Where Oh Where...

12 years ago I inherited a cat. A kitten actually. That turned into a cat. I was living in Indiana. He was a very frightened kitty. Scared of every little thing. I moved to Utah about 7 or 8 months after inherited this kitty. People said that I should leave the cat. But I just couldn't. This kitty licked away my tears when I was sad. We shared a bond. He wouldn't let you hold him - but we shared a bond.

Fast forward 11 years. We have a friend who hunts. Scott and I have frequently asked this friend to take our cat "hunting." For almost a year we have been asking him. He said he would. And then he had a bonding experience with this cat. Now he refuses.

Dallin really loves this cat. He still can't say his name right. Maggie really loves this cat. She CAN say his name right.

Since we have all been sick and I have been tired and grumpy I really haven't paid any attention to where the cat was. Last night Scott asked me if I had seen him today. After I thought about it I couldn't say that I had seen him. Since when??? Has it just been that day? The day before??

Well - it's been for sure 36 hours or maybe 48 since we have seen our scare-dy cat. He isn't an outside cat. We are kind of thinking the worst. We are wondering how long it will take Dallin to notice that he doesn't have to re-fill the cat food. That is one of his daily chores. This morning wasn't the day. Hmmmm..... interesting. We have wondered how our children would react when he died. We just didn't expect it to be quite this soon. How am I going to react? I am just not sure.

I just hope he isn't holed up dead somewhere in our house and decomposing. I wouldn't be pleased. Not pleased at all...

***Edit*** He came back as I was fixing lunch today. I have to admit - I was a little disappointed...

Sickness

Sickness has been abounding in our house. Last night the last of us started puking.

A week ago today Scott had an upset stomach. He came home from work and slept from 6 until the next morning. But then he was better by the time he got home from work on Wednesday. Thursday night my tummy started gurgling. I felt ill but was not puking. Got over it on Saturday.

Saturday night Maggie starts yacking. Now Maggie is a professional barfer. Yet she simply will NOT barf in the sink or bucket. She gets scared and must hold on to whoever the unlucky soul is who is holding her when the urge comes. Well - Saturday night that unlucky soul was daddy. She wouldn't have me for anything. I felt a tiny bit bad... as Scott was trying to pry her off him with his pointer and thumb with the rest of his fingers trying to stay as far away from her as possible. She threw up at 8. We put her to bed hoping that was the end of it. It wasn't. She did it again a little bit later needed a bath after that one. Put her to bed again and I went to ice cream with some friends. I came home within an hour and I open the door to blankets, sheet and towels at the door to the basement - ready to be decontaminated in the hottest water we can wash them in. Then I look on the couch and Scott is holding her. She had thrown up 5 times and had 2 baths. Now Scott doesn't do well with barf. He is a little too clean for it. So I think it would have been quite the sight to see. I asked him why he didn't call me. I would have come home. He said he didn't want me to think he couldn't handle it... :) When she finally got into a deep sleep we switched her into my arms to sleep and puke the rest of the night.

Not really thinking D was next... just hoping we were done, we went to the grocery store last night to pick up some pumpkins to carve and donuts to eat for family night. While we were there Dallin kept complaining of a hurting tummy. The fear kept creeping from the back of my mind to the front of it. But I kept trying to push it back. I was thoroughly exhausted and was looking forward to a good nights sleep.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be. As soon as we got home the fun started again. Luckily Dallin is old enough to get it in a bowl. We don't have quite the laundry. I felt so bad. He was afraid the barf was going to get stuck in his throat so he wouldn't be able to call for me. I assured him that my mommy super powers would allow me to hear him. And they did. All night long.

So I am once again - completely exhausted and grumpier than all get out. Sorry family. I do love you though.

The Language of Medicine

900+ pages

21 Chapter Tests

4 Review Tests

1 Mid-term

1 Final with 120 questions...

AND I GOT A 90.83% which they rounded up to a 91%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I could remember the moves to the Electric Slide I would be doing them all over my house right now!!!!!!

Now I just have the transcription portion of my class left. It looks like it's 18 chapters.

Politics - View from 4 year olds...

I am teaching Joy School this week. As the kids are coloring their caterpillars I hear this conversation....

T: Obama sucks.

S: Obama is winning.

T: No - Mc Cain is.

