Once Again

My computer is dead, at least temporarily. I most likely need a new motherboard. I have posts to put up about Loofa's birthday and Christmas, but they'll have to wait till then.

Until then....

Did you ever?

I was just thinking today as I was eating my Mac and Cheese about all the times I've eaten something common like this and it tasted so GOOD.

When I was about 5 I had some kraft mac and cheese at a friends house (Tischlers in MI) and it was so delicious. Every now and then I wish I could replicate that.

When I was 14 I went on a Wilderness Trek for our stake youth program. After a week of hiking and subpar/insufficient food, they had chili dogs and oreos waiting for us at the end. Chili dogs had never tasted so good. They still hold a special place in my heart because of that.

One month after getting married, I caught mono (go figure). J had already had it several years before so he was nice and immune. It went around the Women's department at the BYU bookstore like crazy (I loved that place!). About 2 weeks later I finally started getting my appetite back. We were in Park City for my grandparent's 50th anniversary. My dad took us to a buffet that evening that had prime rib. I had never tried prime rib before. I had heard it was good, but not that good!

I wish food always tasted as good as it did in these situations. One key component is how hungry I was. Maybe I should try starving myself more often. I'd love to hear about your favorite "common" food times.

Best Friends

Aren't they cute? I meant to get a picture of them yesterday when they were both wearing the same shirt. I can't believe I forgot. This one will have to do.

Cat on a Fence

When it was cold I was nervous about how Rush would do out there. The night it got down to 10 degrees he didn't come when I put out the food. I spent about 1/2 hour searching for him with a flashlight before I gave up. Thankfully he showed up the next morning. I wish I knew where he had curled up. Glen kept wanting to stay out on those really cold nights too. He's usually such a fair weather friend, but on those nights he was so wild. It was weird. Even with a nice thick coat of fur I could not imagine purposefully wanting to stay out there.

I Want Snow

We had some fabulously low temperatures last week and were really hoping for some good snow. It was so dry though and by the time the moisture came in it had warmed back up again. I was pretty disappointed that we didn't get another storm like last year. I won't miss how dry it was though. I had to really slather the kids in lotion and the static was getting old. I even pulled out the humidifier to try and help.

I did get one cool picture of the frost on J's car one morning.

PS I've given up on the picture of the day, I just don't have time for that right now. Maybe you'll get a picture of the month :)

Birthdays are Yummy

Aunt J had her 60th birthday last Thursday. Several of her kids flew/drove in to surprise her and we had a surprise open house for her as well. I bought her this frame and put on the vinyl lettering (how I did that below):

An Aunt J birthday would not be complete without Gone With the Wind:

Gone with the Wind

1 c. graham crackers (about 7), crushed
1 c. vanilla wafers (about 23), crushed
¼ c. brown sugar
3 tbsp. melted margarine

1 Tbsp. gelatin (Knox--about one packet)
½ c. cold water

4 egg yolks, beaten
2 c. milk
1 c. sugar

4 egg whites
1 tsp. salt

2 c. whipping cream
2 tsp. vanilla
5 tbsp sugar

Mix first 4 ingredients well and pat ½ into 9x13 inch pan. Reserve ½ for the topping. Soften gelatin in cold water. Make stirred custard by cooking and stirring milk, sugar, and egg yolks in microwavable dish on 30% power.* Check every couple of minutes. Custard is done when the mixture coats a metal spoon (it is a very obvious change). Mix gelatin in until well dissolved. Cool the custard by placing dish in a large bowl of ice water, taking care that no water contaminates the mixture. Whip cream and vanilla till stiff, whip in the sugar. Beat egg whites and salt till stiff. Fold both into custard (thoroughly with a whisk) and turn into pan. Sprinkle topping on. Chill overnight.

*When making custard, cooking times and power levels will vary. Be sure to not overcook the custard or the egg will cook into little chunks. Best rule of thumb: start on a lower power and bring it up if it’s not cooking.

