Friday, November 27, 2009

Do You Die If You Swallow Pennies?

Call it mother's intuition, but when I woke up Monday morning I just had a feeling something was going to go wrong. I remember making a mental list of all I had to do before Thanksgiving, and knew that this was the one and only day I had to do them. . .my luck was never that good. . .right??

And so the day began:
Got the two kids off to school--check
Exercised--check
Jackers dressed-check
Looking for keys. . .found, and in hand to go. All of a sudden a very serious Jackson comes to me and says, "do you die if you swallow pennies?" I replied, "I don't think so, but you may have to go the doctor if you do . . .so don't."
Jacker's then says, "O-tay, but what if I already did?"
Me: "You are joking, right?"
Jack: "Maybe." Long pause, longer pause. "But, I might have."
Me: "Seriously? Did you forget to put your brain in when you woke up this morning?"
Jackson: "Call the doctor, and then call grandma." (My children seem to think Grandma is the know-it-all when it comes to stuff like this; she usually is!)
So that is exactly what I did. While on hold with the doctor I called my mom. Both encouraged me to go to the ER to make sure it was not stuck in his esophagus.
I will admit, the car ride to the ER was not pleasant. I did a lot of thinking out loud, except for the four letter word of choice!! Jackson was totally quiet the entire ride, until we got to the hospital when he just had to make sure he was not going to die. My first response was that the penny wouldn't kill him, but I was about too. He then asked if you go to the "kid jail" for swallowing pennies. He was white as a ghost at this point and terrified for his future.
To make a long story short. The X-ray showed the penny in his stomach, and just waiting for nature to take it's course. For the next few days Jackson pooped a lot, and would stick his head in the toilet to examine each stool. We never found the penny, but I lied one day and told him that I thought I saw something shiny in the toilet. He believed me, and now he tells me that pennies are "spicy" and he hates spicy things.
Lesson learned. . .I hope.


Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Proud Of My Boy

Before I get into Zach's B-day festivities, I just have to tell you how proud I am of Zach. A few weeks ago he came and told me that he is no longer going to watch one of his favorite cartoons because they say naughty words. Since I was pretty sure my son didn't know any actual four letter words I was interested to hear what words he was talking about. Reluctanty he told me: "stupid," "dumb," and "poopy-head." I was so proud of my son, that I grabbed him and hugged him as tight as I could. I assured him that I would never let him watch anything that I thought was bad, but he expressed concern that if we have bad words in our house, Heavenly Father would not be happy. After that, I decided to learn by his example and just be proud of my son. His sister has refused to go along with Zach and expressed great concern that she could not miss this particular cartoon; when she turns it on Zach goes to his room to play with his toys, or goes to another room to watch a different show. He has never asked if he can watch that cartoon since. I am so proud of Zachary. It seems like just yesterday he was telling me how boring church was, and now he can't wait for primary, and fast and testimony meeting. He has quite the testimony and is proud to share it with us every month.
Zach's birthday was short and sweet. I made him a Star Wars Lego chocolate birthday cake which was a huge hit. He got Star Wars Lego for the Wii, a space book, and lots of science stuff to experiment with. I have decided that the age of seven is pretty awesome! I am so proud of Zach, he is loving, kind, responsible, and wants to be independent. He is really growing up!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Happy #7 Zachary!!


Happy Birthday Zachary!!

Some interesting facts about Zach:
He was a BIG baby:
9 lb 5 oz

He has had more surgeries and been in the hospital more than anyone in our family!

He loves computers and video games, in fact we think he is a genius when it comes to both.

He is a very picky eater, but his favorite foods include:
pizza, brownies, sugar cereal, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies,
mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, bacon,
pancakes, and chocolate (he gets that from his Grandma Dinger!)

He loves BYU

He HATES BSU (His father has brain-washed him just a little!!)
He is obsessed with:
Star Wars Lego on the Wii, Batman Lego on the Wii,
Pokemon cards, and most Superheroes

What you may not know about Zach:
He is a Math Wiz
He is a perfect speller
He is fascinated by space

We love you Zachary!
Happy Birthday Big Guy!!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Yikes!! A New Calling For Dan!


Does this look like the next Young Men's President or what?? I'm not sure if congratulations or condolences are in order, but I do know that the boys are lucky to have such an amazing guy!! Wednesdays and Sundays will be busy for a few years, but Dan will do great!!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Lost



I am sure every mother has lost a child at one time or another. You take your eye off of them for one second at the grocery store and the next thing you know you are frantically searching every isle to find your kid; they wandered off at the park and didn't tell you they were moving on to the next play structure, etc.; deep down you know they couldn't have gone far, but panic strikes and you start thinking like a crazy woman!! Yesterday I had one of those moments (actually 20-25 minutes that felt like an eternity!).

