Loving kids

Having the back problems I've had with the car accident has been hard on the kids. It has not been easy for them to not be able to sit on my lap. They have tried to be really sweet about it and help me when I need it.
Anyway, today I was helping out in Primary and they were talking about Family Prayer. They played a game like hot potato, but when the ball stopped on them, they had to say one thing they pray for.
Both my kids warmed my heart and made me feel so good. They both told everyone that they prayed for their mommy's back and leg to get feeling better. It made me feel so good.

Summer Fun

School let out about a week-and-a-half ago. In that time the kids have been busy. They have spent a lot of time playing with the neighbor boys and the other neighborhood kids. Joanie still gets in a tiff because a lot of times she's still the only girl.
A week ago they spent three days and two nights at Granny and Grandpa's house (my parents). They had a blast. Hunter helped Grandpa in the garden, becoming I'm sure really dirty. This was a rough couple of days and nights for me. The second day they were gone I was so bored. I thought I was going to go crazy. Although I was bored it was nice to be able to rest without worrying about the kids. It was also nice to be able to spend some alone-time with Ryan. With a five and six year old we don't get that much time to ourselves.
Hunter had his last two soccer games last week. He scored in one of the games. He had a good time. We need to work on building his stamina. Of course, most of the kids don't have that long of stamina's.
Joanie had a violin lesson on Saturday. She is doing extremely well. Her violin is in the shop right now so she doesn't have to practice that, but she still has to practice her piano (as does Hunter).
Joanie also gave a talk in Primary on Sunday. This is a huge improvement because when we first moved into this ward she refused to give a talk. She wouldn't even talk to her teachers. Of course, with her love of music she sang "Jesus Said Love Everyone" in her talk. It was awesome.
Last Friday I was laying in bed watching a movie with Hunter. Joanie was supposed to be getting in the shower. I kept hearing a buzzing sound, but Ryan was outside mowing the lawn, so I just assumed it was him. Then the lawn mower stopped and I continued hearing the sound. I went into the bathroom to check on Joanie and she has used my clippers on her hair. It didn't look too bad, but I told her it was getting chopped. The results are below.

Although, it's really short, I think it's adorable. She absolutely loves it. And it's really easy maintenance. The great thing is when she wears her helmet for riding her bike she doesn't have to worry about her hair flying in her face.
Joanie has also had a loose tooth for about a month now. Ryan has continued to play with it and try and get it out. I refuse to touch her teeth (I think teeth are disgusting). Anyway, the same day as her haircut she was showing one of our friends her loose tooth and it popped out. She was so excited. Again, below is a picture of her without her tooth.
We had to bribe her to get her to go to sleep that night. She really didn't want to. When she woke up the next morning the tooth fairy had brought her six quarters. She was really excited and we had to run out to Wal-Mart to let Ryan know.
Last night we received a free ticket to go to the Drive-In out here and watch "Monsters Versus Aliens" and "Hotel for Dogs". The kids had a blast. We didn't get home until 1 a.m. and they were both still awake. I was putting Hunter into bed after we got home and he said, "Mom, what about reading scriptures?" I had to explain to him that we would read tonight. We were so exhausted and Ryan had to be to work at 7 this morning. Though we were pretty squished in the front of our car we had a great time.
Our summer has been busy so far, and I expect it to remain busy over the next few weeks. We meet with the director of Excelsior-Academy June 18. He will visit with us and the kids. This is the charter school the kids will be attending this fall. I'm really excited for them.

8's Meme

8's Meme

Jen tagged me for the Crazy 8's Meme. Jen and I belong to a group of mommies in Tooele. Although we've only met a time or two she's an amazing woman and I love her ideas.


Here be Da Rules:
1. Mention the person who tagged you.
2. Complete the list of 8's.
3. Tag 8 other bloggers.
4. Tell them they have been tagged.

Eight Things I Look Forward To:

1. Being able to sit for more than 30 minutes.
2. Going to Australia
3. My children learning how to play the piano.
4. My 10-year anniversary.
5. Going camping for the first time this year.
6. Eating fresh fruits and veggies from the garden.
7. Taking more photographs of weddings.
8. Stopping biting my nails.

