After 20 years

After 20 years they stopped working. They were there with me through High School, traveled with me 1200 miles away to Ricks College, they stayed with me through my wedding and the birth of my five children. And then I guess they'd had enough. Suddenly one day they no longer got hot. I tried to rescue them by plugging them in to different outlets throughout the house but to no avail. I couldn't bring them back. So long.

Dog Pie

Danielle asked what we were having for supper, and I told her, shepherd's pie. A little while later I heard her complaining to Camie that she didn't want "dog pie". I listened in on the conversation before I realized she was referring to the yummy dinner I was cooking as "dog pie". With a name like that no wonder she didn't want it!

Welcome to Big City, USA

We've been living here several years, and we should be thankful that it didn't happen before.

As a work"perk", Evan gets to drive around this great 4-door truck. Evan tries not to act excited, but when he struts in the door after driving around and makes special trips just to give the kiddos a ride, you know he is excited.

Friday night he took Taneal and Camie to a birthday party at one of those places that has go-carts, etc. They stayed until 9:30pm, not too late.

When Evan put his key into the door handle of his new truck, the key turned to the left and to the right, but would not unlock the door. He tried calling me but I had already fallen asleep and the phone wasn't in my bedroom, so I didn't wake up. After a half hour of trying to get me, he gave up and called Becky (sister-in-law). She came and picked them up and brought them home.

Then, we loaded all five (3 sleeping and out for the night) into my car to see if another set of keys would unlock the truck.

No success.

Then Evan saw where someone had taken a screw driver, or something like that, to the door handle and tried to pry off the handle, thus breaking it. Security said they were after the rims. That's what we get for driving a cool truck.

Evan spent all day Saturday fixing it.

mispelled

Danielle is convinced we spelled her name wrong. It is spelled Danielle. She says that is wrong because of the "e" is on the end, it is pronounced Daniell "e" (Dan-yell-e). Thus, on all her school work and on anywhere where she writes her name, she is spelling her name the correct way, per Danielle, as shown in the photo. I guess teaching her to read gave her even more reasons to be strong-headed!

Danielle learns to read

Danielle has been working very hard, since June, and finally finished the 100 lessons that taught her to read. I am so proud of Danielle, because we had to sit down for about 15 minutes each lesson over the course of 5 about months, and learn to read. Most of the time she was excited to do it. It is one of those moments that makes me excited to see her succeed and be very pleased with herself. Way to go Danielle!

Nathan's talented tongue

Nathan does this really funny sucking on his lip. He has an unusual tongue, he can make it all pointy and twist it and do all sorts of interesting things with it. I'm sure it isn't unique, but so cute.

I'm a BIG boy!

Yes, Spencer is completely potty-trained! This is a very exciting moment for me as the mom. No more stinky diapers (except for Nathan of course), no more HUGE monthly diaper bills, and a happy boy who thinks the whole world revolves around him, which is great. Way to go Spencer.

I did take a picture of Spencer sitting on the toilet for this post, but decided otherwise. Too much information for the eyes and the public!

Lizards

My nephew, Tyler, loves animals. He has had many pets, which right now includes a family of lizards. We went to the ranch over the New Year and Tyler caught a few more to add to his collection. Spencer was very interested in them and surprisingly, not really afraid of them. Camie and Danielle were okay with the lizards on their jackets, but not anywhere else. Enjoy the lizard video, and a few pictures.

Snow, really?!?

Yes, it snowed in my neck of the woods (about a month ago, better late then never, right?). And, my kiddos don't really remember snow. Taneal vaguely, but that's it. Watch the video and you can see their excitement. I fugured they would be excited, which is why I had the camera out and ready for them to get off the bus.

Happy New Year

Troy and Becky invited us out to their ranch to spend the new year. We had a great time. Becky cooked us a very yummy dinner. Afterwards we had fireworks and then everyone went to bed! What's up with that? I couldn't. I just couldn't go to bed a 10pm on New Year's Eve. So, I happily grabbed my book, the 4th book in the Twilight saga, and read until midnight. I was very happy and did what I really wanted to be doing.

The next day was so much fun. We rode around on the 4-wheelers, canoed a little, the kids played with the tire swing, and we played games inside. While on a 4-wheeler ride, we saw a cow just minutes after giving birth. It was so cool! Troy and Evan fried a delicious turkey and while I was out canoeing, Becky made a very nice dinner with sweet potatoes, fruit salad, and pumpkin pie. I felt bad I didn't help, I didn't realize she was inside cooking up a storm while I was out playing. But, I was grateful. We stayed until after dinner and then headed home.

