Time flies when you're having fun!

This week has just flown by! Lots of fun things have happened and Thursday night Cliff's family arrived (minus Jamie and Amber). I let the kids stay up and wait until Cliff got home (late night with the sale) and after the kids were settled we watched the new Indiana Jones movie. Lots of fun but we stayed up WAY too late for how early my kids get up. Oh well. After a huge breakfast we got ready for the day and hung out a bit before Grandma and Auntie Rikki took the kids to Walmart. I finished Grandma's birthday cake and was putting the buns on pans when they got back with their new treasures: Jedi guns with sound effects! They LOVE them and I think their great....Daddy has a new rule though: No triggers until after everyone is awake in the morning! Apparently he didn't get a lot of sleep this morning because that's all he could hear. For the very rare once I slept through the noise. I'm blaming it on exhaustion. But back our fun times! I made buns and beef for lunch because mom LOVES my home made buns and we added in the veggies and stuff Cliff brought home from the sale. After being way too full from all the food we let Grandma open her presents. (Her birthday was last weekend) Well, she got to watch at least! Then the cake. I made Skor cake and we put 20 candles on it. Cliff got them all lit, we started singing Happy Birthday and before we finished the song the candles were out! Rhett started blowing and Zane joined in. 3 good blows later no more flames. I was laughing to hard to finish singing! We all ate HUGE pieces of cake and then watched Iron Man. Zane quickly lost interest - I was glad because I really didn't like it all that much. Rhett fell asleep in the first 5 minutes and slept for almost 3 hours and the rest of us made it through. We finished off our time together by going to Kelsey's for supper. I was really glad that I had thought to call and make a reservation because there were 8 of us and we would have been waiting forever otherwise! We had lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa and the aunties!

Today the kids and I made sugar cookies. Other than that we've been extremely lazy. Rhett and I had a nap on the couch - his much longer than mine - and I've spent A LOT of time on the computer this afternoon.

Tonight is Stake Conference adult session - I think our plan is for Cliff to go tonight and me to stay home with the kiddlets. And then tomorrow Cliff is heading to Edmonton for Trail's sale there so it's me and kiddos alone for Stake Conference. I'm a little scared. That's a long time to keep the two of them quiet, occupied and happy by myself on hard chairs. Hopefully it goes well!

My new Favorite thing..

Is the SELF-CLEAN button on my oven. I've had the thing for a year now and have never used it. After cooking my turkey without anything over it (the first and last time I EVER do that ) my oven was disgusting. And any time I used it my whole house smelled like burnt turkey. Ugh. Anyways, after reading in my book what exactly I had to do (press 2 whole buttons and wait) I decided to go for it. W-O-W. When it was done and cooled off it took me 30 seconds to wipe out the ash stuff and voila - an oven that looks fabulous! I'm in love. Of course I called Cliff at work and thanked him profusely for buying me an oven that would do this for me - gotta give credit where credit is due. I'll never ever ever go back.

The last couple days I feel like I've been nesting - weird since I'm only 21 weeks but my house is looking great! Monday we had a family home evening on keeping our homes neat and clean and organized and talked about how Heavenly Father wants our homes to be like Temples. We talked about how inside the temples everything is neat and clean and put away, etc. Earlier in the day I really de-junked the toys and made some labels for different baskets and stuff. The rule is now at the end of the day the boys help to clean up. Anything they don't want to clean up or they leave behind for mom to do after they're in bed goes in a garbage bag and I'll give it to kids without toys. So far, so good.

Daddy and the boys did not clean up tonight....they were too busy carving a pumpkin! One of the sales guys at work brought Cliff this huge pumpkin that was already scooped out so all they had to do was carve it. I was at a baby shower and apparently Rhett was into the pumpkin thing until it got a face...then he walked around saying "scared, scared". We'll see how it goes tomorrow!

The kids have been busy busy pretending up a storm. The other day they were both running around in spider man suites, we've had pirates, ninjas, cowboys, superheroes....well you get the picture. Rhett has been carrying around 2 pez dispensers lately - they are his 'robots' and he just LOVES them right now. Zane loves transformers, spider man, and star wars. The top love depends on the day.

So here's some pics to wind up the post!

Recent Happenings....

We had originally planned on NOT doing a big dinner for Thanksgiving - we stayed here in Sylvan - and were just going to do something fun on Monday with Robison's - I'll get to that in a minute. Then my oh so lovable hubby batted his eyes at me and said "I'd really like Turkey for Thanksgiving". Now, if you've read my 100th post you might remember "cooking a turkey" as one of the things I listed as wanting to do. After multiple phone calls to both moms, some last minute shopping with the kidlets and some laughs I can proudly say that I cooked a turkey on Sunday. It was a little dry, the drippings were burnt (hazard of leaving bird cooking while attending all 3 hours of church - sigh) so the gravy was gross but otherwise a success. Made great turkey buns and soup as well! While I was washing it out I was a little grosses out - the smell and me prego was a challenge. Zane covered his eyes and said "eww gross. Dad, I can't watch!" Rhett just watched. I also made banana cream pie and we had Pratts over after supper to help us eat them. Oh, so yummy. Actually considering making more this weekend.

Monday we were fairly lazy. Robison's came over and we had a really fun backwards dinner - started with ice cream sundaes and ended with BBQ hamburgers and chips. The kids were in HEAVEN! We let them eat as much ice cream and chips as they wanted. We played games, hung out and enjoyed the time together.

Next excitement came in the form of wearing a holter all day yesterday. Something to record my heart all day long. Oh, and the trip to emerg with Zane that lasted 8 hours. Poor kid has a virus in his digestive track which equalled tummy full of gas and PAIN! They ended up giving the poor kid morphine after trying unsuccessfully to get an IV into him. But, it finally got his pain under control and I was finally able to take him home just after midnight. We've had a couple of long nights around here! Thankfully, he's keeping things down, pain free and happy today.

I'm sure I'm going to remember things that I wanted to post about a little while later....

Thankful

I am thankful that my husband is a worthy priesthood holder who is willing to use his priesthood to bless our family.
Rhett has NEVER been a good sleeper. Everyone who knows us or who has read this blog for awhile knows that. But lately it's gotten even worse. He spends the majority of the night tossing and turning, crying out in his sleep, and waking up in full tantrums. Nothing I've tried has helped. I finally (why am I so slow sometimes?) prayed about it. And felt strongly that he needed a blessing. Cliff gave him a blessing tonight before bedtime and blessed him with peaceful sleep, to not feel that he needed to be worried about someone or something "getting" him and that he would learn to sleep through the night. I am very hopeful that this will help Rhett and in turn help me. This prego mama really needs some sleep before the next
non-sleeper Johnson arrives!

