Merry Christmas

Well, we spent most of last week at Primary Children's Hospital in SLC. The doctor's have started Jessica on the Ketogenic Diet with the hope that it will stop her seizures and they admit you for 3-4 days so they can watch for problems, etc. I am a big procrasinator and got nothing done while we were there, so my Christmas card did not get sent out. Therefore, I am posting it on my blog for all to see and hopefully this will do. I am mailing out a few between Christmas and New Years. Big thanks to those who sent cards to us, we love reading about friends and family.

Dear Friends and Family,

Another year has come and gone. In June of this year, we found ourselves having to move. Leaving the old neighborhood and all our friends behind was hard on us all, but we were lucky to find a house close to Julie’s parents. It is in a great neighborhood and we have made many new friends already.

Matthew started preschool at our neighborhood preschool this fall. He is doing well and loves to learn new things. He has learned to read a little bit and loves his teachers. Mattie is a little performer and sang a solo in church in October. He has a vivid imagination and finds all kinds of ways to entertain himself and us. His favorite thing to do right now is swordfight. He has decided he would like to be a swordfighter when he grows up.

Jessica is in first grade this year and enjoying school. She gets to ride the bus, which she loves and has a great classroom environment that keeps her happy. She is starting a new diet, which we hope will help to better control her seizures. She loves to “put the babies to bed” and “cook some food in the oven”. She’s a “great cooker” if she does say so herself. Both kids enjoy horseback riding lessons once a week.

Julie has found herself with a bit of free time this year. With the kids in school, she actually has a couple of hours a day to relax and do things for herself. She enjoys attending an aerobics class with the ladies in the ward. Julie was recently appointed as secretary on the governing board of the Epilepsy Association of Utah. She has made many good contacts through this organization and is constantly finding new resources to help Jessica.

Marshall continues to teach at Provo Canyon School. He is finishing up his Special Education endorsement and is in the middle of the student teaching portion of this course. He has been promoted to the Math Department chair and works with the youth in our ward. He looks forward every day to coming home and spending time with the kids.

May you have a very happy holiday season, and best wishes for the New Year.

P.S. There were pictures, but blogger wouldn't let me upload, so I will try again later.

Catching Up

Well, I haven't posted in over a month. Yet, still I have noting much to say. I have been busy researching something having to do with Jessica's seizures. She is still having a ton and we are in a constant state of sleeplessness. So we are looking for anything that will help her. We are looking into having her tested for genetic problems, and we are going to be starting the Ketogenic diet (high in fat). For some reason this works for some kids when medications don't. We are hopeful, but not without hesitation.
Last month Matthew went through the strangest phase. Because of Jessica's problems my parents help us out quite a bit. Taking the kids overnight twice a week so we can get a full night's sleep in the biggest help. And because of this Matthew is very close to Gma. However he started not wanting to go there at night. This was very puzzling. Then it turned into not wanting to leave the house, especially to go to preschool. I talked to the teacher and she was puzzled too, and it is someone I trust 100 percent. I have known her since I was 8 years old. Every time we went anywhere he said "my tummy hurts." I thought perhaps he was getting carsick, because oftentimes it would happen in the car (but on the way to someplace). Then I thought it was a separation anxiety thing, but It didn't matter if I was with him anytime we were away from home his tummy hurt. And, because of Jessica going to school full day he is getting more one-on-one attention from me than he ever has. I finally took him to the Dr. because I got tired of hearing it. The doctor didn't see any problems, but said perhaps he had acid reflux. So we tried giving him a tums every time his tummy hurt. This lasted about 2 weeks and then one day he just snapped out of it. He was happy to go to school, grandmas, etc. I still don't know what the problem was, but needless to say I am very happy he is back to normal.
It snowed for the first time this year the other day, and the valley is looking so beautiful and finally like Christmas. It was warm for such an unusually long time it just didn't seem right. But now I am into the Christmas spirit. I have about half my shopping list done, and am working on the rest. Hopefully I can finish before Christmas Eve, as I usually procrastinate until the very end.

What kinds of Christmas traditions do you do with your families?

