Summer Vacation Part III (Days 10-14)

Day 10 (July 9th)

Lake Day. Stephanie had told me about Lake Yosemite many times in our previous visits and I'm sure we talked about going once or twice but never made it there. We finally decided to check it out. I am so glad we did. This is the perfect hang out spot! They have boating, fishing, a scout camp, playgrounds, camp grounds, a beach, and many places for picnics and barbecues. This quickly became a favorite spot of mine for future visits. The beach is small with lifeguards and a swim area roped off with water that is only about 4-5 feet deep. Perfect! The boys waded in up to their necks but there was no surf to knock them over. Charley was in the water the entire time. Ben was happy to play in the shallows next to Nana and I while we sat in the sun. After a few hours of this he was ready for a nap in the shade. This was a great day! We decided to bring Ron and Papa back at the end of the week and allow Joseph and Sam to try fishing. On the way home we picked up some KFC for dinner. The kids ate every bite of their dinner and went happily to bed and slept the entire night.

Day 11 (July 10th)

Movie Day! Nana and I took the kids to see Disney's Ratatouille. I was surprised at how long this movie was. I didn't see all of the movie as I was taking kids to the bathroom for many parts of it. Ben was done about halfway through so I ended up having to ask Stephanie how it ended. The kids seemed to like it for the most part so that was good. In the afternoon the kids played outside on the slip-n-slide. Water had to be involved somewhere.

Day 12 (July 11th)

Stephanie and I braved Boomers and miniature golf with the kids. Stephanie started out with a hole in one of the first hole. Joseph got his on the Windmill hole. He was so excited. Sam was a little dangerous with the golf club. I was sure he was going to break one of the lights or wallop one of us with his club. He did not want any pointers on how to stand or how to hold the club! After this we gave the kids a few tokens to play some games and pick out prizes with their tickets. Once we finally pried them out of the place we headed over to Aunt Karen's for another dip in the pool. The kids love going there and Porter and Stephanie ventured in to give me a hand with the kids.

Day 13 (July 12th)

Beach Day! We all hopped in the car and drove over to Aunt Deborah's house on this day. On the way in we picked up some sandwiches at TOGO's. After changing the kids into their bathing suits we packed them back into the car and headed for Santa Cruz. We found a nice spot next to the life guard tower and set down our blankets and towels. The boys still need to learn the rules about beach etiquette. I am sad the kids don't get more beach days, this is something I grew up doing every summer. Charley never came up to the blanket once, she was again in the water the entire time. Ben and Sam mostly played next to me in the sand, however Joseph and Sam both enjoyed chasing the waves. After having our fill of the beach we drove over to the boardwalk for dinner and carnival rides. The kids loved the ferris wheel and Charley liked playing babysitter to cousin Jacob and taking him on the rides. She did a great job holding on to him on a ride that neither Deborah nor I realized was a little too fast for such a young guy. Ben really enjoyed the horses on the ferris wheel. On the way home that night we put on a movie in the car thinking they would be fast asleep. We were wrong again. They didn't fall asleep until we were about 1/2 hour from home. It was on the drive home that I realized I had forgotten to put sunscreen on my legs. I would pay the price the next day. Ronny flew back in that night and we were happy he was back.

Day 14 (July 13th)

That morning I woke up in quite a bit of pain. I have had bad sunburns in the past but never have I had so much pain in my legs than I did this morning. For some reason the sunburn caused my legs to swell and it was difficult for me to stand in one place without having significant pain. Nana was kind enough to watch all the kids while Ronny and I went to see the latest Harry Potter movie. After the movie we headed over to Walmart to look for a fishing pole. We found "Cars" fishing poles for the boys, not to mention weights and hooks, and fishing licenses for the big boys. Then we headed to In N Out for some lunch, YUM! After we showed the boys their poles they headed outside to see what kind of trouble they could get into while we prepared to go back to the lake. We loaded up the van and headed out along with Papa. Nana made a run to the store on the way there. We arrived expecting for the lake to be crowded but much to our surprise it wasn't at all. We found the spot we had that Monday and a table nearby. Stephanie arrived with all the fixins for sandwiches. The boys headed off to do some fishing. They soon discovered it was not safe for Sam to have a hook on the end of his. No fish were caught but they had a great time! That night we visited the book store and grocery store for our trip home the next day.

Day 15 (July 14th)
Driving home. We slept in a little late this morning but the sleep was needed after so much fun that week. The kids went on one last hunt for fruit with Papa before loading up in the car for our trip home. The kids did well on the drive and we arrived around 8 p.m. that evening. We felt a little bad as it was technically bedtime when we arrived so we let them play outside while we unloaded the car. We had so much fun on our trip. Sam continues to ask if we can go back to Nana's today. If only it were that easy. My next step is to make a slide show of all the pictures that didn't make in on the blog. Hopefully I will get that done sometime this week.

