Brotherly Love and Craziness As Usual

Today found Devin in time out -- once again. This time for writing on the kitchen table with a marker. (He's lucky that it was washable marker, but it is still unacceptable.) Devin usually sits in his time out chair quietly until I go in and talk to him; but today, he just screamed. When the screaming stopped, I went in to talk to him, only to find Jake holding him and quieting him down. It was so cute. Those two are really good friends.

Jake was invited to a boy/girl birthday party today. Since entering Kindergarten, he suddenly thinks that girls have cooties. Once he found out that this was a cowboy birthday party, though, he couldn't stop talking about it and was so excited to go. It was a very cute party and looked like it took a lot of preparation. They had the little girls grandfather bring his shetland horses to the party and he gave all of the kids a ride in a buggy. It was so cute. They even let Devin and Max ride in the buggy, which really made everyone happy. It brought back memories for me. I had a little shetland pony named Spunky when I was little and we had a buggy that our horses would pull. I love horses.

(Jake with Mindy the shetland pony)

This weekend was pretty full, as usual. But, it was also fun. This was our Saturday schedule:
9:00 -- Jake's last soccer game
1:00 -- Max's last soccer game
1:00 -- BYU game (Nate went with some friends)
5:00 -- Max's 1st basketball game
6:30 -- I went to dinner with some friends
9:00 -- Nate watches a football game with some friends
The rest of the evening: I plan my Young Women's lesson. I was definitely not prepared.


We were almost late for Jake's 9:00 soccer game on Saturday because we couldn't find Devin's soccer shirt. Even though he is only 2, he thinks that he is also on the team, and he won't go to the game without his soccer shirt.

(Devin thinks that he was the star player of the soccer team.)

(Devin)

(Max)

(Jake with 2 of his good friends)

By the way, whatever rule changes they have made to football is fabulous. The BYU game started at 1:00, and Nate was home and ready to go to Max's basketball game with us at 5:00. It's great!

Max's 1st basketball game went well. Basketball is currently his favorite sport. I'm glad that he has so many good friends in the neighborhood because it is fun to be on the same sports teams with them.

(Devin eating a cinnamon roll during the basketball game.)

After Max's basketball game, I went out to dinner with a few friends. (The boys gave us time off so that they could get together later that evening to watch another football game.) We went to Macaroni Grill -- it was yummy.

I hope that you all had a fun weekend, too.

Good Mail, Good Friends, Good Family

This past Saturday began with an unusually freezing day of soccer games. Unfortunately, we all woke up at 8:30 to get to Jake's 9:00 soccer game and didn't even step outside until after we were all dressed in shorts and sandals. It was freezing!!!!!! The other spectators were dressed in winter coats, and my poor kids were frozen. Max spent the game buried under two blankets. Devin just curled up in a fetal position with Nate holding him. I felt like a horrible mother. I did dress the kids a little warmer for Max's 12:00 soccer game, and we were just fine until it decided to rain/hail on us. Of course, we didn't have umbrellas or hoods, so we were drenched.

My Saturday ended up on a much happier note when we got home from the games and got the mail. I got good mail on Saturday!!!!!!!! Talk about a happy day. The first package was from Michelle. Inside was a cute little journal (I love to write!), Reese's Pieces (my favorite), and ribbon (blissfully beautiful).

The next package was from Jill. Inside were 6 spools of ribbon. (Have I ever mentioned that I would love to have a whole wall of just ribbon? I don't know what it is about it, but ribbon just makes me smile.) There was also a CD of mellow music. Oh......happy, happy day.


THANK YOU, MICHELLE AND JILL!!! What fabulous friends you are. Thank you for thinking of me.

Saturday was also Nate's birthday. Of course, birthday boys get to do whatever they want to on their birthdays. And, in this house, a fun birthday includes sports. So, we all sat and watched the BYU game on tv. (Well, let me clarify. I sat for 5 minutes here and there until the 4th quarter and then I watched the last 7 minutes.) This would have been a perfect way for Nate to spend his birthday had BYU won.

