Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Quarantined

So...I'm pretty sure I'm in the top running for the Lousy Mother of the Year award. I could name many reasons why, but this particular time it has more to do with what I've done to other people's children.

I should probably explain, yes?

Last week, oh - around Wednesday, Kezia started acting tired & fussy. No big deal - though it was kind of unusual that she fell asleep on Jason's shoulder at about 5pm. Then she had a fever. Hmmm... must be some cold that's going around. Within a few days she seemed better. No fever.

Yesterday morning she woke up and after I looked at her a light bulb went off in my head. She has hand, foot & mouth disease! I mean, she had 1 or 2 little bumps around her mouth earlier, but I hadn't noticed it too much - Monday morning, though, they were everywhere. I looked it up online - sure enough! Fatigue, Fever, then the sores. I looked all over - hands - check, feet - check (ouch!), mouth - check. Oh, man.... I felt so bad for her. But really what I felt bad about was that I LET HER GO TO NURSERY the day before! And HFMD is super contagious. Yes, everyone, I am that mom. Course, I really had no idea, but had I put 2 & 2 together, maybe I would have figured it out :(
Oh, I felt sick to my stomach after I realized what had happened. I am publicly apologizing to everyone in my ward. And now we are on house arrest for a week. Which is SO much fun in the summertime :\ The other thing is that since it's a virus, they can't do anything for you. It just has to run its week-long course.

Oh... and did I mention that this little one is now in on the game? She had a fever & threw up yesterday in bed. She just kept saying over & over "Mom - I puked." This is such a sad and unusual picture for our non-stop run-everywhere girl. I have to keep on top of the ibprofin. I can almost calculate to the minute when it starts kicking in based on her mood.
P.S. SLC family - say extra prayers that we can come up this weekend!!!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Partnership

You may have already seen this. I saw it for the first time yesterday & LOVED it. I love that it shows both sides of parenthood. So real. Makes me think that maybe I'm not the only one who struggles. My favorite part is the bathroom scene. That is MY EVERY HOUR reality with Kezia, so I had to smile. I also appreciate the reminder of how important this calling is & how we are loved by the brethren.

Monday, June 13, 2011

S'mores & more

Ever had a weekend where nothing seems to go your way & everything turns out miserable? Me, too.

But this past weekend was not one of those.

Last Friday, we took our new trailer & headed up to Indian Creek CUA (i.e. - dirt roads & camping spots - and free), which is above Manderfield, which is just North of Beaver. It was just one of those amazing weekends. The setting was just gorgeous, the weather wonderful, and on top of all that - the girls slept like logs all night! Our great camping trip consisted of some...

Great fishin'! (The girls both caught about 3 fish!)

Lake wadin',

rock throwin',

pancake flippin' (and eating!!),

s'more (& wienie) roastin',

more fishin' by my hot hubby,

hikin' (can you see that beautiful little waterfall behind me?),

meadow meanderin',

dog runnin' (dog HEAVEN!),

baby back-packin',


dirt playin',

chillin' like a villan,

more fish catchin' (and eating! - by not by me),

colorin',

...and (not pictured) nappin' & game playin'.

When McKinley found out that we were going camping with just our little family & no cousins or friends, she threw a little fit (I thought they weren't supposed to mind just being with their family until at LEAST the tween years!) , but after we were there a few hours she admitted that it was a lot of fun! And it was. One of the most beautiful spots we've stayed at - and the amazing thing is that there was a huge fire here last year. It was shut down for the rest of the year after the fire & this is the first weekend it's been open. What amazes me is the beauty that comes from those ashes. The hope that emerges from such a tragedy. Definitely one of nature's finest miracles...

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

May Newsletter

May 2011

FAMILY: Some of our May adventures include: A family trip to Parowan Gap to see the Patroglyphs, driving to Fredonia, AZ to play with the Barons on the 4th, A great Mother’s Day - complete with homemade pancakes and cards and Heidi & Jason speaking in church - also that night we drove to Grandma Devenish’s for a yummy BBQ ribs dinner (and thanks again for the patio set!!), celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary by going out to eat that night & a Vegas weekend a couple weeks later, Camri coming over to play and having fun watching movies, painting nails, baking cookies, eating popcorn, eating pancakes, going swimming, going to the park, and taking naps. Thanks for coming to play Camri!! On the 24th we took a quick trip to St. George to watch Camri’s 5th grade graduation program. She did a great job & it was educational & fun to watch their history program that they put together. Going to SLC & getting our new trailer (hooray!) and camping out up Mapleton for Memorial weekend. On our way back, we met the Devenish’s in Beaver and gave DeeAnn her birthday present & showed off our new toy. We’ve also seen a few homes and lots of land this month. And we’ve enjoyed our lunch play date in the park with daddy on Wednesdays.


