trouble

i think i'm in trouble. here it is 2 days before christmas, and i am no where near ready.
pajamas aren't even cut out.
goodies haven't been started.
don't know where the stockings are.
santa gifts haven't been bought.

on top of that, i discovered this morning, that half of my shirts are getting too small. i still have 6.5 weeks left (technically). what am i supposed to wear until then?!

christmas suprise

the kids had just gotten home from school today, when the doorbell rang. i thought it might be the people that are leaving 12 days gifts for me. there were 3 high school age kids standing at the door with an envelope. they handed it to me, and then informed me that they had a bunch of other stuff for us, and would it be alright if they brought it in. i told them yes, and then watched as all 3 of them made 3 or 4 trips with their arms FULL of food and gifts.

by the time they were done, my table was covered in presents. pretty sure each child has at least 4 gifts each. then, i have a turkey, a pumpkin pie, 25 pounds of potatoes, a case of beans, corn, ramen, mac and cheese, and a few other things. we also have $150 gift certificate to a car repair type shop. (the van needs an oil change, so that's nice to have.) we also have an additional $100.

as a result of our visit this afternoon, i have decided to cut my christmas to-do list down. there are some things i was planning on making as gifts for the kids. they have enough from this visit that we don't even really need what i've already gotten. and i was informed that there's another set coming at some point. but, mom said that it was mostly food (or so she thinks).

last year, we had 4 visits like this. only they were all anonymous. i'm still not sure who these came from, but i did get to see the people that brought it by.

i'm humbled, and feeling very blessed. at the same time, i feel guilty, cause this year we are better off than we were last year. and i can think of at least 1 family that is in more need than we are.

however, when the time comes that we are in a better position than we have been as of late, i will be doing the same thing these people have been. i have a dream of being able to fully and completely take care of christmas for a family in need. tree, decor, presents, and food. some day. some day.

oocoos

or in english, lice.
yesterday, i got a call from the school secretary. elizabeth had head lice. she had been in her homework club, and the teacher noticed her scratching her head. she sent her down to the office. the secretary checked her head, and found living lice.
when she got home, i checked her, and didn't see anything. but i went into town, and bought the necessary supplies. a LARGE bottle of conditioner, and some nit combs. i got the largest bottle of conditioner i could find, because i had 9 people to treat. 7 of those being female. as it is, i still technically have 2 left to do, and little less than half a bottle left.

we threw all the coats in the dryer. all the "clean" blankets and pillows. washed the sheets that needed it. bagged up the animals and blankets that wouldn't fit in the dryer, and started on heads.
taylor and shaun got buzzed to the scalp. as elizabeth was the one that we knew had it, i started with her. oh, the drama! she has a tender head, and the nit comb pulling like it does meant lots of tears were shed. i then took care of the boys. i saved the babies until last cause they didn't have to be able to get up for school in the morning. we made sure all the kids had clean beds, and got the front room cleaned up.
we saved me and mom for the morning cause by then it was already 11p. and this was one tired mama!
got mom and i done this morning, and then my bed. still need to check on moms bed, but other than that, we are nearly done.
des and carli have been in the hospital for nearly a week, and i'm unsure if they need to be treated or not. the nurses checked them and didn't find anything. if they are still there on saturday, they are going to have them check again. i think if they are clean that second time, we will forgo treating them.

elizabeth, shannon and i need to be treated again in a week. we'll check all the girls on friday to see if anything new is there. i found a couple of critters on shannon, and some eggs, and we think we found some eggs on me. and boy did i find them on elizabeth.
when elizabeth went to school this morning, the secretary checked her and she was fine. that's a good thing to hear. a minimum of 1 more treatment for her. if she comes away clean this next time, it will be the last. if not, we'll do another one.

NOT the way i wanted to be spending my weeks before christmas!!!

update

i was just informed that an update about our recent concern was overdue.
two days of constant contractions, and they stopped. it would appear, from our perspective, that if i do more than normal household duties, i spend the next day in bed. and even then, sometimes after i've done the bigger things, and then do the normal stuff, i have problems as well.
i have bought a bottle to keep filled with water next to me at all times, as dehydration can cause contractions. and i will talk to the doctor about everything the next time i'm in. unless they start coming every 3 minutes again. 8 1/2 weeks is too soon to be having those kind of contractions!

rough day

came home from church early today because of contractions. not normally a cause for concern, but these were VERY close together. 3 within 2 minutes.
we got me home, and i laid down, got some water, and started watching the clock. they were anywhere from 3 minutes to 20 seconds apart. it took about an hour for them to stop. but, by the time they stopped, they were quite painful. i was having to stop reading, and concentrate.

now, i am tired and sore. and i hope that i am able to get the kids up and off to school in the morning.

thanksgiving

we had a lazy thanksgiving this year. we did ours on saturday instead of thursday.
i made the jello, a cheesecake, and some fudge on friday. on saturday, i made the rolls, the potatoes and the punmpkin roll (cause you can't have thanksgiving without pumkin roll!)
by the time we were ready to eat, i was in trouble for doing too much. i thought i had spread things out quite nicely. if i hadn't done that second batch of rolls, i might have been okay.
but, who did the rest of the food?! shauns mom took care of the turkey, and nana and carli did the stuffing and a pumpkin pie.
not too bad for a quiet thanksgiving!

here i go again...

had my doctors appointment yesterday. it included the dreaded glucose test (thankfully, only the 1 hour though). they ran my iron, and i asked them to check on my thyroid, and give me a flu shot.
both my iron and my thyroid came back normal. the glucose came back a little high. i convinced the doctor to forego the 3 hour glucose test, and just let me treat it with diet. i'm really hoping that i can manage to stay fed, and still keep my numbers down.

