Thursday, December 31, 2009

aiwa sound commercial

OK, I have two favorite commercials.  My first favorite is a Dr. Pepper commercial set to the song "I Would Do Anything For Love." If anyone wants to find it.  Leave a comment and let me know.  My other favorite is this Aiwa Sound commercial.  I hope you like Queen.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Technical Difficulties

Due to technical difficulties, the my rotten nature to procrastinate, and the nasty weather that made our flight get cancelled yesterday, I need to write an appology.  I wrote a blog post awhile ago where I was willing to swap with people for a gift made just for them.  It was supposed to be sent by the end of the year, but those items will have to wait until after the New Year to come. I will have each of them to you by Jan 31st.  I'm truly sorry, and I know that I'm an enormous slacker. Good luck.  I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

O Christmas Tree

I am a master procrastinator.  I can procrastinate until pretty much the last minute and then be able to pull off a beautiful project.  When I put my mind to something, I am able to accomplish amazing feats in not very much time.  I think it may have something to do with the fact that I'm either an ENFP or an ENTP.  Every time I've taken the tests, the F and T are tied.  What this gives me is the amazing ability to see a project and a way to finish it and lots of energy to get it done.  I'm not sure energy is the right word.  Maybe it's lots of adrenaline to get it done as long as the timing is down to the wire.  Saturday of this week rolled around, and my Christmas tree was still in the attic.  Because I couldn't face having to drag it down and then try to keep Daniel out of it for the rest of this week while I have been trying to pack, wrap presents, and got sidetracked by various other activities, my Christmas tree is still in the attic.  We did decorate a Christmas tree Saturday night though.   Here are some pictures.  It's made out of poster board.

Due to technical difficulties, you only get one.  However, it's the best of all of them except for the pictures with the kids too.  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Law School

Most people who know me know that one of my main goals in life has always been to go to law school.  Just a heads up to the world. . . I am in the  process of applying.

Friday, December 11, 2009

A GREAT BIG THANKS

Here's a HUGE thank you to Crissy!!!

I have loved Stan Freeburg for a LONG time.   For anyone who wants a decent laugh.  Here's a link to a good You Tube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1vJ4sXetw4

THANKS AGAIN CRISSY!!!!!

Monday, November 23, 2009

A Conversation

Jackie:  I love you Daddy.
Rob: I love you too Jackie.  I loved you before you were born.
Jackie: Did you hug me while I was in Mommy's tummy.
Rob:  I loved you in Mommy's tummy and I loved you even more the day you were born.
Ben:  I love you Daddy, but I wasn't born.
Rob:  You weren't born?  Did you come by the stork?
Ben:  Yes.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

This movie is beautiful

Some of the pictures are cheesy,  but I cried by the end.

Here is the link:  http://www.teachermovie.com/

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Our Pumpkins

The kids and I used the Pumpkin carving kits for the first time this year.  Our pumpkins turned out pretty cute.  The scoops work way better than a spoon.  The little tiny saws make little cuts possible.  I liked it.  Here are our results.



Wednesday, October 21, 2009

On my back

OK, so I have read from many people that wrapping your baby on your back was not only possible, but quite easy.  I have not found that to be the case.  However, I have successfully put my baby on my back several times.  I don't feel very comfortable though.   Here is a picture (it's crummy because I took it in the mirror) of Daniel on my back.


He doesn't want to keep his arms in the fabric, and I have a hard time keeping it tight enough all the way around.  So here is my all around idea on a sling.  I'm still planning on posting pictures of me wearing the different styles of homemade carriers, and showing the beauties of them.  However, for now, this will have to do.

Tube sling:  Great for brand new baby.  However, this type of sling only allows for putting the weight on one shoulder, so once the baby starts to weigh much, the baby gets heavy quickly.

Mei-Tai:  This sling is wonderful, but wearing the baby on the front, facing out is more difficult.  You can do it, but just not for long periods of time.  However, this one is awesome if you want to put the baby on your back.  It distributes the weight on to both shoulders, your back, and your waist.  It's like giving the baby a piggy back ride but without you having to use your arms.  I can carry my baby quite comfortably this way for several hours. 

Wrap:  I have tried three different wraps.  I have tried a 5 yard knit wrap, a 5 1/2 yard knit wrap, and a 5 1/2 yard woven wrap.  The bigger the child gets, the easier it is to use a woven wrap.  The woven wrap seems to me to hold more if the weight of the child. The knit wraps are easier if you want to be able to take the child in and out.  The 5 1/2 yard wrap is more versatile, but in the end, if you don't mind tying in the back, the 5 yard wrap is easier to deal with.  The tails don't seem to go on the ground as much.  This wrap is wonderful for any of the front hold carries, but I have not yet found a comfortable way to put the baby on my back for a long time.  I think it may just be that I need to do some more adjusting with certian parts of it, but it is still time consuming, and I would rather not spend the time when the Mei tai works quickly.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Happenings

I am very ashamed that it has been more than a month since I posted. This is part of the way I journal, so it's yucky that I have been so remiss in this.

Things that happened since my last post.

--Several people I know have had babies: Congrats to Marth and Brian, Amber and Eli, and Kim and Allen.