Spencer loved being on the tractor with Uncle Troy!

Christmas

We had an absolutely WONDERFUL Christmas. Evan and I stayed up until about 1:30am doing, ya know . . . Christmas stuff. Around 5am Taneal and Camie woke up ready to go downstairs and see if Santa had come. I wanted a happy Christmas morning, so I was afraid to wake Spencer up. He didn't quite "get" the Christmas thing yet. Would he be his normal extremely-grouchy-self-when-woke- up-too-early? or would he see the magic of Christmas morning and be able to be happy? I was too afraid to find out, so I told Taneal and Camie it was too early and sent them back to bed. That was not fair. But, not ten minutes later they were back in my room. I couldn't resist, so I had them go carefully wake Spencer and Danielle up while I got out the cameras. And, Spencer tried to be grouchy but couldn't resist the excitement he saw in his sisters. They headed downstairs and were so excited!

Having Children takes Christmas to a whole new level. If I could , I would have twenty more children just to keep the excitement of Christmas going. Of course that isn't going to happen. But I can capture the excitement as best as possible on video and try to remember their excitement and the magic that takes place.

Taneal is the best at showing her excitement. Santa brought us a Wii. I told her there was no way Santa would EVER be able to bring us a Wii. If he did bring us a Wii, there definitely wouldn't be any other presents, so don't even ask. Of course she did not ask, and after she had opened her other gifts, she found a gift under the tree with all the kiddos name on it. They all gathered together and she just couldn't hold her excitement in after the first of the wrapping paper was torn off. She was jumping up and down and screaming! She was so much fun to watch!

Camie was happy about getting what she calls an American Girl Doll. I'm not sure that it is that name brand, but she loves it and that is wonderful. After she opened the present with the doll in it, she kept asking to call her cousin, Audrey, to tell her the news because Audrey had an American Girl Doll also. I was hoping Santa would bring Camie one because I made her some clothes to go with it. And she loved those. Camie really appreciates gifts with thought into them, things made specifically for her, and she loved the clothes and the time I spent just on her. She was a happy girl.

Danielle was happy to be opening presents. She really didn't care what was inside. She is 4 so she understands Christmas morning very well, but she doesn't really care about the gifts other then she has some to open. She got things that she REALLY wanted and once she opened them she set them aside. She got Bella Dancerella which she plays with all the time at her friend's house and she hasn't even played with hers once. She got a kid-tough camera and took some pictures later that day and then hasn't used it much since. She's kind of funny that way. Gifts don't really mean anything to her. She did this with her birthday and last Christmas. I figured last Christmas it was because she was only three. Well, she did it again. I guess it is just Danielle. She was happy and excited, just didn't really care about the gifts. I think she could have got some lipstick and cheap make-up and a new outfit (she did get a sparkly outfit and wore it for three days straight afterwards) and nothing else and she would have been delighted.

Spencer, loved the gun he got at the Chinese Exchange the night before. He opened his gifts but kept going back to the gun. What is it with boys?

Nathan slept in until his normal 7am. After a while Camie helped him open his present. He just smiled, burped, and cooed. Cute little baby.

Taneal told me, more insisted, that I was to ask Santa for a present. I hesitated, knowing of course I was too old for presents from Santa. Taneal was persistent, told me how her teacher asked for things from Santa and got them. I decided I would try. What I really wanted was a new printer that could scan, make copies, and print in color. With Taneal being so insistent, I decided to try. And, guess what! It worked.

Evan, he was here. Back in November, Thanksgiving weekend, I remember him calling me and telling me he absolutely would not be home for Christmas. I was driving to Fossil Rim (the park with the giraffes and zebras) when he broke the news to me. After I hung up I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I was getting mad at myself for breaking down with all my children in the car watching me. I needed to be strong, but just couldn't do it. I missed him so much and then to find out he wouldn't be home for Christmas was too much. After a few moments I gained composure again. We had a great time in the park. And then on the way home, Evan called me again and told me the news had changed, he was being layed off. At first I didn't believe him. No way! Then, I got back to my parent's house and Evan confirmed again that he really had been layed-off. And the next day he was home, home to stay. I missed him so much during those four months away. I had such mixed emotions. I was dreading going through unemployment again, but I was so glad he was home. And, Christmas morning as I looked around at the happiness, I knew why. Evan was home. He was sharing this moment with me. Taneal even mentioned how blessed we felt that day. I pointed out to her that the only reason dad was home was because he lost his job. She got a mischievous grin on her face and said, "I'm glad he lost his job." Happiness is being together. Evan started working two weeks after he was layed-off, he found a job quickly this time. We really have been blessed. Our family is together again and we are happy.

