Family Vacation (Part 2)

Alright, it only took me a month to post part 2! Good for me!

Sunday, we left Auntie Nenka's house and headed up to Orlando. Needless to say, it was kind of a chaotic morning, leading me to believe that we should have gone to church as was our first plan instead of doing Disney all day on Sunday. Oh, well, lesson learned! Anyways, we finally got to our hotel, Disney's Pop Century, got checked in, and hopped on a shuttle over to the magic kingdom. Auntie Nenka and Aleks came with us, and the boys had so much fun together. Nenka was awesome because she knows all about Disney World, so we had our own tour guide! We also met up with my Mom, Shaine and Anne and their family, and Teresa and Cary and their family. We also got RaInEd on like CrAzY for a little while, but we were prepared with ponchos and umbrellas. The kids loved going on the Buzz Lightyear ride, the cars you can "drive", and anything else they could see. They would not go on Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain--still too chicken! Jared and I went on Splash Mountain together while Nenka watched all the kids, and we got stuck at the very end for about 45 minutes. It was almost like a real date, except for all the other stuck people with us! We stayed at the Magic Kingdom till about 10:30, and then went back on the shuttle (longest line at the whole park was to get on the shuttle on the way home!), and hit the sack at our hotel room.

(Parker, Jase (hidden) and Aleks)

Monday was the Animal Kingdom day! What a fun place. We got to eat breakfast with Donald, Daisy, Mickey, Minnie, and Goofie at the Safari Breakfast. The best ride there was the new Expedition Everest roller coaster. Of course, the kids didn't get to go on that, but there were some fun rides for the kids, including a fun Safari that the entire family got to go on together (miracle!). Poor kids spent a lot of time sitting around waiting for the grown ups (including the big kids) to go on rides. We got to see the "Finding Nemo" play, which was really fun. I took Parker on the Dinosaur ride, and he was terrified!!! So scared. Aleks was, too. I looked behind me, and there was poor little Chynna, scared to death, and Corryn and Keilani were trying to console her--poor girl! Also at Animal Kingdom, Jared's cousin, Adrienne, and her cute little boy Gavin, were able to come. So fun to see everyone! Auntie Nenka and Aleks headed home, and we missed them the whole rest of the trip! That night we crashed early, after letting the kids swim at our pool at the hotel (the pool was shaped like a flower, so cute!).

 (Adrienne and Gavin,above) , (Auntie Nenka, Lila, and me, below)

 (At Animal Kingdom)

(Tired kiddos)

Tuesday was Epcot day. We got there early, and went on the Finding Nemo ride, then Turtle Talk with Crush. So much fun. That day was SUPER SUPER DUPER HOT!!!!! We met up with the rest of my family, and took turns going on Mission to Mars (Holly almost passed out and threw up, Jared thought it was kind of lame!). Jared took the boys on a "Kim Possible Secret Mission". They get these little cell phones, and have to go around the World part of Epcot and find the clues. Parker and Jase loved it. I think it was their favorite part of the whole trip! Went on a couple more rides, wandered around looking for somewhere to eat, finally ate, then Jared and I took our kids back to the hotel to swim and NAP!!! That night, we headed back to Epcot to eat at Askurshus (?) in "Norway" with the Disney princesses. It was so fun, and the food was great--best desserts of the trip, for me! Parker and Jase refused to have their pictures taken with the princesses, but Lizzie, Lila, and I had fun.

After dinner, we watched the firework show, and Parker took lots of pictures. Met up with Teresa and Cary, and got on another shuttle back to the hotel to crash.

(Some of Parker's pics)

Florida Family Fun!! (Part 1)

(At the SL airport, waiting for our plane. Jared's mom works in security there, and she came and helped us CRUISE through! It was awesome!!)

