My All-Nighter

Do you remember these ornaments? I did a little mini-class at my ward's Super Saturday a month ago; I had about fifteen people sign up. I wanted to prepare as much as I could, so I pre-cut, pre-drilled, everything. I ended up staying up until 5:30 IN THE MORNING. I couldn't believe how long it took me to prepare everything! And then I had several ladies decide the next day at the spur-of-the-moment to make some, so I had to hurry right then and drill and cut stuff. It was so stressful. I need to stop volunteering for things. I always get so stressed out.

The Dentist

For Sadie's preschool, we are not only required to have her get a well-child exam at the doctor; we also are required to have her go get her teeth checked at the dentist. I'm happy to report that she had no cavities. Which is a miracle, considering how much she loves candy.

Such a Hard Worker

Micah is a crackup. The other day, he pulled a big spatula out of a kitchen drawer, and then he proceeded to scrape the floor in the kitchen and in the dining room for me. I think he thought he was cleaning in some way. He worked really hard.

His Little Ponies

My little man ADORES My Little Ponies. They are his number one toy of choice.

The My Little Ponies are actually Sadie's, so he and Sadie fight all the time over them. I finally broke down and bought Micah his own. I got a white one for him, because it wasn't as feminine as the pink ones, but he still prefers the pink ones. Sadie is cool giving him one of her pink ones to play with; she really likes the white one.

I love this next picture, where he's kissing the pony:

Play Imitating Life

Sadie did something cute with her toys the other day. She had her little ponies, plus a little stuffed kitten, feeding from her big stuffed dog, like she saw the kittens do with Xena:

I thought it was really funny.

It's autumntime, it's autumntime, the leaves are falling down...

Well, they were falling down, a month ago, when I took these pictures. Now the leaves are gone and it's a frozen tundra outside. Sigh. I get really sad when fall ends and winter begins.

Ben raked a really small pile for the kids to jump in. He usually prefers to just mow the leaves up. So much easier than raking. I took a few pics while Ben was rigging up the lawn mower.

Sadie:

Oh, what a cheesy face:

Dylan:

Again, cheesiness abounds. Like in the New Moon movie I just saw. Hahaha! I really did love it, but cheesy mania: "I just couldn't imagine living in a world where you didn't exist..." Blah blah blah. Man up, Edward!!! I am a staunch Team Jacobite. Yes I am.

I love this next grouping of pictures. Dylan ran and jumped into the leaves, while shooting at the leaves with his gun:

And then realized that he couldn't find the bullet:

Shooting at the leaves wasn't such a good idea, after all. Ben eventually found the bullet. And I haven't seen that toy gun since that day. Toys are so important for like one day. And then the kids don't care about them anymore.

My kids play HARD.

I'm really surprised I haven't had to take them to the hospital for play-related injuries. Seriously. Sadie's injuries are a little less intense than the boys' injuries. I think it's because she's the biggest bully of them all. Last night, Dylan came running into the bathroom while I was bathing Micah, screaming that Sadie had poked both of his eyeballs with her fingers. She is vicious. I put her in time out for the rest of the evening. Eye-gouging is unacceptable. "We must not embrace violence." What movie is that from? Ten points.

So here are Sadie's very small play-related injuries. A little scratch in the middle of her forehead, next to a smudge of ketchup:

That same scratch thing:

A scratch above her right eyebrow:

Dylan - bruise on his cheek:

And this one is from school - a bump on the noggin:

He said a kid jumped off the big toy at school and landed on him, and his forehead whammed against the cement. Sweet.

My poor little Micah has even received some injuries:

Apparently, the three of them were jumping on the bed, and Micah ricocheted off Dylan and into a nearby dresser. I was pretty mad.

Dylan's school has this entire week off, and it has been a nightmare. He is so intensely overwhelming. He reminds me of the Tazmanian Devil from Looney Toons. Just a tornado, going from room to room, shouting, yelling, running into people and hurting them, and creating enormous messes. In the summer, it's not so bad, because I can send him outside. I feel guilty sending him outside when it's 25 degrees. It's been a looooooooong week. And it's only Tuesday. I just wish he would calm down. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll get sick. :)

Taking a Page from Black-Eyed Sue's Book

I go to this website daily for ideas on how to do Sadie's hair. The woman who started the site (she calls herself Black-Eyed Sue) has stopped posting, but I still go back to all of her earlier posts to come up with ideas. The bows I use were so disorganized - I had them all just stuffed into a small drawer. I followed Sue's suggestion and used an old shoe organizer to organize the bows:

Voila. It has made my life so much more simple. Hooray for organization!!

