Pictures

Alex up to bat for the first time ever!

Sean. Yes, his eye was that scary!

Sean and me -- so you can see his black eye.

Ryan wanted to take a picture with me.

Alex on first base at his first coach pitch baseball game.

Ryan, Kathryn, Sean, Mark, Andrew, and Alex -- on our new lot in Payson! They have yet to dig our hole!

Andy & Ryan, Alex & Sean on our new lot in Payson!

Alex had 4 eggs, some pancakes, and bacon and sausage!

Andy had pancakes and then we went to the DINOSAURPARK!

Alex's favorite, the triceratops.

He's gonna eat 'um!

Alex took the "look scared" to heart! Andrew ignored all instructions and showed his delight in the park.

Alex and Andy posing with a dinosaur.

The World's Most Dangerous Creature(s) should have been the TWIX.

All of us in a cave.

Andy digging for bones!

Alex said, "Mommy look at me. It tool me a LONG LONG time to climb up this skull."

7 things about me

1. Somedays, I watch the clock calculating how long until I can put the twix down for their naps, just so I can have some quiet in the house.

2. Everyday, I watch Ry Guy sit on the floor wiggling and playing with his toes. Everyday, I say thank you.

3. Even though Seany likes to go far afield and play away from me, I love that every morning he wants to sit and cuddle.

4. I feel guilty that I often tell Andy to wait and then whatever he wanted doesn't materialize.

5. I feel guilty that Alex has ADHD.

6. I know these things aren't my fault, but, I still feel responsible.

7. I don't know why Mark loves me so much.

Tables, Dragons, Sunblock, and more pox

Thursday of last week, started out much like any other Thursday. Alex headed off to school being sent off by 3 admiring younger brothers. Andy settled on the couch to watch his favorite show, Curious George -- the new adventures. Sean and Ryan started the morning battle for my attention. Sean running from the kitchen to the front room, while Ryan stuck by my side sliding around and generally banging into things. All this while I started clearing the morning dishes.

Ryan decided to climb up on the couch and show me how well he does so. Except on this morning, he crashed into the wall on his way down and needed kisses for his sore head. I came over and was checking him out. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sean run into the front room, per his game of barrelling through the house at full speed. Andy joining him.

Then I heard a crash, a cry, and Andy screaming for me to come. I was already up and moving after the first sound. Sean had pulled a table down on himself. The drawer was across his rib cage, the table corner was pressing in his shoulder and the 30 lb dragon was by his head. Torn between 911 and regular doctor, I quickly assessed him. No bruising on his ribs, no labored breathing, very swollen eye and very upset Sean. I decided to go with the doctor's office.

Calling them on our way, they were fitting him in. We were sent for an x-ray and the diagnosis couldn't have been better. No broken bones. Perfect skull and cheek and eye xrays. I will say that his skull xray, may have been the cutest xray, I've ever seen.

So the next day, Alex had a field trip to the zoo. Andy's favorite place is the zoo. I decided as Sean was back to his old self despite the swollen sore looking eye, we'd go. After dressing everyone, getting sunblock on everyone, including spraying the twix head with the clear aresol spray, I headed down stairs to get directions. Saying, "Everyone stay up here I will be right back." I went to the zoo site, printed the directions, ran back up stairs, and there I found Sean waiting by the door for me. He was scared and trying not to cry. His entire face was covered in dripping sunblock. I held his whole head under water to wash off the first few layers. Then I had to irrigate his eyes, he kept rubbing them.

I called poison control and a neighbor to come over and hold his hands down. After nearly 1/2 an hour, I felt like I'd gotten it all out. Because his eye was still swollen from the previous day, poison control felt they couldn't diagnosis his eyes as burn free.

We headed back to the doctors. No zoo for Andrew, the culprit. There they put saline back in his eyes and as a precaution he had to have antibodic eye drops to prevent infection as the eye was tramatized twice.

His eye is now almost totally back to normal.

In other news, Andy has a so far very mild case of chicken pox -- 6 pox on his whole person.

Gracie and The Twix

The babies and I have been cleaning up along the exterior stairs. Basically scooping up mud and garbage and throwing it away, and repeat. I still have quite a bit more to do. I had to stop.

Gracie was sitting at the top of the steps watching us. Then she jetted past and out to the field behind the house. Not more than 2 minutes later, she scrambled back up the stairs just out of my line of sight and was back at her perch watching us. Except this time she was doing something to entice the twix.

What? She brought them a mouse. Luckily she already killed it and was trying to teach the twix some kind of hunting and gathering lesson. This I gathered from the careful placement and then whooping around the mouse did. Cats PLAY with their food, YES. Cats are sometimes gross, YES.

So I moved them back down the stairs to me and left her at the top. Ryan was very upset as he wanted to check out the mouse while Sean was mostly concerned that Ryan leave his stick alone.

She then kept coming closer tossing the mouse around as she came. Until she was inches away. So, we came back in the house to give her time to eat and in a little while it should be vermin free outside again.

I must say, although I apperciate the thought, it was a gift, we could not accept.

Its been a while, so here are some new pictures!

Sean wanted a fun hat too.

