Sweet

My sweet Weston has been feeling a little under the weather this week. He woke up with a snotty/runny nose a couple of days ago. He has been super clingy and whiney. All my other kids when sick are quite demanding of my attention right then and there or else! However, this little guy just wants a hug. Taylor captured him doing this today. He seriously does this all day long....and I am really not exaggerating. Its almost like fuel for the moment for him. Once he gives you a big squeeze he is satisfied & off playing toys. I love this trait about him. He is the only one of my kids that has been a HUGE cuddler. I hope he doesn't grow out of this too soon, because who doesn't need a big squeeze now and again?

Funny Day

Today I would consider myself pretty organized. My house was picked up before I went for a walk, which is rare since we leave a little before 8am or right after we drop off the kids. After coming home I showered and took Luke to school. He was a little late this morning because I wanted to be completely ready since Angie and I had decided to go to the temple. As I was gathering my stuff to get ready I realized that I had left my recommend in Doug's wallet. I normally do this when we go together so I don't have to mess with it. RATS! I thought to myself, the babysitter was just about to show up and Angie was ready to go.....I went into panick mode. I immediately called Doug's cell phone--no answer. I knew he had morning surgery cases but it was emergent! I wasn't going to give up my last day with babysitters and not be able to go. Finally, after calling about 4 more times....one of Doug's colleagues answered the phone. (he is not a member). I told him that I needed something out of Doug's wallet, my temple recommend. In which he said, "your whhaaat?" Finally, after a couple of seconds he turned to Doug who was scrubed in a case. (Once you are scrubed in and sterile you can't touch ANYTHING) Of course he knew what I needed and proceeded to take a towel to whip out his wallet and knock it on the floor. (Will) his friend had no idea what a temple recommend looked like. Luckily one of the students who is rotating here from Tulane happened to be in the room (and a member) pointed out the right little document that I needed. I called Will and he was nice enough to run my holy piece of paper down to me in the parking lot. I had to laugh because I am sure he thought we mormons are a little strange.

Having said that....it stirred up a little in the OR room today. All the people in the room were asking about temples. And was recommend a noun? Ummm Doug said, well I guess it is in our church. Why only members could go in, and not all members could attend, etc. Then the whole polygamy and Jessups case was brought up. Doug made it very clear that Jessups was not MORMON. It creeps me out to think that people assume we are associated with that group of people. Anyways, I had to chuckle when Doug told me that. At least he got to share the gospel a bit today right? Sorry to cause such a chaotic operating day! Oh, and I failed to mention this all occured during one of the most stressful times. The patient began to bleed out--of course the patient is okay. But when you are trying to concentrate on a surgery you really don't want to be have a deep discussion about the church.

I did make it to the temple and for the first time I did initiatories. I haven't done these since I went through for the first time 10 years ago. It was such a great experience. The best part was we were able to sit in the celestial room after the ordinance. Since our tummies were extra hungry we couldn't pass up a trip to Chuy's. Afterall we were only a few miles from it.

We came home and sadly said our goodbyes to Brandon and Laura. We will really miss them. I am sure they are more than ready to go back up to school since they have been living with her parents as newlyweds for the past 2 weeks! So for now we are really high and dry for babysitters. We only have 4 young women in our ward total! Can you believe that?? None are really babysitting material, at least for my 18-month and 3-year-old. I think the older ones would be fine, but I have to consider the other factor. Too bad Taylor wasn't just a bit older that would be perfect!

Can you believe this shirt was only $9.97??

I ended the day with a trip to Wal-mart. Yes, I know we all love this place. I normally really hate it, but Angie had this darling shirt on today and when I asked her where she got it, she said none other than Wal-mart! She always finds the cutest clothes for the greatest prices. So, I couldn't pass up the opportunity of getting a shirt for $9.97 and so cute at that! And we are the doublemint twins. I also found some great scrapbooking items, iron ons, ribbon all in the clearance isle. Perfect!! I am stocked up with projects for a while. Now if I can only motivate myself to doing them.

Update

It's been a few days and too much to write, so this may be a highlight of events over the past few days. The weird thing is my days had a bit of a pattern: good-bad/terrible-good. So I guess I will break them up accordingly. First and foremost we have AIR CONDITIONING. That is a huge relief after a few days without it!

Sunday=GOOD

I must say I have an obsession with these boys!
I love dressing them all alike in my favorite Gap items
along with Children's Place ties!

I actually had a pretty good attitude about church today, my kids were oddly well behaved so I was able to listen to the speakers in sacrament. Since it was high council Sunday we had the same lessons taught in sacrament and relief society. It was on The Abundant Life by Elder Wirthlin. In brief we discussed what an abundant life and came up with the conclusion that your life is what you make of it. So true! A person with an abundant life normally has a positive outlook in ANY situation and it is also one who is spiritually full. I love the quote Elder Wirthlin gave in his talk.... "The abundant life is within our reach if only we drink deeply of living water, fill our hearts with love, and create of our lives a masterpiece."

I didn't go into the adult Sunday school class since Doug teaches the youth Sunday school. I love going in and listening to his lessons because he is such a great teacher. He taught and discussed about the life of Job. Those who aren't familar with it basically he was a rich man with many possessions, had many children and very successful. All within a matter of days it was gone by various things. He was left with nothing, but never murmured against the Lord. Can you imagine having all of these wonderful worldly possessions, loved by everyone, having a great family and gone in an instant? And on top of that ended up getting nasty boils all over his body so he even didn't have his health. I think if that were me I would be doing some serious complaining. Instead of cursing everyone around him he choose to be grateful for what he had and in the end the Lord blessed him ten fold. It made me stop and think about how very little of importance worldly things are. Those who are abundant in life aren't necessarily the richest. We should be thankful for the small things. I love what Tasha quoted to Michelle, "I have learned to love my body for how it works and not what it looks like." I think that is so true we should be thankful our arms and legs can allow us to walk, cook, clean, pick up our kids, etc. I was watching the hurricane Katrina stories on Sunday and they interviewed a doctor who stayed behind to help through those first 72 hours. It was so amazing to hear his story, but the thing that touched me was he saw a man outside the convention center in a wheel chair who had SEVERE cerebral palsy. He didn't say anything to this doctor, but the man in the wheelchair reached out to give him a hug. Can you imagine the situation and he was expressing love??

