Certifiably Insane....

That's what I declared myself after agreeing to drive to Arizona with my 2 younger brothers & kids last Thursday morning. 6 hours before departure!I decided long ago that my spontaniety went out the window when the 2 kids came in, so when my older brother called to convince me to come to Arizona to hang out with my SIL for the weekend while the boys went biking I said no. Somehow, after A LOT of indecisiveness and persuading, I ended up in Arizona.

Matt worked insane hours (the countdown is on, only one week left of busy season) and we got in some good quality bonding time.

Aside from minor travel incidents: a) flat tire on the way home, and b)the drive from &^*&^%#@ on the way out there- Brynlee was NOT a happy camper, the weekend was pretty darn fun.

Some Highlights:
We met up with Beth at the CUTEST Children's museum. If I was an AZ resident, a pass would be a must! They had a "car wash" that the kids could drive through. A grocery store where the could shop, cars to drive, cars to race, and lots of other contraptions! Seriously Cute!

Our other Arizona musts: a fun girls night with Janelle, Cafe Rio, and lots of pool and park time...arizona spring weather is the best!
We were ready to be home after going non-stop, but loved visiting with the family. Hopefully we weren't too destructive to their home :)

Quality Time

My Best friend from High School, Becky and her new little munchkin, Holland, came to stay with us for a week. My usual photo overload obsession was forgotten that week amidst all our fun, and I took pretty much zero pictures. What a bummer!
But I did learn that my kids are obsessed with all things baby, but mostly just with Baby Holland. He is still a frequently discussed topic in our home. They Loved him. We had to try and tame their love since mono can still technically be contagious through salivia, and my figure sucking little beauty is guaranteed to have remnants of salivia on her hands at all times. I think we gave Becky a heart attack a few times, but I spent lots of time convincing her that we really weren't contagious :)
Aside from that she put her interior decorating skills to good use and helped me re-vamp my poorly decorated home. Clearly decorating is not among my gifts! Lucky for me, it's one of hers.
The rest of our visit revolved a lot around food. What can I say, we like to eat. So we hit up all our favorite spots, in between our shopping, and just had plenty of craziness to spread around with our 3 kids!
Come back soon Becky!

Let the Fun Begin

After being couped up for nearly 3 weeks with more viruses and bacterial infections than any one family should have in a year, we've made up for lost time by spending the last couple weeks partying like it's 1999. Nonstop. I'm exhausted. But sadly it doesn't take much to get me to that state now-a-days.
We started off the party with a rager including "Thomas and Friends." If the young fans of Thomas the train had a fan website (which they very well may, but I will probably never google that one) Carson would be a regular follower.

Grandma Karen got us tickets to see "Thomas and Friends" Live at the Sports Arena. It was an afternoon full of all the concert regulars...popcorn, cotton candy, cookies, and hot chocolate. Topped off with the 2 cutest engineers you've ever seen. The kids had a blast, and it really was a cute show! Thanks Grandma Karen.

Love Life

So the verdict for little Carson is Mono! Isn't that "the kissing disease"???? Hmmmm, i've got some questions for him! We are into week 2 of house arrest, so you'd think all my projects are done,my house was spotless and everything is uber organized. Nope, just three sickies laying around putting off all the need to be done tasks for just one more day....With the exception of some organizing before the bug came to visit me!

As I was looking through some pics on my computer tonight I came across these that were never posted. For now, I'm living vicariously through our old pictures, but in another day or two we will be back in business and out painting the town all sorts of colors!
Why do we live in California where the real estate is still insanely high despite the recession? Because these were taken in January. Enough Said!

And these were pictures when we went to eat at Ruby's on the pier with my family. So I guess that means having so much family close by that we get to see them all we want and wear out our welcome on a weekly basis is also why we live here!

I'm just a little bit obsessed with these two right now! I think you love them a little extra when they are sick!

