Port-a-potty and a Lizard

Normal story...

I caught a lizard today. It was climbing in a bucket and I tipped it over just right and kept moving the bucket until I got the kids. Then my sister's brother-in-law took it out of the bucket. My nephew, Cooper, that is three thought it was so cool and started it playing with it. After a while, the lizard bit him. It left quite a mark. After Cooper settled down, he said quite seriously, "We are going to eat that lizard for dinner."

Now for the gross story...

Tonight we were at the park and Lincoln had to go to the bathroom. There was a port-a-potty behind a locked gate that the kids could fit through put I couldn't. Lincoln went in and did number two and started yelling for me. I told him to wipe his bum and come out. He kept yelling and yelling about needing helps and flies. I didn't want to climb the fence and jump because I only had my flip flops on and I worry about my foot in this situation. So it took me about five minutes to figure out how to get through the fence. When I opened the door, Lincoln said, "There is no toilet paper so I tried." He had tried to wipe his bum with his hands. Yes, very gross!!! So my sister ran to the van and got some wet wipes and I spent quite a long time cleaning up Lincoln. I don't think I will forget that port-a-potty experience.

Thank goodness the day also included a fun trip to Lake Powell to even out our bad experiences

Small Miracle

Today was the last day of swimming lessons.

Avalee passed and is on her way to swimming. This is a first because she has always been scared to death of the water and has been in the same class for four years.

Lincoln did not pass BUT he will put his nose and his mouth under the water AND he earned a yellow ribbon. This means he can float on his back by himself and stand up when he is done. With a yellow ribbon, he can go down the slide by himself. He went down the slide seven times before I forced him out of the pool.

It is a happy day because I don't have to go down the slide anymore, too many times makes me dizzy, and the kids can be in the water by themselves.

Camera Dump!

In our house you often hear, "Lincoln get off your sister". Lincoln is a typical boy and instead of saying "Avalee play with me". He gets her attention by laying or wrestling with her. I don't know how they ended up in this position but it looks like Avalee has given up.


Lincoln during his preschool graduation. I was only able to attend for 20 minutes because I had a test so I didn't get an good group shots.

Avalee's 1st grade class!
Avalee's teacher who she will miss dearly. Avalee is still not ok that she doesn't get to go to school on Tuesday.
Avalee made this "thank you" for her teacher. Mrs. Gipson was constantly surrounded by kids hugging her and crying.
Amazing face painting that Avalee got at the Ward Pancake breakfast.
Avalee got the "Academic Award" this year. Although she tells everyone she got the "Automatic Award". This is what her teacher said about the award.

Avalee is truly an amazing student. She reads 172 words a minute and always tries her hardest. She has turned in her homework each day and has perfect scores on all her exams. She never stops learning or trying. If she doesn't understand something, she is quick to ask questions. She kept me on my toes all year. She is a superstar!
Walking across the stage to receive her award.
Avalee finished all 26 turtles so I made her a turtle cake. I am not a cake decorator but this didn't turn out too bad.
It is still raining and cold this year and tomorrow is June 1st. This picture was taken in April when the kids where excited for summer to come and where checking out their nerf glasses for sunglasses. We are still waiting for warm weather for shorts.
It was about 60 degrees the middle of April when I turned the sprinklers on to see how they survived the winter. This sprinkler had a problem and the kids played in it for about 10 minutes before they went in and took a warm shower. I have only had the sprinklers on for that hour of testing the entire year. It has rained so much here we don't need sprinklers. It has also rained so much that my tomatoes are turning yellow!

Good School or Bad Parents?

Today was the last day of school. Please rain and cold go away so we can play outside.

The school was an emotional mess today. I think they should consider exit counseling next year. Kids of all grades where walking out with their parents crying. The kids, especially the boys, in Avalee's class where crying and could not let go of their teacher. Avalee actually cried herself to sleep two nights ago.

I remember being so glad that school was over and enjoying summer break. So my question is....Are we bad parents or does Avalee just go to a good school?

The Vending Machine

Yesterday I got my allergy shot. I normally go by myself but yesterday I had the kids with me. After the shot, I have to wait for 15 minutes so we sat down by the vending machine. Two funny things happened.

First, Lincoln looked at me and asked "Do you have a dollar and a string?" I asked "Why do you want a string?" Lincoln said, "I can tie the string to the dollar and then get all the candy out of the machine?" I asked "Where did you see that". Lincoln replied "Spongebob did it and got all the candy." Avalee said "Lincoln everything you see on Spongebob isn't real." We then had a conversation about what is real on Spongebob and what isn't. Then we talked about stealing.

Second, Avalee created a game. She would pick two items in the machine and Lincoln would have to tell her how much he would need for both items. Lincoln would take about five second look up in his head and say $1.45 and such. This went on for about five minutes then Lincoln told Avalee it was his turn. Lincoln choose a soda that was $0.60 and a candy bar that was $0.60. Avalee looked at her fingers, looked at Lincoln, and looked at me and said, "I don't know the answer. I think Lincoln might be smarter than me."

