New Frustrations Being Made Better By Christmas Spirit!

If you'll recall, I'd posted about my daughter being afraid to go to school all of a sudden. We thought that had been fixed and that she felt safe again. We were wrong. I had to bribe her to go to school the last two days before Christmas break began. I used the bus as leverage...she could ride the bus TO school if she would just go! On Friday, she (well, I) forgot her morning snack and realized this just as the bus was coming into view. This didn't leave me enough time to run back in and get it before the bus would get there. I promised her that it would be there for her when she got to school. When I got there the teacher questioned where Terra was and I explained that I had to bribe her to go to school and the reasoning...what was going on. Her teacher called me a liar (the NERVE!) and told me that that wasn't true, that *I* had been lied to and that there must be something else going on outside of school because she's always just fine when she gets to school. I had it out with her right there. Let's just say that teacher and I aren't exactly on good terms right now (and that she was put in her place and admitted her wrong-doing in the matter after a second chat after school)...it's a good thing that there's at least 2.5 weeks until I see her next.

We haven't had much progress by way of therapy for Tyler...we've had the sickies the last two weeks in a row and might have another bout of them again this week. We'll see how everyone is feeling on Tuesday morning.

I've started doing a sale until the end of the year for PartyLite, but haven't been having much luck (not that I expected a whole lot this close to Christmas, but I was hoping for at least something)! So, I've decided to offer this "prize sale" at my sister's party out in Salt Lake City, UT the day after Christmas.

*Each buying guest that has an order totaling $40 is eligible to get an item at half price in the catalog AND having their name entered into a drawing for a $20 gift certificate to use toward their next order on here! If you'd like to contact me for directions to get to this party or would like to make a purchase toward this party, please go to the link (to make a purchase click on "shop", click on "find your host" and then type in Nicole Keller, then click on her name and start shopping).

I'm all done (or was until this afternoon's realization of ONE more gift to buy) Christmas shopping! That is an amazing feeling of accomplishment. Now Santa's elves just need to come help me wrap these last few stragglers! Christmas music just as a way of making life wonderful again...especially after a bout of stress and anxiety that's happened around here. ALSO, we might be able to leave for "home" a day earlier than first thought! YAY! We'll know more tomorrow! I'M SO STOKED FOR CHRISTMAS!

Pity - Party Of One

Today has just been an off day. I really wish that there was a pause button on life just so I could take a breath...come up for air.

Tyler has been having a couple of down days...but, on the plus side, I can now understand some of the basic things that he's saying! That is HUGE! I find myself tearing up now with that realization (yes, I'm a boob!).

Chris threw his back out somehow (he thinks it's because of his visit with the chiropractor, that somehow she loosened things up enough for it to go out...lol, he thinks that his tight muscles before wouldn't have allowed this to happen to him). He's been taking some muscle relaxers every so often to help him sleep and by morning he feels semi-normal again, only to go to work and sit in a car for hours on end...causing the pain to come back.

Terra's been having issues with one of her teachers and a couple of bully-boys at school lately. In just a matter of a couple weeks, she no longer wants to go to school. She cries when we mention it and, even though it's her snack-day tomorrow, she still doesn't want to go...she really won't be going tomorrow because of the sickies. I'd thought that maybe she was making herself sick thinking about going back to school, but since the boys are now tossing cookies, that's been ruled out.

Celeste suffers from constipation issues, no matter what we try, she's still having problems. So, everyday, a couple times a day, I have to sit and hold her while she screams and pushes and cries until it's all over and done, and then she's happy and chatty again. Not on my fun list!

James ran out of pullups last week, so we told him he just had to stay dry and get up to go potty. The first night wasn't so great. He'd wake up screaming when he'd wet himself. We thought, well, at least he's recognizing it. It took him a day or so to finally tell me that when he peed, it got onto his arms (which are VERY sore and have open wounds from his eczema) and made them hurt really bad. This might be a morbid/mean thought on my part, but at least this might push him into training completely, faster. He's done really well most nights and has had a confidence boost...his teacher has noticed a bit of a difference at school with how he is doing.

And then there's me. Where to start...LOL! The other day, we needed to get to the post office before it closed, Chris had to drop off his van at the repair shop in town (just down the street from the PO) and he was running just a little bit late. I also had a party to do that night. He called and said he was close and to meet him there. It didn't dawn on me to just have him walk to the PO and I'd meet him there instead, so I hurried and was rushing the kids out the door. Whining ensued because shoes could not be found...I told them they didn't need them because they wouldn't be getting out of the car anyway. Finally I got everyone out to the car and as I was running, full speed, around the back side of the suburban, I glanced behind me to see what the noise was (wood falling off the pile), and ran full-force into the ball hitch! I did a flip and a twist and all sorts of graceful moves before hitting the cement floor. I thought for a few minutes that I'd broken my leg (mid-thigh). I finally managed to pull myself into the car and sobbed the whole way to the repair shop. If a cop would have been behind me, I'd have been pulled over for sure...I was driving with my left foot and could barely see the road through my tears. I got there and picked Chris up and we drove to the PO. Once there, we learned that the card machines were down and that they were hoping they'd be working again the next day. So, all this pain and agony for NOTHING! So, we got home, I got ready for the party and realized, there's NO WAY I can lift that box and walk on my leg...I could barely support myself. So, Chris came with me and dropped me off, carrying the box for me (even though his back hurt), and then came back to pick me up later. I was probably the worst consultant ever that night...I'd forgotten things at home, and couldn't stand up for long...and even had to assign someone to hand out tickets for a drawing. How's that for lame (no pun intended).

So, tonight, there I was...feeling sorry for myself (because the sickies have taken up residence in our house again...and both parents are gimpy), when I came across this blog that I'd read before about 10-11 months ago. I now find myself kicking myself for feeling so down and glum. This woman is AMAZING and strong. She is grateful for extremely small things in life (one post the first time I started reading was that she was happy that she could wipe herself again and had privacy in the bathroom again...read the blog, you'll understand when you read it). It made me think that I should start being more grateful for the small things in my life that DON'T go completely and insanely wrong!

So...here's my "Spectacular Sunday" post (seven things I'm grateful for).

1 - Not having a broken leg after my accident...although I'm thinking the muscle might be torn...only time will tell. I CAN WALK!

2 - Having a husband who will help me clean...even when he's in the middle of a video game (yes, he's a gaming geek) or watching a movie. He just presses pause and comes and helps me out so I'm not so overwhelmed anymore (like just now when both boys woke up crying and vomiting...yeah, that was great fun).

3 - Mt. Everdish is almost gone!

4 - That this particular sickie-stomach-bug seems to be only a 24 hour thing (we're hoping anyway)...Terra hasn't thrown up for almost 2.5 hrs now! WOOHOO!

5 - The stomach-bug hasn't hit me or Chris yet...that's always a perk and I'm hoping it skips us entirely!

6 - My house didn't burn down when Tyler was playing with fire a couple weeks ago. My mom just told me about some houses in her neighborhood that just went up in flames this evening and rumors are saying that the fire-fighters are being treated for hypothermia? I'm praying for all involved in that one...

7 - Living right across the street from the church...it has it's perks...this morning we woke up late and were only 5-ish minutes late for church...if we'd have lived further away, we would have probably missed the first block entirely!

Rearranging things

Do you remember when you were younger and how much FUN and EXCITING it was to rearrange furniture/rooms?! Maybe it was just my family. Ok, yes we're weird! We used to map out, on paper, how the room would look and where exactly we'd put everything and then we'd set to work. The room would be spotless and put away when we were done and we'd be happy and content for...maybe a week or so. Then the "newness" would wear off. What brought on this memory? I moved my office around. More like I changed rooms with it. It used to be in a nice out of the way room and now it is in a nook/corner of my kitchen. I have my reasons for moving it out of that room (and no, we're not adding to the family anytime soon). Every time I'd walk away from the office, Tyler would sneak in there and get to work deleting programs, rearranging my hard drive, etc. I decided that my kitchen would be a better spot for that. I'm not sure if that was a wise move or not. It feels weird being right in the center of everything while trying to have some "me time" checking emails and Facebooking. I guess this will just have to be one of those things that just "grows on me."