We just got back from sunny Florida! It was a great trip. We took all the kids, even though we thought about leaving Lila at home with someone, but I'm glad she went. She had fun, and was really good (for the most part!).
We flew out on Thursday. The plane ride was good. There were small TV's in the seats in front of us, so the boys watched TV most of the time, and played their game boys. Lizzie watched a Dora movie on the DVD player. I even got to watch "The Office" live, but Jared was holding a squirmy Lila, so he didn't get to watch much. Lila finally conked out and gave him a break! So, all in all, the kids did pretty well. A man in front of us told us that he would fly with our kids anytime, because they were no problem. Thanks!
We got to Orlando really late, so we stayed in a hotel there, then headed over to Venice, Florida, where Jared's Aunt Nenka lives. She lives in the cutest house, close to the beach, right by a little park, which the kids loved. She let us stay at her house, and she went to stay with her sister, Gina, who lives close by. Nenka has two cats, and when Lila first saw them, she would just scream and scream, but not like she was crying, more like she was shocked that those stuffed animals were MoViNg!!! She and Lizzie loved the cats, and followed them around the whole time. The kids then got to meet Jared's littlest cousin, Aleks (Gina's son). They hit it off right away. Aleks is a really cute little boy, and the boys loved playing with him.

(Auntie Gina & Lila)

 (Parker, Jase, & Challah-the cat)

On Friday, we headed over to a nearby beach named Casperson Beach. Jared remembered going there when he was a kid, and they have all of these fossilized shark teeth that wash up on the beach (something to do with the tide?). So, we spent a lot of time sifting through the sand looking for shark teeth, and even found a couple. (Auntie Gina then gave us some that she has been collecting for a long time, and they are so neat!). The sand at this beach was really dark, and it was really hard to get off! My swim suit will forever have little tiny bits of sand from this beach in it! That night we headed off tothe the local Dairy Queen for dinner and treats, then back to Auntie Nenka's to CRASH!
 

On Saturday, we totally vegged out. We let the kids go over to the park, explored Nenka's backyard (found lots of acorns and little lizards), had a GREAT BBQ with TONS of food, visited with Jared's aunts, including Auntie Bee who came down for the afternoon from the Tampa area, took naps, let the boys play together and watch TV (their favorite past time!), then finally headed down to another beach. It was named Siesta Beach, and it was beautiful. The sand was white and soft. We went about an hour before sunset and let the kids play. Jase and Parker had tons of fun "surfing". Lizzie and Lila mostly played on the beach with all of the fun sand toys Auntie Nenka gave them. Parker found a dead Jellyfish in the sand, then later was stung by what we think was a jellyfish! Poor guy. He was really in pain, but it didn't last too long. We got to watch the sunset before the jellyfish sting, and as soon as that happened, we headed back to Nenka's. We decided to get up early the next morning and head up to Orlando to start the Disney part of our vacation!!

(Parker after the Jellyfish Episode)

Some Thing

Some of the kids are home sick today, so Jared took Parker to church. I realize that it has been a long time since I posted anything, so Jared suggested that I might want to post something while he was at church. So, here is something.
(I promise I'll post more SOON, but Jared also didn't believe I would make him an apple pie while he is at church, so I am busy making apple pie, as well!)

Hiking to the G

The boys and I got up early to hike to the G on Saturday morning. I woke the boys up at 6:00, and they were excited enough that they got dressed in record time. We even had time to grab a bowl of cereal and still keep our plan of leaving the house at around 6:30. We took it easy with several breaks, and made it to the G in under an hour. It was a good hike and the boys ended up having a great time.

Inventors

Parker and Jason have been really into "inventing" things lately. They have been really creative about it, and somehow they have become the "creative" team and I am supposed to be the "build" team. At this point they think that I can build just about anything they dream up. For example, here is a recent converstation:

Parker: "Dad, let's make a flying skateboard."
Dad: (in my most encouraging voice) "That sounds really cool."
Jason: "And make it so that it transforms into a motorcycle..."
(short pause)
Jason: "...and then pops out Hubba Bubba."
Dad: "Wow...uhh...a flying skateboard that tranforms into a motorcyle and pops out Hubba Bubba..."

I love it! These kids rock! Unfortunately, I don't know how much longer I can go without producing one of these, before they stop thinking I can. Although, they do offer suggestions sometimes. Here is what Parker suggested a day or so later:

Parker: "You need to make a really flat engine...and it has to be really powerful..."

