Cooper turns 9 and events that happen in a month

Cooper turns 9,  he is an amazing, great kid.
He gives me the most to think about as a mother and I appreciate the things that I learn from him. He is doing well in school, he is doing better with his anxiety and is such a tender hearted kid.

We went skating for Cooper's birthday party with cousins and it was fun. He loves pizza and cake so a perfect night for him. He got some hex-bugs and some of his favorite treats.

Alivia is doing good, is a pro at wearing her head gear and is loving her musical that she has been practicing for. She had an all day practice the other day, from 9am to 5:30 pm. I was worried that she wouldn't like it but she came home in a great mood and was super excited to go back on Monday afternoon for another 3 hour practice.

Bauer is loving the warm weather, he really wants to play soccer, which he has never really expressed interest before and now it is too late to sign up. So I will have to keep him busy swimming and other activities that he likes.

Kessler is loving preschool and getting to be a pretty good little reader, very, very basic words but it is fun to see him so excited about what he is learning and remembers. He has a birthday coming up on Sunday, that will be a great day....5 years old. SO crazy!!

Ben is doing good, got his annual review score (raise and bonus based off of this number) from Target and did a great job and all his hard work is paying off. He is liking the new store more and more. He has even been exercising a bit more, ha I exercise almost everyday and it is A SLOW process, but that is ok as long as I am moving forward and not backward.

We are getting ready for spring break, we are getting packed. I always pack early. There is so much to do, it would overwhelm me if I had to do it in a few days. So excited for some fun in the sun. It has been WAY too long, but life and other bills happen;)

I have officially decided i am not putting cell phone pics on my blog anymore, it is such a pain to get them on here, you wouldn't think so but it is. I have tons of pics to load but my computer doesn't show the thumbnail and makes it more hassle than it is worth also they are so blurry. I don't want to look back and think I wish I had more clear pics of my family growing up....so back to the DSLR. Hopefully more pics to come.....I love seeing pics on people blogs and following their cute kids and family updates.

We are so blessed in these parts.....kids are doing great, my parents and Ben's parents are doing good and are thankful for everything they do for us.
Almost time for some spring planting and some yard work, it will be nice to spend some warm days outside!

Cooper was Wayne Gretzky for the wax museum. It was fun to learn more about him.

February Update

I sit here beating my self up because I have the desire to blog WAY more than I do, I feel the days flying past and I have no memory of what is happening and how I am feeling. I sit here with my DVR'ed show's in the back ground the kids talking while in bed (which they have been warned, but seemed to have forgotten my scary threats).....

The kids are growing up so fast and I want to hit the pause button so many times. I know I need to keep enjoying the days flying past, be in the moment more, today has been a very impatient day and I am glad I get to start over tomorrow.

In the mean time a little update on happening around here.

Ben- no particular order:) sleeping, eating (2 meals a day, upping his game) working, hockey watcher, pick up volleyball player, daddy, hubby, employment specialist.....

Andrea- wife, mom, chef, housekeeper, YW leader, vacation planner, part time employee for one more month.

Alivia- is in love with her head gear, she is also having a hard time with fractions, her feet are growing un-believably fast, 3.5, 5 and now just under a women's 7. She thinks she is the coolest thing ever trying on my shoes seeing how close she is to an 8. She started a little group at school, for kids who want to have a contest for casting spells, I am not sure what I think about that. She has been working hard on her Duty to God award, she also moved into a different group for activity days. She is working on her musical for choir and decided to audition for a solo and got a small part in one of the songs. I am glad she tried she was really nervous.

Cooper- is doing good, he has passed off his times tables all the way up to 7 and he is so proud of himself. We....uh .....he is also doing a book report on Wayne Gretzky and I think it has increased his love for hockey. We have had to adjust some of his medication, he is suffering more and more from anxiety. It overtakes him in many area's. He has his wax museum coming up and is super excited to dress up a hockey player and takes his dads ice skates to school.

Bauer- has been talking and talking and talking about wanting to play football, tonight and dinner he is pretty sure that he is going to be an awesome football player. He is always so happy and funny and sweet and my little B. There is one thing he struggles with holding his pencil properly, he is killing me!! I have tried everything, pencil grips, 4 different kinds.......it is such a hard habit to get him to change. Not sure what to do.

