The Life & Times of Me & the Boys

Our Pioneer Days

2012-01-23T20:28:00.002-07:00

If you live in Alberta you understand cold. This past week was one of those that makes you re-examine why it is you live here. Low minus 20's to 30's with wind chills almost to minus 50. But let's be honest, anything past minus 20 with or without windchill is just ridiculous. I promise, snow stays frozen just fine at minus 10. However, I'm not in charge of the weather.

It all started last Tuesday. Cliff went to start a bath for the kids and came back saying there was no hot water. We shrugged it off since I had been doing laundry ALL day and the dishwasher was running etc. But the next morning when Cliff went to take a shower and there still wasn't any hot water we knew there was a problem. I got the kids who needed to go to school out the door and then settled in to wait for Cliff to fix the problem. This kind of thing is so out of my area of expertise. Usually when I try to help I just make it worse of get in the way. After a few phone calls and trying of suggestions we were in the waiting period. I was laying in bed (stupid head cold) when I noticed that the furnace was making a funny noise. I asked Cliff if he heard that and he agreed that I wasn't hearing things. Turns out we were hearing our fan motor seize. Yep, special isn't it? Considering the wind chill that morning was -44!!!!

So, there we were with no heat and no hot water. I immediately started doing a mental survey of our heat resources in the house and took action. First - hoodies and socks for kids not in school. We already had space heater in the kids rooms so I turned them up a little. Then I turned the oven on in the kitchen and the electric fire place in the living room and counted my blessings that we still had electricity! I was all ready to crawl back into bed and be miserable, but instead I chose to get dressed and get on with my day.

A friend of Cliff's from work came out and looked things over with Cliff - he thought it was our thermostat that had gone on the water tank and helped Cliff locate one - in Edmonton. Sigh. So we knew we had to wait and would be boiling water for a couple of days. Thankfully, the heater was an easier fix and the motor we needed was actually available here in Sylvan. A couple hours after it quit Cliff had the new one installed and we had full heat again! We were really grateful for that. Although our makeshift sources were doing a pretty good job I didn't want to test it over night!

We discovered that my two big 12 quart pots and a couple of smaller pots full of boiling water combined with some cold water could make a decent bath for the kids and a passable one for us. It wasn't enjoyable but it did get us clean. We had multiple offers from great friends to come and shower at their homes, but I figured by the time I packed everything/one up and drove etc it was just as easy to boil water and put up with a bath for a couple of days.

The part came in, Cliff replaced it and we waited with baited breath while dreaming of a shower...and it didn't work. On to plan B. Replace the elements. Did you know that hot water tanks have two of them? I didn't before this. And did you know that to replace them you have to drain your hot water tank? Yep, didn't know that one either. And did you know that we couldn't find the elements we needed and had to order them as well?!???? Yeah, I was doing some deep breathing for awhile, but concluded that it could be worse and tried to carry on as best as I could.
****Side note: I would have made a REALLY crappy pioneer, and I now understand completely why people bathed so infrequently and sponge baths were the rage before indoor plumbing. And yes, I have been camping. But you expect it then. Not so much in a house with taps! I digress!

Saturday Cliff sent me a text saying he had found elements! Ahhhhh! (That was the angels singing in case you were wondering). The ones we had ordered weren't going to be here until today (Monday).
After borrowing a hose that wasn't frozen (cold in Alberta remember?) and hooking it up we waited for the tank to drain.
***Side note #2: We live in a small house. With no basement. The hot water tank is located behind a panel in our bedroom closet. Special. So no cement floor with a drain. Hence, the hose from the tank to the bathtub.

Continuing on....Water started trickling veerrrryyy slowly. And after hours and hours of waiting we finally resorted to pot brigading to get the water lower than the last element. It took forever and then the process of putting in the new ones, filling the tank, etc...we finally had hot water again around 2 AM.

I take a lot for granted! But I am so thankful for a husband who is willing to learn to fix things he hasn't done before, and for my working furnace and hot water again. And yes, I really enjoyed that shower Sunday morning!

I'm on a roll! #4!

2012-01-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

So a quick re-cap, Grammie came, it was my birthday and Rhett lost two teeth. But the excitement of January doesn't end there! Auntie Kizzy came to visit the week after Grammie. She got here Thursday night and met me at the church 'cause I needed to be there for a RS other meeting (seriously, can we just go back to calling it Enrichment please? So less confusing) But I digress. We took in the last of the activity, held Jenna's baby Cora (such a doll) and stayed at the church talking and laughing with Jenn until late. Cliff started texting me that Brock was wandering around the house looking for me. Ha ha ha.

After staying up way too late and starting the morning early(we really weren't thinking about kids needing to go to school the next day) we enjoyed some Kinnect, some visiting and snuggling with kiddos, and a girl's night planned by my friends to celebrate my birthday. I have some of the very best friends a girl could ask for, and having Kinsey there was the icing on the cake.

Another really late night (we never learn ) led to a sleep in and lazy day with the kiddos before heading out again for a girls night together. Have I mentioned what an awesome husband I have?
We headed to the mall for some great window shopping and then hit a late movie. We declared an early bed time (midnight) and collapsed.

A miracle happened and the kids all slept past 8:30 in the morning - for those of you who know my kids you know that's really a miracle. We made yummy pancakes - a tradition when Auntie is here and then headed to church. It was great to have an extra pair of hands there 'cause Cliff had to work.

Saying goodbye was hard - we hate to see Auntie go. We have so much fun together. How lucky am I to have sisters who are such great friends!

Onto the next adventure...

Toothless - January's 3rd post

2012-01-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

Are you sensing a theme here yet? All the blogging that I've meant to do this month is kinda getting done all at once. Hopefully once I'm caught up I'll be much better at the once a week I'm aiming for this year!

Disclaimer: Blogger hates most of my pictures today and refuses to load them the way I have them saved on my computer. I have gone in and changed and saved the rotation several times before adding these and blogger still loads them this way. FRUSTRATION for me who is so far from computer trick savvy it's not even funny. Sigh.

So although this picture is sideways this is Rhett missing his two top middle teeth. They had been loose FOREVER! As in I thought for sure he'd be the kid at Christmas without his teeth. He finally let me pull the one on the 6th, but the other one just wouldn't let go. Auntie Kizzy assured me it would be fine so I quit stressing. And she was right! Rhett was running down the hallway on the 8th and managed to hit himself in the mouth with his hand (don't ask) and knocked his own tooth out! He was so surprised he didn't even cry!

Of course the tooth fairy was very kind and remembered to show up and leave money - and Grammie contributed to the the toothless fund as well so Rhett has a nice little stash right now.

And I think he's the cutest toothless kid out there!

January's 2nd post: Grammie came to visit!

2012-01-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

Grammie S came to visit!!! She arrived the day before the kids had to go back to school and we made the most of our time with her!

We played lots of games - including introducing Grammie to our dance game on Kinnect. We had so much fun dancing and laughing! Stories were read, cards were played, movies were watched and late nights were part of our time together.

Grammie brought me a beautiful apron for my birthday and we had fun celebrating with ice cream sandwiches with the kids, an afternoon of shopping together and then a night out with Cliff, Jas and Beck.

I'm so lucky that my mom is one of my best friends and that she was able to come and celebrate with me. And see the kids. I know she REALLY came for them - my birthday was just a bonus. Heh heh heh.

Grammie's time with us came and went way to quickly and before we knew it she was packing up and headed home.

Sorry no pictures...I've been slacking in that department lately.

January First's post

2012-01-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

So, this is the post I should have written at the beginning of the month...

Christmas was AWESOME!
- we took the kids to Edmonton and stayed over night in a great hotel
- played with Uncle Jamie, had some fun in the pool(Brock still HATES swimming)
- went to Fantasy Land next day.
- we all had a great time until I decided to ride the mind bender and ended up with a mild case of whiplash. I'm talented that way
- drugs and stick-on heat pads kept me moving - I was determined not to ruin the afternoon
- Christmas Eve started new tradition of family puzzle - didn't get it finished but it was fun
- went sledding at the Poplar Ridge school hill - it's huge and the kids and Cliff had a blast with a ton of friends who came too. I was still hurting and Cliff bruised his heel badly when he and Rhett slid into the swings!
- spent the evening with Paynes - home made pizza, the nativity with 4 Kings, not 3, presents and chocolate fondue
- opened new jammies
- Christmas Day Cliff and Zane woke everyone else up ( I had been up since 3:30 coughing and had just gone back to bed) when I heard Jingle Bells by Frank Sinatra blasting through the house. How can you be grumpy?
- Took Brock a long time to get into things in the morning
- everyone had a great morning
- Church on Christmas day is AWESOME!!!! LOVED it - minus the brother who announced over the pulpit that Santa wasn't real - only Sunday I was glad my kids weren't paying attention!
- Connie Holladay and I played Joy to the World piano/organ duet by Sally DeFord for the last number and it was phenomenal! The congregation and us combined was a highlight for me and we had so many people who expressed their appreciation. I also played the prelude and snuck in Handel's Hallelujah Chorus.
- We had a quiet Christmas turkey dinner at home all by ourselves and enjoyed our time!
-Boxing Day Cliff went off to work and the kids and I headed to Cardston. We played and played and played and ate and ate and ate! Auntie Kizzy and Auntie Lishie were able to be there and so was Grandpa Dooley. Paxton and the boys had so much fun together - especially as Grandpa chased them around and around and around. I wish we would have thought to film it.
- 28th we headed to Taber to play with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson. Managed to see some other Johnson family as well and enjoyed our time with cousin Cohen as well. We even stayed longer because Cliff had to work and mom and dad J didn't! I was still hurting so stopped in Lethbridge to get cousin Nick to adjust me before heading home - it helped a lot
- 30th we finally made it home! We spent a quiet New Years together and took Christmas down to get ready for Grammie S to visit!

The Kings...

Three of the kings

New Jammies!

Brock starting to think Christmas morning is OK

Rhett a little sideways...me and blogger are not getting along...sorry!

New shorts and ties

A real football!

Sorry for the sideways pictures...not sure why blogger thinks they look better this way!

And I hope to post again soon :)

Christmas Letter - 2011

2011-12-18T17:31:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!

I apologize for the electronic version of this letter but it's all time allows this year. We have had another busy and fun filled year. I can't believe how fast it has gone by and that we are looking at a new year rapidly approaching! Without further ado, here's a look at the Johnson family this past year!

Zane turned 8 this year and was baptized by Cliff on March 26th. We were able to have lots of family and friends there to share the day with us and it was a highlight for us all. Now that he's 8, Zane gets to participate in cubs, and was so excited that his birthday was on a Tuesday so he could start on his actual birthday. He loves to go and has already earned several badges. His love for sports continues to grow and he is often found with a ball in hand. He played soccer again this spring but thinks he wants to try football next year instead. And he loved the basketball course he just completed this fall. He can't wait to start the next session in the new year. Music plays a big part in Zane's life as well. He still takes piano lessons from mom, and sings in the school choir as well as the youth choir at church. He's happy to do it and I'm thrilled that my love of music is being carried on. Zane keeps busy with friends and brothers and is very social. He doesn't like just sitting at home - he'd much rather be out and doing. He LOVED camping with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson this year and can't wait for next summer so we can do it again.

Rhett turned 5 in May this year and spent many months waiting for September to come so he could go to school. He kept busy playing with friends and Zane, visiting family (I think we spent more time in Southern Alberta this summer than here at home) and growing up! He still refused to ride a bike this summer despite efforts and threats, but did overcome his fear of lakes and was much more outgoing and adventuresome than last year. He loved the obstacle course at Camp Woods when we camped with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, and even camped over night without mom and dad! School started and he has continued to blossom. He loves to color, write and draw. He's learning to read and is picking it up fabulously. He sang in both the primary presentation at church and in the choir at this school Christmas concert. He wasn't happy about either but he took a deep breath and did it! Rhett also participated in basketball this fall and did really great. It was awesome to watch him with kids his age and for him to realize that he can keep up and compete with kids his age instead of trying to match Zane and his friends. He's been great at including Brock at home and enjoys being boss of the house on his non-school days. He's made lots of friends at school and we can't seem to go anywhere these days without someone calling out "hi Rhett!"

Brock is the definition of busy boy. He seems to be in constant motion. The beginning of the year brought birthday #2 to our baby. Sigh. Not so much a baby anymore! He loves anything and everything that his brothers are doing or want to do, and is determined to do it as well. He discovered a love for jumping on the trampoline this summer and was thrilled when we got one of our own. Mom had many heart attacks watching him jump with the big boys but thankfully we were spared any major injuries. Brock is normally a happy kid - as long as things are going his way. And as the baby of the family he tends to get that quite often. He's an expert at getting his brothers to cave and mom and dad are known to do that as well. He LOVES technology. He knows how to run my iPhone, Cliff's Samsung, and is so excited when Jas comes with his i-4. It's frightening sometimes to see how well he navigates between the games and movies on them. His vocabulary has improved a lot lately which has helped alleviate a lot of frustration between he and I. Thank goodness. He loved trick or treating and all the candy, but refused any attempt at a costume except a hockey jersey. Oh well. This year is the first that he's been really great at leaving Christmas alone in the house. He "helped" decorate the tree, and only had a few days of trying to un-decorate it before he lost interest. Not interested in Santa again this year, but did condone to give him "five" as we walked by in the mall one day. We think he's pretty great most days!

Cliff and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this year with a week in Mexico. We loved it and can't wait to go back this year. We won a trip back to the same resort and are looking forward to another week off! Cliff is still working at Trail and enjoying it. He also finds time to wrestle with the boys, play volleyball and floor hockey and golf of course. We actually camped two times this year, and yes, I survived both. We were able to enjoy our Jackson side of the family during the camping and the kids LOVED every moment of it. It's growing on me now that the kids are getting bigger. I've kept busy teaching piano, chasing kids, serving in my church calling, and babysitting for a friend who has gone back to work. We were blessed to spend a lot of time this summer with both sides of family with camping, visiting, trips to Waterton, and lots of sun and fun with friends.

We love living in Sylvan Lake and are blessed to be surrounded with friends who love us and whom we love like family. We miss our families and friends but enjoy all the time we are granted to spend with you through the year. Thanks for making 2011 such a wonderful year. God bless and Merry Christmas!
Cliff, Kelly, Zane, Rhett and Brock

What to say?

2011-12-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

What to say after being absent for so long and not recording so many things? The last I wrote was about how much Rhett was loving kindergarten. Sigh. Blogging has been on my mind a lot in the last couple of months....it just always seems to get put at the bottom of the to-dos. So, I'll do a quick re-cap of everyone over the last couple of months.

Brock: growing and changing every day. He is the source of much laughter for his grandparents, (especially Grandpa Dooley) and much frustration for his mother. He is busy embodied. Always testing limits, always figuring out something new, and very rarely still. I love this boy, who is definitely ALL boy. He has recently begun talking a lot more. I knew he would, but it has still been a relief and joy to hear him actually use the words he knows. One of his recent favorites are Zane and Rhett's names - he calls to them in his very loudest, longest voice possible when they are not in his sight. He's discovered a love for coloring....and has been known to use crayons/markers on my walls a few times. Grrr. He has no interest in potty training, is definitely my smallest at this age out of the three, and is rapidly leaving two and toddler hood behind as three is looming. Part of me is jumping up and down to be leaving the baby stage behind, and part of me mourns a little. I'm trying to enjoy and love the "baby" things he still does now because I know my days are limited! He is still not a stellar sleeper but I think we're getting closer to that being resolved as well.

Rhett: Is still loving kindergarten. He has taken to school like a fish to water and continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Including growing like a weed physically! He refuses to wear jeans or pants that have snaps, zippers and buttons. Only pants that he can pull on. And with the wonderful sizing these days, I'm constantly searching for pants that are just the right length. I'm often struggling with too short or too long. I don't care so much on home days, but on days he goes to school it drives me nuts to have his pants inches above his ankles. Small issue, I know, but it bugs me. But I digress. He has made lots of friends at school and always has kids saying "hi Rhett" when we're leaving school or out running errands. He and Zane took a basketball course this fall and it was great for him. They were in different age groups so Rhett finally got a chance to learn a new skill with kids his own age and it was awesome. They're both looking forward to the second session this new year. Building, video games, coloring, and anything with friends and his brothers is still high on his list and he has found he likes being boss on non-school days. He wasn't thrilled about singing in the Primary presentation or his Christmas concert but he did both bravely, and lived to tell the tale. I'm so proud of my Rhett man!

Zane: Is growing up before our eyes. I'm starting to fear for my height...my days are numbered that's for sure. Zane is still excelling at school and is very social. He's been great at walking home with Rhett after school and that saves me a ton of time in my day. He always has some kind of ball or sport something in his hands or going on. And he loved the basket ball course they took. His coaches were very impressed with his skill level and are looking forward to him coming back. Maybe by the time his age group reaches high school we'll be able to compete with the southern Alberta teams. Ha ha ha. Zane also loves to sing and is old enough now to sing in the school choir, the youth choir at church and participated in the Christmas choir for his grade. At one point between all the performances he said "I just have so many Christmas songs stuck in my head!" He loves to perform and takes it very seriously. He also loves being old enough for cubs and can't wait for Tuesday night to roll around.

Cliff: Is busy with work, playing volleyball and floor hockey and was recently called to be the Elders Quorum secretary. And of course helping me with the general chaos that ensues around here on a daily basis.

Family:
Thanksgiving was great- we managed to come home and see both of families. The small amount of time we get with you is never enough and we always end up missing someone, but we love the time we're able to spend with those we saw.
We did the Halloween thing - LOTS of candy between the trunk or treat and then actual trick or treating. I actually dressed up but have no picture proof because we were running late and the RS was in charge of cookie decorating at the trunk or treat. I made a pretty good last minute witch if I do say so myself.
I held off decorating for Christmas until November 20th....gasp I know. I was later this year and again have no pictures to prove it but I LOVE my tree this year. And besides a few touches Brock has left it alone. (The enraged phone call to grandma and papa demanding they come get him may have deterred him a little. I came out of the shower one day and he had undecorated a significant portion of the tree. Brock = busy remember?)

And just so you know, the next post is going to be my "official" family Christmas letter. I'm cheating and doing it that way because it just didn't happen. I hope to make blogging more of a priority in the new year...but don't hold me to it!

Bragging About Rhett

2011-10-16T14:29:00.000-06:00

OK, first of all let's just get it out there that I haven't blogged in FOREVER!!!
Now that we all acknowledge my hiatus we can move on to more important things like this boy:

Here's Rhett on his first day of KINDERGARTEN!!!! I was so nervous for him. He's never been my outgoing boy, never wanted to pick up a crayon, marker, pair of scissors etc and so was starting without knowing how to do anything crafty. And our kindergarten is one big art class (which I think is awesome) but can you understand why I was a little anxious? He knows all his letters and numbers, can read a few simple words and even do some math...but a pencil? Not interested. Why would you want to use that when you can type your name on the computer? But I digress.

We agreed that Cliff would take him for the first 'real' day of school. A couple of days prior Rhett and I had gone for the orientation, but since Cliff will normally be dropping him off I thought he should just start from day one. Plus, I didn't want to risk crying at school. This boy was up, dressed and chomping at the bit before 7:00am. Oi. I was able to contain his excitement until it was time to go and then....he was gone. And I had all day to stress. As the hours passed and I didn't get a phone call from the school I was feeling a little better about it...but still a little edgy. I practically ran the 3 blocks to the school to pick him up and found him grinning from ear to ear! Yep, my middle son who doesn't say boo to anyone he doesn't know, acted like a day in kindergarten with a bunch of people he didn't know was NO BIG DEAL! Can I get a hallelujah!?!
Oh but it gets better. After chattering my ear off on the way home he promptly pulls out his "homework" (a replica worksheet of the letter they did in class that day) and proceeds to ask me for crayons so he can color in his picture. After picking my jaw up off the floor and finding him some crayons he proceeded to color very carefully for a good 20 minutes. Um, wow.

And now we are a month and a half into school. He goes every Monday and Wednesday and every other Friday. (We're a full day program here). On non-school days he counts sleeps until he goes back to school and always has something to say about school when you ask him. He's very serious about doing "quality" work when it comes to his coloring and has even started coloring for fun. His confidence in himself grows every day and it has been AWESOME to watch him blossom into this fab 5 year old. Not that he wasn't fab before - I just mean that he's even better now!

He also started a basketball course, clinic? What do you call it? He goes once a week for an hour with a bunch of kids and coaches to learn basketball skills and have fun. He loved it and it has now been added to the countdown of sleeps. (Thanks Havan Built Hoops!)

I love this boy....

some summer pictures...

2011-08-27T11:34:00.000-06:00

Brock and Paxton "sharing" at Grammie and Grandpa

Dooley's house

Auntie Kizzy, Zane and Brock at Red Rock

Auntie Kizzy and Zane climbed down to the river

and felt how cold it was!

Me, Kizzy and the kids getting sprayed by Cameron

Falls...it was NOT a nice day in Waterton!

Waiting for the Raymond Parade on the 1st...

We found our friends the Holladays from Sylvan so they

shared our spot!

Sour soothers, and a sucker. What more does a kid need?

Not sure about being confined to the back of the

truck...but maybe a bribe will help

Hot day, sprinkler, trampoline, and 4 little boys...

They had lots of fun!

I LOVE this shot!

Brock enjoying a whole bucket of sour soothers on Grammie's mat

Cliff and the boys having a good wrestle

I think Zane is losing....

He found a measuring spoon and oatmeal...and proceeded to eat

First time he's eaten oatmeal and not spit it out!

We built a fort in the living room

Outside view of the fort....

Camping....Brock taught himself to throw a Frisbee

Rhett and his massive plane that provided hours of entertainment

until it crash landed and broke the tail wing

Zane fell in love with football...

Hope you enjoyed the small taste of our summer! I tried to remember to take pictures but was often busy chasing after these three wonderful, busy boys!

Some stuff...

2011-08-25T23:52:00.000-06:00

It has been brought to my attention that I forgot to mention some happenings of July:

First of all a big THANK YOU to my dad for fixing the passenger door on our explorer so it opens from the inside and the outside! Makes my life so much better!

And we had the fun times of having our nephew Paxton come and stay with us for the last week of July while his day home was closed.   It was busy, hectic and fun! Having one more wasn't that different, but different enough to solidify my thoughts of being all done having my own kiddos. Brock loved watching movies in Paxton's playpen, and Paxton loved to throw toys into Brock. Sometimes that didn't work out so well, like when Paxton decided to throw all the big trucks into the playpen and nailed Brock in the head with one. But they did enjoy riding in the stroller together and running around like crazy. Zane and Rhett started treating him like another annoying little brother....so he fit right in!

August has been just as busy as July. A couple of days after Paxton left Auntie Kizzy came to stay and we kept her very busy! We managed a girls' night, a beach day, a fundraiser and a birthday party. With lots of good nephew spoilage crammed in there as well. The kiddos helped me out with some slave labor the morning before she arrived and Rhett was very proud of all they had done to make the house clean for Auntie.

Grammie S got to come a few days after Auntie left and the days just flew by! We didn't make the beach but still enjoyed great weather and kept Grammie very busy. She and I had a great girls' day together as well, and we borrowed her truck to pick up a trampoline that we inherited from a guy at Trail. The kids were THRILLED when they figured out what it was we had in the truck.   We followed Grammie home to Cardston on Sunday and then headed for Taber Monday afternoon.

