Say AHHH

Jeremy has a cousin Barbie who is the Technical Director of the SleepBetter Institute and she was over playing with Jonas one day. She noticed how large his tonsils were and recommended that we have them checked by our doctor. We took Jonas in and our doctor asked if Jonas snored. Why yes, yes he did. He concurred with Barbie about the abnormally large tonsils and told us, "Yup, they need to come out". 2 weeks later on November 2, at 7:30am we were in the hospital outpatient area getting ready for Jonas' surgery. He had to have a  tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. They gave him a liquid medicine to drink that made him all loopy. To watch it go here. It was pretty funny to watch him. We only got a little bit because the anesthesiologist came and we had to stop recording. Then they took him away. I hate that waiting. I had to do it with Jeremy and Ally when they got their appendix out. I know they are common procedures but it still makes me anxious. They carried him back to me after about 45-50 minutes and he looked so sad and sick. He kept growling at us because he was frustrated that his throat hurt and he wanted us to make it stop, but the growling only made it worse. He was still so groggy and couldn't decide whether he wanted to go back to sleep or stay awake. The nurses made him a slushie which he loved! Jeremy and I gave him a Thomas the Tank Engine with pumpkins and he got to watch Cars. When we took him home all he wanted to do was lay on the couch and watch Cars, over and over. Nanna got him a Thomas the tank engine movie and Barbie got him a remote control truck! He did pretty good taking his Tylenol with Codine and antibiotics that first day. But that was the only day. The 2nd day he refused to take his medicine. I had to hold him down and slowly feed him his antibiotics. The Tylenol tasted disgusting and I didn't blame him for not wanting to take it but that meant his throat didn't feel better. And if it didn't feel better, it hurt to eat, so he wouldn't eat. He didn't, for 2 1/2 days. He barely drank anything too. He would point to his mouth and say "My mouth is sick mom" I was at a loss and so worried, but then, on the 4th day he woke up and asked for eggs. I made him 6. He ate 4 of them. Relief!!! Other favorites were yogurt, jello-o, pudding, Slurpees and applesauce. He wasn't too fond of Popsicle and ice cream. Maybe they were too cold. 10 days later we went in for a post-op check-up and he's doing great. He doesn't snore anymore and I swear he hears better. His speech has improved too. Our doctor told us it was going to be a week from heck and he was right but Jonas has improved so much it was worth it!

Halloween

Halloween! I totally spaced it and forgot to take pictures of my cute kids in cute costumes so I stole a few from my s-i-l, Beth. Ally, Andie and Jonas look like they did on Halloween. James is missing a few things from his costume, like his cardboard sign "Will work for candy". He also had mismatched shoes and I drew a beard on him. He's supposed to be a bum.

Jonas got called multiple things. Dinosaur, dragon, alligator, crocodile. I didn't care. He was costumed and warm.

Ally is Spider-girl. Andiepants is a pirate.

We went to truck-or-treat and then hit a few houses. Jeremy drove around and we went to houses of relatives to show off  costumes. Lots of candy and fun!

Thank you Sam!

So our dryer broke down about 3 or 4 months ago. It progressively got worse. At first it took about an hour to dry a load. That's normal, right. Then 70, 85, 100 minutes. By the time I got rid of it last Thursday it took 3 hours to dry 2 towels. There was no heat to it at all. Luckily in my unfinished basement I have 5 clothes lines. I have some outside too but carrying it all up the stairs, outside, and to the very back of the yard to hang took a while. Plus any breeze would blow them off. I just didn't have enough clothespins. So the basement did the trick.

My clotheslines

Jeremy has a cousin that had a nice washer and dryer he just didn't need anymore. He offered them and I gladly took them off his hands. Nothing was wrong with our washing machine but at our family cabin the washing machine was kaput. Jeremy's aunt didn't want a front loader because it got in the way of the accordion doors. So it worked out that they replaced the cabin washer with my top loading washer up there.

New dryer!

New washer!

It's been so nice. I used hardly any detergent compared to what I used to use, less water and it only takes me around 2 hours to wash and dry a load of laundry. No hanging and checking for dry clothes for me. I feel so spoiled!

