WET!!

About a week and a half ago I bought 12 new rolls of toilet paper. Aaaaawwwww. All stocked up. Good for awhile. No? Well, my drawer of toilet paper is now empty. We didn't use it all up in some crazy toilet-loving illness. My son, Joshua, has some kind of fetish with toilet paper in the toilet. Some kids unroll the toilet paper, making a lovely, snowy-white mess. Not mine. No, he loves to stick in whole rolls! There's no saving it.

This is one roll of toilet paper from this morning, and because he couldn't see the other one hiding under a towel he threw in a new scrubby.

I was good about keeping the bathroom door shut for most of the day. Then it was bath time. He always goes first, right after dinner. Then it was Sarah's turn. He snuck in before I shut the door and, of course, made a big stink about being taken out and shut out. I didn't care. My bathroom (and toilet paper) was safe for the time being. Then it was time for Sarah to get out and she called for me to get her robe off the hook. As I got Sarah her robe and towel Joshua quickly ran in and tossed a handful of brand new Kleenex into the tub. I said, "Josh, what is it with you putting paper products in the water?" I was out of the bathroom for about one minute. Max. When I came back in Joshua was standing by the draining tub. He had tossed in Sarah's towel and the towel that was on the floor for drying our wet feet. I went out to get the camera - already composing this post!- and when I came back in he had tossed Sarah's clothes on the pile, too. My blood was seriously starting to boil. Really. My face was getting hot and my breathing was becoming rapid. So, I took the picture, rung out the towels, and started the washer.

This is Joshua pointing to his mess and "saying", "it's not just paper mom, I like to put anything in water!"

As I returned to the bathroom I heard a splash and yelled, "NO!" Yep, you guessed it. He'd found the last roll of toilet paper and plopped it in the toilet.

By now I'd had it, and he was going straight to bed. I picked him up and carried him to the kitchen. Set him down and proceeded to fill his sippy cup with milk. As I put the milk back in the fridge I noticed his medicine that he needed to take. So, I was getting that when he reached up to grab the sippy cup - minus the lid. No, I was quick, and this time it didn't spill. I put the lid on and went back to the medicine and heard a splash and a cry. You have to understand that he was on one side of the sink and I was on the other. Pretty close, but not enough to notice that instead of reaching for his sippy cup that now had a lid he was reaching for (and got) Sarah's cup of water. It spilled all down his front and all over the floor. I gave him his medicine, grabbed him and his milk and we set off for bed. Is it wrong to want to build him a cage?

February 2011

I know the month isn't over yet, but thought I'd get this going anyway. We've had the ups and downs of weather, so the kids got to go out and play a bit more this month. Ben's been digging a hole in the backyard in which to put a time capsule. Joshua thinks it's a great place to play!

I love it when the kids play nice together. It really doesn't happen much these days and I feel like a crazy, incompetent mother most of the time because they aren't getting along or behaving. Dad was busy working on the plumbing for our new bathroom. The kids enjoyed helping him on this Saturday, wearing their carhartt's and all.

Thus far, we have the plumbing and electrical in and inspected (the first time). We now have a floor in and half the insulation. We got our tax return, a nice friendly sum, and have decided to put most of it towards a debt. So, the bathroom will be a little longer project.



At the beginning of the month, Sarah and I wanted some flowers. We bought some red roses. They were on my bookshelf for less than a day when Joshua started touching them. He pulled a few out now and then and I would just put them back. Then one day he pulled them all out and tore up a few. There were some with the heads torn off and some with the petals torn off. There were enough salvageable ones that I re-cut and put in different vases. I wasn't smart enough, though, and put them right back on the bookshelf. He decided he needed to get a drink from the new vase. This time I was done. I took what was left, put them all in one vase and put it up on the entertainment center. Then I had to clean up all the water. It was only about 1/4 cup but we're discovering how far that can really go!

I stayed up late one Saturday night to make Sarah's Valentine skirt. My mom had bought some cute material and given me enough to make her a skirt. I planned on doing it after they went to bed so that I wouldn't be disturbed. This pattern only takes about 15 minutes, start to finish. But, Kannon was at our friends' house helping them hook their wii up to netflix. He came home a few times looking for cords and what-not. I started the skirt around 8, but realized I didn't have ribbon for the bottom. I couldn't go to the store because Kannon wasn't home to stay with our sleeping children. It was 11 before he was back long enough for me to go. So, I finished her skirt late, but was rewarded by her joy in finding it in the morning. I made a few cute hair bows to go with it and wish I had taken a picture that day. This one was taken a few days later on our way to ABC school. She was posing! You should see the first picture with her legs crossed as if she had to pee or something!

