It's NOT his birthday

We had a tough time picking Tyler's birthday this year. The 28th was out because Dad would be out of town. The 27th was a Sunday, and who would pick to have their birthday on a Sunday? Not a teenager. The 25th was snow camp, nope that wouldn't work. So we settled this year on the 26th. February 26th became the day we celebrated the birth and life of this great kid.

All this great kid wanted for dinner was salmon. We took him to La Jolla Groves for some of the best salmon out there. Tyler would literally eat fish every day if he could. Where did he come from?

We then took him and a friend to Provo Beach Resort to do the ropes coarse there. They had a great time climbing, swinging, teetering, whatever you do on a ropes coarse and dodging and ducking under laser beams in the laser room. These 2 have been friends since 1st grade.

Tyler has definitely been blessed with great friends.

My mom had given us a cake from Smiths several weeks ago. Tyler ate some and said it was the best cake he had ever had and asked if he could have it on his birthday. Umm, yes! So a $5.99 sour cream pudding cake was purchased and devoured by the birthday boy while we sang our traditional "Happy Birthmonth" song to him.

And then this kid was given a pile of gifts, that he thought were pretty great!

This great kid of mine is growing up, quite literally. I can't believe how tall he is getting, the things he is doing, the talents that he has and the choices he is making. He is doing great things and I am certain that many more great things lie ahead for this teen. I am grateful he is mine. I am grateful for the things he is teaching me. I am grateful he was born 15 years ago on a day that would be lost most years on the calenders, but never in our hearts. I am so grateful for my Tyler Rex and my love for him is great indeed!
Happy Birthmonth Ty!

Presidents Past

Yes, we actually have a Presidents Day tradition. And, yes, we do it every year, without fail. The tradition comes from Trevor's youth. It is something his family did while he was growing up, and it is something that has been part of our children's lives as they are growing up also. That's kind of how traditions work. And like most of our traditions, this one also involves food.

Good, old fashioned food.

The tradition is this. We eat like the Presidents of old would eat. What would Presidents of old eat? Well, in our minds the only thing they ate was stew and maybe some homemade rolls. And so that's what our meal consists of every single Presidents day, hearty stew and a batch of homemade rolls. We eat by candlelight, we eat with only the basics, no place mats or decorations. We eat and then we discuss.

This is a picture of our discussion. The discussion where dad pulls out his fact sheets about good old George and Abe and he reads them. The kids are always fully engaged, OR bored out of their mind and sleeping on the table. The latter is usually the case. I have a great respect for the Presidents of old and am grateful for this tradition which allows me and my family to reflect on them and our great country, I don't think we do that often enough. Oh, and if we lived in those days half of my kids would starve, because every year on Presidents day I clear off 3 to 4 bowls of "old fashioned" stew that hasn't even been touched. That seems to be part of the tradition too!

Our newest addition

Every day, when the newspaper came, the kids would frantically search for the newest piece.

The newest piece to the newest family member we were growing right in our own home.

He is paper thin and doesn't talk or eat much. He just kind of hangs around.

It took 4 agonizing days until he was full grown and we were able to finally talk face to face with...

... Jimmer Fredette. Our Jimmer. He lives with us. He watches us. And we, as his family, cheer for him at each game. We are proud of our Jimmer and are looking forward to an awesome March Madness.
GO COUGARS!

Out cold

It was a typical Wednesday morning. We were in my bathroom and I was doing Alyssa's hair before school, just like I do every day. She was reading her school book, also typical, leaving some of her homework until minutes before she left for school. All of a sudden she said in a panicked voice, "Mom, I can't see!" And the next thing I knew she was out cold. A dead faint, right in my arms. I lowered her to the ground and my medical mind began to race. Why did my healthy 8 year old just faint? There had to be a reason. What in the world was wrong with her? Trevor was out of town, of course. If I took her to the doctor, how many tests would they run? What was wrong with her!?! What could have possibly caused her to faint? After she came to and I got her settled in bed we tried to figure it out. Did she lock her knees? No, she said she didn't. Did she eat breakfast? Yep, she did. Did anything happen this morning that I should know about? Nope. Finally, I think it was Bryce who asked, "Was it the book you were reading?" There was a pause and then a quiet response, "maybe".

This was the book in question.

This was the page that started the process,

a bee sting right in the eye.

(Who would write such a book?)

And this was the page that did her in.

