Wednesday, June 30, 2010

New family pictures

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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Insanity!

Well, as usual, things have been totally and completely insane around here. I had 7 kids here on Thursday and Friday. I was down to 5 on Saturday and on Sunday, I was finally down to just my 3. Glad to have survived that one!

On Thursday I took 5 kids swimming at Grandma Terri's house. No pictures - grandma wasn't home so I was chasing Duleb!

On Friday we pretty much stuck close to home.

Saturday Nash's left ear finally started to drain. He made the comment "Mom! I can hear you now!" Later in the day, I took 5 kids into town. We bought a present and a cake for a sister in law and then went back to their place. We didn't leave (with just my 3 kids) until just before 9. As we were heading out of Logan Nash started sobbing that his ear hurt. So, I stopped at my mom's house to ask her what she thought I should do. We did some ear candles (never hear of it? Shangri La store has these hollow candles you put in your ear & burn down and it sucks stuff out of your ear. Totally nasty but works!). We finally got home around 11 and the kids just crashed.

Sunday morning Nash told me he could "hear bubbles" in his ear. So, I left Samantha & Caleb with my mom and made a trip into InstaCare. Yay - my favorite. They told me that his right ear was finally cleared up and not clogged. His left ear however was "so full of pus I can't see his eardrum." Great. We get a perscription for ear drops - surprise. We headed back to my mom's house and ended up staying, literarally, all day. The kids swam in the pool until they were completely water logged. Caleb's back got sunburned even with SPF 50!

Monday morning I woke up at 8 am to "Mommy!" and throw up all over in Sam's bed. Yay. I thought maybe she had just had too much sun and not enough to drink. She pretty much slept all day (even when we went to Brigham and my brother gave me a facial & an eyelash perm). I figured she'd probably feel better on Tuesday. Right? Not my luck. At least today she hasn't thrown up! Now if I can just get her to eat & drink, we should be in business!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Not my day

4 - The number of Samantha's birthday porcelin dolls that broke when the shelf "fell" today.












The survivors














3 - The number of potted plants that fell off the porch & spilled everywhere when Samantha "tripped".
1 - The number of semi large bleeding heart plants that got squashed thanks to the 3 pots & Samantha.
1 - The number of juices spilled all over the garage.
0 - The number of naps Caleb has had as of 2:21.
12 - The time I finally went to bed (I was reading The Secret Life of Bees).
4 - The number of times I've beat my printer because it wouldn't print my receipt for click2pick.

Hoping the rest of the day turns out better!

Well, it definately got worse before it got better today. I'm just hoping tomorrow isn't any worse. Otherwise, I'm going back to bed & not getting out of it until Trav comes home Tuesday night! I'm sure I could find enough books to keep me company at least that long!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

New Adventures

Side note before I begin - I stayed up until 2 am reading The Wednesday Letters. What a great book! I've already read more books this summer that have been "just because" than I have in a LONG time!

Tonight when I took Sam to dance class I asked her if she was wanting to do performing dance in the fall or just keep doing the once a week classes she's been doing since she was three. She asked me what the performing class was. I told her that it's where she gets to go to different places and dance for people. I told her she'd learn more dances and have more costumes and she'd get to go to dance class two times a week instead of one. She said, "Ok." but it wasn't very convincing. So, I said, "It's the kind of dancing Braidie did." To this she nearly jumped through the roof of the expedition saying, "YES! I want to do it!" Let me explain who Braidie is. Braidie was the flower girl at our wedding. She is Trav's cousin and she just graduated this spring. Sam LOVES Braidie. Braidie is the sister Sam wants to have so dearly. Braidie did dance and cheer and I swear she is Sam's hero. So, I wasn't at all surprised when she gave me that reaction!

When I took her inside to drop her off, I got her on the list for performing class for fall. Jenny, the owner of LaShar's, is excited. She said Sam is just one of those kids that come by dance naturally. She doesn't have to be told to point her toes or even what the next step might be -- she just knows. I was glad to hear that and told Jenny she gets her rhythm from her father! Sam's had a groove to her since she was a tiny baby and Caleb does too. The trait seems to have skipped Nash though. Anyway, after getting the list and walking out I read that they're going to Disney Land in CA in March 2011. Yes...Samantha is excited and her first question out of her mouth after hearing this was, "Is that where Miley lives?" That girl!