I couldn't tell about my first early morning Black Friday shopping this year because I was buying a birthday gift for my mom. Technically I went on Thursday, but I'll still count it as black Friday :) My mom had briefly mentioned an interest in the Cricut vinyl cutters so I thought that would be a nice gift to get her. Luckily this was the year of the Cricut so it was on sale at a million places. I decided to stake out Big Lots since they had the model I liked and I figured the crowd wouldn't be too bad there. I was so nervous about getting one that I woke up at 4:30am and was in the parking lot at 5:00am. No one else showed up till 5:30am. I finally got out of my car after two other cars showed up. Luckily the other people in line were pretty nice to talk to and helped pass the time. The store opened at 7am and I was the first one in. I ran back and grabbed a Cricut for my mom and one for myself for good measure. I've always liked the vinyl lettering for decorative purposes, but couldn't bring myself to pay the exorbitant prices. Plus I wasn't too happy with the selection out there. Now I can make whatever I want, whenever I want.

Milestone #115

When your child is upset and can actually verbalize what is wrong.

Fefe came upstairs crying and said "Lufie, hon, cereal share". I'm sad that she is getting so big, but so excited for all she is learning.

Good Things Can Come By Mail

Five years ago we lost about $800 dollars to a scam on ebay. This idiot had an almost 100% rating from close to 500 people. Not sure how that happened. When he was caught I sent all our info in as evidence. We never expected to receive a dime back, but today I got a $100 check in the mail. It's only a portion, but better than nothing. Lesson learned - always use credit cards when buying stuff on ebay.

Knee Picture

I took a picture of my knees in case any of you were curious. My right knee looks a little worse than normal because of the swelling. Also, I labelled the pics since I took them in the mirror.

The scientific name is femoral anteversion. I think my right leg is worse because the knee cap seems like it points in more. I've been trying to find old pics of my knee caps, but pictures of me are few and far between.

3D in Action

I bought The Polar Express in 3D for the kids (and myself). It's one of my favorite movies. J and I had a nice nap after Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt J's while the kids watched the show.

Big Mistake

Fefe still is a troublemaker when it comes to bedtime. I made the mistake of buying a touch lamp for Ephant and that resulted in much bedtime playing. I finally unplugged it for now. She also loves playing with the lightup lady bug in their room. When I went in to get her up from her nap a few days ago I found her asleep in Ephant's bed. She looked pretty snug.

Stitches

My desktop is finally up and running again so now I can put up a bunch of pictures. First, here are Fefe's stitches:

Knee Update

I went into the orthopedist today to get my knee and hip checked out. About two weeks ago I couldn't bend my knee past 90 degrees. This lasted for about 24 hours so I went in to see my PCP to get a referral. He thought it was just patellofemoral pain, but the internet doctor told me he was wrong. My guess was either a meniscal tear or more likely medial plica syndrome. Sitting and driving is torture. By the end of the day it hurts so bad I have a hard time falling asleep. Meds and icing don't help either. About the only thing that helps is an Ace bandage.

When I went in today they took xrays of my knees and my right hip. The results are lovely. My bones were fine, but my hips rotate internally (think knock knees) and my knee caps tilt laterally. The rotation and tilt is probably what initially caused my Iliotibial Band Syndrome and the progression of that resulted in the knee problem.

Now I get to make appointments for new orthotics to address both the rotation and my accessory navicular. On top of that I get physical therapy for the IT band and an MRI to determine whether it is a meniscal tear or plica syndrome.

I was born with the rotation, it's not my fault. Thanks a lot Mom and Dad.

My New Favorite Ring

The Ring of Choice

Autumn Sky

Why I Don't Like the Sun (and love Oregon)

1. It gives me headaches

2. I can see dust - I really could care less about germs and such; however, if I can see it, touch it or smell it, it must go.

Well, that's about it :)

On another note, poor Loofa has the flu now. It's terrible, but I'm kind of grateful for the decrease in energy it has caused. The sad part is that Loofa will miss out on the Thanksgiving festivities at preschool. They always have such a cute program for that.

Last night I had to change Fefe's jammers after she had gone to bed because Ephant had put her to bed in summer pajamas. When I went in to get her in the morning, she was wearing only her diaper (thank goodness she still had that on). I guess she didn't like the change.

I also saw New Moon last night. It was much better than Twilight. The actor they've chosen for Edward is really really terrible. I've grown used to Bella and can mostly accept her now, but I'm starting to cringe at any scenes with Robert Pattison. It's really sad. Why can't casting directors recognize the fact that movies like this are mostly driven by who they choose?