Christmas Eve

We have a few Christmas Eve traditions. This Christmas Eve we headed over to Troy and Becky's house (Evan's brother that lives a few miles from us) for dinner. We had some of my favorite things: deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, ham, homemade rolls, and pumpkin pie! After the super yummy dinner, we had a Chinese gift exchange. Each person participating brings a gift, a fun gift. Everyone draws a number out of a hat and number one goes. Number two can wither take number one's gift, or pick a wrapped gift out of the pile. It continues on and is so much fun. Spencer ended up with a flash light, Danielle ended up with a barbie, and Becky's sister ended up with the Oreos. Everyone ended up with something fun.

We headed home and made it without anyone falling asleep. We opened pajamas. It was a little late, as you can tell from the pajama picture--Spencer was beyond willing to cooperate. We had a great Christmas Eve and the kiddos went to bed with a lot of anticipation of the coming morning.

As you can tell, I am way behind on blogging. I am caught up in the Twilight series. But, as I use this blog somewhat as a journal, I have to write about Christmas, just a little late. Those books sort of suck you in.

Gingerbread

I love the aroma of gingerbread cooking in the oven. A new tradition I am hoping to continue is to make and decorate gingerbread houses every year during the Christmas season. So, I baked and rolled and baked some more and invited two families over and we kept up the tradition. And, it was so much fun. This is my family's creation.

Puddles

Spencer has decided that it is time to use the toilet instead of diapers. Yes, I am a very excited mom. That in and of itself is funny to me. I'm amazed just how excited I am about pee and poop. Back to the real story here. For almost a week Spencer has consistently peed in the toilet. We have one, maybe two accidents a day, not too bad. He is still working on the pooping thing (why is pooping in the toilet so hard?) and has been successful twice. I am so pleased with Spencer.

This is a story I should not share, but one that will hopefully make me laugh in years to come. I'm still quite embarrassed. I was at Walgreens yesterday with my three children that are home with me during the day. Spencer had just gone potty before we left, so I figured he was good to go for the 10 minute errand. I needed some candy for decorating gingerbread houses later that night. Walgreens would be quick in and out, perfect. So, we are standing in the candy isle trying to figure out what candy I needed. Spencer comes over to me and I see that he has left a quite enormous puddle of . . . pee in the isle. His pants were a synthetic material so they did not absorb anything, thus the very large puddle. I looked at it for a moment trying to figure out a solution to the problem. At that very moment a very sophisticated looking sort of woman in her early forties came down the isle with a cart and pushed her cart right through the puddle, along with her beautiful sandles/flip flops. Yes, she stepped right in the puddle of pee and kept walking as the pee splashed up the back of her ankles. I was horrified. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't about to tell her what she had just splashed on herself, I didn't want to get punched. So, I did nothing. I grabbed my three kids and we walked out of the store leaving everything behind, including the pee. I really didn't know what to do so I did nothing.

And if you are that woman reading this blog, I truly am sorry. All I can say is . . . well, we are in the middle of potty-training and accidents happen. Sorry!

Spinach

I try to eat a lot of leafy greens. I've never really liked them. It wasn't until I was pregnant with Taneal that I even ate any kind of green salad. And then I had a weird craving and I actually wanted a salad. The craving never completely disappeared, although I can only eat them with Italian dressing. So, 8 years later I am much further down the green leafy road. I eat a green salad nearly every day and usually get my daily recommended amount of vegetables. Pretty good considering where I was 8 years ago. But, I kind of still have to force myself.

Spinach is one of those that i am fine to eat with Italian dressing. But I could always eat more. Through the latter part of Nathan's pregnancy and then over the last few months I have been the smoothie queen. Almost a great smoothie every day. At Thanksgiving my sister-in-law, Karen, was making a smoothie and of course I wanted to try it. She told me what was in it and I loved it! So, I've tried it a few times at home and my kiddos LOVE it!

Yes, the main ingredient is Spinach. I add a few strawberries and blue berries. Maybe a little orange juice concentrate and some water. Oh, and flax seed. Wha laaa! A healthy smoothie providing me with probably two to three servings of my vegetables and two servings of fruits all for breakfast. And, it is super yummy. You can't even taste the spinach in it. Really. My children love it! I have to double it because Danielle, Spencer, and Camie all want one. It's that good!

