Snow Day

I am so freaking sick of the snow and cold weather. I usually don't mind snow, but this year has been miserable because rarely does it get into the double digits, and even if it does, the wind blows so hard you can't be outside. There are only so many things I can come up with to wear out the boys inside. Today, we had all had it, and when the temperature reached a balmy 16 degrees, we decided to go outside. The snow drifts are huge, especially where the plows have pushed them up and the boys were so excited to climb on them. The one in front of our house has several areas where you can sled down, but for some unknown reason, the boys always choose the steepest side. Dawson kept going off the side that has a gradual slope and then about a 5 foot drop. He said " it sure hurts my tummy when I land, but I love flying through the air." They tried body surfing down the hills and loved it. I loaded all three kids into the sled and dragged them around the neighborhood for awhile. It was a good workout. We were only able to stay outside for about an hour, but we all felt better anyway.

I am down 12 pounds!! I worked out this morning with Shauna, which I must say I enjoy immensely. I love exercises she does and I am feeling great. My Diet Coke addiction is a thing of the past. I am no longer even tempted, yeah! Anyway, I was especially motivated after having a 550 lb. patient yesterday.
This morning we made our usual berry pancakes for breakfast. Dawson ordered a giraffe, which ended up looking like a big blueberry circle, and Dylan asked me to make a T-Rex, which looked like a big blueberry circle. They were happy with the end result though, so whatever. Both boys begged me to do their hair today. Last week they had an absolute meltdown when we left for school without their hair being done and I told them they looked like orphans. They were in hysterics, because the only thing they knew of orphans, came from 'Annie' and they didn't want to look like girls. Dylan didn't want to go to school this morning and Dawson and I were trying to talk him into it. He said he hated coloring for so long. Dawson offered that he had to go to school if he wanted to be a mom or dad some day. I told him he had to go to school if he wanted to have a cool job someday, and then asked him what he wanted to be when he got older. He said he wants to be Darth Vader, and he will go to school and practice being a bad guy. Great.
I took Emma for her 1 year check-up and she is doing great. She weighed in at 24 pounds, which is only 5lbs. less than Dylan, and she is 32 inches long. Her height is way off the chart, so I made the Doctor, show me on the chart, that she won't be freakishly tall. She said if she continues to grow like she is, she will be 5'10". Anything less that 6' is good with me.
When I picked up the boys from school, I have to say, I was a little surprised to see Colby's dad in the pick-up line. (see previous entry) I still haven't heard back from that mofo cop's supervisor, but apparently the "extremely violent criminal" did his two days in the clink and is now ready to function in society. Whatever. I smiled at him, and gave a little wave.
Tonight I made a Thai Coconut Chicken and Rice dish for dinner that tasted like shit. It didn't look much better either. I think I put to much peanut butter in it, but regardless, I am chucking that recipe. Emma wouldn't even close her mouth around it. Dave put a bite in and she just gleeked it right back at him. It was pretty funny. We tried to trick her into it, by giving her a few bites of avocado and tomato and then sneaking one in of the goulash, but she wasn't fooled.

Say a little prayer.

At church we take up one whole pew- ( the very back pew) because we always sit with Dave's sister, and her family. The boys usually migrate to sit with their cousins, which is nice because we make less of a scene when they are entertained. Today Dawson needed to go to the bathroom during Sacrament meeting, so I told him he could go by himself. Usually that is not the case, because I feel like you can't trust anyone, anymore, but today I let him. About 20 minutes later Dave sits straight up and asks if Dawson has come back yet. We looked up and down the pew and he had not come back. I instantly got sick to my stomach and a whole bunch of horrible scenarios went through my head. Kent, my brother-in-law was sitting on the end of the bench and said he would go get him. About 10 minutes later they came back and Dawson was skipping along smiling. When he got close enough, I said "where were you", his bottom lip started to tremble and he started crying. I put him on my lap and hugged him and he said, " I was waiting for someone to come and wipe me." Dave pulled him over to sit with him, and Dawson told him that he didn't realize that he needed to poop, and while he was sitting on the toilet someone else left the bathroom and turned the lights out. He said he got scared and was yelling, "turn the lights on!" He said that he said a prayer and told Heavenly Father to tell his dad to come and get him. Eventually the lights came back on and he was happy, and very glad when Uncle Kent came to get him.

