Old School

It's been a week since I've blogged. I'm having blogger-block. Big time.

I've had all sorts of random thoughts, but nothing really blog worthy.

I will say, that I was disgusted by the Academy Awards on Sunday. I didn't watch any of it, except the last 5 minutes. We hosted a youth fireside at our house on Sunday and it was super fun! We played all sorts of games and chilled at the Sweet house. After everyone left, I flipped on the TV and saw that the Oscars were just ending. I watched the final 3 categories: Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Movie.

Sean Penn won Best Actor. At the end of his speech, he basically trash-talked Americans who didn't vote a certain way last fall. The issue is not what ticked me off. It just made me so angry that he basically called everyone ignorant and ridiculous for not voting a certain way. Isn't that what makes America great--voting for what we believe in and accepting the majority? Last time I checked, we weren't a communist country, thank goodness. Just because he's a celebrity, he doesn't have a right to impose his beliefs on others! I quit being bothered by peer pressure after Junior High.

So, excuse me, Sean Penn, I didn't check with you last fall when I voted, and I probably won't check with you again next time I vote.
Get over it.

Moving on (I feel much better, thanks!).

Last night I plugged in my external hard drive that has pictures on it from the year 2000 to 2006. I decided to be random.

I opened a year, closed my eyes, clicked on a few pictures, and moved them to my memory card.

Here are the results:

Carson as a chunky baby. Not a very good picture. Check out the scene we had from our kitchen window! I loved our apartment downtown SLC. I literally lived a block away from work. So fun.


Before Carson turned 2, he got rambunctious with my cousin, and flew/fell/landed on a tile hearth by our fireplace. He got stitches in the front of his ear, the back of his ear, and in his head. It was awesome. As he had dried blood in his ear and down his neck, the nurse walked into our room. Carson took one look at her and exclaimed "All BETTER!" and pointed at his mangled ear. How did he know to be nervous? Truth be told, we probably told him they were going to fix it with a long needle. MMMWWWHAHA-HA-HA


Fern used to babysit Carson from the time he was 7 weeks old to 3 years old. Good times! Thankfully, Fern would email pictures to us all the time so we have a record of his youth. :)

Here he is 2 months old in Fern's stocking:


Here's my niece Mel, holding Carson.


Mel has changed a lot since then. See? ha ha! She's about to turn 19 years old! Dang Gina.


Here's Carson, attacking Fern's fence or something. :) I told you, I closed my eyes and clicked at random!


Here's Aaron, who is now like 23-ish, carrying Carson around in a laundry bag.


I think Mel and Aaron were bored one day, probably off track from school, so they made Carson a lovely gown of grass. Ooh-la-la.


Classic of Curtis. He always looks like that...JUST KIDDING. I call this "Fun with leaf blower".


I'll do anything to freak out Carson, AKA Germ-o-phobe.


Enter Parker.

He cried and was grumpy a lot.


Grumpy pants. He matches nice with Sam. They are at Uncle Jack's cabin in Moroni UT.


C'mon Parker, I DARE you to smile!


Well, that's all for memory lane. I'll do it again another time because it was fun!

In other news, Sam sprained his ankle...again. Fern snapped a picture right after the rolling-of-the-ankle. Nice shot!


Sam was trying to take a picture of Parker, who was sitting on some train tracks. That's when he stepped on a loose rock, on a hill, and when the rock went a rolling, so did Sam's ankle. One step forward, two steps back...


Fern took this picture of Parker--he was holding the water tower. Sweet!

Busted!

No, Sam's ankle isn't busted...I busted Carson and Parker the other day. More on that in a second.

Sam had an appointment with a Sports Medicine doctor today. Good news, his ankle isn't broken. It's a severe sprain. They've got him taking 800mg Motrin to keep the swelling down, which sounds easy but it's not. Sam hates taking pills. That whole concept blows my mind. If swallowing a pill is going to make the pain go away, why wouldn't you do it? He's the same way with headaches. He'd rather deal with them for several hours than take a few ibuprofin and have the pain gone in 15 minutes.

His ankle is already looking so much better. The swelling is almost gone and his bruises are more pinkish yellow than purplish black.

By the way, I was horrified that Maile thought those hairy legs could possibly be mine! I may not be totally girlie, but I would NEVER let my leg hairs get that crazy! However, Sarah, you are right. Even if they were, I would have no problem posting those pics. I have no shame or pride, we all knew that a long time ago. That's what makes me so endearing....or lazy.....or crazy. The verdict is still out on that one. Remember how I posted a "first-thing-in-the-morning" picture of myself? Seriously, I have no shame.

