Looking Forward to a New Year

I'm hoping that the upcoming year will be a good one. Hopefully with improved health (I see the neurologist in 2 1/2 weeks), fewer bills (several are on the verge of being paid off-including the orthodontist-yay!), and, crossing my fingers, hopefully purchasing a home. We've looked at a few places...pros and cons...no big hurry. We did look at a 6 bedroom place today with a huge back yard. But, we aren't quite ready to buy and who knows if it will still be available when we are.
I'm also hoping that I don't have to go back to work, but know it's a possibility if we want to afford a house more comfortably (commission only/once a month paydays can be scary sometimes).

Gotta Check Those Pockets

So, we're sitting in Sacrament Meeting, enjoying the Christmas program, when Ashlei holds her hand out to me and whispers, "This just poked me through Ethan's pocket." Then she proceeds to drop 1/2 of an hors d'oeuvre fork into my hand. :)
So, Klin-he did stab a sister after all, just not on purpose.

I HATE SNOW!!!

At least I hate shoveling it and I hate driving in it. Hubby shoveled this morning, but by the time I needed to take Destini to school, it had to be shoveled again. (Our next house WILL NOT have an inclined driveway)! I'm hoping I won't have to shovel again before taking Ethan to the dentist. It will be an interesting appt. He will probably be getting 1-2 baby teeth pulled because the permanent tooth is coming out the roof of his mouth. I would think that would hurt, but he's never complained. And since Destini has her evaluation at the orthodontist this afternoon I'll take him along. I'm dreading what kind of work he's going to need. I can just see having 4 in braces at the same time. :( Hopefully B and C will get theirs off soon.

No snow does not mean it's not cold.

I am so sick of seeing kids (especially small kids) in the 30-35 degree (soon to be less) weather without coats, or maybe just a lightweight jacket. Yesterday I counted 8 kids at the elementary school wearing shorts...one of which was a 3ish yr old walking with her mom to pick up siblings. This morning-30 degrees out, and I see a girl walking to school in a t-shirt. Yes, there is no snow on the ground, but it is cold. Come on. parents, bundle these kids up! Once they hit jr. high them they can pull the "I'm not cold" crap as they fight shivering.

One more Edward obsessed teen

So, after taking my 3 oldest girls to Twilight I asked them if they would read the book now. Ashlei had no interest (I'm guessing because she doesn't like romances...or vampires...I dunno). Caitlin has already read it. But, Brittany is now reading it...and she DOES NOT read. It is a fight to get her to read at home, except for bedtime stories to the 2 youngest. She wants to see the movie again...maybe we'll go and take my mom. She hasn't read the books either (yet). :)
As for me, I finally finished the Dean Koontz book I was reading and need to decide what to read next. Maybe a John Saul...

Twilight review

Hmmm...
Bella-actually like her throughout. She did a good job.
Edward-didn't like...not just that he wasn't good-looking enough, but he sometimes sounded like a different Edward---Scissorhands. Speaking of E. Scissorhands--Jasper had his facial expressions down pat. I did like Jasper dancing around the fire though.
Esme-hated. I kept picturing her in her dorky, pathetic "The Ex-List" and "Grey's Anatomy" roles.
Carlisle-a bit TOO pale.
Charlie-LOVED!--He had more personality than the book version, he made me laugh.
Alice-wish she had been used a bit more.
Emmett-hated the hair, but not bad.
Rosalie-could have been better.
There were parts that strayed from the book-some I felt didn't need to have, and other parts made for a good laugh (like the "I put a fresh can of pepper spray in your bag"). There were parts left out-I'm assuming to not make it a 3 1/2 hour movie, but it kind-of jumped around too much at times. For someone who has not read the book, they miss out on a lot of details. Overall, I would have to admit I did like it, but it could have been SOOO much better.
And...is my memory failing me, or did Edward not climb trees in the book?
His bedroom was way, way too small.
Not enough fangs (like in the near fight on the baseball field--James with fangs would've been good there).
Jacob...undecided.

Kindergarteners are great

I caught Ethan saying the pledge today and asked him what it was called. "The Pledge of the Egence," he replied. I grabbed a pen and paper and had him repeat it for me a few times-here's the pledge, according to Ethan:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Stakes of America, and to the repugwic for which it stands. One mation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Brings back memories of gray knees and shallmennows.

