MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

We had such a blast doing these Christmas pictures!! I firmly believe that
home taken pictures are by far the best. These especially show the personality of the kids!! What a fantastic year!!

More sickies and a little fun!!

So even though my mother begged me not to I am totally getting to rat my brother out. I am now referring to him and his family as the new and improved pitri dish!! His family came down for Thanksgiving. What a glorious day! Lots of food and fun and family time. Oh. Did I mention that they were all sick!! Yep, my nephew was on the up swing from pink eye and bronchitis and my sister-in-law was recovering from some kind of crud.
I thought that we were done with any medical misfortune within the walls of my home......enter the Pitri Dish. So far my life looks like this Pink Eye-3 cases, chest colds-4 cases, lost voices-3,lingering coughs-2.
Soooo.... this weekend... instead of going to one of my BF's long anticipated cookie exchange I got to go to WalMart for humidifiers,cold meds,vitamins and Clorox wipes!!
My poor kiddos are so freaked out because I haven't been to church in 5 weeks. They think I am headed straight for hell. I keep reasurring them that noone in our ward wants us to share our germs and yuckiness and i am sure I will be forgiven.
So, super long story short??? My brother is on the Naughty List and I am now on the inactive list!!

We did manage during all this madness to get our Christmas Lights up and get our decorating done. It has been a blast!! We got out the Christmas movies and have been watching them non stop. My favorite has to be Christmas with the Kranks!! I can so see Kelley trying to pull that stunt. The music is on in full force as well as the candles.
I absolutely love this time of year!! It looks like Tyler will be able to participate in the Live Nativity for our stake this year which I am so excited for this weekend.
The girls and I are going to go shopping this weekend(if everyone is fully recovered) and I am going to take them out to this place called "the Melting Pot" it is a Fondu place which should be interesting for them to experience. Hopefully it will start a pretty fun "girls only"tradition. Now what the boys will do while we are gone... who knows!!
Anyway........hopefully the cases of Pink eye will be gone this weekend and we can maybe get some Christmas Pics on this blog so I can stop with the whining and griping!!

To shop or not to shop

Ok so this week is Thanksgiving!!!! Yeah!!!! I am so excited. We will be spending the day with guess who..... ourselves!! Yep, no grandma, no grandpa, no baba, no papa. We have never done it quite like this before so it should be interesting. We will just be hanging out on our own, cooking our own bird, making our own pies and creating our own traditions. FUN FUN FUN!!
As much fun as Thanksgiving is for us, I have to say that the most fun for me is they day after!! Now don't scoff or roll your eyes because of the crowds or whatever. Very seldom do I ever buy anything. I go for the Starbucks Peppermint Hot Chocolate at 5am in the cold, dark. I go for the lines that have formed outside Target!! It is there that my mother and I get the lowdown on why everyone is out so early and what gonga they have decided to brave the lines for. That is the fun of the day after Thanksgiving. I guess you could say that I am the untimate people watcher. I may find a gonga to brave the crowds for, but if not I will still be there, Hot Chocolate in tow!!

Bronchitis and an overdose in the same week!!! UNCLE!!

So this week started out pretty normal. Just the ups and downs of parenting and life. A little mouthing off here and a lot of laundry there.It's allergy season so everyone has the sniffles so Nothing spectacularly out of the ordinary.....
..... and then there was Wednsday. Now before I get into this story for those of you who don't know much about my life. I was Paramedic for 5 years and I have been the school nurse at my children's school for the past 2 years. That being said i'll continue with part one of my story. After school my 2 younger kids come to my office and, in a perfect world, are supposed to wash their hands up from school and sit nicely and read. Well Connor had plans of his own. He took it upon himself to make sure his sniffles were gone. he did this by helping himself to about 7 or 8 Benadryl fast melts......Super long story short we wound up in the emergency room being observed for seizures and other side effects of too much benadryl. nothing happened but a sleepy little boy thank goodness.......Needless to say I have all my medication in a lockbox in my bedroom closet now to keep him from self medication..
.......thought that my 6 our ER visit was enough for the week??? Oh no no no!! Tyler has had a cough for a week that has officially settled in his lungs. Kelley brought him to my office today so i could give his lungs a listen, lots of wheezing. Sooo another ER visit,a chest x-ray, and a breathing treatment later here he sits with Bronchitis! ......I think i have reached my quota so the rest of the season should be smooth sailing.."What's that Megan?? You have a headache??