I decided to make Nate's favorite cake -- Red Velvet -- from scratch. I had never made this cake before, and I'm not one for making a cake from scratch when the mix tastes just as good. But, I decided to do something a little different. It took me an hour to make this cake -- I followed every direction. (Surprise, surprise.) My plan was to have a little birthday cake and then to take our little family to the Mayan for dinner. The kids have always wanted to watch the cliff divers there. Now, you will remember that whenever I plan something to do and/or make something that takes a long time, someone always calls and invites us to do something. It happens every time. Well...this time was no different. Just as I finished frosting the cake, Nate's aunt called to see if we wanted to have a little birthday party for Nate, Nate's great aunt, and Nate's grandfather (who was in town from Idaho.) Of course, the answer was "that would be great!" They had reserved a club house, which meant that I didn't have to do anything at my house and didn't have to clean (woo-hoo!!!).

So...the Red Velvet cake went uneaten, we'll go to the Mayan next week, and the little party at the club house was a success. Nate's aunts prepared all the food -- we had yummy tacos, carne asada, and salad, store-bought birthday cake, and just talked. It was fun and I'm glad that we went.

(Picture of Nate with his grandfather and great aunt, LeAnn)

Overall, this was a great weekend. It ended on Sunday when Nate told me that he and the boys would do the dishes and that I needed a nap. I didn't need much persuading. I went right to sleep and slept for 3 hours, uninteruppted!!! It was a good thing that I got the nap, too, because last night I could not sleep at all. The baby's head felt like it was stuck in my pelvis and it gave me the worst cramp. So...I had to try to sleep sitting up. Then, every time I turned, some part of his body hit my bladder and I had to go to the bathroom. From 3:00-3:30 am, I went to the bathroom 4 times!!!!!! Overall last night, I probably went to the bathroom about 10 times. I haven't gotten a good sleep in a long time. But...I guess that last night was technically the start of this week. So, that means that this weekend was just blissfully happy.

I Can't Think Of a Title

I often find that the hardest part of blogging is coming up with a title that encompasses everything. I'm not going to try tonight.

Today was the last Young Women's activity that I had to plan before my baby comes. I took the girls to the driving range at Tri City Golf Course. I also took my little family with me. My boys had a good time swinging the golf clubs and I had Nate give the girls a little golf tutorial before letting them swing the clubs. I don't know if any of you are golfers, but I have the hardest time swinging the club with the boobs getting in the way -- and I'm not even that well-endowed!!! I think that I need to take golf lessons from a girl. I think that the girls had fun -- they probably would have had more fun, though, if they could have shown off in front of some Young Men. Maybe next time.

On Saturday, I went out to dinner and had game night with some of my friends from our old neighborhood. We had a good time. I love keeping in touch with old friends. And I'm always up for a really good steak!

Poor Max went to the dentist yesterday to get a cavity filled. He's kind of been picked on with his ears and now his teeth. Maybe he can be done for a little bit now.

I went to the doctor today and had to wait for over an hour for my appointment -- just to hear that I'm still here and the baby is still in there. The doctor said that he would duct tape me so I don't have this baby before I want to. Now that's my kind of doctor -- someone who completely understands me, listens to me, and does exactly what I want.

Tomorrow I am giving my last two piano lessons. Yeah!!! Some of the students I am genuinely going to miss. Others, I'm just fine seeing them go. I do love teaching, though, so we'll have to see when I'm ready to start again. I just want all of the kids to keep playing. It's so easy to forget if you don't keep playing.

I hope that you received an invitation to a jewelry party at my house on Thursday. (Those of you who live in Utah.) You never know about the postal service, though. This jewelry company has some really neat stuff -- but I'd love you to come just so that I can see you. Feel free to bring anybody that you would like. Anybody is welcome to come. Thursday @ 7:00

We Eventually Had Fun

I just got back from the school party at Classic Skating. I took the 3 boys by myself because Nate had to install servers this evening. Sometimes I wonder why I leave the house when I am not in the right mental state to do so, but it always comes down to the fact that I want my kids to have a fun time and good memories. So...let me see if I can sum up some major set backs that almost prevented our going to the skating party:

1. I had to decide if I really wanted to take the kids without Nate -- especially when I was not in a very happy mood (perhaps that has something to do with our broken a/c!!! It is so hot in this house.)
   
