Memorial Day

We spent the day cleaning out the garage and just hanging out. Well, mostly Sam cleaned out the garage...I was helping him by nagging, er, I mean, providing positive advice! Afterwards Sam went up in the "clubhouse" with Parker and chilled.
Mom and Dad came home from Idaho today and so that means Carson is back at home. I'm so glad, I really missed him! After dinner we went to a park and let the kids play until they were both crying due to exhaustion (I'm really not kiddding, both Parker and Carson were in tears).
Well, tomorrow we go back to the good ol' routine. I have (hopefully) my last physical therapy session and Spine Institute appointment tomorrow. Time will tell..

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good: For Christmas I received some Walmart/Sam's Club gift cards in lieu of a Christmas bonus. My parents also gave us a Walmart/Sam's Club gift card for Christmas. All together, we had enough to replenish our food storage. So, we ventured out today and bought all sorts of good stuff and didn't spend a single penny of our own! In fact, my last card has $7.69 left on it... what should I buy?

The Bad: Parker woke up puking today. Then the "cha cha cha" runs came next. I know I talk a lot about Parker's grumpy attitude, but add a grumpy personality with being sick and it's not pretty.

The Ugly: Carson is in Idaho with my parents to visit Darren and Susan's family. I guess he has been sick all day too. Apparently he ate lots of Oreo cookies on Friday night so his throw up in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday was pretty ugly. I owe a BIG THANK YOU to Darren and Susan for helping Carson through the night. I already have together something I'm sending you as a "thanks" so watch your mail! I love you guys!!! I would say 'I hope I can repay the favor someday' but then I would by lying.

Failed Artisan Bread

I attended a great artisan bread making class this past Wednesday. The bread was so tasty and I've wanted to learn this art for a long time. It's quite a process because you have to make a "starter" in the evening, then with the starter you create what's called a "sponge", which sits on your counter until the next day. Then with the sponge you make a bread dough. The whole process takes about 12-16 hours.
I tried making it on my own, and BOY did I fail! That's okay though, it's actually a great way to learn. I called my friend who is teaching these classes and she gave me some really great tips. Maybe once I perfect this art I'll give directions on this blog.
Thanks again to Cathy Gilmore who has been teaching my ward these bread classes, they have been so much fun. I think every ward should do this for an Enrichment Activity!

Preschool Graduation

Here's the nougat I made for Carson's teachers




Mrs Cindy Sweet, Carson, and Miss Kari




Carson with his graduation certificate


Carson graduated from preschool today. It was so fun because they did a big program for the parents. I can't believe he'll be in kindergarten next year!

Last night at 11:30 I realized that I probably should do something for his teachers. I can't believe I did this, but I made nougat...at 11:30PM! Then I got up early this morning so I could cut and wrap it and give it to the teachers by 8:30 AM. I'm glad I did it because they were really excited.

Well, here's to a LONG summer!

Will He Ever Learn?

I wonder if Parker is ever going to learn how to walk up and down stairs properly. Actually, I'd be happy if he just learned to walk across a parking lot without falling! Last Sunday we were walking across the parking lot to church. There was a car that was waiting for us to cross in front of him. Parker was running, tripped right in front of the car and fell. Carson wasn't watching where he was going (very normal) and fell on top of Parker! I had all this stuff in my arms and was trying to help everybody up and calm Parker down, all the while this guy in his car is patiently waiting for us to get our act together.

Last night Parker wanted to go in the backyard. There are 4 cement steps that you have to walk down in order to get to the cement patio below. I watched as he took the first unsteady step (very normal for him) and then I couldn't believe the horror that followed: He fell down all 4 steps onto the patio below...on his FACE! It was so sad! He cried for like 15 seconds and then was very happy after that. Go figure.

Even today at Carson's school he tripped and fell in the parking lot... this too shall pass!

100th Post!

I just realized that this is my 100th posting! I have so many people I'd like to thank...first of all, my brother Darren-he is the one who started this whole "blog" thing in our family. Second of all, my husband Sam (sorry Sam, I had to thank Darren first because if it weren't for his blog I wouldn't have started one!)-he is a great cameraman, always looking for that perfect "blog photo". And last but not least, my children-they are always doing something crazy, funny, or insane which gives me plenty of "stuff" to put on my blog!

