Vacation in Pictures

Here we are visiting cousins. Those boys had so. much. fun.

This is what D thought about riding the Coaster train to San Diego.

My little diva at Sea World.

Petting the starfish. Really he did like it. I promise.

Here is one happy kiddo watching a trolly train go by.

Here's D blowing the train's whistle

This vacation stuff is hard work.

D with his bucket full of yummy strawberries.

Playing in the ocean waves.

D and Daddy pretending to be from the Shamo show.

Before discovering she actually likes to swim.

After discovering her 'inner fish'. Note the purple lips.

What have I been up to?

So I believe I mentioned we've been sick. It hasn't gotten any better. I mean, I've gotten better but situations around here haven't gotten better.

Thursday, D was feeling better -- like bouncing from couch cushion to couch cushion while reassuring his daddy that he still had "lots of fevers". Happy day. Then 4:30 hits and D's tummy hurts. 5:15, IT happens. And what do I do as the calm, cool, collected mom? Reach for the garbage can that is 5 feet away? Oooh no. I run from room to room looking for the bowl. You know, the one he's been carrying around with him all day that is suddenly MIA. I did find the bowl, rush back with it just in time to do virtually NO GOOD. (Anybody know any great remedies to get that puke smell out of microfiber?)

Saturday afternoon starts K's fever. The bright shining spot of sun in all this is that even though she is clingy, its the weekend and I'm second best!

(This is the best one) Sunday afternoon, D starts having some, uh, residual side effects from his stomach bug. I finally head to Walgreens (THE OX WAS IN THE MIRE PEOPLE) for some kids Immodium AD or Pepto or something.......anything.....

So today, K has mild left over fever (no puke, or otherwise yet) which leaves her sleepy and droopy. D is fine. Fine enough to paint all over the carpet (the brand new white(?!) carpet). So when I say he's fine, I mean he's still alive and currently has no illnesses but he may soon be rented out to couples who want to know what it is like to have kids without actually having kids.

This is for Melanie and Valerie

I think I mentioned that D was earning quarters for a Wall-E Electronic Talking Truck. He made it, finally. So we went to the Disney store to buy it. Gone. No problemo we think. We'll order it from online. Gone. Everywhere Gone. Not on Amazon, ToysRus, Disney Store.com, google search. Gone. *Sigh* So, if anyone sees, finds, owns (brand new in the box and want to get rid of it) a Wall-E Electronic Talking Truck (retails $59.99) let me know.

Maybe bed rest wouldn't be so bad after all...

Roy and I were talking the other night about how boring and difficult it would be to be on bed rest. It would be very hard on a husband who still has to work and take care of the household. It would be difficult and rather boring for the wife who can't do anything. After tonight, I think I may have a different perspective. In fact, I think I will be paying my doctor extra just to tell my loving spouse that I absolutely cannot do the housework/take care of the kids anymore.

What happened tonight, you ask? Well, it actually started last night. I felt sick. Like "whoa, maybe I should stay close to the bathroom (not hard to do when you can't get more than 20 ft. away from anything in here...) in case I 'get sick'" kind of sick. I figured it would wear off. I ate something and went to bed. This morning I felt some better, then not better, then some better, then not...well, you get the idea. So all day I've felt pretty crummy -- must be the swine flu. JUST KIDDING DAD.

Tonight is 'Scout Night'. I really do try my best to be the supporting wife. So off Roy goes to scouts. It was road show practice so he was going to do his home teaching after making an appreance at scouts.

Alright, that's the background story. Oops, I forgot, D started feeling crummy this afternoon too. Okay, so Roy heads out. I read a story to D and tuck him into bed after medicating, snuggling and placing a large bowl beside his head. Then it is time for the sticky, covered in watermelon juice baby to take a bath. As is oft the case when one is sick or late for church, the gross little howler monkey pooped in the bath tub.

As I'm cleaning out the bathtub, I realize my feet and pants are also dirty. Once the howler monkey was out of the bathtub she finished the job on the rug. Then she peed on the other rug! Did I mention I'm sick anyway. Right, so I proceed to clean the bathtub, rebathe the monster, diaper said monster and lock her out of the bathroom while I finish the cleanup job.

Because I assured Roy that it would be okay for us to live in an apartment without a washer and dryer, just an onsite laundermat, my rugs and pants are out on the back porch awaiting the light of day to be washed. I'm sure overnighting in such condition will be wonderful for them.

Now I'm ready for bed but just waiting for the next disaster. As I said, D decided he felt sick today too. He hasn't thrown up yet, but just give it time...

You know what I kept thinking tonight? "In less than 2 weeks I will be lying on a beach in sunny California. I will be completely ignoring my children and allow the grandparents to chase/feed/water/change/etc. the grandkids they haven't see for months. Less than 2 weeks. Less than 2 weeks."

After that, I just might look into the bed rest thing.

