The Greenwoods

Happy Birthday Eli!

2009-08-27T17:39:00.001-05:00

Eli turned 4. I can’t believe how big he is getting. He had a lightining McQueen party. Josh, Margene and Naomi came down to celebrate with us. Eli loved all the attention and gifts. At his camp on Monday I took cupcakes and some gluten free doughnuts and they sang Happy Birthday to him there and let him blow out some candles. He had a great birthday. I love you Eli!

Eli loved his cake.

Aubrey, Naomi, and Jaxon helped to decorate it. At first I was nervous but it turned out really cute.

Fun with the Campbell’s

2009-08-27T17:28:00.001-05:00

There is always a project or two when you go visit the Josh Campbell clan. They always make it fun. Josh and James ended up hauling 2 ton of tree stumps and then we had fun eating smores and letting the kids run around.

A cute picture of the cousins together.

Summer Fun!!

2009-08-27T17:22:00.001-05:00

Of course Eli always loves water no matter what time of year it is. They had a lot of fun playing in the pool in the back yard.

Anyone who has spoken with Jaxon over the past few months have probably heard the name Everett or “Ebert".” Everett is Jaxon’s best buddy and Jaxon is always talking about him and wanting to go to “Evert’s house.”

Okay, so it was mid-July and Jaxon insisted on wearing his coat to take Eli to camp. Poor kid took it off pretty fast after we dropped Eli off. It was hilarious!

A Busy Summer

2009-08-27T16:29:00.002-05:00

Man, I have a lot of catching up to do. If my life wasn't so hectic through the summer and I wasn't dealing with being large and pregnant I would say that I am just lazy. I apologize for my forgetfulness and hope that people are still looking at our blog every once in awhile.

My last post was about Eli's IEP, in May. Well, instead of putting him in school we put him in a summer camp. It was the Autism Foundation of Tennessee's summer camp. We were very excited and besides him coming home with a few mannerisms from other children with Autism, it seemed to work out great. Our gas bill went way up since I had to drive him there and pick him up. It took about 1 hr. and 20-30 minutes out of our day to drive him there and back. They met in a little presbyterian church and his teacher was Christine, who is a behavioral therapist. Also at the camp was his teacher, Ms. Carrie from his school. Of course seeing the same people every day I got a lot of, "When are you due again?" "You haven't had him yet?" "I thought you would have popped by now." I guess I looked pretty bad. Also with this pregnancy I swelled up really bad. Good thing Eli doesn't get embarrassed yet. Eli regressed with his eating while at this camp and we are still working to get him to feed himself again. They made the mistake of feeding him once and now he has to be prompted or fed for him to even try his food. Very frustrating! We are also trying the Reliv vitamins and hope that will help. Haven't seen much yet but we will keep trying. He counts to 10, says his abc's and recognizes his abc's. He also signs and says, "More," "Help," "drink," and "food." His communication is coming. He also recognizes his shapes. He is smart and are excited to see the progress he makes during the school year again at Shayne Elementary with his awesome teacher, Ms. Carrie Lunsford. Yeah, Eli!

Eli Update

2009-05-07T17:22:00.002-05:00

James and I went last Friday to Eli's annual IEP (individualized education plan) meeting. His teacher and Occupational therapist just kept on praising his progress and told us several things that he does that keeps them laughing. He has quite the personality, even though he can't communicate very well yet. He does have some communication but it is very, very limited. That is our goal for this next year. His teacher, Mrs. Carrie, said that every day after naps he points to her and says, "you fired." We discovered he got that off of the movie, "The Incredibles." She said he is the king of circle time; he recognizes his name said aloud and written; he sings and does the moves to a lot of the songs. He still thrives on routine and any change in his routine causes a tantrum but he has learned to calm himself down pretty fast. He understands more words and does say "NO" when he doesn't want something. He loves the assistant principal, Mr. Peoples and Mr peoples even takes him around to other classrooms sometimes with him. So when we were there other teachers would say how much they love Eli. He rules the school, they say!
They want to keep him in school for 3 hrs. a day during the summer. We are trying to find what else we can do for him this summer. They also want him back in the same classroom (CBIP-Communication, Behavioral intervention program), at the same school, with the same teacher in the fall. I think this is the best thing for him for now. Please keep him in your prayers and pray that we will know what avenues to take to try to help him.
While we were discussing his IEP i heard yelling down the hall of the school and knew it was Eli. They weren't putting him on the bus since we were there so he threw a little fit because it was a change in routine but when he saw us he gave us his biggest smile and ran to his Dad. He looked at the teachers aids and said, "all done" while signing it at the same time. He was done with them, he had his dad. He loved being in there with us and loved the chocolate on the table. He at one point went and played with the magnetic letters on the teachers desk and brought some back to the table with him. He then proceeded to put them back in the same exact order he found them on the teachers desk. James would then mess it up and then Eli would put it back together exactly the way it was before. So it seems he has a photographic memory. We are going to try a few things to see if that is true and what else he can do. In other words, the progression is slow but there is progression and that is what's important. I love my sweet Eli!

I'm sure everyone knows by now!

2009-05-07T17:04:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I am really slow at posting on my blog. NO wisecracks please! I am sure most of you know what gender our baby is going to be by now but for those who have not heard I am now going to tell you. We went, very excited to find out. The baby was hiding, trying to not let us see and then we got a good look. Can you guess? IT'S A ...........(the suspense it killing you right)...............(Okay I'll let you know after I stretch for a little bit).............. (I'lll let you know after I use the restroom).................(uh-oh kids are screaming)....................(gotta check on who got booted off on American Idol)...........................(I missed "Lost" last night, so I better watch the episode)...........................................................................IT'S A BOY!!!! Man it took you long enough to find out. Silly people! We thought for sure we were having a girl so I even bought a few girl things; good thing Margene is having a girl. I went to the Doctors appointment after in tears. We are excited to have a boy, but hesitant on what challenge this little boy is going to bring with him. We are praying that he won't have any problems but also praying that we can handle whatever happens. We just want him to be healthy and happy.
Aubrey was very sad too. She didn't want the boys to outnumber the girls anymore. After we came home she cried for awhile. She said, "boys are too bossy!" I said that girls are bossy too and she said, "no way, I've never been bossy!" Now she is very excited and even felt the baby kick her in the head the other day. She keeps asking me when I am going to have them take him out. She said she "can't wait to be a big sister." I told her she already is and she said, "no way!" We can't wait to welcome him into our family and are excited about the names we have come up with. Thanks for all your prayers and love.