Gingerbread House Festival

Has anyone heard of or been to the Gingerbread House Festival before? Eric Dowdle, the folk artist, is the founder. Every year people make gingerbread houses to donate which are shown at the barn at Thanksgiving Point. They then have an auction and the houses are "sold" to the highest bid. All the money earned goes to children's charities. I make a house for this every year. It is so much fun. I had my scout group do it too (just for you Michelle), and it was one of our funnest activities. It also go them thinking about helping others. I love going and seeing all the houses that other people make and donate and get ideas for my own. This year it will be November 9th through 13th. Committment forms should be filled out by October 21st, but they are not real strict on that because they want as many houses as they can get. You can get forms and more information at www.gingerbreadfestival.org. (Sorry I don't know how to do links)




These were a couple that we did last year. I did a nativity scene. I poured chocolate molds and then did a stable. The good thing is you can make it as simple or extravagant as you like. Last year I ran out of time so didn't get to do as much as I wanted, but it still turned out okay.

Is anyone interested in this? Perhaps we could get together and do a house as a group. Let me know if you are and I will try to put something together.

Secretaries R Us

Well, all my life I've had secretarial/administrative assistant/office manager jobs. As a kid instead of playing with dolls, I played with clipboards and papers. So when a friend called and told me she needed some help I offered. She intived me to a meeting and I went to see what I could do. At the end of the meeting it was proposed that I become the secretary of the Epilepsy Association of Utah ( www.epilepsyut.org ). I think this will be a good thing right now. It will give me a lot of information and access to people I wouldn't otherwise have so that I can get help for Jessica. I hope that I can do it with everything else that is going on in my life. It is a very small group of people who are running the program right now, so it seems like it shouldn't take up too much time. I am happy to help out any way I can.
The first big thing I will help with is the "Crop Because You Care"
Scrapbooking Event that will happen sometime in February. It takes place at the Southtowne Expo Center. I will post more information as soon as the date it set. The registration money goes to fund the programs that are in place such as Summer Camps, etc.
One thing we are trying to do is get some government and/or public funding. Right now we are really small (7 board members), so if you know anyone who is interested or willing to help us out please let me know. We talked last month about finding someone who would be able to write up the paperwork for finding us grants, and trying to make the association more noticeable (through advertising, etc.).

So I'm just wondering:
Is there anything you are interested in enough to be on the board?
Do you have any ideas for fundraisers?
What kinds of things would you expect this kind of association to provide?

Life ...

Well, I am finally to the point where I am able to sit and relax for a while each day. So I am going to try to get back in the habit of keeping this record. The move has taken up all my time, and this has been a monster of a month for Jessica seizure wise (she has had 90 so far). But she is doing better and I am getting some sleep and we are all much happier. The doctor is thinking of trying her on the Ketogenic Diet. It works well for some kids that meds don't work for. But it is high in fat (mostly dairy, which Jessica is allergic to), so we have to get some tests done first to see if she can tolerate the high amounts of dairy.
We finally got our computer desk together, but the phone jack doesn't work (it's newly installed) so we are still dragging cords across the hallway to the phone jack in our bedroom to be able to get internet service. Can you imagine? CRAZY!
I had my neighbor (who I won a free room makeover from) come and see the house and tell me what she can do to help me make it cuter. She is going to put some suggestions together and then we will work on it next week. So I am putting off pictures until then. But I will post some soon.
Matthew is loving preschool and comes home every time with a new song he learned. I swear he has a photographic memory. The other day in the car he found a ring he got at church a couple of weeks ago and he said, "It used to have a paper on it that said, I the lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say you have no promise, want to learn it mom?" Repeat after me ... I was cracking up and was amazed that seeing the ring weeks later would remind him of that lesson.
A couple of days ago I got a call from the music leader in our old ward in Lindon. She wanted to know if Matthew would sing in Sacrament Meeting. I said, you realize we've moved right (I was kidding - of course she knew that), and she said "well, he was so cute in the Primary Program and my husband and I went home wishing you were still in the ward so he could sing and I got to thinking well, maybe he still could. So I asked the bishop of he thought it would be appropriate and he said, Absolutely. So I am asking." We said we would do it and so we will be going to our old ward the last Sunday in October to sing a primary song in sacrament meeting.
Tomorrow we are going to the old house to pull up the garden and get everything, so we will finally have broken ties with the house. : - ( But we are loving it here and looking forward to good things to come.

