Mommies play with blocks too

Today we had an awesome Super Saturday. There were several fun autumn crafts. The one I worked on was a set of holiday letter blocks. I've wanted a set of these for quite a while, but couldn't make myself get around to actually making some. So when I learned that it would be one of the Super Saturday projects, I was so excited.

The blocks - cut, sanded, and painted, were provided. Then we mod-podged pretty scrapbook paper and 4 die-cut letters on each  block. They turned out so pretty and so neat! I love looking at my mantle now.

For anyone interested, here is the info for what goes on each block.

Number the bottom of the blocks 1-16. Leave the top empty. On the four remaining sides of each block, put these letters/pictures:

1. P U D M
2. P O D E
3. H R E (heart)
4. R A F E
5. U N O Y
6. C L Y G
7. L R G W
8. H I R D
9. P S O V
10. B I S W
11. T E U C
12. D M E K
13. T I N 1
14. N A S 4
15. A (christmas tree) (flower) (star)
16. E J T (leaf)

With these letters, you can make such words/phrases as:


HAPPY HALLOWEEN (blocks 3,4,1,2,5,8,14,6,7,9,10,11,12,13)
THANKSGIVING (11,3,15,5,12,10,7,13,9,8,14,6)
MERRY CHRISTMAS (1,2,3,4,5,6,8,7,13,9,11,14,10,15, christmas tree on 16)
WINTER (7,8,5,11,2,4)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (3,4,1,2,5,10,13,7,11,8,12,14,6)
I LOVE YOU (13,7,5,9,4,6,2,1, heart on 3)
HAVE A NICE DAY (3,4,9,12,15,13,10,11,2,8,14,5)
NUMBER 1 (5,1,12,10,2,8,13)
HAPPY NEW YEAR (3,4,1,2,5,13,12,7,6,11,14,8)
LET IT SNOW (6,4,13,8,11,14,5,2,7)
VALENTINES DAY (9,4,7,2,13,11,8,14,12,10,1,15,5, heart on 3)
HAPPY EASTER (3,4,1,2,5,12,14,9,13,11,8, flower on 15)
APRIL SHOWERS (4,1,3,13,6,14,8,2,10,11,7,9)
SPRING (9,1,7,8,5,6, flower on 15)
FALL (4,15,6,7)
MOTHERS DAY (12,9,11,3,2,4,10,1,15,6)
FATHERS DAY (4,3,11,8,12,7,9,1,15,6)
SUMMER (14,5,1,12,4,7)
4TH OF JULY (14,13,3,9,4,16,1,7,6, star on 15)
I LOVE AMERICA (13,7,2,9,4,3,1,11,8,10,6,14)
WELCOME FRIENDS (10,2,7,6,9,1,11,4,3,13,12,5,8,14)
JANUARY (16,14,13,1,3,7,6)
FEBRUARY (4,2,10,8,1,14,7,6, heart on 3)
MARCH (1,4,8,11,3)
APRIL (4,2,3,8,9)
MAY (1,14,6)
JUNE (16,1,14,4)
JULY (16,1,7,6)
AUGUST (4,5,7,1,10,11)
SEPTEMBER (14,4,9,13,12,1,10,2,7)
OCTOBER (5,11,13,9,10,2,8)
NOVEMBER (13,5,9,11,12,10,2,7)
DECEMBER (1,4,6,11,12,10,2,8)

There are more words and phrases you can make with these blocks, but these are the ones likely to be most useful. Of course, SHALOM (14,8,3,6,9,1) and NAMASTE (13,3,1,4,9,11,12) might come in handy too. And SUPER BOWL (9,1,2,4,8,10,5,7,6) could be useful, for those that are into that sort of thing.

Happy Birthday Zaylee

Yesterday was Zaylee's 6th birthday. My first baby is six years old! Why, she's practically all grown up.

We celebrated with a rainbow cake, as per Zaylee's insistent request. I used m&ms for the rainbow colors, and marshmallows for the clouds. So pretty, and especially yummy!

Zaylee's gift was a princess set - a red satin princess dress, a pink jewelry box with acrylic jewel stickers to decorate it, and sparkle elastic cord and shiny plastic beads to make her own special princess jewelry.