I made this shirt, too. Well, the shirt came from the thrift store, put I added the applique from the same material as the skirt. Looking at it now, the heart should have been a tad smaller.



I had my craft on this month. I found a pattern at Skip To My Lou for these cute shoes a few years ago. They were shown as a Halloween heel. I kept the pattern for a long time and finally pulled it out to make these cute Valentine shoes for some ladies I visit each month. I added these delicious raspberry yogurt-covered pretzels as a treat that wasn't too sugary-sweet. I think it would be nice to not have every holiday surrounded by sweet goodies. The sugar consumption in our country sure contributes to all the bellies out there. Mine included. I had an epiphany the other day: if sugar prices were to double or triple then the obesity rate would probably fall. If we couldn't afford to buy the sugary foods, we'd eat less of them and it would be better for us all, eh?!

One Saturday, the weather was nice enough for us to set up our new camping tent. This is what Santa brought Kannon and I for Christmas. It's an 8x14 canvas tent, with a 5-7 foot ceiling. Very roomy, doors on both sides. We're looking forward to using it a lot as a family.

We also spent one Saturday visiting family. We went to Reno and the kids stayed with Susan and Stephen while Kannon and I went to the church cannery. We helped can a bunch of stuff and came home with 36 cans of food storage. We brought Subway back for lunch and a short visit before heading out to Dayton to see Kannon's Uncle and Grandpa.

I didn't get to do all the things I've been wanting to do for February. I made a countdown last year

http://polishfam.blogspot.com/2010/03/catch-up.html and put it out this year, too. The kids were excited about it, but we just haven't been able to do much of it. With life (scouts, basketball, homework, dinner, baths, etc.) we just haven't found time to do it all. They did get their fancy baths, a lovey-movie, a story, mail. But, I'm sad I didn't get them cards or make cookies with them. We also, had our week and a half of sick right in the middle of the month.

Ben got sick first, staying home from school for 2 days. He just had a slight fever and didn't feel real super. Then Sarah and Joshua had fevers for a night. Sarah was better after that but Josh just kept getting worse. Well, he went back and forth. He had 2 days with a fever and a day when he felt better. (That was Sunday. I started getting a head cold on Saturday, but we were giving talks on Sunday. After Sacrament meeting I took Joshua home and we took long naps.) He had the high fever again on Monday (the 14th) and Tuesday, and that's when I finally took us all to the Urgent care.

sick kids

The doctor said that was a first. What? No one brings in all of their children to be seen at once? Yes, I know it's not a technical doctor's office but let me tell you about our situation! There is only one doctor's office in Fallon that takes our insurance. The last time I called them they were not taking new patients. The ER at the hospital is covered, but not the doctor who sees you there. (We have a huge bill from when Kannon had his eye done in November.) Plus, there is always a huge wait in the ER. The next closest doctor's office is in Reno - an hour away. OR....I can go to the Urgent Care in Fernley, just 1/2 an hour away. We were there for a total of 2 hours, but that was with filling out paperwork for all 4 of us and all 4 of us being seen! He gave all kinds of prescriptions, but we only filled the ones for Joshua's ear infections. He's doing so much better now. In fact, we're all doing well, now. It's nice to not be sick.

It snowed last Friday morning. It started snowing late Thursday night (about midnight) and snowed until about 10 am. It was heavy and wet. Ben was disappointed that they didn't cancel school. He had a great time building giant snow balls at recess, though. Sarah and Joshua went out to play. Sarah got out first and Joshua wasn't very patient with all the dressing. He threw a fit - nothing new - and fell on the table. He was able to get up, but it reminded me of Ralphie on 'A Christmas Story.'

I undid the Velcro around his chin and that seemed to help some.

This isn't the best picture but I wanted to remember that he did have a good time out there. I put on my boots and coat, too and took out my cameras. Sarah made a snow angel and they really enjoyed tromping in the snow.

