Fun & frolic....

As I stated in a comment in the post below, life has really not been that exciting around here...I haven't been doing much, except being beyond exasperated at my children's complete lack of obedience as of late. Trust me, I don't expect perfection, or even anything really close to it, but I would like to not be ignored 100% of the time when I ask them to do something. Nicole seems to be the major tester right now, and that causes a bad example for the younger ones that are watching her like a hawk. My oh my, that one gives us a run for our money...

If any of you are watching my job list on the right side-bar, you'll notice that most of my tasks aren't going to change this week! Mainly because the jobs I gave myself for this past week are some that I have been trying to avoid for a while...like the pantry and playroom! Therefore, I very conveniently found other things to do instead! Like taking a nap, peeling grapes, watching stupid home improvement shows on TV, staring at the wall.....maybe this week I'll force myself to do it! I guess I could make a chore chart, and if I get 5 gold stars I can go buy myself a new shirt or something fun! It worked for Jared and his medicine, I suppose it could work for his mommy!?!

One thing I did finish was the canning of peaches. Half a bushel left me with 11 jars...I could've done an even dozen, but the kids wanted some now! So we ate a few. Here's a look at my work:
I think they turned out pretty tasty looking! (pat on the back!)



Friday morning I went outside to see this to the north of our home:

It was even more impressive before I took the picture. It had faded by the time I got back out with the camera. (If I had any idea how to use my camera I probably could've taken a better picture as well.) Now, some of you might say"Wow, a sunrise." But HEY! I typically don't see these things because:

1. I like to sleep in well past when the sun comes up. (Of course I have kids now that don't let me.)
2. I'm usually frantically running around inside the house getting kid's breakfasts and lunch ready, and trying to keep Nicole on task....remember, she ignores me much of the time!

But Friday morning, there was this ethereal glow coming from outside, and I had to check out what it was, and the above is what I saw. Now, you know what they (weathermen, sailors, and farmer's almanac types) say about things like this: Usually a storm is brewing when you see things like this.


They were correct.


Here's what this afternoon looked like:
You might just think that those are clouds on the mountain....well, yes, but those clouds are dropping SNOW! And the picture didn't capture it, but there was a bit of snow falling as I took the picture. Fall in Utah. It was in the high 70's and sunny yesterday, and this afternoon? Raining/snowing and 36 degrees. Soccer this morning was fun! With the wind chill we figured that it was about 30 degrees...The kids looked like oompah loompah's in the sweat suits and coats with soccer uniforms on top. We were incredibly proud of Jared though, even with the cold, he was out there playing...some of the kids wouldn't even leave their parents car or come out from under a blanket! So Jared played almost the entire game (which they shortened by half!), and scored all 4 goals that his team got! Hooray for our little soccer boy! I'd have taken pictures but I couldn't get the camera to autofocus with all my uncontrollable shivering. Maybe after church tomorrow we'll venture up into the hills to check out the fall colors and snow!

Hope everyone had a great Saturday!

Who's out there?

Just to satisfy my curiosity, who's out there checking up on me?!

C'mon, leave a comment.....it's easy, painless, and makes me feel happy! :)

please...?

It's also fun to find out who, other than myself, is making my little counter move slowly up!

The mouths of babes....

Lately Ellie has been really adding to her vocabulary. Tonight Ron was trying to get her to say her name...he was pointing to her and asked, "What's your name?"

Ellie's response...."Cute!"

And she is!

"A" is for Apple, and "S" is for Saturday Soccer games!

Well, Jared got better just in time for his 1st preschool field trip to the APPLE ORCHARD! It's great when one of the parents have connections so the kids can go to new and interesting places like this. (Nicole got to go to the dog wash last year!)

Since last week was "A" week, and the Thomas twin's grandpa owns an orchard, the kids got to see exactly where those yummy apples that we get at the store come from. They even got to pick one to eat! (If you have never tried a "Honey Crisp" apple, you haven't lived!) They also saw the fruit storage building where the apples go to get cleaned, sorted, and stored. Then there are some people that this same mom knows that have an interesting menagerie of animals in their back yard.....so at the end the kids got to go see the chickens, peacocks, goats, deer, llamas, and camels! (No pictures of that, sorry! I had to get home to greet Nicole's carpool.)