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  I'm thinking nursing is not in Alyssa's future.




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  Darn it!
  
  
  
  
  

It's all about the LOVE

I love Valentines Day, because I have a lot of people to love.

I also love holidays.

Here is how we celebrated our holiday this year.

We scrambled over the weekend to get all of our Valentines for our classmates filled out. I love watching my kids through this process, brings back such memories. We also had a few boxes to make. Alyssa was especially proud of her ballerina box. (She didn't win the contest, but we anticipated this because we didn't think any boys would vote for a ballerina box...and we were right!)

As usual our kitchen table was covered with roses, candy, cards from Grandma's and other special treats.

When I was running a few errands I saw a lady buying some balloons. I thought they were cute so I bought me some. I came home and tied them to the chairs. Well, you could not imagine the reaction around here. My kids were so excited. I overheard some of their friends saying, "Wow you are having a big party." Not really, we were just having a Valentines dinner, but the balloons definitely added to the evening. I will be buying balloons in the future, they were so simple yet so festive. How can you not love a balloon?

We then invited over some of our favorite people and had our traditional Valentines dinner.

Heart shaped meatloaf, pink mashed potatoes, red jello with whipped cream, red punch, oh, and some green asparagus. It was delicious if I do say so myself. It was a great meal, a great holiday, followed by a great Family Home Evening surrounded by the people I love the most. What could be better?

Happy Valentines Day!

Thoughts

*Apparently, I am the queen of first aid. I was asked by the ward to be the first aid merit badge counselor. I taught my first class yesterday. I got an email from Alyssa's Activity day leader asking if I would be willing to teach the girls first aid this summer. And last week the Girls Camp director called and asked me to go to girls camp this year to be the first aid specialist and resident nurse. All of a sudden, first aid is my life. Am I really that good at first aid? Absolutely not! I haven't worked as a nurse for like 10 years, but I'm always up for telling a good and gory first aid story (of which I have many). And teaching someone skills that might actually save somebody's life, well that ain't so bad either.


*Alyssa lost another tooth this week. It was the top front. Now she is missing both front teeth. The exaggerated lisp that accompanied this tooth loss was cute for about oh,.....5 minutes and then it turned very annoying. She looks cute, but I'm kind of sad. Goodbye tiny cute white teeth. Hello awkward tooth stage. I'm not ready for that on her cute little face just yet, but ready or not here it comes.


*This has been a crazy week, as usual. I felt swamped, again! I was trying to plan 3 Valentine Parties, prepare for my first aid merit badge class, prepare for a Stake meeting, prepare a court of Honor, attend the Worldwide Leadership meeting, attend a School District meeting with Brandon for scouts, buy and help my kids assemble all of their Valentines and make 2 Valentine boxes for the big contest at school. I was barely making it, and then Ethan came home from school excitedly waving a bright colored paper in the air. "Guess what mom? I'm the star of the week!" Are you kidding me? But what could I do? He was so proud and excited and just couldn't believe his luck that he was the star of the week on Valentines Day! I couldn't believe my luck either. And somehow, we will pull it off, the poster, the treats, the favorite book, everything that being the star of the week involves, and it will be great, for my Eto, because he really is a star!


*So, not only does Bryson not yell, he doesn't really complain either. When he does complain it is quiet and brief and so naturally I don't pay much attention to it. Really, the squeaky wheel gets the oil right? Well, Bryce is definitely not the squeaky wheel. So the other night I noticed he was hobbling around the house. He could barely walk. I asked him what was wrong and he told me his feet were really hurting. Yes, he had complained a few times about his feet, but it wasn't a lot and I just told him to go put some cream on it. Well, when I say him hobbling I thought I better look at his feet. He took off his socks and I was horrified. He has suffered from eczema of the feet every winter, but I had no idea it could get this bad. He had open cracks all over the bottom of his feet. No wonder he could barely walk. I called the doctor the next morning and we got in to see him that afternoon. The doctor said it was one of the most extreme cases of that he had ever seen. He had to superglue all of the cracks and prescribed some way strong cortisone cream. I felt horrible. I asked the doctor if he thought I was going to win the mother of the year award. He said he doubted it. Anyways, 1 week later Bryce is no longer hobbling around. His feet are so much better. That kid has just got to talk louder, or cry more or yell, or something!


