OK, here we go!
I got a new little laptop\tablet for Christmas, and I'm working on figuring it out. The keyboard is a little small and has a few extra buttons squished in, so it makes it kind of complicated. The right shift key is tiny and has a page up button right next to it, so I keep pushing the wrong button. And the track pad (is that what you call it?) is right under the spacebar. And I'm feeding a little fella at the same time. And for some reason the screen keeps zooming in and out. I thought it would be great for blogging on when my computer's in use, but it looks like it'll take some getting used to.
I have a lot that needs blogged about, but this little post will have to suffice for now. I've been battling baby blues now and then. Mostly I talk it through with Jeremy or get up and move my muscles as my mother would say I should. I have a lot on my mind as well. I'm not allowed to drive for at least another week. I have been taking Percocet only sporadically since late last week. Mostly I'm in no pain except for occasional headaches. And those come mostly from sitting up all night and falling asleep nursing in a chair. The guy has day and night mixed up. The first few nights dealing with that were pretty much brutal, even though I've mostly been able to deal with it pretty optimistically. I know we'll get it figured out, and though it's frustrating right now we've always gotten it figured out eventually. He wants to nurse pretty much constantly and doesn't like to be put down, but miraculously, he did nap in his swing twice yesterday! I figure the nursing constantly might be due to how tiny he is. Maybe he's just trying to bulk up. The nurse at the hospital warned us that around 2 days old he'd probably start cluster feeding (you can google that), and she had several theories about why babies do it. They all sounded pretty plausible to me.
Well, now the page keeps reloading. Ha!
I'm worried about getting the kiddos to school while not being able to drive, but I'm going to figure that out. I feel bad that Jeremy has to commute. We've got to get a different job! At least I figured out a doctor for the baby, though. :) It all works out in the end.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
The move
I hope this one will be a quickie. It's not that I don't have a lot that needs recorded, but that I am in the mood to be concise.
So our move has gone pretty well so far. A week or two before Thanksgiving we got a small Uhaul and moved things like food storage and clothing storage. I also moved all my casserole dishes and some other things I couldn't use here in Globe since the oven doesn't work. And in the meantime the dishwasher broke here. And Joshua has been a bad dish-doer. (Sorry. I'm not sure it does any good to neat around the bush, even if I love him to pieces!) Bt the weekend I was ready to just load the whole stack of dirty dishes in the car and throw it in the dishwasher in Thatcher. That ended up being the best decision when it came down to it, and then we left a lot of things there. Last week I worked on getting other stuff packed that we didn't need. It turned out to be quite a frustrating process. We have missed my alarm clock. Maybe we're obsessed with knowing what time it is, but when we wake up with monkeys in the night we like to know what time it is. That way we know how much longer we can sleep after getting them back to sleep and before the alarm rings. The sad thing is, about a month ago a switch in the master bedroom in Thatcher shorted out, and now there is no electricity in that bathroom at all or in any of them outlets in the bedroom. Thank heavens that at least the lights work in the bedroom! Boo that I won't be able to have my alarm clock working in there. (I never use it for the alarm anyway, though. Ha ha! I've got like 5 different alarms set on my phone instead. Ha ha!)
How's that for rambling? Ha! Well, a guy is coming to look at the electricity this weekend.
So then there's been frustration with what I packed too early. I packed the medicine cabinet and regretted it that night. I had to go unpack a ridiculous number of things. Also, I packed the herbal tea and the broth. Bad! Jeremy had been sick, and those things really help at night with not breathing. It's all moved to Thatcher already.
So the question keeps being asked: "Why in the world did you pick that particular stinking weekend to move?!" (We got a big Uhaul last weekend and moved most of the stuff that was left. But we're back here for a few days because Jeremy and Hyrum had finals at the college. That makes it hard to know what to pack. So I understand why people are asking that question.) Well, it all seems pretty obvious to me that that weekend was the best. Months ago we planned out the rest of our year with a moving date being December 12. We wanted to be moved before the baby came. Here are a few reasons why:
1. It's been kind of cramped in this house, and last time we tried to move furniture in our bedroom to fit in things for a new baby our bed frame broke. It's been frustrating! We've had to try to prop up different spots with blocks of wood, one time resulting in a scar on Hyrum's index finger. In recent months the whole head of the bed sagged, especially the middle, and the foot of Jeremy's side sagged too. I started sleeping backwards in the bed because sleeping the other way was giving me headaches. Jeremy kind of traded off sleeping different ways, but his head was downhill no matter how he slept. We wanted to get rid of that bed, and because we were unsatisfied with the quality of the Fran that we bought from the furniture store, Jeremy wanted to build a new one. (It's shameful the cheap wood they used to support that thing! It's really heavy!) But it didn't really make sense to build it in Globe. It would have had to be completely disassembled to move, so why not just build it in Thatcher and have it built? So anyway, he did build that bed in Thatcher, and I'm so happy to be sleeping the direction in bed as my husband! :) I'm so glad his side isn't so saggy! It's great! And the sooner we switch to a fixed bed the better if you ask me.
2. Then there's the broken oven and dishwasher. There's only a limited number of things you can bake in a toaster oven. It doesn't do so great with cake or pie. ;) Anyway, so that was another "the sooner the better" things.
3. This house is infested with cockroaches, and nothing has really made a dent. I don't want to go into details, but it's horrifying. Absolutely disgusting. I don't want to bring home our sweet baby to that. That's just too much. So now we've been fighting to not bring them with us, which is harder than you'd think. We're going to battle with all our might, though. The ones here are getting more and more sneaky, getting into places where we just can't get with poison. And that's enough of that, but you understand. The sooner the better.
4. Why go to all the trouble making the bed fall apart further to bet the baby stuff in and then have to undo it all to move? Also, if we waited until after the baby we'd want to wait 6 weeks or so until I was recovered from the c-section. That was just too long to wait, especially with trying to put kids in school in the spring semester.
And there are other reasons too. But anyway we decided all those months ago that we needed to stay for the semester but wanted to be out ASAP afterwards. It just made sense. So the 12th it was. Then Kelly decided to get married on the 15th (though she did change to the 19th later) and Robert is being ordained a Deacon in the Catholic Church on the 12th. Now, don't think for a minute that I'm upset about those things causing our moving date to move. It's just how things happened. My parents also wanted to help us move, so they asked if we could move the date to the 5th. We decided that would be best, and not only because their help turned out to be very needed, though that was something to consider. ;) Anyway, yes, that did leave us coming back for a week, which has been pretty inconvenient, but what else could we do? The 12th is out. The 19th is two days before the baby comes, and that also means any later dates are out too.
So does it make sense now? I sure hope so! I promise we're not nitwits.
Anyway, Mama came up to help pack last Tuesday and stayed until Thursday morning. Mostly of what we accomplished on those days seemed to be cleaning. Ha ha! Obviously, it was needed, though! For one thing, cockroaches. Everything needed washed before we could pack it. And then I also wanted the bedding all washed before the move. Not only did it need washed, but it just makes sense to start out with fresh bedding, you know? You don't put dirty sheets back on. So Mama kept the washer and dryer running for almost the entire time. I felt like such a lazy bum. I did scoot around on my bum helping clean the kiddos' rooms (You bet your boots they were scary!) I did sort some stuff, and I did get some stuff packed, but I kept having to sit down. It was frustrating! I could form a plan in my brain and see clearly just how I wanted to take action here or there, but in my very pregnant condition I knew there was only so much I could do without causing preterm labor. So Mama started bringing me stuff to go through or fold. Bless her! She did so much work! I honestly don't know how we could have gotten it all done without her!
