Bad hair

Rebekah had a little bun on the top of her hair for church today. This is what she was left with when we took it out. It's one of those things that you really need to see in person to fully appreciate, but maybe you can get an idea from these pics. So funny.

Not so funny...Leah let out an ear-piercing scream in the middle of sacrament mtg today. Poor youth speaker. I'm sure no one heard 2 or 3 of her words during that moment. Some may have been temporarily deaf while their hearing slowly returned. I made a quick exit with the ear-splitter until she could calm down. Now people won't be thinking she's such an angel!

There's no excuse!

Chad and I took the girls out to run errands yesterday morning and were watching the clock the whole time in order to make it back for Nathan's bus. Had we known the future, we would have saved our energy!

Here's the story:

School lets out at 11 am. We expect him to be dropped off about 20 minutes after that. I have been going out to the corner to wait and walk him home. I've been expecting that this would not be a permanent arrangement. (There are things I can be doing instead of standing on the street corner!)

Yesterday, I was under a pile of yarn that I was about to roll into a ball, so I thought Nathan could walk himself in. By 11:30, still no Nathan. I finished my ball and got up to call a friend. Her kindergartner hadn't arrived yet either. OK then, something must have slowed the bus down.

I called the school. The bus left on time and there haven't been any reports of problems. I called another mother. Now it's 11:40. Her kindergartner has been home for 20 minutes. What?? Within 3 consecutive stops, only the middle student made it home?

In between my calls back and forth with the school and moms, I've been calling the "Bus Barn." I made 4 calls and got the answering machine 4 times. I finally left a message. But there still was the problem of the missing children. I called the school back and pestered them for a cell phone number of the guy at the bus barn. He went out and got on the radio.

The bus driver was a sub. (Excuse? Maybe, but a weak one.) I could hear a lot of the conversation. He thought he'd dropped them off. (REALLY??? WHERE???) Now I'm picturing Nathan wandering around some strange neighborhood. I'm hoping that the two of them are wandering together, at least!

More overheard conversation. He's still got them on the bus. Huh??? He's now PICKING UP kids. By this time, PM kindergarten has started (it starts at 11:45) so maybe these are preschool kids. He didn't notice that he still had some old riders when he started getting new ones? Nathan and his little friend are very quiet and likely would not have said anything. They might not have even been visible back there in the seats. (Excuse? Possibly, but still weak.) I wouldn't have been surprised if they got off at the school again and wondered what was going on.

I'm now asking where I can meet the bus to retrieve these children. Since it's currently on the other side of town at a place I've never heard of, I'm not real sure of meeting it there. Maybe at the school? They tell me to come to the Bus Barn and they'll be there.

When I arrived, some lady was waiting with them. She immediately began making excuses. (Something about a kid with a bloody nose.) There were no apologies. In my opinion, if you can't handle a little bloody nose and still deliver a bus load of children safely, you're moonlighting in the WRONG job. What if something more serious were to happen?

I loaded Nathan and his friend into the van at 12:10...70 minutes after school was released. When I questioned them, they both said that the bus didn't stop at their stops. So I counseled them to stand up and yell at the driver if that ever happened again. Poor, confused 5-year-olds. We are always telling them to be polite to grown-ups and now I'm telling them to yell at them. I wish I could !

I'll be standing at the corner, for sure, this morning. If that bus doesn't stop, lots of people will hear me yelling!

What we're up to

We've now been through a whole week of school. Nathan's Back to School night was last night. Daniel's school does Muffins with Mom and Donuts with Dad on a couple of Friday mornings at the beginning of the year. This Friday is Muffins. Darn. I wish I was a Dad. I like donuts better!

I started helping in Nathan's classroom today. Every Wednesday until November. Just in time for the baby to be born. Today I supervised the kids gluing colored squares onto a picture of an elephant. What would that teacher do without me?

As you can see, I've done a few more scrapbook pages. These were from today and yesterday. I run in spurts. Tomorrow I may spurt into my sewing room. There's lots to do in there! Speaking of which, I was helping Nathan fill out a spotlight paper and for the line, "My mom works at___________," Nathan answered, "in her sewing room." For the record, I do work in other rooms of the house, too!

Our bishopric was changed this past Sunday. Chad was Exec. Sec., but is now a free agent. We're checking the caller ID every time the phone rings. Actually, we already do that, but now we're a little on edge about it. Chad is too good a man to stay under the radar for long.

I get to teach this Sunday. Notice I phrased that positively. It's from Pres. Hinkley Priesthood Session talk, "I Am Clean." This is my 3rd lesson and second one from the Priesthood Session. I felt guilty for not recognizing the talk until I realized that I didn't attend that session! I am currently trying to decide how much to say and how to say it. The talk isn't long, but the message could be and there are some points that have the possibility of offending (like the fact that flip-flops and/or denim skirts really aren't the best church attire) if not handled just right. I guess I'll just rely on the Spirit and trust in the results.

The weather has really cooled this past week or so. I went from melting to cold toes during naptime. However, I refuse to wear socks in August. We didn't even reach 70 degrees today. I am actually very grateful that we never broke 100. Very close, but not quite. Somehow, I can still work up a sweat during the day. I should lounge around more! Maybe I should do more scrapbook pages. ;)

I wanted to take a picture last week, but don't usually have my camera while I drive around town. So you'll just have to visualize. Our little town got it's 2nd traffic light last week. It's fully functioning and even has turn arrows! Of course, they are usually just blinking yellow. It's still a small town. The light didn't actually increase the traffic. I'll bet the bus drivers appreciate it though. It makes crossing the busiest street in town a little easier. (Busy means you might have to wait for up to ten cars in a row to pass before you can go.) My favorite part about it all is that they reconstructed the train track crossing there. No more muddled brains as you are jolted over the tracks!

