The Force is Strong With Us

Several months ago Josh planned out what he would be for the next several Halloweens. Star Wars characters for 4 years, and then when he's 8, a bush. It will be awesome because it will surprise people that the bush is moving. He absolutely remembers this schedule, so first up on the list, a Jedi Knight, had to be fulfilled this year. I looked into sewing costumes quite long ago, but it never got past the looking phase. So being in an emergency, I got on Amazon, filled my shopping cart with expensive yet cheap looking costumes, and . . . Gary said he was sure we could make them. But we had so much going on this week, Gary . . . No matter, it looked easy to him. So, we bought fabric, waited until the perfect time (the night before trick-or-treating), hauled out the sewing maching, and did it. And it was fun! Gary did the measuring and cutting (no pattern, just scaled down from some instructions online. Oh, yeah, scaled down because sadly/awesomely almost all Star Wars costuming described on the internet is for adults), and I did the sewing. It took us way too long, but we learned a ton, and got the last stitch sewn 10 minutes before we headed out the door. Mistakes abound, but our kids loved it, so we felt pretty accomplished.

Josh ended up choosing Obi Wan Kenobi specifically, and Noah insisted on being Darth Maul. I wanted my precious young son to be a good guy, so I suggested every awesome character I could think of . . . but it was always met with, "No, I'm going to be Darth Maul." We wondered if he even knew who Darth Maul is, but the second I found a picture of him, Noah said, "Yeah, that's Darth Maul, that's who I'm going to be for Halloween!" So, Darth Maul it was. Gary did the face makeup, and Noah loved it. As for Andrew, we decided to alter things a bit. Gary's vision was Luke Skywalker. When I went to put it on him his belly was too big, so we had to squeeze it together with a safety pin. I don't know why, but I think his too-big belly is so funny.

Before we got out the costumes to dress the kids, Gary put on Star Wars to pump them up, and boy did it ever! You should have seen the proud look on Josh's face as he donned his Jedi robe.  So, candy gathering we did go, and it was a great night. The rain dried up just right before we went out, so we got to watch our little kiddies excitedly going from house to house. These pictures are in the opposite order of how they happened, but switching them around . . . nah. (Come on, Blogger, you can make it easier . . .)



Let us begin at the end . . . young Skywalker enjoying candy, toddling around with whatever he could get his hands on.

Here we see the master of costuming pushing the Jedi carriage. The other spot was being kept warm for Darth Maul, who ended up riding after a while, too.



The epic battle . . . (darn teenagers, I can't even use the word epic anymore!)

I made them stop at this door for a photo together, but their general lack of focus indicates what was really important to them at that moment.

We were on our way to trick-or-treat at the first house when we realized Darth Maul was without shoes. Would have known it earlier if we'd actually looked at the pictures we were taking.

Aaah, I just have to kiss him all the time!

When we got home we had some hearty chili ready that Gary had made, and it was delicious. There's something magical about the family all together, the kids having fun, the crisp night air, the jack-o-lanterns, the leaves, the friends passing by, warm chili . . .The whole night makes me smile. And if you were here to see me do it, you'd see I have Kit Kat in my teeth. Mmmmmm . . .

P.S. Gary and I joked about opening up a Jedi robe shop on etsy. Our motto will be, "Your kids will love it so much, you won't even notice how crooked it is!"

Special Package, Baby Doesn't Sign, and Toddler Jumping Jacks

Today when we all went out the front door, Josh ran to the mailbox and took a dirty diaper out of it. He then ran to the garbage can and put it in there instead. I asked him if he had put the diaper in the mailbox, and while he said no, his face said yes. We didn't receive any mail today.

Josh was excited to tell me today, "When I stand on my tiptoes, it looks like I'm 5!"

I've been trying to teach Andrew to sign "more." Today when he ran out of food, he started saying , "Mo, mo." He's my child, so of course I thought it was the most adorable ever. My quest to teach sign has not succeeded, but Andrew's way works just fine.

Noah has to be Superman all of the time now. My kids being superheroes is not new news, but Noah now not only always has a cape on (real or imaginary), he be addressed as Superman most of the time.

I did an exercise video today for the first time in ages. I thought the kids would all be climbing on me, but I was wrong, it was just Andrew. So I did 2/3 of it. Josh and Noah were actually exercising, the whole time. There is nothing cuter than Noah's jumping jacks. Except Noah's jumping jacks while wearing a cape. While we were working out Josh said, "I'm going to be the strongest kid in preschool!"

We went to Coldstone to redeem birthday ice cream coupons for Andrew and me. The entire time Noah was walking in he was singing, "Shorty is an eenie, meenie, minie mo lover . . ." Andrew loved the ice cream, and started crying when we removed him from the store.

The impending change of seasons is making me feel yucky, but I guess it's better than a diaper in the mail. For the most part.

(Please do not say you love winter. I won't be able to handle it. I love portions of it, but I do not love being stuck inside the house with sick kids and no husband for months. And if I do go somewhere I have to find 4 pairs of matching socks. I'm working on a being happy campaign, trust me.) (Also do not suggest  I move somewhere sunny. It doesn't help the fact my situation is what it is.)

Just Start Writing

Oh, blog, I love you and you frustrate me. I love the idea of having my little family's history all written down. I love looking back at happenings and musings. I love that people can check in if they want. I'm frustrated that I never get a chance to write these days. And then if I do get a chance the thought is so daunting I actually don't want to. Because it has to be just so. Clever . . . only if other people think me tricking Noah into a nap is as clever as I do, otherwise I guess not today . . . And have the pictures . . . where to dig those up (no camera, really . . .) And since the task is great and the brain is feeling squeezy, I'll just write to an inanimate object. Or not so much object as  . . . I really don't know the classification of this new-century noun called a blog . . .

Phew, that's out of my system. Excellent advice from my 8th grade English teacher who suggested that if you don't know what to write, just start writing. She would probably recommend, then go back and delete it afterward, but guess what folks, I'm turning in the rough draft.

Because I want to remember how fun it was when we were an old fashioned family, and made caramel corn ("sticky popcorn," is the new name around here, I guess), and listened to the football game on the radio. Game stunk, popcorn was delicious.

Because I want to remember how my boys decided a fun activity one afternoon would be looking through cookbooks. They found many, many things that I have pledged to make. And these guys don't forget, I'd better get out my calendar. Then that night around the dinner table Gary said, "What should we do for Andrew's birthday?" Josh offered, "I saw a great cake today in a cookbook." And Noah said, "I know! We can get a present for him! And for me."

Because I want to remember the kindness of the neighbors accross the street that offered one day after church to watch our kids for a date night. Were they prompted by the sacrament meeting wrestle-mania? I don't know, but I do know that I ate barbeque with my man, and I said Gary looked good and he said I looked good and we both said we love being together.

Because I want to remember the puppet show I put on with Josh. Nothing fancy, 5 minutes of prep. Found the script in The Friend, used paper guys we already had, used bee stickers as leprosy spots . . . and Josh simply beamed. We did a repeat performance the next day. I haven't done anything like that before, but that million-watt smile makes me want to try a little harder.