Eight Things I Did Yesterday

1. Had an MRI done.
2. Helped Joanie practice her violin.
3. Helped Hunter practice his piano.
4. Had my mom drive me home from her house.
5. Gave my kids hugs and kisses.
6. Ate Shepherds Pie
7. Worked on a crochet project.
8. Napped

Eight Things I Wish I Could Do

1. Be more patient
2. Exercise on a regular basis
3. Go away with my husband.
4. Wear attractive clothes
5. Freelance from home.
6. Not be in pain
7. Go to Australia
8. Or New Jersey/Massachusetts

Eight Shows I Watch

1. NCIS
2. Everybody loves Raymond
3. King of Queens
4. Reba
5. News
6. According to Jim
7. Hannah Montana
8. Phineas and Ferb

Eight Friends I Am Tagging:
Tia, friends from a mommy network.

MRI + Abby = no fun

Yesterday I had to have my MRI done on my back. Now for those who don't know, I'm terribly claustrophobic. Therefore, I had to take medicine to even get into the machine. Unfortunately, Ryan had to work, but fortunately my mom was able to take me to the MRI.
Hunter and I went up to my parents Monday night (the MRI was done in Layton) and spent the night. Tuesday morning I had to wake up early to have take the medicine for me to relax. My appointment was at 7:45 so mom and I left about 7:25 to get to the clinic.
When we arrived they took me right back. Now, this is where I start trying not to flip out. I know having the MRI is the only way to find out what's going on with my back and why I can't sit for long periods.
They get me into the MRI and I try not to scream for them to pull me out. I continue praying and then the thought comes to me, "sing primary songs."
I've been in primary for so many years that I know the majority of the songs, so that's what I start doing. With my eyes tightly shut I start singing primary songs.
I did make it through without having any major problems, no I just have to wait for the results. I'm working on getting into a specialist for back pain. Hopefully, I can return to my normal duties soon.

Life as it happens

Today was Joanie's end of the year barbecue at the school she attends. The kids were able to have their cheeks painted. Joanie choose a palm tree because it's "granny's favorite thing". Hunter had a shark. However, he had scratched it off before I could get a picture of it. He had a funny day today though. I took him shopping at Wal-Mart and he kept telling me that he knew "everything." "I'm a smart boy, mommy," he kept saying. He had the clerks laughing. When Ryan has taken Hunter to work with him they call Hunter "Little Ryan". I have to agree with them. He is the spitting image of his father.
Not much else is going on with us. I'm still probably about a month away from returning to work. Hopefully sooner, but we'll find out more Friday. I go back to the doctor for my checkup. Ryan is staying busy with the garden and the kids and me.

Hunter's graduation and the Garden

We've had some busy weeks. We were in a car accident the end of April. Luckily it wasn't too serious, but I was injured. I haven't worked since. I'm hoping to return to work soon though. I've been in physical therapy and working through it. I'm finally starting to feel better. Ryan finished putting in our garden tonight. It's about 6-8 feet wide by 48 feet long. He planted onions, tomatoes, corn, peas, cucumbers, watermelon, Cantaloupe, peppers and hot peppers. I'm really excited and can't wait for the produce to come in.
Of course, he had a lot of "help". Between our two children and our neighbors two boys he had tons of help. :) The little boy in the yellow shirt is our neighbor, his name is Hunter too. The kids all had a lot of fun. They can't wait for the watermelon to come in.The Garden
Ryan in the garden
Christopher (standing on the swing), Joanie (sitting on the swing), Hunter in orange shirt.


Hunter Rhea helping in the garden


Hunter graduated from the Tooele High School preschool -- as a Baby Buff -- May 11. He was voted the most likely to be the next millionaire because of his imagination. If anyone knows Hunter, they'll agree with this. He had a good year and has learned a lot. He's excited to be starting Kindergarten this fall.



