Week in Review

Life, as always, hasn't been incredibly exciting over the past week. However I do have a few little tidbits to share. Once again, I warn you that this post will include quite a bit of whining and a wee bit of bragging. It's my blog and I'll be as annoying as I want!

Saturday, August 23rd - Attack of the chicken lovin' bees...

After our week-long quarantine, the boys were finally healthy enough to venture out of the house for a picnic with Grandpa Larry. We met up in Murray Park and had the wonderful idea of bringing along some KFC for our lunch. We spend $18 on an impressive spread of chicken and miscellaneous side dishes. We laid all the yummy smelling food out and had just starting digging in when we were overcome by more bees than I've ever had the misfortune of sharing my space with. They must've loved the smell as much as I did. Every time I took a bite of food, the stupid bees would follow the food right up to my mouth. And me being one of those girly girls - I'm a bit frightened of bees and yes, I do squeal and run around like an idiot. The bees would not be deterred, even with constant swatting and moving around. Our feast was soon abandoned and chucked into the nearest dumpster - mostly uneaten. I was so sad. And before you think I'm lame for throwing away perfectly good food just because of a few bees; you have to understand the sheer volume. Even Brandon and his dad (who aren't frightened of bees) were overwhelmed and agreed to get rid of the food. *sigh* What a waste.

Anyway, we forgot the meal and just let the kids play a bit.

After they had their fill of the playground, Grandpa Larry was so kind as to buy them each an ice cream cone to replace their lost meal. Is this not the sweetest picture of them and cousin Elliot crossing the road to the little food shack?



We also enjoyed a quick dip of our feet into the nearby stream.



So other than all the frickin' bees, it was a pleasant outing.

McKenna keeps on Dancin'

When McKenna finished dance last spring, we decided to give her a break from dance and try something new. She really liked the idea of giving gymnastics a try. However, after looking into prices, we decided that McKenna wouldn't fall off the social ladder if we kept her out of lessons for a year. Finances are just too tight right now. So when McKenna's dance teacher, Miss Kimberly, called earlier in the month to see if she would be seeing McKenna in her class again this year, we sadly had to tell her we just couldn't afford it this time. Miss Kimberly was disappointed, but understood. A few days later, we received another call from Miss Kimberly, letting us know that she spoke with the director about how much she liked McKenna, that she was sad to see her go, and that our financial situation wasn't great. In the end, McKenna was offered a full "scholarship" and is able to continue dance this year, with all costs covered! We were thrilled and flattered and McKenna is back to dancin'! She started up on Tuesday and is cute as can be, as usual. This is her dancing in socks, since I'm a bit scatter-brained and completely forgot her tap and ballet shoes. I love watching all those sweet girls trying their hardest to get the dance moves just right.

And for our final story...

The Plague Spreads...

While Mathew and Nathaniel finally seemed to pull out of being sick, Mathew oh-so-kindly passed the most miserable infection onto Brandon and I--the dreaded pink eye. I have never in my life experienced this horrible, horrible illness. Brandon went in to see the doctor who thankfully just told him to share his eye drops with me, saving us another $20 co-payment. Can I just say...I hate eye drops! They are nasty little drops of evil. I am somewhat convinced that the pharmacist gave us a bottle of pure acid, just to be funny. So this week we have once again been quarantined to avoid passing this miserable experience onto other unfortunate folk. Brandon and I are a sight to see. We both look like we haven't slept in weeks, having been crying for hours, and are high on a number of drugs. I have been having morbid fantasies about clawing my eyes out, giving them a good itch, soaking them in lotion, and popping them back in. Pink eye is evil, and if any of you ever get it...well, you'd better stay far, FAR away from me. Because if it's ever passed onto me again and I know the culprit, I will not be responsible for whatever wicked thing I may do to get back at you.

We have a bit of fun planned for Labor Day and I'm hoping we'll all be well enough to actually experience that fun.

That wraps up our week in review. Join us again next time!

ABC Tag

Here I go again, droning on and on about myself. I just can't help it if people find me so taggable! ;o) For those of you who choose to continue...enjoy!

