HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Happy 2012 everyone! I can't believe another year has come and gone! Wow! Now if we can just remember to write it on our checks! Lol! We have been watching re-runs of the 1960's Batman television show tonight. Jono loves Batman so we had to let him see it. There was a Batman marathon. Forgot how silly those things were. I thought Julie was going to die laughing! Hahaha! Pretty funny! Well, I'm trying not to stay up until the actual bewitching hour so I'd better hurry and get in bed. I'm the only one still awake in the house. Night all and Happy, Happy New Year! BOFF! POW! WHACK! WHAM! KAPOW! Goodnight Batman! Goodnight Robin! LOL!

JONO BROKE THE CHICKEN BREAST

Jono broke one of the kid movie dvd's this morning. He's been getting ahold of a lot of them lately and opening them and trying to take them out of the cases. They are pretty easy to break if you don't know the secret to removing them - and most two year olds don't. So, Julie came running in really upset and showed me the dvd case and said, "Look, Jono broke it!" I wasn't nearly as upset as she was when I found out it was the "Chicken Run" dvd. I'm not as into the kid/cartoon movies as everyone else in the house is. (Shame on me.) Maybe it's because I have to watch all of them 72 times a day when they first come out. Call me crazy. Anyway, Grandma and Grandpa went out for awhile. Grandpa went to PT and Grandma to run some errands. When they came back, almost before I could say hello, Carly rushed out to greet them. She had something important to tell them. I didn't even know anything was weighing on her mind but apparently it was. As Grandma walked in the door, she yelled, "Grandma, Jono broke Chicken Breast!" Grandma got the oddest look on her face and looked at me for clarification. I was laughing and shaking my head "No". I said, "No, he didn't." That only made Carly more insistent. "Yes, he did Mom, he broke the Chicken Breast movie!" Oh, out of the mouth of babes! Finally, I explained to Grandma but it was a pretty funny moment! I didn't really like that movie all that much anyway. Lol!

OH POOP!

I can't believe I forgot to tell you the biggest news of yesterday! Jono insisted on getting on the toilet and he actually went! Yep! He did it all by himself! He was so proud of himself. Mommy was pretty proud of him, too! I couldn't believe he did it. Just out of no where he wanted to go and sit--so, I let him and he did it! Now, if I can just motivate him to keep it up! Gee, what would a world be like with no more diapers?! Heaven, I think! I have an appointment in the morning to see the gastrointerologist who did my EGD a month or so ago. This was the first appointment day they could fit me in. Anyway, all they found was that my throat was swollen so hopefully they can fill me in on some more details or ideas of what is causing it to do that. We have such a family history of it that I would really like to find a cause and cure. The idea of having my throat stretched till I am ninety is not at all attractive to me. Hopefully, they have some new ideas on the subject. Grandma is doing alright but is still feeling pretty tired. Grandpa's physical therapy is wearing him out so if he wasn't tired already he is getting that way during his workout. Other than that, we are all doing pretty well. It got up around 50 degrees here today. I went to the store and didn't even need my coat. Pretty unbelievable for the end of December. Hopefully, we won't have too much freezing weather here this Winter. Well, better sign off now and get some sleep. Have a wonderful tomorrow. :)

MY DAY TODAY

We took Dad back to the Spine doctor today and surprise--he still has one! Lol! Seriously though, between Dad and the Doc they decided he should stay on the course of physical therapy he is on. Dad feels like it is doing some good. The doc wants him to continue another 3-4 weeks and then check back in. Unless he starts to have more pain this is a safer/healthier course of action than having a cortizone shot which might not work at all and if it did would be a fairly short term help. Julie is going to her high school Cotillion on the 7th. I took her to get some things to go with her dress today. She is really excited. She has been to a Sadie Hawkins before but this is the first time she has been asked to a dance. Carly and I made candy tonight. She was so funny. She told me she wanted a treat. I told her I was going to make some toffee later and if she was good she could have some. She looked at me and got really stern and said, "MOM, I DON'T WANT ANY COFFEE! I just about busted a gut! I then had to explain to her that I wasn't talking about the stuff Grandma and Grandpa drink every morning but about some really good candy I make. She liked that idea much better. Lol!

MORE IMAGES OF CHRISTMAS

COUPLE PICS OF THE LITTLE ONES

Here are a couple of pictures of Carly and Jono on Christmas morning. I took pictures of Megan and Julie who were both here too but I didn't get them downloaded tonight. Hopefully, I will get more done tomorrow. I love these pictures. Aren't they cute?! Enjoy!

MERRY, MERRY DAY!

Wow! How is it when we are cutting down we still have an embarrassment of riches? We are so blessed. My kids had a good day. The parents and grandparents are worn out. Pictures tomorrow~or soon. So, so tired. Santa must be in a coma by now. Lol!

GRANDMA'S BIRTHDAY

Why is it I am always here at 2:30 in the morning lately. Must be Christmas time. We just put out the presents and filled the stockings, er, I mean we just watched a little fat man in red do it. Lol! Wow. I'm exhausted! Who new it took so much energy to play St. Nick. Oh, you guys did. Why didn't you say something?! We had a really great day celebrating Mom's birthday. My sister's and their family's came and we all went to lunch and then came back to the house and had cake and ice cream and opened gifts. Then we just hung out and enjoyed each other's cocmpany for a few hours ~ something we almost never get to do. We have a very nice family. Tonight before we went to bed we got to hear my Dad read "Twas the Night Before Christmas." This year my parents gave each of us the Hallmark recordable books with Dad reading it. Such a great gift. I played it for my kids and I sobbed all the way through it. I wasn't expecting to. I was just so grateful to have him reading to me. Last year he didn't feel up to reading and it was the first year in our lives he couldn't read to us. The other thing that struck me was how much he sounded like his Dad, my Grandpa. I'd never noticed it before. Combine those two things and I was a puddle of tears. Thanks Dad, thanks Mom. I love you. Well, I gotta get some sleep before I have two munchkins jumpin' all over me because Santa Claus showed up! I just know they are going to have to peel my eyes open in the morning because I am going to be so sound asleep. Hope you are getting more sleep than I have lately. Merry Christmas to all ~ And to all a good night!

WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS NEWS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

You may have heard by now but we did get a call from Mom's doctor today. They did get the biopsy back and it was the type of cancer he thought it was. That means it was very superficial. It also did not involve her muscle or her anything else and they were able to get it all out. This was such positive news! What a terrific birthday present for her and Christmas miracle for all of us. We are very, very happy! Well, since it's 2:30 in the morning on the 24th let me be the first to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I LOVE YOU SO, SO MUCH! I'm so glad you are my mom! Have a terrific day!

QUICK UPDATE

Just a few quick things. Mom is still doing well. She even felt up to having her hair done today. It did wear her out but it was great that she felt good enough to leave the house for a short bit. We are crossing our fingers that we hear back from the doctor tomorrow (Friday). He thought it was possible that the pathology report could be done on Friday. If it isn't it will be a week or two until we know anything since he is going on vacation. So, cross your fingers and say a prayer or two with us. Dad did another round of physical therapy today and he is plum tuckered out. He is pretty sore too. Luckily, he has a break until next Wednesday. That is a professional break, he won't take a personal one, I'm sure. He will be working out at home probably twice as hard knowing him. Now, on to last minute Christmas shopping! Got lots left to do. Good thing the stores are open late! Take care.

A LITTLE BIT MORE

Mom is still doing really well. She's feeling even better today. She is still in bed but is fairly perky. She is not in a lot of pain and has been able to ease off the pain meds. The doc still has her on some other meds to assist with things but at least she can be done with those. Sarah stayed and helped out until late afternoon and Susan came around 6:00 tonight to help. My sister's have been terrific to be here and do what they can. Susan is staying until tomorrow and then Julie and I will take over. We are hoping by Saturday Grandma will feel good enough to celebrate her birthday. Grandpa went to see the Physical Therapist again today. She roughed him up pretty good (lol) but he signed up to go back for more tomorrow. He's always been a glutton for punishment! He is hanging in there. His muscles feel a bit weak this week. Hopefully, they will start to strengthen back up soon. We are supposed to get snow in here in the next little bit. That would be great. Then Santa can have something to glide those reindeer in on, eh? Lol! Well, hope you are all ready for Christmas. We sure aren't! Better run and wrap some presents! Lol! Night all.

