Incase you didn't notice...

I updated our blog with a Christmas theme.  And music.  Life has been so busy in the past...oh, 8 months... that I just haven't made it to Blogger.  I'm sure if you are my friend on FB, then you have been able to keep up pretty well.  And if you are on our mailing list for Christmas cards, they'll be sent out in the next 2-8 days.  I'm going with a big window here, to alleviate some of the stress involved with deadlines.  I'll aim for the 2 day mark, but in reality, it will be 8 at least.  Well, hope you didn't get your hopes up for a long update.  I just wanted to tease you a little bit.  I have to get back to my Christmas shopping online.  I'm going to buy myself a present this year.  I can't decide which I want more, a slave personal assistant or a cloning machine.  I guess if I had either, I'd have gotten to this a lot sooner.  Loves and Kisses!  Wish me luck on my search!
~Pam

Facebook Morning...

My morning has been so full of "Facebook" moments. I'm embarrassed to say I thought one of them up during my breakfast prayer. That one won't get posted, just on principle. The first one was "Teaching Evan Zombie fighting strategies!" He is in love with Plants vs. Zombies. Really, who isn't? The second was "15 minutes and a change in the routine was all I needed to not scream at Anna in the morning" She has been having such a hard time getting things done in the morning lately that I feel I am yelling at her right up until she heads out the door. Today was MUCH improved. She even had time for a little Taylor Swift this morning! "Mission Accomplished" was one for Riley. He forgot to do a book report project, mainly because I actually burned up his rough draft (oops! You needed those scribbles?) So he came home yesterday so sad that he had to write the alternate ending instead of the poster, because he couldn't find his rough draft to turn in for approval (really am sorry about that). After a brilliant pep talk from me, he did both the alternate ending, which his teacher required, and the poster, just because he wanted to. I may not be the best at everything, but I am a good Mom. (except for the whole "yelling at Anna each morning and burning of homework" thing...) There were so many more this morning, but by now, they are all out of my head. Actually, there's never much in there anymore. Happy day to you all!

Recent projects...

Anna's dance class is doing the cutest little Jazz number this year.  They have these really bright costumes and her dance teacher asked if I could make a feathery little head piece to go with them.  This is what I came up with.  It looks so cute clipped in Anna's hair.  I've made 7 so far, only 3 left to go.  I had forgotten how much I love a glue gun!

We (Brandon!) also took out the sod in the side yard so we could get the garden started.  It turns out there is a lot of room out there.  I've planted some things (a little early, I know), and I can't wait to see it sprout and grow.  I'm excited to get a few more things in the ground.  This year we are going to grow lettuce, lots of colors of carrots, onions, radishes, corn, potatoes, broccoli, peppers, tomatoes and some herbs.  In the backyard, we will grow green beans, cucumbers and peas on the fence.  I'm really excited because it has been a few years since we've had a  veggie garden and I love picking things fresh and eating them.  Hurray! Grow, veggies, grow!

Thanks, babe!

I love you!

Spring Break Science

Riley asked me a question that gave me an idea.  Riley asked why he feels so hungry only an hour after eating breakfast.  I explained that he might be making pour choices in breakfast.  That some things practically dissolve in your mouth when you eat them, while other things need to be "eaten" by stomach acid which takes awhile and makes you feel full longer.  He asked what kind of food takes longer.  So I took some time to explain that foods that have lots of protein or fiber usually take longer that foods that are just fluff.  To make the knowledge stick a little better, I thought I give them a visual. We took a container of water and added: Cooked rice, oats, pancake, cake, tortilla, pasta, apple, raisins, gummy, peanut, cheese, apple jacks cereal, ritz cracker, gogurt, sugar, crunchy nut cereal, lunch meat, white bread, wheat bread, and carrot. We simple put these in the water and left them for over an hour.  After that hour, we gently stirred and  saw what things pulled to pieces and mushed and what things stuck together.  Then we dumped the water into a mesh strainer and ran water over it for about 30 seconds. We dumped what was left on a paper towel.  Left were pieces of rice, oats, tortilla, pasta, apple, raisins, peanut, cheese, lunch meat, wheat bread, carrot, and apple jacks.  I was happy with the out come except the apple jacks, but Riley pointed out that its a new higher fiber recipe!  The gummy actually did not dissolve, but I asked the kids why the sugar dissolved, but not the gummy, which is mostly sugar.  Anna said it was probably the "other stuff" in it.  I told her that it probably contained something like gelatin that makes the sugar hold a form, but does not make it healthy.  So we counted it out.  But overall, the kids got the idea about how making healthier choice with food really effects them.  I've never been the best example of eating healthy, but I've worked at trying to be better and to teach them so they at least have the knowledge.  This was a fun way to visualize how making better choices can help them not feel so snacky all day long.  A good thing to learn at the beginning of a week home with food in the house all the time.  Here's to a good start to a long week. ~Pam

I need more sunshine...

