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For any of you that aren’t Barbara Streisand fans, that’s a line from the last song in the movie “Funny Girl.”  I thought of it as I walked in the house yesterday, after an early morning run, to find this sweet little scene:

I’ve got myself a good man, he’s a great dad and the hardest working person I know.  He’d stayed up until 3am the night before working and was still willing to help with the kids in the morning.  He’ll be rolling his eyes when he reads this, but honey, I don’t care, I love you!

If you’re interested in a little taste of Babs I included a little clip from the movie.

Ellis turned 3 on Tuesday, July 7th but we decided to go ahead and celebrate on the 4th of July while Aunt Kirsten and Uncle Dallas were here and Erik was home from work.  We had a fun barbecue, opened presents and had cake.  It was definitely a princess birthday!  We gave her the Cinderella dress and Barbie but Aunt Kirsten stole the show with the gorgeous Tinker Bell outfit and wings!

I love this picture.  What a crazy little family and what’s with Lincoln using his party favor as a stogie?

We couldn’t let the day of Ellis’s actual birthday go by without any fanfare.  She got the customary candle in her breakfast, wore her cute birthday outfit she received from Grandma Doris and got to do lunch and play land at Burger King.  It’s official our baby girl is all grown up!

Blogging has certainly taken a backseat to real life lately but since this is the only way I do any documenting of our life I realized that it needs to put back on the top of my list.  I worried going into this summer that it might be a painfully boring three months confined in the house with a new baby.  I pictured kids bouncing off the wall and me tearing my hair out but it hasn’t been half bad and only with the most minor bouts of bouncing and hair tearing.  We’ve stayed really busy and baby Will seems to enjoy the busy lifestyle he’s been plucked into.

At the end of May Rulon graduated from preschool which means my sweet little Ru will be in Kindergarden next year!  He has a cute little graduation ceremony and got to share a fun year with his best buddies, Jack and Brett.

Lincoln finished first grade and was very much excited to leave the pressures of his “studies” behind him for a summer.   Ah, the stress these 1st graders must endure!  Lincoln and Mrs. Hicklin:

The boys got to go on a fun overnight with Erik for the Father and Sons outing.  Ellie was sad she didn’t get to go so Erik set up the tent in the backyard when they got home the next day.  The kids thought it was great, the grass in our back yard not so much..

Memorial weekend we barbequed and then decided to take the kids up to the top of Mt. Diablo to enjoy the gorgeous view.  Ellie did not enjoy the views on the way back down and ended up losing her lunch in my canvas library bag.

Erik further deepened Lincoln’s obsession for guitars when he took him to Guitar Center to check out the merchandise.  Lincoln was thrilled and informed me that when he goes to college he wants to major in being a rock star.  I’ll have to check the course directory at BYU for that one…

My lastest nerdy obsession?  Couponing!  I know…weird, but I really love it.  I’ve stumbled across all these crazy couponing bloggers and I really gotten into it.  I can’t tell you the high I get when I score a box of granola bars for a quarter, or a tube of toothpaste for free.  Oh, yeah..  One of my recent shopping trips, all for $29.00 (yes, I did take a picture of my food):

We really love Chabot Space and Science Center!  As one of the prizes for the summer reading program at the library the kids got free passes, so we had to make a trip.  It helped to have Kirsten and Erik there to help with brood. Check out Rulon’s obscene space suit:

We’ve joined a community pool and have also been really busy with swim team.  Lincoln’s on the team and gets to compete in swim meets once or twice a week.  Rulon and Ellis are a part of the mini team which means they go daily and have swim lessons with the older members of the team.  Once they can swim the length of the pool by themselves they get to be on the team too. They all love it, although “Princess Ellie” doesn’t like getting her head wet, which I see has a potential hinderance to her progress.  A post and pictures on swim team to come…

These are truly the bugs that I love….

It’s always an adjustment with a new baby in the house and adding a 4th has been no exception.  Needless to say sleep has been at a premium and getting a shower every day has been a bit dicey.  So if there was ever a year that I needed a feel-good, mom-your-the-best kind of mother’s day, this was the year.  Probably sensing my emotional fragility, my husband and kids came through.

The festivities began on Thursday when I attended the sweetest Mother’s Tea at Rulon’s preschool.  The kids made a place setting for each of their mothers and served food that they’d prepared themselves.  Despite my obvious concern over 20 four-year-olds preparing my salad it was actually quite enjoyable.  The kids were even required to clear our plates afterward.  Rulon was so proud, it was very sweet.  I also received some cute things from Ellis including a necklace that I was allowed to look at but not wear….

On Friday Lincoln made me not one but two really sweet mother’s day cards and brought home a potted plant.  Erik was the big hero when he took the boys out running errands on Saturday while Ellis and Will took naps which meant (gasp) I got a nap too!

