stitches (again)!

we just had an interesting day. the kids were playing outside, and taylor comes into the house crying. he had been at the neighbors house and the screen door flew open from the wind, and knocked him in the chin. he got a cut about an inch long, and about a quarter inch deep. there was a lot of blood. i cleaned him up a little, put a rag over it, and ran him up to the er.
they were able to glue it shut instead of using stitches. when i get a chance, i'll take a pic and post it.

Isn't she great?

My wife's a sweetheart. Give her a kind word and keep in touch with her. We don't want her to live only in the dry and sometimes miserable atmosphere I generate. Oh, and if anyone wants a painted family portrait, just let me know. :) Otherwise I do science fiction and fantasy stuff.

egg substitutes

so, i went to make a perry dinner tonight (cake), and realized that i didn't have any eggs. how do you make a cake without eggs? so, i called my mom to find out what you can substitute for eggs in a recipe. she was talking with stephanie, so i had dad tell her to call me back. it took a little longer than i thought, so i went online, and googled egg substitutes for cakes.
HA, vegans have many substitutes! they suggested applesauce or bananas, not an egg substitute. you can use those for oil substitutes, though. they suggested eggbeaters. those are just egg whites with food coloring in them, not a substitute. (oh, btw-it's sunday, no shopping) they also suggested substitutes that you can find from a health food store. then i found one that the ingredients were staple pantry items. it works for baked and cooked things, but not if you want just eggs. the cake was a little dry, but not bad overall.
for 1 egg:
2 Tbs flour
1/2 Tbs butter
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp water

on top of things, i think

so, i've done some cleaning and organizing that last few days. i got all my stuff, minus notes taken care of from last semester (i still need to type them up and print them out). i got my food storage labeled and organized again. i made master sheets that i put up on the doors so that i know what i have and what i don't. i've gotten my desks mostly cleaned off. we actually had an fhe this week, where we are trying the "bribe" thing.

oh, btw-the kids decided that they wanted to change their reward to swimming at a pool.

dead dishwasher

so this morning, i discovered that the dishwasher is full of mold. not only that, but it only sort of cleans the dishes. so, we decided that the dishwasher is toast, and we will proceed to wash them by hand.
sucks to be me!

bribery, or reward?

so we went down to provo last week for candice's graduation. the girl was practically giddy. got to spend some time with my mom and her family. i had such a good time. it's too bad that it all had to end. i wish, and i know they do to, that we weren't so far away from my parents. it was really hard to put my mother on the plane and send her home.
of course, because i can't go anywhere without having health issues, i had two gall attacks on the same day. talk about a killjoy.

so, i've started something new with the kids. we'll see if it works. i took a pint mason jar, and told them that when we got the jar filled with beans, they got to do something special. how do they fill the jar, you ask? by obeying, by doing the jobs i ask them to, by behaving. they can also lose beans, by not doing what they're told, by sassing mom and dad, and by running off. so, when the jar gets full, they get to go choose some new toys. let's hope it works.

tonsils, to be or not to be

ok, we took elizabeth in today to have her tonsils looked at. we became worried about them when we noticed that there was less than a 1/4 inch between them. so, we got a referral from the dr and had them looked at. we are supposed to keep an eye on her, see if they cause any sleep apnea. if they do, they will take them out. if not, they will leave them in.

holy crap, this is awesome!

http://confessionsofabyuco-ed.blogspot.com/2009/04/love-story.html

it takes awhile for it to load up, but the wait is well worth it.

catch up

ok, life has slowed down for a bit, and i have a spare moment to write something.
my mother-in-law, one of them, gave us a trampoline. i know, it's crazy! but, they don't use it, and it's too hard for dad to be putting up, so they gave it to us. it now sits in the front yard, and the kids keep begging to go play on it, it's dark, hello!
we got the rotten apples cleaned up from underneath the tree, so the yard looks a little better. i went to clean up right around the base of the tree. someone had put landscape brick around it, but it needed fixing and cleaning up. in the process of trying to clean it up, i found the mother lode of ladybugs.
taylor had cavities filled on friday. so we spent the rest of the day, and majority of the weekend making him feel loved and more comfortable. he got milkshakes, and puddings, and all sorts of goodies that they don't have on a regular basis. we opted to have it done in the surgery center, because his fear of needles and anything that causes pain would make him freak out. so, they completely put him under, and took care of it that way. he did have a problem when he woke up and discovered the iv. he tried to take it out himself.

milestones!

as it's the easter season, i thought perhaps we should update and post something.

the kids made a haul for easter. the easter bunny was very generous, grandma williams and nana got new clothes for them. we did easter dinner at our place, since we have room now. it was fun, but i was ready for it to be done long before it was over. apparently being a hostess wears me out fast.
as we were going through bags of candy that morning, shannon pulled a milestone on us. i had her laying on the floor, on her belly, and she pulled her knees up underneath her and started rocking. i have the feeling that she'll be crawling in the next few weeks. aahh, mama is not ready for that!

