"God doesn't give children with special needs to strong people; He gives children with special needs to ordinary, weak people and then gives them strength. Raising a child with special needs doesn't take a special family, it makes a special family."--Author Unknown

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Preschool Graduation, Dingy, Dance, Dirt, Memorial Day

I cannot tell you how many times I have had to take Josh's lunch to him at school because he left it at home.  I tell him every morning to make sure he puts his lunch in his back pack, but it seems to go in one ear and out the other.  However, last week he left it home and I didn't notice.  I had a bunch of errands to run and was going to be gone all day.  When it got to lunch time he and his teacher tried calling home, but didn't get an answer.  I had my cell phone with me, but for whatever reason they didn't try calling it.  Anyway, they left a few messages that I didn't get until I got home at 3 pm which was too late for me to do anything anyway.  I asked Josh about what he did at lunch time when he got home from school and he was not happy.  He said his teacher made him get school lunch which happened to be macaroni and cheese that day.  He HATES mac and cheese and was not happy about it.  Josh then tried to blame me, but I quickly corrected him and pointed to his lunch box still sitting on the counter.  I did my part of packing the lunch, it was his part to put it in his back pack.  He reluctantly agreed with me.  I had to laugh a little because maybe that experience will help him remember to put his lunchbox in his back pack for the rest of the year.  Heee-heee.
 
I keep wondering where the diapers disappear to and I think I found out this morning.  Sarah and Noah have been using the diapers for their babies which seem to dirty them faster than any real human baby ever could which is saying a lot.  I wonder how many clean diapers have been thrown out in the diaper pail....I can wonder because I am not about to go out and look.  I better keep a closer eye on these two!!  Or maybe I can start talking them into potty training their babies....
Last week it was time to color my hair again.  I am coming to the sad realization that I am getting more and more gray that are starting to stand out against my dark hair.  D'oh!!  Anyway, while I was at the store I found a box of brown hair color that was on clearance and it also had a coupon on it as well.  DOUBLE SCORE!!  I came home with my purchase and showed Aaron and then sweetly asked him to help me apply the color to my hair.  He was not very happy about it, but he helped me.  The whole time he was applying it he kept muttering, "Greater love hath no husband than he who helps color his wife's hair..."  However, I learned the hard way that you get what you pay for.  My hairdresser (Aaron) was not very careful in the application of the product.  He got it all over my forehead, ears, face and neck.  I didn't notice until after it had been on my hair for almost the whole time it was supposed to be on.  When I went to wash it off I was horrified because it wouldn't come off my skin.  I scrubbed and scrubbed, but unfortunately my skin was horribly stained.  Oops.  Then I noticed that even though the box said the color brown, it turned my hair BLACK!!  I basically looked like a freak.  It took a good four days of scrubbing in the shower for long periods of time for it to finally fade enough that it didn't look so bad.  Sigh....As for now I now have black hair and weird light gray splotches all over my face, ears and neck.  Oh well on the brighter side at least I don't have any gray hair for now....I don't know which is worse though obvious gray hair or looking like a black haired spotted freak.....I still love my husband, but next time I may consider paying a bit more for some hair color and someone to apply it.....
 
Daniel had a field trip to the zoo last week.  About a month ago his teacher sent home a letter saying that they wanted all the first graders to bring in a white t shirt so they could decorate it and everyone could have matching shirts for the trip.  Well I didn't have any nice plain white t-shirts to give him so I was going to run to the store the next day to get a pack of them.  The next afternoon I gave Daniel the pack of t-shirts to take to school the next day when he told me that he already took care of it.  Huh?!  He told me he found a white t-shirt of his own and took that.  The day before the field trip he brought home his decorated t-shirt and I was a little embarrassed.  He had found an old, too big, nasty used to be white t-shirt that was now dingy gray because it got washed with jeans shirt that he presented to his teacher to be decorated.  I am sure his teacher felt sorry for the poor kid whose mom didn't send him with a nice white t-shirt that fit him.  I was a little embarrassed, but what can you do?  I tried--I really did!!  Daniel just beat me to the punch by one day!!  Daniel was very pleased with himself because he took care of the whole t-shirt thing himself.  I just had to sigh and send him on his field trip with his gray shirt hoping no one took notice of how much the gray stood out against all the other white crisp t-shirts around him.  Here's the proud gray t-shirt wearing first grader himself:
 Sarah had her preschool graduation last week.  This graduation was different than any of the other kids preschool graduations Aaron and I had been to before.  Instead of an actual ceremony they had us go through a typical preschool day with the kids.  So when we first got there we did a craft.  We made picture frames for their preschool class pictures.  (Yep that's my black hair...)
 I had lots of help from Sarah and Noah whether I wanted it or not.
 Then the kids showed us the songs they danced to.  Sarah partnered up with her little friend Gabby that she played with every day.
 Then we had recess with stations.  Sarah and Noah immediately went to the bubble station and blew bubbles.
They then did a bean bag toss throw station, bowling station and the playground to play on.  At the end of recess they had everyone line up (which Noah marched right over and lined right up with everyone else).
 