Summer Vacation Part II (Days 5-9)

DAY 5 (July 4th)

This was a day worthy of a large photo! Everyone pictured here stayed at the house during the holiday plus one, Ben was asleep in the house. We all woke in the morning and helped prepare a feast for breakfast as Ron and Stephanie hosted the first annual 4th of July breakfast for all friends and family nearby. At the end of the day we figured about 100 people came through. The kids had a great time exploring the farm, chasing chickens, throwing water balloons, and jumping in the giant bounce house Stephanie rented. The day ended with the great fireworks display at Cal State Stanislaus, after which all the kids headed for bed as they were exhausted! Oh by the way, did I mention it was 107 that day, toasty!!! Picture: top row from left (Uncle Eric, Nana, Papa, Anjanette, Ronny, Joseph, Leia, Jon) second row: (Deborah, Jacob, Hannah, Ruby Buttercup, Phontaine, Superstar 5 Jemimah, Jacob, Ben, Kirsten, Kate) third row: (Denise, Sam, Teah, Trixie Petunia Pineapple, Caleb, Charley, Ian) Not pictured Baby Ben and no I did not exaggerate the names.

DAY 6 (July 5th)

July 5th was clean-up and leave day after all the festivities. Ronny and Jon left early in the morning to fly back to school. Ronny is teaching a class this summer that he needed to get back for. Ben and Kirsten stuck around long enough for Ben to take the kids outside and have a quick game of baseball before the temperature topped 100. The kids were sad to see them go, they kept asking when Ian and Jacob were coming back. Uncle James would arrive that not so they considered it a fair trade! The kids of course played in the water all afternoon and took naps to recover from the previous day.

DAY 7 (July 6th)

The kids were happy to wake up Uncle James and start the day. The kids played outside while James cleaned out the cabin. That afternoon we went for another dip in the pool at Aunt Karen's. The older kids had great fun jumping to James and swimming. Ben thought the floaty was overrated and wanted out. After I took him out he wanted to jump in like the older kids. He has not yet acquired his fear of the water. After the swim the kids enjoyed a treat from the orchard. What could be better than a swim and fresh fruit from the tree?

DAY 8 (July 7th)

This day started off with shopping trips. Sam and Charley went to Home Depot, Borders, and McDonald's with Papa. They had a great time and Papa even said they behaved which is saying something for Sam. Joseph and Ben went to the mall with Nana, Anjanette, and I. We had fun picking out new t-shirts for Joseph and pajamas for everyone. That morning Papa taught Joseph that boys "take a leak" and girls go potty, thank you Papa. Later that afternoon James, Anjanette, and Nana took the three older kids to a Stockton Ports baseball game. The kids had a great time, Joseph especially. James had an interesting time taking the boys to the bathroom. They all came home happy and tired!

Day 9 (July 9th)

Today was Sunday. Sam had a tough time in Primary so we came home after Sunday School. It turned out so did everyone else so we were in good company. Charley spent to afternoon reading Calvin and Hobbs while the boys played. Jared and Ashley came over for dinner. We sang Happy Birthday to Uncle James and then Stephanie took Ashley, James and Anjanette to the airport. After leaving Joseph called Ronny and said, "Dad something very sad just happened, James and Anjanette just left!" The kids were very sad to have to say goodbye.

Summer Vacation 2007 Part 1 (Days 1 - 4)

DAY ONE
Our summer vacation started with the drive down to very sunny California on June 30th. The kids were so excited to go they couldn't sleep that night so instead of waiting to leave at 6:00 a.m. we left at 4:00 a.m. The kids traveled great. Ben was ready to get out of his seat around noon so we stopped for lunch. Then back in the car we went and arrived just before 3:00 pm. The kids were happy to get out of the car and play, play, play. Joseph quickly found Papa and the two of them headed into the orchard for the first pick of fruit of the trip. Thankfully a few of our favorite pluots were left to be shared amongst all of us. That night we went to the Ward barbecue at the park. The kids had great fun playing on the equipment and running in Nana's obstacle course. Unfortunately I ate a piece of chicken that must not have been cooked all the way and spent the rest of that night in the bathroom.

DAY TWO
This was Sunday July 1st. Ronny took the three oldest kids to church with Nana and Papa. Ben and I hung out at home while I was still getting over the food poisoning. Ronny came home to report that Sam slept through most of church and never made it to Primary. That night we went to the Barbara and Jared's for dinner. Sis. Payne and one of her sons were there as well. The kids had fun playing with Allie and learning all about video games.

DAY THREE
This is the only day I don't remember well. I know Stephanie and Denise went to Costco to load up on supplies for the breakfast on the 4th. I think the kids pretty much enjoyed playing with all the toys, having water fights, and watching movies. I think I don't remember much because the kids were content all day as seen in the picture. All 4 on the couch not fighting, Amazing! That night we had a wonderful steak and salmon dinner. I remember this part because Ronny spent the rest of this night in the bathroom as he had come down with the flu, something I had been blessed with the week before we headed down.

