I can't believe it's been a week since Christmas already! We've been spending that week here in Las Vegas with Nate's family. We left Magna in wee hours of the morning last Saturday and we'll be headed home in the wee hours of the morning tomorrow. Once I get home and semi-organized, I'll do some fabulously long posts about Christmas and our trip and all that holly jolly stuff. I know you'll all be counting the minutes. But for now I just wanted to say that I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and has a Happy New Year!

What do you do in the Winter Time?

We're not really winter people. Nate was raised in Las Vegas and hates the cold and I think that after 7 winters of listening to him complain about it, I might be starting to share his sentiments. We don't ski or snowboard or go sledding or tubing, mostly because it's just too cold! But we do get out a little bit in the winter time. Here are a few of our latest adventures....


After the first big snowstorm, the fun-filled task of shoveling the driveway fell to me. The kids were begging to play in the snow, so I bundled them up and they had a grand old time while I schlepped snow. Here's Jonah throwing snow at his face and trying to catch it in his mouth.
Jayne wanted to come out too, so I put her in our backpack carrier and she helped me shovel. Well, actually she just prompted a debate in my head about which was worse, shovelling while I was 8 months pregnant with Jonah or shovelling with a one year old on my back. I still haven't decided. But she looked super cute!

A week or so ago we drove down to Thanksgiving Point to see their light display. The kids really enjoyed it and I liked that I didn't have to get out of the Jeep. I tried to take pictures, but they all turned out blurry, so you'll just have to imagine the sparkling splendor.

We also hit temple square this past weekend with Grandma Laurie and Aunt Sarah. Again, Jayne got to ride in the backpack, this time with Daddy.



Aunt Sarah, Lilly, Jonah, and Grandma

My fabulous blurry photography skills gave me many useless photos, but I did manage to get this one of the temple nice and clear.

Aunt Sarah and Lilly. Lilly and Jonah wanted their pictures taken by everything. Don't worry, I won't post all of them.

Nate took this pretty shot. It was very foggy that night. The shot is a little crooked and I'm sure there's some magical editing way to fix that, but I really don't know what it is so you'll just have to live with it.

Jonah and Lilly all bundled up and ready for some light seeing.

My mom took this picture of us. I guess we know where I got my blurry picture taking skills from, huh? Love you Mom!
So, that is the extent of our winter adventures thus far. We're very excited for Christmas this week! We're even more excited for our plans to protest the cold of winter by spending a few days in Las Vegas visiting Nate's family. I can't wait to walk around with a light jacket in the 60-something degree weather and chuckle at all the native Nevadans bundled up in their parkas and scarves!
In case I don't post again before Friday.....MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Laundry Squats

There are always days when a formal workout is just impossible. Well, I had one of those days this week. I love my workouts! They keep me sane and make me feel strong and active, so I hate days when I don't get to do them.
Well, one of the things on my to-do list that day was laundry, lots and lots of laundry! So, I made an exercise out of folding my laundry and I'm going to call them my 'laundry squats'.

I usually fold my laundry on the kitchen table. So, I placed my basket on the floor and did a squat to pick up the next piece of clothing that I was going to fold. My rule was that I was only allowed to pick up one item at a time, no handfuls of socks or anything like that.

Anyhoo...I definitely felt a bit sore in my legs and derriere the next day. I read somewhere that doing small intervals of exercises throughout the day can be just as effective as doing an hour long workout all at once. So next time you're doing some laundry, try some laundry squats! Your hips and buns and thighs will thank you!

Weight Loss or the Lack Thereof

I haven't really posted anything on my weight loss for a long time, mostly because I haven't been losing any!
I went through a plateau period where I was working out and watching my diet, but was not losing any weight. Then I got lazy and started eating a bit of junk, then a bit more, and then I was having chocolate for breakfast, but amazingly......I didn't gain any weight. I didn't lose any, obviously, but I didn't gain either and I got really comfortable with that. But, I'm back to feeling uncomfortable with it and I really want to get rid of these last 10 or 15 pounds!

So I've been upping my water consumption, doing my workouts more frequently(at least 4 times a week), and I'm trying to get back into my better eating habits. For a woman who L-O-V-E-S food, that is by far the biggest challenge. I picked a great time to do it too, Christmas....when all I want to do is bake treats and eat them!
So here are a few things I'm planning to do to get through the holidays without gaining, and while hopefully losing, some poundage:

• When baking, I've found that if I chew on some minty sugar-free gum I don't taste the treats as I'm making them.
  
• I plan to give away any goodies I make before I eat them all
  
• Keep exercising
• Drink my 64 oz mug of water before I allow myself any diet soda during the day
• Practice moderation at all parties that include yummy goodies by using a small plate or just a napkin and by filling up on veggie trays if they're available
  

I hope everyone else is having a great holiday season! May your days be Merry & "Lite"!

The Ward Christmas Party

We had our ward Christmas party last night. Nate is the activities committee chairman in our ward and, as he has told me many times, I am his committee.

Planning activities always requires a bit of work, but the Christmas party is definitely the hardest one of the year. I was very proud of Nate this year. He actually had a meeting with his committee members (Nate hates having meetings--he'd much rather just do it all himself) and made some assignments. There were a couple of people who didn't carry out their assignments, but I guess that's just going to happen we took care of it. But we also had a lot of help this year, much more than last year anyway.

