Monday Morning Musings - No Bull!

This picture was taken Saturday afternoon from my kitchen window. On any given day, I can take a similar picture from my kitchen window, only there is usually a black fence betwixt me and this creature. I don't know what to call it, to be perfectly honest. I'm not too up on my horned cattle. Is it cow? A bull? A longhorn? A sumpthin'? I don't know. Somebody tell me what it is.

Whatever it is, it was in my back yard on Saturday. And in this picture it looks deceptively small. 'Cause in for real life, it's real big.

It was only a few days ago that I was expressing my concern to Steve that when our yard is in and the kids are outside playing and one of them makes one of those animals mad, it won't take much for them to push past that scrawny little fence that is keeping them in. Steve didn't seem to bothered by it. But let me tell ya. He was bothered by it when it was trompin' through the mud and grass seed in the back yard. I tried to call the ranch to tell them they had an animal loose, but I couldn't find a number for them. So I called the police who called animal control. The policeman was waiting in his car for animal control to come and the...OK, I'm gonna call it a cow for the sake of calling it something....anyways, the COW had walked out of our yard and was grazing elsewhere.

Then he started walking back into my yard and I yelled for Steve. "STEPHEN! IT'S COMIN' BACK IN OUR YARD!!!". At which point Steve went outside and may or may not have started throwing rocks in the general direction of the animal. At this point let me just say that a lot of blood, sweat, tears, money and muddy shoes went into making that dirt smooth enough for grass seed. And another lot of all that went into putting grass seed and fertilizer in just days before! And it was all muddy because it had just rained and snowed. And heck if I want somebody's cow trompin' through my mud and seed just because they can't put up and maintain a proper fence!

Ok, so anyway...if rocks were hurled in the general direction of the cow, it may or may not have caused him to, not back up and go back where he was, but to just run straight forward through my yard and keep running. And I may or may not have been glad because my worse nightmare was for all the animal control people and the cow to be tearing up the mud and seed in my back yard.

Well...the running cow ran right over and into a fence with a horse. And apparently cows and horses don't get along too well. A fight ensued. All the other cattle walked over to the fence where the horse and cow were dukin' it out. Then all the people who were working on the house being built across the street walked over to the fence to watch. Then the policeman drove over. Then animal control pulled up. And Steve and the kids and I all stood staring out the window, transfixed. We were on our way out the door to go to a movie when we first noticed the visitor in our yard. But the movie was soon forgotten amid all the excitement right outside our window. We stood, along with everyone else, watching for about half an hour. When it looked as if nothing else exciting was going to happen and that animal control was just going to sit and continue to watch, we were finally able to tear ourselves away from the backyard drama.

We came home several hours later to find everything back to normal. I don't know how it was all resolved. And this morning the cattle were all moved to a field on the other side of the ranch, away from the residential side. So for now, all's quiet on the home front and any danger of children being trampled has been removed. Now when the mud dries out, we (meaning Steve) get to go out and fix all the gigantuous hoof prints in the yard and put down more seed.

Monster Baby Strikes Again

Oh Addy. My sweet little angel girl.

BAH HA H A HA HA HA!

Uh, yeah.

Wow Addy. You came into my life as a surprise, and you haven't stopped surprising me since. You are so lucky I love you as much as I do. And I do love you with all of my heart. I can't imagine my life without you. That being said.....

Just yesterday morning I was contemplating how much I could actually get done in a day if I didn't have to follow behind my little angel doing damage control. I think it would probably be a whole lot of a lot.

She can talk up a storm, this one. Our Home Teachers were over on Sunday and she would not stop talking to them the entire time they were here. I kept trying to get her to come sit by me and be quiet but she didn't even acknowledge my presence. At one point Emily said "Addy, if you can't sit down and be good we are going to have to tie you up with duct tape again". Then later she said, "Addy, I am going to have to put you in the playroom and lock the door". Ohhhh Emily. She is another one of my angels. OK, Steve did put tape around Addy's wrists once but he did it very lightly as a joke. Click here to watch the video. And for the record, we have no lock on the playroom door and I have never before locked my children in any room. I have locked them outside before, but that was when we were trying to sell our house and I was trying to clean it for a showing and the kids kept going in and out, in and out. Thanks for making us sound like child abusers Emily. But I digress...

The last 24 hours with Addy have been "especially" fun. I will work my way backward through the story. And I will leave out the more minor infractions for benefit of time.

