Where's K?

Last night when I went to check on the offspring before I went to bed I almost had a heart attack. When I first walked in I thought that K was under his blanket because there was a human sized bump. I went to pull the blanket back so that he could have enough air. But, to my great astonishment, he wasn't there. It was just stuffed animals. I looked up in M's bed since he loves to sleep with her. But, he wasn't there either. Before bed he had asked if he could sleep in the closet, so I checked there. But he wasn't there either. I started to think that the stuffed animals had been placed under the covers intentionally so that he could make a run for it. I stood there in the middle of their room totally baffled, until I thought to look under the bed.

                                                                      Crazy kid!

Budding athlete's

In between sessions of conference yesterday our children were going totally nuts. They needed to get out some pent-up energy. The problem is we live in a horrible, awful, hot, humid climate. So the thought of taking them outside was enough to make one start sweating. B had this great idea to play catch. But since it was way too humid outside, he said they could play catch inside. That would have been a great idea if they were using a softer ball. Nope, they were using a baseball. As the ball kept hitting things that had great potential to shatter, he decided that maybe they should suck it up and go outside. He didn't want to play on the grass because it was wet, so they played on the patio instead. They all had a great time. Both M and K loved it when B taught them how to lift up one leg when they throw the ball. I am happy to report that no toes got smashed by the ball, there was no broken glass and they got out enough energy that they sat still through the opening song and prayer of the second session!

Woes of road debris

As K and I were driving home from taking M to school, I saw something in the road up ahead. I then saw that there were two of these somethings in the road. I couldn't tell what they were until they were right in front of us. There lying in the road were two really big chunks of asphalt. I was able to miss the first one, but not the second one. As soon as we hit it I could feel the tire go flat.

 Thankfully we were right next to a shopping center and we were able to pull in there and call B to see if he was back from running yet so that he could come rescue us. Just the other day K asked about tires on cars and how you take them off. I told him how and that daddy can take tires off, but so can I. He didn't believe me that I could do it too. I thought that I would be able to prove to him today that I can in fact change a tire. But, because I am inherently lazy I decided to just let B do it. I'm so glad that I did!

 We both thought that changing the tire would be fast and easy. Clearly, the things were on tighter than we thought. He tried for quite awhile. K kept telling us that we could go to the car place that was right across the parking lot and get their big tools to get the tire off. I told him they can't bring their big tools to us and we couldn't drive on the flat tire to get to the tools. He didn't get it, so we did something that he would understand. We said a prayer asking for help. You would think that we would have done that first rather than waiting until the car fell off the jack once and B's hands were so red and sore that he could hardly hold the key thing. At least we finally prayed right?! Anyway, as soon as we finished the prayer he got one of the bolt things loose. Then I remembered that there was a blanket in the trunk that maybe he could hold onto to protect his hands a little.

 Once all the bolt things were loose, K wanted to help unscrew them so the tire could come off. I totally love this picture!

Now why our spare tire is orange is a mystery to us. But at least B was able to get the old one off with a little heavenly help and get the spare on. We had so many tender mercies this morning with our tire incident. First, when it happened I was on the road we live off of and right next to a place I could pull in to. K would have hated it if we were on a busy road because I wouldn't have let him get out to help. He loves all things cars. So he was in heaven helping. Next, today is the first day in seven weeks that B didn't have to be at the hospital in the morning. So he was home and could come save us. Seeing how hard it was for him to take the tire off made me realize that although I do have brute strength, I may have had a hard time getting the tire off. I don't know if most people even noticed, but this morning was cloudy. So as B was fighting with the bolt things, the sun wasn't beating down on him. We were able to drive across the parking lot and get new tires and since it was just after opening time, we didn't have to wait all day. Yay for answered prayers, tender mercies and the boys in my life!

Perks of free health care

No co-pays, easy to make an appointment and the nurse really will return your calls the same day. All of that sounds pretty amazing if you ask me. Free health care isn't as bad as I thought it would be! When B told me that he wanted to be a nurse I knew that his skills would come in handy. I am so glad that I'm not the only one that takes advantage of the free care he offers. My darling friend M needed to have her stitches taken out. Going back to the Dr. seemed like such a pain. Her husband is out of town thanks to this wonderful school that both of these skilled nurses attend, that rejoices in sending husbands and father's away for weeks at a time. Anyway, since her husband wasn't available to remove the stitches, B said he would do it. Before he started I asked M if she needed a hand to hold. I think I was more nervous than she was. She said she was fine. She did great! No tears or anything! I was so proud of her. I couldn't stay in the same room for too long, seeing the way the stitches pulled her skin made me more than a little queasy. Removing stitches today, putting people under in their homes so they can stay there for surgery tomorrow! The way I see it, the sky's the limit here!

