Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

3 for Thursday: Round 4

2011-06-16T23:17:00.005-06:00

It's Three for Thursday time AGAIN!! Oh My! Hosted again this week by Katy at The House of Estrogen It's been an exhausting week - here goes:

Three things I accomplished this week
1. I packed lots of boxes!
2. I took my kids to the park, more than once even.
3. I washed ALL of the laundry. All those sheets, blankets and towels that have been to the "I'll get around to it" pile are now clean and ready to be packed ;)

Three things I want to do this summer
1. Move to a new house
2. Go to my family reunion in July
3. Make some new friends, in my new neighborhood.

Three colors used at my wedding
1. Lavander (purple)
2. Sage (green)
3. White

Three things I find repulsive
1. Smoking (Cigarettes make me sick)
2. Spitting (especially little boys who spit on their brothers.)
3. Dirty dish rags! stinky, stinky!

Three things I like most about my body
1. I have super cute toes!
2. My eyes are a very pretty shade of green
3. Everything seems to work the way it should. Bodies are pretty amazing things.

Three chores I make my husband do
1. Car Maintenance
2. Lawn Care
3. Changing light bulbs

Three recipes
1. Alfredo sauce With an allergy to soy I cannot use most pre-made sauces, so I make my own.
2. Beef and Tomato Pie so simple and my kids love it. It's a great way to use up all of those fresh tomatoes in the summertime.
3. No Bake Cookies an old F.H.E. standby at our house, but always a crowd pleaser.

Three favorite flavors of ice cream
1. Mint Chocolate Chip
2. Carmel Pecan
3. Tin Roof Sundae

Three animals I'd like to have (maybe not all at the same time)
1. A nice cat
2. A friendly dog
3. Um, another baby?? (I don't like birds, fish, rodents, or reptiles.)

Three pictures
Since tomorrow is my Daddy's 60th birthday *gasp* and Sunday is Father's Day here is a picture of my Dad and I at the Red Canyon Overlook near Flaming Gorge in October of 2008 (it was cold and windy.)
Another great Father in my life: My Father-in-law raised a good bunch of boys, his 5 sons are all pretty neat. I'm glad that I got to marry one of them! This is Oran, David (my Father-in-law) and me on Father's Day in 2009.

The Daddy at our house is pretty awesome too. Here's Ryan and our four boys on Easter morning 2011.

Three for Thursday: Round 3

2011-06-10T22:00:00.005-06:00

I know I'm a little late this week and it's more like a 'Five for Friday' kind of thing, but yesterday was kind of crazy! My husband had the day off so we spent the day packing boxes, running things to D.I. and grocery shopping.

So here it is, a little late, but just as fun! The Three for Thursday prompt this week comes from my good buddy Katy at thehouseofestrogen; Thanks Katy!!

Three favorite items of clothing:
This one is hard 'cause I pretty much hate all of my clothing at the moment. (I'm feeling in need of a shopping spree!) But here goes:
1. Down East Basics Tank Tops - high enough and long enough to fill any gaps.
2. My "size 8" jeans that are really more of a size 10, but that 8 on the tag helps me feel a little skinnier.
3. my long navy blue skirt - nursing friendly and I can wear it with just about any top.

Three things in my house that I wish were self-cleaning:
1. THE BATHROOM! With three little boys in the early years of toilet use and a fourth that will be there soon, a self-cleaning bathroom would be fabulous!
2. The toy room, that place is always a disaster - I wish we had one of those "Cat in the Hat" machines that pick up all of the things that are down and puts them away.
3. The kitchen floor - no matter how many times I sweep there always seems to be food on the floor!

Three favorite summertime lunches:
1. Pasta Salad! It's cool and fresh
2. BLTs - I love bacon and nothing beats fresh tomatoes out of the garden
3. Hotdogs roasted on the grill with Doritos on the side.

Three things my children say that they picked up from me:
1. "I'm Okay!" I used to ask "Are you okay?" every time it sounded like something "bad" happened, now they respond before I can even ask ;)
2. "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!" Alright, I did steal this from Mr. Rodgers, but it is said whenever the sun is shining through the windows in the morning.
3. "I'm gonna eat your squishies Mr. Chubby-Chunks!" when talking to the baby, of course.

Three good movie recommendations
1. "The City of Ember"
2. "Big Fish"
3. "Stardust"
(Only 3? Geeze, I could go on forever!! I love movies!)

Three inexpensive date night ideas
1. Redbox, air-popped popcorn and snuggling on the couch (It gets old, but hey, it's something.)
2. A stroll around the block under the stars, you can walk REALLY slow!
3. Who am I kidding? I never go on dates - You try getting a babysitter for four little boys!

Three favorite flowers:
1. Iris (they are so cool! Have you ever really looked at one?)
2. Daisy (they really are "The friendliest flower" - Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail")
3. Cala Lily

Three places I'd like to visit:
1. Florida: Disney World and Orlando Studios (I want to visit the Hogwarts Castle!)
2. Europe (I know this is pretty open ended, but I want to see it all!)
3. Brazil (My Daddy went on his mission their and in high school we had a foreign exchange student that I'd really like to visit. I miss you Zeila!)

Three good habits that I practice
1. I brush my teeth every morning and every night!
2. I wear deodorant everyday
3. We end every day with a family prayer

Three pictures:

I had lots of fun visiting with my Mother-in-law this evening. She came to town to visit her mother for her birthday and the boys and I went over to say hi. Here is a picture of my Mother and Father-in-law and their five sons.

OH NO! I'm being eaten by a dinosaur!! I guess I should have just let him have my golf ball if he wanted it so badly... (Playing miniature golf at Outer Limits Fun Zone.)

Zeila, my Brazilian sister, and Oran February of 2008, she came back to visit us, so it's only fair that I now go to Brazil and visit her, right??

Three for Thursday: Round 2

2011-06-02T22:22:00.004-06:00

My second week doing Three for Thursday, thank you for the promp Evelyn at http://hangingbyasilverlining.blogspot.com/ I love playing along and hope to win one of her giveaways ;)

Three of my favorite Pandora.com stations
1. "Caranna's Radio" my first Pandora station, it's my own mix of the '80s, 90s, and now' and is the cure for any bad day. I just crank the tunes and before I know it I'm smiling and dancing. Ironically the first "seed" for this station was "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter.
2. Disney, great for singing along, cleaning the house and keeping kids happy.
3. Piano Music Radio, very relaxing, and there's nothing better to calm my crying baby.

Three lessons learned since I have graduated from high school
1. I should listen to my parents, they really are pretty smart.
2. I have my whole life to be married, college is for having fun.
3. I am cooler than I thought I was.

Three people I was remembering on Memorial Day
1. Grandma White
2. Grandpa Stavast
3. Auntie Judy

Three favorite YouTube videos
1. "To Do list" by Hilary Weeks I wish I were so productive!
2. Star Wars (Accapella tribute to John Williams) John Williams is the Man!!
3. Kid History So funny! Watch all 4 episodes!

Three bad habits
1. Staying up so late, there's really no reason to, and I know I'd be much happier if I would just go to bed!
2. getting absorbed by facebook - is it really important that I know what is "on the mind" of a person I haven't physically spoken to since high school??
3. Over reacting to my kids, um... bad choices. They are kids, they make mistakes, oh well.

Three foods I will NEVER put in my mouth
1. Liver (it's meant to filter out all the garbage, why would I want to eat it!?)
2. Beer
3. tripe

Three things that sounded like a good idea at the time
1. Buying a home - buying a "fixer upper" was not a good idea, I found out that my husband is NOT Mr. Fix-it!
2. Buying the smaller size, because I could put it on.
3. Eating that *whatever* off the restaurant menu. (when will you learn that eating out makes you sick!! Food allergies are the pits!)

Three plans for Father’s Day 2011
1. Go to Church
2. Bake some Rolls
3. Call my Daddy

Three things that make me a “mean mom” (aka a GOOD mom)
1. Insisting they help me clean the house EVERYDAY ("But it's not even Saturday!")
2. Have them take care of their own things - I am not the keeper of shoes, jackets and backpacks!
3. Sticking to a schedule: ie. work, play, meals, bed.

Three pictures

My baby is crawling all over the place now. It's amazing how quick he's picked it up.

My handsome boys and I on Easter morning 2011

Since we're talking about Father's Day here is a picture of my silly Daddy.

Three For Thursday: Round 1

2011-05-26T12:35:00.010-06:00

I haven't done much in the bloggo-sphere for quite a while. Who has the time!? But my friend Evelyn is an amazing bogger. So, a special thanks to Evelyn at Hanging by a Silver Lining for the Three for Thursday prompt. (I'd love to win one of her giveaways.)

Three favorite words:
1. Exquisite - it's such a fancy word, and I like the way it feels in my mouth, go ahead, try it!
2. Methinks - the best part of the Hymn "If You Could Hie to Kolob."
3. Design - the way it is spelled, with it's silent "g" looks and feels artistic, it makes me want to create or design something myself.

Three things that won't be allowed in heaven:
1. Hobo Spiders - after all the spider bites I got at our old house they'd better not be there!
2. Hangnails - Ooo, I hate hangnails!
3. Red Underwear - They're "Satan's Panties" (from Miss Congeniality)

Three crafty things I do:
1. Crochet- I can make just about anything, all I need is a pattern and enough yarn.
2. Sew- sadly the only sewing I've done for quite a while is patching the endless supply of worn out Levi's at our house, courtesy of my little boys.
3. Paint and Draw - I love painting, be it on paper, walls, wood, or even rocks, but I don't get many opportunities.

Three things I swore I would NEVER do when I became a parent, but now find myself doing:
1. Let my kids watch more than a couple of house of TV a week.
2. Breastfeed beyond one year of age - some things just aren't worth the battle, they'll stop when they're ready.
3. Be the parent that never sets foot in their child's class room - I wanted to be the awesome Mom that was always there helping, that knew every kid's name - but with two younger ones at home and a husband who works full time, it's nearly impossible to find time to go in and help.

Three favorite quotes:
1. "It's never too late for Happily Ever After."- The Fairy Godmother, in "Shrek 2"
2. "Be yourself, everyone else is already taken." - Oscar Wilde
3. "You fail to plan, you plan to fail" - Mr. T

Three names I would never dream of giving my children:
1. Floyd
2. Ronald
3. Shakira

Three things I plan to do for Memorial Day weekend:
1. Visit the cemetery, tour Brady's Chapel and visit Grandpa Stavast's grave.
2. Take a bunch of stuff to DI.
3. Start the packing process!

Three blogs I love to visit:
1. Make It and Love It I cannot get enough of her amazing craftiness!! Someday I want to be this cool ;)
2. Anne Pearson Photography I could look at her work for hours! She's absolutely AMAZING! It is my dream to have her do a photo shoot with our family. (I'm saving all my pennies ;)
3. Freebies 2 Deals I love getting a good deal and free is even better!!

Three things that make my husband/partner the luckiest man alive:
1. I don't boss him around or nag like some wives do their husbands. My choice of husbandly persuasion is stormy silence. Thus far it has done little to provoke him into action. Maybe it's time to try nagging.
2. He has 4 little boys who absolutely adore him and think he's the greatest guy around.
3. His wife is a good cook and does it everyday.

Three Pictures:

This is the house we're planning to move to later this month. It's pretty exciting!

This is a card I made for my friend Christina when she had her first baby. It looks so much like her and makes me smile.

Here's an old one! This was taken on my Mom's birthday in July of 1986. I'm sitting on my Mom's lap.

Did You Think to Pray?

2011-04-27T14:57:00.003-06:00

I'm feeling a bit blessed today, and grateful that we remembered to say our prayers this morning!

On Ryan's way to work this morning he was passing a semi-truck. He was in the outside lane when the driver of the truck decided to pass the truck in front of him. He came into Ryan's lane forcing him into the median. Ryan said he almost rolled the car, but he's fine, the car is fine. He was just pretty shaken up for a while.

We are all very glad that he didn't get squashed by the big truck, and are happy that we didn't forget to pray for his safety as he traveled.

It's hard to have Ryan on the road everyday. I worry about his hour long commute in the winter when the roads are bad, but I don't often fear for his safety on days like today when the sun is shining and the roads are clear. You never know what the other drivers will do. So it's good that we continue to pray for him so he may be safe from harm even when the other drivers are being less than attentive.

Challenges of Motherhood

2011-04-06T12:02:00.002-06:00

AHHHH!! I can't handle having Canton home two days in a row!! He has a cold so he stayed home from school yesterday, and doesn't go to school on Wednesdays - maybe I should just let him suffer, because the cold medicine makes him CRAZY!
I laid down with the baby for 20 minutes and in that 20 minutes he and Oran got into the game closet and knocked down ALL of the games. There are cards, dice, and game pieces EVERYWHERE. They pulled all of the books off the book shelf. There are books all over the family room.
Canton sprayed hairspray all over the bathroom mirror.
Someone took colored pencils and drew on the walls in the stair well - ALL the way down the stairs on BOTH sides! AND on the walls in the basement. Toys are all over the toy room. The boy's bedroom is a mess. The kitchen sink is over flowing with dirty dishes. I'm buried in laundry.

EVERY single room in my house is a disaster right now >:(
[This is my Angry face.]

Spring Break

2011-03-25T11:39:00.001-06:00

Today is the last day of our Spring Break vacation and our second snowy day this week. For Spring Break activities my kids have built a snowman and gone sledding. (Both in our backyard) We've had sick kids, so we've stayed home all week.

Skyler has had a tough time with this cold. Wednesday night was really rough. He coughed all night (from midnight - 5am) he couldn't sleep so neither did I. I couldn't alleviate his coughs and they just wouldn't let up. He threw up again and again, because of the coughing, and had a dry diaper in the morning, very unusual for him. (So I was afraid he was getting dehydrated)

I took him to the Doctor yesterday who said Skyler had an RSV virus and a little bit of bacterial pneumonia. However the doctor said it seemed to be clearing up. I told him that Skyler's been fighting it for a little over 2 weeks and he said it's typical for RSV to hold on for a month or more.

Dr. Clifford said that they can't really do much for anyone under the age of 2. He suggested we use a humidifier, suction him out good with the bulb syringe, and prop him up to sleep; all things we've already been doing. So basically, just 'hang in there.' It's so sad, he doesn't have a voice right now and makes sad little squeaky noises. :(

However, I told Dr. Clifford that Canton and Oran had the bad coughs too and he did give me something for them; Flonase nasal spray. We gave them each a squirt in each nostril before bed and I heard very little coughing from their room last night. So my visit to the doctor wasn't a total loss.

Ryan had yesterday off work. We'd planned to go somewhere and do something fun, but it didn't work out that way. However, he and the boys stayed in the PJs 'til 1:00 watching movies and playing board games. They played 3 different games, and the boys thought it was great!

Around 5:00 the rain finally stopped and Ryan took the boys out front and watched them ride their bikes while I made dinner. (Ryan's co-worker was getting rid of 2 boys bikes and Ryan brought them home. He got one fixed up for Canton's birthday, in August, and just recently finished fixing up the other one for Tate. I picked up a really little bike, for Oran, at DI - the boys aren't happy that it's pink, but it was only $3 and Oran has fun riding it, we thought we might paint it another color.)

It was kind of fun to have the windows open for a minute, listening to three bikes with training wheels rattling across the pavement, accompanied by the sound of happy kids.

That's about as exciting as our Spring Break gets for this year.

I hope you've all enjoyed the first few days of Spring.

Christmas with the Greens

2011-01-21T17:35:00.002-07:00

We did lots of fun things for Christmas. The annual Dunn Family Christmas Party was on December 18, we had a Family Dinner on Christmas Eve at my Aunt's house. We had a yummy dinner with Prime Rib, rolls, twice baked potatoes, green beans with almonds and bacon, and a yummy salad. It's the best Birthday dinner Ryan's had in years!

Ryan's brother Neil came over on Christmas Eve and helped us get everything wrapped and set for the morning.

Tate got to be "Santa's Helper" this year, which means he got to wear a Santa hat, read the gift tags and bring everyone their gifts.

Here are some pictures of the fun we had.

This free digital scrapbook generated with Smilebox

A Cute Baby

2011-01-15T18:04:00.003-07:00

The Idaho State Journal is holding a "Cutest Baby Born in 2010" contest, and since I happen to have a baby who was born in 2010, I entered.
There were 219 entries, and SO many cute babies!!
The winner gets a gift basket full of goodies from local businesses.
So join the fun and go vote!!

Becoming an Author

2011-01-10T15:01:00.002-07:00

I've wanted to be a published author for as long as I can remember.

From the time I was very small I drew pictures and made up stories. Hoping to someday share them with others. I wrote for my high school newspaper and actually got an article published in the Herald Journal in Logan, UT - giving me my first taste of publication.

But as time has worn on other things have filled my time - my dream of writing continually gets pushed back and put aside, but recently I've felt the need to create!

I have a few friends who have been bitten by the writing bug as well. Laci, a girl I went to high school with, is now working with an editor that works for a, REAL publisher to complete her novel. My friend Kim recently had some short stories published. And I just read on my cousin's wife, Ranee's, blog that she has recently completed the fourth book for her series and is in the 'final editing stage' for her first one.

I can't help but feel I'm being left behind!

I came up with a story idea and sat down to write. I've only written 3 chapters in the past week, but I happen to think it's pretty good. I read it to my kids, as a bedtime story. They are excited and enthralled and can't wait to see what happens next. So I was feeling pretty good about myself.

Then the man who lives at my house, who shall remain nameless, read it, without asking me first. He pointed out all of it's flaws, and didn't have any complements for me. So now I am feeling discouraged. I don't know if I should continue with this story or just abandon it and start over.

This man said that 'my writing style is too formal,' and that I need some practice so I can 'find my groove.' But I was practicing!! Maybe that's why you should never let people see you Works in Progress!

Public Television

2010-12-10T15:45:00.002-07:00

Is this considered culture??

Whatever it is, it makes me laugh - my boys are so funny.

Remembering that it could be worse

2010-12-09T11:06:00.004-07:00

I've been very frustrated with Canton lately. He just has more energy than I know what to do with, and if he gets bored, as he often does, he starts to pick on his brothers and makes them cry.
When I remove Canton from the situation things are calm and peaceful, there is no fighting, and, at bed time, his brothers can go to sleep. So it's obvious that Canton is the one causing the problems.
Today I was looking through some old postings on our family website and remembered that it could be worse. I found this post that I made on one of "those" days, it brought back some memories:

It has been a day of never ending messes at our house.

This morning my kids were eating breakfast and Anna called, I left the room for a minute to talk to her. I heard my baby scream and when I returned to the kitchen I saw that Canton had squished bananas into his own hair and and dumped a cup of yogurt on Oran's head.

I got Canton clean and dressed and was working on Oran when Canton came looking for a towel, his blue shorts suspiciously white. His room was absolutely covered in an inch of baby powder. Our new bottle is now more than half gone. I shook out blankets, swept, vacuumed and dusted, but every surface in their room is still covered in a thin layer or white powder.

Next Canton ran to the bathroom shouting he needed to use the potty. (This is a typical occurance as of late, so I thought nothing of it.) He was taking an unusually long time so I went to check on him, only to discover that he pooped in his Pull-Up before he made it to the potty and had tried to clean it up himself. He had the smelly mess all down his legs, and smeared all over the bathroom: floor, walls, toilet, and tub. But that's not all, he'd tried to flush the messy Pull-Up down the toilet, causing the toilet to clog and over flow. Lovely!

By the time I got that cleaned up we had missed our opportunity for lunch at the park. I told Canton that we couldn't go to the park because he'd made so many messes. That made him very upset! He Dumped out the basket of toys and started throwing them in all directions. I tried to ignore his fit, hoping the lack of attention would discourage him, until a wooden block collided with the TV screen, bounced off and hit Tate in the forehead. After a good cry with his face in the corner I had Canton clean up THAT mess himself while I made lunch.

We had Hawaiian Haystacks for lunch using our leftovers from last night. I finished first and decided to vacuum up more of the baby powder before nap time. Back in the kitchen Canton had finished his food, but for some reason decided that Oran needed his to be soup! He dumped his water into Oran's bowl and was stirring the rice concoction. Oran thought it was quite funny, and was squealing with delight when I came in to see him pour the bowl of "soup" all down his tummy. [time for outfit #3]

I grumbled at Canton "Are you done eating!?" "Then go use the potty, before we take naps." I got Oran clean up, and dried off. Again Canton was taking too long in the bathroom. I opened the door to find him standing in the middle of the room, without any pants, holding up a sopping wet roll of toilet paper. "It's all wet!" He said very innocently. He had dropped it into the toilet after he was done using it and fished it out - isn't that nice? And it was our last roll of toilet paper!!!

The kids are now all napping, thankfully. I think I've had enough Canton for one day! And the day's only half over!

Thanks for listening to me grumble... I hope your days are going better than mine.

-July 25, 2008

So, even though Canton is still my most challenging child, I'm not spending my day cleaning poop off of the walls.