--We went to El Paso to see my friend Wanda. It was wonderful and exciting. I want to go again.

--We have been sick off and on all month.

--My house looks like a Tornado hit it. I hope that Child Services does NOT come to see me any time soon.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Pic's of the fam

Here are some pictures of my little family. We quit before we could get a great one, so here are all of our attempts. We turned the timer on the camera and tried it.






This is probably the best one but you can see why I don't post pictures of us much.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Tribute to 9-11

Eight years ago, I remember walking into my dorm at Snow College and seeing a whole passel of girls sitting in the foyer with the TV on. I was coming from my 7:30 class, and I thought, what's going on? No one watches TV at this time of day. When I got to the door to my apartment, there was a note on the white board from my friend Leah, who lived down the hall. "Ellie, turn on the TV" immediately, I thought, which channel? But I turned on the TV, and it didn't really matter which channel it was on, a plane had flown into the World Trade center. Right then, I saw the other plane hit the other tower. I stood there, in shock, watching and waiting for a little while. Then, I changed out of my PE clothes and walked to my Music Theory class. We didn't have any homework that day, and a couple of teachers canceled class for the rest of the week. One thing I remember is how it brought our country together. We were one nation. under God. Now, thinking that it has only been eight years, I wonder how quickly we have forgotten and started fighting with each other.

Well, in memory of the men and women who died in the buildings, on the planes, and in the process of saving lives, please take a moment of silence. In thanks to the U.S. Armed forces, please take another moment of silence. For the men and women who died, for the men and women who sacrifice the time with their families, and for the men and women who stay here and lay the groundwork so others can have a better chance at living.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Posting Pictures of the kiddos. Finally

Everyone loves to see pictures of the kids. So here are some. I'm writing this while I should be at Wal-mart. But in procrastinating taking both of the boys to Wally World, I'm downloading pictures of my kids from my camera. Here are the their new haircuts. Rob and I did Ben's together, and then I did Jackie's.

Ben's cut isn't even but at least it isn't in his eyes anymore.

She cut her own hair, hoping to get to go to the beauty shop and have it fixed. I figured that it was a good time to learn how myself. It isn't great but not too bad.It isn't any shorter than she did herself.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Haven't even read, let alone written

So, the long and short of it is that even my email is getting behind. I have 50 unread, important messages in my inbox. This is after I weeded through the unmentional amount of SPAM I had in there previously and read and responded to the things that were most urgent. I haven't read anyone's blog yet this month. I'm really looking forward to going down the blog rolls and looking at people's blogs.

So, a brief recap of our week. I spent the first half of it cleaning relentlessly because we were all so excited for Rob's parents to come and visit. Then, Thursday, while Rob hadn't yet gotten home from the 2 1/2 minute drive to take Jackie to school (she missed the bus) the school called and told me that she threw up in the hallway, and would I please come and get her? So I gathered her up a new change of clothes and walked out to meet Rob.

I walked in and my poor girl was sitting on the potty with a puddle of up-chuck (as my mom likes to call it) at her feet. I felt so bad for the girl. It was coming out both sides at the same time.

Well, that disease RAN it's course through our whole family, so I couldn't keep cleaning my house. In downsizing our home, we have given up a spare bedroom. Therefore, I was planning on having Rob's parents sleep in my bedroom. Due to cleaning up throw up and runny poops Thursday and Friday, I didn't get a chance to clean my bedroom. Jackie's room was beautifully clean, so I put my in-laws in her room. My poor parent's in-law. Right after we picked them up from the airport on Saturday, I came down with it. I felt so sick that all I did was hang out in my room, sleep, and use the bathroom for one purpose or another ever 10 minutes or so. So, they didn't come home to the lovely house I imagined or a cute bedroom of mine. We were so looking forward to this visit ever since they planned it. (Which means within days of moving here.) However, poor Mom-in-law is sick ON THE PLANE. Poor wooman. I love that woman. So, now, I put them back on the plane this morning, dealt with sad kiddos, and I am finally getting around to the blogs. I'm on my way to start by reading those on my delightful list. YAY!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Not doing so well with the posting








Still not doing so well with the posting. I need to just sit down and write about 1o posts at a time and schedule them for one day and then the next, so you get all the news, and I get my events posted. However, not knowing if I will or not, I definitely make no promises.




So, for this post, I'm going to put two of my favorite pictures I've taken recently. When we were packing up and moving out of our rental house, the kids were outside blowing bubbles. I hadn't mowed the lawn in a long time, and they weren't popping immediately.

The children had all sorts of fun blowing bubbles that day. As we're in our new house and hanging our pictures again, I'm reminded of some of my very favorite pictures that I've ever taken. These two are some of my very favorites. So, I'm hoping to get to take some more really awesome ones, but now that I have my SLR out of storage, I can't find the battery charger. So as soon as I get all of that figured out, I will be able to use my SLR to take pictures again. I'm looking forward to that.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Long Time No Post

So, it's almost been another month since I posted. I have a TON of posts that I want to write about. Therefore, I'm going to start with some of the most current ones and then go backwards. I hope to have a post every day for the next two weeks from things that have happened the last two months. I finally got my pictures downloaded to the computer. Here's a picture tour of my family reunion. I LOVE my family!