The kids enjoying the spoils!

Saturday was a return to soccer games. The kids both did well! They seem to have the general idea of what they are supposed to do. That is: get the ball, kick it to your goal. The whole part about passing it to team members that are open instead of hogging it all to yourself will come later I'm sure! At least I hope...





Nicole is in the middle there....her team is in navy uniforms, while the other team was in royal....kind of hard to tell any of them apart in this game! Nicole did get one goal toward the end of her game, and was pretty proud of herself.









**First, a disclaimer: No, our son is not wearing a soccer dress. For some reason, the league gives out uniforms that are veeerrrrryyyyyy large for the kids, and the littlest kids get the brunt of the largeness....most of these kids are just coming out of toddler sizes, and well, they don't make soccer uniforms in 4T. You should see the socks. They go all the way to the knee, then fold completely back over the shin guards to his ankle!

Jared actually had a very impressive goal in his game. The ball was kicked in, Jared got it, then took it all the way down the field into the goal!!! He was basically on fire after that and did really well the rest of the game, ending with one more goal. The best though was the little boy on the other team...he was about to get a goal, but then tripped, so he just grabbed the ball and threw it into the goal! Kids are the best! :)

What I've been up to....

Other than the illness fun......which is hopefully on it's way to an end....Jared is better, Riley is feeling better and back to school(yeah, even she was out for 2 days), and I took Nicole and Ellie to the ped today for a dose of Decacron each to take away this nasty croup(for whomever might be keeping track, that is SIX insurance co-pays in EIGHT days!)....here's what I've been doing:

Feeling overjoyed when Ellie is doing this. Really, most of the time she isn't doing the above, she is crying because her throat hurts, which makes it hurt all the more....my poor baby. Her voice sounds like she's a little old lady that has smoked for 40 years...although this picture sure is cute....I adore her ponytails!

Trying to keep the kiddos entertained....our "Gathering Table" certainly has gathered.....alot of papers, crayons, markers, and other assorted time filling clutter!

Meet Joey.....our cocker spaniel....although he is feeling a bit less like a cocker spaniel since I SHAVED OFF his hair! He is so embarrassed....he knows all the other dogs are going to make fun of his homespun hair-do. But I was so sick of his long hair shedding all over, that I took care of it! He'll deal with it, he has survived the many other shavings of the past!

And last....I once again attemped to bake homemade bread. Heidi made the mistake of posting a recipe for I hadn't butchered before, so I figured, what the hey?! For some reason, I have never been a successful bread maker.....for whatever reason I end up with loaves that don't rise and resemble adobe bricks, or end up so crumbly and dry that they just come apart.....I don't know why. Perhaps yeast and I don't get along. But actually, even though this loaf is certainly not the prettiest thing to come out of an oven, I think I did remarkably well! The dough doubled well in the 1st rising, although I do think it possibly should've risen more in the baking process...maybe since I didn't use freshly ground flour I ended up with a bit too much? (If you read this Heidi, any tips? Other than use less flour?!) But as I cut into that nice warm loaf, it didn't fall apart, wasn't an adobe brick, and I was pretty excited....maybe I actually had a bit of success! The dough was moist, and as dense as you'd expect from 100% whole wheat, hey, I think I may have a good thing here, like something EDIBLE! I slather it with butter, take a bite....and well, there was something lacking....a certain flavor missing.....I quickly scan the recipe....



That's when I realized I forgot to add the salt.

Sigh.....so goes my week!

Health Update

Jared: Antibiotics are taking care of the strep nicely, unfortunately he has now developed a nice runny nose and croupy cough courtesy of a virus. So along with antibiotics, he also gets chewable ibuprofen and benadryl. Because of the cough/nose thing he stayed home from preschool, and we also did not do pictures. School pictures, that is. Today is school picture day and I usually take the little kids as well....that way all the pictures in the hall match, and the packages are a WHOLE lot cheaper than Kiddie Kandids. To top it off, some of the cutest pictures of my kids have been from school pictures.