She decorated her jewelry box last night, and has been making herself jewelry ever since.

She's currently wearing, in addition to her dress, a pearl bracelet, a ring, and a necklace, and is making a second bracelet. She's so cute, carefully threading the beads onto the cord in just the right pattern.

Happy birthday to my wonderful little princess!

A Story

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Thomas. Thomas was especially excited, because today was the first day of school. He had been looking forward to school all summer. He loved to see his friends and teachers, and play with the toys. And this year Thomas was very pleased with himself, because he would be wearing big-boy underwear, instead of wearing diapers like last year.

Buckled into his car seat, Thomas could hardly contain his eagerness as Mommy drove to the school he loved so much. Mommy chatted as she drove, "Are you so excited for school?"

"Yea! I get to play with toys!" Thomas grinned as he thought about all the wonderful things he would get to play with - the playdough, the blocks, the crayons.

Finally they arrived at the school. Thomas unbuckled himself and grabbed his backpack. He knew just what to do and just where to go. As Thomas approached the school with Mommy, he saw lots of kids walking out of the school in long lines. Mommy explained that it was a fire drill. He didn't know what that meant, but he forgot all about it when he saw his teacher, Miss Emily. He cheerfully waved hello as she started walking toward them.

Thomas looked around as Mommy and Miss Emily talked. He heard snatches of their conversation - "Sorry, they changed some things ... They were supposed to send out a letter ... Not starting until the 16th." He wasn't really listening until Miss Emily leaned down to talk to him.

"Sorry, Thomas. There's no school today. You can come back next week and then you will have school, okay? Sorry buddy."

Slowly, realization dawned over Thomas' little mind. No school today. No school today. How could that be? He had been so excited. Mommy had told him that it was time for school. But now Miss Emily said No School Today.

He felt like his little heart would break in two. Thomas' face crumbled as he turned dejectedly to walk back to the van. No school today. Were there any sadder words in the whole world? All of Thomas' hopes and dreams of a wonderful day at school were crushed, and by the very teacher that he admired so much. He couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face. No school today.

Mommy walked beside him back to the van. When she had helped him into his seat she gave him a big hug. "Don't worry, big guy," Mommy said gently. "You can come to school next week, and you'll have a great time." Thomas sniffled and nodded. Next week. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Thomas was still very sad. But he knew that everything would be okay.

The End ...

... until next week.

First Day of School

Zaylee and I started school today. We're homeschooling/online learning through k12. And boy was today an adventure!

As the learning coach, I have access to all of Zaylee's courses and assignments. But even though today was the first day of school, nothing was showing up in my daily plan except an Intro to Online Learning that I was supposed to complete. Well, I did the first section, and saw that the rest were scheduled throughout the week, but still no assignments for Zaylee. So I thought that this week would be easy-peasy, and the hardest thing would be finding enough extra stuff for Zaylee to do in order to get in her required school time.

Then I decided to do a bit more of the Intro to Online Learning (thinking I was getting ahead, ha) and realized that I was supposed to have started it a while ago and gotten it completed by today. Each time I completed a section, assignments started popping up for Zaylee to do. So by the time I finished the whole intro (which was just teaching me how to be a learning coach, and how the lessons were supposed to work in each subject) the week was full of assignments and coursework. Zaylee and I had to get started right away!

At this point, it was already 3:00 in the afternoon. As a kindergartener, she's only required to have 2.75 hours of school each day, but I didn't figure in how much time it would take for me to read through the lessons, figure out what I was supposed to do, and prepare to coach Zaylee through each subject. Not only that, but as a not-quite-6-year-old, she needed frequent breaks. It was about 6:45 when we finished all the required work and I was able to successfully mark her attendance for today. She ended up with 3 hours and 5 minutes.

Despite not being at all prepared, the day went pretty well. In Math we reviewed shapes, in Language Arts we read a poem and started a 3-part lesson on Cinderella, in Phonics we learned about /m/ and /t/. Wow, written out like that it doesn't look like much. But anyway, it was actually a lot of fun. Zaylee enjoyed her little lessons, and Thomas made sure that he was involved by coloring in a coloring book while Zaylee did her worksheets, and by participating in the lesson on shapes right along with us. I think he'll make a jolly little classmate for Zaylee.