since i'm on a diabetic diet again, i'm having to watch my carbs. that means, no sugars, and very little breads and fruits.
so, for lunch, i ate an entire bag of pepperoni. that was not the intent when i started. once i got started, i couldn't stop! the only problem now is that i'm feeling a little sick. all that fat was probably not a good idea!

wet rag

last night was interesting. and hilarious at the same time.

ashley was running a fever. from 102, to 103. AND, nothing was touching it. the tylenol didn't make it drop, and neither did the ibuprofen. we spent the night trying to keep her comfortable. neither one of us slept very well.
shaun grabbed a washcloth, and got it damp so we could try to bring her temperature down. that washcloth became the object of many games last night. first it was me placing it on her forehead, and her taking it off, multiple times. at one point, i was just tossing it on her face. there were a few times that she wiped my face down with it.
then it became Agar. shaun turned it into a puppet. ashley laughed and giggled for at least an hour over that puppet. he nibbled on her nose, fingers, cheeks. she grabbed his face and nose. a wet rag has never been more entertaining!

mommy said!

shannon talking to shaun...
"daddy, time to get up!"
"time to get up, why?"
"cause mommy said!"

crazy insane

i went to the store this afternoon to get a few things that we needed for dinner. while i was there, i bought some more feingold suckers. the little girls REALLY like them.

just a few minutes ago, i caught them under the table with ALL of them unwrapped!
i get SO frustrated when she does that!

misreading

i'm looking at pinterest, and shaun is reading over my shoulder.

"i'm ripening this..."
it says "i'm repinning this...

we laughed SO HARD!!!

counting

young children have a hard time pronouncing things sometimes. and it makes for interesting and funny stories.

shannon can count to five.
one, to, fee, whore.

an endless supply of laughter!!!

banana chocolate chip pancakes

i tried an experiment with lunch today. i was going to do it for breakfast with the little girls, but i feel back asleep on the couch after getting the older two off to school.

anyways, my experiment went something like this:
mash 1 banana in a small bowl
add pancake mix, water, egg, & oil
mix up, pour on griddle
sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top
enjoy

the girls seemed to enjoy them. i'm a little more hesitant to try them as i do not like bananas. i'm going to use up the last of the bananas and make some more. this time though, they are going to be silver dollar size. easier to grab a few to snack on.

accidents

i got a phone call from elizabeths teacher just before noon. apparently, elizabeth had an accident on the playground, and got EVERYTHING wet. i took over some extra clothes, shoes, and socks. she had to wear her brothers shoes because i could not find hers. but, there were no complaints when i told her. however, i didn't have an extra coat to take to her, so she walked home in the cold without anything.

as she got in the door this afternoon, she had another accident. something must be going on for her to be having 2 in one day.

on another note, elizabeths coat disappeared from the coat closet at church yesterday. today she wore taylors coat from last year. we're hoping hers shows back up next week.

crocheting

this job crocheting is going to be a huge help. at the moment, it's seasonal, but they intend to keep their best "performers" afterwards.
last week i made $165.
this week i made $289.
i think that's going to be the most i make in a week. i really can't turn out more than 25 items a week. but, it's helping to pay off some bills. and it's going to be taking care of christmas for us.

getting ahead

so, i was looking on the colleges bulletin board one day, and found an ad for crocheters. there is a lady that has "bearded beanies" she sells on etsy. she's having trouble keeping up with demand, so she has started contracting the work out. since it's easy and something i can do from home, i decided to sign up. she pays me per item i am able to finish and turn in each week.

the income has been a blessing. we were able to get new tires on the van just before our trip to utah, knowing that i was bringing in the money and could pay them off.
i just made a payment on them, only to discover that the grinding of the breaks we've been hearing and feeling, is not a happy sound. they need to be replaced.

so, instead of paying off utilites, i get to start paying on break replacements.

i was looking forward to paying off the bills!!!!

cars 2

nana's work does a coloring contest every year at halloween for the kids. they have 4 age groups. everyone who participates gets a treat, and the winners get a movie.
nana brought home the pictures for the kids to color, and they all did, then she took them back for the contest. the day after halloween she came home and told us that there had been something wrong with the winners that had been chosen, and they were going to rejudge them.
a few days later she brought home the treats, rice krispies. then she told us that taylor has won for his age group! he got the movie cars 2. he was so excited!
it's the first movie we've ever won! and, it's not bad for a sequel.

pumpkin pictures

i mentioned a little earlier that i had carved pumpkins with the kids. well, here are the pumpkins, and the trays of filling.

and, of course, taylor picked the most difficult pattern in the book!

elizabeths was a perfect choice for her. a catbat.

 shannon picked 2 ghosts.

everyone was happy with their pumpkins!

halloween cookies

trena, shaun's sister-in-law started a tradition with him and his sister, carli. they made and decorated cookies for halloween. this year, she brought everything over, and told carli it was her turn to carry it on.

carli was far braver than i am. she got all 4 kids involved, and they rolled, cut out, and decorated halloween cookies.

all four kids helping to roll out the dough

nana helping to decorate

 all involved with finished products

the cookies up close

when trena brought everything over, she informed carli that shaun had a decorate a cookie as well, so here is his. 

halloween

the kids had a lot of fun this halloween. i know it's a week late, but here are pictures of the 3 older kids.

taylor was optimus prime again this year. he wanted to be ironman, but in the move, that costume disappeared. at the last minute, he decided to a vampiric.

 elizabeth is cinderella. trena made the costume, and elizabeth LOVED it.

shannon is a little imp. she's missing her wings, but she was dang cute!

ashley was a ladybug. i put her hair up in pigtails, and she had antenna!