Overall things are going pretty good for us. We are having a ton of fun and are excited for this summer.
Joanie is doing wonderful on her violin. Unfortunately we had to buy a new string. It was loose and I tried to fix it. Yea, I won't be doing that again. She's learning rhythm now and has gotten pretty good at it. She also wanted to start piano lessons again, so I'm putting on my patience and teaching her. She's doing pretty good.
The kids keep us entertained and we have a good time as a family.

Joanie's violin and Hunter's soccer

Again, it's been a while, but here's our update.
Joanie has been taking violin lessons since the beginning of the year. She is doing extremely well. She has learned "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and this week she started on "Mary had a Little Lamb". She really loves it. Her teacher said she has been doing an amazing job. She plays every song three times a day. There are are days she isn't overly thrilled about practicing, but all it takes is a threat to not let her play the violin anymore and she'll practice.
She loves to read and will even read to Hunter when he asks her to. She has been extremely healthy and has continued to be the loving little girl as ever.
She has started coming out of her shell. We had a ward party, that was a karaoke party, a couple of weeks ago. She shocked everyone in the ward when she got up and sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" all by herself. It about caused me to have a heart attack. I stood by her and mouthed the words in her ear and she sang them. She then told the primary president that if she could sing a song for a talk she would give a talk in primary. She's been assigned one for the week after Easter. She's going to sing "Family's Can Be Together Forever."
She finishes kindergarten up in a few weeks and then will have all summer to play.
Hunter has started soccer. He's on his friend Hunter's team (it's a lot of fun). Today was his first game. It was freezing and started snowing, but he always had a smile on his face. The other little boy in the picture is the other Hunter. They are our neighbors and the boys see each other all the time.
Other than soccer Hunter has just stayed busy playing and going to school. He only has about 4 weeks left of preschool. He too should have a fun summer.
He also got up at the ward party and sang "Old MacDonald". It was really cute. I was up there with him and he couldn't sing half the time because he was laughing, which in turn made me laugh. Everyone in the ward said it was really cute. Then he also led all the kids in the song "The Hockey Pockey". The kids didn't know it as well, but the adults sure got into it.
He says he's ready to start learning the piano, so I'll begin teaching him shortly. I'll teach him for a year and then he will be able to pick an instrument and we'll get him in lessons. When asked he has said guitar and drums. We'll see what he decides for sure in a year.
We haven't had any other problems with bloody noses, which has been a huge blessing. We are still really careful, but have relaxed some what.
He too is a happy little boy and my cuddle bug. He loves to sit on my lap and just have me hold him. I love that.
Ryan continues to work. Next Friday he is supposed to be going fishing in Wyoming with my dad. He's excited to go fishing for the day. The kids and I will spend the day with my mom. Then the rest of the weekend will be spent (or at least a good portion of it) with my friend Tia and her family. It will be a lot of fun.
We've decided to plant a garden this year. We are going to put in tomatoes, corn, peas, onions and peppers. Then we will get with my parents and freeze and can what we can. I'm really excited for it.
I am doing well. I still haven't felt 100% but have been doing better. I've started writing a little more for the paper, but do that about every 6 weeks. My last story was about a gentleman who wrote a children's picture book. If you want a really cute book it's called "Wet, Bird-Feather Bread." Joanie absolutely loves it. If you'd like to read my story here's the link http://tooeletranscript.com/pages/full_story?page_label=hometown_features&article-Expanding%20Imaginations%20=&id=2129546-Expanding+Imaginations&widget=push&instance=secondary_stories_left_column&open=&. It was a lot of fun to write and then get to design the page for the paper.
I've been trying to get a portfolio of pictures put together so if we ever decide I want to go into a photography business I can. I took my friend's baby pictures a few weeks ago. They turned out so cute. I was really pleased with them. I love taking pictures and take the kids pictures whenever I can.
Not much else is going on. Like mentioned above we are spending next weekend at my parents and with friends. We hope everyone year.

