December Daily days 11 - 16

Day 11

I wrapped some Christmas stories and a lego movie.  I let each of the boys pick one gift and open them then we read their books. (It’s Christmas David and Drummer Boy) The boys were so excited to get to open a present.  That was our family thing for today.

 

Day 12

So today was so fun because of Jack’s impromptu Santa act.  The plan was to make sugar cookies together while the cookies baked we got a story out to read.  Jack said he would read the story because Roger and I were cleaning up.  When we came to sit down and listen, Jack had cut out a paper beard and taped it on. He read I Believe in Santa Claus  then had each of the kids come sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  It was so hilarious and so fun to see Jack take the lead and make it fun for the younger kids.

 

 

We have a class on Thursday evenings so our candlelit dinner was a little rushed but still super fun.  Jack and Grady made dinner for everyone.  Jack was in charge of the pizzas and Grady made a delicious salad. My centerpiece decorated our table and we used the china. Jack added a tablecloth after some encouragement.  Me- Jack go get a Christmas tablecloth out of the closet.

Jack – What?

Me – A Christmas tablecloth, you know the gold one or the green and red one.

Jack – Where is it?

Me – In the closet.

Jack came back with a blue and white tablecloth.

December daily days 8,9 & 10

Today, is Wednesday which means early release from school for the big boys, which means we have time to do something.  Jack has been talking about going to the Harry Potter Exhibition for weeks it is at Pacific Science Center in Seattle, so today was the day!  I didn’t know what to expect but with the price to get in I hoped it would be good.  It was well done, we all really enjoyed it.  Jack was sorted into the Gryffindor house and we got to see many real props from the movie like a life-sized Hogwarts Express train, go inside Hagrid’s house, help Professor Sprout by pulling up mandrakes (they were loud)and see the life sized head of one of the dragons.  Of course it all ended in a gift shop where they sold movie prop quality wands for $45 or marauder's map for $44. After narrowly escaping the gift shop we played till closing in the science center!

Day 9

Today Dad and Mom were trying to get projects around the house done so instead of doing something extreme today we wrote Santa letters and emailed them.  It was really fun because Santa wrote back immediately and each of the boys got a letter to print out.

 

Day 10, Friday

Today Dad, Mom and Scarlett visited Asher’s class.  In the morning Asher and Mom made Christmas mix to take to Asher’s class.  We brought a Christmas story called Auntie Claus and Dad read to the class.  Asher was so pleased to have his dad read to everyone and to share the Christmas mix at snack time. Love how excited he gets when we come to school!

Later on Friday night we had the church Christmas party.  It was wonderful!

December Daily day 7

Everyone fought me about going in the rain but it turned out alright and after buying hot chocolate everyone was happy the rest of our visit.

December Daily day 6

Mondays are crazy and hectic because right after school we drive Grady to Bellevue Country Day School for Science class.  To add to the crazy Roger could not pick him up because he had to go to work during his infant care leave and stay late.  So I drove back to Bellevue to pick up Grady then rushed everyone thru dinner(that Amy provided) and took the boys to Hapkido because Roger was still at work and could not go with the boys to martial arts.

Tonight everyone got hot chocolate after Hapkido and Roger read to everyone.  Perfect end to long day!

 

December Daily days 3 and 4

Day 3, Friday

We went to Hilton in Bellevue to view the gingerbread houses.  The gingerbread houses were incredible.  Our favorite was the Hogwarts castle.  We ended up bidding on several houses because we were the first to view the houses and the auction was starting at the reasonable price of $30 for each house.  So all the boys went home excited that we might be able to take one of these creations home.  Then we went out to dinner and then home for the night.

Day 4, Saturday

Today is Redmond Lights at City Hall but instead of going to that we decided that the boys would really rather make graham cracker houses.  Dad would like to work on a computer project for Mom backing up all of our digital pictures and help Grandma Sandy with her computer over the phone.

So Mom pulled out the 5 bags of Halloween candy leftover.  The end result is fantastic.

