Words cannot explain

the myriad of emotions. Caleb & his bestest buddy (we call them "Kick" and "Sidekick") were left alone downstairs while I curled my hair for a meeting with friends. I was up there maybe 15 minutes. Maybe.

I could hear them running through the kitchen. I figured it was a super hero game. It wasn't.

In the corner where two couches meet in the family room I have a table. They had stacked it clear to the top with anything and everything they could find:
All the pictures from the wall that I had taken down while Jess re-wired the A/C, including the kids school pictures in frames, the new camcorder Jess found for me at pawn shop to use for our trip and all the film and cables etc for it, the dishes from the table, including one of the kids cereal bowls that still had stuff in it, Cameron's camera, all of Caleb's trucks and cars, a bunch of the vegetables from my garden that had been in a bowl on the table, a couple of storybooks, my Proclamation on the Family, can after can after can of food from the pantry, ketchup bottles, legos, other toys, my pillows from my living room couch, the Wii remotes and a game, 2 DVD's, the TV & DVD player remotes, all the dog toys, glass bottles I had canned and more. And it was all laced with a broken quart jar of homemade tomato juice, a broken quart jar of homemade applesauce and a shattered glass bottle of A&W cream soda, and topped off with their cups of 100% grape juice... and they had THROWN all of it. There was a large can of pears that was deeply dented for how hard these little stinks threw it!


I did not think of taking a picture until I was over half way done cleaning it up.

If you look closely & you can see the two cups full of grape juice where they hit the wall at the top of the pile of stuff...that's how tall it was!


This is the remnant of tomato juice. I cannot believe how blessed I was to get it to come out of the carpet!! There is barely a pink tint along the wall.

I yelled, I screamed, I swatted butts, I cried and cried some more as I threw things away that could not be saved. Those two little men sat quietly in time out for over 2 hours. They were shocked to see me so un-corked I think. And I told them if I had to sit here for hours cleaning it up (because once I got half way through the pile I realized there was glass shards everywhere and they could no longer help me) then they could not play and had to sit there and watch me. And they did. They both kept saying sorry over and over. Caleb's BBF even called me from home with his mommy's help to tell me again... and it took a couple of hours for me to stop crying.

I know they are only things. I know that. It was just so disappointing to miss seeing my friends I haven't seen in months, and to spend over 3 hours shoveling out such a mess when I had so much other stuff I had to do to get ready for our trip!

Alas... I am the mom. That is my job. Damage control. And like it or not... I love these two boys with all of my heart and soul! And after all... if you think about it... Caleb said "We was jus' buildin' a tower"... maybe one day he will be a grand architect and he will take care of my messes as an old grandma! Bwahahahaha!!!

1st day of Preschool (finally posting)

And the 1st day of Mom home alone with all the kids in school!! WOW.

He was SO excited to go!

He didn't even wait for me! He was gone! Not a tear shed for Mom! LOL!

He LOVES Teacher Lynda, and he loves having his best friend Jesse there even more!

Jesse's Mom brought him home to me like this...

"Jeeeeeesssssseeeeeeeeee.....I wan' Jesse!!!"

He cried for almost an hour! He didn't believe me that he could go again in just a couple of days! *giggle* He LOVES going to school!! And Mom is so thankful for a few hours twice a week of echoing quiet (... it is getting better! LOL! That 1st day I was LOST! The silence was weird!)

Our garden is dying... and with the hard freeze forecast for this weekend... we decided to give in and gather all the produce this week. After placing it all on the porch, I felt overwhelmingly blessed! Not only did my garden provide a chance this year to experience the law of consecretion, by sharing with Sorensen's, but it provided well for both of our families. What a huge blessing! It had challenges (ie; plants that wouldn't produce, or died, tomatoes that would not turn red f-o-r-e-v-e-r, and wicked squash bugs...) but it was truly a miracle. And I have learned many things from it:
* Friendships endure hard things...and become stronger.
* Planting from seed does not mean better plants. Sometimes God invented greenhouses for a reason... and that reason would be me, Mrs. Black Thumb.
* Seedlings grow faster in warm oven now and then, unless your sweet husband tries to set the oven for you. Then hot dirt kinda stinks.
* Children can-not be convinced that tomatoes are fruit and therefore tasty.
* Other children will pick up on food avertions from their friends...even if they used to love it!
* Baby squash bugs look like Halloween foder... white with black legs! eewww...
* Nothing beats a BLT with tomato and lettuce from your garden (and homemade french bread! btw Aim I want that recipe! *wink*)
* No matter how much you like it...after the 5th or 6th batch of cucumbers in vinegar and cucumbers on your salad...well there is only so many ways to eat fresh cucumber! And after just so many they loose their appeal...BIG TIME! LOL!
* Zuchinni on the other hand has more uses than you can throw a stick at... and with squash bugs you don't get to enjoy as many as you'd like.
* Speaking of Zuchinni - Grilled Zuchinni will never get old. 'nough said.
* Peppers as well - you really only need one plant. We were at a loss as to what to do with the dozens of jallepenos and anaheims! Yikes! And with no red tomatoes salsa was lamented...
* Do not grow herbs if you dont know how to use them and don't take the time to learn. They grow much too quickly and go to seed even faster!
* Watering for 20 minutes inevitably means I will forget it's on, flood the garden - and the neighbors, and no one can set foot near it for 3 days.
* Home grown cantelope is DIVINE! Now the store bought stuff has a store bought taste to us! We will definately try that one again!
* Tomato cages are not for us. They just do not work out. We are going to try and different method next year!
* Picking your own food and eating it, vs. picking it out at the grocery store, gives you so much more joy than I ever thought possible!

