The Great Shift and Family Rules

Ronny and I have noticed our kids have been fighting a lot lately. So much so that we are ready to pull our hair out. We have been trying to figure out what is going on. We aren't exactly sure why this is, but we sure are not going to sit around and wait for things to get better without doing something. So we decided to enact a new family rule. If Mom and Dad catch you fighting, then chores you will be a doing! Starting this last Saturday we started to implement this new rule. We can't yet say that there is less fighting, but we sure do have a cleaner house! What is more amazing to us is that when we tell them to start cleaning they don't argue back about it, they simply start doing the job. I'm sure this is still in the honeymoon stage and the arguing will start in due time, but for now we sit back and watch them get to work. Hopefully the fighting will end soon, or at least be less of it.

We also decided to move bedrooms around again. Joseph has lately started to throw huge fits at night when we take him to use the bathroom. He is completely asleep but he sure does put up a big stink that is loud enough to wake the neighborhood let alone his brother just feet away. Of course he remembers none of it the next morning. We also realized that when Joseph and Sam get sent to their room for arguing the fight just goes from downstairs to upstairs, so splitting them up may help things there. We also figured since he gets up earlier than the other two boys we would try to let them sleep a little longer while Joseph gets ready for school. We made the move today and will see if this makes the morning a little bit smoother. We'll keep you posted.

Piano Lessons

Charley started piano lessons last month. We are all very excited for this for oh so many reasons, here are a few:
1. Charley really loves taking the lessons and learning to play piano.
2. Our piano is finally getting used for the intended purpose we purchased it for.
3. The boys love to play at the park right next door to the instructors apartment.
4. Mom finally gets to report to grandpa that Charley is now taking lessons.
5. We finally found a teacher we can afford, (I was a little shocked at how much people charge!)
6. We now have someone to accompany our song in family night (even if we are limited to the songs she is learning to play).

We will have to remember this advantages when the excitement wears off. Joseph is going to start informal guitar lessons from one of Ron's friend in the near future. He can't wait! Hopefully we can enjoy just as many reasons for him as well.

Christmas 2008

We had Christmas this year in UT at my mother's house, although she was not there as she was on her way to the airport for her honeymoon. However Aunt Michelle did spend the night to join us for the Christmas morning frenzy! Santa did well this year in listening to the kids wishes. He brought Charley a new backpack and new art supplies, Joseph a guitar, Sam two remote control cars (one for him and one for a friend or brother to race against), and Ben more letters to make words. The best part is watching the kids and enjoying their excitement as well as just being together as a family. We loved being near my family again after being apart for a while. I even met a new nephew, we bonded immediately and became good buds (Little John, your awesome!). It was a wonderful holiday, even with all the work it took to get everything there. (We actually maxed out our checked bags on the flight at 12, not to mention the carry on bags we took, crazy!) Hopefully these pictures capture some of the joy we shared in.

Mom's Wedding

Our family flew to Salt Lake City last Thursday to attend my Mother's wedding on Saturday. The night before we had a large family dinner where we were introduced to our new step family. We gained two new step-brothers and two new step-sisters as well as Dexter's mother and sister. We had fun getting to know them all. Everything was beautiful and all went well. The best thing about it (aside from her happiness of course) was that I was reunited with my whole family for a few short days. I was asked to make the cake and the rest of my sisters all gathered to make and design the bouquets. (There is a reason I do the food and they do all the creative stuff!) Here are a few of the many pictures that were taken. (Somewhere there was a bit of confusion and 4 different people were thinking they were the photographer?????) After the wedding we came back to my sister's house and all laughed and talked and played games. We especially enjoyed all the fun honeymoon essentials that my sisters and their husband provided to the wedding couple. I will spare you the details, however we did have a good laugh about it. We were so happy to be a part of this and wish them joy and happiness.

First Snow of the Season

We woke to white this morning with our first snow of the season. We are expecting a big storm this weekend and cold temperatures. Here is a shot of the boys watching the neighborhood kids playing in the snow and wishing they were joining them. Joseph very sweetly told Sam that today was Sunday and that we don't play outside today because we go to church to learn about God. He then reminded Sam that we were going to Utah in a few days and that there would be lots more snow that we could go sledding in! Its a good thing the kids will be getting snow pants for Christmas.