December Daily day 5

Today was simple, it is Sunday, we don’t usually go anywhere just stay home and enjoy time to relax.  We went to church, which is never pretty as we try to get everyone to the car.  (usually takes some  threatening, yelling and counting to get the boys dressed and in the car)  But we still had a good day.  When we returned home from church Roger and I did one on one time with each of the boys. (They love that they get to control an activity and they have our undivided attention for half an hour.) Jack and I made cake mix cookies of his own made up recipe then got his teacher gift (an ornament with feathers in a glass globe) wrapped and decorated a tag.  Then Grady and Asher also wanted to do their teacher gifts, which we did for their time.

Then for family time we made Christmas mix to give to neighbors.  Jack documented this with his DSi(budding blogger?).

Here is page 5.

December Daily, Day 2

Today is our crazy day so we decided to do gingerbread houses.

December Daily

My dear friend Amy introduced me to December daily albums this year. So as a family we decided this would be a wonderful way to bring in the Christmas spirit and a way to grow closer as a family.  (It also forces me to learn more about digital scrapbooking.) So everyday of December till Christmas we do something Christmas oriented as a family and of course every night you scrapbook your day.

The anticipation has been building with the boys since I introduced the idea in November to them.  The boys couldn’t wait to get the tree and decorations out. (Might have been the early snowfall  Monday before Thanksgiving that has them so excited.)  So we didn’t wait for December to decorate we went ahead and put the tree up.

As we pulled all the decorations out of the garage Roger and I realized we never got the decorations out last year since we spent  the month of December in Florida last year for my sister, Hannah’s wedding. Asher went thru every ornament saying “Ohhh look it is sooo cute, I remember this one!”

We left the bottom branches off our fake tree to accommodate little miss Scarlett, she is crawling everywhere now.  I think she has only ingested a few of the fake pine needles so far.

So for Day 1 we started the much anticipated advent calendars and we went to watch the Christmas ships in Kirkland.  It was so much fun and the weather was great, no snow, no rain and no cold (that never happens in the NW).  There was a bonfire set on the beach and Christmas lights on the ships and on some of the trees lining the water front.  It was beautiful.  There were not too many people out so we easily found our friends (Amy’s family).  Amy’s daughter immediately took Scarlett and the boys paired up with Amy’s other kids so Roger and I got to sit with each other without kids(that never happens).  The Christmas ship had live carolers onboard and they amplified it so everyone on the waterfront could hear.  The lights and the music were fantastic!

As we were leaving Grady and Asher ran ahead while we were strapping Scarlett into her stroller.  Amy towed Asher back unwillingly.

Amy- “Asher your mom doesn’t know where you are.”

Asher- “I’m wright hewer!” arms up and stomping

Amy- “ Asher your mom doesn’t know that you need to go back to your family.”

Asher- “Aww just fworget bout it"!” waving Amy off

That is when Amy just towed him back to us.  Asher is hard to discipline cause he just cracks us up.

The Christmas ship, it was a great way to start the Christmas season!

My Dad

Today is Father’s day and I had to teach sharing time at church today.  After a lesson on the Holy Ghost we made cards for our Dads and handed out a “How well do you know your dad” list of questions.

When the boys and I got home from church we made cupcakes that looked like owls then the boys filled out their answers to the questions.  We sat down with Roger and we all said our answers then Roger gave us the correct answer.  It was fun, I even learned a few things about Roger that I didn’t know.  When he was a kid he spent  a week in the hospital in a oxygen tent and when he was in Saudi Arabia he had a very high temperature and stumbled to the medic and was immediately put on an iv.  Band of Brothers is his all time favorite movie.    So each of the boys got a cupcake if  they could answer one question correctly about their dad because they were deemed a Wise Guy if they got the answer right.  We gave Roger a card that said “Happy Father’s Day to a Wise Guy!”

Well this got me thinking about my own dad and all the things I don’t know about him. So I called him and with my list of questions in hand, some of his answers I expected and some I was surprised about.  For all my siblings here is what he said:

Who is he named after? Dennis for a trumpet player grandma had a crush on in the 20’s or 30’s and O'Neil for his Dad’s brother Uncle O'Neil.

What is his favorite cereal? cheerios

Where was he born?  Santa Monica, CA

Are his parents members of the church? their work is done

How old was he when he got married? 21

What is his favorite flavor of ice cream? Neapolitan

Would he rather visit a mountain hideaway or a beach house?  both you know he loves to explore

What is his favorite movie? Avatar

What is the sickest time he has ever experienced?  Ulcers in 3rd grade till he was a junior in high school, he said it was so painful and the doctors would have him take aspirin for it.  Then when he was 17 they cut out 3/4 of his stomach.

