A Crazy Friday Night

The kids and Ben are in the back yard right now in the tent. I was just out there playing shadow puppets with them. I think it's gonna be a long night for Ben. They're a little wound up.

We usually like to camp in the wilderness, but Ben had a CE class today, and Haley had to be at a YW sleepover, so that didn't leave us time to get to the mountains. But we are going fishing tomorrow, so we thought it would be "fun" to sleep in the tent. Well, it will be "fun" for them -- I'll be in my bed! Someone has to be inside for the baby, right?

Speaking of the baby, we just got back from his very first trip to the ER. That leaves only Grace that hasn't been there yet. Joey's been two or three times. Story of my life. Anyway, he had pulled himself up on a chair to try to get on the trampoline, and he pulled his elbow out of socket. I thought it was his shoulder, because he was crying and his arm was limp at his side -- he couldn't use it at all, and it was very painful for him. It was still out right up until the time we actually got called in to be seen at the hospital. Then he must have twisted it back himself, because he started using it and then he was fine. The doctors probably think I'm nuts. Just another crazy person coming in on a Friday night. At least I have witnesses -- both my mom and Eric saw him with the limp arm.

Well, it's shaping up to be a fun weekend! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings...

Good Thing for Plumbing

We've all been bent over the porcelain king this week. Even I got sick this time, and it was not fun. It's been forever since I actually caught one of the stomach flu's my kids have had. It was a good reminder of how awful it is. I never want to do that again. It started with Andrew last Friday, then Joey Saturday night, then Haley was at her friend's house Monday night and got it, then the baby threw up at Jill's house on Wednesday and I had it all night Wednesday. Ben and Grace seemed to have missed the throwing up part. Anyway, I'm glad it's over. I hope it's over.

Here's some of our pre-flu fun. Ben and I figured out (finally) how to make good sushi. Our first role fell apart, but after that we got the hang of it. It tasted down right professional! I'm just glad no one was sick when we made this:

We also had some fun at one of the spray parks here. We had our fill of the one closer to our house, so we went way up to the heights to play at this one. My camera is still broken, so it will only take a few shots, and most of them are out of focus. It got pretty crowded, so we were only there for awhile. But we had fun and will probably go back when we're all better.

Yesterday, our neighbor was mowing the lawn and asked Andrew to catch him some grasshoppers for his fishing trip today. All the kids got in on it and they caught about 10 grasshoppers (for which they were payed generously by the neighbor). Andrew caught one to keep and made a little home for it in an old salsa jar. The grasshopper started jumping around in there, and Andrew showed Dad. Dad said that grasshoppers are used to wide open spaces and they like to jump. Andrew thought about that for a few moments, then disappeared with his new friend. When he came back downstairs, his grasshopper was gone. We asked what he had done with his new friend, and he said, "I let him go because I felt sorry for him. He's used to wide open spaces." What a sweetheart! He just couldn't bare to see that little thing suffer in an enclosure. He's such a good boy.

The Union

It's official. I knew it would be happening sooner or later. Our kids have organized themselves. I've seen the signs. The one-at-a-time-questions-so-mom-can-get-no-peace days. The waking up one at a time, and as soon as one goes to sleep, another wakes up game. The sending of the union representative to ask for more rights and privileges. The work stoppages. The contract negotiations. The grievances.

Why, just the other day, Joey came to me (I'll refer to Ben and I as "Management" from now on, and the kids as "the Union") with a very serious grievance. We were leaving Grandma Jane's house after playing with the Utah cousins, and with hands on hips, he said, "Mom! You are ruining my life! You are taking all the fun out!" I told him to have his Union Rep file a formal written grievance and hand it in to top management (Ben). I'll get back to him in a couple of months. We'll go through the mediation process, and I'm hoping it won't result in a strike.

I will keep you informed of all future Union/Management issues.

