Thank You!

Thank you for the compliments on my new layout. I spent hours last night messing around with getting the background in the right place and all of that, but it was fun! And I made my little header in Paint Shop...fun stuff! I'm not super talented but it was fun to be creative for a while.

Kevin's been home alot this week because of weather closing the routes out of Bakersfield into the LA area. He's been home disrup...I mean HELPING my routine...LOL. Jayden was having serious nap issues though because she really likes her daddy and wants him to tickle her belly ALL THE TIME (as long as she can still see Mommy, she doesn't like ANYONE unless Mommy can be seen too). Anyhow her naps have been awful and today he had to go into work so I cradled my little thumb sucker and got her to sleep, she's been out for 2 hours! Three days of not napping will do that to a baby!

I was previously very anti-thumb, but really, if your child is determined, that's what they're going to do...and well she's determined! She shunned the paci a few weeks ago and started sucking her thumb, it's really interesting the way that she does it because she loops her thumb under her forefinger and sucks it with her forefinger hooked over the top of it, interesting little girl! Anyhow she slightly wakes from her naps and finds the thumb and soothes herself back...until I try to blog - there she is! Later all!

So Distinguished!

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Justin's glasses are in! He's been having a little bit of trouble with remembering to look THROUGH them, not under or over them. Oh, and not to TOUCH the lenses. They gave him this spray cleaner and a cloth for cleaning them and so he thinks if he touches them and gets them dirty that we'll keep cleaning them.

Oh and I learned something valuable today, you probably shouldn't get transition lenses for first glasses. They turn to sunglasses very quickly outside and while that sounds cool, it bugs him because it's "dark" and he can't see. I'm sure by summer he'll be thanking us for doing it though.

Then he posed with his brother and sister! Don't mind the drool monster!

New Kids on the Block are BACK!

I just read an article that says NKOTB are reuniting and might tour!!!! Am I the only one super excited about this??? LOL Kevin says I am.

Well, it was not fun. At all.

They brought two plans to the table, put him in 2nd grade right now or give him a ton of help, hope he catches up and if he doesn't he repeats 3rd grade. We chose ton of help and possibly repeating third grade - going into second grade right now would be too big of a blow to his self esteem.

He will go to a 2nd grade classroom each day though to do some remedial math and reading comprehension. He'll have a special tutor just for him each day for one hour to help him catch up and he'll be staying after school Mondays and Wednesdays for reading program and Tuesdays and Thursdays for a math program. He'll have tutoring for 2 hours on Saturdays. Yeah. It's alot.

I talked to him on the way home because when she showed me the tests I wasn't upset at all with him, he did what he did, he can't do more then what he knows, but when she showed me his writing sample - she had asked him to write about a time he spent with someone he loved and he wrote about bees. He wrote a nice little paragraph about them (should have been 3 but that's not the point so much) but he should have stayed on topic. There are things outside his realm of control but doing what he's told is not outside that scope. So we had a long talk about that. She said he'd had some issues with settling down into class but that by the end of the week it was better and she had no problems with him today, so hopefully it was a phase that has passed as he got used to the classroom setting again.

Then we came home and tried to do his homework. It was so frustrating because he just doesn't get it. He's supposed to alphabetize his spelling words but he just sits there - he knows his alaphabet but he just doesn't DO IT...he just sits there unless I'm right there hounding him. I feel that he should be able to do things he knows how to do while I'm in the same area but not hovering right over him. It took from when we got home at 2:45 until 8:15 to get his homework done and I actually don't think it's "too much" homework. All he's supposed to be doing is something relating to the spelling words each night, a math worksheet that is fairly short or a worksheet of some other sort, and reading for 20 minutes...that is NOT impossible! When he was reading he had the book facing away from us and we realized that he was skipping pages and paragraphs, so we had to make him start all over again.

Anyhow, we'll see, Jakey has pulled it off before...he's been considered for retention every single year of his schooling career so far, by the end of the year he usually catches up. He's really far behind so I don't know that he will, but we'll see.

So Sad

The Prophet, President Hinckley, has passed away.

Sad for us, but I'm sure he'll be happily reunited with his wife.

Ack, I've been called to the principal's office!

On Friday I sent a note with Jakey to school for his teacher giving her my email address and asking her to email me if she had any concerns about Jakey and/or when her testing of his level in math and reading was done so we could discuss where he is. She emailed me right after school and said that she wanted to meet with me on Monday, was I available. I emailed her back telling her I can be, and then received an email from her saying to meet in the office because we're going to be meeting with the Vice Principal and the Academic Coach. Ack. She specifically says not to let this alarm me, but I am a little worried.

Honestly, I have no idea what to do with Jakey. I was never a student like him and I can't imagine having his challenges. School, especially elementary school, came very easily to me and I was a good student. Jakey is more of a challenge. I've mentioned before I can see some learning disabilities manifesting themselves and he has had a diagnosis of ADHD but we chose not to medicate, and it would take another round of testing and a long talk with a psychologist for me to even consider reconsidering my position on this. I don't like that label AT ALL. I don't think it's that accurate - I think it's more like "This Child Will Not Conform - ADHD".

Anyhow, I'm nervous. I asked Kevin to take the day off and go with me but he can't because he's hourly now and his 1 year (so he'll have personal time and vacation, etc.) isn't until February 15th. So I'm definitely going alone. I also want to go without Jayden so I'm not distracted or emotional (I cry sometimes when I nurse her, it makes my hormones wonky) and obviously Justin does not need to be there, my SIL is babysitting a little boy that's still a baby and I don't like having her watch two babies and my MIL is off but that's because she's supposed to be looking for a new job on Mondays so she changed her schedule, but we explained the situation to her and she agreed to babysit Jayden and Justin for us while I go to the meeting.

Then there is Kevin, he's mad at me for not recognizing Jakey needed help sooner. I wish he'd quit blaming me, trust me, I feel bad enough that Jakey has academic issues. Could I have dealt with them better/sooner? Probably, but he's just as legally able to enroll Jakey in whatever program he wants, etc. as I am. I think we're passive agressively frustrated with eachother though because I blame his genes for this, I know, I shouldn't but I do.

Anyhow, ugh, I've got knots in my stomach just thinking about tomorrow. Oh well, the worst case scenario is Jakey repeating 3rd grade which is not the end of the world because in almost any other state in the country he'd only be in 2nd grade anyways because his b-day is Oct 28th and our cut off is Dec 2nd here in CA.

