A wedding, good food, and good friends

Yesterday we went to a wedding reception for Emily's sunbeam teacher's daughter. It was in the backyard of a family in our ward. It was a reasonably cool day (88 degrees!) and it was really beautiful. There was even a swing set so the kids had a blast! After the moms left for the Women's broadcast, the dads let the kids put their feet in the pool.

Our stake Relief Society put on a really nice program including a dinner and slide show of service performed by women in the stake. It was fun to visit with everyone while we ate and the speakers were so good. It was good to be uplifted by the spiritual messages that were given. Then a group of us went over to Chili's for dessert. I have made some really good friends here and these girls are lots of fun to be with. I have to mention that on Friday night I had Korean food for the first time and ate the whole meal with chopsticks! (I usually ask for a fork!) My visiting teaching companion is Korean and we took one of the girls we visit to a restaurant in Dallas. It was tasty. The bagogi was my favorite. The server cooked all the meat right at our table. Thanks to my sweet husband for taking care of everyone so I could get out this weekend! He is the best!

Music

Our Primary program was on Sunday and it was so sweet! Curren and Emily did a great job of saying their part. Emily loves using the microphone! I teach the CTR 8 class and it was neat to learn the songs along with the kids. Our ward has a big primary (125 children) and the presidency always does a nice job with everything and the program was no exception. I think I cried every time we sang a song! My favorite this year was "I Believe in Christ". A little girl sang one verse all by herself and it was awesome. I love to hear the children sing!

That night we went to a really good fireside. My friend's brother happens to be Paul Cardall. He came out to visit her and to do this fireside for our stake. His cd's are sold at Deseret Book and the one I love is the Primary songs, of course. He was amazing! I was in the foyer with Hunter almost the entire time, but luckily the speakers out there are good. It was interesting to hear him talk about his experiences and I loved listening to him play the piano. I highly recommend his cd!

Museum School and just playing

Once a week Emily goes to Museum School at the Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History. It is a great program that focuses on animals and Texas history on a four-year-old's level. Emily loves it and the teachers are really good. We carpool downtown with friends from church.

When we have some free time, we like to go out and play in the cul-de-sac with the neighbor kids. Curren likes to skateboard, ride his bike, putt golf balls, and play with the football. Emily usually rides her bike or draws with the chalk, and Hunter loves to follow everyone around and grab a ride in the cozy coupe or the wagon when he can get someone to help him.

Doctor appt, apples, Target, RS potluck

Not only is it Friday, but what a good day it's been so far! It didn't start off so great. I had a check up with my ob-gyn at 8:45am but had to wait 55 minutes to see him. He didn't have rounds and I thought for sure that I would have the first or second appointment of the day. (Ok, if I sound annoyed, I was--I had two kids with me!) We had a quick ultrasound (He does one at each visit. Cool, huh?) and then I was out of there. When I left I asked what time the girl who went in ahead of me had her appointment, the nurse said "9am". Huh. She didn't have an emergency. The walls at that office are paper thin. She was pregnant. No explanation from the nurse on why I was seen after her, even though I should have been first and was there with my kids! Then as I make my appointment for two weeks I am begging the lady to give me the very first appt of the day and she is acting so irritated. Seriously. I was so bugged by the office staff. But, I am 31 weeks now and the end is near, so I won't have to deal with them for too much longer.
Next we went to Central Market to pick up some things totalling $35 to get a free food thermometer. As soon as we walk in I see a display for Honey Crisp apples. A friend had just told me how awesome these apples are, so I had to try them. Wow. They are pretty amazing. They are everything you could hope for in an apple. Crisp, sweet, and full of really good flavor. Too bad they are $3.69/lb!! I also got my favorite chocolate milk--in a glass bottle--Promised Land Midnight Chocolate. Sooo yummy!
After that we picked up Curren and headed over to Target to get Hunter new shoes. His little toes are hanging off his sandals. Well, even though it is still in the 90's here, there are no sandals to be found at the Target in North Richland Hills! So, he got some sweet little navy blue velcro skater shoes. He loves shoes! Curren brought his own money and got himself a light saber and Emily decided to save her money to spend when the American Girl store opens in Dallas, so she brought in just $1 and got herself some Tic-Tacs.
The highlight of the day was the Relief Society potluck. Oh my, there were some really tasty things! The best was Sister Honeycutt's pesto pasta salad. It had pine nuts, tomatoes, green onions, and wow, it was delicious. Hummm...sounds like I'm hungry! I had better go and figure out what to feed my family for dinner! Hooray...it's Friday!

Gymboree and starfall

I took these pictures of Emily a couple of weeks ago because I LOVE this dress! So, I just thought that I'd go ahead and post them. Ever since I found out that we are having a baby boy, and I know that this is our last baby, I have gone crazy shopping for Emily. Having one girl is fun! Gymboree just had a big "Circle of Friends" sale and I got a bunch of things for her for great prices.

The other thing I wanted to write about is a website that a friend at church told me about. It's www.starfall.com. It's just perfect for kindergarteners! Check out the early reading sections! Curren really likes working on the computer, and I am happy because he is doing something educational. This site was developed by teachers so it is clear, has good pictures, sound, and content.

