Jon, Jenny, Cricket, Tilly, and Dewy

Happy Day!

2012-01-13T10:06:00.002-07:00

Look what I got in the mail today!

On a side note, I would like to say that it is not proof that I am a bad mom that Dewy ate four pieces of Little Ceasar's Pizza for dinner. Yes my five year old consumed a half of a large pizza.

Dewy and I also had the following conversation this week.
Me: You need to brush your teeth. You're breath stinks!
Dewy: I can't that's my super power.
That's right ladies and gentlemen, Dewy's super-power is having bad breath.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-22T20:44:00.002-07:00

Dewy came home from preschool today with a turkey that he made. It had four feathers on it. On each feather was listed the four things he was most thankful for. They are:
1) My Dad
2) My Leafblower
3) My Shovel
4) My Weed-wacker

When I asked him why I did not a get a feather, he told me, "Shovels are more important than moms."

Thanks. Thanks a lot.

Ryan in the Sky

2011-11-21T12:26:00.001-07:00

Ryan in the Sky by Jennifer Gibb | Make Your Own Book

Lake Powell

2011-08-14T21:08:00.003-06:00

We made a quick trip to Lake Powell this weekend before school started. We have been bribing the girls (Katie's too) to try to wakeboard. Cricket has finally overcome her fear and look at her go. This video was a lot longer, but I only got part of it off JP's phone. Keep in mind that last week was her first time getting up. Look for video of Tilly coming soon to a blog near you (if we can go out a few more time this year before it gets too cold, she is close to getting up). Katie's girls are popping right out of the water as well!

We had a great time on the Lake and hanging out with my Aunt Dana and Uncle Todd. Going to their house has now made the extensive list of possible locations for Dewy's birthday (something he talks about all the time).

Don't think that just because I posted this that I am going to be better about posting. I start my new job next week and my last semester of school on the 29th, but here is a quick update.

Cricket starts intermediate school tomorrow. She is super nervous, but I am looking forward to this new adventure in her life. She is really growing up. After much deliberation, we are supporting her on a competitive cheer team this year. Her first performance in this Friday at a High School football game.

Tilly has started sleepwalking this summer. She is going into third grade. She is very smart and loving. She will be doing dance and tumbling again this year and hopes to get her braces off sometime this year.

Dewy will be going to two preschools this year, at least for this semester. Who knows what my schedule will look like next semester. He loves super heroes. He just started taking gymnastics with Jack and he is constantly upside down and flipping all over the furniture. He has a ton of energy which allows him to eat like a pig whenever he is so inclined and still be a little buff four-year old.

Jon is still at DSC and is doing Fall Baseball this year. He told me last week he might want to move to Orderville. I hope he was joking.

Growing up Gross

2011-03-25T19:54:00.001-06:00

Today I was in the car with Dewy and Ryan. Dewy said, "I just farted."
I said, "Congratulations."
He said, "Do you want to try to guess what my toots smell like?"
I said, "No thanks."
Not to be outdone, Ryan said, "Urrp (fake burping noise) Burp!"
Got to love those boys and their sense of humor.

Oopsy

2011-03-16T22:55:00.002-06:00

I guess I need to be more careful with my Gender and Communication homework. Today Cricket said the Leprechaun that Dewy made at school freaked her out because it looked like it was transgendered. I am not sure she really understands what that means, but she sure hit the nail on the head.

Sibling Rivalry

2011-03-01T21:12:00.002-07:00

I am not sure what it is about these two, but they definitely have a love/ hate relationship. Sometimes they are nice as punch to each other. Other times they, well...just aren't. One thing they really struggle with is being competitive with each other. When Tilly won reflections, Cricket marched out of the school; chucked her project in the garbage by the front doors; and declared, "This is crap."

Today we got a phone call that Cricket won an award for SUPAF (Southern Utah Performing Arts Festival). She will be one of eight young people performing at the awards night at Desert Hills High School next Thursday. Kind of a big deal, and pretty cool for someone who has only been playing piano for a few months. (They are divided into categories and she is a beginner). Tilly was not happy about it. She pouted around the house all night and texted me that she did not want to go watch her.

My girls got a huge lecture about loving and supporting one another. That if they didn't win, they should be happy their sister did. I really hope they grow out of this or the first one to get engaged or get a big scholarship might also get a punch in face from her sister.

The Three Stooges?

2011-01-27T21:04:00.003-07:00

Okay so I know I didn't really post about Christmas, but I had to write this one down because it was funny to me.

We were listening to the song "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" and Cricket and I had the following conversation:
C: I don't understand how the three stooges sang this song.
M: I don't know. I guess they sang it in one of their movies.
C: What movies?
M: The Three Stooges were in like 50 movies.
C: That doesn't make any sense. Aren't the The Three Stooges the Ghost Of Christmas Past, Present and Future?

It sure would be a different version of a Christmas Carol or of a Three Stooges Movie, depending on how you look at it.

On a different note, I need to comment on my last post and the Dewypig. I am a terrible mother! I did not have time to make dinner on Monday night and bought 50 Mcnuggets for $9.99 (shut-up! They're all white meat). Dewy ate 10 and kept asking for more, so I decided to let him eat until he said he was full. Half-way through number 20, he handed me what was left and said he was full. Sooooooo gross! About 30 minutes later he said, "My belly-button hurts where I ate all those chicken nuggets." Then he started in on, "I need to eat something to make these nuggets go away." In my defense it was a valuable lesson for him about how it's best to not over-eat and you can't fix a mistake by continuing the same behavior.

I have a Dewypig

2011-01-10T22:22:00.003-07:00

What is a Dewypig? A little boy that today ate and entire bagel for breakfast. Then had a ham/egg/cheese sandwich and a butt load of sunchips for lunch. Then ate more chips, a yogurt, two string cheeses for a snack. Then had 11 chicken nuggets for dinner (and was very upset that there weren't anymore left). And finally ended the day with a few more sunchips and a chocolate covered granola bar. Now you know why I don't keep chips in my house and why I am going to school so that I can earn more money to buy groceries.

Happy Birthday to me

2011-01-09T22:02:00.004-07:00

I know I need to post about Christmas and pretty much life in general. This is my journal and I have been letting it slide. School is keeping me pretty busy. If I have any free time I play pathwords on Facebook. It lets my brain shut off. I know it is an awful waste of time.

I put on this picture of my sweet Tilly because that is what she was and still is. She started saving money months ago to take me out to the movies for my birthday. We went to Gulliver's Travel's and she paid for everything. She was so excited because before we left I reminded her that we could take a can of food and get a free drink. We got there we saw my friend Jen in the parking lot and she gave us their left over popcorn from the giant refillable buckets. She paid for the tickets and bought us some twizzlers. It made me feel so special that she would want to do something nice for me and it was very cute that she was so happy that she saved money. I sure do love her. I will never forget that birthday present.

Also my parents gave me a really nice check. Jon's parents gave me some $ too, and my husband bought me an engagement ring. Yes we have been married 11 years, thank you very much. My brother and sister-in-law gave me a gift card to tai pan and I went and got a mirror for my entry way that I have wanted forever. Katie gave me a nice blow dryer because mine blew up and a gift certificate to get my hair done. I sure got spoiled. This will go down in history as my best birthday ever, except for our failed attempt to eat at Pirate Island Pizza. Half the games were broken and we waited for an hour and half before we left without our order because they were taking too long. They gave us a cheese pizza on our way out the door as an I'm sorry and we went through the drive thru at Wendy's.

More of the Same

2010-10-13T21:49:00.002-06:00

Things are really busy for us these days. As time goes by we just get busier. I guess that is why people are excited to retire. They need a rest.

Most of the upheaval to our lives from the car accident is over. (I hate calling it an accident) Well I guess that is an exageration, but I have graduated from physical therapy so it is taking up less time. We still don't have our car back yet. I am having muscle spasms which are not fun but I don't have pain when I move, which is nice. I had to go the sentencing hearing a few weeks ago, again not fun.

I am plugging along in school. I don't really know what I was thinking going back to school right now. Sometimes I think I am crazy. I am stressed about getting my school work done most of the time and I am super nervous to actually finish and have to embark on a career.

Jon still loves his job at Dixie. He has decided to attend as many DSC sporting events with the kids this year as he can. Go Red Storm! He is gearing up for basketball season (as a ref, not a fan). He is still Elder's Quorum Pres. and a good husband.

Cricket is up to the same old tricks. She takes a lot of class and wants to be with friends when not at said classes. She says I am ruining her life because I won't buy her a cell phone. She would like Santa to bring her one, but if not she will settle for a laptop. I keep trying to explain to her that if anyone is getting a laptop it is me, but no one is in fact getting a laptop, but she keeps at it. Her attitude goes from much improved to she has the worst life ever. She is talkative and fun to be around, except when she's not. She is a party girl in the Nutcracker this year and her dad let Katie dye a bright blue window in her hair. I sure do love her, especially when she admits defeats and comes up to me and says "I need a hug."

