Today at 7:30 pm, we pulled some weeds and planted some zinnia seeds. The zinnias are not exactly flourishing this year, possibly because Belle has decided to make that flower bed her own personal toilet. I keep squirting her with the hose every time I catch her in the act. I frequently hate cats.
After yard work, we jumped in the car and went to look for bird houses and to buy the first snow cones of the season. Duncan got root beer and wild cherry. I got peach and pina colada and Olivia went for tiger's blood. Now we are off to take Piper for a walk to see the new baby goats at the end of the street. It's not much, but it's all we got.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Monday, June 2, 2014
Hey Monday
What I absitevely positlutely had to do on this beautiful first Monday in June:
-take Olivia to a dentist appointment.
- get a root canal of my own while I was there.
I so did not want to spend time in the dentist chair today.
What I really really needed to get done today:
- a pile of laundry
- a pile of dishes
- a pile of shopping
- a menu plan
-a fridge clean out
I didn't much want to do any of that either, but it would have been preferable to the dentist chair.
What I should have done today, but didn't even think about making time for:
-gone for a run
-paid some bills
-cleaned a toilet
-walked a dog
-read a book
All good things, right?
What I really wanted to do today:
-plant some flowers
-shop for a bird house for the top of our brand new stump, created on Saturday when we took down our dead tree
-water the lawn
-clean out my closet
-sit in the sun
And what I actually did, which I have to note, since it feels like I got nothing accomplished:
-went to the bank
-washed underwear
-tore the sheets off my bed
-folded clothes
-went to the dentist
-played on my phone
-took my kids shopping for some much needed summer clothing
-ate outside at In-n-Out Burger with my kids
-drove to Brigham City and back
Now we are watching Toy Story III, which was the compromise between Olivia wanting to watch Sleeping Beauty and Duncan wanting to wach Harry Potter. Only now Duncan is nowhere to be seen, and Olivia should be in bed because she has SCHOOL tomorrow. I guess I should also note that Will and Audrey's last day of school was Friday. Olivia still has a month left. This year round schedule is for the birds. It's gonna be a weird summer.
-take Olivia to a dentist appointment.
- get a root canal of my own while I was there.
I so did not want to spend time in the dentist chair today.
What I really really needed to get done today:
- a pile of laundry
- a pile of dishes
- a pile of shopping
- a menu plan
-a fridge clean out
I didn't much want to do any of that either, but it would have been preferable to the dentist chair.
What I should have done today, but didn't even think about making time for:
-gone for a run
-paid some bills
-cleaned a toilet
-walked a dog
-read a book
All good things, right?
What I really wanted to do today:
-plant some flowers
-shop for a bird house for the top of our brand new stump, created on Saturday when we took down our dead tree
-water the lawn
-clean out my closet
-sit in the sun
And what I actually did, which I have to note, since it feels like I got nothing accomplished:
-went to the bank
-washed underwear
-tore the sheets off my bed
-folded clothes
-went to the dentist
-played on my phone
-took my kids shopping for some much needed summer clothing
-ate outside at In-n-Out Burger with my kids
-drove to Brigham City and back
Now we are watching Toy Story III, which was the compromise between Olivia wanting to watch Sleeping Beauty and Duncan wanting to wach Harry Potter. Only now Duncan is nowhere to be seen, and Olivia should be in bed because she has SCHOOL tomorrow. I guess I should also note that Will and Audrey's last day of school was Friday. Olivia still has a month left. This year round schedule is for the birds. It's gonna be a weird summer.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Surprise Surprise
From day one, every thing about Olivia has been a surprise. You would think by the time you get to your sixth kid, you would know what to expect, but this girl has pulled the unexpected on us at every turn. So it only seemed fitting that for her ninth birthday pary, we throw a few suprises her way.
We started talking about her birthday in January. I was very adamant that we would not be having a big birthday party this year. She has had huge blowout birthday parties for the past five years, and it seemed like a good year for a nice quiet little celebration. Olivia agreed, and all she really wanted was a family party with her cousins. Sounded perfect to me.
