Martin Matters

McDonald's vs. Jack in the Box

2012-02-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

An anecdote.
The other night David and I were out in town, and we were thirsty. We decided to stop for some water at a drive-through. McDonalds was near, so we pulled in there, and David spoke into the box to order our water. I'll try my best to recreate the conversation that ensued. It will not be verbatim, which is a shame, because verbatim would be awesome, but it will be an accurate representation of what actually happened.

McDonald's kid: Can I interest you in our chicken something or other?
David: No you cannot. Can I just get the biggest cup of water you have?
M K: The biggest water we can give you is some bottled water, and that would be $2.
D: I just want a big cup of water. I'm willing to pay for it.
M K: We can't do that.
D: I'll just pay you for a large soda, but we want water instead.
M K: Our policy won't let us do that.
D: What if I ordered a Sprite, dumped it down the drain, went to the bathroom and filled it up with water? Could I do that?
M K: Yes.
D: Can you do it for me, so I don't have to get out of the car?
M K: No.
David and I share exhasperated laughs and looks.
D: What if I ordered a Sprite, you fill it up, clock out, dump the Sprite down the drain, go to the bathroom and fill it up with water, give us the water, and then clock back in?
Long pause.....
A different McDonalds kid: Can I help you?
D: Yeah, we just want some water. I'm willing to pay for it.
D M K: Our policy is to only sell small cups of water, and that would be 50 cents.
Me: Let's just go to Jack in the Box.
David laughs: Dude, we just want some water. I have to laugh. This is ridiculous.

Then we go to Jack in the Box

Here is the conversation there.
Jack in the Box dude: What can I get for you?
David: Can we just get a large water?
JBD: Of course.
We pull up to the window.
JBD hands us the water and says: That will be two dollars.
David goes to hand him a five dollar bill.
JBD: Haha, no charge. You have a great attitude though. Fist bump.
Then we chat with him about how it's his birthday and he doesn't look 28. We leave with our free large water.

We consider going back to McDonalds to show them what good customer service looks like, but don't.
It was so ridiculous, it was hilarious.

Target shooting

2012-02-07T10:56:00.002-07:00

For those of you who don't know, (are there any?) I have a David. Oh so handsome.

On my Dad's birthday, we went target shooting. Morgan got to try a couple times. He's kind of trigger happy. Like, he'll pull it the second his finger is on it, without aiming first. Anyway, David taught Morgan what to do. Starting with the stance.

Then he showed him how to hold the gun.

Told him how to aim...

Then inserted the bullet for the shoot.

This time Morgan is shooting a gun my grandpa bought used when he was a little boy. It's a tiny rifle, perfect for little hands.

It was a fun time. It would have been much more fun if it weren't so windy and cold.

Up again!

2012-01-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hey all, I have some exciting news for me. I've re-published Future Glimpse. This time it has better editing, a different cover, and best for you, is available for a better price. Right now it is only available to buy on lulu.com, but soon it will be on Amazon and pubit. Pubit will be the ebook version.

Check it out:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/future-glimpse/18815410

Top 10 of 2011

2012-01-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, when I recap the last year with a top ten. Remember, this just means most memorable, or most significant. Not the best things, necessarily. In 2009 and 2010, most things in the top ten were negative. (They were not good years.) This year was substantially better. Let's see if it's reflected in my top ten...
First, let me tell you how I came into the year. I was recovering from cholecystectomy, (gallbladder removal surgery) I was recovering from a broken heart and broken spirit, I was still married, but living with my parents. I was cynical. I was angry. I was bitter.

And now, my top ten, in chronological order:

1. New Car- In January I got a new car. It kind of had a symbolic meaning to me. I'd traded in the old family SUV for something that would suit just me and my kids. It was the first big purchase I'd done alone. It was liberating, in a way.

2.Volleyball League- In the beginning of the year, my family made a volleyball team and joined a league. We didn't win, but it was fun. It was a great distraction from other things in life.

3. Job-In the summer, for the first time since Morgan's been born, I got a job. Even though I just worked in a cornfield, I really liked it. I got to listen to audio books all day, meet some awesome people, get more fit, and feel more independent. But I didn't like having to leave my children with babysitters, even though they were competent family that I trust. So, when my babysitter had her own baby, I made the decision to stay home with my kids, and go to school the next semester, even though it meant I'd have to live with my parent's a little longer. I really feel like this is right for right now. My kids are priority.

4. Divorce- On July 11, 2010, the courts messed up in my favor. They wanted to delay my divorce for a silly reason, but the papers got stamped anyway. So, although I didn't know it till later, my divorce was finally finalized on July 11. I'd had to wait for my kids to have Idaho residency before filing, and then there were lots of issues to work through, so it took that long. When I announced to my mother that I was divorced, she asked how I was, if it made me sad. Um. NO! The sad had passed months before. It felt more like Christmas; like I could finally start living my life again.

5. Self-Publish- Throughout the spring and summer, I was working on getting the rights back for Future Glimpse so I could self-publish, or seek other representation. It was a battle, and many told me to give up, to give in, but I was kind of tired of being walked on, so I stuck it out. And I'm glad I did. I have the full rights again, and will soon be putting my book back on the market. So, watch out. I'm done being a doormat.

6. First Date- In August I had my first post-divorce date. It was a blind date, and we doubled with my brother and sister-in-law. I had a ton of fun. I have it on the top ten list because of what it represents. It wasn't my only date, and not even my best, but it was the first, and so significant.

7. Lydia's First Birthday- September 2, my baby turned one. She's energetic, crazy, happy, busy, adorable, loud, and fun, and everyone loves her. Especially me.

8. Skye Bloo- In November I finished my second book! It was a two+ year project, and a great day when the story was all down. I still have editing and proof reading, but I've already started the list of agents to send it to.

9. Prison Choir- I joined a choir with my sister in the fall. Dec. 18th we went to 4 different prisons and sang for their LDS church service Christmas program. It was an incredible experience that I wished I had blogged about earlier. We had to go through electrified, locked, gates, past guards, through many locked doors, past the guard dogs. And that wasvafter background checks, and metal -detectors. But when we'd get to the chapel or room designated for church, it was completely different. The Spirit was strong, and many "hardened criminals" got very emotional. And when they'd shake our hands afterward, their thanks was sincere. It was kind of strange how sharing the message of Christ through song made me feel so bonded with the people in prison. I didn't expect it. I learned a lot about love that day. (And it wasn't even because of the man who asked me to write to him...)

10. Forgiving- I'll put this here at the end, because I can't place the time it happened. It's been a gradual process, and I guess I don't know for sure if it's complete. But even though I entered 2011 as an angry, bitter, broken, woman, I left it completely different. No longer angry, but happy. Not bitter, hopeful. And not broken, but healed. When I realized how negatively I was being affected by my own bitterness, I prayed for the desire to forgive until I had it. And when I had it, I prayed for the ability and success. And that's basically what it took. Praying. I can't think of anything I did that brought me to this point, other than asking for it. What a blessing the Atonement is.

This has turned out very long-winded. I guess I had a lot to say about the year. It was one of growth and change, and I'm grateful for it.

Christmas and New Year

2012-01-02T15:25:00.001-07:00

Our family tradition growing up was to wake up on Christmas at 6:00. This tradition lasted until this year. We finally didn't wake up so early. (Thank you Casey, for not setting your alarm!) I expected Morgan to wake up a little early, out of the excitement, but it was 7:10 when I finally got up. I had to, since we had to have our Christmas stuff before going to our 9:00 church.
So, I went and woke Morgan up.
Me: Morgan, do you know what day it is?
Morgan: Christmas. (In a very groggy voice.)
Me: Yes! Don't you want to go see what Santa brought?
Morgan: *rolls over* I'm just so tired!

I don't know what planet Morgan is from.
We eventually all went upstairs.
Casey, Mom, Lydia, and Cameron.

Morgan got a Bumblebee transformer from Santa. It's a little difficult for a five year old. In fact, it's a little difficult for a 27 year old...

Lydia was pretty good at unwrapping presents, for a novice. That right there is her first toothbrush.

Lydia got a baby doll and a bottle for the doll. But she misses bottles, so she tried it.

After presents, we hurried and got ready for church.
We spent the afternoon playing games and snacking on junk food. Oh. And talking to Jason on the phone! My missionary brother called, and it was fun to talk to him.

New Years Eve was fun. The day was spent with family, playing games. Morgan had a blast with his cousins. I had a blast with the adults. Then I put the kids to bed, and headed off to party. The first was a Murder Mystery Party. I've always wanted to go to one of those. I had fun, too! I got to play the role of Sniper, a character who was diagnosed with split personalities as a child, and as a result, had a double life as an adult. A politicians wife by day, and escort by night. It was actually very fun playing that part. Me trying to be seductive, is probably amusing. Actually, I know it's amusing, because I was amused.
I died second in the game.
That murder was solved at 11:30, then I booked it to a dance. I was driving alone in my car when midnight struck. Oh well. When I made it to the dance, there were three slow dances left. And guess what? This girl danced for all of them. I feel like I graduated from the girl who was lucky to dance once at the youth stake dances.
After the dance, I stopped at a bonfire. When my toes were too cold though, I went home. Thank goodness church changed to 11:00!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-28T14:58:00.003-07:00

We had a great Christmas Eve. I think I may like Christmas Eve more than Christmas. We had all the family here, we played games, we had out big ham dinner. We exchanged sibling gifts. It was fun.

The kids spent some time playing outside, and when they came in, Grandma made them some hot chocolate.

Lydia wore her festive outfit.

See the rosy cheek? Molars are coming in. Oh, and the necklaces are a big hit with Lydia these days. She loves to accessorize.

When everyone went home, it was just about bedtime. Morgan remembered from Christmas's past that he gets to open one present on Christmas Eve, and he was very excited about it. What he somehow forgot, though, was that every Christmas Eve, the present that he got to open, was pajamas.

He wasn't very happy. Look at the way he's looking at it. We went through the same thing last year. Silly boy. He got another lecture this year, and so when he opened clothes, or his blanket, the next day, he was much better, and just said "thank-you" instead of "I don't want clothes!"

But he seemed happy to have them. I got their pj's at Other Mothers, and they didn't have much in Morgan's size, so his are a little snug already.

Lydia isn't one to pose for pictures yet. I just catch her when I can.

Morgan really wanted to leave out some cookies and milk for Santa, as well as some carrots for the reindeer. So we did. It was never a tradition I had, growing up, but if Morgan wants it, then we'll have it.

When my kids were in bed, my mom brought out a present for the three of her children still living at home, (or living at home again.)
See how eager and filled with excitement we are?

We also got pajamas. I was so excited about it too. I have been wanting/needing some. I wasn't expecting it.
Here they are. :)

Then I played Santa, which I find extremely gratifying.
That night I slept fitfully, as is Christmas tradition. I don't get it. I should be over that by now. I didn't even want to wake up early, like I did when I was younger. Oh well.