Brother B wanted to see New Moon too. I tried to tell him it was just a romance. We'll see what he thinks when it comes out on DVD. I have a feeling he'll be very bored.

Tomorrow we get to go in and take Fefe's stitches out. I'll have to get a picture of them before then.

The saddest thing ever happened yesterday. I noticed some railroad workers in the back earlier, but didn't think much of it. In the afternoon I opened the gate to blow some leaves back and couldn't believe my eyes. THEY RIPPED OUT ALL THE BLACKBERRY VINES! Wahhhh!!! Next years harvest will be non-existent. I'm sure they'll come back and they really did need some pruning, but still. I haven't told Ephant yet, she'll probably cry.

I sent my power supply in yesterday so I won't have access to my desktop till the new one gets here. That means I don't have access to files, photography stuff, word processing and many more things. Hopefully it won't take long. This does mean that my picture a day will have to take a temporary hiatus.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The Aftermath

http://www.katu.com/news/local/70709327.html

The Boundary

Yet Another Hospital Trip

Just when we were about to put Fefe to bed tonight, she decided it would fun to slam her forehead into the edge of a wall and split it open. It reminded me of my brother's forehead after his friend threw a rock at him. She was pretty upset at first, but once we got a band-aid on her and gave her her blankie, she cheered up. J was certain from the beginning that she would need stitches, but I wanted to get confirmation on it so I called my friends hubby that is a PA for advice. I really hate going to the ER and finding out it was a waste of my time and money. He said that it would heal on its own, but if we didn't want her to have a scar it was better to get it stitched. So off we went to the ER while J and the other kids finished watching Star Trek.

On the order of things, it was a fast trip. We got taken back quickly and sat there for about an hour waiting for them to get it all ready. I played Fefe some videos on my iphone to entertain her. While she was watching a Diego video, she started singing along loudly. Everyone thought it was cute. She was happy right up until the actual procedure. They gave her a cute little beanie baby penguin, which she definitely appreciated.

To do the procedure they strapped her whole body onto this board and the nurse held her head still. First the doctor had to numb her wound. That was the most painful part because it required multiple injections. She was pretty dang upset. The numbing was in effect within a few seconds and then the doc put in 3 stitches. It was actually pretty cool how well it pulled the skin together. Once I unstrapped Fefe, she perked up fast. She's upstairs singing to herself right now even though it is 3 hours past her bedtime. She must have had some heavy duty adrenaline going through her system.

A History of Pain

Last spring when I was training for the 10k, my knees started hurting pretty badly. I finally started wearing my orthotics regularly in hopes that would help. They didn't. I pushed through it though because I really wanted to run the race. I took about a week off afterwards hoping that would help. Over the course of the summer my left knee stopped hurting, but my right knee became progressively worse. It got to the point I finally contemplated taking a big break. At that point I went down for my brother's wedding so I had a two week break. I visited the internet doctor and figured out that my problem stemmed from my IT band. When I got back I bought a Patt Strap and foam roller. Combined with some ibuprofen I made it through the Run for Sight with minimal pain. After that though my knee continued to worsen so I decided it was time for the big break. A couple weeks into that, my hip started hurting. At that point I made an appt with the chiropractor. I've been seeing him for a few weeks now. I get some e-stim therapy and myofascial release combined with (of course) some adjustments. All of this most likely stemmed from the hip problems I had when pregnant with Fefe. He told me at the first that I could still run, but I needed to keep my mileage low. I finally ran for the first time yesterday and it HURT. So, when I went in today he told me that along with hip tendinitis, I also have knee tendinitis. Because of that, I'm not allowed to run until all the pain is gone. I'm very frustrated because running is by far my favorite way to exercise. I'm going to start swimming again until I can run. It'll probably be a few months till it is healed. He also said that my tendons are permanently weakened because of this so I'll have to wear the strap every time I run for the rest of my life. Arrghh. The lesson we should all take from this is to not ignore pain.

A Touch of Color

Yes, this is one of Loofa's favorite shirts.

Breakdown

Why is everything breaking down at my house? Now the power supply on my computer has died. It still works somewhat, but it keeps shutting down on me so I decided I better just keep it off. Thankfully it is still under warranty.