Yep I know, I talked about politics.

Anyhow, it's ok to not agree with me, some people who read my blog might be beside themselves with excitement about the rebates, and that's ok, I still love you!

Onto the happenings around here!

Last night I picked Justin up from his very first ever birthday party where the mom drops them off and I asked him how it went, Justin's exact words, "Mom, it was AMAZING." Yep, amazing. What made this party so amazing you ask? Birthday Boy's mom made the cake, that was "amazing", with a treatsure map on it. She gave them treasure maps and they all went on a treasure hunt to the back yard! There were games (I'm not sure what because that wasn't very clear) and treats and balloons with pirate flags on them. Most importantly though - there were eye patches...oh yes, eye patches! Justin answered the door, "argh, matey!" His b-day is next month and now he wants an "amazing" pirate birthday party. Why didn't I get a gene to be crafty and amazing? I'm more of a "let's go to the bowling alley and play a game and have pizza and a cake from Albertsons" kind of mom.

So today I picked Jakey up from Kevin's mom's house where he had stayed the night after his skating party for school. I asked him, "how'd the skating party go?" and he says, "my butt hurts." Yep, Jakey is not middle-named Grace, that's for sure, LOL. I've NEVER rollerbladed, I like my regular skates, thank-you-very-much, and I think Jakey might be better suited for them as well. LOL I asked him if his friends were there and he said not really, then I asked THE question, the one I really wanted to know - who did you skate with? (He had gone with his aunt (12) and uncle (13) but I wanted to know WHO did he skate with during the couples skate! Or did he at all????? He said, "Jasmine." My baby boy, held hands with a girl, and skated to a slow song, in the near dark, with a GIRL! I feel so.....old. I remember skating, in the near dark, to a slow song, with a boy...when I was his age.

So there you have it, I'm the not-so-amazing-at-birthday-parties mom of two boys who are growing up so fast. I held Jayden close and told her, "please, never grow up!"

Tax Rebates

So, I have a few free moments, we're all dressed and ready for the rest of our day and the kids are napping or at school, so I have a moment to organize/compose my thoughts on this Tax Rebate.

I remember receiving some amount of money in 2001, back when we had a SURPLUS, seems like this was right around 9/11 for some reason...anyhow...seemed appropriate back then.

Now we're supposed to be getting these tax rebate checks when we're in a DEFICIT? Really? I've been reading and from what I can figure out a couple making less than $150,000 per year (ding, ding, ding!) will get $1200 IF THEY BOTH WORK, each working person making less then $75,000 ($150,000 if they are married but spouse doesn't work) gets $600, then $300 for each child. So since I don't work (didn't make $3000 last year) we get $600 (for Kevin), $0 (for me), and $300 for each of the kids ($900), so $1500 total.

We have friends who both work, but make a little less then us, but are both out there - so they'll get the $1200, plus their two kids at $300 each - so they'll get $1800. For a smaller family?

So my first issues with this whole thing is, I know it's to boost the economy but I read something about how the money was spent during the last "rebate" (2001) and it said that it was spent on:

1. Clothes (probably weren't even made in the US and yay for boosting Walmart's economy!)
2. Medical items (glasses, etc.) (How sad is it that people had to have these rebate checks to buy things they really needed! But I can totally see us having done the same!)
3. Food (yikes, we need rebates from the government for food!)

So my first thoughts are, where would our $1500 go? Likely...to paying off our car. That's almost as much as we owe. So we'll be one less interest paying to the bank family. I don't think that's too fabulous for the economy either.

Anyhow, so then my other thought comes in...way to discriminate because I chose to stay home with my family! There is NEVER and will NEVER be a rebate for the SAHM, but we shouldn't be PUNISHED for not working! That's ridiculous. Why should a family of four with two working parents get more money then a family of five with one working parent? I think it's fine if a woman wants/needs to work, but I don't think I should be penalized because I choose not to.

Then my most important thought - where is this money coming from? I kind of feel like I'm breaking into my children's piggy banks. We're in a recession, and I know this is meant to boost the economy, I just don't think this is going to work. It's kind of like the credit card company sending us all $!000 before they raise our interest rates to 35% or something. Taxes will have to go up.

I'm a huge Bush supporter, a loyal Republican, but this just doesn't make sense. Your thoughts?

Calgon, take me away!

Wow, what a morning.

At 6:30 we're almost ready to run Kevin to work and Jakey announces, "I have another worksheet I was supposed to finish for school today" which led to us being very frustrated with him because we could have done this last night! So he did it in the car on the way to take Kevin, but didn't have it quite finished.

At 7:00, I was holding Jayden and Kevin called about his demotion, as I'm talking to him she lets it rip in her diaper and I look down and I'm COVERED in baby poop, she's covered, from neck to socks, how does that even happen when she's sitting up???? It was a MESS!

So, I hurry to get off the phone with Kevin and throw her in some jammies and getting Jakey ready to walk out the door when I notice it's 7:12 - we have to leave our door at 7:11 to be at the bus stop on time...so we RUN out the door. Justin mentions when we're already outside "I forgot my sweater inside" too late now! So we RUN down to the corner and see the bus approaching, Jakey took off for the bus line and barely made it in time. Then I took a freezing Justin and Jayden back to the house.

Then, we had to cancel the park. It's SO cold and windy out and should start raining soon. My kids would blow away though - we've got 70-85 mph winds out there!

It's gotten a bit better from there - Jayden's napped beautifully and I've gotten laundry and housework done that I wouldn't have done if we were at the park. I'm going to go load the dishwasher and fix my hair and makeup for the day and then I'll be ready for her to wake up for her lunch in a few. What a day though! I'm kind of glad we didn't end up going to the park this morning - it was a bad morning and I shouldn't push my luck! LOL

Stupid Recession

When Kevin went into work today he got notice that effective immediately, he's back to driving. Business is slow so the owners are going to run it themselves. He'll have his seniority as a driver back (which guarantees him 40+ hours per week) and while they took away his salary, we'll probably end up about the same if not slightly better some weeks because of overtime. I just feel bad for him, he felt like he was getting somewhere and now he has to go back to what he hates.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday! A weekend of relaxing and not getting up early to take Kevin to work or getting Jakey off to school! Tomorrow is a crazy day though. Starting with taking Kevin to work, then getting Jakey off, then Justin and I have playgroup, then home for naps, getting Jakey, dropping Justin at a b-day party, having a meeting for church, picking Justin up and then cleaning the house and all that - yep craziness!!!

