Kesley's Tonsils are COMING OUT!

 Oh my sweet sweet Kesley is getting her tonsils out on August 7!  She has sleep apnea (she stops breathing all night long and when she is breathing, she struggles to breath) so she does NOT sleep well at all.  We are just happy she made it this long with her tonsils (and adenoids).  The big 4 all had to get their tonsils out right when they turned 2 (so they had to stay overnight at the hospital).  Since she is 3, she won't have to stay unless she is having problems.  I just can't wait for them to come out so she can breathe again and sleep well!

 She LOVES showing everyone her tonsils and telling everyone they are coming out!  Too bad she has NO idea what that means!

Fun with Play Dough

Yesterday, I found the kids (at different times and different combination of kids) in the pantry playing with the play dough (that they hadn't played with in forever).  They were suppose to be cleaning - but they were having so much fun and all getting along so well that I couldn't even get mad at them for not listening to me.  I love when they find ways to entertain themselves and when they do it together!

Trip to Hogle Zoo - new Polar Bear!

Once again, this will be a long post because I can't seem to find the time to scrapbook these days.  So here are some of the pictures I took yesterday when my mom and I took all 6 kids yesterday.

We have been so excited to go to the zoo since they opened their new Rocky Shores exhibit - it has a POLAR BEAR!  It also has some river otters sea lions, harbor seals, bald eagles and grizzly bears - so so cool!  The polar bear was so cute!

 Kesley (like the cotton ball in her ear because of her nasty ear infection) was so excited to see all the animals!  Here is the "baby" elephant.

 How cute are my kiddos!

Cameron is no longer content to sit in the stroller and look at the animals.  He has to get out and try to see them!

 Brecken loves the zoo!  He loves his "animal map" and figuring out where to go next!

 Such a cool polar bear!

 The twins had to climb up in the window to see the polar bear and seals!

 Our zoo finally has bears again!

 All 6 kids!  Priceless!

 All 6 kids and giraffes!

 Kesley really wanted to see the tigers - not sure why but she was really excited!

 Brecken couldn't wait to ride the carousel.

 Dallin is as big as an adult male gorilla.

 Time for treats - snow cones and ice cream!

Such a fun day with my cute kids!

Ear Infection #3 for Kesley (in only 5 weeks)

 Poor little Kesley had an ear infection the beginning of June (so did Cameron) and then about a week after finishing her medicine she got another one (and so did Cameron).  But this time, with 2 days left of her medicine (Augmentin) she started to complain that there was a noise in her ear and that it hurt.  I called the ENT (who we have had 10 surgeries with already).  She couldn't see us until Friday (and it was Wedesday) - so poor little Kesley had to tough it out.  She was tough but she did NOT feel well at all.  If you got anywhere NEAR her ear, she would cry.  It hurt so badly that she wouldn't even let me put her clothes on over her head - she had to step into her clothes.  

 By the time Friday came, she was so ready to go to the ENT doctor (as she says it) - she felt HORRIBLE but was so happy to finally get to see the doctor and feel better.  She was so good for the doctor and held so still!

 The doctor had to really clean Kesley's ear out - she said you know the infection is bad when your hair is STUCK in the ear and infection.  Apparently, she has either strep or a staph infection coming out of her ear.  That infection is also infecting the skin around her ear and in her ear - which the doctor said is extremely painful.  The infection is also super contagious so when I put drops in her ear and put medicine on the infected skin, I have to wear gloves!

 We go back in a month to see if we can get another set of tubes - but the doctor doesn't think we will last that long - I am not too hopeful either.  

While we were still in with the doctor, the doctor asked if Kesley snored.  I told her she did (which I was going to ask about and video tape one of these days).  She said she could tell from her breathing.  She also looked in her mouth and said she has a mouth full of tonsils (no surprise sine the big 4 had to have their tonsils all taken out right at 2 years old for sleep apnea).  So, now I need to video tape her breathing at night (which I did last night and I am pretty confident her tonsil will be coming out soon - but I could be wrong).  For now, we just need to get her ears better so we can both get some sleep and she can be my happy little Kesley again!

1st KSL Purchase

I am finally trying to do something with the space upstairs outside the kids rooms.  So I decided I wanted a small table for the little ones to color on and/or play trains and Legos on.  All the ones I found online were not cheap so I decided to look on KSL (local classifieds that everyone seems to use) for one.  I found this POTTERY BARN kids train table for $35 (normally $199 from Pottery Barn).  It was brand new and still in the box!  And the lady selling it lived all of 5 minutes away from me!  I am so excited to figure out what else I am doing upstairs!  I will definitely try finding things on KSL more often!

11 kids 11 and under

We are so so happy that my brother Scott and his family moved to St. George (all the way from North Carolina).  On their way to St. George they dropped their 5 kids off at our house for 5 days while they went and unpacked.  It was a little crazy having 11 kids 11 and under at my house but we had so much fun.  All the kids got along so well and loved being together.  Then we were lucky enough for them to come back for a week over the 4th of July!  We are so excited to have them only a 3.5-4 hour drive away!

4th of July

I know the 4th of July has come and gone but I had to share some pictures (okay - a lot of pictures) from that super fun day!  Get ready - it's another long post (and once again, pretend all the pictures are centered - my computer hates me these days)!

We started the day off REALLY REALLY EARLY - we got up at 5:15 and left my house by 5:45.  We went down to Provo for the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival.  I must say, it was totally worth getting up so early - thanks to my brother Scott and his wife Michelle for suggesting it and being at our house so we did have to get up - so glad we did!  And so glad my mom offered to stay home with the little ones (and Matthew - he played 6 hours of soccer in the HEAT the day before and was exhausted)!

My boys thought it was really cool to touch the balloons as they were blowing up!

They hung a flag from this balloon for the National Anthem - super cool!

Once the balloons started to take off, Ed and my SIL Michelle went and ran the 10k (I was going to run the 5k until I hurt my knee so she upgraded and ran the 10k).  Scott and I stayed with the kids and watched all the balloons take off and then we went to McDonalds and ate breakfast.

  

 After breakfast we went and found seats (luckily in the shade) for the parade!

 My favorite part of the parade was the Jetson balloon - how fun is that!

 After the parade it was time to get ready for our 4th of July party  (I wasn't as ready as I had hoped - 13 kids 11 and under makes getting much done hard - but it was so much fun to have them all at our house)!

 It was a hot day so everyone had a GREAT time swimming!

 We bar-b-qued (thanks to all that helped bbq and for all the yummy food everyone brought) and ate tons of food!

 How cute is my Kesley!

 For dessert I (with help from my SIL Michelle and cousin Angela) made red, white and blue rice crispy treats, bundles of red vines, Patriotic cupcakes and ice cream sandwiches with sprinkles.

Cameron had a great time swimming (thanks to my friends that swam with my kids so I could be hostess)! 

 Dallin can put Ed on his shoulders!

 Cute Gavin always having fun!

 Matthew is getting good at diving!

 With all the fires (and me being lazy), we didn't do fireworks.  We just had sparklers and glow sticks but I think the kids were ok with it!  The kids were even still swimming past 10:00 pm!

It was a super fun day - so glad we got to spend it with family (now that my brother and his family moved to St. George) and friends!