WARNING: Do not read if you have trouble with poo stories

While I was typing that last entry, my dear little girl called me from the family room and said "Um Mom, there's a little problem in here. There's this black stuff on the ground." Alarm goes off in my head as I jump up to see what's happening. My sweet, almost 8 month old boy is playing in his poo. Yeah! He had obviously pooed a lot as it wasn't contained in his diaper and had roller over 2 times and then landed himself back in it. His hands were covered so I held those up as I'm yelling to my 4 year old to "Go start the bathwater!!!!" and trying to decide how in the world I'm going to get his clothes off of him. I stood him up by the tub (all the while he smearing the stuff on the side of the tub) and pulled layer by layer off, trying not to get anything on his head. By this time I have "the nasty" all over my hands and arms and gagging like no other (but I never did throw up- kudos to me). I grabbed a towel and finished de-robing the baby and stuck him in the tub. Getting him clean was the easy part and he loves baths so there was no complaint there. Anyway, so I got him redressed and surveyed the damage. I came downstairs and scrubbed carpets and so forth. Then the laundry. Lets just say I am now out of Spray 'n Wash. He was holding his pacifier and one of Tyson's Star Wars figures. Don't tell Ty, but his Storm Trooper is now in the trash along with that coveted paci.

A prayer that backfired

Here's a little story about a little motherhood mishap on my part. Mike was gone the other night and I was getting the kids ready for bed. We always kneel by Anna's bed and say prayers together. I said the prayer that night. Tyson was making a lot of noise and playing with the kitty while we were praying. I asked Heavenly Father to help Tyson remember how to act during the prayer and not to play with the kitty- mostly so Tyson would hear that and change his behavior. I didn't think much of that action until last night when again, Mike was gone and we were saying prayers. It was Tyson's turn and this time Anna was making a little noise. Well, Tyson took it upon himself to ask Heavenly Father to help Anna remember that she wasn't supposed to play with the baby during prayers. It's kind of funny because the whole time Tyson was praying he had his eyes open watching Anna. I know this because he had said too many details in his prayer about what she was doing. So, my idea of helping my son's behavior during prayer time backfired on me because he then used it in turn on his sister. Smart little thing. All of the funny little kid things just make my day. In this case, I think I'm the one who learned a lesson about what not to do during prayers.

Beyond Frustrated

Tonight was the annual SUPAF meeting that the Exchange Club does in which they have helped with the tasks of putting together the judge sheets and filled out the return forms. They've always had pizza and have had 30-40 people attend. Who puts the party/meeting on? The director. Now that I'm the director, that would be me. So I plan it, at their request, send out the info and the reminders, and what do I get, a whole lot of nothing. Yep, only one couple came. I was so frustrated tonight. All this club cares about is getting its name on everything, but they are willing to do close to nothing. I do all the work, they want the fame (so to speak). Grrrr! The man who did come was very mad. He is going to kick some butt for me and is very embarrassed for the club. That made me feel a little better. I only have two more weeks. I really think this festival is a great thing for the students in the area. I feel it is necessary for them to have this. I really care about making it work. It's a lot of pressure too. It's up to me to either make it happen or not. SO, when I have to work with people who only hinder the progression it's really hard on me, because whatever it is THEY don't do, the fault lies on MY shoulders. Mike is just done with me working with them. He thinks I should finish out this festival and then take it over as my own organization with a few trusted people who I know care about it as much as I do. It's a good idea, but I don't know how well it would go over with the "traditional" people in the area. You're talking to someone who has no roots in any city, and therefore no real, long-lasting tradition. I'm all for new things- especially if the old doesn't work. Tonight was just the breaking point for me. Ugh. I've deleted like 5 different tangents from this post full of sarcastic and rude remarks that are sailing through my brain right now. That's not very professional is it. Well, I guess once I see some money from them then I'll be professional. Until then, I'm just a disgruntled volunteer.

So, each child thinks Sophie is their very own. Tyson believes she is his way of practicing new ways of torture. This morning he locked her into the playroom, he's always using his foot to "pet" her, grabs her by the front legs to help her "walk", etc. Anna truly believes that Sohpie is our baby girl. She wraps her in blankets ALL the time, cradles her in her arms, and I'm sure that the next step will be dressing her in doll clothes. Sophie loves Anna to death because Anna is so fun to play with. She is attacking her legs when Anna walks by and sneaks into Anna's room every night wanting to sleep with her. Sophie likes Mike and I during the most annoying times- of course. When we are cooking dinner she is always at our feet and we constantly trip on her. She crawls in every cabinet and fridge that opens and has been caught in them a few times. The most annoying is when we are working at the computer and she trys attacking the keys or cursor on the screen. Stupid. Despite all she does and we do with her, it's clear to everyone who she really belongs to- BRAYDEN! She has a sleeping baby detector and must cuddle with him. She has adapted to the pulling and grabbing and just lets him do it. Here are some pictures of our 6th member of the family....