Most of their inventions a have something to do with rockets, flying, and shooting.

gifts...

So, here's what we got Liz, Jared's mom, for her birthday:
For those of you who might not know, that is Liz on the box! Jared thought the lady who was on the box looked like his mom, so he put her picture on it (after a lot of work!!). I thought it turned out funny!
Oh, and sorry to spoil the surprise, but this is what Amanda (Jared's sister) will be getting from us when she has her baby this summer...
Hope you enjoy!!

Lessons learned over Spring Break 2009

Spring Break was last week, and I thought I'd do a quick run-down of our activities, and the lessons we learned:
Saturday:
Baptisms are AWESOME! Our nephew, Tyler, got baptized on Saturday. After the baptism before him, when the little boy came out of the water, one of the kids yelled, "AWESOME"!
"Wicked"ness really is Happiness! Jared and I went to see "Wicked" for our 9th Anniversary. What can I say, it was also AWESOME-in a different way!
Easter Sunday:
Easter was good, the kids had fun (see previous post).
Also, it might not be possible for a persons heart to pound completely out of her chest, but my heart was sure trying before I had to speak in sacrament meeting. Amazingly, as soon as I was finished, my heart returned to it's normal level!
Monday:
A little sun on one day doesn't really make up for rain, rain, and then 6 inches of snow in mid-April during SPRING BREAK! But, give my kids bonus points for inviting themselves to the next-door neighbor girl's 10th birthday party!! Oh, well, they had a blast, even if I was embarrassed about them crashing it (we really need a fence!).
Tuesday:
Dinosaur hunting is fun. We went to the Dinosaur museum, and everyone had a good time, and we all made it home unharmed!

Also, those little glow-in-the-dark bracelets are NON-TOXIC, even for a 10 month-old baby. I know, I called poison control after I found Lila with one in her mouth, and no more liquid inside of the bracelet. They do, however, taste nasty!!
Wednesday:
Watch out when you go in to the library and it's raining, and then you come out and it's a blizzard--not a good sign of things to come!
Also, it was our anniversary, and Jared surprised me with flowers, and a babysitter that night! We went out to dinner at P.F. Chang's, which was great, although a little awkward, considering Jared's new boss and the new executives were all sitting at the table right next to us!!
Thursday:
Just when you think it's safe to put away the snow boots.....think again!
I CAN take all 4 kids to a movie and actually enjoy the movie! We saw "Monsters vs. Aliens" and I really kind of liked it! (I think the kids liked it, too!)
Friday:
Never plan a trip to the park when there is still snow on the ground We didn't end up going, and the kids were all disappointed, but I think the boys made up for their unhappiness by playing tons of Star Wars Lego on the Wii.
Saturday & Sunday:
Relaxation is a good thing. So are birthdays. Happy birthday, Liz! (Friday) We got a GREAT present for Jared's mom for her birthday, but it's a secret....you'll all have to wait and see!

They make us laugh!

Our kids are our greatest form of entertainment--sometimes the show is hilarious, sometimes it is sad, sometimes it is sweet, and sometimes it is frustrating! I think 90% of the time I am frustrated trying to get the kids to DO WHAT I ASK THEM, but I guess that's probably more like 10% of the time, and it just feels like 90%! I have been trying to pay better attention to the funny, silly, happy things they do instead of the things that drive me crazy. Here are a few examples of the good: Parker: The other day I was taking just Parker to a b-day party. I was singing an old primary song, "In the Leafy Treetops." I was just ending the second verse, which goes, "In my pretty garden the flowers are nodding," and Parker goes, "What did they do?" What??? What did who do? And he said, "The flowers. You said they were naughty." I laughed and laughed. I guess they hear about being naughty a little too much!

Jase's new thing is to say, "And Guess What?" all of the time. For example, when I picked him up from preschool the other day, they had just finished an Easter Egg Hunt. He was so excited! He said, "Mom, I found a purple Easter Egg. And Guess What? Then I found a BLUE Easter Egg! And Guess What? There was money inside the blue Easter Egg! And Guess What? Then I found a green Easter Egg!! And Guess What? Green is my favorite color! And Guess What?...." You get the point. It cracks me up! When I was pointing this out to Jared, Jase said it hurt his feelings that I thought it was cute that he says "And Guess What" all of the time. But I still think it's cute!