All Moved and Back to School

Well, we are mostly in the new place. However our computer isn't up yet so I am using my mom's. Hopefully it will be up soon and I can post some pics. I am still working on getting boxes unpacked. I can't believe how long this is taking me. But, as least I can do it as I have time now. We can't find the screws, etc. for our desk. They were put in a box and not labeled. So we are madly trying to find them, but so far haven't had any luck.
I can't believe school started already. Jessica is in first grade this year and is going to school for a full day. And Mattie is going to a neighborhood preschool for two hours, three days a week. Monday I came home after dropping him off and thought I would get so much done. Instead I felt lonely, crazy huh? I know eventually I will live for those two hours. It was just so hard the first day.
Jessica is loving school and being able to ride the school bus every day. She talks about it all the time. And Matthew is loving meeting the kids in the neighborhood and making new friends.
I love our new house, and the other night at RS they had an auction. I won the bid for help redecorating a room in my house (trading spaces style). I am so excited about that. Boy could I use the help! By the way, had anyone ever read "Castaways of the Flying Dutchman" by Brian Jacques? It is the book this ward is doing for bookclub next month. Just wondering what to expect. On Amazon it was given 4 stars. Hope it is a good one.
That's about all for now. Glad you are all doing well, I check in now and then when I can. Hope to be up on my own computer soon.

Last Pack Meeting

Last night was my last pack meeting in this ward. It was an end of summer pool party and was lots of fun. I have been in the Cub Scout program pretty much since we moved into this ward 4 1/2 years ago. I have had every job except Cub Master. That means I have been a Wolf, Bear, Webelos Leader and the Cub Committee Chair. How about that? I got some nice thank you/we'll miss you gifts and thought it would be nice to blog about it.

Here is a plant that I will be able to plant at the new house and four $100,000 Grand candy bars (there is only 3 now, somebody absconded with one during pack meeting). They said "this is probably what your job is worth, and we don't know where we will find someone to take your place." Somehow I think they will manage.





I also got this cool neckerchief slide that the Webelos leader made for me, as well as this nice Cub Scout Leader Recognition certificate. She said, "I wanted this to be a surprise for you, but the form requires your signature. So I forged it, I hope you don't mind." I told her of course now, how nice of her. She said, "Well, a scout is... Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent." So I felt bad "lying." But I didn't want you to know we did this.

I think it was so nice of her, I knew this award was available, but I never think of the adult awards, just the kids awards. So even though I did all the things to earn it, I probably would have never filled out the paperwork. Thank you so much Susie.

Isn't that nice? It feel great to be appreciated. I will definitely miss the ward here.

These Funny Kids of Mine...I'm Gonna Love Em All The Time

This last week has been incredibly busy for us. Getting all the utilities changed over, Jessica registered for school in the new district, and boxing up all our junk, while trying to keep Jessica's patterning on schedule along with the rest of our daily lives. WOW! has it ever been crazy!

In the midst of the madness a couple funny things happened.

Jessica watched a video that talked about the Christmas holidays and decided she wanted to dress up for winter. She went around the house looking for gloves and a hat. She wore this all day and even played outside in it for awhile (In the 100 degree weather). Every time I tried to take them off she'd say "those are my gloves!"




She gets in these phases where she does things over and over. Now she is in a "circle time" stage. Lets play circle time, do you need to play circle time? Two days now we have been playing circle time. So crazy.


A couple of days ago Matthew came out to the front room looking like this (see picture below).



I asked what he was doing with those and explained to him that they were suspenders that hold up your pants, and he said "well, I just want to wear them like this so I can put my swords and lightsabers in here." I was cracking up, he is so funny.

We are moving on Saturday, and I really hope I can get everything boxed up, I have really been dragging my feet on this and just can't get organized. Do you ever fell so overwhelmed and don't even know where to start? That is kind of how I feel right now. Anyway, onward and upward.

Things I'll Miss ... And Things I Won't

I have really wanted to do this post since we found out we were moving. I have been trying to come up with things, but always came up with them when I wasn't at the computer or where I could write them down and then when I could I couldn't remember them. Anyway, here is my list:

Things I'll Miss About This House...

The birds singing every morning, and hopping around in our grass. We have tons of trees, therefore tons of birds.
My gigantic garden.
Great Neighbors and Friends.
My backyard neighbor/farmer who tells me to make sure I plant the seeds right side up so they can see where they are growing. He is sure a funny guy. And when his corn is ripe he throws it over the fence into our back yard. I often go out to find ears of corn lying in our grass. The first year we were here he told me what things were vegetables, and what things were weeds, boy was that helpful! HAHAHAHAHA
Our sharing shed.
People who donate the fruit off their fruit trees to us. Last year I got plums, apricots, apples, peaches, and cherries.
Great Neighbors and Friends.
The sounds of the farm animals in our area. We hear horses, peacocks, cows, and other animal sounds daily.
Jessica's patterners/therapy helpers.
So many people have tractors that we have never had to shovel our driveway. People come in the winter and plow it for us before we ever wake up. So nice!
The farm fresh eggs I buy from my neighbor across the street.
Our barn swallow's nest that they build the first summer we lived here. They have been back every year since.
Did I mention great neighbors and friends?


