Rochelle's Quiet Spot

Knitting and More Knitting

2012-02-06T15:46:00.000-08:00

I Love Knitting. It is my new favorite hobby. I have been trying out a few different things with knitting to learn different skills and techniques. My goal is to eventually be able to knit myself some beautiful sweaters.

I absolutely love this one:

The pattern is called Lily, and it is by Kim Hargreaves from her Misty Spring/Summer Collection. I'm planning to order the book with the pattern from Amazon.

In the meantime, I've finished a few projects that I did to try to learn different techniques and stitches.

This hat and scarf for Gavin I knitted after I finished the turquoise scarf for me. I used a ribbed pattern. The yarn is Lion Brand Jiffy Thick and Quick and I knitted both the hat and scarf using

size 10 knitting needles. My goal for this project was to learn how to do decreases and join pieces together using the mattress stitch.

My next project was a hat for Gabrielle. I knitted this one on size 6 circular needles using Patons Silk/Bamboo yarn. My goal for this project was to learn how to use circular needles, double pointed needles, and change colors. It turned out pretty good.

I am currently working on a Slytherin style scarf for Brendon (just because he asked). I am also working on a cabled scarf to practice knitting cables. I have also started a sweater for Gavin. I'll post some pictures when projects are completed. This could take a while though since February is painting month.

Speaking of painting. I saw some fantastic stenciling on Stacy's Not Just a Housewife Blog. I actually ordered a couple of different stencils for painting my bathrooms and front room. I'll post pictures if results are good.

Benjamin and the Kookamunga Lecture

2011-10-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

As a parent, I have been breaking new ground with Benjamin this last couple of weeks. For the first time, he has a girl that he really likes, and is trying to create excuses and opportunities to spend time with her. He has even asked for permission to bring her along on family outings.

So this week I had to break out the Kookamunga Lecture.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Kookamunga lecture, I'll explain. (Mom, Tiffani, please forgive me if I have the details wrong.) Several years ago, before Tiffani was 16, she was asking for permission to attend a "get together" that involved equal numbers of boys and girls pairing off together at the event. Mom basically said that Tiffani could call it anything she wanted to, she could even call it a kookamunga, but that if people were pairing off it was still a date and Tiffani couldn't go.

Mom had a good sense of humor. I remember her approach totally diffusing the situation, and that even Tiffani laughed.

It worked just as well for me. I told Benjamin the story about Tiffani, and told him that the Kookamunga lecture applied for him as well. He also had a good laugh.

So, thanks a lot Mom!

Fairest or Meanest

2011-09-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, our family went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot, Idaho. Brendon's mother, Kay, lives a couple of blocks from the fairgrounds, so we parked at her house, and she walked over with us. We had a great time looking at the animals, eating the food, riding the rides, and looking at the exhibits.

As we were walking home, I stopped to admire a yard filled with wildflowers. The woman who owns it was out weeding and I chatted with her for a minute. As we were leaving, Gavin told her "My mom sure loves flowers". He is right I do. And then he said, "She's the meanest in our family". Sadly, he is right about that too.

Reading & Knitting

2011-08-23T12:22:00.000-07:00

For the past several months, I have been doing a lot of reading. I like to keep track of what I read on a website called Goodreads. So far this year, I have read 114 books. My goal was to read 125, so I think I will probably make it.

One of the series I have been reading is a cozy mystery series by author Maggie Sefton featuring a character that knits. Reading about this character made me want to knit too.

When I was a girl, my Grandma Buck introduced me to knitting, but it was years ago, and I really couldn't remember how to do it. So after waiting a few weeks, (to make sure I really wanted to knit and wouldn't buy something I wouldn't use) I bought a DVD on how to knit (through Amazon of course).

I really love the DVD. It's called "The Complete Beginners Guide to Knitting" by Nici McNally. The instructions are very clear and it makes getting started super easy. After a bit of practicing I have started knitting a scarf. I think it will look nice with my black wool coat this winter.

Gardening and Exploding Ants

2011-06-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

Since I am no longer working, I have been doing a ton of work in my vegetable garden. It really needed it. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered that bugs had totally destroyed all my tomatoes, peppers and the little watermelon I was trying to grow.