Picnics and All That Good Stuff

Last week we had some family come over for a picnic. The kids enjoyed my new garage sale find. This Little Tykes picnic table was $10 at a garage sale, in perfect shape! I was going to give it away, but we decided to keep it. It's the perfect size for the little ones. Sometimes you can hit it big at garage sales.

Anyway, we have had a great time with Ben's East Coast family. And the kids always enjoy the cousins, of course.

The week ended on Saturday with a call for Ben and I to meet a counselor in the Stake Presidency before church on Sunday. I had that sinking feeling, and realized that the "big calling" I had felt coming on was Ben's, not mine. Sure enough, he was sustained as a counselor in our bishopric on Sunday. So far it hasn't been too bad, only two nights this week he's been gone. That's not much different than usual.

Here's some pictures of the fun we had this week. We went to Lake Elmo today and got good and dirty, but our camera is broken and Haley's wasn't charged. I'll try to do better!

Painting our beautiful pottery with Lindsey's kids:

It's been a fun week. Hope next week is just as good!

Family Pictures

We took family pictures yesterday. There weren't any where all of us were looking at the camera and smiling at the same time, but at least they show our personality, right? Here's all of us:

My girls:

My boys:

Me and the girls:

Dad and the boys:

I can't say it was painless, but it was worth it!

Yellowstone Park Pictures

Last weekend we went to Yellowstone National Park. Lindsey and her family were coming north for a visit and decided to take a couple of days in the park, so we decided to join them. It was a great weekend, although next time I think I'll go during the week. It was very crowded, and people are weird. There was a three mile backup because people got out of their car to take a picture of an eagle's nest. I don't know if it's because we live here and we've seen lots of eagles nests, or because people are just weird, but causing a three mile bumper to bumper backup to take a picture of an eagle's nest seems weird to me. But, who knows, maybe I'm the weird one.

I am so happy to live in this beautiful part of the country, though. I love looking out our door and seeing beauty all around us. And not to far away is - I think - the most beautiful scenery in the world (I might be biased, but that's okay). I spent a lot of time in the Beartooths as a kid, and I will forever love it. I always tell Ben that it's my "happy place". When I was in labor, or sometimes when I'm trying to get to sleep, I imagine the old dude ranch. I can walk around it in my mind, and remember every nook and cranny, every rock and tree. It was good to go to that country again, and breathe in the fresh air.

Anyway, enough of my reminiscing. Here are some pictures of our adventure. The kids did remarkably well in the car for so long. Joey kept saying, "When are we gonna get out of this place!" And when we got home that night before family prayer, Ben had everybody say what their favorite part was. Mine and Grace's was the mountains, Haley's was the bear, Andrew's was the wolf place in West Yellowstone, and Joey's favorite thing was "coming back home". What am I going to do with that kid? I had to throw in this picture of Joey's fat lip. He's always got some sort of boo boo on his face. We're having their pictures taken later this week, so hopefully it will heal in time.

We stopped in Bozeman to let our butts feel better. We went to their Children's Museum and played for an hour before hitting the road again. Haley sucked it up and breathed Bozeman air, even though she's a major Griz fan. Thanks, Haley, for being understanding. We'll make a trip to Missoula soon.

The first thing we did in W Yellowstone was eat, and the second thing was swimming at the hotel. Zach didn't like it in his floaty.

Matt loved splashing and splashing and splashing.

The boys had a great time, and were so glad to finally be with Brenlee again.

The girls hung out in the pool. Grace finally learned how to keep her head out of the water with the life jacket on.

The wildflowers were plentiful in the park this year. They made the meadows and grass so pretty. The fairies must have been busy!

This is one of the first places we stopped, Firehole Falls. This isn't the actual waterfall - it was up the canyon a bit more, but it was really pretty. The kids were yelling at dad not to drive off the cliff. Those little monsters have no faith in their daddy's driving skills!

This was a geyser spring. The water was a beautiful blue, but we didn't get any pictures of that because Grace was disturbing the peace with her screaming fit. She wanted to push Matt's stroller, but I wanted him to live.