Then complications started setting in. Dan had to work that day. So we opted to have cousins come up on Sunday. But that left us with all of Saturday, which was her actual birthday. It seemed like such a waste to have a birthday on a Saturday and not have something fun going on. When I asked Olivia what she wanted to do, she said she wanted to have a double play date with some of her friends. Then the wheels of my mind started cranking. Dan was planning on taking her out to breakfast that morning before he went to work. It seemed like the perfect set up for a surprise party.
Then it became a theme, and we planned a few more surprises for her along the way.
First off, when she opened her bedroom door on her birthday morning, she was hit with an avalanche of balloons that were taped to her door and rigged to fall down when the door opened. She got up too early for us to catch the moment, but this is what we did catch:
Then, at breakfast, she was stood on a chair and serenaded by the cutest waiter ever, who got all of Denney's to sing to her. She was not too thrilled with this at the moment, but came to grips with it later on and decided it was pretty cool.
When she got home from her birthday breakfast, she was so surprised and happy to find all of her friends jumping out to yell surprise at her. She was so sweet and happy, and has been talking about it ever since. One of the best parties we have ever had, one of the easiest and one of the cheapest. I didn't have a lot planned, but it turned into an all day play date with her favorite friends.
My cake creation. Olivia has been wanting to make one of these rainbow cakes for a long time. It was surprisingly easy, and fun, and turned out great, only a little crooked.
Later on, Grandma and Grandpa came over for yet more party. Olivia got a tea set for her birthday, and Grandma and Audrey joined her on the floor for an impromptu tea party.
Audrey must have lovely breath. Her parakeet was fasinated with the inside of her mouth, and darn near hopped right in.
The next day, Grandma Linda, Melissa, Clint and kids came up for more yet more partying. Audrey made cupcakes, and as usual, created a masterpiece with them before they were devoured. The twelve of us managed to make 48 cupcakes disappear in one evening.
Originally, all Olivia wanted to do for her birthday was a have a party with cousins. It's nice when you get all your heart desires. But next year, I MEAN it. NO PARTIES.
We started talking about her birthday in January. I was very adamant that we would not be having a big birthday party this year. She has had huge blowout birthday parties for the past five years, and it seemed like a good year for a nice quiet little celebration. Olivia agreed, and all she really wanted was a family party with her cousins. Sounded perfect to me.
Then complications started setting in. Dan had to work that day. So we opted to have cousins come up on Sunday. But that left us with all of Saturday, which was her actual birthday. It seemed like such a waste to have a birthday on a Saturday and not have something fun going on. When I asked Olivia what she wanted to do, she said she wanted to have a double play date with some of her friends. Then the wheels of my mind started cranking. Dan was planning on taking her out to breakfast that morning before he went to work. It seemed like the perfect set up for a surprise party.
Then it became a theme, and we planned a few more surprises for her along the way.
First off, when she opened her bedroom door on her birthday morning, she was hit with an avalanche of balloons that were taped to her door and rigged to fall down when the door opened. She got up too early for us to catch the moment, but this is what we did catch:
The Before:
And the After:
Then, at breakfast, she was stood on a chair and serenaded by the cutest waiter ever, who got all of Denney's to sing to her. She was not too thrilled with this at the moment, but came to grips with it later on and decided it was pretty cool.
When she got home from her birthday breakfast, she was so surprised and happy to find all of her friends jumping out to yell surprise at her. She was so sweet and happy, and has been talking about it ever since. One of the best parties we have ever had, one of the easiest and one of the cheapest. I didn't have a lot planned, but it turned into an all day play date with her favorite friends.
My cake creation. Olivia has been wanting to make one of these rainbow cakes for a long time. It was surprisingly easy, and fun, and turned out great, only a little crooked.
Later on, Grandma and Grandpa came over for yet more party. Olivia got a tea set for her birthday, and Grandma and Audrey joined her on the floor for an impromptu tea party.
Audrey must have lovely breath. Her parakeet was fasinated with the inside of her mouth, and darn near hopped right in.
The next day, Grandma Linda, Melissa, Clint and kids came up for more yet more partying. Audrey made cupcakes, and as usual, created a masterpiece with them before they were devoured. The twelve of us managed to make 48 cupcakes disappear in one evening.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Easter Was Late This Year, But Not That Late
Apparently, Easter was windy this year.
It is now June 1, and I am attempting to reconstruct the holiday based on the pictures we took.