Just when you think you're home free...

You see your doctor for your checkup and find out you gained a schwack of weight last month AND you have a heart murmur that may or may not be something. So, I'm getting an EKG this week, wearing a heart monitor for 24 hours next week and have an ecocardiogram scheduled for November 18 unless my doc thinks that's too long and decides to pull strings and bump it up. The nurse at the front who was booking everything seemed to think that was a good possibility. I'm not too worried about having a murmur - did some reading. More worried that the big weight gain is going to lead to diabetes again and don't know what that plus a heart murmur equals in terms of complications. My diabetes screen is at the end of the month and hopefully we'll know more about the murmur by then to. So, until then I just sit and wait. And that's what I know. Cheers!

Appropriate

I have been playing around with different ideas for a new title for my blog because I was sure that this baby was going to be a girl and then "The Life and Times of Me and the Boys" wouldn't work very well anymore. Are you wondering what I've come up with? Here's the new and improved title: "The Life and Times of Me and the Boys" Yep. No change. Thanks to the wonderful ultrasound technology we found out that we are expecting a BLUE bundle and not PINK one like I thought. To put it mildly, we were shocked. But that only lasted for a few seconds before I was overjoyed. Three boys together are going to be so much fun! Not to mention cheaper in the wardrobe department....at least for now. 3 teenage boys in the house at once is going to be rough on the food budget. Oh well. Like I said, it's going to be lots of fun and we're really excited to welcome the new little blue one into our family. Zane thinks it's really cool that he's getting another baby brother and wanted to see the pictures from the ultrasound. Rhett will tell you where our baby is (in my tummy) but when I ask him if he wants a baby brother he says 'no'. Anyways, everything checked out GREAT at the ultrasound. He's measuring right where he should be according to my dates and the placenta and fluid are great. Heart's great and everything else is accounted for!
We've had lots of people ask us if that means we'll try one more time for a girl. Umm, no. We are done at 3. And no, I don't think I'll change my mind. We are both happy with 3 - even without a girl. I'll just have to wait for daughter-in-laws and grandbabies to do all the fun girlie stuff with. And maybe I'll get lucky and have some nieces before then!
On a different note, Monday Cliff turned 30! We had a big party for him last night. And by big I mean almost 30 adults and a handful of babies here at our house for Rock Band and lots of yummy food. We took our kids to Allred's and had a babysitter for both sets of kids. It worked really great - minus the fact that they didn't go to sleep until they were home at 11:00. Ugg. And then they were up at 7:00. It's been a long day here!
So, that's about all that's new in our world. Oh, and if you see my dad don't tell him we're having a boy. He doesn't want to know!

100th...and what I've been doing!

Wow. My 100th post. I did my 100 things about me quite awhile ago...I should be good and post the link here - but I'm super tired and don't feel like figuring it out. Sorry. I do want to do something fun for my 100th post though so I'll do a quick update and then what I had originally planned...lost track of how close I was!

So, here's what I've been doing in a nutshell:

- getting used to Zane being in school - including making lunches, homework and school assemblies

- finished reading the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer in 5 days - lots of reading not so much housework and cooking going on in those days

- trying to catch up from the 5 day hibernation

- arguing with Zane over Star Wars

- laughing at my kids funnies

- teaching piano 3 days a week

- being SOOOO tired! Don't remember it being this bad with the other 2

- trying to take it easier with this pregnancy than the other two so I can make it to 38 weeks

- counting days till my ultrasound on Friday!

- packed for an overnighter to Barnwell

- went to Barnwell Thursday night with Cliff and the boys and came home on Friday night

- enjoyed seeing all the family - especially uncle Don and aunt Kathy and their kids home visiting from Australia - the whole point to our whirlwind trip. We haven't seen them in 5 years!

- eating yummy yummy food all weekend that I didn't have to cook

- enjoying Alisha and her friend Jackie for some of the weekend.

- laughing like crazy when Zane asked Auntie to "drop out" of a star wars level so he could finish by himself. the look on her face was priceless

- forgetting that we had school fundraising to do that has to be handed in tomorrow. Yuck. I'd gladly get rid of this part of school.

- craving Skittles, Starbursts, and Winegums. Yum yum yummy

- not liking chocolate this pregnancy

- starting to get heartburn after eating....anything

- starting to outgrow things and not wanting to spend money on clothes I'm only going to wear for a couple more months

- did I mention that I am tired ALL the time?

And that's about it. At least it's all that I can remember. I'm sure there are lots of things that I have forgotten and if I remember I'll include them in another post!

Now for my 100....things that I want to do in my life!

1. learn to play the violin

2. get my nursing degree and work on maternity

3. teach my children piano

4. get back into my skinny jeans after having this baby

5. be a better friend

6. be a better wife

7. be a better mom

8. flip houses - and get to the point where I just have to supervise and not get dirty!

9. stop eating when I'm full

10. learn to enjoy exercise

11. understand my scriptures more

12. feel the spirit more in my life

13. see my sons serve honorable missions

14. see all my children get married in the temple to wonderful spouses

15. plant a garden

16. do WAY more quilting!

17. visit Hawaii

18. NOT swim with sharks - Leslie is convinced she's going to get me to do this. I'll stay on the beach thanks

19. Get a better camera and learn how to use it

20. Stay caught up on my pictures in albums

21. Have a music room in my house

22. Have all my music organized!

23. Save for a grand piano - probably not until after my kids are long gone!

24. Go back to Huntington California with Cliff and stay in the huge hotel across from the beach...

25. Get a professional massage

26. Go on a temple tour with Cliff

27. attend General Conference live once

28. go to Australia

29. sky dive - only if I'm strapped to someone a lot bigger than me who will throw us out of the plane

30. make it through a summer with the same pair of sunglasses

31. start donating blood again

32. travel to Italy

33. try golf...

34. start running again

35. be a better housekeeper

36. become less selfish

37. curb my sugar addiction

38. catch up on my sleep - I can hope!