Going Semi-Private

How might I go "semi-private" you might be asking? I've decided to pull this blog from Facebook, so if you'd like to still follow, please add yourself to my "Coolest Fans" list off to the side of this post at nelsonscrazychaoticzoo.blogspot.com !! In this blog's place on FB, I'll be posting recipes and other ideas from sandishomecookin.blogspot.com .

They've done it....AGAIN!

Chris and I went on a date to the temple tonight and on our way back (since the babysitter doesn't charge when it's a temple date) we stopped at Wendy's to get some shakes for everyone...sitter included! We got home and walked through the door and found E (the sitter) cleaning up flour in the kitchen. She quickly explained that they were going to make cookies and while she was searching for the baking soda, the kids dumped the flour all over the floor (sound familiar?...see almost all of the previous posts...especially the first ones of this blog)! So she decided to clean up the mess (bless her heart) and started the vacuum up. Well, that's been acting up some the last little bit, and she said she smelled something burning...like the belt or something, so she stopped. But while she was cleaning that up, the kids had gone into the pantry and opened up the wheat, flour, oats and dried beans and started making a mess in there (I have no doubt in my mind who the ring-leader was in all this). So, to distract them, she decided to get them snacks from the fridge. They decided to have apples (even though the kids knew those were off limits...they're for Terra's snack on Monday). James got a hold of the knife and cut his finger...causing E to look for the first aid kit...which I've hidden from the kids, but not well enough since they're the ones that told her where to look. But see, I know my kids well enough to know that if the apples aren't pealed, they only take a couple bites out of them and then start a food-fight-war with the remains. The chicken-scrap bucket is now full of apples and crunched up chips (they'd also gotten the chips and dip out and there is now dip on my play room floor). We decided to feed the rest of the oats (since it would be WAY too tedious a task to salvage them) to the chickens. So all the wheat and junk that was on the floor in the pantry, got mixed in the big storage bucket where the oats once resided and was set outside the back door for tomorrow's feeding frenzy.

I really feel bad for E since she felt terrible and that this was her fault. WRONG! They've done this to me NUMEROUS times (mostly when I'm largely preggo and can't chase them down...)!! I kept reassuring her and she kept apologizing...so I changed the subject while driving her home. Now I'm thinking that she deserves a LOT more than a small shake from Wendy's as compensation for the pain and suffering the kids put her through!! I hope they didn't scare her away like they have a couple other people (seriously...I got a phone call the next day from them asking me to never ask them to sit again...wow). I LOVE YOU E!!! And just consider yourself officially initiated into the clan...okay?! *sigh* On a positive note...no major tantrums today from Tyler, so the therapy tactics are working a bit better (?) or maybe he's just finally getting used to the change around here (?) either way...I'LL TAKE IT!

As Promised...

Here are a few pics from Terra's b-day party! Thanks everyone who helped out!

The lovely cake! (it's supposed to be a tiara on top...LOL)

The pinata!

Freeze Dance.

Pin the kiss on the Frog Prince.

Just a goofy face she was pulling!All the "princesses"...couldn't get a pic with ALL of them smiling though! It was a blast!

Um...?

I'm really bad at this blogging thing...really, I am! This is why it took me so long to start a blog in the first place (really boring person that I am). I enjoy reading other peoples' blogs though..and am in complete awe at how COOL they make themselves sound! Like, I just read a blog about this girl's trials in cleaning up baby spit-up and changing a nasty diaper on her first baby...and for one fraction of a second, I wished I could be as cool as her, and then thought to myself...I'm TONS cooler than that because *I* can change TWO nasty diapers AND I don't just have baby spit to clean up....I get the glorified "spit-up" of a 6 year old, a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a soon-to-be 1 year old! So, to all you bloggers out there...KUDOS TO YOU FOR SOUNDING TOTALLY AWESOME AND COOL!

LOL, all joking aside, here's an update. I'm still waiting to hear from the therapist on Tyler...not exactly on my happy list! He's actually doing SO much better than he was when they evaluated him. He's saying things that we can actually understand. Like tonight, he said "I'n sone bukkynilk." I know what you're thinking...but really, that's huge for him (I can see you rolling your eyes and laughing, but let me translate and you'll get the picture here). "I want some bunnymilk" (which in this house is chocolate milk). For him to not only say something cohirent, but to use a FULL sentence....it made my mommy-heart burst with joy! YAY! (yes, I'm a nerd)

Celeste is almost one...my baby is growing up! She's already in 18 month clothes and I can't even believe it. When we're here at home, she looks like a normal sized baby, but when we go out anywhere and run into anyone that has a child that same age...she dwarfs them! She's picking up on the infant signing that we're trying to get Tyler to do and is so proud of herself, too. She has a princess wave and a big toothy grin the melts the heart! She's also a tease...a trate she gets from her daddy! I've been trying to get her to say mommy and her response...DADDY! She does this on purpose! I know this because I succeeded in tricking her to say mommy...she gasped and then got this impish grin and immediately said daddy and then stared at me, as if daring me to try that again. LOL, she makes me laugh.

James is doing well in school. He still is a very tender-hearted little guy, but that's what people love about him. He HAD been giving the teacher some grief out on the playground, but I think that problem got solved really quick. One day, they had a substitute teacher and they went out there to play. When they blew the whistle to go inside, James hid, like he normally did, and the kids all filed inside...teachers and staff in front of and behind them all, locking the gates on their way out, leaving James outside all by himself. He cried and cried and it really only took them about a minute to realize they were one child short. When they called to tell me, I laughed and laughed and told them that he'd probably listen to them from now on and if he ever started to be defiant again, to just use that as an example to him to remember what happened last time!

Terra is reading! They're starting to teach them some sight-words and she LOVES it! She's just thrilled to be able to read things on her own and thinks that she's just the smartest kid ever! She sits down with us each evening and reads us the sight-word book she brought home with her and is beaming from ear to ear by the time the story is finished!

We all have been in the mend this week...all except Chris. He just HAS to be different! LOL He's actually just starting to come down with what the rest of us are getting over! I guess there was more than I first thought to blog about. These updates probably bore some of you, and for that, I'm sorry! See, I lack the talent of making diaper changing seem like a COOL job that you wish you could do too! Oh well...hope this finds you well and keep smiling!!

More and More Chaos...

Does that ever end (the chaos, I mean)? I don't think it does. It's my lot in life ("it's not a lot, but its my life" LOL, couldn't resist a bit of cartoon humor...name the movie if you can)!

Lately, it seems like my life is just spinning out of control! I've been doing ok with school (can't find a bunch of time for homework and such, but I'm managing, somehow). I just started my home-business with Partylite and have done 2 shows myself so far...and have escaped unscathed...well sort of. I was setting up for a "mock show" here at home so I could have Chris help me get to know the products. I set something down on the table, turned to grab another box to unpack and knocked the first thing off the table...of course it fell off and 1 piece shattered all over. I was sad, but am going to have it replaced soon. YAY! But, the parties themselves went off without a hitch...no hair catching on fire or any of that fun stuff.

Last week, we had some therapists come in a review Tyler. It's been decided that he needs speech therapy, and some occupational therapy, some behavior and sensory help and a bit of social and emotional help too. The plus side...no autism! It was mentioned a couple of times in the review, but since he makes good eye contact and does a few other things, they ruled that out, much to my relief. I'd love him either way, but this makes my job as Mommy a lot easier! I just received an email from ECBOCES (East Central Board of Cooperative Educational Services) saying that they've already found a therapist for Tyler! They told me last week that it could take up to a month to find one, so this news is GREAT! To start off, he needs 4 hours per month of therapies, which can be adjusted as myself and the therapist see fit. Such a relief to finally get the help that I've felt was needed for a while now...reguardless of what others might have said about it!