Plans for getting things done

I had hoped to spend the 5 day weekend going through boxes in the basement, doing some scrapbooking and getting the kids to clean up and organize their bedrooms. Did I accomplish any of that? Nope. But, I did get caught up on laundry...well, yesterday anyway...and I did some reading and a lot of nothing. I just wanted to veg. I even almost took a nap (I never do that). So...maybe on weekends and Christmas break we'll get more done. Then again, the basement is cold...could wait 'til spring. :)
I need to decide if I want to fork out money to see Twilight with my older girls...not full price...matinee. Any recommendations from those who have seen it? Maybe we'll just go see Igor for $1.25 instead. :-P

Thankful for Family

I got to spend time with 3 of my siblings and their family's yesterday as we celebrated Ethan's 6th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese. It's nice to have the opportunity to get together and talk. (And to share a photo of my mom's hot ex-boyfriend). =-)
We then got to see each other again today, along with my dad and grandma, for Thanksgiving.
Andy-Thanks for mashing the potatoes.
Matt-Thanks for helping Ethan out. ("I'm just a kid. I'm too young to die!)
Amy-Thanks for the jump. :)
I'm hoping that my other siblings had an enjoyable Thanksgiving as well.

Unnamed daughter strikes again

Yesterday, in Sunday School, my daughters class was told to write a note of appreciation to their moms. "Just write what's in your heart," she told them. What was in my daughters heart? Her Christmas wish list. Do I at least give her credit for writing, "oh yeah, I love you, mom" at the end? I'm thinking a note of gratitude for all we've done for her is a good stocking stuffer for her, maybe with a little scare that there are no presents for her under the tree.

Why I usually make my kids shower on Saturday

Because Sunday mornings can get too crazy, I almost always have all of my kids bathed or showered on Saturday. This past weekend that didn't happen. One particular daughter, who shall remain nameless, said she would prefer to shower on Sunday morning. So, I took my shower and then told her to get up and take hers. Did she get up? No. Hubby took his shower and unnamed daughter finally got up and ate breakfast. She finally got in the shower while I was busy sorting photographs. With 1/2 an hour 'til time to go, I warned her that she needed to hurry. "I'm almost done," was her reponse. I was busy helping the younger kids get ready when I looked at the clock again. Twenty minutes had gone by and she was still in the shower! Now, I understand that shaving ones legs can take time, but over thirty minutes!?! And so, when in the future she refuses to shower on Saturday I will hide her razor and be sure to run the dishwasher and washing machine while she showers on Sunday morning.

Ethan says...

"A boy in my class is rude. He says mean things. I have a hate crush on him!"

Procrastinating

I've finally decided to start sending query letters to agents. Have it narrowed down to 11. But, I am avoiding sitting and writing (and re-writing, and re-writing...) the letter and revising my synopsis. I can take rejection...am even expecting it...it's a given. But, I just can't seem to focus on getting it done. Maybe now that I've researched the agents I'll finally break down and do it. Then I can start on book 2 that Ashlei is begging me to hurry up and do.

Appreciative

Even though Ethan tries my patience every day, it is nice to see him wait in line at school while 3/4 of the class is running around. And, this morning, I was in charge of the childrens class at our Super Saturday. Wow! Some of those kids were sooooo active. Ethan might need multiple reminders and guidance to do what he is supposed to do, but at least he isn't running around, throwing things and climbing on everything.
I have discovered a way to keep him occupied for a good length of time, too (besides video games which we have all but banned lately). He LOVES to cut things out. I can't believe sometimes how long he will keep going-I can give him the coupons from the newspaper or an old magazine or catalog and he is busy for a good 30 minutes or more. And he hasn't cut up anything he's not supposed to. :)
Writing, on the other hand, he hates. He was writing the alphabet and got to about g or so before he started scribbling and saying, "skip, skip, skip...".
He has definitely improved alot over the past year or so. I am so glad we didn't cave into the pressures of medicating him.