UPDATE ON MOM

Mom is home and resting as comfortably as a person can with a catheter. She has some pain but is doing pretty well. Between Sarah and I we are trying to wait on her hand and foot so she doesn't have to move a muscle since she told us it only hurts when she moves. Dad has been really good about taking care of himself today, too. Mom usually does a ton for him and he has been really self-sustaining today. He went with Mom and I to the hospital and I think it tired him out pretty good. It was interesting because even the kids were really polite and good tonight in Grandma and Grandpa's bedroom. They seemed to know something was different. They didn't try to climb on their bed or on them. The played really nicely and were "almost" quiet. I did say "ALMOST." Lol! Well, that's about it for today. I will keep you posted on the recovery here. Night all.

AND SHE'S OUT . . .

Mom is out of surgery now. She did really well. Dad and I are sitting here talking to her as she is waking up. The doctor told us he got the tumor out and that it did appear to be the superficial type he suspected it to be. He said it did not appear to be in the muscle of the bladder but they will have to wait for the biopsy to come back to know for sure. We are hoping to have the biopsy back by Friday. If not by then it will be another week or so because of the holidays. We will keep you posted as we hear more! Thanks for all the love and prayers.

TODAY IS THE DAY

Mom's surgery is scheduled for 7:20 a.m. Mountain time. I have to have her there at 6:00 a.m. She is the first one on the schedule. I think they think they are doing us a favor by putting us first (and maybe they are because they are fresh) but it is awfully early! They did that to us with Dad's surgeries too. He was always first. I guess they like us. I will post as soon as Mom comes out of surgery and we know something. I had a ton to do today and planned to go shopping with the kids in tow this morning. Before Rob left I asked him to give them a stern lecture about behaving. I haven't been able to take them anywhere without them throwing major tantrums lately. If it's not one, it's the other. Jonathon has been worse but they both do it. So, Rob gave them the "What for!" You know--the basics, i.e., no unbuckling yourself in the cart, no getting out of the cart, no hitting each other, no screaming, no yelling, no crying, no asking for things, no hitting mom, no going through her purse, no throwing things out of the cart, no undressing, etc., etc., etc. All the while he was talking to them one or the other of us would ask them, "Do you understand?" They would both shake their heads yes or answer "Yes." We did this several times to make sure they understood if they wanted to go "Bye-bye" they had to mind and follow the rules. They at least acted like they were getting it. About ten minutes after this discussion, Carly and I were out in the living room and she turned to me and said, "Mommy, did Daddy say we were going to Chucky Cheese?" Um,yah. Why do we waste our breath? I dunno. Lol! :) p.s. I didn't take the kids shopping. Carly decided to store her new black star crayon her Sunday School teacher gave her in the toe of her footie pajamas. She didn't bother to tell me that until I was freaking out about the huge black stains all over the clothes coming out of the dryer and all over the dryer drum. And Jonathon decided to get ahold of the Tilex bottle from my bathroom and spray it all over the back of my couch. So yah, I waited until big sister came home from school and they were napping cuz my patience was already gone. Wouldn't have been prudent. Gah! :/

FEELING A BIT MORE UPBEAT

Thanks to everyone who has called to talk with and check on my mom today. She is doing well and is in pretty good spirits. We are all feeling pretty hopeful about this at the moment. We feel like she has some really great doctors who are paying very close attention to her and who seem to know what they are doing. THEY SEEMED HOPEFUL which helps a lot. It is still pretty hard to hear that you have cancer in your body but for having that kind of news it feels like maybe this is best case scenario. We are going to go with that assumption. We won't know until late tomorrow afternoon what time she will have the surgery on Tuesday but I will put all of that information on here as well as updates as soon as I have them after she comes out. We sure love all of you and are grateful for your friendship. Again, please keep her in your prayers. Thanks. Night all.

DEVASTATING NEWS

We got some pretty bad news yesterday and I really haven't known how to share it. Mom has been having a few tests lately, mostly precautionary but it turned out something was wrong. She was diagnosed with bladder cancer. She has a tumor right at the edge of her bladder and ureter. There is a ray of hope in that the doctor told us that if you had to have bladder cancer this was the type you wanted to get. (He told us he is 70% sure he is correct on what type it is. He has to have a biopsy of it to be 100% certain.)He said with this type what they do is go in and surgically remove it and then just keep a close eye on the patient. They don't do chemo or radiation. They don't feel it is necessary. However, this is a type of cancer that tends to come back. He said they look at it like mowing a lawn. They just have to be diligent in keeping up with it. I believe they will want to check her about every three months. This next Tuesday (Dec. 20) she will have surgery to remove the tumor. It will be outpatient surgery unless there are any complications but the doctor told us it will still take her 3-4 days to recover from the surgery. Hopefully, she will feel like being up and around by her birthday on the 24th. We are all really sad. We love our Mom so much and hate for her to have to go through this. We would love to have your prayers for her--and the prayers of any friends or family you can drum up. We are grateful for your love, friendship and support. Please remember my Mom and our family in prayer~~especially on Tuesday if you can. Thanks!

COUPLE THINGS

I had my neighbor's kids this morning along with mine so I've been a bit behind all day long. Not that I've accomplished all that much as it is. My two-year old is on a constant rampage these days. My almost four year old is actually starting to settle down a bit and seem more like a little girl than a toddler. It's kind of strange to think she's not a baby anymore. She has such a grown up vocabulary. I was able to make an appointment for Dad to start physical therapy on his hip area for Monday. The Dr. is hoping the PT will help him with the pain and wants to try that before trying a cortizone shot. Hopefully it will do some good. It would be really nice if he could lower his pain level. We have been trying to get things ready for Christmas. The tree is up. The train train track and train are set up around it and the train is filled with candy. (Keeping Jonathon out of it is a real trick--even with a fence around it. Lol!) The kids get to have two pieces of candy a night before bed but he thinks he should have a handful whenever he feels like it. Now if we can just manage to find the time to buy some gifts! Yikes! P.S. Carly has been wanting a little play kitchen. I told her to ask Santa for one. She told me she couldn't because he wouldn't have room for it. I said, "Of course, he will! What makes you say that?" She said, "All he has are those little bags." Pretty funny. I set her straight and told her he had a great big sleigh he could bring it on. Crazy kid!

HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS . . .

I took Jono and Carly to see Santa Claus today. I wasn't sure how Jono was going to act but he did really well. He went right up and sat on his lap and posed for a picture. He even sat there and let Santa chat with him and Carly for a few minutes. They took a few pictures but here is the one I decided on. They caught him between his "Cheese" smile where he scrunches up his entire face and closes his eyes. I couldn't get him to just plain old smile. Oh well, his funny smiles will make for funny stories when he grows up!

THERE'S SNOW PLACE LIKE HOME

We woke up to falling snow this morning. It was kind of a surprise since I hadn't heard it in the forecast. It came down pretty light at first but it did finally start sticking. I don't think we have more than an inch or two on the ground but there is a pretty blanket of white across it now. I got a tiny bit of shopping done today but that was about it. Julie felt well enough to go back to school. She had a ton of homework to catch up on. It's surprising what missing one day will do to you when you are a Senior. I do love that she has a cooking class. Part of her homework was an assignment to make dinner. I just LOVE that! She made spaghetti for us and it was delicious! I think it tastes so much better when you don't have to make it yourself! Yum!

JUST ANOTHER DAY

Grandma and Grandpa had a doctor appointment early this morning. They were just having a check-up I think. Grandpa already wasn't feeling very well so getting out kind of wiped him out for the day. Mom said his hip has really been bothering him lately so she made an appointment with the doctor they were referred to who is a non-surgical specialist. They will see him mid-January. Hopefully, he will be able to do something to alleviate the pain Dad's having. I had Julie home sick today with flu-like symptoms. That's been going around. Rob had it a few days ago. Sure hope we are done with it now. Not much else going on here. It's been pretty quiet--other than the toddlers. Lol. They are never quiet! Here are some cute pictures of them with their big sister Megan.

JUST A FEW THINGS

Rob and his brother Steve cut wood this morning left over from the storm we had last week. We had a lot of logs from the trees that were downed that needed to be cut up. Now we have a great stock of wood for our summer campfires. Rob and I went double dated tonight with Steve and his girlfriend. We went out to eat and then played miniature golf and lazer tag. We had a really good time. I think I mentioned that Carly got her hair braided the other night. I've included a picture of the girls who braided it. Dibabe(Dee-bobby) the one on the right did most of the braiding and then her sister Chaltu(Shall-too)helped put in the extensions. They are both in high school and were adopted from Ethiopia. They are really cute girls and are amazingly fast at braiding.

