Christmas and Resolutions

Caleb with the new race track that Santa brought him.

Alex wasn't too surprised with this one. He already unwrapped it the day before. He was really mad when I wouldn't let him have it early. I kept having to hunt him down and bring him back to open presents. He was more interested in getting into all of candy in the house instead of unwrapping presents and toys. He wasn't too interested in looking at the camera either.

Rachel and Anna comparing Zhu Zhu pets.

Rachel opening the earrings and necklace that we bought her. She is growing up so fast! She is starting to like tween stuff. I don't want her to ever be a teenager!

We had a nice Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with Dan's family. We had a yummy dinner and a nice family home evening. We had a family Christmas party with my family earlier in the week when Jenny was here from Idaho.

We usually aren't home a lot on Christmas, but we decided to stay home most of the day this year. I enjoyed being able to stay home and relax. Our kids got to enjoy their toys all day.

I wasn't feeling well because my sinus infection came back for the third time. But, I took a long nap and doubled up on Tylenol and Motrin. After the medicine kicked in, I felt good enough to go visit some family. I am now on a powerful antibiotic that cost more than my Christmas presents. But I feel good. :)

Well, that brings me to New Years. Today is New Year's Eve. I always like to make resolutions. Dan hates making resolutions, and he never will. Here's what I've thought of so far:

1. Finish reading the Book of Mormon with the kids. After 3 years, we have only made it halfway through the book of Alma. We made good progress last year. It helps that our older two kids pay attention and can take turns reading. But 2010 will be the year we finish!

2. Attend the temple every month.

3. Read 3 books a month. I actually love reading. But I don't read very often. When I read, I don't do anything but read until the book is done. So, I end up sleep-deprived and have a messy house if I read. So, this year I'm gonna try to read in moderation.

4. Play with my kids more.

5. Run a half-marathon. I was hoping to do Ogden, but it already filled up. I guess I'll pick a different one.

6. Write in my "I love you" books every day. I have a book that I made for my kids and husband. Every day I was writing in them. I fell off the bandwagon in November, and have only written once since then. I'm gonna get back on board and start writing again. They all love reading the nice things I write about them.

7. Learn a new piano song. I haven't learned anything new for a while.

That's all I can think of.

5 Days til Christmas

And I'm not ready!!
I still need to finish shopping for Dan. He hasn't started shopping for me. I guess I haven't given him too many ideas about what to get me. That's the problem with having a birthday 12 days before Christmas. I already got what I wanted. I guess I'll just tell him I want some clothes. I actually want a steam mop. But I am NOT going to ask for that for Christmas. Somehow it seems a little insulting to get cleaning supplies for Christmas. Even if it is a snazzy new mop.
Here's what I would want if it were really possible:
1. A self-cleaning house. Says it all.
2. A perfectly patient "Me". Somehow, I find it hard to be patient all of the time.
3. A few more hours in the day. I find myself staying up too late to get things done on a regular basis.
4. A library of my very own, with a nice cushy chair. But I guess that would have to go along with the few more hours in a day.
5. A brother that was not addicted to drugs.
6. A day of summer in the middle of winter. Make that a couple of days of summer. I am not a fan of cold weather.
7. A new vehicle. We just bought our Chevy Venture last year. But I totally hate it. I hate the way it drives. The heater doesn't get too warm. The a/c doesn't get too cold. The remote door is tempermental in the cold weather. We've already spent $2000 in repairs on it this year. And the check engine light is on again. What a lemon! I want a new car.

Here's what I am thankful for:
1. My husband and kids. They mean the world to me.
2. The gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that he is my Savior. I have a testimony of the gospel. I know it is true with all of my heart.
3. A comfortable home.
4. I am happy that I am healthy again. I didn't realize how blessed I was until I went a few weeks not feeling well.
5. I thankful for my parents, siblings, and extended family. My sisters are my best friends.
6. A vehicle to drive. I can't complain about a lemon when I am driving past people pushing their kids to the store in a stroller.
7. A soft bed. Nothing beats relaxing in a nice, comfortable bed.
8. Chocolate. I love it. It is one of the best tasting things ever made.
9. Food. I love to eat. I am not an overeater, but I really like yummy food.
10. Contacts and glasses. I can't imagine how miserable my life would be if I had no vision correction. I wouldn't be able to run because I wouldn't be able to see. I actually tried running once in high school without contacts or glasses. My vision wasn't even as bad as it is now. It scared me to death. I couldn't tell the difference between a person and a mailbox until I was a foot away from it. I wouldn't be able to drive, shop, see my kids at performances, and the list goes on. I really am thankful for vision correction.

