Lots of pictures...

Last week in pictures...

Dr. Seuss Day at school called for Cindy Lou Who hair...

The Pirate (and The Princess) learned how to make scrambled eggs all by themselves...

The Pea experienced MP3s for the first time...

The Pirate wrestled Grandpa WWF style...

The Pirate learned that his idea of playing blocks and The pea's idea of playing blocks are two very different ideas...

...and we celebrated Grandma's birthday with a little surprise party that Grandpa put together...

Throw in a trip to the InstaCare and the Pediatrician for The Pirate's cough that won't quit (it's been going on over a month now), some impressive tantrums from The Pea (resulting in some pretty impressive meltdowns from me), a fun late-night with The Princess's new best friend (I forgot to take pictures) and it was a pretty eventful week. What did you guys do?

Me.

So I figured I would write down some random facts about me since this is our new family journal and all. I know my kids like to hear stories from when I was little and funny things that have happened to me so, why not write them down? 

Let's see...

About 4 years ago I stopped traffic at a very busy major highway intersection to save a mama duck and her 7 ducklings from being reduced to feathers by speeding motorists. Then, after I had herded them to the side of the road, a baby rattlesnake kept trying to take a bite out of one of the babies (no I am NOT making this up!) so I had to use a large piece of stray cardboard to separate it from the duck family and herd them a little farther down until the animal control guy came (whom I had called from a cell phone borrowed from a motorist waiting to turn right) and I made sure he would NOT put them back in the pond they had come from on the other side of the highway.. Yep, The Hubster was beside himself when he found out that I could have been hit by a car all to save that feathered family!

I once made The Hubster stop the car so that I could pick up a cat that had just been hit by a car but was still moving (don't worry I used a towel from the trunk and there were no guts exposed) and we took it to the nearest animal shelter. Despite our heroic efforts the poor thing had too many internal injuries and it's nine lives had to be snuffed out by lethal injection. My kids still remember that day and often ask me to pull over and see if any road kill may still be living...and no, I haven't humored them since.

I have picked up numerous stray dogs off the road and/or wandering around the school/neighborhood and taken them home. I've also taken in numerous cats and kittens, including one that gave birth to kittens while chillin' at our place, (quit rolling your eyes Honey!) and found them good homes. 

**Are you sensing an I-really-love-animals theme here?**

I was once almost accosted in a parking lot by a homeless man. I TRULY believe that I was protected that day by Divine Intervention.

I was also almost abducted by an alien once--no really! Well, he claimed to be an alien anyway. I was working at Baskin Robbins as a teenager and a man sat and paced outside the store for a few minutes then came in. He told me that he was an alien from the planet Zoltar and wanted to know if he could see my palm to look for evidence that I might be an alien too. Oh yeah, I gave him my palm(STUPID!!!!), I was too flustered to think about the rapist/mass murderer he could be. He examined it, told me I was human, and left. Yes, I was working by myself that day and yes I realize how bad that situation could have turned out. Again, Divine Intervention.

One of my most embarrassing moments also happened as a Baskin Robbins employee . I was scooping a cone for a customer (a cute one I might add-I was 15 yrs. old!) and the guy I was working with spilled some water. Oh yeah, you see it coming don't you? I stepped back and the next thing I knew I was flat on my butt (which was much smaller then but anywhooo...) and he was looking over the counter asking if I was ok. I assured him I was and handed him his Orange Sherbet on a Waffle Cone. Yes, it had indeed survived the fall! Look at me and my mad skills!

I almost didn't graduate High School because I sluffed too much (I still have a recurring dream that I'm not going to graduate). Man I HATED Biology!!! Thanks to those who walked me to class to make sure I didn't leave...you know who you are.

I modeled for about 5 minutes when I was 15. Ok, I don't know that you could really consider it real modeling but the lady we worked with considered herself part of the industry. My sweet Dad knew my sister and I could use a boost to our self-esteems so he agreed to pay $900 (if I remember right...) for us to play "let's be models". Looking back I realize that our "careers" wouldn't have gone anywhere but it was fun to consider ourselves models for a little while. Well, it was fun when you weren't doing an outdoor photo shoot while strange men walked by ogling you....yuk. The most important thing I learned though was how much my Dad loved me and wanted me to feel good about myself.  Love you Dad!

(Wow! Digital photography sure has improved things over the years. Man, posting these pictures is even more embarrassing than I thought it would be!!!!)

I waited for a missionary...sort of...ok, not very well. No, it wasn't The Hubster.

