Wednesday, February 27, 2008

SCARY!

I love Ammon very much but he is really scary to sleep next to sometimes. He has VERY vivid dreams and in the majority of them he is either fighting someone, trying to kill someone, attacking an intruder, saving the world with his bare hands, etc. He has been known to fall asleep on an airplane and wake up hitting the seat in front of him (it's true- I was there!). Last night, about 2 in the morning, I was dead asleep and all of the sudden, Ammon shot up in bed and sprang at me. He pinned me wrist down with his hand and was breathing really hard and looking deranged. I yelled, "Ammon, it's me! Stop Ammon! Ammon!!!". None of these things help much when Ammon is dreaming someone is posing as me and trying to kill him. He looked at me and yelled "NO!" I pleaded for my life again and before he punched me or strangled me I was able to convince him it really was me. He rolled back over and went right back to sleep. However, for me it wasn't quite that easy. My heart was going about 900 and I was scared he was going to wake up again and this time really hurt me. SO, I decided it was in my best interest to camp out on the couch for the rest of the night. I made sure to make no sudden movements or draw any attention to myself as I slowly and quietly slid off the bed and left the room. I seriously worry that one night he will actually hurt me (unintentionally, of course!). Maybe I should start wearing a face guard to sleep. I'm not sure the ER would buy my husband acidentally beat me up!


Ammon is going to kill me for posting this pic but I wanted to make sure you understand how painful a punch would be. He's arms are huge! See how scary.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away...

Unless you have a 4 year old, a 2 and a half year old, and a 9 month old. Then, pretty much you could buy apples by the bushel or even plant an apple tree in your backyard, maybe even a whole orchard, and you're still going to be at the doctor's office weekly! Today I went to the doctor for Tyler's 4 year old checkup and Ryder's 9 month old checkup. WOW! It was a bit crazy (although what isn't crazy these days, I could add the statement "It was a bit crazy" to every activity I do everyday- so no big surprise there! We got to our appt 10 min early- I'll never learn my lesson. That just means I have to wait 10 min longer to be seen. My kids did great for the first 20 min. We played I Spy like 90 or so times, we looked at the goldfish like 90 or so times, and we anti bacterial washed our hands like 90 or so times. By the time we got into the doctor- 45 min after our scheduled appt, it was getting rowdy. I promised the kids if they could be good we could go get hot chocolate after. We never got our hot chocolate- which is really sad because let's be honest, the bribe was as much for me as it was for them. Before the nurse had finished calling our names, Tyler asked "Do I have to get a shot." The nurse answered "maybe, we need to have a look at you first", which every kids knows means, You sure do! Tyler burst into tears right then and there. I tried to calmly get us into the exam room where she could have a proper meltdown without all the scrutiny of the other parents but it didn't work as well as we all would have hoped for. Anywho, she screamed and freaked out for the next 20 min until the doctor finally came in. When she saw him, she ran and hid behind the exam table in a spot just small enough for a 4 year old but not big enough for a parent to reach into. Now, in fairness to Tyler, over the last 3 months, she has had 3 x rays, 4 shots of antibiotics in the legs, a flu shot, blood drawn twice, her finger pricked, a over sized q tip shoved up her nose to check for the flu, been put under, and had a biopsy of her intestines done. So, it's understandable why she was scared. The doctor was able to fish her out by moving the table forward a few feet. He took one side and I took the other so she was trapped. Aside from being totally embarrassed, I was kindof sad for Tyler! The doc did his exam while she screamed the whole time and then when shot time came, they had to find someone at the front desk to hold Ryder while I held Tyler. For those who live in Utah and Arizona, it's quite different here. Not everyone has way too many kids so you get these looks and comments from EVERYONE about how you have your hands full, etc when really it's fairly obvious that they want to ask why you are so stupid to get yourself in this situation that you cannot control. So anywho, the receptionist watched Ryder while Tyler got her shots and of course, 10 seconds after getting them she was fine and then I could hold Ryder while he got his shot. Ya know, it's funny because a few years back that would have stressed me out SO bad but now it's like just another day. I did make Tyler apologize to the doctor for the scene. So, now were back home, the kids are immunized and I have a whole week before I will have to go back to the doc so all in all, it was a success.