Yeah Warmth

2009-05-07T16:54:00.003-05:00

I love when the weather gets warm and the kids can play outside for a little bit. We pulled out our dora sprinkler, and let the kids run through it. Eli would have done it all day if he could have! Of course Jaxon is once again wearing Spiderman. That is all he wears. We finally had to force one of his shirts off him since he wore it for 4 days; he didn't like the replacement spiderman shirt we gave him. He threw a big fit! Poor kid!

Easter

2009-05-07T16:25:00.005-05:00

We went up to Josh and Margene's for conference weekend. They are always party animals. We left Aubrey up there for a week so they would have to come down the next weekend for Easter. As payment for being sneaky they brought Aubrey home with the flu. Which the rest of us, except for James( always the case), would get in the next couple weeks. ( more to come on that later) We had lots of things planned for Easter but it ended up being freezing cold and so we did a quick easter egg hunt and then ended up at home for our Easter picnic. McKaylee helped me finish the Easter Egg Pinata by painting it very colorful. She did a great job! It was expertly put together because no one could break it. Josh even broke our most treasured, green, plastic bat trying to get it to open. We ended up kicking it. The kids expected candy but we had slips of paper with scriptures on it and things that represented the Savior (along with some marbles to add some weight) in it instead. Then after we discussed the reason we celebrate Easter we gave them a clue to go and find a bag of gummi lifesavers candy with a couple more scriptures explaining that Jesus is our lifesaver and he loves us. It was fun for me to put together so I hope every one else had fun. Thanks Josh and Margene for braving the Greenwood household once again. Josh, you still owe us another beautiful, plastic, green bat. hehe j/k

The two pregnant women helping the Easter bunny get the baskets together. Margene is so cute!

Flu update: Jaxon got the flu for the normal 24-48 hrs after Aubrey. Then we had a break for a few days and so we thought it was over. Then, Eli came home from school the next thursday after Easter with red, goopy eyes and a fever. Then the next day both Eli and I were bed ridden because of chills, fever, ache and some congestion. It ended up lasting until the next thursday when we were finally able to send Eli to school and I went to the Dr.'s because mine turned into a sinus infection. I have decided that we ended up with the piglet flu, not quite the swine flu that everyone else it getting. ( haha bad joke, I know) It was the worst flu I have ever had! I am glad it is over for awhile, hopefully!

new helmet

2009-05-07T15:38:00.007-05:00

I don't know if anyone else has this problem but my kids seem to have very large heads. Aubrey had a cute princess helmet that lasted, not very long. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Greenwood, who sent money for her birthday, she got a new helmet (still with princesses on it). She looks cute.

We also bought some curlers to see if Aubrey would actually let me curl her hair. We have done it once and it has been over a month. Oh well!

Aubrey's Week

2009-05-07T14:59:00.004-05:00

The last week of March was a busy week for Aubrey.

Aubrey of course realizes that she is a big girl but sometimes her curiosity gets the better of her. We were enjoying the day outside. I was planting some flowers and the kids were playing in the cul-de-sac. James keeps asking me where the adult supervision was. I was right there and thought she was playing with some dirt on the side of the road. Come to find out it was tar! We tried oil, butter, soap and water and everything else. I called James and told him to pick up some of that fast orange stuff that mechanics use. That is the only way we ended up getting it off. Meanwhile, Aubrey's hands and arms were covered, as well as her feet and legs. It was quite the sight to see. She got it all over the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink, and her bike and all over my shirt. What a mess it was! We ended up putting socks on her hands and feet so she wouldn't get it anywhere else, until her dad got home. What a kid!

Aubrey this same week ended up losing her first tooth; well, she swallowed it while we were at the Dr.'s office. She also got her 5 year shots so she can go to school. I finally gave in and got Jaxon his MMR shot. I was nervous for weeks always hoping that shots really don't have anything to do with Autism. He is still doing great and is in the process of potty training. He has to wear spider man underwear and it has to be on backwords so he can see the pictures. He climbs up backwards on the toilet and does his thing. He loves being big!

My kids!

2009-04-25T17:48:00.004-05:00

We had a fun adventure at the park for Eli's break from school. Eli chased a kid around trying to get his lightning McQueen toy and Jaxon was still pretty fussy from being sick with canker sores in his mouth. I love my kids but enjoy them more when they are smiling.

Making do!

2009-04-25T17:40:00.004-05:00

Eli has figured out how to move chairs and stools over so he can reach what he wants. Below: They are going on a boat ride. Watch out for sharks!

The box that we got for Aubrey's birthday was so big so we only used half of it. The other half we made into a little clubhouse that sat beside our couch for awhile. Now it has been dumped in the back yard. Aubrey wanted a little playhouse so we gave her the homemade kind. The kids loved it.

Princess Party

2009-03-16T21:10:00.003-05:00

Aubrey's 5th birthday party. Saturday, march 14, 2009. Princess was the theme and it was fun to see all the girls dressed up as princesses. They played "Don't Eat Pete," princess style; kiss the frog and turn him into a prince; and musical princesses. They danced and when the music stopped they stood on a princess and we would draw the name of the princess. Whoever was standing on that princess got a prize. Aubrey got a big set of princess barbies and so each of the girls picked one to play with.
Look how sweet she is sitting on her makeshift throne.I sent James to an appliance store to get us a box to turn into a castle for the entrance to the party. I think it turned out pretty cute. We even still have half the box for next time. hehe Aubrey wanted a draw bridge as the door. The adults had to bend over to get in but it was perfect for the girls.