Thankyou Amy for a fun year growing a garden! We will miss you guys next year!!

And I thank my Heavenly Father for the blessing and counsel of growing a garden. :)

We had a little incident...

This is Sophie. She is one of my "babies". She is a Daddy's girl. She is the biggest sweetheart you will ever meet. And we almost lost her.

Caleb was being a good brother and sharing. Sadly it was half a pint size jar of M&Ms he was sharing. And she was one happy pup! Sadly.

Within half an hour she was drooling and hanging her head and licking like crazy. I ran her to the vet, along with her sister Zoey, and the vet had to empty out the contents of both of their tummys (Zoe ate a few once I caught Caleb and Soph), give them both charcoal, and a shot, and some meds for here at home.

Zoey is no worse for wear. Sophie on the other hand seems a little "off" now. She has a more vacant look about her. She gets confused when you call her. She is just slow. It has been almost a week. I feel so horrible!! My poor baby!! They said chocolate effects them neorologically... *sigh* We are hopeful it will improve... but time will tell.

Sophie - Your mommy is so sorry she left the jar of M&Ms down where your brother could get them. She is sorry she was slow to respond to that prompting to check on you two sooner. She loves you very much and prays that you will recover fully.

Love ya Pup!!

Picture Tag

Here's what you do:

Go to My Pictures on your computer.
Go to your 4th file.
Post your 4th picture in that file.
Here's mine:


Kind of appropriate for October huh? Not one I would have loved to share as they are all ingrossed in a small hole at the bottom of the haystack... but hey! It's candid! LOL!

Randomness

So...here is some randomness rolling about in my head.

We are taking the kids somewhere very special and they dont even know about it!! They wont know about it until we load them in the car following an after school scavenger hunt. They are completely clueless...and I am completely E-X-C-I-T-E-D!!! I can barely contain myself!! I feel like am trying to keep myself from jumping out of my skin most days!! We have 8 days to departure. I think my closest friends are SICK of hearing about it... but keeping it bottled up is t-o-r-t-u-r-e! I have barely been posting because it consumes my mind - and not that any of you would - but having it out there for common knowledge makes a slip-up-of-tounge all the more likely - and it has been too well planned for it not to succeed in making the yells and shouts and cries of sheer joy missable! ACK! After the family life we have lived, having a sick mom day in and day out, I am SO SO SO excited to give back some childhood to these little ones of mine!! I am so excited to have a good long PLAY! I am excited to finally follow through with the vacation we have planned 4 times now, only to have my health take precidence over it. I am so excited to have it be about them... and not about me. This will be the vacation of a lifetime for my little ones... and credit card charges for gas and food aside... it will be WORTH EVERY MINUTE!!

I have been cleaning my house like a mad woman. Not just the surface weekly cleaning, but the deep-down-make-it-shine clean. On the 13th it will be 2 years since we moved into our new home. I love this house. I feel so deeply and unexplainably blessed/spoiled to have this home be ours. We consider this our lucky home. We moved in on Friday October 13th. No bad luck there! LOL! We have 13 stairs. We had barely recovered from the unemployment years when this opportunity came up! And after a home that made our children super sick and suffer - we jumped. And we will never look back!

And so I am cleaning...

I used to deep clean ('cause it was easy) every week for the first 9 months we lived here! Never a week went by when my shower wasn't washed and the bathrooms weren't clean! I touched up each paint knick when they happened and the baseboards were washed weekly too. I was able to keep up really easy. After a solid year of the kids & Jess doing most of the cleaning after I started having heart troubles again - well you can imagine the deep dirt/ damage there is. Not to say I am not grateful for their help... it just has not been to "Mom's Standard" - and Mom could do nothing about it. *sigh*

And so I have been cleaning...

5 hours yesterday carpet cleaning the stairs. (no wonder they charge so much to do them professionally! (though they dont have only a little green machine! LOL- ugh!)) They were disgusting.

Next on my TO-DO's:

• Moldings & walls to scrub
• Touch up paint throughout
• Floors to hand scrub
• Fridge to pull out and clean on, in and behind
• Counter-tops and cupboards - done!
• 3 bathrooms to DEEP clean... and they are disgusting! LOL!
• Windows to wash - inside and out
• Bedding for all to be washed and re-made
• Clothes to rotate through (summer to winter and clothes that don't fit = out!)
• Front porch to spray down
• Lawn to mow, weeds to pull etc
• Oven to clean - cleaning as I type *wink*
• Major dusting to do from floor to ceiling
• Clean fish tank
• Wash couch coverings and vacuum them
• Wash all rugs throughout home
• Carpet clean the hallway and the boys room
• Carpet clean the livingroom
• Carpet clean the Master bathroom
• Clean mirrors throughout home
• Clean Laundryroom, wipe down machines
• Blinds, blinds, blinds.
• Ceiling fans
• Furnace filters changed
• Smoke alarm batteries changed

I like this list! *grin* Granted it looks merely like a fall/spring cleaning list...*giggle* but I have a week or so to accomplish these and I am going to inlist help from Jess and the kids (obviously) but having our home back to new feel will be divine! Plus it will keep me DISTRACTED!! TEE HEE HEE!! Off I go! I have much to do! *wink*

Fall Spoils

I have had an awesome time this fall!! My heart has stood up quite well to some marathon canning/preserving sessions and with the help of Amy & Zuli we have accomplished much!!