JASON: Jason had a good month- still learning new things at his job and meeting new people. He was supposed to go to meeting in Ogden this month, but they cancelled travel budgets for the time being. He really enjoys the flexibility of his hours and was able to work four 10s, so we could take Friday off at the end of the month to go camping. He enjoyed our Vegas anniversary vacation and really was impressed with the Cirque Du Soleli show. Allergies and sinus issues have really hit Jason hard the past month or two. He will get a really bad headache & the only thing that seems to help at all is Advil Sinus.

HEIDI: Heidi is still enjoying living here. She thinks part of the problem that it’s taken so long to decide where to move or build is that they are loving where they’re at so much. Still – much of her time and thoughts are taken up with the decisions ahead of them. Heidi got a new training watch for Mother’s Day and it was wonderful! She enjoyed spending time with her sweetheart on their anniversary dinner and vacation. She loved the Mystere show and the fun rides at Circus Circus – especially the Dora/Diego 4D show. The girls would have loved that one. She read a couple good books this month – The Hidden Garden and Heaven is for Real. Jason & Heidi read Heaven is for Real together & it was really neat – a true story about a 4-year-old boy who went to heaven. She was VERY excited to finally get to use our new trailer - and already has 5 more camping trips planned. Our summer is looking busy! She enjoyed getting to spend time with her family over Memorial Day as well.

McKINLEY:

-Once in a while, mom will ask McKinley if she wants to call a friend & McKinley will say “no mom! I just want it to be a family day!”
-McKinley thinks you can find any answer online. She will ask a question that mom or dad doesn’t know the answer to & she’ll say “well, look it up online!” One day McKinley was asking about Heavenly Father & mom was trying to explain to her about him being eternal. She told her that He doesn’t have a beginning or an end. Her eyes bugged out & she said “WHAT? How come??” Mom said she didn’t know & McKinley said “well – look it up online!”

-McKinley lost her other top tooth at the beginning of the month! Mom helped pull it out & McKinley was eager to put it under her pillow. Unfortunately, there was no money under her pillow the next morning. Daddy explained that it was Mother’s Day & she probably had the day off.

-McKinley is still working hard on her Handipoints goals – and doing her chores pretty good most days. She and Ireland wanted ice cream as their goal. McKinley earned some strawberry ice cream and she had a great time eating a little bit every night until it was gone (pint size J

-McKinley is BIG into “what if”s lately. Here are a few examples: “Mom – what if we played with our food and ate our toys?”, “What if everyone had hair longer than Repunzel’s?” “Dad – what if we only wore towels all the time?” Mom and dad have had a interesting time trying to come up with answers to all these what if questions!

-One day McKinley said “When I’m a parent, I’ll always live by Michael. There you go McKinley – it’s documented. Now – let’s see! J

-McKinley loves to talk to her cousins for a long time on the phone. She will sit & just talk about nothing & everything – she just loves to hear her cousins’ voices.

-One day as mom was fixing McKinley’s hair, she said “Mom – maybe one day Heavenly Father will come down and make Michael (her cousin) my friend so I then I can marry him!”

-There has been a lot of copying going on at our house – usually Ireland copying everything McKinley says & McKinley getting mad at her. Obviously all the copying had her really annoyed because one day she said “Mom – it kind of bugs me that the mirror keeps copying me.”

-McKinley’s creativity and thinking skills sure kick in when it involves her happiness. One day we were ready to go to playgroup, but the truck was still hitched to the trailer and there was no way mom was going to haul it. We were all disappointed, but McKinley came up with probably 5 different solutions to the problem – a copule of them being “Mom – let’s just call someone from playgroup and have them pick us up and take us there!” and “Well, we could just ask someone to borrow their car to go over there!” When she wants something to happen, she will think of any which way to make it work!

-With the extra daylight, the girls have had a hard time going to bed at night. They will keep coming out even until it gets late. Mom put them back in bed for the umpteenth time & went to leave & she heard McKinley say “I wish we were nocturnal!”

-McKinley & Ireland have been spending more time with the Gardner’s lately – Tyrus & Sienna. They love to go play & have them come over.

IRELAND:

-One day when we were in the bathroom fixing hair, we were talking about how McKinley had long hair. Ireland said “Mom – will you brush my hair long please?”