That's all for the lists for tonight. I need to go to bed. :)

Mo-Tab and more

On Friday night we went with Leslie to the Mo-Tab Christmas concert at the conference center. Rachel also came with us.
The concert was great! We enjoyed it. The performers were really talented. Rachel grinned really big when the usher asked her if she liked it. She loved it. I was surprised that she knew who Handel was. I guess they've been learning about composers at school.
The tickets were originally my sister Jenny's. She couldn't make it, so she gave them to us. The tickets somehow must have ended up in the VIP section. We could see President Monson, Mitt Romney and many of the other general authorities. They were only several rows away. I thought that was kind of cool.
Getting out of the parking garage was not fun. We sat there for at least an hour. That's what happens when you are three levels down and everyone leaves at once.
On Saturday, my mom took me to Olive Garden for lunch. Then we went birthday shopping. I found a cute dress at JCPenney. We still need to go Christmas shopping. She always just has me pick out my own gifts. I had fun.
Today was my birthday. We woke up rather tired because we didn't sleep well. I don't know why, but our power went off and on all night long. Every time it would come back on, the humidifier would start back up, and our alarm clock with large numbers would start flashing. And of course, it just makes noise when everything powers up.
Dan made me a yummy breakfast of hashbrowns and pancakes. The kids got up early and made me a book. They drew pictures and wrote how much they loved me. It was really cute.
Dan bought me a new coat and some other things. I love my kids and husband!
Tonight, we went to my parents house for dinner and dessert. My mom made me Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie. It was yummy. The candles my kids put on my piece were backwards, so it looked like I was turning 13.
I was quite surprised with the gift my sister Leslie gave me. It was a rather heavy box. Dan joked that it was a lump of coal and some lingerie. Leslie likes to tease, and last year for Christmas she gave Bridget a lingerie top, and me the lingerie bottom. Well, Dan was probably hoping it was lingerie. It turns out that she bought me a Kitchenaid Mixer! I'm going to make some chocolate chip cookies with it tomorrow.
I had a nice birthday, and a great weekend!

Sunday Rambling

The other day (the coldest day yet this winter), our house was so cold. I kept turning up the thermostat and adding more layers of clothing. After a while, I went down to the furnace to investigate. I guess Alex has discovered how to turn the furnace off. The furnace closet has bifold closet doors and does not have handles on the doors. But he can get it open without the handles. Anyone know how to childproof that? Every time the house starts to get really cold, I have to go turn the furnace back on.
Last week, I posted "Whine Fest" about not feeling good. Guess what?? I feel really good now. After two days on antibiotics, I felt totally better. Now I am kicking myself for not figuring out sooner that I had an infection. It should have dawned on me. I've had other infections before with similar symptoms. I just thought I felt awful from surgery. I think I am gonna start running again tomorrow. Not hard and long. Probably just two miles slow.
We put up the Christmas decorations on Monday. The kids are loving it. They are fascinated with the lights. Every time I turn around, the Christmas tree and garland are turned on. Anna loves playing with the nativity. The nativity characters are glass, but she hasn't broken them yet. And I'm not too worried out it. I bought them at Walmart a few years ago.
I made the mistake of buying a huge box of candy canes to put on tree. I had to take them right back off, since Alex would not leave them alone. I gave him one to eat, but that was not enough. He wanted them all.
Alex is so busy, but he is so cute. He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He says cute things. He is a fun toddler, even though he gets into everything.
I asked Rachel what she wanted for Christmas. She said she wanted stickers and dry-erase markers. I asked her what else she wanted. She said "Nothing. I have everything I want." I thought that was interesting how content she is with what she has. I've asked her several more times what she wants. She has come up with a few more ideas. I guess she is just getting harder to buy for because she is getting older. She is getting to the "Tween" stage. She is a sweet girl. I don't ever want her to turn into a teenager.
Well, I guess that's all my rambling for today. I need to go change a diaper.

It has a little while....

So, I thought I'd ramble a bit for anyone who cares to read.
On Wednesday, we went to the zoo with the kids since it was free zoo day. In case you didn't know, I'm a cheap-o. We picked up Dan from work on the way. All of the kids liked the zoo. Alex especially loved it. I could not get a good picture of him, because he would not look at me. He would not stop looking at the animals. He thought everything should say "Roar!" It was cute.
We had a nice Thanksgiving. We went to both family dinners like usual. My family ate at 11:45. My parents are early birds and very timely. It was yummy. Dan's family ate at 2:30. Alex fell asleep on the drive down to Utah county. When he woke up, he was very grumpy. During dinner, we took turns with him while he was screaming hysterically. We went upstairs and outside so we didn't disturb dinnertime. He calmed down after about an hour. Not exactly an ideal dinnertime, but we survived. The older three kids all slept at Grandma's house just for fun. It was very quiet around our house with just Alex home. I am so used to all the noise of 4 kids.
I have gained a greater appreciation for Dan these past few weeks. He has really stepped up and helped me out. He has been cooking, cleaning and changing a lot of diapers. As strange as it may sound, I almost feel like I am falling in love with him all over again. When he does kind things, it makes me happy and love him even more.
Sorry if this next part sounds like whine fest.
Before I had surgery, I seriously thought I would be able to run as soon as I hit the 2 week post-op mark. In a few more days, it will be three weeks. I still feel like I am barely surviving life. Until a day ago, I could breathe through my nose quite well. Yesterday, one side started getting swollen. I've also had the chills for several nights in a row. I think I have an infection on one side of my nose. Since I haven't felt very well today, I called the doctor on call with the ENT office, and they called me in an antibiotic. So, after church I picked it up. Yes, I went to church.....I'm attempting to do everything like I normally do.
I am still taking Tylenol every day and night. I have to take a nap every day. I know that the surgery was the right thing to do. The side of my nose that is not infected (the side that was fused) is so much better. I just really didn't expect to feel so crappy for so long. But hey, I'm not sick permanently. So I really can't complain. I am thankful that I am usually healthy, happy, and somewhat energetic.

