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This week I’ve been spending all of my time Spring Cleaning. We’ve been in this house for six years now and I decided it was time to wipe out some cupboards and dust some cobwebs and do away with some clutter. So far I’ve managed to clean under the kitchen sink and clean out the kitchen drawers. I’ve wiped down the walls and just today finished cleaning the boys’ room, which was a complete disaster. Slowly but surely things are looking better and hopefully in a few more days we’ll be all set for summer and a whole lot of play. Of course I also have a huge list of projects I’m hoping to get around to like painting the babies’ room and sprucing up the backyard a bit, but one thing at a time. . . one thing at a time.

Anyway, because I’ve been busy scouring the house all I have to offer you right now are some videos off my cell phone from all the fun we had last week in our lovely seventy degree weather. But I think they’re pretty funny and thought you might find them entertaining. This first video is of Caleb trying to play catch with me and Noah. He kept chasing after us and saying, “Catch it to me! Catch it to me!” But every time we threw it to him, he covered his eyes. He’s so adorable.

Catch It To Me Video
The next video is of a funny face Justus made one morning out-of-the-blue. Hunter used to do a similar face and Kathy so totally loved it I had to catch it on video. It looks like his head is about to pop off his shoulders. Hilarious!

Justus Funny Face Video
And then, we were at the park the other day and I told the boys to run ahead and roll down this gigantic hill not too far off. So they did and it was obvious they had no idea how to roll down a hill. See Exibit A.

Exibit A
So I demonstrated for them (sorry no videos of that one) and they did much better the second time around. See Exibit B.

Exibit B
Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got for ya. I’m exhausted and I’m headed for bed. Mornings start early here and the nights are brief. Gotta grab what sleep I can. But of course, just one more thing. Here’s a pic of the twins holding hands in the car and a pic of the twins swinging in the hammock with Denver. Man, I got cute kids!

Denver had a playdate on Friday with William. They ran around most of the time, like boys do, playing some form of Super Hero. At one point Denver stopped William in the piano room and stood up on our newest piece of furniture, the dining room table. Caleb who refused to take a nap thanks to all the heroism going on, quickly found me in the next room over and tattled on Denver. Denver quickly removed himself from the table and William asked if he could please have a turn standing on the dining room table. Ummmm, no! The boys remained in the piano room, saving one life after another, when Denver said to William, “I’ll show you the rule book.”

I wasn’t really watching. Like I said, I was in the next room over folding laundry and listening for signs of dining room table climbing and what I was afraid might be next, chandelier swinging. But I assume what Denver did next was hold up one of our piano books, to which William stated matter-of-factly, “That’s not a rule book. That’s a songbook.”

Denver was no slow-poke with his comeback, “That’s cause they’re like music. I’ll show you.”

He then proceeded to sing the rules in a very sing-songy voice, kind of to the tune of Farmer in the Dell:

“Rule number one. Rule number one. Don’t touch the Robot.
Rule number two. Rule number two. . . .”

(I didn’t catch rule number two because I was running for the kitchen and a pen and some paper so I could write everything down because I tend to forget everything unless it’s written down somewhere.)

“Rule number three. Rule number three. Don’t disturb the Master.”

Eventually the saving of lives moved out-of-doors and I didn’t catch the rest of the Super Hero rules. The playdate ended a little while later with two very hungry Super Heroes and one basement door that got kicked in by a certain Super Hero in desperate need of a snack. Fortunately just the lock on the door got broken and it shouldn’t be hard to fix. But most important of all, it’s nice to see little kids with such great imaginations.

Here are the pictures. . . finally. Mark stayed up late one night this past week and retrieved my pictures from the camera. The suburban is still full of sand from the excursion and we’re all still peeling from the sunburns we sustained but we sure had fun. I’ve just got to figure out how to do the beach with all six kids on my own. I might just have to invest in some of these or sacrifice one of our playpens for beach use. Either way we’ve got to get to the beach more often.

This is Noah showing me that you can even make snow angels in the sand!

This is Noah and Jarrett creating. . . .

This is Hunter’s sand pyramid that got destroyed and recreated several times thanks to the J Team.