A Birth Story

2010-11-13T15:44:00.007-07:00

It's been six weeks now since Skyler joined our family. I thought I'd better get this written down before I forgot it all completely.

_______________________________________________________

I had an appointment with my midwife on Thursday, September 30th - I was a few days past my "due date" so Tracy stripped my membranes and made a prediction. She predicted that we'd be coming in by 8pm that night and that we would definitely have a baby before the weekend was over.

She wasn't too far off, I started having contractions around 7:00pm. The contractions were consistent, but not as strong as I felt they should be. I'd spent many nights counting contractions trying to decide if it were "time," and these felt no different.

By 10:00 the strength of my contractions had lessened so I went to bed feeling discouraged; doomed to spend another day in my uncomfortably pregnant state.

Around 2:00am my contractions were strong enough to wake me up, they were coming about every 5 minutes and were hurting. I laid in bed watching the clock for a while until I was hurting so much that I could no longer lay there.

It was the middle of the night and everyone was asleep so I got up and got into the shower, hoping to get some relief from the pain, but every contraction was hurting more and more.

I wrapped a towel around myself and went back to our room. I prodded Ryan until he woke up. I said, "I need you," and "I don't think we can wait much longer."

He got up and while I did my best to dress myself, in between contractions, he called my Mom, who lives an hour away, she said she'd come and stay with our boys. Then he called my Aunt, who lives in town, they had plans to go out of town that day, but she agreed to come and stay with the boys until my Mom got there.

We left the porch light on and the door unlocked then we headed out into the dark, wee hours of the morning.

I was afraid that the ride to the hospital was going to be torture, but I only had one bad contraction and then, lucky me, I got a break until we got to the hospital (which is about 15 minutes from our house.)

We got to labor and delivery a little after 4:00am, I changed and we answered all of the questions (as I paced the room trying to make it through each contraction.) They called Tracy and then the nurse wanted me to lay on the bed so they could check me out and monitor the baby.

"You want me to lay on the bed for 20 minutes!?" I asked, it seemed like an impossible thing to ask of me, at the time, but I agreed (mostly because she insisted.) We discovered that I was only dilated to a 4 and my heart sunk. I was sure that I was farther along than that, based on the level of pain I was in. I thought I must be close to the end and when I found out I wasn't I began to doubt whether or not I could make it - I didn't think I could keep this up, the way things were, for very much longer.

When Tracy got there she said, "You're only at a 4, do you want to stay, or would you rather go home and come back in an hour or two." I said I wanted to stay, Tracy shrugged and sat down to fill out some paper work. But after watching me through a couple of contractions she causally said, "This seems pretty active to me." See, I do know what I'm talking about!

As the pain got worse I was having a hard time coping. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me and why I was having such a hard time. I kept thinking, "It wasn't this hard with Oran."

I was trying to stay positive, breath, and work with the pain. My water broke during one of the contractions and the nurses were quick to throw some towels on the floor so I wouldn't slip and fall. I felt like I wasn't in control, and like I couldn't even see, I was blinded by the pain (if that's possible.) All I could do was hang on to Ryan and Tracy. My contractions were right on top of each other, there were no pauses and no time to breath in between.

Tracy decided to have me get into the jetted tub and see if that would help me relax a little. She checked me before I got in and I was only at a 7. The nurses filled the tub and Ryan and Tracy helped me get in. I was only in the tub through one contraction, Tracy thought it looked like I was ready to push so they got me out of the tub (even though I protested. Portneuf Medical Center is not licensed for water births.)

Ryan had one arm, Tracy had the other, one nurse was trying to put my gown back on and the other was trying to towel me off all while we walked from the bathroom to the bed.

They had barely gotten me situated on the bed when I had to push, which I did, I yelled, "Help Me!" because everyone but Ryan had turned away to get the equipment ready. Tracy and one of the nurses came back to help, while the other nurse scrambled to gather supplies.

[When Ryan tells the story he says, 'She laid down, and Pop, there was a head!']

I felt like I didn't see anything from the point when I left the tub up until I was holding Skyler on my tummy, as Tracy dried him off, but Ryan insists that my eyes were open the whole time, I don't think I believe him.

Skyler was absolutely perfect, he wasn't bruised or misshapen (probably because it all happened so fast.) He entered the world on October 1, 2010 at 6:03am, less than 2 hours after we got to the hospital. He didn't need oxygen so I was able to hold him and feed him right away. They didn't even take him for his first exam (until later.) Everyone left and Ryan and I were left alone to bond with our new baby.

Tracy later made the comment, "That was kind of a wild ride," I decided that was a good way to describe it. It was a traumatic birth experience for me, I couldn't even talk about it for a few days and actually had nightmares about it for a couple of weeks following the birth.

But, I am glad that I was able to do it without any pain medication, even if it wasn't as great an experience as my third birth, it's still nice to know that I can and I did!

_____________________________________________________

Everything is fine now - we are adjusting to life with four boys, and are glad that Skyler is part of our family.

He is so very sweet and we all love him a lot.

Oh Boy!

2010-11-04T17:23:00.004-06:00

Introducing Skyler Grant Green

Skyler joined our family Friday, October 1, 2010 (10/01/10) at 6:03 am he weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and was 20 inches long.

We have another little boy at our house. It's hard to believe it's already been a month! The past few weeks have flown by in a sleepy haze of late night feedings and constant diaper changes. Life is slowly coming back into focus as we get back to a routine.

Skyler is a good baby, he's often content to sit and observe things going on around him, but he likes to be held and snuggled all of the time. We all love him and think he's very special. He fits into our family very well, and we are all glad that he came to our house to live.

Baby is Still Baking

2010-09-18T18:34:00.002-06:00

Now that I am no longer on bed rest we just get to sit and play the waiting game. This baby is quite the tease, every time I think we're on our way; my contractions are getting stronger, more painful and closer together, they go away! Just stop! So it's a little frustrating. But I guess our baby isn't quite done yet.

Kind of like a cake that just won't set up. You keep checking on it, but it's STILL not done so you leave it in the oven ;)

I'll reach 39 weeks on Monday but my next appointment isn't until Thursday.

So, for now, we wake up every morning wondering if today is the day, and crossing our fingers, hoping it won't be too much longer before we get to meet this little man.

Pregnancy Update

2010-08-24T17:22:00.002-06:00

This little man in my tummy is getting awfully impatient!

This past weekend we had all of our boys home. For the two days they were here I had contractions and other labor pains all day. Yesterday was a little easier, because things were quieter and calmer, but I continued to to have pains.

By about 6pm yesterday I was really miserable. I continued to take my Nifedipine, drink lots of water and took 2 baths but I couldn't get the contractions to stop; they were actually increasing and becoming more intense. Around 10pm I called my midwife to see if there was anything else I could do. She told me to take another pill, soak in the tub and if it didn't get better in an hour or two to go in to Labor and Delivery at the hospital.

Still no luck, so Ryan and I went in to Labor and Delivery around midnight. I got all hooked up to the monitors. The baby looks strong and healthy, but I was definitely having contractions. The nurse checked my cervix, I was only dilated to a ONE - courtesy of all the medication I'm sure. Right now I'm at 35 weeks, and we'd all like this guy to stay put for one more week.

They gave me a shot of Tributaline, in my arm. It's another drug to calm the muscles of the uterus. We stayed for an hour after I got the shot with no change in my contractions. The nurse seemed very surprised that the Tributaline did not stop them and said, "It looks like you're just going to contract and there's nothing else we can do about it."

She advised me to go home and try to get some sleep, keep taking the Nifedepine, and if it didn't get better, or if it got worse to 'come back in the morning.'

I tried, unsuccessfully, to sleep all night. I finally gave up and got up around 6:00 - So I'm hoping to get a nap later today. I'm still having contractions and feeling miserable, but I don't think it's any worse that it was around this time yesterday. But it seems to get worse at night, so I guess we'll just wait and see.

I was REALLY hoping to make it until after my baby shower, which is THIS Saturday, so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope for that. I have a Doctor's Appointment on Thursday, at which time we'll do the Strep B culture and they'll probably advise me to go off the medication and just let what will be, Be.

And that's what's going on here!

My belly at 34 weeks - August 2010

What Summer??

2010-07-25T13:19:00.001-06:00

It doesn't feel much like summer, we haven't done anything fun!

I am now pregnant with our 4th little boy. Unfortunately this pregnancy is not going as well as we had hoped. (Does it ever?)

We'd hoped to take a few trips, but my body isn't cooperating. At Labor and Delivery they told me that I have an "irritable uterus," I don't think that's a very nice thing to say! My body decided it was done being pregnant, but the baby isn't done "baking" yet.

I've been taking a drug called Nifedipine, it relaxes your blood vessels and decreases your blood pressure. Since I already have low blood pressure it's made me very sick. I get nauseated, dizzy, and have bad headaches, it's no fun!

Even taking the yucky medicine, every 8 hours, I was still having contractions all day. I was told however, that since there were still no changes in my cervix that the medicine was doing it's job. So I was sick and I was in pain! For some reason enduring contractions that aren't actually doing anything seems even worse!

A little over a week ago I had a really bad day. My contractions got down to 3-5 minutes apart, they were longer and stronger and were getting difficult to cope with, not many breaks in between. Ryan took me in to the hospital.

We found out that I wasn't effaced or dilated, yet, BUT that my cervix was soft and "mushy" so it was "ripening" which is BAD at only 30 weeks. They upped my Nifedipine intake to every 6 hours and put me on strict bed rest. They want me to come in this week to determine whether or not it is necessary to do the IV treatments with the Antenatal steroids to mature the baby's lungs, just in case.

It was a week ago yesterday that we sent our kids away. That makes me sad, and I miss them. Canton spent Saturday through Wednesday night her in town with my Aunt and came by to see me nearly every day for about an hour, he gets homesick. Their family left on a trip on Thursday so Canton spend Wednesday night and Thursday morning with Ryan and I before Ryan drove him down to Preston to spend time with his brothers and my parents.

That's where the three of them are now. I don't know how long they will be gone or just how we plan to get them back. But it IS much easier to be on bed rest without them here.

BUT my boys have had a chance to get out and do some fun things, while with Grandma and Grandpa that they wouldn't have been able to if they had stayed here: like being in a parade and throwing candy, watching fireworks, playing with cousins, going hiking, and playing at the park.

So I guess it's all working out for the best.
I hope the rest of you are filling your summer days with fun and adventure, and not laying on the couch like me.

Just Another Day

2010-06-02T21:38:00.004-06:00

I haven't much to say and have no pictures to make what I do say more entertaining, so I'll apologize in advance.

We are living in our new place, it is a better environment for all of us. But we have not yet sold our home. We haven't even moved all of our belonging over and there are still many projects to be done there.

It is fun to have a back yard for the boys to play in. We are slowly getting used to our new ward and it's different dynamics. Even the bishop stated while talking with us, "We are starved for young people." It is very true.

We miss our friends, but hope to makes some new ones soon close to where we are.

My pregnancy is going well. I am now 23 weeks into this adventure. We found out at our ultrasound that we are expecting our fourth BOY! So no pink or Disney Princesses for us, but he's healthy and growing well.

Ryan is working in Idaho Falls managing the Fred Meyer Jewelers store while their current manager is on maternity leave. Ryan really likes managing, it's been a fun and empowering experience for him. He likes being in charge and having some control over his schedule and environment.

Ryan has been working in jewelry for 10 years and has much knowledge and experience to share. It is hard for us to have him gone so much. As a manager he has to work 6 days a week, 10 hour shifts (with an hour lunch) add the 2 hours of drive time and he's gone for 12 hours every day. I just keep telling myself that it's temporary and I can do anything for a few months.

That's all that is going on with us.

A Fun Family Outing

2010-04-26T16:14:00.004-06:00

We had a neat weekend; we drove to Burley, ID last Friday and stayed at the Fairfield Marriott hotel.

Saturday we got up at 6:00am, went down to breakfast and then had to meet in the lobby at 7:45 all dressed in our fancy clothes, ready for family pictures. We all dressed in brown, blue and green so we could match!
Ryan took some pictures while we waited for our turn with the photographer (for individual family pictures.)

We took pictures in the park next to Shoshone Falls. I'll be excited to see how they turn out.

We went to the Twin Falls temple to watch Ryan's brother and his wife be sealed to their 2 adopted sons. So many people were there to support Eric and Bonnie. Ryan's Aunts and Uncles from the Green side and the Stavast side. Grandpa Green (Don) was there and so was Grandma Stavast. Lots form Bonnie's family, family friends and even the foster family that had, had Bill and Austin before Eric and Bonnie got them.

We were in the biggest sealing room I had ever seen! It was beautiful! I was quite emotional. It was a wonderful ceremony, and it was so neat that Eric and Bonnie finally have children of their own to keep forever and ever!! It was neat to watch them interact with the boys in the temple and to see those little boys... Bill and Austin are the same ages as Tate and Canton so it was extra near and dear to my heart.

After some pictures we went back to the church and had a very nice lunch. Once we got back to the hotel we were all very tired and took a nap - then we all played in the swimming pool! Lots of little cousins and Grandma too! Oran was so cute and very comfortable in the pool; kicking his legs and flapping his arms on his back or his front. He kept going from person to person, Uncle Neil, Uncle Eric, Grandma, Mom or Dad. But Tate was very clingy and panicky! He's never liked being in the water, but I was hoping he would get better. Canton was doing really well until he got a little too fearless and got into some trouble. I swam over and rescued him, but after that he was content to sit on the stairs and kept saying "I couldn't see, and I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't talk! It was too deep and I was sinking!!" But before we left the pool area he was getting a little braver and walking around in the 3 foot section.

It was a fun time! I always love spending time with family adn the hotel stay made it extra fun and special.

Best Discovery Yet

2010-04-19T14:24:00.006-06:00

For years I've been trying to find ways to make money online, from home, in what little time I can find in between being a Mom, wife, housekeeper, cook, hair stylist, conflict manager and random other jobs that different situations require. I've spent hours upon hours on sites like inboxdollars, memolink, mypoints, creationsrewards, rewardport, and filling our hundreds of online surveys to watch the money slowly trickle in. It's been great using that money for Christmases and on other "Me" items over the past 6 years, but it's been a lot of work and very slow in adding up. BUT, thanks to my good buddy Callie I am now a proud member of the swagbucks community.

I have found a new love! Swagbucks.com - I don't know if any of you already swag, but I thought I'd spread the love. I've been a member for a couple of weeks now and have already earned over 1000 Swagbucks - it's awesome to watch them grow so fast!

If you've spent as much time trying to earn points online as I have you know how long it can take to build them up. So I'm excited. It's a free program that pays you "digital dollars" when you search the web. It only happens occasionally, but those dollars add up and you can redeem them for prizes (I've already redeemed two $5 Amazon gift certificates, because they have so many things at Amazon. That's 450 swagbucks each.) But you can use it for other gift certificates or prizes, like an Xbox, Wii, Iphone, CDs, DVDs, Health and Beauty products (so many choices!) Or if you wait until you have 700 swagbucks you can redeem for $5 paid through Paypal. Every once in a while they'll have a code that you can find to get some more swags, it's like a treasure hunt!

It's completely free to do. If you do online shopping, you can go through them to get more swags as well. If you want to sign up, go to http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Annarac if you have any questions, just ask me and I can see if I can help you out. I like getting stuff for free or discounted. It's not a whole lot of money, but if you're going to be on the web anyway, it's worth a shot!

(I downloaded the toolbar and use it for all my internet searches, instead of google, like I used to, and that's how I've earned most of my SBs it's super easy. Plus you earn swagbuck every 24 hours just for having and using the toolbar!!)

You probably think I'm a dork, but I'm hooked!! I can't wait to buy all the things I've put on my Amazon Baby registry from gift cards earned through Swagbucks!

I hope some of you sign up, 'cause it's a blast, and if you're going to be searching the web you might as well be getting a little something for it!

Moving mingled with Tears

2010-04-12T15:17:00.004-06:00

We are planning to move from our house very soon. We've had our house on the market for a few weeks and we have signed a 12 month lease on a new apartment. It all seems to be happening so fast and I have a lot of mixed feelings.

Our house has been one headache after another - in need of constant maintainence and repair. If there is one thing I have learned from owning this house it is that my husband IS NOT a "fix-it man" or much of a "Do-It-Yourselfer." But I have grown to love this house. We have put so much work and love into this house that it has really grown on me.

For Sale ">

Our house feels like home, and as I wander from room to room I see our personality oozing through the walls. I made and hung the curtains myself, I picked out all of the paint colors, and tile, and I worked alongside my family to make this "fixer-upper" a home.

Our house has been a challenge, and I've never liked the neighborhood but it is going to be hard to leave it and all of the friends we have made in this ward. We are only moving across town, but it might as well be a lot farther. I've learned from past experience that if you don't see people at least once a week you have a
way of loosing contact pretty quickly.

I am overwhelmed with all that needs to be done. Ryan is working and going to school, I am taking care of our three little boys and growing a fourth. I can barely keep dishes clean, my kids fed and clean clothes in our drawers and I'm trying to pack our belongings and repair all that needs fixed. Being pregnant makes me so tired!

But after much prayer and many tears I think that we are doing the right thing. this move will be good for our family. Our living expenses will be lower, and our little boys will have a yard to play in that is SAFE!

We will be moving into an apartment with a main floor and a basement, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a fenced backyard. We will be living close to friends who will help us if we need it, and without having to pour so much of our income into a house that needs help we'll be able to start paying down our debt and saving a little too.

Celebrating Easter

2010-04-03T21:19:00.003-06:00

For some reason I've found this holiday a little depressing this year. With all of the stress and work that comes with selling a house and moving, I have over looked it a bit and I have let it sneak up on me. Tomorrow is Easter and I'm not feeling at all prepared.

I feel like our Easter Celebrations have been so, empty, frivolous, and silly. As Janet Hales put it:

"For years I felt that our family's Easter celebration was as hollow as the chocolate bunnies we devoured on Easter morning. All my life I had been told that the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the most sacred and significant events in all creation. If that is true, I reasoned, then shouldn't Easter, the commemoration of those events, be the highlight of our year?"

My children have been excitedly chattering about the Easter bunny all day. If I had thought ahead I would have prepared the egg hunt and baskets for today and have it be a strictly Saturday activity, but it's too late for that. It might be too late for just about everything. In my determination to get repairs made on our house, pack a few boxes and have the house clean enough to show to perspective buyers there has been no time for shopping or playing "Easter Bunny." I have bought a single egg, blade of grass or piece of candy - But it is expected.

Ryan is still at work so I asked him to get a few things (I hope he doesn't go over board.)

I think what I will do is stick a slip of paper in each egg, with the candy (so there is no revolting), that has either a scripture reference or a song we could sing. That way we can bring Christ back into our celebration.

I thought we could also watch a video about the resurrection either before conference starts or in between sessions.

I hope that is all goes well and that I feel a little better about the whole thing tomorrow.

So, So, Tired

2010-03-25T15:25:00.002-06:00

We've been working on our house non-stop since Monday and I'm exhausted!

Gail Bishard, a Realtor and a good friend of ours, came on Monday morning and looked through our house. We sat down and talked, signed papers and before she left she pounded a "For Sale by Gail" sign into our front yard.

There is only one month left on the home buyer tax credit so we are crossing our fingers and hoping to find a buyer planning to take advantage of that credit.

We bought this house as a major fixer-upper and had to do a conventional loan to get it. But Gail told us that Conventional loans are so hard to get right now: high interest rates, high credit scores, and large down payments, so she wants our house to be approved for VA and FHA loans which means more work for us.

We were hoping to be able to sell the house as is: lots on improvements but still some things to fix - but I guess it's not working out that way.

In our paper work we agreed to have the garage painted, the porches painted, the front bathroom in fully functional condition, a working heat source in every room, and all the wood work finished. So we've been working like crazy, but still have a long way to go.

Ryan was hoping to work on the front porch today, but then it rained, followed by snow!

I think I'm too tired to paint any more just yet, perhaps if I go lay down for a while I'll be able to get more done later... Here's hoping.

If anyone wants to volunteer some service hours we would love a little help!

Money Woes and Lots of Stress

2010-03-15T11:35:00.003-06:00

Things have now reached the point where we can no longer ignore them. It's been nearly a year since Ryan's pay at Fred Meyer was cut by 4% and his hours were cut back to part time. He went back to school to keep student loans at bay (which will be $800 a month when we DO have to start paying them back.)
We have come to the conclusion that we need to sell our house, and find somewhere to rent that doesn't cost more than our current mortgage and has lower utility costs. I will miss our ward and I don't know where we will go (we have yet to find somewhere that meets our needs and is within our price range.)
There are things that still need to be done on our house, but I don't feel like I can do most of them myself and Ryan doesn't have the time or motivation to finish them off. So I think the best thing to do is to do my best to get it clean (with the help of my kids :P) and get it on the market right away; then we'll just have to see what happens.
I need to put my trust in the Lord, exercise a little faith, and trust that things will work out for the best.