Daddy's Little Helper

Normally hubby doesn't take kids with him when he runs errands, especially little Mr. Handful. However, last night I needed him (son, not hubby) out of my hair, so I sent him with his dad to run to the grocery store. When they got back, I asked Ethan if he had been good. "It starts with 'of course'..." he said. "And what does it end with?" I asked, thinking he wouldn't have an answer because he had said the whole word and not just the first letter of it. "Yes!" he shouted, without hesitation. I did not ask hubby for confirmation as to his opinion. Ethan's satisfaction that he felt he had been good was enough 'because when you're naughty you have the devil in you'. Ethan likes to use this explanation when his sisters are bad, but never himself. I'm sure it is a scary thought to him as he probably takes it more literal than the rest of us.

That's more like it.

Ethan was playing doctor today and gave me a pretend shot, which he said would make me die in ten days. I asked him who would take care of him if I died. He quickly realized that he needed me around and got very serious as he said that I wouldn't die for as many days as the biggest number in the universe. :)
On another note...I hope the lines aren't too long when I go to vote later.

Annual Halloween carnival

Last night, I took my 4 youngest to my moms work party, along with her and my nephew, Alex. Matt and Beth met us there with their 2 kids.
Somehow I ended up designated table holder and stuff watcher as everyone else ran wild.
As we were walking out, Destini proudly announced that she was now eating either her 3rd or 4th cotton candy. =-p
We stopped to visit Amy for a few minutes before going home.
This morning, after getting the girls off to school, I was working on the laundry (A never-ending chore). As I went back upstairs, this is what I found:

SLURP!!!

drool...

oops...I dropped one.

Denying access

We went back to having a password to access the computer so that the girls aren't on when they shouldn't be or for the entire day. Today, Ethan asked me what the password was. I assume he was hoping for brownie points from his sisters if he could tell them. I told him a random thing and he asked me how to spell it. I told him it was a secret. He glared at me and said, in disbelief, "But, I'm your son!"

Thanksgiving Point

I took the kids, plus Ashlei's friend, Nicole, to Cornbelly's last night. It was a lot of fun, even though we froze.

Brittany wouldn't get in the picture, so Nicole took her place.

Farmer Ethan (with a piece of candy in his mouth).

Caitlin and Nicole chillin' on the 'cow'ch

One of Ethan's favorite things there (notice all the corn kernals in the sand-they were EVERYWHERE).

I told Destini to go inside and look out the window, so what does she do?

Yep...runs away!

Ethan and Destini

Destini, Caitlin, Ashlei, Ethan (mooooo) and Brittany (what's up with that look?)

Schools...

I asked Ashlei's friend what elementary school the kids near her went to and she said that she didn't know, but her little brother went to '____'. Ethan excitedly said, "Destini goes to '_____' (the same school). I thought it was weird that he would say that she goes there, but not him, so I asked, "Ethan, what school do you go to?" Very matter-of-factly he replied, "I go to kindergarten." :)

A day in the life...

One day a week I don't babysit, so I decided to run some errands. Ethan and I dropped Destini off at school (NW Orem) and then went to the post office (central Orem). The next thing on the agenda was to drop some stuff off at D.I. (N Provo). But, I got a text from my daughter saying she didn't feel well and could I come get her. So, I started driving to NE Orem until I discovered that Caitlin had the phone, not Ashlei. U-turned back toward NW Orem and picked her up and then backtracked through Orem and to D.I.
It was 9:45 when we got there and it must not open until 10:00 because there were people waiting in their cars and by the entrance. (Reminiscent of the 'open, open, open' commercial). It made me wonder if D.I. has 'regulars' who come first thing in the morning to get the latest treasures. Anyway, luckily the donation drop-off was open and we were able to get that done quickly.
After lunch Caitlin decided she would go back to school. I dropped her off and then took Ethan to school and stayed for 'Moms and muffins'.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, which was fine by me.

Yes, I'm insane

I spent the day disassembling and reassembling bunkbeds and moving dressers and such as we moved the kids around into different bedrooms.
Oh, I did go to the chiropractor this morning-did some electro-whatever-it's called and some decompression-hopefully by keeping up with those and doing some exercises (not moving furniture) I can cancel with the neurosurgeon. It's not as if I am in excruciating pain, but combined with everything else...
I'm debating on getting my ear checked (constant ringing for 3 weeks now), but it could just be from the regenerating nerves post-Bells Palsy. It hasn't affected my hearing, but it is very annoying.

