The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Today was a beautiful day! There are five loads of laundry on my front room chair, and counters and toilets that need to be cleaned, and the yard needs to be mowed and the gardens need some loving. But none of that got done today. Instead, Scott took the two little boys and I to the park to play while Teagan was at Engineering Camp and Garrett is staying with Grandma. The little boys were so well behaved and loved having Mom and Dad to themselves for a little bit!The snow melt off from the mountains are adding a lot of water everywhere, and at the park we went to it has created a fast flowing stream that, even though it was freezing cold, was very fun to play in! Scottie brought the snow sleds with us and the little boys used them like boats to float in down the stream. Then Scott would drag Emmett in his boat up to the head of the stream while Owen ran his boat up, and they would do it over and over again. We had brought a camping chair and sun umbrella, so I got to sit and watch the fun while Daddy and the boys played.
Once his legs were thoroughly frozen, Scott was able to stay in the water for longer periods and he would drag the boys up stream and they loved the spray coming as Daddy walked against the strong current!
We also brought a regular water tube, but no one was really willing to set their hind end in it in the frigid water! Emmy still wanted to play in the "een donut" (green donut), just not in the water.After an hour or so of river rafting, we brought out the RC boats and the boys played with them at the head of the stream where it was a little deeper and more calm.Then came some frisbee play and some timed racing to help burn out some energy before it was time to go pick Teagan up from her camp. The little boys had such a fun time doing such simple things today and so did Scott and I. Simple works for us. So, the good was the great day we had and all the laughing and smiles I got to see on three of my men.

The bad was that no housework was accomplished and that my camera officially kicked the bucket today while taking these pictures. We dropped it off at the camera shop to fix it and they said that even though I have only taken 36,000 pictures with it, the shutter itself is dying and needed to be replaced. (Some shutters can make it to 50 or 60K, while others only get to 18K, so I am mid-range) They said they can get it back to me in three weeks...THREE WEEKS!!!! So no more nice camera for the next three weeks! Super bad.

And the ugly, well those are my swollen feet; but I was kind enough to spare your eyes and I didn't take a picture of them!

Got Books?

I love books!

I love the feel of a book in my hands as I read, riffling through the pages and entertaining my fingers while my mind is in another place.

I love the smell of a new book - crisp pages and ink.

I love the look of a bookcase filled to the brim with yummy books waiting to be devoured. My home couldn't be complete without a library in every room.

(we have tons of books in Teagan's room, which is also the school room)

I love the sound of books - the quiet in the house when everyone is completely emerged in a good book. The pages turning. Fingers playing with the unread portion of the book, eager to get further along in the plot.

(There are books surrounding the TV in the front room)

I love the power books have to ease your worries, take you places you've never been, inform you of things you never knew, or just remind you of things and places you miss. (The boys have books in their room, too)

I am not a digital e-book sort of girl! I need something in my hand to tantalize all my senses at the same time.
(Even Emmy has has own book basket for his favorite books!)

So it is easy to understand why I love summer reading programs so much. If my kids do what they love to do - read - they can earn a free book from Borders and Barnes and Nobles...two wonderful bookstores that we never go to because not only am I a book collector, but the other half of me is also a book cheapskate. I can't stand paying full price for books!

Yes, they have so much power and I love getting involved in them, but really....$25 for a book? For the kids, I usually max out around the dollar range, but prefer to keep it under $.50. And for a good hard back, my usual cap is about $3.

There are a few that I have splurged on and paid the Sam's Club price for...but those are few and far between. And there are some that the kids have saved up their own money and bought because they wanted them so badly...but those are also few in numbers. Which says a lot when you think of how many books we really have.

The kids had finished up two of their summer reading programs, so for FHE last night, we went to get their newest books. Taking my kids to a bookstore is like taking other kids to a candy store! They wanted so many books and sat down and read books and schemed how to earn more money so they could buy the books they wanted...it was wonderful to see them so in love!