Two of my nieces out by Newspaper Rock in Canyonlands National ParkTwo more of my nieces right in front of my mama's beautiful baby grand. Aren't they gorgeous?Blue Mountain you're azure deep. Blue Mountain with sides so steep. Blue Mountain with horse head on your side, you have won my love to keep. Can you find the horse head in this picture?My family from my parents on down. Minus a few people. I'll treasure this picture for ever!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Unbelievable

OK, I know that no one thought this would be my first post once we got settled, and we mostly are, but I saw this on an email and I'm still utterly shocked. Anyone want this Jeep???

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=7010177&cat=264

I'm hoping to download my pictures and do a slew of posts, scheduling them to post for several consecutive days once we get our internet here hooked up. Then for anyone who knows where it is and will be in the area, we're going to be in my home town for 10 days.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Packing

Today, I'm starting to seriously pack. Last night, I had my last marimba recital, so Rob and I decided that instead of unpacking the marimba to put it back up and take up space in my living room (since I will not have time to play it), we just left it in pieces all wrapped up in blankets in the van. The van is now sitting in Mom and Dad R's garage for two weeks until we can move. We also now have room in our living room to stack boxes. That one 8 1/2 piece of furniture sure takes up some space. So, we're seriously packing. I have some great pictures of a wedding that we went to this weekend, and an awesome picture I want to share of some bubbles. . . But that will probably have to wait until we are driving down the road, and I can download the pictures onto my laptop. Then, we will have some picture mania on the blog, I think. However, Rob already shared the brick picture of the house. If you want to see our house all covered in brick, go to this link.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Completion Date

We got a very important phone call yesterday. Our house has a completion date. Three weeks from yesterday. We are leaving this house sometime around the 21st of June, and we should be able to close on our new house on the 25th of July. We can move in immediately after closing!!! YIPPEE! We're also thinking of maybe going to Disney World one more time while we still live this close. So in the next two weeks, don't expect very many posts. I may have to post to keep my sanity, but we'll see. So, we're starting to get very excited, and at the same time, I'm starting to get slightly apprehensive.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

My Blog Roll

OK, if you notice the new addition to the right hand side of my blog, you'll notice that I have changed the style of my blog roll. If you know that I read your blog, and you aren't on there, I would like you to be. Please comment at the bottom and leave your link, so I can add you. It takes time to go surfing through all of my friends' blogs to find your links periodically. If you aren't here, and you want to be, you probably belong in group number one, so please comment here, and leave your link so I can add you. :) If you don't want to be on the side, and you want me to remove you, I will, but it will really cause me pain, so please mail me cookies to take the edge off. :) This new method is exciting. It lets me know when people actually post, so I know when to go looking and when going to the blog to see the same post that has been there for three weeks (I know, I'm just about the only person that does that) is a waste of time. Thanks!

Conundrum

*Disclaimer: If you're an animal rights activist or a person who loves all animals equally, or a person who loves mice and thinks they're adorable, cute creatures, this post is not for you. Please don't read it. I mean it. Honestly, I don't want your advice on this one, and this post may make you angry, so just do yourself a favor and skip this one.*

Mice. On Cinderella, they're these cute little creatures that wear clothes, help clean and sew a dress. In real life, they're creatures who take over your house, poop everywhere, and walk all over your clean dishes. I'm still not over the slow cooker incident. I'm not sure if I shared it on here or not, but for those curious people, I will write a shortened version in this post.

One night, very soon after we moved into this house from Mom-in-law's house, knew we had mice. I worked really hard to put all of our food into plastic, airtight containers, (I mean, $150 worth of plastic containers hard) cleaned my kitchen to where I could not see a speck of food out of place, and vacuumed my living room until I thought my arms were going to fall off. The only problem was that I as I was scrubbing my slow cooker, I couldn't get all of the stuck on food off. I tried. Really I did. I scrubbed and scrubbed at that thing, but sometimes, all scrubbing is useless unless you let the water do the job of softening it up over night. So, I filled up the slow cooker bowl with water, put some detergent in it, left it in the sink, and went to bed. The next day, I picked it up to dump out the water, and as the soap suds poured down the drain, there, floating in the water was a dead mouse. Yes. Dead Mouse. AAAAHHHHHCCCC. Rob swears that when I saw it and screamed, I also jumped at least 2 feet off the ground when I jumped backward. Knowing myself, I probably did.

So, with the slow cooker incident in the back of your mind, know that I sticky traps and mice cubes all over my house. I don't have the kind that snap shut only because I don't want one of my kids to find one and have it snap on their fingers. I have no qualms about breaking the mouse's leg and letting it die. Some people want to just catch it, and let it go back outside. I don't. He found his way in once, and mice can do a maze over and over again. I don't want him to find his way back inside again. Also, I don't want to get close enough to actually touching the mouse to let it go. Into the trash can they go. Safe and snug inside their little mouse cubes.

So, here in lies the question. There have been mice in this house since we moved in. I know that the ovens worked when the people before us lived here. However, the mice got behind the ovens in the time between the previous family and our family. I think that they might have gotten to some of the wiring.