We wanted to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson before following them to the annual Jackson camp out. Aunt Nina, Uncle Dave and all their kids live in Utah and were up visiting in Barnwell the same time we were in Taber. They planned to go to Waterton on Wednesday, so although we had just come from that direction we thought it would be great to go with everyone. We had a great picnic, threw rocks in the lake, and climbed Bertha Falls. Zane and Rhett were in their prime with all the older cousins around and made it up the mountain long before Brock and I did. Aunt Cherie and Becca stayed behind bringing up the rear with Brock and I, he made it up 2/3rds of the hike before his legs gave out. I carried him the rest of the way up and Uncle Dave volunteered to pack him down. Thank goodness! Some ice cream in Mountain View completed the day and then back to Taber.

Friday we headed out to the Peter Loughead Provincial Park in the Kanaskis to meet up with Cliff and the rest of the Jackson family. Uncle Jamie and Auntie Amber picked Cliff up on their way down from Edmonton and they beat us there by a couple of hours so the tent was already set up when we got there. The boys LOVE camping. Being outside, being dirty and having lots of cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents to play with them and pay them attention. What could be better? It got a lot colder than I thought it would and I was a stress case the first night hoping the boys were warm enough, but no worries. They're tough and they were warm in bed. Next time I'll bring more warm close and then I won't stress so much.

It's great to be home!  I've been trying to focus on getting the house under control and getting stuff ready for piano and school. We've done a few family get togethers with Payne's and a trip to the Innisfail RCMP dog training, and the spray park in Innisfail...so maybe we're not slowing down as much as I thought!

I'll work on pictures in the next couple of days....promise!

Still Around....

2011-08-09T09:41:00.003-06:00

So, it seems after all my bragging of Mexico I fell off the blogger map. And I really don't have a great excuse - just lots of busyness.

I pulled Zane out of school early (they don't do anything productive the last 3 days anyways!) and we headed down to southern Alberta to soak up some good family time and break in Grammie S and Grandpa Dooley's new house for them. (They moved to Cardston in May) And when I say break in, I mean break in. Poor house. Grimy fingerprints down the halls and stairways, could hardly see out of the french door in the kitchen, and Brock broke 2 picture frames, a candlestick, and be-headed a precious moments boy. Sigh. Grammie claims that she loves to have us but I think she's just as happy to see our tail lights leaving again!

On the trip down Zane and Rhett were watching a DVD and out of the blue I hear this conversation:
Z: Rhett, if you ever have a cannon, don't shoot it straight up in the air. (Pause for this wisdom to sink in before continuing)....Because if you shoot it straight up it will come right back down and explode you!
I couldn't see Rhett's face but I'm sure he was blown away by his older brother's wisdom. And I was cracking up in the front seat.

We were ON THE GO almost the entire time we stayed. A COLD trip to Waterton which found me and the boys, Grammie and Auntie Kizzy crammed into the back of Grammie's explorer for our picnic lunch...and a quick mini hike up red rock, some cold pictures in front of the falls, and finally giving up and going home when wind refused to let us get anywhere near the lake to throw rocks. We did stop in Mountain View for ice cream....mmmmmm.

Of course we had to make the trek to Raymond for the July 1st parade. It was a little weird driving into Raymond instead of already being there but we still got to park fairly close to where we usually park...and the kids had a blast....and we saw tons of our Central Alberta friends there....oh and of course came home with lots of candy...including the cow that hit me in the head. Ouch! (You know, the toffee candy with chocolate in the middle called 'cows' - took one right in the forehead and it stung for days) After a quick picnic at the Raymond house (Auntie Kizzy was still living there then) we packed up and headed back to Cardston for relaxation and a great BBQ. Poor Uncle J was the only adult guy around since Cliff couldn't make it down and Dad was out on a run. But he managed all right and we all had a great time. Paxton and Brock were in heaven together and at one point we could hear them just jabbering to each other and then laughing and laughing and then more jabbering and laughing. Apparently they understand each other quite well.

Other happenings were a dinner to celebrate mom's birthday, a temple session with mom and Kinsey, going to parks, jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler, weeding the garden, Great Grandma Robinson's 80th birthday party, riding bikes,and walking to the Temple every night to pick Grammie up from work. The kids LOVED this part of the day.

And we got spoiled by our Jackson side (my MIL's family) as well. Mom J organized a whole BBQ for us the night we were leaving and it was so fun to be with everyone. Spending extended time in southern Alberta definitely makes us a little homesick. BUT Cliff was quite ready for us to come home, so after a long, hot day in Lethbridge we headed back.

We were just settling into our routine here at home when we got the sad/happy news that Cliff's Grandpa Jackson had passed away. He had been struggling with cancer for quite some time so it's been really sad for us missing him, but a happy time knowing that he's not suffering anymore and is in such a better place now. We left Wednesday night and attended the Prayers Thursday night where I played "How Great Thou Art", and then attended the funeral on Friday. Grandpa Jackson belonged to the Knights of Columbus, which I understand to be part of the Catholic tradition (I could be WAY off here, sorry if I am), and the older boys were quite fascinated at walking through a sword salute. The boys did really great through the whole mass (thank you Auntie Kizzy for taking Brock!) and at the graveside as well. After the funeral the whole family spent the entire afternoon and evening together in the backyard and it was a great family time - even if we were gathered for a sad reason.

Once again we were headed home...and have been battling colds/coughs for the last couple of weeks.
We've still managed to fit in a couple trips to the beach, some park time, BBQ, potlucks, play dates, a boys night sleeping in the new tent, and almost a whole week with Auntie Kizzy visiting.

Grammie S will be here tomorrow, and then we are following her back down to Cardston, then to Taber to hang with the Johnson clan, and then out to the Kananaskis area for a Jackson family camp out. Then home for a quick breather/organizer before school starts again!

Wow. Summer is flying by

Mexico!

2011-06-05T13:59:00.000-06:00

First of all, I have decided that I REALLY don't like flying. The extra security (I got treated to the full pat-down as we were going thru security in Edmonton), the WAIT to actually get on the airplane, the confined space on the plane....and the landings. Out of it all, I DESPISE landing. My first experience flying was short, and we quickly learned that my motion sickness was not confined to cars. I'll spare you the details, but lets just say I was well drugged to return from that little trip. This trip was different....we had a lay over in Toronto and Cliff said he didn't want to be dragging me around drugged. So I tried the little patch that you stick behind your ear and can wear for three days. It's great - I highly recommend it...just make sure you get it in the spot the paper shows you. I was off a little on our flight there and after two turbulent landings....well, I'll let you fill in the ending.

We finally made it off the plane, through Mexican customs, (a little nerve racking for me, but I'm a stress case, so whatever), found our luggage and made it out the doors to our waiting group. Walking out of the door of the airport was like walking into a warm wet towel. HUMIDITY!!!! Still not feeling great, and not having slept in almost 24 hours I was pretty out of it as we headed towards our resort. An hour later we pulled into paradise. Before I go on I must say that I LOVED resort Mexico, but real Mexico made me sad and sometimes nervous.

Check-in went smoothly, and shortly we were whisking toward our villa on a golf cart. We literally got in the room, locked the door and collapsed on the bed and SLEPT! When we were both lucid we found swim stuff and headed down to the beach to get a look at where we really were.

Our trip was all-inclusive and included 4 suppers at the resorts various restaurants. Lots of friends had told us to book our reservations the day we got there so we took their advice. We booked the Italian, Mexican, Japanese and Brazilian themed restaurants.

Over the next day and a half we figured out the "bus" between the different hotels in our resort. We called it the blue beast but it did the job! We also figured out where we liked to eat, sit on the beach, shop and consumed many pina coladas and dacharies! We managed to not get too sunburned, spent lots of time on the beach, watching movies, sleeping, walking around and enjoying the different restaurants and shows available. Everything that we wanted to do! We had lots of friends who have visited Mexico before us and had a very long list of recommendations of things to do...but we really went for relaxation. And I'm happy to say that we achieved that!

We did go to Xplore - a great place with 14 zip lines, underground rivers and caves, amphibian vehicles and lots more. We did all the zip lines - what a rush! The first one my heart was in my throat and after that it was just pure fun! I wasn't such a fan of the paddle boats, but we had fun doing different things together that we've never done before. Including taking local transportation there, and a taxi back. Both interesting experiences but we lived to tell the tale.

All in all our vacation was wonderful and we can't wait to do it again! If you haven't heard already...we won a trip to go back! We pay airfare and the all-inclusive is taken care of! We can go back to Mexico, or choose to go to Jamaica or the Dominican Republic. I'm pushing to go back to Mexico...but we'll see what next spring brings!

Pictures of 5

2011-06-02T11:30:00.000-06:00

I promised pictures weeks ago of my fabulous five year old...and I figured it was only fair to post his before moving onto Mexico....

Umm, can someone tell me why blogger decided to turn my pictures this way? I promise they are saved on my computer in the proper alignment....and now they are sideways. Arg!

Showing he's 5!

His Hot Wheels cake that he HAD to have. My talents are not in cake decorating....don't judge too harshly!

All he wanted was Hot Wheels...and his friends obliged!

What the tooth fairy brought him

He lost his first tooth the day after his birthday!

Leaving....

2011-05-16T17:00:00.000-06:00

on a jet plane....tomorrow night. Well, technically Wednesday morning. But the kids are being dropped off and we are driving to Edmonton tomorrow evening.

SO EXCITED!

But a little nervous too. We've never gone this far from the kids or for so long....
It helps that I know we are leaving them with such great people. Thanks Paynes!

So why am I on the computer blogging instead of packing? Because I hate packing. Can't wait to get there but seriously wish I had a wand, or a maid or some other means of having all of us packed and ready to go to without me having to do it.

The lists are made, the laundry is almost finished....I can only put this off for so much longer.

It doesn't help that Cliff is home and already in vacation mode. Makes me want to sit and do nothing as well.

However, I will soon be sitting on the sunny beach of Mexico and enjoying myself immensely!

Don't miss me too much!

Uncharted Territory...

2011-05-15T17:25:00.000-06:00

I know I promised pictures....but I can finally share some news.

No I'm not pregnant. NOT happening, so all you hopefuls, quit hoping.

What I am is......the new 2nd councilor in our ward's Relief Society presidency.

I've known for 2 weeks but today it became official. As I looked around the chapel this morning during the sacrament it really hit me that we as a presidency are responsible for all these women, and I was humbled and grateful for the opportunity.
And after a quick meeting with the outgoing presidency we were on. It even worked out that this month is the 2nd councillors turn to conduct so jumped in with both feet. I was barely nervous while I was conducting - it felt natural and fun.

I'm really looking forward to this calling and to working with the sisters. I've never served in this capacity so I'm sure I'll learn LOTS!

Someone is FIVE.......

2011-05-10T09:01:00.007-06:00

Can you guess who?

If you guessed this handsome lad, congratulations! You are correct! Rhett turned 5 on the 4th and was sooooo excited for the day to finally be here. He had been counting sleeps for a long time to get to his birthday! We started the day off with opening his gift from us - a huge remote control monster truck. He was excited for the truck but disappointed that it needed to be charged first. Note to self - ALWAYS assemble/charge toys before revealing. (And don't let Cliff go shopping by himself anymore!)

Zane and Daddy went off to school and work and the remainder of us hung out doing whatever it was that Rhett wanted to do. We have a tradition around here of "birthday waffles" for breakfast on your birthday. (Homemade waffles with whip cream and a bunch of sugary goodness piled on top). But since Rhett's birthday was in the middle of a busy week we declared birthday waffles for supper that day. They were a hit of course. And then we headed to the park to run off some sugar before bed!

Thursday Rhett and I were out doing errands when I noticed that his bottom teeth looked a little more spacious than usual. When I tested my theory we discovered to our surprise that Rhett had 2 loose teeth! And even more surprising....by bed time one was ready to come out! He was a little traumatized at seeing his tooth and the blood, but was quickly convinced that losing teeth is a good thing because the tooth fairy comes. He was ALL smiles Friday morning when he woke up and found a toonie under his pillow! He couldn't wait to show his friends his newly acquired hole!

Friday brought his friend party with his hot wheels cake. He was very insistent that his cake be a hot wheel cake so I made a sheet cake, iced it brown, used licorice strips to make lanes and start and finish lines and lined up 5 new cars at the end. He loved it. But let me tell you, decorating cakes is NOT one of my talents!

On Saturday the celebration continued as Uncle Jamie and Grammie S were both able to come for a visit. We had a great supper for birthday/Mother's day and lots of good fun.

So, Rhett at Five:

- is super tall for his age. He's as tall as some as Zane's school friends, and everyone always thinks he's at least 2 years older than he is just based on his height.

- is my most sensitive boy. He picks up on everything. Can be easy to cry, or just as easily frustrated by his brothers.

- is also my most cautious. He doesn't like going into new things on his own, but is getting better at adjusting to them. We went to his kindergarten orientation a couple of weeks ago and he wouldn't say boo to anyone, but the next day we went back to the school for a fun fair and he had a blast. The first couple weeks of school could be interesting, but I know he'll be fine eventually.

- decided not to play soccer this year at the last minute. He claims he's not good enough. I think this comes from always playing against his older brother. No explaining or cajoling could change his mind so he is watching from the side lines again this year.
-builds extraordinary things out of Lego. And has an imaginary world to go right along with it. I think it's awesome!

- goes through phases of what he plays with. Right now he's definitely into cars and he and Brock spend the majority of the day roaring around the house with the infinite number of cars, trucks, monster trucks, hummers, tractors, police cars...well you get the picture.
- thinks that learning to ride his bike this year is a really bad idea. And I'm not even talking about a two wheeler. I'm talking training wheels. Remember when I mentioned he was cautious? Yeah, his reasoning is that he can just run while the rest of us ride. His mother disagrees. Last year he still fit in the bike trailer with Brock so it wasn't an issue...this year he's too tall! Going to be an interesting couple of weeks.

- has no interest in coloring, writing, scissors etc. Loves to do things on the computer, build, run and play. Could make school a little interesting as well.

- still asks for cuddles. Love that!

- is so great with Brock. And is starting to include him in his play sometimes now that Brock is getting bigger. But does get frustrated when Brock goes on a seek and destroy streak and destroys the elaborately set up pretend world that he is currently engrossed in. Can't say I blame him.

- is very helpful....usually.
- is the reigning Uno champ in our house! He wins way more than the rest of us - and we don't cheat to let him win. He's just that lucky/good.

- is only 1 1/2 shoe sizes away from Zane. He looks like a teenage boy sometimes - all elbows and knees and giant feet!

- favorite color is red

- favorite movie is Cars

- favorite ice cream is vanilla

- favorite primary song is I Love to see the Temple

- favorite hockey team is the Canucks

- favorite sandwich is peanut butter

- favorite chocolate bar is Aero

I love you Rhett! You are such an amazing boy! You make me smile every day and bring happiness to the people around you. Keep being your special self and you will always find joy.

Love, Mom

*Sorry, for the lack of pictures in this post. Blogger and I are not agreeing as to where they should go....so stay tuned in the next while and I'll do a post of pictures!

THE ABC'S of me!

2011-04-30T09:19:00.003-06:00

I got this from my cousin-in-law Nikki Berezay. Her blog always makes me smile :)
And I thought this was fun! Feel free to do it yourself!

Age: 30
Bed size: King
Chore you Hate: Cleaning the bathroom
Dogs: None. We tried. It didn't work out.
Essential start of your day: Shower!
Favorite Color: Red
Gold or Silver: Silver
Height: 5'6" and a bit
Instruments I can play: Piano, and I used to play alto sax and the clarinet. Not sure if I still could
Job Title: Mom, piano teacher
Kids: Three - Zane (8) Rhett (5 in a matter of days) Brock (2)
Live: Sylvan Lake, AB. Love it!
Mom's name: Sandy and Brenda (best mom in law ever!)
Nicknames: Kell
Overnight Hospital stays: all 3 kids and pancreatitis
Pet Peeves: texting and driving!
Quote from a Movie: "I love it when a plan comes together"
Right or Left handed: Right - although I'm pretty good with my left
Siblings: 2 sisters and one brother in law on my side, and two sisters and one brother in law on Cliff's side!
Time you wake up: When the kids do! Usually around 7
Vegetables you Dislike: Oh, so many! But the top of the list would be green peas and beans.
Wearing: my pajamas!
Xrays you've done: hand, chest, head...and chest, abdominal and head with the kids so far
Yummy Food you Make: Umm, according to my husband and our good friends...pretty much everything I make! I love to cook and bake...just hate cleaning up. One of my favorites is my craisin bread because it makes divine toast!
Zoo animals: Tigers

I'm Baaaacccckkkkk

2011-04-25T19:47:00.004-06:00

My last post I was still in PAIN. I'm happy to report that the pain and swelling are down to minimal, and the best news - I'm BACK! Where did I go, you might ask? If you don't know what I've been struggling with mentally, you can go here. I think I explained it pretty good.

Before my surgery I was feeling pretty good. Not 100% me, but I'd say hovering right around 95%. And now, two weeks after surgery, I woke up today and recognized me! And it felt really good. I'm still going to continue with the vitamins and work outs (which I did my first one in two weeks today - yay me) and happily continue on with life.

On another note, we didn't go home for Easter this year. We had planned to - especially since we missed Christmas. But then I had my surgery and despite my best efforts I just wasn't ready to make that trip by myself with three kids. And then Brock fell off the piano bench and gave himself a slight concussion, and then the next day he woke up with an ear infection, and the next day after that he started puking like crazy from the antibiotic he was started on. So, Thursday, Friday and Saturday were just real fun around here.

Sunday our Sylvan family, the Paynes came over for turkey dinner. Y-U-M. I cooked a 20lb turkey in just over 4 hrs and it was perfection. I have a new secret. If you want it, you can ask and I'll give it to you. Anyways, we did the bird and all the fixins, had a great time laughing and talking till way too late, Brock was still puking randomly which added a "special" element to my day. After the third full outfit change (him and me) I was sooooo done. But we both lived. ***On a side note, why is it that babies/toddlers feel the need to turn their heads in and down into you so they soak your entire front with puke? Really, what is so wrong with puking in the sink when mom is holding you over it?****

Sorry, back to more pleasantness. Today I got smart and gave Brock gravol-dosed juice. Wish I would have thought of it yesterday. No problems today. Just a nice mellow toddler. I was lazy for a good part of the day and it felt good. Tomorrow is back to the lists and accomplishments and all that good stuff!

Happy Easter everyone! Hope it was a great one for all of you!

My Drug- Induced Post

2011-04-18T08:56:00.004-06:00

Well...surgery went ahead....barely! I'm not kidding. There was some serious deliberation going on in the hospital whether or not they were coming out. But Dr. made up his mind and the next thing I knew I was on that skinny little operating table with sleepy juice running into my veins and an oxygen mask coming over my face. I fell asleep thinking the words to a hymn hoping it would give me luck. And woke up feeling all kinds of awful. Words do not describe. After choking down some water I thought there was a slim chance I might live...and eventually my wonderful surgeon showed up to tell me all the gory details. The first thing he tells me is that I've shaved a couple years off of his life. Uh-oh. Even in my drug induced fog this isn't sounding good. But this is how the facts stacked up: 1. I have a very small mouth (just because I use it a lot doesn't mean it's big) - I actually already knew this but hadn't even thought of passing that information on. Duh. 2. My tonsils were really big and extremely (his word, not mine) rotten. 3. My right tonsil was attached to the back of my tongue which presented another layer of difficulty to the gong show already happening in my mouth. 4. Once he finally got the tonsils out he had a REALLY hard time getting me to stop bleeding. Which if you didn't already know, is one of the main reasons drs. don't like doing adult tonsillectomies. Apparently we bleed more. BUT I am now tonsil free. And a large part of me is really grateful about that. I have to admit that the pain-filled, still on heavy drugs and not quite capable of full mommy duties, had to cancel our Easter trip home side, might not be as joy/gratitude filled. But I'm working on it. The first 4 days are a blur of pain and Cliff doing such a good job of taking care of me. He would set his alarm and wake me up to take the pain meds, change out ice packs, do everything for me and the kids and kept the house running great! My tongue has been just as bad, if not worse than my throat. I'm not kidding. No one mentioned to me that they would be clamping and yarding on my poor little tongue until it swelled and bruised to the extent that I couldn't fully close my mouth and was afraid I was going to choke on it when I went to sleep. (no lie - I was literally terrified to fall asleep the first night) Most of the swelling has gone down, but my tongue still feels like the dentist shot it full of Novocaine and is in that constant frozen, but not quite painful stage. And now that the swelling on my tongue has gone down I'm getting the full effect of the throat pain - right up into both ears. It's really special. Sorry for whining. I knew it was going to hurt. But it's like childbirth. Until you've experienced it, there's just really no way to describe it or prepare someone for it. I told Cliff I'd rather push out a baby any day than do this again. (No, that's not an announcement, just a comparison) At least then the pain is intense and done in one day. Not this drawn out thing :( There are some small bright shining pieces to this mess though. 1. I have no more tonsils!!!!! And hopefully this will make me feel MUCH better! 2. I have lost a ridiculous amount of weight between the week of strep and post-surgery. I don't advocate this as a weight loss plan but if you have to do it, make sure you've got some you can stand to lose. As of yesterday I had lost 15 pounds. 3. I can eat cheesy pasta late at night and not feel guilty. 4. I'm starting to keep food down - when I can choke it past the hurt. 5. I am starting to feel better, really. I'm actually staying awake for most of the day now and only sleeping at night, and I can walk upright without feeling too dizzy or that the floor is going to meet my face. Hopefully by the end of the week the soreness is gone and I'm feeling much more like me again. I did decide to cancel our Easter trip to southern Alberta....just not healed enough for that yet. Sorry to friends and family :( The kids and I were really looking forward to coming but another time when I'm healthy will be much better! And a HUGE thankyou to my wonderful husband who was such a great Mr. Mom, and all my friends who have brought supper, watched kids, called, emailed, facebooked....It's been such a wonderful outpouring of love and support. Thanks! *Ok, disclaimer. I've gone through this post 3 times now and put returns and better spacing in it and blogger is determined to keep it all bunched up like this. Sorry, I know it makes it harder to read but I have to concede this one to blogger.

Crossed Fingers...

2011-04-11T14:26:00.004-06:00

You know how we all joke about Murhpy's law....yeah I've been bitten pretty hard by it this last week. I think I mentioned a while back all the problems I've had with my tonsils and strep throat etc. And that I finally got referred to a wonderful doctor who agreed to take them out (harder than you may think) And then I FINALLY got a surgery date. Which is tomorrow. So where does Murphy's law show up? Thursday. I woke up with STREP!!!!! I took my butt into the doctor, informed him what was wrong and that my tonsils were coming out on Tuesday and would he kindly give me some really strong drugs so this plan could go ahead. Kind doctor concurred, wrote the prescription, assured me all would be good by Tuesday and sent me on my way. Yeah, not completely healthy yet. And I have to be at the hospital at 7:00 am tomorrow. I keep thinking about the blessing that Cliff and our home teacher gave me before I actually had strep (did I mention that Cliff had it first and I made him give me a blessing?) I was promised that my throat would be fine and the surgery would go ahead and be fine. So, I'm choosing to have faith, and pray LOTS! I talked to a wonderful friend who happens to be a surgical nurse and she said the 2 things that derail a surgery the most are a fever and a crappy/congested chest. So I am praying, and crossing my fingers that when I show up tomorrow I have no fever and my chest is as clear as it is now. That all the congestion that I have that is making me sound HORRIBLE will stay in my sinuses, and that everything goes ahead as planned. And then I'll be miserable with my slurpees and pain meds for a week. So, if I post next week, and it doesn't make a lot of sense.....I'm blaming it all on the drugs :)

Eight is Great!