I know we went to church. I know the girls got new dresses and the boys got new ties.
Grandma and Grandpa came up.
There was an Easter Egg hunt involving cold hard cash. There was candy, and there was the breaking of the Sugar Ban. Alisa texted me at midnight to let me know what she was eating. I can't remember what I ate, but I know that it has been pretty much a free-for-all in the junk food department since then. I feel like I have gained 10 pounds. Something better come along to motivate to do something again, and fast.
I have one child left that happily and voluntarily poses for cute pictures in her Easter dress. I have to exploit that while it lasts.
Oh and then there is this child, who never minds being exploited as long as it involves a nice long belly rub.
Um, Happy Easter to us, I guess?
Oh, there that one is a little better.
The 2014 version of Easter Fun with a Bunny Cake
Saturday, May 17, 2014
May 17, 2005
To tell the story of May 17, 2005, we must start on May 2, 2005. I was at home, 36 weeks pregnant (which will become a significant detail later in this story), having a regular day and planning an afternoon trip to Salt Lake to take Will to an appointment with his eye doctor at Primary Childrens. Around noon, I realized that I was having pretty regular contractions, much like what had happened with Audrey when she was born. They weren't painful, just noticeable and very regular. It was exactly one month before my official due date, and I was certain they weren't "real" contractions. I went about my day and tried to ignore them, but they started getting closer and closer together, and just before it was time to leave for Salt Lake, I decided I better let my doctor in on what was going on, just to be on the safe side before I hit the road.
Fast forward through some phone calls, and about an hour later I found myself in the hospital, having been cajoled into canceling the eye appointment and going in for monitoring. I think the nurses in labor and delivery must get an awful lot of hopeful women in there, sure that they are in labor when they really aren't, because the nurse that got me all hooked up to the monitors was a study in how to act bored at work, until she had me on the monitor for a few minutes. Then when she looked at the readout, she perked up pretty fast and said, "Hey you ARE having some good contractions there!" So I got to stay for a while and they monitored my contractions for a few more hours, checked out how the baby was doing, and called my doctor, who said STOP THE CONTRACTIONS. SHE IS ONLY 36 WEEKS. SHE CAN'T HAVE A BABY UNTIL SHE IS 37 WEEKS. For some reason, this made me mad, and I said I am 36 and one half weeks. So I can have a baby in three days, but not today? And the nurses said you can have a baby today IF you stay in labor after we give you all these drugs to stop labor. If they don't work, then you will have a baby today. I said I didn't want the drugs, but there is really no arguing with labor and delivery nurses about these matters, and besides, Dan was on their side. So I got pumped full of all sorts of drugs, and fluids, and sent home on bed rest, and a few hours later, the contractions slowed down. I remember thinking oh great, I missed Will's eye appointment for nothing, and my poor baby wanted to come so badly today and those mean old nurses wouldn't let her. Pregnancy is really hard on a brain. But I was very upset that I had not been allowed to deliver that day.
I also thought it was so stupid that I was on bedrest. I didn't think there was anything wrong with me, and I didn't think it would matter if the baby came early, so I was an awful patient. I mean, I wasn't running a marathon or anything, but I was not exactly compliant either. A day or so later, at my next doctor's appointment, my blood pressure was up. I totally lied and said that I was resting as much as I could. My next appointment after that was May 17, and my blood pressure was up again. The doctor said he probably should just stick me in the hospital then and there, and induce me that day. But by this point, I had decided that I really wasn't ready just yet to have this baby, and I really did not want to be induced. So the doctor agreed to see me in three more days. He gave me a list of symptoms and said to call him immediately if I had any of those symptoms, or if anything just didn't feel right.
