Say what?

I think there is a name for the phenomenon that occurs when you misinterpret the lyrics of a song and substitute your own. My favorite example of this is very famous- a Jimmy Hendrix song that goes like this: "Excuse me, while I kiss the sky." (I think.) It can very easily be heard as "Excuse, while I kiss this guy." Say what? There are so many I've done personally I can't even begin to remember. Ed has one- we listen to a song called "What I Like About You" by Lillix. Well, it's covered by Lillix, the original band is The Romantics. Part of it says, "Keep on whispering in my ear. Tell me all the things that I wanna hear. 'Cause it's true, that what I like about you!" Ed sings, "Keep on whispering in my ear, Thomas and James is what I wanna hear!"
(Thomas and James from "Thomas the Tank Engine")
I took us to the doctor yesterday, and here is the outcome:
Jessie- ear infection.
Karrie- ear infection, bronchitis
Kacy-ear infection, tonsil something, and lung something that isn't yet pneumonia, but was heading that way.
We are all on antibiotics. I got another inhaler, and I think I'm extra sensitive to albuterol. A couple of memories come to mind when I take it, and I start to twitch a bit. As a teen I had a breathing treatment once at the doctor, and the room started to sound hollow and my head felt all floaty. My mom unzipped her purse and it scared me to death and I started crying. My heart was all fast... it was horrible. With my little inhaler (I try to deny the fact that I have asthma...) I felt a little twitchy, and then last night while trying to fall asleep, I was going crazy because I could feel every one of my leg hairs touching my pajamas. I probably just should have shaved... It wore off after about an hour. I will go and look this up on the Internet and see if it's a real problem or if it's in my head. We all feel better. Kacy should be able to go to school tomorrow. I'm at about 60% of my normal, and anticipate being at 100% by Sunday. That whole breathing thing... more important than I remembered.

Lulu publishing

It that time of year for me to publish my blog into a hardbound book. I'm actually a little late doing it, but with being a little house bound and lethargic, I finally got bored enough to do it. I enjoy it, don't get me wrong. It's just that there always seemed to be something else that could have been done. Today there were no more excuses. I've been copying/pasting for an hour, and I'm half-way through last year. I posted a lot last year! Here are some of my thoughts about the blog:

*I have determined that as an organized mother, I fail. I read LAST year's Easter post, and it said something like "Next year maybe we will have coordinating clothes..." That's what I said THIS year!
*I have a hard time with the whole "blog" thing. I love to read blogs, but I'm not a blogger. I just need to stick with what my ultimate goal is: a journal of our life events and a way for friends/family to stay informed of our happenings.
*Sometimes I blog so much that I have nothing to talk about at social gatherings. Everyone already know the interesting stories or funny events.
*I have a love/hate relationship with comments. I hate how there is a part of me who wants to be all popular and wonders why no one leaves comments. I hate that I even think that- but yet, sometimes I wonder. And then I tell myself (because I talk to myself A LOT-I'm my own best friend-and worst enemy...) "Who cares? I'm not writing for anyone but my little family." Publishing this last year has reminded me of my purpose. Whew! No more stress trying to be clever!
*I should edit. Really, I am a good writer and know most of the grammar rules and how to spell. I just get in a hurry. (I am editing for mistakes before publishing!)
*My favorite posts are of things my kids said or did. I know these will be family favorites when they have kids and I pull out the book and say, "Here, come see what your dad did!" (To Ed's kids.)

I really so enjoy reading all those fun, informative, entertaining blogs. But I think my favorites are just the everyday happenings of people I know.

Now, back to work! We are without a remote control. Ryan accidently sent ours to Bakersfield and went to get it back today. We've been stuck on a Disney channel, and I'm am about sick of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." Cute show, but only for one episode at a time.

Marcie- open up a new Word document, format your pages to 8.25X10.75 with .5" margins top and bottom, and .6 for the sides. Start copying/pasting. Check in with ya later on this one- I know we said we'd do this in April. April is almost over!

Today is a sick day

Kacy has a fever and is home. She seems fine, except for the fever. Jessie has a low grade fever and wants to be held, or wants to be eating... either one. I'm... okay. Ed is is FINE form, healthy as can be, and full of energy. Ryan and Will are in Bakersfield getting supplies for the tree cuttings we ordered.
Here are a few sites I've been enjoying lately. I have a narrow mind...