Monday=Bad

Without going into too much personal detail. It was just a bad day that went into terrible. I had issues with Jared's pediatric dentist, money woes, bills to deal with and on top of that was seriously WAY emotional. So with all that said I am glad Monday is over. However, I did get my house cleaned, laundry caught up, and watered my yard. Maybe I should have more bad days, because I really seem to be more productive when I am upset about something and normally don't eat. Or maybe it was because I left my computer alone. However, I don't think I would take yesterday back for anything. I'll chalk it up to experience instead.

Tuesday=Good

The good thing about having awesome friends around is that they know your ends and outs. Angie gave me a package today to cheer me up! Seriously I have said this a thousand times.......I don't know who I would turn to since she literally is my Texas family. She brought over an awesome magazine filled with great ideas on cards, a bag of twix, pink magnetic pad of paper, and a very thoughtful card. I may just have to use a couple of these ideas. Sooo cute!



On another note, I mailed off a STASH of good mail today. (No picture to document, but secret bloggers, and real bloggers be on the lookout). That made me feel better as well. There is just something about giving that makes you feel great inside. While I was at the grocery store today my all time holiday favorite candy was on the shelfs. The Halloween Brachs Indian Corn was out!! Woo hoo! Needless to say I bought about 3 bags since it was on sale for .99.

I decided since I was on the side of town I normally don't travel to to stop at a second hand bookstore. It was called Nine Lives. And yes, there were live cats roaming the store!! Pretty funny/weird all at once. I got a chuckle from it with all of the cat momentos. Of course, Luke stayed right by my side (which was nice) he is terrified of animals. Whereas, Weston was walking around calling the "doggies." He is our animal lover. I should have taken a picture it was quite comical. Anyways, well I think that is a rap for the last few days!

Oh, and on another random note, can you believe that we devoured this thing on Saturday night? It is called the Mile High Sundae.

Reflection

New Orleans 2 days post Katrina

Since this weekend is the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina I couldn't help reflect back on it. Actually, I get emotional just thinking about it and looking through old photos.....

When I was doing laundry in my un-airconditioned house it dawned on me that this was the year mark of Hurricane Katrina. I can only imagine what it would of been with that, no food, no water and extra humidity! It was just painful without my air in my home and I had all other ammenities. I remember calling my good friend Allison as the storm drew closer to see if she was leaving. I called her periodically to check up on them to see if and when they were evacuating. I told them to drive to our house which is part of the evacuation route. Of course since her husband was on call they weren't able to leave the city until the last minute. You can only imagine what the traffic was like. It took them nearly 14+ hours to get to Houston. Normally that is a 5 hour drive. I was sad they never quite made it to San Antonio, but was glad they got a flight out to Utah to be with their family. It's one of those moments much like 9-11 I remember so vividly. I wasn't there of course but was glued to the television all day as well as the internet waiting for updates. I probably was more intrigued because this was once a place I called home and it all was too familiar to me. I sat at my house in awe and felt so helpless for those whose homes were there, places I knew and wishing I could help.

Me & Alli

I was able to help track down family who had gotten separated and were in different shelters. I was in touch with our old R.S. president who had contacted me to see what I could do. The family was once in our ward and ironically got sent to the shelter here in San Antonio. Doug went down to the shelter a couple of times to help aid the refugees and try and look for them. I can only imagine what those people went through getting out of the city.

During this process I got a phone call from a sweet volunteer worker in Houston and literally went the extra mile in helping this family. Some how through the salvation army website we were able to track different members. I got on and left my contact information so they could call me in case they should find one another. She helped locate them and even took them out to eat a few times. I am sure the food distributed wasn't all too tasty in the Alamo Dome. And she extra mile to help. I didn't do much but make a few phone calls, but was glad to here there family reunited. And our old R.S. ward adopted their family! It was so great I think they raised nearly over $1000. Isn't that wonderful?? Sadly, I don't even know where this family is today, but my hopes are they are doing well and they are in a good place.

I am glad and happy today that our close friends are safe and sound and fortunately their home was not damaged. My heart goes out to those families who lost it all. I can only imagine. Just an FYI there is a Discovery Channel special tomorrow night at 9pm regarding Hurricane Katrina.

Update

I think Weston partied to hard last night because
he never falls asleep on our morning walks.

Last night about 5:30pm I went outside because our unit was gradually getting louder and sounded horrible. Right then and there it just QUIT. So we were without air at the hotest part of the day. I had already started making some homemade cinnamon rolls for the orthopedic bake sale that I volunteered to help out with and wasn't about to cook them in my oven. So, of course our great friends as ALWAYS came to the rescue. We fed our kids at home, bathed them and decided to go to Wal-mart to pick up some fans. We really had all intentions of staying here last night and enduring it. After just a tiny bit of persuasion and cooking my rolls down at Angie's I decided to lug our crew on down to there house to sleep. I can't express the graditude for bunking us up! I really hated to inconvience them because if you have read her sleepless post you would know what I mean. Luckily, her kids were asleep when we arrived and Taylor and Jared slept in Mackenzi's room as well as Weston. Yes, 4 kids in one room! Pretty crazy. Thank goodness Angie has a couch in her bedroom that Maci slept on and Luke slept out with us on the pull out couch. Sheesh! All I can say is we owe them big time!! They are always saving us in desperate measures and have treated us as family. We have had our fair share of car problems, airport shuttles, etc. Anyways thank you-thank you thank-you Gordon's. I honestly don't know what we would do without them 4 houses down.

I got the mail last night after this lovely experience took place and was happy to get some more good mail. Sweet Tasha sent Taylor and I a package for our birthday. She got me some personalized notecards and Taylor some fancy lip glosses. Very cute and fun. So thank you for being so thoughtful as always. I don't think Tasha has EVER missed my birthday. She is amazing!

We also got the information for Taylor's book club. My friend Chanel thought it would be fun to start a kid book club. What a fabulous idea! So basically, Taylor has to pick a book she has read, put her picture, and a summary of it in the cover and mail it off to her assigned person. How fun is that? It's a penpal/book club all in one. These are times when I miss my creative Chanel living next door. Her ideas are so great!



In the meantime, we learned last night that we aren't going to be able to replace the motor due to the compressor going out. We have to replace the ENTIRE unit and he won't be able to come out until 6pm today. Sooo bummed. I think Angie and I are loading up the kids and having a day out somewhere. Who knows where but not in my house!

One Word: Hot!

This is well lets just call him Andy the A/C unit. Right now he is the best friend anyone could have especially in Texas. We are majorly dealing with drought and I feel like I am living in AZ. Actually I wish that I was, but you get the vision I am giving you it is DANG hot here in San Antonio right now.

This really isn't a complain session, but warning it may appear to be. Just a week ago we fixed our lovely garage door. Happy that it is working and the cars are now happy in their "home" out of the sun. Anyways, they say (don't really know who they are) but bad things seem to come in threes. At least for our family they have. I won't bore you with our list of threes that we have gone through in the past, but you get the picture. I am knocking on wood while writing this, but Doug's car really is on its last leg and we pray that it keeps going for just 21 more months. I am thankful each day he gets home in one piece (you should hear the sound of his car).

Last night I awoke from what I would call a pretty good sleep to a terrible whistling, cranky noise. I knew exactly the cause right when I heard it because our air unit is right next to our bedroom window. Doug was on call last night (although he probably wouldn't have heard it anyway) Men....Okay so I have dog hearing and smell senses. At least according to Doug and can see and smell things miles away.

I will have to admit I panicked a little because I have had air conditioning go out on us before in the middle of the night with our two older kids in New Orleans. Not Fun!! So, I could only invision 2 more kids added to the mix with our heat wave going on... I have had to crank it a little lower than normal lately just to cool it down. This happened to us a couple of summers ago when it was hot like it is now. The humidity and several days HOT heat just aren't a good combination for an air conditioning unit. I immediately (4am) mind you got up and began researching A/C units and the possible things that could be wrong with my noise. I found a couple of things, but nothing I could do myself. I really am all about fixing things ourselves these days if possible with $$$ and all. I got a hold of a guy who has come out before and he said he could come look at it around 5 pm or so today. I described to him the problem and he say with a BIG pause Ohh it sounds like the motor. Great I thought that is the most expensive part. We had to replace our washer a little while back due to the motor. So wish me luck and I am crossing my fingers he can jimmy rig, oil it, kiss it or do what ever to keep it running. I keep telling my self two more years. Maybe I should bless the house each day too. This is when I miss the days of renting. It's there problem not YOURS. Enough said about the air.

Despite the pit that is in my stomach right now, I have actually had a pleasant day. I went to playgroup with my boys at the park. Our ward has one each week and I am so glad I went. I miss those playgroups we had so often in New Orleans. The bonus is, you can also talk to other moms as well. When we were sitting around chit chatting I found out that three families within the last month whose air has gone out in our ward. I think I have jinxed myself!


Hey at least the house is quiet....except for the whistling noise in the back ground! Cross your fingers for me that Javier the A/C man can work his magic.

Help!

This is to all you ladies who have more makeup sense than I. As you recall back in July I got a Mac makeover. Well, having said that I bought the foundation (liquid) and moisturizer as well to go with it. I have never bought these products or any other brand of base that is. Normally, I just put the same lotion on my face as the rest of my body (like bath and body works or something). Anyways, this may sound so VAIN, but as I was brushing my teeth tonight I couldn't get over how broken out my face has gotten over the past month. Normally, I will get a zit here or there but never to this extreme! We are talking connect the dots PEOPLE!!!


So my question is this.....do I take it back to Nordstroms explaining my issue about the moisterizer? Does anyone know Mac makeups return policy (I have no receipt mind you). Could it be the moisterizer or am I insane? I know that chocolate and periods can cause this, but I am not eating any differently than normal. I also have no sense in skin care. You are looking at a person who washes their face with the hand sanitizer soap you use to wash your hands with. How lazy is that? I guess I have never been a person who got into the whole makeup taking care of your skin. I am sure that I will be paying for it down the road, but in the mean time. Also, keep in mind you are talking to a girl who didn't start wearing makeup until she was married. So it has really been a trial and error process for me...hence very naive in the face department.


Mom, I am sure you are cringing at the soap issue.... since you work in a Plastic Surgeons office, are constantly telling me about botox, creams and other stuff. Any advice on MAC, polices, zits??

Girls with our Grillz

Laura & Brandon

Angie and I have been wanting to go to lunch and have a pedicure without kids for about a month. So we called up Laura & Brandon (the newlyweds) and they were willing to come over and watch Weston and Maryn so we could have an afternoon just as girls. They were married last Friday in the S.A. temple. It was so fun!! I am glad we did this because we only have about a week before they leave back up to school and then we will be high and dry without any babysitting.

Luke absolutely adores Brandon!
He wants him to babysit all the time.

Our first stop was to get a pedicure. We finally found a place near our house that was reasonable, they rub your feet/legs for about 15-20 minutes and the polish stays on for about a month. That is hard to come by! And always a bonus if they rub your feet extra long for the same price. Anyways, I could not stop laughing when the lady finished our toes. I simply just asked for a couple of rhinestones on my feet and this is what I ended up with. My immediate thought was I had Grillz on our toes!

Angie's Grillz
(interesting flower arrangement)

My Grillz

If you aren't familar with the term you can click on it. I am not really too sure what Angie's gal put on hers. She spent some extra time using some whiteout and other stuff. Maybe she was shooting for a firework image, but not too sure. At any rate it was pretty funny. We ate at Chipotles and browsed around the outdoor mall. I can't believe the stores are already putting out their fall fashions. I mean, really if you live in a hot climate can't they keep the shorts on the shelves a little bit longer? I was sweating just looking at all of the jackets, jeans and sweatshirts in all the stores. Don't get me wrong they are really cute, but I can't even imagine when my kids or I would wear them.

I am happy to say that we don't have any extra activities today, so I can relax, make dinner and stay put. Also another added bonus for the day was Doug got home at 3pm today!!

Rundown

I'll I have to say is today started off with a bang! Last night I had gotten out the children's motrin and got lost into doing others things. The bottle was left open on the counter and I went to bed not thinking anything about it since I normally am the one who gets Weston out of his crib in the morning. Long story short, I was making my bed and heard some noise in the kitchen. I went in there to see what was going on and all I heard was a "ahahhh" (much like when you take a good drink from a glass that is refreshing) My first thought was oh, crap he drank the entire (well what was left from the bottle) thing all gone! I immediately called Doug and he gave me the number to poison control. I felt like such a terrible mother. Who leaves a bottle of medicine open on the counter?? Duhh!! I am happy to say that the girl at poison control said, it is pretty safe and he would of had to drink almost the entire thing (about 18tsp.) in order for any harm to be done. She also said that he may just be fussy due to an upset stomach from it. That was a big relief. Well, with that said Weston also got some of his 12-18 month shots today three in the thigh. Poor guy! At least I didn't have to worry about giving him any medication I think he already had enough on board to last him a while.

After our doctor appt. I was on to V.T. Yes, I said visiting teaching. I think that it is a miracle since I haven't been since May! I do have to make sure I visit this one in particular she happens to be our Relief Society President and babysitter Laura's mom. I told her she assigned me to her for that reason. She just said, well I have to have someone fun visit me. Yeah right! Despite my grumbling, I was glad I went in the long run. I had forgotten how nice it is to chit chat with people you really don't see that often. I also went to a R.S. lunch in today at the church and was pretty enjoyable. It reminded me that I really should attend more enrichment activities. I have really taken a hiatus since being released from enrichment leader.

Today flew by and I felt like I didn't have time to really accomplish much. I did however get some case logs done for Doug when the boys were sleeping. I have to say I am exhausted because once the kids got home it was non-stop. Taylor had achievement days and then she started her tumbling class. So I was a taxi today and well, I guess will be from here on out. As long as my kids are having fun doing their extra activities I can't complain.

I had to post this picture which was actually taken yesterday. I tried to get an action photo of them playing, but it didn't quite turn out. It's moments like this that I love being a mom! They were being so cute playing in the laundry basket. Priceless!!

Bitter Sweet

Our breakfast 7am chef!

Well, its the first day of school. How's that for suspense?? My kids were so excited I didn't even have to wake them up this morning. They were up with their beds made and already dressed before breakfast. The morning actually went rather smoothly. Doug skipped out his morning grand rounds and went into work a little later to help send the kids off. We made pancakes and boy did they scarf them down! Kind of interesting since both of them claimed they had stomach aches before bed last night. I know it was their nerves and not the other. Remember getting those butterflies before starting a new year?

Luke too was excited and had his backpack in tow while taking the older ones to school. I dropped them off since they didn't want me to walk them to class. I respected their wishes because they said adamently, "mom I know where to go." Right after dropping them off, Luke assumed it was his turn to go.

I had to explain to him that he wasn't going to his school until 9am. Needless to say, it was a bit difficult for him to comprehend that fact. I decided it would be easiest to take him after my morning walk since it was on my way home. Once we got to his school he became a bit more timid and asked if I was going to stay with him. I said no, but I would pick him up after lunch. He proceeded cautiously into school with his head down. It made me so sad to see him like this. I put his backpack in the cubby and he really didn't say much. He was constantly rubbing his eyes, but tears never came out. I asked him if he was okay and he said yes very shyly. I assured him that I would be back to pick him up and away I went. I walked away feeling so sad and guilty inside. All I could think was will he be okay? I can only imagine the thoughts running through his little mind, a strange place, new faces and mom gone.

Isn't this the saddest face?

It was definitely bitter sweet for me. On one hand Luke is such a difficult child and is very trying for me at times. But times like this I miss him so much and wish that he could remain with me. Weird I know, but that is how I felt. I guess that is part of being a mother and loving your children unconditionally. Once Luke was at school it was just me and Weston. Again, bitter sweet. The house was now silent, empty and no voices of fighting or complaints of being bored. Funny how you miss stuff like that when its not around. I picked up the house, did some laundry and ventured out to the mall with Angie. I really wasn't planning on buying anything but the dumb Gap sucked me in to their polo shirt sale for boys! And since there really isn't all too much to buy for boys like girls. I bought some shirts and church pants for Jared. I knew I should of not set foot in there!

I picked him up and asked him how his day went. He still was very quiet about it, but acted like he liked it (at least he was willing to go again). I guess I will get a better feel of it on Wednesday.
My older kids got home around 3pm. They got off the bus and ran with speed to the house due to the heat from the "hot" bus. I was reminded that they needed water bottles. In which I promised not to forget this important object tomorrow!

100 degree weather= hot bus ride!

Thanks Ang!

You know how much I love pink and brown!

I went and got the mail and these two "great pieces" showed up. It was a very thoughtful letter from Liz along with a great conference talk to cheer me up. I am so excited to read it. Along with that I got some hand delivered scrapbooking stuff from Angie! Is that suppose to be my motivator? Probably, since her card read "thought you could use this on Mon, and Wed. when the house was a bit more quiet." Okay, now I really have to get going on my good mail. I have been thinking about it and now need to act upon it. Thanks so much to both of you! Very thoughtful indeed and hit the spot.

Thanks Liz!

Jared has soccer at 6:30pm and I am happy to say Doug will be around to take him. It's so nice to have a rotation at work where he is able to help take the kids to their activities and not have to drag the rest of the crew. Thats all for now since it took FOREVER for these dang pictures to upload on blogger today. Anyone else having troubles?

Traditions- Traditions- Traditions

I can't believe after the last two weeks of complaining. It's the night before school! Anyways, today was a day of annual traditions. I love getting into the "groove" of things again and I am happy to say we are back on a busy, but good schedule.

We had stake conference today and on the way we listened to Jordan's cd mix that she sent in the mail. My kids, I and Doug included all love love loved it! Loved it so much we shared it with our good friends down the street. And yes, Jordan it definitely got the kids yelling turn it up mommy!! So, thank you for sharing your great kid music with us. P.S. Jordan I can't seem to get I love chocolate milk out of my head!! Any suggestions??

Once we got home we started our tradition of making school lunches. Every Sunday after church we make lunch and double it up by making the kids lunches for school as well. This works out so well and we don't have to worry about making them later. It initially kills two birds with one stone. We ate, were full and decided to do our father's blessings. This is my favorite part of starting a new school year. This year Luke was included because he starts pre-school tomorrow. It was so cute to see him sitting in the chair with his big brown eyes and dimples. (I think he was just glad to be a part of it as well). Of course being the mom and all I got a little emotional. The end is always the best as well big hugs and kisses from dad!

Doug went on to do hometeaching and I took on the task of trimming up the boys hair. It didn't take all that long since they only needed a few touchups. Again no pictures to show since Luke threw a HUGE tantrum about this. He cried so hard he fell asleep on my bed.

Later this afternoon we had a back to school barbaque at the Gordon's .You can always guarantee a lot of good grub there. We had hamburgers and "beaumont hotdogs" which are saugage links from their hometown (hence the name Beaumont) I was never much of a sausage eater until I tried these things 4 years ago. Soo yummy! We then followed our dinner and had a little FHE. We have been meaning to have a joint one in a while and due to scheduling this was the day we could do it. We talked about being good examples and to let your light shine. Since our kids are practically the only LDS ones in school.... we taught them how important it was to set good examples and always remember who they are!

Greg giving us a power point presentation on pioneers and "watching" out for others.

The kids also did a skit showing what to do and to do in a situation at school.
They had three different scenarios. It was pretty funny how much they got into the acting thing.

Finally taking a bow for a job well done! Notice these girls are once again wearing the exact same outfit. And you can bet it is never a coinidence. We later learned they planned it in the bathroom during stake conference at church. So silly!! I am off to bed since I am back getting up early each day. I am just amazed that it is 9pm and the house is DEAD silent.

Orthopaedics 101

Look how young he looks? I guess 4 years of nasty hours will age you a bit.
I love that I took a picture next to the clock, kind of funny.

This is Doug's very first day as an intern in 2002. Little did we know what we were getting into. Looking back what we thought was hard in medical school was a breeze to us now. We often chuckle how good we had it back then. Residency has definitely been a big challenge for our family. Juggling such harsh hours and a family of 6. But, hey were almost done and the light is coming soon! (at least I hope)

I have been wanting to write this down for a while and am finally getting around to doing it. I thought I would describe what exactly my husband does. We have had several friends in the past who aren't familar with the medical school/residency thing and are a lot of times confused as to why we are still in school. The funny thing is I often talk to one of my good friends from highschool and she always replies "remind me again when you guys are going to be done with this." I always laugh and tell her we are in the lifetime student category. I am just glad he didn't choose something like a heart surgeon or general surgery (sorry lara). That's just a few added more years that we would have had to tack on. The ironic thing is before medical school he was going to become a physical therapist. One of his mentors strongly suggested if he was interested in that he might as well go to medical school since he had the grades to apply. So that is exactly what he did.

Anyways, his career of choice began back during his third year of medical school at Tulane. They really don't get to rotate that much on different fields of medicine you kind of just pick what you think you would like. After doing some rotations he knew of certainty that he wasn't doing Peds, Psych, OB, or ER. He narrowed it down to a surgical specialty and has always loved working with athletes and physical rehab stuff. So it wasn't long after that he choose to study orthopedics. I was glad when he came to this conclusion of what he wanted to be when he grew up. It was an even bigger relief when we "matched" in the field of his choice. There are so many people who graduate from medical school each year (at least 150 per school) which means there isn't always a spot in a residency program. So you can imagine how thrilled we were to match in San Antonio. The weird thing is we both had forgotten that he applied there and were focusing more on our top three choices. Looking back I am so glad we didn't match in those schools. I guess we were blessed with this place for a reason!

These are just one of the 3 stacks of books that Doug has to read. It amazes me how much this guy can read and retain. I have to reread something in a book about 3 times before I can even comprehend it. Each year he has to take an annual exam OITE. It is coming up in November so he usually starts studying for it in August. Every night he will come home on top of his hard, hectic day and study for about 2 hours. (mind you this is after he helps me with dinner, bath and bedtime with the kids). What a guy!

This is Doug's "case log" book. Or the little black book is what I call it. As a resident you have to log in every surgical case that you assist another physician with or do yourself. This book contains EVERY case he has ever done since his 1st year of residency. As you can see from the little white pieces of paper he is a bit behind in logging them in. (that is where I am trying to come in a help him out a little). We had a scare one time and misplaced this book. That was a terrible thing because its almost as golden as your wallet is, luckily we found it.

I had to picture this and I know Doug will think I am weird. But on top of the books that take up our whole bookshelf....this is the corner of my room. He currently has three bags! Yes, and he is not a woman or carries a baby around. Well, maybe to him he does. He has a bag of books, one with his computer and the last one is his over night call bag with all of his tolietries and extra clothes. You would think they would give the residents a place to put this stuff, but they don't! I really should have taken a picture of his trunk because that is his other closet of junk.

Okay, this may gross so many of you out. So don't look if you have an uneasy stomach. I had to post this picture because it has a funny story behind it. Don't worry I am not violating any HEPPA rules because I don't even know the patients name or anything about them. This case came into the ER when Doug was working one time. As you can see this person had a dead foot. He said the smell was horrific and stuff was ooozing everywhere. You would think if this was starting to occur the patient would have gone in. Most of the time these patients he works on wait until something like this occurs. The grossest part was they saw a fly come out from the deadened area. Yes, I said a fly!! Isn't that soooo sick?

The last picture I had to post because Doug actually was so excited about this case. He was on trauma when this took place. A little boy about 21 months old got his finger stuck on the escalator at the bottom. Somehow it sucked his finger underneath at the bottom. Can you imagine the screams and pain this poor child went through?? It gives me chills thinking about it. They couldn't get his finger out from the escalator so they had to take the metal plate off and air vac him to the hospital with it. (this is where Doug comes in) As you can see the metal went through is finger. (gross i know) They were actually able to sew the child's finger back on. He was so excited about this because he was able to help! A pretty gross story, but they little kid at least will have a finger.

This is why my husband went into Orthopedics. He loves this stuff. I can't even believe that I wanted to be a nurse. I had all of my prereq's done when I met Doug. I was acutally ready to apply. Ironically, I can't even stand the thought of blood or anything anymore. Not only that but I hated school. I just was never good at it.



Overall, I am so dang proud of him. He amazes me each day with all the stuff that he does and accomplishes on top of dealing with my complaining and being a great dad! I love you honey!

Exciting!

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers. ~Edgar W. Howe

Taylor with Mr. Cuda. Ironically my first "man" teacher was in 4th grade as well.
He (Mr. Rinaldo) was my favorite teacher in elementary school.

Jared was a little embarrased as you can see,
but this is his teacher Mrs. Browning. She has
a rep for being one of the best teachers in 1st grade!

Wow! This is the second post in one day. Tonight the kids had what they call "Howdy Night" at school. It is where they post the teachers and you get to go in and meet them. I had to express how excited I was when I learned that my kids got both teachers that I requested for school this year. We have had our ups and downs in the past but I am thrilled to learn that they both got AWESOME teachers for school. Another big bonus for Taylor is that Mackenzi ended up in her class this year. I just hope she listens and doesn't get M into trouble! She tends to be more of a chatty cathy like me, whereas Mackenzi obeys the rules. The funny part is before going up to meet their teacher (they had no idea they would be in the same class) they picked out the same outfit. These little girls crack me up! Hopefully it will be a good successful year. I know that Jared is very happy with the teacher he got as well.

9-year-old twinners

After uploading this, I was a bit freaked out how old my daughter looks! I don't know if it is because her hair was down, but man I have a little teenager on my hands! Aren't these girls just goofy?? They did look pretty cute though. Do you remember trying to wear the same things as your friends?



Ummm.......... what's in the mail box today? When I got home..............

"Here's the mail it never fails, it makes me want to wag my tail and then I give a big fat yell..........M--A--I--L!!" Cheesy I know but you gotta love Blues Clues. I received this thoughtful belated birthday gift in the mail from Amy h. Thanks so much Amy--I love the note pads. They both are decorated so cute!! You girls out in Utah are so crafty. We don't have that many fun stores with embellishments like that! I also got a thankyou card from my sister. I love getting her cards because she always loads the envelope with stickers. Fun- fun mail for me!!

Rosie

Do you ever feel like you wake up everyday and find yourself doing the same things? When I woke up this morning I almost felt like Bill Murray in GroundHog day to a certain extent. I normally have the same routine each day.....make my bed, make breakfast, laundry, go for a walk, well you see the point. On one hand I want the week to fly by so that Friday is here, but on the other hand it seems to creep up on me so fast. For example, usually I try and do things on certain days in my house to break up the monotony of housework. Thursdays I change all of the beds in our house. I really felt this morning as though I just did this painful task. I normally don't mind doing it, at least my bed, Taylor's or Weston's crib. It's those darn bunkbeds I had to have at Costco two years ago that are extremely painful. My mom warned me never to get those because of the issue of making them and changing them. Afterall she should know cleaning houses for 15+ years! I really didn't have a choice in the matter because I had to bunk three kids in one room due to lack of space. That is really the only thing I dislike about them. They do look pretty cute in the room and save us quite a bit of space.

I don't mean this at all in a negative way. I just think its interesting from a mom's perspective that we run our lives much like "robots." Luckily church brings be out of my Rosie mode & gives me the bigger eternal perspective outlook on life.

Synopsis our Day

Today we went to Fiesta Texas. It was the second time this week. So, I must say that I have been an okay mom over the past couple of days. Woo hoo for happy mom!! Yesterday when we went Luke actually ventured out and went on some tube slides with me. It was pretty fun until the tube flipped around and we ended up going backwards the whole way. Needless to say, he wasn't to thrilled about getting on it after that. But it was fun while it lasted, since my two older ones really don't try anything that is unfamiliar or new to them. And speaking of being brave...Mackenzi will go on just about anything she is tall enough for! So opposite than my kids. Her and I went on the Torando water ride today. It even made my stomach in knots!! She just laughed at me and said, "hey that was fun, wanna ride again?" I thought to myself no, for one I didn't want to get drenched again and number two carry that HUGE tube up those stairs. (I think there are at least 5 flights) Quite a workout I must say!!

Weston has been getting more and more fun in the water. We have spent so much time in the water this year, he has been getting really brave. He actually was sticking his head under the water today and it didn't even phase him. Luke on the other hand still keeps his head above claiming he is "swimming." It's so nice to pack up the kids, have a waterpark 6 miles from home, have the Gordon as playmates, and Ang to chat with while the kids are swimming. The older kids basically go off ride some slides and come back to check in with us. Things went pretty smoothly for the most part. Except when Jared got a little to carried away and left Maci twice behind (sorry Maci). I felt so bad because she came back crying and he was already at the top of some slides. Boys just have no courteousy sometimes.

The sun was a little intense,
so Maryn and Luke couldn't open their eyes!

Weston having so much fun in the water!

After our adventures I came home and decided to mow the lawn. I figured I was already gross, I stunk, so what the heck. I finally came in around 4 pm showered and started dinner. Wednesday nights are usually the night Doug moonlights, so the minute he gets in the door he eats and is off back to work. Poor guy he really didn't want to work tonight and was so tired....thanks honey for your hard efforts.

Anyways, I bathed the kids and I decided to go wash the car. On Wednesdays you can get a $1 off at this drive thru car wash. Knowing that Luke was extra sleepy...I brushed his teeth, gave him his blanket and like I planned he was ASLEEP within minutes. Perfect! I stopped off next door to the carwash and grabbed a 2nd Diet Coke for the day. I couldn't resist the tempation being so close and all. The kids actually enjoy this car wash because they like sitting in the car watching the machine go to work.

We got home and I laid Luke into bed for the night. I am happy to say it was successful he was out like a light. The kids went to bed around 8pm. I then went out for my daily ritual of therapeutic lawn watering. Tonight I had a buddy since Weston didn't wake up until 4:30 pm from his nap I knew he wouldn't go to bed as early as normal. It was nice just to watch him run around. He loved helping me water, but we were both drenched because of it. But the bummer part is, I came into get my drink I had just gotten and it was gone! What the @#$%*&@!! I finally got a confession from Taylor and Jared and I was so mad I immediately said you are going to give me one of your dollars! (you know one of those moments you regret saying something mean). A few minutes later they both came in with some money. I immediately told them to put it back felt like a jerk of a mom, hugged them and told them to please not take something without asking. Problem was resolved and I went on to bathe Weston. During this time I was able to give myself a much needed pedicure. I couldn't stand the bare white of my toenails. I had forgotten how pleasant and peaceful it is just to have one child around. It was kind of fun just to have him up and hang out with me. I finally put him to bed since he was yawning in the bathtub. And now, well I am blogging of course. Now I am going to log in some cases for my husband. He has to log in all of his surgeries he does in residency. And do to his busy schedule he hasn't had the time lately, so therefore I am the nice wife and am helping him out. Okay that was a little winded and very detailed, but over all I had a good day and had to document it. Until tomorrow.....

Therapeutic

After my not so "well" day yesterday. My sweet husband came home from work after I had fed the kids and bathed them. This was about 7:30pm so I was SOOO ready for them to go to bed. I asked him if he was going to go on his daily run since he hadn't exercised for the day. I think it is so good and important for him to do this. Not just for healthy purposes, but dealing with patients and staff at work can be just as grueling and painful as me staying home with the kids. So, sometimes a run can relieve daily stress, etc. He sincerely replied and said "I don't want to just leave you alone again." By this time I had calmed down significantly and told him to go on and that the kids were going to bed anyways. The kids went to bed (well kinda). Thats another blog in itself. I then went outside and proceeded to hand water my yard. As I have said in earlier posts we are currently in a severe drought. Which means we are only allowed to water on certain days with a sprinkler. Mine happens to be Friday. They do say that you can hand water any day of the week during certain times or use a soaker hose which doesn't do anything. Oddly, when I was out doing it--it was very therapeutic for me. I am not sure if it was just being alone to reflect on my day. Or being outside when the sun was setting. It was just nice to hear the sound of water. Kind of bliss to me. Overall, it was a GOOD thing. Our grass has gotten to be so dead looking and makes me sad. I tend to take a lot of pride in my yard and try to tend and care for it as much as I can. (much like my father n' law is with his yard) I guess you would call me a yard natzi if there was a name for it. I love driving up to my house with a pretty green lawn. Howerver, since our vacation and many weeks without rain it hasn't looked very well. Doug actually compared it to the top of Luke's head. Kind of funny. Luke has a odd blonde patch on top of his head like a skunk. This picture doesn't really give it justice. Its much more noticable in person. But you get the picture.




Our yard is green around our tree and the rest is brown. So, I am hoping a little "grass whispering" will cause it to grow back and not be so dry and crunchy. I did this ritual again tonight after my kids went to bed, so only time will tell.

Screaming my way through the day..............

I am not proud to admit this, but its true. I thought by jotting it down it would remind me of the person I hate being. I did this ALL day today in my house and by the time dinner hit....well I lost it and broke down crying. Although crying made it a little better, the guilt of it all still lies inside. I have decided its time to reevaluate, take deep breaths and let the little things slide off my back. I did apologize to my kids for this behavior and feel just awful about it. The question is I hate it that when one of them (my kids) do something they aren't suppose to I REACT immediately instead of standing back and evaluating the situation. The parenting book that I have picked up and read on and off. Talks about this very issue. I think what I need is to set aside personal time instead of worrying about everything else. I NEED to pick up those scriptures that are screaming my name in the corner or actually kneel down when I am thinking or feeling like screaming at my kids. Although, I have said it...Taylor, Jared, Luke and Weston I am sorry for this behavior! I love you guys and sorry I wasn't the mom I should be. I know all of this......I just need to act upon it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
JORDAN LINDSAY!!!

