The Recession hits home

Well, its finally happened. We've been anticipating this for months now...layoff's. But dont panic just yet, we are still employed...at the moment. The news of Discover's 500 layoffs at the headquarters location, came out yesterday. We are trying to be optimistic, or as Ryan says..."preparing for the worst, hoping for the best", just to be ready for anything. The part that has us nervous (or me I guess), is that they arent basing their decision on the performance of the employee...just making cuts in order to cut their spending. So much for all of Ryans hard work, right? So lets look at the bright side...85% of employees will get to keep their jobs, and this is supposed to be the only layoff's they are planning on. So technically, we should be fine. But just in case, this is my plea...PRAY FOR US! We also have many great friends who work there as well, so we will be keeping them in our prayers also. The decision will be made by Mid-May. Stay tuned for the outcome.

Happy Birthday Zack!

We cant believe it, our little boy is already 2! He has brought us so many laughs (along with frustrations) over the past two years. He really does liven up our family. We celebrated his birthday a day early, because of a busy schedule today. I kept trying to get a good picture of him, but he just thought it was funny to run away from me, so these are the ones I captured! He is a goof ball!

I snuck up on him hiding in this one. We call this his Daddy pose..this is how Ryan likes to lay.
We had a Cars theme. He watches that movie almost every morning. His favorite new toy has got to be the Mack truck.

He also liked this racing dog car from Grandma...

taking a picture of himself with his new cars camera.

Kung Foo Panda. Its been a long time coming. Too long I think. It used to be his favorite, but now its worn off.

Then it was time for cake.

Zack refers to the cake only as "fire!" He loves to blow out candles. I think we lit and he blew this one out about 6 times, until we said enough. He'll either be a fireman...or a pyro!

" Yay! I did it! (again) "

Way to Go! Giving Dad "knuckles"

Eating it isnt so bad either.

But he didnt get as messy as last year...

Then it was time for bowling with his new toy! He has only seen it done on the Wii, but every time he got them all, he would yell "Strike!" If he didnt get them all, then he would say "Awww...Spare." and then go kick the rest down.

Happy 2nd Birthday Zack!

Kids say the funniest things (TAG)

Our friend had these questions on their blog, and I thought it was so fun that I should turn it into a tag. So these are the questions we asked our kids and the answers they gave about us. Its nice to get their perspective on things! Anyone who has kids old enough to respond is tagged! Of course M=Madison K=Katelin and A=Alissa responses. Pink about Mom, and blue about Dad.

1. What is something mom/dad always says to you?

M: Go clean your room/ How was your day?

K:Get ready for school/ Help Mom

A: Wheres my happy Lissa? /Isnt anybody going to give me a hug?

2. What makes mom/dad happy?
M: When I clean my room, and tell her I love her/ When I listen to Mom
K:When I help Dad/When I help Mom
A: When I clean up my room by myself/When I write my whole name


3. What makes mom/dad sad?
M: When I hurt people/ When I dont listen to Mom
K: When we dont listen/When he doesnt get to do his homework
A: When somebody hits her/When some people pinch him


4. How does your mom/dad make you laugh?
M: She is sarcastic/He tickles me
K: she says funny things/ tickling me
A: When she pushes me crazy on the swing/He tickles me


5. What was your mom/dad like as a child?
M: I dont know...a tomboy/Naughty, thats where I get it from
K: She went swimming and played/ he did chores
A: I think that she played with her stuffed animals/I think he played with his Mama and Daddy


6. How old is your mom/dad?
M: 29/31
K: 29/32
A: too hard of a question


7. How tall is your mom/dad?
M: Im up to Moms Boobs/ very tall
K:How am I supposed to know!
A: too tall/too tall


8. What is her/his favorite thing to do?
M:Spend time with her family/ watch football with his family, if his family will watch football
K:scrapbook/play basketball
A: play games with me/ play games with me too


9.What does your mom/dad do when you're not around?
M: How should I know...Im not around!
K: Fun stuff/ Buy candy
A: look for me/ try to find me