Yuck

I have a whole slew of tardy posts waiting to be published, yes, i've been quite the slacker, but instead I think i'll focus on the here and now of our week because it has been a dang long one....especially today! Somehow venting about it makes it just a little better. Call it a girl thing:)

Apparently the two months of winter that my kids are sick every year wasn't quite complete. Not only was it not complete those viruses and germs as well as all they're relatives & friends have come back with a vengeance. I try to wash our hands frequently, and I am totally eligible for a wipe nazi/hand sanitizer award, especially the ones for the grocery store carts, but somewhere on my kids back is a neon sign flashing "get me sick." They must in the process of building insanely strong immune systems for their adulthood :)

I usually avoid going to the doctors until I feel it's really necessary. After Carson's cough persisted over 5 days, accompanied by a fever a couple days, REALLY goopy, swollen and red eyes, and tonsils bigger than an 80 yr. old man I decided it was time to take him in. I do realize that it would be bordering child abuse not to take a little guy in with such symptoms, but let me assure you that these symptoms have not all been there the whole time, but slowly building for the grand finale.

(Not one of Carson's finer moments in life, but really this pics sums up just how he feels)

Then there's sweet little Brynlee who woke up with her fair share of goopy eyes and cold and cough to top it off. So why not take them both in for a double wammy.

Well after spending 3 1/2 hrs. at the doctors, pharmacies and labs, the results are in: double ear infection with one "bulging" ear for Brynlee and pink eye for both. Oh joy! That's not the best part though. They have yet to determine why Carson's tonsils are so swollen and pussy (excuse the verbage, not the best word, but really only the way to describe it.) So we waited in the darn lab to test for mono with a bunch of older folks for an HOUR while my two super sick kids whimpered and cuddled on my lap because all they wanted to do was sleep. Then I had to hold my 4 yr. old while his blood was drawn. Let's just say, there were more than a few tears shed and it wasn't by him. He was super tough.

I've officially reached my breaking point. Matt's busy tax season is crazy enough by itself, we see him rarely, but after being stuck at home for three days, then dealing with lab techs who were so not friendly, did me in. So now my tough little 4 yr. old is in bed for the night with tonsils just as swollen as when he woke up. Breaks my heart!!!

On a bright note I have saved quite a bit of money this week not making my weekly target runs, and I even feel a little better after my vent session. So thanks for listening...or not, I still feel better!

A Day Of Love

My cousin Ashley got married last week and it was a heavenly day! She looked seriously gorgeous, the ceremony, luncheon, and Reception were beautiful, but most importantly it was a full day with no kids!!! (Listen carefully and you can hear the angels singing, which they so often do when such an occasion arises.) Oh I how I love those little goobers, but I just might love them a little more after a full day without them. It was just what the doctor ordered. Especially in the heart of tax season for Matt, the break was great for both of us.

All endowed members of my family were home for the first time in awhile, so we woke up at 4:45 to get to L.A temple in time to do a session before the ceremony. My mom was busy chatting, but she was there to:)

Ashley and her new hubby are going to be such a cute little family. Apparently i'm about 10 years older than I thought I was since my cute younger cousins are actually of marrying age. Dang!

I always love love love to see my cousins on the Anderson side. We don't get together enough and SO need to!

Serious thanks to Grandma Karen & Grandpa Floyd who made our kidless day possible and kept them happy from sun up to sun down. We just don't know what we would do without her! Love you Both!

A Rainy Ride

The other day I sat down to lunch with Carson and said, "Hey Cars, have you had a pretty good day so far?"
"Yes. Ummmm, actually I mean no, because it wasn't a day with Dad. A good day is a day with Dad."
Are you kidding me??? That is among the most cute things he has ever said. And why wouldn't a day with dad be good? He's seems to have at least 20 times the energy I do and has new make believe game ideas popping out of his ears. Carson lives for their occasional friday "work days" but even more so, their saturday "adventures." The most recent, a rainy bike ride to my parents was really quite the site.

It started out just cold and gloomy, so we bundled up our happy man! He was ready to go with some books to read and snacks packed for him and dad. Except somehow no snacks were left for dad when they reached their destination :)
It wasn't long before the rains came tumbling down. Brynlee and I got in the car and it we caught up to them at town center hiding under the clock for cover.
Eventually they carried on, and kept pushing even when it started hailing!!!! Crazy Boys!

Meanwhile Brynlee and I enjoyed our heated car ride and acted like the paparazzi chasing them down. Brynlee was giddy everytime she spotted them. Which is good since she was seriously bummed she couldn't go!