I had read online that ants were killed by baking soda, so I sprinkled a bunch on the nest in the garden. It didn't really work, so I purchased some bug killer that can be used in the vegetable garden and sprayed the garden down. Then I did a bunch of weeding and replanted the tomatoes and peppers. I also had to purchase pumpkin, squash and zucchini plants as my seeds didn't ever sprout.

The radishes and green onions have been ready to pick, but because of the bug spray we had to wait a week before we could pick and eat any of them. I have been doing more weeding (it never really ends) and am still noticing tons of bugs in the garden. So I went back online to see if there are any other things I can use to kill insects that wouldn't prevent the kids from being able to pick and eat stuff right out of the garden all summer.

I discovered that in order for baking soda to work I have to mix it with powdered sugar. Apparently ants aren't interested in eating baking soda, but when mixed with the powdered sugar, they will eat it. The baking soda is supposed to react with the acid in the ants stomach creating a gas that will cause them to explode.

So, yesterday, I mixed together some baking soda and powdered sugar and sprinkled it in my vegetable garden. Today while I was weeding, Gavin asked me what the white stuff was and I explained what it was, and what it was supposed to do to the ants. A little while later he came back to me and asked if he would hear a "boom". You know, when the ants exploded.

Socks or Gloves

2011-04-17T12:02:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, after all the household chores were done, Brendon and I took the kids over to ISU to go bowling. As we were getting out of the car, I asked all the children if they had remembered to wear socks. Everyone but Gavin said yes. Gavin shrugged and said, "sometime I get socks and gloves mixed up." Sure enough, when we took off his shoes to change into the bowling shoes, he had knit gloves on his feet. BTW, shoes don't fit so good, when you wear gloves instead of socks.

Sick Kids and Sandwiches

2011-04-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

The past several days, I have had sick children. It started last Thursday when Gabrielle threw up in the very early morning. She threw up again on Friday morning, and then slept a ton on Saturday. Sunday she seemed to be doing much better so we took her to church and had a pretty normal day. Then on Monday morning she complained of a really upset stomach.

Since she hadn't had a fever any of her sick days, and the symptoms seemed most pronounced on school days, I decided to take her to the doctor. I kind of thought that she might have some anxiety about going to school that was manifesting itself physically since there was no fever. The doctor checked her out and said that he thought she had the stomach flu, and I think he was right. Shortly after returning home from the doctors office, Gabrielle started having diarrhea. (Delightful, I know) He thought she would be feeling better later this week, and I am hoping she can go back to school tomorrow.

Yesterday, I was feeling like we were probably getting to the end of things, but then, very, very early this morning, Gavin started throwing up. I think it's going to be a looong week.

The thing that frustrates me the most is that Gavin told me today how much he loves being sick. I'm guessing he likes being able to watch TV all day, drink 7-up, and eat crackers. I know he loves to stay home and not go anywhere, but I'm thinking to myself "Gavin, if you love being sick, you don't feel sick enough"

And now in lighter news, (again because I am sooo sick of cooking dinner) we are having sandwich week. We bought lots of different kinds of meat, breads, cheeses and condiments and are experimenting to see what kinds of sandwiches we like.

Pizza Week and Painting

2011-03-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

This week is Spring Break. The weather has been miserable, but we have been getting a lot of painting done inside the house.

Normally, I plan to do painting inside the house in February. But this year, February was unusually busy, and I just couldn't get to it. I took last Friday off from work and used the day to get started on painting over the green in my front room, kitchen, staircase, and upper level hallway. (It was extra nice that I had arranged to take the day off, since Gavin threw up that day. I'm sure I would have been taking the day off anyway.)

Brendon helped with painting after he got off work on Friday and on Saturday. About the time we were finishing off the hallway, Brendon told me that he had really been wanting to switch the kids bedrooms around.

The girls have been sharing a room again for the past several months. (We have put them in separate rooms, but they are unhappy apart, and usually end up sleeping in the same room anyway.) Since, Benjamin had the largest children's room all to himself (it even has 2 closets), it made sense to switch the rooms.

The girls' bedroom had been purple, so of course then we had to paint the children's rooms. We worked really hard all day on Monday and Tuesday and got both the rooms completely painted and switched around.

I think they are all pretty happy with the changes.

