24 Hours

I must say that the last 24 hours have been the most interesting. Since my life is an open book I figured - why not share. Perhaps it really started with the end of last week, although nothing really triggers the downfall, it just starts happening. I guess it should start the end of last week. I had a headache that lasted five days. I know it was lack of sleep, stress and of course, sugar. Darn three 's' words. I'd throw in some other words but I probably should keep it clean! :)

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE sugar - well, it's really not my friend. So, besides the week being stressful and having issues at work, I was super excited to make it to the weekend and all the Easter candy!! Totally at home, no commitments, should be nice and peaceful, right? Well, I decided Friday night to bag the community Easter Egg hunt (another blog post for that rant) and host my own Easter Egg Hunt. Yes, I really said it, host my own party! After all, I don't have anything else planned.

Now would be a good time to say that James (my parent's dog) has come to visit. Mom - if you're reading this, no, we are not keeping him. He is coming home.....
The dog was playing with the kids and bit my friend's son on his belly (yes, his belly). Hmmmm, how to tell his parents.........

So, invitations go out, eggs get stuff (thankfully have a friend who helped with the stuffing) and party commenced. In hindsight, I should have picked up the house a little more - okay, a lot more. Yes, housework is not a strong skill, perhaps not even a skill. It turned out great - after all, eggs, sugar, crafts (yes, we even did a craft) and kids - it was a party! Luckily it didn't last too long.

Now, on to the Easter Egg coloring. We died our Easter Eggs, everything was going great - kids went to bed pretty early. My friend also brought me dinner - yes the friend who stuffed the eggs and who's son got bit by the dog. She must really love me! Easter Bunny came and went, alarm set, after all, church starts at 9.

I guess this is where it really begins...... the alarm does not go off. Kids wake us up at 7:40. Run outside and find the Easter eggs, look for baskets. The Easter Bunny did a great job hiding the baskets..... and a couple of the eggs. We prodded, coaxed and hurried the kids to get out the door for church. Of course, we show up late - and guess what - I should have been there on time, there is NO organ player..... always embarrassing since it appears that I had a total flake moment. I must say - I had no idea that I needed to play. Luckily, someone else plays the sacrament hymn (yes, that's when we got there). She then says, the rest hymn is probably too hard for her - so would I play. Of course, well, not really. I fumbled my way through - did I mention how bad my head hurt.....

After church I crawled into bed and figured maybe the day would be over. Luckily, the nap cured most of the headache. (Positive part of the narrative - only one).

The missionaries showed up around 8:30. Jared had just got home and they hung out for about half an hour. We realized that Jerrick had not finished his 8 chapter book (only 4 chapters done at this point). We feed the missionaries, neighbor kids and my own kids ice cream - again, I think I really need to improve my housecleaning skills. Luckily, I've already worn off the first impression - or the impression that my house is EVER clean. Maybe I should quit worrying out it. So, my newest, most embarrassing moment... (no - not the dirty house). Jerrick is playing the Wii, I tell him that he needs to come and finish writing his story. Everyone is in the livingroom or kitchen. He tells me, "Just a sec." I say, "No more secs." (Now, before you think - why is that embarrassing - say it out loud.) Okay, thank you for announcing that there will be no more sex........ Everyone stops, dead silence. Everyone is staring at me - including the missionaries. Husband, so kindly, starts hysterically laughing. Kids join in. Missionaries say it's time to leave. Neighbor kids leave...... My face is bright red. Dumbfounded...... Going to bed.

Today wasn't any better. Work was a beast - lots of strange problems. 5 o'clock can't come fast enough. Probably should have stayed at work. Came home to foul smelling house. Think initially - need to clean more - or empty the garbage. Garbage has been emptied, dishes have been mostly done, not sure what is smelling so rancid. Change clothes, go upstairs to get a drink and find the source of the foul smell...... The dog has eaten Easter candy.... He LOVES candy too! Has had large quantity of diarrhea on kitchen floor. Everyone comes to look.... I clean it up, walk on the treadmill (stress relief), go upstairs and yell at kids to turn off the water outside. Start to make dinner. Send Monica downstairs to see if we have more gallon ziplock baggies. She comes upstairs and says, "Um, there is a surprise downstairs."

