12.24.2007

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Well, it's almost Christmas. We are getting ready to do our Christmas Eve activities. I think we are going to make it!



MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! WISHING YOU JOY
AND HAPPINESS WITH YOUR LOVED ONES!

12.21.2007

When traveling remember:

From Yahoo, WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN TRAVELING:

1. Mindlessly Stuffing Your Toiletries Kit in Your Carry-On

From now on, write this on your forehead: 3-1-1 for liquids and gels.

If your toiletry kit contains a family-size bottle of mouthwash and an oversize canister of shave cream, you can say goodbye to both at the security checkpoint.

No one bottle of liquid bigger than three ounces is allowed, and all the liquid bottles must fit into a one-quart clear, plastic zip-top bag. This is the most important rule to think about in advance, because it's the least intuitive one, and can cause your sundries to be tossed in the garbage bin if it's not followed.

The Transportation Security Administration maintains a Web site devoted to outlining this rule.
There are just a few exceptions to the 3-1-1 rule, according to the TSA Web site:
Medications, breast milk, baby formula, baby food and juice can be brought past security in amounts larger than three ounces, but they must be declared for inspection at the security checkpoint. "You just need to say it's for a child" if you bring those things, says TSA spokesperson Sterling Payne. (My comment: You can bring formula or juice BUT not milk or water, strange!)

Companies, meanwhile, are starting to make products designed to ease the difficulty of complying with the 3-1-1 rule. Businesses such as Easy Traveler, Tamperseal, Alltravelsizes.com and Family On Board, among others, offer products that can help make packing and traveling easier. (Again, let's make money wherever and however we can!)

Pictures

Had to post some pics of my extended family...

My nephews - Alex and Sammy. They belong to Merritt and Mandee. Aren't they cute?




These are my nieces and nephews at the VanOrden family christmas party - all of my dad's family.


L-R, Chase Bowman, Alex VanOrden, (I'm guessing my cousin Kelly's daughter), Abby VanOrden and Sammy VanOrden. Chase is Michelle and Todd's oldest son and Abby is Melissa and Shay's 2nd daughter.

Perspective

When I was delivering papers this morning, there was a card waiting at a house for us and addressed to the following:

Which made my day because it's been a LONG time since I felt like a girl, this 37 year old woman's body and mind sometimes doesn't feel so young! But it was surely a nice complement.

Getting ready...

I'm finally finally F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. starting to feel the holiday spirit. I've been able to do a little bit more shopping. I was able to get my little holiday scrapbooks mailed to my family this week, so I was happy about that. Yes, if you are waiting for a Christmas card from us, it won't be there before Christmas, SORRY! Bryan and I are just enduring until the end of the month between me working at the bank, him working his regular job and then doing H & R Block classes every night this week AND then us splitting the paper route, we are both very worn out! But the finish line is just around the corner and we are both excited for the new year to start. It seems like every time a new phase starts in our lives, we think, "Oh, everything is going to be SO MUCH BETTER!" and sometimes it is and sometimes it's not. So I say we are looking forward to the new challenges and adventures our lives will take come January 1 when we can get a little more sleep, depending on how are children sleep :) and maybe go away for the weekend. Of course, we are still not rich so we will go see friends where we can stay for free ;0 but it will feel nice to get away!

12.13.2007

Half-way through...

Well today is December 13 and I have accomplished NONE of my christmas tasks that I set forth to do months ago. Almost everything I wanted to have finished a couple of weeks ago, I'm in the middle of it. I don't even have any of our Christmas decorations up yet...

Part of the reason for this delay is that I have started working at the bank again, part-time. We (me and TPTB - The Powers That Be) went back and forth for about three weeks, finally settling on all the details of this "new" job that we both agreed upon. I am doing the same job I did before but I insisted and they agreed that I only had to work Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I was worried because I know what this job entails and I never dreamed they would agree to it. I was dreading having to work every day when I only need a part-time job plus it is extremely difficult to find daycare, let alone have to worry about half-days, full-days, etc. I was extremely lucky that this awesome lady in our ward wants to watch Carson and Morgan. Kimberly is a dream come true. She has a son Carson's age and a daughter Morgan's age. Her husband is in his first year of medical residency and she needed a little extra money so we were an answer to each other's prayers. They live in Rochester so Bryan takes the little ones to her house on the way to work and I pick them up afterwards. It is a little bit out of the way, but the peace of mind it brings knowing my kids are in a wonderful house is worth it. I don't mind driving the few extra miles...

I started working this week on Tuesday and let me say that the older three were not thrilled with this new schedule. It requires that I get them to school about 20-25 minutes earlier than they are used to, so we have to get up earlier, eat breakfast earlier, and they were not happy. On my first day of work, Cameron came home with a detention slip because he got in a fight with another kid at school at the bus stop. Yesterday when I dropped the kids off at school, Rylee was in tears because I had taken her AR book away. Jordan and Cameron were fighting in the back seat all the way to school. I had to go into the school and talk to a teacher so I hussled in with the kids behind me. As they all were walking into school, Jordan started screaming at Rylee and continued his melt down into the school which prompted Rylee to another round of tears for the morning. He was stopped by a teacher who then came in and told me what had happened, so I had to deal with that, talk to another teacher and try and make it to work as fast as possible.

