Guess Who, Round #2

This actually happened last Monday afternoon on Labor Day.  Those dang trampolines are going to kill us yet. 

Poor Gabe did not get much sympathy from me that night.  I just figured he was milking it for all he could.  For some reason my kids like to do that.  The next morning he was hopping around the house like a kangaroo, so I kept him home, iced it up, and called the dr.  Sure enough, the x-ray showed a break in the growth plate.  The novelty of the cast wore off in about 2 days, and now I have to make him WALK with it.  He still thinks that he can barrel thru the house and up and down the stairs like normal.  You can always tell when he is coming though because he clonks thru the house like a peg legged pirate. 

Reason #263 I Love Living in the Country

You can run around in the front yard in your spiderman underwear trying to scare a flock (do they call them flocks, gaggles?) of turkeys and no one even bats an eyelash.

Random Ramblings and Whinings

I thought that when school started I would have sooo much time to get caught up on life.  I am ALWAYS in the car!  I have 6 places to be this afternoon, and only enough time to be at 4.  I need a cloning machine.  I woke up 15 minutes late this morning.  (Ok, I was totally awake, I just couldn't get that mattress off my back.)  That put the whole house in an uproar.  The boys were late getting out to the car for seminary.  They didn't get breakfast before they left.   I had to get Caden to make the sandwiches for lunches.  All the little ones needed a bath because we were out late last night and they fell asleep on the way home.  So then Abigail's hair was wet and there is not much you can do with it very quickly when it is wet.  I couldn't find all the lunchboxes so everyone had to brown bag it.  I forgot to wash Abigail's blanket over the weekend so that she could take it back to school for her naptime, so she was freaking out in the car.  Thank goodness Matthew had one in the car and she agreed to take it with her for the day.  The kitchen was a DISASTER, because NO ONE feels like they have to do their kitchen chores on Sunday. 

I am on this spring cleaning kick.  I guess you shoud call it fall cleaning.  I already have 4 laundry baskets filled with stuff the kids have outgrown, don't want, or I don't want.  I love to dejunkify. 

9 people + 2 bathrooms = not enough bathrooms

Joe was getting ready in our bathroom this morning.  I needed the bathroom, so I ran upstairs to snag that one before someone else did.  I am no sooner in there, than 3, yes 3! people are banging on the door, demanding the door be opened.  I told 2 of them to go use a tree, and let the little girl in.  I miss my house in Virginia with 3 bathrooms, 5 bedrooms, an actual garage that you could park a car in, gasp!, and a mudroom.  Ah, the glorious mudroom. 

We got a new toy.  We have not had a video camera, since the days that they were the size of a toaster oven, and just as heavy.  It is unbelievably small and light.  We were able to video Joseph at the football game Friday night.  I am so glad that we got one before he leaves us next year. 
I ran a 10K on Saturday.  I was so unprepared for it.  I ran ONCE the past month.  And it was for 2 miles.  And I was SO winded, I thought I was going to puke.  I had no business running a 10k. 
I ran it in 1 hour 5 minutes.  I am slightly proud of myself. ; )  I never stopped.  Not even thru the water stations.  Maybe if I get my rear in gear for the half next month, I might beat my time.  Got to get moving.   Anywho, got to get back to the laundry and fall cleaning. 
I will leave you with this cutie.  He was exhausted last night!

Jacob "Reading" a Book

Jacob has been LOVING preschool.  They are very big into repetitive lessons.  They have been reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" for 2 weeks now.  Yesterday as we were on our way to school, he pulled out his book and started reading to me.  I was absolutely floored.  Coupled with the fact that he has never been able to hear well, and he has the most incredible underbite that you have ever seen, (It makes his smile oh so cute, but the boy just has the Hardest time pronouncing certain sounds), the most he ever really talks is a few sentences at best.  Even then you have the hardest time understanding him, therefore he gets frustrated, screams, and then you get frustrated with him.  It's a unending cycle. 

That is why when he read me this story, I felt such hope for him.  He has had to read it to everybody in the family.  Repeatedly.  : )

(if you couldn't see the pictures, you would still probably not be able to tell what he was saying) ; )

Are you allergic to poison ivy?

