FIRE DRILL

Tonight we received an Emergency handbook (I'm guessing from the emergency response coordinator in the area) so I started reading it and I am very excited about it. Usually when I hear about emergency prepardness there is so much information that I don't know where to start. But this packet has forms to fill out, checklists to follow, what to do and when to do it. I'm excited to get all of this put together and talk to the kids about all of this and to jump start it we decided to have a fire drill (We didn't think to check the weather outside first, but it was snowing. Or raining. I guess a fire wouldn't really care what the weather was.). I'm embarrassed to say that we have never really discussed this with the kids so I didn't quite know what they would do. We thought they were asleep so we thought it would be a good time to see if they woke up to the smoke alarms. Turns out the only one that was asleep was Lucas. Jackson heard the alarm so he came running up the stairs and I told him to get his shoes and coat on and he thought I was joking. I told him to get his brothers and get shoes and coats on. Then he got excited and took of to get Zack and Preston and they were up the stairs quicker than I have ever seen them go. Then I heard Rachel's door open. I don't know if she heard the alarm or if she just heard me tell the boys to get shoes and coats on. She came out and asked me where we were going. I told her it was a fire alarm and we had to run outside to the mail box fast. She actually got a little scared. Anyway, we all got outside safely. Dave even got Lucas out of bed which I wasn't planning on. So over the next couple of weeks and months and hopefully on a regular basis we can talk to the kids about emergency situations and get things put together and in order so we can be a little bit better prepared if anything should happen.

YEA FOR SCHOOL

I love my kids but it was oh so nice to send two of them back to school this week. The noise level is so much lower with only three at home. I realize some of you are probably thinking that three at home is alot but three is less than five. And since Lucas takes a nap from 9:30 to 11:30 I really just have two to play with in the morning. You may ask what I do with my free time in the morning? The last two mornings I got to color with Preston and Rachel. If anyone needs artwork for their walls we have quite a selection to choose from. And today my morning was spent in the bathroom trying to convince a child that he needed to go #2. I think we were in their for about 3o minutes and he wasn't going to even try which is what he has done for days now so I finally pulled out the enima (not sure if that is spoeeled right but that is how it sounds). He didn't think that was a good idea but oh well. Anyway about 10 minutes later we had success. The job was done for at least today. If you call me tomorrow morning I may be doing the same thing. Don't you wish you could come over?! This might all be TMI but at least I will have it to remember.

Bowling

A couple of weeks ago we went to Fat Cats and the Pizza Factory. It started out as a free showing of The Christmas Carol that my Grandpa invited us to then we ended up at the Pizza Factory for lunch with my brother and his wife and my sister and her husband and little girl. After lunch we decided to try out bowling with the kids. They had fun for the first couple of frames but then Preston and Rachel lost interest. About the 7th frame Zack kept asking when we were going to be done. We finally finished the game. Probably the funniest part about bowling with the kids was watching them try to carry the bowling balls. Especially when Zack picked up the 16 pounder! Anyway we had a good time but probably won't take all of the kids if we decide to do it again.

Thank goodness for this little contraption. Not only did it help the direction of the ball but it also gave it a little bit of speed. Otherwise we might still be there waiting for the ball to make it all of the way down.

Zack was trying so hard to get the ball to go straight.

This is what Rachel did for entertainment most of the time.

Jackson had a good time and even got a strike!

Waiting...

I did it!

There was a few close calls of Zack throwing himself down the lane with the ball.

Yum, Yum!

CELEBRATE

My little monkey just turned three. For Rachel's birthday we went to Denny's for dinner (we like Denny's because kids eat free after 4 on Saturday) where some of the employees sang Happy Birthday to her and gave her a free dish of ice cream. She didn't eat much ice cream but the rest of us did. After that we went home and Rach opened her presents. She got a new doll with a bunch of little things to go with it. I already love picking those up all day! The next day we had family over for cake and ice cream. Even though she's the only girl she doesn't let the boys tell her what to do. She is a good big sister to Lucas and will always find a binki for him as long as he doesn't touch her toys or her blanket. Rachel is finally potty trained. For good this time. Except at night. She takes after her brothers in size weighing in at 26 lbs (7%) and standing 36 inches high(21%). I love to hear her talk in her cute little voice. We love Rachel so much and are so grateful to have her in our family!

THE THINGS WE SAY

Lunch today-

Me: (talking to the boys) Stop talking and eat your sandwiches. Arrggg!

Rachel: (who had wandered down the hall) Eat your anich (sandwich) Arrggg!

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Laying in bed watching a movie with the kids

Zack: Mom, how does someone go blind?

Me: I don't know.

Zack: But you said that you know everything.

Kids!

Question of the Day

The winning question of the day is brought to us by Preston.

Preston - "Mom, is infinity and beyond minus infinity and beyond zero?"
Smart boy he is.

Me - (trying hard not to laugh) "Yes it is Preston."

Finally a question I have the answer to.

Love him!

Grandpa Chambers

My cute Grandpa Chambers passed away a few weeks ago. Growing up I always enjoyed visiting my grandparents and Grandpa always had a nice big smile for me and good, strong handshake to go with it. Even right up until he died if he got your hand in a handshake you were stuck. At the funeral, three of his sons and his only daughter all spoke to us about their dad. They each had a few stories to share but one thing that they each talk about was his testimony of the Gospel. A few years ago my Grandpa planned out his funeral and his testimony is what he wanted shared because that is what he wanted people to remember about him. He loved the gospel and he loved the Savior and he loved his family. I love him and will miss him. And look at my cute Grandma. Isn't she darling? My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last April. I hope Dave and I can be just as cute when we celebrate our 60th.

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago I had my sister take some pictures of us at Layton Park. I think she took about 300 pictures. By the time we got to the park to do the family ones it was almost dark and Lucas wasn't feeling to well so they were a little tricky. But overall we got some super cute pictures. I may put more on later but for now, Enjoy!

In almost every picture Preston had his hed tilted to one side. We had to keep reminding him to put it up straight. These are the best we could get with all of us together.

I think Lucas may have lost circulation in his arms from Jack and Zack holding on to him so tight to keep him from falling over.

Zack loves to pose for pictures.

If you haven't noticed, look how thick Jackson's hair is compared to all of the other kids. He got that from Dave (When he was younger).

I went to the park during the week to get pictures of all of the kids so of course I had to get in on a few of them. When Dave looked at all of them later he said it looked like I was single with 5 kids. Very funny Dave!

There's that head tilt I was talking about. I love his blonde hair.

My Rach. Loves to have her picture taken. Any time. Any where.

One of the few pictures we got of Lucas with a smile. I tried to put him on the ground for a close up in the leaves but all he wanted to do was eat the leaves.