Photo dump

I'm avoiding cleaning and the children, so here are some pictures for you.

 That one time there was a dead baby mouse on the floor.

That one time I tried to take a picture on the first day of school.

That one time Ethan accidentally wore his sister's too small, flare-legged pants to school.

That one time the mangiest looking cat ever came to live with us.

That one time my cousin came to visit from Georgia.

That one time we carved pumpkins.

 That one time the puppy snuck in with the kittens.

That one time my VMars Kickstarter supporter t-shirt finally came in the mail!

That one time the rabbits were almost burned alive.

That one time I tried to take a decent picture at the Halloween carnival.

That other time I tried to take a decent picture at the Halloween carnival.

 That one time my husband looked extra manly, trying to feed a dying kitten.

That one time the kitten looked dead, but wasn't dead, but then later was actually dead, but I didn't take a picture of that.

 

That one time I asked Tyler to get me some potatoes.

That one time Emma was super cute while she was sleeping.

That one time Spud was super cute while he was sleeping.

That one time Kylee was playing with my phone.

That one time my husband was covered with animals and looking extra manly again.

That one time the cat was hiding, probably from the children.

That one time we needed an exorcist because I swear the devil was possessing Trysta.

That one time it was super cold and there was like an inch of ice on the inside of our window.

P.S. In case it sounded like I was being sarcastic about my husband being manly, I was not. There is nothing sexier than a man taking care of a baby animal!

Guess who has the internet again!!!

The internet is finally hooked up!  Hooray!

I just got the kids out the door to catch the school bus and it was a bit of a crazy morning.  Potato harvest started today so Tyler had to be out the door at 6am for a meeting.  This means I had to be up at 5:30 to get him out the door since he doesn't seem to be able to get up on time on his own, despite his incredibly annoying alarm going off every 15 minutes.  He left, then I had a few minutes of peace before I had to get the kids up.  We ran out of milk, bread and eggs, so the kids got yogurt and instant oatmeal (which they refused to eat) for breakfast.  I managed to do one child's hair before the dog, who had been bugging me to go outside while I was doing hair, pooped on the carpet.  Whoops-my bad!  I got that cleaned up and went to take the poop outside, when I noticed that one of the rabbits was wheezing like crazy.  No time to deal with it right that second, so I went back in to finish getting kids ready.  Unfortunately, the bus came early, so the kids ran out the door in the following state:

• Ethan had yogurt all over his face, but he did have his backpack which had been missing for most of last week.  We finally found it on Saturday-it had been tucked into the pantry cupboard.  Why, I don't know.
• Lily left with her hair unbrushed and wearing an interesting ensemble.  She put on a fancy black shirt that had sparkles on it.  She wanted to wear it with jean shorts, but I said it looked weird, and she needed to wear pants.  She went and put on white leggings, but the school doesn't let them wear leggings without something over it, so I told her to go get jeans.  She came back with brown jean capris, which looked funny with the shirt.  I told her to either change her shirt or her pants, but then the bus came, so she left with her black, sparkly shirt, brown capris and gray dress shoes.  Hey, at least she had clothes on and her backpack!
• Morgan was actually dressed appropriately and had her backpack, but she had to take her shoes and put them on on the bus.
• Kylee's backpack is now missing.  But her hair was brushed and she was dressed, although she too had to put her shoes on on the bus.  

None of them had jackets.  I still consider this a win, though, because they made it on the bus plus I didn't yell once this morning.  Victory is mine!

P.S.  Trysta had the nastiest poopy diaper this morning.  I was gagging and my eyes were watering.

Far too long again!

Alright, once again it has been far too long since I have blogged.  Here's what's happened . . .