Logic problems
Sudoku
Storynory (stories for kids, for free, mp3)
Lit2Go (mp3 stories-all kinds)
Downloadable yoga classes (some are free, they ask for name and billing address, but no payment info- come in two formats, mp4 (for apple quicktime) or mp3 with a printable pose chart)

The yoga is fun to do and doesn't require a TV (i.e. your kids can watch cartoons while you workout/relax). We spend a lot of time in the car, and audio stories are great for vocabulary development and comprehension. The puzzles are just what I like to do to keep my brain active.

Flowers for Mom

Spoken by Kacy: "Here, Mom. These coyote tails and sunflowers are for you. Picking flowers is a symbol of love. And I love you. So, here."
Spoken by Will: "Me, too!"

A picture of myself.

Kacy took this picture of me. Since it isn't half bad, I wanted to memorialize myself. Here I am, a age almost 32. Whatever. I have self diagnosed myself as having bronchitis. I had a time in my childhood where I had it frequently (that, and tonsillitis). I am feeling mostly okay. I am a little more tired than normal, have a mild fever that comes and goes, a slight burning in my chest, and the wonderful nasty tasting stuff that comes up when I cough. My voice and throat are out of whack, too! I did not go running today because I AM smart enough to know my personal history of bronchial asthma, and I'd really rather breathe, thank-you very much. I have an arsenal of pediatric antibiotics in the fridge, all bubble-gum flavored, and will self medicate. I think. I'll try to find dosing charts on the Internet.
Yesterday I spoke in church for my allotted 15 minutes. The bishop asked me if I was nervous about it. I replied, "Naw, I've humiliated myself in front of all of these people when I did the play. I'm good, actually." It's the truth. Nothing like performing in a play to wipe out any remaining pride after having numerous gynecological procedures/examinations. (Sorry, guys. But you honestly have the doctor visit thing EASY-PEASY.)
I am also planning our summer. Right now it's including trips to the library (I think is maturing a little every day and this may work out), writing journals (on a kindergarten and first grade level) and other various field trips. A low-key, low stress thing, but I've kind of decided to go ahead and finish teaching Kacy how to read this summer, and Will needs some fine motor skill practice with a pencil. We are also going to do swim lessons (I'm teaching them myself at my parents' pool. It'll involve tears, I know!) and maybe some trips to the lake. I have a crazy friend who wants to run in the lake for physical training, and it sounds kind of fun. The lake up here is really shallow and more of a puddle because of the unstable dam situation. We will see. We may just sit around in our swim suits and eat Otter-pops all summer.

Run For a Reason 5K

Today I ran in a 5K "race" in support of SUDC. It was a good time- running puts me in a good mood. I was by no means fast. This last week I tried running in the mornings before the kids woke up. Wednesday was great, Thursday I didn't feel good so I walked, and Friday I put my hand on the door to leave and Jessie starts crying. I pick her up and soothe her, while mentally cursing the fact I had a baby up at 5:45am. I then have a brilliant idea: I'll take her with me in the baby back pack. It won't be as good as running, but will still be good for habits and a bit for health. Just as I go to find her some warm clothes, Ed gets up and cheerily says, "Hi, Mom!" Well, now it's ruined. Not only do I not get the only time of day I have to myself, I also have two kids up way before they need to be. That's the pits. I'm going to try again this next week. I might need to train myself to wake up before the alarm goes off so no one hears me. One of the bad things about Trailer Life- you hear what everyone is doing at all times. There is no light that can't be seen, no noise that can't be heard. Oh well, I'll do the best with what I have.

Apopolyctic Thumb of Black Death

I have a black thumb, in gardening terms. My garden last year was a flop. Sure, I had an invasion of Tobacco Hornworms, and then an invasion of jack rabbits. Not to mention the invasion of both canine and kids. But a good gardener would have had at least a few seeds sprout. But look what I found growing OUTSIDE my garden in the gravel. It's lettuce! Two lettuce seeds fell to the ground, made it through winter, and are now two little plants! I had nothing whatsoever to do with this, but it makes me want to try again. (Does it matter that I'm pretty sure Steve the cat uses my garden as his toilet?)