Honestly, I don't even know if I am embarrassed anymore by Jordan's public meltdowns. It happens. However, I feel so helpless when he does that because I feel like I don't know how to calm him down. I pulled him to the side and told him he could not yell at other kids and if he was going to have a bad day at school, he would not stay. I also told him that he would have to go spend the day with Mark (his step-dad) because I had to work, his mom had to work and Bryan had to work. He pretty much calmed down after that, because he likes to be at school. I know 90% of Jordan's anger comes from interactions with Cameron but what do we do? They are brothers and they live together.

So hopefully they will get used to this new schedule. Tuesday nights and Wednesday mornings are always difficult around our house because Tuesday is church night and the activities don't start until 7 pm. Not that I'm complaining because for the past three years they started at 6 pm and that was almost more difficult trying to get the kids home after school, fed, homework done in an hour and a half before we had to head to the church. Now we have 2 1/2 hours BUT we always get home between 8:30 and 9:00 pm and that is so late. The kids are never ready to get out of bed on Wednesday mornings.

Concerning my job, I feel very lucky and also very torn. I am so lucky that this job just basically fell into my lap. Bryan and I had decided at the beginning of the summer that we would quit the paper route at the end of the year. I had decided that I was going to substitute teach to earn some extra money since we still need me to work some to get by. I did all the necessary steps to become a substitute teacher at the beginning of this school year and then I received little or no calls for the whole semester. I did get a call once when I was in St Louis at a drs appt for Morgan and then another time when Bryan was out of town on training. Both times I had to say no. Then the day before my interview for this job at the bank, I got another call to substitute. I just told them I was getting a job somewhere else... I need to make sure they take me off the roster. I thought that would work best for our family because then I would have my summers off and still feel like a stay-at-home mom. BUT that was not to be, so now I'm working at the bank. It will work well, that I still get some time with my kids but I won't get summers off and we'll have to find babysitters for the older kids when they are at our house (very expensive). However, it will allow us to stop the paper route with it's crazy schedule and to be able to take family vacations together or at the very least go spend the night in St Louis or at our friends in Charleston and not have to worry about the stinkin' paper route. Finally, I do feel like I have let my kids down since I won't be with all the time. I feel bad that I haven't been able to live so frugally that I can stay home with them. We have been living on the cheap side since we married, I mean have you seen our house and cars? BUT I have to remember that I have two wonderful happy children who are the light of my life and a husband who works incredibly hard for our family. It won't always be like this. Yeah, now I can stop my pity-party.

12.04.2007

Ice Cream

What flavor are you? I'm chocolate.

Click on this link and take the test...




Thanks Mandee for the great idea.

I LOVE ICE CREAM!

12.02.2007

Dishwasher


Morgan loves the dishwasher. As soon as he hears me open it, he crawls as fast as he can to "help" me out whether I need it or not...


Morgan's Hair

Well, it finally got to me so I gave in and had Morgan's curls cut. They were cute but he is so messy now and his hair would be sticky about five minutes after he woke up because he couldn't keep his hands away.

Here are some of his recent pictures:

We went to the Drown's house yesterday and Aunt Ashley cut Morgan's hair for me since I have no talent or expertise in that area.

Here is our new little man - all grown up. He made it to 13 1/2 months old without one single hair on his head being trimmed or cut.

Taking the kids to school

What has become a morning tradition at our house is about to change drastically. I just wanted to show what we have done for the past year and a half...

Most mornings the kids are at our house, Carson, Morgan and I take them to school. Many times, the younger ones go in their pjs. Sometimes we stop at Casey's and get a doughnut on the way home. They love them.



Cameron's 7th Birthday

This is a little bit late, but I wanted everyone to see Cameron's birthday cake. He wanted the funfetti cake mix and frosting. We ran out of sprinkles, so we used some of our own. If you look really hard you can see that the cake says - "Happy B-DAY". He loved it.



The kids were excited to have another birthday celebration.

Although at times it is difficult to get them to all look at the camera at the same time and smile.

Cameron was excited his presents were walkie talkies (real ones that have a 12 mile radius) and some Crayola Color Explosion books.

11.28.2007

Pie Pig Out

We started a new tradition this year, we invited several families from church over on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and asked each one of them to bring a pie. We ate pie, only pie, and talked and laughed and prepared ourselves for a wonderful feast on Thanksgiving day. I came across this idea in a Family Traditions book that my Grandma DaBell gave me. It said how one family always got together on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and ate the pies - so they could enjoy them since it always seems like you are so full from the turkey and all the trimmings to actually enjoy the pie. So, we ate them ahead of time and it was wonderful. Especially after our hotdog fiasco , it was wonderful to have plenty of people accept our invitation. I think Bryan counted at one time and there were over 30 people in our house. It was fun.

Of course, I didn't make pumpkin pie because I thought someone else would bring it. Everyone must of been thinking the same thing because there was not one pumpkin pie to eat that evening. We also were asked several times if this was the first annual to which we replied, "YES!" So next year we will again have a Pie Pig Out the sunday before Thanksgiving and I will make the pumpkin pies and let everyone else bring whatever they want :)

Rexburg Temple Open House

I'm simply delighted that I am going to be able to attend the open house for the Rexburg Temple. The past few summers as we have visited friends in Rexburg, we always drive by the temple, envisioning what it is going to look like when it is done. My SIL Shireen called me on Monday and said they were getting tickets for all of us to go - yes all of us VanOrdens - I think she said that was 25 tickets. I'm sad that Bryan won't be with us. I am flying out to see my parents over New Years with Carson and Morgan. It won't be a long trip, but I'll get my cup filled (it's a large one) with family, hopefully enough to last me until June when I will be able to go visit again.

