Nathan's Graduation Scrapped

A page I created this morning. I haven't even had breakfast yet!

Flying with Joseph

That kind of sounds like "Tuesdays with Morrie" but not nearly as likely to find a broad readership.

So it's been mentioned that Kristy would like to hear about Joseph's flying experience and Autumn would like to know about the trip. This should satisfy Kristy and whet Autumn's appetite!

I have flown with all of my children at some point. Some of those were just the two of us and some were with Daddy. I prefer the latter as flying with someone that has to be held the entire time gets pretty tiring. In Joseph's opinion, being held all the time is more than tiring...it's torture.

We had 3 legs of our trip: 2 one way, 1 on the way back. The first flight was about 40 minutes long...once we got on the plane and in the air. I flew Horizon. Not a bad airline. They're even better when their dispatch computers are on line and passenger lists along with whatever other paperwork is need for each flight are accessible. Without some key papers, the planes are grounded. The entire Horizon fleet was grounded...as were Mommy and baby. Luckily, our connecting flight was also grounded, so we didn't have to worry about that. We finally boarded about the time we were supposed to be landing.

Joseph flew pretty well. He slept while we waited in the terminal so he was bright-eyed for the trip. We sat next to a young woman who wasn't rude but preferred to keep to herself. I had the aisle seat so that gave me lots of room with Joseph. Part way through the flight I notice that Joseph's diaper is full and his clothes are starting to feel wet. Well, I certainly can't take him to the only bathroom on the plane. Where would I put him? I can't just plop his head down on the girl next to me. And there is no way I'm putting him down in the aisle. So I changed him while he sat upright in my lap. Yes, be amazed. I have talents I never expected! I was fortunate that he was only wet. It would have been a whole other set of challenges if he had been messy.

I wadded the wet diaper up and shoved it into my empty drink cup and discreetly put it into the trash during one of the collection rounds. I had to grin later when they said they were making their last pass through the cabin and would be collecting the trash, "regardless of its contents." If only they knew.

It was about the time of the last collection that Joseph started to cause problems. He was tired of being held and was getting hungry. I tried all sorts of things, but to no avail. He had the whole plane's attention by the time we landed. He did take a startled interest in the big bump as the plane touched down, but it was a passing fancy.

We de-boarded: me, Joseph, the diaper bag and carry on. We had to go down the steps, across the tarmac and into the airport (small planes don't get nice gates). I asked the woman at the desk if I had time to feed the baby before the connecting flight boarded. She assured me that I did. Joseph is a fast eater. Almost not fast enough as I was loading back up again while they called the last 3 passengers to board the plane. My name was among them.

We went through the door, out to the tarmac and back onto the VERY SAME PLANE!!! Now why couldn't I have just stayed on the plane? I was sitting diagonal across the aisle from my last seat. Thanks a lot, Horizon!

This leg was 1 hour 10 minutes long and Joseph kept me busy near the end again. He was so tired and only wanted to snuggle into his crib...which I would have packed if I could. I kept tipping him upside-down into the aisle and then back up again. That crazy kid likes to be up ended. For a while there, the dipping up and down was putting him to sleep. (And wearing out my arms at an alarming rate.)

We finally got off the plane and into Kristi's car where he immediately went soundly to sleep. Whew! My lap was finally free!

This is where I would tell you about the visit, but will save for the next post. Sorry, Autumn!

The flight back was only an hour. (I flew into Boise to meet up with the rest of the family for a family reunion). We were very fortunate to have several empty seats on the flight so I got both seats to myself. It was handy for wrangling Joseph. He had a really good nap for the bulk of the flight, but lost his patience at the end again and became quite loud. I felt it a little bit of pay back for the couple that kept kissing in the two seats in front of me. It's fine with me if you want to kiss, but don't do it right in the seat opening where I have to see it EVERY time!

And that is my experience flying with Joseph. It is not for the weak. I am weak. (Except for that awesome diaper change!)

What am I getting myself into?