THIS MORNING

Last night, Emily was working on a project for school which involved the use of black paint. I was not home when she was using it or I would have made sure it was put away, because I know how much trouble a three year old named Addison can get into with black paint. This morning, I was putting a load of laundry in the washing machine, after which I went to see where Addy was. She was at the desk with the black paint and it was all over her and her cute outfit and the desk. I cleaned her and the desk up, threw her clothes in the trash, and put her in time out. I didn't put the paint away at that time because we were on our way out the door to pick up my sister Lauren. And because I am stupid. I thought, I will get Lauren and come straight in and put the paint away, because remember I am smart enough that I would have put it away last night, had I been home. We picked up Lauren, came home, I went into my bedroom to put away my purse and keys and use the facilities. I then went straight in to put the paint away. But alas, I was too late. Once again, black paint everywhere. This time there wasn't so much on her clothes so they were able to be salvaged. I then promptly put the paint away. On the top shelf in the craft room. Where I hope it will be safe forever more.

LAST NIGHT

I was getting ready to go to a Relief Society dinner at the church. Steve was making dinner for the kids. Addy, unbeknownst to us, was painting her toenails (and 1/2 her feet on our bedroom floor. There was hot pink finger nail polish all over our beautiful concrete floor. See it really is beautiful:

So beautiful in fact, that Steve brings clients over all the time to gaze upon it's beauty. Hot pink puddles in the middle of it just won't do. Needless to say, Steve was pretty freaked out. And using fingernail polish remover on the floor was simply out of the question. So we got as much up as we could and then sweet Emily volunteered herself to sit for forever scrubbing with a toothbrush, until all traces of pink were gone. See, I told you Emily was an angel.

YESTERDAY MORNING

Yesterday morning. Yesterday morning, I was reminded just how much this little girl means to me. Yesterday morning, I was taking a shower and I thought she was tucked in safe on the couch watching Dora. "Just how stupid are you?" That is what you are thinking, I know it is. And the answer is: pretty darn stupid. I got out of the shower, got dressed and went out to check on her. I found her on the kitchen counter where she had climbed up to get into the top cabinet where I keep the medicine. Sitting next to her on the counter was an almost empty bottle of children's liquid Ibuprofen. An almost empty bottle. I just opened that bottle two days ago and I had given Aubrey two doses out of it. Next to the almost empty bottle was a small puddle that Addison had spilled. But it wasn't enough to make up a whole bottle's worth. I totally panicked. I asked her if she drank any. She said yes. I asked her how much. Her reply? "A lot". Thankfully Steve was home or I don't know what I would have done. I just knew we were going to have to take her to the hospital and have her stomach pumped. I asked Steve to clean her up and get her dressed. I immediately called Poison Control. For every bit as freaked out as I was, the girl on the other end of the line was cool, calm and collected. She must have talked to lots of freaked out moms before. She asked me how much Addison weighs. She had me measure out what was left in the bottle. She asked me how many doses I had given out of the bottle. She then assured me that Addison would be fine and there was no need to take her to the hospital.

SAY WHAT? Really? Apparently a three year old can pretty much down almost an entire bottle of Ibuprofen and be just perfectly fine. She said that with the doses already given from the bottle and what was left in it Addison would be fine. And with her spilling some, she could assure me that no harm was done and I could calm down and take a deep breath.

WHEW! Calm down is just what I did. I went up to her room where Steve was helping her get dressed. I held that sweet little angel tight in my arms and thanked my Heavenly Father that she was OK. I asked Steve to give her a Priesthood blessing. He tried to take her out of my arms to do it, but they would not let go. It was out of my control. My arms would not, could not release her. I told Steve he was just going to have to do it with her on my lap, which he did.

Oh Addy girl. I love you. Thank you for surprising me. From now on though, can we try to keep the surprises to a minimum?

Seventh Heaven

I can hardly believe my sweet little Aubrey turned 7 years old yesterday. But she did. We had a Birthday party after school. It was such a calm group of girls. Really. They were so good. They played my games, they listened to me, there was minimal crying (you can't have that many girls in the same room without a few tears every now and then). I thought WOW! These girls have matured in the past year. Then I remembered it wasn't Aubrey's party that sent me into fetal position convulsions last year. It was Emily's. For proof, click on their names for their party posts from last year. (Can't wait to start planning Em's party for this year. She already has a guest list with 16 names on it. Yeah, that's gonna happen.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

AUBREY ANNA!