(notice the date on the lids: 1986)
Thanks to my Great Grandma's old shed I ended up with multiple bottles and lids, an old strainer that works wonderfully and a desire to learn more about her by emmulating her...

I have two dehydrators... found one at DI!! The extra trays are a life saver! I have dried multiples of peaches, pears and apples,

and made pear leather!

We have made enchilada sauce (yum!) Pearsauce, spiced peach jam, tomato juice,

Apple Pie filling and my all time favorite... Pear Honey!!

I have also been hitting the sales... and my pantry is bursting with goodness!


I used coupons from http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/ and got 8 bags of cereal for free! YIPEE!!

As I went to the store today I noticed that prices on everything are inching higher and higher. Makes me all the more grateful for the deals and work I have invested in my little pantry.

I can't wait to start apples again next week! Jess wants more dried apples and peaches. *grin* We love them!

Great idea!

Wow! So my little family had a wonderful Family Home Evening tonight. Jess was in charge and he came up with a great idea! I am so tickled at the turn out!

We gathered together and made a list of all the dinners we like to eat. That was fun in and of itself! LOL! Then we picked only four complete meals (as Mac & Cheese doesn't count as a real dinner in Mom's book!*wink*) Then we listed all the ingredients that are needed to make that meal complete. (fun! :) ) After that we loaded in the car... the girls with one list of 2 meals ingredients and the boys with the other 2. And off to Macey's we went...

We wrote down what the price for each item was... 6 potatoes at $ .74/lb was fun to figure out as the produce man gave us funny looks when we put them back! LOL! We then met up at the Deli and over a soft serve iceream we ran the totals. Emma and I came up with $27.86 for a favorite steak dinner, and $27.85 for Ribs and Sweet potatoes (only a penny difference was kinda cool!). Jess and the boys got $15.66 for Homemade Pizza (5 Buck is not looking so expensive!LOL!!) and $14.52 for Tacos.

Wow. Feeding 6 is not so cheap. The adverage dinner costs us about $20. The adverage lunch is likely $15ish and breakfast if we only eat cereal is likely over $5. No wonder my shopping bills have been so painful lately! And that didn't include tons of good produce or snacks! Ugh.

Anyway... he then taught them about how much each of them "spends" at dinner time... and how much $ they end up throwing away when they wont eat all of their food and whatnot. They were all amazed. Even my 6 year old was rivoted by what he heard. They seemed to REALLY *get* it!

**GOLD STAR** Jestin! That was an highly effective FHE! I always dreamed of doing fun learning ones like this when they were little... so it was AWESOME to do it now that they can truly understand! I am keeping the papers they took their notes on too for our scrapbook! Someday it may be fun to go back and see what it cost to feed us when they were kids! *Giggle*

High School Memories

While waiting for some photos to burn to a CD at 3:30am I found this questionaire on a friend of mine's site and thought it would be fun...

1. Did you date someone from your High School? Well duh. I married him! *giggle*

2. What kind of car did you drive? Ahhh... I had access to the Ford Taurus Station Wagon...but my favorite was the '68 Rambler with 3 on the tree...that was FUN!

3. What was the most embarrassing moment of High School for you? When Jess asked me if I used vaseline to get my jeans on. I was a size 1. And it was his high school way of paying a compliment! LOL! I never wore that pair again. (I hear the skin tight all the way down look is coming back in again! tee hee)

4. Were you a party animal? Ummm... I plead the 5th

5. Were you considered a flirt?Yes. But my best friend was worse!

6. Were you in Band, Orchestra, or Choir? I loved choir! I even made Acapella my senior year...but didn't find out until I had already solidified my schedule so I didn't attend. (Besides I was too busy with Jess *grin*)

7. Were you a nerd? I wasn't.

8. Were you on any Varsity teams?Nope

9. Did you ever get suspended/expelled? Yes. I was suspended for checking out on my 17th B-day. It was not a good day and it became a not so good week! LOL

10. Can you still sing the fight song? "We are the fighting Bruins of Mountain View...something something and something else...."

11. Who were your favorite teachers?Mr. Ravelli. He was one of the only ones who truly saw what I could become. He was an Earth Science teacher and I was his Aide the last 2 years of high school. He was awesome!

12. Where did you sit during lunch? In someone's truck or car... which for most of high school was Jestin's. We never ate in the cafeteria much... we had wheels...we left!

13. What was your school's full name? Mountain View

14. School mascot? Bruins

15. Did you go to Homecoming? With whom? Not that I recall. I went to a bunch of dances...but I dont think we ever attended the Homecoming Dance...just the game and festivities

16. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Maybe... I loved dating Jess. We had good times... :)

17. What do you remember most about graduation? Hearing Jess yell my name as I walked across... he worked hard with me to help me graduate. (I was a sluffer...what can I say? I had much to make up Senior year...couldn't have done it without Jess!)