Super Lydie!

2011-12-27T17:49:00.002-07:00

Lydie has been doing this thing lately where she insists I give her a cape. I don't know where she even got the idea, (well, she probably saw Morgan do it sometime) and then saw her blanket and made a connection. She gave me the blanket and whined, and chirped, and insisted. I didn't know what she wanted at first, but eventually I tied it around her, and voila! Happy baby.
Oh, and once Lydia was a superhero, Morgan couldn't pass up the opportunity to play too. A cape was also found for me, so we were a regular superhero family. You can call us the Incredibles, if you want.

She has begged for the cape on a few other occasions as well. If I take it off, say, to change her diaper, she makes it clear that she wants it back right afterward. Oh, my opinionated girl. She doesn't say a lot, but she knows how to communicate!

My camera shutter hasn't been opening all the way all the time, but I had to get this shot of Lydia before she stopped smiling for the camera, so shutter it is.

Then poor Morgan started feeling sick.

Okay, let me tell you about his sick feeling he often gets, unrelated to the reason of the pout in the picture. It is now a daily thing that he complains of chest pain. He says his chest hurts usually when he is eating, but often he doesn't have to eat. He'll cut meals short, due to the pain. I don't know what it is, but it is so frequent now, that I really need to address it. I mentioned it to a nurse on the phone once, but I was also telling her about flu symptoms he had at the time, so it was probably over-looked. I really can't afford a dr. visit right now though.

Has anyone else experienced chest pain in their children, particularly when they eat or drink something?

Oh, and Lydia has finally figured out the sippy cup. Bye-bye bottle!

General Update

2011-12-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Things are going pretty well for my family. I guess. Well, they are. I suppose it depends on your perspective. :) My perspective is, we are happy, have our necessities provided for, and are together. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ, and what more do you need?

Back when I was actively trying to find a place to live that wasn't my parents' basement, everything kept falling through, or it didn't feel right, or something went wrong, or people wouldn't answer their phones. Now I believe that we were supposed to stay here a bit longer. It's a blessing, really. Money hasn't been coming in, due to unemployment, and tenants moving, etc., and I don't know if I would have been able to manage, had I moved out, even if I had a full-time job.
I know how it must look. I'm a mooch, right? I'm lazy, I live at home, don't have a job, my mom cooks my food, I'm just plain not motivated, right? Yeah, I got dealt a rotten hand, but you just gotta roll with it, and being a single mom means you go out and get a real job, right?
Well...usually? But I have to do what I think is best for my kids, and right now, I think that they would be most benefited by having a more available mommy. I've never wanted to be a working mother, and while I know that that is often necessary, I'm going to fight it. And right now, it makes sense to me to live at home, pay cheap rent, and be a full-time mom, part-time writer.
Not having a job has also allowed me to finish writing my next book. In fact, why didn't I write a blog post about that accomplishment? Yay, my next book is written! I'm in the editing stage, and you know, I'm really excited about this book. I read a lot of YA and Juvenile fiction, so I like to think I have a fairly good idea of what sorts of books sell, and are popular, and I honestly and truly believe that Skye Bloo can be very successful, given the right publisher and marketing. I don't usually like to toot my own horn, but this story is good. I feel like I was Divinely inspired while I thought of it, and wrote it. (Not that it's Spiritual in nature, just that it could be a blessing to me to allow me to stay home with my kids.)

In January, I'm going back to school. Just the Community College. I think I'm pretty close to my associates degree, and so I'll just get that, in generals, for now. I'm really excited about starting school. I'm going to take a creative writing class, communications, humanities, and Spanish 2. Oh, and also come January, I will be watching a couple kids 3 days a week.

I've started attending mid-singles activities. I'm younger than the 31 you're supposed to be, but I don't fit anywhere else. Plus, my bishop really wants me involved, (hence a mid-singles rep calling.) What I wasn't expecting was the male attention. Like, I have it. I have never ever been one to attract males, but I feel very noticed at the few functions I've gone to. I kinda like it. :) However, when the person noticing looks older than my dad, I'm not too hip on the attention.

I've been thinking a lot lately, about my past year. I feel like I've come a long way. Last year I was angry, bitter, and very cynical. I was also fairly certain that all men were scum. This year I have a new appreciation for the Atonement, because of the blessing of forgiveness, because of the blessing of peace, because of the blessing of happiness. Oh, and I'm thinking now that only the majority of men are scum, but not all. :)
I'm optimistic for my future. I don't know what it will hold, but it will be okay, no matter what. Because of the Atonement. I will be more educated, I will be more confident, I will choose to be happy. My kids will be with me, and I will do what I can and make the sacrifices I need to, in order to be the best, most available, Mom that I can be.

And thus ends my soliloquy.

Another Ison Christmas Party

2011-12-11T13:21:00.001-07:00

Last Monday we went to the annual Ison Christmas party. Morgan had been extremely excited. I got this shot of Morgan and Grandpa Nelson hanging out.

One of the first things we did was the Christmas bells with the carols.

But the exciting, anticipated, event was Santa. Morgan's face was magical when Santa walked in.
Lydia got to go sit on Santa's lap, and she wasn't afraid of him. Good girl. I was using the video camera, so I had Morgan get her with the still camera.

She got her very own brush and comb from him. She loves brushing her hair.

Morgan sat on Santa's knee and had a good conversation.

Morgan got Finn McMissle from Santa. He loves it.
It was a surprise when Arielle got called up to sit on Santa's knee. I had to get a picture.

Then there was another surprise. Grandpa Nelson got to sit on Santa's lap!

We also did a white elephant gift exchange for the adults. I came home with some cute Christmas tree ornaments and some caramel candy. Lucky me!
Thanks, Ison descendants, for the good time!

Makin' cookies

2011-12-09T11:36:00.001-07:00

My kids like to help out in the kitchen, whether it be to help Grandma make dinner, or Mommy make dessert, or whatever.
The other day we made cookies. I had a child helping on each side. This is how I learned how wide I look from behind.

Morgan helped stir...

Then we spooned the dough onto the pan.

Lydia was a great help with sampling the finished product.

Yummy.

Morgan logic

2011-12-07T16:12:00.001-07:00

It's been too long since I've done a Morgan quote blog post, and I'm afraid I'll have forgotten too many. I put a lot on facebook, so I can look back on my wall a little to find some, but there are so many I don't write down. Shame on me!

Yesterday, Morgan and I were speaking about eternal families, and great-grandparents, and how big our family was. Morgan said something about how, "And we get to be with all our ancestors." I was surprised, because I had no idea he knew the word and application of ancestor. I agreed with him, and told him he was right. Then he said, "Yeah, our and-sisters and our and-brothers." HAHA!

Driving in the car yesterday, Christmas music was softly playing, but it was otherwise quiet. However, when I am in the car with Morgan, I usually have to almost yell before he can clearly hear me. I was thinking about something I did/said a few days before, that I found embarrassing. Outloud, I laughed and said, "I'm so stupid." Morgan perked up, "You are?" I said, "yeah," and he said, "Then why are you laughing?" Good point....

A few nights ago when Morgan and I were disagreeing about bedtime, in frustration he said, "I wish I was your dad!" And now that is something he often says when he doesn't like my rules.

After Morgan sneezed in my face, I gave him a little lecture about covering his mouth. His response? "I would have dodged."

It's so fun to see the world through Morgan's eyes. I just love him.

2011-12-04T13:20:00.001-07:00

Just some pictures.
Lydia has a baby and some string cheese. Makes her happy.

Another thing that makes her happy is making messes, and playing in drawers and cupboards. She kindly brought the rolling pin to grandma, from the kitchen drawer.

Oh, this was the other $6 dress from Other Mother's. It's still a bit big, but that is much better than too small.

Dimetrodon

2011-12-03T14:25:00.001-07:00

By raise of hands, how many of you know what a dimetrodon is? Right, right, it is a dinosaur. It looked something like this.

By raise of hands, how many of you, at age 5, could make a very passable rendering of a dimetrodon with a couple of colored pencils?
I don't think I could have.
By raise of hands, how many of you have a 5 year old son who can?
*my hand is up*

Morgan drew this.

He had some help. You know those tutorials that show you step by step how to draw something, like, straight line here. Next step, funny shaped circle here. Then a little line coming from that. You know. When I use those, I end up with a picture of straight lines here or there, funny looking circles, and other lines coming from different places. When Morgan uses them, he ends up with a picture of a dimetrodon. Go Morgan!

2011-11-30T14:26:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving at our house was celebrated on Wednesday, since it was our off year. My brother and his wife celebrated with her family this year, and my kids and my sister's kids were with their dads this year. So Wednesday it was.
The family all arrived in the morning, and the playing and noise commenced.
New baby Ezra came, and Lydia got to hold him. She LOVED holding him, and cried when her turn was over.

We had a busy morning. Well, some of us did. I helped in the kitchen with the ladies.

Chris got the good job.

The kids ran around playing and making big messes and big noises.

Casey hid.

Dad napped. On accident.

Who knows what Cameron did.

As it got later, fingers started finding things to munch on while we waited for the turkey. Morgan got caught with a roll.

Dinner was nice. Strangely, I think my favorite dish this year was the fresh green beans.

We played a couple games, chatted, sang, and had a good time.

The next day, Thanksgiving for real, I went to play football with an LDS mid-singles group. There were kind of too many people playing, since another group at the park was invited to face-off against us. Not as fun as it could have been. And I did get shoved to the ground rather roughly by a man on the other team. I didn't even have the ball. I wasn't even near the ball. I guess I just got too close to him or something. Sheesh. Oh well. I met some people, so I don't regret going.

One small step for man, one giant leap for a baby

2011-11-28T13:43:00.001-07:00

Lydia is so funny. There is a "game" she likes to play, that she'll do over and over. We have a sunken living room, so you step down to get to it. Lydia likes to climb up the step, inch out to the edge...

The step off.

She's trying to be a big person.
She usually falls down...

But she's happy about. Then she gets up and tries again. And again. Now she is to the point that she'll remain on her feet about 1/3 of the time.
I'm just glad she doesn't try this at the staircase.

How we exercise

2011-11-26T20:16:00.001-07:00

This is how we exercise over here. I lay down to do some crunches, and Lydia jumps aboard. That's okay, I enjoy the extra challenge, and the adorable face I see every rep.

What I don't love, is when she tries to climb on me when I'm doing the plank. I try hold the plank position for a minute, (kind of like a man push-up, but I rest my weight on my forearms) which is really hard for me already, but when I have the added 24 lbs of Lydia, it's nigh impossible.

Sometimes I like to do some leg workouts like shown below. Morgan gets to participate with that too. It's fun for the kids, and muscle strengthening for me.

By the way, Morgan was my photographer for these pictures. He tends to hold his hand right over the flash, so the pictures turn out a little funny, but he does a pretty good job.