It's Never a Good Thing...

When you walk into a room and you can hear your three-year old but can't see her. As soon as you find her, she hides what she is doing and says....

"Mommy, you need to go away!"

It always spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E when I hear that lovely little sentence.

11.16.2007

Me and my kids...




These are the pictures we had taken at Target in October. Aren't they cute?

11.05.2007

More pictures

At the beginning of October, I had to take Morgan to St Louis for his quarterly check ups at the St Louis Children's Hospital. So afterwards, I took Carson and Morgan to the Zoo. It was the perfect weather to do so. We walked around for two hours and I got some really good exercise from pushing my two little ones in the double stroller. You should have seen the hill we had to go up to see the lions and the zebras - but it was well worth it. We had a great time.

As you can tell, the weather was perfect that day. I think it actually got into the 80's, no kidding! I just checked out accuweather.com and the high that day in St Louis was 83. So yes, it was a warm day especially for October. We were there on Wednesday, October 9. We did have one funny experience, when we were leaving the hospital and on the way to the zoo, it was dark in the parking garage so I turned on the lights and then forgot about them. I left them on the whole time we were at the zoo, so when I came back out to our car, the battery was dead! It was hot and Carson and Morgan were ready to go home and take a nap. The people who work at the zoo were so wonderful, (it must happen a lot, people with car problems). Anyway, they had us on our way in no time, it took them less than five minutes to respond to our vehicle and have it running.

Meeting our Neighbors (or cooking 200 hotdogs and only giving away 14)

WOW! Halloween night was just not as fun as it could have been for us. We, as a family, were really excited for Halloween. We had decided earlier in the month to invite our neighbors over to meet and greet and as a bonus, give away a hot dog. I know, I know, a hot dog is not the most wonderful thing in the whole world, but heck, it was free and gave people a chance to meet us. We passed out 150 invitations, to those we do on the paper route and then some of the streets nearest us. We were hoping for a good response. We had ONE person from the paper route come over with his daughter and we had ONE of our actual neighbors come over and get four hot dogs for her family. The rest of them were just random trick or treaters and also the a different neighbors' dog who couldn't resist the smell of the meat!

Hmmm, I don't know actually how I feel. Not overly mad, or even sad, maybe just disappointed. We just don't live in a very neighborly area. I know when Carson starts school, we will get to know a lot more people, but it is very lonely sometimes, not knowing but a handful of people in your town. For awhile, I have felt bad that we haven't reached out more to our neighbors, but now I'm deciding they don't want to reach out to us very badly either, or they would have done it already. Our one neighbor who did come over, it was wonderful to finally meet her and talk with her. Bryan is more social than I am and he has talked to them several times, I just wave. This was the first time that I really talked to her. At least now, we have someone to take treats to at Christmas and Boo next year for Halloween. I'm going to keep on trying to meet people, even if they don't want to!

I also don't think I'll be cooking 200 hot dogs ever again. I did get a great casserole recipe to share, to help use up the hot dogs.
This is the tent we had set up. Our good friends, the Vreelands, let us borrow it. They even came over and set it up and take it down. They were so kind.



Here are the kids, already to serve our neighbors. The weather was perfect to be outside on a fall crisp night.

Trunk or Treat

Every year, our ward puts on a Trunk or Treat. We all meet at the church, have a potluck dinner, the kids play a few games and then we "Trunk or Treat". It is always a super fun activity and the kids look forward to it every year.

Carson dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Morgan was a Rooster. I got lots of good pictures of Carson; however, none of Morgan's turned out! I didn't want to stick him in his costume again, he was ticked off enough the first time; so it will be just a memory we have!
This was the only picture I got of Morgan, when we were getting ready for the Trunk or Treat. At least he is in his Halloween shirt.

I did a quick job on Carson's hair, but had to show that we were really able to get pony tails in her hair. Her hair is still pretty fine and not long enough to do much with.

Carson and her best friend in the whole world, Anna Headman. They spent the whole night together and had lots of fun. Anna was a kittycat.


Cameron came as a Boy Scout! The "Two C's" as Rylee calls them had a great time running around and trick or treating around the parking lot. Morgan wasn't as enthusiastic about the whole event but he sure loves his candy and anyone else's that he can snag while they aren't looking.

10.29.2007

Autism

Today, the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a news release concerning autism. They are now recommending that ALL children are screened for autism at least twice before they turn two; once at 18 months and once at 24 months. YEAH! On the news release page, it lists "Red Flags" any parent will want to know if concerned about autism:

“Red Flags” that are absolute indications for immediate evaluation include: no babbling or pointing or other gesture by 12 months; no single words by 16 months; no two-word spontaneous phrases by 24 months; and loss of language or social skills at any age. Early intervention can make a huge difference in the child’s prognosis. “Autism doesn’t go away, but therapy can help the child cope in regular environments,” said Chris Plauche Johnson, MD, MEd, FAAP, and co-author of the reports. “It helps children want to learn and communicate.”

It's about time! Another great autism website, Autism Speaks, has a video glossary that parents can look at, that show developmental areas of a normal development and a child with autism. Every 20 minutes a child is diagnosed with autism AND 1 in 150 children will be diagnosed with autism. I have also read that in boys that it is 1 in 116, but I can't remember where that statistic came from.

Some other things to read: Family in utah that has six autistic kids; new autism; and "Being Autistic, Being Human."