Overall, it was the most entertainment I have had in a while at the allergy shot clinic and the fifteen minutes went quickly.

$40

I love Albertson's. This is what I bought tonight for $40, and I only had one coupon. I did have to go through the check out four times, and it did take a while because the college kids where buying lots of alcohol, but it was worth it.

60 boxes of cereal
4 boxes of Chicken n' Biscuit
4 12-packs of soda
6 yogurts
2 frying chickens
1 bunch of bananas
1 gallon of milk

Can I just say that is amazing! Oh and we won't be buying cereal for another year.

Turtle #25

Avalee has reached the last set of turtle words. We have gone through 25 sets of words since the start of 1st grade. I have decided Turtle #25 is meant to take the students that reach it weeks to understand. So if anyone wants to call Avalee on the phone and give her a vocabulary lesson, this would be the week she needs help.

Here are the words that are on #25.

continent
ridiculous
awesome
alphabetical
published
photography
pandemonium
outlandish
formidable*
journalism
commendation
aristocrat
paleontology
paraprofessional
parochial**
parenthesize
repressive
reverberation*
sentimentalize
treasonable

* Had to look the word up in the dictionary to give Avalee a good definition.
** Looked the word up and still don't know how to pronounce it.

Olympics

Four years ago, I hardly watched a moment of the 2006 Winter Olympics. During that time, Lincoln got very sick and ended up in the hospital and created a lot of laundry. We were making our move to Idaho and I don't think I slept for a week trying to keep up. I remember being sad that I didn't get to see the Olympics.

So this year I have made up for the 2006 Winter Olympics, and I have watched way TOO much of the 2010 Winter Olympics. I am thankful though that I scheduled my surgery during the Olympics so I had something to watch since we don't have cable. I have cried with the athletes, explained the events to Lincoln, and caught most all of the Olympic moments that were on NBC.

Tonight the Olympics are over. And with the Olympic end, there is few shows left to watch on TV so tomorrow I am going to get up and regain my energy and fight back to where I was 10 days ago. My nose is still in a small amount of pain but I feel better tonite that I have since the surgery. So here I come tomorrow to get back into a routine again and try to help Nathan around the house. I am sure I will be in bed early due to exhaustion tomorrow.

Recovery

For those that don't know, I had my sinus and septum fixed on Friday. After spending a miserable weekend with stints up my nose, I can breathe out of the right side of my nose. The pressure from my head that I have had for years has also left. Now I am just left to gain my energy back and to get the last of the stints out on Monday.

I can tell you that getting the first splints out on Monday was the most intense pain I have ever had in 15 seconds. They pulled out the stitch and then immediately pulled out the stints. I seriously lost every nose hair I had. Then I cried. It took a two hour nap to sleep off the nose violation. I pray I never have this experience again.

Nathan has done a great job keeping the house in order and the kids happy. Tomorrow is the first day that I will be on my own. I am thinking Lincoln and I will be playing a lot of board games.

Bob sledding

Each night at our house the kids get "robot rides" from our bed where prayers are said to their bed. Robot rides come in all shapes and forms. This week's robot ride has been bob sledding. Nathan holds them in a sitting position in his arms and runs them down the hall and back to their bed. The kids love it. Tonight Avalee wrapped herself in her blanket and said "I have my uniform on now you can go." I wish I would have had a camera.

Ricky ?

Who is Ricky? That is the question around here. For the last two weeks, we get phone calls for Ricky. Friday night we got two phone calls for Ricky around 2:30 a.m. and then again at 2:45 a.m. I am sure the person was drunk but I don't know how to get them to understand that Ricky doesn't live here.

After the first phone call, I would have just turned the phone off but Lincoln was sleeping at a friend's house and I wanted the phone on. I am so glad that we only got two calls and they didn't keep calling.

Needless to say, the phone ringing at 2:30 a.m. woke me up and it was at least an hour before I went back to sleep. And then I had stayed up to 1 a.m. during homework. I was tired on Saturday and my volleyball skills showed it. Sorry ladies!

The GMAT

The GMAT is a frustrating test. I got the exact same score on the practice test that I got on the actual test. The frustrating part is I studied hard for a month between the practice test and the actual test.

Now to make things even worse, I am not consistent.

I am well above average on Analytical Writing.
I am average on the Verbal (English, Reading).
I am below average on the Quantitative (Math).

Where does that leave me? I don't know. I guess only the Master's review committee can determine if they want me or not.

To make matters even worse, I will be qualified to teach Math by the end of the summer. Obviously, I am not good at Math and maybe I should have choose to teach English or Writing. But at this moment, all of my Wood relatives that just read this sentence are laughing at me teaching English.

What to do in life? I am 33 and still don't know the answer to this question.

