The Tooth Fairy has the Flu

I'm pretty sure the Tooth Fairy has the flu.
For some reason she missed our house two nights ago when a little boy lost his tooth. What a tradgedy we encountered because of her thoughtlesness. I'm pretty sure she was up all night with sick kids and somehow slept right through the alloted time to replace a snaggled tooth with the ever coveted quarter. We tried to reassure Parker that she most certainly was sick because why else would she miss such an important event. We told him however that she would most definately be there later that day while he was up and around the house. And alas she did arrive later that morning. Bedragled from a long night of no sleep, coughing crying children and her own pounding head and aching body, she ever so expertly snuck into Parkers room to deposit the money. Not long after, I told Parker that I was certain that I heard some noise upstairs. He ran to his room threw back the covers and discovered that the tooth fairy had indeed come. What a relief! She really could have made life difficult for me. So please Tooth Fairy next time can you do us all a big favor and not get the flu. We would really appreciate it.

Parker ever so expertyly pulled his tooth out after several failed attempts at the "I think i'll eat an apple mom" approach. Now for the other tooth that is dying and needs to be extracted. Can you guess which one that is? He is going to have one big hole in his mouth!!!!

Autumns Blessing

Congratulations Autumn on your special day!!

September 6, 2009

Your blessing was a beautiful day. Everyone was so excited to meet you and Daddy was so proud to give you your name and blessing. You couldn't have looked more precious in your blessing gown that Nana made. Abrianna also wore this dress on her blessing day, which made it extra special. Daddy took you in his arms and along with Papa, Grandpa Glenn, Grandpa DePiazza, Uncle Richard and Uncle John, gave you a beautiful blessing. Here are a few things that he blessed you with:

-you will have the strength you need to go through your mortal life

-you will have the gift of spirituality

-you will have a desire to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost

-you will gain gifts and talents to be an example

-through you many will desire to join the Church

-your loins will be fruitful and you will bear many children

-you will live a long life, standing as a great example

-with the ability to be a peacemaker

-when the time is right you will enter the Holy Temple, and enter into sacred covenants-even eternal marriage

We are so blessed to have you in our family.

Mommy and Autumn


Nana and Autumn

Grandma and Grandpa DePiazza

Parker and Ben. Can we say RELATED!! I think these two could actually be brothers rather than cousins. Too cute.

More cousisns.

Maddy, Abrianna, and Brenna

Thankyou to everyone who helped make this a special day. It was so wonderful to have all of you join us for Autumns blessing. We are so grateful for so many amazing people who love and support our family. We love you all!!!

Harvest Fun

We went last week for our annual fall time fun train ride at the Flower Farmer. The kids were so excited to ride the train and pet the farm animals. This was one of my favorite traditions as a kid growing up and I have enjoyed carring it on with my children. We had a great time together and I cant wait for next year.

Parker, Abrianna, Brenna and Kayla

Abrianna feeding the donkey.

Waiting at the train stop.


Abrianna

Kayla

Brenna

Parker

Me and my Insanity!!!

Sometimes I feel like I live at the circus.

Why do you ask-well let me tell you. This is a story much like countless other mothers with small children-or really any children for that matter. To begin all of the kids have been sick for the past two weeks. In and of itself that is enough to make you insane. But oh no it gets much better than that. Inbetween a 104 fever and coughing attacks Parker decides that he is going to cook some eggs for himself. I came downstairs to find a plastic bowl on top of the stove with water and two eggs in it, and the oven turned on. I kindly asked him what he was doing and he explained that he wanted to make some "scrambled eggs" (he really meant hard boiled eggs). I told him that he needed to use a pot and turn on the burner instead of the stove-although thankfully he hadnt known that before or I would have had a nice melted plastic bowl on my stovetop. He insisted that he might perish without eggs so I proceeded to put the eggs and water in a pot and cook them. While the eggs cooked I went upstairs to get dressed for a meeting. The house was quiet until from downstairs I heard a blood curdling scream from Parker. I knew it must be serious because the Halloween goblins will not be around for at least 2 more weeks. I ran downstairs to find Parker howling for all he was worth as he showed me his poor little burnt fingers he acquired when he touched the hot stove. As soon as I got him calmed down and ice on his fingers I heard more crying from the next room and I went to find that Abrianna had peed her pants and was completely soaked. So upstairs she went into the bathtub while I cleaned the carpets. Mind you I still have a baby screaming and a little boy with burnt fingers certain that he will die at any moment.

Then yesterday as I was getting out of the shower someone rang our doorbell. I told the kids not to answer it because I wasnt dressed. I peeked out the window and saw that it was a family friend so I threw on a robe and went to the door. (mind you I am soaking and my wet hair is dripping all over the floor) She comes in and as we are talking Parker runs into the kitchen and smack-- lands face first on the floor. Blood is everywhere and he is screaming in pain. Talk about feel terrible my wet hair caused a mishap for my poor boy who still has burnt fingers and who already smacked his face on the bench at church on sunday from a rousing head, shoulders, knees and toes-led by none else than me, his own mother. I am pretty sure that I am bad luck for him!!! So I had to wake the girls up from their nap and load everyone into the car to go up to the office so Randall could look at his tooth. The x-ray showed that one of his front teeth is jammed sideways up in his gums and the other one is loose. Good thing he already had school pictures. Although in the family christmas picture he may be sporting a toothless smile.