Not knowing that the ovens do not actually work, I'm afraid to call the landlord and tell them that they may be broken. On top of that, I'm afraid that if I call him to come see if the ovens, work, he may turn them on to find out. If he does, and the mice did get to the wiring, we wouldn't know it until something drastic happened. When we moved in, we went and bought a tiny toaster oven. I successfully made cupcakes in it the other day. I had to cook 7 cupcakes at a time in the individual metal cupcake wrappers. It took four times through the toaster oven before they were all cooked, so in the 22 minutes they would cook in a real oven, it took almost an hour and a half of just baking to finish them in the toaster oven. I sort of figured it was a small price to pay to have the house not burn down. However, I am wondering how in the world I am ever going to make Jackie's birthday cake this year. I could go bake it at Mom R's house, or I could just buy one. Homemade cakes tend to taste better than store bought cakes, and asking about Mom R's kitchen makes me slightly uncomfortable. Should I just break down and call the landlord? What if we check it, and it seems alright, but when the wires really get hot from the oven being on for awhile, we find out we were wrong? Also, what if we don't have the mice gone, and they do more damage than we think they should? So, there is the conundrum. What do you think? Call the Landlord, buy a cake, or ask Mom R?

Friday, May 22, 2009

One of the cutest all time pictures ever


OK, so this is completely opinion based, but this is a picture of my friend Amber while we were at her house. We went to Warner Robbins to see the air show a few weeks back, and I finally got the pictures downloaded to my computer. Here is a picture of Daniel sleeping on Amber. She was lying on the couch with Daniel on her chest and he scooted up there all by himself. She was awesome about it too. She just laid as still as she could.

Monday, May 18, 2009

I won I won I won

So, I had a wonderful, Medela Pump In Style, and I loved it. However, I don't know how, but it somehow ended up in storage. I thought it was in one specific box where I told Rob to put it, but when I pulled out that box after Daniel got here, the pump is not in it. It's gone. GONE! Well, I love my friend at Life As Lou. I won a breastpump! It's one of Evenflo's new double electric pumps and it's BPA free! That's right friends, Evenflo has created a BPA free breast pump, and I'm doing another happy dance. Thanks Lou!!!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Movin' right along

So, not very much later, and look at my house again! Yippee yippee yippee. Yes, this is me doing the happy dance. Check it out!


OK, the picture is not of me doing a happy dance, it's of the front of my house. The roof is finished, garage door inserted, and look at my beautiful Bay window!!! The inside is moving right along, too, but I'm not planning on posting the rest of my pictures, I want it to work. :)

Monday, May 11, 2009

Our House is Framed

For all Mom's reading this, I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. I did.




I have been promising to post this post for a while, but here it is. Our house is completely framed.




Here is the picture of it so far.




Monday, May 4, 2009

So much for the once a week goal

I know that there's a once per week goal. I have several pictures downloaded, but lately, I have had a hard time getting them downloaded to my blog. My internet connection has been pretty crazy. I have pictures of this, but since I'm afraid to try to put them on my blog, I'm just going to write about our time in Warner Robins. We went to the air show at Warner Robins this week. It was so much fun. Thanks to our friend Amber for inviting us! We had such a great time.
We left Friday after Rob got off work, and we got to Warner Robins about 9. We wanted to play games, but the kids didn't go to bed until late.

The next morning, we left for the air show around 10, but it took us longer to get on base and to the place. The coolest thing about the air show was getting to walk through the planes. They had a C130 that when I called my dad about it, he said he had ridden in one when he was in the air force. I loved seeing how it might have been for Dad a little bit. The kids really loved getting on the airplane and taking pictures. Jackie and Ben both took pictures, and it they turned out great.

We also got to see a bi-plane doing stunts. It was incredible. I was so glad to see this.

Daniel didn't like the noise very much. (Read: as soon as the jets started, he started screaming until we left.) So we left about noon. But the kids had a ton of fun playing outside in Amber's backyard with her sidewalk chalk and running through her sprinkler. They loved it. They got so tired that they fell asleep in the car on the way to dinner, so we just got Japanese food and took it back home. However, they did wake up as soon as we got home, so when we put them to bed at bedtime, they didn't go to sleep. Instead, they found the sunscreen in our suitcase and smeared it on Amber's walls.

Instead of church Sunday morning, Amber took me to Wal-mart to get paint supplies so I could repaint her walls. If these had been my walls, I would have waited, but I couldn't just go home and leave her house with the damage all over her walls. So a great big huge thank you to Amber, and we had a great time. And again, I'm sorry about her walls.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Children: The Challenge: A Book review

Children: The Challenge by Rudolf Driekurs is an excellent book. I highly highly highly recommend it. If you are a parent with children under 10, and you are constantly in one power struggle or another with your child(ren) then this is a book for you. I mean it! I have rarely, if ever, spent time that I thought was more quality while reading a book than the time I spent reading this book. OK, OK, so the scriptures don't count. But seriously, folks, this book ROCKS. It Rocks so much that I immediately bought three copies (I only meant to buy two, but when I accidentally bought three I did NOT send the third one back.) At the suggestion of my excellent mother, I borrowed this book. My Mom-in-law happened to have it. I'm very grateful that she did since my copies from Amazon took a little longer than usual since, in my exhaustion, I forgot to change my shipping address from my old house (which we no longer own.)


