overreaction?

In light of today's events I feel I might need to state that I may have over reacted last night. I do not have strep - YIPEE! I am very happy about that. I am still not feeling well, and apparently I have a virus (likely caused from a cold like illness) that is making my throat sore. The doctor admitted my throat was white, but didn't see any puss - like I thought was there. Anyway, back to the good news - no strep, so my surgery was not a waste of time! Now I am going to go rest and try to study for my comprehensive exam on Monday - this is the second of many to come. Happy Halloween all!

SICK OF SICK

Well I just need to vent right now - and J is assessing a referee. This week has brought illness into our house. First Claire had pink eye - that was just a blast. Then the past few days my throat has been sore. For those of you who don't recall I had my tonsils out less than a year ago - around Thanksgiving. Well today I am about 97% sure that I have strep throat. My throat is white and pussy - and looks just like strep only without huge tonsils in the way. I am so frustrated about this. Why in the world did I spend two weeks in pain and a lot of money to prevent myself from getting strep if I was just going to keep getting it? I am in serious pain and it is just a pain! On top of that I have to study for a comprehensive exam this weekend, run a super Saturday craft, have a dinner party, and there are no available appointments tomorrow at the health center where I can get medical treatment. I talked to the on call nurse and she just said "show up and demand treatment." I guess that is pretty good advice, but if I need to scream to demand it I might die! I am going to get Tylenol. Thanks for listening.
S

House update

For those of you dying to know what is going on with the house - we officially have basement walls. I will try to post photos later, but they are still in J's camera, so I can't at the moment. Tomorrow the cement for the basement is poured, and then on to framing. H has been going to the jobsite regularly and he loves it!

Terrible two

So it is official - C is definately in the terrible twos. This week she was especially crazy. Here are a few highlights from today only (see the posting about going no babysitter for a few more from the week).
1- Unlocked and opened the back door to let the dog out (we have not fence so you see how this one ended).
2- Instead of napping took all the books off the shelf and threw them around the room - all while H and Mom were cleaning in the basement.
3- During our primary program got so restless with Dad that he let her down and she joined me on the stand - this led to taking shoes off, and placing them on the wood trim along the stand, then during prayer she figured out how to open the door to the sacrament room. AAAHHHH.
4- Grabbed my glass of water off the table and spilled it on the wood floor. Ok this one is pretty mild, but they start adding up after a while and I was especially thirsty and tired of cleaning up.
5- Picked up legos for H, only he was still in the process of making his masterpiece.
6- Combed her hair with beans - these are her words and just mean that she put beans in her hair.
Funny thing is we love her just the same there is just a bit more tantruming from her end, and a few more frustrated ARRGHS from mom.

haunted house

Last night we took the kids to their first haunted house. One of the parents from J's soccer team owns a restaurant/inn close to our home. This weekend they turned it into a haunted house. It was very mild and they didn't try to jump out and scare C at all (which was nice for me because I was holding her and I am easily startled). The kid from J's team was dressed as a gorilla - and he jumped out to scare J and H. He did a good job with H who clutched J's hand, but no screaming at all. It was a lot of fun, and definitely got us in the Halloween mood. This year we will have a cat and a repeat Spiderman. H pointed out that no one here knew he was spiderman last year, so he should be that again. Works for me - the costume fits, and no more money spent. C is very excited about her cat ears (headband) and tail. I will be sure to post pictures of this!

No babysitter

Ok, so having been there as a babysitter - I know how it is on days where your kids are sick and you just don't want to have others around to get them sick or to have to deal with when you kid is throwing up. That is why this morning when my sitter called and told me her kid was throwing up violently I opted to take C with me today. (J went out of town for a game today). Just take note that this is not a class day, just a day where I meet about a couple of projects. C loves going to school with me because she gets to ride the bus around - so she was very excited to be with me. She did ok for the first meeting which was with other doc students. They were very patient and understanding of my predicament. At the second meeting with a professor she did ok at first. Then after about 5 min she wrote on her face in pen (I was trying to get her to color to keep quiet) and then right at the end she just up and ripped her shirt off. Luckily this is the most laid back professor - with 3 kids of his own, so he just said "my office isn't even hot- the heater doesn't work." It was actually pretty funny, but a little embarassing. I can't even remember a time at home when she has done this - so it was kind of weird. Luckily I could spend the rest of the day home - who knows what she would have tried next.

dog and pumpkin

Well, our pumpkin was attacked by the dog. I pulled it indoors for the night since it is forecasted to freeze - I don't want a rotten pumpkin. While I gave the kids a bath Y ate off the stem and started to claw the sides. It seems like it will still work as a jack 'o lantern, but it will just be hard to get the lid on and off. Why would our dog attack a pumpkin? SPOOKY!