2011-03-27T19:10:00.004-06:00

Birthday boy on his birthday! Before being baptized...mom's wearing 4 inch heels so looks like a giant!

Granpa Dooley, Grammie S and Zane

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson and Zane

Chase Pack and Zane

The boys and Dads all in white

Zane and Dad!

Bishop Higham and the boys after the baptism

Dear Zane....

You turned EIGHT on March 22. I woke up that Tuesday morning full of wonder just thinking that I had been a mom to you for 8 years. I don't know where all the days, minutes and seconds have gone but where there was once a wrinkly, red, new born baby, there now is a handsome, tall and energetic boy. I am in awe of your testimony. It is so strong and you live what you believe every day. I pray that this is a trait you will carry with you for the rest of your life.

Two weeks ago you had your bishop's interview for baptism. And when I asked you how it went, you said pretty good. And then proceeded to tell me that the only question you had problems with was the word of wisdom question. I was slightly alarmed but tried to ask casually why that had given you problems. You said you told the bishop that you "mostly" follow the word of wisdom because you sometimes have treats! Our bishop assured you that treats sometimes is fine and you came through with flying colors. We had such a good talk that day on the way to and from church about baptism, and the Holy Ghost. We both felt the spirit and it was a great experience to share with you.

Preparing for you baptism was surreal and a little frustrating for me. Surreal because I can't believe it's here, and frustrating because combined baptisms were implemented this year and it meant some concessions on things I had already planned...and you had to un-ask one of your witnesses. I was really disappointed for you, but you handled it so well!

You turned 8 on a Tuesday this year...so that meant you got to start cubs on your birthday! You were so excited and couldn't wait to get going on everything! Mom didn't know you needed a cub shirt so you didn't have that (sorry :) ) but you came home with great stories, memories and an enthusiasm for your troop. It's so fun as your mom to watch you do these new things and find joy in them.

As you continue to get older you amaze us with your wit and smarts. The other day Dad had some music playing and you asked "dad, is this music from the 19's.....?" Letting the question linger and effectively making mom and dad feel old. You've asked me a similar question with the definite impression that you consider anything before the 2000s to be sooooo old.

You are the best big brother anyone could ask for. Although you and Rhett have your arguments, you are quick to mend them. Thank you for taking the time to play with your younger brothers and include them with your friends and in your interests.

You LOVE hockey right now. Any kind. Watching it on TV, playing stick hockey in the hallway, on the XBOX, collecting cards and stickers or playing table hockey. You amaze me with your grasp of the rules and game play, and how many players and teams you know. I laugh because the first thing you do in the morning is check the scores from the games the night before to see who one and who lost.

Your love for sports is contagious and we can't wait for the snow to melt so you can be outside improving your skills in soccer, basket ball, biking and of course hockey.

Your reading level continues to improve and at this point you are ahead of your grade average. It brings me so much joy to listen to you read and to see you get into a book. I know you don't always want to sit down and read but when you do you remember just how enjoyable it is!

You and technology seem to be a match made in heaven. You were THRILLED when mom and dad gave you an ipod for your birthday and have been excellent at sharing it with your brothers. And you learn things on the computer and other techie things around the house with ease. I'm anticipating that one day soon you will be the one teaching me how to use my phone, computer, etc....

We are so proud of you Zane! You work hard at being good, following the commandments, and living the way that we have taught you. Happy Eight Birthday and Baptism! We love you more than words can express!

Mom and Dad

Look Who's 2!!!!

2011-02-12T20:15:00.005-07:00

SERIOUSLY?!?! How did this happen so quickly? Brock turned 2 on the 8th and also managed to score 2 birthday parties! We wanted to celebrate with our Payne family members so I brought cupcakes and tarts along to the Sunday dinner they invited us to. And as you can see from the above pictures, Brock is seriously considering a future career as a fire eater...among other things! But his entirely unreasonable mother (me) blew the candles out before he got much closer! We gave him one of each - cupcake and tart - and I guess you can see what he went for! 2 in fact! Sorry you have to scroll back up to view the picture - blogger and I are not agreeing on where these pics should go and I don't want to re-load them.

And the bruise on his forehead? He was climbing up the ladder to Zane's top bunk the night before and slipped and bashed his head. At least that's what I THINK happened as I found him there, he's been know to climb that ladder quite frequently, and the shape of the bruise is consistent with a ladder rung. It was UGLY Saturday night - black/purple and a good 1/2 inch off his head. Ugh. But after 10 minutes of crying and cuddling with mom he was off and running again. Not much slows him down! On Tuesday, his actual birthday we put candles in 2 cupcakes (the tarts were all gone) and he tried to blow them out this time instead of eating the fire! We opened presents and after he opened the basket ball hoop there was no hope for anything else. For the next couple of days until Cliff got it mounted to the bedroom door Brock would bring me the hoop to hold so he could shoot!

And at 2 he is still up to much busyness! He loves mommy's i-phone and daddy's new samsung galaxy captivate, LOVES the backyardigans and laughs and giggles as they sing and dance. LOVES to shoot hoops. He got a little one that you mount to a wall or somewhere for his birthday and he'll literally spend 1/2 an hours shooting balls at that thing. NBA here we come! Grandpa Dooley and I wonder if maybe all the Raymond water I drank growing up has something to do with it.

Lately he goes to bed almost every night with either 2 soft basketballs clutched in his hands or a hot wheels monster truck.

He still climbs all over everything, occasionally sabotages my laundry, crawls into bed with us every night, and is starting to throw out more words - when he feels like it. And never on demand. He always makes me laugh when he jabbers at me in his own language and ends the phrase like a question and then looks at me expectantly. Oh, gibberish.

He is still pretty good about eating whatever I give him but I'm seeing signs of pickiness...sigh. Another one. He loves pb, jam, cheese, yogurt, animal crackers, spaghetti, soup, bananas, apples, fruit leathers, toast and anything that is on mom or dad's plate!

He has recently developed quite the love for his daddy and loves to wrestle and play and of course play on daddy's phone!

And he ADORES his big brothers. He's getting old enough now to be fun to play with in more than the baby fun sense, and the boys enjoy wrestling, chasing, tickling, hockey, basketball and just about anything else they can think of that might make him laugh! Having 3 boys is really fun :)

We love our Brocker boy to bits and although we have already been treated to some of the terrible twos tantrums, he continues to be a happy, busy little boy!

Not just party-lag

2011-02-06T22:23:00.002-07:00

I have a reality. And it's not a pretty reality. In fact, it's kind of a skeleton in the closet kind of reality.

I am suffering from depression.

It's not full blown, as in can't-get-out-of-bed-or-function, - yet - But it is to the point where I have to admit that this is more than just a bad couple of weeks. And that I need to fight to get back to me.

I'm blessed with a great support group of family and friends - some who have experienced depression themselves, some have worked professionally with this, and some are just great resources of positivity and love.

I've started cataloging my days and mood on those days using weather terms. A "me" day is what I describe as a sunshine-y day. And then there are days that are mostly sunny but slightly cloud covered - you know - like the clouds that blot out the sun temporarily during the day but the sun always pulls through. I have days that are more cloud then sun. And then there are the cloud-locked, no hope of sun days. Thankfully, I haven't had too many of the cloud-locked days in a row. But I have had several of the cloud covered with brief rays of sunshine.

And I don't like me this way. It feels wrong and awful.

So, I swallowed my pride, talked to some of my closest peeps, and got help. I've started a great vitamin regimen to re-balance the old brain, I've cut back in some areas, and I'm trying to not expect quite so much from myself as I get myself back on track.

And that is the real honest reason that I haven't been writing here a lot lately. I have an
un-censored journal that I have been writing in and it's been great and cheap therapy!

I don't want to be one of those blogs that's all unicorns and rainbows, but there are some issues that I'm working through that I just don't feel comfortable airing on the internet - at least not in their entirety.

The main reason I'm writing this now is because I thought that one day, a long way down the road, someone in my posterity might need to know that they're OK because I suffered from this too. And people on both sides of my family suffer from this too.

Genetics are not always the best thing, but knowledge is power and I intend to use mine to get back to sunshine days!

Party-lag

2011-01-17T11:21:00.002-07:00

Everyone has heard of jet lag. And most of you have probably experienced it. I am currently experiencing party lag! And maybe you will too after my quick update of events in the last month and a bit!

The early part of December was spent participating in Christmas concerts and food drives for the school. We had planned on going to the Creche but it was too COLD! Zane did a fantastic job in his "choir" for the school Christmas play and it was a bit of a jolt to realize that next year Zane will be IN the play and Rhett will be in the choir. Wow. I'm feeling slightly old. We also went as a family and took part in a performance at an old folk home. Zane and I did some piano duets and the boys dressed up like shepherds for the nativity song.

I also finally made it to see a doctor who believes in removing tonsils (harder to find then you may expect). After hearing my sob story (8 strep throats in 18 months) he looked at me and told me it's not IF they should come out but WHEN they should come out. Much rejoicing on my part. I'm not excited about the pain after wards - it's supposed to be pretty brutal, but looking forward to reducing sickness by a lot!

Later that same day (the 17th) Robison's came from Eckville and we partied it up with homemade pizza, and Wii entertainment for the kids and dads while Leslie and I visited. We're good at it :) They stayed late and about 15 minutes after they left Mom and Dad J, Auntie Kristie and Uncle Jamie were here to start our first Christmas celebration!

We had lots of fun hanging out on Saturday playing games and watching movies. Cliff and Jamie took Zane and Rhett sledding while Brock had a nap and mom and Kristie iced my sugar cookies! Good deal all around I think! After a yummy roast beef meal we exchanged gifts and were royally spoiled! The kids were so excited and had a lot of fun the whole weekend.

Monday brought reality back a little as Zane still had 2 days of school and I had seminary to teach. The girls came here and I made them breakfast...we were going to watch a movie as well but that didn't work out. Oh, well.

School was finally out and I was frantically trying to finish shopping (one of Cliff's gifts didn't arrive like it was supposed to - grrrr!), clean my house, drop off goodies to friends, finish off teaching piano and the last minute baking and grocery shopping that needed to get done. Why do you ask? Because we were hosting Christmas! That's right! For the very first time in our married life we were not the ones doing the travelling! No packing up kids and presents and driving....just a whole new set of things to get done in a time crunch! But it was so fun!
Mom and Dad R and Auntie Kizzy got here Thursday night in time for supper and were royally entertained by my children. Especially Brock. He has Papa wrapped pretty tight and those two were thick as thieves almost the whole time they were here. Over the course of the weekend he beat Papa up with a pillow (randomly walked up and started beating him), danced all over Auntie's quilt that she was sewing the binding on (broke it good for her) and learned how to touch the ceiling from Zane's bed and throw pillows off the bed to much adoring laughter!

Christmas Eve we played and ate and played some more. We bundled everyone up and went sledding behind the high school. Zane LOVES sledding, Rhett prefers to watch (you're shocked I know) and Brock was fascinated by his boots leaving prints in the snow. We did take him down the hill a couple of times but he was underwhelmed so he and Papa walked around the bottom of hills and the school just being busy. I tried to knock myself out when I took a jump on one of our tubes and bashed my head on the ground after landing. And as I lay at the bottom of the hill seeing stars Zane's at the top yelling for me to move so he can come down. All in all a lot of fun had by all of us!

After a supper of home made pizza, we watched Mr Kruger's Christmas, opened the boys' Christmas jammies and got them ready for bed. Stockings were hung, cookies were left out and the boys were off to bed! We all stayed up and played cards until Santa showed up and helped him fill the stockings before heading to bed.

Christmas morning the first thing the boys saw was the HUGE hockey table Mr. Claus had left for them AGAINST the advice of Mrs. Claus. (She would be happier about it if we had a basement - but we don't and it now resides in front of my window, Grrr.) Of course the boys and Cliff love it. Once again, I am out voted. Stockings and presents were opened, and we commenced in making our breakfast waffles - waffles with all the ooey, gooey, sugary toppings you want. By the time we finished that we decided to officially move our turkey dinner to the evening so we could actually enjoy it! The rest of the day we spent playing new games, watching new movies, and doing the small things to have the dinner ready. Turkey dinner was a smashing success and I was glad for the help of everyone - either in prep or keeping the kids entertained and out of my small kitchen!

Our family left early the next morning so they could get to Alisha and Jays and we set off for church without Cliff as he had to work. Zane and I played Silent Night as a duet and then I continued with a medley of Silent Night and Sleep, Sleep, Sleep. BEST mom moment ever I think. Zane hit every single note and played perfectly! So many people stopped to tell me how much they enjoyed it and some even called to tell him themselves. It was awesome to sit there with him while he preformed and think "wow. I taught him how to do this!"

The next week was filled with some piano lessons, reading, playing and getting ready for New Years. We went to a great party at the Piersons, played and ate too much, stayed out late and had a great time. Grammie S arrived the next day to spend some time with us - Grandpa Dooley was coming too but his truck broke down in Idaho :(. But we had lots of fun with Grammie. We hibernated and the boys and grammie played games all day. At least between the times they were fighting and trying to kill each other. Cold, cold weather and couped up all the time is not a good mix for Zane and Rhett. But we made it through!

Zane started school on the 5th and I turned 30! Yep, I finally made it to 30! I was really excited to get here and had a great day. Slept in, had a lazy day at home, taught lessons and hustled the kids into Red Deer to meet Cliff for supper. It was great. That Saturday (the 9th) we had a grown up party to celebrate my oldness. Again, so much fun with great friends and I laughed so much! What a great way to celebrate :)

After another week flying by it was Friday night and me and my best girl friends went out for our once-a-month girls night. Since it is my birthday month we used that as our excuse and off we went. The weather prevented us from heading to Red Deer as originally planned but we improvised and hit a great restaurant here in town. We started a tradition a couple of birthdays ago of the birthday girl wearing a tiara and the last birthday guest didn't forget. So, despite a few glances, I wore the tiara proudly as we laughed and talked and had a great time. We went to Kathleen's house for a movie and there they surprised me with a DQ cake! I have the very best friends in the whole wide world! And they bless my life so much! After lots of cake, laughs, a horrible movie, and more talking, it was 1:00 before I got home and 2:00 before I un-wound enough to sleep.

And now you're caught up on all my partying. No wonder I have party lag! But I wouldn't have traded it for anything! What a great month and half it has been! And I'm looking forward to the rest of 2011!

2 Months - Part one

2011-01-05T10:43:00.005-07:00

It's almost been 2 months since I last posted....and this bugs me. So I've been trying to figure out the last couple of days what happened? Why haven't I been writing? I think there might be a few others who have been wondering the same thing.

I didn't come up with anything concrete. I have a few legit excuses - sickness - me and the kids, painting the bathroom, getting ready to host Christmas, and oh yeah, my destructive toddler. But mostly, I think they just all boil down into one category - I've been doing other things! So if you care, stick around for the next little while and I'll try and rewind a bit and catch up.

First off, Brock. I'm sure if you looked up BUSY, DESTRUCTIVE, CONSTANT MOVEMENT, or other such acronyms you would find his picture. To prove my point, here are some pictures of some of his latest handy work :

This is a pan of banana bread that Brock "helped" himself to while I was changing laundry around!

Basically, he would pull a piece off, take a bite and put it on the counter, than start over. We ate a lot of banana bread that afternoon!The next morning, I took a shower. (I know, totally irresponsible!) Came out to find the older two totally engrossed in their video game while Brock was destroying the kitchen. First he pushed a chair over to the counter and started throwing the pens and stuff on the floor....Then he knocked over a full cup of juice that an older brother kindly left in his reach....And then he climbed on the counter, opened the cupboard, and started emptying it onto the floor. That's when I showed up.But I held it together. Took a big breath, sent him packing to another room and started cleaning up. I headed back to the bathroom to dry my hair and found Mr. Busy with his hand in the toilet, a bottle of shampoo open and dripping in the linen closet, and the bath toys dumped in a huge puddle of water. I washed his hands, kicked him out of the bathroom, closed the door and sat down on the floor and cried! I was so frustrated!

I'm not laughing yet. I know you're rolling around on the floor holding your ribs....but I'm not there...yet. And that's because this is a fairly typical example of what most of my days are - minus the breakdown. I usually don't do that. But the cleaning up after my little tornado - yes. He is allergic to order and LOVES nothing better than to dump the bucket of hot wheels, the two buckets of Lego, the bucket of balls and the tote of trains. And he can do that in 2 minutes flat. Once all dumping is accomplished he looks around with a satisfied look, and then walks away. When I catch him in the act I get him to help clean up, but lots of times I come upon a mess and he's no where to be found....moved onto the next mess! He also has figured out how to take off the heat vents and stuff things down there. So I am routinely pulling toys out of my heat vents!

He's not all trouble...he's also very energetic, fun and learning new things at an astonishing rate! He's very physical - at not quite two he's doing a two-footed jump, ball handling and slap-shooting with mini sticks and balls, (with a golf-swing follow through!) and can jump shot a full size basketball! He climbs everything, rarely walks, jumps on the ottoman and my bed like it's a trampoline and can go from jumping to doing a bumsy like he's lived on a trampoline his whole life! He still loves to play the piano whenever he can - especially when Zane is trying to practice, and is learning new words all the time. He speaks in complete sentences...in his own little language and I've been joking that I need a translator collar like the dogs have in the movie UP. He LOVES nursery, is starting to do actions to some songs, hates to sit still -ever - and is fascinated by his boot prints in the snow. And he refuses to sit in a booster seat or wear a bib when eating. Needless to say meals are slightly messy when he is involved. And he's a mooch. He likes lots of different food but mostly when it comes off of someone's plate!

Grandpa Dooley calls in frequently for his update on "Calvin" (Calvin and Hobbs) as we have nicknamed Brock in his "busy" moments, and has started referring to Brock as his client and himself as Brock's lawyer as I complain about the latest thing he has destroyed or done. We're working on probation terms.

I know it's a stage. And chanting that little mantra gets me through most days...and I'm trying to laugh and document so I will remember that it was only a stage. I'm also trying to enjoy the snuggles, and the little mom moments I still have with him. He's rapidly growing up - can't believe he's almost 2! And I know my days are numbered with someone this little around. But I'm also LOVING that he's growing up to. It's sometimes an odd conflict for me. Mostly I'm trying to enjoy him now...and buying stock in paper towel!

I know....

2010-11-09T12:23:00.004-07:00

you can't believe that I'm posting...again. I don't post regularly for months and now the third one in November, already! It's not that I haven't wanted to post, really, but I already covered that sob story a couple blogs back. So onto the new.

I've had a topic rattling around in my wee little brain for the past couple of weeks as I notice things that I've said, thought, done in reaction to things that my children have said and done.

When we started on this journey called parenthood I wasn't completely ignorant to children and their ways....or so I thought. I'd done A LOT of babysitting through my teen years, even some overnighters....and yet when I look back on the last 7 1/2 years I amazed at the things I didn't know, but know now. Hence, my witty title. (Admit it, you're all envious with how clever I am on cold meds and antibiotics :))

So, mostly for my own enjoyment I bring you:

THE THINGS I KNOW:

- I know that every stage/phase does end...eventually. But that doesn't make

it any easier to get through it

- I know that all little boys are inexplicably drawn to the toilet and it's bowl

of water until it is time to actually learn to use it.

Case in point: the recent drownings of a balloon, transformer and toy hammer

- I know that klutziness is a gene that is passed on

My proof: Z: Mom, do you notice anything different about my head?

M: umm, why do have a big scrape and red mark there?

Z: Because I ran into a brick wall at school....

M: you are so my child

(there was an accidental trip from another child involved, but still!)

- I know that cursing your own children with picky eaters of their

own is a curse that WILL come true...thanks mom!

- I know that a child can exist quite happily on PB sandwiches,

cheese, crackers and apples (by their choice) with the occasional

chicken nugget and fries thrown in

- I know that a toddlers laugh is something no one can resist!

- I know that laundry and dishes multiply at night behind my back

and that someone sneaks around spreading crumbs on my floor!

- I know that I am constantly amazed at the things my children

learn without me consciously teaching them

For example: R walked outside the other day, took a big sniff

and declared that it smelled "DISGUSTING!"

Umm, excuse me? When did you learn that word?

- I know that toddler boredom is my number one enemy!

How else do you explain the mass destruction that takes

place every day by his hand?!

- I know a hole and toy are irresistible to said toddler...

as my heat ducts would testify to if they could

only talk! (Why do they make these things so easy

to pull out of the floor?!)

- I know that reading to my children every day is great

for them...and love to see the results in Z's reading

and R's comprehension and recognition!

- I know that it's easier to laugh then cry and better

to laugh than yell....but it doesn't always happen that way!

- I know my oldest is great at making friends and am so

thankful for that

- I know I will never fully understand boy logic,

but I'll never stop trying to!

- I know that I shouldn't tell B that I'm going to cut his

fingers off if he touches "that" one more time...R gets a little

worried and asks me not cut any of B's fingers off!

- I know that little boys under the age of 3 are convinced that

water on their head will make them MELT! At least, I think

that's why B has such a fit every Saturday night when I

wash his hair!

- I know that #3 is in a huge hurry to grown up. Things that

are no longer acceptable include: a booster seat with a tray,

a booster seat AT ALL, bibs are occasionally tolerated, shopping carts

are torture devices, and holding mom's hand is soooo last year. He

should be free to run wherever he wants and is quite vocal in his

opinion. Which brings me to my next I know...

- I know that a screaming child strapped into a shopping cart brings

either a: sympathy

b: condemnation

c: unwanted advice

d: a smile, nod and a "I've been there"

from the shoppers around you

- I know that I love my three boys more

than words can express, and in the end,

that's all that counts!

Absent...

2010-11-06T16:46:00.002-06:00

That's what I've been from my poor blog lately.

Some of you may remember the good times I had with strep throat last year...(don't worry if you don't).
Apparently my body decided that since we had such a great time with it last fall we should try it again this fall.

***Long, suffering sigh.****

The short version is that I am on my THIRD antibiotic and when I have completed it, I will have been on antibiotics for 25 days. Bleh. I've also been referred to a throat specialist to talk about having a tonsillectomy, but my doc said it will probably be a couple of months before I get in. And then who knows how long it will be if I decide to have the surgery (I'm fence sitting, but leaning heavily towards having them removed.) Mostly because we figure I've had 7 rounds of strep in about 18 months.

And when I have strep I have about 1/2 the energy that I normally do. And yes, I'm whining. And that's my lame excuse for not blogging lately. By the time I get done everything that HAS to be done in my day I very rarely have energy for the extras that I want to do.

BUT, I am going to attempt to write the 3 or 4 posts that have banging around in my head for the past couple of weeks over the next couple of days. Including the Halloween pictures. Better late than never, right?

Some halloween....

2010-11-01T14:57:00.006-06:00

Wednesday before Halloween Paynes came over for a pizza and pumpkin night! We made yummy homemade pizzas and then got busy with the carving of pumpkins. My job was picture taking, Rhett supervised, Brock was very un-interested with all the going ons and everyone else was pretty hands on!