I think Tilly gets sweeter as she gets older. When she does to something naughty and I scold her she looks at me like I am the meanest person ever being mean to the nicest person ever. She loves going to classes too, except she is stuggling with tumbling. It's not that she doesn't like it becasue she is always excited to go and she wants to learn new tricks. She also loves her coach. The problem is that tumbling doesn't get over until 8:20 and that is just too much for her. Every Wednesday night she bursts into tears as she is going to bed because staying up until 8:45 is excruciating for her.

Dewy is nuts. He has so much zest for life and is excited about everything. We have lengthy conversations everyday in which he asks me question after question until I am ready to die. At least ten times a day he says, "Oh yeah, you're right" after I tell him something. He still soy-dee, soy-dees me. If you know Dewy, you know what that means. He likes going to preschool, but still tries to fake sick to get out of Primary. He says betwards as in "The ball was coming straight betwards me." Today we had the following conversation:
Dewy: Mom what is this road made out of?
Me: Asphalt.
Dewy: What's assfart?

Singing Dewy

2010-09-24T00:21:00.002-06:00

Dewy sings all day long. Usually a silly made up song to the tune of a real song. One morning he sang to the tune of the Dixie Plate Comercial. Today he sang this song, thinking this is really how it goes
Mary had a little land, little land, little land
Mary had a little land
Police are white as snow.

This and That

2010-09-22T13:22:00.002-06:00

I know the universe was trying to teach me something yesterday when Tilly spilled half a gallon of chocolate milk in my newly cleaned kitchen. And by clean, I mean really really cleaned by a professional. And by spilled I mean it looked like a chocolate milk bomb exploded. There was shrapnel splashed onto all the shiny stainless steel appliances, the walls, and all over the inside of the refrigerator.

The country prosecutor called yesterday and asked me to come to court to talk to Judge Shumate for the sentencing on my crash. I am not calling it an accident because it wasn't one. I am not real excited about being in the same room with the person who hit me.

It says something that Dewy and Zaya both just went potty and when I yelled "Flush the toilet." They both had to run back to their perspective locations and flush the toilets. Now that is killing two birds with one stone, or flushing two toilets with one command.

The drama continues

2010-09-05T10:15:00.002-06:00

Poor Dewy had his tonsils and adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears on Tuesday. He did pretty well that day but it went down hill from there. He has been pretty sore and hasn't eaten a whole lot. His breath smells like he swallowed a dead horse, but he is doing a little better.

Yesterday while I was at work, Jon finally decided that he had enough of Dewy's hair and he took the clippers to him. The problem is that the bleach had not grown out enough to the length that Jon cut it. The other problem is that Jon cut it all one length. Dewy no longer has a Mohawk. He now has a big yellow stripe down the middle of his dead. He is in pain and looks like a complete weirdo.

Asha got baptized yesterday. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

The Nut-Butter Crack

2010-08-31T14:57:00.004-06:00

That is what Tilly called it the first time I took Cricket to it. She said, "I don't want to go to the Nut-butter Crack." That is what we call it now. It sounds disgusting I know.

Cricket and Tilly both tried out and got parts. Cricket will a girl in the party scene and Tilly is one of the Mother Hubbard Children. This is your open invitation to attend. The Nutcracker info is as follows:

PERFORMANCE DATES: Dec 17th, 18th, 20th, 21st

TIME: 7:30 (and Matinee Sat the 18th at 2:00)

PLACE: Desert Hills High School

TICKETS: $15 Adults, $10 Youth

We'll always have Pranzo

2010-08-25T21:24:00.002-06:00

The highlight of my day was having my husband take me to lunch at Pranzo. It was far and away the best sandwich I have ever had in my life. Things went down hill from there.

I dropped Cricket off at dance and was headed home to have Activity Days. I was driving along minding my own business (with Dewy and Tilly in the car), when I was literally rammed from behind. My car spun out and around into oncoming traffic. All I could think about was getting the car under control. We ended up facing the opposite direction on the opposite side of the street. It happened so fast but it was all in slow motion. I really thought I was going to roll. I didn't see anything just the road in front of me. Just thinking about it is making me dizzy. After the few seconds it took to get the car under control, I became aware that Dewy and Tilly were both screaming. I got the car stopped and before I could turn around, Tilly said, "Mom Dewy fell out of his car seat." My hear sank. I had Dewy in the booster. He was sound asleep and I think when we started to spin out he must have hit the buckle because he had in fact come out of his seat belt. I had to crawl out because I couldn't get my door open. I went around to get him and thank god they were both alright. I honestly didn't know what happened. I never saw the guy coming. Well actually I didn't see him at all because he kept right on going. A few awesome people stopped to help. Lucky they were there to get a description of the car because I really saw nothing. The man behind me said that the guy passed him on the shoulder going about 80 and then just rammed when he got back on the road. One of our neighbors (a paramedic) saw my car and stopped. He made sure we were okay, got the scene under control, and let my kids sit in his truck so they weren't roasting by the side of the road. Thanks Ty! and thanks to his equally awesome wife who I called to go to my house because I didn't want activity day girls to be dropped off to an empty house. Thanks Michelle. The Smith's were my heroes today. About 90 seconds after the accident, while I was still on the phone with 911, the car that hit me sped past the scene going in the other direction. One of the witnesses got a partial plate. The police tracked him down and when they brought me the accident report, they said he was "out of it." He was going to the hospital and then jail. My car might be totalled, but we are all okay. My neck kind of hurts but hopefully it won't get worse.

I have cried more today than I have since Ryan died. I am thankful that my kids are alright. I am thankful for the good citizens who stopped because they saw what happened and wanted to help. I am thankful for my good neighbors who took care of me and called to check on me. I am thankful for my cute activity day girls who left love notes on my door. I really think someone was watching out for us today and keeping us safe. I am so lucky there wasn't a car coming in the other direction because I was on a pretty busy road.

I am not thankful that I now have to deal with insurance and getting my car fixed or not getting it fixed and having to find a new car. I am also very very angry at the man who did drugs or whatever and then got behind the wheel of his car. He could have killed one of my kids. Every time I think about it I want to rip his face off. I mean I am just furious inside. I know that is not very Christlike but I am.

Babysitting

2010-08-12T16:53:00.004-06:00

I love to babysit my nephews. Mostly because when their parents are around they won't give me the time of day. When I was babysitting last night Ryan wanted me to hold him and hang out with him and he gave me kisses whenever I asked. And yes I gave him a bag of cookies and let him lick the brownie batter spoon. Give-and-take, that's what life is about, give-and-take.

On a totally different note, look what I did to my son: on purpose (Katie helped). I like it. Jon, not so much

Dewy says he is Ang, and he needs an airbending stick. I am pretty sure the first time I leave them home alone together I will come home to Dewy's shaved head.

Asha's Birthday

2010-08-03T21:22:00.002-06:00

Our last few days in California were spent at Disneyland and celebrating Asha's 8th birthday. It was a fun last hoorah.

California Science Center

2010-07-29T22:06:00.002-06:00

We went to Mummies Around the World. I wanted to do at least one museum before we left and Jon indulged me. Thanks babe! I know most people wouldn't want to spend that kind of money to look at mummies but I think the kids liked it. If nothing else, they learned a few things. It was definitely no-holds-barred. Then we stopped at the Ecosystems exhibit, which they loved. We had to leave a little before we wanted to because Dewy's ears were hurting.

China Town

2010-07-29T22:02:00.002-06:00

A cool place. I would totally go back, but also a good reminder that it is really not that fun to shop with kids....or husbands.

Knott's Berry Farm with Jon

2010-07-28T00:04:00.002-06:00

Dewy was very mad that Jon did not win the ball throwing game. He walked right up to him and hit him. We stopped at Korean BBQ on the way home. Jon got to brush up on his rusty language skills because the lovely people inside did not speak English. Tomorrow we are going to China Town, per Jon's request. I think Jon has decided this is as close as he will get to Asia so he might as well take advantage of it.

Swimming

2010-07-27T23:38:00.002-06:00

Here are a few pictures of the kids at the pool, since my documentation of this summer would not be complete without a few pictures of something we have done quite a bit. I am sad that my documentation will forever remain incomplete owing to the fact that I forgot to take my camera when we went up to Bakersfield last Saturday to see my cousin. The kids had a ball. Jill and Niel had a bounce house and super fun slip-and-slide set up in the back yard when we got there. My cousins (I guess? Our grandma's are sisters) Letty and Cody were there with their families as well. As Tilly would say, "Thanks Aunt Cousin Jill."

A bunch of nonsense

2010-07-23T22:51:00.004-06:00

The kids thought this part of the zoo was really fun. Too bad it isn't open everyday. Dewy now would really like to "go look for condos."

On a side note as you might notice from all this pictures, Tilly is a giant poser. If I had a penny for every time she said, "Take a picture of me," I would have a really giant bag of pennies.

Yesterday Dewy was singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Instead of "Gently down the stream." He would say, "Dip me down the street."

I am excited to see Jon in a couple of days. I miss him.

I had the following conversation with Asha this week:

A: Jenny, if you and Jon got a divorce and you started dating a different guy and he wanted to be your boyfriend, but he didn't like your kids what would you do? Would you chose him or your kids? I mean like would you chose your kids or love?

Me: I would chose my kids because I love them the most. Why do you ask that question?

