Where have I been?

Okay - so I'm trying to clean out some clutter in my house. Not very effective, I feel like I'm spending more time on the computer and maintenance cleaning than making a dent in anything. Plus my professional uncleaners will be home soon to do their life's ambition...So I'm not going to be long today, just a quick Howie-ism....

Me: Howie, I told you to STOP playing with the Christmas Ornaments!
Howie: Well, they're MINE!
Me: *I* bought them, they're mine, I just put your name on them, and they're not toys, so stop playing with them
Howie: Well, you're not the boss of me
Me: Yes, I am, I'm your mom that makes me the boss.
Howie: No you're not because you have a mom and she's in charge
Me: ....MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! HOWIE'S BEING MEAN TO ME!!!
The tree is collossal.

King for the Day may be over-indulged?

SOOO Howie's birthday was yesterday "King for the day" - he woke me up at 6:30 and asks me if he can have a bowl of ice cream. I said no, cause frankly, the only ice cream we have is MY SPECIAL "kids can't possibly appreciate THIS ice cream" ice cream. Then he reminded me that it was his birthday. SO I had to say YES - but I didn't give him a big bowl.

Then after the other kids got off to school, I told him he was the boss & asked him what he wanted to do today. He made me clean his room up. Then he wanted a candy bar. Then we had to go to the dentist (not his choice) they found a cavity (I'm not going to fill it cause - well, the baby tooth'll be gone in a matter of months anyway). After the dentist, he wanted an ice cream sundae. We went to McDonalds. It was about lunch time so I asked if he wanted to have lunch w/ his dad. YUP. So we went to Ross' work and he took us to lunch at the Macaroni Grill. Howie ordered a Pizza, didn't touch it, but then afterwords the ice cream sundae came & he sucked that down - and since he managed to tell the waiter that it was his birthday, too, the waiter came over, sang "happy birthday" in Italian and gave him a slice of cake w/ fudge on it & a candle. Howie ate it.

Then we had to go to walmart to set up his birthday - (his words) we got all sorts of party favors, (which I'm going to return since he's forgotten about them) and I snuck in a few birthday presents. On the way out, he asked for a slurpie. Yup, got him one. Then we came home, he played w/ the kids for a little while, and Ross came home from work. On their birthday's they get to pick the dinner for everyone. - ONE GUESS as to what Howie wanted for dinner. Yup, my ice cream. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it. So we went to talked him into a burrito...went to Taco Bell & got the goods, brought it home, the kids ate, and we snuck back out to "preview" Harry Potter (any pg13, we have to watch before we decide if the kids can see, and since we told Rossi that if he read the book, he could see the flick, that was before we knew it was 13...anyway, we had to preview it) We got home at 12:40a.m. Rossi was the only one awake. (Kali had fallen asleep before we got back w/ the taco bell, so we didn't have his cake, cause we didn't want to do the "party" without her, but we did open presents) anyway - I went in to check on all my little angels, Kiersten & Kali were sleeping like two pretzels - arm over leg over face over hand over foot, and I went in to see Howie...Walked into a room that absolutely REEKED of vomit. He apparently fell asleep & puked in his sleep. Cause never once even since he was an infant when he's thrown up has he ever gone anywhere but in a puke bucket or the toilet - he will hold it in....anyway - PUKE everywhere. and he was SLEEPING IN IT. We of course had to yank him out to put him in the bath, strip the sheets, wash his hair, etc....his hand was PRUNY from sitting in puke. HOW FRIKKIN GROSS IS THAT?!! Anyway - he got all cleaned up & went back to bed. Apparently all that junk he ate today didn't want to hang out in his little guts. Anyway - we went to bed at 2:30a.m.

Random thoughts

I've been sick the last few days - bed ridden, ill...yucky.

YES. I feel lots and lots better, although I did just climb out of bed again for the day - (which was the case yesterday at 5:45p.m.) apparently it's just what I needed. I still have the sweats - but I never got the pukes or the trots....so I guess I can't complain - My head's still spinning and I can feel crap in my lungs. I wonder, don't you, about the flu....does it ever realy leave your body - you know like mono - you get it and it sort of goes into hybernation. Is the flu like that - I mean - where did it start? Did Adam give it to Eve? and then after that, did Noah bring it onto the ark? Did Ham give it to his mom? I don't get it...did you ever think about that? And if everyone who doesn't have it were sent to a tropical island where it didn't exist, when everyone on the earth was finished having it and had since been sent to the tropical island, could we all go back home & never get it again? Seems like a quite simple solution, don't ya think? Didja ever think a that? well, didja didja? Well, now you can.