Anyway, so back to the party. Nate wanted to do breakfast for dinner this year. We hired a caterer and had biscuits with country sausage gravy, fresh fruit, and scrambled eggs with ham and cheese. We also asked everyone to bring their favorite dessert to share. We love doing dessert this way because we always get a big variety of treats and there's always plenty for everyone.

The food turned out great. I had several people asking me for the recipe for the gravy. Our only problem was that we ran out of biscuits. Apparently Nate's activities draw quite the crowd. Last year we had around 200 people at the Christmas party. So that's what we planned for this year. Nate did a head count while people were coming through the dinner line and he counted a little over 300. I guess we learned our lesson. If we still have this calling next year, we'll be planning for at least 300 people.

We had a short little program. A family read and acted out a little Christmas poem and the primary sang a song. We also had Santa and Mrs. Claus pay us a visit and bring goody bags for the kids(we almost ran out of those too!). Then we had a room set up where the kids could make their own Christmas cards to take home. This was very popular, but very messy. I don't think we'll be doing that one again next year.

For decorations, Nate brought home a bunch of huge boxes from work and we had some women in the ward wrap them. We stacked them in the corners. At the end of the night all the kids were asking if they could take the giant boxes home with them. I just sent them to ask their parents. At the end of the night, we only had one big one left to throw away, so I guess some of the parents said yes.

Overall, the party was a success. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and we got lots of compliments.

I do just have to get one thing off my chest. It really bothers me that the kids just run wild at these things. I understand that the parents want to sit and visit and enjoy their evening, but when your kids(mostly teenagers) are throwing food around the church, playing in the primary room, or giving Santa a hard time and asking for extra treats and destroying decorations, please take a minute to be a parent and remind them how to behave. Thank you.
Oh, and also, FYI...it is not polite to take entire plates full of treats before everyone has had a chance to get their dinner. And this one was adults too.

Phew! I feel much better now.

It's NOT winter yet Mom!

Jonah and I had the following conversation while looking out the window a few minutes ago.

Me: Look! It's snowing outside.
Jonah(sounding really annoyed): Why is it doing that Mom?
Me: That's what happens in the winter Jonah, it snows.
Jonah(looking at me like I'm stupid or something): It's NOT winter yet Mom!
Me: It sure looks like winter out there right now.
Jonah: Winter is not until December 21st, Mom. It really shouldn't be snowing yet because it's still Fall.

He's right. The first day of winter is not until December 21st. Someone needs to inform Mother Nature right away.

Parent Teacher Conference #2

Today I went to another parent teacher conference, this time for Lilly. Lilly goes to preschool twice a week. And yes, you guessed it! She is doing great! So now I get to brag about another of my wonderful children.

• Lilly can recognize all the letters of the alphabet and tell you the sound they make(apparently not all 3 year olds can do that yet)
• She's very well behaved in class
• She likes to sing songs with her friends
• Since she can already recognize her name, they're going to help her learn to write it starting next month. I was happy to hear this one, because she's really been wanting to learn to write her name. We've been practicing a bit at home and she loves it.
• Basically, Lilly is very bright and is doing fabulous in preschool!

So I'm going to say it one more time..... MY KID ROCKS! Love you Lilly!

The Top Secret Parent Teacher Conference

When I was a kid, parent teacher conferences were very intriguing. You knew your mom and your teacher were going to talk about you. I always wanted to know what was being said. Was my teacher going to tattle on me for talking too much? Would my mom tattle on me for putting off my homework until the last minute? Seriously....it stressed me out.

Well, today I got to go to my very first parent teacher conference as a parent and it was still stressful. Even though I know Jonah is an awesome kid, smart, and well behaved. I was sure his teacher was going to chastise me or tell me he had some problem. I'm just paranoid that way.

Not to worry, she had only good things to say. So now I get to say them to all of you in my role as the proud mama of a super kid! Here is the report...

• Jonah got perfect scores on all of his Fall assessment tests
• He's reading and writing at a level way beyond his classmates
• He's always very well behaved
• His teacher loves the very few times when he tells her something is 'hard' because then she feels like she's finally found something to challenge him with
• Jonah loves math
• Jonah is going to be tested next week to see if he is "gifted". The teacher explained that in the higher grades they have special classes for "gifted" students, but in kindergarten you really just get the status and if he tests high enough he may be offered the opportunity to go to a school specifically for "gifted" students.
  

Yeah...my kid rocks. You mothers know how it is. Sometimes, you've just gotta shout it from the rooftops!

MY KID ROCKS!

On this day in 1955.....

the world was forever changed by the birth of a baby girl. I know that if she's reading this she's thinking "the world was forever changed?". But it was, because this baby girl grew up and touched many lives and even brought 5 new ones into the world.
Today is my mom's birthday. I never know what gift to give my mom, so today I'm going to give her the gift of Gratitude.

Dear Mom,

Thank you for...

• bringing me into this world.
  
• all the sleepless nights, diaper changes, and lullabies.
• always going to my never ending stream of soccer games, softball games, piano recitals, school plays, and choir concerts.
• keeping me fed and clothed and making me comb my hair.
• believing in me.
• making me work in the garden during the summer.
  