i forgot to mention that taylor registered for kindergarten today.

what?!

we went down to provo for little benjamins funeral on friday. drove home during conference satruday morning. then, i started on homework, and got in trouble for trying to do it during conference. called about a house that we were interested in looking at. sent shaun off to the priesthood session, and got to work on homework again.
about 20 minutes before shaun got home, i started having pain in my back. i tried curling up on the couch and relaxing. it didn't work. the i went and laid down on my bed thinking that might help. it didn't. shaun got home, talked with the kids for a minute, and came into the bedroom to find out what i was doing. i started moaning and not being able to talk or think. he called his sister-in-law, and she said to get me up to the hospital. he gave me a blessing, we informed rosie about what we were doing, and went to the hospital.
to make a long story short, i have gall stones and need to have my gall bladder removed. however, since it's finals week, and i'm already going crazy, it will have to wait for a bit. i need to finish up the semester, have elizabeths tonsils removed, and get the kids cavities taken care of first. i can't be down and have to deal with all of that as well.

rachel, we feel for you

for those of you that know her, rachel mothersill abbott had a baby this week. he was born alive at 22 weeks, but sadly didn't survive. they are having a funeral this friday.

our hearts and prayers go out to the abbott family.

field trips

so, i have a class that the teacher wanted to take a field trip to logan for. i told her that i had a problem with any field trip that took me out side of the state. actually, i should have said outside of class time, but the concept is the same. i have a 4 month old that i can't leave home for more than 2 hours at a time. so, she went and talked with someone and they told her that if everyone agrees that it's okay for me to take her, i can bring her with us. so, looks like i'm taking a field trip on thursday with my 4 month old to logan.
the only real problem is that she doesn't travel well, and neither do i anymore. it's easy to fix my problem, i have some dramamine. however, there's nothing i can do for shannon. i just have to do deal with it. this could be fun! NOT!

midterm projects

http://www.lib.byui.edu/exhibits/2009Patterns/2009PatternsHome.html
ok, this is a link of the display they put up in the library with our midterm projects. this is the flat pattern class that i am taking. the dress i did is an original design by my little sister brianne. i took her design and turned it in to reality. and, of course, she gets the outfit when the display comes down.

nuts, i don't want to move again

ok, more bees, and we still haven't seen the landlord yet. this is really frustrating.
so, we've been looking at places to move to, because the landlords aren't taking care of repairs. first of all, i had to completely clean the house when we moved in. the previous tenents didn't clean it, and the landlords never made it over. the front porch was full of garbage which they were going to put out and never did. then i find out that the garbage only came every other week, so we took a load up to jacquelyns place over the christmas break, cause no one was there, and they wouldn't notice. the toilet seat was broken when we moved in, and hasn't been fixed yet. the bathroom light started sparking and crackling over christmas, and he came and looked at it, but hasn't been back to fix it yet. the house isn't grounded, and the power has issues, they haven't come to get that taken care of either. and then there's the bees. that should have brought them over immediately, but we have yet to see them. bees are a safety issue, especially since shaun in terrified of them, and his mother is allergic. between those two he would have a serious reaction to them.

beware the ides of march!!

awol sitter

So, Shaun stopped working at WalMart last week. He's now working from home. It makes it kind of hard on the kids. They want to go in and talk to dad, but he keeps kicking them out.
Now my sitter is going awol. I hadn't told her that Shaun was quitting, because i knew what her response would be. Shaun told her yesterday, & now she doesn't want to watch the kids anymore. She thinks that because he's home, he should be keeping the kids. He's still working. She wanted me to talk to shaun about it. I did, already knowing what the answer would be. So, with 5 weeks left in the semester, i have to find another sitter that is willing to trade or take food as payment. Don't know how i'm going to find someone. Guess i should look on the bulletin board to see what's there.

wow, 2 am

so, i just barely finished a midterm that's due today. that might not seem note-worthy to anyone, but the time is 2:22 am. 4 hours past my bedtime. i would have had it done sooner, but i kept screwing up and having to start over. not a fun time. however, it's done, and now i can go to bed!

bees in february?!

what!? yes, it's true. we had bees in the house.
shaun had noticed a bee in the office on sunday, but was unable to find it to get rid of it. then yesterday, we were sitting in the office before taking shaun to work, when we noticed the bee again. shaun took care of him. then less than 20 minutes later, we saw another one. shaun took care of him and then we did "clean-up." we decided that we had to try and figure out what was going on, and where all the bees were coming from. so, shaun called in to work and let them know that he wouldn't be in, i informed my teachers that i might not make it, and we went to work. we took the office apart, and tried to find them. we looked in the basement, we checked outside (quite a cold, wet job), we went into the attic. we couldnt' find anything!! the bad news is we have no idea where the nest is, and the good news is, we haven't see any more bees.

