Strange Things are Happening here...

I am sitting in a Kroger parking lot so I can write this...we had some "fun" yesterday a few hours after Cami and her kids arrived.  The house began getting very warm, fast, and immediately I knew something was up with our AC.  We had just fixed it in March so I was cringing inside knowing we were probably going to have the shell out some $$$.
Long story short we apparently had several brown outs in our area, and it actually ruined our entire outside AC unit :(. It wouldn't even run.  We had to shell out a few thousand dollars for that fix...but are still waiting on our internet to start working again (they can't come until tomorrow evening)!  We have no internet, therefore no home phone due to the new digital land lines.  Also my cell service is basically useless in and around our house without our booster working (which works through our router).

My point is we have very limited communication until we get all this fixed :)  I am thinking about writing some sort of thriller after hearing about the NYSE and United "glitches" today amidst all our electrical issues....definitely strange that all of these things happened within 24 hours of each other.

I feel bad all of that went down as soon as Cami got to our house.  It was a great distraction for all of us, so thanks Cam!  HollieMae is just a doll!!!  So fun and interactive!  Definitely stepping into that chubby, oozing with personality phase.  Makes me excited for our little one to arrive :)




We are missing Audrie already after sending her off to Utah early this morning!  Her and Cousins are going to have a fun adventure that's for certain!!

K- I better go.  I've been idling in my car for at least 30 minutes now :)

Audrie's Birthday Fun!

We celebrated Audrie's birthday by starting with a luxurious pedicure.  It was then followed by bowling and dinner.  Tyler was at scout camp all week long, and we missed him terribly, but had some fun without him.  It just so happened Tropical Storm Bill hit on her birthday so we had to reschedule her friend birthday festivities another week. Here are a few pics from her fun day!

Disney Reveal and Summer Festivities

I have been trying to find a time to sit down (when I feel good) and write for a couple weeks now.  It has been hard to sit this morning as Audrie was rushing out the door for swim practice (she rides her bike) only to return a few minutes later declaring she found a lost dog!  She is such an animal lover...needless to say we "had" to go save it.  So after getting up early to be able to write it is now almost 10am (and Tyler just rolled out of bed...teenager hood here we come!).

So it's been busy!  And now this is going to be so short...sorry Everyone finished up school, Audrie graduated 5th grade (check out her gorgeous pic attached- she is so photogenic it is unbelievable).  Tyler of course did really well as did Kaylee and Sam is just as happy as can be to have her idols home all the time (Audrie and Kaylee). 

We did our "Disney Cruise reveal"...

(five days later...)

...our Disney cruise reveal was a lot of fun!  We started off with a Disney themed dinner with "Lady and the Tramp" Spaghetti and Meatballs, a "Ratatouille sauce", a medley of vegetables "sprinkled with sea salt by Ariel", and finally the dessert of "Tiana's famous beignets".  They each got a mickey shirt and wore them for the picture.  We didn't tell them about the cruise right then because we were waiting for our phone call from Mickey, Minney and Goofy.  They finally called and the girls eyes lit up!  Sam had no clue what it really meant, I'm still not sure she understands, although she does ask about it a lot.  Needless to say we are REALLY excited about it, and are starting to plan excursions and everything.  Should be a blast!

We enjoyed our first week of summer with lots and lots of friends, swimming with friends and swimming competitively.  Audrie has had swim practice daily for weeks now and has really blossomed.  She has had two swim meets and done very well in both of them.  She is among the top 4 in most of the heats she's raced.  Her most impressive event was the 100yard Individual Medley (or IM).  They have to swim the length of the pool (25 yards) doing a different stroke each length, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and freestyle.  SHE KILLED IT.  Was in first place most of the race, got a little tired at the end, but pushed as hard as she could and won by a few seconds!!  It was so fun to watch.  She was on cloud nine for the rest of the night (which was a long night).  Those swim meets are no laughing matter...they require you as parents to volunteer (or kick your kid off the team and a $200 fee) and they last from 6pm-11pm.  We had one Monday and Weds, so by Thursday we were pooped, and sunburned ;)

Tyler has entered an entire different stage of life where friends are EVERYTHING.  He has played at friends homes, or invited them over every single day.  He simply can not live without them.  Luckily his little group of friends are really, really good kids. 