18. Where did you go Senior Skip Day? Diggin' with the gang. None of us wanted to attend Senior Day.

19. Were you in any clubs? Spirit Club Sophpmore year

20. Have you gained some weight since then?I weighed less than 100 lbs then... ummm...thanks for the salt in a wound sensation. LOL

21. Who was your Prom Date? Jestin - Senior year, A friend with the same B-day as me 10 days after we both turned 16 - Sophomoreyear ...talk about an ackward date. Prom should not be your 1st dating experience...that's for sure!

22. 10 year Reunion? Are you planning on going? Heh heh... Ummm I missed that one. Just had a baby then. 15 is on it's way up... *sniff*

23. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Don't be so hard on yourself. Don't let others influence your self esteem. Quit worrying and enjoy it! One day... you're gonna miss this!

(I tag YA'LL! *grin*)

I think it may be dying...

And I can't complain. It is almost 10 years old after all. It has served us well. We have enjoyed it's perks and blessings....

My computer is dying. We have revived it twice in its lifetime... but I am affraid we may be at the end of our lollipop. It shuts down randomly...as if it were just tired. No virus. No reason. It just gets tired... And rightfully so. LOL. It is a "dinosaur" after all... so as I am typing I am burning copies of everything! in duplicate.

I am not thrilled to have to get a new computer... and get to know Windows Vista and all that it may not run that I like using. I am not so hot for change like this... nor do I feel that I have the time and/or energy for setting E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G up...again. My internet...and printers...and camera...and favorite internet sites...instant messengers and email notifications...and Quicken...and Quickbooks... and the myriad of other little things I take for granted daily. *sniff* I like my set -up... I know how to work it, I dont wanna change it and I am getting to be an old fuddy duddy!!

It shall be a sad day (or weeks) when it finally bites the dust... And I shall weep at it's passing. It was a good little computer. Bless you my little Totally Awesome Dinosaur!

3 going on 17...

I am still quite shaken and need to "emotionally throw up". What a heart stopping experience we had today...although I guess it was technically yesterday as it is 1:30 am and I still can't sleep. Today I was affraid at one point my littlest man would be the source of an Amber Alert.

It has been a busy day today...and after going grocery shopping for the 1st time in as many weeks as I can remember... I settled into my pantry... cleaning, re-organizing and planning for the miriad of fresh fruits and veggies awaiting preservation in my garage as we speak. Jess has been home all day, and covering a large base of "honey-do"s for me. The kids were all home from school, flitting about playing with neighbors etc. Jess had gathered them together and they had all congregated at the kitchen table to do homework. I could hear them and was prompted to ask, "where's Caleb?" from the pantry. I got a mixture of answers... playing next door, in the sand box and upstairs playing. I requested that one of them go and see which was the case. And being that they are all responsible enough, then assumed that "someone" followed through. (I was after all burried behind boxes and bottles made into piles in re-arranging things)

About 15ish minutes later the prompting came again. This time with HUGE force. "where is Caleb?" I asked as I pondered that I had not heard his whine since my last request (yes...sadly we are at the terrible 3's whinner fest stage...*insert rolling eyes*)

"not sure." "I haven't seen him" and "I dont know..." abounded.

I leapt over the piles and as I did so one of the replies was "last I saw him he was playing with his buddy Sam." And I hate to admit it... but often that is that case as we both have open door policies most of the time with the older ones...and the littler ones follow suit. I grabbed the bowl that belonged to Sam's mom and headed over hoping to find him bellied up to a pile of toys at her house. She informed me she hadn't seen him recently...and she informed me that the other 2 neighbors he often congregated at were not at home...they had soccer games. I felt this horrid knot in the pit of my stomach. I could hear the prompting echoing in my ears once again... and I hadn't listened!

I ran home and looked for his big wheel bike. It was gone. I grabbed my keys and hopped in the car....as I yelled to Jess that Caleb was missing. The neighbor told me that some of the kids headed across the road that he is not suppose to cross to play and he might be that way. I drove off in that direction. Jess started walking quickly in the general direction as well.

I found his bike a block and a half away. I rang the doorbell of every neighbor close to his bike, only to find their children his age had come in long before and they hadn't seen him. I called Jess and told him I found his bike. He ran home and got his truck to follow suit and comb the neighborhood more fully. Emmalee called a few minutes later to say his "awesome bike" (his 2 wheeled one with training wheels) was missing as well. My heart sunk. He could be anywhere...

I knew how much he loves his very best friend Jesse. (we call them Kick and Sidekick they are so close) And I knew he had whined earlier that he wanted to go there. I drove there as fast as I could while still watching for him and screaming his name. A knock on the door found no sign of him...but Jesse's family loaded up and they began the search too.

I have to admit I lost it at this point. I had been looking for him for well over 10-15 minutes...and it had been almost 40+ minutes since my 1st impression...that I didn't follow through on myself. (grr. I hate it when I am so stubborn!) My little blonde angel could be anywhere with anyone. I wanted to scream. I wanted to barf. I wanted to cry until it became less of a reality. I have not been so scared in a long time. I called Jess to see if he had seen him yet... with a fruitless answer. I hung up in tears.