I once went for a drive up a canyon with my High School boyfriend and we got bottomed out on a snow drift (it was April for crying out loud!) and thought for sure we would have to spend the night there. After we had settled into the back of my oh-so-stylish station wagon (my first car--named Prudence), wrapped in my faux sheepskin seat covers (separate covers...what kind of girl do you think I was?!) because we were that resourceful, a big old truck came around the corner and pulled us off of the drift. We were actually a bit disappointed seeing as we had missed our 15 minutes of fame that would surely have come when the news vans arrived the next morning after we had been reported missing and then found! Not to mention, when I finally arrived home my mother was angry that I was so late. If only she would have known how close she came to losing her beloved daughter to hypothermia that night...*dramatic sigh*

When I was around 11 my dad accidentally ran over my foot with the car. The thing that stands out most in my mind about that night his seeing him throw his orange/vanilla twist cone (Remember those? At McDonalds?) in the trash because he couldn't eat anymore because he felt so bad. No broken bones, a good scrub and nurses picking gravel out of it in the ER for awhile then sending me home wrapped in gauze. After that we always made sure that everybody's feet were safely in the car before backing out... 

I once saved my sister from drowning (not funny--but still a life story). She was about 5 yrs. so I was around 8 yrs. and we were swimming at a neighbor's house in their above ground pool (Ummm...No parents around? I'm just sayin'...). I still remember turning around and seeing her floaty ring floating there on top of the water and she wasn't in it. I looked down in the water and there she was. I don't know how my scrawny 8 yr. old self picked her up and carried her up the ladder, across the backyard to her towel and laid her down, but that's what I did (more Divine Intervention? I think so!). She must not have been under long because she coughed a bit and then was fine. We were both pretty shaken up though and I remember we ran home to warm up in showers. Honestly, had I lost her that day, my life would be infinitely different since she is my bestest friend now!

 Just so you know...we are definitely just as immature and strange much more dignified and refined now than we were in this picture!

When I was around 5 or 6 yrs. old I had a, um, "accident" in my Aunt's bean bag chair and didn't tell her. Wonder where they thought the water came from? Yeah, I know. Too much information...

I've ripped the driver side mirror off of our car while backing out of the garage and backed into my babysitter's Dad's car (again---SO SORRY!). Moral of the story: NEVER PARK BEHIND ME!

-----------------------------------------------

Well, that's probably enough personal humiliation for today. Thanks for laughing at me with me over my blunders. What's your most embarrassing moment?

The sky is falling!

Tonight  we looked out the window and saw the BIGGEST snowflakes ever! It literally looked like pieces of clouds falling. Some of the snowflakes were 3 inches across! I tried to get a picture but my camera threw a tantrum. The Hubster commented it was like standing in a snow globe. It was wild! The flakes were so big and heavy I could actually feel them landing on me through my sweater....Anywhoooo....here is a funny pic for your viewing pleasure. Figure out what's wrong:

I hear voices (hee hee hee)...

First of all... Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Allrighty then...

Have you ever noticed that we, as women, are so much meaner to ourselves than we would ever be to each other? I am SO critical of myself. I look in the mirror and think all kinds of negative things. I'm too fat, my hair isn't as cute as _______'s, I have buggy eyes, my clothes don't fit right, etc. I call myself names all the time... cow, disgusting, fat, lazy, blah, blah, blah. I would never say those things about someone else! It seems like when I look around, everyone else has everything under control. Their kids look perfect (mine are lucky to comb their hair and put on a clean shirt sometimes), their houses are clean (oh, if you could see mine right now), they are educated about politics and current events (umm...yeah), they fit into an average size pair of jeans (no I am not going to tell you my pants size), you know the drill. It's stupid really. In my mind I compare myself to me at 18 years old. You know, when I thought life was stressful and I swore that someday when I got married and had babies I would never let myself become fat and frumpy! Ha! I look in the mirror at least once a day, usually while putting on make-up, and I wonder why we as women are so hard on ourselves. Why can't I just love me for me? I can be pretty fun to hang out with I think. I crack a good joke once in a while, I've gotten pretty good at decorating over the years, I make a mean chocolate chip cookie (which hasn't helped the pants size any), I mean, I have some good qualities! So why do I feel the need to look like I'm 21 again while doing all those other things better than anyone else? Can't I be frumpy and cool at the same time? Really though, I do need to improve on my eating and exercise habits for my health's sake, but it would be nice if my self-esteem didn't seem to hinge on my dress size! I don't want my girls to grow up with the same insecurities as me but in our society it seems like it's about impossible to protect them from that. The Princess already gets negative comments from kids at school about how much bigger than the other kids she is. Of course, she's awesome and doesn't let it get to her yet, but how long until it does? How long until she looks at her height as a disadvantage? I want her to stay proud that she is the tallest girl in her class (and  always has been). She's also the kindest, smartest, prettiest and most fun! Yeah, I'm a little biased, but her teachers have always pretty much agreed with me, so there! How do I teach my girls to love themselves regardless of what others say and to only say good things to themselves, about themselves? I know, it's an age old problem and a day by day process. I'm pretty sure though, that I have to work on it for myself before I can teach them! So, here's to making the voice in my head a kinder one.