Nicole: Back to school today, feeling fine. When she came home, she sounded awfully hoarse and stuffy, and also has a stridorous cough.....all viral. Ibuprofen and benadryl all around!

Ellie: My poor incredibly miserable baby. She was roasting all night. We went to the ped this morning, and she has a double ear infection! Didn't even test her for strep. He didn't want to torture her with a throat swab (she doesn't like the Dr. much and fights them even listening to her with a stethoscope), and since she was being put on antibiotics, it would take care of the strep if she does have it.

The rest of us are good (knocking madly on wood) and intend to stay that way!!!! I'm now off to start cleaning and sanitizing my house.

I could just cry....

Remember that little prediction about Ellie at the end of my last post? The one that involved her getting sick this morning and me scrambling to figure out how to nursery today?

yep.

came true...

She woke up in the middle of the night burning up. So she and I had a sleepless night. This morning I made some phone calls to let people know what was going on, threw a little make-up and a skirt on, left Riley here to watch the kiddos, and ran over to the church to set up the nursery. The teachers will go it on their own today, and the primary counselor will lock it all up at the end. It's too bad that this didn't happen next Sunday when it is Stake Conference and I wouldn't even have to be worrying about nursery.

I'm trying to decide whether or not to go into after-hours clinic. Her fever did break this morning, and since Nicole didn't culture out for strep, Ellie could just have the virus that she had....but the fact that she got a hold of Jared's strep covered cup twice before he started antibiotics, it is more possible that it's strep. Sigh....I suppose I shouldn't care, it's just a co-pay. She is feeling a little hot right now. I'm just wanting us all to take a nap!

Sorry for the bummer posts lately....and no pictures even.....hopefully things will get better SOON!

On a side note, I made up a recipe last night, and it turned out pretty good, and was easy, so I'll share it here:

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
Salsa
1/2 t cumin
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small can sliced olives
1 large can green chile enchilada sauce
12 corn tortillas
Grated colby jack cheese

(Sorry for the lack of measurements...I told you I made it up!) Mix together the chicken, beans, cumin, and most of the olives(reserve enough for top). Pour some salsa over mixture to coat well (I bet I used about a cup). Some cheese in this mixture would also be good, but that was an afterthought! Spray a 9X13 pan with some Pam, Put a small amount of enchilada sauce in the bottom to coat. Layer 6 tortillas in bottom of pan, overlapping to fit. Pour some enchilada sauce over tortilla layer, enough to coat. Pour chicken mixture over tortillas, spread evenly. Pour some more enchilada sauce over chicken, to suit your taste...I liked mine saucy! Layer the last 6 tortillas over the top of the chicken, and top with (you guessed it!) more enchilada sauce. Again, however saucy you want. Top with cheese and sprinkle with reserved sliced olives for visual appeal! Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. I covered with foil, and then took it off for the last 5-7 minutes of baking time. I then served it with sour cream, lettuce, and fresh tomatoes.

Mother's Intuition wins again!

Illness update:

Nicole.....fever left Wednesday early evening. She was perky, fever free all night, and this morning when she woke up. She really wanted to go to school. So who am I to stop her? School was great. Alas, during lunch I look over to find her picking at her food, and with that hollow red-rimmed-eye look. I grab the thermometer...101.7!

fan-freaking-tastic.

I guess my bid for mother-of-the-year is now shot to heck since I sent my sick kid to spread the joy to the class. Oops.

Jared.....was absolutely miserable yesterday. Last night though, temp dropped and he was back to his perky self. Late last night, I checked on him, and he was roasting inside his own skin....104. Ibuprofen, and me checking on him every couple hours for the rest of the night. Woke up still hot, but then later his temp dropped and he seemed to be on the mend once again. Until after lunch....temp back up, and he looked and felt awful,and told me about it. Sheesh.

At this point, big flashing lights go off in my head, and I'm certain he has strep. So I call the Dr. and get the last appt of the day for him. I drag Nicole along because I have a plan...