And here are the twins having fun pushing each other in the dump truck down a slope created by a giant hole the boys dug. And now you can see why Hunter had to recreate his sand sculpture more than a couple times. The J Team = Destruction.

Denver is showing me his sand creation. I have no idea what exactly he created, but he sure was proud of it.

And like I mentioned last week, Justus really did drink his weight in red kool-aid. He couldn’t get enough of the stuff. And that’s Denver flying our giant kite. By the end of the day Hunter had it soaring 300 feet up in the air. That’s as high as you can fly it with the string that we have. Pretty cool.

Sand + Water + Sun = Caleb Heaven.

Here’s Hunter and Denver buried in the sand. I also managed to bury Jericho but I couldn’t take the picture fast enough. He didn’t like it much.

Noah brought this home from school yesterday and it made me really sad.

And the thing that really makes me sad is that the teacher marked it with a great big “C” and that’s all. What’s that supposed to mean? “Correct” like he’s right, life would be better if he didn’t have to go to school? Or just “correct” like he wrote everything correctly. And if that’s the case, how come she didn’t put a great big frowny face on there and something like, “I wish you didn’t hate school, Noah.”

Noah has been having a rough time lately and he seems ever so unhappy. We’re going to take him to a psychologist, someone who specializes in children that struggle with anxiety. I’m hoping he’ll help us know what to do. Cause I don’t really specialize in children as unhappy as Noah and I really don’t think I can bear to see him so miserable for much longer.

Lately chocolate hasn’t being doing a whole lot for me. Instead I’ve been craving caramely, gooey sorts of things. During spring break Noah wanted Monkey Bread for breakfast and since we had the time and I had the hankering, we made some. I was discussing this Monkey Bread with a friend of mine who wondered if we had a good recipe and I had to admit we do. So for those of you who’ve been searching for a good Monkey Bread recipe, look no more. Indulge yourself in some caramely, gooey, breakfasty delight.

Monkey Bread

4 cans refrigerated biscuits
1 cup white sugar, divided
1 cup brown sugar, divided
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup butter

Spray a 10-inch bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. (My kids love to do this part. I just wash a few pairs of kiddie scissors and tell them to cut each biscuit in half and then in half again. It actually speeds up the entire process which means you get breakfast even faster.) In a plastic bag (freezer size) combine 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar and the cinnamon. Mix well. (Again, my kids enjoy the shaking and coating process too.) Place half of the biscuit pieces, a few at a time, in the bag and shake well to coat. Place biscuit pieces in Bundt pan. In a saucepan, mix together remaining white and brown sugars with butter. Heat until butter melts and sugars dissolve, but do not boil. Pour half of syrup mixture over biscuits in the bundt pan. Shake remaining biscuit pieces in bag of sugar mixture. Place in pan and add remainder of butter mixture on the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool just long enough to flip pan onto a serving plate. Remove pan and serve.

Also, every Friday when Grandma Gribble comes to visit I love to bake up something yummy for us to munch while we watch Soap Operas or Martha Stewart or whatever. Two weeks ago, because I was craving caramel, I decided to make caramel popcorn. But then I got this idea about adding some peanuts and chocolate. By the end I had some of the best chocolate, caramel covered popcorn and nuts I’ve ever had. But I suppose you’ll never really believe me unless you make some for yourself. So here’s how you do it.

Caramel Chocolate Popcorn
Microwave 2 bags of plain or buttered popcorn.

In saucepan melt together:
1 can sweet and condensed milk
2 cups of brown sugar
1 cup Karo syrup
1/2 cup butter

Pour two bags of popcorn into a very large bowl. Add 1/2 a jar of peanuts to the popcorn and mix together. Pour caramel over popcorn and mix again until the popcorn and peanuts are coated. Spray a cookie sheet with PAM (or line with foil and spray for easier cleanup) and dump the entire bowl of popcorn on the tray. Spread out the popcorn. Melt 1/4 bag of chocolate chips (Ghiradelli milk chocolate is recommended) in the microwave and drizzle over the popcorn. Place in freezer for 5-10 minutes or just until the chocolate is set again. Then eat. This makes an awful lot of popcorn so you’ll probably have enough to share, maybe. . . if you can stand to part with it. Trust me, it will be hard.