Galoon

That's what my grandpa called it. He had a few words he would mix up like that. The girls have done a cotton candy stand this summer and as a reward my sister and her husband decided to take our whole family to Lagoon. Jeremy got a stomach bug and couldn’t make it. but the rest of us loaded up and had some fun while he got some peace and quiet.

Last time I went was 2007. My girls were young and weren't fond of the rides, Ally especially. I went on 2 rides that day. Colossus and Sky Coaster. We did go miniature golfing and that was fun! This year was much different. Ally still didn't like too many rides. Andie did, she went on Wicked with me. A first for both of us. I did not like the very start of it but the rest I loved.

First ride, Tidal Wave!

Andie went with other adults on bigger rides while I took Ally and the boys to kiddieland. Oh my goodness it was so much fun! 

 When Jonas heard we were going on a train he was super excited. He walked about it over and over for a long time. 

 The grown-ups went to the haunted houses and we hung out waiting for them for a while. One of the houses had a fog machine that James loved. He got right up close and danced and jumped every time smoke came out.

Thanks Jake and Kenzie for the amazing day!

An Attempt

We have a kid’s fold-out couch that Jeremy and I got Andrea for her 1^st birthday. She’s 7 ½ now. So it has seen better days. They girls loved it but they have grown too big for it. So, the boys have taken it over. It fits them both just perfect. It’s also Cinderella princess styled. They didn’t seem to mind. I didn’t either, but after 6 ½ years it has acquired some stains and holes. I decided to make a new cover for it. I searched and search online to find a pattern. Maybe some talented seamstress made one and I can benefit from her experience. But no, I couldn’t find one anywhere so I decided seam ripped mine, and try to make my own pattern.  It took FOREVER. That’s what kept me busy during conference! Then I needed to find the fabric. I laid all my pieces on a twin size flat sheet. It was just right! So I went in search of a flannel twin flat sheet. The cheapest I found was $20. That’s still cheaper than the $35 it would cost to buy a new one but more than I wanted to spend. So I measured it all and went searching for fabric off the bolt. I visited Hobby Lobby. Their cheapest was $6.99/yard x 3 yards = $21+tax. Still wasn’t going to spend that much.  Call me a cheap wad.  And I wasn’t wowed with their fabric patterns. (Except for Thomas the Tank Engine) Then I went to Wal-Mart. They had some Transformers flannel on clearance for 3.99/yard. Yay! I could do that! I quickly bought it up and went to work.  

 After I seam ripped the couch I labeled each piece and on a paper described where they went. So glad I did this. If I were to do this again I would’ve taken a ton more pictures! Then I sewed and sewed.

(Don't you just love my orange carpet? I know you do!)

 . I was so worried that it would be tight and I wouldn’t be able to put mine on it so some places look baggier than others but it turned out okay. Plus I didn't smooth it out very well before I took a snapshot. The boys love it and I’m hoping it will last another 6 ½ years! 

Boating

My bro-in-law called me up asking what we were up to the next day. Nothing planned, so he invited us to go boating. Bummer that his wife and my husband had to work but he brought along his good friend and between the three of us, we handled the kids. It was so much fun.

 Andie went out on the tube every chance she could. She is so brave!

Jonas, at first, was terrified all together. He would not let go of the railing of the boat unless he had a death grip on me. He warmed up and eventually went on the tube, thanks to Jake. We stopped and went swimming for a bit.

 James is more like Andie. Throws caution to the wind and does what he pleases. Scared me out of my wits a few times but he made it back on land safe and sound.

They each got a turn to drive the boat and thought that was the bee’s knees.