Just for fun....

These are pictures of Anna, Rachel, and me, all around age 4. The photo quality isn't so good on the picture of me. Can anyone guess which daughter looks more like me? I just thought it was fun to compare the pictures at the same age.

A bit of rambling about my surgery

This week has been a week of misery. On Tuesday I went in for sinus surgery to fix all of my sinus issues.
I was really nervous for surgery. I hate the thought of anesthesia. What if I don't wake up?? I mentioned to my sister Leslie that I was nervous, and this was her reply. "Well, don't worry. If you die, I don't think you are going to hell." I'm not scared of going to hell. I just wanna be around to raise my kids.
When I went in to register for surgery, the first question the receptionist asked me was, "Do you want to be an organ donor?" I replied, "Yes, but not today." That's a great first question to ask a nervous patient.
Well, as I'm sure you know, I did wake up.
When I woke up, I felt awful. After a short time in the recovery room, they sent me home. I can't believe the state they sent me home in. I was puking, bleeding, and Dan had to carry me. Why do they make you stay so long after having a baby, but send you home so quickly after surgery? I didn't really want to pay for a hospital stay, but I sure wasn't ready to move when they told me it was time to go home.
The surgery took about 2 1/2 hours. They expected the surgery to be a little shorter than that, but things were much worse that they appeared on the CT scan. My deviated septum was partially fused to the other side of my nose. No wonder that side of my nose was always stuffy! It really was blocked off. They also removed a cyst that was filled with infection. In addition to that stuff, they fixed 4 other things that were wrong with my sinuses.
Each day I am feeling a little better and can be up a bit more. I am not allowed to bend down and pick things up for two weeks. I have a splint sewn in my nose. I am looking forward to getting it taken out so I might be able to breathe a little better.
Dan has been great through it all. The first night, he stayed up all night taking care of me. He stroked my head and tried to make me comfortable.
I've appreciated the help from my family, and dinner from ward members too.
I did not expect to be so miserable.......

Some days I'm really on top of things......

And some days I'm just not.
Yesterday we were supposed to do church clean-up in the morning. I went running with my mom and got back a few minutes before it was time to go. Dan went on ahead of me and the kids (who were being slow-pokes). A few minutes later he called me to say that I had the time wrong, and they were about done, so don't bother coming.
Then, I dropped my kids off at Primary program practice. I didn't realize that they were supposed to be in Sunday clothes. I didn't get a message or a note. Anyhow, they were the only ones in jeans for the practice.
Now, here's the clencher: I wore my shirt inside-out for half of the day. Rachel pointed out that the tags weren't supposed to be on the outside. I had gone several places with the shirt inside-out.
Yesterday, I felt bad about it all. But today, I think it is rather funny. I guess I really am crazy. :)

Halloween

For Halloween this year, Rachel was a "Southern Belle", Caleb was a ninja, and Anna and Alex were monkeys. I wore a black hooded cape, and decided that I was the witch from Snow White. Becca did my makeup--and she made me look a bit scary. I was surprised that Alex wasn't scared of me.

I took the kids trick-or-treating, while Dan passed out the candy. I think we gave out around 7 bags of candy bars. And we were stingy and only gave the trick-or-treaters one piece. I've decided that next year, we need to both take the kids trick-or-treating, so we don't go through so much candy. I'll admit, I love chocolate. I was disappointed that the Junior Mints got all gone by the time I got back with the kids. I should hand out suckers and keep the chocolate.

Dan took Buddy to get groomed on Halloween. They put a bandana with ghosts on him. We tried to groom Buddy ourselves a couple of months ago, and it went very badly (blood everywhere, looked worse than when we started). Buddy looked cute with his bandana and groomed fur.

