April in Review

Because there haven't been any spectacular events in our lives since last month, this post is just a short briefing of the latest news in the Campbelln family. Greg started his new job this last month and has been traveling more than ever. The kids and I have gotten used to it. Not only are the boys happy to have their dad home, but Sidney squeals with glee whenever Daddy walks in the door. He works so hard - we sure love him!

Dawson continues to be an expert bug/lizard hunter and always takes great pride in his captured victims. There is always a look of sadness in his eyes when Mom makes him set his victims free by nightfall. He also strives to be a kind big brother to both his siblings. Hence the bath picture.

Everett is happy just playing with his hot wheels, riding his scooter or Kettcar in the backyard and following his brother around. Dawson and Everett have become such great buddies. I love it! They also had a great time being bakers a week ago when Daddy was out of town for Family Night. They did a great job decorating sugar cookies. I think we are evolving. So glad I discovered Parchment Paper. How did I ever bake before without it?

Sidney's personality is blossoming. She's happy most of the time, likes to copy sounds and words you say, loves following her brothers around and crawling into Dawson's bed (much to his dismay) and is very vocal when she does not get her way. Do all girls scream at this age? I don't think I did!

As for me, I've been continually busy cleaning and organizing the garage, finding places to put the stuff still in boxes from the move, fixing all kinds of things around the house (these projects are never ending) and trying to become a better meal planner for my kids-something that got lost about 6 months ago when this whole home transplant ordeal started. I'm happy to say I've actually been getting together with friends again! Hooray! Thanks to all who include me in there plans!

One of these days we'll get our BBQ gas line fixed to have a little backyard party. We are saving up a little money for that. We would love to have so many of our friends and family over for BBQ parties, but have to put it off for a little longer.

We did go to Disneyland as a family this last week one evening. That was actually fun! We'll be glad when Greg is done with his traveling for work. Maybe then we'll plan our own traveling vacation of sorts.

Easter Egg Hunt Dream Come True

What's This For?


The Gang on the Tramp


Since we bought our new house I have dreamed of having an Easter Egg Hunt with all the kiddies we know. I love seeing kids have fun. I think we'll make it a yearly tradition. It's easier than doing the yearly Christmas party that we had initiated a few years back but dropped. Anyway, here are a few pictures. Thanks to all my friends for making my dream come true. I miss you all so much since our move!!!!

Preparation for the Hunt

Sidney helping too...

A little Easter Craft

Sydney and Sidney

Even the newborns were so cute!

Where did you spend your Easter?

Didn't take long for her to figure out this one!

Look what the Easter Bunny brought Mommy!

Happy Easter Sidney!

This was quite a memorable Easter for me, not because we had an amazing Easter Dinner or we spent the time with some long lost family members, but because we spent the evening in the Emergency Room. That's right . . . I managed to have an old sports injury get the best of me and I ended up in the ER! I wish I had a really cool story to go along with it like I was playing tackle football at the family gathering or that I decided to show off doing back flips on our new trampoline. NOOOO, this was a boring "I'm just a mom now with no pizazz" story.



So, in short, Everett was sitting on my knees while I was squatting (I was consoling him) and when he sat up, I lost balance and tried to catch my fall. In the process I put my arm in a strangely compromising position, hit a cabinet and "POP", out went my shoulder. This has happened at least half a dozen times over the last decade doing various athletic activities. The original injury occured while snow skiing. But in the past the shoulder has always popped back in place. The occurence was a couple years ago while playing dodge ball with the youth. That time the shoulder popped back after 10 minutes of manipulation (the longest time yet). Since that day I've given up most sports that use the shoulder including baseball, volleyball, tennis and football. Sadly, it has largely affected the activities I can do with my little boys. But now, even just being a mom has not sheltered me from an almost inevitable outcome. The "bad shoulder" resurfaced this past Sunday and taught me a powerful lesson.



Thankfully, we were with Greg's family when it occured. With many helpful hands for our children Greg took me to the ER with little stress other than the injury itself. We were grateful for that! Two increasingly painful hours after the initial shoulder insult, my shoulder was back in place and home we went. Words of advice: Sometimes when you cry louder in the ER the doctor comes quicker!



So, I'll be gearing up for shoulder surgery this summer with 6 weeks of recovery to avoid having my shoulder dislocate again. At least that is the hope after surgery! Wow, that will be fun.



So how was everyone else's Easter?!

My little knights!

Can't catch up. . .Sidney turned 1

If anyone decided to peek in on my blog I just have to apologize for not writing something for almost a month. The first week at our new house we did not have internet, then the 2nd week we did not have a kitchen and then the 3rd week, we did not have floors. If all goes well, by the end of this week we will have all three and maybe a few other things that we need like all new furniture (just kidding!) Needless to say, for anyone interested, this month has been the most difficult month of my entire 3 child life. That would be one year. Okay, maybe I just don't want to make it sound so awful, but my stress level is through the roof and being disorganized the way my life has been for the last month is driving me insane. Not literally. I feel like I've been living out of a hotel since we moved in. A very dusty hotel.

By the way, we had a very little birthday celeration for Sidney. Poor little princess. We hope to have a party in a week or so. Sorry for the delay Sid, it will still look good in your memory book!

So, enough complaining. I will have lots of great news and great pictures of our happy home and family in about 3 weeks at the latest. That's my goal. So don't think I've given up on bloggin yet!

Moving this weekend

So, we have 3 days left to enjoy our old house before we surrender it to the new owners and we all have mixed feelings. We've lived in this house for over 5 years and have put so much work into it and have created so many memories here. We will be sad to leave it, but know we will make our new home, which I have now dubbed "our diamond in the rough," a great place for our family to continue to grow and have many more adventures. We have already started to attend our new ward, and feel very welcomed by the people in it. Greg is anxious to get a new calling and start serving the Lord in that way. I also am excited to see where I shall serve next as well. The kids are excited for the move although I'm sure they don't know what to expect and Everett is definitely still processing the whole thing in his 3 1/2 year old mind. Just today Everett expressed sadness that he will have to leave behind his scooter. I told him that he could bring it along when we move and he was elated! The kids have been seeing boxes around the house for a month now and I'm sure they will be glad when this move is over. We are especially excited to have a bigger backyard where the kids can almost get lost. We plan to plant a garden and get a trampoline as soon as possible. We hope the house is all in order by Christmas so we can have another big party by then. That's all for now. I'll be busy for the next few weeks, so I'll sign off from blogging for a while and catch back up with friends later!

New House Needs Work

We are so excited to be moving and have gotten several requests to see pictures of the new house. We will definitely take some once we move in. But for now I'll just say that the house needs a little work. Judge for yourself from some of the initial pictures I took. Nonetheless, we are still soooo excited for the move. We plan to make this house our own (within a few years) and I especially am a seasoned home improvement expert. I can even install a toilet! Does anyone remember this house when we first moved in. Well, it looks a lot different now! So this one will soon become our little haven. And we look forward to having our first house warming party!

I LOVE brownies!

Sidney's personality is just getting funner all the time. She gets so excited when anyone new enters the room and wherever we go people have nicknamed her "Smiley". She really is a happy girl though she can also be very serious like her mother. She is finally smiling for the camera though. The other day we gave her some little bites of brownies and man was she grinning from ear to ear. I thought it was so funny so I took some pictures. If you look closely you can see the brownie stuck between her two bottom teeth. Yummy! Greg is a true chocolate lover, so it is no wonder his daughter is too.
By the way, the Campbell family also has something else to smile about. . . we sold our house and are moving February 1st! Hooray!!!!