Today Kevin stayed home. The Grapevine's been closed because of snow/ice and it was crazy stormy today so there wasn't much for his work to do, so he stayed home. Kevin and Justin took Justin's Smart Cycle back to Toys R Us, which has the BEST return policy! My mom bought it back in October but gave it to Justin for Christmas, we didn't open it until way after Christmas to find that it doesn't have it's predrilled holes so we can't put it together. So we took it back and they don't have any in stock and don't know when or if they're going to get more so they gave us a giftcard. We're kind of waiting to see what happens, we're hoping that they'll get some in because my mom bought one for her house and he really likes playing it over there. Then I cleaned the house while Kevin played with Jayden.

The best news of the day was that Kevin fixed my computer!!! I finally have my own computer working again!!

Anyhow, like I mentioned above, Justin's going to a birthday party for another three year old that he's known forever (well as forever as 3 year old's can know eachother, LOL) and it's his first "drop off" birthday party. I can't stay because I don't have anywhere for Jakey to go and Jakey isn't invited to the party (which he would totally butt into the little guys' fun so he shouldn't be there and I have no problems with him not being invited) and plus I have Jayden, and plus the mom's are supposed to go and leave the kiddos to their fun, but this is Justin's first party like this and he's super nervous. He's spent plenty of time in this friend's home (with me there) and knows his friends mom really well, but he's super nervous. I hope he gets over it so he can enjoy the party. This is one of the reasons I'm totally looking forward to him starting preschool - he needs some independence!

Ok, now that I've written a random post, LOL - my last thought is OUCH! Jayden will NOT stop biting me! Jakey wasn't really breastfed, and Justin (nor Jakey) got teeth until they were almost one, and while I don't think Jayden's getting teeth, she's biting me like crazy like Justin tried to when he first started getting them. IT HURTS. I mostly scream when it happens...I've tried to remind myself to calm down and that she's just a little baby doesn't know any better, but OUCH! IT hurts! Any ideas? I seriously was watching formula commercials longingly today, LOL.

Justin's Eyes

Well we just got back from the Optometrist. He did DESPERATELY need glasses!

The dr said his prescription should be +4 in both eyes, but we can't just go from 0 to 4 so we are starting with +1. He said it's also surprising that the strain of focusing his eyes hasn't caused any weakness or lazy eye or anything yet.

Picking them out was difficult, he kept saying they were all "too skinny"???? Whatever that means???

Also as far as the appointment, he did well for most of it but it was CRAZY long (almost 2 hours) and they dialated his eyes with the drops and that hurt/bothered him. He refuses to wear the paper sunglasses (thank goodness it's a cloudy rainy day) and he keeps saying his eyes hurt and his head hurts so I think I'll give him some tylenol for his headache.

Anyhow, I'm so glad that I took him for his 4 year well child! Because he isn't starting school until next year and didn't need shots, I almost didn't take him!

Meme

I was tagged by Natalie for this meme.

These are the rules :
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. A. Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog; or
B. Share the 5 top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list; or C. Share 5 things you never pictured being in your future when you were 25 years old.
3. Tag a minimum of 5, maximum of 10 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
The tagees have a choice of which they want to do.

***

I choose 5 random and/or weird facts about myself because I don't feel far enough past 25 to do the one and I hardly ever go anywhere and really I like Bakersfield, shocking I know, but I do! LOL

1. One of my thumbs is shorter then the other. When Jakey was 1.5 he threw a nasty temeper tantrum and broke my thumb (I was holding him by his armpits). The cast I was in disfigured my thumb.

2. I say pajamas PUH-JAWM-UHS, it is NOT PUH-JAM-UHS!

3. I chose my wedding band/engagement rings when I was 16 (with Kevin) and at 16 I wanted something very simple and plain and inexpensive...now at 26, I LOVE my rings, but I wish my diamond was bigger - maybe for an anniversary???

4. I love to rock out in the car to Love Shack. It was on today when I was alone in my car having left Jayden with Kevin's sister and Justin as well while I enrolled Jakey in school - it was nice!

5. My iPod has Barry Manilow on it - ACK!

I tag whoever wants to, I'm a no pressure Meme collector...LOL

I tag:

Oh Yeah....

I forgot how much homework there is in regular school! It took us forever to wade through his homework! Jakey's a little slow in his multiplication tables - his class is on their 6's already and Jakey is just mastering 3's and into 4's so he's a bit behind but he did really well today with his 100 (yes 100) multiplication/division problems. Then he alphabetized his spelling words and wrote them 3 times each. However he did NOT write them in cursive. I didn't do the cursive part of our curriculum because honestly, I think it's stupid. No one writes anything anymore anyway, why do they have to learn cursive? (I didn't actually share these ideas with Jakey, LOL) Anyhow I got a note from his teacher that says by March 1st she won't accept any of his work not in cursive. So we have to get cracking on his cursive. (See I was just happy with legible.)

There was a point during homework madness where I thought I was going to lose my mind. I got both boys snacks and drinks and got Justin settled with drawing and Jayden's diaper changed and I was nursing her and then all of a sudden nothing would console Jayden, Justin was crying because he wanted a blue pencil (not colored pencil, regular pencil in blue instead of green) and Jakey was crying because he didn't want to do his homework anymore. I was ready to throw them all out windows..LOL Tuesdays are Kevin's late nights, he doesn't come home until 10 on Tuesday nights so I knew there was no putting this off until he came home to help with the other two kids. We waded through it all and Jakey got it all done, including his 20 minutes of reading.

I also managed to get a REAL dinner on the table by 5 pm! Cheesy Chicken Casserole, salad, and croissants. I ROCK! LOl And I cleaned the kitchen during Jakey's reading (he read to me in there) and I did three loads of laundry done! Now that the boys are bathed and playing quietly before bed, and Jayden's bathed and dressed and in bed herself, and I'm relaxing waiting for American Idol I feel very accomplished, I managed a very long day and I think I did it well! Yay me! Ok I'm done tooting my own horn...now onto crafting a Meme I was tagged for a few days ago by Natalie before I get into too much Meme debt in 2008!

Well, it's done.