A: There was this lady and she started dating someone that didn't like her kids so she locked them in their carseats and drove her car into a lake and she got out before it went under water but she left her kids in the car and they died.

Me: Are you afraid that would happen to you?

A: No because all the guys my mom are around like me a lot.

Today the girls were playing UFC. That is not what they were calling it but that is pretty much what it was. Asha was Tilly's coach and Cricket was Sage's. They would yell at them what to do while Tilly and Sage were fake fighting. At one point they pulled there fighters into their perspective corners to talk to them and I heard Asha tell Tilly, "When I tell you to rip her arms off, you rip her arms off."

Oh the Humanity

2010-07-21T21:27:00.003-06:00

Yes that is blood all over Sage. We were riding the Log Ride at Knott's Berry Farm today. I was in back with Dewy and Zaya and Tilly & Sage were sitting infront of us. There is one point in the ride where you go down a hill and then there is a sharp turn all in the dark. Right after this point in the ride Sage let out a scream of terror and then started crying. When we got in the light, I asked Tilly what happened. She said she hit her tooth. She cried the rest of the ride (not very long). Just as we went down the last big slope I could see that there was blood on her hand. When we got to the bottom I asked her to turn around so I could see. THERE WAS A LOT OF BLOOD. It was all over her chin, running down her neck, and all over her hands and arms. (I am thinking oh crap she knocked her tooth out). It probably looked like more than it was becasue I am pretty sure it was mixed with a lot of slobber. We got off and the ride operators went into emergency training mode. They called the EMT's and had us sit down. They gave us some paper towels and I cleaned her up to where I could look at what was bleeding. She had hit the bars you hold onto and bit her lip really bad. It stopped bleeding pretty quickly and by the time the Knott's Berry Farm Police arrived we had everything under control, but she was ready to go home. She was pretty brave actually. She stopped crying as soon as she heard EMT. I think it scared her because she kept asking what that was. Only a parent can know the gratitude that comes when it's just a bit lip (and didn't knock their teeth out).

Showbiz Kids

2010-07-20T23:12:00.002-06:00

Okay so my very friendly neighbor told me that they offer free classes in one of the clubhouses, one of which is hip hop. So I went and found out when and where so I could take the girls thinking this is soooo up their alley. I stayed and watched and the class began with a lecture about professionalism. Apparently Oakwood is the place to stay if you are trying to break your kids into the Biz because this class was kind of a hip hop class and kind of audition prep. At one point after teaching the dance the instructor said "OK me and Rori are casting a movie and we will pick two boys and two girls per group." I knew when he said this that one or all of the children I brought would not understand that he was pretending. All the girls were in the first group and the choreographer picked Sage and Cricket and then the Activities Director picked Asha and Tilly. Pfew. When it was over Tilly was the only one left standing. Of course Asha broke down because you guessed it, she thought it was a real audition.

Next the teacher asked them to break into groups of four and gave them five minutes to make up 5 counts of 8. Now I am not bragging but ours was the best. I wish I would have thought to record it, but everyone loved it. It was really cute. Good opening and closing.

When we left the girls were all so excited. They loved it and thought it was so fun. I thought it was fun to watch and funny that when they were leaving the teacher said to a group of kids, "Good class everyone. Now go get jobs this week."

A Nightly Habit

2010-07-20T23:07:00.002-06:00

After wearing the kids out all day and sometimes after just doing nothing this is usually what it looks like in my bedroom, give or take a few and sometimes all when Avatar cartoons are on. I signed up for Netflix because there is only one tv in this apartment and with this crowd one tv just doesn't cut it.
And sometimes this is what happens. Gotta love it.

A Bear in the Wild

2010-07-20T23:02:00.004-06:00

It may seem weird to title a trip to the Fashion District "A Bear in the Wild" but that is what this picture is. A creature in its natural element. This was my first time here and hopefully my last with small children. Not a good place for a stroller but there were a lot of good deals (also a lot of junk). Driving and parking was also kind of stressful for me. So the final word on the Fashion District: cool, need small car and no kids.

The Third Week

2010-07-16T22:54:00.002-06:00

Time here is starting to fly by. Maybe it is because I am less homesick and getting used to our routine. This has been a good experience thus far for me. I am out of my comfort zone and have remembered that I can be independent, which are both things I would just as soon forget. It has also made me appreciate home more, both my home and St George. Maybe it is because I spend a lot of time at theme parks and people there tend to walk through the gates and become savages. (That is what happens when you spend a lot of money to stand in line in the hot sun.) I don't know for sure the reasons but people from LA might think they are cooler than the rest of us, but they are definitely ruder. At least once a day I encounter a bleeppty bleep blank. (I only swear when I know who I'm talking to. See what good manners I have!) Maybe it is simply that I am in a more densley poppulated area and therefore due to the laws of probability am more likely to encounter people with their heads up their.........Anyway, I miss St George!

And for anyone out there who takes the time to watch this, I would like to pose a question based on some of its content: Who do you know that is mean enough to take children to Knott's Berry Farm and then not let them ride the rides because they have been being so naughty? Me! Ha Ha Ha Ha. (That is my evil laugh.) Now they know I am serious when I threaten them. It was actually a smart move. They have been acting a little nicer. I stress the word little.

Spiderman and the Princess

2010-07-12T10:02:00.002-06:00

Dewy and Zaya just brought me their dress-ups to help them put on. As I put Dewy's arms into his Venom costume he said, "I am going to be Spiderman and rescue the princess." As soon as I put Zaya's costume on her she walked up to Dewy and said, "Kiss me Spiderman." Oh how quickly they learn their stereotypical gender roles.

Sunday

2010-07-11T18:10:00.002-06:00

Turn off the music for this one!

Celebrity Watch:WE SAW JON HEDER AND HIS BROTHER AT CHURCH TODAY (in our ward apparently).

A Day Out With Grandpa and Grandma

2010-07-11T16:43:00.005-06:00

We drove down to Laguna so see Grandpa and Grandma DeWitt who were in California on vacation. They treated us to the Sawdust Festival and then lunch. Next we headed to the beach and then back to the pool at their hotel. The kids said it was the best day of their whole lives. Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma!

Week in Review

2010-07-11T16:28:00.003-06:00

Tuesday someone parked behind my car and I couldn't get out of the parking stall until the person next to me left. Why are people so rude? We went to the pool in the afternoon.

Wednesday I made my first solo voyage with the kids to Knott's. We spent about four hours but that was not enough. They were all mad when I said it was time to go.

Thursday we went to the Zoo again and we really didn't look at much that we had already seen. There is sure a lot to see.

Friday was Katie's Birthday! We stayed home, did laundry, and cleaned up. Then we went and got cupcakes at Yummy Cupcakes and took them to Katie's school. We went out to eat at the Pink Taco and then to see The Last Airbender. Word to the wise: Don't go to the movies in California. SOOOOOOOOO Expensive! Happy Birthday Katie Jane! We love you!

Disneyland

2010-07-05T22:46:00.005-06:00

We went to Disneyland today. We met up with our Aunt Mary and Uncle Wally and our cousins for awhile in the morning. It was good to see them. The girls all love them, but we got separated after a few rides and never hooked back up with them. The kids had a ball. We had told them we would stay and watch the fire works but we got there before 8 and by 6pm Katie and I had about had it. Hey 11 hours is a long time. They agreed not to throw a fit if I took them to Knott's Berry tomorrow. What have I gotten myself into? Three days of theme parks in 4 days it looks like. Sorry poor feet!

Celebrity Watch: I SAW JESSE JACKSON IN TOMORROW LAND! He saw me staring at him as we watched passed each other and I smiled. He knodded his head at me and said "Hello."

Saturday at Knott's Berry Farm

2010-07-05T22:29:00.002-06:00

We went to Knott's Berry Farm on Saturday. It was my first time there and it was kind of a cheap Disney knock-off but for the price it is going to be a good way to keep the kids busy.

Highlights:

1)Dewy and Katie screaming when the robbers came on the train ride, Katie because it startled her, Dewy because he really thought we were being held at gunpoint.

2) Having the bumper cars halted mid-run because Asha was stuck against the wall and had to be removed by the ride operator. She kept pull on the dash of her bumper car in an attempt to manually dislodge it from the wall. Don't worry she wasn't fazed a bit, Katie was the slightly embarrassed one. Asha did get stuck again but she managed to get herself out of it the second time.

PS The was finally came back on while we were at Knott's Berry Farm. It was a somewhat humbling experience to have everyone be so grateful for running water.

Poop on your Day Off!

2010-07-02T20:09:00.002-06:00

No really I mean it. I decided that I was a little burnt out of keeping these kids entertained and since Katie doesn't have school tomorrow we could go do something fun with her. I decided we would take the day off and just hang out in our pajamas and do nothing. This was a big mistake only because there is a broken water line somewhere and we have been without running water since last night. And owing to the fact that apparently most of these children poop twice a day you can imagine what the inside of the toilet looks like, but you really shouldn't try to imagine bsides it is beyond your wildest imagination. Also the house now smell like an outhouse. At one point I dumped out the entire jug of drinking water I just bought in an attempt to flush the toilet. The Noetic Science is also not working. (I am reading The Lost Symbol). I am truly sicked out at this point. It is now 7:15pm and if I can't flush the toilet soon I might have to go to bed just so I can wake up and flush the toilet tomorrow. I hope. I hope. I hope.