Does one call the police this soon? He is only 3! will they think me a horrible mother? he is only 3! where in the hell could he be?? I was running out of ideas! and my voice was cracking as I called his name over and over...

Now... I used to think growing up that my little sister was a spoiled brat. It's true. I did. It wasn't really that she got everything she wanted... but I think it was more that she was SO strong willed and stubborn and non compliant... that often they gave in to avoid the struggle. So not like me. Of course... grated she is now one of my very best friends... but as a child I was intimidated by her personality. You obey. That is how it was in my mind.... and she always wanted to know why...and if the reason was not good enough it held no water. And my Caleb is just like her...

And I knew he was somewhere... and being fiesty to boot! As I was fingering my phone...ready to call 911... it rang. Maria (Jesse's mom) was gulping for air through sobs on the other end. She found him!! He was 2 blocks from home... over half way to their house... playing with some kids he doesn't know in a backyard he's never been to. And he was mad. I drove straight there... I had driven by there at least 3-4 times screaming his name... and as I pulled up I could see his little body language upset with her because he was playing and he was not leaving.

I ran to him and picked him up....and the tears fell for a moment... and then I was mad too. I told him he was in BIG trouble....while trying not to raise my voice...and he looked up at me and said "I not in twouble! You in twouble Mommy!" He wanted to down and he wanted to go play. He had NO idea what had transpired! He was simply playing and we were interupting. He was THRILLED to have so much unawarded freedom and he had no intention of giving it up!

Maria called Jess and we all felt the utter horror and relief of what had happened and what could have happened. As I stood there holding him... arguing with him... and shaking like a leaf I looked over and sure enough there was his "awesome bike". How did I miss it so many times?! I had bailed out to run up to a house multiple times thinking this bike or that bike was his... ugh! And he had likely heard me screaming for him and ignored me because he was happy where he was, and playing what he was playing....

So... we took him home and I held him. And he squirmed. And I didn't care. I am still learning how to deal with such a willful little mite. I know he thinks he can do anything the other kids can, and I know, just like my baby sister, none of my explanations hold water for him... but I thank God for the Holy Ghost that prompts... even if it took me WAY too long to follow through. I thank God my free spirited little pickle is home safe in his bed.

And I am thankful to be his Mommy....my heart just breaks to think I almost lost him! Even if he "lost" himself!

A week later...

What fun! We all got sicker from there... and Emma ended up with pneumonia! Praises to the antibiotic and steriod inventors at our house! LOL! Cam did really well... *giggle* 'course he's only been off his steriods for a couple of weeks! It was a normal summer cold... it just really got to those of us here that have lower resistance to such things. But aside from a lingering cough or two we are all better! YIPEE!! And we are LOVING this fall air!!

BUT! The BESTEST news I have to share: Caleb is potty training himself. Yep. You read that right. All by himself! One day last week he discovered that he has Lighting McQueen undies in his drawer he can reach now(makes me wish I had rotated the kids drawers sooner! LOL). Then he was watching the news with me and they were talking about a little kangaroo that has been cheering up people in an old folks home... he asked me why it was wearing a diaper. I said, not really thinking about it "it must be because it is a baby kangaroo". He replied that *he* was not a baby and went right up and put on his new undies. (*gulp*) He has had at least one accident a day...but sometimes only one! And we ran out of Pull-ups...so we are *not* turning back!! WAHOODELEEHOO!!! For the 1st time in 11 years I have no kids in diapers!!!! ~~~heaven~~~

So...I have been waiting this morning for a lender to fax me some info for a client and "killing" time and I found this new fall background! Can I just say it is making me SOOO happy!!? I SO love fall!! I love the cooler air. I love the going back to school. I love the holidays and the smells. I love canning with my MIL, and lately my neighbor. I love harvesting and cleaning for winter. I love getting out warmer clothes and putting away summer things. I love starting to think about Christmas gift ideas and what I want to do. I love getting back into the swing of making warm meals for my family. All of it just brings me such joy!! HAPPY FALL!!!!

I have been a bit "clear" lately. Life has been busy. Today it has slowed down for us though...Emma, Cam, Caleb and I woke up with sore throats, runny noses and headaches. Could be allergies...could be our first fall cold. Anywho...we are medicating and taking it easy today. (I am a bit grateful for the slow down! *grin*)


School is grand! The kids love it. They love their teachers and are enjoying themselves! Aside from: Cody came home yesterday quite sad...some older boy pushed into him, almost knocking him down and said "Hey! the nerds belong over there!" :( Freakin' jerk! I held him and told him that we are all nerds if we have a brain in our heads and that that kid must not love himself very much if he has to be mean to other people. Grrr. I wish I could go kick his butt and get his parents involved! Makes me cranky. I know it would do no good...but for heaven's sakes Cody already struggles to feel like he fits in... and my mommy heart wants to tear into that kid! If only Cody knew who it was....


