Road Trip--what was I thinking?!?

Okay, okay--it was MY idea to take the whole family to Boise for the state basketball tournament. I thought--we've traveled before with a loaded van from Idaho to Wyoming--should be the same minus the mountain passes :)

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!!! First, our precious 3 year-old angel will be turning 4 in 2 months. Did I forget that this is the age when our oldest started going through the "terrible 2's"? Going from angel to mischievous tease!!!

And where did we put her in the van? Middle back--between the 2 boys. What was I thinking????

Isn't that the face of an innocent angel??

We had to stop 3 times, but mainly for the cute little baby boy (alright, by about hour 2 he was tired of laying in that restricting car seat!) We also stopped around Twin Falls and made sandwiches at a truck stop (it was sooo windy and cold :(

We made it to the game, just in time to miss the tip-off. But we had a diaper to change, too. I am glad we left at 8 am so we could make it to the 3 pm game!! (supposedly a 5 hour drive?) I forgot how long those nursing stops can take!!

Needless to say, we did make it to the game, enjoyed it, and the children were well behaved, and didn't ask for concessions or shirts, etc. at the game :)

We found our way to brother-in-law's house in Eagle. Emmalee took right to Uncle Ken--we did see him at Thanksgiving, but before that it had been almost 1 year!!
The Stewart side of the family is quite goofy (I guess so is my side :) I guess we are just a goofy family!

Uncle Ken made a yummy meal for us--chicken cordon bleu, mashed tators, and green beans. Nicer than the hamburgers I was planning on buying!

We had 1 bed room and the living room for the 7 of us. Rusty decided that he would camp out in the living room with the boys. Emmalee heard the word "camping", saw her cute Sesame Street sleeping bag, and parked herself next to Dad (after all, she is a daddy's girl).

Surprisingly enough, the all snuggled into their sleeping bags and watched a cute dog movie "Good Boy".

Brienna and I shared the bed and I put Ben in his car seat (no wonder he hated his car seat!!!)

Since the Friday game wasn't until 6:15 pm, we had a whole day to spend in the city. Now, if any of you know my hubby, he HATES crowds, shopping, and big cities. But he was a trooper (keep reading--lol) and we headed to the state capitol building. We knew it was still under renovations, but Zane had never been there before (or Benjamin) and we wanted to give him the opportunity to see it.

It had snowed overnight (a cold front had just moved in) so we bundled up and started walking around the capitol building.

First picture we were still warm from the van ride, so everyone is smiling!

Next picture--not so warm anymore, so Emmalee is clinging to Brienna, hands in pockets, and earmuffs on.

This is one of my favorite photos with the capitol building.

I had to add this one because I am in it--Rusty and I took turns taking pictures. (No wonder the kids got tired of pictures because they had to stand through so many)

Emmalee had borrowed my gloves my now, and ears are all covered! They liked these bronze statues of Lewis and Clark and a chief & his son.

Now--remember how much Rusty hates shopping? So definitely no malls or Factory Outlet for me, but we had to go to:

First, Zane has never been to one before (yeah, I know--poor, deprived Zane). We love the Lehi Cabela's, but the one in Boise is still nice. Zane couldn't believe how big, amazing, and wonderful it was. He loved all the animals, and the fish.

While we were there, we saw a family from our town, visited the General Store (and of course we had fudge samples). And we bought some fudge. I was planning on buying 2 pieces ($5). But they had a special, buy 4, get 2 free. So we got 6 pieces for $10. Yum, Yum :)

Then we heard it--the rumbles of our hungry tummies. I told them no fudge until after lunch. So we were just heading to the van to find a place to eat, when we some of the basketball team walked in the door.

The children wanted to see Ethan, since we hadn't got to talk to him after the game Thursday. Zane and Callum went to the African animals and the others went to the fish tanks, but we couldn't find him. Zane finally said, "I bet he is in the general store!" Duh--Food!! (sweet food). And he was right.

