Top Ten Tuesday

An idea I borrowed from Crazymama's blog:

Top Ten things that make me feel sick:
*in no particular order*

10. Old sippy cups.....like when the baby takes off with her sippy, and leaves it behind, only to be found by me days/weeks(?!) later? The last three were found under my bed, in the playroom, and behind the couch....old, curdled...I didn't even open them to attempt washing....they went straight to the trash.

9. Stepped on dog poop. YUCK! I hate trying to clean it off shoes, but worse is when the kids(or myself) are running around barefoot and manage to find a nice pile to step in. It makes Jared sick too. Whenever he has done it, he sits there gagging and dry heaving as I'm cleaning it off his foot. When it happens to me, I do not feel clean again until I have scrubbed my soiled foot with a Lysol sanitizing wipe. Just a little OCD coming out...

The next few are from when I am pregnant, which I am not, and never will be again!

8. Raw meat. I could not handle raw meat and then eat it after it was cooked when pregnant. Chicken and hamburger were the worst. It took me a good six months before being able to eat a burger again after I had Ellie.

7. Cilantro. For whatever reason, I could not eat(or smell) cilantro when pregnant.

6. Cleaning up kid vomit. I can handle it when not gestating, but anytime the kids got sick while I was pregnant, I could not do anything except bathe them after their clothes were stripped! Good thing it only happened when Ron was around to help!

5. Rye. As in the spice. Seasoning. Whatever it is. I hate rye bread. Smell, taste, YUCK!

4. Mushrooms. gack! Small, cooked, non-overwhelming taste mushrooms are okay, but big ucky pieces of MUSHroom. Yucck. Just the thought that they are a fungus that grow underground in manure...no thanks. And since we're on food...black-eyed peas. Might as well eat dirt.

3. Cleaning the bathroom without rubber gloves. I'm afraid the germs and dirt might get on me without the rubber glove layer?! (Not to mention the skin eating properties of cleaning solutions!)

2. Taking children to/helping children that are not my own in the bathroom.

1. The nastiness that clogs bathroom drains. Just the thought of it....

Okay, what makes you sick? What can you not handle, or do you have a stomach o'steel?

A visit to the Vampires

The American Red Cross loves me! They call, alot, to set up appointments for me to come donate blood. I set the appointment up, but for the last year, I get to the point where they measure my hematocrit, and then I get the heave-ho. Apparently they have certain standards for their blood donations....like they want you all nice and healthy with lots of oxygen carrying capacity. I almost felt guilty one time because the happy lady who scheduled the appointment cheerily told me that I'd (well, my blood) had been approved for pediatric use. Then I of course got rejected for my crit....great, some kid that needs blood isn't gonna get it, but I got over it. Oh, and you don't have to be special or anything to be approved for ped use, just CMV negative.

So today, another appointment comes for the blood-letting. We got through the preliminary stuff, and the guy opened the centrifuge, read my hematocrit, and I steeled myself for yet another goodbye, try again. But then he told me my crit was 39%.....WHAT! Thirty-nine percent! No wonder I've been feeling so good! Hooray! I finally got to donate. I know, I'm weird, only I would get excited about having a 16 guage needle jabbed in to my arm and a pint of blood allowed to drain into a bag! So the vampires got their wish, and they got their blood from me, and I am happy because someone out there is gonna get something they desperately need, my blood.

Even better, look at what I got after I donated! BLING! I have now officially donated 1 gallon of blood. Not that I'm gonna go around wearing it....but I am kinda proud of it. :) I'll put it in my jewelry box next to my bone marrow donation pin. Just to look at. Maybe I'll collect them all! Here I come 2 gallon pin!

Disney FUN!

I said I had pictures, and I wasn't kidding! I think I'll separate the pictures and post in three installments, according to what it's about!

So, installment 1, Disneyland:

We arrived Tuesday morning at 7:30 am, rented a car, and drove straight to the hotel and walked to the Magic Kingdom. That morning was a killer! We left our house at 4:15, that's AM folks, to catch our flight to CA. The kids loved the flight, it was Nicole and Jared's first airplane ride, but I was so tired I forgot to take any pictures on the plane...oops!

Disneyland was fun, but very crowded dang it! The park workers told us they were having record crowds for this time of year, and even extended the hours a couple nights. Perfect. We were there with half the state of Utah (I'm serious), and the rest of the people there were from AZ!

Riley liked all the big rides, Tower of Terror, California Screamin', etc.