Kessler, is still good at being the youngest.  Loves hanging out with mom, asks me everytime I pick him up at preschool if I will take him to Arctic Circle so he can eat lunch and play on the play ground. Keeps his brothers up at night by talking, giggling, and doing anything but going to sleep. Wakes up happy and just all around fun little guy.

Family life, I finally pulled the trigger and booked a family vacation. Wasn't sure where, when or what we were going to do. After months of research and price watching, decided on our beloved Hawaii. The kids are out of school for spring break and so it will be difficult trying to get across the pacific with Whidden party of 6. I will need to relax, let go and make some unforgettable family memories.

Kessler poor kid has been so sick, one afternoon started crying over something really silly and then layed his head down in my lap, the next three days were full of fevers, cough, runny nose, lethargy, dizziness, throwing up. Poor kid I felt so bad today is a much better day, we have lots to catch up on busy day.

Ben has had a really crazy week started on a really great high, he got a call from his boss's boss, and they thanked him for all of his hard work and recognized him for doing such a great job with a few different things he has going on. They said this is a new program they are doing to recognize people and granted him 250 shares of Target stock. It vests in three years, but I thought that was pretty dang awesome. Ben was very happy and somewhat relieved he has been very busy with the new store and his Canadian trainees.

Then Tuesday happened I don't know how it started but he was having problems with his freezers and continued to have problems for a few hours. He eventually had to decided to throw away about 120,000 dollars of product, he had a horrible day and came home after a 16+ hour day and had a huge headache and then to top it off he couldn't sleep.

A few days prior to this our dryer died and Ben had no time to even look at it to see if he could fix it. This break down seemed pretty bad so we decided to start looking for a new dryer. Well of course you can get a better "deal" with a washer and dryer combo.(the washer was pretty rough but was still "working")

I researched and looked and researched and looked and finally decided on what would be best for our family and forked out the $moolah$ and we got them yesterday. WOW, that is all I can say!! I had no idea how amazing they would be, I have been catching up on laundry the last 24 hours and find my self sitting in front of the washer just watching it wash:)

Ben finally slept a little better but has a crazy day, he has 75 extra people coming in today and 3 semi trucks coming with frozen, dairy and other refrigerated products. Crazy day.....

 Here are a few pics of happenings lately, above is the bishops store house in Lindon, now with YW  I get to go do fun service projects with them, this one was really interesting and very inspiring.

 A funny app for the smart phones, my cute neighbor text me this photo, Livi thought it was so funny!

 Crazy cat, she loves the kids and wakes them up every morning at 6:30 meowing right by their faces to get them up for school, it annoys the crap out of me, but the kids think it is so funny.

 Usually little Addi, likes to hang out with me but I was at my mom's the other day and Addilyn was not happy and I had to take a pic, she was not having it!

 We had a great day last week swimming we went to the rec center out in Herriman the kids had a blast, it has a cute little kid area an indoor water slide and some high dives!!

 Cooper-ism the kids have been begging me to make them pancakes for dinner and finally as they finished up and the kids started eating Cooper said "Mom I bet our forks are happy to taste pancakes again!" 

He is so funny!

Update on the full time status for flight attendants, it might not be as easy as I thought originally....although my seniority will be able to hold the reduced hours, what is worrying me is that if for some reason they have a lot of flying to cover they can force me to fly more hours because I am considered full time now All the details are still coming out but we will see when I actually have to do it.

Update

Ben-  is training some Canadians (from Montreal) he has them 2 weeks on and then one week off, he {enjoys} it, said very loosely. I ask him everyday how it is going, his response "fine" and then last night the dam broke, he finally expressed how hard it has been trying to train them when trying to figure out this new store, both of them have been in retail and have their own opinions of how Ben should "handle" things, I was kind of shocked, I guess I never thought they would give opinions on a new process.
Anyway that might not make sense, but Ben is still working hard and takes a daily nap at 6pm, if he is home by then I give him a hard time about it. He went to a concealed weapons permit class the other day from 6-10pm and he commented he couldn't keep his eyes open and was so embarrassed.....
Life has gotten much better for him, his beloved hockey is back on again (for those that don't follow the NHL they have been on strike and came to an agreement  to start playing again)