Bad Baby

What Might Have Been

Tired

A Picture a Day

My sister inspired me to get cracking on my photography again. It's been very inspiring to see her picture-a-day so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. This is just for me, so don't feel like you need to comment, just enjoy.

Superwoman

Yep, that's me. Wednesday night, my Kenmore Calypso broke down on the first load of many loads needing to be done. My parents were coming in the next evening and I wanted that wash done! So I proceeded to pull out the washer and try and fix the problem. I was up till 3:30am, but I figured out the problem and took out the offending part. I ended up moving the washer out to the deck because every time it was tipped over massive amounts of water came out (the water pump was clogged). I couldn't have moved it out there without my lovely furniture sliders (thanks Marv!).

Thursday morning I ran into Portland to pick up the new part, a water pump and motor (stupid whirlpool won't let you buy the pump separate anymore). Once I got the part in, I hooked up the washer to the outdoor hose and gave it a test whirl. I was so happy when it worked I did a little victory dance on my deck.

I still have a small leak to fix, but that has been there forever as far as I can tell so it is not urgent.

I want to thank the following:

1. My hubby for having patience with my obssessiveness

2. The internet

3. Whirlpool - for making a washer I still love even after having to go through this

4. Heavenly Father - for blessing me with a brain and endurance

All Brother B wants for Christmas

I wouldn't ordinarily post about lost teeth, but Brother B sounds so dang cute with his lisp right now. His other top front is about to come out too. Once that does, he's going to get the labial frenulum snipped by the dentist. That is the muscle between the top lip and gum. His is too tight and has the potential to make his teeth really crooked. The dentist wants to do it when both the top front teeth are out, I guess that makes it easier somehow.

The Baptism

After a hectic previous day (Fabulous Friday aka Super Saturday), the day of Brother B's baptism was actually fairly peaceful. I picked up his suit pants from the dry cleaners after letting them alter the pants (I tried, I really did). He looked so handsome wearing his new suit. I'm so proud of him for making this choice. It went surprisingly smooth with how many other kids that were baptized (6 in total).

We were worried there wouldn't be enough suits, but there were. J was going to wear his temple clothes to baptize Brother B, but Brother B wanted him to match. So here they are in their matching jumpsuits :)

It was great to have my parents there! After the baptism we all went over to Aunt J's for another great dinner. It is so nice of her to always provide this service for us. It certainly made it easier on me with everything else going on.

I sure love my Brother B!

Calling All Honda Odyssey Owners

Just for those with 05-07's. I have had a perpetual window rattle coming from the driver's side window for 3 years now. It drives me crazy! Every 3-6 months I've had the dealership "fix" it only to have it come back a few days to months later. I finally looked it up and found out they were just cleaning the seals and applying a special grease called Shin-Etsu. So, I went and bought my own grease, figuring I could do the fix on my own at home. Wrong! I had limited success, sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. Recently the rattle has gotten so bad again I decided to check out the handy dandy internet again.

I found this: http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SN/a080200.PDF

Finally a permanent fix to my problem! (I hope) I'm going to take it in and have this done. I'll let you know if it lasts :) Anyway, I thought I'd share in case any of you have the same problem and are tired of it too.

Eight is Great

Brother B had a pretty packed day for his birthday. We started out with his soccer awards banquet right before their last game of the season.

His awesome coach gave them a nice spin.

Pretty cool trophy.

During the awards it started pouring so we were a little nervous they would cancel the last game. It stopped just in time for the game to start, but it was muddy! I found the driest place on the field to park myself, but it was pretty sad watching the kids try to play so carefully they wouldn't fall. The team they played against was pretty dang good. The last half, there was one kid in particular that rocked the field. Brother B scored his only goal when that kid was out.

In our continuing non-cake tradition, Brother B requested monkey bread.

Brother B's baptism will be this Saturday and we are excited to have Grandma and Grandpa C come visit.

Happy Halloween

I was a little nervous how well Halloween would go with how sick I was most of the month. Luckily I pulled out of it in time to enjoy my second favorite Holiday.

The Candy Corn Witch

Snake Eyes (from GI Joe)

Brother B had no idea what that was, he just knew it looked like a cool Ninja costume. His cool mom got him an awesome sword for his birthday to go with his suit.