• I got married on August 1.
• We went to Hawaii for our honeymoon and our trip happened to coincide with Shark Week.  This led to my decision to NOT go snorkeling.  Come to find out, shortly after we were there, a snorkeler had his arm bitten off about an hour from where we were staying.  Call it silly paranoia or the still, small voice . . . all I know is I still have all my limbs.
• The day we got back from Hawaii, the kids arrived home from the fair with three rabbits.  Their names have changed about 50 times since the day we got them, but I believe they are called Oreo, Sherbet and Stormy.  Or something like that.  All I know is if Oreo/Wild Thing escapes and has to be chased down one more time, we're having rabbit stew for dinner.  I have no problem with the other two and as they are all boys, we will probably be getting some females so they can breed like rabbits.
• Fixing up the house is moving right along.  My goal is to have it ready in the next week and a half so the kids can move in before school starts on September 4.  Here's what's left to do:
• Come up with flooring for our bedroom.  (This can wait.)
• Put the french doors back up that go into our bedroom so that people don't immediately see where the magic happens when they walk in the front door. 
• Paint the ceiling in the living room.  (This can wait.)
• Finish the trim in the kitchen.
• Finish painting the kitchen cabinet doors.
• Come up with flooring for the hallway and babies' room.  (This can wait.  We'll get some throw rugs.)
• Paint the ceiling in the babies' room and kitchen.  (This can wait.)
• Paint the laundry room.
• The bathroom is still a shiz-hole.  Too much to do in here to list.
• Decide what to do about the floors in the basement.  We pulled up the disgusting carpeting and pads and now it's just a cement floor. 
• Sanitize and paint the downstairs.
• Finish unpacking.
• Hook up the internet and tv.  (This cannot wait!)
• My mother-in-law's job ends today, so she'll be able to help me get things whipped into shape.  
• Things are going well with the kids.  When we got back from our honeymoon, they all immediately started calling me mom.  Do all kids preface everything they say with Mom?  "Mom, watch this."  "Mom, did you see that?"  "Mom, can I have a drink?"  "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom."  "Mom, Mom, Mom!"  They did it before too with my actual name, but I guess since I'm not used to being called Mom yet, it's more noticeable.  Stop saying my name and just speak, child!
• Tyler's parent's dog is preggers, so we'll be getting a puppy soon.  I'm also stealing one of their cats, who also happens to be pregnant.  Plus, since I didn't want a puppy, we're still going to get a nice, housebroken dog from the shelter.  Add in the rabbits and their inevitable babies, and we're well on our way to having a farm.  I don't know when we'll get the chickens-we need to fix up the hen house first.
• When I started out with these kids, I wanted them to watch as little tv as possible.  Now I have realized the value of tv and movies.  I choose carefully what they watch, though.  Meaning, they are only allowed to watch what I also want to watch.  I've introduced them to all sorts of stuff from my childhood . . . The Neverending Story, The Princess Bride, Faerie Tale Theater, The Gnome Mobile, etc.  
• I have started sneaking vegetables into their food.  I made meatloaf the other night and added pureed bell peppers to it.  I also added finely chopped cauliflower to their stroganoff.  This seems to be the only way to get them to eat something other than just corn.  Speaking of which, changing corn-filled diapers is nasty.  

pictures

I should be writing an actual post but there's too much to say and not enough time right this second.  Instead, here are some pictures:

Morgan (age 8) at the Fourth of July parade.

My sister-in-law, Ali, with her son, Daxton, and Ava (age 2) at the parade.

Trysta (age 1).

 My friend, Taryn, came over from Star Valley for the Fourth and we had an awesome time!

 

Later in the day we went to a grassy area by Wal-Mart to have a picnic and watch the fireworks.  There was must wrestling and playing around going on.

Lily (age 9)

Taryn with Trysta.

Watching the fireworks.

A canola field near the house.

Potatoes! 

The actual potato plants.

The fields around where we live.

I got a new phone and discovered that it has different filters.  Tyler hard at work.

I get to live here!

I did not do my hair or put make up on once the entire week I was up there.  Can you see the leftover spot from my nasty cold sore?

I cleaned up a lot of the back yard and then started a fire on my own to burn it.  Burn, baby, burn!  The pile of brush was about 7 feet high. 

This stupid pivot got stuck in the mud and Tyler had to dig it out.

Early morning snuggles with Tryst and Ava.