On Sunday I got to sleep in (hooray again for Erik).  When I finally awoke from my glorious slumber Erik and the kids gave me a couple of fun gifts one of which was a Snuggie (pictured below).  If you haven’t seen these things on TV, well I guess that means you don’t watch TV.  I think they’re hilarious.  They remind me of some cult-like, grim reaper-type cape except it’s made out of bright blue fleecy material. The Snuggie rocks, I acutally wore it while I watched American Idol and folded my laundry, all while staying toasty warm.  The cherry on top was that Erik had to go to several different stores asking,”um, do you carry the…Snuggie?”  I feel so loved!

By popular demand I am finally posting some pictures of the newest member of our rowdy little bunch.  Little William Brad Adams or as we like to call him Baby Will arrived on Tuesday April 21st at 7:17pm.  He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz. and was 20.25 inches long.  We named him William after Erik’s Grandpa Bill and Brad after my dad.  He is a little sweetheart whose favorite pastimes are eating and sleeping.  The kids have been thrilled to have him around although they’ve complained that he doesn’t do too much.  Ellis is a little unsettled by the new baby in the house but we hope she will step into her “big sister” role soon.  I’ve been very lucky to have lots of help this last few weeks.

My mom came out the week little Will was born and did everything from help with the kids, cook meals, pot plants and make some very cool super hero capes for the kids.

Grandma Risenmay

Erik’s mom came this past week and also filled the role of mother, cook, cleaner, super grandma, etc. The kids and I were thoroughly spoiled and loved every minute of it!  We also had some surprise visits from Erik’s brother, Bryan, and sister-in-law Heather.

Bryan, Will and Grandma Adams

Heather & Bryan

Grandpa Adams and the kids after a very busy week.

To top off the week we had Erik’s dad fly out so we could bless Will in church on Sunday (May 3rd).  I’ve really enjoyed the company of so much family these past two weeks and the opportunity to just enjoy this new baby.  I am now flying solo again and hoping that I can manage without all of my helpers.  I guess it’s time to be a big girl again. 

Will’s blessing day

I meant to get this posted before the baby arrived but it just didn’t happen.  Easter weekend was great. On Saturday we went to a baptism and then headed over to our neighborhood park where they had a big bounce house and a small Easter egg hunt.

Later that day, Erik’s sister, Kirsten and her husband Dallas showed up to surprise us and the kids with about 10 pounds of candy and about 100 plastic eggs and staged a massive Easter egg hunt for the kids.  Talk about a sugar rush!!

Easter day was pretty low key with a visit from the Easter bunny, church and a quiet afternoon at home.

I really loved conference this past weekend.  How is it that every talk feels custom tailored for you?  I’ve been blog stalking some friends and I don’t seem to be alone in that sentiment.  It seemed like the overall theme of conference focused on dealing with trials and serving others.  I’ve been thinking about this a lot and have recently been the undeserving recipient of a lot of kind acts of service.  Isn’t it funny that when someone does something nice for you that you scramble to think of what you can possibly do to repay them as if you are in the negative or something?  I am sure that’s not quite the whole idea behind service, as if it was some big game with points involved.  Nevertheless, I have felt very blessed, as I’ve said before, for amazing friends and family I just hope that I can somehow pass it on. I documented some of last weeks highlights:

My cute friends Emily Johnson and Shawna Hill threw me a fun informal “baby brunch” with a few friends. The food and company were wonderful!

I love Kristina Christensen!  I needed a hair cut so bad (I was getting tired of the amazon women look I’d been sporting) and she gave me a “baby gift hair cut.”  I have such nice and talented friends!

The only time the UPS truck pulls up to the house is when a package is being delivered from Grandma (Erik’s mom).  She sends a package for every holiday (minor or major).  The kids went nuts and rushed the door when they saw the poor unsuspecting UPS guy approach.  He dropped the package, rang the bell and sprinted back to his truck all while the kids were trying to claw their way through the cardboard and screaming as if they’d just won the lottery.  Thanks Grandma!

Last week I opened the door to a sweet fresh-faced, blonde girl who I’d never seen before in my life.  She asked if I was Heather Adams and when I responded in the affirmative she handed over this manila envelope and with a smile scampered back to the waiting car in the drive way.  I was confused and wondering if I’d just been supeanoed (although I highly doubted they served court papers with your names printed in large sharpie block letters).  When I opened the envelope I was brought to tears. Inside was an extremely kind and generous gift with a note affixed stating their love for us.  I can’t tell you how humbled Erik and I felt. I don’t know who it was that was responsible for this, but if any of you do please tell them how thankful we are and how loved we felt. I don’t know how I can begin to pay all of this kindness forward but I will certainly try.