I just recently found out that one of my friends from high school is expecting (well, his wife is...but same thing) their first child! Pray for them...I'm hoping that all is still going well with that...they've had a slight scare recently. Also, Chris's brother and his wife just lost a baby. She was only half way through this pregnancy...I'm still unsure of the details. Our prayers are with them as well...especially everything that they must endure tomorrow and in the coming weeks of mourning. Please keep them in your prayers too.

As you can see, there's never a dull moment around here. We're all getting by just fine and the kids love school time. Celeste is now standing on her own, but is still afraid to take those first steps by herself. Tyler is still growing. We finally scrimped up enough money to go shoe shopping for the kids, and Tyler is wearing size 11! James is only wearing size 12 because we know he'll hit a growth spurt sometime during this school year...go figure!

Anywho, I need to get to bed! I'm wimping out...it's only 9:30 here (not even that...sad)!

Aging...

My little girl is SIX!!!!!!! Where did the time go? AND, Chris just turned 30. I started bugging him about turning the big 3-0, and then stopped, thinking it might be a bad thing. I asked him if it bothered him, and he said no, that he hadn't given it much thought. It was just another number to him. We then started thinking about how old we still thought of ourselves. I said I still thought of myself as 20-ish...and that, in my mind, I hadn't aged much. I then asked him how old he still thought of himself....he said 15, then laughed! This might explain some of his teasing tendencies! Goober! LOL, gotta love him, though! Anywho, back to Terra...

Her birthday bash was on Saturday afternoon. I had planned a Partylite party that morning, completely thinking that I'd be ok and could handle everything. I started falling apart a day or two before trying to accomplish everything I had planned. I got most things done, and just vowed to never look back at the ones that didn't make it to the finish line. LOL For Terra's party, I got an idea from here (scroll down to "Disney Princess") and "stole" the invitation idea from here. (Thanks guys :o)!! And, for those of you on Facebook that can't get the links to work, you'll just have to come here to my blog - site is on the info page of my profile.) After tweeking a few things to make them semi-original, the planning was underway. The princesses showed up and sat down in the "princess-ifying chair" to get make-up put on. Then, they went to the tiara table and decorated their own tiaras. I had gotten small popsicle sticks to spread the glitter glue around, but the kids got the grand idea to make their own wands out of them. So, we had tiaras and mini-wands! Then I let them run around a bit just to make sure there weren't any late-comers. I called them all into the living room and the games began. We played "Pin the Kiss on the Frog Prince", "Dance Freeze" (the wicked witch from Sleeping Beauty was trying to put the whole kingdom asleep by FREEZING them...it's on one of the sites above), "Cinderella's Glass Slipper" (again, it's on the first website above), and then we had a princess-looking pinata filled with goodies and bling jewelry. I had Tinkerbell party-favor bags for everyone, so it was a big hit all around, I think. After that, we enjoyed the cake and ice cream and then ran around for a minute to let everyone finish eating what they wanted to off their plate. Then we opened gifts and after that, we watched one of the movies she'd received, and played with the stickers and tattoos and toys that she'd gotten as well. Then the parents that hadn't stayed started trickling in to gather their little princesses and take them home. Before anyone left, however, I decided it would be fun to get a picture of all the girls in their princess attire and tiaras they had decorated. One of my friends was taking the pictures, so I'll post them on here when she has a minute to upload them and send them off to me (Thanks again, Seandra, you're AWESOME)! I hope all the kids had fun, mine sure did!

What Makes A Hero?

To me, this dad is a hero to his son. My husband is a hero to me, as are my parents, siblings and my friends for various reasons. Thank you all for standing by me.

And, suddenly my problems don't seem so big....perspective is everything!

(watch this video first http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDnrLv6z-mM&feature=player_embedded )



(and then watch this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GphmdhLMGE&feature=player_embedded )

Gethsemane Song

Below is a video with a slideshow of pictures of Christ with a song that is very moving to me. Enjoy!

If you want the direct link to youtube, here it is -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uSGSvKy6Io

Facebook vs. Blogging

Ok, so I completely suck at blogging! SORRY! I've been carried away captive into the land of Facebook and that's where a lot of my updates are given! I've thought of so many things EVERYDAY that I could blog about, and by the time bedtime hits and I finally get a minute alone at the computer, I've forgotten about every single one of those things. I seriously need to invest in a recorder that those reporters carry around ("note to self...blog about this particular mishap"). I guess I'll do my best to just update you the best I can.

Celeste:
She is growing like a weed and has graduated to size 18 month clothes already (and she's not quite 10 months yet). She had her 9 month check and was pretty advanced in many things. They gave me the 10 month screening chart to fill out because they couldn't find the 9 month one, and she could do everything on there except 1 thing...they said to give her a couple of weeks and she'd have it figured out. GREAT! Yet another creative child in my house! She's just shy of 22 lbs and 30 inches, so she's in the 90% in both with an average sized head! She also JUST got her 1st tooth the other day (after 3-plus LONG months of teething!). I'm hoping that teething goes a lot easier on her with the rest of them!

Tyler:
Oh, where to start. For a long time I've watched him and noticed little things here and there that just weren't quite right, but whenever I'd broach the subject with anyone, I'd get quips about how smart he is and there's nothing wrong, I'm just being paranoid. Well, after an incident that happened the other day, I brought it up with the Parents As Teachers rep that comes to my home every so often. She had given me some screenings to fill out a while ago for Tyler, so I sat down with Chris and filled them out. He's not quite where he needs to be and it's been decided that he needs to have occupational therapy. They'll do in-depth screenings for hearing, vision and motor/sensory skills. Anyway, the incident was...Tyler figured out how to open the back gates (which is difficult for an adult to accomplish since they're kinda rusty) and wound up out in the middle of the road. Anyone that has been to our home knows that we live on a blind corner. Some teenagers, goofing off, were speeding down our street and came around the corner, slamming on their brakes and just missing him. He just sat there throwing rocks in the middle of the road, and none of this seemed to phase him in the least. The screaching tires and the screams to get out of the way just went in one ear and out the other. That seems to be the norm with him...we could scream and holler, do everything short of cartwheels to get his attention and he'd turn and finally look at us like we were daft or something. So, I'll keep you updated on that as things unfold. In other areas, he's completely healthy and is STILL growing like a weed. He's almost surpassed James in growth. Some of the 4T clothing is getting tight on him, but we're making due!

James:
He's started Preschool this year. Now, he loves it. The first day, he was undecided. I went in and dropped him off and, as I was leaving, he asked if he could come with me. When I told him no and that he needed to stay in school, he offered to come with me and then come back later. I again said no and that I needed to put kids down for naps. So he reluctantly agreed and put his play dough right in front of his face to hide the tears that were forming. He never did let those loose, but it still broke my heart! What a huge difference from Terra's first day (she was telling me to leave). Anyway, each day has been better, but he still asks me to come in and talk to his teacher for a minute, but by the time I leave, he doesn't really even notice anymore. He loves riding the bus home everday, so that gives him something to look forward to!

Terra:
She is LOVING Kindergarten this year. It's all-day out here in this school district, so it's been really quiet. The schedule is, Chris gets up, and gets Terra ready and out the door to school, and then I get up and get everyone else ready and take James in the afternoon. She also gets to ride the bus home everyday with James and she gets so excited about that still everyday (and it's been 2 weeks). She comes home and tells me of all her friends that she's making, but when it comes to telling us about what she did in school, we have to pry that out of her. Secret combinations, I guess! LOL She's also growing like a weed, and her 6th birthday is coming up in 3 weeks. She's so excited. I'm kind of at a loss though. Not sure what to do for her b-day party. We asked her what she wanted and she just said, cake, ice cream and a pinata! Easy for me, but I wonder if she wouldn't want more than that. Something to ponder that's for sure!