A Rude Awakening

2010-03-12T12:03:00.003-07:00

This morning, at 5:45am, we were jarred awake by the sound of our fire alarms throughout the house blaring their repetitive "BEEP, beep, BEEP, beep, BEEP, beep..." Ryan bolted out of bed and ran to check on the boys, I on the other hand took a minute to figure out what was happening and then helped Ryan investigate.
We didn't find any fire and didn't smell anything burning. Ryan went down and flipped the breaker switch in the basement (to make the beeping stop) but we never figure out what caused the alarms to go off.
I decided that it is nice to have the alarms hard wired throughout the house so if one goes off they all go off, but it also means you can't tell which alarm triggered the reaction. However, I vaguely remember hearing it somewhere in the rear of the house before the one in our bedroom went off.
Tate, for some reason, was asleep on the couch and didn't wake up. I was standing in the kitchen when I heard Canton in a hesitant voice say, "Oran, go get Mom." Oran came out and said, "Mom, I heard a loud noise!" I scooped him up, assured him everything was alright and put him back to bed. Before I left the room Canton whispered, "Was there a fire Mommy?"
We never found anything, but it was pretty weird.
I decided that it was not my favorite way to wake up - once the excitement was over we all went back to sleep for a couple of hours.

Playing Catch Up

2010-01-20T13:44:00.028-07:00

Life has been so busy, and it feels like it's finally slowing to a pace that I can cope with!

I haven't been a very good blogger lately and am feeling repentant!

In November the boys and I rode with my Mom and Dad to St. George for Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday with Brady and Anna in their lovely home in St. George. My parents, Brady's family, the Boys and I, My sister's family and my cousin Debi were all in attendance.

Ryan had to work late on Wednesday and early on Friday so he couldn't be with us, but he got to spend the holiday with his grandparents and many of his Aunts and Uncles in Chubbuck.
We ate lots of good food, played games, and enjoyed one another's company.
Thursday evening my Dad, Brady and I took the kids to the park to get out some of their wiggles, they all had a great time.

Zander and Tate were good buddies, it's so nice to have a cousin so close to your age!

Oran, my little monster.

Canton spinning round and round until he was too dizzy to stand.

"Mom, look how high we are!"

On Friday morning all of us girls got up at 4:00am and went out CRAZY black Friday shopping, it was my first experience standing in line and being there when the doors opened. It was very exciting!

After we got home from shopping and go a little nap we packed a lunch and headed to Pioneer Park from some exploring. It was way cool!

My brother-in-law Brandon helping Oran and Ady climb the rocks.

Oran walking on the rocks, gee, he's getting big!

Canton in a cave! While we were exploring the Red Rocks at Pioneer Park Grandpa kept saying things like, "...When I used to live here..." meaning in St. George, Canton found this cave and asked, Did Grandpa used to live in THIS cave or was it another one?

Cute Cousins sitting on a rock - we tried, unsuccessfully, to get them to all hold still long enough to have their picture taken - this is as good as it gets!

My Mom and Dad were there too.

Before everyone left we got a picture of Me, My sister and My brother with all of our kids throwing the fall leaves, how festive!
I'm so glad that we were able to go, it's always fun to spend the holidays with people you love!

I busied myself all of December making homemade gifts - which I really enjoyed. I made 2 dresses, 7 crocheted stuffed animals, hats, scarfs, a crocheted table runner, 4 fabric covered notebooks/journals, and popcorn heating pads. I loved having a new sewing machine to work with this year! (I got it for my birthday, THANKS AGAIN RY!)
Our Christmas was the best one yet! It was so fun to see our children so excited about everything. They all understood the Santa Claus thing, and since they saw me making so many gifts they all wanted to make gifts for their friends and for each other (it was cute.)

We wrote letters to Santa Claus and took them to the post office to put them in the special Santa mail box, and because we used the magic mail box Santa wrote back to us!

Our Christmas Eve and Daddy's Birthday dinner.

Canton took a picture of Ryan and I so we could be in a picture too.

On Christmas morning each of our kids were so excited about everything! With each present it was "WOW, look what I got!" or "...Just what I wanted!" It was a very good Christmas.

All of our kids got gloves a hat and snow pants. (We were hoping to be able to play in the snow, but we haven't seen much yet!)

Oh look, I got a new journal! Always love those!

The bat lair was a big hit with all of the boys, I knew it would be, and so did Santa ;)

On Christmas day we went to Preston and spent some time with my Mom and Dad and My Aunt, Uncle and cousins. It was a fun day!

We had great fun ringing in the New Year! This year we planned a little better - Ryan didn't work so we played all day and kept our kids up - They took a nap from 5:00 - 7:00pm and then we went out for some fun.

First we went to our stake New Years Eve -party. This was the second year so it worked a little better than last year. They started earlier and had the "count down" at 9:30 with confetti and balloons. They also had pizza, root beer floats, board games, Karaoke, and dancing.

We all got party hats and noise makers!

Then we went to the first annual New Years Eve cast party at the Mystique; for anyone who was in a play at the Mystique for the entire year of 2009. That party was from 9:30 - 12:30. They had LOTS of food set up buffet style. There was chicken, prime rib, baked potatoes, lasagna, penne, and linguine, with choice of Alfredo or meat sauce, cooked carrots, chips with either 7 layer bean dip, or spinach artichoke dip, and for dessert: pumpkin roll, cheese cake, cream puffs, toffee and chocolate chunk cookies or brownies.

Lisa, the director, and Debbie, the costume lady, gave out silly awards. They had painted colored circles on the stage and set up a huge Twister board, so everyone played Twister. They also had a big blow up dinosaur bouncer that our kids had fun jumping in.

We had a "dance off" where we performed numbers from plays throughout the year. From Millie we did the opening number, "Not for the Life of Me" and the speak easy number, "Nutty Cracker Suite." It was way fun to watch the numbers from Grease, Footloose, Aladdin and White Christmas.

Two of the magicians were there, Farrell Dillon and Jon Armstrong, they did a couple of shows in the Chamber room. My kids thought the magic was cool. Oran thought it was extra neat that Jon was wearing a white shirt, tie and a gray sweater vest - he pointed and shouted, "It's Harry Potter!" Jon didn't seem to think that it was very funny, but I did, and there was definitely a resemblance between his outfit and the Hogwarts school uniforms.

Tate got to help with a card trick.

Farrel was holding something in his hand and he tapped it with his wand - as he did so Canton shouted, "Abracadabra!" everyone in the room laughed, it WAS pretty funny.

We all had sparkling cider, cranberry juice or grape juice in fancy glasses - there was a countdown and we all drank our "fizzy drinks." Ryan and I kissed in the New Year, as is tradition. Then we all danced on the stage. Canton is quite the little dancer. He was picking up on the line dances and danced with all the pretty girls (we thought it was funny.)

Oran had fun dancing too, but the poor little guy kept getting scooped up, danced with and thrown around by all the other cast members - I guess that's the price you pay for being the only 2 year old in a room full of single people.

Tate did some "break dancing" rolling around on the floor and such, but he seemed to enjoy sitting and conversing more. He'd go sit by anyone who was sitting down and start a conversation with them, I'm not sure what all he talked about.

We got home about 10 to 1:00. It was so nice to have kids that were so happy. They were happy to have had a fun time, happy to be home and ready to go to bed. They weren't overly tired, they just seemed content. It was a great way to end 2009, and begin 2010.

I'm so glad that I got the chance to be part of the "Mystique Family." It was awesome!!

Since then my sister came for a visit, we've made a few resolutions, that I'm hoping we'll have more success with in the future than we have in the past 20 days. And We're trying to get back in a routine with Ryan starting a new semester, with a different class schedule, and Tate going to kindergarten.

Shaking My Fist

2009-11-20T11:34:00.002-07:00

I figure that this is my special place to rant and rave about whatever happens to be bothering me so here I go - Consider yourselves warned!

My husband and I have been casually trying to conceive, figuring that it's 'about that time.' So I've been paying attention and keeping charts and knew that I was pregnant, but something wasn't right. I was experiencing all of the pregnancy signs but I was having pretty intense cramping and occasional light spotting.

I was concerned so I called the midwives office and spoke with the receptionist. She wouldn't even let me tell her what was going on until I had a positive pregnancy test - charts weren't enough proof for her.

I had Ryan pick one up on his way home from class took the test then called her back. "I took the test, it was positive, now will you talk to me!!?" I asked. She took a message and was going to have the nurse call me back - which she did an hour and a half later.

I felt like she didn't even listen to me! I could almost hear her rolling her eyes as she continued to cut me off with statements like, "That's perfectly normal," "Many women experience that," "Everything's fine," "There's no need to worry" and before I could get through my list of ailments she ended the conversation with, "We usually don't see anyone until 8 weeks do you want to make an appointment for the beginning of December?"

The next morning, yesterday, I woke up, my cramps were a lot worse and I was bleeding. I called again and spoke to the same nurse who very simply stated, "It sounds like you're experiencing a miscarriage, I'll have the midwife call you."

I stayed close to the phone and nearly FOUR hours later received a call. They asked me to come in for an ultrasound, which I did. The ultrasound confirmed a miscarriage and that was that.

I know that there is nothing that could have been done to prevent it, BUT I still don't think a woman who has begun miscarrying should be told that everything is "Fine" and that her concerns are unwarranted!

I canceled my appointment in December ;)

Ok - done with my rant.

And I'm back!!

2009-11-17T17:21:00.002-07:00

We are slowly regaining use of our desk top computer after being hit with the death computer virus of doom!! By FAR the worst virus I have ever encountered. We'd turn on the computer and it would immediately display an error message saying "Windows will be shutting down in one minute" it would then do a 60 second countdown before turning off.

With my husband's wicked awesome computer skills we eventually had access to all the computer functions EXCEPT the web browsers and internet. However, soon all of our progress was lost. It seemed that this particular computer virus looked for any weakness and broke things down from there - so this smart little bug kept finding new ways to disable our computer.

So after 2 weeks of trying to find a way around it Ryan scrubbed the computer - took everything off and we're starting over from scratch. So I lost all of my bookmarks (kind of sad) and am not yet able to find our pictures (they've got to be here somewhere!!) But I can FINALLY use the computer again.

We have decided that it is for the best that we put passwords on everything and not allow our children to play on the computer unless they have our close supervision.

Thoroughly Modern Millie

2009-10-17T15:27:00.006-06:00

So I really don't have any time right now, but wanted to let everyone know who happens to be in and around Pocatello today.
There will be another special tonight!! $10 and a can of food will get you in to see the show. The doors open at 7:45 and the show starts at 8:00. The Mystique Theatre is just off Chubbuck road in Chubbuck, ID.

Last night's performance was phenomenal! I love when we have a good audience that laughs and cheers. It makes us WANT to ham it up a bit - give 'em a good show!
So we'd love to pack the seats tonight, so come, especially if you're good at cheering and laughing!

Jib Jab Halloween

2009-10-06T12:50:00.002-06:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Tate wanted to be the "mad scientist!" The boys and I have watched it over and over again - it makes us all laugh - especially 'daddy's funny face.'

Hello??

2009-09-14T19:31:00.000-06:00

Is any body out there?

It's been so long since my last post that I hardly know where to start!
Since then we took a trip to Powell, Wyoming to spend some time with family. We also went camping and fishing in the Bighorn Mountains, it was beautiful!

We've been enjoying produce from our garden! We planted and watered it ourselves!

In August we had a Green Family reunion in Pocatello, and a White Family Reunion in Provo. We had fun at both. We celebrated Canton's 4th birthday, Tate started kindergarten and loves riding the bus, and I tried out for a play at the Mystique Dinner Theatre in Chubbuck. I Made it! I will be in "Throughly Modern Millie" playing the part of Lucille, one of the girls staying at the Hotel Pricilla. The play opens October 8 and runs every Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night until November 14 (with the exception of Oct. 30 and 31 - there will be a spook alley instead.)

I've been busy with rehearsals every night - and have decided I many be a bit old to be out dancing every night. I come home with tender feet and pain everywhere imaginable and crawl right into bed, occasionally too exhausted to brush my teeth.

Tonight happens to be one of those rare occasions when I'm not needed on stage. I'm glad that I'm not in EVERY scene!

I'll have to find some pictures some other time, but for now, I just wanted you all to know that we are still here, and all is well, although it's chaotic!

(I posted about Canton's birthday - See below)

About a Birthday

2009-09-14T19:26:00.002-06:00

I'm a little slow, I'm behind and trying to play catch-up.

But I wanted to tell you all about Canton's birthday!

I'd been feeling sick for about a month and never really got around to planning a party for Canton. I felt bad about it, but I think we had a great time anyway - Here's what we did:

Ryan had to be to work at 8:00am so he got up early and made special Birthday Waffles. We ate waffles with homemade raspberry syrup (that Ryan also made that morning,) redi-whip and a cherry on top.

The kids watched some PBS kids and played for a while and then we packed a lunch and walked to the park. We ate our lunch and played on the toys before walking home and taking a nap.

After nap time we put on our swim-suits and played in the sprinkler. Canton loves playing in the water and I don't let him do it much so it was great fun! We filled an empty Rubbermaid tote with water and they played in that like a little swimming pool, ran through the sprinkler and eventually Canton picked up the sprinkler and started chasing each of us with it!

After a couple of hours of that I asked Canton what he wanted to do - we wanted to go inside and "take a bath" he was all wet and cold and covered in mud and muck. So I took the boys inside to take a bath. While we were doing that Ryan went and got Canton's requested Birthday dinner - hamburgers from McDonald's. We spread out a blanket on the living room floor and watched a movie. Ryan rented "Dragonball Evolution" we all really liked it, yes, me included. Although it was based on an anime cartoon series it was a live action movie and pretty fun. (Especially for the super hero fans in our house.)

Then Canton got to open a present - he got the "really cool watch" he'd asked for.

The next day we went to the Premier Properties Customer Appreciation Party at Upper Ross Park. They had food, an AWESOME live band, face painting, blowup toys and the Century High School cheerleaders did dances or cheers every half hour or so.
The Band sang "Happy Birthday" to Canton. He was in awe over that and said, "Everyone here knows me, they all sang to me!"
Before we left Gail [Bishard] came and gave Canton a hug. As she did she whispered "This is all for you! What an awesome birthday party!" He was so happy!

We went home and while the boys napped I made a birthday cake. Canton asked for a Superman cake so I did my best. Grandpa Green (Don) came to wish Canton a happy birthday and bring him a birthday card. And then we took the cake and some ice cream to the Bakes' house.

They weren't quite home yet when we got there so we played in the yard for a while. Then we lit the candles, sang Happy Birthday and opened presents. The Bakes' gave Canton a really cool dragon and a little "knight in shining armor," and Tate made a book for Canton with drawings of super heroes.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I thought it was a good birthday even if not very well planned! And most importantly I think that Canton had fun and felt special.

And some pictures!

2009-07-13T18:48:00.014-06:00

Blog Posts are so much more exciting with pictures!
Here are the pictures to go with the previous post. Silly, I know - but pretend I did it all at once and you'll never know the difference ;)

All of the boxes, once full of "Stuff."

Oh, that's SO much better!! Rubbermaids are great!

The Fourth of July Parade in Lewiston, UT.
(We were all squinting into the sun)

Oran got sad when we wouldn't let him eat ALL of the candy "NOW!!"

Canton, all ready to float down the river.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our new washing machine! "Ooo, Ahh"

Don't worry, we're still alive

2009-07-13T11:35:00.007-06:00

I know, I know, I REALLY need to update my blog! But don't get too excited - I don't have time right now :p

We've been SO busy the last little while. With Idaho's "Monsoon Season" causing severe flooding, and mud slides in parts of eastern Idaho - we were not spared from all damages.
Our basement flooded, we spent a day hauling out all the soggy card board boxes and drying out out belongings. We spent the next THREE days seperating them into piles of "DI" "Garbage" "Store" and "Keep out."

Our basement now has neatly stacked, labled, rubbermaid containers - but we still have all these misplaced belongings that have yet to find a home.

Our washing machine broke - it's been having problems since the end of April - and it finally quit completely on us. We took it to a repair place which told us the cost of repairs would be approximately $375 - which is about what we paid for it new.

We decided we couldn't survive long without a washing machince - since we were already at the end of our clean clothes - so we went to Lowe's and bought a new one - it is my new best friend.

That morning Oran, who we are trying to potty train, decided to take off his poopy diaper by himself. Instead of coming to wake us up he took it off, and left it in the middle of the living room floor where it appears to have been walked on and spread all over the carpet, the couch, up the walls and all over out two youngest children.

So, as long as we were at Lowe's we bought a carpet cleaner/extractor - We cleaned up the poo mess once we got home - but since then have had to clean up more poo and some vomit, so we're pretty happy about that purchase too.

We went to Preston on the Fourth. We went to the parade in Lewiston, UT. Floated down the river in the Onieda narrows, and had a cook-out at my parent's house. We made it back to Pocatello in time to see the fireworks, but our kids were exhausted, and no matter how we tried we could not wake them.

We parked at the top of a hill in Chubbuck, turned the radio to KORR 104 and saw a FANTASTIC display syncornized with patriotic music. I loved it!!

We are planning a trip to Wyoming later this week - and I have so much to do before we leave Friday morning!! AHH!!!

And I am out of time, so I'll just have to save the pictures for later... Sorry.

What's With This Wacky Weather!?

2009-06-13T15:19:00.003-06:00

It is June and we've had rain EVERY day for two weeks! It feels more like we live in Washington or Oregon instead of southeast Idaho! It's so dreary and dizzily and even during the breaks in the clouds and the fleeting hours of sunshine the air is heavy with humidity. We go to bed at night and even our sheets feel damp!
Our yard is yellowing from too much water, our yard is infested with mushrooms and our poor garden is flooded.
We've only been able to make it to the park for the free summer lunch program a few times. Yesterday it was cloudy and over cast but not actually raining at noon So we grabbed our jackets and headed to the park. He got our sack lunches, had just sat down at a picnic table and he hear thunder and it started to pour, it was hailing before we made it back to the car. As soon as Tate heard thunder he started shoving his food back into his paper bag and started booking it for the car calling behind him in a panicked voice "I don't want to be hit by lightening!"
The night before on the news there was a story of a little boy who had been camping with his family, had been stuck by lightening and died (maybe I shouldn't watch the 5:00 news with my kids around!)

BUT we have had some close encounters with lightening lately, that might have added to Tate's anxiety about lightning.

On Sunday, May 31, one of our first thunderstorms of this rainy stretch. Ryan, the boys and I were sitting on the porch watching the lightening and listening to the rolling o the thunder. The rain got heavier and heavier and we decided to go inside and eat dinner.

I had dished up plates - the boys and I had just sat down to eat, and Ryan was standing at the kitchen sink looking out the window when there was a huge crack - a surge of energy went through us and all went dark.

The view from our driveway

Lightning had struck the transformer in the alley just behind our house - shattering the rod across the top and splintering the pole all the way to the ground. It took a while to calm Oran down - he was quite distraught!

Ryan called Idaho Power - ISU's Public Safety was the first to arrive. The two guys said they had been up at the Holt Arena when they saw the lightening followed by a fireball, then the shock wave hit them and everything electrical in their vehicle went dead. It must have sent out an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse.)
Ryan gathered up some of the splintered, chared wood for a souvenier. Next the fire engines came - it was pretty tough to convince our kids to get their PJs on with all of the excitement. Oran kept trying to turn things of, the lightswitches, TV, VCR, DVD player, computer - but nothing would turn on! He kept saying "Doesn't Work!!" and "Broken!" He was pretty upset about it - but I got them to go to sleep once it was too dark to see anything.
Eventually the Power guys showed up to fix everything. Ryan wanted to stay up until the power came back on; to make sure that nothing was permanently damages, so I lit some candles and we waited. The lightening struck around 7:00pm and we didn't get power back until nearly 11:30pm. Exciting!

Temple Open House

2009-05-31T17:32:00.004-06:00

I was just on lds.org and found out that there is a Temple Open House starting tomorrow!!

It's so exciting that so many temple are being built and that there have been so many open houses and dedications in the last few years. We had had plans to attend both the Rexburg Temple Open House and the Twin Falls Temple Open House but didn't actually make it to either. So I would REALLY like to go this time.

Many of my friends with children the same ages as ours have gone and told us how much their kids enjoyed it and how very neat they thought it was. I had been worried about how my children would behave, but I think it would be a neat thing for them.

It's always great when you can attend a temple open house, especially for children and others that wouldn't normally be able to see the inside of a temple. When I was younger I was able to go to the open houses for the Bountiful, UT temple, the Mount Timpangous, UT temple and the Billings, MT temple, those were all wonderful experiences that I still cherish.

For all who, like me, would like to participate. Here is the information:

The open house starts tomorrow, Monday, June 1, and goes through Saturday, August 1, 2009, except for Sundays and July 4 (Saturday) and July 24 (Friday).

You can get tickets or make reservations by contacting the reservation call center at 1-800-521-5105, 801-240-7645, or online at www.lds.org/reservations.