Aubrey helped me with the cake. It was fun to try to be like Aunt Kim and make a cute cake. We did okay I think and Aubrey loved it and that's all that matters. Happy Birthday to our princess!!

Kids will be Kids

2009-03-16T21:06:00.002-05:00

Eli put gloves on and some rainboots and was dancing around the house.

Jumping on the bed in Mom and Dad's room is the greatest thing to do.

They have wrestling matches to see who is the strongest. Aubrey is winning this one.

Jaxon of course is winning this one.

The circus

2009-03-16T21:03:00.004-05:00

The end of January the Barnum and Bailey Circus came into town. We found some babysitters and took Aubrey to see it. She thought it was so much fun and lasted for most of it but ended up winding down at the end. She loved the clowns, of course. She wanted all the fun things they were selling but we convinced her that she didn't want them. So fun!

James and I in February got to go and see Riverdance (their final tour). It was a lot of fun and we were far enough away that it did look like their legs weren't attached to their bodies. It was fun.

News!!!!

2009-03-16T20:57:00.002-05:00

On our Christmas vacation we also had a little surprise happen. I took 2 pregnancy tests and they both came out positive. We are expecting our 4th baby. We find out in 2 1/2 weeks what we are having. We are excited and nervous at the same time. I have been really sick with this one (not Hilary sick) but throwing up 4 or 5 times a day is a lot for me. It has gone down to 1-2 times a day and this last week I have gone a couple days without throwing up which is very exciting. I was bedridden most of January and February which is why I am just barely announcing this. Please keep us in your prayers that I can feel better and take care of my family and that this will be a healthy baby (boy or girl).
Aubrey prays all the time that , "the baby will stop making mom sick." She was watching "The testaments" with me last night and kept asking what Jesus was doing with the sick people. I told her he was healing them. She left for a minute and then came back and said, "I prayed to Heavenly Father and Jesus that you would not be sick anymore because they can heal you." It was so sweet! The Faith of a little child. She teaches us so much.

Christmas wasn't that long ago right?!!

2009-03-16T20:38:00.002-05:00

Since we are not yet halfway to Christmas of 2009 I think that it is still appropriate to post about Christmas of 2008 right? I'll just give a brief rundown of our trip.

Christmas being a season full of joy with little stress, brought us to make the decision that flying standby to Denver and then on to Salt Lake would run smoothly without any bumps ( not counting turbulence). December 14 came around and we rushed to the airport in hopes that we would make the morning flight. James was able to get on with Aubrey and Eli but Jaxon and I had to wait for the next flight. You'll never guess what happened next; James took off to Denver with mine and Jaxon's tickets in hand. Good thing we had a great flight agent who called Denver and made sure that they would send our tickets back on the next flight from Denver to Nashville. However, that made it so we couldn't try again until Sunday. So Jaxon and I called for a ride home and spent the night at home. Sunday again we rushed to the airport, the security guards asking us why we were back, and tried to make that flight. Well, that flight was full, the next flight ended up being full and monday looked horrible to even try. We decided last minute to try MOnday's afternoon flight because an ice storm was headed to Nashville. Luckily we got on and we ended up being seated in first class. Too bad with a two year old you can't recline the comfy seat and take a nap. He thought it was great!

So now we've made it to Denver excited to visit and we had a great time there, especially on Wednesday night when we had a get together with the fam and on thursday James got to go out to lunch with his old co-workers. Too bad Friday a couple of us came down with the flu. The flights from Denver to Salt Lake looked scary and I didn't dare try to fly on my own with 3 kids on standby. So we ended up buying tickets on sunday. WE made it to the flight on time ready to go and they told me security forgot to punch my card, so we had to wait for security to come. They took their sweet time getting there and the flight agent was going to send the plane on without us, but then tears started flowing and she felt sorry for me. So we barely made it. Kim picked us up at the airport and we went to her house for some delicious pizza and then headed toward St. George to meet Dad halfway. It was great to be home with the fam and Kirsti and Loren were there as well. We had fun hanging out with the fam and Aubrey still comments on the sledding trip. We had a great christmas there and started thinking about the trek home. Mom was even more nervous than I was about flying home to Nashville on standby tickets with 3 small children. She was coming up with all sorts of plans to get us home. IN the end the decision was made to drive on New Years Eve and meet James halfway. James laughs because he ended up going further than halfway. So for New years we spent the time in the car enjoying Mom and Dad and seeing where they lived 100 years ago (j/k). The Kids did really well and it was a good thing we had a small dvd player otherwise I don't think we would have made it. Thanks everybody for your hospitality. So Happy Late New Year to everyone!!!

Opryland Hotel lights

2008-12-13T02:30:00.000-06:00

It's a big thing here in Nashville to go and check out the lights at the Opryland Hotel (or Aubreyland hotel if your talking to Aubrey; that's what she calls it). They had huge lit up trees and lights everywhere. They had small hot air balloons floating around and a gorgeous nativity outside. It was fun! Aubrey even got to send Santa an e-mail and he sent one back. Too cute!

Campbell Tradition

2008-12-13T02:27:00.002-06:00

I am just trying to pass on some traditions from the Campbell side. Eli and Aubrey, anytime the heat turns on they run over to the heater and stand on it or lay on it or sit on it. Yep, they are campbell's too. I remember all of us Campbell kids racing each other to the heaters.

Jaxon Decided to be a pirate today I guess. Aargh! He is also sporting a baby hat. I am surprised it still fits.

AHHHHHHHHHHH!

2008-12-13T02:16:00.006-06:00

WARNING: FOR THOSE WITH WEAK STOMACHS YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO PROCEED TO THE PICTURES. HEHE
It started out as a normal day. Nothing to major happening except we were packing and cleaning up getting ready for our trip. I even got to take a nap. (big mistake) When the boys started pounding on the door to their room and yelling, "Mom" I knew it was time to let them out. Aubrey went up and opened the door for them. Eli was the first to appear and to my surprise (well not really he does it all the time) he had no clothes on including no diaper. The next child of mine, Jaxon, came down a minute later. Jaxon too was sporting no diaper but he did have a shirt on, which deserves at least a little bit of praise. I changed their diapers and then looked at Eli's hand and saw that there was poop on it. Oh No! I ran upstairs to find this.