It has rained here for so many days in a row that I can't even count them.  This is probably the rainiest it's been in forever and it makes every day LONG!  So I have updated the blog to be bright.  
Other than the rain, not much is going on.  Baseball has started for Riley and all of his games are on turf, so no rain outs unless there is lightning.  So we have a lot of baseball and a lot of rain.  Hopefully one of those will change soon.  I'm hoping for sunshine or lightning!  Next week is our spring break and we're going to have some fun no matter what the weather is like.  I can't just sit around the house for days with all three kids.  Rain or shine, we have to do something!

Saint Patrick's Day and other crazy things....

So, I can decorate my blog for Saint Patrick's day, but not my kids.  I completely forgot about it and sent them all off to school without green (well, Anna had a little, by accident).  Lucky for them, pinching is against the rules at their school and preschoolers haven't learned that yet. Saint Patrick's day is one of those funny holidays that has no meaning to me other than guilt over forgetting it..  It is actually a religious holiday that celebrates the death of Saint Patrick on March 17th after he helped bring Christianity to Ireland.  The original color associated with St. Patrick was blue, but because he taught about the Godhead by using a shamrock, over the years green and shamrocks have become associated with it.  I know it's become an Irish history thing, but I don't understand it still. Each of my kids gets a party for this Holiday, but do you think they'll have a party for Easter, nope.  

On a different note, Evan has gotten so big in just the past few weeks, it seems.  Last Sunday he was a big helper for making chocolate chip cookies with Brandon.  He was so excited to help pour and stir and scoop.  He pulled a stool up to the oven so that he could watch them bake.  Today, he called down from upstairs that he needed help bringing his laundry downstairs. ??? Okay.  I went upstairs to help and when we got them downstairs he explained that his favorite pants were dirty, so he needed to wash them and put them on later. He loaded them in the washer while I put the detergent in, then he turned it on.  He ran to get a flash light (?) and came back and asked me to turn the light off.  He then sat on the floor in front of the washer to watch it spin for about 10 minutes.  Crazy kids.  He is getting so big.  I have to register him for kindergarten soon, but I'm not sure that I'm ready for that.  All of the kids are growing up so fast.  Riley will be 10 this year! Double digits!  Anna will be 8, which means she'll get baptized (mark your calendar, June 2), and Evan will start school in the fall.  How can I be a stay at home mom, with no kids at home?  I'm bound and determined to find a way!  I'm a stay at home mom.  That's what I do.  I feel an identity crisis coming on... ~Pam

Bad medicine, Good medicine...

Anna was sick a little while ago with a fever and a cough.  I took her to the doc on March 4 and the doctor just wanted to let the fever go a few more days and see how her cough went.  Well, on the 5th day of her fever, the doc gave her some amoxicillian.  By the following Friday, the 11th, her cough was worse, but her fever was gone.  I took her back in to the doc and she got chest x-rays.  She did have pneumonia and they put her on azithromycin.  On Saturday morning she woke up and started breakfast.  By the end of her meal, she said her feet were really hot and itchy.  So were her legs.  One small part of her finger began to swell.  Then it got better and a weird little part of her foot started to swell. Then she got a rash all over her body and her hands started to itch.  Needless to say, I was freaking out!  What ifs kept going through my head.  I called the nurse.  They were able to switch her medicine, told me to give her some Benedryl and she'd be okay.  The next day she got a little residual itchiness, but was much better.  Her cough is remarkably better.  But the new antibiotics needs to be taken on an empty stomach! Four times a day!  Anna generally eats 4-5 times a day, so we've had to work out an exact schedule.  On dose is given in applesauce at 3 a.m. to get this done, but it's working.  (I know "NO! food, but you can put it in applesauce if she can't swallow the pill". I don't get it either)  I'm so thankful that we don't have kids with serious allergies.  I would have a heart attack!  Even through all of this, we were able to get to spend some fun time with family over the weekend. That's always great.

Leisure Rules!

