You're Invited!

I just wanted to let everyone know about the upcoming "Italian Dinner and Benefit Auction" that is scheduled for June 5th at the Mesa Jaycee's Courtyard in Downtown Mesa.

You can purchase your tickets through PAYPAL or credit card on the top right corner of this blog. You can also call (480) 649-0562 for more information or to order tickets.

There are going to be some great items and deals at the auction. Click HERE for our growing list of auction items.

We will be auctioning off homemade goodies - your best one! - at the auction. If you would be able to help us with your culinary confections, please leave me a comment or email me directly.

We are also still looking for additional items for the auction. Please email Maria at onesmartchicken@gmail.com or Andrea at amanning24@gmail.com if you have something to donate. All donations are appreciated:)

Thank-you all in advance for your support. Our entire family appreciates it!

Baja Fresh Fundraiser!!!

Anson's 3rd Birthday

Anson turned 3 on April 20. He woke up to his "Birthday Door". We of course had to have Trix for breakfast and had to sneak in some Finding Nemo fruit snacks!


Anson's first present he opened was the movie "Toy Story 2" and a book about Toy Story. He was so enthralled with the book that he forgot he even had other presents! He also got a Buzz Lightyear, Woody doll (his old one had the string pulled out and wouldn't work anymore), and a yellow race car. We had to throw in that race car so it wasn't a complete Toy Story present birthday.



We went to the zoo in Tucson that morning. I recall taking pictures, but for some reason there aren't any on my camera. We must have used Aaron's camera there. We had such a great time, though it was a little short. We got Aaron to come with us, but he had to be back in time to go to an afternoon appointment. We got to see a bear walking around, the tiger and a polar bear swimming in the water (in different cages of course!), feed the giraffes - at least Aaron did, and see lots of other animals too. It was great!

That night we had homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream for our FHE dessert and had Anson blow out the candles. I wasn't too into making another cake - and we don't need it hanging around the house anyway!

Anson's 3rd Birthday Party

I asked Anson in February what kind of birthday party he wanted. He promptly told me a Buzz Lightyear party and talked constantly about his party for nearly 3 months! Every time we had a party or a gathering, he was sure it was time for his Buzz Lightyear party. Note to self: Don't ask a 2, almost 3 year old what kind of party he wants that far in advance. Ever.

So I planned the party well in advance and ordered everything I needed so I would not run into the problem of getting my packages the day of the party - like they did for Rebecca's 4th birthday party. Talk about unneeded stress!

Only problem was, I couldn't find a good date for the party. There was something going on every day I wanted to have the party for someone that was supposed to come. So I kept putting off picking a date until after I came back from Boston on April 14 - 6 days before his birthday. I finally sat Aaron down and we went through every day possible. Nothing was going to work for everyone. So we decided to do it that Friday - as in April 17. We called everyone, and surpisingly there was only 1 conflict - the one I knew about. My sister's brother-in-law was getting married that night, so Alana couldn't come. Also, my mom and brothers could only come for the beginning of the party. Besides that, it worked out great, and I didn't have to worry about the party until the day or two before! Works great for me!


So it worked out best for us to have the party at a park in Mesa. Nathan, Anson's good friend from our ward, was even out this way on this particular afternoon, so Aaron picked him up for the party and Tessa took him home at the end.


This is the Buzz Lightyear rocket ship cake I made. Anson wanted me to keep taking it off the counter and show it to him the whole day. Rebecca and Anson decorated the cupcakes with the leftover purple and green candy from the cake. I also conveniently got rid of the other colors of decorating candy by putting it in the treasure bags for the treasure. Sneaky, huh?


We started off the games with a treasure hunt. They look pretty excited to see what the treasure is! The older kids were definitely the finders and seekers of the treasure hunt, though we were able to get the 3 younger boys to join us to find the treasure.


Next was the Toy Story toss. The kids threw bean bags and tried to land them on different Toy Story characters. Of special note to throw at were the Prospector and the Evil Emperor Zurg.