39. not care so much about what other people think

40. get out of debt

41. keep old friends and make new ones

42. be a good visiting teacher

43. be better prepared for an emergency

44. learn how to read a map...I'm hopeless!

45. take ballroom dancing classes

46. learn to rock climb

47. sing in a choir again...it's been a very very very long time

48. enlarge my shoe selection

49. shop for the same size of pants year after year after year

50. bear my testimony more - especially for my children

51. appreciate the little things in my life

52. live where winter doesn't stay for 6 months of the year - I'll even take the chinooks!

53. teach my children to be independent

54. sleep through the night again

55. teach my kids healthy habits - eating and exercise

56. find the balance between school and extra curricular with my kids

57. cook manicottie

58. cook a turkey

59. host Christmas at my house one year

60. build wonderful memories for my family

61. develop a better memory

62. Get better at recording things in case 61 doesn't pan out!

63. change myself for the better

64. grow a flower garden

65. have a raspberry patch

66. have a strawberry patch

67. own a vehicle that doesn't run on gas

68. be better at budgeting and saving

69. have a date night every week...not every month

70. keep my children safe

71. live closer to our families

72. get better at piano

73. worry less

74. laugh more

75. do a zip line tour in Hawaii or some cool place like that

76. serve a mission with Cliff

77. have lots of yummy smelling candles in my house

78. appreciate Christmas more for what the season is supposed to be

79. learn more about my kids

80. maybe try to have a dog...maybe

81. have the ultimate basement/backyard for our kids and their friends

82. learn to walk in high heels better

83. have more than jeans and t-shirts in my wardrobe

84. continue to make a menu

85. attend the temple more regularly

86. voice my opinion more

87. pass on my love of reading to my kids

88. play more with my kids

89. appreciate my hubby more

90. learn how to can fruit and maybe jam

91. be more girlie

92. forgive quicker

93. grumble less

94. find beauty in more things

95. recycle more

96. read more

97. have a toy free room

98. have an empty closet - just because

99. make me more a priority

100. ENJOY all my moments - good and bad

wow. That was harder I think than 100 things about me. Hope you enjoyed it!

Mulling over....

Recent happenings in my extended family have left me pondering relationships and forgiveness. I won't go into details because certain events have already caused a lot of pain and hurt for some and I don't wish to spread that to anyone else. Mostly I am disappointed and sad for members of my family. The one's who have been hurt and also the ones who caused the hurt. It is a situation that has existed for a very long time - too long - and is repeated in various circumstances and periods of time. It has caused me to think and compare families - ones I was born into, ones I've married into, and ones that I am privileged to spend a lot of time with. Not one of these families is perfect. They all have problems and dare I say dysfunctions. Some more than others. Yet some have a love and respect for each other that is second to none, where others are complicated and have hurtful histories. And this is where it gets complicated for me. I am a natural peace maker. I believe that it is one of my talents and gifts. I don't like confrontation. My first instinct is to soothe and try to make peace - whether I am involved directly or someone has come to me. When recent events came to light my first instinct was to make it "better" somehow. But that's not my role or my responsibility. Our Saviour came to this world and suffered and died and was resurrected so that we might be forgiven and in turn learn to forgive others. And you can't give that forgiveness until you are willing to forgive. Harboring hurt does not encourage forgiveness, and without forgiveness you can't heal. I have thought how the Saviour taught us to forgive the same injury over and over and over again - how He shows us the same loving forgiveness for our own insults and mistakes - and I have prayed a lot in my heart. I have prayed to forgive and forget and that the more injured ones will also be able to forgive and to heal.
I have also pondered the state of families in the eternities when their existence here in time has not been one of a cohesive family unit. Will it be easier to forgive when we have been reminded of the big picture? Or will our families remain in the same state they are in now? Some strong and thriving, some broken and floundering. It makes me so grateful for the powerful bonds of love I have with my siblings and my parents. And of the same bonds Cliff has with his family and that we as our own family unit share with each other's families. We never question their love for us, their concern for us or their support of us. And we hope that they feel the same from us. I pray as I watch Zane and Rhett (and soon baby #3)playing and fighting and growing together that they will always have the relationship they have today - that it will grow and mature with them so when they reach adulthood and start their own families they will know that they can count on one another for strength and support. And that they will know of our love and support for them.
Families are continually changing - wouldn't it be nice if we could guarantee it was always things that would bring us closer together and closer to our goal of an eternal family? But then guarantees don't fit in with the plan I chose so very long ago. Free agency, free choice, whatever you want to title it as was given as a gift and we choose what we do with it. We can choose to forgive or we can choose to let wounds fester. Personally, I'm choosing to forgive.

"Firsts of Kindergarten...."

We had TWO first days at kindergarten this week...Wednesday I went with Zane to meet his teacher. It was good except for when Mrs. Cocks wanted the kids to line up without their parents and Zane didn't want to leave me. I've worried about this for the past 2 days. Today all of my fears were put to rest. Cliff took Zane to school and came back with the report that all was well. And he was. He got to be the special helper all day long, play in the gym, played outside in the rain at recess and got a special treat from the office for being the special helper. They call it the Razzle Dazzle Kid and he was floating on cloud nine when I picked him up. He chose a spider man coloring book with stickers and couldn't wait to get home and get started on the stickers. I was so relieved that everything went well. I was really anxious that he would have problems with his shoes or coat or something like that. He goes to all day kindergarten so has 2 recesses and a lunch that he has to change from inside to outside shoes and get his coat on and off and zipped and all that stuff. These are skills that he CAN do, but doesn't particularly LIKE to do. And of course it's the first time that he's been gone all day in someone else's care that I don't know well, with kids I've never met and doing things that I don't know about ALL DAY LONG. Preschool didn't phase me. How much can they really do in 2 hours? But all day? It was hard to let him go and I hope I didn't pass any of my anxieties onto him. But we survived and we'll continue to do the same Monday, Wednesday and every other Friday! Rhett was so excited to see Zane when he got home. He couldn't wait for him to get his coat and shoes off and get a hug. Of course they were fighting about 2 minutes later, but for a split second they were thrilled to see each other.

Grammie S and Auntie Kizzy have come to stay with us for a whole week! They got here just before bedtime on Friday and we've been having lots of fun hanging out and playing and reading and all that good stuff. We wanted to go to the corn maze in Lacombe yesterday but it rained off and on all day and we decided it wouldn't be fun in drizzle and cold with kids in tow. Hopefully we'll find the time to go before they leave us Friday morning!