Happy Family Home Evening

We are trying to meet our neighbors. We have only lived in this house for 3 1/2 years and know less than a handful of our neighbors. We decided to hand out hot dogs on Halloween and made invitations to send to our neighbors and to those whom we deliver the papers. We split up tonight, Bryan walked around a couple of blocks and I did those that were further away. The kids had a ball handing out the invitations. Here they are:

The missionaries are going to come over on Halloween and help pass out the hotdogs. Hopefully..., we'll get a good turn out. This is a big step for me and Bryan, going outside of our comfortable shells and meeting new people.

10.21.2007

Happy Birthday Morgan!

Yeah, my baby is one year old! We had Morgan's cake tonight. He absolutely loved it. He dug right in, there was no stopping him. He loved the icing. I can't believe my baby is one year old. Last year, I was at the hospital wondering when I could go home. His birth was much easier than Carsons (after 20 hours of labor THEN having a c-section - no kidding), a scheduled c-section is much easier on your body. Until I had the hernia but that is a story for another day.


Here is Morgan eating his cake.



Loving every moment of it :)

Music

I added the music player. Let me know if it makes the page too difficult to view.

10.18.2007

By myself!

Tonight I was able to run to Springfield, by myself, and run errands and without children and by myself. It was just exciting to be alone. It was such a great "me time" experience for me. I feel like I never get any adult alone time except for when I'm delivering the papers and that is at 3:30 a.m. so my brain isn't always working as fast as it should. Anyway, I went to five, yes, five different stores this evening - making exchanges, returning stuff, buying stuff, picking up pictures from a one hour photo that have been there for at least five weeks! It was like a breath of fresh air. I've come to the realization that with Carson and Morgan I can run about two errands at a time, no matter how long or short and they are done. They don't like getting in and out of the car, they get tired and cranky with all the driving we have to do, Carson either doesn't want to walk or doesn't want to be in the cart and so she throws a complete fit and so two stores/errands/etc is my limit.

I just can't believe how much I was able to accomplish tonight. Hobby Lobby was having a sale on scrapbook paper - 50% off, yes, it was a great night for shopping. I had a 40% off coupon at Michael's - bought some cards. Yes, it was a very productive night.

In total, I was gone for about 3 hours. About half way through, I received a voice mail from Cameron and Carson telling me they missed me and asking me when I was coming home. Carson thought I was "at the office" because that is where Daddy goes everyday, so if mom is gone, she must be there too. I called her back and she just talked and talked on the phone and kept telling me "I need to tell you something, Mommy," over and over. Ahhh, I feel like I can be a mom again.

Another Carson & Scooby Doo moment...

Carson was explaining who the characters were on Scooby-Doo.

My response: What is Daphne? (expecting her usual response of Daphne is a girl and Freddy is a boy)

Carson: Daphne is the mommy. Freddy is the daddy.

Me: Oh, what is Velma?

Carson: Velma is the Merritt (*side note* Merritt is my brother who incidentally looks nothing like Velma)

Me: So Velma is a Merritt?

Carson: Yes, Velma is a Merritt, Daphne is the mommy and Freddy is the daddy.

PS: What is a Merritt?

Target

Pronounced, Tarrr jjayh for those of you who really don't know. A secret to shopping there I learned this week. If you use a debit or credit card for all of your purchases, if you are to take back an item, they can use the aforementioned debit or credit card to find your original receipt. Which is a wonderful thing for me since I tend to lose things. As hard as I try, I still lose receipts and usually mostly important things that I'm supposed to hold onto. Anyway, I had to return two pair of pants I had bought about 2 weeks ago and lucky me, I had purchased them using my debit card so they gave me a FULL refund in cash since it was on my debit card. Now, I'm not sure how it would work if the item had gone on sale since you bought it, haven't ran into that scenario yet, however, I'm glad to always use my debit card whenever I shop at Target. Just in case I need to make a quick return.

I feel invisible...

Alright. I know that someone out there is reading my blog. At least, I hope so. I have posted questions/comments that begged responses on two of my most favorite Yahoo groups in the past month and received no response on either one! So maybe I am invisible. Maybe it is true, that mom's just become invisible over time.

Oh well, just in case there is one person out there reading this I found another cool website and story about a young man named McKay Hatch. He has started the "No Cussing Club". It sounds awesome. Also, try this link to ABC News and see the story.

PS - Doesn't anyone have a favorite love song?

10.16.2007

Help

I am compiling a CD of love songs for a friend. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment. I am looking through all of our cd's but I'm sure there are many great ones out there that I will forget. THANKS!

10.14.2007

Just stuff

Well, tomorrow is the beginning of a new week. The older kids come to our house after school. Cameron went to the doctor on Saturday and he has bronchitis, which isn't surprising because he was coughing up a spell at our house the week before. Hopefully he will get better now that he is on medicine.

Today we enjoyed a nice quiet day. For once, I had dinner all prepared and in the crock pot before we went to church. It was so nice because when we came home, I just had to make some rice and we were ready for dinner. We watched the movie, "The Home Teachers" which is my life. The first time I watched that show it was just painful. Today it was pretty funny.