The results are in

and maybe I need to just chill over this 5 day weekend rather than do all the cleaning and organizing I had originally planned.
I have a disc protrusion. Could be worse, I guess, but the dr.'s office is scheduling me for a consultation with a neurosurgeon. I'm praying that surgery won't be needed-that scares me to death. Hopefully physiotherapy will do the trick. I cancelled my appt. with the chiro. for this afternoon- rather pointless now.
So, now it's the waiting game again.

Are you claustrophobic?

That is just one of the questions I was asked as I was scheduled for an MRI for tomorrow morning. Hopefully they can determine what is going on and allieve some symptoms. I would love to get rid of my neck pain and the ringing in my ear. The jaw pain is annoying, but I think it stems from the neck pain. The numb, tingly feeling in my mouth and tongue is tolerable, but I'm sure it ties in with something else. Some of my symptoms are TMJ-ish, but I have no headaches (which is nice-I haven't had one since the Bells Palsy and I usually have at least 1-2 a month), but then there's the neck issue that wouldn't resolve with all the different things the chiropractor did. I definitely am not as bad as I was 1-3 months ago, but I'm sick of feeling crappy every day.

Doctors and more doctors

A month ago I went to my dr. because of the pain in my jaw and neck that would not go away. My stress level was low, so it wasn't that. It may or may not have been related to the Bells Palsy. Anyway, he wrote me up some prescriptions, gave me some samples and said that if I wasn't doing better in 5 days or so to come back and they might need to do a brain scan. (Not what I needed to hear after just listening to his phone conversation about a patient with a growing brain tumor needing immediate attention). Well, after 5 days, there was next to no improvement, but I decided to try a chiropractor first to see if that would help. It did, but not completely and I have new symptoms that have developed. So, I go back to my regular dr. on Monday. My chiropractor said that if they don't X-Ray my neck, he will, because he is at a loss. I go back to him on Wednesday. So, this next week will be interesting. I just want to find out what is going on and relieve as much of my symptoms as possible. I have been in some extent of pain every day for 3 months now. Not fun.

Entertainment in the D.R.

From the Michael Jackson impersonation show. I got a good laugh that they had misspelled "the" in the background. "Tha Jackson 5".

He had the moves, but his lip-synching was horrible.

The magician isn't in this picture, but the girl in the middle was beautiful. She had an amazing smile and a sparkle in her eyes. She was the one in the dance video in one of my older posts.

At the stores outside the resort. People got upset when you wouldn't come into their shop or, when you did but didn't buy anything.

A popular mode of transportation (and with only one person this time) and, in the background, a typical home/roadside stand with dried palm tree leaves for a roof.

More D.R. pics.

Descending over the island.

A better look at the sunken ship.

A stretch of beach and some of the available activities.

The sign at the entrance-just past the gun-toting guards.

Where we did a lot of relaxing and socializing.

A portion of the hotel pool.

Dominican Republic school

They loved the balloons Heidi gave them. I'm not so sure the teacher appreciated them.

These girls couldn't give us a good reason why they weren't in school. We guessed that either their parents couldn't afford it or they were needed at home. Too sad, either way.

A little obsessed

One of my daughters has become hooked on "Music and Lyrics". Between On Demand, You Tube and the recordings on her cell phone, I've heard the same 2 songs over and over and over again for the past week or so. I'm starting to wonder if she'll ever tire of it.

Apple Juice

So...I'm sitting in my room when Ethan runs up stairs yelling "I hate apple juice! Curse apple juice!" A little weird. Then Destini follows him into his room where he tells her that he hates apple juice. I call out to him, "You like apple juice." Destini came into my room and said, "Not apple juice. He means Beetlejuice. Brittany's watching it downstairs."
Ah ha...and here I was starting to think he had some sudden fear of apple juice.

More pictures and details

This is part of the hotel grounds. The hotel was right on the beach and had a huge pool.

This is the bread table...with an elephant made of bread. The fresh baked breads were one of the things we really enjoyed. A lot of their food is quite bland, but at least we didn't get sick like several of the people from our group.

