Timmy likes to make things and tell me to take a picture. I'm not sure what prompted this one (I'm pretty much never sure), but sure... :)
Henry makes this cute face all the time. And he loves his walker!
Bubby loves Gwee-uh bars (granola bars).
Boo!
Jeremy had a pizza party with his Sunday School class one Saturday at the park. Henry liked my crust.
Bubby!
Timmy likes using disposable plates and cups for crafts. Jill is practicing to be a professional photo bomber. More evidence ahead!
Jill, Timmy, and Bubby like to sneak in our bed in the middle of the night. This particular night she ended up on Papa's chair instead. I don't mind that nearly as much. :)
We had some extra money leftover after paying for all the work done to fix our leaky roof. We've been wanting to replace my recliner that doesn't recline, and Jeremy's been wanting a recliner too. We found a good deal on these, so now we both have a new recliner. We also were able to get a new propane grill for Jeremy. It came in handy for his class reunion because they had a tailgate party and needed somebody to cook hot dogs. I like the propane grill way better. The food doesn't come out all smoky. We cooked chicken on it last week, and it was amazing! We didn't do anything fancy. I just threw some frozen chicken breast pieces on the grill, and they came out great. I love my new chair too. Henry still wakes up at least twice in the night, and a recliner that reclines means I sleep better while I nurse him. It's great!
Papa had a pile of vegetables for lunch, and he got full. He left it on the table, and Henry reached up and pulled it off. I guess he needed some too. :) Luckily, most of it landed on his tray.
Papa laid down and fell asleep. Bub climbed up by him and fell asleep too. Ha!
Henry eating hot dogs and cheese balls
One day I heard a weed eater outside. When they were done I took out the garbage and looked down the street. The city had come along and weed eated in front of our house. I thought that was great. Then I was walking back and heard a crackling sound that just went on and on. I discovered it was coming from the van, and then I figured it out: whoever had weed eated sent a rock flying to our van window, and it shattered. The only thing holding it in was the tint. I kind of freaked out. I flagged down a guy from our ward in a Town of Thatcher truck, and he kind of shook his head at the inmates who had been weed eating and said he always tells them to keep back further from cars. He said, "I'll take care of it, Sister Burk." And they did! They called up EA Glass, and they came and took the van and replaced the window. I didn't have the van for a couple of days, but it got done. Phew! We also got our tires replaced on the van (They were getting pretty bad!) and got something else fixed. I'm not sure it's totally fixed because it still acts up when I start it up sometimes. I can't remember what they said it was, but it may cost $500 to fix. Yikes! Hopefully it'll stop acting up.
Henry!
Joshua drew this in art class. It's been fun to see the things he comes up with.
I really love seeing what Joshua puts up on his walls. He's always drawing something. His wall is pretty full but always changing, so I stop and look at it now and then. I thought this little cartoon is cute. Click to make it bigger. The toilet paper tube says, "Boy, do I feel like eating a baby rat right now." Then along comes a baby rat and gets in and says, "So cozy..." and the toilet paper tube says, "Aw, darn it. I gained weight. Sometimes I wish I was a toilet paper roll." Pyro is Joshua's name on DeviantArt.
Jill fell asleep this way after school. Cute girly. :)
That cushion on the futon is so aggravating! It's always slipping down! But the futon is great for Henry naps because it slopes back. We just watch for when he wakes up and get him off.
We went to the fair with Grandma and Grandpa Badger the Saturday before last. We went and saw the exhibits after lunch, and then Grandpa and I took the 6 oldest kiddos to ride rides that evening.
Grandpa and the four older boys watched the magician while the rest of us went to see the animals and exhibits. Timmy loves the pigs best. Here's Grandma and Timmy. That's Mr. Bradshaw in the back with the hat. He was my Trigonometry teacher. :) He has a hook instead of a left hand (just an interesting bit of trivia). He's a good guy.
The pig auction was going on at the time, so these guys watched the pigs go through the gates.
More pigs
Bubby was mad about seeing the pigs because we walked past a bouncy house on the way, and he wasn't allowed on.
He calmed down for the birds, though. :)
I must admit, I really enjoy the animals and exhibits these days. I probably enjoy them more than I ever did.
Jill
Jill and Timmy
Jeremy and I took a picture with this one. I'll have to see if I can find it.
Jill photobombing Timmy
Here it is. Jeremy said we had to frown, so we did. :)
Bubby
Jill photobombing Bubby
Jeremy and Henry
Eating cotton candy while we waited for ribbon fries. :9
Grandma took this and the next one. Here's Bubby!
Us after church
Back at home: Timmy put his blanket on a snow disc on top of a laundry basket so he could make a tea party. When Papa came home Timmy had place cards, and one had Papa's name. But then when he decided Papa was done, he wrote no on the back and made one for somebody else. XD
He made this tiny balloon for a decoration for Bubby's birthday. :)
Bubby turned 3! He got a Minion shirt for his birthday, and then he "helped" me make his Spongebob cake by tasting all the extra frosting. :) I'm pretty happy how the cake turned out. I was worried! It's a little lopsided, but overall not bad at all! :) (Who says I I can't draw? ;) )
Bubby got balloons! He and his siblings aired them all up and put them all over the house. The next day he and Timmy had fun finding them all and then popping them in the kitchen and giggling and bringing me the pieces. Not a bad game, especially because they brought the pieces. :) He also got a Mylar balloon that has Mickey Mouse on it. He didn't pop that one, though. He's playing with it today.
