Happy Christmas

Another Year is almost gone. We hope your's is great.

Happy Halloween

I did it again, home-made costumes. Three was a little more stressful than the usual two. But I did it and they look good and got done in time. Garrick and Grady's I made my own pattern. Grady's I just used a hoodie and sweat pants from Walmart and made all the spikes and stuff from felt. Garrick's I winged it and used some of his clothes as a template, the only thing I wish is that I had gotten fabric with a little bit of stretch, most of his fabric was remnants so I only paid about $1 a yard. He loves it and I think it turned out great.
Marley's I used a Simplicity pattern and wanted to kill it. It will be a long time before I sew with a pattern again, it was much more difficult than I had originally anticipated and I about ripped it to shreds. I should have used cotton or even velvet instead of organza and satin, (both of which are really hard to sew). I wouldn't have been able to do it without my mom. She is really the best!! I went over 3 different times and she helped me sew for hours. I really love that lady. Rapunzel is beautiful and Moo is happy.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (How to Train A Dragon)

Rapunzel (Who right now is very afraid of SNAKES.) She didn't believe me that all Grandpa's snakes have gone to bed for the winter.

A very not Toothless the Dragon.

The cousins at Grandma's Halloween Party. My mom is so sweet and put together a fun time. Thanks Gram.

She's a Beaut

Isn't she a beaut. This is the bike Carl bought for me for my birthday. I love it! We bought a trailer so the kids and I ride our bikes to school every morning. I feel so cool riding down the street I'd ride it everywhere if I could. Thanks babe.

A Little Wiser

I had a birthday recently and I definitely don't feel older. I don't think I'm looking it either. What do you think?

One thing I do feel is wiser.

(In case you didn't know I have a mini-me around. Isn't she adorable in my glasses.)

Say Hello to my little Friend

Meet Webby Spinderweb, Garrick named it the other day. A St. Andrew's Cross spider that lives in our window well. I am both fascinated and freaked out by this guy and can't bring myself to kill it. It isn't poisonous so I guess it stays.

Well. . .

I hosted my baby sister's baby shower yesterday and as people talked I realized that I really don't remember things as well as I should. I feel bad, I don't remember Marley's first word or when she got her first tooth. I guess I should write those kinds of things down, huh? Speaking of which, in the midst of prep for this party Marley was excited about the party and asked if Aunt Chann's "baby was going to come out and blow out candles." To Marley every party is a birthday party.

Since I have no other way to say it, this is what we've been up to.

This beaut was $12 on KSL, it took me forever to sand (it was disgusting), I then primed it, 3 coats later it was ready for paint. Three paint coats later it was way too white, so I did a glazing technique on it. I think it is perfect and with the exception of what to put above it, the corner of the hall makes me smile and I often find myself staring at it (kind of like people do when they walk past glass or mirrors and they try to look like they aren't looking at themselves but they really are.)

This pic makes me laugh because little Marley is 3 and Grady is 9 months and they are almost the same size. But we spend a lot of time in our jammies, I don't know how Mom's find time to shower and get ready and have 3 kids. Anyway I haven't figured it out yet and if you see me in a hat 2-3 times a week you know why.

Isn't that a sweet face. Besides the fact that the little man still won't eat solids at any regular juncture, he is so cute and sweet. He was 8 months old in this pic, what a chunk. He's a roller and can't get enough of me, the kid is glued to my hip 70% of the day, which seems sweet sometimes but most of the time my arm and hip just hurt. But who could honestly resist that cute kid.

This was the big day. Garrick's first day of Kindergarten. He loves it and even asked Mrs. Graham on the first day if she was the best teacher ever, because someone at church told him she was. Like a normal kid he loves recess and show and tell. My favorite thing Garrick has done lately which has nothing to do with school was. . . We were at IKEA and waiting in line for free kids meals and we had already shopped and he was tired. He asked why we were standing there. I told him "We are all in line waiting to eat." (something like that) I looked around for a minute and looked back at him and he was crying. I asked what was wrong. "I don't want to eat LIMES they don't taste good." The mother in me hugged him and explained that we were in a line. The lover of Junie B. Jones in me Laughed so hard.
What are you up to?