This was another photo opp. This guy was walking around with the resort photographer and you could get your picture taken with the snake. They also had a monkey one day.

One of the many critters we saw. We saw a few geckos...including a baby one in our room one day, but we saw a lot more lizards...in a variety of colors.

This is the coast of Florida.

They had a beach party one night and the employees were pulling people from the audience to dance with them. This is a guy from our group, Carson, and one of the prettiest girls from the resort.

I still need to steal some of John's photos...maybe tomorrow.

So...details:

Day 1-We had a red-eye flight out. At the airport we watched the news about the hurricane and worried about relatives in that area.

We flew to Atlanta which is a HUGE airport. We had a 5 hour layover and then continued on to the Dominican Republic. There are a lot of small islands between there and Florida. But, we could tell when we saw our island, it was monstrous compared to the rest we had seen. The plane descended over magnificently green hills. There were no paved roads until right near the airport.

As we stepped off of the plane we were hit hard by the heat and humidity. We retrieved our luggage and found our bus to take us to our hotel. The bus did have a/c, but it was still a hot, miserable ride. The roads are full of potholes, there aren't stop signs and drivers seem to have something against using brakes. We were in the front of the bus and got to see all of the close calls. We drove through some very poor areas. One of the vehicles we passed was a motorcycle driven by a teenage boy and also carrying three other boys!

We got to the resort safely and it was breathtakingly beautiful. Fountains, palm trees, etc. We were assigned a room on the first floor, which we didn't learn until later that was not good. We were killing mosquitoes every day and the a/c, which worked amazingly well, actually became too cold at times.

Day 2-We went to the beach. As we were standing in the ocean a school of fish with a swordfish look to them swam by us, both in front and behind. That was a cool experience. Then we noticed that where they were swimming toward there were some snorkelers feeding the fish and drawing them in. That happened a few times.

Day 3-We went to the beach again. We saw a tiny sand crab. Then John wandered around with his camera while I did some souvenir shopping. We also went to the pool. Not my favorite thing to do. The water moving around me irritates my stomach.

Day 4-There were 2 groups going out of the resort. Most of them wanted to go to Hard Rock Cafe and do some shopping, but also stop at a school to give out supplies. One couple just wanted to go to a school and then stop at the shops just outside of our resort. We ended up going with them which I am glad because the other group ended up at a different school and the kids there didn't get all excited like ours did. The shopping was quite an experience, too. Luckily the girl with us spoke spanish and was also a good bargainer. We seemed to be the only tourists there at the time and there were over 30 little shops with each one having an employee begging us to come into their shop and what great deals they would give us. We could have went again with some other couples, but once was enough.

We also had a big frog hop across the path ahead of us that night on our way to dinner. That night we went to the Michael Jackson impersonator. There was a teenage boy who did young Michael, and did it well. Then there was the guy who did older Michael. They had whitened his face and he obviously did not know English because his lip-synching was horrible. But, overall it was an entertaining show because of the dancers. We were on the front row, so during "Thriller" I ended up with a ghoul in my lap.

Day 5-We found out that it was bread that people were feeding the fish. This time a big 1 1/2ish foot silver fish swam right by us.

John went snorkeling and really enjoyed that. We went to the beach party after dinner, but didn't stay long. Too much drinking and smoking going on.

Day 6-We went to the beach again. This time we had small 6 inch-ish white fish swim by. We had to go sit by the pool for a bit while we waited for housekeeping to finish our room.

We took a walk down the beach to the next resort and got a closer look at the sunken ship. There were all sizes of holes from sandcrabs along the way.

We went to another show, a magician this time, from Cuba. He was not very good. I was able to figure out how he did most of his tricks.

Day 7-John went snorkeling again while I hung out at the beach. This is when I got snagged by the photographer with the parrots.

A snorkeler found a baby turtle and brought it onto the beach for everyone to see and take pictures of.

We were able to check our email and hear from the girls. We had sent them an email on monday. That made me homesick. I missed my kids.

Day 8-Just ate breakfast and packed. The bus drive to the airport was less eventful, but much louder with everyone joking around and having fun. There was a Wendy's and a pizza place at the airport, but we chose to wait until we got to Atlanta to eat. But, my stomach wasn't happy about that. The food the people around us were eating smelled soooo good!