Jakey is back in public school. He was so excited this morning (after the initial wake up call and reminder that regular school starts E-A-R-L-Y! LOL

I don't have much time because Jayden is stirring and needs to eat, but I talked to the principal and I think everything is going to be just fine! His teacher should call this afternoon to discuss what he was doing and he gets off the bus in an hour.

Be back later with full details of how the first day went.

Any Advice?

We still don't know where we're moving because that one house fell through and we just haven't found anything else. We had been waiting to move to put Jakey back in regular school and since we don't know when that will happen, I just can't wait anymore. I feel so bad, it's so difficult to homeschool Jakey since Jayden was born and he really needs to be back in regular school.

He's going to have to go back to the school we pulled him from because that's the school we're in the district for and we don't feel right about lying about where we live to get him in somewhere else. I'm going to call on Tuesday and set up a meeting - or so I hope - with the vice principal or principal or whomever they want me to meet with. I have alot of concerns about Jakey and about the school.

Does anyone have any advice in what I should say? I want my child treated fairly by all the children in the school. Our main problems last time were that the children were speaking Spanish on the playground and not letting Jakey play basketball and not speaking to him at all, completely isolating him. Then when I went in to meet with his teacher I found that she had been told by one of the students that Jakey threatened to beat a girl up so she had moved Jakey to a table by himself and hadn't called and told me, Jakey hadn't told me because he thought he would be in trouble - that I wouldn't believe him that he didn't say he'd beat up a girl, and he'd been seperated for a week from the class. I was FURIOUS. Not only was he ostracized by the kids on the playground but by the teacher too? When I went to speak with her about it my cellphone rang and I said "let me turn this off, I'm not answering it just pushing it off" and when I looked down to my cell the teacher and the campus security guy started speaking to eachother in SPANISH in front of me! I was so mad, I mean that's what we're here talking about, how Jakey feels separated from the kids because they won't talk to him and then she's going to do the same thing to me?! I tried to talk to the principal but the school was under construction at the time and she was busy with the construction and so I just pulled him and homeschooled him. Besides the construction, those things aren't going to change without the school wanting them to.

So what do I say? Even to get the appointment? Who should I ask to talk to? Any ideas?

Girls Night In

Last night my friend hosted a Mary Kay party. I love Mary Kay but man is that stuff expensive! Worth it, but expensive. Anyhow, she invited her sister and cousin and me and we had a blast with the ladies who sold the Mary Kay. Jayden had to come because she's a bottle hating baby (I've TRIED, all week, EVERYTHING I can think of to get her to take a bottle of expressed milk) but she was the only kid. We had so much fun talking and laughing and putting on makeup. It was great. Finally my friend managed to get Jayden to sleep, the highlight of my night! LOL I ordered a few things to go with the Mary Kay I already have and went a little more out of my way to get dressed for church this morning. It feels good to look nice and be complimented on what I'm wearing and my hair and makeup. Jayden wears a new dress every Sunday (my mom has lost her mind shopping for Jayden) so her "backdrop" might as well be dressed up. LOL (Too bad it only lasted as long as it took for Jayden to remember to spit up all over me, LOL)

Why Yes, You Were!

Gosh, so much has changed in a year. A year ago I was bitter and upset about not being able to conceive. We'd been trying for two years, one year with the doctor's help. There were people around me who'd had two children in the time I had been trying to get just one more. I was angry with people who were fertile, angry with people who made comments like, "You have two children already", angry with everyone because nothing could comfort me. During the past year, wtihout noticing it, I've been healed. Healed of all the anger and frustration.

One time, in the temple, I was led to a scripture:

Do not murmur, my son, for it is wisdom in me that I have dealt with you after this manner.

D&C 9:6

If you replace son with daughter, it felt like a direct response from Heavenly Father in regards to my requests (pleadings really) to have another child. I was not very good at not murmuring, but I do believe it was wisdom in Heavenly Father that Jayden came exactly when she came, that she was meant for this time and this place.

Even in such a short time, I can't imagine life without out her. It's the same with each of my children, it seems like they've always been here, or belonged with us. I'm grateful everyday I get to be a mommy, to each of my great kids!

"Jayden Face!"

Yesterday I was playing with Jayden on the floor when Justin came in the room. He grabbed a toy and started saying, "Jayden Face, Jayden Face, where's my pretty little Jayden Face?!" I listened for a minute and then said, "Are you saying, Jayden FACE?" He said, "Yeah that's her name, Jayden Face." I thought about this for a minute and then said, "Oh you mean Jayden FAITH?" And he said, "Yep, Jayden Face."

"I don't want to look at the Dolly!"

Jakey and Justin were playing with Jayden on the floor yesterday and she refused to look at her doll they were trying to show her, LOL. Guess she doesn't like Cinderella!

"Hi Everyone!"

"Hey Dad, hook me up..."

Tonight for FHE the boys put on a Talent Show for us. They twirled batons to "I Like To Move It" and danced. Jakey got an iPod for Christmas that has "I Like To Move It" from the Madagascar soundtrack on it and we have an iPod docking station, so we used that. Kevin accidentally started the wrong song and Jakey said, "Hey Dad, hook me up with that other song!" Kevin and I both busted up laughing, "hook me up"????? LOL (There were no pictures or filming of this talent show due to the boxes and general moving-soon state of our house.)

Randomness

We looked at a house on Saturday, across the street from the one that fell through. We put in an application, we should know on Wednesday. They had alot of applications and they don't speak very good English so I think we're going to be passed over for tenants that speak their language so they can communicate easier with their tenants, we'll see though, I might be wrong, but I don't really think so...they had a hard time reading our application, so I don't think they'll even check our references. Stinks too cause the house is just about perfect and a REALLY good price! We'll keep looking.

I have about 5 million loads of laundry that need to be folded. As I fold I'm going to put some stuff in boxes and only keep out what we need right now, so I can sort of pack us up a little. Hopefully once I do this it'll be easier to stay on top of the laundry. Besides Jayden whose rarely worn the same outfit twice, the rest of us rotate through the same few outfits, so why is there all of this laundry?

Justin and I did make that cake yesterday for his "award" for attending Sunbeams. We made this Yellow Butter cake with Fudge frosting. It's taking every ounce of willpower I have to not grab a fork and eat the whole thing, LOL.