As soon as we finished dinner this evening though, you can bet I was on the computer preparing for tomorrow's lessons!

Thomas Birthday

Today Thomas turned 4 years old. He is my sunshine sweetheart, with curly hair and a smile that makes me happy when skies are gray!

Oh the curls!

We spent a couple hours this morning at the Hogle Zoo. It turned out to be a great day to go to the zoo, because right now they're featuring "Zoo-rassic Park" - dinosaurs all over! We rode the train and saw several small dinosaurs in addition to the live animals, and Zaylee and Thomas were pretty excited about it. There were also several animatronic dinosaurs situated throughout the zoo that the kids were able to look at.

There was also a dinosaur dig - a great big sandbox with dinosaur fossils hidden in it for kids to dig and find. That was definitely popular with Zaylee and Thomas.

There was a small display in one of the buildings that featured real fossils and dinosaur paraphernalia. A hadrasaur footprint as big as Thomas, a giant dinosaur femur, an allosaurus fossil, a game to guess whether an object is a rock or a bone (I think they were all bones, though most looked like ordinary rocks).

 

Of course, there was the always favorite big elephant. Thomas is still scared of it, so he stayed away. But Zaylee ran right up and had some fun with it.

Hmm, maybe a little too much fun...

And just to prove that Audrey and I were there too, here's a picture of the two of us (p.s. I love my mei tai, I have been able to use for all three kids at a variety of ages, it's awesome).

After leaving the zoo (Thomas was NOT happy to leave, he wanted to stay at the zoo all day long!) we stopped by Smith's and got some freezer pizzas, a cake, and a carton of ice cream. I would have made a cake but we just got home from Idaho yesterday, were at the zoo this morning, and Jeff has work this evening so there was no time to make a cake. That's okay, Thomas got to choose a fun, colorful cake from the bakery and we were all happy with it.

Here's the traditional singing of the birthday song:

We enjoyed the cake and ice cream for a little while, but as soon as we gave Thomas his gift, he and Zaylee pretty much forgot about their cake and ice cream because the present was too much fun to pay attention to anything else! We got him a Thomas the Train set, with train tracks, a battery-powered Thomas engine, a freight car, and a little factory where you can drop a load of chocolate into the freight car. Way too much fun!

Overall it's been a good day.

Idaho Visit

We spent the past week in Idaho visiting family. Tuesday was spent driving up and then recovering from the six-hour drive. Wednesday I wasn't feeling well, so I ended up spending most of the day in bed, but Jeff and the kids played at the park and just generally had a fun time hanging out with family.

Thursday Jeff and I enjoyed the opportunity to go on a date. Mom watched the kids while Jeff and I went to Olive Garden. I had Steak Gorgonzola, which was incredible. Jeff had some sort of Ravioli with bacon and truffle sauce, which was also incredible. We had some melty cheese with bread as an appetizer, incredible. And the lemon cream cake for dessert, also incredible. Yeah, it was all really good (by the way, I left my box of leftovers in the fridge; if anyone there wants them, dig in). Then we walked around Best Buy and Micheal's for a while, just for fun. By the time we got back to Dad's house, Michelle and her boys were there, so lots of fun playing with cousins.

On Friday and Saturday we went to Kuna for the L family reunion. Way too much good food, lots of chatting and laughing for the adults, lots of running around and playing for the kids.

Hi Cousin Sindy!

Friday evening Grandma and Grandpa told stories about when they were younger. Grandma talked about life without electricity, Grandpa talked about when his family lived on the goat ranch. During the stories, the kids watched a movie but Audrey decided that Grandma and Grandpa weren't entertaining enough on their own, and so she entertained us with her antics (sorry it's so dark).