2. This was kind of a contentious day with the children -- not very normal, but when I'm crabby it sort of rubs off. When the kids are rude to each other or defiant, I simply give them another chore to do. So...we couldn't get ready to go if the kids were constantly being given another chore.
3. Jake's new friend from Kindergarten kept ringing the doorbell -- apparently not understanding that Jake could not play AT ALL today.
   
4. We had an issue with dinner -- nobody cared to eat.
   
5. During dinner, my mom called to tell me that a family friend just died of a heart attack while on a trip with his wife. So, then I was crying and no longer cared about dinner -- and obviously neither did the boys who had left the table while I was talking for so long.
6. After the phone call, I had to round them up to do the dishes.
7. By this time, it was 7:00. The party went from 5:00-9:00. So, now the questions: Did I really want to go? No! Did I already tell the boys that we would go when they finished all of their stuff? Yes. Was Devin tired? Very. As always, the "fun" (yet very cranky) mom side of me came out and I decided that we would still go.
   
8. As we were getting shoes on, every child had holes in their socks because that's what boys do -- ruin every pair of socks they own because they forget the rule that shoes need to be worn outside.
9. Once finding new socks to wear, we had to find the shoes to wear.
   
10. After finally finding shoes to wear -- (honestly! where can they all possibly be? We have a specific place in the mud room for shoes. If they are not there, where are they?) -- we discover that all of them have hard double or triple knots to remove. Very time consuming and frustrating.
    
11. Once getting to the Classic Skating place, the boys started to unload their own scooters. Both Max and Jake accidently wacked each other in the head with their scooters and both thought that the other did it on purpose. Not funny!
12. After talking about it and finally getting an apology out of both of them, we entered the skating place. But, it took them about 10 minutes to feel comfortable even going out on the floor with people skating so fast.

We ended up staying there until 8:45. Once the boys started riding out on the floor, they loved it. Even Devin took his scooter out on the floor and rode around. (He's very fast on his Sponge Bob scooter!) There were several people that I knew there and I enjoyed talking with them. We all ended up having a fun time, which was probably better than staying at home and being contentious until bed time. And somewhere in all this blabber, I'm sure that there is a good moral to this story. I'm just too tired and still too cranky to find one! (And, yes -- I forgot my camera -- again!)

Fun Weekend

I don't know if you're like me, but I sometimes have a really hard time with the odd kind of holidays -- like 4th of July, 24th of July, New Years Eve, Memorial Day, Labor Day. I love having that one extra day to relax, but I hate to feel like I have to, or feel obligated to, plan something or do something fun.

I was so excited when my parents called to say that they were going to come up from Arizona to spend time with us this Labor Day weekend. Not only did that mean that I didn't have to plan something for the kids to do, but my kids absolutely love them and were so giddy for them to be here.

Visits from my parents always start with a couple small gifts.

This time it was: a lighted ball, a wooden airplane, and a harmonica.

My parents are like me and have a hard time sitting still, so we are always doing something. I love that!

Jake and Devin went hiking on Friday morning while Max was at school (sorry, Max!).

Friday afternoon, we went up to Midway to eat at the "Train Restaurant". On the way, we spotted a sign advertising free puppies. Of course, my dad who thinks that not only every household but every child should have a dog, got the kids' hopes up by saying that he would buy them one. (And he will the second that Nate even slightly hesitates.)

The kids love the train restaurant in Heber. They have the best shakes.

(Yes...I tried to cut Devin's hair, and he moved.)

(Sadly, this is the only picture that I took of my mom. She's usually the one behind the camera.)

My mom and I made a few trips to Roberts for their 50% off sale. I LOVE 50% off at Roberts!!! Devin feels really comfortable in that store.


We ate pizza in the mountains on Saturday.


On Saturday afernoon, we had a little mishap with Devin (of course). He walked out of the laundry room saying, "ow, hot" and then he started crying and holding his hand. He burned his hand really badly on the iron. I had just finished ironing our clothes for church, and it looked like he took a shirt from the dryer and tried to iron it. The blisters are still pretty bad. He is an incredibly tough child, though. I'm amazed at his high pain threshold.

My parents left Monday morning. The kids were sad to see them go. The next time we see them, we'll have a new baby in this house. If this baby comes when I want it to (meaning, October 15th), my parents will be in China. This will be the first of my births that my mom will miss. It makes me sad.