Tomorrow Zane is off to school, I have a doc appointment and we have some shopping we want to do. I also start my first full week of piano lessons as well. I'm teaching 11 students this year! That's almost triple of what I've ever taught before and I'm a little nervous about being able to do it all. But I've got them all lined up for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 4 until 6 so I think it'll work out pretty good....

And congrats to Whit and Brad! We hear that Finn is just cuter than cute!

You know you're pregnant when....

You cry over a kid's book from the library. Seriously. I had to get Cliff to finish reading it because I was crying too hard. Sheesh. It was called Mars Needs Moms! by Berkeley Breathed and it's a really great story about a little boy realizing why moms are such good things. Sigh. Hormones are just so great aren't they?

We went to the zoo on Friday as a family and had a great time. The weather was perfect - sunny but not too hot and a nice breeze every once in a while. We got to see lots of animals and saw most of the zoo. Rhett was one tired little boy by the time we were done. I took the umbrella stroller with me but he only rode in it for maybe 1/2 an hour...and we were there for almost 5 hours! 7 minutes in the van and he was out! That's a lot of walking for short little legs. But the boys enjoyed it and we took lots of fun pics of the animals and the kids posing at different spots and stuff like that. They really enjoyed the prehistoric part of the zoo and Zane was thrilled when Cliff pointed out the tyrannosaurus rex! I'm not posting pics because I'm being lazy and still have Cinnamon buns to finish tonight. I think we're going to make the trip to the zoo a yearly tradition...there's so many different things you can do there as the kids get older and stuff.

Zane is obsessed with the XBOX 360 game Lego Star Wars and it's driving me insane. It's all he talks about....minus asking when he can play with Parker. And it wouldn't bug me so much I think if playing it once a day would satisfy him...but it doesn't. He wants to play it as soon as he wakes up and when he's not playing it he's asking when he can play it again. Now I'm not denying that it's a fun game...I like playing it with him and we've had a lot of fun together. What's bothering me about it is his obsessiveness (is that a word?) about it. I've tried explaining to him that too much time playing video games isn't good for his brain or his body but it's going in one ear and out the other. So we have decided to give him a very strict time limit every day and if that doesn't work then I guess the game is going to have to disappear for a while.

Anyways, Rhett is whining rather loudly from bed so I need to go and quiet that one down before he wakes his brother up. Hope all is well with everyone else!

Girls fun

Tuesday night I went out with a bunch of great gals for a movie and yummy treats at Moxie's. The movie didn't turn out quite the way it was supposed to - the plan was we were all going to a chick flick - not exactly my cup of tea but it was an excuse to get out with the girls. When my friend Jennie and I arrived at the theater we met up with another gal who said the movie we were supposed to see was sold out. Oh darn. We decided to go to another movie - action, comedy and romance all rolled into one. Can't beat that! It was funny because when we pulled up to the theater and saw what else was playing Jennie and I looked at each other and she asked why in the world we were going to this chick flick instead of one of the others. We think a lot a like. Our hubbies were quite put out that we saw this particular movie without them. Poor guys. It's worth seeing again so I'm not too worried. The restaurant was a blast. I think there were about 10 of us...and it was an hour of laughs and good times before heading home. I have been so blessed to be surrounded by amazing women. I honestly believe that Heavenly Father has blessed me with such good friends because I can't live where my family is....these friends have become my family away from family. Some are closer than others, but I have an incredible support group here and I am so thankful for that.
Today was a fun day - Zane and Parker played ALL day at Parker's house - thanks Jennie! - and Rhett was able to join in for the morning. Then mean mommy played the nap card - the kid is unbearable without a nap in the afternoon. The boys play so well together that Jennie offered to let Zane stay for the afternoon and I actually got some nice quiet time to myself and got caught up on a few things. So nice.
My newest project is to get my pictures caught up on journal ling. They're all in albums, but I'm almost a year behind in writing the funny things and little stories that go along with them. Then it's on to putting a quilt together for my ward's Super Saturday so they can tie it, and after that I think I'm going to start on things for this kiddo.
Oh, and I have a couple of new piano students this year...it's going to be an interesting change in a couple of weeks with Zane starting school, me starting to teach again, and I want to do some things with just Rhett. I think I've got some good ideas lined up and we want to put the boys in swim lessons on the the days Zane isn't in school. I have a feeling it will be Christmas before I know it! Better start thinking about what to get everyone!
Sorry it's random...that's kinda how I am these days. Prego update is that I'm pretty much over the gagging - yeah! - starting to have heart burn - boo - and have been craving salsa and chips the past couple of days. Yum! Also have been doing good on the exercise but horrible on the eating. Sigh, one day I'll get it right!

Things

I finished Janice's baby quilt last night...and gave it to her...and FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES! What's wrong with me? Sigh. Now I have to finish one of the other ones to get pictures to prove how cute the first one was!
I thought yesterday that I was on the winning end of my head cold. I was wrong. Ugh. At least it won't last forever!
I'm sure that I am not the only one to think during moments of the day when children are screaming/hitting/trying to make someone miserable, that maybe the whole kid thing isn't worth it. But then a loving Heavenly Father send moments like this:

RHETT: Knock Knock
ZANE: Who's there?
RHETT: Banana - at which time he bursts into laughter and Zane joins in

RHETT: Knock Knock
ZANE: Who's there?
RHETT: I don't know - again bursts into giggles

ZANE: Knock, Knock
RHETT: Who's there?
ZANE: Fill in appropriate response
RHETT: Laughs hysterically without the punchline

I was laughing so hard at this that I had to leave because they didn't know I was paying attention. Sigh. I wish they would always get along this well! And I don't know where he learned knock-knock jokes. Zane's know them for a long time now but hasn't been telling any as far as I know. The things that come out of kid's mouths!

Catch up!