Friday, February 22, 2008

"No Help Me Mommy"

The independence of two year olds is an incredible thing no doubt but can often be extremely frustrating. It seems like whenever I am in the biggest hurry in the world, Boston (currently, but a year ago it was Tyler and in a year it will be Ryder) wants to "do it myself." At that point, I have two options, let him try for a few min and either he will do it right, I will have to redo it, or he will just give up (but whatever happens with this option, it usually takes about 2 min) OR I can just do it for him and deal with the wrath that inevitably follows (this option takes 2 seconds but has lingering effects up to 10 min). There really isn't a great option if the 2 year old is determined to do it himself. Yesterday, Boston was set on putting on his undies himself and since we had time (all the time in the world, in fact too much time since Ammon was out of town, we were trapped inside because of an ice storm, and we were just trying to get through the day which seemed to last an eternity!!!). After about 2 min- Boston proudly came to show me the results. I love it!!!!!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

We Love You Miss Hannigan


Has anyone had the privledge of watching the original Annie movie lately? Good Heavens!!! That Miss Hannigan is... I don't really have the words to describe her. She's a drunk who walks around in trashy lingerie and mistreats orphans. But for some reason, I love her!!! She says things like:

"Why anyone would choose to be an orphan is beyond me"
and
"It's time for a tumble with the bundle " (in reference to the laundry man Mr. Bundles)

What were our parents thinking when they willilng let us watch this show. It was the highlight of my 5 year old year (aside from going to kindergarten). I recently bought the DVD for Tyler to watch remembering how much I loved it at her age, and true to form, she loves it too. It's amazing how different it is to watch now compared to when all the Miss Hannigan lines went over my head. It's out of control! That Miss Hannigan is dripping in class!!!

As a final thought, what is up with Annie's hair??? I don't care how much of an orphan she is, there is no excuse for hair like that!

Monday, February 18, 2008

Good Times!

I used to naively think that having sick kids is the worst thing in the world when actually the worst thing in the world is having sick kids when your husband is out of town. Ammon was out of town this weekend for his brother Daniel’s wedding. Saturdays are so long when Ammon is out of town! I filled the day with plenty of activities to keep the kids and me busy. At the end of the day, we made a stop into Graeter’s (ice cream). We all downed our ice cream and the kids drank like a gallon of water each. When it was time to leave, Tyler did a little shiver and told me she was really cold. I didn’t think much about it until I was strapping all 3 into their car seats and Tyler started to gag. I knew what was coming and quickly searched for a bag or something. I came up with nothing so when Tyler began to launch- it went EVERYWHERE!!! Her shirt, pants, and car seat were covered (and this stupid Barbie ring she got from school which I only mention because it comes back into play later in the adventure). Our car smelled SO bad that she continued to gag and barf the whole way home. Once home, I unloaded the boys first and then decided the best plan of attack was to strip Tyler down in the garage and then put her straight in the shower. While we were stripping her down (her clothes were so wet they were sticking to her arms and stomach- remember the gallon of water she drank!), Boston informed me he had to go potty (we just started potty training him last week so it’s a brand new thing for him and needs lots of supervision!). I told him to get himself on the potty and I would be there in a few seconds to help. He returned about 30 seconds later to tell me he peed all over his pants and the bathroom floor! On Tyler’s way to the shower, she chucked her Barbie ring on the floor. Ryder located it in about a nano second and was just putting it in his mouth when I confiscated it (so nasty!!!). With Tyler in the shower and Bos in the bath and Ryder in his jumperoo, I grabbed Tyler’s clothes off the floor and started a quick load of laundry. I then Clorox wiped, Spot Shotted, Lysoled, and cinnamon sprayed down my car. Two days later, my car still smells wretched. Also, it was rather amazing (and really, really gross!) that after I washed Tyler’s clothes and then rewashed them for good measure, when I went to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer, there was a piece of string cheese in there and it looked normal (not squishy or discolored, or distorted in any way)- that’s really scary! Anywho, the miracle of the event was that Tyler was fine before she launched and then after as well. It didn’t linger or spread through the whole family. It came and went in about 10 min. That NEVER happens! I’m really excited about that.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Do you think the IRS would buy the "my son ate the 07 tax statments" excuse?