to-do list

my to-do list isn't getting any shorter, and there is so much that i need to do today, but i'm afraid to do much of anything.
tuesday, we went to idaho falls, and got some things at sam's, and fred meyer. when i got home, i cooked and put away in individual servings, 5 pounds of turkey burger. then i grated and froze 5 pounds of cheese. at the same time i was making dinner.
yesterday, i went to the stores in town to finish up our grocery shopping. i went to di, and found a coat for me, a rolling backpack for one of the emergency kits, and one of my all-time favorite movies, white christmas. near the end of my shopping excursion, i starting having labor type pressure. i managed to get home, and in the house, and then had to let shaun take care of everything else. and for the rest of the day, i was pretty useless.

my to-do list today goes something like this:
put up pumpkins - cooking, mashing, and freezing
laundry
dinner
make a cake
work - more beards and beanies
clean front room
put away laundry after it's clean

and, i discovered after i got home yesterday, that i am still in need of some things from the store.
however, in light of the last two days, i'm either going to wait until shaun can come with me, or until friday. i need to take it a little easier today, if i can.

when i grow up

on the way down to grandpa bradys funeral, the kids were informing us what they wanted to be when they grew up.
taylor wants to be a paleontologist. he was even able to correctly tell us what that meant!
elizabeth wants to be a horse rider.

clumsy child?

shannon climbed something this afternoon, and fell. she has a nice 8 inch scrape on her belly. don't know how it happened, but i surely hope she doesn't do it again!

pumpkins

i carved pumpkins with the kids tonight. shaun has been SUPER busy trying to catch-up on homework. our friend mark was over and graciously helped me out.

i discovered that when you are the one doing the helping, it's impossible to get process pictures.

but, here they are. we only did 3, the rest, the babies and i will color on tomorrow.

taylors, the haunted mansion.

elizabeths, the cat bat.

shannons, a couple of bats

forays into the baking world

tuesday i had to make bread. i made my full batch, turned half of it into bread loaves, and the other half into pretzel bites. i had found a recipe that said you could turn frozen rolls into pretzel bites. since you could use frozen dough, i thought it would work just as well to use regular dough.
they were good! if i would have let the kids, they would have eaten them all that day. but, i was able to put about 3/4 of them in a bag to save for another day.

this morning i made microwave crumb cake in a cup. this recipe is specifically designed to be made in a coffee cup in the microwave. OH, was it good! it was the perfect size, and went great with my eggs and sausage!

i've found a lot of new recipes lately. some i need to acquire the ingredients to try, and some i just need to make room to make.

one of these days, i'll have my own kitchen again, and not have to worry about other peoples stuff taking up the room!

travel

What a trip. We got to idaho falls to get gas, and the card wouldn't work. Then on the way to walmart to figure things out, we got rearended. While we were sitting in the parking lot waiting for shaun to get things taken care of, taylor & elizabeth were arguing, & taylor ends up with a small cut above his eyebrow. By this time it's almost dinner time, & we are only a half hour into our trip!

woe is me!

ok, once again, my list of things to do is by far larger than my energy level.
i want to clean the house. mainly because it desperately needs it. but also because ashley's shoes have disappeared in the mess that is the house.
i need to do laundry so that we have clothes for the next week.
i need to pack the bags for this weekend. in order to pack, i need to have the laundry done.
i want to make treats.
i need to clean ALL the dishes. that includes pots and pans.

i've loaded the dishwasher, i've picked up all the clothes i can find laying around, and i've sorted and started the laundry. problem is, now i'm exhausted!

new recipes

i found a ton of recipes online the other day that i want to try out. i made one monday night.

individual lasagnas.the idea is that you put them in muffin tins to cook. they were cute and fun, but didn't make nearly as much as a regular lasagna would. normally, i have enough left over to do half of another meal. this time, there was only enough for one person left.

so, although this was fun, i don't think i'll make it again.

poor baby

ashley is teething. with her teething comes nasty diarrhea. and it's acidic. it eats her skin! then add to that that she can easily get to the apples without any help. that only makes it worse.

picture story

i guess i should mention the amazing circumstances that found us with these pictures to begin with.

the school district was doing a fundraiser. family portraits for $5. oh, we so wanted to be able to get some! but, alas, out funds were negligible. a friend from church, who has become another grandmother to the kids, was in charge of it. she asked us if we wanted to do it. i explained to her that although we would love to do it, we were just not in any position to do so. that evening, she called to inform me that she was signing us up for them anyhow, and we needed to pick a time and day.

so, we planned outfits, and went in for our allotted time with the photographer. the kids thought it was a lot of fun.

two weeks later, we went to pick up our picture, only to discover that we had a lot more than that for us. when the lady laid them out on the table in front of us to look at, my heart skipped a beat. there was at least $150 worth of pictures laying there! we didn't have that kind of money!
she then informed us that things had worked out very well to our benefit. our friend who was in charge, gets a free package just for helping out with the fundraiser. she decided that she didn't want it this year, and had given it to us! then the lady showing us the pictures informed us that they also send out the cd that has all the images on it, and a copyright release so that we can make as many copies as we need to!!!!!

we came home very surprised, and very humbled. and with some amazingly beauriful pictures!

 this is the one that they chose for us.

this is the one that we prefer. and everyone else who sees it does as well.

another pic

this is the one of shaun and i that looks the best. of course, the one they handed us was cropped in a lot, but it's still nice.

pics

this is the one of the kids that turned out the best! love that you can see everyones missing teeth!!!

of course, this one also looks good!

hard day

as if today wasn't already hard enough...

first grandpa passes away, then we have the primary program. children's choirs always make me cry. today was no exception, and harder than most.

sad

grandpa brady passed away this morning.
we've known for a long time, like years, that his time was short. but, everytime we thought he was done, he rallied and stayed with us. this time was the last.