My kids are so cool!

 
Last week was Parent Teacher Conferences, and can I just say....MY KIDS ARE SO COOL! Their teachers gave them glowing reports. They both improved in some areas and maintained top scores in others. I know they're not in college or anything but I am just so proud of them! They are well behaved in class and always kind to the other kids and respectful to their teachers. They are both above grade level in reading too! I know it's not nice to brag but I just thing they are so awesome!!!


P.S. Of course, it could have something to do with the fact that we pay them for their good grades...I'm just sayin'...Nah, they're just cool all by themselves! Not to mention cute, and funny, and fun to be with, and kind, and................................

Forced Humility...

So the other day at Parent Teacher Conference The Pirate brought home his school journal for the last few months. I was looking through it and came across his...

 

Translation: "Santa is coming! I want him to bring me a Bakugan, a scooter, and a better Mom."

Yep. Nothin' like a 7-year old to remind you (most likely after a rushed, grumpy morning or an argument the night before) that you're human. Don't worry though, I asked him if it was alright that he is still stuck with me and he assured me it was.

Valentine's Day...

I thought I'd post some pics from Valentine's Day, ya know, for journaling purposes and all. It's funny how when you are dating it's all about romance and fancy dates. Then you grow up. We still have fun with Valentine's but it's more low key now. I did some cheap decorating this year which really didn't turn out how I wanted it but really it's for the kids anyway! On the Friday before V-Day the kids had their school parties and The Princess requested a heart in her hair for the occasion.

 Then on Saturday morning The Hubster made Crepes with powdered sugar (his own recipe-YUM!) and surprised me with breakfast in bed. I actually forgot to give my kids their V-Day gifts until Monday and  I forgot to take pics. They are obsessed with WebKinz right now so Cupid brought them each a little one and some cookies. The Pea got a Dora book. I also forgot to take pictures of the sugar cookies I decorated with the two older kids. I really got into it this year and tried my hand at outlining and then float filling them. Think Bakerella style, but not as perfect! The Hubster and I had decided not to worry about gifts this year so I just got him a card. Do you think he honored our agreement? Of course not! Beautiful tulips arrived on Saturday!

 
 He sends me flowers all the time (which I LOVE) and he even pays attention to the fact that I HATE carnations and I like flowers other than roses. One time he even sent me flowers twice in one day! Anyway, we also had my mom over for Valentine's Day dinner since my dad was stuck out of town. It was a lot of fun! We had marinated chicken cooked on the grill, baked potatoes, edemame, and corn bread. Delish! All in all, it was a fun weekend!

Ok, so I know that Christmas in LOOOONG gone by now 

but I found this the other day and in light of my recent 

post on depression I thought I would post it. It made me  

laugh anyway....

CHRISTMAS DISORDERS and CAROLS

1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?

2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are

3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....

6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me

7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?

10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells....

11. Oppositional Defiant Disorder-- You better not cry - Oh yes I will
You better not Shout - I can if i want to
You better not pout - Can if i want to
I'm telling you why - Not listening
Santa Claus is coming to town - No he's not!!

The Princess conquers a fear!

I know I already posted today but I also wanted to tell The Princess how proud I am of her! A couple of weeks ago we had our annual Activity Days Recognition Night. Each of the girls were supposed to come up with a short paragraph about their favorite thing about Activity Days or a favorite activity they had done. At first The Princess flat out refused. She hates public speaking as much as I do (and that's A LOT!). Finally, the day of the Recognition Night she decided she would talk about the time they went to her favorite leader's house and made lasagnas for the women in the ward who had just had babies or were otherwise in need of a meal. I remember that day. She did have a lot of fun! She loves to cook and she adores Ashlee (her favorite leader) so it was a really great day for her. Anyway, she wrote about how much she loved that activity then and how it meant something extra special to her at the time because I was pregnant and on bed rest and would soon deliver The Pea. She also threw in a joke about how now she thinks they should have made casserole or something because when we received dinners from ward members during that time we ended up getting lasagna 5 nights in a row (true story...) and none of them were even any of the ones she had made!

Well that night we got all dressed up (she looked SO cute and I forgot to take a picture-Darnit!) and went to the church. We helped set up(I'm a leader now), and she stewed and stewed. She was SO nervous. When the program started she excused herself to go to the bathroom and I honestly thought she might not come back! But she did and when she looked at me her eyes were all bloodshot, either from trying not to cry or from an upset nervous stomach. I told her she would do great and to say a little prayer. Before she knew it it was her turn. She went up there and dazzled em'! She was sweet, funny and actually looked quite confident! I was SO proud! I of all people knew what that fear was like. I knew how hard that was for her and although she was only up there for like 30 seconds I could not have been more proud. Over the last four years we have watched her battle MAJOR anxiety in different situations. She has seen a therapist for it and we thought at one point we might have to look into some medication for her (which I DID NOT want to do at such a young age) which thankfully we didn't have to do. This year though she has done so much better! That night, for her (and us), was such a  big moment!

