Church Dance

Church! Church! It's time to go to church!


We love to go to church! Hooray!

Ha ha. I don't know what they were really doing here (Chad took the pictures), but I think that's what this picture should portray. Yay, CHURCH!

Campout

Chad is gone for the night on a scout campout, so we had a little fun tonight.

We watched "Zookeeper," enjoyed some doughnuts, and then got out the Bingo game Daniel got for Christmas. We used conversation hearts for our Bingo markers while eating enough of them to make us sick. After a couple of games of Bingo, we read scriptures and had a song and prayer.

Then the kids got their blankets and settled in for a couple of chapters of Little Town on the Prairie. I turned on some Kenny G for them while I washed dishes and gave them a chance to settle down.

Nathan had been complaining about having to listen to music, but he was asleep first! He didn't even make it through 3 songs. Don't mess with a sexy saxophone! ;)

I had the boys (and everyone else) at the dentist this morning to have some teeth pulled. Nathan had four teeth pulled and Daniel went in for two teeth but ended up losing three. One was loose, so the dentist gave us a "freebie." I don't know how free it really was because it cost the Tooth Fairy an extra 50 cents!

So by now all kids are sleeping, the dish washer is going as well as the laundry. The Tooth Fairy has made her visit and I am heading to bed.

Here is what it looks like in the living room right now. Those blue eyes in the back belong to Cleo, our cat. :)

I remember the days when it was fun to sleep on the floor. Now I only do that when I have no other choice!

Short Curse

My kids are short. My boys really got the "short end" of that deal. Nathan is at least 1/2" shorter than Leah...they are two grades apart in school.

I don't know why it hits the boys so much harder than the girls. I wish I could give them enough hugs to start a series of growth spurts. (At the very least, a swift kick in their rear ends!)

This year, the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with new safety seat guidelines. They increased the front seat age requirement to 13 instead of 12. And they set the height at 4'9" for moving out of a booster. None of my children are that tall. None of my children will be that tall in the next two years (unless I can get that hugging idea to work).

Idaho state law is only that they are in a booster until 7. So I won't be fined the $79 if they aren't in one, but I never want to have the "if only" in the back of my mind.

"If only they'd been using the booster, they wouldn't have such serious injury after that crash."

Is it worth hearing complaining EVERY time we climb in the van if I never have to have that thought. I guess it depends on which side of the crash we're on...before or after.

I can fit 5 booster/car seats in the van. I don't know about 6.

Wow...our trip to Disneyland this year is looking to be so much FUN!

August 18th, Where are you?

It's only the 2nd week of July (the 7th week of summer break) and I am ready for those kids to go back to school.

I have neither the desire or strength to stand over them and baby them through the jobs I try to give them. They don't care about consequences and I find it much easier to ignore that they are ignoring me and just do the job myself.

A martyr attitude? Probably. But I tried to have routine and order the first part of the summer and I only ended up stressed out.

Now I try to ignore the voice in the back of my mind telling me this is a horrible parenting technique. It's working for me for the moment. Survival is most important.

I will be spraying those screens off myself today. Which means I won't have time to do something else I need to do more (but I asked someone to spray those screens and now they get to feel guilt as they watch me do it)...yeah that martyr attitude isn't really helping.

Rose, Spots, Calvin and Grain (?)

OK...here are the pictures from the kids' first time feeding the calves. We went out after dinner last night and braved some wind and cooler temps. I don't think the kids even noticed the weather.

New calves have always seemed so tiny to me as I've driven past them on the road. There is not so much about these fellas that makes them seem tiny when you're standing next to them! They are huge! But when they stumble and end up in a heap on the ground, it's a reminder that they are still babies. (One of these calves still has his umbilical cord.)

Here, we have Rebekah and Spots. Spots is Leah's cow.


After Leah fed Spots, Spots was very interested in Leah!

Yes, we have a black and white dog. And, yes, it got confusing out there with all of them running around!