On Saturday we took family pictures and hung out some more. Saturday night I got sick and ended up in the bathroom more than I would prefer, so again on Sunday I stayed in bed while Jeff took the kids to church. Eventually I was able to make it out and eat a little bit, a couple pieces of potato, a small piece of Marie's birthday cake, some water. Sunday evening I slowly made my way around the house getting everything ready for our return trip. By the time I was done I was exhausted and spent the rest of the evening sitting around doing nothing.

Monday I was feeling a lot better - not 100% but okay - and we left for home around 7:30. We had another very long 6-hour drive, during which all of us except Jeff slept most of the time, and another afternoon and evening of recovering from the drive. And that was our trip.

Scariest Moment Ever

Zaylee and I had a really scary time this afternoon. I was on the computer while Zaylee and Thomas were playing in Zaylee's room. I suddenly realized that Zaylee was crying in a way that is not normal for her. I'm used to her yelling at Thomas when she's irritated at him, but this was very different. She sounded panicked, and in pain. I got up to see what was the matter.

The worst moment in the world isn't the one when you walk through the door and see what's happening - it's the moment your mind actually registers what it's seeing. What I saw was a rope tied tightly around Zaylee's neck as she stood her closet, her face swollen and purple. The other end of the rope was tied to the closet pole. She was crying desperately that it was choking her, hurting her. I still don't know how she got the rope so tight, I couldn't fit a finger between the rope and her neck. When I ran out and came back with my thread clippers I couldn't even get the clipper blade between the rope and the skin. I had to cut at the rope a little bit at a time, reassuring Zaylee that she would be fine, I was there, everything would be okay. I was reassuring myself too.

After what seemed like forever but was less than a minute, I got the rope cut off of her neck and just held her in my arms for a really long time. I held her a lot more this afternoon and evening than I usually do, cherishing the fact that she is okay.

Zaylee has recovered quite well (we made cookies tonight, she's happy as a clam), though her face and neck are showing the consequences of what happened. There are small red dots all over her face and neck above where the rope was. In some areas, they almost look like freckles. It's where the capillaries burst from the exertion.

 

I never want to go through anything like this as a mother ever again. I'm just so glad she's okay.

Lagoon

Jeff's work had their company party on Saturday at Lagoon, a local amusement park. This was our first time going to Lagoon, and we had such a good time! We spent most of the time in Kiddie Land, where Zaylee and Thomas had a blast driving cars, piloting airplanes, and riding dragons. We all thoroughly wore ourselves out having fun.

Audrey's excited to get going!

This is Thomas "Say cheese!" face. Not exactly smiling, is it?

We couldn't find Zaylee's brimmed hat, so she got to wear a kerchief instead. She loved it.

Me in my new sunhat. Jeff was there too, but somehow we didn't get any pictures of him.

The kids were so excited that to go on the car ride that they actually hugged each other!

"Driving" the car.

Zaylee, ready for "Puff the Little Fire Dragon." She laughed so hard on this ride!

This ride splashed the kids so much that by the end, they just ducked and stayed there, trying not to get any wetter.

My little ladybug riding a little ladybug.

Buckling up to fly a plane.

Updates on the Kids

I'm getting really bad at blogging. Just too busy with other stuff I guess (like reading other blogs, reading home decor magazines, reading books, stuff like that). Anyway.

Zaylee has been getting really good at reading. We were stopped at a stop sign yesterday, and she read "dead end" on a sign, all by herself. She read "food" and "drug" on the Smith's store front. She reads little books to herself and to Audrey and Thomas, which all three really enjoy. Zaylee is also really good about helping. She helps me with the dishes, she helps to set the table for meals, and sometimes she helps to clear the table after we eat. She'll fetch diapers and wipes when I need to change a diaper, and is all-around a great little helper. Not all the time, of course, she still has her moments. But when I ask she is generally very good about doing what I say.

Thomas has been working hard in preschool, learning the routines and working on his language development. He has passed several goals on his IEP, and his teachers have given us lots of good tips for helping him here at home. Our goal phrases to work on now are "poopy" which he usually says as "hoohy," "I thirsty," and "happy faces" which are the fruit snacks that we stock up on, and he usually says as "hahy saces." So right now we're working mostly on the "p" sound. We're also trying to work on potty training. I was holding off until his communication skills were improved. Now they're improved enough to start. Ugh, I don't care for potty training, but I guess it has to be done. So far Thomas sits on the potty when prompted, but hasn't produced anything yet.

