Over the Weekend

Brian has every other Friday off. Last Friday was his day off so he spent some time living his dream and hanging out with his grandpa. His dream is to own horses so he can go out riding whenever he wants. Okay his real dream is to be a cowboy, but I don't think that is happening. And the problem is not entirely me. It is his allergies to horses and he doesn't know much about roping and herding cattle. When he was little his allergies were so bad he had to stop riding with his grandpa altogether because his eyes would swell and other allergic reactions would happen. Since then he has gone through allergy injections to help alleviate the symptoms. They aren't completely gone but he can at least ride as long as he doesn't touch his eyes, nose or mouth after touching the horse. My part of the problem is I won't let him buy a horse right now. There are other things I want first like a house and a newer car. I would also prefer to have a boat before a horse too but that is up for debate.

Here is grandpa and Bullseye, his horse. The man is 87 and still riding once a week.

They went to American Fork Canyon. Brian said it was beautiful. They went on an 8 hour ride. Brian loved it but his body wasn't exactly used to it. He was a little sore and chapped the next day, but not enough to keep him away.

The only bad thing that happened was while they were gone his grandma fell and broke her hip and wrist. She had to have a partial hip replacement on Saturday. She seems to be doing well and giving her therapists a hard time.

Saturday we made a quick jaunt up to Bear Lake to meet our friends the Hodlmairs to do a bit of sailing. We had a great time. The weather was mediocre. I am glad we didn't have a speed boat to tempt me to ski because it wasn't hot and at times it was cool. The kids had a great time playing in the sand and water and didn't notice the temperature. I am surprised they noticed when it started to sprinkle.

This week we have been visiting a couple of grandmas (great). I don't know what it is but if "grandma" is part of your name they get excited to visit. We went and saw my Grandma Lue yesterday and today the girls were begging to visit Grandma K in the hospital. Then they mentioned that we hadn't been out to Grandma Bonnie's for a long time. I guess we need to get there next.

A funny thing that Kelsey has been crying about lately is her ears. Several times in the car she would start crying about her ears being off. Yesterday she was upset because her ears weren't on. Well I figured out the problem. Her ears needed to "pop". I am not sure what it is technically. I think the pressure in your ears is out of balance or something. But anyways, because she couldn't hear very well her ears had been turned off.

Why did you get Baptized?

So the other night we were reading scriptures with the kids (we were at the part in the Book of Mormon where Alma is baptizing in the waters of Mormon) and Brian decides to use it as a teaching moment. He asked Macy and Kelsey why we get baptized. Macy obviously didn't know the answer and looked around for a moment and then said "to get the keys to the bathroom." I think she saw a key and made up the rest from bits and pieces she has heard.

Today Kelsey and a friend were playing legos. The friend sees the remnants of a previous game of legos. She picks it up and says that it is cool. Kelsey looks at her and says "Yea, my dad is awesome. He made it for me." She was so proud her dad did that for her and so happy that he plays with her.

What Not to Wear

The weather here keeps drifting to unusually cooler temperatures which reminds me that I have only 1, possibly 3, usable pants. The extra 2 are getting a little old and out-dated (I have had them for almost 5 years). Then there is a pair that is too tight for comfort and another 2 that are really out-of-date. After I think about my pants I turn to my long sleeve shirts. I threw all but 3 out after Christmas last year because I thought I would be still in AZ this year. The shirts were a little old and I thought it would be incentive to slowly buy a new wardrobe because you can do that when you live in Phoenix and only visit Utah a week in the winter. After my shirts I think about my shoe problem. I have very few snow wearable shoes and no Sunday snow type shoes. I might be going naked this winter. Nah, no one wants to see that and I don't want to be cold.

My solution to the problem: be nominated for the show "What Not To Wear". The problem is I don't deny my need for a new wardrobe. I know that many of my shirts would have to go in the garbage can. I wouldn't need to step in the 360 degree mirror because I know what the hosts would say and I wouldn't need any convincing. I know that my hair needs help. (You would too if you went bald after having a baby. If you don't believe my baldness, next time you see me look for the male pattern baldness. I may even show you if you ask nicely.) I could use the $5000 visa card and the expert advice. I don't even know where to begin especially on my puny budget that is already spent for the rest of the year. That is another problem itself. Fashion does not come easy to me like it does to my sisters. I hate spending more than $50 on a piece of clothing unless I absolutely love it or I am rolling in dough (this has never happened in my life but I often dream of the day it happens).