DAY FOUR
Today was Tuesday July 3rd, the day of the big party at Karen's and the day of arrivals for our friends. Ronny spent most of the day in bed. The kids of course were in the water outside most of the day. In the afternoon we left for the swim party at Karen's. My hands were full with all the kids so I had to borrow photos of the day from others. The kids had a great time swimming and playing with Porter. We left a little early as Mom was tired and we had some friends waiting for us back at Nana's . This year we invited two of Ronny's old college roommates, (Ben Morgan and Phontaine) and their families up from Southern California. Between the three of our families there were 12 kids with Charley being the oldest. That night the only way we could get the kids to calm down was putting on a movie in the Living Room and letting them fall asleep. The adults had stayed up way too late catching up. Jon also arrived this night much to the surprise of Nana! Great Times!!!

Chewing Gum

So, I called Sam and Joseph in from outside around 8:30 tonight because it was time to start getting ready for bed. I came around the corner, and they were smiling they wry little smiles and I knew that something was up. I could see that they were chewing something, and I asked them what they were eating.

No answer.

Again, I asked and again no answer.

The third time, Sam gave himself up. "We've got gum", he said proudly. My children know that I confiscate any gum that comes in the house, and this was obviously the reason that they were being sneaky. Now, I'm not fundamentally opposed to gum, but in the hands of a five-year-old and a three-year-old, gum becomes a problem. Instead of getting mad, I decided to teach them correct principles.

"Now, there's nothing wrong with chewing gum, but it needs to stay in your mouth," I taught. "When you take the gum out of your mouth, it gets on things it shouldn't be on and it makes a big mess. If you take the gum out of your mouths, I'll take it away."

They had been properly taught, and now I just needed to know which of the other children on the playground had given them the gum so I could keep a watchful eye the next time I was out there.

"Who gave you the gum?" I asked Joseph.

"Sam" he replied.

"Where did you get the gum, Sam?"

"From the sidewalk."

and then I took the gum away.

Another Trip to the ER

Joseph had the fortune of making another appearance at the Emergency Room today. The kids were having a pillow fight while Ronny and I were making dinner. In all the excitement Sam picked up one of the Thomas the Train towers and clocked Joseph right between the eyes. It left a deep enough slice that we thought he should be checked out. Five minutes after arriving a 16 year old boy walked in with a similar cut on his nose, he however fell out of a tree to earn his scar. 30 minutes later Joseph and the other kid both had their faces super-glued back together.

While waiting to fill out paper work Joseph's nurse took him outside to watch the helicopter landing and then gave him a Teddy Bear to keep. While waiting for the numbing gel to work we watched the Beavers play for the National Championship once again. We came home just in time to see them win. Joseph has decided to name his bear "Darwin" after the Beavers short stop. Joseph was kind enough to share his stickers with his siblings and is doing well. He has even forgiven Sam although he likes to remind him about the trip to the hospital every chance he gets. And we thought it was just going to be a quiet Sunday afternoon.

Earlier this week I came down with the flu. Ronny of course had a big conference this week so he wasn't home much. However I was grateful to at least have him in town. The kids are happy he is home for bed time. They have informed me he tells better scripture stories. I am happy he is home to tell them. Ahh, what a day to end quite a week!

New bikes and Strawbetty Jam

Last week we noticed Charley and Joseph were getting way too big for their bikes. So we started the hunt for a new bike. New bikes Charley's size are way out of our price range at the moment so we started the hunt for a used one. We found this bike on Craigslist for $6. It has definitely seen better days but it works just fine and Charley is so excited.

Joseph now inherits Charley's old bike. He is also very excited to have a bigger bike to ride. He and Charley are both getting used to hopping on a taller bike but once their on, they take off. Joseph's was concerned (and rightfully so) that this new bike to him is too girlish. It will get a fresh coat of blue spray paint this weekend to make it a boys bike. He can't wait!

Yesterday morning I went with a friend to pick strawberries. In an hours time I picked a total of 12 pounds. I didn't realize how much this was until I started making jam that afternoon. After 8 batches I have come to the end. When we get back from California I will do raspberry jam and then hopefully we will be done for the year at least until its time to make blackberry syrup in August. I love summer fruit and berries!

Father's Day

Father's Day was an interesting day for us. The kids and I made cards for Ronny Saturday night while he was at graduation. Sunday morning we woke up early and the kids and I made him blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs to take to him in bed. They brought along their cards for him to open. What I didn't realize was that they were buttering him up to see how much trouble the 4 of them could get into throughout the day. Here's how the day played out:

1. Sam threw his typical Sunday morning temper tantrum about wearing his Thomas shirt to church.
2. Charley left all of her art supplies scattered all over her bedroom floor after making Ronny's card.
3. Sam discovered the art supplies and dumped out two bottles of glitter on the carpet.
4. Sam opened the black stamp pad and stamped his feet and then walked all over the carpet.
5. While searching for the stamp pad Mom finds a basket of clean clothes Charley has told her she put away mixed with dirty ones.
6. Ben thought it was amusing to throw his lasagna on the wall at dinner time as every time he did so his siblings would burst into laughter.
7. Joseph yells "Damn It" on Aunt Deborah's answering machine after singing Happy Birthday.

Needless to say they all went to bed early last night. I should point out that Ronny did get a two hour nap in after church. Unfortunately he woke up to Mom discovering the black ink footprints in the house. I probably woke the neighbors up if they were having a nap as well. Here's to hoping your Father's Day was a bit more subdued.