 
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peach, I just want you to know how proud of you I really am. I know that took so much courage and I admire you so much! Your sappy old mom is actually crying as she writes this because when I think of how much I love you and how proud I am of you it all overflows out through my eyes :). You are so beautiful and smart and you are one of my best friends (and that's not just cause you like to shop with me and put up with my wacky sense of humor!). You are one of the kindest, most thoughtful people I know and I am so blessed to have you as my daughter! I love you! 

Love, Mom

The Pea is sick!

I know the above picture is blurry but it's actually one of my favorites. It was taken when The Pea was about 6 months old and had a really bad cold and two ear infections. She was SO miserable and yet she was still smiling! I thought of this picture today when we were at the InstaCare. She was there this past Saturday too. It all started last Thursday when I noticed what I thought was a zit right by her right eye. It got bigger and bigger. On Saturday I mentioned it to The Hubster and we both thought it was quite the impressive mark! Then I took off her PJ's to get her dressed and saw another big one on her chest and another on her leg. There were 3 or 4 smaller ones on other parts of her body. I immediately asked The Hubster what Chicken Pox look like. I had them as a kid, (didn't we all?) but haven't seem them for many years since they have a vaccine for them now. I called my mom and asked what they look like and then decided I better have her looked at just so I knew for sure who I needed to keep her away from. We took a trip to the InstaCare and sure enough, she had The Pox! They told me to watch for other symptoms such as runny nose, fever and possible pneumonia. They also said she wasn't covered in spots most likely because she had been vaccinated and therefore she had a milder case. Now I always thought that Chicken Pox was a skin thing, but apparently it's a full blown virus! So the last few days she has developed a runny nose, fevers and cough. The last two nights her cough has been pretty bad and today it was awful! The last straw was when, in the car, she had a 5 minute long coughing fit complete with gagging and her eyes and nose running. I was just up the street from the InstaCare so I thought we'd just drop in. They looked at her, listened to her breathing, and did a chest x-ray. The poor baby was terrified by the x-ray. The put her in this chair contraption thingy that closed around her and I had to hole her arms straight up. She survived though and promptly fell asleep obviously exhausted from her terrible ordeal. (Honestly I don't know how you Moms with seriously ill kids do appointment after appointment day after day! You are my HEROES!) We were told to wait for them to read the x-ray. After a few minutes the Dr. sent us home saying she would call with the results and gave me an Rx for Zyrtec which should help with the cough. About a half hour after I got home she called and said that the X-ray showed a definite bronchial virus that could be caused by the Pox but is also frequently caused by RSV. RSV too!? My poor kid! They would have to do a blood test to get a sure diagnosis of RSV and she said that unless her breathing worsens (right now she is just retracting a little bit), her fever goes way up suddenly, or she is having major coughing w/vomiting spells we didn't need to put her through a blood draw and we should just take her to the ER if any of the previously mentioned things happen. So, now we wait. Hopefully it will all resolve itself soon. She said it could get worse before it gets better though. I hope not. I think of all the babies I read about who are in the hospital for RSV and their poor families who worry so much and I just pray we won't have to go there. *sigh* Chicken Pox and possible RSV.....She sure knows how to get attention huh? :)

Movies and newborns...

On Friday The Hubster and I went on a date. We go every other Friday night and our FABULOUS babysitter comes and stays with the kids. On Friday we went for sushi and a movie. The sushi was SO good. I was craving more all weekend. The movie was cute. We went to see 'Happy Valentine's Day'. It had lots of great actors and was a fun chick flick. The only problem was about 20 minutes into it a couple sat down next to me with a newborn baby. I'm talkin' brand spankin' new (like so new I wanted to remind them about RSV season...). So tiny! I tell you it took all of my self-control not to beg them to let me hold that little creature! So then I started thinking about how much I miss The Pea being tiny and how I wish my pregnancies were healthier and I was saner so I could have another one. Then I found myself getting really sad. Like eyes-welling-up-trying-not-to-cry sad. I've mentioned before that babyhood has not been easy in the past. I have had major post-partum depression in the past and have a hard time with sleep deprivation. But with The Pea it was all SO much better! Yeah I still got tired and there were some hard moments, but for the most part I just couldn't get enough of her! She was such an angel baby. So I sat there thinking about how I will never have a newborn again and how I hate my stupid brain chemistry for inflicting chemical depression on me and I hate the High Blood pressure that always crops up and interferes with my pregnancies and then I was sad and frustrated! How come other people can handle 4,5,6 kids and they are healthy and happy and it took me having a third before I really enjoyed it and then it had to be over for me. Not to mention now that The Pea has hit toddlerhood I am having problems with depression again. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME! I hope that it doesn't seem as though I don't love my kids, now or as babies. I do (and did). I really have like the coolest kids around. But I've never been good at being selfless with my time. I have no imagination left for playing. I have always been one that needed my time on a regular basis to stay sane and having a toddler that seems to be approaching the terrible two's a bit early and subsequently wants to hang on me while whining every where I go does not seem to help my mood any. I play with her, I read to her, I take her places and I know that all toddlers have a hard time when they can't communicate but boy is it wearing on me! I miss that sweet baby girl who cuddled and cooed and sat so peacefully when I needed to get something done. If I could have her funny personality and her tiny baby body all wrapped up in one it would be perfection!

