Orthodontist Visit

Rachel and Taylor went to the Orthdontist today for an evaluation. This was Rachel's second visit and Taylor's first. Interesting part of today was that Taylor only has 5 baby teeth left while Rachel still has 6 left. Rachel should be ready for braces in about 6 months and Taylor in about a year. Both just have crowded, crooked teeth but no major adjustments to make.

Joseph's New Shorts

Joseph thinks that his new shorts make his butt look big.

Everyone else except Joseph

Mallory and I got hit by the bug last night after we went to bed. She and I were in the bathroom every half hour for most of the night. Taylor had spent the night at a friend's house and I got a call from the Mom at 5:30am. Taylor started throwing up around 1:00am and she was finally awake enough to bring her home. So Taylor came home and crawled into bed with me. Most of us slept until after 11:00pm. I made Joseph fend for himself downstairs after he got up. Bailey started throwing up soon after she woke up. Rachel is feeling good enough now to go outside. Mallory and I are feeling better, but are not up to doing much by lying around. I just got a call from Joe, he's got the bug too. Now the wait is on for Joseph to see if he gets it too.

Rachel's Turn

Looks like it's Rachel's turn. She's got the virus that Natalie had yesterday. Everything affects Rachel worse then everyone else, so she is really not feeling very good. Here she rests on the sofa in between trips to the bathroom.

Natalie's New Jeans

Natalie models her newly sewn jeans. They are waaaayyyy to big. I need to downsize the pattern before making the next pair.

Easter Outfit

I finally got the Easter Egg buttons sewed onto Natalie's Easter outfit this morning. Do you like them?

Natalie & Bailey

Natalie was driving Bailey crazy this morning because she kept trying to pull her hair. Natalie didn't see so good later in the day as she woke up from her nap and threw up on Mallory's bed. Ick! She threw up about every hour until just after dinner. She she slept again until 10:30 and woke up feeling fine.

Easter Bunny?

Natalie got an early present from the Easter Bunny.

Taylor & Rachel

A rare moment when Rachel & Taylor are not fighting with each other. Today they teamed up to fill Easter eggs to hide tomorrow for the little ones to find.

Happy Birthday!

Bailey went to a Birthday party for the girl on her left. Both of the othet girls are in Bailey's preschool class.

Surprise!

Mallory's best surprise face. If she had tonsils, you'd be able to see them.

Joseph & his Pokemon

Joseph with Treecko & Mudkip.

Natalie and Daddy

Natalie loves to play and sing songs with her Daddy.

Up and Down

Natalie has figured out how to climb up and slide down the stairs on her tummy. Where did we put that gate?

The Young and the Restless

This is a picture of the two oldest and two youngest in our family. My Grandma, my Dad, Bailey and Natalie. We were visiting with my Grandma in the hosptial. She had a mild heart attack earlier in the week, but she is feeling much better now. I think she looks great at almost 98 years old.

Great Grandma & Taylor

This picture was taken when we visited Grandma after Taylor's gymnastics meet. Taylor placed 4th on the floor and 5th on the vault. She had placed on the vault before but this was the first time she placed on the floor. She also had her best score on the bars today.

Merry March Meet

Taylor and I need to get up very early in the morning to get ready for her meet. Taylor needs to take a shower and wash her hair so I can french braid it to keep it out of her way. I am finally getting good at braiding the girls' hair. It took me 10 years to figure out how to do it so that it looks nice. Taylor has to be at the gym before 8:00am to check-in. My Dad will bring Joseph and Bailey out about an hour later. That way they will miss the stretching and warm-up sessions. After the meet the kids and I will visit with Grandma at the hospital before I drive home.

Ring Dance

Mallory went to the high school Ring Dance tonight with her boyfriend, Adam. I think that what we used to call Junior Prom is now called the Ring Dance. As noted by the name of the dance, the Juniors get their class rings at this dance. Mallory spent $40 getting her hair down so she'd look very nice. Joe said she looked great and very much like his oldest daughter, Michelle, when she came out of the salon. I had Rachel take pictures of Mallory and Adam when he came to pick her up.

