Pop! Goes the Tire

Just a quick wrap up on how the week and weekend ended for me. On Wednesday night Jared took Logan over to LA for the Lakers game at the Staples Center. He thought it would be fun to take Loag their before we left sunny California! They had a good time and despite their late hour at returning home Logan got up for school with no complaints! It shouldn't surprise anyone that I have no idea who the Lakers played, however I do know that the Lakers lost.





On Friday I unfortunately experienced a little bit of car trauma. As I was loading up my groceries from the store I heard a very loud hissing noise. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from until I looked at the side of my car tire, saw a huge piece of black rubber next to it, and noticed my tire was getting smaller and smaller. It was totally flat in just a few minutes and I still have no idea how it happened. Lucky for me it was my friend Marlo to the rescue! She came and picked me and the girls up! Then I let Jared just deal with it. So I guess it wasn't actually too much trauma for me. But do you see the huge chunk of missing tire on the left hand side? What's really sad is that while I should have been trying to figure out a way to solve the problem, all I kept thinking was "when I post this, what should be my title?"

Later on that day I told Jared that it was actually a blessing in disguise that the tire popped in the parking lot because Saturday morning I drove a bunch of ladies down to Los Angeles for the Stake Relief Society Temple Day. I don't even want to think of what would have happened if I would have had that happen on the 405. But we all made it their safely and returned home safely!

Hittin' the Coast

This is part two of our weekend trip. After the library we headed over to Ventura to stay the night. We had a great hotel that was right off of the beach, so we woke up and took the kids on a little stroll along the walkway. There were tons of surfers out and it was pretty neat to watch them ride the waves. And yes, that's Logan in the Davy Crockett hat looking out at the water. He was quite upset we wouldn't let him wear it to the Reagan library.

This is just a short video clip of Logan, but I thought some of you'd like to hear the Ocean in the background.

Here's the family at the pool. One thing I love about my husband is that he will get in with all of the kids while I just enjoy watching from the side. I put in the picture of Janie because besides the fact that she just looks so cute in floaties, it has Logan in the background swimming his laps! The ENTIRE time in the pool he was trying to do laps. He's come a LONG way from his past swimming days of panicking in the water. His swim teacher would be so proud.

And here are just a few snapshots of our BEST little traveler . Chloe was soooo good! We hardly heard a peep out of her the entire 3 days. I told Jared she'll never change, she'll always be my sweet one. To which he reminded me that I said that about all of our other kids. So I might have said that about the first 4 and they might occasionally sass me or yell, but I just know in my heart of hearts that Chloe will be different. She WILL be my sweet one, always.

On Friday we took Highway 1 along the coast back over to LA. I had never driven that part of Highway 1 and I couldn't believe how crazy it was. It was very pretty and the ocean front houses are huge and gorgeous, but all the houses are extremely close together and right off the highway! We spent Friday night at the Los Angeles Temple Apartments and then spent almost all of Saturday at the temple. We had a few people in the ward going through and getting sealed. The kids love to stay at the apartments and the temple is so pretty lit up at night.

Here are the girls on the top floor of the apartments with the temple in the background!

The girls listened to their CD players the entire trip. Jared and I both agreed we'll have to invest in IPods because they used up so many batteries!


All in all we had a fabulous weekend getaway!!

Here's One for the Gipper!

On Thursday we headed over to Simi Valley to the Reagan Library. We didn't know if it was something the kids would really enjoy, but we knew they had Air Force One there and that you could actually walk in it, so we figured they wouldn't complain too much if they got to see a huge airplane that the president used. We ended up having a lot of fun and I really thought it was interesting.

We really lucked out though because when we got there, the library was doing a signed Easter egg hunt for kids. They had 14 wooden eggs that had been signed by a few actors and politicians like George Bush, Dick Cheney, John McCain, Nancy Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and some others hidden throughout all the displays. Each kid had a clipboard with questions on it and they had to try and find the eggs hidden throughout the library. The kids had a blast doing it and it pretty much kept them entertained. Can you find the egg hidden below?

One of the best things to see there is AirForce One. They retired it 3 days before September 11th. The tour guide told us it was one thing that President Reagan thought should be available for the public to view. It was pretty neat to walk through. They re-designed it to look just like it did in the 80's. You couldn't take pictures on board, but here we are in front of it!