After visiting for a few minutes, we looked at the time (12:40) and decided to wait for the 1 pm fish feeding. Emmalee thought it was funny that the big fish ate the little fish, but Brienna didn't think it was funny at all.

After seeing those fish, Rusty decided he wanted a fish sandwich from Jack in the Box. We took off in the direction of the Boise LDS temple, in search for a place to eat lunch. But the minute Benjamin was strapped in the car seat, he started wailing. And I had just nursed him, so he wasn't hungry!

So after 10 minutes of his crying, we decided to head back to Eagle to let Ben out of his restraints and relax for a couple of hours. Benjamin definitely has a great set of lungs--he wanted out, there and now. We pulled over 2 times and I tried to pacify him (by nursing). And it worked as long as he was out of jail--I mean his car seat. So we had to endure the crying for another 15 minutes. And on top of that, our little angel (right) decided it would be fun to hit her brothers. Whoever screamed loudest got the next slap. Lovely---what was I thinking????

We did find a Jack in the Box, ate fish sandwiches and tacos (hot dog for Emmalee from the convenient store), and made it to Uncle Ken's. Benjamin loved stretching and being out of that prison we strapped him in.

We sent the boys to the game w/Uncle Ken, so the ride to the game was actually quite peaceful.

INTERMISSION (I know--this is like a 3-hour play!!)

Uncle Ken took Brienna, Zane & Callum home immediately after the game, but we waited for Ethan to finish up so we could get him a sweat shirt. And I needed to nurse Benjamin. We left at half time of the 2nd game.

Now, I wish I could tell you the ride home was peaceful--we only had Benjamin and Emmalee. Right away, Benjamin started crying the minute we put him in the car seat. So I sat next to him (middle seat), and I couldn't even console him. We pulled out of Caldwell High School parking lot, and crossed an intersection, when Rusty pulled over. I thought "Are you hungry or lost?" That's when I noticed the lights. And that's also when Benjamin stopped crying.

We knew we weren't speeding, we had stopped at the intersection for over a minute, so we had no idea why we were pulled over.

A very young-looking officer came to the van, and told us our brake light was broken. I pictured it as a burned out light, so Rusty told him we would fix it in the morning. He explained how we were from out of town, etc. Rusty had to dig through the jockey box looking for insurance and registration (I really need to clean that out!!) since I was in the back seat.

The whole time I thought--come on, Benjamin. Cry, Cry!!! But of course--he didn't make one peep. (I must be a terrible mommy--wanting him to cry??).

As soon as we pulled away from the curb, Benjamin decided he was unhappy again and cried Emmalee to sleep. All the way back to Eagle (about 30 minutes) we looked for cop cars, hoping not to be pulled over again. Once in Eagle, Rusty had me look at the brake light. Surprised me--it was working. So Rusty said--is the red light broken? I would have thought a broken tail light would look like this:
(Not our van) On closer inspection, I saw a nickel-sized hole near the top of the tail light, but it was small! I couldn't believe that is why we got pulled over.

(I hope you are all enjoying your popcorn--the show is almost over)

Saturday morning we pulled out of Eagle at 9:02 am. Thankfully, we were not in a hurry to get home, so we planned on taking the whole day. We had to stop before Twin Falls to put Emmalee in a time out. We found a truck stop, and I put her in the cold wind on a cold fence. (Again--what was I thinking??) After that, we only stopped a couple other times (for lunch, to check out some historical sites, & to nurse).

The sun came out Saturday--and so did the wind.

Zane would cover his head so he could play his Nintendo DS better.

So Emmalee thought it was fun to pull that off him and scratch his face!

We finally convinced her to cover her head too.

And it was calm when all 3 of the children in the back covered their heads (although it was only for a short time.)

Rusty said we had a van full of spoons (stirring up trouble), and not a big enough bowl to put them all in. Benjamin was much better on the trip home--I had a bottle ready for him that helped put him to sleep:)

Okay--that is the story of our Road Trip to Boise.

CONCLUSION: Next year when the boys go to state, it will only be Rusty, me and the baby!!! What was I thinking??