Mallory and Adam

Mallory and Adam ready for the Ring Dance

Visit with Grandma

We went to see Grandma today at the hospital. She was sitting up in bed listening to the TV when we got there. She wasn't watching it because Dad had her glasses. She was glad to get those from him. She was surprised to see the kids and I. I only have 4 of the kids as Mallory and Rachelhad to stay home with their Dad (See related posts). The physical therapist showed up while we were there to help Grandma move from the bed to a chair in her room. She needs to get out of bed as much as possible in order to get stronger. She seemed like her normal self, just weaker. She told me that someone had come into her room during the night and tried to rip out her IV. I'm sure that she was just disoriented when a nurse came in at night to check on her. She also keeps asking Dad about her purse, so he's been bringing it when he visits so that she can see that it's safe. The Drs are monitoring her this weekend and will decide the next coruse of action on Monday. Dad will not bring her home unless she is able to get around and take care of herself like she was before. She would not want him to have to take care of her anyway. We will visit with her again tomorrow after Taylor's meet before I drive home.

Shamrock Marathon

Rachel and her Girl Scout troop worked at a water table for the Beach's Shamrock Marathon. They were competing against all of the other organizations for best water table. Rachel's job was supposed to be mixing huge quantities of Gatorade. Other girls had to hold out cups of Gatorade and water for the runners to grab as they ran by the table. The prize is $500. I will update this post when I heard the results from Rachel after I get home.

Trip to Grandpa's House

Taylor has a gymnastics meet on Sunday near my Dad's house. My original plan was to come from Friday night and spend all day Saturday with Grandma & my Dad. But my Grandma went into the hospital earlier this week, so we will have to visit with her there instead. She woke Dad up around midnight because she was having trouble breathing. Dad called 911 to take her to the hospital. They put her on something to dry up the fluid in her lungs. They also determined that she had a mild heart attack. They weren't sure at first that she was going to make it. But, by the next morning she was sitting up in bed, doing much better and back to her same stubborn self, just very tired.

Rachel & Freckles

Rachel is happy because Freckles is healthy again. She had to give him antibotics for 10 days. No more funnel dog.

Natalie the Clown

Natalie had a great time eating pasta for dinner. Everyone thought I should take a picture because she looked like she had clown makeup on when she was done.

More shorts for Joe

I finished these shorts for Joe last weekend, but haven't had a chance to post a picture until today.

Cheerleader

Natalie and I cheered for Mallory.

Volleyball Tournament

Mallory played in a Junior Olympic volleyball tournament on Saturday. She is #18. She was getting ready to pass the ball.

Sweet Brother/Sister Moment

I just couldn't resist putting this picture up. What a sweet brother sister shot!

Taylorville

Welcome to Taylorville! As you can see, taylor finished her science project. She had to build a small town that light up. We ran a small set of battery powered lights throughout the buildings. It looks very cool in the dark.

Green Booties

After helping Taylor I took about an hour to sew these booties together for Natalie.

Science Project

Yesterday, Taylor called me at work to ask me to pick a few things up on the way home from work. She's got a science project due Friday and she's just getting starting. Of course, she's known about it since sometime last week. She needs to build a town with buildings that light up. She needs battery powered lights and something to make the buildings. We went shopping and got popcicle sticks, craft foam and a small set of lights. When she got home, she ran off with the sticks and got started. She glued most of the sticks together to make the 1st house. I had planned on her using the sticks to build the frames for the houses and the craft foam for the walls. I had to get more sticks today so she could make the rest of the six buildings she wants in her town. She had gymnastics tonight so didn't get to work on the project at all. So, tomorrow evening, she has to finish the whole thing.

Leaky faucet fixed for 24 cents

I finally took apart our dripping outside faucet yesterday and decided I'd try fixing it by seeing if it just needed a new washer. I put all the parts in a bag and took them to Home Depot. The first guy I asked was an idiot, the second person, a woman, pointed me in the right direction. I got a new washer for 24 cents. It took me about 1 minute to get the faucet back together and turn the water back on. Yeah, no more leaky faucet. Why didn't I do this months ago? Because I didn't know it was so simple. I thought we had to get a whole new faucet because this one is welded into the house. Very cool!!!

Funnel Dog

We had to take Freckles to the vet today. He hurt is foot on Friday, but it didn't seem to bad. By today, he wouldn't walk on it. The extra nail on his foot was infected. The vet clipped and cleaned the wound and put this collar on his so he can't lick it. He has to wear the collar and take antibotics for 10 days.

Natalie the Model

Natalie models her latest outfit. The shortalls are made out of flannel so they can be multi-seasonal. Here I added tights and a long sleeve shirt so she could wear them even though it was chilly outside.