Audrey is becoming more and more a little girl, and less and less a little baby. I trimmed her bangs the other day, since they kept falling into her eyes. And now she looks all grown up! It's exciting to see her grow and learn new things. She mimics the cat by saying "mew." And to ask for something, she'll hold out her hand, make a grabbing motion, and say "I do! I do!" She loves it when I sit her on my lap and read her a book, usually over and over and over again. She is having a lot of fun with Joy and Jim and the cousins around, she loves to play with them and they have a blast making her laugh.

I have a purpose!

Lately it feels like life has just been about getting from one day to the next. I haven't really been doing anything besides keeping the kids from making too many messes. I mean, I have done a few things - we planted a cherry tree on Friday, we had our Easter egg hunt on Saturday, the Primary kids sang a special song in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, Jeff went back to work yesterday. But I feel like I've been just wandering around wanting something to do, but not really motivated to do anything.

But that has now changed - I have something to do and motivation to do it! Jeff's sister Joy and her family are going to be temporarily moving to our house, until they are able to move down to California with Jeff's parents. And they're coming on Saturday. So my job is to get the house ready. I've already moved Zaylee's and Thomas' mattresses up to Audrey's room. Now I need to clear out the kids' rooms of toys and trash and random other clutter to make room for Joy and her family, and get the rest of the house looking nice. Family room, living room, bathrooms, closets - they all need to be cleaned up and organized so that we can make their stay here as pleasant for everyone as possible.

We don't know for sure how long they will be staying with us - they're waiting on their tax refund before they can move out to California. But however long they're with us, we're glad that we have the opportunity to help them out and spend this time with them before they leave Utah.

And I'm excited that I finally have something to spur me on - I only have until Saturday to get the house ready!

Update

I thought I should drop an update, after leaving that post about Jeff's appendectomy up for so long.

Jeff came home this past Wednesday. At first he was very weak and couldn't eat very much. Because he hadn't been able to eat for a whole week, his stomach had really shrunk. He would get full after just a couple of bites. But since then Jeff's appetite has returned, and he's making up for a week of not eating!

We're still having to make sure that the kids don't jump on Jeff's stomach. He still can't really lift the kids or have them sit on his lap when they're wiggly. But he's improving a lot. He has even been able to cook a meal - he made crepes for breakfast on Saturday, and boy were they good.

Okay, that's about it. I need to go put together some breakfast now.

Jeff

As many of you know (from Facebook and/or phone calls), Jeff had an appendectomy on Wednesday. Thought I'd sit down and write out all the details.

On Tuesday afternoon, Jeff started complaining of a stomachache. I didn't think much of it, but by Wednesday morning it was much worse. Lots of pain, plus he had been unable to keep any food or liquid down since this all started. He asked me to go to the store to get some sprite in an attempt to help him feel better. When I got home, he was curled up on the floor moaning, and asked me to take him to the ER.

At that point, Thomas was about to get out of preschool, Zaylee was still in the van (I had brought her to the store with me), and Audrey was waking up from her nap. So I threw some diapers and stuff into the diaper bag, got Audrey ready and buckled in the van, then helped Jeff get dressed and into the van. We stopped at the school to pick up Thomas on the way to the hospital.

There was a brief wait in the ER waiting room, then they took Jeff in to assess his condition. The kids and I stayed out in the waiting room. The kids got to watch TV in the children's wait area, and a nice lady got a couple snacks for them from the vending machine. We were finally allowed back to see Jeff, who was feeling a bit better since they had him on morphine.

I had to take the kids home, because they were getting antsy and hungry. So I got them home, changed diapers, fed them, and then my neighbor came over to be with the kids while I went back to be with Jeff.

There was a lot of waiting, and Jeff was in a lot of pain. The Elders Quorum president and one of the young men from the ward came over the give Jeff a blessing, which was very much appreciated. Immediately after, he was taken to have surgery to remove his appendix. The EQ president got me some lunch from the cafeteria, and I settled in to wait while Jeff was operated on.