Ben 10

(Don't worry, I still don't fully know what this is)

The little kitty cat that refused to smile at the camera.

Fefe really enjoyed her first "aware" Halloween. She even started saying thank you while holding out her basket after awhile. Loofa wins the award for eating the most candy that night. We had a great time going to our ward trunk or treat first and then a couple token neighborhood streets. I wore my Dharma costume and a couple people even recognized it for what it was. My original dream was to have us all wearing Dharma suits, but I couldn't find any child coveralls and I am not dedicated enough to sew my own.

Ben 10 is Tired

Loofa was adamant about being Ben 10 for Halloween. I had no idea he knew enough about it to even have that desire, but I went with it. He was so excited when his costume finally came in the mail. He kept saying, "Call me Ben 10, not Loofa". The stupid thing was pretty cheap so I ended up cutting out the black shirt and buying him a separate black shirt to wear underneath. I was in the bathroom putting new caulk around the shower when I looked over and realized Loofa had fallen asleep right on the floor. Poor kid. We moved him to his bed after laughing at him for a bit.

(Yes, that is new tile floor, I'll put up a post about our bathroom remodel once it is complete)

Where Have All the Flowers Gone

I feel like it has been forever since I last posted, but not all that much has happened, besides Tons and Tons of sickness.

The beginning of October I went out to visit my sister and see her little baby boy. They don't come much cuter (or gassier) than that. I was out there for about 4 days and on the 4th day I came down with the flu. Who knows where I picked it up. Flying home was a nightmare, the plane was cold and they had no pillows and blankets available because of the FLU! Jokes on them. I'm sure I passed more virus in the air than I ever would have on a pillow.

It was a relief to get home and drop into bed. Little did I know it would last for 2 weeks. My fever only lasted 3 days, but I had zero energy for a week and a half past that. It was pretty disheartening. I put off a lot while trying to rest so much. When I finally woke up one day feeling mostly better I did a complete kitchen detail to make up for all the lack of cleaning.

No one else in the house ended up catching the flu. However, this week Loofa came down with a cold that led to croup. We all ended up with the same cold, he was just hit the worst. I was able to get him an appt and they gave him some steroids. I'm certain that he would have ended up back at the ER if we hadn't gotten those.

Everybody is very excited for Halloween and Brother B's birthday tomorrow. Tomorrow is also Brother B's last soccer game. He's been absolutely amazing. He's by far the highest scorer on his team.

Speaking of Brother B, since he is turning 8 tomorrow we went and purchased all his boy scout accoutrement. He's very excited to start. When I first told him he was going to start cub scouts, he was pretty nervous, but we went to a pack meeting on Wednesday and he had such a good time that he is really looking forward to it now.

Fefe has been quite the little pest lately. She continues to get better and better at getting into things. About a week ago she figured out how to open all doors, including her bedroom door. This led to several middle of the night adventures. I finally had to put a childproof knob on her door. Luckily Ephant is able to open those. We offered to move Ephant into the boys room since we put their bunk-bed together, but she was pretty adamant about staying in the "girls room". She even had a nightmare later that night about being forced to move in with the boys. Fefe has done a little better the last few days, but that might be because she is sleeping heavier due to being sick.

Oops

I did it again. I slammed my toe into Fefe's toy basket while going into the kitchen. I wasn't sure if it was broken at first, but then it started hurting like the dickens. Now it is numb and swollen with a lovely black mark at the crack. I doubt I'll go to the doctor though.

Coolest Bug Ever

I found this on our screen door while I was sitting at the computer the other day. I've always loved praying mantis'. This is the first one I've seen since we lived in North Carolina. We kept it in a jar for a couple days for the kids to look at, but let it go after that. I was somewhat tempted to keep it, but it would have been a pain to find bugs for it to eat.

Second Time is the Charm

Ephant decided she was ready to try pierced ears again about a month ago. We were walking through the mall and I told her I was willing if she was. She had her ears pierced when she was 5, but we took them out after 6 months of her freaking out if anyone even touched her ears. She is doing much better this time so maybe it'll stick. She seems to have inherited a sensitivity to the cheaper metals so we'll have to be careful with that. So far she is doing a good job keeping them clean and rotated all on her own. She's pretty excited to pick out some different ones when she can.