• finishing up my wedding plans while I was off gallivanting.
• being there when I had my first baby and staying up with him my first night home so I could get some much needed sleep.
• holding me while I cried.
• being such a wonderful grandmother to my children.
• your patience.
  
• trusting me.
• listening.
• the countless hours of free babysitting.
• showing me how to give service to others.
• encouraging me to set high standards for myself.
  
• your example of faith and your testimony.

If I were to truly list everything that you've done for me, I would be at this computer for days. I love you Mom! Happy Birthday!
Love,

Time to Give Thanks!

I've kind of held off on a Thanksgiving post, but since the big day is this week I thought I'd indulge.

Here is a very small portion of the many things we are thankful for this Thanksgiving:

• Our Home
• Having a job when so many don't
• my primary calling
• Wonderful family members who care about us and are always willing to help
• Good Friends
• Warm Pajamas
• Space Heaters
• Our movie collection
• Chocolate
• Our Faith
• Fruit Snacks(Lilly)
• Wii (Jonah)
• Mommy's wallet (Jayne--it's her favorite thing to chew on)
• M*A*S*H
• Diet Coke
• Free Haircuts
• Good Babysitters
• Hot Chocolate
• Health Insurance
• I'm grateful for Nate for way too many reasons to list
• Dishwashers
• Sweaters
• Our vehicles
• Flannel Sheets
• Sleep

I could go on and on and on and on. We are truly blessed with so much!

I'll leave you with a picture of my sweet Lilly wearing her Thanksgiving crown that she made in preschool today. Her teachers asked what she was thankful for and she responded, " I am thankful for my bed." Ah, she takes after her mother!

"Twilight".......I just don't get it

I honest to goodness do not understand the screaming, swooning, Edward vs. Jacob obsession of the Twilight series. Yes, I have read the books. When they first started coming out, I kept hearing how awesome they were and that I just had to read them. I really had no interest in it at all.

Then, about a year and a half ago, when all the books had come out my sister brought them all over to me and said I should read them. So I did, mostly out of curiosity. I really wanted to know what was so great that it had grown women doodling "Edward" on their grocery lists.

As soon as I started the books I was a bit annoyed with Stephanie Meyer's style of writing. I mostly skimmed the pages to catch the major dialogue and plot. I will admit, I find the story intriguing. I like the plot and I like the action mixed in with the romance. But in the end, I still didn't get it. I didn't feel any different. I wasn't passionate about it at all.

So then the first movie came out. Again...not really interested. I eventually ended up borrowing the DVD from my sister. I liked the movie alright. I hear the second one is much better and I do plan on seeing it....eventually. But I'll say it again....I just don't get it.

Nate has watched the first movie with me and he was constantly asking questions about all the vampires and about the rest of the story. So I thought maybe we'd read the second book together before we ever watched the second movie and then his questions would be answered.
So I borrowed the book from a friend and we started reading it last night. We didn't even make it through the first chapter! We just can't stand they way Stephanie Meyer writes. I guess his questions will just have to wait until we see the movie. After trying to read the book again, I've decided I like the movies better.

I was watching the news last night and they had a segment on the opening of "New Moon". They talked about a group of 30 and 40 somethings who had gotten together and had a huge party and then gone to the movie together. I think it's great that women have something like this that they bond over, but when you start asking your husband if you can call him 'Edward', as one woman on the program said she did(oh, and her husband let her. He must really love her.) then I think maybe the obsession has gone a little too far.

Anyway, in the midst of all this hype for the "New Moon" movie coming out, I just thought I'd share my thoughts on the matter. I understand that most of my wonderful friends will totally disagree with me, and that's okay. But as far as this whole Twilight phenomenon goes.....I just....don't....get it.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

I just realized that I forgot to mention that my fabulous new hair do is courtesy of my sweet, talented, generous, creative, amazing sister Rachel! Thank you Rachel! You did a great job as usual.

I fell off the wagon!

The "gonna grow my hair out" wagon, that is. Yes, I got my hair cut. I'm way too impulsive for my own good. I didn't just cut it......I colored it too! Yikes! So, here are some pictures of my not-so-blonde not-so-long hair. Let me know what you think.....honestly.
I'm still getting used to it and I'm a little on the fence on whether I like it or not.

My Voice is Heard Again!

I don't know if any of you remember, but a couple weeks ago my cell phone decided to mute me. Apparently it thought I wasn't worth listening to. So anyone who tried to call me couldn't hear me on the other end. I heard them just fine, but apparently I was in a silent movie and the subtitles just weren't texting through or something.

Anyhoo....I put off getting a new phone until the next payday for obvious reasons. Yesterday I decided it was time. So I headed to the AT&T store to see what they had. Nate and I haven't been under contract for almost a year, so I knew I should be able to get a pretty good deal if we renewed a 2 year contract. The salesman at the store was very polite. He showed me what they had. The cheapest thing, even with a new contract, was going to cost $80 in store and then I'd get a $50 rebate in the mail in 6-8 weeks. I told him I didn't have $80 to spend and instead of trying to pressure me into it, he told me that I could go to Walmart and buy an AT&T Go Phone, which is their pay as you go version, and just put my SIM card into it and I'd be good to go. So I headed over to Walmart.