Pony Rides

2010-07-01T20:27:00.003-06:00

You will notice that Zaya and Dewy are absent from our Pony Rides at Griffith Park pictures. That is because after I bought them both a ticket they decided to freak out and not ride. I was annoyed and secretly a little relieved owing to the fact that went the older girls mounted these innocent looking creatures, they took off like a bat-out-of-hell. They were also very very short rides, but the girls said it was the best time of their lives. Afterwards we went to Shane's Inspiration to play and have a picnic. There was so much complaining that Katie and I are working on a system to nip it in the bud, so look for that program coming soon to a blog near you. We went back to the pool this afternoon and Zaya did not make me take her to the bathroom. She did however announce to everyone in earshot, "I am going to the the bathroom in the water." She was so pleased. (OK so was I. I know I am disgusting, but am already burnt out enough to prefer swimming in the two drops of pee I know that she created.)

Travel Town

2010-06-30T21:19:00.003-06:00

This morning we went to the Travel Town Museum. It was a good way to kill an hour.

The train ride was only $2.50 which isn't too bad until you consider the fact that there were seven of us. I spent almost $20 for a 5-10 minute ride. That is just synical adult talk though and I hope the kids had fun. I am not sure that Dewy did though. He was very upset that the kiddy train was the only operational train. I must have answered about a hundred questions concerning the fact that we were at a museum and the trains there are old.

After going home for lunch we made our first foray into the pool here at the condo. It's not real kid friendly. There were about 10 people there, all of which were there simply to work on their tans so I felt like the kids were just bugging them. After about 15 minutes Zaya came unglued that she had to go to the bathroom. I am not familiar enough with the place to know if and where there was a pool bathroom. So we all went back to the apartment so she could go potty. We then hiked back down to the pool where we swam for about 15 more minutes and she did the same thing again. This ended our pool excursion. Is is wrong for me to just want her to quietly pee in the pool like I am sure all the other kids were doing?

Now That's Good Advice!

The LA Zoo

2010-06-29T20:17:00.003-06:00

We started off the day by dropping off Katie and then making a visit to the Doughnut Prince. (I guess that is the next best thing to Prince Charming.) We made our first visit to the LA Zoo. The kids had fun I think. Although once again there was a lot of complaining. (When do kids outgrow that?) Dewy and Zaya were afraid of some of the animals but all in all it was a thumbs up for today's outing.

PS I think I saw Holly Robinson Peete at the zoo today, but I didn't say anything to Cricket because Cricket has no idea who she is.

Day 1

2010-06-28T21:59:00.004-06:00

Well sort of...Technically we arrived in California yesterday after staying Saturday night in Primm at Buffalo Bills (by far the grossest hotel I have ever stayed in). I have decided that since I am less distracted by life while I am here, I am going to try to be really good about documenting this trip on my blog.

We are in LA for the next five weeks and as I was discussing with Cricket last night, this will probably be the only time we ever get to take a five week long vacation at least while the kids are at home (I can always hope) so we better make the best of it. Right now I am stilling finding the whole thing very intimidating. Whoever heard of an intimidating vacation? Anyone who attempted to entertain six kids in a big city they were totally unfamiliar with for an extended period of time.

Jon drove with us out here, but he had to fly home today. Before he left, he was kind enough to take us to the beach. Neither of us is too familiar with CA so we ended up at the Santa Monica Beach. I could never had made this trip without him as my car is not equipped with a navigation system. We only hung out for a short while, then we headed down the road a bit to Venis Beach.

Lessons Learned:

1) Don't go to any water activities until after lunch- It was so cold when we went out around ten this morning. We kept it short because the kids were complaining so much mostly about being cold, but also that they were hungry and sandy.

2)Watch where you park.- Our inexpensive excursion to the beach was shot to the tune of $60 by a wonderful parking ticket at Venis Beach.

3)DO NOT use the public restrooms at Venis Beach (especially girls). It is co-ed minus the toilet seats. You are far better off pee-ing your pants. At least then you would know who's pee you were sitting in.

I took Jon to the Bob Hope Airport and picked Katie up from school without getting lost all by myself. (I know I had six kids with me, but you know what I mean)

Cricket would really like to see a movie star.

Tilly is her usual easy-to-deal-with self.

Dewy is pissed Jon left, but don't worry, it is not affecting his appetite.

Cute Cupcake Cards

2010-05-20T16:54:00.002-06:00

Look how cute and crafty I am. These are Tilly's birthday invites for this year!

Poor Cricket!

2010-05-20T16:47:00.002-06:00

I got a phone call last Thursday from Katie around lunch time saying she was down at the school doing playground duty and Cricket was in the office crying. She had fallen off the monkey bars and hurt her wrist. By the time I got to the school it was swelling. Off we went to the pediatrician's office and this is what we had a couple hours later. She has a buckle fracture just above her left wrist. She also has a non-waterproof caste. That means no boating, swim lessons, water slides etc. for five weeks. She had to drop out of gymnastics and will be sporting this caste in her annual dance recital. As Durfenshmutz would say "Curse you monkey bars."

What movie do you want to see?

2010-04-29T11:26:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Dewy informed me that he really wants to go see Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid. Then walked around asking everyone if they want to see Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid. Well do you?

Hang ups?

2010-04-22T20:17:00.002-06:00

I have discovered that being a mom has it's advantages and it's disadvantages and sometimes they are one in the same. For instances as a mom I have learned to ignore being constantly tugged and pulled on. This week I was in the bathroom getting ready and Dewy was yanking and pulling on me and I was ignoring him. Did I notice when he hung a child's hanger on the back of my pants? No. Did I notice it was there as I walked around the house cleaning and watering the garden? No. Did I notice when I got in car to go run errands? No. Did I notice when I went into my place of employment to pick up my paycheck? No. As I got back into the car, I sat on something and it was all caught in the seat. Dewy was dying laughing. He had obviously seen me get in and out of the car with a hanger hanging on my bum. He said, "I put a hanger on your butt." Thank you, son for keeping me grounded.

Eat That!

2010-04-11T17:57:00.002-06:00

Cricket
Who refuses to eat vegetables came home from church to find lunch at the table for her. She promptly sat down and started to gobble it up. What she didn't know was that I had pulled the old switcheroo! What she thought were mashed potatoes was actually mostly cauliflower. I sat happily gloating. Just as she was about to take the last bite, I dropped the bomb. She gave me a very dirty look, dropped her fork, and pushed her plate away. Victory at last!

Dewy
The doctor gave him a new round of anti-boiotics for an ear infection we can't quite kick. They must be really gross because every time we go to give it to him, he freaks out and says "It's dog medimus."

Tilly (reverse Eat that)
I picked her up from her friends house last night and I hadn't driven ten feet before Cricket said Tilly was going to throw up. I pulled over and she just made it to the door. She started to puke and all she could say between heaves was "I'm not going to church." (You have to admit, you have thought it while puking)

Dewy-isms

2010-03-29T09:07:00.004-06:00

Jimmy John's= Jenny Jon's (for obvious reasons)
Queen or King= Quing (it simplifies things if you think about it)
Medicine= med-i-mus
Butterscotch= Butter crotch (kind of gross when Jon brings home Dilly bars)
Fertilizer= turdilizer (also makes sense if you think about it)
Underwear= Wonderwear
Basketball= Base-ketball (think baseball and basketballed mixed)
Fruit Roll-up= ChuLaLa
Chorus to I am a Child of God= Lead me, Guide me, Broccoli inside me

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T10:08:00.003-06:00

Green Pancakes for breakfast and corned beef for dinner. Can you tell Asha was having a bad morning? She wanted to trade shirts with Cricket.

A Boingy Game

2010-02-26T16:30:00.006-07:00

Last week I had a talk with Tilly about recess. Sometimes when I am at the school, I see her with Cricket and her friends so I just wanted to make sure she was playing with kids her own age. She said she doesn't have anyone to play with because they all play a "Boingy Game" and she doesn't want to play that. I explained that sometimes you have to play what your friends like to play. On the way to school she was talking to Cricket and said it was a horse game. The next day I talked to Katie and she said Asha has been playing it too and she said it is "a game of midgets and horses." The whole story: they divide into two groups. The midgets pull the bottom of their shirts down as far as they will go and walk around squatted down. They ride and take care of the horses. The Boingy Game is all the rage at their elementary school. Who needs jump rope and four square, right?

What???

2010-02-17T10:00:00.004-07:00

Okay so I haven't posted in a while and I doubt it really matters too much, but this blog is supposed to be my journal. In truth that says a mouth-full. I wish I could say I would to better, but the truth is I probably won't.

I just thought I would take a minute and write down the conversation I heard in the car yesterday.

Tilly: Mom guess what we saw at the park today? There was this tortoise that was best friends with two wienie dogs. They were just snuggling and playing.

Cricket: No Tilly. It wasn't a tortoise. It was a desert pig.

