some kid funnies

This is a game Sarah likes to play:

Sarah - Where's your smile, Mama? (so I smile and she smiles back)

Ben, where's your smile? (he smiles)

Dada's smile is at work.

Ben - No he doesn't! (he heard Dad smiles at work)

She also often comes to me with "a surpresent for you". I figure it's a surprise present. She might have anything from sticks, to clean hands, to the diaper I asked her to go get - hidden behind her back. It always makes me smile.

Ben's just too smart sometimes. He was talking to Sarah in the car about stop and go.

Ben: g-o-e, that spells go

Me: Actually it's just g-o

Ben: Well, what does j-o-e spell?

Me: That spells Joe.

Ben: They rhyme, so it should be g-o-e.

Me: I don't know, Ben.

I have a hard time explaining a lot of stuff about spelling to him - some of it just doesn't make sense!

This afternoon, as I was on the computer, my kids were quiet in the other room. I knew Sarah had been asleep, but then I heard kids out front. My kids get in trouble often for being in the front yard - I just don't feel safe when they're out there. So I went to check on them and ask why they were out there. This is what I found. Sarah had fallen asleep on the couch with a pillow as a blanket. I guess Ben liked the idea and so he joined her - he has just his feet sticking out. This is how they sleep at night, too. She covers up pretty normal - but Ben sleeps with his head covered and his feet out. He heard me taking this picture and got up, so it was a short nap. Oh, well. I think Sarah is going to be weaning away from her naps as well. Some days it's such a fight.

we had a food fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihgt
(from Ben - he said "I've been planning that forever - well, not forever, just like a day. But, I had to wait until you were doing a blog.")

Baby update

So, my sister said she hasn't heard much from me about this pregnancy. I guess I just felt like as long as everything was okay, there wasn't much to say! Plus, I've been more nervous this time around. I'm just now starting to feel okay about having another baby and going through the whole birth thing. I really did need the whole 9+ months. Let's see - I'm big and uncomfortable. I've been going to the chiropractor regularly, to keep my back from hurting too much. But, a few weeks ago he told me not to come back until after the birth. Ugh - I hurt pretty good every night now. I think some of that may be the sciatic nerve. I've never had a problem with that before, but I think that's what I'm feeling. I get tired in the afternoons. Sometimes I take a nap with Sarah - but I often get interrupted or feel like I have more important things to do. I also just don't have the energy to do much. The kids want to go to the park, EVERY DAY! I managed it last week for an hour and came home exhausted. I didn't do anything but push the swings! Since we don't know what we're having, I can't use that as a help on when this baby might be born (ie. Ben was 2 weeks early, Sarah induced 6 days late). So, I've given myself a 2-5 week window. Today, I found out that my doctor will be in Bangladesh during that time! So, unless the baby is born next week, or I go over my due date, we will have a different doctor for delivery. That's got me a little upset. I mean he's delivered both of my other kids and I've been working with him this whole time. What's a girl to do? I think he should have been required to file his vacation a year in advance, that way when someone wants him to be their doctor he can let them know he won't be around for the delivery and they can choose to find someone else. Aargh. Today was also my first vaginal exam of these last weeks. The baby is no longer breech - Yay! But, no news as to being closer to a delivery. So, pretty sure next week will not produce the baby! I made a list - finally - of all the things I needed to do before the baby is born. Then, I quit worrying and wouldn't you know it, I lost said list! I don't remember what was on it - don't even get the satisfaction of checking off what I might have already accomplished. My right foot swells every day. It's getting a little worse every day. At least it doesn't hurt, just looks gross. The baby moves a lot. Hiccups, too. Some times the pushes hurt and I spontaneously jump. I've also had Braxton Hicks contractions. I don't remember them with Sarah, but for sure with Ben. I still feel like it's a girl, but some things make me wonder if it's a boy. I'm really excited for this surprise! I also don't really have much to wear - scary, huh? I have one pair of capris and one pair of jeans and my mom made a skirt and a dress, plus the skirt from last pregnancy and a dress I bought. So, I do wear dresses and skirts quite often. They are pretty comfortable, too. That's mostly what I can think to say about everything right now. Leave a comment if you have any questions! Or if you want to come and clean my floors! =)

Life....as it's been.

I feel a little past due for updating. I keep putting it off, who knows why? Anyway, our last couple of weeks have been fairly full. We spent 2 weekends in Elko. Kannon had volunteered his labor to repair some damage done by a broken water heater at his mom's. We figured it would take more than one weekend. At the end of our 2 weekends it still wasn't finished. I'm sure he'll be up there again as soon as he can.