I left my camera at my parents' house, so I wasn't able to take as many pictures as I would have liked. I still have my old camera, but the batteries were dying.

Alex is still loving the candy. His, and everyone else's.

A little poem I made up about Alex

The boy with the Mischievious Grin

I have a little boy with a mischievious grin
If you leave the room, you'll never know what shape it will be in

The bathroom sink is running
The toilet is overflowing
The door is unlocked
Who knows where the toddler is going?

The dishes are dirty
The dishwasher got stopped
The fridge door is open
Looks like the floor needs to get mopped

The couch cushions are on the floor
The computer has 3 cd's in
The vacuum has been emptied
The family room looks like its been through a war

There's a new mural on the wall
The diaper he was wearing now sits in the hall
The blankets are no longer on the bed.
And I find my little boy with a silly hat on his head.

He smiles with a big mischievious grin
I want to yell about what big trouble he's in
But instead I smile
And hope this stage only lasts a little while.

My little Anna is 4!!

Today is Anna's 4th birthday. We are having a party, but not the usual kind. We are having a "sick party". Rachel, Caleb, and Anna all have a fever and a cough. They are on the couches watching Anna's new Barbie movie. Anna has it the mildest so far. But as I've discovered from the older two, it starts with a mild fever and then turns to a high fever. I hope she still has a fun day.

Anna is such a joy. From the time we brought her home from the hospital, she has really brightened up our home. I love her cute, curly hair. Her little laugh makes me smile. Anna does everything whole-heartedly. She jumps up and down just at the mention of preschool.

She was born a few days after General Conference. I remember walking between conference sessions trying to go into labor. It did no good. I was scheduled to be induced on Oct 5. I was having false labor almost every day. On the morning I was scheduled to be induced, the hospital called and canceled it. They had too many people come in during the night and had no room. I cried. But it was all remedied a day later when I was induced. She was my fastest labor and delivery. From start to finish, it was 2 hours and 49 minutes (according to my chart).

I am so thankful for my little girl. I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world.

Corn Belly's

While Dan and I were gone this weekend, my mom and Becca took our kids to Corn Belly's. We had so much fun last year with the kids that I was a little disappointed that my mom wanted to take them while we were gone. But Ralphie was going, and I knew the kids would have lots of fun going with their cousins. I told them they had to take pictures for me. So, Becca took pictures.

I am really thankful for Mom, Becca, and Leslie for taking such good care of my kids. They had so much fun while we were gone. They even got one last swim in at Leslie's house since the weather was warm.

Fall is Beautiful!

Dan and I spent a day at Aspen Grove for a marriage retreat. We had tons of fun. We really enjoyed spending time together without the kids. The colorful fall leaves were so beautiful! Everywhere you turned it was yet another scene of brilliant colors. We hope to go back again next year for the retreat, but also for the great scenery.

No wonder there are so many wasps around.....

This summer my kids got stung by wasps several times. Alex has the record of being stung 4 times. One day when we were outside, Rachel pointed out this massive wasp nest in one of the neighbors' trees. It is huge! It is bigger than a birds nest. No wonder we've had so many wasps this summer!

First Day of School

Monday was the first day of school for Caleb and Rachel. They were both excited but nervous about starting the new school. Rachel her clothes picked out for a week or two before school started. Caleb battled with me the night before because he didn't want to wear "boring clothes". I let him go through all of the color combinations, and he finally settled on what to wear. The next day, I tried to get him to wear his blue pants. He was adamant that he would not wear them because the blue pair had a hook like "Sunday Pants" instead of buttons. After three days in a row of the exact same outfit, he relented and wore the blue ones. Then he discovered that the blue ones are much easier to undo so now he loves them.

Anna started preschool on Tuesday. She was so excited. She had a great time and now asks me what day it is every day.

The other picture is just a picture I took of her this morning. She was happy that I let her pick a rose. She wears dresses 90% of the time. So, it was a miracle that I got her to wear pants to preschool both days.

Silly Little Anna

On Saturday night we went with my parents to watch the South Jordan Fireworks. The fireworks were supposed to be in July, but they were rained out. I don't think very many people caught on that they were re-scheduled. We went just outside the park, and had a great view of the fireworks.
Anna said the funniest thing. She said, "I wish I were a firework". She was serious. We thought it was funny. Anna is such a delightful little girl.

A small moment

The Teddy Bear 1K last Saturday was quite rainy. Anna thought it was great. She splashed in every puddle and had a lot of fun. Caleb's shoe fell off and he hated the rain. He was crying by the time he finished. He was extremely grumpy.

It is interesting how attitude makes a huge difference in how we deal with things.

I know in life, that sometimes I am the one crying in the rain. But there have also been times where I've been the one splashing in the puddles. One of the biggest things that has helped me as I've gotten older is this: PERSPECTIVE. When I was younger, all I could see was then and there. Sometimes when things are hard, I try to step back and think about the big picture.