I went home determined to be a better patient, and went right to bed. Audrey was at the park behind our house playing with a friend. I had sloppy joes in the crock pot for dinner. So I figured I could get some rest before everybody else came home from school. I'd been laying down for about a half hour when I felt a gush of something, and I thought my water had broken. I went into the bathroom to check things out, and all I remember was seeing blood everywhere. All of a sudden it seemed like there was blood all over me, all over the floor, and all over the toilet. I totally panicked. All I could think of was placenta previa, when the placenta separates from the uterine wall, leaving the baby with no oxygen. I remembered in all the childbirth books ever written, they always warned you to call your doctor immediately if you started bleeding like that. So I called my doctor's office and they said call the ambulance. I kept thinking about the bassinet we had set up in the room across the hall, and how after nine months of waiting we were not going to have a baby after all. It was the most despair I have ever felt. All I could think of was that my baby was maybe dying right at that moment and there was nothing I could do. I called the paramedics. Mitch came home from school right in the middle of all this drama, and I explained to him the best I could about what was happening, and Audrey and the sloppy joes. I called Dan and told him to get right to the hospital, but I didn't tell him anything else.
So the paramedics show up and bundle me off in the ambulance. I didn't know this til later, but Dan pulled up to the house just in time to see the ambulance leaving, and then of course, he panicked. It was a two minute drive to the ER, which was a block from our house. Never in my life have I been so glad that I lived close to the hospital. Dan met me on the way in, and got the lowdown on what was happening. My doctor's partner was there to meet me, and they took us right back and started taking blood and examining and monitoring everything. When I heard the baby's heartbeat, I bawled. To say I was relieved to hear that heartbeat, and to find out she was alive is the understatement of my life. Right after that they were able to see that the baby was still fine, and the placenta was not detached. They took a bunch of blood and ran a bunch of tests trying to find out what was going on. They also told me I would be staying, and having a baby that day. And that was fine with me. I didn't care about not being ready, or being induced. I just wanted that baby safe and sound in my arms, and I wasn't leaving the hospital until she was.
A little bit later, my doctor came in and said that I had something called HELLP Syndrome. I had never heard of it before, and still don't really know what it is. The bottom line was that the sooner the baby was born, the better it would be for both of us. Everything was looking stable, I was having some contractions, and so we decided to monitor things and see if the baby would come on her own. By this time, I had calmed down a little bit, we had a heart monitor on the baby so I knew she was fine, and the bleeding had stopped. So we called everybody who was anybody to let them know what was going on, and settled in for the day. Around five that evening, we got a phone call from Mitch, who was in charge at home until Grandma could get there. He had cut his hand on a knife and was pretty sure he needed stitches. Looks like it was going to turn into family day in the ER. Fortunately, grandma showed up not too long after that, and determined that he only needed a bandaid. Crisis averted. We could again get back to giving birth.
All through the day the nurses kept coming in to get more blood. I was hooked up to an IV so I couldn't get out of bed too easily, and frankly, I was traumatized, and really just wanted to stay in one place. It was so NOT the calm, unmedicated birth experience I had been planning on with my midwife. My doctor came back in later to tell me that the blood tests were looking better, and maybe I didn't have that syndrome after all. That is a mystery that was never fully resolved- what made me start bleeding, and if I ever really did have HELLP. I guess I could have stayed pregnant a few more days, and found out for sure, but getting our baby here seemed a little more important.
I think it was around ten pm that the contractions started to get really hard. I honestly don't remember if they wound up giving me anything, or if the contractions finally picked up on their own. I remember I sat in that hospital bed for what seemed like forever, so tired, and just waiting for my labor to kick in to gear, and placing bets on whether she would be born on the 17th or the 18th. My bets were on the 18th.
About 10:30, I decided I couldn't take it anymore, and asked for an epidural. The epidural got placed around 11. But it wasn't working right. The doctor was fiddling around with it, trying to get it to work, and it turned out to be a complete waste, because right then my OB came in, and checked, and it was time to have a baby!! She took her own sweet time, but when she decided she was ready, she was READY. Baby number six came out screaming at 11:10 pm, on the 17th of May, after only a push or two. She was our smallest at seven pounds four ounces, and also our darkest and hairiest. She was absolutely miraculous. I was in love from the first moment, and so incredibly thankful to have her in my arms. Now if only she had a name.....