Gingerbread houses

We were invited to decorate graham cracker houses at a friends house on Saturday. This friend of mine is amazing. She has all the homemaking skills that I dream of having. I was lucky enough to see her as Taneal's Activity Day teacher for a while and see many of her talents. She always knows what do do for dinner, knows how to cook anything, can sew anything, and seems to take life in stride, stress free. And, she has twin 2-year-old boys. I could sure use some of her homemaking skills.

Anyways, back to the houses. She got small milk cartons and covered them with graham crackers and let each of the kiddos decorate their own house. Even Spencer was able to decorate his own. And the kids loved it. They were so proud of their creations and so eager to eat them when we got home. Thanks Cindy!

Winter Wonderland

Last week we went to a winter wonderland. They had real snow (okay, so they made the snow, but it was cold and wet like real snow), hay rides, Christmas characters, wassel, and games. The kiddos had a great time. It was so funny watching my kids touch the snow. Taneal is the only one that remembers snow and anything about it. Danielle and Spencer have never even been in snow, and Camie has very little recollection. Strange. But they got to feel the snow and realize that snow is cold. I guess snow doesn't look cold on tv.

Nathan is getting better

Thank you to all for your prayers and concerned phone calls. Nathan is doing so much better. Monday I took him into the doctor for a follow-up appointment. His oxygen levels were great, but his breathing was still very fast and his chest was sunken-in. The doctor told me that he would need breathing treatments three times a day minimum for at least two weeks but probably longer. He is back to his old self, laughing, smiling, and wiggling like crazy. And, he is sure enjoying having his dad home.

Nathan's sick

Monday Nathan started with a nasty cough, one that Taneal and Camie had. The fever started in and he completely lost his voice. He couldn't cry! He wasn't too miserable. Well, Thursday he still had the fever, and I thought about taking him into the doctor, he wasn't eating too well, but I didn't. He had his voice back so I thought he was getting better. Friday morning he hadn't eaten at all since Thursday morning, he had only one wet diaper, so I decided it was time to take him in. I had a mid morning appointment. I was just concerned that he wasn't eating. He had a double ear infection. The doctor listened to his lungs and decided to check his oxygen levels and give him a breathing treatment. She still didn't like the oxygen levels so she had him get another breathing treatment. They checked his oxygen levels again and the levels just kept dropping. She came in and calmly sat down and said that Nathan needed to go to the hospital. I said okay. She then said he needed to go by ambulance downtown to the children's hospital. I asked if I could just take him, was an ambulance really necessary? After all, I was just there because he wasn't eating. She said that it was very necessary, that the ambulance would be there in five minutes. Right then they brought in the oxygen and put the mask on Nathan. A few minutes later they strapped his car seat to the ambulance bed and we left the doctor's office in an ambulance.

So, what I then found out from the EMT was what the oxygen levels meant. 95-100 is normal, okay. 91-94 is not good, they need oxygen. Anything below 91 is very scary. Nathan was fluctuating between 81 and 92. No wonder we were in the ambulance heading to the children's hospital. I think we could have gone somewhere else, but with Nathan being only 3 months, that was where he needed to be. While on oxygen his levels were at 100. Very good. The EMT took the mask off Nathan to see what he would do and he immediately started dropping until at 88 she put the oxygen mask back on him.

As soon as we walked in the doors of the children's hospital, they took his temperature and gave him Tylenol. They walked us back to a room and started monitoring him. And everything was fine! They couldn't hear anything in his lungs, he finally ate (it had been over 24 hours), and he kept his oxygen levels at 94+ all on his own. I asked the doctor at the hospital what changed, and she said she didn't know. So, around 5pm we went home. Evan dropped the kids off at his brother's house and headed downtown to get us. Nathan slept until we got home and ate very well again.

The doctor at the hospital told me what to watch for, I was concerned that they hadn't done anything and that Nathan was suddenly better. I do believe in miracles, but I also wanted to be prepared just in case he started having a hard time breathing. What scared me then was that I hadn't even realized he was having a problem when I took him into the doctor. The emergency room doctor told me to watch his chest, if there was a sunken-in appearance at the bottom of his rib cage before his belly. Also, if his nostrils were flaring as he breathed and if his breathing was quick.

