Blue and Gold Banquet

Friday night was the cub scout blue and gold banquet- we did a careers theme and it turned out pretty good! We decorated the tables with different careers and decorated of course in blue and gold. I am glad it is over though . . . luckily there are many cub scout leaders and we did a pot luck, so it wasn't too much work for one person. It was actually pretty fun. I love my little cubs- we have the best troop ever! Go pack 113!

The "doctor" table:


The "Astronaut" table, with Wendi Pearson and her kids (one of the other leaders):


The "construction" table with Lisa Kearns and her family (one of the other leaders):


Lillian enjoying a blue and gold cup cake!

Cynthia looses her first tooth!

My little girl is growing up! Friday morning, before school started, Cynthia lost her very first tooth! She was so excited to put her tooth and the letter she wrote to the tooth fairy under her pillow. She was even more excited to get her money, and a letter back from the tooth fairy!

Here is the letter she wrote:


If you can't read her letter, it says: Dear tooth fairy, Where do you live? Have you lost any teeth? How is it like living in a castle? I love you. Love, Cynthia.

New Van!

Here it is!! We ended up buying a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan and we LOVE it. We looked at some other types of vans and newer ones that would have been a stretch financially, but when we came across this one we fell in love with it! I just knew it was OUR van- - it just felt right. It has the cool features like captains chairs, stow and go seats, tinted windows, automatic locks, cd and tape player, and my FAVORITE- automatic doors. I just have to push a button on my key, or on a console in the front and the doors open or close by themselves!!! What a change after having to use my hip to bump our broken sliding door closed. AND our payments are really low and totally affordable for us. I don't even have to yank the kids out of their activities to fit it in our budget. Even though it has 60,000 miles on it, it has been really well taken care of and will last us for the time we need it for. The dealership even took Jon's Barretta in as a trade in for $500- - exactly what we bought it for 2 1/2 years ago. We were NOT sorry to see that ugly car go! I shouldn't be too hard on it - - it served it's purpose really well for us for the years we had it.

sooo tired

I haven't felt so tired in my entire life! Just getting through each day feels like such a huge effort. I MUST be getting stronger for having to go through this, right? I still feel TERRIBLE- and it is getting worse as expected. I probably have another couple of months until it starts to get better. Sometimes I wonder "What was I thinking!". WHY did I want to get pregnant??? Then I remember there is a reason for how aweful I feel- and it is totally worth it. That is about the only thing that gets me through the day. This week has been especially rough- - from Monday 7am to the following Monday 7am Jon will have worked almost 110 hours. Granted, he does get to sleep during some of those nights he is on-call, but he certainly hasn't been home. I am realizing how much I relied on him in past pregnancies, because I can't ask him for help now. To his credit, the few hours he has been home he does his best to help, and I am super grateful for it. I am just soooo tired! Just keeping basic things in order, like toys generally picked up, laundry, dishes, and keeping track of my children seem so hard. I'm not even going to mention dinner- my poor kids have been living on microwave burritos and macaroni and cheese. I tried to cook spaghetti the night Jon was home and ended up almost throwing up while cooking the ground beef. I ran outside for fresh air, and Jon ended being my knight in shining armor and finished cooking and serving dinner. I DRAG myself out of bed in the morning to get the kids off to school and make sure Lillian is fed, diapered and generally taken care of. Luckily she still takes a nap, so I have been crashing during her naps too. It just never seems to be enough rest. I will be soooo glad when this part of the pregnancy is over. I honestly don't remember feeling this aweful my other pregnancies (except when I was pregnant with Marcus). I must have just forgotten. And, as someone else put it- I am older, AND I have more children to take care of. Jon's stress level also affects me. I don't know, I just wish I really WAS stronger.

OK- enough complaining! Sorry for the downer post - - but it does help me deal with life to vent a little. I know I wouln't be asked to go through this if I couldn't handle it. On the upside- we will be looking for our new van next week (Jon's schedule isn't quite so insane)- so that is exciting. I also planned a trip to see my siblings during Spring break. I am driving to Utah (hopefully in my NEW van!) and seeing my brothers and sister who live there, then getting on a plane BY MYSELF (my sister in Utah is going to keep my kids) to see my other sister in Phoenix. Wahoo! Having a trip to look forward to definitely helps my mood. The drive to and from Utah by myself with the kids will be hard, I am sure, but I know I can do it, and it will really help me to get out. I also planned an anniversary weekend for Jon and me in Longbeach the end of May- - we will REALLY need the time for US!

I am also grateful to good friends- I had one bring me a meal this week, which was so sweet! Thanks Jessica! Today we had playgroup, and just getting out of the house and being able to visit with friends, even though I am feeling yucky, really helps. I also got to see my friends in Sunnyside for a baby shower, which is always an upper!

Officially in the market

Just a quick note- we decided to do it! We are officially in the market for a mini-van. We are going to keep the old Toyota Previa we are currently driving for Jon to drive around, and will get rid of the trashy Barretta. I know, a bit wierd to have two vans, but we can only afford to replace one vehicle, and Jon's old Barretta has got to go. I am afraid if we get another commuter car for him, the van will die, and what would we do? Our previa van is also getting to the point where I am afraid to drive it long distances, so it is time to get a new family car. We can put down a decent down payment on a van with our tax return, so we are going to do it!

Soooo- if anyone knows of anyone selling a mini-van, or hears of a good dealership, let me know! We are looking in the range of $9,000 to $13,000. The more eyes the better!

Date Night

There's nothing like a simple date night to help my mood. Even though he was bone tired, Jon took me out Friday night for a quick $5 subway Sandwich and a movie. We hadn't gone out without the kids in a long time - - so it was due. Especially with the kind of month we just went through and are facing. We saw the perfect date movie- "New In Town" - - which was a really funny and cute movie! We thoroughly enjoyed it. Such a mood lifter. I would totally recommend it to anyone who wants a feel good movie. Thank heavens for a little bit of entertainment without kids!

Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby

I almost forgot to post about this - - shame on me! This last week has been a blur because of how sick I am feeling . . . but I do at least want to post pictures from the Pinewood Derby. It took place last Friday, February 20th. I love my little cub scouts! They are so much fun and bring a lot of joy to my life. They had a blast with their pinewood derby cars . . .

Even though Marcus isn't technically in scouts yet (he turns 8 in April), he has been coming with me to our activities. He and Jon made a really cool Spongebob car. It did decently (he placed somewhere in the middle)- for his first car!