Fast forward through some phone calls, and about an hour later I found myself in the hospital, having been cajoled into canceling the eye appointment and going in for monitoring. I think the nurses in labor and delivery must get an awful lot of hopeful women in there, sure that they are in labor when they really aren't, because the nurse that got me all hooked up to the monitors was a study in how to act bored at work, until she had me on the monitor for a few minutes. Then when she looked at the readout, she perked up pretty fast and said, "Hey you ARE having some good contractions there!" So I got to stay for a while and they monitored my contractions for a few more hours, checked out how the baby was doing, and called my doctor, who said STOP THE CONTRACTIONS. SHE IS ONLY 36 WEEKS. SHE CAN'T HAVE A BABY UNTIL SHE IS 37 WEEKS. For some reason, this made me mad, and I said I am 36 and one half weeks. So I can have a baby in three days, but not today? And the nurses said you can have a baby today IF you stay in labor after we give you all these drugs to stop labor. If they don't work, then you will have a baby today. I said I didn't want the drugs, but there is really no arguing with labor and delivery nurses about these matters, and besides, Dan was on their side. So I got pumped full of all sorts of drugs, and fluids, and sent home on bed rest, and a few hours later, the contractions slowed down. I remember thinking oh great, I missed Will's eye appointment for nothing, and my poor baby wanted to come so badly today and those mean old nurses wouldn't let her. Pregnancy is really hard on a brain. But I was very upset that I had not been allowed to deliver that day.
I also thought it was so stupid that I was on bedrest. I didn't think there was anything wrong with me, and I didn't think it would matter if the baby came early, so I was an awful patient. I mean, I wasn't running a marathon or anything, but I was not exactly compliant either. A day or so later, at my next doctor's appointment, my blood pressure was up. I totally lied and said that I was resting as much as I could. My next appointment after that was May 17, and my blood pressure was up again. The doctor said he probably should just stick me in the hospital then and there, and induce me that day. But by this point, I had decided that I really wasn't ready just yet to have this baby, and I really did not want to be induced. So the doctor agreed to see me in three more days. He gave me a list of symptoms and said to call him immediately if I had any of those symptoms, or if anything just didn't feel right.
I went home determined to be a better patient, and went right to bed. Audrey was at the park behind our house playing with a friend. I had sloppy joes in the crock pot for dinner. So I figured I could get some rest before everybody else came home from school. I'd been laying down for about a half hour when I felt a gush of something, and I thought my water had broken. I went into the bathroom to check things out, and all I remember was seeing blood everywhere. All of a sudden it seemed like there was blood all over me, all over the floor, and all over the toilet. I totally panicked. All I could think of was placenta previa, when the placenta separates from the uterine wall, leaving the baby with no oxygen. I remembered in all the childbirth books ever written, they always warned you to call your doctor immediately if you started bleeding like that. So I called my doctor's office and they said call the ambulance. I kept thinking about the bassinet we had set up in the room across the hall, and how after nine months of waiting we were not going to have a baby after all. It was the most despair I have ever felt. All I could think of was that my baby was maybe dying right at that moment and there was nothing I could do. I called the paramedics. Mitch came home from school right in the middle of all this drama, and I explained to him the best I could about what was happening, and Audrey and the sloppy joes. I called Dan and told him to get right to the hospital, but I didn't tell him anything else.
So the paramedics show up and bundle me off in the ambulance. I didn't know this til later, but Dan pulled up to the house just in time to see the ambulance leaving, and then of course, he panicked. It was a two minute drive to the ER, which was a block from our house. Never in my life have I been so glad that I lived close to the hospital. Dan met me on the way in, and got the lowdown on what was happening. My doctor's partner was there to meet me, and they took us right back and started taking blood and examining and monitoring everything. When I heard the baby's heartbeat, I bawled. To say I was relieved to hear that heartbeat, and to find out she was alive is the understatement of my life. Right after that they were able to see that the baby was still fine, and the placenta was not detached. They took a bunch of blood and ran a bunch of tests trying to find out what was going on. They also told me I would be staying, and having a baby that day. And that was fine with me. I didn't care about not being ready, or being induced. I just wanted that baby safe and sound in my arms, and I wasn't leaving the hospital until she was.