A. ATTACHED OR SINGLE? Attached, of course!
B. BEST FRIEND? Katie and my sister, D'Ann
C. CAKE OR PIE? Cake...but only if it's gooey chocolate cake. Hot razzleberry pie with lots of vanilla ice cream will beat out any other kind of cake.
D. DAY OF THE WEEK? That depends on what I have going on. If Brandon is on one of his "let's spend our entire Saturday cleaning" kicks, then Mondays beat out Saturday. Monday, because I get yummy Mexican food with my sister.
E. ESSENTIAL ITEMS? Lysol wipes. I use them everywhere for everything.
F. FAVORITE COLOR? I don't really have one. It all depends on my mood and what the color is being used for.
G. GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS? Hmm...probably gummy bears
H. HOMETOWN? West Jordan, UT, as it still is. I'll probably live here forever.
I. INDULGENCE? Peanut butter cup ice cream mixed with milk
J. JANUARY OR JULY? July, by a long shot
K. KIDS? McKenna, Mathew, and Nathaniel
L. LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT? Other than the obvious answers...(my family, gospel, etc) A good book
M. MARRIAGE DATE? March 11, 2000
N. NUMBER OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS? I have 1 brother, 1 sister, 2 half-sisters, and 3 half-brothers.
O. ORANGES OR APPLES? Apples
P. PHOBIAS OR FEARS? Having something horrible happen to someone I love (especially my kids). And I'm quite terrified of spiders and swimming in large bodies of water.
Q. QUOTE? "Anything in this world that's worth having doesn't come easy"
R. REASON TO SMILE? Listening to my kids giggle and listening to the sound of a rainstorm.
S. SUPERMAN OR WONDER WOMEN? Superman, Wonder Woman's outfit is too revealing
T. TAG 5 PEOPLE? Whoever, wants, to, do, it
U. UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME? Whenever I see an individual word, like on a sign, I always read it and then automatically read it again backwards. I have no idea why I do it, it's just some weird quirk I've had for as long as I can remember.
V. VEGETABLES? Zucchini and Squash
W. WORST HABIT? Though I'm ashamed to admit it, I'm a total slob
X. X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND? In my memory, I've only ever had an ultrasound
Y. YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? Mexican food, of course
Z. ZODIAC SIGN? Aquarius

Sick

What a rotten week. Seriously. Last weekend started out with a bang when both of my boys woke up with fevers and the gooey noses only a mother could love. So there went any fun weekend plans we had (and believe it or not, we actually DID have fun weekend plans...sorry Poulsons.) When Monday hit and the fevers still didn't let up, I made the inevitable call to the doctor's office. Unfortunately, my kids' usual doctor (who I absolutely love and adore) was all booked up that day and we were referred to the nurse practitioner, who, quite frankly, sucked rocks in comparison. After looking the boys over and making very few observations, I was handed a prescription for Mathew's ear infection, told Nathaniel just had a cold, and was left alone realizing I just spent $40 in co-pays for 5 minutes of examinations and a little piece of paper. Fabulous. So here I am, 4 days later and things are feel like they're just getting progressively worse. Mathew's fever hovers around 103 (reaching a high of 104.4 the night before last - but still not beating the record of 107.6 that took us to Primary Children's last year) and his right eye has become bright red and almost swollen shut, for who knows what reason.
This picture you see of Nathaniel is all I've been seeing (and hearing) for the last 5 days. In true male fashion, Nathaniel has been crying almost non-stop since the moment he got sick. I felt so bad for him for the first few days, but now I just wish he could understand me when I say, "You just have a case of the sniffles...get over it!" Really I go back and forth between sympathy and frustration. With a sweet face like this, the sympathy wins out most often. Mathew actually hasn't been too bad, other than the fact that he wants me to cuddle with him all day. I love to cuddle with my guy, but it becomes a bit uncomfortable cuddling with a space heater in the middle of summer. Oh...listen to me whine and whine. It's really not so bad. It's just hard to keep a sunny attitude when you haven't left the house all week and your background noise is the constant screaming of an 8-month-old. Isn't one of the joys of summer supposed to be not worrying about fevers, coughing, and snotty noses? Well, I really do hope that everyone else is enjoying good health and the last days of summer for us.

A Day at the Pool

Today I made a bold move and ventured out into public wearing a swimsuit. It was a little scary, but I'm pretty sure all of the unfortunate witnesses were able to keep their lunch down. Oh, I'm kidding. I saw at least two other people at the pool that looked worse than I did, and that's all that matters, right?
I was joined at the rec center pool with my good friend Brianne and her two fun kids. Bri didn't help my "I can't believe I'm wearing a swimsuit in public" complex much; since she looked smashing, all tan and stylish, even while being several months pregnant. Ah well, what can you do?

We all had bunches of fun. I discovered that I have a water baby. I'm not sure I've ever seen Nathaniel so happy. All the kids had a blast and gave award-winning "ah...MAN!"s when it was time to pack up and go home. We decided it was time to leave when I realized Nathaniel had played himself into a sleep-coma. He started shivering a bit and I cuddled him close to warm him up. Seriously about 10 seconds later he was out cold. Poor little guy. But enough boring chatter and onto the few pictures I took.