Daniel turns 8 on Monday. He's getting a birthday party. He is the only kid in this family that has ever had one. I think this will be his 4th. Do we love Daniel more? No. Due to either moving or shyness, the other kids really haven't had the friend pool to make a birthday party worth it.

I told Daniel he could invite 8 friends (one for each year he's turning). He picked the friends and said, "Oh, I guess I won't invite ___________." Oh yes we will. That little boy is in our ward and his mother has already mentioned that he hasn't been invited to any peer baptisms. (I don't know why...he's not a monster or anything.) He's invited to our party and the baptism. So we were up to 9. Then I realized on Tuesday that we hadn't even thought to invite our closest neighbor. The kids play with him more than anyone else. We forgot about him originally because he's not a church member and not in Daniel's school grade. Now we're up to 10. Of course, all 10 will show up and be the death of me.

Daniel chose to do a space theme this year. I've surfed the web and found some games to play as well as some decorating ideas.

Here was his invitation:

And a Thank You frame:

I'm going to take pictures of Daniel with each of his guests then insert them into the design before printing them off and sticking them to the back of some glittery foam. I'll add a little ribbon hanger and send them home with each boy.

I have plans for a spaceship cake. I'd love to show you the image I have in my mind because experience has taught me that's the best the cake will ever look. You'll have to settle with what I actually come up with. (My apologies in advance.)

Lunch Time

It's never a dull moment on the Collett Farm.

I was in the middle of making lunch, with two pans simmering on the stove and trying to empty the dishwasher, when Rebekah started crying for me from the back of the house. She had soap in her eye. Laundry detergent.

Dare I hope that she's developing an interest in doing the laundry? It's more likely that she wanted to bury the measuring cup in the soap tub again. (I hate having to dig that thing out.)

So I took her to the bathroom and rinsed out her eyes/rinsed off her face. As soon as I get back into the kitchen, she's behind me saying that she has soap in her eye. I should have thought to check her hands. She had a long-sleeved shirt on that was full of soap granules and was rubbing soap back into her eye. So I took her shirt off and started over.

Eventually, everyone was seated at the table so I decided to get Joseph in his highchair for another attempt at spooning some food into his mouth. The boy is 6 1/2 months old and is showing very little interest in starting table foods. How little interest, you ask? Here is your answer:

It was applesauce. He's willing to taste it, as long as I don't give him any more than that. What trick does it take to get him to open his mouth? Put the food away.

As you can see, he's not suffering from his aversion to food. The same food that's making me fat is obviously doing the same for him!

I know, I know

I am letting you all down. I'm having a hard time feeling motivated to sit down and start a post. I mean, who knows if I'll even get to finish it?

I do remember that I owe you some pictures. That guilt rests on me heavily.

But the guilt that it's 4:45 and no dinner is started is heavier. I'll have to find another time to catch you up on my overwhelmingly exciting existence. (Another reason I have little motivation. I can't possibly be having any experiences that any of you really want to read.)

OK. I'll be back soon. Anyone have a topic they want to hear me blab on and on about? ;)

I should be napping

I don't have a lot of time left this afternoon and I wanted to post before the day got away from me. It's been crazy around here and computer time has not come in big chunks. So today I'm stealing time from my nap to give to my blog. I'm sure I'll regret this as soon as an hour from now.

The weather has gone from cold to hot to cold again. We were in the upper 80's earlier this week and now we're back down to the 50's and rain. I like rain. Not to fond of COLD rain...except for that it makes hot chocolate taste even better!

We got some yard work done. I found some neglected rose bushes, irises and a tiny lone tulip. There are also several bunches of perennials that are about to bloom, but I don't know what they are. I do know that ants like them. Every beginning bud has medium-sized red/black ants on them. I guess I'll just have to be patient.

We got our sprinklers to turn on. As we understand it, they haven't been used in about 3 years, so we were expecting a lot of problems. We have 3 missing heads and two spots where water just gurgles up from the ground (likely are busted tubing that we'll have to dig out and repair). Right after we watered the yard really thoroughly, it rained and hasn't really stopped. So I'm not sure if it was good timing or bad.