Then we went inside and we did puzzles with Sarah and Noah.
Then they got their diplomas and picked up their picture frames.  It makes me sad to know she is now old enough to begin kindergarten in a few months.  What happened to my tiny baby girl?!

 After preschool graduation Aaron had to go back to work so me, Sarah and Noah headed over to playgroup at the park.  It is playgroup for the kids and adult chat time for the parents so there is something for everyone!  Towards the end of playgroup Noah decided to see how dirty he could possibly get.  He sat in the sand, dug down until he got to the wet sand.  He then grabbed handfuls of the wet sand and tried to stuff the handfuls of the wet sand inside his ears to see if they would stick.  That boy is 100% boy--who loves dirt, cars and anything boyish!!  He and Sarah had to come home and have a shower.  Here he is putting the handfuls of sand in his ears. 
 Josh LOVES his teacher this year.  I have to say she has been a really good teacher as well.  It was her birthday last week and Josh begged and pleaded to get her something for her birthday.  I was able to round up some candy bars and a blank card that Josh decorated for her.  The front of the card says, "Happy Birthday Mrs. Salyards.  By Your Fav. student, Josh"
 The inside of the card says, "You are such a sweet teacher so I decided to give you some choclate bars.  and I hope you will have a sweet time eating these candy Bars.  Ps Happy Birthday!!!"  He then drew some balloons on the other side of the card.  He was so excited to give it to her.  What a thoughtful boy!
 Sarah had a dance dress rehearsal last week.  She was so excited to get dressed up with make up and fancy hair.  She was more than happy to pose for a picture as she was putting on her dance shoes.  Have I mentioned that I love having a girl even if it is only one!  Aaron ended up taking her, but the camera memory was full so he couldn't take the pictures of her dance.  Oh well glad we found that out during the dress rehearsal instead of the actual recital!!
 Memorial Day weekend was this past weekend.  I love holiday weekends!!  What says the beginning of summer more than SWIMMING?!  Saturday we took the kids to the water park using our Pass of All Passes since it was free.  Here the kids are in the car ride down--they are all excited (except Noah who knows why) even if it was only 80 degrees.
 We had lots of fun going on the slides.  Aaron and I took turns being on baby duty.  I am amazed by how much of a daredevil Josh is.  That kid has no fear and went on EVERYTHING.  Matthew I had to talk him in to going on any slide.  He just wanted to hang out in the lazy river the whole day.  Daniel was a mix--he is afraid of a lot, but would still try most things.  During one of my baby duty stints at the kiddie section we had a scare.  At the time I had Matthew with me while we watched Sarah and Noah play.  Then all of a sudden the life guards ordered everyone out of the pool.  I quickly got my kids out and we wandered to the side and that's when I overheard why they were ordering everyone out of the pool--they had a code brown at the top of the slide.  Some kid either didn't wear a secure swim diaper or someone didn't make it to the potty--Um EWWWWW!!!  From then on we were done at the kiddie pool even when they reopened it 20 minutes later we still stayed away because that is way gross!!  The rest of the time we hung out in the wave pool.  We hadn't planned on staying too long, but we ended up being there for five hours!!  We had not problem putting the kids to bed that night--everyone was exhausted (including Aaron and me!)

