I'm back

I'm sure you're wondering where I've been. I'd like to say I've had a busy Summer of traveling, jetting off to Britain, shopping in Italy, weekend visits to Disneyland and of course the week spent in the Carribean. But that would all be wishful thinking and a big fat lie. We have spent our Summer camping-mountain camping, soccer camping, football camping and of course Scout camping. It has also been a Summer of fits, fighting, whining and not adjusting to the chaos. K2 and K3 really do much better with the structure of school.

But the good news is school is back in session. Bad news-it has pretty much taken every bit of money that we have and they are still asking for more. Sigh. Does it ever end? We are fast approaching Fall, my favorite season. I'm itching to start the Fall decor. Is it too soon?

My goal is to try and become one of those bloggers that updates regularly-those crazy people. Think I can do it?

Cupcakes

While I really should be doing an update post about the last few crazy weeks of stomach flu, end of softball season, soccer games, etc. I am linking up to participate in Saucy's virtual cupcake party. I've been looking for an excuse to try out some of her suggestions and last night I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. So good! They are quite a hit at our house-as evidenced by K3 and his cream cheese face:



Of course mine don't look as pretty as Saucy's-I don't own a frosting bag so I used a Ziploc gallon size bag with the corner cut out. It works but makes it a little harder to control. I also learned that I probably should have let the frosting sit in the fridge a while before I decorated. The heat in the kitchen made the icing a little runny but after a night in the fridge it set up great.




I have long wished that I could make cupcakes that actually taste as good as they looked and with Saucy's recipe I have found a way to do it.

randomness-story of my life

I've wrote many posts in my head. Then I sit down to the computer and spend too much time on other things. So much has happened, so much of my life spent running this child to that activity-that child to that activity. Of course school has finished and we have started the chaos of Summer.

K3 completed the First Grade and had a cute little program. If you appreciate 7 year olds screaming songs, which I tend to do. K3 is on the bottom row between two grown-up heads.


He also started baseball. He feels like such a tough guy. Now he can be just like his brother and sister.

I attempted to make Saucy's cupcakes for a dinner we were invited too. Nothing too fancy but man were they delicious. I should know-I ate at least a dozen by myself.

Last is a picture of K2's door. She placed this sign herself and didn't appreciate the laughter it created. But it seems appropriate for the way she has been acting lately.

OMH!

Guess who got his driving permit?




Guess who is having panic attacks?




I really thought I was ready for this. I'm not.

Sunbeam Challenge

Yesterday at MJ's place she participated in a Haiku festival and she choose to Haiku sunbeams. I was immediately taken back to my childhood and my obsession with lying in sunbeams. I commented to MJ that I hadn't done this since I was a child. She challenged me to change that.

So after work I headed first to my mom's house to pick up K3. Since this was the scene of where I most often laid in the sunbeams I searched there. Because of the timing there were none to be found in her house. On to last night-I told K2 & K3 of my challenge. We discovered in our living room a perfect patch of sun and sunbeams so we grabbed pillows off the couch and laid down. We spent that time talking about the upcoming Summer and all we want to do. We even attracted the dogs so our patch was quickly taken up.

I realized how little do I take the time to just relax with my children and talk about nothing and everything. We are too busy doing things and spend so little time laying around. I don't have that much more time with them to do it and I vowed to spend more time laying in the sunbeams-with and without them. I even sat on my porch with Buster and did it this morning. Thanks MJ for reminding me to take the time!

I have to admit Mother's Day is not on my top ten favorite Holidays. I am happy that I am a Mother and I am happy that I have a Mother but this Holiday is one where my DH fails miserably. He's not real big on spoiling and pampering me on this day and honestly his philosophy has been that I am not his Mother so why should he buy me anything. Luckily my Mother has filled in and made sure that my kids always get me something good and my kids always do little things. K1 even bragged to my friend how he did "things" read: his chores that he is supposed to do, without complaining.

But this morning I knew my day was over when I walked into a spilled glass of grape Crystal Light that nobody thought to wipe up. Or even mention. Purple Crystal Light all over my white fridge, tan floor and in the cracks of my fridge that I just cleaned last week, first time in a year. The Holiday is over. :)

Mother's Day

To the woman who made me who I am and who without I would be lost-thank you!.