Ryan wearing a fun hat.

Ryan in the other swing.

Sean in a park swing.

We went down to Payson to check out some of the parks around our new house. This is memorial park where the trees were planted by WWI veterans upon the end of the Great War. Its beautiful, across the street from Alex's new school, and walking distance from our house.

Ryan and Sean playing in their bedroom.

Alex showing off his chicken pox.

Sean walked around in the life vest for a couple days.

Andy playing catch with somebody, Papa Pat, I think.

Yes, Sean has 2 donuts. He had already had one.

Ryan didn't want to be left out and so, he too sports sunglasses.

Sean sporting his glasses.

Andrew couldn't get the jelly out of the jar, so he just "poured it on my bread." Ryan feasted on the remains.

Practicing with Daddy before the game.

Andy's first soccer game!

I remember feeling totally at fault about this scrap to Sean's face. Somehow, I've blocked the details, remembering only the porch being involved, and I really thought it was my fault.

House for sale!

Our house has been listed for 2 weeks while we've been cleaning like demons. The property tour has finally been done and posted. For those interested in our house, you can go to www.utahrealestate.com and put our MLS# 685517 in to see the tour.

Let me know what you think! Pass this on to anyone interested in a beautiful Saratoga Springs home. Our house features unobstructed vews of the entire Valley and Utah Lake!

It is after all in the most desirable Harvest Hills Subdivision. Harvest Elementary where Spanish and music are offered standard, 14 acre park complete with picnic/bbq grounds, 2 playgrounds, and a future water park and zip line.

Chicken Pox and Clinic Visit

I hope all the mothers had great mother's days. Mine was nice in parts.

Thursday, I called Ryan's Spina Bifida Clinic contact to ask about his tendancy to walk on the side of his feet. The bow leggedness is less of a concern so long as the kid stays on the soles of his feet. I'm fearful that he'll break something.

He was fit in the next day to see his physical therapist and orthopedic surgeon. To make a long story short, his diagnosis is that he will very likely need braces when he's a bit older (2 - 3) and surgery. A doctor at Primary Children's did invent a surgery that doesn't require the bone cut in half. So that's an improvement. His physical therapist said Ry should wear shoes all the time as he does it less with shoes on and next year with braces, it will be an easier transition for him. And assigned him (poor guy!) daily therapy at the park. Where he has to PLAY on the play structures and climb up and down the hills. How awesome is that for therapy!

Friday night, we went to Black Angus for an early Mother's Day dinner. During the dinner, Alex got pale and cold and had an enormous pimple on his forehead. We figured out Saturday, that it was not a pimple, but the first of many pox. Pox of the Chicken, that he suffered a vaccinating shot to prevent. Am I irratated about a vaccine not working? You bet. Why make them suffer the shot if it doesn't work. With any luck, the other three young ones will not suffer the same fate.

Alex is getting a week off of school. Guess which week? STATE TESTING WEEK! Doesn't that rock! Next week is his field trip to the zoo. Talk about lucky. I had them during summer vacation. Mark on his birthday.

We've stayed pretty busy getting this place ready to show. Cleaned the entire top floor, repainted all the exterior door frames, cleaned all the carriage lights outside, etc. I'm working on the kitchen and front room today. We're going to have the property tour later this week, so we've got to get it in prefect shape.

Email to Matt Lauer

Every morning at around 7:30 am, my 7 year old son, Alex and I watch the Today Show as he gets ready for school.

Last week, he was more excited then ever! The build up to "Where in the world is Matt Lauer?" didn't let him down. Monday morning, after a weekend spent guessing where Matt could be, Alex could barely contain his excitement. Not only was Matt found in the US (as Alex guessed) but he was found in an enormous airplane factory, the likes of which Alex could only dream. An avid fan of all things mechanical, there could have been no better start to a week, than watching Matt do all the things Alex can only dream of.

As the week went on Alex looked forward each morning to discovering new places. On Thursday, he said, "Mommy, I think when I grow up, I want to be Matt Lauer. But not take his job he needs his job, I just want to do the "Where in the World" part for him, so he can stay home with his family and they won't miss him."

"You know Alex, someday when we go to New York City, we can go visit them at Rockfeller Center."

"Yeah. Lets do that. But they probably won't put us on TV and talk to us unless we have a really cool sign. And also, lets not go when its really cold. One day Meredith forgot her gloves and it was so cold I thought her fingers would freeze!"

Thank you for help making our mornings so much fun. Although disappointed that Matt was back in NY, Alex did enjoy getting caught up with current events.

Recent happenings

My father-in-law, Pat came over last week to visit for a couple days. The second night (Mark was working) was mildly chaotic.

First I was going to make spaghetti -- one of Alex's favorite dinners. Andrew was in the kitchen and said he didn't want spaghetti. "OK, what do you want? I can make spaghetti or beef stroganoff." I figured he'd go for spaghetti.

"I want bif strongenough."
Break to setting the table. Alex asks, "What's for dinner?""Andrew chose beef stroganoff. Why did he get to choose? I don't like that. I want spaghetti." All this was whined out.