And know what else has been crossing my mostly empty head the past few days....why are sterriods such a big deal w/ baseball players, it doesn't make them better, it's all hand/eye coordination - I mean - honestly, do they check golf players for sterriods? Is Tiger Woods on sterroids? and how in the world would that help him? And did you notice that the words "world" and "would" there is only one letter difference. And is there a word when you keep saying a word over and over and over and over and over and over again until that word doesn't sound like a real word again, or if you type it over and over and over and over and over again, until it doesn't look like a real word, like the word "over" see where I'm going....right, absolutely no where.

Yes, I am back. and I have to clean the bathroom, it smells like pee, because Howie is aim-impaired. I also have to do the dishes, apparently no one knows how to do dishes in the house - 'cept me and there are no dishes, they've been using paper, which reminds me, I have to take the garbage out, too....

Okay - honestly (isn't that silent "h" interesting, you don't really need it, but we use it, cause well, "h" just isn't used enough, but when it is used, it's usually silent, like in "ghost" or "knife" - wait, that's a K - that's not so silent, neither is Brynn, off I goto feed her. - goto should be one word, like onto or into or unto or duku, wait, that's star wars...) oh - back to my "honestly" comment (I know how you get when I don't finish a thought) Ross was a huge help when I was ill-ridden - he took yesterday and today off work while I lay lifeless in bed - he only brought Brynn to me when she wanted a sucker and made the kids stay quiet, not only that - I think I may fake sick the rest of the week, for the benefit of the kids - cause they're really being big helps, well, they're not really doing the dishes (evident) but they're doing homework and not fighting - which dang, warm fuzzies, huh?!

Okay - I'm off - before I go onto another tangent.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe....

she had so many kids she didn't know what to do.


The kids had become expert un-cleaners and fully expected that one day they would be able to make money from their core talent.


Mother worked hard to tear down their very natures and break their spirits, but she had not prevailed and was at her wits end.

Sure, she liked to clean up after them just as much as the next person, but she also enjoyed clubbing herself silly. (oh, and...not one word of that sentence speaks truth, as IF!)

One day, Mother was doing laundry when she saw that the uncleaners, at their attempt of dispelling any bad media before it got to the father-in-the-shoe, had cleaned the wrong items. It appeared as though the very items she had watched in the washing machine the day before AND subsiquently folded were in there again. Was she having deja vu? NO.

SO she re-watched those items that she pulled out of the perpetually full laundry hamper go round & round, folded them again, then snuck them in a carefully hidden empty stroller box (refer to the short post dated November 2nd)

After 3 days of laundry, the children started noticing how clean their rooms were getting and strangely two of them had the audacity to credit themselves for doing it.

This morning the professional un-cleaners called upon Mother-in-the-shoe to let them know that she needed to buy them more underware. Mother in the shoe got up, went in their room and proceeded to order them different items of interest to pick up (maybe the underware was hidden in a pile?) (this was a fairly un-rushed thing since the professional un-cleaners are also professional un-sleepers and were up at 5 in the morning looking for underware....now I know this is a slight tangent from the story, however, it should be noted that it is highly unusual for anyone to wake up at 5 in the morning and suddenly note that their group of size 16 underware surplus has diminished to ONE size 10 ripped, grey and slightly streak-stained if-ya-know-what-I-mean. Is that what YOU think of at 5 a.m.?)

Mother-in-the-shoe had already anticipated the un-cleaner's noted loss of properly sized tighty whitey's and carefully placed the older grey and slightly streak-stained ones in their place. In the rush of ordering the master un-cleaner around, the little minnion un-cleaners were brought out of their caves of wonder to come to the rescue of the now slightly higher-pitched voice of the master un-cleaner. A minnion un-cleaner noticed that she had no clean socks, another minnion uncleaner noticed there was no shoes. Luckily, Mother-in-the-shoe had already planned a way in which these youngsters could revive their dead articles of clothing by adding other chores, and thus started the morning of the sweat-shop-in-the-shoe.

Un-cleaners went to school...and mother-in-the-shoe went back to bed with a clean, quiet shoe.

Insomnia?

I got up this morning at 3 (to give Brynn a sucker) - and couldnt go back to sleep, too many things I wanted to get done & kept telling myself, "if you're not tired, get up & mop the floor" but then I argued back "If you get up and mop the floor, then you won't be able to fall back to sleep" in cross examination, I thought "Idiot, you can't fall asleep, so what are you complaining about not mopping cause you won't fall back to sleep?" and then I said "Can't we both just get along?" so there I tossed around in bed fighting with myself until 6:00 when Kali came in from a nightmare & wanted to sleep with me, so I let her lay down until I kicked her out of bed at 6:45 cause she was an egg beater & I couldn't sleep w/ her in there, so after she got out of bed, I fell back to sleep and woke up at 7:15 when Kiersten came in to tell me the sam-mich bags were gone - which is bizzaar cause it was full yesterday - so I went storming about the castle asking who took them - come to find out - Kali & Howie decided to make water balloons out of the ziplock sandwich bags & they popped them all in the bathtub. So we had to wrap the sam-miches up with tin foil. Then I made the kids brush their teeth...I know, cruel beeeotch. Not only that, I made Rossi pick up his jamma's off the floor of the bathroom - man, I'm a slave driver...and now I can't go back to sleep - I'm tired, I tried to lay back down, and there's just too much to do today, I have to make the dinners (I'm doing chicken divan - I should make flavorless spaghetti & cottage cheese with too little red sauce in it, but I'm bigger than that) but the cool thing is I get to use my new ricer. YAY!