She's so stinkin' cute!

weekly stressfulness update

I spent the weekend in Idaho again and I feel like I was at least semi-productive, so that's a start.  We did get all registered at Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond.  While there aren't a ton of things on our lists, we did find more than I thought.  We also got some more painting done, but not quite as much as I would have liked.  The house is really slow going.  I have realized that just because Tyler is capable of doing certain handymanish things, it doesn't mean he will have time to do them.  Normally work slows down for him around this time of year, before harvest begins, but this year has been crazy.  Pivots have been breaking down left and right.  On Saturday he was only supposed to have checked the water in the morning and again in the evening, but the pivots kept breaking down, so he ended up working pretty much all day.  For those of you who don't know what a pivot is (which included me up until very recently), they are the sprinklers that you see out in the fields.  Not the pipes that lay on the ground, but the ones that are suspended in the air.  They're called pivots because a motor slowly moves them around in a giant circle.  When Tyler has to go check pivots it means that he has to go watch to see if they're still moving.  They tend to get stuck in the dirt and he has to dig them out, or else they stop working and he has to try to figure out what the problem is.  He's gotten to be really good with wiring and electrical stuff.

Tyler's mom ended up getting a seasonal job that starts next week, so I am now going to be going up there to be with the kids after my last day of work on July 3.  Eek!  I'll have them all on my own, which could be really good or a really big disaster.  I'm going to stay up there for about a week, then come back down here for a couple of bridal showers and to move my stuff up there.  Fortunately my family is back in town for a little bit so we're frantically trying to get things done.  Hopefully invitations will be done by tomorrow and sent out this weekend, my wedding dress (that we are hoping and praying I like and fits since I ordered it online) will arrive next Tuesday and we're going to get clothes for the kids purchased this weekend.  Plus other assorted odds and ends.  At this point I have made peace with the fact that everything might not get done.  As long as the major things like a dress, invitations, etc., are taken care of, then I'm not going to worry about the rest.  Or so I'm telling myself!

While I was up there this weekend I had one child say I'm the best mom ever, another say I'm going to be the best mom she's ever had (which is both sweet and sad at the same time) and then I also made two kids cry when I punished them for hitting and pushing each other.  They were supposed to be cleaning up their bedroom, but then one of them hit the other so she shoved him back.  They both ended up in time out and had to clean up different rooms by themselves since they clearly couldn't work together.  I happened to be the only one home with them and I was trying to make dinner at the time, so I'm proud of myself for not losing my cool and handling the situation in an appropriate fashion.  Give me a few more months and I'm sure I'll blow up, but at least for now I'm doing alright with the discipline.  When Tyler got home he asked me if I gave them a swat on the butt.  My thought on that is how am I supposed to tell a child not to hit as I'm hitting them?  He does a half-hearted swat that he calls a spanking but it's kind of more to emphasize his point I guess, since they don't seem to phase the kids at all.  If that was the kind of spanking I had gotten when I was little, I would have just done whatever I wanted and taken the spanking!  I prefer to make the kids work or take away privileges, which seems to make them far more miserable. 

Oh and btw, no other McDonald's trays appeared on the deck.  I was slightly disappointed.  I also never solved the mystery of where they came from. 

Registering and stuff

Tyler and I need to register for wedding gifts this weekend, but I feel weird about it.  Somehow it seems tacky, like we're saying you need to buy us a gift and this is what you're allowed to buy.  I guess it's not much different than Christmas lists, though.  And I get that it's helpful because people want to get you something that you'll actually use and they obviously have no idea what you have and don't have, but you're both assuming and expecting that people are going to buy you things.  Not that such a thing would be completely out of left field, given the situation!  I would probably be way more into it if we were a younger couple and just setting up a household, but I've been living on my own for years and he's been married before.  We have two already set up households.  Well, one and a half, I guess, considering most of his things are now either at the dump, being given to the ex or after all this time, need to be replaced.  And technically, while I do have an already established household, it is established for a small grouping of people, not 8 people.