Poop on the wall

writing on the dresser and walls (good thing it was crayon)

Poop on Jaxons picture frame, on the carpet and on the vaporizor. Missed the blanket though.

Poop all over the dresser.

Okay most of the time snow days are great, but next time the school cancels school because of a little snow I am going to protest. This is what happens when they do it. I know Eli started it because he is the one that always takes off his diaper, Jaxon just usually takes off his pants. There was poop all over the wall, all over the dresser, all over the carpet, on Jaxon Picture frame, on the bed, and everywhere else you can think of. Oh, and they found a crayon somewhere. I cleaned their room earlier and didn't see a crayon. So either I can't clean very well or they were stashing it somewhere. I will go with the second choice to make me feel better. I just started to cry. I called James, "Can't you come home?"

I know people say , "this too shall pass, " or " you're going to miss the days when your kids are young." I am perfectly content though with these type of things passing on by and not even stopping and also I will miss some things but this stuff I won't miss. Yuck! I apologize if I grossed anybody out or made anybody glad they don't have kids. Kids are great but today was a nightmare. Hehe

Let it snow!

2008-12-13T01:52:00.002-06:00

We were shocked to look outside at about 5 p.m. and see huge snowflakes and snow already on the ground. Of course Eli dug right in and started eating what he could find. Jaxon tried it too but ended up eating dirt along with it. Aubrey made a snow angel with what little snow we had.

Of Course Nashville freaks out when there is snow so school was cancelled for Friday. We had to scramble to find gloves. Who know where our winter stuff was. We found a few things that would help but Eli wouldn't wear any. We ended the snow party with a snowball fight with dad when he got home and with Eli freezing but not wanting to go inside. He kept saying "NO,NO" His new favorite word. I think that is all of my kids favorite word. Oh well, what can you do.

I give up!

2008-12-01T21:36:00.003-06:00

Okay, so we were supposed to be getting a family picture done. Aubrey was sad because she didn't want to be in the middle. The boys would never look at the camera and every time we got a decent picture there would be snot all over little noses. I give up. Tasha, when we get to your house we need your help to get a family picture. James looks hot though. Maybe next time. hehe

The tree must come down

2008-12-01T21:30:00.003-06:00

James can't get over the fact that whenever we go to a Campbell event there is always some project that needs to be done. Most of the time though it is not dangerous. This time, however was another story. A 60 foot tree was the target and it had to come down. Margene was so scared she wouldn't even watch at all. I think a lot of prayers were being said by the wives of these crazy gentlemen. We thought for sure one side was going to hit either the house or the playhouse. One side landed in front of the playhouse exactly where they wanted. The other half landed behind the playhouse, totally opposite of the desired landing site. All is good. Nobody got hurt and now there is plenty of firewood to go around. We really got nervous, at one point when Josh told us to get everyone in the basement just in case. Always an adventure! Hilarious!

Yes, Turkey!

2008-12-01T21:23:00.003-06:00

Yes, it's chow time! My kids are already digging in. They take after their mom. We had such a great time at Josh and Margene's. They are great hosts. Thanks everyone for such a great time.

The girls went shopping the day after for some deals. We found more than our budgets allowed. We even spent 1 1/2 hrs. at Target waiting to pay. Come to find out we were in the wrong line. oops! It was lots of fun though!

James went with the guys to look at electronics. He called and asked what our credit limit was. I thought he was serious but he was just joking. I, however, know someday he is going to bring home a big flat screen tv, but it won't be this year.

We played games and chatted. Josh swept the board on Apples to Apples. What a guy! We had an awesome time and I don't think we saw Aubrey for more than 1 hr. the whole time.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T21:14:00.003-06:00

Turkey bowl time. The boys got up and went to play football. Paramedics were on standby.j/k James did get really sore though but he is ready for more. Bro. Wood, the kids and I went over to see the end of it. I ended up just watching the kids play on the playground. So Sweet!!!

Cousins are great. McKaylee and Naomi just hovered over Jaxon most of the time. It was nice. Maybe we will move closer to them so I can have babysitters. hehe In the picture where Aubrey is not looking she told me, with her beautiful upside down smile, "Don't get me in it, mom!" She meant it too. Oh well, it will be picture to show for years to come. There's Eli still loving the swing.

Trip to Josh's

2008-12-01T21:12:00.003-06:00

The trip to Josh's was slow. It took us 4 1/2 hours to get there, and it usually takes us just over 3 hours. Eli hung out the whole time but I thought it was funny to look back and see Aubrey and Jaxon zonked out. Jaxon's blanket was on his head instead of on his lap. Now that's the way to travel. I was jealous! Hehe

I love Christmas!

2008-12-01T21:06:00.002-06:00

Since we were going to be at Josh and Margene's the day after Thanksgiving we decided to put up our tree the day before so we could come home to a nice Christmasy home. Aubrey and Jaxon got into the christmas spirit. Although I think Jaxon was removing the ornaments. j/k Eli wasn't interested so I found him over dressing up his dinosaur. He is placing a doll hat on the dinosaur in the picture. I think Aubrey has a little too much influence in this house. :) We are excited about Christmas and about trying to come to Denver and Utah to try to see a lot of our family. Pray that we make it on the flights because we are flying standby. Hope to see y'all soon!

Crafts

2008-12-01T21:02:00.003-06:00

Aubrey loves to do crafts but she wonders why I don't get excited about her doing paint crafts. Here is a picture to give me justification for being hesitant. She decided while painting something for thanksgiving she would mix all the colors together and paint her hands instead. Yep, I can hear you all in agreement that pulling out paints is a scary undertaking!