Leah told me today that her owies make her blood wiggle. Then she showed me a wiggle (in case I was unclear?). Too bad you missed that one! She also informed me that she has owies all over her body. I believe it because she is howling constantly.

Report of the First Day

Nathan had no trouble getting on the right bus this morning. There were some teachers there to help him. Daniel almost had some trouble as those teachers tried to put him on the Kindergarten bus, too! Daniel told me this right after he said, "I feel taller." Apparently, not tall enough.

Daniel got to sit right next to his favorite friend from last year. He knew this friend would be in his class and was hoping to be so lucky.

Nathan reported something about someone (an adult I think) "finding" (?) gingerbread cookies in the school. He only got one. This is a story I'm still trying to get all the answers to.

Nathan had homework and had to suffer through lunch before he could do it. (We're really mean to each other in our family.) Daniel didn't have any.

Daniel felt like the day was really long. Nathan didn't.

Nathan now knows how to work the drinking fountain.

Their mom is hoping they fall right to sleep tonight!!!!

Scrapbook page to celebrate the day!

Do you think they'll look that happy on the 1st day of school 7 or 8 years from now?

School Days!

Guess what today is?


THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!


I'll bet you can't tell I was looking forward to this. Daniel has been excited, too, but not as much as me!

Here are the kids in our traditional first day of school picture. They look like a cell phone service commercial. We just need one more kid.

The boys got haircuts last night and everyone got a bath. The boys had fun picking out their clothes this morning. We watched them walk to the bus stop and climb on the bus. I couldn't help but wonder how Nathan was feeling about everything.

In our small town, all the kids ride the bus together to the high school and then the younger kids change buses and are driven to their own schools. We don't have neighborhood schools. Instead, we are divided by grades. For us, this meant that Daniel and Nathan got on different buses. I hope Nathan didn't have any trouble finding the right place to go. I assume there were people to help out.? Yesterday, Daniel said to Chad, "There's only one thing troubling me." He was worried about Nathan getting the right bus, too. Isn't that sweet?

The bus comes to our stop at 7:33 AM. An hour later, I had the floors mopped now I'm pooped. I've got to use my time more effectively! Leah's already complaining that I won't let her watch TV. I'm so mean.

The other night we were grocery shopping and Nathan thought it would be funny to eat something he found as we went down the baking aisle. It looked like it had been some kind of flour. He and Daniel thought it was hilarious. Being the perfect mother, I told him not to do that because he had no idea if what he eats is going to make him sick or not. So what do I wake up to that night? Nathan is standing in his room, crying, with a pile of vomit in front of him. And the smell was horrible. He was sick for about an hour and then fine. Is it coincidence or did he really get sick from the mystery flour? I'm not sure, but I let him believe it all his fault (because I am the perfect mother). I don't think he'll be doing that again!

Speaking of perfect. I just want the world to know that I am married to the perfect husband. Thanks for everything, Chad!

How sad am I?

I haven't posted since the 2nd? What's wrong with me?

I have been in the land of living peoples. I have been working on Leah's blanket, finished the blessing afghan, started another baby afghan, made one of my maternity dresses (and wore it two days in a row), getting school supplies together (THEY START ON THURSDAY...YIPEE!!!), cleaning house, doing a little Family History and fighting a higher level of fatigue than I expected.

Today Daniel and Nathan have a dentist appointment. Tomorrow, they have school registration.

I did one scrapbook page. Check out this blog page to see all the pages our little ward group has done so far.

It was a warm one last night. The temp in the room was 81.5 when I turned out the light and a chilly 76 when I got up this morning. Lovely. I thought I was going to sweat all night. I was directly under the fan which was Mach 5.

Rebekah asked me, "Why?" this morning. Oh no, it's finally got her. They all have the WhyBug now.

And now I'm off to clean the bathrooms. Gross.

Whoa! She's out of control

Our digital scrapbooking group had a challenge to create a Top Ten page. Originally, I couldn't think of which person I would focus on so I created the top ten smiles page.

Well, after seeing every one's cute pages, I decided to do one for everyone in the family. As you can see, it got a bit out of control. But they're done! :)

I do have a family and life outside of the hours I've been sitting at the computer. We're still trying to get better around here.

Nathan's fever is gone. Leah complains that her tummy hurts sometimes, but it's hard to tell when the symptoms are real with her. Rebekah's nose is getting better...it's not so fluid.

On the other hand, Daniel still has a fever today. I don't think he had one yesterday. I was glad because he had an appointment with an allergist that we were lucky to get. The next appt. available was at the end of the month.

The good news is that he isn't allergic to any foods. He does have some allergies, which explains his coughing at night (all summer) and his habit to run his palm up the end of his nose. He is allergic to cats, some grasses, tobacco, dust, seasonal mold, and dogs. They didn't test for other animals. He's probably allergic to the rabbits outside as well. They tested for 80 things @ $7.50 a test!!! Let's hope that insurance company pays up. I'm still reeling from the price of a month of Singulair.

Even so, we're having a hard time putting the kittens out of the house. I did bathe them. There is a HEPA filter in the boys' room and their door is shut. There is a second filter downstairs. The Kirby vacuum is supposed to be really good for fighting allergies, but I'm not convinced it's anything more than a sales trick. I guess I'll have to be better about dusting the house. *sigh*

Between the new medicine and being sick, Daniel is very sleepy and not hungry. But, there has been less fighting today! (Every cloud has a silver lining.)