Climber

2011-11-25T09:18:00.001-07:00

First, a picture of Morgan and me. He's my favorite male.

Then. Lydia. She loves climbing. We have to make sure to scoot all the chairs in close to the table, otherwise she will get on them. In fact, Lydia is on the dining room table as I type, just chillin', and throwing things off. She climbs everything. Onto the coffee table, where she dances, onto the couch, into the toyboxes, but her favorite is the tabletops.

See how close to the edge she is? Yeah. And the garbage can was put up there temporarily so she couldn't get to it.
My silly, crazy, girl.

My little hooligan

2011-11-23T08:23:00.001-07:00

Some of Lydia's favorite things to do:

Dig everything out of my purse, or the diaper bag.

And isn't that dress adorable? Once again, Other Mother's. And don't worry, the sweat pants don't go to church with her.

She also loves to play peek-a-boo.
Where is Lydia?

PEEK-A-BOO!

HAHA! Don't you love those faces? I crack up every time I see these pictures. She makes silly faces like this all the time, I'm just glad I caught it on camera.

One other thing Lydia loves to do is steal. She is a serious stinker. Morgan will be playing with some cars, Lydia will approach, cautiously, and when she is close, she snags a car with her lightning quick grabbers and then run away. It's not as though she wants to play with the cars, she just wants to be a meanie. It's still kind of funny now, but it won't be for long. Morgan is usually a good sport about it as he chases her to retrieve her toy, and she puts on her defensive screams.

Lydia is my crazy kid. Morgan wasn't so wild, so impatient, so loud, so adventurous, so I get to learn a different set of parenting skills. Boy do we love our Lydia.

Dolly

2011-11-22T14:49:00.001-07:00

Lydia has really started liking dolls and stuffed animals. She hugs them and cuddles them, and carries them around, and it's very adorable. Lydia owns three dolls. One, Morgan gave her when she was brought home from the hospital. That doll is soft all over, and has a button that lights up and plays music. The second doll was from her great grandparents. It isn't very big, has two braids, and eyes that open and close. The third doll Lydia got from her cousin Anna, when she turned one. The doll had been loved and used for a few years, I think, and when Lydia inherited it, it was scuffed and naked.
The third doll is Lydia's very very favorite.

Playing outside

2011-11-21T22:03:00.001-07:00

It's about time I post again!
I have some pretty cute photos. See?

The kids still like to play outside, even when it's cold. See Lydia's coat? That was an Other Mother's purchase for under $10. I love that place.

Morgan's been getting braver. Here we have the ancient and tipsy swing set. Note the 2x4 propping it up.

And here we have evidence of Morgan's increasing boyness.

And a shot from underneath.

Lydia doesn't like to be left out of anything fun. She kept trying to climb the slide, but didn't get very far.

We didn't stay out very long, much to Lydie's chagrin. She is very vocal about her grievances, so the neighbors probably knew she wasn't getting her way when we went inside.

3rd Halloween

2011-11-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

The real Halloween, we went Trick-or-Treating. We had a recommended neighborhood to go to, so we did. First Morgan and Lydia stopped at their Nelson Grandparent's house, and not only did they

get candy, but also some presents!

We met Chris and Christine and their family in the neighborhood, and took the kids around. It was fun. Lydia was in the stroller, and soon wanted to eat all the candy she was getting. After awhile, I pacified her with a bottle of apple juice, which she drank for the remainder of the time. When I took her out of the stroller to put her in the car, I realized that she was absolutely SOAKED. Her diaper was very full. So we did a carseat diaper change. Her poor little legs were so cold. But she was happy and smiling, and not a complaint from her.

The most exciting thing though, was that Christine was in labor during the trick-or-treating. They were timing contractions while we collected candy. Christine had her baby the next morning, and they named him Ezra Taylor Martin. Love the name, love the baby.

Anyway, I took pictures after we went out, but here is my knight in shining armor.

Love this.

And my sweet lioness.

2nd Halloween

2011-11-04T17:44:00.001-06:00

On Saturday, we had a ward Fall Festival, or Harvest party, or something. We were encouraged to dress up. I decided I would just through on a plaid shirt and some jeans, top it off with a cowboy hat, and call myself a cowgirl. I didn't even have boots. Morgan didn't know about my plans, but when it came time to get ready to go, he told me he didn't want to be a knight, as he said before, but a cowboy. Well, okay then. So we were cowboys together.

I love Morgan's face and stance below. Classic.

And here's some of just my boy.

Lydia was the lion again.

Get this thing off!

I just loved seeing her from behind.

I spent a lot of time trying to replicate this picture of Morgan.

Here are some of the results.

We had to get a family shot.

And...the family shot outtake.

The party was a lot of fun. In the end, I wasn't even bitter about not having a trunk-or-treat. :) There were lots of carnival type games for the kids, (wherein the could win candy) they had two bounce house things, a bonafide hayride, cakewalk, and dinner. It was even pretty nice outside, so we didn't have to wear any jackets over our costumes. Having it at 4:30 helped with that.

1st Halloween

2011-11-03T23:31:00.002-06:00

My mom, sister, and I, took our kids to a community Trunk-or-treat. Never again! It was very lame. HUGE lines for each trunk.
Morgan decided to be superman for this event. Anna was little orphan Annie, Matthias was a racecar driver.

Lydia was a lion. This is the same costume that Morgan wore when he was just one. I added a bow, though. Oh, note Morgan's red underpants over his costume. Man, I get a kick out of that.

Stephanie and I had to leave early, to go to a choir practice. (We got into a choir that will be doing a Christmas program for the prisons) So Mom stuck it out at the trunk-or-treat for awhile with the kids. Go Mom!

Morgan's "Real" Birthday

2011-11-03T23:05:00.002-06:00

On Morgan's actual birthday, he got to have his birthday party at Jumpin' Jungle. We'd been planning to do that for months and months. I didn't want to pay the price to rent the party room, so I just paid admission for the Morgan and his cousins. And we lucked out! His birthday fell on a Tuesday, and for the whole time we were there, nobody else came. It was awesome! We had the entire place to ourselves. If you want a good time to go to Jumpin' Jungle, try Tuesday afternoon.

Lydia loves balls, way more than Morgan ever did. I think she might be a tomboy. She wanted to chase and throw the balls, or ride in the cars.

Here's Kaien playing baseball.

Ammon in a car.

Pretty girls, Emmy and Anna.

I played the gladiator thing with my brothers. I'd like to think I won...

I caught this perfect shot of Christine helping Chris helping Ammon. Ha!

Mom even got in on the action.

The two littlest. (Until this past Tuesday that is. Christine had her baby!)

Matthias.

Morgan and Emmy, the two cousins closest in age.

We did presents after over an hour of playing. All the kids were sweaty and red.
Morgan got an outfit from Grandma. He was preparing to be grumpy about getting clothes, but after a few warning words and looks from me, he changed his tune.

Some hotwheels from Chris's family. You can never go wrong getting those for Morgan.

Since we couldn't have cake at Jumpin' Jungle without renting a room, we went back to the house for dinner and dessert. Morgan wanted spaghetti and meatballs, and garlic bread.

Here is the cake we created. I haven't forgotten the Fondant Fiasco of 2011, so we're going to stick to simple cakes from now on.

He got them all out in one blow. Happy birthday, Morgan!

Morgan's "fake" birthday

2011-10-29T11:36:00.002-06:00

Morgan got to celebrate his birthday twice. He turned five on the 25th, a Tuesday, but he got to have a Nelson family birthday party on Sunday. He refers to the Sunday party as his "fake" birthday.

Aaron and I decided to go in together to get him his first bike, so I was invited for the festivities.

One of the only things that Morgan asked for for his birthday was angry birds. Specifically, the blue one, and a pig. So he got them.

Then he got a little water bottle to attach to his bike. He thought it was a sippy cup. :)

He liked his helmet when he unwrapped it, and said he'd wear it when he rode his tricycle around.

After that, he had another present, but we said we'd go outside first to count cars or something. The bike was waiting on the porch. The plan probably would have worked very well, had Morgan not seen the bike through the office window previously. Before unwrapping any presents, Morgan saw the bike, announced that someone had left their bike on the porch, and accepted our false story of, "Well, maybe they parked the bike here and then went to play at the high school." I'm sure that threw him off, for when we went outside, he saw the bike, touched it, and spent time looking for his next present. It was funny how long it took him to figure out that the bike was indeed his, especially with all the hints he was getting. When he finally got it, he was very excited.

The bike is pretty big for him, and he can barely reach the pedals when they are on the bottom. Also, the training wheels don't work well with the size, so the bike tips frequently.
Morgan usually rides while looking at his feet.

Lydia got to chill out with the ladies. And the leaves.

I've practiced a few times with Morgan, and he's getting a lot better. He's faster, more confident, has the momentum of pedaling down, and enjoys it. And even when the bike falls and I don't catch it in time, (oops!) he just hops up, says, "I'm okay!" and gets back on. That's my boy.

Painting pumpkins

2011-10-25T11:25:00.003-06:00

Remember those pumpkins we got from the pumpkin patch? Well, we painted them. I find it much easier, less messy, and more fun, than carving. And Morgan can participate more.

He's all ready to start.

Painting the blue hair, with a look of intense concentration.

Finished product! Aren't they cute?

And here's mine.

Farmstead

2011-10-24T18:58:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow is Morgan's birthday, so there will be another big post coming soon. I figured I should stop procrastinating the post I've been planning on writing about our trip to the Farmstead Pumpkin Patch.

It was just me and the kids. We got there about 4:30, and the weather was fantastic. Before we did any of the cool stuff that Morgan had his eye on, I said we had to get in the giant rocking chair for the photo opp.

Then we headed to the "corn box." Morgan didn't want to leave it, he had so much fun. Lydia was still just waking up from the car ride, so she was just kinda hanging out.

Then we decided to check out the rope spiderweb.

Morgan asked if he was the spider. I made the mistake of saying, "sure." So he tackled Lydia, the fly. I got him off of her and while making sure she was okay, Morgan went and "caught" another fly, just a random boy playing. That is when Morgan was retired as the spider. Later on, he wanted to go back to the web. I told him he could, but he couldn't touch anybody! Instead he just chased the little girl around, while growling, until she whimpered in fright. Needless to say, we didn't go back to the web after that.

We did the awkward horse tire swing.

Morgan became a farmer with a face-less wife.

I made the kids pose by the pumpkins, but didn't get very good pictures.

This was Morgan's first pony ride (and Lydia's.) Morgan spent the entire ride talking to the gal leading the pony.

Morgan took several pictures for me while Lydie was riding, but most of them were just of me standing in the way of Lydia, and there is a lot of green fence in the way. :)

There was a huge bounce pillow. Morgan had fun, but really had to use the bathroom. And the pony ride made his asthma act up, so jumping was rough. Lydia screamed when we got off.