However, I borrowed this book, and I could not put it down. There are so many good ideas in it. I am loving the ideas. This book gave me such a sense of empowerment that I could again be the leader of my household. I need to work harder at taking my sails out of my children's wind, but at the same time, I am going to work to leave the power struggles behind. There are some ideas that the book shares that I don't like, but at the same time, the idea behind this book is to raise the child with respect. Teach the children respect for you, each other, and order. At the same time, I have gained more respect for Robert, my children, and order. If you know me at all, you know that giving me a respect for order is like trying to teach a bird to swim. So, helping me gain a more healthy respect for order is beautiful too. I love this book. Here is a link.


The Facebook Quandry

OK, so I have some really great ideas about some parenting posts that I want to do, and I have another post about conventional potty training (which, after ECing Jackie and working with Ben to potty train (because he isn't potty trained yet)) instead, I'm writing a post about Facebook. I know, strange, crazy, and probably stupid, but I think that many of my friends out in internet land have some good ideas on this one, so I'm hoping that you can help me.

I have some close friends who have a Facebook account, so I signed up mostly just to keep up with those friends and to play some of the games that you can play. However, I am finding that it's an incredible way to find out what some people, about whom I have been mildy curious to find out what has gone on with them, are doing with their lives. Like I said, I have added several of my close friends to my friends list, and I've added as many of my family members as I can find. However, here's the quandry: If I really want to find out about these people, (some of them are truly awesome specimens of human souls) do I just go try to add them simply because they have previously been an aquaintance of mine who I just admired from a far? Or do I just go on with life wondering about them?

Now, I know that sounds really stupid, and you're probably thinking, "Why do I care who you put on your facebook list?" But really, I want to know the opinions of people. I grew up in a tiny town where everyone knows everyone, and my parents still live there. New travels at about twice the speed of light there, so I don't really want to annoy anyone. I've been a big enough annoyance in that town for quite some time.

I'm also finding that, although I admired these people, I think that they were either indifferent to me (which is hopeful) or truly bugged by me, so if I try to add them to my facebook as a friend, I'm wondering if I will get some messages back saying, "Why in the world would I want to add you to my facebook page? Crazy. Go away and leave me alone." So in the end, I'm sitting here at 3:51 in the morning, wondering whether or not to add these people. It's probably not a big deal whether I do or don't, but still, I think I'll wait until I get some feedback.

On the other hand, it may be like blogging. When I read my friends' blogs, I go down their lists and look at other blogs to see if there are people I know and am interested in. If so, I go over, comment on their blog, and whenever I get around to it, I add them to my blog list. I figure, it's the internet. If they didn't want people looking, don't post it online. Maybe Facebook is the same? Anyway, I really do want opinions from people.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Hero of the Week

My friend Katie does a Hero of the week on her blog each Monday. I have been wanting to do this one since she started this. My hero in my life is my dad. I have yet to meet anyone with more patience in life than my father. Also, in his fight with cancer, I have not heard a single complaint from him. Really, not one. I have been so blessed to grow up with my dad for a father. I can only remember one spanking while I was growing up. My father heard me swear at my mother. I deserved it.

My dad was always there to listen when I had a question for him, and he is always good about really listening. He gets through to the heart of the problem. He also never lets others treat him unkindly either. He has found the balance. So, here's to my dad. This is short because I am planning on writing him a hand written letter, and I don't want to forget something important in it.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Comment At Your Own Risk

Lucky you! I saw this on my sister-in-law's and cousins' blog and wanted her to make me something bad enough to post the same offer here. Here's how it works! The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does, however, have some restrictions and limitations...

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year.
4. You will have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or maybe even some creation I haven't even invented yet (but Heaven knows it will most likely be totally fabulous and creative... :). I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure! (I know you're all hoping I'll paint you a picture or write you a poem. Too bad... you can't make requests!)
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. (Not intentionally strange, but you may label it that way)The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so (and leave a comment telling me they did) win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! (If you don't have a blog, you can still leave a comment and win... we'll work something out. Maybe you'll just have to give all 5 of your homemade gifts to me! Sounds fair, right?)Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Missed my blogversary and my birthday

What with one thing and another, I just realized today that I missed my blogversary. It was in February, and since we were on our trip out west, it completely escaped my mind. Then, :yesterday was my birthday. It was a very busy day.

Just a note: Don't ever start out your birthday with a visit to the Dentist.