I kept packing after she left, and then we picked up the truck early Friday afternoon, just as Mama and Daddy showed up with lunch. :)
So long story short- it was pretty much just Jeremy and the boys and my parents then. They loaded the truck while I took the little ones to the store and the park to keep them out of the way. And Jennifer and her kids got here in time on Saturday to reclaim us from the stress and insanity that was going on! Bless them! In the end there's a lot more stuff still here than I'd like. The back half of the truck didn't get packed very tightly, so not everything would fit. I'm frustrated by that, but the only thing to do now is what we can. And at least Thatcher only 1 1/2 hours away. It'll all get done eventually. The nice thing - Jeremy bug bombed the truck on Friday after it was mostly already packed. And then we mounted war when we got to Thatcher, spreading poison far and wide and using 3 more bug bombs on the stuff in the garage as we left.
So anyway, yeah, not everything goes as you picture it, but we did have a lot of help with unloading in Thatcher! Jeremy went ahead with the truck and Jennifer and I followed behind later. They had it all unloaded when we got there. And then after the truck was already gone our home teacher came on a little break with his work partner in their ambulance. They asked if there was anything they could do, and all I could think of was that we wanted to get the beds together. They chose the one for Jill, Timmy, and Bubby. They asked if there were instructions, and I felt bad that there weren't. But I found them the tools and they went at it. I was so surprised because about 15 minutes later when they got called away for someone in cardiac arrest they had the whole thing almost built! :) Benji finished it up. Benji and Michael made their bunk beds right away, and Hyrum and Joshua (the grumpy teenagers) were compelled to finally make theirs. And then because I'm a mean mom I made Joshua actually put the sheets on his bed. Mean! The others just did theirs except for the younger 3.
Jennifer and her kids stayed for a while, and that was nice. It's always nice to chat with my sisters, and she helped me get the kitchen put away.
So all in all it worked out good. We still have a lot to do, but we have our Christmas tree up in Thatcher, and all the baby stuff has been in place for a while now. Joe gave us his extra crib and I found a nice little swing for $15 on the Gloe yard sale Facebook page. I washed the baby clothes and put them away. It's exciting! The house looks like a house with furniture in it, and the baby stuff being ready means we really are having this baby in a week and 5 days! Hooray!
I went to the doctor for a checkup yesterday. It's their policy that since I'm getting "older" I have to have an ultrasound at my lady appointments. Jeremy was able to go with me, and Bubby came too because he wouldn't go back to sleep before we left. It was fun watching that little fella. :) Anyway, the baby is getting big - about 6 lbs 4 oz. He is a cutie with beautiful little lips. And he's practicing breathing just like he should. I'm pretty sure Bubby has no clue what's about to happen. When we talk about the baby he thinks we're talking about him. So the baby's swing and bed are his? I still think he'll like this new little guy, and thank heavens he and Hyrum are buddies. :) We ordered a car seat because the only ones Walmart had were girly. It had free shipping anyway, so sure. Why not? It's cute!
Yeah, I guess if I start out saying something's a quickie we can be sure it's not. Oh well.
Oh, one more thing: Benji turned 12 on Monday. He wanted donuts for his cake, and he wanted to make them. I couldn't find the recipe I've made in the past, but we found one he thought would work, and away we went to borrow Grandma's kitchen. She was actually away. Somehow she didn't get the message that we were moving on the 5th and she and Dad flew to Idaho to see Becca. So she wasn't there, but Susie was there in between finals. I didn't want to use up all their ingredients, and all of mine were in Thatcher, so Timmy and I went shopping and bought some ingredients. I borrowed things like spices and then left the flour and sugar and stuff there. I don't want to move it, and bless them for letting me use their kitchen even though we weren't there! Hyrum had a math final that day, so we mixed up the dough while he was at class and refrigerated it for an hour like the directions said. Jeremy cooked dinner and Benji cooked the donuts. They didn't come out as yummy as he hoped, but we stuck candles in them anyway. I got the relighting kind because there were just enough in the package. On the one had I was glad I did because Timmy and Bunby kept blowing them out as Jeremy was trying to light them. But they smoked horribly! I felt bad that the house probably smelled like smoke when Grandma got home. Oh well. At least it did have time to dissipate. And we cleaned up and left some dinner for them. Benji says he had a nice birthday, and I'm glad. :) I got him a camera among other things and was thankful I could get some good deals!
Ok, that's really all for now. I'd better plug in my phone. I can't wait to get to Thatcher tomorrow and set up my computer! I've missed it!
So our move has gone pretty well so far. A week or two before Thanksgiving we got a small Uhaul and moved things like food storage and clothing storage. I also moved all my casserole dishes and some other things I couldn't use here in Globe since the oven doesn't work. And in the meantime the dishwasher broke here. And Joshua has been a bad dish-doer. (Sorry. I'm not sure it does any good to neat around the bush, even if I love him to pieces!) Bt the weekend I was ready to just load the whole stack of dirty dishes in the car and throw it in the dishwasher in Thatcher. That ended up being the best decision when it came down to it, and then we left a lot of things there. Last week I worked on getting other stuff packed that we didn't need. It turned out to be quite a frustrating process. We have missed my alarm clock. Maybe we're obsessed with knowing what time it is, but when we wake up with monkeys in the night we like to know what time it is. That way we know how much longer we can sleep after getting them back to sleep and before the alarm rings. The sad thing is, about a month ago a switch in the master bedroom in Thatcher shorted out, and now there is no electricity in that bathroom at all or in any of them outlets in the bedroom. Thank heavens that at least the lights work in the bedroom! Boo that I won't be able to have my alarm clock working in there. (I never use it for the alarm anyway, though. Ha ha! I've got like 5 different alarms set on my phone instead. Ha ha!)
How's that for rambling? Ha! Well, a guy is coming to look at the electricity this weekend.
So then there's been frustration with what I packed too early. I packed the medicine cabinet and regretted it that night. I had to go unpack a ridiculous number of things. Also, I packed the herbal tea and the broth. Bad! Jeremy had been sick, and those things really help at night with not breathing. It's all moved to Thatcher already.
So the question keeps being asked: "Why in the world did you pick that particular stinking weekend to move?!" (We got a big Uhaul last weekend and moved most of the stuff that was left. But we're back here for a few days because Jeremy and Hyrum had finals at the college. That makes it hard to know what to pack. So I understand why people are asking that question.) Well, it all seems pretty obvious to me that that weekend was the best. Months ago we planned out the rest of our year with a moving date being December 12. We wanted to be moved before the baby came. Here are a few reasons why:
1. It's been kind of cramped in this house, and last time we tried to move furniture in our bedroom to fit in things for a new baby our bed frame broke. It's been frustrating! We've had to try to prop up different spots with blocks of wood, one time resulting in a scar on Hyrum's index finger. In recent months the whole head of the bed sagged, especially the middle, and the foot of Jeremy's side sagged too. I started sleeping backwards in the bed because sleeping the other way was giving me headaches. Jeremy kind of traded off sleeping different ways, but his head was downhill no matter how he slept. We wanted to get rid of that bed, and because we were unsatisfied with the quality of the Fran that we bought from the furniture store, Jeremy wanted to build a new one. (It's shameful the cheap wood they used to support that thing! It's really heavy!) But it didn't really make sense to build it in Globe. It would have had to be completely disassembled to move, so why not just build it in Thatcher and have it built? So anyway, he did build that bed in Thatcher, and I'm so happy to be sleeping the direction in bed as my husband! :) I'm so glad his side isn't so saggy! It's great! And the sooner we switch to a fixed bed the better if you ask me.
2. Then there's the broken oven and dishwasher. There's only a limited number of things you can bake in a toaster oven. It doesn't do so great with cake or pie. ;) Anyway, so that was another "the sooner the better" things.
3. This house is infested with cockroaches, and nothing has really made a dent. I don't want to go into details, but it's horrifying. Absolutely disgusting. I don't want to bring home our sweet baby to that. That's just too much. So now we've been fighting to not bring them with us, which is harder than you'd think. We're going to battle with all our might, though. The ones here are getting more and more sneaky, getting into places where we just can't get with poison. And that's enough of that, but you understand. The sooner the better.