Really

As I have not updated our blog in nearly a month I thought I'd let you in on a little secret. Our life is not exciting! (I know that is a complete and utter shock to all of you.) I am a stay at home mom beginning tomorrow officially (since that is when all the Weber County teachers head back and I do not), which means most of my day is spent refereeing and housekeeping and the occasional (don't tell Carl) bookfest; this is where I read the book I am reading at every possible moment (when I am not feeding or refereeing) and then when Carl calls and says he is on his way I do a quick clean. Isn't that amazing. I know NO, not really. But that is our life.

So with that in mind this is what we've been doing this month.








The kids both did swimming lessons for 2 weeks and then we went to Uncle Kev's and swam in their pool. It has been a great month and if Garrick asks one more time, in his unbridled excitement, if he starts school tomorrow I think I might actually drop him off.

Summer

Can you believe the summer is going by so fast. We have had a crazy June and July. I think we have been home maybe 2 weekends since Grady's surgery. We ended June with Marley's 3rd birthday. She wanted everything pink including her bike and her cake. We got her a Strider bike (without pedals to help her learn balance). We'll see if it works. We spent the 4th with Carl's parents, parade in Mt. Pleasant, a bbq with some of their friends and then a lot of time up on the mountain. Our kids would rather be at Grandma Lynda's than at home. Garrick asks everyday what day it is because he is so excited to start Kindergarten, which is super funny. Grady is 7 months and besides the fact that he refuses to roll he is doing everything and you wouldn't know he had surgery. So needless to say our summer is going just like they do fun and fast and mostly in Fairview.

CRAZY

I woke up Saturday, June 11 about 5 am, Grady was fussy, which is pretty normal so I put his binki back in and went back to sleep. He didn't settle down so I finally went and picked him up. I could tell he was uncomfortable but didn't know what to do, I tried to feed him and he didn't want anything to do with eating. I got him to calm down but thought maybe he just wasn't feeling good. He finally ate really good at noon and since Mar was asleep and Garrick and Carl were at Grandpa's we laid down and went to sleep. He woke up about 45 min later and threw up all over the bed and everything. Needless to say that was the first of many puking sessions over the next twenty four hours with my cute boy. Carl came home Saturday night and we both figured Grady (who had spent the day sleeping anywhere I put him down and throwing up most everything he ate) had the flu.
Saturday night was a really long night I think we slept 1 hour all night. Carl headed to Church the next morning and the kids and I stayed home. Grady wasn't feeling any better so I asked Carl to see if someone would come and help give him a blessing. Our great friend Wade came and helped Carl. A couple hours later Carl and I both looked at Grady and realized that he didn't have the 24 hour flu and that we needed to talk to a Dr. I took him to the clinic and it turned out (after another puking session) that he was dehydrated and we needed to go up to McKay Dee and get him rehydrated. I promised the Doc that I would drive straight there, so I drove home and got Carl and the kids. My mom had already agreed to watch the kids and planned to meet us just off the freeway in Roy.
When we stopped I could smell that Grady'd pooped. I thought I'll hurry and change him, that was until I saw his diaper. It was bloody. (That was when I really started to freak out.) I told Carl to hurry. We went pretty fast, dropped the kids off and headed to the Hospital.
We had been pre-admitted so we went straight to peds and the great nurses and doctor saw us and had an IV going within probably 20 minutes. They took the diaper and the doc talked to us about what she thought it might be. Because of the diaper she ordered an x-ray and a ultrasound. I thought this doc was amazing she was very personal and took time to talk with us even though she was just finishing her shift. She could tell how freaked out I was and was really nice, before we went down to get the stuff done she pulled us aside and said, "I'm just going to warn you now so that you are prepped when you come back, if it is what I think it is, you can't be treated here and you'll have to go to Primary Childrens."
Yep, within another 1/2 hour we were on our way to Primary's, in an ambulance. Grady had Intussusception, it is a condition where the bowel slips inside itself causing a blockage. We were supposed to be pre-admitted to Primary's but they stopped us and had us go to the ER, where we waited and waited and waited and found out the kid in the triage next to us had been bitten by a rattle snake 2 times. We were lucky our friends Wade and Erin came and waited with us, I think we would have gone crazy without them (they are the best they stayed until 2:30am when we were settled in our room). After about 1 1/2-2 hours later they took us in to try Plan A: and air enema that would blow the bowel out of itself. Poor kid had a taped behind and I held his arms above his head so they could get him to hold still. Didn't work. Plan B: The surgeon was right there and he was really great told us they were prepping the OR and that he would be taking part of his bowel and his appendix while he was at it. (this is what he looked like right after surgery, really sad)
He was in surgery by 11:30 and we ended up in our room by 2ish. I don't think I've ever been that tired or worried ever. It was so sad to hear him fuss while he was drugged up and he didn't even know I was there. They took 7-8 inches of his small intestine and they took us up to the room. We had great nurses including our friend Laura Hoover, which was great, not only because she is a great nurse but also because she asked questions we didn't think to ask. It was also nice to catch up a little we hadn't talked in a long time. (Thanks Laura) They didn't let him eat at all until Wednesday and they had to make sure that he would keep everything down and also that he would poop. We found out that the Intussusception was caused by a Meckel's Diverticulum (thanks to Laura). It is a condition he has had from birth that is a little bulge in the intestine that can cause a weakness and in this case caused it to slip inside itself. He should be fine from here on out. But it was a rough go in the thick of it. It was a long week and we are really glad that he is okay and that we are home.

