Going Under

Sammy survived his tonsillectomy Monday, and I survived the day that followed. I think I said this when Andi had hers out, but it was the longest day ever. We had to wake Sammy up at 5:15 to get to the surgery center, and he was surprisingly cheerful. I carried him out to the car thinking he'd stay asleep on the way over, but the moment we walked outside he was wide awake. "Mom, look at the stars! Lot's of stars!"  He chattered at us all the way there, and we played and read books in the waiting room. I felt like such a jerk because he had no idea what was coming. when we went back to do the vitals he started realizing something was up and got very quiet and pouty and wouldn't even play with Thad, he just sat in my lap holding his blanket. Oh the guilt. In recovery he was upset of course because he was in pain and didn't understand why,  but he was totally ticked about the IV in his hand. It was all I could do to keep him from ripping it out, and finally the nurse said if he would drink his sippy then she wouldn't make him finish the bag of fluids and she would take the IV out. So he downed the sippy and she took it out. There was a bit of a struggle when it came to taking it out and a very small amount of blood. Some of you might not know, but Thad is a needle wuss, and that was all it took for him to get all wobbly. So while I was gathering our things and trying to comfort Sammy, Thad was being taken care of by another nurse and drinking juice and "resting" in a chair till he was more stable. So then we were waiting on Thad to recover so we could leave. I think I'll bring different reinforcements next time I have to go in for something like this with one of the kids.
The whole day was rough. Sammy refuse to swallow anything, including his own spit. I'll be cleaning the couch cushions this weekend when he's back to normal. So I was a little worried because they tell you to make them drink all day to keep the throat moist and keep them hydrated. He wanted nothing to do with that. But he slept all night and drank a whole sippy first thing this morning, so he is much better today. We've still had to pump him full of pain meds, but at least he' drinking and eating pudding.
Andi has been very jealous the last two days and keeps saying she wishes she was Sammy. Sammy gets to eat in the front room and have pudding and milk shakes whenever. I told her she got to do this when she was his age and that pacified her a little.
The best part is Sammy's new little voice. His deep little husky voice is gone and is much higher pitched and almost baby-ish. We'll see where it settles when his throat is healed, but Andi's never went back to her old voice, so we'll see.

Big Day

Today was a big day for both the kids. It was Andi's first day of going to school. For those of you who might be confused as to why our 1st grader is just today going to school, we home school. This year we are going through a charter school and they have enrichment classes for the kids on Wednesday mornings, so we signed her up and today was the first class. She was very excited to pack her backpack and wear her name tag, and go all by herself.. As she headed off with her class though she looked back at me with a definite nervous face. At that point Sammy started crying because Andi was going without him. But when we came to pick her up she was all smiles again, and didn't stop talking all the way home. She made lot's of new friends, none of whose names she could remember. She's terrible at that. But she can't wait to go back next week. Here is the first day of school picture, but for some reason I could not get her to smile normally. We took several, this was as good as it got.

After we dropped Andi off it was time for a milestone for Sammy. His first blood draw. Joy.  The poor kid is getting his tonsils out Monday morning, so we had to get his labs done today. He did much better than Andi does with needles, which is easily done because she becomes a hysterical lunatic when the needles come out. The lady poked him and he cried for a second, but then stopped and looked at what she was doing. It would have been super smooth and easy if she had not knocked the needle out before the vial was full and had to stick him a second time. That time he was just mad, and he let her know. It is amazing the healing powers a chocolate milk shake can have, even at 9:30 in the morning. Yes I'm that mom, the one who makes it all better with chocolate. Then we ran some errands and went to the Kern County Museum to look at the trains. It's right next door to Andi's school and was a great way to entertain Sammy while we waited to pick her up.

It was a big day for us all, and it went better than I expected. Now if only Monday goes this well.

Family Pictures

We've been meaning to get a new family picture up on our wall for a while now. The one that is there is a little old, ya know, back when Sammy was just crawling.

We've tried a couple of times and had nice ones for the Christmas card, but nothing worthy of being blown up on the wall. So last night we went to Thad's parents and had his dad take some for us. I think we got some cute ones.  The kids turned out well, and surprisingly we didn't have to take a million to get a good shot.

