so sad for him. When I yell at her or reprimand her she only stays sad or mad for a few minutes than moves on like nothing happened. She has the great quality of forgiveness.

This year Cara wants to take a few friends ice skating for her birthday. I agreed to this. When we were writing out invitations she told me 2 names of girls she wanted to invite. I know who these girls are but I was surprised she thought of them since both are mean to her. When I questioned why she was inviting them she replied that she wants to be friends with everyone and she thought inviting them would make them like her. How sweet! Unfortunately, I was in a dilemma. I wanted to support her in this decision but also knew how sad she felt when these girls made fun of her and that inviting them wasn't going to change anything. In the end, she invited one of them anyway and 2 of her real friends.

Last year, I started the 7 days of presents. 7 days before the birthday date I give the kids (and Zach) 6 small presents then the "birthday" present on their actual birthday. The kids look forward to it so this year I continued it. I must admit I almost forget it do it for Cara and was thankful I was in 5Below when I was reminded it was almost 7 days before. Their not large or expensive presents, usually dollar store finds or a pack of gum. This year Cara has received so far: a pair of gloves, lip balm, a joke book, and a small stuffed animal.  She will receive the others in the next several days.

This year Caras favorites are:
color: green
food: genoways (a Maier family tradition Italian dish)
show or movie: AntFarm
song or Artist: Taylor Swift
she wants to be an artist
favorite subject: reading, she doesn't like science or math

another Christmas party

Saturday evening we went to the Ward Christmas Party. Oh, and look, another Santa Claus. Years ago I told the kids that Santa isn't really at every mall, store, Christmas party, or parade. I mean he isn't THAT good. He stays at the North Pole. So they know this wasn't the real Santa either. Sam walks in as says, "hey, that's Brother Buswell." Ha!

 So on the tables were gingerbread houses that the young women made. Every kid asked me repeatedly if they could eat the houses. I told them no. They didn't look edible and who knows who touched them AND when they washed their hands. I always come up with the worst scenario. They actually weren't that bad looking.

 Matthew didn't care. Who is watching this child? Seriously, not me. I turn around to see this...

The menu included soup, salad, and rolls. Obviously, kids were not eating that so they had these adorable little lunch boxes with Uncrustables, Pringles, and Apple Sauce. They were perfect! Matthew had his first Uncrustable. He devoured it! I couldn't believe it. Shh..don't tell anyone but I snuck a few home. I will be heading to Costco first thing Monday morning to buy a box of these.

I have been hooked on Paneras French Onion soup. I love it. I found a copy cat recipe and made it. It was so delicious. I think mine was a bit more salty than I remember at the restaurant but good non the less.

The program was excellent. The primary children put on a reenactment of the Naivity. Zach sang "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem". He did a great job despite the sore throat and scratchy voice caused from the cold he was fighting for a few days.

Cara was part of the angel choir. I missed Sam because they made him a wise man and I wasn't looking for a wise man. Darn it. Michael and Olivias refused to participate.

One more party on Sunday.

lots of catching up

I am busy. There. Done. How funny that is when I am sitting here on the computer while a tornado, also known as children, have twisted through every room in my house. Oh, and it was in perfect order yesterday. I'm not busy. Just overly occupied.

We put the Christmas tree up this past weekend. I love my Christmas tree. After Olivia decided that ripping ornaments off the branches was no longer exciting, I took the tree and decorated it how I wanted. So all the old ornaments got packed up. Don't get me totally wrong I DO like school hand printed ornaments and pipe cleaner candy canes...on another tree. In their place I hung sparkly, glittered, glass balls, all color coordinated. Gold reindeer's and beautiful snowflakes.

Skip ahead..

Let's bring Matthew into the picture...

 

 The tree is only decorated 3/4 the way up. Four ornaments broken in the first hour. Absolutely no glass ornaments on the lower half and wear protection while in the living room, helmets, cups (for the boys), pillows, ANYTHING, because you will get hit with a flying ornament.

 

Wear protection.

Why?

Matthew throws everything

 

 

and he has an amazing throw. He's a natural pitcher. Amazing, I tell ya. He will hit where ever he aims every. single. time.

 

Olivia is still loving gymnastics. I went to parent observation week a few weeks ago. It's the one week they allow parents to watch. I totally understood why, all the children were standing, looking at their parents, and smiling. Supposedly we are a distraction. She did amazing! She twists and flips over the bars. Her cart wheels are perfect. She is a pro on the balance beam. She is working on head and hand stands right now.

Cara trotted around as winning "Miss. Devon". She is so funny. She is witty and quick like her father, with a sprinkle of annoying just added on top but she makes me laugh every time. She made her sash out of left over ribbon then walked around pretending to cry and batting her eye lashes while giving a "I would like to thank" speech. Cracks me up.