A little bit later, my doctor came in and said that I had something called HELLP Syndrome. I had never heard of it before, and still don't really know what it is. The bottom line was that the sooner the baby was born, the better it would be for both of us. Everything was looking stable, I was having some contractions, and so we decided to monitor things and see if the baby would come on her own. By this time, I had calmed down a little bit, we had a heart monitor on the baby so I knew she was fine, and the bleeding had stopped. So we called everybody who was anybody to let them know what was going on, and settled in for the day. Around five that evening, we got a phone call from Mitch, who was in charge at home until Grandma could get there. He had cut his hand on a knife and was pretty sure he needed stitches. Looks like it was going to turn into family day in the ER. Fortunately, grandma showed up not too long after that, and determined that he only needed a bandaid. Crisis averted. We could again get back to giving birth.
All through the day the nurses kept coming in to get more blood. I was hooked up to an IV so I couldn't get out of bed too easily, and frankly, I was traumatized, and really just wanted to stay in one place. It was so NOT the calm, unmedicated birth experience I had been planning on with my midwife. My doctor came back in later to tell me that the blood tests were looking better, and maybe I didn't have that syndrome after all. That is a mystery that was never fully resolved- what made me start bleeding, and if I ever really did have HELLP. I guess I could have stayed pregnant a few more days, and found out for sure, but getting our baby here seemed a little more important.
I think it was around ten pm that the contractions started to get really hard. I honestly don't remember if they wound up giving me anything, or if the contractions finally picked up on their own. I remember I sat in that hospital bed for what seemed like forever, so tired, and just waiting for my labor to kick in to gear, and placing bets on whether she would be born on the 17th or the 18th. My bets were on the 18th.
About 10:30, I decided I couldn't take it anymore, and asked for an epidural. The epidural got placed around 11. But it wasn't working right. The doctor was fiddling around with it, trying to get it to work, and it turned out to be a complete waste, because right then my OB came in, and checked, and it was time to have a baby!! She took her own sweet time, but when she decided she was ready, she was READY. Baby number six came out screaming at 11:10 pm, on the 17th of May, after only a push or two. She was our smallest at seven pounds four ounces, and also our darkest and hairiest. She was absolutely miraculous. I was in love from the first moment, and so incredibly thankful to have her in my arms. Now if only she had a name.....
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
If It Ain't One Thing
Irony: Paying nearly $500.00 on Tuesday to get your car fixed, only to have your garage door break on Wednesday, with the car trapped inside. Dan and some neighbors are out there right now trying to get the door up so he can get his car out. Ain't life grand? And it doesn't look good. We may be in for some serious $$$.
More Irony: Taking Audrey to the doctor on Monday with a whole list of mysterious symptoms that didn't pin down any kind of diagnosis, then having her tonsils turn into golf balls on Tuesday afternoon. And yet more irony: the doctor was more worried about the symptom we kind of threw in at the last minute as an afterthought than all the symptoms that have been plaguing her for a few months now. Bottom line is, Audrey has a toe that won't bend. It's been like that for a while, and we aren't really sure if it was always that way, or if something happened to it. The doctor took an x-ray, and said her toe joint looked like it had been destroyed. She wants to do more blood tests to rule out all kinds of horrible diseases. We weren't even worried about the toe. We have been more worried about the aches and pains everywhere else, the head pressure, the dizziness, ringing ears and weird vision. Oh, and now, thanks to the tonsils, we get to go back for a strep test too. Can't wait to see what results we get back.
Piper is settling in nicely. Her personality is blooming, as is her bark. She has transformed from this sad, quiet, skinny, scared little dog who literally ran from her own shadow into this perky, peppy, playful, barky little puppy. She is better entertainment than Netflix. Audrey is teaching her all kinds of tricks. She knows sit, sit up, lay, play dead, and leap- through a hula hoop. Now if we could just get her to stay put and shut up. I think she know that she has all of us wrapped around her little paw. Well, all of us except the cats. The cats are still so insulted that we had the nerve to bring home another dog. When she was afraid of them, it wasn't so bad for them, but now she is starting to believe that she should be ahead of the cats in the pack pecking order, and they are having none of that. Only she has about forty times more energy than all three of them put together ever thought of having, and so whatever the contest, Piper usually wins out of sheer stick-to-itiveness.
Oh, and somebody has a birthday coming up on Saturday! More about THAT coming soon!