Having said that...
Carson woke up on Monday morning with the craziest eyes! This picture truly does not do it justice. He had huge bags under his eyes and his upper eyelids were so swollen that he could hardly open his eyes. The whites of his eyes were blood red! I was afraid it was 'pink eye'. It was sad because Monday was his second to last day of preschool and he had to miss it. I didn't want to infect 18 five year olds with the same issue. We took him to the pediatrician and he tells me it looks like Allergies. OH GREAT! I was hoping I wouldn't have an allergy child (no offense Curtis, I'm sure mom and dad love you as much as they love me :) ). So I've been giving Carson Benadryl and he is doing much better.

This Is The Place...Again

Well, we went back up to "This is the Place Heritage Park" to finish weeding around the Relief Society building. I convinced mom and dad to come, thinking it would only take about 15 minutes, but DANG those weeds had grown! Plus the ground was rock hard so we had to chisel out each and every weed. If they hadn't been there Amy Curtis and I would have probably bagged the whole idea and went to a movie or something! Good thing we thought to bring drinks and ice cream bars, I think it made it more bearable.

The boys (Sam, Carson, and Parker) had fun watching a new family of Canadian Geese goslings. They also found some rabbits hopping around. Precious!

Demotivate

Sam emailed this to me this morning. At first I thought it was one of those demotivational posters from the internet, but then I realized it was custom made! He got the saying from www.despair.com and created the poster from this website.

Enjoy!

Good Luck & Farewell Dekock Family

Last night Sam helped some members of our ward pack up because they were moving out of state. I guess the moving van was full because they had to Saran Wrap the rocking horse to the top of their car! I bet the Saran Wrap was left over from Christmas because it's green! Every time I look at this picture I keep laughing! I'll miss the Dekock family, they were extremely awesome and fun.

May Flowers, Part 2

I can't remember what this flower is called, but my parents planted it for my wedding reception because my colors were blue and yellow. They divided the plant and gave this to me. I've been married 8 years this August so that's a pretty good record for this flower! Especially since it survived the move from Seattle to West Jordan UT in a whisky barrel in the back of a moving van!

Yellow Iris

The purple/blue flowers are a butterfly bush and the pink ones are Jupiters Beard

Here are some more flowers in my yard...

May Flowers, Part 1

Snowball Bush

Creeping Thyme

Lilac Bush-didn't bloom as well this year, I think a late snowstorm froze the blossoms

Dianthus-in a few days this sucker is going to be in full bloom!

I haven't taken pictures of my flowers in my yard for a while so I thought I'd update you...

Mother's Day Continued...

I had updated my blog yesterday before we gave my mom and my mother-in-law their gifts. So, here we go...

We had a wonderful dinner at my parents house and we gave my mom a multi colored platter that matches all the colors of their dinner plates and bowls. Afterwards we went to a really fun park and let the kids run around. At the top of one slide Carson screeched "It has a little window!!!", hence the picture of him looking out of the slide window.

After the park, we went to my mother-in-law's house and planted flowers in all of her outdoor pots, she has many many pots. Fern plants flowers for her every year so this year we decided to do it together. It was really fun and itchy (lots of mosquitoes!). Enjoy the pics.

Today I had my cortisone shot in my back, it was much better than I had anticipated. The only bad part was the location of the shot-it was my lower back and the sensation of the shot was a mix between pain and crazy ticklish so since I couldn't figure out if I should cry or laugh, I just laid there stone faced! Thanks again to mom for driving me home from the appointment, my leg is still pretty numb!

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the women out there! I hope you have had a wonderful day.
I have enjoyed it so far (but Sam says the best is yet to come...I hope he means dinner...). Sam gave me a cool wicker hose reel (does that mean I can't throw the hose down the window well anymore?) and some beautiful flowers.

In Primary, all the primary kids filled out a survey about their moms. It made me laugh so hard so I decided to put it on my blog. The words in quotations are what Carson filled in:

My mother is the most wonderful mother in the whole world! She's as pretty as a "flower". She weighs "100 pounds", and she's "2" feet tall. In the good old days when mom was little, she used to "play". I think mom looks funny when she "drives to school". I know she is really angry when she "throws things down the stairs". I like it when she "gives me a prize when I come home from the babysitter". Mom can do many things! I think she is best at "she can't do anything because her back hurts". My mom is so smart, she even knows "when I didn't wash my hands". My mom has a pretty smile! I like to make her smile by "putting rubber bands around my face and they flip on my arm". Our happiest time together was when "she gave me prizes". I wouldn't trade my mother for "my ladybug book". I love you mom!

