Life

I was shopping for a birthday card for my dad, and came across this one. I couldn't pass it up...it seems to be how I'm feeling about life right now...of course, in my case, it's one SUGAR-FREE cupcake at a time!

Charlie is Four!

Yesterday was Charlie's Birthday. He turned four. This was a fun one for us because it was the first year he's actually anticipated his birthday...instead of just waking up one morning to find presents like in years past. He counted down the days and was so excited about turning four. The day started off with a bang at 6:15 when everyone woke up, but then deteriorated a bit as we had to wait until Dad came home from seminary at 7:45 before any presents could be opened.



Luckily, the teeter-totter was to big too wrap, so the kids got to enjoy this for a while during the wait.

Finally, dad came home and presents were opened...everything was enjoyed...especially the Luigi costume (worn throughout the rest of the day).

Then, off the three older kids went to school, and Charlie and I stayed home and decorated his cake. (I got this edible and personalized cake image from an ebay seller for about $8.00 with shipping. Definitely the least work/biggest reward type of cake to decorate. We just frosted the cake and stuck the image down. My kids were SO impressed.



With the 6:15 wake-up call, "quiet time" turned into nap time, and while Charlie took a birthday snooze, everyone else took full advantage....

Harry accessorized with Charlie's Indiana Jones whip and gun,


And John hungrily eyed the cake....

But finally, everyone got home from school and work, and we celebrated with Charlie's favorite dinner of Pokemon Mac and Cheese. (His first choice was cinnamon rolls, but I explained that that might be a better choice for a birthday breakfast celebration). More presents were opened, candles blown out, and cake enjoyed. Birthday success!

School, Wonderful School

Well, the day finally arrived! School started yesterday! (This is as much an accomplishment for me as for my children...it means I survived another summer!) Joe, Maggie and Harry all went off to school excitedly and happily. I feel so lucky to have children that (so far) are excited about school. The jury is actually still out on how much Harry will enjoy school once the novely wears off, but for now,"kindergarten is totally awesome!" in his words. You'll notice he had to wear his new leather jacket on the first day...not caring a bit that it was supposed to be 80 degrees that day! The first picture below shows him coming out of the classroom and waiting in line to go home....jacket still on. The second picture shows him finally relenting and simply carrying the jacket. I'm just glad he and the jacket made it home together!


As for me, I'm enjoying four hours a day with just two children at home. Charlie will start pre-school next week, and then I'll be down to one! John will probably wander around the house like an abandoned little soul. Oh well, we'll deal. :)

Happy Birthday Joe!

Today we celebrated Joe's 38th Birthday. (Can you believe I'm married to someone SO old? :)) This year for his birthday and mine (coming up next month) we decided to forgo presents and buy ourselves iPhones instead. So, even though he got his "present" over a month ago, we (the kids and I) thought it was necessary to have an iPhone themed party, complete with an iPhone cake! (I'm so excited birthday cake season is coming up in my family....I love decorating fun cakes!)


Anyway, here are some pictures of the party. ( And yes, for some reason, Harry has a mustache, and Joe has a tattoo).




Oh, after the party, Harry asked if he could "shove his face in the cake". He's asked this many times before, but I'm usually so greedy with the cake that I can't stand to see it wasted. This time however, I let him do me a favor and go for it. You see, I was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes (I also had it when I was pregnant with John, so it wasn't too surprising), and so I can't have any sugar from now until the baby comes. I'm usually able to withstand, but I decided half an iPhone cake sitting around would be too much temptation. So, we let Harry go wild. As you can see, he had a great time!

Joe on YouTube

My nine year old has become an author on YouTube. Here he is giving a tutorial of how to solve a 2X2 Rubik's Cube. He did this entirely on his own...the filming and everything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_PrHqCmLgY

Here is another one that he says is his best one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXZ3qiEjE4s

P.S. Anyone want to tell me how to actually add the video here to my blog? I know you can do it somehow

Oh, Where to Begin?