Nathan had fun feeding his calf. Ironically, Nathan has the biggest one. And it not shy about getting something to eat. Nathan insists that his name is Calvin. I think Brutus is much more fitting.

Leah seems to think that the calves are really big kittens. She can't cuddle them enough! Here is Leah draped over Calvin and Rebekah is loving her calf...Rose.

Daniel's calf seems pretty sweet to me...if that's possible. Daniel keeps saying that the calf's name is Grain. Grain? Why not Rock? Or Wood? Chad and I may keep calling it L. Tom Perry. We can't stop laughing over that one.

And if these pictures make it seem easy to feed a calf, you may find these videos entertaining! I had to do two videos because a calf started chasing me while I was making the first one. (I was still in my skirt from church and was vainly trying to stay clean!)

The boys went out at 6:30 this morning to feed all four calves by themselves. I don't know how easy it was for them, but they came in with empty bottles, so it must have been some sort of a success!

We'll be bottle feeding for the next two months. Come on by if you'd like to have the experience. We're hoping to get some lambs in the next couple of weeks. That will be more bottles!

Tub Time

Saturday night means BATH TIME. Can you believe we can still fit 4 kids in a tub? It's not easy and Leah doesn't usually get to climb in the tub, but she got lucky tonight. Do you know these faces well enough to know who's who?

(That dark grout on the wall is NOT moldy. Must just be wet.)

Typical Moment

I was thinking about the personalities of the kids on Monday when they were all home. Things were energetic around here, to say the least! Though they aren't robots, the kids are fairly predictable. If someone was to come by at any given time (and we didn't overrun them in excitement) this is likely what they'd see of each child:

Daniel: he is running from person to person, room to room, stirring up trouble and delighting in the squeals of his siblings

Nathan: he is curled up in a corner somewhere with a book (probably hiding from Daniel)

Leah: she is screaming...at Daniel and then she's reporting it all to me

Rebekah: she is prancing and dancing through the house, singing a silly song and laughing (maybe Daniel has made her insane)

Joseph: he is coloring a picture he made me print off the computer, while he waits until I think it's snack time -or- he is watching The Wiggles (he mostly flies low and stays off Daniel's radar)

Sarah: she is exploring, investigating, climbing, crawling, running and falling...she has quite a bruise collection (Daniel knows not to tease her!)

And with all this, at least I can say that I know what to expect (for the most part).
_________

Some moments from the morning so far:

While horsing around, Daniel threw his hat which then knocked something behind the piano. I gave him a look and a "DANIEL!" to which he replied: "It's Nathan's fault! He ducked!"

Joseph is watching The Wiggles, "Wiggly Safari" and he just saw two characters in a pond of water imitating a kookaburra. It was rather animated. When it was over he said, "That was weird." I laughed because I had just been thinking the same thing!

Spectator Sports

Having kids has really turned me into a spectator because they want me to "look" all the time!

Joseph has turned eating animal crackers into a spectator sport. He first has to ask me what the animal is. I usually answer, "I don't know" because that is something I don't really want to have to answer for the whole handful of crackers! Of course, it doesn't stop there. Joseph makes me look at the cracker after every bite. First the head. Then the tail. Then one leg. Then the other leg. Then into his mouth the torso goes and out comes the next victim.

Another less than enjoyable spectator sport is trying to catch what the kids want me to see on the screen saver on their computer...while I'm on my computer...with my back turned. I usually miss it (because I'm kind of busy here) and they then have to tell me what it was or ask me who is was (which can be hard to do when I didn't see it).

I still don't understand the moments when they want me to "look" and watch them do something that they know they aren't supposed to do...like stand up on the back of the couch.

It's only when they don't want me watching that I'm really interested in following their every move.

And then there is the flip side of all this. Apparently, I am a spectator sport; the kids sure do a lot of watching me...from their comfortable spots on the couch!

Measuring Up

Every January I mark off the kids' height on the laundry room door. My kids are not giants, but it always surprises me to see how low the marks are on the door. They definitely don't seem that low to the ground when I'm looking at them.



