Christmas and Winter fun

 So keeping up on the blog is proving to be a bit of a challenge so I'm going to have to combine events to catch up again.  I can't guarantee that the pictures/events will be in order, but here they are!

 Britton as Joseph in our family nativity

 Caden as the angel

 Benjer the Shepherd

 

 All ready for christmas

 Christmas morning - Caden got the Ballcano from Santa

 

 

 The boys both got Kindle Fires from Santa and have been playing them ever since....

 Caden getting loves from Grandpa Kurt

 

 

 We went to Donnely and stayed overnight with one of Britton's friends and his family.  The boys had a great time sledding

 

The weekend before Christmas we went to Utah for Dustin's family party.  The boys were so excited to go swimming.  Britton wouldn't hold still long enough for a picture..

 Caden loves the water.  You can hardly tell but he is wearing a swim diaper under that belly!

I love this picture.  How cute are these brothers?

Catching up

So it turns out we haven't uploaded the pictures from our good camera since Halloween.  We have a lot of catching up to do!

 Caden eating the Little People nativity set

 Rub a dub dub, three boys in a tub

 Caden ready for church

 Mustaches!

 

 

 The Richard's 2012 Christmas tree!

 Our pathetic snow. The boys made the most of it...

 

 

 Trouble making Caden.  He loves to pull open the drawers in the kitchen and pull everything out

 Caden at the window.  He likes to pound on the glass as he watches the dogs outside.

 

Benjamin as a wise man in the church nativity.  He's the cute little wise man with the greenish blue head wrap.

Date with Britton

Britton was so excited to go on his special date.  He could hardly stand that we wouldn't tell him what we were going to do.  We started out by going to Denny's (one of his favorite places to eat).  In the car he kept telling us all the places he wished we could go.  When we pulled up to Big Al's, he was so excited!  It was a pretty fun place.  There was a 45 minute wait to bowl so we went upstairs where there is a hug arcade.  We loaded some money on Britton's debit card (they use special debit cards you swipe instead of coins for the games) and told him that once it was gone he was done playing video games.  He was very careful with the games he chose so he could get the most for his money!  Of course the basketball games were his favorite.  Once he had used all his debit card he went and chose his prize, which was a huge inflatable ax.  Just as we finished getting prizes, our pager went off telling us it was time to bowl. It was perfect timing.  We had a great time bowling and Britton came in second (me being last).  It was so fun spending time with Britton. He is such a good kid.

Date with Benjamin

 Benjer and Brownie

 

 This puppy is pretty cute too.  He's pulling up onto his knees these days.

Benjamin has been through a lot of big changes over the last year.  He has a new baby brother, he started all day kindergarten, I work full time and when he's on track break he is in child care at our center.  He is doing great in kindergarten and is always good in class.  However, he has struggled at home and at child care with all the changes.  We knew he needed some more one on one attention so we decided to take him on a special date over the weekend.  We had the best time!  We surprised Benjamin by going to Build a Bear.  We had never been there before.  Benjamin picked out a super cute puppy that he named Brownie.  He also got Brownie a cute little hoodie sweatshirt and some Sketcher shoes.  He LOVES his puppy. He takes it everywhere and takes it to bed with him.  It's really cute.  We also took him to dinner.  It was so fun spending time with just him.  He is so cute and sweet.  We're going to be sure and go on more dates with him.  This Saturday it's Britton's turn for a special date and he is looking really forward to it.  Benjamin's excited too because our baby sitter has an ipad that she lets him play.  Funny boys.

Catching up...Thanksgiving

 

 

Well, Thanksgiving was a fun weekend. We spent Thanksgiving with my mom and ate an awesome meal.  Caden really enjoyed the sweet potatoes and stuffing.  He had to have a bath after dinner because he got so into his meal.  The boys had a great time decorating huge gingerbread men while waiting for dinner too.  After dinner we played games and watched a movie before heading home and starting our black Friday shopping.

What a week!

It has been a very long week at our house.  It started with a very long weekend.  When we woke up Saturday morning, our 13 year old black lab, Acey, couldn't stand up.  She had also gone to the bathroom on the floor and was laying in her own filth.  Dogs just don't do that.  I ran upstairs and got Dustin.  Acey couldn't stand up at all. Her eyes were also moving back and forth quickly.  I called the vet and we prepared our boys for us not bringing her back home with us.

