4th of July

I hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July!

Happy Birthday Olivia!

My little Whooby turned 5!  She got a nifty sprinkler thing to play with outside.  She got new sandals that fit her, not Donna.  Daddy took her to Build A Bear in the Mustang and got her a new stuffed dog that barks and has a heart beat.  She got a frosty from Wendy's afterward. She played Wii while waiting for dinner.  After dinner and chocolate cherry cake she unwrapped her very first necklace.  It's a kitty necklace.  She loves kitties.  She got a nice message from Grandma that she smiled at.  She didn't have to do ANY chores all day long but she got to take a Winder jug out to the box outside.  She had a pretty good day.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Happy Birthday toooooo yoooouuuu.  Happy Birthday tooooo yooooouuuu!  Happy Birthday dear Beeeen!  Happy Birthday toooo yoooouuuu.  And many more!  Shut the dooooor, on Grandma's sooooore!  On chanel fooouuuur. 

Happy Birthday to you.  You were born in a zoooo.  All the monkeys and the elephants look exactly like you!

Stand up, stand up.  Stand up dear Beeen stand up stand up.  Oh, how old are you?  Oh, how old are you?  Oh, how old are yooouuu?  Oh, how old are you?

Now you can blow out your candles!

So what did you get?  What did you do?  Did you have a good Birthday?

Happy Belated Father's Day

I ordered William's Father's Day present online hoping it would be delivered in time.  Of course, no, it wasn't.  Oh well, it was worth the wait.  I showed William what I ordered on the computer on Sunday so he would be able to look forward to it.  It arrived yesterday.  I was so excited.  Now our bed is all pretty and it didn't cost too much.  I think William likes it but I know he could think of several things he would have rather have gifted to him.  Still this bed set was on clearance and is really nice.  Now I'm more motivated to make the bed!  Happy Belated Father's Day to all the Dads! 

Second Vehicle Option

Time is ticking down fast.  We decided that a second vehicle will not only give me a little freedom but we don't have to buy a bigger expensive vehicle that'll guzzle gas like a sailor guzzles brew.  Something more economical for William to drive to work and school and church is what we need. So what do you think about this beaut?  It has 200,000 miles, its a 1990-ish honda civic.  The owner said it needs a new transmission and a key for the ignition.  For just $300 it's ours if we tow it off the drive way!

Sickitty sick sick sick

I don't think I've ever thrown up in any six month time period as much as I've thrown up the past 6 months.  I got sick again!  This time it was a nasty flu bug.  It sure wipes me out.  Sorry I missed you all in Denver!

Yeah Michael!

Michael recieved an achedemic award for being so smart! He was one of two in his class to get one. Later he got a certificate for biggest field day shiner! Yeah Michael, our little genius! This is him next to his teacher, Ms. Croxton.

Vroom Vrooom

This was taken around a month or so ago.  I thought it was so cute that Little Jacob rolled the truck all around the floor and really enjoyed it for several minutes.  The other kids had a favorite toy when they were about a year old but they were soft and fuzzy.  Not Jacob.  He's not much for cuddly toys.  He loves his trucks or anything with wheels.  Silverware and pencils are his next favorite.  

Memorial Day

William tried really hard Sunday evening to get Jacob to take his first step. William watched Jacob play during Sacrament meeting (btw, this week was MUCH better) and thought he seemed developed enough that with a little encouragement he could do it. Jacob was too distracted or just not interested. It didn't happen. Then on Memorial Day when I was putting the kids to bed he stood up in the middle of the girls' room and lifted his little boy foot up, put it back down to gain his balance then tried the forward motion with his foot. He fell but that was his first step. Poor William. He tried so hard to see the 1st step!

Very Eventful Day

When we got McDonald's and went to the park I realized while I was sharing my sandwich with Jacob that it was his first taste of McD's!  He gobbled up the cheese burger but wasn't thrilled about the bubbles in the root beer.  He only liked the fries so long as the ranch lasted.  He also liked mushing his fingers around in the ketchup.  Jacob, Welcome to America, Earth!

On The Other Hand

Poor Michael.  I got to the school for Donna's Graduation and almost immediately found Michael next to his classroom crying.  Today was his field day.  He got sunscreen in his eyes.  William helped him rinse his eye out in the bathroom then went outside to see him play a little.  As soon as he rejoined his class he and another kid's heads collided.  I don't know what Michael's big head did to the other kid but Michael came away with a big souvenir.  Poor Michael.  McDonald's and the park cheered him up a bit but then he left his super cool Speed Racer McDonald's toy at the park.  What a bad bad day!  We ate cake when we got home so we're happy again.

Donna's Talent Show and Kindergarten Graduation

Today was Donna's 3rd to last day of school.  They had a talent show as part of the graduation ceremony.  Donna played "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the piano.  She did good finding middle C and played okay.  She missed a few notes and got embarrassed but she finished and I think most everyone could tell what song it was.  Yeah for Donna!  She got her little diploma and then we got Michael and we all went to the city park and ate McDonald's to celebrate!

