It was SUPPOSED to be a fun night...

Justin had Leadership Meetings in Cheyenne today. We had been planning to take the girls to Horton Hears a Who sometime today. After he got home we got everyone ready and headed to the 5:50 show. We were all sat down with drinks and popcorn, when Sydnee said her stomach hurt. I asked her if she needed to go potty and she said yes. I couldn't leave without taking Justee or she would cry and then, of course, Charlee had to come too. The four of us went into the bathroom and then went back into the movie. Not 3 minutes after we sat back down, I heard it...the awful sound of heaving. Sydnee was sitting with her feet crossed on her seat and her coat in her lap, she had a horrible look on her face. Every part of her was covered in vomit. I sat there shocked and wasn't quite sure how to handle the situation. I tried to get Justin's attention (he was 3 seats down from me) without making it obvious what was going on. He took Justee and left, but didn't know what was going on. I tried to clean Sydnee up as much as possible before parading her to the bathroom. When we came out, Justin had a look of shock on his face like, What the heck happened? Here is where is gets pretty gross...Poor Sydnee had puke everywhere. It was in her hair, on her face, on her shirt, on her pants, and in her shoes. This was thanks to her sitting with her feet up in her seat. To make an already long story short, we let someone know what had happened and they gave me bags to put Syd's clothes in and put stuff down in the theater to start the clean-up process. Sydnee was really embarrassed and didn't want to leave the bathroom stall. I had to clean her up by walking back and forth from the sink to the stall. She had to wear my jacket out of the theater. Charlee was sad because she wanted to finish the movie, but we got vouchers so we can go back and watch it later. Hopefully it will be a better experience next time...I don't think it could be worse.

Doctor and Dentist Again

Today was Charlee's referral appointment with the cardiologist. Justin took the day off so he could go with us. We left for Denver at 8:30 a.m., so I made arrangements for Sydnee to go to a friend's house and then get a ride to school with her. On the way up to the third floor Charlee said she was riding in an "awigaydoor". She got an EKG and the cardiologist said that she had an "innocent" murmur. She said it was pretty loud, but that it was harmless and that she didn't have any heart problems, and would probably grow out of it...Yeah! That is great news! After her 20 min. appointment (yes, it only took 20 min.) we went to the Denver Temple to get some new "G's". After that we ate at the Olive Garden and then came home.
At 4 I had a dentist appt. to get my crown put in...just my luck...it didn't fit right and they had to start all over with it...so I still have a temp. in, and I have to go back again...I hate the dentist. :(
Last night the girls had baths and were ready for bed. They wanted to color for a little while before bedtime. Charlee must have been pretty tired because she fell asleep in the middle of her masterpiece. ;)

Fun at the Park

On Tuesday, Sydnee had gymnastics after school. It was over 60 degrees so Charlee, Justee and I played at the park while we waited for Sydnee. Charlee loves the swings and I couldn't push her high enough; she kept yelling, "higher, higher!"

When I finally talked her into playing on the slides, she loved helping Justee go down. Justee loved the slides and kept climbing up to go down over and over again. I must be lazy though, because I like it better when the kids can play by themselves and don't have to be carefully monitored so they don't fall. Justee always climbs up and wants to look out of the open parts, so I have to follow her everywhere. After Sydnee was finished, it was still nice enough and she wanted to play for a little while too, so she joined in on the fun. When it was time to leave, Charlee was not very happy and I told her if she cried, we wouldn't come back next time. When we got to the car she told me that Daddy would let her stay at the park. So I told her I would call him and tell him what was going on and that he wouldn't take her to the park again if she cried when it was time to leave either. When I got Justin on the phone I told Charlee he wanted to talk to her. She wouldn't take the phone. What a stinker.

Easter Pictures

Easter

Easter weekend went by really fast. We had a lot of fun with the Burtons here. We colored more eggs than I have ever seen, about 90 eggs. We had a few different types of dye, and it was nice to have plenty of eggs and colors so that there was no fighting between the 7 kids. It snowed Sat. night, so the Easter Bunny had to hide all the eggs inside; there were 250 of them so they were all over the livingroom, office, and kitchen. That made for a lot of candy. The Easter Bunny also left some kites. We tried to fly them, but there just wasn't enough wind. We'll have to try again later. Easter was also my mom's birthday, so we called her and the kids sang to her. We played a lot of Rock Band; and Gerry, Justin, and I even stayed up past 2 a.m. a couple of nights trying to pass some hard songs. We finally passed them all before they left this morning. It was great having them here and I had a great weekend.