Yesterday around 2pm I had just given him a bath and was rubbing lotion on his chest when I realized his chest was sunken in. His breathing was fast and his nostrils were flaring. Yep, I took him back to the hospital, just a closer one. There was no waiting, I bypassed everyone in the waiting room. They checked his oxygen levels and immediately took us back and stared a breathing treatment. He was at 89 and 90. They did a chest x-ray, checked him for RSV and the flu (both negative) and then gave him some oral steroids, which he threw up. He has bronchialitis (not bronchitis, but similar). The problem being that he is so little. It caused his airways to swell and then covered with mucus wasn't allowing much air in. They gave him a shot of steroids since he threw up the oral ones, and sent us home.

Last night was a rough one. I had to give him several breathing treatments which seemed to help him breathe better. I had to keep him "sucked out" with the bulb syringe, which he HATED! He is upstairs sleeping right now. Hopefully the steroids work and keep him breathing well. Poor little guy. Hopefully we are in the up-hill to recovery.

Replay

I guess I should not have been bragging about the gas prices being so low. Yes, they are still low and dropping. Well, Evan works in the oil industry and dropping prices isn't such a good thing for us, employment speaking. It was the same week last year that Evan was working for Wachovia when he called me and said his company was doing lay-offs and they had let 300+ employees go with him included. A week later I found out I was expecting Nathan. We were out of a job until the end of July when Evan got a job, and a really good job, just one that would require him working away in the oil fields. He left a week before Nathan was born, came home for a few days during the delivery and then twice after that over the next four months. Oh how we missed him and he missed us. It was really tough having him gone and adjusting to a new baby and having five children all by myself. But, I felt blessed because we finally had a job, and a good job.

And then the same week as last year, only a few days ago, right after Thanksgiving, I got the same call. Evan's company was doing lay-offs. Evan was included. Here we go again. This darn economy!

Thanksgiving

Evan was working out-of-town through Thanksgiving, so I decided to head to my parent's house about five hours away. Four of my five brothers were going to be there along with both of my sisters. They flew in from Vegas, Idaho, Indiana, and my sister came from San Antonio. It was a house full, but so good to see everyone. My kiddos were so excited to see my brother, Charles. He loves to play with the kids and is so much fun. They also were glad to see and play with cousins.

I think there were somewhere around 35 people at my parent's house. My parents also have two sets of missionaries from their ward living with them. Hopefully Thanksgiving wasn't too overwhelming for them, it kinda was for me!

It was pretty hard having Evan gone for Thanksgiving. I really missed him. I was glad I was around family, but during the feast it really hit me hard just how bad I wanted him there. I have so many things to be thankful for, I have amazing children that are so well behaved and make me so happy. They make good choices and laugh often. I have a wonderful family and some of the greatest friends. But, I still missed Evan. He is such a good man and works so hard to provide for our family. I am so glad I married him and have been able to spend the last 13 years with him. I do have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Fossil Rim

This last week I spent at my parents house. Four of my bothers and both of my sisters were there along with their spouses and children. I think there were about 35 of us in total. The only ones missing were Evan and my brother who both work in the oil fields. Well, for one of the activities we went to Fossil Rim, a wildlife reserve. (Tonia, you were missed) You drive through the park and see different kinds of animals. It was a lot of fun. I actually got to feed a giraffe! I was scared to death! But, Camie had already done it and I figured if she was brave enough, I should be. I never did get Taneal to feed any of the animals. She is a scaredy cat like her mom. Spencer really liked riding on my dad's lap through the park and Danielle really enjoyed the animals, too. Nathan was on great behavior considering we were there at the park for about four hours just riding in our cars. I couldn't believe (actually I could) that Camie didn't want to stay in the confines of my van so she rode in the back of my brother's truck open to all the animals. She is such a brave girl. It was so much fun. I think my brother Eric got bit by a zebra (there are sign all over saying not to feed the zebras, they bite), didn't break the skin or cause any damage. One of these days I would like to go back and get videos of feeding the giraffes. I got pictures but didn't think to record it.

Check out this video of us feeding the ostrich!. We moved out of the way and put the food on the seat of the car.

Nathan's smiles

Nathan has been smiling and laughing for a while, but I finally managed to get my camera and get pictures of the smiles. He also talks while he smiles. He is also very ticklish. He squirms and almost any touch. When I change his shirt he squirms and laughs pretty hard because it tickles him so much. I will have to try to capture that on video, but

I haven't been too successful at that yet.