Well, nothing else exciting going on here. I will write more tomorrow. Night all.

A BOY WHAT??

Had a migraine most of the day so didn't get a lot done. However, the real news of the day is that Julie has a boyfriend! Yikes! She met him at work and we met him tonight. He came over and helped decorate the Christmas tree after dinner. He was kind of shy around us. I'm not sure if he is really shy or if he was a little intimidated by her 6'5" father. Lol! Anyway, he seems like a really nice kid. Wow! Not sure I'm ready for this either but guess I'm lucky it took this long--so I'll be good. :) Night all.

JUST QUICKLY

It's late so I will just give a quick report of our day. I babysat for a friend this morning and then hurried and got Carly ready to go and have her hair braided. We drove about an hour from here and didn't get back until after 8 tonight. I will post pictures tomorrow. When I got home Rob and I went shopping and got us a LIVE Christmas tree! Our house smells glorious! I'm so happy! We are going to decorate it tomorrow. Julie is excited. It's her first live tree. The little kids are excited too--just to have a Christmas tree. They were sad not to decorate it tonight but it was late by the time we got it in and up. Well, not too much else to tell for the day. I will do better tomorrow. Night all.

TODAY'S FUN

Rob and I looked for a Christmas tree tonight for a few minutes after a quick meeting we had. Yay! We didn't find one we liked but we, like I said only looked for a couple of minutes. Grandma had the kids and we didn't want to be too long. I'm excited to get one though! Then later Rob's brother Steve dropped by with his new girlfriend, Sarah. We really like her ALOT! The kids LOVED HER! Here's a picture of all of them. They had a lot of fun together. We are so glad he has met someone he really likes and hope it works out for both of them! :)

O' CHRISTMAS TREE, O' CHRISTMAS TREE

Rob's got home tonight. He'd been gone for a couple of days doing an install. I am always so happy when he gets home safe. He does so much driving that I worry. He's a good driver but there are a lot of idiots on the road. Wow, does it feel like December is speeding by you? It does me? We don't even have a tree up yet. I'm trying to talk Rob into getting a fresh tree. They have always done fake ones. We have always done fresh ones. So, since we've been married I have gone along with the fake tree thing because they had a couple of them and had quite a bit invested in them. However, when I first worked at the university I worked for the floral shop and we were responsible for decorating the nearly 400,000 square foot building we were housed in. We used tons of fake trees. TONS of them! We had to put lights and decorations on all of them. I can't even begin to tell you how sick I got of FAKE Christmas trees! The putting them up and taking them down is so awful. Spreading out the branches and hooking them into the right holes. Then flattening them back up enough to go back into the box. I HATE, HATE, HATE THEM!!! Hmmm, don't know if I realized my feelings were quite this strong. It's been awhile since I thought about it. So anyway, I don't want a fake tree this year. Get the point? Lol!

CALM WIND, HAPPY DAY

When I got up today the wind was at 14 mph and you could hardly tell it was moving. I didn't hear of any damage at all anywhere near us. I think we were really blessed to have the storm calmed. Thank goodness. The elements can sure be frightening at times and you don't realize how little control you have over them until they hit you. I'm very thankful for a peaceful day and no damage. Had a fun evening with the kids. I was making cookies with them tonight. We made butter cookies and cut them out into Christmas shapes. Then we iced them and put sprinkles on them. Jonathon was all about eating them. Carly was into decorating them. I turned around at one point to see Jonathon throwing up in the living room. He'd been in the kitchen at the counter just seconds before wolfing down his third wreath shaped cookie with green icing. I thought, "Oh this is going to be fun. I hope he hasn't stained the carpet." I could see that he was fine so I grabbed a wash cloth and went over to clean him and the floor up. Although, I couldn't find much mess on the floor. I got him all cleaned up and started back to the kitchen when I turned and found one of Carly's little shoes. It was full of green icing vomit. How he managed to target her shoe I will never know but I managed to get it cleaned out without her seeing it. That would have been a real disaster! Grandma is trying a new teaching game with Carly. The first couple of days she told her if she could go the whole day without throwing a tantrum she would give her a quarter. Both days she lost the quarter within the first half hour. I suggested she break it down a little and lower the value of the change. So, now she is offering her a nickel if she can go an hour without throwing a tantrum. Grandma picks the hours and sets a timer. Carly earned two nickels today. It wasn't easy for her. She came close a couple of times to not getting them but she hung on by the hair of her chinny-chin-chin! It's so hard to be three and a half! She is SO proud of her two nickels, though! My kids love to play in empty boxes and the bigger, the better. Grandma is always teasing them that she is going to get them a box for Christmas or their birthday. The funny thing is Carly took it seriously and thinks it is a great idea. She has been telling me for three days that Grandma is going to get her a new box for Christmas! She tells me in her little girl excited voice like it is a prize! I think it is SO funny. Then I wonder why we are spending money on toys or clothes or ANYTHING for that matter. Why don't we just go get them a bunch of empty boxes to build a clubhouse with. I bet they would think that was pretty cool! Hey, maybe . . . Lol!

NOT THE BEST WAY TO GET OUT OF TEACHING

We went to Church today. I was supposed to teach Sunday School. Just as Sacrament meeting ended the Bishopric made an announcement that they were canceling the rest of the church meetings due to the bad wind storm that was coming in. All the men were asked to report back to the church in work clothes so they could help make preparations in the area where needed. This storm isn't supposed to be as strong as the last one--with winds coming at only 40 to 58 mph this time. The main problem this time is that there is downed debris from the last storm, i.e. trees, limbs, fences and all kinds of things that were torn up and torn off of homes and buildings. This loose debris could be really dangerous flying around in this wind if not cleaned up. So, they closed churches all over this area and formed clean up crews to take care of much of the debris. Hopefully, that will help keep people and property safe. We are really praying this windstorm will either pass us by or be really mild. There was so much damage in this area with the last storm that people are still trying to recover. Our storm warning is in effect until 11:00 a.m. Say a few prayers for all of us out here. We need them! :/

WHAT A SPLASH!

My little boy was funny today. Well, I should say that it's funny now at the end of today. It wasn't really funny at the time. I gave him and Carly a bath this morning and he was the first one that wanted out. I got him out, lotioned him and got him dressed. Actually, by dressed I mean I put him in a new pair of pajamas. Since he's had a bit of a cold we try to keep his feet covered and if I put socks and shoes on him he usually takes them off. So, we have lots of pairs of footy pajamas and most days just keep him in those since he can't go much of anywhere anyway. Well, I got him in his pajamas and turned my back for twenty seconds to grab Carly's clothes and I heard a splash. I really didn't think much of it since Carly was still in the tub, until Carly yelled for me to come quick. When I did, I found my fully clothed boy back in the tub playing with his sister. Gah!

Later, when it was nap time, I kept hearing him chatter on the monitor and then he would get quiet and I would think he had gone to sleep. Then the chatter would start again. Finally, I decided I needed to go in and tell him to "Go to sleep!" I opened his bedroom door only to find a totally naked baby boy in his crib. He had taken off his pajamas, his onesie and his wet diaper and was just laying there happily chatting to himself in all his nakedness. Silly boy! Now the backward pajamas begin. . . Lol!

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY JULIE!!

Yes, it finally happened! Julie turned 18. Turns out I lived through it. Yay! Here are just a few pictures of the exciting event! Lol!

CARLY, CARLY

Carly with her cousin Riana. Can you believe how big she is getting? Me neither. Tonight she said; "Mom, when I was old, I had wrinkles on me." Lol! Funny kid.