In the past, I have tried to keep this blog full of fun anecdotes, fun experiences and fun stories about our family. I have thought long and hard about speaking about NONE of our experiences as a blended family but that's just not us. But on the other hand, I don't want this to turn into a gr-itching contest, either. I just want to say, life is not all fun and games, probably not for anyone, especially not for us. There are so many frustrations that I deal with almost on a daily basis. I don't want to go into too many details but I guess my one piece of advice for tonight is divorce sucks! When two people get married, have children and then decide to divorce, it affects so many more people than just them. It has a rippling effect on so many people, especially new spouses, children from 2nd union, the first kids, the parents of the couple, the brothers and sisters of the couple, their spouses, grandparents, cousins, nieces and nephews, must I go on? Now, I'm not saying there aren't some valid reasons to get divorced, but I'm firmly convinced after living this life for the past four years, that that list is very short. I can only think of about three things that really SHOULD be on that list. Now, that's also not to say, that I don't love my husband, because I really do. I'm greatful to be married to him, for our friendship and our love, and for our determination to make it just one more day in this crazy world plus I would NOT trade anything in this world for my children. They are the best of me and I love them dearly. I will end with a quote (modified a bit) from one of my favorites - Julia Roberts as to what she said about her husband on Friday, "And the widening of my life, and my hips, is really just the true gift of my husband Bryan, who I would be so lonely without him."

10.12.2007

Potty Training Nightmare

Yes, Carson is over three and yes, she is still wearing diapers and pull-ups. I am going to go crazy. Every week, I have good intentions of starting the potty training and it just never works. Getting Cameron to go on the toilet and NOT have accidents was a nightmare for about three years and I was so not looking forward to that again. I give up!

I tried rewarding her when she sat on the potty with an M & M. Didn't work, since she wants MORE than one! I tried stickers, she doesn't care. I thought, "Oh, I'll just put her in underwear and when she feels the wetness, she won't like it and will go in the toilet." Not really, she doesn't MIND the WET underwear as witnessed the other day when she wet on the floor, yes carpet, three different times and didn't even care. The only reason she was changed because I was checking on her and found her wet. She did not even care. And by the way, it's a total all out fight to get her to just SIT on the toilet. Oh, I can tell this is going to be a fun one. So, for now, she stays in pull-ups for my own sanity. She may be the only sunbeam not potty-trained in January; however, as my sister Michelle tells me, she won't go to kindergarten in a diaper. I hope she is right :)

A fast funny...

I was sitting reading my e-mail on the computer while Carson was eating breakfast. She had several times told me she was done and I needed to go get her down. The next thing I hear is...

"Mommy, do you understand?" "Mommy, come get me down!" Mommy, do you understand?"

I guess I say that a lot to her. I went in and gave her a big hug and told her that I loved her and laughed at how funny she was. She then says...

"Mommy, I like your laugh."

I think I have the sweetest, loveablest, cutest and most thoughtful daughter in the world - at least for today!

10.05.2007

It's Friday :)

I'm so glad it's finally Friday. The kids got out of school early today - noon release. Not sure why, but thankful for it anyway. I am going to get Morgan down for an afternoon nap, Carson is already napping, put it a movie for the big kids and take myself a nap.

We had music class this morning. My friend, Trisha Headman, such a sweetheart, calls me at 10 am and volunteers to teach it for me today when she found out that Carson and Morgan had completely destroyed my music class stuff. They went through my bag and emptied out each plastic baggie that was full of colored, laminated props for each of our songs. We are talking 30-40 bags of stuff. They did this at the first of the week, TWICE. I had it all picked up, not sorted, but picked up and put away and they found my bag AGAIN and emptied it. It was so nice of her. I was a little stressed, thinking that I could teach the class without my props, but she did a fabulous job.

Carson and Morgan were on one this morning. While I was in the shower, they found the markers and decided to do some art work on their bodies. Morgan has pink arms and blue feet. Carson has blue hands and wrists and a little bit under her chin - kind of like a goatee. Yeah, no picture. I should have, but I was in a hurry. So I get them all cleaned up and ready to go with shoes and socks on, leave for 25 seconds while I fill up bottle and sippy cup with milk and to my surprise, Carson has only her shirt on when I enter the room. She just loves to make my day, let me tell you. Morgan had another marker in his mouth but not open, thank goodness. I guess my lesson to learn for myself is that I need to put the markers up higher. It's not like we have that many high places though, to hide things.

So, my question is, why do they get into more trouble when they are together? I think it's like when Merritt and Michelle (my brother and sister) used to get together - their brains would meld into one and things that they probably wouldn't do normally by themselves became rather amusing when they were together. Oh, the trouble those two are going to cause from now until forever. It is going to be so much fun!

10.03.2007

Christmas

is coming on way too fast for me! I almost had a panic attack last Friday because I realized that it was October in a couple of days and that means that the holiday season will be whirling by us. I always have BIG plans on what I am going to do, lets see if I get any of it done. I am going to have Carson and Morgan's pictures taken tmw, so that is one thing I can get crossed off my list. I still have to get Jordan, Rylee and Cameron's pics too. Last year we started a new tradition where we take the kids to Target instead of getting school pictures. It works wonderfully well, I get so many more pictures and I only spend about $20-$25 per kid which is so much cheaper than school. I try to get them in the fall so we have ones to send for Christmas. Last year I was really bad, I didn't even send Christmas cards. I think Heavenly Father will forgive me since I just had had a baby. Anyway, I did send Fall cards out with the kids pictures, so I didn't feel so bad - that was before Morgan was born and I did have a few minutes of time for myself. Now, that he is almost a year old - in 2 1/2 weeks - we are on a good schedule and I am going to now make time to do the fun stuff I want, especially my scrapbooking. I sooooo miss being able to be creative. I have been able to do it just a few times since Morgan was born, but now, I've just got to try really hard because now I'm further behind. I have all these pictures I have to do something with! I am also going to teach myself how to do digital scrapbooking. That would help me get caught up much quicker.