Why we live here...

This is about why we live in this area, not why we live here specifically.

Imagine if you will that I am an amazing photographer.

Then the beauty of this beach would be more apparent. It is beautiful. And not as cold as this picture makes it look. Of course, it isn't Southern California but we were in the tropical 60's.

D's first, and I mean literally first, official business once we hit the sand was to prostrate himself and run his fingers through the sand. He was covered in sand from that moment on -- except when he was covered in mud.

K of course follows everything D does. So between that and the sand dumped on her head by a loving brother, she was also a little sand monster.

Roy thought he'd get a little work out in. He had to ride down where the sand was wet. K really liked riding around seeing the sights.

It really was so much fun. After living here for 9 months, I suppose it is time we checked out the beach. Now we know we will be going back more often -- at least in the summer, not much point in the winter.

Catching up with Pictures

This is the hammiest kiddo. She wants me to take her picture so that she can see the "beebee" on the camera. This particular day she wanted to wear D's clothes. Some battles just don't get fought and this was one of them. She brought me shirt after shirt, 5 total. Yes, she wore them all day, everywhere we went. She looked like a football player.

Happy Easter!

The boots are D's - and on the wrong feet. The face is smeared with Chocolate. Seriously, I think she's so adorable I could just squeeze her.

New Easter outfits from Grandma Net and Grandpa Bishop. (No, D is NOT happy. Grumpy morning.)

THE Haircut

D hates to get his haircut. He only lets Grandma Net cut it and only with scissors. Well, since we haven't seen her since just after Christmas, he NEEDED a haircut. I talked him into it. He let me do it and even let me use the clippers. You don't understand, this is big. This is like "we're getting married" big. Or like "The Titanic sank" big. This is the kind of big you call home for. And I did.

Okay, his hair doesn't look as bad in the above picture because it was actually combed. Trust me, we could have stuffed a small pillow with the hair we cut off.
(I don't know why Blogger is messing up the lighting in my pictures. They don't look like this really.)

Wheat Grass in the Easter Basket: I got the idea from here. Unfortunately, we didn't plant it until Monday. This is what it looks like today. If we had planted it 2-3 days earlier, it totally would have been ready for the Easter Bunny to put candy and stuff in.

FREE

Callie, my friend, just notified me via blog of this great deal. If you need/want a nursing cover or need a baby gift you can get one free at http://www.uddercovers.com/. Enter the code "onefree" when it prompts you and you get one free. You just have to pay shipping of $7.95. These are regularly priced at $32. They are only available while supplies last and supplies are dwindling. Go check it out. Hurry. Go.

A Glowing Tribute

The moving is done. The boxes are unpacked (mostly). The old place is cleaned and checked out. And none of that could have been done without TONS of help from some good friends. So here is a tribute to those people who have truly served my family this last week.

The Jensens. They have been right on board from the get go. As soon as Roy mentioned that we would moving to a smaller place but may need some place to store some of our stuff, the Jensens were right there offering half of their garage for our use. The absolutely refuse to take any payment. It is a huge help to not have some of our larger pieces of furniture in this place that has no room. Joe was also the first one to show up to help us move. He worked hard all morning getting us moved while his wife got their family packed as they were leaving town that very day for a week away.

The Butlers. Dannelle was so awesome she didn't even wait for me to call and ask for her help. Saturday morning she called me to see when Neil should come to help with the move. She also made us dinner that night. It was so so nice to not have to cook dinner (yeah, right, we would have taken our tired sweaty bodies to a restaurant). As I was going to pick up dinner, I began thinking about how we didn't have any dishes to use yet and what was I going to do. Not only did Dannelle provide dinner, but she also included the necessary dished to eat the dinner! So thoughtful! Then, not two days later she watched the kids for some time in the morning so Roy and I could clean out our old place. It was so awesome for her to step up so much.

The Scribbens. These people watched my kids. All day. Then another day too. They still talk to us. They even still answer the phone when we call. Seriously, on the day of the move the kids were at the Scribben's house for at least 10 hours! They have 3 small kids of their own. Ben was working so it was just Katie. They fed our family on Friday night and Monday night. Katie took the kids in the afternoon when Roy and I were still cleaning up and checking out of the old place. Ben helped Roy assemble and position furniture. Did I mention, THEY (okay, in fairness by they, I mean Katie) WATCHED MY KIDS FOR PROBABLY 14-15 HOURS OVER TWO DAYS?!

Sean, who helped us move on Saturday and was willing to come back Sunday or Monday or whenever. (If only Roy would have called...)

These people made this move possible. Really. I could not have accomplished what I did without the babysitting especially. It's not that my kids aren't good kids. It's just that they're kids. They have to eat, nap, poop, etc. I am so grateful for those people who helped out. I want to be more helpful to my friends and neighbors because that is really the only way to 'pay back' service. You just have to 'pay it forward'.