When we got to the vet, they said Acey had doggy dementia and that it would be temporary, most likely in a week.  We have seen some improvement.  She can now walk to go outside with some encouragement and tonight she ate about a half a can of dog food.  She hasn't wanted to eat very much at all.  We're still hopeful for a decent recovery. 

To add to our Saturday, Caden got a fever.  Rewind to a few days earlier and I had a sore throat and felt terrible.  Benjamin had a fever too so we came home from work early.  Dustin came down with it the next day.  We were hoping Caden wouldn't get it but no such luck.  He had it.  Sunday he was miserable and his breathing sounded bad so we went to the urgent care.  He was tested and came back positive for influenza A.  He got on tamiflu and a nebulizer right away and is still using it now.  He couldn't go to work with me so my mom came over to watch him on Monday and Tuesday.  By Tuesday he was a lot better.  He still sounds gross but he is better at the same time.  Britton was the only one that didn't get it.  I don't know how he missed out, but thankfully he did.  Unfortunately, my mom caught it and is on her road to recovery now.  It's vicious stuff!

Out of all of this I must say we have a wonderful pediatrician.  The urgent care had let our pediatrician know about Caden and she called our house to see how he was doing and to make sure we watched our other boys because she knew Britton had asthma, and to let us know to keep on the breathing treatment with Caden because it can be dangerous.  I was happy for the follow up.

 Caden doing his breathing treatment

 I forgot about Caden's first hair cut!  He was so good

This isn't the best picture of his new hair cut but it's what we have for now. He looks like such a little boy!

That's about it for now. We'll be thankful for a healthier December... 

Cutest Pumpkins in the Patch

Saturday was the last day of soccer for our boys.  Hurray!  It was fun while it lasted but we were so busy with practice that it's going to be great to be not so busy.  Britton  is still in basketball but he only has practice once a week.

After Benjamin's last game our family headed to the Farmstead with my parents, sister and her kids.  The kids had a great time.  They got to do everything.  They each shot the pumpkin and corn cannons, jumped on the jumping pillow, walked through the monster thing (Benjamin was not impressed), got a pumpkin, had popcorn, and Benjamin went on the cow train.  We also went through the corn maze and actually made it through without getting very lost!  It was a big accomplishments.  Going to the pumpkin patch is one of my favorite Fall traditions and this year didn't disappoint.

 Caden was such a good boy!  He spent the majority of the day in the backpack and didn't squawk at all.  When we sat down to rest he had a bottle and took a nap while grandma held him and we did the maze.

 Dustin with his pumpkin

 Seriously, how cute is this little pumpkin holding his little pumpkin?

 Britton was going for the biggest pumpkin he could carry...

 Caden is just adorable but I'm a little biased...

Benjamin picked a very cute pumpkin.  He wanted a little one

A quick update

The Richards family continues to be busy with soccer, school, and work.  This weekend we were also busy with illness.  Caden had been sick on Tuesday.  He had been on an antibiotic and the doctor said it was probably from that. I had my doubts. On Friday I had 8 employees scheduled for work. By 7:00 a.m. two had called in sick. No problem, we could make it work with 5.  By 9:30 one employee was sick and had to leave. Two others weren't doing so well. I wasn't feeling so hot either.  By 12:30, another employee had to leave, plus two kids.  By 4:00, another employee had to go home.  We were down to 2 employees and me. Luckily Fridays are slow and we had a few kids out sick.  It was a fast and furious illness.  We disinfected the entire center.  I was so glad to go home that night.  Britton woke up bright and early Saturday morning vomiting.  He was very sad to miss his soccer game and a birthday party.  Dustin didn't feel great Saturday either, but he wasn't nearly as sick as Britton.  Benjamin was the only one to not get sick.  We're just waiting to be woken up in the night again...

Anyway, the kids continue to be cute as ever, despite all the illness running around 

 Look at all that chubby cuteness!

 Benjamin has the sweetest smile

 Grandpa and Benjer

 Soccer games are exhausting

 

Britton is an intense player. He did an awesome job defending the goal in his last game.

 We got a little Caden camera happy. He is just too cute!

 

 Look at those teeth!

 Caden makes this face all the time