*When it rains it pours for my little Bryce. A couple of weeks ago he told me his tooth hurt. I looked at it and noticed that the gum looked a little funny. He said he couldn't even brush his teeth over that tooth because it hurt so bad. I took him into the dentist and he said he had gum recession. I asked him what in the world causes gum recession in a 10 year old boy. One guess. Overcrowding. Surprise surprise. So last week we had our consult with a periodontist and will soon be scheduling Bryson's gum graft. Yes, a gum graft for my 10 year old. After all his poor mouth has already been through. Of all my kids, Bryce is the one who is the most terrified of the dentist. He literally gets tears in his eyes just even thinking about shots in his mouth. This should be fun. Really fun.



*We had one really warm day this week. Every single one of my kids was outside playing. It was heaven. I realized again how much I miss my kids playing outside. The house was quiet, I got some things done and my kids were getting some exercise and sunshine. I repeat, it was heaven. I went out to check on them at one point and found them (the 3 little ones) so so busy with the other neighbor kids making a fort in the field. I stood and watched for a while and snapped a few pictures. There is just something about kids making a fort. They were so serious and all business. They had propped up 3 big sticks into like a tee pee shape (that was the fort). They had picked up trash and gathered other sticks I really couldn't figure out how this construction of the three sticks had taken 2 hours but it did, and I was glad. I also got to witness the attempt to attach trash bags to the fort to try to block wind that was beginning to blow. It was hilarious and so sweet and so old fashioned and so refreshing. I loved it. Within minutes of the trash bag attempt, a storm blew in, it was quite a storm and soon that sturdy little fort was covered in snow and the builders were safe and warm inside our house. But I am confident that the construction was sound and strong and that little triangle fort will be ready and waiting for the next warm day. I hope it comes soon.


*Last week Ashlyn had been assigned to give the prayer in Primary. She is a new sunbeam and this was big news. She could not wait, to speak into the microphone for real. It was a dream come true. She must have known it was a very special occasion and she must have figured she had better look good and so she did what she had to do. When she came into my bedroom that morning to ask for breakfast, I looked at her and noticed she had bright pink lipstick all over her mouth. Now this was no ordinary lipstick. It is some weird color changing lipstick given to her by Nonnie, that does NOT come off. I tried and tried but to no avail. And so when that magical moment arrived, she marched right up there and said that prayer clear as a bell. Clear as a bell wearing the brightest pinkest, jaggedly applied lipstick there is. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. And this girl looked good!


*I was in Ethan's class doing his Valentines party on Friday. A little girl came up to me and said, "You look just like my home teacher!" Umm, aren't home teachers usually men? I didn't even want to ask.



Until next week!

You're right....where?!

A couple of weeks ago we had a really good Family Home Evening. That is rare around here. (And that is why we have implemented our FHE makeover which I will dedicate a post to later.) It was good because everyone came prepared, everyone participated and we felt the spirit. We really did. As we were wrapping things up, I looked around the room and I couldn't find Bryce. I said, "Where is Bryce?! Did he just miss that whole lesson?" I was pretty ticked that he had missed it and that I hadn't even noticed him slipping out of the room. Then all of a sudden we heard a tiny voice say, "I'm right here." And this is what we saw:

Umm, should I be concerned that my child is skinny enough to hide like that? Perhaps. (He was under the cushions, not behind the couch, by the way!) But, I was relieved that he hadn't missed anything. He had been right there all along, listening and learning with the rest of us. Laughter filled the room as we all ran to grab our cameras and it was a great way to end an already great night. In a perfect world every day would end with a family laughing together, and thanks to our Brycie we had that perfect day! And we'll take any one we can get!

Kindergaten valentines party

Another holiday, another kindergarten party. In my attempt to document all of my parties, here is this simple little Valentines party for some simply fantastic kindergarten kids.


We started the party with a good old fashioned musical hearts game. I had 4 colors of hearts that matched the colors of the Valentines M&M's candy. They danced around the circle to a fun love songs mix and then every minute or so I would stop the music. When the music stopped they stood on their heart and I picked out an M&M. If it was the color they were standing on they got some M&M's. They loved this. Everybody wins, everybody gets candy and everybody dances. On the last round I strategically picked out all of the colors so everybody got candy on the last round. I then divided the class into 3 stations depending on what color heart they ended on.

The first station was the calendar game. They had to toss a beanbag on the February calender and then tell the mom in charge what number they landed on (since they are learning their numbers). When they said their number they got a candy. They did it over and over again. Oh, and if they landed on the number 14, they got to go again.