So much has happened in the last three weeks (is that that all it's been since I last posted?), somehow I don't know where to begin. I guess I'll just start with where I left off.....where were we?

Oh yes, Oregon...Harry was lighting things on fire with blow torches, and Charlie started throwing up. And kept throwing up, and kept throwing up. For over two weeks, Charlie was throwing up. I took him to the ER in Oregon TWICE, and TWICE had to subject a three year old to the insertion of an IV, just for them to tell me that they didn't really know what was wrong, and that they were sure he would just get better on his own. He wasn't getting better on his own, and I had to make the next leg of our trip to Utah to pick up Joe at the airport. By the time we got to Utah, Charlie had lost about 5 pound (he only started at 35 pounds), he wasn't eating or drinking anything, and he just laid around everywhere we went. Finally, on Monday the 14th, something else happened and we took him back to the ER. He started getting this weird rash-like thing on his hands, feet, and hips. The is the best picture we could get.

When we took him to the ER in Utah, they said it wasn't a rash, but rather the blood vessels and capillaries under his skin bursting. Usually, this is a sign of some sort of infection. The Dr. ran several tests and finally brought us a text book with a picture of a man whose rash and symptoms exactly matched Charlie's. Apparently it's pretty simple. He had a strep infection (I had always thought you could only get those in your throat), and his body was allergic to it, and couldn't fight it off on his own. So, with the miracle of good ol' antibiotics, Charlie was back to normal within a few days. It was very frustrating to have to have waited so long for such a simple diagnosis, but I was so grateful that it was so easily fixed. Also grateful that we had already reached our maximum out of pocket with our insurance, so everything was 100% covered! :)

So, moving on, we were able to have a good time in Utah, visiting Grandma and Grandpa Simmons, seeing Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Friends. We got to catch up with the Dupaix Family, and Joe IV and TJ got to spend a few days together before leaving for opposite coasts again. We hit up a few of Utah's best water parks, got to visit the Church History museums and see the view from the top of the Church Office building. We had a great time, but needless to say, after three weeks, (two of them with a very sick child) I was ready to get home. We left on Saturday the 19th, stayed over in Vegas, and rolled into SLO on the 20th.

When I got home, Joe had a fantastic surprise for me. He had had my kitchen cabinets and banister painted for me while I was gone. This was at the top of my wish list for my house, and it was so nice to come home to it done, and to not have to have been in the house while it was being done. Here are a couple of pictures....

The following weekend, I got to take a couple of days and go to see my sisters who were together in San Juan Capistrano. We had a great couple of days of shopping, eating and just hanging out. It was the vacation I needed after the vacation I had just taken!

And finally, as most of you already know, I'll have to be re-naming this blog soon, as we will no longer be the BrundageFive. While visiting my sisters I had a "mall-ultrasound" (another experience entirely), and learned that we will be blessed with another boy in January. Seeing as this will most likely be my last child (I'm just getting so tired), we of course were thinking a girl would be nice. But after some time to reflect, I'm so excited to have another son. Having five sons is a pretty cool thing I think. Now, if we can just figure out what to name him!

Now, we're just killing time, waiting for school to start (Only 22 more days!), filling our time with swimming, bike riding and tree-fort building. I'll leave you with this last picture of my children in the "tree-fort" they built. Harry said, "it's really more like a tree-bench", but when your only tree is only 10 years old, this is what you get!

Images From Oregon

Here is just a sampling of what we've been up to in Oregon....

Fun days at the lake....

Nothing beats a Fourth of July Parade in Madras....

John appreciates the fireworks as any one year old does...

Maggie & cousins treat us to some dancing entertainment...

And finally, didn't you know that the best way to light fireworks is with the blow torch? And, didn't you know that the most responsible person to put in charge of lighting ALL the fireworks is the 5 year old who already has pyromaniac tendencies? Oh well, we all made it out with our eyebrows!