Guns & Hoses, 2nd Time

Today was the annual Guns and Hoses hockey game between the fire fighters and police officers. We went last year and were happy to return again this year. Our friend Chad Burnside plays for the Hoses. Unfortunately, they kind of got hosed....sorry Chad! The Guns won 11 to 4. However, it was a fantastic time. Kind of a reunion of old time friends - Gilmore's, Burnside's, and we even saw the Page family. Way fun!

It boggles my mind that anybody can actually stand on ice comfortably, let alone play hockey on it.


I remember we took Carson ice skating once...he lasted 5 minutes, crying the whole time, and then we got our money back and left. I think he was 4 or 5 years old. I'm not willing to try it again, anytime soon. Yes, I'm mean like that.

Here's Chad diving for the puck.


Here's Chad swiping some dude's legs out from under him.


Here's Chad looking on as most of his team and the other team got into a huge fight. It was awesome.


Sam was having fun with the camera. Can you tell?

Here's our friend Ed. You may not recognize him here since he's not flipping off the camera...


Here's a guy that was sitting a few rows in front of us. I thought his bone structure was kind of bizarre at the base of his head. That's kind of how Cameron's head feels to me...let's hope he has hair when he's older!


On the way home tonight it was very foggy. Eagle eye Sam saw these freaky deer on the side of the road. We saw them next to a chemical plant. I'm thinking those eyes are glowing for a different reason than my camera flash!


By the way, thanks for the helmet suggestions. Very fun! I've actually added his helmet to his toy box. He loves to play with it!



The first night Cameron went to bed without his helmet was kind of rough. He cried a lot. At about midnight I went in to check on him and he had pulled the bumper pads around his head, from ear to ear, and finally went fast asleep! I couldn't believe it! I put the bumper pads back where they go. The next morning around 7am I went to check on him again. He had pulled the pads right back on top of his head again....security for the head. So weird. Thank goodness he has gotten used to it now, the doctor was right, he probably forgot he ever had a helmet.


Every time I try to get precious pictures of my kids, they never cooperate.




And finally, I got the greatest surprise in the mail the other day! My awesome Aunt Jana randomly sent me this:


I was totally laughing before even opening the card! A penguin loofah scrubber?!? That is SWEET! I collected penguins when I was in High School. Very fun that she remembered that! Her card says it all: "Silly things that are useful are my favorite". I concur! Thanks Jana! You are super awesome cool! I can't wait to start scrubbing stuff. :)

Done! Now What??

Today we went to see Cameron's helmet doctor. I knew he would either say "he's done" or he would say "see you in six weeks".

I was expecting him to say "6 more weeks", but he took off Cameron's helmet and said "he's done". I was so happy, but it was pretty low-key....The doctor, nurse, and orthotist were all standing there and they kept saying "he's done". It finally occurred to me, they were waiting for me to leave the room! I quickly stood up, not knowing how to end this 'relationship'. Shake hands? Slap on the back? Curtsy?

Instead I awkwardly walked past them and said "Gosh, I feel like there should be a parade or something!" At least the nurse laughed....

By now Cameron knows something is going on and he's scratching his head furiously...18 1/2 weeks in a helmet seems to make your head a little sensitive! I asked the doctor if there was something I could do for Cameron's head so it wasn't so sensitive. He said "Bleh, by tomorrow he'll have forgotten he ever had a helmet!"

Let's hope that's true because he cried himself to sleep pretty good tonight. Poor buddy, lost his security 'blanket' on his noggin.

Here is Cameron's last picture I took of him wearing a helmet. It was taken last Sunday. Now...if we could just get his clogged tear duct taken care of and don't EVEN get me started on his acne...


Now the big question: What should I do with the helmet now?





Sam said it would make a nice strainer or a candy bowl...I would love to hear your creative ideas! What would you do with the helmet if you were in my situation? Seriously!!

Gilmore's & The Bounce House

Friday night we went to our friends, the Gilmore's, for dinner. Our mutual friend, Amy Curtis, was in town so Cathy and Amy cooked a gourmet meal and we ate and visited...two of my favorite things to do! I felt really bad when we got in the car to come home because the clock in the car said 11:22pm. Oops, sorry guys, I bet you were happy to see us go! I guess we need to get together more often so we don't need so much time to visit. :)

Cameron and Jane had fun, Cameron even gave Jane a foot massage. Lucky!


Sorry Ed, you KNEW I had to post this! Ed's explanation for this picture is he's excited the Utes were ranked #2 in the nation...see how he's holding up 2 fingers? Nice.


Amy and Cameron were instant friends. Actually, anyone that can hold Cameron's hands while he bounces up and down on the floor is a friend for life! Of course they have a special bond because Amy is the one who came up with Cameron's full name: Cameron Carl Sweet. I love the picture of Cameron looking up at Amy. If you can zoom in on Cameron's mouth, you'll see his 4 top teeth. They look so funny to me!