Monday Morning Musings - Full Contact

Wow. Impressive. Three blog posts for the entire month of February. First of all, where did February go? I can't believe we are now starting the third month of the year. Life has been so busy lately, there really has been no time to blog. It's 5:30 PM already, and I still have about 50 things I need to do before I go to bed. But my blog list is piling up, so I told myself I was not going to let today go by without blogging. Here it goes...

I was making smoothies for the kids after school today. Emily came up next to me and the blender and said that she wanted to be the one to push the buttons. I assured her that she most definitely is the one that pushes the buttons.

Do you know how many times I have walked past the Cadbury Mini Eggs without purchasing any? A whole dang lot of times. I wonder if I can make it through the whole Easter season without making such a purchase. But then, what kind of existence would that be, really?

Zac has always been my sleep talker. He doesn't talk a lot in his sleep, but he does more than people who don't talk in their sleep. So anyhoo. I woke him up yesterday morning and before he was fully awake this is what he said, "I wish I had taken a picture of that monster. I've never taken a picture of one before." Sometimes I can ask him questions about what he is talking about and he will answer me. I asked him what monster. He mumbled something I couldn't understand and when I kept asking him, he woke up. He had been dreaming about a monster.

I never would have in a hundred million years believed it, but Steve actually did it. He actually found a football show that I will watch with him. And not just one I will watch, but one I actually enjoy watching. It's called NFL Full Contact. It's really weird, but I'm totally fascinated by it. It shows everything that goes on behind the scenes at football games. Last week, I was all ready for bed. I had my glasses off and I was all snuggled up and really for the sleep to come. Then he turned on the Full Contact that showed the first game played in the new Cowboys stadium. Hello. I actually shook the sleep away, sat up, put on my glasses and watched it. Football. I'm still baffled, but at the same time excited, because a new one comes on tonight.

Flashback Friday - Of Olympic Proportions

So the kids and I (Steve is still hard at work, poor guy) just finished watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics. It made me think about my own Olympic experience, being the athlete that I am and all. OK really, it just reminded me of that one time when the Olympics came to my town. That was a fun time.

SALT LAKE CITY 2002

Steve went to a couple of hockey games. Scott and Kristy came down from Iderho (I really wish they still lived there and not all the way in some foregin land) to go to a hockey game with us. It was so much fun. The above picture was taken before said game. Sweden was playing some other country and these guys came all the way from across the ocean to see the game, and boy were they excited. Below is a picture of Kristy, Scott, Me and Steve and some other guy with a cowboy hat that I don't know.

We took the kiddos, all two of them, to see the Olympic Cauldron.

We also took to the streets of downtown Salt Lake to check out all the hype.

This is the view of the closing ceremony as seen from the deck of our house.

We took a little TV out on the deck so we could watch what we were watching live, on TV. It was hard to know what was going on just from the deck.

Who is that caped crusader? With the yellow blanket and black socks and slippers? Please pretend that I am not married to a total dork. Stephen, I love you so much!

WebCam Wednesday - Wacky Water

We were at my mom's house on Saturday. We were sitting around her kitchen table talking and I noticed that the condensation from my drink was beading up on the tablecloth and I could roll it around and play with it. I pointed it out to everyone and my mom said that the tablecloth must have some major stain guard on it. We decided to have some fun with it. We might have got a little carried away.

Monday Morning Musings - Proof That My Kids Are Weird

This morning, I was pouring the kids their cereal. Yes, I know, please hold your applause. May my parenting skills never cease to amaze you. Anyway. Zac, Emily and Aubrey all wanted Captain Crunch Berries. I asked Addy if she wanted Captain Crunch Berries also. She did her little pout thing where she huffs and folds her arms and buries her head in her chest. I said "Addy, what's wrong?" To which she replied, "I DON'T WANT CRUNCH BERRIES! I WANT RAISIN BRAN!" Well ex-ca-use me! What kind of 3 year old picks Raisin Bran over Crunch Berries???

Then a few minutes later Aubrey and Zac stared fighting, which is sooooo out of the ordinary. *snarf* And Aubrey says, "MOM! ZAC KEEPS SAYING I LOOK LIKE GEORGIA O'KEEFFE!" To which I found myself saying, "Zac. Stop telling your sister she looks like Georgia O'Keeffe." Somehow, when I pictured myself as a mother...I never really pictured myself....having to say something like that.