A Sad Case for Pants

Saggy bottom, no fit at the waist, and holey. When he runs, he holds up one corner of his britches so they don't end up around his ankles. These got wet and heavy- he was struggling. My family has pants problems in general. Some of the problem is with fit, and other problem is with where we live. Summer is approaching, but my kids can't do shorts and sandals for safety reasons. Cacti and all manner of critter make for leg coverings as essentials. But, Kacy COULD wear something summery to school, and the boys COULD wear shorts when we go to town. My mom insists that I buy them at least one outfit of shorts for when she sees us, because it makes her sweat just looking at them in boots and jeans.
Ryan- needs a higher-rise-than-is-trendy right now, with a wider leg bottom. No distressing or whiskering or any of that stuff.
Me- I'm good for now. I could use one cute capri/nice shirt/cute shoe combo for summer baby showers. Otherwise, I'm super happy with my sloppy/athletic look.
Kacy- Right now wears a 7 regular. Owns no shorts. Pants getting too small. Shopping on the horizon. Ugh.
Will- Except for the fact that he is a SLIM, he is doing okay is pants. He wears 6 slims, and they HAVE to slim, or else they fall off. Even the pants with the adjustable waists do no good.
Ed- No slim here! Which isn't nice that he can't wear Will's pants as hand-me-downs. He is a 4 regular right now.
Jessie- She received some very cute outfits for her birthday, none of which I am going to let her wear unless we are going out. She needs some plain jeans so when she crawls in the dirt (because she does) her pants will come clean in the wash.

I'm going to have to go buy some summer clothes pretty soon. Making this list has helped me to see what I need and what sizes. I hate shopping. Why? I don't like spending money on clothes. I don't like driving to the store in traffic. I don't like rummaging through the racks only to finally find something that looks appropriate, and then find that the size I need is not there. I DO, however, like going to Tractor Supply, where Ryan last bought our kids some pants. That, I think I can handle. (Not very many people there, and they have other cool stuff to look at.)

Will Is Getting Ready for Kindergarten

I took Will to school today to have his assessment for Kindergarten. Last year, Kacy scored a 96.5%. Will scored a 96.8%. Very cool- I was worried he wouldn't even talk to the teacher at all. She was really good with him. I think it'll be a good match for him, as he needs some encouragement to do well. She wouldn't let him give up when he tried to answer "I don't know." The test was really easy- Ed would've passed most of it, with the exception of the physical development stuff (hop on one foot, stand on one foot for five seconds). Now, I have to make the dreaded Kindergarten physical doctor's appointment. That's gonna be FUN!!!!!!!!! It's going to have to involve a bribe. A big one.

Cake Pops, take two!

I made these last weekend, and no, I did not have the white styrofoam block to put these in to make them perfect. (You dip them, and then stick them in the block so they dry all nice and smooth.) They tasted great though. They are my kids' new favorite treat. I made the insides chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. The coating is white candy melts, and the melts worked better than straight chocolate because it's a touch thinner.

Jessie had a few uncoated ones, and this is what she looked like when I told her "No" as she pointed to the whole batch and grunted. What a mean mommy she has! (For taking the picture and memorializing this great moment in Jessie-history.) This incident reminded me how different baby girls are from boys: tell a girl no, and she cries and takes it personally. Tell a boy no, and they smile at you and poke it with a stick. (Whatever "it" is. Could be anything.)

Randomness, part 543

I have lots of randomness. For the record, I have never used the phrase "That's so random!" I don't like how it trivializes the idea of being "random." Here is my randomness, in no particular order:

• Saturday after the airshow was a fun party at the Bunting's. LOTS of people there. I had a good visit. The highlight was seeing cousin David v. the hundred kids in a tug-o-war. David won. It was actually like 15 kids, but it seemed like 100. None of my pictures were any good. :(
  