Cliff and Rhett planning their pumpkin

some of the guts....there was lots more to come!

Zane's first scoop of guts all by himself - and yes, he is wearing a plastic glove - sometimes it's just whatever works!

Johnny showing his 'gutsy' hands

Zane showing off

the five spooky pumpkins

and the five spooks with their pumpkins!

Zane ready for the Halloween parade at school
He and I have been reading the Harry Potter books and
he couldn't wait to wear his costume!

Zane and Rhett ready for trunk-or-treat
My brave silver knight!
Knight with a reluctant hockey player.
He didn't want to hold still for the picture!

And one more of Harry!
This was Brock's favorite part of the trunk-or-treat.
He self-appointed this job, and was great at setting up the
pins after the "bowling" ball hit them.
I had to drag him kicking and screaming away when it
was time to be done!

Thankful....

2010-10-12T11:03:00.003-06:00

It's been an action packed month since I last blogged with lots to be thankful for. And since we just returned safely from visiting our families in southern Alberta I thought I would take a moment to jot down some of the things I'm thankful for. So in no particular order here are my thankful thoughts:

- my calling as a seminary teacher. Teaching Doctrine and Covenants and Church History this year is really stretching me. I'm learning to study my scriptures better, to prepare better lessons, and most importantly to pay more attention to those quiet promptings that I receive.
- quiet promptings. I've had some wonderful spiritual experiences in the last month (planning on a separate blog for those) and it's truly been a blessing in my life.
- prayer. I've recently gained a strong testimony of praying vocally and continue to strive to improve on this.
- my husband. I have the best one out there. He loves me, supports me, puts up with my craziness and helps me to be a better wife, mom, person.
- my kiddos. Oh the joys of raising boys! I have such GOOD kids. We really are raising a chosen generation and I am in awe of their wonderful spirits. I'm also in awe of how loud, destructive, busy and wonderful they really are. I wouldn't trade any of them for all the pink in the world!
- that Rhett is now finally and officially going to the bathroom all the time without threats, bribes or melt downs. It did finally happen. And hell didn't freeze over - but it was close!
- for our families! We left Thursday night and got home LATE last night (Sunday). We had 5 huge dinners - chinese, 3 turkey/ham dinners and one roast beef wedding supper. We laughed until we couldn't breathe (OK, that was just me and literally, my diaphragm froze and I couldn't breathe - a little scary), stayed up late, played hard and loved and enjoyed EVERY minute of it. Minus the wind. And yes, we are central Alberta people who whine about the wind now. You love us anyway.
- for generations of great family members and their examples. We had 3 family gatherings and dinners where we had 4 generations of family members there. It's so wonderful to belong to such great people and have our kids associate with them. That's why it's worth the work and the effort to be there for these big holidays.
- for safety! Travelling on Thanksgiving weekend can be a little interesting sometimes but we were blessed with safety.
- for the gospel and all the glorious truths that it proclaims. Cliff and I watched all 4 sessions last week and we got so much out of it. We are truly blessed to live in a time of Apostles and Prophets and to be able to partake in the blessings that come through the Atonement of Christ.
- for friends that LOVE us. We have been blessed with wonderful friends who are like family to us. We love and appreciate all that they do for us!
- Cliff's good job and my piano students. Although I don't have as many as I thought would be great for our family, the students I have are a blessing to our family. And Cliff is blessed to have a job that he enjoys (most days).

And some quick things that I want to remember about this weekend:
- Brock loving chow mein noodles
- me and Brock sleeping in the bottom bunk and Rhett and Cliff sleeping in the big bed
- uncle Jamie building the boys an awesome fort in the basement
- Zane running on the tread mill
- trying to get all the cousins to hold still for a picture at grandma great Johnson's
- watching the boys run around the church foyer like crazy kids with their cousins during Paige's wedding reception
- Zane's determination to try pumpkin pie - he likes it
- Grandpa Dooley putting the mat back on the trampoline so the boys could jump - and their pink cheeks and frozen toes after they played out there
- movies watched
- conversations held
- babies cuddled
- Phase 10 games played - the longest one EVER last night - more than 3 hours!
- The love we feel for and from our families!

Grade 2...

2010-09-14T21:44:00.002-06:00

Holding still long enough for mom to snap a picture...

2 fingers up to show he's starting

grade 2!

Almost out the door!

"One more mom and that's it" smile in the not-good light of the entry!

The has come and gone that Zane started his grade 2 career. He was VIBRATING! We had free tickets to a the Rebels Black and White hockey game the night before (the undecided hopefuls all play each other to help the coaches make the final cuts) and he had been out LATE! We're good parents that way...ya know, making sure our grade schooler is in bed at a decent time before his first day of school...but I digress. He was so excited for the first day of school that he was up by 7:00 and had his morning all planned out. Hang out, have some breakfast, get dressed by 8:00...out the door by 8:20. We met his teacher and dropped off all his supplies the day before (that's how they do it here) so all the hard stuff was out of the way. I barely got a kiss after prayers before he was bounding out the door and on his way. And I'm not going to lie, I did tear up just a little bit. I think I always will on the first day of school. It's a start and end of many things. I'm always a little nervous for him - for lots of reasons. One of the big ones is being different - he is the ONLY LDS kid in his school. And me growing up in Raymond - that's a big deal to me. But he's a champ and has a great testimony, and so far a really good group of friends. He came home just as charged and of course starving! Rhett did pretty good with him being gone. He only asked a couple of times when Zane was going to be home. :) His teacher is Miss Warke and so far the only issue we've had is having no nuts in the class and not being able to send food that can be warmed up. We're working on it....and I'm trying not to throw a tantrum. His school does the nut ban by classroom, so if you don't have a kid with a nut allergy in your class you're fine to bring nut products. We didn't luck out so well this year. But I'm not going to get into it here. If you want to read a good blog on the issue you can read my sister Alisha's blog here. If you do, please remember that we are all entitled to our opinions - I'm not trying to start a blood bath over an issue here.

My grade 2 boy you amaze me!

Love mom!

Summer confessions....

2010-09-14T17:01:00.002-06:00

I fell off the good-eating and exercise train. Hard. In fact I still have 10 lbs to show for it. It was one of those one-thing-led-to-another thing. Nothing big or horrible. Just little slips that kept adding up and now here I am a lot further AWAY from my goal than I had planned on being at the end of the summer. So what, may you ask am I doing about it?
Weeelllll, since you asked so nice I'll tell ya.
I joined a gym.
And I'm learning to love it. My stomach clenches a bit every morning when I get there hoping that my favorite tread mill is available (control freak remember), and I literally have to bribe my butt out of bed (5:30 is sooooooooo early) BUT I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the hour I have all to myself. Sweat drips, I listen to some sweet tunes, I don't talk to anyone if I don't want to (except the head nod to friend Dave who gets there before me) and I ignore any and all barbie moms around me. I like that no one (well except Dave but he doesn't count right now) knows who I am, what my story is, or how horribly I failed at my summer goal. And if I'm really lucky, I get home and a blissfully long shower before any little feet are awake. Ahhh. Bliss. And the scale has moved slightly lower....still working on the eating thing.

Today is day #3 of no chocolate. I did this once before earlier in the year and decided to do it again. Pushing for past Halloween this time. Why chocolate you ask? Because if I eliminate that I take out a lot of tempting things. Day 3 is always the hardest. And I didn't time it well...not only do I have chocolate withdrawal today but I am also slightly PMSing. Yeah, not good.

Other summer confessions....I hate a really wet yucky summer. I'm not a huge fan of the extreme heat but I do like nice sunny skies, pleasant temps and lots of good long days to play outside with friends. I don't know what happened to the summer I ordered but it definitely did not come through. We made it to the beach one time people....and we live in Sylvan Lake....3 blocks away from a lake! That's how gross it was. Which may or may not have contributed to confession number one.

I did not enjoy my boys playing with the neighbor's grandson. Even though they would spend time outside with him....I just struggle with him. I try to remember that my kids are being examples to him, and possibly planting gospel seeds that will be remembered later in his life....but there is something that makes me want to grind my teeth every time I see him. I think that might put me on the bad person list.

I read....a lot....and neglected my house...a lot....and maybe let my kids watch a few too many movies. Seriously, I think I read 10 books in about 6 weeks. I recorded them all and when I read them - something I picked up from my friend Rebecca. I really enjoyed all the reading - I don't usually do a lot of it any more because I kinda get sucked into a book and put everything else off and off and off until I finish the book and look up to see the house destroyed and children and husband neglected. So it was guilty indulgence that I allowed myself.

I can't believe that summer is gone and that we are two weeks into school already!

August Pics

2010-09-14T13:30:00.006-06:00

Grammie and the two big boys snuggling in the morning. They actually all slept here for awhile.

Cliff posing with waterfall during the hike at scout camp.

Brock roaming around Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house.

Cutie pie nephew Cohen!

Standing on Grandma's coffee table.

Mud wading!

Testing the water....

Pa coming to the rescue and waiting for shoes...

Cleaning off the shoes...

Jumping can be hard work! Papa and Rhett completely zonked out!

Auntie Kizzy and her boys before heading to Waterton

Brock coming down a ramp - he would have done this all day if we let him!

Me and the boys at the end of our first walk

Trying to keep Brock still for the picture

Auntie and the brave hikers!

At the end of our bike ride..trying to keep Brock from wacking his head...he was getting a little tired and starting to the head bob thing

Showing off the Waterton war wound - two days old. He got out of the stroller and walked 2 steps before his feet stopped and the rest of him didn't. Poor kid.

Still soooo cute, even scraped up!

One of the many reasons I don't accomplish what I want to during the day!

Rewind to August....

2010-09-14T10:09:00.004-06:00

I've been awful at keeping my blog updated this year....

But here I am to attempt to catch up on the happenings of August.

Grammie S came to visit us while the Cardston Temple was closed. It was so fun to have her here! We had lots of plans but the weather didn't really cooperate all that well. We did sneak in a few bike rides and some back to school shopping. And there was a lot of Uno, Old Owl, and War and Go-Fish games going on! And Grammie and I did a lot of sorting of clothes and totes of material and stuff like that. Lots of organizing going on! Cliff had scout camp during the same week and I had an all day seminary training in Calgary one of the Saturdays she was here so it all worked out really great. We finally had a room for Grammie to sleep in (instead of the couch) and a fairly comfy sleeping situation (foamie with air mattress on top). Brock LOVED to walk all over Grammie's bed! (we now have a real bed in there so the next time will be even more comfy) Auntie Kristie and her friend also came to visit for a few days. They camped out in our back yard and tried not to get wet in the tsunami rains we got while they were here.

After Grammie had been here for the week we packed up and headed Raymond to spend the week there. We left right after church and made great time with the kids. It's the first time I've made that trip by myself in a year and it went waaaaay better. It's great now that Brock will watch the cartoon and be content!

Grammie had to go back to work the week we were there but Grandpa Dooley was home with us the whole week we were there! It was lots of fun to have Papa around. The boys always wanted him to jump on the tramp with them (oh the games they made up while they played out there) and Brock loved jumping with Papa because he jumps high! Apparently Grammie doesn't jump high enough for his tastes. We did the park, helped Papa put up a HUGE tent just to see how it goes up, chased Brock out of the mud-hole garden....his crocks that weighed a couple of ounces going into the garden came out weighing a couple of pounds! Chased Brock over to the puddles in the alley and watched him mud-wade. Papa put his shoes back on and he waded all the mud off and LOVED it. He had to try out each and every puddle just to see if it was any different. Experienced the Raymond pool again this year. Of course Zane couldn't get enough, and Rhett sat with me and the Aunties and Paxton on the side and whined the whole time. We left Brock at home with Papa because he still hates the water. Auntie Lishie and Paxton came and spent a couple of days in Raymond too so we had lots of time to play. The boys just love Paxton - Brock pets his hair! He has the same fly away and sticky up hair that Brock had until we started buzzing him and it started growing in a little thicker. We weren't sure how Brock would react to Paxton being mobile but it didn't really phase him all that much.

We also went to Taber for a day and night. We got to see everyone except uncle Jamie and Amber and had lots of fun playing there. Zane and Rhett were dying to play crash on Auntie's play station and Brock kept me busy exploring and loving Leo and being gently to Cohen. Even though it was short we had a great time visiting!

Auntie Kizzy and I took the boys to Waterton in her new Jetta the Friday we were there. We weren't sure if we could do it but we made it with a little trunk room to spare! We did some "hiking" in the Cameron Lake area. The first little path we went on Auntie Kizzy tells the boys we have to watch for bears and if we see one we're going to calmly turn around and walk away. Zane was a little worried and a little ways up the path pointed to something big and shadowy a ways up the path and asked if it was a bear. I assured him it wasn't and we carried on. On the way back Zane suddenly piped up and said "you know what bears hate?" "What do bears hate Zane?" "Singing." So Kinsey and I sang There's a hole in the bottom of the sea to keep the bears away. We did another path and Rhett decided to count all the culvert drains he could spot. Number 9 was the magic number he was out to find and he was blown away when he counted past 9!

We did lunch at Weiners of Wateron and then rented one of the bikes to take the kids around in. We decided to bike up to the falls. OH-MY-GOODNESS!!!!! I've been pulling my kids around all summer in the trailer but you add my 3 kids and me and Kinsey and it's like having 3 adults on the bike - one who is nothing but dead weight! But we made it....barely. I thought I'd never be able to walk again but was pleasantly surprised by my legs and their functionality the next day. We didn't stay long at the falls before heading to the lake to throw rocks. I was terrified that Brock was going to knock himself out because instead of picking up nice little Brock sized rocks and throwing them he went for the biggest ones he could find! I kid you not - he would look around until he found a rock he need 2 hands to lift up, get it up to his chest, shift it over to his right hand and then shot put it into the lake! If it didn't hit the water he would repeat the process. I was sure he was either going to hit himself in the back of the head (he's my kid after all) or end up in the lake face first. Thankfully neither occurred. The kids thought it was hilarious when Brock chucked his hat and we had to circle around and go back a couple of blocks to get it. Vehicles kept just missing it and by the time we got to it we were all laughing so hard I'm sure people thought we were crazy!

We can't visit Waterton without hitting up the ice cream store - yummy yum yum - and then we piled in the car and headed for Lethbridge to cousin Ashely's house for a Knibb family BBQ. We all had a great time. Rhett hit it off with cousin Mariah and they were inseparable for the whole time we were there. The boys did really great with no toys and a small back yard. We headed back to Raymond and bathed some grimy little boys and put them to bed. I think they were all asleep before their heads hit the pillow!

i spent Saturday baking and packing while grammie and papa were at the Temple and after supper loaded up my kidlets and headed home. I had to stop TWICE to wash my windshield off because the bugs were that bad. GROSS!

We were all glad to be home and spent the rest of August catching up with friends and trying to get things ready for school/piano to start again!

I've got lots of pictures to post but this post is long enough already so I'll try to get them up later today!

Brock

2010-08-05T11:44:00.003-06:00

Brock is days away from being 18 months and has been caught doing some interesting things lately. Some examples for your enjoyment....just remember it could be you some day!

Caught stealing a pizza bun!

And walking on the table with said bun
First day or nursery! Posing right before church!Caught red-handed climbing and touching...again!

And some other examples:

- I was doing some marathon baking the other day when it was cool and was in and out of the pantry a lot. Apparently so was Brock. I looked over to see him sitting on the little step into the living room with the Costco sized chocolate syrup tipped up, trying to get a taste of what was inside. Thank goodness it was almost empty and he wasn't getting anything but a taste of the dried chocolate on the lid...but it sure gave me a shock!

- He's become very good at picking up random little things and hiding them in odd places - like speakers.

- He LOVES to crash his ride-on truck into my fridge. And thinks it's hilarious when I guard it and give his truck a shove backwards before he can get to the fridge.

- He has cost me many hours of laundry as he has figured out the power buttons on both machines. It's really stupid that the child lock functions locks every other button EXCEPT the power one that will kill any cycle at any point.

- Has started folding his arms for prayers

- Is talking inconsistently. He knows lots of words and some days uses a lot of them and sometimes it's days or weeks before I hear him say it again

- Caused us some concern with his right leg. The Friday we were camping he couldn't support his weight on his right leg for about half an hour. It would just collapse under him. And then he was fine. But it happened again a couple of days after we were home so off to the doctor we went. One round of normal x-rays and no more incidents later - our doc thinks the fluid around his hip was a little inflamed. He says it happens. But if he starts doing it again we go back for other testing.

- Went to nursery for the first time on Sunday. I'm subbing for 2 weeks so I figured him starting a week early wasn't going to hurt anyone. He had a blast! After hitting his head a couple of times trying to climb up the slide the "right" way, he decided it was better to climb the slide itself and then turn around and walk back down, and then trip on the last step and fall. And or course repeat the procedure many times.

- Loves to drink out of his own cup now...but is still very attached to his bottle. And I'm not ready to make him give it up. Funny how things change from kid to kid...I was determined that Rhett wouldn't go to nursery with a bottle and it doesn't even phase me with Brock.

- Is a MOOCH! He loves to eat whatever someone else is eating. You can make him the same thing another time, put him in his chair and he won't touch it.

- Seems to always be sporting some cut or bruise on his head. A week before camping he fell out of our bed and got matching cuts above his eyes from our bed frame and bed side table. Much swelling and bruising later he now has two matching scars...not sure how long those will be around for!

- Is a road runner! He loves to be outside but it can be hard because as soon as he spots the road that's where he wants to be. Doesn't matter if we're at the beach, a park, in the yard...if he can get to the road that's where he is headed!

- Has started laughing at cartoons. It's really funny to hear him giggling at Backyardigans or something like that.

- Climbs onto every thing! The table used to be safe but then he figured out how to move the chairs. Now I find him walking around up there all the time. And the boys have learned the hard way not to leave their cereal etc on the table because otherwise they get to help clean up the mess!

We love our busy boy!

More pics....

2010-07-27T09:06:00.004-06:00

I stole these pictures from cousin Cayley because she had her camera out when I didn't!

The campfires and my mom in law taking a picture of Cayley taking a picture :)

Brock with Aunt Kathy and cousins Ryan and Sydney. They were great little babysitters and loved taking Brock on walks or to the park!

Zane and Rhett are ready to make smores. It's hard to tell but it's actually almost night here and they were determined to get one in before heading to bed!

My dad in law Greg, holding Jamie and Amber's puppy Barkley. Brock LOVED Barkley and was always holding his had out for it to be licked!

Brock modeling his camping jammie fashion! Long johns, boots, and a camo hoodie! He was totally strutting his stuff for the aunts and cousins and we were dying laughing!

Yes, he knows he's cute.

Chillin' with Daddy and Cathal while mom got the others ready for bed. I'm told he gave Cathal a 'five' and then just held on. He's got good taste - we're happy to welcome Cathal into the Jackson family!

Most of the grandkids and great grandkids and of course puppies.

Not sure who was taking the picture and Brock and I weren't in this one...he'd had it and desperately wanted a nap! But this is pretty much everyone who was there.

Zane and Rhett waiting patiently for more pictures I think.

Cooking breakfast the last morning we were all there. When we all get together there is enough food to feed a small army...which is good because that's kinda what we are!

Mom in law Brenda, with Cayley's dog Shortie at the fire one night

Cliff and Zane. Zane looks like he's not impressed about waiting for something...or maybe it's just his sunburned face :(

Camp life....

Camping pictures

2010-07-26T08:29:00.006-06:00

A rare moment of Brock holding still. He loved being outside every moment of the day and was always on the move! He kept us all on our toes!Zane, Rhett and I went for an Adventure! They were dying to take me adventuring and took me down a trail next to the creek. They'd already been down there lots with cousins and aunts and uncles so had picked out lots of things they wanted me to see and take pictures of. Zane got down to the creek by sliding down the bank on his bum...Rhett and I chose to walk upstream and find a nice little path down.
They both went over this bridge without blinking an eye...I was worried for a small second but then just enjoyed the moment.

My tour guides! It really was a great path...full of neat things to look at and cool enough to make you feel like you were miles away from anything.Posing at the end of the trail....it actually led us to the fish hatchery for Premier Lake.Cliff and Brock catching some down time in Grandpa's hammock. I think Brock stayed there long enough for the picture and then he was off again!We drove 1/2 an hour to Wasa Lake and beach because there is no beach at Premier Lake. Rhett and Zane had a blast playing in the water and sand. Rhett wouldn't take his shirt off and was a little mad that he was soaked but got over it soon!Brock wasn't so sure about all the sand....it was a big hill of it leading down to the water and he was quite happy to stay up nice and high and dry with mom under the beach umbrella! Just getting into my good book....This is Brock's new squinty eye smile....I think it's because of the flash and maybe the sun now but this is his new pose!Sandcastle that Zane, Rhett, Uncle Jamie and Amber built! Isn't it awesome!Smile Zane!They buried Uncle Jamie one day and made him a whale....the other day they buried Zane and made him a merman. I thought I had pictures of that...guess not. I'll have to steal some from my mom in law when she gets home next week!Rhett was quite content to be with everyone but playing his own little game at the same time! Grandma, Leo and Rhett morning of us going home!
Smile mom....this is for all the pictures of me :)

See mom, if you go over there I can make a run for the road!

Jammies, hoodie, and being outside. The boys thought this was a great way to start the day!

Zane was very casual about the whole thing....like "I do this all the time...no big deal..."

Cliff manning the pancakes. It's a good thing they like them because the boys ate them every day. And lots of them...one day Zane and Rhett both ate 4! And the day we were headed home Zane was sure he could eat six. He ate two, took 4 more, ate some but decided he was done. Knowing his mom wouldn't be happy about how much he left on his plate, he grabbed Rhett's plate to take the garbage and told me he almost finished it. I bought it for about 1/2 a second, busted him, and just laughed at him because of his scheming little mind. He really wanted a sucker that Aunt Judy gave them last night and I told them they could have it after breakfast.

Mmmm, pancakes.
Brock posing for mommy. This kid was a layer of dirt, bumps and bruises from head to toe...but he was soooo cute doing it!

I'm off to see what I can see!

More exploring from Rhett! They've both asked me when we can go again already so I guess that mean they had a good time!

Camping....

2010-07-25T23:07:00.002-06:00

Most people love it or hate it. I've decided that I am a fence sitter. There are things that I LOATHE about camping....but there are things that I ADORE about camping.

We just got back tonight from camping with Cliff's immediate and extended Jackson (mom's) family. And the good times out weigh the icky times. For the most part the weather cooperated. Our kids ran wild with cousins, aunties and uncles who love and adore them and think that their mom and dad could do with a couple minutes of break and willingly took them on "adventures" and told us to go hide somewhere. It reminded me of the first camping trip that Cliff and I took together when we were newly weds. We were with all the same people (minus a few who weren't there this time and the ones who have joined the family since) but it reminded me how much I love this side of our family. They are good, fun, wonderful people. And I am thankful that we get to include them in our lives!

We tented....with three kids...and it had it's challenges...but I tried not to dwell on them. Thankfully we were sharing a site with Cliff's parents who have a fabulous new trailer and had everything that we needed kitchen wise and stuff like that. We did bring some stuff but mom told me not to worry too much and made sure to pack extra to help us out in the space department. (The van was PACKED!)