-One day Ireland was drawing a picture on the table while mom was fixing dinner. She stopped & said “Mom – what is it?” Mom looked at the drawing & said “A Mountain?” Ireland – “No.” Mom – “A Hill?” Ireland “No…. It’s Dog Poo!!”

-Ireland has really been take charge with her food lately. She needs to learn to ask more before she takes, but she can pour her own cereal and milk and gets her own yogurt and cinnamon bread when she wants a snack.

-Ireland has been really good at doing her Handipoints chores lately. She earned a pint of chocolate ice cream!

-One day Ireland was brushing mom’s hair. Mom was loving it and in a trance. Ireland kept running to the bathroom and coming back to brush some more. Daddy came in the room while mom was relaxing – enjoying her hairbrushing. Dad said “Umm… you do know that she’s putting water and hand soap in the brush & coming back and brushing it into your hair, right?” Well, let’s just say that mom must’ve been a little tired that day. Her hair smelled like hand soap till the next day.

-While McKinley loves to talk for a long while on the phone, Ireland says about 2 words & says she doesn’t want to talk anymore. She loves to see her cousins on Skype, but then she cries that she wants to go over there.

-Ireland has been a bit grouchy on the mornings where we wake her up. One morning she was just so upset. She kept yelling “NOOO! I don’t WANT it to be morning! It’s going to be NIGHTTIME!”

-Most times if you ask Ireland why she will say “Cuz just becuz.”

-Ireland has had fun playing more with her friend across the street – Sienna.

-We have had a real struggle with Ireland keeping her seatbelt OVER her shoulder. She likes to put it under her arm while we’re driving & we have to remind her numerous times to keep it on her shoulder. We may have to resort to a safety pin in the future.

-Ireland will say “Where did Kezi come from?” and “Is Kezi in your tummy mommy?”

-She calls them “Rispie Crispies”

KEZIA:

-Kezia is saying sentences now! She says “Here you go mommy” and “I get it” (I’ll get it) and “don’t want it” and “Bama’s house!”– those are a few of her favorites. She also is really good at reciting after us when we help her with the prayer!

-With the changes in insurance, there was a lapse in Kezi’s atenolol SVT medicine. Mommy wasn’t sure if it would make a huge difference since she’s gone for a day or so without in the past & been fine. But after about 4 days without her medicine, we could see the difference. She wasn’t urinating as much anymore and starting getting the cold extremities again – and just not acting herself. We were thankful when we got her back on the medicine & she seemed herself again.

- More of her cute sayings are “Ewww!” when she sees something she thinks is yucky and “Cute!” when we put a bow in her hair or a dress on her.

-Kezi calls broccoli trees. She’ll say “Pees (please) tees (trees)”

-Kezi is starting to get really particular about things. She wants CHOCOLATE milk (though we’ve finally told her it’s all gone & she seems to have accepted that), and she wants “Kitty jamas (pajamas)” and she will let you know if she’s in the mood for juice NOT milk!

-Kezi likes to play with our alarm clock when we’re all hanging out in mommy & daddy’s room. One morning Jason woke up 30 minutes early because of our little button-pusher!

-It’s so cute when Kezi says “____(Kinley/Ireland/Mom/Dad/Tundra/Sydney) where AAARRRREE YOUUUUUU?”

-Kezi isn’t a huge fan of cereal in the morning (even sweetened cereal), but she will eat 2 bowls of oatmeal in a heartbeat!

-Another of Kezi’s sayings is “Can I?” whenever she sees something that she wants to do/play/eat.

-Kezi is certainly our sensitive child. When someone is crying, she will go up to them and sign and say “Sorry ____ (Kinley/Ireland)”

-She has discovered that crayons, pencils and markers can be used on things other than paper. Even though we keep trying to teach her that coloring on paper is “yes, yes” and everything else is “no, no,” she still continues to color on her arms, legs, clothes, walls, dresser, and table. And McKinley’s shoe. We love this stage! K

-She’s getting better with please & thank you & if you say “what do you say?” She will say please or thank you. She has come to mom & said “please cracker.” So cute!

-Kezi sure loves to mess up McKinley & Ireland’s room! They will work hard to clean it up & 5 minutes later, Kezi has all the blocks out and half the books off the shelf!

-Kezi still has an infatuation with the toilet and toothbrushes. Which are not a good combination.