10. If your mom/dad becomes famous, what will it be for?
M: helping people with their problems/playing football
K: their kids
A: because she wants people to know her/ because he wants to dress modest


11. What is your mom/dad really good at?
M: Taking care of me/ playing soccer and almost any other sport
K: scrapbooking/ basketball
A: painting/helping people


12. What is your mom/dad not very good at?
M: Do I have to answer?...in my opinion, designing clothing/fixing our hair
K: I cant think of anything/ fixing hair
A: cant think of anything/ when we ride him, some people fall off


13. What does your mom/dad do for a job?
M: Take care of me/makes report cards for his people at work
K: Cook/ Discover Card
A: take care of us/feeds us food when Moms not here


14.What is your mom's/dad's favorite food?
M: burritos/ nachos
K: coconut/ Roast Beef
A: yogurt/Spaghetti


15.What makes you proud of your mom/dad?
M: That shes great at fixing hair/ he works and earns money and nurtures his family
K: When she cooks/ when he helps me with my homework
A: when she helps me blow my nose/ when he helps me


16. If your mom/dad were a cartoon character, who would she/he be?
M: I dont know/Mickey Mouse because he loves cheese and hes funny
K:Word Girl/ Scooby Doo
A: Caillou/ Rosie


17. What do you and your mom/dad do together?
M:shop and work on school projects/homework and watch TV
K: garden/ play
A: play a game/sit by each other


18. How are you and your mom/dad the same?
M: were both girls/ Were both cheeseheads
K: Were both girls/ freckles
A: we dress the same/ I can talk in his big voice


19. How are you and your mom/dad different?
M: we disagree on colors/ Hes better at soccer than me, and hes a boy
K: shes bigger/ hes taller
A: we dress different/ he doesnt have hair like me


20. How do you know your mom/dad loves you?
M:She tells me and works for our family and feeds me/he works and provides
K: She takes care of us/ He helps us
A: she kisses me/ he tucks me in


21. What does your mom/dad like most about your dad/mom?
M:he loves her/she loves him and shes hot
K: they go on dates/ she cooks good food
A: I dont know/ I dont know


22. Where is your mom's/dad's favorite place to go?
M:The movies?/a football game
K: friends house/a football game
A: to a restaurant/ at the zoo

Bug invasion!

Warning! Do not come within 20 feet of our house this week! We have been infested with bugs! (And I mean the sick kind.) Zack and I sort of started it off with just being congested and having a slight cough. This has been going on for...a while. Nothing too serious or that I cant handle. So Tuesday, I was planning on taking the kids to the childrens museum while the older ones were at school. Of course Madi woke up in the morning complaining that her tummy hurt.
I asked her "Do you feel like throwing up?"
Her reply "I dont know."
So I told her to eat some breakfast and see how she felt after that. She seemed fine to me, and I reassured her that if she stayed home she wasnt going to get to go to the museum with us. Miraculously she felt better after she ate. But then as Katelin is eating, she says:
"Mommy, my tummy hurts."
I guess that gave her a good idea. I also reassured her that we would not be going to the museum if she stayed home sick...but then she ran to the bathroom. It wasnt throw up, but still not good, if you get my drift.
So Im pretty much planning on cancelling my plans at an attempt to be a fun Mom for the day, but still waiting it out just in case. So I fix Madi's hair for school, during which time, Katelin goes to the bathroom again...this time it was throw up. Yup, Im stayin home today. So I send Madi off to school, and then a little later I get a call from Ryan telling me that he is feeling weak, having chills, an upset stomach and sore muscles. Sounds bad right? But no fever. A couple hours later Katelin is up and running around like nothing happened. Well, Ryan plugs through the rest of the work day, and heads home a little early to come home and pile on the blankets to try and get warm. Still no fever though.
Then Wednesday comes...I know this is getting long, but I will get to the point. Ryan stayed home, and started to feel better. The kids went to school. Things were looking up. I was feeling a little tired, and still congested, but welcome to the last two weeks. Then Madi comes home from school saying:
"My throat has been hurting all day", and had a cough as well. So we get through Wednesday, and go to bed to wake up today (Thursday), to Ryan dripping in sweat, Madi in our room because she couldnt sleep (coughing and sniffling, still with a sore throat, Katelin with something that appears to be pink eye...and Im pretty sure my simple congestion has now turned into a full blown sinus infection; since I can no longer breath at all through my nose, my gums hurt and my head is aching. So of course, all the kids are home today. Ryan had a slight fever this morning, but went to work anyway, this time sweating instead of freezing.
So how many different bugs did you count? If we havent caught it yet, theres always tomorrow.
Oh yeah...does anyone have a bubble I can put Brylee in?