Because I should report that Noah's destructiveness has decreased a little, unless you count running with very sharp knives. When I took one such knife away from him he cried, "But they're for b-tacking!" "Well, why don't you b-tack with a spoon?" I suggested. "Because they're not dangerous," was his reply.

Because little Andrew is walking, and is SO excited about his new skills. My other kids were excited to walk, but nothing like this. Most of the time when he falls it's because he's worked himself into a frenzied happiness that topples him. And this should be in a post of its own, all about Andrew, which brings back the feelings that made it so I almost didn't write any of this . . .but, haha overwhelmed feelings, it's too late, you lose this round!

Update: Did I Mention Andrew Laughs?

After I sent this letter, I realized how repetitive the last paragraph is. Maybe that just drives the point home. Right?

I started a letter on Sunday, never finished it, and now I'm seeing a lot of you tomorrow. We've had a computer crash this week (don't worry, Gary can still listen to talk radio on his blackberry), so I'm just now sending it. Oh, well.


The fun news is two weeks ago my sister Sarah visited with baby Madeline, and we had a great time playing everywhere from here to Provo. Then we got to have fun with my entire family when we ran a marathon relay for cystic fibrosis. We put together two teams, and also entered all of the cousins into the kids' K. Josh had a great time, and enjoyed the t-shirt and medal greatly, although he concedes that Tate beat him. With all of those entries, we really felt like we were running CF into the ground. Bad news is we passed our get-achey-then-get-spots disease to everyone else. Oops.

Noah has perfected his villanous laugh he uses when he's a bad guy (ha,ha,ha,ha,ha!), and it seems to fit a lot of the situations he finds himself in. He's still SO cute and cuddly, though. And amusing. I told Noah if he got out of his bed, I'd shut his door so he couldn't get out. He got out of bed anyway, and when I found him in my room he said, "Can't you just lock me in this room?"

Josh had his first soccer game, this time with Gary as the assistant coach. Josh still loves it, and when he's determined he can really get in there. I love it and wish sports throughout his whole life could be so non-competitive and just-for-fun as it is now. I was in charge of preschool this week and we had a great time doing rock experiments, growing crystals, and playing in the mine we created in our living room. The boys and I danced around the living room all week to the songs I had out for the occasion, and it was pretty adorable to watch them. The best was Josh in his underwear dancing to "4 Hugs a Day." He was really into it, complete with the hugs. So, it makes our house a mess for a week, but it's a good chance for me to do things with my kids that I always want to but rarely drag out. Okay, I just remembered, the other best is Noah putting his hands to his cheeks and saying, "Oh, no!" in one of the songs. Might not sound like a big deal, but imagine those big brown eyes above his squishy little cheeks. Yep.

Andrew's personality is really coming out. He'll get in there and wrestle with the other kids until it's just one big knot of boy. We're trying to feed him more real food because I'm tired of blending, and I think he's about that age. He loves a lot of things, but I swear he told me no the other day when I tried to give him a cube of sweet potato. He's as good natured as ever, and loves to laugh with the kids. Who are usually actually just trying to get him to laugh. He stands in the middle of the floor, and climbs on everything. It's nice to be number 3, because there's plenty of reason to keep belly-laughing through dinner.

And Andrew can only eat so many green beans before he starts screaming to be released from the chair, so that's the end.

Update: Labor Day and the Serious Condition

Do you ever feel like your life is (very) full of stuff, just not reportable stuff? We had a good weekend trying to eek out projects, but if I say that, you will get a wrong impression that we actually got a lot accomplished, and will think if you come it will look awesome. Sorry to disappoint. However, clean little crannies (can you say this word without "nooks"? I wanted to try it out), anyways, I like the few clean crannies. (Yeah, it doesn't work, but I'm going to continue to force the issue.)


Andrew had roseola this weekend, and maybe Noah, too. And maybe me and Gary, too (nah, but it was something achey. But nothing that can't go away with drugs, so it was close to nothing.) So, although roseola isn't a big deal, it made me reflect on human nature. Namely, it seems like things with a name are a bigger deal. For example, someone can be sicker than a dog with flu, almost unto hospitalization, but it's "just the flu" as far as how you have to report it to others. However, if somebody gets themselves tested, even someone with mild symptoms, and it's swine flu, then immediately that person is far sicker than anyone else whose disease has no name. So therefore, I feel that my reporting of roseola bears more weight than the usual, even though I know it wasn't a huge deal.

I discovered a conference talk I'd forgotten about in preparation for my lesson in RS, and I had a great experience with it, so maybe you will, too. Here's a link.

As for labor day, it was half laborious/half rest. We started out the day by declaring Junk Day, and ate doughnuts for breakfast and let Josh rent Superhero Squad. Then the labor portion - Gary repaired the infamous dresser, so pray for its continued health. I did Stuff, too. Enough stuff to make us late for the barbeque we went to, but we got there eventually, and it was fun and delicious. It was with some friends from high school, and it was so good to kick back and laugh.

Andrew is standing on his own, and Noah is completely obsessed with stuffed animals. He has been for a while, but now he has to have 8-10 on his bed at night. If you try to kick one off, he says, "No, he's nice."

UPDATE: Andrew took a step on his own tonight (and promptly tumbled, but it was still cute), and I found the same spots as he had on me last night. So maybe Andrew didn't have roseola? His condition has just been downgraded to nameless. Phew, so much less serious! And tomorrow is Friday - that is serious.

Update: The 40 Dollar Bear and Other Events

So I typed a bunch of random things last night, and was going to go back and put in clever segues. But I'm not going to, so there.


Gary was giving the kids pudding tonight, but Noah kept crying that he didn't want any, he just wanted mom. So finally he ran over to me, and I picked him up and hugged him for a minute. He did a little sniffle and said, "Okay, it's better, I want some pudding now."

Josh started preschool again today. Neighborhood co-op again, and we are both really excited. Josh was so cute today, when I told him it was preschool day he bounced right out of bed, ate his breakfast quickly, and got dressed quickly. This is an amazing feat for Josh, who generally prefers to savor each moment (I'm trying to give him some credit . . .) This year his preschool class is 6 boys, no girls, so I may have to schedule some type of male de-tox for him.

After our Park City family mini-vacation got thwarted due to a trip to the ER and other awesomeness for Noah, we rescheduled for this weekend and it was fantastic! I swore to myself I would blog about it. We got to see Sara and Taylor as they were awesome enough to expand their collection of boys temporarily to include ours while we listened to the time-share presentation that made our trip possible.