Sunday we went to church and had our usual Sunday routine except for Sunday night we roasted s'mores.  It was way yummy!! I ate way more than I should have, but they tasted so good!!  Monday after some yard work and hair cuts we headed out on a family bike ride.  Here's Sarah modeling her patriotic dress--she is always up for a photo opportunity.
 Anyway, we loaded everyone up on their bikes and headed out.
 Sarah and Noah insisted on wearing helmets just like everyone else even if they were just riding in the bike trailer.
 Everyone did really well--especially Aaron who towed the bike trailer with both tanky buns in the back.  I know Sarah and Noah are not big, but the longer you tow them in the bike trailer the heavier they seem to get!!
 We brought along some baseball mitts, a bat and a baseball.  We played baseball for a bit then switched to kickball.  Then we played Frisbee.  After all that we let the kids play on the playground equipment at the park.  During the baseball game Noah and Sarah lost interest pretty fast.  They found their own entertainment, though--playing in the dirt. 
 By the time we left they were both filthy, but they had fun.
 It was the perfect day no too hot, not too cold to be outside to play.  Everyone had fun.
We rode our bikes home then jumped into the car to take advantage of 7-11's beginning of summer sale with $0.49 Slurpee's. I am happy to say that no one got slurped this time which is a good thing.  Getting slurped is when you turn the Slurpee machine on too fast and it sprays your whole body with Slurpee goodness.  It has happened to us a few times, but we successfully avoided getting slurped this visit--phew!!  We then came home and Aaron grilled us up a yummy dinner.  It was a fabulous holiday weekend with lots of family togetherness.
 
Sarah had her dance pictures taken a few weeks ago and we got the CD back of her pictures.  She looks beautiful!!  A side note--she has had a sudden foot growth spurt.  Her shoes barely fit her, but she only has a few weeks left of dance until it is over for the summer.  Every time she has to put her shoes on she complains, but beg her just to live with it for a few more times....poor girl.  At least she can smile through the pain....




I love my little baby doll!!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Mother's Day Part 2, Doctors Visits, T-Ball, Bubble Day, Fire Pit

We have been really nervous about Matthew's transition into Junior High School next year.  I am nervous because Matthew does not do well with change and basically Jr. High is so different from elementary school I have been worried.  However, I got some comfort last week when Aaron and I went and grabbed a dollar burger from McDonald's.  While we were waiting in line there was a huge group of special needs kids.  I was curious so I went and found an adult with these kids and asked what kind of group it was.  She went on to tell me that they were from West Point Jr. High's Functional Skills class and that they do a community field trip once a week.  During the week they earn money and then during the field trip they go out for lunch and learn how to order and pay for their food.  After lunch they head over to the grocery store with a list from home of ingredients to make a dinner.  They have to find the shopping list items in the store and then buy them figuring out how much money they have and how much the ingredients cost.  Then over the weekend their homework is to make a dinner for their family.  Now Matthew will be in a Learning Center and not a Functional Skills class, however, the lady told me that the learning center students get to join them on their field trips once a month.  Matthew would LOVE that kind of field trip so that got me a little excited about next year even if we are still worried about all the big changes to come....
 
Speaking of Matthew our neighbor, the train engineer, gave Matthew a pair of Union Pacific gloves to complete his train conductor ensemble.  He was so excited!!  Now every day after he finishes his homework he goes to to give train rides (with his wagon) to all the kids that are outside.  While doing this he wears his Union Pacific hat, gloves and vest.  He takes his job as a train conductor very serious around the neighborhood.  The other day we had a new family move in to our neighborhood. Matthew saw their child who is about 3 years old named Davis outside and offered to give him a train ride.  I didn't know he had done this until he brought Davis inside our kitchen to meet me.  He introduced Davis to me and then turned around and left leaving Davis looking very scared and confused.  I had no idea who Davis was or where he came from so I called back after Matthew who was outside to come and get Davis and bring him back to where he got him from.  The following Sunday Aaron met the family and then explained what happened and Davis's mom said she had wondered where he had gone.  Good thing Matthew gave him a train ride back to his house.  I guess I will need to keep a closer eye on Matthew and his train rides....
 
 Mother's Day part two--in my last post I didn't say everything I got for Mother's Day so I thought I would add here.  One of the best gifts I got for Mother's Day (other than the cute things my kids made for me) is a morning off.  Aaron let me go out to breakfast with a friend Saturday morning.  While I was gone he and the kids cleaned the whole house for me.  Aaron was also brave enough to load up all five kids and take them to the local nursery where he picked up two beautiful hanging baskets for me:
 On Sunday I got the day off.  I even got to attend Relief Society because the Primary Presidency had gotten substitutes for all the girl teachers.  It was a nice change of pace.  Aaron even got all the kids ready for Sunday (which is no easy task) then after church I got to have an uninterrupted nap.  He then cooked us dinner and cleaned it up.  It was a wonderful day!!  I gotta good husband!!  Too bad Mother's Day is only once a year--I think it should be at least monthly if not weekly :).
 