4. Why go to all the trouble making the bed fall apart further to bet the baby stuff in and then have to undo it all to move? Also, if we waited until after the baby we'd want to wait 6 weeks or so until I was recovered from the c-section. That was just too long to wait, especially with trying to put kids in school in the spring semester.
And there are other reasons too. But anyway we decided all those months ago that we needed to stay for the semester but wanted to be out ASAP afterwards. It just made sense. So the 12th it was. Then Kelly decided to get married on the 15th (though she did change to the 19th later) and Robert is being ordained a Deacon in the Catholic Church on the 12th. Now, don't think for a minute that I'm upset about those things causing our moving date to move. It's just how things happened. My parents also wanted to help us move, so they asked if we could move the date to the 5th. We decided that would be best, and not only because their help turned out to be very needed, though that was something to consider. ;) Anyway, yes, that did leave us coming back for a week, which has been pretty inconvenient, but what else could we do? The 12th is out. The 19th is two days before the baby comes, and that also means any later dates are out too.
So does it make sense now? I sure hope so! I promise we're not nitwits.
Anyway, Mama came up to help pack last Tuesday and stayed until Thursday morning. Mostly of what we accomplished on those days seemed to be cleaning. Ha ha! Obviously, it was needed, though! For one thing, cockroaches. Everything needed washed before we could pack it. And then I also wanted the bedding all washed before the move. Not only did it need washed, but it just makes sense to start out with fresh bedding, you know? You don't put dirty sheets back on. So Mama kept the washer and dryer running for almost the entire time. I felt like such a lazy bum. I did scoot around on my bum helping clean the kiddos' rooms (You bet your boots they were scary!) I did sort some stuff, and I did get some stuff packed, but I kept having to sit down. It was frustrating! I could form a plan in my brain and see clearly just how I wanted to take action here or there, but in my very pregnant condition I knew there was only so much I could do without causing preterm labor. So Mama started bringing me stuff to go through or fold. Bless her! She did so much work! I honestly don't know how we could have gotten it all done without her!
I kept packing after she left, and then we picked up the truck early Friday afternoon, just as Mama and Daddy showed up with lunch. :)
So long story short- it was pretty much just Jeremy and the boys and my parents then. They loaded the truck while I took the little ones to the store and the park to keep them out of the way. And Jennifer and her kids got here in time on Saturday to reclaim us from the stress and insanity that was going on! Bless them! In the end there's a lot more stuff still here than I'd like. The back half of the truck didn't get packed very tightly, so not everything would fit. I'm frustrated by that, but the only thing to do now is what we can. And at least Thatcher only 1 1/2 hours away. It'll all get done eventually. The nice thing - Jeremy bug bombed the truck on Friday after it was mostly already packed. And then we mounted war when we got to Thatcher, spreading poison far and wide and using 3 more bug bombs on the stuff in the garage as we left.
So anyway, yeah, not everything goes as you picture it, but we did have a lot of help with unloading in Thatcher! Jeremy went ahead with the truck and Jennifer and I followed behind later. They had it all unloaded when we got there. And then after the truck was already gone our home teacher came on a little break with his work partner in their ambulance. They asked if there was anything they could do, and all I could think of was that we wanted to get the beds together. They chose the one for Jill, Timmy, and Bubby. They asked if there were instructions, and I felt bad that there weren't. But I found them the tools and they went at it. I was so surprised because about 15 minutes later when they got called away for someone in cardiac arrest they had the whole thing almost built! :) Benji finished it up. Benji and Michael made their bunk beds right away, and Hyrum and Joshua (the grumpy teenagers) were compelled to finally make theirs. And then because I'm a mean mom I made Joshua actually put the sheets on his bed. Mean! The others just did theirs except for the younger 3.
Jennifer and her kids stayed for a while, and that was nice. It's always nice to chat with my sisters, and she helped me get the kitchen put away.
So all in all it worked out good. We still have a lot to do, but we have our Christmas tree up in Thatcher, and all the baby stuff has been in place for a while now. Joe gave us his extra crib and I found a nice little swing for $15 on the Gloe yard sale Facebook page. I washed the baby clothes and put them away. It's exciting! The house looks like a house with furniture in it, and the baby stuff being ready means we really are having this baby in a week and 5 days! Hooray!
I went to the doctor for a checkup yesterday. It's their policy that since I'm getting "older" I have to have an ultrasound at my lady appointments. Jeremy was able to go with me, and Bubby came too because he wouldn't go back to sleep before we left. It was fun watching that little fella. :) Anyway, the baby is getting big - about 6 lbs 4 oz. He is a cutie with beautiful little lips. And he's practicing breathing just like he should. I'm pretty sure Bubby has no clue what's about to happen. When we talk about the baby he thinks we're talking about him. So the baby's swing and bed are his? I still think he'll like this new little guy, and thank heavens he and Hyrum are buddies. :) We ordered a car seat because the only ones Walmart had were girly. It had free shipping anyway, so sure. Why not? It's cute!
Yeah, I guess if I start out saying something's a quickie we can be sure it's not. Oh well.
Oh, one more thing: Benji turned 12 on Monday. He wanted donuts for his cake, and he wanted to make them. I couldn't find the recipe I've made in the past, but we found one he thought would work, and away we went to borrow Grandma's kitchen. She was actually away. Somehow she didn't get the message that we were moving on the 5th and she and Dad flew to Idaho to see Becca. So she wasn't there, but Susie was there in between finals. I didn't want to use up all their ingredients, and all of mine were in Thatcher, so Timmy and I went shopping and bought some ingredients. I borrowed things like spices and then left the flour and sugar and stuff there. I don't want to move it, and bless them for letting me use their kitchen even though we weren't there! Hyrum had a math final that day, so we mixed up the dough while he was at class and refrigerated it for an hour like the directions said. Jeremy cooked dinner and Benji cooked the donuts. They didn't come out as yummy as he hoped, but we stuck candles in them anyway. I got the relighting kind because there were just enough in the package. On the one had I was glad I did because Timmy and Bunby kept blowing them out as Jeremy was trying to light them. But they smoked horribly! I felt bad that the house probably smelled like smoke when Grandma got home. Oh well. At least it did have time to dissipate. And we cleaned up and left some dinner for them. Benji says he had a nice birthday, and I'm glad. :) I got him a camera among other things and was thankful I could get some good deals!
Ok, that's really all for now. I'd better plug in my phone. I can't wait to get to Thatcher tomorrow and set up my computer! I've missed it!
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Frustrated
Feel free to skip this one. I'm just feeling frustrated this morning and need to vent. Things really are going fine overall. It's just the other stuff, you know?
I've been sick all week. It's such a bummer. I've been a good girl. I've been taking my vitamin C and trying to get enough sleep, but so far it's not working. Hyrum, Benji, and Michael have also been sick, but Hyrum and Benji seem to be getting better. I've gone from a runny nose to a stuffy nose. I'm feeling wiped out all the time, and now my throat is joining in the fun. Whee! I hate it. I really thought it would only last a couple of days. Since I've started taking that Loratadine every day I haven't gotten sick nearly so often. I guess I've been spoiled! ;)
The other thing that irks me is Joe and BreAnna. Since they moved out of Mom's house in like July or August they've been living in kind of a crummy apartment with crummy neighbors. Well, near the end of October they finally found a better place to live, but they couldn't move in until like now. They didn't want to pay an extra month of rent at their old place along with a month of rent at the new place, so they asked it they could please stay at our house. They promised to take good care of it, and Joe agreed to install the molding in the doorways where the laminate meets the carpet and the tile. When we went to the house this weekend, though, we found a few things we didn't like. Same with anybody living in your house. They had rearranged this and that. Nothing too serious. But then Jeremy also found that his 2 dollar bills were missing. We scratched our heads and locked our bedroom the best we could when we left. There's a real lock on that door, but we don't have a way to unlock it from the outside. So all we could do was use the slider with a chain kind of lock that we use just to keep the little ones out when we're not in there. And Jeremy put duct tape over it with a note to stay out. We figured it was just Joe and BreAnna, so that ought to do it, right? Well, then yesterday Jeremy took Hyrum down to Thatcher for a meeting about a hike that the youth are doing over New Year's. It sounds really neat - kind of like trek except in the snow or something like that. Anyway, Joe was texting Jeremy along the way and Hyrum was texting him back for Jeremy. Joe said it turned out they'd have to wait another month to move into the new place, and he asked if they could stay at our house for that time. He offered to pay us rent. Well, immediately, we had some problems with that idea. Here are a few:
1. A month is longer than we've lived there. Ugh.
2. Joe didn't do that simple task we asked of him.
3. They couldn't pay us the rent that the house is worth.
4. That's a month of somebody living in our house without us there.
5. BreAnna's family is lame, and they often send all her siblings to live with her for a while. I didn't want that to happen in our house while we weren't there. These are kids who BreAnna has pretty much raised while being a child herself, children who really have had no boundaries and in whom the adults in the family have pretty much showed no interest other than shuffling them around and ignoring them. They live with their grandma while she can stand them, but she doesn't really take care of them, while their mother is gallivanting across the countryside or wherever with her latest boyfriend. What makes it worse, one of those children is only 1 year old. (I think she's actually a the daughter of BreAnna's cousin.) And BreAnna's teenage sister was left in charge of her when she should have been going to school. They worked it out so that Jeremy's mom is taking care of her now. She figures that Joe and BreAnna will want to adopt her someday but that they're too young right now. She likes having the little one around, and I'm glad for her, but it kind of enables the irresponsibility of the adults in that family. Argh! It's just all not right. Talk about lack of natural affection. Or is it entitlement? Or what? I don't know. It's just not right.
So anyway, Jeremy figured he'd go to the meeting with Hyrum and then go talk things over with Joe and BreAnna afterwards. Well, when he got to the house, he found that BreAnna's little brother was there too. Apparently, 2 months ago he'd been expelled from school in Globe, so his grandma called all around to find somebody to take him in, and the lot fell to Joe and BreAnna. And he hasn't been to school since. This is a problem! This kid is a jerk! He hasn't been raised properly at all, so you can't really blame him for being a punk, but man! I don't want him living in my house, especially when I'm not there! And it bugs me to no end that they didn't tell us he would be living there too. We would have said no! And not only is he living there, but he went back in our bedroom and started eating our kids' Halloween candy. (They got a lot, and we didn't want them getting sick, so Jeremy put it all in his closet to save.) We assume the money was taken by said little brother too. Not really an alternative there.
So anyway, Jeremy told them they are to be out by Friday. They're going to go live in Aaron and Kenzie's basement. I feel bad about that, but this is unacceptable, and at least this way they will have some supervision. I feel betrayed. And I feel like they're going to think we're the bad guys. I feel like BreAnna already thought we didn't like her, and now...? But also I feel like the situation really stinks and I'm upset that Joe is in the middle of it. He can't escape his in-laws, and he's trying so hard to keep things together when he's just not old enough to handle it. He works for a construction company that doesn't pay him what they said they would (which really wasn't much to begin with), and he's going to school at EAC. And he's a newlywed who is barely 18 with a wife who is barely 17, and he has a new baby. He doesn't need the in-law crap to go with it. (Pardon the swear word. I'm mad.) I guess the sad truth is, though, that in the end this was his choice. He made some bad choices and these are his consequences. I just hope he can pull through it. Ugh. That's all I can say.
Also, I have baby projects that I need to get started, but between feeling like ick and having a dumb Wal-Mart that doesn't even have the notions or yarn colors I need isn't helping. At least I have patterns, right? I guess I'll look for notions and yarn when I go down to the doctor tomorrow. I still have a project for Joe and BreAnna's baby that's not quite done, but I don't want to knit my germs into it, and if I try to read instead I get 3 kiddos climbing on me. And I can't beat the other kiddos away from my computer. Time for some computerless time again. I'm trying to get the kiddos ready to go to public school, but I'm not sure how I'm doing, especially when all I can seem to do is fall asleep. Ha ha! I guess I'm feeling stagnant. I feel like there's so much to do, but that I just can't seem to get it done. Yeah, time to put my munchkins to work. Surely, they can vacuum behind the fridge, right? Of, course, right!
Well, it's all temporary. Sickness doesn't last. I vented and now I can move on. Time to read my scriptures or something. :) Also, Conference is awesome! I listened to Elder Nelson's talk about women again the other day, and it's wonderful! :)
I've been sick all week. It's such a bummer. I've been a good girl. I've been taking my vitamin C and trying to get enough sleep, but so far it's not working. Hyrum, Benji, and Michael have also been sick, but Hyrum and Benji seem to be getting better. I've gone from a runny nose to a stuffy nose. I'm feeling wiped out all the time, and now my throat is joining in the fun. Whee! I hate it. I really thought it would only last a couple of days. Since I've started taking that Loratadine every day I haven't gotten sick nearly so often. I guess I've been spoiled! ;)
The other thing that irks me is Joe and BreAnna. Since they moved out of Mom's house in like July or August they've been living in kind of a crummy apartment with crummy neighbors. Well, near the end of October they finally found a better place to live, but they couldn't move in until like now. They didn't want to pay an extra month of rent at their old place along with a month of rent at the new place, so they asked it they could please stay at our house. They promised to take good care of it, and Joe agreed to install the molding in the doorways where the laminate meets the carpet and the tile. When we went to the house this weekend, though, we found a few things we didn't like. Same with anybody living in your house. They had rearranged this and that. Nothing too serious. But then Jeremy also found that his 2 dollar bills were missing. We scratched our heads and locked our bedroom the best we could when we left. There's a real lock on that door, but we don't have a way to unlock it from the outside. So all we could do was use the slider with a chain kind of lock that we use just to keep the little ones out when we're not in there. And Jeremy put duct tape over it with a note to stay out. We figured it was just Joe and BreAnna, so that ought to do it, right? Well, then yesterday Jeremy took Hyrum down to Thatcher for a meeting about a hike that the youth are doing over New Year's. It sounds really neat - kind of like trek except in the snow or something like that. Anyway, Joe was texting Jeremy along the way and Hyrum was texting him back for Jeremy. Joe said it turned out they'd have to wait another month to move into the new place, and he asked if they could stay at our house for that time. He offered to pay us rent. Well, immediately, we had some problems with that idea. Here are a few:
1. A month is longer than we've lived there. Ugh.
2. Joe didn't do that simple task we asked of him.
3. They couldn't pay us the rent that the house is worth.
4. That's a month of somebody living in our house without us there.
5. BreAnna's family is lame, and they often send all her siblings to live with her for a while. I didn't want that to happen in our house while we weren't there. These are kids who BreAnna has pretty much raised while being a child herself, children who really have had no boundaries and in whom the adults in the family have pretty much showed no interest other than shuffling them around and ignoring them. They live with their grandma while she can stand them, but she doesn't really take care of them, while their mother is gallivanting across the countryside or wherever with her latest boyfriend. What makes it worse, one of those children is only 1 year old. (I think she's actually a the daughter of BreAnna's cousin.) And BreAnna's teenage sister was left in charge of her when she should have been going to school. They worked it out so that Jeremy's mom is taking care of her now. She figures that Joe and BreAnna will want to adopt her someday but that they're too young right now. She likes having the little one around, and I'm glad for her, but it kind of enables the irresponsibility of the adults in that family. Argh! It's just all not right. Talk about lack of natural affection. Or is it entitlement? Or what? I don't know. It's just not right.