Their cheapest Go Phone was $30. I was about to buy it when I noticed that they had an entire row of AT&T phones and two of them had prices of $0 with a new or renewed contract. So I asked the sales lady if that was the in store price or if there was a rebate involved. She said that was the in store price. All we had to do was renew our 2 year contract, keep the same plan, pay an upgrade fee of $18 and we could each get a new phone for free! Yippee!

They had two different phones shown as free. One was red, but looks reddish pink, and one was blue and black. Nate of course wanted the blue and black because he wouldn't be caught dead with a "pink" phone. It's really more red than pink, but whatever. They were all out of that model. So he chose a Motorola phone that was $18 with the new contract. So, my phone ended up costing $18(the upgrade fee) and Nate's was $36 including the upgrade fee. Not too bad. They're much nicer phones than the prepaid one that was $30 and we really don't mind signing a new contract.

Now I've just got to figure out how to use the thing. It's not that it's super fancy or anything. It's actually pretty basic. It's just that I'm not so good with technology. I think I've figured out how to make calls and send texts and that's about all I ever use. A whole big instruction book came with the phone that tells me that I can download all my music onto it and use it as a radio, and a whole bunch of other nifty stuff, but I highly doubt I'll ever do any of it. I like things simple. Simple is good.

So, to sum up...got a new phone...people can hear me now...Nate got a new phone too.....it didn't cost an arm and a leg...I can live with that.

Our Primary Program

We had our primary program yesterday. For those of you who don't know, I serve in our primary presidency. The theme for this year was "My Eternal Family."

We had a practice on Saturday. It was kind of chaotic and irreverent, as kids usually are on Saturdays. The rehearsal went long and I was worried that the program would too. When I arrived at church Sunday morning it was a little chaotic in the chapel trying to help all the primary kids find their seats on the stand and trying to remind them to be reverent etc. We have a rather rowdy primary, so reverence is almost always an issue. But for some reason, they all sat quietly and none of them got up to go to the bathroom or get a drink.

I sat on the stand with the kids during the program. They all said their parts so well with no goofing around or mumbling or yelling into the microphone. They sang the songs beautifully. I don't think I've ever done or seen a primary program where the kids sang all the verses for all the songs, but ours did! I was so proud of them.

As I was sitting there on the stand and the kids were singing "The Family is of God" I started to get a little teary eyed. For some reason, hearing their sweet little voices sing the chorus of that song, "God gave us families to help us become what he wants us to be. This is how He shares His love. For the family is of God", touches my heart so deeply. Maybe it's because I've gotten to know these kids and I've seen the hardships that they endure at such tender ages. I've seen them hurt and I've seen them grow, and they always show such amazing faith. Many of them have "broken" families. Some have abusive family members. But whenever we talk about families being together forever, they all have strong testimonies and faith that they can be with their families forever.

There is one boy whose parents recently divorced. I was teaching a sharing time on eternal families and the temple and felt impressed to talk about divorced families. I shared my own experience of having divorced parents and of wondering what would happen to my family. I told them that even if their parents or members of their family have made choices leading them away from the church, they can choose to live worthy and go to the temple and that our Heavenly Father would bless them with an eternal family.
After the lesson, this young boy came up to me and put his arm around me and said,
"My parents are divorced too."
"I know", I said. "It's hard huh?"
"Yeah. But I'm gonna do what you said. I'm going to go to the temple and be with my family forever."
His faith was so pure and I was so grateful that I'd followed my prompting to talk about divorce. I think that all too often everything that is taught is all sunshine and skittles, but these kids' lives aren't always like that.

I'm grateful for my calling in primary. I'll admit, I really didn't want it at first. But I've been so blessed to serve these children and to get to know them. They teach me so much.

I love you Parkside Primary!

Midnight Picnic

I was sleeping soundly last night when I was awakened by a nudge from my husband. It's the "one of the kids needs us" nudge that is all too familiar. I listen for a moment as he gets out of bed and starts up the stairs. It's Lilly. She's crying. Not your "I'm afraid of the dark" cry or your "I need a hug" cry. It's one of those "get in here right now because either I wet the bed or I'm scared to death!" kind of cries.

As I stumble through the kitchen, I glance at the clock. The numbers 3:30am are glowing at me all too brightly. Nate got to her first. When I got to her room, he was holding her(yay! that means she didn't wet the bed) and she was crying that she wanted her mommy. So I come in and ask her what's wrong. In the saddest little voice I've ever heard she said....."I want to go on a picnic!" We reminded her that it was the middle of the night and we couldn't go on a picnic. We took her to the bathroom and then tucked her back in. I had to chuckle as I went back down the stairs to bed. The things my kids wake me up for.......makes me laugh......even at 3:30am.

Sweater Weather...is Anything Better?

Oh my sweaters, how I love thee!

I'm so sorry that I had to pack you up for so many months, but you're free now!
Free to envelop me in your cozy warmth.
Free to look fabulous!
Free to make me want to drink hot chocolate and stare into a glowing fire.
Free to fend off the chill of a brisk fall day.
How I look forward to wearing you for the next few months before our love affair is put on hold by the harsh heat of summer!
Oh my sweaters, how I love thee!

Halloween weekend with the Barnums

What a fun and crazy busy weekend we had! On Friday, Nate's parents and sister Emily drove up from Las Vegas to visit us for the weekend. They stayed at a hotel in Draper so on Friday night, the kids and I met them at their hotel room for a visit. Grandma Barnum had brought the kids some fun Halloween surprises! They took turns hiding each others' goodies around the room and then looking for them. Jayne didn't wait for anyone to hide hers. That smart little cookie just went straight to the drawer that she saw Grandma pull Jonah and Lilly's out of and there it was!