More Irony: Taking Audrey to the doctor on Monday with a whole list of mysterious symptoms that didn't pin down any kind of diagnosis, then having her tonsils turn into golf balls on Tuesday afternoon. And yet more irony: the doctor was more worried about the symptom we kind of threw in at the last minute as an afterthought than all the symptoms that have been plaguing her for a few months now. Bottom line is, Audrey has a toe that won't bend. It's been like that for a while, and we aren't really sure if it was always that way, or if something happened to it. The doctor took an x-ray, and said her toe joint looked like it had been destroyed. She wants to do more blood tests to rule out all kinds of horrible diseases. We weren't even worried about the toe. We have been more worried about the aches and pains everywhere else, the head pressure, the dizziness, ringing ears and weird vision. Oh, and now, thanks to the tonsils, we get to go back for a strep test too. Can't wait to see what results we get back.
Piper is settling in nicely. Her personality is blooming, as is her bark. She has transformed from this sad, quiet, skinny, scared little dog who literally ran from her own shadow into this perky, peppy, playful, barky little puppy. She is better entertainment than Netflix. Audrey is teaching her all kinds of tricks. She knows sit, sit up, lay, play dead, and leap- through a hula hoop. Now if we could just get her to stay put and shut up. I think she know that she has all of us wrapped around her little paw. Well, all of us except the cats. The cats are still so insulted that we had the nerve to bring home another dog. When she was afraid of them, it wasn't so bad for them, but now she is starting to believe that she should be ahead of the cats in the pack pecking order, and they are having none of that. Only she has about forty times more energy than all three of them put together ever thought of having, and so whatever the contest, Piper usually wins out of sheer stick-to-itiveness.
Oh, and somebody has a birthday coming up on Saturday! More about THAT coming soon!
Saturday, May 3, 2014
A Red Letter, Smiley Face, Star on the Forehead Kind of Day
For a Saturday, this day almost could not have been better. I mean, we could have won the lottery and that might have been an improvement, but barring any miracles, this day was pretty darn good.
We got up at the crack of dawn, which ordinarily, would not be the best start to a Saturday, but the weather was beautiful, which always makes everything better. We were off to go pick up our Bountiful Basket, and there was endive in it. Never tried endive, and I'm kind of excited about it. Then, since we were up so early, we hit Great Harvest for breakfast, and got a ton of yummy stuff from the day old rack, as well as our free slice of bread. On the way home, our neighbors were having a garage sale, and they were selling a mattress and box springs. They made us a great deal on it, and since our poor girl has been sleeping on a mattress that is 20+ years old, I was pretty stoked to find this one for her. Normally, used mattress would kind of gross me out, but since we know where it came from, I feel much better about it. We were back home by about 7:30, and I did one of my favorite things ever, that I have only ever done about two other times in my life, and that is to go back to bed after breakfast. Something about getting back to into bed while it is still morning and with a full stomach is really wonderful. I slept for two more hours, and when I got up, Dan had cleaned off our patio chairs, and was organizing the kids for a project, which turned out to be......
CLEANING OUT THE BASEMENT STORAGE ROOM!!!!!
It looks fantastic, and we got rid of so much old crap. But the best part is not what we got rid of but what we found. My missing pictures!! A box of baby pictures of all my kids has been missing since our Great Flood of '10, and after searching every possible place I could think of, I had lost hope of ever finding them. I had come to believe that they had somehow gotten thrown out with all the things that were ruined in the flood. But no, they had gotten stuffed down inside a box with the CDs that have all our other pictures on them, and put inside an old computer hutch. I still can't believe they finally turned up. They are now stuffed safely away in the jumbly box under my bed with all the other unorganized pictures, but at least now I know where they are. This find alone would have been enough to make my day.
Then we hauled a load from the basement off to DI and on the way home stopped at the neighbor's house to haul home the mattress, and wouldn't you know it, there was a girl's bike there that hadn't sold that was the perfect size for Olivia, so that came home with us too. She is pretty hesitant about the whole bike experience. She is nearly nine, and has not mastered the balance thing at all. Hopefully, this will be the summer that she takes off.
And THEN, Dan had to go work a soccer game, and I headed out to clean my flower beds. May not sound too exciting, but it is something that my schedule and the weather have not been cooperative on. Today, a slice of time and a nice day both opened wide up. I was working right outside Olivia's open bedroom window, where she was in her room with her friends. I could hear them playing and laughing. Then I heard her trying to explain to Lili what a coincidence was. " It's like when someone says it's going to start raining, and then all of sudden it starts. to rain. That's a coincidence." "Ohhhh", says Lili, as if the understanding of the universe has been imparted to her. I love those kids.