T-ball has started up again for the summer.  Aaron is team coaching with the same guy from last year that he team coached with for Daniel's team.  Don't they look cute?!
 Here they are actually playing a game:
While they are at practice I take Matthew with the scooter and Sarah and Noah in the double stroller and got walking on the track by the field.  Josh gets to choose either to watch the game or play in the playground.  Tuesday Matthew, me and the two youngest kiddos were heading over to the walking track when Matthew took off on his scooter saying he was going to race me and beat me.  Seeing as I was lugging the double stroller, I had no chance of even coming close to racing let alone beating him.  However, during our walk he stopped on part of the track to watch the game.  I took this slight advantage and started running with the stroller and passed him while saying, "I am beating you Matthew!!"  He did not like that and jumped on his scooter and tried to catch up with me.  Unfortunately he ended up tripping over his feet and doing a complete face plant into the asphalt.  After seeing him fall I was worried about injuries because he fell HARD.  I was glad to see his teeth were all intact when he got up, but he got a HUGE knot/bruise on his chin.  He also scraped his knee pretty good.  I gave him loves for a minute and he seemed fine.  We got about half way around the track when he looked down and saw that his knee was bleeding.  That's when he got REALLY upset.  Why is it when you see blood it automatically makes your owies that much more painful?  He was screaming and crying.  It got everyone's attention far and wide.  I tried to calm him down, but he was inconsolable.  Good thing the game was almost over so we could leave.  I guess I won't be doing any more racing on the track with Matthew and his scooter. 

Last Sunday one of the Den Mother's came over to me and said, "Hey I just want to remind you that you signed up for the refreshments for Pack Meeting this week.  We are also learning about healthy eating so could you make them healthy refreshments?"  All I could do was say, "What and WHAT?!"  I guess Aaron signed me up for them and failed to pass on that little tid bit of information on to me.  Oh well, I had a few days to figure it out so no big deal.  However, isn't 'healthy dessert' an oxymoron anyway?!  I ended up making zucchini bread because minus all the sugar and oil it's pretty healthy, right?!  I made the zucchini bread while the kids were in school and it finished baking right before they came home.  As soon as the kids walked in from school they were super excited because they smelled I had made something good and they wanted to eat it.  They were sorely disappointed when I said they couldn't touch the bread or else since it was for Pack Meeting and not for them.  Daniel was not happy so he did the next best thing, he grabbed the empty loaf pans and scraped out all the scraps of bread that had stuck to the sides and ate those.  What a funny kid. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?!
 I ended up making four loaves and they only used 1 1/2 at pack meeting.  However, the other 2 1/2 loaves were gone by the next afternoon from all the kids (and Aaron).  I only ended up getting one slice myself.  Oh well I am just glad the family liked it.