Thursday, February 14, 2008

I Think My Fingertips are Starting to Bleed

A couple months back, I had someone come and clean my house. She brought with her some Murphy’s Oil Hardwood Floor Cleaner. When she left, I noticed all my floors looked a little smudgy but didn’t think much about it- I have 3 kids, it ALWAYS looks a little smudgy. She came back a few weeks later and did round two of Murphy’s. When she left this time, I started to get nervous because now my floor looked waxy. Ammon got home from work and was like- “What happened to the floors???” So, we did a little water and vinegar wash down and were feeling pretty good about the results until the floor dried and we realized, the wax residue was still going strong. At this point, we were getting a little stressed out because we were starting to wonder if our floors were ruined. Ammon looked on the internet for any suggestions on how to solve the issue while I started researching floor refinishing services. Ammon found MANY angry Murphy’s users who all had the same results. One person wrote that if you mix a cup of ammonia with warm water and scrub like crazy, you can have some success getting the residue off the floor. While I was getting the kids ready for bed, Ammon gave it a try. He had some success in our kitchen but stopped there (I wondered why at the time but now there is NO doubt in my mind). It’s now been a couple more weeks and still I had not attempted to finish the project BUT it’s been bugging me like crazy! Ok so tonight, I couldn’t fall asleep and when I finally did around 1:00am, Tyler for some odd reason woke up about 20 min later and couldn’t go back to sleep. Normally I would have sent her straight back to bed but I was feeling compassion since I too couldn’t sleep. So, since we were both awake, and just hanging out, I decided to give the floor a try. I began the project around 3:00am. It is now 4:00am and I have been scrubbing my brains out for the last hour and all I have to show for it is a 3 foot area in my entry. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? My fingers are all raw from scrubbing with ammonia so hard and my floor still looks awful everywhere else. Not really sure when I will pick this project up again. The issue is that as soon as you are able to pry some of the wax off the floor, trying to wipe it up grounds it back into the floor. Oh and did I mention the residue grinds into the cracks between each piece of wood. It is a nightmare. So the moral of the story- NEVER, EVER, EVER use Murphy’s Oil. EVER!!!

Saturday, February 9, 2008

STRIKE!!!

Hey everyone! This is Brooke attempting her first post ever. I figured since Ammon is working on a lesson that he has to teach at church tomorrow, and I was getting ready to go take a bath and read and relax, I really didn't have a good excuse for not updating this. So here goes. Aside from this being a first blog event for me, we also did a family first tonight. WE WENT BOWLING!!! It was pretty funny to watch the kids try and lug around the 6 pound ball. Tyler got brave near the end and up'd it to a 10 pound ball. Boston had a few near-toe-crushing experiences when he wasn't quite able to heft the ball onto the bowling-ball-slide-thing that shoots it down the middle of the lane in case the gutter bumpers aren't enough help. All in all, no major injuries. The kids had a great time (except for Ryder who just wanted to crawl around on the NASTY bowling alley floor which obviously I would not let him). Ammon won of course (I'm still trying to find something I can beat him at) but none of us did too embarrassingly (is that even a word???). As a final thought to the bowling experience, can I just say that going to a bowling alley in Kentucky is a once in a lifetime experience. I'll leave it at that.

I'm also going to post a few pics from my bday that was last week. I am now officially OLD!

One other thing, this week Ammon and I were watching the local news and they had this middle school aged kid on talking about what he was going to do while school was cancelled for a few days due to so much sickness. This is no lie- Ammon and I had to rewind it 3 times to try and translate what he was saying and finally Ammon figured it out (in back-country Kentucky English)- "I'm going to get on the tractor and practice my pulls for the Tractor Pulling Competition." After Ammon was able to decipher, it was still near impossible for me to pick out the words! SCARY but super entertaining!