BUSY DAY

My day started out pretty normal but got busy fast when my friend Robin's transmission went out on her car. At that point, I started running a taxi service. Besides my taxi service, I still managed to get the laundry done and Carly's room cleaned which was a huge mess! Kids are so little; how is it they make such a humongous mess--and so quickly! I don't get it. We were supposed to have some high winds tonight but I sure never noticed them. We had warnings for them all day but they didn't show up here. Everyone here is doing fine--except for the coughing. I think the colds are getting a little better but they are not gone yet. Well, that's all for today. Not much else going on. Night all

MY BLANKET BOY

My little guy loves his blankets. He is laying on two blankets and is covered up by three blankets. He also has a special one he hangs onto while he sleeps named "BABY." When he got put in the hospital last time, the people in the ER admitting office gave him a choice between a new blanket and a stuffed animal. He chose the blanket. Yup, this is my blanket boy. Such a cutie pie. :)

JUST A COUPLE THINGS

Rob and I made it home tonight around six. We were so tired last night after driving all day that we slept in this morning until almost eleven and didn't leave our hotel until almost 12:30 p.m. It was actually a nice drive, though. We had good weather and got to spend a lot of alone time together. All in all it was a very nice day. Grandma called when we were about two hours away and told us if we would call about a half hour before we got home they would have dinner ready. That was a very nice treat. The kids were really glad to see us (for the first 15 minutes or so) and then they went back to their normal routine. Lol! Grandpa was feeling well enough to come upstairs for dinner. We had a big "around the table" dinner as a family. I always like it when we can do that. I think it just helps keeps family closer to one another. Well, Julie is giving us the T-minus countdown now to her 18th birthday. Apparently we are at T-minus 5 and counting. Oh, but whose counting? I know I'm not. Well, I'd better get some sleep so I can be ready to handle an 18 year old later this week! I'm going to need all the help I can get! Just kidding. :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

We had a great day with family! We hope you did too! Sarah came with her family from Idaho and Susan brought hers from Provo. We had lots of food, watched football, played games and took naps. Then we grazed again. Most of all, we spent time together and that was the best and most important part. Dad even spent the day upstairs with us. We had three of our nieces on Rob's side here with us from Montana. Total we had 22 people here. I loved having my sister's here. The older I get the more I appreciate my relationship with them. They are my friends and I love them so much! Before they left we actually thought to get a picture together.

THIS (TWO) SHALL PASS, RIGHT?

Had a Dr. appt. this morning in my old stomping ground so I was able to have lunch with one of my dear friends. It was really nice to see her and spend time catching up. Thanks to my Mom for wrestling the little ones so I could be gone for that long. Trust me when I say that is no easy chore! I took Jonathon with me to the store tonight to pick up a couple of things and then stopped to get a pizza on the way home. Holy Tornado Batman! I don't know how it is that I forget how BAD he is when I take him in public by myself!! I've got to stop doing that until he turns ten! I won't even tell you what he did at the grocery store but at the pizza place they had to bring him back to me from the kitchen. Yes, you heard that right. I try holding him in my arms but he is one strong little bugger. And he is fast when he runs. I knew I should have named him Chase! Lol. Well, I have to get in bed so I can finish cleaning my house tomorrow before company arrives for the holiday. If you are one of the ones coming to my house for the holiday disregard the last sentence--my house is always spotless. :)

TURKEY DAY'S A COMIN'

Finished my holiday grocery shopping tonight. Couldn't believe how crowded the store was! I'm glad I had done most of my shopping earlier. We will have the whole family together for Thanksgiving. Sarah will be coming with her family from Idaho and Susan and her family will be coming also. It's always nice when we can get everyone here at the same time. Hopefully the weather will hold and there won't be any travel problems. Well, better get a cookin' cuz Turkey day's a comin'! :)

GOLDEN CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Rob and I went to Church alone today. All of the kids were still sickly so we left them at home. They have this hacking cough we don't want them to share with anyone. Julie is the latest one to get it. They all keep ping-ponging it back and forth. So far I have been really blessed not to catch it. I had a few days when I didn't feel really well and thought I was coming down with a cold but it never fully blossomed. I am so grateful. I HATE having a cold. Carly helped me make dinner tonight. We made a lovely chicken divan recipe that Grandma found on the Internet. It was really yummy. Carly was so proud of herself for helping. And she really was good about it. She followed my instructions and didn't make any messes. We made cookies for dessert and that is another story. I finally had to have Grandma get her attention onto something else so I could finish them or there would have been a big mess. With cookies she wants to get her hands into everything. And then, Jonathon wants to help too and then it becomes a free for all. Gah! It was funny though. I asked her what kind of cookies she wanted to make and she told me "the gold ones with the golden chocolate chips." It took me a minute but I realized she was talking about Oatmeal Scotchies. I thought that was a pretty clever way to describe them when she didn't know what they were called. Rob only has to work Monday and Friday this week because of the holiday. It will be nice to have him home for a few days. I actually remembered to take my Turkey out today and put it in the refrigerator to start thawing. I usually don't remember until the day before and that's never enough time. Yay for me! (So, this is your reminder, too!) Well, not much else to tell. Hope you had a great weekend. Take care.

SPANK YOU MOM!

It's snowing hard and I am so glad to be indoors. There have been a bunch of accidents this evening due to the weather. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when Rob walked in the door because he worked really late tonight and the weather just kept getting worse. Julie has a debate tournament in the morning and has to be there by 6:45 a.m. to meet the bus. None of us are a bit excited about that! I think Rob and I are going to arm wrestle to see who has to take her at that pre-dawn hour. (I plan to cheat.) Jonathon has decided to start spanking Mommy when he doesn't get what he wants or when he gets in trouble for something. It doesn't go over very well but he hasn't figured out yet that it isn't a really good idea. I have to say it's hard to get too mad at him for doing it sometimes because I'm laughing so hard. He's quite the little pill. He's also at the stage where he likes to hear himself scream. Why is it that two year olds like to hear themselves at that decibel level? Every two year old I've ever known loves to hear themselves scream. Oh, I do hope age two passes quickly!

CONCRETE ANYONE

It's been an interesting day. Well, sort of. Rob was up all night vomiting which meant neither of us got much sleep. We are pretty sure it was something he ate. He was doing better this morning but it made for a pretty tiring day for both of us. I did some birthday and Christmas shopping today. Julie turns 18 in a couple of weeks. Still can't believe it! Rob helped his brother Steve lay some concrete this evening and they ended up with a little too much at the end. They had to use it all before they returned the machine so Steve is now the proud owner of three wheel barrel mold shaped chunks of concrete. I hear they look lovely in his back yard. Lol! Funny thing is it wouldn't have happened he had asked Rob to figure out how much concrete he needed for his project. Instead he asked one of his friend's what he thought and the guy over figured it. Steve teases Rob mercilessly on his mathmatical exactness whenever he does a project. Then when he needs exactness he doesn't think to ask him! Oh well. Maybe his wheelbarrow shaped concrete chunks will become fashionable in the future. One never knows. Anyone in the market? Anyone? Anyone? :)

HERE YOU GO GAMA!

It feels like it's been a long day. I woke up really tired this morning. I got Carly up and in bed with me watching cartoons so I could catch a few more winks of sleep and remembered I promised to babysit for a friend who would arrive within minutes. Aaarrrggghhh! My tired body moved pretty quickly at that point! The kids had fun playing and were pretty noisy so that really woke me up. The kids are finally starting to get over their colds. Yay! I wish there was a way to keep them healthy for the whole winter. As it is we are keeping Jono in most of the time. But he still catches whatever we bring home to him. We are really hoping he outgrows this. Grandma and Grandpa are both doing really well. They have coughs but beyond that they are hanging in there. Jono gives them a run for their money like he does the rest of us. He really likes his Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma told me one morning she heard him outside the bathroom just talking to her. He just stayed there chattering to her the whole time she was in there. When she opened the door he was standing there holding her coffee cup. He just handed it to her and said; "Here you go Gama!" He is such a little character! :} Well, better get off here and get to bed! Night all.

SWINGING AND PLAYING IN THE PARK

Just thought I'd post a couple of pictures. These are from a few weeks ago believe it or not. The weather was really warm late into October. It was so nice. The first is Jonathon with sister Julie and his friend Ellie.

This second photo is Carly with some of her play friends. So cute!