We have the older kids for Christmas this year. I have been thinking that we really need to institute our own holiday traditions we look forward to every year. We have tried things from my family and made up things we thought would be fun but never really stuck with anything. This is going to be the year. I am going to find a breakfast recipe we only use on Christmas day. We will have rice alamonde this year even if the older kids don't like it, Carson and Morgan will have it every year like we did! Here is a recipe for Danish Rice Pudding, although this isn't how my mom makes it. I'll have to get her recipe and post it on our recipe blog. When Bryan's parents were here, I asked his mom if they had any family Christmas traditions. She said the one that stuck out in her mind was they would read the Christmas story from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, so we are going to incorporate that one this year also.

I have so much to do today! Let's hope I get it all done. Until the next time.

9.27.2007

Pictures

I thought this was a cute picture of Rylee and Morgan from Cameron's last soccer game. Rylee sure loves Morgan and the feeling is mutual.

First picture of the oooehy gooey mess from the marshmallows.

Here is the picture of her hands. She wasn't real cooperative with these pictures - she kept trying to stick her hands on her face and her hair. Go figure.

9.26.2007

Husbands, Marshmallows, Scooby Doo, etc.

Bryan has been gone since Sunday. He is at a conference in San Francisco for his job. He was late to his flight on Sunday and so he had to wait for several hours at the airport in Springfield to see if he could catch the next flight to Chicago. He finally arrived in San Francisco at 11:00 pm pacific time so he had been traveling for many hours that day. I hope that it is worth it for him.

Our fridge has been leaking for the past week and a half. I wasn't sure why, I kept thinking the kids were spilling something on the floor in front of it. It's not fun having kitchen carpet, I hate it, in fact. At one time we were going to have lineolum installed, but after they came and gave us a bid, we decided that was something we were going to have to wait on. I love what Bryan says when I tell him that the fridge is leaking - "How do you know that it is leaking?" Just typing that now, makes me feel like I did as I told him that over the phone, I wanted to reach my hands through the phone line to San Francisco and put my hands around his neck and choke him :) How do you think that I knew it was leaking? What kind of a question is that? Sometimes. I could go on and on about my husband, but rest assured, I do love him even when he drives me crazy.

It's been so much fun taking Carson and Morgan on the paper route with me. Actually they have been well behaved thus far. We only have one more morning to do the route before Bry gets home. I thought I might have to bag today because of rain, but I was spared that inconvenence. The weather is supposed to be clear through the end of the week.

I was talking on the phone today to my sister, Michelle, and Carson came in my bedroom covered in sticky, wet marshmallows. I distinctivelly remember seeing her in the kitchen eating the marshmallows from a bag - I figured that was a good lunch and I wasn't going to disturb her. I didn't know she could make such a mess. When I went to check on the shape of the kitchen, Morgan was in the middle of the floor with marshmallows all around him - in heaven, soaking up each sugar-coated nugget as fast as he could. Of course, I had to take pictures.

I really think that Carson is addicted to Scooby Doo. Every morning, every afternoon, every night, that is all she asks to watch. Unfortunately we have rented all the movies from the library that are Scooby Doo and we only have one DVD. I have a feeling I'm going to have to purchase some more because I'm tired of the one DVD we have. I do record an episode daily, but she watches them at least 3-4 times before the next one is recorded. Yes, I am a bad mom. Some days she watches television more than she should. I have to have my sanity somehow.

Well, I am a procrastinator. I am in a book club through our church Relief Society and we meet tommorrow night. Have I read the book yet? NO! Have I started it? Yes, just today. It seems like it will be a good book, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". When Bryan's mom was here she started reading it and said it was good. I don't know if she finished it. I do need to find a really good book that I can have the group read when it's my turn. So if anyone has suggestions, please let me know.

9.21.2007

Ice Cream and Some Jordan Ramblings

Well, I've survived the past couple of days. I don't know if I'm just tired, cranky or otherwise just in a foul mood, but I'm glad that it is the weekend. It has definitely been hot around here. I'm talking the weather now. Today right now as I type it is 89 degrees and it's 5:00 pm. It's the middle of September. Isn't it supposed to be cooler by now?

One good thing - I finally returned our Netflix after a week and a half. We had a damaged movie plus we had a SpongeBob DVD that the kids watched the first day we got it. Yet I was unable for a whole week and a half to find the white case to return it in, so we haven't had any new movies for a while. The next two in the queue are specifically for me :) happy day! and they will arrive tomorrow. I am going to put my kids to bed early tmw night and have me a movie fest. It's been a long time since I've done that. I'm even going to eat microwave popcorn. Now that's living on the edge, isn't it?

Yesterday, it was another hot day as I picked up the kids from school. I decided there wouldn't be many days left like that so I stopped at our favorite ice cream shop in Pawnee, Krekels - okay, it's the only one, but it still is a favorite - and we got ice cream cones. As I handed them out to the kids, Morgan had this look on his face like he had to have one, he wasn't going to be left out of the fun. So I scooped off the top into a cup for myself and gave him the cone. First time and he went to town on the that cone. It was a chocolate/vanilla swirl ice cream cone. He first licked around the edges until there wasn't any ice cream left. Then he would poke his fingers in the middle of the cone where the ice cream was and put his finger in his mouth. It was quite comical. He was so incredibly happy, too. It was a nice way to celebrate his 11 month birthday. Yes, my baby is going to be a year soon. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by.

