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!

COLD, RAIN, WIND, SLEET, SUNSHINE . . .

You name it; we have had it all today. It has certainly been a weird weather day. Right now it is just cold and wet! Don't know what it will be by tomorrow morning and not sure I want to find out. Guess, I will though. Hopefully, from indoors in my nice, warm p.j.'s--behind a warm cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. Yum! (Um, not that it EVER happens. It just sounds wonderful on a cold morning.) Well, Grandma and Grandpa made it up to Sarah's. Don't know how the kid's games came out but I just hope they didn't get snowed or rained out. Although, I guess with sports games they make them play no matter what. Today was busy but didn't really do anything exciting. I did get to watch a couple of kid's video's over and over and over again. (Eyes rolling) O.K., I exaggerate--but there were at least a couple of "overs" in there. Lol! :)

WHAT IF . . .

You woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?! (Author unknown to me) Wow, I saw this today and it really made me stop and think. My Father in Heaven is so good to me and the ratio of time I spend talking to Him versus the humans I know is just way to low. I really pondered this quote and realized how little gratitude we (I) show some days for all He has given me and it made me spend a little more time on my knees today. I just wanted to share it with you and I hope it blesses you the way it did me. Mom and Dad are heading to Idaho today to see Sarah and her family. Please pray with us that they will have a safe trip. They only plan to be there a couple of days and then they will head back. Well, tonight the cold, wind and rain swept in. I am hopeful the snow will stay high in the mountains for a bit. Earlier today while it was still fairly warm, I cleaned up the yard and the garden. I brought in the lawn chairs and all the fun summer stuff. The kids were pretty sad. Who knows, maybe this will be a short blast of cold an we will get a reprise of summer for a bit. They would be happy if that happened. Carly helped Grandpa and I plant tulip bulbs the other night and now she asks me about every other hour if our flowers are growing yet. I keep telling her they won't show up until after the snow. Then she asks me if it has snowed yet or if it is going to snow soon so her flowers show up. Oh my, it is going to be a long Winter. Gah! LOL!

INSOMNIAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I hate it when I can't sleep. Insomnia is the worst! I've had it before and it usually only lasts for a few weeks-- or a month or two but it completely exhausts my mind and body whenever it occurs. I didn't sleep well again last night so I was a walking zombie this morning. However, today ended up being a great day. After I put the kids down for their nap--I actually got a nap myself and it was a good one! It was so nice to sleep. It wasn't a long nap but still it was sleep and it felt wonderful! Tonight before dinner I was able to plant another 50 bulbs. The cold snap is headed this way. It was a strange day weather-wise. We had severe storm warnings today and it did rain heavily a couple of times--so it was wet soil I was planting in but at least it wasn't too cold to plant yet. It is supposed to drop thirty degrees in the next day or so. Grandma and Grandpa are going to head to Sarah's on Thursday. Caitlin and Ian both have games they want to watch this weekend. I hope the weather stays good enough for the to travel easily. Julie and I have been ordering her graduation stuff. I mean--cap and gown, tassel, invitations, et al. Can you believe the deadline to order those things is nearly eight months before the event? Do they not realize Mommies are cranky enough about losing their graduating baby's as it is? Do they need to make us think about it all year? Ye Gads! Well, that's about it for the day. Here's wishing me (and you) a good night's sleep. N. :)

MY GARDEN, MY DAD

This afternoon my Dad, Carly and I planted spring bulbs. (It took some doing but I talked Grandpa into coming up and out -- and helping me.) You see, I am not AT ALL a gardener. I just love tulips and daffodils and anything spring-like when spring hits. I've just never managed to have the time or energy to get the bulbs planted before. I was supposed to do it last year and Grandpa reminded me but when it was time to do it I had forgotten to buy the bulbs and it was to late to find any. It was so disappointing! This year I remembered the bulbs. This year I thought promised myself I would MAKE the time for buying bulbs and planting them so we could have our spring reward. I am SO HAPPY to say that today we planted them! Thank goodness Dad was here to guide me. I would have just put them willy-nilly in the ground without any thought. You looked at the garden and made a plan and showed us just where to dig and plant. I might have even learned a little something. Maybe even my little 3.5 year old learned a thing or two. (We can hope. Lol!) Because you took the time to help and teach me Dad, when when the garden blooms the flowers will all come up in just the right spots and look amazing. Have I told you people lately that I LOVE MY DAD. Well, I do. Thank you Dad. I know it wasn't easy for you but I am so grateful to you for spending the time to garden with me and to bring beauty to my life and home. YOU ARE THE BEST!

WEEKEND VISIT

We had a niece visit for the weekend. My husband's brother's daughter who is at school in Idaho came down. Our Church had it's Semi-annual General Conference in SLC and she came for that. It was a really nice weekend. We kind of just vegged around here with the kids. I did a lot of cooking and cleaning myself. Not that it looks any different--because there was a lot of eating and a lot of cleaning up to do afterward. I'm pretty tired now so everyone else will just have to sleep this week so Mommy can sleep too. Oh, it doesn't work like that? Darn. Plan B. -------Oooops, no Plan B. Better get to work on one---or better yet, I'd better get some sleep so I can keep up with these little rascals. More later. :?

APRON STRINGS AND YUMMY THINGS

Jono is doing a tiny bit better today. Still having to watch him really closely and do lots of treatments/meds. Mom and I spent most of the day in the kitchen cooking. We decided to try to get some meals pre-cooked for the weekend and some things in the freezer. We made all sorts of things: Deviled eggs, 1 gallon of potato salad, 2 gallons of ham salad, two dozen hot rolls, 4 gallons of chili, 3 gallons of Brunswick stew, and a chocolate Zucchini cake. Not to mention all the clean up and child care in between and after so we are pretty darn beat! We hope we got ourselves a tiny bit ahead for a few days in the future when we don't feel so much like cooking, though! :)