The Sunday after Alisha and Jay's wedding we were in Barnwell hanging out with Cliff's family. His mom deep-fried a turkey and it was the best turkey I've ever had. It was so moist and yummy. I was really surprised how much I liked it because usually when I'm pregnant I can't eat real turkey - just doesn't stay down. Anyways, we took family pics in the afternoon and the reason Rhett's not in them is because he was having a nap and Rikki had to leave for work. We took some later of just him and Grandma and Grandpa - he was not impressed so we didn't attempt anything else. Zane and Uncle Jamie jumped on the trampoline and added water for lots of fun. They stayed out there for 2 hours! Early that evening Cliff headed home to Sylvan and we headed back to Raymond for the next week and a bit.
We spent the week doing lots of fun things: library, flying kites, park, sand box, hearing Great Grandpa Knibb play his accordion (Zane really liked it but it was a lot louder than he thought it would be. For me it brought back good memories of being really little and hearing Grandpa play music in their basement. It didn't happen very often that I remember so it was always a real treat) We did some shopping - maternity clothes for me, jeans for kindergarten, and of course the dollar store. Great Grandpa gave the kids some money to roll (ended up being $40) and I let them each spend $10 at the dollar store. They had a blast picking out whatever they wanted and we got back to Grammie's with lots of fun new stuff. We got to see lots of friends and family and always seemed to be on the go! In fact I took my quilting with me and didn't touch it once! Very unusual for us...but by the end of the day all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and do nothing.
Saturday we headed for Taber to attend a Peterson family reunion. My Grandma Knibb(mom's mom) was a Peterson before marrying. I haven't seen her side of the family since I was a little girl - grandma died when I was 11 and I'm sure it was a couple of years before that. Anyways, it was being held at the Legion park just out of town and there was some very old playground stuff there...including one of those 8 foot slides that have a ladder going straight up and down. Rhett was in love with the slide and went up and down about 25 times with no problems. There was a cousin playing with him and Rhett and Rhett was getting a little excited - we think that's why he lost his balance at the top of the slide and fell...all the way to the bottom! Mom, Kinsey and I were sitting a ways away at a picnic table and as soon as we saw him topple all 3 of us were up and running. I beat them there and Kinsey later told me she couldn't believe I moved that fast. I told her fear makes a mom move extra fast. When we got to him his eyes were open, not focused and he wasn't breathing. I grabbed him and ran back to the table to get a better look at him. He finally started breathing but then he passed out. I was up and heading for the vehicles immediately and screaming for Kinsey to get her keys. I admit I was a little hysterical at the moment but I was already having a bad hormone day and I knew that there was something wrong. A well meaning relate tried to convince us that he would be fine and that we didn't need to go but I just ignored her and we left. Got to the hospital, got him checked out, confirmed a concussion but no broken bones, had the doctor look right at me and ask me if anyone had been watching him - I was too upset to really pay any attention to his tone at the time but later I was pretty ticked. He would have fallen had I been where I was, at the bottom of the stairs or in the van for some reason. Anyways, he was planning on keeping him over night in Taber but agreed to let us go to Raymond since that's where we were staying. Kinsey drove me and Rhett to Raymond while mom brought Zane after getting some things arranged at the reunion. Once we got to Raymond we were admitted and a doctor that I don't know (must have been on rotation or something) came and looked at him. He wanted to talk to the peds doc in Lethbridge because when a child is under 2 and gets a concussion they automatically do a cat scan. Rhett is barely over 2 so he was concerned. After talking to the peds doc we were off to Lethbridge for a CT scan. But first our good family friend Randy Baker came and gave Rhett a blessing. Cliff was at home, Dad on his way home, and all our other priesthood family members were on holidays. Anyways, it was a wonderful blessing and we felt really calm as mom and I headed to Lethbridge with Rhett. Zane went home with Randy because we didn't know how long it would take and Kinsey had other obligations she had to be at. The drive in Rhett was very alert and pointing out trains, trucks, asking for Zane etc. We got to the hospital, got in right away and it wasn't long before we saw the doctor. We had to get him sedated in order to get the CT done and it ended up taking 2 rounds. That was our longest wait - him to go to sleep. Once asleep it didn't take very long and 10 minutes later we knew that his brain was fine. We had to wait until he woke up and had something to drink before heading home. We did see my cousin Wes there - he's an ER nurse and came on shift before we left. He became Rhett's friend because he cut off the hospital bracelets on his legs - he was not a fan of those! It still makes me scared when I think of how much worse it could have been and I am convinced that there were a couple of angels on the ground under him when he hit. To only have a bruise on his head is a miracle and we were very blessed. I am so thankful for the mindfulness of our Heavenly Father and for the power of the priesthood. Sunday he was back to normal. A little grouchy but fine otherwise.
Monday we went to Waterton with Grammie and Grandpa Dooley, and Auntie Kizzy and her boyfriend Danny. We had a picnic up at Cameron Lake and Zane went in with Auntie and Danny. Rhett wanted nothing to do with the water and was more than content to throw rocks into the lake. Really he was in paradise. The kid thinks all rocks belong in a puddle - doesn't matter what size the puddle is. Kizzy and Danny went and climbed Bears hump - we did the "hike" at Cameron falls. The boys were thrilled and I was tired. Threw more rocks into the lake, went to the candy store and the ice cream store - yum yum yum and headed home. It was fun to go - I haven't been in 8 years! And the kids had a great day with everyone. Tuesday was spent winding stuff up and getting ready to come home. We had a wonderful time but were glad to come home and see daddy again!
And now that I'm home it doesn't feel like I've stopped moving! Wednesday night we went to softball, Thursday I took Zane to the doctor because he's been having weird stomach aches for 3 weeks, and the stethoscope cured him. Love it when that happens! We have a great doc who decided to do some x-rays and stuff just to make sure nothing was blocked so Friday we headed into Red Deer after Cliff went golfing to get those done and do a Costco run. Then Cliff decided we should got out for supper. Saturday I spent most of the day quilting and then that night Cliff and I went out with friends for the UFC fight night. We had lots of fun but it was late night.
Sunday was a good day at church and then we headed to Eckville for Leslie's birthday. Lots of yummy food and good company made for a great time!
Yesterday I had my first prenatal visit. There's a lot more paperwork this time around - or so it seems. But I checked out as healthy and I heard the baby's heartbeat. 170! That a lot faster than the boys ever were - I'm crossing my fingers this one is pink so here's hoping. It feels more real to me now that I've heard the heartbeat. I've been really gaggie this time - not puking - but gag a lot and I already look like I'm way further a long - nothing new there, and of course the hormones and the pinched sciatic and all the fun stuff but hearing that heartbeat made me go yep, there's a baby there and she? is going to make an appearance in February! Wow. We are so blessed. We didn't think we'd get pregnant again so fast after our last miscarriage because it took us so long after the first time. But we couldn't be happier!
Today I have baked like a marathon baker! 3 batches of muffins, a batch of buns, 2 dozen cinnamon buns, and I experimented with pizza buns. My first batch leaked all over my pan but I did better the second time around. Hopefully they taste good! I'm hoping to finish up a baby quilt by tomorrow night and then relax!
We're glad to be home and we missed everyone here and of course we already miss the ones we left in southern Alberta! (Sorry it was so long winded!)