Past and Present

Today when I dressed Charlee and Justee in these outfits, it made me think about these pictures I took of Sydnee and Charlee more than 2 years ago. I thought it would be fun to put both sets of pictures up and compare. Charlee was only 9 months old compared to Justee being almost 13 months old. Charlee was such a chubby baby plus she had a lot more hair than Justee. Sydnee sure has grown up a lot since then.

So far today has been a great St. Patrick's Day. We got some snow last night, so when we got up this morning we made a snowman before Syd had to go to school. I was sad because we never had any good snowman-making snow all winter; I was glad to find that this snow would work great. We even made a fun slide that Sydnee and Charlee loved making bumpier and bumpier. All the girls had a lot of fun. It was the first time Justee has really played in the snow and she loved sitting in it and kicking her feet. I am sad that I didn't get any pictures of her. She doesn't have good snow clothes and she was soaking wet in no time at all, so I had to put her inside. She was not happy about that, she wanted to come back out really bad.

Here are the girls dressed in their green clothes.

It Smells Like What?

Today was a nice Sat. Justin had been telling Sydnee that he would take her to Waffle House for breakfast and she did not forget about that. When we got there it was pretty busy, so we told her we might have to go somewhere else. She was not going to let that happen because she really wanted some grits. (It's strange to me that grits are her favorite thing there.) A bunch of people cleared out as we went in, so everything worked out (I guess it helps that we were eating breakfast at noon.) We got a babysitter in the afternoon so we could get some stuff for Easter, and then the whole fam went out to dinner. We ate at Carino's and it was nice and relaxing, except for when Justee threw a plate off the table and it shattered. Charlee was eating her bow tie alfredo really well, so I asked the obvious..."Is it good, Chuck?"..."Yep, bu it mells ike poop." To make sure I heard her right I asked, "It smells like what?" Sure enough, poop was the right word. I'm sure she was reffering to the smell of the Parmesan cheese she had put on it. The smell sure didn't keep her from eating it, she finished every last bit. The girls got baths as soon as we got home so they are all ready for church tomorrow. Now I just need to put them in bed. :)
Just a pic I took the other day.

Basketball Banquet

The Young Women had a basketball banquet to celebrate their church ball season (and of course championship.) We met at my house and had dinner, which was provided by Trish, then we played Rock Band. There were 13 or 14 girls and 4 leaders who came so we had a lot of fun. Justin took our girls to Gold's while he lifted and then just kept them away for a while. Sydnee was very sad that she couldn't stay. Several of the girls have babysat her, and she wanted to stay and "play" with them. The girls had a blast taking crazy pictures with my camera.

45 mins of Joy

I am ready for Spring! I think the girls are just as ready as I am. When I took Sydnee to gymnastics the other day it was really warm, so I let Charlee and Justee play at the park. This was the first time Justee has really been to the park and I am sad that I didn't bring my camera. She absolutely loved it! She loved the slide and the swing until I got a little brave and pushed her too high...She about jumped right out of it she was so scared. I think her favorite part was the wood chips; she kept picking them up and letting them fall through her fingers. Charlee loves the park too. She was laughing pretty much the whole time we were there. She asks every time we take Syd to gymnastics if she can go to the park. I will be very happy when they can play at the park all the time. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my girls so happy. For those 45 mins, I don't think the 3 of us could have been happier.

I Guess it Could be Worse

I have been putting this post off for the last few days because I kept thinking something might change and then I would have to take back what I said, but I better just face the facts. Justin came home Sunday night with the news...He is going to Afghanistan in October for a year. Yep, I will be a single parent for one whole year. I think I feel worse for my girls having to deal with an impatient mother for that long. Maybe this is a trial I need so that I can learn to be a better mom. Justin will go to Kentucky for a couple months first and then they are supposed to actually be in Afghanistan on Dec. 24. We tried to talk to Sydnee about the situation, but she doesn't quite understand yet. She doesn't know how long a year is. She asked how many days is that? The answer 365 days made her jump onto his lap and she hugged him really tight. Justin also tried to explain it by telling her that he would be gone for one of every holiday... birthdays... ect. Sydnee asked if he would be gone for his birthday...he said yes...Syd told him, "Don't worry Daddy, we will still get you presents and make you a cake." Then she asked me in a whisper, "Can we save a piece of Daddy's cake so he can eat it when he gets home?" How could I say no to that? He might come home to a frozen, year-old piece of birthday cake... not to mention a wife who has gone crazy in his absence.