Daniel made some nice improvement since last year. THANK GOODNESS! I'm hoping for a few growth spurts for the boys' futures. And this year, Leah passed up Nathan. I'm not sure how Nathan felt about that.


Joseph is still below the door knob. If he has another year like this past one, he'll gain another 3 or 4 inches. :)

What will I do if we move? I'll have to put down some tape and record these markings to transfer to a new door!

Lagoon 2010

While we were in the area, and because we didn't make it to Disneyland like I'd hoped we would this year (thanks to kids and their unexpected costs), we made a trip to Lagoon. The last time we were here was when Rebekah looked a lot like Sarah...four years ago. That was in our favor, because it was a new experience for practically everyone. And I'm surprised at how much the place change in four years. (I worked at Lagoon the summer I was 16...it has really changed a lot since then...two decades!)

We decided to arrive in the late afternoon and skip the heat of the day. You can see on the kids' faces, they were full of energy and ready to have fun.

I took a picture at the entrance hoping to get a before and after shot. It almost happened.

When we got there around 4 PM or so, we went straight to Pioneer Village and got in line for the log flume. We thought it best to get wet right off and have time to dry again. It was a humid day and the clouds were looking ominous. While waiting in line, the ride broke down (figures, right?). Several people decided they couldn't wait and left the line. This was fortunate for us, because before they could even get all the way through the maze of waiting people, the ride started up again and we saved quite a bit of time in line.

Leah wasn't sure she was up for the adventure of the log flume. Luckily, we know a little bit about her and made her follow through. She doesn't look too sure here. And she was muttering concerns all the way up. After the splash-down, she was converted and wanted to get back in line.


Here are the boys in the gondola ahead of us. I think they were feeling pretty 'big' in a seat of their own!

By the time we got off, it was raining. The line for the log flume was almost down to nothing, so it would have been easy to go again, but we had limited time and a lot to do. And the best thing to do when you're wet is get wet a little more.

The line for Rattlesnake Rapids was the shortest I've ever seen it. I went with the four oldest kids. Chad caught us going under the waterfall. Did I say a little more wet? I'm not sure any part of me was dry. Maybe my ear canals. I love that Nathan appears to be trying to avoid the water.

We got off and convinced Chad to go. By now, there was no line. They were sending empty gondolas through. I stayed with Joseph and at one point, we had to take shelter from the rain. (I was wet, but there was no need for him to have a rain-soaked diaper.)

Once again, there was no avoiding the flood.

From there, we split up. Chad went to the car for our picnic dinner and we hit some rides. The girls look half-drowned!
After dinner, we started a valiant effort to get to as many rides as possible. I was worried that Daniel would be frustrated that he couldn't ride some of the "cool" rides, because of height requirements. He pleasantly surprised me by saying he was glad he was short because he wouldn't be able to ride the rides we were riding!

Here we are on a kiddie ride similar to the Tidal Wave. It didn't go as high. Even Joseph got to ride it.

Chad and Nathan

Rebekah and Daniel -way in the back.
The kids rode some dizzying swings. (Rebekah is that blue shirt behind Daniel.)

This OdySea ride was a fun surprise. I'd never seen it before and was NOT prepared for more water. We were just getting dry! But it was a lot of fun and I was impressed by the catchy song/chant that went along with it. The kids really liked this one.

Thanks to the weather, the huge Ferris wheel was easy to get on (normally the lines are really long). Leah and Joseph were really impressed with the height we rose to.

It was nice to enjoy something slow for a bit.


And the opposite of slow is bumper cars! Rebekah is NOT ready for a driver's license.

This time, Joseph got to 'drive.'

Eventually, it got late enough that the park was closing and we had to pick one last thing to do. Chad took the 4 oldest back to OdySea and Joseph and I found something just for him (I didn't want to get wet anymore). We had to wait for the Carousel ride for a long time because someone before had apparently enjoyed the spinning car a little too much and the employees were in the middle of a clean up and detox of the area. They were very thorough, I must say!