Plus, and this is going to sound really selfish, I have nice things and I have carefully chosen these things over the years and spent lots of money on them and I know that they aren't going to last long with six kids around, so I really just want to not unpack them and hide them away until the kids are grown.  My decor, housewares, etc., have never needed to be kid-proof or kid-friendly, so pretty much they aren't.  I'm having visions of the heads of the dolls my grandpa bought in the 50's and 60's while stationed overseas being ripped off like Barbie heads.  What if one day I stumble across a cemetery of doll parts from around the world in the back yard?  Oh look, there's a head from Okinawa!  And there's half of the body of the doll from Peru!  And the legs of the flamenco dancer from Spain are just barely sticking out of the ground!  Ok, that may be a little bit dramatic (and slightly creepy), especially considering that all of those things have been packed up and in my parent's shed for the last 15 years, but you see what I mean!  Is my "Original Art Work Collection"* going to end up being drawn all over with crayons?  Is it silly that I'm even worried about it?  I think maybe this is just the way the fear of my impending complete 180 degree change in lifestyle is expressing itself.  But seriously . . . if my complete collection of 1937 Harvard Classics or my signed Amy Tans are destroyed, we're going to have some problems.  I feel like Mel Gibson in Braveheart . . . They may take my sanity, but they'll never take . . . MY BOOK COLLECTION!




*That is now its' official title.

Another fun weekend

I spent the weekend in Idaho again, but this time I took my parents along for the ride.  The meeting of the two families went really well, thankfully.  We spent Saturday morning taking engagement and family pictures and we got some really great photos.  I went and got coordinating outfits for everyone and I think it all came together really well.  When my dad finishes photoshopping them, I'll post some for everyone to see.  The rest of Saturday was spent getting to know each other and then we had a bbq in the fire pit in the back yard.  My mom was thrilled to do s'mores.  Apparently it's been years since she's gotten to roast marshmallows over the fire and she was in heaven.  It really is the little things, isn't it! 

Sunday was spent working at the house.  Things had not progressed as much (or at all, actually) as I wanted them to since last weekend, which sucked, but we did get quite a bit done.  Tyler borrowed the backhoe from work and finished digging the trench for the new waterline to the well.  The previous pipe had broken and it was all old, so he decided to just replace all of the pipe.  The water pressure also wasn't that great, so we're getting some kind of pressure tank that will help with that.  After a few bumps along the way, we got all the pipe laid down and the connections made.  We're lucky in that Tyler gets all of the materials to do this for free from his work.  The new pipe ended up not fitting through the hole into the house, which could have been a big issue, but we just ran down to the workshop and he cut off a piece of thinner pipe, then used their equipment to make the threads on the end.  That was kinda cool to see.  I mean who ever thinks about what it takes to make the threads on a pipe?  I certainly never did!  They also had all of the connecting pieces we needed.  I have a feeling this is going to be really handy as time goes on!

While Tyler finished up the piping, his mom and the kids and I worked inside the house.  We got the walls scrubbed down in two of the bedrooms and the hallway, so they're ready to be painted.  I also had to step into the disciplinarian role, which was interesting.  Ethan, who is 7, kept playing around and not helping out, so instead of getting to work with everyone else, I made him go outside and pick up pinecones.  He pouted the whole time, but next time hopefully he'll do what is asked of him instead of messing around.  In order for this family to work, everyone is going to have to help out and if they don't want to do the chore they're given, I'll be more than happy to find a different one for them to do!  I had to get on Lily (age 9) about helping out too.  It's interesting to see how I'm going to have to deal with each child differently.  Kylee (age 5) does really well when you praise her and I think that'll be the best motivator for her.  That's not going to work with Lily.  I don't think making her do extra chores will necessarily work either.  That's what they've been doing, by making her clean out horse stalls when she has a bad attitude.  I think losing privileges might be what will work for her.  We'll see as time goes on. 

