Campin'

Yep we braved it. We took the crew camping. We went up to ensign ranch to camp. We choose the camp sites closet to the flushing toilets. It started out well, except for all the adults being attacked by the hordes of mosquito's. I don't know how any of the kids managed to not get any bites, but lucky them. And of course Love bug managed to find the only mud puddle and fall in it. But she really didn't seem to mind!

The kids really were loving it. The dirt, the bugs, the camp fire, everything. Most of the kids had their first attempts at skipping rocks and sticking the feet in freezing cold water. That was fun to watch. We had alot of people (tents) squeeze into 2 tiny campsites. We had 9 adults and 5 kids 4 and under. And let me just say that most of the time 9 adults were not enough to keep the kids in check.

Mr. Einstein was trying to be like the adults and wanted to do everything they did. Especially when it came to the fire. He wanted to put wood in and have a huge fire. One time he saw some one blow their nose then throw the tissue in the fire, so from then on he blew his nose constantly when there was a fire and would sneakily throw it in the fire cause he knew he would get in trouble if he got caught. He also preferred the biffy's as opposed to the flush toilets in the nice bathroom. He wouldn't want any help or anyone to go with him. But I was able to get this great shot of him when I was beckoned to do some wiping!

Sunday Morning we woke up to some cold weather. But we were able to take some nice warm showers and get all dressed up for church. So we headed to church in Enumclaw. That is always an interesting experience. When we got back we had to really get bundled up cause it was so cold and the wind wasn't helping. Of course the kids didn't let that stop them and they were just having way to much fun. But the adults were reaching their limits. Not to mention that the MR. was pretty sick. Which wasn't fun for him.

As Sunday rolled on things just got worse all around the weather was just getting colder, the MR. was getting sicker, and the kids well they were being especially crazy. So at 8:30 pm we decided to pack up and come home. My mom and sister took over the kids and the Mr. and I did the fastest pack job ever. Of course by the time we were done my mom and sister had worked their magic and all three kids were asleep on there laps. so we loaded them in there seats said our good byes. I didn't want the Mr. to drive cause he had taken night time medicine and i didn't want to chance it. And of course as I'm driving it starts to pour, and then it gets really foggy. And any of you that have driven through the Pass on a normal day knows there is a few trick parts. But in pitch dark, with pouring rain and tons of fog, lets just say I went under the speed limit most of the time. We eventually made it home right before midnight. We left everything in the car, except the kids of course, and just went to bed. So what have I learned from this whole experience? That no matter how much you love to go camping, it is just not easy or really worth it with kids. Even if you have 9 adults to help.

Disaster Strikes

So our bad luck continues. Our life has been cruising right along, Conner has recovered just fine from his hands. Colin and I have been really working hard on getting the house and our stuff ready to move. Everything was going ok, stressful but ok, till Saturday. So we have known that we needed to re-tile the upstairs bathroom. The tile that is around the bathtub walls, a few of those tiles started to pop up from the wall. We haven't been using that shower/tub for about a year now to prevent any water from getting underneath those tiles and making matters worse. The Mr. and I have been a little worried as to what we would find behind the tiles cause we knew something had to be going on to make the tiles pop up.Well Saturday the Mr. decided to start pulling off tiles so we could know what we need to get in order to re-tile. He started on the wall that had the tiles popping up and no big problems, put in some new hardy backer and then tile. Easy enough. Then he starts pulling off the tiles from the back wall, the wall that has a window in it. He gets a couple of tiles off and then it all came crashing down. The old dry wall was corroded, and it was in pieces. The smell was horrible and that is when we knew we had a major problem. The more tiles the Mr. got off the worse it got. All the dry wall gone, the installation is covered in mold, the wood framing is basically mush. In some spots you can see right through it to the outside. Which means that the siding on the outside has to be replaced. When we bought the house it was obvious that they had re tiled the back wall in the shower, cause they used different tile then the 2 side walls.We now know that they discovered a problem and instead of fixing it, they hurried and just covered it up again. Once again the bad luck that my family has comes into play. So basically after we discovered the problem we realized that mold smell was probably really hazardous. The Mr. decided to stop everything for fear that since there is no tile to hold the wall together the wall could fall in. So we have called our homeowners insurance and we pray that they will cover it. Cause if not we are looking at thousands of dollars to get it fixed. We are pretty sure the whole wall framing and all will have to be rebuilt. We are not sure how far the damage (our luck alot of damage) goes. We hope that its covered and that we only have to pay the $1,000 deductible and we can just hire someone to come in and just do it all. Lets hope with this aspect we have good luck. Here are a few pictures of our pathetic bathroom.We have taken painters plastic and duct taped it up around the bathtub so mildew/mold smell isn't dangerous, and we have air purifiers in there going full blast. During the day we pretty much keep it locked up but at night we unlock since that is the only upstairs bathroom and we don't want to make our 4 year old go all the way down stairs for his nightly pee run. I really hope things aren't as bad as they look, but you know we really aren't that lucky.