Okay, onto the reason for the title of my post.

The other day I heard Carson and Parker downstairs giggling in a hushed sort of way. My curiosity got the best of me and I headed downstairs with the camera. The bathroom door was partially closed. I got my camera all ready, and then I kicked open the door like I was a tough cop,and snapped a picture!


Carson knows he's busted. Parker, on the other hand, has a expression like "you wanna piece of me?". Love him. Love them both.

Apparently they found their swim goggles and had filled up the bathroom sink and were sticking their face in the water and looking at.......I have no idea. The white sink? The dried remnants of toothpaste? Whatever it was, they were having fun.


Have you ever worn swim goggles? Not the most comfortable things. I call this picture "partial stroke", for obvious reasons.


Look at these goofy teeth. They totally change the way Cameron looks when he smiles. It makes me laugh!


I manually focused this picture. I know that sounds really easy, but for me it's not. I'm photography challenged. So I'm pleased with how this one looks! I love those baby blue eyes!


Today I noticed we were getting low on toilet paper in the bathroom. As I was heading in the bathroom, I said to Parker, "Will you please go downstairs and bring up as much toilet paper as you can?" We say this all the time to Carson and he brings up like 5 rolls from the storage room. Parker dutifully goes downstairs to do as I asked. He comes back up and says through the bathroom door, to me "Here mom!". I told him just to leave them on the floor by the door. As I was leaving the bathroom, I looked on the floor and saw this:


Mr. Random had gone downstairs and grabbed a wad of toilet paper from the other bathroom and brought it upstairs. Mental note: be VERY specific with Parker.
He drives me crazy, and then he makes me laugh. I don't think it will ever be any differently. Can't wait to see what the future holds.

Today he said to Sam "I'm glad you broke your ankle, I like seeing you around!" Do you say "thank you" to something like that? I still don't know!

Finally, here is Cameron with his favorite toy: a dog. Sam's co-worker gave this dog to Cameron when he was a baby and Cameron just loves it. Thanks Jodie!

Sprained Ankle Update

Just an update on Sam's ankle.

He went to InstaCare yesterday because his foot was so swollen and scary looking. They did an X-Ray and said it's a "severe sprain with a possible fracture". According to the X-Ray, it looks like there is a bone chip, but they couldn't tell if it was from this injury or a past injury. They wrapped his ankle and referred him to some bone specialists. So, tomorrow Sam has an appt with another doctor to determine exactly what is wrong.

His ankle is still wrapped and he can't wear shoes or even a sock because it's so swollen.

He's such a trooper because he still hobbled on the bus this morning and went to work. I ended up picking him from work at 10am because he was so miserable, but he gets an "A" for effort!

On another note, let's all say a little prayer for Cameron because he hasn't had a single episode of the cha-cha-cha's today. I'm hoping it's a trend!

Sprained Ankle Pics

See the post below for details on my lovely Valentines Day.

Today Sam's sprained ankle looks down-right frightening. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment. This is why Sam wasn't at church today. Well, this and because somebody needed to stay home with Cameron because he still has the cha-cha-cha's.





I'm wondering if Sam should go get his ankle X-Ray'd (is that even a word??). What if it's broken? Man oh man, it's bad.

Oh yeah, a word (or several) to the wise: If your baby has the cha-cha-cha's and he/she is wearing white socks, REMOVE THE SOCKS BEFORE ATTEMPTING THE DIAPER CHANGE! You're just going to have to trust me on this one...


Finally, I've been trying to pay more attention to the lighting situation when taking pictures. In the past, I've just let the flash do all the work, but people tell me it's no substitute for natural light.

Here's a picture I took of Parker today, in the natural light from my living room window. What a ham. I love those ears.

A Valentines Day To Remember

My Valentines Day started by the lovely sound of Carson retching and horking at 6am. I stumbled out of my room and found him doing the spew dance. My first thought was "let's just hope this is a one time occurrence." Well, not s'much.

By 8am he had horked 7 times and had a "sharting" incident once...and one pair of underwear ended up in the garbage (my mom would have washed them by hand, but I'm not hardcore like that). I kept trying to lay down between episodes but it didn't really help much. A little before 8am I heard him moaning my name. I walked into the bathroom to the saddest scene. He was completely SPRAWLED out on the bathroom floor, face down, arms and legs spread out, and he kept moaning "I need to throw up but I can't anymore!" Oh man, I felt so bad!