Things I Won't Miss ...

The many snakes that sun themselves in our grass.
The clothesline poles right in the middle of the lawn - my husband will miss them even less as he sometimes hits his head on them while he's mowing. He's just too tall.
The hornets that are so stubborn they keep building nests after we spray and knock down the old ones. They have even built homes in the supports of our grill.
The 8 zillion weeds that grown in our garden because we use irrigation water. (Check out this picture of just dirt I dug up when planting this year. The weeds even grew in the bucket - Crazy huh?)



This street doesn't have side walks, just rocks so it's hard to take the kids on walks in strollers or wagons because it's not a smooth ride.
The fact that the swamp cooler only cools the front room, so the back of the house is still 85 degrees. Sure makes it hard to sleep during the summer.
The heater that breaks down 2-3 times every winter, forcing us to use the fireplace for heat.
The bright red, and puky green deep shag carpeting.
The equally puky green sink, oven and refrigerator. Still the same 70's models that were put in the house when it was built.
Not having to walk to the end of the block to pick up my mail. Won't it be nice to have a mailbox on the house and just open the door and pick it up?



Well, for some reason blogger won't let me load pictures, but you get the idea. I will keep trying. What things do you love/not love about your house?

It's A Mystery...

Look at these beautiful flowers. My husband came into the computer room tonight about 9:30 p.m. and said, "here, some girl asked me to give these to you." I was shocked, but could tell he was serious because he can't lie to save his life. I asked who she was and he said some blonde girl with curly hair. Well, that narrows it down doesn't it? Anyway, he didn't know her. So now I am racking my brain trying to figure out who gave me these amazing flowers.


This is a close up view of them. I love the yellow stripes in the red. It is so pretty. And the little green berries, how cute.


The young women from our ward also came tonight with this plate of cookies (about half are missing from this picture). They knocked and said, "we were just thinking of you and wanted to bring you these." How nice. Well, I must say these two things made my day.
And now I get to try to figure out who is nice enough to think of me. Whoever you are THANK YOU!!!

It's Final

Well, we decided that the house from the last post was just too small. We are going to rent for a few more years and try to save up a good down payment. Hopefully we will be disciplined enough to do it and not waste the money somewhere else. We have found a house to rent in the same neighborhood, just around the block. It is bigger which is nice and will be about $300 less each month than the mortgage would have been. It is a nice split level that has 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 living rooms, a giant laundry room, a garage, and a great yard - garden space included. How can I ask for more?
Yet, I am still feeling the stress and not wanting to move. I have never been attached to a ward/neighborhood like I have this one. I am just in a funk about having to leave everyone and being far enough away that I don't get to see them often. I will try to keep in touch with people, but that is not my strong suit. I do get to come back once or twice a week through the gardening season to pick my vegetables and take care of the garden. The landlord said I could do that, so at least my garden won't go to waste.
Matthew is worried about leaving things at this house. The other day he said, "Mom we have to take my star blanket with us, because It's mine." I tried to explain to him that we are taking everything in the house with us, except the things we are getting rid of because we don't use or don't want. But he can't wrap his head around this concept. It's really cute. He also says, "this better be the last time we move mom, I'm not a fan of moving." What a funny kid he is.
Sunday I was in the halls and passed the Primary President for our ward. She said, "you will have to let Mattie come back and sing in the primary program, he is our best singer." So funny, and he probably is too. He knows all the songs before they teach them. They are all impressed by his singing abilities.
I think this is as hard on the ward as it is on us. When we first "announced" we were moving so many people said "no your not." Like I would kid about something like this. But they have been so involved in our lives since we moved in that we have become as close as family to many of them. They help with Jessica's therapy every day. I said the other day that there will probably be a big sigh of relief when we leave because there will be so much less service that has to be done in the ward. I feel like there hasn't been a day go by since we moved here that we haven't had someone from the ward in our home helping us. This has just been a fantastic place for us. Also, Marshall is the financial clerk in the ward, and I have been the cub committe chair - two jobs that are really hard to find people who want to do them. So the bishopric is in a panic trying to replace us. One lady said, "you can live in my grainary, my brothers both did." So funny, but nice to know we are loved.
Isn't it true that you love those that you serve? And vice versa, you love those who serve you.