Attacked!

Yesterday was humid and sticky.  Then I did a workout and then I had to run a couple of errands before I finally kicked all the kids out of my room so I could take a long anticipated shower.  At last I was getting clean when I felt something itchy on my ankle.  I looked down and there it was.  A big, nasty, ugly, long legged, biting bug!!!  Of course I screamed as I kicked the nasty little thing off.  I got a good look at him while he drowned.  I finished my shower disturbed instead of relieved. I looked up the nasty kind of centipede that would attack a human in the shower to make sure Little Ammon wasn't in any danger.  So it was a house centipede.  According to Wiki they feed off of bugs and have long spotted ugly legs and most of them can't bite through human skin.  "Those that can" are venomous to a very small amount.  It stings like a mosquito bite and then goes away in a couple of hours.  So I was lucky enough to be attacked by a house centipede that CAN bite through human skin.  Nice, but I hope little Ammon isn't gonna come out with antenna or long, spotted, nasty legs.

So William Married an Axe Murderer

Michael was H.T.K. this week(Horizon Terrific Kid) and his teacher sent home a note letting me know that he needed to put together a poster of stuff about himself. It was pretty specific so I got on the computer to print out some pics of Michael doing various different activities and other stuff. Our @!#$(*^#$&*@) printer won't print things from the PC any more. I can't figure it out. I downloaded the right software, drivers, etc. I made sure the IP address and all that other mumbo jumbo was correct. But it still will not and absolutely refuses to print ANYTHING from the PC. I worked hours on it and I am still stumped. GRRRRRRRRRR! I had actual violent thoughts about taking Ken's(our land lord) old dull axe and chopping the printer to bits! Fortunately for Michael and the printer, I was able to use William's precious laptop to print things out. I think William suffered a little withdrawl from his computer but it was worth it to get Michael's project done. I stayed up til 1am to finish it. This morning I asked Michael what he thought about it and he said I did a really good job. That made me feel better. Still, I look at the printer with CONTEMPT! I feel it mock me when I get in bed at night and it still hasn't been turned off. Then I have to get out of bed and touch the hideous thing. I wonder if it can feel the bad vibes I try to send it.

Venting

A few days ago my vacuum belt broke so I haven't been able to clean the floors.  Then today, after William left I took a shower.  The kids decided to try to make a cake in their bedroom using flour, sugar and water!  But my vacuum doesn't work so I had to use the dust buster to try to clean up what I could.  The battery ran down pretty fast though.  Then all during Sacrament meeting Mary was climbing this that and the other while Jacob had his first experience climbing stairs up to William.  That was after he had crawled under two rows of benches behind me. Aaaah!  I guess my new make up scared everyone in the ward because I had no one sitting within a few benches of us.  On the bright side, my Sunday School lesson went well, I think I'm pretty, all the kids are finally in bed, the van works and I went visit teaching this morning.  Still, I'm pretty stressed out.  What is a good way to relax when you feel like it's all falling apart?  I've already had chocolate.

New Pretties

Since Mother's Day Eve didn't turn out the way we had hoped we gave it another try.  Yesterday we went shopping and William got me new make up.  I haven't had new eye shadow for a few years.  The last new lip stick I got was when mom gave me hers.  I bought new eye liner recently but it was a different color than what I wanted and looked really really really bad.  I wore it anyway because... I don't know why.  So I have new eye make up and foundation and concealer and fun stuff.  I think I'll start getting rid of some of the colors I have from nine years ago!  I looked pretty with my new look but nobody said anything about it.  Either they didn't notice or they didn't want to tell me how bad it looked.  Hmmm... Maybe river light wasn't the right color for me after all.  

Hungry Hungry Hippo

Men look at their precious pregnant wives with love and respect and appreciation for all the travails they go through.  I wonder if they also appreciate the oddities as well.  Once I reach a certain point in pregnancy it's all about foooooooood!  I can eat a nice big meal and be hungry again half an hour later.  The strange part about this is all of the kids are following this trend as well.  They suddenly are bottomless pits.  The girls and I were invited to a end-of-the-preschool-year party that was being held at the park across the street.  We fed Donna and put her on the bus to go to kindergarten.  Then it was time to finish feeding Olivia and Mary.  They ate and ate and ate and ate and ate.  We were there for more than 2 hours and they kept eating the whole time!  Thankfully there was plenty of food and even some left over by the time we finally left.  Snack time rolled around and they were hungry again.  At dinner, Mary ate two servings of spaghetti and had room for more.  I thought being pregnant was food consuming.  I guess growing your own little body is harder.