Also, since it is Spring Break it is pizza week. We started last Friday and it has been fantastic to eat pizza every night while we have been painting. I totally appreciated the time off from cooking while I've been so busy.

Gabrielle's Baptism Pictures

2011-03-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

Gabrielle was baptized earlier this month. We had a nice day and enjoyed the family that came to support Gabby.

Breakfast Foods Week

2011-01-31T11:24:00.001-08:00

Several months back, our family ate pizza every day for a week to determine which pizza place our family liked the best. The kids really enjoyed eating pizza all the time, and have asked if we could repeat the experiment, trying different pizza places this time. We are planning to do another pizza week during Spring Break this March.

Because pizza week was so popular, (and because I am crazy tired of fixing dinner and need to mix things up a little to find some enthusiasm for cooking) we are having Breakfast Foods for dinner week. We started this past Saturday, and I am planning to serve breakfast foods for dinner for 7-10 days, depending on how many ideas I have for dinner, and how sick of breakfast foods we become. I could use some suggestions for preparing eggs. I am hoping to prepare eggs a different way for each night's dinner. Our menu so far had been as follows:

Saturday

Biscuits and gravy

Bacon

Scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and ham

Bagels w/cinnamon cream cheese spread

(We had both biscuits & gravy & bagels because Brendon and I didn't communicate very well about what we were each planning to do for dinner.)

Sunday

Waffles w/strawberry sauce (I made danish dessert into a fruit sauce and added frozen strawberries) & cool whip

Fried Eggs

Pineapple

Monday

Breakfast sandwiches (english muffins with eggs, sausage, & cheese)

Sliced Apples

Chocolate milk

Tuesday

French toast, spread with peanut butter & topped with corn syrup

Sausage (again because Brendon & the kids loved it)

Yogurt

Bananas

Wednesday

Poached eggs

Toast

Bacon

Orange juice

Thursday

German pancakes w/powdered sugar or nutella

Sausage

Grapes

Chocolate milk

Friday

Omelets

Hash browns

Juice

Benjamin's Buck Nose

2010-12-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

When I was a little girl, someone once told me that I had buck teeth. And I thought to myself "well of course I do, my last name is Buck." Some of my children have inherited my "Buck" teeth. Benjamin's were bad enough to require braces with head gear. (He should be getting the braces off in a couple of months and is super excited.)

We were eating dinner as a family a couple of nights ago, and Brendon noticed that Benjamin's nose is changing. He told Benjamin that he was getting a Buck nose. Benjamin said, "Maybe we can get some head gear for my Buck nose."

No More Facebook

2010-11-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

I've decided to close my facebook account. I've had a great time keeping up with friends and family there, but...for the last couple of weeks, I have getting messages through facebook from women that I do not know, and in their profile pictures, they aren't wearing anything.

I did let facebook know about the problem. Until I hear back from them with a guarantee that I won't be receiving the messages any longer, my account with them will stay closed.

Crocus Sativus

2010-11-11T10:17:00.001-08:00

Today I planted some Crocus Sativus bulbs. I have been wanting some of these for years, and this past spring I found a company that sells them and had them in stock. These flowers are super cool because not only are they beautiful, they produce the world's most expensive spice, saffron. Next spring I plan to pick the stigmas, dry them, and cook with them.

They really aren't supposed to grow where I live, so I have planted them in very sheltered spots next to the house. It has gotten pretty cold here in the past week, and some of the ground is frozen. I figured if I could dig the dirt today, the spot might be sheltered enough for the bulbs. Here's hoping!

Homemade Rootbeer Ice Cream

2010-09-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

There is a great drive-in burger joint in Blackfoot called Rupes that we love to go to. The burgers, fries, onion rings, tots, and shakes there are all excellent. Most often when we go, however we don't get a meal. We usually just stop in and get some of their rootbeer ice cream cones.

I love their rootbeer ice cream, and decided this week to try to make some myself. It turned out really good, so I thought I would post my recipe. (In case anyone is interested.)

2 cups cream
1 cup milk
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
1 cup sugar
1 tsp imitation vanilla extract
1-2 tsp rootbeer extract

Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Freeze in ice cream maker. Be sure to use extracts that do not include alcohol. Alcohol prevents the ice cream from freezing properly.