Chris:
He's been doing well. Dealing with frustrations from work isn't always easy, but he takes things in stride (better than I do, that's for sure). He's been trying to get his green house up and running and has finished a good majority of it. He's quite excited about that. Another thing he's excited about is one of our chickens hatched 2 eggs and both babies seem to be doing well. She's quite the fiesty momma though!!! He takes great pride in our barnyard we've got going out there. We've decided, though, that things were expanding a bit too quick, so we're having to remedy that today. Two turkeys will become dinner in the coming weeks/months. I just have to say that I'm SOOO glad that he's the one that takes care of that....ew!

Sandi:
I've been doing well. Some days go better than others, but that's with anyone, I suppose! I've started up a new chapter in my life. In my road to self-discovery (that I should have taken a long time ago, but alas...) I've finally decided what I want to do with my life. Idealy I'd like to become a midwife, but with the family and schedule that I have now, that wouldn't really be a realistic choice right now. So, instead, I decided to take another route at helping people. I registered for some online classes in Natural Health and Nutrition. My goal is to become a Bio-Meridian Homeopathic Practitioner. I'll get my diploma in Health and Nutrition and then take the course to become certified so I can get the equipment to start my own business. We live in a place where I could run this right out of my home. There's a room in this house that could easily be turned into an office area for me, and even has a door that leads outside, so it would be completely separated from the rest of the house. I've also started up another business that will help pay for all of this and it seems to be going well so far. I'm a PartyLite consultant. I don't have my website up and running yet, but will let you all know when it is so you can come check it out! I'm still doing my qualifying parties and stuff, so if you're interested in helping me out with that, you can visit my up-line's site and purchase things to help me put points toward my parties I've got going on.

www.partylite.biz/jeannemcghee
click on "shop"
click on "look up your host"
type in "Sandi Nelson"
Click on my name and go ahead and start shopping.
All items with be shipped to me with the rest of the party order and I will get them to you ASAP. If you live out of state, I will either have to come visit or ship them to you (whichever option is available to me at that time)!

I'm also enjoying having some quiet afternoons with the kids in school. I come home, put Celeste in bed for her nap and it's just me and Tyler, and sometimes he naps too! It's a huge change going from 4 wild and crazy kids running around to 1 or 2 to make noise! I love it and do miss my kids when they're gone! Crazy thought, and one that I never thought I'd say, but I do!

We hope everyone is doing well, and hope to hear from all of you soon!

Trying To Shop in English

It's easier said than done around here, I'm afraid! I went to the store a few days ago and we're looking for some hanging baskets for our fruits and veggies (if anyone has any suggestions, I'm open). While in Wal-mart, I searched and searched and finally just grabbed the last few items on my list and then as a last-ditch effort, I made my way to the produce section, thinking maybe they might have some on sale there. There happened to be an employee that was putting away some fruit, so I ventured to ask her if she'd seen any. She just shook her head and blabbed off something completely unintelligible to me (seeing as I only speak/understand English) and waved me on to another lady down the isle. I again repeated my question "do you know if you guys carry hanging baskets for fruits and veggies?" and she gave a blank stare and said, "basket bowl?"

"No, a basket to put things in...you know?"
"A bowl or basket bowl?" (very thick accent, by the way, almost sounding like she was saying "basketball")
"No (getting a little impatient, but keeping my cool), a basket, for vegetables and things!"
"OH!" She got a very excited look of comprehension and races down the isle. I follow her and she reaches out and grabs something and turns to hand it to me. It was a veggie platter, complete with dip in the middle.
"No, a BASKET!"
"Basket bowl?!"
"NO!!"
She then holds up her finger and runs to another lady and she comes over to "translate". Another lady with a thick accent. We went through much of the same conversation as before, without her getting the platter for me, and she finally said the word "housewares" and turned back to her work. At this point, I'm thinking it would be very beneficial to speak another language (and surprisingly, it wasn't Spanish they were speaking...LOL, one was an African dialect and the other was an Indian dialect!)!!! Better brush up on those learning skills, I guess!

Women or Whales

I loved this post, it cracked me up and really, it hits the nail right on the head, don't ya think?!

Recently, in a large French city, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said:

¨THIS SUMMER DO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID OR A WHALE?¨

A middle aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern:

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans). They have an active sex life, they get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Barren Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them not to mention how could they have sex? Therefore they do not have kids either. Not to mention who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store? The choice is perfectly clear to me; I want to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a coffee with my friends. With time we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, Good gosh, look how smart I am.

Obamacare...makes me sick!

I saw this link on a friend's facebook status. Here is the webpage I copied this from. Very interesting read...

http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2009/08/11/dirty_secret_no_1_in_obamacare

Health care reforms are turning into health care revolts. Americans are turning up the heat on congressmen in town hall meetings across the U.S.

While watching these political hot August nights, I decided to research the reasons so many are opposed to Obamacare to separate the facts from the fantasy. What I discovered is that there are indeed dirty little secrets buried deep within the 1,000-plus page health care bill.

Dirty secret No. 1 in Obamacare is about the government's coming into homes and usurping parental rights over child care and development.

It's outlined in sections 440 and 1904 of the House bill (Page 838), under the heading "home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children." The programs (provided via grants to states) would educate parents on child behavior and parenting skills.

The bill says that the government agents, "well-trained and competent staff," would "provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains ... modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices," and "skills to interact with their child to enhance age-appropriate development."

Are you kidding me?! With whose parental principles and values? Their own? Certain experts'? From what field and theory of childhood development? As if there are one-size-fits-all parenting techniques! Do we really believe they would contextualize and personalize every form of parenting in their education, or would they merely universally indoctrinate with their own?

Are we to assume the state's mediators would understand every parent's social or religious core values on parenting? Or would they teach some secular-progressive and religiously neutered version of parental values and wisdom? And if they were to consult and coach those who expect babies, would they ever decide circumstances to be not beneficial for the children and encourage abortions?

One government rebuttal is that this program would be "voluntary." Is that right? Does that imply that this agency would just sit back passively until some parent needing parenting skills said, "I don't think I'll call my parents, priest or friends or read a plethora of books, but I'll go down to the local government offices"? To the contrary, the bill points to specific targeted groups and problems, on Page 840: The state "shall identify and prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families."

Are we further to conclude by those words that low-income families know less about parenting? Are middle- and upper-class parents really better parents? Less neglectful of their children? Less needful of parental help and training? Is this "prioritized" training not a biased, discriminatory and even prejudicial stereotype and generalization that has no place in federal government, law or practice?

Bottom line: Is all this what you want or expect in a universal health care bill being rushed through Congress? Do you want government agents coming into your home and telling you how to parent your children? When did government health care turn into government child care?

Government needs less of a role in running our children's lives and more of a role in supporting parents' decisions for their children. Children belong to their parents, not the government. And the parents ought to have the right -- and government support -- to parent them without the fed's mandates, education or intervention in our homes.

Kids are very important to my wife, Gena, and me. That's why we've spent the past 17 years developing our nonprofit KICKSTART program in public schools in Texas. It builds up their self-esteem and teaches them respect and discipline. Of course, whether or not they participate in the program is their and their parents' choice.

How contrary is Obamacare's home intrusion and indoctrination family services, in which state agents prioritize houses to enter and enforce their universal values and principles upon the hearts and minds of families across America?

Government's real motives and rationale are quite simple, though rarely, if ever, stated. If one wants to control the future ebbs and flows of a country, one must have command over future generations. That is done by seizing parental and educational power, legislating preferred educational methods and materials, and limiting private educational options. It is so simple that any socialist can understand it. As Josef Stalin once stated, "Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed."

Before so-called universal health care turns into universal hell care, write or call your representative today and protest his voting Obamacare into law. Remind him that what is needed in Washington is a truly bipartisan group that is allowed an ample amount of time to work on a compromise health care law that wouldn't raise taxes (for anyone), regulate personal medical choices, ration health care or restrict American citizens.

PartyLite flyer I got in the email

I get periodic email flyers from PartyLite (a candle company) and this one, I just thought I'd share! Enjoy!!!

WOW! PartyLite now has Online ordering!!!

You can now shop 24/7 from the convenience of your home! There is no need to wait for a party when the candle stash gets low… www.partylite.biz/jeannemcghee is where to go.