Jestin has been quite busy this last month...and it has been a HUGE blessing. We have still not completely recovered from turning down work to be available for big job for family in June, only to have them use someone else...it seems to have taken it's toll and taken this long to try & make up for. It's been a bummer as summer should have been our best time of year! Ah! Small business! so fun! Takes a lot of faith and following commandments to make it work that is FOR sure! Now if I could convince Jess it is time to hire someone. He is so terrified of being another family's means... and after our history with unemployment ourselves a few years back it still worries him like no other! It's just we are so busy he is turning work away! ack! I keep praying he will be brave. *grin*

I am doing better. (minus not so well today) My blood work came back that I am very low in iron. Huh. Wonder why. Not. And my new heart meds are working well. So I am on the way back up! I am thrilled! I also have some real estate stuff starting up and it is GREAT to get back in the saddle again. *grin*

P.S. - I Love you!

So I have this really good friend named Denice--seriously the most amazing girl in the world. How she manages to juggle everything in her life while still being one of the best mothers to ever BREATHE is just beyond me. She rocks!

Anyway, she and her cute husband started their own business--Personal Sentiments.

They sell scrapbooking and card-making supplies--everything MATCHES (SWEET!!) and they even have entire KITS you can buy that takes all of the guesswork out of picking paper and embellishments. She and her husband created a lot of the graphics etc!

If you like the hands-on aspect of scrapbooking but find it too overwhelming at the Scrapbook Store, check out her website and buy a card kit or scrapbook kit. They have tons of different themes to choose from and it's high-quality product without the high pricetag! So go to her website and buy something. Go right now! You will love it~ P. S. is awesome!

Scattergories...

It's harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter yours, and send it on to 10 people including the one that sent this to you. Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following they have to be real places, names, things. Nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person if front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? - Heather
4-LETTER WORD - Have
VEHICLE – Harley *grin*
TV SHOW – Hanah Montana (Your welcome Lou Bug)
CITY – Hartford, CT
BOY NAME - Harry
GIRL NAME - Hope
OCCUPATION – Handyman
SOMETHING YOU WEAR - Hats
FOOD - Ham
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM – Hand Soap
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT - H-E-Double Hockey Sticks
ANIMAL- Hamster (shh don't tell Emma but we will own one in Nov)
COLOR - Hot Pink
MUSIC GROUP – HairSpray actors LOL
COUNTRY– Honduras
COLLEGE MAJOR– History

1st Day of School

Any advice or ideas?

The picture does not do it justice. I have apricot "stuff" all over my kitchen counter, down between the stove and counter, on the bottom of the upper cupboard, and all over the floor. Here's what happened:
Amy (& Austin *wink*) and I pitted and ran 2 boxes of free apricots from Ma's through the food mill thingy to make it into a paste like substance so we could make fruit leather. We were so excited! In our excitement we ran out of big bowls. I use my big pot to store the some of the goods. We added orange juice to the mixture to make it not turn brown (like the bottling book said to!). And then I had to go to work. I had no room in my fridge for a pot and a big bowl of apricot "stuff" so I left it on the counter with press and seal over it. Hmmm... questioning now whether I saved my fridge, or doomed myself. (??) It sat for about 6 hours.
I came home to a bubbled over mess. The "stuff" had bubbled up and popped open the press and seal on the pan. It ran down the cupboard and the drawers and was on the floor etc. I was shocked. I called Amy and we laughed about it. Dang. A mess. What else is new as a mom? no? She left and we decided to look into whether or not it is still usable. Hmmm. Should have had her stick around to bottle or bag it I say! I started to stir it in the pot getting ready to put it in bags to put in the fridge. (The "stuff" in the bowl had foamed and frothed but had not escaped...and while she was here we stirred the bowl and it was watery under the foam) SO...as I stir the pot it starts to bubble. Bubble like it is boiling over...but it's on my counter. *gasp* Before I know it... POP! It explodes. Now it wasn't a huge explosion. I didn't get covered. But under my cupboards now need wiped. There is twice as much "stuff" all over, and well. I am done. stinking stuff! Litterally. Stinkin' stuff! It REEKED like bad bread and beer. Oh my!
Needless to say... it got tossed. 2 hours of work, driving to PG to pick plus picking time, and I got nuttin'. *sniff* No fruit leather. No jam. No bottled fruit. Good thing I don't like apricots! LOL

Christmas in August

SO! We finally took Caleb to redeem his Build-A-Bear gift certificate that Santa gave him last year. It's August. I know. He's 3. LOL. He had SO much fun!

Standing on the fluff pedal... and getting it's heart ready...

All the kids got to put in a heart for him: and they each added a wish for Caleb on it...

Caleb loved rubbing it's heart on his head for it to be smart, his arm muscles so he can be strong, his own heart so he can be brave, etc...

And he LOVES his new toy. Loves like nothing else.

He needed a "bath" after being built (blow dryer and brushes to removed excess fluff)

And then he chose an outfit. He chose jean shorts and a T-shirt with a dinosaur driving a jeep!

Meet Rexie. Rexie goes EVERYWHERE with us now...

although my favorite is how Caleb talks to his "wexxie". *grin*

That was an AWESOME Christmas present...even if it was finally given in August! :)

Camping...

Here we are hanging out in camp while Dad took Cam fishing. I am kicking myself I didnt get picks of Cam doing his breathing treatments on the the front steps of the camper out in the wild blue yonder! Darn. Makes me all the more grateful for JWD's first official debt! *grin*

The pups kept being put in the camper. Our little Zoey is not good at camping yet. She barked at e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e. If they had a hat...she barked. If they stood up to go get a drink...she barked. If the wind caught the trees...well...yeah. She barked. LOL. Silly dog.