Lizzie is little miss BUSY all of the time! She is really enjoying her Easter CANDY. In fact, I think she may have eaten all of it already (Good, I'll be glad to get rid of it!). My favorite thing she does is say, "Huuuuhhh?" It is so funny. She will be playing with a toy, and then maybe lose it. She'll look all over for it saying, "Huuuuhhh?" with this funny tone in her voice. So cute!

Lila's new thing is to stick her tongue out constantly. It is so funny. She got her two bottom teeth in at 8 months (the earliest of any of my kids), and I think she is teething, so she always has her tongue out, probably to make her little gums feel better. She is also crawling all over the place. She started army crawling about 2 months ago, and she can crawl on her hands and knees, but she much prefers the tummy crawl. It's much faster and more effective to get her where she wants to go.

The kids all had a great Easter--candy, candy, and more CANDY!! A guy from our ward volunteered to take some pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits. It was windy, and everyone wanted to just go home, but I think the pictures turned out great. They really show my kids personalities! (Lizzie does smile all the time, just never in pictures where we want her to!) Enjoy!!!

It Makes Me Happy

I have to admit that I am a sucka for TV theme songs. Sometimes I enjoy the intro more than episode. I think it is because the intro is a constant and reminds me of all the goodness from every episode I have watched. Holly bought me season 5 of the Mythbusters for Christmas, and the intro at the beginning of each DVD just puts me in a good mood. It is not the "theme song", but in this case it is even better. Several times I have power-cycled the DVD player, because I missed the intro while I was switching inputs on the TV. As a bonus the kids love it too (especially when the tribal guy delivers an enthusiastic "BOOMDIYADA!"). I defy you to be in a bad mood after enjoying this clip.

Doneen & Izzie

Just to start off, in the last post for my b-day, it was my idea for Jared to put the picture of the old lady. I mean, this is how I feel most days!! When I saw the picture, I thought it looked like my Great-Grandma Minnie, and when Parker and Jase saw it, they both said, "It's our cowboy Grandma" which is what they call GG Minnie. It cracked me up!
Speaking of Minnie, her actual name was Armeda, but when she was a baby, one of her siblings couldn't pronounce the name, so she became "Minnie". That brings me to Doneen. That is what Lizzie calls Dalila. I don't know why. She can say "Lila", and she can even say, "Dalila", sort of! But she insists on calling her Doneen. It may be a blend of Dalila Jean, but who knows?
Lizzie also calls herself, "Izzie". So now I call her Izzie. Izzie and Doneen. Not names that I picked out, and they probably won't stick like Minnie did. But still cute!
Lizzie really likes to "help" with Lila. She REALLY wants to feed her baby food, and is constantly getting out baby carrots, baby peas, baby bananas, you name it, and getting a spoon and bib and trying to force feed Lila. I try and get Lizzie to feed her babies, but no go.
This morning Lizzie was pulling on Lila trying to get her to crawl, and I told her to stop. A few minutes later, Parker asked if Lizzie could come out of time-out. I looked over, and Lizzie was standing with her nose in the corner, where we make the kids go for time-out. I told her she could come out, and she walked over to Lila and said, "I'm sorry, Doneen". So cute, but obviously not her first time-out!!
Lila is getting so mobile! She rolls all over the place, and she also scoots forward. She really wants to crawl, and she is getting close. It won't be long now and she'll be running!
Okay, so this just happened this afternoon, after I published this post, so I guess this is a P.S.:
We have been trying to get Lizzie to use the potty. Not seriously "potty training" her, but just getting her used to going in the potty sometimes. (I am determined that when we actually attempt to "potty train" it will be a matter of days, maybe weeks, not months or more than a YEAR like it was with the boys. I cannot do the tantrums and tears (on my part;)!) any more, so this time will be better!). Well, I was telling her that when she is all potty trained, we will buy her a new toy. I asked her if she would want a new doll, or maybe a slide, because she loves slides, but we don't have one. She thought about it for a minute, and then said, "Playhouse. " What? She wants a playhouse? I guess she's not one to go for the inexpensive toys. Jase was easy. He just wanted a light saber. Arrgh! Then, she actually went number 2!! Yea!!!She was very excited, and so was I, but now I think she is expecting a new playhouse today! She kept asking me the whole time I was trying to get her to take a nap. Hopefully she will forget about the playhouse while she is sleeping....

