Precious moments.

This is how I found Noah asleep on the couch last night as I was going up to bed. He looks so angelic, and yet this is the child that has recently been warned that if he says "You're so rude!" to me one more time when he doesn't get his way, he'll be getting a nice squirt of soap in his mouth! Ahh, I savor these moments.

Oh, the drama!

I don't know what is going on with little miss Sophia lately, but she's been keeping our lives interesting. This afternoon we decided spur of the moment to go into town after we picked up the boys from school and have dinner at Texas Roadhouse. This is a restaurant choice typically saved for (parents only) date night, because of the prices, but today we thought it would be fun to go as a family for something special. We all immediately indulged in the delicious rolls and sweet butter, those of you familiar with Texas Roadhouse know what I'm talking about. Well, as Sophie was about halfway through her second roll, she started crying and saying her throat felt funny. I took her into the bathroom, as I thought maybe she was going to throw up (see previous post). She didn't, but just kept saying her throat hurt and felt funny. After several minutes in the bathroom, with no resolution to her dilemma, we returned to the table. She continued to cry, seemingly with intermittent pain flushing over her, so back to the restroom we went. Once there, she just kept repeating, "Mom, what's happening to me? I just want to know what wrong with me!" We again went back to the table, and the process repeated a couple more times before we asked for some boxes, took our food, and drove as quickly as we could to the emergency room. As dramatic and animated as Sophie can be at times, we'd never seen her this way and it was kind of frightening. Once at the ER, she continued with the same complaints, and said it was hurting in her chest. After an examination by the doctor, it was determined that she didn't have anything lodged in her throat, she tested negative for strep, and the only other possibility that they could come up with was an allergic reaction of some kind. She was given Motrin and Benadryl, and finally after about an hour, she was feeling better. While we were sitting in the exam room, waiting for the doctor to come back, she turned to me and said: "Mom, maybe Jesus is sleeping and he doesn't know he needs to fix me. Maybe you could tell him to wake up so he can help the doctor figure out what's wrong with my throat!"
When we got home, she went right to sleep. I hope she's better tomorrow, or she'll miss ANOTHER day of Kindergarten!

Well, scratch that.

I guess I spoke too soon. About a half an hour after I dropped the kids off at school, Sophie's teacher called and said she threw up all over the floor. That'll teach me. Such is life, I guess. Feel better, Sophie!

Day two, now what am I to do?

Today Sophie is off on her second day of Kindergarten, and Chris also started back at ISU this week, so that means it's just Nicolas and me! It does feel strange to have such an empty house, but I think I can get used to it!

It's all relative...

This weekend we went to Utah to visit some very close friends of ours, the Blanch family. Most years we've been able to visit them at least a couple of times during the summer months, but this year this was the only chance we've had to coordinate schedules and get together. In October they will be leaving to serve (another) mission for the church and will be gone for 1-2 years, so this may have been our last opportunity to see them for a while, and we will miss being so close to them. While we were at their house, the kids enjoyed riding the powerwheels, swimming and eating soft-serve ice cream from their ice cream machine. We also went to the Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake. The kids really enjoyed seeing the different sea-life exhibits. It was a cool place, and we had fun spending time together!

Here's Nicolas on his first try operating the motor scooter! We were all amazed at how well he took to it; he doesn't speak, but he can ride the scooter!

Sophie and Sam, going round and round.

Yummy!

Checking out the stingrays.

Sophie hiding in the coral reef!

Sophie and Grandpa B. at the aquarium.

Cute and giggly girls, Sophie and Macie.

Some of the kids having a blast in the pool - Noah, Sophie, McKay and Macie.

Hip, hip hooray, back to school today!!

Yesterday was actually the first official day of school, so Sam (1st grade), and Noah (3rd grade), went yesterday. But today marked the start of the year for Sophia, our Kindergartner, and to echo my friend, Lindsay, "Oh Happy Day"!
Chris starts his last year at ISU on Monday, so since he didn't have to work today, we made the most of our day together, just us and Nicolas. It was SOOOO quiet!!
Yesterday when Chris picked the boys up from school, Sammy started sobbing as soon as he saw his daddy. When Chris asked him what was wrong, he said: "I missed you and mom and it made me sad." Awe, poor little guy! We spent the rest of the evening reassuring him that he would feel better after a few days of school, once he's used to his new teacher, etc. Today when we came home from running some errands, there was a message on our voice mail from his teacher that said he did well until about noon, but after returning from library he started to get sad again, worrying that we might be missing him too much, so she was letting him leave us a "love phone message". Then came Sam's quivering voice saying: "I love you and I'll be home soon." What a soft and tender-hearted little boy.
Sophie and Noah, on the other hand, both were happy to be separated from us, if it meant getting to be with their friends.

What remains.

Those of you familiar with our area may know that the winters here come cold, hard and fast, and last for what seems like forever, so we're trying to make the most of the remaining days before Chris and the kids start back to school. So, yesterday we made the short drive over to Big Springs campground on the other side of Pebble Creek. We found a cool spot right next to the creek and just played.Poor little Nicolas, he grabbed the hot end of a roasting stick and burned his hands. Ouch!
.This is what Chris did while I took the kids for a walk on a nature trail.