Backwoods Fuzz

I have never been a huge fan of the "fuzz", "heat," "po-po," you know, the police. It probably has to do with having so much contact with them during my youth, and it has just carried over to my adulthood. Anyway, today as I pulled into the cul-de-sac to pick up Dawson from preschool, there were 2 coppers staked out at the preschool. I started to panic a little, thinking something had happened at school, but I just drove between them and got in the line to pick up. I was kind of keeping an eye on them through my rear view window, when I saw another car pull in behind me, and the cops jump out of their trucks with guns pulled. I pushed my rear window washer so I could see what the hell was going on, and the cops pulled a guy out of the car and slammed him onto the hood and handcuffed him. The guy was Colby's dad, one of Dawson's little friends, and they threw him in their truck. Meanwhile, the woman driving the car got out and headed into the preschool. The cops never saw her get out of her car, and I was about ready to pounce, but then she came back out of the school, followed by the kids walking out to their cars. Dawson jumped into the car totally unfazed, just rambling on about the trucks he and Colby were playing with. I was pissed off. What the hell were they thinking, coming to a preschool, at pick up time, with only one way in and one way out, and arresting someone. I was really stewing, so when I got home, I called the main sty to make a complaint. When the officer called me back, it wasn't for 3 hours, so I had plenty of time to get really worked up. I really let him have it, and then he had the nerve to say that, the man was an extremely violent criminal, and they do what they have to, to get them off the street. The conversation did not go well and the cop was a total jackass, so I got his supervisor's name and phone number and I will call him tomorrow. I am so freaking mad that they would endanger all the kids. They had been sitting there for awhile, so they could have easily gone out and waited for him on the main road, or followed him home, or any number of things. My heart hurts for Colby. He really doesn't even have a chance.

Emma turns 1!

My baby had her first birthday party tonight. Her actual birthday isn't until Wednesday, but we had a little family party tonight. Emma loved opening her presents and was mesmerized by her cake. Dyl picked out a pretty wild My Little Pony cake, and it was all I could do to keep her from diving head first into it. We realized early this morning, that we did not have a present for Emma, so after church I had to go to Park City and pick something up for her. Dave opted to stay home and clean the house. I feel like I got the better end of the deal for sure. We got Emma a little kitchen that she loved, and we had to remind the boys to quit trying to take over. The three of them played really well. I can't believe she is one already. She is so full of personality. She gives big open mouth kisses and then ducks her chin into her chest like she is shy. She is starting to point at everything and grunt, like she wants to tell you about it. She is still sleeping like a gem and is so fun to have around. I am very grateful for her sweet little spirit.

Dawson's First Hunting Trip

This morning Dave was getting ready to go on his annual pheasant hunting trip with the guys, and he asked me if Dawson could go with him. I was kind of torn because, I first and foremost hate hunting, but also it has been really cold, and really I just hate hunting. We decided to let Dawson go, and he had a blast. He thought it was so cool to be with the big boys, and to spend the day alone with his dad. He loves to do things without Dylan, since they are grouped together so often. When he got home tonight, he was talking a million miles an hour. He picked all the shot gun shells up off the ground and took them into the lodge. He was excited because they gave him a candy for all his hard work. The highlight of the day was his lunch. He kept telling everyone how he had "the best hamburger of his life." He went into great detail about the hamburger and the tomato and lettuce and all the fixings that came with it. I asked Dave about the burger and he said it was a regular ole' burger, but Dawson was on cloud nine. I was pleased because Dawson never uttered one word about hunting or shooting or pheasants. Hopefully Dave gave him the rules- I never hear, smell, think, see anything about hunting. I was really glad that he was able to spend the time with his dad and have such a great time.
During the day, Dylan had a birthday party that he was excited to go to. We went to a friend's house until late last night and Dylan was exhausted this morning. I dropped him off at the party and went home to take a nap with Emma. It was lovely. The party was for one of Dylan's preschool friends' and I didn't know his parents so the drop-off was a little awkward. When I went to pick Dylan up he was having a great time and didn't want to come home. It got really awkward when he started bawling, and I was trying to reason with him. He was so tired that I couldn't even talk to him and I ended up just picking him up and carrying him out of the party. We had to go to Heber and he perked up when I let him pick out Emma's birthday cake.

