Guess where I was?

Tempers were flying. People were arguing, yelling at each other. Grabbing things from each other, cutting in line and taking pens, boxes and tape from each other. It was mad chaos. I got there with a friend, and waited two and half hours to enter this zoo. When we left with half of what we came for we were both, hungry, tired and in shock at what were just saw. Where were we? The cannery!! I have heard that you never stand in the way of a Mama trying to feed her babies.....after today I believe it!

T-Ball

Miles had two T-Ball game on Saturday. It was also his last soccer game, add in a blast ball game for Tyson - and it was a busy day. He had a great time. It is fun to see the improvement of his team from last year. Miles is doing great this year. He told me the other night that he likes t-ball better than soccer. I also think that t-ball fits his personally better. Miles was a little intimidate getting into the middle of a group of kids to get the soccer ball, but did good at soccer getting the stray balls that broke away from the group.

One funny story about his first time up to hit during the game. He hit the ball, and ran to third base, while the player on second base ran to third base and the player on third bases wasn't sure what to do. It was really funny to see all three of them fighting over the base, while all the parents are yelling "wrong way", "run" and "stay there" added to the three confused kids not knowing what to do.

Blast Ball

Tyson started Blast ball. To say that he is having a "Blast" is an understatement. He is our little clown out there on the field. Everything he does in life is to make someone laugh - mostly himself - so this is no different. He swings the bat and misses the ball just for the reaction of those watching. He has also been seen hitting the ball, and running out to catch his ball, and then run to first base. His games are sure entertaining.

The Directions Say 5+

I am really in trouble. So far I have been able to figure out all of the boys toys. I have to read the instructions - but I have been able to translate the drawing and arrows into a some kind of toy that resembles the picture on the box. Tyson has a new Transformer - Ironhide. I have been trying to transform this guy for a month. I can get him into a robot, although I don't think it is complete right. The directions show an arrow to turn his body and I can't get him to swivel. Turning him into a truck, that is another tail. This is as far as I can get him. Sad huh! Tyson has been having a meltdown all afternoon because I can't figure out how to get the arms hooked underneath his body and the doors snapped down. Yes - I am over 30 with a college degree and can't figure out a 5 year old toy. I am going to be in trouble when we advance to the 7 and 8 year toys. Heaven Help Me!

Day at the Lake

Today was our marathon day. We had blast ball this morning for Tyson, Troy left early to take Miles to his last soccer game. Then I followed with the two little ones. This evening Miles had his first t-ball game - a double header. Add to that t-ball and blast ball pictures - and I was filling a little tired and over scheduled. I am glad that soccer is over. Miles had a great time, and I enjoyed the season and getting to know more neighbors.

Anyway - in between our games we went to the lake to get our boat pass. We stopped and got some sonic and had a little picnic. The boys had so much fun. This is the lake that we go to all the time, but we just go straight to the boat ramp, and off we go across the lake. The boys had a great time playing on the play ground, running along the beach and watching all the boats.

I think that with our crazy day - it was so nice to just be the boys and do something new and fun.

The Earth has a fever...

The following link will take you to a list of all of the problems caused by global warming. You won't believe some of this. BEWARE, PEOPLE ACTUALLY BELIEVE THIS CRAP!

http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm

Miles New Look

Last night we went over to my parent's for dinner. I am not sure how it worked out, but Miles found a message board thing that you put on your fridge from Domino's. He played with it all night, and then got to take it home. By the looks of pictures, I think that it was still playing with it during the car ride home. When we were unloading the car, Troy came run in the house laughing, and said, go look at Miles. This is what we found.

I am still laughing about how he looked. It was some major scrubbing by Troy to get the black off - and I still see a faint hint of black on his hands.

Good Morning! The Sun is Shining! The Tank is Clean!

The boys watched Nemo yesterday, this is a line from the movie that always make me laugh. I am not sure why, but I do, even after seeing the movie uncountable times.

Plus, I think this is a good way to describe my family today. Drew woke up yesterday and all his sores were gone. Amazing how fast they came and went. So, I once again have a happy baby...YEAH!! The fog that has been hanging around our house is gone, the kids are well again, the sun really is shining, my "tank" is almost clean., (I have decided that my house can never be clean all at the same time) and I have three little boys full of energy. So, yes I think we back to normal. It has been a long week, but yet I can't believe it is already Friday!

We Don't Have Strep

I took all the kids back into our pediatrician this morning. I am glad I did, he was very reassuring and took time to answer all my questions that were raised from last night. Re-examined the kids, and said that we do not have strep, we actually have something called "herpangina". The first thing he said after this- was don't freak out, this is not herpes, just sounds like it. It is caused the the coxsackie virus. So the antibiotics we got last night will not help my boys, unfortunately we will have to wait for it to run it course - about 3 - 6 days. *ugh*

From what I have been reading today, this is closely related to the "hand, foot, mouth" virus. So we could be worse off, I could have three boys with sores all over their hands, feet and mouth. I can't even image how miserable they would be. The doctor said that it is very painful - hence the inconsolable screaming from Drew for the last 3 days - plus new teeth! My poor baby!! Hopefully this will pass quickly.