8 Shots

This morning I took Emily and Hunter to their well-child appointments with the pediatrician. Since Emily is four, I knew she was going to have several immunizations so that she would be all set to go for kindergarten and I was fairly sure that Hunter would have shots, since it seems like babies get them all the time! We watched the fish in the waiting room for almost 40 minutes before we got called back. I was watching the clock so I wouldn't be late for kindergarten pick-up. The nurses did all the weighing and measuring and then we sat in the exam room for a short time before the doctor came. I would never wait so long for a doctor, but I really like our pediatrician, so he's worth the wait. I had made a brief list of questions/things I wanted to discuss and everything went great...until I finally told Emily about the shots. She flipped out! She was kicking and screaming on the floor and was completely hysterical. Hunter came running over for a spot on my lap with blankie before Emily could claim the spot. He felt bad for her and was giving her hugs. It was kind of funny that he was trying to make her feel better about getting shots when he himself had to have a couple! But, he had no idea what was in store, so he just felt bad for poor Emily. I guess it takes a long time to get 8 immunizations together, because the nurse took forever! So, I called my neighbor and she picked up the boys even though it was my turn. (Oh, we have the best neighbors!) The nurse finally arrived, administered the shots, we picked out prizes, and I was out of there with one baby in my belly on two more on my hips!

Costco, Joann's, Ballet, Soccer, and Scouts

It's Saturday and this weekend James is camping with the scouts. I never sleep well when he is away, but Emily came in around 1:30am to make sure I wasn't lonely! She must have been dreaming about animals because she was making some really strange noises while she slept. It's a good thing she has her own room! The kids and I picked up some things at Costco and then we got pizza--their favorite! You know you're getting a good deal when 4 people can have lunch for $5.50. Then we stopped by the fabric store to get some of that hemming tape. I am way too lazy to hem the curtains I hung months ago, so I just stuck some of that stuff on and now they are done! (And no one knows except all of you!) Then we hurried home in time to get Emily's leotard in the dryer before I had to get her over to her friend's house so they could take her to a rehearsal for the Nutcracker. Our little Emily "auditioned" last Saturday and make the cut, so now she has a rehearsal every Saturday! We still have Curren's soccer game at 4pm (right at the hottest part of the day and there is absolutely NO shade at the field) and then some friends invited us over for dinner. Yay! I don't have to cook and they are having ribs, so it should be just delicious! Curren's buddy from next door is over and they are making light sabers (again, I have no idea if I spell any of that Star Wars stuff correctly). I am doing laundry and trying to keep Hunter out of the crayons, scissors, etc...

Hunter McGunter

Ok, I got to feeling guilty about not having a picture of my third child on my blog after I talked to my friend Kim, in Delaware this afternoon, so...this is the craziest almost-18-month-old little boy! He is into everything! He climbed out of his crib two months ago and now nothing is safe. He will open the pantry and pour an entire box of cereal out and then say, "Uh-oh." Then he will move onto the bathroom where he puts things into the toilet and then unrolls the roll of toilet paper. He finds trouble everywhere he goes!

He is almost old enough to go the nursery at church and normally I would be looking forward to that, but my friends are the nursery leader and I'm afraid that they are going to go nuts trying to watch him for two hours!

I do have to say that Hunter is very lovable. How can I not melt when he comes down stairs holding his favorite blue blankie and Pooh bear!? Adorable!! He loves to snuggle and put his head on my shoulder when I hold him.

Kindergarten days

Curren started kindergarten a couple of weeks ago and is loving it! I was so sad on his first day, but he was excited. I still miss him until he comes home at 11! I am blown away by how much he is learning. Mrs. Thornton, his teacher is really good. I love to hear all the new songs she has taught him about the months of the year, cleaning up, etc. In just this short amount of time his handwriting has gotten so much neater, too. During the week we are on a strict nighttime routine so that we can make sure that Curren gets plenty of sleep. He now wants me to tuck him in and the number of kisses and hugs that he wants before I go has tripled! He always says sweet things like, "It makes my heart feel good when I see you because you're so sweet and pretty." Then he will kiss both of my cheeks and forehead. It's nice to be loved by a little boy that I miss having around all day. Right now Curren is way into Star Wars. He borrowed a friend's Annikin (I have no idea if I spelled that correctly) costume for Halloween. He spends hours building space ships with Legos and talks endlessly about droids, clones, Yoda, and storm troopers!

Gorgeous girl

Here is E in my wedding dress. We take her picture in it every year around her birthday and put it in a special book. This year, she is four and her hair is longer.

9/11

Today was the first day of cooler weather here in north Texas! I can't wait for fall. I decided to go for a walk (not a run--I'm too pregnant!) since it was so nice outside. Our neighborhood puts up flags for each holiday and I noticed that they were out this morning. I was wondering what holiday it was and then I remembered that it was September 11th. Then I immediately started to think about where I was that morning. I was 9 months pregnant with C and we lived in Delaware. I was at a chocolate show with a friend from our ward and her daughter. (She has a business making truffles). We were actually in Pennsylvania and didn't realize what was going on until we got in the car and couldn't find any radio stations playing music. We listened to the broadcasters and started to put it all together. We called our husbands and raced home as quick as we could! I turned on the tv and watched it for days.
Now, six years later I live in Texas, have 3 kids and I'm expecting another. The world has changed, but I'm so glad to live in the US!