And last but not least. I'm putting together a business plan. Years ago, I started my degree in psychology and took a bunch of classes in Child Development. I have enough units to qualify as a teacher or director of a childcare center. My mom is looking to leave the school district she works for, and I want to do something where I can take my kids. We're putting together a business plan for a drop in childcare place. Not daycare. Drop in only. Like for doctor's appointments, or other errands that are hard to run with your kids in tow. I later changed my major to Business Administration and am only a few classes from finishing, so I want to work on that too - it can only help in starting your own business, right? I've been putting together the insurance information and licensing requirements. Anyhow, it's an involved process, but basically, the plan is coming along. I'll let ya know how it goes...so far I think it has really good potential.

Menu Plan Monday

So I've decided to hop on the bandwagon and join Menu Plan Mondays. I need to get more organized. I have something very big in the works that will change my family's life forever, but I can't do it if we're not more organized.

So here it goes! This is the week before payday so it is a skimpy week for us! LOL

Monday - Cheesy Chicken (Campbell's Supper Bake) and Salad

Tuesday - Beef Tacos, rice, beans

Wednesday - Baked Chicken and Stuffing, green beans

Thursday - Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, salad, and croissants

Friday - Eat Out/Order In

Saturday - Eat Out for DAvid's birthday (Kev's bestfriend)

Sunday - Lasagna, salad, garlic bread

Visit here for more MPMs.

How did Justin do with Sunbeams you ask?

This morning Justin and I had a talk about Primary and his going to the Sunbeam class. I am not above bribing a kid. I promised him that if he went to class and Primary that he could help me bake a cake after church. He was super excited and said he would go to class and Primary. So we get through Sacrament Meeting and a few times I'd lean over and say, "remember, you're going to class next like a big boy so we can bake when we get home!" and he'd smile up at me and say, "yep I'm a big boy now!"

Sacrament Meeting ended and Kevin gave the closing prayer so Justin bolted out of the chapel while I was getting our stuff together. Finally we get him and head towards the Primary room where the classes are regrouping and heading to their individual rooms and he sees his teacher. He falls to the ground and starts screaming like he's on fire. I get him to where he can't see her and tell him, "You can be upset, but you cannot scream like that unless you're hurt." We tried again, again he fell to the floor screaming. So I made him stand on the wall in time out while I went and got Kevin. He tried to take Justin to class and as soon as he touched the doorknob Justin was on the ground freaking out. So Kevin took him out to the car to have a talk with him.

Next thing I know Kevin and a very silent Justin walk into the church and march to the Sunbeam's door and go in. A few minutes later Kevin comes to the Primary room to tell me that he's gotten Justin to stay. And half an hour later Justin comes in with his class and tells me, "I'm going to sit next to my favorite teacher, Sister Winters. She nice, she taught me to play Bingo. Isn't she pretty Mommy?" Yay! He did it! I had Sharing Time and he sat through that and Singing Time and is just in love with his new teacher.

Good thing too cause his new teacher, it was her first week last week too, and she's a newly wed and very young and last week it looked like she wanted to tie her own tubes looking at him freaking out like that! LOL

Our First Professional Basketball Game

It's not the NBA but like the minor leagues of Basketball, our local team - the Bakersfield Jam, played last night and we got to go! Originally one of Kevin's vendors gave him tickets (6) so we invited our closest friends - David and Yaneth, and a couple in our ward. We decided not to take the boys because it was a late game (started at 7 pm) and Justin's still too young and would have been upset if Jakey got to go. I think Jakey would have loved it though. Anyhow so we found a sitter (my mom) and took Jayden (have to LOL). When we got there, the couple we invited from our ward said they told the bishop we didn't need tickets and I was like, what? Apparently our bishop works for the vendor Kevin got the tickets from and he got tickets for whoever wanted them in our ward and found out we had tickets from the other couple. Anyhow, so half the ward was there. That made it really nice because we sat together and there wasn't any room for there to be drinkers next to us, so it was a big sober section.

Anyhow Jayden did great, she got a little upset when everyone would really roar at what was going on in the game but for the most part she was obsessed with the Jumbotron. So the last few seconds of the game the Jam was down 100 to 103 and the clock was counting down, they have the ball, everyone gets on their feet and is screaming (even Jayden raised her arms LOL) and the player goes for a 3 point shot and the ball is in the air as the buzzer screams the end of the game, everything went silent, the ball danced around the rim of the net for what seemed like forever and then DUNK, went IN! Everyone screams, hugs eachother, it was amazing...then the ref says that he wasn't behind the three point line and the game ends 102-103! I think they had to escort the ref out of the building because everyone was furious! LOL It was amazing to see though. I didn't know basketball was so suspenseful! LOL

Anyhow, the noise from a thousand or so people being upset at the ref scared Jayden and she started to cry, it was really cute. I got her calmed down and we left. Thankfully I had told Kevin we WERE paying for parking in the lot closest to the Arena so we were able to get to our car quickly and leave downtown very fast after the game, I was really impressed! I'm glad we payed extra for covered parking in a parking structure! LOL

Oh no, it's FROGGY outside!

This morning Justin woke up and drug a blanket into the living room and plopped down in front of the local news while Kevin and I were getting ready. When we had finished we gathered up the kids to take Kevin to work and Justin started screaming hysterically. We could NOT figure out what his problem was. Finally we get him near the door and get it open and he grabs the door jam and refuses to step through it...suddenly he starts screaming, "No, no, it's FROGGY outside!!"

Yep little boy had just watched 35 minutes of school delays, traffic reports, etc. all about our FOGGY Bakersfield morning and thought they were delaying school because there was a massive attack of FROGS outside. LOL

Colorblind, nearsighted, and no shots

Justin's appointment went well, I guess. This was essentially his 4 year physical, he weighs 43 lbs and is 42.75 inches tall. His hearing was checked and he can hear, he just doesn't listen, LOL. Blood pressure good, urine good, all of it. So we were leaving and the nurse tells me the doctor wants to talk to me in his office. I go in and he says that he thinks Justin is colorblind and nearsighted and needs to see an optomitrist about his vision. Also, they made us up a new shot record and said he is caught up and doesn't need shots again until Kindergarten.

I called and made Justin an appt for January 23rd, but I feel bad! Here I've been so frustrated because he doesn't "get" color and he can't even see it! And his vision is bad. Poor kid. I wonder if he's going to need glasses?