For the Potato Derby we were required to bring a dessert to share. I, being completely driven by my caramel cravings, chose to take Ginny’s Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie (did I mention that I love Ginny for this recipe) and so many people liked it I figure I might as well post a link to it here and save you a step to crunchy caramely appley heaven. I make two pies out of this recipe with two smaller pie dishes and I double the crunchy topping to make sure I have enough to cover both pies. It’s the best apple pie I’ve ever laid mouth on.

Oh and by the way, I never promised my blog would make you skinny, now did I?

So Friday while the boys were at play rehearsal I took Caleb and the twins to a nearby school that has a pretty decent playground. It wasn’t anything special until we stumbled across what I assume is their preschool playground. First of all, it is all fenced in which scores at least a thousand points in my book. And second, it has quite a few fun things to play with like a merry-go-round and a puppet theatre and a mini roadway complete with road signs and a gas station. Next time we go back we’ll definitely have to take our toddler bikes. The little boys would love it and Denver would probably love it even more. I love it when I find these great little places. Here’s a few pics from my cell phone because alas, my cameras are still out of order:

I also snapped a few pictures of the twins sharing some Smarties while we were there. The first picture is of Justus asking Jericho for a hug. And the second picture is of Justus feeding Jericho a smartie. And last but not least is Jericho helping himself to Justus’s Smarties despite the fact that he has his own pack of Smarties right in front of him. The twins are so fun to watch nowadays. Last week Jericho was laying on the back porch with his silkie. I’m not sure if he was just tired or not feeling good. Anyway, Justus wandered out onto the back porch and squatted down just in front of Jericho’s face, sort of like he was checking on him to see if he was okay. Then Justus walked around Jericho so he was behind him, squatted down again and started rubbing his head. It was the sweetest thing. I never knew babies were capable of so much love and compassion. They definitely love each other and care about each other. It’s very sweet.

While we were at the park I think Caleb got stung by a bee. He ran ahead of me and the twins and immediately climbed up to the top of a slide. He slid down and I went to help him off the slide and shocked him, because plastic slides generate so much static, you know. Anyway, he said something about getting poked and started rubbing his head and I thought it was because I shocked him. He continued to hold his head for the rest of the time we were at the park and then as we were leaving a bee flew past him and he went into hysterics. Up until then, he’d never even noticed a bee and I can’t imagine why he’d know to be nervous unless one had hurt him. Later that afternoon when he was asked about the bee he told us that he “talked to bees.” And when asked what the bees said to him he said, “They like to hold hands with me and they say ‘1, 2, 3.’”

Also at the school they had some of the most beautiful, most delicious smelling blossom trees. So I pulled a twig of the blossoms off the tree and took them over to Caleb (who was cowering in the car from the bees) and told him to take a sniff. He took a whiff or two and then said, “They have sugar on it.” How cute is that? I definitely agree. Those blossoms are intoxicating. I can’t inhale enough of them.

We flew kites and dug holes and buried people (well, except for their heads, of course). Some of us braved the icey waves, the twins drank their weight in cherry crystal light and Denver got a bloody nose. All of us are sun-burned and dehydrated and exhausted. We all had fun but none of us as much as Caleb. Caleb is in love with the beach. I got a bunch of great pictures but in the past month or so I’ve managed to break two video cameras, an ipod and a camera. I had to use a camera Mark rescued from the garbage after I threw it away. And the problem is, neither of us know where the card reader is for the computer. So I’ve got nothing to show you. At least right now. Maybe tomorrow when Mark gets home. He always fixes everything. When he’s around everything is better. Everything is going to be all better in about three hours. Now I’m going to go watch Juno and fall asleep.

Mark and I were talking last night about Spring Break and how the boys were sort of jealous that some of their friends were going away to Disneyland and how I was sort of jealous that some of my friends were taking their families to Cancun. Then I cracked some joke about Mark being in Mexico this week (yeah, he’s gone again) and “Girls Gone Wild” and we both decided that maybe Mexico during Spring Break might not be the best choice for a family vacation. That said, I’ve never been there during Spring Break and maybe all of Cancun and Tijuana aren’t overrun with scantily clad girls and drunk guys looking to “hook up” but, I’ve seen enough “Girls Gone Wild” advertisements during my many late night nursing sessions to know that Mexico during Spring Break might be kind of risky business for a young family such as ours. So, instead of dancing topless in some bar and inhaling beer straight from the keg, me and the boys, we’re hanging out on the homefront with all of our clothes on and as far from drunk as you can get. But don’t be deceived, we’re still having fun. Lots of it in fact. See for yourself.