(This was the view I had of him most of the week.)



(This is what Grady looked like when we left, he had people wrapped around his finger)
I should give a shout out to a few people: My parents are amazing and kept our kids for the entire week and they loved it. Carl's mom was great to come and let us get some stuff done at home and sit with us on Monday. My sister Annita brought us food a few times and she also come to sit with Grady too. The great dr's and nurses (Laura you really are great, we loved Catherine too). Wade and Erin for coming and helping us keep our sanity during the surgery. Thanks everybody.

Boulder Mountain

So we went camping, we made a big plan with my parents, took 4-wheelers, we packed 80 times more stuff than we actually used. We had a great time. We camped at the Rosebud Campground near Lower Bowns because we didn't have to pack the wheelers up to go anywhere. We went on a bunch of rides, the first to the lake, which was a longer ride than we expected but turned out to be fun. Garrick had big plans to catch a fish, it was so windy and sandy, we didn't end up staying long but the kids loved it and Carl liked riding in the dunes. We took walks along Pleasant Creek and picked flowers to put in Marley's hair and found walking sticks and rocks. Garrick spent most of his time glued to one of my parents. My mom would walk his pace so he loved hiking with her and my dad would tell him about all of the plants and answer his 101 questions. Marley is such a girl and kind of did her own thing and loved to have Carl carry her in the Kelty pack. The trip seemed like it went too fast for me, I ended up with a blocked duct and Mastitis so Saturday was a wash, Carl and I ended up driving to Bicknell to the clinic. I missed both of the kids catching their first fish. My dad made Garrick a willow pole and he honestly dipped the pole in and out came the fish, apparently he was in seventh heaven. I was feeling a ton better by Sunday and so we ended up hiking Hickman Bridge and Calf Creek Falls. Calf Creek Falls is so pretty, but the hike is 6 miles round trip. It was a lot longer than we expected and we had a head wind on the way back. I have to give Garrick props, he walked all but like 3/4 of a mile of the way. Grady was such a trooper the whole time, he rode in our Ergo Baby pack (worth every penny we spent on it) he slept and looked around and even nursed good in a lot of random places, a park in Fruita and at Calf Creek Falls. I love that kid he was so good. Those winds we encountered at Calf Creek were micro-bursts and there were trees knocked down all over and our tent was almost down, so we headed home a day early. The kids cried and still ask to go back Boulder Mountain. That made it worth all of the work. I have such sweet kids and was glad that my parents were able to come along.



Grady was super hot when we go to Hickman Bridge, so we stripped him down and cooled him off.
If you look at the bottom of the picture you can see my dad doing what my dad has always done, taking pictures of plants



Garrick thought it was so cool that they crossed this log to walk on the other side of the river. My Dad loves that Garrick is so interested in plants.

ICKY

Icky officially graduated from The Red Apple Preschool. We are super proud of him. He is reading and already has big dreams (as we've mentioned before) of being a Rocket Scientist. He LOVED school, Miss Tonya, and his friends. He gained so much confidence and did so well at his graduation. He had two parts and every time it was his part he would tap the mike and then blow in it, then say his part, we were cracking up. He messed up a little on the second part but was really funny and he had the whole audience laughing. He was a whole head taller than the other kid he shared the parts with so he would crouch down so they could both talk into the mike. I could hear him singing on each song and I only caught him picking his nose once (is it just my kid? It is like an addiction, he does it even more when we tell him to stop.) He teared up when Miss Tonya talked about the year. He is so excited about Kindergarten and makes Marley so anxious to get started with school.