Foggy Day

It's a fairly foggy day here. I drove Kevin to work and through town it was the worst which is actually surprising because I live on the outskirts and we usually get it the worst. It takes about 20 minutes to get to Kevin's work, so when I was returning 40 minutes later, sure enough, the fog had reached my side of town fully. Also surprising is that there aren't any school delays. Jakey's school that he attends on Thursdays doesn't have delays because parents drop off and there are no buses but still, it's surprising!

Today is the day for Justin's shots! I haven't told him that the doctor's office keeps a record too so they'll still be able to give him the shots he needs without the record. I'm planning on telling him when we're seated in our room, LOL.

Well I must go break up WWIII...Jakey has his Gameboy and Justin wants to play it so he's been yelling at Jakey for a bit and then he blocked the exit from the dining room so that Jakey couldn't go past without giving it to him. However, our dining room leads to our kitchen as well and our kitchen has it's own exit, so Jakey just went out that way and Justin's fuming mad that he got past him with the Gameboy.

Off to break up fights, make lunches, and torture the kiddo with shots!

Shots

A few weeks ago I took Jayden for her two month shots. Justin saw her immunization card and that it's stamped up and asked about it. I told him, "Jayden got shots today and they put stamps on the ones she got with the date so that we'd know what she'd had already." He said, "oh, ok." and that was the end of that. Or so I thought.

Justin heard me confirming his appointment for tomorrow with the doctor. "Ok, yep, he'll be there, oh and he's due for more shots right?" (pause) "ok, sounds good, we'll be there tomorrow." Time goes by, I'm nursing Jayden, all of a sudden Justin brings me something yellow and chopped in confetti. It's HIS shot record. He cut up his shot record! He says, "Now I can't get shots because no body knows how many I've had." Nice try.

Today I was nursing Jayden and when she was done I was looking at her next to me...



...and thought, "oh my goodness, I get to be her mommy!"

All hail the swing! FINALLY Jayden has gotten the memo that babies like swings. She's been happily swinging in hers for an hour today. I've been waiting for her to start liking it, especially since we have two! LOL The bigger one seems to be the only one that can keep up with her because she seems to like it on HIGH (Fling baby across the room setting) and since I figured that out she's been happier, or too afraid to cry...hmmmm...

I got some schooling done with Jakey today and yesterday - it feels good to try to do it and be normal again. Hopefully we'll figure out where we're moving soon and we can just enroll him in regular school. The new quarter starts in two weeks so hopefully we can get it done before then.

Justin has recently decided to say his own, unassisted prayers. They are ADORABLE. And all of them include, "and please let Santa come back again soon!" LOL They include other more important things like "please keep Daddy safe at work" and "let this food nourish and strengthen our bodies" (over cocoa puffs, oops! LOL) and I think it's just adorable! Before this he was still asking for help with his prayers.

Kevin and I are going with two other couples to a professional basketball game on Friday night. We have to take Jayden because she's 100% breastfed and I haven't ever bothered with the pump or bottles so I don't even know if she would take it, but I'm not that interested in figuring it out because then I'd be in pain through the whole game so we're going to take her with us. I'm going to wear her in her sling that she loves and hope for the best. The movie we saw yesterday was loud and she did really great at that.

And my last piece of randomness for today - it's been a week without soda and I miss it TERRIBLY. I miss the carbonation, the taste, oh man I miss all of it! Last night we went out to dinner and Kevin had a Sprite (I had water) and it was all I could do not to drink his drink! LOL But I won't cave! No more soda!

Interesting Quiz

88% Fred Thompson
86% Mitt Romney
85% Tom Tancredo
80% Mike Huckabee
74% John McCain
61% Rudy Giuliani
60% Ron Paul
32% Bill Richardson
27% Joe Biden
27% Hillary Clinton
26% John Edwards
25% Barack Obama
20% Chris Dodd
16% Mike Gravel
10% Dennis Kucinich

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Baby Bling

I had Jayden's ears pierced on Saturday. She cried for like a second and then I nursed her and she was totally happy again. I can turn them and clean them and she doesn't even mind. She looks adorable!




And Jakey and Justin love helping her play with her jumperoo!

Jakey and Justin-isms

I took the boys to get dinner at Wendy's one day last week. When we were there Jakey asked me why we don't eat Burger King much (I think he had seen a commercial) and I told him, "I used to work there when I was in high school and I don't like to eat their food now." He was like "wow! You worked at Burger King!" (Like I'm super-cool now because I flipped burgers, LOL) "Yep, that's where Daddy and I met, we both worked at Burger King." Jakey says, "Wow, that's not very romantic."

Yesterday when we were driving home from church after Justin's huge meltdown about going to Primary he says, "I am the boss, I say I do NOT have to go to Primary, and you have to listen to me. Because I said so." Um, no. Nice try though.

Jakey and I were talking about last names and he asked what my last name used to be before I married Daddy, I told him it was Truman. Justin hears this and says, "why did it change?" I told him that girls last names change when they get married and Jakey says, "So Jayden's going to have a different last name when she grows up?" and I told them yes. Justin says, "No, I'm going to marry her, then she'll stay a Parnell." LOL (Don't worry we had a talk about not marrying your sister.)

We were driving home the other night and Kevin's boss called from the Grapevine where he was being paced by the Sheriff's department because of snow and bragging about how he's not getting his car stuck in the snow and basically teasing Kevin. Kevin gets off the phone with him and is telling me about this and I'm just laughing and Kevin's acting slightly annoyed and Jakey pipes up from the back seat, "Well Dad, it was kind of stupid to keep driving in the snow until you got stuck. Just a little bit, but definitely stupid." LOL

Jakey sees a store named Catherine's Plus Sizes and says, "Look, Catherine (Kevin's sister) has a store named after her!" Then he reads the rest of the sign (Plus Sizes) and says, "what does plus sizes mean?" I said, "what do you think it means?" and he says, "Well, um, I think it might be a store for women's clothes, for women who are plus sized?" I said, "Yes, what does plus size mean?" and he says, "women who had babies and their bellies don't get small again." (Well for me he hit the nail on the head, LOL)

Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam

But Justin doesn't think so! For a few weeks now we've been prepping Justin that he's going to be leaving the nursery and his beloved "Papa Bob" (Nursery Leader who is about 70, been in nursery for about 25 years and WON'T be released, LOL - he LOVES the kids). So today we switch to the 9:30 schedule of going to Sacrament Meeting first and then we're preparing to go to class. I lost Justin in the hallway where our ward and the other ward were trying to switch places (from the classrooms to the chapel) and couldn't find him for a while - then I looked in the nursery - he had escaped into there so I had to drag him kicking and screaming back to Primary.