I thought this was awesome! This is an actual piece from the Berlin Wall, how cool is that? I told the kids that seeing this and AirForce One was my favorite part of the day.

Of course Logan couldn't believe that Reagan was a cowboy and that he actually had a gun with the presidential seal on it (it was so tiny I have no idea how he saw that, the kid just cracks me up!)

And we couldn't leave the library without getting our hands on some Jelly Bellies! They are all throughout the library (Reagan had them everywhere throughout the White House. He used to smoke and used the jelly bellies to help him quit! )

So that's the recap of our trip to the Reagan library. We really did have a lot of fun and I was glad to have the kids see a little bit of American History.

Just a few parting shots with the kids and the Gipper!

What's in Your Bag?

Okay, so I've been tagged again. I guess it's called the "bag tag." The jest of it is to empty your purse or whatever you carry your stuff in and to snap a picture of it. So here is my purse and all of its current contents. I know what you're all thinking- Can all of that really fit into that purse? Apparently it can. And yes I know, I'm not a very organized purse-person.

Now I'm supposed to tag some people, so I tag anyone reading this who would like to do this!

Tag, I'm it!

Well my fabulous, amazing blogger, and all around fantastic sister-in-law, Angie , just "book tagged" me. So here are the rules:
1. Find the nearest book (at least 123 pages
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Type the fifth sentence
5. Tag 5 other people
I'm actually shocked, but the nearest book to me is not "Twilight" I've actually read it 5 times (I told you all I needed help), but Twilight is currently out on a loan to a friend. So my book is a little funny considering I'm in Logan's room and the closest book is from Little House on the Prairie series. You would think I would have picked up a Davy Crockett or something on the Alamo, but no my book is "These Happy Golden Years" of course by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

The fifth sentence on page 123 is (I'm actually just going to do that paragraph --it makes for a better read, but I'll bold the fifth sentence for effect!) -- "Would you like to go sleigh riding ?" he asked. "Oh, yes!" Laura answered. "Just a minute, I'll put on my wraps." Quickly she got into her coat and put on her white hood and mittens. Almanzo tucked her into the cutter and they sped away. "I didn't know your eyes were so blue," Almanzo said.--

I actually reread the entire Little House Series when I ordered these for Logan last year from the Scholastic Book club orders. I love, love, love little house. Sometimes it would be nice to go on a sleigh ride and put on a coat, a hood, and mittens. Don't you think?

Okay, so as for my 5 people: Jen, Marlo, Torrie, Melanie, and April. So tag, you're all it!!

Easter Miracles

Today was full of Easter Miracles! (We've been out of town since Thursday and I can't wait to post our vacation photos, but I decided I just had to let you all know about the miracles that occurred throughout my day; however small they may be!)
They actually begin last night because after arriving home so late in the evening and not really wanting to think about Easter (every mom out there understands) I somehow managed to get what needed to be done!

The Easter Bunny came and delivered his baskets, he even did his annual scavenger hunt, (well, not quite annual --the kids pointed out to me a few days ago that last year he had forgotten to leave clues and that they hoped he wouldn't forget this year- I don't know what the Easter bunny was thinking last year!) This year it involved just 3 clues, but hey I'm sure the Easter Bunny has a lot going on, so we should all cut him a little slack, right? The little video clip is from the hunt, usually the Easter Bunny hides the baskets, but this year I think he was a little tired so he decided to have the kids hunt for two new Liken Videos.


Then it was the usual chaos of trying to get everybody ready for 9:00 church, but after only a little yelling I was able to get everyone ready, snap a quick Easter photo, and still make it to church on time (okay I was about 3 minutes late. . . )


Anyway when I arrived at church my fabulous husband was OUTSIDE waiting to help me in--how great is that! Primary went better than most days, but sacrament meeting was the best.
First, I thought they needed me to play for Sacrament meeting, but another pianist was there so I didn't have to--I thought I was going to break down and cry with joy when I saw her at church. Second, Chloe fell asleep and stayed asleep in her car seat.
Third, JANIE fell asleep and stayed asleep for almost the whole meeting! Fourth, Megan occupied herself throughout the meeting with writing her "Easter Story" to go along with her picture she drew in class,





so she didn't cause any problems which leads me into ... Fifth, I actually heard all of the second speaker's talk which was a great, uplifting talk. And Sixth, She ended 10 minutes early and Jared didn't get up to do any closing remarks!! Like I said a day of Easter Miracles!!