Trouble with a Capital T

Fefe is having the hardest time adjusting to her toddler bed of all the kids. She's the first one to share a room with another sibling during that transition. At first she kept taking really short naps and then would come and cry at her door. She's gotten better about that, but she still wakes up early in the morning and tries to sleep with Ephant. Half the time Ephant doesn't even notice and when we come in to wake them up she has no idea Fefe was next to her. The other half we have to go in there and resettle Fefe. I think she's close to learning, but it sure has been frustrating.

Our other issue has been how obsessed she is with taking her diaper off. She really wants to imitate her older siblings and use the potty. It is especially funny when she imitates the boys. One time she was in the bathroom with Loofa. He told me I needed to see Fefe. I told him just a minute, but to get her out of the bathroom. Next thing I know she's screaming bloody murder. Then she comes running around the corner completely naked yelling, "pee, pee!". I guess she really wanted to use the potty. I brought down the training potty for her to play with and I might get her some pull-ups, but I'm really not ready to train her. It takes so much more work at this age and I'm more in favor of them being old enough to be completely self sufficient in it.

Help

I realized about halfway through our vacation that my wedding ring was missing. I'm not the type of person that takes me ring off to wash dishes or put on lotion. Plus my joints are big enough that it is not going to just slip off. I know I had it on Fefe's b-day and I noticed it missing on September 6th so somewhere during that week it vanished. I've been racking my brain trying to think if I took it off to play with, but can't remember. I'm guessing it's pretty much a lost cause at this point. In some ways it is like a ghost limb. I still feel like it is there.

Mmmm, Delicious

My cat has a major fetish for fresh water. I should probably reconsider his definition of fresh though.

Another Race, Another Day

I ran my third Run for Sight (5K) about a week ago. I hadn't run the whole time we were on vacation and I've been having major problems with my IT band, but I still managed to get the best time I've ever done. 29:50. Jenn and I got 2nd and 3rd place in our age group (okay, so there were only 3 of us). Her son Jake (9) ran with us too and he managed to beat me. Wish I could bottle up that energy.

Odds and Ends

After the wedding we did a marathon drive back up to Oregon. We were sick and tired of hotels by then. We arrived at around 1am Sunday night and sent the kids off to school on Monday morning. They all slept in the car so they were fine. I was in a fog that whole day though. It took a few days to recover from that one. The kids have all started off their school year well. Ephant and Brother B seem to have decent teachers. Ephant was excited to find out her friend down the street is going to Fern Hill this year. Loofa is loving preschool particularly since his friend is with him. When we first took him, we couldn't leave until his friend arrived. He's already had a fun field trip to the fire station.

Aren't they cute?

Weddings Aren't for the Faint of Heart

Actually this was probably the easiest one I've been too since it was my brother and not a sister getting married. Brides really do have it the hardest.

Friday we went to the beach to fulfill J's dream of going when the weather is actually nice. Fefe didn't cooperate though. We played in the waves for about 1/2 hour before she decided she had enough. I took her and Brother B back to the car while J stayed for a bit longer. It was definitely not all that though. We did remember sunblock at least.

That evening was the wedding dinner. Dad made pulled pork, his specialty. Sadly, my stomach decided to act up that night so I wasn't able to fully enjoy it. We went to Aunt L's house for the festivities. Probably the biggest event was when we discovered a ginormous spider in the backyard. I didn't have my camera so no pictures.

The wedding was at noon on Saturday so we were able to somewhat take our time getting ready. I tried curling Fefe's hair, but it was impervious. It is so different from Ephant's hair. All the kids looked so cute though. I bought the boys matching shirts and ties so they matched pretty well together.

The only way we could get Fefe in this picture was to let her hold her sippy cup and blankie.

Aunt A's fake family.

It was very gratifying and special to see my brother's sealing. I am so happy for him and love his new wife. Aunt A was kind enough to watch the kids during the ceremony and she somehow managed to survive.

Typical Dad look.

Weddings are tiring.

She would not hold still!

GQ

Your life has only just begun, ha ha ha ha!!!!

Fefe loves her water.

Gotta show off the shoes.

Loofa's favorite part of the reception was the large jars of candy.

More water.

Dad offered to hide his car. Guess he should have.