Cousins!

So Spencer had another day off of school today.  My sister's little girl also had today off so I was planning on driving up to Tremonton today to spend the day with my sister and her kids.  My kids were quite excited to see their cousins.  My little Tessa told me she couldn't wait to twirl in front of Aliya's mirror in her room!  I didn't know that was such a big draw, but apparently it is to a little 3 year old princess.  Of course my sister Tiffany is used to writing plans in pencil.  On Wednesday she called me to say her little 4 year old was headed to the hospital, which is actually too common of an occurrence for them.  So our Friday fun day activity was modified a bit...

Last night after I got off work Tiffany brought Aliya and Jacob over to my house.  Jacob (18 months) slept in a playpen set up in Tessa's room, Clara slept in her own crib in her room, and Aliya (6 years), Spencer, and Tessa slept on the floor in Spencer's room.  Surprisingly the two little ones slept great!  Jacob didn't make a sound until 8 this morning.  Clara slept until 5, at which point I pulled her into my bed for a couple of hours.  That doesn't bother me as much as it should, cuz she's the best, cuddliest little teddy bear ever!  However, the bigger kids were a different story...

So by the time I got home from work, Tiff brought the kids over, I ate dinner and nursed Clara, and we got the kids ready for bed it was already 9.  And mine are usually in bed between 7:30 and 8:00.  Then they were of course so excited that they were still whispering and giggling at 10:00.  Tessa was the funniest as she had to come out of the room every 5 minutes or so telling us something random.  She was so excited to be with the big kids!  And it didn't help that Spencer's room is right next to the TV room where Brodie and I were.  Then at 7:00 on the dot I heard the door open and the giggles and voices coming up.  Followed shortly by the fridge opening for yogurts and then the Wii.

For breakfast Spencer wanted to make "Fifi's French Toast" from his Better Homes and Garden Junior Cookbook.  How can someone living in our house not have a passion for cooking...or eating good food?  Spencer had looked through and found something he knew we had all the ingredients for.  So we made and ate our french toast.  Then the kids hung out in their pajamas watching t.v., eating salt water taffy, and playing Wii for the morning.  In the afternoon we played "Amelia Bedelia", tricking the kids into some reading and math, as well as making cookies (once again from Spencer's cookbook).  Tessa is getting quite good at cracking eggs.  She cracked all four without a single shell!  I also sent the kids outside to the trampoline for a while.  Overall most of the day was spent in front of the Wii.  World of Zoo seemed to be the big hit today.  At least they were all enjoying it and they were doing a good job of taking turns.

When my mom came to pick up Aliya and Jacob my kids were so sad.  They definitely had a fun Friday!  We then finished it off with dinner at Chin-Wah.  Now we're enjoying our peaceful unwinding in front of the television and computer with all the kids asleep!