Spring Break

This week has been Spring Break for us. The weather has even cooperated for the most part! Our YMCA had free swim lessons for kids 3-12 all week long so we took full advantage of it! Care Bear doesn't mind water, La-La loves water, and Jaco is scared of water; with good reason. When we were moving from Detroit to Seattle we stayed at a hotel with a pool. I took the kids swimming and I was holding La-La while Jaco held on to the wall. At some point he decided to try to walk to me and got in way over his head. When I pulled him out he was coughing and sputtering and he had claw marks by his pale face from trying to get up out of the water. He told me he kept calling for help but no one could hear him. Ever since then he has been very afraid to put his face in water. He was not very willing to go to the first swim lesson but then he decided it was actually pretty fun and he was excited to go back! So enjoy the pics and video clips of the kids in swim lessons.

Jaco was willing to try the first day but as you can see he was not very comfortable with the situation.

By the last day he was so much more sure of himself! His teacher was very patient with him and did not push him to do too much too soon. I was so proud of my boy! He definitely earned the most improved award!

Care Bear was also a little nervous the first day but she is always like that in any new situation. She never cried though and did whatever her teachers asked her to.

Today, her last day, Care Bear just had fun. For her age group, the goal was mainly to get the kids comfortable in the water.

La-La LOVES water and has from a very early age. She has taught herself to swim but really doesn't know how to move her arms and legs properly. This week seemed to help that for her!

By the end of the week she was almost able to back float and had better technique in her movements. She can't wait to take more lessons!

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Michelle is my older sister! She is the second girl and 4th child out of the nine of us. She is a spaz and a bit of a clown but that is why we love her! Here are some of my memories of growing up with her!

Since I shared a room with the 3 younger girls, I don't have a ton of young memories with Michelle.
I loved trying on her bras as I dreamed of having one of my own someday.
She was the older cooler sister and I am sure I was the annoying little sister.
She was kind of a mean baby-sitter to us. All the other parents in the neighborhood loved her as a baby-sitter but I didn't! :)
When we did share a room, we pooled our money and bought a tall skinny bookshelf which I have drug all over the country and still have it today!
She did not like when I practiced for my voice lessons. Come to think of it, I think Mom was the only one who "enjoyed" it!
She had this tiny Ford Festiva that our mom called a roller skate. It had speakers in the back that were as big as the car!
She listened to cool music like Enya and ABBA.
She was a rebel child and had a boyfriend Dad didn't approve of but we all did. He was her missionary! Andy was a cool guy and they are still friends as her husband hangs out with him!
We both had missionaries at the same time and we would go to Smith's and spray our teddy bears with the cologne samples so we could dream about our men.
She started working at Smith's as a bagger and we all found it so funny to call her a bag lady.
She is a prankster and has been known to serve friends chocolate covered cotton balls and unflavored jell-o on April Fools day.
We had our first babies one week apart from each other. They were due further than one week but my baby came early and her's was late!

Michelle is a great friend and sister! We both moved far away from family at the same time so we relied on each other to survive. We talk at least once a week and I love those conversations! Happy Birthday Michelle! I don't know if you will see this since you STILL don't have a home computer but maybe Jen or Maria will share their computers!

Bragging Rights

Today was Parent Teacher Conference. I am always a little nervous to hear what other people think about my kids. Am I doing enough as their mom? Can their teachers see where I am struggling with them? Today's conferences went great and both Jaco and La-La are doing really good! La-La's teacher said that she is such a joy to have in class. She loves to help others and has never had a time out. She is reading more and more and counting higher and higher. La-La wants to be a mommy when she grows up and it shows in the way she interacts with her classmates. She is the oldest (but far from the tallest) in her class and loves reminding everyone of that fact. =)
Jaco is doing so good in school! His only real problem is his organization skills. His teacher said his brain is just going too fast! He LOVES to read (just like his mom!) and always has. I remember when he was a crawling baby his favorite toy was books. He would sit and study them and loved to be read to. He would memorize his favorite books and almost "read" them to me. He gets to read at night before bed and there have been times when I have gone to bed late and I find him reading with his book angled just right so he can see by the light from the hall. It is not uncommon to hear "Let me just finish this chapter! Please!"Today his teacher gave me his test results in reading. OK, now I get to brag for a minute. Based on the National Norm Scores, Jaco reads at a level equal to that of a typical 10th grader and he reads at a level greater than or equal to 99% of other students nationally in the same grade! The new trimester just started and he has already completed 30% of his reading goal! Jaco excels in reading but also math and science. He is a well rounded smart kid! He takes after his smart daddy. I am so proud of my boy! He is challenging sometimes because of extreme ADHD but getting reports like this make it easier to deal with. Here is what his teacher wrote on his report card. "Jaco continues to amaze me with his in-depth curiosity and will go far in this world. Now, if we can just get the organizational skills together!"