So anyway, Jeremy figured he'd go to the meeting with Hyrum and then go talk things over with Joe and BreAnna afterwards. Well, when he got to the house, he found that BreAnna's little brother was there too. Apparently, 2 months ago he'd been expelled from school in Globe, so his grandma called all around to find somebody to take him in, and the lot fell to Joe and BreAnna. And he hasn't been to school since. This is a problem! This kid is a jerk! He hasn't been raised properly at all, so you can't really blame him for being a punk, but man! I don't want him living in my house, especially when I'm not there! And it bugs me to no end that they didn't tell us he would be living there too. We would have said no! And not only is he living there, but he went back in our bedroom and started eating our kids' Halloween candy. (They got a lot, and we didn't want them getting sick, so Jeremy put it all in his closet to save.) We assume the money was taken by said little brother too. Not really an alternative there.
So anyway, Jeremy told them they are to be out by Friday. They're going to go live in Aaron and Kenzie's basement. I feel bad about that, but this is unacceptable, and at least this way they will have some supervision. I feel betrayed. And I feel like they're going to think we're the bad guys. I feel like BreAnna already thought we didn't like her, and now...? But also I feel like the situation really stinks and I'm upset that Joe is in the middle of it. He can't escape his in-laws, and he's trying so hard to keep things together when he's just not old enough to handle it. He works for a construction company that doesn't pay him what they said they would (which really wasn't much to begin with), and he's going to school at EAC. And he's a newlywed who is barely 18 with a wife who is barely 17, and he has a new baby. He doesn't need the in-law crap to go with it. (Pardon the swear word. I'm mad.) I guess the sad truth is, though, that in the end this was his choice. He made some bad choices and these are his consequences. I just hope he can pull through it. Ugh. That's all I can say.
Also, I have baby projects that I need to get started, but between feeling like ick and having a dumb Wal-Mart that doesn't even have the notions or yarn colors I need isn't helping. At least I have patterns, right? I guess I'll look for notions and yarn when I go down to the doctor tomorrow. I still have a project for Joe and BreAnna's baby that's not quite done, but I don't want to knit my germs into it, and if I try to read instead I get 3 kiddos climbing on me. And I can't beat the other kiddos away from my computer. Time for some computerless time again. I'm trying to get the kiddos ready to go to public school, but I'm not sure how I'm doing, especially when all I can seem to do is fall asleep. Ha ha! I guess I'm feeling stagnant. I feel like there's so much to do, but that I just can't seem to get it done. Yeah, time to put my munchkins to work. Surely, they can vacuum behind the fridge, right? Of, course, right!
Well, it's all temporary. Sickness doesn't last. I vented and now I can move on. Time to read my scriptures or something. :) Also, Conference is awesome! I listened to Elder Nelson's talk about women again the other day, and it's wonderful! :)
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Other things
I'm so excited for Thanksgiving! It's been bopping around in my head for months, and now it's bopping around more persistently. I'm not sure who all is coming to have it with us, but we're having it in our new house in Thatcher. Do you want to come? :D
Timmy has been really working on writing his letters lately. He writes his name really well. Sometimes when he sees someone writing something he says, "How about a T and a I and a M and a M and a Y?" Also, a year or two ago Jill drew a big picture of our family for FHE on the back of an old Gila County Assessor map that's now scratch paper (It's nice when Jeremy can bring scratch paper home :) ), and it was on the wall in the hall for a long time, but now it's right by my computer. It says "Our Family" at the bottom, but "our" is really little, so what stands out is "Family." We hadn't really pointed it out at all, but one day Timmy was drawing, and he wrote the word family, looking up at the picture to know which letters to write. Then he came to show me his picture and he said, "Does this say family?" I was so proud! How did he have any idea what that said? It makes me think he would do better with the whole word method of learning to read than just phonics. I should start labeling things around the house. :)
Bubby has been showing just how 2 he is. He was always such a happy boy, but man! 2 is hard! He mostly is still happy, but when he gets hungry or tired he gets so bent out of shape. It's just awful. It makes me hope and hope for this stage to pass. At the same time, though, most of the time he's just happy and cute. :) He does say words, too, but most of what he says is babbling. When he's upset with us (but not too tired or too hungry) he scolds us in gibberish. It's so funny! Hyrum used to talk gibberish like that when he was little too. He would come up to me and carry on a conversation all in gibberish with plenty of expression in his voice. It was so cute! On the one hand I felt like I should worry that he wasn't actually using more words, but on the other hand I kind of decided that that was just how Hyrum was at that point and that he'd catch up eventually. He did, but he still has a few things he says funny. At least he says yolk instead of goyle now. ;)
Bubby has also learned to open the fridge. Dang it! He's always grabbing things out. I think he thinks the syrup is a drink. He gets it all the time. Yesterday he threw it when we told him no, and it spilled on the floor.
I think that's about it for now. I'm behind on Halloween costumes, so I'd better get busy!
Timmy has been really working on writing his letters lately. He writes his name really well. Sometimes when he sees someone writing something he says, "How about a T and a I and a M and a M and a Y?" Also, a year or two ago Jill drew a big picture of our family for FHE on the back of an old Gila County Assessor map that's now scratch paper (It's nice when Jeremy can bring scratch paper home :) ), and it was on the wall in the hall for a long time, but now it's right by my computer. It says "Our Family" at the bottom, but "our" is really little, so what stands out is "Family." We hadn't really pointed it out at all, but one day Timmy was drawing, and he wrote the word family, looking up at the picture to know which letters to write. Then he came to show me his picture and he said, "Does this say family?" I was so proud! How did he have any idea what that said? It makes me think he would do better with the whole word method of learning to read than just phonics. I should start labeling things around the house. :)
Bubby has been showing just how 2 he is. He was always such a happy boy, but man! 2 is hard! He mostly is still happy, but when he gets hungry or tired he gets so bent out of shape. It's just awful. It makes me hope and hope for this stage to pass. At the same time, though, most of the time he's just happy and cute. :) He does say words, too, but most of what he says is babbling. When he's upset with us (but not too tired or too hungry) he scolds us in gibberish. It's so funny! Hyrum used to talk gibberish like that when he was little too. He would come up to me and carry on a conversation all in gibberish with plenty of expression in his voice. It was so cute! On the one hand I felt like I should worry that he wasn't actually using more words, but on the other hand I kind of decided that that was just how Hyrum was at that point and that he'd catch up eventually. He did, but he still has a few things he says funny. At least he says yolk instead of goyle now. ;)
Bubby has also learned to open the fridge. Dang it! He's always grabbing things out. I think he thinks the syrup is a drink. He gets it all the time. Yesterday he threw it when we told him no, and it spilled on the floor.
I think that's about it for now. I'm behind on Halloween costumes, so I'd better get busy!
Memory
I was looking around Facebook at the things I posted years ago (You know how Facebook has that, right?), and I came across something that I thought might should be recorded for posterity. I don't think I did before. It is something a guy from our old World of Warcraft guild posted about Hyrum (whom we lovingly referred to as Gathy in game), and it's so sweet. I'll post the comments that were made afterwards too. The guy who posted this is named Jason Estatico, whom we call Val, and he lives in Pennsylvania and came to have Thanksgiving with us a couple years ago.