As I'm dealing with this, Sam comes home from a church basketball game. He didn't walk into the house, he was hopping/limping. Oh crap, I've seen this scene before. Sam sprained his ankle. I feel bad for him, but at the same time I know that I'm not going to get much help today because he can't move around at all.

Cameron woke up today with the cha-cha-cha's. He was mostly cranky for most of the day.

So, we did absolutely nothing for V-day. Seriously. Luckily, a few days ago I had the foresight to buy Sam a box of chocolates and a card so at least he felt a little loved.

Tonight we went to my parents house for a change of scenery. Parker and Carson were playing a game (or I like to call it "a moment of bad judgement") that involved the pool table and rolling a ball at your fingers as fast as you can. Parker's reflexes weren't quick enough (Nintendo gives you better reflexes, I should encourage more Wii time) and the ball pinched his finger and gave him a nice blood blister. However, from his reaction, you'd think his finger was ripped off. Poor buddy.


So after the finger trauma, I was feeling pretty lucky because I was the only person in my family not affected with sickness or an injury. I got cocky because tonight I have had some wicked cha-cha-cha's. I'll spare you the details.

Happy Valentines Day to us.....maybe next year.

On a lighter side:

Last night was my ward's valentines party. One of the activities was "how many sour patch kids can you fit in your mouth?" Let me just say, it was hysterical.

Look how dainty Shiloh looks?


Are they a little sour Sam?


Russ is still smiling through the pain!


But the winner of the night was this guy, Bishop Brennan. He fit 121 sour patch kids in his mouth!!! Can you even imagine?? It makes my spit glands go into overdrive just thinking about it. YOWZA!


Here's hoping for a better tomorrow!

Kittens, Inspired By Kittens!

My cousin Kris put this video on his facebook page and I absolutely cannot stop laughing about it! Listen to this 6 year old girl "read" this book. Listen very carefully. It's so funny! My favorite part, and I quote "I'm her mom....no she's not." Brilliant!

I'm A Fan

I'm a fan of Valentine parties for preschoolers. Want to know why? How else could I get Parker to voluntarily write his name 29 times? It's brilliant! His school is having a Valentine party tomorrow. His teachers told him he had to write his name on his Valentines and he would pass them out at the party.

Small problem...up to this point Parker refused to even try and write his name. I was totally dreading the fights and tears that would occur when I sat him down in front of the task at hand. However, to my surprise, Parker sat down and committed himself to writing his name on 29 Valentines, without any fuss! I couldn't believe it. Yes, the handwriting is shaky, it's somewhat difficult to read, the "p" and "a" look like demented sperm, but DANG I was so happy! At one point he got writers cramp, but I gave him some Sour Skittles and that gave him the *pep* he needed to keep going!


You can tell he's my 2nd child. By the time Carson was Parker's age he could write sentences! Sheesh, who knows what Cameron will be doing when he's 4 1/2....hopefully he'll be potty trained! Hold me, I'm scared.

Speaking of Cameron, here's something I like to do just for fun. You might call it torture. I call it "let's strengthen your abdomen!" I tilt him back so he has to hold on his socks and hold his body up so he doesn't fall.


We have a very similar picture of Parker, wearing the same pajamas, sitting on Shandy's lap, next to this same lamp. If I was cool, I'd find it and post both, side by side. One day.... You can really see Cameron's funky hair in this picture. Check out the curls on the crown of his head! His hair doesn't quite look like this right now because I had my friend cut his hair really short. We'll see how it looks when it grows back out.


What do you think? Will he grow up to be an adrenaline chaser or a ballerina?

Funniest Video Ever!

For a hysterical video, click here. My brother Mike played a joke on his wife, Kim. She handled it great, I would have FREAKED out.

Guess what else is hysterical? Cameron's hair. Check it out:


It's totally straight except at the crown of his head, and then it becomes wirey, frizzy, and curly! It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. I'm just praying that it either all goes curly or all stays straight. Can you imagine if it stayed like it is now? Poor soul.

He doesn't care though, he's cool like that.


Yesterday was my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday mom! We are celebrating tonight, but I just thought I'd give her a "shout out"! She's had a rough few months, her knee was replaced on December 1st and she still lives with constant pain and her leg is as stiff as a board without any functionality in her knee. She has baffled all her physical therapists and I think her doctor is even wondering what is going on. If anybody out there in the world wide web land knows of anybody else who has had a similar experience, please let me know what they did to overcome it. She has been a trooper, but I know she's getting tired of it all.