Or if you’re invited to a girlfriend’s show but you won’t be able to make it… go online, choose unable to attend a show and type her name, then shop to your heart’s content ( even from the sale items) ~~~~~What a hit!!!~~~~~

Can’t wait to try it? I am inviting you to attend my “virtual” show!

I have attached the elimination list of items being discontinued as of July 31^st. There are a few scents going away forever… some are old favorites… take a peek. Also attached is the July guest sale.

To attend the virtual show, go to www.partylite.biz/jeannemcghee , click “Shop”, then “unable to attend a show”, then enter “Jeanne McGhee” as the hostess name. You will then be able to shop the current catalogs and the sale items.

(At any time you can shop online without it being associated with a show… there are exclusive guest sale offers for online orders not associated with shows. These orders are not eligible for the monthly guest sales offered in conjunction with shows.)

All orders received by July 13^th will be entered into an exclusive drawing for a $50 shopping spree!!!

Jeanne McGhee 970-613-0641 www.partylite.biz/jeannemcghee

To view our current catalog, visit my website and choose "PartyLite Products"!

*We now offer Fundraising and Customized Shopping with Great Savings for Weddings and Special Occasions!*

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."~

The Insane-ness of it all!

Alright, everyone here is familiar with the list of school supplies kids are required to bring. Sometimes the said list can be ridiculous, but Terra's is outrageous this year. Seriously. There are 3-4 Kindergarten classes in this school and they all have the same supply list to bring. Most of the list, I can see, but there are some that just make you kind of scratch your head a bit.

Backpack with name
2 pocket folders - horizontal pockets with name
2 pocket folders w/3-hole paper fasteners with name
1 pair blunt-end metal blade scissors
6 #2 pencils
3 pkg crayons (24 pack)
1 pkg colored pencils (16 colors)
4 pkg markers (large)
2 pkg thin dry erase markers
1 pkg water color paints (8 colors)
3 pkg (3-pack) playdough
2 (4 oz) bottles white school glue
20 glue sticks
3 boxes quart sized Ziploc bags
1 box gallon Ziploc bags
4 pkg antibacterial wipes (no disinfectant wipes)
1 pkg plastic spoons (last name a-m)
1 pkg (5 oz) Dixie cups (last name n-z)
2 boxes kleenex
3 rolls paper towels

No, there are NO typos in this, I've double checked it a couple of times. So, go ahead and scratch your head a bit. If every child, in every one of those 3-4 classes brings everything on this list...that's a lot of supplies. If they go through EVERYTHING then (and this is probably my Grandma coming out in me) that's kinda wasteful, don't you think?! And, yes, I must remind myself, these are 5-6 year olds here. I get that. But twenty glue sticks?! Really?! Wow is all I can say!

On another note...

The other day, we drove to the library to pick up a book they had on hold for me. On our way there, we passed a rest stop (we live near the interstate, so yes, there's a rest stop between here and the library) and there was a truck pulling a passenger rail car as it's load. Terra got all excited about it and was bouncing up and down in her seat pointing at it and telling everyone to look at the train. When James looked, he got a rather confused look on his face and asked me if the train had gotten lost. The only thing I can think is that since the tracks were so far away, that he though the train had "wandered off" and gotten lost from the rest of the trains. LOL, I laughed for a while about that!

We just had to go to Savers to buy James more clothes since he's starting to out-grow his size 4T clothing. We only had a few pieces of clothing left from the hand-me-down boxes from Chris's sister's kids. After we got back, we started to notice that Tyler was starting to fit into James clothes that we were trying to pack up. So, both of the boys were going through a growth spurt. We also started to notice that the diapers were starting to get tighter and tighter on the poor guy. So we figured we could get away with buying the size 4T pull-ups and just slowly start training him. Well, something I should have thought of while buying these pull-ups was how different the sizing can be between the different brands. He fits into the same size of pull-ups as James does (which is the largest size they make...and is Huggies brand, since those are the most lose-fitting of them all...we had to experiment with James to see what wouldn't cause skin irritation due to tight fitting ones). We thought about the boxer-looking (overnight) ones, but they're so expensive and you only get a few per pack. So, it's a sad life when you realize that you'll probably just have to bite the bullet and potty train your toddler that just barely turned 2!!!
*Please, don't send any comments about how his health or eating habits are. He has the same diet as my other kids, and the doctors have pretty much ruled out a thyroid problem since his height is proportionate to his weight and he's very active. He's just going to be a tall boy! The tall ones usually start out larger than normal!*

Excitement!!! (and a quick catch-up of our life)

I hope that by posting this, I'm not jinxing myself! No, I'm not preggo (in case you were wondering...LOL)! I get to go home to visit my family next month! I'M SO STOKED! It has been FOREVER since I've seen them (since Christmas) and that's just not acceptable in my world!!! I will be expecting streamers and confetti...wait, then I'd probably have to clean that up, so nevermind! No, really, I'm so happy and excited about this!

Life here has been just the norm...completely chaotic! I'm still unpacking boxes (I really should downsize) and chasing kids around. Celeste is pretty much mobile now, she just needs to work on perfecting that "talent". So, we're having to block off areas and...get this...I actually have to (*shhh*) CLEAN!!! LOL, totally kidding, it's good for me...really (I'm trying to be positive about this...LOL).

Today I finished sewing a couple of dresses I'd promised a lady I'd make for her girls, so that was a relief...now I'm just waiting for her phone call back to schedule a time to meet up. I actually had a moment to myself this afternoon (a rarity around here), so I was able to sit quietly and read my book. That was SOO nice!

I'm also including in this post a couple of pics.
This is what happens when you let 3 kids paint with water colors....they all wind up looking like this!!! (Tyler got the worst of it, of course, and it's worn off throughout the day)
This is what happens when it rains outside and the kids sneak out back to play. Poor Tyler (are you seeing the pattern here...the other kids are clean and innocent too) got pushed, tripped and then fell into a mud puddle. The other kids tried to help him up, but they had muddy hands too, so it just got more mud on him. He laughed at this, so they laughed at this and did it more. Then they realized that they just might get in trouble for this, so they tried to wipe him off, just causing the problem to get worse!

We've also discovered that there were more than just the one bald spot on TyTy's head. We're hoping that the medicine (the last dose is tomorrow) helped to get rid of whatever it was, so then we won't have to take him in to the dermatologist for further examination.

Terra is being mommy's helper, but also being the tormentor of her siblings. James is going through a shy stage again. He's rather clingy, but still has bursts of laughter and joking that I love to see. I'm hoping that he'll do well once in a school setting.

Chris and I are muddling through the best we know how and most of the time are enjoying it all. Hope things are going well for you all too!

"Hope ya know, I had a hard time"

This video made me cry. It is so true though...no matter what we're going through, look around, someone else has it much worse and we can always reach out a loving hand to figuratively (and sometimes literally) pick them up! Recent things that we've been going though have put me in a stupor, but seeing this lifted my spirits so much. I hope it can do the same for someone else too. Love to all,

Sandi

How Firm A Foundation

For the past couple of days, I've been emailing a lady back and forth trying to set up a time that I could meet her to exchange some things. She had a baby walker I wanted, and I had somethings I was trading her for it. We decided to meet this afternoon. She lived about halfway between a couple of places I frequent, so I was originally going to meet her at the southern place, but as I was writing the email, changed my mind and put the northern place. As I got there, I called my hubby to have him check my email to see what vehicle they were driving (since I hadn't checked it before leaving my house). As I was on the phone with him, it started hailing, some store employees were running up and down the front of the store, pointing to the southern sky and taking head counts of how many people were in the parking lot. That made me nervous, so I got Terra out of the suburban, and went into and alcove off to the side of the entrance and started talking to one of the truckers standing there and he told me there had been a tornado just a minute or two prior. We started examining the sky further and saw a few more clouds that looked like possibilities of tornados, so I took Terra inside (after meeting up with the people I had gone there to meet), and we got drinks and a chocolate cake to share. As we sat there, they had the Weather Channel going and it was showing flashes of what was going on around Denver. It kind of scared me and I texted Chris to have him call me and tell me when the warnings had passed so that I knew when it was safe to come home (it's a 20 mile drive for me). After we'd finished our snack, the skies were starting to somewhat clear and I decided to go outside to take a look at the clouds, and then Chris called and said it was probably safe to venture home.