Sam rides his bike!

Monday the kids and I went outside to play before it rained. I noticed that Sam was still struggling to ride his bike. That was it! Today is the day he was going to learn to ride his bike. I put Ben down to toddle around the lawn, Joseph was playing at the playground so I thought this would be a good time. Sam and I worked on peddling for about an hour and finally he made it around the quad on his own a couple of times. At that point my allergies were so bad I couldn't stand it any longer so we went back inside.

Yesterday Sam, his friend Jackson, another friend Mason, Ben, and I went on a walk to the dollar store. Sam rode his bike all the way there and halfway home before deciding he was too tired to continue. It was quite the adventure taking 4 little boys for such a long walk but they did great! I was so proud of Sam he did such a good job. That afternoon Sam woke up from a nap and begged to go outside to ride his bike. We have passed another milestone.

Fathers and Sons

The Aaronic Priesthood Commemoration campout was this last Friday and Saturday. I spent the entire time running from one place to another (after one person or another), so there are very few photos to document the event.

Here's one of Joseph on Friday night and one of Sam and Ben sleeping on Saturday morning (good time for pictures).

Ben is in my sleeping bag - very comfortable. Sam is in one of three identical sleeping bags that we got for the kids for Christmas 2005. You can't see it in this picture, but I was able to fit four double-sized air mattresses into our (10 man) tent. It was nice.

We had another family in the tent with us. Jared Stenson and his two boys, Rees and Luke liked the accommodations. I parked the van right next to the tent, so that the sliding side door opened right up to the back entrance of the tent. I put my laptop onto the floor of the van and we watched Return of the Jedi. I have an FM transmitter that plugs into the headphone jack, and we were able to transmit the movie sound right into the tent through some flashlight/radios that Denise and I got at Costco. It's not often that "camping" and "surround-sound" go hand in hand, but it worked great for us.

All in all we had a great time. Joseph is old enough to understand that he needs to be responsible, but not quite old enough to be responsible. Case in point: I instructed him that his most important job was to stay close to Sam while I pitched the tent. They ran off with the other boys, and a few minutes later, back comes Joseph, alone. He reported to me that he was doing a good job staying next to Sam. He just wanted to let me know. "Where's Sam?", I asked. "He's by the pond." was the response. This wasn't the one I was looking for, as my only other instruction was "Don't go by the water until I come with you." Did I mention that Joseph was already muddy up to his knees?

This year was a blast. Next year will be easier.

Memorial Day

Monday was Memorial Day. To most of Americans this is a Federal Holiday. Holiday to my husband is a subjective term. If he can physically get into his office its not a holiday. However he chose to spend the morning with us and only worked half a day. For this we were grateful.

Early that morning Sam woke up and decided his losing his baseball glove was too traumatic to endure and pleaded with Ronny to get him another. Ronny of course agreed that his son needed a glove. So he loaded up the boys and had quite the adventure in baseball shopping. Evidence of this would be the glove he bought for Sam, the pink glove his bought for Charley, and the new "T" he brought home to practice on. They spent all morning practicing, hitting off the tee and catching fly balls Ronny would throw to them. They all loved it!

Joseph is becoming quite the baseball slugger at our house. His teachers at school have taken Joseph out and pitched to him during outside time at school. They love to report what a hitter he is. He has belted a few right back at them and hurt one. One of his teacher's asked me if we were going to "pursue his baseball career." I laughed and reminded them he was only 4 and the major leagues wanted him to at least see over the wall of the dugout before signing him. He is now just as obsessed with baseball as he is with Star Wars. Unfortunately he missed the age requirement for t-ball by 11 days. He'll have to wait until next year for that.

Diagnosis

We have good news and bad news. Ronny was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EOE for short). This is a rare allergic condition that causes the esophagus to swell after coming in contact with an allergen. It is treated with Flovent. However instead of inhaling the medication, you swallow it. Ronny will probably do this for the rest of his life in 4 week cycles. He will have another endoscopy in the next couple of months to make sure the treatment is working.

We asked why the doctor didn't pick up on this with his last endoscopy 7 years ago and were told they have only started testing for this condition in the last 2-3 years as this condition is so rare. At the same time due to this condition it is very dangerous to do dilations as your esophagus can very easily be perforated. So he was very lucky to not have had that happen in his first dilation and has been advised to never have another one. Ronny may be referred onto an allergist to find out what is causing the problem but even with the testing we may not ever find out.

So this is all the good news. The bad news is that this is a rare condition but that it is hereditary.
We were also told to watch our children for the same condition. The article they gave us said those who typically have asthma, hay fever, severe allergies, and food allergies may have a higher chance within in the family of having this. (That only includes all of our children so far.)

Ups and Downs

Our Young Women's lesson was on journals today and I committed to write in my journal today. (Oh by the way I was called to be the YW secretary two weeks ago hooray!) I have several journals in different forms but at the moment this is the easiest one to do, so here I am. This has been a week of ups and downs for our family, happily Ronny and I ended on a high so all is well. The kids may have other ideas however.