A new ricer? What? Did Heidi get herself a kitchen treat? YES SHE DID, why? What happened to your ricer? Nothing, it works fine, I got it fer a weddin' gift but it only makes 3 cups, and my kids eat more than that, not only that, if I'm cooking for everyone in the city, then I need more than 3 cups. Yep, while I was on my spending spree, I also bought a 4 slice toaster....Why? what happened to the black&decker you got for your wedding? Nothing, but it only cooks 2 slices at a time and, well, I have 5 kids...4 of them have teeth & actually eat toast fresh from the toaster. So now I have a toaster, a ricer & a toaster & a ricer. SO should I sell the fine "smaller" ones on e-bay or should I just give them away? I'll give it to the DI. I hate giving things away to "no one" I mean, I can't, I should just keep them until my kids get married, then they can have sentimental value for their kids - is a toaster an heirloom?

Another blah blah blog

Something's the matter w/ this blog right now, I have tried to type this several times and it keeps hanging up on me. I'm going to try again, but who knows I'll finish writing all my feelings and thoughts and it won't publish OR it will and then I'll have a bunch of stuff in there that I didn't want to say, but when I try to delete it, it will hang up & be stuck on nosey-siber space forever. So I have to say, in good conscience that Halloween candy is not good for my butt. I need a major colon cleansing. And I am GASSY - talk about hot air! I think it's the chocolate. Anyway - I'm actually getting used to the smell. It's not as bad - poor Ross thinks something's wrong with the dog, I haven't the heart to tell him otherwise. I have to keep the dutch oven from him, if you know what I'm talkin' bout.

And for some crazy reason I want to know what's wrong w/ Brynn. I'm sure it's an altitude problem, but it could be the chocolate?

Ross is hating the corporate life, and he's really excited about starting up a new business. We were thinking of moving it to Idaho, but we like it here so much, and we have several friends w/ their own businesses, he's going to pick their brains to see what kinds of services small businesses could use and benefit from a money control freak. Hopefully that'll pan out. He's really not happy with his boss or his commute.

Well, I have to go make a grumpy...I'm tellin' ya, it's working over time.

Why are the kids so different?

So, last night Ross & I were sitting by the pool side reliving the day and discussing options for our future happiness. Howie & Ross came out- who knows why, they were supposed to be in bed, but Rossi was wanting to relive his rose pedal discovery, we were looking in the pool and a butterfly landed on the water and obviously got stuck. Flopped his wings around and was ready to die, when Howie asked that we fish it out....so we did - we put it on the patio table and Howie wanted to put him in a pickle jar. Of course, we explained that his family was missing him and he needed to go home. We went inside and the butterfly flew off.

This morning we looked out the window and the butterfly was on the screen. I told Howie that the butterfly came back to tell him "hi" and thank him for getting him out of the pool. SO Howie came running over waving hello to the butterfly with his hand. He wanted to know if the butterfly could smell his popcorn (just freshly made) - (which, I must mention, he said I was "wasting" on the previews of Alice in Wonderland - I should have waited until the movie actually started before diving in.) And I went on to explain to him that no, butterflies don't really have noses, they have more like a straw called a "probascus" and he said "Straw? Man, I need a juice box."

You know when Rossi was 4 he was teaching ME about the bees & the butterflies & their probascus' Howie has NO interest. Just give him his popcorn & a movie & he'll be good.

My tricks will return bite me one of these days....

I'm well aware of it, hopefully by the time the kids realize they can"get me back" I'll be too old & fragile.

Meanwhile, a large rock fell into the bottom of the pool, the net was unable to pull it out. Kiersten put her swim suit on, she was willing to rough the 70 degree water (I know tears & chills from the Idaho group - but here, that thar's cold) all for the good of keeping the pool clean. Well, while she was getting her suit on, I pulled a smooth move & with one sweep, the net popped the rock up & caught it - so thankyouverymuch. (So my brave daughter didn't have to dive into the icy cold water).

