Anthony's Visit

A few weeks ago, we watched Anthony for a few days while his dad was out of town. Unfortunately as a temporary mother of four, my camera skills were not up to par. I hardly took any pictures of the kids. But we had lots of fun so I guess that will have to suffice. Dylan and Anthony ended up sleeping in Dylan's twin bed on opposite ends of the bed. In the past, I've always used the blow up mattress, but it's so big that they have to be in the family room and with Anthony needing to be to school early, I didn't want them up late watching movies. So it was a structured, boring visit and yet really fun just doing normal everyday stuff together. It's hard not seeing him very often any more and seeing how much he has changed each time we do get to spend time together. He really was like one of my own kids for so long. It was fun for him to be here over a weekend and to get to go to church with us. It ended up being the same weekend as our ward's Primary program, which was good and bad. Bad because he didn't get to sit by Dylan during sacrament meeting, but good because he got to hear his buddy, his best friend and "brother" bear testimony in his AMAZING talk. Sorry, I'm having a proud mommy moment here. Dylan really did do amazing. He had this half page talk to do. I was shocked when I saw his "part." I think they gave it to him because it was similar to a talk he'd given in Primary, plus he's a pretty strong reader for his age so they figured he could read it without much help. And he did the day he got it. But I like him to memorize stuff and not be looking down and reading. You know, working on the public speaking skills. So he memorized the whole thing. It was like 6 or 7 small paragraphs and he did so well. Anyway, Anthony thanked me for taking him to Primary with us and said he enjoyed it. I guess you never know. Maybe our example will mean something to him one day. Here are a couple of pictures from his visit.

Preston didn't really sleep with Dylan and Anthony. We thought that might be a bit too crowded, but a couple of nights we let him lay there until he fell asleep and then moved him to his own bed.

Anthony still sucks his fingers just like when he was a baby.

Preston doesn't really take a sippy cup to bed, but he kept saying he was thirsty which finally annoyed me enough that I caved. I put a little water in a sippy cup and let him hold it.

CARAMEL APPLES!

Preston LOVES Clifford books and his two favorite right now are called "Picking Apples and Pumpkins" and "The Pumpkin Pie Prize." In one of the books, they make caramel apples. So...Preston started asking me to make caramel apples many times a day, a task I've never before attempted. One day I was in the produce department and saw the caramels and just decided we were going to make caramel apples this year. I read a couple tips online and then went for it. Hmm...apparently it's an acquired skill because these were the saddest looking caramel apples I have ever seen. The kids still had fun and seemed to enjoy eating them, although they were way too big. Note to self, buy small apples next time.

Thankfully Marissa is used to being mauled by big boys who love her way too much! :)

She's pretty tolerant of all the extra love and attention she receives.

Bedtime stories on Dylan's bed

Friday = pizza + movie

Gotta love Fridays!