I haven't worked on my curtains for the dining room for a while. I've been having a hard time getting the chance. But they are very close to getting done and will probably be up as soon as we get more rods for the windows.

It was Nathan's last day of Kindergarten today. (Daniel's last day is tomorrow. He goes for a whole 90 minutes.) They had a little graduation program where he received a diploma and a certificate for outstanding attendance (missed 3 days or less). But truly, isn't it the parents who deserve that award? Daniel had a little awards assembly at school yesterday. He didn't get anything but everyone else did. He had a good cry over that last night. I checked with his teacher this morning (just before Nathan's program started) and she said that it was a horrible oversight and that the principal gave him something in class where everyone clapped for him. So I'm pretty sure he's feeling much better. I can't believe how badly I felt for him! Must be my mother bear instinct.

Anyway, I have pictures of Nathan, but I'll have to put them on later.

I do have this little gem to show you. It's Leah in all her glory...again. She is really mastering the tantrum, believe me. Watch this one and you'll see what the big deal was this time. It's a common one for us. I was a little surprised to find Rebekah chewing on the table when I viewed the video. It must have been yummy. I know it doesn't get washed under the corner edge very often. She hasn't fallen ill, though, so it must not have been poisonous!

I am going to visit my friend, Kristi, in Vancouver this weekend. I'm really looking forward to getting away for a bit. Joseph is "getting away," too, so I don't expect to get any more sleep than usual. It will be fun anyway! Chad drops us off at the airport tonight so I've been trying to get the house ready. I've never flown with Joseph before, so I'm crossing my fingers for a calm baby, if not a sleepy one. I'm really just hoping that he doesn't explode mid-flight and create a big problem for me. He already did once today, so I'm hoping the next one or two (they're kind of like aftershocks) will stay within the boundaries of the diaper.

We were down in SLC for a family birthday last weekend and made a stop at Tracy Aviary where the kids got to hand feed some birds. The sun conures are 4 months old and look like little parrots. For $2 each, the kids got to hold out a popsicle stick with an apple chunk on the end. The birds would land on the stick or their hand/arm and eat the apple. Leah took the hand-feeding concept a little further and when the apple fell off her stick, she offered the bird a bite of her finger. Actually, she didn't offer and everyone heard her displeasure at being tasted. Luckily, I had a band-aid (Nascar no less) and fixed her up - lickity split.

I'll put the pictures of the birds and the birthday party on when I get back. It will be a little like a photo essay. Be excited!

And now I must return to organizing and preparing. I'll have even more pictures when I return!

Daniel's Fundraiser

Daniel got 18 of his 20 words right in his Spell-a-thon today! He earned just under $35 for the school's playground. (I'll be tightening the thumb screws on you all to pay up on your pledges!)

Surprise!

I made my own header. (I'm supposed to be cleaning my house!) I knew I had this super cute farm kit from Janniscraps and figured this was the perfect time to use it.

The kit also has a horse and cow and tractor and a farmer, but we don't actually have those things yet. To be truthful, we don't have a stalk of corn or barn either, but it's hard for me to be so honest if the result is a header with just a sheep and a chicken!

Ix-nay on the ice-ray

Joseph does NOT like rice cereal. He's 6 months old. Time to start eating at the table sometimes. I've waited this long because Nathan did not adjust well to rice cereal 6 years ago. Now I'm a little reluctant to force new foods down my babies' throats.

But it appears that is the only way I'm going to get it into Joseph. We tried cereal made with water. That was a big NO! He cried and hollered, but didn't swallow. So I tried it with breast milk. That was a little better. He only whimpered, but still didn't swallow.

I learned that the kittens love it though. They were helping themselves to the forgot cereal bowl on the table this afternoon. Funny. I wasn't thinking I'd be feeding kittens when I pumped that milk 2 months ago.