Productivity Gone Bad

While Sam was on the roof working on the swamp cooler, I asked him to trim a tree that was leaning into the house. So, from the corner of the roof he clipped the branches as I watched from below on the ground. All of a sudden Sam got a horrified look and I saw something fall from the tree. I went to pick up whatever it was that fell and saw 3 of the smallest baby birds ever! I swear they must have hatched that morning. They didn't even have all their feathers. Apparently Sam cut a branch that held a sparrow nest, he caught the nest and one of the birds, but the other three had a long fall. At this exact moment, Carson was walking home with some neighbor kids and they all ran over to see the tiny birds. One of Carson's friends screeched "THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING MOMENT OF MY LIFE!!!" We wrapped the birds in Carson's towel (he had been swimming) and took them back up to Sam on the roof. We had no idea what to do, so we called the only bird "expert" we know... Darren. Darren said to just put the birds back and try to stabilize the nest but there's a good chance it will be abandoned. So, Sam did the best he could and came down off the roof. Hopefully the mother bird will forgive the incident and still take care of them.

Productive Saturday

You all know how I am...I like to make a list (dad, thanks for that trait) and check things off as they are accomplished. Well Saturday, I wanted to turn on the swamp cooler because it's getting pretty toasty here. Not only did Sam get it going, he also figured he should change the pads in the swamp cooler because he hadn't done it for a few years. He threw the dirty pads onto the grass below and I about gagged. Air had been forced through those nasty pads and into my house...no wonder it was so musty. In the picture, the bright blue material are pieces of the new pad. The black/gray pads are the old ones. Good job Sam!

Some of you have been asking about the progress of my back...Here's the scoop-
I have a hernated disc in my back AND arthritis in my back. What dirty gene pool did I come from? :) So, tomorrow (5/15/06) I am getting a spinal injection of cortisone into my lower back. I've also been in Physical Therapy to strengthen my back. Hopefully those two things combined should correct the problem enough that I don't have constant pain. I'm ready for life to retutn to normal so I can do things for myself instead of having others help me all the time. I'm trying not to be a "spoiled princess" as Natalie Service commented on one of my previous posts!

Great Family!

Because I've got a jacked up back, my parents took pity on me and came over to do yard work with Sam. I appreciate it so much!!! Everything looks so much better. I was laughing because all I could think about was "What are the neighbors going to think? I'm standing around and my white-haired folks are breaking their backs to help me!!!" I love my family! I also love Sam's face in the second picture. I think he's daydreaming of playing basketball instead of doing yard work!

Side note: The new Red Hot Chili Peppers album was released today. It's soooo good!!! It's titled 'Stadium Arcadium' and I think you should buy it and try it!

Happy Birthday Belva!

Here is Fontella (Sam's mom), Belva (Sam's Aunt), and Betty (Sam's Aunt)

People were asking Fern what Aaron is like now that he's home from his mission. Her response was "he's basically the same, just more mature" At that exact moment she looked out the window and saw Aaron climbing the flag pole. Nevermind about that "mature" bit... Ha!

Parker and Aaron just cold chillin'

Wacky-Backy

You may have noticed a lack of updates on my Blog. I've been down and out ever since last week. Tuesday I had an x-ray and one of Sam's co-workers (and the Radiology Manager at LDS Hospital) told me I should go the The Spine Institute, so I did. My wonderful dad took the day off and my wonderful sister-in-law (Fern) took the kids so I could get diagnosed. After reviewing my x-ray and my symptoms they thought it was either a herniated disc or bulging disc in my lower back (this means the stuff between my lower vertebrate was out of wack). The doctor suggested I have an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image) which we also took care of today. I was freaked out to get an MRI because I've heard of people having anxiety attacks in such a confined space (UNCLE RICHARD!). It wasn't so bad except for my embarrassment of having to wear a hospital gown when I haven’t shaved my legs for two weeks. Here's a picture of my spine from the MRI. Notice the spacing between the lower vertebrate is squished, compact, whatever. I believe it is pushing against some nerves and hence, my pain...