Worse Than December

2010-05-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

I have just had one of the busiest 2 weeks ever in my life.

It started with a Honors Band Recital for Benjamin (I spent this recital outside with Gavin), then a Volleyball Game for Naomi, then Mother's Day (Not really my headache, but I still sent a gift to Boise for my mother and we had Brendon's mother and my father over for dinner.)

Next was a Clogging Recital for Naomi (I stayed home with Gavin for this one as a result of my experience at the Honors Band Recital).

Gabrielle and Naomi participated in the play King Arthur's Court with the Missoula Children's Theater. They had practices starting right after school nearly every day that week.

Friday, we attended our Ward Party.

Naomi's final Volleyball game was that Saturday, as was Gabrielle and Naomi's final performance for the play.

Then this week, we had Benjamin's final Band Concert, Naomi's 6th Grade Choir Concert, and finally yesterday was Gabrielle's First Grade Program.

As I was waiting for the girls to turn in their costumes after the final performance of King Arthur's Court, I was visiting with one of the other moms. She said that she felt like May was just as busy as December. I'm thinking it is probably worse.

If You Give a Mom a Vacuum

2010-05-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

If after looking at a disgustingly dirty family room for a few days I decide to vacuum it, I'll notice there are some spots that don't come out. So, I'll pull out the shampooer and shampoo the carpet.

While I'm dumping dirty water from the shampooer into the toilet, I'll notice that the bathroom floor is dirty. So, I will get some disinfecting wipes and scrub the floor down. As long as I am cleaning the bathroom I decide to do the whole thing thoroughly. This means scrubbing the toilet.

When I scrub toilets, I scrub all 4. (This is because I like to use the Clorox toilet wand because it is disposable, but I don't think the cleaner on it does a thorough enough job. I squirt 3 of the toilets down with toilet bowl cleaner, and then clean the first with the toilet wand and then use the toilet wand to clean the rest of the toilets and then throw the disposable part away.)

Since the toilets are all clean, I now have to clean the other 3 bathrooms. I start with mine. In order to do a good job on the shower, I spray it down, and then get inside and scrub it out. Now I need a shower.

So I take one. After my shower, I realize that I am exhausted, so I sit down to rest for a while. Gavin bangs on my bedroom door the entire time, and I realize that I really don't have time to rest because I have to pick up Gabrielle from school. (Naomi has achievement days at the church directly after school.)

I am running late, so I drive to the school. After picking up Gabrielle I realize that there is an errand I would like to run as long as I am in the car, so I run to the store.

While we are in the checkout lane, Gabrielle lets me know that she needs to use the bathroom. (I asked her if she had to go before we left the school and she said "No.") The bathroom is at the back of the store, so I get out of line and take her to the bathroom.

While we are waiting for Gabby to go potty, Gavin notices a box of Scooby-Doo graham cracker snacks and asks if we can buy them. I know that he is hungry and will probably behave better if he gets them, so I put them in the cart.

I open the crackers and let the children eat them as we drive home from the store. When we return home I notice that the gate has blown open and Lizzy (the dog) is running around in the front yard.

So, I call her and try to get her back in the backyard, but she doesn't listen. Gavin & Gabby see her running around and decide to try to catch her. She can leave them in her dust and runs down the street.

I yell at the children and tell them not to follow her, I make them come in the house and suggest that if Lizzy sees us going inside, she will try to follow us in. She does. As we are coming in the house, the box of Scooby-Doo crackers spills on the floor. Lizzy eats them as quickly as she can. I grab the box of crackers and put it in the kitchen. I also have Gabrielle pick up and throw away as many of the crackers as she can.

To get Lizzy into her kennel, I yell "treat". Lizzy comes running and I get her in the kennel. Since I promised her a treat, I get the box of doggy treats out. Both Gabby and Gavin want to give her one, so Lizzy gets 2 treats. It is totally worth 2 treats to me that Lizzy did not pee on the floor in her excitement to be in the house.

After all of the excitement, I sit down on the computer and check in on facebook. As I am reading my facebook, I realize I have a pretty good idea for an entry on my blog. So I start to blog. While I am typing my older to children come home from school. They are both hungry and see the Scooby-Doo crackers on the counter. They eat a few and then decide they would rather have goldfish crackers.