Jackson loves his dad. He waits for him to come home from work every night. They are "best friends." Last night I told Jackson that Dan was just about in the neighborhood and told him to go wait outside. Five minutes later I hear the car pull in and hear Dan talking. I figured he was just talking to Jackson. A few minutes later he came in with Zach. Being the good homemaker I am, I had dinner on the table ready to go and told Dan to grab Jackson and come eat. Dan asked where he was, I said, "isn't he with you?" and we proceeded to search the house for Jackson. Front yard, back yard, all six bedrooms, under beds, in closets, every bathroom, and then we started searching outside, each taking half of the block to explore. After about 15 minutes of searching, Dan headed to Jackson's favorite park and I got in the car. It was at that moment that I began to visualize Jackson's face on every milk carton in the state. I tried to stay calm, but wasn't sure how long I would keep my composure. I had a feeling to go straight to the road that takes you out of our subdivision and onto Locust Grove (a busy road!!) and sure enough he was waiting at the corner for his dad (thank goodness Heavenly Father answers crazy women's prayers!!). He had the biggest smile on his face until he saw my face!! I wasn't sure if I should spank him or hug him so I pulled over, grabbed my son and starting crying. He had no idea what was going on, but soon realized he had made a big mistake!! AAaaaaahhhhh, Jackson may be trouble, but I love him.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Swine Flu or Swine Fluke


Zach stayed home from school today because I thought he had the swine flu. It was a little ironic because the school was being vaccinated for the Swine Flu today. I was almost positive he had it, until about 12:00 pm. By lunch time he was begging to go back to school or ride around on his new bike. He had a mild fever, and a really bad headache, but it seemed to just disappear shortly after lunch. This afternoon he and I played against each other on the Wii Sport. It was actually a fun sick day for the both of us, I am now starting to think it was just a small case of the 24 hour flu. Maddie came home today complaining of a headache, and wanting to rest. What ever they have seems to be short lived. (Maddie went to bed early tonight, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will wake up feeling great!) Now I just hope Zach can last until Saturday when I go get him the swine flu vaccination.

In other news....my sister came to visit me this weekend. My mom was in town watching my brother's kids, so Meg decided to take the weekend to hang out with my mom and I. I know I've said it a million times before, but my sister R-O-C-K-S!!! I had her take some pictures of my family, so I thought I would treat you all with a little sneak peak of what will be displayed throughout my house. . .hopefully soon. My mom was amazing as always, treating us to lunch, entertaining the grand kids, and helping us do crafts. (By-the-way: I learned how to make the cutest watches ever!!!! They look a lot like the watches you would find at bumblesdesign.com. If any of you are interested I would love to make one for you, I can make them quite a bit cheaper!!!) The long weekend tired us all out, but it was so fun to hang out with my two favorite women in the entire universe!! I miss them so much.

More pictures to come. Isn't my Zach adorable!! I'm afraid Jackson was in one of his "moods" so every picture you will see of him is either of him crying, screaming, or just plain grumpy! I guess when he is a father dealing with a grumpy child I can pull out these pictures, laugh, and say "pay back!!"

Monday, September 21, 2009

Autism Run/Walk


Saturday was a great day. As many of you know, Autism has become a huge part of our family's life. So, this month was the Autism 5K Run to raise money and awareness for Autism in our community. I pulled a ligament in my leg and couldn't run, but Dan, and two very awesome friends, Kami and Andrea ran in it. . . and did awesome!! Andrea won first place in the women's division, and Kami and Dan were close behind. My parents came up from Utah, to participate in the Family Stroll with my kids and me. Ammon and his kids also came to support. I just have to say that while observing other families with their children I was very grateful for my amazing children. They may have some developmental obstacles to over come, but they are so light compared to what many other children with autism have to deal with. I know it is due to early intervention, amazing children, and my Heavenly Father. We plan to do this every year! Thanks Kami and Andrea for participating! I am so proud of my amazing husband for training hard and getting healthy.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

A Shout Out To My Amazing Sister


Today is my sister's 29th birthday. She is not only beautiful, talented, and smart, but she is also my best friend in the entire universe. We talk practically every day, and have such a great relationship. Here are some funny, and not so funny memories I have about my not so lil' sis.
- One summer we watched Pretty n' Pink practically every day
- For my mother's 40th birthday I took Megan to the store so she could buy my mom a present. I could not talk her out of getting a key chain that said "Old Fart." Not only did it make my mother cry, but we Both got in trouble!!! I guess it was guilty by association.
- Megan and I played with Barbies together until I was about 16 years old!! No joke.
- While on a trip to Europe it was discovered that Megan had taken a picture of her eye for the entire first half of the trip. She didn't realize she was holding the camera backwards. . .and to think. . .her ACT's scores where higher than mine!!
- While watching Raiders of the Lost Ark, Megan and I discovered it was very fun to drink Koolaid in Dixie cups and pretend they were like shot glasses. We would drink our koolaid the way Indie's long lost girl friend Marion would, and challenge each other to drinking contests.
- Megan got straight A's in high school. She is one of the smartest women I have ever met.
- Megan is without a doubt my best friend in the entire universe!!
I am sure I will think of more as the day goes on and will add to the list. But I just wanted to wish my amazing sister a very Happy Birthday!!!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Honoring our Local Heroes

