Random things

Clara came down with the absolute worst case of croup that I have ever seen in a kid.  It was so scary, I was so worried all night for tow nights that she was going to stop breathing because she sounded so bad.  So i took her into the doctor and they gave her a breathing treatment. I guess it goes to show how lucky I have been with healthy kids because here she is my sixth and this was the very first breathing treatment we have had to do.  Luckily a couple days later and she was all better. 

 Russ got to bring home his school mascot owl.  He was really excited about it although you can't tell from these pictures. Haha!

I love these three!  Its so weird that for a while I thought we might only have three kids and then along these three came. They certainly have made my life a lot harder, but so much better too!  i love them so much and I cant even imagine what it would be like without them!

All About Lizzy- 13 years

My little Lizzy girl is 13!  Oh how fast time goes by.  She was just 2 years old wasn't she?  She has grown up in so many ways, but is still the Mae cute smiley girl that she has always been.  I know I say this all the time but I really admire Lizzy and her attitude.  She just rarely has a bad day.  She is just always so positive and you cant not want to be around someone like that!  I swear she always has a smile on her face and I don't know if I have ever met anyone who wants to help people as much as she does. 

It's hard to believe that she is a teenager. So many people talk about the attitude and problems they have with their kids this age and it just isn't the case with Lizzy.  She just always wants to be good and kind and helpful.  Lizzy has really grown so far this year in school. She joined leadership and I just love to see her helping others and taking that leadership role. Lizzy is one of those people that does everything and wants to do everything. She just loves being a part of things. 

Lizzy is still my eater and I love how she has a hallow leg.  She is never picky about what I feed her and loves everything and eats EVERYTHING! Its fun too because she and I have very similar tastes so I can find something I really like and know she will really like it too. 

Lizzy has really taken off this year with her running.  It's fun to see her do something that she really enjoys and also that she is really good at too.  Its fun too because she sometimes goes running with me, and although I am not nearly as good as she is, it's really fun to share it with her. 

Lizzy tried out for the play this year and she didn't get a good part, even though she deserved one.  She decided to stick it out and still be a part of the play anyway. I am so proud of her attitude. 

I love getting to talk to her and laugh with her and just have a good friend. She is always so kind and helpful to me and she really tries her hardest to make my life easier. I really do not know what I would do without her.  She can take over for me when I am feeling overwhelmed with all this craziness. Unfortunately the kids think she is really bossy, and she can be, but she is ultimately just trying to make my life easier.  I love her so much and I am so glad she is my first born because she was supposed to be. 

 I know I say it a lot, but I really love this big kid thing.  They are just so much fun! 

Halloween Festivities

The kids had Halloween off of school this year which was kind of a fun thing. We had fun reading some scary stories and then I made a fun Halloween lunch with mummy dogs. 

 

 I seem to drop the ball every year on carving pumpkins. I always forget to buy any because I always think, "Oh there is time" and then I realize that we need some and there are none left at the store.  This year that happened again. Luckily we found out that RC Willey had some they were giving away for free so Kevin took the kids one night and got them. Unfortunately they were pretty small so we couldn't really carve much, but there's always next year.  Haha!

 Clara had fun digging the guts out of her little one that she got from Annies field trip.

 For some reason Russell felt like he had to carve his many days before.  He had one of his sisters help him and he did it without even asking.  I know crazy, a kid not asking? Who has heard of that before. He carved the LA for Dodgers, but it ended up being a little bit shrunken by the time we got to Halloween.

 We even saved some of the seeds and I toasted them this year.  The kids have always been begging to do that.

 It was really weird this year because it was the first year that Lizzy didn't join us and she went with her friends. So I just had the five little trick-or-treaters. Kevin stayed back to watch the Dodger game because it was game 6 of the World Series and an elimination game for the Dodgers. I knew I couldn't ask him to miss that so I took one for the team and took the kids out.  We ended up having a blast!  It was so fun to have finally reached a point when I didn't have a baby or toddler that was crying and tired and just plain hard to take around.  Clara was the cutest and had the best time and walked herself the whole time. I only had to carry her bucket once it got heavy.  I ended up taking her back to Kevin after a while because she was ready for bed and then she came down with a fever which was so sad, but I'm glad it didn't happen until after the trick-or-treating because she was just so darn cute! 

Annie had fun going with her best friend Piper and Russell and his best friend Michael were so speedy it was hard to keep up with them!