First, I got up late. Jackie has to be to school by 8, but no one in our house woke up until 7:50. I woke up at 7:50, realized that Jackie had to go to school, and I needed to be at the dentist's office at 8:15, and then got going. I woke Jackie up, found her some clothes, and then found some for me. It was 8:00 by the time we were out the door. I'm actually pretty proud of that. Jackie even had some cereal to eat on the way. . . Four minutes of dry cereal does not a breakfast make, but it was the best we could do under the circumstances. I ran her into her classroom and then ran back out to the car. I pulled into the dentist's office at 8:17. So, I found out something interesting. Did you know that stomach acid can tear apart dental filling composit? Appearantly, when I was pregnant with Daniel, my morning sickness tore apart the fillings I already had in my mouth. So, now, I have 14 cavities to have filled. 14! Do you know what that costs without dental insurance? 14 cavities!!!!!!! $2,212 and some change. So, Happy Birthday to me. However, I did get two birthday celebrations yesterday, so by the time I had eaten cake at story time and fondue at supper, I felt much better about my B-day. A little chocolate fondue makes me feel lots better. Chocolate fondue with marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, rice crispy treats, and cheesecake to dip in it. YUMMY! Anyway, I feel much better today after a night's sleep on a stomach filled by The Melting Pot. If you ever have a very special occasion that gets ruined in the morning. A meal at The Melting Pot is the way to fix it.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Hot Diggity Dog


I have to post a great big sorry to my faithful readers for not posting for more than two full weeks. However, I was out west for most of that, and I did have a great trip. I hope to post all about the trip sometime this week. However, I have a TON of catching up to do on grading papers for my two online algebra classes, so please cut me some slack.


On our way home from our trip, we stopped at a mall food court to eat lunch. I think this one was maybe in Albuquerque, NM? (The question mark is not for how to spell Albuquerque, it's more a question of where the stops were. After 60+ hours in the car, stops all sort of run together.)


We were sitting in the food court eating lunch, and Jackie pointed to the store and said, "Hot dog! That store says hot dog!" We had ordered Jackie a lemonade from this store, but at the same time, I had not told her what the store was called. She is starting to understand the idea that letters stand for sounds and those sounds make up the words. She knows which sound each letter makes, but as a whole she does not 'sound out' words. In this case though, she had sounded out the words and had an epiphany. She is right on the verge of completely opening up and reading, and I'm very excited for her. Here is a picture of the store.


Friday, February 13, 2009

Why must they be in Amarillo?

Disclaimer: If any of you live in Amarillo and/or have strong positive feelings for this town, please skip this post and come back a different time.

My previous post about the time on Ben's watch never changing ended with the comment, "They must be in Amarillo."

If you are curious about Amarillo, please be assured that the idea of time never changing in Amarillo is not an understatement. About five years ago, Rob and I, with my friend Tracy, were getting ready to move across the country, and we wanted to close on our house, so we started driving from Idaho to Georgia. Since it was January, we decided to go south through New Mexico, across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The first night, we stopped to stay with my brother, who at the time lived in Albuquerque, NM. Then, the second night, we drove into Amarillo, TX. As we drove up, we looked at the clock in our car, and it was just turning 8:00. Rob went into the hotel to check in. While in there, he asked the receptionist "What is there to do in Amarillo?"

"Nothing," replied the receptionist.

"Isn't there a mall or something?"

"Yeah, there's a mall, but it's closing right now." (We had forgotten about the time change.)

"Isn't there some sort of park or movie theater?"

"Well, there's a bar about a mile away with pool tables."

"Isn't there anything else?"

"Nope."

So Rob comes out to the car, and I asked him if there was anything to do. He says, "Nope." And he related the above conversation. So we go into our room and watch whatever happened to be on TV. Since it was January, we couldn't even swim in the hotel swimming pool.

The next morning, we wanted to get an early start, so we left the hotel around 6 am. As we looked around for someplace to eat, the only place open seemed to be McDonalds. We walked in and up to the counter to order.

"You're up early on a Saturday," said the girl behind the counter.

"It's Tuesday, miss."

Appearently, Amarillo is the type of town where it's always Saturday, and there's nothing to do.

When we told my family this story in our weekly letter, my brother told his own story about when he was stuck there with a broken down car. He agreed that it's always Saturday, but there's really nothing to do.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

A Conversation

Ben came to me and said, "Mama, put on my watch." (Mind you, this isn't really a watch, it's a pink bracelet that straps on like a watch, has a heart on the fron with a unicorn inside it and three tiny metal balls that the wearer is suppoed to try to get in holes.)



He then proceeded down the hall triumphanly calling out to his sister, "Jackie I have on my watch!"



Jackie sees the watch and says, "Ben is that your watch?"



"Yeah, I got my watch."



"What time is it?"



"It's 7:00." (I have no idea what the significance of 7:00 is BTW)



"It's 7:00 Ben?"



"Yeah, it's 7:00."



About 45 seconds later. . . "Ben, what time is it?"



"It's 7:00 Jackie."



"It was 7:00 last time. Isn't it 8:00 now?"



"No Jackie, it's 7:00."

I overheard the conversation and repeated it to Rob. He said, "Ben's smart, he knows that time doesn't move that fast."

But about 5 or 10 minutes later, Ben's 'watch' must have fallen off because he came back to get me to put it on again. Again, he runs down the hallway saying, "Jackie, I got my watch."

"What time is it?"

"It's 7:00"

"It has to be 8:00 now because it's been a long time since I asked."

"Nope, it's 7:00"

So I commented to Rob, "They must be in Amarillo."