We regrouped and sent the kids to classes and Justin wasn't having any of that, he freaked out at the thought of going to class with the sister teaching the Sunbeams and CTR5 class. Finally we resigned ourselves to letting him sit in the Primary room waiting for the other kids to come back. He sat there reverently in his row. Then the kids came back from class and he FREAKED out when his teacher tried to sit next to him. He laid on the floor screaming, "I want Papa Bob, I want goldfish, I want toys, I want nursery!" So we had to drag him out the Primary room.

Kevin's a nursery leader too but I didn't want to take Justin into the nursery to get him and I had to do Sharing Time in a few minutes so I sent someone to nursery for Kevin and he came and sat with Justin in the hall, he still couldn't calm him down. I mean Justin, nearly four years old, screamed like he was being murdered and would not stop, so Kevin had to take him out to the car.

That's the worst transition to Primary I've ever seen! What am I doing wrong? Ugh. Totally stinks that he's so terrified of Primary and wants to be in nursery. When we got home he went straight to bed and he's totally asleep, he was exhausted but we made sure he went to bed on time last night and he got good sleep...we even made him a big breakfast so he could live without snacks. I just don't know what to do with him! Poor kid! And I have Sharing Time all month!

And there it goes....

Just as quickly as we had a house, we lost it. Someone offered to buy the house and in this market no one can afford not to sell, so they sold the house we were going to rent. I'm so bummed, I had gone out and bought Jakey's school uniforms and a few things for the house and was really looking forward to moving into it and getting out of the limbo-state that we're in because no one knows how long we'll be able to stay in this house.

No matter what we have at least 30 days, because we have to be served a 30 day notice first, but still, it upsets me to not have a solid, firm plan. Now what? I'm scared to look at more houses, scared something like this will happen again, or that a better family will be chosen for a house, or that we'll move and the owner will lose the house to foreclosure like what happened here. Makes me so frustrated! To be honest, I was nursing Jayden tonight and had a mini-breakdown, I mean here is this tiny little baby (and her two bigger brothers) and Kevin and I are all they have and we can't seem to get a house to move to. Which is silly, there are houses for rent, it just seems all the ones we want something happens - they want to rent to someone else, sell it, or lose it, and we have these little children depending on us, yk? Just frustrates me, we have the money, job, rental history, references, etc. to move but the housing market here - rental or buying - is AWFUL.

Anyhow, so back to the drawing board.

What do you drink?

I am not drinking soda anymore, and I am drinking a ton more water. I have had a small cup of milk or sugar free drink - like Wyler's Raspberry Ice or something here and there, but not more than one per day, just water mostly. Tonight though the kids and I will be eating on the run, so what do I order to drink? It's a habit to order a soda, so I have to make this conscious choice to order something else. I'd like to not have water, because honestly I am picky about my water (lots of ice, from my fridge, etc.) and I've had 8 cups already and it's 10 am! So what do you drink when you eat out?

Score!

Our bedframe broke a move or two ago and we haven't replaced it since, mostly because I feel silly paying $60 or so for a metal frame for the bed. So our mattress has been on the floor ever since, and we have a nice headboard, but it just looks silly. Anyhow, I found a metal frame for our bed on Craigslist today for $10!!! Score! Kevin's going to pick it up on his way home from work tomorrow! Awesome!

Now I'm watching Craigslist for a cheap couch set because we're going to have a family room and living room and only enough furniture for one...

P.S. Our storm isn't here fully yet, but it is SOOOOOO windy here! 60-70 mph winds!

Where is our storm?

We've been supposed to get this huge storm since yesterday and it's STILL not here! I'm bummed because I thought surely this morning it would be here and so I let Kevin keep the car and now I can't go to the park! Oh well, it's pretty cold out and windy in anticipation of our storm so I might as well stay inside and warm with my baby girl.

It was hard to tell my ward family that we're moving last night. I shed tears with some and was told to come back whenever their ward functions don't conflict with our new ward's functions. We surely will. I think that half of our ward get-togethers involve families that have previously moved out of our ward. It's such a special ward. Plus Kevin and I went through so much in this ward - repenting and becoming fully active again, Kevin was baptized in another ward but we moved to this one two weeks later, then Kevin getting the priesthood, our going through the temple, preparing for our sealing, our first callings, Jakey's baptism, Jayden's blessing, Jayden's whole pregnncy, the loss of my brother, so much we've gone through in this ward and they've stood by us every minute of it. They're organizing some help for moving us.

Wow, Jayden's stll snoozing in bed, I think I might go crawl back in with her!

Bathroom Funny

At the cabin we had a Jack and Jill bathroom (bathroom with an entrance from two rooms - mine and my parents). One day I went to use the restroom and a few minutes later Justin comes to the door (on my parents side) and knocks. I answer "I'm in here!" and Justin says, "I have to go potty!" I told him that I would be done in a minute and suddenly he says, "Fine, I'm going to use the bathroom in my room!" (He was sharing a room with me up there.) Before I could stop him he stomps around to the other side of the cabin, into my room and rips the door open and exclaims, "Hey! How did you get in here?!?!" LOL He made this mistake quite a few times, I don't think that he realizes, even now, that there was only ONE bathroom with TWO doors. LOL!

Our New Home

Well we found a house. It's down the street from Kevin's grandma and mom. We're moving on February 1st. It's not in our ward boundaries but it's in my mom's old ward boundaries (the one she changed out of when they redid the boundaries a few months ago.) I'm really sad to be leaving my ward. I love my ward and will miss them so much. Hopefully we love our new ward as much. I'm sad to be released too. I talked to the Primary President and I'm going to go ahead and do my Sharing Times this month and then we'll release me at the end of the month, I'm glad I get to do something, I have felt for a long time that I am such a slacker for not doing much because I was at the end of my pregnancy and then Jayden was newly born. Now she's two months old so I can return to some of the things that I used to do. Also, our new ward meets from 1-4 pm, ouch.