Today as I was driving the boys to school, Dawson caught me off guard when he said " I wish we could have a car crash into us really hard, but not kill us." His reasoning being, that he wanted to see the machine that the firefighters use to rip open cars. He also said that he wanted the crash to happen in my "zoom zoom" car, the one I drive to work, so that it wouldn't interfere with the t.v. in the Tahoe. I don't have any idea where he would have even seen the Jaws of Life, and he obviously values the t.v. more than me. Great.
Tonight DeAnn, and I spent the evening creating the appearance of being homemakers, as we assembled our monthly meals at DreamDinners. I went to the grocery store the other day, with good intentions, and a big list of things to get, so that I could actually cook some dinners. Fate was against me though, as I hovered above the toilet seat, the list fell out of my back pocket and into the toilet. I ended up leaving the store with 2 pairs of new shoes, some bananas and aluminum foil.

This morning Dylan, Emma, and I went down to my Grandma Beth's house to see my cousin Laura and her 2 kids. They live in Portland and we never get to see them. She has a son, Coen, who is right in the middle of the boys and Dylan was excited to play with him. It was funny to watch and we commented about how kids don't really need introductions or niceties. Dylan walked in, they sized each other up, and then Dylan handed over one of his motorcyles, and they both dropped to the floor to play. It was really nice to see them.
Tonight we went down to Scott and Vicky's, to help give their baby Ryker, a blessing. He is having heart surgery tomorrow and Vicky was a wreck. I can't even imagine having a sick child. Ryker was funny tonight, he was excited to be the center of attention. To watch him play, you would never know that he has a problem. I hope things will go well for them. On the way home from Salt Lake, the boys were watching Curious George. Dawson said to me, "Mom, that man got mad at Curious George and sent him away." I told him not to worry, that I was pretty sure that he got him back. Dawson started this funny little laugh and he said "Yeah, that kinda made tears come out of my eyes." I looked in the back and sure enough, his little eyes were glistening.

Definently My Genes

I worked all day Saturday and Sunday, and when I talked to the boys on Sunday night, I told Dyl that I would bring him a treat home from work. When I got home last night I went into their bedroom to tuck them in and they gave me the update on their day. Both boys give me every detail of what they do on the days that I work, including every morsel that is consumed and specifics on time-outs-(why,where, how long, ect..) So last night Dylan was excited about his treat. He definitely is more like me when it comes to sugar. He has no self control and eats it as soon as he has it. Dawson is far more like Dave in that regard. He doesn't really have a sweet tooth, and he hoards his candy for months. He would rather count it than eat it. So last night, I broke out the candy bar while they were updating me on the day, and gave each boy a tiny little piece of the chocolate. They were giggling because Dave had told them they had to wait until the morning to have any-( I didn't know this at the time.) I told them they could share the rest in the morning and put the candy bar in the night stand. This morning I was showering from my sweat fest with Shauna, when the shower door was thrown open, and Dawson was standing there bawling. I asked him what was the matter, and he told me that Dylan had barricaded himself in their room and was eating all the chocolate. I told him to go tell Dylan to share the candy with him, and he ran off. 5 minutes later the shower door goes flying open again. This time Dawson is chewing his chocolate and bawling. "Dylan won't open the door, he just pushed a tiny bit under the door for me." I am having a hard time keeping a straight face, but I tell him to tell Dylan I want to talk to him. Just then Dylan comes into the room with chocolate all over his face, and a huge, smug, grin. Dawson was appeased when I told him he could control the chocolate next time.