in my earlier post, i mentioned that he had fallen and broken his hip. i believe i also mentioned his age, 93. this time, there was no coming back.

he will be sorely missed. but, he's also in a much better place. he no longer feels physical pain, he can walk and run and jump. he's been reunited with family and friends who have gone on before him. even though my heart aches because he's left us, it rejoices in the fact that he's returned with honor, and is now assisting in the work on the other side.

we love you grandpa.

big jump!

taylor had his routine eye exam today. his eyes have gotten worse. a LOT worse. one eye is increasing 4 strengths, and the other in increasing 6. the dr says he thinks it might be from reading so much (he DOES like to read.) he's supposed to take his glasses off when he reads, and not read for more than 30 minutes at a time. i guess we'll have to start setting a timer for when he wants to read.

grandpa reeves brady

my grandfather, fell conference saturday, 10/1, and broke his hip. (he's 93) they got him stable enough to go in and do a partial hip replacement. the following monday, he came down with pneumonia. that thursday he was having other complications. inability to swallow, seeing people that no one else could, and not remembering people he knows. the next saturday, 10/8, he was back in the hospital because he kept puling out tubes. this wednesday, he slipped into a coma. as of yesterday afternoon, he had come out of the coma, but had pulled out his feeding tube again.
when he was fully functioning, he had signed a DNR, and a directive for no feeding tubes. the goal now is pain management until the end comes. when that may be, we are not sure.

i will miss him. even though we lived quite a distance from him, he was still my grandpa. and he was the sweetest little old man you would ever meet.

i love you grandpa! it's time to go Home.

small update

we have had quite the time lately. pretrial was supposed to have been last friday, but apparently, the other side wasn't ready. so, it was postponed until next friday. we will all be SO glad when that's over and done with!

a week ago, we called to change our phone and internet provider. it was supposed to be set up and functioning yesterday. we are still waiting! one person i talked to last night said that the order had been cancelled. this morning i was told that everything should be working. well, i have no dial tone, and even though i can connect to the modem, there is no service. we are waiting on a technician to come and fix it sometime today.

i just discovered the babies playing with the cleaning products. they were both covered with them. thankfully, they are melaleuca products, and i don't have to be concerned about them. they both got a shower, and are now in bed for naptime (if only i had time to take one as well!).

thunk!

the older two kids have been sleeping on the couch the last week. i washed sheets, but am unable to make the bunkbed anymore. as shaun has been extremely busy lately, they just haven't been made.

i was sitting here last night reading a book, when i heard a huge crash. taylor had rolled off the couch onto the floor. the floor is pergo, and not carpet. it was loud!

large update

large hm, where to begin.....
well, this last weekend, shaun got my computer functioning again. he spent nearly the entire weekend on it. it's not that it was bad, but i had no internet capabilities, and trying to navigate anywhere on just the computer, took an insane amount of time. it's now got internet, and it doesn't take an eternity to get places!

we had our 20 week doctors appointment for the baby about 2 weeks ago. we learned that our little is a boy! when i told the kids, taylor's face lit up and i thought he was going to go through the roof! he was so excited! the girls are excited as well, but not nearly as much as taylor is. 


about 4 or 5 weeks ago, shaun decided to go back to school, and he's been super busy, trying to keep up with that. 


taylor started 2nd grade in august, and elizabeth 1st grade. unfortunately, as things got very difficult, and we had to move in with shaun's mom, i was unable to do homeschool this year. i'm desperately hoping that i can do it next year. 


shannon does really well, if i stick tightly to feingold. they gave her a red sucker the other day in nursery, and she was a tornado. actually, this might sound crazy, but seeing the difference again, was kind of nice. not only that, but anyone else who saw it was able to realize what a difference it makes as well. we are in the process of trying to potty train her.


ashley has turned into a little complainer. she things she should be able to do what all the other kids do. run outside & play, climb up on the couch and chairs, get into the fridge, basically, be a big kid. but she's not even 18 months old yet!

craziness

life has been crazy since the move. i still don't have internet to my computer. at the moment, i'm at a neighbors house putting this up. when life slows down a little more, i'll do more consistent updates.

update

i had my wic appointment this morning, to get me back on wic as i am pregnant. they didn't like that i was claiming there had been no income at all for about the last 60 days. they started asking me how we paid for diapers. i explained that the church has been helping with that. they wanted to know how we put gas in the car to get to appointments, i'm the chauffeur for my neighbor. she lost her license and to pay me back for the time and effort, she puts gas in the car. she's been doing that for the last 4 months, though. they said they could count that as income. strange.

yesterday in church they released us from the nursery. we had requested to be released. with the new baby and the move, i had more than enough stress to deal with. they didn't call anyone to replace us though.

ashley has started walking. if the floor weren't a total mess, she could probably walk everywhere, but as the floor isn't clean, she trips over things.

shannon is driving me nuts! she won't eat what we give her, but she'll go digging through the fridge, and then turn it off. she'll climb up into the cupboards to find something to eat. i've lost 2 pounds of cheese in the last 2 weeks because of her "hunger."

fourth of july celebrations

what celebrations? we didn't go to anything.

as we are in the process of moving, and cleaning, we decided to stay home. besides, shaun isn't much of a celebration guy, and i really did not want to deal with the attitude as well as all the kids.

ah, moving. how i hate that 6 letter word. this time around, we have 2 families to move, and all the cleaning as well. the problem is, we have to do it all. long story.....
and the elders quorum is supposed to be here to help move our stuff on thursday!? don't think we're going to make it!

i've been keeping a little secret..............in fact, i've been dying to tell people.

i'm growing a peanut tree. it will be fully grown feb 6

hot water

wow, i just typed that title, and laughed! this totally covers my entire day!