Here's a shot of Jayne enjoying some goldfish crackers with Grandpa.

Then on Saturday, the Barnums treated us all to a yummy lunch at Sizzler. After lunch they came over for some pumpkin carving. Jonah and Lilly and Emily each designed a pumpkin and then we carved out the faces.

Here's Lilly in her Halloween shirt and Halloween bow

Jonah had a great time pulling the seeds out of his pumpkin. Can't you tell?

Here's Nate at work gutting a pumpkin. He even did some of the 'carving' with his drimmel, which made a bit of a pumpkin gut mess in the kitchen. =)

Jonah and Emily and Lilly with the finished product

After the pumpkin carving, we fed the kids some dinner and got all dressed up for trick or treating. Jonah was a dinosaur, Lilly was a princess, and Jayne was a ladybug fairy. A big THANK YOU to Grandma Lolly and Aunt Rachel for providing the costumes this year.

Here's princess Lilly yelling for the camera. Once the kids got their costumes on, there was no getting them to stand still and smile pretty. They were rarin' to go!

Pretty Jayne~

Here's Jonah giving his best dinosaur "Roarrrrrr!" He was so funny because he thought his costume was going to "scare everyone's eyeballs out", but really he was just so cute. That's our little secret, okay? If he asks, he was really scary.

Grandma Barnum, Emily, and I took the kids trick or treating. This is the first year that we've gone to more than one or two houses. We usually just go to a trunk or treat, but we didn't have one this year. It was lots of fun to walk with the kids and visit with some of the neighbors.
Jonah and Lilly had a blast! If a house was dark, Jonah would say that it was 'closed' and we should look for then next 'open' house. We ended up going a lot further than I had originally intended, but the weather was nice and the kids were having so much fun that I didn't mind.
After we got back to the house, we gave loves and kisses to Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Emily and headed to bed. The kids were exhausted and slept great!

Jonah and Lilly in their new PJ's that Grandma Barnum made for them.

The Barnums came to church with us on Sunday and then went back to their hotel to relax. It was such a fun weekend, but all too short. We love you Grandma, Grandpa, and Emily! Thanks for coming to visit us!

I'm so sick of everyone being sick!

I was trying to think of something to blog about today, but the only thing that's been going on for us lately is that everyone is so stinkin' sick! So, I'm going to blog about that because it has consumed my life for 24 hours a day for the past 2 weeks.

Let's start with a little timeline. It all started with our flu shots.

Wendesday--- Nate and I take the kids and all of us get our flu shots. Jonah and Lilly also get the H1N1 flu mist. Later that night, Nate is starting to get a sore throat.

Thursday through Sunday---Nate just gets worse. He gets sick pretty easily this time of year and he never has time to just rest and get feeling better because for some reason it's okay for everyone else at work to call in sick whenever they want or just because they stayed up too late, but if Nate tries to call in sick(which he only does if he's 'dying-on-the-floor' sick) then they say that it's really 'inconvenient' for them and that they need him to be there no matter what. Sorry for that mini-rant, but it's driving me nuts!

Monday--Jonah wakes up with a fever and is complaining of a headache. I give him Tylenol and rest, but the fever persists until Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday---Everyone seems pretty healthy. Jayne has her 1 year doctor appointment. We're crazy busy getting the ward activity done. Around midnight, Lilly wakes up with a fever of 102. Let the sleep deprivation begin!

Thursday---Lilly's fever comes and goes all day, Jonah is coughing now, Nate has developed a bunch of what we think are canker sores in his mouth and his glands in his throat are mega swollen. By Thursday Night, Jayne has joined the fever club. Nate and I are getting no sleep. Well, that's not fair. I think I got 3 hours and he got 2.

Friday---Both Jayne and Lilly have fevers and Jonah is still coughing. Nate's throat is worse and he's gotten a bunch more of those canker things.
Around 1:00 in the morning, Jayne wakes up with a cough that makes her stop breathing. Scares us to death. We're pretty much up with her and Lilly all night long.

Saturday---Nate tries to call in sick to work. He tells them that he's got 3 sick kids, one of which is having trouble breathing and that he's had no sleep and he needs the day off to get Jayne to the doctor and get some rest. What do they say? Yeah, you guessed it. "Well, we really need you here today Barnum. Can't your wife take care of that?" Can you tell that I'm a bit upset with Nate's boss lately? Thought so.

So, I call our pediatrician and get an appointment for Jayne that morning. I took all the kids in and the doc says they've all got croup which is basically laryngitis. With little kids it can constrict their airway so she gave us some steroids to give Jayne to help with that. Other than that, she said we just have to ride it out.

Nate got off work a little early Saturday afternoon and decided to go to urgent care to get those cankers looked at. He now had around 20 of them in his mouth and throat and his glands were swollen to the size of apples. The doc said they are viral ulcers and basically you just have to wait for them to go away. They can be caused by a million different things. They are extremely painful. He gave Nate a prescription
mouth rinse to help with the pain. Nate says it helps for about 30 seconds. Poor guy!