Ya know, I read a lot of blogs (too many really) and a lot of those blogs have to do with families who have lost a child or have a very sick child to raise. The other day I read one where the mother who had lost her baby to a disease a few months ago wrote, "And I can't watch any kind of 'Baby Story' or 'Bringing Home Baby' show. And it's not out of sadness; I like to see cute little newborns. It's the parents I want to slap for their inability to realize the miracle of a perfectly healthy baby. "Oh my gosh this baby won't sleep and always cries!! How horrible!! I just want to get out of the house!!" Eh ........... just shut your mouths and take care of your kid. On the other hand it reinforces my faith that God gives the most special of babies to the most special of parents. If you're going to melt down over a couple weeks of colic; something like EB, or Downs Syndrome, or Autism would leave you crumbled on the floor."   I know that she is angry about her situation, I would be too! I know that she was not in any way meaning to hurt anyone's feelings and since she doesn't actually know me she was of course not talking to me. I think that it just hit home. Those are thoughts I have had about myself. Why do I have such a hard time when my babies are perfectly healthy. Colic is hard but it's not a disease or disability.  The thing is, I know I am blessed. I feel blessed. I just also feel frustrated! I feel like I was kind of robbed the first two times. I loved my first two babies but I didn't enjoy them and I wish so bad that I could go back and somehow change things. I watched every one else who just adored their babies and I heard people telling me what a blessing my baby was and how I shouldn't feel that way. I didn't want to be depressed. If I could have figured out how to avoid it I would have. My babies deserved better! I truly think that some of The Princess's anxiety issues stem from my mental state back when she was little. This is all getting a bit rambly (not a word...). I just feel jealous, and sad, and a bit jipped. I didn't feel baby hungry until we decided to have The Pea. I didn't ache to have another baby until now. Now it's too late. Now my body has decided to rebel in a big way. Now I have to let go of that hunger to have another baby when really, it just started for me.......


I hope this hasn't sounded ungrateful to anyone. That's not what I intended. I have good friends who would do anything to be able to get pregnant and then actually stay pregnant. I have seen their pain and do not take my ability to get pregnant easily lightly. I love my kids. I am SO blessed to have healthy children, not to mention I have been blessed not to have to let any of them go in this life. I don't take that lightly either. But well, this is MY blog and I needed to vent a little, so I did. Take it or leave it but please try not to misunderstand....

The Love Tree

I loved Shawni's Valentine's Tradition so I copied it! The other night for Family Night we made our hearts and thought of what we loved about each other. Then we decided we would hang them all on our Ficus tree in the Family Room. The kids loved it! The Pirate said it was the best Family Night ever (thanks Shawni)! It was really fun to see what they wrote. The Pirate is still learning to spell and write well so his were pretty short and sweet. I love you because...."You're nice", or "You play with me", that kind of stuff. It was so fun to watch how hard he worked on those hearts. His favorite was stamping them all over. The Princess's were cute to. For The Pirate she wrote, "Yes I fight with him, but he is kind and loving and fun and most of the time, honest." Too cute! I loved what they wrote about The Pea though. Without conspiring about it they both wrote something along the lines of, "Even though you're whiney, I love you and am glad you are my sister." Can you tell it was a whiney night with the baby? I loved writing things that I loved about them and seeing how happy they were to hear them, although when I read mine for The Pirate he had me add something that "I" love about him. Too funny! Unfortunately The Hubster didn't get home until we were done, but the kids were sure excited to show him when he did! Honestly, it had been a long day with a "whiney" baby and a cold so I really wasn't fully prepared for a full FHE but we made the hearts, threw in some songs and scriptures about love and it turned out pretty good!  I love to see my kids have fun and be creative and I especially love it when they are forced to think of what they love about each other. They really do get along pretty well and are good friends. I just hope they really know how much I love them and how proud of them I am every day. They are so good about telling me that they love me and giving my hugs and things and sometimes I think I forget to do those things back amidst all the chaos that takes place everyday. I love it when they bring home notes or cards from school telling me how much they love me! The Princess's valentine to me said something like, "You are the best mom ever! Even though you don't think you are fun you are and I love you!" How sweet is that? I told them the other day that I didn't think I was a very fun mom because I'm not real good at playing imaginary things and I forget a lot to do crafts and things with them on a regular basis. They love me anyway! What would I do without my incredibly cool kids?