It's funny the directions life takes you sometimes. There at the end we had 5 people left in the guild besides our family, but we have been truly blessed to have these people in our lives. It seems so unlikely that such sweet memories come from playing a game with people you sort of met at random, but that's how it happened. These days, I am not sure what Val is playing, but I'm sure he's playing something. I don't think Verdes is playing anything right now. She quit Warcraft and tried to start playing Rift so she'd get to chat with us, but by that time I was the only one playing Rift, and our schedules never jived. My Rift schedule these days is that I play a few hours a month or so, but that's about it, and the rest of these people here aren't playing any Rift at all. (I'm not playing Warcraft anymore. Rift is similar to it, but it's free, so that's what I play.) Jeremy's not playing anything. He just doesn't have time. (That does beg the question - how do I have time? I don't know. How do I have time to write on the blog? Ha! ;) ) Lilly hasn't been playing anything. She and her husband have adopted 2 of Lilly's great nieces, and they keep her busy! Os, Lilly's hubby, has moved on to other games. And Cernun, well, I just don't know what he's doing. He just got married. Maybe he doesn't play anything anymore. So anyway, my point is, we've all kind of gone our separate ways, but there's still that family feeling about keeping in contact with these people. We love them all dearly. So this is kind of just for me to remember. You're all welcome to read along or move along if you want. ;)
Anyway, without further ado, here is what Val wrote 2 years ago today:
Today is another shout out day. This particular one goes to the gem of the guild whom without LCN would have been a very different place. I am of course talking about Gathrog. One of the factors that made LCN stand out was the family friendly atmosphere. That meant I could play the game without the endless conversations about sex, drugs, alcohol, and the endless use of swearing. One of the primary rules was that no minor could be online without parental supervision Gathy was the one exception to this rule. He was and is the little brother I've always wanted. Even on the worst of days when depression would take me over and beat me down this young man could break me out make me smile and laugh and restore my mind to the proper outlook. He has the most amazing outlook on life. I would remember him logging in everyday wanting to raid or do a dungeon or just have a party with the guild to the point that bordered on annoying sometimes but we always had tremendous patience and explained to him that we couldn't do these things endlessly every single night. On that note I must make special mention of his never ending curiosity. Never afraid to ask questions about things he didn't understand. I remember a particular conversation where I ended up explaining the basics of copyright laws and public domain and though he was only 11 or 12 at the time he asked just the right questions and got to a point of understanding. Everyday I would ask him one particular question "did you finish your homework?" if he hadn't I would tell him to finish it and become smart like his daddy. He would then find some excuse as to why he could play we had the day off or it's a holiday and we'd laugh and play the game. I have watched out for him and always when we got into a difficult situation he would step up and stand strong. One such occasion we were running a dungeon together and I had asked the group to watch their language as we had a minor with us. They proceeded to laugh and say oh he does it anyways what does it matter and continued using such language. They entire time running this dungeon they argued with me whilst Gathy told me privately that he did not like their attitudes. We left the group and he was quite upset over their choices. He didn't argue or show animosity to them but rather he was the bigger man and walked away from the situation. I could speak endlessly on him and I think Facebook is hating me for this long post right now so I'll wrap it up. I look forward to seeing where life takes Gathy more than where it takes me and am relieved that such an amazing young man exists in this ever decaying world. I love you bud and am always here looking out for you.
Comments:
Val: Oh and if you would be so kind I would much like him to read this post Christine Burk and Jeremy Burk
Jeremy: I will make sure he reads it
Me: Done. :) I will show him now.
Me: Gathy says to tell you thank you so much. He is "wordless but so happy."
Val: Thank you Gathy you don't even realize how much you have improved my life and how much I look up to you :)
Me: I wondered when this one would show up. ;) You have been such a good influence on him. He is by nature a very good person, and I think the guild helped reinforce that. I have been so thankful. Plus, he has given us as a guild many opportunities to laugh. Laughing at one's children is one of the greatest delights of parenting. He smiled the entire time he was reading that and is still smiling. :)
Val: I have been planning this one since day one but every time I just couldn't get things right there is just too much to say
Me: Yeah, it's not only because I love my son and am biased. I wondered because, like you said, the guild would have been very different without him. But, man! What would we have done without YOU?!
Val: Lol to be honest I don't think it was possible for any of us to end up any where else God clearly had a plan for LCN
Me: Agreed. I often think about that and feel absolutely amazed that He could use an online game as a means to bring about His purposes. Except that of course he can, duh!! He is God! But is is still pretty unexpe cted and miraculous to me.
Jeremy: I got home for lunch to Hyrum singing and dancing. "Papa! Val just made my day, So Much! So much" I am way pleased to see him so pleased.
Val: Glad I can make him smile for a change lol
Lilly: I love this post . My darling Val caught so much of our first guild babies personality. It was always a source of great pride to see guild members holding a standard for this little guy. We have kicked people for not and we are all the better for it. It was additionally so pleasing when gaths brothers and sister started periodically showing up . To earn the Burks trust and confidence as their guild leader and friend meant a great deal to me
Me: Gath wants you to get on WoW RIGHT NOW, Val. LOL! :)
Val: Lol I'm making dinner but I'll be on shortly
Val's mom: My son you make me proud. :)
Cernun: Very true :)
Verdes: You guys are gonna make me go dig out the timecards I got 11 months ago if this keeps up...
It's funny the directions life takes you sometimes. There at the end we had 5 people left in the guild besides our family, but we have been truly blessed to have these people in our lives. It seems so unlikely that such sweet memories come from playing a game with people you sort of met at random, but that's how it happened. These days, I am not sure what Val is playing, but I'm sure he's playing something. I don't think Verdes is playing anything right now. She quit Warcraft and tried to start playing Rift so she'd get to chat with us, but by that time I was the only one playing Rift, and our schedules never jived. My Rift schedule these days is that I play a few hours a month or so, but that's about it, and the rest of these people here aren't playing any Rift at all. (I'm not playing Warcraft anymore. Rift is similar to it, but it's free, so that's what I play.) Jeremy's not playing anything. He just doesn't have time. (That does beg the question - how do I have time? I don't know. How do I have time to write on the blog? Ha! ;) ) Lilly hasn't been playing anything. She and her husband have adopted 2 of Lilly's great nieces, and they keep her busy! Os, Lilly's hubby, has moved on to other games. And Cernun, well, I just don't know what he's doing. He just got married. Maybe he doesn't play anything anymore. So anyway, my point is, we've all kind of gone our separate ways, but there's still that family feeling about keeping in contact with these people. We love them all dearly. So this is kind of just for me to remember. You're all welcome to read along or move along if you want. ;)
Anyway, without further ado, here is what Val wrote 2 years ago today:
Today is another shout out day. This particular one goes to the gem of the guild whom without LCN would have been a very different place. I am of course talking about Gathrog. One of the factors that made LCN stand out was the family friendly atmosphere. That meant I could play the game without the endless conversations about sex, drugs, alcohol, and the endless use of swearing. One of the primary rules was that no minor could be online without parental supervision Gathy was the one exception to this rule. He was and is the little brother I've always wanted. Even on the worst of days when depression would take me over and beat me down this young man could break me out make me smile and laugh and restore my mind to the proper outlook. He has the most amazing outlook on life. I would remember him logging in everyday wanting to raid or do a dungeon or just have a party with the guild to the point that bordered on annoying sometimes but we always had tremendous patience and explained to him that we couldn't do these things endlessly every single night. On that note I must make special mention of his never ending curiosity. Never afraid to ask questions about things he didn't understand. I remember a particular conversation where I ended up explaining the basics of copyright laws and public domain and though he was only 11 or 12 at the time he asked just the right questions and got to a point of understanding. Everyday I would ask him one particular question "did you finish your homework?" if he hadn't I would tell him to finish it and become smart like his daddy. He would then find some excuse as to why he could play we had the day off or it's a holiday and we'd laugh and play the game. I have watched out for him and always when we got into a difficult situation he would step up and stand strong. One such occasion we were running a dungeon together and I had asked the group to watch their language as we had a minor with us. They proceeded to laugh and say oh he does it anyways what does it matter and continued using such language. They entire time running this dungeon they argued with me whilst Gathy told me privately that he did not like their attitudes. We left the group and he was quite upset over their choices. He didn't argue or show animosity to them but rather he was the bigger man and walked away from the situation. I could speak endlessly on him and I think Facebook is hating me for this long post right now so I'll wrap it up. I look forward to seeing where life takes Gathy more than where it takes me and am relieved that such an amazing young man exists in this ever decaying world. I love you bud and am always here looking out for you.
Comments:
Val: Oh and if you would be so kind I would much like him to read this post Christine Burk and Jeremy Burk
Jeremy: I will make sure he reads it
Me: Done. :) I will show him now.
Me: Gathy says to tell you thank you so much. He is "wordless but so happy."
