Had a bad day

I'm not complaining, it still beats any day suffering from kidney stones, but I'm amazed so much could happen in one day. I had to go to an inservice at work today so I was going to pick Naomi up at school so I could get there on time, but when I got there I realized I'd forgotten to call the school and Naomi had already gotten on the bus. I went back home and fortunately my dad was able to take my kids and wait for Naomi. I had some errands to run too, but I put them off until after the meeting. As I drove towards town, something got in my eye making it difficult to see. As I tried to fix my eye I passed a cop. Apparently I hadn't been watching my speed too well as I was fixing my eye. Fortunatly he just gave me a warning. The inservice at work only lasted 20 minutes, meaning not long enough to pay for the gas to get into town and back. I went to the gymnastic building afterwards to pay my bill. The sign said open, so I hopped out of the van, leaving it running, grabbed my unlock button and locked the door. The gym was closed. I went back to the van, but what I thought was my unlock button was only the clip-on keychain; the button had fallen off. I looked longingly at my cell phone in the front seat. I then ran to the gas station (wearing high heeled boots) to use the pay phone. I called my husband, but he didn't have a spare key with him, so he had to come get me. I then had to drive home for the key, back to town to the gym to get my van, then back to Andy's work to wait for him to get off, then back to the gym to get his car. Andy then went into town to do some shopping while I went home to get dinner started and wait for the kids. After getting groceries, Andy called me on the way home. I had to load up the kids in the truck and come get him. His car broke down. After towing the car back home I sat to reflect on my day. I got to drive all of our vehicles in one day. I was thankful we were all home safe. Andy was never stranded alone thanks to the abundance of friendly country folk stopping to see if he was okay. My parents kept good watch over my kids for the first half of my troubles. I didn't get a speeding ticket to add to the expense. None of my vehicles ran out of gas. I had food on my table when I got home (only needed re-heating). Most importantly, I wasn't in any pain. Seems even a bad day can turn into a good one for reflecting on all the good things in life to be grateful for.

Halloweeen 2008

Hide and seek

While Naomi and Sabian were playing hide and seek, Adora quickly caught on to the idea. If she could hold still a bit longer, she may actually be good at it. She does know how to have fun.

Naomi's missing her two front teeth

The first one she lost a couple of weeks ago, and the last one on wednesday. I don't know why, but it makes me laugh. :) The bottom two haven't fully grown in so the gap is exaggerated :) Does anyone know why teeth fall out at such random times? Her cousin that was born on the same day has already lost and grown all his teeth and Naomi has only lost 4. Go figure.

Sabian the Artist

I didn't get pictures of the rest of his artwork because it took me awhile to calm down and think about it. He colored himself, his baby sister Adora, and her crib, and her walls, and inside Naomi's playroom. Naomi was feverishly cleaning the walls while I bathed Adora. After that, I took a mugshot of the criminal. He was fully clothed, but that didn't stop him from coloring his belly. I found the washable marker and disposed of it and had him finished cleaning his mess. Aparently that wasn't good enough because he awoke early the next morning (between 4am and 6am) to go do it again, this time with permanent markers. Ahhh, the joys of parenting!!!

First good snow

This photo was taken yesterday. (That is the courtyard at my work)

Before I go to bed...

Working overtime sure burns me out quicker, but my energy was rejuvenated frequently today when I'd think, "Gymnastics start tomorrow!" We are going to put Naomi and Sabian in a class at the same time and I'm taking every Wednesday off so I can watch them. I will only have to worry about watching Adora and smiling and waving at Naomi and Sabian. It may not always be total bliss, but the anticipation of something fun and new keeps me alive.

Icebike

I come home from work and see my husband was looking at the Icebike home page. I know he is addicted to riding his bike and rides in the snow if the roads are dry, but I think he is starting to cross the threshold of delerium. You may think cycling to work saves money on fuel, but I assure you every dollar saved is spent on cycling gear so he can look and feel great. It's all about staying in shape and loving it. Please feel free to leave your comments.

Time to read!

I read Naomi two bedtime stories and she read the 3rd one to me with very little help. I am so proud of her. Ever since Naomi started kindergarten, I've realized what a difficult language English really is. Why do we even have the letter C when K or S would work just fine? Why do the letters bdpq all look the same only turned just right? Why do we have so many different ways to write the same letter or number? And why does giraffe start with the letter G instead of J? Despite all these crazy things we all have to learn, our children learn to read anyhow. First grade is very fast paced, but the rewards are worth it. Three cheers for Naomi! Hip! Hip! Hooray!

Yard Work

Today I pulled weeds from everywhere, gathered them up and stuffed them in garbage bags. I watered my plants. I picked up the yard. I pulled the nasty disintegrating carpet off our front stairs. I sweeped off the patio and sidewalks. We made a run to the dump to get rid of extra garbage. After spending all day working in the yard, I feel I have finally accomplished something outside. However, I still have inside the house to worry about too, and I didn't even get to play this weekend. I can now see the advantage of owning an apartment. Less work to do, more time to play. Until now, I had never thought of any positive aspects of apartment life, but it is suddenly appealing. I even thought of moving into the camping trailer and parking it at my parent's house or something. Has anyone else had similar thoughts?