I think this is such a cute picture of Jane. She is always so happy!


Thanks to Cathy and Amy for the delicious dinner and fabulous conversation. It was a very fun night!

Today we were able to have our two nieces, Sarah and Emilee, hang out with us all day. We had so much fun.

We jammed on Rock Band for a good part of the day. Carson and Sarah shared the drum responsibility and they did really well! I guess having half of a talent is better than no talent at all!


Then tonight we went to Jumping Jacks with our friends, Ryan and Natalie. These bounce houses rock because the kids run around like crazy for a few hours, then sleep super good at night. So fun!

Fun shots:





Ryan and Wesley's face in this picture are CLASSIC!


Natalie...AKA...Super Mom!


More random shots, and yes, Parker is still wearing his Christmas shirt. I pick my battles.





Parker quote:
Yesterday I was tickling him and all around driving him crazy. We were the only two people in the room. All of a sudden he says, very loudly, "Who thinks mom is annoying? Motion Carried!"

That kid is crazy.

Saturday Fun

First of all, thanks to everyone for your sympathy and support regarding last week's ailments and frustrations! Everyone is healthy now for the most part. Cameron is just trying to get rid of his runny nose and the last of his congested cough. His attitude is a little better, thank goodness, and I'm pretty sure the happy days are coming soon! Phew!

Yesterday Sam decided to clean out the garage, so while he was outside, I decided to try and get Carson and Parker involved in a snowball fight. It was pretty funny. Parker would hide behind trees and stand as still as a statue while Carson tried to find him and pound him with an icy snowball. I wasn't much help because I would point Carson in the right direction and then we'd see Parker scream and squeal like a little girl as he ran away. Surprisngly, nobody was seriously wounded and we all had some pretty good laughs.

My favorite part was when Sam was trying to hit Parker with a snowball. He threw four at Parker and missed, all four times. Finally Parker said, in the most innocent voice ever, "What are you trying to hit?". Gotta love that Parker!

For some reason, Parker also decided to plant his face into the snow and then look at his face indentation. See?


Here is the result:


That picture freaks me out because it's like an optical illusion. Sometimes when I look at it it looks like his nose truly is indented into the snow. Other times it looks like the nose is 3-D and coming out of the snow.

Saturday night we went to our friends house, the Hildebrand's. I hope Laura has recovered today because it was a mighty crazy evening! Cameron was fussy britches and cried a lot, hopefully we're invited back over one day!

The kids had a blast, my kids never hang out with girls (because they have cooties) so when there are girly toys around, they totally have a blast!

At one point we looked into the toy room and found Kennedy and Ady dressing up Parker. They put an apron on him, some funky D.I. glasses, and a flower lei. Check out his face? Totally hysterical! Not to mention the tea party going on at the same time, and that naked Barbie on the floor....oh my, I was dying!


Davis, is this really fair competition? Pick on somebody your own size! I can just hear Davis now "come on Matthew, place air hockey with me! I'll even keep one hand in my pocket!" Hey, I just noticed that there are 3 kids hiding under the air hockey table! That's funny, I had no idea. I bet that was loud under there.


Anywho, thanks to Tom and Laura for letting us crash your place and thanks to Holly and Davis for organizing the dinner! Good times! I'm glad Tom had the Jazz game recorded because there was no way he could actually hear what was going on while we were there!

Quite Possibly The Saddest Photo Ever

I'm keeping it real.

Today was a rough one. Cameron is still recovering from Croup. He's pretty much got a super, terrible, really bad cold. But he's a baby, so he can't just drink half a bottle of Nyquil and say "see ya'll next week!"

Enter....The Mother

The Mother is supposed to be nurturing, caring, loving, patient, kind...sigh.

However, THIS mother also works a ton of hours from home. THIS mother also has 2 other children who were home all day, thanks to year-round school. While Cameron was screaming, and had runny boogies down to his chin, Parker decided to be athletic.

We ALL know that "Parker" and "athletic" don't really make a good pair. He jumped high in the air, tried to do a 360, got dizzy after about a 195, and landed on my magazine rack. This isn't your average rack...this baby is wrought iron.

So, remember, I got boogied up Cameron screaming, and now I have Parker screaming. My first thought is "Sam has the car today, I don't have transportation to go get stitches". I'll admit, my first thought SHOULD have been "Poor Parker, let me love him and make the pain go away."

Right amidst the chaos, Sam calls. "Hey Carrie! How's your day?" A perfect wife would answer "It's great honey, take your time coming home tonight, I know you are busy. I'll be sure and have dinner on the table whenever you arrive."

But the REAL me says "Ummmmm, it's been a hard day. Come home as soon as possible. I have to go now....click"

Like I said. I'm keeping it real.