Caleb and his bestest buddy... ooo....so dirty!

Hey Gram...don't let Papa see these pics man! That face is a mess!

Emma and one of her bestest buddies too! It was a wonderful escape from reality...even if it was only a few hours worth of nothing. It was still some time with nothing in it. And our little hospital guest got to go fishing both that evening and the next morning. He was thrilled!

Award Winner!

Emmalee won ribbons at the Utah County Fair!! We joined 4-H this year & I even taught a ceramics class! LOL! It was a lot of fun!! Thanks Kathy for getting it going!!

She got a second place ribbon for her ceramic elephant bank!

And she won a purple ribbon for her pillow case! It will now be sent to the State Fair to be held in Sept! We hope she does well! She really did a great job on it! She must be related to her Grandma! LOL! (her mommy can't even thread a bobbin! *blush*)

Hospital Moments

Cam doin' a breathing treatment. The nurses kept commenting on how well he did them. Hmmm... 7-8 times hospitalized... plus on steriods *at least* once every six months your whole life for asthma...which means multiple daily treatments each time...and yeah. It's old hat for my little 6 year old. :) *giggle* I bet he could teach them a thing or two! LOL!

His bestest friend came to visit. She has a broken arm to match his IVed one! *grin*

And she brought him his favorite colored bear. She is such a sweetheart!

He was SO dang bored.

Free at last! Free at last! Thank the heavens! I'm free at last!

CAM'S HOME!!!

He made it home today! He is doing pretty good- no oxygen since 11 am this morning. Begging to go fishing with Dad...that was all he could talk about while at the hospital...so Jess is taking our trailer up to the neighborhood camping area and we will go up tommorow and let him get his fishing in. Good thing we have a generator for nebulizer power, and a stool for him to fish out of!!

HALLELUYAH!!! We are outta there!! What a story for another day. Showers here we come!

Words do not desribe...

the day I had today. It was full of wonderful people letting me know how much they care about Cam and our family. It was full of rollercoasters of how Cam is and how he is feeling. It was full of such utter frustration...and Murphy's Law of what can go wrong will go wrong...that I just can't believe I survived this day. And I thought yesterday was bad. I wanna go back and just skip this whole dang week! LOL!

I won't post about all of it...mostly because it is 1am and I am beat, and also being it that it would only become a huge whine fest...and well...I am out of cheese. That and I dont drink wine! *grin*

Thank you for all of you who thought of us, prayed for us, talked to us, emailed us, commented to us and served our family this day. There were miracles that I will treasure in my heart always that came to pass today. Not the ones I was hoping for...but they came nonetheless. :) Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. Thankyou.

Cam is about the same...if not worse. He had a bad reaction to one of the steriods they gave him. He also had not as much O2 as he needed through the day due to a faulty monitor reading giving him better stats than were real due to a bad connector. And that the Dr. that is caring for him finally believed me as the mom and is giving him the breathing treatments at the times he really needs them (every 3 hours vs. his planned every 6), but only since 6 pm tonight! *sigh* He will stay again tonight (obviously *wink*). And likely all day tommorow. We are praying for going home tommorow night...

There's not a cloud in the sky...

But when it rains it pours!

I am curled up in a room where I hear the bubble of oxygen going through distilled water. There is the occasional ping of an alarm, and I can smell the industrial laundry soap smell. My beautiful middle son is laying on a bending bed, covered in wires and tubes. His lips are the classic rosey red and his eyes are sunken and dusky colored. It is cold. The chair I sit it creaks and squeaks with every movement, the joy of a disinfectable vinyl lazy boy wanna be. There is little privacy. Here we are once more. It was two years (last month) since this has been the case. Cam was admitted to the hospital with a severe case of asthma. He can't keep his O2 levels high enough without oxygen. He is back on the big gun steriods. He has breathing treatments every 2-3 hours and he coughs until he throws up everything he eats. It breaks my heart like no other. I wish I could take his place so badly it hurts. It has been a rough day. They "blew" two veins trying to get an IV in...the poor babe had to be poked 3 times and it had to be fished everytime! He is so brave. I dont know where he gets it from! He cried, but it was such a brave cry. I love this kids so dang much!! We are for sure here for the night, and all day tommorow. We pray he can come home tommorow night. He has been on the steriods for 24 hours as of an hour ago...so the turning point is coming.... XXcrossing fingersXX

I myself am covered in wires. I went to the cardiologist yesterday. My regular cardiologist was not able to meet me, but his new partner still could, so I met with him and told him all about my frustrations and symptoms. Today before Cam was admitted I was hooked up on another Holter Monitor. What a sad day for this to happen... I have not been able to accurately document all my heart activity like I should and that is discouraging, as we are paying for this and it may be fruitless. *sigh* He will be changing my dosing for heart meds, and is also checking my thyroid again. I am looking forward to knowing how to grasp the energy and stamina I was enjoying. :)

Jestin's eye is doing marginally better. He actually had some clarity in that eye yesterday! He lost it again today, but I think it was stress related. Today Jess had his first ever deposition. He witnessed a horrible accident in Provo Canyon 2 years ago, a girl he knew as a child was run over in her car by a 6 wheeled dump truck. He struggled with it horribly. And it has been awful to re-live over again. He really could have used my support today... :(

The kids have been fending for themselves with the help of neighbors for 2 days now (with Dr. visits and cardologist visits etc both days) and do it again tommorow. I feel like Elasta Girl from the Incredibles when she is stretched thin flying the van and her hubby asks "How's it going Honey?" and she screams "do I have to answer??" LOL. Oh I know this is but a moment...but man! today I am not feeling so up to this moment....