I sat down out there & decided to check on the vacuum, it swalla'd a rock. Right about then, Rossi came over & bent over - put his hind-end right in my face as he was looking into the deep end trying to figure out what "that white thing" was...I told him to take a closer look & gently patted his hind end with my foot. He got a closer look.

It was a white rose pedal. (insert "snidley the dog" laugh here - kee kee kee kee keee)

Brynn's poopy

I don't just say that because it doesn't happen very often, it's just what's on my mind at this juncture. I woke up at 4:40 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep - and for whatever reason I feel more able to sleep when all the kids are at home bouncing off the walls instead of when they're laying soundly in their own beds is BEYOND me, but alas, I feel like a nap is iminent.

So Butch e-mailed this morning, wants Aaron's phone number...so without hesitation I sent it back to him, he checked back w/ me to make sure that was the right number, I double checked - it was - but I sent him 2 other numbers just in case, wow, something must be pressing for dad to make sure that he got the information right...Well, as I'm checking Howie out of school, I realized that it's Aaron's birthday, Guess I finally caught on, eh?

THEN - I'm so excited, I feel like THIS is *IT* Dad just agreed to let Steve conduct his oratorio here in Phoenix. I think the place is right, I think the timing is right, I KNOW the music is right, I think this may be the "big start" we've expected and we've been waiting for. Steve is beyond excited. At first - just at the split second I told him we'd like him to do it - I thought he was excited because he got a job...but seconds after he did his "yippee" squeal, he mentioned that he was on a huge spiritual high. I'm so excited about this, I can't even express it! Hopefully we can get a "big name" singer to sing the tenor solos!

Anyway - Brynn needs my suckers and THEN I'm going to take a nap.

I really need to get rid of EVERYTHING

Dang - I can't believe how much "stuff" we have - I was thinking I should get some moving boxes & stuff them full of things that we don't use EVER. I don't know why we keep old USED clothes that don't fit the kids any more. There's no reason for it. I've got a big empty stroller box sitting in my room. What am I going to do with it? use it as an end table? I think not. I'm moving my scrap book stuff into the front bedroom. Yep, the clutter's getting to me. Better get moving while Brynn's not crying.

Halloween

I kept threatening the kids to have their rooms cleaned by 6 or they would not go trick or treating. The girls did a great job, the boys fought. I'm at my wits end as to how to keep these guys' rooms clean! Anyway - by 6 everything was clean, so they got dressed & went out. They got a pile of candy, this picture was taken at the midway point...it's hard to understand how much junk there really is there, but there are several "full size" candy bars there, too. Anyway - I sort them into categories, not sure if it's because I'm anal or if I just want to separate the chocolate out? Anyway - I ended up with 3 rubbermaid shoe boxes full of chocolate and one of suckers, one of what I call chewables (which would consist of things like licorice, skittles or taffy) one of tootsie rolls, - WHO EATS THOSE? no one, they're not real chocolate and they're a sad attempt at candy...one of straight sugar (smarties, pixie stix) and one of hard candy. That usually lasts until the next halloween (giving the kids their choice of junk when they are good or for a special treat) - I let the kids fill up a ziplock baggie of whatever they wanted as long as they could zip it.

Okay - so it's "trick *OR* treat", right? So I handed out tricks - toothbrushes! Everyone got one and I ended up w/ 4 toothbrushes left - so 68 kids got tooth brushes last night. One kid got a little bugged that I didn't give him candy - he was a cocky 10 year old, maybe? and he stepped into the house & saw the pile of candy on the floor and asked "what about that candy" I caught myself before I told him it was my kids' and instead told him that was the candy I took from greedy little kids who didn't appreciate tooth brushes.... then I heard his dad reprimand him on the way out - okay honestly - is halloween a night to "teach" children maners? Seriously...they're begging door to door for candy...and when they don't get it....I'm not sure they would normally know how to act. There were a few older kids that were really excited about it....then I went to get the mail....after the trick or treating was over....and there was a TOOTHBRUSH on the top of the box - sheesh....maybe they already had one?

Church day.

Went to church today. Rossi stayed home sick. About 5 minutes into sacrament meeting Kiersten decided she was sick, as well, so I brought her home. We finished up church and then came back home to find the kids out cold sleeping, turns out they weren't faking it! They both have fevers and "fought" over bath time! As one got out, the other got in and they kept it going like that!

Kiersten blew chunks in her bed so I am washing her bedding now. Ross said he'd fold laundry as long as I kept the baskets full, so I'm working in a frenzy. I hate to do it on Sunday, but I didn't do it all week, it was a "catch up" week and laundry just didn't need to be caught apparently! So I took advantage of all the help I could get, did 8 loads! (and counting, haven't done Kiersten's bedding yet)

Everyone's in bed now. Brynn's awake, Ross is talking with his parents. He does every sunday. I don't talk to mine much, unless I make it a point to call them, and at that dad's watching TV and mom's always going "somewhere" so I don't share too much of anything with either of them. I do get to talk to my in-laws and that gives me the "parental supervision" I crave from time to time.