To the children who made me a mother-thank you!



To all you other mother's- HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Sunday we went fishing. All day. One of those days that even though I applied sunblock four times I was still the color of a tomato when we got home. K3 was begging to take off his shoes and put his bare feet into the reservoir. The dirty, yucky reservoir with fish poop and other bacteria and grossness. I finally let him when I was accused of being an over-protective mom but it was against my better judgment (stupid DH!). That night he showed me a cut on his foot and I freaked-threw him in the bath tub and put lots of stuff on it to make sure nothing happened.

Fast forward to today- I woke up to my toe hurting. I had cut my toenails after we had gotten back from the lake and since I hadn't walked around without shoes I didn't think much of it. But-*TMI coming* my toe is infected. A nice red color with puss. And it hurts and throbs and is yucky. Unfortunately I don't have a hot toe doctor so I am going to self-medicate at least until I get a smurf toe. Or maybe an Elphaba toe. Haven't decided yet. But I am going to redo my pedicure tonight and make sure that my legs are shaved in case I have to have an emergency toe doctor appointment. Thanks to Cheri @ Blog This Mom for all the visuals I now have in my head and the knowledge of what needs to be done before I head to the doctor.

Random-K2 addition

*I've been looking at taking K2 to Vegas to see the Jonas Bros for her birthday. Backup plan in case we don't win the trip at Saucy's place. But I would much rather win the trip so we could meet Saucy, Loopy and MJ!

*K2 is starting to get her mojo back on the soccer field. Karma being karma-her ex-coach's son was ref-ing today and commented about all the wonderful things that the other coaches were saying about her skillz. I love karma.

*Softball is in full swing. Between that and soccer K2 is feeling the stress. Then she mentions wanting to join orchestra next year. I just laughed.

*3 more weeks of school. I enjoy summer but really hate bored-kid syndrome. This year I am trying to limit it to only ne soccer camp for the girl.

*I'm really enjoying Twitter. Do you think I am the only 30-something following Miley Cyrus? (it really is for K2 but I am drawing the lines on all the rest of the Disney crew). The coolest part? The first person to follow me was Stephenie Meyer. I almost fainted.

First Time Fishing

The Fam fishing. Aren't they cute?


K1 casting. He nicely told K3 that I suck at casting.


DH getting everybody ready.


My pink & black pole. So sweet!

Have you ever....

been running outside to get someone's attention and missed a stair and tried to stop yourself and really ended up launching yourself-flying onto wet grass, using your bad shoulder and neck to brace yourself? It really is a great way to get their attention. (And everybody else driving down the 2nd busiest road in our town). But even better would have been if somebody had a video camera taping it-I easily would have won America's Funniest.

I have been gone for so long. I have had so many posts run through my head but then something happens that sends my life upside down. In one month we have had 2 deaths, 1 wedding, my mom's surgery, illness and mourning for someone far away. I can't even begin to put into words all the turmoil, stress and grief I have dealt with this last month. I am truly ready for Spring and the new "beginning" of life. The true meaning of Easter really brings this home to us. Here's to sunshine and love and happiness and contentment. Break out the Spring.

We all handle stress, grief, worry, etc. differently. This month has been one of those months. March is the anniversary of my Mother-in-law's passing from breast cancer, it is also my wedding anniversary and add to it the diagnosis and schduled heart surgery of grandma #1 and re-marriage of step-grandpa there has been a lot of emotions running through out our house.

K3's reactions to things has been interesting. All of the sudden he is spending a lot of time talking about death and death related things. He is a relatively normal child, he watches a lot of Disney and Nickelodeon so I know he is not really seeing that there. I am assuming this is a result of stress and worry and a tad bit of grief.

Example 1: He has a giant bruise on his calf. I ask what happened, he shrugs and says "Maybe my bone is rotting." WTH?!

