Back To School....

I have always loved the first day of school. Brand new backpacks, fresh white paper, sharpened pencils, crisp new clothes, and a stomach full of excited butterflies. I still get that feeling every first day of school, even though it isn't actually MY first day anymore. It's a different feeling as a mom. A feeling of excitement through the eyes of my own kids. More than that now though. I have slight feelings of fear. Will my kids have teachers that are kind to them? Will they be treated fairly by the adults supervising? Will the other kids be nice? Will they be able to make friends easily, and enjoy the kids in their classroom? Will they be starving 2 hours before lunch because they were too excited to finish breakfast? Will they actually be placed on the correct bus and make it home safe? I could sit here and list all of my fears for hours. When it was MY first day of school I owned all my fears and was able to somewhat control the outcomes, and handle the irrational ones. I was in control. I am no longer in control of these fears and just have to let go. I need to let my kids experience life and then when they run through the front door at 3:20 I can once again reassure, love, and be ready to help deal with any misfortunes that might have occurred during their time away. That is if they aren't getting too old and wise to let me in on those incidents. I know there will be those times when I won't be able to pry my way into the working brains of my children, and they will prefer to suffer in silence, or call their friends and work it out over the phone. I can only hope that this year isn't THAT year yet, and all will be well. Good luck Ethan and Kennedy. I hope you enjoy 1st and 2nd grade. Your teachers are lucky to have you in their classrooms.

Home Sweet Home

It's good to be home. I don't mean to take-away all the fun memories we created while vacationing out west, it's just good to have all my clothes in my closet instead of a suitcase, shower in my very own shower, sleep in my very own bed, and get back into somewhat of a routine when it comes to exercise.
Here are a few things I learned on my long drive home from this 3 week vacation:

#1) Ethan is actually very helpful when it comes to putting dvd's into the player, and doing things in the van for me that I can't do because I'm tied up trying to navigate the vehicle safely.

#2) Kennedy DOES get carsick when watching dvd's or playing her nintendo ds. She is also pretty efficient when it comes to aiming for the throw-up bowl, that is after the unexpected first time all over her seat. We will now travel prepared.

#3) When Jack is functioning on sleep deprivation and large quantities of sugar no amount of redbox dvd's or otherwise entertaining gadget will distract him from the fact that he is buckled into a carseat that only allows minimal movement. He starts to use his voice to irritate when he can't use his body.

#4) After a few days of eating fast food 3 meals a day everything starts to taste the same and NOTHING on any menu even sounds good. Water becomes the desired beverage.

#5) No matter how many snacks are actually in the car, every stop at a gas station brings new options and temptations. Apparently gum is high on the list of my children's favorite gas station treat.

#6) Even after driving over 1000 miles the stretch of road from Macon to Kirksville is the LONGEST road ever.

It's good to be home. I really just want to sit here and blog all about our trip, but the mountains of laundry are piled high and we all want to get dressed at some point today. I guess the vacation really is over....

I talk too much.....

My brother Charlie is one of those iron-man, rock climbing, mountain biking, mountain running, repelling, anything outside and energy using type of adventure guy. Him and my other brother Ben, and my brother-in-law Brian planned a 3 day trip to Zion to canyoneer deep in the canyons. It involves repelling, hiking, and some swimming. I thought it sounded like fun, an adventure never before taken, and one that I'd like to attempt. I've been talking about it for weeks. My mom even offered to watch my 4 children while we all ventured down south for this excursion. The plan was for the boys to canyoneer saturday, take me repelling saturday night for practice, then take me into the canyons Sunday. All day saturday I spent looking for the perfect "wick-away" athletic suit that would dry after the short swims required. My sisters and sister-in-law, and I had a blast at the outlet strip, and then hanging around my sis-in-laws parents pool all afternoon. At around 8 the boys returned and we headed to a place in town to repel. I was so excited----until I got to the top of the place I was to repel. One look over the ledge and I said, "I won't be canyoneering tomorrow, and I probably won't be able to do this repel." The clencher was when I still hadn't really decided and I asked Charlie if the bolts were solid enough to hold me and keep me safe. When his response was a shoulder shrug with a tilted head look I knew the canyons and me were to bond in a different way than previously planned. My sister Katelyn and I drove the boys to the canyons Sunday and drove them to their starting destination. As we drove up into Zion and Charlie was pointing out where they would be returning, I wondered how in my little head did I actually think this feat was even possible. Or realistic. We dropped the boys off and Kate and I had an adventure of our own. We hiked up to Scouts point, a 4 mile hike that was mostly up hill, but very safe and secure. We had a great time. After our hike we went back to the campsite and sat in our camp chairs reading novels until the others arrived with dinner. That is the way I decided I enjoy the mountains. Hiking safely, then reading books in a cozy chair, all with a beautiful view of the canyons without all the danger.