A Cold, Dreams and Kids say the darndest things...

**Edit 2/09: Our cute neighbor girl came over yesterday after school and had her first "lesson"!**

So I already mentioned I have a cold. For some reason it was a real doozy this time! It started way back like a month ago when The Pea went to nursery (Sunday School for toddlers) for the first time. Within 3 days of that she came down with a cold....which lasted two weeks...which turned into a sinus infection! Poor baby. She was so miserable. So then The Pirate got it, but it only lasted a couple of days and it wasn't too bad. Then I got a scratchy throat. I fought it. I fought it hard. I took all kinds of boost-your-immune-system stuff. But it hit me anyway. With a vengeance! Holy Cow!!! I lost my voice, my sinuses backed up like the Hoover Dam, (and yet my nose ran like crazy-go figure) my throat hurt, I couldn't breathe through my nose, I coughed, and coughed, and coughed....you know the drill. Usually I kinda just push through a cold, Moms don't get sick days you know. But this time I caved. My kids were late for school like every day last week. I think we went through the drive-through or ordered in 4 out of 5 nights. The laundry and dishes stacked up until Friday when The Hubster swooped in and saved the day (he works Mon.-Thurs.) There's still a pile of both for today but it's manageable.

So while I was sick I took LOTS of Advil Cold & Sinus. I'm not sure what's in that stuff but oh the dreams I had! I had a dream where The Hubster told me he wanted a divorce. I begged and pleaded. I told him I would lose weight and keep the house clean(can you tell how I feel about myself and my homemaking skills?), but he wouldn't budge. Then I had a dream, hours later, that I owned my own motorcycle. I decided to leave my family and go on a road trip. I found myself in Nevada, which I had deduced from the numerous cacti around me. Technically, in my dream, I had no idea where I was or how long I had been gone. I decided I needed to turn around when I spotted a tattoo parlor. Oh yes. I found myself asking for a tattoo of a 50's pinup girl....!? Somewhere I could hide it if I wanted to. However, in my dream, I found myself wrestling with the fact that The Prophet had told the members of our church not to get tattoos! I was going back and forth trying to figure out how many points against me, heaven wise, I would get if I got the tattoo! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!!! Do I have a subconscious desire to rebel or something?  I woke up before making the choice. Then this morning I woke up after having a dream that The Pirate was missing and I had picture clues to figure out in order to find him.  Usually dreams like that really freak me out but this one seemed really low key, like it wasn't that urgent that I find him. Weird. So there you go. If anybody knows anything about analyzing dreams feel free to have a field day with this post!

Now that I am feeling 85% or so I figured I'd take a minute to write down some funny things my boy said this past week. You can tune this part out if its boring...you know, family journal stuff.

Story-#1
The Pirate came home from school last week and told me that one of the neighbor girls would be coming over for drum lessons. He proceeded to tell me in a very business like tone that she was impressed with his mad drumming skills and he offered to teach her how to jam like he does. Now, you need to know that he has never touched a real set of drums in his life. His passion for drumming first came about when he started school, learned the age old "We Will Rock You" chant on the bus, and decided to beat it out on the couch cushions with a pair of mini pool sticks we had. As you can imagine, I was not so passionate about his new passion. I asked him to do it elsewhere so he went up to his room. He pounded out that same rhythm and sang that same chant, at the top of his lungs for about 45 minutes straight. When that got tiresome he moved his one man band to the garage. He would sit backwards on the 4-wheeler and pound to his little hearts content and sing, REALLY LOUD, day after day. Christmas came around and Santa brought him a drum pad  with real drumsticks. Now that he had "real" drums he started forming bands whenever friends came. Which brings us back to drum lessons. One of those bands included his new drum student. He informed me that the lessons would take "about six days because that's about all I know". Sadly, his pupil never showed. Her loss...