      We had a bit of fun this weekend in what was supposed to be a pretty plain time. With the two extra days off school this week being my first two days with Brandon back at work, I was going a little bonkers. Yesterday, Anna got short notice invited to spend the night with two of her best friends from her old school.  I could describe her excitement, but it wouldn't do it justice because you couldn't hear her screams or see her smile.  Since she was doing something fun, we decided to let Riley pick a friend and take them out to pizza at Dirty Dave's.  (Not my favorite place, but Brandon's been craving it for awhile.)  Ethan, the friend, stayed over late so the we could watch "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"!  It was so exciting to introduce Riley to this most favorite movie of ours. My thanks go out to Ethan for quoting it at dinner "Bueller, Bueller"! It was the perfect pick for a no school, lazy day movie!
       Today turned out to be way more fun than expected, too.   All we had on the schedule today was Riley's last basketball game. When we picked up Anna, we decided to let one her the besties come over for the day.  On our drive out to Tenino for the game (Yes, Tenino, but I'm glad because...) we had to pass by Latin's Cider Mill and I saw the sign that said "Hot Apple Fritters Today". I instantly made a decision about our return trip home.  We did get lost and miss 3 minutes of the game (Note: Brandon is the coach.  My bad. Sorry about the directions, Honey.)  We only lost by one point, which is really good.  Had Riley not made one little shooting foul, they would have tied!  But that did not dampen my mood, because I remembered what was on the way home!  So, a few minutes after we lost the last game of the season, we were eating donuts at the Cider Mill. Well, a couple of my unadventurous children (darn boys) had donuts.  The rest of us had fresh, hot Apple Fritters! They only do this on Friday's and Saturday's and I've NEVER gotten to go before.  I believe this was a little shout out to me from Heavenly Father.  A "thank you for all you do for your children and husband" kind of a thing.  We even bought food for the birds and goat.  Barring some freezing, slimy hands and major tears from Anna when the goat grabbed her whole bag and ATE IT (daddy gave her his to get the smile back), we had a blast, in the freezing snow, no less.  I'm not extremely spontaneous, but now that our kids are getting older, it's really growing on me. Hope you are all having a great weekend. Now for my big day of rest! Have a happy Sunday! ~Pam

Sick! Sick! Sick!

F.Y.I.  Went to the doctor Thursday, the 24th, because my fever just wouldn't stay away and I have a severe sinus infections.  Finally starting to feel better.


We went from having such a good time at the Great Wolf Lodge, to me being SICK!  I haven't been knocked out by a cold in a long time and even though we got the flu shot, I think this might have been a little flu. Needless to say, our family has been a little off .  Brandon has been so sweet, staying home and caring for everything.  He is such a good husband.  The kids have been super cute about my fever, rushing home from school to ask what my temperature was.  They were super concerned when it reached 102.5 and then so excited for it to be down to 99 this afternoon.  The love I felt, although I was very achy, too, was so nice to feel, being the main lover of the ill in this household.  I'm not often on the receiving end.  Although I HATE being sick, it was nice to have a moment were everyone doted on the doter, cared for the carer.  I love my family.

Fun, fun, fun!

We had such a wonderful time at the Great Wolf Lodge.  I always forget how much fun vacations can be, even just little ones like that.  We've gone to the GWL with my sister's family several times and the same thing always happens.  Anna runs off with her BFC Emily as soon as we get to the water. Riley gets to hang out with the big boys, namely Uncle David and Brandon, because they will go on the big rides with him and Evan straps on his life jacket and immediately starts to kill some waves with his big Karate kicks and, of course, his lightsaber.   I was excited this time to go get some sweets with my sister after the kids were in bed.  It's always fun to get to enjoy some grown-up talk on vacation.  It was so nice to be in a warm and mostly sunny place for a few days instead of stuck in the house.  It was also fun to be there when it snowed, inside, at the lodge.  Just after the bedtime clock tower show at 9 pm, the snow machines started.  I had been wondering how they pull it off and keep it so clean still and it was awesome.  They use bubbles, only they don't come out as big floaty bubbles.  They come out as tiny clumps of bubbles that really look like snow.  It was pretty cool.  The kids jumped around trying to catch the snow, but not with their tongues, thank goodness. Yuck. The kids are always so sad to leave, but luckily there is a Dairy Queen just down the road, so we have made it a habit to stop there for one last hurrah before we head home.  It was a wonderful way to start a long weekend.  Brandon took Friday off as well, so he had a five day weekend.  Which has turned out to be great, because I came home and promptly got sick!  Not so good, but still had a blasts and am happy to laze around getting better while Brandon takes care of the kids. :-) Hope you have a Happy President's Day!!  Love P~
P.S. I'll add pictures later, as they are upstairs on that computer....Sorry

Really?...

Did I really just skip from Christmas to Valentine's day?  I guess I will have to make this a Holiday blog.  If you're lucky, I'll seek out all of those really obscure holidays, like Grandparents day and stuff like that.  I guess I have just been so busy living that I haven't gotten a chance to blog about it.  Actually, I have been too busy reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.  But life has been full as well.  January holds three birthdays for our family, so we literally had a party every weekend of January except one!  February has gone by quickly and we're already heavy laden with all of the chocolate that Valentine's brings.  So my new goal is to upload more photos.  I won't be doing that this post, as I am on the laptop and the photos are on the regular computer. So I guess I've already made my first excuse for not doing what I said I would.  But I have to remain a little consistent in my inconsistency, right?  Don't want anyone to go into shock or anything.  We are leaving a little later today to go to the Great Wolf Lodge with some family and I WILL blog about that when I get back!  I will, i will...  Here's to trying at least.


Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day and that the love hasn't stopped just because the day has! Love ~P.