Hit by the Economy to the Soul

So, we have finally met some really bad parts of the economic crunch. A good friend of mine from Graveyard shift at Walmart was fired a couple of weeks ago, which meant a loss of roof over head only because he couldn't find another job! We know of the perfect place for him, but he doesn't have anything yet, or place to call home. Therefore, it was simple...we have a hid-a-bed and an extra space in the front room. He is close to town businesses and will not have to worry about home or hunger until he lands a job. It didn't take long to get it all in tow...4 days to completely move him and make the transition. My only concern in this was the sacrifice's consequences to my schooling. I totally believe in people being first, and more than deserving of sacrifices. Somehow I must make up for the loss in schedule. I even have one late assignment already!!! I knew something was to fall out, but I did not expect one more thing to add on. It is my expectation that Walmart will fall out...unless the art clients I have do first. I would much rather that Walmart be left behind honestly. I never expected to work there this long at all. I only worry about the HUGE load of criticism I will get for doing it. We have a healthy tax return and my loan coming in, of which it is not wise to consider as a proper income, for it will not only have an abrupt end, but a lengthy consequence in the end. So, what will it be? Meleleuca is falling behind, which makes me very sad actually. Couldn't I serve my time in earnings into that instead? Especially if it is what I prefer? Well, at 2 am, I am still days behind and nearing my exhaustion point. I have been praying more and more lately, and reading my scriptures every day. It is a hard position to be in to know that all things I do directly affect my family and my friend now, and that my downfall is theirs too. I the last moments of the day with Nadia, she simply mentioned that everything might work out ok anyway. I would hope so actually. I have no need of worrying anymore, just action, work and progress. There is more than enough to do. Only the Lord can help me carry this load. I simply and truly cannot do it without him, but as the scripture says, all things are possible with the Lord. And as what I do is or is not in righteousness, I will or I will not accomplish my desires and goals. I pray that what I do is smiled upon by the Lord and He opens the windows of Heaven itself. Everyone is in need, and He is our God, and we can ALL ask. The promises are not limited as a while supplies last issue. It is time we put our faith in Him during this famine. Otherwise we are as we fear, and will remain in darkness and be swallowed by our doom, yes, even by the world and the crumbling foundation thereof... Build upon Christ, not the world. To act and not to be acted upon, we must ask of Him, learn His ways, and do them! Remember who we are. The flesh is weak, but the spirit is willing here. Stretched thin, but eager and excited. Run ragged and stumbling, I pray for us all...I do not believe myself in any special predicament that is not common to man...especially in this time of economic famine. I indeed must remember that I am blessed, and greatly so. Well, Please forgive the bad grammar, the poor exhortions...I am overrun with pressure, emotion, and grindings of the heart and mind. I would that my fears and weaknesses be swallowed up in the faith in the Lord. Either by way of Jobe's trial, or of Elijah's...Of Moroni's or Nephi's, I am seeking out the hand of the Lord, that trusting in Him will not fail me my most precious of all: my family. I have much to do, but of the many priorities, sleep must become one. I do so now, and give rest to my weariness. May we all help a neighbor, show our time to another in need, pull anothers wagon who has fallen in the dust of the journey along the way to the promised land. Let it not be that darkness fall upon us, for here faith will be built in us all. Good Night.

escapades of the nearly insane

so, life has been crazy! i know everyone says that and we say it all the time. but, it just never seems to slow down.

the week went pretty well, shaun started his masters program, i got a better handle on school and being mom. . .
and then came friday night. shaun and i were trying to do some homework, each of us, and taylor comes into the office with slime on his hand and face. then elizabeth comes in and says that taylor threw up. so, i went to get him cleaned up, and then he mentions that he swallowed a nail and it's stuck in his throat. WHAT?! we tried to get more info out of him. like what the nail was doing in his mouth, how big it was, that kind of stuff. we got the size out of him, nothing huge. it's one of those that comes with the curtain rods that you put in the hangers with. about an inch long, not terrible. we decided that i was going to take him in so that we could know what to do about it. as i was getting ready to leave, shannon woke up, and then shaun decided that we might as well all go. so we did-that was a full er room. they took an x-ray, and sure enough, there was a nail in his stomach. they let us see the x-ray, what a kid! the dr told us that it wasn't creating problems right now, and that the best thing to do was just wait for him to pass it. she said that if he complained on pain, that was a sign that things had changed, and we should take him in. that was 36 hours ago, the nail is gone now and no one would ever know that he was dumb enough to swallow it, let alone put it in his mouth.
thank heavens kids are so resilient!
oh, and the kids have broken my breast pump.