Terra and I jumped in the car and I had a very nervous feeling, so we said a prayer that we'd be safe and protected, and that the Lord would comfort those already effected by the storm, and then we set off. We'd gone probably 8-ish miles and a bunch of rescue crews rushed past me on the freeway, so I slowed my pace up a bit (the roads were wet and I'd seen people hydroplane), and within a mile, I saw the cause for the rush. It looked like the wind (maybe the beginnings of a tornado?) had picked up a semi and thrown it on its side about 20-30 feet from the shoulder. There was already a news crew present. A couple more cars were involved too. About a mile past that, I startd to get blown all over the road, so I hit the 4-wheel drive button (thinking that it might be a mixture of water on the road and the winds). Pretty quick, you could almost see the water flying from the ground in the wind bursts that were happening all around me! I started to almost panic and then I heard a familiar song playing through the stereo system. I turned it up and heard the words to the 3rd verse of the Hymn How Firm a Foundation (85).

Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

Imediately I felt at peace, knowing that because of that prayer we said before starting home, the Lord was promising me that we'd make it home alright. I was still a bit nervous in a few places, but still KNEW that we'd be ok! I'm grateful for that reassurance that the Lord gives us when we do what he expects us to! All will be alright, just have faith!!

Look-A-Likes

I got bored (imagine that...this never happens around here...don't have time to) and decided to do these look-a-like meters for the kids. What do you all think? Are they accurate?

Always good for a laugh...well most of the time anyway!!

My kids have, yet again, succeeded in changing a serious moment into a moment of comedy, or at least lightened it up a bit!

Story one - Recently we went to a family reunion and "camped out" with Chris's family (staying in a cabin, in the middle of a city with running water isn't exaclty camping to me, but oh well)! While there, we were in a cabin that had 2 rooms and a fold out bed in the living room area. We had Chris's brother and his wife in one room, the three older kids in the other room, Chris and I in the living room and Celeste on the floor beside us. Bedtime is usually a chore to get through normally, can you imagine what it was putting them in bed there? One night in particular, it was pretty hard getting Tyler to stay in bed. We kept putting him in bed over and over again. Well, finally, I decided to put him in bed and stand outside their door to surprise him when he came out again. Very shortly after I closed the door, I heard Terra and James giggling and telling Tyler to "go on...go get mommy and daddy!" So, I went in there, and scolded them thoroughly...however, I really should learn to word what I say a bit better than I do now (you'd think I'd have learned that by now, after 4 years of living with a literal child)! I started wagging my finger at them and telling them that they "just can't do stuff like that, it is rude and awful and you just CAN'T do that!" To which James replied, "Oh yes we caaaan!" Little imp!

Story two - Many times when I go out into public when it's just the kids and me, I get a lot of comments about how I "sure have your hands full, don't you?!" Most of them made pretty snide with a nose all wrinkled. Well, yesterday I went to the store, got all the kids out of the car and started walking inside, arguing with Terra almost the whole way. I finally stopped and very sternly asked Terra if she wanted to go and sit in the car and wait for the rest of us to get done shopping, she sulkily said no and calmed down for a minute, so we continued on to the door. One of the employees was out taking a smoke break and said, "my, my, don't YOU have your hands full (and then under her breath, 'should've planned that one better')." Terra thought she'd use this opportunity to complain to the lady, and normally, I'd stop her and tell her not to bother that person, but, since they were rude, I thought I'd just keep quiet and keep walking. Terra said, yes, my mom's hands are full, see, she's carrying Celeste, and because she's carrying Celeste, she won't carry the rest of us. She's not that strong, only my daddy is!" Leave it to kids...

Story three - My cat, I swear, is half skunk. SHE STINKS SO BAD, especially if you startle her. She was in the house wandering around and all of a sudden both Terra and James came running in to me telling me that Ariel had pooped out in their play room. I rolled m eyes and thought, oh great! So I asked them where she messed and they said, "We don't know, cuz the poops are hiding!" I immediately sat down and tried not to laugh, knowing full well that she'd probably been sitting under the couch and passed gas, and that's what they were smelling. So we chased her back to her "domain" and went back to the play room and search for the mess, which, miraculously, we couldn't smell anymore!

Story four - We were looking on craigslist.com and found someone giving away manure, all we had to do was go get it and load it ourselves. So we loaded up the kids, attached the trailer to the suburban and went on our way to go get it. Chris and I started shoveling it onto the trailer. Terra got out and came to talk to us and immediately held her nose.
(Terra) "What is that smell?!"
(Chris) "It's horse poo!"
(Terra looks completely disgusted.)
(Sandi) "It's not JUST horse poo, it's MAGIC horse poo! It'll make the garden and flowers grow all big and pretty!"
(Terra, wrinkling up her nose.) "Ew!"
I don't think she was all that impressed with our "magic horse poo."

New car...

For the last couple of months, Chris and I have been humming and hawing over whether or not we should go trade in our van for another vehicle that is a bit larger and still meets our needs. The fact that it'd be less and about the same loan term would lower the payments as well...which is a plus! Well, we looked online, and drove around and just kinda/sorta looked at dealerships, and today, Chris calls me from one dealership that we'd been scopin' out online and says, "they just got done detailing that red suburban we were looking at, want to come test drive it?" So I said 'why not' and loaded up the kids and drove in. I really liked it and it was within our price range, so we set to work filling out paperwork, well, we hit a couple of bumps in the road, but finally got it to work out. It's a shorter loan term, thus the payments are about the same as we're paying now, and the trade-in value of our van is less than what we owe on it, so they wouldn't do that. BUT, they said they'd refer a couple of people that were looking for a van that had come in to look at one, PLUS we're going to place it up for sale in the paper and online. They said (and we've seen in our research online) that vans are the hot-topic out here right now and our's has a clean bill of health (so says the mechanics and the dealership). We have a plan "B" if it doesn't sell right away, not something we really want to do, but are willing to do if we need to. But, YAYAYAYAYAY!!!! I HAVE A NEW TOY! I'll post pics later...it's after midnight right now and I need some sleep!

LOVE THIS!!!

I only WISH I could be this musically talented! (you'll need to pause my music down below to hear this and get the full effect!! you'll love it as much as I do, I'm sure!)

Celebrity Look-alikes...

Being Self-pay...

I wouldn't wish it on anyone! We keep smiling and telling everyone that we're doing ok with it and we're saving money by not having it, but the truth is...we're NOT ok with it! Having to wait until you have money just to take your kids to the doctor is not exactly ideal! Sure, we're saving money, but at what expense? I don't think I've ever admitted this publicly out loud how much I hate this, but today, I think, was my breaking point.

We had planned to just take Tyler in to the dr to have him checked out and then when we got billed for the cultures done, we'd have the money to pay it by that time (takes a few weeks out here). The whole POINT of them doing the culture was to make sure it was something that could be treated with this particular medicine (this medicine effects the liver...VERY hard! could cause jaundice, etc). So, it shocked me when he said that we should probably start the meds ASAP since this has been going on for a couple weeks already. He printed off the prescription and handed it to me, telling me that if I needed to take a couple of days to fill it due to price checking and matching, that was fine, but he wanted it started soon. I thought, fine, and loaded Tyler up and went on my way. I had to stop at Walmart to grab something we forgot while grocery shopping (this was something I had spare change for....we'd used up what was left in our account to pay for the office visit...I had all of $2 sitting in my account). So, I decided that I would stop by the pharmacy and see how much it cost and then I'd go home and call around and see if I could get it cheaper and then I'd have King Soopers price match it for me. Pretty easy, right? *SIGH* Not really. My heart fell when the pharmacist told me how much the prescription really was. The cost was over $100, plus tax. Ya know, I could have, and WOULD have, put off paying one of the smaller bills that is fairly insignificant, but there was NO way I could come up with that until next Friday, and even then, we'd be going without something that check.