So we're going to have a bit of a battle on our hands. Joseph is proving to be every bit as hard headed as his siblings. Why would it get any easier now? We already know what we signed up for, right? I did pick up some oatmeal cereal, apple puree and sweet potato puree in the baby food aisle today. We'll slowly offer him other things in an attempt to appeal to his sensitive palate. I'm not cruel, though. I won't make him eat green beans.

Computer Time

I actually scrapbooked this evening. And I didn't need it for anything. How is that for crazy? Most of what I've been scrapping has been for one project or another. Because I'm so new to scrapbooking, I can go all the way back to 2004 for pictures to use. Jealous? I'm overwhelmed. I'd go back farther, but the oldest pictures aren't on this computer.

Here is Leah when she wasn't throwing tantrums. This is a time when she did no wrong! It was easy to forgive that face for the spit up and blow outs.

E-I-E-I-O

The Collett farm is growing. Here is the current head count on our livestock... 1 dog, 2 rabbits, 4 cats, 2 lambs, 15 chicks, untold numbers of mice, and 5 kids (I don't mean goats). *GASP* Did I just include my children in the livestock count? Yes. They are more work than the rest of them combined!

Some of you are saying, huh? Lambs and chicks? We've had few new additions this week. Chad's brother-in-law brought down some lambs on Monday and we picked up the chicks on Tuesday. They are all in the garage which is turning into quite a nursery!
The kids are loving the chicks, as you can see in the photos.

Chad is putting a foot into my world with feeding the lambs. He's been getting up in the middle of the night for a feeding, but said he's not doing that anymore - he's not cut out to be a mother. I only wish I had that option!

Speaking of lambs, my little lamb turned 6 months old yesterday. (Can you see him in this picture?) How did that happen? This means it's been over 6 months since I slept through the night. Do you remember the school days when you set your alarm before turning off the light only to have it go off 15 minutes later (or so it seemed)? That was some solid sleep! I wouldn't be able to do that without sedation. I'm talking something much stronger that Unisom. And just try to get a nap during the day. Even the days I PLAN to take a nap are ultimately sabotaged. It's no rest for the weary around here!

TaVaci Concert

Here are the promised TaVaci pictures and videos. This one is from after the concert. The flash really got their faces! These next four pictures are from the performance and back stage. I had to do a little photoshop magic to lighten the pictures enough to see, so the picture is a little off-color. I guess my photography skills were lacking a bit. It's hard to be really skilled with a digital camera. For your convenience, I've pointed out Daniel and Leah in the first shot.



These videos are of Daniel's special number, "Time Out" and Leah's group's jungle medley. Daniel is 2nd from the left and Leah is the first row, 3rd from left. The little theater had good spotlights, seemingly trained right on their faces! Oh well, you just need to hear, not actually see, right?

S-P-E-L-L-A-T-H-O-N

Daniel is having a spell-a-thon at school this week. They are earning money to improve the playground equipment at school. He has 20 words to study and is collecting pledges. His test is on Thursday and he is to collect for every word he spells correctly. ($0.10 x 20 words = $2.00)

If any of you would like to pledge, you are welcome to do so. I will keep track of any pledges. PLEASE don't feel like I'm asking you to do this. It's strictly up to you.

As we really don't have any neighbors or relatives close, I'm soliciting for him through cyberspace. What a crazy thing the internet is!

Sing with me!

If you've spent any time in Primary at all, you'll be able to sing right along:

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Snowflakes falling and many bare trees.

Isn't it nice? It's now May 12th. Someone get Mother Nature a new calendar!

Change

Did you notice a change? Autumn made me another blog header. She's making me want to get back to scrapbooking! Thanks, Autumn!

May-ry Christmas!

Yes, folks, it's May. I think that's supposed to be a spring month full of beautiful flowers and blossoming trees. But here is a picture shot yesterday, late afternoon. Yesterday was May 9th. Summer starts next month. No flowers, but lots of snow flakes. Luckily, it was gone today and the weather was PERFECT. I even rode the riding lawn mower and mowed 3/4 of the lawn. Crazy Idaho.