Next was "Hot Lips Heather." They would slide their chocolate foil lips and try to get it to land in the lip area of this very attractive woman. (Thank you Trevor, my artistic husband) They also did this over and over again and got to eat their lips after the game was over. The next rotation I didn't take a picture of. It was a relay race with a bunch of action words like skip, hop, shuffle, jump, and walk backwards written on hearts. They had to pick a heart and then do the action to the wall and back. After all of the rotations I read the book "Froggy's First Kiss" to the whole class.

We then gave all of the kids a water bottle with the label "Love Potion" on it. They each got a packet of red punch mix, were instructed to take a sip of their water and then dump in the love potion mix. They then twisted the top back on tightly and then they shook and shook to make their love potion to the song, "Love Potion #9. This was a highlight.

To end the party, I told the kids that I had been sick with a love sickness and that I was pretty contagious. (I had heart stickers all over my face.) I told them that they had probably caught the "love pox" from me. I gave them each a strip of heart stickers and told them to put them on their faces. I also told them the only way to get cured from the love pox was to do something nice for someone else or tell someone at home that they loved them. When they did this they could take off one sticker until they were all cured. They thought this was pretty funny, and Ethan thought he was pretty clever to put all of his stickers on top of each other and then stick the stack right on the tip of his nose.

(By the way, this was like the 6th time I have used all of these props, the hearts, the calender and hot lips Heather. I laminate and save everything. It makes parties a whole lot easier, and I'm sure they will be used again a 7th time when little Ashlyn claims her stake in kindergarten. If I am the room mom, I will be ready!)

This...

...makes me happy!

That's a Wrap!

Last semester Kara took an Ancient World History class. She absolutely loved it. She claims she has learned more relevant information in this class than in any other class she has ever taken! Right before Christmas she had a big project due. Her project involved male barbies, scraps of fabric, jewels, lots of paint, and a very messy workspace which happened to be my kitchen and family room. She was relieved to turn it in and I was relieved to have my house back.

The first male barbie victim showcased the first part of the process of mummification. The removing of the organs through the nose and the side of the abdomen (you can't really see the instrument in the nostril or the details of the bloody heart and intestines in the bowls to the side).

My little kids were fascinated.

I did not put a picture of the second step which was letting the body sit in salt for days. (becasue that would be a boring pictute) The third barbie showed the process of the wrapping of the mummy.

And finally, Eric from the Little Mermaid made his debut as the finished mummy. Kara had to get creative to hide his very prominent and plastic swoosh hairdo and she had to promise that Eric would be returned unharmed to her little sisters.

And there you have the mummification process and the complete picture below. The project was well received and she got extra credit. The teacher wanted to keep it in the classroom to show other students, but Kara had to decline. Her sisters barbie play had all but ceased with all of the boys gone. You just really can't play barbies without boyfriends, now can you?

This box has long since been in the trash, the boys unwrapped and Ariel, Cinderella, Sharpay, and Gabriella are all happily reunited with their boys. All is well and back to normal in our house and in our very crowded barbie house (where the gold lined coffin now permanently resides-a well deserved bonus for the little girls and those overworked and underpaid boy barbies).

Thoughts...which are coming faster than I can type

*I really don't have time to blog and that is the honest truth. Truly, once my feet hit the floor in the morning I am going all day. Most days I feel like I never stop. That's what happens when you have 7 kids, a calling, a house to run, endless errands, homework and projects to help with, dinner to make, etc. etc. There really is very little down time. I have good intentions every day to blog, to document, to journal, but by the end of the day when I finally have a minute to do it, it is late and I am exhausted and it gets pushed to the next day where the same scenario happens again. And then... and then I look at my blog and I feel so happy that I have these memories, these glimpses into the lives of my family, of my kids, these journal entries that I would never remember if I hadn't "blogged" about them and I realize I have to make the time. It is important to me. So tonight, I downloaded the pictures for 20 new posts. Tonight, I pulled out my little scrap of paper, my list, with my thoughts. Tonight I will begin to try to catch up. Here it goes...