Recently, as I was studying my Sunday School lesson (I am now teaching teenagers), I came across these verses. I've know these verses for years, but they really stood out to me.

7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

It says that "thine afflictions shall be but a small moment". The Lord was actually talking to Joseph Smith at the time. His entire life was filled with adversity and afflictions. That hardly seems like a small moment, if you only see mortality. In the eternal perspective, it really is a small moment.

I think my trials look really miniscule compared to the trials Joseph Smith went through.

I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers. I know that Jesus Christ atoned for my sins. I know that the gospel is true.

Part 2: More summer rambling

My kids are starting to get really bored with summer. Thankfully, we don't have much time left. School is now staring on Aug 31, since the building will not be finished until then. The house is constantly messy with everyone home all of the time. It doesn't help that Alex has learned to open the game closet, climb the shelves, and dump everything out. The closet has bi-fold doors and no handles. So you would think he wouldn't be able to open it. I think we need to put some knobs on now, and a child lock too.

We were thinking about going to Bear Lake this weekend. However, there's a Teddy Bear 1K that is at the park on Saturday, and Rachel really wants to run it. She missed it last year and the other kids got to run it. I'm not dying to go camping anyways. It is a fun, kid-oriented race. They get a teddy bear as they cross the finish line. It is not even a mile long. If you are in the area, you should bring your kids to it.

Here's a link: http://www.cjcslc.org/pdfs/run5kregistrationform2009.pdf

We went to the new lake in Daybreak. It was fun. We are going there for a day outing instead of Bear Lake. I like sleeping in my own bed.

In my last post, I mentioned that Alex could get his diaper off but hadn't pooped on the floor or made a poopy mess yet. Well, it was just a matter of time.

One day, he took of his diaper and pooped on the living room floor. Thankfully, it is a laminate wood floor and was easy to clean up. The next incident was much worse. I tried to put him down for a nap before church on Sunday. I went to his door and listened to see if he was asleep. What I heard was him saying "Poo". At that moment I wanted to run away rather than open his door and see the damage. He had taken off his pants and diaper, and pooped. And stepped in it. And then Anna came in to see what he had done, and she stepped in it and tracked it down the hallway on her way to tell me that she stepped in it. So, I got to clean the carpets, give baths again, and disinfect the bathtub before church. I felt grouchy by the time we made it to church.

Did you know that it is not considered a stop at a stop sign if your car doesn't rock backwards from stopping? I learned this lesson from the West Jordan for a cost of $90.

I've done beets and corn this week. I'm so sick of canning. I now think that we should turn our garden into a basketball court. We won't really. But its sounds nice at this point.

Just some summertime rambling.....

I've actually enjoyed having my kids home this summer. There hasn't been too many fights. They've been pretty good about doing their chores. Caleb has probably only had two meltdowns this summer. So, we've been pretty happy. They will start school Aug 24 this year, since we switched to a charter school.
Dan had to work on the 24th of July. I decided to take the kids to Classic for bouncing and waterslides by myself. They loved bouncing. Even Alex. He would not stay on the bouncing thing for kids under 7 years old. Instead, he took off up the enormous bouncing things for all ages. He climbed steps that looked almost as tall as him. He is so fearless and energetic. For the waterpark, I put Anna and Alex in lifejackets in case either of them escaped. Luckily, they both stayed by me in the kiddie pool the whole time. Rachel and Caleb loved going down the waterslides, like usual. They followed my rule to stick together pretty well. I could see them almost the entire time, as they went down the big slides by themselves. I take all four kids with me to the store all of the time. However, I was a bit nervous to take them to Classic by myself. I was pleased that it went as well as it did. The store usually goes worse than this did.

In the evening, we went down to American Fork for a BBQ with the Rowley family. When we got home, the dog barked at us as we pulled in the driveway. I thought that was strange. Buddy doesn't bark at me. I said, "I thought we put Buddy away since he is scared of fireworks." Rachel said that she did. I was worried that somehow he had broken through the doors to get outside. When we got in the house, Dan called Buddy to the back door to put him in the storage room for bedtime. He said, "Something is wrong with Buddy!" Buddy wouldn't come. Meanwhile, I went downstairs and got Buddy out of the storage room, where we had put him. I guess a neighbor saw a golden retriever running around, and noticed that ours was missing from the backyard. So, she put him in our backyard and locked the gate again. In the dark, it was easy to confuse the golden retrievers. We laughed at the mix-up. Animal control picked up the extra golden retriever the next day.