I did a lot of bonding with the kids this weekend.  No one has ever sat down and read with them regularly, so I spent lots of time reading to them.  Even the babies (Trysta-1 year and Ava-2 years) were fighting to sit on my lap and look at the pictures.  My mom brought up little presents for everyone, including some books and Morgan (8 years old) sat and read a book to my mom.  There were lots of hard, foreign words in the story and she did surprisingly well.  She's an excellent little reader!  Even my mom, who actually teaches reading, was impressed.  Lily seems to need lots of physical affection right now, so I made sure to give her lots of hugs.  When we were saying goodbye, she gave me a huge hug and started crying.  She didn't want me to go and said she was going to miss me.  Holy cow, way to pull at my heart strings!  Despite having their grandma and aunt around, what these kids really need is a mom.  Taking them over to the house so they could see that it's being cleaned up and made into a home again has made them excited and they all keep saying they can't wait until the wedding.  Kylee did whisper in my ear, though, that Tyler and I aren't allowed to kiss until we get married! 

My ring was done being sized this week, so now I finally get to wear it:

Sadly I only took one picture this weekend . . . Trysta really liked her Jello salad!

mi familia

It seems like most of the time when I blog it's because I'm irritated about something, so I thought I'd do a little something different this time and write about the one thing that always makes me happy . . . my family.  I wish I had great pictures to illustrate this, but sadly I do not. 

• Papa-My dad is the smartest person I know.  He's my hero and my rock.  I think every good decision I have ever made has probably been because of his advice.  My biggest fear in life is something happening to him.  He had an aortic dissection and almost died in 2001 and sitting in the hospital that night, not knowing whether or not he would live, was the worst night of my life.  He has a great sarcastic sense of humor and I love it when he mocks the gun-toting right-wingers. 
• Mamacita-My mom and I have definitely had our rough patches (such as those horrible teenage years), but now I just love spending time with her.  At some point it finally clicked that she's not just my mom, but is an actual person.  That sounds weird and stupid, I know, but growing up you just think of your mom as mom, not as someone with their own identity and who has had their own life experiences.  And when it comes to life experiences, she has many and keeps adding to the list because she has the energy of a teenager and never stops.  On family vacations she is up for anything and everything.  The other day she mentioned how inadequate she felt as a mother compared to someone else and it stopped me in my tracks.  She definitely isn't the typical Utah Valley mother who sews, cooks, cans, crafts and bakes homemade bread, but to me she's much better.  She is educated.  She is cultured.  She is open-minded and she stands up for what she believes in. 
• Matthew-My older brother has always been a great example to me.  He has worked hard at everything he has done and has always been very driven.  Basically we're exact opposites!  I think the thing that I appreciate the most about Matthew is the example he has been of how a man should be.  He is an awesome father, he provides for and takes care of his family, and he has always shown respect for the women in his life.  Between him and my dad it's no wonder I'm single-no guy can ever live up to these two!
• Melissa-Matthew's wife, Melissa, is another person I love to hang out with.  We didn't get off on the best foot initially, but now I just think the world of her.  She's an amazing mother and a beautiful person, inside and out.  She's also a great cook and has a really great fashion sense.  If I didn't love her so much I'd have to hate her!  In spite of being all around fabulous, she's also a genuinely nice and caring person. 
• The kiddos-I would go into detail about how incredible my two nieces and nephew are, but there aren't enough words in the English language to describe them.  I love them to bits!
• Mark-Anyone who has met my little brother understands that to know Mark is to love him.  He's just plain fun to be around and I don't know that I've ever heard him say anything mean about anyone.  I love that he is always in a good mood and extremely positive.  He takes whatever life throws at him and makes the best out of it.  He's the kind of person that makes the day better when he walks into the room.  I'm pretty sure the world could be coming to an end, but if he walked into the room, everyone would be like "Yay, Mark's here!"  

So that's my family in a nutshell.  I kinda like 'em!

another one from the niece

I was cleaning out my inbox (clearly I have no life!) and came across the following email from my sister-in-law:

Today I gave the girls hard boiled eggs for breakfast. This conversation followed.

Sariah: can we kill some eggs?
Me: what?
S: I want some of those eggs that you kill
M: eggs that you kill?
S: yeah. I love killed eggs. Do you kill eggs?
M: Um. Not really.
S: yes you do. When you dip them in the colors and they are all beautiful.
M: Oh, you mean dyed eggs?
S: yeah. Dyed.