No cat can resist Christmas boxes.

She just let him do this.

I just think this picture is hilarious.

This is Sophie helping me schedule SUPAF.

Hello Mr. Fireman

We were getting ready for FHE tonight when the electricity went out. We called Beth to see if hers was out in Hurricane (it wasn't), but our whole side of town was black. It was fine because we were making "thank-you's" for people that we wouldn't normally think of and so Mike got out the propane lantern and we all sat at the table, had a little opening song and prayer, and then got to work. We were almost done when the lights came back on. It was about 10 to 8pm. Mike turned off the lantern and left the room. The lantern made a sound and a flicker but I didn't think that much of it until a few minutes later when we started smelling gas. Mike picked up the lantern and turned it around and fire started coming out from in between the lantern and the gas tank. Mike got it out side to the porch and the lantern was a total loss and the seal on the tank had broken off, shooting a huge flame into the air. We decided to call the fire dept. Mike told them it was not that big of a deal and when they drove up in a Suburban we were grateful. Well, we were only grateful for a moment because not far behind was the fire truck along with another fire vehicle. Lights were flashing- it was great. Neighbors were coming over thinking my head had exploded again. In the mean time, Tyson is FREAKING out. He was almost in tears thinking our house was going to burst into flames and we were all going to die. Now, remember, just before that the lights had been out, so the kids were freaking out about that and thought we were going to die over that to, so we were on a roll. In fact, Anna's explanation for the lights was "I know why the lights went out. It was the Space Aliens." Anyway, so we had two rather stirred up little children. The firemen got the fire out safely and now we have a propane tank in our backyard leaking until empty. The positive in this was that our little FHE benefited from this. We had been making cards for people we would often not think about and since firemen aren't in our house everyday, Tyson made them a card. It turned out to be a rather adventurous night. All is well, the house is standing, and the kids got a little token to keep from the event. Firemen hats. This is Ms. Penguin. She's the class stuffed animal. Each kid gets to have a turn with her. They take her home and write in a journal about the adventures they have with her. Just so happens it's Tyson's turn with Ms. Penguin. I think this will make a wonderful journal entry.

Isn't he just Squishalicious!

The man himself with the three little fire people (is that politically correct?)

Good Morning Kids

The children are getting a bit mischievous these days. They wake up at about 6 (before we do) and usually they turn on the cartoons and veg until I get them ready. Yesterday, when Mike came downstairs at about 10 after 6, Tyson had the computer on, a game in, and was playing. That's a big no-no in our house. No computer w/out asking. Today when I came downstairs, they were using our $250 camera to take pictures and they had popsicles out (though they couldn't figure out how to open them-HA!). The funniest thing to me is that even if I hadn't caught them, there are pictures on the camera. Ty managed to take two photo's and two video's. Ah, my little genius. What the?
The incriminating picture of half of Anna with a wrapped popsicle. Hum?

Ha!

The cat talks in her sleep. She was sleeping on a chair in the living room and I kept hearing her crying. I looked in to find her out cold and totally dreaming. Her tail is wagging (as much as a cats tail can "wag") and her legs are moving. It's awesome. Cats are stupid but so funny.

SUPAF..take 2

Ok, so I'm really not as crazy as I made myself sound in that last post. All the forms are coming in and though it is a lot of work, I am learning so much. I know a few things I'll do different next year and a few things that I'll keep the same. The only thing I'm a little nervous about still is the 75 or so volunteers I have to organize. The thing I keep having to remind myself is that even though this is my first year, many of the people involved have been involved for a long time, so I won't have to babysit or anything like that. Anyway, thought I'd let you know I'm sane. :)

SUPAF

AHHHH! I have 7oo groups and solos to schedule, $7,000 to but in the correct places, 21 adjudicators to bow down to, volunteers to organize, press releases to write, and about 7 million questions to answer "nicely" all by my little self. AND I only have one month before the festival. ONE MONTH!!! The crappy thing is that I haven't put anything off. I'm on schedule and this is still how much work I have left to do! Stacey (the previous director) if you are reading this, I idolize you at this point in my life. Just a heads up and apology to everyone in advance- If you talk to me during the month of February and I bite your head off, I'm sorry and it's most likely not your fault.

