Week One - Including Father's Day & Andrew's Birthday

Green hair = tomato sauce wash.... she's NOT happy!

Andrew was gone the entire last week of school so when he returned LATE Friday night, I decided that on Saturday we would give him a Father's Day/Birthday surprise.  I told him I had an errand to run for my mom in Valencia so he was surprised when we pulled up to the massage place and dropped him off.  The kids and I hung our at the mall playing on the new playground and trying out the snow cone place.  Both were a hit.

Happy Father's Day to one of THE best dads I know.  This man truly loves his children and for that I am so grateful.  The morning started with my dropping Andrew and the three older ones off at church while I took Cole to the doctor's. Friday and Saturday he had fevers over 103.8 and so by Sunday, I was ready to take him in to see if there was actually an infection.  Ended up at Henry Mayo which allowed us to get some x-rays and yes, this boy had pneumonia and a touch of a sore throat and a touch of an ear infection.  He's a trooper for sure.

Father's Day with grandpa, grandpa.

What would I do without my dad?!?!?

What would Cole do without guacamole!?!?

Not only is he a toddler trying to keep up with all the big kids, but a toddler with pneumonia really has his work cut out for him.  I couldn't believe it when he fell asleep on me in the pool and then allowed me to put him down on the grass to continue this nap.  THEN he stayed asleep when I loaded him into the car and drove home.  Poor baby boy.

The morning of Andrew's birthday everyone was up but Andrew.  The kids decided to make use of this time and create birthday cards for him while I made breakfast.

See, I do it once a year ;)

35!!!

At 7:50am, the tree guys came to chop down our beloved front yard tree.  This tree has been featured in nearly all of our photos and was my favorite thing about our front yard.  But, it was leaning towards the street and becoming rather dangerous so it had to be chopped down :(

The kids have really enjoyed the stump.

Last year we swam every Wednesday at the Wirthlin's home.  This year they are rotating between the Padovich home and the Wirthlin home.  The Padovich's is absolutely gorgeous but a tad crazy and cold for my little ones.

This picture is an awful representation of our evening in the park but I forgot to grab another one when I could.  We were so grateful for the families that came out on a last minute invite for dinner.  I didn't tell anyone that it was Andrew's birthday but I set it up so he could be around friends and family on his birthday.  It was such a nice evening... and a delicious one considering Andrew smoked some tri-tip, chicken and hot dogs.

This girl loves cuddling with her dada.

Thursday, my friend, Katie, hosted a circus themed park play date.  I wasn't planning on going because it was at a park clear across town, but we had nothing else to do so I decided to try it out.  I think I've spent so many years at the park, I have been feeling burnt out.  BUT, let me tell ya, we all had a great time.  It was a beautiful day and Katie went over and beyond in making this a memorable trip for the kids.  They kept asking me who was having a birthday party.  Yup, it was that good!

Friday I was supposed to take the kids to the beach but felt uneasy about it all day Thursday and then again Friday morning.  We had made plans to go to the Temple Friday night and it was stressing me out being on such a time crunch driving all the way to the beach.  I opted to stay home and clean my house until about 2pm.  At that point Andrew and I took the kids to the pool for some much needed family time.  The kids keep asking Andrew why they never see him anymore so it was nice that he was able to hang out.

Andrew tried teaching the kids how to dive.  Jackson actually got it by the time we left but Andi needs some more work.  Ryan didn't make too many attempts.  Maybe next time!?!?

Jessica Wirthlin had called earlier in the week and offered to babysit.  Considering grandma and grandpa were out of town, this was just perfect.  Jessica was our first teenage babysitter for such a thing and I felt bad leaving her to watch my kids.  I know, lame, especially considering she was so excited.  She brought a goodie bag and played go fish with them and read them a million stories.  The best part was during sealings, there was some time where Andrew and I could forget all the stresses of the world and just be in the moment.  It's always so peaceful inside.  Then to come home to a clean house and sleeping children... man, couldn't ask for much more.

Saturday we were able to go play and eat at Isabelle's third birthday party.  It was such a beautiful day with wonderful company and delicious food!

I could go for a slice of that pizza right now, Paola!

Alrighty, I think that'll do it for week one....