FHE

For Family Home Evening tonight, I was in charge of activity. Benjamin needed a bath, so I told the children we were going to give him a bath as a family--to see if we could cooperate! (And then I promised Wii playing time if all went well)







Zane got the big towel out to put on the table, Emmalee got the wash clothes, Brienna found the hooded towel, Callum grabbed the baby soap and shampoo, Ethan found clean clothes, and Rusty filled the tub. I had the fun job of making Ben smile and laugh during the bath :)







I must say that it was a success--and I was glad I didn't have to get all the stuff out and ready for the bath.




Zane and Emmalee took these pictures--pretty good for a 5th grader and pre-schooler!


And we did have fun playing the Wii, too.

Double Milestones

I guess since Benjamin just turned 4 months old, he decided he was going to start moving up (well, actually over) in the world. He rolled over from his back to his tummy 3 times today! Emmalee saw him do it the first time, and then I had to see for myself.

Look at those cute, adorable eyes! And then he decided to also cut a tooth--yes, he has a tooth poking through.

This (below) is how he spent most of the time at the ball games--how he sleeps through so much screaming, cheering, whistle-blowing noise I'll never know. But I guess he started out doing this :)--he has been sleeping through most of the games since he started attending them 3 months ago!

State Basketball Photos

We're back from Boise--and we survived the long drive with a cramped & crowded van! (More to come about the non-basketball side of the trip.)

Although we lost both of the games, it was a great experience for Ethan, and the other children enjoyed it too.

Here is Ethan on day 1--he's #20. (Orange--Bobcats)

I couldn't post very many action photos because most of them turned out blurry. So here are some free-throw photos.

In the photo below, Ethan's on the left--he usually doesn't play more than a few minutes in varsity--so he was excited to play the last 2 1/2 minutes in the 1st game. We were behind by 20 (didn't stop those 3-point shooters in the 1st half, & by the time we shut them down in the 2nd, we were behind too far.)



These are pictures of game 2 on Friday. It was a really close game, so we weren't sure if Ethan would get any playing time. But we got behind by 7 in the last minute, so Ethan (& the rest of the bench) got to finish the last 25 seconds of the game.

We lost to Richfield on Thursday (53-32), and on Friday, lost to Summit Academy (69-61). Our boys have a great potential, and now if they can just make it one more year to state (when Ethan is a senior), we believe they can win!! I don't think the school has ever been to state back to back years (went last year, but Ethan was on JV so I took him & some friends to watch). We are only losing 1 senior next year, so we hope to be back next year :)

Ethan had a wonderful time and created a lot of memories. Our children also had a great time, and I will be posting more about our trip later.

Photo "fix" for the Weekend :)

My sister, Pamela, requested "lots and lots" of pictures since she won't be able to see the kids this weekend {she WAS planning on coming to visit this weekend, but we are off to the big city of Boise for some exciting ball games :)}

This picture was actually taken by Callum--good job, buddy!! He wanted to capture him smiling, but Benjamin was a bit hungry :)


This is what Benjamin did this afternoon while I cleaned the house. (I like to come home from a trip to a clean house.--there is enough other things to do when you get back, like laundry, unpacking, baths...)

Benjamin thought that I was being silly taking pictures of him. I love his laugh and smile :) Makes my heart melt!

Here's my helper, Emmalee. She loves to clean and help me with whatever I am doing.
On a side note--I HATE having carpet in the dining area--but we are renting for now, and so I "deal" (by grumbling and complaining).
Our house we build will never have carpet in the dining area or in the master bathroom!
She had sooooo much energy--she is dancing and flipping around, while she is vacuuming. After the kids (and Dad) came home from school, she gave them strict instructions to wipe their feet "really, really good" and to eat only to the table!!

And then she cried when Zane walked inside and tracked in some snow :)

It was bath time for Benjamin. He loves getting undressed--he wiggles with delight and laughs. And he likes to suck on his hands when they are wet.

I kept dripping water on his hands and belly--he loves bath time! Look at those chubby, chunky baby legs--he is getting sooo big!