They had a corn cannon and a pumpkin cannon. We did the corn cannon because Morgan could reach that one. We didn't hit any targets.

Then we caught the hayride. Here we are on it.

It took us to the pumpkin patch where we got out and chose some pumpkins.

We caught the hayride back to the main area and did the cow train.

We did a haybale maze a couple times. We did phase one of the corn maze, which was surprisingly easy. I had a system where we only turned right, and I think that ended up being the most direct route.

When we had finished everything there was to do, Morgan requested that we go back to the corn box.

We couldn't leave without cotton candy.

Morgan asked to go back soon. I don't think he will, but I'm headed back on Friday. :)

Lydie's Words

2011-10-22T16:41:00.000-06:00

I thought I should list Lydia's words. She can say Mama, of course, and Grandma and Grandpa, but they sound more like, Maa-ma, and Oppa. I'm pretty sure she says Morgan. When I call for Morgan, she'll repeat me and call, "Aaaa-waaaa!" Doesn't sound a think like Morgan, but it happens at all the right times.
Lydia frequently says thank-you. Or, "Day-do." Sometimes she'll shorten it to just, "Day." She says Ba-ba, for bottle. And be-be for baby. She is starting to like her baby dolls, so she uses it talking about them, and she has a favorite book that has pictures of babies, and asks for it by name.
The last word that I know about for sure, is, "tat." Cat.
I had to add a picture. I thought she looked so feminine and prim here. Even though she isn't wearing obviously girl-type clothes.

This is how boys play

2011-10-19T22:11:00.001-06:00

We have some dirt at our house that Morgan capitalized on. He found all the dump trucks and tanks and other vehicular types, and set up shop in the dirt. For awhile, every morning that we were home, and every evening, Morgan would disappear. He would be found in haze of dust, out in the dirt with his cars. When the day got too hot, he'd go inside.
I didn't get a picture of him there until the heat was gone, and the mud had arrived.

I don't know how Elmo snuck his way out there...
One day I saw Morgan running through the driveway after playing in the dirt, and, no joke, dust was flying off of him. For a long time. It was pretty funny.

A Crib!

2011-10-19T16:37:00.000-06:00

Lydia finally has a crib. When I realized that, even with the job I had, I couldn't move out of my parents' house, I decided to more fully move in. I don't know how long I'll be here, I am not resigning to a fate of living here forever, by any means, but I needed to do what I could to bring us more happiness here. And as crazy as it sounds, setting up Lydia's crib was part of that. Before, she was just in a play-pen thing in my room. Now she is in her crib in Morgan's alcove. Surprisingly, the first night of the switch, Lydia slept through the night, which was unusual. And since then, she rarely wakes up at night.

See how happy it's made her?
Like the things in the background? That's what happens when you move in to an already lived-in house. Hanging dragon-kite, and an ancient growth chart.

My job has ended. Well, I could have worked longer, but my babysitter is about to have a baby, so my job ended. I'm fine with it. I figure, for the time being, if I can't move out, I might as well stay home with my kids. The three days I haven't worked have been great! We get to spend time together that isn't rushed with weekend errands, and isn't poisoned with end-of-the-workday grumps.

Jumping Jungle again

2011-10-04T15:16:00.006-06:00

I took my kids to Jumpin' Jungle again. This time Lydia was old enough to play, and she loved it! I brought a book with me to read while they played, but I soon concluded that I wouldn't be able to crack it. Lydie wouldn't slow down and she needed constant supervision. But that's just fine; we had fun.
The kids had fun in the cars.

We liked this slide.

Morgan even took pictures of Lydie and I. There was a little boy there that followed us around and played with us. He's in the pictures.

Hover baseball.
Little bounce houses.

Family pictures

2011-09-30T17:16:00.010-06:00

Last week we went and got our family pictures taken. I've been meaning to do this for quite some time, and was very excited about it. I asked my friend Jessica to take our pictures, because she is an amazing photographer and I have loved the photos she's taken for her business Busy Bee Photography. I'd highly recommend her! She is great with kids too, Morgan loved her.

I got the CD of pictures from her yesterday, so prepare for an overload. I still need to decide which pictures I will want to print to hang up and display. So if you wanted to cast a vote, that would be awesome. :)

First up, the family pictures.

Next up: Siblings. The second is my favorite.

Now the Morgster.

I love the next two.

And sweet baby Lydia.

Favorite.

I love the pictures. It makes me think that other people can see what I get to see all the time. The pictures I take are never so accurate at catching their themness and beauty.

So, grandparents, let me know which are your particular favorites, or just the ones that you would like, and which sizes. Also, Aunt Teresa, if you read this, could you maybe show Grandma and Grandpa, and have them choose a favorite or two or three? Thanks!

New Milestone!

2011-09-27T21:36:00.002-06:00

Look what I can finally do!

First ponytail.

I'm not tired

2011-09-27T20:57:00.002-06:00

First, an announcement. Lydia is in a forward facing carseat now. Yay!

Anyway, so, Lydia often falls asleep when she is in the car. But Lydia doesn't like going to sleep, so she fights it. Here she is losing the fight. However, the bottle hasn't completely dropped so the fight isn't over yet.

Baby Bum

2011-09-25T22:54:00.003-06:00

This cracks me up. Look at the difference in the size of the tooshie of my babies. And thighs.

Here is Morgan at a year old....and Lydia.

Love it.

Just Being Silly

2011-09-22T21:02:00.003-06:00

We were taking pictures of ourselves the other morning. Keep in mind, this was soon after we got up, so Lydie is the only one even dressed for the day.

Family shot. Oh, but don't worry. Today we went and got REAL family pictures taken by my friend Jessica, with Busy Bee Photography. I'm super excited to see the pictures!
Now the silly face.
My girl and me. She'd rather be doing something else.
Cute siblings.

Me and my handsome boy.
Morgan took a picture of me too.

Time for a haircut

2011-09-19T22:20:00.004-06:00

Morgan needed another haircut, (crazy how much that happens) so I got out the clippers. Because cleanup is always a chore, I chose to cut the hair outside. Plus, I thought it would provide better entertainment for Morgan and Lydia.
At first I let Lydie wander around, but it soon became apparent that I would never get Morgan's haircut, because I had to constantly get Lydie away from the cat dish, or from the goatheads, or from the huge and disgusting animal bone in our yard. So it was to the stroller with her. She got bored.
Here is the before picture. Before his face was washed, and his hair was combed too, it looks like.

Here are some during. I trimmed the sides.

Oh, Morgan insisted that he wanted to look at Lydie the entire time his hair was getting cut, since she is so cute. And he stuck to his guns. I'm sure he looked away from her, but if I asked him to look to the side, or up, or down, he protested on grounds that he wanted to look at Lydia.

After a very long time, I was done. I am slow at cutting hair, Morgan is super wiggly, and there were a lot of distractions. Morgan is not a fan of haircuts by Mommy, because they take too long. Maybe I'll get faster as he grows.
Anyway, finished product.
By the time I was done, Lydia was so ready to get out of the stroller.

Helper girl

2011-09-18T14:28:00.004-06:00

When the dishwasher is opened, Lydia is eager to be right there, doing dishes. Today when my mom starting loading the dishwasher, Lydie toddled into the kitchen, and cackled in delight. Then of course she went and helped Grandma by removing all the silverware that must have been put in by accident. Though, these pictures are from a different day.

We can communicate!

2011-09-18T14:24:00.002-06:00

Lydia is carrying a nursing cover.
This is how I know when Lydie is hungry. I see this more lately, because I am slowly weaning her. Now she only nurses first thing in the morning, and at bedtime. Oh, and in the middle of the night since she still wakes up for night time feedings. And in the middle of the night, I am generally too tired and incoherent to think about NOT feeding her. It's so much easier and quicker to just give her what she wants. :)

Bath time, past and present

2011-09-10T09:59:00.003-06:00

One of Lydia's new favorite pastimes

2011-09-10T09:57:00.001-06:00

Similarities

2011-09-08T20:55:00.002-06:00

Morgan and Lydia look a bit alike. See? Morgan kind of has a grumpy face here, but that's okay.

The birthday party!

2011-09-07T16:45:00.009-06:00

The party time of 4:00 came almost too quickly, so I left Christine and Mom to finish up decorating and I stole Lydia away to change her into her adorable birthday outfit.

I helped make the onesie, (though to be honest, Alisha was the brains and did most of the word) and I think it turned out really cute. We went and found the fabric, then used the iron on stuff to iron on our pattern, and iron it on to the onesie. And I bought the tutu in a moment of weakness. I don't regret it, neither!
So, while we waited for everyone to gather, the party goers admired Lydie's adorableness.

When everyone did gather, it was time to open presents. I held my one year old and helped her.
Arielle got everything on video, but I failed to get any pictures of her opening them. She did a pretty good job for a beginner! She got clothes, books, toys, a baby stroller, and a growth chart. Thanks to everyone who gave her gifts!
Lydia is sporting a cute hat from her Nelson Great-Grandparents.
Oh, party guests.

This toy caught her fancy right away. She loves pushing down the animals, but hasn't figured out how to make them pop up yet.
We waited a few minutes for a few more guests to arrive, then it was time for cake. I put a candle in the cupcake for Lydia. I lit it, put it closish to Lydie, when she reached for it, I blew it out and removed the candle, then gave her the cupcake. She was delighted. Just look at that pleased smirk.

She really wasn't shy about her treat.
She was generous too. She was ever so happy to share.

But mostly she wanted to eat it.

She was so happy to have the cake. She just sat there and giggled while she ate it.

All done. She finished the whole cupcake, and loved every bite.

After the cake, the party was over.

Happy Birthday, sassy girl. I'm so glad you're my daughter!

The Cake

2011-09-06T22:13:00.007-06:00

I was too ambitious. I like cute cakes. I like the smooth, finished, look of fondant cakes. I naively thought that using fondant couldn't be that hard. (Maybe it's not.) So, my mind created a vision of what Lydia's birthday cake would look like, and let me tell, it was adorable. Bright colors, happy flowers, smooth, pretty, nice. I could picture it perfectly. Just your simple double layer round cake. But then I thought that a triple layer would be better, because than I could have two layers of the whipped cream pudding filling that I envisioned would be perfect. And wouldn't it just be cute if the top layer was smaller? (If you ever ask that question, I have the correct answer now. No. Not cute.)
Anyway, I looked up some fondant recipes and decided against them. A marshmallow based one looked pretty simple, but it required a microwave, which we don't have here. So I just bought the store-bought packaged fondant. I bought one all white package, and one with four bright colors.
Monday morning I made the cakes. I did the normal Melanie method, and used a boxed mix. Two, actually. I made two 9x9 rounds, one 8x8 round, and a dozen cupcakes. But I let them cool all the way in the pans, and when I finally got around to removing them, a couple of them were pretty stuck. This is where my disaster really began, unless you count my vision as a disaster.
One of the 9x9 layers broke into three strange pieces. It was ugly, and misshapen, and flimsy.
But I still had a layer to put on top of it.
It was around this time that I starting thinking about how I should take pictures of each step so I can blog about it. That was my one consolation through the rest of the process. At least it will be a tell-able story. So I put my pudding filling on...

and it was super ugly. Then I put my top layer on. I did my best to trim the edges to make it as nicely shaped as possible.