We had a skunk visit every night....one night it walked right into camp and over Cathal's foot! Cliff saw it later that night when he was making a quick trip outside...it ate any dog food left out and last night found a Tupperware container full of Cheerios, pried the lid off and ate those! (I didn't realize he Cheerios were outside - I thought they were in the trailer). The chipmunks also figured out how to open the Velcro top on one of my collapsible coolers and had a their fill of buns and muffins. Wild life is soooo fun.

The kids LOVED LOVED LOVED being outside every waking moment. They never stopped. They were either at the park, walking along the creek on an adventure, at the beach....you get the picture! And I didn't worry about them....to much at least. Because we were surrounded by a big happy family and some one always knew where they were.

All 3 of them bled at least once from scrapes...and we all came home with our share of bruises. Cliff got the worst sunburn the first day at the beach. Silly man didn't listen to his wife and put sun screen on. Zane got sunburned as well because he didn't hold still long enough for me to a good job on his face and shoulders. But he had a blast. He learned to balance on his boogie board standing up while Uncle Jamie pulled it along, got buried in the sand and made into a merman, played Frisbee and just never stopped. Rhett played all the same things but a bit more cautiously. He loved the attention from Uncle Jamie and big cousin Nick...we're lucky to have such great people in their lives! And Brock didn't really like the beach. Part of it was because we drove a half an hour to the beach - the lake we were at didn't have a beach - and he was always asleep instantly and very disoriented when he woke up. So he and I pretty much hung out under the umbrella which suited me just fine. Until Cliff coerced me into the lake saying it would help my headache and then proceeded to dunk me....several times!

We ate, we played, we loved and were loved on. And we were ready to come home! We camped at Premier Lake in BC, which is a 6 hour drive for us and the kids did great both ways. I slept through most of BC thanks to Gravol...and we lived to tell the tale.

Next year we're either getting a topper of a tent trailer......

Recent Pictures

2010-07-18T18:22:00.006-06:00

Rhett and Brock hanging out one chilly morning...both looking like they need a haircut!

Brock loves to climb into boxes or laundry baskets and have Zane or Rhett push him around the house

The night of Brock losing to our friends' driveway....not looking too bad....

The next day after wrestling with Rhett and breaking open the scab....Poor little clown faced boy....but still up for posing :)Rhett wanted to get in on the picture taking!The boys and cousin Paxton showing off their Canada shirts that I found at Children's Place...Waiting for the parade to startSlightly underwhelmed by the parade because mom won't let him join in...he kept sprinting for the road so he spent a lot of the parade in the back of the vanOr with GrammieJumping with Papa and the boysLook close and you'll see all 3 boys in this picture....Zane was doing a flip for me

and Rhett felt the need to run in front just at the moment I pushed the button!

Zane's flip without RhettBeing a table walker at Grammie'sBruises from falling out of mom and dad's bed.Auntie Lishe and Paxton came to visit

Enjoying the sun and the pool Rhett got for his birthday last year

They're too big to go down the slide on their bums so they got creative

Zane would run and dive up and down the slide while Rhett would throw the

balls and try to hit him

Great way to cool off on a hot day!

Showing off the bruises, the pot belly and his lawn mower

This is what a belly full of milk looks like!

I'm ashamed...

2010-07-18T09:43:00.004-06:00

by my lack of blogging lately. It's been on my mind a lot...and how to get everything caught up that I want to. So hang on, get comfy and let's go!

Zane!

- bugged, prodded and reminded me again and again that I had promised to make him a quilt out of Spiderman material....so I finally got it done. I stayed up 'till one in the morning the last night to finish the binding and then switched quilts on him while he was asleep! He was super surprised in the morning and thrilled with it!

- played soccer all of May and June. He was on the older team this year and learned lots of new skills. He loved being in goal, usually scored at least once in a game and was bitterly disappointed every time a game was cancelled due to rain - which was 3 or 4 times. Despite the cancellations and soggy conditions he had a great season and we're thinking of doing indoor soccer this winter for him. Auntie Kizzy was able be here for his year end tournament and Uncle Jamie even lucked out to see his first tournament game.

- had a great time doing swimming lessons with his class. I'm a slacker mom and he's never had official lessons so he thought it was great. And has been bugging to go back....only problem is that Brock HATES the water.

- had quite a few field trips in the month of June...what else do you do during that last month of school? They got to go see Toy Story 3 in the theater here in town, walk up to The Big Moo (an ice cream store) and have a tour, make a candy cone and get a scoop to go with it, and travelled to Innisfail to go to the Zoo there. I went with him on that field trip and it was a great day. His favorite story to tell about the day was that he needed to go to the bathroom and just as he got into the outdoor one a huge wind/dust storm came whipping through. He was safe and sound and the rest of us got blasted by dirt and wind. Good to know he made a good memory...LOL.

- passed grade one with flying colors and is enjoying his summer vacation. As soon as he was done school Auntie Kizzy and me and the boys picked him up and we made a mad dash to Raymond - he was in school until the 29th! And Cliff couldn't come because someone else beat him to booking the time off...so thank goodness for Aunties and their vacations! We spent a few days in Raymond, have played with friends, seen Auntie Lishe and Paxton and are counting days till we leave to camp with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson.

Rhett!

- is busy....all the time! He has a great imagination and is always using it. His favorite is to make Lego people and act out things with them. I constantly find them around the house and in funny places!

- is learning to spell words and wants to know what everything starts with! For awhile when you asked him how to spell his name he would say "R H E T T dot. " Because when he typed it out on the computer he would always end his name with a period. He informed me the other day thought hat he didn't spell with the dot anymore.

- has ZERO interest in riding his bike. He prefers to run...and usually doesn't mind sitting in the bike trailer with Brock.

- is liking Zane home but I think he'll be happy when he goes back to school and he can do what he wants to all day!

- Is really so kind and thoughtful to Brock. He's always watching out for him and making sure that he is safe.

- Must be going through a growth spurt because he has been sooooo clumsy lately. He's constantly walking into something, tripping over something or just falling down. Part of it is because he just doesn't pay attention to what he's doing....and I admit that sometimes I get frustrated with him because of it. Hopefully he catches up to his body soon!

- Isn't scared of the lake this year. I wasn't sure what he would do...by the end of the summer last year he was in it and this year he just walked right in!

- Is really missing his friend Jake. Payne's left on a 6 week vacation and it will be a happy day when they get home!

- Kinsey took Zane and Rhett to a movie while we were in Raymond and then out for supper after. On the way home he started asking her how to spell things and Zane got in on it. Kinsey asked Zane to spell Grandma.

Zane: Oh, that's easy. G R A M...pause
Rhett: Zane, space bar?
Zane: ummm,
Rhett: Zane...space bar?
Zane asked for help but Rhett was really trying to help in his own way!
This makes me giggle every time I read it or think about it!

Brock!

- Is a going concern! He is soooooooooo busy.

- New favorites : turning the computer on and off over and over, turning the TV on and off over and over, stealing the phone, TV controller or any other device with buttons on it, climbing onto the table, putting toilet paper into the toilet and occasionally his hands (ewwwwwww!), hiding things in weird places, and throwing stuff into the garbage when I'm not looking.

- he also likes to mess with my washer and dryer....and knows the only button that cancels the child lock - the power button!

- loves to kick a ball or hit it with a hockey stick and keeps quite occupied through the day with this

- loves to be outside - hates the water. So at least I don't have to worry about him drowning in the lake! But he is a road charger. As soon as he spots the road he heads straight for it. Thank goodness for fenced yards!

- likes to go for bike rides in the trailer or hang out in his Little Tykes car

- loves grammie and papa's trampoline

- jabbers lots now

- recently has had two big owies - first one he fell down a driveway and landed face first - scraped up his nose and forehead pretty good. Looked like a little clown for awhile because his nose was read from tip to the top. Second one he rolled out of our bed and landed face first on the frame and my bed side table thing. Not good. He got a cut above both eyes and a big bruise in the middle of his forehead. He was sleeping with us because he'd had a rough night and it's not a great way to wake up: thump - scream - and pick him up to see him covered in blood! His eyes are still swollen and he looks like I put purple eye shadow all over his eye lids. Honestly, people are going to think we beat the child.

- doesn't sleep in the crib anymore. He sleeps with Rhett in the double bed of the bunk bed and both of them sleep waaaaay better. I admit I shed a few tears when we took the crib down.

Other happenings:

- the kids and I spent June 12 doing all the activities we could with Paynes to celebrate 1912 days here in Sylvan. We took in the pancake breakfast, community garage sale, parade, free ice cream and kiddie fair zone. Zane managed to somehow come flying out of castle jumper and scraped up his elbow but that was our only casualty of the day. From there we rushed into Red Deer to meet our friends, the Bakers, who were visiting from Taber, for a picnic and catching up down at Great Chief Park. It was a busy, hot, sun-burned day but lots of fun!

- Beck and I made two trips to Edmonton with the three youngest kids for chiro and pediatric appointments...and a little shopping as well! They were fun days :)

- I did a 3 week early morning boot camp - how early? 5:00 am early. Ugh. My friend Kathleen suggested it to me and so we did it on a whim. I learned some new things....but also really aggravated my runner's knee - hence the chiro appointments. And I'm really glad it was only 3 weeks - it's hard on a body to get up at a different time every day. The training sessions were Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then I did my own thing on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - just not so early. It was hard to be productive during those weeks because I felt like I was constantly behind - either on sleep or house work because I was catching up on my sleep. But I can say that I did it.

- I've been reading a lot lately. Trying to get better at prioritizing the house and kids when I get into a great book....and sometimes I've been successful...other times not so much :) It's been nice to read again though - I generally avoid it because when I start a book that's all I do until it's finished. But I want to get better at that so I figure I have to practice!

- I got called to be one of the Sunbeam teachers at church. Rhett's age group has 13 or 14 kids if they all show up so they divided them into two classes. I had been subbing for 5 weeks and really felt like I needed to stay there so I told someone in the primary presidency that if they wanted to they could submit my name....I was called the next Sunday. So come fall I'll teach the 4 year olds on Sundays and the teenagers on Mondays! (I'm still the home-study seminary teacher as well)

- I've been able to go out on a couple of fun girls nights and it always makes me thankful for the wonderful circle of friends that the Lord has blessed me with here in Sylvan and Red Deer. They really are our family here.

- I've been experimenting with different recipes and perfecting others. It's been lots of fun - but not so good for me losing weight!

-Cliff's been able to sneak in a round of golf almost every week and we've been lucky that most of them have been tournaments that the company has paid for. Free golf is the best kind in my books!

We've been buys, happy and are looking forward to the rest of our summer!

Mexi Bean Tacos

2010-06-10T12:24:00.002-06:00

For all those who have requested it....here is the recipie I tried last night and LOVED!

2 cans beans of your choice drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
1 cup corn
1 small onion chopped or use dehydrated onion flakes (what I used)
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
taco seasoning, chili, cumin, etc...make it the flavor you enjoy most!

Spray pan with non-stick spray. Add onions, beans, water and corn. Stir well and add seasoning of your choice. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add peppers, reduce heat and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until heated through.

Serve as a side dish or use for tacos!

Tacos:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place taco shells on cookie sheet. Scoop 1/2 cup of Mexi beans onto each shell. sprinkle shredded cheese over mexi beans. Bake until cheese is melted and shells are crispy on the edges (3-5 mins). Top with lettuce, sour cream...all your favorite taco toppings! Wrap and enjoy!

Rhett turned 4!!!!

2010-06-02T06:22:00.004-06:00

So Rhett turned 4 on May 4th and I've been neglecting my blog and now need to do some catching up!

Of course if you read my blog you know that birthdays tend to be an all week event around here...and we didn't change that this time around! Falling on a Tuesday meant we couldn't do much with Cliff because he has YMs and floor hockey so me and the kids made it a good day. Rhett got to watch whatever he wanted, chose the games they played and supper. He chose pancakes! He also kept telling Zane that he got to be first, or the leader or whatever because it was his birthday! The boys gave him a couple of Hot Wheel monster trucks which he was thrilled with and we called it a day.
The weekend brought about the rest of the festivities. Friday afternoon we went bowling with him and some friends. I know now that kids that young are good with one game, not two...but everyone still had fun. A quick trip back to our house for oreo ice cream cake, presents, and the kids were gone and were on to round 3. (side note: birthday boy did not eat his cake. I wasn't surprised. He isn't a cake kid and likes his ice cream plain.) Friday night we had Paynes over and my parents and Auntie Kizzy made it as well. I made pizzas, we laughed and talked and played and opened some more gifts and called it good.

Saturday Grandpa stayed home with the two big boys and made a lego ship and a bunch of other stuff while mom, Kinsey and I took Brock and went shopping for a bit. We played for a bit in the afternoon that night Cliff and I went to the high school play Grease with Jazz and Beck and Kinsey, mom and dad took the boys to DQ for birthday supper. (Auntie Kizzy always takes the birthday boy and usually the brother out for lunch or supper of their choice). The play - 50s diner supper included - was great and the kids were asleep when we got home!

Sunday morning we did breakfast waffles complete with whip cream, syrup, raspberry syrup, chocolate sauce, carmel sauce....well you get the idea. Oh so yummy ! It was Mother's Day so we were celebrating that as well and Grammie loved her gifts from the boys. I painted their hands and did hand prints of each boy and framed them. Grammie has a wall in her craft room that has all 3 of us girls' hand prints from grade one and she's been wanting to add the boys' to her collection. I even used blue paint to match ours! I also finally got the label made for my mom's Christmas quilt and gave that to her as well.

So all in all a good birthday week!

Standing Tall and not even Knowing It!

2010-05-06T22:59:00.002-06:00

Zane came home today from school with Mother's Day goodies. A wonderful potted plant in full bloom, a cute craft and treats! Yum. On further inspection the craft was a tea pot that opened up and had this poem copied down:

You are there for me in every way
So here's a gift for Mother's Day
You always do so much for me
So relax and have a cup of ___.

Now we all know that the last word should be tea to rhyme with me. However, mine said Hot Chocolate and had a package of hot chocolate included. Zane told me that he told his teacher, Ms Diachuk, that we belong to the Church of Jesus Christ and we don't drink tea. So, she took him to a different room and got him some hot chocolate.

I am so proud of him for standing up for his standards....and not even knowing it. It wasn't a big deal for him. It's just what we do, or don't do in this case.

He is the ONLY kid in his school who belongs to our church. It's never been an issue and I think it's because of his quiet strength and testimony.

I love you Zane! Thanks for being such a great example to me!

Gift

2010-05-02T22:19:00.002-06:00

Being the first Sunday of the month, today was fast Sunday. And we had many reasons to fast. Family members on both sides had requested a family fast either for themselves or on the behalf of others, and I was fasting for strength and resolve in my struggle with food.

And today was HARD! Not that fasting is ever easy. I don't know many people who enjoy being hungry. Who look forward to feeding their children tasty meals or preparing something tasty for the potluck after church while their stomach is growling and moaning. And I was VERY tempted to quit, to give up and give in. But when we began our fast last night we included the kids in our prayer. We explained before about our family members who had requested that we fast and a little about why Heavenly Father asks us to fast. And every time I thought about quitting I would think about these loved ones and would know that they were WORTH my sacrifice and my being hungry and uncomfortable for a few more hours to show that faith and diligence that the Lord has asked for. And as I pondered through the day I also came to realize that I am worth that choice as well. I choose the food that goes in my mouth and how much of it I eat. If I can make the choice to do something hard for those that I love, I can make the choice to do something hard for me. And when I had that small epiphany, it was like the missing puzzle piece fell into place. That obscure thing that I've been trying to figure out was there - being given to me. A gift. And suddenly, fasting wasn't so hard.

I was blessed with another precious gift as well today. During testimony meeting today Zane went up to bear his testimony. It's the first time that he has done that. I had just been out with Brock and as I walked back into the chapel there he was walking up to the front. He waited his turn, got up to the pulpit, and bore a simple and sweet testimony of the gospel truth. And my heart felt pure joy. That was truly one of the best moments I've had since becoming a mom. There is something so sacred and sweet to hear your child, whom you have loved, nurtured, and taught, to express his faith and understanding and knowledge of something you hold so dear. His face shone and I was so proud of him. For his courage and for his strength. How blessed I am to have such fine sons!

We ended the day with a wonderful potluck break the fast held at a dear friend's house. As we were surrounded by friends who love and support us and as we all revelled in the nice weather, the company, and the chaos that comes with a gathering that large (I don't even know how many people were there!) I thought that today was truly a wonderful day that I wanted to remember for a long time.

Please and Thank You

2010-05-01T19:25:00.002-06:00

Our house has been hit with an epidemic of no please and thank yous being used. And it wasn't just the boys. Mom and Dad have been guilty of it as well. So we had a family home evening on it. First we watched a Backyardigans movie on it - the episode is called The Key to the Nile. I tried to find a video link but found nothing in my 2 minute search...sorry.
Anyways, we told the boys that we were going to watch a movie that was all about our lesson topic and they had to guess what it was. Zane knew it within the first 30 seconds but was good about keeping it a secret and Rhett caught on pretty quick too. In the movie Please and Thank You are paired together in the main song in a very catchy way and we've all been singing or humming it all week! BUT it has made an improvement in all of us using Please and Thank You.

And now for the point of my little story. Rhett has been very diligent in using please and thank you all week. And I appreciate his effort. However, when he asks for something he will say something like this

"please and thank you can I have some lemonade?" or "please and thank you a peanut butter sandwich".

I've tried explaining that you say please first and thank you after your request is filled but he continues to say please and thank you all together. I blame the song. But I'm glad he's saying his please and thank yous!

Replay!

2010-04-30T16:13:00.002-06:00

If you know our family at all you know that a LOT of sports get watched around here. Especially in the form of hockey and basketball. And having 3 little boys means a LOT of sports action happens around here, primarily in my hallway. Countless numbers of hockey and basketball games have taken place in this long, skinny arena and frequently I hear these words, "Let's watch the replay on that..." and then they proceed to re-enact the sequence of game play that just took place. I'm not kidding. I'm often invited to witness these replays and must express my admiration or occasionally a ruling before the game can continue. It's very intense. And it CRACKS me up! Really, could kids be any cuter?

Also, Zane has recently informed me that he thinks he could "take" me in a game of basketball. And then continues with "have you ever even played basketball mom?" Apparently he is starting to pick up on my sport ineptness. In this same conversation he also stated that if we were to play hockey against each other he would definitely win because he has some serious skills. And I'm left shaking my head and wondering why it's all of a sudden a need to prove that he's better than mom at things. Should I just concede now and admit that he's better at sports than I am....or try to give him some competition?

NO kidlets

2010-04-26T21:30:00.002-06:00

for a couple of days was great! Thanks again to Rebecca and Jazz for taking them so we could go!

We escaped to Fairmont for a couple of days and this is what we did: movies, one round of golf, driving range, hot springs and sleep. It was great. We didn't have to hurry anything, we didn't watch the clock and we just enjoyed ourselves.

And we discovered that me and mountain travelling don't mix no matter where I am in the vehicle. I HATE motion sickness and poor Rhett shares my plight. Thank goodness for gravol. Unfortunately it makes me a very poor conversationalist for hours at a time. Poor Cliff. Good thing he loves me. Oh, and we also learned to make sure you take grown-up music with you just in case you can't find a radio signal in the mountains for oh, over an hour! The only thing I had that wasn't fisher price was Josh Groban or the yearly primary CD. Cliff finally succumbed to the silence after 1/2 an hour and put Josh Groban in. I quite enjoyed it but he was suffering. Hee Hee Hee.

And although we had a great time...the next vacation we take is going to be non-mountainous. I'm thinking warm and beaches and oceans. And longer. The kids will be older so we can leave them longer than we did this time!

Back to regular life...wrapping up piano lessons, planning for next fall's lessons, soccer starting and one more month of seminary! Yeah!!!!!

Planning and Organizing

2010-04-19T21:25:00.002-06:00

So I am currently working on trying to plan and organize two things. The first is our trip to Fairmont without kids and the second is piano for the fall.
Going without the kids is great but I'm stressing about packing because they aren't going to be here so I have to pack them and us separately. I'm good at packing all of us but the bags usually tend to overlap. Could be a little interesting. Also trying to foresee and think of anything that they might need and things to write down for Rebecca...it's a good thing that we spend so much time together. She already knows my kids so well already and over the past couple of weeks I've thought of random things she should know and have told her and she called today with a list of questions...definitely leaving them in good hands. And I know that we will come back...but just in case we don't the kids are going to Kinsey.

And piano....this year I started out with 11 students and I'm down to 8 because one family pulled out. This fall my goal is to teach 25. I will have most if not all of my current kids and I'm working on filling in the other spots. I've worked out pricing, hired a babysitter to be here while I teach and am thinking and planning to make this work. I called my former teacher and picked her brain on how she did it while raising her kids - especially while they were small. And her two tips were to be super organized and get a babysitter. I can do that! I'm excited and feel good about this decision and am very grateful that I have this skill that I can use to make some income for our family. What a blessing.

Randomness....

2010-04-14T08:42:00.006-06:00

So we are home once again in our own little 4 walls. We were starting to think it might not happen - one of Jas and Bec's connecting flights was delayed by 4 hours and at one point they were told they wouldn't be able to come home until Wednesday! Fortunately, things worked out and they were home Monday evening....but it was a little stressful for awhile rearranging a few things and getting three kids off to school!
It's nice to be home. And quiet...mostly.

The days passed very quickly with our little adventure at the Payne's and I can't believe it's already the middle of the month!

I also can't believe that we are all STILL sick! The kids are all coughing...Cliff is still coughing...and I can feel it trying to get a hold on me again. Ugh. Doctor appointments have been made but we can't get in until Friday...and he'll probably just tell me it's viral....

I'm feeling rather random today....might be the cold drugs....might be the exhaustion. But I am also feeling very grateful as well that we didn't get the snow storm that my family and friends did in southern Alberta. Tons of heavy wet snow has knocked out the power in Raymond and Lethbridge...not sure about Taber...haven't heard from anyone there yet. And very thankful for cell phones so family members can call even when there is no power.

And to complete the randomness...here are some pics from Easter and our time with the Paynes!

Our very own Easter bunny! He really wasn't impressed that I put these on him...but I just couldn't resist when I saw them!We dyed Easter eggs....quite the experience with 6....I thought they'd spend a good chunk of time at it....but I think it took them all of 10 minutes and then they were gone again! Ha Ha! But they did turn out pretty nice I think.The kids loved that I put their eggs on display and would take them out and look at them...That crazy Easter bunny hid 18 eggs per kid! Saturday night we gave each kid one colored plastic egg and left the rest for the bunny to fill. In the morning they had to find the eggs that were their color - it worked great and they had a blast finding their eggs and dumping the candy into the bowl. Everyone shared the loot!

Our crew showing off their spoils with Cliff! Left to Right: Jonny, Brock, Cliff, Rhett, Jake, Zane and Mia in the back!

I forgot to add that Zane caught the Easter bunny filling the eggs...I thought everyone was asleep! He just had this "oops!" Look on his face - but then he said "Don't worry mom...I won't tell anyone!" And that's the only reaction he's had. It didn't seem to dampen his enjoyment the next morning...but it does put us into a new stage of life. Sigh.

A Trial and a Blessing

2010-04-08T20:44:00.002-06:00

So here we are on day 7 with 6 kids.....
I think there has been one moment every single day that I think - this is the worst it has been - and then it gets better. The kids have adjusted to each other amazingly well and now that they've been together for so long they don't feel the need to constantly be together and so have started scattering themselves around the house and yard - which makes it easier but harder as well. For the most part though things have gone smoothly.