And to top it all off yesterday I noticed that Abrianna had a mysterious tuft on the top of her head. Much like a 3 year old who gave herself a haircut. I didnt think much of it until I was in the shower this morning and I noticed some extremely long hairs on my razor!!! Now I can let my leg hair grow pretty long-but even that was pushing it for me. Ahh, is there no rest for the weary. Oh well-I guess it just comes with being a mother. I really wouldnt trade any of the craziness, because it does keep life interesting, although sometimes Icould stand to run away for a couple of days. So what joys await me in my journey of motherhood tomorrow-not sure- maybe i'll just go join the circus!!

Conference Weekend!!

Well another great General Conference has come and gone, and we thouroughly enjoyed being spiritually fed and uplifted by President Monson and the Apostles. Our entire family looks forward to this time of year with great anticipation and excitement. Even Parker and Abrianna are excited for the opportunity to see President Monson and listen to his words. Randall and I have really tried to make this an extra special time for the kids and it has made all of the difference.

This year we started out with the family night before conference discussing the story of King Benjamin. We talked about how all of the people came and pitched their tents toward the tower so that they could hear the Prophet speak to them. We then discussed how it is just as important for us to gather and listen to our prophet today. Then we played the memory game with our apostle cards and learned the new apostle song (you can find this on youtube-it is awesome. Our kids already know most of the names of the apostles and some fun facts about each of them.) This is sort of one of our new family traditions to better prepare us for conference. It really works!! When the children watched conference they couldnt wait to see who the next speaker was and if it was a familiar face we would quiz them on the facts that they learned during Family Night. We found that a little extra preparation goes a long way.

Listening to conference with the family.

The Conference Wall

This is one of our favorite traditions!! It really helps Randall and I and the kids stay focused during the talks. Each time one of the Apostles or a member of the First Presidency speaks we find our card with a picture of them printed on it then listen for what the topic of their talk is. Once we have determined what their focus will be we tape their picture to a piece of paper and write that topic on it. This helps keep the kids engaged in conference and also reminds us what we learned during the following week.

Parker unloading the loot in his special "Conference Basket."

Each conference I have special baskets that I fill with food and fun for Parker and Abrianna (okay so mom and dad get one too.) They usually consist of some type of "healthy treat" like apples and peanut butter, and trail mix and some not so healthy treats like their favorite candy. I also put in special coloring pages from the Friend and a new box of crayons. We each get our own set of apostle cards and for mom and dad a special pen and notebook. We all look forward to the fun new things in our basket each conference.

Yum, Yum!! Conference Cinnamon Rolls. Okay so I know this isn't the greatest picture I could have taken of them but all I could get was a quick snap before they were quickly devoured.
On Saturday and Sunday morning I plan a huge "Conference Breakfast." This really all stared when I was in college and we needed a good excuse to invite boys over to hang out and watch conference and what better way than with food. I have carried on the tradition with my family and we look forward to a yummy breakfast each conference. This year on saturday morning we had a delicious egg bake with hashbrowns and sausage and pumpkin bread. Sunday was the ever popular cinnamon rolls and sausage.








And of course the weekend wouldnt be complete without our semi-annual preparedness marathon. Each Conference we take inventory of our food and water storage and our 72 hour packs, and of course we check our smoke detectors. Having conference every 6 months really helps keep us on track with our families preparedness goals. Between the sessions on Saturday we empty and refill all of our water jugs and barrels-that way we always know that our water is fresh. Then I make sure that our 72 hour packs are updated with the right size of clothing and that the food is still fresh. If any of it is getting close to the experation date, we eat it for sncaks during the weekend and replenish with new food. The kids actually love helping and we end up having a really great time together.


Randall refilling some of the water jugs. What a great guy!! He is always willing to go along with my crazy plans even though it may mean missing a much needed afternoon nap.

P.S If you think all of this sounds a little crazy and really time consuming- it is, but it works for us. And to be honest I think I actually enjoy a little crazy. Maybe it comes with all of the white hair I am getting after having baby # 3!!!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful Baby

I love sleeping babies! I love their little twitches and noises and watching their little chest rise and fall reassuring me that everything is all right. There is something so magical that begs me to sit and hold them long after they have drifted into sleep. I love to smell their sweet baby scent and to feel their little fingers wrap softly around mine. I am truly blessed and thank Heavenly Father each day for the new addition to our family. I find myself enjoying and savoring each small moment with Autumn much more than I did with my others. Maybe my heart has been changed as I have grown as a mother or maybe I just got a big dose of reality, but either way I am loving it. They grow up much too fast and if you blink you might just miss the most precious moments of all. So here are a few things I have learned as a mother :

1. enjoy the little cry of a newborn because it will only get bigger

2. sleepless nights will pass (although you should never have to enjoy this)
3. those little smiles they give as a newborn-their not gas! I dont care what the doctors say I prefer to think that they are seeing something celestial.

4. take time to just sit and hold them-someday you will be wishing that they would let you