Saturday Evening---My mom and sister came and watched the kids to give Nate and I a much needed break. We attended a fun dinner at the home of some friends. Thanks Mom and Sarah! I think those couple of hours were the only sanity I've had for 2 weeks!

Sunday---Lilly was up all night the night before-still getting those high fevers off and on, mostly at night. So Nate and I had gotten no sleep again. I got up with the kids and decided to run to the church for primary just long enough to hand off the conducting clipboard that had all the info on it for the day. Yeah, that didn't work out the way I planned it. Our primary president's grandfather had passed away that morning, so she had to leave. We had program stuff to get ready and teacher interviews that had to be finished that day. So I stayed for the rest of the block. Then I came home for just long enough to make Nate some lunch and then head out to our presidency meeting. Also, I have to add in here that while I was gone, Nate cleaned up the house, did laundry, and took great care of the kids. He's so awesome! Love ya babe!

Sunday night was the same as all the other nights. Jayne and Lilly were both up coughing. We took them outside a bit to get some cold air to help the cough. Nate had to go to work on Monday, so I "slept" up on the couch so I could hear the girls and let him stay in bed.

Monday---Nate went to work with those ulcers still hurting and hardly any sleep. Jonah is pretty much better, just a slight cough. Lilly is coughing and crying every time she coughs because it hurts so much. Jayne is still coughing and being so incredibly clingy and fussy.

Today is Tuesday and I'm so tired I don't know what to do with myself. Keep in mind, that ever since Jayne first started getting sick she's been crying at me for most of the day, not wanting me to put her down, and not eating much. Today Jayne is still coughing. It's more of a phlegm-y cough. She slept better last night. Lilly is coughing and has such a hoarse little voice. She just keeps coming up to me and saying "Mommy, I hurt." Breaks my heart.

It can't last much longer, can it? I guess I should just be grateful that I've stayed well enough to keep up with it all. I have a sore throat, some headaches, and a very slight cough, but I'm pretty sure it will stay nice and mild.
So, there you have it. That's what's going on in my world. Anybody wanna trade?

Random Things that are On My Mind

Thing #1: Jayne and Lilly both have fevers today. Lilly is complaining of a headache too. Sounds like the same thing that Jonah had on Monday. It only lasted about 24 hours. I'm hoping that's the case here as well. I hate when my kids are sick. I feel so helpless.

Thing #2: I REALLY haven't been paying attention to my diet lately, but the strangest thing has happened. I'm losing weight again! Yay for that! I'm not sure how though because I'm eating junk. Yesterday I had a chocolate chip cookie, one scoop of ice cream, baby carrots, taffy, and pizza. Yeah, I need to work on that. Maybe I was just stressing out about it so much before that the stress was preventing me from losing weight.
I still need to get back to my better habits though. I don't think cookies and pizza is a healthy way to lose weight. =) Sure is yummy though.

Thing #3: Nate's Job Dilemma-- Does he stay at the company he's at, which gave him a job when he really needed one and has great benefits and the "promise" of management one day(not for at least 3 years, probably more than that) and keep being dirt poor with ends barely meeting (when they meet at all) or does he actively pursue this other job that he's applied for? He sent in his resume and they invited him to pre-employment testing next week, which he would have to miss work for. This job would pay $4/hour more than he currently makes, be less physically demanding, and have a more predictable schedule with 4 ten hour days. They give yearly merit raises that would put him earning about $60,000 in five or so years.
Gee. I think I answered my own question.

Thing #4: I need a new cell phone. Mine just randomly decided to mute me. I can hear the person on the other end, but they can't hear me. I called AT&T and they said that it must be my phone. They're probably right. I've had the thing for 2 1/2 years. It's been dropped too many times to count and it was a 'cheap' phone to begin with.

Thing#4.5: We're looking for a cheaper cell phone provider. Since we're dirt poor(as mentioned earlier) we need to cut back and we decided that we could live with just one cell phone instead of two. But most of the single plans cost nearly as much as we're paying right now. I've looked into the pre-paid stuff and 'pay as you go' plans and they just confuse me.

Thing #5: My toes are FREEZING! I really should put on some socks. Well, I really should get showered and dressed and THEN put on some socks.

Thing #6: I'm going to have to cancel our primary presidency meeting this afternoon and it's one that we really need to have. We're having to do some overhaul in the primary and it needs to be done ASAP. But my kids are nursing fevers and the meeting is supposed to be at my house and everyone else has to bring their kids when we have meetings and I don't want to get them all sick.

Thing #7: I need to get a babysitter for tomorrow night. I'm such a procrastinator! I've known about this party we're going to for about a month and I'm just now looking for a sitter. Nice.

Thing #8: Some people that live in the 'nicer' part of our neighborhood are renting out their house. I'm tempted to ask how much they want, but I know we can't afford it. It would be so nice to have a bit more space and to not have a musty basement room that we can't even use because it flares up allergies every time we walk into it.

Thing #9: My husband is so great! Lilly's fever started around 11:30 last night and he stayed up with her and laid by her so she could go back to sleep and so that I could get some sleep. He's so considerate that way.

Thing #10: Since the girls aren't feeling well, I'm going to have to do my grocery shopping after Nate gets home. I hate shopping on a Friday night. For some reason it's always crazy busy--probably because it's payday and people are in the same situation as me. No food in the house, just got paid, better pick up those diapers and stuff.