Example 2: Sitting on our bed watching t.v. with daddy he starts to have a bloody nose. It's Spring, here in Utah we go from extremes, one minute it is 70° sunny and beautiful the next snow. But we are used to it, K1, DH and my brother all had bloody noses growing up-not really a big thing. A couple of hours later K3 is in the bath. I hear a very quiet but panicked "momma!" and rush in. Another nose bleed. Poor little boy says "I don't want to die!". One of the most pathetic and heart breaking things I have ever heard. Cleaning him up produced a boogie/blood clot that was easily 4-6 inches long. He thought I was pulling his brain out and again panicked just a little.

Example 3: Playing with his GI Joe last night. GI Joe was carrying around a bag---full of dead bodies. Again, WTH?! GI Joe also was hiding in a coffin and killing these "Germans" left and right. I am beginning to wonder what SpongeBob and Phineas and Ferb are really showing that I am missing.


***Something that made my day---Saturday K2 had a soccer game. As some quick back story I can't remember if i mentioned that the soccer coach we were having problems with kicked her off the team. It was heartbreaking but we quickly found a replacement team. She had a wonderful game and played spectacularly! Old coach had a game after hers and as we were walking by and exchanging pleasantries (all be it a little forced on his and my sides) a parent from the new team walked by and said "K2 you were excellent out there today! Such skills, you are so wonderful!" Such sweet vengeance and I didn't plan it so karma shouldn't get me for it. :)

Have you ever woke up, smelled Spring in the air and was energized? Have you ever decided to move furniture around so you could deep clean? Did you ever strip all the beds in your house and do 5 loads of laundry? Did you ever spend hours working in the yard?

Then did you wake up the next day sore but decided again that you had Spring Fever and needed to be outside? So you took your kids and DH and played baseball? And then walked 2 miles up and back the canyon with your DH? And spend more hours in your yard?

And then have you woke up the next morning and you can't move? That's where I am today. Ouch.

Scared

I am struggling. We got news yesterday that turned my world upside down. My rock, my protector, my best friend, my momma is going to have to have a quadruple bypass. I know it is not that big of a deal anymore, I know they have made so many strides when it comes to this surgery but still. I am scared. I am worried, I am numb, I am sick and I am lonely in my fear. I spent 3 months in the NICU, I am no stranger to death and mortality. But that doesn't mean it doesn't scare the crap out of me facing it with my mom. It will be okay. But I'm not ready-I don't want to do this-I'm selfish. I want my mommy. I want to go back to the time where I could run to her and with a hug she could make it better. Kiss my boo-boo and my fear away. I don't want to be the adult, but I will. Like I told K2-we are the women-we have to be strong. We are the ones that our men look to for comfort. So we will cry but we will go on and be strong. And scared.

Things I learned at Disneyland

If this post seems familiar it is because I did something similar when DH and I took our trip back in 2007. If I wasn't so lazy I would go back and link it but Wordpress is annoying when you are looking for old posts.

*People are rude, they have no problem with butting, pushing, cutting you off, running into you without batting an eye.
*Churros are better at Disneyland
*Disneyland is better with your kids
*Crowds are horrible
*Walking 6 or 7 miles a day offsets all the churros
*Tigger rocks. And for some reason every time I see Tigger the person playing him finds me immensely hilarious.
*Blue Bayou is not worth the cost, especially when mean hostesses are rude. But the wait staff rocks
*Having a nap is a must
*So are pain medications
*Bubba Gumps is a great restaurant
*The beach is so relaxing. But bitter cold
*Newport Beach has the best sand dollars
*My bed is the best
*6 days is too much Disney
*Vacations rock, real life not so much
*I have so much to do to get caught up. Lots of projects and so little time.
*I am ready for Spring

Disneyland 2009

Trip there:


Beach:


Hotel:


Breakfast with Goofy:


Characters:


Family:


The words to come in a future post, but after a week of vacation we have come back to real life totally slapping us in the face and time is running out quick!

The reason why he is my favorite:

The other day I was rushing around trying to get the house ready for company and K3 approached me for help. He wanted to get down one of our board games and since I know this requires my participation in playing also I told him I needed to get the bathroom cleaned first. He asked if he could do it! So I taught him "how" to clean the bathroom. I then told K1 and K2 that this is why he is my favorite! What 7 year old normally asks to clean a bathroom? Ain't he just the bestest?