Twilight

2008-11-24T09:46:00.004-06:00

So is anybody else into the Twilight books? I love them and was excited about the movie coming out. I called James asking him if he would like to go see it with me. As much as he loves me he told me no. I made the mistake of trying to read some of it to him and he gagged on the romantic parts. In other words if I was going to go then I would have to find a friend to go with me. I started calling around and found out that down in Cool Springs someone from the Stake had reserved a theatre for 500 people and it was going to be at 10 p.m. but only 6 bucks. I decided that would be fun to do so I called Timber and a couple others and asked if they were going or would like to go with me. Timber was a good sport and came with me. It even snowed a little on the way there. We stood in line for awhile but finally made it in. It was pretty much about 6 of us from Church (married, us old folks) and the rest were teenagers or the majority was teenagers. It was hilarious! Anytime Edward came out they would squeal and cheer. We couldn't help but laugh. It makes you think what things you did as a teenager. Did I act like that? was the question of the night. It was fun. Thanks Ladies for letting me go with you.

Sam's Club

2008-11-24T09:43:00.003-06:00

Aubrey and I love to go to Sam's Club. Especially on the weekend when there are a lot of samples. She is the only one that usually gets the privilege of going with me. However, one day after registering the van we went to Sam's with Jaxon as well. As we were walking in Aubrey was already explaining to Jaxon how things work. She then asked him if he wanted "some examples" to eat. She told him "examples are very yummy and you will love them." I didn't have the heart to correct her yet. So now when we go to Sam's we go there for "examples." :)

Recovering

2008-11-24T09:34:00.002-06:00

We have been trying to get sickness out of our house for the past month. From the flu to colds to sore throats. We are finally feeling a million times better but obviously we are still recovering and needing some extra sleep.

Jaxon loves to try on new hats and loves his coat so we had to take a picture of him with Aubrey's helmet on backwards.

James is getting Old

2008-11-24T09:24:00.002-06:00

Eli loves his Pizza, can you tell? He is into hugs lately and when we went to pick him up from school the other day because he was sick he walked over to Aubrey and gave her a hug. Now she is always trying to get one from him. It is so sweet!

The big 29! He has already threatened me to not throw a huge party for next year. We'll see what happens. We celebrated a couple days early. It ended up making the day more relaxing. A party is not a party without pizza! James got some great gifts. He got new speakers for the computer and a new game called "Civilization." He also got a mouse pad with pictures of his kids on it for work. We had ice cream that night but then we had brownies for his real birthday on monday. The kids and I went to his work and decorated his car. Haha We love our James!

pumpkin cookies

2008-11-24T09:14:00.002-06:00

We had some friends over for the day. Sarah and Everett Boughton came over while their mom went out for her birthday. We love having visitors and we even tried to make some pumpkin cookies. Aubrey wanted to stir and I usually let her so I handed the bowl to her. She was playing around while she was stirring (showing off is more like it) and ended up dumping the whole bowl onto the carpet. That is why there is a picture of orange carpet. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was ORANGE! I didn't have any carpet cleaner so we were going to walk to target but it started to rain on us. When Bishop Boughton came to pick up his kids he brought his carpet cleaner and cleaned the carpet. It looks much better. Thanks Bishop! I like orange but I wasn't ready to go back to the 70's carpet look.

After Halloween sales

2008-11-24T09:07:00.002-06:00

So, we got lucky and made it to some of the Target and Walmart after halloween sales and Aubrey found a pink wig this week and fell in love with it. She even tried to wear it to the mall one day and I was going to let her but then she took it off and said, "I better not wear it, everyone will laugh at me." She says that a lot about her clothing lately if it isn't just right. I don't know where she got it from. She loves to dress up but she also gets tired of new things fast. That's my teenager for you!:)

Jaxon's Birthday

2008-11-24T08:54:00.002-06:00

Jaxon's 2 now. Time flies and we are already getting questions about when another one is coming. Not anytime soon! We love this stage of independence; well as much as you can enjoy the word, "No," and the phrase, "I do it" or the word "Mine!" Or even the screams of protest when they are removed from a situation. I didn't think fighting amongst siblings would start so young but Jaxon has a mean right hook.

We started off having a curious george party; thus the masks but then we had a pinata that had shrek on it. We also had power Ranger balloons and spiderman candy. We were all over the map with this party but all of those things are Jaxon's favorite. He got a bike, buzz lightyear (which Eli tried to snatch the very second Jaxon opened it), some beautiful cards (thanks Great Grandma, and Grandma), some great phone calls, and lots of candy (his favorite thing). When you ask him "how old are you?," he holds up all five fingers and says "two." We'll work on counting the fingers later. Happy Birthday, Jaxon!

He loves his bike and I think it is because it has a million buttons on it. For a few days that was what we'd hear while napping or doing any other thing. Quiet toys are the goal for Christmas. I wonder if we could pull it off! We'll See!

New House

2008-11-24T08:37:00.002-06:00

Look at our beautiful home! We love it already. The kids are always wanting to go out in the cul-de-sac even when it is freezing outside. The kitchen is double the size at our apartment. We could use some visitors though so come on over.

Halloween

2008-11-05T15:43:00.003-06:00

Trick or Treat! We went around the new neighborhood. Not a lot of people were answering so the kids got a lot of candy from those that were answering. I guess a lot of people to parties and trunk or treats more now. We started off with James and Eli and made it to 3 houses before Eli threw a big fit so I continued on with Jaxon and Aubrey. Aubrey would say trick or treat and Jaxon would hold up his bag. It was fun. Aubrey even did her own makeup. (she even put on mascara by herself) Happy Halloween!

Carving pumpkins & trunk or treat

2008-11-05T15:34:00.002-06:00

The ward had a trunk or treat. We made it a little late because I had to go to a baptism just before and that ran late so I ran home and threw on some pajamas and messed up my makeup and got the kids in the van (James' helped a little bit :) Someone dressed up in a gian teddy bear costume that Eli loved. He loved to push his belly. Another person built a giant transformer costume. It was awesome but I didn't get a picture. Jaxon loves those kinds of toys and calls them "man man" but he was scared of the giant transformer "man, man." The kids then went trunk or treating and we headed for home. James was a good sport and dressed up as a broncos football player because Aubrey was a cheerleader. Jaxon was Pooh and Eli was Tigger.