She never has

It was B's birthday a little while ago. Of course he got all things BYU. Except for the wonderful loaves of Grandma Sycamore bread that he got from B&S. Anyway, among the BYU things that he got were a pair of helmet salt and pepper shakers. Instead of coming in a box with packing peanuts, they came wrapped in those air bag things. I know, a little vague with what those are, but I don't know what else to call them. We all cheered wildly for the salt and pepper shakers. Ok, not really. B did and we all ooooed and awed over them. But we loved the air bag things!

 The activity of choice was to jump on the bags and pop them. K loved it and did it over and over. M liked it too, she just doesn't like the loud sound that comes once the bag is popped. She has never liked loud sounds. So every time she was going to pop one, she had to plug her ears first.

Clearly, having K pop the bag was not only loud, but terrifying to watch too! Oh this picture makes me laugh so much! Poor thing, hopefully she'll make a full recovery!

A tale of two chairs

Let's go back in time shall we? When I was a young little lass there were two chairs that were the coveted seats at the kitchen table. There was the yellow chair. It had rips on the side of the seat and down the top of the seat, right where you sat. Then there was the bar stool. We're not talking a bar stool of wood. Oh no! We're talking genuine brown vinyl on both the seat and the back rest. Well, actually there was only vinyl on the back of the back rest because the front of the back rest had been ripped out making a very nice pocket for storing things. You may be asking yourself why these two seats could possibly be where one wanted to sit. I have three words for you, Beef Pancake roll-ups. Yes they are as disgusting as they sound. Now, if one was lucky enough to get the yellow seat, which always seemed to be someone else's good fortune, you knew that thanks to those beautiful rips, you could shove your unwanted food into the chair! Getting the bar stool was always too lofty of a goal, because that chair was reserved for whichever kid happened to be second to youngest at the time. Simply because it put them up higher at the table. The yellow chair was one's saving grace. It also put you up higher to the table because of all the food that had been shoved in to it over the years. The shoving of food wasn't only limited to beef pancake roll-ups. There was also enough room in the chair to put liver, fried zucchini, beets, fish(which came to your plate with it's head and skin still fully intact) or any other food that one could not palate. You may be asking yourself what this has to do with anything, well, let me tell you. Let's fast forward to today.

K man enters the picture. When he was a baby he ate everything! I was feeling so excited about it because M wouldn't eat anything. I was feeling pretty confident that he would be easy to please when it came to the food area of life. Well, his willingness to eat anything changed about a year ago. He use to just sit there until B or I got so tired of telling him to eat, that we would just take the food away and he would go hungry until the next meal. He has since changed his ways. His favorite place in the house to sit is on a bar stool at the counter right next to the wall. We didn't care if he sat there as long as it wasn't dinner time(we insist that he sit at the table with the rest of us for dinner) and as long as he would eat. About two weeks ago I figured out why he likes sitting there so much. On the wall where he likes to sit is a phone jack. Since we don't have a land line, it's just a little hole in the wall. Sweet, innocent, just sitting here because I like it, K, had figured out that if he puts food in his mouth and bites it into little pieces, he can shove his unwanted food in the phone jack. Part of me wanted to hug him and tell him that I have done the same kind of thing! I was feeling so proud! The other part of me wanted to remind him that there are kids all over the place that don't have enough to eat and that our food is a huge blessing. Not to mention, he shoves things like apple chunks and bread crusts into it. It's not like he has to eat something disgusting like beef pancake roll-ups or liver. Yes, he's cute and yes we love him, but sometimes when I look in the mirror I think, no wonder I have more white hair than brown, K is a food shover!

So, it's been awhile

Our computer has been on the fritz for the last month. I tried to be this amazing wife and figure out the problem while B was gone for three weeks. But that didn't happen. The Comcast guy came to look at it and said the the computer probably needed to be replaced. It is you know, "old". When I say old I mean a whole 6 1/2 years old. Since buying a new computer isn't going to happen, I just thought that I would use B's laptop. That however, clearly is not happening. By the time he gets home and I actually get to see him, I don't want to get on the computer. Anyway, the computer randomly started to work the other day. So, I'll use it while I can! M started first grade the beginning of the month and loves it. Everyday when I ask her how school was she says,"awesome!" Which is a good thing because before it started she kept saying that she didn't like school and didn't want to go any more. My guess is she just doesn't like the idea of waking up at 6:15 every morning. Me either! It truly is awful. K has memorized the book, Ten little ladybugs. Not that it's hard to do. Anyway, since he has it memorized he in convinced that he can read. That's just jim dandy except when I want him to work on his letters and he tells me that he doesn't need to learn them since he already knows how to read. He's trouble that's for sure! B is still busy busy busy. When I talked to my mom the other day she told me that June will be here before I know it. June brings graduation. I told her that I don't believe her. It feels like time has stopped and that we truly are living in slow motion. I should have put on some pictures. Sorry! Next time, as long as our computer still works!