Tic Tac

This is probably one of those stories that is much funnier if you actually witnessed it but I have to share it any ways. Just to preface, Jaco is a drama king. And I mean DRAMA! Last week when he had strep throat, it literally took over 10 minutes to get the throat swab to test for strep. 10 LOUD minutes of tears and screaming. If the child ever needs stitches or gets seriously hurt, they will have to knock him out before touching him. OK, so tonight, I am quietly reading stories with the girls after having our traditional Corned Beef & Cabbage for St Patrick's Day. All of a sudden our house was FILLED with ear splitting screams and Jaco came thundering down the stairs. He yelled something about a spider crawling on him. I went upstairs to investigate and at first I thought I had found the "spider" when I saw a piece of black yarn. Then La-La discovered a tiny little eight legged critter. Upon further investigation, I came to the conclusion that it was a TICK! I put our new friend in a cup with a lid so we could show daddy. Well, just like a spider, ticks can crawl up walls and this little guy made it to the top of the cup in record time while we were showing him off. All of the kids were gathered around and I shook the cup to get him back to the bottom. All of a sudden, once again the house was filled with screams but this time it was three times as loud and I was surprised to see all three kids huddled in the kitchen screaming. I looked in the cup and realized I had shook the tick out. As the kids saw the little creap fly, they flew as far away from me as they could. Thank goodness I found him again! Once everyone calmed down we tried to finish our bedtime story. Care Bear wanted a snack but just stood in the dining area crying. She wouldn't go in the kitchen because she knew I had put the tick on the counter! She just stood there crying about the "Tic Tac". She was truly petrified! I am sure she got herself so worked up because of all the screaming in the house. I shouldn't laugh but I can't help but chuckle when I think of how fast and loud the room cleared when I accidentally let him loose. I am worried that we could be in for a long, loud spring and summer. I have been told there are quite a few Ticks in the area and the girls especially like to go on adventures through weeds and in trees. We are in serious trouble if one ever burrows it's tiny head into a little body named Jaco, La-La, or Care Bear!!!


Here is a picture of the tiny trouble maker. The top picture is the same guy just enlarged a ton! When I look at him big, I can kind of see why Jaco screamed so loud! The critter is pretty nasty looking.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Poosie Doo!! For those of you who don't know, that is my sister Maria but growing up she was rarely called anything but Poosie thanks to our oldest sister Melanie. I can't remember the first name Mel came up with because it was shot down by Mom. I am sure Mom still regrets allowing Poosie Doo to stick, especially when she would run away at church and one of us would holler "Poosie Doo! Come back!"

Here are some memories I have of Maria.
Mom always said she was a little boy in a girls body because she was very active.

She was born with a funny bald spot on her head that was fun to poke.

She loved my made up stories that I told almost nightly. At one point all 4 of us youngest girls shared a room; two sets of bunk beds made it work. Those bunkbeds provided hours of entertainment from becoming forts to shaking trains. And we SHOOK those beds. It was amazing they never fell on anyone!

I witnessed her picking ABC (already been chewed) gum off the road.

She was my buddy and Annie was Miranda's.

She and Annie were pack rats and collected all sorts of treasures (garbage) in baggies.

She has a picture of her when she was a baby in a pink fluffy dress.

We all joke that she got all of the supposed 1/8 indian blood because of her dark coloring.

She made Mom HUGE when she was pregnant. Dad took a picture of mom laying down looking up between her legs to show how big her belly was. YIKES!

She likes to talk. =) I think all us Finch girls do!

She stole my favorite girls name, Rachel. OK, she didn't steal it, Justin wouldn't let me name a girl that so I am just happy to have a niece by that name.

She couldn't say the "R" sound for forever. Mom says she knew Maria needed Speech Therapy when she came home from school with her name written "MAWIA", exactly the same way she said it!