Jordan, Jordan, Jordan. Let's see. A couple of years ago for Christmas, Rylee gave her brother these arm bands that say #1 Brother. They are green and look like the ones you wear when you exercise, so the sweat doesn't roll all over your hands. He insists upon wearing them all the time. I mean in all kinds of weather, rain, snow, shine, hot, hot, hot, cold, cold, cold, in the house, outside, in a swimming pool, it doesn't matter. He wears them. Even though it looks kind of geeky, we have finally convinced him that he needs to at least take them off once a week to be washed. Yes, this is his autism showing through. Anyway, yesterday when I picked him up from school, he had taken a string off of the arm bands and tied it around the middle section of his glasses, the part right above his nose. I'm not sure what that area of the glasses is called. When I calmly asked him WHY? he had that string wrapped around the center, he answered, "Well, Marci, you know that leprechaun day in March? It always catches me by surprise, and I just want to be prepared!". I about fell off the chair which isn't a good idea when you are supposed to be driving.

Let me just say that Jordan is full of surprises. Some will make you laugh so hard you could wet yourself and others are so frustrating that you just want to cry. There have been plenty of crying moments. It's all in a day of dealing with Autism. Jordan is also so sweet and funny. We are lucky to have him in our family.

BTW, when I picked up the kids from school today, I had doughnuts for the kids and Jordan passed on having one. I figured something was up with him because he NEVER passes up a doughnut. I took a nap as soon as we got home and Cameron woke me up to let me know that Jordan had just thrown up all over the kitchen floor. Lovely. So he didn't escape our illness, he was just late to the game.

9.19.2007

One more for today and then I promise I am done!

I just found this story on one of my lists. LOVE IT!

"The Invisible Mother"

I'm invisible.......It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner,because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Pick me up right around 5:30, please."I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude -- but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.She's going ... she's going ... she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress;it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."

In the days ahead I would read -- no, devour -- the book. And I would discover what would become for me, life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work. No one can say who built the great cathedrals-- we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees."

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand-bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

It's Wednesday!

Well, no one is sick at our house anymore! Yipee! We are all happy about that one. Jordan managed to escape the throngs of sickness, he must have some lucky health gene he isn't sharing with the rest of us. I don't know if it's because I slept so much while I was sick or if I have a lot on my mind, but the past two nights I have been unable to fall asleep very well - Monday night I didn't go to bed until after 11 pm. Last night I tried to go to bed earlier (around 10:30 pm) but Mr. Morgan decided that wasn't going to happen, so between tossing and turning and hearing him cry, I finally gave him to Bryan at 1 am and tried to get some sleep before I went on the paper route. I heard my alarm ring at 3:30 am and hit the snooze button. I suddenly woke up at 4:10 am in a panic, hoping I hadn't slept too late. After hearing my alarm ring so many times - every 10 minutes, Carson was awake and definitely going on the paper route with me. We were both so tired when we got home, we went back to sleep and didn't wake up until 7:10 am. Luckily, the kids got ready fast this morning and we weren't even rushed taking them to school. I still am dragging, my house is a disaster and all I want to do is sleep some more. Hopefully, I can get some energy to make it through today and tonight I can sleep better.

Another Carson story - Bryan loves the song, "Fishin' in the Dark" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and he has played it over and over for the kids when he is driving them somewhere. Jordan, Rylee and Cameron know the words to the song pretty well. Every time we get in the van to go ANYWHERE, they will request that song be played over and over, etc. Well, now they have Carson doing the same thing. Funny thing is that for the last couple of days, she thought the song was "Fishin' in the dog". I tried to tell her numerous times that was NOT the title of the song. She did not believe me. Amazingly enough, as soon as Rylee told her what the correct title of the song was, she now calls it "Fishin' in the Daawwk". There are lots of funny stories about her right now since it seems her vocabulary has just exploded over the past 3-4 months.

Morgan is almost 11 months. I was thinking yesterday that soon he will be on whole milk, no more formula, yeah! It hasn't been too expensive anyway, we buy his formula at Sam's Club. It is $19.38 a can and these cans are more than two of the big cans at Walmart, plus much cheaper. It is the same brand as Parent's Choice formula and it works wonderfully well. We have had no problems whatsoever with it. I was buying his diapers at Sam's also and they do work really well; however, I just prefer Pampers, so that's what I've been buying the past month and a half. I did buy a pack of the new Luvs diapers with the stretchy waistband and they work pretty well. I might start buying them. Gosh, isn't my life just so exciting? Just reading this makes me want to cry knowing that I can write an epistle on diapers and formula :(

Yet I will forge ahead and be happy for my season in life and enjoy it all that I can. And end with a quote I read in a book the other day -

"Children should not be seen as interruptions to the main thing of life; they are the main thing."
Betty Shannon Cloyd

9.17.2007

More sick kids

Rylee and Cameron arrived on our doorstep at 7:00 am because they both have caught what Carson and Morgan had. (We knew they were coming last night - Rylee started getting sick after church yesterday and then Cameron joined in about 10:00 pm.) So instead of going to school this morning, they get to come to our house. Luckily, they are both done throwing up :) That's my only consolation. Now Jordan is the only one who isn't sick. Hopefully he won't get it!