Aubrey and I carved the pumpkin. It had bats and a man holding a pumpkin on it. Aubrey loved to get her hands gooey.

To Jaxon, anything that has to do with Halloween is called, "punkin." He loves to say that word and will always growl after he says it. I guess he is trying to scare the scary pumpkins and monsters back.

pumpkin farm

2008-11-05T15:23:00.002-06:00

We went to a pumpkin farm for one of our Co-op field trips. The kids went on hay rides, to the petting zoo, through a corn maze and jumped in a big box full of corn (that was their favorite). Afterwards they got to pick a pumpkin to bring home. Jaxon loved all the pumpkins and would continually say "punkin" and then grown at it. We had a lot of fun.

jumping in the corn. I even found corn in diapers and underwear later. It is not as messy as sand so maybe we will fill up a sandbox with corn. Great idea huh!?!

Going into the corn maze. The kids made it through fast but the adults got a little lost. At least a coupld of us did. Their friends are Jenesee, Emery, Jayden, Isabelle, and Liam.

I thought these were the cutest swings ever. they are tires made into horses. That was the first thing they did when they got there. Happy Fall!

Aubrey's Russian Friend

2008-11-05T15:19:00.002-06:00

One of our next door neighbors was Russian. She spoke a few words of English but not much. Her name was Yasmina. Aubrey would try to play with her but then they would get into an argument most of the time and say, "you're not my friend." I think that was one of the first phrases Aubrey taught her; go figure. They still loved to play with each other even though they couldn't communicate. Yasmina even called Aubrey on Halloween because we just moved to a new place. Cute!

Photo op

2008-11-05T15:14:00.002-06:00

Well, I tried to be like Aunt Tasha and be a professional photographer. Yeah, it didn't work that well. Aubrey posed beautifully but the boys were all over the place. When I finally got a good picture of Jaxon, half his head was cut off. Eli just glared at me. Oh, well Aubrey looks beautiful and we'll keep trying with the other two. Goofy boys! It was like they hadn't ever been outside. So fun!

bunkbed

2008-11-05T15:11:00.002-06:00

A new bunkbed. We got the kids a bunkbed to try to help Aubrey sleep in her room better. Did that work? Of course not. She still comes into our room at night and without making a sound, makes a bed on the floor and goes to sleep there. At least she is not sleeping in our bed. We also got the bunkbed to help Eli sleep in his bed instead of the floor. Did that work? Of course not. We still find him sleeping under the bunkbed with his blanket. Kids!!!!!

Eli's School

2008-11-05T14:58:00.002-06:00

Eli started school on August 11th, 2008. He goes to Shayne elementary. He is in their Communication, Behavioral Intervention Program (CBIP- Pre-K). He goes monday-Friday from 8-2p.m. We don't see him much. His bus ride was an hour in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. Now that we've moved it has switched around to 2 hours in the morning and 35 min. in the afternoon. So much for trying to cut down on his bus time. He loves it though. On his days off he will find his backpack and bring it to me, trying to get me to take him to school. Are we not exciting? He has to wear a uniform everyday which at first I didn't like but it is really easy to figure out what he has to wear.

His teacher is Miss Carrie. She is amazing. She is always so positive and when I went to his parent-teacher conference she couldn't stop praising him. Eli does well with structure but has a very difficult time with change. She said that he likes to be the line leader (stand in front when they go to the gym). He likes to be the first on the bus and he loves the vice Principal, Mr. Peoples. She even said that Mr. Peoples will come to their classroom almost every afternoon to help Eli to the bus. Cute! He has been sick a lot lately and has had more fits, so hopefully we can get him back to school and back to learning.

He loves his bus driver Terry and I can't think of the bus monitors name but he just runs to the bus and probably would live there if they'd let him. The first time he got on I started to cry because he looked so tiny going to school.

We dropped him off on the first day. It took us over 45 minutes to find a parking space and to unload the troops. We were late! Doesn't he look handsome?!? One day he was home sick and he put his hand on his chest and said, "I sick." It was so clear that it confused me and almost made me pass out. He also like to walk around saying, "How you doin?" I guess we have a Joey Triviani on our hands (for those who don't know, Joey is on the show "Friends"). I would love to hear more words. That would be great. We're trying and we are even looking into Neuro Modulation Technique which has a lot to do with Chiropractic work. We hope to find something that really will work to help him. Keep him in your prayers.

Summer fun

2008-11-05T14:54:00.002-06:00

We enjoyed the pool a ton this summer. Eli loved it! We put a lifejacket on him and he was off on his own. He would come back every once in a while to give us a hug, but he swam all around on his own. Jaxon just liked to run around the pool. Aubrey loved it but is still scared to really brave the water much. I had a hard time visiting some friends that lived over by the pool because if Eli saw the pool we all ended up having a nervous breakdown. It was great to keep cool!

Aubrey's Dance Recital

2008-11-05T14:41:00.002-06:00

Aubrey finished dance class at the end of August. I know, I know I need to keep up with this blog. Our pictures weren't working for awhile but now we are back. Her recital was definitely an event to remember. There is a little boy that just loved her and I think she got annoyed with him. He was a cute little boy. She kept glaring at him and telling him no. There was another little girl who Aubrey wanted to be next to the whole time. So anyways, she pushed everyone else out of the way that tried to stand by this other girl. At one point I told her to stop picking her nose and she shouted out, "I am just scratching." Needless to say James and I were pretty embarrassed but Aubrey was just fine. She had a blast and didn't think that anything she did during the recital was wrong. It was fun to see her dance. I just hope next time we won't have to apologize to parents or the teacher and that she will always have that beautiful smile on her face. Hilarious!

2008-06-18T23:25:00.002-05:00

Aubrey started Dance class this last monday. she is so cute in her dance clothes. She even posed for her mom. The Boys and I play at the park while she is at dance. Her teacher comes out and meets them in the foyer and then she walks them back to their studio. She went like a big girl. It almost made me cry but Eli was screaming for me so we had to leave.
We have some great kids and they keep our life entertaining. Hope you enjoyed this quick catch up. See ya soon.