shaun and i were cleaning out my father-in-laws shop. well, starting to clean it out. it's going to take a LOT more work. taylor comes over and tells us that the intermountain gas guy is at the house. shaun and i came home and discovered that our gas was being shut off for non-payment. we knew this was coming, but didn't get our 24-hour notice that we were expecting. apparently, they send stuff in the mail, make a phone call, and that's enough. i don't answer 800 numbers!

as my water heater is gas, we no longer have hot water. not a big deal. we can boil water on the stove, and dump it in the tub or sink or wherever else we need it.

this evening after dinner, i decided that ashley needed another bath. she was FILTHY! so, i put some water in a  pot on the stove to boil. i went to pull it off and dump it in the tub. i picked the pot up and discovered that one of the handles was HOT! so, i tried to put it back on the stove and i sloshed over the side all over my hand! i ran to the sink and turned on the water (cause i only have cold water now, right!), and shaun came running in from the office and grabbed the melaleuca oil. we covered my hand in melaleuca oil, and then put the ice pack on it cause it still stung.

my fingers are no longer red, i have 2 little spots that are still "burning," but other than that, you can't even tell i dumped the hot water on my hand!!!!

blow baby, blow!

shannon is trying to turn off a light on a toy by blowing it out! the funniest part is, that it actually worked! (coincidence of course!)

yesterday, shannon was playing on a kitchen chair, and knocked it over. she hit her head on the floor. gave herself a nice little bump. we kept an eye on it, but that's as far as it went. thank heavens!

today, shannon picked up ashley, when she put her down, she dropped her on the back stairs and ashley smacked her head on the concrete stairs.

i think i need to be more consistent in the feingold area!

ashley update

got a call from the doctors office this morning. the culture came back negative.

WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH MY BABY!

unknown illness

the doc called back yesterday morning. he reiterated that ashleys cbc came back normal, but her ua was a little suspicious. he said there were traces of blood, and bacteria in it. the hospital was going to culture it (which takes 24 hours), but he wanted to start her on an antibiotic anyway. i told him i agreed, cause i was pretty sure she had a uti.

her fever went back up a little last night. but it didn't get over 101.

should hear back about the culture this afternoon.

glasses

and.................. these are the new glasses....................

piddle!

i spent 4 hours in town today. 3.5 of that was waiting for ashley to go potty in the bag so they can run some tests. boring day!

*update:5:30pm
her blood work cam back normal. still waiting on ua results

date or family outing?

can it be considered a date if the entire family is there?
went to see pirates 4 at the drive-in. some friends paid for us. didn't have a sitter to watch the kids, so, they all came with us!
elizabeth wet her pants in the car, so we didn't get to stay and watch the new xmen. bummer!

the differences that come with 4 children verses 1. hm............

way cool!

who would have ever thought that you could turn this:

into this:

here's how i did it. 

i printed off the coloring page. taped it to the counter, and taped plastic wrap over it. then i took my tip, made bags from ziplocs, and just followed the pattern. when it had dried a bit, i turned it over on top of the cake, and peeled the plastic wrap off.

way cute! unfortunately, the food coloring is not approved for the feingold diet.

broken

i was doing so well! in the 30 years i have been alive, i had never broken ANY bone.

and then, i got frustrated and broke my finger on my chair. that finally healed, although if i move it the wrong way, it still bothers me occasionally.

today, i did it again. no, it wasn't my finger, this time it was my toes.

ok, to be honest, i did nothing, it my friend. she cannot drive, so i take her most places. she needed to go to DI to buy a bed frame for her son. his mattress has been on the floor for the last month. while we were looking thru them, she moved the cart, and dropped one of the bed frames on my toes. i know for sure one of them is broken, not so sure about the other one.

SHE claims it wasn't her fault, but i disagree!

naked ninja

i just caught taylor doing ninja tricks in his bedroom in just his underwear. oh, and the curtains were open too.

hot baby!

ashley, has been giving me fits for awhile now. she's not happy eating, she's not happy sleeping, she's not happy playing. today has been mildly better, but everytime i picked her up, she was warm. i finally remembered where the thermometer was, and took her temp. 103.2! i checked it again a few minutes later, cause she didn't feel that warm. 103.4! i gave her some ibuprofen, and gave her a cool sponge bath.
i HAD planned to take her in, but i'm going to see what the morning brings. i fully plan on calling the doc in the morning and making an appointment. this is not good for the bug!

sick?

tonight, i find myself strangely queasy. i have another bv infection, and took my meds earlier. now it seems as though those meds are trying to make a comeback.
yuck!

garden

today, i helped my neighbor plant her garden. as a result, my lips are sunburnt, and my arms as well (that's all i've checked so far).

BUT, we got 8 mounds of cucumbers, a row of lettuce, 3 hills of head lettuce, one row of onions, one row of carrots, 4 rows of peas, 6 mounds of watermelon, 6 mounds of cantelope, 3 tomato hills, and 2 rows of corn.

next week, we're planting MY garden!

calm child

we've already noticed a HUGE change in shannon since we have gone on feingold. i will forever be grateful for the visiting teacher who thought of it when the subject of hyperactivity came up. thank you jill!

i no longer have a child that bounces off the walls. she's even started sleeping in her own bed all night! she doesn't get into the fridge just to make a mess. she no longer goes through the drawers in my bathroom.

of course, part of those may just be growing up, but they make a big difference.

clening

its' been a crazy day of cleaning so far. the landlord is coming in the morning to do her inspection. as a result, i have to have a cleaner than usual house. now, for those of you who know me well, you know that the house may be a little messy at times, but it is in no way dirty. but, i'm also not a clean freak. my house is lived in, not a museum.

but, here's what we've done so far. and it's only 4 in the afternoon.
the bathrooms are clean...that includes the shower and tub, the toilets, the sinks, and the mirrors.