This was a picture on our way to Cooke City. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was absolutely beautiful. I couldn't get a great picture from the window, so I stuck Haley's camera out the window going 55 mph, and took this picture. I thought she might have pooped her pants a little, but I don't know what the big deal was. I had it wrapped around my wrist. And I didn't even drop it. We would have gone back to pick it up if I did, anyway.

This is Old Faithful. It was poring rain, so we took shelter under some trees because I wasn't smart enough to bring jackets or umbrellas.

This is what we all looked like after our sprint to the car, which, of course, was parked in the very farthest spot in the very farthest parking lot. The poor baby was drowning in the rain, but we all thought it was a pretty funny adventure to get soaked. It felt good after the hot morning.

This was one of Andrew's favorite spots. It was the first geyser "distraction" we stopped at. (After the eagle's nest incident, where Ben kept saying, 'I wonder what the attraction is up here', Andrew started calling all the attractions "distractions".) This was an inactive geyser, and it made a hissing sound. Andrew thought it was evil. Could be, I'm not sure. Maybe there's a hissing monster that lives down there.

This was a picture of Firehole Falls. The kids didn't want to get closer to the edge than this. Probably because I lectured them on staying close to us because of all the dangerous boiling water. Then all I heard from Joey was, "I don't want to fall into the volcano!" He kept "spotting" volcanoes everywhere we went.

This was our second geyser. It splashed us a little bit.

This is the brink of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone. Ben took the girls and Andrew while I stayed in the car with Joey and Matthew. Joey was just wanting to "get the heck out of this place and go home already." It was the end of the day. He had done great until then.

Here's the boys at one of the distractions. They always have a great time together.

We're looking forward to the rest of the week with the cousins! Goodbye Yellowstone, we'll miss ya!

Something I Just Overheard...

Sometimes I think I should just wear earplugs. People always wonder how mothers have eyes in the back of their heads. We don't. It's just that mothers have a unique ability to identify sounds and their meanings. Like in our house, splashing usually means the baby is playing in the toilet. A plopping sound means he's just dumped the shampoo bottle into the toilet. A ripping sound means he's inserting as much toilet paper as possible into the toilet. A smearing sound means that someone is wiping a booger on the window.

I am working on the computer, and I just overheard the boys. This will be the gem of the day:

"Get your face out of my butt!"
(followed by giggles)

Joey and Grace, aka "Ding and Dong"

I can't figure this kid out. He's four years old, and I still have no idea what's going to come out of that kid's mouth. The other day, he tried to get my mom to give him some crackers. She said he could take some in the car with him because he was just about to leave. He said, "How about if I snap my fingers like this (snap), and then you get me some crackers?" Sheesh!

Then last night, I bought the dog some new balls. She hid her other ones and we can't find them. Joey decided to throw one over to the neighbor's yard. The neighbor was outside, so Joey climbs onto the deck and yells,
"Hey, Mr. Cory! You throw that ball back over here!"
Mr. Cory: "Why don't you come over and get it yourself?" (Mr. Cory knows how to deal with Joey)
Joey: "Because your wife won't let me come into your house!" (totally not true, although I wouldn't blame her.)

Joey also is upset that he has to feed the dog. As soon as he does, she licks his hand. I told him that's how dogs say "thank you". He said, "That's terrible."

The neighbors on the other side let me know, while laughing hysterically, that they get "updates" from the window from little Gracie. I didn't know my darling little girl was publishing what goes on at our house from my bedroom window. They especially liked it when she told them Matt was eating out of the garbage, and they could hear me screeching in the background about how disgusting it was to eat out of the garbage. I think I'll keep the windows closed from now on.

Rant (Sorry)

I realized the other day that all of our kids can walk! Pretty soon all of them will be doing their business in the toilet, we'll have no more cribs (first time in 8 years!), we have no infant car seats, someday we'll have no diaper bag! Can you imagine? Boy, life will be easy then. Yeah right. That's about the time I become the full time chauffeur, right? I'm only a part time chauffeur now. Always dragging the little ones to the big one's stuff, or vise versa. But I did look at the little fingerprints on the window and the little tiny shoes scattered by the front door, and got a little sad because I know they won't be there soon. Boy, time is going fast....