The Saga Continues

I have never had strep throat, and either have my kids - until tonight. Miles fell asleep on the floor next to me this morning around 10:00 while I was folding laundry. I didn't really think to much of it, we have been running like crazy the last week, and I just figured he was worn out. So I moved him to my bed, and decided to let him sleep. I tried to wake him up for lunch, he just rolled over, he felt a little warm - but I am still not to concerned and let him sleep. Plus - I am dealing with Drew who is very uncomfortable and having a rough day as I put in an earlier blog, and he is totally consuming my every action while he is awake. And then there is Tyson who is bored with no brothers that will play with him, and so every time Drew went down for a nap (he still takes two a day, what a blessing for me) Tyson wanted me to play with him. Some days I wish I could clone myself.

Anyway back to my story. I went up to wake up Miles again about 4:00 when Troy came home, now concerned at how long he has slept. Again, he would not get up, and now he feels like he is on fire. I had Troy come up and see if could get Miles up and still little response from Miles, now Drew is awake and just as hot. I called my doctor told them what was going on and was told our doctor was already gone for the day, but I needed to get the kids to an urgent care tonight.

When we got there the doctor totally made me feel like I just earned the "Worst Mother of the Year" award. She told me I shouldn't have waited so long to get Drew to the doctor, that he fever was high enough I should have taken him to the ER, and Miles was dehydrated and needed to be at the ER for fluids. To make a long story shorter, the boys both have strep throat. The doctor changed her mind and decided that we didn't need to go to the ER. I think Tyson is next he has red spots on his throat also. We are home giving the boys Gatorade, antibiotics and Motrin. I will call my doctor in the morning to follow up. So I think that I may be in for it again tomorrow. :(

Side note - This was the first time Troy has joined me for a trip with all three boys to the doctor. I think that he has gained a new appreciate for how wiped out I am when I get home. Also, for having a great dislike of needles, I was happy that he did not pass out while holding Miles when he had his blood test and shot.

New Teeth Blues

It started Saturday, and has escalated each day. Drew is cutting new teeth and is beyond miserable. Poor little guy is getting for sure four new teeth in the front, two on top and two on bottom. I think he may be getting his molars also, but he bit me when I tried to feel them, and I haven't venture to try to feel again. Thank goodness for Popsicles, and yogurt. They seem to be the only thing that feels good in his sore mouth right now and all that he will eat.

He has a had a fever for the last couple of days, and has wanted to be held all day. I am out of practice of holding a baby all day and my arms are tired. I guess that I have gotten use to him walking and not realized it. On the bright side, all of these teeth will be in (hopefully) in the next couple of days, and not spread out over weeks to come (hopefully). I am keeping my fingers crossed.

The Calm After the Storm

We had more storms last night. We had tornado hit south of DFW early in the evening. So we were aware that there was bad weather around. When we went to bed last night, the weather man said no more severe weather for the rest of the night, we would have more storms hit around rush this morning. We went to bed, and I woke up about 4:00 in the morning to a strobe light of lightning outside. The boys came running into our room and Miles was literally shake the bed from fright because the of the loud, one after another thunder.

As I am trying to calm them down the wind started up. Then I got freaked out. The wind was so loud and strong, I thought our roof was going to blow off or our windows were going to blow out. I don't think that I have ever hear the wind so strong. I woke up Troy, who somehow had slept through this, we grabbed all the kids and ran downstairs. I think this is actually the first time I have got all the kids up at night and made them come downstairs because of the wind. We couldn't get the TV to work, the satellite was out, so we were on the computer trying to figure out if we were in the tornado warning area. After about 30 minutes, the wind stopped and we went back to bed. Amazingly, Drew slept through all the commotion, and being moved in and out of bed.

This morning we went out to inspect the damage. A couple of my chairs on the deck had blown into the pool, and some of the pickets of our fence blew out. As we drove through the neighborhood, several fences and trees were down. This evening I was watching the news and saw how bad the damage was all around us. The news is reporting that 5 tornado's hit last night. Houses are destroyed all over the area. Every time I see pictures like that, I am amazed at the power of wind. It was a scary night, but it was a beautiful and calm day today. Crazy how fast the weather can change.