We get there, and he is ten times more miserable and just wants to go home. Rapid strep test.....drum roll please.....POSITIVE! 100 points to Mothers Intuition! So, I then shove Nicole forward and rattle off that she's had a fever too so can we test her? Yep.....but her test was negative. Dr. did say that she may be too early though, so we cultured her and will find out for sure on Saturday.

So, no school for Nicole tomorrow...Jared has had his 1st dose of amoxicillin, and hated the taste of it so much that he spit half of it out on his shirt. Great. So now we'll be half a dose short at the end. I'll be making a bribery chart for him tomorrow, with gold stars and the promise of a toy in 10 days.

We caught Ellie with Jared's cup AGAIN tonight....she'll wake up with a fever Sunday morning so that I'll have to scramble for a nursery sub! It'll be great.

Lots of love and Lysol from our house!

Send in a replacement!

Ugh. I was awakened up by a whiney Jared this morning. What I assumed was a bad dream turned out to be a nice high fever, which I discovered right before his tummy rebelled against the nice big drink of water he had just taken. So my day started before 7, in the form of washing all my bedding.

I went in to wake up Nicole to get her ready for school to find her fevering as well.

yippee.

Hopefully whatever this is is short lived, and no one else gets it. Just my luck though, Jared had dropped his drink on the floor, and I realized this only because I looked into the family room just in time to see Ellie sucking on it. Noooooo!

hoorah.

I had a Parent Council meeting this morning(I'm the Academic Committee Chair), that I obviously did not go to. Nicole and Jared are both home(obviously!) camped out on the couches. The washing machine and dryer are running along nicely, as Jared's stomach rebelled again once he got on the couch, and he completely ignored the bucket he was holding in favor of his pillow and blanket.

So my day is set. It's amazing how quickly your job can change around a bunch of little kids. I went to bed last night thinking I'd be putting on my "Parent Council, mommy volunteering at school" hat, instead I have on my "nurse" hat, alternating with the "family laundress" hat.

Hope everyone is having more fun than me! ;)

Why you should be prepared for anything....

For Labor Day yesterday, we decided (along with the rest of the state of Utah, it seemed) to go 4-wheeling. I suppose we are living by the view, since we have 'em, we better use 'em! So up American Fork Canyon we headed. The l...o...n...g line at the pay station was our first clue that the canyon was going to be incredibly busy! Lots of people heading up to hike to the cave, go picnicking, fishing, and 4-wheeling. Actually, the worst part was finding a place to park. Once that was accomplished, we unloaded and off we headed to Miner's Basin.

The ride was fun, we got up to a little picnic spot we had visited before, had some snacks, and then headed off on a little hike that Nicole and Jared were begging to do. Not long after starting out, we discovered an old beaver dam and lodge that daddy decided to explore and teach the kids about. It was very cool! The water was drained out, so the view of the dam was great, as well as the lodge. There were large trees all around that had been gnawed down, and these were BIG trees! We found some smaller branches and sicks with teeth marks for the kids to bring home, and this awesome branch that wasn't completely chewed through.
It'll be perfect for a show & tell for school sometime....a little more interesting than, "This is my favorite stuffed dog that I've had since birth. When it had fur it was black and white.."

The kids wanted to know where the beavers went. Nicole decided the miners took them away. Jared said the cowboys came and got them, but my theory is more complex and involves alien anasazi's.

There was a bit of a pond left, and while we were sitting around it watching some little trout swimming around, we noticed a little black rain cloud overhead. No worries, it was a beautiful day, blue sky everywhere else, so we didn't pay it much attention. Until it started letting loose on us....with large raindrops and HAIL! What the heck?! So we headed back down to the trail head, and took shelter under a large pine tree there. Once it lightened up, we got on the 4-wheelers and tried to leave, but apparently the little black rain cloud wasn't done with us. Half inch hail and more rain this time...back to the pine tree...literally, this cloud, although black, was a little strip in the sky overhead. All around it was blue sky.