So, I know I will be asked why Noah was in the ER. Long time, no update. He had been complaining of owies in his tummy/chest for days, but my dad said he didn't need to be seen unless he got a fever or cough, and in that case, right away. So, the night before/morning of our planned trip (4 a.m.) he woke up with a very high fever and screaming about the owies. The kid was delirious and talking non-stop, it would have been funny if not for scary. So, upon instructions, I took him to the ER (so reluctantly, but I wasn't about to harm my child to save money). Long story short is we spent 4 hours for them to tell us nothing besides to come in when it happened again. And I had to watch the worst hour-long episode of Dora ever. Noah was pretty cute, he kept on saying, "My bracelet is 40 dollars, my new bear is 40 dollars, my bandaid is 40 dollars," and I kept thinking about how sadly accurate he was. When his fever wouldn't go down hours after returning home Gary ended up taking him to a pediatrician (upon instructions), who figured it out to be a nasty virus that was causing stomach problems, gas pains, and acid reflux. Sad for Noah, but just non-serious enough to be frustrating. Whatever, we got a lot of quality cuddle time, when it didn't feel like cuddling an oven. And he's such a snuggly little guy when he wants to be . . .

So, have a great week, I'm sure I am missing a major family event/story, but all the rest is RS, preschool prep, me ruining furniture . . . oh, yes, Gary is now a primary teacher. He teaches the 5 turning 6 class, and seems to like it so far.

Okay, Happy Labor Day to all of you who deserve a rest from your labors . . .

If I Told You the Triathlon Would Kill Me, Good News - I'm Still Here!

Cue music. We are survivors, we didn't give up . . .

Gary and I (and my sister and brother-in-law) did a triathlon. The whole thing without stopping. And we're still alive! We signed up for it in May thinking it was an ingenious way to get in shape, my sister and I imagining our post-partum bodies turning into finely-chiseled masterpieces. At the time I could barely run two miles without trouble, and there's also the fact I can't swim. And also don't have a bike. No matter!

Gary and I both finished first in our age divisions . . . in transition time from bike to run. Gotta take my small victories. (The truth - it was probably because our bikes were parked close to the entrance. But still, my name is on top of a list.)

Due to a crazy summer (I always think I can do more than humanly possible. Maybe someday I will be right. My thought process usually goes like this, "Today I will refinance the house, make and deliver cookies to my visiting teaching people, clean the house, pack for our trip all by myself, and pick Gary up from work by 4. All with 3 small children underfoot.") What a diversion, yes, anyway, crazy summer, didn't get to train as much as I would have liked, so no amazing bod, but I went from struggling to run to finishing the sprint tri. Yeah.

Gary did well in the swim regardless of training, but barely knowing how to swim, it was hard for me. So, I made it through performing the backwards frog stroke. I was not the last one out of the water, but pretty close. The ones behind me were probably suffering from frog-kick to the head.

I was positive I'd make up time on the bike, but I just wasn't passing anybody. Finally I saw a lady in front of me that looked like she was going slow. Ha, ha, I was going to pass her! As I smugly sped past I noticed she didn't have a number on her bike. Also she was wearing a flowered t-shirt and a visor. And her hair had been recently set. Just out for a Saturday leisure ride . . . I am awesome. Later I found out if I'd been on a road bike I could have gone around 20% faster with the same amount of effort. My competitive side wants to borrow such a bike and try again. My calm side says it was all for the work out anyway, so it doesn't matter. My competitive side may someday win.

When I jumped off my bike, I almost fell down. Where were my legs? Oh, well, legs or no, I still had a 5k to run. Even though I was at the back of the pack, there's something about ditching your bike and running off to do a 5k that makes you feel like an athlete. Especially when you drink some water provided to you by a volunteer and then throw the cup to save time. That alone was sassy enough to help me find my legs. And also a short stretch once out of sight to spectators. The run was pretty hard, but I made up time there. Whereas I finished near the bottom of the first two events, I finished 11th out of 62 women on the run. Another teensy victory! Plus, I sprinted to the finish. A short sprint, but I did it.

I love hearing Gary tell about his race. I also love hearing Nate and Cindy tell about theirs. We all had some hard moments, but Cindy said it best, "Doing something like that is very empowering." We didn't think it would be that fun, especially since none of us are in the best shape. But Gary and I can't quit talking about it. About where we'll shave off time, and how much. I think a good start for me would be learning how to swim. We can see how people can get addicted to stuff like this. However, is most of the fun from the low expectations? Who knows. But jello-belly me did it. So we had biscuits and gravy for breakfast today. Can't just burn calories without replacing them. Right?

We look awesome in this picture - but it has to be posted. These people just swam 500 meters, biked 12 miles, and ran 3.1 miles . . . here's proof. (I have to brag, it's all this body's got!)

Other tri tips: Don't sleep with your two-year-old the night before. Remember to put your goggles on your actual eyes before the swim, on top of your head doesn't help much.

The Stuff These Boys Say . . .

Josh (In the middle of Sunday dinner): I said "breast milk" in Primary today.
Me: (Trying to hide my surprise, trying to keep a straight face): Oh really, why?
Josh: I thought it came from cows.
Me (Knowing they talked about being grateful for food today): So, did your teacher ask you what comes from cows?
Josh: Yes, and so I said "breast milk" and then they laughed. Hey, why are you guys laughing?
Gary: (Doing his Gary-giggle behind his napkin)
Both of Josh's teachers today were men. I very nearly got rice stuck up my nose from trying not to laugh/laughing.

Josh (after saying the breakfast prayer the other day): What if some time when I'm saying the prayer, I sing, "Pants on the Ground," to make Heavenly Father laugh?
(No, I don't think it's appropriate, and of course I told him so. But it was so funny that he was really trying think of Heavenly Father, and how he would probably like to laugh.)

Noah and I left for church last week before Gary and the other boys, so Noah never actually saw that Gary had come to church.
Noah's Nursery Teacher: Seems like you're stinky. Should we go find your mom or dad?
Noah: Yeah, let's go find my dad, he's at home.

It rained REALLY hard the other day, so we sat and watched it out our front door. Josh was trying to devise ways to get the mail without getting wet. Bucket on his head? Run fast?
Suddenly Noah says: Hey, I got a great idea! We can fly over the rain!
Me: That sounds pretty great, how would we do that?
Noah: . . . Um, not wings . . . a hang-glider. (and later on) Diego has a hang glider. (Yeah, it was from TV, but he hasn't watched it in a while, and I thought it was cute he went through the thought process.)
Oh, and Josh's bucket idea won, by the way. Pretty effective until he got to the mail box and turned it the other way to put the mail inside.

Update:Our Wooden Anniversary Amongst Life with Kidlets

I was thinking I didn't have much to report on the destruction front this week, but then we went and did something stupid called getting ready for church at the same time. Perfect opportunity to spray half a can of non-stick spray all over the kitchen, if you're Noah. He also got ahold of my mascara on Monday and made himself look like Kiss. Rock on, my child. (No, I don't know what that means, either.)


We didn't have a new baby this week like Allison and Ted, but we did get the rest of our children named. It took Josh a few minutes to nail it down, but now he's pretty sure we'll have 2 more boys and 2 girls, boys named Andrew and the girls named Solarica. He thought of Solarica a couple of months ago, and has not forgotten. I guess if it's meant to be . . . (And as Gary reported, at one point one of the girls was going to be Andrew, too.)