Here are some pictures of the construction, just for fun:
http://www.lds.org/temples/construction/0,11437,1940-1-597-0,00.html

And if you're not sure where it is, here is the location and directions information:
http://www.lds.org/temples/location/1,11219,1922-1-597-0,00.html

Preschool Programs

2009-05-24T21:14:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that it's already the end of the school year already!!!
Tate's preschool put on a play - The morning class performed "Peter and the Wolf" and the afternoon class, Tate's class, performed "The Golden Goose."
Tate was the parson.

Here is a silly little clip. Preschoolers are kind of funny. (Ryan started recording once Tate came in.) I love the little "superhero" pose at the end. BUT I think the best part was the bow and we missed that one with the camera.

Canton's class had a little program for their last day of school, on Thursday.
It was kind of cute: here's my favorite video clip from his program:

I think my kids are cute.

Birthday Celebrations

2009-05-21T13:57:00.018-06:00

We had two different birthday celebrations for Tate. On Saturday we went to Ammon Park and launched bottle rockets - all of the Bakes except Wes came and brought a bottle launcher so we had two!

Here Tate's decorating his rocket to send into orbit.

Decorating rockets and eating chips.

Oran and Ryan using the bicycle pump, and their big muscles to launch a rocket.

Tate got some "real rockets" like the ones the astronauts fly in.

We wore Oran out!!

I brought him in from the car and laid him on the couch and even all our loud noises didn't wake him.

See his clothes are all wet from the water in the rockets.
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On Sunday we invited everyone over for cake, ice cream and visiting. The Bakes came and so did Grandma and Grandpa White. It was very nice.

Iron Man in the making: Ryan was super awesome and painted fondant to look like Iron Man.

Ever since we finished the Spiderman party last year Tate's been insisting on an Iron Man cake - so Ryan made it happen!

Here is the cake all finished

Pretty awesome!

Tate and Matt at the table. Tate got the first piece of cake, of course, 'cause he's the birthday boy!

Oh poor baby with scars on his face - but he's still pretty stinkin' cute!

Tate is being silly. Can you believe he's FIVE!!?
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On Tuesday I took birthday treats to Tate's preschool and talked all about his life on Earth and different things he's learned and done since he got here. When I heard how Ms. Kris did birthdays I thought it was kind of weird - but I thought it was actually neat! I brought a picture from each year (birth - 1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and 4-5) and told some things he did each year I liked looking in Tate's scrap book and my journals to find interesting things to say - I like to remember.

And those were the birthday things we did.

Mother's Day at Church

2009-05-10T13:49:00.004-06:00

Canton gave a talk today in Primary. I helped, of course. He spoke about Heleman's 2000 stripling warriors and about how their Mom's taught them to have faith and to trust in God. He was super cute. We'd practiced at home, but he didn't want much help, so he kept improvising. "And they were really strong, and they had swords, and they killed the bad guys...." eventually we got back to 'because of their faith none of them died,' and that our Mommy's teach us and want us to be good. So, we should be good "so our Mommies are happy and sing songs and don't spank our bums."
I decided that it was good that not everyone in the room could understand everything he was saying. Sunbeams are great!

The Primary put together these really cute books for the Moms. They asked all of the kids a set of questions, wrote down their answers and gave them to us today. Some of their answers were pretty funny, here are some of my favorites:

What is your Mom's favorite thing to eat?
Canton - Macaroni and cheese
Tate - Cereal

How old is your Mom?
Canton - her birthday's tomorrow
Tate - 25, 8-5 months ago
(I am 25 years and 7 months, I thought that was way funny.)

If your Mom could go on vacation anywhere where would she go?
Canton - to the park
Tate - Camping
Michael - on a trip
Briana - to K-mart
(I thought those answers were cute too so I threw them in)

What is you Mom's favorite book?
Canton - "My Friend Rabbit" (more like HIS favorite book!)
Tate - the scriptures
Angie - she doesn't have any books

What's your Mom's favorite TV show?
Canton - Veggie Tales
Tate - the news

What does your Mom like to do to relax?
Canton - lay down
Tate - take walks
Anna - do the dishes (that's relaxing!?)
Cody - talk with Daddy

My mom looks pretty when....
Canton - Mommy looks pretty all night and all day
Tate - she goes to church
Alex - she sleeps (AWE...)

I love my Mom because....
Canton - 'cuz I love her
Jordyn - because I love my sister, and my mom's being pregnant again
Kaylee - cuz' she's sweet
Paige - she is good at telling me what to do
Molly - she gets me my food
Tate - she gives me hugs
Parker - cuz' she do that for me (TOO CUTE!)
Aftyn - she plays with me
Cody - she's pretty nice
Briana - she's special to me (I LOVE IT!)
Dallas - Love?
Daytona - she is FULLY AWESOME
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Ok, I got a little carried away, but I thought it was just SO cute!

In sacrament meeting the primary children got up and sang "I Often go Walking" and "Mother, I love You" it seemed like Canton had a solo as he smiled, pointed to me and proudly belted the first "Mother, I love you" all by himself.
I asked about it when we got home and Tate said that they were supposed to sing it that way, just the sunbeams first for "Mother, I love you..." then the CTRs came in on "...mother I do..." each line gaining a new row of kids (then it made sinse!) But this is how he told me:

"... first the Sunbeams, then the CTRs, and then the Violents... " I couldn't help but laugh as I told him it was the "Valiants" not the "Violents"

Kids are cute!
Now they are napping - I think I'll do that too.
Ryan is working today, but he got dinner in the crock pot, so I guess I don't need to worry about it! Yea for Mother's Day! Have a happy one!

What a Weekend!

2009-05-07T17:49:00.023-06:00

Friday we had Gavin and Callie's kids come and play. We made cheerio necklaces and then had a popcorn and movie party. We watched "Charlotte's Web" the boys and I picked it out at the library.
Then they all colored pictures while I made lunch. Our table is not designed for big families! We had four on each side (if you count me) so we sat extra close to eat our food.
After lunch we usually take a nap so we had a bunch of grouchy, antsy kids who were running up and down the hall (if you can call it a hall) from the front door to Tate and Canton's bunk bed and back. After a few of them got run over I decided to take them somewhere that they could run!
We all went on a walk to Centennial Park - where they were able to get out a lot of their wiggles. But we learned some new things about big kids AND little kids playing on the same playground. Dawsey and Rannon spun the merry-go-round very fast - Brigham and Duncan thought it was great fun and were laughing!! But Canton wanted to get off, instead of asking them to stop he just walked off (while it was spinning.) Ouch!
Then Tate was sitting opposite Rannon on the wooden horse thing - got bucked off and hit his head on the metal saddle.
Brigham and Canton had each taken off one sock, filled it with sand and were beating each other with them (Brigham said they were their "clubs") I was breaking that up when Oran walked in front of Rannon's swing. He got knocked down and drug in the sand - Dawsey was so great and gathered him up and comforted him until I could get there.
He was all bloody - and his mouth and nose were all full of sand and rocks. It was so sad. I tried to clean him up a bit in the drinking fountain at the park and then we walked home.
Gavin and Callie got there about the same time we did.
I spent all night (until about 1am) doing laundry and getting us all packed for our trip to Utah.

Saturday morning there was a free community breakfast, put on my the Lion's club, at the old town pavilion. We went there around 8am and had pancakes and link sausage - we each had orange juice to drink. A man and his son came and sat by us. The man had coffee in his cup Oran was pretty funny. He saw the steam coming off the cup and said "Oh, HOT Juice!" then he blew again and again (I guess trying to cool it off for him) then the man took a drink and Oran scream, "NO!! HOT!! OUCH!!" the man was a little surprised!
Saturday was also the opening day of the farmers market - right next to where we had breakfast. After we finished eating we looked around at all the neat things. We saw vases made out of gourds, and goblets carved out of solid pieces of mahogany, pottery thrown on a wheel, fired and glazed in magnificent colors - and, of course, plants! Tomato, red pepper, green pepper, cucumber - and all kinds of trees and flowers. This year they've invited flea market vendors to participate also (to make it a bigger event) so we saw a lot of antiques, books, and things with pealing paint and rust!
It started to rain, but we didn't mind.
We went home and found our coats and our favorite stuffed friends and headed to the hospital for the 28th annual teddy bear clinic. There were Shriner's Clowns making balloon animals! "Space" "Hippo" and "Squirrel" were all admitted, had their blood pressure taken, received casts, x-rays, and surgery! we visited the cafeteria for cookies and milk and then we came home for lunch. (We didn't watch the puppet show or have our faces painted - the line was too long and we were getting grouchy!)
After lunch we packed the car and hit the road (in the rain!) It was 1:00 when we left, we wore the kids out good so they all slept until we got to Salt Lake!

We ate dinner with Rob and Hillori, their kids and Barb (her flight got in to SLC at 7:45am) at Rob and Hillori's home in Mapelton. Then we all went to the Jr. High for Audrey's ballet recital. It was cute - lots of little girls in leotards and tutus. Oran loved it! He conducted the music, bounced up and down and clapped louder than anyone else, and kept yelling "YEA!!" Canton got bored and Tate was sad that he couldn't see better.
After the kids were in bed Ryan and I had fun "playing" with Rob and Hillori as they got all of the food ready for the next day. Barbara and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few last minute things (I don't like driving in an unfamiliar place in the dark, but Barbara is a great navigator and we had fun on our little outing to the store - without any children!)

Sunday was kind of crazy! We were glad that we all got ready for church before the crowds arrived! LOTS of people! LOTS of kids! We were so glad that it was a beautiful day and they could all play outside!
Grandma and Grandpa Green came with Lisa's son Colton. Grandma Stavast also came with Barb's brother Jim, and his wife Peggy, Auntie Gladys, Uncle Dean, and Auntie Ellenor. A lot of Hillori's family was there too - I had a hard time figuring out who was connected to who and how - I don't think I met them all.
The blessing was beautiful, Rob did a wonderful job. Rob, Hillori, and Barbara were all among those who bore their testimonies. It was a very nice meeting.
Sunday was also Barbara's birthday so we sang to her and had cake, lots and lots of cake.
We decided to stay another night - it was nice to have some more time with the Greens after everyone else was gone. We had a nice visit with Barbara. I got to hold Baby Elise a lot (she liked me lots and didn't cry at me at all. So I got to keep her for hours and hours!) It made Oran mad on Saturday, but on Sunday I let him see her and hold her hands and look at her toes, then it was OK for me to hold her. Canton wanted to hold her so I helped him - he was so sweet and held her so nice.
Lucy was my friend too! She is the cutest little girl! She has red hair and dimples and is ALWAYS smiling - she is only a few months older than Oran (she turned 2 in February.)

I'm an AUNT!!
I love having nieces and nephews!!

Elise had such a pretty blessing dress! This was at the end of the day after everyone else had left and she was still spotless clean! I was impressed!

It's been a while...

2009-05-06T15:04:00.009-06:00

I know, I know, I've been slacking off in the world of blogging!
We've been busy busy!

This last weekend we went to stay with Ryan's brother Rob and his family. While there Hillori informed me that she keeps checking my blog and is disappointed to see nothing new. Gee I never knew... now I'll feel all kinds of pressure (not wanting to disappointing!) j/k

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My baby is 2!!

I can't believe it's been TWO whole years since I was pregnant last! It has gone by so very fast. We had fun celebrating Oran's birthday. He's been such a great addition to our family and we all love him SO much!Our first fun celebration was the day before his birthday when the boys and I went to Preston to visit my parents. We played games and sang "Happy Birthday" it was fun!

For breakfast on Oran's birthday we had waffles topped with whipped topping and cherry pie filling - yum, yum!
For dinner we had baked potatoes [w/ a choice of toppings] Oran's favorite!

"Tatoes!? Tatoes!!"

We let him have the last juice box, 'cause he was the birthday boy!

Then we had cupcakes! Oran is saying "CAKE!!"

Ryan helped Oran read his birthday cards, He got one from Great Grandma Green and another one from Great Grandma Grant!

It was a good birthday for a good boy!

(More later, there's much to do)

Crazy Saturday!

2009-04-19T22:05:00.018-06:00

Yesterday was a busy day for us. We can go weeks with blank squares on the calender and then we get a day like yesterday, when everything lands on the VERY SAME DAY!
I had originally planned to go to Preston - it was the weekend of the annual Franklin County Medical Center Health and Wellness Expo. That was to be held from 8am to Noon. Then there was a Vintage Fashion Show at the Worm Creek Opera House at 3:00, the proceeds of which went to remodeling the Oneida Stake Academy (one of my pet projects)
That's not all! - In the evening was the Preston High School Ballroom Dance Concert (I thought it would be fun to go, since I was once on that team.)

BUT as more and more things crowded my schedule here in Pocatello - my plan of heading south quickly changed.
So here is what we did yesterday - in our CRAZY BUSY day!

I attended a couponing class at the Chubbuck Public Library from 10 - 11. I was surprised at how many people were there - about 60. This lady, a young mother on a tight budget, started using the website pinchingyourpennies.com only 3 months ago, in January, and has since mastered the system and has been saving hundreds of dollars on her grocery bill every month since. She's so excited about it that she's been holding these free classes teaching others to do the same.
It was AMAZING - I'm super impressed and am going to try... If any one is interested her next class will be May 23 @10am @ the Chubbuck Public Library.
Ryan had to work Saturday morning so a lady in our ward agreed to watch the boys while I went to the class. So I took them there around 9:30 - they played outside until I got there around 11:30 to get them.

We then dashed home so everyone could use the potty before dashing off again.
Our next adventure of the day was a birthday party of a little girl in Canton's preschool class. The party was at "Randy's Tumbling and Extreme Fun" in Chubbuck, across from Geraldine's Bake Shoppe and Deli, from 12- 2pm. [I took these pictures on my cell phone so they are not so awesome -it's not good at action shots at all!]
It was a really fun party and I had a blast, as well as the kids. It was fun to have so much room to run and jump and play. I think Canton would really like being in gymnastics. He had fun jumping on the trampoline, diving into the pit with the spongy blocks, and doing somersaults one after another until he was too dizzy to stand.
I was involved in gymnastics when I was younger. So I played on the blue springy floor. I did lots of cart wheels, round offs, back hand springs, and hand stands while all the little kids "Ooed" and "Ahhed." It was fun for me - but my arms are a little sore today...We had pizza and cake after we were done playing.

We then hurried home to squeeze in a nap before we had to dash off again. Once my exhausted kids were sleeping I hurried around the house clean it as quickly as possible (I was quite impressed - I guess I can get a lot done if I really put my mind to it.) I started vacuuming at 3:30 which, as I had hoped, woke my sleeping children and we got ready to leave AGAIN!

Our next engagement was yet ANOTHER birthday party. This one for a little boy who's the same age as Tate. Their family used to live in an apartment in our ward. They have since bought a house across town, but we've kept in touch.

His party was a bowling party at "Pine Bowl" from 4-6pm. It was all kinds of craziness - and I now have the opinion that bowling parties should be for no one under 8 years old! It was dark, there was a black light, but it was far too difficult to keep track of small children in the dim lighting.
Then there were a bunch of 3, 4, and 5 year olds trying to bowl! We had pinched fingers, smashed toes, and Canton kept stepping over the line as he attempted to send his ball down the alley - this causing him to slip and fall down. He was rubbing his bottom and with a pouty face said, "Kiss my bum, Mom, it weally hurtz!" I didn't do it.

The music was REALLY loud, we all had to shout just to hear each other and be heard, and the music wasn't very wholesome. So I was in a dim lit, smelly bowling alley, blaring swear words and alternative life styles, trying to keep track of my kids. I was not having so much fun. Another mother there went to ask if they could change the station or at least turn it down, they were very rude to her and refused to change the music in any way.

Things got a little better when we all sat down to eat. We had yet another meal of pizza and birthday cake. My children weren't so excited about that, but I didn't care if they didn't eat it. Ryan met us there after he got off of work. He helped Tate bowl a couple more times and then we went home.

We had 20 minutes to change before even more excitement. I was sure glad I cleaned up earlier. My Aunt had some extra tickets for "Power in His Touch" at the Steven's Performing Arts Center. Ryan went to get her son so he could watch our kids while we went.
It was my favorite part of the day! It was a musical performance about repentance and the healing power of the atonement. It was very well done and gave me a different perspective than I had seen before.
Ryan and I both really enjoyed the music so we bought the sound track after the show - he figured we could buy the CD when we hadn't had to pay for the tickets (Thanks Bonnie!) The writer was there so we had her sign it.
So we ended on a good note. It had been far too long since our last date night.

My cousin took such good care of our kids!
This morning the boys were telling me all about it! "Kyle fought the monsters in the dark and defeated them!" "Kyle said if we sleep all night our muscles will get big and strong like his," "Look, my muscles are already BIGGER!!!" I think Kyle's pretty awesome :)

We got home around 10:00 last night - then I prepared a Primary lesson, for today, before heading to bed. It was a VERY long day!

Easter Reflection

2009-04-12T15:03:00.007-06:00

I love this time of year. The grass is turning green, flowers are pushing their way through the ground and the trees are budding. It's a time of new beginning; everything is so fresh and new, but my favorite part about spring is celebrating Easter.
I try to maintain a Christ centered life, but will admit that I get side tracked occasionally. I love how at this time of year we have some extra time to reflect on our Savior: His life, ministry, the atonement and resurrection.

I love all the feelings and emotions that come with such reflection. We are all so blessed! We have been given an AMAZING gift! Hope - if nothing else. The hope that it gives each of us; that this life is not all there is, that Jesus Christ, our older brother, our Savior and Redeemer, has atoned for our sins. He has over come death and because of that we will ALL be resurrected.
Not only will our body be reunited with our spirit, but that body will be made whole and perfect! No more handicaps, disabilities or pain! What an amazing thing we have been promised!

Today in church Joyce and Jeff Underwood were our speakers. I don't know how many of you know the Underwoods or their story - but it was a very special meeting. In the summer of 1993 Joyce and Jeff's 11-year-old daughter was abducted, raped and murdered - it's a very sad story and I can't imagine what it would be like to endure such a horrific ordeal.
Sister Underwood began by asking "How many of you have ever lost a child?" My first thought, knowing their back ground, was 'No - not like you have.' But then she clarified "...even if only for a few minutes..." which I have done. It's frightening not to know where your children are, what they are doing or if they're OK.
I always have to chuckle a bit when I hear the story of the 12 year old Jesus being left in Jerusalem after the feast of the pass-over. 'Where's Jesus?' 'You don't have him?' 'I thought he was with you.' But I'm sure that Mary and Joseph felt awful! They, of course, were able to find their son, whole and unharmed, and even conversing with doctors and scholars at the temple. Jeff and Joyce were not so lucky. But because of the atonement they will be with their daughter again.
Joyce shared the experience she had in the temple while doing Jeralee's work; '... that she is busy with a great work on the other side; that she is well and happy...'
What a great thing the gospel is! In a situation like theirs it would be hard for anyone not to become hardened and bitter. But because of their faith this amazing family has pulled together and moved past this awful experience, and can look forward to the day when they will all be together again.

I am so thankful for my Savior. I know that he suffered and atoned for my sins - and that only through him can I repent and be made whole.
I am so thankful to be living on the Earth today and am so glad that I have the gospel in my life.
I am thankful for loving parents who taught me the truths of the gospel, have answered my questions, and given me the opportunity to learn, to grow, and to decide for myself if these things are true.
I love my Savior - and am eternally grateful for his sacrifice and for the merciful plan of happiness.
I know I am a daughter of God. I have divine potential and my Heavenly Father loves me!

I hope each of you are able to enjoy this Easter holiday and this beautiful time of year!!

The Funny of the day

2009-04-06T09:45:00.004-06:00

I plan to come back and write some more: but there is much to be done!
So here is a clip to make you all laugh -
This is just how I feel most days! Hillary Weeks hit it right on ;) here is:

"To Do List"

We Finally Made it!!

2009-03-29T22:14:00.005-06:00

I feel like we haven't attended meetings in our ward for forever! Last Sunday we had bad colds, and only attend sacrament meeting. The week before that we stayed home, because we all had the flu. The week before that Ryan and I were in Hayden, and attended church there. But our boys didn't go to church that week and then the two weeks before that we were sick!
So our little guys hadn't been the Primary or Nursery for 6 weeks in a row!
It was a bit of a struggle today. Canton didn't want me to leave him in Primary and was very sad. He clung to me and cried, and as three different sisters (the Sunbeam teacher, the Primary President and one of the counselors) wrestled him away from me I started to cry too.
"He'll be fine, and if he's not, I'll come get you." I was told. But it was upsetting to me to see him so upset about being separated from me.
Tate and Oran on the other hand were both excited to go to their classes. "My primary friends said they missed me," Tate happily announced after primary.