Having just read on yahoo news that Obama has an 8 point lead or something like that I had to correct him. Unfortunately...
Me: No - Obama is.

MY BRAIN: WAIT A SECOND! AM I SERIOUSLY HEARING AND PARTICIPATING IN THIS CONVERSATION?????

T: Mc Cain is weird.

Me: So is Obama.

The conversation went on a little bit... But was I seriously having this conversation???? WITH 4 YEAR OLDS??? Notice that D did not participate. We obviously don't discuss politics in our home. Is that bad???

Halloween Party

Every year Scott is such a great sport when it comes to dressing up for the kids. 2 years ago he was Tigger, last year he was Goofy and this year....He was Donald Duck!

Our intent this year was to have Scott be a Lion, Dallin be a Tiger, Maggie be a Bear and me have duct tape on my shirt saying, "OH MY!" Since I am always the fuddy duddy that doesn't do Halloween I thought that would be pretty good! Since we couldn't get Lion costume we went with Donald Duck. So I got off the hook this year... That is until Lasca found me at the park today and talked me into putting stitches tattoos on my face and neck. I figured that was pretty harmless.
They look pretty good... Can you tell which wounds are fake and which are not???

Maggie decided she did NOT want to wear the Bear. So she didn't.

Happy Halloween season everyone!

Not for the faint of heart....

I have been having people ask how my arm is and how I am doing. I thought I would give an update. Now this really isn't for those that might throw up a little in their mouth - ah-hem.....

This was on Saturday....
This was on Sunday....
This is tonight.....ICK! I went to the doctor and he said it was infected. If you look really hard you can see where Scott circled the red last night and that it has extended further outside the circle today.

What is the first thing I ask the doctor...?? IS THIS GOING TO SCAR??? I am so vain! He said it should only last a few years. Is that good to hear???

I am on a 10 day dose of some antibiotic. When I went to get the prescription filled the lady asked me to confirm my b-day. Then said, "Oh. Happy Birthday!"

So that is the arm situation.

For my birthday situation - I am another year older. Great. I found some more wrinkles around my eyes that I don't like... Ate way too much food today. But hey - it's my birthday!

Now on a cuter note - here are my kids!!!


Aren't they adorable? I love D in his little Wranglers. And I have NO idea what Maggie is doing here. These are my favorite presents... I love them!

Well - I am going to bed for my birthday. Goodnight!

Grapes, Grape Juice and Grape Jelly...

Grapes! Our friends have a whole bunch of grapes on their back fence. So we decided to juice them and also make grape jelly. So we went out and picked the grapes. There didn't seem to be a ton of them. There were these 3 buckets, a box and a little tub. But then 1 bucket was in the sink soaking already. So that makes 4 buckets...After we started plucking the grapes off the stems we decided that there were quite a lot of grapes after all! We worked pretty much all day Saturday. Didn't get them all done. So she worked on them in the morning while I was at church and I worked on them in the afternoon while she was at church... and we got some BEAUTIFULLY colored grape juice and jelly!
They have 3 or 4 different kinds of grapes that have in-bred. So some of the juice turned out looking like watermelon jolly ranchers and some like dark purple grape juice. Brian wanted to do a batch of green grapes for jelly so he sorted out a whole bowl of just green grapes. They turned into the middle jelly that looks like honey.

This is some of the best jelly and juice I have ever had!!!

We did have a weekend full of mishaps and disasters though. Steff and I just didn't have it all together apparently! We were burning pots and juice was spilling out of jars... and I managed to do an awesome job of giving myself 2nd degree burns!!!

It really hurt... But didn't seem too bad. I was holding a jar on the bottom (with a towel) and unclamped the hose. A bubble must have been in the hose because it jumped out of the jar and I couldn't get it back in or get it clamped back up. OWIEEEEEEEEE!!!! I was not at my own home so I felt bad dropping and breaking the jar. Not to mention all the juice that I was wasting by not getting the hose clamped back. So it hurt pretty bad. But didn't look so bad.

As the night wore on I could feel the skin pull away from the skin on my hand as the blisters were forming...By Sunday morning it looked pretty bad. And then by the afternoon I was having dead skin cut away from my arm. It's pretty nasty looking right now. I won't make you suffer to look at it.

So Yes - Leah... I have a juicer you can borrow at your own risk!!!