Introducing the newest additions to our bookcases:
Logically, they should have each earned two, but Teagan couldn't decide between two at Borders and she convinced Emmy to get one of her books because it had a cat on the cover - naughty sister! She didn't give him an option of a book in his age group, only the books she couldn't decide between! So she got three, one by Suzanne Collins (author of Hunger Games) that she was interested in trying, and a series that she has heard a lot of good reviews from her friends about (the Warriors series) and The Penderwicks. Then Garrett picked a book by Andrew Clements because we really enjoy his writing, and a new series that he has been wanting to try out. Owen really wanted a step 1 dolphin book because he loves sea animals, but I convinced him to get books that were more on his level of read, so he chose a Judy Moody book and a Mercy Watson...he had finished the 75 paged Mercy Watson book by the time we got home and was glad he chose that one! And poor Emmy only got one book for himself, but he loves it all the same and doesn't realize the fast one Tig pulled on him!

I loved taking them to get their free books, and loved even better to see the register receipts that showed a $0 balance for over $50 in books! Thank you B&N and Borders!

Beautiful...

Last week was, well....it was great and terrible all at the same time! A week of bed rest for someone who never stays still is almost a form of torture. But at the same time, I saw so much love from my friends and neighbors, and so many unasked for blessings, that it was a great week as well! My kids were taken care of, others took them to and from their various camps and meetings, and took them to the park for play time. Dinners were brought in so Teagan didn't have to be the one in charge of making dinner every night... any need we had, it was met before we even thought about asking for any help! We live in such a wonderful neighborhood with so many beautiful and lovely friends...it makes me sad to think that we are leaving this little piece of heaven at the end of the year.

After 4 days of being on strict bed rest, I gave up and went grocery shopping Thursday night to get the food I was in charge of for the up coming wedding. I had some fun experiences shopping, that I'll have to explain in another post :-) Friday came and went and even though I didn't stay on complete bed rest, I did stay off my feet as much as possible and took it easy to save up energy for a busy weekend.

And then Saturday came. The day of the big wedding for my niece, Salinee. We got up to the north side of town early to help prepare food and get everything ready. I sat down while we worked on the catering and kept my feet up when I wasn't needed. As the wedding time got closer, Salinee and her mom asked if I would take pictures of her getting ready. She had someone gift her a photographer for the wedding, but they didn't want him there while she was getting dressed and ready, so I was more than happy to step in!

I got to see all the different phases she went through while waiting. Like being giddy with excitement:And being bored of having to stay boxed up in her little waiting room area waiting for the wedding party to arrive and line up. And her overwhelming anxiousness. She peeked outside to watch the last minute preparations being made and to see who was arriving. Then things started to move quickly. Her brides maids and maid of honor came and brought a lot of emotions with them. And then her dad arrived and everything seemed to get so definite and real.
You could see the pride and love in his eyes every time he looked down at his little girl. The bittersweet emotions were evident on his face - loving the young woman she is today, missing the girl she was yesterday, and looking forward to the woman she'll be tomorrow.
The ceremony was beautiful. The decorations were beautiful. She was beautiful.
She and her new husband glowed with love and happiness throughout the whole ceremony and on into the reception.
Her other photographer was busy taking pictures, so I walked around snapping shots of what I love most...my beautiful children! Owen looked so dashing, with his collar open and sleeves rolled up!
And then my camera started to fizzle out and eventually died. I wasn't thrilled in the least about that, but it did let me realize that I needed to sit down again and rest. Once I did, I had time to notice that the contractions were coming pretty close...like every 4 minutes.

We stayed at the reception for little while, let the kids eat and play with their cousins while I lounged on a chaise lounge in the corner. But after a couple hours with no slowing down of the contractions, we decided to leave early and we missed the toast and cake cutting.