It's a bird, well, the remnants of a bird - spread everywhere in the hall. I tell Jaxon I need his services because he's been left an animal sacrifice. He graciously comes home and cleans up the bird. Says, there are bugs in the bird that are on the floor too.... YUCK...... start homework, keep doing homework. Gunnar has 4 hours of homework if left to do it on his own. Practice my 'yes, I can still do 5th grade homework' skills. Finish around 11:00. Decide it might be time to just crawl into bed and forget the day.

I figured I should probably write it all down before I forget, oh, I mean block it out. I do feel better - but I'm ready to crawl into bed and try again tomorrow.

Vegas Vacation Day 7

Today was our last full day in Vegas. We bought bagels in the morning and slurpees at night. We will certainly miss being so close to every fast food possibility! We played games, and enjoyed our last 'relaxing' day! We had an enjoyable time. The condo was fabulous and we loved having Walmart a hop skip and jump away!

We are headed back to reality - we didn't do enough homework with the kids and will be paying the price when we get back home. Luckily, with a washer and dryer in the condo, there won't be any laundry to do for at least a day!

Vegas Vacation Day 6

Today we had trouble decided what exactly to do with the day! We finally decided to go to the Ethel M Chocolate factory and see the Cactus (Botanical) Garden attached. The kids had a good time picking out delicious expensive chocolate! We checked out the Cacti (yes, that's plural for Cactus) - Jared and I had a debate about it! And of course, I won! Okay, for two or more Cacti, you can say, cactuses, cactus, or the most used, cacti. I LOVE it when I win. (He later whopped me in Yatzee - so all is fair!)

We then went to the Silverton Casino where there is a huge fish tank with sting ray, a small tiger shark, lots of fish and some pretty cool mermaids that show up and interact with those outside the tank. It was pretty cool. We then went into the Bass Pro Shop with is attached. We looked at all the stuffed animals and all the cool hunting and fishing supplies. They also had another cool fish tank with a fish as big as Gunnar. Pretty cool!

We then came back to the condo, ate ice cream, chocolates and of course, went swimming. How much better does it get! :)

Cannon had just gotten up from napping in the car and Ryker was mad because we didn't get him the type of chocolate he wanted.

Vegas Vacation Day 5

Hoover Dam on Leap Day! Today we decided to go to Hoover Dam. Everyone had a great time and the tour was great - luckily we didn't do the long tour (comes back to the cheap thing) but the short tour was enough for Cannon! The kids thought everything was pretty cool and had a great time going up on the new by-pass bridge.

When we came back to the condo the kids went swimming again! I'm sure that will be their favorite part of our vacation!

Vegas Vacation Day 4

Today we decided to get the kids out of the house. We wanted to find something cheap (guess when you have to buy tickets for 6 kids you become cheap!). So, we took up grandma and grandpa's suggestion to visit the Valley of Fire. It is a beautiful state park. The best part of the visit was Monica saying when we pulled into the park, "Is this grandpa's idea to come here?" Of course, I tell them that grandpa AND grandma said it was cool and they thought the kids would enjoy it. Monica tells me she's seen enough petroglyphs...... funny thing - she enjoyed the park!

We walked and walked, climbed a few rocks and wore them out! It was great. We came back to the condo and Jared took everyone but Cannon swimming. They came back, ate ice cream and crashed! It was great! What a great vacation day! :)

Vegas Vacation Day 3

Today we waiting for Jared and Monica to get here - yeah! It was nice to have dad around!!!! The kids went swimming and we played games - nothing too exciting, but a nice day with all of us here and enjoying each other.

We picked up some ice cream and had milk shakes and big huge bowls of ice cream - the best part of vacation - eating way too much! :)

I figured after the last two nights I should find a way to silence the chairs, in hopes it would help the overall noise. I bought felt at Wal-mart and tied it around the bottom of the legs of the chairs. It definitely helped - although I figured we would get another visit for sure. After two full days of being cooped up - they were noisier that they should have been. Amazingly, we didn't get a visit.....