-Kezi is such a pro with pointing to face parts – nose, eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, teeth, chin, and even eyelashes! She loves to point to other people’s facial features.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Great Riches

My girls watched a VeggieTales yesterday. I can't remember the title, but from the tidbits I gathered as I was coming & going, there was this big blueberry lady who was really rich and wanted everything in this store. She had carts & carts of stuff & she just kept getting more. It reminded me of my last trip to Walmart. Seriously. I was getting stuff for camping and 2 weeks worth of meals and snacks and I had 2 HUGE, FULL carts of stuff. By myself. Lugging them around the store. I was getting stares and comments and felt like I should be going home to feed a family of 20, not 5. Anyway, after waaay too much money spent and NO help getting to the van and loading all this stuff, I'm gonna be honest - I kind of had a little meltdown. ANYway, at the end of the VeggieTales movie, after watching a few people, she realizes (in true Grinch fashion) that happiness and true riches don't come from a store. In the end, she found true happiness in the simple things in life - the people she loved and the world God gave her.
Yesterday we were heading to the park for our picnic with daddy and McKinley saw a plane & asked if we could buy one. So... we got on the topic of wealth and money. I told her about someone I know who is very wealthy but doesn't have a spouse or children. And so I told her in my opinion, I had the greater riches, with such beautiful daughters and a wonderful husband. Our park time was magical... 70 degrees... sunshine...picnic...family. One of my favorite things to do is to lay down under a tree & look up through the leaves at the sky. I forget how a simple thing can make me feel so peaceful and loved. Then I looked around at my children & husband and, really truly, felt that no one on this earth could be richer.




Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Sin City

Last weekend we got to go on a belated anniversary vacation! Friday, we dropped the kids off at Jeff & Keeley's in St. George (have I mentioned how much I love being close to the St. George Hamiltons? :) and headed down south.
I enjoyed the drive. Jason & I have been reading the book Heaven is for Real. It's a true story about a little boy who went to heaven and saw Jesus - among a myriad of other amazing people and things. Quite a neat/interesting/amazing book to read/discuss with your sweetheart. We also read some of the Duggar family book.
We got to Vegas around 6:30 & checked in. We were basically starving by then & we had heard from a number of people that the Rio Buffet was excellent. It took a while to get in, but it really was great! Wow! Made me wish at the time that I had 3 stomachs. There was food from all over the world - and the dessert bar... wow. Jason ate like a 2-foot-tall pile of crab legs. Which is good for him because he would never get me to make anything like that! Afterwards we walked the strip & saw the Bellagio water show & the Treasure Island show.
Saturday we slept in (one of our FAVORITE parts of vacations!), ate the bruch buffet at Circus Circus & had fun riding rides at the Adventuredome. Afterwards, we walked around & through Cesars Palace & then back to Treasure Island for a quick pizza dinner and the Mystere Cirque Du Soleil (wow. I wonder if ANYone can type that without looking up how to spell it first) show. The show was - well, amazing. We'd never been to a show like that - comedy, acrobatics, music, gymnastics, lights, effects. It was really awesome. I wish I could have been at the table where they thought up some of that stuff.... "I know! At the end, let's have this gigantic inflatable tie-dyed snail! That would be sweeeet!" LOL! Sorry if I ruined it for anyone who hasn't seen it. It really is awesome though. We trekked back to our hotel, but Jason said he'd never been in the Stratosphere, so we went a bit farther & took the elevator to the top. If you go, just be aware that it DOES cost money just to go up there. $13/person. I gawked at the price, but we had walked all the way there & Jason had never been to the top. It was really neat. Back in my crazy college days, me & my roommate & a couple other friends drove to Vegas on a whim. We rode the Big Shot(a ride that shoots you straight up & back down) twice. It is terrifying. Now they have 3 new rides (OK - new from 1997) - one that shoots you over the edge & pulls you back, one that basically swings you over the edge, and one where you JUMP OVER THE EDGE. I am talking 108 stories up. Craziness. Let's just say that I'm not terrified of heights, but not too fond of them either. I was already feeling a bit sick to my stomach just looking out over the glass. But intentionally going off the edge... well, I just don't think so.
Sunday we took off (checking out was a madhouse!) & on our drive home, we finished reading our book. About heaven & Jesus and angels. What a contrast. I had such a wonderful time being with my husband. The environment, however, was not so wonderful. I don't know if its because I have become a parent since the last time I was there - or if it really has gotten worse (they are really working the Sin City/What happens in Vegas theme...), but sometimes it was hard to really enjoy things because everywhere I looked there was pornography. I mean - everywhere. I couldn't look up - there were billboards & hotel signs, I definitely couldn't look down - hard porn pamphlets littered the ground. And looking straight ahead wasn't a safe bet, either - the way people were dressed... wow. I hate to say it, but all that filth did kind of put a damper on our weekend away. Just too much junk. It just weighed me down. I felt like I was staying in the "Great & Spacious Building." I know it sounds funny, but it's true.
Still - we had a great time just being together & celebrating 11 years. Just the extra sleep was worth the trip! :) Here's some pics from the weekend.