I was going out to run errands the other day when Noah got in the car wearing his glasses.  He sees my wear my sunglasses while I am in the car and he wanted to be like me and wear his glasses, too.  I am hoping mine look a little more stylish than that, though!  He was quite pleased with himself.
 The other day Aaron had a few hours off from work and so we found ourselves with only the two youngest kiddos so what did we do?  We went and got some REAL ice cream that's what!!  I had a few bites of my bowl when Noah confiscated it and ended up eating the rest of it.  These poor kids never get ice cream since Daniel is allergic so when they get it they really like it!
 We finally got Aaron's bike up and running.  We, of course, had to do a test ride with Noah and Sarah (and Noah's baby).  The kids loved it!  I can't wait to take more family bike rides this summer!  Aaron and I will have to trade off the kid trailer because the kids get pretty heavy pretty fast.  Now if we could just teach Josh and Daniel how to ride without pulling out in front of moving cars we'd be set.
 Through Aaron's work Matthew was able to get a scholarship to a special needs camp for a week this summer.  In order to be able to go he had to get a physical done which is what we did Monday morning.  I was a little nervous because it is about age 12 that they start doing hernia checks and I didn't have any idea of how to explain that to Matthew.  Thankfully, the doctor didn't need to do one and I breathed such a sigh of relief!!  However, Matthew had to get two immunizations which he was not happy about.  I got to bring Sarah and Noah along with us.  Unfortunately I didn't get to use the ipod as a reward since Josh's ipod has a cracked/shattered screen again.  I can't get too mad because this time it was Sarah, Noah and my fault it shattered.  It was already cracked but we finished it off so now it has to get fixed before we can use it again.  D'OH!!
Anyway, we made do with what we had--I gave Sarah and Noah some pens and they got to color all over the exam bed paper.  They thought it was pretty awesome.
 Matthew did really well and is as healthy as a horse!!  He ways 88 pounds and is 60 inches tall (5 feet).  He did better with the immunizations than I thought he would which was great.  After the visit the kids got to pick out stickers.  Noah got his and immediately put it on his owie on his leg.  He thought the sticker was a band aid just like the band aids Matthew got on his arms.  What a funny boy!
That afternoon we had an appointment with Matthew's psychiatrist.  It was time to get his medication readjusted since he was getting quite aggressive with Aaron and I when he doesn't get his way.  He was getting to the point of biting, hitting, kicking, head butting, punching which has left a quite a few bruises on Aaron.  He usually would just target Aaron, but he has gotten to the point that he is starting to target me as well.  He is getting quite hard to handle and we are suffering some caregiver burnout because it does get hard dealing with these tantrums day after day.  Unfortunately, his doctor could only increase a few meds and then she said that we need to get his anger under control by other means then medication especially before he hits puberty which will happen in the next few years.  She suggested that maybe we could find an ABA therapist we could hire to give us some tips among other things.  Now this seems rather overwhelming for me. I guess I will start up some research and hopefully we can come up with some solutions, because what we are doing now is not working most of the time.  I could sit and cry about it, but that wouldn't fix the problem....SIGH!!  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers because this is a very difficult problem that does not have any easy solutions!

We finally finished our fire pit.  We got the basic set up last year, but got the finishing details done this last few days.  Aaron had lots of 'help' (if you can call it that) from the kids, but they had fun 'helping' him even if it made more work for Aaron.
 That evening after Family Home Evening we had s'mores for our activity/treat.  It was lots of fun!  It was also nice to have a fire and not have to smell like smoke since it is from a natural gas line.
 The smores were really yummy, but.....
 very sticky and messy.  Good thing we had a hose to wash the kids off with!
 Everyone loved it!
 Here's what it looks like at night since you couldn't really see the flame during the daytime:
 It was Sarah's last true day of preschool on Tuesday and they finished it off by having a bubble party.  They did all things bubble and it was fun.  They had a bubble table with all kinds of bubble wands you could play with.  They also had a water table filled with water, toys and dish soap so the kids could play in the bubble water with the toys.  The funnest part of the day was doing the bubble tunnel where you stood inside the baby pool filled with bubble solution and they blew a bubble around you with a hula hoop.  Noah and I came a few minutes early to see Sarah play.
Sarah loved the bubble tunnel!
 They even let Noah have a turn.
He LOVED it as well.
I can't believe Sarah is almost done with preschool.  It makes me sad to think she will be starting kindergarten in a few months.  How did she get so big?!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Mother's Day, Orthodontist, Surprise!



For whatever reason Blogger decided to add my pictures in a random order so this post won't necessarily be in order, but at least I will be caught up.  To start off for Mother's Day Aaron surprised me by getting Sarah ready for church.  Now when I say ready he got her dressed and even did her hair which is amazing.  This is the second time ever that he has done her hair and I think he did a pretty good job.  Here's the front:
Here's the back--he even used the Topsy Turvey flipped her ponytail over and then braided it as well as put in a pretty that matched her dress.  I was completely impressed!
Friday was national Train Day.  I found out by reading the newspaper--I had no idea that such a day even existed, but it does and we celebrated it by going to the Union Station Museums in Ogden on Saturday.  While we were there the kids got a chance to ride on two different trains which they loved.  Here's the one they rode on inside:
Here's the outside train:  Matthew was in HEAVEN!!!
 
While we were there we got a chance to see the inside of an old mail train car.  You can see all the mail slots and bags:
 Here's the hospital train car:
  Things did not look comfortable inside, but I guess they made it work.
 