*I just finished renewing my nursing license. I always get a little panicky feeling when this time rolls around every 2 years. I must have had a bad dream once that I missed the deadline and lost my license. But, I am happy to report, I didn't lose it. It is done and I already have my new license all filed away. I'm glad it's over and I don't have to worry about it for 2 more years. I'm also so glad that I'm a nurse. As I was taking the course I realized I miss it. Sometimes, I miss it a lot. Nursing really is a part of who I am, it always has been. It has been such a blessing in my life to be a nurse and in the life of my family. So that little license of mine will be renewed, no matter how much stress it causes me, until I am a very old lady.


* Kara got her first speeding ticket this month. I was not happy. She was devastated. She was especially upset because she got the ticket on a Sunday night...while she was driving somewhere to do service ...AND it was right in front of the temple! A triple whammy! Darn those police for working on the Sabbath. Trevor was out of town when it happened. When I told him about it on the phone I thought he would be upset. His reply, "Good. It will be a good lesson for her. I got my first ticket right after I turned 16 and I haven't gotten one since." We're all hoping that will be the case for her too.



*Speaking of the above incident, the cost of that little ticket and the cost of traffic school is not cheap. About a week after the ticket Kara casually asked me , "Mom, can I go roofing tomorrow?" Excuse me, did you say "roofing"? Yep, that's exactly what she said. The boy whose house she was driving to to deliver cookies that fateful Sunday night, felt really bad that she got a ticket, so he offered her a small job helping him shingle, or "roof," a house. What!?! I told her I had to talk it over with dad. It sounded a little risky to me. She kept saying he felt really bad. I kept saying I think he would feel a lot worse if she fell off the roof and died! Trevor, however, was all for it. And so, Kara spent Martin Luther King Day teetering on the top of a roof, in the snow, shingling a house and she earned herself $50 to go towards that darn ticket. So if anyone is in need of a "roofer," give her a call. After all, she is experienced now....and she still needs some money.



*My younger kids have discovered old Disney movies. One morning we were reading a Bugs Life book we had and they loved it. I asked them if they have ever seen the movie 'Bugs Life" They looked surprised, "Theres a movie?" So we dusted off some of our old VHS movies and they have loved them. Most recently it has been Bugs Life, Monsters Inc., Lion King, and Tarzan (all of which they recognized from books we have). After they watch the movies they spend days "playing" the movies. My favorite: watching them reenact Tarzan. One of them will strip down to their underwear (aka loincloth) and crawl around on all fours monkey style. You have never seen a whiter, skinnier little Tarzan before in your life. It is absolutely precious.



*Trevor and I went out to eat the other night to our new favorite restaurant, La Jolla Groves. It was delish-we have not been disappointed yet, and what made the meal even more exciting is that Jimmy Osmond was sitting at the table right next to us. I could have reached out and touched him and I almost did. Okay, honestly I would have preferred Donny, but any Osmond is better than none, right?



*Is it wrong to put blush on a 3 year old? It is winter, my kids do not see the sun and it shows. They are pale, extremely pale. Ashlyn sometimes looks so pale, almost sickly, so I occasionally put a little blush on her in the morning, you know, to add a touch of color, a touch of life. The other day at church I glanced over at Ethan and he was looking quite pale too. Okay, no, now that would be wrong. I will restrain. Blush on a boy. Wrong. But I'm telling you I have been tempted and as the winter wears on my boys had better steer clear of my bathroom while I am putting on my makeup in the morning or they just might get swiped.



*Ashlyn has this cute little pair of silver pants. She loves them and the other day as she was strutting around in them she said in a kind of braggy voice, "I have Lady Gaga pants and Alyssa doesn't!" Again, how in the world is my 3 year old familiar with Lady Gaga and how does she know what kind of clothes she wears? It is a scary thought, but I have to admit when she wears them they do scream Lady Gaga. And by the way, Alyssa IS jealous!



*I brought home a surprise for Tyler this week. It was a Utah Driver's Licence book for him to study. Are you kidding me? In less than a month he will take that test and then be behind the wheel. How can this be? He is too small! Okay, he may be getting tall- but he is still so small. I can't believe I will have 2 teenage drivers this year. Heaven help us. Please!



*We watched the Super Bowl tonight. I don't feel bad about it. We were all together, having fun, laughing at commercials and eating tons of food. It was a little weird to break our fast with "football" food, but we did and it was OK just this once. I didn't even really know who was playing and I didn't really care. It was fun and festive and for me, to be all together with my family, snuggled in our basement, well, it added some warmth to this cold cold winter. And for that I am grateful.



Until next week!