the kitchen is clean...that includes the dishes, the counter (that is rarely clean), the stove, the walls, the windows, the curtains, the outside of the fridge, the table.

taylors bedroom is clean and vacuumed. his bed is even made.

my bed has folded laundry on it, but as it is also a laundry day, that is nothing new.

i mopped the nasty plastic porch.

i still need to clean the girls' room, as elizabeth is refusing to do ANYTHING. then the last room is my bedroom, i think. that one might take me all night!

feingold diet

in the true sense of the word, it is not a diet. ok, i just looked it up, and it is a diet. however, i prefer to think of it as healthier eating habits.

as a little background to how this came about, my visiting teachers came over the other day. one of them mentioned that shannon was hyper. i'm pretty sure she is adhd, but as she's only 2 1/2, we can't get a diagnosis on that. the other lady is a teacher at the elementary school. she asked if i'd ever heard of the feingold diet. i had not. she told me she would make sure taylors teacher sent home some info about it.

after i got the info, i went online and started looking into it. it cost $83 to get the info to start it! there was NO way that we could do that, at least not right now. i put it out of my mind until i could get the money together to purchase it.

about a week later, we went to the kindergarten patriotic program. while i was trying to keep track of kids, shaun was talking to elizabeths teacher. he told her that we wanted to start on the feingold, and she told him that one of my good friends was already doing it!

i immediately called my friend, and asked for some help on getting started. she told me to basically avoid the artificial colors, artificial flavors, and the preservatives. by doing that, i was basically doing the program. she also told me that i could get my stuff through her when i was ready. (meaning able to)

in my research into the diet, i learned some very interesting information.
1 - did you know that artificial colors and flavors are made from petroleum?
   they are made from the same stuff you put in your cars' gas tank.
2 - the fda knows that some of the colors are not safe, so they have banned them from being used in food. but they allow them in childrens medicines!
3 - european countries dont' allow the artificial colors & flavors. candy companies make 2 different batches of the same candies. they sell the "cheaper" (artificial crap) to the states, and send the real stuff to europe.

so, i started reading labels. went through my food storage, and decided to get rid of anything that had the artificial colors, or flavors. (i cleaned out A LOT!) within a few days, i started to notice when she'd had something that wasn't on the "diet."
one morning, she ruined a dozen eggs. i'm pretty sure she got into my display of m&m's. i have a WAY cool vase that i put peanut m&m's into, and they are only for decoration. problem is, when shannon gets really hungry, she sneaks them out of the vase & eats them. and then i have a mess to clean up - like the eggs.

i discovered that just about everything in the stores organic corner is safe. and on top of that, anything i make from scratch is also safe. as long as i don't use the artificial colors and flavors.

update

it's been quite awhile since i wrote anything of consequence. life just kind of got away with me...again.

taylor broke his glasses, again. we went in the last week of school to try and get them replaced, but they didn't have another pair of the frames in the office. that means he took all his final tests without them. even so, he did amazingly well. when report cards came home, he had gotten all A's! his reading level is currently 2.3, and shaun let him borrow the hobbit to start reading.

elizabeth got a tooth knocked out this last week. taylor accidentally kicked her in the mouth while on the neighbors trampoline. it bled, but stayed put. then yesterday he knee-ed her in the mouth, and it finished the job. the dentist wanted to see her, so we took her in the morning to have him look at it. the root is still inside, and we decided to wait until her check up in 2 weeks to get it taken out.

shannon has been easier to handle since we went on this new "diet." it's not really a diet. the morning she ruined a dozen eggs, i'm pretty sure she snuck m&m's out of my display vase. she's not quite as crazy when we are able to keep her off the artificial colors & flavors.

ashley has finally started sleeping through the night. she's no longer nursing, and absolutely loves her milk. she now has her vampire teeth. it's actually really funny, cause she has the 2 front bottom teeth, and then her upper incisors came in and are working their way down.

i accidentally got my neighbors rabbit killed. i let the dog in the house yesterday when it was raining, and forgot to lock the gate at the top of the stairs. the dog got a hold of the rabbit, and the rabbit is no more.

shaun has been quite depressed as we haven't been able to pay the bills, or figure out how to pay rent either.

time will show us how to get things taken care of.

1 year old!

sunburn!

ashley and i spent some time outside the other day. it wasn't long, but we had fun.

i didn't realize until it was much too late, but her head got roasted!

she has a tomato red spot on the crown of her head.

yesterday i found a hat. today, i put ribbon on it. hopefully, she'll leave it on.

clean up

today was our ward spring clean up. basically, everyone who can, goes around the ward helping people get things done in their yards. we do this the saturday before the city clean up. anything we chop down, and clean up, can be put in the alley for the city to haul away.

last year, i was very pregnant, and the ward mowed my lawn, and tilled my garden. in the fall, they helped me clean out one of the flower gardens. this year, i was going to have them help me cut down some bushes in back, dig up the last flower bed, and till the garden again. no one ever came by to see if i had anything i wanted help with. needless to say, i was a little upset.

i suppose i could turn up the garden by hand again. i've done it before, but not one this size. the flower bed should be relatively easy, however, things always go faster when there are many people helping. and i only have one shovel. to take down the bushes, i need a chainsaw.

oh, how i wish someone had stopped by to see if there was anything they could do to help!

withdrawal symptoms

so, i didn't get my meds ordered soon enough. i've run out, which means i get to deal with the withdrawal. SO not looking forward to the next few days!

the withdrawal symptoms include:
   dizziness
   trouble thinking
   feeling light headed
   trouble walking straight
   "floating" thoughts - i can feel my brain disconnect from my body and start floating
      i can also tell you how high it is
in my moments of clarity, i do quite well. i managed to mow part of the lawn yesterday. i also managed to make dinner

unfortunately, until my meds show up, it's only going to get worse

camps

my house is camp chaos, and the neighbors house is camp crazy!

