Garden Time

Yes! those are closet doors. We thought we could save some money on wood and went to the local Habitat for Humanity and found some really lovely closet doors to make our garden with. I also like the decorative look. And yes we left the door knobs on them on purpose. I think it gives them character. They will be much cooler once we stain our fence and the garden boxes all the same color. That will be our project next month.














The kids and their friend's helped us load 60 bags of top soil (Russ loaded 55 of them) Not to mention the 4 huge bags of manure.





And Walla you have a beautiful garden box! BUT WAIT.... That is not all. That's right, we built two. For $5.00 a set of closet doors we couldn't resist.
I am dreaming of fresh salsa already!!

Yard Sales and Pig Tails

Eli's face really says it all!! FREEZING! What was I thinking having a yard sale in 35 degree weather? My fingers are still thawing and I wore gloves the whole time. The weather said the high was supposed to be 65 but I guess I didn't read the fine print where it said that the high was going to be at 5:00pm. All in all the yard sale was a success. Now everyone who came and brought stuff to sale.. Come get your junk out of my garage . ;) I actually can't believe how many people out there just LOVE to give kids money. I had the kids selling brownies and rice crispy treats and we were sold out by 9:00am. So Eli resorted to selling orange soda. He would ask EVERY person who came up "would you like a soda?" People were just giving the kids money and not even taking anything. I am totally doing this every time. I figure since I made the treats and the kids sold them we split the money half and half. Man, put a freezing kid outside and you could get rich.

These are just a couple pic's of Ivy this morning. I can finally put her hair in real pig tails. I can't believe how long it is getting. So fun. These pictures were before she had chocolate all down her face and fell down the stairs carrying her cup full of chocolate chips.

It was cute while it lasted.

Reality Check

So, as I am on my hands and knees this morning mopping up the floor under Ivy's highchair with Eli playing the piano in the background and saying Mom you sing the "hey" at the end of the song. So, He is playing (I say "playing" very loosely) "Jingle bells batman smells, robin layed an egg... "you get the picture.. So I have to sing the whole song in my head because when he hits the last note I have to come in right at the right time to finish off the "and Joker went to ballet, hey" Because I guess Joker going to ballet is much funnier then "and Joker got away, hey" So, Eli thought this was a great game. He is just playing not singing so, there I am on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor and trying to sing Jingle Bells (but the boy version) and realized, WHAT HAVE I TURNED INTO?? I am like a monkey in the lives of these children. I was totally singing the song in my head to come in right at the right time.. Eli kept making me do it over and over again because for some reason (maybe because he can't really play the song and is just hitting any key he wants too) I wasn't coming in at the right time. I sat there on my hands and knees continuing scrubbing the oatmeal Ivy had just thrown on to the floor and thought to myself. I'm no chimp, I am doing this because these kids have the best darn Mom in the World! I am sticking to that!

Frogs, Toads and Blisters Oh My!

What a beautiful weekend we have had. I guess it was Sunday that was beautiful and today (Monday) But we have taken full advantage of the spring like weather. We went on a little hike Sunday afternoon with some friends. Which was fun until Eli freaked out because he had gotten two blisters on his feet. He had to be carried the rest of the way home.
Our friend David, who was just getting ready for a long night of work had a great time skipping and singing with this kids. It was to priceless not to capture.Tonight for family night we decided to do an act of service for our neighbors by cleaning up our yard. As we were mowing we found a frog and a toad. The boys have adopted them and they built a house for them brought them toys and made sure they had plenty of water. They will remain outside and we will see if they are still there in the morning...














Gotta love having boys!

Warped World

Conversation of Eli and I at lunch today

Eli: Mom, when Jason prays he says "kill, kill" (in a low scary voice)

Me: I don't think Jason prays. (thinking he is talking about the Jason from the "Friday The Thirteenth" movies that he hasn't seen but that his cousin tells him about)

Me again: Eli, Jason isn't real.. he isn't a real person.

Eli: PHEW!......... But,... he's on American Idol. (Jason Castro, the guy with the dreads.. My favorite, so I talk about him a lot I guess.. I don't care what anyone says he is my pick!)

Eli again: Jason's a bully, and bullies can pummell people!

What warped world do my kids live in? Jason from Friday the Thirteenth on American Idol is quite a thought. Not only that but, to think that Jason would be PRAYING kill, kill... All you can do is pray he isn't spreading these rumors at school.

Flash Flood Warnings

Looks like we are pretty much trapped inside the house today. Not that I am in any real condition to get out and about but poor Ivy and Eli are feeling the effects of their bed ridden Mom and the pouring rain outside. this is what I walked into this morning....



















Look at Ivy she is pounding on the window. She is my outside girl, she loves to walk around outside. I know she is wondering how she can convince me to let her go out and play in the mud.. Not today sister.... Looks like we might get some sun next week.

Here I am, again...

Well, it is over and I will tell you that it was not as bad as the first time. I really got on the Doc though to "make me a little more comfortable". They only used 4 catheters this time instead of 5 and, they didn't do an ablation like they did the last time (which is where they burn the tissue in the heart) I was in there for two hours and they couldn't get the bad rhythm to come back. They monitored me for the next 24 hrs and found the bad rhythms, he called it "inappropriate sinus tachycardia" Which really means that the heart just jumps around whenever it wants too.. beats early, skips beats etc.. They are doing more testing to see why that is happening but it is more annoying then dangerous. So anyway, He still thinks he fixed the first problem with the first ablation and thank goodness doesn't think I will have to do it again! Yippee!!! I am really sore where they threaded the catheters in my neck and groin, but other then that I am feeling pretty good. I shared a room again with an old lady and boy did she like to talk.. She made the time go by quickly though. We even had a "code blue" two doors down from us.. They ran the crash cart down and everything.. I have never seen so many people in scrubs running as fast as they can through the halls.. The little old man came through and we were all relieved.
So, Ivy woke up with a fever and croup sounding cough... of course she did, just because I am not suposed to lift anything over 8lbs.. yeah right.. And all she wants to do is be held. I am so ready for good health and warm weather!
Thanks again for all the wonderful people around me who took my kids etc!!! You all rock and roll!

Mud and Depression....

Don't you love it when you work so hard all day to get things done and to make the most of your Saturday.. And you feel like you are standing in place. I am going to be laid up next week(explanation below) and Russ worked all day today so I tried to get all of the laundry done, groceries etc.. Just as I had pulled the last load of laundry out of the dryer today I look outside to find Ivy in her brand new really cute spring capri's with mud all over them. The boys were covered also. (That's what I get for putting the boys in charge of Ivy outside) So in about 5 minutes I had another full load of laundry. Trying to get mud out of Ivy's pants was easy it is the shirt that has been the trick.. Any suggestions??













It was a beautiful day though and we are sad Russ wasn't able to enjoy it with us..
So, now the reason I am going to be laid up next week.. Last Monday I woke up having some pretty bad symptoms with my heart. I called my cardiologist and they told me to go right to the ER. Well, I felt like that was a little dramatic but went anyway because I didn't know what else to do; after briefing Eli on how to call 911 "if you can't wake mommy up" and draining the water out of Ivy's bath because I thought I might fall in and drowned and she would be left there in a cold bath with me.. (not a pretty thought but that is how my mind works in moments like that.) They did an EKG and found that I needed to go back in and have that EP study/ablation done AGAIN!! Really guys it was torture, I think my Doc specializes in torture on the side, and now he is saying that I have to go through it all again.... cry, sniff, sniff... I am beside myself a little. He actually wanted me to stay in the hospital for a week until they could do the study on Monday. His words were "but I know you have "several kids" so we can send you home with medicine and you have to promise to come back if you have any symptoms." Yes, he really said "several kids" ahh HELLO! hardly several. Anyway, here we go again. He had better fix me this time! Thanks for everyone taking my kids and taking good care of us.. Hopefully my drama queen days will be over soon!

Wild Weather

Yesterday as I was pulling out of the garage to take Eli to school and it started to rain, I started to get out of the car to shut the garage door (which has been broken for months) It started to down pour. Now, I didn't have an umbrella and heaven forbid I get out of the car in the rain and ruin my hair; so I pulled back into the garage and took some pictures of a wild 5 minute hail storm. It ended pretty quick thank goodness because Eli had a field trip that day and was really worried he was going to be late and miss his bus to take him to it..
....It is always interesting living in the mid west....

Were back!

We had a wonderful Spring Break vacation to Utah last week. I had no idea you could squeeze so much between two families in 6 days. Our week included.... Bowling, Snowboarding, Swimming, Kangaroo Zoo, Aquarium, BBQ, Sleep Overs, Wii, Easter Bunny, Kanyon's Birthday, Shopping, Cafe Rio etc... We had a full week to say the least. Needless to say we are in need of some makeup sleep bad! It was a great time as always and makes you so grateful for family who drops everything when you come in to town just to hang out with you! We truly both have the best and funnest families around.
The drive was long but the kids did great. I don't know how many have driven through the Rocky Mountains but, breathtaking is all I have to say.. We saw wild buffalo and big horn sheep. pretty cool.




























I also love the drive getting to the town I grew up in. I grew up in the desert of Utah and these are some pics I took while driving in..



















Here our some pictures of our fun times....












































The boys did a great job Snowboarding! It is amazing how fast kids can pick it up. This is Eli.. Doing great.
























Kanyon soaked
his shirt while trying to touch the sting rays. If you look closely at the group kid picture.. Kanyon's whole right side is wet. He would have crawled in if we would have let him.



Happy Birthday Kanyon! big 9! I can't believe I have a nine year old.....









What a fun trip! Can't wait until next time!