In the end I don't think I would make the cut for the show nor would I want to humiliate myself on public television anyways. So I will just have to keep dreaming of the day when I can afford my own fashion consultant/personal shopper and enough money to buy whatever I want.

You Gotta Try This...

... so my kids say, particularly Macy. During lunch the other day I found my kids eating watermelon drizzled with ranch dressing. Now I am a ranch lover and like it on a lot of the things, but I don't think I am going to try it on watermelon. Yuck!

Our Family Pet

I am not a pet person. I feel that I already have three little ones to clean up after and teach correct social skills. I don't need to add any more to the mix right now.

Kelsey is a pet gal. She loves animals. She begs to go over to my mom's house so she can play with her dogs. She has asked for a dog before. Recently she has taken to the idea of a bunny. She even told me that when the bunny had to poop she would hold it over the toilet. As she said this she acted out how it would be done. Her innocence and cute face are almost too much. But not quite.

We have no pets at the time, except her pet "matato" bugs. For the rest of us they are potato bugs. She collects them and keeps them in a ziplock bag until they die. Why the ziplock? Because they have to come into the house and most of us don't want them having free reign inside.

A couple weeks ago we had tragedy. First dad almost sat on the matato bug during story time. Then she wanted to have the bug sleep in her bed. On Sunday the matato bug made it to church. It was during Sacrament Meeting that Macy smashed the matato bug. Her excuse, "He was already dead." This did not go well with Kelsey.

So today Macy wanted to walk home from school. (On a side note, it was too far with too many big hills for her. Lots of complaining. Next time I will drop the car off somewhere a little closer and at the bottom of the hill.) On the walk home Kelsey found a new pet. Of course when we got home into the ziplock bag. I did catch her taking him out and playing with him like a hamster. I haven't seen the bug for an hour so I asked where he was. She said he got lost in the carpet.

First Day of School

Tuesday was Macy's first day of kindergarten. I was a little nervous about how the first day would go only because we had not been prepping for this day. She had not gone to bed before 9 PM since who knows when and she had not gotten up before 9 AM since that about that same time. School starts at 8:30 AM. The night before was no exception for this perfect parent. She went to bed at 9:30 PM and we forgot to do her homework she was given when she met her teacher (come on people we have been busy). To my surprise all went well. She was happy and excited. No case of the grumpies when I had to wake her up at 7:10. There was a little grumbling when I said she had to bathe or shower but that is usual. The child prefers a dirty body.

We made it to school on time. Hallelujah! I told her to go line up with the other kids and she almost lost it and almost clung to my leg. Luckily I asked to go stand next another wall for a picture and she was fine. The bell rang and her teacher told all the kids to kiss their parents goodbye for awhile. Macy forgot that part. Instead she plowed her way to the door that led inside. I had to call her name a couple of times to get her to come back and give me a kiss.

After school she already showed signs of a typical student. She gave me no information about how it went on the first day. She told me that everything they did at school was in her backpack and I could look myself. Also everything went fine. The friends she sits by are Elodie and Maddie. A little deja vu to anyone from AZ. I think she misses her friends a bit and I don't think those are the names of the girls she sits by. Oh well. I have yet to find a way to get her to talk about her school day. Each day since has been just as much information. However, she did tell her grandparents a lot more. She had large stories to tell them. They were about a man that twisted his thumb off, shot stuff out of his head, pulled stuff out of his head and more. Finally grandpa figured out that a magician came to their class for the first day.

To be a good mom we have been doing homework day. All I can say is pray for me. Her first assignment was to decorate an outline of a person to look as closely as like her as possible. Well she wanted to give herself rainbow hair. Then she wanted green eyes (she has brown). Then she wanted really short hair. She grew an extra 2 toes and the legs turned red and blue when I wasn't looking. It was very difficult to reason with her to go with brown hair, brown eyes, and longer hair. Today we worked out of booklet. The first thing asked was to write her name. She said she didn't have too. It was her choice. Then she wanted me to write it. She cried about how her y's always look like x's (which they don't) and how she can't do it. After about 5 minutes and me finally saying we can try to do this tomorrow and that I don't have to choose to watch her do nothing, she wrote her name. When I tried to help her make her y's correctly (they are a little off) she told me I was wrong and that is not how you do a y. We did 4 pages and 3 of them included some type of heated discussion. (I did stay calm. She became heated.)