Valentine's Day recap

First off-thanks for your ideas on K1. We have actually considered some of them, but I think from what I have heard from others overall it is a fairly typical Freshman experience. We just need to stay on top of him and push, push, push.

This year for Valentines DH & I went to dinner with another couple, one of my best friends and her husband. We went to a little Japanese restaurant, our first experience at one. We chose to bypass the 2 hour wait for the hibachi experience and sat a little table. DH tried Soke for the first time and I tried tempura. It was fairly good, not worth the money really but the company couldn't have been better.

The best part of the evening? The $45 ticket I got on the drive home. Nothing to add to the romantic mood like a fight because we don't see eye to eye on how things transpired. Poor K3 was scared-his only experience with police-besides our little local force-is limited strictly to my accident and Cops-the show. Lots of fun!

HELP?!

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to motivate a 15 year old, who has been testing at College levels since 6th grade, to get grades above C? We are at our wit's end. We have bribed, punished, begged, punished some more and I am just about to sit down and cry. This mom thing is hard.

Only 1 week and 1 more day until Disneyland! I can not wait. I need a vacation. Too bad I have to take DH & the Ks. :)

The life and times of a slacker blogger

Man have I been bad at this blogging stuff! It has to do with sickness, depression and sickness again. That was again one to go down in the books. Is it because I am getting older or are the sicknesses getting worse?

What we've been up to:

Superbowl:

As you can tell from this picture there was much rejoicing in our house. K3 loves to talk about "Sixsburgh"!

Getting treats from fellow bloggers-kinda like pen pals with treats, love this:

Notice there are only 4 suckers? I couldn't wait until I got home from work to try mine. MJ was considerate enough, even though she comes from a predominately female household, to consider that boys just might not appreciate pink so she sent them red-foil suckers. Wasn't that thoughtful? She also sent me valentine beads which I used to make watch bands for K2 and I.

And the thing that prompted all this sch-wag? I won a drawing at her blog, she makes lovely vintage magnets (I got one for our Halloween swap) and I now have a Valentine's one to add to my collection.


We have a new soccer team. K2 will be playing down, in her actual age group. We have big hopes that she can re-kindle some of her sparkle if she can go back to being a star on a team. Now we just have to have the snow quit falling so they can practice.

Softball/Baseball season is just around the corner. With that comes my responsibilities as player agent. We have already started having meetings and sign-ups are soon!

Disneyland is just 2 weeks away! I can not wait. I am hoping that some sun, some warmth and some Mickey and Tigger can chase away my winter blues.

sick

I am sick! So is K1, with a stomach thing and K3, with the same cold, fever, body ache thing I got going on. I hate being sick. Time to break out the Lysol and bleach. Blech!

First, I need to apologize to anybody that came here via the link at Thrifty Decor Chick, I was irresponsible and linked my whole blog and before I had pictures to documents all of my decluttering and organizing. Even though I feel like there is so much to do still- I have accomplished a lot. I have done my room, my bathroom, K2's room, K3's room, my linen closet, my coat closet, the hall and K2 & K3's bathroom. I had already de-junked the kids' room pre-Christmas so theirs were easier then they might have been but I have a garbage bag that goes up to my chest full of things to take to DI and another half way full and there has been many bags taken to the garbage can. I have spent a small fortune on small clear plastic bins but I feel so accomplished. Next up are my laundry room, kitchen and living room. Then the basement. I would like to get the upstairs finished before we leave to Disneyland (only 4 more weeks).

My SIL and I are starting a new business venture. We have opened an Etsy shop and are thinking of ways to start networking. I am excited, I hope we can make some money out of having fun. We are making watch bands, using a variety of colors, shapes and types of beads. They are turning out so beautiful and I can't wait to share.

For the first time in my adult life I have been decorating for Valentine's Day. I am not going all out like Christmas or Halloween but little touches here and there. I was excited to see some of my favorite decorators using some of the same things I had bought from the Dollar Store. And I even had mine before they showed theirs!