Vegas Vacation Day 2

Today we did nothing.... we slept in, watched T.V., played games, really, nothing. It was great. Of course, the boys basketball team played Saturday night and won! State champions - pretty exciting. Monica was very excited. But, since it was such a late game and they didn't leave until almost 11 am today, they won't be back to Wendover until 7ish, which is too late to turn around leave for Vegas. So, they won't be here until tomorrow.

The boys and I had a great time hanging out with each other. We were able to set up the Wii, break out the card games, and the best part, break out fun shapes that you put special 'melty' beads on. Who knew that would provide such great entertainment. Love it when I run across something so fantastic! :)

Tonight, of course, we got another visit from security. This time it was 10 pm and the complaint was, "There is too much walking around." REALLY? The security guard filled us in that the bottom condo had two 'older' couples who apparently went to bed very early. Blah..... Luckily, the boys were ready for bed anyway.

Vegas Vacation Day 1

This year we found an amazing deal on a condo in Vegas. (Thanks Grandpa) We ran into a little dilema since the boys basketball team decided to be AMAZING and go to the state tournament. Monica was cheering on Friday night and then on Saturday (if they won on Friday)..... so, the master plan was to wait for her to get home on Saturday, if they lost, and go without her, if they won. Sounds not very family 'oriented' when you put it that way. Lucky for her, we were going to leave Jared at home to bring her down when she finally did get home.

The basketball team was amazing and won their game on Friday night. The state championship game would then be at 8:45 pm on Saturday night. No way she was going to get home - so the boys and I took off Saturday early afternoon. Of course it was a REALLY long trip with Ryker asking every five minutes, "When are we going to be there?"

When we got to Vegas we found our condo was amazing. The first not so amazing thing was having to lug everything upstairs without my hunky husband. At least I had Jaxon to help be my luggage carrier! I think we brought everything except the kitchen sink. Luckily it was already here! We are also conveniently located next to every fast food place possible! We spent the evening plotting out all the amazing food places that we were going to eat.

The kids thought the place was amazing and at 9:30 (Vegas time), we had a nice visit from the security officer, telling us that we were being too loud (walking/running around too much). The sad part of all of this, they were actually being good. I think the extra noise came from us getting in and out of the kitchen chairs which made a nice rubbing sound on the tile floor. Apparently, 9:30 is late. Everyone was pretty tired so they went to be without too much complaining! :) Darn bottom neighbors.....

Monica's Birthday Party Idea

It won't be long and I'll have a 16 year old! WOW! Idea for her birthday party invites...... After all, it should be a BIG party! :)

Princess Tiger Lilly

Our cat who thinks she's a dog. She meow's at the door when the kids are outside because she wants to be out. She lays in the middle of the floor and love to play with the kids.

No More Diapers!

Take a look at this adorable kid! Yes, he has my heart and can manipulate all of us. We pulled a fast one and told him that we run out of diapers. Oops - forgot to buy them at the store. We had to hide the ones around the house (darn kid kept finding them). But, we have finally crossed the threshold of NO MORE DIAPERS. Okay, well, maybe diapers at night - since he likes to crawl in my bed and no one likes to change sheets more than necessary. :)

And, there is the one minor thing of refusing to wear underwear - but hey, he's at least wearing pants. The first two days he refused to wear even those. Yes, we let him run around in his shirt and nothing else - but it worked! It was a big adjustment going from having no babies in nursery at church and now, no more diapers (at least during the day)!

Yum! Licking the frosting bowl. His favorite!
He's sharing his candy with his lamb. Although they both need to learn to pick up their wrappers.
Yes, this is a goose. It's actually a decoy that grandpa used long ago. Now they are part of the decor. Cannon thought maybe it was worth taking a ride. The best was one it tipped over and he looked at everyone like 'how could you let this happen.'