Still ugly. Then I frosted it. I had to keep telling myself that this frosting would be covered, so it didn't matter that it didn't look even a teeny bit pretty.
Now I was ready for the fondant layer. I had actually gotten it ready prior to putting the cake together. I kneaded the blue coloring into it, which took some time, then I rolled it out. Mom helped too. Well, this may have been one of my bigger downfalls. While the fondant was waiting patiently, all rolled out, on the counter for me to be ready for it, the air was hard at work to make it brittle and crusty. When you play with it, it is soft and warm and easy to mold. When you leave it, it hardens. I didn't know this. In fact, I still don't really know it, I'm kind of making assertions based solely on my inexperienced experience.
I had watched a tutorial on youtube on how to put the fondant on the cake. I tried to mimic the video, but failed. I made a mess. It ripped in several places, I couldn't smooth it well, and it was extremely bunched at the base.
It was about this time that I may have thrown a stomping, supressed-screaming, mini-tantrum of frustration.

I still had one hope. The flowers. My cake vision had lots of brightly colored flowers. I had the brightly colored fondant, now we just needed them to be flowers. A cookie cutter would have been nice. I went to Wal-Mart that morning to see if they had any useful cookie cutters, and spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME there. I looked in the baking section, the kitchen isles, the party row, the craft corner, and even at the playdoh accessories. And guess what? Wal-Mart doesn't carry cookie cutters.
I don't know if you heard me. Wal-Mart doesn't carry cookie cutters.
Back at home, my mom pulled out her scrap-booking kit and found some previously un-used stencils. One of them had a little flower. So with that stencil, we carved out each flower using a cutco knife. Time consuming.
I tried to create a cascading-flower effect to cover the worst of the tears in the base fondant.
Then I patched up the other rips, and placed flowers randomly about using only my un-artistic eye as a guide.
Oh, and we put a border on the base of fondant balls.

Then we put it on a platter and covered the ugly green plate thing and the ugly bottom of the cake with the prettier cupcakes that mom did. I added a cake banner that Alisha made, stuck a candle in, and called it good. Well...actually, I never did call it good, because I knew how much it wasn't. Lumpy, lop-sided, sloppy, and un- athstetic.

Birthday preparations

2011-09-06T17:58:00.003-06:00

Lydia had her first birthday and party. I had been really looking forward to it for quite some time, and had been thinking about what I would do for the party, how I'd make the cake, what I would get her, etc. I was really excited!
Since most of my family was going to be gone on her birthday weekend, I decided to have the party on Labor Day. So on Saturday I did some major prep, under the guidance and direction of party planning extraordinair, Alisha. I went to her house and we made a super cute birthday banner, she showed me how to make flowers with balloons, and we even made onesie, special for her birthday.
Sunday I cut printed some letters and cut them out, (with Mom's help) for the banner. Morgan found the camera and asked if he could take some pictures. Why yes, thanks. But he caught me when I was leaning way under the table for the dropped letter.

Monday was very busy for me. I bathed kids, ran to the store for some last minute supplies,
made and decorated a cake, (a post on it's own) made balloon flowers, and decorated. The party was originally to be at 2:00. It is a good thing I changed it to 4:00, otherwise I would NOT have been ready. I was a bit late as it was.
Just before 4:00 I was finally ready to start decorating. Mom and Christine helped too, for which I am grateful.
Here is the banner we made at Alisha's. I think it's cute, and I'll try to save it for birthday's to come. More of the decorations.

The refreshment and cake table:
Next post will be about the misfortune that was the cake.

Catch 22

2011-08-29T21:33:00.002-06:00

I still haven't read that book, but I should.

This will be a slightly random post, though mostly dedicated to the current predicament I find myself in.

First though, I have a job. I have for 2 months now. It is the first time I've worked since Morgan was born, and it is a job that I first had when I was 17. I am a research technician for Seminis Vegetable Seed. Or, Monsanto, these days. I have spent most of my time in a cornfield, though recently we have been doing a lot of office work. And when I say office work, I mean, work at "the office." It isn't pushing papers. It's still manual labor. I am as tan as I get, and have finally lost some weight from all the walking and heavy lifting.
My mom watched my kids for most of the time, but then school started, so she started driving the school bus again. Then I had my sisters-in-law Christine, or Arielle, babysit. Morgan always complains and fights me when it is time to go home. (Is it wrong to wish that he'd see me after a long day of work and run to me and hug me in excitement, and be so happy to be with his mommy?)
While working, I listen to audio books. It's been great! Libravox is free, since the books they do are in the public domain. But I love the classics, and would probably choose to listen to them regardless. I've listened to The Woman in White, and The Count of Monte Cristo. That is one gigantic book. It took me a solid month to listen to it for hours a day. Anyway, I am currently listening to Anne of Green Gables, and it is positively delightful.

Lydia can kind of walk. She is taking her time with perfecting it, but she is slowly improving.
Lydia is so clever, though, that when she is hungry, she finds the nursing cover and brings it to me. Pretty good communicating, little girl.

Now. I've been living with my parents for almost a year. 10 months. I never intended to stay here for so long. I find that when I live with my parents I am lazy and irresponsible, and I don't spend much time being productive, and I am not as good a parent, and I am disorganized and messy, and I don't feel like an independent adult. So, through no fault of theirs, I don't like living with my parents.
I've been trying to move out, with varying degrees of seriousness, for many months. I came very close to renting a couple different places, but it never seemed quite right. Oh, and I looked into purchasing a house, since I could get a nice 3 bedroom place in a decent neighborhood, garage, fence, yard, etc. with a mortgage payment of under $500 a month. But since I haven't worked in the last 5 years, I won't be considered for a loan. That, and I am still on the title of the house in Caldwell.
Anyway, so, renting is necessary. I really want to stay in Nampa, because I love it. But I've recently realized that I love Nampa so much because I grew up in the outskirts of south Nampa. There are no cheap apartments or houses to rent in this part of town. The only places I am finding that are anywhere near my price range are pretty much made to be NNU housing, or old and yucky neighborhoods where I don't feel comfortable leaving my car for 5 minutes while I look at the rental, for fear that it will be broken into or stolen.
Still, with enough searching, I think I could find an adequate townhouse or something. A small 2 bedroom 4 plex with a carport, no amenities, for as cheap as $550/month. I've done the math time and time again. It would be tight, but I think I could afford it and all my other bills. Until I calculate the babysitter in.
So it comes to this. I can live at home and pay the cheap rent here and no other household bills, and have a job and afford a babysitter.
Or, I can move out, be independent and in charge of me, scrimp on paycheck to paycheck mode, and just maybe survive. Until December, that is, when my temporary job ends.
But if I live at home, I don't even need a job. My kids and I could get by on child support alone.
I WANT TO SCREAM.

I also may want to go to school. No, I DO want to, but I don't know how to make it happen. Plus, I want to go to school and get a BA in Literature, or something Englishy, because all I really want to be is a writer. But is that going to pay the bills? So, if I went to school, it would most likely be to trade school to learn to be a dental hygienist because I could make a decent living with that. But I would feel like I'm cheating myself. I wouldn't be doing what I want to be doing. But that's dumb of me, when was the last time I got what I wanted?
Too cynical? Fine, I'll water it down.

In reality, I should be counting my blessings. I have two great kids, who are smart, and happy, and full of sunshine. I have family who supports me, and lets me live with them, despite my noisy kids and their messes. I have a job, which I obtained very easily, even though the market here is terrible, and I enjoy the work. I have health. I have an excellent farmers tan. I have books. I love my phone. I have many willing to watch my kids. I have the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the blessings of the Atonement, without which I would be an angry, bitter, woman, among other things.

This turned out really long. But I needed a therapy write.
Kudos if you actually read it all. Or, maybe I should apologize if you actually read it all. :)

Blog Books

2011-08-23T10:42:00.004-06:00

I decided that after all the work and time I'd put into blogging, I wanted a more permanent copy of our lives. Not just on the computer. So, I put even more work and time into creating blog books. And money. They are not cheap.
So I started from the beginning. I blogged a lot in 2008, and it quickly became evident that I wouldn't have enough room in one book for the whole year, so I broke the year into two books.

For these books, I used a program/service called picaboo. I really liked it; it was very user friendly, but my favorite thing about it was the multitude of cute backgrounds that you could find for all occasions and themes. It was easy to arrange things how you wanted them too. And one thing that I liked a lot was the feature that allowed you to make the text box lighter, so if the background was dark, the lighter foreground would still enable you to read the words. If done correctly.

A major downfall for this was the price. Ex pen sive. I had a 60% off coupon for one, and bought the other during a half off promo, and still spent a lot on them. My memory is fuzzy, but I know the pre-discount price was over $100. But I like how they turned out.

Then I got another coupon for a different company. Blurb. With Blurb I made the books for 2009. At first, I was very disappointed. Not as user friendly, hardly any backgrounds, and they were boring. But as I got more familiar with it, I found some features that I like better. For instance, you can design a template and save it. The saving part is what I liked. Oh, and the software connected to your blog and imported those pictures and posts in order that you wanted them. That was actually pretty awesome. It saved a lot of time.

I think the finished product looks a little more sleek and professional too. I like the size better. Oh, and I got a couple different kinds for these books. The one on the right has the picture and printing just on the hardcover. The left has a dust jacket. I MUCH prefer the former, and wish I had spent the $7 or so extra bucks both times. I hate dust jackets.
I also liked that I could load up the back cover of the book with pictures. I could design how I wanted it to look.
The inside wasn't as fun though.

Another plus about Blurb was the price. Much, much, cheaper.

Now I have to do 2010. And guess what? I got me a coupon to yet another company. They will be done with Mixbook.
I really like having these though. And Morgan does too. We read from them every night before he goes to bed.

Settler Park

2011-08-15T17:04:00.011-06:00

We went to Settler Park on Saturday. My mom, Christine, her kids, my kids, and myself. It was my first time there. It was fun for the kids. A nice park.

Morgan fist played on the awesome playground area. I love that the ground isn't bark, or sand, but foamy stuff.

There was a little fountain area with fun stuff.

They had buckets that slowly filled with water, then would dump. Morgan waited for deluge, and I even caught it on camera.

Lydia played in the water too, after awaking from her nap. She loved it. I (or grandma) would hold her hand(s) and she would lead the way.