She loved WHAM'S song "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" and would boogy away to it as a little baby. So in honor of Poosie Doo's birthday, click on the following link and enjoy some music!
Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
I tried to get this video here on my blog but could not get it to work.

The fairest Maiden of all!

Today was a beautiful spring day. It was sunny and warm. A little too sunny for my fair maiden, Miss Care Bear. Her poor face got fried! I always forget over the winter how easily she burns until a sunny clear spring day reminds me. She got her fair skin from me so you would think because of all my painful burns I would remember to protect her better. March just seems too early to be thinking about sunscreen! I know, a horrible problem to have. =)
Care Bear is a funny girl. Yes she is still a drama queen and she still does not sleep well but she is FUNNY! Because she has two older siblings, she is trying to grow up way too fast. What does she like to watch on TV? Elmo? No, she loves I-Carly and Drake and Josh because that is what Jaco and La-La like. So because of these shows she talks about kissing. Awhile ago she was sitting on my lap and out of no where she says, "Mom, you want to make out?" I just about died! If you listen to her while she plays Barbies, there is a whole lot of kissing going on. It is kind of humorous but it also makes me sad because my baby is growing up way too fast!
Care Bear has decided she does not want to nap anymore. In the last 3 weeks I think she has taken one nap. She is adjusting so our afternoons aren't too bad now and bedtime is pretty easy. The trick is to get her teeth brushed before she crashes on the couch! Tonight she fell asleep halfway on the couch with her legs suspended on the coffee table. Then when I scooped her up to take to bed she put her her hands on her cheeks. It was pretty cute. Made me think of when she was a tiny baby.
This picture is from a few weeks ago. I think she starts off most nights on the couch and then has to be moved to her bed. That can be tricky though because if you don't wait long enough or wait too long she starts screaming and freaking out. Someday she will sleep like a sweet little angel and give her mom a break!

She does have matching jammies but she is a very independent child. I figure I'll worry more about the daytime clothes matching! Although lately she will get dressed in a clean pair of jammies for the day. Yes, I said DAY! If she had her way she would stay in PJ's 24/7. My kind of wardrobe.

In the beginning....

We are planting a garden for the first time this year! I am really excited about it and the kids are too. We started our growing season by planting flower seeds yesterday. I had my camera outside with us planning on having a wonderful time teaching my kids. Well, it turns out that 8 little hands can not be controlled by one pair of big hands. Seeds were going EVERYWHERE and one of our "greenhouses" (disposable lasagne pans) was hit by a seasonal storm that caused massive flooding. The storm's name was Care Bear. My patience ran out really quickly and I just hurried as fast as I could to get it done. I never even turned the camera on. I am a little worried to see what we end up with. I hope at least a few plants live.

Our makeshift greenhouses soaking up some sun!

Today we planted strawberry plants. They are the kind that will produce all summer long! I went to our local Farmer's Market this morning and bought 10 plants for $10 and we planted them this afternoon. They should produce at least 1 1/2 lbs per plant. Yeah!

I guess a little dirt won't hurt! As long as I can get the dirt out from under my nails before church in the morning. :)

Totally Together

A friend in WA clued me in to this website and I am excited to try to add this to my life. I know some of you don't have a problem keeping a tidy home but I admit that I do! I love a clean house but I do not succeed in keeping it that way. Hopefully this lady's tips will help me and maybe some of you too!

http://www.totallytogetherjournal.com/

Create!

A friend of mine has this link on her blog and I thought it would benefit my blog readers too! This is a short segment of a talk (set to music) given by a leader in our church. But whether you are Mormon or not, I think this is something good for ALL mothers to hear.

http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,4644-1,00.html

Interview time!

I got this from Facebook but I thought it would be fun to put on here since this is more of my journal/scrapbook. I asked each of the kids the same questions and here are their answers.


Care Bear's Answers 3 1/2 years old

1. What is something mom always says to you?
You love me

2. What makes mom happy?
When me be nice. That makes you happy

3. What makes mom sad?
When I or Jannessa be mean.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
When the cuckoo clock comes out. That make you laugh.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Watch Mermaid

6. How old is your mom?
20

7. How tall is your mom?
Bigger

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Sleep

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Sleep in

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
look at a tv

11. What is your mom really good at?
watching Ellen

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Jingle Bells

13. What does your mom do for her job?
kissing

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
meatballs

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Kissing

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Dora

17. What do you and your mom do together?
snuggle

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We love each other

19. How are you and your mom different?
Our hair is different

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Give me hugs!


