Pay It Forward!

The Rules}

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!

2. Winners must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your 3 Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

SO, REMEMBER...Pay it forward!

Gotta Love Chaos....Well, Maybe Only Sometimes

First of all, I have to say that I'm VERY thankful for neighbors that come to my rescue and for my family who lets me vent online to them! You guys are AWESOME!

My week started on ok, other than the fact that I was a single mom for a couple days. Things were going ok, until Monday night rolled around. The kids had been in the car all afternoon as I drove Ryan, Chris's brother, to do a few errands before dropping him off at the airport. So, when we got home, I got Celeste out of her car seat and put her on my bed and asked Terra to watch her, talk to her and if she cried, give her the binki so that I could finish up with dinner. I hadn't been out of the room for more than a few minutes and I heard Celeste crying so hard she could barely breath. I ran back in, half expecting to find her laying on the floor (from rolling off the bed), but she was still right where I'd put her. I picked her up and the crying wouldn't stop, so I kept asking Terra what happened (she was hiding under the bed, so I knew that she knew something). She kept saying she didn't know, so finally I screamed 'WHAT HAPPENED?!' and she finally confessed. She had been jumping on the bed and jumped on Celeste...not once, but twice. I asked if it was an accident and she said no, so I asked her why she did it and she said "Just cuz I wanted to." I called Chris and cried for a while and he asked me to hand the phone to Terra and he talked to her and she behaved after that!

The next day was wonderful, the kids were listening to me, and being nice....this NEVER happens here! LOL, well I can't say never, but it's a rare occurance. So, I decided to take this opportunity to completely clean the house so that by the time Chris came home, I could just hadn the kids off to him and go fold clothes and get ready to go out to an adoption shower for a friend from Church. I was really looking forward to getting out without the kids and just having a bit of fun with my friends.

I got the house pretty much clean and got a call from Chris asking me to go look online at wyoroad.info for him and see where the road closures were (not exactly a good sign of him coming home). We found out that a good portion of the interstates were closed and many of the major roads were closed as well. He decided to try and find a way around it (which frightens me when he does this). He called me later (after I realized I wasn't going to make it to the shower and sent my gift with someone else that was going), and said he was going to get a hotel in Torrington because the roads were terrible and he could barely tell he was even ON the road...he barely made it into Torrington. It was around this time (I swear the phone must have been hooked up to some invisible speakers that only kids can hear), that the kids started their "evil-doing". I was on the phone trying to figure out where hotels were for him to try (since it'd be difficult to find one when roads are closed everywhere), and James kept coming in and telling me he'd peed himself, so I kept telling him to change himself and don't do it again.

When I got off the phone with Chris (after he'd finally found a hotel), I went to go have a "talkin'-to" with James and discovered what they were REALLY doing to cause him to be wet. Now, mind you, I was already very upset that he'd been "peeing" himself, so when I found out that he'd lied, that made it so much worse.....but it only got worse from there. I walked to the other end of the house and realized that they'd turned the water back on in their bathroom, and had flooded it. They'd also got my 3-liter water jugs and filled them and dumped them out.....on the carpet in front of the bathroom, in the linen closet, and in the boys' room. Needless to say, they went to bed that very second! It was NOT up for discussion. The next day I called and vented to one of my friends out here, as well as family online, and when Terra came home from preschool (it wasn't my carpool day), my neighbor came running in with Terra and gave me a hug and asked if I was ok and if there was something she could do to help, so we planned on her taking the kids the next day so I could clean the house for some dinner guests we were having over. This helped out imensely! After I got the house pretty much presentable, I went next door to get the kids and visit for a minute...which ended up being 1.5 hrs (which was very nice)!

So, we had dinner guests last night and it was fun visiting with them, and dinner was wonderful, but after that, we put on a movie for the kids and veg'd on the bed watching Smallville, and Chris fell asleep, so I got the kids ready for bed, and got sippies for the younger ones and then went and got Chris up for scripture/prayer time and we put the kids in bed. Then Chris went to bed RIGHT after doing this. Tyler doesn't go to sleep very early if he has naps, so, he didn't drop off to sleep until after 11 pm last night. I'm ready for a vacation! LOL, I know I've said this before, but I'm serious this time! I'm hoping that after a weekend of semi-relaxing, next week will be better (but I'm bracing myself since Chris has to go back up through Wyoming again!).

(*and to top it all off....my satellite internet has been going out AGAIN! hopefully by Tuesday things should be working again*)

"Good for Something"

In the book "Stand a Little Taller" written by Gordon B. Hinckley, there's and entry for today's date that really struck me. A littl background here, I have a new calling in our ward....I'm the music specialist in the Relief Society, meaning I get to plan out what songs are sung and give a 5-min. "musical moment" to inspire the ladies in our ward. I try to have a thought or a little background on the hymn that we're singing to help invite the Spirit to be there during the lesson that follows it. I've taken to using this book, since there is a thought for each day of the year. So, the entry for January 25th is entitled "Good for Something".

The scripture is from the Book of Mormon - Moroni 7:5 "For I remember the word of God which saith by their works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also."

The quote from President Hinckley is this - "You are good. But it is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something. You must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for your presence. And the good that is in you must be spread to others."

That quote really struck me. It's SOOO true that you have to be good for something. But then I wondered....have *I* been good for something? I've been thinking about that since I gave the musical moment, and haven't really come up with anything that would have left an imprint on the world around me. There are days that I even wonder if I do ANY good with my parenting (since there are many days that I feel that I've failed miserably in that department!). But, after getting home and having many people talk to me today, I actually think maybe I HAVE helped at least one person out (she said she admired my courage for standing up to people and she said I was a good person.....I cried when she said that, lol...I was really touched by that remark).

Now, mind you, I'm writing this when I feel very out of sorts right now. I'm getting cabin fever from having to stay home with the "sickies" for most of the year so far (lol, since we're not even a month into it yet...lol). I also miss my friends that I used to hang out with before moving out here. We would always go and do something together and when I wasn't doing something with them, I was with my family doing something (usually at my mom's house). Yes, I'm pretty home-sick today. But, I'm also gaining a new-found faith in the goodness of our ward!