We got home at 12:30 am Sunday morning. The kids were all asleep, even though Caitlin said she wanted to wait up for us because she missed us so much. My mom had waited up for us, probably anxious to get back to her own bed. We were so grateful that she could take care of our kids while we were gone.

We slept until 8:30 and then I woke up the kids for some long-awaited hugs.

A few pictures from trip

The first photo is from the flight home...south of the Bahamas.

The second is a photo of the photo the resort photographer took of me.

Third is a sunken ship near our resort. A few people from our group went scuba diving through it.

And last is the cute little topless girls.

I need to get the photos from John's camera and then I'll post a few more...like from the school we visited.

Happy To Be Home

Our vacation was fun, but it is good to be home. It took a day or two to adjust to the humidity there. We only left the resort once. We went with another couple and took school supplies to a small school about 20 minutes away. That was an amazing experience. The kids were so excited and so sweet. They drew us pictures and wrote their names on strips of paper for us. Luckily the other woman with us spoke Spanish, so we were able to communicate with them.
It was strange being so near the Carribean where we went for our honeymoon, yet to hear the people speaking spanish. I can't tell you how many times I said "Hola" last week.
And the topless women walking the beach...reminds me of the AT&T commercial about how some beaches are more "naked" than others. And I have a picture to prove it. No, it's not what you think. It is of two 2-3 yr old girls. One dark skin and braided hair, the other pale and blond.
I will post some pictures from our trip in a day or two.

Looking forward to leaving

It's been a crazy week, full of chiropractor visits, dentist appointments, insect catching, etc.
I am excited to get away for a week. We leave Friday night, sit in Atlanta for 4-5 hours and then continue on to the Dominican Republic. Hopefully the hurricanes and storms will not be active for the week.
We've heard from many people now that the DR is the most beautiful place they have ever been, so I'm anxious to go.
Not sure what all we'll do while we're there, except I'll probably get a lot of reading done and most likely come home with a sunburn (I don't do well in the sun).
So...until then...everyone stay happy and healthy. I'll post again when I get back.

Destini's Baptism

Destini was baptized and confirmed on Saturday. Afterward she asked. "Why does my tummy feel funny?" Her daddy told her that it was The Holy Ghost and she got a huge grin on her face.

The only sad part of the day was the lack of Priesthood holders in our family. There were only 3 men standing in on her confirmation; her dad, Uncle Andy and our bishop.

2 years from now, John wants to baptize Ethan in the River Jordan in Israel, because that's where he was baptized. Don't know if we'll pull it off, but it will be extra memorable if we can.

Safety Rules

First I need to explain that Ethan sometimes uses a y sound for L; "I want Yucky Charms", "I'm going to kiss you on the yips." With that being said, last night, as I was putting him to bed we were talking about stranger danger and things of that sort. I asked him what he would do if I was late and he came out of school and I wasn't there. I explained how he needed to find Destini and wait on the playground or go to the office. He was concerned because he doesn't know where the office is, but I assured him that Destini did. "What does the office look like?" he asked. I explained and he fell silent for a minute before saying, "Don't be yate." Plain and simple.

First Day-Last Child

I sent my youngest off to Kindergarten yesterday. Wish I could've been a fly on the wall.

4 Down, 1 to go

Ashlei left for her bus stop at 7:00 this morning. Brittany and Caitlin left for theirs at 7:40. I dropped Destini off at school at 9:10 and now I just have until Monday for Ethan to start kindergarten.
He went for his assessment yesterday. One of the challenges was to repeat a sentence word-for-word. His teacher said, "Say,'I have a black dog'." Ethan gave her a funny look and said, quite seriously, "I don't have a black dog." He also remembered that she had given him Smarties at the Open House and insisted on another package once he was finished with all of her questions.
Destini has her first male teacher. I thought it might be a problem, but so far she is doing fine. She said she made 2 new friends, but forgot their names.
Ashlei is adjusting to High School. She had 5 minutes to eat lunch yesterday. Hopefully that changes. She didn't get any of her elective classes. We dropped "Travel and Tourism" when I realized she needs Drivers Ed. (Yikes!). And she ended up with Interior Design and Floral Arranging. She is excited about the latter, because they get to go in the greeenhouse and there is only 7 or 8 girls in the class. She also thinks it will be an easy A, "because the teacher didn't choose to teach it. They made him and he doesn't know anything about it. He teaches welding." Um...okay...this will be interesting.