THE SUNDAY POST :)

I taught Sunday School today. It ended up being kind of a hairy Sunday because Rob was going to stay home with Jono so I could teach today but then he got called in to work. So, I ended up having to have Julie stay home with the kids (Carly is still sick, too) so I could run over and teach while Rob worked. I felt bad that she had to miss Church too. Carly wanted to go really bad today, too. I just couldn't justify sending her when her cough is still so bad. If people would keep their kids home when they are sick like that I could probably let Jono go to church, but they don't so the nursery is a dangerous, germ-filled place for my little boy. I refuse to add more dangerous germs to it even if it makes my 3 year old mad at me! I made homemade bread today while Julie made some homemade vegetable beef soup. We had a really great dinner. Very tasty! Then Carly and I made chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Megan came by to visit and stayed for dinner tonight. The little ones were glad to see her. Grandma and Grandpa even came upstairs for dinner and part of the evening. It was quite the treat! Actually, Grandma is up here all the time, but Grandpa only comes up a few times a week these days. So, we are happy to see him any time he graces up with his presence! Lol! Well, time to get in bed and get some rest for tomorrow. Hope you are doing the same. If you are smart, you've got a pretty good headstart on me. Lol!

BOO! DID I SCARE YOU!

Better late than never, I guess. Here are some of our Halloween photos! I'll bet you didn't know Batman sings, did you? You probably didn't know his secret identity either until now. Well, now you do. I couldn't get him to leave his mask and cape on, but I also couldn't get him to put the mike down. He's actually quite the crooner!

This is our little princess. I believe this is actually a Cinderella princess dress and my little princess adored dressing up in it. Isn't she darling?

Julie wanted in on the act too! She went as a maiden--and ever a fair one is she! HAPPY LATE HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! BOO!

A NICE TRIBUTE

We went to Rob's Aunt's funeral today. It was such a nice tribute to her. She was a darling woman and so good-hearted. Not only did her family love her but her extended family and she had so many friends. It was amazing to see how many lives she touched. My friend Robin let the kids come over to her house this morning for a playdate and then Grandma and Grandpa watched them in the afternoon until we got home. At their age and stage I hate to leave them with any one person for too long. They are both in their terribles--and can be a little B-U-S-Y. That's a nice way of saying they can be a little too much for anyone! They were napping when we got home but were happy to see us when they woke up. Rob went and played volleyball tonight with a bunch of friends at the church. He really enjoyed himself and found out he can still play as well or better than the young kids! That made him happy! Julie felt pretty good about her Sterling Scholar interview but won't know the outcome until next week sometime. She said she did okay but doesn't know how she stacked up to the other four who were interviewed. I guess time will tell. In the meantime, we will say a few prayers and cross our fingers. Well, that's all the news for today folks. Take care.

IT'S COLD OUT THERE!

It's been somewhere between 32-42 degrees here today starting from early morning to late evening. A pretty good ten degree spread--even though, in my book, cold is cold! I don't know that I'm ready for it to be this cold yet but since no one is offering me a choice I guess I will just have to bundle up and bear it. Brrrrrr. Julie has her interview for Sterling Scholar tomorrow. It's a fairly prestigious scholarship for Utah seniors. She's one of only a few students in her high school who have been nominated for it. We are really proud of her. It would be great if she actually got the scholarship, but it's an honor just to be nominated for it. I've been trying to get some paperwork done this week but it's been slow going. I have a hard enough time with piles of paper without having my two and three year olds jumping through them while I'm trying to sort them. That happens a lot! Seems like the only time I can do any work on them is while they are asleep and that's not much time to accomplish anything! Why does it seem like Mom's have less hours in their days? I'd swear it's true! Lol! Well, better get myself to bed. Lots to do tomorrow!

D IS FOR DENTIST

Jono, Carly and I went to the dentist today. It was Jono's first time there and he did really well. I was really proud of him. Carly actually got her teeth cleaned. This was her second time and she really looked forward to going. I'm pretty sure it was for the prize at the end. Turns out she got several prizes. She considers the new toothbrush and toothpaste prizes as well! Also, they gave her this cool little sand timer with pink sand that tells her exactly how long to brush her teeth. She thinks that is the neatest thing in the whole world! I was really surpised at how smooth the whole visit went. We took big sister Julie with us to help since I was getting my teeth cleaned too. She is always a big help to us. Everyone is still a bit under the weather here. Doing better than before but not well. Lots of coughing still going on. So far Grandma and Grandpa haven't caught it and we are hoping they don't. Rob got home a bit early tonight and just fell in bed. Poor guy. He has a really busy week, plus we have his Aunt's viewing and funeral the next couple of days. I made a really yummy dinner tonight. I found a really good recipe on Pinterest for Sweet and Sour Chicken. I improvised a little and put it in the crockpot and then served it over rice. Everyone loved it. That always makes me happy. In case anyone wants to try it, I will print it below. It was really easy and again--YUMMY! SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN This Recipe is from the Lion House. It is so delicious, and super simple to prepare. There are two versions below--the second one is a quicker version. I actually used the second version but altered it even more by putting it in the crockpot! It worked perfect--except at the end I did need to use more cornstarch to thicken it. YOU WILL NEED: 6-8 Chicken Breasts, Soy sauce, Chicken Broth, Cornstarch, Vinegar, Ketchup Garlic Salt, Pepper, Sugar, MIX THESE INGREDIENTS INTO A MED. SIZE BOWL: 2 teaspoon garlic salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 beaten egg 4 to six tablespoons cornstarch or flour 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 cup vinegar 1 cup chicken Broth 7 tablespoons ketchup 2 tablespoon soy sauce 7 to 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt & pepper. Let stand for 5-10 minutes. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 1st Version: Dip chicken in beaten egg, then in cornstarch or flour. (cornstarch makes chicken crispier). Brown in hot oil. Place in baking dish. Cover with the following sauce: Mix sugar, vinegar, chicken stock, catsup, and soy sauce in medium bowl. Pour over chicken. Bake uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Turn chicken once or twice. 2nd Faster, easier version – When time is limited Same recipe as above, only eliminate frying your chicken, and add 3 large tablespoons cornstarch to the above sauce recipe. Layer raw chicken breasts in glass dish (9×13). Mix all sauce ingredients in bowl, (plus 3 TBSP corn starch) with wire wisk. Pour directly over chicken breasts. Bake uncovered at 325 for about 1 1/2 hours, or until sauce is thick and dark in color. So Easy, and so good! This dish is great for company. Leftovers are wonderful.The sauce will thicken & the color of the sauce will darken greatly. It will be similar to thick barbeque sauce. The chicken needs to be (fall apart) tender! Serve this over rice, or potatoes or on Soft flour taco shells.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!

Today (Monday) was my Mom and Dad's 53rd wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been that many years. It doesn't seem possible. Congrats Mom and Dad! I love you!

SUNDAY, SUNDAY . . .

All of us stayed home from church today. No one felt good. We've been sickee's all day long. However, that didn't keep Rob's work from calling him out a couple of times for emergencies. He actually wasn't on-call this weekend but was filling in today for one of his co-worker's who had a new baby and was having him blessed. I felt really bad for him because he felt a lot worse than I did and ended up working about 6 hours. Poor guy. We found out this morning that his aunt died a couple of hours after we left last night. We are grateful we were able to be with her and her family before she passed away. So, we will have a viewing and funeral later this week. I don't think Mom or Dad felt very well today, either. We didn't see much of them upstairs either. Although, Mom did come up to help me make some chicken and dumplings for dinner. Those tasted really good to a bunch of sickees. Well, not much else went on today--so I won't keep you. :)

FAMILY LOVE

Rob and I, and his brother Steve, went to visit their Aunt Dorothy today for the final time. She is eighty-two, and is a wonderfully sweet woman. She is dying of pancreatic cancer and isn't expected to make it through the night tonight. We really just got to sit with her for a bit because she was in so much pain she was heavily sedated--but we did have a sweet visit with her children. My husband and his brother have tender memories of their childhood and this darling aunt. Tonight, I am so grateful for the blessings of family. I am grateful for the opportunity to be influenced and touched by them. I feel so blessed to have them in my life and I want all of my family to know how much I love them. :)

ON THE LIST OF THINGS YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR . . .

I got a text message this afternoon from my daughter Megan that was a little alarming. It simply said: Stay away from the Walmart right now please. Gun violence threat just came in to 911. I immediately texted her back and asked her if it was in our city because she works in a different city? I got distracted before she answered me back and it was a good hour or more before I thought about it again--maybe longer. But when I did, it occurred to me that my parents had gone to vote more than two hours ago and weren't back yet. It was an early voting day so I didn't think it would be taking them that long. There isn't a whole lot else to do here so panic flashed through my brain and I feared maybe they had gone to Walmart. For a split second I wasn't sure what to do next--start calling my parents, call Megan back to get more details, start checking the TV or Internet for news. I kind of felt like someone with one foot nailed to the floor and the house set on fire! I did immediately dial Mom and Dad's phone, though--but they didn't answer. I kept dialing it over and over and letting it ring--knowing it might take a minute for them to hear it if it was in a pocket or purse. I also started texting Megan back on my cell phone. Finally, Dad answered the cell phone. I don't think I've ever been so glad to hear his voice. I couldn't get my question out fast enough. "Where are you?" Then came the worst words he's ever said. "We're at Walmart." I heard myself saying "NO, NO, NO, NO! Are you inside? He told me he was in the parking lot in the van and Mom was inside. I really felt panicked now. I told him what was going on and he told me he couldn't see any police cars and that people were coming and going like normal. He seemed really calm--so that made me feel calm. I finally got ahold of Megan and got the story she had gotten. Apparently an angry man had gone to the customer service desk and was so upset about something he told them he was coming back with a gun. Then later the store received another call from an angry customer angry they feel may be related to the first incident. That's it--those two things. I had visions of assault rifles and wounded people. I'm really so, so grateful it wasn't more than it was. There is too much anger and violence in our world already. I am going to pay more attention in the future to my text messages -- and LESS attention to them. :) Night all.

RUN OF THE MILL

Today was just kind of a normal, run of the mill day. I got the laundry done and not much else. The kids had some friends over this morning. Then Mommy spent some time picking up and cleaning. They a took a pretty good nap and I got a few things done but it never seems like enough. I've got an EGD tomorrow afternoon. I just took my last sip of water for about 14 or 15 hours. I stopped eating a good while ago but it's always fluids I miss the most. Dad didn't have a very good day today. His arms hurt him quite a bit and he just stayed in bed all day. That is fairly unusual for him for the last few weeks. He has been more up than down. I hope it was just a one day thing. Mom is doing good. Her foot is still hurting her quite a bit, though. Well, not much else to tell for today so I will get off here and get some rest. Take care all. N.

FEELING A LITTLE LIKE RAGGEDY ANN

Wow, the last couple of days I have put my body through the ringer. I had a colonoscopy today--just a follow up one as suggested to one I had a few years ago. The prep was a nightmare, though. With my last one, they gave me the pills. Did you ever get the pills? They were WONDERFUL!! Swallow a few pills, drink a ton of liquid of your choice, go a lot and show up at the doc's place. Yah, well--apparently they had to get rid of the pills because SOME PEOPLE didn't follow the directions! Geez people! What happened was people were taking the pills and not drinking enough and then suffering kidney damage. Now the pills can no longer be prescribed. So, because of those people I HAD TO DRINK THE CRUD! Said crud did not go over well with my tummy. I didn't even keep half of it down. So, unfortunately for me--I was losing it at both ends. I know, I know T.M.I. Seriously though, I threw up 13 times yesterday trying to get the crud down me. I apparently don't tolerate it well. So, just to recap-- you stop eating for almost two full days, then force a bunch of icky liquid crud down you to force a bunch of icky, not so liquid, crud out of you. Then they put you out-- and and well, you know the rest. Yah, your body feels pretty much rung out at the end. I feel a bit like a rag doll right now. Thing is, I saved all of my health stuff till the end of the year and then decided to cram it all into one week-- so on Thursday I get to have an EGD. That's a check of my throat and stomach. I'm starting to have some of the same fun swallowing issues my Dad, my aunt and my sisters have. The idea of having my throat stretched--not a fun idea. Hoping there is another way to resolve the issue that is not problematic. Boy, Oh Boy, getting older is for the birds! Fly away health issues, fly away! Lol!

MORE LANGUAGE MALFUNCTIONS OR VERY CREATIVE CHILD?!

I was reading Carly and Jono a book tonight before bed and it had a picture of a flower in it. It happened to be one Carly has a particular fascination with so I knew she knew what it was. However, she asked me "What is that Mom?" She does that a lot so I usually turn the question around when she does it. She thinks Dandelions are beautiful yellow flowers and she is fascinated by them when they turn to seed. Jono is too for that matter. They always have to stop and pick one to blow. Trouble is they don't always remember to blow them outside. Lol! Anyway, when Carly asked me what the flower was I said, "You tell me, what is it? She immediately replied, "It's a Dande-fly Mom! Gotta love it!

DON'T TWIST YOUR NIPPLE GOING DOWNSTAIRS!

Tonight I was putting lotion on Carly as I was getting her ready for bed. She likes to help me do that (even though she is not actually very helpful) so I try to do it as quickly as I can so she doesn't have to help me much. I pretty much had her legs done when she asked if she could have some lotion on her hands to help. So, I put a little on her hands and told her to do her ankles. She looked at me funny and said, "What is my ankles Mama?" I was really surprised because she has known the names of her body parts for a long time--at least I thought she did. So, I pointed to her ankles and said, "These are your ankles, silly!" She immediately said, "Those aren't my ankles; those are my nipples!" It was all I could do not to laugh but I corrected her. "No, those are not your nipples--those are your ankles." and I pointed again to her ankles on both of her feet. Have I mentioned I have a very determined child? (At least one. Lol!) She continued to make her argument but I eventually prevailed by being firm, explaining where her confusion was and -- oh yah--by having Rob back me up! Why is it they only listen to Dad's sometimes? I truly don't get that! But I digress. Julie, our seventeeen year old, missed this entire conversation with Carly but was up talking to us later after we put the little ones down. When she got ready to go downstairs for the night, Rob said; "Don't twist your nipple going downstairs." There was a look of total shock and utter confusion on Julie's face and I think a bit of horror that her Dad had said the word nipple to her and it wasn't about Jonathon's bottle. When she noticed our matching Chesire grins she opened her eyes a bit wider (if that was possible) and kind of stammered "W-H-A-T are you meaning by that?!" Once we explained what Carly said, Julie thought it was absolutely hilarious, although for some reason her face was still a little bit red. Teenagers . . . go figure. :) All in all, language is such a huge thing for our kids to learn, especially the English language. And when you think of all of the things they need to learn and are trying to assimilate it's pretty amazing they don't get more things confused than they do. You know, it's funny, we worry about the "Head, Shoulder's, Knees and Toes--the eyes, ears, mouth and nose--and a few other things. But, I guess the ankles never occurred to me--didn't even realize I missed them. Guess we are a little too programmed. Anyway, now I'm trying to think if there are other things I haven't identified for her--hmmm, nosehairs, eyelashes . . . Don't worry, we have covered ear gunk and toe jam! Lol!,

SLOW GOING?

I just read this quote that made me feel so much better and then it HIT me! If this made me feel better, it will probably cheer you up too Dad! So, this one's for you: "NO MATTER HOW SLOW YOU GO, YOU ARE STILL LAPPING EVERYBODY ON THE COUCH!" Isn't that a great quote? Seriously, it makes me want to get up and get on my treadmill for a few minutes right now. Sometimes, I get discouraged either because I can't find a moment in my crazy day to squeeze in time to exercise (other than chasing my darling little rugrats) or because I simply don't feel good enough to that day. And then, I hear something like this and it reminds me of when I first started exercising (somewhere in my thirties, I believe). Before that, I had always claimed I was allergic to exercise. I didn't just decide to start exercising one day. I learned I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and my doctor suggested I try walking twenty minutes a day. (What an doofus!) At the time, I had it so bad that the exercise exacerbated it. I didn't realize that would happen--and to be fair neither did he. One day, when I took a twenty minute walk I ended up so ill the friend I was with had to walk home, get her car and come back and drive me home. That's when I bought a treadmill. If I was going to walk--I was not going to leave my house! I learned I had to fight my fatigue--HARD to do any exercise at all. Some days I lost the battle completely. Other days I would walk for only a minute or two but I decided not to look at those moments as failure. Those were SUCCESSES! No matter how much or how little I moved my body--I moved it! Yay for me! I still feel that way--I just have to be reminded some times. My Dad has spent his entire life being conscious of how his body moved. Now, it is difficult and painful to move his body but he exercises--on purpose. He has me get him on my treadmill--and I know he is sometimes disappointed and discouraged with how fast or slow he thinks he is going. When he is not on the treadmill he walks in the basement with weights on his wrists or rides his exercise bike. He is doing everything he can to keep his body moving. Dad, I know you hurt and I am so sorry you are in pain. I wish with all my heart I could make that better. You have always set an amazing example for me and are still doing it. And I have news for you--"NO MATTER HOW SLOW YOU GO, YOU ARE STILL LAPPING EVERYBODY ON THE COUCH!" So, keep it up--and I will too! I love you.