Joseph started our week off with a bang. On Monday he learned his friend Tyler Gus at school had taken his training wheels off over the weekend. Joseph insisted that Ronny take his off when he came home from work. We were a little hesitant as it had been a while since Joseph had even ridden his bike but we gave in. He climbed up on the bike, Ronny held the back for about five steps and off Joseph went never looking back. That was the end of that and now Joseph is off to the races. We were amazed. I promise to get a picture of this when I can.

Ronny had his endoscopy on Tuesday, that brought about its own set of problems and concerns. We still have not heard from the doctor with the results of the biopsy. Ronny is doing well about taking his medicine at least 1/2 hour before eating, he takes it when Ben gets up for the first time about 5:00 am.

Charley finished her first soccer season on Saturday and was given a trophy by her coach. She is so excited about that. Charley came out in the second half crying when she got kicked. At some point I will just tell her to take a deep breath and play on but I don't think we have reached that time yet. We did have a talk about how things like this happen when we play sports and we just have to learn to deal with them. She agreed and stopped crying. Thats my girl! Ronny has agreed to be her assistant coach next year.

Ronny and I went out on a date last night. We went to see Spider Man 3. Pretty good but way too many story lines going on for one movie. Our babysitters were a little young this time (11 and 12 year old sisters) so we were happy to have two. The kids made them work for their money. Apparently Ben cried most of the time and Joseph and Sam would only go to sleep with Charley laying on the floor after much crying. They survived and were happy to see us when they woke up this morning. It used to upset me and give much guilt when I would here the kids cried while we were out. Now I just apologize to the sitters for having to listen to them and shrug it off. Going out with Ronny is far more important to me know than to worry about the kids crying.

Endoscopy Pictures

Here are the pictures from inside my throat:

I was still very much under the influence of a strong sedative when the pictures were explained to me, so the explanation I give to you is purely speculative. Denise should be able to properly resolve any misinformation.

On the upper right, you can see the narrowing at the bottom of the throat. It looks completely closed to me, but you can be the judge of that.

On the lower right, you can see the ulcers (in white), at least that's what I think they are.

If there is anything interesting about the other two pictures, please feel free to share.

The End of Boy's Week

We did end up going to see Meet the Robinsons yesterday. They only had it in 3-D, so I'm not sure how much Sam got out of it, because he refused to keep his glasses on. Of course, with as much popcorn butter as he ended up getting on them, he could probably see more clearly without the glasses.

Last night, after some frantic cleaning and occasional glances at game 7 of the Jazz/Rockets series, I woke up Sam, and the four boys went to the airport to pick up Charley and Denise.

Boy's Week is officially over, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Boys Week: Day 5

The first Saturday of each month Home Depot has a "Kid's Workshop". We've never done this before, but after I heard about it I knew I would have to make it a part of our Boy's Week activities. I was told that we should get there early, because when they run out of supplies, the workshop is over. The workshop runs from 9am to noon, and we got there just after 9am.

Today the project was an herb garden. One of the Home Depot Helpers was kind enough to snap a picture of all four of us. Either I trust Sam implicitly, or I know that he can't get much power into his swing (I'm holding the nail for him). I had to chase Ben around the store, and Sam was grumpy because he had fallen back asleep this morning after waking up at 6am, and I had to wake him up when we left for the workshop.

Sam didn't want to put on the apron, and he was reluctant to show off his finished project. Joseph had a blast. He loved hammering, and actually did a pretty good job. He has already asked if we can go next time. All in all, it was a fun experience. Maybe we'll try to make this a monthly affair, although next time I think I would prefer to leave Ben behind.













Funny story: We have to go by the movie theater to get to Home Depot. As we passed by, Sam announced the he wanted to go to the "Popcorn Store". Apparently we don't all go for the movies. I told them that if I could get the house clean this morning, that we would be able to got to the popcorn store after lunch. I guess we'll have to see if the boys cooperate. If we go, we'll be seeing Meet the Robinsons.

Boy's Week: Day 4

Today was the day the weather was supposed to clear up for us. Well, we've had light showers off and on, spending as much time in the sun as there was sun to have.

This afternoon, we headed out for some baseball.

Tonight, the Stensons have invited us over for dinner.

Tomorrow, Denise and Charley come home.

Boy's Week: Day 3 (dinner edition)

Tonight for dinner, we had a well-rounded meal (translation: Pizza). Lest you be doubters, I provide scientific evidence:

Grain food group: pizza dough
Dairy food group: Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheeses (we also drank milk)
Fruits and Vegetables: Pineapples and Tomato sauce
Protein food group: Pepperoni



Dinner was followed by various combinations of watching soccer, watching baseball and watching basketball, which was followed by baths and bedtime.

Boy's Week: Day 3

Sam took a really long nap yesterday, so we all watched Episode 6 after dinner (fish sticks). Everyone slept really well through the night, which allowed me to get some needed work done on my project last night.

Working last night left me short on sleep, so I took a nap this morning from 7:30 to 8:30 with Ben. I woke up to a naked Sam running through the house (sorry, no pictures), and Joseph still in pajamas. We got both of them dressed just in time to get Joseph off to school on time.