 

Isaac won his first wrestling match. He keeps getting better every week. Sam enjoys going to cub scouts every week. He is also doing fantastic in school. Michael is still so adorable. I love his smile and his laugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



hello candy

I'm not a fan of Halloween. I really don't know why not. I mean who wouldn't totally enjoy dressing up in any costume you want and walking from door to door yelling Trick OR Treat and receiving candy. As I child I liked Halloween...I think. I remember being a cheerleader and a pick and black leopard, which was favorite costume. My mother let me walk out of the house in a hot pink and black leopard leotard (never realized those two words are a letter apart. Fun fact.) with fish net stockings and a homemade furry tail and ears. I must of been in 6th grade. Besides those two things I have no idea what I disguised myself as.

I tell myself it's too much work with so many children. Not true, even when it was only Isaac I huffed and puffed and picked the easiest thing to throw on him. He was a pumpkin the first year and a lion the next. One year he was a ghost made out of a sheet. Pathetic, huh? This year my mom so graciously, and I am beyond thankful for, bought all the kids a Halloween costume. I told them if they don't find a costume in the dress up box, they need to make it themselves. I'm not buying or helping. Guess I'm not a helpful mother this time of year. Oma to the rescue.

These pictures are from the ward Trunk or Treating party.

Cara as a zombie waitress. Let it be known that she DID have fishnet stockings on but her father made her change them since the skirt was up to her rear.

 Zach with his rockin' 70's mullet or Joe Dirt or a hillbilly. He's been called a few names. And he will probably call me a few names for putting this picture on.

 Olivia is a cupcake (again). She got bunny ears, a bunny nose and a tail because she wanted to be a bunny dressed up as a cupcake but forwent that idea 5 minutes before leaving. Michael the mummy.

 Isaac as nothing. It was a hard Halloween for him. He didn't want to go with me the day the others picked out a costume. He then wanted to order the most expensive costume, at which I opposed. THEN he was suppose to get a homemade costume but it never happened. Intentions were good but that's it. From the looks of it his friends they didn't dress up either so he wasn't totally out of place.

 Matthew was a dragon. He screamed and ripped his costume off for the trunk or treating but kept it on, even with the dragon booties, on Halloween night. Matthew was SO adorable. By the third house he knew to pick the candy out of the bowl and put it in his bucket. He then tried to go into the houses. We will need to work on that for next year. He is squash bowling here at the ward Halloween party.

On Halloween night we had a few friends over for dinner and trick or treating. Cara changed her costume to a pretty waitress instead of a zombie. I personally think the zombie was better but whatever. Her friend Nicole was Cleopatra and my sister, Somer was herself.

Sam dressed as a Ninja and he looked awesome. I think he saw the other kids' costumes at the trunk or treating and decided his was stupid. He didn't wear it for Halloween and went door to door as himself. Of course, he opposed all pictures. I walked around with Michael and Olivia and eventually the neighbors who we met on another street. They were cute running from door to door discussing what candy was their favorite and what they were going to eat when they got home.

Candy Favorites:
Mom: Junior Mints/York Peppermint Patty
Dad: Swedish Fish and Twizzlers
Michael: Whoppers
Olivia:Whoppers
Isaac: Hersheys
Sam: Reeses PB Cups
Cara: Twix and Milky Way

bake a cake

SO this is how punishments go in our home:

A little over a week ago I funbust Cara (yep, that's our word for grounded) for being mean to Sam (again! or still!). 2 weeks no fun. "I wish he was never alive!" she yelled at me as we were getting into the van. I will never understand why I give her such a punishment when in reality it only punishes ME. I can do without the TV being on or a video game taken away but the moment I take her friends away, I only funbust myself. So..last Friday the kids had off of school again and Cara really wanted to go to a friend's house and I really wanted her to go to a friend's house but I couldn't take back what I gave out. I (and her) needed to endure another week together...in the same house.

Sam so kindly offered another idea. If she will be his servant for a day, on Friday, she could go play with her friends on Saturday. I agreed to this offering. In the morning Sam asked Cara to massage his feet. He asked her to make his bed, make him breakfast, and he kept asking. Though this whole servant thing was quick amusing I had to lay down some guidelines. Sam could only ask Cara to do something for him every 10 minutes-which I thought was extremely fair. As the day went on Sam was asking less and less until I reminded him that she is still his servant. Cara got all mad and what not at me for reminding him. I then proceeded to dish out some ideas to help Sam.

"Ooo, Sam you could have her feed you dinner." I happily exclaimed. Sam laughed. Cara did not. "Stop! Stop giving him ideas!" she yelled at me (if you haven't realized, she yells at me a lot). "What Cara? Your his servant. I think you should feed him dinner." "I'm going to throw his dinner at his face!" Well, hopefully we all know where this is going. Her servant day was over and she was back to being funbusted for another week. 