Saturday Mark took the boys into New York and they rode the Staten Island Ferry and saw Lady Liberty for the first time.

Of course he didn’t just take them into New York for the fun of it. Aunt Diana and Aunt Christie Sue rolled into town Friday and invited us to play with them. Friday we ate dinner with them at Lucky’s and went swimming at their hotel. And Saturday when they said they were going into NY for the day Mark jumped at the chance to spend time with his sisters and I insisted the boys tagalong instead of spending the day at home playing Nintendo. They were reluctant at first but all four boys came home pretty happy about their trip to the Big Apple.

Did I mention I bribed them with a trip to Toys R Us and five dollars each to spend on whatever they wanted? Well, I did. Hunter and Noah each got a mini Lego set and Noah got some Chronicles of Narnia armor. I don’t know what Christie Sue got but she sure looks cute in this picture. Noah, who doesn’t look so cute, was sick of posing for pictures and this is his way of protesting.

Mark left for Mexico on Sunday morning which left me to entertain the boys for the entire week. It hasn’t been so bad. I think I’m getting used to him being gone. Monday–I can’t even remember Monday–the boys had a play rehearsal. That’s right. They’ve been invited to participate in a production of the Jungle Book. I think the fact that we have six little monkies might have helped. But mostly, there’s a family in our neighbor ward that does a play every year for charity. The kids write the script and produce the entire show themselves. This year they asked how they could help Hunter knowing he’s diabetic and what charity would benefit him. It’s only fitting Hunter be in the play and help raise money for his own cause. So Monday the three big boys ran through the script with the Sedgwicks and were casted to their various parts. Hunter has a solo and several speaking parts. Noah also has a teeny-tiny solo and some speaking parts. Noah gets to say “watch your mouth, boy” which makes him smile the cutest little bad boy smile I’ve ever seen cross his face. Denver is a monkey, a wolf and an elephant and spent the rest of the day singing the songs that they practiced over and over and over. Monday night we met up with the McCurdy family and played several rounds of Sardines (a reverse form of Hide-n-Seek where one person hides and everyone else seeks and when you find the hider, you hide with them).

Today we drove up to see Melanie and spent the day with her and her three little cutie pies. The boys love to visit Me-Me’s house. She has the coolest toys, lives by the coolest park and is one of their coolest aunts around. Anyway, we spent a good part of the afternoon at the park, soaking up the sun.

Then we hit Dairy Queen because after chasing nine kids around a very big and very crowded park, we deserved it. I love this next picture (despite its blurriness) because Jericho was actually licking his ice cream cone. Really truly licking it, like a big person. It was most adorable.

And you can tell just how much Christian liked his ice cream cone by looking at his face.

Here the boys are looking in the storm drain in front of Me-Me’s house trying to find Jorge’s car that he threw in there by accident almost a year ago. It’s still there and if you look hard you can see it. I bet this summer Hunter will figure out a way to get it out of there. He’s always up for a good challenge. The toy may not be worth rescuing by then, but it’s worth a try anyway.

Then the boys ran around like monkies and dumped sand on each other’s heads and wrestled and raised a mighty ruckus until Melanie brought home Boston Market and we said “Stop! And eat your dinner!” By the time I got home tonight I had five sleeping children to carry up to bed which was really nice, not to have to wrestle or fight with them to get them to sleep. They were completely exhausted. I almost dropped Denver carrying him up the stairs and he didn’t bat an eyelash, he was that pooped.

Tomorrow I think we’ll hit another park and go swimming. I’ve also got to visit Walmart and Party City because the Ward Potato Derby is in just a few days and we’re in charge. I’ve also got to rent Jungle Book because the boys have never seen it and they sort of need to now. And there is another play rehearsal on Friday and a Pack Meeting for Cub Scouts and I promised the boys I’d take them to see Nim’s Island sometime too. We’re also half a chapter away from finishing Prince Caspian and Derek is supposed to be coming to play Nintendo with the boys and we really want to hit the beach and fly a kite with the McCurdy’s. And sometime I’ve gotta drag out the spring clothes and get them sorted cause the rest of the week it’s supposed to be in the seventies and the turtlenecks hanging in the boys’ closets aren’t working anymore. And if that’s not a wild enough Spring Break for you then you should probably head on down to Cancun and grab yourself a keg or two cause things can’t possibly get any wilder around here.