So the highlight of the week . . . well, there were several, so the first one - our anniversary! We got a babysitter ON the day of (this is a first, people), and went out to dinner. Thanks to restaurants.com we tried out an amazing new restaurant, and it was sooo yummy. We were laughing that we feel like experts just because of watching so much food network, but there we were, eating goat cheese and loving it. One of the things we ordered was bacon-wrapped pork medallions, and while we were eating I said, "This is what Allison would have gotten." After our dinner we stopped at the D.I. to try to look for a dresser again, and while we didn't find the perfect dresser, we did find a small table/desk thing that we want to refinish. We were excited because we think it will look cool, and were talking about the project. Gary said, "I'll have to buy you a sander for our anniversary." I asked him if he knew what the actual 5-year anniversary gift is supposed to be, and he said, "Wood. Happy anniversary." Perfect.

Other highlight - the temple on Friday night. I mention it because it was one of those things that almost didn't happen. We'd had a really busy week, I wasn't feeling the best, and I really wanted to reschedule. But thanks to a thought someone shared with me, we went, and it was amazing. I couldn't believe we almost didn't go, and felt that my perspective was changed for days from it. It's so awesome, if even for a minute, to feel like I had a grasp on what's really important. So, note to self: if you get the chance, just go. Will I listen to myself? Only time will tell.

And one more big highlight - seeing Sara, Taylor, Christian, Candacy, and families! My memory is fading, but I can tell you that we talked a lot, I was happy, I laughed, so, hmmm. Good stuff. I missed Martha, and was sad to not hear about the trek.

Josh just finished his two weeks of swimming lessons today, and he loved it. I spent most of the time chasing two others (Noah LOVES feeding the "duckses" at the lake), so I'm not sure what exactly Josh learned, but he likes to pretend he's an underwater superhero, so that's probably good. Just as long as he learns enough through the years to not have to resort to the backwards frog stroke to stay afloat, like this one lady I know too well (aaah, the triathalon is going to get me!). Andrew spent most of the swimming lesson time banging sticks into mud, which I thought was cute. I think it's funny to see him be a real kid. I've decided we need some really big rocks to climb on and some muddy places to dig in the back yard, and the kids will be set. Really.

Last week Josh and Noah found their whistles and went around with them around their necks pretending to be coaches. At one point Josh was giving pep talks to "all of the kids" as he stood on a piece of furniture. Noah is into substituting words of songs, for example, he started singing, "I like to scoop it, scoop it" (instead of move it, move it) as he scooped his yogurt. He also says "or something" a lot. E.g. "Is that my daddy on the phone or something?" and "If we want that we have to get a ladder or something."

And since it took me days to write this, it's the end of another week, and you probably want to know that while I was talking to the (relatively) new neighbor today, the boys ate all of the otter pops in the freezer (their "tummies were hurting"), and tried to make PB&J's, but broke the jam jar. With lots of jam in it. I'm proud of them for having initiative. :) Also, I got to visit some college friends the other day, and they totally made me want to move to Utah county to hang out. Pretty great friends! And Josh's big highlight was going to Magoon (Lagoon) with his cousins. He can't wait to be an adult now so he can go on the adult bumper cars.(His words.)

Okay, have a fantastic weekend!

Spiderman's Birthday

(Josh's birthday was almost 3 months ago, and I have been uploading pictures slowly ever since. It takes too long to do pictures these days. But I was determined to document at least big-deal things, like birthdays.)

Josh picked this picture for the front of his birthday party invitation - wouldn't you come?

Josh said he wanted a Spiderman birthday party, but when it came time to choose an invitation picture, he decided the more superheroes, the better. So, we decided it would be a superhero-kind-of-spiderman party. We turned the trampoline into a spider web, and the kids put the presents there.

The first activity was making capes. They colored with markers, glitter glue, and jewels (I was thinking for the girls, but they were over-all very popular, especially with Noah).

Here they are lined up at the fence for their relay race.

Here are the relay race instructions coming . . . pretty funny. The 6 year olds loved it, the 4 year old just kind of ran around. It was funny. Perfect that at that age they all considered themselves winners.

All gathered around the spider web - so cute. They thought the web was cool, and most kids took home a spider. However one little girl said, "Um, usually I don't play in spider webs."

I taped bad guys from Spiderman all over the fence, and gave each of the kids a can of silly string so they could shoot webs at them. They LOVED this, and wanted more when their cans were gone. It was hilarious, because they couldn't understand how to work the cans at first, and Gary had to help them, but even so, they couldn't get enough. Maybe it was Gary's "Let's really get these bad guys" narrative ("Dr. Octopus, you don't stand a chance with Cooper's web!"). Here Josh is demonstrating what it was like, using his spiderman-head squirt gun.

He also wanted to make sure I got a picture of him getting the bad guys with the new squirt gun he got from one of the little girls. Pretty awesome.

Here it is, the stuff kids' dreams are made of, coming true at last . . . blowing out the birthday candles!! (I had visions of an amazing cake I was going to make him, but ran out of time due to cutting out capes. So I put stickers on blue frosting. That's the sad part for me, but he thought it was incredible. I love kids. Also, we had Spiderman, Superman, and Batman pictures taped all over the tables.)

Hooray, Happy Birthday, Josh! The party was a ton of fun. Josh was so excited for it beforehand, it was unreal. He'd dance all around the house singing about, "Having a party with all my friends and cousins!" As we drove from house to house and I watched him proudly go up to the doors and give out his invitations, I teared up. I love seeing him so happy! I also love his imagination, and that such simple party activities could be such a wonderland for him.

I heard later that when he gave his invitation to his friend Kelty, she opened the door and Josh shoved an invitation at her and said, "You're coming to my party, Kelty."

As for Josh being 4, it's crazy because it's not that crazy. When my kids have had birthdays in the past I've said, "I can't believe he's __." But since we've had Andrew, it seems like Josh should be at least 4. He's done such a good job of being a good brother to Andrew, and is turning into the example for all of the kids. I was thinking lately how it's almost not fair how he has to be the first to show restraint, and to learn to act how he should, because if he does the others follow more easily. However, someone has to do it, and he is perfect for the job. He really is my buddy, the one who talks with me. I love his funny little mind, and I adore his billion-dollar smiles.

The party was on Saturday, but his actual birthday wasn't until Sunday. He started out the day with what we've started making a tradition, with opening his present from Grandma and Grandpa S.

Yep, Grandma knows what to get. I think this is some type of attack pose.

Josh loved getting sung to in Primary, and afterwards led me into the empty Primary room to show me where he stood during the song, and told me about how afterwards all of the kids prenteded he was a candle and blew him out. After dinner later that night, we led him into the garage to reveal one final present - the one  from Mom and Dad.

Do you think he likes it?

Update: Living the Rodeo Days Dream

Except for if I were really living the dream, I would be a Rodeo Queen. Sigh.