LOL, news travels pretty fast here and most people that I talked to were pretty appalled at how some had reacted to us having Terra there last week. I got many hugs and genuine concern of how we were all doing this week. They were all very relieved to hear that the "sickies" were gone from our house for now and giving me hugs again to tell me to 'just breath now that it's all over with'...and....'now you can relax'....was the most common statement from people. I just laughed at that one and thought, 'You don't know my children! Relaxing is completely non-existant in my dictionary.'

James had a hard time today going into primary today, though. He has the nicest teacher, but he's not transitioning very well. He kept asking to go into Tyler's class with him or to go with Terra. He finally asked to go sit with daddy in his class and color. He's never been one to adjust to change very well at all. Hopefully next week will be better! Terra and Tyler seem to be adjusting to things pretty well (since Tyler didn't really move into a new class and Terra was already used to Primary).

I do have some good news though. Things are going better (at least for now) at Chris's job, so no pay-cuts now! YIPPEE!!! I'm also looking forward to getting our taxes back (I get to have a new washing machine since mine is on it's last leg right now)!! So, I'm here to tell you ALL...no matter HOW bad it gets, keep your chin up. Things WILL improve (they don't stay bad forever), and plus, if you keep smiling, it helps to give others the courage to endure through their trials too...you never know who's watching you!

Discoveries...

I have discovered that when I drink milk (just regular ol' milk), Celeste throws up more. Now mind you, I'm not a huge milk drinker, but still, it was a sad discovery because I love making fresh (well, frozen) fruit shakes in the morning for breakfast, using milk. So, we had to break down and buy rice milk (since I'm not much of a soy fan, either). But, this little act made me feel special, because now I have something that is completely MINE and I don't have to SHARE!!! This is probably going to cause problems with teaching the kids to share, however, since mommy isn't sharing something of HER'S! This was discovery #1.

Discovery #2.....my kids LOVE yogurt. We bought 2 boxes of yogurt (about 24-ish containers of yogurt) and a box of go-gurt as well. Well, now there is ONE go-gurt left and about half of MY yogurt is gone too. These kids don't even ask......they just go to the fridge and grab whatever looks prettiest to them (which is usually french vanilla because it has a "pretty flower" on the front of it), and then grab a spoon and sit down, with a blanket over their head and back on the couch (trying to be sneaky), and eat it....usually making a mess all over the couch because they try to throw spoons full of yogurt at each other. Grrr!

Discovery #3....this might be a bit late in life, but I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with my life. I know, I know....midlife crisis of some sort, but seriously! I'm not sure if I want to just sit here and only be a mom! I keep thinking that there's something else I should be doing. Don't get me wrong, being a mom is fun and all and it's what I always wanted to do....be a stay at home mom (a.k.a. Domestic Goddess), just feel like there's something else. Food for thought for me, I guess.

Discovery #4....Tyler LOVES rubbing his head. I think he just likes the feel of hands/fingers going through his hair. Weird child! He gets this from me :o) I love my hair being stroked, so when my hair is straightened for a day or two, Chris and I will sit and watch a movie and he'll run his fingers through my hair....LOVE it...my mom did the same thing sometimes when I was growing up!

Discovery #5....Tyler loves to help me "chasten" his siblings. If I get upset, he'll start wagging his finger and saying "no, no, no, no" to them.....all the while, chasing them down - since he's usually in a completely different part of the house than they are.

Discovery #6....Last night, while talking to Chris, I discovered that the Church has an Elk farm in Wyoming! I had NO clue and this is REALLY sad because I spent all my childhood years in that state! Talk about living in my own little world! LOL

Discovery #7....This one technically isn't really a discovery, I just wanted to say it! I read a couple of blogs that make me hang on to my husband and children just a little bit tighter and make me appreciate life just a little bit more than I have before. As much as I complain about Chris being gone on business trips, I'm EXTREMELY grateful to still have him around to hold on to when I need a shoulder to lean on. And as much as my kids drive me nuts some days (I'm glad that you're all getting a kick out of their daily excursions of driving me insane), I'm so VERY glad that I still have them to rock to sleep at night! So....when you read this, give your spouse/kids/parents/loved ones in general a big hug and tell them you love them!!!

Rules...

Have you ever read a set of rules or warnings that make you think "now why would they put that down"? Well, last night we went grocery shopping and decided that since we were out, we'd get the kids a snack and a drink at burger king and let them play in the playground area for a few (since it was almost 70 degrees outside yesterday). I was sipping on my soda and reading the rules while sitting there and cracked up laughing at a couple of them. Here they are:

1 - Kids MUST be 4-10 years old to play here. (nothing wrong with this one...right)
2 - Kids MUST be supervised by a HAPPY adult. (haha, that would disqualify about half the parents that were there)
3 - Remove shoes - keep your SOCKS ON. Put shoes and all loose items in he shoe keeper. (I looked around after reading that one, and OUR kids were the ONLY ones that had socks on their feet)
4 - No running, no climbing on the outside of the nets or fence. (please, these are kids and when they play, they run!!!)
5 - No food or drink allowed in the playground structure. (as I read this one, a little kid ran up the stairs with his chocolate milk - which had no lid or straw)
6 - If you see anything weird, tell the manager. (LOL, this one made me laugh the hardest cuz, can't you just see some 10 yr old kid going to tell the manager he's seen something weird, only to find out it was his younger sibling...HAHAHAHA)
7 - We are NOT responsible for lost of stolen items. (this is why I make my kids give ME their shoes and other items when playing there, I can put them in the diaper bag....I decided to do this after watching 2 kids from different families squabble over who's stuff was who's a few years ago)

I just came to the conclusion that they just post those rule signs up for decoration only!

And, as usual, James had some smart-alec comment last night. I've spent the better part of the last couple days reminding the kids that BamBam has an owie and that we HAVE to leave him alone. Not really working, but it never really did work (remember the "poor cats" remark?). Well, finally after me telling the kids to leave him alone and me putting him in another room to hide, James comes up to me and says, "Mom, did the animal dr fix BamBam?" "Yes, that's why we have to leave him alone." "If they fixed him, why does he have an owie?" I really had nothing to say. Couldn't come up with a darn thing that would make him understand! "Just cuz he does, sweetie!" was all I could come up with!