Pumpkin pickin'

As promised we went to Way Fruit Farm today to pick our pumpkin. H was excited all week about this and we had a great time. We rode in a trailer on the back of a tractor (a hayride without the itchy hay) to the pumpkin patch. H kept picking 25 lb pumpkins and since it is a per pound ordeal we told him that we had to be able to carry it out. Who needs to carve a 25 lb pumpkin? It ended up being a cold windy day - the kind that chills to the bone, so our trip was pretty short. No picking apples, but luckily there were a ton already picked to bag yourself. I got the largest bag so I could make applesauce and apple crisp. Plus with the basement unfinished it is a great place to store apples (nice and cold, but not freezing - yet). Ended up seeing quite a few people we knew there - kind of like a ward party only no potluck. Hopefully we can go again next year, but maybe the day will be a bit warmer. Oh, also tried the best cider I have ever tasted. SO YUMMY! It was great to spend the morning as a family without distractions - no homework and J with us. We had potato soup when we got home with grilled ham and cheese to warm us up. Oh, one more thing - we officially have a big hole in our lot! Not a basement yet, but it is a hole. I will try to post some really great pictures of H in the backhoe soon. They are on J's camera. Sorry no pictures of the beautiful fall leaves yet. I am still a bit too busy to keep up with all my hobbies.

Car ordeals

So I don't think I wrote about this, but here is the story of the week. About a month and a half ago I was backing out of the our ONE car garage with our Durango. For those of you not visualizing this it is a very tight fit, so tight we actually have to move the side mirror in on one side to make it in. Well the trash can was at the end of the driveway which is VERY steep and in an effort to avoid it I ended up denting the front bumper of my car when I hit the side of the garage door. Long story now short...it was pretty expensive to repair a bumper, and I am much more careful when backing out of the garage.
The rental car this week worked out nicely as well since it had better gas mileage - and when I specifically asked for an ugly car (so I would be able to find it in the massive Beaver Stadium parking lot I use at school) they delivered. Hope no one thinks a Kia Rondo is a hot car because that is the one I am calling ugly. It worked - I never lost the car!
Tomorrow we are going to pick a pumpkin and maybe apples. I will try to post pictures later.

What about joining this?

Wondered if anyone was in need of a club to join. Not the kind you work out at, the kind you join to share common interests with others. What about this one. I know a lot of you out there would fit right in! HA ha ha ha ha ha ha. I am so funny sometimes! I just wanted you odd folk to know that there is a place out there for you.

Gospel Goodness

Just a quick note on the gospel front. Love the announcement from conference yesterday about a temple in Philly. This will be a great location for us, and I look forward to possibly taking the kids to a temple open house before it is dedicated. I wonder how long this will take? Also H has been practicing for the primary program. He has quite a difficult part to memorize, and this is his first program where he has to say something. Our primary actually has all children saying a part of the program and I am so impressed with the my class (4 year olds), who had their part memorized by the following week. They far surpass me on that front. For those of you wondering I really love my calling. The kids are great and very well behaved as sunbeams. I may feel differently in January when I get the new class, but for now I am very happy. Also yesterday watching conference the kids loved the primary choir. C kept singing along which was too cute! She also tries to say her own prayer when I tell her it is time for the prayer. That is a bit distracting. For the last session she was napping, and that was nice - I was able to pay attention better!

fall photos

Today we took photos at the "duck park". I love C's look in the close up. Seems like they never want to look at the camera, but in this case I think it works. I am still working on video, and I have a great one of both of them feeding the ducks.