And then yesterday the kiddos started dropping like flies. Our family has been fighting a cold bug for almost the past two weeks and I was just soooo delighted (insert big sarcasm here) to be hit with it 2 days before we started this journey. Zane has had a bit of a cough but nothing serious....and then it spread. At one point yesterday between the "my head hurts", "my stomach hurts", "my throat hurts", "cough - cough - hack", I looked heaven ward and thought "This wasn't hard enough? Now I have to do it with sick kids?"

But, it's been a blessing as well because it's really mellowed out some of the kidlets. We had a really lazy day around here today and for the most part I think it's been our best so far for fights and tantrums. I am so grateful for the Priesthood in our home. Cliff and Trent Allred gave Zane, Jonny and Brock all blessings last night and if things keep going the way they are the other three might need one as well. However, it was a wonderful thing to witness all the kids reverent and listening to the healing blessings that were promised to the kids who needed them. A great moment. And those three have improved a small bit.

Tomorrow is Jonny's birthday. We haven't solidified how we are going to celebrate because we're not sure on the health status yet. We're thinking maybe bowling or movie....we'll see. His parents threw a great party for him before they left so we can just do something small and call it good. Maybe an ice cream cake from DQ....hmmmm.....ice cream.

So, I'm still here. Still alive. And yes, I would do this again.

And I'm really looking forward to our 4 days away in 2 more weeks.

Thoughts so far....

2010-04-05T21:39:00.002-06:00

On mothering 6 kids.

I've learned that planning ahead is ESSENTIAL! If I have a plan of what I'm feeding them it's much better than asking what the want to eat.

I've learned to ignore a lot of squabbling.

I've learned that tattling gets OLD really really fast!

I've learned that it's not as hard as I thought it would be...but I'm glad that only 3 of them are really mine.

I've learned that it's a lot easier if I consider them all mine for now.

Things I've done all by myself with 6 kids:

Prepared, served, and cleaned up 10 meals.

Gone to the park twice.

Gone to the grocery store...yep...you read that right.

Done about 10 loads of laundry.

Filled 18x6 plastic eggs full of Easter candy. Cliff helped me hide them all.

I am enjoying myself...there are moments that are hard, but for the most part we're doing great. The kids are getting along like siblings...some squabbles...some bickering...but it's all good. We're working on the sleep deprivation thing - our kids have been staying up a little later than they usually do and that's taking a toll. And I'm learning that with 6 from 11 to 1 years old you don't have any time to yourself until they are all in bed! But, it's only till Sunday.

Off to an Adventure

2010-04-01T23:25:00.002-06:00

So tomorrow morning we are adopting 3 kids.

Yes, it's true.

But it's only for 10 days! And then we're giving them back. Our dear friends Jas and Rebecca Payne are going on a cruise and we're moving in with their kids - their house is much better for 6 kids than ours is! So we will have an 11 year old, 7 1/2, 7, 4 1/2, almost 4 and 1. It's going to be chaos. I realize this. But it's also going to be a lot of fun. Our kids adore each other. They get along like cousins and have all been counting down sleeps for this adventure to begin. We're going to dye Easter eggs, have the Easter bunny come, watch conference, play basketball, hopefully play at the park, have a pizza and movie night....and hopefully all be sane when Jas and Rebecca get home.

And then 10 days later Cliff and I are leaving for 4 days and 3 nights and our kids are moving back in with Paynes. It feels like April is already gone!

So, not sure if I'll be posting much in the next week and a half or not....

Wish me luck!

Other stuff

2010-03-31T17:49:00.003-06:00

Some things that I've been meaning to write down so I remember them!

* Rhett saying "excuse me mom" when I'm talking or doing something and then when I acknowledge him the first thing he says is "I said excuse me mom...." and then continues on with what he needs or wants. Melts me every time.
* Both kids can beat me in Mario Cart without me letting them
* Brock can turn the TV on and off - it is driving his sibs crazy!
* Brock has recently discovered the garbage - putting things in and taking things out and apparently he sent home half a pig magnet with Auntie Lishie when she was here visiting
* We moved Rhett into a bigger booster chair to help with the whole big kid thing - he loves the new chair and still refuses to tell me when he needs to pee unless we're out in public
* Rhett gave Auntie Lishie a new name : Auntie (fill in the color) shirt - he called her Auntie Pink Shirt etc and it stuck for the weekend. Pretty funny.
* Went swimming with the kids : Zane loved it, Rhett braved the water and waded even though he informed me he was only going to sit and watch and Brock screamed like I was torturing him when I dipped his toes in. He clung to me the whole hour and cried for almost the whole time.
* I think Brock has enough shoes right now to wear a different pair every day for 10 days
* Brock can get down off the couch and big chair by himself....won't be long until he can get himself up too
* Zane came out wearing his sweat pants the other day and announced that wearing them made him feel lazy and that he was just going to be lazy all day. I thought that was a good idea so we all wore sweats all day and it was a good lazy day.

I think that's all for now....

Picture Catch Up

2010-03-30T19:00:00.007-06:00

So we're going from newest to oldest pictures because there's a lot and I'm too sick right now to take the time to move them all around.
Hope you enjoy!

Zane blowing the candles out a the end of his weekend celebration. I've said it before and I'm saying it again - birthdays around here kind of turn into an event between friend parties, grandparents and aunties and the actual day! This cake was on his actual birthday and we had the Paynes and the Pratts come over to celebrate. It was a blast! We made homemade pizza with Payne's and after the Pratts showed up we had Oreo ice cream cake with lots of toppings. Yum!

I just love this kid! Can't believe he's 7!

Brock saw the basket ball Zane got for his birthday, picked it up and took off with it. I was impressed that he could handle it!

Silly ball is getting away from him! He was determined though and walked around with it for quite awhile.

The triumphant reveal. He has been bugging me ever since to go and shoot some hoops...hopefully the weather holds and we can do that over Easter break.

Examining his new hockey card collection from us. And Rhett being excited for him and explaining to Papa what it is.

Blowing candles out at his friend party. I did Oreo cake again but I froze it in the silicone cupcake sheets - brilliant! The kids LOVED them - some even ate 2. I'm never going back to real cake again for a kid's party - so tired of throwing it away. Anyways, he was thrilled that we managed to get all 7 candles into the little cup cake and did a great job at blowing them!

I totally stole this idea from Rhonda. And it worked...mostly. Some of the kids were more interested in eating the marsh mellows than actually building with them but we did end up with some fun structures.

Home made lava lamps. I googled kids easy science experiments and found tons of fun stuff. These are water, food coloring, vegetable oil and salt. When you pour salt in it forms globs with the oil and falls and moves like a lava lamp. The kids LOVED this one and they all got to take theirs home with them. I found the pitchers at Dollar-rama. One mom wrinkled her nose but the rest thought they were great.
My Rhett-man showing off his balloon blown up by a pop bottle. He just melts my heart!

Zane and a couple of his school friends showing off their pop bottle balloons. Another hit!

We made volcano lava in my big bread bowl but I was too busy keeping that one under control to get pictures. I think that was probably their favorite one!

A recent family home evening : a bowling tournament on the WII. And I don't remember why Brock doesn't have any clothes on but he was happy as long as one of us had him!

Zane showing off his mad curve skills. He learned them from Cliff - I can't make it curve to save my life.

Rhett's a great bowler - even when daddy is trying to psyche him out!

One of my absolute faves of this little boy!

And another. Watch out girls....he's a heart breaker. I can see I'm going to have to get a big stick to beat them off. Sigh. Why do they grow so fast?

I caught Rhett and Jake Payne making an awesome train track during piano lessons one day. They were being quiet so I went to investigate!

Brock showing off his faux hawk doo before heading to church in Barnwell at the end of February when we went to visit our new nephew.... and everyone else of course!

Nephew Cohen. I need to steal some pictures from Rikki 'cause every time they were around I was busy trying to keep Brock from mauling him!

Cliff and Brock hangin' with cousin Paxton. We managed a quick stop in at Lishie and Jay's...long enough for a quick hold and hi and bye!

Ready to leave for Taber...and trying to get Brock to leave his hat on. It was a losing battle! But he's so stinkin' cute in it! And of course since the Olympics were on at the time Cliff had to wear his team Canada jersey on the drive home!

Brock playing peek-a-boo under his high chair. I thought he was stuck but he was having a great time!

Alone in the chair with the TV remote. Life is good. And yes his shirt says DUDE.

I LOVE this killer little smile. He definitely lives up to his shirt!

So that's it for pictures right now!

March in a nutshell....or bigger

2010-03-28T22:16:00.003-06:00

This blog may be long...and it's going to be picture-less. Pictures are on my list for tomorrow....

So let's see. It seems like the month has been filled with teases of spring...lots of mud, lots of puddles, lots of dead grass dragged into my house - but also lots of sunshine and promises of longer days. Brock is DYING to be outside with the big boys but can't seem to walk in anything but his Robeez shoes. We're working on that.

Brock is getting more and more independent every day. He loves to pull pop bottles out of the boxes in the hallway and walks around with them until his mean mommy snags them and puts them back in the fridge. Thinks wrestling with the big boys and daddy is great. Is very vocal. Has cut 2 molars and is taking FOREVER to cut the next two. His mobility has increased tons and he can navigate our little step pretty good now. He's usually bright and sunshiny and keeps me hopping all day!

Rhett is a big kid. That's been our mission this month - to convince him of that. And it's working - sort of. We're still having potty issues and after talking with some great friends I felt that part of the problem was that he viewed himself as a little kid instead of a big kid. So we've been working on pointing out all the big kid things that he does and can do. We're slowly seeing a trickle effect and I'm hoping that one day he'll decide that being potty trained is a good thing. The poor child has huge feet and is forever tripping over them - it breaks my heart. But he just keeps getting up and goes. He loves to play with Zane, but is just as happy to see him leave in the morning so he can do what he wants! My Rhett-man makes me smile and laugh every day.

Zane turned 7 on the 22nd! How in the world did that happen? As I watch him grow up I'm getting glimpses of the man he'll be one day and it makes me happy and sad all at the same time. Zane loves school and his kind heart and fun personality has helped him make lots of great friends. He has read 100 books this year and got to choose a book to bring home and keep. He chose a story that we've checked out of the library before because he knew it was one of Rhett's favorites. Seriously, can a son melt a mom's heart any quicker? He's getting soooo tall, and loves so many different things - sports, reading, playing, video games....he's always busy doing something. We had a great birthday weekend for him....Friday we had his friend's party and did some science experiments and building and cake and presents and outside play. It was a hit and he was thrilled! My mom was able to come up on the Tuesday before his birthday and then dad and Kinsey and Alisha and cousin Paxton showed up Friday night. It was a packed house filled with lots of laughs and fun. Sunday morning we did Birthday Waffles - whip cream, strawberries, carmel sauce, chocolate sauce, raspberry syrup....yes, it was a diabetic coma waiting to happen. I've got lots of pictures and will try to get them up soon!
I can't believe that he's already 7! He's such a joy and treasure to us and I can't wait to see what this year brings for him!

And as for us...we've managed to sneak in a couple of nights off by ourselves with our friends and even a couple of dates. As well as birthday parties for friends, parent teacher interviews, YM's, seminary experiences....etc. It's been an action packed month and I can't believe it's drawing to a close already. We're gearing up a for a great and busy spring break as we become parents to 6 for 10 days. Yep, 6. Our wonderful friends Jas and Rebecca Payne are like family to us and are leaving on a cruise. We're moving into their house with their 3 kids 11, 7 and 4 for 10 days. It's going to be busy, hectic, and probably stressful but really fun. Our kids get along great and it's just one big party when we're all together. I'm trying to do some planning of things like conference activities and Easter - Rebecca and I have had our heads together planning and I think it's going to be great. I'm praying for lots of sunshine! I'll try to keep you posted on the chaos of life with 6!

Kitchen update...

2010-03-28T22:02:00.002-06:00

So remember way back at the beginning of the month when our dishwasher flooded the kitchen? We're not under water or construction anymore! We were pretty sure that the floor was going to have to come out and Cliff wanted to put tile in and I was not happy or budging on that. Thankfully, after a couple of days of drying out, our wood settled back in and is almost perfectly smooth again. For the few imperfections left it's not worth fixing. And after a few different parts, a couple of holes drilled in the back of my cabinet, and some frustrating moments, the dishwasher is working again, the mess is cleaned up, and I'm happy to say that I am spoiled again.

It's a good thing.

It's been awhile....

2010-03-26T20:21:00.002-06:00

since I've blogged. Mostly I've just been too tired, too busy or too something.

BUT

I just lived through a whole week without my computer - and not by choice - ahhhh - I felt so disconnected and lost. But I'm back and I've got some great stuff to share....but not tonight.

I just wanted you all to know that I didn't leave blogger land forever and ever.

You know it's going to be a long morning when...

2010-03-02T16:58:00.002-07:00

You walk into your kitchen at 6:50 am and find it submerged in water. Yep. Sometime between 4:45 and then a hose burst on our dishwasher and flooded my kitchen....and seeped through to our bedroom closet. (Our room shares the back wall of the kitchen.)

Almost every towel in the house, 2 1/2 rolls of paper towel, 2 rounds with the shop vac (our closet floor), one box of salt (again our closet) and 4 hours later the mess is mostly taken care of. I say mostly because our room is still destroyed - everything that was in the closet is either on our bed or strewn around and we have 2 fans drying out the carpet. The salt helps to draw the water out and will have to be vacuumed up soon. And the jury is still out on the kitchen floor. It's a hardwood laminate if that makes sense and we're not sure yet if we're going to have to rip it out or if we got it cleaned up in time. Sigh.

And I have laundry EVERYWHERE that is ready to be folded....and I usually do that on my bed. Big flat service that Brock can't reach. Feeling a tad disorganized and behind as that was not what I had planned to do with my morning.

So back to hand washing for now. Cliff thinks he can fix the problem fairly easily - just needs the time to do it. This coming weekend is Red Deer's Home and Garden Show and Cliff is in charge of Trail's booth and display and all that good stuff so it is a busy week for him during and after work and all weekend.

It could have been a lot worse....had it been leaking all night our entire bedroom floor would have been soaked and some stuff seriously damaged or destroyed! I'll take 4 hours of clean up over the mess that any day!

Angel for me

2010-03-01T17:27:00.002-07:00

I need a quick minute to thank my Heavenly Father for sending me my friend Rebecca. There are so many things about this friend that I LOVE. But last night she topped them all.
Knowing how sleep deprived I am - really it's getting a little scary - and having been there before herself - my WONDERFUL friend pulled me aside last night and told me she wanted to take my kids one afternoon a week so that I could sleep for 3 HOURS with no interruptions. And this isn't just a one time deal. She wants to do it EVERY week.

Right now there aren't many things that could top that gift. And I have to be honest....for the smallest part of a second I considered refusing her....telling her not to put herself out for my benefit and that I would continue to manage somehow. And then I told my stupid self to shut up and let the smart self recognize the gift that my Heavenly Father was giving me : An answer to my prayers. Not in a way that I envisioned - Brock sleeping through the night - but in a way that will allow someone close to me to serve me and give me a way to cope better with the stresses of my life. So I burst into tears, gave her a huge hug and started counting the days until Thursday afternoon!

Living away from our families is hard. But the Lord has blessed us with friends who can fill those roles our family would if they were close. We are truly blessed and thankful for that. Thank you to all of you that fit that role.

Some of this....some of that....

2010-02-27T12:58:00.004-07:00

So I haven't really been in the writing mood the past couple of weeks. You might have noticed. Partly because I've been T I R E D. Partly because we've been busy. But I thought I should try and get a little caught up because we have had some exciting things happen in our family.

Babies Born!

Nephew and Cousin Cohen John Russel was born February 9th to Cliff's sister Rikki and boyfriend Cory! 8lbs 1 0z and 20 inches long. He and Brock are a year and a day apart and he was only 1 ounce bigger than Brock. He has TONS of black hair that goes everywhere and is just soooooo sweet. We took a trip down to Taber over the teacher's convention weekend to meet him and hang out with family. It was a terrific trip and we had lots time to just hang out and relax with everyone. Didn't get to see Uncle Jamie and Amber because he was flying home and his flight was re-routed, cancelled and all that jazz...but hopefully next time. The boys thought Cohen was pretty neat. Brock always wanted to be with me or Grandma if we were holding him - maybe a little worried about his spot? And Brock kept us VERY busy going up and down the stairs. He's great at going up....and still gave me a heart attack every time he attempted down.

Cousin Caley Jackson had a baby girl yesterday February 26th. Finally a girl in the family! She and her boyfriend Cathal named her Harper Nally and she was 6 lbs 10 or 11 oz....can't remember! Have seen a few pictures and she looks like a little doll! So fun to have a little pink person in the family!

Because of the new babies I spent the week before we left hemming and sewing blankets and burp rags...the boys loved it because they got lots of picnics in the living room. I'm now trying to accomplish Zane's quilt for his birthday without him knowing I'm working on it.

Dog Update

For those that don't know, I let Cliff talk me into a getting a dog in October....and not just a dog but a 10 month old puppy. After 4 long months I finally convinced HIM that we were not ready for a dog right now. And so the search for a new home for Vato commenced. After a couple of weeks we finally found a family who fell in love with him and he seemed very taken with them, so Vato no longer resides here. Cliff is the saddest of us all, the boys don't seem to be phased at all - when I told them Vato was going to live somewhere else all I got was "oh, OK". And I'm mostly relieved. Vato was a big amount of stress in my life and it's been nice not to worry about him, or feel guilty about him etc. It's hard to admit defeat and give up on something. Neither one of us likes to do that. But we weren't giving him the love and attention and time that a puppy needs and deserves, so it was better for him to go live somewhere else.

Other Happenings...

We finally made it to the temple on the 12th. It's been a very long time since we had been and it felt so good to be back. We did a session and ended up meeting some friends from our ward there. We all went out to the Olive Garden afterwards and called that our Valentine's Day date.

On Valentine's day I made the boys pink pancakes. They were very worried about them until they tasted them. Then they decided that colored pancakes were just fine with them and Zane suggested that maybe we should have blue pancakes one day! I took a picture but you can't really tell that they were pink after they were cooked...more food coloring next time I guess!

The elders in our ward held a family tobogganing day on Family Day. It was the perfect weather - just below zero, no wind, nice and sunny and had snowed about 2 inches the night before. Cliff had to work but it was here in Sylvan so I took the kids and went. Zane LOVED it, Rhett was whiny and wanted to go home after 5 minutes and Brock was tired and cranky. Zane convinced Rhett to go down the hill with him once but that was it. He would go about half way up the hill and then run or walk down and just hung out with Zane and a bunch of kids. He is so my son - not a winter sports kind of kid. After much fussing Brock finally gave up and went to sleep and slept almost the whole time. It was a lot of fun for most everyone - a couple of little kids got ran over and one ended up with a bloody nose and cheek - but all in all a great day.

The Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver this year. Zane's really been into the Olympics because of school and it's sports - do I need to say more? We watched the opening ceremonies as a family and it was fun and really cool. Rhett crashed an hour in and Brock about half an hour later. Zane was determined to make it to see the torch lit at the very end and although he struggled he made it. I thought it was really cool that we have such great technology available that he could witness that. Wayne Gretzky lit the torch and Zane declared that he was going to bed. I think he was asleep before his head settled on the pillow!
Of course with the Olympics on we've been watching a lot of sports - I mean more sports than is usual in this house -and a lot of hockey. Zane has learned the guy "I'm zoned in on the game and block everything else out" look and has really been into the games. Rhett gets excited when they score and they both just don't understand how mom isn't quite as pumped about this sport as they are. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching the play off games, I just don't get really emotionally invested into them.

The boys have also learned with Brock being super mobile these days that they have to do some things behind closed bedroom door. I've nicknamed him Babyzilla because he likes to destroy their train tracks and poor Rhett gets so upset and takes it very personally. He doesn't understand why Brock would do that to him. Poor kiddo. Maybe I should show him pics of when he did the same to Zane?!

Life is just thundering along and blasting through days and weeks. I can't believe that tomorrow is the last day of February. One day closer to spring!

Brock is One!

2010-02-09T17:20:00.012-07:00

Can you believe that my baby is 1! I can't either! But I thought I'd take a quick picture trip down memory lane from the last year....

This was the first time I got a good look at Brock. I got a quick kiss before they took him from the delivery room to the SCN. It was really hard to see another baby hooked up to all the tubes and wires again but I was so happy that he was here. And sooooo cute! (Click here for all the details if you want.)This was my second or third hold. Because he needed high oxygen sats we didn't get to take him out of his isolate very often for the first 5 days or so. It was hard to remember that such a healthy looking baby could be so sick...but we knew he would be OK....just took a few extra days!Finally home! He was still pretty jaundiced so we had to sun bake him every day! The big boys would sit on either side of his chair and just stare at him. He just looks soooo small here!One month old....still has the dark hair and still tiny!

2 months old....not so sure about what mom's telling him...

Learning new tricks at 3 months old....enough pillows around means no toppling over while mom folds laundry!Oh so clever at 4 months! Showing off new favorite thing to do!Standing on Grandpa Dooley's hand - youngest one to do it so far at 5 months6 months old and not quite mobile yet...I miss these days!7 months old and insisting on feeding himself yogurt. Not so sure how much actually made it in!8 months old...getting good at pulling himself up on stuff and cruising around9 months old and getting ready for those first steps...if it didn't move he would grab it and use it for cruising!10 months old...fascinated by wheels that spin!11 months old...walking kiddo! Watch out world - here I come!One year old and the shirt says it all!Not so sure about all the "help" from his big brothersWhat good is a toy if it's in a box?Yummy lemon tarts to celebrate with!
He definitely knew what to do with the whip creme!Showing off for mom!

Gottcha mom!

At 1 year old Brock is:

- walking everywhere! He can't get up straight from the floor quite yet but can bend down and pick something up and keep going.
- has 8 teeth
- weighs 23.6 lbs
- is 30.5 inches tall
- LOVES to play hide-and-seek with Rhett
- is constantly moving or being busy
- has thrown his first toy in the toilet and is now banned from the bathroom
- can't wait to get into the bath tub but thinks he should be able to stand up
- has tried to drown himself after falling while standing in the tub and has flipped face first out of the tub because of standing up. I foresee many ER visits with this child
- loves the musical moving car we have

- gives Fives

- says "uh-oh" if you say it first

- is sad that all the kitchen cabinets are now child-locked. He keeps going around and pulling on them to double check

- is always moving around doing something

- didn't really care about he presents

- LOVED the whip cream

- a couple days before his birthday Auntie Kizzy was here and we had cake for her birthday - I gave Brock the beaters with whip cream on them - tried to shove both in his mouth at the same time and then cried when it was all gone.

- will finally hold his own bottle

- doesn't like apple juice

- has had his first bout of the stomach flu

- has big smiles when he hears Grammie S and Grandpa Dooley on the phone

- squirms to get down and go

- loves peanut butter and jam sandwiches

- loves taco soup

- eats pretty much whatever we are now days

- wears mostly 12-18 month clothes

- is so excited when Daddy gets home from work

- is starting to want to hang out with Daddy more often

- brings us joy every day!