Val: Thank you Gathy you don't even realize how much you have improved my life and how much I look up to you :)
Me: I wondered when this one would show up. ;) You have been such a good influence on him. He is by nature a very good person, and I think the guild helped reinforce that. I have been so thankful. Plus, he has given us as a guild many opportunities to laugh. Laughing at one's children is one of the greatest delights of parenting. He smiled the entire time he was reading that and is still smiling. :)
Val: I have been planning this one since day one but every time I just couldn't get things right there is just too much to say
Me: Yeah, it's not only because I love my son and am biased. I wondered because, like you said, the guild would have been very different without him. But, man! What would we have done without YOU?!
Val: Lol to be honest I don't think it was possible for any of us to end up any where else God clearly had a plan for LCN
Me: Agreed. I often think about that and feel absolutely amazed that He could use an online game as a means to bring about His purposes. Except that of course he can, duh!! He is God! But is is still pretty unexpe cted and miraculous to me.
Jeremy: I got home for lunch to Hyrum singing and dancing. "Papa! Val just made my day, So Much! So much" I am way pleased to see him so pleased.
Val: Glad I can make him smile for a change lol
Lilly: I love this post . My darling Val caught so much of our first guild babies personality. It was always a source of great pride to see guild members holding a standard for this little guy. We have kicked people for not and we are all the better for it. It was additionally so pleasing when gaths brothers and sister started periodically showing up . To earn the Burks trust and confidence as their guild leader and friend meant a great deal to me
Me: Gath wants you to get on WoW RIGHT NOW, Val. LOL! :)
Val: Lol I'm making dinner but I'll be on shortly
Val's mom: My son you make me proud. :)
Cernun: Very true :)
Verdes: You guys are gonna make me go dig out the timecards I got 11 months ago if this keeps up...
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Pictures - Birthdays, New Carpet, etc.
The day after we left St. Johns was Bubby's birthday. Bubby is 2! We went to Thatcher for the day so the kiddos could practice for the Primary program there. And it's kind of good that we went anyway because we still don't have a working oven in this house in Globe. It's just so old and the display had stopped working consistently when the thermostat or something went out like 5 months ago. We haven't really had the money to fix or replace it, so it makes me excited to go use the oven in Thatcher. :) Except that the numbers on the oven dial are mostly rubbed off, so you have to guess on the temperature. And it's kind of a cheapo oven anyway, so it doesn't heat evenly. In fact, it reminds me a lot of the oven we had in Cedar City. We're going to have to replace it eventually. One thing at a time, though! I'm sure it'll work fine as soon as we figure out how to work around its quirks, and it won't be there forever. For now we have a toaster oven in Globe, and it works ok, but it's not so great with cakes and pies and that kind of thing. Anyway, Benji made this white cake, and then we topped the individual slices with whipped cream and strawberries. Yum!
Cake!
First present - from Michael
It's a pencil case!
This is a little toy box full of all kinds of little wooden toys. One reason I got this is so that there'd be something for the little ones to play with in Thatcher. It's been great. :)
I think this was his birthday shirt, It has rockets.
More presents!
It's a doggy! This little fella LOVES stuffed animals. :)
Jill got him some Swedish Fish.
Papa got him a Ninja Turtle blanket that's like a sleeping bag and some star and leaf stickers.
We got him his own bike! He loves it, but still doesn't use the pedals consistently.
Bubby eating his cake
Do you see the fish? The day after Bubby's birthday I went down to the doctor, and this pond is right outside there. It usually has ducks too, but it was windy that day.
I also went to Petsmart and got Hyrum a new dove. we wanted a female, but there were just these two males in like the whole valley. The one on top is the one we got. Hyrum named him Hermes, so now he has Hermes and Apollo.
We had Pack Meeting. It was kind of a circus going by myself with all the kiddos and no Jeremy or Hyrum, but it worked out. Michael got his Bear and is now working on Webelos. He should have that in December, and then he can work on Arrow of Light.
Timmy! He was going crazy, so I tried to entertain him with my phone. It didn't work very well.
Benji, Jill, Timmy, and Bubby came with me the day the carpet was installed. I didn't get a good picture of the laminate, but you can see it in this picture. :) We ran some errands and then just tried to stay out of the carpet guys' way. I ran around sweeping and keeping people happy in between reading sentences from The Hobbit. Now all the floors look awesome! :) Jill fell asleep like that on the couch. Timmy was flying like Harry Potter on a broom. And Bubby was happy to have his bike. :)
Yes, Timmy has no pants. He went to the bathroom and came back without any pants or underwear, so I went in there and found that he'd missed and wet on the floor and then put his pants and underwear in it. Ew! So for a while he had nothing on his bum because I had no backup. I set his pants and underwear out back in the sun and put the underwear back on as soon as they were dry.
Here's the yellow room with new carpet.
And the stairs
And the hall
Jeremy's office that is right now being used and Hyrum's bedroom
Benji and Michael's room (Joshua sleeps in there for now too.)
Jill, Timmy, and Bubby's room
Master bedroom
That weekend Joe and BreAnna came for a short visit, so we got to meet little Jesse. :)
Cute little fella!
Benji pretending to sleep or something ;)
Bubby
I think Timmy asked me to print him a bird to color and I said no, so he drew this one and had Papa help him cut it out. :) Good thing I say no sometimes! ;)
Hyrum reading Harry Potter
Hyrum turned 15! Here he is about to open his birthday shirt.
We had a little birthday party that evening, and Grandma and Grandpa Burk brought him an umbrella and some nice swimming goggles to go with his new shirt. :) Grandma Badger gave him some caramels, and when I took a picture it looked like a pile of goo in his hand. Ha ha! Silly camera. I really need to get a good one. Anyway, he loved all his presents! :)
How 'bout that creepy face?!
Hyrum wanted a new mp3 player. Hooray that they're inexpensive these days. ;) He was quite pleased.
I got him 2 Harry Potter books that kind of tag along with the series but aren't part of it.
And I gave him some Bach to go with his mp3 player because everybody needs to know and love Bach!
He got a yo-yo, and has been playing with it nearly every day. That's one of the things he asked for.
The other Harry Potter book
We've had lots of little wildflowers around our house lately. Jeremy picked these and left them on my desk. :) Timmy brings me some nearly every day. Just today he brought me 5 or 6 of them, one at a time. :) He always gets the yellow ones. Also, the weather has been wonderful, so my 3 little ones have been playing outside every chance they get. It's great! I'm quite happy for them. Somebody gave us a swing set a few months ago, and it has been used every day lately.
Bubby
The 3 older boys went on a scout campout here in Globe. They made foil dinners, and somebody didn't throw away their carrot ends. Bubby has been talking about birthdays a lot lately. This particular day he stuck the carrot ends in this piece of bread and started singing happy birthday like it was candles in a cake. :)
We had new Play-Doh (Tradition!) for Conference last weekend, and Bubby kept piling his up and singing the happy birthday song and then exclaiming, "Cake?!" It was so cute! Then he started pinching off pieces and handing them out. :) I need to steal Jeremy's Conference pictures because I didn't get any this time!
This is Benji, Bubby, and Timmy in the game room at the dentist. On October 1 Michael and Jill had some dental work done. They both did great! Michael only had one cavity and then got sealants, and Jill had at least 3 cavities. She ended up needing a crown on that broken tooth she wouldn't let them fix months ago, but I wasn't really surprised about that. Still, she let them get it all done in one sitting. Phew! She did have some pain that day, but she's really been just fine since.
We were all itching to get a pumpkin, and we finally gave in. The kiddos love it! They hug it and pat it and carry it around. Hasn't broken yet. Phew!