I came home and Celeste was crying...she's been doing this non-stop since Friday of last week. Gotta love teething and shots. So I picked her up, and gave Chris a break from that, since I know how frustrating it is to listen to that for longer than a few minutes without reprieve. I finally got her to calm down and put her in bed and called my mom, just expecting to vent. Well, I got some not-so-great news on Grams, but she is still expected to make a full recovery, it'll just take longer than they first thought. I'll give updates as I get them. After hearing that, I just broke down and cried. When it rains it pours, but, I WOULD like to have a break in the storm to come up for air once in a while! I told her about that prescription and my concerns. Can it wait until next Friday, since it's gone this long without spreading or getting worse? Or, if we wait, will he be bald and have scabby, zombie-like skin later on? Mom decided that we needed to start the meds soon, so she had my sister send out a money-gram to pay for it...and then I started crying when I discovered that my sister slipped in a few extra (more than a few) dollars to help out with anything else that might come up between now and next payday! I just have to say...

...I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!!

Medical Updates

As I posted before, there were some health issues going on. I haven't received permission to include names, so I'm going to keep things as anonymous as possible.

Chris's sister is recovering well after having brain surgery. There were some masses that they found and removed a couple weeks ago. After testing, they were found to be non-cancerous! HOORAY for that!

My sister's hubby was (and still is, somewhat) having some health issues. They are starting to regulate (last I heard...). There were some pretty extensive testing done and there was a scare about the possiblity of needing a replacement organ, but that since passed by after further testing was done.

My grandma (as some of you read before) fell and broke her knee cap (among other things). Surgery was done this afternoon and the doctor was confident in the pre-surgery appointment yesterday that she'd be able to walk after surgery...no more wheel chairs!!! This made everyone very happy and the surgery was scheduled. Last update I got (about a half hour ago), Grams is out of surgery and doing well. Everything went great and they're expecting to get her walking by this evening!! Isn't medical technology amazing?!

Tyler has an appointment scheduled for tomorrow afternoon for a culture on his bald spot. A couple weeks ago, I noticed that he had a bald spot on the top of his head (right about where his soft spot had been). I asked the pediatrician about it at Celeste's appointment on friday (she's doing well) and, because he'd been double booked that hour, he couldn't take an in-depth look at it, but just at glancing at it (with his magnifying instrument), there weren't any bites, so no bugs, but he was worried about a bacteria or fungus, so asked that I schedule an appt. to have a further look and testing done. So, I got the phone numbers for their labs that they use and spent this morning calling around to them to find out just how much the culture would cost. I spent 45 mins on the phone with the first one getting the run-around. I finally lost it and yelled at the receptionist to stop trying to be the dr and tell me what I was needing (after I had been told by the dr what culture we needed to ask about) and to just give me the price on the stupid culture! (yes, it was harsh but after a while of arguing, and lack of sleep...anyone would be a bit grouchy) She put me on hold and a few seconds later, got back on with the price I needed and extra fees that went along with their office. I thanked her and got off the phone. After cooling off a bit, I called the second lab and was on the phone for all of about 15 mins (most of that was getting through the automated system...gotta love it). After that, I called and set the appointment in stone and told them which lab we chose to go with.

Celeste, as I mentioned before, had her well-child check on Friday. She weighs in at almost 18 pounds and is 27 inches long. She's pretty short and stout compared to our other kids...except Tyler on the weight...lol. She got her shots, which she was NOT happy about, and we left after a closer look at her hips (Tyler fell on her a couple days before that and one of them "felt different" so a second opinion was given by one of the other dr's there). Later that night, she was uncomfortable from the shots that were given and the irritation caused by the rotation of her hips by the doctors. THEN, she started in on teething the next day. So, it's been a rough weekend for her...poor thing!

Terra and James are doing great as well. Terra is almost done with school (next Tuesday) and has loved this past school year. James is SO looking forward to next year, he can hardly contain it! The sickies have finally left (crossing our fingers and knocking on wood) and we couldn't be happier because next weekend is the Nelson Family Reunion and its something we look forward to each year. We would have hated to have gone with sick kids or missed altogether!

We hope this finds you all well and we love you and miss you all! Somedays it really kinda stinks living so far away from you all! Hope to see you all soon!

Stinky visitors...

Last night, we heard the neighbor dogs barking like crazy. We couldn't figure out what it was they were barking at, and so we stood out on the back porch wondering what it could be and we suddenly got a whiff of what they could have been barking at. We looked around the corner of the house...nothing, and then we glanced back at the dog pen and here comes Jetta boundin' away from the side of their pen and she starts rolling around in the grass...not so unusual for her...but then Shadow started sniffing around where she had rolled and trying to roll in it herself. Chris walked, very cautiously, might I add, up to the pen, takes a whiff and comes back and says, yup, she got it! We're guessing that the skunk was after our chickens, but because Jetta was so curious, it startled it and made it go away, so all our animals are accounted for. We're hoping that the "visitor" doesn't come back, but we're also going to ask the Fish and Game guy at church if we could borrow a live trap because, the thought also crossed our mind that this could be the very same skunk that hangs out at the church house across the street, causing a nasty aroma to inhabit the building!

On another note...totally not related...Chris took me out on a date this evening for Mother's Day. Can I just say that Carrabba's Italian Grill comes close to upstaging Olive Garden...they pretty much tie in my book! YUMM-O! AND!!! Since it was our first time at the restaurant, we got free dessert! We didn't even know about that rule either. We order an appetizer and drinks, then our main course and we just decided, for the fun of it, to order dessert. The manager on duty brought it out to us and thanked us for coming in and asked if we enjoyed our meal, he wished me a happy Mother's Day and said he just thought he'd take care of the dessert and come over and personally thank us for coming in. I thought that meant that he'd pay for dessert, but Chris assured me that it was just a kind gesture and that he'd take care of the dessert by bringing it over to us. I was right...when the bill came to the table...COMPLIMENTARY DESSERT!!!! And, might I add, it was the most sinful chocolate brownie-like cake EVER! WOW! Chris then took me clothes shopping. Since I'm not dropping the baby weight as fast as I normally do, I have no jeans that fit me - the two pairs that I *did* have either got paint stains on them or ripped right up the middle of my rear...poor quality jeans, in my opinion...couldn't be the fact that my bum is still too big for them or anything...!!! I got two pairs of jeans, a set of yoga capri's to work out in, a shirt that looks marvelous (Chris picked it out...otherwise I would never have even thought about trying it on) and a couple of nice bras! YAY!

My kids also gave me a Mother's Day gift....they went out in my front yard and picked all my pinkish-purple tulips out of my garden and brought them in for me...they're now sitting on my counter in some water...they actually do look really pretty! I love Mother's Day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU MOMS WHO READ THIS!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!

Rough Days...

...they happen! Sad thing is...when they happen to me...it ALL comes crashing down!

Mine started last night. I talked to my mom and found out that my Grandma was in the ER cuz she fell. It was a rather nasty fall, but lucky for her, it didn't kill her or mame her too badly...bad enough though. She broke her nose and her knee cap and had to get stitches across her forehead. She has to be in a wheel chair and can't be alone until she can walk again. She's a tough ol' bird, I tell ya!

Then, this morning, I noticed that BamBam, our cat, wasn't at the front door for his morning lovin' from the kids, so I called for him, and he never did come, then I came in and noticed what time it was...I was almost late picking Terra up from school. I decided to drive home a different way so I could see the street and make sure nothing had happened to him. Well, something DID happen to him. Sadly, I had to clean it up so the kids wouldn't see it. As we drove by, I had to lie to them and tell them there was a cow in the neighbor's yard, just to distract them from the sight...and what a sight it was. All I'll say is that his head is what was hit. I was sick to my stomach cleaning it up! I went inside and cried and cried. Seriously, this cat was like a dog, he'd frolick and play with the kids, he'd follow them everywhere and he'd let them haul him around everywhere too. The best cat anyone could ever find anywhere. I found myself wishing it'd been the other cat we own...but then I got mad at myself for thinking such a thing. I guess my country-bumpkin cats aren't used to "big city life".