We did get to read BOM tonight - we missed out on Friday night (up late with Halloween party & my headache) and last night just got busy - I hate missing it, we read quite a bit tonight. Just getting to more of the exciting story parts of the Book of Mormon. Hopefully Kiersten will start to get more excited about it, too!

Still trying to catch up...

Well, today I got up & made breakfast - SHOWERED, got all fixed up while Ross & Rossi mowed lawns & "pertied" up the exterior house, then we went to go see the new Work and the Glory movie. It sure brings appreciation to Joseph Smith and the early saints and the sacrafices they made for strengthening the church.

We went to Home depot & Ross got a new lawn mower. Kali thinks he got a new one cause the old one was dirty - truth be told...it's just falling apart!

Kiersten went to a Halloween party, she quite enjoyed that. Ross went and test drove some cars - found out he didn't fit into the newer Honda Accord, and is in love with a Mercedes Compresser. It's a pretty nice car, except it's a little spendy for a CAR.

Church Halloween Party

So tonight was the ward halloween party - it's a busy day getting everything ready and make sure the kids aren't neglected w/ their costumes. I got some 1/2 price costumes at JoAnns this evening - here's a cute little picture of the nippers. Rossi was the devil, Kiersten was an angel w/ a wand, Kali was Cinderella, Howie is a pirate and Ross is the "pig" daddy.

I still have a headache, so after running around all day long picking up donuts (Ross' donut on a string "booth" for EQ) and making carmel apples for the winner of the donut competition and getting costumes, food, etc, Brynn & I layed low on the dressing up part of the night! Ross gave me a massage & helped the headache go away for a little while anyway! He's a good husband. I sure lucked out in that department.

All better....so far?

Well, when I got up yesterday, I was feeding Brynn and flipping channels, saw a Denise Austin work out show on - and was kind of glad, cause then I could have a little variety in my working-out (not that I am currently working out or anything - but just in case I eventually decide that's something I might want to possibly consider in the distant future some time?) Anyway - this morning I actually put a dvd in to record it and recorded it! How exciting for me? Wore me right out, so I went back to bed.

Brynn slept all night - straight through - that was SO good for me, I had such a migrane going to bed last night, I still have a little hum of a headache, but I feel good enough to move around at least. Although I really do want to get my heart pumping a little bit, I'm afraid the way I've been feeling lately, I'd get another migrane in the works. So for now, I'm just going to continue to catch up.

What is catching up? I am not sure I ever was where I wanted to be so I have a goal or a place to feel "caught up" one of these days - maybe I'll be pushing up daisy's - but one of these days I'm totally going to have a completely clean house, dishes, laundry, mopping, everything so that I can sit down and say - gosh - I have nothing to do - and MEAN it!

Sick Day?

Just got back from getting Brynn's shots - break the heart. She just cried for a second, then konked right out.

BUT I'm a little miffed...Howie fell asleep last night at about 7 - which is HIGHLY unusual and didn't wake up until 10:30 today when I woke him up to go to the doctor's for Brynn. Okay - he wet - which is also not normal for him - and so I put him in the bath - which is also not normal for him (hahah - just kidding, sounded like it fit, though) and then I came back in here to get Brynn ready - went back in there and he was laying down in the bath trying to sleep EEEEEK - so I got him out, got him dressed and had to carry him to the car, he doesn't have a fever at this point. But I'm thinking something's wrong - last time he acted like this - he had pnemonia.

SOOOO - get to the doctor's check Brynn in - ask if there's another openeing, nope, can't see Howie. Whatever, so I went back w/ Brynn, Howie climbed up on the exam table and fell asleep. - oh - rewind - he COULD NOT walk from the car to the doctor's office - he had NO energy - I had to carry him. - okay - so nurse comes in - measures Brynn, takes her temp, asks about Howie, I said he wasn't feeling well, this is highly unlike him and I think he may have pnemonia, do they have a pulse ox machine? no they don't (what kind of dr's office doesn't?????) anyway - she sort of shrugged and left (didn't even offer to take his temp) SO then the doctor comes in - same thing - looks at the table, "what's wrong w/ him" I said he was sick, he has absolutely no energy and can't keep his eyes open, I don't know what's wrong with him...she sort of ignored it and then did Brynn's check up - UH - HELLOOOO?? I swear if I was a doctor, I wouldn't care WHAT other snotty nosed kids were in the other waiting room, obviously there's something wrong w /the boy - and how hard is it to listen to his lungs? What? Afraid of liable? Fine, check his butt in & THEN listen to his lungs - I totally can't believe they had no COMPASSION on a dead, lifeless looking kid! So I had to wake him up after Brynn got her shots & carry him to the car because he COULD NOT EVEN STAND UP! On my way out, the nurse sort of looked at me & chuckled the "my, your hands are full" chuckle - uh - WTH?