Well, there are more things swimming through my head right now, but I won't bore you any longer. Thanks for letting me get this stuff off my mind. I feel so much lighter now.

End of Days Jeopardy!

Nate is our ward activities committee chairman. He's had the calling for about a year now. A couple months ago, the bishopric asked him to do a ward activity that was centered around emergency preparedness. Nate really found this a challenge because most people find emergency preparedness stuff a bit boring. But, as many of you know, Nate is anything but boring!

He came up with the idea of doing what he called 'End of Days Jeopardy!'. We basically did the game show using emergency preparedness info for the categories and questions. We gave each contestant something to use as their "buzzer". We used a pan and wooden spoon, a baby rattle, a whistle, and a bike/clown horn.

Contestants were chosen at random from the audience using cards taped to the bottom of the chairs. Our scorekeeper and 'Vanna'(who took the cards from the board when they were chosen--and also turned out to be our bishop and he even wore the name tag that said Vanna and he did such a great job) were also chosen that way.

Everyone who came to the activity got an emergency preparedness themed prize. They ranged from wet wipes to matches to light sticks. And one lucky winner got the grand prize--the 'Honey Pot' which was one of those emergency potties made from a big bucket.

Everyone had a great time! We got pretty good attendance, not as much as our last activity-the 'No Talent' night, but we filled most of the chairs and had a lot of fun.

Now we need to recover. We spent most of yesterday setting things up and running around trying to find plastic spider rings, which I was shocked to find that three grocery stores with lots of Halloween stuff had absolutely NO spider rings! What's up with that?!

Anyway, it was a fun night. You did a great job Nate! And a great big THANK YOU to everyone who came out and supported us!

One Year of Jayne

Today, October 19th, is Jayne's 1st birthday! So prepare yourselves for a Jayne overload!

We had a fun little celebration last night with some family members. Jayne loved all her presents. She got lots of cute clothes and a fun new toy, but her favorite was the cupcake gift bag that Uncle Jake and Uncle Chad brought their present in. She carried it around all night and went straight for it again this morning.

All About Jayne:

• Jayne has been walking for about a month now. She's getting better at her balance and she's getting faster too.
  
• Jayne has three teeth, two on the bottom and one on the top, with another top one currently in the works.
• Jayne likes graham crackers, cheerios, and now chocolate cake.
• Jayne loves to chase Jonah and Lilly around. She always wants to see where they are and what they're doing.
  
• Jayne is all girl! She loves to put on necklaces, comb her own hair, carry purses(or any sort of bag), she loves Lilly's dolls and will drag them all over the house, she loves clothes.
  
• Jayne is now in her forward facing car seat and loves to stare out the window.
  
• Jayne is a chatterbox! She will go on and on about who knows what. It's so cute!
• Jayne is such a beautiful addition to our family and has blessed us so much in just one short year. We love you baby girl!

Here she is showing off her new clothes. She carried them all around the room and it took a little coaxing to get her to put them down and look at the next present.

The Cupcake Bag

She wasn't quite sure what to do with the cake.

So Daddy helped her get started

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Baby Jayne!

FIRE!

Today I went with Jonah's class on their field trip to the fire station. I got a sitter for Jayne and Lilly(thanks Stacey!) so it was just me and Jonah. The fire station isn't very far from the elementary school, so we walked.
It was a little breezy and chilly, but nice. This was Jonah's 3rd time going to the fire station, but it was my first. I've never been inside a fire station. The one here is just tiny. They have their kitchen, a room with all their beds, a bathroom, and a small living room with recliners and a TV.
The firefighters took the kids on a tour and then talked to them about fire safety.
They showed them the ambulance and the fire truck and even let them crawl inside!
On the way back to the school, we got to stop at the Grub Box and all the kids got a free ice cream cone.

Here are some pictures of our fun outing.

Jonah hates loud noises. He plugged his ears as soon as he saw them turn on the lights to the ambulance.

Checking out the inside of the ambulance

Climbing into the fire truck.

Jonah and his class in front of the fire truck

Yeah, that's my kid in the front with his tongue sticking out. You see why we don't do family pictures very often? =)

Getting ice cream on the way home

Partyin' with the Neighbors!

Our fan-ta-bulous neighbors are really into Halloween. Every year they have a big shindig at their house and this year we were invited! Yay! It took a while for them to invite us because we're not very social and yes, it does take us 2 1/2 years to get to know our next door neighbors. We should really work on that.

Anyhoo, a costume for this party is mandatory. I seriously procrastinated figuring out something to dress up as until the day of the party and then I spent the entire day trying to decide. I had some blue fabric and decided to make a little tunic/smock thingy and tack on some cotton batting to look like clouds. I carried around a water bottle and I was "cloudy with a chance of showers." So when anyone asked what I was I would give a little spray from the bottle. Cheesy, I know, but that's just who I am. I tried to get Nate to dress up as a weather man, but he wanted to be a cowboy, I think mostly because then he could take his two black powder pistols to show off.
We had a great time. They had their whole house decked out to the max for Halloween! We're talking spider webs, fog, severed heads, the works. They had tons of yummy food! They had posted quotes from scary movies all over the house and you had to guess what they were from. I think Nate and I did pretty good for not having seen more than half of them. We did get a couple clues from Roni (our neighbor).

