Long Time Gone

I don't know about what everyone else has done in the past 2 weeks, but boy, we've had a GREAT time on vacation! Too much to post now- I'm too exhausted, really. But just think happy thoughts about Family Reunions, Disneyland, Whole Enchilada, Portillos, Vegas Condo, Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Bees Game, Swimming, Carrie Underwood, and Fireworks.

Pictures to come

Andi's Preschool

She did it- she graduated from preschool. I guess she passed the coloring-without-scribbling test, the painting-without-getting-it-all-over-your-clothes test, the eating-snack-without-getting-food-all-over-your-face test, and of course her letters, numbers, colors, and shapes test. Hard tasks, I know...

But before she finished for the year her class took a tour of a fire house- not a fire station, mind you. It actually had the living quarters for the firemen. I think I enjoyed it more than she and Spencer (who of course came along for the ride. After all, he is an honorary member of the class). Now that I think about it, maybe it was the firemen that I enjoyed more than the tour. Um, I mean... um... what? Nothing...

The honorary preschooler:

Off she goes to kindergarten. Too bad they didn't have a "stop-screaming-at-the-top-of-your-lungs" test. She'd never get past preschool.

Picture Time

I've just realized that I've slacked off quite a bit with my pictures and not just for the blog. I just haven't organized them lately and found a few minutes to do them. So why not just throw them up on the blog at the same time? We're talking old school pictures here- way back to Valentine's Day!

This is what they all wore that day to school- you gotta love red!

Right after Christmas we decided to beat the winter blues so I had all the kids pick out one activity from the Parks and Rec catalog from the city. It's so funny what they picked! Ainslee picked ballet (true to form), Andi picked gymnastics (true to form again), Ashley picked a soccer class (I would've thought an art class), and Spencer-well daddy- picked flag football. I didn't get any pictures of Andi in her gymnastics class and we ended up canceling the football class because of our scheduling. Ashley's class is still going on. But we did get Ainslee in her last class- she loved it!

And spring would not be complete without a rainbow. Luckily we've seen quite a few since we've lived here. They're beautiful. This is from our back patio. Those trees were in full bloom still so it must have been the beginning of March when we saw this rainbow.

This spring we also went through an "everything is breaking at the same time" phase. When it rains, it pours, right? I can't even name all the things that we had to replace but of course we had to get a picture of this one. This is what happens when you let your husband vacuum! The handle completely broke off!

Then spring came along and I had to keep the kids busy for the week. We took a couple of excursions and had some nice lazy days. If only summer could last one week...

We headed over to a place called Daffodill Hill. It was beautiful but a little too far out of the way for my taste. The kids had a fun time until the drive back. Wouldn't you know it- 15 minutes from being home and Ainslee gets car sick. I'm talking ALL over the car... fun times.

Then off to the Jelly Belly Factory. I thought the older 3 were old enough to understand what was going on. Spencer and I just wanted the free package of jelly beans at the end. Here we are on our way to the Factory!

Yes, there's Avery not going with the flow... she's got another whole post coming soon- she deserves one all to herself- if you know what I mean.

Then it was Easter time. It was just us this year because that's how it worked out and it was fine. The Easter bunny came, we painted eggs, ate deviled eggs (the kids actually liked them), had an egg hunt, made our traditional bunny pancakes, and had a nice-ish dinner (no one to impress!).

And finally (I told you there were a lot of pictures) in the middle of April I was able to take the Ashley, Ainslee, and Andi into San Fran to see Wicked. Did you know that this muscial actually had it's debut in San Fran? Pretty cool, huh. A friend in our ward got a group rate on tickets so about 30 of us went. It was AMAZING and I'd see it every day if I could. I am so lucky that I got to spend the day with my 3 oldest even though I almost had a heart attack from trying to find parking!

P.S. I think I look like Galinda

P.S. Just kidding

OUr Ultrasound Guy

Bless that man. He's the one who told us we were having a nother boy. Hallelujah! Here's a funny story about our ultrasound experience:

Cory and I were sitting in the waiting room at the radiology center. Several of the ultrasound workers were coming in and out calling names. I personally was hoping to not see the person who did Spencer's ultrasound- he was terrible!!!! I didn't see him so I had some hope. Then we see this guy who is totally buff in his lab coat- but on the short side. He was really, really tan- like spray tan- tan. His hair was slicked back with tons of gel. Cory and I kinda giggled because come one- he does ultrasounds?!?! So we wait for another couple of minutes. And then our ultrasound guy comes out- IT'S THAT GUY!!! Cory and I glance at each other with shocked grins and wide eyes. He's very formal and introduces himself as Forrest. Really? Forrest? As we get in there I notice that he's got this silk button up purple and white long sleeve shirt on. And the sleeves are rolled up and the top couple of buttons are unbuttoned. Yes, a few long dark hairs are sticking out! And he's totally the whole 'sleeve' tattoo thing going on his arms, down to his wrists, and a little on his hands! Wha?!?! Crazy. But I'll tell you what- I must confess. He was EXCELLENT!!!!! The best ultrasound guy- or girl- ever. I decided that my dear friend, Forrest, looks like a combination of these two guys:

(Our dear sweet Jesse James)

(Some guy from Jersey Shore)

And I'm exactly dead on.

Forrest asked us before he started the ultrasound if we wanted to know the gender- we said, YES! So I lay down, get the squirty stuff, and he put the little device thing on my bellly. He yanked it off immediately. I thought, What the heck? Is he playing a joke? Then has asked, "Are you sure you want to know? Because I already know 100% what you're having." That could only mean one thing- there was a little ding dong showing. Forrest confirmed and said it was a boy. Of course Cory didn't believe it- but it's about as obvious as you can get. Needless to say Cory was so excited we went out for a steak dinner afterward...

Yippee!!!

And the answer is.....

"Mr. and Mrs. Rice, it appears that your baby girl will have to go through life with a third leg."

We'll post the ultrasound pictures later.

Pulled Back (as opposed to pulled pork)

Is it normal to pull your back out so bad that you have to lay flat for 2 days in a row? And laying flat really hurts. And so does laying on your side. And forget about walking- I look like an 90 year old hunch-backed man. And it feels like you need a crane to pull you to an upright position. And every muscle in your upper back, shoulders, hips, and quads hurt just as much because they're all making up the difference for the job your lower back is supposed to do. And you tell your poor little kids to find their own after school snacks and they take advantage and grab out the Doritos. And you say, "awesome." And you hope and pray a maid will just walk in the house and do all the chores for you or those little animals from Snow White. But that won't happen so you do them anyway because what's worse... a nasty house or a hurt back. It's a toss up on that one.


Is that all normal?

Popcorn Popping on the ... tree

Spring occassionally will show up here in Roseville. Some days it's really rainy and overcast and some days it's a beautiful 68 degrees. There doesn't seem to be much in between right now.. so yes, spring is coming. In fact the trees on our street islands are in full bloom. I don't know what kind of trees they are but they only in bloom for 3 or 4 weeks. They come in 2 varities- white blooms or pink blooms. They are my favorite trees in the world! But I have no clue what they are. We're lucky to have a bunch out our kitchen window. They're the white ones and it relaly looks like popcorn popping! Honestly this picture is not edited at all-it was taken with my little point and shoot. It surely doesn't give the trees justice but it's a good idea what it looks like.