What does he do in his spare time? invent /create

What is his favorite song? If I can dream by Elvis Presley and Don’t take my love away unsure of who sings it he said it is kind of reggae.

What has been his happiest moment?  Spending time with the kids “They are my best friends!”

Who are 2 of his  best friends? grandkids

What is his favorite sport?  racing planes “right now they are in NY they fly all over the world in a race”

How many brothers/sisters does he have? 3 brothers

What hardships has he overcome? Being brought up poor so he wanted things, a lot.  He has have overcome his want mostly.

What does he enjoy most in life?  His kids/grandkids and church

Regrets?  He didn’t realize his best friends as much as he wanted to.  Would like to have treated my kids the way I treat my grandkids.

My dad is a kind-hearted, loving person.  He was hard on us at times but I never doubted his love for me.  He taught all of how to work hard and to have pride in our work. Love you Dad, Happy Father’s Day!

Miss Scarlett Rebekah Fleig

39 weeks and 3 days into my pregnancy

We welcomed Scarlett at 4:47pm on February 16, 2010 although it took a day to decide on her name.  She was born weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces and 21.65 inches long.  This is the shortened version of events, if you don’t want to know anymore about Scarlett’s birth don’t read any further.

I started the day out at 4:40am, I had to call the hospital and confirm I should still come in at 6am for my induction.  The answer was yes, so I texted my friend Shannon “the Paparazzi” that it was still happening at 6am.  After I took a quick shower, Shannon arrived to take pictures of me as I was ready to load my things in the car (this was before 5:30am).  Shannon is a really good friend, I can’t believe she got up so early!  Roger stayed home to get the kids to school in the morning, only after I assured him I wouldn’t let them break my water without him there.  He was a little worried he might miss the birth of his daughter.

When we got to the hospital, Arla my intake nurse checked us in.  Then later in the morning she let Tiffany and Lisa  take over since Lisa was training to become a Labor and Delivery nurse over from post par dome nursing.  I got a two for the price of one deal!  They took great care of me, it was awesome having two dedicated nurses all day from start to finish.

I had group b strep so I had to have antibiotics before delivery and since my previous births were quick we decided to induce.  After getting hooked up to the monitors they started the antibiotics and the pitocin.  It was a lot of walking the halls then stopping because the monitor would lose the signal on the baby’s heart (which really means the cord was wrapped around her) and I would come back to room and reposition the monitor and sit for them to get a read on her heart.

At 11:30 or so the contractions were going consistently but not painful and Roger had made it to the hospital. Dr. Wells broke my water I think at 1pm.  We did some more walking and Amy Barry arrived as well as Brett Ross.  We had a lot of joking and laughing with the nurses, it was a party.  Lisa my nurse had never heard the song “Business Time” by Flight of the Concords so we showed her the you tube video of  the song and laughed ourselves silly.

This picture I think was after Dr. Wells broke my water and I was making Roger massage my feet to get my contractions going more.

At 3pm the contractions were getting a little more intense and at 3:50pm I got into the bath and it was so soothing.  The nurse got me a doughnut to sit on and towel to cover my front up and Roger sat next to me and poured warm water all over me while the jets made my back feel better.  Then it started to get really uncomfortable and I got out of the tub. 

At 4:30 the baby was transitioning and I was in pain.  Shannon captured a great picture of this.

Brett and Amy were putting cool clothes on my neck and forehead. During contractions I would smell my mint lip gloss to get through the pain.  I was asking the nurses for some tylenol or something and they said they would check to see if I could have something to shut me up cause they knew it would be over soon.

At 4:40pm I got in bed and they took off the end of the bed.  After a few pushes her head was out and the cord was wrapped around her neck four times.  Then she delivered the rest of the way at 4:47pm and I didn’t tear this time, so no stitches!

This moment was so sweet made even sweeter that my friend Amy was there. Four months earlier Amy delivered her little boy Calvin 8 weeks early via emergency c-section and he died shortly after birth.  Losing Calvin makes me hold our children a little tighter because of the awareness at how fragile life is.  So precious and desired this little girl is to me.

Merry Christmas from the Fleig family!