The operation went successfully. The surgeon was able to remove the appendix from three small incisions instead of having to completely open Jeff up. They removed about a liter (!) of pus from his abdomen. Wow, that's half of a two-liter bottle. No wonder he was in so much pain.

I stayed the night with Jeff that first night. Jeff's sister Joy and her daughter Marilee spent the night with the kids so I could be with Jeff. And ever since then, Jeff has been recovering in the hospital, on antibiotics to prevent infection and morphine to help with the pain, and I've been trying to stay sane here at home with the kids. We've visited Jeff a couple times. The kids are always happy to see Daddy, but it's hard because he can't get up and play with them. They can't even give him hugs and sit on his lap.

It's been kind of hard the past couple of days. The kids and I miss having Jeff around. The kids are acting out a bit more than usual, and my depression has been flaring up. But Jeff should be able to come home soon, which we're really looking forward to.

Finally, a new post, and lots of pictures

So I've realized that it's much easier to post occasional Facebook updates than to sit down and write a full blog post. So I haven't blogged for a while. But Mom has mentioned that she would rather read blog posts than hear about Facebook posts from my sisters, since she isn't on Facebook. So, this is me writing a blog post!

A couple weeks ago we went up to Idaho to visit my family. Jeff had a couple days of work during that week, so the kids and I flew up on  Monday  Tuesday, and Jeff drove up on Friday. Yeah, we were supposed to fly on Monday but the plane was having trouble so we turned around mid-flight and had to go back to Salt Lake. We ended up getting bumped to a flight on Tuesday. The full story is much longer, but I don't want to relive it, lol.

Anyway, after the flight adventure, we had a great visit with my family! For me, a great deal of the visit was taken up by hat-making. I made myself a really cute hat a few weeks ago, and brought it with me. Janelle requested that I make her a hat, and before I knew it, everyone wanted one! I ended up making hats for Janelle, Marie, Samuel, Rheanna, Mom, and Michelle. I had such a blast making all those hats, and everyone else had a blast choosing fabrics and buttons, and wearing their new hats.

Nelle and her new hat

Marie loves her polka dots

Samuel enjoys his red hat with a big black button

Rheanna loves her flowered hat

Mom and Michelle, both wishing I wasn't taking their picture

The hat that started it all

On Sunday evening, Jeff and I had a big bake-off. We both wanted to make a special dessert before we headed home the next day, but had different ideas of what to make. So we turned it into a competition. Jeff made a vanilla cream pie with whipped cream and strawberries. I made cheesecake-layered brownies with boiled peanut butter frosting. Here's the breakdown:

Jeff's pies had a lovely presentation. Very fresh and pretty.

My brownies looked rather plain in the pan.

After cutting, Jeff's pie proved to be a little on the gloppy side.

My brownies, on the other hand, held their shape perfectly.

Side by side, mine has the definite advantage as far as looks.

Dad enjoyed his job as one of the taste testers.

In the end, there really could be no clear winner. Both desserts had good points and less-good points, but both were really delicious. Jeff's was fresh and light, mine was dark and rich. They complemented each other wonderfully. That being said, I think mine won. So there.

Like Michelle said on her blog, the she and I both came home with a bunch of fabrics from Mom's plentiful supply. I haven't had time to use any of the fabric yet, though, because I also came home with a few bags of yarn and have been having fun with that instead. I'm working on an afghan for Mom, which is about halfway done, and I started a little blanket for Janelle. I'll have to wait a few months before I can finish it, because I need to know whether to make it for a girl or a boy. ;-)

Just a few more random pictures.

Cutie-pie cousins Daniel and Audrey

Zaylee LOOOOVES her Aunt Rheanna

Zaylee on the car ride home

Thomas, what a cheerful little guy

Audrey was fussing until she noticed me taking pictures of her

There were some awesome cloud formations on the drive home. This picture is SOOC.

Okay, I think that's about it. There's more that's been going on, like ants in the cat food, FHE with some families in the ward, feeling super sleepy all the time, and finding our missing cell phone in Jeff's lunch bag. But you can read about those things on my Facebook page. ;-)