10 Things....

2010-01-28T07:33:00.006-07:00

I've been working on this on for a couple of weeks now....just haven't had a lot of computer time! And I was thinking that it was only 3 months ago the last time I did this. But as I went back to find the last one I kept going further and further until I finally found it at the beginning of September! OOPS! At least I've blogged lots in between. So.....

10 Things I want to remember about Brock:

1. His sunshiney smile
2. His absolute busy-ness
3. His cuddles
4. He still has that baby smell
5. He ADORES his big brothers
6. He is fascinated whenever we turn the WII on
7. The joy he gets from dumping the bucket of cars...you can just see that he thinks it's the best ever!
8. Everyone just LOVES him
9. He thinks he should get to play the piano whenever someone else is
10. His walking skills improve every day

10 Things I want to remember about Rhett:

1. His imagination! He puts a couple of pieces of Lego together and it's a person, a car, a plane etc and he will play with it like that all day
2. He loves to play BINGO and Old Owl, and games like that and is always asking me to play
3. Sometimes he insists that he's a big boy, and sometimes he prefers to be a little boy
4. Watching him do an entire preschool workbook in Sacrament Meeting. I was so impressed by his attention span and knowledge.
5. He's starting to not let Zane run the show all the time
6. His still refuses to eat "real" food. He survives on peanut butter sandwiches, banana muffins, cheese and crackers, apples and bananas and his new favorite "sticky granola bars" aka Fiber 1 bars. Chicken nuggets and french fries are acceptable and will be eaten as well.
7. We tried to get him to eat a spoonful of rice - he gagged and spit and sputtered and was convinced we had poisoned him.
8. He's such a good helper! I was getting ready to vacuum and he picked up a bunch of toys without me having to ask
9. LOVES to play hide and seek with me. His version goes like this: I count to 10 while he hides in some place - most times I know where he is. Then I start listing off places that he is NOT. (I'm usually doing dishes or folding laundry or something like that when we play) Sometimes the places are silly and sometimes they are not and after about 5 or 6 wrong guesses I figure out where he is. Brock is now in on the game and loves to follow him and find him first. Oh the giggles this game produces!
10. He's starting to sing I Am a Child of God with me at night when I tuck them in. It melts my heart!

10 Things I want to remember about Zane...

1. His appetite for reading - he is doing so well and is moving through the reading levels at school at the top of his class. It's been awesome to see him learn this skill and to LOVE it!
2. His new love of piano - he's really getting it and enjoying it. He begs me for more than a lesson a week and practices without me reminding him to
3. His including Rhett in most of his games
4. He's a control freak in training....as soon as Christmas was over he was ready to move on and start planning his birthday - which isn't until the end of March!!! I told him he could plan all he want but I wasn't talking to him about it until March 1!
5. Watching him figure things out - the other night while the little boys were in the tub and I was folding laundry (I was 5 steps away from the tub) he was quizzing me on how old he would be when Brock was 2. I helped him figure it out and then he ran with it and figured out a bunch of different ages for him and his brothers at different ages.
6. He was sooooo excited for the Olympic Torch to come to Sylvan and was THRILLED that he was able to go. Cliff and I were out of town but he got to go with our friends.
7. He still makes up fabulous games for him and Rhett to play - although it's a little like a director telling an actor how to execute a scene "And Rhett then you say this.....and Rhett then you die - no not like that, like this....And Rhett then you......." Most days it works well for them!
8. Listening to him read a verse of The Book of Mormon every night. He LOVES it.
9. He will talk Grammie's ear off! Seriously, he will call to talk to my mom and talk to her for 1/2 an hour! When he's done he says "So, that's all I have to talk about". Cracks me up every time. And answering machines still throw him off a little. The other day he got mom and dad's and this is the message he left "Um, hi. It's me Zane. I'm at home.....and I'm going to be at home.....so you can find me here. Click. Still makes me giggle.
10.He's soooo anxious for me to get his quilt done - I need more hours in the day!

10 Things I want to remember about Cliff:

1. He put our dog up for sale - for me - even though he doesn't really want to get rid of him.
2. How excited he was to go to an NHL game when the Canucks were in Edmonton. He and a friend went and it was really great - the Canucks won in overtime and he had an awesome time. He hasn't been to one since he was 16 so it was time!
3. He has rescued Brock several times over the last couple of months from a very frustrated mom! Brock doesn't always want to be rescued but he perseveres until mom is a little calmed down.
4. Watching him and the boys wrestle and play at night - he's going to be in trouble when Brock starts joining in!
5. He calls me every day - just to say hi.
6. He always makes sure to call me if he's going to be late or to let me know when he's leaving the church or volley ball or something like that. It means a lot because I worry a lot!
7. He took great care of me when I had the stomach flu - I got to sleep in and everything!
8. He's been very supportive and helpful with Brock as I've been working out in the mornings and I sooooo appreciate it!
9. He makes me laugh every day.
10. He really enjoys his calling - most days at least!

10 Things I want to remember about me!

1. I am making progress towards my weight goal
2. I have made some small progress in my teaching ability - seminary that is
3. I'm trying to read more good things instead of always a novel that I've already read
4. Trying to recognize my limits and stay within them - and accept that my limits are different from others
5. Trying to enjoy my kids more
6. Zane gave me a badge he made that says I'm the coolest mom ever! How great is that!
7. I try to do one thing a day for just me
8. I have said no to some things that I knew I just couldn't handle and it felt really good
9. I am loving how Zane's Spider man quilt is coming together
10. I am looking forward to spring!

10 Things I want to remember about our family:

1. We are really enjoying our new family Book of Mormon. It has words highlighted and definitions, explanations, references and some pictures. It's been a great way to teach and learn together.
2. We have been playing more together and it's been a lot of fun
3. We are so blessed to have the friends that we have - they are like our family here away from our families.
4. We have been in the same ward for 3 years now....with no plans to change that!
5. We are actually thinking about camping this summer.....and I'm OK with it
6. We have had lots of little things happen that remind us that the Lord is mindful of us
7. We continue to improve on FHEs and I consider that an accomplishment
8. We are all looking forward to Brock's birthday party - the boys especially
9. We all LOVE ice cream yum yum yum
10. We were all thrilled to welcome our first nephew/cousin and are anxiously awaiting #2!

Another one for the books....

2010-01-20T20:39:00.002-07:00

So I live in a small house. Bigger than some but definitely smaller than others. And I usually like my small house and don't mind it. The big exception is when I'm trying to work on a quilt. With 3 busy little people it's hard to leave a quilt in various stages of doneness left out. So, I've come up with a little compromise. I camp out my sewing stuff on the kitchen table for a couple of days at a time and the boys get to have picnic suppers in the living room on an old sheet. They LOVE it. And this is where my story comes in....

I'm working on Zane's Spider Man quilt - yes still - remember, small house, 3 kids, nowhere to leave it....
And it's out on the table so the last 2 nights we've had picnics. Only problem is I won't let them have liquid in the living room. After the umpteenth request for a beverage I finally put milk into two of the water bottles Zane takes to school. They're stainless steel so you can't see what's in them. When I took them in Zane asked what it was and I said it was a surprise. Rhett took a swig and delightedly announced "Milk!" Later that night he kept asking me for something and after a minute I figured out that he was asking me for surprise milk. I chuckled and didn't think anything of it....until this morning when he almost had a meltdown because I wouldn't make him surprise milk and let him drink it in the living room. He didn't care that I hadn't washed the water bottle yet but finally came around to my way of thinking. And then tonight, when we were discussing what they wanted for supper the first request out of Rhett's mouth was "surprise milk!"
He makes me laugh!

And another quick thought.....
Been thinking lately about who reads my blog. Some I know, some I don't. I write it because I enjoy it, I use it as a journal, and it's an easy way for me to keep family and friends posted on the going ons of our life. And then quite awhile ago someone told me that they really enjoyed reading my blog and I was blown away because I had no idea they read my blog (and now I've probably embarrassed them if they even remember this and they won't read anymore. Sigh. ) But the point is I didn't know they read it because they NEVER commented on anything I wrote. I'm totally guilty of this. I read lots of blogs that I think are spectacular but I don't comment. Why? Sometimes I'm in a hurry, sometimes I don't want the person to know that I'm blog stalking them....but most often I think I'm worried that someone might judge what I have to say. But I've decided that's just silly. And so I'm going to try and comment on the blogs that I read. Maybe not on every post because sometimes I truly have nothing to say - I know - shocking isn't it - but usually there is something I like about every post I read. Everyone likes a comment - whether you admit it or not. So I'm challenging all my blog buddies to be more comment friendly...no one's going to cyber bite you....be brave and tell us (OK, ME) what you're thinking!

I don't know who's paying him....

2010-01-19T12:00:00.004-07:00

But they're getting their money's worth!

Brock has been enlisted in the evil "keep mommy fat" conspiracy. It's true. Wanna' know how I know? Because he's slowly killing me with sleep deprivation. I know, I KNOW. Every mom out there is sleep deprived. But he SENSES when I'm going to work out and waits until I'm 10 minutes in and then wakes up screaming!!!!
Take early Monday morning. I teach seminary at 7:15 Monday morning....so if I'm going to work out I need to be up by 5:45...gross I know. He wakes up at 5:00 wanting a bottle...fine, whatever. 10 minutes later, bottle's done and the coughing starts and before I know it I'm wearing the contents of his stomach. So, into the shower we go. Now it's 5:30 and guess who's wide awake and not wanting to go back to sleep. You guessed it... and trying to get a work out in with him underfoot is not fun - newly walking child and a good workout are not conducive. It's 6:30 before I get him back to sleep - in our bed now cuddled in with daddy so I can get ready to go teach. BUT I tell myself no big deal. I'll just wait until he's down for a nap and then I'll work out. Yep. That was the plan. 10:30...down for a nap. Threw a load of laundry in, grabbed my shoes, started up the DVD, got 8 minutes in and then someone is SCREAMING! ARG. Tried to get him to back to sleep but it just wasn't happening so I gave up and did my workout around him. Of course I missed some parts because he wouldn't leave me alone and I had to keep distracting him so he wouldn't he get stepped on/kicked or otherwise maimed.

My point: finding it very difficult to work out which makes it difficult to eat good and makes the task of losing the remaining 40 lbs - yes you heard me right - even harder.

But I'm tyring to focus more on something else.
I'm a fan of the Biggest Loser. I just like it. Maybe because it validates my struggle with weight. At the beginning of this season the contestants went around the room and told their fat stories - why they are the way they are - and the common theme under them all was this:

I DON'T LOVE MYSELF

And I thought, how sad. And then I started thinking about me, and my weight struggles. For those who don't know me a year after my 2nd son was born I was 220 lbs. It was an ugly number. I went to Weight Watchers and lost 65 lbs. And kept it off for awhile. Then we had a miscarriage. Add 10 lbs please. Then we got pregnant with Brock and spotted for 9 weeks - work out? What work out? No work out for me when I might be miscarrying, oh and did I mention that I was an emotional eater? And a few other things cropped up which meant that I did everything in this last pregnancy that I swore I wouldn't and ended up over 200 lbs again. I don't know where I was after having Brock - I didn't want to know. 5 months after having him I decided to try again. I weighed in at 207 lbs. I've lost just over 20 of it. I'm committed and with him getting older it is getting easier. But it's still a daunting number and task. One that I've done before and one that I'll do again.

But I digress. I was thinking about the biggest losers not loving themselves and asked myself, do I love me? All of me? The good, the bad, the nice, the not so nice? And I had to answer no. I do not love all of me. Lots of me, but not all of me.

That was hard to type. Breathe.

OK. So, I've been working on this. A friend of my mom and mine told us something over Christmas

"If we could learn to truly love ourselves, as our Heavenly Father loves us, our weight and issues would just melt away".

I've decided to embark on this. I've prayed a lot, and pondered a lot. I've learned this is something that won't happen over night. And my thoughts have been directed towards some specific actions to help me love all of me. I'm hoping that when I reach my weight goal that I will have reached my love goal as well. That I will be able to look in the mirror and love me not only physically, but everything else as well.

So onwards and upwards until the conspiracy to keep mommy fat is nothing but a myth!

a good memory....

2010-01-16T22:09:00.001-07:00

Been meaning to write this one down for a while now...

Last week on the way home from church I pointed out the sunset to the boys (we have 1:00 church and it's mid-winter).

Me: Aren't we so blessed by Heavenly Father. He makes such beautiful sunsets for us to enjoy.
Rhett: That's where Jesus lives.
Me: Jesus lives in the sunset?
Rhett: Yep. Jesus lives in the sunset.

So there you have it. If you were wondering where Heaven really is you now know.

Compromise and Re-Thinking....

2010-01-13T18:08:00.004-07:00

I'm a bit of a control freak. Yep. I know...you'd never guess. I like to plan things...when things are going to happen, how they'll happen....

I do like to wing it - sometimes - but not with my daily routine. I like to get my work out done early, get myself ready and move on through the chores etc that need to be done that day.

But now I'm the mom of 3....and I'm learning that to get everything accomplished I have to compromise and re-think some things. My control freak self is still adjusting, and for the most part I'm doing OK with it. I have to re-think things. Example: What can I accomplish while Brock is sleeping and what can I accomplish while he is awake?

Yesterday was a good day. Brock was in a good mood for the most part and would actually play contentedly for short periods of time. I got buns made, a good workout (interrupted by the cable guy - out here they give you all day appointments...so hard to plan ANYTHING around!), dishes done, children fed, piano taught, supper made, cleaned up, children in bed, a trip to WalMart and another workout.

Something new to me is what I read while I steal my lunch moment....sometimes the only time of the day I get to read. And I KNOW you're not supposed to read and eat at the same time.....but I do it for my sanity. Anywho, I am one of those readers who gets totally absorbed into a new book. So usually I read something at lunch that I've already read - that way it's easy to walk away. Otherwise I get NOTHING accomplished! I decided to try something new and have started reading at least one talk a day from the last Conference Ensign. It's really been a great change and it's easy and do-able.

So wish me luck on this journey of compromise. I'm hoping for organized improvising - start with a list and get it done in any order I can!

Promised Pictures....

2010-01-10T07:40:00.009-07:00

WARNING: Lots of pictures....some are in order, some are not...

Christmas Eve Morning in Raymond..... Brock and Paxton got matching jammies from Auntie Kizzy.....it's so funny to think that these two were born in the same year. Amazing what 10 months can do to a baby!

Brock liked the boxes and ribbons...not into Christmas this year

Mom put together a quilting box for me with lots of fun material and other treasures....

Opening his snake quilt from Grammie

If you look close you'll see the snake heads with eyes....two are going one way and the rest the other way

Grammie finding her quilt that we made for her. Kizzy pieced it, I put it together and quilted it, and Alisha contributed to some of the materials. Kizzy and I stayed up until 3 am that morning to finish sewing the binding. Worth it!

Christmas Day in Taber.....

Grammie S and Grandpa Dooley each put a baby to sleep....I think this was the night of the 23rd...see I told you they weren't all in order!

How much bun with jam can one little baby shove in his mouth?

Modelling Zane's gift from Uncle Jamie and Amber

Being goofy
Brock on his 11 month birthday!

11 Months

2010-01-08T17:01:00.003-07:00

Yep, that's right folks. Another month has FLOWN by and Brockster is 11 months old. Sigh.
So here are some of the things the little man is up to:
- taking more steps....but only when he wants to. He still prefers a finger or if he has to will crawl.
- LOVES to watch the washing machine and dryer
- pulls the wet clothes out of the dryer almost as fast as I put them in. What a great helper!
- is starting to chew his food - so nice that we can give him pieces and not everything has to be mush or dissovable!
- blows his food after I've blown on it. Seriously is one of the cutest things ever
- LOVES little toy cars
- is fascinated with making noise
- has a happy screech, a hungry screech, a I'm-not-happy-and-you're-going-to-know-about-it-screech....you get the picture. Most days he is set on volume 25 and dang if I can find the remote that turns him down!
- is sooooo interested in the bathroom - so far has only got his hands into the toilet once (EWWWWWWW) that I know of!
- gives Daddy 5's but looks at everyone else like they're crazy
- acknowledges the baby in the mirror by putting his hand up in the air like he's saying "hi"
- LOVED to slime Grammie's mirrors and glass door while we were down for Christmas
- is insanely fast on stairs....and we don't have any! The first day we were in Taber at Cliff's parents' house he watched the other boys go up and then just crawled right up after them! He likes to pause half way up and turn around to see where he is. Do all kids do that? My other 2 did as well.....
- likes Stroodles - traditional New Year dish we make - not the fruit kind
- refuses to hold his own bottle. Not sure if he's just lazy or just likes the cuddles with mom.
- Mom is still #1 in his books
- makes us laugh every day
- is around 24 lbs...forgot to weigh him today
- growing out of some 12 month stuff but still wearing 12-18s....
- HATES his winter coat and sitting in the car seat with said coat on
- has learned to arch his back and slide out of car seat, your arms, chair etc where you are trying to put him
- likes banana cream pie -found this out at my birthday party - yep turned 29 on Tuesday - anyways he just gobbled up the bites I gave him
- is very excited whenever Zane and Rhett play the Wii
- is going to be a great friend for Rhett - he loves it when Rhett plays with him

And I've been too busy to get pictures on the computer....maybe in the next day or so. Zane's pretty anxious for his quilt and I've been working nights on it with Mom's help...one more border to sew on and then on to pinning!

Toothfairies and Snowglobes!

2010-01-03T07:56:00.004-07:00

We have had such a wonderful Christmas season...filled with lots of family, lots of laughter and lots of joy. Enough spoilage happened throughout the season for us to feel very loved, but not overwhelmed. And the kids of course LOVE having Christmas so many days in a row. (We open here before leaving for Southern Alberta, opened on Christmas Eve with my family, Christmas day with Cliff's family, and had Alisha and Paxton's baby shower on the 27th!) Rhett kept asking if we were opening more presents. He really enjoyed playing the elf this year and helped daddy and Papa - aka Grandpa Dooley - pass out all the gifts.

Baby Paxton is oh so sweet. The boys just loved on him...and Brock was gentle...sort of. Very curious about the new cousin.

Rhett was determined to sleep with Grandma and Papa every night and would sleep plastered right on one of them the whole night. Of course they loved it.

Brock thought he was terribly funny one night when he was cuddling with me and playing with his suckie. He took it out of his mouth, looked at it, looked at me and shoved it straight into my mouth mid-word. He started laughing and kept trying to do it over the next couple of days. Maybe he thinks I talk to much?

Zane looked outside one day while it was snowing and said "Grandpa! It looks like we're in a snow globe! It looks like someone picked us up and shook us!" LOVE it!
He also got brave and let me pull his wiggly tooth. He was all set to cry and carry on and it was out! The shocked look on his face was priceless. And of course he was very excited that the tooth fairy found him at Grandma's house.

Cliff had to leave us on Christmas day to come home and work - boo - and he was very dearly missed by his boys. For Rhett it was a tie between Daddy and Lego Star Wars. But we had a wonderful time with lots of great memories. We are happy to be home and thrilled to have 1:00 church today instead of 9:00 - makes getting the unpacking and settling back in a little easier.

And unfortunately no pictures to display yet. My wonderful hubby surprised me with a great new camera for Christmas and we left before I could install the software to the computer. So, when I get it up and running I'll post some pics. Zane is anxious for me to finish his quilt that I started working on down south so pictures might wait until that is done.

I have a few New Year Resolutions this year :
Be healthier
Be better at prayer and scripture study
and
Learn to parent more from prayer and scriptures

Hope everyone is happy and well and having a great start to the New Year!

Masterpiece

2009-12-17T23:23:00.003-07:00

Zane's gingerbread house that we did at school today. He was thrilled for me to be there. Didn't want much to do with building, but definitely into the decorating/sampling the candy. And we were the first ones done. Some moms were doing all the decorating....not sure if their kids even touched it, and some went WAY overboard on decorations, techniques, etc. It's grade one. Seriously, not a competition. Just fun for the kids.

And he took the pictures himself. We had to email pictures to everyone so he could brag. Fun times.

It's so fun to see him in his classroom and interacting with his teacher and friends. How is he already this old?

AND we have a great surprise! Mom and Dad are going to be here late Saturday night and get to stay for church before heading home. They're going to be at a family thing not far from us so are making a quick stop. Not only do we get to see them early, they get to hear me sing on Sunday and have offered to take stuff like presents down for us so it's less to pack around the kidlets. Yeah!!!!

Baby steps

2009-12-16T13:41:00.002-07:00

That's what is starting to happen around our house these days. Brock is standing and balancing really well and is even taking a few shaky steps. Yesterday he walked about 4 steps from me to Cliff.

Sniff....

Tear....

But celebrating as well! They change so fast!

Spoken for....

2009-12-15T15:31:00.003-07:00

I've been meaning to blog this for a long time but keep forgetting...
A couple of weeks ago while I was out with the girls, my friend Kathleen told me that her daughter Emily (who is a year younger than Zane) has decided that she is going to marry Zane. I guess this is something that she's been thinking about for quite awhile - she wanted to get the decision out of the way so she could move onto other things. And Zane is her choice. Kathleen told her that she liked her choice but wondered what made up her mind. Emily told her that she was sitting in church and looked over at Zane, and decided. Oh, and he sings good too mom.
Now won't it be funny if they actually do get married?

10 months!

2009-12-08T08:08:00.006-07:00

After the tree!
One of his classic faces...and check out the teething cheeks!

found a wheel to spin

ready for church

playing some Christmas tunes...

How is he already 10 months old?

I started this post last week....and finally have it finished!

At 10 months he is 23 lbs of BUSY!!!!

-almost walking by himself

- crawling and army crawling

- reaching for everything!

- LOVES to blow raspberries....especially while eating yogurt, mashed potatoes etc, or during sacrament meeting!

- LOVES the Christmas tree and will not leave it alone. I've now moved all the decorations from the bottom of my tree and am seriously considering moving the lights and garland. Arg.

- pushes his little walker truck thing all over the place. Carpet is best but he's pretty good on the wood too.

- loves to make a mess of the DVDs.

- thinks being on Rhett's bed (bottom bunk) is the BEST ever

- has 7 teeth

- still seems to have a laugh quota

- thinks it's very unfair that I won't let him play the piano during piano lessons

- loves to spin wheels

- starting to make strange sometimes

- is very determined but can be distracted

- is determined to see inside Vato's kennel but his mother is more determined that he stays out!

- sticks his tongue out a lot

- still cuddles with mom to go to sleep...and I love it most nights

- still wakes up once or twice a night

- has had all his classic teething signs for the past 2-3 weeks but hasn't popped the last one through yet

- wears mostly 12-18 month clothes

- got his first bloody nose on Sunday and has split his lip 3 times in the last month

- is starting to stand by himself

- is so fun

Thank goodness for Kindness!