Anyway, the family update:
You people enjoy destruction, so I'll start with that. Josh turned his room into a "Star Wars library," so I made his a sign for his door, which I attached with masking tape. So, he kindly made a sign for the wall in my room, which he attached with glue. Noah broke my plastic container which holds the permanent markers, then drew on the piano and also a decoration I just painted for Andrew's room. Josh and Noah had a fun time putting every single blanket, sheet, pillow case, towel, wash cloth, and burp rag in the linen closet all over the upstairs (including wash cloths and burp rags in the bath tub). None of these things have been completely rectified at the time of this writing. It's just funny. I keep track so I'll know what their total tab is when I bill them.


We spent the weekend in Preston for "Rodeo Days." The kids loved the parade, and I got a lot of mileage out of "do ___ and you'll miss 5 minutes of the parade." Andrew was crazy about the horses, and kept laughing and slapping his hands when he saw them, it was adorable. Noah loved the horses, as well, and Josh and Noah couldn't quit eating candy. Yes, they throw candy at you, it's amazing. Josh got a blue cowboy hat that says, "Allred for governor" on it, and wore it constantly thereafter. On Friday night we got some babysitters for the kids (ooooh . . .) and went to the rodeo with my sister and husband, and other sister. The rodeo is always fun, the clowns are always "hilarious," and this was our first babysitter-for-date in way over a year, maybe two. Yee-haw! (My favorite line of the night: My Bro-in-law was remarking that Gary has all of the legislators in his blackberry, and asked Gary to produce the governor's phone number. Gary did, and then said, "I'm going to text him now, and tell him I'm at the rodeo." Then while making texting motions said, "I'm at the rodeo, LOL." I love the idea the governor receiving this text from Gary.)

On Saturday we floated the river with the kids. My sister and I were in a raft with the 3 youngest (babies w/grandma), and the other 5 in inner tubes. However, the inner tubes were apparently for smaller trucks than would have been ideal, and when Gary got in his, his tube and swimsuit sunk under the water, making it look as if he was sitting up naked in the river as he floated. Hilarity! Best lines from the kids, "Okay everybody, give me all your paddles," (Noah), "I see land!" (Josh), "When you see a wave, say, wave!" (Noah, who has watched excessive episodes of Diego) Hmmm, what else was funny . . . my sister flopping out of the raft after an oar? Don't know, but I was laughing most of the way down the river.

We also took some mini four-wheeler rides and horse-back rides with the kids that night. We told Josh he looked like Woody, and he was very proud. So when Noah went on his ride, he sang, "You've got a friend in me," the whole time. I've decided I like the country, it relaxes me. And also my parents' new hot tub relaxes me.

Hmm, so it's Wednesday, and I'll see some of you soon. We've already tried swimming in the lake for triathalon practice this week, and the good was it turns out I can kind of swim, bad news is for not very long. Kids loved it, though, and loved that we were swimming with the duckies and fishies. I'll try to take their attitude on that topic.

Have a great week. Or rest of week. If you pretend today is Monday your week will go really fast!

Happy Poineer Day!

Yep, I mistyped pieoneer in the subject, but it amused me so I left it. So then I went to mention it, and typed it wrong AGAIN. But I like the idea of PIEoneer day, so I'm leaving that one, too. Next year, that will be my official holiday title.

We haven't updated in a while, but rather than catch up, anyway, bla bla behind . . .

Gary's triumph of the week was going to the dentist to get a cavity fixed (it was just a tiny thing), and not using any Novacaine. According to him, it was amazing. Hmmm.

Two weeks ago I spent most of the week in South Jordan at a teaching conference (trying to keep up my license). It was so great, and I'm excited about what I learned. However, I always start off those conferences thinking I need to find a way to get back into teaching right away, and end up thinking, "never mind." I had a colossal allergy attack the first day (Zyrtec, Allegra, Pseudafed, Benadryl, and Flonase were all called into action). The allergies gradually subsided, and a sinus infection was left behind. Also, I had to sit on a donut due to my broken tail bone. So, while I had a great time, it was embarrassing to be the girl sitting on a donut blowing her nose with a large box of tissues in hand. Feel free to make fun of me!

One of our best family moments in the last couple of weeks was our trip to the D.I. We didn't score a dresser like we hoped, but we laughed like crazy. Josh and Noah bought Star Wars and Mulan with their Great-Aunt birthday money (they are very pumped), and stayed so entertained with all of the toys while Gary and I looked around and imagined finishing grand projects. We decided it's a great activity - the kids are excited about the new-to-them toys, and we don't have to feel bad because they're all just dumped in the bin anyway. Highlight - Noah picked out a toy for everyone, and the one he picked out for Gary was an extremely muscular army guy wearing a full-on camo battle jacket . . . and no pants. He said, "Dad, this is for you. But he needs a diaper." Probably had to be there, but I was, so I'm chuckling.

My sinus infection is almost gone, it seems Andrews perma-cold never will be, some projects got done this holiday weekend, but it's slow. But we'll get there. We almost didn't celebrate pioneer day, but Gary decided he'd like to try a place in the boonies called the Miner's Cafe. Seemed fitting. So, we enjoyed burgers and Brigham's Brew rootbeer, just as our ancestors did. After we were home with our kids asleep, Gary decided to further the date by watching Weezer videos on Youtube. It was fun, but when it drifted to Everclear, we needed something to pick us up. I turned the computer around, and when Gary saw it again, he was watching the Boyz II Men "Motown Philly" video. It was incredible, we decided we need to dress as them for Halloween. Gary was pretty proud of my find, but decided to try and top it, and turned the computer around. When I saw the screen again, I beheld . . . Nelson, "Can't Live Without Your Love." Speechless. We tried to top ourselves, but it couldn't really be done, although of note was the Van Halen "Jump" video ("He's really flexible," Gary noted.).

On the way out of nursery yesterday, Noah told his teacher, "Thank you for coming." So probably she looked the other way when he bolted to the front during sacrament meeting.

Oh, I was done, but I have mention that Andrew is getting the funniest little personality. He interacts with us and gets excited at even little bits of attention. The other night he was sucking on a bottle of shoe gel (it was closed), and suddenly put it up to my mouth. When I pretended to suck on it he started belly-laughing. He held it up to my mouth over and over, and then to Gary's, and the joke never got old. Then he found the bottle again the next day and held it up to Josh. He's so cute. And our only child who goes to bed when he should (am I cursing myself?)

Okay, happy end-of-July!

"Pace Yourself"

Nope, this isn't an inspirational bit about taking life a little at a time, although I have thought about writing one (and ironically haven't had time). It's just my monthly updates turning into weekly updates. The purpose of the monthly updates was that I was writing them a week at a time, but not publishing them until the end of the month because I didn't expect that anyone would want to read them, and was just slapping them on the blog for myself, for later.