Tilly: Yeah I know Cricket. That's what a tortoise is- a desert pig.

-I guess I need to take my kids to the zoo so Tilly can see what a tortoise is and I can figure out what a desert pig is. And no I am not sure this happened at the park and not on tv.

2009-12-29T19:12:00.002-07:00

Just a few pictures of Christmas. Pretty low key this year. We had Christmas Eve dinner at our house with JP/Shelly's family and Fiti. Opened presents Christmas morning in about 15 minutes. Went to JP/Shelly's for breakfast with Daniel and Fiti. I went to work from 11 to 6. My parents showed up while I was at work and made dinner for everyone so I didn't have to lift a finger cooking on Christmas Day. Yay Me! Christmas was great. Now dealing with the let down and putting away decorations. Tomorrow is my B-day though so I have that to look forward to. When I brought up this fact at dinner tonight Cricket called me an old hag. Love you too, Cricket!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-29T18:48:00.003-07:00

This is funny because Dewy speaks fine. I guess if this is what he thinks they are saying, maybe we should get his hearing checked though. You need to push pause on my music to fully appreciate this one.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-11T12:46:00.003-07:00

My parents came down for Halloween and went into all the girls classes on Friday as Count and Countess Floyd. I will try to get the video of my dad onto the computer somehow. Saturday night we all went to JP and Shelly's for dinner and trick-or-treating. I missed trick-or-treating because Jon insisted that he needed homemade doughnuts this year. They were so not worth effort other than the fact that I have never seen anyone enjoy anything I have ever made more than Ryan enjoyed my doughnuts. I wonder how many he would have eaten if Shelly wasn't there to monitor his intake.

Does Shrek What?

2009-10-26T11:39:00.003-06:00

Okay so my children are born with a natural Shrek addiction and the releases of each movie onto DVD seems to correspond with the time that my children begin to watch TV. AS a result I have seen all three of these movies literally hundreds of times and in all that time I never had my girls ask me what Dewy did yesterday. "Mom does Shrek have a wiener?"

The Price of Privacy

2009-10-22T09:17:00.002-06:00

So what's worse? Locking the door so you can take a shower and having someone scream and cry and kick the door the entire time you are in the shower or leaving the door unlocked and having someone walk right in while you are sitting on the toilet to ask you if you have seen a giraffe at the zoo because the fact that you are on the toilet has no baring whatsoever on the conversation at hand.

"It's soo cute"

2009-10-08T10:20:00.002-06:00

Whenever Dewy sees something I have made he says, "It's soo cute." He is so supportive. I have been trying to get stuff on Etsy using this display board and Dewy decided he needed to express his creative side as well. Isn't it soo cute!

Asha's apology

2009-10-08T10:19:00.004-06:00

I Know what this says. Do you? I will give you a hint. The pictures are of the dinner I made.

Daniel and Fiti

2009-10-06T17:03:00.001-06:00

Sorry about some of the red eye. I didn't really edit any of these.

Crash and Burn

2009-09-28T10:14:00.003-06:00

You may have noticed that I have not posted in a while. Well that is because I have been working my brains out making crafts to sell at a booth in swiss days. (It makes me sad to think of all that wasted time.) I thought I was going to make all kinds of money and be able to pay off my girls dance lessons and what not. Well I didn't make lots of money. I in fact didn't make any. I made one third of what I spent and am feeling miserable and sullen inside. Shelly said she would set up an Etsy account but I am not feeling very optimistic about it. Look for my stuff coming soon to an ebay near you. On the bright side my girls now have about 250 hair things to choose from each morning.

PS I will try to do some back postings

Praise the Lord!

2009-07-08T21:39:00.002-06:00

Asha is a super picky eater and not shy about sharing her feelings. Picture a total melt down when I made vegetable beef soup for dinner. Well I am pleased to say that tonight I have redeemed myself. After I prepared steak and fettichine Alfredo pasta roni, she was asked to say the prayer which included, "Please bless that this wonderful dinner will be blessed by the hand of Jesus." What more can I say?

Cricket's birthday

2009-07-06T12:25:00.005-06:00

We had a family party on her birthday at Pirate Pizza and then home for cake and presents.Her birthday party was an owl theme. We called in a "Night Owl Party." She invited her friends over from 7:30 to 10:30 to watch a movie in the back yard on the projector that Jon borrow from work.
We had all her friends hide the presents they brought her and she ran around the house looking for them. When she found one she got to open it. She loved it.These are the purses I made for goody bags. Well I didn't actually make the purses but I did put the super cute owls on them.This is what her invitations looked like, well they were all kind of different but you get the idea. PS never do this. I spent like sixteen hours making birthday invitations. It was retarded.

It's quiet, too quiet.

2009-07-06T12:05:00.004-06:00

We went to Lake Powell a couple weekends ago, and I am finally getting around to posting about it. I brought the camera but didn't take a single picture except for this one the morning we left of Dewy and Christopher Loyd, I mean Zaya. (Check out her do.)

JP and Jon took Cricket, Asha, and Sage the day before we left to go camping. Tilly didn't go because she said, "I don't like bugs and I don't want to sleep outside or go to the bathroom in the woods." She inherited my love of camping.

I was running around like a mad woman all day: cleaning, packing, running errands. Katie was supposed to get out of school at five and we would leave. At about 4:50 just when it was looking like I was ready to go and would have just enough time to finish cleaning up, the house became oddly quiet. I asked Tilly where the babies went and she said upstairs. I called to Dewy. "Dewy are you up there?"

"Yes"

"Are you doing something naughty?"

"Yes"

"Come here."

He came running out of the guest room and slipped flat on his backside on the now wet hard wood floor. I ran up there and there was water everywhere.

"Where did you get this water from?"

I went into the bathroom where there was more water and all the hand towels were on the floor sopping wet. I went to the toilet and it was bone dry. That's right folks they some how emptied the entire contents of the toilet. The real kicker came when I looked down at Zaya for the first time. She was sopping wet from head to foot. So instead of cleaning up the rest of my house, I got to put two toilet babies in the bath. As a side note, I did put them in time out while I cleaned up the water. Dewy kept cackling in an evil way not really caring that he was in time out and the whole time Zaya was in time out and in the bath, she just kept asking "What happened?"

The trip down was nice and we had fun even though the weather on the Lake was yucky. Better luck next year.

La Policia

2009-06-13T09:32:00.003-06:00

I would like to tip my hat to the Hurricane Police Department. I was pulled over yesterday for speeding on the road going out to Sand Hollow. (I am a safe driver. I was going 45 in a 35 only because I had no idea the speed limit was so low.) I got a warning. When we got into the dock, I called JP because he wasn't there yet. He said he was having car trouble and would be there soon. I told him not to go more than 35mph. He chose not to listen to me and instead followed Daniel going 50mph. The policeman pulled them both over at the same time. Yep, he nailed all three of us. Luckily we all got warnings. So here's to you Hurricane City Policeman. I salute you.

Tilly's Super Birthday

2009-06-12T18:47:00.007-06:00

I know this is a late post since her birthday was May 28th, but I had to share it with all of you. About a month before the big day she asked me, "Mom, will you surprise me for my birthday?" I am quite sure she said that and then promptly forgot ever having suggested it, but it must have struck a cord with me because my brain became obsessed with throwing Tilly a superfied sixth birthday bash. The theme for her birthday also unfolded as every single store is full of Hawaiian stuff right now. She would walk by and look at it all and say, "I wish I could have a Hawaiian party." I kept telling her that she would only be having a family party this year so I had to make like that was all she would be getting, but I secretly made surprise birthday party invites with oil pastel Hawaiian flowers on the front.

For her present she made a short list and said I could pick what to give her (so Tilly). I decided she had to have a trunk for her American Girl doll since the make shift room she had made out of pillows and wash clothes and a paper table with doll clothes rammed in a Tupperware was driving me nuts. Jon began work on said trunk with a matching bed a little later than was wise and consequently had three very late nights in the garage. He kept calling me a slave driver and telling me I was a creep for making him stay up late, until I was forced to remind him that he was the one who decided to make Tilly's present and he knew when her birthday was. ("I am not spending that much money on a cardboard trunk. I can make one for cheaper and it will be way nicer.") He finished just in time for me to spend the night before her birthday modge podging the trunk and bed.

The weekend before her b-day was one of Jon's late nights. The girls went to spend the night at Katie's. I painted birthday bags at work for eight hours and then came home and burned the midnight oil with Jon until they were done. We went to bed around three. You might be asking yourself do a bunch of kids even care about hand painted goody bags? The answer is an emphatic no, but I do, so I videoed my masterpieces to share with all of you.

On her actual birthday we went out to Pirate Pizza and then to Cricket's softball game. We came home and had cake and ice cream and opened present.

The next day, JP took her out of the house. Jon blew up the Bonzai slide and I decorated. Her friends arrived and when she walked in the front door we all yelled "Surprise". Her reaction made all the hard work worth it. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face and she told me thank you about ten times.

I hope she never forgets how much we love her. Happy Birthday Tilly!