After a phone call to the doctor, Scott dropped me off at the hospital and took the kids home. Three and a half hours later, I came home with orders for another 2 days of bed rest and a prescription to take every 6 hours for the next 5 weeks to keep the contractions down.
It was a beautiful day with a not as beautiful ending. But on the up side, I got to hear Sparky's heartbeat for a long while again (which as wonderful), was told he was a picture perfect baby (again!) and I was assured that I am not dilated at all yet, and this time it was only bed rest for 2 days instead of a week. So all in all, things ended just as beautifully as they started. Beauty is all in the eye of the beholder, right?

Baby's new name

Our new little man still has no name and no nickname. After our recent life lesson about electric currents, I thought it was a sure thing that he would get a nickname to hold us through until it was time for us to name him for real. I tried calling him Powder for a couple of times, but the kids didn't like calling him that..having never seen the movie, they thought it was a very girly name.

I asked them for suggestions and they came up with Bolt, Shocker, and Electro-Baby. Out of the pitiful options given, I have been calling the poor little man Electro-Baby. But Scott came up with the perfect one today. One so simple and obvious, it seems odd that it took three days for us to think of it.

Sparky

The perfect Powder

After a morning spent hooked up to monitors and wires (the good kind, not the live kind!), in a cold room, under a thin sheet and in an 'outfit' that ties in the back, I can gladly report that my little Powder Baby is textbook perfect. His heart rate is great, he responds to contractions properly, he is VERY active...my nurse said he was a perfect specimen of a baby his age. Good boy! The down side is that in order to hear that great report, I had to be poked, prodded, speculumed, squeezed, and all sorts of other unpleasantness. This morning I thought it would just be a simple call into the doctor to make sure everything was okay, but it ended up in a brief hospital visit to be monitored and to get some terbutaline (also called brethenal) to stop the contractions that my dance with the oven on Saturday started.So now I am home, my heart is racing from the medicine they gave me to stop the contractions, and I am on a few days of bed rest to make sure the contractions do in fact stop...how do you do that anyways? Bed rest with four little kids, in the middle of daily violin and choir camps, with scouts and youth temple trips this week, and preparing for a niece's upcoming wedding this weekend where I am supposed to be in charge of getting and preparing the fruit and veggies for the reception? Where does the bed rest come into play?

My plan is to make a concerted effort to actually be on bed rest for a few days in the hopes that I can be up and around in time for the wedding this weekend. On the way home from the hospital I stopped and got eggs, ground beef, bread, and some fruits so that Teagan can prepare the meals for a few days and have some on hand snacks for the kids. If they can stay calm for a few days and look after each other, then I can (maybe) stay still for a few days and calm everything down.

I think this is all Owen's doing...in a round-about way. A week and a half ago the kids all got in big trouble and I punished them by taking away monitors for the rest of June. It was harsh, but it was a fitting punishment. Since then, there has been a lot of outside play time and book reading around our house ~ it's been a beautiful thing! A few days ago Owen decided he was done with this punishment and, after realizing that no amount of begging or finagling with me was going to change my verdict, he took it to a higher authority. Every prayer has included something like, "And please let us get television back soon, before the end of the month." I'm thinking it was the unshakable faith of a 6-year-old that inadvertently put me on bed rest, making it so that turning the TV on was a viable option to keep little ones still occasionally!

Kefir-staches

We are part of a wonderful home school group. For the most part, they are uber health conscious and know tons and tons about the best foods and cuisine and all things health food related. We, as a family, however, are not uber health conscious... I think we would fall more along the 'Yeah-we-think-it's-a-great-thing-to-be-doing-but-can't-afford-the-time-or-cost-at-this-point-in-life' level of health. We eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies, but don't go much farther than that. But this weekend we tried to hop into (what seemed like a simple part of healthy living) the world of making and drinking our own kefir.

Kefir is supposed to be a super food that helps in enormous ways. It is like super yogurt, except that it isn't yogurt. It has all sorts of healthy bacteria and yeasts and all sorts of living organisms that your gut needs. It can help with allergies, inflammatory issues, high blood pressure, cholesterol issues, warding off tumors and cancer, colitis, and the list goes on and on and on!