Bubby didn't want to wait for cake. He'd waited all day and was determined to open his presents immediately, so we let him.
Lightning McQueen! He also got the movie Cars. Our old one broke years ago. I figured it was time to get it again. :) We've watched it a lot. Bubby's favorite part is the short movie on the disc called One Man Band. He likes to watch it over and over and over!
Swedish fish!
The lighting was bad, and all the pictures were backlit by Papa's computer, but you can still see he had a great time and was happy. :) That's what counts. ;)
Jill got him a paddle ball.
This one is Captain America. He even has a shield. It's the same size as some other action figures we have. Papa has The Hulk, Hyrum has Thor, Benji has Batman, Michael has Spider Man, and Timmy has Iron Man.
This was Papa's choice. It ended up being his favorite, I think. It's a doctor kit. :) He's had a great time with it.
Wah-Bob cake!
Bubby gave Papa several checkups. The thermometer has a spinning thing that shows different temperatures with a little happy or frowny face by them. So Papa kept crying with the frowny face. ;) Bubby thought it was hilarious.
Sleepy little guy. Poor fella caught some stomach bug and threw up. I was out shopping, so I bought him a new onesie. Poor fella was poopy and covered in throw-up. I was glad when he was all taken care of!
Hyrum and Henry
Did I mention about Hyrum's tuning fork around his neck? He got it in Men's Chorus. He LOVES Men's Chorus! He's learning to read music and learning to sing. He signed up to sing bass, so he's learning to sing harmony and low notes. He comes home so incredibly happy. He's now more convinced than ever that he wants to major in music.
And speaking of which, he was signed up for class piano, but he was the only one, so his class got cancelled. We convinced him that if he wants to be a music major he should take elementary theory so he'll be ready for Music Theory I next fall. It's an online class, which he wasn't happy about, but he likes it. And it's nice how he has only seminary and choir on Tuesdays and Thursdays because he goes to the library those days and gets his homework done. He and Joshua both love the library. Hooray!
And speaking of Joshua, he's doing really good so far. He's in the most basic of all math classes offered there, but it's good. It's refreshing his memory on some of the basics, and he's flying through the other stuff and enjoying it. And get this - his teacher is Tom Palmer! How fun is that?! :) He's really liking being a college student. He's had fun finding his way around. He comes home and tells me how he figured out how to do this or that and had fun doing it on his own. :) Next semester I think I'll let him do even more on his own (pick up books and such), and I think he'll like that. He's also really liking Seminary.
Well, I guess you get this one upside down. XD Cute, though. :)
Henry pulls up on things now, and he's just started crawling on his hands and knees too. Bubby was a happy photobomber here. Ha ha!
Jeremy had his 20 year class reunion this weekend. On Friday he was on a class float and then they had a tailgate party and went to the game. And on Saturday we met at the high school where they took a class photo on the steps where they took their photo years ago, and then we all walked around the high school. It was kind of fun. We got to go see a few places I'd never been in before, and I've been there quite a few times. My little monkeys were monkeys. :)
Benji is getting tall!
We even went in the band room. It was fun for me to watch Timmy here. I'm sure the band director would have had a heart attack. But it was sweet. I think I need to get him in music somehow.
Jeremy walking back to the steps for the class photo while kiddos play under the steps. :)
20 years!
After the high school we went to Jack in the Box and got food and then took it to the park to eat and play. :) I'm so glad Henry finally likes swings!
We hung out at Grandma's house, and then we went to Jesse's first birthday party, and Jeremy and I went to his reunion dinner. That was fun and yummy! And Jeremy won the prize for the most kids. XD
Bubby eating grapes at Jesse's party
sleepy boy
Jeremy took this one of Henry and me at the high school
Benji and Michael decided to shoot arrows before church. XD
Who is that cute baby in the mirror?
Cruising!
Hyrum is 16 today! His birthday shirt is late getting here, so I gave him a birthday hat to wear today instead. He was quite pleased. :)
So he pulled up his tuning fork for decoration. :)
I took this picture on Saturday at the park. Joshua doesn't like me to take pictures of him AT ALL, but I'm happy that I took this one. His rat Altepixe has been sick for months. Poor fella. He was breathing heavy and choking often. He stopped grooming himself as well, and he stopped running on his wheel. I've missed his running on his wheel! That squeak, squeak, squeak in the night meant we had a happy rat. He liked to squeeze out of his cage at night and climb on Hyrum's bed, and then Hyrum would lift him up to Joshua's bed. He was nice and didn't chew on Joshua's bedding like Scratchy used to. He just snuggled.
Yesterday morning he squeezed out of his cage and ran downstairs like he often did when he was choking. He sat by me on the couch, and I watched him there, wondering how much longer he had. And then later in the day Joshua came downstairs holding him and crying, and he told me, "Mommy, Altepixe died."
Poor Joshua. He'd already been having a rotten day because he wasn't feeling well. I dropped everything and did what I could to comfort him or at least commiserate. I'm never sure how to comfort this grown up Joshua. Teenagers are complicated, especially the ones who were complicated to begin with. Anyway, I talked with Jeremy, and we agreed he needed a nice box to be buried in. I dragged poor sick Joshua to Walmart. I guess I wanted to give him something to do, but maybe I should have let him stay home and rest. Anyway, the best I could do was get these two pallet things and hing them together and put a clasp on it. It did make a nice box. The other boxes they had were too small. We will have a little funeral when Jeremy comes home today.
Rest in peace, Altepixe. You are loved.