There were fake rocks to climb. Kain was pretty brave. Morgan was kinda chicken. :)

There was a music section of park. Morgan, Kaien, and Emmy played there.

Mom bought suckers for all the kids. Lydia even. Her first sucker made her so so sticky and blue.

Driving home. Ammon.

Lydia doesn't always know the right way to hold the sucker.

Morgan quotes

2011-08-09T17:57:00.003-06:00

It is time for another Morgan Quote post. Most of these quotes have been on facebook. The ones that I didn't put there, I don't remember. Bummer! Except for one.

I had a discussion with Morgan the other night, and we disagreed and did a bit of arguing. Morgan was arguing like a 4 year old, so I said "where is your logic?" He replied, "I'm allergic to it."

The other day I was telling Morgan that we were going to go to a Relief Society thing, and he was going to go to the nursery to be babysat with the other kids. He then asked if Megan was going to be there. I told him I didn't know, and he told me, "I like Megan. She's the prettiest girl in the world." Then I think he felt guilty, so he said that I was the prettiest girl, then Lydie, and then Megan. Haha. He may have his first crush! (Megan is a girl that used to live with our family when she and her siblings first came from Korea. Now she lives with another member of our ward.)

Morgan told me that he wished he could see a dead person. He followed that up with, "I would never kill you."
Well I should hope not! And I also hope he isn't contemplating murder, just so he can see a dead body.

Morgan: I dreamed we were in Heaven.
Me: Really? What was it like?
Morgan: Forever.

Morgan said he knows when he has to go to the bathroom, because it feels like yellow.

We have a ton of house spiders in the basement. Our bedrooms are in the basement. It's gross. I hate them. They are big.
One night I was putting Morgan to bed. He happened to see a spider on the wall by his nightlight. He got close and investigated. Then he got a shoe to squash it. He got all poised to strike, but then he paused.
"Mommy, what kind of spider is this?"
"A wolf spider."
Morgan backed away quickly, screwed up his face in a giant pout, and, now close to tears, said, "But I'm afraid of wolf spiders!"

This is what they look like.

I killed the spider. The next night, I noticed there was another spider in almost the same spot. I used the same shoe to kill that one. The next night, after Morgan was in bed, the light was off, I was out of his room, he called to me and told me that there was another spider by his night light. Yeah right. He insisted. I went in to show him that he was wrong, but there was another spider there. It was even bigger than the last two. He joined their fate.

Sleeping Beauty

2011-08-06T18:14:00.005-06:00

I have recently found that Lydia likes to sleep on her stomach more than on her back. Well, I think she prefers it. But perhaps it's just that she doesn't like it when she is left in her bed for a nap, and I leave the room. She always stands up and cries for a few minutes, until she is just too tired and falls asleep. This usually means she ends up on her stomach, and sometimes in some pretty funny positions.

4th of July

2011-08-05T17:21:00.006-06:00

Boy am I behind. I finally have a new computer, so can finally upload more pictures. The last one had everything breaking on it, including the USB ports.

Here are a bunch of photo's from the 4th.
I LOVE Lydie's dress. And her face.

Lydia is on the cusp of learning to walk. She stands a lot, by herself, and is starting to take one step without support. Anyway, these pictures are a month old, so she wasn't as far along in her learning. Wow, kind of an unnecessary tangent, as all I was going to say was that Lydia is learning to play with this toy. She can sit on it and scoot backwards.

Morgan likes to take pictures, so I am actually in some of the photo's these days. Proof that I was a part of my kids' lives!

My Morgan. So grown up.
Siblings.

We did little fireworks that night. Morgan was excited. It was pretty windy though, which caused problems for our neighbors. They had some of the nicer, bigger, illegaler, fireworks. Right after we got outside, we saw a big orange glow over some trees, and lots of smoke. It kept getting bigger. It wasn't long before firetrucks arrived.

Fireworks are such a rip off. They cost so much, last 2 seconds, and don't vary. Here

Morgan dancing to the strobe light firework.

God and Country Rally

2011-07-28T17:09:00.003-06:00

I took Morgan and Lydia to the God and Country Rally in Nampa, before Independence Day. I thought it would be fun to see the fireworks with them. I undertook this alone, and, I'm not gonna lie, it was, at times, stressful. There were hoards of people, and Morgan is wandery. So, when we first got there, around 8:30, before finding a place to sit on the grass, I told Morgan he could choose one treat from any of the vendors.
I picked a shaved ice.
Morgan chose bottled water. What a crazy kid. Oh, and I bought the water, the took my money, removed and confiscated the lid, and then handed it over. Wonderful. Now I have to worry about my $3 water spilling everywhere. Lids were not allowed in the event.
So, we sat, did some people watching, and waited for the sun to set. The musicians weren't too bad.
Morgan got a fireman badge sticker from some firemen.
I pulled out some suckers that I brought.

We waited.
Western Idaho has late sunsets. It's not completely dark until after 10:00. But it's dark enough around that time to do fireworks. But they didn't.
The glowsticks appeared though. I bought one for Morgan.

Lydie started to get really fussy.
Morgan had to go potty. I kept telling him to just wait until after, because I didn't want to miss the fireworks. And I didn't want to lose our spot of grass. So he wiggled uncomfortably, thanks to his choice of treat, as we waited and waited.
They started the fireworks at about 11:00. They were alright.

The parking lot, or course, was a mess. And then the detours took me in the opposite direction from home. But we eventually made it home around 12:45.

Ribbit

2011-07-27T21:55:00.004-06:00

Our last day of camping, Christine and I took the kids for a little walk to the river. On the way there, we saw a little tiny pond where spring run off had gathered. And where frogs had gathered. There were kind of a ton of them!
Christine caught one.
The kids were fascinated by it.
They all took turns holding it. First Emmy.
Then Morgan.
Then Kaien.
And kind of Ammon.
We made our way on to the river where we crossed the bridge. What is more fun to little kids than throwing things into river water from a bridge?

I remembered one more of the funny prayers that Morgan said. This one is a longer anecdote.
One night, I had Lydia asleep earlier than usual, and Morgan awake later than usual. I put Lydia in her little playpen bed, swaddled in multiple blankets, with another one or two thrown on top. (It got cold!)
It was full dark when I took Morgan in there to get him to bed. I turned my back to him for thirty seconds while I arranged his bed, and when I turned back around, Morgan was IN the playpen, standing ON TOP OF Lydia! Needless to say, I yanked him out of there in a hurry, and whisper scolded him. "What were you doing?!" "Why would you stand on your baby sister?" "That is NOT okay!" And such. I was not happy with him. But Morgan did a classic Morgan thing to do, and kind of shrugged it off, like it was no big deal, and I was blowing things out of proportion. Seriously. You should see the expression this four year old makes to communicate these things. He was very nonchalant about the whole affair.
So it's a good thing I get to see into his precious heart when he prays. Otherwise I would never have known.
"Heavenly Father, I'm sorry I stepped on Lydia. I didn't know she was there. That was very bad. Help me not to stand on Lydia anymore."
Ah. All is forgiven. I didn't know he didn't know she was there. He didn't bother telling me. He also didn't tell me he was sorry. *sigh*
Oh, and, good news. Apparently, being swaddled in three blankets, with another one or two thrown on top, not only protects you from the cold, but also from the weight of busy pre-schoolers. Lydia didn't even wake up! Amazing.

Around the campfire

2011-07-26T22:35:00.004-06:00

Just some pictures around the campfire. This night was particularly cold. I think this was the night that got down to 30 degrees. (The lowest we checked.)

I was taking a picture, and Casey stuck his hand in front of me. The result is mighty strange. Looks like his hand is burning.
Mom, hiding in her camo.
Stephanie holding my Lydie.
And...getting her to sleep for me. Score!
I was there too.

The ever elusive Casey, caught on camera.Dad doing his own photographing.
S'more face.
Whew! That went better than could be expected. Upload speeds are awesome tonight! I could usually only do up to two pictures at at time, and that would take forever. But this time I could barely write a caption on one picture before the next set was uploaded. Nice! Makes me more motivated to blog more.
But later. It's almost 11:00, and I am SO SO tired. I have early work, and haven't been compensating my early mornings with early bedtimes, and it's really catching up with me.

Cute and Dirty Faced Close Ups

2011-07-25T14:45:00.005-06:00

This one is my favorite. Those eyebrows!
Goofing off in the tent.

Showing off his dirty face AND hands.

In the tent

2011-07-25T14:23:00.004-06:00

Here are some pictures in the tent. Morgan got SO dirty every day.
Lydia sometimes napped in the tent. I brought her playpen and had it in there.
I tried not to let her on the ground much at all while camping, except in the tent. She loved the brief moments of freedom. And she found entirely too many things to put in her mouth.
Morgan had his little bed in the corner, and was quite fond of it.

Morgan says some pretty awesome prayers. It's always a hoot to hear what he'll say. I'll tell you some of the prayers he said while camping.

The first night there, he was so so excited. In his prayer, he told Heavenly Father that we were camping, and he was so happy about it, then he suddenly said, "I like it in in heaven. Do you like it in heaven, Heavenly Father? Well? Do you? Yeah? Oh, okay."

Another day he said "Please help me not to touch any pokey plants and die."

Another time he said, "Please help me not to listen to the bad guys."

It seems like there were more while camping, but that is all I remember right not.

Hike

2011-07-17T20:04:00.007-06:00

This has taken forever for me to post. I have so many things to blog, but little time to do it, and with irritable computers.

Anyway, we did a fun hike with everyone. Except party pooper Casey.
It was a lovely trail.
Walking sticks were a must for the kids. I MUST HAVE ONE!

The hike started with Lydia on my back in this baby carrier deal. Also, I want to draw attention to my french braid. I did it myself, and am half proud of it, and half embarrassed. So, I want to point out that it looks so bad because I did it myself, and with no mirror, but I also want to brag that I did it myself and with no mirror!
Anyway, Lydie thought the hike was so serene, that she just fell right asleep.
So, on the way down the mountain, I had to switch her to the front so that I could lean back to keep my balance, and because it was more comfortable for her.

Look at all the cameras.
There are almost too many grandkids for this to work.

There was a little stream to play in.

Anyway, there. I'm finally done with that post.

What is camping without fourwheeling?

2011-07-15T17:36:00.003-06:00

My dad always takes his 4 ATV's camping with us. This year he got a new trailer thing to haul things with. Kids included.

All the kids always want to have a ride. If one kid goes, they all clamor for a turn. Sometimes at the same time.

Hot Springs

2011-07-14T14:53:00.005-06:00

We camped near Baumgartner, which is a campground with hot-springs. They even have a pool which is fed by the spring. So, don't go there in the afternoon heat, and expect a nice, refreshing, dip. It was too hot for me to stay in for very long. I just got too overheated.

Anyway, we went to the pool a few times. The kids really liked it.

Lydia was cute in her swimming suit. You could see all the rolls on her chubby legs!