And to add to my Valentine's stash, I won the magnets that MJ was offering at her place. WooHoo! Can't wait to add it with my Halloween one. She is amazing!

The Birth Story

To begin the story we must go back many generations, how far we just don’t know. The first known premature birth in my family begins with my Great-Grandmother. She gave birth at 7 months to a son, who survived by living in the old wood stove and who was fed with a dropper. My grandmother gave birth to a son at 6 months, her only son, he did not survive. My mother gave birth to her only son at 6 months in 1977, he weighed 1 lb 15 oz. With both her pregnancies my mother had no more then 2 real painful contractions, so when I became pregnant in the Summer of 1993 and decided to go to a doctor that was 45 minutes away there was always a concern that I too would go into either a premature or quick labor. I had a text-book pregnancy, and 4 days before my due date gave birth to my first son, K1. After I had him I began to have abnormal pap smears. I got pregnant with K2 in December 1996 and at 24 weeks I began to have cramps. I was tested, they determined I was having contractions and I began bed rest and Brethane. I was closely monitored and finally at 38 weeks I was induced. Before and after my pregnancy I continued to have bad paps and even tested positive for cancer and had to have many procedures and finally a cone biopsy that left me with very little cervix.

We decided in 2001 to have one last baby. I quickly became pregnant but at 11 weeks suffered a miscarriage. It was so severe that I almost bled to death before they were able to finalize the termination of the pregnancy. After a couple of months we tried again and I got pregnant. From the first I didn’t feel well. Nothing that I could quite put my finger on but I just felt sick. For the first time ever in my life I had a yeast infection and continued to have them throughout my pregnancy. Christmas was bad, I was mentally in a bad place and still just didn’t feel good.

January 19, 2002 I gave K1 a big bash for his eighth birthday. The week previous I had been having cramps, my doctor was on vacation but his staff had me go to my local doctor and be tested to make sure I didn’t have a kidney infection. I kept telling myself that if I still felt bad the Monday after K1's party I would call the doctor. Monday rolled around and I made the call. The doctor on call told me to come down and they would check to make sure everything was okay. I took K1 down with me because I figured it would be a quick trip down and back. HA! The doc decided to do the dreaded vaginal and discovered I was dilated to 2. There was a test they can do that shows if you are going to deliver within the next 2 weeks but they can’t do it if you have had a vaginal within 24 hours. They decided to keep me overnight in the hospital to make sure until they could do the test. I had to call DH, my mom and arrange for K1 to be picked up and DH to get down to me. They gave me the first steroid shot “just in case” and some other shot to stop the contractions and we settled down for the night. I woke up around 5 a.m. and called the nurse to request another shot. They checked me and discovered I was dilated to a 5. That began the frantic calls to Life Flight, on call Pediatrician and all the extras that were needed. They were concerned because they wouldn’t Life Flight me since I was so far dilated and there were severe storms and Life Flight wasn’t able to get in the air. The hospital I was at was not equipped to take care of a 26 week baby.

Finally at 9 a.m. the Life Flight crew showed up and within half an hour K3 was born. Unless you have been present for a premature birth there is no way to describe the horror of seeing that baby. I just kept saying “he’s too small, he’s too small”. There was no crying, there were people running around and trying to save his life. They prepared him to fly to Provo, my mom went in the airplane with him, and brought him in to us before they left. DH & I hurried and did what we had to do to be released and drove home. We had to buy K1's birthday present still (it was his birthday) and pack the kids up and take them to the various family members that were keeping them. We also had to prepare them for the possible “death” of their brother. We then drove the 2 hour and 40 minute ride to Provo, the first of many trips. Upon arrival we learned that our baby was considered "septic", his whole body was one giant infection.

The first night we stayed in the stay-in room at the hospital. I just remember not being able to sleep, laying in the uncomfortable bed with all the unusual noises and crying. Thus began our 13 week stay in NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). That period of my life began shaping who I am now. I learned to be a fighter, a person who stands up for what I believe in. I learned to juggle 2 homes and 2 lives. No words could ever truly tell the story of our stay. But I am so thankful for the blessing that is K3 and all that he has brought to my life. Even if the start was a little rough the rest has been great. Thanks for being in my life K3. You have brought so much.