The 15th-17th was our first weekend. On Friday the cousins got to spend the day together. Stetson built a fire (without the flame) following the instructions he got on the grandma vacation. Then they decided they needed marshmallows. They each had a plastic fork, and Kate was in charge of doling out the mallows. I thought it looked like great fun!

Kate and Sarah playing with the dandelions. Kate tried to make a necklace.

That night Kannon and I went on a double date with his brother J.J. and his fiance, Misty. We went out for dinner and I enjoyed visiting and getting to know her better. This will be JJ's second marriage (Misty's too). And he will inherit 3 children! On Saturday morning I went to one of the Elko parks and met up with Misty and her kids. Sasha joined us shortly with her kids, too. We got to visit some more while the kids played. Misty's kids are the same age as mine (a boy Ben's age and a girl Sarah's age. Gabby kept saying Sarah was her best friend. They actually played together very well!) That evening was Misty's baptism. It was so neat. I love convert baptisms. I try to imagine that feeling of newness and peace in having chosen what the Lord wants.

Kreg (Kannon's brother), Misty and JJ.

That week we had our last day of school with the boys. We did the letter Z - made paper bag zebras and zebra cookies. I think they all just enjoyed playing together more than anything.

We went to Elko again on the 23-25th (Memorial Day weekend). We got there Friday night and I got up early Saturday (3:40 am!) to drive to SLC. I wanted to spend the day with my sisters, Janet and Susan (who was also visiting). I hadn't slept very well, so got up during one moment when I was pretty awake. Staying awake on the drive was tough. I stopped in Tooele for hashbrowns and a Dr. Pepper! Nice breakfast, eh? That would be called "the breakfast of people trying to stay awake"! I had had my fill of jellybeans and gobstoppers and my water was all gone (another reason I had to stop!) I got to Janet's in time to go with her to a Mary Kay "thing". We had a good time, got to visit and put on makeup. Then back to her house for yummy pizza and a nap for me. We went to the Distribution Center for new garments and met the boys (Levi and Stephen) at the Peace Gardens. It was an enjoyable walk - but I was having Braxton Hicks contractions the whole time! No pictures of my day there, I had to leave the camera for remodeling pictures at the in-laws. We had taco soup for dinner and then I had to leave. I listened to a book on cd the whole way there and back (and all the way home on Monday, too.) That helped me stay awake. Stayed up to watch "Taken" when I got to Elko. I didn't enjoy it very much. But, slept better that night. We had a relaxing Sunday - no remodeling, but the boys decided to play some basketball - some of it in the rain!

Kreg, the one with the broken hand, won! He got injured the weekend before in a motorcycle accident. We were all grateful it wasn't worse and hope he learned some lessons from the experience.

This is another Nevada sunset. I just love what the rain does for the sky and the smells of Nevada! It was beautiful, but also cold. I was shivering when I went back in after taking their pictures!

We left Monday after a quick lunch. I drove the whole way (without stopping). Kannon and Sarah slept the whole way, Ben about 1/2 and then he watched a movie. We had met in Fernley and left his car there, on Friday. So, that's where we drove to. Sarah and I went home; Kannon and Ben took his car to Reno. A few weeks before, Kannon had won tickets in a raffle at the Union to go to a Reno Aces game. Box seats. They had a good time, although by the 5th inning Benjamin said he was done. He did enjoy the fireworks at the end, though. And the Aces won - so that was a plus.

Sarah and I had pizza and ice cream for our dinner and I enjoyed the quiet evening alone (after she was in bed).

We've got our garden planted. I'll have to do pictures of that later. We planted the seeds one night and then this last Saturday I bought the plants we wanted and we put those in that evening. We've enjoyed rain the last 3 nights and hope that it will be beneficial to our garden and the crops in our valley. I've loved the rain. Loved that I can turn off the cooler and just open the front door to keep the house cool. Love the smells and the overcast skies.

Last week, Kannon was asked to work some overtime. He had some late nights and even worked on Saturday. Because he just finished teaching a class at the Union and is going to be teaching another one starting next week, I felt like we needed to PLAN some family time. So that the kids would have things to look forward to and Kannon's time at home wouldn't all be taken up in projects. So, the first thing on our list was a food fight! A couple of times, at dinner, Kannon has tossed a piece of food at me to see if he can "make a basket." Ben always wants to follow suit and throw food, too. So, a long time ago we promised we would have a food fight - outside and planned so that Mom could deal with it.