Friday, January 30, 2009

The best posts have pictures

I know that the above is true, and for the first three months, I probably ought to post at least onepicture of Daniel per week so all of his aunts and uncles along with his maternal grandparents can keep track of what he looks like but honestly, that entails dowloading pictures off my camera once a week. At this point, I am completely swamped and exhausted, (Did I think I was tired with seminary before the baby was born???) and I can't seem to think straight let alone make it to places on time. Also, I start teaching two online courses for an online school on Monday. With setting them up, I'm not sure when I'll get sleep. At least I will have fun in the process, right?


Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. . .

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Having had the chance

Now that the baby is exactly two weeks old, I have had the chance to try out my wraps with him. I have to say that I LOVE them. I love them bunches. I have tried out both the woven wrap and the knit wrap, and they both have their pros and cons. I with the little baby, I like the stretchy wrap better, but I think that as he gets bigger, I will like the woven one better. I like the cradle hold in the woven one better than the cradle hold in the stretchy one because as I keep wearing it, he starts to fall in the stretchy one, but with the hug hold, I like the stretchy one better mostly because once he is in, it's easier to move him around and nurse him. I have successfully fed him in the wrap while walking through a restaraunt, and you couldn't tell. I'm VERY excited. So, for nursing and the versatility, I highly recommend the wrap out of all of the different types of baby carriers that I have tried. However, for the ease of putting it on and the versatility, I still vote for the Mei Tai. But for the ease of taking it with you and for the speed of putting it on and the speed of putting in the child, I recommend a tube sling. So, mostly, for the next little while, I will use the wrap. I think that when the baby gets older though, I'm going to put him in the Mei Tai more. It's easier to put the baby on my back. Right now, I'm worried about putting him on my back in the wrap. I think that I could do it in the Mei Tai. However, since my Mei Tai is in storage, I won't be using it until Daniel is about six or seven months old. I'm really missing it. :( But I do love the wraps. They make life so much easier. I do like the tube sling too, mostly for the cradle hold. One big drawback to the wrap is that it's so big! It's harder to fold up and put in the diaper bag. (Five yards is a LOT of fabric.) Another drawback to the wrap is that I can't hold the baby and tie it on to begin with at the same time. It's easy to do both with a tube sling, and it is hard but possible with the Mei Tai. So there you go, after a good chance to try out all three different styles, I have come to the conclusion that good baby carriers are necessities, and it's a HUGE blessing to have more than one style.

Sewing Instructions:

For instructions on an easy way to make a Tube Sling: See Here.

For instructions on how to sew a wonderful Mei Tai style carrier, see Here.

To make a wrap, just go buy five and half yards of fabric, cut it lengthwise down the middle, and then, depending on the type of fabric, either zigzag, serge, or hem around the edges. If you have a serger, feel free to serge around the edges of any type of fabric. If you want to buy a wrap, I highly recommend the Moby Wrap.

I do want to put an informational bullet in here about ring slings. These slings are the most versatile slings around because they are so easy to change the way you wear them in the middle. Also, they don't have nearly as much fabric as a wrap, but they tend to work like a mix between a tube sling and a wrap. However, I can't in good conscience recommend them because many of the companies who make them have been recalled because the rings have broken where the ring comes together on itself. I have been to scared to try one out, but I have seen how they work, and they are really an ingenious invention. There is a company that makes wring slings that I have not heard of a recall from. If you want to try out a ring sling, I recommend this company mostly because the local La Leche League sells them, and they are pretty picky about their choices. So if you want to buy a ring sling, I recommend a Maya Wrap. Also, their fabrics are lovely. So if you are in the market for a baby carrier for yourself or some new mom you know, try these out!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Coming Home

Our house is a whole new world after coming home from the hospital with Daniel than it was before we came. I think that I'm feeling it a whole bunch more this time because I am minus my mother this time. With each of my other children, my mama was there when I came home from the hospital, and maybe she buffered some of the hardships for me and my children. This time though, it's just my little family--my husband, me, and my three children. I have noticed that since we've been home, it seems like our life is all about relationships. I guess that I pictured that we would have to form a new relationship with the new baby, but at the same time, I am realizing how much it changes the relationships we have all formed.


I'm seeing that as Jackie and Ben form a relationship with the baby and as I take care of the baby, it also changes the relationship I have with them. They love the baby, but at the same time, it's hard for them because it's one more person to share my lap, and Daniel needs my lap more often than he doesn't. Daniel is a very happy baby, but he loves to be held all the time. I'm starting to get him to stay sleeping for short periods of time when I put him down, but there are more times than not that I can't. I am working to hold the other kids more when I don't have Daniel, and for Jackie, that is working out. My relationship with her has changed more though because I rely on her more. I know that she's only four, but being four, she can do so many things. She is so happy to go get me a diaper, and she's so happy to find the wipes. She's happy to go get Ben's hand and bring him back out of the bathroom while I'm feeding Daniel. She loves to help, and I find myself relying on her more and more to be helpful. I'm so grateful for her. Ben seems to be having the hardest time. He's much more clingy. Today, he needed to climb onto my lap and just watch TV, and then he really needed to be held while I was trying to pour him some milk for breakfast. He's having a hard time with Daniel, but Ben loves Daniel, and he is soft with him.


I love my little family, and I'm so grateful for the chance to have this peaceful spirit in my home. Here are a couple of pictures from when we came home from the hospital.