Kids!!!

2008-06-18T23:22:00.002-05:00

Jaxon can get away with just about anything when he is playing with Eli. If Eli is laying down Jaxon will tackle him. They love to play together and even sit by each other when watching a movie. So Sweet!!!

Aubrey joins in with them a lot. They play in their little pool when Mom is too lazy to take them to the big pool. They always have a great time. I think we'll keep them. hehe

the turtle

2008-06-18T23:18:00.004-05:00

One day we were playing by our stream and we saw a turtle in there. Aubrey wanted to play in it but I told her that she couldn't play by his mouth. We finally took a stick and put it by his mouth to see what he would do. He snapped at it then he took off. Aubrey wanted to keep him but I don't think that would've been a good idea. As much as I love snapping turtles I didn't think we needed to keep him. He was cute though!

Life

2008-06-18T23:06:00.002-05:00

Jaxon and Aubrey were playing out in the rain. We get a lot of rain and this day we got even more than normal. Isn't he handsome?!?

Eli loves to go and play in the stream behind our townhome. He eats dirt, drinks the dirty water, and sits right in there. Don't you just love kids. We went up to Josh's for the Kentucky Derby Fireworks. It was awesome. I have never seen so many fireworks ever. We even got to stay warm in Josh's fancy office building. It was a cold day! We are glad Josh is not too far away.

Pictures

2008-06-18T23:01:00.002-05:00

Aubrey turned four. She got a princess bike, a barbie phone and money so she could go shopping (which she loves).

When Beth and Mom came we went up to Josh's and went to the Louisville Slugger Museum. It was a blast!

Me, and my new presidency. They are great. We have a lot of fun and they help me out a ton. Their names are Patricia Grathwohl, Debbie Knott, and Ginger Furnell. I wouldn't survive without them. Go us!!!

Long time no blog

2008-06-18T22:42:00.003-05:00

I am sorry for those who have been faithful in checking out our blog and haven't been able to see anything new. There have been a lot of things that have happened since Dan came to visit us. This blog will be to catch you up on some of those things.
Mom, Beth and her kids came to visit us to give me an, "I'm going insane, break." Thanks guys! They got to scope out the town. Hope they come back to check out some country shows. There's a lot going on.
Kim and Tommy (cousin from Norway) came to visit and we went and saw Carrie Underwood being inducted into the Grande Ole Opry. We also went to Memphis for a couple days to check out Elvis. We were "all shook up." (hehe no pun intended)
We have not sold our townhome because the market is so bad, or because the appraiser appraised it for $40,000 less than what we owe. Now we are renting it out. We have found a renter and he moves in this weekend. Yeah!!!!!
James has a new calling as Nursery Coordinator. He hopes he can always find the subs he needs so he doesn't have to go into nursery. Did I mention that all our kids are in nursery and primary now? James and I just look at each other in Sunday School wondering if we should hold hands or not. He is so cute I have to hold hands with him, if we get a chance.
I too, have received a new calling which has almost made several people faint with shock but they are recovering. My new calling is Ward Relief Society President. It keeps me busy all the time. James keeps busy watching his children while I go do a lot of visits and meetings. He is such a sport.
Aubrey turned 4 (I know that happened several months ago but I am catching you up). She started dance class this last monday and she looks so cute in her dance clothes. She still keeps us busy and always wants someone to play with and she wants to live at the pool.
Eli is doing great. He is picking up on his therapy really well and is sitting to complete activities without screaming. He will listen to books (small ones), he does puzzles, and he will even listen to some one step directions. I told him to go get his sippy cup the other day and he went and looked in the diaper bag but couldn't find it, and then he went to the family room and found it. He then brought it to me. James and I cheered so loud. We were so excited. Our only problem is when we transition to different things when we aren't at home. We are working on that.
Jaxon thinks he is so big. He has learned the word mine, down, and No. You know what that means. "Trouble!" He is the only one that can get away with stealing stuff from Eli. He loves to play with Eli and loves to throw tantrums. We are hoping he gets out of that phase soon. We love you all and I will post some pictures after this so you can see how much we've grown. xoxoxo

Uncle Dan

2008-02-24T20:22:00.004-06:00

Uncle Dan Greenwood came to visit us this last weekend. He flew in on Wednesday night and left Sunday morning so we got to stay up a lot of night talking to him and seeing how he is doing. The kids were very excited and wanted his attention the whole time. Eli wanted him to always hold him, Aubrey wanted him to tickle and play with her and Jaxon was scared of him at first but then loved to be with hime too. (Jaxon gave the biggest pouty lip of his life when Uncle Dan made him stop lifting up the tablecloth. Hilarious!) Thursday Dan was supposed to drive up to Kentucky to work but ended up getting in an accident and dented the mustang he was driving but he was just fine (that's a relief). The roads have been really icy up in Kentucky. He ended coming back to do his work on our computer and was able to get it done. Also that day I took the kids shopping at Goodwill so we could get out of the house. Eli had one of his yelling fits and we got kicked out of goodwill. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I cried for a little bit but now I think it is a funny story.

Friday we went and checked out the Opryland Hotel. It is gorgeous with tons of gardens to walk through for free (free is the best part). Aubrey and I rode on the little boat and that was fun but not worth $9 but still fun. We then went to the Opry Mills mall and checked out the Aquarium restaurant. They let us check it out for free and it looked like a ton of fun. They had a ton of Fish and sharks and stingrays. Absolutely beautiful! We would love to go and eat there sometime. That night I got a babysitter and so James, Dan and I went out to eat and then went to check out the sites. We went to the Parthenon and it was beautiful all lit up and everything. Then we drove down broadway to listen to all the country singers trying to make it big.

Saturday we tried to get Josh and fam to come with us but they said they were too buys (how rude!).j/k We went up to Mammoth Caves and then went to Abraham Lincoln's birthplace. We want to go check out more of the caves later. We had a blast with Dan and hope he had a great time too. See, we know how to party so come and see us okay!?!

Thief/ Worn Out!