This is Emmalee right after her bath tonight. She had wild hair, but we never got a good picture of her--she was too excited about going to Boise and acted like she had jumping beans in her britches :)

Notice the Mii's in the background--Brienna and I were playing one last game (while I was nursing--pretty talented, huh!) since I didn't get a chance to play with her the other night.

Well, Pamela--hope this holds you until Sunday. I plan on posting lots of pictures from our adventures at state basketball!

Go Bobcats!!

I Can't Believe I Forgot My Camera!

That's right--I forgot my camera! I walked over to the school for the big send-off to state. And when I walked in, I remembered that my camera was on the couch.

But I can see how I forgot it--I had to dig the stroller out of storage--under bikes and behind boards. Then I bundled the 2 kids up, strapped Benjamin into his car seat (yes--I put the car seat into the big stroller since he can't sit up on his own yet), and then squished the 2 into the stroller. And I had to dig out an umbrella, also. By that time I had worked up a sweat!! And the school is only a (small-town) block away.

I didn't have time to run back and get the camera, though. I guess you'll just have to imagine the wonderful send-off :)

All the students gathered in the commons area, sang the school song, and yelled a few cheers. Then they made a "tunnel" to wish the boys luck as they boarded the bus. The community pitched in and made t-shirts for the team (and they are selling extras). The dad handing them out said they really made the shirts so they wouldn't get lost in the big city :)

After the send-off, I walked "downtown" to get the mail and to the credit union (gotta have $ for the trip to Boise!). When we first started walking, it was sprinkling, but by the time we ended, it was sunny and 37 degrees out! It really was a nice walk. It's great that the roads and most of the sidewalks are now clear/dry (I guess there are puddles) so I can finally get out and walk!!! Yeah!

Now I just have to make sure that my camera is in my bag for tomorrow :)

Late night fun :)

What am I doing up this late at night (besides blogging and reading blogs)?

Yep--Laundry. Why? It can usually wait until tomorrow. Except----when your 16 your old comes running out of his bedroom, and in a panicky voice say "Oh, crap! (I don't like this word, but he has a bad habit of using it)--I need my warm up pants and shirt washed TONIGHT!!"

Since he was already going to bed, I (being the awesome mom that I am) agreed to stay up and get them washed and thrown into the dryer so they will be ready for him 1st thing tomorrow morning. (Alright, the truth is that little Benjamin wasn't asleep yet--he just went to bed a few minutes ago). They leave for Boise (state basketball tournament) tomorrow at 10 am. But he leaves for seminary at 6:30 am and needs to have everything ready by then.

Now--the only problem (and it's not really a problem) is that this laundry queen has been a busy queen bee this week (and last week). So while my piles of laundry usually look like the picture above, it really looked like this:

So I didn't have a full load. I had to go looking for dirty clothes, and washed a coat and some towels to get a mostly full load. At least my dirty pile doesn't look like this:

I hope to post again tomorrow, since we leave Thursday morning (early). If not--I will let everyone know how our trip to state basketball went!

My babies are going up!

I can't believe that Benjamin is almost 4 months old already. Time sure flies by sooooo fast! Emmalee loves to hold him, and she got giggling today because "he is too wiggly".


He is losing all of his dark, thick hair--the cradle cap didn't help! You gotta love this face!

Emmalee is peeking from behind Ben--she loves holding him, but he is getting so big. He has a very healthy appetite and I can tell he is going through a growth spurt because he is nursing a lot again.

Benjamin is such a great baby--I needed a nice, mellow caboose! He is only fussy when he is messy or hungry. Sometimes he gets a little vocal if he wants to be held--or sat up. I think he just wants a different view. Today when I was stretching (after exercising--yay), I was laying on my back and thought--things sure look different from this angle! Sometimes you forget how big and different things are from that perspective!

He has already learned to poise for the camera--what a ham! But this last picture is my favorite--he smiled on his own. I was telling Emmalee to smile, and this is what I got:

A smile from Benjamin, but not from Emmalee. Alright, you two--slow down and don't grow up too fast!