Andrea-SkyWest officially announced today that all part time flight attendants will be full time but with many changes to the program, which makes my job a lot better. When I was a part time flight attendant I qualified for very few benefits and now with the new program I now can be covered by medical and dental (we go through Target right now, but it might be something to consider being double covered) as well as holiday pay, full uniform allotment, full vacation pay and full time bonus pay out....really good news.
I also received a new calling at church, I am the first counselor in the YW's and that means I get to go to girls camp!! Yipee!!
I have been going over to the school a few days a week to volunteer, one day for Bauer's class and two days for Cooper's class, Cooper's class is passing off times tables and that has kept all the parent volunteer's very busy.
I go for my annual training tomorrow, rapid decompression's, unprepared evacuations, CPR, administering oxygen, treating fainting, hypoglycemia, prepared cabin evacuation and naughty passenger scenario's. Don't know if I will sleep too well tonight.....hmm, my bet, not so good.

Alivia, she is loving her braces and we are starting to see some changes. She got her second wire and some bands to start pulling her teeth closer together. She is still in choir and piano, she loves choir they are working on the spring musical and she likes piano, doesn't practice as much as she should but she is getting better.

Cooper   still struggles with math and reading. We practice times tables, reading and math at home every night and he gets very burnt out. I had a conversation with a pilot friend the other day who home schools his kids and he talked to me about his son, that also has ADD and how much it helped bringing him out of the traditional school setting and doing his schooling at home. I never thought I would ever consider home school, but for Cooper I am. I need to figure out what is the best thing for him and make sure to do what he needs. There is a lot to think about, I am not worried about the social structure for him, he doesn't really thrive with that, and he is involved in church, scouts and if he did home school, he would be in a better place to do an extra curricular activity (karate or swimming) is what I have been thinking about.

Bauer, he is doing well all the way around, loves school, loves playing with friends. He loves to play the play station and play some learning games on the computer. He is my good sleeper, my good eater and my happy little boy all day. He is suffering from some major excema on his arms and legs and so we lotion him up everyday and always giggles and squirms.

Kessler is doing well too, he loves preschool and loves to lay in his mamma's bed and watch cartoons on the days he doesn't go to preschool. His favorite show right now is Daniel Tiger's neighborhood, I think it is a spin off of Mr. Rogers neighborhood. He remembers the songs and sings them back to me, and tells me if I get mad, I need to take a deep breath and count to 4 ( a song they sang the other day) He still can't say his "r"s he says Kesslah, Coopah, Bauah, Yiviya. He has learned how to write his first and last name and I have mentioned before he is left handed and a great blessing is, his teacher is left handed and is doing very well helping him with his writing.

Overall things are going well, I am excited for Cooper's birthday coming up, and spring break. I am really hoping we can make it somewhere this year. I am looking forward to some tax return money and updating some things in our house. The kids are doing really well with their chores, most days they are a big help, although most of house is clean when they get home, they don't complain to often of chores and get them done to have some free/play time. Very blessed around these parts and can't wait for either a major snow storm ( I have always felt if it is going to be cold might as well snow) or for it to get warmer....and start getting outside a little more.

36 things for turning 36.....1-5

I asked Ben the other day how old I was, I wasn't in the mood for doing math, why in my brain do I think I am younger than I am, I say brain, because my body if it could verbally speak might say differently...

I read a blog the other day and didn't know this writer was the same age as I (once I figured out how old I was) I liked this idea and thought, well why not try something like this. So I really don't know where this is going to go.

36 things.

1. Going to try and figure out how to fix my blog, blogger changed their format and I now cannot figure out how to change the format of my blog, other than going to their formats....I like adding my own background and my headers...etc.
2. I shared this story late last year, when we went to Temple Square Cooper saw a homeless lady and I think the situation really touched his heart. He has since then asked me why we have so many blankets and then requested we donate some of our blankets to the "people who don't have a home".  So I need to follow through with his request and take him to donate some of the extra blankets we have.
3. Buy a kerosene heater and figure out where I can buy kerosene for around 4$ a gallon.
4. Be very conscious of how many fruits and veggies I eat and try and be consistent from day to day.
5. Stop drinking soda, I do really well for a few weeks and then fall off the wagon, and once I am off the wagon it is a long climb back up on the wagon.

