Spring Break and Acupuncture

I have so much to share, so excuse the length of this post. I don't get to the computer as often as I would like thanks to a wonderful husband who is doing a great job of studying a lot!

We decided to go to Los Angeles and San Diego for our spring break. We first visited my younger brother in L.A and enjoyed the fun of the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum. We had a great time with "Uncle Lief." The kids really liked the Nat. His. Museum. They had a life size baby triceratops moving puppet. It was really neat.






They loved all the animals that they never get to see in a zoo- walrus, hippos, buffalo, etc....










We went to the San Diego Zoo the next day. I loved watching the kids get excited over the animals. Daniel loved destroying every pretty flower that came across his path. Noah loved all the monkeys and the sky train. Jodi loved fighting with Daniel over which side of the stroller was "hers." I was so ready to go back to the hotel and soak in the hot tub-which we all did! The kids really had a great time. We loved the animals and just being together as a family- for the most part :)
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We had planned on spending the whole next day at the beach and the USS Midway. But, Noah's throwing up and scorching high fever after the zoo, and Dad's fever put a bust on our plans. We did go to the USS Midway. The kids, Dustin especially, loved the air craft carrier. They had a good time and they did so good despite not feeling good.








We also went to the beach and stayed long enough to build a real sand castle and for Daniel to destroy it. We came home with a very sick family.


Noah finally was feeling better by Tuesday. Dustin got strep throat and tonsilitis at the same time. Daniel has the sickies now and Jodi is bringing up the rear! Noah has been so burnt out this week with TBall. He loves it and is doing good- if we can get him to pay attention to the ball when the other team is at bat.

I made a leap of faith and decided to try acupuncture to try to eliminate my pain. It hurt having the needles in my leg. The Dr. said it was because my back was so tender. Then, she did a cupping therapy. This was really trippy. She took a flame and heated up glass balls with openings and stuck them on my back. My skin was sucked into the cups and left like that for 10 minutes. When she came back my back was free of pain- enough to have a little massage. I can not tell you the last time I have been able to have someone rub or even brush my back without me wincing in pain. It was a miracle for me. I may have looked like I lost a fight with an octopus, but I am feeling amazing. I go back in a week for more torture and then sweet relief!

That's a quarter taped to my back for comparison. It looks nasty but doesn't hurt at all!

Daniel's Portraits

Ok, So I have been terrible about keeping up with the kids portrait pictures. It has been 2 years since we last took some of Daniel. So, now we have finally taken them and here they are. He is quite the cutie!

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Ok I have a couple phrases the kids have blurted out that I have to share.
Jodi: I love hearing Jodi pray. Whenever she says, "Heavenly Father" it sounds just like she is saying "Harry Potter." It makes me snicker every time. And just some good news with Jodi: She is now a BIG girl. She is fully potty trained- even at night!!! Yeah!! No more diapers- EVER. Also, we have all been sick and Jodi has NOT gotten sick. This is huge for her!!




Daniel: We were eating the cheap frozen pizza for dinner (well the kids were) and Daniel said, "This is deee-lish!!!" I have no idea where he picked that phrase up from, but it was hilarious!!

Noah: I think Noah hears Mom and Dad get angry and frustrated a little too much. We were eating something hot and Noah said, "That is freaking hot." I don't always think about what comes out of my mouth as much as I should. It sure sounds different coming out of your 6 year old's mouth. It was funny but it sure made me stop and think about the words I do use and how I use them!!

Noah's Birthday

We had a fun celebration with Noah for his birthday- I know it's been forever since I updated! We took Noah to the toy store a few weeks before his birthday to get an idea of what he wanted. He fell in love with this huge Army/Rocket Launcher. He is so into the Army thing. I went abck a few days later and bought the huge thing. I hid it under our bed. I kept asking Noah what he wanted besides the rocket launcher. He would get really upset and say that was what he really wanted and it would be such a sad day if he didn't get it. We put all his other presents on the table and we started opening them. He got really sad as he kept opening them. He got some really neat books and some fun games, but as he said. "I just didn't get any toys." We sent him Dad's closet to get slippers for Dad, and there it was the biggest present he has ever seen and we got the biggest grin from him! He loved it and had a great day. Dad also took him to the Build- a Bear workshop where he got a monkey that he named Dexter. (We got a coupon for $12 off a bear- it was over half off!) He had a great day and we had fun celebrating with him. I can not believe my little "noodle" is now 6! I tried getting pictures of him for the computer and for this blog, but have not been able to go through all the negatives we have of his baby days yet. SO here are the ones we could get. Happy Birthday Noah. We love you and think you are truly one special little boy!