When it rains it pours

This year is not starting out to be as great as we had hoped. In the last post, I posted I was sick. I was finally starting to feel better when we had a scare with Hunter.
Friday night about 11 p.m. Hunter ended up with a bloody nose. Ryan tried for 30 minutes to get it to stop. When that didn't work we ended up running out to the Emergency room in Tooele. After a long wait, we were finally seen. They finally got him to stop bleeding about 1:30. We were given the option of having his nose cauterized or bringing him home. One of the brethren in our ward's bishopric is an EMT and he was at the hospital. We brought him in the room and consulted with him. He suggested we just go home and if it started bleeding again to bring him back in. We took his suggestion and headed home. (On a cute side note, once Hunter's nose had stopped bleeding at the E.R. he rolled over and instead of asking what was going on, he said, "Where's Joanie?" It was really cute.)
Ryan cradled Hunter the whole way home, carried him up the stairs and set him on our bed. As soon as he was set on our bed his nose started gushing again. We tried for 10 minutes to stop it. After it didn't stop we ended up back at the E.R. The doc tried to cauterize it, but it ended up bleeding worse.
Anyway, to shorten the story, they ended up transporting Hunter to Primary Children's Hospital in S.L. via ambulance. It was scary, but we were also blessed. It turned out that one of my friends (thanks Rose) ended up being on the ambulance crew that transported Hunter in. Having someone I know and trust was a huge relief to me, since I rode in the ambulance and Ryan drove the car into S.L. We know the Lord was watching over us and is aware of our needs, because my friend doesn't usually work the night shift, but she was on. I know the Lord did that for me.
My friend was able to put some gauze in Hunter's nose to stem the bleeding. He was able to sleep the whole way into S.L. Once we got to Primary's I was so impressed. They took such good care of Hunter. They were amazing.
My parents came down from Syracuse at 6 in the morning for dad to help give Hunter a blessing. (They were also going to drive out to Tooele and pick Joanie up from our friend's house, but then we were told they were going to release Hunter so they didn't)
Hunter ended up seeing an ENT at Primary's. They ended up putting some sort of sponge-like substance in his nose to stop the bleeding. Once that was done, we headed home.
Ryan and I were both exhausted after being awake for more than 24 hours, but when we got home, we all slept. Joanie was so good and just watched TV.
Although this happened we are still thankful for the Lord for watching out for us. There were many small things that happened that made us aware that the Lord is watching over us. In addition to Rose being on the ambulance, I didn't end up with a migraine after being awake that long, and Ryan was able to stay awake to drive into and back from Salt Lake.

Update

We've been having a pretty good time for the most part.
Ryan has been working hard, and his work schedule will be changing in March. He might end up going to overnights. There are mixed emotions about this. Whereas, I love having him home at night it would be hard. However, we could end up saving on childcare if he did this. His other option might be working on the grocery side of the store. We're just waiting to find out.
I've been sick. I spent three days in the hospital and then ended up taking a whole week off work. I'm planning on returning to work tomorrow, but have a visit with the doctor first. They never figured out what was wrong, so I've just been taking it easy. Ryan has been a great help (like always) and doing whatever needs to be done. The kids have been amazing with the whole mess up of their schedules.
Thanks to a wonderful group of mommies I belong to, they brought meals in for the whole week. It was a huge relief for us not to have to worry about it.
Joanie is still enjoying kindergarten. Her reading has really taken off and she loves to read to Hunter. She is a great big sister. She started violin lessons in January and is doing really well. She's so shy I wasn't sure how she would do with her teacher, who is a senior in high school. However, she's been doing really well. I attend the lessons with her, and she still won't talk to him, except via me. But, she does let him position her how she needs to stand and hold her violin. She's doing amazing. I'm really proud of her. We also signed her up for soccer for in the Spring.
Hunter has be having fun in preschool and playing with his friend Hunter. He too was signed up for soccer. He's pretty excited about being able to play soccer.
Overall, the beginning of our year has been good. We still miss Matthew and his family, but have been blessed in our lives.
We missed mom and dad for almost three weeks when they went to visit Matthew and his family. It was the longest I've gone without speaking to them. However, I didn't want to interrupt their visit with Matthew. The kids and I picked them up from the airport. That was a lot of fun for the kids.
I'm on Facebook, so if you want updates on me check me out there.