Yesterday our thermometer reached a most beautiful 75 degrees. The sun was in full shine and we filled our canteens with enough of its sunbeams to hopefully last us a few more weeks until summer. I knew this day was coming. I promised the boys that after their dentist appointment that morning they could stay home from school (it was a half day anyway for Parent/Teacher conferences) and that we’d go to the park. I just didn’t know how nice it was going to be. We went to the park, as promised, and after a few minutes of climbing and swinging, the boys all met at the edge of the little stream that runs through the park and started wading. This picture of Caleb is the perfect portrayal of how I think all of us felt yesterday. It was a most glorious day.

Here’s Jericho and his first attempt at wading. At one point he got a little too comfortable in the water and plopped down on his bottom to play with a few rocks on the floor of the river. It was still pretty cold and he immediately abandoned wading and settled for sitting on the bank of the river with me.

After awhile the boys decided they’d try and stop the flow of the river and started building a dam. But it was getting late in the morning and I had to get the little boys home and into bed. So, we left the dam with the promise that we’d return after naps and lunch.

In the few short hours we were home, the boys exchanged their blue jeans for their swimsuits. This is one of my favorite pictures of the day. At one point Denver declared “It’s too nice of a day to be inside” and then spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the porch, soaking up the sun’s rays and begging me to let him play with the garden hose.

I eventually gave in and let the boys play with the hose and the mud while I finished cleaning the kitchen and getting dinner ready. We then headed back to the park with Daddy even and the boys immediately started in on their dam.

One of Noah’s best friend’s joined us at the park and by the time the boys were finished with their dam, two more kids had joined in. Here’s the entire Dam Building Crew, just after their dam was complete. What a bunch of cute boys.

And of course, here are the twins, this time with Justus wading too. He’s been sick all week with a stomach bug. Just as I was loading him into the car to go to the park with us that morning, he vomited all over himself and his carseat and ended up staying home with Daddy and having a nap while Daddy worked. So, this was his first try at wading and he seemed to enjoy it as much as his brother.

After the park, Mark and I had Parent/Teacher conferences (which were fabulous, but that’s another post for another day). When we got home we grilled up some hamburgers and hotdogs and ate outside while the kids ran and ran and ran like they’d never ran before. We roasted marshmallows and had s’mores and by the end of the day we were all so dirty and exhausted it was disgusting. This picture of Caleb says it all–cuddled up with his water bottle from his first visit to the dentist, dirt across his face and a skinned up knee, so exhausted all he can do is lay there and suck his thumb. It’s been years since I’ve had such a good night’s rest–I only woke up once the entire night and even slept through the phone ringing at 5:30 in the morning. I wish every day could be this glorious but since I know it can’t, I’m glad we at least had today and I hope another one is coming soon. I’m definitely ready for summer.

Mark came home from the doctor the other day with a most outstanding report card. A few months ago his A1c was almost at a 13. That’s bad, just in case you didn’t know. This time he was a 5.8 and that is very, very good indeed. Also, several years ago the doctor informed Mark that his cholesterols were off the charts and that he was seven times the risk of having a heart attack than a normal person. Well, it’s been a long road getting here but all of Mark’s cholesterols, the good and the bad, are right where they are supposed to be. He’s done so good the past couple of months that they’ve even begun reducing his meds. And if that isn’t something to be proud of, I don’t know what is.

Not only are his numbers good–he looks good too. The other day a friend from church informed me that she was bringing a bat over for me in the next couple of days so that I could use it to fend off all of the women who were lining up for a chance to get with Mark. She was drooling over him herself when she said it. I guess I’d worry except that I know he loves me. Plus, for every pound he’s lost, I’ve gained one and there ain’t nobody gonna get past this fat chick! We love you Mark and are very proud of all your hard work.