They even had a Blacksmith there demonstrating different things.  It was really interesting to watch him work.
 
The kids were excited because he made the boys a some toy swords:
 And the girls (Sarah and me) got to share a leaf key chain:
 Friday night Susan, Aaron's sister, came up for a visit.  We had dinner together and let the kids play.  The kids had fun playing with their cousins.  We got them all together for a picture:
Saturday we had a Terry family get-together down at G&G T's house for Mother's Day.  We had a yummy hamburger and hot dog dinner and then all the cousins got to play together.  They all had fun--maybe a little too much fun.  Noah wanted to swing so I put him in the swing and Sarah took over the pushing part for me.  She pushed him for a little bit and then decided to start twisting the rope to make him spin.  After a few minutes Noah started screaming.  Usually I wait to see if things resolve themselves before I intervene, but Noah continued to scream.  I got up to let him out.  As soon as I raised the swing bar he proceeded to throw up EVERYWHERE!!!
The poor kid must have gotten a little too dizzy from spinning so much.  Thankfully we were outside so he got a quick squirt down by the hose which he HATED and then I took him in to give him a bath.  Poor boy!  We also had to wash his clothes because they were saturated with barf--YUCK!
Sunday morning I was awakened by a surprise Mother's Day breakfast of bacon, chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, toast and milk.  Of course everyone helped themselves to all the food, but it was a fun time and I have lots of crumbs in my sheets to prove it.  I guess I will be changing the bedsheets sooner than later, but it was worth it.
 Matthew had an appointment with the orthodontist Thursday morning where they took X-rays and mouth molds of his teeth.  I was worried how Matthew was going to handle all of it because you just never know with him.  However, he did great!  The hardest thing for him was not being able to talk while they were messing with his mouth.  He is such a chatter box!!  Here he is holding the mouth things so they can get some good pictures of his crazy teeth.
 It appears he will be getting a Herbst appliance in three weeks which will help with his overbite.  After that we have to get three baby teeth pulled and then we will start the braces.  I am nervous about how he will tolerate everything, but we are going to try it anyway.  Wish us luck--I think we all will need it!!

The other morning while Sarah was at preschool I started a DVD workout.  Noah grabbed his pillowpet and laid on the floor beside me.  As I was finishing the workout up I looked over to see that he had fallen asleep.  I then picked him up and got Bubba snuggles the rest of the morning until it was time to pick Sarah up.  I have to take advantage of these times because they don't happen as often as they used to :(.  He is getting so big, but I enjoyed every minute of our snuggle time!  It was worth not getting anything else done that morning!!
Now I LOVE Mother's Day, but my most favorite part of the holiday is the little things my kids make me.  That is my most favorite part!!  I took pictures of all the kids artwork because I think they are so sweet!  They all make me teary eyed, but I LOVE them!!  Here's what Sarah made for me:
 
It is a card with her hand print with flowers attached to it.  It says, "I love my mom because.. it's going to be Mother's Day and she helps me clean up."  She also planted some flowers for me as you can see in the flower pot next to the card:
The inside of the card she drew a picture of me when I was a little girl.  She then drew me and her standing together under the sun.
Josh made me a notepad and a card.  The notepad says, "Smiles, you are seriously fun and happy.  Lazy days are the very best days.  You have amazing beauty, friends.  I hope wish's and a big wonderful heart. 
 The card included says, You are pretty, nice and you have a virus for love."  The inside says, "I love you Mom.  Ps have a lovely day."  Josh was pretty pleased with it.

 Matthew brought home a note spelling out Mother.  M-magnificent, O-out of this world, T-typist, H-hilarious, E-epic, R-really funny.  He then signed it Matthew Aaron Mancil--I guess just in case I forgot his full name :).
 Daniel made me a book.
 The first page he drew a picture of me.
 Here's the next page:
 Next Page:
 Next page:
 Last page with key chain that says, "Mom, You hold the key to my heart!"
 The back cover:
 Here's Noah's gift from nursery:
It says I love you
 The inside says, "This is the hand you used to hold when I was 3 years old!"  This made me a little teary eyed.
I love these sweet gifts!!  It is my favorite part about Mother's Day.  I also got to hear the four oldest sing with the primary during sacrament meeting.  That was the last time Matthew will sing to me from primary.  That makes me a little sad, but I loved hearing them.