For the past few years our family has had the honor to serve many of our local heroes. As many of you know, I am a youth service club leader for our life insurance, Modern Woodmen of America. Each month my youth service club serves our community by donating our time and service to those in need. The past few years we have honored our local firemen and women by serving them dinner every September 11th. This time we drove a little ways out to the small town of Star, Idaho and ate pizza with the firemen. My kids had a wonderful time.

Before dinner they took us for a tour of the fire station. Their favorite part is always the fire trucks. We learned an interesting fact: each fire truck costs about $350,000 just to build; to add all of the equipment needed to actually fight fires the total comes to around half a million dollars!! No wonder they are always polishing it and making it look pretty!!
I let each of my kids choose a friend to come. I learned that it takes a lot of patience to be a mother of six!!! They were all well behaved, just the noise level went up. . .a lot! I could tell they all loved learning about fire safety and what it would be like to fight fires.



After the tour the firemen sat down and ate pizza and cake with us. We thanked them for being our local heroes and posed for one last picture. It was a perfect way to honor those who risk their lives every day to keep us safe, and it was a great way to honor those who lost their lives in New York City nine years ago.
September 11th, 2001 was a sad day. Dan and I sat in front of the TV all morning shocked like the rest of the nation, however, it was also a day that brought wonderful news to our family. Dan passed the Idaho Bar and was officially a certified Idaho Lawyer! I can't belive that my husband has been out of school and working in the real world for over eight years!! It made us feel a little old.


Monday, August 31, 2009

Something We Don't Often Think About

For most of us, the way we speak and say our sounds is second nature, we don't often give it a second thought. For my children, hours and hours of speech therapy have become a way of life. Jackson started speech therapy about six months ago, and with small baby steps his speech has improved dramatically. Today, Jackson himself witnessed a dramatic change within five minutes. . .he can say the letter "K". Instead of going outside to ride his "Bi" he can now ride his "bike." Instead of wanting chocolate chip "tooties" he can now enjoy delicious chocolate chip "cookies." Today as Jackson was in therapy something clicked, and once he figured out how to say the sound he didn't want to stop. As you can imagine, I was excited, his therapist, Jami, was excited, but the most excited person of all was Jackson, he knew he had accomplished something great!! We are celebrating with cup caKes, taCoes, and anything else we can find that makes the "K" and hard "C" sound. Way to go JacK!!

P.S. like everyone else that blogs I will be posting back to school pictures soon! Yippee!!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Sunday, August 23, 2009

McCall

"Two Pant Suit"
This past weekend we went to McCall. I would call it sort of a reunion, but my little sis, Megan and her husband were missing. It was a fast trip, but we had a blast!

The main reason we came to McCall was to see "Two Pant Suit" (a.k.a. my brother's neighborhood/ward band). They played for the MS bicycle dinner/fundraiser and they sounded great!! The boys loved sleeping in the same bed. They got the giggles so bad they could hardly fall asleep.


This is my lovely mom.

She and my pop came up from Utah to spend the weekend. It was so relaxing.


My pop is the greatest guy you will ever meet.


Zach was all smiles the entire time. He also out ate everyone at The Pancake House:two pieces of french toast, scrambled eggs, a good portion of the plate size cinnamon roll, bacon, and hash browns. I don't know where he put it because he is such a bony guy!!


My hottie husband at the beach

These cousins are BFF's
Every time I look at this picture I think she could be a model.
Jackson could have stayed at the beach all day.
We have decided to do McCall a lot more next year!! It was a perfect way to end the summer.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

A Birthday Riddle

What do you have when you:

1. Go to the movies to see Night at the Museum
2. Go on every ride at Pojo's
3. Eat a Happy Meal at McDonalds and play at the play place for over an hour
4. Open presents, which include: doctor kit from grandma, walkie-talkies, digital camera, gumball machine, and much more!
5. blow out four candles and eat yummy cupcakes
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

A very tired four year old birthday boy!!!

Happy Birthday Jackson! We hope you had a great birthday!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

My Baby is Turning Four!

Jackson's birthday is not until Tuesday, but today we threw him a birthday party. He was so happy that the day was all about him.
His cousins' Seth and Owen came to celebrate, along with his very best buddy Keaton. (The perfect number of friends for a four year old!!)