I printed some Lightning McQueen coloring pages off the computer for Sam to color. Hopefully Ben will take another nap so I can get some more work done before my meeting with my professor at 2pm today.

Boy's Week: Day 2

Last night was rough. Ben woke up at midnight, and then again at 3am. His crying woke Sam up, and I gave in and let them both into my bed. This was a big mistake. Ben was in the middle and kept hitting both Sam and I. After about 15 minutes of this, I put Ben in his crib and closed the door. I put Sam in his bed, and told him Ben was crying so he needed to stay in his bed. Sam went right back to sleep, but Ben cried for a half hour or so until he went back to sleep.

So, we woke up tired this morning at 6:45am. After breakfast and scripture time, the kids had about an hour to watch cartoons while I tried to pay the bills. I came up one stamp short, and so after we dropped Joseph off, we ran some errands.


After we got gas, and returned the movie, we stopped by the local farm supply store to get Denise her Mother's Day present from the kids (mine is the haircut she's getting while in Utah).

Happy Mother's Day, Denise. (They're magnets for the refrigerator)

Then we went to the grocery store. Ben fell asleep on the way. We woke him up and went in to get the stamps, along with other sundry items that we don't seem to have enough of (raisin bran, yogurt, apples, oranges, chocolate cereal, ... etc).

We came home to get lunch for Ben and Sam. After that, we picked up Joseph, and now the kids are once again on my bed watching Mickey's House of Mouse Christmas movie (and hopefully getting tired).

Boy's Week!

Denise and Charley left today to spend a week in Utah with Denise's sisters for BYU Women's Conference, leaving me at home with Joseph, Sam and Ben. And thus Boy's Week begins. As the week goes on, I'll try to keep you updated with the most recent events, and hopefully some enjoyable pictures.

Ben and Sam and I drove Denise and Charley to the airport, and said goodbye (Joseph was at school).

When we got home, we had to get right down to business - LUNCH.

Right now, the boys are watching a movie (Happy Feet), in hopes that they will fall asleep.

First Haircut and "You're a Man!"

I dread giving my kids their first haircut and push it off as long as I can. I guess to me when I cut their hair for the first time I feel like I am relenting and accepting the fact that I don't have my baby anymore, I have to accept they are getting bigger as the soft fuzzy baby hair falls to the floor. It is this reason why none of our children have had their first hair cut until well after their first birthday. So yesterday I gave in... a little. I was trimming Joseph and Sam's hair so after they were done I plopped Ben up on the chair and zipped up the back and around his ears. I am still not willing to cut off all his golden locks up top. I must say though that he was the most behaved of the three boys. He sat perfectly still and jabbered during the entire process. Needless to say it was more traumatic for Mom than it was for him.

Another funny tidbit about Ben is his eating habits. Last night we were eating dinner and Ben started fussing. We couldn't figure out what he wanted. He didn't want milk, he didn't want more peaches or rice or chicken. We got him down from the table assuming he was just done at which point he walked over and climbed up in my lap and lunged for the bowl of brussel sprouts I had just put one the table. He sat on my lap and happily ate his fair share and a few others. His favorite foods, brussel sprouts and broccoli.

Sam and Joseph are right in the middle of the name calling stage of their childhood. It drives Ronny and I crazy although we do get a chuckle out of some of the new things they come up with. Sam's latest insult, "You are a man!!!" This is really funny when Joseph yells back at him and accuses him of the same thing. Uncle Jon comes today. We need to fill him in on some ground rules.

Old Pictures I have been meaning to post.

Look, we finally found our camera cable to download our pictures. Here are a few that we are a bit behind on.




These pictures are of Joseph's most exciting moments as a child thus far. Becoming a Jedi Master and fighting Darth Vader at Disneyland over our Christmas holiday. This was a great day shared with Grandpa and our cousins Anna, Jacob, and baby Nathan.



This is a picture of one of our many snow days this year. Yes, we get snow in Corvallis!











This is Ben's Big Day! Birthday #1 The whole neighborhood came to celebrate with us and have cupcakes.





Ronny showing off his pinewood derby car. Although he didn't win the race he took home the prize for "Smoothest" car. He sanded it with 1500 grit sandpaper to take home this prize.

Easter and Sports

Yesterday was a fun day of sports for our family. Early in the morning the kids got up early as usual and were watching their favorite cartoons. I came down a little later and watched a little of Little Einsteins with the kids. After it was over Joseph stood up and said, "Mom I don't want to watch cartoons anymore, I want to watch baseball!" It was a proud moment for us. Ronny bought Joseph a new mit so Sam inherited his. They spent all afternoon playing catch outside.

Later that morning we all went to Charley's soccer game. She played goalie first. Like usual the other team dominated her team's side of the field and made quite a few shots on goal. However on their first shot Charley lays out and saves it, total diving catch! Did I mention it had rained earlier and was pretty muddy? Yep, she dove right into a mud puddle and saved the ball from the goal and stood up all muddy. That's my girl!!!! Too bad we didn't have the camera with us.