He was so cute, and I can't believe how big he is. For a 5 year old he is in the 91% for weight and the 96% for height. I don't notice it until he is around other kids his age.

Ick at his year end party.

Marley got to come to his party as well. I really hate blow up toys they freak me out. They had tons of fun but I was so worried about them the whole time.

Bitter Sweet

So after 3 years attending Roy High, followed by a break to get my degree, then 6 years teaching at Roy; I'm done. I have 3 days left to teach and I will be taking a break to be a stay at home Mom. A lot of people have questioned why I've stayed so long when I have kids who need caring for. The answer is simple, I LOVE Teaching and I LOVE ROY HIGH. I never imagined that I would return to Roy after I graduated with my degree, but I am ever so grateful I found the opportunity to. I've been able to work with all those teachers who inspired me and make lasting friendships with so many great people. I also have taught some of my friends siblings along with a lot of other great kids. Teaching is not always been a thankless job for me, I have had students tell me they hated history until they had my class. I have had students tell me that they love the way I teach even if they still don't like history.

Long story short; I am excited to be home with my kids and not have to get 3 kids ready and out the door before 7 am. But I am sad to be leaving the other great kids I've been able to teach over the years. I'm sad to be leaving something that I have truly loved doing.

Is it SPRING YET!!

(How cute are they, Grady was 4 months this day)

We have been working so furiously on our basement and taking care of 3 kids this winter that we haven't made the trip to Carl's parents much. Now for most of you this may not seem like a big deal, but to my cute man it is torture. See to Carl, Layton is the big city and he drives in traffic all week to and from work so he would probably love it if we went to his parents every weekend. I also have spent a ton of time holed up because of the new baby and the weather and was dying to be able to be out of my house. So two weeks ago we drove to his parents house and hoped for the best, the last time we went down it snowed. This weekend turned out great. My cute kids spent the entire day playing with their cousins, climbing mountains of dirt, and just thoroughly enjoying themselves. They even got a little sun burned (I am a horrible mother).

A couple of exciting events happened while we were there, the first was that Grandma Bench somehow conned Marley out of sucking her thumb with fingernail polish (I once tried this and it didn't work). Thank you Grandma!! The second was when I tried to climb on Scooter (the horse) with Marley on the back patio. Well somehow after I got on Scoot got spooked, rared up, lost her footing on the cement and began slipping. I call it our rodeo. Carl and his Dad were yelling for me to get off but I had to grab Marley. Well, luckily for Marley and I Scooter's back end ended up so close to the ground that I was able to grab Marley and literally step off a 5+ foot tall horse. We were both shaken up but after I told Marley that Scooter was just scared and fell and the insistence of Carl's Mom and Becky, we got back on. Marley is one tough cookie.
Don't you just want to squeeze this cute boy's cheeks?
Before the Rodeo.
Here is Garrick on his pile of dirt. The tub was literally full of dirt after we bathed him.

BIG Day

So Garrick had a big day a little over a week ago. He wanted a black birthday so we started with black waffles for breakfast, we also made a cake with black frosting (he wanted the whole cake black but Carl and I didn't think we'd be able to eat it). He wants to be a Rocket Scientist, thanks to Doc and Flint Lockwood, so the big hit was his Lab Coat and the Experiment kit. It was such a fun day I just can't believe how fast he is growing up, I registered him for Kindergarten a couple of weeks ago.

I'm so proud of him, he is a really good reader and loves school, he is really cute with Marley and Grady. My life is like a musical, between he and Marley there is always someone singing, and the songs are usually about what they are doing. He never has grown out of the question phase, everyday is a game of 180 questions (180 seems to be his favorite number). He has such a great imagination and he is such a tender kid, our home and visiting teachers are really cute and getting used to our kids asking for hugs and kisses. I think my favorite is that he'll come up to me out of the blue and give me a hug and tell me he loves me (he does this to everyone) I love it.

These were disgusting. I don't know why but they tasted different to me.

Not only does he love black but he loves spiders too, so we did a web too. He thinks Charlotte's Web is great.

This is what happens when you put too much food coloring in the frosting. Marley and Grandpa were having such a good time. Marley wanted to wear black in honor of his black birthday, she is such a girl.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG G!!