We got some kefir babies from a friend and brought them home to start our own little kefir garden. Today was our first day trying out a kefir mango smoothie...we were excited and nervous at the same time!Emmy decided he didn't like it too much. The kefir has a bit of a sour/tangy flavor, and our mango added some extra sourness. He passed his cup on to the next willing person.
The other kids thought it was a little bitter, but they drank their whole cups full. Garrett and Owen did add some extra sugar into their smoothies, though! I am hoping that I did it right and that I was actually giving us the kefir milk and not just soured milk that had been on the counter for the past day! I guess we will see if we all get tummy aches in a few hours or not! My fingers are crossed!

****UPDATE**** no one got belly aches from our first batch of kefir, and for our second batch I added sweetened condensed milk and peaches and the smoothie tasted a lot like those little Mexican yogurt drinks you can buy at the store... yummy stuff!

We're all quite alive!

Did you know that when you are deep cleaning your oven/range, and you have taken the range top off to get into those really tough to reach corners, and you have taken the knobs off from the front to bleach them clean, that the wires leading to the knobs are still highly alive even though you think they aren't because they are turned 'off'? So, under those circumstances, if you happen to grab the front of the oven in attempt to pull it away from the wall so you can deep clean behind it, you will inadvertently zap yourself with 220 volts of electricity. These are things that I didn't know.... until yesterday. Scott was smart enough to know about it, but he was out of the room when I was trying to be super woman and move the oven myself. The current arched from one hand, through my chest, to the other hand and grounded out through my right leg into the ground. Normally I wear shoes almost 24/7; but not yesterday. (Of all the days to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen!) It isn't a cool thing to do, and it really doesn't feel good, so I highly advise against it.

Things could have been much worse, but my side effects from my attempted electrocution were very minor compared to what they could have been. No burns, no heart stopping, no memory loss, no deaths. Among other things, my muscles went into tight contractions (including the one surrounding my little man, which he hasn't liked too much), my chest was a bit tight for a few hours, I had muscle twitches all day and all night, I feel like the majority of my muscles are charlie horsing around, and my hair frizzed up a bit. My usually straight as a board hair has had body and fullness like it hasn't had since I was a little girl in the eighties and my sister used to tease it into a tangled oblivion. We were worried about what side effect our little man felt from having an electric current run through his water balloon of a home, but we checked his heart beat with our stethoscope and I made sure he kept moving all day long, and he seems to be okay...acting normally. He had a day filled with contractions, which probably annoyed him (because it sure annoyed me!). But the contractions were a mixed blessing because as soon as one ended he would wiggle and try to get comfy again, so I kept having constant reminders that he was still okay in there.

Then my mom reminded me of a movie from 15 years ago and the possible side effects of being electrically zapped while in utero....does the title Powder ring a bell?We have another 10 weeks to go to see if we get a super baby who is whiter than Garrett instead of tan like the other kids! (I may joke, but I really am overly grateful that everything is okay! Heavenly Father was watching over us yesterday.)

It's been that kind of a weekend

I love long weekends. Maybe I should clarify that. I love long, relaxing weekends... the one's where Scott has Friday and Monday off and the family gets to play together all weekend long. The kind that you would imagine Memorial Day Weekend should be like. Camping. Fishing. Hiking. Going to the movie perhaps. Taking the kids to walk through a cemetery to commemorate those who valiantly died defending our country and others.

Sadly, none of that happened this weekend.

We were in the service of others all weekend, and we did get to spend it with extended family, so it wasn't all a bust. But working until 5 in the morning and waking at 8, and traveling, traveling, traveling seems to have taken it's toll on us. We are all worn out! But, in a good way.
I think Emmy displays our exhaustion best...he found that wherever you are is a fine place to crash.
You know it's bad when the baby is sleeping standing up and the older kids are asking to go back to school.