This was actually before the food fight. I made mashed potatoes, ramen noodles, peas, corn, and applesauce. I forgot the jello in the fridge. Anyway, Sarah and Ben were pretty messy eaters!

All of a sudden I threw a spoonful of corn at Kannon and the fight was on. We all loved throwing the food, no one really enjoyed getting the food on them.

This was Ben's first bit of mess. He wasn't too pleased. Sarah fussed the whole time!

We did laugh a lot though and it was pretty easy clean-up. I ended up getting a spoonful of peas right down my front! (courtesy of Kannon, of course.) So, I spent the rest of the time holding my shirt like this.

We've also got a swim day planned and as soon as there is a movie we all want to see, we'll do that, too. I think we'll have to do a few more plans like this throughout the summer to make sure we are spending good time together.

Benjamin also finished his kindergarten work for the year and I say he's officially a 1st grader now. He'll tell you that he already did first grade - because he's been doing 1st grade work. We've got things in the works for him to go to school this next year. Homeschooling has been hard on me. He doesn't want to listen to me, wants to do it all his own way. I just don't feel like it's as disciplined as it needs to be. Plus, he definitely needs the social part that public school can give him. We start shots next week.=(

We also had a photo shoot for the kids this week. I've been putting it off for months! Maybe even almost a year. I knew that Sarah would be tough. She just doesn't always agree to pose. And they both do goofy faces when you tell them to smile. Well, we finally did it - and I don't think it went too badly. She didn't hold still often, but I think there will be some good ones to pick from. And Ben had the same posed smile over and over again! We borrowed my neighbors beautiful backyard and I'm excited to get them done! The roses were (are) in bloom and made a nice backdrop for some. Yesterday, when I opened my front door I could actually smell the roses. I didn't even have to go out and sniff each individual one! We have red and yellow ones blooming out front. I'll have to do some pictures of those later, too.

And so, we are pretty much updated. I have a doctor's appt. in a few days and I will update then on how the pregnancy is going. It's hard for me to believe that in 2-5 weeks I will have a new baby! I'm still pretty nervous about the whole labor part! It's hard not knowing how it will go.

Mother's Day 2009

I had a really great day - I didn't yell or feel frustrated once!

I got pretty pampered, too. Kannon got up with the kids, and had breakfast of cereal on the table. I prefer that to breakfast in bed. It's just too hard to eat in bed and then I end up all alone, no fun. While I was brushing my teeth, Benjamin brought me this strawberry. It's the only one that has grown, so far, on our 6 little bushes. He'd been asking for days if he could pick it and eat it. I told him on Saturday that I was going to eat the first strawberry. It touched my heart to have him offer it to me. It was good, too.

Kannon got the kids ready for church before his meeting and even came back to pick us up. My mom made me a maternity dress - I picked out the material and pattern, but she's a much better seamstress than I will ever be. Plus, she enjoys doing it. She had enough extra material left over that she decided to make a matching one for Sarah. I thought it was fun to have that for Mother's Day. It wasn't pink, but she liked it enough to wear it all day!


After church, Kannon made lunch - sandwiches with meat, lettuce, tomatoes. My favorite kind, just always more work than I want to do. He wouldn't even let me clean up! He then sent me off for a nap and took the kids to their room for awhile, so things would be quiet. Everyone ended up napping, yay! I got up first and was able to make soup for dinner without any interruptions. Another yay! I even had a mostly uninterrupted card-making time. Sarah joined me when I was almost done and made a card for Papa. I think that surprised him.

We had a potluck dinner at my mom's house. My Uncle John and Aunt Mary were there, also my brother Nate and Jackie and my sister Susan and Stephen. Dinner was good - my chicken rice soup was a hit, then came dessert. I knew my mom had made something and Mary brought creme puffs, so when Kannon plopped an ice cream cake from Cold Stone in front of me, I was surprised. I love their ice cream cakes and they are definitely a rare treat. That was my gift from him. We still have half in the freezer - I'm hitting it tonight!

Uncle Stephen and Aunt Jackie are some of the kids favorite playmates. They actually spent a few hours outside with the kids on Sunday.

Ben took pictures of everyone, but I thought that might bore you all. This one, though, is a keeper. My mom wears my dad's old work glasses when she hasn't put her contacts in - for driving or watching tv. Sarah found them and had to try them on. Classic!

And Ben had to have a turn, too. It kind of reminds me of the 80's - my brother had glasses kind of like this! And everyone's glasses were too big for their faces. I've got some scary pictures of me like that, too!