Also Happy 15th Birthday to K1. Without you our family would not be. Thanks for the smiles, the hugs, the love and for letting me be a mom. You are one of three of the best things that ever happened to me.

What happens when your DH is being very irritating and mean? You go shopping and buy those candlesticks that you have been coveting, at full price. *insert raspberry sound*

My very first award and my new mission

I have been awarded my very first blogger award. Woohoo! How exciting, a Major Award! I would like to thank Lisa for nominating me, she was my guide into the world of blogging.

So first I must pick 5 of my reads. That is very hard to narrow down but I must.

1. First up, Christie. I know Christie from a local Yahoo group of moms who have children with Special Needs. Christie has her hands full, literally, but she still manages to be gorgeous, funny and most of the time SANE!
2. MJ. MJ is one of my bloggy friends from Canada. She was also the victim of my first ever swap but I was rewarded by being hers also. I enjoy reading about her girls, her reno and all her crafting.
3. Saucy. Ms. Saucy was my first foray into a "crafty blog", she was also the person who gave me encouragement and opportunity to be involved in my first swap. I love reading about her adventures, seeing her creativity shine and even discovered we have some things in common.
4. Mrs. G. Mrs. G. is just cool. Her blog is entertaining, always insightful and she introduced me to the idea of a Secret Boyfriend and the Women's Colony. Good times are had by all at Derfward Manor.
5. Last but not least is Miss Keetha at Write Kudzu. We banded together through the 5k a$& project which she has done much better at then I, I love reading about her upcoming wedding, reading about her travels, coming from a Southern Gal I love to read about her South, the recipes, the book reviews, it is always fun at Keethas.

For those who won, here are the steps you need to take, in order to award your coolest blogs!

1. Place the logo on your blog

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you

3. Nominate other blogs for this award

4. Add links to those blogs

5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

6. Give a reason why you consider their blogs cool

I have decided to take the challenge over at Thrifty Decor Chick to declutter and organize.

First up I tackled my bedroom, since it is always the last to be cleaned up. DH is obviously scared as I have been told to stay away from his bedside table. Men! I have lots more to do but I like the idea of starting and staying with one room until it is done. I've already thrown away one big bag of garbage, have a big bag for DI and a box to be moved downstairs. I just need to wash walls behind my bed, vacuum under my bed and it is on to the next room. I hope to be completed by the time Spring rolls around so my spring cleaning will be done. :)

To come, in honor of K3's 7th Birthday I am going to write the saga of his birth. Stay tuned!

What makes me happy-good deals

I've been perusing all sorts of crafty blogs and getting all sorts of ideas. One, Nester, did a how-to post and a tour of mantel decorations. It got me thinking, next Christmas I really want to do a better mantel. First step was to get garland. I've been going to our local craft store to pick up extras for some of my projects and noticed outside their bin of discounted garland. I have really been considering but kept putting off the purchase. I decided last night drifting off to sleep that I'd just bite the bullet and go buy some. The list price was $2.99 down from $7.99 so I grabbed two, imagine my surprise when they rang up 2 for $3.20. 18 feet of garland for $3.20! Throw in some Fall colored berry garland marked down from $15.99 to $4.00 and I was a happy shopper!

I've got 10 months to decide what I want to add to make the garland me, so I plan to keep my eyes open. I would love to be able to be "one of those people" that have a crafty, welcoming home and do it all on a tight budget. But I am reading that it takes lots of trips to the dollar store, thrift stores and craft stores looking for the deals.

What I am on the look-out for now: Some clunky candle holders. Any color will work cause I know how to work the spray paint! I am also needing ideas for my mantel non-holiday. I have a Kincaid print over my mantel so I need something that compliments that. Any ideas?

Why it's cheaper to pay someone to do your hair

Photos do not do justice to the extreme my hair went through.

Here is after I colored it:


Here is after my SIL tried to fix it:


Here it is normally: