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.