Story-#2
For the past 3 days or so The Pirate (and occasionally The Princess or random friends) have been digging a hole. This is actually pretty common around here. See, our backyard is surrounded on 3 sides by hills of garden beds (I'll take a picture). Every few months or so the kids around here decide to start digging a hole, solely for the purpose of seeing how deep they can get it. Before long they lose interest and move on. This current hole is the biggest yet. In fact according to The Pirate, "It's the biggest hole I ever dug!" The best thing about this excavation is that he is taking it SO seriously. I asked him how it was coming yesterday and he said,"It's amazing! I'm going to keep digging every day. I mean, I wanna make history with this one!" complete with hand gestures and wide eyes. They find all kinds of great things in these holes to. Saturday they found a brick. Not just any brick but, "One of the old bricks! The kind without 3 holes in the side!" Yesterday he found a millipede at least 4 inches long and as fat as my thumb (he showed us the measurements with his hands-as in,"I caught a fish THIS BIG"). Really though, I'm just so glad that I have a boy with such a delightful imagination! He really is one cool kid. Oh, and guess what his current favorite movie is? Yep. Disney's Holes. Hmmm...if he's out there diggin', I better not be The Warden in his mind....


Well, that's it. Have a lovely day. Oh, and call us if you need any drum lessons or holes dug!

"Hewoooo...?"

I almost forgot! My favorite thing The Pea does right now is this...

Like most toddlers she would cry when I would go use the bathroom and shut the door (too much info?). So she would sit and pound on the door and cry and the only way she would stop was if I called, "Hellooooo...?" starting normal and going up in pitch at the end. She would still knock but would wait and listen and then laugh at my greeting. Then one day I went in, shut the door and heard a little knock followed by a little voice that
said, "Hewooooo...?" Same pitch and everything. A couple knocks, followed by a, "Hewoooo...?" to which I respond, "Helloooo...?" and it repeats over and over until I come out. *Sigh*  

That, I will miss someday.

The Pea

Meet The Pea (short for Sweet Pea)

Random Facts...

She is the baby of the family-18 months old

She was my biggest baby at 10lbs. 5oz. (4 weeks early!)

She had a rough start. Getting stuck during delivery, really low Apgar scores, and stayed in the nursery

 She went back to the (children's) hospital, after being home for a day, and was admitted for 10 days in the NICU to treat Meningitis

She has been behind here and there with her motor skills (most likely due to the Meningitis) but has now caught up...yea!!!!

She has been a WONDERFUL baby, happy almost all the time

She has a great sense of humor already and loves to make us laugh

She is always making funny faces

 

 

She adores Elmo and Dora and tries to sing along with their songs

She LOVES shoes. She always wants to wear her own and if she finds any laying around she has to try them on. This includes my shoes, The Hubster's HUGE shoes and even friends' shoes left by the front door!

She also loves socks, usually on her hands, not her feet

 

95% of the time she will not keep a bow on her head and has very little hair still so she gets called a boy a lot

She'll do just about anything for a chocolate chip or M&M

She already wants to do EVERYTHING her siblings do

She is a binkie baby and usually sucks it with her lower lip over the bottom rim. She also has her woobie (blankie) that she carries around and thinks it's HILARIOUS to drag it (and various other items) behind her as she walks-especially if the dog will chase it

She thinks it's also pretty darn funny to walk around with bent legs

She is obsessed with a bottle of vegetable oil and carries it around daily. We find it all over the house (not the oil, the bottle)  

She loves to "help" unload the dishwasher, read books, and climb/sit on any boxes that might be laying around

She is the baby that almost wasn't. We swore we'd NEVER do it again. But when I look at her, at how much joy she has brought to our family, at what she has taught us about faith and miracles and patience, I thank God every moment of every day that she is part of our family...even when she's driving me NUTS! 

I mean...she is a toddler...

The Hubster's sleep habits

**Let me preface this by saying that The Hubster is eagerly
awaiting this post as much as you are...**

So I'm gonna go in a different direction today. I mentioned the other day that I have had some entertaining experiences when it comes to The Hubster and sleep over the years. There are plenty of random facts I could give you about him, like how I've never met a more passionate Jazz basketball fan, or how if you insult BYU football in front of him he just might take you out! I could tell you how he works (really hard) with computers for a living, but is NOT a computer geek, or how he is my own personal fix it/build anything guy. There's also the fact that he LOVES his 4-wheeler (almost) like another child, or how he loves to camp and fish, or what an incredible husband and father he is. But wouldn't it be more fun to hear about embarrassing sleep incidents? I thought so. This one's for you Honey...

My first experience with The Hubster and sleep was during our second week of marriage. I had just woken up when all the sudden a rather large fist came flying at me from the side. Luckily it was caught by it's equally large twin a split second before it connected with my chest. The impact was hard enough that the whole bed shook! I looked at him shocked.

"What the heck was THAT?!" I said. "I was having a dream." He replied.

"What in the world were you dreaming about?"