Possibilities

Well we looked at this house for the second time this morning. This is the back of the house and the yard is big and deep. It is probably my favorite thing about this house. In the event we wanted to later, there is enough room to add onto the house. Look at me getting ahead of myself, we haven't even bought it yet. HA!

Isn't this fireplace beautiful? It is in the living room right as you enter the house. The living room, kitchen, bathroom, and one bedroom are all tile. The back two bedrooms have carpet. I really like carpet and really don't like tile, but we will see.

This kitchen is large, if you notice they have room for two full size tables, but the counter space leaves a lot to be desired. There are not a lot of cabinets either, but there is a pantry with shelving at the end of this kitchen. It is a pretty good size pantry, but not large by any stretch.

This is the biggest drawback of this house for me. The washer and dryer hookups are in the bathroom. The wall you see in this picture is the washer/dryer and sink. The other side you can't see is the tub/shower and toilet. This is the only bathroom in the house. YUCK!
Well, as you can see we are thinking long and hard about this one. To me it seems small with a lot of possibilities, but then you have to have the money to make the possibilities happen. What do you all think?

House Hunting

Well, we went to see homes this morning with our realtor. It was kind of fun, but at the same time a little depressing. The very first house we went to had weeds to your ears in the front and back yard and essentially no grass. When the realtor got the key out of the key box she discovered it wouldn't open the door so we didn't get to go in and look. The inside was new (we could see through the windows), but the outside siding was cracking and falling off. I couldn't believe they could ask what they were for it. I am amazed that anyone can afford to buy a house these days. As much as prices have skyrocketed, the amount you earn from your job hasn't increased at the same rate. My husband and I decided the american dream is dead! Oh, for the days of staking a claim on 100 acres (for free!). Can you tell I'm a little frustrated?
On a brighter note, we did see one that was in the same price range that was actually a nice looking house with three bedrooms and a huge back yard. It is the most promising so far, but is in Provo.

We have now been looking 1 week. How long did it take you to find the house of your dreams?

Share The Bounty

This little shack sits on the side of the road across the street from our house. It is the neatest idea. We live in a large farming community and so when people have excess, mostly during the summer, they put it in this shack and others driving by can stop and have their choice of fruits and vegetables for free.



When we first moved into this area it was really run down, but the Elder's Quorum in our ward rebuilt it and put the siding on. It is now much nicer. Everything from live chickens, to vegetables, to buckets of fruit off the trees is available, and it never stays long. If you drive by and there is something there, you'd better stop because it won't be there when you come back. Often there are notes left by people who give thanks to those who share, because they can't afford to buy the food, or are in hard times, etc.
I just think this is a great service and think there should be more things like this in the world. What do you all think about it?

Changes

Well it has been a while since I posted, but this week has been very stressful. Jessica had seizures every morning. I think it is because she is coming off some of the drugs she has been on, a little bit of withdrawal. Usually she has a bunch in one day and then a few days without any. So she hasn't been feeling great this week and has been real moody. Our neighbors went on vacation to California, but our kids usually spend all day together so mine have been home this week. Kind of nice, only to have 2 not 4, but they have been lonely.
Friday morning there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find the mailman standing there with a certified letter. I knew what it was as soon as I saw it, but it was still surprising to open it and read that our landlord wants us to move out in 6 weeks so a member of his family can move in here. We have been here 4 1/2 years and knew that this could happen at any time, but still...We have been on good terms with the landlord and he has been great, I just was disappointed in getting a letter and not much notice. He could have at least told us in person. What do you think?
So yesterday I was weepy all day. Every time I talked about it I started crying. This is so unusual for me because I am not that type, in fact when I called my husband at work and started crying he said, I'd better come home. I think he has seen me cry twice (not including the hormones after birth), in the 7 years we have been married. So anyway, he took work off and came home.
Now we are in the process of getting things packed and finding a place to stay. If any of you Utah County people hear of places that are renting or selling (at a reasonable cost), please let me know as I can use as much help as I can get. We looked in PG yesterday and were surprised to find it as expensive as Lindon. We will probably have to move out of the school district we are in, which will be bad for my daughter. She has the best help she can get at the school she was supposed to be starting in the fall.
So needless to say this week has not been fun for me, sorry this is so depressing but I have to vent somewhere.