Somehow the goldfish crackers get spilled on the floor, so Gabby gets a broom to sweep them up. While she is sweeping her friend comes to the door to see if she can play. She can't because her room isn't clean, so she goes upstairs to clean it.

Benjamin keeps bugging on me and I realize I can kill two birds with one stone, if I make him clean one of the remaining bathrooms. So I do. I think I'll go clean the other one.

Finished at Last

2009-10-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

So, I quit my job with Western Pathology a couple of months ago. It just got to be too much to juggle for me. Since then, I have been working to finish a few things that I just couldn't get to while I was working.

For example, I cut out a nightgown for Naomi and a pair of pajamas for Gavin in the fall of 2008, but never got around to finishing them. I finished them up a couple of weeks ago and thank goodness they still fit.

Also, Brendon and I (mostly Brendon) have been working on terracing and building retaining walls in our back yard. This project has also been recently completed, and I can't resist posting a picture of all the hard work.

Canning, Costco and Train Blankey

2009-10-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

I've noticed in many of the blogs that I follow that people have posted pictures of the canning they have been doing. I thought I should get in on the action.

Thanks Costco!

Today Gavin was talking to Train Blankey in the type of sing-song voice typically used for infants or pets. He was saying "You're such a good blankey. I love you."

Officially a Teenager

2009-08-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

Benjamin turned 13 a couple of months ago, but in my mind he is only just now officially a teenager. This is because last night we were toilet-papered for the first time by Benjamin's friends. It isn't a very good job, Naomi figures they only used 3 rolls based on the centers she found.

Brendon says he would be really embarassed to do such a poor toilet-papering job. I just find the whole thing very amusing. (Maybe more so since Benjamin gets to clean up the whole mess.) I'll post a couple of pictures of the job for your enjoyment.

Gavin & The Potty

2009-08-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

This morning, Gavin asked me for some new play-doh. I have some unopened containers up in my pantry and he wanted one of them. I told him he could have one if he would go potty on the toilet.

We went into the bathroom, and he tried to go, but couldn't. About an hour later, he yelled very excitedly that he had poop in his potty and could he have some play-doh now. I have to admit I am a little skeptical about things with my children, so I did a little inspecting.

It turns out, he had a bowel movement in his underwear, then dumped it into his potty. I explained that this didn't count, and that he had to actually go potty in the potty. Gavin was disappointed. He really thought that it would count.

Last Day of School Dilemma

2009-05-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

Every year at this time I have the same dilemma. Today is the last day of school for my children. Soon they will be coming home with backpacks full of all the crap they have had in their locker and or desk for the past year. They will include lots of work they have completed and want me to look at and adore. They will also have broken crayons, mostly used erasers, pencils only an inch or so long, nearly filled in notebooks etc. And all of this stuff they will want to save in the name of playing "school".

I really want to throw it all away, but since they will be home during the day, I can't throw it away without them noticing. Plus also, this is really a lot of stuff just to go missing all at once. How to get rid of it all???

Broken Foot and Broken Heart

2009-04-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Gavin injured his foot coming down the spiral slide. He was riding on Naomi's lap, and we're not really sure what happened. I do know that he was crying really hard, and then spent Sunday evening sitting on the couch watching "Gavin shows".

Yesterday he was pretty much back to his normal (really, really busy) self, but he wasn't walking. He just crawled around the house to get to where he wanted to go up and down the stairs and everywhere. Then when he wanted to stand he would pull himself up and stand on one foot. I would watch him try to put his foot down and as soon as it touched the ground it obviously hurt because he would pull it right back up again.

By yesterday evening I had decided that something must be really wrong with that foot because he wasn't using it. So, I took him in to the doctor and had some x-rays taken. It turns out that he has a tiny, tiny fracture on one of his bones. It isn't big enough to bother casting (I'm sure a cast would really annoy him), so we're just going to let it heal up on its own. The doctor thought he should be bearing weight on it by Friday and that it should be totally healed in about 3 weeks. Little kids have amazing bodies that heal really quickly.