Last Saturday Joseph and Parker had a chance to go with their cousins, aunts, and uncles on a big church trip.  They floated down the river on a canoe and had a wonderful time.  Half of the way down there was a bluff that hung over the water.  They temptation was absolutely too great to resist.  They dove, jumped, and flung themselves off that bluff into the water below numerous times.  Then they found a rope and swung out and dropped into the river.  After they exhausted themselves, they then had to swim down the river to where they had left their canoes.  All in all they had a wonderful time.  They came home pooped and sunburnt.  The next morning I kept hollering for them to get up and get ready for church.  Everybody had made their appearance except for Parker.  After a while he came stumbling down the stairs, his eyes all puffy, nose swollen and lips all red.  I figured maybe he had some massive allergies flaring up so I let him crawl back in the bed and we headed off to church.   When we got home he was not much better, so I gave him some benadryl, told him to rest up because he WAS going to the first day of school tomorrow. 

Bright and early Monday morning I woke up the boys and Parker rolled over at me and I just about died.  His face looked like this.....

And this.....

We couldn't figure out what in the world he had gotten himself into.  It took us a while but we finally realized that it had to be poison ivy.  If he walks outside and so much looks at a poison ivy plant it literally jumps on him.  There must have been some on the bluff they were climbing and I can just see him wiping the water off his face every time he dove into the water with poison ivy infested hands.  I took him into the Dr. and they gave him a good ole shot in the rear of some massive steroids.  They kind of chuckled and said that they had Never seen anyone look that miserable.  Leave it to us to get some weirdo disease or some bizzare battle wounds.  Since school started on Monday, there has been at least 1 to 2 people home sick with something.  When all 6 of them finally get in school, I won't know what to do with myself!

2nd time's a charm?

Yesterday morning, bright and early we headed over to the surgi-center to get Jacob's 2nd set of tubes put in his ears. The 1st pair fell out after a year and his tubes were filled with fluid again. His adenoids were pushing against his tubes so they decided they would take those out also. He was only back there about 5 minutes when they paged me and called me back. I was worried because they had told me that it would take at least 30 minutes or so for the procedure. When I got back there they told me they couldn't get his adenoids because his tonsils were so huge and they needed my permission to take them out. What was I going to say? "No, give me back my baby right now!" I signed the paper and thought, "He is not going to be happy when he wakes up." When he came out of surgery, I could him hear wailing down the hall. As soon as they laid him in my arms he looked at me with those sad blue eyes and promptly fell asleep. He was not happy with the bandaid that they put on him after they took out the I.V., but other than that there were no fits thrown.

I have to say that I have the most awesome mother-in-law. She volunteered to come up and watch Abigail and Matthew while I was at the surgi-center with Jacob. I called her the day before and told her that I had to leave the house no later than 6:45 in the morning. For her that means she would have to leave her house at around 5:00. Around 5:35 that morning we are all getting ready, the big boys are eating breakfast and waiting for their ride to seminary. All of the sudden they holler, "She's here!" I thought, "Man she is 15 minutes early! I don't even have their lunches packed yet." But no, it is not their ride. It is grandma, an hour early. As she walks in with 2 of the cousins, I look at her and ask, "I did tell you 6:45 didn't I?" Her mouth drops open and the girls wail, "Grandma!!" We all laughed, but of course, I am not the one that got up at 3:30! Bless her heart, she is an angel.

So anyway, I am not prepared to have someone on a liquid diet, so I have to stock up on icecream, popsicles, and gatoraide. He has cried off and on for a day and a half now. Anytime he wants something he pokes my shoulder and points. I have gotten pretty good and deciphering what those little points mean after 2 days. And as normal, any medicine that is supposed to make you remotely drowsy, has the opposite effect on Jacob. Yeah, fun.
Later that afternoon Gabe asked me to scratch his back. I looked at it and asked him where in the world he had gotten all those mosquito bites. It was only about 8 or so, but I figured he had rolled down the hill or something. I took Joseph to his big scout thing later that night and Joe called me and asked if I had seen Gabe's back. I told him I had and that it wasn't that bad. He said, "I am pretty sure he has chicken pox." I told him there was no way because he had a roaring case when he was 10 months old. I know this because Joseph had given them to him. It was Joseph's 2nd case. This is now Gabe's 2nd case. So I am pretty sure we have infected the entire family who came up for b-day's, the school, and the entire primary. You love us I know. : )

Our GREAT Government at work.....HA!