I've been doing a lot of apricots and beans. I've probably made 250 single serving pieces of Apricot leather. There's probably less than 200 pieces left. The kids love it. Alex liked it so much he started calling it candy. He recently switched to calling in fruit instead. I really don't mind making fruit leather. Rachel is the only one that will eat apricots in their natural state. All four kids will eat it made into leather. Fruit leather is made from blended up apricots with about a tablespoon of sugar per blender full. So, its a good way to get them to eat fruit.
I also did 11 quarts of bottled apricots, and a batch of apricot jam. Our apricot tree is little, but my mom and a person in my ward gave me some apricots. I don't wanna do anymore.
Beans---blah! We canned almost 60 pints of beans. By the end of it, I was really sick of it. We still have some beans left in the garden, but I am not going to do anything with them. All of our kids help with the beans. Rachel and Caleb are really helpful. Alex would break a bean in half, put it in a jar or the bowl with the ends, and exclaim "Yay".
Anna said something that was funny. After I boil the lids to go on the jars, I use the lid lifter (a stick with a magnet on the end) to get the hot lids out of the water. She saw me do this and laughed and exclaimed "It's magic!".

Alex has started taking his diaper off. He has taken it off many times already today. Thankfully it wasn't poopy. He can get his pants off to get his diaper off. Time to buy some overalls or something to keep the diaper on. Any suggestions?
If you've read this far in my ramble, you are pretty good. :)

Caleb turns 7!

My sweet Caleb turned 7 while we were on our trip to Yellowstone. I packed all the presents along. My mom baked his cake in her cabin's kitchen since my cabin did not have a kitchen. I think he had a fun day.

My kids probably think I'm mean, but I've decided to only do birthday parties with friends on the even numbered years. On the odd-numbered years, we go out to dinner as a family to celebrate their birthdays.

Caleb chose to go to Chuck E Cheese. We went on Saturday, after we got home from Yellowstone. (Saturday was actually Dan's birthday). After eating a few token bites of pizza, the kids played games and rode rides. Caleb is very good at video games, and regular games. So it wasn't surprising that he ended up with 30 tickets more than Rachel, even though we gave them the same number of tokens. All of the kids had a lot of fun and they are already begging to go back.

I really love Caleb. He is such a sweet, smart boy.

Yellowstone

We made a quick trip to Yellowstone this last week. It was actually the official "Marchant Family" campout. Except it wasn't camping this year.

Leslie reserved some cabins about 17 miles outside of West Yellowstone. It was on a lake called Hebgen Lake. My kids were hoping to swim in it, but after the older cousins tried it out, we decided the kids could just dip their feet in. The water was very cold. It wasn't too hot outside either. It probably only got to 80 degrees.

We arrived Thursday and had dinner together. Then we went to Yellowstone for a couple of hours. We went to Yellowstone for the entire day on Friday. My favorite place is the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone". I love the waterfalls. We went to Old Faithful, and it just didn't seem that impressive to me. It was like waiting for a huge fireworks display, and all you get is one firework. But maybe I just have a bad attitude with that one.
Alex screamed on a lot of the car-rides. He had a mild fever on Thursday, but woke up Friday feeling fine. He was constantly trying to wriggle out of the car seat straps. He's getting pretty good at that. I have had a sinus infection, and didn't feel as well as normal either. Despite that, we had a lot of fun.

I really love spending time with my little family, but also my extended family.

We celebrated Caleb's birthday in Yellowstone.

My toddlers.....

Alex can be so cute sometimes. Yesterday I was sitting on the couch with bare feet. He came over and started pulling on my toes and said "wee wee all the way home". He is coming up with new words and phrases every day. This age is such a hard stage, but can be so cute.
He found my tissue box from my dresser. He came over to me with a clean tissue and tried to wipe my nose. I thought it was really funny.
Anna's favorite thing lately is to have her hair in braids. She keeps asking me to braid her hair. Since her hair is very curly but also thin, it is very hard to braid. Her braids end up tiny, and of course they don't stay straight down. She is such a cutie sometimes.

Fallen Embers

Today while we were in the van, Dan read me the lyrics to this song he liked with a few tears in his eyes. While we struggle at times, we are both very much in love with each other.
Here's the words of the song.

Fallen Embers
Once, as my heart remembers,
all the stars were fallen embers.
Once, when night seemed forever
I was with you.

Once, in the care of morning
in the air was all belonging.
Once, when that day was dawning
I was with you.

How far we are from morning,
how far are we
and the stars shining through the darkness,
falling in the air.

Once, as the night was leaving
into us our dreams were weaving.
One, all dreams were worth keeping.
I was with you.

Once, when our hearts were singing,
I was with you.