But I WILL make you suffer and look at this!!!!!!!I have never in my life had snow before my birthday! Not just a little skiff of snow either... But 7 measurable inches of snow!!!! I debated on the song for the day to be I Heard It Through the Grapevine or It's My Party again since I was practically in tears yesterday for more than one reason!!!!!!

Uh Suhkoo

Translation: A Sucker...

This is what I try to bribe Maggie with to go potty on the toilet. She LOVES suckers. (Or lollipop to go with the song) The other day she was wanting a sucker. So I said, "If you go potty on the toilet you get a sucker." I go about my business and in a little bit notice that she isn't around. I go to look for her and she is in the bathroom.
Baby is trying to go potty I guess. Unfortunately this doesn't count to get a sucker. But she got an A for effort!!!

Then later on she was feeling very left out. Dallin, Sam and Thomas were next door playing in the backyard.
Maggie was watching them, longing to join in the fun. Unfortunately for her Grace was napping.

On Monday I said how Maggie likes to just sit in the stroller. This morning she was in the garage, just sitting. Silly girl.
I am so grateful for my beautiful children that bring me so much joy and frustration in life. Come Friday I am ready for a vacation... But I still love them more than anything in this world.

Chickens

Today Joy School went on a field trip! There is a house around the corner that has chickens and roosters. So Connie called to see if we could take the kids there. It was so great! A little field trip that took less than 30 minutes to walk there, see them and walk back! Perfect for little attention spans!

Counting the chickens... Of course we have to look and act like the roosters!!!

The similarities are amazing!!!! Maggie and Grace were content to sit for most of it.
They were so cute walking and holding on to the rope! Maggie was holding it too until we came to a lawn mower. She gets scared and wants me to hold her around loud machines...
The shot from behind is better than the shot from in front. Why you might wonder? Dallin was throwing a major fit because he wasn't first in line. Then he started crying because they laughed at him for crying. I don't know how to help him not have such a tender heart. It really drives me bonkers!!!!!

But then again - if he wasn't a tender heart, he wouldn't be my snuggle bug....

Anyhoo! Our field trip to the chickens... It makes me want some..... Wanna build a chicken coop babe?

PS... 19 more jelly jars of apple butter and 2 pints! 1 pint broke all over the garage floor. So I think I was already irritable with Dallin and then his fit... UGH!

Watermelon!

We got our only watermelon out of our garden last night. Everyday Dallin asks what we are going to do for family night that night. He isn't getting the fact that it's a one night a week gig... But that's ok.

So last night we broke open the watermelon in hopes that we didn't wait too long or that we didn't pick it too early!

It was JUST right!!!!
We are pretty sure she keeps her 1 year supply of food storage in there...
I also wanted to show you the beautiful apples we have on our tree! We didn't spray them and thought they would be terrible. But they are REALLY awesome! I can't wait for NEXT YEAR! We are going to spray!

5 more buckets off the tree today. My neighbor took 3 and I will be doing more I guess. I think I have taken a long enough break that I should get back into it again!

I Wanna Be A Cowboy!

And you can be my cowgirl!

She doesn't look much like a cowgirl. She has painted nails, unbrushed hair, skirt and sneakers on. Ya well - This is what she does before squealing her eardrum bursting squeal when you try to brush her hair.... But I MUST admit - these past 2 days have been very pleasant. Only a few tantrums... Not constant screaming and wailing, etc.

So back to Dallin. He decided today that he REALLY wanted to be a cowboy! He got all dressed up in his outfit and cowboy boots. He asked if he was handsome and I said of course. He says, "Ya - that's cause I'm a cowboy..." What a funny kid. Of course having this blog entry forming in my mind I went on Imeem and found this song. He heard it and is trying to learn it. It's really cute! So off he went to joy school as a cowboy!

So off Maggie and I went to get milk and honey from the grocery store! Now - Kevin from tx... I want you to know that you can gain a little faith in humanity again... While I was putting our groceries in our car this cute little lady comes up to me and gives me a box of cookies. She says, "I want to give this to you." I - having not so much trust in strangers - say, "Why are you giving these to me?" She says, "We get them for the seniors and I wanted to give you some." What a sweet lady!! Maybe she saw my scrawny kid and thought she needed some fat on her bones... Or maybe she poisoned them and wants to kill my family...