The big TaVaci concert was this afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa Black and cousins Ethan and Andrew came to watch and support Daniel and Leah and play with everyone. (Do you realize that I just used 6 'and's in that sentence?) I have some pictures and videos, but I also have laundry. So maybe I'll get it posted tomorrow.

The kids had fun playing with their cousins and grandparents. Thank you for coming!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there, but most especially to our (Chad's and mine) own mothers! Expect a call from us sometime soon, but enjoy this video any time you want. The kids learned the first verse to this song in Primary last week and the other 2 verses about 15 minutes before we recorded. So that is why you hear me in the background. I thought I was singing quieter than that, but the camera is obviously sensitive.

If you watch closely, you'll see that Daniel had hiccups, Leah was leading the music with her foot, Rebekah had lost interest (you don't need to be real observant to notice that) and Nathan was more interested in the kittens than the song. Ah, Motherhood!

I want to share my favorite poem about mothers. I got it as a bookmark several years ago at Deseret Book.

Two Temples

A builder builded a temple,
He wrought it with grace and skill;
Pillars and groins and arches
All fashioned to work his will.
Men said, as they saw its beauty,
"It shall never know decay'
Great is thy skill, O builder!
Thy fame shall endure for aye."

A mother builded a temple
With loving and infinite care.
Planning each arch with patience,
Laying each stone with prayer.
None praised her unceasing efforts,
None knew of her wondrous plan,
For the temple the mother builded
Was unseen by the eyes of man.

Gone is the builder's temple,
Crumpled into the dust;
Low lies each stately pillar,
Food for consuming rust.
But the temple the mother builded
Will last while the ages roll,
For that beautiful unseen temple
Was a child's immortal soul.

-Hattie Vose Hall

My Mother's Day flower

Nathan brought a tiny flower in a tiny pot home for me from school today. He was very happy in his presentation of it to me. Leah was pretty interested, too.

A couple of minutes after being home, Nathan decided that he wanted to put it in my room. Leah wanted to watch. WELL! Nathan did not want to be followed! I told him she just wanted to watch him and look at the flower. He was OK with her watching, but NOT following him. There was a bit of a scene. I explained that it was going to be hard for her to watch if she didn't follow him.

Of course, I am a problem solver extraordinaire and suggested that Leah go into the bedroom first and then Nathan could follow HER. She went into the bedroom and he then proceeded to finish his task. (Please picture me rolling my eyes.)

And so I would like to thank Nathan's kindergarten teacher for the Mother's Day Fight...I mean Flower.

You're invited

This Saturday is the Spring TaVaci concert. You are ALL invited to the performance! It starts at 4pm and usually lasts about an hour. It's free. If you're actually interested in coming, let me know, and I'll give you directions.


Also,

Fighting eczema

My friend, Kristi, mentioned: Jonathan is getting some dry/chapped skin spots on his back. Maybe it is Eczema?

Believe it or not, I even have a suggestion for that! Only because we're currently dealing with dry, scaly spots on our skin here.

Become your own little pharmacist and mix one part Cetaphil lotion or cream with one part 1% hydrocortisone cream. Rub it into the dry spots. It can be used on the face, but should be used sparingly because it (hydrocortisone) thins the skin. Both the Cetaphil and hydrocortisone are found over the counter. You can even get the Cetaphil at Sam's Club and it is a great moisturizing lotion to have on hand - use it on your kids when they get out of the tub.

Baby Must-Haves

There are many baby products on the market and I'm sure many of them are useful. I am a little suspicious though and don't like to buy many new things without trying them out or hearing a good recommendation. For those of you like myself, I have a couple of good recommendations.

You've already read my recommendation for the baby swing. Refresh your memory here.

I would like to suggest the next two items as necessities.