However, when I was at my cousin's wedding, one of my cousins said, "I read your blog, but not when you publish this much at a time," and held up his hands two feet apart. I started trying to explain why I did it, but everyone at the table started agreeing. Somebody said, "Pace yourself." So, for the love of family, here is last week:

This week was our shut-in week since Josh and Andrew had surgeries on Monday morning. They all had colds before the surgeries, so that didn't help a ton, and then Noah decided the middle child could not be forgotten and developed croup. So, I did a lot of holding boys and cutting otter pops this week. On Thursday Josh was feeling better enough that he got high on his Lortab (watched TV upside down on his head), so that was an improvement, I guess. By Friday the kids were feeling better enough to have a Justin Bieber dance party. You've got to see their moves, it's hilarious. The dancing was followed by a nice crash (nap).


We were also able to get our van half-way fixed this week (it was broken down when I got back from girls' camp). So, we're half-way to driving it again, and that's good. Although it was crazy with three needy boys this week we were SO blessed to have a couple of friends make us dinner, so all we had to worry about was dispensing medication. Also, my mom was here on Monday to help out with boys and get them some new movies, which was awesome. On Saturday Gary fixed most of our sprinklers that weren't working, so that was manly and should help our lawn.

Some neighbors were doing fireworks on Saturday night so we went outside to watch, and of course the boys were fascinated. Noah helped out by trying to blow them out from accross the street. Somebody gave us a pack of sparklers and Josh put them in the diaper bag before church. Sacrament meeting sure was interesting. (I just wanted to say that, for some reason I didn't light them until later.)

Our first outing following invalid week was - family 4th of July! So good to see everyone, especially out-of-staters we rarely see. Andrew tried to get to know everybody since he's one of the new kids, and decided to start out by sucking on Uncle Christian's legs. Then later on, Uncle Taylor poured a glass of ice water on his head. He's one of the family now. Do I need to say the food was delicious? Yummm. Chatting, the Brent Fireworks Show, awesome . . . Poor Josh had a little too much fun; his throat has been killing him ever since we got home. It's okay, though, it was his most fun all week, and we have two boxes of otter pops.

Updates June

Due to a conversaton with my cousin, I probably won't be posting a month at a time, at least for a while. But here's June anyway. Interesting fact - only the first week was ever read by Gary's family since things were too crazy for me to write until later. I mean, interesting to me.

June 6:
Andrew has moved on from yoga and started crawling this week. He's making me very aware of what we leave on the floor - I've already had the need twice to pop him on the back to get him to cough up a wad of paper. Just now he took the doorstop off the wall, and is trying to eat a book he saw sticking out from under the couch. The journey has begun! Josh has been a super great brother, and loves playing "follow the leader" with Andrew, getting him to follow Josh all around the room. Andrew also belly-laughs when Josh makes funny noises, and it's adorable.

Josh and Noah might watch too much Diego. We showed up at playgroup on Friday and Noah yelled, "Yo, rescue pack here!" Also, when I went to print something yesterday there were no cartridges in the printer, only yogurt smears on the outside. I haven't found the ink yet. Not assigning blame for sure, but putting it in the same paragraph as Noah.

We've being doing regular stuff (lots of it), and trying to put stuff back together after being out of town, so I'll just end with the thing that amused Gary and I this morning. I was putting together an object lesson for RS that involved a bag of small red beans I've had open since 2003 when I used them for a school project. Noah kept asking, "What do you have? Can I have it?" So I gave him one. Josh saw him chewing on it and immediately asked, "What does Noah have?" I said, "An old, dry bean." And Gary and I laughed and laughed . . . how many times when your kids were jumping to eat what you're eating and get what their siblings are getting have you wanted to say something like, "An old, dry bean."? But it was true! Gary thinks we should do that more often so they don't always think they're missing out on something good.

Hmmmm . . . Noah has a plastic lizard named Cricket whose mommy is his stuffed pig. He's Piggy's dad, and he nurses him. Josh had his last soccer game of the season, and we were proud of his hustling skills (the good kind). That's all, folks!

Should have been June 14:

Yeah, I feel off the weekly updates wagon. Crazy busy, but I made these notes to remind myself what we did. First of all, weaning, this is the week we started it (although it took a while). So sad, so time consuming. So that's last of all. We had our first "stuff stuck up the nose" experience with Josh. He came inside crying because he couldn't get something out of his nose, but he wouldn't tell me what. When I couldn't get it out with traditional methods I filled a syringe with water and plunged it up his nose. Success!! Crappy past experiences sure paid off. Oh, it was this piece of a foam puzzle, I'd say significantly large for his nose. I had a chuckle at the whole thing.

One interesting thing I did this week was learn how to make all sorts of stuff out of beans. (Benefits of overseeing food storage in the ward.) As in, using beans instead of butter. Favorite was fudge out of refried beans, serious.

By Friday night I was absolutely beat, and Gary walked in with Butterfinger ice cream and "The Blind Side." The ice cream had lots of candy in it and the movie was great . . . the simple things make it all better.

On Saturday we got together with Gary's family for his brother's birthday. It's always good to see everyone, and I enjoyed myself, although I was exhausted and mentally gone before I got there. Our nephew Luke sang and played the piano adorably, then his ornery cousin Noah came up and said, "I'm playing the piano now, Luke." Hmmm. I hope that's not reflective of us.

As for the weaning. Doesn't sound like it should be dramatic, but every woman I talked about it with totally understood why I was on the verge of tears for a week. One girl almost started crying herself. I didn't start out wanting to totally wean Andrew, but he just would not go for the bottle at all (even though he used to, that's another story that ends with the legislative session stinks sometimes), so we had to go 100%. Of course there are a million things people could say, "Well, did you try ___?" Answer is probably, yes, or there's a good reason we didn't. When we totally made him start bottle feeding he wouldn't really eat much for more than a day. He would look at me with his big, brown Bambi eyes, begging for a meal. I would hold him and he would dive at me, and my heart just broke over and over. My poor baby was used to me snuggling him and providing him with his nourishment, and now I was denying him. I was a wreck inside, and every now and then I'd start crying, "I just want to feed my baby, Gary."  Plus, it was time-consuming. We had to try all the different bottles, find the right nipples, wash the bottles and the pump components, buy formula, pump, and also fight him on every meal . . . argh. And it's not like I wasn't trying to get anything else done. From this vantage point a couple of weeks later, it's okay, but then I would have had even more to say about it. Good or bad thing I didn't have time to write until now? I am determined that this will end up to be a blessing somehow, or else I wouldn't have done it. I have nursed him a couple of times since camp, but it's just not happening anymore, and now I'm okay with it. I'm glad for the extra chances, though. Oh, my sweet baby Andrew . . .

Last week of June. Actually, I skipped a week, but that happens in retrospect. The weaning thing was during the skipped week, as were crazy camp preparations, as well as getting many other things squared away before leaving. Anyway, here's the last week:

I was at girls' camp. Amazing people helped watch my kids, and Gary fed them hot dogs and pizza. I got home on cloud nine, but the kids were sick and my neck wouldn't move the next day. Oh, well. I was SOOO blessed to have people help out, and the kids are lucky to have a fantastic dad that plays with them. Which, in turn, makes me lucky as well. Gary wanted to watch a movie with me to celebrate being together again, and I thought the kids-with-a-disease-Harrison-Ford-movie looked interesting. However, when he said he'd rather watch New Moon than that, I decided after a week with the kids he deserved to watch Sherlock Holmes like he wanted. After we rented it I was barely awake, but being clean and with my man was nice.

