Our five babies! (Including Sammy)

Yep, I am in love with a dog. Sammy is our new mutt we got in July and he is just the sweetest most loving dog you could ask for! He is a pure bred springer spaniel so he LOVES birds not to mention bunnies and other smaller creatures, but he is a hunting dog so it's in his blood. As for a family dog he does great with the kids and him and Ellie are great for one another. Today Sammy got fixed- FINALLY! My dad and I were out around 7 to be there by 8 to make sure we'd get in to the "porta fix" as they only have so many they can do in one day. It's a lower cost mobile fix clinic and we were able to get him done for just $45 bucks which includes a cone and five days worth of pain meds. Sammy was so scared when we took him and then when he came home he just stood real stiff as if he wasn't really with it. Poor puppy. He will stay inside for the next few days so that him and Ellie don't get a chance to play too rough. They are both youthful and normally play constantly. So glad Sammy is fixed!
Anthony is now riding his big green bike and has no fears about it at all! He loves being a first grader and him and Hope hang out daily.
Alex is now in preschool and he loves it! He is learning how to write all of his letters and knows the sounds for most of the letters.
Lexie is now a big girl!!!!! She is potty trained!!!!! I know she will still have accidents from time to time, but we are saving money on pull-ups and it's so nice to not have to change her! It's so much easier to remind her through out the day to go potty and soon she won't even need reminding. So awesome Lexie! A few days ago she said that now "grandma Simmons will send her a new tooth brush". ha ha I guess grandma just happened to send something for Alex around the time he got potty trained so she expects something. Instead of correcting her I called my mom and told her to get something out! ha ha
Alyssa is now a walking baby as of Sep. 4Th and she is so cute! She's a pro and now won't even scoot...... No longer a baby! She says mommy,daddy, baby, hi, bye, bite me, look, up, down, poopy, annnthy, no, and doggie. Yes, our little girl really does say bite me and Justin is so proud. Pretty much Lysie is a parrot so she can say any word, but those are the ones she says a lot. Ok, there's our update!!!!!

Walking!

You'd think I would have wrote about this a long time ago, but Alyssa can walk now!!!! I say can and not does..... See since September 4Th she has been able to walk across the room and even further if she wants something bad enough, but she doesn't walk just to walk yet. She will scoot and crawl still excpet for in the evenings when she seems to love practicing her walking skills. So I have a walking girl now- sorta!
My dad moved back in with us in August and it's been fun having him. He does the yard work, cares for the dogs, and even makes the dinners which I love! The kids love having him around.
Anthony started school on August 19th and he loves his new teacher- Miss Thomas. It's her first year teaching and she even has her masters in special ed. which tells me she has extra patience. She's a 26 year old red haired adorable women who always wears a smile. Everyday after school she gives the kids a high five as they go home and she see to it that all of her students go with a parent, sibling, or someone else their parents have approved. Hope is able to leave with Anthony and the two of them walk home together everyday unless it's raining. She is his new bestfriend who is 10 and lives just two houses down. He told me last week that even if she weren't pretty he's still like to hang out with her. He's so cute.
Alex starts preschool this Tuesday!!!!!!! He can't wait! He is such a little man these days and no longer resembles the chubby baby he once was. He is intelectual and gives a lot of thought to anything he says. He gets along with everyone and loves to catch grashoppers in our front yard.
Lexie is still seizure free since March! She has a new bestfriend named Alyson who is nicknamed Allie and she lives just two houses down from us as well. The two of them do their nails and play dress up and just love hanging out. Lexie calls the grasshoppers "chin=choppers" and it doesn't matter how much you correct her she just loves calling them that.
Alyssa is a head strong, but cuddly girl. I can't call her a baby much longer which is great and also sad. She now sleeps in a toddler bed and loved it! She likes Lexie and Alex, but always go to Anthony cause she knows he'll pick her up. She is a parrot- daddy, mommy, baby..... She will say those three words a million times a day!
I'll be 28 on Wednesday, and I don't really care- sad huh? lol No, not sad it's just for the first time I don't care like I used to, but I do celebrate my life and I'm greatful for everyday I get to be here. Heaveny Father has a plan for me and I'm trying to live my life accordingly.