We played Pin the Tail on Rex (the dinosaur from Toy Story), and the older kids were again much more interested in this one. I got 2 of the 3 younger boys to try it though. The other picture is of Anson's best buddy, Peter. Peter is also Anson's cousin, so that works out well. Too bad he lives an hour away. Anson is constantly asking me to play with him. Luckily Anson has some friends out here too, so he gets over not playing with Peter as much as he would like to. On a side note, Anson was in high heaven the last 2 weeks as he got to go to Father's and Sons with Aaron's side of the family and play with Peter, and then this last week he and Peter and Aaron and Jonathan (Aaron's brother and Peter's dad), went to Amazing Jakes for some father and son time.



Anson got some presents and wanted to get dressed up like Buzz Lightyear right away. He also got a fun big Lego racing set from his Aunts and Uncles. Thank you! He had his serious face on as he opened the presents.

And last, but not least, Anson blew out his candles, and probably didn't make a wish. Not sure that he understands about that part of it yet. He did a good job at blowing out the candles though!

Happy Birthday Anson! We love having you in our family!

Announcing...

It's a BOY! We are so excited to welcome another little boy to our family. Our pattern is keeping up perfectly for the moment, though I expect that it will not last forever. We can enjoy it for now however, and we are so glad that we have evened things up around here.

Aaron and I went to the ultrasound on Thursday afternoon, and everything looks really good. All 10 toes appear to be there, and everything was measuring perfectly.

A special thanks goes out to my AMAZING sister in law Christina for helping us out by watching our 3 kids on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons! She even rearranged her schedule on Thursday to help us. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

We are still in the process of choosing a name, so no news on that yet.

Getaway - Friday & Saturday

Aaron and I got back from Massachusetts last night. We had the most wonderful time together seeing the sights and just enjoying one another's company. It has been a long time since I've been away without one of the kids. I really needed a break from Katie who seems to be attached at the hip and particularly needy lately. I sure felt bad leaving her, but boy was it nice!

We stayed at a hotel on Cape Cod in southern Massachusetts. It was right on the ocean - so beautiful! It is 3 hours later in Massachusetts, so it was somewhat late by the time we got there. We had dinner at a nice restaurant on the water and had some of the fresh Codfish from the ocean. YUM!

On Saturday, it was raining. And it was COLD! We ventured out anyway, and had a great time in Lexington and Concord. It was so fun to learn all about the Minutemen and the impact of the "Shot Heard Round The World". Aaron had never been there before, so I really enjoyed seeing him soak up the history and how much more it came to life for him. It came even more to life for me also. The anniversary of Paul Revere's famous ride is April 18-19. He left Boston the night of April 18, and on April 19 all of the Minutemen were called to action and flocked by the thousands to the road leading back to Boston as the tired Redcoats tried to flee.

We got to see part of a reenactment of Paul Revere's capture in Lincoln. I say part because it was raining so hard and we didn't have umbrellas, so we ended up leaving after following all of the reenacters to the spot where he was captured.

We also stopped by the Old Manse, a house whose back window looks right onto the bridge where the Minutemen and the British soldiers met and where the "Shot Heard Round the World" was made. It was the home of Ralph Waldo Emerson's grandfather and grandmother. His grandmother watched through the window at the confrontation at the bridge. Later, Ralph Waldo Emerson lived in the house for about a year after his wife died and he had come back from being abroad for a couple of years. Nathaniel Hawthorne and his bride lived in the house for 3 years. They had their first baby there. Nathaniel Hawthorne's wife took her diamond ring while she lived in the house and wrote messages on the window panes. The messages are still there today.

We saw the bridge from a distance, but it was too cold and windy to go all the way up to it.

Walden pond was our next stop, and I saw a recreation of Henry David Thoreau's cabin. Aaron walked/ran all the way around the pond and saw the actual site where he stayed. I stayed in the nice warm car!

We stopped by Lexington and saw where the first Minutemen were shot.