After we got home and I asked about primary Tate was excited to tell me all about it. Sister Evans, the Primary chorister, had an Easter basket filled with grass and plastic eggs containing a slip of paper with the title of a song. Tate got to go up and pick an egg - his egg had "Called to Serve" in it. One of his favorites. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! Tate got to stay in the front and Sister Evans held his arm and helped him lead the music! It was fun to see Tate so happy about his day.
Then I turned to Canton. who was on the verge of tears after hearing Tate relay the day's events. "I raised my hand, but no one picked me!" "She didn't even see me." "I didn't get a turn." "I'm NEVER going to raise my hand EVER again!" He had such a sad face! And needed lots of hugs. What a rough day for Canton,

Well,

2009-03-26T16:49:00.012-06:00

I really have nothing to say - but decided to talk about the rest of our trip - (To Cour d'Alene)
We had planned to come home on Sunday after church, but awoke Sunday morning to LOTS of snow. It had rained the night before, and then it snowed. So there was a nice sheet of ice under the 6 or 7 inches of new snow. We tried, without any luck to get our van out or Bill's driveway - and finally had to give up, we'd just slide sideways and down.
We borrowed Heidi's car and drove to the church (about a mile away.) After we got back to the Moorland's house we called Bonnie (who was watching our kids) and told her that we simply would NOT make it home that day.
She sounded disappointed, but there wasn't much we could do about it!

I took this one of Ryan after church in the room we stayed in. This is in the basement! But didn't feel like a basement at all. Tall ceilings, big windows... In the summer you can see the lake out these windows.

Heidi's son Alex and his friend, Aaron, cleared off the driveway and Bill took Ryan on a drive around Hayden Lake Sunday afternoon, while I took a much needed nap.
I hadn't worn my neck brace at all on Saturday, and hadn't been very faithful with the muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatorys. So I was hurting.
We had a very nice dinner - Heidi made an awesome salad, a turkey breast, and pasta with pesto and pine nuts. It was very good.
Then we played a game of Boggle before we called it a night. (I won, by a BIG lot!)

Ryan had gotten his new Tablet PC just before our trip. He was pretty proud of it and showed it off every chance he got (what a nerd!) It has a fancy touch screen and everything! (It really is a pretty cool toy.)

The next morning we woke to a new blanket of snow, but it wasn't as much as had fallen on Sunday. Heidi had gone to the gym shortly before we left so we backed all the way into the garage and made a run for it. We almost didn't make it. But we were on our way (a little later than we had originally planned, but time was on our side. We crossed the date line and gained an hour!)

Before we left in the morning Ryan sat down with Bill and worked on his Google Ad Words campaign. We don't like to do anything business related on Sunday. Bill was disappointed that Ryan wouldn't help him with it then, but I was proud of Ryan for not wavering, and it didn't hurt to do it in the morning.

Here they are "Geekin' Out" infront of their lap tops.

Here's one last shot of Ryan and I before we left the Moorland house. Bill asked, "Do you want a picture of the two of you?" Funny how I didn't even think of that until he asked. So I guess this is the picture that proves that we took the trip together!

Sunday Again

2009-03-22T18:03:00.005-06:00

Our kids were still coughing and sniffling this morning so we only went to sacrament meeting. I haven't been to Relief Society in our ward for FOUR weeks now! Next week will be combined with the priesthood and the week after that is general conference!
Oh well, I guess that the wait will make it all the sweeter when I finally make it!
Ryan had to work today and didn't want me taking the kids and 'making the entire ward sick.'

I ran across these old Mormon TV ads today [from the 1970s and 1980s] - they gave me warm fuzzies so I wanted to share!
I remember a few of them.

Have a great day everyone!

Grumble, Grumble

2009-03-19T13:27:00.003-06:00

I'm so frustrated!!!
This morning I had another appointment with Dr. Finn. I think he's a great man, super awesome, but I don't feel like he spends enough time with me to justify the effort!
My appointment was at 9:30 this morning. I waited until nearly 10:00 before I was called back. I changed and then waited another 15 minutes. I talked to Dr. Finn for maybe a minute before he handed me off to the massage therapist - that took the typical 20 minutes - then there were no open rooms so I sat on one of the stools in the hall and waited.
When one of the exam rooms opened up I went in there and waited. Eventually Dr. Finn showed up acting very flustered (by this time he had a line for four of five patients in the hall) I laid on the table he quickly adjusted two spots in my mid back. I'd told him that my neck was really bothering me. He tried to adjust it but couldn't get the spots to move. He stated that they were simply too swollen. He stood me up and that was that.
I called after him as he dashed out the door saying "my jaw hurts, my hips have been giving me problems, and my hands keep going numb." He stopped long enough to say "Be sure to tell me next time, I'll see you in a week."
I left the office at 11:05 (1 hour and 35 minutes after my appointment time) having spent a total of 5 minutes with the doctor.
I think they over book themselves; appointments every 10 minutes : 9:20, 9:30, 9:40, 9:50 and so on, That's just too much!
Every other chiropractor I've been to schedules ever 30 minutes - making things less rushed, less congested, and you actually get to talk to the doctor!!!

This is my second time having an experience like this. I really do like Dr. Finn, but I'm not sure if I'll go back, I think I deserve more time, more attention and just all around better care!
I feel like I've accomplished nothing more than having wasted my morning.

I MISS DR. COX!!!!

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-18T12:57:00.008-06:00

Tate was excited about St. Patrick's day and wanted to make sure he wore green. He was very upset when I told him he couldn't wear the green shirt he'd picked because it was too small and I could see his tummy!
He threw a great big fit! I found him a shirt with green stripes and he cried and told me, "The kids at school don't think stripes are COOOOL!!!"
Oh my, if he's already so worried about his clothes and being cool, what's it going to be like when he's older?
So I was tired of arguing and said, "I don't feel very well, and don't really want to take you to school, so if you won't pick a different shirt I guess you can just stay home today." He growled at me, shouted "FINE" and marched off to his room.
We ended up compromising and he wore BOTH shirts - the small one as an undershirt and the one I picked on top. I was fine with that.He was much happier after school and was excited to tell me all about leprechauns, and their pots of gold. So we watched "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" Tate yelled at me for skipping over the part with the Banshee, "I like the scary parts!!" he said, but I know that it would have given Canton nightmares.

I had planned on a dinner of corned beef and cabbage with key lime pie for dessert - but it didn't happen: I'm still not feeling so awesome so Taco soup is as creative as I got (nothing green about that...)

Our Trip: Day two

2009-03-15T11:49:00.021-06:00

We arrived at the Moreland home around 6:00pm on Friday - we went to dinner at the Olive Garden and then I went to bed, completely exhausted. But Ryan and Billy stayed up going over the plan for Saturday: their presentation and power point.
We left Hayden at 8am on Saturday March 7. We drove to the Holiday Inn in Spokane, WA to the IDA Leadership and training Conference.
It's always so fun to go to those. I feel like I'm married to rock star or something as everyone scrambles to introduce themselves - "You're Ryan Green's wife!? I'm..." or "It's so nice to see you Care-Anna" (I can tell they've been practicing my name ;)

Ryan in the car on the way to Spokane

The heads of the company are so close! At first I wasn't sure what I thought about being part of such a huggy group, but have now decided that I don't mind. I was being hugged by CEOs, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Financial and Web advisers and of course their wives.
I hadn't seen
most of these people since the event in October, but was excitedly welcomed with open arms.

Caranna Green and Heidi Moreland
Juliet took this picture saying,
"Let's get a picture of the wives
of the two super stars of the company."

They structured the conference differently this time - instead of two 3 hour blocks of lecturing - there were different break out sessions. We were each given a schedule and everyone got to decide which sessions and in which orders they would attend them.

So the groups were smaller and each session was only about 45 minutes. I thought it was a good format and went very well.

Billy and Ryan shared a session - they worked together, talked about different aspects of their assigned topic and played off of each other. I was proud.

Ryan talking to all the people

The only down side of the day was that while we were in Spokane I had left my neck brace in Hayden along with the muscle relaxants I was supposed to take 3 times a day. By the time we got back to Hayden that evening I was hurting a lot - and regretting choices I'd made for vanity's sake.

I'm kind of a nerd, I know. I took this in the bathroom as proof that I was there and kind of cute that day. ;)

I'll be posting more picture from the event on my other blog - when I get around to it.

Our trip, Day One:

2009-03-13T13:39:00.004-06:00

We took a trip to Spokane, WA last weekend. We ended up driving for more than 10 hours to get there (because we thought we knew where we were going, but didn't really) We got off I-15 at Idaho Falls when we should have stayed on it until we reached Butte, MT.
So we went through Rexburg, Island Park, and West Yellowstone. I didn't even realize anything was amiss until Ryan announced "We're just coming into Bozeman."
"BOZEMAN!!!? What are we doing in Bozeman? We're supposed to be in Butte!" Was my response. I guess that's what you get for not paying attention. We would have been doing really well if we'd wanted to see Ryan's parents in Powell or my Family in Lovell, but we were trying to get to Coeur d'alene!
We bought a map and eventually found our way to I-15 but it ended up costing us 2 1/2 hours! Silly, Silly.

I wore my neck brace the whole trip - trying to minimize trauma during the long car drive (aren't kids fun?)
I made a snow ball! In March - without any gloves!

I'm workin' the neck brace! It's uncommon BECAUSE it's high fashion (didn't you know!?) Like all that stuff you see on the runway - it's not ugly, it's fashion! :P

Ryan drove the whole way, and I talked the whole way, so he would stay awake!!

Here we are, aren't we cute!?

We stopped in a pull off somewhere between Island Park and West Yellowstone. We wanted to stretch our legs a bit and take a few pictures (the snow really was very pretty)

And that was day one of our trip - Friday March 6, a week ago today.

Tate is growing up!

2009-03-12T13:48:00.006-06:00

We are getting ready for kindergarten!

Indian Hills Elementary has a series of "Pre-Kindergarten" Nights. The first one was on February 26. It was the first of three. The hope is that through these nights parents will see what skills their children need to have before entering kindergarten and the children will become familiar with the school and the staff.
There are three different nights. This first one focused on math: numbers, counting, associating the written symbol with the amount it represents, things like that. Tate has understood all of that for quite some time, but still had fun seeing his "new school" meeting "new friends" and doing the math activities.

We still haven't decided if Indian Hills is where we want to send Tate, but time is ticking away and we'd better make a decision soon!

Here are some pictures from the special night:
Tate thought it was neat that it was just the two of us. It's not often that he doesn't have to share Mommy.

For all who may be interested in attending here is the information on the next one:

Pre-Kindergarten Night
Thursday, April 2nd
5:30-6:30pm

For parents and 4/5 year olds in the Indian Hills area who will be attending kindergarten in the fall of 2009.
Please join us for "name" activities and a free book.

For information and to RSVP, please call Indian Hills School @ 232-4086

In case you were wondering...

2009-03-03T16:34:00.009-07:00

Yesterday we went to see Dr. Finn and were SO impressed! He was very nice to us and just so personable and happy. PLUS he knew his stuff. He knew what he was talking about and it all made so much more sense than what the doctors have been saying (which is mostly, 'we don't know, but let's try this...')
It was just so refreshing to feel like we were finally getting some answers and going SOMEWHERE with all of this!
He took some X-rays and adjusted a couple of spots. He gave me a doofy looking neck brace to wear. It's hot and itchy. Oran doesn't like it at all and keeps trying to take it off. But we go back on Thursday afternoon to see if my diligence in wearing it has helped.

We are planning to leave here and head to Hayden, ID on Friday morning where we will be staying with our friends Bill and Heidi Moreland.
The conference is in Spokane, WA on Saturday which is only 30 minutes from their house.

Eric and Bonnie (Ryan's brother and his wife) are going to watch our kids. We were hesitant to ask them because they just got two little foster boys (that they are hoping to adopt) they've had them barely a week and we just thought that maybe they were still trying to work out a routine, get settled and adjusted... but we called and Bonnie said "Sure... we'd love to...." and ".. the boys love having other kids to play with..." Ryan told her that we'd bring the younger two and she said 'three was just as easy as two.'
So, we're pretty excited that we got that figured out. Plus we know Bonnie will take good care of them and they've been wanting to meet their new cousins Bill 4, and Austin 5. [So at their house there will be 5 little boys, one 5 yr. old, two 4 yr. olds, a 3 yr. old, and a 2 yr. old - Bonnie is a brave woman!]
We love you guys and THANKS SO MUCH!!

So right now I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get everything done before Friday! KIA has an appointment tomorrow to make sure she's all ready for our trip. I need to buy Tate a new car seat and Ryan needs new shoes (he wore a hole in the bottom and his foot is falling out, not so professional ;)
I also have a months worth of neglected laundry to sort through. [Did you know that if you leave clothes in a laundry basket for 3 weeks they get VERY wrinkled!? - It's true!] Plus I like to leave everything clean when I go on a trip... Lots to do!

I sure hope I feel better tomorrow so I can get it all done!

Just some disconnected thoughts

2009-03-01T14:13:00.002-07:00

It has not been such a wonderful day so far.

I actually braved the sickies and went to church today (I stayed home last week) about every 20 minutes or so I'd feel light headed and nauseated so I'd just close my eyes and wait for a minute or two until the feeling passed. I didn't faint, I was afraid I was going to a couple times but I made it!

I had a hard time focusing on what was being said because I wasn't feeling well, but also because of some other things.

Because I've been sick I've spent a lot of time stuck at home, which means far too much time sitting in front of the computer. Yesterday I went on to an insurance forum and made a couple of post about Ryan's company. I really felt like what I was saying was beneficial to those asking the questions.
There was one man that was asking what they should do about car insurance when they had three cars, all fairly new, and had him, his wife and soon to be driving teenage son. I mentioned the CDRP, because I thought it would be an excellent fit for them in their family and in that situation. I was just trying to help. And out of no where this site moderator "Lori" started attacking me!
She was calling me things like dishonest, untrustworthy, a scam artist... Then she did some research (it's not hard to find a name like mine on the internet) and came back this morning with '...you're Ryan Green's wife... Ryan T. Green is a marketing director for this "company" IDA...' and she went on to say I was a horrible person for trying to trick people and steal their money.
She was not only attacking me publicly on the forum, but in Private Messages too - and went and found posts made by Ryan (because she's a site moderator she has access to full names and e-mail addresses) so she started calling him names - tearing him down and the company...
It was just such a mess all started by two little posts I'd made to different threads.

Ryan told me not to let it bother me and that it just one little forum... but it did bother me! I don't like people tearing appart my reputation and questioning my motives - especially someone I've never even met! I've never been able to handle the thought of someone not liking me: even though I continue to tell myself that not everyone likes me and that is ok.

So, if you saw me crying at church...

OTHER THAN THAT - Ryan's conference in coming up. This time the IDA leadership conference will be in Spokane, WA. I did not go in January with Ryan and he would really like me to come along this time. But we have been unsuccessful in our attempts to find someone to watch our kids for three days. It's a lot to ask - even I have a hard time doing it!
So if any of you can... let me know ;)
Ryan gets off work at 4:00 Thursday and doesn't have to be back at work until Tuesday so we had originally thought leave Thursday come back Monday. But in an attempt to make finding help easier we have sweetened the deal to drive all the way Friday - do the conference all day Saturday and then drive straight back on Sunday: quick trip.
We were also thinking that we could probably take Tate. He's pretty good if you give him things to draw with and some snacks, but the younger two. There's just no way that they could make it through 6 hours worth of meetings (even with the hour long lunch break in the middle ;)
We're still looking, and quickly running out of time and options.
So, please, feel free to volenteer ;)

Oh, and a little health update. Since the doctors haven't been able to find anything, we're going to pursue some more "natural" means and see if that helps. I have a chiropractic appointment tomorrow morning with Dr. Finn. So cross your fingers for me.

And that's all I have to say. Have a good Sunday everyone and HAPPY MARCH! Tate insisted I get rid of all the hearts :)

Still No Answers

2009-02-26T11:21:00.003-07:00

I just got a call - from Dr. Burton himself (not his nurse!) - He said that the results of the HIDA scan looked "absolutely normal." So I guess we're back to square one...

He wanted to order some more blood tests to check some more things (that we haven't all ready checked in the previous panels. But I really dislike needles and want to let my arms heal a bit before I go get stabbed again. [I don't know if they could even find my veins amidst the bruises.]

I'm thinking maybe I'll try a chiropractor next and see what that does. Does anyone know of a good one in Pocatello or Chubbuck?

Radiation is BAD!

2009-02-25T17:09:00.009-07:00

This morning we went in for a HIDA scan.
We took the boys to my Aunt Bonnie around 8:00 - my appointment was at 8:15.
They wouldn't let Ryan come with me, because they didn't want to expose him to the radiation (what about me!?)
So he sat in the waiting room, read magazines and watched the "Today Show."
First the Dr. took me to a room with a recliner - he put an IV in my arm and then started feeding a radioactive isotope into my arm. He was talking to me the whole time - explaining the procedure and the function of the gallbladder.
All of a sudden I raised my hand and interrupted him - he said "What?" and I said "I think I'm going to faint!" he kind of chuckled and said "That's why you're sitting down instead of standing up." he said it so simple and matter of fact, but I felt like he was talking down to me like 'duh, of course you feel faint.'
He finished pushing in that tube of isotope and then went and got me a wet wash cloth to hold to my face while he put in two more tubes.
He let me sit for a minute before leading me to another room where they keep the HIDA scan machine. I laid on a bed that was raised up as the rectangular machine was lowered to rest about 6 inches off my abdomen.
Then I waited. I had to lay there for 35 minutes while the isotope made it's way into my gallbladder. He tilted the monitor so I could see - I saw the shape of my liver all lit up on the screen and watched as my gallbladder appeared and became larger and brighter on the screen, as it filled with the isotope.
After that part of the test the Dr. came and put more stuff in my IV - this stuff was supposed to make my gallbladder drain/empty and was by far the worst part of the test. He came in every 5 minutes and put another tube of the stuff in my IV - it made me feel very dizzy, faint and nauseated - it was no fun! - That part of the test lasted 25 minutes.
I watched on the screen as the isotope left my gallbladder and went through my intestines. It was neat to watch my body working, but it hurt and I couldn't move to make things more comfortable.
After the test I felt very sick. I was told that I had radiation poisoning but that it should wear off in a "couple of hours" now, I am just barely starting to feel more "normal" (although I still feel kind of yucky) and it's been nearly 7 hours since we finished.
So - radiation is bad! And can make you sick!

I hope everyone has had a better day than mine.

It's a VERY Special Day!

2009-02-21T13:18:00.006-07:00

This was me taken 6 years ago today. My awesome roommate Meikjn and I bought these pants at TJ Maxx for 3.99 And decided we were super cool - we matched and everything!
We went to a dance and were the life of the party :)
That was the night I met Ryan -

This dance was a "Feed the 5,000" dance. We had to take a can of food to get it. The dance was not well publicized. I vaguely remembered hearing about it in the announcements at church. So we got dressed up, took our chances and headed up to the stake center on the hill.
There were only a hand full of people at the dance. It appeared that people would show up, poke their heads in, think "this is lame" and leave. But that all changed once Meikjn and I showed up in our magic pants!
My buddy Tarron was D.J.ing that night - I had him put on some good salsa music, dragged him away from his D.J. spot and we tore up the dance floor (I used to be so cool!!) That seemed to do the trick, people started dancing and everyone who showed up from that point on stayed!
There were probably about 15 people there total. But we had a blast!! Meikjn and I got the majority of the male attention - because we're so cool!
Once the clock struck 12:00 we all had to leave the church, but we were having so much fun that we weren't ready to go home.
We all decided to watch a movie at Jamie's house, but no one knew where Jamie's house was so we met at Wal*Mart. I took the free way, everyone else came down Yellowstone and we: Meikjn, Dave and I beat them by a good 5 minutes!
We went in to buy ice cream Ryan gave me a piggy back ride through the store - and then we went to Jamie's house ate the ice cream and watched "Monster's Inc." Through the whole movie Ryan was pretty cuddly with my roommate.
When we finally headed home, around 4am, Ryan ran out to my car and asked Meikjn for our phone number. She couldn't remember it so she looked at me and I mumbled the number. I was very tired, I said it fast and slurred it together. Neither of us thought he'd remember it in a million years! He didn't even write it down!
He later told me that he said it over and over to himself all the way home and wrote it down as soon as he got inside.
Meikjn got most of his attention that night, then he took both of us out a few times (the whole three some thing was kind of weird) but before long he focused all his attentions on me.

Some silly pictures taken in the dorms.

I can't believe it's been SIX years! It's the day it all started! The day that led up to our engagement, wedding, anniversaries, and children. I can't believe how much has happened since then. I love my husband more and more every day. I knew he was the one not too long after we started dating, and the longer I'm with him the more I learn about him and the more I fall in love with him all over again!

I love you Ry, Ry!