On the down side the weather is only supposed to get worse tomorrow which means there is a good chance that school will be canceled. This will make getting all those last minute errands done that much harder as I will more than likely have to take all 4 kids with me. At least we still have power! This means I get one more chance to practice for the big wedding cake, we are making a small version of it today. I'm sure the kids will not complain.

Book Review

Our book club this month is reading "The Memory-Keeper's Daughter". Usually I don't review books online as I attend a book club for that. However, this book has stirred some emotions in me that I'm not quite sure about. Maybe its because the book is soooo sad (which I didn't know about before I started it!), or maybe its because my own parents divorce is still something I am coming to terms with, or maybe it was watching a family literally torn apart in such a distructive way when things could have been resolved so many times over. My heart broke for all the characters in this story, for a time when health problems like Down Syndrome and mental health problems in general were something people didn't deal with pretty much at all. I still don't know if our society deals with mental health problems "well". I still get teary just thinking about this book.

Don't get me wrong, this is a good book, rivetting I would say! However, its a tissue box book. Be prepared! Its a book that has made me re-evaluate people and things in many ways. It has certainly made me think about lots of things in my life. However, now I need to read something that is happy and upbeat, something that leaves a bounce in your step, especailly going into the holidays and preparing for my mother's upcoming wedding. Any suggestions????????

New Duds

So I decided I was tired of our generic blog and wanted to spoof things up a bit. What do you think. I'm not sure I'm done with it yet but we'll see what else I can come up with.

Turkey Day

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. I meant to take a picture of the yummy spread we had but I forgot. Shocking I konw! We usually don't travel for this holiday as we don't really have family close enough to get to in a reasonable time frame and I really like to cook all the goodies. We do however love to have family and friends join us. Sorry, I guess I'm a little selfish that way. My father Blane took us up on our offer this year and drove up from California. We had a great time with Grandpa and he is looking good. The kids really enjoyed making belts with him. We also visited a model train show, the movie theater, and the donut shop. Like I said, the kids loved having him here!

Joseph's Lost Tooth!

Joseph informed me a couple weeks ago he finally had a loose tooth. (He has watched all his friends loose a few and has been patiently waiting to join the club!) He worked diligently during that time to wiggle and pull it as much as he could. Ron and I have noticed that it was very loose and needed only a good tug to pull it free. He wanted to be the one to pull it free. Ronny wiggled it last night and finally broke the last bit of root still holding on. Amazingly it didn't come out then so Ronny told Joseph to give it a good pull. Joseph came down shortly there after to show me his tooth. He was so proud, it was adorable! I told him to put it under his pillow so the tooth fairy would come. He wanted to show his tooth in show and tell and was so worried the tooth fairy would take it. I informed him the tooth fairy and I were good friends and that I would let her know that he wanted to keep it. He was very much relieved!

Charley's 9th Birthday

Charley turned 9 last week. (I can't believe it!) On election day to be exact. She was pretty excited to have her birthday on such an important day. Charley and I went to Salem to the girls scout store armed with her gift card in hand that she earned last year. She had a great time picking out a new uniform, lots of accessories, and a new doll. The boys came along as well, however they were not as much help. We celebrated the night of her birthday with just our family and then this week she held her first slumber party. She was ecstatic! We have a pretty small house so we could only host a few girls (I'm not complaining about that!) and only two were able to come but we had lots of fun! I fell asleep well before the girls did so I am not entirely sure when they actually drifted off to sleep. The boys were up at 7:00 ready to pounce on the girls but we were able to hold them off upstairs for another 1/2 hour. I'm sure Charley will be just as ready for a nap today as I am.

Halloween 2008

Here are the pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes this year. I opted to only make Charley's this year as the month of October was rather hectic. So you may see a few repeats from younger siblings. Sam and Joseph thought that it was fun having a cowboy and his horse together. Ben pretty much hated wearing any costume until he saw that if he wore it people would give him candy. Charley enjoyed her fairy outfit and I made it big enough for her to wear next year too. Unfortunately I didn't get good close ups of the pumpkins. They were pretty cute this year. It was a fun night but I'm so glad its over. (I sometimes feel like its so much work for such a short event. Especially now that they don't let the kids wear their costumes to school.)