First is Aquaphor oinment. It's made by Eucerin. It's kind of like suped up petroleum jelly. I have been using it since Daniel was a baby and have been recommending it since then. It clears up diaper rash nearly overnight and seems to be less irritating to broken skin. It also works wonders on chapped skin of any age. It's not cheap (approx. $8 a tube), but worth the price. Buy at least two so you can keep one at home and one in the diaper bag. I use it often on Rebekah since she scratches herself to the point of bleeding. Curse her dry skin!
Find it at Wal-Mart and Walgreens and most pharmacies.

Second is Hyland's Teething Tablets. These are little white, dissolvable pills. They relieve teething pain almost immediately and are homeopathic. Since they are all natural, you don't have to worry about overdosing. This is very lucky for us, because Daniel, Nathan and Leah all helped themselves to the bottles I had around for the current babies. I've just started using them for Joseph (yes, we've entered that stage...yes, it's going to be miserable for a while) and I'm sure that Rebekah will find the little bottle eventually. That's just how she operates! The bottles come in different pill counts, but expect to spend $5-7 for a bottle. I'm about to pick up a second bottle for the diaper bag. Find these in pharmacies as well.
*I did try Orajel teething medicine for Daniel and found that it just slipped right off his gums and wasn't very effective. I've never gone back.

Allegory of the Olive Tree - An Opera in one act

We read the scriptures (we've started with the Book of Mormon) every night as a family. Chad or I read the verses in phrases for Rebekah, Leah and Nathan and they repeat us (it's usually while they are playing somehow, but we have to pick our battles). Daniel is a 2nd grader and gets to read his own verse. We only read one verse, each, a night. If the verses are long, we divide some up for the kids to share. We started in 1 Nephi on July 1st last year - 10 months ago. We are currently in Jacob 5 - The Allegory of the Olive Tree. You can see that it's a labor of love as we are not at all cruising through the book.

We are pretty consistent with our scripture reading. I think we've missed 15-20 days since we started...if that much. But it doesn't come without a price. OFTEN, Daniel is in a "mood" and we struggle to get him to read his verse. We've often seen his "stinker end" and heard a mumbled reading. Sometimes he shouts it when we tell him we can't hear or understand him. There are nights he's in an especially pleasant mood and he not only reads his verse, but part or all of the next one.

And then there is the silly mood; that's when he sings. He turns on the warble and dramatically presents his scripture verse. It's an interesting version of the scriptures. I'm not sure many people have seen it in this fashion, outside of a church pageant. So, while it's a little bit annoying, I figure there are a few benefits: 1) he's reading the scriptures, 2) he's developing a singing talent, and 3) we aren't hearing him complain.

Quote of the Day

This time it was Nathan (aged 6) with the note-worthy comment.

"Mommy, I burp 10 times a day - or less."

MAY DAY! MAY DAY!

This is a MAY DAY distress call!

Someone has stolen Spring, Summer and Fall and returned Winter. Be on the look out for suspicious persons attempting to conceal lots of sunshine, warmth and beautiful vegetation.
*
Use caution as suspects may be mentally unstable and unpredictable. Perpetrators may be headed south, hoping to blend into their surroundings more easily. All you folks in Arizona and Texas be especially watchful!
*
Dispatch all law enforcement with due speed as the seasons must be replaced ASAP. I have a garden to plant and I may kill the kids if they have to spend one more day playing inside! The snow pants are packed away and I refuse to get them out again before October.
*
Good luck on your mission to help Mother Earth regain control. We are on your side!

Nine Years

Happy Anniversary, Chad!



You had no idea what you were getting into those short 9 years ago! Now it's 5 addresses, 5 kids, and 2 fights (or do you count more?) later. You wear the experiences well!

Thank you for all the talks, back rubs, foot massages, dishes, diapers, bedtimes, kid's baths, laundry, yard work, lunch-time phone calls, etc!

We sure thought we were wise and ready for the world. I have a thing or two I would like to tell those confident newlyweds! I wish I could talk to us in the future and ask a thing or two.

Thank you for being my best friend in life and an ally in this adventure called parenthood. I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else!


I love you!