Disgusting

Drew has two really disgusting habits. One is using his hair as a napkin, which also drive me crazy because I have to wash him completely after every meal and snack. The other is more annoying and gross. He eats his poop. Disgusting - yes I know!
He started doing it last summer when we went to Utah to visit my brother. The first time he did it, I freaked out! I was calling everyone - my doctor, my sister-in-law who is a nurse and finally poison control, I didn't know what was going to happen to a kid who eats poop. I was worried about E.Coli. Anyway we survived a VERY long trip home with one sick baby. I went to his doctor for a well visit shortly after we got home and was told not to worry it was probably a one time thing.
Almost a year later - I am still dealing with his gross one time thing. I had a well baby visit for Drew this afternoon. We were all ready to go, I ran upstairs to grab Drew and he has been sitting there eating his poop again. So I did a quick bath and we are off to the doctor - so this topic is fresh on my mind when we get there. After talking to the doctor about it, he says sometime kids eat weird things when their iron is low, so lets just test it to see we can rule out some reason for why he is doing this. He tested his iron and it was suppose to be up around 12 and his was 6. I am not even sure what test they did or what they were measuring, but we went for more blood tests this afternoon. Which means by the time we left our doctor visit and driving all over the hospital to find the lab with all three boys, Drew of which had basically screamed the whole time because they pricked his finger, gave him a shot and drew blood. Miles and Tyson fighting over the toys they brought to play with. I was ready to scream along with Drew.
I am much better now, and trying to figure out what tests they did on Drew today. I feel bad, with the boys fighting and Drew screaming, I was just thinking get me out of here and didn't think to ask about the tests so that I could read about them when I got home.

Our Day In Car Heaven

Miles, Tyson and Drew were so excited to go look at their favorite things. Cars (primarily Hummers and Corvettes). We were able to go with Grandpa Whatcott and sit in all of the cars. To cap it all off Hummer was giving away toy Hummers. Tyson liked the yellow toy car that was just his size. I think it reminded the kids of the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe.

"Daddy needs one of these..."

Hey Bubba, where er them garage doors wees spose to install?

..Uh I dunno.

Somebody was quite ingenius with their home improvement. I wonder if they can find their garage? I wonder if it looks like a fence?

Sorry about the picture quality. Camera phone @ 40 mph.

Love,

Troy

Miles Memory

I think that I am just in a reminiscent mood today - so here is a memory from Miles when we lived in apartment. It was about this time a year, two year ago, so Miles would have been 3. When we hear thunder in our house you can count to three and have boys (and a dog) in your lap or bed, depending on the time of day. We had a late night thunderstorm rolling in. It had been raining for a while and there was a lot of lightning, but to much thunder. We suddenly had a big crack of thunder and the boys woke up with a scream. I don't remember if Miles came running into our room, or if we went to his, but when we got to him, he stated that "there was a dinosaur outside of his window roaring, and the rain was taking his picture." To this day we don't have a thunderstorm without thinking of that night.

Rostov-Na-Donu, Russia

Do know where this is? I didn't until last night. I had never heard of it, but I am learning about it now. I have been reading everything I can about Russia on Wikipedia, and looking at pictures on google earth. My nephew, Briton, just got his mission call yesterday and is going to serve his mission there. How exciting, scary, and nerve-racking! He is going to be on the other side of the planet - and has to learn Russian! He is fluent in Spanish was just sure that he was going to South America. So what a surprise! Two other boys in his dorm got there calls too. They had it all arranged for them to have conference calls with their families, and they family and friends there when they opened them. One is going to to Mexico and the other to Germany. Can you believe the range of calls that they got! What an exciting night for them, I am so happy that he has such a good group of friends at school.

Flashback: I can't help but think of the day that I got my mission call. I turned in my papers in Utah, and of course thought I would have a call in 2 weeks. I gave my notice to my job and made arrangements to move home a month after I turned in my papers. I remember leaving Utah, thinking I can't believe that I am leaving and have no call. After I moved home it took another two weeks before I got my call. I ended having an appointment with my stake president in Fresno, and he gave me a fax copy of my call and I left about 3 weeks after that for my mission in West Virginia.

When I got to the MTC and the other sisters that were going to the mission with me had received letters from the mission president with more information, that I never recieved. I send lists of things to my parents that I needed for the mission that I got at the airport. When I got to my mission image the surprise of my mission president when I walked into his house in West Virginia and he didn't know that I was coming. My mission started out crazy - but only added to the experience.

I am excited and of Briton and all that he has to experience, learn and do over the next two years.

Our Planetary Emergency

(Posted by TROY)

Our very existence depends on it...

(Or something warnful like that)
-Al Gore on Oprah

As you all know, I have been a very concerned activist on environmental issues. From switching to corn-based inks to using no styrofoam products made from polyethyline diglutimate. It is our duty to keep global warming from making us resort to using artificial refrigeration to keep the polar bears alive and stuff.

I AM DOING MY PART. I bought a sticker. This sticker certifies that my vehicle runs only on PURE HYDROCARBON. Any sticker that has a leaf on it means it is good for the environment, right?

If you really care about the environment, PLEASE, get a sticker with a leaf on it and let everyone know you care!