Potty train in one day! Why is this new to me?

Check out http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/25057426#25057426 for a quick video of Booty Camp, one woman's idea following ideas from this book. This inspired me to try something similar, and it seems to work. I've read the book and believe this is the best method. Check out "Toilet Training in Less Than A Day" by Nathan H. Azrin, PH.D. and Richard M. Foxx, PH.D. Sabian goes potty by himself now, thanks to Grandma's help while we were on vacation. I plan to try out this "new" method with Adora in a few months, and am optimistic. Adora can already use the potty with assistance when prompted, but I would not consider her to be "trained" by any means. This book has been around since 1974, so why am I only hearing about it just now? I've heard some of the techniques discussed on Dr. Phil, but was never told about this book. The author's study involved a range of children from 20 months to 4 years old and all cases were successful, most in less than 5 hours. This book wasn't in my library, but I bought it off ebay for less than $7.

Naomi is a First Grader!

Naomi loves her new school and is very excited. Yes, she already started. School started August 14th, which may be early to some, but it is so worth it cause we get spud harvest off. That's right, 2 weeks at the end of September and first of October, a time when no one else gets a vacation. I went to Disneyland at the end of September once; there were no lines. Imagine a theme park vacation with school age children and not having to wait in lines for more than 5 minutes and not having to make up school work upon getting back home. I know you're all jealous. :) The house next door to me is for sale if anyone is interested. I like first grade because now she can ride the bus both ways to my grandparents house too. Going to school all day makes it easier to find babysitters. I used to think kids learned to read in 1st grade, but now they start in kindergarten and fine tune their skills in first grade. Naomi only wants to learn to read so she can understand and play more video games. Go figure.

Check this out! Pooh bear rap! (I had to give a link cause I can't see how to post from youtube anymore)

Euromotion - Get Serious

For some reason this just makes me laugh. I especially like the kid in the supermarket with a dumbfounded look on his face. Obviously it is his first time being confronted by strange people singing in his face at the supermarket.

We just can't have nice things!

If any of you have listened to Jeff Foxworthy you will understand. My mischievious 2 year old boy first stepped on our laptop computer as a way to reach the things on top of the fridge (which were only put up there so he couldn't reach them). That is how the screen cracked and we can't hardly see through the wooly willy effect, especially the very important upper right corner. That is why we moved the computer downstairs to hook it up to the plasma HDTV we got for Christmas. Unfortunately he discovered he could pluck keys off while no one was watching.

Only 4 letters (AQOL) and 3 numbers (129) remain. Typing is much slower now. I really hate typing in passwords when it shows asterisks in place of what you type because I'm really not sure if I'm getting it right. Although I memorized the placement of the letters, the keys don't feel the same when you are only pushing on rubber nubs.

Siblings

Sabian must not be having a good day. I have heard only two things come out of his mouth, the first being a high pitched annoyed scream, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" (which grates at my nerves and makes me want to tape his mouth shut). The other choice phrase he has been saying all day is "Naomi did it!" Sabian is merely upset he can't have his way all the time. Such is life. Were it not for the whining, I might actually pity him.
On a funnier note, Adora played a joke on her daddy. Adora is a child who hates to have her nose wiped and always turns her head when she sees a tissue coming and more often than not needs restrained to accomplish the task. Andy said he was surprised the other day when she actually held still and let him wipe her nose. He then looked at her and Adora stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at him then smiled as if to say "there, that will show you." Adora is so much fun. She can now walk a few steps between open arms. May 29th she decided to try walking. My parents had fun with her and showed me her new trick as soon as I got home from work. Her enthusiam was funny. I always figured she could walk if she tried, but until now, she had no desire, after all, she could crawl fast enough to get into all sorts of trouble. I think the motivating factor was the warm weather. Now that she was wearing shorts, the carpet felt rough on her knees and crawling was less fun. On the grass she walks like a stink bug on her hands and feet with her butt up in the air. I'll try to get a picture one of these times, it really is quite comical.

Kidney Stones!