Joseph chose his animal and we enjoyed our last ride at Lagoon.
Our plan was to meet up at the water fountain at the entrance to the park. I thought we'd probably be last because of the time we'd spent waiting for our ride. I saw Chad among the few folks standing around the fountain. There were a couple of boys in there smack dab in the middle of the water, getting pounded in the face with shooting water. I imagined someone was going to have pretty soggy kids on the way home!

When I got closer, I saw that it was Daniel and Nathan. Of course. Why wouldn't it be?

They were really enjoying themselves and other people were really enjoying watching them.

Leah and Rebekah were also there...just not in the center.

It was the last water display of the night and the kid there (you know...the one who stands by and tells you not to run?) offered to turn the water on around us so we could get a picture. I had to delete a couple of pictures to make room for one more. It's a great picture, too bad he wasn't a little better at taking pictures.

And so that had to be our "after" picture. And all the efforts to leave the park dry were undone. The kids rode home in soggy underwear and blankets.

As we got in the van, Daniel said, "When we come back, I'll be 14!" Yes, Daniel, you will. Keep thinking that and all will be well.

Carpool Corruption

Because of "budget cuts" (haven't we heard enough of that lately?), the school district eliminated the mid-day buses for Kindergarten. That means I have to pick up Rebekah from school everyday. There are three of us that are carpooling together and so we only have to make the daily trip one week out of three. I got the first shift.

We got to the school a little early and the weather was kind of cool, so we sat in the van for a few minutes. A CD was playing in the van...The Ark (Michael McClean). It sounds rather harmless, right? Not when taken in the dose I served up today!

I loaded up my 3 kids and the two extra I was bringing home then got in and started up the van. As I backed out of the parking spot, the CD started back up where it had left off..."Chest out, butt in. Work it girls and you will win." I was horrified! Two young, impressionable, silent sponges sat in my back seats. What would they remember when they got home? And then the song ends and the new one is blasting, "I hate the rain." Nice. There's nothing like an positive, uplifting ride with Arlyn!

Anyone else have a 5-year-old they'd like me to influence?

Don't tell the kids

If what I am about to tell you gets out to the wrong people, I will be ruined. Namely...my kids.

My kids have less than two weeks of summer left. Less than two weeks of building forts, chasing chickens, eating raspberries from the garden, sleeping out in the tent, staying up late, etc. And that makes me a little sad for them!

I have been trying to force them outside. What would they wish they had done with their summer when they are stuck inside the school, sitting at their desks? They are slow to catch the vision, but at least they go out for a bit.

So, when Rebekah comes to me at 2:30 and wants to know if they can play on the slip 'n' slide, I say..."Sure." Never mind that it's barely 81 degrees and quite breezy outside. If she wants to play, then I won't stop her. Do you want a Popsicle, too? The way I feel when I think of their childhood summertime slipping away, I would almost say yes to anything (within reason, of course). Just don't let them know that!

Dentist

I took the four oldest to the dentist on Thursday. Here is the run down.

Daniel - A cavity in a back molar, but it's a baby one and looks like it will be out soon, so they'll hold off and just watch it for now.

Nathan - FINALLY! he has some loose teeth. The kid is starting 3rd grade, for crying out loud. We'll have to let you know when they actually come out. It will be a BIG celebration...such a rite of passage, you know. He goes back this week to have some sealants put on.

Leah - F.O.U.R. cavities. I about fell over. We need to be better about getting those kids to brush! She gets them filled the same time Nathan goes in (Thursday morn). I don't think she understands what is going to happen. I'm not going to say anything...maybe it won't be so bad. -?-

Rebekah - They found a sticky part on a tooth and took care of it that day. She thinks she didn't have any cavities. I think she probably came close enough to call it.

Joseph and Sarah were there, too. Joseph charmed a helium balloon, plastic lizard and toothbrush from the lady there. He's good! He didn't even have to sign in or anything! Sarah crawled around the waiting room while I cringed, imagining all the germs she was soaking up. In celebration of the visit to the dentist, she got her first tooth. (It was that day or the next; I'm not sure.) Now she's dangerous! :)

Floating on the high of having some loose teeth, Nathan has been testing his two bottom teeth regularly. They are loose, but not even wobbly. He has a ways to go yet. On Thursday, after we were home again, he came up to me and said, "I'm glad these teeth are loose. They've been in my way."