On Saturday Noah was singing "Happy Birthday" to everyone in the house - Mom, Dad, Josh, Noah . . . I pointed out he'd forgotten someone, and he named everyone again the same way. Then I said, "What about Andrew?" "Andrew is too little to eat cake," was his reply.

Oh, and we went to my cousin's wedding before camp. It's fun to see my cousins, and makes me want to see them more often. We had a close shave with leaving Noah at the reception, but he found me before I could really go, thank heaven.

David Archuleta or Justin Bieber?

Such a hard choice, I know! I just spent a week pondering deep issues such as this at girls' camp. It was crazy getting ready for it with kid arrangements, weaning, other calling, bla, bla, bla, I wondered why I didn't just say I couldn't handle it. I felt really good about going, though, and so did Gary. I was operating under the notion that I needed to go and help some girl somehow . . . maybe. I hope a little. But it turns out there was one girl the experience helped that I didn't consider - me.

The food was delicious, we played dancing games, sang silly songs, came up with fun ditties, played games (I learned one called Ninja Strike I'll have to show you), and all the good stuff. But the best part was being in nature and remembering the point of things. I didn't think about budgets or coupons or computers or cars or anything else that makes me crazy. But they did give me time to read the scriptures and write in my journal. And I discovered . . . I LOVED it! It was so exciting to do it and not just be shoving it into the day. Being back now, of course it's hard to fit things in just like it was before, but I tasted of the awesomeness, and I want more.

One experience that shows what I learned (and also how it amusing it was) is the 2nd year hike. There was only one second year from our ward, and I went along with her. The hike was 5 miles, and the uphill portion was straight up. The girl isn't in the best shape, but she's a trooper, and didn't complain on the outset. However, it soon got to be more than she could handle, and she had to stop often. We started out with the front of the pack, and ended up in the very back. I told her that whenever I have a hard time with some physical challenge I sing a song in my head to get me going. I started by singing "Staying Alive," and she was okay with that. Then on the next hill I started singing, "She's going the distance! She's going for speed . . ." She looked at me like I was nuts and said, "Um, old people music isn't going to help." Hahahahahaha. Surely the group of 13 year olds ahead of me would know the song, right? Nope. None of them. My girl mentioned being embarassed by her "old-people-music leader." One more reminder (there were many at camp) that I am "old." (Note to people older than me: You are not old. Old is 80. But then you can be proud of being 80, all the general authorities are. Best ones anyway.)

So, music aside, we got to a place where the hill was very steep, and the girl was very tired. She said, "I can't make it." But I told her she could. And it took some courage-gathering, but she did it! She was so proud of herself for the rest of the day, she was just beaming. I was so proud of her, too. It seems like a small thing, but such a good thing to realize that we can accomplish things that are hard, even when it gets to a point when we think, "No way." We talked later how we really can't do hard things alone, that's why we need people with us, and that the best help of all is the Lord. Even if we feel we don't have anyone to coach us up the hill, the truth is we always have the best coach of all.

Tiring, but inspiring. That's camp in a nutshell. And overall I'd rather have Archuleta as my boyfriend, but Bieber's songs are so catchy . . .

P.S. I only had 3 hours of sleep the night before camp due to preparations. I noted that I started my mission out the same way. And my marriage . . . the other camp director says she does the same thing. Do you do that? Start out events that require much sleep ahead of time with little to none?

On the Tough Road to Feeling Better

This is my boys before they found out what surgery really means:

Andrew got ear tubes this morning. Josh got a second set of tubes and also his tonsils and adenoids out (yes, his adenoids had grown back from last time he got them removed.) I'm really excited for them to not have ear infections and for Josh to breathe/sleep/hear better, and so grateful it went well.

Now for the story. We've known these surgeries had to be done for a couple of months now, but this was the soonest we could get in to see the ENT and then schedule surgery. I told Josh that he would be getting his tonsils out, but didn't really get into it until yesterday when I decided I'd better prepare him a little bit. In response to my explanation of what would be happening, he said, "Well, when they put that mask on my face, I just won't fall asleep." Hmm. I decided to try a different tack and get him excited by telling him about the yummy things he would get to eat. He was excited, indeed, and kept asking, "And what else?" I ran out of things and said, "Well, what else can you think of that's cold and soft?" "We could put some fluffy cookies in the fridge," was his answer. Genius.

My kids had yucky colds when I returned from girls' camp on Friday, but they were seeming a little better, so Gary and I started heading to bed at 10:00 last night in preparation to have Josh and Andrew to the hospital by 6:30 a.m. this morning. Right as we were about to go upstairs Noah decided that the middle child would not be forgotten so easily, and came out of his room with a fever of 103 and struggling to breathe. So, a little Tylenol, Motrin, and albuterol later, we were actually in bed a couple of hours later. But not for long. Andrew was up for 2-3 hours in the night. I knew he probably had an ear infection but we couldn't give him anything to eat or drink because of the surgery, so we just waited it out. With the lack of sleep, Gary changed the clock funny, and we woke up and ran to get dressed thinking we were late. But we weren't for once, hooray! Luckily my sweet mother had come to our house last night to help with the surgery kids, so Noah had someone there for his sick self when he woke up.

At the hospital, Josh was quite excited to wear a green gown (his favorite color), and to have a bracelet with his birthday on it. Here he is with the cool hat he got to wear.

Unfortunately the smile didn't last long. Andrew's surgery was first, and not really a big deal, except for the fact he did, indeed, have an ear infection. The doctor said it was ready to burst any minute, so perfect timing. After Andrew got a chance to eat and get some love, he was over the anesthesia and was just sleepy.

However, being back in the recovery area with Andrew meant we heard Josh sooner than we were meant to. And it was very sad. He was crying and choking behind an oxygen mask, then he'd get suctioned, cry, suction, make awful gurgling noises . . . I didn't know the suctioning was standard, and Gary and I were getting tears in our eyes hearing him like that. Not that we didn't think he'd be okay, we knew he would, but it was hard to listen to. When I saw Josh I was so grateful that this was only a minor thing when lots of parents see their kids go through worse things all the time.  He was fighting the nurse with the oxygen (he wasn't awake and had no idea what he was doing), so they had me try. He seemed to like me singing in his hear and stroking his head, so they had me hold him, but he still cried for around an hour after that.

Gary and I tried to get him to open his eyes, but it wasn't until a mom of another patient offered for us to let Josh look at her son's Yoda figurine did he really try to open his eyes. And oh, my did he try hard for that. He didn't quite make it, but he was motivated. When he eventually did open his eyes, he calmed down, but wanted his IV out right away, and to go home. Oh, and turns out he had an ear infection, as well, and his tonsils and adenoids were both extremely large.