Luckily Parker didn't need stitches, but this picture makes me laugh because it's so sad (Yes, I'm weird. Tell me something I don't know). I actually took the picture for Parker because he wanted to see his 'owie' and he couldn't see it in the mirror. Look at his tears! Somebody, give the poor boy a hug!


Here's a closer look:


He's used to getting hurt though, so one band-aid later and a few funny faces by Carson and me and Parker had totally forgotten about his chin.

I really wish Cameron would forget about his man-cold. I went through an entire box of tissues in about 5 days. I also have washed my hands about 27 times today, I'm serious. You should see my dry, cracked hands. I'm desperate NOT to get sick. How can I be the wonderful, caring and compassionate mother if I get sick too?

Oh....wait.....hmmmmm, maybe I should start taking Vitamin C as well....

Yep, Fern Won

Yep, that picture from my last post was of the main rotor hub on a helicopter. Fern (and Russ) won so I made them bread. It's my new favorite recipe, I made it again last night. Super easy, but amazingly good!

Sam took the boys to the Life Flight hangar on Friday. I have to say, I absolutely love all the Life Flight employees. They are always so good to my boys, including Sam! They stop what they are working on and give a 1st class tour every single time Sam shows up.

They sit in the airplanes and helicopters and patiently explain the answer to every question that gets fired at them.


In this picture, the pilot taught Parker how to move and adjust the spot light located below the helicopter. That's what Carson is intently staring at.


I guess at one point the pilot started the engine on the helicopter while Parker was sitting in it. Parker didn't cry, but Sam said it totally freaked him out! He couldn't get Parker to sit in the helicopter after that. Let's hope Parker never needs the helicopter for a medical rescue or he may not let them save him!


On Saturday Sam took the boys sledding. This picture takes me back to my childhood:


We always had saucers to sled with and I always ended up going down the hill backwards!

The sledding didn't last long. Parker was happier sitting on his bum, going at the speed of a sloth, down the hill.


And Carson, decided to bury himself in the snow, instead of sledding backwards on it.


Oh well, to each his own.

This week we are going to focus on getting everyone healthy. Cameron is still trying to recover from Croup, Parker randomly started puking yesterday, and Carson has a cough that rattles the whole house. Sheesh!

Oh, and guess what? For my Christmas present, my parents hired a maid for a one-time deal and she came and cleaned my house on Saturday. It was so nice to come home to a gleaming house, and I wasn't the one who had to do it! She even cleaned my blinds! SCORE!

Well, winter has struck once again, time to go shovel the driveway...maybe...

What Is It?

What is this a picture of?


The first person to guess it right, and if you live close to me, I'll make you some of this:



For Christmas, my brother and his wife gave me a really good Bread Cookbook. This bread comes from that book. I'll admit my geekiness....I hated to cut into it because it was so pretty! However, I'm happy to say, it tasted as good as it looked!

Guess what the mailman delivered today? It came from England and it made Sam super happy and giddy.


Yes, calendars and homemade bread make us happy. Like I've said before...we are low maintenance! ha ha ha!

Cameron's croup is getting better, thank goodness. I gave him his second dose of steroids today....which he promptly SPIT out half of it! Talk about frustrating... I called the doctor and they think he'll be okay without it. He's not barking anymore, just regular coughing and a runny nose. I wish babies had the ability to blow their nose. He can blow raspberries at me, why can't he use those skills on his nose? Just a thought.

Happy 2009!

I've already had lots of practice writing "2009" today while I was at the doctor's office so the year has already "broken" me in. How lucky am I?

Let me back up.

Last night was New Year's Eve. I figured it was going to be a quiet one just because we have all been super busy and everyone was coming down with a cold. My work can get pretty insane at year end so I was working in the office, which meant getting kids up WAY before dawn to get them to a sitter so Sam and I could be at work by around 7:30.

Yesterday when we came home from picking the kids up, I heard Cameron *bark*. Instantly I was brought back to when he was 2 months old and I heard the same sound. Blast. I think Cameron has the Croup.

So the kids all went to bed by 8:00pm. Happy New Year to me!

I was wiped out so I was in bed by 11:00pm. I almost made it...

Sam had other plans. I guess he didn't want to feel like an old fogie. So, he watched all his TIVO'd football games that he had recorded on Sunday. Then about 11:30pm he got his suit on and headed to the Stake Center to chaperone a regional youth dance. He left there around 12:30am. Then just as he pulled into the driveway a really good Cure song started playing on the stereo. So he decided to drive around the neighborhood to listen to the song. As he passed some friends' house, he noticed a lot of cars in their driveway and he happened to know the owners of those cars. So....because he's Sam, and random, he raced home for the toilet paper. He drove back, and wrapped toilet paper around our friends cars. That's just one of the reasons I love Sam.