Dylan

Dylan is definitely a stubborn kid. He really needs his nap, but doesn't want to take one anymore, because Dawson is growing out of them. If he doesn't get enough sleep he is up all night, and there is no reasoning with him in the night. Yesterday we went to Costco during nap time and he was very happy. He doesn't like shopping, but he hates naps. After we had gotten our haul, we got into a pretty short line. I noticed an elderly couple behind us, with just a 24 pack of Diet Coke, so I told them they could go ahead of me. The boys didn't see me talking with them, but when they maneuvered their cart in front of ours, all hell broke loose. "Mom! The are trying to cut in front of us." I know they were not innately born with a sense of injustice, so I probably ought to be better about not honking and cutting people off, ect.. Anyway I calmed them down and then the elderly man thanked the boys for letting them in front. I told him that it was fine if they went ahead of us, but they had to choose at least one kid to take with them. They laughed and asked Dawson if he wanted to go home with them. He said no right away, and kind of backed into my legs. Then Dylan says " how far away do you live?" and the old man told him that they lived very close. Dylan thought a few minutes and then nodded his head and said, "alright, I'll go with them." I have to say, I was a little tempted. I was really wishing I would have sent him about 3:00 this morning. Without his nap, he was overtired and about 3AM, Dave and I hear screaming from the boys room. This is how it went down.
Dylan screaming
Dawson- "Dyyyllllaannn, be quiet."
Dylan- "AGNOOOOORE ME" and then more grunts and yells
Dawson- "Dyyllllaaaannnnnnn wah, wah"
Dylan-" AGNOOOORE ME......
This went on about 10 minutes and then they went back to sleep. We are having naps tomorrow.

1st Day Back To School

Today is the 4th day of my diet and also the 4th day without any diet coke. Shauna-the trainer, said I could have 8 oz. of diet coke a day, but what's the point? I went to her house this morning at 6:20 and it was frickin' freazing outside. She humilitated me for an hour then sent me on my way. The amount of fruits and vegetables that I am consuming has not been kind on my stomach, so in my own sort of way, I made her miserable as well. The kids were still in bed when I got home so I sat down on the couch and read the scriptures for awhile. In church on Sunday, the teacher read a quote about if you read your scriptures in your home and with your children, then they will be respectful, obedient, yada, yada. At this point, I am willing to try anything. They were excited to be going to school this morning and as I stepped out of the shower, I could hear Dawson talking to someone on the phone. This is what I heard- "Yeah, I get to go back to school today, and it's a good thing, cause I been like a little shit this week." I was mortified. I didn't have any idea who he was talking to, and then he handed the phone to Dylan and said "Nana wants to talk to you." I was a little relieved, at least it wasn't his teacher, or someone who thinks I have a clean mouth.
We picked up Harleigh, the little girl that carpools with us and she gave us the complete rundown on her Baby Alive, including the theme song to the commercial, on the way to school. When I picked them up they were both filled with stories. Dylan was concerned because his friend Blake didn't cover his mouth when he coughed, and my little germ-a-phobe Dawson, told Dylan, "next time tell Blake that he can't come to school if he doesn't have any manners." Dawson had a great time playing with Taylee, which was good, because Taylee can make or ruin our day with her mood swings. I wish he would find a little boy friend, but whatever. Anyway, it was good to have them back on schedule.

Ouch.

