Here's to Good Health...

I only see the doctor when I have strep throat or I'm pregnant.

Seriously. And when I'm really tired, I know I either have strep throat or I'm pregnant. So one day this week I got really tired...and no, I'm not pregnant.

Although I'm married to a fantastically good-looking doctor - he's useless in the prescribing business (it may take years for me to forgive him for it). So, I waited dutifully for 24 hours to be seen (so the rapid test would work), dropped my kids off to my saint/friend/surrogate-mother and spent the next three hours driving with a 102 degree fever, getting lost, going to a clinic that was closed, waiting, and finally gettting the antibiotics I needed for strep throat. After three days and one not-so-nice-1 am-phone-call to the on-call doc for some narcotics (which he wouldn't prescribe to me because he said strep throat was just one of those things you "need to ride out."), I'm fever & pain free and I didn't overdose on the massive amounts of ibuprofen & acetaminophen I ingested. And thank you to my friend who watched my boys so I could sleep and thank you to my friend who brought me lunch meat so I could feed them something without cooking and thank you Randy for doing everything else.

But here's the catch - when I get really run down, like from a bad sunburn, or loss of sleep from a cranky/puking/sleepless newborn, or from being feverish for 72 hours - I get herpetic. Thus, I now have massive cold sores erupting on my lips and inside my mouth. When I had Josh (he was the cranky/puking/sleepless newborn I was referring to), I got them around my eye. It's freaky. It's ugly. I am one big blister. The bright side, I'm taking Valtrex and it should go away in a few days. I plan to stay indoors until they do.

The moral of this story is that I'm grateful for good health - it takes weeks like these - a swift kick in the pants - to remind me that good health is not to be taken for granted.

Thanksgiving with the Fam

We had a great time at Uncle Lewis & Aunt Amaria's this year...

Larry, Deborah, Tyler, Maranda, Randy, Me, Ryan, Josh, Andrew

Andrew, Cassidy, Josh

Thankful.

For preschool, Andrew made a "Thanksgiving Tree." As a countdown to Thanksgiving Day, he was to say one thing he was thankful for each day and we wrote it on his tree. Here is what he said he was thankful for (with no prompting from me):

27. Jesus
26. Heavenly Father
25. Mom
24. Dad
23. Our prophet, President Monson
22. Brother
21. Grandma
20. Grandpa
19. Sleep
18. Prayers
17. Reading stories
16. Computer games
15. Being married, "but not yet"
14. Playing with toys
13. Going to preschool
12. Watching TV
11. Running
10. My room
9. Bugs
8. Friends
7. Shapes
6. Going to the zoo
5. Watching movies
4. Counting
3. Playing with Josh
2. Playing with Geo Trax
1. Painting


I am thankful for my boys, my husband, and good health.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Some call it commercialism, I call it Wonderful

Maybe because it's already chilly and we've had two respectable snow storms...

Maybe because two of our local radio stations started playing continuous Christmas music beginning Nov. 1st...

Maybe because I have my Christmas shopping done and my Christmas cards purchased...

Maybe because we live in an uncertain world...

...I don't mind that the stores have already decortated for Christmas

...I find myself listening to Christmas music more and to talk radio less

...I can't wait to decorate and make goodies and bring things to our neighbors

...I don't mind the cold & snow

...I look forward to the parties with friends and family

I do believe I've caught the Christmas Spirit - have you?

To My Superman, Happy Birthday!

Thanks for being your happy self. We love you!

My Joy

Thanks Becky for taking these for us - and putting up with boys kicking the dirt and getting filthy, and me yelling at them for it, and playing peek-a-boo with them, and most importantly, for feeding them an endless supply of Pez to keep them happy.

Halloween

We were able to visit our favorite Halloween destinations this year. Gardner Village...

Kassy, Timothy, Andrew, Josh

And This is the Place...

Fire Station Field Trip

Can one ever tire of going to the Fire Station? Not us! We took our little preschool class on a field trip...

James, Fire Man, Josh, Isaiah, Andrew, Kaylie

Duped?

I've been putting off finding a new pediatrician. I decided today was the day that I would call "Clinic 6" at the University Hospital and make an appointment for the boys' flu shots. I told the secretary-front-desk-person that I had new insurance and I was looking for a new pediatrician. Her first question was what my preference of gender was. I told her I thought a man would be good for my boys. Then she said, "Oh! Dr. ------- is a great doctor! He's so fun and the patients love him!" So I said great! sign me up! After we set up the appointment, I had a nagging feeling so I asked her if Dr. ------- was a resident. She said he was. Then I asked her what year he was and she said, "He's in his first year, but he's our most requested doctor."

So my question to you is, do you think this secretary-front-desk-person was just pawning off their newest resident on me because I didn't know any of the doctors? Would you take your children to a 1st year resident? Have any of you had experiences with resident doctors?

what did YOU do today?

Come On Over....