Nicole was again the bravest 5 year old I know and went on EVERYTHING she could! She did Tower of Terror twice, and California Screamin', and all the roller coasters at Disneyland.


Jared was tall enough this year to start going on some of the bigger rides and roller coasters. He didn't like Space Mountain or the Matterhorn, but loved Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Grizzly Rapids, and Star Tours. Both he and Nicole loved the "play area" in California Adventure, but the name escapes me....Something redwood?!?

Ellie loved Pirates of the Carribean, Small World, and was barely tall enough to go on the little roller coaster in Toon Town....so being the abusive parents we are, we took all 21+ months of her on it! I couldn't help but laugh at her face as we went down the first hill! Absolute terror! But by the end of the ride, she was laughing and having a grand time, so I guess she forgave us.

Ron and I did most of them. I hate Tower of Terror, so Ron did that, and Ron didn't want to get wet, so I went on Grizzly Rapids and got soaked....I even got wet the next day on Splash Mountain. I went on California Screamin' and thought I was going to die....I didn't feel the need to repeat that one! We were both sad that Indiana Jones was broken the whole time we were there...it's been 7 years since I've done that ride since the last 2 times I've been at Disneyland I've been pregnant. The Haunted Mansion was all done up for Halloween in a "Nightmare Before Christmas" theme, and it was fun.

All in all, a great trip! Although there are no pictures of Ron....he was there! He was behind the camera in all these.

Installment 2: Our Kids, the JEDI'S!!

I'd heard about this new show at Disneyland, "Jedi Training Academy," and since Nicole and Jared are addicted to the Lego Star Wars game, and the Star Wars movies (old and new), I thought we'd check it out.

It's a really interactive show, where they start out by picking about 30 kids out of the audience to come receive "Jedi training" and then get to test out their skills.

We arrived at the last show of the day about 30 minutes early and got almost the last spaces right up front. So we sat and waited, and I thought how funny it would be if either got chosen. The show started up, and once the "Jedi Master" moved to our side to start picking recruits, the kids were all screaming and jumping excitedly up and down. Nicole was the 2nd kid he chose! (I think they picked almost all the girls there!)
So then I was hoping, hoping Jared could go out too. He picked a bunch more kids, then moved back to where we were. By now Riley and I are standing behind Jared pointing at him with pleading looks on our faces, and sure enough, he got picked TOO!
They dressed all the kids in Jedi robes and gave them light sabers, then taught them a combination of moves to use with their light sabers.

At this point some storm troopers run out, and the stage rises up, smoke and music and all, and out comes Darth Vader and Darth Maul. Jared was SO into it! Vader tries to convince the recruits to (insert Darth Vader voice here!) "join him on the Dark Side," and then the Jedi says their force is too strong, and Darth will have to fight them!





Nicole got put in the group to fight Darth Maul, and Jared in the group to go against Vader. Each kid took their own separate turn with the help of the Jedi masters.








Nicole got a bit freaked out because right as she went up to fight Darth Maul, he backed up and then did a spinning jump in the air right in front of her so she backed WAY up! But then she timidly did her moves.


Jared just marched right up to Vader on his turn, activated his light saber, and did his moves! He was great!
I think I was more excited they got chosen to participate than they were, but they had fun!

Other California Fun....

Since you can only go to Disneyland so many times in one week.... ;)

We did spend one day seeing some other sights!

Balboa Island and the beach, and San Juan Capistrano. No swallows there, they had returned to Argentina for the winter, but the flowers and buildings were beautiful. We were even able to gt the kids interested in a bit of the history. Ron had fun taking pictures at Capistrano, and the shots would have really turned out fabulous if we had a "real" camera!

Here you go!












Isn't Riley just a sweetie with the rabbit ears on Jared?!























Jared didn't wait for us to change him into a swimsuit...he ran straight for the water, not realizing that the waves will come up, knock you down, and drench you head to toe. So he played in his clothes and changed into his dry swimsuit for the rest of the days activities!
















The Mission at San Juan Capistrano...told you it was pretty!





























When did I start looking so OLD?! ugh....I should delete that picture, but I had to prove Ron did go on vacation with us!































Hopefully all these pictures didn't cause this response in you:

NEW LOOK!

Holy COW!!! I feel so smart and accomplished when I look at this blog template!!!! I DID THIS!!!!

Of course, it was only with the fantastic step-by-itty-bitty-step tutorial that Crazymamaof6 sent me!

(THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU CRAZYMAMA!!)