We didn't stay too late. My mom was watching the kids for us and we had church early the next morning. But we had so much fun getting to visit with Roni and Dan and meeting some of their friends and family. So THANK YOU guys for letting us come! It was awesome!

Here we are all ready to go! Jonah and Lilly had to jump in the picture too.

Here's my cowboy and his pistols.

Nate made me try on the hat. I'm not a hat person, but I think it goes well with the blue eyeshadow, yes? =)

Kindergarten Drama is Resolved

Remember Jonah's new class? Well, it hasn't been working out so well. He complains of being bored and his teacher doesn't do snack time or show and tell, two kindergarten staples if you ask me. His teacher was always calling him by the wrong name and giving him super easy worksheets to do. I talked to his teacher about it last week and she informed me that Jonah tells her that he's bored, but there's really nothing she can do about it. Jonah was telling us that he didn't want to go to school anymore, he was grumpy and today he even cried when I asked him how his class was.
Being the concerned parents that we are, we contacted the school administration. I talked to the assistant principal, who was very kind, and explained the situation and our concerns. She said she would do an observation of Jonah's class and then call me back. She did her observation today and called me this afternoon. She said that after her observations and talking to some other people at the school, she agreed that Jonah should be moved back to Mrs. Anderson's class effective tomorrow. Hooray! Jonah was so excited when I told him the news. He's been asking to go back to Mrs. Anderson's class everyday since the change and he can't wait to go to school tomorrow.
And so the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I'm so glad that we spoke up about our concerns and that the administration was so quick and helpful in getting it resolved in the best interest of our child. Happy Day!

Jayne's Mad Walking Skills!

Jayne has been walking for a few weeks now. Yeah, she's an early starter. She doesn't turn 1 until the 19th. Anyway, I finally got a blip of it on video. Please ignore the messy coif. I don't usually bother with the bows and things unless we're going out, because they just get pulled out anyway. Enjoy!

Decision Making 101

The majority of the time, I really like being a grownup. I like being able to eat a candy bar and diet coke for breakfast once in a while, or not making my bed if I don't feel like it, or staying in my pajamas all day just because. But the one thing I don't like about being a grownup, not one little itty bitty bit, is making the big decisions. You know the kind, the ones that will affect the future of yourself, your spouse, your kids, your sanity....those kinds of decisions.
During the course of our 7 year marriage, Nate and I have become quite talented at making the wrong decisions, turning down the wrong road, finding all the dead ends, etc. So, lately we've been thinking we may be at another one of those dead ends, but we're not sure. It's so hard to decide whether to stay on this road and hope that it's really not a dead end, just one of those sharp 'T' turns that sometimes looks like a dead end, or to go down another road that could be better, but might not.
We're doing everything we know how to make the right choice. Prayer, temple, studying out all the possibilities. I think the change could be a very good thing, but it could also be a very hard thing and it's so much easier to stay with what you know. Change can be so scary when you're facing the unknown and you're not sure if there will be anything there to catch you when you jump off the cliff of the comfortable. Will you land on a soft bed of clouds and sunshine, or will you just keep falling?
If you happen to have found the foolproof method for making the right decisions, please enlighten me. I will be forever in your debt.

Jonah's new class~ Lilly's new hair~ Jayne's new trick

We'll start with the oldest. Jonah had his first day of his new kindergarten class today. It took a little persuasion to get him to line up with his class and go in, but after that he did great. We had this conversation after I picked him up.
Me: "Did you have fun in your new class?"
Jonah: "I guess so."
Me: "Is your new teacher nice?"
Jonah: "She's nice, but she's not very smart. She called me a different name that is not my name."
Me: "What name did she call you?"
Jonah: "She said Jaclyn when she was supposed to say Jonah."
Me: "Oh, but other than that, was she a good teacher?"
Jonah: "I guess so."

So, he's less than enthusiastic about the new class and new teacher, but he didn't freak out about it either. He said that he made one new friend today, but he couldn't remember his name. I assured him that he would learn his new friend's name in no time. So far, so good.

Now, to Lilly.... Lilly does not like having her hair combed, or washed, or put in a ponytail, or touched in any way. After about a month of trying to convince her, she finally came around to the idea of having it cut short so that she wouldn't have so many tangles and we wouldn't have to put it in ponytails. Last night, Aunt Rachel did the honors.

Here is a before picture. This is Lilly getting a pedicure from Daddy a few days ago. That's about as 'done' as her hair would ever get. We'd put in a clip to hold her bangs out of her eyes and that's all she'd let me do. As a side note, what a great daddy to give his little girl pedicures! Love you Babe!

Here is the after. Her hair likes to fall straight forward into her eyes. We took this right before getting ready for bed last night, so I didn't put a clip in like we did today. She loves her new hair and was so excited when I combed it this morning and we had NO tangles!

Jayne has a fun new trick. She's walking! She started taking a few steps on her own a couple of weeks ago. She doesn't walk exclusively yet, but she does it a lot and can take ten or more steps all by herself. I don't have a picture of her actually walking and I haven't got it on video yet (I know, I know, I'm totally going to lose that 'Mom of the Year Award' for that), but here is a cute picture of her pushing her little walker that she plays with sometimes.

She's trying to figure out how to put it in reverse.

So, that's what's new with our brood. Thanks for letting me share!