I also told the kids I'd include these pictures of them coloring eggs last Wednesday.

Kiss Me I'm Irish!

I told Jared that he should kiss me because I really do have Irish blood running through these veins! I'll always be an Irish-Sullivan girl at heart on St. Patty's day.

Of course we all had fun celebrating Saint Patricks Day. All the girls dressed in green, however the Norris men decided it wasn't for them. When I realized Jared didn't have any green on I gave him a few little pinches and then he told me, "Well, you should have told me to wear something green!" I guess I just assumed that someone who had celebrated over 30 Saint Patricks day might be aware that it's customary to wear green on March 17th! (Janie did have green on, but she changes clothes so frequently by the end of the night she was wearing her bright red shirt, but never fear, Maddie made sure that the little ladybug on the front had some green in it!)

We didn't think you could truly celebrate St. Patty's day without a little drinking and a toast, so here we are toasting with our "Shamrock Floats" (lime sherbet with 7up poured over the top, yummy!)

This is Madeline and her friend Machella doing an "Irish Dance" We tried to find some fast music for their dancing feet, but all we could find was Jared's Celtic Woman CD, so they danced to that. But I don't know what we would have done if we would have found some actual river dance music because when they finished they both told me "Wow! That was a really fast song!"

I also videotaped Maddie singing "Lively Little Leprechaun," but it was 115MB (too large for me to load, so she might do it for me again). She really wanted it on the blog. Sorry Mad.

Finding Grandma

This morning my dad called me to let me know that his mom, Grandma Sullivan, had passed away. I felt sad, but at the same time it's great to know she is with Grandpa now and that she isn't struggling with all her health problems. I was trying to find a picture of her to help the kids visualize her when I told them that she had passed away, but finally I realized that they are all packed away. All day my little Janie has been saying that it is so sad that grandma is gone. And I kept hoping I would be able to find a picture. Well Janie has been up late and has been sitting on my lap while I looked at every one's blogs and we found just what I had been hoping to find all day on Ang's blog, a picture of Grandma!
I feel bad that Jared and my children never met my Grandma Sullivan, but I'm grateful that that they will one day get the chance to know her.
I took the picture from Angie's blog (Ang, hopefully you don't mind).

I'm also grateful that last summer I was able to spend time reading all the incredible letters that my grandparents wrote to each other during WWII. I found out that Grandpa called Grandma "Peaches" and it wasn't too hard reading between the lines to discover just how much they loved each other. I'm so happy to know that they are together again.

Our little Chloe Dawn

Our little baby girl is now 3 1/2 months. I didn't even realize how big she had gotten until I was looking at the pictures of her as a newborn. She is such a sweet little thing. She's been sleeping through the night for a while now, although she occasionally still wakes up for a bottle, but then it's right back to sleep. She always wakes up in the morning with a big grin and loves to be held and talked to (but who wouldn't-right?) We feel so blessed to have Chloe in our family. She definitely helps to make life a little bit sweeter.

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It's Logan the Scouter!

I know there are some of you who are thinking, "Don't they have a little boy, I never see him on any posts! " Yes we do and he hasn't been in too many posts because the kid is always off doing something. I was hoping to do a post with Logan at his Blue and Gold Dinner for Scouts, but I was once again having camera issues. So I'll just tell you what he earned instead. He got a new belt loop and two more silver stars at the Blue and Gold. We are really proud of him. So in honor of Logan the scouter, here are his pictures from last summer. He participated in a flag retirement ceremony. It was really interesting. I didn't even know how they disposed of the old flags. It was really neat to watch, especially how they retire the huge giant flags.