 The group shot was good, but Thad and I are both picking ourselves apart. "Why are my eye lids drooping?" 'Why does only my left eye squint?"  There will always be something I'm sure.

And then Thad decided he wanted one of the two of us for his office, which for some reason I felt weird about.  Especially when he got all creeper in this one.

This one is better, but we'll see which ones make the frames at our house.

Emotional Day

If you've ever been a teenage girl you've learned the art of writing notes. It was pretty much the main form of communication in jr. high and even into high school. That was way before texting and cell phones at school. Do kids even write/pass notes anymore, or is it all digital? At any rate, Andi seems to be jumping in to teenage girl world a little early. I got my first note from her today. She is constantly coloring pictures, or making cards and things, but this was the first legit- no pictures- note.  Written of course to inform me of her feelings. "Mom, I am going to stay in my room for ever."  As you can guess, I unknowingly offended her spirit and she wanted to make sure I knew. When I ignored the note and didn't come back to her room to ask about it, she came out to make sure I had seen it. I said I had, and asked why she was going to stay there forever. Instead of answering the question like a sane person, she ran back to her room and wrote me another note to explain. "You know why. You didn't let me help with the groceries."  Since she had already run back to her room and shut the door again, I had to call her back out to the kitchen to remind her that I said she could help, but she needed to wait till I finished wiping down the shelves of the fridge first. At which point I told her that if she wanted to stay in her room she could, but that she could come out and eat lunch if she wanted. Que water works and running down the hall to slam the door. WHAT?! So this time I followed her and asked what she was crying about. "You said you don't care if I stay here all day!" To which I could only respond, "You're right, I don't care if you stay here all day because you are acting crazy!  If you would like to stop crying you come out any time you want."  I get the whole willfully misinterpreting someone's words bit, if you are doing it to be funny. But she was not being funny. Let's take a second to remember that Andi is only 5. I'm not looking forward to teenage years with her.

Reception #2

Remember how I said family weddings are a lot of fun, well they are also a lot of work! Everything came together nicely after a day and a half at the church setting up and I think our "vision" was accomplished. I will say though, I don't want to see tulle again for a long time.  Originally we tossed around the idea of having an outdoor reception here, but Bakersfield in September is still in the 90's-100's and we thought indoor with AC a better option. Indoor was the right choice, but mostly because of the crazy thunder/lighting storms we had Friday and Saturday. It was so weird, and yucky, because it was raining but still in the 90's.
We were a little busier with this reception and didn't take nearly as many pictures, but here are a few I stole from Kelsies blog.  The whole Family, minus Cameron who is in Kuwait.

With the nieces and nephews, who are all miraculously looking at the camera.

I'm not sure if this was supposed to be their prom picture, or some sort of male modeling attempt. . . whatever it was ended up a little creepy.

I was mocked  for bringing my basketball shorts, but after trying to clean up in skirts and heels I think the mockers realized my wisdom.

 It was a little sad that what took us so long to put together was torn down and boxed up in a hour flat, but nice too that we weren't there all night cleaning.
Now that weddingpalooza is over we are back to normal life. Andi started her piano lessons today and her only comment was how hard it was. We meet with her teacher today to turn in our first round of school work and make sure I'm doing this right. Tomorrow we take Sammy and his huge tonsil to the ENT for a consult. I'm no Dr. but I'm predicting those bad boys have to be taken out. but hey, he's kept his a year longer than Andi did.

Bobby's Wedding part 1

Family weddings are really fun. I think when it's your own you are all stressed about everything going just so that you hardly enjoy the festivities. But I had a great time last weekend at my little brothers wedding in Seattle and Lacey Washington. And this weekend is the party in Bakersfield. Yes, I said party, not reception. Technically it is a reception, but we will make it a party.  We always do, as you will see from the pictures below. Walter and I flew in together Friday evening for the wedding and reception on Saturday, and then flew back home Sunday morning. It was a quick trip, but was very nice to be in the temple with all of my siblings(minus little Brado).

Here is the Happy couple coming out of the temple.

Kelsie and all the boys.

With my parents

So when there is a camera around we think we are really funny and entertain ourselves.

Don't worry, we bahaved nicely for the real photographer.These were at the reception.

