This is the  plaque my sister Bethany carved for Andy for his birthday/Christmas.  I have decided to give him one for every place we live.  This one shows the things we will remember most about California, minus our cousins and friends!

This one represents our time in San Antonio, TX for dental school.

The Best Husband Award

After much thought and deliberation I have decided the best husband award should go to Andy.  This is why I feel he qualifies for this great honor!

This last week I took Eliza in to her well check up the day before enrichment.  The kids have all had little sniffles and with Eliza fevering off and on I didn’t know who to ask to keep the kids.  Andy assured me he would be home early on Thursday and he could keep the kids.  I was envisioning him home around 3 or 4 pm.  Eliza was whiny all day and Daniel refused to take a nap.  Bradley was tired and whiny after school and wanted to know why Dad couldn’t pick him up.  I still needed to shower, help Bradley with home work, clean the kitchen so they could replace the flooring on Friday morning, feed the kids dinner, and get ready for enrichment.  Eliza kept crying and clinging to me, Bradley and Daniel kept fighting and crying and it was almost 6 and Andy still wasn’t home.  I was about ready to loose it!  Andy walked in about 6 pm, right in the middle of me fighting the boys to get them to eat and Eliza crying.  I handed everything to him.  I instructed him to finish feeding the kids, find his own dinner, bath the kids and get them to bed.  Then I walked out with the sound of at least two kids crying.  I did feel a little guilty about dumping everything on him, but I was at the end of my rope.  I enjoyed enrichment and came home to a clean quiet house.   Andy had dealt with Bradley vomiting after I left, got the kids bathed and into bed, and then cleaned my kitchen.  When I say cleaned I mean he washed the small loaf pans that have been sitting next to the sink for a month watching for me to feel like doing them, all the big dishes, he re-tin foiled the catch plates under the burners on the stove, cleared off the top of the fridge so it could be moved, and swept the entire house!  I was so relieved to see that I didn’t need to spend any time cleaning when I got home.  When I asked him why he wasn’t home earlier since he said he would be home early, he apologized and told me he had had a terrible day.  I asked what had happened and he proceeded to tell me that one of his patience died, two had taken a turn for the worst, and all the paper work etc… had just taken longer that he thought.  He never let on to how bad his day was before I left.  He just hugged me, told me he loved me, to be safe and have fun.  That is why Andy is receiving the ‘Best Husband of the Year Award!’

This is Andy getting ready to study one day last week while I was visiting teaching.  I told him I thought he was getting too comfortable to start  studying at 8:30pm after a busy day.

Spring is in the air...

 

The last couple of days have felt just like spring.  The boys took advantage of the nice weather to play in the cul-de-sac with our little neighbor girl.  Daniel on the "Doo-doo-doo-Dora" bike.

Elaina was so happy to see Eliza out walking around.

Eliza taking a turn with the "Pooh" truck.   She was bruise free until we went out to play.  :(

Notice the nice goose egg with a bruise.

I took advantage of the nearly 60 degree weather to plant my fake flowers.  These flower boxes are almost impossible to  keep flowers a live in, so I opted for some that won't die!

I love the bright colors and the blooms stay until I am ready to replace them as the seasons change.  This is my kind of gardening!  :)

(Best of all these flowers won't die if it snows on them or freezes again!)

Bunk Beds

Over Thanksgiving Andy started making the boys some bunk beds.  He got some great deals on Black Friday when he bought his tools.  He has had a lot of fun working with the boys on the beds.

Andy and Scott cutting out the top of the head board.

Scott sanding the edges.

Andy with his impromptu eye wear. Love it!!

Head board taking shape...

Groves for the sides of the head board...

 

Andy getting ready to glue the parts together...

...drying.

Andy was testing the bed to see if it would actually go together. 

Andy getting ready do some decorative work on the edges.

Andy and the boys painting the bunk beds.

Bradley and Daniel loved working on the beds with their Dad.

The finished products!  We don't have the safety rail for the top bunk done yet, so the beds are just singles for now.  The boys love having their own beds.  

Daniel's is the McQueen decor... 

...Bradley's is Iron Man.

I can't believe how big these boys are getting.

White Christmas

We almost had a white Christmas this year.  The snow came on the 26th.  It was fun to see everything coated in fluffy white flakes.  Unfortunately my camera lens was dirty so some of the pictures have fuzzy edges.

The boys and Andy built a snow man on the deck so that it would stay longer and not melt so quickly.

Daniel and Bradley gathering snow.

Andy packed the base in well.

Eliza enjoyed watching them make the snowman.

Andy finishing all the sculpting.

Adding the arms, or wings, which ever you want to call them.

Finally the head.  "Wilson!"

A couple days later Bradley knocked off the head and sat on top.  I think he makes a great head!

Dec. 26-27, 2010

Merry Christmas 2010

Christmas morning the boys slept in until after 7 am.  It was great!!

Daniel with his new Lightning McQueen magnet set.

Bradley loved his new Super Hero Squad toys.

Eliza loved all the toys, but she didn't get into all the unwrapping stuff.

Eliza with all of her spoils!

Daniel with his Christmas presents.

 

Bradley with his score!

Later Christmas day we went for a family bike ride.  I got a new bike for Christmas so we can all go riding together now.  We decided to head to the park.

 Dad in the crawl tube at the park.

Eliza loved watching everyone ride around the park.

Bradley trying to get his shoe back through the little holes on the side.

Daniel, Andy, Karrie, Bradley and Eliza in the wagon.

Dec. 25, 2010

Happy Birthday Daddy!

 

We got back from our long road trip in just enough time to do birthday presents with our Dad before he had to go into work.  He got a neck massager,  a scarf, and house slippers to keep his feet warm.  He was very excited to see us and he loved his new presents.

 Eliza and Daniel checking out Dad's new toys.

 

Andy's ice cream cake!

Technically we didn't do the birthday cake until a week later, do to the fact that we only saw him for all of 30 minutes, but we did do one!

 

Happy 30th Birthday Dad!!

 

The boys opened a new pair of PJ's on Christmas Eve as is our tradition.  

 Spider Man PJ's!!!!

The kids fresh out of the bathtub in their new PJ's.

It was pretty entertaining to try to get them all looking and smiling at the camera.

Merry Christmas 2010