Poor Josh has been pretty miserable, but fights sleep. Luckily there are popsicles and grandmas. We all pretty much held boys today, as Noah is still sick and battling for the most miserable (barking like a seal). My mom got the kids each a new stuffed animal for their surgeries (or lack thereof), and while Josh has never been a stuffed animal guy, he loves his new anteater. I hate that it has to come to this for me to get cuddle time with my boys, but I do enjoy having it. I am sooo grateful for modern medicine, where things that could have been a big deal years ago really aren't these days. My boys will be feeling better in no time (they say only a couple of days), and they should be better than ever. Awesome. Or for now it's more accurate to say will be eventually awesome. Until then, I'm going to get in some more cuddle time . . .

You Title It, I Can't

* Between me, my two visiting teaching teachers, and my two home teachers, there is not a single girl-child.

*911 never works in my dreams. It's a recurring nightmare that I'm trying to call for an emergency, and somehow my fingers can never get it right. Now the keys on my phone aren't working so well. The dream emotions come flooding back when I dial, especially my friend with three 3's in her number - the 3 is the worst one. Cue Twilight Zone music.

*When you live in the desert and it rains, this is a good thing. Just making sure you know.

*One of life's big disappointments is burning a grilled cheese sandwich. Happiness is getting it just right. The other day I did both, but since we shared them all, we were happy over-all.

*You know what animal scares me? A marmot.

*Earlier today the phrase, "Weaning a baby is for the birds," went through my head. Then I realized that birds don't nurse, and a more accurate phrase would be, "Giving your baby worms is for the birds." Or maybe, "Weaning a baby is for the marmots."

Updates May

Yep, it's one of those posts.

May 11:
We had a ton of fun seeing everyone!!! We missed those who weren't there, though. The food was great, the company was greater, and my only big problem was that it went by too fast. (Post note for posterity - we spent mother's day at Sara and Taylor's house to celebrate Jacob's blessing. We were fed TWO meals, lucky moms, and lots of family was there. I lost Josh all day, he was having so much fun with cousins, and I got to chat and nap. Oh, and very cool - Gary made me breakfast and we were still able to make it to the blessing in the nick of time. The very nick, but still in time.)

I tried to make Noah show off while we were there, although he was marginal in his performances overall, he did tell everyone about how the butterflies flew away - a major event for Josh and Noah. I had to try and steal a few moments of motherly pride in Noah to offset the moments of blinking back tears when I see marker on my stairs I just paid to get cleaned. Little monkey, love his guts. Back to the butterflies, Josh didn't want to let them go, which made me want to get him a pet. Much later, though, for now Andrew can be his pet. I'll even let him have all the roly polys in our yard.

Sad news is our neighbors officially told us they weren't interested when I went over with the missionaries. I suspected given the time that had past, but I always want to hope. They are cool people, so hopefully we can be friends and it's not awkward.

P.S. (Mostly to Stacey) Turns out Andrew and I have thrush. When I called my dad for drugs yesterday I told him NO gentian violet. I don't want to ruin any more lives. :)

May 21:
Gotta hurry because I'm typing this before my kids wake up here in St. George . . . yep, we're on our way to San Diego. My sister will take out her endowments tonight and she and her husband and baby will be sealed on Saturday. Looking forward to it! If not for the drive - could we all pray for angel children today?


Yes, Noah is still destructive. One thing that delayed us was that he dumped out Andrew's antibiotic and we had to get it refilled. On Sunday it took us 20 minutes to get the antibiotic into Andrew because Noah first emptied out a container of Lysol wipes, then dumped out a bottle of foundation, then got a dresser knocked over on him. Last one could have been Josh's fault.

Cute thing he did this week (I seek for balance): At Josh's soccer game, every time the team would have a little huddle around the coach, Noah was right in there. After half time the coach was saying who was going to play. He said, "We'll have Taylor, Cole, Josh, and let's see . . ." "And Noah. Noah," came a little voice (yep, it was Noah). All of the parents' hearts went out to him when they learned that he's not even 2 - it's going to be a couple of years.

Most fun thing of the week(s) - Josh's birthday. He was SO EXCITED for days. He had a party and I'll blog about it when I get home. Yuckiest things - Noah barfing, Andrew's 4 medicines, my achy flu the other day that derailed my packing attempts. Craziest hour - The hour right before Relief Society when the teacher had an emergency so I had to teach last minute. And I wasn't dressed when I found out. It went well, though, no worries. I love getting a chance to bear my testimony. It was amusing because then the next hour the Sunday School teacher didn't show. I thought Gary might have to hop in, but one of the other guys did - and had to teach from his iPhone, no manual could be found. Best husband - Gary. Of course.

Pictures of Andrew doing yoga and more about his ears on my blog (emilary.blogspot.com). Off we go to San Diego, with Josh wearing his Ironman mask in the back seat. Hooray!

June 2:
If you really said a prayer for good traveling kids, it worked! I'm pretty sure it was a temple miracle (I was worried about getting there in time for my sister's endowment), but they were great. They slept, took off their shoes and clapped them on their hands, sang and danced to music (Josh said, "Hey mom, I can move my bum back and forth in my car seat!") , made up awesome songs (Itsy bitsy snake, itsy bitsy pig, itsy bitsy dinosaur . . . and so much more), and laughed at Gary's jokes (they COULD NOT get enough of Gary pretending it was a big deal we "smuggled" a pear into California). We made it in time for the endowment, and it was really fantastic, as was the sealing the next day. My sister and her husband seemed great, and it did my soul some good.


My parents rented a house for everyone to stay in, and although it wasn't a mansion, it was plenty big enough. They had a pool with a slide and hot tub, which was probably the most popular thing in San Diego. Josh and cousins stayed in it for around 4 hours at a time, until the tips of his fingers were peeling off from climbing in and out. They also had a pool table, and we had a tournament - Gary won the whole thing, and I at least didn't stink. I was sad he beat me, but glad my man has skills.

We also visited the Wild Animal Park, the beach, a Padres/Cardinals game, and celebrated Noah's 2nd birthday. He was a wreck from lack of sleep by then, but his birthday gave him snippets of happiness. All good times. On the way back we spent two days in St. George, and would have loved to stay and stay. We chatted, took the kids to the park, and Gary was able to see Deanne's Heritage Choir concert. The next day Gary was saying how great the concert was and Josh said, "Yeah, but making a gingerbread house was way more fun." So I guess we chose a good activity for when it was just me and the kids - thanks, Deanne! We arrived home at 1:15 in the morning on Saturday night (Sunday morning?), and immediately wanted to go back.

Yesterday Josh and Andrew had their pre-op appointments with the ENT for their surgeries. The doctor said if you look up pictures of kids who have overly large tonsils, Josh's face will show up. He will get his tonsils out, his adenoids if they grew back, and a new set of tubes. Andrew will get tubes. I'm excited for less infections and better sleep for children.