Explaining Death to a 3 year old

2009-02-19T09:19:00.008-07:00

Last night we had a relief society activity - that went rather well, if I do say so myself ;) At that activity I learned of the death of our favorite neighbor.
Blanche Tucker lived on the corner of Main Street and Carter (only one house between hers and ours) She was very active in the church and served in the library.
Whenever Ryan and I were teaching lessons we'd go ask her for pictures or videos and were always surprised at how quickly she could find them!
Nearly every Sunday she'd see me with a crying child in my arms and she'd give me a knowing smile and say "It must be nap time."
She still drove her blue car - we were never sure it was a good idea, and always gave her plenty of room when we saw her coming - but she never drove more than 15 mph - she'd always wave as she drove by.
When I was pregnant with Oran I was put on bed rest, in those 3 weeks she stopped by 5 or 6 times to visit. Since that time she's walked to our house to say hello every couple of weeks.
We were always surprised with her dedication to keeping her yard beautiful, we'd see her out working in her yard in her large brimmed hat and over sized gloves and could help but smile.
Blanche's granddaughter, Helen, is a good friend of ours and she'd often ask us how her grandma was doing, and if we could keep and eye on her. She'd fallen a few times, but didn't want anyone to know. Her son-in-law came and put a ramp on the front of the house, but she was stubbornly independent and wouldn't use it. After the ramp we'd see her exiting her house, and walking down the steps on the side of the house.
She was spunky and my kids really liked her.
This morning before preschool I was telling Canton what had happened, and he wouldn't believe me! He kept telling me I was wrong. "The Great-Grandma from church isn't dead!" He insisted, "I saw her at church, she smiled at me and she was ALIVE!!!"
In a clam voice I tried to tell him that she went to live with Heavenly Father, and she left after we saw her last. But the more I tried to reason with him the more upset and argumentative he got.
I decided to let the matter drop and we finished getting ready for school. As we walked out the door he pointed down the street to the blue, frost covered car and said - "There's Great-Grandma's car! She still lives in her house, and she really loves me!"
Oh well, I guess he can think what he wants.

Here's the obituary:
Blanche V. Tucker, 86, Pocatello, died Sunday morning, February 15, 2009 at her home.
She was born on May 24, 1922 at Bliss, Idaho to Henry and Blanche Thayer Hite where Blanche attended schools. She married Wilbur V. Tucker on October 6, 1940. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Idaho Falls L.D.S. Temple. Wilbur preceded her in death on April 8, 1989. Blanche was Co-Owner with her husband of Tucker’s Appliance Service Center. In 1985 they sold the business to their son, Doug. She loved and enjoyed traveling and was always kind and giving to her neighbors, her children and grandchildren and to all those she met. Blanche was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served as the Ward Librarian for 40 years.
She is survived by two sons, Richard A. and Douglas D. Tucker; one daughter, Linda L. Misner, all of Pocatello . Nine Grandchildren and Six Great Grandchildren. A brother, Ralph Hite, Pocatello; three sisters, Rosie Lish, Pocatello; Myrtle Lish, King Hill; and Louise Newbern, Pocatello. She was preceded in death besides her husband, by her parents, a grandson, Willie Misner and a brother Donald.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, February 20, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. in the City Creek L.D.S. Ward Chapel with Bishop John Higgins conducting. The family will receive friends from 7-9 p.m. Thursday evening in the Cornelison-Henderson Funeral Home and from 1:00 - 1:45 p.m. at the Church on Friday. Burial will be in the Mountain View Cemetery, Pocatello. Memorials may be given in Blanche’s memory to the Bannock Humane Society, 850 Barton Road, Pocatello, Idaho 83204. Arrangements are under the direction of the Cornelison ~ Henderson Funeral Home, 431 N. 15th Ave., Pocatello. Online guest book and condolences available at www.cornelisonfh.com.

Lovey Dovey Celebrations

2009-02-15T15:30:00.006-07:00

For Valentine's Day our ward had a couple's only Sweet Heart Ball. Ryan and I weren't planning to go because I haven't been feeling well, but after feeling pretty good for two days in a row we decided it would be fun to attend. So, Thursday evening I called around trying to find a babysitter, without any luck, and thought, maybe we'll just stay home. But Friday morning I tried one more.

Paul FitzSimon is our new home teacher. January was his first month with us. After one of our doctor appointments Ryan and I stopped at Albertson's to pick up a few things and to delay picking up our kids. While we were there we ran into Brother FitzSimon and his step-daughter Tristan. When we told them that I'd been ill Tristan quickly stated "I babysit! I like to babysit and I won't even charge you, 'cause you're sick!"
So at 9:00 Friday morning I called their house. I decided that another plus for homeschooling is that you CAN call at 9am - and find a baby sitter ;). So she willingly agreed to watch our kids.
Tate, Canton and I spent all day cleaning up to get ready for the babysitter. They were all excited! Ryan went to get Tristan and we were off to the dance.
The food was really good! They had kind of an Alfredo sauce with chicken and broccoli on noodles then green salad, bread sticks and cheese cake for dessert. The cultural hall was decorated very cute! With white lights silk roses and conversation hearts on all the tables.
We were one of the first couples there so we had our picture taken while there was no line, then had our choice of tables. Soon Aaron and Laura joined us, and then Joe and Kiri - so I guess we're cool enough to be at the "young table."
We played a little game it was a sheet of paper with two columns. Questions for the girls on the left and questions for the guys on the right. You were to fill out the questions how you would answer them, then fill in the questions in the other column the way that you think your spouse would answer them.
Ryan and I didn't do so great. We only matched on 8 out of 22, (that's 36%!). I had a hard time coming up with answers for my questions, but Ryan had great answers that made me say "Oh, yeah!" and "That's a good one" or "I like your answer better than mine!" so I guess Ryan knows me better than I know myself!
Then we danced to some sappy slow songs. Ryan gets self conscious because he doesn't know how to dance and gets extra silly trying to make everyone else on the dance floor laugh... All while dragging me along, silly husband!

We even had cheesy dance photos taken. Where they make you stand side by side, claps hands in front "her hand on top please... now tilt your heads together... perfect" *click* Just like high school! :P
Here is our super cheesy dance photo:
Sweet Heart Ball 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009

Our kids had fun with Tristan. I kept telling them "We have to clean our house so the baby sitter can come." So the next morning Canton woke me up with the question, "If we clean our house can the baby sitter come back?" So I guess they had a good time.
I just wish I could find as good a babysitter as I was! I'd take my backpack full of games and new stories - I'd plan activities and craft projects and rarely turned on the TV - there were a few times when I brought a special movie, but other than that I'd only turn it on after the kids were in bed, but I'd usually bring homework or a book to read instead.
Ryan was trying to explain to Tristan how the work all of our remotes, what controls the TV, the VCR, the Speakers, the DVD player (it really is quite complicated) and she laughed and said, "If I can't figure it out, I'll just spend the whole time 'texting'." Is that supposed to help me feel confident in her abilities as a babysitter!!?
When we got home the house was a mess! All the lights were off, but everyone was laying in a pile of blankets watching a movie. I guess I can't complain, my kids were safe and they had fun - but it would have been nice if I had come home to a clean house, and sleeping kids. But you can't have everything - and not everyone can be as awesome as me! :P

As for Valentine's Day, Ryan had to work until 8:30. But I was able to get the boys bathed and in bed before he came home. So we could have a nice dinner and spend some time together, it was very nice. He brought me a candy bar and some ice cream and said "Please don't snicker" (as he handed me a Snicker's bar) "But I call dibs on you" (as he handed me some Dibbs ice cream.) Kind of silly, but he thought of me!

A Valentine's Day to remember

2009-02-14T13:37:00.006-07:00

I know I've posted lots of old pictures lately - but I've been feeling extra nostalgic - I don't know why. So:

6 years ago today was my very last Valentine's Day as a single lady! My last "single's awareness day" so to speak. Ryan and I met the very next week - and the rest is history!

Valentine's Day Dance 2003 "00-7"
The Swing Club
Jared Fawcett, Tarron Wartonbe, Jared Peterson, Kurtis Hall, Shawn Heubscher, Ashley Maughan, Kaylene Collins, Janae Wilde, Caranna White, and April Wilson

This picture was taken February 14, 2003 at an institute dance. The theme was 00-7 - and very James Bondsy - I have no idea what James Bond has to do with Valentine's Day: at least not anything very church worthy ;)
Funny thing is Ryan was at this dance too, but I didn't meet him, I don't remember seeing him there, but he remembers me being danced all around the floor by these other Ballroom nerds (pictured above) I guess knowing how to dance gets you noticed in a crowded room full of single people!
I miss those days, but in recent reflection have decided that if I went back and did it all again there's not a single thing I would change. I'm so happy with the way things turned out! If I'd made different choices or even timed things differently I don't know if I'd have my wonderful husband or all three of my amazing children!
So I miss being single, going on dates, and busting my move on the dance floor, but I wouldn't change the way my life is now for anything!
I hope everyone has a fantastic Valentine's Day! Be you single, married or somewhere in between.

Flash Back

2009-02-12T15:42:00.013-07:00

My Mom scanned and posted these on our family website. I thought they were so much fun, that I just couldn't resist!
Now, for your entertainment - a blast from the past! Watch as my family grows and changes before your eyes ;)

[If you can't tell, I'm #4]

Isn't it fun to look at old pictures!? I love it!

See what they're up to now! Gavin, Alayna, Brady, Caranna, and Quinten

I'm tired of docotors

2009-02-10T14:04:00.005-07:00

Yesterday was an extra rough day for me. We had an ultrasound appointment at 8:30 in the morning. We took the boys to visit Laura, she lives two blocks away and was nice enough to offer to help us out - then we went up the hill to Portneuf Imaging - they did an ultrasound of the Right Upper quadrant - which included liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and kidney - I was already hurting and it didn't help to have the ultrasound tech. jabbing and digging to get all the pictures she wanted (although she was very nice to us) So, I hurt a lot yesterday! I took two naps! One from 10-11:30 and the other from 2 - 4, my afternoon nap seemed to get rid of my headache, which was nice.

Our boys had fun playing with Boyd and Blyth (Laura's kids) and they made Valentines for Ryan and I. Which I thought was sweet.

I have felt so yucko for lazing around for so long, so the other day I decided I was going to exercise. I started just walking around my house, then I started jogging. When that got boring I started to dance. I did a little Cha-Cha, then some Salsa, Swing, Lindy, and Jive. I had fun, but soon felt dizzy and was loosing my balance so I stopped dancing and started walking again. It was probably only 20 - 25 minutes of light aerobic work: nothing like I have been used to doing. And for the rest of the day I had terrible chest pains, I could hardly breathe, and I was very dizzy and light headed. So I sat on the couch, unable to move much for the rest of the evening, Ryan told me I was dumb for trying to exercise - and I guess I agree, if it causes such reactions.
So, I have gone back to taking in easy and have decided to slowly add more movement. Yesterday the boys and I went for a walk, I was feeling a little stir crazy, and the kids don't like to be pent up so much. Ryan glared at me and gave me disapproving looks but I assured him I wouldn't do anything strenuous and took my cell phone just so he'd feel better.
The whole thing makes me rather grumpy! This has really hampered my fitness goals!

On our walk yesterday afternoon the boys were mad at me for not letting them play at the park that was still mostly covered in snow, and the other parts were wet and muddy.
The rest of the way home Tate was talking about making a playground at our house with sand, and green grass - that was WARM!
His little inventor brain went to work trying to decide how to make that happen... "We could put a heater outside... but out side is too big...Maybe if we built a wall...but it would need lots of windows so the sun would shine and make the grass grow..." By the time we got home our fingers, ears and noses were rosy and Tate had formulated a plan.
When I made him come inside rather than start building he cried, "Mom, I'm so sad, because you won't let me build my playground! You never be nice to me!!!"
I tried telling Tate that he needed blue prints, supplies, a permit, and that Dad needed to be home to help him. But he continued to gripe and complain until dinner time. I guess feeding him made him forget about his project idea.
Today he has decided that he wants to build a robot to be a babysitter so Daddy and I can go on a date. I don't know if that one's going to work out either ;)

I got a call from Dr. Clifford's office this morning: the ultrasound didn't show anything abnormal. So all my suffering was for nothing ;P

Is there a Difference?

2009-02-07T11:50:00.018-07:00

What exactly is the difference between "taking it easy" and wasting time? I'm trying to be obedient to my husband and the doctors that have told me to "take it easy" and not do anything to "aggravate my condition" until we can figure out exactly what that condition is!
But after sitting in front of the computer for nearly 2 hours catching up on everyone else's blog, it feels an awful lot like 'time wasting' so where is the line exactly?

But as long as I'm sitting here - I might as we play along with some of these silly "Tags"

High School Tag

1. DID YOU DATE SOMEONE FROM YOUR SCHOOL? Of course, isn't that where the whole dating experience starts!?

2.WHAT KIND OF CAR DID YOU DRIVE? "Sunny" the amazing Sunshine Yellow, 1978 Toyota Celica!

3. DID YOU PASS YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE TEST YOUR FIRST TRY? Yes! - But because I was such a nervous driver, in Driver's ed, I had to drive with another licensed driver for the first 3 months after getting my license.

4. WERE YOU A PARTY ANIMAL? Not in the way you would think - I went to lots of parties and had lots of fun! But in Preston they were all good parties.

5. WERE YOU CONSIDERED A FLIRT? Hmm... I donno - I guess I was a flirt, but it's mostly because I was just having fun and not worrying about what everyone else thought. I didn't play favorites so much! I flirted with all the boys equally ;)

6. WERE YOU IN BAND, ORCHESTRA, OR CHOIR? Choir! I Love Choir!!

7. WERE YOU A NERD? I dunno, was I? I wasn't a nerd in the smart kid way...

8. WERE YOU ON ANY VARSITY TEAMS? HA! No. - But I was an avid High School sports fan, went to all the games and cheered from the students section as loud as possible!

9. DID YOU EVER GET SUSPENDED/EXPELLED? Nope

10. CAN YOU STILL SING THE FIGHT SONG? Of course!
"Oh Preston High, Oh Preston High, our mighty Blue and White!
We're on our way to victory so shout for us tonight: FIGHT, FIGHT FIGHT!!
Our team is great, our spirit's high we'll fight with all our might!
United we will stand and cheer our Preston Blue and White!
P-R-E-S-T-O-N PRESTON I-N-D-I-A-N-S INDIANS!"
Woo Hoo! I love it!

11. WHO WERE YOUR FAVORITE TEACHERS? Mrs. Seamons, Mr. Finch, Mrs. Heers, Mr. Seare (no - really) and Mrs. Baumgartener

12. WHERE DID YOU SIT FOR LUNCH? It depends on the year! I spent my time in the PIT - but also sat in the hall. My freshman year it was in the Sophomore Hall, my Sophomore year in the Jounior hall, my Jr. and Sr. year in the Senior Hall BUT ate outside when the weather was nice - I also did my runs to Big Js, The Polar Bear, Artic Circle, McDonald's, Stokes and the Pizza Stop!

13. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S FULL NAME? Preston High School - Just like Napolean Dynamite!

14. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S MASCOT AND COLORS? Indians. Blue, White and (my favorite and often forgotten) Gold!

15. WHO WAS HOMECOMING ROYALTY? I have no idea! Does anyone actually pay attention to that!?

16. IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND DO IT AGAIN WOULD YOU? You bet! I loved high school! And I was SO COOL! -Just ask me! ;)

17. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT GRADUATION? The sudden realization that It was over! And I was no longer in high school! It came on the bus to Logan for our after graduation all night party!

18. WHERE DID YOU GO SENIOR SKIP DAY? Hmmm, I don't think I did that....

19. WERE YOU IN ANY CLUBS? French Club, Good Hands, Idaho Drug Free Youth (IDFY or "Drug Free"), Ballroom Dance, Seminary Council, A Capella Choir, Honor's Art, and of course musicals

20. HAVE YOU GAINED SOME WEIGHT SINCE THEN? Yes. Having kids did that to me. Ugh.

21.WHO WAS YOUR PROM DATE? Cody Owen! Cody's Awesome!

22. ARE YOU PLANNING ON GOING TO YOUR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION? Sure!

23. DID YOU HAVE A JOB IN HIGH SCHOOL? Yep! I worked at Stokes Thriftway, and KACH Radio!

24. WERE YOU AN HONOR STUDENT? No

25. DID YOU TAKE SEMINARY? Yes, every year, and am a proud graduate!

26. WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOUR MOST FUN TIME? Uh, it was ALL fun! The trips, the dates, the parties! The Plays, good friends, and the silly pageants! I loved it all!

27. WERE YOU CONSIDERED SHY OR OUTGOING? I guess it depends who you talk to! I think I was very out going and am surprised when I hear how reserved and shy people thought I was - how weird!

28. ANY LAST MEMORIES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE? I loved my time on the High School Newspaper staff! We had SO much fun putting "The War Cry" together every week! (I miss you "Awesome McKay!")
AND I loved Art! Mr. Finch is so cool! My Sr. year in art was awesome - I got to work in oils, and since it takes so long for those to dry, Sam, Ben, Valerie, and I all had free reign of Mr. Finch's secret back room! We got to leave our paintings, all in various stages of completion, out on the eisles... I don't know why I thought it was so cool - but I felt like I had extra special privileges or something ;)
But my best memories are from practicing and performing the different musicals: My Freshman year: "Joseph, and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat," My Sophomore year: "The King and I," My Jr. Year: "Anything Goes," and finally my Sr. year with "Guys and Dolls."
I tag.... everyone who reads this!

Where did the week go?

2009-02-06T10:38:00.007-07:00

This week has flown by in a dizzying hazy of pain, discomfort and far too much sleeping. I can't believe that today is Friday, and I have not accomplished a single thing in nearly a week!
My husband has been wonderful; getting up with the boys at 6:30 and letting me laze in bed until 8:30 or 9:00. This morning I woke with THE worst headache and made my way to the bathroom. I hardly recognized the person staring back at me in the mirror. My eyes seemed to have a glazed over expression, sunken into deep sockets framed in dark purple circles. My freckles standing out in stark contrast to my ghostly pale skin, all framed by my tangled, unwashed tresses. It really was a frightening sight.
I felt even worse as I surveyed the neglect of my house, and the duties, that if I had been feeling better, would have been taken care of. Mounds of laundry have taken over the basement, and heaps of dirty clothes have piled up in corners of bedrooms and bathroom.
Ryan has dutifully run the dishwasher when he's had a few extra minutes, but even with his efforts, the counters and sink of our small kitchen are cluttered with piles of unwashed dishes.
I am still not feeling any better, but Ryan has the day off, I'm sure that will help me with the kiddos, and perhaps we'll even make our way to the hospital in the search of more answers. I'm tired of feeling so - weak, and helpless. I'm the Mommy! I'm supposed to be above all illness RIGHT!?

Yesterday my kids had preschool. Ryan had to be to work at 8:00am so he made sure the boys were fed and dressed before he left, so I wouldn't have to worry about it. Canton, my 3 year old, spent the entire day in Oran's pants! I noticed before I took him to school, but didn't have the energy to find him different pants. So he wore pants sized 18 mo. that, due to the elastic, fit his waist fine, but hit him about mid shin, making them look more like Capri's than pants. Oh well! I guess that's what I get for not dressing him myself.

I sure hope I feel better soon, I'm not sure my house, or my family can handle much more time with a sick Mommy.

"Look Mom, 10:30 and still in my PJs!"

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY Quinten!! My little brother is 23!? How did that happen! I love you and hope you have a great day! You're awesome! - Thanks for calling me last night!

"Strees, it's a killer..."

2009-02-04T14:09:00.006-07:00

I like to quote movies ;)

For anyone who's been wondering what's up with us:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Some information on heart disease:
At the end Dr. Nancy described just what I've been feeling - down to the jaw pain and the night sweats.

Sunday night Ryan rushed me to the ER, I was reluctant to go to the because "I'm only 25, I can't be having a heart attack!" But Ryan had a friend who had a heart attack at only 17 - so I guess that age is no excuse! But I was right, I wasn't having a heart attack!

I'd been having sharp pains in my chest on Tuesday, the rest of we week I was still having pains, but not as pronounced or as often, and then Sunday I was having a lot of very acute pain.

I hadn't felt well all day, after eating dinner I left the table and laid down on the couch, the pains were becoming more severe and more frequent, accompanied by pain in my arms (alternating between left and right) and numbness in my hands and fingers. The pain was so bad that I'd clutch my chest and tears would roll down my cheeks.

After my awesome husband got the boys in bed (ALL BY HIMSELF!!) I told him how I was feeling and he was very concerned, and said "We're going in, right now!" He called my Aunt Bonnie and we left for the hospital.

On our way we reviewed how I'd been feeling over the last week or 2: very dizzy, I've been loosing my balance a lot and falling into walls [it makes me feel silly] I feel light headed, and have had a lot of headaches (everyday, sometimes a couple) and I've been extra fatigued and tired.
I'd been having chest pains all week, more on Tuesday and even worse on Sunday.

But even with all of this information the Doctors seem baffled. They seem to think my condition is stress induced. I have a history of panic attacks and ulcers - they gave me some Adovan, to see if that would help. They assumed that if there was marked improvement that would prove their theory of me suffering from anxiety or large amounts of stress.