....to http://2ndwardsupersaturday.blogspot.com/ to enjoy the fruits of my (and Becca's) labors. We will be making these crafts for Super Saturday.

Preschool

We started preschool this month! So far so good...

Kaylie, Andrew, Isaiah (Fiel joined us a couple of months later)

At the end of the month, I tested them to see what they learned. Isaiah was sick the day I took this video...

Happy (and sad) Day

This post is to let all of our beloved Shoreline friends (who have since moved away) know about the changes to our ward. Over the past 6 months, we've watched our ward dwindle to just over 30 families because the student housing we live in is transitioning to singles housing.

Today, we gathered for a combined RS/EQ meeting. We were able to fit our ward members plus a handful of visiting family members in our Relief Society room with room to spare. The Stake Presidency announced that another ward in our stake will be split and that we will adopt a little over 30 families to our ward! In an instant, we went from being the smallest ward to the largest ward in the stake!

We are so exstatic that these members will be joining our ward. It is an answer to many many prayers!! But I'm also sad for them because they are leaving their ward family to join ours. I can only imagine how hard it will be for them...

I Need Super-Saturday Ideas!!

Our Relief Society is doing a Super Saturday (where we make crafty-type gifts for Christmas) in November. I'm looking for 3-4 different ideas. I know there are so many amazing blogs out there now with so many ideas. Please let me know if you have any favorite "crafty" blogs that you read or if you have any ideas/comments of your own!! Thanks for your help!!

Living in Salt Lake City

We had our Regional Conference at the Conference Center this past Sunday. We took the boys on the train which was secretly in hopes that we'd get the ants out of their pants and that we'd be a little late so they wouldn't have to sit through the meeting for the entire 2 hours. We were expecting a normal meeting. I even thought our Stake leaders were going to speak! Well, our speakers were Elder Hinckley (Pres. Hinckley's son), Sister Lant (Gen. Primary Pres.), Elder Ballard and President Monson! What a blessing it was to be there and for our boys to have the chance to see and hear our Prophet speak!

I've had a couple of experiences since living here where I've been able to meet some of our church leaders. One time, I attended a Relief Society training, and our keynote speaker was Bonnie D. Parkin. It was an intimate setting and we got to give her a hug after the meeting. It truly is a blessing to live here.

My Own Mr. Darcy

OK, so I have a pet peeve (I know, such a shocker).

When Randy comes home from work, I'm usually at the tail-end of getting dinner on the table. I've spent the whole day with the kids, laundry, shopping, church stuff, preschool....you get the drift....so I'm 99.9% of the time in a frenzy by the time Randy walks through the door. Randy, being the dutiful husband that he is, goes straight for the dishwasher to unload/load it. For some reason, this really bugs me. It just might be due to the fact that we live in a micro dwelling that houses a micro kitchen. I know. I know. Why am I complaining that my husband is doing the dishes? Well, I think he kind of does it to tease me. You see, Randy's lifetime passion is to tease. And I'm usually his #1 target.

So anyway, today Randy came home and swiftly proceeded to dish duty. Andrew had been in time-out 9 million times that day (with the loss of computer and TV time AND a mandatory nap. Yeah he was that naughty.) So Randy's "helpful" behavior put me over the edge and I told him that he is not allowed to dishes anymore. I will do them! Get out of the kitchen! I need space to move!

After dinner, while doing the dishes and 100% regretting my decision on assigning myself to dish duty, Randy starts helping me by clearing the table and tries to start a conversation with me about my day. I give him short answers because I'm a brat. And then Randy says this and completely melts my heart:

"And your parents are in good health?"

Can you remember the scene in Pride & Prejudice (A&E version), when Mr. Darcy is arriving home. It's hot outside, and he's in agony because he loves Elizabeth and she doesn't love him back. So what does he do? He jumps in his pond. Then he heads for home in his wet shirt and it just so happens that Elizabeth is taking a tour of his home and she's walking outside and they encounter by chance. It is all awkwardness and the only thing Mr. Darcy can think of to say is, "Excuse me, and your parents are in good health?"

Anyway, I busted up laughing when Randy said this to me tonight. You made my day, Rand. I love you and thanks for putting up with my many idiosyncrasies.

Hanging Out

We were able to spend a lot of time just relaxing and enjoying being with each other. I will cherish the precious time I got to spend with my grandparents.

We frequented a park near my grandparents' home within walking distance.

Andrew caught lots of bugs in the backyard.

Joshy playing with his trains that Grandma Mary got him.

Boothbay Harbor

My mom, Aunt Lisa, and I took the boys to Boothbay Harbor. We took a boat tour around the island and had lunch there...

Pemaquid Point

This was my favorite day of the trip. The drive to Pemaquid Point was gorgeous - miles of back country roads.

Andrew found a ladybug while we were there. He didn't pay attention to the tide pools, lighthouse, or pretty ocean scenery. He carried that thing the whole time we were there.

We ate lunch at the restaurant there - we had a view of the ocean.

The wore out the boys.