Anyhow, about the house. It's an older house - built in the 50's or so. It has a huge sunken family room, an average sized kitchen with eat-in nook (that we probably won't be using) and a formal dining room and living room. Three bedrooms and ONE bathroom. That's kinda scary, LOL. It does have a bathtub and separate shower though so hopefully it won't be too bad. It has these cool characteristics that only old houses have - like a cupboard with an ironing board that drops down, and a cutlet into the wall in the hallway for a phone, and lots of nice cedar closets and cupboards in the hallway. Hardwood or tile floors throughout too, not a stitch of carpet. It's a corner lot so the yard is huge, there is a front yard that wraps around 2 sides of the house, a courtyard that it's the "middle" of the house almost, and then a backyard with RV parking. There's a beautiful gazebo in the front yard and some nice landscaping.

Jakey's going to go ahead and start public school on Monday, he's been wanting to go back and so we're going to just go ahead and enroll him in the school that we're in the district for before we move and I'll just drive him daily. The school has a uniform dress code, so that will be a huge change for us, but I think it'll be a good one. He'll also be attending school with some friends we know from when my mom was in the same ward as them, so Jakey is excited about that.

Anyhow I've got lots of cute ideas for Jayden's nursery. The house has bright blue walls (inside, I know - ACK!) so the landlord is letting us pick the paint as long as it's pale whatever. So I think we're going with a pale purple in her room, or maybe a pale pink, we have to get back to them this weekend about it. I'd rather the boys' room stayed the blue color because my mom just made quilts for them that it would compliment well but the painter did a horrible job painting before! So it needs to be redone. Our room is already a khaki color, which I like, the kitchen and living room are too. The bathroom is going to be pale yellow. Very pretty.

Well, I better get to packing, Jayden's asleep and I need to do that and bake something for Enrichment tonight. Sniff, I'm gonna miss my ward SO MUCH!

2008 Resolutions

My Personal Goals:

1. No more soda! I love the stuff but I'm drinking my daily allowance of calories! LOL Time to stop that. I am going to allow myself to have a nice cup of it for my birthday in June though - but NO MORE SODA! I wonder if I'll still like it by June?

2. Lose weight. Honestly, I'd love to lose 100 lbs, well at least 80, but I think I can at least, in 2008 eek out 50 lbs. I WILL lose this weight, I am done with, "but I'll just get pregnant again" so what? I'll be thinner and pregnant, not a bad thing!

3. Be better. There are quite a few things I need to be better at, a better mom who spends less time worrying about how clean the boys' room is, a better wife spending less time on the computer when Kevin's home from work, a better friend who calls more often and returns more emails, a better blogging friend who comments more, finishes tagged memes and passes on awards, a better visiting teacher who always gets it 100% done, a better servant of the Lord, I have really slacked in my calling since my 3rd trimester with Jayden, and be a better person who gives more service to those around me.

My family's goals:

1. Save more money. We really need to get better about saving.

2. Get back in the FHE groove, since Jayden's been born our lessons have been seriously weak...I need to plan better.

3. Establish more "routine" in our lives.

4. Serve more together.

So, tomorrow, help me get through it without soda, I'm seriously addicted to 7UP. LOL

Ah, it's a new year! I'll share my past week by first catching up on sharing my Christmas pictures!

Jakey and Justin with the gifts from Santa - Jakey got an iPod Shuffle and Justin got a laptop



Jayden never looks when her brothers are in the picture - she just loves to stare at them! LOL


Jakey opening his favorite gift, a game for his PS2



See my Christmas present with the silver bow, yep, that's all I wanted this year!



Yeah she was fairly unimpressed with Christmas, LOL





Then we went to the cabin, our time there was great...until it was time to leave, but I'll get to that later. Justin LIVED for the snow, he loved being in it and would wake up at 6:00 am and want to get his snow clothes on so he could get back out in it and had to be dragged into the cabin every night out of it! LOL He and Jakey particularly loved sledding!





This was Erica in the snow, LOL - she was less than thrilled with it. She preferred to stay in the cabin and play with dolls and Jayden, LOL.







Then it came time to leave. Kevin was originally going to come up Saturday but he had alot of work to do so when I talked to him on Saturday he said he was going to leave at 6:00 am on Sunday morning to come up to get us. I was disappointed but ok. He had borrowed his boss' vehicle so that there would be more room for getting our stuff home from the cabin. Well apparently, he knew I was disappointed so he decided at 8:00 pm on Saturday night to leave Bakersfield to surprise me. He told NO ONE that he was leaving. Sunday morning comes and by 9:00 am (it takes two hours to get to our cabin) I'm a little worried. By 11:00 am I'm sick to my stomach and beside myself with worry. I started calling his grandma and his boss and his family and our friends to find out when he had left, maybe he overslept? By 2:00 pm I was throwing up, crying, scared, worried, getting grey hairs, where was my husband? At 2:30 when I had set a deadline of 3 pm for calling the sheriff's department to search for him Kevin WALKED up to the cabin. Yep, walked. Kevin had gone a different way then I had told him to take (truck drivers, they think they can just outline perfect roads on maps, but sometimes those roads are ones that aren't a priority for plowing in the winter!) and he had gotten his boss' car STUCK IN THE SNOW. 10 MILES AWAY! He'd spent the night in the car (thank goodness I didn't know that he had left the night before I would have probably had a stroke, but would have sent help sooner) and then at first light he had started the hike through 10 miles of mountains to the cabin to get help. It makes me sick to think of him out in the snow for 10 miles with no food, water, and not dressed properly for the weather. (Just a sweater, no jacket!) We borrowed my mom's car and left and Kevin and his boss went back up there with a work truck to unstick the car from the snow. There is no cell service in the Sequoia National Forest, so this was around 5:00 pm when they left, by 11:30 pm that night I was SICK with worry again, 6 hours they had been gone to a spot only 1.5 hours from town! I set a deadline for midnight to call the sheriff's department when FINALLY I got his boss on the cell and he said they were back in cell range and everything was ok. I am SO GLAD that they were both ok, oh man, what a day that was! I was waiting up for news with Kevin's grandma at her house and I think she did better then me with the waiting, LOL. Kevin's retold his story of what happened to him in the snow, but I can't even bear to think of it...maybe another time, it was amazing he found us though - a miracle.

Anyhow, I was just emotionally spent at the end of 2007....thank goodness my family is whole today. Happy New Year everyone.