Then Sam came home, finished a few more moments of football, cleaned junk off our hard drive, and took down the Christmas decorations in our family room. He came to bed around 3:30am. Happy new year to Sam!

At 5:30am I woke up to more barking. DANG! I was hoping it would just go away.
So I was up pretty much the rest of the early morning hours holding my croupy baby.

We took Cameron in to the KidsCare this morning and my suspicions were confirmed. Croup....steroid medicine for two days....he's contagious.....good thing we didn't party it up on New Years. When he was two months old and had the steroid medicine it was horrible. He was super cranky for 2 days. I'm hoping now that he's older he won't be so crazy. Yeah right....

We did have good news today. We cleaned up all our Christmas decorations and as I removed the tree skirt from under the tree, a present flew out! Seriously! I couldn't believe it! Here it is:


I opened it....a very generous gift card from my brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Kim! So funny! So I got to call Mike and thank him twice for their gifts! ha ha ha!


Happy new year to me!

Tonight we were out running a few errands. As we were leaving one store the cashier gave Carson and Parker each a helium balloon. Now, I have to preface this with some background info. My kids are famous for having bad luck with helium balloons. Just to name a few instances: One time Carson had a helium balloon for about 5 minutes, he walked by a pine tree in our driveway, the balloon hit it, and popped.
Another time, a car dealership gave Carson a balloon. We walked outside the dealership, Carson lost his grip, and the balloon flew away. Those are just a few examples....I could go on for another hour on this subject!

So, the cashier hands them balloons, thinking she's all noble and awesome. I smiled, instantly bent down to my kids' eye level and said "Now listen to me, if those balloons pop or are let go, I better not see ANY tears!".

We go to a grocery store next. Carson leaves his balloon in the van because he's nervous. Parker brings his into the store.

After Sam rammed Parker's ankle with the shopping cart, Parker cried. Sam picked him up to console him. He put him back down, the balloon pops off Paker's wrist and flies up to the ceiling. Wow, Albertson's has high ceilings! Now Parker is crying because his ankle hurts AND he lost his balloon. So much for my "no tears" threat. The only thing that would make Parker stop wailing in Albertson's is when I quoted a line from "Horton hears a who", which I have never seen, but it goes something like "In my world everyone is a pony and they eat rainbows and poop butterflies". Out of pure desperation I remembered that line because Carson says it 100 times a day. It worked. Parker couldn't help it, and the corners of his mouth went up. I guess there is a place for potty talk after all. Hmmmm.

So, we go back out to the van, Sam opens the back to put the groceries in, and Carson's balloon flies up to the stars. For the love. Then Carson starts crying. Honestly, did no one hear my "you better not cry" comment? The only one not crying was Cameron and he had every right to cry, he has the croup for crying out loud. Truth be told, Sam and I were laughing our guts out. Yes, we're not very compassionate, but you should already know that about us.

So change of subject.

I remember when I married Sam and one day, early in my married life of belonging to the Sweet fam, I watched in horror, as Fern bought Christmas M&M's on sale, after Christmas. Then she proceeded to separate the green M&M's from the red ones. When I asked her what the *&!# she was doing, she said "Now the red M&M's are for Valentines Day and the Green ones are for St. Patrick's day".

Honestly, I thought she was wack-a-doo. Who would take the time to do such a thing? Was it really that important to have perfectly coordinated M&M's for those two upcoming holidays? Seriously, wack-a-doo.

As we were dealing with balloon crisis at Albertson's, I saw a huge bag of Christmas M&M's out of the corner of my eye...50% off....I couldn't just walk past that deal could I? Suddenly, I had the frugal desire to buy it, separate the colors and save them for the next two holidays. OH NO! I went from wack-a-doo to WACK-A-DID!!! I bought the bag and separated the colors. 10 years of belonging to the Sweet family and Fern's tradition has finally rubbed off on me! I'm proud and a bit ashamed at the same time...in a good way.

So now that I've admitted my....uh.....acceptance of the M&M trick, I have some interesting facts for you.

Here I am at the start of the process:


Now, knowing that there are 3 colors of these M&M's: light green, dark green, and red, do you think there are going to be twice as many green M&M's as red?

Carson loves doing experiments so I told Carson after I separated them all out, we would weigh them on my kitchen scale.

I couldn't believe the results:



So, even with two colors of green and only one red color, they weigh the same! I don't know why, but that intrigued me. Carson loved it, I wish I would have taken a picture of his face. He was positive there were going to be more greens. Maybe we can turn this into a science project one year....

Well, Happy New Year once again! Let's all say a little prayer that Cameron doesn't start barking tonight because if he does, I have to go out into the freezing cold night air with him to open up his airways. Oh who am I kidding...I'd probably make Sam do it!