Then, while we were waiting for Chris to come out of a store, I received a comment from Terra that made me VERY glad that my fertility isn't in the hands of a 5-yr-old!

"Mom, I think that Celeste can grow up tomorrow and we can have another baby next week!"

Yeah, you hang on to that thought, but I can tell ya right now......IT'S SOOOOO NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!!

Bottle Success and Big "Boogers"

Lately I've been trying to get Celeste used to formula. My milk supply has cut back some and she seems to think she's wasting away (but, as you can see, she's not).

Well, I talked to the pediatrician about this problem and she said to try mixing a small amount of formula with breast-milk to slowly get her used to the taste of it, then I could suppliment with it if need be and it wouldn't be an issue. I had always been told that mixing them was a bad thing, and told her so. She said that recent studies have shown that it doesn't make a hill of beans difference. So, today, I mixed some together...more my milk than formula, and it took a little bit, but she drained the whole bottle. That's the most I've been able to get her to eat for about a week now! She didn't complain once she got going on the bottle, so HOORAY!!!

We also had a sibling rivalry thing going on today. Terra came running in crying, holding a toy in her hand. She said that James had poked her with it. Here's the conversation I got.

"Mom! James poked me wiff THIS one!!"

"I did NOT!"

"Yeah huh!"

"No, I poked you wiff DIS one!" (he says this as he holds up another toy....like it makes a difference, ya still poked her!)

We got that settled and I went and put Celeste down for a nap. When I came back out to the living room to check on the kids, it looked like James was picking his nose and it looked like he'd "struck the jack-pot". So, I grabbed a tissue and went over to explain to him that we need to do this with a tissue, not our fingers. You can imagine my astonishment when I pulled out this!

This is a piece of foam pad/stuffing! He had shoved this up his nose and was trying to see how high up he could get it....MOST of that was in his nose when I caught him. I'm shaking my head right now because I was so HOPING that I wouldn't have to deal a little body putting things in his nose/ears/etc.!!! This especially worries me because around Christmas time, there was a story on Fox31 news (myfoxcolorado.com if you want to search it out) that was about kids putting those button batteries in their noses. From the time of insertion to the time it kills them from the acid seaping out into their system, is right around 2 hours! Freaked me out! They always have to make things sound so scary and serious then they broadcast them out there (not that it isn't a serious situation, but still....can we say, "mass histeria!").

Crank Calls and Fixing Cats

First off (I'm not going to be nice for a second)...if you're going to make a comment to someone, be "man" enough to own up to that comment, don't hide behind some "unkown name - unknown number" while doing so. I got this phone call yesterday, after taking my kids to church the other day and having my daughter not be able to go to primary with the other kids, all the while, others are getting upset that there are children in primary and nursery who have been exposed to chicken pox....the world has ended. This phone call was listed on the caller id as unknown name - unknown number. The person on the other end is noticeabley trying to disguise their voice and says to me, "Now the nursery has to be sanitized" and then hangs up the phone. I'm only going to say this once and then I'll drop it......GROW UP!!!!! Chicken pox is NOT life threatening....an inconvenience, yes, but totally liveable!

Well, today, we took our cat in to the vet clinic since they are sponsoring a spay/neuter clinic yesterday and today. Poor BamBam will probably not be as trusting when he comes home this afternoon. The kids were VERY concerned that we were leaving him there at the office and not bringing him home, so we told them that the animal doctor was going to "fix" BamBam...and they seemed ok with this concept (they have NO idea what it entails). So we go to the school to talk to the school nurse about Terra's "condition" and whether or not it is ok to leave her there or if we have to bring her home. We get there, sit in the office for 20 mins and then get told to just take her down to the classroom and the rest of us (Chris, me and the kids) go home and wait for the nurse to call us since she's running late today. I was like,

"We live 12 miles out of town, so it'd be pointless for me to drive all the way out there, only to get a call as soon as I walk through the door saying to come get her."

"The nurse didn't seem too worried about it, so my guess is, it's not serious enough to keep her home."

Wow. This HUGE hype last week over nothing. So, we came home and here I sit, waiting for this phone call. But, while I've been sitting here typing this, James has come up to me saying he's fixing things, just like the animal dr is fixing BamBam. LOL All the while, he's holding a fisher price chizzle and hammer! Now, I'm a very visual person, and just the thought makes me crack up histerically that someone might fix an animal in such a way...LOL Can we all say, OUCH!!! (I'm SO glad that it's more humane than that!)

Lowsy Batteries, or Something Else?

For the longest time, I could never figure out why the swing would suddenly fall back when I'd lay Celeste in it or why the batteries were always run down on it. I'd have to keep popping it back into place and replacing the batteries every couple of weeks, which was starting to get frustrating. Then I noticed that Tyler would be playing next to the swing right before this would happen each time. So, finally, I caught him in the act of "breaking" the swing. He'd crawl in, get comfy, turn it on and start swinging. Then, the back of the swing would fall back (luckily there's straps sewn on there to keep it from crashing all the way to the floor). So, he'd jump off, turn it off, try to sit the seat back upright, and then just walk away...trying to act natural! LOL We finally caught him today and had the camera close-by. Couldn't resist snapping a picture of it.

It's Like.....Talking To A 5 Year Old...IMPOSSIBLE!

We had a nice long talk (well....long for a 5 yr old anyway) about how we can't lift up our shirts to show people the chicken pox today. After being asked to leave primary due to this very problem, we decided she should know that it's not appropriate to do that in public. We explained that it's a secret (yeah right), and that she can't lift up her shirt to show people.

"But I DON'T lift up my shirt mommy, I pull it down like this..." (she proceeds to show me how she shows people)
"But you can't do that honey."
"Why?"
"Because it'll make them sick too."
"Huh?" (I don't think I'm getting anywhere with this)
"If you lift up your shirt, the germies will jump off you and get other people." (she looks at me like I've lost my mind, so I give up on that one)
"Just make sure you wash your hands so that the germies don't make you sick or anyone else sick too."
"Ok mommy!"

She gets excited when I tell her she can actually "play" in water, since I've turned the water off in their bathroom because of certain things they've done in there....like, flooding for example. However, as a result of me turning the water off in their bathroom, they seem to think mine is the play area of the house....either that or the kitchen. I can't seem to win in that department.