Updates

Hello. Thought I would post an update. Jess is back to work. I am driving him as he still has very limited vision in the one eye and doesn't dare drive the freeway. He is a bit discouraged that it has not started to improve yet. It is quite painful still and he can tell he has lost a large portion of his side vision so far. I keep praying it will be better as it heals more. *gulp* Continued prayers would be appreciated. And, it goes without saying, I am not likely to get him to go back for his other eye in two weeks! We will have to reschedule for a couple of months I am guessing.

The kids are dying to get back to school! We start on the 20th. They all know who their teachers are except Cody...they may get a new 4th grade teacher so we have to wait to know his. We have gone and gotten shoes for all, but that it the extent of school shopping. And Emma is itching to go let me tell ya! LOL!

My health has not been good. I don't know if it's the heat, or overdoing it or what...but I feel much like I have in the past before my heart has gone into full A-fib. I am tired and shaky and weak, and my heart feels like it is vibrating on and off and I have had a few hard flip flop episodes. *sigh* It is very discouraging. I had high hopes that I was completely repaired from this surgery! Luckily my Heavenly Father loves me...and though I was stressed that even if I called my Cardiologist I wouldn't be able to see him for 6 weeks...I looked at the calendar and realized I have an appt with him on Monday for a surgery followup! Yea! I hope he can give me some insight as I am so discouraged to have been doing SO well...to now be back to wondering if "tonight it may happen" that I go into A-fib because of how I have been feeling. Ah well. This too shall pass...after all it came to pass...not to stay! LOL!

We are suppose to go camping next weekend! (AUG 15) It's our everyone's invited neighborhood campout and we can't wait!! It is so so so lovely to just throw food in and go! This time will be extra fun because of the meteor showers...I am so looking forward to it! *grin*

Well...I better go lay down. I may have to drive Jess to Park City tonight for a job....and I need to "prepare" myself for it by being rested. Have a great day! ((hugs))
~~heather

I love my pups!

The cuddles I get are warm and comforting... and I am fought over which is fun too!! LOL
Here is their blog spot: http://ouryorkiegirls.blogspot.com/

He is doing ok...

Jestin is doing pretty good. The procedure was awful to watch...let alone go through. They dialated his eyes and he really hates that in and of it's self! LOL

Then they took him in and did an angiogram. They found that the damage was more severe than they originally thought, so their laser treatments were more extensive. They also gave him a steriod shot in his eyeball. The worst part Jess said, was the shot under his eye (the block) to deaden everything. And it was. I haven't told him how long the needle was and how deep they took it because he must go back a 2 weeks or so to have the other eye done. *gulp* He will loose some periferal vision and could loose a little bit of the brightness of colors. We are praying not.

We kept teasing him to keep the mood light...and he teased us right back. We joked that everyone should have seen the "other" guy! He was big and Jess kicked his butt! Bwahahaha!They told him to watch a little wire with a flashing dot at the end of it while they did the angiogram...and we were busting up! We kept saying "I'm gonna get ya!" "I'm gonna be your best friend!" (think Nemo) and then "Good feelings gone!" Tee hee!!

I told him the look of his eyes dialated was wiggin me out...so he kept playing "Puss in Boots" from Shrek. LOL!! It was fun. I married such a good hearted man. He knows how to keep others laughing...that's for sure!

He is now crashed out in bed. His eye has started to wake up...so he is hurting and the vision coming back is making him sick. Poor thing! I am going to run now! I'll keep you posted.

Jestin's Eye Surgery Tommorow

Would you all keep Jess in your thoughts and prayers tommorow? He will be having his eye surgery. He was really nervous until our hometeachers came and gave him the most beautiful priesthood blessing. He still is a little scared, but has found more peace. He was promised a speedy recovery and that all will go well as the faith of those around him unite together on his behalf. I thought maybe I ought to remind all those out there who love us that it is tommorow so that Heavenly Father may fullfill the blessing He provided. :) Thank you in advance. I will post his status tommorow when I can....

Utah's Pioneer Day 2008

SO much fun!! Our kids LOVE it!! We celebrated Pioneer Day in style! We went to the parade...Caleb LOVED all the trucks, tractors and horses! We went out for breakfast with Jess' family. Then we came home and napped, and cleaned up and got ready...we had a barbeque! (Ribs and Shikabobs! yum!!) We went to the carnival (see below) and then we went to the kids school to watch the fireworks! Caleb OOOed and AWWEed them all! We rounded the evening off with Jess' homemade icecream laced with cookie dough and fudge. We stayed up past 1am visiting...but it was AWESOME!! Enjoy the video... *grin*