Check out our new "do's"

The girls had been begging me for a few weeks to let them cut their hair (thier friend cut hers so monkey see, monkey do), so finally I took them on Saturday to get their new cuts. I got a kick out of watching how they are both so different when it comes to how they act in similar situations. Megan is over in her chair just chattin in up with the stylist. She put the clips in her hair and Megan told her "I look just like Princess Leah." She kept telling her, "My teacher is just going to love my new hair" or "Hello, aren't I supposed to be watching something on the little TV?" Maddie on the otherhand is in her chair and there isn't even one little peep coming out from her little corner. They are both so funny!
Well here they are before:

It's Princess Leah
Quiet Maddie

Ta Da... Two cute girls! (Megan is getting so tall!)

Presenting... The Norris Family Singers!

Last night our ward had a talent show. Jared and the kids decided to follow in the footsteps of the Hanzel Family and lip-sync to the "Primary Jamboree" song. Everyone did a great job (check out Jared's moves). I was thrilled that all the kids actually got up there, but the best part was our little Janie actually did her part! Well, she mouthed, "I'm so glad I came to primary today" After that she stayed up there, but wouldn't really move. Oh well! She did exactly what we needed her to do. You can't see her too well, but if you listen to the crowds reaction, you can tell she did a superb job!

The video is blurry, (Torrie you did a fabulous job of filming!, you even got me in the corner coaching Janie- I do exist!) it's only because I'm still trying to figure out how all the settings on our new camera work. But you get the jest from just watching, again check out the Bishop!

Who Let the Dogs Out?

We've had such nice weather lately (those of you inflicted with snow, I'm not trying to rub it in-I promise) that the kids have been having so much fun outside. I took Chloe out for a walk around the cul de sac and decided to film the kids racing. The kids in the court love to race down the street. But this was just too funny (well to me anyway) I just had to share!

Now anybody who knows my kids, knows that they are just a teensy, weensy afraid of dogs. Hmm.., I wonder where they get that from? But the girls wanted to race and the following is what transpired. (The first video might look like it won't load, but it will.)

Too funny! Anyway if you notice in the first video, Megan totally takes off at the very beginning and I'm too busy filming that I don't even realize she's run away and is terrified of something. I know, Mother of the year. Maddie is completely unaware that the dog is behind her, she just keeps looking in Meg's direction and wondering what her problem is (and why she has jumped up on the electrical thingy) and Janie's just crying.
Usually the kids aren't too afraid of the dogs in the cul de sac, but our neighbors just got a new puppy, Harley. The little boy in the video is Aiden and it's his dog. He was probably wondering what the heck are the kids so worried about?

Swiss Family Norris

Today Jared came home earlier than usual and I got a nap. 2 1/2 hours!! I do have a great husband! While I napped the kids watched one of the videos we let them watch on Sunday, Swiss Family Robinson. I added it to our Sunday video list because when they reach land after their shipwreck they offer a prayer of thanks, so I decided it counts! I also added Pollyanna because of her glad game and the happy texts!
After my nap the kids were begging me to let them play outside. But on Sundays we don't let them play out in the front and I didn't want them in the back because we've been having issues with our back fence and the scary aggressive dog that likes to try and knock our fence down.
ANYWAY, Jared thought the dog wouldn't get loose and said that they'd be okay to play. They were all thrilled to be playing outside. I went to check on them and they informed me that they were playing "Swiss Family Norris."
So sorry for the super long post, just to explain one picture. But I had to post it. It's a rarity for them to all be playing together without any fights!

The Secret to Maddie's Donut Dozen

On Thursday night Maddie told me she just knew that she was going to be picked for the "Donut Dozen" at school on Friday.
The Donut Dozen is where the principal picks 12 students on Friday morning to come and eat a doughnut with her in her office. (Throughout the year the students can get an "Eagle Excellence" (the blue paper Maddie is holding) for good behavior or for helping. All the eagle excellence papers go into a big bin in the front office and the principal picks the names from that). I told her I hoped that she would get picked too, but that their were a lot of kids that had gotten eagle excellence's and so maybe their was a chance she wouldn't get picked. But she told me she just knew that she was going to go to the donut dozen.

So imagine my surprise when she comes home on Friday and had actually been picked for the donut dozen!!

The first thing that popped into my head was "it's like the Secret" (probably because I had just read Angie's blog about the secret and finding her pirate cling).
So I'm going to take a page from Oprah, Angie, and now Madeline and I'm going to believe that we are going to sell our house (maybe I'll believe we are going to sell it for half a million dollars) and it might actually happen. At least it's worth a try!