Nevermind!!!!

Well, just two more steps in the last week so nevermind on Alyssa walking- ha ha! She can say please, thank you, here you go, Ellie, doogie (that's how she says it), mama, and dada which is her favorite word! She is 20 pounds and full of smiles!!!!!!

Alyssa

Alyssa took four steps today! Ok, I gotta give a good story cause I've been driving everyone crazy (myself included) about her not walking yet..... Once every few days I've been trying to hold her hands and get her to walk with me and she'd either sit down or start to fuss so I'd stop as I know it's not good to force the whole walking thing. However, last night she wanted to walk with me for a few minutes and kept laughing while doing it. Then today we walked and walked and walked and walked together and when I was tired of it I walked her to the chair and took a step back. She right away took two steps to me and reached out leaning just enough so she could rest on me. It was so cool! Then we did some more walking and she took two more steps before falling but those steps weren't as good as the first two cause she was kinda falling down in the process. Needless to say though that she finally seems to care to figure out this whole walking thing at 15 months old! ha ha When I saw the doctor she reassured me that it was not a big deal at all and went on to say that her daughter didn't walk until over 16 months old and is perfectly healthy. I think my parents and Kim are tired of me talking about my daughter not walking, but that is OVER! ha ha I know mom you "told me so". ha ha

Summer!

Well, they call it summer, but it doesn't feel like it! I doubt it will get too warm here as it's June 6Th and our high today is 63. Anthony is not a person that likes anything extreme and he will stay inside if it's hotter than 80 and when it's snowing he'll play in it for about twenty minutes before deciding it's just too cold. The rest of the crew loves to be outside no matter what the weather is doing. Alyssa has been having fun sitting on grass and her favorite thing to do is follow everyone around and it seems like she knows to follow Anthony the most cause he'll pick her up a lot and make her trip that much easier. The kids all get along so well MOST of the time and they still think Alyssa is the coolest thing ever. Earlier this week we were able to go on vacation and see some family and it was fun! Now Anthony is riding his bike and reading more and he loves being a part of the reading program at the library. Alex has his first little friend and he's gotten so big and mature. Speaking of the kids they're all awake so time to be mommy.....

LEXIE

LEXIE-
I just love saying her name. I always wanted super girly names for my daughters and this name fits her perfectly. She is very girly which is something I never thought I'd say as it has always driven me nuts the way some people have labeled their kids that way. Lexie however is one of a kind. She is very girly and yet tough. She'll wear a dress and have her nails done and be so proud of her new little ear-rings, and yet when the boys start to wrestle she'll jump right in and join them. If someone falls on her or pushes her she'll hop back up without missing a beat. It's a perfect combination! In March when she had to do test after test and go back in to the doctors over and over again to give blood she was a real trooper and now that she's taking four pills a day she is still a trooper and gladly opens her mouth and has even mastered how to swallow a pill. Lexie loves ponies, make-up, and playing with her brothers and sister and she is the toughest, strongest little girl I know! Her favorite thing right now is to be read to and that's how her and I get a lot of one on one time in and it's so much fun. Gotta love my little Lexie Kristene!

DAY WITH THOMAS

So Yesterday was the day we ALL were looking forward to and it was perfect! The kids loved the petting zoo, face paint, play table, cotton candy, activities, maze, and the exciting ride on Thomas! Then we came home and the kids just had to finish their train track- they've been working on for a few days. Well, they finally "allowed" us to go in the play room last night to show us the track. It's so cool with bridges and the break down engines in the right places- just in case as Alex says.
Last night we were watching the Laker game and at around 9:30 Alex came in and asked if they could watch it with us- we thought they were a sleep! I made us some popcorn and we all watched the game with a ton of excitement. The boys love to cheer so if they have the ball we all yell "defense" and if we have the ball we call out the name of the person who has it- Koby, Gasol, Fisher, and my favorite Odom. It was a very fun day yesterday.. I would say the outcome of the game, but what if Grandma Anderson reads this before watching the game! ha ha