Anyway - so I came straight home - I wanted to feed brynn, but she's out cold in her car seat - so Howie climbed on to the couch, started to drift out then told me he wanted Eggo's. I'm thinking that he's feeling better - but NO, I make his eggo's he sits down to eat them and pukes in his plate. I cleaned up the mess and then he asked for more eggo's! UH - so I made him more - I figger if he's got the appetite, let him eat, right? So far he's wide awake and ate two eggo's and a handful of chips....what do I make of that? I'm keeping him home from school today, JUST IN CASE!

And nice to know that today is my "make dinner for everyone" day in the co-op thingy - hopefully everything will go smooth from here on out. (I'm moving, but I'm not going anywhere!)

TRYING

Kali is still having a hard time getting "moving" in the morning - I think it might be because Kiersten has her alarm go off at 5:00 a.m. She's trying to be like Ross or something, but he's quiet when he gets up, she sort of wakes everyone up, so I told her no more getting up before 6. I feel like I have so much to do around the house and I can't seem to get into gear. I did clear off the desk today - I'm going to try to do something about the clutter. Trying to finish the last of the thank you cards for Brynn, I don't remember who I sent them to and who I didn't...and who I forgot about alltogether. I also need to get these pictures out to family...not sure who I sent it to and who I have left to send them to. I totally feel unorganized and scattered! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?! I did take a B vitamin suppliment today and am feeling a little more energy, though.

Back into a routine.....

Kids back in school today! YIPPEE! Kali didn't want to go until I reminded her that she had a disney lunch box - that got her dressed quick. Shot them out the door and tried to lay back down, but Brynn was being so durn cute! Too bad I don't share that same sediment during the night! She WAS sleeping through the night the week before we left for DL and then all the week we were there (maybe she knew I couldn't deal w/ being tired all day long) she slept all night long, but the last two nights - NOPE not gonna play THAT game. Anyway - today she's been kind of fussy. Not sure why, she's liking the swing, though.

OH - and I'm in this dinner co-op thing - guess what's for dinner tonight - frozen macaroni and cheese with lil' smokies. Gosh, how do I tell them to step it up a notch?

Sunday again

So we figured out if we're going to catch up on our BOM reading, we have to read 7 pages a day - I hope we can get it done!

Last Day - PTL!!!

I'm SO ready to get home! Aaron wants to meet up with us & have us sleep at his place one more night, but we're so tired from the festivities all day long running from place to place that we're ready to get home - plus, I don't think he is prepared to accomodate 7 people in a normally quiet peaceful home! SO we packed up and left.

I was so tired I actually fell asleep in the car on the way home - how'd THAT happen!? We made it home & unpacked and SLEPT until 8:45 when Kiersten woke us up for church - "we're going to be late" uh - ya THINK?

California Adventure & Last day at Disneyland

We got to sleep in today - by like an HOUR. California Adventures doesn't open until 10, and closes at 6...We got there just before 10 and got a fast pass to Soaring over California (the wait was already 50 minutes and the fast pass time was an hour from then) so then we went around & jumped right on the rapid ride - did that 3 or four times - my camera battery went dead again (those stupid dollar store batteries are only good for 1/2 a picture) SO I had to buy a new battery from the highway robbery store...4 Dollar store batteries $1, plus a 45 cent debit card charge; 4 AA Energizer batteries at California Adventure park $18.36, Frustration for not buying 18 more 4 packs of AA batteries at the dollar store - PRICELESS...anyway - it says that these batteries last up to 7 times longer than "regular" batteries - so I'm hoping this will last me through the next 12 years, if so, it would be worth it - if not, I'm going back to CA Adventure park & getting a refund for false advertisement.

Okay - so just as the park was closing - we sent Ross & Kiersten to RUN to the back of the park where the loop-de-loop roller coaster was - we had 6 fast passes and wouldn't be able to use them, so they ran back there, got to the front of the line & wouldn't you know it - the ride broke down - three cars were stuck in various places on the roller coaster - Ross & Kiersten were the next ones on - and they even got FRONT ROW - but no, they got kicked off - early that day, Kali tried to get on it, but measured literally a HAIR too short, she started crying and the operator there gave her a fast pass to the front of any ride there...so that took the tears away (does she get this crying for free stuff from her mom? hmmm, I wonder) anyway - the kids came back frustrated that they didn't get to ride - so I ran by the front - "Customer SERVICE" booth and asked for free tickets - but because I didn't turn the water works on, I only got fast passes to the front of another ride- Kali used hers to get to the front of the Tower of Terror. I don't know WHY the kids think that's such a fun ride - I flew off my seat and about lost my lunch on it. Kali rode on it a second time w/ her dad.

