February

This pic is of our dog Duncan, who hasn't had a bath or a much needed hair cut in a while because he has been recovering from surgery. He likes to bark at our neighbor dog Diesel, who is a Rottweiler. When Duncan was barking with his nose in the slats of our fence Diesel grabbed his bottom jaw and yanked. This fractured Duncan's bottom jaw and ripped off his bottom lip and all the skin down to the muscle all down that white patch of his neck. When Brad took him in the vet said this needs to be fixed now, to will cost 300-500 unless the jaw is fractured. Brad was not ready to say good bye to our dog, especially with the boys there with him at the vet. So 698 dollars later we brought Duncan home.   His jaw was wired back together and his skin pulled together and sewn. It cost another 70 to get the stitches and wiring out. I approached our neighbors to see it they would be willing to help with the cost...no they have had a tough year financially. If you have been reading my blog this year you will know our a baby spent a week in the hospital with RSV last February. In November she fell down the stairs and fractured her leg (x rays and SO expensive), Brad had shoulder surgery, Ethan got a retainer (very expensive) and I had X-rays on my foot and a boot to pay for for it. Not to mention we had already paid for everything  for our trip to Disneyland when this happened. I smiled at my neighbor really nice, said ok and paid the bill myself. This has been a really hard things for me to let go of,  I have tried to remind my self that the Lord really has blessed us despite our trials. Mira was only in the hospital one week, she broke her leg not her neck or back, some how we still had enough to take care of Brad's shoulder, Ethan's retainer and my foot and still take a great trip to Disneyland. I am thankful that I am a mother even though kids are expensive, at least I have them. I'm thankful for Brad's good job that pays for all of these things and allows me to stay home with our crazy kids. Duncan will be having a nice hair cut and bath this weekend even though that bushy face makes me laugh. You can see the raw skin on his chin, there wasn't quiet enough to stretch and he is missing a few bottom teeth so when he's panting he really looks kind of scary

 Mira and her necklaces taking a wild ride in Lily's baby cradle

 Mira is a super huggy baby. One day I was holding her and she wanted to give Eddie a hug so I handed her over. It looked so funny I had to take a quick picture even though Eddie was grunting and saying, "hurry mom she is so heavy"

 I carried her to the couch so he could give Eddie a better hug, awwwww

 Mira loves raisins. She gets this big container from the cupboard and carries it to the rug where I find her with both hand full of them

 Ethan's pinewood derby. He didn't win any races but he was a really good sport. We were so proud of him and how hard he worked on his car and for cheering on the other boys.

 Eddie made a car too even though he isn't a scout.  The leaders let the little kids race when all the scouts were done. This year there were no rules about weight so they each have a water bottle taped to the top to make them heavy

 Mira's new favorite is peanut butter on a spoon, she gets the PB and carries it to me and then follows me back to the silverware drawer and waits. You can see it all over her face.

 Eddie and his best friend Arianne and their derby cars

 Ethan got the most original car award

 No I didn't tie up my children, however tempting that might be at times, they made hammocks out of bed sheets tied to each side of the bunk bed

 Mira wanted Brad to hold her while he was biking, this was the next best option

 The kids got chocolate lips from Grandma and grandpa for V-Day

 Grandma and Grandpa stayed and helped Ethan with his Valentines box and Valentines while I got the other three in bed. Brad had City Council that night and I was so grateful for their help

 I bought Mira a marshmallow sucker for V-day

 I bought Lily a box of chocolate for Valentine's Day and she ate the whole thing in about 5 minutes. She gets her love of sugar from me

 Lily shared one of her chocolates with Mira (the icky one) Mira loved it!

 Mira giving a baby in our ward hugs. She loves babies

 Mira also loves noodles

At school it was the 100th day and the kids got to dress up like they are 100 yrs old. These were their costumes. I thought their "old faces were funny

This is Eddie's potato at the potato derby Elders quorum activity

Ethan's

Lily put so many wheels and nails in hers it needed a few adjustments to make it roll, and then it rolled off the track a fourth of the way down

Lily decided to get her self a snack. I was a bit shocked to find her sitting t the table like this, I'm glad she didn't choke on all that

Mira loves her black sparkly church shoes, but the right one won't stay on, so frustrating