• Kacy saw her first half-dressed-women-filled add on Friday when I took the kids to McDonald's for ice-cream sundaes. How to explain how sex sells beer to a six year old? She observed that the lady looked liked she was exercising, but her clothes started falling off. I just said "Oh, ya- she better go get a new shirt! Let's go." Because in my head I was all feminist crazy lady, thinking "Well, honey, get used to the idea that men are attracted to naked women, and that sex sells EVERYTHING, and it's not fair, and blah, blah, blah stupid Barbie and diets and being a girl... how am I suppose to effectively tell my daughter that personality matters more than looks when she is so dang observant and body conscience already?" (insight into my twisted train of thought...) this from the girl who asked me a week ago how to get a flat stomach. Yikes.
• I like to watch "Wizards of Waverly Place."
• I have been told a few times by different people (guys, actually) that I should "monetize" my blog. Making money from something I do anyway sounds great, but then it seems like I'd be an actual blogger, and I'm not one. And, if I thought I was a blogger, it would be instant pressure to be witty or funny or to take better pictures or have opinions. But, a little fun money might be nice. I'm torn. Maybe I'll go watch Wizards and make hot dog octopi for dinner.
  

Air Show, I Think

On Saturday I made a quick decision to take the kids to an Air Show at Minter Field. There was no planned air show, but a lot of folks who own World War II era planes were there. There were also just regular small plane owners there. It was interesting, and actually a bit fun. It wasn't overly crowded, not too hot (although it was toasty- we only lasted an hour on the runways), and the kids had a good time.

This is what Jessie looked like- she had a great time. She loves to ride in the baby backpack. Her fever from last Sunday was due to the eruption of three molar type teeth. Wow.

No, thank-you.

I Can Hear the Hallelujah Chorus!

Guess who is COMPLETELY potty trained? AND, guess who walked within a reasonable distance of his mother while in the grocery store and at the air show, without causing undue stress or nagging? Oh ya baby, Ed is my favorite kid this week. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can hear the hallelujah chorus. I am walking on cloud nine. I am in awe of how much better I feel about life with my Ed. He still had a hard time going to nursery at church, which is more often than not. He knows how to get out of nursery legitimately, too. " I need to go potty!" Wonderful. I don't even care (much) that he didn't produce anything that time. Yay, Ed! (Sorry about the haircut buddy. It's looking a little... funky. It'll grow, and from now on, Dad will do it.)

Happy Easter 2009

Jessie ran a 102 fever most of the day. Yuck. She was pleasant though. Cute dress! She didn't hunt eggs, but she enjoyed some chocolate.

Ed- he hunted eggs before he was supposed to, cried when he was told no, hunted his eggs really fast, scarfed down Starbursts, and ended the day without a shirt. What can I say?

Will puked up a whole cupcake. Nice!

Kacy had a great time! In fact, I didn't see much of her because she was so busy with cousins.

Nice hat, Spencer! For the record, it makes my heart feel super happy when kids put buckets on their heads and think nothing of it. Maybe because sometimes I wish I could wear a bucket on my head...

Grandpa was nice enough to blow up balloons for the kids, which isn't that remarkable. The REMARKABLE thing about it is that he was WILLING to blow them up after the kids had already tried. Kid spit and all. I would have said no. (But I'll probably do the same for my grandkids.)

After the Bunting's for an egg hunt, we went to my grandma's house to eat dinner and visit. I wish I could relax when I'm supposed to be visiting; it is nearly impossible to be at ease with my kids running around other peoples' houses. I'm constantly worried about them breaking something, dialing the phone to China, leaving the yard, or getting something stuck up their nose. Take the above worries, put them after a three hour stint in church, and throw in lots of chocolate (and a soon-to-be puked up cupcake or two), and we have a spastic momma who has trouble carrying on a decent conversation without extreme sassiness coming through.

At least it was better than the day before. If the days keep getting better in these small increments, I should be great again by Thursday.

*Note to self: please remember to get cute matching outfits for the girls, and coordinating shirts for the boys next year. It's just too, too cute- you slacker. And, please think about this in January, not the Friday before. Thank-you.

One of those days...