Late Memorial Day

2009-05-31T12:22:00.003-06:00

I know it's a little late but I wanted to post my thoughts on Memorial Day. I guess because it is still on my mind. I have a hard time with Memorial Day, I guess because it feels weird to celebrate missing someone you love, like "Remember that person that we loved that died? Let's roast hot dogs." Maybe I just don't like being told when to think about someone. I remember people I love most at random times when little things remind me of them.

I guess this Memorial Day would be an exception to that though. The week before was the first week I had spent watching Katie's girls. I had been thinking about Ryan all week. Spending so much more time with them made me realize how much he is missing; like when Zaya and Dewy walk up to each other and die laughing for no reason, or when Sage sings the words to Arabian Nights wrong ("where they chop off your ears and they poke out your face"), or when Asha does one of the million crazy things she does everyday. I don't know who I feel worse for Ryan or his girls. I guess the best we can do is remember him and love them.

A few months ago the girls were having a tea party with a few of their friends. I got out the tea set that my mom made me when I was a kid. Seeing the girls with a tiny piece of her made me miss her like crazy. I was sad for my girls not being able to know her or have her in there lives. There is a picture of her in Dewy's room. For a while, every time Tilly saw it she asked, "Is that the grandma that makes me cookies?" It tugged at my heart every time she said it because she never got to make her cookies and know she would have been "the grandma that makes her cookies." I guess it is just one of those things that you can move past but you never really get over.

Zaya and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

2009-05-21T10:49:00.007-06:00

I was outside filling up water balloons and the kids were standing in the open doorway because it was so hot. They started yelling something about a hummingbird. I tuned them out figuring they just saw a hummingbird. Then Sage ran to the door and said "There's a hummingbird on Zaya!"

I said "On her?"

"Yes it's on her"
Then I saw Zaya through the blinds, screaming with her hands up. Jon ran toward her and a hummingbird flew onto his pants and then out the door and on its way. I rouge hummingbird had flow into my house and landed on the one child who is already terrified of birds.

Then while I was at the Kindergarten Water Day, Jon was watching the kids. Dewy became territorial over his powerwheels four wheeler and bit her.

Then we went to Fiesta Fun after school and Uncle Daniel and Uncle JP took all the kids on the bumper boats except for Zaya because she was too little. She was so sad, crying and saying "I ride." Then she spent the entire ride walking up and down the gate yelling "Daniel".

On a side note, the trip to Fiesta Fun was I think worst for Daniel who treated all the kids and then once he was on his bumper boat with Dewy asked me if I could catch his phone. Apparently, however, I couldn't because he threw it to me, I missed it, it hit the fence; shattered into three pieces; and all three pieces flew into the bumper boat pool. Sorry Daniel. If anyone has an old T-mobile phone that they are using, send it to me that my burden of guilt might be eased.

P.S. Don't ask me to catch anything, ever.

Farmer Jenny

2009-05-18T10:27:00.002-06:00

Here you have it ladies and gentlemen; my first crop of peas! Yes I know there are only three pea pods. I love gardening and this is my first time trying to grow peas. When it is all said and done I will probably have enough peas for one serving for one person, but that's okay because I enjoyed every minute of it.

Glitter Balls?

2009-05-14T20:50:00.003-06:00

Okay so it is finally time for me to comment on the toy that has become an integral part of our daily lives: The Glitter Ball.

Jon told me about glitter balls quite awhile ago, but it was several months later that our girls came home and insisted that they were the only people in school without a glitter ball. For some reason Jon decided that they should have one. Maybe there were some lingering childhood issues there, but he didn't want our kids to be the only ones without one. The only problem was they were all sold out every time I went to buy one. We finally made it to Walgreens and they had one left (blue), but they also had these little ones with lights inside. Tilly settled for the small one with the light, not really realizing that it's just not the same. You know, not quite as cool. I also bought a small one for Dewy. When we got home, Dewy and I went outside to water and when I was done he said he couldn't find his glitter ball. I looked for it but couldn't find it either. Then he said he threw it down the drive way. After we took Cricket to dance, we went on a walk to see if we could find the missing glitter ball. About twenty feet from the bottom of our driveway, Tilly dropped her glitter ball. (For those of you who don't know, we live on a hill.) She became frantic running as fast as her little legs would carry her chasing after her pink glitter ball that lit up as is bounced down the street. I became frantic telling her to stop, but she completely ignored me. When she hit the pull through to a non existent street, she slipped in the gutter sliding feet first with a half twist ending up face down in slimy gutter filth. She was hurt and very dirty but she jumped right up and continued her pursuit of a ball which about thirty seconds later came to a gentle stop behind the tire of a parked car. Our walk was an unproductive fiasco, but Jon later found Dewy's ball on the swing set. Oh the irony.

Fast forward two weeks- Cricket and Tilly buy new glitter balls with their allowance. The next day Jon went to the hotel trying to get rid of some of our old junk in a yard sale. Dewy snatched Tilly's glitter ball and ran away in a state of complete delight to the sounds of her shrieking. When she caught him, she shoved him to the ground and the ball rolled under the truck. They stopped at my work. When the bell rang, in walked a hysterical Tilly with black smudges on her face and tears running down her cheeks. Sob, gasp, "I need to." sob "wash" gasp "my face." "What happened?" I say.
"I" gasp "don't" sob " want" gasp, gasp "to talk about it."
I had to find this out from Jon because she never would tell me why she was crying. The whole things was just too upsetting to explain.

My days now consist of several "Mom where's my glitter ball"s and even more "don't bounce those in my house"s (those things are stinking heavy) and one or two "Dewy thats my glitter ball. Go find your own"s. The truth be told if you ever get hold of one, you might actually enjoy it. Bouncing them is kind of relaxing, but for some reason they sure don't have a calming effect at least not on Tilly.

Go Back to Work!

2009-05-14T16:53:00.003-06:00

So Jon has begun to work four tens, which is great! He had Friday off but spent the day pouring concrete. Then we went to Cricket's softball game. Saturday and Sunday were our usual busy schedules with me working. Plus my sister was in town so on Mother's Day we went out to breakfast and then went swimming. (I know that is breaking the Sabbath, but Mother's Day is really hard for me so judge not.) Then I went to work Sunday afternoon. Jon had Monday off because he has to work this Friday at a Fire Marshall Training. He insisted that we go boating for the first time this summer. After boating we went straight to softball practice and then to his Staff Carnival. We were all exhausted and made it there late and barely in time to eat. (I have never had a hamburger with less meat on it by the way. Seriously people, "Where's the beef"?) After we ate dinner, we waited in line for the kids to ride this train of crates being pulled by a golf cart. When the train pulled up the line went to hell and every kid within the vicinity bum rushed the train. I was yelling at a mob of about twenty strange children for not waiting in line, but to no avail. My children had to wait in line again. I hate stuff like that where people just let there children run about uncivilized and unsupervised. My kids have been around me too much because they were about as thrilled as I was. Tuesday morning Jon stayed home again so that I could go to Cricket's field trip. He was dying to get back to work. He hasn't had that kind of time off since he graduated from college and he could barely stand it.

I told him that I wanted him back at work too, because I couldn't seem to get anything done with him at home. But alas I have come to realize that he is not the problem. I just can't seem to get anything done at all. I have been trying to clean my house all week and it is still a pig pen. I have to run and cook dinner for my kids (including Daniel and Fiti). In other words, I have to go not clean my house.

It Has Begun

2009-05-10T20:21:00.002-06:00

Pound for pound, Dewy has always been able to eat the girls under the table, but he has just started to verbalize very clearly what he wants and how. We went through the drive thru after dance this week and I asked everyone what they wanted. I asked Dewy if he wanted a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets. He thought about it for a second and then said, "Both a um." When we got home; he tore through his chicken nuggets and wanted more. I said there were no more so he started in on his cheeseburger. He got about half way through it. Then looked around the table and said, "Where's my tato?" Think of a teenage Jon eating 5 hamburgers and 5 cheeseburgers in one sitting.

Like Father Like Son

2009-05-07T21:27:00.002-06:00

When it is time to mow the lawn, Jon and Dewy are happy as can be. Dewy has his own lawnmower and weed-eater and they both take the whole things very seriously while having the time of their lives. When they are done, Dewy comes to find me to tell me that he is a worker and that he used the leaf blower. I am glad I have them; I find the whole thing a lot less appealing than they do. I am happy to water my garden and prune my rose bushes but no thanks on the power tools. I can't wait until Dewy is older and they can fight about who gets to mow the lawn for real.

Shut Down....Again.

2009-05-07T21:25:00.001-06:00

Once again we have the left the District Science Fair without a victory. Good Job Tilly, better luck next year. She did a lot better with her defeat than Cricket did. She made a small sad face and quickly moved on.

Happy 10 Year Anniversary

2009-04-24T09:27:00.000-06:00

Jenny - You are amazing! Happy 10th Year Anniversary. I Love You.