Cara was not accepting this. I know in her smart little head she was concocting yet another scheme to get out of punishment. Here is was Saturday. Sam went to work with Zach. I was doing yard work and the kids were playing with there friends out front. All except Cara who was looking out the kitchen window watching Olivia play with her friend.
"Mom, can I bake a cake for Sam?" "Yeah, sure." I answered her. "Then can I have my friends back?" With a deep sigh I agreed. And that's exactly what she did. She baked him a vanilla cake with lemon frosting written on top was "I'm sorry." It was sweet. When Sam returned him she presented him with his cake.

We are all happy. Cara can play with her friends. Sam got his own cake. Sometimes I need to be flexible and let the kid's repent their own way.

lies

On the way to church I was listening to my children concoct what they thought was the most brilliant ponzi of all time.

Sam suggested they each of them write a letter to the Tooth Fairy saying they lost a tooth but LOST it. He was convinced the Tooth Fairy would accept the letter in exchange for $. They decided each day was a different persons turn to leave a note under the pillow. In order of oldest to youngest, Isaac would have Monday, Cara Tuesday and so on. At the end of the week they would combine all their money and buy something together.

At this point I should of taught them a good old lesson on honesty but that seemed a little hypocritical since they are discussing an imaginary fairy that leaves money under a pillow after taken a cavity filled baby tooth to give it to the trolls. I was thinking about this some more when I realized the Tooth Fairy theory is filled with lies! There have been numerous times I can recall that I had to lie to keep the secret safe. One was when Isaac lost a tooth and it fell out of his hands onto the kitchen floor. Zach and I searched for that tooth everywhere but could not locate it. What we did locate was a broken cheerio and to him it looked like a tooth and he went away happy. Lie #1. Cara caught Zach in the act one night suspiciously having his arm under her pillow. He needed to come up with a reason he was there and quickly take back the money. Lie #2. Michael in convinced he saw the Tooth Fairy with blue wings. The poor boy won't deny it. I went along and asked what else she looked like. Lie #3. If you loose your tooth after 8:00pm or on a Sunday the Tooth Fairy won't come. Lie #4.

If I can lie for years over this then just think what kind of stories I can come up. So I guess I will check under the kids pillows every night this week and play along with their little scheme.

I lost my camera cord to transfer pictures to the computer so I got backed up on posts and pictures. After searching for weeks for the cord, Zach trying to find one at the store and eventually buying a USB memory card attachment, that didn't work, I found the cord in the same drawer that I looked 30 times. There is something fishy going on here. Is this a joke?

What's going on...
I am patiently waiting until August 27th when school starts again. I will clean my house all day on my first day of freedom then the next day I will dump toys on the floor, leave Wii remotes on the floor, and pee all over the bathroom. Oh, and spill my drinks. Just to reminisce.

I will be running my first 5K in 9 years on the 22nd of August. I am not prepared for this and have told Zach to just leave me behind. He said he won't BUT he will.

Matthew will be ONE on the 22nd of August. This is the birthday party invites that I ordered custom made from Etsy.

I am excited for his birthday and his party. I have been putting together all my ideas for decorations and types of cookies. Oh man, if I had an unlimited budget this would be so much MORE fun. I had this awesome idea to buy fortune cookies with labels that read "Happy Birthday Matthew". I know, SO COOL! They are too expensive. I want cookie jars for the table but unless I'm spending my budget on jars that too I will have to do without. I did splurge on a cookie cake mold because Matthew does need a cake to smear over his face. It's in the shape of an oreo.

I'm really excited that most everyone we invited has RSVP'd to come especially Zach's extended family who we don't see often. 

Here are some pictures I took while creek hopping at Valley Gardens.



I am 16 lbs lighter. I have been eating Paleo style for 9 weeks now. At 8 weeks I finally hit 16 lbs! I am super excited, obviously. I haven't been at this weight for over 2 years (closer to 3). Only 4 more pounds until I reward myself with a pedicure. Can one lose 4 lbs while running a 5K?

"I can build that."

We went to Tyler Arboretum this past weekend for their Festival of Trees. TA's big attraction is their 17 tree houses, most of them built in the woods. Its really amazing the creativity of some people. As we walked through, Zach and I are inspired to build mansions in our back yard. We comment how "we can build that". Pshh. As if we are actually architecturally gifted to construct such a thing that  wouldn't lean or bring down a tree. There is an enclosed butterfly house which houses Monarch butterflies. I want a butterfly house. I can build that.

There is a stage built around a tree house where the children can dress up in costume and act.

Sam found an almost dead Cicada and carried it around the entire time. You know that bug actually came back to life. He decided to bring it home and let it go at home.

 Olivia sitting in Papa Bears chair.

I WILL have a catepillar built from tree stumps in my back yard. I know I can build that!

 Zach, KING OF THE FORREST. Anything his highness wants...

 Isaac laying a egg.