9.16.2007

Dinner

Tonight at dinner, Carson requested her "Princess Plate". Here is the conversation:

Mommy: Who are the princesses, Carson?

Carson: Cinderella....

Mommy: and Sleeping Beauty?

Carson: No Mommy, she is not sleeping, she is awake!

We are sick :(

Morgan started it! Poor kid. He got sick first, Thursday night on our trip home from southern Illinois. Friday he was sick most of the day. Carson woke up 1:00 am on Friday night/Saturday morning throwing up. I was in bed with her and it was NOT a good way to be woken up. She did her business until 6:00 am, managing to dirty about three loads of laundry along the way. Man, was I thrilled. Then as soon as she fell back to sleep at 6:30 am, I started to feel sick and was in the throws of it all day - until about 6:30 last night when I was able to take some ibuprofen to hep with my terrible headache and fever. I luckily did not throw up but I had the accompanying problem of it coming out the other end. I was also very nauseous most of the day and that finally subsided. Both Carson and Morgan were also starting to feel better last night - we all got hopped up on medicine and feel asleep rather peacefully. Then this morning, poor Bryan started on the same path we had just been on. Hopefully Bryan's parents don't get sick. They have one more day with us. I will feel really awful if they do get sick...

9.14.2007

Our trip south and Scooby-Doo



Bryan's parents are here visiting us this week. It's been fun having them here and hopefully they have been able to see a few of the sites around the Springfield area. Yesterday we traveled to Southern Illinois and visited Garden of the Gods. We also visited Cave-in-Rock which Bryan's parents told us about and it turned out to be a really cool place to visit. Garden of the Gods is located at the southern tip of Illinois in the Shawnee National Forest. There are a few really small towns around it - Herod, Hartsville, Gross and Hicks. I'm not kidding about those names. It's also close to the Ohio Scenic Byway where Cave-in-Rock is located. And guess what? That's also the name of the town, Cave-in-Rock. It's zip code is 62919. Carson was a terror at Garden of the Gods, she DID NOT want to walk at all. Morgan was in a backpack and he did very well. We then went to Cave-in-Walk where she was an absolute delight. We had to climb up and down several sets of stairs which she did all by herself. When we walked into the cave, she again, did it all by herself. We walked to the back of the cave and then on our way out, she kept saying, "Mom, it's dangerous!" "Be careful, Mom". She was making me laugh. I thought it was so cute. It was a long drive down there - we left at 8 am in the morning and didn't return home last night until 11:30 pm. Needless to say, today hasn't been very productive. Bryan's parents went to the Lincoln Library and we are home.



Morgan wasn't feeling well last night, he threw up several times on the way home and again this morning. So he is taking a long nap. I gave him some Motrin and some Pedialyte and he finally fell asleep.

Yesterday, in anticipation of a long trip, we took our DVD player and lots of DVD's - Sponge Bob, Dora and a pup named Scooby Doo. Yes, I only took one Scooby Doo and wouldn't you know that is the ONLY one that Carson wanted to watch. We had several melt downs because not only did I only bring one, I brought the WRONG one! She does not like "A pup named Scooby Doo", just the original episodes that came out before I was even born! I had no idea.

Then when we were about 40 miles from home, Bryan was too tired to finish driving so I took over. AGAIN, the melt down began and lasted until we were about 7 miles from our home. Carson was so mad that I was driving. She kept crying, "Mommy, I want to drive," "Mommy, I can't sit by Daddy." "Mommy, please stop driving and come sit by me." And along with the crying was an occasional screaming fit, even high-pitched screams to go along with her fit. I remained calm, most of the time but that was so difficult to drive and not pull over and just get in the back with her and have someone else drive. Needless to say, she continued her whining/melt down state when we arrived home because I slept in Morgan's room since he was throwing up and I wanted to be close in case he was choking, so she had to sleep with her Dad. It was a very long evening.

Today, she is perfectly fine, although, she has just watched Scooby Doo most of the day. Do you think that she is addicted? Hmmm, maybe. Do you think we needed the break? Most definitely :)

9.12.2007

The Lion King

I absolutely love the movie, "The Lion King". I love the deeper meaning of the movie. Thought I'd post some of my favorite quotes:
"Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars....So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I."
"You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life."
"Remember who you are. You are my son and the one true king."
That's what I want for my children. To have them always remember who they are, where they came from and what they can become. We have the book and Carson loves me to read it to her at night before she goes to sleep.

9.08.2007

Carson's Birthday

Carson is now officially three years old! Boy is she full of it, too! She has soooooooo much energy, it just makes me tired thinking about it.


Here is her cake - she decided she wanted a princess cake, so that is what we ordered. I love the cupcake birthday cakes, they are so easy to serve and to me, not as messy as a regular cake.


Here we are gathered around the table, before Carson blew out the candles. Notice that Jordan is now taller than me. Okay, that's not such a difficult feat :) however, he is many years younger than me and now a wee bit taller.



Here is my big girl attempting to blow out the candles. She finally was able to do it, not accounting for the all the extra moisture that settled on the cake from her "blowing" out the candles.


Notice her blue mouth from the frosting. This is after she opened her presents and ate cake.



This is the next morning, eating a healthy breakfast of chocolate cupcake. Bryan is in charge of breakfast on Saturday mornings. It reminded us of that old Bill Cosby recording, "Chocolate Cake for Breakfast" and remember the conniption fit. Don't really know how to spell that one.