Lots of pics...some writing

We're home! Just a quick rundown of the last 2 weeks...lots of fun...Lish and Jay's wedding, (no pics sorry took all the pics on their camera!) Johnson family pics, Zane and Uncle Jamie on the tramp with the sprinkler, lots of playing outside, Rhett got a concusion at a family reunion from falling off an 8 foot slide and we visited 3 hospitals in 8 hours....everything is fine and I'll write the story next time, did Waterton and did I mention that we had sooooo much fun? Here's some pics and I'll do more details in the next day or so I promise!

A lot of this and that!

This post is probably going to be a pretty good length and no pictures yet sorry. I'm posting in southern Alberta and will have to wait until I'm back in Sylvan before getting some pictures up. But enough of that and on to the fun!
Tuesday morning I left Sylvan with the boys at 6:30 am to go to Zane's dentist appt at 7 and then we headed south. We made pretty good time and got to Raymond just after noon. We spent the next couple of days playing with Grammie and Grandpa Dooley when we could, helping with last minute wedding stuff where we could, and helping move Great Grandpa Knibb into the Lodge in Raymond. We were pretty busy but the kids were troopers! Cliff drove down Wednesday night and headed straight to Barnwell. He had a tee time the next morning at 9 with a high school friend so we took our sweet time getting to Barnwell on Thursday and ended up all at Grandma's house at the same time. The kids love Barnwell because they have a little more freedom to run between Grandma and Grandma Great's houses, jump on the trampoline, play crash on auntie's play station and pretty much run the show.
We went out with Cliff's family Thursday night to Cheesecake...so fun - good food and 11 of us! We didn't really think to call ahead so we ended up sitting in 3 different booths that were all together but not too great for conversation. Oh well. We still had a great time and the kids did pretty good. While we were waiting to get in Cliff and Kristie stayed in the van with them and watched a Backyardigans movie over and over - I did take them some cookies to combat the munchies! After supper Cliff's parents were great and traded us vehicles and took the kids home so we could run to the mall and get Cliff a new phone. His decided to suddenly die when he got here. Not good to drop every call when work is trying to get a hold of you! We've had his old one for about 5 years so really it didn't owe us anything and Cliff got the one he's been wanting for quite awhile.
Friday was pretty relaxed. We didn't really have a lot to do until the evening when it was time to do wedding stuff for Lish and Jay. I do have to say that Lish gave me a pretty good scare when she called me that morning in tears saying something was wrong...my first thought (and Kizzy's and her 2 best friends) was that the wedding was called off! Thank goodness we were wrong! There was a snag with the decorating time and a few other things but everything got sorted out. We met everyone down at the Lethbridge country club that evening for a quick run through rehearsal and then went to the Regent. I LOVE the Regent. I'm not a fan of Chinese food in Red Deer and we haven't been brave enough to try any in Sylvan so I was really happy to get some great food! Thanks Lish and Jay for including us in your day!
Saturday was a great day in so many ways. Of course we had Lish and Jay's wedding this weekend but Barnwell was also celebrating Centennial days so they had lots of fun things planned Friday and Saturday. Grandma Great decided to do a float for the parade on Saturday and Zane has been so excited about it since he found out about it. All he wanted was to ride the float and throw candy. So we started off the day by going to the pancake breakfast - yummy yummy. The kids played at the park for awhile and then we headed back to Grandma's to jump on the trampoline. We found Grandpa a little while later hooking up the tractor to the trailer for the float so we hitched a ride to Grandma Great's house and helped with the decorating for awhile. After lunch the boys went with Grandpa to take the float over to the church and we met them over them. This started the longest part of the day for Zane. He's on the float, has a bucket of candy and we're not moving anywhere yet! We sat for about 35 minutes before starting off and he was just thrilled! By the time we had gone about 1/4 of the route he had thrown all of his candy and even got to throw some water balloons. Oh the bliss of it for him. Rhett either sat on my lap or stood in front of me and ate a very sticky, very green sucker. By the time we were halfway done he was one big sticky mess all over. Cliff had ditched his socks so we dunked one in a bucket of water from the water balloons and used that to clean up most of the mess. I hate being sticky and was not holding him for the rest of the way like that. Yuck. As we finished off the route Hansens were handing out ice cream sandwiches to everyone so of course the boys thought they were in heaven. Zane decided to stay at Grandma Greats and play some games while I drug Rhett back to Grandma's for a much needed nap. He can't make it yet without a nap and although it was late I thought mom and dad would appreciate a happy Rhett while we were gone rather than a grouchy-can't stand you - Rhett. And I was right! Cliff and I left around 4:30 and headed for Lethbridge so the rest of the night for the kids is what I have been told. They did more jumping, played at a park, rode the go-cart at Grandma Great's with cousin Rebecca and apparently LOVED it, had a bath, popcorn for a snack, and got to stay up and watch the fireworks. Zane really liked the fireworks but Rhett wasn't too interested. I'm so glad they had such a great day! Thanks again mom and dad and Kristie for watching them and making such good memories for them!
On to the wedding. I got to see Lish as she got to the country club and immediately teared up - she was gorgeous and mom and Kizzy looked fantastic as well. I was sooo emotional all day but that's ok. Everything went great and really smooth during the ceremony - minus the one pause the officiator had to make to allow a helicopter to fly over. She just couldn't out shout the thing. Mom, Kizzy, and I leaked tears through the whole thing and Lish and Jay had their moments. They looked really happy and we're glad that year of planning paid off for them! Some quick family pictures after the ceremony and we were off to run a few quick errands before the reception. Lish asked if I would take pictures of people after they signed the guest book ( a photo album) so they could match pictures to people. A fun idea that went pretty smoothly. I took a lot of fun candid shots too so I hope they have a lot of good memories. The rest of the night went really well. Food was great, slide show that Lish did was fantastic, all the toasts were well done and I cried through the dance of Lish and Dad. We were finally able to convince the bride and groom to go so that we could clean up and Cliff and I made it back to Barnwell just after 1:00 am. Minus one drunk cousin that I really don't like it was a great day.
Mom and dad were great this morning as well. I got up with the kids at 7:00 and mom sent me back to bed for more sleep! THANK YOU! We have a family dinner here and we're going to try and get some family pics - the last big ones we did Zane was maybe 2 - time for some new ones! And then Cliff is headed home to Sylvan and the boys and I back to Raymond until after the long weekend!
Whew - that was a long one but it's all things I want to remember and if it interests you - great!