In case anyone was concerned, this hasn't slowed Gavin down one bit. He manages to be naughty even if he can't walk. Yesterday, he got into the garage and spun around (on his bottom) in all the dirty gravel that the SUV has tracked in all winter. He was a dusty mess just in time to go grocery shopping.

...and about that broken heart. I had to wait a few weeks to tell this story. Benjamin has given me permission to share, but it's been a while and not quite a painful as when it first happened.

Benjamin knew a girl that he had had a crush on for months. Some time back, he had a friend approach her and ask if she would "go" with him. The girl said she wasn't interested in Benjamin, but that she would "go" with his friend. For Benjamin, it was a really bad day at school.

Potty Training & Upping the Gross Factor

2009-04-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

For the past several months I have been trying to potty train Gavin. I have purchased some toys I know he loves and every couple of weeks, I take a day, and I put him in underwear. Then I put him on his potty every hour or two hoping that he will go, so I can reward him with one of the toys. Usually I give him an m&m for sitting on the potty when I ask him to.

I have purchased underwear with the Disney characters he loves. He really likes wearing them, but he still hasn't gone to the bathroom on the potty. Not even once.

So a couple of days ago, I am giving Gavin a bath. He stands up in the water and says, I am going to pee in the bathtub. Then he does.

The little stinker knows what it feels like to need to use the bathroom. He just won't do it on the potty. Arghhh!

...And then there's Gabby. She is technically potty trained, but most days she leaves at least one pair of peed in underpants in the laundry room for me to clean up. Yesterday, though, she took it to new level of gross. She left me a pair absolutely full of peed-in-sand. I'm not even sure how she was able to get so much sand in her underpants. What a mess to clean up! Needless to say, she is grounded from the sandbox today.

Gabby's Birthday (and mine too)

2009-03-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

Gabby and I celebrated our birthday(s) a little over a week ago. I have noticed that since I have had Gabrielle, my birthday gets a little lost in the shuffle. I really haven't minded, and this year, I was just plain glad it was her birthday. I don't think that turning older is fun any more.

Brendon always remembers my Birthday and buys me presents. (This year he gave me a new stereo for my SUV and a gift certificate to a day spa.) But because it is Gabrielle's bithday, she chooses where we go to dinner and the kind of Birthday cake we have.

For my birthday this year, I went into work for about 7 hours to catch up from vacation. While I was gone, Brendon had the new stereo installed in the SUV. He also purchased some Mrs. Powell's cinnamon rolls for breakfast-I had one for lunch. I helped Gabrielle bake and decorate her birthday cake. Then we went to the Golden Corral buffet for dinner-Gabrielle's choice. After dinner Gabrielle opened her birthday presents and Grandpa David came over for some cake and ice-cream and/or cinnamon rolls.

I think Gabrielle had a really fun day and I did too...except for the getting older part.

Disneyland

2009-02-21T16:28:00.000-08:00

This past week we took a family vacation to Disneyland. This was the first time our children have ever been, and it had been more that 20 years since either Brendon or I had visited. We had a fantastic time.

I asked the kids what their favorite rides were. They can go on and on and on about the rides, so I'm just posting a abbreviated version of what they liked. Gavin loved the Bug's life rides in the California Adventure Park, the Carousel, and the Teacups. Gabrielle enjoyed the roller coaster in Toon Town (She made a huge fuss standing in line about how it looked too scary). She also liked Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and the Teacups. Naomi hated the tower of terror and needed "something happy" afterwards, so she went to talk to "Crush" from Finding Nemo. She says that her favorite ride at the park was Thunder Mountain, and the Matterhorn. Benjamin enjoyed the Tower of Terror and the California Screamin' rollercoaster.

On Sunday, we attended Sacrament Meeting at one of the wards in Anaheim. We were fortunate to find an english speaking ward. Thanks to us, Nick and Laurel weren't so fortunate. Afterwards we took the kids to Huntington Beach for a couple of hours. It was a cold day, but they got into the water anyway.

Kay came with us. She was pleasant company and great to keep the kids that were too worn out to return to the park at the hotel. We had lots of fun meeting up with Laurel and Nick and riding the rides and going to the beach with them. On our way back we were even able to meet Candice for lunch at the In-N-Out Burger in Las Vegas. All in all a fabulous vacation.