Huh. We may have a problem when even bigger teeth replace those obnoxious baby teeth!

Only my kids

Only my kids can stubbornly cry about something for so long that eventually they don't remember WHY they're crying, only that they're SUPPOSED to be crying and continue on auto pilot until they find a new thing to cry about.

It makes me want to cry.

Don't Color On the Popcorn

There are certain things you know you will say as a parent:

Be nice.
Stop doing that.
I love you.
ARE YOU LISTENING?
Go to your room.
That's a very pretty picture.
I'm sorry.
We only draw on paper.
etc...

But then there are things you NEVER expected to ever say in your entire life. Having kids will bring most of those to your attention.

I'd make a list of those, but I can't remember any. They were obviously so shocking, I forgot them. Except for the one this morning. Popcorn and crayons. Who would have ever thought they'd go together?

Meet Periwinkle

We are testing the kids' ability to be responsible. We're starting with a little fish (I will be much less upset if a fish dies). We got him on Saturday last week. He lives in the bathroom, because I thought that was the best place for a water disaster. His name is Periwinkle. I thought that was a better choice than Blue Fish.

I think the fighting over who gets to feed him is almost over. I anticipate the fighting to turn to who HAS to feed him. We have to change his water today. That is likely to cause some hurt feelings (though I can't really understand WHY).

My kids are going to sleep in tomorrow

And that is about the only silver lining I can find in the fact that we lose an hour of sleep between sunset tonight and sunrise tomorrow.

Theoretically, they went to bed at 10 PM tonight (even though it was still 9). That is normal time for some families. It's about 2 hours too late for us.

Wait until they find out they have to go to bed in the daylight tomorrow. Oooeee! It's going to be fun around here!

Checking in

I feel like I haven't posted for a while. It's been busy around here. AND COLD!

It's SIX BELOW right now. I have an errand or two I'd like to run, but I have no desire to take 3 small children out in this weather. It's sunny, but frigid. Ugh.

It's also stopping me from running our Christmas gifts around the neighborhood. We got almost half delivered Sunday night and haven't gotten back to it yet. The ward choir is going caroling next Friday. I wonder what the chances of a decent warm-up by then are? Weather plagued us in June when we were trying to have our summer picnic. We must be a cursed choir!

Our tub situation has not really improved. Since Daniel gets to have braces, our tub fund has been hijacked. Now, the only way to fill the bathtub is via the shower head. Why does it seem that the water builds up really fast around your ankles when the drain is plugged, but when you're actually TRYING to fill it, things take forever? We've got the holes covered with a shower curtain liner and the trusty all-purpose board. The plastic is billowing from the cold air currents flowing under the house. It makes me long for a heated toilet seat! Maybe I'll plug some of the holes with washcloths the next time the tape comes off.

I am done with Christmas shopping (except for Chad's stocking). I am not done with Christmas sewing or Christmas cards (though the letter is written). I have to finish Christmas pajamas so that I can get pictures for the cards and my December calendar page. I am looking forward to being able to sit in front of the Christmas tree BEFORE Christmas day and do nothing while soaking up the twinkle of colored lights.

We've started sleeping Sarah in her crib. So the trips to the crib every two hours are starting to take their toll. Ugh. I am tired. I hope she can sleep through the night before too much longer. I can't remember what it feels like to do that.

We were in Hagerman this past Monday for a special FHE. We picked up the boys from school about 2:45 and arrived about 5:30. The kids had fun with their cousins and I was sure they'd be sleepy in the car. This is good and bad. Good because they'll sleep, bad because when they do wake up, they'll be monsters. Between the snow plows and the screaming kids, I nearly crashed the van. I did have to drive onto the median once, but the kids slept through that. Often, there were 3 kids going at it at once. Daniel didn't cry at all...probably because he slept through it all. I was crying; mentally.