The last stop of the night was the Boston Symphony. We parked, had a quick dinner at Chicago Uno, and got to the ticket office about 5 minutes before it started. We quickly found out that I had made a terrible mistake when purchasing the tickets - I had actully bought tickets for Tuesday night! They were sold out except for a few single seats here and there, so the man said there was nothing he could do for us. We left, then went back in and asked again. Again we were turned away. We stood in the room wondering what to do. We figured we would just stay until it started, then figure out something else for the night. Then the man gestured to us, and gave us 2 tickets. Not just any tickets. 5th row back, dead center. I couldn't believe how close we were. And what a beautiful building - to say nothing of the music! Lets just say they were amazing. One of the pieces they did was a piano solo with the full orchestra accompanying. The pianist was incredible. A very wonderful evening!

Headaches

I have been dealing with excruciatingly painful headaches for the past month and a half. Every single day I would have one, and could barely function or drive. I probably shouldn't have been driving, come to think of it! So I started trying everything I could think of to get them to go away. I'm still in the process of working on it, but I've already found a few things that are helping.

#1 - Jaw problems - I have found out (by going to my Primary Care Dr.), that I have been clenching my jaw. I'm not sure how long this has been going on, but as soon as he said that, I realized that my jaw HAS been hurting really badly for a while. Its pretty crazy to think that I didn't even realize I was doing it! So I've been trying really hard to release it and not hold it so tight. Maybe comes from stress? Maybe just habit? Not really sure, but it sure is hard to stop!

#2 - Tylenol - This only works when I am working on not clenching my jaw. Before I stopped clenching, the tylenol didn't do a thing for me. Advil has always worked better for me, but I can't have it while I'm pregnant.

#3 - Eye problems - Apparently one of my eyes is near sighted, and the other is far sighted. So you might be seeing me around with glasses in the not too distant future. My left eye is pretty weak, so the Dr. thinks it might be a few days until that eye adjusts to the glasses.

#4 - Myopractor - Aaron's family always goes to the Myopractor when they don't feel well. He is kind of like a Chiropractor, but is not covered by insurance and works more with your muscles instead of bones. At least that is how I understand it. In any case, I am trying it. Anything to help right now!

#5 - Neurologist - Not sure if I actually need this one. At the moment I have an appointment scheduled for next Wednesday. I'm not sure if I'll keep it yet as the other things seem to be helping.

Thats it for now. Not sure what else I should try. Maybe I'll just give this some more time to have its effect. I sure can't wait to be feeling better! Its already been SO much better this past week (excepting yesterday).

Aaron's Mother

Dear Family and Friends,

My mother-in-law, Margaret Manning, began treatment for her Lymphoma Cancer on Monday, March 30, 2009 in Houston, TX. Prayers continue to be greatly appreciated in her behalf.

To read more about Margaret's story, and how the Lord has truly been leading and blessing her in her recovery efforts, please see her blog at www.margaretmanning.blogspot.com. She tells what has happened so far best in the posts titled "Come What May and Love It" - parts 1 & 2.

At this time, we are in great need of donations to pay for Margaret's ongoing treatment. Cash, credit cards, checks, frequent flyer miles, points for rental cars or hotels, etc. will all be very appreciated. We also have fundraisers in the works that you can donate to or come and support. (I'm helping a LOT with one, so check back for more details!)

The cost of the treatment is still somewhat unknown. The initial treatment was approximately $20,000, which was not covered by insurance at all. Margaret's insurance only works in the state of Arizona.

At this point we know that it will be at least $4800/month to continue treatment. Luckily, Margaret (and her daughter Maria who accompanied her to Houston), will be able to return to Arizona later tonight. We are so grateful to have her come home so soon, and that she was able to find a Dr. here to treat her - and get some of the medications covered by insurance!

We have set up a donation account on behalf of Margaret with a non-profit organization called Positive Impact. You can donate by going to Margaret's blog (see above). There are many different options on how to donate, including by credit card and check.

Thank you for your prayers and support at this difficult time for our family. We have great faith that Margaret will be healed and that everything will work out for her good.