I left St. George monday morning to pick Shawn up at the airport. We stayed with Shawn's sister Darla and her husband Brian that night. We all 4 went out to dinner and to see the "Bourne Ultimatum". Very fun evening with great company. Oddly enough I didn't take a picture of the small group of us, but I captured one of Shawn and I in the theater the next morning when we saw "Live free or die hard". After the movie we shopped a little and then headed back to Idaho to relieve my parents of their child-rearing adventures. Upon our arrival our kids wanted nothing to do with me, but wouldn't let Shawn out of their sight.

Life in a mini-van.......

Day 1: We left at 7:45 am and by 9:00 we had to stop for breakfast. The kids were actually pretty self-entertained and probably just excited to be headed on a trip with promises of Grandma at the end. We averaged about 90 minutes in the car between stops to get out and stretch our legs and use the potty. Our destination for that evening was a hotel in Kearney Nebraska. This hotel was recommended by a few friends as a "must stay". We were only able to clock around 450 miles due to the location, but it was well worth it. The waterslides alone took away the memories of the long drive.

Day 2: Again we were out the door by 8 am. I'm actually pretty punctual when I'm alone and in charge. (I can now blame lateness on my adorable husband.) I was determined to make our next destination by dinnertime, so stops were going to be infrequent this day. Our destination was 8 hours away with no stops, so probably 10 with stops. Our longest day. I sure was feeling this trip by around 1:30. So were the kids. The novelty of traveling had far from worn off, and I allowed Jack to ditch his carseat in hopes of some sleep. Yea, right. At 3:00 Kennedy was trying to handle the crew by reading them stories. Sweet girl. At 4:00 Jack started screaming at the top of his lungs. He had pulled his arm out of the neck of his shirt and was stuck. I was trying to explain how to get out of this tricky situation, when Kennedy tried to take over. She stuck her arm through her neck hole to physically show Jack how to solve his problem, only she found herself in the same predicament as Jack. She started howling as loud as her brother and I just started to laugh. Partly at the

innocent stupidity of my daughter, and partly because if I didn't laugh I would probably cry. Jack solved his problem, as did Kennedy, but Jack found it more comfortable to just stay shirtless.

At the 500 mile mark I started throwing skittles into the backseat for entertainment and distraction. We needed to go this many miles to reach Green River. It was a long 100 miles.

Arrival into Green River Wyoming brought Aunt Rhonda, Uncle Curtis, and cousins Logan and Atlin. It also brought a lot of energy release.

The only downside was the previously distributed skittle toss brought about a sugar high that didn't end until around 11 pm.

Day 3: The kids were having so much fun with cousins we stuck around until 10:30. I was hoping since the kids were tired they'd sleep. Have I not learned anything yet? We made it to lunch at noon. I forgot that along with the West comes sweet blessed fry sauce at the Arctic Circle. Aaaaaahhhhhh, totally worth the drive.After lunch we had 300 more miles to go and I wasn't going to stop. I was determined not to. I was actually succesful this time. We pulled into Idaho Falls at 4:30 pm. The best part of this entire road trip? Grandma and Grandpa at the end.


****I would like to thank all the products that made this trip possible:

Mam pacifiers and their sweet addictive abilities.

DVD players that come with 2 screens.

Skittles.

Kellogs cereal straws, to pacify hunger.

Elmers "Go Paints".

And of course, my ipod tuned to Blink 182's "I miss you".

Are We There Yet???

I'm imagining that I will hear those words uttered 15 bazillion times between tomorrow morning at 8 am and Wednesday when we arrive in Idaho at my parents house. Yep, me and the kids are leaving tomorrow morning bright and early. Not too early, so I'm not exhausted before we even get going, but early enough that we make our destination in Nebraska before dinner time. I'm going solo this time. Some of you are wondering why in the world I would attempt such a feat. Residency has made me more independent and much more self-sufficient. I actually do a lot of things on my own that I never would have previously imagined, so I'm chalking this 21 hour drive across country with 4 small children as one of those independent ventures. I can totally do this. People keep giving me the "eyebrow raise" look when they hear what I'm about to attempt. I'm guessing it might appear that I have the word "stupid" printed across my forehead, but when I look in the mirror I see the word "capable". One of Shawn's co-workers said, "You are just letting her go?" Shawn's response, "Why not?". He's confident in my abilities. He needs to be. He has to trust my abilities at least 98% of the time because that is how often I am left to make decisions concerning the children, house, bills, and cars on my own. His confidence in me only boosts my confidence in myself. Do I think this trek is going to be easy? I'm capable and I'm also not in denial. I'm preparing myself for all out war against a 20 month old that doesn't like to be strapped down, a 3 year old that has more energy in 10 minutes than I can rack up in an entire day, a 6 year old that has a new DS game that requires you to yell into the microphone to get the horse to run faster, and a 7 year old that doesn't like to be looked at or touched by the 3 year old sharing his space. I'm armed with a DVD player that is a new novelty, a large bag of skittles, paint that only paints on specific paper, new notepads and coloring devices, magnetic dress-up dolls, various 100 calorie packs of cookies, fruit snacks, and of course my very own ipod which I can hook up to my own little ears when all else fails and I need to drown out the sounds coming from behind me. I'm excited to be embarking on this adventure. But then again, we haven't really started yet have we.