Last weekend Joshua got a new ratty. Aaron brought it to him. This one is named Altepixe. That's an acronym for pixelate. I just call him ratty. He's about the same size that Scratchy was when we got him. He's white like Mordecai, but he doesn't jump around like Mordecai did. (I miss that little fella! I'm sad that he died. He was so tiny.) But he does seem to like the wheel in his cage. We couldn't interest Scratchy or Mordecai in that. Kind of fun. :) He doesn't seem as sociable as the other two were. He doesn't run away from Joshua as much anymore, but I don't think he's 100% comfortable with him yet. It's interesting how they all have such different personalities. It's not surprising, but you know... Lots of people consider rats vermin, and they are vermin when they aren't wanted, so you don't stop and think about how they're all different in personality as well as appearance. Well, anyway, I'm happy for Joshua. :) He seems quite happy to have a new little fella.
Yesterday I made brownies for Home Evening treat. Timmy was so sad that he had to wait for them to cook, and then they weren't done, so I had to put them back in. Injustice! He sat down and drew this picture about it. See, he has forks and knives and brownies and a table. He brought it to me and said something like, "I need you go get me a brownie." He waited way longer than he liked, but in the end he did get at least 2 brownies and was quite pleased. :)
Pictues - Puzzle Floor and the Fair
I actually have lots of pictures to share (remember - busy September!), so I think I'll do these in a few posts. It tends to work better that way!
Bubby eating grapes while the guys install the laminate at the Thatcher house
Daddy, Jeremy, and Benji working on the floor
By this time I'd been shopping with Mama to kind of keep the little ones out of the way. Paul had come to help, and so had Kelly with her knight in shining armor. It was kind of fun to watch them all work together. To be honest, though, I think that Paul and Rick kind of took over and really got things going.
After lunch Mama, Kelly, the kiddos, and I washed some walls, and then we took the four younger kiddos to the splash pad at the park up the street. We'd been to Thatcher so many times and hadn't tried it. Jill insists that she had a horrible time because she kept getting sprayed, but we all know better. :) They all had a great time! That's Bubby in the red and Timmy behind him. I think that Timmy might have gotten more out of this little trip than the others. He ran back and forth and seemed to relieve a lot of anxiety or whatever he was carrying. It was great!
Jill, Timmy, Bubby, and Michael
Timmy (snicker, snicker) and Bubby
There's Timmy playing with the red squirt gun again.
Jill had so much fun spinning on this thingy.
Bubby
Michael
Paul and Benji
This is about how far the guys had gone by the time we got back from swimming. It was awesome! :D
Dad and Rick
Bubby helping
Kelly and Jeremy taping padding in the entryway
Jeremy
Grandpa, Benji, and Timmy
Benji, Timmy, Paul, and Bubby
Timmy was so excited about this floor! It was like a great big puzzle to him. He still calls it the puzzle floor, and he says, "I like the puzzle floor! Do you like the puzzle floor?" :) I don't remember if I recorded it or not, but the first time he said he liked anything was a few months ago when he said he liked my hair. (Understatement!) I was so excited that he'd use those words! And he's taken off from there. It's great. :) And before I forget, I'd better record this: Last week we were at the dentist in the valley, and he was playing near some other kiddos, and one of them asked, "What's your name." He responded, "Timmy." I know that doesn't seem huge, but it is! He's never answered that question at all before! :D I think it's because in his mind there was no need to answer, just like there's no need for him to respond or come when I call his name.
Bubby was helping. :) The guys used this level to line up the planks so that they all match up across the whole floor. We didn't think of doing that in the Globe house. I think it looks awesome! :D
We've been doing a lot of reading around here lately. Michael started reading the Harry Potter series a few weeks ago, and Hyrum, who was already in the middle of a different series, dropped what he was reading and followed suit. It's great! Benji has also been reading. He got through the first Harry Potter book and is now reading The Magician's Nephew from the Narnia series. :) I like this picture of Michael. :) Plus, he's a lot nicer to the books than Hyrum is! Hyrum likes to open them wide on his lap, and that means all the pages soon start to fall out. Argh!
Before I forget, we've had 2 new babies join the Burk family just recently. On August 27, Aaron and Kenzie welcomed little Evelynn Olive Burk to their family. She was blessed the day after that big laminate installation day, but I didn't get any pictures. I haven't even held her yet! I think I need to start demanding to hold my new nephews and nieces. ;) Anyway, she's very cute, and I think her name is pretty cute too. I stole this picture from Facebook.
And here is Jesse John Burk. He is Joe and BreAnna's boy. So cute! He was born September 9. It sounds like the birth didn't go so well, that the little guy didn't want to come out or something. They had to use the vacuum to get him out, and if that hadn't worked they'd have had to do a c-section. Thank heavens it works! BreAnna was so sore afterwards, though, that she could hardly walk for days. She's doing better now, though, and the little guy is also doing great. :)
This is at our dentist in the valley. We go to see Dr. Welch in Gilbert, who happens to be the husband of Bridget Herring. Small world, huh? I had no idea when we started going there. Anyway, he's a great dentist, and he has lots of toys and even multiple GameCubes. The kiddos love it. Here's Bubby playing with the little kitchen the day the 5 younger kiddos got their cleanings. I'll get Hyrum and Joshua in to the bigger people dentist because they don't want to go here anymore. That's ok with me. The other dentist is local. The pediatric dentists here stink, thus all the trips to Gilbert. Very much worth it, though!
Bubby was excited that there were French fries. :) He goes crazy about French fries and donuts. I think those are his favorite foods. Horrible, huh? Ate least he does like to eat veggies with his Papa. :) Cute fella! He sure loves his Papa! When Papa gets home he goes crazy and needs held right away! And when papa sits down, Bubby has to sit with him, no matter what he's doing. We joke that that's Bubby's rightful place in the world - on Papa's lap. He seems to really think so, though. :)
Eating ribbon fries at the fair - yum! I think this is one of Grandpa's favorite things about the fair, and I think it's one of mine too! :)
We were really close to the stage, and the music was LOUD. Jill and Timmy didn't like it. Ha ha!
Timmy and Bubby liked the rabbits. We saw all kinds of animals, and they thought that was great.
We looked at all the pigs in their pens, and then we watched while some kids worked with these ones in the ring. I think Timmy liked the pigs better than the other animals, but he was kind of bummed that we didn't go see the cows.
Timmy made Luigi and Mario at Grandma's house. ;)
Grandpa made Jill some lunch, and she ate it right at the edge of the kitchen, watching whatever was on the TV. My siblings and I used to do that too. ;)
Grandma went with the kiddos and me and bought tickets for rides. Jill, Timmy, and Bubby rode the carousel. Bubby was all happy about it...
until the ride started! Then he clung on to me for dear life for the whole time.
Jill never looked at the camera, but she still looked pretty cute. :)
Joshua really wanted to ride the Zipper, so after these other 3 guys rode the Gravitron they all rode the Zipper.
Hyrum and Benji getting caged in
Joshua and Michael
Joshua was the only one who enjoyed it. He said he laughed maniacally through the whole thing, partially because Michael and everyone else was screaming. Ha ha!
No, he's not bawling like it looks like he's doing. Ha ha! He's just expressing how much he hated that ride. ;)
Timmy and Jill rode the little roller coaster and loved it!
Timmy had that look on his face the entire time the ride was going. I couldn't tell if he was happy or scared. Maybe it was a bit of both, but he really liked that ride. And after I took these pictures I guess I left my phone app open because I proceeded to take like 11 pictures of Joshua's feet and whatnot.
See that head sticking up in the back near the top of the Ferris wheel? That's Joshua. This is the other ride he really wanted to go on. Nobody would go with him, so we all watched him go around and around. He never quite smiled, so we figured he was disappointed to be riding alone and maybe not liking it at all, but apparently, he did really like it. :)
There's him in the front in the gray shirt.
Hyrum and Benji rode the Sizzler. That's them in the gold car.
And Michael wanted to ride the Gravitron again, so Joshua rode with him. Jill was quite upset when we left instead of letting her get a 3rd ride. That makes ME laugh maniacally! ;) Really, it was starting to get later and I was worried about getting on the road. It was a good time, though. :) Thanks, Mama and Daddy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)