Spring Storm

Funny, but I thought yesterday was the third day of spring. So what's with all the snow? Yesterday afternoon it began to rain. The rain turned into snow. The snow turned into a storm. Huh?

The storm became so severe that Rich spent 75 minutes driving home from work instead of 25.

I was supposed to drive 25 minutes to church last night for Enrichment, but given the road conditions, stayed home.

It snowed the rest of the day.

After the girls went to bed, Rich and the boys went outside to shovel our enormous driveway.

This morning when we woke up, the snow was no longer falling, but had in fact fallen all night. So even though Rich and the boys had the driveway cleared last night, there were another six inches waiting for them today. Rich, the boys, and Mimi, too, all shoveled again.




Elijah flexes his muscles.




And gives a thumb's up.




Half done!




What's gonna work? Teamwork!






Our next door neighbors, George and Amber, own a snow blower, which they were kind enough to allow Rich to use after a while.




Once the driveway was clear, Rich had to go back to using the shovel out in the street in front of our house. The snow in the street was so heavy and wet that the snow blower wasn't working properly.




Mimi helped Rich shovel in the street. Yep, she's standing in a puddle of water. Her snow boots were soaked when the job was done and she came in.





Some pictures of our park across the street from our house where the kids and I played just two days ago.



I was so excited for spring to finally come, but this weather is more like winter. What's the deal? Bring on real spring weather! We are ready to be outside riding our bikes, playing ball, grilling, and spending time with our friends. After all, it is nearly April...

Cara

Getting Adjusted

Every two to three weeks I have an appointment with my chiropractor to get adjusted. Three years ago I slipped on my icy driveway and broke my tailbone. Ever since I have suffered headaches, neck, back, hip, and most of all, jaw pain. It sucks! But when I regularly see Dr Powell, I generally feel better and experience less pain and discomfort.

I have been going to see Dr Powell every other Monday morning, taking my two youngest with me. Felicity always brings toys and snacks with her. She is not a problem. For months now, when I have gone, I've strapped Bree in her stroller while I'm being adjusted. With a clean diaper and a belly full of milk, she is normally content during my appointments. If she becomes fussy, she's more than happy to play with my keys or lipgloss.

Today was the exception. She screamed the entire time I was there. Nothing would make her happy. In an attempt to console her, I held her until the doctor was ready to see me, rather than lay face-down on the exam table relaxed as the doctor would have liked. Bree's screaming got to me after a while, and I was unable to relax at all.

So instead of walking out of the doctor's office feeling better, I don't feel any different at all.

Needless to say, I won't be taking any children with me to my next appointment. Here's hoping the next time is more beneficial!

Cara

You Know That Catching Up Is Hard To Do

So once again I've fallen behind on my posts. The following is a summary of the past few months in 7th Heaven.



Yep, we're going way back--back to December 2009 when our family put up the Christmas tree in preparation for the big holiday.





Aren't these the cutest stockings you ever did see? Richard's sister, Donetta, makes stockings for each member of the family. Bree got hers in the mail in time for the holiday.





Bree was very helpful when it came to decorating the tree.




Bree grabbed onto this tray of ornaments, and didn't want to let go!





Look at our beautiful stocking display. Thanks, Aunt Dot!




Pretty tree.




Daddy and Bree make laundry fun.




Thanks for helping, baby. Here's a kiss for you.




Just a few days before Christmas, Tera and I took our kids to the Flatirons Mall to see Santa. Everyone was excited about it until it was our turn. Then Felicity freaked out and refused to let go of my leg, let alone sit on Santa's lap.




After we saw Santa, four of the five kids posed for the camera...




...while Felicity pretended to sleep in the stroller.




This aluminum water bottle was an early Christmas gift to Rich from his boss. Bree commandeered it.




No one dared to take it back from her, given the smile on her face.




Christmas morning. Time to dump out the stockings. Bree got new hair pretties.




Dallin was pretty stoked about the Star Wars gloves Santa brought him.