Date with Dad

The girls' school puts on a Daddy Daughter Dance every year around Valentines Day. They get so excited to dress up and go out on a Date with their Dad. They got to eat dinner, and have a hoola-hoop and a dance contest. They didnt win this year, but theres always the next one! They also came home with pretty bracelets and balloons. Alissa was so upset that she didnt get to go, so we took her picture too. She cant wait until she's big enough! This time she got to go with Mommy to get a kids meal and ice-cream and watch a movie at home with popcorn! She was okay with that.

Its official...

Ive stepped over into the van world. I always swore I would never drive a "Mormon Assult Vehicle", but I caved. It was sooo needed with the addition of our 5th kid, and not having nearly enough room for them in our SUV. The back door got stuck again, so Madi and Katelin were having to climb over the seats to get to the back, and with snowy shoes, and in dresses for church... lets just say it wasnt good. I also could not fit my double stroller in, so that limited me trying to go anywhere with the kids. Anyway, I have to admit, I am a little giddy about this van. Its not the model I wanted but I guess it looks alright; and YEAH my kids can get in and out and I dont have to shove the car seats together to get them to fit anymore! I can actually fit my stroller in soo easy, and have room for groceries too! Plus it has all the neat gadgets weve been missing out on in a car thats newer than 12 years, like heated seats, steering wheel radio controls, automatic opening doors and a navigation! Its pretty cool...for a van I mean.

Now the scary part. Its so weird being able to see out the back now, I feel like Im in a big bubble. Im so afraid Im going to wreck it...which almost happened to Ryan last night. Yes, we owned the thing for one whole day, and almost crashed it already! We were on our way home from the dealership to clean out our Montero, and it was snowing. The roads were really slick. He wasnt going that fast, and gave us plenty of stopping time, but the van just kept going anyway...right through the stop sign and into the intersection! He started honking, and luckily the car coming the other direction stopped just in time and didnt side swipe us! What is with that traction control stuff? So Im now even more paranoid to go out. Isnt that ironic? I finally get a vehicle that can fit everything in, and now Im too afraid to drive it! At least its fun to sit in. Here are some picts!

Alissa had to be in the pictures, the kids love it of course!

Picture update

I thought I would post some random pictures Ive taken over the last month, since they didnt make their own post's. First, and most importantly, Madison finally got her glasses! She is pretty happy that she can see now, and she likes the glasses as well. Thumbs up to eye sight! This one is of the girls pretending to be fire fighters and put out a fire on the stove. Somehow the backwards hats and sweater jackets made good uniforms, and the hose was made out of a paper towel roll with paper stuffed in the end. Zack kept walking around in a concerned manner repeating "fire", and Ive set off the alarm off twice since then from kitchen smoke. I think hes traumatized. Yes, I'm a good cook.

This was just cute. But I am a little upset that she is already two months old and at the amount of hair she has lost! At least she is happy about it.
This is Alissa with her static hair. I dont know how well you can see it, but she stood up from the couch and it looked like she had been electrocuted!

Our 'budding' artist! I couldnt believe she drew these roses all by herself. She was pretty proud, unfortunately she didnt color them on something a little more permanent.

Why does this kid have to put everything on his head? From underwear to juice pitchers...
"Here, Katelin...you try it on!"