Joseph Can Now Breathe

Joseph has been struggling with his asthma as of late. We have spent the last month doing on average 6 breathing treatments a day with at least half of them being in the middle of the night. We told Joseph he couldn't run at recess and that he needed to take it easy for a few days. He would always come home and inform us he did not run at school, he just played soccer or capture the flag. Apparently he didn't quite understand the meaning of no running. (How do you explain to a 5 year old boy he's not allowed to run in order to breathe?)

His teacher approached me one day and asked if he had any medication at school that he could take as he was having problems breathing just sitting in class. I knew then that this was now the point we needed to be referred on to the asthma specialist. So we called the doctor to schedule an appointment and found he was not going to be in for 2 weeks so we opted for the on call doctor (which happened to be our previous doctor who had retired. yay!). She asked Joseph to take some deep breaths for her. He did his best but was never able to take a deep breath without coughing up a storm. She then ran a pulse-ox (sp?) on him and discovered after his recent breathing treatment he was still only at 95. She gave us 3 new perscriptions (1 for school) and sent in the referral to the specialist and advised us to get him in right away. Thankfully someone had canceled their appointment for the next Monday so we were able to get him in within a few days.

I had never met this doctor but had heard great things from Ronny and a few friends who had seen him. (this is the same doctor Ronny sees for his throat problem) I was expecting an older gentleman as he had previously been a pediatrician before specializing in asthma and allergies. I was shocked when in walked a mighty fine looking doctor! Ronny laughed when I told him this later. Anyway he listened to Joseph breathe, took a pretty complete history on him again, and asked us exactly what medications he was taking and how often. He was surprised at what he was taking and the condition Joseph was in. When I told him I didn't think his medication was working very well he informed me it was keeping Joseph out of the hospital for the time being. When I related to him what the last two weeks were like he told me Joseph probably should have been admitted then. Oops! (That didn't help the guilt factor). He then did a poke test (allergy test) to see what Joseph was allergic to. It came back that he was allergic to mold, grass, and trees. I laughed and said he was pretty much allergic to Oregon. He agreed!

Anyway, Joseph is now on new medication that comes in the form of an inhaler attached to a spacer. No more nebulizer treatments! This was good news to all of us. He is doing so much better. He can now run and play and not worry about coughing. His teacher has informed us he is doing much better at school as well. Hopefully this keeps him out of the hospital when the next cold comes and helps ward of pneumonia this year!

Sam's Birthday

Sam had his 5th birthday last week. With it being an odd birthday he was able to have a friend birthday party. We invited 5 kids and 6 showed up. This happened at Joseph's party a few years ago so I was a little better prepared to handle the surprise additions. Sam decided he wanted to decorate cupcakes for his cake instead of a Pokemon cake he originally said he wanted. This was quite a blessing as I was in no mood to make an elaborate cake this last week. We had a great time playing puzzles, decorating cupcakes, and smashing into a pinata. The party lasted for about an hour and a half which is plenty long enough for 6 crazy 5 year olds with too much sugar in their systems. He had a great time with his friends which is all that matters to me. Happy Birthday Sam!

Sam's first day of school!

Sam's first day of preschool was earlier this month. I failed to take a picture of him before school so I vowed to take a picture after he came home. While I was searching for the camera to take his picture he and Ben sat on the couch to watch a movie. Here is what I found when I came back downstairs. I guess he had a pretty busy day! He is so happy to be back in school and looks forward to the one on one time with his Dad on the bus.

The day after school started he came home with a good little cough. I told him I his coughs didn't sound very good. He informed me his "bless you's" didn't sound very good either.

Ronny turns 34!

Ronny turned 34 this month. As always I told him I would make him whatever cake he wanted for his birthday. Little did I know he would pick one that would be 1. so expensive to make, and 2. so time intensive. This little number literally took all day to make. Now that I have made it once I know how I would speed things up if I ever attempt to make it again. This is a bittersweet triple chocolate genoise, wrapped in chocolate praline sheets. Ours boys have not yet acquired the taste for dark chocolate so Charley, Ron, and I enjoyed the vast majority of this cake. Thankfully we had some friends over the next day to watch the BYU game who like dark chocolate and helped to finish the cake off. Ronny had a great day and we had lots of fun singing to him and showering him with love!