After giving me the pill we waited, in the ER for a full hour to see how it would effect me. The pain was lessened, or dulled, but I was still having pains. We left without any sure answers, but some follow up instructions.

Yesterday we went to the Pocatello Cardiovascular Clinic up on the hill. They gave me an event monitor to wear - I have to where these sticky things on my skin attached to wires that hook into the device that I clip to my pants - it's great fun :P So we're monitoring whatever issue it is that I have. In a few days we'll take the device back so they can record and review the data.

Today I'm tired, I haven't been having sharp pains in my chest, but I do have kind of a dull, achy pain in my entire chest cavity - front to back - like I've just run a marathon or done 200 push-ups.

I'm not sure if I have a heart problem or if it's something else: no matter what I could stand to loose some of my stress, but how can I do that without getting rid of my children? Hmm...

However, I did think it fitting to be talking about heart health in this, the month of February, where everything is covered in hearts and the colors pink and red.

I'm feeling pretty lousy and haven't gotten much done since Sunday (I can't believe it's already Wednesday) While "taking it easy" one doesn't accomplish much. I sure hope I feel better soon! Whether or NOT we solve the mystery!

Phone Photos and Fun Memories

2009-01-26T16:09:00.024-07:00

So, here's the story - Ryan finally unloaded all of the photos from his phone. There were pictures on there clear back from when we had our baby, now 20 months old. I hadn't seen a lot of these pictures: 'cause they were on Ryan's phone. But I've had lots of fun looking at them today and wanted to share them; along with my memories over the last year or so.

We typically have a camera with us, and take a lot of photos, these were pictures taken on occasions when we didn't have a camera with us. Not as high of quality, but still lots of fun memories! (Some of which I had forgotten until today ;)

September 2008 - for Family Home Evening we took a trip up Scout Mountain and had a fun little cookout. It really was pretty chili, but Tate didn't like the jacket I packed for him, so he wouldn't put it on. Eventually he went to the car and got it.

Eating Tiger Ears at the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot. Mmm Mmm

We went to the park nearly every day this last summer. My kids had fun getting out and playing on the toys and it was a good chance for me to get some fresh air and visit with other Mommies. School District #25 has a summer lunch program where they serve free lunches to kids ages 1 -19. It's a neat program. They serve lunch at a bunch of parks in Pocatello (6-8 I think) we usually went to Raymond Park.

July 24, Pioneer day. We had a fun primary activity - and got to dress up like pioneers. Oran got worn out and fell asleep - we found another use for the skirt ;)

Space Chimps

For our anniversary, July 12, Ryan and I took a weekend trip to Idaho Falls while the boys stayed with Grandma and Grandpa in Preston. We forgot our camera, but did lots of fun things! We saw 2 Movies; "Hancock" (don't waste your money) and "WALL.E" (Gotta Love it).
We also went to the 35th Anniversary Performance of "Saturday's Warrior" went to the Museum of Idaho and saw the Ancient Egypt Exhibit - WHICH WAS SUPER COOL!! We visited a few art galleries, went to the farmers market, did a little shopping - and did some sealings in the Idaho Falls Temple (definitely the high light of our trip) to commemorate our own sealing, then we ate in the temple cafeteria.

The view of the Idaho Falls Temple from our hotel- Shilo Inns. On our last morning we ate our complimentary breakfast and went for a little walk along the river before check out time.

Before we headed home we attended church in the Idaho Falls 4th ward. They meet in the chapel next to the temple. We had an hour between check out time and the start of the meeting so we walked around the temple grounds.

Both Ryan and I at the Idaho Falls temple.

July 4, 2008 - watching the parade with Brady and Anna and their boys. Brady used to live about a mile from us, and we arranged to meet them along the parade route. We miss them now that they're living in St. George.

Ryan and I needed to get away, and we needed a cheap date, so my awesome cousins, Wes and Kyle, came to watch our kids so we could leave. We went for a ride and watched the sun set from Scout Mountain.

Say "Cheese"

The View of Pocatello from Scout Mountain.

This year marked 10 years since my parents bought KACH radio in Preston, ID. They hosted a community party at Riverdale Resort to celebrate their anniversary.

The boys and I. We finished our sloppy joe's and are ready to go swimming!!

This one makes me laugh! After the swimming; Tate, Canton and my cousin Matt all sharing a slurpy.

After Gavin and Callie blessed their Baby, Arvil, we had a nice lunch at their house. It was such a nice day that many of us chose to eat out side.

I chose to stretch out on the blanky after we ate.

Oran laid down with me, but he kept eating!

Oran's 1st birthday April 23, 2008 - We ate dinner at Butter Burr's in Pocatello.

I love Butter Burr's - with my food allergy they are one of three restaurants I can eat at and not get sick!! Yea for restaurants that make all their food from scratch!!

Canton had been having an extra hard time being good. He seemed to be acting out a lot and we thought maybe he just needed some extra attention so Ryan took him to The Fun Zone for some one on one time with Daddy.

Does he look like he's having fun?

Ah, wasn't that fun!? I love looking at old pictures and remembering!

A fast for Arvil

2009-01-26T10:30:00.004-07:00

I keep thinking I need to post something, but haven't found the time! I still don't have it - but I wanted to let any of you, who are concerned for the welfare of my nephew, that we will be having a fast for him tomorrow, Tuesday, January 27, 2009.
See Arvil's Blog for more information.
We appreciate all of your prayers, and have been feeling the effects of those prayers!
Have a great day, maybe I'll find time to post more later!

The Gavin and Callie White family
December 24, 2008
After finishing their annual Christmas Pageant

Callie & Dawsey, Duncan, Gavin & Arvil, Rannon, and Brigham

The Switch to Digital

2009-01-20T11:33:00.006-07:00

It's taken us this long, but we are ready!
My awesome Daddy came and put our antenna back on the roof - It can get pretty windy in Pocatello, our antenna blew off the roof; I put it in the garage so it wouldn't get damaged further, and that is where it has sat for more than a year. We have been using our rabbit ears and picking up 3 channels, and that was good enough. But After one of those went exclusively digital and with February 17th looming ever nearer we decided that we'd better do something about it!
My Awesome Daddy came and secured our antenna to the roof, using several, rather creative ways, to reinforce it; it has now withstood up to 50 mph winds!
Ryan drilled a couple of holes in the siding, put a splitter of the coax cable and pulled it into the house. We now get reception in BOTH living rooms! And if that wasn't exciting enough...
We then got our government coupons in the mail, and later that day headed to Radio Shack!
We got 2 digital converter boxes and now get FOUR different PBS channels!! Plus NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX!!!
My kids have really enjoyed having PBS Kids, But Tate's new favorite show is "NOVA." It's funny to me. He just loves learning new things and gets so excited about it.
He watched the program "Is There Life on Mars?" which he LOVED, he is fascinated with anything that has to do with space, so I wasn't surprised.

The next "NOVA" he watched had to do with the Oceans and marine life. He enjoyed that one too. Then there was one about the Artic, and the one he watched most recently was about the human heart.
I was listening to Tate and Canton play. I picked up on the fact that they were pretending to be doctors, then I heard Tate explaining the function of the human heart to Canton. How it has 4 chambers, and the opening to each chamber is covered by a valve that opens and closes. How the heart pumps blood through your whole body so that all of your "internal organs function properly."I just think it's so funny that he's so much like his Daddy in that regard. He loves to gain knowledge and share that knowledge with anyone who will listen! I never thought that "NOVA" could be so fascinating to a 4 year old. He even asks when it's on and if he can watch it.

So it's exciting that we can get PBS now, and we are READY for the switch to digital!

A good day

2009-01-18T15:08:00.003-07:00

Most Sundays I feel so rushed! Especially since we are now on the 9:00 schedule for church. I'm rushing to get everyone fed, bathed, dressed, and out the door in time to make it to church soon enough to get everyone to their classes before they start!

I have a hard time feeling very spiritual, or ready for church when I feel like I've been rushing for 2 hours and still left the house before I was ready.

For some reason I always wait until last to get myself ready, and then it doesn't always happen. Last week I didn't get a shower, the week before I went with wet hair. Many weeks I don't curl my hair or get makeup on, some weeks I have to go in glasses, occasionally I forget to brush my teeth, or I simply couldn't find clean clothes I was happy with. I typically get to church in a foul mood, for whatever reason and have forgotten something: diapers, snacks, scriptures...
But today, I was actually in a good mood! And it was such a nice change!

I knew that we had to leave early so last night I prepared our diaper/church bag. I found and set out clothes for all of us and I bathed the boys before sending them to bed.

This morning things went so smoothly! Ryan got the boys breakfast and I showered, Ryan took a shower while I was dressing the boys. I got to do my hair, put in contacts, and fix my face! For the first time in YEARS I actually felt pretty at church!

Ryan helped take the boys to their classes and I was there early enough to fulfill my calling, and make announcements about our upcoming Home, Family and Personal enrichment meeting.
Ryan had to be to work at 9:30 so he left soon after our arrival at church, but I felt so peaceful and was actually open to hearing and receiving the messages presented.

Relief Society ended early so I was able to visit quietly with a few of the sisters in the ward before Sunday School started.

Ryan took his lunch break to help during sacrament meeting. The boys were all relatively good, and I only spent the last 5 minutes in the foyer.

I know it might seem like a small accomplishment, but overall it was a sensational day!

In the World of the Whites

2009-01-16T14:42:00.013-07:00

For those of you who don't know - I was a White before I turned Green. My family has been going through a lot this past week!

I had planned to go to Preston to spend some time with my parents while Ryan was away on his business trip, but my parents, unexpectedly, ended up taking care of my brother Gavin's four older children.

Sad News

Gavin and Callie have a home in Preston not far from my parents. Their 10 month old Baby, Arvil, has been having a lot of health problems. He had been having lots of seizures. His first experience with seizures was in August, they thought they had the problem under control, but he has had a cold, and every time he would start coughing he would have more seizures. Gavin and Callie took him to the emergency room in Preston. There they made arrangements with Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT and sent them there.
The doctors told them that children his age who have seizures typically have seizures that last 2 - 4 minutes. But Arvil's average seizure lasted about 20 minutes and he had several that lasted a full half hour. It's pretty scary.
He hasn't been able to move his right arm since they went in, but they've been having a therapist work with him. The MRI showed a lot of damage to the left side of the brain, primarily in the cortex. Which would explain the lack of motor skills on the right side of his body.
They have blood specialists, geneticists, gastroenteritis, neurologists, etc. working on his case. The radiologist said that there were indications that he had had strokes and that his blood vessels are too small and disorganized.

They now believe that the seizures are occurring because of the brain damage, that is consistent with a series of strokes. Arvil's seizures and strokes seem to be caused by abnormally narrow blood vessels in the brain which can not always keep up with demand for oxygen by the brain tissue. Illness and stress seem to worsen this and act as triggers for increased seizures. This is something that none of the doctors have seen before. They are contacting some internationally reknowned vascular specialist today and then later they will have a big sit-down with about a dozen doctors and discuss options.
Arvil has a combination of RSV, Rotavirus, and C-dipth (a bacterial infection). All of those things seem to be aggravating his condition and causing more seizures. But Arvil is a fighter. We've all been praying for them and hope that he comes out of this all right.

They have been at PCMC since last Thursday, a week ago yesterday. The other kids are still with my parents. My Mom said she's not getting much else done, but that's alright! Taking care of grand kids is important too! I'm glad that she's able to help them out.

Arvil White Dec. 25, 2008
(chewing on woody)

Gavin and Callie's cousin Clancy have started a blog for Arvil to keep us all updated and in the loop.

Glad News!

AND some happier news! My Sister, Alayna, had a baby yesterday!
Ainzlee May Slinker joined our family at 7:58am January 15, 2009. She was 6 lbs. 11 oz. and 19 inches long.
Both Mom and Baby are doing great and plan to be back home on Sunday.
Brandon and Alayna have a 4 year old little boy, a 2 year old little girl, and a brand new girl to add to their collection!

To read more about the Slinker family adventures see their blog.

When Daddy's Away...

2009-01-13T18:30:00.009-07:00

We have really missed our Daddy for the last 5 days! I was thinking with Ryan gone I'd have a little more free time, to do things like catch up on laundry, put the Christmas decorations away, and do a good deep clean on the bathrooms and kitchens - I don't know what I was thinking!!

It's all I can do to just keep on top of the everyday messes! I've been spending a lot of time scrubbing markers and crayons off the walls and furniture, pulling my children off each other and just keeping the toys picked up! I think I must not be quite as scary as Daddy, because they're being extra naughty and don't seem to want to mind AT ALL!!

I feel frazzled and over extended - but have really enjoyed all the alone time I get after the boys are in bed! It's kind of this new found since of freedom as I can watch all the sappy girl movies I want (that Ryan would never watch with me.) Plus I can wear whatever I want without thinking about the time that Ryan said he didn't like this shirt, or do my hair however I want without worring about whither of not Ryan would like it this way. Plus I don't have to wear make-up, or contacts, or even shower if I don't feel like it and I don't even feel bad! There's no guilt when I don't get everything cleaned up and dinner on the table by 6pm - I'm just doing my own thing.
I guess I never realized how much I stress about perfection - and wanting to be this great wife - which is a good goal, BUT WOW - I never realized how stressed I was about it. So it has been a nice break, and a good learning experience, but I'm ready to have Ryan come home - if only to keep my kids in line!

Tomorrow is THE day!

2009 Kick-off Event

2009-01-10T16:25:00.011-07:00

Ryan is participating in an IDA training conference. He's been asked to speak on selling the product, the CDRP (Collision Deductible Reserve Plan.) I think he's a great public speaker, and even a better salesman. He's nervous, but I'm sure he'll do fine. He stayed up all night working on a power point presentation he could be happy with.
The conference is today. They're calling it the "2009 Kick-off Event" and will be at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, Washington: http://www.idaleaders.com/2009kickoff.pdf
Ryan will stay at Bill Moreland's house in Hayden, ID. Bill is Ryan's sponsor, they have lots of work planned. Then Ryan will be coming home on Wednesday evening.

Here are our official IDA photos, they were taken at the event in Portland, OR in October. They'll be in the information they hand out, on the internet, on the training videos, and who knows were else!?
Ryan isn't sure how he feels about having his blown up larger than life and projected on a screen behind him while he speaks. I think that might be a little awkward myself! But over all I think they're not such bad pictures.

I think it's so awesome that Ryan has this neat oppurtunity to be seen as a leader and hang out with the head honchos! http://www.idaleaders.net
Canton is really missing his Daddy and will be excited to have him come home!

All of December

2009-01-04T14:25:00.037-07:00

We had an eventful December. I think December is always a crazy and busy month as you scurry around trying to get everything ready for Christmas. Plus you have to schedule around family and church get togethers, there's so much to do, the calender fills up so fast, and before you know it the month is gone!
Now that I'm older it flies by faster and faster - as a child the month seemed to be plenty long enough. I've always enjoyed the season and all that comes with it! Family, parties, presents, snow, sledding, Christmas cookies, pageants, and caroling - But I feel like I kind of missed out this year!
Everyone in our house has been sick off and on since Thanksgiving, and we're still fighting it! SO that took some fun out of the holidays as well! But here are the pictures I've been meaning to post!

Uncle Quinten

Probably the most anticipated event of our December 2008, even more so than Christmas and Santa Claus, was the visit from my brother. Quinten is in the Air Force and has been stationed at Ramstein AFB in Germany for the last 2 1/2 years. The last time we saw Quinten, Canton was only 6 months old!
Our boys were all so excited to have their Uncle Quinten come visit that they could hardly sleep! All of them ended up on the hide-a-bed with him by morning. It was so fun to see him!

Cookie Party

The first REAL holiday celebration we participated in was a day for cookie making at my Aunt Bonnie's house here in Pocatello.

Bonnie is so much fun! I thought cookie making was a great idea for a party! I think we may have eaten more than we actually took home, but it's all part of the fun, right!?

My Daddy is so funny! I ask him to pose for a picture and this is what I get! After I looked at the picture I'd just taken I started laughing and he said, "What?" I told him that all the pictures I had of him were goofy! His response was, "I'm not so handsome, so I HAVE to be goofy!"

Here's my awesome cousin Carrie mixing up the cookie dough for the lemony Christmas trees.

This batch was a little over done, but I think they're so clever! You roll the dough into snakes (my kids loved that part!) then frost them and put a star on the top and sprinkles for ornaments! They're great!

My Mommy was there too! She's making peanut butter balls to stick a Hersey's kiss in!

Here's my cousin Michelle! I love the mice! Michelle is so creative, and made many different kinds!

Tate wanted to make a gingerbread man! We didn't have any gingerbread dough, so he molded one out of the peanut butter dough and decorated him. He was very proud of his little man!

This is before he got eaten. (He didn't run so very fast)

The Dunn Christmas Party

Every year we participate in the annual Dunn Family Christmas party. Ryan's Grandma Green was a Dunn before she married Grandpa Green. So this party includes all of her siblings, their kids, and grand kids, great-grand kids, and even a few great-great-grand kids.
We have a huge pot luck dinner, Santa comes and brings a gift for each of the kids (under 12) then we play a few games and go home.
The party has been held at the church in McCammon for years and years, but this year we broke from tradition and held it at a church in Pocatello.

Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived loaded down with gifts and candy canes.
(See? Two bags!)

The kiddos waiting for Santa to call their names.

Oran with Santa - Mrs. Claus has his present.

Canton with Santa.
Canton was so cute. He was just hanging on the edge of his seat the whole time, and when they read his name, "Canton Green," He immediately jumped to his feet, raised one arm in the air and headed straight for Santa, tripping over a few cousins on the way. Mrs. Claus helped him back to his feet and up to where Santa was sitting.
He was all smiles until just before this was taken when Ryan said, holding the camera, "Canton have you been good this year?" Then he got this expression and said "Well, I've tried REALLY hard!"

Tate telling Santa what he wanted him to bring him for Christmas.

Tate got an Iron Man action figure from Santa.

Oran opening his gift.

Canton is way excited about his Batman!

Ryan's Birthday

December 24, is not the best day for a birthday. But our Daddy has that one, every year! We went to Preston this year to spend Christmas with my parents and my brother Quinten. SO for Ryan's birthday we had a nice big dinner, presents, cake and even balloons!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Mom got these balloons for Ryan - I thought they were funny! It says "Oh, NO, the big 30 - (Three OH)" It made me laugh. My Mom was apologetic, and kept saying, it was the only one they had..." I thought it was great!

Look, even candles! Like a real birthday!
Do you think he made a wish?

Canton is ready for some cake!
(Which he later threw up, all over his bed!)

After we finished dinner:I made way too much pasta!

I kind of miss all the Christmas Eve traditions I grew up with. Caroling, a pageant, eggnog and getting everything ready for Santa. But now we have a new tradition, celebrating Ryan's birthday. I guess that's the price I pay for marrying someone born on December24!

Christmas!

My Mom and I - after all the present opening.

I made her hat (remember I said everyone was getting a gift from my yarn collection?) She was glad to have something to hide her unwashed hair, and I think it's cute! Maybe I'll make myself one...

Santa brought a life sized WALL.E! Here he is guarding the stocking until the little ones get up.

Oran's monkey sat next to the stockings and waited for morning.

Poor Canton was so sick! He threw up in the night. And when it was time to open presents, he has a fever of 103, wasn't at all interested in presents and just wanted me to hold him. I felt so bad for him.
That night, he was still pretty sick. He was crying in the night so I went and got him, he seemed all confused, and said is Santa coming tonight? He was sad when I told him Santa had come last night and we'd already opened all the presents. He couldn't remember and asked if he'd gotten any presents. How sad!

Oran really liked the monkeys I made (I crocheted 3 monkeys, one for each boy) I tried to get a picture of Oran hugging his monkey, but I wasn't quick enough. But he kept hugging him, patting his head and singing him songs.

My Daddy and Oran. I can't believe how big he's getting. In this picture my baby looks HUGE!

Grandma gave all of our boys a new chair. Here's Tate sitting in his. He got a lot of space stuff from Santa, here he's holding one of his little astronauts.

Once Canton's fever got to 105 I put him in the tub to try and cool him off/break the fever, and he fell asleep in the tub. What a sick little boy.

We had an interesting Christmas. It was different than any we've had in the past and I'm sure we won't forget it soon. Canton seemed to start feeling better around 3 or 4 pm on Dec. 26. And then Oran was sick from 5:00 on. It's not fun to have sick kids, and it's even harder when you're away from Home.
Here I am with a sick Oran.

Any of you who live in the area will remember how much it snowed this Christmas. It started snowing in the evening on the 24th and snowed steady ALL day on Christmas. We were all snowed in, and there was no way we were going anywhere until the 27th - when we did head home. In time for Ryan to go to work at 11:00.