Flashback Friday - A Narrow Escape

Oh how my heart longs to be in this place right now! I can almost close my eyes and pretend that it is summer and I am wearing shorts and I have a hiking stick in my hand and cool water is swirling around my feet. I already told Steve we are going there this summer. It has been far too long. These pictures were taken in Summer of 2004 when we were hiking The Narrows while visiting Zions National Park. My little Aubrey was only 1 year old at the time. I remember when we let her get down and walk in the shallow parts, all the tourists went crazy and started taking pictures of her, she was so dang cute.

Hottie

I recently signed up for Skype so that we can keep in touch with family members who, for some reason or another, choose to reside in other parts of the world. I set it up on a computer other than the computer on which I store all my pictures. So when I was trying to find a profile picture to go along with my Skype account, I didn't have a lot of options. I quickly chose this picture. The next day I was Skyping with my mom and she said, "Lauren and I like your picture of the HOT BACHELOR on your profile". I was like, "Huh?" And she said, "You know, your profile picture of The Bachelor on his motorcycle". And I was like:

• A: I DO NOT watch The Bachelor and I would never post a picture of him for any reason.
• B: Yes, the guy on the motorcycle is hot
• C: He is most definitely NOT a Bachelor
• D: He is your son-in-law

My mom's reaction? "BAH!!!! Ohmygosh! Don't tell Steve that Lauren and I said he was hot!"

Mauahahahahaha! Don't worry mom. I won't tell anyone.....

Monday Morning Musings - Boringness, Tents, Dreams And A Really Long Story About A Dishwasher. And It's Not Even Monday Anymore.

I feel totally boring as of late. Totally. Bor. Ing. Totally. I don't know if it is because it is winter and we aren't out doing as much as we usually do. I don't know if it is because I was always boring and just never really realized it. But I do know this. I'm gettin' real sick and tired of it. I am about ready to kick old man winter to the curb. I would rather blame him than myself for my boringness.

Last week I was so tired and I was not feeling well. After dinner I went to lie down on my bed. Addy came in and fixed me all up. She went all over the house collecting pillows to encircle me with. She made me a "tent" out of the pillows, they were all piled up all over me. Then she covered me up with a blanket and brought her stuffed dog Buster into me. When I was all snug as a bug in a rug, she sat down next to me and sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It was so cute.

I have been getting ripped off in the dream department lately. I have these long detailed dreams about cleaning toilets or sorting laundry. They are the kind of dreams where you feel like you are really doing the action and it takes pretty much all night. I wake up the next morning exhausted and feeling like I worked all night with nothing to show for it. There is nothing worse than dreaming, in detail, that you cleaned all the toilets in your house and really feeling like you did, and then waking up the next morning and having to do it all over again.

I have the worst luck with dishwashers. I really do. I don't know, maybe I am too hard on them. Like somedays, if I am busy, I won't do any dishes at all. Then the next day I will have to
run the dishwasher 3x's back to back. (It's against my religion to wash anything by hand). Anyway, you would think:

Brand New House=Brand New Dishwasher=No Dishwasher Malfunctions

And in so doing, you would be completely wrong. The other day, I noticed a little puddle of water next to the dishwasher. You don't even know what that means to me. In my last house, we bought a brand spankin' new Kitchenaid dishwasher and after less than a year, it started leaking water every time it ran. And we fixed it, and it started doing it again. And again. So I saw this puddle of water and I went into total denial. Mmm, mmm! Ain't no leak! Someone must have opened the door and some water sprayed out! Or, or, mmm, hmm, someone dropped some ice and it melted there! Ohhhh, maybe Addy peed on the floor! 'Cause ain't no new dishwasher of mine leakin'! Shoot.

I mean, how many times can you tell yourself these things before you finally have to face reality? For me, it was about four. Four, and the dishwasher stopping in the middle of a cycle, dinging and flashing an error message. Yep. After that, you pretty much can't deny that you have a problem anymore.

I had to call a repair man out yesterday. This is the sad thing. Sunday was one of those non-dish washing days. I filled up the dishwasher and still had a sink full of dishes waiting their turn. So while waiting for the repair man and thinking, "What if he has to order a part and can't fix it today? Hmmm, wonder how long that cycle ran before it stopped working? Maybe I could just rinse the dishes off to remove any soap that might be on them? I mean, they are probably cleaner now than they would be if I had to wash them by hand..."

Thankfully Mr. Dishwasher man came and found a piece of food stuck in one of the valves, which was causing the leakage. And he cleared the error message and the dishwasher started working again. Whew! I didn't have to sacrifice any personal beliefs! That was a close one. Well, I better go now. The dishwasher just finished and I have another load (or two) waiting in the sink....