2008-02-24T20:18:00.003-06:00

We have a thief in the house! Jaxon climbed up on his own to eat the rest of Eli's breakfast. I couldn't find him so I asked Aubrey where he went. "He's up there Mom!" she said. He was already up chowing down. When it was time for dinner we found Eli asleep on the couch. He looked so cute we didnt' want to wake him but we did want him to go to bed a little later so we had to wake him up. So Sweet!

Valentine's day!

2008-02-24T20:10:00.002-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day! We love you all and we expecially love our kids. We bought some Playhuts for really cheap for them instead of candy. They love them. Eli and Jaxon's is Lightning McQueen and Aubrey's is a Princess one. As you can see, James doesn't quite fit but they had fun anyways. We took a balloon and some candy to James' work to show we loved him. He brought home roses, a card, and some chocolates (yum) for me. We had tons of fun. We made a chocolate ,Eli, cake in the shape of a heart. They said it was actually really yummy. Yeah a new recipe we can use again. Eli ended up sleeping under his hut that night because he didn't want to let it out of his sight. Kisses and hugs to all!

Snow

2008-02-24T20:04:00.002-06:00

Ahhhh, Snow! It didn't last a long time but Aubrey couldn't wait to get out and play in it. Everyone else had colds so we didn't go and join her. Fun huh?

Family Day Out!

2008-02-10T11:48:00.000-06:00

It was so nice on Saturday that we made it a family day out. I feel the Jealousy rolling in from all you people in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada. Well to get away from the snow you can just come and visit. hehe

We went to centennial park and saw the parthenon, a replica of the one in Greece. It was beautiful. We walked around the park played on the playground, saw an airplane from the late 1950's (added that so my father-in-law would be proud) and then we ended our trip at the mall. They have a restaurant called the Aquarium that you eat while watching all the fish in the aquariums swim by. We just looked at the fish because we don't know how much it costs to eat but it looks fun. We walked around until our feet got sore. It was fun. James always loves the mall!?! Aubrey rode on the carousel and had a blast. It was nice to actually get out of the house and see the sites.

Eli, earlier Saturday threw lightning mcqueen in the stream behind us and dove in after it. What a funny kid. We were all out exploring our back yard.

And just for a side note, The Children's Place is having a big sell. We were able to buy Aubrey some pink (cause she loves pink ) pants for 99cents. Love ya.

Daddy's Home!

2008-02-10T11:44:00.000-06:00

"I'm so glad when Daddy comes home, glad as I can be." Just like the song that is what happens when daddy get home. He gets ambushed. All the kids want to be held at the same time so Thursday, Feb. 7 James decided to hold them all at once. It only lasted a minute or so but they loved it. I would have had him hold me too but I decided to give hime a little bit of a break. He's so cute! Ten hour days sometimes kill us more than him. So fun!

Masks

2008-02-10T11:36:00.000-06:00

We found some mask on the back of one of our cereal boxes and so we put them together. Eli wouldn't wear his but Aubrey and Jaxon loved theirs. So make sure you check out those cereal boxes. You never know what kind of entertainment you'll find.
In our back yard there is a little stream and a little forest. I lifted Aubrey over the porch so she could go play. She had a blast picking weeds, which she calls flowers, and playing in the water. Eli still jumps in the water otherwise I would have let him go too. He kept trying to climb over. Silly kids!

Eli's Poem

2008-02-04T15:47:00.001-06:00

One day while staying home from church with sick kids I felt like I should try to write a poem about Eli. I wrote this poem for Eli. We are trying to see if my friends Matt and Jamie can help me turn it into a song for him. We will see. Here it is:

Across the Sand
I call out his name but he doesn’t reply.
His eyes are far away, I can’t understand why.
My heart aches for my little one
“Please, Help!” I cry to God’s only Son.

What’s a mother supposed to do?
I know it’s to stand fast in faith and hold true.
But when I watch my child suffer so
In shame, I wonder where did my Savior go.

This special child of mine
With a long journey to take and a nature divine
Looking to God, trying to reach so high
Wanting this Angel in my arms to raise his wings and fly
He’s stronger than I know or can understand
Because Christ is carrying him Across the Sand

God, himself, had to watch his child suffer in pain.
Why can’t I too withstand this rain?
Peace fills my heart as I pray to find a cure
He hears me, I know, the spirit does assure.

Again I call out his name but he doesn’t reply
But wait, he looks, with comprehension in his eye.
The hand of God has reached out to touch
To guide us through the sand and encircle the one I love so much.

This special child of mine
With a long journey to take and a nature divine
Looking to God, and trying to reach so high
I watch my angel spread his wings & fly.
He’s always been stronger than I could understand
Because Christ carried him, for me, across the sand.

Hello from Nashville

2008-02-04T15:08:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from us in Nashville. Jaxon loves to open drawers and climb in them no matter how many times we take him out. He always has a big smile on his face, especially when he is getting in trouble. He loves to play with Aubrey and Eli and they keep him laughing Eli got a wagon for Christmas (both he and jaxon) and he loves to just go and sit in it. He also got some Lightning McQueen slippers and he carries those around everywhere. If you even try to touch them he starts to yell. Just this last week he started to walk around saying "Do it!" or "Hey." He has been playing with us more. He played ball with me the other day and he has been sharing some of his toys a little bit more. He is doing better everyday and I hope it is because of the diet and the other things we are trying to do for him. He loves to dance to the "Cars" soundtrack by spinning around and around. He also the other day handed me a mask and told me "Mo" which I think meant more because I kept putting it on and taking it off. He didn't like me to take it off so he kept bringing it back to me. funny kid!

Aubrey is so smart and has recently started to try to write her letters. She also walks around saying words and then telling us what they start with. She know most of her alphabet and their sounds. She loves for us to read to her everynight and she still always wants to have someone to play with. Jaxon always follows her around and they have a great time getting into things.

We have spent a lot of time indoors because it has gotten a lot colder. We got a little bit of snow the other day but it melted in a couple of seconds. We can't wait for spring when we can use the new wagon to walk to the park or , as aubrey would like, for us to go to the zoo which is just down the road.