Uninvited Guests

Last Sunday I went out at dusk to water my garden and I heard a loud buzzing.  I looked over at the fence and found a swarm of bees trying to huddle into a mass for the night.  Paul called my dad who told us to leave them alone and they might fly away the next day.  Well, they didn't.  I called a few places and found a local man who would come get the swarm for free.  He was a hoot!  An older guy from Minnesota who desperately needed someone new to talk to I think.  He stood there in the sweltering heat with me for 2 hours talking about literally everything under the sun.  It was fun.  I may not have agreed with all his opinions but I had a good time.  I also learned alot about bees.

He had a burlap sack to collect the bees in.  I guess once the queen is in there all the rest will follow her in.  Kind of reminded me of me and my kids ;)

The bee man had a knife and just lightly scraped the mass of bees down to the grass where they all just WALKED into the bag!  It was crazy!  Very interesting to watch.  Mason and Darcy sat outside and watched it too.  There were a few bees flying around but they weren't interested in messing with us or the bee man.  He was able to get almost all of them into the bag, which he tied off with a rubber band, collected a few more bees on the outside of the bag, and then put the bag in the back seat of his car to take home!  Now that is a real man if you can drive with a swarm of bees in your car, some of them loose!  No thanks!

Unfortunately he left a few more than we would have liked and they didn't want to leave either.  By this time the novelty had worn off for me and I just wanted the bee drama done!  Paul got all dressed up and sadly we sprayed the remaining bees from the swarm.  It was an interesting experience but hopefully it won't happen again.

Mason is 6!

Mason is 6!  It seems like he has been talking about turning six forever!  This guy loves a party.  Well, maybe he loves gifts.  He is always the most excited about Christmas too.  Yep, must be the gifts.  This year we did the whole "Avengers" thing.  He is a Captain America fan so I attempted to make a cake like his shield.  Well, it turned out kind of girly because I couldn't get the frosting to turn red or dark blue.  Looks kind of like a pastel shield.  Sorry Mase.  He seemed OK with it though I guess.  The sixth year of Mason's life was filled with many new experiences.  He started kindergarten, learned to read, noticed girls other than his sisters, moved into his own room, and played t-ball for the first time.  Sounds like a full plate for such a little guy.  He has done a great job at school but is looking forward to summer vacation when he can torment his sisters all day long!  He is still a total sweetheart full of unstoppable energy.  Once he figures out how to reign it all in and use it to his advantage he will be a force to be reckoned with.  I couldn't have asked for anything more in a son than what I have with Mase.  He's a blessing!

Some of his favorites this year include:
Color - red
Food - chicken taquitos
Movie - Captain America
Activity - shoot his Captain America gun and jump on the trampoline
Lifetime aspirations - fireman

Medical May

For the past two years May hasn't been a good month for our family medically.  Last year Mason was in the hospital for his hip, and just a couple of days ago I was at the ER with Bree at midnight.  Earlier that day she had a fever, barked like a seal when she tried to cough, and was having trouble breathing.  It got better as the afternoon went on, but when she woke up at midnight with her whole body heaving while trying to breathe, Paul and I decided to get her to the emergency room.  We waited a few minutes to be triaged and when the nurse actually saw her he said "She can't breathe!"  Uh, yep, that's why we are here!  He immediately got a team assembled who were already waiting for us as we walked to the room around the corner.  Great service!  The doctor was there and so was a respiratory specialist.  He held a tube of medicine-turned-to-vapor that she could breathe in and it quickly opened up her passages so she was able to breathe more normally.  They also gave her a shot of steroids in her leg for good measure.  Her diagnosis was Croup, which is swelling in the throat caused by an upper respiratory virus.  What a nasty virus!  This happened last Thursady, it is now Monday, and she is just now starting to be back on her feet.  She had a fever all weekend and was pretty listless, along with labored breathing, just not as bad as before.  Hopefully she will be fully recovered in a day or so and we can put this one behind us.  Poor baby, it was torture watching her trying so hard to breathe.  I'm sure it was worse for her.  Once again I am extremely grateful to be living in an age where these illnesses can be controlled with a dose of readily available medicine and my kids don't have to suffer without it.

Drew's baptism

April 21st, Drew was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!  Yeah Drew!  It was a beautiful day all the way around.  The sun was shining and warm, we had no mishaps leading up to or afterwards, and then we had a great dinner with family.  Drew was pretty nervous for weeks leading up to the baptism.  She wasn't worried about being dunked under water, her main fear was people looking at her.  My poor sweetheart.  She gets that from me.  We both would like to be as far from the middle of things as possible, and please don't look at us or acknowledge our presence and we will be happy!  She was so nervous just before the baptism that she stayed in my room once she was dressed until it was time to go to the church, and then she ran out to the car so no one could see her.  I kind of wish she had let people see her though.  She is wearing the dress my Grandma Johnson made for my sisters and I.  We all wore it, plus all our daughters so far have worn it.  Its a special dress and she looked just beautiful in it.  We had a small program with talks and prayers given by family members and Paul baptized and confirmed her.  Afterwards she said she didn't even notice people watching her get baptized.  All that worrying for nothing!  That should be a lesson to me I guess.  After the baptism we went back to our house for a taco party with all the family who traveled so far to attend this major event for Drew.  We even had friends who drove quite a ways to be there for her too.  What a loved young lady!  We are so proud of Drew and her decision to be baptized.  I know that she will work hard to choose the right and be a good example to friends and family.  What a blessing Drew is!

So the pictures are hardly worth putting on here because in all the hubbub and Drew hiding it kind of slipped my mind that we were supposed to take nice ones!  These are as good as it gets, but hey, this is our family, and its rare to get a decent picture even when we have had forewarning.

Happy Birthday Drew!

8 years old!  When did that happen?  It feels like yesterday Drew was a screaming newborn and I was wondering why I had ruined my life by having a baby.  Little did I know while in the throes of post-partum depression that the sweet baby I was holding would grow up into such a beautiful, kind, intelligent young lady.  My Drewsy!  I am enjoying watching Drew grow up, but at times I wish I could just freeze her where she is, before hormones and attitude kick in and she no longer wants to hang out with me or counts me as her favorite person in the world.  At least I think she does!  Its tough being a mom.  This year her tastes have changed just a bit.  She asked for a giraffe cake instead of hippo like usual, and she now says yellow is her favorite color.  She still loves rice and apples, and loves to create all kind of art.  She just lost her top front tooth, for a total of 4 lost now, but refuses to pull that other one out.  Losing teeth is not her favorite thing to do.  She still likes to read and she loves the trampoline.  Drew has been an amazing blessing to our family.  She is the perfect oldest child, always willing to help the younger kids and willingly gives up what is asked of her in order to keep peace.  She is such a nice, caring girl and I am so glad she is mine forever!  Love you Drew!

New Addition to the Family...

 . . . It's a trampoline!  I had always been against the idea of a trampoline in my back yard.  Not sure why.  Maybe it was the fear of injury factor, the ruining of the grass potential, or the idea that it was just to stereotypical Mormon for me ;)  But for some reason we decided to go for it and now I wish we had done it years ago!  The kids LOVE it.  This picture was taken before we put the safety surround up but we definitely have one now.  I feel so much better with the surround to reign the kids in.  When the rain isn't falling, the kids are out on it.  They love to jump, throw balls at each other, wrestle, or just lay on it.  They are never in the house!  Peace and quiet for me, not so much for the neighbors.  The two little girls are still a little screechy and the bigger kids don't realize their voices carry all over the neighborhood.  Sorry!  So far we have had one injury.  Mason knocked Drew's front tooth out but it was very loose and needed to come out anyway so it hardly counts.  I can't wait for the weather to warm up so all 4 kids can disappear for hours at a time!

T-Ball Time!

After a year of respite, we are back on the t-ball field.  This time its Mason's turn to show his stuff.  So far so good!  As wild and crazy as this kid is at home, we have been extremely pleased with the way he controls himself while out in public.  He is on a team of 10 boys, which can get a bit crazy at times, but he is usually attentive to his coaches and his mind is in the game when he is out there.  I am relieved that he is able to do this.  I always get good reports from teachers about how well he behaves but this is the first time I have witnessed it out in public.  He is kind of a Jekyll and Hyde type of guy.  Luckily society gets the Jekyll side of him.  I shouldn't be so hard on him, he is an awesome, sweet, loving guy and I am so blessed to have him as my one and only son!

So far he is doing fine in the field, though we need to practice a bit on his throwing technique.  It cracks me up to watch the boys take forever to throw because they have to actually think through the process step-by-step before the ball is released.  He is getting better though.

He loves playing catcher.  Drew hated it, though I think it was because she was swimming in the gear.  Mason is much larger than Drew was when she played and he does just fine.

What a cutie!  I am having fun watching him play and I believe he is having fun playing.  I guess the craziness has now officially begun now that we have two kids involved in extra-curricular activities.  I decided to start swimming lessons this week so we now have most of our evenings taken up with activities.  Fun times!