Holly's B-day!

It's Holly's birthday today, and she did such a good job on the post for my birthday that I thought she deserved a nice B-day tribute post too. To start things off, here is an updated head shot:
She hasn't changed a bit since the day we met... But seriously, she is terrific and here is a little photo recap of the year for her (NOTE: Holly would like me to remind everyone that she did HAVE A BABY this year, and that it may have impacted the way she looks in some of the photos):

Fun in the snow

We spent the holidays with the family down at Ruby's Inn. There were some decent storms, so we had lots of fun in the snow. The snow was deep enough in grandma and grandpa's yard to dig some snow caves. We dug a tunnel that was about 20' long overall and had 3 entrances. Even Lizzie went through (no picture unfortunately).

Happy Birthday Jared

Today is Jared's birthday! Yea! I'm not going to say how old he is, only that he is 4 years older than his sister Gina, who just turned the big 30, and 7 years older than his sister Amanda who is still a youngling at only 27 (Happy birthday, girls! I figure it's okay to mention your ages since you did on your blogs, rights?!).
Here are some pictures of the birthday boy!









Hope you have a great birthday, hon! We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously?!?!

I was at the mall, doing a little Christmas shopping, and passed a shop selling these:




Are you serious? Really? I thought just plain skinny jeans were ugly, but these are over the top. There are definitely some things that should never see the light of day again! I had a pair of these in 6th grade. Only they were GREEN acid washed. To "top" it off, I thought wearing a Yellow and Blue striped sweater with them "matched" because yellow and blue make green....

Enough said!

I need an Alice....and other stuff we've been up to.

Okay. I need an "Alice". I think having four kids has finally caught up with me. It didn't seem so hard, but suddenly, it just feels like there is not enough time for anything to get done. The house feels constantly messy. Poor Lila is always sleeping in her car seat because we are always in the car. If we're home, I'm probably feeding Lila, so not much is getting done. So, I decided I need an Alice.
We don't have cable, but we do have a really nifty HD Antenna that gives us great TV. We have 4 KBYU channels, and 3 PBS channels, not to mention 4 channels of Christian Television....so I'm not complaining. Anyway, the other night, the kids were watching KBYU, and the cartoons got over, and "The Brady Bunch" came on. The kids always say, "This is so lame", but none of them turn off the TV. They are such couch potatoes!!

Back to "The Brady Bunch". So, Mrs. Brady and Alice are in the kitchen. Mrs. Brady is sitting there at the table, and Alice is making something in the kitchen. Then Mr. Brady walks in and say something like, "Man, I'm starving", and Mrs. Brady says, "Alice, fix something for Mr. Brady." WHAT???!!! That is my dream. To just sit at the table while someone else does everything else for me, and not feel guilty!! I figure that if the Brady's can afford a live-in maid, why can't I??? Oh, wait. They were just a TV show. Still, one can always dream.....



On to other stuff, we've had a lot going on the last month. First we had Lizzie's b-day. She got a new bike, and she loves it, but she can't figure out how to peddle yet. Then there was Halloween. The kids all had lots of fun, and Lizzie is especially excited about the candy. She would say, "Treat" when asking for candy. Then last week I had her with me when I was begging people door-to-door for money doing "Friends of Scouting" (not my favorite thing I've had to do!), and Lizzie would say, "Treat" as we went to each door. It's much easier to ask for candy than to ask for money! Anyway, the kids all had fun, and I'll post some pictures when I can figure out how to find them.....Our computer died, and we are using an old computer, but I know the pictures are here somewhere, I just don't know where. Can you see why I need an Alice!?!