Another milestone

We've hit another milestone with Alex. We officially taken him out of a crib and moved him to a toddler bed. I guess I should say that HE has officially taken himself out of a crib. So, to mark 20 months old, we are getting rid of the crib.
I really was not planning on getting rid of the crib so soon. In fact, I was thinking recently, that I would like to keep him in it until he's at least 3 years old. I have never moved my kids out of a crib until they were at least 2 or 2 1/2 years old.
Every time we put Alex in the crib, he would promptly climb out. And the mattress was as low as it could go. He started climbing out in the night as well. Since it really isn't that safe for him to be continually taking the leap from bed, we moved him to a toddler bed. I thought about getting a crib tent. But Alex is such a busy boy, I decided that it probably wouldn't contain him for much longer.
Now, I just put Alex in bed, and shut the door. He screams and pounds on the door. After a few minutes he calms down. I've tried rocking him, but he won't let me. He fights to get down the whole time. I physically can't handle rocking him--it is too hard. I've also tried lying down next to him in bed. He is such a light sleeper, that it wakes him up if I move at all. Sometimes he falls asleep in the recliner rocker in his room. If we try to move him, he wakes right up. Then it starts the screaming session again. I guess all is good until he learns to open the door--then it'll be time for a child lock. It would be much more dangerous for me to let him roam the house, than to lock him in.
Anyone want an old crib? I'll probably send it to DI this weekend.

Leslie's poem and more

Yesterday Dan started rearranging and doing a serious clean-out/dejunking of our bedroom. In the next couple weeks, we are upgrading our bed. YAY!!! We have a full size bed. We are upgrading to a king. I'm excited to have more space and not have to roll the same way as each other at night. We went through a lot of our stuff that was boxed in the closets. I found this funny poem that my sister Leslie wrote after running a cross-country race in Rexburg, ID. I thought it was pretty funny, so here it is:

Ode to a Rexburg Race

Why come to run a race,
In this desolate, hated place?
With snow so deep we crawl to run
In Rexburg, there is no fun

The gun goes off to start the meet
By the time its over we won't feel our feet
We struggle onward to beat the foe
We will win, even in the snow
Those ahead think they've won
So we pass them just for fun

The wind is blowing
My fingers are numb
All I can think of is "Rexburg is dumb"
And it keeps on snowing

I see a snowman up ahead
Oh, its just a spectator frozen dead
Four feet of snow, and 3.1 miles later
The race is done.
After our fight,
We all have won.

Throwing my bummies in the air
Into the ice water pond I dash
Skinny dipping in a blizzard
is the perfect way for a victory bash.
Shaking and frostbitten
We return to the motel
Hot tubbing nude doesn't go over well

Banned from the hotel, so to Utah we go
Leaving frozen fingers, toes and bummies in the Rexburg snow.


Those of you who aren't runners are probably wondering what "bummies" are. Bummies are running shorts that are pretty much like underwear. I've never worn them, and I never will.
And I seriously doubt Leslie was skinny-dipping in Rexburg either. It's just her sense of humor.

What's in your Cheerios???

Several weeks ago, the keys to our van disappeared. I searched from one end of the house to the other. When we bought our van, they only gave us one set of keys. I kept trying to get key copies made at the store, but they would never work. I guess you have to have special dealer keys for newer vehicles, not just a key copy. I didn't know that.
After a very frustrating unfruitful search, I had my sister Angie drive me to the dealer to get a new key made for the van. Luckily since I had a copied key, they were able to copy it onto a key that would work. Forty or fifty bucks later, I had a working key for my van again.
Today, Dan sat down and poured himself a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast. To his surprise, he got a prize in his bowl. My missing set of keys!! I guess Alex must have stuffed my keys in the box of cereal. The Cheerios got lost at the back of the cupboard, because the plain ones aren't anybody's favorite. They were stale, so he threw them out. I am so glad to have my keys back. Just yesterday, I was considering getting a new remote for the van. I guess I am spoiled, but I really hate having to unlock everything by hand. I'm glad that I didn't spend $50-$75 on a new remote.

Two weeks in a row

We've made it all the way through sacrament meeting without going out at all for TWO weeks in a row! Maybe the church toddler wrestling match might be calming down a little. Or I might be jinxing myself by saying this.
We've discovered Alex really likes stickers. I found an old sticker book that was Caleb's, and Alex thoroughly enjoyed it for a while. I think I'll go check out the dollar store for more sticker books.

If you like Coldplay.....

Last week my sister Jenny sent me this link for a free Coldplay album download. It is a live concert--and IMO live isn't usually as good. But hey, its free and I enjoyed listening to it.
http://lrlrl.coldplay.com/leftright.html

Also, there is a new YouTube video by Jon Schmidt called Love Story meets Vive la Vida.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys

I really enjoyed this music video. Probably because I like musical instruments and Coldplay. I've never really listened to Taylor Swift, so I don't know the song Love Story. I would love to play the piano this well.

Alex says...

Alex is 19 months now. He says some words that are kind of funny.
Here's some of them:
Foofs (shoes)
Nandy (candy)
Bippy (sippy cup)
Nanna (Anna and Banana)
Bee (Caleb. I call Caleb "Caleby" and he just picked up on the bee part of the name)

He also says a lot of things correctly, like "bath, stuck, mom, dad, cookie, dog".