This is probably the most unattractive picture ever taken (plus it's fuzzy) But it's the only one we have with our whole family and Quinten. My Mom took this right before we headed home to Pocatello. Quinten headed back about an hour after we left.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:11:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted in so long, I don't know where to begin! And although I have good intentions, I don't really have time to give a full update (maybe at nap time!)
BUT I hope everyone is enjoying the new year!

Tate says....

2008-12-13T09:00:00.002-07:00

Tate and Canton have both been into "Knock, Knock" jokes lately. Some are funny and some... not so much. But this morning they were both eating breakfast and doing "Knock, Knock" jokes back and forth (even Oran kept saying "Knock - Knock!!") Tate must have gotten tired of that game though.
Canton Said "Knock, Knock"
Tate's response was, "So, come in ALREADY!!"
I thought it was kind of funny.

"...The Goose is Getting FAT!!"

2008-12-08T13:55:00.003-07:00

We woke up this morning to falling snow and it FINALLY feels like December! All the holiday preparations have seemed a little odd without the usual snow flakes and slush, but now we're there so it's REALLY time to get down to business!
We have less money to spend on Christmas this year than we've EVER had in all our five years of marriage, so we're getting a little creative. I have decided to make EVERYONE'S gifts out of yarn! I have quite the collecting and I am quite proficient at both knitting and crochet. So we'll just have to see how creative I can be! PLUS I need to get crackin' only 17 days left to go, and these things take time! The clock is ticking!

"Gotta Dance"

2008-12-05T12:43:00.002-07:00

Tate wanted to "Show off our dance moves" So, here goes.
Silly kids

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Living with Superman

2008-12-01T20:53:00.005-07:00

Canton is convinced that he IS Superman! He refuses to wear anything that is not red or blue. And insists on wearing a cape everywhere he goes! And, of course, if he's wearing a cape he has to run EVERYWHERE so it billows behind him. I'm tired of all the running and jumping but most of all I'm tired of him insisting that I refer to him as "Superman" if I call him "Canton" he either will simply ignore me, and not respond of he will yell, "No, I'M SUPERMAN!!!"

He's always claiming to hear people calling for help, at which he will drop whatever he's doing (reading a story, eating dinner, whatever) and run off to save someone who is in need of his assistance.
He jumps off of everything! It's not so bad in the house when it's couches and beds, the fall isn't too far and the carpet breaks his fall. But he leaps off with arms out stretched and often lands in a full out belly flop. Occasionally I'll hear him say "Ow!" to which I just shake my head and wonder why he doesn't learn!
It's when we're out of the house that I worry! He does the leap and belly flop out of the car sometimes on to our concrete driveway or on to asphalt parking lots. We were at Lowe's the other day when he heard a cry for help and lept out of the cart. Luckily I caught him before he landed on the hard floor. People must think we are very abusive parents if you look at all his scrapes and bruises!I took him to Fred Meyer the other day he was standing next to me and I turned to get the baby out of his car seat and Canton took off. Head bent one arm out in from of him as he full out ran from our car to the front doors of the store, all with cars going this way and that. I was not happy! And when i told him he couldn't do that he simply responded, "No, Mommy, I fly way fast, the cars can't hit me!!"

ARGH!!!
I'm tired of living with Superman! When will it end!?

Tate has been Tagged!

2008-11-21T23:56:00.019-07:00

Tate was tagged by Matilee.

I have the opportunity to say five neat things about Tate.

Then, we get to tag more people.

1. Tate is a wonderful artist. He loves to draw all day everyday and makes some very neat pictures. He loves to take requests from his little brother Canton, he'll draw what Canton asks him to and then Canton colors it.

2. Tate loves to learn new things. He's like a little sponge, he sucks up all the knowledge he can. When he finds a subject he is interested in he does all he can to find out more about it. He'll read books and even use our google toolbar to find out more about the things that he's interested it.

3. Tate likes to go to primary. He's always excited for Sunday. He loves to put on his "missonary clothes" and get ready for church. Throughout the week he is always excited when it's his turn to offer the prayer and he reminds us to read our scriptures every night.

4. Tate always does what he is told. He realizes the importance of being obedient, and even when he does it grudgingly, whatever it is always gets done.

5. Tate likes to sing. He's always making up songs about pre-school or books, or movies. He has excellent pitch and often creates new lyrics to a tune he's already familiar with. It's pretty funny to listen to his made up words.

This is a fun activity filled with goodness and happy thoughts! The children that are "kiddie tagged" next are:

Allie Wageman
Zander Slinker
Esther Fielding
A.J. White
Tyler Miles
Anna Stewart
Jace Grant

Lots of Doctor Visits!

2008-11-13T13:50:00.006-07:00

Our trip to the ER for Tate's stitches was only the beginning of our medical adventures in the past few weeks.
Tate needed stitches after falling getting out of the tub on Halloween (which was Friday) that following Sunday I was getting ready for church. I heard Canton screaming so I came out of the bathroom to see what was going on. I turned around in time to see my baby grab the barrel of my hot curling iron with both hands and then drop it on his foot! So he had bad burns on both hands and on one foot.
We got him all bandaged up and he seemed fine, but in need of extra love. So Oran stayed with me through the meetings, rather than going to nursery, and in Sacrament meeting threw up all over his Dad, the pew and the floor. Ryan took him home while I did my best to clean up the mess.
Tuesday night and all day Wednesday Tate had the yuckos and was throwing up and miserable. Canton threw up once on Wednesday, but was fine after that.
We had to make a second trip to the ER on Wednesday because Tate had a bad ear infection. He had been pulling onhis ear all day so at bed time I asked him to bring me a Q-tip so I could clean it out, and see if that helped. I sat down to clean out his ear and discovered that it was clear full of stuff!
Tate is always putting things in his right ear. I tell him not to, but it's a habit he has. When he's drawing he'll put the end of his pencil in his ear, when he's playing, toys. When he lays down to sleep every night he puts a tassel from his blanket in his ear. It's always bothered me, but I never thought it was a real problem.
I got my tweezers and pulled out balls and balls of different colored lint, and bits and pieces of paper. It smelled bad, like, puss, infections and dirty socks. It looked like there was more stuff in there down deeper, so I called Ryan and asked him what I should do. He told me to try to flush it out with water. Which I did. When Ryan got home from work he took over. He too saw a bunch of white stuff down in his ear and the water wasn't helping.
So Ryan took him to the Emergency Room AGAIN!
His ear was so infected that it had caused the ear drum to rupture. Which is kind of scary! The doctors told us that in children so young it usually heals just fine and any hearing loss he has experienced will be temporary.

We had an appointment yesterday - Tate's post-Emergency Room visit. Dr. Burton put on his serious face , sat down face to face with Tate and had a real "Man to Man" talk with him. He asked him why he had come in today. Tate put on a face just as serious and said, "Well, I kept putting stuff in my ear."
"And why did you do that?" asked Dr. Burton.
Tate's response was "To get out all the other stuff!" in an 'of course' sort of voice. I thought it was all rather funny.
Dr. Burton told him that the only thing he should ever put in his ear was his elbow. He tried that for a few minutes, which was also funny to watch and said, "That's tricky!" Dr. Burton nodded and said, "So, if you ever want to put something in your ear, just put your elbow in there."
Dr. Burton then looked in his ear, to see how it looked. He kind of got a funny face on and asked "They told you they'd gotten EVERYTHING out at the ER?" I nodded and he had me come over and look. There was clearly more stuff down in Tate's ear.
So the nurse brought in a big syringe thing and a tub full of warm water. I held a special tub (with a place cut out for the ear) next to Tate's head and we flushed out the rest of the gunk. A great big wad of newspaper was embedded in the wax right next to his ear drum. Tate is hearing much better today.
I think Dr. Burton is great! He's so good with kids, and it was a fun visit.
I sure hope that we're done with Doctors for a while or we won't be able to buy Christmas presents!!

October is Over!

2008-11-01T18:17:00.030-06:00

We have had a VERY busy October, and I am glad it's over! My Grandma, Caroline "Oleta" Jensen White, passed away on October first.
She was 98, and had lived a long, full life. She had been deteriorating for years and it was time. We will miss her, but are glad that she is freed from the limitations of a aging, mortal body. I'm sure she will be able to do much good on the other side.
We had a funeral in Preston, ID on Friday, October 3. Much of my family was there. We had a second funeral and burial, the next day, October 4 in Vernal, UT. All of those who weren't able to attend the funeral in Preston, came to Vernal. There were only 3 of my cousins who were unable to make it to either. My wonderful husband took our three boys home to Pocatello, and I rode with my parents to Vernal and back.
It was fun to see old friends, and visit places I remembered going to as a young child. It was also great fun to be able to spend so much time with my parents, without my usual, small distractions.
To read the obituary and listen to funeral services visit http://www.webbmortuary.com

Here are all the cousins (and their spouses) who were at the funeral in vernal. There were others who came to the one in Preston.

We stayed with the Foley's, It's so nice to have such good friends! I haven't seen them in 10 years, but it was like it'd only been a few months. We talked and laughed, and had fun sharing memories. Here are Keith, Aljean, Cory and Carrie, we saw Carl and Emily too, but this is all that came for Sunday dinner.

We stopped in Red Canyon to see Flaming Gorge on our way home: My Dad and I.

_______________________________________________

As soon as I got home I had to start making preparations for Ryan's business trip. We left, the following Thursday, October 9. I ran my kids down to my parents' house (in Preston, ID) then hurried back to Pocatello to leave when Ryan got home from work. We drove as far as Boise, where we stayed with Ryan's brother's family. Then continued on in the morning.
We drove for 8 hours on Friday, helped a family out of a rock slide. Left to find our hotel, got lost! (Google maps couldn't have been more wrong!) Had to hurry to get cleaned up before meeting other members of Ryan's team for dinner, and then went to bed exhausted!!

We spent all day Saturday in the convention center. It was neat to hear all the heads of the company talk, and to help everyone else get excited about this fantastic business opportunity!! (Because it really is WAY awesome!) I'm pretty pumped about the whole thing!
We are officially on our way to financial freedom!
See http://www.idaleader.com for the business opportunity or http://www.mycdrpsavings.com/idaleader for information on the product
We went to dinner with the founder and CEO of IDA that night along with 6 other couples. That was lots of fun!
We went to bed way too late that night too! Morning came far to early and we were once again on the road, this time on our way home, a destination we did not reach until Monday evening around 9pm.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Portland, OR

I had never fully grasped the concept of "was this trip for business or leisure?" I always thought you could easily mix the two. But this was definitely a business trip, no leisure whatsoever! I got home feeling more exhausted than when I left and did not feel like I'd been on a vacation at all!

_____________________________

A few days after our return, our kids had a bad case of the sniffles. This followed by one of the worst colds I've ever encountered! Ryan and I were only a few days behind the kid with this crud, that I've come to call "the cold of death!" It's been weeks and we're still coughing (although not quite as miserable)

_____________________________

My birthday was October 15. I turned 25 this year!! A whole quarter of a century! Ryan had to work all day, but I had a wonderful birthday. Ryan got up with the kids and fed them breakfast! I got to sleep in a bit. The boys came in to sing "happy Birthday" to me around 8:00. They'd been making cards while our awesome Daddy cleaned up. The dishwasher had been loaded and the living room floor vacuumed by the time I got up.
Ryan got off work at 7:00. My very good friend, Sam Hardcastle, offered to watch the kids so we could have some time together on my birthday. Ryan made reservations at the Texas Roadhouse. Although it's been open in our area for about a year I had never been. Ryan called ahead to see what on the menu I could eat (I have an allergy to soy). And they even saved a place on the grill for me that was 'Soy Free.' So I didn't even get sick on my birthday! That's a huge plus!!

_____________________________

Through all of this I was doing my best to put together our Halloween costumes! I got Ryan the complete set of "Harry Potter" books for his last birthday. So within the last year Ryan and I have both finished all eight of those books. (We're both HUGE fans!) So for Halloween this year we decided to be characters from the "Harry Potter" books by J.K. Rowling.
Caranna is Hermione Granger, Oran is Hedwig, the owl, Ryan is the Weasley twins (Fred AND/OR George) Tate is Harry Potter, and Canton is Ron Weasley.

Last night we attended our ward "Chili Cook off" and "Trunk or Treat." We won the prize for the best dressed family! We had lots of fun showing off our costumes and teaching our kids to beg for candy :P.

After we left there we stopped to see "Aunt Bonnie Green" she gave us some candy, the good kind, and told our kids they were cute, they always appreciate that. Then we stopped to see Ryan's Grandma, "Great-Grandma Stavast" she was happy to see us, but isn't such a Harry Potter fan ;). Around 4:00 Tate and Canton were taking a bath, getting all clean and ready for their Halloween costumes. Tate decided to get out of the tub, and as he was climbing out slipped and hit his chin on the porcelain. It was a pretty deep gouge, (compression cut) Ryan took him to the ER, and Tate got stitches.
They got back just in time to dress for the ward party and Trunk or Treat.

After that we went to visit Ryan's other grandparents, "Great Grandma, and Grandpa Green." Halloween is a tradition at their house. They always have chili and pumpkin cookies. They started the tradition when Ryan was little because they thought the kids should eat some "real food" before devouring all their Halloween candy.
While we were there we saw Ryan's Uncle Bill and Aunt DeeAnne, Uncle Alan and Aunt Debra, Aunt Lisa, and cousins, Colton, Annie, Mark, Michelle, and their three boys. It was a house full, and a party, like always! Fun, Fun.

We finished up the night with a stop at my Aunt Bonnie's house. My kids love to see the Bakes' family. We were a little late and they were already out of their costumes. But it was nice to see them anyway.

___________________________

Nap Time Again

2008-10-26T15:23:00.002-06:00

The best time of the day, when all the house is quiet, and I can decide what I want to do. Since it's Sunday I decided not to do the typical laundry, dishes, or sewing. So here I am.
Today was Tate's VERY first primary program! He was excited! But when the time came he looked very tired. I think he fell asleep a time or two on the stand. He sat next to his teacher and leaned against her arm.
We practiced all of his little parts (he had three) and sang all of the songs at home. He knew it all, but watching him today you'd never know. Silly kids. I'm not sure if he asked for help on his lines, just because everyone else did, or just 'cause he had a bit of stage fright. But for the songs, he'd stand up with all the other children and then just stare at the congregation while everyone else was singing. Kinda weird.
Today was also Oran's first official week of nursery. He was born April 23, so he was 18 months old on Thursday. He did very well, I knew he would. Since Canton is down there Oran and I have helped in the nursery a lot. He likes it in there! He's all about playing with toys, eating snacks and having singing time.
We've all been very sick with a nasty cold. Every time we think it's over it comes back. I haven't decided if it's the same one or if we keep catching different ones. Either way it hasn't been much fun. I think I've been the one hardest hit. YUCK!
I've been so busy trying to make all of our Halloween costumes. It hasn't gone as quickly as I had hoped. It's hard to feel motivated to sew when you're feeling so lousy. PLUS I have 3 broken sewing machines!!! They each have a different issue. So I try to pick the lesser of the "evils" depending on my fabric and project. Some day I'm going to buy a nice sewing machine and quit messing with my broken second hand ones. I guess there's a reason their former owners discarded them.
So I've got two costumes down, three to go, and less than a week left! Isn't it silly to put so much effort into something we're only going to wear for ONE DAY!?

Update

2008-10-16T11:35:00.008-06:00

We called the hospital, but they were unable to give us any information on the family, because we are not related, but we were able to get a hold of the press officer that we talked to after the accident. He said that the Dad had been released from the hospital, but was heavily medicated for his back injuries. The Mom was still in the hospital but listed in fair condition, and the children were all home.

Here are some pictures taken before all the excitement.

This one's kinda spooky!If you look in the middle you can see the parking lot. We were up even father that this when the slide happened.

Our Adventure in the Columbia River Gorge

2008-10-15T00:17:00.008-06:00

Ryan and I just got back from a trip to Oregon. We went to Portland on business while my parents watched our kids.
Last Thursday I got Tate from preschool and we headed straight for "Grandma's House" in Preston. I dropped off the kids and their things and dashed back to Pocatello. I finished packing for Ryan and I and as soon as Ryan got home from work we were off!
We stayed Thursday night in Kuna, ID with Ryan's younger brother and their family. We continued down the road in the morning.
As we got into Multnoma County we were ahead of schedule and decided the take the old scenic highway that winds along the mountain side. We stopped there at one of the many falls; Horse Tail falls. We took some pictures, and then seeing that the trail to the top of the falls was only half a mile, we decided to take a little hike.
We headed up the narrow trail which wound it's way up the mountain in steep switch back fashion. There was a sign indicating that we had reached the half way mark, only a quarter of a mile left to go.
A couple of rocks started falling, we thought perhaps someone up higher had kicked some down, and we continued on. A few other rocks fell and then we met a family coming down the trail. There were two girls and a boy strewn out down the path, trailed by two adults. We warned them that some rocks had been falling and to watch out. They gathered closer together and started down the trial again.
We went up over a rise and had gone about 30 yards when we heard a crunch as part of the mountain broke away. We heard the crunching of rocks and trees as melon size boulders, with sharp, jagged edges, tumbled down the mountainside. When the thundering of rocks stopped we heard the screams of the family.
Ryan and I both turned around and ran back down the trail to find them intermingled with the rocks. One of the little girls was hurt badly Ryan picked her up and rushed down the trail with her. The parents had done their best to shield the children and had sustained the most injuries as a result. Both of them had several head injuries and other contusions.
I quickly picked through the rocks gathering up jackets, keys, camera and cell phone and then followed behind the parents. I still marvel at the fact that they walked down under their own power.
It was obvious the the terrain was unstable, as we continued down the trail rocks fell randomly, urging us to continue down to safety. Luckily 2 volunteer firefighters had started up the trail, Ryan handed the injured girl off to one of them and ran back up to see if he could help more. He took the couple's cell phone and called 911. They dispatched emergency services.
As we got everyone down to the parking lot we set up an emergency area. Several people ran to their cars gathering up first aid supplies, blankets, towels, water, anything that might help. The volunteer firefighter administered first aid, others helped hold bandages, and limbs steady as we waited.
The two other children were relatively unhurt, they had a few scrapes and bruises. The 10 year old girl, who was a friend of the family, had a bruised wrist and ankle, and a rock had grazed the 7 year old boy's head. They were both pretty shook up. So I busied myself trying to calm them and reassure them. I got some fruit snacks and bottled water from our car to give them. I felt relatively helpless in the whole situation, but felt that, that was something I could do.
It took a half an hour for the ambulances to arrive. After which we learned the extent of the injuries. The 10 year old that Ryan had carried down the mountain had a broken leg, a broken wrist, broken ribs and suspected kidney damage.
The mother and father had both suffered head trauma, broken ribs, along with neck and spine damage. The mother also had a broken arm. We hung around until all the ambulances had gone. All in all our little detour took us well over two hours. But we were glad that we were there to help that family.
Who knows what might have happened had the children remain in the lead alone, and received the full blow of the rock slide. We consider it a blessing that we were there and able to help.
As we continued down the old high way my toes curled as we traveled so closely to the mountain's edge. My stomach gave an odd lurch every time we saw signs cautioning us, and warning of the danger of falling rocks. Our return to I-84 came none too soon!

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

3 for Thursday: Round 4

Three for Thursday: Round 3

Three for Thursday: Round 2

Three For Thursday: Round 1

Did You Think to Pray?

Challenges of Motherhood

Spring Break

Christmas with the Greens

A Cute Baby

Becoming an Author

Public Television

Remembering that it could be worse

A Birth Story

Oh Boy!

Baby is Still Baking

Pregnancy Update

What Summer??

Just Another Day

A Fun Family Outing

Best Discovery Yet

Moving mingled with Tears

Celebrating Easter

So, So, Tired

Money Woes and Lots of Stress

A Rude Awakening

Playing Catch Up

*Shaking My Fist*

And I'm back!!

Thoroughly Modern Millie

Jib Jab Halloween

Hello??

About a Birthday

And some pictures!

Don't worry, we're still alive

What's With This Wacky Weather!?

Temple Open House

Preschool Programs

Birthday Celebrations

Mother's Day at Church

What a Weekend!

It's been a while...

Crazy Saturday!

Easter Reflection

The Funny of the day

We Finally Made it!!

Well,

Sunday Again

*Grumble, Grumble*

St. Patrick's Day

Our Trip: Day two

Our trip, Day One:

Tate is growing up!

In case you were wondering...

Just some disconnected thoughts

Still No Answers

Radiation is BAD!

It's a VERY Special Day!

Explaining Death to a 3 year old

Lovey Dovey Celebrations

A Valentine's Day to remember

Flash Back

I'm tired of docotors

Is there a Difference?

Where did the week go?

"Strees, it's a killer..."

Phone Photos and Fun Memories

A fast for Arvil

The Switch to Digital

A good day

In the World of the Whites

When Daddy's Away...

2009 Kick-off Event

All of December

Happy New Year!

Tate says....

"...The Goose is Getting FAT!!"

"Gotta Dance"

Living with Superman

Tate has been Tagged!

Shaking My Fist

Grumble, Grumble