Taylor wanted you to know how much she misses her most favorite cousin in the world! Wish we could be there to eat some cake and open presents. Maybe one of these birthdays we will finally be around. Hope you had a great day as well as first day of school! Bummer you had to spend you day in a classroom! Love and miss you lots!!!

Well, if you haven't had enough of my complaining lately.... this is the inside of our garage. Normally it wouldn't be such a bad picture, however if you look closely at the spring at the top it is broke in half. We have been without it for a couple of days now. Which our cars were sitting out in the drive way. I think this weekend was the first time I had to actually used the key to my front door. I didn't realize what an inconvience it would be without having an automatic door. I am happy to say this morning it was fixed and we are back in business.





On a random side note when I called this morning I spoke to a woman on the phone about setting up an appointment. She said she had some jobs lined up and would be at my house between 9-11am, but would call before. Well, I called around 11am to see if they were coming anytime soon. She told me they were out at a sight, and would be there in a bit. So, I got into my car and decided to run to Sam's club to pick up pictures since it was close and after all they said they would call before getting to my house. About 15 minutes into my errands they called me and asked if anyone was at my residence and that they were sitting in my driveway. What? @#$%%? (remember I thought they were going to call) I said no, but would be there in about five minutes. Okay I am getting to the point.....I showed up expecting a couple of guys to fix my garage. When low and behold it was the same woman and (I think) her daughter ready to fix my door. I would have taken a picture, but I think that would of been a bit too weird. It's funny what how you envision something and it turns out totally different. I must say I was impressed, they fixed the spring within 30 minutes and were gone! I kinda wish I would have watched them to see how they did it, but I didn't want to bother them.

**Have you ever envisioned something & have it turn out completely different??**

Getting back our groove

This is our little peanut Weston. Today was his first day in nursery. I say "peanut" not only because it doesn't look of age to me to be in there. But, I weighed him this morning and he is still only 19lbs! He has thus far been my smallest child. The funny thing is by this stage (18 months) in their life I am usually REALLY ready for them to be in nursery. But his seemed to come up extra fast and I admit am a little saddened by this event. My baby has entered into a new phase in life and is a baby no more!


Today was the first time we have gone to church in over a month. I can't remember the last time we have missed that many Sundays in a row. With all our vacationing and traveling we have been gone on every Sunday. So now, I am proud to say our family is back active once again. It felt good to be back on our regular schedule. I was able to finally pay a HUGE stack of tithing checks that I have forgotten about for months. Not that I forgot to pay, I just usually write the check immediately after we get paid and stick it on the side of my fridge.

Weston's new word for everything is "doggy"
He immediately found this horse and had to show me his "doggy"

9th Ward nursery
We have 10 kids currently in our nursery!

Hopefully, next week will run a little smoother. The normal Nursery Leader in charge wasn't there on Sunday, so they were scrambling for volunteers. I stayed in to help, so I am not sure I could officially count this as his first time. It was a little chaotic since the "normal" routine didn't occur. My kids always are worse if I am in there with them, meaning Luke doesn't listen and Weston was a bit clingy when I was trying to help out other kids. Will just have to see how next week goes.

Delightful

I posted this picture of Jared because we got some "delightful" news about his teeth when I took him to the dentist the other day. (well I thought it was). We found out that his snaggle tooth in the front was actually an extra tooth! Yes, my son is a shark!! When they showed me the x-rays you could see the two permanent teeth on the x-ray which were perfectly straight. I was so thrilled with this because I was fearing that he would have that terrible twisted tooth until his late adolescence. We have been so spoiled with Taylor's straight teeth and now Jared's. Hurray! I can only hope the other two are just as lucky. Doug was born with naturally straight teeth and has never had to wear braces. Really not fair!

At the last minute I decided to take a "delightful" trip up to Austin, TX with Doug. We also tagged along with the Gordon's to this Orthopedic seminar. It was held at a really nice resort. Should have taken a picture. You may ask why in the world would I want to go?? It was actually a very informative, interesting meeting. They discussed how to choose a good practice and the business side of things. I must say, I know what we will be doing over the next few months. Fasting and praying for the right job! It was good information and I am glad that I went.

I love that we are always both pictured in brown.
We are both so original.

Angie and I were the only wives there along with all the residents. I don't think we would have passed off as orthopods very well. We went to lunch before it started at a little mexican grill. It was mighty tasty. Once we got there, I was craving something sweet so I ran into the giftshop to grab a package of m&m's. We got seated and I looked behind me to find nothing but a "delightful" STASH of goodies. What was I thinking??? I wasted a perfectly good $2.00 for nothing. Oh, well I still ate that as well.

check out this stash of candy bars, soda and cookies

I had to drive home early since my babysitter had to be somewhere. Before getting home I checked the mail and found this "delightful" package. Ironically I recognized the handwriting before looking at the label. And was so excited. Low and behold Amy W. send me this great package! It truely uplifted my spirits and was so cute and colorful. Thanks Amy for thinking of me. I especially love the smell of my new candle. Yummy! I always remember your house smelling sooo good. I actually needed one since mine are now all gone. Love the darling ribbon, notepad and fabric as well.

Oh, and another note. Thanks for all the fun "delightful" comments on Doug's celebrity look alike. It was fun to see what y'all thought. (kristi I did do that celebrity look alike website and it came up with people that looked nothing like him--& when I put my photo in I didn't even get a match).