Congratulations to Bobby and Kelsie! and in case you are wondering we will be differentiating between the two Kelsies with tittles. Neither of them wanted to be special K, so we are going with big and little ;)

The Big 30

That's right, as of today Thad is old. Even though we are there, and we don't feel old, 30 still sounds old. Weird. We had a big family dinner on Sunday to celebrate. 16 adults and 9 children. Those of you who have been to our house know that it was quite a feet to get all those people in. We've done it before, but we always eat outside. Over 100 degrees though makes that a little uncomfortable. So we banished the kids to a table outside and all the adults got to stay in.

Today, the kids decided that since it was Daddy's real birthday he needed balloons. So we picked some up and took them to work, which as you can imagine, he loved. And since he was in a meeting when we stopped by he had to carry them back to his meeting with him. Even more awesome.

I feel like I kinda failed at making this a big special birthday, but I'm hoping his favorite foods for dinner, and costco cupcakes for dessert will help. We(the children and I) love Thad and are grateful for all he does to provide for and entertain us. I'm sure the kids appreciate that I am able to stay home with them, but the highlight of their day is when Daddy comes home. They get to play rough, and get tickled and tortured till they scream, and they love it. Happy Birthday Honey!

Picture Update!

Thad was able to revive the camera enough to get our pictures off. We can't take pictures with it, but hopefully he's found a place to get it repaired. Anyway, here are some picture from the first two days of our trip and some randomness at home as well.

Here are the children chasing/tormenting Tenille's duck. Aunt Tenille's house might be the coolest place ever because she has all kinds of pets.

They were super excited about bunkbeds in the cabin. Too bad we didn't get to stay in that cabin due to skunk funk. 

Tara & Jacob brought some great blow up toys that we all enjoyed all week long.

Sammy actually slept like this on our drive, and Andi just wanted to be in the picture.

These are from home. The kids are getting better at finding good hiding spots, so Thad has been taking pictured of them in their tight squeezes.

Family Vaca 2011

We just got back from a lovely vacation with Thads family at Lake Siskiyou in N. Cal. All of his siblings, parents, and both sets of grandparents were able to come.24 of us in all. Sadly I have zero pictures. But it's not because we were lazy this time. We took Thads water camera with us and the first day in the water, either one of the seals went bad, or the battery compartment got opened while submerged. Either way it  means the camera is dead. So any pictures we did take are stuck, and we were out of a camera the rest of the week. Boo.
But we had tons of fun without documentation. We started the trek a day early so we could visit Tenille & Matt and see their cute house, and tow their boat to the lake. Once we got to the lake we had a bit of a fiasco getting settled, but once everything was resolved we had a great week. Lot's of swimming in the lake,building sand castles, fishing trips in the boats, walking in the pooky borrest(sam for: spooky forrest), campfires, crafts, and even a talent show. We ate way too much great food, stayed up late every night, and laughed a lot. We saw deer right behind the cabin, and had a nightly visit from a brown bear, which was caught on Billy's trail camera.
I learned some interesting things about my kids this trip. First, on the way up the DVD player wouldn't work. I did not pack any toys in the car because I just thought they'd veg and snack and sleep. So 30 minutes out of town I go to start a movie and panick a little when I realize we had 5.5 hours to go without entertainment. But they were fine. They sang songs, and played with each other and we only had to stop once for the potty. Then at Tenilles they were sharing a bed for the first time ever. I put them down fully expecting it to be a marathon night of putting them back to bed over and over and telling them to stop playing and go to sleep. I was shocked when they went right to bed and stayed there till morning. This new discover opens up a whole new world of travel possibilities with them. We also learned that we should never take them lake fishing again. Andi kept asking if there was a fish on her line about every 10 seconds, and Sammy just kept saying faster because he wanted the boat to get going again. We also found that Andi is insanely afraid of bugs. After a few freak outs that almost tipped the boat I had to hide her under towels so the mosquitoes wouldn't "suck all her blood out" and the dragon flies couldn't get her. Thanks Billy for putting up with them!
All in all it was a great way to end the summer.