update

i know it's been awhile. it is not easy to type with a splint on my finger. my finger is no longer bruised, but it's still VERY sore. case in point, i showered this morning, and now my finger aches!

i have officially named the house/my life as camp chaos. right now, it's really only open part time, as the two older kids are in school. at the end of the month it will be open full time, and frequently have 2 extra kids. i'm okay with that, even if most of the time, it might sound like i'm not .

mothers day was not quite as quiet as i would have liked. i woke up to a pound of shredded cheese all over the front room. (there is only one word needed for most of the messes that are created in this house....shannon) shaun was so upset, that he decided to stay home from church and clean house. he also kept her home. when the rest of us got home from church, mark and his brother were here. they left shortly after. during his cleaning, he found some things that belong in a "camp" across the street, so i quickly took them over while he and the older two took the flowers down to grandmas. when i got back, there were more friends at the house. they were here for about an hour. they were totally unexpected!

finger "trap"

had a rough night last night again. ashley has been driving me crazy at night. she'll wake up to eat, eat, and then fall asleep. when i put her back in bed, she wakes up screaming. and nothing i do helps or makes it better.
she did it again last night. so, instead of throwing her across the bedroom, i punched my chair (i keep a chair in my bedroom specifically for nursing). i would have been fine if i hadn't hit the wood at the end of the arm. my finger nailed the wood.
i was fine until i got up and had to bathe the kids this morning. then it started to ache. i tried an experiment that my sister-in-law told me about. you put ice on something you think might be broken. if it IS broken, it will cause pain that will send you through the roof! if there's no intense pain, you are fine. i thought i was going to die when i put the ice on!

as i have no insurance, and there's nothing they could do for it anyway, we took popsicle sticks and tape, and wrapped my finger up. now that my finger has turned almost black from the bruise, i'm glad the tape is covering it.
i managed to slide my ctr ring off that finger when i was in the shower this morning. that was a feat!

pictures

the other day at school, they did the special pictures. the ones that have the cool backgrounds instead of the flat color. at the same time, they also did class pictures.

of course, when the kids brought home the pictures for us to see and purchase, they both insisted that we HAD to buy them. oh, and we had to buy the class pictures as well. we told them that we were unable to purchase them cause we didn't have the money right now.

taylor wanted his class picture so badly that he took his own money and bought it himself.
shaun feels terrible!

long update!

i realize that i haven't written for a LONG time. life has been slightly crazy!

a month ago, we started a new venture. we started doing xango. shaun has some friends who got into it, and he was exited to try it with them. especially after learning that the compensation plan was amazing, and the products were even more so. we got in, got our first shipment of product and started using it. this was 4 weeks ago. in those 4 weeks, shauns psoriasis has cleared up significantly. i will continue to purchase this product for that reason alone!

we got electricity put into the garage. ok, it's true that we already had some. but everytime the freezer kicked on, shaun's office would shut down. we needed an additional breaker, and permission to do it. now we need to rearrange his office!

ashley cut her first 2 teeth. she now crawls on hands and knees. she climbs up to stand at the chairs and couch. we had to put the side on the crib up so that she wouldn't fall out.

shannon started using more sign, and speaking. unless you know what she's saying though, you wouldn't understand her.

shower fun!

i took a trip down to provo for my future sister-in-laws bridal shower. we had so much fun!

my sister, stephanie, threw the shower. she found some clear glass dishes, and paint to paint them. we painted personalized plates & bowls for them. not a single one is the same. my kids even painted some. ashley as well.

i took tons of pictures, but don't want to share them until i can get the scrapbook pages done. i need to get them done and printed so i can send the to molly as well.

i survived!!

the trip to provo with 4 children by myself. barely, but i survived. shannon refused to stay in her seatbelt. i had to stop multiple times to rebuckle her. the first time, i didn't even make it out of sugar city. i told her that if she didn't stay buckled up, she would stay home with daddy, instead of coming with me. it worked until we got to idaho falls. then, nothing worked. 


before we left to come back, we taped her into the seat using electricians tape. she fell asleep, and didn't wake up until after we dropped my mother off at the airport. the tape kept her in until about malad pass. then she was able to get out. 
when we stopped for dinner in pocatello, i bought some duct tape, and taped her in. it worked until about county line road. then i retaped her in. 


saturday night, i got sick. made for an interesting trip home. i was up half the night throwing up. i finally felt well enough to start packing up sometime around 12:30p. we were able to leave around 2:30p. i was still feeling puny, so we took it easy.

sorry for the mia

it's been awhile. life has been a little crazy!

late feb 24th, we got a call that shaun's dad had fallen in the furnace room. early on the 25th, he passed away. for a week, we focused on everything that needed to be done with that situation.

ashley cut her first tooth on sunday.  she also had her 9 month checkup. she weighs 15 lbs, 12 ounces.

we got our taxes done, and are expecting around $5400 back.

as for anything else, i'm having a hard time thinking.

happy baby!

i took this just today! she is scooted up to the basket, and pulled herself up to a standing position!

peek a bum!

shannon a few days ago, was on a kick of wearing panties. the problem is that she still can't get them on correctly all the time. she ends up putting her waist through a leg, and a leg through the waist.

every time i see her like this, i have to laugh good and loud!

lip ring anyone?!

so, shannon had an accident today. she was trying to climb up into the chair with elizabeth, and slipped and hit her chin on the table. this picture is a few hours old, but here is the result of that slip. 

it's also no the best of pictures. the cut is about a half inch long, and almost went all the way through her lip. she's got a blister/pimple like spot on the outside. 