Last weekend we celebrated Easter. My mom was in town and celebrated with us. She had taken the kids to Target and got each one of them a new toy. Ben got a few new cars, Sam picked out a Hotwheels race track, Charley got Battleship, and Joseph picked out a bottle rocket launcher. Classic! Its rated for 10 and up yet my 4 year old has a rocket launcher. As you can imagine he is the favorite on the playground right now. Another lady and I organized a community Easter egg hunt on our field for the neighbors. We filled about 600 eggs expecting about 50 kids. Unfortunately the weather man was wrong about the weather being sunny, it poured on us! We only had about 20 kids show up so they made out well. Later that day Charley had a soccer game and then we decorated our own eggs. We have church early in the morning so we had to wake the kids up to hunt for their eggs. The boys each got a new church shirt and tie and Charley got new sandals to go with the dress Nana had brought on her visit. Unfortunately Sam did not like his shirt and we had to wrestle him down to put in on for church. Needless to say we weren't willing to fight him for a picture lineup. We'll have to do that another day. (This picture is of Sam explaining to all of us that this chocolate bunny is his but that the egg he is holding with a J on it is Joseph's)

We look forward to Uncle Jon's visit later this month.

New Rules

We just finished our spring break here. We had great fun with Nana while she was here and just played outside the rest of the week. For the most part we had good weather. We went to see "The Last Mimzy" while Nana was here. This was Dad's choice of family movies. It was a cute movie for Charley, however the boys did not appreciate very much. As soon as the popcorn was gone so were the boys. Up and running around the theater. Ron and I really got a good workout as opposed to sitting still for the duration of the movie.

The last weekend was conference weekend. Ronny had his Sunday School class over for the Saturday afternoon session again. These boys get a kick out of eating Ronny's insanity hot sauce while they are here. Unfortunately they tricked one of the girls into eating some. She was not amused and I was worried she was going to be sick. After a few trips to the bathroom and some milk and bread she seemed to feel better. I really felt bad for her.

Last night we were getting ready for cleaning up after dinner and starting to get ready for scripture time. I came into the family to find Sam pitching to Joseph who was using my vacuum cleaner wand as a bat. Every time he would miss Sam would rub it in. After a few wild pitches and a couple of hits we had to institute the new house rule, "NO Baseball in the House!" Ronny thought this was amusing but agreed to enforce the rule.

Grammy Terri arrives this week and Jon at the end of the month. We are sure to have lots more fun. We have also set Charley's baptism date for November 10th.

Ben's Big Day

Friday was Ben's 1st birthday. We started off with a bang at the doctor's office. He officially weighs 20 lbs on the nose and is 30 inches. He can now ride in his new car seat. He also received his next round of immunizations and was a trooper. After getting stuck he crawled over to the nurse and gave her a big hug! It was really cute and the nurse almost cried. We invited the neighborhood over for cupcakes that evening. About 20 people showed up to eat the 50 cupcakes we made. The boys had fun helping to make them and Charley did a great job entertaining the boys while Mom frosted them. We went to McDonald's for dinner and Ben clapped jabbered and was so excited to be turned around in the car. It was funny watching him get so excited to see things we take for granted on the normal car ride. Lately he loves to crawl to the edge of the stairs and throw things down watching them bounce all the way. The other kids love to throw balls up to him and have him throw them back down. I can always count on a good 10 minutes of work time if I suggest this activity however after 10 minutes the game gets a little brutal and we have to find a new one.

Sam's latest achievement is to put away his clothes and get dressed all by himself. We have labeled his drawers for him so he knows what's in each drawer. He sometimes gets lazy and gets things out of Joseph's drawers though. It depends on whose helping as to whether he gets away with it or not. I came home from grocery shopping on Saturday to find Sam wearing Joseph's clothes and Joseph wearing Sam's clothes and when I mentioned it, Ronny shrugged and said that's what they brought me. Sam has also started a new way of getting out of trouble. He seems to be hitting a lot lately and when called on it he runs and with the most pathetic face and sugary sweet voice says, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry". He's figuring the system out, however he still gets put in time out.

Charley is doing much better lately. She is playing with the boys and not complaining so much. Happy day for this! Of course now that I say something she will have a bad day today.

Ben has just found me so my time here is done.

Disappointed Charley

Last night Nana called and said she had missed her flight to come this weekend. Unfortunately she isn't able to come for another couple weeks. We have been counting down the days until Nana comes so you can imagine the kids were a little disappointed. The boys puckered out their lips and complained but then we told them she would come in a few more days so they were satisfied with that. Charley on the other hand took this to the extreme. I think she was tired to make matters worse. She cried for a good hour wailing and screaming and all, you would have thought someone had died the way she was going on, oh the drama. When we finally calmed her down and got her into bed she slept very soundly. We know Nana feels really bad about this but this is a good lesson for the kids to learn, life just happens and we need to be flexible sometimes.

We are now trying to come up with some ideas to do with the kids for Ben's birthday. The kids just want to go to McDonald's (not my first choice!). We are watching the weather and might be able to make a trip to the zoo or the coast or maybe we will just go find a new park to play at if the weather is nice.