It was a good day. I felt super relaxed and then Monday came. Back to the old grind stone. I asked Ben why he was so good to me the day before but not the next day. He made sure I understood that that was just because it had been mother's day. I guess it would be nice to have his mother's day attitude all year!

I've promised him a "Kid's Day" in August. We'll have to come up with something fun and exciting for them. I know my mom used to do half birthdays for us. And that was always a special day - we got to pick out our favorite dinner. And a treat at the store - usually after some alone time with mom. And we were just treated extra special that day. I wish I thought more to treat my children as special as they are, more often.

What we've been up to.....

For all the days I am a cranky, pregnant momma, I've had quite a few fun experiences with the kids and enjoyed their antics as well. We did the annual Teddy Bear Tea on the first weekend of May. Ben had to throw his bear together quickly. Grandma was coming early to pick him up for his annual Grandma vacation. This is what he came up with for the "bear that most represents a holiday". I thought it was a cute idea. He didn't win, though. And we weren't able to stick around long enough, at the tea, to see who did win.

This is the bear I entered for Sarah - "papa bear". And we won! I don't think there were any other entries for this category, so it wasn't much of a competition. I don't care, though. We won movie tickets! We'll have to use them before the baby is born.

So, Sarah and I had a few days while Ben was with his Grandma and cousins. The last 2 years she has taken the 3 older grandchildren on a vacation - Lagoon and such. This year she took them on a survival campout. They had a good time. And we got to enjoy Kannon's parents for the weekend when they brought Ben back. We always like going to yard sales (although this time I stayed home alone - that was nice) with them and they took us out for lunch, too. Next month she is taking the younger cousins (with Sarah) to the Wilbur D. Mays park and museum in Reno - with a night in the hotel with her. I think Sarah is going to really like that. And Ben is already anticipating our time together. The only really different thing Sarah and I did was to go out for lunch together and spend some time at the park (which I havent' done lately.)

We've been working on our yard/garden. Trying to get a garden planted. Kannon wants to set up a watering line and we're waiting on getting the money to buy some plants, too.

I took the kids to the school on Saturday. We live just a block from one of the elementary schools. I just haven't felt like loading up to go to the park, and I especially don't feel like walking all the way there (even though it's not that far). So, after they begged to go to the park all week, I finally gave in and we went to the school playground. I was hot and I didn't like the sand in my shoes, but we stayed for almost an hour.

This is my old 5th grade classroom. This is where I was when we moved back to Fallon. My teacher was retiring - we were Mr. Cunningham's last class. He was tough. I told the counselor that I liked homework, so she put me in this class. It was the first time I got a C and the first time I forgot to finish some homework. I still remember the shame. (I had a dream last night that I found my locker in the high school, but couldn't remember my combination. When I finally figured it out, I realized that I hadn't been to class in months! And I was going to fail! It was awful.) Anyway, I have good memories, too. That was when I met my first "love". Learned how much I liked soccer. I remember playing double dutch right next to this wall - and 4-square. Lining up after recess. Even the bathrooms and lunchroom are still in my memory. Some of my friends went to school here for 4 years - I just had the one year, but it was important, and I enjoyed the nostalgia of walking around here again.

They have this one fun part on the playground. Ben calls it the "ninja course". It has these bell "phones". One on each side and he and Sarah enjoyed talking to each other through them.

Later that day, Ben was playing in the water -I can't seem to keep him out of it. (As we speak he is soaking his pants in the sprinkler.) They decided the needed swim suits. Sarah didn't really want to get wet (it wasn't THAT hot). But, Ben enjoyed getting her wet. So, I turned the water on him. That was enough. Every day, though, he gets in some kind of trouble with the water. Yesterday he was digging a hole in the lawn, using the water sprayer, and got mud splattered all over Sarah. She even had mud in her hair.

So, some of the things they've said lately have been great - again!

• I asked Sarah to come to me (I was on the couch). She walked over with her head down, hair in her eyes and said, "Yes stepmudder?"
• On Sunday, the primary kids headed to the front to sing songs. Sarah jumped in with them before we could catch her. She went straight to the podium looking for the stool. The Bishop finally pulled it out for her and she stood "singing" with the rest of the kids. When they came back she walked right up to me and said, "I love you Mudder." Gave me a hug, then one for Dad and Ben, too.
• My mother's day card from Ben read: "I don't care if you are meen. I love you so so so so so so so much. I love you." That made me laugh and cry.
• Today I heard him talking to Sarah. He told her she had a baby in her belly. That it was just an egg right now, but when she gets married it will hatch and start to grow. !!!!!!!! I guess I haven't taught that one too well. I don't really care right now, unless she gets scared.