And a close up.
Sittin' in the pool. Sorry about the blurry photos. I had turned the flash off of automatic, to off, and forgot to change it back before handing the camera over to my mom.

We went in the evening for the picture above, and early afternoon, I think, for the pics below. Can you notice a difference in the water cleanliness? They drained it every night.

One time, my sister really wanted to take her kids to the pool. But that made all the other cousins want to go too. But none of the other adults were up for it at that point. So, brave Stephanie agreed to take all 7 kids, aged 2-7.
The pool several miles from our camp. Stephanie only made it about 2 when her car got a flat tire. So she stopped and walked back to camp on the dusty road, in the heat, with all the tired and whiney children. We just thought they were having a good time at the pool! Oops.

Camping Queen

2011-07-10T21:18:00.005-06:00

Camping with Lydia was it's own unique challenge. She is at the stage where she loves to explore and crawl around. She loves to inspect everything with her hands and mouth. She doesn't want to be held all the time, and she gets tired of her stroller real fast.
Still, I usually managed to keep her off the ground.
Sometimes with table-tops.

(By the way Chris, I hope you don't mind that I let Lydia mouth your water-bottle lid.)
There was the occasional time where I allowed Lydie to sit in the dirt. There was the even frequent time where my mom allowed it. :)
During those times, she found the pine needles, sticks, rocks, bark, and weeds, too much to resist. I guess she figured they must all be delicious. I could barely take a picture of her in the dirt without having to stop and intercept the pine needle headed for her mouth. Or when I was too late, I'd pause my photography so I could remove the bark from her mouth.
Love her.

Right after I took these pictures, I found a HUGE ant tucked snuggly behind her ear. This was not a good year for bugs. There were many. A lot of gigantic, sometimes flying, ants. Spiders galore. Icky.

Chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool...

2011-07-09T23:03:00.004-06:00

Ten points to the first person to correctly identify the tv show theme song that the title of this post comes from.

After our turbulent first day camping, we spent Tuesday sleeping in, napping, and relaxing. Didn't do a whole lot else. But it was nice.

Check out my cute, messy baby. She's happy, with a water bottle in one hand, and a cracker in the other.

My parent's bought a couple of these wicked-awesome chairs. So comfortable.

Yes, we love us some relaxin'. What's camping for, eh?m

The start to our family campout

2011-07-02T15:35:00.002-06:00

We had our annual Martin family campout. It was originally planned for Monday-Monday, but when Sunday came around, we packed up and left. You don't sleep as well while camping, and after a week of shorted hours, the kids were extra naughty, the parents had less patience, the prospect of being home in our warm beds, taking long showers, and letting kids get a good nights rest, was too tempting to put off for one more day.

Monday was a day of preparation. Packing, laundry, shopping, etc. My folks have a lot of camping gear, things to provide for ease and convenience while you are in the woods. It's great. But it takes a lot of time to gather and prepare. Dad has an trailer for hauling ATV's. It also hauls all the stuff. Mine included. If it weren't for them taking my stuff, I would have had to choose between tents and sleepings, or food and clothes.
So, preparations were taking a lot of time. It was probably around 5:30-6:00 p.m. that I left the house in my car, with my kids, and brother, Casey. We stopped at Cabella's for some ATV plate stickers, and Wendy's for dinner. Then we drove up past Anderson Ranch Reservoir, past Pine, past Featherville, and to Wilson Creek campground. There is a lovely spot there.
We arrived around 10:00. Lydia spent the last hour SCREAMING. I think the pressure changes in the mountains were really hurting her ears.
Chris and his family were already up there, tent up, kids in bed.
I brought my tent, and my parents' tent, so they could be all set up and ready by the time my mom and dad arrived. We set up tents.
I put Morgan to bed, (in his regular clothes) in my brothers' suburban. Lydia had a diaper emergency, so we borrowed clothes from my 2 year old nephew for her to sleep in. I put her to bed in her carseat, in the car.
Chris and Christine went to bed.
Casey and I took to my car. We waited for my folks to arrive. We had a call from them around 9:00, saying they were just leaving.
Casey and I played a game. Lets each guess the time we think they will pull in. The closest wins. I won. I guessed 12:21. They arrived at 2:45.
During our wait, Casey and I tried to sleep in the bucket seats in the car. It was cold. Casey didn't even have his jacket; it was in the trailer. It was uncomfortable. For awhile Casey couldn't even recline his chair because Lydia's seat was behind it. (I eventually moved it for him.)
Morgan was cold and cried out to me. He had a couple little blankets, but it wasn't enough.
If they didn't have all our clothes and blankets and sleeping bags, my parents probably wouldn't have gone up until the morning. As it was, they didn't leave till around 11:30. (That's my dad!) *wink*
When they arrived, they probably weren't greeted with a hero's welcome. Maybe more of an incredulous, grumpy, attitude. But they brought cots, air mattresses, sleeping bags, and blankets.
We slept till 9:00 the next morning. That is unheard of while camping. We even all took naps that day.

More to come. The remaining posts will include pictures.

Ward Campout

2011-06-30T12:52:00.008-06:00

A couple weekends ago we went on a ward campout. We drove up with my parents, and even stayed with them in their tent trailer. It was at Camp Ee-De-Haw, or something, near Donnelly. I probably spelt that all wrong. It was on Cascade Lake.
We went up on Thursday, and left Saturday. It wasn't a very warm weekend, and we spent much of it in jackets.
Friday, I sent Morgan with my parents to the ward gathering place. Our camp spot was pretty secluded from the rest of the ward. Anyway, I stayed in the trailer with Lydia until her morning nap was over. We both needed naps, as she cried all night long.
On our way up to everyone else, we met Morgan coming back. He was excited to tell me about going on a boat, his first time, he always wanted to go on a boat. I was bummed I missed it! And no picture to capture it.
Morgan spent most of the time there playing with the other kids, particularly his buddy Jack, who is in his primary class. He had a blast.

The little beach there had a spectacular view of the lake. So pretty. Unfortunately, it wasn't warm enough to get in the water, so Morgan had to settle for playing by it.

Morgan and Jack looking for sharks.

There was a swing set there, so that was fun to play on too.

We went home Saturday, bathed, did laundry, slept. Sunday we rested, enjoyed Fathers Day. Monday we got ready, and went on a huge family campout. Coming soon.

Time for a haircut

2011-06-28T18:49:00.006-06:00

Morgan recently-ish got a haircut at the Grandpa barber. He commented that Grandpa was faster than Mommy.

Finished product.

Also, Lydia likes pickles. She makes funny faces every bite she takes, but she keeps taking more bites. Love it.

Morgan has always been a pickle eater.

Finally, outside play

2011-06-27T18:16:00.004-06:00

It warmed up, for the most part. So we've been able to play outside. Yay!
Morgan has grown to like toy guns.

Still need to work on his stance. :)

Lydia in her stroller. Just a cute cute baby.

Goggle-face

2011-06-27T17:46:00.004-06:00

I'm still playing catch up. I just went on two camping trips, totaling about 1 1/2 weeks of it, and have a bunch of pictures and stories. But I'm still way back in May or something.
These are just some cute photographs.
You can kind of see Lydie's spacey teeth. I think it's adorable. By the way, she grew two more while we were camping. Two more on the top. Now she has 6 teeth.

While teething, Lydia makes a funny scrunchy face and breaths rapidly through her nose. It is so funny. Here is what it looks like.

Morgan has a pair of cheap goggles. They don't actually work to keep all the water out; we've tried them. But they sure do make good photo-ops.

Standing

2011-06-19T13:10:00.004-06:00

Ready for more adorableness?
When I took these pictures, Lydia had just learned how to pull herself up. Now she's a pro, and is starting to walk along the furniture, rather than just stand.
Sometimes she even lets go of the furniture and stands briefly without support. She is fun to watch as she learns and grows.

Morning surprise

2011-06-18T17:47:00.002-06:00

A couple weeks ago I got up to get ready for church. Lydia was in my bed, (as she usually is, come morning) and so I was careful to not wake her up. I didn't turn the main light on. Son she woke up anyway, and was talking happily to me. I even went and said good morning. However, it wasn't until I turned the light on and picked her up that I noticed this:
Her bloody face. GASP! At first I thought she had a gash in her cheek. But no, it was just dried blood from her bloody nose. It was also on my bed, and pajama shirt, though I didn't notice it there until later that night.

The Faces of Lydie

2011-06-18T17:19:00.008-06:00

My Lydie May is so adorable, and is looking older all the time. (Maybe because she is getting older all the time?) I just love her.

She can climb the step out of the sunken living room. I don't know how she would handle a whole staircase though. I haven't let her try.

She can clap her hands.

Lydie with Grandpa Martin

Crawlin' to the toys

2011-06-15T20:57:00.006-06:00

Lydia learned to crawl on my birthday. She didn't take off as quickly as Morgan did, once learning the steps, but she goes everywhere now. It was fun to see where she choose to go, once she had the control.
Her favorite places:
The fireplace. Lots of hard surfaces to bump, wood bits to eat, and ash shovels to bang.
My purse/Diaper Bag: Yes, we have discovered the "take everything out of the bag" game.
The toyboxes: A treasure trove.
Here are some pictures of Lydia playing by the toybox after crawling to it. She was just learning how to pull herself up. She's a pro at that now, and can pull up on anything she can reach.

Parade America

2011-06-14T22:44:00.004-06:00

I have been having some major computer issues lately, one after another, so it's been awhile since I've been able to upload pictures. But I finally did, so can start blogging again.

About a month ago, sometime in May, we went to a parade. Morgan was thrilled, and had been talking excitedly about it for days. We parked in Grandpa and Grandma Nelson's driveway, and walked a block down to a great spot for the parade.
The day was one of the few nice days in May. Even used sunscreen.

Lydia was happy and pleasant the whole time.

Morgan spent his time on the lookout for the candy. He had fun watching everything go by.

As I was looking at the pictures I uploaded, I came across one that made me stop for a moment and wonder, then laugh out loud.
We were at Wal-Mart, and as I was paying for the groceries, Morgan found my camera in my diaper bag. Before I realized what he was doing, he had snapped a picture of the obviously thrilled checker. Ha! I confiscated the camera, apologized to the kid, and promptly forgot about it. What a happy reminder. :)

The mind of a four year old

2011-05-26T16:03:00.003-06:00

My computer is on the fritz, so I can't blog on it. So I can't blog about things with pictures. So I am using a different computer in the house to blog about things without pictures.

First, an anecdote.

I took Morgan and Lydia to Dairy Queen the other day. There was a little old lady in line behind us, who thought my children were adorable. (Because it's true.)