Lizzy's Shots and Marker in the Carpet

2009-02-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

Since I have been working early mornings, I come home exhausted and try to doze for a couple of hours on the couch while Gabby and Gavin watch Nick Jr. (I'm aware that this might not be the most effective parenting strategy, but I'm too tired to care.) Usually I set an alarm to wake me up in time to get Gabrielle off to kindergarten. Most of the time the kids have been pretty good, however, they did take the opportunity this week to get into a little mischief.

As I have previously mentioned, I watch a couple of children on Tuesdays. The little girl always takes a nap when she comes, so I have the pack-n-play set up just for her to nap in the exercise room. It's nice and quiet down there and she is a great little napper. This past Tuesday when she came over she had injured her finger just before arriving, so I didn't put her right down for a nap. I sat and rocked her for a few minutes, and she fell right to sleep.(Where do people get these kind of children?????)

I thought I would just take her down and put her in the pack-n-play, but it turned out that I couldn't. Unbeknownst to me, Gabby and Gavin had collected all the blankets and pillows they could find, and filled the pack-n-play up entirely. I'm sure it was a fun game, but I had to set sleeping Chloe down (she woke up) and empty the pack-n-play. It was really full, so it took a few minutes and I was annoyed.

Today while I was napping, Gavin colored in the carpet with marker. It is supposed to be washable, so hopefully I can get it out with the carpet shampooer. (It seems the carpet shampooer will be mentioned regularly in my blogs doesn't it.)

Yesterday I took Lizzy to see the vet. I really liked him--he's a young guy, but he reminded me of Grandpa Woodbury. You could really see he likes animals and Lizzy was very calm around him. Lizzy is in good health. She was given all of her shots and some pills to prevent parasites.

The animal hospital I take her to offers kenneling, so she is going to stay there while we are in Disneyland. She needs to have her teeth cleaned, (I would never have guessed this was necessary) and I will have them take care of that while she is staying there.

Gavin went with me to take Lizzy to the vet. He did pretty good, behavior wise, but was really ready to go after about 30 minutes and kept opening the door and trying to escape.

The Tank of the Toilet Holds a Lot of Water

2009-01-23T14:37:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: If you are a total germ-a-phobe (like Stacy) you might want to not read this post.

Yesterday as I was preparing dinner, my children overflowed the toilet. A child had stopped it up earlier in the day, and I was aware that it wasn't flushing properly. I had tried to plunger it, to no effect, so I lifted the seat up and then yelled like a maniac anytime a child tried to enter the bathroom.

I'm pretty sure Gabrielle must have forgotten about how I freaked out when she tried to use it right after school. (I pounded on the door yelling at the top of my lungs.) I think she used it, and then Gavin, seeing that the bowl only filled to the brim with water instead of flushing down, flushed it again. Guys, there was a flood of water. It filled my bathroom, laundry room, the bathroom closet and the floor in front of the door to the garage. I was sooooo mad.

Of course I had two children standing in the middle of the flood that now desperately needed a bath. I won't give you the disgusting details, but I bathed two children, sent everyone to time out (Yeah, I know half of them hadn't done anything.) and spent the next hour mopping up water with towels, disinfecting the floors, running laundry and shampooing the carpet.

I was so mad I couldn't even speak to Brendon when he came home. I just called to tell him not to come into the house through the garage. He could tell I was upset and offered to help, but when I am that angry, I just want to be left alone to deal with it. Dinner sat in the oven for longer than it should have, and was a bit dry last night.

Work, Flute, and Disneyland

2009-01-14T07:48:00.000-08:00

It has been hard to find time to post since I've been working, but I think I am into a good routine now. I am really enjoying my job. It's fun to have someplace to go and get things done that stay done. Since I am getting up so early (3:00 am) I have been going to bed at 9:00 pm, so don't call me past then. I won't answer. (Brendon probably will so you can chat with him.) Brendon has been getting the children off to school in the mornings and feeding the little kids breakfast. He does a good job. My older children have been really good about following any notes I leave for them regarding things such as laundry and dishes. Things seem to be going pretty good.

I am still volunteering in Gabrielle's class on Wednesdays, and on Tuesdays I watch a couple of children for my friend who also helps out in the school. This last week I purchased a flute from ebay. I am making arrangements for Naomi to take some private flute lessons. I am also hoping to find a piano teacher for Gabrielle. Benjamin still really loves playing trumpet. He has a concert next week.