So we took the extra fast pass back over to disneyland and went to the front of Thunder Mountain - which was real cool, because the line was wrapped around the mountain and there was a 90 minute wait with NO available fast passes for the rest of the night...well, funny story...the ride broke down - wait - did I say funny - I was lying. It wasn't funny - but while they were riding, I went to the front of the castle where the best viewing for the firework display was to be had....

So they rode on various other rides abusing the fast pass/switch pass trick - and then they returned for the firework display - which I must say was THE BEST I have ever seen. They put fireworks to various music attached to different rides - like Indiana Jones, Star Tours and Buzz lightyear, it was incredible! I got some out of focus pictures, here's one... you can't really see much of anything - oh - during the Indiana Jones display, they had these HUGE torch fire things shooting out the sides of the castle. Pretty cool if you ask me.

The park didn't close until midnight - but we were done in for at 10:00 - so we went to take the shuttle, missed it by a hair - Howie was out cold....we were losing Kali quickly - and the stroller was full of miscellaneous things - so we opted to huff it back to the hotel instead of waiting another 1/2 hour - and the cool thing is - we totally beat the shuttle. the kids were pert-near out cold by the time we got back to the hotel. We slept in until 8:15 the next morning - Brynn was SOOO good - she likes sleeping in the stroller!

Back to Disneyland

We had an early entry pass today, got there abuot 15 minutes before we could go in - and it took us 45 minutes to get into the park - they had unusually high numbers today, so much that they decided to keep the park open an extra hour. The crowds were unreal, like summer crowds, the wait in most lines were long and the fast passes were being distributed hours ahead. So we went to the fantasy land and did dumbo, the carosel, tea pots, and others. I think I'm getting bored with this whole theme park thing. WAY too crowded for me.

Knotts Berry Farm

Went to Knotts Berry Farm today - it was a big dissapointment. The rides were good, but the lines - while hardly anyone was there, were NOT moving very fast - they only had one "car" operating for most of the rides. So w/ only a few people in front of us, it still took 10 minutes to get on the ride. Poor Howie couldn't ride on most of them, he could ride on the kiddy rides that were really "beneath" his excitement level. Kali barely was tall enough to get on the rides. The older kids enjoyed them. I got anxiety headache from getting on the 208' drop ride. Yep, pretty sure I'm just too old to like the thrill of the rides any more! Good thing the park closed at 5:30.

OH, and the cool part about today was that in one of the trinket shops, we found that wooden snake that Rossi was eye-balling on Sunday (but didn't buy because it was Sunday) it was only $2 here, so we got it for him. He told us that night he thanked Heavenly Father for "rewarding" him for keeping the sabath day holy.

We went to Red Robin for dinner - I was wanting a nice juicy burger - when we told the kids we were going there, Kali sang the song "Red Robin...baaaaaaa" It was pretty funny/cute! Then after dinner we went back to the hotel. We got to get a chapter or two in from the BOM, not sure if the kids were paying much attention to it or not, but at least we did it.

First day at Disneyland.

Can't believe it's already Tuesday. We went to Disneyland today, the crowds were not that bad, but more than we expected. We got to ride all the rides except the fantacy land rides. Space mountain wasn't that different from before, the kids really liked that one as well as Splash mountain. I sat out on most the rides with Brynn, maybe I'm turning into an old lady, but it was nice. We ate pasta for lunch - it wasn't that bad, either.

San Diego Wild Animal Park

We got up first thing (again - this time it was Brynn's alarm clock) and went to the Wild Animal Park. It was pretty foggy/overcast. We got a front row parking spot & went right in, looked at one or two animal exhibits and then took the train tour. It's an hour long, but we got to see a lot of the exhibits and animals that we wouldn't have gotten to see if we were walking.

After the train ride, we started taking the safari walk route, saw a few animals - the gorilla's, went into "south africa" part of the park, because we were going to walk our way around to the cheetah exhibit, they were feeding the cheetah at 1:30 (stopped for lunch, first, got Kiersten a "keepsake" drink w/ a cheetah lid - free refils all day long!) We got to the cheetah exhibit a little early, so we walked over to look at the giraffes. It cost $2 to feed one, but no one was there today, it was a little drizzley, and actually starting to pick up in the rain department. I went into the bathroom to feed Brynn, and could hear it pouring. When I came back out - about 20 minutes later, the rain was really coming down hard. Turns out they had cancelled the cheetah feeding - what cat wants to be out in the rain - even if it was for food?

