Journaling

- We went bowling for FHE on Monday!  WAY FUN!!  The kids were ALL so excited this time, even Erika!  It was a very fun little outing.  The main reason I want to document it is because I miraculously broke 100 (I got 101, Steve thinks it's funny that I call that "breaking 100", but it is, so I say it :) ), AND I beat Nate for some crazy reason!!!  That never happens!  He was totally having an off night and I did see their lane not give Noah credit for one of his strikes, so maybe Nate's not lying when he says that it did the same to him :)..... jk.  Noah had several strikes, Charity got one as well.  Everyone did pretty well, pretty much the same.  And we didn't really focus on winning and losing this time, but it was a LOT of fun.  Kelly had her special little "thing" she did before each bowl, wiggling her bumb and such, it was adorable.  Charity went through several moods as she did not so well without the bumpers and then better with them.  Luke did that too, he's funny because he will not cheer and high-five if he doesn't get a high enough score for himself.  Cracks me up.  He's pretty hard on himself!  But he did a lot better with the bumpers.  Noah was ADORABLE with his swing (or stroke, or what do you call it? Form?).  He would run (yes, with the ball in his arms) up to the lane and the just drop!  The ball AND himself!  I totally thought he was going to injure something on most of his turns and one of them, he did smack his face on his ball.  Poor kid, but it was seriously adorable.  No ramp.  Erika was fun to watch too, she would go up and chant, "I. CAN. DO. IT!" With Kelly and then they would roll it down the lane together, she kicked it the first few times, which I thought was funny.  Bradley had pretty good form also.  He was TOTALLY into it!  He would bowl and then drop, and lean and bend and scream for his ball.... it was fun!  They're all so fun to watch and play with.  So much cheering and high fives all around the WHOLE TIME.  Everyone had a good time.  I love when that happens.  8-13-12

- Tuesday we went up to Grandma Russ and Grandma Ruthie's house to swim at their pool!  We had the pool all to ourselves for the first little while and then a few more people came, but it was fairly empty!  It was SUPER cold though!  I guess the boiler had been out.  I wasn't sure how Wormie was going to take it, but things went well I guess.  It sure wasn't as relaxing as I had imagined making my belly weightless would be.  I had hoped it would take more of the pain out of my pelvic bones.  It did relieve a lot of the pressure though, and that was noticeable when I got out.  Erika loved the water at first and then I think the temperature got to her after a while.  She wanted to get out and sit and cuddle with me.  Noah and Luke played to their little hearts' content, but got cold quite a bit and had to sit out to warm up :).  Unfortunately it wasn't that warm of a day either, the wind didn't help.  Charity, Kelly and Bradley played together the whole time, seemed like they had a blast.  Nate made it in up to his knees and then decided it was a good time to sit on the side and get some nice one on one visiting with his parents. :).  I love being able to spend time with Nate's parents when it's just our family.  It's fun with everyone else too, but there's definitely something fun about having them to ourselves every once in a while.  8-14-12

- I'm back on the Visiting Teaching Roster!!  Went visiting teaching today and I loved it!!  I have a new partner, new ladies to visit, and I'm feeling all rejuvenated and refreshed from my couple month break :).  jk.  I really didn't want that break to begin with and as soon as they released me from Primary I said, "Put me back on the Visiting Teaching list" and THEY DID!  Pretty nice.  I know this makes me even more dorky for saying it, but I love Visiting Teaching.  I love talking with people and having that time for myself.  Hopefully I can be of some service to these ladies and will be a more reliable Visiting Teacher now.

- While we were at the cute little yogurt shop on Main, Wormie started moving a LOT.  I was showing Nate how pointy some of his little body parts are and when everyone saw him getting to feel the baby, they all came over and joined in.  We were all pushing on different sides, waiting for the opposite side to pop out.  It was a lot of fun.  Felt like a total family bonding moment.  I loved it :).  I think Wormie enjoyed the attention as well.  I wonder how much time we will all spend just giving him attention in the near future.  I do love that about a new baby... brings us all together.  Hopefully everyone will love him and enjoy him.

- Walking into Walmart, Erika was holding Nate's hand and skipping a little and singing as she walked, "Don't step on a crack, or you going to fall down on  your back and hurt yourself."  Nate and I both couldn't help but laugh :)  8-17-12

- Why didn't I take my camera?!!!  I brought it, but left it in the car.... unbelievable!  Bums me out.  Anyway.... we went down to Heidi's today to swim!!!  The kids have been excited for this ever since we learned that she has a pool :).  They LOVE swimming and even more than that, they love swimming WITH Heidi and John.  And Heidi and John did not disappoint :).  Nate had to work, so it was just me and the kids and them.  And while we all missed Daddy, I think we still were able to have a good time!  Charity, Kelly, Bradley and Luke all took turns standing on John's shoulders and then seeing how long they could stay on his shoulders while he took steps.  I think Kelly had the "world record" of 48 steps.  I will have to double check on that.  They LOVED it, and it went on for most of the time we were there.  Poor John's shoulders!  Erika, Noah and I hung out together for the most part.  Noah was having a rough day and couldn't quite find his niche, until the last little bit.  He was cold, or unhappy with his tube, or the location I was making him play, or how far away from him I was.... seemed to be something about every 5 minutes.  I wish he'd taken a chance to enjoy himself.  But it just wasn't his day.  I think it's hard when there isn't a real shallow place for him.  He doesn't do as well with being dependent on me.  We finally got him to cheer up in the "hot" tub though, that was his place.  Erika on the other hand, had a total blast the entire time!  She was hilarious!  I couldn't believe how daring she was being, jumping in from the side in her tube.  She would count and then scream and jump, pretty high too! into the pool, and then once she got the newly splashed water off her face, ask to jump in again.  Kept me pretty busy putting her back up on the side.  She was so happy though!  It was cute!  She's definitely not afraid of the water.  I wish I could get her in lessons right now.  I have to document that I beat Heidi in a freestyle race.  Even 8 months pregnant I still have enough speed :).  I shouldn't mention this, but I could hardly move my legs because it hurt my hips and pelvic bones so bad, but I still won!  So proud of myself.  Nothing against Heidi, she probably let me win, but swimming was always MY thing anyway.
After swimming we walked back to Heidi's apartment and waited for her and John to get some pizza while we watched The Land Before Time.  LOVE that show!  The kids seemed to like it too!  Erika especially liked the "Don't step on a crack" part.  So cute.  Everyone was tired, hungry and either too hot or too cold, so there was a TON of whining going on and I wasn't sure I was going to make it, but the pizza showed up and things mellowed out a little with the food in their tummies.  That was a relief.  We ate up the rest of Heidi's chocolate pie, finished the movie and then hurried out of there as fast as we could.  Mommy was tired!  Poor Erika and Noah were so devastated that we were leaving, but still didn't want to hug Heidi goodbye.... so weird.  They both cried for the first few minutes til we got on the freeway, and then konked out in the car.  Great way to end the outing :).
It was a lot of fun.  I'm very grateful for a sister (and her boyfriend for that matter) who will let us come and invade and be so fun and entertaining for my kids.  They really made our day!