Thanks Jake and Josh, we had a wonderful time! (We missed you Kenz and Jeremy)

Peach Days

I think I have a love/hate relationship with Peach Days. I love it because it brings parades with candy, booths galore, yummy food, walking in the middle of the road without fear of getting hit by a car, rides, and seeing friends you haven’t seen in a while. Just lots of fun stuff. It brings back memories of good times I have had at Peach days. Unfortunately it also brings lots and lots and lots of people. That makes the traffic scary and crowds. Such big crowds. It’s hard to push a double stroller through those crowds while making sure my older girls are still following and have not been distracted by something fancy. Some people are so sweet and make room while others glare, making me feel like I should just go home. I like the booths too much to go home. Doing all this solo is hard. Friday night Jeremy had the awesome opportunity to go to the UTE/USU football game. USU won and I contribute that to Jeremy’s attendance. Go Aggies! Then the next night he had to work. Peach Days also brings saving spots. I miss the days where you could just show up Saturday morning 15 minutes before the parade started and sit wherever. Now we need to show up hours before you can even save a spot to make sure you have a spot. My family of 9 growing up sure has expanded and to have a spot that fits all of us needs saving. Instead of 9 people we have anywhere from 30-35 people. I hate the negativity that always comes with it. Alright, I am off my soapbox now, sorry about that. Time for the love!

Friday, Beth and her kids came up. We went to the Jr. parade, ate some food and had a fun time. She also took my girls on the carousel. Such an awesome aunt!

Saturday was the big parade. Here is my bro Dan and his son Cody in for the Search & Rescue

 My sis Tabitha made this float for her family’s business, the next few pics are just floats I thought were cool

Jonas hates loud noises so Dad plugged his ear for him while the sirens went off

We had lunch after the parade at my sister’s house so we could celebrate her daughter’s birthday. Then we visited Jeremy at the SleepBetter Institute open house. Then we went through booths. Ally bought a very cute pocket watch and oriental fan. Andie bought slime, a duck that lights up, and a sword that lights up. Andie, all day Friday and Saturday asked over and over about going on rides. After going through booths she still had most of her earned money left so she and Ally went in together and got tickets to go on rides. Andie chose the back seat of dragon ride. Allyson was NOT thrilled by that. I felt sorry for her but not sorry enough to giggle at the look of panic on her face. I know, I shouldn’t have laughed by I knew she was safe. After the ride she got after Andie by telling her that Andie knew she was afraid of heights so why did she pick the back seat? I thought that was a bit funny too, because that ride is only about 6 feet off the ground. Poor Ally. She chose the carousel for her ride and loved every second of it. 

The boys were getting pretty tired but stayed pretty happy most of the time.

Labor Day

This year for Labor day we skipped town and headed to our favorite spot. You guessed it, Alpine! Not a whole lot pictures taken but I made sure to get some of the stair slide. If you did not have a stair slide as a kid you did not really have a childhood. Okay you really did but you missed out. It started out as just a slick sleeping back but it quickly improved.

 We added pillows in between each stair, covered those with blankets, covered the blankets with slick sleeping bags, and then to top it all off added a mattress at the bottom of the stairs. Yeah, it rocked!

 Andie, our little daredevil, went head first!

But then Andie went and got her head stuck in between the railing on the balcony. Luckily we got her out without the use of an aide. (i.e. Crisco, butter)

School

Summer vacation is over. Boo! I love summer vacation. I can sleep in til 8:30. No grumbling in the mornings, no trying to help kids figure out what they are going to wear so they can be “poplier”, no whining about “she never has homework, I always do every day. Always”  No working my schedule around pick-up time. I love having my girls home. Not only are they fun to talk to but they help out around the house too. Especially with the boys. But alas, summer vacation must end. My children must get educations, contrary to Andrea’s belief. She cracks me up. Allyson started 3^rd grade. She has an amazing teacher, Mrs. Nelson, that came and visited us clear back in June. Andrea’s teacher, Mrs. Romer, is excellent. Both girls have nothing but nice things to say about their teachers. I love when that happens. That hasn’t ever not happened, not yet. I hope it stays that way.

And so school commences. 

Jonas started a week and a half after the girls. He goes to the Early Learning Center out in Corinne. He absolutely loves it. He rides the bus to and from and gets so excited when it drives down our street to pick him up. His teacher is Ms. Emily, who is super sweet. He is learning so much so quickly.