The kids will be out of school the last week in March so we will get to spend a few extra hours with Nana when she is here. We will have to do something fun then. Ronny will also be off school then too, however that really doesn't mean anything anymore. We may get him to take a day off though.

Tomorrow is Ben's 1st birthday. Fun! He is so much fun to have and is such a good baby, most of the time, he wouldn't nap for anything yesterday. We decided to make a cupcake tower instead of an actual cake. We will make the cupcakes together as a family tonight. The kids are all very excited.

Busy February

Ok, so here is my very first post. I would add pictures to this however we can not seem to find our cable to download pictures from our camera to the computer. Another day I guess. So this has been an extremely crazy month, more so than usual which is saying something for us.

We started off the month with Ben and Denise taking an unplanned trip to California to conduct a moving sale and pack up what boxes we could from the house I grew up in. It took three different flights and airports to get us there as the airline canceled our flight and changed our arrival destination twice but we finally arrived in LAX. It was a bitter sweet experience as it was a monumental task that needed to be done and the house we had been praying would sell finally sold, however at the same time it was sad knowing that it was the end of the family ties I knew growing up. My parents are hopefully towards the end of their divorce and then we can all move on as a family separated, yet still very closely knit together. It was probably the last time I will return there and that is sad to know. I am happy I was able to go and do what small things I was able to accomplish and have that last sleep in the house I grew up in. At the same time I had the very distinct impression that that house was not home to me anymore.

Ben and I arrived home that Sunday morning to find Ronny passing a kidney stone and Joseph running a high fever. We called two neighbors to come and give Ronny and Joseph a blessing. Once we were able to get the kids to bed that night I stayed up to put Charley's Brownie patches on her vest as she and I were scheduled to man the cookie booth at the store the next day. Monday morning came and Ronny was still having pain but was able to take advil and tylenol to alleviate most of it. Joseph however was still running his fever so I called the doctor and was able to get him in later that morning. I made Ronny come with us so in case he fell over in pain we were only down the street from the hospital. I didn't think Joseph was too bad, I thought he just had a cold and he would be fine in a day or two. I was wrong. The doctor looked at us and asked how long Joseph had been sick. Only a couple of days we told him he shook his head and told us Joseph had pneumonia. I was stunned. We were told to bring him back on Wednesday if he was still running a fever for a chest film. Ahhh! We filled his prescription and took Ronny to work on the way home. After getting home Joseph took a turn for the worse. He was moaning and delirious. I was ready to take him back but said a little prayer and hoped the antibiotics would kick in soon. He slept the rest of the day. We called his school and informed him he would be out for at least a week. I also called Charley's Brownie leader and told her we couldn't make it. This was too much in one day.

Tuesday came and Ben and Sam were sick. Ben was running a fever. I called and got him in to see the doctor as soon as they could. He has extremely small ear canals so I am not able to see in his ears at home with our otoscope. Ben had a double ear infection. I filled his prescription and went home hoping we would not have to go back the next day.

Happily we made it through all that within about a week and a half. Joseph bounced back and was able to make it to Tyler's birthday party and returned to school after a week off. I was ready to send him back. The next week was filled with errands trying to make up for all the time we spent at home. During these nights Ronny would put the kids down and then work on his pinewood derby car. The Elder's Quorum decided to have their own derby. Although Ronny didn't win he did have the "smoothest" car and won a prize for that. We took the family to watch the race. Between the races the boys would race their matchbox cars down the track. They loved it! Some of these cars we really cool. You could tell these guys spent a lot of time on them. It turned out the Elder's Quorum Pres. car won overall but the two guys that took 2nd and 3rd place were new converts which was really nice.

During all this we were selling and delivering Charley's girl scout cookies. She ended up selling 100 boxes, the most in her troup. We are happy to have the last boxes delivered and all the money turned in. I have also started to wean Ben. He is doing well with this and hopefully we will have an easy transition. He is looking forward to turning around in the car and being able to see were we are going as opposed to the back of the seat. We also finally sold our van. Hooray! It only took 11 months and 3 weeks to do it but its finally gone, ironically to a neighbor so we will still see it everyday.

We are looking forward to a calmer March and a visit from Nana. Ben will also celebrate his first birthday.

Things I love

My sister Liz tagged me. Apparently I'm now obligated to share 5 things I love.

1. I love my family. I love Denise. I love Charley. I love Joseph. I love Sam. I love Ben.

2. I love fresh air. I used to think I loved warm weather. After living in Utah, where the weather may be warm, but occasionally the air is horrific, and living in Oregon, where the weather is oft-times dreary, but the air quality is superb, I realize that I just want fresh air. I can take care of the rest with the right equipment, but I can't fix the air.

3. I love to run. I don't necessarily mean to go running here. I love long and deliberate strides. I love the rush of power. I love the idea that I'm getting somewhere faster than I would if I walked.

4. I love sleep. I miss it, but I'll love it just the same when I see it again.

5. I love discovery. That moment when you realize that you've found something entirely new to you is amazing. It may be self-discovery, when I learn something new about myself. It can be academic or spiritual. I love learning new things and probing and testing and hypothesizing and experimenting.


... you can now mark me as "tag fulfilled" Liz.