Easter Desease

2009-04-14T15:50:00.002-06:00

Dewy's first Easter he had a blowout on the way to church so when we took him out of the car he was covered in poop. This year about half way through Sacrament meeting, he started coughing. This kid has a super powerful gag reflex and I knew he was going to loose it. As soon as we got out into the hall, he puked all over me. I was holding him and running for the exist as fast as I could do so without spilling the puke that was now being contained between the two of us. A little of it did leak out the sides but luckily it landed right in my purse. There we were this lovely Easter Sunday covered in throw-up. I took all his clothes off and got him in the car seat. Then I carefully got in the car and turned my dress inside out as I took in off. I rode home in my shirt and slip. What a way to celebrate!

Other than that we had a ton of fun decorating egg on Saturday and going over to JP and Shelly's on Sunday.

Wedding excitement?

2009-04-09T19:07:00.000-06:00

Daniel finally got engaged. He and his cute fiance will get married this summer. Fiti came over this week to teach my Activity Days girls a Polynesian dance, which was really fun by the way. Afterwards we were talking about the wedding because I have never been to a Samoan wedding. I was asking what people would wear and she said Daniel would wear a lava lava but probably not the other men in our family. I said I didn't know if it would be funny or scary to see the men in my family wearing skirts. I asked Cricket what she thought and she said, "Probably not because the men in your family are too hairy." So there you go JP, you are not the only hairy ogre.
Congratulations Daniel and Fiti!

Spring Break 2009

2009-03-30T13:30:00.001-06:00

This year for Spring Break we went up to Salt Lake and stayed at Dixie State's condo at the American Towers (Jon had to do some work there). We stopped for lunch at Brick Oven on the way up for Grandma DeWitt's birthday.

That night we walked to the Gateway and watched Coralyne.

The next day we went to the zoo. Dewy still asks me everyday "where the alligator's go?" (The display was closed because the female was nesting.)

Even though he didn't get to see the alligators, Dewy really liked the zoo.

Here we are looking at the Zebras.

The kids looking at the Elephants.

After our visit to the zoo, we stopped at the This is the Place Monument. Dewy apparently is not yet ready to understand the gratitude and respect we owe the pioneers. In case you can't tell, yes he is picking the praying boy's nose.

The funniest part of the vacation came that afternoon at the pool. I was sitting out with Tilly because she had just almost drown (no that is not the funny part). A man, an older overweight man, walked into the pool from the workout room. He walked right over between me and Tilly and took off his shirt and then his pants to reveal the speedo he was wearing and then he jumped right into the pool. You have never seen anyone exit a pool faster than Cricket did. Apparently she was ready to go back up to the condo. When I explained that men in other countries where those to go swimming, she expressed her great happiness that she is a citizen of the United States.

Bend it Like Who?

2009-03-29T08:19:00.000-06:00

This is our first season playing soccer.

Tilly had her second game yesterday and while, playing goalie stopped the ball with her face, which of course lead to a great deal of crying and sitting out. In an attempt to get back-on-the-horse, her coach put her back in as goalie where she stood with her arms folded and jumped out of the way of the ball instead of jumping in front of it.

Cricket had her first game yesterday and was easily the smallest one on the field and one of the few without soccer experience. A girl on the other team who was probably taller than me walked right up to her and said, "What grade are you in, kindygarten?" Now if you know Cricket you know that she has a puny body and a DeWitt sized temper. She said she was just dying to tell the girl, "Why don't you just shut your face and play the game." I am convinced she didn't say this because she didn't want her coach to get mad and not because she realized the girl could flatten her. She settled for, "I'm in third grade. Why don't you just be quiet and play soccer."

Cricket is getting her tonsils out on Tuesday. I am really hoping that this surgery will have a similar affect on Cricket that it did on Tilly, she will be able to sleep better, and actually do some growing. Then maybe her body will catch up with her mouth, because let's face it, at this point there isn't much I can do about her mouth. Please keep her in your prayers that all will go well.

Tilly Wins the Science Fair

2009-03-25T18:28:00.001-06:00

Tilly won first place for Kindergartners in the Science Fair. Now we get to go to regionals again. Yay! A whole day at Dixie College waiting around! We are really proud of her.

Self Expression

2009-03-24T21:06:00.000-06:00

If it makes anyone feel better, he slept with a baseball in his hand last night, and that is a cleat on his foot.

Pirate Island Pizza

2009-03-20T14:02:00.000-06:00

Some of the kids playing games.
Sage being sung to by pirates and given icecream. What more could a kid want.

Last weekend, Katie came down to work on her new house and we took the kids to Pirate Island Pizza for Sage's birthday. We did presents and cake and ice cream at my house afterwards. It was only my family, JP's family, and Katie's girls there. So, it wasn't really a big to do. Sage's response summed up the feelings of children everywhere: "What only two presents?"

We love you Sagey.

MY new table!

2009-03-12T13:45:00.001-06:00

Okay so try to ignore my horrible photography skills and just focus on my husband's table making skills. The time finally came for us to get a new table. The whole time we have been married we have been using my mom's old table. It was about 25 years old and had never been refinished. If it wasn't my mom's I probably would have gotten a new table a long time ago, but I have a really hard time DI-ing anything of hers. Katie saved me from my own sentimentality and took the table off my hands. She is going to refinish it and put it in her new house down here. She kept one of the chairs to refinish and so did I. The other four chairs will remain in her garage until Daniel gets a place of his own and he will take them. If you are lucky maybe she will post the new look of the table when it is finished. (That is a challenge Katie, seeing as you haven't updated your blog in forever.)

Anyway I started looking at tables and couldn't find anything I was in love with that fit my small budget, so I got it into my head to cajole Jon into making me what I wanted. I bought the chairs online and then let Jon do the rest. There was a little bit of trial and error, but it turned out just like I imagined. Poor Jon had more than a few late nights in the garage. I think he was more annoyed that it took each chair thirty minutes to assemble than he was that I acted like a brat and made him redo the trim, but it was all worth it in the end, at least as far as I am concerned. Jon even got us a great deal on the hard wood flooring on the table top because he knew the salesman at the Boulevard (he sells flooring to Dixie).

Thanks, Jon!

ECCLESIASTES 3:1

2009-03-09T14:50:00.000-06:00

The change of seasons means something different in our household than it may in yours.

Basketball has passed away and baseball and softball are in full bloom. This is Jon in his softball uniform. He is umping city league softball and high school baseball. I will try to get one of him in full baseball gear up soon (He has his first game tonight). You know what they say ladies, "I'm a sucker for a man in uniform."

In sadder news, I have had to give up my best Christmas and birthday presents this year. My sister bought me a plane ticket to San Francisco for Christmas so we could go on a trip together, but her sister-in-law is getting married that weekend. My parents gave me Wicked tickets for my birthday but they are on Easter Sunday. With the travel we would have to do, we would have to miss spending most of the day with our kids and I just couldn't bare the thought of that. Cricket is already almost to the point that she is too old for hunting eggs, although her competitive nature may keep that tradition going longer than would be expected. (They were both such nice gifts, and they both made it up to me. If it makes a difference feel really guilty about the Wicked tickets). So I guess the lesson learned is never buy me tickets for anything.

Brianhead 2009

2009-02-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

Cricket and I had a fun trip to Brianhead this year. At the mouth of the canyon the Sherrif was requiring chains. Cricket was determined to complete the trip so we found a shop in Parowan with chains that fit. We safely made it back for a delicious dinner. Thanks Jenn!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

2009-02-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

Here are the Valentine's I made for the kids this year. Jack was the only one Dewy gave one to, but the girls passed them out to their classes. To all our family and friends out there- we love you.

Party Animals

2009-01-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a wild and crazy time, you might want to think twice before coming to stay at the Gibbs. This video took place a couple of weeks ago. Katie came into town with her friend Becca and they wanted to go to the movies,so I watched their babies. Jon went to watch Shrek with our kids in the living room while I bathed Zaya and Jada. (Keep in mind that the kids were all kind of under the weather. Dewy in particular had been throwing up all week.) Anyway after the girls got out of the bath, I put some pjs on them and we played toys in Dewy's room for a few minutes. I came out to the following scene and thought it was so cute, I video taped it. The best part about the whole thing is that it was only eight o'clock. This may very well never happen again, so I decided to share this possible once in a lifetime with you. (Tilly is the only one of my children that likes to sleep so far. Cricket got up at 4:30 am yesterday and started watching Full House and Jon only collapses like this when he stops moving, which isn't very often.) I hope this video inspires everyone who sees it to just take it easy once in a while.

Christmas

2009-01-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

I have already posted some of our adventures of Christmas at Katie's. The real reason for this post is to show off all my hard work. I made pajamas for all the kids and the four older girl's American dolls (that Santa brought them). They all matched except for Dewy. I just didn't feel good about him wearing pink monkey pjs. He is young enough that he can't spill the beans so I let him pick out his own material. (That is why it is tractor material.) You have now seen the extent of my sewing ability. These 10 pairs of pjs took me forever. Which is why I only sew once a year. I had fun doing it so maybe I will make it a tradition, then again, maybe not.

Le'go his Eggo

2009-01-14T13:16:00.001-07:00

So as of the last week, Dewy has become obsessed with frozen waffles and he knows how to open the freezer. So at least once a day, he brings me a frozen waffle to cook for him and will not take no for an answer. Today he came running up to me and said, "A waffle, mommy," only this time there was no waffle. His hands were cold and he smelled like a waffle. I came out to find where he had put the waffle that I was sure he had gotten out of the freezer, but I couldn't find it and I couldn't understand what he was saying when I asked him where it was. I was afraid the dog had eaten it. I went to the freezer to make sure waffles weren't spilled everywhere. When I opened the freezer there it was: a half eaten waffle. That's right ladies and gentlemen, he is now literally eating frozen waffles.