Imagination is Overrated

At least I feel like it is at our house. Because imagination makes HUGE messes, or semi-life threatening situations. The kids like to pretend to be puppies. They take turns, one is a puppy the other is the owner. Of course the puppy needs to be walked so they need a collar and leash, which Andi fashioned out of a stretchy headband and ribbons. Ingenious, until it is used as a choke chain and becomes a tripping hazard all at the same time.

Yesterday Andi was the puppy and made it clear to Sammy that she was a thirsty puppy. Instead of grabbing a tea cup or any of the play dishes in Andi's room, he went to his room and grabbed his fireman's hat and filled it with water for a dog water dish. The problem was he promptly dumped it on the bathroom floor. Being a puppy(Andi does not break character) Andi could not tell me what he did, but proceeded to bark at me and wave her hand for me to see what was going on. By the time I got to the bathroom the hat was completely refilled, and almost dumped on the floor again.

So we had a flood. And I know it's just water, and no one has been seriously injured by the collar and chain choking/tripping. But I'm pretty sure one day their imaginations are going to cause some real permanent damage. I'm pretty sure it's already damaged me because I was trying to figure out how to permanently fasten the cushions to the couch so they could no longer be used to build forts and houses. My couch cushions spend more time on the floor than actually on the couch.

Rafting

I finally went rafting down the Kern river last night for the first time. I've only lived here my entire life, but somehow just never made it down the river. Bobby and his fiance Kelsie are in town this week so we went rafting as a family. Most of us anyway, Mom & Stef are at girls camp and the kids were too young. It was a lot of fun. Here we are getting ready to head out.

 

They cinched our vests up so tight I felt like I was wearing a corset. Unfortunately it did nothing to flatter the figure as a corset would.

Everyone jumped in for the "floating section", but I opted to stay in the boat and take pictures. I was fairly certain that my twig arms would not be able to get me back in the raft while it was moving.

 

Everyone took turns jumping off the tree. 

Thad had to show everyone up with a backflip.

And Bradon attempted a Karate Kid move, but this is how it turned out.

We were on the water for about an hour and a half and had a great time. We will definitely have to do this again.

When Daddy's away. . .

Okay, so last week with Thad being gone the kids got together and decided to make life really interesting for Mommy. Monday we had a dentist appointment for Andi. Her teeth were totally clean and healthy, oh except that while the dentist was cleaning one of her old fillings chipped. Yep, a little piece flew right off. So the options were, patch it, knowing that it would keep breaking and have to be re-patched, or crown it. So the next day we go back and Andi got a "shiny new tooth" as she calls it. I hate that she has a big metal crown, but it's on her very back tooth so you can't see it. But as you can imagine, dealing with the after effects and her mouth being numb for a while was not fun. She's so dramatic!
The next morning I was in the kitchen and the kids were in the living room, when I hear a crack, followed by  Sammy crying. They bashed heads, and Sammy chomped down so hard he chipped the corner off his tooth. Nice. Luckily the dentist said if he could still eat and brush teeth without pain, we wouldn't need to do anything about it. And thankfully it's not bothering him.That night they were chasing each other through the house and Sammy ran into the bathroom, then slipped and hit his head on the tub, so he has a nice purple welt on his eye brow.
Later in the week we were doing some grocery shopping. Andi has gotten into standing/holding on to the side of the basket, which make it really hard to steer, so I am constantly telling her to get off the basket. At the same time I'm usually wrestling Sammy to stay in the dumb seat of the basket. Again, their forces combined, and when I turned to grab something off the shelf they pulled the basket over right on top of Andi, and Sammy flew out. No one was seriously hurt, but you'd think every bone in Andi's body was broken from the screaming that went on. Yes, screaming bloody murder in the middle of Winco.
So now that Thad is home they get to rough house with him and seem content to do that instead of injure themselves. My mom and Stef and I took the kids to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie. It was cute, but thankfully only an hour long. Even for Pooh Bear and a bag of M&M's Sammy will not behave at the movie theaters.
I did get my chair project done. 8 chairs in total. I wanted a pattern on the back, and I have to admit it doesn't really go with decor in the rest of my house, but since they are only brought in when we have a large crowd to feed I think they will work just fine. Here is the before, and for some reason my grass is looking like neon green astro-turf. It doesn't look like that in person, I swear.

The after. 

It looks plain black, but it's actually oil rubbed bronze, so up close you get to see this lovely-ness.