World Buffet at the Rio - Jason enjoying his crab legs!

Our hotel


TI's pirate show

Adventuredome fun!...



Hmm - waaay too much food.


Water Show at the Bellagio- pretty cool!

Circus Show

Cesar's Palace

Mystere

Top of the Stratosphere Tower

Crazy people ride

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Random

It seems like I've only been posting events lately & not taking time to write some of my thoughts & feelings. For what they're worth, here's some thought nuggets that have been banging around my brain lately:

-Cedar. I am still REALLY loving living here. I drove to my good friend's (Lena) house a couple weeks ago & drove over the mountain, past Duck Creek Village & down 89. I mean, I had a hard time keeping my eyes on the road. It's SO beautiful up there! Anyone want to buy me a cabin up there?? Pleeeeease?





-Weather. Well, darn it. It must be spring in Utah. Last week, my girls were running through the sprinklers with their swim suits on & today we have to wear warm jackets. Our closets are bursting with both winter & summer clothes. Can't wait till it decides to be warm for good! (course then it will be hot & I might just complain about that ;)







-Routines. It took a while after all our trips in April, but I think we finally settled down to where the girls aren't fighting their morning chores as much and are acting better in homeschooling. We have a pretty good system where we have FHE on Mondays, Tuesdays are playgroups at the church, Wednesday is picnic in the park with daddy, and Fridays are Friday Fun Days, where we go to playgroup & usually another "field trip" somewhere. We've been to the park a lot lately.




-Camping. I can't say exactly why - maybe it's because we didn't hardly go camping at all last year - but I am REALLY craving some time in the mountains. And guess what? We bought a camping trailer! I'm so excited. I am really looking forward to a lot of camping trips this summer. Who's game?




-Buying/Building. After we got the trailer, this has REALLY been on our minds lately. We have walked through probably 10 houses. We have driven to see dozens and dozens of lots. It's getting a little stressful because we have this house on a 6 month lease and we've already been here for 2+ months (wow - really?). If we're going to build, we're a little behind the game here. But anyone can tell you that we don't make decisions quickly - and especially something of this magnitude and importance. We really want to be where the Lord wants us. We just need to figure out where that might be - Hamilton Fort, Cedar, Enoch, Summit, Parowan? We have started looking at home plans & my mind gets boggled by all the options and things to consider, but it is exciting to think of all the things we've been wanting to incorporate in a future house.


-McKinley's schooling. This is also still a decision that is very much in our minds and prayers. At this point in time, I am leaning more toward homeschooling. I'm not going to list all the reasons right here, but I'm sure I'll do a post in the future once we've decided for sure. I'm also trying to decide how much homeschooling we'll do in the summer.






-Summer Plans. I'm looking forward to this summer. This weekend we are going to Vegas for our anniversary weekend. We're planning on heading North for Memorial & going camping with family. A race in June. 4th of July in Richfield, Ireland's 4th Birthday, Potts Family Reunion in August, and another race. And in between - swimming lessons, camping, hiking, and exploring. I'm very much looking forward to this summer!




-Girls growing up. Lately it seems I've been able to get outside of the moment-to-moment enough to really see my girls growing up. McKinley's hair has been getting so long. I catch glimpses of her & just can't help but see what a beautiful girl she is - on the outside & inside. She still is our never-ending question-asker, but I try to be patient and explain things minus all the exasperated sighs :) Ireland... almost four years old. The past 2 days with her have felt like a dream. Don't know what has happened, but she has done her chores without complaining - folded an entire basket of towels this morning and put them all away. She'll say I love you out of the blue and is always there when I'm cooking something so she can help. I'm sure we're not completely done with tantrums and throwing fits, but I think we might be getting closer! Kezia - wow. She really is a little girl. She's starting to put words together - make sentences. She's also started to be picky with what she wants & she can express it now enough for us to understand - but now she is having a hard time learning that even though we know what she wants, she can't always have it :( It's a difficult thing to learn. She is sucking in so much from her sisters.