DELUSIONS, DENIAL, DE-LOVELY NEW COLOR

I'm not sure whether I've been in bliss or denial for the last nearly 7 years but I finally surrendered to what is. You see, I have a wonderful set of ovens. When we built our home we got to pick out the appliances. The builder gave us an allowance for each appliance. As is normal the allowance wasn't much more than a pittance for each one appliance. My husband had a really nice double oven in his old house that didn't have a lot of age on it so we decided to go ahead and buy a new oven with the home allowance and switch it out to his old house and bring the double oven to our new home. (GREAT DECISION, BTW!) However, my "new to me" double oven didn't come with a manual so I just started using it. Have I mentioned, I LOVE MY DOUBLE OVENS. To me they were fancy schmancy from the word go! Can't say as I ever thought about it, in fact I just assumed that something this fancy came with it's own maid. I've been baking along nicely for nearly 7 years now and it never occurred to me to clean the thing. I mean, C'MON, who would design a DOUBLE OVEN for an obviously busy person and not think to add a self-cleaning feature? (A man.) Did I say that? Shame on me! You probably wonder why it didn't occur to me for so long to clean them. Go ahead, I"ve been wondering the same thing, too. You may as well, too.(Well, the obvious is that I thought they were cleaning themselves--but WHY did I automatically think that?) I mean, the ovens are this beautiful black color inside. At least it has been since I got it. The color never changed. It never looked dirty. So, who would know it was dirty unless something spilled over and started smoking, right? EXACTLY. Well, that's finally what happened. Something did spill and it smoked. Then it occurred to me. Why isn't this smell going away on it's own. I asked Rob and he told me they weren't self-cleaning ovens. How ludicrous! WHAT!! You mean I'm actually going to have to MANually clean these ovens? (Let's get that MAN over here who designed them and make him clean them! :) Why didn't I know this when I still had enough teenagers at home to divide the job between them? So rude! Not to mention since they were the ones doing most of the baking in them originally they probably could identify the original color when it shows back up! Lol! Seriously though, how deluded must I have been? I have no idea where my brain has been. It simply did not occur to me that my ovens weren't self-cleaning. I have lived with this filthy oven for almost 7 years. (Oh, could you keep this on the down low--I wouldn't want anyone to think I didn't keep a clean kitchen or anything like that. Lol!) Um, I really did think they were BLACK--a really dark, pretty BLACK! So, a couple of nights ago, I came out of my delusions and sprayed my ovens down really well with oven cleaner. I let them sit over night and well into the next evening before I scrubbed them out. I now have the most gorgeous, dark gray ovens you would ever want to lay your eyes on. Silly, silly, silly me! Never again. Tin foil liner here you come!

SO, SO, SO, SO . . .

Sorry I've been neglecting you. I've had one of those "several day" headaches where I could barely function. It's still not completely gone but it is at least better enough that I can deal with it. I was hurting pretty badly the last few days. We finally went to an insta-care last night. I don't know why it always gets worse at night when the doctor's offices are closed. So frustrating! The little ones were on a rampage tonight. It's kind of like "Toddler Thunder" and they can't hear anyone besides themself or each other -- especially if one of them has something the other one wants. It does no good to try to raise your voice and intervene, but does that stop any of us from trying? Oh no, we do it anyway and simply manage to quadruple the decibel level and sometimes even get ourselves hurt. By the time I put them to bed toinght, my blood pressure was over 450 mph (lol). I went downstairs, opened my parents bedroom door, went inside, leaned against the wall and said; "I know what I want for Christmas. CAMO. Home-colored camo. I want to be able to move about my home freely without them finding me--just for a half hour or so!" :} Ugh! What a day--when did you say the T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E-S end? Someone please make them stop! Lol!

MAJOR GRAIN

Sorry folks, nothing to see here but some major migraines and they ain't too pretty. Been going o for days now. UGH! Will write more when my fingers and toes don't ache, too. Love to all. N.

MY BROKEN HEARTED MONSTER

Julie had a Young Women's program and dinner at the church tonight for parents to attend. It is a night when they get to show off their talents to parents and leaders. The Young women range in several ages so they also had a nursery available for parents who also had little ones. We planned to take Carly to the nursery but knew we couldn't take Jonathon because of possible germs so I asked Grandma and Grandpa if they would watch him. I was going to try to sneak out without him realizing we were leaving but that didn't even sorta-kinda happen. When he got wind we were leaving without him his little heart shattered all over the place. Then it turned into a full blown tantrum. Grandma finally had to peel him off of me--with my help. It took both of us to undo his little fingers from my arms. I guess he cried and cried and cried so hard that Grandma had to help him blow his nose three times. And he's a pretty good little nose blower--so you know it was serious! Anyway, the tantrum went on and on and seemed to have no end in sight. When I called home to check and see how he was doing, Mom told me that finally Grandpa had to sit up on the bed and really use his "DAD VOICE" on him like he used to do to us kids. Once he did that and told him in no uncertain terms that it was time to settle down, he stopped immediately and began to behave. I told her the program was almost through and we would hurry. She told me not to worry that once Grandpa let Jonathon know who was in charge they were best friends again. Lol. I walked in Grandma and Grandpa's bedroom after we got home to bring them some cake from the dinner. Grandpa just looked up at me over the top of his glasses and said, "You know, we earned that." Lol!

YUMMY BOO!

Well, I think my lesson went pretty decent today. I had a few people come up afterward and tell me they appreciated it and one who even told me it really made her think. That made me feel pretty good. Sundays always seem like a "hurry up" sort of day. It seems by the time we get everyone ready for Church we end up getting there either right on time or a little late. Then we get home and eat a little something, get kids down to nap and start something for dinner if we are smart. If not, we take a nap ourselves and wake up only to find ourselves in another rush to figure out what to fix for dinner. Today was great because I actually had a plan. Mom and I had those pre-made meals in the freezer and I pulled one out yesterday to thaw. Yay me! So, tonight we had chicken enchiladas for dinner--no rush! Ha! I loved it! Then just as we were thinking of something fun for dessert, we had a neighbor drop off some homemade cookies as part of a neighborhood BOO-pass along treat game! Good thing we were making some treats anyway because after someone brings you treats you have to hang the ghost they brought with the treats in your window and send treats and ghosts to two other families! It was a busy, ghostly, treatly night for us! We had chocolate cupcakes with homemade frosting to pass along! Yum!

SWAP IT

This morning Julie, the kids and I went to a church goodie swap. By that, I mean, we all took the stuff we would have put in a yard sale or taken to goodwill and put it together and then anyone could take home anything they wanted for free. Unfortunately, and fortunately--we came home with more than we took. My little BIG FOOTED girl was the big winner, though. We cleaned up on cool looking little girl shoes in sizes 10-12. Just the size my 3.5 year old is wearing these days! Yep, serious! We also came home with a whole lotta other stuff but our biggest score was on clothes, shoes and kid's games. The rest of the day was spent shopping, getting haircuts, taking care of kids and recovering. I did get a call late in the day that my Sunday School teacher partner's wife was going into labor so I need to take his place tomorrow. There are actually three of us that switch off but the other one is out of town this week. I wasn't scheduled to teach until next week. Good thing I had started working on my lesson early. Guess we will just switch lesson weeks and I will go ahead and give the one I'd planned. I guess giving a lesson on short notice is a better option than delivering a baby. Yah, I think I'll take the former option. Lol! Night!

OUR FRIDAY

I took the kids to a play group again today. It was a beautiful day out and they had a blast. Luckily it wore them out and they took a great nap. After Julie came home from school, I laid down for about an hour before she went to work, too. Rob had a pretty busy day today and came home pretty tired. All of us, except Julie, had dinner together. Grandpa was even up for coming upstairs for dinner and watching some sports on TV afterward with Rob. Carly and I went shopping while Rob put Jono to bed. Then I came home and chatted with Julie for awhile before she went to bed. All in all - it's been a pretty nice day. Hope yours has been too. Have a lovely Saturday!