RICK

Rick is the name of Alex's blanky and we almost lost him the other day- well we did for a time. We went to the park and I have always told Alex he can take Rick with us whenever we leave the house, but that Rick needs to stay in the car and wait while we go into a store etc... Well, last Saturday when we went to the park he had him tucked in his pants and I forgot to remind Alex to leave him in the car and then that night we couldn't find him. Alex went to bed fine and I just figured we'd for sure find him in the morning. In the middle of sacrament Alex remembered that he left his blanky at the park and was so worried that some other kid would play with him. On the way home from church we went to the park and there all lonely was Rick laying nicely under the monkey bars. You should have seen the embrace and warm hugs Alex gave his blanky. Alex loves his blanky so much and that blanky is so lucky cause he gives it hugs and kisses daily. It's nice though cause Alex isn't wimpy and he isn't obsessed with being a baby, but yet he can still be a cool four year old boy that loves his blanky- Rick.

Hi!!!!

Ok, so two months later I'm updating this...... There's a new pic. of Alyssa on her first b-day! She is now walking around the table which is weird to see.....

UPDATE ON IT"S WAY!!!!

Crawling!

So Alyssa has been crawling for about a week and it's so exciting. Today I realized just how much fun it is to have a baby crawling all the time. I mean it's not like I haven't had a crawling baby three times before, but it really hasn't gotten any less exciting for me! She's a pretty nosey baby the way Anthony used to be. Alex and Lexie seemed pretty content just getting around to us or to their toys, but Anthony and now Alyssa want to go everywhere and couldn't care less about their toys or coming to us. Last night Justin went over towards Alyssa and she actually tried to get away from him, but then stopped and looked to smile at him. It's fun. She thinks she's hot stuff cause she can now wave pretty good and will do it over and over again- not even ten months old and she can be repetitive! lol In other news Justin had a "snow day" yesterday as the roads were closed and we had so much fun just hanging out. Ok, we do that a lot, but it's still fun. We're homebodies!

Justice League!

For quite some time now we've had a tradition going that the kids and Justin all watch Justice League daily. Well, most days. A new episode airs every night while the kids are sleeping and then when Justin comes home they all "unwind" to it. Then after the show it's wrestling time and depending on who was in the episode they all practice their news moves. Superman and Batman fight a different way. There are several other guys in the show as well and Anthony's favorite is Flash. Alex loves Superman and Lexie of course Loves Superwoman. She fights just as well as the boys do! Right now the kids are all watching Justice League and I just am not into it.....
However, today was a cool day! I did sharing time in primary and then after church I got together with a couple of girls from the primary presidency and we visited a few girls from the ward. We've had a couple new families move in which is great cause we have a small primary. Our ward is smaller and only has 12 young women! Oh, mom sharing time is a 20 minute creative lesson that I prepare and then put on twice once a month. Once for the Junior primary and then again for the senior primary. It went great. The junior kids were shy so I volunteered Anthony to be my helper. When I was starting Lexie yelled out "that's my mommy". It was cute. However, while I was finishing up with the older kids Lexie came back into the primary room cause her teacher had to find me. Lexie announced to everyone "I have to pee". My goodness I am trying to get her to be a lady, but I suppose at three it's just not a easy concept and she's about as shy as I am so......... Anyway, was a great day!

Loving Life!

We've been having a lot of fun the past couple of weeks and really every since November time has just been flying by! I'm excited that February is almost here cause then my parents will be here for a visit! Also, I'm eager to put on a activity for the primary kids I'm starting to get to know. I really like my new church calling as 2ND counselor in the primary pres., but I had know idea how much work came with it! It's not too much when everybody does their part, but right now we're down two teachers so that means I get to fill in more than usual. This week I do the sharing time and in March I'll conduct the meetings. Good thing I'm not shy- you all knew that about me right? lol Alyssa started to crawl on the 23rd and is working on her second tooth. Lexie is my little side kick and the boys just love to play super hero's. They are good little fighters. We think some day we'll have to get them both into karate. I have a new theory that boys just have to beat things up from time to time to get out some aggression. We have this Spider Man punching bag and they love it......