I'm not sure how excited about this new adventure our dad is. I'm sure he'll be there to support his girl any time or any place. It's just the lessons 2 x a week that I think he might gripe about! ;) I did tell Trav that we need to get Nash into something extra curricular this fall too, even if it's piano! So, if you have any ideas -- send them my way!

New book I'm trying to tackle: Pacific -- it's actually a 10 part miniseries on HBO. It's about WW2 and the fighting in the Pacific and it's told through the life story of about 5 different men. We'll see how this one goes - I'm trying to remain optimistic. I'm also going to start reading The Secret Life of Bees. And, I've been reading The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo to the kids at night. That's a weird one.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Numbers

Here are today's totals:

1:38 - Time I finally put The Book Theif down and went to bed.
200 - About how many pages I have left in The Book Theif.
3:18 - Time Nash woke up screaming bloody murder that his ear hurt.
3:37 - Time I called my mom asking for help.
1 - Number of heating packs I microwaved.
5 - Number of mL's I gave Nash of Motrin.
4 - Time Nash went back to sleep.
7 - Time my alarm went off.
7:30 - Time my sister dropped her kids off.
10 - Time I called and scheduled an appointment with the pediatrician today.
0 - Number of kids that ate all their lunch.
5 - Number of kids that wanted treats after not eating all their lunch.
2 - The time of my appointment.
4 - Number of tubes plugged.
1 - Number of ear infections.
2 - Number of sinus infections and perscriptions.
1 - Number of pediatricians that said he would have stitched Caleb's face instead of using glue b/c the kid has pulled the scab off 4 times now!
5 - Number of kids I took to the pediatrician's office, the bank, Shopko, Charlie's Ice Cream & Merlin Olsen Park.
1 - Number of people that asked if all 5 kids were mine!
1 - Number of cars that stopped 3 ft in front of Caleb rather than run him over.
1 - Number of times my heart stopped after nearly watching Caleb get run over by an SUV.
2 - Number of kids that ended up in the stream at Merlin Olsen Park after being told to "Stay out of the water!"
4:42- Time we left Merlin Olsen Park.
0 - Number of fits when I said it was time to leave the park! :)
1 - Number of chiropractor appointments I had scheduled for today.
1 - Number of naps Caleb took today (conviently while I was in the chiropractor's office!)
3/5 - Number of summer reading calendars that hit the 2 hr reading requirement for last week that received their free donut from Macey's coupon today.
3 - Number of calendars we can still get coupons for last week's reading.
17 - Number of new library books we checked out.
1 - Number of kids I had help mow the lawn tonight.
1 - Number of dogs I own that "tree-ed" a Rock Chuck behind my Holly Hocks tonight.
3 - Number of men I tried to get to kill the Rock Chuck that were conviently not home!
1 - Number of men that came to my rescue.
3 - Number of shovels used in the Rock Chuck assult.
1 - Number of large crowbars used in the assult.
6 - Number of kids that witnessed the Rock Chuck murder.
4 - Number of adults that witnessed the Rock Chuck murder.
1 - Number of people that got to wash the blood off my back patio after the Rock Chuck murder.
12 - Number of hours the dead Rock Chuck will spend in my garbage can before garbage day!
3 - Number of people I sent text messages to informing them of the Rock Chuck murder.
1 - Number of husbands that was disappointed I didn't use my own gun to kill it\\a Rock Chuck.
2 - Number of pictures I took of a dead Rock Chuck tonight.
1 - Number of lawns I finally got mowed after a Rock Chuck was murdered & its corpse removed!
3 - Number of different meals I had to make for dinner tonight in order to please all the children.
1 - Number of Lego constructions I am currently being required to work on.
1 - Number of children sitting on my computer desk rather than going to bed!
60 - Number of minutes both older kids read today.
1 - Number of chapter books I started reading with the kids (The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo).
0 - Number of children & animals I am hoping to share my bed with tonight!

Updated:
3 - Number of kids I shared my bed with last night!
0 - Number of dogs I shared my bed with last night.
1:11 - Time I finished The Book Thief!