 

I also managed to read a few books in Thad absence, one was a story of Charlotte Bronte's life. And now I feel the need to read her other novels, and well as her sisters.

Kid City, and Lot's of Firsts.

Every few weeks Andi likes to hit up the Children's museum with Paige. Tara is always prepared with a camera to catch all of their cuteness, and last week I finally was too. They love playing in the "Kid City". Here is Sammy in the fire-station.

Taking the 911 call.

Driving to the fire.

Breaking out the hoses. 

Andi ordering lunch from Paige's Restaurant.

This was funny. Hannah and Andi were arresting Nate for something. Hannah is doing the interrogating, and I believe Andi is the guard.

And yes, she is running around this place barefoot. She takes her shoes off everywhere these days! It's weird, and a little gross when she does it in public, and consequently her shoes are always lost. We are always hunting down shoes.
Last Saturday was full of firsts for me. I took my first trip to the Tulare outlets just up the road, as well as my first trip to Hobby lobby and Panera Bread.  All three were just minutes from each other. Hobby Lobby might be the best craft store ever, and though I wish we had one here, I'm also pretty sure it's a good thing we don't have one here. It would get me into trouble. Panera Bread lived up to all of Kelsies hype, yum. I was not super impressed with the outlets. They do have a Loft store, which made me very happy, but other than that it was the same old stuff we have around here. The whole purpose for the trip was to find outfits for Bobby's wedding. Don't worry, none of us found any wedding attire. But I did come home with stuff ;)
Thad is gone this week at scout camp, so we have been super lazy. Lot's of pool time, and hanging out, and lot's of late night reading for me. I picked up two new books on Monday, one of which I've already finished. I was tempted to start re-reading the 7th Harry potter book before we see the movie Saturday, but I'm not sure I could cram it in in the next 3 days.
Project of the week. Spray painting old metal fold up chairs that the church was getting rid of. Hopefully when I'm done they won't look like old chairs that were being discarded. Crossing fingers.

Happy Birthday . . .

To Me, and America. It has been a crazy busy, fun weekend. Friday evening Thad and I were able to go down to the LA temple together, which as always, was lovely. On the way down he told me my birthday present was on the seat behind me, but I told him it could wait till Sunday. He insisted I open it right then so I could use it over the weekend. He got me this cute little guy, complete with dust collector and carrying case.

Yes, I did ask for a sander for my birthday. I asked for a mouse sander, but I think since it was going to live in the garage with Thads tools he didn't want anything with such a dainty name in there. I broke it in Saturday and love it! I really should have used one of these the first time I re-finished the table, then I wouldn't have had to do it again. But the top was in horrible shape due to children scratching and stabbing it with forks. Today it's all finished and looking lovely.

Sunday was my birthday and our turn to host Sunday dinner. We cooked, but took all the food down to my parents to eat. Usually when we host we eat in the backyard because we don't have room for that many people in our dinning room, but as it was 106 on Sunday, we thought we'd keep it indoors this time. We ate too much and I was spoiled, so it was a great day.
Monday we partied all day. Seriously. Our friends Micheal and Cari Jackson were in town with their two cute boys so we hit the pool with them around 10 am. It was almost 100 degrees by then so it was time.

 The little guys on their snack break.

Andi & Anthony liked diving and posing for the camera. 

She was this happy all day.

After a lunch break and a short rest we went back to my parents for the big party. Since Michael and Cari were here we had a BBQ with our "back in the day" friends. Lot's of food, more swimming, and the totem pole of fire.  Here is the whole gang right before the fireworks. 

Michael, Tarin, Spencer and I have been friends since we were kids, and it was so nice to be together with our families all these years later and still enjoy being together.  Here are almost all of the kids lined up for their sparklers. Only the two babies are missing .

Sammy sat like this for the entire show. He kept telling me it was too loud, but at least he wasn't crying this year. Ignore my horrible posture.

Not bad for a homemade show ;)

This picture has nothing to do with the weekends festivities, but I wanted to post it because these two are constantly making forts, everywhere, out of anything.

It was such a fun weekend, but now we all need a nap. Too bad I have to bake and vacuum seal 120 brownies in the next few days. Yay scout camp.