Mack, Mack, He's a Lego maniac!

McKay's 7!  His birthday was last week and it was all about Lego's.  Jeff and I and the girls gave him the Hagrid's Hut set from the Harry Potter Lego's.  I'm proud to say that with just a little instruction from me on how the instruction booklet worked, McKay did the whole thing by himself! 

It's been the year of the birthday party, so we carried the Lego theme over to that as well.  Using my friend's fabulous idea (thanks Kirsten!), we invited about a dozen boys over to build and race Lego cars.  It was loud and messy and lots of fun.  I set up to make-shift tracks and just let the boys go at it.

My favorite moment was when McKay's friend Jaxon showed up.  The two of them have this super cute manly little hug that they do every time they see each other.  It's been quite awhile since they've played outside of school.  It warmed my heart to see them still do it. :)  Sadly, I didn't get a picture of it.

McKay got a lot of fun Lego sets, games and other great gifts.  He's had so much fun playing with everything and building his new Lego sets all by himself.  His face was completely aglow with happiness throughout the whole party.  Every single boy he invited came.  It was awesome to see how much his little buddies love him.

What a week!

Man.  I'm glad we're starting a new week.  The last week has been filled with near comatose children, 4 month shots (and accompanying fever), horrible coughs, a dad who's MIA (only because of tax season tho), and a mom who's been rendered useless for the weekend.

But.  With trials come blessings.  My mom spent a good part of Friday and almost all of Saturday taking care of my kids. She took Sophie to Kindergarten orientation Friday, took the big girls to help her pick up our bountiful baskets, did my laundry, cleaned my house, played with my kids, brought dinner over Friday night.  Saturday afternoon she took the kids to her house where she watched movies with them, fed them (again), took them to their stake roadshow and brought them home.  A friend of mine told me just Thursday that moms never stop worrying about there kids.  I've reflected on that a lot since I've had to rely on mine so much the last couple of days.  I think it's helped me to be both more humble and definitely more grateful. 

It hasn't been just my mom though taking care me this week.  I've been doing this new healthy eating/fitness competition thing with some friends.  One of my teammates knew McKay was too sick for me to go leave for anything, so she dropped off a bottle of V8 Fusion. That might sound silly, but some days it's hard to get in 5 fruits and veggies.  It was a huge blessing.  Saturday another teammate and good friend who happened to find out that I was sick.  (ok.  I think I may have mentioned that I felt like I was 2 beds down from death.) She brought dinner in Saturday.  Another friend called to see how McKay was doing and could tell by my raspy voice I'd caught something too.  She reprimanded me (in the way that we friends do) and said I should've called for help. She would've brought dinner in. She also repeatedly asked what she could do to help out.  I know she would've done anything I asked.  She's that kind of girl.  Unrelated to being sick, another friend dropped by a lovely birthday gift with a personal note that was more gift than anything she could've bought.  It made this hard-to-bear week so much more bearable. 

I am lucky.  Blessed.  Fortunate.  Grateful. Humble. Pick your adjective.   ;)

Oh-and the baby is feeling better despite the runny nose.  We've even managed to get a couple of "binky smiles" out of her.

A Little Catch Up

There's been a lot going on around here.  Instead of several posts, we'll just do a little re-cap.

Chloe started baby food!

She also just had her 4 month check up (at almost 5 months. Oops.)  She weighs 13 lb 10 oz (25-50%) and is 26 inches long (90-95%).  She's still a happy smiley baby who makes some of the strangest baby noises.  We are all completely in love still.

Sophie has been begging for quite some time to get her ears pierced.  After learning how to write her last name, she finally got it done.  For the record, she didn't cry one bit. No watery eyes either.  She's also very diligent about keeping them clean and twisted. 

I am embracing another year in my 30s.  Jeff, the kids, and my parents spoiled me once again.  The girls got me a new turtle garden stone, McKay made me a Club Penguin (his new favorite thing) journal all on his own.  Jeff downloaded the Goose Girl for me on his Kindle (which I am liking reading on a kindle). He also got me a new CD, the movie "Young Victoria" and is taking me shopping for running shoes.  My parents gave me jewelry, a dress and a skirt.  My favorite surprise?  Jeff picked up this awesome red velvet cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes.  It was SO good.

Lyndsi had crazy hair day at school and for once gave me enough notice so we could have a little fun with it. She loved her hair and wore it all day, including to dance.

McKay has been dead to the world.  Apparently the flu is going around.  Wash your hands people.  I've only seen my poor boy wake and talking for a few hours over the last 3 1/2 days.  Thankfully he's up and about today showing interest in both food and activity.  Hopefully we'll be back to school tomorrow.

And Jeff? You're guess is as good as mine.  He's currently slaving away for the tax monster.  Less than 2 weeks now!  Can't wait for this tax season to be over. Ugh.

And just because she's cute and I love this new thing she's doing with her finger, a little more Chloe.