La-La's Answers 6 1/2 years old

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Go Play!

2. What makes mom happy?
If we listen to you

3. What makes mom sad?
If we won't listen to you

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Tickle me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
She was a sneaky girl

6. How old is your mom?
22

7. How tall is your mom?
55

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Watch Ellen

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Sometimes clean up the house

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Taking care of her children

11. What is your mom really good at?
singing

12. What is your mom not very good at?
cleaning

13. What does your mom do for her job?
keeping care of the house

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
pizza

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
She's pretty

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
princess

17. What do you and your mom do together?
shopping

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both have blue eyes

19. How are you and your mom different?
She's bigger than me

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Sometimes she buys something at the store for me.


Jaco's Answers 9 1/2 years old

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Go to bed

2. What makes mom happy?
When me Jessa or Kara do something nice for you.

3. What makes mom sad?
When me Jessa or Kara are bad.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Ask me these questions!

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Happy? Maybe...I don't know

6. How old is your mom?
32

7. How tall is your mom?
6 ft

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Exercise? I don't know

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
clean

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Hula Hoop on Wii fit. No I mean for being really weird!

11. What is your mom really good at?
being mean

12. What is your mom not very good at?
being nice

13. What does your mom do for her job?
baby-sitting

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
pizza

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Doing something on a video game well.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Wanda from Fairly Oddparents because she nags a lot!

17. What do you and your mom do together?
play board games, wii fit

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both like Wii Fit

19. How are you and your mom different?
She doesn't like Bakugan and I do!

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
When she buys me something

4 perfect eyes do not equal 6 perfect eyes

How do two people with perfect vision produce two children with not so perfect vision? Jaco has glasses and now so does La-La! At her 6 year physical she was given a basic eye exam which showed a possible problem. We were advised to just watch it. A couple weeks ago the school gave La-La an eye exam which is standard practice for all kindergartners. Once again, this exam showed a possible problem and we were told it would be good to have her seen by an eye Dr. So last week that is what we did and it turns out she is far sighted and has an astigmatism just like Jaco! And just like him, her left eye is weaker than the right. We picked out glasses and she was thrilled to finally get the call today saying they were ready. She is very excited about them and she looks pretty cute! I guess growing her bangs out wasn't a big enough make-over so she added glasses to her new look! Now we will keep a close eye (no pun intended!) on Care Bear's vision!!

Yea or Nea?

I am not sure if I like them. Please tell me your HONEST opinion.
I do like the color but I wish they were more fitted. I was surprised that Justin does like them and of course the kids like them because they are new.

Random...A little of this a little of that!

Feb 8
A new hole!
La-La loves to pull out her wiggly teeth. If she has a tooth that shows any sign of being loose she works it as much as she can to try to get it to come out. The tooth she lost this time probably was not ready to come out judging by the amount of root that was still attached. That didn't stop La-La. Despite the blood and minor pain she succeeded in pulling the tooth out with a little help from me just so the Tooth Fairy would come visit.

A new holey smile!

Feb 10
SNOW!
We finally got enough snow to make a snowman. The flakes that fell were the biggest flakes I think I have ever seen. They were so pretty. Care Bear was funny when she noticed the snow. She started in the living room and looked out each window in the house. As she looked out each one, she proclaimed "It's snowing out this window too!" When La-La got home from school it was time to make a snowman. I helped the girls because they needed it and because I love making snowmen! The snow was so wet that as I stacked the balls on top of each other, water poured out the bottom. It wasn't a big snowman but I could hardly lift the balls because they were so heavy. I made this snowman kit when Jaco was a baby and it has been used every winter since. All of our snowmen have a familiar face but the kids love it!

A work in progress!

The finished man! The girl's friend from across the street helped us.

I peaked out the window after we completed our snowman and this is what I saw. Silly girl.