I'm glad today is almost over. It's not been a great day. I think a combination of things is contributing to my foul mood:
*I stayed up LATE last night reading. *I didn't sleep well while I was asleep. *I woke up to Ed who peed through his pull-up last night, soaking the sheet and mattress pad (and the mattress). *Jessie's diaper exploded up her back requiring a bath for her and a good long hand wash for me. *Ryan had a church activity (paintball, anyone?) at our house with 50 other guys, so I didn't see him for the second straight day. *Will has been throwing a very demanding attitude around. "I need this." "I need that." "Right now, Mom." *Ed pooped in his pants again today. *I did two loads of laundry. *I made two loaves of bread. *I made two 8x8 cakes and am in the process of trying to make cake balls again. *Trying to cook in my trailer is a joke right now. Who am I kidding? *The kids have been going non-stop- fighting, yelling, arguing, or playing together nicely while making huge messes. *Will woke up from his nap soaking wet. Oh yes, the other sheet hasn't even been washed yet, and the new one gets wet. Nice. *Dinner was a cacophony of voices whining "I want bread!" "I haven't had dessert yet!" "I need a drink!" "Ed stole my olives!"

But you know what? I'm so HAPPY! In less than 10 minutes they will be laying on their beds, trying to fall asleep. And it'll be over. At least for today. And I'll get to go to sleep and maybe get some sleep I need, because when I don't get it, I'm a grouch. A pessimist. I hate my trailer. I barely tolerate my kids. I eat too much. I get a headache. I don't even want to be around myself! Good thing there is a fresh start tomorrow. May tomorrow be... more calming, and a little less centered around the bodily functions of those around me.

Happy Anniversary!

This week we celebrated our 9th anniversary. Ryan kept teasing me about it being our paper mache anniversary or something. We went to our favorite restaurant, Woolgrowers. It's Basque. I let him eat all the pickled tongue... is it weird I consider myself part Basque because of our dog, George? He's a part of the family, you know. The above picture was taken Sept. 2003- it's the earliest one I have of us- the rest are hard copies locked away in storage, miles from me. We haven't aged a day! (It's true, when I get creative with photshop!)

Decorating Eggs

We went over to my sister's house to decorate eggs and cupcakes yesterday. The egg decorating went alright- nothing fancy. Fancy is for only children. Or children over the age of 8. We were simple. One color for most of them, a few with two. The kids LOVED it. They also decorated cupcakes- sort of. After seeing how each kid decorated their first one (the ones who didn't automatically take a huge bits out of theirs, anyway) the cupcake bakers decided to let the kids eat the one they had and THEY would decorate the rest, because it was just too, too gross. Not only were they ugly (No Martha Stewart genes apparent)- they looked like they'd been licked and had booger-fingers poked in them.
Will came up to me with part of the top missing from his cupcake. "Look what I accidentally did, Mom."
"Oh, what happened?"
"I don't know?" (Smiling HUGELY)
My cousin April pointed to the cake crumb on his lip, and said, "Um, Will, are you sure it was an accident?" while laughing at him, and then we were all laughing at him. He was trying SO HARD to look innocent, but that huge smile just gave him away. Well, the crumb didn't help either.

CaLM

This spring break we got a change to go to CaLM. In my book, it's the perfect size. It took an hour to see everything, and it wasn't crowded at all. Jocelyn was there with her boys, Kendra brought her kids, and I had mine. My cousin Jennifer came along to help with crowd control. I don't know why... there were only 12 kids there, ages 8,7,7,5,5,4,4,3,2,2,1, and1. Personally, I wanted to pass out some drug that would calm them all down- they were beyond excited. All the excitement wore off about the time we saw the last exhibit. It was pack behavior, I tell you. If one kid started going someplace, THEY ALL WENT. It wasn't that big of a deal though, because of the lack of people. It was raining off and on that day, and we caught an "off" time- the weather was perfect. My kids all seemed to like the pelican the best- funny how that's the first thing they saw. I think their brains were humming with white noise after that.

Windows!

Our window order came in two shipments- here is one of the first windows to arrive. All the rest are still packaged how they came- we wanted to test one. The stained wood goes on the inside- the outside is primed wood, and we will paint them a dark brown, I think. It very exciting- but as Will said when he first saw the windows, "But, Daa-aad. We neeeed walls first!" (He was being overly sarcastic/exaggerating/ "isn't it so obvious?"/why do we have windows and no walls?)

Ed, again. And my weekend.