Lucky for me, Chris lets them help in the kitchen, which seems to ebb the wanting to play in the water for a couple days (maybe only one). He just made a wonderful dinner (it's a tradition in our house that he's in charge of the Sunday cooking...which gives me a nice break from that room for a day) that is probably the healthiest meal we've had in a long time. Now, we could always blame it on the recession and how food is just too expensive and all, but....I'll admit it. I'm just too darn tired and lazy to actually get out of the rut that we're in where food-age is concerned. We'll do chicken enchiladas, spaghetti, ham and broccoli soup, some concauction that we just make up as we go (trying to use things up before they go bad), and we use the crockpot a lot for our roasts (and stroganoff...can't get over how good that one is). So, if anyone has any suggestions for easy recipes that aren't totally out of the ordinary, please email them to me!

Another kitchen confession that I must make is that I'm a sugar addict (if there is such a thing). I've had insane cravings for chocolate lately. I used to be a choco-holic, but when I got preggers with Terra, totally lost that sweet tooth. In fact, I despised chocolate for a while there. It wasn't so bad in the past year, or so, to eat it once every.....4-5 months, but since I've had Celeste....it just won't go away!!! If there's any suggestions on how to get around that, please, PLEASE let me know! (and that suggestion on getting a hershey's bar and eating only one square a day....HA!!! totally didn't work! for me it was more like 1 square every.....minute!) I'm writing this as my wonderful husband is making chocolate chip cookies with the kids....my mouth is watering over this concept!!

I'm working really hard on losing the weight from this past pregnancy. I honestly don't think I've ever had to work this hard before (don't hit me...). But I HAVE lost 30 lbs since giving birth, so that, I must pat myself on the back for. Sadly, I have nother 20 lbs to go! No, I didn't gain that all during pregnancy...at least I don't think I did anyway. I didn't step on a scale before I got pregnant to see what my pre-pregnancy weight was. I hadn't stepped on a scale since I got out of the hospital from my allergic reaction to Ibuprofen, to be completely honest, because I had massive water-retention-weight-gain from the steroids they had me on (never again will I willingly take those). Anyway, my excersize regeme consists of...crunches (to put the hernia back to normal so it can heal), running (which I can ALMOST accomplish by chasing the kids around the house), SOME weight lifting (lol, not a problem with 2 sumo-kids here). No, really, I do actually excersize 2-3 times a week (when my mommy-schedule allows it). Wish I could get more in there, but doesn't always work in my favor. Also, any tips/hints on how to schedule that into daily life would be appreciated too!!

Clarrification...

Before I get another well-meant phone call, email, IM, or text....let me clarrify what the pediatrician said about the chicken pox (thank you all for being so concerned....the thought is very appreciated).

Yes, chicken pox are contagious, I'm not arguing that point. However (I'm going to explain this the exact way it was explained to me, instead of paraphrasing....which didn't come across the way it should have), if you think about it, how, exactly, does a virus spread? Through bodily secretions. Now, how does THAT become air-borne? Coughing, sneezing, runny nose, etc (flu-like symptoms). So now, how might someone catch the chicken pox if it's not air-borne? By touching the spots. So, if someone has the vaccine, they don't USUALLY get the flu-like symptoms that come with it. All they have to do is avoid having someone come in contact with the pox. How might someone do this? Don't expose the pox. Cover them up prior to scabbing over, and then people won't "get contaminated". Hope this made sense. Oh, and if someone has those flu-like symptoms, stay 6 feet away from them....the virus can fly up to 6 feet from the infected person! Learn something new every day!

Doctors Appointments And Chickens...

Celeste had her 2 month check up today. She weighs 13.5 lbs (91%) and is 24 inches long (75%). Her head is in the 70% (which is a bit "smaller" than birth....it was in the 85% then...ouch!). The pediatrician was pretty impressed with her motor skills and her sight (how well she could follow things) and also the fact that she can now sleep through the night most nights! She was also cracking up at how chubby she is! I told her I have "sumo kids in training". She said she was sure I fed them miracle grow for kids. LOL She got 4 vaccines...3 shots and one oral vaccine. The shots can give her the usual reactions...fever, soreness...but it usually goes away within 24-hrs. The oral one is one that I haven't had to deal with before. It can make them sick to their stomach and have diahrrea once or twice in a week. So, when we got home from grocery shopping today, we made dinner, ate and then I went and ran some bath water for me and Celeste. We sat and soaked for a while and she seemed happier after the bath.

I also got some valuable information on the chicken pox (unofficial diagnosis of Terra is, yes, it's chicken pox - since she wasn't with me, they couldn't officially say yes or no). If you've had the vaccine, you can still break out (which I knew). What I didn't know was that they don't generally present themselves as the blister-like looking rash. They look more like bug bites (but not exactly) and itch like them too. You start breaking out on your trunk and then it can spread anywhere from there. If you keep them covered up, then they're not contageous (so if you have any that aren't covered by clothing, cover 'em up with band-aids). So, as of right now, it's safe to send Terra back to school on Tuesday (since it's a holiday on Monday). Can I just say, I'm SO tired of everyone being sick right now?! Everytime someone says that they itch....I start itching everywhere (even though there's nothing wrong with me), if I see anyone itch, I'm almost stripping them down to check for pox....talk about paranoid!

Anyway, while we were out grocery shopping, we'd found someplace that was getting rid of some chickens. Our land-lady told us we could get some and put them in the coup out back, so, in turn, we told her she could have some of the eggs that were laid by the hens. So, we have 3 chickens that get to be introduced to the "wilds of our backyard coup". Guess I get to get out my bib-over-alls and be "farmer Sandi" again!

Country Life Entertainment

...ring.....ring.....