We have been very blessed to have some wonderful experiences as a family this year!  The most precious is our upcoming addition, a little sister in February!  Everyone was excited to learn we are going to have  a sister, except Asher.  Asher is slowly warming to the idea of a sister, many weeks after learning the sex of the baby. 

We also got the chance to spend spring break in Florida with Mandy’s family and make a trip to SeaWorld, we were not disappointed.  The orca show was amazing!  We also had a real treasure hunt  with all the cousins hosted by Aunt Summer and Aunt Bethany, this was the highlight of the trip for the boys.  We cheered our knight at Medieval Times to victory!!! We rode on Papa Plasse’s boat.  We trapped multiple lizards and swam in Aunt Summer’s pool.  We got to witness Aunt Hannah’s engagement to Michael Martin, we are so excited to welcome him into our family!

In June, we went to Mexico and met Mandy’s brother and his family there.  It was a truly fantastic trip!  I think the cousins had a sleepover almost every night and Ryan, Marsha, Roger and I enjoyed rekindling our friendship after many years apart.  We snorkeled, relaxed on the beach, watched some neat shows, and explored the ruins together.  We all agreed we should do it again!

Throughout this year we have had some experiences that made us aware of how fragile life is and have helped us feel our Saviors love all the more.  We are so grateful for our family and our dear friends!  Merry Christmas to each of you and may you feel our Savior’s love throughout the upcoming year!

Roger, Mandy, Jack, Grady and Asher

Veterans' Day Tribute

Tuesday November 10th Jack’s school had an assembly for Veterans’ Day since they are out of school today.  The entire third grade class was singing in the assembly.  The school asked for any local veterans to come and be our guest at the assembly.  Jack’s dad, Roger served for 9 months in Saudi Arabia  in ‘91 during the Gulf War, he is usually shy about telling people this.  Roger was a supply clerk in the Army Reserves so he didn’t have to see a lot of combat.  So Jack of course wanted his dad to come and be recognized yesterday, it turned out to be a great assembly!  It made me so proud of Roger, his cousins (Ray and Tony) and our dear friend Darrell Carr (who is currently serving abroad).  Ray was nearly fatally wounded and still recovering  from his injuries and his brother Tony has been deployed twice.  I love these men and I am so grateful to each one!!!!

The Blessings I have seen and felt today

Today I watched a family draw close to each other

Today I saw the beautiful body of a newborn

Today I witnessed grief and pain but also more love and compassion from so many

Today I felt my Savior wrap his arms around us

 

My dear friend lost her baby today after an emergency c-section.  It was a very humbling experience as I helped their children thru the day and watch the compassion and love from so many friends today.

Volunteer Tea @ Horace Mann

The 2nd grade performed for all the parents that volunteer throughout the year at the school.  Here is a video of Jack performing.

We are in Mexico – Wednesday June 17th & Thursday the 18th

Today Wednesday, we celebrated Miss Maddie’s Birthday which isn’t until the 19th but we wanted to celebrate while all the kids were together.  We got her a coconut purse with a little beaded Mexican doll necklace.

The kids ended the party with an authentic pinata!

Our little sweeties after dinner on one of the beds at the beach.

Thursday

Today we mostly packed up and played in the pool before we had to go to the airport.  Ryan and Marsha took all the kids to the pool while Rog and I packed everything up in the hotel room.  We got done quickly and still had time to take a dip in the pool.  Then we hurried back to our room at noon called the bell boy to pick up our bags showered, dressed and went to lunch.  After lunch we said good bye to the Plasse family.  When we got to the airport we had our temperatures taken and filled out surveys about our health before we could go to  the airline counter.  When we got to the US Airways counter the man helping us was cracking up over Asher’s passport because his pictures is from when he was like 6 months old.  The US Airways employee went so far as showing it to everyone behind the counter with him, they were all chuckling about it, then he told us to take care of our kids as we were leaving.  That is one of the most wonderful things I noticed about the Mexican culture while  I was there was how loved and kind everyone is to children there.  People recognize children wherever you go with a smile or a pat on the head. 

We loved Mexico and I hope we will get the chance to go again someday!

We are in Mexico – Tuesday June 16th

 

This is what they looked like going to bed.

This is what they looked like at 8:30 in the morning.

This is the view from our room in the morning! I am so sad to be leaving this!