Walmart makes me SICK

William and I went on a celebratory date since he was accepted to the U.  We went to the U and walked around campus and then we went to dinner at Cafe Rio.  William had a little payback to do to one of the young women in our ward so we stopped at Walmart to get some silly string.  I thought I would be wise and get an easy make dinner so I could take it easy for Mother's Day and all.  I found dinner and put it in the cart and was going to look at dessert when the nightmare began.  Now, this odd bodily function of mine has happened a few times before but never away from home.  When I get dehydrated I get nasty sick.  So all at once, although I didn't feel dehydrated, I was high tailing it to the bathroom.  Sure enough, a few minutes later I'm throwing up in the Walmart bathroom.  What a nightmare!  If you've ever been to a Walmart bathroom the last thing you ever want to do is put anything but your feet on that floor.  Here I was draped over their nasty toilet loosing my dinner.  The funny part was that while I wasn't trying to make a lot of noise I heard someone walk by my stall and mutter under their breath "sick!"  I wonder if they thought I was some drunk or what come to Walmart to better their atmosphere.  Still, I wonder what I would have said or done if I had been that person.  Having been through it personally and knowing how horrid an experience it can be I hope I have enough compassion to ask if the person throwing up is alright and if there is anything I could do for them.  All I wanted to do was go home.  Thankfully, William and I both had our phones and we were able to communicate.  He found where I left the basket and paid for our stuff and we got me home before too much longer.  There is yet another wonderful experience at Walmart!

Sentimentality

I have a treasure box Grandma Haynie gave me when I was pretty young. I keep my old baby blanket and pillow in there amongst some other silly childhood toys and nicknacks. So what' the point? What does being sentimental mean to you? Why do you suppose we need sentimental things around us? Why do we keep those little momentos? What is excessive, too inexcessive, healthy, unhealthy when it comes to our need to be nostalgic?

Goodbye to an Old Friend

Yesterday I was ironing and found that my iron wasn't getting hot enough to get the wrinkles out of our clothes.  It's the beginning of the end.  We've had this iron since we got married and now it's starting to go out on us.  That's almost ten years.  So on Monday, or whenever I get to the store, we will be welcoming a new member into our appliances as we buy another iron.  Since we got so many years out of this one maybe we'll buy it's offspring...er... I mean newer model.  So long old Black N Decker 425 iron.  You've been flat out awesome!  You've done so much for us.  You were Michael's first lesson on what the word "hot" meant.  You kept us on the straight and narrow!  You've been with us through small and big iron boards, thick and thin iron pads, and stormy weather!  Never again will you leave rust spots on shirts that had to be ironed at the last minute.  So, would a cordless last as long as a corded iron?

In General...

We are all doing good.  William just finished his semester and gets a couple of weeks off.  We're waiting for his grades to come through.  I think he did well.  Michael got straight E's.  Donna's doing well in school but I have the feeling she's more the social bug than anything else.  Olivia's excited to go to school in a few months.  Mary is a terror as usual but starting to improve.  She reminds me of Elizabeth when she was little in a few ways.  Jacob is growing and starting to stand on his own two feet.  It's hard to believe he's about to be a big brother.  Fetus Ammon Kenneth kicks harder and harder everyday so that must mean he's good and healthy.  I'm 26 weeks along and trying to get the house in order and cleaned out for the new baby.  Today I took a step in that direction.  A friend of mine gave me a portable crib like Jacob's which gave me the ability to give the bassinet to DI.  A bunch of other things went to DI as well.  Oh, the freedom from clutter is a joyful feeling.  I highly recommend it!

Mary Bites the Monkeys

I took all the kids to Home Family Personal Enrichment Night and found there to be no nursery as usual.  So I told Michael he was in charge of the girls and to keep them in the nursery and that they knew where I would be and there was only our ward in the building.  So about 10 minutes later Olivia found me and soon the others were running rampant through the building.  I had to gather the nursery toys back into the nursery.  Anyway, during this rampant run Mary managed to find the Bishop.  She came into the room and told him that he was not human.  Confused at this statement he asked her what he was and gave her a few options like "Am I a man?  Am I a little girl?  Am I a Giants' Fan?  Am I an alien?"  She answered no to all his questions but was insistent that he was not human.  No more Nick for my kids!  I would have been embarrassed if we didn't know the Bishop so well.

Michael is Genius Material

I haven't blogged and bragged about Michael lately.  He's always been a great student and a grade level ahead in reading.  This term is no different.  He got straight E's (E is for Excellent) and is reading at a third grade level.  We just moved him and Jacob into the smaller room upstairs.  We're getting ready to paint and hopefully put up some shelves and get a desk for his books and things.  He's so excited to have a room basically to himself(Jacob sleeps in a crib and can't play with all of Michael's toys).   Michael's such a great little man.

New New New New blog

I'm kinda tired of resetting my blogs so maybe this one will stick.  William just doesn't have the time to fix my last site and I really didn't have time to get his computer away from him between school, work, church and homework.  This way I can blog from any computer.  I hope this one is better than yahoo.  Things were difficult to put the way I wanted them.  I might go back to .mac when William gets through law school and I inherit his laptop.  That's a few years away though.