Pictured below: Chase and Mathew stealing my chair to warm up, Sydney and McKenna taking the few seconds they were willing to spare to pose for a picture, Nathaniel chillin' in the shade, and Bri looking gorgeous, with me wearing one of my huge, dorky grins.



After our fun 3 hours of swimming, we all went home for quick showers, wardrobe changes, and collecting of husbands; then met up at Cafe Rio for a perfect end to our day.

Quick subject change...
Nathaniel has reached the point in his development where he can stand while holding onto a sturdy object. The other night I stood him on this horrible, orange barrel chair that has been passed on in Brandon's family for generations (we're hoping to get it re-upholstered someday.) We were waiting for daddy to come home and he was so cute standing there by the window, that I, of course, had to take several pictures like the cliche mother that I am.



Not to be left out of picture-taking fun, McKenna and Mathew insisted on being featured in several more shots. I think they struggle sometimes with how often the camera is focused on little Nater. What can I say? Babies grow so quickly in the first year that you have to capture as many moments as you can.

Boy Crazy

I don't know what to do with my daughter. Everyday she comes home from school with a new crush. I bought her a notebook for school and page after page is filled with little hearts, names, initials, declarations of love...seriously, we have a problem. I've also discovered that everyday at recces she apparently chases boys (and yes, you're right Brandi - Boston is her favorite target.) I honestly believe that McKenna is totally crushing on any boy who so much as glances in her direction. I've gone from, "Oh, cute! McKenna has a crush!" to "Oh, dear. McKenna has another crush." I guess it's pretty funny, I just can't help being overcome by this horrible feeling that my daughter is growing up way too fast now that she's in school. Soon she's going to stop acknowledging me as her mother. I was going to scan a few of her little "love" notes for everyone to laugh at, but I felt like that may be crossing the embarrassment line for my poor girl.

I wish I had more to add to that, but life has been unbelievably monotonous. You know, full of all kinds of exciting things like dishes, vacuuming, picking up toys, and yard work. Oh! I do have a working oven/stove again. Brandon worked on it all day, determined to figure out how to do it himself without any help. So we've actually been eating home-cooked meals again, and between that and walking McKenna to school everyday, I've actually lost 3 pounds. Whoo Hoo! Alright, that little "whoo hoo" just used up all the excitement I've allotted for today. I'm off to bury myself in more super awesome housework. Being a stay-at-home mom is so FUN sometimes!

Girl's Night Out

Hurray!! Brandon is officially done with this semester. Let the games begin! The minute he walked in the door from his last final, we took off to have lunch with his mom and sister, Aleisha. Aleisha is off to the MTC today to prepare for her mission in Canada. Best of luck to her! I know she'll be an amazing missionary who'll touch many lives with her fun personality.

True to my word, a few short hours later I left my poor, burned-out husband with the kids while I had a night out on the town with the girls! Brandon's such a trooper. And I'm so glad he is, because I seriously had one of the absolute FUNNEST nights I have had in years. I had the amazing opportunity to have dinner with every one of the girls who worked as a Lagoon Ride Office Supervisor with me in the summer of 1998. Heaven only knows how we all managed to be free on the same night with practically no notice. It was the first time we've all been together in over 6 years. We all met at our former Office Mama, Kileen's restaurant - The Bayou. If you haven't been, you should. Seriously the yummiest food. And considering it's not Mexican food, it's a high compliment for me to say so. My best friend Katie and I walked into the restaurant to see the rest of the girls sitting there and it took all my willpower to not squeal like an annoying teenage girl. Actually, I think I may have squealed...just a little. We hung out long after our meals were finished and talked, laughed, and gossiped about everything from the good ol' days up to our crazy lives now. One of the stories from the good ol' days? Well, since you asked...let's just say a picture is worth a thousand words. And I have lots of pictures...



Pictured above and below are: Scary (Jamie) Spice, Posh (Katie) Spice, Sporty (Kim) Spice, Ginger (Kirsty) Spice, and Baby (Sheri) Spice.



You see, for the Lagoon Lip Sync Contest that year, we decided to be The Spice Girls and we ROCKED! We had choreography and everything. I've said it before and I'll say it again - this has got to be one of the dorkiest pictures of me in existence. I remember just wanting to put my own blond hair in ponytails, but the other girls insisted I wear this horrible wig that kept falling off. Everyone else looked AWESOME. Good times.

I guess we all eventually had to grow up a little, but we look just the same...minus the bad wigs and skanky apparel.