Chad and I must have been playing "good cop, bad cop" because while I was making threats and counting to three (I used to be able to count higher than that, before I had kids), he was talking kindly and trying to find things that would make them happy. I was just looking for the biggest telephone pole to wrap the van around. We got home just after midnight.

So while we love visiting family, I'm really DREADING making trips to anywhere over 100 miles away. I think we have to set a ban on driving in the dark. And not at the same time that the murderous snow plows are out. They don't just plow snow, they plow you!

And now you're caught up. :)

Catching Up in 20

Wow. My days are busier than they used to be. Things have been happening in my tiny little world, but I haven't had time to share many of them. I do spend a lot of time at the computer, but it's usually while holding (and usually nursing) Sarah, so I only have one hand to use and that means slow typing. I'm taking a moment now to play catch up. I'll list 20 things that have happened, but leave out the details. If you want to hear an extended version of the story, just leave a comment and mention which numbers in the list you're interested in. That way, I won't bore everyone telling them how much fun I had cutting my toenails (that isn't and never was one of the twenty things).

1. I got a hair cut and perm.
2. Daniel doesn't complain of jaw pain anymore. The TMJ treatment seems to be working. We have a follow-up appointment on Thursday. Still need to figure out who's going to watch 3 of my kids!
3. We brought one of the kittens inside to be house cat and mouser. He only lasted about 4 days. Hope the mouse traps can do the job. Who knew a cat would forget he was litter box trained?
4. We went letterboxing for the first time in over 3 years. The kids had a blast.
5. Rebekah landed on a cactus plant while rushing towards a letterbox hiding spot and got a palm full of cactus needles. It took a trip to the doctor to get all the hairlike prickles out. She still talks about it.
6. Sarah now weighs 11 and 1/2 pounds! Way to grow!
7. We've avoided Swine Flu, but do like to get sick. Daniel and Nathan have had a "Saturday Night Fever" with cough, but on different Saturdays. Now Joseph has it. His is MonDAY Fever.
8. We went to a Straw Bale maze earlier in October. It was a lot of fun and Daniel threw a fit when we left.
9. I've started indexing records for the FamilySearch program. Some people have really bad handwriting. So far, I've done over 1400 names (thanks to nursing Sarah)...since 18 October.
10. We carved Halloween pumpkins. Two were Chernobyl pumpkins.
11. We got some great pictures of the kids in the leaves. These are just a few. Sadly, the leaves are still on the lawn - the piles are somewhat scattered.
12. The kids got to parade around the school in their Halloween costumes. I got to take 3 kids to the school twice that day and run around helping kids get costumes finalized. I miss Chad's flexible work schedule!
13. Choir practices have resumed. I really feel like an idiot in there sometimes. I can't get over feeling inadequate and therefore keep saying really dumb things. And of course, I keep telling myself that the choir would rather have someone else lead them. If you could even call it that. I have some issues to work through (obviously).
14. I've made so many squash recipes this last month that my kids will probably not eat squash the rest of their lives.
15. Our ward Halloween party was last week. The kids had a lot of fun dressing up for that (in addition to the school event) and for trick-or-treating the next night. I'm so glad Halloween is over.
16. My first week of weight loss ended in a gain. (There was a loss at first, but I found it again in the sugar cookies I made last Monday.)
17. Sarah does not like chocolate milk. Or should I say, she doesn't like chocolate in her milk?
18. The kids had a day off from school last week when the wind storm knocked out power to the middle school. The whole district was out for the day, though the power came back on.
19. I have been creating lots of digital scrapbook pages lately. Maybe I should update the slide show on the blog.
20. Two friends and I are singing in church next week. I don't get nervous in practices.

OK...that was a little difficult to think of so many things. And now you're probably glad I didn't go into too many details.


Here's a cute shot of Joseph on the afternoon we went letterboxing. He saw me taking his picture and stopped his climb down the steps to pose. He's so fun to take pictures of!