We ran back to the front of the zoo - in the rain - stopped by to appreciate the irony of the "Austrailian Rain Forrest" and then got a rain check. Most of the animals don't like the rain and they were inside their caves & other shelter. We got a rain check and left early for Anaheim. This was kind of nice, as we were still tired and felt like we needed another few hours of nothing!

Sunday in San Diego

Today we went to Glenita's ward. The talks were on reaping what we sow. Pretty good, considering it hit me like a brick wall why Rossi was being so smart alecky lately. Man, being an example is hard. After church, we went to the San Diego temple, Glenita took pictures of us. One of my favorite pictures is this one of the kids walking the straight and narrow path along the outside of the temple. I couldn't resist taking this picture, they all look so angelic - lined up, quietly balancing along the curbing while they walked one behind the other, all in order of height! It was a perfect peaceful moment for me, until my battery in my camera went dead, then I made them all pose exactly how they were walking - they had to stand there for like 5 minutes while I figured out the dead battery problem. Man, that was annoying! But still, it was a candid moment, if not for the dead batteries. After the temple, Ross & I took a "nap" while the kids watched the Lion King on DVD in the common area of the community apartment...it was a quick one, and a much needed one. Afterwords, we went to Old Town and visited the Mormon Batalion, watched a historical film on it, that was very informative and touching. We then walked around old town a bit more. We came to a vendor selling various trinkets, Rossi really wanted a "lifelike" wooden snake from there, it was $7, we told him we'd rather not buy it because it was Sunday, and we wanted to just enjoy our little walk and not "go shopping" it was so beautiful out there! Almost beautiful enough to convince me to want to move there, but alas, reality hit when I realized what it would cost to house a family of 7 in San Diego, so I decided we're happy in Phoenix!

We did get a few chapters of the BOM in tonight. Glenita came over later & we talked for a little while, and said our goodbyes, we were going to pack & leave from the zoo tomorrow. It was awesome for her to let us stay there!

Sea World

We got up "early" this morning - it wasn't Brynn who woke us up - but Howie & Kali (who slept in the car the entire drive & was well rested) woke up & started plotting the events that were expected to come to life today, very nice, WHISPERED - in their loud breathy whisper and it woke everyone up. So we took inventory of what we had, showered, got "settled" picked up the air mattresses and bedding, etc and left for breakfast. We found a McDonalds - (see how much we love the kids - Ross & I can't STAND eating there, but the kids love the viddles) spent about $25 on 4 breakfast sandwich meals & a few breakfast burrito's - then we drove on in to Sea World.

We went straight to the new ride "Atlantis" The kids loved it - and went on it a few times. We saw a few of the exhibits. The highlight of the day was the dolphin show. Howie was selected out of the audience to be part of the program. Ross went with him and they joined up w/ Amber who played the "mom." Both Ross & Howie got to interact with the dolphins and a whale - or a shark or something - I dont remember, but it was a black & white fish of sorts. Howie was given a waterproof camera from Fuji and they took a bunch of pictures from the "front row" Ross got to pet & feed the black & white fish thingy.

Then Amber got to hold a rope up for Dolly to jump over....Howie got to pet the dolphin. He compared it's feel to a hot dog. The workers thought that was pretty funny, most kids think it feels like Rubber. I don't know that Howie has spent a lot of time feeling rubber, but he does know what a hot dog feels like!

Anyway - while Howie was interacting with the dolphin, his "mom" was taking pictures and lost her balance and fell in the dolphin tank - a dolphin went up to her and she held on to the dolphin as he took her around the tank. It was such a fun experience for Ross & Howie. Kiersten would have LOVED to be a part of that, she really likes dolphins, but they were looking for a child between the ages of 4 & 7....I sent them Howie, because I figured Kali would chicken out when she had to actually GO up to the dolphin.

We also saw the Shamu show and a pet show, among others. I think the kids really liked the shark exhibit! Kiersten enjoyed taking pictures with her camera. Now she just has to earn the money to develop the film that she used!

Anxiety

We left today for our family vacation to use up the Southern California City Pass - $165 for an adult and $114 for a child ticket. We bought 3 of each. $850 or so. We left at 6p.m. and drove straight to San Diego, to a studio apartment about 3 miles from the beach and 5 miles from Sea World! It's in a retired community apartment, but hey, it's free, thanks to Ross' cousin Glenita Lolita. We got in around 1 a.m. and went straight to sleep.

I had a little anxiety about going on vacation while Brynn is still so young. But we have gone every year and I didn't want to be the reason for not going. The kids are on a 2 week intersession from school, the first week at home, they were driving me crazy - how can a kid have so much energy - so I was glad to have Ross take the week off work - which really gave me a week off.

We downloaded the audio scriptures (BOM) on Ross' laptop so we could try to keep up on our reading to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year - I hope we have enough energy to read each night after we get in from our day's activities.