So after it lightened up again, we decided to head down the mountain. Here's the unprepared part. We never in a million years thought that morning that we needed to bring jackets with us. We found out that we always need to! It was, ummm, kinda cold riding down in more rain, when you are already wet, and then you have the cold air rushing against you while riding. Ron pulled out the mylar emergency blanket(I guess we were a little prepared for having that!) out to wrap around Jared and Nicole, and I wrapped an arm around Ellie to help shield the wind. The good news is that a mile and a half down the road, we were back in the sunshine and on dusty roads again, and warmed up quickly. It had only rained in the little area where we were! How odd.

Thanks for the memories....

I saw this on another blog I was lurking on, and thought it would be fun to jog my memory, so here goes!

High School Memories:

1. Who were your best friends?
Steph, Taina, Polly, Julie, Amy, Denise, also had fun with Jamie, Robin, Tami, Betsy

2. What sports did you play?
Good one. I was an excellent spectator!

3. What kind of car did you drive?
1st: Gertie, the tan '67 bug
2nd: mom's brown Mazda 626
3rd: Senior Year, a 1981 silver Honda Accord.

4. What did you do Friday nights?
Football/Basketball games, hanging out with friends, videos, stag dances, or babysitting

5. Were you a party animal?
Nope.

6. Were you considered a flirt?
Absolutely not. I was much too shy.

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
I did choir for 2 years, but only the class. None of that auditioned for stuff.

8. Were you a nerd?
I hope not! Maybe a bit of a spaz.....we just had fun.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled?
Nope.

10. Can you still sing the fight song?
Sadly, yes!
Roar for Orem high, the team is ready for the fray!
Roar your battle cry, the blue and gold will win today,
So, score for Orem High, forever fight for victory,
Our glorious banner will unfurl,
While every boy, and every girl,
Renews a pledge of loyalty,
So Tigers, roar, for Orem High,
Roar for Orem High!

Crap. Maybe I am a nerd!

11. Who was your favorite teacher?
Mrs. Gilbert, also liked Mr. Denkers and Sid Hatch

12. Where did you sit during lunch?
Back of the lunchroom, the lounge, or we went off-campus.

13. Schools full name:
Orem High School

14. School Mascot:
Tiger

15. School colors:
Blue and Gold

Didn't you people pay attention during the song?! ;)

16. Rival High School:
Mtn. View and we didn't like Skyline either

17. Did you go to Prom?
Nope. No date dances for me. I guess I should've been less of a nerd and flirted more!

18. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
Not on your life.

19. What do you remember most about graduation?
It snowed that morning. My sister surprised me and flew up from AZ for it.

20. Where did you go for Senior skip day?
Called it "Senior Sluff" at OHS, and we went to Aspen Grove in Provo Canyon for the day.

21. Favorite memory?
A few....winning the state football championship junior year, and ALMOST winning it senior year. Took 2nd as a total Cinderella team.
Fun trip to San Diego with the Medical Explorers.
Just lots of laughs with friends!

22. Were you in any clubs?
HOSA and Medical Explorers (I was a boy scout!)

23. Where did you go most often for lunch?
The bookstore for yogurt and grapenuts, Pizza Hut, or Julie's after school for quesadillas.

24. Have you gained some weight since then?
Yep, a little, but I was underweight to begin with....wahoo!

25. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion?
*sob* I'm TWO years away from my 20TH! Good grief, I'm old. I skipped out on my 10th. It was the day after I got back from my honeymoon, and I really did not feel like hanging out with people from HS!

26. Where did you work in High School?
I babysat...a lot. Was a nanny one summer, and did work at ShopKo another summer. But then I quit and babysat again!

27. How were your grades?
I graduated! I did fine, but could've applied myself and done much better.

28. Do you still talk to people from high school?
I'm more miss than hit, but yes, I'm still in touch with a few.

29. What was your dress style?
Eighties! Acid wash jeans. V-neck sweaters. Rugby's. The Limited, Esprit, Polo, Gap. Poofy bangs and perms.

30. What year did you graduate?
1989....gasp! I'm OLD!