"Elementary school"
"Hi, this is Mrs. Nelson calling to let you know that Terra won't be there again today."
"Oh, ok, we'll mark her down as excused then."
"Just an fyi, it MIGHT be chicken pox."
"....."
(I almost say 'hello?' when she comes back on)
"Have you had this confirmed by a doctor?"
"No."
"Well, then how do you know it's chicken pox?"
(is she serious?!)
"Well, she's been exposed to it because my husband just got over them. We'll know for sure tomorrow."
"Well, we have to have confirmation from tri-county health before we tell anyone about it."
(now, I can understand the need to avoid a "mass histeria" from telling other families about this when it might not be true....which is fine with me....but this whole conversation will soon start taking a turn for the worse"
"Does it have to be tri-county or can it be our regular pediatrician that I take my kids to?"
"....uh....Why don't I just have the nurse call you when she gets in and we'll see if we can't figure out what this REALLY is."
(WHAT?!!! I am almost offended by that whole conversation....does she really think that I wouldn't know what the pox were or looked like, especially when Chris just got over them?!)
"Ok, thanks! Bye!" (I'm trying to stay calm as I finish off the conversation)

This was the start of my day! So, I called Chris and asked him what I should do about my appointment that afternoon and he reassured me that it would be ok and that he'd meet me there and sit in the car with the kids so that it wouldn't get spread to anyone. I was actually rather grateful for that because I was looking forward to getting out of the house after this past week I've been through. Now, you KNOW things are bad when you're looking forward to an after noon out to an appt. where you're asked to strip from the waist down for an exam. No, really, I love the ladies at the office....even the one man there too...they're all awesome and fun to talk to (the talking is what I was really looking forward to...LOL)!

After getting home from the appt., I got the kids lunch, and then came in here to feed Celeste and call the office back to make the final payment on my account there. While I was in here, there was (as usual) something going on in the rest of the house with the kids. I put the baby down and go to check on their progress with lunch, only to find James running around with a can of Pledge spraying it into his bowl of food, chasing the cats with it....there's also foamy stuff on the benches and the garbage can and the floor from him spraying in one spot too long. So, I take it from him and put it up and then clean up the mess and toss his food. He started crying telling me that he wasn't done with that food so I responded, "now you are!" to which he stops crying and said "no I wasn't, there was still food there!" (this child is the most literal person I have EVER come across...I'll post past stories below when I'm done here) The cats were running in terror from Tyler for who KNOWS what reason and then Terra started crying about her head hurting. So I go find my homeopathic drops and give her a few things to try and sooth her owies and get her pillow and blanket and have her lay down on the couch for a while. Then I had to change Tyler, and then Celeste (as they seemed to think they had to have a "blowout" at the same time), and when I was finished with that, I come back and guess who has the Pledge again? Yup, James! I take it from him again and put it someplace else and then clean up some chips that Tyler decided to dump out while that was going on. I'm SO ready for a vacation!

Last night, Chris made brownies for me....trying to cheer me up! And then he started teasing the cats. Now, I really think the only reason he let me get them for the kids was so he could spend his time pesterring them! I bought a "mouse" toy that you can stuff cat nip into. I really shouldn't have bought it because it freaks me out every time I see it! Well, Chris decided to tie some yarn to the end of it's tail and and drag it around the room. Then he tied it to a part of Tyler's jammies and made him run around the house (sounds mean and cruel, but the kids were getting a kick out of it too). After we put the kids in bed, Chris decided to have more fun. He made a lasso and put it around BamBam's neck and the Ariel started chasing him around. He was getting pretty upset and just laid down after a while. Chris kept trying to get him to run around more, but BamBam wouldn't have it. And thus ended the evening entertainment!

Now for those stories of James I promised (these'll make you smile, if nothing else)! He's turning out more and more like his father everyday! When we first got the cats, he was running around teasing them and just wouldn't leave them alone, so I told him to "leave those poor cats alone!" He just looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and kept going. Finally I said "JAMES!!! What did I just tell you?!" (blank stare) "I told you to leave those cats alone, didn't I?!" "No....you said to leave the POOR cats alone!" Then on another day, I asked him if he wanted to run to the mailbox with me (which is about a mile down the road). He said "No, it'll take too long...lets go in the car." Then one day he kept getting into the movies, pulling them out and making a big mess with them. Everytime I'd see him, I'd tell him to stop. Finally one time when I walked by I said, "James, do you want me to swat your pants?!" "No, mom, cuz I'm wearing them."

Revenge of the Chicken Pox...

Here we go again! It's not even 2 full weeks into 2009 and we might have another outbreak of the pox here! Oh grand....just grand! When it rains it pours, I guess!

So, the adventures of my day...are you ready for this? Think of the last couple days' posts...and combine them! That will give you my day today! They've done everything from dump out the "bunny milk" (nesquik powder), to fill my sink up with soap and then with water (and these sinks don't have those emergency drains in them...grrr), to doing something and then blaming the other one (James is starting to pick up on this nasty habit now). I thought this morning as I rolled out of bed 'I'm going to stay on top of them today and they won't get the "one-up" on me!' I got dressed and walked out to see that they already HAD the one-up on me. Crackers are smushed all over in my carpets and they're sitting in front of the tv watching morning cartoons...eating the crumbs (ew...my carpets need to be cleaned, so that's not even cool). So, I have them set to work picking up the bigger pieces so I could vacuum later while they were napping...this lasted all of....well, it didn't really work at all! They were immediately running wild through the house (now, normally, they're usually pretty mellow but today they were wild, ravenous beasts). So, as I was kneeling by the couch, cleaning up that mess, they all ran off to do some other evil in the house. So started my day of torture. It seemed when I was at one mess, they were making another at the opposite end of the house.

After the cracker incident...they were off finding my squirt bottles....and drenching everything surrounding them....my bed, the mirrors, each other, and my computer. ALL of it - monitor, tower, keyboard, mouse, speakers...everything! I caught them and sent them to time out on their beds until I came to get them and set to work, wiping down my computer and then the mirrors and then anything else I could find that they had "christened with holy water". When I got done, I went in to get them out of time out and neither one of them was in bed....they were both shut up in Terra's closet playing with legos.

So, I told them I was making a list of the bad things they did so that I could take care of all the spankings tonight when daddy got home. Oh, the world fell to pieces. They cried and carried on about how they didn't want spankings....this went on until I left the room, then it was a happy day again (i really think they were just trying to humor me by carrying on so....trying to make me think I was effective at something).