And last but not least, my wack-a-doo husband. Ha Ha Ha!

Goodbye Indiana, Hello Routine

I've been in Indiana for the past several days. Camilla, my niece, was baptized on February 1st so my dad, brother (Darren), and myself made the trip out to celebrate with her.

I know it's shocking to know that I have a niece on my side of the family, in fact I have 2 awesome nieces! Unfortunately, they both live across the country in Indiana, so I don't get to hang with them very often. It was a fabulous trip, hanging out with my family is one of my favorite past times. We love to laugh, we enjoy being together, and sometimes we get a little rowdy.

I don't remember how it started, but right off the bat Darren and my niece Courtney decided to see who could out-prank each other. I think Courtney won by a landslide. Almost-twelve year old girls are very tricky. However, Darren did have a sweet comeback with recording a ringtone on her cell phone that said "Hi, I'm Courtney and I looooooovvvvvveeeee boys!". Very funny. The first morning we were there Courtney showed Darren who was boss by tying his shoes together.


We made homemade pizza one night for dinner. Here's my brother Mike cutting up some onions. He's so manly for not crying! I was commenting to Darren about Mike's gray hair. We all have gray, but Mike's shows up so well because he has black hair. I said to Darren, "I think Mike wins the gray hair contest". Darren quickly put me in my place and said I did....he's probably right when I think about it. I just choose to hide it! Thank goodness for hair products...


Here is my dad and Greg. Greg is the husband of Kelly. Kelly is Kim's sister. Kim is Mike's wife. Get it? Got it? Good. I gave Greg crap all weekend for drinking Citrus Drop, which is the ghetto pop version of Mountain Dew. There was even Mountain Dew available, and he brought his own ghetto pop. Tsk Tsk Tsk! ha ha!


We played lots of Rock Band. Rock Band does weird things to your head. It makes it so whenever you hear music in a store, or in an elevator, or on the radio, you start to imagine yourself in front of the drums or guitar. You can totally imagine the color dots coming towards you, and then you can imagine yourself NAILING the song. Yeah, that's what happened this weekend. Darren and I wished they even had Rock Band songs that were Sunday appropriate so we could Jam on Sunday. I can imagine "Once there was a snowman" on Rock Band, can't you?? Don't even get me started on "Give Said the Little Stream".


Three out of Four Clark siblings (We missed you Curtis!). We all have the same nose.


Here is Camilla, Courtney, and Kim. I was with Mike and Kim when Courtney was born, it's tripping me out that she'll be 12 years old in a few days! The last time I was in Indiana, was for Camilla's baby blessing. And now she's 8. Insanity! I can see why Mike and Kim love Indiana. Kim's extended family lives there and they are a blast to hang out with. They have great friends, and a fantastic community. It's a no brainer, we just wish we could see each other more often.


**Disclaimer** I did NOT manipulate this photo in any way!
Darren, if you want to know what you'll look like in 26 years, check out the guy sitting next to you! It's amazing!


We went to a mall in Indianapolis that had a fun arcade in it. We played fun games and Darren even found a skate boarding game to remind him of his High School days.
Mike also found a virtual batting cage, to remind him of his glory days. I found lots of car racing games, and I couldn't keep the car on the road very well....to remind me that I failed my driving test the first time in High School!





On Sunday, my niece was baptized, and Kelly and Greg's daughter was blessed. It was quite the crazy day. Kim finally had to tape menu's to her kitchen cupboard doors because none of us could keep straight what we were doing that day. We had church, a big dinner, the baptism and blessing, refreshments for the whole neighborhood, and then the Super Bowl with the potluck buffet. It was so fun and so crazy at the same time. At one point Darren counted 60 people in Mike and Kim's house. Once you found a cushy spot, you stayed there because if you got up, you could kiss that cushy spot bu-bye!

Camilla and her cousin Reese.


The reason for the Indiana trip:


The Superbowl. I hope Darren posts his awesome 3D glasses picture he took. It was so funny!





The trip ended before I knew it, as is usually the case. I really wish my mom could have been there with us as well. She had her knee replaced on December 1st and she is still trying to convince her new bionic knee that it WANTS to be friends with her. Thanks again to Mike, Kim, Courtney, and Camilla for being awesome hosts. Can't wait to see you guys again this summer! Just remember....NOBODY SLEEPS!