After the weeding, I connived and cajoled Will and Duncan to set up the trampoline for the girls. They were none too happy about this, and worked pretty hard to convince me that they were not capable of doing this, but, with a little encouragement and assistance from moi, lo and behold the trampoline got assembled, and kids were happily jumping away.
Now, I am contemplating endive and feeling smug about everything we did today. Olivia is off down the street playing. The boys are exhausted from their 30 minutes of intensive labor. The dog is exhausted from running around the yard with us all afternoon. Audrey is spending the weekend in Duchesne. There are still sheets to wash for the new bed, and the kitchen is a mess, and I don't think the endive will cut it for dinner. But life is good tonight.
We got up at the crack of dawn, which ordinarily, would not be the best start to a Saturday, but the weather was beautiful, which always makes everything better. We were off to go pick up our Bountiful Basket, and there was endive in it. Never tried endive, and I'm kind of excited about it. Then, since we were up so early, we hit Great Harvest for breakfast, and got a ton of yummy stuff from the day old rack, as well as our free slice of bread. On the way home, our neighbors were having a garage sale, and they were selling a mattress and box springs. They made us a great deal on it, and since our poor girl has been sleeping on a mattress that is 20+ years old, I was pretty stoked to find this one for her. Normally, used mattress would kind of gross me out, but since we know where it came from, I feel much better about it. We were back home by about 7:30, and I did one of my favorite things ever, that I have only ever done about two other times in my life, and that is to go back to bed after breakfast. Something about getting back to into bed while it is still morning and with a full stomach is really wonderful. I slept for two more hours, and when I got up, Dan had cleaned off our patio chairs, and was organizing the kids for a project, which turned out to be......
CLEANING OUT THE BASEMENT STORAGE ROOM!!!!!
It looks fantastic, and we got rid of so much old crap. But the best part is not what we got rid of but what we found. My missing pictures!! A box of baby pictures of all my kids has been missing since our Great Flood of '10, and after searching every possible place I could think of, I had lost hope of ever finding them. I had come to believe that they had somehow gotten thrown out with all the things that were ruined in the flood. But no, they had gotten stuffed down inside a box with the CDs that have all our other pictures on them, and put inside an old computer hutch. I still can't believe they finally turned up. They are now stuffed safely away in the jumbly box under my bed with all the other unorganized pictures, but at least now I know where they are. This find alone would have been enough to make my day.
Then we hauled a load from the basement off to DI and on the way home stopped at the neighbor's house to haul home the mattress, and wouldn't you know it, there was a girl's bike there that hadn't sold that was the perfect size for Olivia, so that came home with us too. She is pretty hesitant about the whole bike experience. She is nearly nine, and has not mastered the balance thing at all. Hopefully, this will be the summer that she takes off.
And THEN, Dan had to go work a soccer game, and I headed out to clean my flower beds. May not sound too exciting, but it is something that my schedule and the weather have not been cooperative on. Today, a slice of time and a nice day both opened wide up. I was working right outside Olivia's open bedroom window, where she was in her room with her friends. I could hear them playing and laughing. Then I heard her trying to explain to Lili what a coincidence was. " It's like when someone says it's going to start raining, and then all of sudden it starts. to rain. That's a coincidence." "Ohhhh", says Lili, as if the understanding of the universe has been imparted to her. I love those kids.
After the weeding, I connived and cajoled Will and Duncan to set up the trampoline for the girls. They were none too happy about this, and worked pretty hard to convince me that they were not capable of doing this, but, with a little encouragement and assistance from moi, lo and behold the trampoline got assembled, and kids were happily jumping away.
Now, I am contemplating endive and feeling smug about everything we did today. Olivia is off down the street playing. The boys are exhausted from their 30 minutes of intensive labor. The dog is exhausted from running around the yard with us all afternoon. Audrey is spending the weekend in Duchesne. There are still sheets to wash for the new bed, and the kitchen is a mess, and I don't think the endive will cut it for dinner. But life is good tonight.
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