After dinner, Katie, Jamie, and I headed for the movies. For in my eyes, no girls' night is complete without seeing a chick flick. We saw "Mamma Mia" which was such a fun movie! I'm sure I was highly annoying throughout; dancing in my seat and singing along to the music, but I don't care. I loved every minute of it. I can't believe how much all the fun Abba songs took me back to road trips with my family, being a geek at high school dances, and rocking out in the basement of the ride office at Lagoon. I felt like a teenager again. Needless to say it's a feeling I'd like to hold onto a bit, so I'll be heading out at some point today to snatch up the soundtrack.

A big thanks to Kileen, Jamie, Kim, Kirsty, and Katie for such a fun night! I can't wait until we do it again...and we WILL do it again.

Preschool Days

So as if McKenna starting 1st grade last week wasn't a big enough blow to my "getting older" complex, I had to face Mathew starting preschool this week. I know that a lot of parents view their children as always being their babies, but in my mind, Mathew truly is my baby - which might have something to do with the fact that he really does still act like a baby. Whereas McKenna has always been older than her years, so I've never struggled with her starting school the way I am with him. I can hardly believe I now have two kids in school. I swear I can feel myself getting older by the minute (huh, I guess that was a dumb thing to say...since I technically am getting older by the minute, but you know what I mean.)

So here's my big boy on his first day of school. Hopefully the first of many first days at school.



I don't know what sort of weird picture-taking-sun-aversion my kids have. They're fine to laugh and play outside without a single thought to how bright it is; yet the second you ask them to smile for a camera, suddenly the sun is scorching their eyes. Though Mathew's unsuccessful pictures aren't nearly as entertaining as McKenna's were, I thought they were fun enough to share.



I enjoyed my little two hours of just Nathaniel and I. He took a nice nap and I spent the time being very productive...in perfecting my own napping skills. Mathew loved his first day at school and announced loudly to me as soon as I walked in to pick him up, "Mommy, I like my teacher!" Which is a MASSIVE compliment to her for two reasons: Mathew only ever says, "I like you" to Nathaniel, McKenna, and I. And for the most part Mathew only ever talks to or in front of Nathaniel, McKenna, and I. He's not big on spoken communication. He really must indeed like his teacher a lot. I'm honestly just happy he's found something he's willing to do without me there.

I'm currently in the process of trying to figure out a way to keep Nathaniel a baby forever, I'll let you know how this turns out.

It's that time again...

My practically non-existent husband is currently at the table studying for finals. In exactly 4 days, we will be getting a much needed break from school. Two blissful weeks that will pass by faster than it seems would be possible. Our to-do list for this two weeks is already overflowing and I'm estimating we'll accomplish about 2-3 things on it. The rest of the time will be spent taking lazy naps on the couch and kicking ourselves later for our lack of productivity...just like last time. But regardless, here are a few things I'm looking forward to during the break:

Getting my oven/stove fixed. Yes, you read that right. My post from about...oh, 500 years ago when I said my stove wasn't working - yeah, it's still not. I have gained 5 pounds last month from eating out everyday, and please don't ask how much money we have in the bank.

My lawn being mowed. Brandon hasn't had the time to mow it and sorry, I don't mow lawns. I'm rather scared of the lawn mower. As Brandon's dad said this morning, "You could lose a herd of cattle in your front lawn."

Rolling over in bed at 3 am and actually seeing my sleeping husband next to me.

Going to Lagoon! I haven't been in years and Brandon swore we'd go in between semesters.

Having my house thoroughly clean. I take a hit on my pride on this one. Sadly I am apparently incapable of keeping an immaculate house without my husband's help.

A paycheck from Brandon's employer that is more than $500 (that's for two weeks). I bet you all think I'm exaggerating on that one....I'm not.

This one's private. Let's move on.

Having a girl's night!! Oh, how I need it. And my first one is about 3 hours after Brandon's last final. I'm not about to waste any time.

Having help with the kids. Allow me to take this moment to give a big "YOU ROCK!" to all you single parents out there. It is not easy to raise my kiddos with help from my spouse, and near impossible to do alone.

Movie night replacing "I have to study" night. Before this nursing school business, Brandon and I would usually have one night a week where we'd watch a movie and eat microwave popcorn after the kids go to bed. We just have to make sure we dispose of the evidence before going to bed ourselves, or we receive a harsh lecture from McKenna the next morning about how rude it is to eat late night popcorn without her.

Overall, I'm just looking forward to having my hubby back for a splendid two weeks. Now I just have to explain to my kids that this goofy lookin' guy who will be hanging around us for awhile is their father... (to be fair, I'm obviously joking. Brandon is a great dad and husband, even when he's immersed in his studies).