Valentines Day!
I personally find Valentines Day to be one of those holidays that just make me ask why. If we love someone shouldn't we say it everyday? But because I have kids, Valentines Day happens at our house. The kids had to take Valentines to school on Friday the 13th. La-La chose the traditional commercialized store bought cards with a treat included. She had to write her name on each one but Jaco was kind and helped her a little. Care Bear wanted in on the action too so she also picked out some Valentines to share. She chose Dora cards. Jaco loves folding origami and I thought it was pretty cool when he decided to make all of his Valentines for his classmates. The girls received "beating hearts" and the boys got "flapping cranes". He folded 12 of each kind. I was very proud of him. I was the mother in charge of La-La's class party and I could not believe the amount of candy that went through the classroom! It was as bad as Halloween. If I am asked to plan a party again, I will come up with something to do that has nothing to do with sugar! On Valentines Day, Cupid helped me out by motivating everyone to clean the house. They knew as soon as it was clean, Cupid would leave them a small gift on their beds. It worked fabulously! Thanks Cupid!! Maybe Valentines Day isn't so bad afterall!

Care Bear working so hard on her Valentines. She was so proud of her scribbled name.

La-La stuffing her cards with the treats.

Jaco working on his origami Valentines.

The finished Beating Heart. What a handsome boy! He can be my Valentine. :)

Feb 17
Happy Birthday!
It is official. I am now 32. No longer just barely 30 but a full fledged 30's person. Birthdays as an adult just are not as fun as when you are a kid. I took Care Bear shopping to spend some birthday money and she did not believe me that it was my birthday. She told me it could not be my B-Day since there were no balloons. Ballons or no balloons I am now a year older. I did find some cute shoes while shopping and I ordered myself some knee-high brown boots with birthday money, and Justin and the kids got me an MP3 player. We went to dinner as a family and had a Dairy Queen Frozen Cake for dessert.

I picked out this cake because my family nick name is Punky but I am also called Monkey by my brother Brandon.

Do you think I could try a little harder to pose for the camera?

New stuff!
While Birthday shopping yesterday I found the cutest quilt for Care Bears bed at Ross. She and La-La have bunk beds but Care Bear's bed is full size. She has never had a quilt for her bed just an old blanket. So when I saw this cute quilt that came with 2 decorative pillows, a bed skirt, and two pillowshams for $30 I had to buy it. Only problem was finding a twin quilt to match for La-La's bed. I looked at several stores here and looked at a ton of websites online. Nothing looked right and they all were expensive. Then I remembered a quilt I saw at Ross for $20 that didn't match perfectly but I thought it would work. So I drug all 3 kids to Ross and got the other quilt. It does not match 100% but I think it coordinates close enough to work. The girls are thrilled with their new beds.
I also bought a set of slipcovers for our couch and loveseat. I am really tired of handwashing them and the constant waterspots. So for the last week I have been shopping around and today I found some that I hope will work. I am a little worried about how well they will stay on with the kids but I figure a little daily tucking won't be any worse than the cleaning.
On a side note. What do you think about La-La without bangs? She has decided against my wishes to grow out her bangs because "everyone" else is. Peer pressure in kindergarten? UGH!

This picture doesn't really show the true colors or how pretty the quilts really are. They are machine quilted all over and the purple is more of a periwinkle blue.I hope this will work! I bought the "moss" color.

Jaco's Beach Interpretation

Jaco did a writing assignment for school and he chose to write about our recent road trip to the coast. I think he wrote an amazing paper and I thought you would enjoy it too!

Have you ever been to the coast in Oregon? Well I'm going to describe to you what it's like there in this paper.

There is an enormous rock that has a gigantic crack in it and the light that comes through it is very beautiful. The light is like the warm sunshine that comes through your bedroom window in the morning. It is so beautiful that it's like looking at a piece of Heaven's light.

The Ocean's water smelled like a fishing dock after a great catch of fish. The sand was great for building sand castles because it's very firm and sturdy. Another reason it was great for sand castles is because the sand was firm but squishy at the same time so I could build really sturdy sand castles but it was easy to pat down. The winds were very hard. I could feel them pounding against my face. They were like storm winds.

There were beautiful rocks, sea anemones, seashells, and hermit crabs. Some of the rocks and sea shells were orange and others were white with dark blue with a black like the darkness like at midnight.

Did you smell the ocean's water, see the waves and feel the sand? If yes, I succeeded in describing the coast in Oregon to you.

To The Coast .....AGAIN!