Honesty is still the best policy......

I love the "friends" series. One episode comes to mind today. I remember an episode where Phoebe ends up with money accidentally being deposited into her bank account, and when she calls customer service to rectify the situation, instead of withdrawing the accidental cash, they end up depositing the same amount again doubling her accidental increase. She was frustrated because she didn't want the extra money and nobody at the bank would take it back. That is what has happened to me-------kind of. When my kids finish summer school the money they earn is put on a debit card credited with the amount of money earned. Shawn and I don't want our kids to think all money is just on cards, so we give them the cash and then use the cards ourselves. I went to Walmart wednesday night. My total was $58. I used the card I had for $75 leaving me with a balance of $16. Last night I went to walmart to buy some things for our trip. My total rang up to $94. I was planning on using the balance on the one card, and then just paying for the rest with another debit card. When I swiped my card and signed my name, the card took longer than usual to clear. When it cleared it came up as paid in full. I mentioned to the cashier that my card only had a balance of $16 and I owed her a lot more money. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "It cleared. If you really want to I guess you can go to customer service". She made it sound like I should just be happy it cleared and leave the store. I can't do that. My conscience won't let me. So I head over to customer service where they tell me to call the number on the back of the card, maybe there was more money on it than I thought. I called the number on the back. The customer service rep told me their services were down and I'd have to call back tomorrow. Today is tomorrow, so I called back. They told me they have no record of last nights transaction and that I have a balance of $16. Okay, I still can't let it go at this point. I call Walmart. I tell my story to 3 different people and am then passed onto accounting. The lady in accounting tells me there is nothing I can do. Maybe they don't understand people trying to give them BACK money when most of their litigation suits are due to people wanting money back themselves? I've tried everything. Apparently nobody wants this $94 that is floating around somewhere in space unclaimed. I suppose I could take a check for the amount owed and try to give it to a clerk, who in turn would question me as to where the goods were I intended to purchase. I feel that now I owe it to myself to have a clear conscience because I've exhausted my efforts. Secretly, a part of me is thinking of what else I should have bought last night that would have cleared on that card. I guess I'm honest, but I'm also human.

Early Birthday Celebration

Kennedy will turn 6 on Saturday August 4th. We will be in Idaho without Shawn, so we decided to celebrate a little bit tonight so he could join in the festivities. In all honesty, I think the gift I'm giving her will be beneficial to me on our 21 hour drive across the country. She got a nintendo DS, a hand-held nintendo gaming system. Ethan got one for his birthday last year and Kennedy has been coveting it ever since. Tonight was VERY low key. She opened presents which weren't even wrapped in traditional paper, just placed in the Target sack they came in. No complaints, she got what she wanted.

She told me this morning that she wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting in the shape of a heart. Simple enough. When it came time to blow out the candles I discovered we only had 4, so I used 2 matches in addition to the 4 candles to represent her true age. When we lit the candles the matches struck quit a spark, enough that she was afraid to sit too close to blow them out. Lucky for her 6 year old lungs pack quit a punch and the candles were able to be extinguished from a 2 foot distance.

After cake and ice cream it was time to get ready for bed. Like I said, low key. Ethan was trying to show Kennedy all the tricks her new gift could do while trying to be obedient and putting on his pj's. Shawn and I had no idea the things had an internal wi-fi system which allows for communication between two of the same systems within a certain distance. Ethan was in his room, and when I went to tuck Kennedy into bed this is how I found her:

She was sitting all cozy on her window-seat sending a message back to her brother in answer to whatever question he'd asked via nintendo DS. My first reaction was to shut the secret communication down for the night, but Shawn mentioned this might boost the written vocabulary of our little girl. Lucky for her, education is on her side. I'm still impressed the two figured out how to use these little handheld devices to their full potential. I'm also in disbelief that the little girl I gave birth to only 2 short weeks after moving to the 'Ville is actually turning 6. Happy Early Birthday Kennedy! I'm sure we'll still celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa next week, lucky girl.