Last spring when I went to sign up Abigail for kindergarten, I could NOT find her birth certificate anywhere. It finally dawned on me after looking for 2 days that I didn't have it. Since she has never attended school or preschool it was never necessary for her to actually have one until now. I don't know how it slipped my mind ordering one for her after she was born, oh wait yes I do.
So all summer long, I kept thinking, "Got to get a birth certificate, need to run up to Nashville and get a birth certificate." So like a good mom, I wait until the week of registration and realize, "Oh man! I haven't gotten that birth certificate yet! School starts in 4 days!" So I hop online and see if I can get one there. Yes you can get one online, but they don't actually take orders online. But, for only a small nominal fee, you can go thru a different company online and order them. Being the frugal and thrifty (ha) person that I am, I thought, "there is no way I am spending extra money just to wait for it to get here. I will march myself right on down to the health dept. and just get it there." So while running errands, sans kids, in town yesterday, I remembered AGAIN that I still didn't have the birth certificate and thought, "Perfect! No kids to run amok in the waiting room, I will just run over there and pick it up and be on my merry way!" Yeah right.
First of all, let me preface this by saying it is hot in Tennessee. I mean REALLY hot. Like as 98 degrees hot and that is not even considering humidity. You walk outside for 5 minutes and whatever you did to your hair and makeup is instantly melted. Your clothes have stuck to you in ways that make you feel very uncomfortable.
I drive up to the HDept. and manage to snag the LAST available parking spot for 2 blocks around. I walk in and wait in line. When I get to the front I inform them that I need a birth certificate and they flatly state, "8 bucks. Cash only." Of course you only take cash. What was I thinking? That you would have actually joined the 21'st century yet? I walk outside and look around. There is no way that I am losing my parking spot so I decide to walk. I am only 2 blocks off the square where I know there is a bank, but man it's hot outside. I am perfectly capable of walking that distance, but have no desire to. The DMV is only 1 block up the road so I head up there. When I get there, the front door is locked. Wha? It's not lunch time. Then I look at the sign on the front door. It is election day here in TN. So they are closed. We could never ask a gov't worker to work on election day. Might be to strenuous or something.
Ok, plan B. On to the scary gas station with bars on the windows and doors. There is an ATM sign on the window, so I should be able to grab some cash there. I walk past all the men sitting on top of the trash cans eating their lunch and pop in the door. No ATM. "Sorry ma'm it was taken out a long time ago. Too many robberies." Ah yes, I knew I was in safe place when I spotted the bars. The attendant was very nice and ran my card thru the cash registar and gave me some money for a $2 fee. Hopefully there won't be any other charges on the card! I book it on over to the HDept, stand in line again and fill out my form. Surprisingly for how crowded the parking lot was, there are hardly any people in the waiting room.
Seeing as how I was so forgetful on getting the actual birth cert. It didn't surprise me that I forgot to bring something to read. There are no magazines, and the tv doesn't work. Actually I was quite entertained. There were some Very interesting people there. And scary. After a while though, people watching can get old. I dozed off a time or two jerking back awake hoping that I hadn't missed my name being called. After 1 1/2 hours of sitting in a very boring, albeit clean waiting room, I hear my name being called to report to window 7. I try to be as cheerful as possible and ask her how her day has been. "Our computers are down." Is her response. "You'll have to come back." SERIOUSLY?! You didn't know this when I came in an hour and a half ago?!" I tersly ask her. "Will I have to wait in this waiting room again?" She looks over her glasses at me like I have magically grown a 3rd eyeball in the middle of my forehead. "Uh, yes. But, you won't have to fill out your paper work again!" she replies. Like that is any consolation. Next time I come lady, I am going to bring all 7 of my kids and let them wreak havoc on your waiting room and then we'll see how long you make me wait. I bet I would be out of there with my form in hand in less than 20 minutes.
Now I understand why people order their forms online. One day I might learn.