Ready for school

I am looking forward to sending the kids back to school this year. The 3 oldest will be taking the bus this year...that will make my life less complicated, once the morning rush is done. Destini is nervous about being in a new school and having a male teacher. Ethan isn't sure what to expect out of kindergarten, but told me that I need to get him a phone in case he needs to call me (yeah, right).
I will be babysitting most mornings, but will have the house all to myself for a bit in the afternoons...what in the world will I do with myself!?! I asked my kids that question and got these responses:
Ashlei- "Write your book."
Brittany- "Work on your book."
Caitlin- "I don't know." (Gee, that's helpful)
Destini- "Watch TV and read your book that you are going to write."
Ethan- "Buy the stuff we need and go to the penny bank."

Crazy month

My kids and I enjoyed my sister and her family's visit for the first 3 weeks of this month. Unfortunately, on the third week, I came down with Bells Palsy and felt like I had been kicked in the head by a horse. The meds I got put on made me nauseous and dizzy, so that didn't help. I spent a week and a half mainly in bed and am just now starting to feel human again. I still don't have full use of the right side of my face, but it is getting there.
My three oldest girls left for girls camp on Tuesday, so the house feels empty. I thought for sure Brittany would show up home early, but am happy she hasn't. She got an orthodontic device installed the day before they left and was sore and miserable, unable to open her mouth more than about an inch. I am glad that they have all stuck it out and can't wait to have them back on Saturday. "We definitely need balloons," Ethan told me.

Satan

Ethan asked me if he could play the Wii. I told him he could for 15 minutes. "Okay, Satan," he said, or at least that's what it sounded like. "Satan?" I repeated. "No! Satan!" he said, upset that I hadn't understood him. I now knew that he wasn't saying 'Satan', but wasn't sure what he was trying to say. "Seconds?" I asked, thinking maybe he wanted me to say seconds instead of minutes, not realizing how time works. "NO!" he shouted, as he got into his "On your mark" pose. Oh...now I get it..."Say ten." He wanted a ten second countdown to get to the Wii. Sheesh! Don't I feel stupid. :)

Eight Things...

Eight Things I Have a Passion for:
1. Family- Through all the ups and downs, hormones, tantrums, fun and games. They are my life.
2. Reading- I have always loved reading and haven’t been taking the time anymore, until recently. Lately I have been going through at last a book a week.
3. Laughing- The best medicine there is.
4. Thinking- I like to do things that exercise my brain.
5. Writing- Especially now that I am doing it for more than just me.
6. Friends and extended family- They make life more interesting.
7. Kids- My own and others. They keep me young.
8. Baking- Something I have always loved.

Eight Things I Would Like to do Before I Die:
1. Buy a home
2. See my children marry and have families of their own.
3. Publish at least two books.
4. Travel.
5. Take a family cruise (Hubby and I cruised the Caribbean for our honeymoon).
6. Work on FIL’s family history.
7. Go to Disneyworld.
8. Grow old gracefully. :)

Eight Things I Say a Lot:
1. Good night.
2. Not “What?” Come here!
3. Where’s Ethan?
4. Wakey, wakey.
5. Turn the video game off.
6. Who has their teeth brushed?
7. Ethan, go play hop on pop.
8. Put your laundry away.

Eight Books I Have Read Recently:
1. The Missing
2. The Body Farm
3. Cruel and Unusual
4. All That Remains
5. Body of Evidence
6. Postmortem
7. The Host
8. My own ‘work in progress’.

Eight Movies I Have Seen Eight Times:
1. Princess Bride
2. Wizard of Oz
3. Willow
4. Sound of Music
5. bits and pieces of High School Musical (Does it count that I’ve never seen the whole thing?)
6. Cats (Does this count? My kids went through a phase)
7. Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (another phase)
8. can’t think of another one-just bits and pieces of multiple animated ones.