10 Things...

Ok I know I did this 3 months ago but things always change and my memory can always use the help!


10 Thing I Want to Remember about Rhett....

1. Your obsession with Lightning McQueen....you carry your Lightning car everywhere and are always saying "oh no mom...queen crashed!" to which I say "Oh, no, McQueen crashed" and to which you giggle and say "yeah, 'Queen crashed AGAIN!" - with lots of emphasis added
2. You are absolutely thrilled that you can call Zane by name now and yourself as well
3. You LOVE books...and will hole up in your room with me and just bring me books and snuggle in the rocking chair...I love it
4. When you hear the word GO you automatically head for the door at top speed, find your shoes and follow me around begging until I put them on you
5. You want to do everything that Zane does...right now
6. Every time you hear a vehicle in the alley you run to the window to see if it's Daddy...and when he finally gets home you rush the door and attack his legs
7. You RUN everywhere!
8. You are finally starting to sleep through most nights. Thank you!
9. You're starting to add words to your vocab very quickly now and have mastered AMEN at prayers - something you are very proud of
10. You love to "talk" to grammie on the phone - you get it, put it to your ear and walk around saying "hi bubba" about 5 or 6 times then listen and start all over again



10 Things I want to Remember about Zane....

1. Your new-found independence....pouring your own water and milk, getting your own snacks...hard for your control freak mom to let go but awesome to see you do it
2. You went up with the primary kids to sing today even though you were scared to death. You stood there shaking and winking at me and held it together until you got back to me. I was so proud and trying not to cry for you because it was a big hurdle for you to conquer!
3. Your love of friends!
4. You are a chatter box on the phone now...you love to talk to the grandma's and I have to sneak in my own talk time or else I don't get to talk...and you talk for about 20 minutes at a time! So fun to listen to you ramble on to them
5. You love chapter books - we read every night one or two chapters of a book and we've already finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlotte's Web. We watched both of the movies already and we're looking forward to finishing Matilda.
6. You always give me lots of hugs and kisses and tell me how much you love me!
7. You are so kind to Rhett - yesterday you made sure to ask for an extra sucker in primary so Rhett could have one too
8. You could eat the same thing for lunch every day - cheese and crackers and an apple
9. You are getting so much better on your bike!
10. You're growing up so fast but still need your mom's hugs and kisses and cuddles


10 Things I want to remember about Cliff

1. The way you pray sincerely for our family and the blessings that we need. I love to listen to you talk to our Father
2. Your reassuring calm when I'm freaking out about something small
3. Golfing early in the morning so you can still spend time with us on your day off
4. Complimenting me on my cooking
5. Calling me when you are going to be late...keeps my mind at ease and from imagining horrible things!
6. How I am your social secretary - you tell me when events are and check with me to make sure we don't have things planned before agreeing to a guy's night
7. You tell me you love me everyday
8. You and Zane playing hockey or basketball
9. You and Rhett after baths...Rhett wrapped up in his towel and just chillin' with dad watching whatever sport is on
10. You spoil me!


10 Things I want to remember about Me...
1. I'm learning to nap
2. I'm learning to be a bit more spontaneous with plans
3. Dealing with a 2 year old on a daily basis is NOT making me more patient
4. I'm still sleep deprived
5. I'm enjoying quilting
6. I'm hoping to be released from music soon...
7. Love cheesecake
8. Miss my hubby every day that I'm in southern Alberta
9. Hoping my house sells but am ok if we stay longer
10. Am so blessed to have all the good friends I do

We had a talk from our high council member yesterday and he talked about keeping a journal and recording things in your life that are important to you, spiritual experiences, as well as everyday events. I hope that someday the effort I make now will bless my family and maybe they'll learn something that will help them in their lives.

Summer Days

It seems like every time I blink another day has come and gone. We're having a pretty lazy summer so far. We try to go to the park or the lake in the mornings and that frees up our afternoons for Rhett's nap and some down time for me and Zane. I'm working on 3 quilts right now trying to get 2 of them done in the next 3 weeks or so. Ahh. I'm a little crazy sometimes. We've started our softball rec league and we usually bring the boys with us Wednesday nights...late night for them usually means a little grumpiness the next day but it's still fun to get out and play. I'm not so sure that I'm a great contributor to the team all the time but I try.
We're starting to count days until we leave for southern Alberta for Lishie and Jay's wedding. I think we're down to 12...pretty exciting and me and the boys will stay for a couple of weeks. Hopefully we'll get lots of playing with friends and family in, lots of quilting for me and grammie, and a good visit to hold us until the next time we're down.
We got to see Grandpa Dooley on Tuesday for awhile and the kids had a blast playing with Grandpa. We went for a bike ride and Zane got too far ahead so I had to run about 3 blocks to catch up with him. I was furious that he had gone so far ahead but by the time I caught up to him I was breathing so hard I couldn't yell. I explained as calmly as I could that when he was that far ahead I can't help him if he falls or if someone tried to grab him off his bike. (what an awful world that I have to explain that one to my 5 year old) But I also praised him for his confidence in going up and down the curbs because that's been a sore point the past couple of weeks. We're hoping to see Grandpa again today!
Zane now has two friends named Parker and he's forever talking about one of the other of them. Parker Allred lives here in Sylvan while Parker Guenther lives in Red Deer. It's fun to listen to him talk about one or the other of them and plan for play dates or things he can make them.
Sorry this is short...I've got a list a mile long today and not a lot of time to get it done!

Tradition Lives On!

Grayson McDougall playing with trains and trucks. He was in heaven in Rhett's room!
Me doing some food clean-up after the feast!
Zane got jumped on in the bouncer and is showing off his bruise.

Keri Pratt, Averly Van Orman, and Grace Van Orman
Liesel Morin, Trent Allred, Thea McDougall with her kids Grayson and Jayla
Jenny Allred, Ashley Guenther, Ben Guenther
Trevor Pratt checking on the kids and the bouncer - they had so much fun
And more of the fun had by the kids!