I never thought I'd be excited to find out I had kidney stones, but after almost 3 years of suffering it was such a relief to finally find out why! I'd really like to go back to the G.I. doctor and demand my money back. I knew he was wrong (told me it was IBS and to eat more fiber and I'd be fine), I even told him so. Probably why he referred me to his Nurse Practitioner (who listened better). For those of you who didn't know because I hate to complain, I've been suffering from crippling pain, nausea, and vomiting that comes and goes. I've unintentionally lost 20 pounds due to my inability to eat food and keep it in my stomach, not a diet plan I would recommend. I weigh 128 and should be 140. I have felt weak for a long time and haven't been able to do much about it. I was beginning to think there was no cure and I would forever be useless. I've had many expensive and painful test trying to find out my problem only to leave me poor, hopeless, and still in pain. (oh, and my stomach empties slowly, only cost $1200 and 2 days away from my baby due to radioactivity to find that out). Then FINALLY on May 16th the pain and vomiting wouldn't stop and 2 nurses had to swoop in and save me, finishing my job so I could go to the E.R. (bless you Cliff and Heather). At the E.R. this time I had a CAT scan which found 2 large stones along with smaller ones trying to pass. Not only did I finally get a diagnosis, but I also got respect and compassion from my husband who as you can imagine was also at his wits end having to do everything alone every time I got sick. Amazingly I was fine the next day and made Andy run a 5K on his B-day even though he tried to quit so he could be with me (he really does like to race but now the end was near he finally had the strength to be supportive). I had appointments with the urologist on Monday and Wednesday, Thursday I had lithotripsy where they TRIED to break up the stones with ultrasonic waves, but it didn't work well on my hard old stones. Usually it takes 400 hits to break them to dust, but after 3,400 hits (the max allowed) they were only reduced (and my back felt like a punching bag). Next morning at 2am enter pain and nausea that woke me and only got worse. By 9am I was in the worst pain in all my life, and I couldn't stop vomiting. My mom rescued me and took me back to the doctor and Andy took the kids camping (he still kept in touch). Apparently my still too large stones were unsuccessfully trying to come out. After 3 injections for the pain and nausea I was able to stand it long enough to make it to surgery that evening where the doctor removed my stones and placed a stent (think hollow straw) to help things drain right until I heal. I am so relieved it is almost over. Thank you all for your prayers. And bless Dr. Cannon for finally fixing me even though he had to stay late on memorial weekend to take care of me. He is a good soul, I can tell he really cares. Thus ends my story. I could go on longer, but I won't. Anyway, I will try to update more soon. Now you know why my posts were so sporradic, it's not just the kids.

Naomi Gym Jazz Videos

Naomi had her first show off day at gym jazz on saturday, so I thought now would be a good time to show some videos from her gym class. The man in the first video is a U.S. champion gymnast who teaches a class at Naomi' gym. There is also a woman who is a world champion, though I haven't seen her yet, Andy has. Naomi likes her gymnastics. Naomi also did uneven bars, balance beam, and trampoline on show off day, but my camera battery died. I spent most of the day chasing Sabian around anyway. At least her grandmas got to watch her.

Family pictures 2008

We did a super family theme this year, which I thought was a lot of fun. My decision was mostly made by a fatigued mind that said I could get all the clothes cheap and easy since superman stuff is everywhere. Every year we get pictures, most of the money is spent on new clothes. This year it was a quick one stop shop at walmart for everyone except Sabian who found Jammies at the mall.

Why is it so impossible to get a family photo with every kid looking at the camera and smiling?

After the third time of not listening, we had to give up on telling Naomi to put her feet back down. As an afterthought, perhaps we should have had her take her shoes off so we didn't have to stare at the bottom of her shoe.

Rexburg Temple

I forgot to publish this photo back in January when we went to the open house.

Adora is so sweet

Those baby blue eyes and those two little teeth keep making me smile.

Sabian loves duplos

He seems content to build all day. The last tower I helped him build when he became frustrated that his single depth creations were less than sturdy. He can stay entertained for hours with those blocks, and I can be entertained just watching him. He has great determination.

GYM Jazz

We signed Naomi up for a combination of Gymnastics and Dance in one class. I was impressed with her tumbling and her work on the uneven bars. She still has a lot to learn, but she did very well for a first day, her instructor even said so. Naomi said her teacher kept asking if she'd done this before, to which she replied "I've seen it on T.V." Naomi continued to talk about gymnastics for the rest of the evening, partially because she was so excited and proud of herself, and partly I think because she loves saying the word 'gymnastics.'

German Pancakes

I've never seen it rise quite like this. Andy made it.

Snow Day

Andy stayed home from Guard this weekend due to bad roads. He pulled 2 trucks out by our house yesterday evening and 2 more cars out at 2am while checking out the road conditions.

You can see how high the plow has buried us in from all the drifts. Our neighbors wouldn't have access to their driveway at all if Andy hadn't plowed him out.

Here's our backyard. We used to have a swingset in the corner. You can see the drift going over the top of our neighbor's portion of the 6 foot high fence.

Snow plow

We finally broke down and got a plow. I was snowed out yesterday and couldn't even get into my driveway. Luckily a neighbor with a tractor helped me get in. Here is some pics of Andy and Sabian.

Adora steps up

Does this count as pulling herself up? She may not be completely standing, but she did use the step stool to get up on her feet.

My little inchworm

Wow! Now Adora can really move. She's pretty fast too. She enjoys moving around on the floor. Now I have sufficient motivation to keep the floors picked up and vacuumed at all times. I watched her move from the living room to the dining room and back again all on her own. She seemed pretty proud of herself.

Andy loves Legos

Here's a clip of Andy playing with the new lego set he got for Christmas. Sabian and Adora enjoyed helping too (if you can call it help).

Short clip of Adora moving. I wouldn't quite call it crawling yet. She usually looks more like that 80s dance move "the worm,"

7 year old sings National Anthem - Anthony Gargiula