To my nieces and nephew

My little nephew, T-Dub, turned one yesterday. This got me thinking about how fast time goes by and how my nieces are growing up so fast and how I just want to stop time, but I can't. So instead of trying to acknowledge his birthday in a way that a one year-old couldn't care less about (ie a phone call or a card or yet another toy), I decided to type up my best bits of advice. These apply to both him and my nieces and these are things I've mostly had to learn the hard way. This is long, but here goes . . .

1. Practice maintaining eye contact with people. It makes it seem like you’re really listening to them, even if you’re not. Good eye contact also makes it seem like you’re telling the truth when you’re not.
2. Junior High sucks. Anyone who tells you otherwise is clearly on drugs.
3. High School will most likely suck too. Anyone who tells you otherwise has been out of school long enough to have forgotten. Or they’re on drugs.
4. You don’t have to be what or who people think you are. Create your own expectations.
5. Just because your parents believe something doesn’t mean you have to as well.
6. Read. Well-read people are far more interesting than people who spend their time watching tv.
7. Focus on spirituality instead of religion. Doing so will save your sanity.
8. The world doesn’t revolve around you and while you may be special to your own family, you aren’t special in the big picture that is the rest of the world. This may sound harsh, but once you understand this, it will give you freedom. The world will not come crashing down based upon a choice that you make.
9. People don’t pay attention to you nearly as much as you think they do. Fortunately (or hopefully) this means they won’t remember all the stupid and/or embarrassing things you do.
10. Don’t try to be cool. Just try to be a good person.
11. The ability to carry on a decent conversation with anyone, regardless of how little you have in common, is priceless.
12. Pay attention to grammar and spelling. Even if you drop out of school in the fourth grade, proper grammar and spelling will make it seem as though you have received a good education.
13. Never be afraid to ask for what you want. You won’t always get it, but sometimes you’ll be surprised.
14. Thank you goes a long way. Always, always say thank you to cashiers, waiters, receptionists, etc.
15. Sometimes things don’t go the way you planned. This is a good thing. Much like being well read, life experience makes you a much more interesting person. Whenever things in my life are crazy, I just think about how it will make a great story someday.
16. Learn to take a compliment graciously and even though it’s hard, believe it when people tell you nice things about yourself. Don’t believe it when they say mean things; chances are, the person is just insecure.
17. Be yourself. It is refreshing to be around a person about whom what you see is what you get. Pretending to be something you’re not is exhausting and not worth it. Some people won’t like you for you, but that’s o.k. You don’t have to be best friends with everybody.
18. Always ask yourself “What’s the worst that can happen?” If the answer doesn’t involve jail, death or permanent injury to yourself or another, then do it. It may turn out to have not been the best decision you could have made, but it was your decision and you won’t be left wondering what would have happened.
19. Try not to lose your imagination. Most adults are really boring because they don’t believe in things like fairies and trolls and goblins. Just because a grown up says something isn’t real doesn’t mean you can’t believe in it.
20. The movies are not real life. Don’t believe in Hollywood’s version of anything. Don’t believe in their version of love. Don’t believe in how they tell you that you should look. Certainly don’t follow their example of how to behave. Think of Hollywood like it’s an animal at the zoo. It’s o.k. to look at it through the glass and think wow, that’s kind of cool. Maybe you can even tap on the glass to get the animal to come closer, but you never want to be on the other side because it stinks in there and sometimes animals eat their own pooh. Blindly following Hollywood’s standards is like eating your own pooh. It’s gross; don’t do it.

I've been reminiscing . . .

My favorite picture of all time. My mom and the grandkiddos.

Neti pot!!!


One of too many nights of insanity at Ryan's.


Yard sale at Amber and Tyler's. Don't know whose van that was, or why we were documenting our (their) butts for posterity.

After we went tubing under the road. Our version of tubing included a giant piece of cardboard instead of an actual tube. And mud. And not bothering to actually put on swim suits.


Me and little Melissa. I'm not sure why she doesn't have a shirt on.


My birthday 2005, after a little cake fight.


Trying to force niece number one to take a "nice" picture with Aunt Kimmie. President's Day Weekend 2007.