Anybody have any suggestions or know anything please let me know.

Same Old, Same Old

Well I find myself with nothing important to say. My life is back to normal and things are going good. Jessica had a bunch of seizures Monday night/Tuesday morning. We had to give her medication to get the seizures stopped and so for two days she wasn't really able to do much because she was so drugged up. But she is better now and having fun.

She loves to play football with Matthew. They are doing better at being able to play together. It makes life easier for everyone.

Today they wanted to get out this tent. We earned it with Huggies points a few years ago. It is one of their favorite things, but takes up so much space I rarely get it out.
The other day on one of my posts I said I needed a blogging for dummies book, kind of as a joke. I mentioned it to my sister-in-law too, and later that night she knocked on the door. She said, "I was at the library and I found this book for you." It is The Complete Idiots Guide to Creating a Web Page & Blog. I laughed so hard, but have actually been reading it. I am learning a few things.
Wednesday Mattie went with Becky (my sister-in-law), Julia, and Nathaniel (his cousins) to the library for story time. They asked what you want to be when you grow up and he said, "a swordfighter." That is so typical. He cracks my up all the time.
What kinds of things are you doing to keep the kids busy for summer? I need some suggestions because I am trying to put together a summer schedule so we don't waste all our time in front of the TV.

My Crazy Week

This week has been so unusual for me. I typically am home all day, and don't go many places unnecessarily.

Tuesday night I had to be a pack meeting. I am the Cub Committe Chairperson. It was fun for the boys, the theme was Invent a Reason To Celebrate!! I think we should all do this more often. There are so many things we take for granted that if we could just think of one thing to celebrate each day we would be much better off. I suppose this is a similar concept to the gratitude journals. After pack meeting I went to a scrapbook night for Relief Society, and then I went back to church for the Key Scouter's meeting.



Wednesday we went to the Strawberry Days Rodeo. I've been telling my kids for months (since we saw the sign on the way home from Horseback riding lessons), that I would take them when it came. So off we went to the Rodeo. I wasn't prepared at all. We all wore shorts, no jackets, etc. It was a cold night. Marshall went back to the car to look for blankets and came back with the silver emergency blanket out of our 72 hour kit. I'm sure we looked hilarious sitting under it at the rodeo. We all had a good time, and Matthew liked the bull riding best.
Thursday morning we had cousins over. The kids always have a great time when they play with their cousins. Later we went to swimming lessons at the Orem Rec Center, and right after that Jessica went home with my mom (her attention span for these kids of things in non-existent), while Mattie, Marshall and I went to see Peter Pan at the Scera Shell Outdoor Theater.



During intermission they had the girls playing the indian parts running around through the audience. They would stop and study you, pick things up and look at them, etc. When they came to our blanket, Matthew pulled out his sword and they screamed and ran away. He thought that was hysterical. It was the first time we have taken him to something like this and he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Friday I went to Webelos Twilight with the boys from our ward. The Webelos leader called me up and said she needed a second leader. I am not really available for these kinds of day activities but, she was in a bind and it was happening from 3-9 p.m. So Marshall took a couple of hours off from work to come home and watch the kids, while I went to camp. It was a pretty good time and not too stressful.

Today we are going to Heber to see my nephew in the community production of The Music Man. Hopefully it will be good, I love musicals and am looking forward to it. However, I will be glad to have my boring old life back next week.

P.S. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to get links on my webpage? I still haven't figured out how to link sites.

Milestones

Well, I took both kids to the dentist this morning. Jessica has been before, but Matthew never has. I got a reminder call yesterday and it was a good thing because I didn't have it on my calendar. I made the appointments 6 months ago and lost the card.
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago Jessica's bottom teeth in the middle started to get loose, and whenever you try to touch them she closes her mouth. She hasn't let us anywhere near them, but the dentist said today they were both loose enough to come out. So she lost her first two teeth today. Not really noticable in this picture, but it's still a cute one.


Matthew did great too. He was so excited to go and when we got there he said, "Mom, where is the big toothbrush for giants and dinosaurs?" This idea came from Caillou. It was too funny, so the dentist had his assistant get some of the big teeth he teaches with, and a big toothbrush and let Mattie brush the teeth while he waited for his turn. He thought that was fun. The best news is neither kid had any cavitites. NO CAVITIES, HOORAY!!!!