I can't say it enough! I love my new home. I live in the best of both worlds; surrounded by mountains and just a short drive to the gorgeous Oregon Coast. Saturday was a beautiful February day so we took a drive to truly enjoy the sun on the beach. Armed with kites, pails, and shovels we hit the sand. We were able to take Cody for the first time and he LOVED it! We found it quite amusing when he decided he had to catch a sea gull. He would run around and around in a huge circle trying to catch one of the silly birds. When that didn't work, he was content to mark his territory on the sand toys, sand castles and to chase all the other dogs on the beach. When the wind got a little chilly, we decided to explore a bunch of rocks. There were little tide pools in between the rocks where we found star fish, anemone, hermit crabs, and clams plus a bunch of "she shells" and cool stones. Care bear was a little freaked out by the big waves because of our last trip to the coast where she and La-La were with Justin when a huge wave came up at them. By the end of the day, Care Bear was happy being at the beach but that was after spending most of the day on top of Daddy's tall shoulders as far away from the water as she could be! Jaco is getting better and better at our little road trips. As long as he has his DS to play during the boring drive time, he does pretty good! La-La loves the beach and exploring so it was a good day for her, no questions asked.

A little Hotty!

I was doing Princess Aurora's nightly brushing to get rid of loose hair when Jaco came in my room. He watched me for a minute and then asked, "Is she still all hot?" I looked at him wondering what on earth he meant. He said, " You know, you said she was...." Then I figured it out. He was wondering if she was still in heat! Thank goodness she is not and keep your fingers crossed that she will behave until March 19 when she is scheduled to be fixed!


On a sad note, our little black and white rat Katara died today. She was really old (about 2 years 4 months) for a rat and she lived a good life but it is always hard to lose a friend. As I mentioned before, she had had a giant tumor on her chest that somehow disappeared and left a nickel sized hole. In one week it healed itself and looked really good so we thought she was going to be fine. I guess not. Jaco and I had a long talk tonight because she was his rat. We decided that my Friend Jacob who passed away in high school will take care of Katara now. When my Jacob said his prayer tonight he asked Heavenly Father to ask Jacob to give Katara a big hug. Tomorrow we will have to break the news to the girls and have a burial service for our brave little friend. Having pets can be so hard but at the same time I think they can be good to help teach kids about life and death.

My Turn!

I finally was able to take myself to the Dr today for my chronic congested nose. The Dr agreed with me that it is not in my sinuses at all and that I am not sick. She said my nasal tissue is red and swollen just as I kind of figured because there is rarely anything to blow, it just feels like I need to all the time. But the more I blow, the more irritated the tissue gets so I feel even stuffier. It could be caused by allergies but I don't have watery itchy eyes or a runny nose. I told her that I had tried several decongestants, nasal spray, the neti pot, breathe rite strips, and other over the counter remedies all to no avail. So the Dr decided to start me on a round of oral steroids and I am to use a nasal steroid also. The oral one should only be for about a week but I may need to use the nasal one longer to stay on top of the problem. If I continue to have the nasal congestion, I may need to be tested for allergies. She also said it could just be a winter problem and I may need to use the nasal steroids every winter. Obviously this is a little trial and error and I just hope it helps. I have been having to sleep propped up on 3 pillows because laying down flat makes it worse and I can't wait to be able to sleep on my tummy again! Oh yeah, I really just want to be able to sleep peacefully again! But I guess for that to really happen, I need to get my 3 1/2 year old to sleep peacefully!!

Funny Kitty

The girls and I were checking out something on the computer when I looked over my shoulder and saw this.

Princess Aurora had somehow manged to get herself under the plastic table cloth cover and was just laying there as comfy as could be. The pictures really don't do it justice. It was very funny looking!

Mom's Diagnosis

After doing a lot of research online about chicken pox, I believe more and more that La-La does indeed have it. More spots appeared today and they are still itchy. More than one website said the spots in a vaccinated person look more like bug bites than the typical "dew drop on a rose". She also has mild cold symptoms which is another sign. Here is a paragraph I found on the CDC website that describes her perfectly.

"No vaccine is 100% effective in preventing disease. For chickenpox vaccine, about 9 out of every 10 people who are vaccinated with two doses are completely protected from chickenpox. In addition, the recommended two-dose regimen is virtually 100% effective in preventing severe disease. If a vaccinated person does get chickenpox, it is usually a very mild case lasting only a few days and involving fewer skin lesions (usually less than 50, which may resemble bug bites more than typical, fluid-filled chickenpox blisters), mild or no fever, and a quicker recovery."
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/varicella/vac-faqs-gen.htm

Unfortunately, she was contagious before we even had a clue so if any kids in her class have not received the vaccine and even if they have they could be itchy in a week or two! OOPS!

Chicken Pox?