Also in October, we went to St. George and visited Zions National Park. We had a good time, except we were not prepared for hiking, and decided to do it anyway. We were carrying Lila, no pack or anything, carrying Lizzie, I was wearing flip-flops, and trying to keep Parker and Jase on the trail and away from the edge of the trail. Okay, so the hike was only 0.5 miles round trip, but it was up hill. I think it was called Weeping Rock. We made it to the top fine, but as we were starting back down, Parker got a little ahead of us, and lost his balance and fell off a small 4-foot ledge. I didn't see it, but this lady saw it, and said she almost had a heart attack when she saw him fall. Poor guy. He had mud in his hair, and was soaking wet, because he landed in a small stream. We were just glad he didn't fall all the way down in to the river. I also have pictures of this...arghhh!!! Oh, yeah, and we got a 4-wheeler while we were visiting my mom and dad. Jared took it out once here, and already we've had one accident. I'm thinking the 4-wheeler might have been a mistake......

Parker also had a birthday. He is 7! I can't believe it!! He and Lizzie had a combined family party with Jared's family, and they had lots of fun. Parker got lots of fun presents. I especially love the "Hulk Smash Hands". If I get a little frustrated, I put them on, go in my room, and punch the bed. The sounds they make is really satisfying, and it really eases the tension! I advise all moms to get these. If I had an Alice, I wouldn't need them, though. I would not be stressed out ever. Alice would have to deal with the kids, and I would just sit back and smile and teach them lessons about being good people.

Last thing. I've been watching some of the cute things my kids say, and here they are:
Lizzie: We were at the fabric store, and I was showing her all of the cute fabric. We came to the Minky section (you know, that really soft, plush fabric with the raised dots that is on a lot of baby blankets). She touched the fabric, and said, "Night, night, ahhhh". So cute!
Parker: He likes to say, "It's not FAIR", all the time. Most of the time it doesn't even make sense. Like I say, "Parker, come and eat." He says, "It's not fair". What? Eating isn't fair? Whatever! The other night, I went to check on the boys, and I was fixing Parker's covers. He rolls over, and says, "It's not fair!". It cracked me up.
Jase: The other night, the boys were upstairs, fighting--I mean playing. Jase was really tired, and I could hear him saying, "I can't take it anymore. I just can't take it anymore". I have no idea where he got that. Okay, maybe I do know. You see why I need an Alice??
Lila: She doesn't say anything, but she is so dang cute. I took her to get her pictures taken yesterday, and she did awesome. She got some really cute shots of her! When I showed Jared the picture I got, he said, "She's even got her pajamas on." What!! It was a super cute fleece outfit, not pajamas. There were no feet, so they were not pajamas. Here is the picture. NOT PAJAMAS! Judge for yourself...
So that's what's been going on with the Lemke's. As soon as I figure out where the pictures went, I'll post some more pictures. They've got to be around here somewhere. Alice, can you please find the pictures for me, upload them to blogger, and post them for me? Oh, wait, that's not real, it's just TV.............................

BYU football and Elder L. Tom Perry

Jared got season tickets this season to BYU Football games. He's been taking different people to each game, and last Saturday was my turn. The game was fun, even though it was cold. It didn't snow or rain, and besides the annoying man in front of me sticking his back in my knees the whole time, it was great! BYU won, so in the end that's all that matters, right? I forgot to take pictures, though.

After the game was over, we were leaving, and there were a ton of people. Up ahead, I could see a man in a suit, with a bunch of people around him. I realized it was Elder L. Tom Perry, and started tugging on Jared's arm so he could see him. Well, Jared was just thinking of the quickest way out of the stadium, and he saw the opening up ahead in front of Elder Perry. So, I'm pulling on him to get him to LOOK UP and STOP, and he's heading for the opening. Well, we bumped right in to Elder Perry and his wife. Elder Perry grabbed his arm and was trying to get Jared to go in front of him, and I am still trying to get him to LOOK UP! Finally, Jared noticed who it was, and Elder Perry seriously pinched his arm trying to get us out of his way! Not in a mean way; they were all laughing. Still, it was a funny story, and it was neat to get so close to an Apostle!