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Friday, June 18, 2010

Random Happies

Here are pix of the pillow cases I'm making for my Relay for Life fundraiser. I've also added a few other adventures. Come visit me at Nibley Heritage Days tomorrow & see all our fundraiser items!
We are anxiously awaiting a trip to Oregon at the end of July!! SOOO excited! It seems I never get to have an adult-like adventure anymore! ;)

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Sunday, June 13, 2010

A Sunday stroll in the....Cave?

I woke up on Sunday and decided I wanted to go over to Minnetonka Cave. It's been about 10 years since I've been there and the kids and Trav haven't ever been. So, off we went to have an adventure. Trav's brother, Chad, and his boys came with us. It was lots of fun. Caleb's favorite part of the cave was the, "Water! Water mom!!" Sam was good until we got to the bottom of the cave and suddenly had to pee. Nash, well Nash kept trying to go ahead of the tour guide! There was only 1 other couple with us, so we were a small group. Lots of fun though.


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Go Team!

My relay team is now up to $783! Go Team!! I am doing a booth at Nibley Heritage Days on June 19th where I will have some fundraiser items available. I have been making pillowcase sets. I am selling them 1 for $5 or a set for $8. What do you think of that price? I am hoping a girl I worked with will have some watch bands done for me. I think those will go for at least $15 - it depends on how they turn out. I will also have Luminarias available for $5 each. Let me know if you are interested in any of it. I will post pix of the pillowcases soon! I will also be doing a booth at the 4th of July celebration in Hyrum.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

I'm special...

So last Monday I thought I signed up to go do Bountiful Baskets. Um...duh Misty. When you click the checkout button, it's supposed to bring up a place for you to pay. Apparently I missed that part. Guess we'll try again next Saturday! Geez. I feel special!
http://www.bountifulbaskets.org

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

It's all fun and games....

Courtesy of the pending rainstorm and ugly, black clouds on Monday, I took the kids to the Fun Park to play in the soft play. The boys were mildly entertained for a little bit, but mostly wanted to do everything EXCEPT the softplay. Stinkers.











































Sam & Jade were troopers and followed Caleb around the entire time. Thanks girls!



Tuesday our dad came home! YAY! He had been up nearly 24 hrs when he got to us. He didn't want to go to bed though because that would make him stay on the night shift sleep schedule. So, we opted for AJ's park up Blacksmith Fork Canyon.
Sam was not impressed with this toy.


Remember these dangerous suckers? Sam smacked her shin on it within minutes and was howling like she'd been gutted! I'm so sympathetic that my response was, "See, now you know why they took them off all the school playgrounds!"







And here we have the fabulous slide. Picture Caleb about 6 stairs or so up with Jade & Sam behind him to help him make it all the way to the top.




Yeah, so he probably shouldn't have been watching the kids on the merry go round! He lost his footing and fell down those 6 stairs I just told you to imagine him on. The lady sitting right there picked him up & met me half way. By the time she got him to me blood was all over his forhead, running down the side of his face and into his ear and all over his hands.










I asked Trav if he thought I should take him to InstaCare. Stupid question - Trav ALWAYS, ALWAYS says no. So, I told him to at least stop at the store & help me pick stuff out to bandage his battle wound with. By the time we got to the store, Caleb was out cold (napping). I blotted the most recent oozing off and Trav looked at him. Now his response was, "Well, maybe you better take him to InstaCare. I don't want him to have a scar there in the middle of his face for the rest of his life." So, an hour and a half later, here's what he looked like. And, like I told my mother, "The last goose egg & bruise in that exact location just went away no more than 3 days ago!" Oy!
They glued it shut because as the doctor explained, they've done studies on this dermabond glue and compared it to stitches. Apparently they have the same infection and scarring rate. So, rather than traumatize him for 2-4 stitches, they numbed it (that was a painstaking 25 minute wait with a cottonball taped to his head. Try keeping a 23 month old from pulling that sucker off!) and then glued it back together. We'll see if it works I guess. I suppose that having a 3 bandaid day within 20 minutes on Sunday just wasn't quite good enough this time!! Oy! This kid is going to turn my hair gray and/or make it all fall out!







Monday, June 7, 2010

Relay 4 Life!

My Relay for Life team has raised $658 so far! Go Team!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

I fought the lawn....
















And the lawn lost...Note to self: invent armor for use while weed wacking!