La-La very likely has chicken pox! She received the vaccination at 12 months as well as the booster with her kindergarten shots but she has lots of red itchy bumps. We took her to her pediatrician tonight and he can't say for sure that she has chicken pox but he really can't say that she doesn't. Because she was vaccinated, she may present with the illness differently than a classic case. We thought she had a mild case about a year ago but now that I have seen what she has now, I doubt she had it before. These spots now are bigger, there are more, and they are itchy where before they never bothered her. Maybe it is just a weird rash but who knows! So we have been quarantined for 2 weeks with the stomach flu and now we have to play it safe and keep her home for who knows how long! If it really is chicken pox, I hope our other vaccinated kids don't get it and I hope I don't get it! I did have it as a child but I had a very mild case.

What do you think? Chicken pox or something else?

How do you spell fun?

Well if you ask Care Bear it is spelled K A R A. She has learned to spell her name but really doesn't know what she is saying. She knows it is her name but if you show her the letters on paper she can't recognize them. So today she kept saying "K A R A" to daddy. He asked her what that spelled and she said it spells FUN!

Too much drama!

I need a break. Plain and simple! The stomach flu is making a run through our house. Hopefully Justin and I will avoid it but you have to wonder how many buckets you can empty and not get sick too! La-La was sick Wed -Fri and Care Bear and Jaco started it last night. Then you add a kitty who is very much so in heat and a rat with a tumor and life is a little crazy!
I have never been around a cat in heat and in a way it is amusing but it is work to make sure she isn't let outside. We are planning to get her fixed in February so if she gets pregnant now I am going to be quite frustrated.
Then on to our poor old rat. She is over 2 which is really old for a rat and has had a giant tumor (about the size of a golf ball) between her front two legs. I guess this is a common problem with rats especially ones as old as she is. Well now the tumor has disappeared and has left a small hole on her chest so who knows where it went and what will happen to her now.
The other reason I need a break is my nose. It has been stuffy for at least 6 weeks now and is driving me crazy. The left nostril is blocked 90% of the time and right now both sides are blocked to the point that almost no air is passing through at all because I am pretty sure I have caught a new cold on top of whatever else is going on.
One cool thing has come from my stuffy nose. I was asked weeks ago to sing at a ward conference today. All morning long my nose was 100% stuffed. As I am sitting in the meeting waiting to sing, my nose was 100% stuffed. I said a prayer in my heart that my nose would not affect my singing and as I walked to the podium, I was able to pass air through my nose. Not a lot of air, but enough that I was able to sing clearly and without hindrance from my cold and it was wonderful. Then as soon as I sat back down in my seat my nose was even stuffier than before. The Lord heard my prayer and allowed me to share a message with the congregation through song. It was a pretty cool experience but I wish my nose was still clear right now so I can sleep tonight. I am planning to take myself to the Dr on Tuesday after the kids are done with the stomach flu.
Ok, I am done complaining. But as I have said before, this blog is my journal so you get the good, the bad and the ugly!

Did she really just say that?

Care Bear and I were talking and this is our conversation.
Her: I want to have a baby
Me: You are too young to have a baby
Her: I really want to be a mommy!
Her: When I grow up and get a big bum I will be a mommy!

My do it adain!

Care Bear repeats those words several times each day. The little lady has rediscovered puzzles and wants to do them ALL day. She really is pretty good at them but she prefers my help. She knows how to separate the edge pieces from the center ones and she can look at each piece and see where it will fit. Our other two kids have never enjoyed puzzles like this so it is fun to see how her brain works! I love my daughter but I can only handle puzzles for so long before I am done, but she isn't! Besides the fact that I have never liked puzzles myself. For Christmas, Care Bear got a 24 piece Dora puzzle and on Sunday she completed it all by herself. It was cute to see how proud of herself she was. Now she cries before bed when we have to put Dora away and she wakes up ready to master it again!

Check out that determination!

Concentrate! Concentrate!

All done! (4th time this was completed and it was not even 10:00!)

Wedding Bells

Little girls are so funny. La-La and I were reading stories tonight and out of no where she asked me if she could marry a spanish guy. I asked her if there was a spanish boy in her class and she said no but she sees them everywhere. I said yes if she wanted to she could marry a spanish guy. Then she said she couldn't marry one because she doesn't speak spanish so how could they talk. Then she was asking me how you find a guy to marry. I told her you might meet a guy at a party or school (after you turn 16!) and maybe he would ask you on a date. On that date you would talk and if things went well you would continue to date and after awhile if you loved him and he loved you and respected you and treated you well, then maybe he would ask you to marry him. She told me that she would just have feelings and know. I guess her way could work too!