Yesterday while visiting at the Bunting's, Ed went and stuck his hands/arms up Uncle Karl's diesel truck's exhaust pipe. It wasn't hot, but WAS very, very dirty. Jocelyn came up right behind me and took Jessie, and said something like "Oh, Karrie." I take him into the house, strip off his favorite, favorite shirt (pictured above) and as I'm lathering him up with dish soap, he looks at me, smiles, and begins singing "I am a child of God, lead me, guide me, walk beside me." He went back outside, shirtless, and stuck his arms up the pipe AGAIN. This time I told him there was a big hairy spider up that pipe that will bite his hands if he puts them in there. He just looked at his hands and said, "But, but- I wub my hands!"

I made it to the temple on Friday night. Will managed to throw up the two bowls of macaroni and cheese on Kacy on the way down. I had Jocelyn go with me, and it was fun. It was nice to be able to talk without kids interrupting. Good thing she has four boys- she was a good sport about the puke smell in the car. We got back to Bako around 12:30, where I stayed at Ryan's parents' house. (And off topic- I apologize for the possessive apostrophe misuse. I'm pretty sure it's wrong. And my use of parenthesis... atrocious, I know.) I was kind of dreading staying the night because I just do not sleep well in other places. I tossed. I turned. I sighed. I kept reminding myself that I didn't sleep much the night prior because of the wind, and I should be asleep! Asleep I say! But I had a problem. Her name is Kacy, and I will never sleep in the same bed as her again. She poked. She kicked. She kept touching me- and then she peed on me. I'm pretty sure I was asleep when she did it, because it took me a full five minutes to figure out why my shirt was wet. I felt my own pajama pants (you never know...), thought I might have been sweating profusely (it could happen), and then I felt the sheets. That girl has not wet the bed since I don't know when- maybe never. Seriously. I got a towel and laid it down on the bed and slept on it until 7am, when everyone was up and making pancakes. The breakfast was great.
We came home ASAP, where Jessie ran a really high fever and slept most of the day, I was as grumpy as I could be, half our window order came in (pictures soon), and Ryan just left me alone because he knew. I took a two hour nap, and amazingly enough, the kids took a three hour nap. the three hours isn't amazing, but the fact that they fell asleep so fast was.
Today we went to Ridgecrest to turn in a materials list for a lumber bid. I let the kids play at McDonald's for about an hour- they loved it, and they were all really good! Jessie was really happy to just sit on my lap and watch and point. It was- dare I say- a happy, enjoyable, RELAXING experience! No one got stuck up in the tallest tower like last year, where a very claustrophobic mommy had to do lots of deep breathing/visualization to get her third born out of the play place. Augh, makes me uncomfortable even thinking about it.

Wind Blown

Picture Source

Happenings: The wind blew ALL night long, with gusts up to 70 mph. I was guessing around 60 mph last night at 2am, but only because I was wide awake and feeling the effects of motion sickness. Luckily, out trailer is narrow side to the wind, but it was still (IS STILL) shaking like we are going down the freeway at high speeds. We can't work outside, and we'll have some cleaning up to do tomorrow when it's suppose to be calmer. If we had hatches, they'd be batten down.

Also: Will is puking. He threw-up in the car without warning yesterday. We made it to Target to do a little shopping without incident. Unless you count the check out lady saying "They are such cute kids. They are all SO calm, except for that one. He's the one you have to chase?" She was pointing to Ed. We drop Kacy off at Art Lessons, and head on over to Winco, my favorite cheap place for food. We start off with a potty break, and while I was changing Jessie's diaper, Will lets loose with a bucket full of vomit all over the floor. Ed was enthralled with the whole process- "Hey! Where's that water coming from?" and "That's so cool! Can I step in it?" (Edspeak: Dat's so tool! Tan I step in it?" We didn't get any shopping done. He has puked again twice this morning, and I am SO HAPPY he is old enough to make it to the trash can. Jessie has diaper problems- all intestinal and stinky. Yuck. I was suppose to go to the temple tonight, but it's looking like I'm not. We'll see.

Our windows are arriving tomorrow, and a sea container today. The container will hold the windows, the doors we bought back in January in LA, and any random house things we find on sale.