An older woman walked past my house today as I was loading everyone into the expedition. Charlotte got excited & ran out to the road & barked at her. I called Char back and as she was walking back to me the woman made a comment. After the comment Char took off after the woman but stayed on our property. She stood at the edge of our property and barked at the woman. As I was walking over to get Char, the woman looks and me and says, "Dog...On a leash....Now. Or I call the dog catcher." I picked Char up, looked straight at the woman and said, "Go ahead, she's on my property." I'm still furious about this woman. Not one person in 3 years has complained about Char. Whenever Char takes off & chases someone in front of our house, I immediatly chain her up. She's never bite someone and I highly doubt she ever would either. She's a whopping 6 pounds for crying out loud! So, she was confined to her leash all afternoon. When she wasn't on her leash, she was banished to the house.















My goal for today was to get my house cleaned. Not only did it not get done, I didn't even come close. On the other hand, I hit at least a 12 on the 1-10 productivity scale in the yard work department.

I planted 8 ferns I swiped from my mommy.





I planted 5 of these plants.

I dug out a bunch of lawn (see blue tote in picture above) and planted 11 bunches of raspberry plants I got from my mom. Trav called me earlier today (apparently he was just getting up). When I talked to him I asked about the raspberries and if he had a preference about where I planted them. His comment was "put them wherever you want." Well, he called back later and I mentioned that I got all the raspberries planted. He acted suprised and said "What?" Apparently he had no recollection of our prior conversation. I told him he couldn't be mad at me because I had asked him and he said to put them wherever. I could hear the dejection of loss in his voice. Guess we'll see how long the raspberry patch lasts!







And last, but not least, I ended up with this beauty! Caleb's nose and cheeck are a close second.













I also let the kids turn the sprinkler on today, but failed to get any pictures of it! Caleb sure had fun going down the slide and landing in the sprinkler.









Saturday, June 5, 2010

Saturday Fun

Today was a beautiful day (it got to 77 degrees inside my house before I turned on the AC). I took the kids and ventured to the American West Heritage Center (I bought a Gold membership when we went to Baby Animal Days). We went on a train ride, saw an all white peacock, watched a wedding (theme this week is 4 weddings & a funeral), saw a snake (by accident), and the kids got to ride the ponies - which Caleb loved, loved, loved! He is big into animals!

After we went to AWHC we took a trip to WalMart & then stopped at Grandpa Scott's, but he wasn't home. So, we ventured to my parent's house where we found grandpa. I asked if he'd be willing to take us 4 wheeling. So a little later, we went back down & we all went for a 4 wheeler ride down to the river bottoms. Charlotte sure loved that!













































Friday Adventures

On Friday I took my kids & my niece & nephew to Willow Park (even with the rain clouds looming). The kids had tons of fun. I could only get pictures of the slower moving kids though!









































































After we went to Willow Park we stopped at my mom & dad's house. They were planting their garden & my children were SO helpful! This is Caleb feeding "money" (bunny) weeds with grandpa.












Friday night I walked out of the kitchen to use the bathroom & came back to find this. Yes, those are Cheetos all over the floor & yes, Caleb is wearing my flip flops to "mash" (yes, he says "mash!") them into the ground. And of course, Nash is standing close by not only watching, but encouraging the scene!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Can't get mad...

So I've been making pillowcases for my Relay for Life fundraiser. I've got about 3 or 4 sets done. I started working on another set tonight & had to sit it down to chase the monster around outside. Around 8:30 when I was back in the house (and so was the monster) I started making dinner. I had left all the stuff for my pillowcases sitting on the table. He hadn't been anywhere near the table ALL day long so I assumed I was safe. Well, we all know what happens when you assume! Before too many minutes passed, I glanced over & there he was, happy as a clam, sitting in the chair with my scissors & going to town on the 1 unfinished pillowcase of the current set I was working on. I screamed, which frightened him some, but he still looked up at me with a smile on his adorable little face and then went back to work cutting. Don't think I can salvage it because he cut the trim & the case itself. If I cut the pillowcase down enough to get rid of the cuts, I'd have to take out around 3 inches. Maybe if I could find a really skinny pillow to put in it, I'd be fine. Oh well. Lesson learned!
Oh...and Picasso struck again today (not too long before the pillowcase incident actually). What a monster!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Simple Pleasures



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