2009-12-08T07:46:00.003-07:00

So we had a great day yesterday (even with the FRIGID temps) and headed into Red Deer for a little shopping and FHE. We were shopping for a new winter coat for Zane. The one he had he couldn't zip on his own and has a big hole in the liner. I probably could fix the whole and get my mom to help me with the zipper...but right now my time is better spent on other things and if the coat already has those problems I'm not convinced that it won't continue to develop others. Anyways, I digress. We managed to find Zane a coat that he LOVES, and it was 40% off so that made me love it. We grabbed some supper, met up with Cliff, and headed to the north end of town to the Pines Lodge for a FHE with a bunch of families from our ward. We put on a Christmas program for the old people. Lots of carols, a few solo numbers, and of course the nativity song, complete with kids dressed in costume. Rhett was supposed to be a shepherd, but didn't make it through the first song so Zane happily took over. Cliff had to leave early for his volley ball game so Brock hung out with the bishop so I could play. It was a great time and I hope the kids felt the joy of service.
Then came the fun part....gathering 3 kids, all their winter gear, my stuff and making the trek in the frigid cold to the van. Luckily we are blessed with a great ward family who love us and help us! I had more than enough help getting everyone in their gear and then 2 wonderful young men carried all my stuff out to the van for me.
We pulled in just before 8:30 and I had the thought to go and open the door and then come get the kids out of the van. So, I told the kids to wait, ran to the door, shoved my key in....and it only went half way. OK, this isn't good, I thought. I tried again....and again. And then once more as I frantically reminded Heavenly Father that it was below minus 30 and I had 3 of his little ones with me.....and Cliff wouldn't be home for at least an hour....and I was starting to panic. Then I thought of my neighbor Percy Bryant and thought maybe he could help. I started the van again, ran over to his house, explained the situation, and he gave me lock de-icer. Tried it, didn't work. Panic setting in again. Start van again (only had one set of keys with me) and ran back to Percy again. He grabbed some super duper lubricant stuff that they use in the oil field and came to my rescue. Thankfully that worked and we were soon nice and warm in our house.
And as I thought of it later I was thankful to see the Lord's hand in it all.
I love this time of year. We are really trying to teach our kids the meaning of Christmas and to show them examples of kindness and service. Hopefully in the next 6 plus years it will be my boys helping some young mom carry stuff out to her van!

Flashback

2009-12-04T23:45:00.002-07:00

Have you ever had one of those moments when some little insignificant thing triggers a memory from deep in the corners of your brain?
I had one tonight....
Zane was sitting at the table during supper (pizza and pop tonight) and was playing with the tab on his pop can when he snapped it off. He was really surprised and thrilled. And instantly I was transported back to Jr. high when my friends and I would see if we could snap the tabs off with certain parts intact. And then we would save them.
Why you ask?
Because somehow, somewhere, someone decreed that if you could get the tab off with the little button part attached as well you could save it for a future kiss.
I had a pretty good collection going at one time.....
And speaking of collecting kisses....we had a good system that involved purdues as well. Oh Jr. High. I DO NOT miss you.
But it is fun to remember and giggle a little.

Season of Giving

2009-12-04T21:17:00.002-07:00

So here we are in the middle of the Christmas season....and I'm really loving it. Minus the blizzard that blew in today. As we've pondered on this year's Christmas we have really wanted to focus on teaching our kids about giving, and not just getting. I think this has really been brought into focus with Zane being in school and having "friend" influence. It seems like every other day he comes home with a new idea to add to his Santa gift.
So we've been talking about it as a family and tomorrow after my morning choir/song practice, the kids and I are heading to the dollar store with one of the young women in our ward. (Cliff works Saturdays and I need someone to sit with 2 while one shops). And once there, the two older ones will be able to purchase a few small things to gift to people. We're really hoping that they will get to experience the magic of giving through this and learn a little. We're also planning gifts that they can help mom bake or make for friends and family. Of course, they are still buzzing with excitement for Santa. And we're mixing things up a little there this year as well. Santa is bringing one big family gift and a few small things in the stockings. And they will each get one maybe two gifts from us. Hoping that those are going to be homemade but the days are rapidly slipping away....not sure if that is going to happen.
We already have so much. It's time to step back and teach that to our kids instead of constantly giving them more and more.

I'm an Auntie!

2009-12-04T21:09:00.002-07:00

I have been waiting impatiently for 2 days now for Alisha and Jay to get their computer back and announce to all the world that their baby boy was born on Wednesday, Dec 2! And now that they have so can I!

Name: Paxton John Scott Christensen
Time: 12:51 am
Weight: 7lbs 11oz
Length: 21.6 inches

And cute as a button! We are so excited to be an auntie and uncle finally! Oh the spoilage to dole out! So excited to meet him at Christmas.

When I told the kids Zane was very excited to have a cousin and Rhett was crushed " I want a cousin too!" I explained that Paxton was his cousin as well and all was good again.
So, congrats to the new parents! And to you Lish, nice cape!

Great job

2009-11-30T10:42:00.002-07:00

Yesterday in church it was Zane's turn to give the Jr. primary talk. This is his 3rd or 4th turn since sunbeams. When I told him about it he was really excited. He found a scripture he wanted to base his talk on, found a picture in his gospel art book and kept reminding me to write his talk. He chose Lehi and the Tree of Life. I wrote a short talk using words that he could read himself. He practiced by reading it over to Grammie S and Grandpa Dooley and Auntie Kizzy. Yesterday he was just vibrating and then it was his turn. He walked right up to the pulpit, took a big breath and read his talk. Just like that! I was soooo proud of him. All of his previous attempts have consisted of him hiding so no one could see him and being so scared he cried.
Cliff and I both had several people tell us what a great job he did and how proud they were of him. So good job Zane! You did a fantastic job!

And my girl in seminary that was mostly inactive at the beginning of the year has been coming to church with us, attending YW's and went to the temple with the youth in our ward on Saturday. I couldn't be more thrilled!

Girls Just Wanna Be Girls!

2009-11-28T09:26:00.002-07:00

So 3 girlfriends and I went out last night. And we had a BLAST! We went to New Moon (for my posterity it's the 2nd in a series of vampire love stories). We all really enjoyed the movie. I thought they did a great job on following the story and bringing out the important parts. Some of the acting was a little cheesy but that's part of the fun of these movies. And then we went to Smuggler's for dessert. Oh yum. Cheesecake. Divine.
Cliff and one of the other dad's teamed up at our house and us two girls went together. It worked out great on all ends and after we got home our friends stayed and chatted until 11:30.
I'm so grateful for wonderful friends. As couples and as girlfriends. Not living close to my mom and sisters is hard and I miss them tons. But the Lord has blessed me so abundantly with friends here who make my life richer, fuller and really wonderful. And for that I'm grateful.

Sometimes it's better to just walk away.....

2009-11-25T16:49:00.003-07:00

So yesterday afternoon I walked into the kitchen and saw a yogurt mess on the table. Nothing serious....just an errant foil lid that had been smeared a little bit. I picked the lid up, tossed it and asked Rhett where the mess came from. He looked up from what he was doing to inspect what I was asking about and this was his answer:

"I don't know mom. It's your problem. It's not my problem".

Dumbfounded I asked him what he had just said and he repeated it - word for word.

I just walked away. And called mom and dad to report that their grandchild was still alive. Of course they burst out laughing. It's much better to be the grandparent.

On an unrelated note....it's going to be a very long 29 days until Santa. Brock has expressed interest in my tree today and is NOT impressed that his mother doesn't think this is a good idea. He also thinks he must walk everywhere and is figuring out his push truck rather well. And he was only up once last night (interject angels singing Hallelujah here). Made for a much more productive day today.

Wanted: a new lung please

2009-11-14T11:26:00.002-07:00

Cough. Cough. Cough. Hack. Hack. Hack. Rattle. Rattle. Rattle.
These are the sounds echoing through my house and my chest these days. Stupid cold will not surrender and I'm starting to hurt. I'm resisting the urge to drag my butt into the doctor's because I'm fairly certain it's just a viral thing and I don't want to be in a concentrated area with other people sick with worst than I have. So that's my whining. Onto more pleasant things.

Zane is reading up a storm! He is loving reading and just can't get enough. It gives me warm fuzzies all over to see him curled up over a book and figuring out most of the words himself. It also makes me feel a little old.

Rhett is all of a sudden talking so much better and so much all the time! He is still my best whiner - we're working on that - and still has ZERO interest in potty training. I'm running out of ideas. Bribes aren't working. So I thought I'd try the leave-him-in-the-wet-pants-after-an- accident technique. I explained it to him, we stayed dry for a couple of potty rounds and then he peed. Not a lot, but enough to make his pants fairly wet. I told him I'd set the timer for 10 minutes and then we'd change him into dry stuff. Gave him a towel to sit on and went back to what I was doing. 10 minutes were up and he wouldn't come get dry! He stayed in his wet clothes for half an hour and didn't care a bit! GRRRRRRR. Can someone please give me a magic wand? But he continues to make me smile and laugh and melts my heart every day.

And Brock is a going concern. His latest trick is to climb onto of his walker. He likes to play with the toys on it when he's not actually sitting in it. So he crawls over, pulls himself up, and steps both feet up onto the plastic over the wheels. And there he stands oh so pleased with himself. Grinning from ear to ear. Oh my busy busy baby!

And I forgot to blog a couple of weeks ago about the great news that Cliff got. Trail has contracts with different builders in and around the city to supply the appliances for the houses those builders do. Some are bigger contracts than others and all of the sales guys have certain builders under them - so they get commission on the product going into those houses. Trail has been working for almost 2 years to get Laebon Homes to sign with them and they finally did. The great news is that it's become one of Cliff's builders! Laebon is one of the biggest builders up here so it's really a great thing. Congrats hon!

Super Saturday

2009-11-09T09:30:00.002-07:00

This is what I did at Super Saturday before going home sick....love the craft and how cute it is but it does panic me a little! I have so much to do before Christmas!

9 months

2009-11-09T09:08:00.003-07:00

He's 9 months old now! And got his first "real" haircut with clippers last night. Not sure who cried more - me or him. I wasn't expecting to cry...just started to come when Cliff started cutting. Sigh. I'm such a sap!

Anyways, at 9 months Brock is:

- 20.8 lbs - not a big change from last month

- 28 inches

- army crawling every where!

- pulling himself up on everything

- cruising around furniture

- has 5 teeth

- had his crib lowered last week

- waking up once a night still

- mostly in 12 month clothes

- has discovered how to open cupboard doors and pull stuff out

- forever crawling under things and getting places he shouldn't be

- tries to crawl through things and gets VERY frustrated when that isn't possible

- LOVES his bath time and tries to 'help' get his clothes off so he can get in faster

- finally likes potatoes

- will hold his bottle for a little while but gets distracted and usually ends up with milk everywhere

- loves music and starting to 'dance' when he hears some

- still very curious about Vato - sigh

Oh we love our baby boy!

Time flies

2009-11-04T21:01:00.004-07:00

Wow. The last little while has really flown by! Here's what we've been up to:
- still adjusting to the whole pet thing
- all my blood work came back good - so no mono! Yeah!
- crossing fingers for no more strep this season or might have to get tonsils out. Boo!
- Brock is fast! He still army crawls but can move! And he's creeping and pulling himself up on everything and has figured out how to open my cupboard doors and pull stuff out. He keeps me hopping!
- we had a great time at our trunk or treat. Sorry, forgot to take pictures. Zane was Batman, Rhett was Spiderman and I went as a hiker with Brock in a baby back pack that we borrowed from some friends.
- attended Zane's costume parade at school. He was THRILLED to see us.
- Halloween Rhett was hacking up a lung and running a slight fever and Cliff wasn't feeling great and Brock had a runny nose so the boys stayed home with Daddy and I took Brock and went to adult session of stake conference. The sickies snuck in a little trick-or-treating but got rained out about 20 mins after starting
- I sang in the choir for Stake Conference on the Sunday session
- and this last week has been taken up with various members of the family being in various stages of sickness. GROSS! So tired of our house being sick. Hopefully another couple of days and all will be good again.
- and this took me almost a week to finish!

I have Survived....

2009-10-24T08:56:00.003-06:00

having a pet for one week. And we're both still here.

Things I like about having a dog:

The walks, the tail wagging when he sees us, my kids playing with him, my kids getting over any fear they had of dogs, petting, loyalty, crazy antics in the backyard when he doesn't know I'm watching

Things I DON'T like about having a dog:
The wet smell, the shedding, the one-more-thing-to-think-about on my daily list, the dog not being crate trained and wanting to sleep on my couch

I have survived.....
another bought of Strep Throat....we think. If my swab tests positive it will be #3 in 6 weeks. Yuck. So my wonderful doc gave me different drugs and a bunch of blood work. He's testing my thyroid, liver, and for mono. Yep, mono. Gross. So hoping that one doesn't come back positive. Drugs are making me feel pretty good but by the end of the day throat is still a little sore. Hot lemonade with honey is my friend.

I have survived.....
Brock starting to crawl. It's army crawling but he's crawling and moving fast. He's pretty determined to get under the table where Vato lives when he's inside and I'm just as determined to keep him out of there.

I have survived.....
multiple years of no sleep and no end in sight to sleepless nights. Sigh.

I have survived. And grown. And learned. And come out smiling....mostly.

Adding to the Family....

2009-10-17T21:39:00.003-06:00

No - we're not pregnant. You can start breathing again. We've added a four legged member of the family.....

Introducing Voto (va-toe). He's 10 months old and has been answering to this name for that long so we figured we'd keep it. Zane was pretty keen on naming him Anakin but we convinced him that Voto was a cool enough name. So, here's his story. He's a Rottie-Jack Russel cross and was given to a family's son by his girlfriend and he's not home enough for a dog so he took him out to the farm for mom and the grandparents to look after. But they already had 2 HUGE dogs (as big as Rhett - seriously) and one more was just too much. So they advertised on Kijji, Cliff saw the add, we've been going back and forth for the last couple of days and today we brought him home. He's neutered and has his puppy shots so we don't have that head ache. He's great with other dogs and kids - been exposed lots to little ones. And he comes, sits, learns fast, doesn't bark, isn't hyper, doesn't jump up and loves to chase cats. If I had to describe a perfect dog all of those things would be on the list. He hasn't tried to chew anything, listens to me great and is just so mellow. So far a great addition to our family.

And although some think this choice is completely random and sudden for our family, Cliff and I have always talked about having a dog. I never had a pet at all growing up and Cliff usually did so we come from different perspectives. But there are lots of things that a pet can provide for a family and for kids and we decided that now was a good time. Zane's already pretty confidant around him - Voto sat in the back of the van next to him for the ride home and kept getting closer and closer to Zane. Zane was thrilled "mom, I think he likes me!" And 5 minutes after getting home even Rhett was cautiously patting him on the head. Brock is politely disinterested right now.

So here's to our new adventure!

8 Months!

2009-10-14T12:53:00.004-06:00

OK, so he was 8 months a week ago.... Life is busy!

But Brock at 8 months is soooo much fun! Things he's up to:

- loves to stand up against anything

- starting to shuffle along things

- pulled himself up in his crib from sitting

- goes from his tummy to his bum when it suits him

- scoots but doesn't crawl

- loves paper, cords etc - anything that he shouldn't have

- blows raspberries ALL the time!

- loves to give the baby in the mirror kisses

- doesn't make strange

- reaches his arms to go to mom or dad

- thinks that Rhett and Zane are the BEST

- makes a funny clicking sound

- has 3 teeth cut and almost a 4th

- won't hold his own bottle - makes for good cuddles

- still has poof hair

- is a screecher

- usually has 2 good naps a day

- still doesn't like travelling for more than an hour

- is 19.6 lbs and about 28 inches....hard to measure a squirmy little person!

- likes most everything I've given him to eat

- says da da da all the time

- is usually up once or twice a night

- loves baths - especially if he gets one all by himself

- loves to walk all over the place if you hold his hands

- is a happy happy little boy

Reward

2009-10-06T18:52:00.003-06:00

This is my new hair....well, old hair but new color and freshened up cut. I hit my 20lb mark last week and decided to reward my self with a non-edible reward. So today I got it foiled and cut. And I'm going to try and repress how much it cost because I LOVE it.

So, 20 down, lots to go!

Cliff is 31!

2009-09-30T13:43:00.002-06:00

OK, so this should have been the title of my post yesterday. And no, I didn't really forget my hubby's birthday. I gave him a birthday kiss first thing, wished him happy birthday as he left for the day and called to see how his day was going....and didn't see him again until midnight! My wonderful hubby had YMs on his birthday and a volley ball practice to go as well so wasn't home to celebrate with. We'll probably do cake on Friday. Or maybe pie. I'm kinda craving banana cream pie. But if I make something I'm really craving I'll just eat more of it and that kinda defeats the whole exercise every morning thing. But I digress!

I am blessed to be married to a wonderful man. Some of his wonderfulness includes:
- he really, really, really loves me
- he's such a great dad!
- he works so hard
- he plays hard
- fulfills his church callings
- is handy around the house
- doesn't roll his eyes every time I ask a sports question....even if I've asked before
- pretty much lets me have my way on everything
- thinks I'm an awesome cook
- doesn't get cranky at me near as often as I get cranky at him
- NEVER complains about the house being a mess or supper not ready when he gets home
- supports me in my calling

Are you getting bored of reading about my wonderful hubby?
I could go on and on but I won't. I'll just say that I am married to a pretty incredible man and I'm thankful everyday for that blessing.

pictures.....

2009-09-29T12:37:00.006-06:00

Some pics from the last month! Brock is getting more mobile by the day...and the other two are as crazy as ever!

Quick Updates

2009-09-23T22:21:00.002-06:00

Now that I've got the last post finally done and posted I can do some updates!

Rhett:
Still potty training but doing a little bit better every day. He's staying dry for the most part....it's still usually me saying it's potty time but today he told me he had to go twice. PROGRESS! He still refuses to poop. Slow and steady. We'll get there. We're going through a lot of tootsie pop suckers. He gets a sticker for staying dry and a sticker for going pee. After all the boxes are filled up he gets a sucker. We started at 10 boxes and are up to 12 before he gets a sucker. He's also getting into his groove without Zane here. His imagination is exploding! Since he's home all day and "in charge" he's always playing little games, telling me my part and really being fun to have at home.

Zane:
Still loving school. Some of his friends are a little more colorful than I would like but that's what happens when a lot of your friends have older siblings and different standards than you. He's always excited to come home and tell me the best part of his day. AND his two front teeth that have been missing for almost 3 years due to cavities have FINALLY started coming back in. He told Auntie Lishie that the best part was that mommy wouldn't have to slice up his apples anymore.

Brock:
Trying sooooo hard to be mobile. Can move around on his tummy a little but not anywhere near what he wants to. HATES moving backwards when he's trying to go forwards. He's starting to get up on his hands and knees and rock...won't be long before he's mobile! He loves to balance against things, touch and taste everything, and has quit sleeping through the night. The stinker! He's also bigger than Zane was at this age. HUGE growth spurt. Oh yeah. And has developed a screech that can shatter glass....I swear. My head aches all day.

Me:
Trying to juggle lots of balls. Some days I do good, some days I don't. Slowly feeling like we're getting into the groove of routine and making lists of things to do in the next couple of months!

Cliff:
New venture leader in the ward. Looking forward to volleyball league starting up again and doing a great job at supporting me in everything. Totally became the boys hero (he was already...just further cemented that status today.) He came home from work with a Foosball table. Saw it for FREE on kiji and now it's sitting in my living room. Yep. In my already overcrowded living room. Sigh. I just keep telling myself that one day I will have a room all to myself. Sewing, reading, hiding from males.....yep. It'll be great.

I think we're busy and then I listen to other people's lives and I'm soooo glad for our little world!
Life is good...most days!

On the Same Side

2009-09-15T13:00:00.003-06:00

I've been wanting to write this blog for a couple of weeks now...but blogger and I were having issues with my new email address. Now that it's figured out I'm back. (I know, you were all really worried, weren't you?)
So I've been trying really hard to get up in the morning, do my seminary reading, and then leave the house and go for my walk/jog. I listen to some great music and try to think about all sorts of different things. My one rule - I can't think about things that stress me out like finances, potty training, lack of sleep....you get the picture.
A couple of weeks ago my great friend Leslie sent me an email about whales and mermaids. Have you seen it? I had before but really enjoyed reading it again. If you haven't seen it the Reader's Digest version is that some hot new gym is advertising for new clients with a poster asking : Do you want to be a Mermaid or a Whale this summer?
One fantastic woman writes a letter to the gym pointing out all of the wonderful positives of whales, listing their social networks, talents, love and family etc. While the mermaid is pointed out to not exist and that she would have extreme issues if she did actually exist. The woman ends the letter by stating that she would rather be a whale.
And where does this all fit in you ask? It fits in because it is was one of the thoughts I had while out in the morning. And I too thought that I would rather be a whale....an in shape and smaller sized whale, but a whale. I want to be surrounded by family and friends, have great talents, great love and enjoy life. And as I thought about this I thought about me when I was skinnier - after I achieved my last weight loss - and the thought I had was "even though I was smaller than I have ever been I was still struggling with the idea of being fat. I had programmed myself to that for so long that my brain was having a hard time matching up the person in the mirror and the person in my head. My next thought was that when I again achieved that weight loss I would have to work on my self image. I mulled this over for a few blocks but then came to the conclusion that I needed to start working on it now...not wait until I was nice and skinny again. From there I started thinking about all the different things my body and I have been through and here's some of what I came up with:
- 3 babies
- 2 miscarriages
- gall bladder removal
- D&C
- weight gain and loss
- sleep deprivation
- pancreatitis
- sick babies
- sick hubby
- sick me
- lots of love
- lots of laughing
- lots of hugs and kisses
- depression and climbing out of the hole
- several hair colors
- several hair styles
- lots of fashion bads
- learning how to dress better
- growing up
- and many other things
Some negative, some positive. But as I examined my list I realized that for a lot of things I was thinking of me and my body as separate. Not like an out-of-body experience or anything like that. More that there was me and then there was the physical me and the two me's seem to be at odds a lot of the time. Does that make sense or do you think I'm totally crazy. If you think I'm crazy don't answer. For instance, most people know that I am continuing the battle of weight. This is probably the biggest area where I feel like me and my body me are at odds. I've always felt like I was fighting against my body to get to where I wanted it to be. But as I thought about this - and by this time I hit the dreaded hill that I run up - I started thinking that instead of fighting each other, me and my body me need to get on the same page and start working together. I'm still working on how exactly to do this. One thing I am trying to do is to not put so much pressure on myself to lose all the baby weight right now. Yes, I'm working at it. Yes, it's not coming off as fast as I want it to. BUT I am still working on it. And slowly I'm seeing results. I know that I'll get there. I'm trying to recognize my limits more....slow down a bit and recognize that I know a lot of wonderful women who can juggle a lot more balls than I can....and that's OK. I need to the best that I can do. And I try to remind myself every day that me and my body are on the same side.

7 Months....

2009-09-08T22:00:00.003-06:00

Where has time gone? How is this baby already 7 months old? Sigh.

At 7 months old Brock....

- is DYING to be mobile. He gets himself onto his tummy and waves his arms and legs and screeches, scoots backwards and screeches more because he's not going anywhere

- is starting to butt scoot in a circle as he reaches for his toys and stuff

- eating more....

- is 19.2 lbs!

- has a cold and a growth spurt at the same time - makes for some long nights

- thinks hiccoughs are hilarious

- LOVES the big boy bath with his brothers

- rolled off the ottoman the other day when I was trying to get a diaper on him. He was not impressed when he hit the floor.

- likes to watch football with Daddy

- likes books, bead necklaces, anything that makes noise

- is getting very grabby - little arms and hands always reaching and trying to get things

- moved out of the infant car seat

- is starting to get a few forward steps in the walker

- wears mostly 6-12 month clothes

- loves to sit and "play" the piano

- starts to cry when one of his brothers cry

- is all smiles when he sees mom

- starting to squawk a bit when I walk away from him

- thinks mom wears earrings and necklaces for his entertainment
- makes me smile and laugh every day