Comments

Mike is mad that I took the comments off so I'm putting them back on. If you have issues with this, e-mail me.

Family Pictures- We Love Sears!

We got our family pictures done today. Usually we have them done in November, but we are running behind. We got a lot of Anna because she looked so dang cute in her dress. Mike and Anna dressed up because they had matching clothes. Enjoy.

A Year in Review

1. What did you do in 2008 that you had never done before?
I mother three kids now, that's new. I work from home. I had my gal bladder removed. Yup, never done that before. Do homework with my first born.
2. Did you keep any new years resolutions and will you make any new ones for 2009?
Yes. We've had regular FHE and scripture study with our kids. We have not gone to the temple regularly like we wanted to though.
3. Did anyone close to you die?
My sisters little newborn died at three months. That was very sad for the whole family. Our previous neighbor died in a horrible car accident. A boy died tragically at Mike's school. All the deaths that surrounded us all came within one month and were hard to deal with. It was a learning experience- both emotionally and spiritually.
4. What countries did you visit?
I visited Las Vegas. It might as well be another country. Well, and I live in Utah, so it's like I'm in a different country all the time.
5. What would you like to have more of in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Umm lets see.....we could use more income, which will be fixed this month and next. I could also use more sanity, time, sleep, patience......
6. What was your biggest achievement in 2008?
Giving birth to my third baby. Yup, I did it naturally and it wasn't nearly as bad as brain surgery. I also think getting used to the whole kindergarten/Mike's new job/Anna's preschool/new baby was quite the achievement. It's a lot to juggle and keep organized (which I know many of you have already aced)!
7. What do you wish you would have done more of in 2008?
I wish I had served more. I find I get kind of complacent and I really need to get out of that state of mind. That and I need to show my kids how do do it more. I also wished I had lost more baby poundage from my huge rear. Give me a few more months.....
8. What do you wish you would have done less of?
Yelling at my kids. It goes back to that whole patience thing. By the third time I ask my kids to do something, my voice is a little louder then it should be and if it's past 5pm, well, don't expect much from me.
9. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Oh yes. He's so handsome and chubby. Yes, he does slobber on me, he smells sometimes, and I have to wait on him 24 hours a day, but I would walk to the ends of the universe for my little Squishy.
10. What did you do on your birthday?
My birthday? Geez, that was 3 months ago. Ok, now it's all coming back. I worked at Tuacahn. It was the rainiest day of the season. I got bucket loads of water dumped on my head from the over head "cover" as the wind picked it up and the pooled water fell out. I was soaked! Not fun, but it was funny.
11. What kept you sane?
Most of the time it was Mike. He keeps me grounded. But having things to do kept me going. Last year (2007) I went crazy staying home. I HATED it. I'm not the type that finds cleaning 24/7 to be fun or in the least bit fulfilling. There has been so much going on this year that I have found sanity in being a "stay-at-home" mom through my new job and the new schedules of my kids.
12. What is the most valuable lesson you learned this year?
I learned two this year. One is that life is short. We are blessed to have every moment with our families and friends. I learned that when I had my surgery, but watching death occur in families helped to remind me of that precious gift. The other is that complacency is bad. I had a bad few months after Brayden was born. I didn't have post-pardum, but when I had to have my gal bladder removed, I was pissed. I just was tired of health problems, became angry with God, and stopped caring about a lot of things. I went through the motions of life. I stopped moving forward because I did nothing to help myself spiritually. I'm glad it was only a few months, but I did learn a lesson, and knowing me, I'll probably have to learn it again a few times before I get it.
13. Quote a song lyric that sums of the year: Just let's sum it up the the music of Les Mis. There's love, hope, agony, death, and salvation. Not to mention, I lived and breathed the show for half the year and I am so grateful that I did.

Auditions

Anna is trying out for a role as an orphan in "Annie" for Tuachan this summer. We took head shots the other day. This is the one we picked.

New Years Baby!

My sister-in-law, Jen, gave birth this morning to a 6 pound, 10 ounce, 20 inch baby boy. His name is Trevor Noah Titus. Congrats you guys. I think it's awesome he was born today! There are now 10 grandkids on my side of the family- 8 are boys and only 2 girls. Hum...wonder who will be spoiled.....