stomach flu.

Is there anything worse than the stomach flu? I thought it was the worst thing ever when I was a kid. As an adult, its not any less awful. And as a mom, well, its horrible all over again. I hate seeing my little ones cry and moan and run to the bathroom. I hate seeing them kneeling in front of the toilet, just remembering how bad it hurts your stomach.

Last night Mitchel and Ashley came down with it. Mitchel first just before Josh and I went to bed. Ashley in the wee hours of the morning. They spent all night and a good part of today throwing up. The rest of the day was spent feeling achey all over. Whenever Ashley would move she said it hurt. One time she said "I feel like an old woman when I move". I had to smile at that! Ashley would just lay in her room and cry and hold her stomach. Finally I decided she needed to be closer to me. don't you remember that? how somehow being closer to your mom, like in the same room just seemed to help your aches a little bit? I was glad that when I moved her in, she was able to catch a few winks. I knew she had to be exhausted.

Once we discovered she preferred my room and was going to spend the entire day and evening here, we upgraded her floor bed to make it more comfy, but I didn't take any pictures.... you'll just have to believe me that it was one nice and soft floor bed!

Mitchel spent most of the day in the living room green chair. The sun came in the window and made it quite cozy. He watched movies and more importantly, got in some good naps.

I hope tonight is a better night for both of them. (and me!!) And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rest of us are able to escape this nasty bug.....

cookie decorating.

Aunt Jan made yummy sugar cookies. The kids had a ball cutting them out with all the super fun cutters and frosting & decorating them. I enjoyed eating them. yum. truly my favorite sweet treat.

Annika clearly had superior skill (and perhaps experience) at decorating. She showed us all some pointers.

swimming. spring break 2010.

Swimming at the indoor pool at the Y in Boise was a definite favorite.

Spring Break 2010

No school or work. An entire week off. Our dad still in NC for work. Sunday, March 28 3pm: Load 4 kids, 1 grandma, 2 PSPs, 2 DSs, 2 Ipods, 2 suitcases, 2 laptops, 10 capri-suns, numerous baggies pre-filled with snacks, 4 movies, 5 pillows, 3 blankies into the mini-van and hit the road. Destination: Boise. Lots of excitement just thinking about spending 4 days with the Boises as Coleman refers to our Miller cousins.

Aunt Jan, who is always such a good hostess, had a perfect week planned for us. We went swimming, decorated cookies, had fitness contests, played at an indoor playground, watched movies, and played at the park. It was such fun.

Uncle Kendall had to go out of town on Tuesday and so me, Jan, and mom had a fun girls night in with a rented movie (julie & julia) foot soaks, and take out from Good Wood bbq. man, I love these girls.

Thanks Boises for the great time. We SO love coming to your house and being with you.

personality.

In my posts on Ashley, I failed to talk about this little girl's personality. I think I covered her likes and interests, but I missed describing who this girl really is.

She talks in a quiet voice.

She deeply cares about other people's feelings.

She is sensitive, but not overly dramatic about it.

She always tries to make others happy.

She never says unkind things about anyone. ever.

She is very affectionate. loves hugs and kisses and cuddles.

She tries to be helpful.

She is a make-believer. a daydreamer. a lover of animals.

And man of man, do we ever love her!

Quoting Coleman

We dined as a family at Red Robin on Wednesday night - yep as a whole family!! We are so happy our dad is back from a way too long business trip....

From our table you could view the galley area where the servers got the food to bring out to the tables. Tired of waiting, Coleman asked me when the food was coming and why it was taking so long. I replied, "they are making your food." Coleman looked at me and with all seriousness said, " no they aren't, they are just talking." I then turn to where he was looking and sure enough about 6 servers standing there doing that...talking. I didn't bother to explain that the servers weren't the cooks, etc. He was totally convinced they were talking instead of fixing his food!

On a side note, I learned that they give food-refills on the kids menu - this is a good deal when you have growing boys like I do. For no charge our server refilled mitchel's mac-n-cheese....pretty sweet.

Young Women

I am lucky enough to serve in the Young Women organization in our ward. For me, there is no other place I would rather be serving. I love the girls. I love the ladies I serve with. I love the program and its teachings. I love the testimony building opportunities that my calling gives to me.

Last Saturday we took our young women to Salt Lake to attend the General Young Women Broadcast. We left at 7 am and I pulled back into my driveway right around midnight. We kept the girls busy touring all around temple square (where there were yw flags and stuff all around), laughing, eating, and of course attending the broadcast. It was worth every minute. The talks were outstanding and the feeling of being in the presence of the prophet was indescribable. I have no doubt that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God.