Eight People I have to Invite to Do This Meme:
1. Lisa
2. Jen
3. Jody
4. Brittany
5. Andrea
6. Tracy
7. Jamie
8. Candice

"I want to have funness!"

The girls were doing their chores today and Ethan turned the tv on. I told him to turn it off until everyone was done with their work. He matter-of-factly told me, "Kids don't want to clean, they want to have funness!"

Working out with an audience

Usually the kids leave me alone while I do my 30+ minutes on the Wii Fit (except for wanting to know my "Wii age"). But, today Ethan hung out while I was doing timed step aerobics for 10 minutes. When it announced "Just three more minutes," Ethan tells me, "Don't panic, Mom." I'm not sure if he didn't think I could last three more minutes or what!?! And, as I was doing the "bridge" in the yoga portion he says, "Don't go down yet, Mom. I'm going under you." Lucky for him that's one pose I can hold for a long time.

Wii Fit Hula Hoop Game

This is a cell phone video, so the quality sucks. I told Ethan that if he could do 100 spins then I would get him the game he wants (because I knew he wouldn't get 100...I know, I'm mean). If you listen at the end he says, "I only got eight..." and then quickly adds "hundred."

Saturday morning cartoons

I have to drag my kids out of bed every morning, except for Destini on Saturdays. Even though we didn't go to bed until 11:30 last night, she was still up and watching "kewlopolis" when I was awakened at 8:30 by my cell phone (thanks a lot, Matt).

A day at the park

The 3 younger girls like to play tennis (and Ethan tries). So, we try to take them to practice every so often. Ethan was wiped out and needed a nice long drink.

I should have...

kept track of how much paper I have used for printing out all the revisions from the book I am writing. I like to revise on paper, and then update it every so often on the computer. I then shred the old copies. I have gone through more packs of paper in the past few months than I have in previous YEARS combined!!! My goal is to have it finished by August-that will be one year since I started it. But, there were times when I didn't put much effort into it. I figure since I quit my paying job, I'd better put more time into getting finished. Ashlei is already begging me to write book 2 because she wants to know what's going to happen and if certain things really did happen in book 1. Anyway, that is what I do in my spare time.

Bridal Veil

We took a walk to the waterfall a few days ago. Ashlei, Brittany and Caitlin were poor sports about the whole thing, but Destini and Ethan had a lot of fun. Before we got to the falls, we were at a small stream and I told Ethan to throw a rock in. Being the boy that he is, he picked up the biggest rock he could. When we got to the waterfall he continued throwing huge rocks into the water while Destini waded and climbed rocks and the three older girls sat and whined that they wanted to go home.

New toy

I promised my husband that I would exercise if I could get a Wii Fit...to make it more fun. I got it today, and Ethan was "helping" get it ready. He flipped through the manual and told me, "Mom, I found the destruction part for you!" Instructions...destruction...I'm so out of shape that it's all the same. Wish me luck (and no destruction).

Today I learned...

...that having a Girl Scout troop (which includes 4 kindergarteners, 2 1st graders, and a 2nd grader) paint ceramics is not the best idea for avoiding stress.

Choir concert

We went to the Junior High choir concert tonight. They sang Beatles songs and did an awesome job. Brittany's friends talked her into trying out for one of the solo parts-she got one of them-the first of the night. It was just three words, but it's more than I could ever do...singing...audience...microphone...never gonna happen.

Today I learned...

...that kids and one-time use cameras result in way too many unusable pictures.
I finally got around to developing 11 cameras and 3 rolls of film, some of which were over 2 years old, maybe 3. The 3 rolls were mine and the 11 others were a wide variety from cousins, friends, and animals to shots out the van window, peopleless rooms and Ethan's feet. (How in the world did he get hold of a camera?)

Today I learned...

...that it hurts to stick your finger in a fan.

Feet

It was time to get the girls from school. I asked Ethan if he was going to get his sandals or go with bare feet. His reponse? "I have kid feet, not bear feet."

Empty calendar

My "to-do" list is long and much of it involves the kids, which means some of it won't get done until school is out.   But, as I looked at my schedule for next week, the only thing on there is an orthodontist appointment! Maybe we can actually get some stuff accomplished!

One of these days...

...I will add more.