I have been able to go to the temple three times in the last three weeks.  Tyler went with me and a couple of my YW a few weeks ago.  He was able to do some family names which was great :)  Then last week Andy and I went and did initiatory for some family names, which was the first time I've done initiatory in years!  I have always loved that ceremony.  I feel the spirit SO strongly every time I do it.  The first name I did I just couldn't hold it together and ended up bawling like a baby...I think the fact that it's so personal makes so there are no barriers, no walls, no facades really creates an opportunity for to feel the spirit.  Anyway, loved it.  Then this week we had a our youth temple trip, where Tyler again did some family names (we are loaded on endowments and sealing's now!). 

It actually was bittersweet this last time because Tyler had to leave early due to his Scout camp.  He and a few other boys went through first and one of the leaders drove them to their caravan and I didn't even get to say goodbye to him :(  He is gone for an entire week to Wimberly, TX (yes where all the major flooding was), but they are at a camp that is at a really high elevation (or so we were told to alleviate our worries).  I'm such a baby when my kids are gone...I mean I started missing him BEFORE he even left.  Ridiculous I know.  Imagine me when he leaves on his mission!  I'm going to be a hot mess.  We are praying for his safety :)

We have had a lot of missionary work going on within our family.  It's been great, not very successful with second visits, but still we are growing outside our comforts zones.  It's definitely something I am having to push myself and really pump myself up to do sometimes.  Hopefully we will have some successes soon :)

Our fruit cocktail tree's have been baring a plethora of fruit this year!!  We had a decent apricot harvest, but our plum harvest has been GINORMOUS.  We still have plums coming off that tree.  Just buckets and buckets full of plums!  I made a batch of raspberry plum jam using my newly discovered victorio strainer, which I am in love with.  It turned out quite tart, but absolutely delicious!!

My pregnancy is going well.  I just feel a little large, but that's just the way it goes with me.  I went on a run on Thursday and it really, really affected my hip.  Cami has always had hip issues when pregnant, but I have never experiences that before.  It was terribly uncomfortable.  But fortunately I seem to be okay now.  I have been swimming the last few days hoping that it would help alleviate any issues and it seems to have helped a lot.  Either way I think running is going to have to be out of my exercise routine for a while.  I am determined to stay active throughout this pregnancy though!  Maybe the pool with have to be my go to for the rest of the summer (I know Ali is craving a pool desperately, too bad you're not closer AL!).  I

Audrie's birthday is Tuesday and we had big plans including a "Dive in movie" outside on a projector while her friends and her lounged in the pool, but a tropical disturbance seems to be really throwing a wrench into our plans.  Right now it doesn't look good, so we are going to have to come up with a plan B.  I'm thinking some fun games are in order.  Time to get on Pinterest, hahaha.

Kaylee 1st Grade Graduation

Kaylee did such a cute job singing this song for their class! She earned the most responsible oh board and Sam could not be more thrilled to be in her classroom with her! It was super cute :-)

Got Wheat? What to do with Wheat Storage

I finished teaching my wheat class last night and thought I would send you guys my handout.  I am definitely no expert, but I sure learned a lot experimenting the last couple of weeks. 

 

Misleading Morning Sickness

Good morning all!

I'm so awful lately with writing, but my hope is that now that Katie is moving up and on with life (& out of the house) that she will re-motivate all of us to be better about writing.  KATIE that means we want to hear from you too!!!  I want to hear about all of your new adventures with your job and your adult life, okay?  It's a in the Whicker contract when you leave the house.  You are required by law to write once a week.  Seriously.  Real consequences will follow if you do not abide.

I've been just a pathetic mess for the past few weeks.  I have to take it one day at a time, sometimes by the minute depending on how bad I feel, but today I woke up almost feeling normal!!  Unfortunately I realized I did not take my prenatal last night (I have to take it at night because it makes me feel so gross), which may be why I'm feeling good HA!  Oh the irony.  I'm going to make the most of it today though by starting off with an email.

Sam has also been under the weather this week with a high fever.  I finally took her in yesterday and it was confirmed viral as I suspected.  We haven't had strep in forever (knock on wood), so I suppose that's a silver lining somehow.  Either way it's been a long few days just sitting at home....I don't like sitting all day, it's terribly monotonous and boring ;)  Have a real itch to get moving, maybe I will go on a walk/jog with Sam if she feels good enough, we shall see.