He keeps me very, very busy. I only hope he hasn't gotten into something while I've been on the computer for a couple of minutes. I put locks on the cabinets this week. He got into the flour bucket and made a huge mess. I thought I would be smart and vacuum it up with the shop vac. I forgot that we hadn't cleaned out the filter since the kitchen remodel, so sheetrock dust went everywhere. What a mess.
Alex is convinced that we have a "Nandy" cupboard. Don't we all have a candy cupboard? Its really the medicine cupboard. And it is locked. I've always kept the cleaners locked up. We just needed new locks on the new cabinets. Thankfully, I could get the kind that just go through the handles, so we didn't have to drill any holes.
Alex climbed on top of the piano this morning, and threw or knocked off a tile that I had on the piano with a saying on it. It didn't break. But it caused some floor damage to the laminate wood floor.
Dan did some paint touch-ups in the kitchen on Friday. About the time it dried, Alex got a pen out of the drawer, and did a nice mural on the freshly painted wall.
Alex also has incredibly strong little arms. When I am putting laundry in the wash, he pulls up to look in the washing machine. He loves to put the downy ball in for me. Caleb used to like to do this.
I hope I can keep up with this boy.........he's the busiest toddler I've had.

The Ogden Half Marathon

On Friday night, my mom, Leslie, Becca, Ralphie (Ang) and I drove up to Odgen. We met up with Bridget since she lives in Odgen, and Jenny, who drove from Idaho for the race. We picked up our race packets and went to the Olive Garden for dinner.

We woke up rather early on Saturday morning to ride the bus up the canyon. Or in my case, I didn't have to wake up since I was already awake. I don't sleep well at hotels. After an uneventful bus ride, we got dropped off at Eden park, where the race starts. We huddled around the campfires for over an hour while we waited.

I hadn't trained much for the half-marathon because I have been having knee issues. I had only gotten in one ten mile run, and a couple of runs shorter than ten. I started wearing a knee band recently and taking anti-inflammatories again, and that seems to have helped the knee issue a lot. I felt unprepared for the race.

I actually felt well for almost the entire race. I listed to my ipod, enjoyed the mountains (especially the waterfall) and ran along without anybody I knew. About mile 11, I started to feel quite tired, but I made it to the end just fine.

I ran a time of 1:44. I haven't run many half-marathons, and this is now my fastest time. Overall, I placed 49th out of 1295 women. I'm happy with how I did.

Jenny and Leslie came in a few minutes behind me. I only saw Leslie finish. I don't know how I missed seeing Jenny since she was a few feet in front of Leslie. They did well, and I was proud of them.

Mom didn't have her best race. She came in about 20 minutes behind Leslie and Jenny. She looked like she didn't feel good. Immediately after crossing the finish line, she started to pass out. She was carried to the medical tent. We were all really worried. Its not like Mom is 40 anymore. She'll be 60 pretty soon. They didn't let people into the gate to the medical tent. However, I climbed through the barricade bars and into the medical tent to make sure she was okay. She was actually kind of funny. She was concerned about getting out of the tent ASAP because she wanted the free hotel breakfast before it ended in half an hour. After a little while, they let her leave. We walked slowly back to the hotel for breakfast. I am proud of Mom for running. It may not have been a PR for her, but she is awesome for running.

All of us runners, and non-runners had a fun time together.

Tomorrow it's been 9 Years

Since Rachel was born. Rachel was due May 5, but was born May 13. (Yeah, I was such a happy camper when I was overdue).

Rachel was born very early on a Saturday morning, the day before Mother's Day

When Rachel was born, the cord was wrapped around her neck 3 times. She came out blue and was not breathing. Since she was my first, I had no idea what a newborn was supposed to look like. And I didn't know that it was unusual that they wisked her away to the corner of the room to work on her. Looking back, I realize how blessed we were that she came out perfectly fine.

Rachel is quite a joy to have around. She is always writing little notes and doing nice things for people. She tries hard to choose the right. She is a great helper with all of her younger siblings. Her school teachers and church teachers have only good things to say about her.

On Friday we went to the library. When we got home, she took a book to the backyard and sat under the apple tree. She read the entire book in one sitting---under the apple tree. At night, I have to make her put her book down and go to sleep, or she will read until it is very late.

Rachel also loves to cook. I have started letting her cook simple things all by herself. (Except I help her get it out of the oven). She thinks it is fun to look at cookbooks. I've always loved to look at cookbooks.

Rachel loves every creature on earth. She has kept and named spiders, butterflies, potato bugs, snails, caterpillars, and ladybugs. She loves cats, and especially dogs.

I couldn't ask for a better daughter.