Like this.

Sadie loves her some eggs. She would be happy to have eggs at every meal. She can't remember the different names for the different styles of eggs, especially her favorite, hard boiled. So she says, "I want my eggs like this." And then she'll hold her hand like this:

Somehow, holding her hand with her fingers together signifies "hard boiled."

You live in Idaho.

I got this forward today and it made me laugh so hard. It is soooo true:



If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Idaho.



If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Idaho.



If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Idaho.



If you measure distance in hours, you live in Idaho.



If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Idaho.



If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Idaho.



If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both unlocked, you live in Idaho.



If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Idaho.



If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in Idaho.



If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in Idaho.



If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Idaho.



If you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly', you live in Idaho.

Pets have emotions, too.

Let's get you up to date on the Xena happenings around here.

After I took the kittens to the Nazi Humane Society Lady's house, I thought for sure that Xena would stop peeing and pooping on our beds, piles of laundry, laundry baskets, blankets, etc. I really felt that, while the kittens were here, she had been somehow asserting her territory or whatever, because these behaviors had started a couple of weeks after the kittens were born.

But after the kittens left, her behavior stayed the same. Bodily fluid mania.

She got spayed about a week after the cats left, and I thought for sure that would do the trick. Get those hormones outta there. But she came home and continued to release bodily fluids in inappropriate areas. I was just about to cause Xena to Peace Out of our household. I called Nazi Humane Society Lady to see if she would just take Xena back and re-adopt her out. I was on my last limb. NHSL said, "Oh, she must have a UTI."

Wha?

I guess that when cats have UTI's, they pee in inappropriate areas. Or when they're mad. I didn't see what she had to be mad about, honestly. So I took her to the vet to get her pee tested. Seventy-five dollars later, I found out that she did NOT have a UTI. Sweet. I love throwing $75 down the toilet. It's my favorite thing.

The vet told me that, most likely, Xena was pissed about something. Get it? Pissed? I'm so funny. And then the vet gave me Cat Antidepressants:

Okay, maybe "antidepressants" is a strong word. They're all-natural, like St. John's Wort for humans. But still. To have to give a cat all-natural anti-depressants really is ludicrous to me.

Along with the ludicrous product came this ludicrous pamphlet:

Puh-lease.

May I just quote from an e-mail my dear friend Patty sent me at this time about this topic?:

"Xena is on ANTI-DEPRESSANTS!? They make those for animals? That's nuts! Why is she stressed? If her job too hard for her? Is she having financial problems? Did she recently suffer a bad break up? What on earth would a cat be stressed about?"

No one can put things better than Pats.

Despite the ludicrousness of the situation, I started to give Xena her anti-depressants, just in the interest of my own sanity. Yes, I could have made her Peace Out, but I'm still feeling really guilty about getting rid of two earlier pets. Xena could have blown up my house and I still wouldn't get rid of her. I just can't take the guilt. Or the stigma that has been attached to me because of those pet-getting-rid-of tendencies - Kar is a Cold-Hearted Snake.

At about the same time I started these anti-depressants, we were finally able to let Xena out. We couldn't let her out from the time she had her kittens until she got spayed, because she could have gotten knocked up again. And then we had to wait another week for her stitches to heal and whatnot. When we were finally able to let her out, we figured out what had made her so pissed - she wanted to go outside.

I stopped giving her the drops, um, mainly because I kept forgetting to do it, but we haven't had a problem since we started letting her outside.

Thank heavens.

So now she goes inandoutandinandoutandinandout like a million times a day, but I'm happy to oblige as her official door-opener. As long as she keeps her bodily functions confined to the litter box.

And by the way, I only have to clean her litter box like once every two weeks. She's been doing all of her business outside, even in this freezing weather. I'm loving it. The smell of litter makes me gag.

You may recall that, when we first got Xena, we let her out just once, and in that just once, she got lost and knocked up. She was miraculously found and brought back to our house. So Sadie gets really nervous about letting Xena out. We keep reassuring her that Xena has been out a ton and always comes back now, but Sadie isn't convinced. I have to covertly let Xena out; otherwise I get yelled at by a very overprotective and angry four-year-old. If Xena is in the same room as Sadie, I don't even try. When Sades is around, Xena is left to pine for the outdoors until I can sneak her out:

I keep the anti-depressants around, just in case she has a relapse. Those suckers cost me like $10.