I had a wonderful mothers day filled with lots of love, lots of chocolate, and my very favorite letters.  I just have to say the letters these kiddos write are the ABSOLUTE best part of mothers day.  Someday I am going to take all that the kids wrote and put it into a book because they are sometimes hilarious and other times the most tender hearted.  I adore everything about them.  Attached you will see the two Kaylee wrote me this year.  One of my favorite parts of the "all about mom" is the fill in the blank, "My mom looks prettiest when she_____."  Kaylee wrote, "My mom looks prettiest when she is nice."  HAHAHAHA!  I'm sure I am much better looking when I am nice vs when I am not!  And then the one that struck a cord was "I love my mom more than me."  I mean what little kid would fill in that way?  More than candy, barbies, etc, but HER?!?  Such tender soul that Kaylee.  Her letter was also about as tender as it could get.  She could hardly STAND to wait to give it to me and before I could walk straight after getting up she handed it to me with the biggest grin on her face.  Just BEAMING with light. 

Audrie started swim last week and is absolutely loving it.  She swims every day after school for about an hour and is grouped with the 11-12 year olds because she's so big and fast.  Those big feet are finally coming in handy!  I'm just thrilled that she is enjoying it so much.  I need to get a picture of her while at practice just for documentation.  Maybe I can do that today.

Tyler has been going strong with basketball and they are still undefeated.  They have the first of two playoff games this weekend, so hopefully they can keep up their streak!  The last game was really fun to watch, lots & lots of great plays.  In fact the ref came over by where we were sitting (as the game was happening) and under his breath he said, "this has to be the greatest game ever played in the history of this league."  I'm not sure he intended for us to hear it, but I certainly told Tyler and he held his head just a little higher after that.  It will be sad to end the league as we have thoroughly enjoyed watching him play.

Tonight he gets inducted into the NJHS (National Junior Honor Society).  It requires 10 hours/year service and a high GPA.  Hopefully he can manage the GPA as I think it has to be 3.84, which is doable, he just needs to get more organized.  Have I mentioned he struggles in that department? Hahahaha....It will be good for him although he didn't want to do it.  He's such an underachiever sometimes!!  Makes me crazy.  Being so smart definitely has its negative sides- he doesn't have the drive to work hard because everything comes so easy to him.  I don't know how to teach him that lesson.  Any suggestions?

Kaylee is thriving in school.  Ms Social butterfly and doing really well albeit her spelling and math are still her weakest points.  Hopefully we can help maintain what she has learned this year so next year won't be difficult.  She is enjoying gymnastics a lot and I am often seeing myself in her as I watch her.  Some of her mannerisms and shy tendencies definitely remind me of me when I was her age; not to mention those teeth of hers.  They are JUST like mine were.  Super duper crooked.  Phase one of braces may be coming sooner than later.

Andy is doing well.  He's growing in so many ways and I am so grateful for his patience with me as I go through this gross phase of pregnancy.  He is struggling loving his job right now, ready for a change, but upon praying about it was told it is not time yet.  We will see what the future holds! 

Oh and the BIG secret is we booked a DISNEY CRUISE!!!  I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT IT!!!  Seriously I haven't been this excited about a vacation for as long as I can remember.  The kids don't know though so it's a big surprise- DO NOT SAY A WORD to them okay?  We talked Andy's parents into coming with us, so it will be super special.  If anyone else wants to join us let me know- I think we should plan on doing this as an entire family someday.  August 14 is our sail date :)

I better run- sure love you all and am so grateful for you all.  I feel like I've been off grid for a while and I am desperate to get back on.  Hopefully as I enter this last week and a half of the first trimester I will start feeling better and have a more normal routine.

Changes are Happening

Don't have time to write much, but wanted to show you what we've been working on.  Check out the youtube video (that I don't have sound to, so don't worry there is nothing wrong with your computer) and pics below.  Also I am no expert at making these so you may have to intermittently pause to read all the captions!  

Hope this brightens this gloomy Monday! (at least it's super gloomy here!)

PS.  Please know that this was shot in REAL TIME.  Thus the reactions are true reactions as things were being revealed.  There are some pretty fun faces once it is understood that the last chalkboard was placed and the camera immediately started shooting.