Losing an Hour of Sleep

It is Daylight Savings tomorrow and I know it is going to be hard to get everyone up and ready for church in the morning. I really should be in bed, but I can't sleep right now. This is Justin's weekend for Guard Drill, and when he is gone it is hard to go to bed alone. The girls wanted to sleep in my bed since Daddy is gone. I told them they could and when it was bedtime, they went very willingly and got into my bed. This is how I found them last night...

It doesn't look very comfortable to me.

Then tonight I went up to check on them and this is how I found them...

It looks like Charlee is getting revenge.

My lesson in church tomorrow is on Encouraging Family Unity... Maybe Charlee and Sydnee are just demonstrating this principle. For my lesson I made these jar handouts. They have this quote by H. Burke Peterson around them...“May I suggest that we give more of ourselves. … It might be something as simple as smiling more in your home.

“What would you think of speaking more cheerfully? Trying more often to say please and thank you?
“What would you think of finding an opportunity for one sincere compliment for each [person] each day, and then watching them respond?
“What if you decided to be cheerful tonight at the dinner table, and in spite of what others might do or say, hold to your course. See how long you can uplift your whole family.”...They are filled with candy hearts to represent the love that should be in the home and they have a rope tied around them to represent the strength of the family when all "strands" are working toward a common goal.

I love my calling as Laurel advisor and the Young Women in my class (and ward in general) are exceptional girls. (It is much better than our last calling: Nursery.)

Bring Back the Gas!

I had a dentist appointment tonight and I really, truly hate going to the dentist. I have been to the dentist twice in the past 7 years. The last time I had to go because of a severe tooth ache that ended up needing a root canal. When I was a kid I loved going to the dentist. I loved it when they would gas me up because I felt like my body was twisting and floating and the walls were closing in on me. (It's a good thing I never experimented) I want the gas back. I would much rather go if I was relaxed. I get so tense and nervous that my whole body aches. I never really feel pain, but it is the prospect of pain that gets me going. I'm waiting for the sudden burst of pain and can't relax. I also hate it because I feel like an idiot with my mouth wide open and I am so aware of my tongue. I feel like it is in the way and I can't put it in the right place. I am also way more aware of how many times I swallow. It is so strange how you have to swallow and it can't wait. I always feel like I shouldn't swallow so I try to wait but then I can't help it. I went in for 2 cavities on wisdom teeth and to get fitted for a cap to go on the previous root canal. It was supposed to take an hour and a half, but because they had to take my impressions 3 times and repack that cord thing in my gums everytime, it took 2 and a half hours! That was way too long and I want to reiterate that I hate going to the dentist.

Justin got his new work-car this week. We had to drive down to Lakewood to pick it up; which meant I had to drive home by myself. I hate driving in lots of traffic; getting on the interstate and changing lanes makes me a nervous wreck. I warned Justin not to weave in and out of traffic or I would have a panic attack trying to follow him. He did really well and it never is as bad as I think it is going to be, but after we got rear-ended I check the rear view mirror all the time. Anyway, back to the car...Justin was a little disappointed when he fist learned that he was getting a Taurus. I don't think he is dissappointed anymore. It is really nice and really roomy. I like it a lot more than his Impala. He got to pick what color he got so he let Sydnee pick it. I think she picked a pretty good one.

Fun Weekend

We had a really good weekend with Rob and Jennifer. The kids all played really good together, which is a huge plus. We did some shopping and a lot of game playing. We played our all-time favorite, Pictionary and we played some Guitar Hero and some Rock Band. We had to look absolutely ridiculous, but it was a lot of fun. The kids loved to watch, and they played the toy drums and held a toy microphone and pretended to play with us.
It was also the YW basketball tournament on Friday and Saturday. I help coach the team so I was excited that the girls played great and won the championship game! It was a lot of fun to get to participate in that.
Before I started my blog, I filled my journal with funny things the girls said or did. I thought I would remember those things, but quickly realized that I didn't remember for long; so I started writing them down. ... Last night Charlee wanted a Hot Tamale. I told her that they were hot and she might not like it. She told me they wouldn't be hot to her. She began eating one and after about 3 min. she was halfway done. I asked her if it was too hot and she said no. Then I noticed she was blowing on it inbetween bites to cool it off. I thought it was pretty funny that she thought blowing on it would help. She is a pretty cute girl.
Justin signed up to feed the missionaries tonight, but he is going to be gone. Jared is gone too, so Cherelle is going to come over and help me cook dinner for them.