As I was chatting with one of my sisters on here, my kids came running in from the backyard yelling "MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!" I thought, oh great, they found the cat behind the dumpster...but no. They were holding up a dead baby turkey. I couldn't get a straight answer out of them on what happened, but have come to the conclusion that they opened up the baby coup and let in the bigger birds and they got attacked. Two of them died (we had six to start with), and one is mamed pretty badly and I don't think he'll make it through the rest of the day. The stories I was being told were that they were all "playing rough, and if you play rough you can get hurt and they did and died, mom"...and..."Tyler was trying to step on them and sit on them!" I really don't think that one is what happened, he might have tried to pet one and it ran away and he chased it and stepped on it accidentally, but all the feathers wouldn't be missing of that had happened.

So, when Chris got home, I had him bury the dead because I didn't have the stomach to do that. The mamed turkey is doing slightly better, so we've decided to wait till morning to see how he does, then decide on a coarse of action.

Needless to say, I've spent the better part of the day in tears. Chris told the kids that BamBam ran away last night, but I'm thinking we might have to really break the truth to them sooner or later. We'll think of something, I'm sure. In the mean time, I don't think I can handle anymore deaths, so I'm padlocking the whole backyard up. No getting into the coup, OR leaving the backyard!

Getting Settled...

I'm back online!!! YAY! We're completely moved and out of the other house now. If you want our new address, email me and let me know (smurffette00 at yahoo). We've gotten most of the repairs that he asked us to do done, but there's still a few. He said there's no hurry, but we'd like to get them done and out of the way soon. I've taken pics, but I haven't unpacked the office boxes yet, so I don't have the connection cord for my camera or SD card, so those will have to wait for now.

News around here...the sickies are back for a visit, but are starting to ebb away. I've also been asked to help out in a documentary. The birthing center that I had Celeste at called and asked if I'd be willing to help out with that. What they're looking into is the people that don't have insurance and how they cope with medical costs...mainly with having babies. They're looking for people who have been to both birthing centers and hospitals, as well as those who have only been to one or the other. They chose me out of their list of clients because they felt I'd be "literate in front of the camera" and that I'd give them the information they were looking for. I was rather flattered, but then after I got off the phone with them, I started wondering what I'd wear...since I'm not losing the baby fat very fast, I have very limited selection of wardrobe, all of which is either stained, ripped, or just rather worn-out. Maybe if I beg Chris hard enough, he'll let me go shopping! I also think that I need a mani and a pedi to cope with this as well... :o) What do you all think?! Maybe also a trip to the dentist to get my teeth whitened up a shade or two...hmmm, I might have to really start brown-nosing here! LOL, totally kidding!

Well, that's about all I can type for now, the kids are starting to explore more territory and are helping me unpack boxes...not exactly the kind of help I was looking for! I'll post more when I get more time freed up around here! Hope this finds everyone well! Love and miss you all!

Moving...Not Much Fun

We're in the process of moving right now. The kids can't understand why we can't just pack up everything in ONE day and move it over there and be settled and have it done with. Sadly, so am I! I took some pics of the place for "before pictures". I'll have to post them with the after pics next week sometime (when things are hopefully less crazy). We got the kitchen completely painted today. Now that THAT part is out of the way, I can organize everything in there. The landlord is letting my pick the trim/wallpaper-border out so it will match my decor. I'm totally stoked about that! Even though I don't own this house, it'll still feel like "mine", if that makes sense!

We actually spent the night there last night so we could get lots done, well....Chris and I stayed up until about midnight until I started to be emotional from the pain and and "girlie homones" so we went to bed. We didn't get up and moving until almost 9 am. So much for getting lots done in our "lost time of traveling" LOL! And, I must say, that the floors...even though they may be padded well - 2 inch padding underneath plush carpets...are NOT comfy....cushy maybe, but SO not comfortable! Neither one of us slept much last night. *Sigh* We're hoping to be all moved by this next weekend so that I can spend next week cleaning this house so the next tenants (my neighbors and friends) can move in with as little hassle as possible! Pray for us to be strong. Also, pray for my family and Chris's family, there are some rough times going on behind the scenes lately! Gotta love health issues! I'll blog about those as soon as I get permission and/or answers to what's really going on.

Update...

After looking at a couple houses (the two mentioned in a previous post), we've found a house!! HOORAY!!! If all goes according to plan, we should have the keys by tomorrow night so we can start cleaning and moving in!

Holy WOW!

So, I had always heard stories of people being snubbed/discriminated against/etc. for having more than a couple kids. I literally NEVER thought I'd be one telling those stories. I have TWO such stories that literally happened within 24 hrs of each other. How sad is that! That house that I looked at with the old bitty lady?! Yeah, well, she really IS an old bitty (no understatement there)! She not only wanted to raise my deposit because of the animals, but wanted to also charge me a couple hundred extra a month to tuck away for the "inevitable damage" that would occur from my kids destroying the premisis. AND, her lawyers would be involved in assessing the damages to the property. She was also going to add some things to the contract agreement that were mandatory that we comply with (shoes off policy at ALL times in the house....{probably outside too with out anal she was being}, a tray MUST go under our washing machine to prevent major water damage {seriously, if your washer leaked bad enough to cause water damage, a small tray wouldn't help much}, and we would have to come up with a carpet cover for the dining area {we already do have this for my own sanity}). I got off the phone with her and started crying. Seriously, how RUDE can you be?! Why didn't she just come right out and say what she was thinking....."I DON'T WANT TO RENT TO PEOPLE WITH KIDS OR ANIMALS!!!" She should totally put that in her newspaper ad...."no children, no pets please" or "pets and children are welcome at an added $50 per child/pet per month and extra deposit". (I'm not bitter at all, can you tell)

The day prior to this phone call I recieved from her, we were told that they couldn't rent to us because we had too many kids to fit in this "tiny house" (I think I posted about that before).

Wow, people, I'm really sorry that Chris and I decided to go with our feelings of starting a family and following our dream of having a house full of kids....sheesh, what were we thinking....should have consulted with all the old bitties out there before making this decision I guess. But, there is good news on the horizon (I hope).

I called this morning after my mom left for home (*thanks for all your help mom, it's VERY much appreciated....and the kids miss you already*) on a house that is for rent. This house is on a busy street (as busy as Strasburg can get), has no yard for the kids to play in....the part that IS fenced is barely big enough to be used as a dog run for our two k-9's. (I'm trying to stay positive) The house, however, is fairly good-sized with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Shortly after calling to set up this appt for later on this afternoon, a friend of mine from the Ward called and said she had the perfect house for us to rent. They had just helped this elderly gentleman move into an assisted living place and he doesn't want to sell his house. No deposit is required, I can decorate it how I want (if I got the *'hankerin'* to do so, it's on a prime piece of land (right next to the church), all animals are welcome....and the list goes on. She quoted a rent price that is a little out of our reach and I asked how set he was on that price and she said she could probably talk him down a couple hundred just so that we could live comfortably without straining our budget. We're hoping and praying it works out for us. That would be such a relief! We'll be driving by to checkout the outside of the house and if we like what we see, then we can call my friend back up and they can come over and show us the inside tomorrow when their schedule clears up a bit. We're hoping that it all works out for us. Thanks for all the prayers that were offered and are stilling being offered on our behalf....we are grateful for them!

On another note....here's a couple of pics of the kids in their Easter outfits! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!

(I made the girls' dresses)


(My smart little nerds)

(coloring eggs)

(the hunt...Tyler figured out that the plastic eggs had candy in them...he'd find them and squat down and eat the loot)


(Celeste in one of her outfits the "Easter Bunny" bought for her)