On the way home Maggie is hungry so I get her a banana when we get in.... As I am bringing things in from the car she sees the cookies....
She is no longer interested in the banana and it sits next to me uneaten on the table as I type this blog entry. I am not in the mood for it. I tried a bite of the cookie. It isn't particularly good. I actually prefer these...MMMMMM... I love crepes... I made some for Dallin and Scott for breakfast this morning. I doubled the batch and now we have tons left over. Which is fine with me to snack on all day. They are only 50 calories each... Oh - except the filling is a little more than that. But it is fruit!!!

Do you want to come with me while I make another one and stuff my face???

First I walk over to the counter with the stack of leftovers. I take one that has "crazy hair" according to Mary.Then add the filling which is sliced apples that are canned from your apple tree out back. Then boiled with brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg... Then I fill the crepe with as much filling as I can get in without it dripping all over my spotless kitchen floor (ya - uh huh!)
Then I eat it. And do it again about 20 or 30 minutes later. I think I might have to run an extra 30 minutes tomorrow!
So everyone go out and pick your apples for breakfast!!!!

What a week!

What a week indeed! Maggie is going through something. I don't know what. I wish I knew how to get the voice memo off my phone and put it on here so you could hear her crying and having a fit that went along with these photos. I haven't posted anything in a week because this is pretty much what it's been. She is getting her 4 canine teeth at the same time - which can't be pleasant. And she woke up several times last week in the night with night terrors and was flailing all over her crib, wouldn't let me hold her, just was unhappy. So I left her in her crib to flail and scream. And she did that for over an hour each time.

This particular day she was just screaming and crying and wanted her "buleenky". So she was under the buleenky walking around, bumping into things and crying some more. Then she got smarter and started walking around with a hole to see out of.

And of course she couldn't throw her fit without an audience so she kept looking out from under her buleenky to make sure I was there. She didn't expect a camera to be in her face here.That was most every day last week. I was just plain tired come the end of the week. Then on Friday my friend asked me to come to her house to pick her raspberries. Who is going to turn down raspberries??!! So off I went with my kids. Maggie just ended her week fabulously! She was playing with the sliding doors on the van and shut her thumb in it. She wasn't pleased about that. Then I had taken the double stroller out of the van for her to sit in. She likes to sit in it for some reason. Just sit. Well, I wasn't watching her and she tried to climb up the back of the stroller with no one in the front. No one in the front means no weight to keep it down. No weight to keep it down means Maggie fell backwards, hitting her head on the stones on the driveway and had a double jogging stroller on top of her. Bad week... But I got a BUNCH of raspberries!!!!

One night last week Scott got me out of bed to look at this really gross spider that was building a web in front of our house. It was a HUGE web! ICK!
This weekend was General Conference. We went to Scott's parents on Sunday. Conference weekend always gets me in the mood for Christmas. And of course since we were pulling out of our street and saw the mountain tops covered in snow I feel like pulling out the Christmas music! I doubt that will fly though.

While we were at his parent's house I was called into the kitchen to see what Dallin had done. **SIDEBAR** My little neice doesn't say Maggie's full name correctly. She says it "Magulena". It is very cute. So now Dallin and his little friends call her Magulena too. **SIDEBAR DONE** I went into the kitchen and Dallin had ALL BY HIMSELF found the magnetic letters for her name! Isn't he a genius!!!???This is typically the stance by Sunday afternoon. This is being posted to ensure that Lulu doesn't get called as the General Relief Society President anytime soon! heheheheeee

We have these refineries close to our home. When Dallin was smaller he would look for them everytime we got on the freeway. He loved to look for the fires. Then when he was learning to count we would count them. He has lost interest in the for a long time but now there are lots of cranes in them and now he is interested in them again.

Now Maggie is interested in them. We were going to or coming home from the fair (this was shortly after her birthday and birthday cake) and she was blowing. We were trying to figure out why and looked in the direction that she was looking. She was trying to BLOW OUT THE CANDLES!It was absolutely hilarious! She has done it a few times since then too!

So now we are starting a new week. And I HOPE it really is a new week! I would really like to have a few days this week where she doesn't cry all the time! I guess we shall see. So far it's great! Oh that's right... she isn't up yet.