Our Labor day weekend continued on Monday when we went out to lunch with Nate's sisters and their families while one of the families was passing through on their way to Las Vegas. After lunch, Nate took Max & Jake water skiing with some friends. Because I'm not quite ready to have this baby, I decided that water skiing was not the best idea for me, so I stayed home with Devin. Both boys had a blast. They both tried knee-boarding. They are both a little fearless and they did a good job.

I am so glad that our weekend turned out fun. The kids definitely have a lot of things to remember and enjoy.

Catch up

I feel that I have been very out-of-touch lately with things. We have had a very full week. Where do I start? I guess where I left off....

I mentioned that Max's ears were a problem? Well...they became worse last Friday night when he woke up screaming uncontrollably. He is such a tough kid, that obviously something was very wrong. He screamed from 1:30 am-4:30 am. We almost took him to the emergency room, but we finally got him to sleep and he woke up much more content. We were able to go to the ENT on Tuesday to find out that both of his ear drums had burst and his ears were full of blood and puss. Gross! So...it was tubes again for him -- his 4th set in 2 years.

I took Max in to get his tubes on the morning of the 31st. Because you have to get up so early to get to the hospital, I was really tired and didn't eat very much before leaving. After waiting for over an hour for his surgery, my blood sugar started getting really low and I started shaking. Max went into surgery and a nurse took one look at me and made me sit down with my feet up and kept bringing me food. It was so nice to be taken care of. She said that just by looking at my stomach, there was no way that I was going to last until October. She doesn't know my sheer determination to have this baby on October 15th!

Max came out of surgery really well. The doctor couldn't believe that he doesn't complain about his ears. She said that they were so full of blood, etc. that there was no way he could hear. Sorry, Max! I really hope that that these bigger tubes will last longer and that his hearing will vastly improve. Even though he never complains and says that he can hear just as well as before, I already notice that he is much more content and happy.

Do you remember when Nate fixed my violin? Well...he happened to on purpose mention to the most musical family in the ward that it was fixed and that I should play. So, they promptly asked me to play for an adult fireside last Sunday. Did I mention that I haven't played for 12 years? Needless to say, I was a little nervous. I can't believe that I remembered how to play! She and I played a duet on the violin to "Love Is Spoken Here" while her husband accompanied us on the guitar. Everybody said that it was amazing, but I kind of felt like I was in Jr. High with a wobbly bow that I couldn't control. Let's just say that I did OK for not having played for so long. But, if you ever have to give a lesson on not using your talents and then losing them, you are welcome to use me as an example.


Jake started Kindergarten. Yeah!!! He is very ready to be older and more mature. I put him in afternoon Kindergarten and love it. It gives me time to get ready in the morning so that I am ready to do errands or other things while he is gone. It has worked out really well so far. He loves his teacher and already has some really good friends in his class.

I do feel bad for Devin, though. He and Jake get along so well, that he really has a hard time when Jake goes to school. So, I am now spending part of my day playing trains, Legos, and puzzles again. (And of course, letting him watch an occassional Dora means that I get a little more time to get stuff done.)



I was pleasantly surprised to open my mail last week to a Good Mail package. My mailbox is usually bills, bills, bills. Jenny sent me the cutest Texas postcard and a Live, Laugh, Love book. Jenny...thank you. The phrase Live, Laugh, and Love was my sister-in-law's favorite phrase. After she was killed in the accident, I made her boys mini-scrapbooks with that title. My brother also put that phrase on her tombstone. So, without even knowing, you gave me a very special gift. Thank you!!!

We had a very belated, yet fun Renegade birthday dinner for Jill's birthday last week. Amy outdid herself with the table decor again. The food was fabulous, and Jenn's birthday book was unbelievable. Seeing as how my camera is never in my purse when I would like it to be, but always in my purse when I don't even think about using it, it would be better to look at Jill's blog for pictures. I have always been blessed in my life to have really good friends. Jill, you are an incredible person and a friend to all -- Happy Birthday, again!

I'm getting my boys ready to go water skiing. More about that to come. Hope you all have a fabulous Labor Day weekend.