So now I am feeling a little more computer savvy....I've learned how to download digital scrapbook papers, and then use them to create a festive Halloween look for the blog, all without erasing all the info on my blog....which I was indeed worried about. Now if I could get a step-by-itty-bitty-step tutorial about how to actually scrapbook with these awesome and cute kits I've downloaded I'd be set.....oh, how I wish I were closer to AZ and I could take onehm's scrapbooking class.

So, obviously, we have returned from CA, all in one piece, although all very exhausted! We are just now starting to feel normal again, except I may need to visit a chiropractor to fix my "hotel room bed" neck...ouch!

My five brain cells are now fatigued from the blog template creation, so I'll be uploading our pictures from the trip tomorrow....there will be some fun ones in there, so check back!!! :)

Fall Break!

We're off to visit MICKEY!

Technically, we don't have school off until Thursday and Friday, but we're heading out early(tomorrow am) for a few days in sunny CA. Be prepared when we get back to hear about the kids loving Disneyland, and other fun stuff!

Hooray for fun vacations, and let's just hope the kids behave so mom and dad have some fun too!

The only thing that could make the next few days perfect is if we could leave the kids with a sitter one night and go to "Wicked"...maybe another time!

See you LATER!

PS.....We have yet to see if Riley will have clothes to take.....she informed us at 5:30 pm that she has no clean laundry and just now started a load, grumbling all the way.....I'm still confused as to why she did nothing on Saturday except attempt to take root in the couch...aren't the consequences of irresponsibility a joy?!

Random updates...

Just the usual going on around here.....which is not much!

Conference today: Well, I was totally wrong in my guess of the new member of the 1st Presidency...I had my "money" on Elder Holland or Elder Oaks. For those that missed it, Elder Eyring was called as the new 2nd Counselor. Elder Quentin Cook is the newest member of the Twelve. Ron was pretty excited, as Elder Cook was the Executive Director of the missionary dept. for the past 4 years and Ron has worked pretty closely with him at times. I told Ron he better be careful as there are now 4 members of the Twelve that know him by name! As for my favorite talk...I LOVED Elder Holland's! WOW! All the proponents of "Mormons aren't Christians" heads are gonna be rolling! Elder Wirthlin....what an inspiration and sweet man....he had the hardest time getting through his talk, and by the end I just wanted him to say amen and let them help him sit. I think Elder Nelson was thinking the same thing! I hope everything is alright with him, and I'm a tad bothered that nothing has been said about how he is doing.

Soccer Saturday: We had a repeat of last Saturday's weather again today....in the 30's and raining/snowing. The rain stopped in time for Jared's game, so he played, which was good since we had treats today and I wanted to get rid of them. Then about 20 minutes before Nicole's game, it started raining again. We called the coach, and he said it was on, so we bundled her up and Ron took her since both Ellie and Jared had gone down for a nap. Ten minutes into the game it was dumping icy sleet, and the kids were trying to run down the field with their faces covered to keep warm, so the coaches called the game. It then started dumping snow and the field was covered by the time they were leaving....good thing since I was about to call Ron's cell phone to tell him to bring her home! When she walked in she was soaked, so we bundled her up in a blanket in front of the fire. She survived, and was so stinking feisty tonite that she got sent to bed first....a usual occurrence lately.

Miscellaneous happenings of the week: Jared got his 1st bee sting....right on the cuticle of his pinky toe! It was actually the first bee sting that any of our kids have had! We have, last minute, planned a trip to Disneyland for next week's fall break. The kids are giddy with excitement. It should be fun. Sorry there aren't pictures.....I haven't taken any! I thought about the bee sting, but I think Jared would have thought me quite heartless since all he wanted was his blankie and cuddles from me, so I relented. You can guarantee a few next week being at Disneyland and all!

Pepto-Bismol?

**Edited...I can no longer stand the pink background, so it's been changed...just to explain the now nonsense of the post to follow!

**2nd Edit...I went back to a brown background...I still don't like it, but it isn't as dizzy as the pink...I need to get to work and try to make it really cute. There are just too many choices; title color, background, border, post, side-bar....ACK, stop already! I'm overwhelmed! :)


Is it just me, or does it look like I spilled a bottle of Pepto on the background of my blog?! Just trying to infuse a little color....I think I failed. I tried brown with some pink....it didn't look too good either. Now I have a headache so I should stop trying to do anything with it! I just need to bite the bullet, print out the fantastically written and very difficult looking tutorial that Crazymama was so kind to send me about how to really personalize it....but I think I'll close my eyes here for a minute and dream about the 44 oz Dr. Pepper that I'm going to go get as soon as Ellie wakes up.

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!