RESCUED FROM TMS

Now that Julie is back in school and has an after school job and Rob is working some long hours again I often feel the effects of TMS (Trapped Mommy Syndrome.) So today when Julie had the day off work and Rob was scheduled to work at a place a long, pretty drive from here, I jumped at the chance to make him take me with him. I mean, I took the opportunity to ride with him on his assignment. Lol! I figured I already had the kids down for their nap and Julie could get her homework done before they woke up. But it turned out even better than that, she didn't have any homework! She still got a few good hours in of "Julie" time before they woke up and I lowered my blood pressure and got out of the house for a nice drive with my hubby. I actually took a little mending with me, some reading and even closed my eyes for a few minutes in the car while he was working--all things that are unheard of around my house when toddlers are running around. Carly has been after me to measure her height for some time. Coming up with a measuring tape at the time she asks is always tricky. She usually asks me in the car or at a store--and what she really wants is for me to stand her against the wall and measure her and mark it with a pencil. I guess she has seen it on one of her cartoons or movies. I'm always multi-tasking so I couldn't tell you which one but Rob could. He told me two or three he'd seen it in. Anyway, I finally measured her today. She didn't even want to know the measurement. She just wanted the experience. She just liked me having her stand there and holding the measuring tape up against her and the wall and marking it. Isn't that funny?! Well, turns out my 3.5 year old is 40.5 inches tall. We weighed her last night, too and she is 39.6 lbs. Right now she is wearing a toddlers size 10.5 shoe. Can you believe that? I am raising a giant! Of course, she will fit right in with her sisters - two of which are really tall. One is 5' 10 1/2" and the other is 5' 11 1/2 ". I was never tall, but I sure had those big feet! Well, not much else going on here. Better get myself to bed. Night.

A FEW NOTES

Grandpa's shot hasn't kicked in yet. His shoulder was actually bothering him a bit more than normal today. The doctor told him that could happen before the cortizone began to help.We are still crossing our fingers and toes that it will kick in soon. Grandma weeded the side/front flower garden this afternoon to get it ready for Winter. We have been really lucky to have second chance at a little warmth here. It's been in the mid-sixties all week. Carly is almost forty pounds! I can't believe it. She is 39.6 lbs, She has been after me to measure her and I haven't done it yet but I am going to do it tomorrow. She is getting so big. She is going to be out of a car seat before we know it. I am pretty sure she is growing a half an inch a day--at least this last month! Well, that's the news from here today!

ALLERGY UPDATE

Well, Jono's allergies still exist--UNFORTUNATELY! He can still outgrow them up until about age 5--so we are going to hope and pray for that. I am going to have to wait until Monday to be allergy tested. So--more waiting. I guess with Dad's (Grandpa's) back the thing they will see about doing is putting an epidural in his back. Dad wants to wait a bit to see how the shot in his shoulder does and how his pain level is in his sciatic nerve. He told Mom today he hasn't had pain in it since yesterday. Could it be the doctor scared it out of him? Just kidding. Lol! More later.

JUST A SHORT---REPORT!

Grandpa had a Dr. appt. today with a Hip/shoulder guy. We were hoping he would give him a cortizone shot in his right shoulder and on the hip that's been hurting him. Well, turns out it isn't his hip that's hurting him! Instead it's his sciatic nerve that is giving him so much pain. So, this doc gave him a cortizone shot in his shoulder and a referral to a non-surgical back Dr. who can help him with the sciatic nerve. (I'm not sure whether that is to give him a cortizone shot in the nerve or to do something else--and it's late enough here I can't clarify tonight but I will let you know tomorrow.) Either way, Grandma and Grandpa were very happy with their trip to the new doctor. Tomorrow, I am taking Jono back to his allergist to be retested for some of his allergies and to see how he is doing with his asthma and breathing. I am also going to have some allergy testing done as well. I've been treated for hay fever for years and had all kinds of allergies to pollens but have never nailed down exactly what is going on. I figure it is about time. Tomorrow night, we take Julie to her first College Night. Wow! It is already upon us. Luckily, some of the colleges in the state are coming locally to try to recruit and are even offering scholarships to students with good gpa's and ACT's. So, this is the first of a few openhouses we are likely to attend. Today, I actually made it over to my new gym. Rob got me a membership for my birthday. I only got to go for about 45 minutes but it is so close to my house that it was plenty of time to start my first work out with. Yay! I did moved my body today! Hopefully, it won't feel too bad tomorrow. Night all.

I ONLY TEASE THOSE I LIKE SO I'LL BE NICE TO YOU FROM NOW ON. LOL!

Our plans changed today for church when I came down with a huge migraine. Rob stayed home with Jonathon so I could stay in bed. Only Julie and Carly went to church. Grandma ended up fixing dinner but she and Grandpa were so tired they decided to have dinner in their room so it was just Rob, Julie, Carly, Jono and me at the table for dinner. The thing was Carly and Julie were sitting across from each other and it didn't take us long to figure out they were both in ultra crabby moods. Finally, I asked what was wrong with them. I didn't get more than a look from Julie and a grunt from Carly. We ignored their moods for a few more minutes until their moods interrupted our ambience again. This time I asked if something had happened at church to make them both cranky. Still I was met with grunts and crusty looks. I asked again with more earnestness, "Seriously, what's wrong with you two? At that moment, Carly happened to sneeze. I immediately responded with, "Are you Sneezy . . . or Grumpy?" She looked a little confused but Julie got a slight grin on her face. Rob said; "Well, that's easy, she's grumpy!" I said; "Well, what does that make Julie?" Rob said; "Oh, that hasn't changed." He and I caught each other's eye and at the same time said, "She's Dopey!" Finally, a big smile came across Julie's face and we all started laughing--and neither one of them were grumpy for the rest of the evening. :)

HOME AGAIN

This will be short. It's late and I'm exhausted. Grandma and Grandpa got home safe today. They came in just after noon. They said they had a really good time and were really glad they made the trip. I can tell they are tired, though. Dad seems like he did really well. He didn't seem nearly as worn out as I expected him to be. Rob and I spent the day watching kids and shopping and working around the house. Julie had to work from late afternoon until late night. Megan stopped by in the afternoon. She hung around and helped a bit. She's got a bad ear infection and is not feeling too great. She's been putting in a lot of hours at her work so we haven't seen much of her lately. I hope she gets to feeling better soon. I guess I'm going to stay home with Jonathon tomorrow since Rob has some responsibilities at church. It's that time of year when we don't dare take him. We had been taking him to Sacrament meeting and then bringing him home to nap while Sunday School was going on. After having him get so sick the last couple of weeks we decided not to take any more chances this Winter. I only teach every three weeks so Rob and I are going to switch off on Sundays through the Winter. It is not worth having a very sick little boy--and respiratory issues are SO SCARY! Well, better get some sleep. Night.

SILLY MOMMY

It has been a cold few days. I heard a rumor, though, that it is going to warm back up in a few more. I don't know how long the warmth will last but I will take it. This morning I bundled the kids up and took them over to see the new house my brother-in-law in buying. It's empty right now so they had a field day running and playing in an echo chamber. It's a beautiful home--and he feels very blessed to be able to buy it. Certainly the flip side of the whole real estate downturn and depressed market place. It is definitely a buyer's marke out there. We have seen that in our area as "For Sale" signs have gone up and stayed up--and up--and up. Not the time to sell if you want to make money. But then, you know that. :/ I have been going through the classifieds to try to find a larger dresser for the kid's room. It seems a waste to buy a brand new dresser at this stage when they will outgrow it in a couple of years. Anyway, I finally found one tonight and for a great bargain. I spent the night going through kid's clothes they can't wear anymore and rearranging things in their rooms. I will be really glad when I get things in order. Wait--does that ever happen--especially with toddlers?? Don't answer that. Grandma and Grandpa are heading back here tomorrow. I started to say "back home" but then I realized some of you in Indiana would get over excited if I said that. I've actually started calling my house their home. So, sorry if I ever confuse you on that. Lol! Anyway, I expect they will be back here by evening. I'm sure it's been nice to see Sarah and her family but I know they will be absolutely exhausted! I'm glad they can still do the trip, though. I know it means a lot to the kids, especially that they go and watch them play. Well, I'll leave you with just one funny little thing from Carly today. She said, "Mommy, I'm going to draw blood. It' really hard, though." I turned around and looked at her, thinking "What in the world?" only to see her at her chalk board with a piece of chalk in her hand actually trying to "draw" blood on her chalk board. Silly Mommy!