PS. I am going to put up some posts from Christmas and my birthday as soon as I get the pictures. They will be old and out of order, but this is my blog and that is pretty much how I do things; late and out of order.

JON'S NEW JOB

2009-01-05T21:51:00.001-07:00

No he doesn't work at The Foot Locker. As many of you know my awesome husband likes to stay crazy busy. So for one of his part-time jobs he started refereeing high school basketball games. I told a couple of people I would put a picture of him all decked out on my blog. (He can't get mad because he goes into public with this outfit on all the time.) He really likes it and the kids think the whistle is pretty cool. That is one of the things that keeps life around here exciting. I never know what Jon will have up his sleeve next.

Tilly's Dream Come True!

2008-12-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

Tilly has been asking to go ice skating for about two years. We always say we will take her when we are at Katie's in the winter time, but something always seems to get in the way. We finally went over Christmas break. I was afraid she would fall down as soon as she got on the ice, but we found these cones and she figured out her own system. She fell down a lot, but she had a blast and is now saying that she wants to have an ice skating birthday. All the girls actually did quite well. Asha created her own technique that was actually more like ice-running-really-fast that was pretty cool to watch. Sage won the award for most tears shed, not because she fell down but because she wanted to be able to do tricks without actually being able to ice skate. All the kids had a ball. Dewy loved being pushed around the ice by Jon. Every time I would ask the kids about it, he would say "I ice skate." I wish we would have taken them sooner.

Fun in The Snow?

2008-12-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

Jon decided to take the older girls sledding while we were at Katie's (yes I do believe that he just wanted to go himself). Katie and I were happy to let him volunteer for such an activity and gladly took Dewy and Zaya shopping and out to lunch. About an hour into there excursion, he called me with a hysterical Cricket screaming in the back ground. Apparently shortly after this video was taken, Jon took Sage down the hill and as he was coming back up he heard a ruckus. Cricket had gotten bossy and was yelling at Asha who decided that rather than take her crap she would punch her in the face. Cricket's reaction was of course to punch her back (later telling Jon, "What was I supposed to do just let her punch me? I had to give it back to her." What a peacemaker!) Another nearby sledding father had to jump in and break up the fist fight that ensued. It's a good thing that ski gloves are so puffy.

Before and After

2008-12-19T16:39:00.001-07:00

Okay so it turns out my new hobby as of late is making graham cracker houses. Who knew? I made them for Tilly's class a couple months ago and then again for activity days last week and then again yesterday for the girls to invite friends over. The last one is actually something we do every year and it seeems to become more of a production everytime we do it. I had thirteen girls making graham cracker houses in my kitchen today and let me tell you there was no shortage of drama this afternoon. "She is playing with my friends." "They won't let me play." "I don't want to play that." "I'm in charge here." "No you're not missy sit your butt down." (Can you guess which one belonged to Cricket?) I guess it is better that it was crazy than for them to not have any friends, but here is a word to the wise who have yet to reach this stage with their daughters: The more girls you have in one place the more feeling there are to hurt.

How could you?

2008-12-19T16:31:00.001-07:00

Yes that is a Mountain Dew in his hands. I am trying to potty train him and the only bribe that seems to works is Mountain Dew. He calls it "a daddy". Can you guess what Jon drinks. I spend my entire day telling him he cannot drink "a daddy" but if he sits on the potty he can have one. Yes I have tried an M &M like a normal mother. In fact, he is watching me post this and upon seeing the picture is telling me he would like "a daddy" At last, here is visual proof of what a horrible mother I am.

Weekend at Katies

2008-12-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

We went to Katie's last weekend for Ryan's blessing sans Jon (he was refereeing). The girls will tell you that the best part of the trip was going over to Aunt Lynelle's house and getting to hold her pet chickens. (It is pretty cool. I am almost 30 and I have never held a chicken. I am afraid it is too late for me. It may be too late for Cricket as well. She was the only one that was too chicken to hold a chicken.) Don't worry Ilah we all made it out alive.

The blessing was really nice. Katie's Bishop came over to her house and presided over the blessing so that we could just do it in her home. Shelly's family got stuck in the blizzard and weren't able to make it, so it was very small and cozy. I really enjoyed it. JP gave a lovely blessing. That is how all baby blessings should be. It was peaceful and relaxed and that baby was surrounded by people who loved him though some were there in spirit only. When JP said Ryan's name I got choked up. His name will serve as a reminder of a beloved uncle he never got the chance to know on this earth, though I am convinced that their paths crossed before baby Ryan was born. He was actually the last one to see Ryan. If baby Ryan could only speak, I'm sure he carries words of love for Katie and their girls.

Jon Saves The Day

2008-12-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

I am sometimes refered to as "SmartyPants" at home. I always check up on Jenny's posts to make sure she is not embarrasing me. In checking the blog today I realized I had to spend a few minutes and add a link to the news spot that Jenny mentioned in the previous post about Cricket. I am sure I will get a "SmartyPants" at home tonight. Jenny is so Great to put up with me! The older I get I realize just how crazy I am and how lucky I am to have such a Sweet Wife! She deserves more credit than she ever gets.

Click on "School of the Week" to see Cricket.

School of the Week

CRICKET'S 15 SECONDS OF FAME!

2008-12-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

Okay so she isn't really famous, but she was on TV. On Monday Dec 8th Arrowhead Elementary was featured on KCSG TV as the School of the Week. They talked about the Storytelling Festival so the librarian came and got Cricket and had them interview her. I was told the video clip would be on kcsg.com but I can't find it so good luck. It only showed her saying about two sentences, but she was so excited.

The next day I saw the Principal at school and she told me that the reporter and her crew were very impressed with Cricket. She said she had interviewed about a hundred kids from 2 to 18 and Cricket did the best out of any of them. She answered questions clearly and was very quick witted. She told Cricket she gave a very good interview and that she should think about becoming a news reporter someday because she was so good at it. (Am I being a bragger mom? Totally, wouldn't you?)

Who knows where Cricket will end up someday. I just hope she can do something that makes her happy and that doesn't require neat hand writing.

6 Random things

2008-12-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

Katie tagged me so here goes.

1) I took six years of Spanish and I can't really speak it. I am reminded of this every couple of months because I get mistaken for a Hispanic person and People start speaking to me in Spanish. I usually kind of understand what they are saying but I pretend I have no idea.

2) I secretly want to be a writer when I grow up. (This tag is probably as far as my writing career will ever go and that's okay because a few year ago I wanted to be a PA and after that a communicative disorders specialist.) Check back with me in about 16 years to see what I am actually doing for my second career. (My first career is being a mom.)

3) I am the secretary of the PTA.

4)I like Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. My favorite part is crying at the end just like I am supposed to, no matter how stupid the movie actually was.

5)I love love love driving a mini-van. I know it is not the cool thing to do, but it is really comfortable and super easy to get the kids out of. If I had a million dollars I probably wouldn't get a new car.

6) I have a hard time spending money on myself. The last time I got a hair cut was in April and Katie kind of made me do it. The only time I get my hair colored is when Katie does it out of boredom. I have had the same bottle of mascara for a year and a half and most of my shirts have holes in the front where they rub on the sharp edge of my tile counter tops when I am cooking and cleaning.

There. Now everyone knows more about me than ever wanted to. I tag Dana, Alena, and Aubrey.

Cricket at The Story Telling Festival

2008-12-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

Cricket has mastered the art of story telling! She won the Arrowhead Elementary competition and moved onto the district level competing with other schools.

Go Tilly!

2008-12-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let you all know that Tilly won an Award of Merit in the Reflections Competition in the area of Dance. She was very proud to go up and get her white ribbon and coupon for Golden Coral. Not bad for just dancing around the living room while I filmed her.

Jubilee of Trees

2008-11-21T16:02:00.001-07:00

We go to the Jubilee of Trees every year. I love to walk around and pretend I am rich and can spend lots of money on ridiculously over priced holiday decorations.

This was at the very end and Ryan was done. It really isn't a very fare picture to post because he really is a good baby, but could this be a cuter sad face?

When I asked Dewy, he said his favorite part was the dancing. He and Tilly were totally engrossed in the Jettettes.

Here are Jack, Dewy, Tilly, and Cricket sitting with Santa.

Look how cute this boy is!

Tilly and her Tippity Tappity Toes

2008-11-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

It was parent watch week in dance this week. This is a video of Tilly getting warmed up in tap class.

A Singing Cricket

2008-11-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

Cricket has been going to school and hour and fifteen minutes early twice a week for the last couple months so that she can participate in the Arrowhead Elementary School Choir. This is a video of them singing at Lin's.

Crickt the Story Teller!

2008-11-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

Cricket entered the story telling competition at school and won! She is so excited. She will compete next week on the district level. I am going to try to get the video downloaded. Look for that coming soon.