All better!

If I had to choose a flu virus, the one Care Bear got would be it. Noticeable fever started around 3 in the afternoon. Threw up twice in the early evening. Fever broke by 9:pm, slept well and woke up starving and just fine. So far no one else is showing any signs of getting it. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Ick

I was just telling my sister Michelle that it has been a long time since we have had the stomach flu at our house. I guess I spoke too soon! Miss Care Bear started running a fever this afternoon and then threw up tonight. She is such a little trooper trying so hard each time to make sure she gets it in the bucket. She came to snuggle with me a minute ago and I asked how she was feeling. She told me her licky thing doesn't hurt anymore. Translation: Tongue! Oh I hope we can keep everyone else from getting it and that tonight is not a long night!

Happy Birthday Mel!

Today is my oldest sister's birthday so I wanted to wish her a blog style birthday greeting! Mel is an amazing mom, sister and friend. She is very generous and has a strong testimony of our Savior. She has been through difficult times as a mom and has come through them with a deeper knowledge of our Savior's love for her. Her house is all the cousin's favorite to visit. I love you Mel and hope you have a wonderful year!

Chance made us sisters
Hearts made us friends!

It's me

I don't know why I am telling you this. I guess I am just hoping for some moral support as humiliating as it could be. You may have noticed on my blog list there is a blog called "I am THE Biggest Loser". Well, that is me. Unfortunately I have gained back all the weight I worked so hard to lose so now I am on a mission to get fit and to be able to recognize my own face again. If anyone wants to join me on this mission, I would love some competition! I am hoping that by making my weight loss blog public info to all of you my friends and family, that it will help give me the motivation to succeed. My goal is to lose atleast 37 lbs by June 15. So here's to a healthy me!

Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam

And now Care Bear IS a Sunbeam in Primary. I can't believe my baby is no longer a baby. She loved her new class at church and her teacher loved her too. At the most there will only be three kids in her class and today it was just her and a little boy. She does miss her nursery class and even had her teacher today convinced that she was just visiting Sunbeams and would go to her other class next week. Her teacher was impressed with her fine motor skills such as cutting, gluing, and coloring. Care Bear brought home a beautiful crown and was quite proud of her work.

Before Primary, we had to get through Sacrament Meeting with our busy three year old. She is such a ham and if ANYONE laughs or smiles at something she does, she continues the behavior which is usually naughty and then she takes her naughtiness to an exteme! So today in church, she decided the Mamma Mia soundtrack was more fun to sing than the hymns and when Jaco snickered at her solo, she decided to sing it louder. Care Bear does not like to sit on the bench with us and has found the aisle much more condusive for dancing and playing chicken with Daddy. Today while sitting in the aisle, she decided to check between her toes so of course she had to take off her shoes to do it. When Justin tried to grab her she threw her shoe and it landed on the head of the Mom sitting behind us. Thankfully everyone, even the wounded mom, laughed but unfortunantly that just egged Care Bear on so Justin had to take her out. The one truly funny thing she said today was when she saw our Primary President and said" Her lives at Wal-Mart!" Earlier in the week we had seen Sister Goff at Wal-Mart so I guess Care Bear figured she must live there.

La-La also said something at church today that made me chuckle. She was looking at Jaco's book that has a section on the respiratory system. She was surprised that our hearts don't really look like a heart but then she looked at the picture of a human heart and said "This is where Jesus is, huh?!"

La-La's date with Dad

Justin usually takes Jaco golfing with him but today La-La convinced Daddy it was her turn to try. She walked 9 holes and claims she even get some balls in the hole! She is always up for new adventures so she tolerated golfing way better than Jaco. Justin said he showed her how to fix the divets on the green so she did everything she could to fix every divet she saw. She also claims she saw Tiger Woods but I know I would have gotten a very excited phone call from someone if that really had been the case. Her only question for Justin was she wanted to know why the holes were so far away!

Here is a picture of La-La from when she was about 4 months old.

And here she is golfing with Daddy for the first time on a real golf course.

Sorry the pictures aren't very good. Justin took them with his phone. But she looks cute even if she is a little fuzzy!