I pulled out the snow shovel and shoveled our sidewalk and they neighbors sidewalk. We have a lot of sidewalk since we are on the corner. Before I got the neighbor's walk done Joshua had fallen down enough times that his hands were cold. He just followed me around hollering. So I finished up as quick as I could and got him inside to warm up. We had some hot chocolate, too, at Sarah's insistence.

The snow-day aftermath!

We went to Elko for the weekend. Kannon's brother was blessing his new baby girl. We didn't know if we'd get to go because of the weather, but when Kannon got off early on Friday and the roads were clear, we decided to make it happen. He spent a few hours putting down our bathroom floor, while I packed.
We got there at a decent hour and spent a great weekend with the family. Saturday night included Sasha and the cousins. They all slept on the living room floor. Grandma held them captive with her bedtime stories. I thought it neat to see where they all placed themselves. You've got Ben on the outside edge - the oldest boy, the protector. Little Lillie next to him, the Stetson, Kate and Sarah next to the couch. Sarah clung to Kate all weekend, whom she idolizes. She wanted to dress like her and behave like her and do her hair the same. In fact, she was pretty upset with me when I told her I was doing her hair for church, not Kate. Kate just turned 10. And you can just glimpse Quade on the left. He slept on the couch with his mom.

Marisha and I. We stayed up late on Friday night with a bunch of girl talk and I got to be her adult driver when she went out to hang with some friends. She IS a good driver. I didn't worry at all. It was as if she was just one of my friends driving.

And this is baby Valis (pronounced Va-lees). The picture is blurry because I still had my camera set on the snow setting. Woops! I can totally see both her mom and dad in her features. She seemed to be a good baby and I enjoyed holding her for an hour at church.

January 2011

I don't know what to say about January. I was coming out of a depression. I have to say I'm not all the way out, but definitely doing much better. I entered a weight-loss competition at the gym. I regret to say that a month in and I still weigh the same. I've been going regularly, (except the week we were all so sick in Feb.) but I have a food addiction. I was talking to Kannon about it one night. I told him he doesn't understand, he's never craved food like that. After telling me he craves food I asked, "do you think about it all the time? Do you think about how you're going to get it, what it will taste like, when and where you will eat it?" No. That's pretty much reserved for us addicts. If everything goes as planned I will be going to the addiction recovery program that the church has. I just don't know what else to do. I am proud of myself for exercising, though. It's a hard thing to get out and to have to take my kids to the kids club at the gym, too.

Also, in January, we cleaned the church one Saturday, Kannon worked overtime and also a few days in Mammoth, and Benjamin started Fallon Youth Basketball. I'm glad it's only for a few months. These youth sports stress me out. Each coach is different, so when you get to the games they are always a bit chaotic and frustrating. These basketball games, for this age group, are reffed by the coaches. Ben mostly enjoys it and I keep hoping his maturity in playing with others will increase.

Ben, with the ball.

The other big deal in January was the change of Ben's class. He was transferred to a different class. One day, out of the blue (it was a Thursday) Ben's principal called me. He let me know that the teacher had pulled Ben's hair on Tuesday. One of Ben's friends/classmates had told the principal. He had been sitting on the floor near the teacher, with other classmates. He doesn't know why, but she pulled his hair hard enough to make his head yank over and bump the table where she was sitting. And that was it. He said some of his friends giggled, but nothing was ever said. Not to him, not to me. I talked to the principal again on Friday and requested that he be moved to a different class. He's doing okay in this new class. For him it's almost like starting a new school year. He's already had some issues with his temper and being responsible. His new teacher called me just last week because he was having such a poor attitude. It made me cry. I don't know why he's like that and I don't know what to do about it? And it's embarrassing. My children's behavior is a direct reference to my parenting and apparently I'm not doing the right things with them. He ended up missing his Valentine's party and was grounded from the wii and all other games for the week. He had a good report on Friday and hopefully it will just get better. She's a great teacher. As for his old teacher, I'm a little surprised that she never told me about it, talked to him or me about it, and never apologized. I'm waiting to hear the results of what happened. I know that there was to be a meeting with her, the principal, and her union rep. The Child Protective Services are also involved and came by to a get a detailed report from Ben, too. I don't know what the result was of all that, yet.