"He was in the kitchen when I started dinner and that's what he chose."

Break to sitting down. Andrew says, "I don't like this."

Alex says, "I don't think I'll like it, but I'll try it." "Um, its good. Can I have some milk please?"

I get up to get his milk. Andrew gets up and whines about not liking dinner. As I'm up, I hear Pat say, "What are you doing?"Alex answers, "Andrew said he doesn't like it, so I'm going to have his."

Andrew immediately starts crying and I dish him some more, which he quietly eats.

Break to bath time. During cold months we only bath them once a week Saturday or Sunday plus they days they actually get dirty. It’s just too hard on their skin.

I put Sean and Ryan in the water. I see something mildly icky floating. Then Ryan starts crying and he's pooped in the tub. I ask Pat to come up. I then clean and sanitize the tub. I put the twix back in the tub. Ryan cries some more and immediately poops again. Back out of the water they go again. I ask Pat to wash Sean off in the other tub. Ryan is standing frozen solid wrapped in a towel, fussing. I clean and sanitize the tub again. I put him back in the water again and this time. We managed to get him clean without further incident.

By the way, this whole bath time poop thing was reenacted last night during bath time without the benefit of an extra adult around.

Mark's got a new job!

Yeah! Mark got a new job. He starts Monday. Unfortunately, he'll also have to work at Target until May 2, so we don't have a break in our health insurance.

He's the new Resource Manager at a place in Orem. He'll make something like 150% of what he was making a Target. A huge increase from there and a smaller increase from his pre-Target salary.

He's excited to get back into the corporate world doing the work he enjoys. And we're all excited to get to see him again. Those crazy retail shifts were hard on all of us. Somedays, he wouldn't see Alex at all. The 8 to 5 M thru F life is so much better!

We're very proud of you, Sweetie.

Easter pictures and more

Big boys at the table. Sean with the binky in his mouth; Ryan with the fingers in his mouth.

Tallying eggs after the Devlin family room hunt. Sean has the orange basket, Ryan has the blue, Andy is Andy and by default, Alex is Alex.

Happy babies.

Sean absolutely LOVES the bubble blower.

Ry checking out the new Buzz Lightyear bubble blower.

Andrew was sorting the bubble toys by who he thought would like each.

Alex poses for the camera with some bubble makers.

Ryan trying to blow bubbles.

Ryan playing with the new toys -- bubble blowing devices!

Its dark but that's our 4 guys all together in one picture -- Andy, Ryan, Sean, and Alex.

The Easter Bunny with some helpful bunny friends dropped off some gifts.

We met up with Alex at the big boy hunting grounds and the twix and Andy checked Alex's eggs for the winning ticket. Ryan's standing. Seany is sitting.

Andy preparing to go on the Easter Egg Hunt. Ryan is standing next to him.

Andy walked into the corner of the door. Yes, he grew a third eye.

Mark ready to leave for a job interview. Andy practicing his dressing skills.

Alex relaxing in his room.

Alex and Me.

Andy, Ryan, and Sean posing for me.

Sean, Ryan, and Andy mug for the camera.

Andy is a self tattoo-er.

Ryan wanted a photo also.

Sean fell and caught his lip in his teeth, can you tell?

Andy-ism

This morning Andy asked Mark, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, I want a hicky back ride." What is a hicky back ride you might wonder. A hicky back ride is what other kids refer to as a piggy back ride.

Recent goings ons

I know these sound like bragging but there's no other way to tell the stories, so there you go. I'll start with Alex. He's picked up some very grown up phrases.

"Hey, Alex what are you doing back there?" He was very quite in the car.

"I'm just keeping myself entertained." This has become a very popular phrase and sometimes he'll substitute "amused" for entertained.

---

His friend came over to invite him to play. The next thing I knew he was back home. "What are you doing here? I thought you went out to play with your friends."

"I did go outside to play with Hannah and Lexi but shortly after we started playing, Hannah's cousins arrived and I asked Tina (Hannah's mom), if they would prefer to have just family time."

He's a genius! :-)

---

Not to be outdone, Andy has picked up his own catch phrases and such. On Sunday, I made the rare decision to comb his mop. Just as I finished and admired my handywork, Andy threw his hand up and started messing up his hair. When I asked why, he responded, "I wanted my hair to be back to nermal."

---

Andy's day is busy and through out it, he makes reference to Alex. "Mommy, when Alex comes home from ah-skewl, I want to come back to the spark."

---

Sean and Ryan are learning some sign language. More, please, thank you, etc. Sean mastered more first, two tiny fist touching finger tips over and over. Ryan finally agreed to make the sign and then I caught him making it to himself while feeding himself.

---

Sean and Ryan are concerned with the other's comforts, so long as there are two of the comforting item. If there are two sippy cups, one will take them both and then deliver it to the other. Yesterday, Sean requested a cookie. So I gave him two, thinking he'd have one for each hand (as per my elder kids). he waited for me to take that second cookie then said, "Ta Doo" (Thank you) and ran across the kitchen to deliver a cookie to Ryan. Where I saw him look up from his toys, take the cookie, and say, "Ta Doo, ga ba do..." and smile.