My little baby boy

So my little Connor stayed home from school sick today. Nothing major, he just has the sniffles, and,since I know what teachers say to the nurse(hello..Me!!) about parents who should have kept their kids home, I decided to keep him home. I did have a pretty defining moment last night when we were deciding whether to keep him home. He came into the bedroom with his sniffles and climbed into my lap. It was then that I realized that he is so close to not fitting in my lap anymore. My little baby is almost a little boy!! I am at the end of my baby and small child season. It is totally bittersweet. On one hand the late night feedings, crazy diaper changes in the car and chasing babies through the hallways of church is gone. But, on the other hand, there is no more recliner time with sleeping infants or babies, no more blessing days, no more dressing them up in those tiny clothes. I remember being so stressed out during that time of my life and wishing it would pass so quickly. What a bad idea!!! I absolutely love that my kids are growing and my season is changing, what a doozy!! I am totally looking forward to what is to come, but holy cow, knowing that the baby time is gone is freaky wierd!!

More kiddo drama.....

So I have come to the conclusion that a person has lots of children( yes I do think 4 is a lot, call me a lightweight,but i do) has them to help keep the good and bad at an even split.
This past week my dear sweet Madalyn recieved her 9th(yes count em 9th) disciplinary infraction in school, so she was suspended for a day....now i'm not sure how I feel about that as a punnishment. I left the house this morning after giving her a gigantic list of pennence projects but i'm almost positive that as i write this blog she is home eating hot pockets and watching Kung Fu Panda. Anyway, I am totally floored that this has happened to a child of MINE!! How in the world could I have failed that badly as a mom!! Enter Tyler......my Freshman who has informed me he made the Basketball team and he qualified for National Honor Society!! Ok well maybe I haven't done that bad. I am very sure that if I had stopped at one or two I would have already thrown in the towel and i'd be living like Jimmy Buffett on a beach somewhere.

A glimpse into real life

My mother made the comment the other day that blogs are just extended, glorified christmas letters where you just gush and gush about all your accomplishments and how wonderful your children are. Yea right!!! I'm here give you a little glimpse into what really goes on behind those adorable little pictures and such.
My top five "I just love my little angels" moments

#5---Connor was fired from his job as "Attendance Ant" at school for running all across the freshly planted grass courtyard, instead of walking nicely to the cafeteria to deliver his class lunch count

#4---Madalyn's teacher called me to inform me that she slugged a girl on the bus because the girl called her names( of course Madalyn said she deserved it)

#3--- Tyler was late to Seminary because he decided it would be fun to see if our cat liked to ride in the car without anyone knowing.(We had to turn around and go home when the thing went nuts in the back seat)

#2----Lets not forget my biggest little angel who decided it was super important to make sure he had a new Polo("but they were on sale hon'"), but not pay the cell phone bill on time(RUDE!!)

And the number one reason " I just love my little angels" moment

Halloween day. My dear sweet littlest angel, dressed as batman, got escorted to my office by his teacher because in her words " Batman just slugged Dorothy" (yes Dorothy of OZ). This sweet little girl in his class. When asked why he said he was just showing her that he had muscles.

So there you have it. this is reality baby!!My life ROCKS!!!

Reigonals YAY!!!

This past weekend was the Southern Arizona Regional Swim Meet. Tyler qualified to swim with the Marana High School swim team. As a freshman even!! I was so way pumped!! He swam the 100 breaststroke(kinda cool because that was my event in high school!) It was great that he was even able to go(did I already mention he is only a freshman??), but he also qualified to swim in the finals the following day!!
We were a little freaked out by the fact that he almost got disqualified because the dork swam in the wrong lane!! We had an absolute blast watching him . He is going to totally rock the house in the next three years. We can't wait!!!

Spinning!!??

Ok so for those who know me you know that I absolutely love soda and fried food!!! LOVE IT!! Anything unhealthy, sweet or high in fat and calories finds its way to my mouth no matter what. As a result I have managed to pack on some poundage, now don't freak out!! I'm not ready for the Biggest Loser quite yet. I have, however been working out like a champ. Not so much running during the summer because of the whole snake thing(they terrify me!!), but a lot of swimming. Well I have put up my running shoes and hung up my swim suit for a little bit and I have joined a gym. I have been working out quite a bit for the last few months,parking on the Eliptical trainer and weights, so myself and a friend of mine decided to try out a spinning class. I mean heck how hard could it be? It is only stationary bike riding set to music right??? Oh NO NO NO!! Boy was I soo way very wrong!! I have met my new nemisis. Batman had the joker and I have spin class.
Our first class was an hour long and fifteen minutes into it I was sure I was going to throw up all down the side of my little yellow machine. We did hills(actually they did hills, I just tried my hardest to keep my legs moving), some speed work and some other techniques associated with bicycle racing. By the last hill I was beet red and exhausted. I have run half marathons, swam competitively and I have never had such a hard workout in my life!! Did I return?? Abso-freakin-lutely!! I will so master this thing. We went back last night and it was forty minutes before I felt like I was going to throw up and die!!
The bottom line?? SPINNING=DEATH;I highly recommend it!