A Little Piece of Heaven

Our neighbor searches us out every few months to inform us that she will be making tamales again. She does this for extra money and knows that we will always take her up on her offer of a dozen for $10. Ronny and I both love authentic Mexican food. I say authentic because the farther you get from the border the harder it is to find good Mexican food.

These are pretty good, not the best we have had, but good none the less. The kids love them too and sometimes Ronny and I find it hard to share. One day I am going to recruit a few friends and we are going to try our hand at making these ourselves. I will of course have to find a nice Hermana to school us in the proper techniques!

Funny Sayings

The kids have been saying some funny things lately that I didn't want to forget so I thought I would just jot them down here. Ben has been thinking he was so funny lately by calling me Denise instead of Mom and instead of Dad for Ronny he calls him by Ronny. So I went along with it the other day and asked him what his name was. He said Ben and I said, "Can you say Benjamin?" He mumbled something pretty close. I then asked him what my name was. He said Denise, then I said Denise what. He looked at me with all seriousness and said, "Denise Be Careful!" I laughed and corrected him and then he repeated Denise Be Careful. Apparently that is his version of Bjarnason, not bad for a 2 year old. Bjarnason is tough for most adults. (*Update, he now says Bwarnason)

Sam is getting frustrated lately when he gets interrupted or not listened too. At dinner last night he was frustrated with Ronny about this and slammed his hand on the table and said, "I am talking and here's the story!" Then he informed us why he did not need to finish his dinner.

Every now and again if you look at Sam you can tell he is really thinking about something. He was doing this the other day and then went to Ronny to explain what he thought through. He grabbed Ronny's hand then looked at Charley and said, "Charley when Mom and Dad die you are in charge!".

I think I am going to do this more often, write down their funny expressions. I know I will miss this later.

First Day of School 08

Today was the first day of school for Charley and Joseph. Charley is in the third grade and Joseph is in the first grade. This is Joseph's first year at this school, first year of full day, and first year riding the bus, and it was also his first time at being a lunch helper. He was pretty excited! He insisted on riding the bus much to his mother's frustration as was his refusal for his mother to comb his hair, but he seemed to be just fine. He came home and announced his new friend at his table is "Shredder". (The boy's name is actually Trevor, I have to hide my giggles at his mistake.) This boy's sister is in Charley's class and also sits at her table as well. Go figure. Joseph already wants to set up a play date. Maybe we will set up one with his sister as well. Sam starts school in October so we only have a couple weeks together (with Ben) before he is gone in the mornings. He was pretty bummed when Joseph didn't come home until 3:00. He kept asking when they would get home and reminded me they were gone "too" long. I agree but such is life.

Is it really that bad?

Ever since the first day of Sunbeams Sam has pretty much hated Primary at church. This of course breaks my heart as a former primary president knowing how much work goes into making primary a good experience for every child. Every day Sam comes to me and asks if it is Sunday. On those chosen days that it actually is, Sam immediately goes into the routine of fits, convulsions, you name he's done it, at least that is what I thought until this last Sunday. The last few months Sam has tried to convince us he is too sick to go to church. He has done the standard "my tummy hurts", fake coughs, and asking if he has a fever. This last Sunday he went into the kitchen grabbed a container from under the sink and gagged himself causing him to throw up a small bit. Then he brought it to Ron and I claiming he had the flu and that he needed to stay home. "Is Primary really that bad for you Sam?" He of course said yes.

If I didn't think church was that important I would have given up a long time ago, but I know its important that we go every week and that he needs to be there as much as the rest of us. I pray every week this will get better. In all honesty it has gotten somewhat better. He hasn't cried the entire two hours for the last few months (barring this last Sunday). We have been doing positive reinforcement with him (or in simpler terms "bribing"). If he can get through Primary without crying and needing a parent he gets a treat when he gets home. I had a Primary calling for a while just to see if things would get better. It actually got worse so when they called me into Young Women a little over a year ago it was a relief to both of us. I wish I knew what to do for him. You can bet we will be discussing this at his next IFSP meeting with Early Intervention.

Joseph turns 6 with R2D2

Here's the cake I made for Joseph's 6th birthday. We had lots of fun with this and it turned out pretty good. Of course I can see all my mistakes and I may add more later. Unfortunately you can't see the detail work on the white with this camera, I think it adds so much more to the cake. This cake weighs at least 20 pounds. If I had a scale I would weigh it.