It was a very pleasant day to spend most of the party outside. We tossed water balloons, hit a pinata, played a very "Mickey Mouse" version of Duck-Duck Goose, and even went on a treasure hunt. Jackson was in heaven.

For lunch we had Mickey Mouse chicken nuggests, Mickey Mouse cheese, and enjoyed Mickey Mouse cupcakes for dessert. You can probably tell that Jackson in a Mickey Mouse fanatic!!


Jackson loved being the center of attention. He is often over-shadowed by his brother and sister, so today was an awesome day!

Jackson, we love you and can't wait to celebrate your real birthday on Tuesday. (Now Mom and Dad need a nap!!!)

Monday, July 20, 2009

Going to Jail


Due to Dan's job as a prosecutor, the children have created some sort of image in their brains that Dan and the policemen physically fight the "bad guys" and throw them in jail. It also doesn't help that we often tell them that if they don't buckle up, while riding in the car, that a policemen could take them to jail or give me a ticket. I often forget to mention all of the good things policemen do for our community. Last week the children were riding their bikes along the small street in front of our house. Dan and I were in and out of the house working on various house and yard work but still kept a pretty good eye on their where-abouts. Sometime later the boys came rushing back to the house. Jackson yelled, "Mom a policemen! A policemen stopped and talked to us." I was a little surprised but saw him proudly wearing a police sticker on his shirt, confirming his story. I asked Zach why a policemen stopped to talk to them (making sure they had not done something they shouldn't have). Zach said that the policemen thanked them for wearing their helmets while riding their bikes and wanted to make sure they weren't too far away from home. Jackson was so excited he could hardly contain his enthusiasm; he proclaimed, "Mom, policemen are nice. I was very very scared so I said, 'policemen don't take me to jail, I be a good boy!!'" I couldn't help but chuckle. The policemen gave the kids a police sticker and was on his way. I can't help but wonder what that policemen was thinking as he pulled away from my crazy three year old. Jackson is our spitfire, but he sure is cute.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

They Should of Brang their Bikes!

Zach is hilarious. We have been learning a few pioneer songs this month, including the one about pioneer children who walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. Zachary was sitting on the toilet singing this song, when suddenly he stops. A few moments pass and he begins a new addition to the song, "They should of brang their bikes! They should of brang their bikes!"

Friday, July 10, 2009

Closet Michael Jackson Fan

For years I have had to hide my love for Michael Jackson. As a child I had a poster of him in my room. I remember being so jealous of my brother when Grandma Ham gave him a Michael Jackson Barbie... which months later was given to me. I took care of that doll like it was my own child, caring for the one diamond studded glove, and changing his outfits daily. In high school I could readily give anyone a Michael Jackson high pitched squeal, and was proud of it. As a mature adult I have hidden this love, my husband is not a fan, and Micheal's freakish recent past has forced me to hid my obsession, until today. I truly believe that Michael Jackson is THE greatest entertainer of all time.

I watched the entire memorial service for Michael Jackson and was very touched by the public's outpouring of love for Michael and also his family. I am not naive enough to think his personal life was as good as his music, and I also would not be surprised if he was actually guilty of the crimes he was charged for years ago (side note****he was charged, but never found guilty**).


With that said, I will still rock out to Michael Jackson on my mp3, and will still watch most documentaries written about him. He is and always will be MY "King of Pop."

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Amish Country

We love Intercourse!! Intercourse Pennsylvania is one of the most beautiful towns I have ever been too. I tried not to be rude, so my photos where quick while I thought they weren't looking.

Gettysburg

Dan and I wish we could have spent more time in Gettysburg. We were only there for half the day. After our two hour bus tour ended we quickly ate and jogged up to Cemetery Hill. It was such a fun adventure. The reverence on that field is unmistakable. As we started to head back to meet our bus it started raining. . .a down-pour. We ran as fast as we could but still got drenched. We have decided to take our children to Gettysburg when they are a little older, as we think it would really make them appreciate their freedom and their country.

Gettysburg was fought approximately in the middle of the Civil War. July 1-3 1863. Over 50,000 men dead and wounded . . . more than any other battle in modern history on this continent. The Civil War sometimes had brother fighting against brother, friend fighting against friend, and sometimes father against son. There was no "bad guy" in this war, just men fighting for justice, for a cause they knew was worth fighting for. It was said that after the three days of battle the farmers suffered greatly; their fields were destroyed. The town's people of Gettysburg complained that the city stunk for two hot months after the battle from rotting bodies of soldiers and their horses, along with human waste left by the soldiers. Today they are in the process of restoring the battle field to the way it would have looked back in 1863. It is a beautiful sight.