So what does Kelsey do when Macy is at school. Today she played legos and then joined me while I did work on the computer. It was in the computer room that she got revenge, but on the wrong person. When Kelsey was a baby Macy drew on her several times when mom wasn't paying attention. Today Braden had foam stickers all up and down his arms. She had matching ones on her arms. She took them off before I could get a picture but did forget one. Please don't show this picture to the pediatrician because we just had the choking discussion at the last visit.

We are still alive

After my last entry (a really long time ago) our family made our way up to Cherry Hills for the weekend. My grandma has been going up there for many years and it has become a tradition. When my grandpa was alive we were always reminded of how he helped build the swimming pool at the campground. My grandparents were good friends with the owners and my grandpa was always willing to help. Brian and I packed up the tent and we stayed over one night. We took Braden swimming for the first time. He wore his little hat and rash guard (not a sun guard, that is not manly enough) to protect his delicate skin. I cannot say whether he liked it or hated it. There was not real change in his facial expressions or mannerisms so we will say he liked swimming. The girls had a blast. Macy was never around because she would grab whoever to go down all the waterslides. The only people she really didn't want to hang out with were her parents.

Braden didn't last long swimming because he became tired. Imagine that. So we found a good place to rest once he was all cleaned up.

The next weekend was Pioneer Day. We celebrated at my sister's condo's pool. It was a girls day out. Brian had to work and so did all the other boys/men. My brother was around but he stayed home to sleep and because he didn't want to be the only boy. I even traded Braden for my niece Jensen. She was spending the weekend at the house and Grandma Carol and Grandpa Alan were very willing to keep the baby.

The 3 girls floating on their mattresses. After the pool it was back home for a family BBQ and some fireworks in the front yard.

The next week Braden found another good spot to take a snooze. I think grandpas may be his favorite spot.

After his nap we finally found a time to take the girls to the Oquirrah Mountain Temple open house. The girls were so excited to finally see the "Kingel Moroni" up close. Kelsey even made me take a picture of him. We figured out that they were combining King Benjamin and angel Moroni. We tried to correct them but it is still Kingel.

The next day was Brian's birthday. The theme this time was shoes. He received a new pair of casual shoes and also a pair of cowboy boots. He was so excited about the boots. Ever since we moved back home he has been talking and dreaming about getting a horse. This dream has even nudged the boat down the list of dreams. So when we end up on a ranch you will know what happened.

To keep Brian humble during his birthday we learned an interesting fact. Brian and my new calling is teaching the youth in Sunday School. We are currently teaching about the presidents of the church and are on David O. McKay. During his birthday week we read that at age 32 President McKay was called as an apostle. Brian's jaw dropped when he heard this because that is how old he turned. Good thing we don't have to worry about that calling.

To help celebrate his birthday we packed for Bear Lake because the next day we left for another weekend adventure. This time some real camping with a campfire.

My princess who hated the sand at the beach last year loved the sand at Bear Lake. She would lay at the edge of the water and let the waves lap over her and she played in the mud. She had so much sand on her after this trip. I changed their sheets today and found more sand.

This was Braden's first camping trip and of course I forgot to take pictures. The only one I have is him in his swimsuit. He slept in the tent with us and every morning he would wake up with freezing hands. I felt so bad but he would wiggle out of his beanie and get his arms free of the blanket. He slept in his port-a-crib because I was afraid Brian might smash him in the night (we took up our queen aerobed to sleep on at night). He didn't seem to mind because each morning he woke up content and happy just like always. People keep asking me if he ever cries. He really doesn't. He is the best baby. He has learned how to scream to talk over his sisters and will scream short bursts when he is hungry or wants to be held but that is about it.

Sunday night when we were back home we put the girls to bed early because all weekend it was late nights. I also wanted to practice before school started. Well the girls played for an hour instead of falling right to sleep. When Brian and I checked on them this is what we found. I guess she was too tired to finish playing.

Coming up next, Macy's first day of school. But it will have to wait because my normally good baby is screaming.