In February, we are planning to take our family to visit Disneyland. Lately I've been realizing how old my kids are getting, and how few years we have left to take them fun places. I have always put off a trip to someplace like Disneyland because I didn't want to take a baby. I would feel guilty about this, but when we told our children about the trip, Benjamin said he didn't want to go. He hates driving, and is afraid riding rides will make him nauseous. We pointed out all the stuff there is to do in Disneyland, and I think we finally have him talked into it. Naomi and Gabby are thrilled to go, and Gavin doesn't really understand what we are planning.

We are hoping to schedule our trip during the time that Laurel and Nick's family will be there vacationing. Hopefully we can spend at least one day together at the park. We are planning to bring Kay with us when we go.

No Pajamas and No Sleep

2008-12-23T14:33:00.000-08:00

For many, many Christmas's I have sewn flannel pajamas for my children to wear on Christmas Eve. This year I didn't get it done. I had great intentions and a pile of flannel, but Gavin quit taking naps this fall and I couldn't quite fit sewing into my day. I know that I shouldn't, but a part of me feels guilty for not getting it done.

This week I am going back to work. I haven't had a paying job for nearly 10 years, and I am really excited. I will be working very early mornings, but who needs sleep anyway.

Judo Woes

2008-12-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the final day of the semester in Judo for Benjamin and Naomi. About a week ago, the instructor told Brendon that he needed to bring in money for new belts for each of our children. We assumed that they would be advancing to the next belt color, but we were wrong. They didn't advance, although most of their friends did. Naomi didn't seem too upset, but Benjamin was devastated. He held in the tears pretty successfully until we reached the car, but cried on the way home and then again when he told Brendon about it on the phone. It has been a disappointing semester for both our children with Judo. In a tournament earlier this semester, they both lost all their matches.

Gabrielle's Christmas Spirit

2008-12-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

This Christmas, Brendon and I wanted to help our children experience the joy that comes from sharing. We decided to adopt a family through the Salvation Army. and were fortunate enough to get a family with 4 children nearly the same ages and genders as our children. Benjamin and Naomi were thrilled, super excited to pick out gifts for their kids, but Gabrielle wasn't. She told me flat out that she didn't want to spend any of our money on someone else's family.

I explained to her that she was going to get to pick out presents for a little girl just her age. I told her that the little girl probably wouldn't get presents if we didn't buy them. I also told her that we were doing it because it made me feel good inside. I can't say I had her convinced, but she didn't complain when it was time to go shopping Monday evening.

We went to Toys 'r' Us and the children all picked out their gifts. Gabrielle seemed happy helping to choose some Barbie stuff for her girl. When we got into the car to drive home, Gabrielle piped up "I want to do another family now." We explained to her that we really could only do one family.

I am just delighted that she finally caught the spirit of the occasion and that she is learning to enjoy sharing.

Lego 4-H

2008-12-08T08:07:00.000-08:00

My children have been participating in a Lego 4-H group for the past few months. To participate, they had to build and program a Lego robot. They also had to research and create a presentation on a problem related to climate. This past weekend they did their presentations and competed in the robot competition. I won't go into all the details, but out of 44 teams, my kids group placed 5th. We were really excited.

Spider Bites and Erections

2008-11-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

Last night Brendon and I were hanging out paying bills. While we were working we were watching a program on the Discovery Channel about poisionous creatures in the Amazon. I wasn't paying too much attention, but then they started talking about an unusually venomous spider. Apparently it has a strong enough toxin to kill a small child, but that wasn't the strange part. When it bites a man it has the unusal side effect of creating life-long painful erections. I looked at Brendon and said that sound pretty bad. He said "Well, that will get you out of your scouting calling." I laughed so hard.

Brendon may regret me starting this blog. I'm totally telling on him.

I'm a blogger, but I'm not nerdy.

2008-11-17T18:50:00.000-08:00

I am joining the bloggers club, since all the cool people I know (ie my sisters) are doing it. I am planning to post some pictures, but I don't have a current one of myself. Hopefully I can get one taken in the next couple of days.