Soooooooo dry.

Is anyone else having this problem? Yes, it looks like I grated my knuckle on a cheese grater or something, but actually, it's my dry, cracking, bleeding skin. I'm putting lotion on like seventy times per day. Yikes. Bikes.

Such a Helper

My little Micah man is obsessed with the dishwasher. He loves to take out the dishes and hand them to me, and he likes to throw the silverware down into the bowels of the dishwasher - not my favorite. Sometimes, I rinse dishes and put them straight into the dishwasher - rinse, stack. Rinse, stack. I stand right next to the silverware holder of the dishwasher when I do this, which drives Micah nuts. The silverware holder is HIS territory. He will literally be shoving me, pushing around my legs to get to the silverware, and yelling at me in baby language if I don't yield.

I've started doing dishes when Micah is napping or in bed for the night.

I'm getting wrinkles.

So the other night, I was brushing my teeth in my bathroom, and by the light of the hallway, I suddenly noticed that I have crow's feet. See 'em?:

I pulled my hair back and flipped on the light to get a closer look, and that's when I noticed that I have those frowny wrinkles between my eyebrows:

I'm getting old, folks. I'm getting old.

My dad has crow's feet, and I love them. I think they're really cute. He's always golfing and squinting in the sun, so his crow's feet are white, while the skin all around it is tan. I just think it's really endearing. So I don't mind my crow's feet.

But I'm not a fan of those frowny lines between my eyebrows.

Heyyyyyy. How's da sickie?

Yep, my title is a line from a movie. What movie? Ten points.

Dylan and I were sick about a month ago. Was it the swine flu? Maybe. I couldn't afford co-pays to go find out. So I just took a "prayerful watch-and-wait stance." Yep, another movie line. Ten points for the correct movie on that one, too.

I walked around looking like this for a couple of weeks:

You gotta do what you gotta do.

Dylan was all bundled up, watching TV, and I told him to smile for a picture. This is his weak attempt:

I think that is the funniest picture ever.

Kay. I know this is bad, but I kind of like it when Dylan is sick. Because he just sits still and is quiet. It is AWESOME. Usually, he is a blustering force of nature. It's nice to have kind of a quiet reprieve:

It took us a couple of weeks to recover, but now we're doing well. Dylan is back to his blustery self.

Onward, ever onward...

Tonight, I heard Dylan absentmindedly singing a song he's been learning at church, "Called to Serve." The song begins:

Called to serve Him,
Heavenly King of Glory...

Dylan was singing:

Called to serve Him,
Heavenly King of Killing...

One part of the song says:

Onward, ever onward,
As we glory in His name...

Dylan was singing:

Awkward, after awkward,
As we glory in His name...

There is also a part that says:

Forward, pressing forward,
As a triumph song we sing...

Dylan was singing:

Forward, pressing forward,
As a tribe of zombies sing...

I was laughing so hard. He cracks me up. I told him what the real words were, and he giggled in an embarrassed way.

Maniac

What famous 80's movie is the song, "Maniac," on? Ten points.

Micah sometimes runs in place. I think it is so freakin' cute:

You Say It's Your Birthday

Which band sang the song in my title? Ten points, baby.

My youngest sis, Lex, turned 22 about a month ago. She was home for the weekend, so of course we had a par-tay. Dad grilled some veggies and pineapple for the occasion, and OMGosh. Amazing:

Can I tell you how much I adore grilled mushrooms? I know that Nat shares this passion with me. :)

Pete was playing with his Precious for most of the night:

I'm poor, so my birthday gift for Lex, per her request, was some homemade rolls. She had to hide them soon after this picture was taken. We are all ravenous when it comes to homemade rolls:

I also made Lex some Better-Than-You-Know-What Cake. Mmmmm:

Dylan decided to take over photography duties for the night. He got some sa-weet shots. Lex:

Pete:

Nat:

I'm bad at making faces for the camera. I can't ever think of anything. I need to come up with a good standby face for silly pictures.

I love this picture that Dylan took of Jake, because you can see Sadie and Troy as blurs in the background. That is so how it is when we all get together. The kids run around like crazy people:

Soon, we banished the kids to the basement and the adults played Tripoley. Mom kept complaining that she couldn't reach the game mat thingey. We joked that she has T-Rex arms, so she posed for a T-Rex picture:

A good time was had by all. Happy Birthday, Lexi-Poohead!

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