Here he is with his swords and magic wand, cheesing it up for the camera. He is often heard to exclaim "expelliarmus, wingardium leviosa, en garde." And one weapon is never enough he has to wear them all at the same time.

The rest of the day was spent "patterning" Jessica (this is her therapy we do daily), and getting ready for Pack Meeting tonight. I am the Cub Committe Chair, even though I don't have any kids that age. So it was a really busy day for me. I am so used to staying home, that when random stuff comes up it throws off my whole day. Are any of you like that too?

Favorites

I thought I would write about a few of my favorite things.

This is a picture of my garden last August. We plant tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, all different kinds of squash, peas, green beans, and carrots. I hope at some point for this to be my Blog Heading. If anyone has any ideas on that I would appreciate some help.



Here is one of my favorite pictures of my kids, Jessica and Matthew. It was taken 2 years ago, when Marshall's sister was married, but it shows their cute personalities as they still are.

Aida is my favorite musical right now. It is the story of a Nubian princess who was captured by the Egyptians. She falls in love with a soldier who is promised to the Egyptian princess. It is a great love story with many other themes that really get you thinking. And the music is fabulous. If you ever have the chance to see it you should. It is well worth the time and money spent.

What are some of your favorite things?

History

Since most of you don't know me very well I thought I'd write a little overview for you of who I am. I love to read, listen to music, watch/play sports, go to plays, travel, garden, and craft a little. I am not really a crafty person, I have a hard time coming up with ideas. But if you give me a kit with instructions, boy can I get that done. Pathetic hu? I have traveled all over the world. I have been to Canada, Mexico, England, Scotland, France, Ireland, Japan, and many places in the United States. I once took a week long trip to New York with a group to go see broadway plays. That was one of my favorites. I got to see 6 plays in the time I was there, I was in heaven.

I married my husband in April, 1999. We have now been married 7 years. Am I feeling the itch? No, he is the best thing that ever happened to me. He is so great and so supportive. Sometimes when he comes home and sees I've had a rough day, he will take the kids and go to the library or the store and just let me have time to myself. He's the best.

Our daughter Jessica was born in April, 2000. She is a beautiful little girl who is so loving and sweet. She has had a rough life though, she started having seizures when she was 9 months old. They started with ear infections and fevers and have progressed now to around 70 a month. They are mostly while she's sleeping now, but they have cause her to have developmental delay, balance, and coordination problems. She is six and functions at about a 3 yr. old level. We have taken her all over the country for help and nobody can find any reason why they can't control her seizures. In April we took her to UCLA to see if they could to surgery to remove part of her brain, and they thought she looked promising, but then decided she wasn't a great candidate. So we continute to try new things and work with her at home therapy daily.

I had a picture of the kids I tried to put here, but it's not working. So hopefully I will update that soon.

Our son Matthew was born April, 2002. I know, I know -- What is it with the month of April? Anyway, he is a great little boy. He is such a good helper with Jessica and does and says the funniest things all the time. The other day I was helping him put on his belt and I put it in backwards. He said "Mom, that's how girls put it on, boys put it on the other side." I said "Mattie, how do you know that?" He said "Dad told me, he knows lots about girls." I laughed so hard. What a crack up he is. He is also our little daredevil. He doesn't pay attention when he is doing these crazy things and got his second set of stitches in his head last sunday. He bonked it on the handle of the screen door while he was going out. Funniest thing about that is, he just had stitches about 6 weeks ago and his scab from the first set came off when he hit his head to need the second set. Poor little guy.

Have your kids every had stitches? Do they get it from you?

What is the craziest things you've ever had to deal with?

Keep On Keeping On

This was supposed to be my picture that goes up in the corner, but I guess I didn't do it right so you get the bigger version. I have been trying all day and have discovered I have become computer illiterate in my years as a stay at home mom. I used to be so up-to-date and was the one my family called for questions, but I am so lost and really need to "come into the 21st century" as Jana mentioned in her new blog. Perhaps there is a "Blogging for Dummies" manual hu? hahahahaha
But I am making progress and have discovered a few things today, so I will keep on keeping on.

I'm Up, Kind Of

Well, I was convinced to try this blogging business at the blog party, but am sure I will have lots of questions on getting started because I am not understanding a lot of the settings and such. So please be patient with me while I figure this out, and I will try to learn quickly.