The best stocking stuffer from Santa was a bottle of Sprite shaped like an ornament. Dallin, Felicity, Mimi and Eli all cheered.




Bree was excited about all of her stocking stuffers. Not really. She couldn't care less.




The proverbial diet Coke shot.




Santa (I, Cara) filled Rich's stocking with personalized coupons, such as homemade chocolate chip cookies, a bubble bath, and others I can't write about in this blog. As of today, he has not redeemed any of them. Whatever.





Grandma and Grandpa Spears gave Mimi a Build-A-Bear and some outfits to dress her in.




Rock on! Dallin got a new razor scooter.




Wow. Those are some big presents.





The force is strong with Eli. Dallin will look menacing with his Nerf dart gun.




Santa brought me a new body pillow. I wore the last one out.




The force is also strong with Felicity.



Felicity loves to dress up. She was excited that Santa brought her another dress to add to her collection.




Mimi tried on her sleeping mask for size. And look: slippers to match!




Dallin opened his Nerf dart gun, but Rich put it together.




The red dress Felicity is holding up is not for play. This is her Christmas dress to wear to church. Both Bree and Mimi got the same dress, too.




It's dress-up time. It's Barbie time. Good times.




Eight months nursing, and still going strong.




But when Mom goes out alone, Bree drinks her milk in a bottle.




Sometimes Bree likes to play with water bottles, empty or not.




A bucket full of toys, and no one in sight to compete with. Does it get any better?






How about a piggyback ride with big brother Dallin?




How about with Daddy?




Bree loves bath time. Check out those leg rolls! Someone get some butter for those rolls!




Oh, yeah. Bree's a water dog.





Eli and Mimi take time to teach Bree new words on the Barbie laptop.






Duh.




Bree and me.




Nine months nursing my beautiful baby girl.





Play time for Bree.




Bree weighs in for her nine month check-up.




Rub-a-dub-dub, three Chubbs in the tub!




"F" is for "Felicity", "F" is for "Four", and "F" is for "Fun"!




On the night of your fourth birthday, you should chow-down on a McDonald's cheeseburger.




And pose for a proverbial cheeseburger shot with your siblings.




And open presents from your mom and dad.




And get more dress-up dresses.






Don't forget to pose with your presents in your pajamas.




And most of all, please enjoy your egg-free birthday cake.






Raise your hand if you're jealous of Bree's long eyelashes.




Lucky Bree. Felicity's gonna read you a story.




In December Richard was in a minor car accident, during which his car sustained some front-end damage. Instead of taking it to a body shop, Richard ordered new parts and fixed his car himself.




The broken bumper had to come off.




The damaged bumper re-enforcer had to go, too.




All done! Good as new.




Felicity's birthday party was simple. She and her friends watched "Enchanted" while eating the mini pizzas they'd made.




Yummy egg-free chocolate cupcakes.




Miss Messy-Face makes a wish.






Brynna enjoyed licking the frosting off the knife.




Miriam was all smiles.




Shea thought the cupcakes were finger-licking good.




Mimi had a great time decorating her cupcake before eating it.




Miss Messy-Face had no complaints.




Here's the whole group. What a wild bunch.





Mimi had a messy face, too.




Morgan did, too.




Present time!




Looking back now, someone should have washed Felicity's face before we took these pictures.




Felicity got some awesome gifts.




Felicity and Bree are best sisters.





Richard is pretending to share his chocolate milk with Bree.




But she thought he was serious, and now she wants it!





Ten months of nursing and we are still going strong.



A couple weeks ago Richard kindly replaced the blades on my windshield wipers. Forgetting that the wipers were spring-loaded, he let them snap back down on the windshield. This caused a small deep crack, which over the next four days grew the length of the windshield. Needless to say, the glass had to be replaced. Such was our excitement last week.




Out with the old!




Ahh! Naked car without a windshield!




Here comes the new one! I can only imagine how heavy that piece of glass was.




My pretty white car has a brand-new windshield. I can see clearly now, the cracks are gone! There goes $240...


I promise to never get this far behind again. I vow to stay current from now on!

Cara