Now, I'm sure you're all asking....where was Tyler during all of this? Well, there's the kicker! I went into the kitchen to start doing dishes and there he is, hiding behind the island with a chocolate face. The kids had gotten down the "bunny milk" sometime during this whole disaster and left it where he could reach. He was eating it and throwing it all over the kitchen, and then eating some more, having a grand time, I'm sure! So, I get him all cleaned up and sent out of the kitchen - he was quite mad that I had interupted his "dining" - and started cleaning up that mess. Pretty soon, I could hear bumps and bangs coming from my bathroom, so I go to investigate and almost get run over by the stampede coming from that particular area of the house. I go to investigate further, and find that my whole vanity is covered with soap suds and the water is still running, sinks are plugged (and again, refer back to that first paragraph....no emergency drains). I run in and unplug the drains and turn the water off and wash the suds down the drain and then go in search of the children. They have gotten into my small bottle of vegetable oil and sprayed all over everything on my fridge (pictures included), causing it all to smear, then they sprayed each other with it (not exactly the best smelling "pefume"), and then dumped it all over the coffee table in the living room. Then they were sitting quietly watching tv. They started telling me they were hungry while I was silently fuming while cleaning this mess up, so I kept telling them to wait for lunch (yes, it was ONLY lunch time at this point). Pretty quick, James comes running in, grabs a spoon out of the drawer and runs to the fridge and while opening it, says "mom, can I have some yogurt?"
"No, because we don't have any."
"But I WANT some, mom!"
"Honey, we don't have any!'
"But there was some on the tv!"
"That doesn't mean we have any here!"
So, he puts the spoon back and goes back and sits down. I haven't even bothered to turn the tv off for the day, even though they have watched way too much at this point....I think it was the only thing keeping my sane this morning! After a few minutes, he comes running back in.
"MOM! Can I have a cookie?"
"We don't have any and you still need to wait for lunch."
"But mom, I wanted a cookie (with the puppy-dog eyes)"
"I'm sorry, but I don't have any!"
"But there was some on the tv."
Ok, so if it's on the tv, we MUST have it here SOMEWHERE, right?! (wouldn't that be nice)

Then Terra comes in and says, "mom, these bumps itch!" Now, I really jump at this remark because of Chris's recent outbreak. I check her over and it doesn't seem like much of anything...two polka-dots on her chest and stomach...woohoo! They don't even look like the pox. So, I tell her not to touch them and they'll go away.

So, I fix lunch and send them off to bed and all three of them take naps (which never happens anymore). So, I know that Terra isn't feeling well (we'd kept her home from school because she threw up last night and still looked pail this morning, with a slight fever). So, I got a moment to relax and just zone out for a few.

The kids got up from their naps and, of course, chaos ensued. Toys everywhere, tug-of-wars over this and that and pretty soon, Terra comes over and says, "mom, they REALLY itch me now, and even on my back too." So I lift up her shirt once more and, sure enough, it's spread to her back (7-8 on her back and 2-3 on her front - one of which landing right in the middle of her belly-button). At this point, I just throw my hands up in the air and think, "What else?!" and then severely chasten myself for thinking such a thought!

So, we gave everyone baths tonight, hoping that it's just something that she got into that didn't agree with her, but not getting our hopes up too high. We'll see what tomorrow brings. So, now I must ask you all....want to come play at my house?! LOL

Ever wonder....

What happens to your camera when it disappears, or what happens when your back is turned for a few minutes? Well here's a few helpful hints.....

They might TP your bathroom and take pics of it.....or......

...they might just type incoherent messages to your friends and buddies in your chat room so that they think that you've REALLY gone off your rocker!

Decisions, Decisions...

Last night, Tyler would NOT go to bed. So, finally at around 10 pm, I decided to turn on the tv and change the channel to Baby First TV (google it, pretty cool for this VERY reason I'm about to explain right here). They have this nighttime programming that plays lullaby music and classical music to little pictures and scenes that are relaxing to babies. It helps put them to sleep (and apparently there are parents out there that put a tv in their children's rooms for this very purpose and keep it going all night long!!!). I put a pillow and a blanket on the couch for him to curl up with and turned off all the lights and went to put Celeste down for the night. When she was finally asleep, I went to check on him and he was asleep too (this was about 10:30 pm)! YIPPEE FOR ME! I went to pick him up and....what's this? A very potent aroma starts seeping up to my nose! So, now I'm faced with a decision! I am SO tired from putting up with everything from yesterday....do I leave him in this nasty diaper and then have to deal with a rash in the morning, or do I change him, risking the inevitable...waking him up?! I decide to change the poor guy, so I go get the wipes and a diaper...he actually stayed asleep until I put his clean diaper on him and started putting his pj's back together. Then his eyes are wide open and he's staring me down. So, I lay beside him on his bed, thinking this might help him fall asleep again fast. But no! He starts crawling all over me, so I go turn the tv back on and put him on the pillow and cover him with a blanket again. He's not as calm this time around, so I had to hog-tie him down and sit with him, while we both dozed off. I woke up around midnight and he was finally asleep in my arms, so I turned off the tv, put him in bed and then went to bed myself, only to have my hopes dashed at the cries of my baby! So, I get up with her and feed her and change her and put her back in bed with high hopes that she'll just go back to sleep for me. Not even close! After a few more tries at burping her, success is accomplished and she falls alseep for a few more hours and I finally get a few winks of sleep.

Today was warmer than yesterday and the perfect day for the kids to play outside. So, after picking Terra up from school, I bundle the kids up and send them off to play in the melting snow. This is the perfect kind of snow for building snow-men (and my kids thought so too). They built one and James came running inside to get me to come out and look, while Terra sat out there holding it up so it wouldn't fall over before I got there. Here are some pics of it...they actually did a pretty good job...just need to work on the base so it'll be more sturdy next time.

This first pic is just as she turned to walk away from it, and this next one is the remains of it after it fell and she tried so hard to rush back and "save it" from falling over.

Who Knew...

Yes, yet another post today. LOL, you can tell what kind of a day I've had. This blog has become more like a journal for me, maybe I should just start copying and pasting everything into a word document and print it out once a month to place in a binder! As I sit here, periodically chasing my youngest son back into bed (the turkey), I ponder on things that I really learned from my kids today.