Today reality started to set in that we have to leave paradise soon.  Today we enjoyed the pool, Marsha and I went into Puerto Morales  to shop and we took  a lot of pictures today. 

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The above album is of the kids in the pool mostly.

 

 

My big brother Ryan and my sister-in-law Marsha.

 

Miss Maddie in her new Mexican dress almost eight years old, bonita senorita!

We are in Mexico – Monday June 15th

Today the big highlight of the day was going for a catamaran ride and snorkel tour. 

This is the building we stayed in at our hotel, 3rd floor on the middle left side of the building. Ryan and Marsha were directly below us on the 2nd floor.

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This album is of everyone on the boat.

They took the snorkeling people in two groups so all the boys went on the first group.  Miss Maddie went with me and Ryan on the 2nd group.  This was the best snorkeling I have ever experienced!!  I saw three sea turtles, lots of beautiful coral in several colors, tons of fish, a barracuda, a blowfish, a starfish, some conch, 2 big lobster, a colorful crab, Christmas tree worm and lots of things I don’t have names for!

They even let me drive the boat, scary!

We are in Mexico – Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 12th 13th & 14th

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We went to the Mercado today in Cancun.  We first went to a huge market, Market 28 had lots of tourist stuff.   It was very hot and people were very persistent because business has been slow due to the swine flu scare.  I enjoyed bartering but Roger did not.  I bought some jewelry, vanilla and t-shirts.  Then we went to lunch where Grady had a full blown melt down and would not even come into the restaurant and Asher was asleep and stayed asleep  thru lunch.  When we talked Grady down he came in and fell asleep on two chairs without eating lunch.

After lunch we went to the fish and meat Mercado, Market 24 here was a candy store there and Ryan got a piñata for Maddie’s birthday.  We also found a toy booth, we let each of the boys buy something.  Jack and Grady bought sling shots or razor terra in Spanish.  Asher got some plastic lizards.

Saturday we stayed at the resort and played in the pool.  Everyone needed a break from the heat and riding in the car.  Marsha and I went kayaking and to the spa.  The kids went to kid’s club and played in the sand and the pool.  Ryan and Roger built sand castles.

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Sunday we went to Ek Balam one of the big highlights of our vacation!  These ruins are some of the only ruins that you can still climb.  It was so incredible to see this city and wonder at the Mayan people that once lived here.  They are doing extensive restoration and you can see in come of the pictures what it would of looked like when it was inhabited with stucco covering the stones and thatch on the roofs.  I felt so blessed to be able to experience this incredible place.  We climbed to the top of the largest intact structure and as you look around you can see how much work that has gone into putting these structures back together.  On either side of the main structures there are hills of what looks like rubble I wonder if that is what it looked like for each of the structures when they were first discovered.  This was truly one of the neatest experiences.  The number of people that must of inhabited this city was larger than Tulum and they are still uncovering more structures.

After Ek Balam we drove thru a little village and saw how people lived in the more rural areas.  My camera died at Ek Balam or I would have captured some of this village because people live in huts built out of sticks with thatch roofs and dirt floors. We could see one family’s cooking fire thru the gaps in the wall of their little hut.  The families in this village mostly live in one room huts so no bedrooms for privacy and no bathroom in their hut.  There was baseball field complete with dugouts that was nice and there was a school with open air classrooms kind of like a self carwash building, there was a roof and two walls  and a concrete floor.  The town also had a restaurant and hotel probably to service the tourists of Ek Balam.  As we drove into a more wealthy village I saw a gated church that was very nicely kept and noticed it was and LDS church.

Chichen Itza

above is the ball court  There is a hoop above my head, we all discussed how difficult that would be to get the ball thru those hoops.  The hoop is small and is more than 12 feet off the ground.

This city was enormous.  There were archeological digs open for you to see how much more there is to uncover if they could dig down another 4 feet throughout the city.

 

Above is the jaguar bench.  The jaguar and the serpent are very popular in the carvings throughout the city.

The kids were getting tired at this point in the day and you can’t climb on these structures so the children were not as interested at Chichen Itza.  It was a very large city though and there were people everywhere set up to sell their wares.  When were done looking at the city I bought some Mexican style shirts for everyone and then we all hoped in the van and headed back to the resort.

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