Good bye 2012

I was thinking back on 2 012 and had this blah feeling wasn't a great year but wasn't a bad year either, but I feel a little ungrateful not thinking that it was a great year because we are very blessed. 

Ben had a birthday and he thinks he is feeling old, I think the Salt and Pepper look is a good thing, you can't look like a teenager your whole life. He is healthy, he walks miles and miles a day, he is trying not to drink so much pop, and maybe cut back on his candy, he is also trying to gain weight, and those forces of someone trying to loose and someone gain is annoying....Ben got a surprise on the night of his b-day Alivia's choir sang happy birthday to her dad, she is a lot like her mom and surprises are hard to keep quiet.....it was fun, we posted the video on facebook and like some people commented he reacted like a Whidden, red face and an embarrassed smile.

We love Christmas cards and love seeing pictures of friends and family and their cute kids, some teenagers as kids are getting older. I want to thank the friends who think of us during the holidays sending us little gifts and treats. We love you, our lives wouldn't be the same without you.

We had our annual family gingerbread making night, I made me a makeup pallet with all my favorite candies as my eye colors:)

Our little primary class (we have been perma-subs for a few months) got to make these little "gingerbread" stables.

Alivia got her first perm, it might be her last, her hair has done really well, it has given it more body. I decided to do it because I curled her hair for her choir concert and by the time we got there it was almost flat. Now when we curl her hair it will stay that way for a day or more.

Here are some highlights of the first half of 2013 we look forward to.

January-Alivia's Birthday

Ben trains some Canadian store managers

February-Cooper's Birthday

We get a new little niece

March-Kessler's Birthday

Hopefully travel to Edmonton for a baby blessing

April-The mom's birthday

Ben and Andrea vacay

May- Bauer's Birthday

un-winterize the boat

June- Kids out of school 

Flaming Gorge

I look forward to a new year, I don't normally care too much about the changing of the calendar but this year, I am hopeful to make some goals accomplish them.

December update

December has been really busy with a long list of fun things and things that just need to get done.
Christmas shopping almost done, the picture below is sweet Bauer holding the gift he got me from Nordstrom, what a thoughtful, sweet little boy!! ;)

The pic below is Ben getting picked on in Primary, he had to listen and look to see who was singing really good for the upcoming song the kids were going to sing in sacrament.  We have been perm-subs for the primary for the last few months for Bauer's class, I love his little class they are so funny!

I loved this dress below, Target was having a special deal having Neiman Marcus items in there store, I don't really get how cool or uncool that is, because I don't shop at Neiman Marcus and I don't think I can afford to shop there anyway. I just loved this little girl dress and if I had 100.00 to blow I would have got it.

I have been working about 3 days a week to get some Christmas cash coming in. Some passengers kill me, I often wonder how the survive the outside world?

Ben and I went to his annual work party can you tell how much fun we were having? It was fun and his boss and his wife out on a great gig every year and they give such nice, thoughtful presents.

Our elf has been up to some mischief...not in a bad way but hopefully a fun way.

A Sunday picture last week, although the same things happened again this week, all 5 of us were ready for church and no joke as we were grabbing our stuff to get in the Suburban Kessler threw up all over the carpet. This week it was Cooper, luckily he threw up on the kitchen floor and last night Alivia threw up in the bathroom. We went to tithing settlement last night and apologized to the Bishop for the kids not being there, told him that the kids were sick, and he jokingly said, oh so you mean my kids are going to be sick in a few days:) (our kids are friends) Sorry to anyone who catches this stomach bug!!

Cooper would be kind of upset that I posted this picture, but that is what moms are for. TO BE EMBARRASSING!! Alivia actually did this to him and sent him up to my room to model. Crazy kids!

Sweet little Addilyn, she is usually my little buddy. I am glad she recognizes me and will come and put her arms up when i walk in the room. She is so funny she is starting to say lots of words. The other day she told Bauer to "let go" it was so cute!!!

This cat is subject to many things, this day she was dressed up in a costume and didn't seem to mind.
She still hasn't caught any mice though, I don't think we have any right now, but come summer time she better start pulling her weight around here.

Kessler had his preschool program and was so proud that he remembered his line.