Fall Break!!

So this last week was fall break and I am so excited to report that we did not do a dang thing!!! Aside from Tyler's daily early morning swim practice and his Band festival thing on Saturday we stayed home the entire week. We watched movies galore and just hung out. We ordered Pizza, had a couple trips to In N Out burger( my new addiction apparently) and thats about it. It was so nice to just wake up and stay in our jammies till noon and just hang out together. I totally love the ages my kiddos are now!! Every once in a while I miss the whole baby in the house thing but for the most part we are having a great time during this particular "season" of life.
My kids kinda griped about not going to the lake or Disneyland, but it didn't last too long. Madalyn and Tyler had a youth temple trip on Friday which was really exciting for them. Since Kelley was working i decided to be a driver. Connor and I hung out on the temple grounds and went to the Visitor center where we watched the most amazing video on Joseph Smith. We were both absolutely speechless during the whole hour long movie. Boy did it help me with my RS lesson I was teaching which happened to be on the Prophets letters to Emma. Anyway the entire trip took only 6 hours. It was super quick but soo way worth it!!
So now here we are, another Monday morning and I am missing my little break!!Pretty hard for the kids too! WE can't wait till Halloween, Veterans Day,Thanksgiving.......nothing but fun from now till New Years!!!!!

Its Starting to feel a little like fall!!

So this morning when I stepped outside to head off to work I felt the tiniest bit of chill in the air!! Starbucks has their fall flavored hot chocolates out!! It is just one of those days that I would so much rather be window shopping at our outdoor mall checking out all the fall decorations!!
The kids are starting to come inside earlier from playing and we spent the weekend canning peaches and apples are next!! I love harvest season!! I love fall!!!

A little Seamans Family info.

So my brother Austen just left on the 27th of August for his mission.The people of Minneapolis are extremely lucky!!! We absolutely adore him. Talk about a crack up!! There is never a dull moment with him around and it is reallly rough not having him around, but he woundn't have it any other way. He is going to be such a wonderful missionary.

Oh the places you'll go!!!!

So this week was one for the record books!! Tyler had late band practice on Tuesday with pick up at 8. Madalyn had late play practice and then got on the wrong activity bus and had to be picked up so she didn't have to walk home in the heat of the day. We had 2( yes count em 2!!) swim meets this week. The football team played across town which means whoever goes out on a traveling trip must be picked by a mom or dad. Luckily it was Kelley's turn to pick up. Connor and Megan just traveled with us in our adventures. They enjoy it but I'm sure they miss the days of vegging on the couch to Hannah Montana. We actually don't know when the last time was that we watched tv. We are thinking it was the Olympics. Maybe things will slow down enough that we can catch London!!!! Such is life and I wouldn't change it for a thing. I just hope my van feels the same....

4 of the Nicolds6

So my kids.......lets see. How about a readers digest version of where everyone is and what they are up to.

CONNOR---My sweet baby boy is in Kindergarten this year. He is such a great little boy. What a fireball! He loves Speedracer now and is all about the racing and roughness that goes with being a little boy!! He is also a sweetheart but don't let that adorable grin fool you, he could very easily climb out his bedroom and head for a bike race with the neighbor kids at a moments notice!! It is so hard for me to believe that soon he will be too big to hold in my arms!!

TYLER--WOW!! What a great young man. He is 14 years old, a freshman in High School!!(yea, i'm pretty dang old!!) He is in the marching band and plays the trombone. They just preformed at their first football game. HOW COOL!!!He is also on the high school swim team. Add that to early morning and Wednsday night mutual and you have a delicious recipe for a very busy kiddo. He is managing to impress the heck out of his dad and I by keeping his grades up despite the craziness.

MADALYN--Miss Maddi is in the 7th grade at the Middle School here and she is adjusting pretty well. She likes her teachers and she love loves her friends!!! She is all about her little social life. Totally loves sports the athletic side of life. She wants to swim year around so we will see how that goes!! She is in Young Womens and boy do we all love it!!! She just went to girls camp for the first time this summer and had a blast. She is participating in the school rendition of High School Musical( still waiting to see what part she has) which runs till March I believe. She is so much fun and comes up some wild comments!!!

MEGAN--Well Miss Megan is in the 5th grade at the elementary school where I work. What fun!! She is just a little diva!!She is all about the clothes,shoes and the hair. We just embarked on the Orchestra experience with her. Her instrument of choice is the Cello. So far she is practicing really hard!! She is still in the very new stage of playing(kinda wishing that would pass soon) She is having a really good time with life. Right now she is really into baking cookies. They are always so very yummy, but oh the messes she makes!!!