Well the 1st has come and gone and we celebrated with a BBQ worthy of the Robinson tradition if I do say so myself. We invited as many friends as we could think of, got the fixin's, made food assignments and got the house and yard ready. Cliff fired the BBQ up at 5 and got things rolling and we had a great time laughing, eating, chasing kids - you know all the fun stuff you do when there's a big crowd in a small place. Trevor and Keri Pratt surprised us and brought one of their bouncers and set it up in our backyard. The kids LOVED it. We've decided to make it a once-a-year bash. Of course it will have to be earlier or later in the summer because we hope that this is the last 1st that we miss celebrating in Raymond. We do want to say thanks to all of our friends who came and played and helped us celebrate the first. It made me feel much less homesick to be surrounded by people who love us.

To Make Memories

I've been thinking a lot about memories lately. Some because I swear there are days that my short term memory is non existent, some because of this blog and the insane amounts of pictures I take, some because of the fun things we do as a family, some because of the lengths that I've gone to preserve our memories, and some because of tragedies in other's lives.
When we first had Zane I took a lot of teasing because of the number of pictures I took of him. I always had my camera nearby. I literally have thousands of pictures of him (and Rhett's closing in) in his short lifespan already. Sometimes I think that I'm a little crazy, but then I remember how fast I forget things and how quickly I remember them when I look at the pictures. When I look through the albums it reminds me of things, and stories - some are written down and some are triggered by the pictures and the ones I've written. I cherish them and know that in years to come when they are grown and gone the effort will have been worth it.
Then there are things that I purposefully plan in an effort to make memories for the kids that they will remember. Traditions are always a great way to make memories and I think Cliff and I have done a pretty good job of melding our family's traditions. This is the first year that we won't be spending the July 1st long weekend in Raymond. So we are trying to do fun things here. Last night we walked down town (oh wow is it ever a zoo here in Sylvan!) and went to an ice cream store that we don't usually go to. The Big Moo (I think, or just the Moo) sells food and hard ice cream and always has crowds. Although it took a long time to get our ice cream and was outrageously priced, I'm hoping it is something that the boys will remember. We walked home with ice cream dripping and Zane suggested the next time we wanted ice cream that maybe we should go to Dairy Queen! Unrelated, but still cute, Rhett LOVES puddles. When we walk anywhere he's always say hi and bye to the puddles and waving to them. Including the lake. I can't convince him that it's a lake and not a puddle. Every time he sees the lake it's "hi puddle". It makes me giggle and be glad that he's 2 this summer. It's fun to see him learn and grow. He looks like such a big kid now with his long skinny legs and arms. Sigh.
As I said before some tragedy has also had me thinking of memories...a family in my home ward suffered a house fire on Friday. It destroyed everything. No one was hurt but the family suffered a tremendous loss. All their physical mementos of their lives were lost in the fire. No pictures, journals, trophies, music, collections - all is gone. And as I've thought about this my heart just breaks for them because I can't even imagine what it feels like to have a lifetime of stuff destroyed and gone. But part of me remembers that it is stuff. It doesn't make it less important because it is stuff, but the most important thing is that no one was harmed in the fire. They as a family are whole in the physical sense. Re-building their house, collecting new "stuff" and making new memories will be hard and painful. But they have each other to do that with, and that is the most important. It also makes me thankful for technology. I blog and print that and save it as my journal, I also save it on a memory stick. Theoretically, if my computer is destroyed by something I can still access my memories and pass them on to my family. The same goes for my pictures. Technology has made it possible to compress so much information into such a small place that I am able to carry it in my 72 hour kit.
And so I hope that we all continue to make memories - hold on to the good ones, let go of the bad ones and learn from them all!

Am I Prepared?

Earlier this week I had the constant feeling and impression that I needed to make sure our 72 hour kit was ready and accessible. It consumed my thoughts and I felt an urgency that I could not put off. I knew it was the spirit whispering so I took some time of my day to go through our kit and organized, added to it, and made a list of things that I still need to collect for it. As I was doing this I kept thinking of different scenarios that would cause us to need our kit and what we would do in these situations...what I would grab if we had to leave immediately, or in fifteen minutes or in 2 hours. It was really interesting to me to think of the things that held such importance in our lives that I would grab them in the 15 minute situation and others in the 2 hour situation. I also know that we would be heading to Raymond if anything did happen. My mom suggested this awhile ago and it makes sense for us to head for our families if there is a crisis. So tomorrow we are going to have a family home evening on being prepared, and exit strategies out of the house and that sort of thing.
The kids and I really enjoyed the sunshine we had this week. They've both got tan lines for the first time...we're not hibernating inside an apartment anymore and both kids beg to go outside all the time. I'm sporting some pretty good lines myself this year and hope that the sunshine keeps up so I can keep the tan. It's nice to be a darker shade of white!
I feel like time is just flying by as we go from one activity to the next. I've been working on a quilt, we've gone to the park, played with the Robison kids and Cliff and I were able to do a temple session on Friday. It's always great to go to the temple and feel the peace and comfort that comes from that sanctuary. I am so thankful that we have a temple close enough to go to on a monthly basis and for a great friend who will watch our children all day so that it's possible! Thanks Leslie! We both were able to get some answers that we have been working on for awhile so it made the trip just that more special and nice.
Yesterday I finally finished re-painting the bathroom. Way back in February when Cliff put in the new tub and toilet the walls got a little mucked up in places so cliff mudded and sanded and I painted....The bathroom is NOT my favorite room to paint in the house. Ours has too many little spots that a roller won't fit and the last time I did this I had Kinsey here to help. So much quicker when you have someone cutting and someone rolling. Oh well. It's done, it looks good, and hopefully when we sell people will think that too!
I can't believe that it is almost the 1st of July. We're not going to be home for the first this year... That has never happened in all of my 27 years. But the kids and I are staying for almost 2 weeks at the end of July after Alisha's wedding. We're looking forward to lots of fun times with family and friends. We're very lucky that our families will let us come and stay for such long times and that Cliff is willing to let me and kids go. He misses us so much but knows how much I miss our families and how important it is for the kids to have those family ties as well.
Have I rambled enough? I think I probably have. I know it was fairly random but honestly that's how my brain has been working lately! Hope all is well with everyone!