Who knew that kids could learn SO much from tv commercials. Terra is getting very educated by them....I'm seriously thinking of shutting off all tv communications before she learns something bad!! Everytime a commercial would come on about ANYTHING, she would come running to where ever I was in the house and tell me about it...almost word for word! I'm glad that she was watching nickelodeon (or was it toon disney....don't remember) because their commercials seem to be low key! For instance, there's this commercial about a purse organizer. Terra immediately grabs my purse and comes running to me (and yes, this all happened since I last posted or else you would have heard about it in the other posts of the day). She says, "mom, you need to be more or...or...or...gah...lized!!" She proceeds to dump out my purse and says, "oh no! not another mess! you need..." Now, I lost it at this point because my kids KNOW they're not supposed to be playing with my purse (they lost their immunization records once and it took me a couple weeks to find them, and then they've also misplaced my keys for me...as if I don't already do that myself, don't really need help there). Thinking back on it, I should have let her finish because....now.....it's histerical! I made her pick up everything and put it back in my purse and put it away....she cried and now I feel terrible about it. A few minutes later, she comes marching in and says, "mom, when you do your eyes, don't poke it like this....(she makes a poking motion with her finger toward her eye)....make it swirl like this (she does this sort of magical swirly motion from her eyes outward)...it makes them look longer and.....what did they call it mom?" I knew exactly what they called it because I had been walking through the living room when the commercial was playing...the word is sexy, but do you think I'm going to tell my daughter that?! Not a chance! Especially when she repeats everything I tell her to her teacher! HAHA! I can just see it now...."Mrs. F....." (and if anyone couldn't tell what she was talking about for that last commercial....it was an eye lash enhancer....thing, LOL)

I was making dinner and chasing the kids out of the pantry and the fridge because I knew they wouldn't eat dinner if they ate ANYTHING else, even a couple SMALL crackers. Now, I just didn't realize how SMALL of a snack would sustain them! Who knew that (this is totally gross, but bear with me) boogers could sustain life! I knew nothing of the sort......until tonight! I got dinner on the table and called the kids over to sit down and eat. Tyler, of course, comes RUNNING at the sound of the word "food"! This kid wouldn't miss a meal for anything! Terra turns off the tv and comes in, whining that James isn't coming! So, I tell her to sit down and I'll worry about James. So I go into the living room and find him sitting on the couch. I tell him to come in to eat and he says, "No, I've been eating here" "What have you been eating?" I ask with a very puzzled look, wondering what in the world he could have snuck out of the kitchen that would make him not hungry for dinner. "These things up here" as he gestures upward. "Where?" "Right HERE!!!!" he says as he picks his nose and EATS IT!!!!!!! Can I just say, I just about became sick right there! EW!

So, now I must go and chase them (Terra and Tyler) back to bed one more time (maybe a few more than that), wishing, once again, that Chris were here to tell them to stay in bed (since they seem to listen better to a male voice than mine).

"If You're Not Laughing, You're Crying"

See, I TOLD you all, my goal is to make you laugh. Now, if you look at the times of my last two posts, you'll see that it hasn't been long. In the time it took to post on here, on my family's website and then go check on the kids....(you're gonna love this):

James and Terra decided that since I had told them they couldn't have "bunny milk" (nesquick chocolatel milk), they would have some hot chocolate and they'd do it themselves! They climbed up on the counter, got into the cupboard and got the hot chocolate container (not a small one, might I add), and then climbed down and took it over to the island. They each had a BIG glass of water which they had also gotten themselves. They proceeded to spoon out chocolate and then decided that their glasses just wouldn't do....so they dump everything they have into the container and try to stir it up....well, now there's a big chocolate mess on my counter that gets to be cleaned up.

Then Terra came running in to tell me that Tyler got hit. I asked who hit him and she said that James did because Tyler had hit her first (makes perfect sense....right). LOL well, I asked her to tell me exactly what happened and she excitedly was rambling on and was talking so fast that she slipped and told the truth....."...and Tyler wanted to play on the horse and I said no and he hit me and then I hit him and he fell..." Her eyes get big as she realizes that she's just told on herself!

And then, they decided to get into the diaper bag and found the teething tablets and infant gas drops. Terra drank the whole bottle of the gas drops and James got into a CHILD PROOF LID to get to the teething tablets! Again, Terra came running in to tell on James. She runs to the corner and puts her nose in the corner and says, "mom, James is getting into the medicines on the table." I'm thinking, what medicine is on the table. I went out and found James about ready to tip the bottle of tablets into his mouth. I caught the bottle and then found the empty gas drops bottle. I turned around and looked at both Terra and James and noticed that Terra's shirt had some wet marks on it (from droplets of something). I asked who drank it, and James points to her and she points to him. So I ask again in a louder voice and both fingers go to Terra. I sent them to their rooms while I called my sister and asked her if that was going to hurt the kids. She said no, so then I go and talk to the kids about how dangerous that is to do stuff like that. I think it just went in one ear and out the other So now everything has to go way up high and be locked up tight so he won't get into anything dangerous. It's times like this that make me want to call Chris and tell him to get home now!

Disclaimer....

I'm TERRIBLE at blogging, so, sorry if I miss a few days (or months), and if it gets too boring....TOO BAD!!!! Come visit me so I'll have something NICE and FUN to blog about :o)

Single-Parenting......Oh How I HATE It!

But, I suppose it's a necessary evil if we want to keep money rolling in. I guess I should feel grateful about it since I know at least 4-5 people who have been laid off from their jobs in the last couple months (keep your chin up, guys, things will look better). Yesterday we got a call from someone at the shop saying that we might need to do a voluntary pay-cut (meaning, we get to choose how much is cut back). Well, I chose $.50 a paycheck, and Chris just gave me a funny look like "yeah, that'll go over well" (and for those of you who know his boss, you'll agree...it would go over SO well). So we re-vamped our budget and figured out just how much we could do without and came up with a fair amount, but were told to hold off on the "volunteering" until further notice. So, as of right now (me typing this), our pay is the same and isn't changing, but the thought that it could frightens me some. This was supposed to be our "good" year...where we become free from debt (no more student loans or car loans and no more use of the credit card unless absolutely necessary)! It just irritated me thinking about it! Not much that we can do about it, but still irritating.