And here begins the rant:
I don't know if I told you this, but I found a preschool for Joey! My friend from church, Kim, works there. I'm feeling pretty comfortable about sending him. She knows all about his allergies and their severity. We went to other schools, to take little tours, and I would always talk with the teachers about it. I was always met with this response, "Oh, it's no big deal. We've had other kids with allergies, and for snack time we just have them sit at their own table." Excuse me?! It's "no big deal"!? Are you insane? One molecule of nut in this boy's mouth, or on his hands, and he dies. It's no big deal? And you'll separate him from the other kids and make him sit in solitude for something that's not his fault? No thanks.

So I'm really excited about this preschool. I was sitting at a play area at the mall a few weeks ago and ran into another mother that took her twins there. We got to talking and discovered that our boys had the same allergies, and have had the same background with doctors not knowing what was wrong with our babies, and not believing us when we suggested what the problem was. And her kids went to the same school! I think it's meant to be. The school is proactive in keeping him safe, and ask all the parents to avoid bringing anything with nuts there. Ahh, finally, some common sense.

I've always been afraid of the way other parent's will react to not being able to bring nuts. But really, how big of a sacrifice is it -- to (heaven forbid) not have our kids eat something? Is it really that much of a sacrifice to have the peanut butter sandwich as an after-school snack instead of endangering a little boy's life? Should we not teach our children respect, restraint, and sympathy toward other people and their life's situations? Maybe we should get rid of all the handicapped parking spaces. After all, how dare they ask us to park 10 feet farther away from the front door? How dare someone ask us to refrain from eating whatever we darn well please! We are Americans! We should be able to eat anything, all day long!!!

Okay, I'm better now. Thanks for listening.

Camping Trip

We had an awesome time camping this past weekend. I wasn't sure how well it would go, but all four of our potty-trained kids came. That's our rule for camping -- you can go as long as you're potty trained. I have enough to do while in the mountains, I'm not going to change diapers too!

We got our favorite camping spot, complete with a stone fort somebody took a lot of time to make. The boys loved it! They also loved peeing in the woods. I think that might have been they're favorite part. There were outhouses available, but they preferred the really old-fashioned way.

We had great weather, no rain, wasn't too cold or too hot. We didn't catch any fish, but oh well. We left 2 1/2 hours after we had planned to go, and had to come back 2 hours earlier than planned because we had to get Joey to the doctor to see if he needed stitches. But we're looking forward to our next trip already! This is Joey fishing all by himself. I couldn't believe how well he could cast.

And here's the eye. It looked much worse the night before, when it was a big gaping gusher. He has a nice shiner on his eyelid. He was pretty tough about the whole thing. He got a little too close to the water pump while Andrew was pumping water. He got the metal arm right in the eye.

Haley had her first fire-starting lesson. My husband is an expert at fire. It was good to see him passing his knowledge of destruction to the next generation.

Here's a group pic, minus the photographer, of course. We had a great time at dinner, contrary to Grace's expression. Dad made his world famous hamburger, onion, potato, and carrot foil dinners. They were yummy!

The girls had a great time bonding in the great outdoors. Grace ate more than I have ever seen her eat in my entire life. Ben and I were making bets on who would be the first to vomit, and all bets were on her. We made it through the trip with no pukers!

The lake had this really cute walking bridge that you could fish off of. The kids liked fishing there, and Grace spent a lot of time squirting water into the lake "for the fishes". I'm glad I brought that squirt bottle.

Daddy, the fisherman. I'm glad he knows what he's doing, because I don't.

Andrew really enjoyed his smores. It was a great trip, although a lot of work for the adults, but we can't wait to go again! Thanks, grandma Jane for babysitting the baby!