Getting ready to go home and waiting to be discharged.





Getting ready to come home from the hospital




On our way out of the hospital


Ben and Jackie building their relationships with baby Daniel, and how Daddy's relationships with all three of them are growing.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Introducing!!!!

Drum Roll Please. . . Now, if you aren't patting your hands on your computer table or lap, please do so now. Introducing Daniel Ammon. 8 lbs 2 oz, 19.9 inches long, born Jan. 7, 2009 at 2:57 am! Here are some pictures of my new cute little guy. I got some really great ones with Jackie holding him, too, but Ben doesn't really want anything to do with him, so we'll see how that goes. Happy looking!


Tuesday, January 6, 2009

In the Hospital

So, this is part one of my birth story for this little guy. Right now, it is 11:55 pm on January 6, and I have an epidural, cathetar, and IV inserted. I also have some internal monitors because had a C-section with Jackie.

I am, however, very comfortable, and I'm thinking of going to sleep, but I just wanted to get the story down up to this point first, and then we should have some pretty exciting news in a couple of hours. I think that I'll wait until a slow time tomorrow though before I write about anything interesting. . . Like the baby's details.

This morning, I went in for a routine OB appointment with the midwife, and I had been having a lot of lower back pain and contractions. I got in, and I was dilated to 4 cm. I was stoked because at my previous appointment, I had only been at a 1. I asked her if she would strip my membranes, and she did, and by the time I got home two hours later, I had had four pretty strong contractions. I started working to make sure that I had my bags packed and an overnight bag packed for the kids. I also got the carseat figured out and installed. Mostly, I just worked to get everything ready to take to the hospital. Around 4 this afternoon (after a trip to Wal-mart because I realized that ALL of my receiving blankets and my little head rest thing that goes into the carseat to keep the baby's head stable were in the storage unit.) I went to go get Rob from work. We came back home and loaded the bags I had packed into the car, then we drove to the town with the hospital. We decided to eat a good dinner first before going into the Dr, and I'm glad we did. I would have been starving by now. Then, we drove to the hospital and waited an hour for Triage to get a bed to be able to check me out.

The midwife came in, and said, "How are we doing?" The baby and I were fine, but the contractions that had been coming at 9 minute intervals suddenly stopped once I hit the triage bed. CRAZY! When the midwife checked me though, she said that I was dilated to a 5 1/2, and they admitted me to the hospital. They gave me some Penicilin because at the first of my pregnancy, I had a positive Group B Strep test. Then, they put me in the bed and broke my water. They broke my water around 10:30. If the pattern for Ben follows, I should have a baby by 2 am.

YIPEE!!!

Monday, January 5, 2009

How do I look?


Several people have asked me how I look pregnant and how big I am. Since I'm thinking this is about as big as I'm going to get, I had Rob take a picture of me, and I am posting it for your viewing curiousity. Since this is another picture of me, again, Mom, this one's for you!


Saturday, January 3, 2009

This much fun for $3.50?

This is the all time best Burger King toy we've ever gotten. It provided more than an hour of outside fun yesterday. Yes, people, where we live, on January 2, it was 75 degrees outside yesterday afternoon. So, it was the perfect time to be playing outside. I was going to post a video of the fun, but I can't make it work, so you'll just have to do with the pictures.

This one is of Ben right after he shot his off. I love his expression!

Robert helping Ben wind up. Again, look at Ben's face!

Jackie standing on the back porch because then it has further to fall.

This one's for you mom. You are always wanting to see pictures of me, too, so Happy New Year!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Nesting, restless, and sleepless

I should have written this post at 4:30 am just before I decided to take a bath and a shower to try to relax, but I didn't so I'm writing it now because, I am feeling just as restless tonight. Last night, around 8:00, I fell alseep only to wake up at 10:00 to help put Ben back to sleep. Once Ben went to sleep, I couldn't. I put all of the new baby's (probably going to name him Daniel) clothes in his new little plastic set of drawers and got my suitcase packed to go to the hospital. My lower back just hurt and my stomach felt tight. I was having quite a few Braxton Hicks, but they weren't horrible. I just couldn't relax. So finally, after cleaning and reading and reading and reading some more, at 4:30, I decided to take a bath to try to relax. Then, I took a shower, and Jackie came into the bathroom and said, "Keep it down, Mom, I'm trying to sleep!" Once I got out of the shower, I went to lay on the floor by Jackie, so she could go back to sleep, and I finally fell asleep about 5:15. So, I got to sleep last night from 8-10 and from 5:15-8. . . I'm feeling very restless again tonight. What should I do if I can't fall asleep again?

Thursday, January 1, 2009

The crazy thing about blogging

I thought of so many great posts to write just before and throughout Christmas. However, because of the beauty of the season, I wanted to be hanging out with the kiddos instead of hanging out on my computer. So, the truth about blogging seems to be that when we have lots to blog about, that's when we're not at the computer doing it. When I have tons of time to blog, I can't seem to think of the interesting things. I am hoping that sometime this week, I will sit down and write several posts and schedule them to post on different days. So in the end, I really hope to get some of the interesting stuff blogged about.

On a happier note, Happy New Year! It is now 2009!