"I had a dream that we were at the circus," He explained. "Some guys came in and let everybody else go, but took us hostage. They must have knocked me out because the next thing I knew I was tied up and regaining consciousness. I turned to look at you and asked if you were ok. You said "...yes". The I asked if they had ruined our wedding video."

----At this point I started laughing! He knew how much our wedding video had meant to me. It was one of the things I had been willing to splurge on when we were planning our wedding. Anyway....----

"So I asked if they had ruined our wedding video and you looked at the guys all nervous like and said, "....no." He continued. "I could tell you were trying to hide something so I asked you again. Did they ruin our wedding video?!..."  "YES!" You said in a disgusted voice.

----At this point I was about in tears from laughing so hard.----

Then he tells me, "Well that was it! I turned to the guy nearest me and started attacking him! I pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the top of the head. That's when I woke up while, at the same time, hitting my hand."

----ARE...YOU...KIDDING...ME?! who knew my sweet new groom was such a violent man? Well, needless to say, I was a bit nervous for a few days after that. Slept with one eye open and all :).He's never thrown a punch in his sleep since then. But boy does he do other things! He kicks, he "chomps" his teeth really hard, he "runs", his whole body jerks, he twitches....never a dull moment!----

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next-- we move on to the talking in his sleep. There is never a shortage of amusing tidbits to listen to when The Hubster is sleeping. When he is really stressed at work, he tends to argue and say...ummm...bad words...in his sleep (You know it's true Honey... Just keepin' it real). Sometimes he tells jokes. The best is when he laughs though. It's usually this really funny, kind of hissing "hee-hee-hee", kind of laugh. One of my favorites was the time that he let out this weird, warbling, tarzan-like yell, paused for a second, then said, "Well that was weird..." We both laughed SO HARD!


Now-- when you wake him up from a deep sleep you never know what you might get. The first time I had to wake him up in the middle of the night was when The Princess was little. She was really sick with a high fever and I wanted The Hubster to give her a Priesthood blessing. It was around 1am and I had just given her some Tylenol. I went back into our room and stood in front of my hubby and quietly said, "Honey, wake up...I need you to give The Princess a blessing. She's really sick." He opened his eyes and just looked at me. Then in a really menacing voice he asked, "Who....are...you....?" I slowly backed away and moved around to my side of the bed, crawled in and said, "It's just me Honey, your wife. I need you to give her a blessing." He recognized me and from that night on I've always stood far away or climbed back into my side of the bed before I wake him up for something! In retrospect, I guess it would be kinda creepy having a dark shadow stand over you in the night...

The Hubster has always snored REALLY loud too, due to HUGE tonsils that were never removed, and a couple of years ago we learned he had Sleep Apnea.  He was given a CPAP machine, which forces air into his airway to keep it open while he sleeps. This machine has since made for some very dramatic "awakening scenes". For instance, we used to have one of those shampoo/body wash dispensers in our shower. One night, while we were both heavily asleep, it decided to come crashing down. I woke up a split second before The Hubster. Just in time to see him rip off his mask, throw it aside, and assume a wrestlers crouch, fists clenched, ready to fight. IT WAS AWESOME! I am laughing out loud right now at the memory!

Another time, the night The Pea got her foot stuck in the crib, I stood at the door (you can bet I didn't stand over him), and said, "Honey! I need you...NOW!" Same thing, mask flung aside Super-Hero style followed by, "Ok! I'm up! What's wrong!" Ready to save the day!

The Hubsters "on guard all the time" personality traits are well known in our home. His dad was the same way when he was young (The Pirate's future wife better watch out). No, we're not afraid of him. It's actually kinda comforting knowing he's got our backs at a moments notice. We (the kids and I) have learned to announce ourselves long before we approach him in the dark or if he's not aware of us coming up behind him. It's actually funny that such a gentle, loving father and husband would be capable of accosting :-) someone in the head, with a knife, in a dream. Then again, he's a big guy (6' 3"). If I was a hostage taking, wedding video ruining thug...I might think twice. I'm just sayin'....

The Pirate

The Pirate

Random facts about The Pirate:


He is my middle child-7 yrs. old


He weighed 9lb. 15oz. at birth (2 weeks early)


He was such a great baby!


He was SO darling as a toddler. I found this picture awhile ago and about cried, he was so cute!

When he was 3yrs. he was hospitalized for severe dehydration due to the flu 


When he was 5yrs. he got hit in the mouth with a metal golf club and had to get stitches


He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES, 4-wheeling

He loves amusement parks


He LOVES extreme sports (and got his 1st snowboard this year)

He is obsessed with Little Ceasar's breadsticks
(would eat them for every meal if given the choice)

He's really good (usually) about doing his chores and homework without complaint

He loves to play the Wii, especially Guitar Hero (and he's really good at it)

He is a really funny kid


He can make The Pea laugh like nobody else

He is really fun to hang out with!