The X Game

Today Lincoln wanted to help me with my Calculus homework. So I gave him the problem, he said that is too hard. So I tired the easy part of the problem, and said "If 3 + x = 5, what is x? "

Lincoln looked at me and said "2".

I went harder with addition and subtraction. He got them all right. So then I sent him to Nathan for more questions. Lincoln played this game for at least an hour. Then he came back tonite and asked to play the "x game".

What do you do with a preschooler that is very smart in Math but if you asked him to write the answer it becomes the painful experience of the day?

In the Middle

The other night Lincoln said in a teasing voice "Avalee is a loser".

Nathan replied, "Lincoln, that is not nice to say."

Lincoln said in a teasing voice, "Avalee is in the middle."

Nathan and I just looked at each other and smiled. Where do you really go from there?

2010 Goals

I want to put my 2010 goals in writing so everyone knows them.

• Pass the GMAT. I am studying hard but I am scared to death.
• Finish 22 credits with at least a B in each class.
• Go to bed with my sink cleaned every night.
• Lose at least 10 pounds.
• Participate in a trialthon.
• Run at least three 5k races.
• Be brave enough to get my sinuses fixed.
• Enjoy the summer with my kids.

As the year goes on, I am might come up with more but for now this is enough.

Wish me luck!

2009 Summary

I have not been very good at blogging but I want to summarize 2009.

Our travels took us to Arizona (for a temple sealing), Virginia (for a wedding), Utah (for a race), and Washington (for a baby blessing). It was full of travel so we stayed home for Christmas and plan to vacation in Caldwell for Spring break.

Avalee completed Kindergarten and started 1st Grade. She is doing very well in school and is a sponge. If you read a word to her once, she will most likely remember it the next time she sees it. She is amazing. She is also learning to play the violin.

Lincoln completed preschool but had to take preschool again because he missed the deadline. If you ask him, he will tell you how frustrated he is to not be in Kindergarten. He enjoyed Christmas vacation because Avalee was home and his neighborhood friend could play with him because he wasn't at school.

Both of the kids are enrolled in gymnastics. Each has their different strengths but they are both becoming stronger. Lincoln is going to play baseball this spring. I am sure it will be entertaining.

Nathan and I both served in big callings for 10 months this year. I was released as RS President on November 1. It was a blessing to be home with my family but I miss serving. I have enjoyed organizing our house. I found diapers in Lincoln's closet and I know he has been potty trained for over 18 months.

We also took on the adventure of redoing the flooring in our entire house. What a task but it was well worth it. I love the new carpet and the pergo downstairs. In the process of redoing flooring, we put everything in our house into our garage. We did not bring anything back into our house that we did not need. We took a big donation for a tax write-off and had some good luck selling items on Craigslist.

Overall, 2009 was a great year. We have been blessed and have been healthy.

Lincoln's Excitement

After about five weeks, I finally had time to get to the grocery store last night. I took the kids with me because Nathan was at meetings. By the time, I got home, got the kids to bed, and the groceries in the house it was 9 p.m. So we put the perishables away and left all the non-perishables on the counter.

This morning I picked up one of Lincoln's friends on our way home from exercising. On the way in the door Lincoln got excited and said "I have something to show you". He then ran into the kitchen and said "Look, we have food to eat". He was so excited.

My poor kids have been such troopers in life. I guess know they can appreciate food a little more.

Downstairs

This weekend we got our downstairs flooring done. This was made possible by an awesome coupon at Costco and good friends and a grandma. We could not have done it without them!

This is where the fridge and stove sat on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Avalee was so excited to come down the stairs on Tuesday morning and see her life was back to normal.

The floor went really fast until you got to the edge. I think this picture shows them looking at a vent.

At one point, we had 12 neighborhood kids building structures out of the flooring boxes. It entertained them for at least three hours and then it got dark so they had to go home. Lincoln is in the kid in the back.

Here is the finished projected without the baseboards. The baseboards will be done this weekend. Lincoln is doing a trick for the picture.

Now I am off to the upstairs. I am not motivation to do the upstairs because I have a sinus infection but the carpet people will be here on Friday. The good news is I have the feeling back in my hands and they are no longer swollen. I actually got my wedding ring on yesterday.

Project

I am currently on break from our project. My body hurts and is tired. I need something to lift my spirits so I got the camera out and started posting pictures. The BEFORE--Avalee and Lincoln finding gloves to help. Avalee was sick so she stayed home from school and Lincoln was still sick. This was their burst of energy for the day.

Lincoln admiring the linoleum on the back porch.

Chipping at the sub-floor. It took me an hour to make this dent.

Many, many hours, lots of help from friends, and hurting muscles later. It is mostly gone. I only have under the fridge, the closet, and the edgework. Stay tuned for the AFTER.

Six Hours of Canning

On Monday, I tried to start canning and tried for four days. On Thursday night, I didn't have a choice because the food was going bad and we were leaving for the weekend. So in seven hours (7 p.m. to 2 a.m.) this is what Nathan and I accomplished. Pretty impressive!