This morning at 5:30 am, we got a call from the school's automated alert system notifying us that school was cancelled for today due to "extreme weather conditions" (first snow day of the year...not just 2009, but the whole school year). As we both rolled over to look out the window, all we could see was some branches moving due to the wind, so we shut off the alarm and went back to sleep. We woke up a couple hours later and turned on Fox news and sure enough, from Bennett out to Limon, the schools were closed and Denver's weather looked terrible, but again, out here where we are, there wasn't much to speak of, blowing snow some, but not bad enough to close down the school (of course, we ARE 12 miles away from it).

So, Chris gets up and gets breakfast for the kids while I feed Celeste, and then he comes back in and packs up and gets ready to go on this over-night trip. And I'm sitting there on the bed watching him and thinking....."He SHOULDN'T have to go in this weather...HELLO!! This is his life we're messing with here and I'd rather it NOT be messed with (think back to September last year...if anyone wants a recap, just ask.....but don't expect the recount to be pretty OR nice), but I don't say anything because I know just what his response would be - "I've been putting this off for longer than I should have because of those chicken pox, so I need to get it done and out of the way now so I don't have to go again for a couple of months" (but it never is a couple months' waiting....usually within a day or two of him getting back, he's getting calls and needs to head back up there after a week or two).

So, here I sit....a single mom for two days...listening to the kids scream at each other about not sharing (although the one screaming the loudest is probably the one that has the most toys that they won't share). I keep praying that this single parenting thing won't last forever and that he drives safely (and that all the other drivers out there are safe too), all the while, gaining a whole new respect for my mom and how she did this week after week, and my dad, doing what he had to do to keep us clothed and fed! I love you guys, my hat's off to ya - and by the way....HOW THE HECK DID YOU STAY SANE?!!!

Such is life...

Today has been just like any other day here at the Nelson residence.....CHAOTIC (thus the name of the blog)! First off, we'll go back to New Year's Eve. Chris (my hubby for those of you who didn't know already), discovered a weird rash which turned out to be chicken pox (yippee for us) and on top of it all, ALL the kids got sick from our recent trip to visit family over the Holidays. I guess that leaves it to me (super-mom-wanna-be) to care for everyone and not get sick myself (to which, migh I add, I have failed miserably). So, we've started off the New Year with a bang already.

First story of the year: Chris decided to make pie (pineapple pie, which I don't think I'll ever eat again, by the way). So, for dessert one night, we had pie with whipped cream. And the whipped cream just didn't get put away fast enough I guess. I had gone to feed Celeste and put her in bed and went walking back into the kitchen to find Tyler on the floor, up to his elbows in whipped cream, the container sitting next to him and him using the cream to polish my floors! I was literally speachless. I screamed, and Chris came running saying "what!" and I just shook my head and said "it is SO your turn to clean up one of these messes". (for those of you who didn't know already, my boys are NOTORIOUS for messes such as this.....sugar, flour, oats, popcorn kernals, etc)

Later that night, Celeste was cranky, which is very unnatural for her since she's such a mellow baby. All evening all she would do was fuss and cry. I tried swaddling her, feeding her, changing her, burping her....nothing would work! So, finally I decided to go into my room, turn off all the light except my bedside lamp, and try to feed her and get her to sleep for the night. It was working like a charm, until........her eyes shot open and she let out a very high-pitched, loud scream, and then......the explosion happened. Now, I'm a fairly experienced mom who deals with stuff like this on almost a daily basis, but this was no ordinary explosion! I was out the sides up the back, up the front clear up to her armpits (this could explain the discomfort she was feeling all evening). So, I get her all cleaned up, clothes changed and a new blanket for her, and she just sat there and cooed and kicked and was happy as a clam there on my bed. So I took the clothing to the laundry room to be washed and came back and wrapped up the diaper and threw it at the garbage can, which is probably less than 3 feet from me. Now, in the 2 months that I've been doing this, I've become a pretty good shot at the can, just hit the wall behind it and it falls in! Well, I should have granny tossed this one because as soon as it hit the wall, it exploded all up the wall and then (if that wasn't bad enough), it landed in my basket of CLEAN clothing! I just sat there staring with my jaw hanging open, and then just cracked up laughing histerically. Chris comes in to see what exactly is so funny, and looks at me like I'm a crazed person when I just point to show him (it's amazing what seems just funny as can be when you're so sleep deprived!).

And then today...Chris decides he's well enough to go to work...on the day that my body decides to give in to the illnesses plaguing my family (no, I don't have the chicken pox, but I have every other blessed illness that's been floating around here). Well, I decided that after a day of dealing with the kids, I just wasn't going to feel like making dinner, so I put a little something in the crockpot to cook all day. Easy enough of a recipe, and not exactly sure why they have you put it in the slow cooker for 8 hours when it's already cooked when you put it in! But, anyway, I get it there and then go to the bedroom to lay down for a while since Celeste is sleeping, and I hear this major crash coming from the kitchen! So I literally jump out of bed and run into the kitchen to see the crockpot on the floor turned over, Tyler laying on the floor under one of the bar stools, and Terra and James with black permenant markers (which should be banned from all house-holds across America, especially mine)! Upon further examination of the room, there's water everywhere (mind you I was only gone from the kitchen for a matter of MAYBE 2 minutes), the lids are OFF the popcorn and oats buckets (but the contents seem to be untouched) and the cabinet under the sink is wide open, with cookie cutters spread all over the floor. I was able to salvage about half of what was originally in the crockpot, and plugged it back in (trying really hard not to cry at this point in time and trying even harder not to blow my top at the kids....all the while doing this one handed because I have a sobbing little boy in my other arm - who has a goose egg from hitting the wall on the way down from atop the barstool). I send the kids into the living room to watch a movie, get Tyler a sippie to hopefully calm his nerves a bit and then go back to the kitchen to see about cleaning it up the rest of the way. This is a point in life that I'm really greatful to have a pair of dogs running around. I go outside and bring them in to help me clean up. They've licked the floors and bar stools clean and also cleaned up some cereal that the kids decided to drop under the table while eating breakfast this morning and then back outside they went! So, now it's my turn to go in and swiffer the floors the rest of the way, but I'm ready to just call it quits for the day already!

*sigh* And we're only 9 days into the New Year! Oh the joys of life!