scrapbooking page

valentines surprise!

 i had to get a little creative this valentines day.

he hasn't seen them yet. hope he likes them!!!

sick mama!

i hate being sick.
i hate being depressed.
put the two together, and it's a miserable time for everyone.

i have clinical depression. i've had it forever. my medication helps out A LOT! but there are still times that i hit a bump or two. started climbing back up the hill recently. only to get sick!

we rounded up the money to get me into see a doctor. he's the same one i saw last fall when i had laryngitis. so he was already familiar with some things. i went in cause i wanted to make sure it wasn't strep throat, or tonsilitis. didn't need the rest of my family getting sick as well. it was neither, thank goodness. he deemed it upper respiratory infection of some sort. (broad category! thanks.) the best part was yet to come though. i got worse before i got better!

i laid around the house for 4 days, and nothing got done. the first 3 days, i couldn't hardly swallow. so, i didn't eat or drink a whole lot. by the end of day 3, i was feeling a little better.
day 4 i could at least swallow and eat, but still felt pretty crummy.
yesterday, i was finally able to get up and take care of basics.

today, i am playing catch-up times 5!!!

valentines day cards

 

 

 

 

funds are fairly tight right now, so i decided to make the valentines cards this year. everything i used was from free digital scrapbooking sites. i had fun. hope you enjoy them!

aaah, haaa, haaa!

shannon is crabby, and on her second nap as i type this.

ashley is running a fever, crabby, teething, and screaming. always wants to be held.

taylor has been down with the runs for 2 days.

the only child healthy is elizabeth!

help!!

i have 2 babies crying for my lap, and only so much room!

meltdown

we had ourselves a meltdown last night in this house.

i had been dealing with sick babies all day long. when it came time to put everyone in bed, things didn't get any better. i didn't get a break! just as i lay down to sleep, ashley was up. when i tried to feed her, she arched her back, and screamed. as i was well past my limit, i put her back in bed, and went to the front room. that way, i could avoid the potential harm i might inflict on her.
i curled up on the couch, and fell asleep, i think.

i woke up to screaming, but not from the baby. it was shaun. when i got into the bedroom, i found ashley laying in bed, and shaun on the floor causing some damage. to himself.

shaun had had the same problem i did. he'd reached his limit, and put her down as well. but he didn't leave the frustration. he took it out on himself instead of ashley. good that he didn't hurt her, not so good that he hurt himself.

improvisation

i made cupcakes today. got the mix made up and then realized i didn't have any liners for my pans. so, i took some cookie liners and cut them up. then i inverted a cup and formed them around it. they worked in a pinch, but i won't do that all the time.

count the messes

how many messes can one child make in a day?!

well, let's see.
8:30a
   bubbles on the kitchen counter and popcorn in the microwave
10 a
   2 quarts soy milk all over the the dining room floor (required mop and bucket, and sponge bathing ashley)
      afterwhich, i washed the towels
4p
   hot chocolate mix all over a kitchen chair and floor (also required the mop)
8p
   cupcake in the chair in the front room

this actually seems to have been a more decent day as far as messes went.

ouch! ouch!

oh man! this afternoon was tiring, and sort of scary!
i have realized that showering when shannon and ashely are awake, is not the smartest idea. so, i've started waiting until naptime to do it.

i put both girls in bed, and climbed in the shower. while i was in there, shannon came in and knocked on the shower door. great! she was up. i told her to go get back in bed. i quickly finished my shower and then got out to get dressed again. just as i was done drying off, she starts crying. she walks in crying, and saying "owie," with blood dripping from her hand.

i grabbed an old cloth and put pressure on her finger. i then called my mother-in-law and told her i needed her help. as shannon wouldn't stop screaming, i sat down with her in the chair in my room. she finally stopped crying enough for me to leave her in the chair and finish getting dressed. while getting dressed, mom showed up to help. i got a bandaid cut to use a "butterfly," and a few others to wrap it up with. pretty sure she didn't need stitches. it was the tip and there's nothing they could have done for it.

brought her out to the front room where there was more light, and had a good look at it. she had nearly cut off the entire tip of her finger. i think she tried to cut something with my sewing shears.

when i was done playing nurse, we both took a nap. by then, my adrenaline was gone, and i was exhausted.

GRR! frustration!

shaun is subcontracted for a local company in town. thankfully, they've had enough work lately that it's helped us pay the bills, and start to get on top of them. unfortunately, they are a start up, and the work and pay hasn't been extremely reliable.

here's the biggest problem with it though.
they have required him to work in the office. that in and of itself, is not really a problem, except that by doing so, they caused him to fail his classes last semester, and they've killed his ability to do his own art. not only that, but he's starting to get frustrated that he doesn't have ownership of his artwork. as he is not an employee, they can't really force him to work in the office. he's not on payroll, he's subcontracted, which means he's his own "boss."
here's what i don't understand. they don't think that working from home, "works." did they have a problem getting the files they needed from him when he WAS working from home? no. was he getting the work done? yes. was the project progressing? yes. so, how can they say that it doesn't work?

i just spent 20 minutes working through some issues with him. i'm going to start putting my foot down. IF they can't abide by the hours he's said he'll be in the office, then he'll start working from home again. IF they need work from him when he IS supposed to be off the clock and at home, i'm going to start having shaun charge double time for it. if they don't like that, they can wait until he's on the clock in the office. if they have a problem with either of those, they can find themselves another graphic designer.

they are already asking him to give up what he loves and has gone to school for. i won't stand by and watch them destroy him any further.

whoops

i just put a status on facebook, that i decided i shouldn't have. i'm glad there's a delete option!

calendars

so, for grandparents christmas last year, i made calendars. i am still trying to get them printed and delivered. but, as all the pages are complete, i thought i would show the images!