Just after Emma was born, I hired a personal trainer to get back into shape. However, when I had to return to work after 3 months, my diet and workouts went to crap. I called Shauna, the personal trainer, yesterday and groveled to her to take me back again. We are going to Mexico in May, and I need to be in thong bikini and stiletto shape by then. This morning I decided to start my workouts and went to the Endurance class. Jeff is living with us until he gets hitched in April and he went with me since he is working on his SMN diet-(See Me Naked). He was telling me that when he was home he was telling my dad about his SMN diet and my dad said he was also working on his SMNFS diet-(See Me Naked From Space). Anyway he ventured with me and it was the funniest hour of torture I have ever been through. There were about 30 women in the class and Jeff was the lone male. We staked out the back row, and it was a good thing. Jeff moaned and groaned the whole time. He was the only one that made any noise. At one point we were doing these pelvic thrust thingys, where we were laying on our backs and had weights on our hips and lifting, Jeff made a horrible noise and the instructor said "Did somebody just meow back there?" It was pretty funny, but Jeff and I were the only ones laughing. Next time we are going to take my fart machine and really ruffle some feathers.

Tonight we took the boys to a freestyle motocross event. We went to our favorite Vietnamese place first and Dave was trying to get the boys to eat the cucumbers and carrots that came as garnishes with the egg rolls, instead of the egg rolls. They weren't fooled. They enjoyed the egg rolls and each polished off a bowl of Pho. The motorcycles were pretty cool for the first hour, just when I thought they were done, and should be done, they announced a 15 minute intermission. Then another hour and a half of the same 4 tricks they did in the first hour and a half. Motocross riders are pretty sexy with all their gear on, but tonight taught me that they aren't necessarily hot without the helmet. One by one they interviewed the eight different riders and when they took their helmets off the average age appeared to be 45, and can I just say-WOOF! They seriously looked like a bunch of old guys that should be chained to their computers playing Dungeons and Dragons. Dawson's favorite rider lifted his jersey up to reveal an enormous gut that he squeezed into a bagel shape around his belly button, and jiggled it to the crowd. Dawson couldn't believe the guy had "boobos". Anyway the boys had a great time and kept thanking us for taking them. It was a good night.

Happy New Year!!

I have high hopes for this new year. In addition to the usual weight loss, more workouts, la-di-da, my main focus this year will be to be a better mother. I read a great article in the Ensign December issue by President Hinkley about rearing children. I will probably need to read it everyday to stay on task, but I can do it. I have great kids, and they deserve a great mom. We had a fun New Years Eve. I had to work the 7-7 and it had snowed really hard the night before, so I had to get up at 5:15 to make it to work on time. The drive was miserable and I ended up being 10 minutes late, but it worked out alright. We were ridiculously busy, but the day went by fast and I didn't have to do any death packets so I am counting my blessings. I have had a few rough shifts with a couple of unexpected deaths and 3 codes in my last 2 shifts. A few of the other nurses have been teasing me and telling me I smell like death, but what goes around..... Anyway, I ran my butt off and wasn't looking forward to partying to much. The roads were good on my way home, and when I got there the party was jumping. The kids were running around, and climbing the walls like they were on a meth high. My sister-in-laws were letting it rip on the karaoke machine and the guys were watching football. I felt like I had hit the wall when I sat down to eat, but Dave did a little Eminem Karaoke and started me going. I followed his number with an edited version (for the kid's sake), of Gold Digger. Dawson and Dylan loved doing Karaoke and performed Dawson's favorite song, You Want to Make a Memory. It was so cute, he sang it very soulfully. Dylan sang, Fall in the Ocean, with Dawson as back up and they had a great time. We broke out Guitar Hero and had dueling guitars for the rest of the party. We gave up about 11:30 and everyone went home. I was so glad to fall into bed, and was nearly asleep when our neighbors came out with their pots and pans and started banging and yelling Happy New Year's. I was pissed, but it was midnight, so whatever. At 12:25 they were still banging and screaming and I was swearing up a storm and hitting my pillow. I wanted to go over there and do terrible things with their pots and pans, but Dave kept hold of me until they finally stopped.

Happy New Year!!!!