Dinner Time!!!

So Conner has discovered his own way to eat and drink his food. The Mr. and I have both tried to feed him so that it is easier for him. But he is very determined to feed himself. Here is some video of how he does it. Its pretty funny. I have caught him throwing food on the floor then dropping to his knees and eating off the floor, poor guy. And who ever would of thought that I would depend so heavily on straws. He can't really get cups up to his mouth so straws have been such a great help. Only 5 days left and then we should be able to get back to normal. As you watch the video you will probably think that his cast are really dirty, THEY ARE. We were putitng socks on his hands to keep everything protected, we cut out a whole for his fingers but it still managed to restrict his finger use, so his cast are just gonna keep getting dirty. Oh well. He has a pretty big smear mark on each cast where you can tell he wipes is face of. We had enchiladas for cinco de mayo so they are red smears. What is a mother to do??

This and That

So I thought I would update you on all the stuff that has been happening in our crazy lives. Our Little Einstein has just finished up playing soccer. When he got his trophy he was so excited. He carried it everywhere and even had to sleep with it. That was a few weeks ago, now he has moved on to T-ball. He has been to 2 practices and he loves it. His first game is this Saturday. So we will see how he does. It was really fun to watch these young kids play soccer, I'm sure t-ball will be even more entertaining. Little Einstein is so full of energy its amazing. I wish I had even just some of that energy and I'm sure I could get a lot more done in life. He never seems to just walk, he is always running, flying, or driving ( which all means running fast and just pretend to do the others).

Our Little Picasso has had a big week. Yesterday he had his surgery on his thumbs. It went well. He is in cast that go above his elbows,the Dr said he did this cause he has had kids that have been able to pull their cast off and that causes all kinds of problems. So above the elbows they are so that he cant get them off. Which means that he cant bend his arms, so he cant get his hands to his mouth. So you guessed it, we get to feed him and hold cups for him to drink out of. So far so good no big problems. But it has only been a day and he is still high on pain meds. I guess we will see what happens once he is off those. The good news is he only has to have the cast for 10 days. So we are all counting down to next Friday, so our poor little Einstein can has his freedom back and we an see how those thumbs looks in the upward position. The MR. and I cant wait to see his reaction when he realizes that he can move his thumb. That should be fun!!!

Our Little love bug is getting so big ( for her, she is still small in the 25 percentile) is is just every where. She is really starting to talk more. She says Mama really good. So I hear a lot of " Mama, Mama, Mama" during the day. She is a true girl, drama and all. She loves her princess phone she got for Christmas. She talks and talks and talks on it. She carries it around on her shoulder like she talking into it. Her favorite button on it is " Well Hello Little Princess". So we all say that to her when we see greet her. She loves to be playing right next to her brothers and trying to do all that they do. she is a Big time daddy's girl. She loves to snuggle him and to just be with him at all times when hes home.

As for the Mr. and I, we are surviving. Our days are long, and filled with lots of noise, and demands. The stress of all we have to do to get moved is really starting to build up. Way to much stuff to do and just not enough time. But we are excited and looking forward to our adventure. I think the Mr. is really looking forward to learning new things. The kids are excited to move to "college". And me I'm excited to live close to all our brothers who are there going to school. And maybe if I'm lucky they will meet the women of there dreams and I can live close and be involved in the process. What do you think guys? No pressure right!! I'm also excited for when my little sister will come over and go to school, and to be there for that and get to see the fun stuff she does. I look forward to Sunday dinners when they all come over. Yes that is a invitation to you guys!!! Now we just need to find a place to live, and get over there!!!