I sat with my kids on one side of the dining room, and she and her husband were on the other. That didn't stop her from making a couple trips to our table. Once, to kindly offer Morgan her maraschino cherry, (he refused it) and another time to show us a photo album of her grand-baby, whom she thought looked like Lydia, what with her blue eyes, bald head, and chubby cheeks. While at our table the the first time, I'd just sat down with Lydia in my arms, and was trying to replace the change from my order into my wallet. I had my change zipper open. I don't really know how it happened, but I want to partially blame it on Lydia. Anyway, the wallet tipped, and coins fell everywhere. The woman was quick to bend over to pick them up. Because she bent right in front of my bench, I couldn't reach down and help. But Morgan could, so I instructed him to get down and please help clean up the coins.

He said, "No, it's okay, that grandma is doing it."

Aaaaahh! That was the whole point, son.

Today I was playing with Morgan. He was pretending to be a doctor, and I his patient. By the way, Morgan says when he grows up, he is going to be a doctor, a monster truck driver, and a race car driver. Oh, and today he added a swimming lesson teacher to his future goals.

Moving along. I was the patient for Dr. Morgan. I decided to go to the doctor because I was sick. But Morgan told me that, no, I was there to have a baby. So I stuffed a doll up my shirt and went to see the doctor. I asked him to help me get my baby out of my tummy. Sage Dr. Morgan told me that the baby just had to pop out. You know, like babies do. They just pop right on out. Alright. So I laid on the couch and the baby popped out. Morgan bathed her, returned her to me, and then gave me a sticker and a lollipop for being so good. :)

Sunday's

2011-05-22T15:55:00.002-06:00

My children and I gravitate toward the night owl side of the spectrum. Getting up is not pleasant for us. Morgan does best with it, though.

Our church is at 9:00 a.m. To get there on time with myself presentable and two kids appropriately clothed and fed, plus with a bag full of tricks to entertain the babe, requires that I get up really early. (I realize that my definition of early, may even be the definition of late, for many people.) I kind of dread Sunday mornings.

If I let her, Lydia will sleep until 10:00 or so on any given morning. I can put off getting her up on Sunday until 8:00, but that is still two hours early. Before Sacrament Meeting is even over, Lydia is loud and cranky. She generally takes a short nap during the Sunday School hour, but is awake for the rest of church. When we get home, she is ready for a real nap.

And so am I.

Today I had just gotten Lydia asleep, and was upstairs, baby monitor on. Since I wasn't in bed until close to 1:00 a.m. (pretty normal) and since the morning was early, my body was protesting it's wakeful state.

Morgan fought and fought when I told him I wouldn't play cars with him, but would nap instead. To add insult to injury, Grandma also opted on napping rather than playing. Grandpa was already asleep. Morgan's complaint? "I just want somebody to play cars with me!"

I thought he got over it.

Just before I drifted off, I hear a very unwelcome sound coming from the baby monitor. My baby. But she was awake. NOOOOOOO!!! I wanted that nap so so bad. She was happy though. Then I heard another sound. My Morgan. He was also happy, but boy did his voice make me upset!

I went down to my room and confronted the situation. Morgan's defense for waking up his sleeping sister? "I wanted to play with somebody."

But I'm pretty stubborn, so I got my nap. It took awhile, but I coaxed Lydia back to sleep, and we both took a nap in my bed.

Wishful Thinking

2011-05-15T16:53:00.002-06:00

My birthday is coming up. Wanna know what's on my wishlist?
One of these.

The Xoom. I'd also happily accept an ipad.
I've never been one to go ga-ga over electronic things. I got my first mp3 player for my last birthday, and rarely use it. My phones have mostly been the kind that come free with the contract. If something costs more than $20, I tend to shy away from purchasing it. That's why it would seem just for me to get a Xoom. Come on, I've been saving up my ration cards for this!

So, if every friend I have donated just $1 to my birthday pot, I would probably have enough to buy the power cord.

Mother's Day

2011-05-13T11:30:00.006-06:00

Let me tell you about my Mother's Day.
First of all, Morgan keeps careful tabs on holidays and events. Each time a holiday arrives, he asks which one is next, and then what? Then what? After that? He asks until we come full circle. On Easter he asked about all the upcoming holidays until we got back to Easter.
So he knew Mother's Day was coming.
My little four-year-old boy is astoundingly thoughtful. I've heard him approach my mom and have whispered conversations about surprising mommy on Mother's Day. Coincidentally my birthday is in another week or so. Morgan has also whispered to Grandma about that.
Anyway, on Saturday when I got up, Morgan had been up with grandma for awhile all ready. They were both acting mighty guilty. Morgan told me I couldn't go into grandma's bathroom. He also was so excited for the next morning.
Sunday morning came, and with it, precious gifts. My mom kindly got a couple mugs for my kids to paint, then helped them do it. (Which explained the blue paint in Lydia's fingernails.) Actually, Morgan painted his all by himself, and did an awesome job.
I heart snapdragon Mom.

He told me that the flower was a snapdragon, with one eye, one nose, and a mouth.
At church they gave all the ladies some flowers. Guess what I got? Yellow snapdragons.

Here is the mug from Lydia. So cute.

I also got a card. You know the cards that you open and music plays? Do you also know about the cards that you can record your voice on, so when they open, that plays? This was a mixture of both. Morgan got to sing along with "You Make Me Want to Shout." I laughed so hard I cried. I love it! Check it out.

It was a great Mother's Day. Thanks Mom, for helping my children make it special for me!

Before and After

2011-05-10T10:58:00.006-06:00

Remember how Morgan scratched up my car? Well, I got some stuff to try to remove it. At least, make it less visible. So I got some before and after shots. Unfortunately, my car can be pretty shiny. It was really filthy when I did the before shots, but the after shots have the special buffing cream, and so the car was very reflective. Hard to see the scratch, easy to see what it reflects. (In the photo, that is.
So, here is the before on the drivers side, rear door.
And after.
The hood.

So, it helped, but it didn't fix it. The scratches remain, and they are visible.
Morgan and Lydia were outside with me. They are cute.

Swimming lessons end

2011-05-09T17:39:00.008-06:00

Morgan graduated from swimming lessons. He did pretty good, and even got over his fear of putting his head under water. He loves doing it now, but refuses to plug his nose. What? I used to plug my nose anytime I got near water...
The last day of swimming lessons was "fun day". They got to do the slide and diving board. Morgan's kind of day. Morgan was one of two kids in the class that was brave enough to do them both without prodding, bribing, and chickening out.
He went down the slide twice.

The second time he lay on his back. I don't think it was on purpose, and I'm pretty sure the speed caught him off guard. Maybe even terrified him. Check out that face.

For the diving board, the kids had water noodles tied around their waists to aid in floating in the deep end; takes some pressure off their teacher who was probably tired from all the water treading he had to do.

Morgan was a little hesitant walking down the diving board, especially when it started bending. I think the teacher thought he'd have to work hard to get Morgan to jump, like some of the other kids, but no. He just took his time getting to the end. Once he was there, he didn't hesitate at all before jumping in.

With the noodle tied around him, Morgan was able to swim to the side by himself.
Way to go, Morgan!

Weekend in Utah

2011-05-08T23:36:00.006-06:00

Last weekend was the first time Lydia wore her Easter dress. It's darling. She is darling. She went to my cousin's wedding reception looking very pretty.

She's just so chubby! I love it.

Our drive to and from Utah wasn't too bad. We went with my parents, so I was in the back next to Lydia. I could spoon feed her apple sauce, play with her, and, believe it or not, I could even nurse her while she remained buckled into her seat. It wasn't super comfortable, but it worked.

Morgan got a new toy from his dad, which was entertainment for the ride home. He even shared.

4 generations

2011-05-07T21:17:00.003-06:00

I went to Utah last weekend for a cousins wedding. My grandmother was visiting from Missouri, so I took the opportunity to get a four generation picture. I don't think any of us actually look alike.

Lawn mowing

2011-05-03T16:07:00.003-06:00

My parents live on two acres, so the lawn to mow is BIG. Hence the ride on lawnmower. A week or so ago, my dad got it all ready for the new season and my mom cut the grass. (Something she enjoys doing.)
I had something I really wanted to work on and get done. Lydia desired attention. I had an idea.

Problem solved! Mine, anyway...

Easter Baskets

2011-04-28T17:59:00.006-06:00

The Easter Bunny came to our house on Thursday. Morgan woke up and found a candy trail from the stairs up to the dining room.

It led to his Easter basket. He also had to find more eggs hidden around the room. Fun morning for Morgan.

Later when Lydia awoke, she got to see her first Easter Basket. A pretty dress, some headbands, and a book.

But what was her favorite part?

Let me tell you what, this little girl loves to eat paper. Loves it. It's a constant struggle.

Here is one of her new headbands.

This is a face she has been making lately. She does that, and sniffs in and breaths out through her nose, rapidly. Cracks me up.

Dye the eggs. And the Morgan

2011-04-27T14:22:00.004-06:00

Wednesday, we colored Easter eggs. I boiled eight, ate one immediately, since it cracked, then got the dye and the table all ready.
Morgan sat down, put an egg in one of the cups, was excited about it, got another egg to put in the blue dye, and managed to tip the cup over. This happened to be the fullest, of course.
Boy was that a pain to clean up. All over the table, bench, pretend wood floors, and Morgan. So he had to strip to his skivvies. I soaked his clothes in warm water with dish washing detergent, then put them through the wash, and the stain came out. Woohoo!
I also soaked Morgan in a tub with warm water and dish washing detergent. I'm happy to report that his stains came out as well. :)
So Morgan was mostly naked for the rest of the activity.

The dye kit came with Cars stickers.
He spent so much time on the green egg. He put lots of stickers on it, and said it was his favorite egg. He even said he loved it. Then, right when we finished, Morgan knocked his favorite egg off of the table, and onto the bench. CRACK. He tried to grab it, but it rolled onto the floor. CRACK. When we retrieved it, it was being held together by stickers. So much for his favorite egg.

Deep breaths, Melanie.

2011-04-25T20:15:00.002-06:00

This morning we got up and went to swimming lessons. We were in a hurry to get out the door, because I am no good at mornings, and am always running late. So we hurried into the car. We got to the rec center, and we hurried out of the car. After lessons, we all got loaded up again then went to the church so I could play volleyball. I carried in my baby in her carrier, diaper bag, court shoes, and knee pads. After playing, I got everything and everybody back in the car. My last step was putting my shoes and knee pads in the trunk. I closed the trunk and started to make my way to my door.
Then I saw something on my car that shouldn't have been there.
On the side of the car, in the back, was an elaborate scribble scratched into the paint. What?! My first thought was, "Oh, Morgan, you are in SOOOOO much trouble."
Then I noticed that the scribble had a rather long tail. It went over both left-hand-side doors, and continued. It made it's way to the hood, where the scratch got especially deep. All across the hood and around to the other side. The other side had fainter scratchings, another squiggle on the passenger door, then kind of tapered off near the trunk.
My pretty new car appeared to have been keyed. And I was not happy.
It seemed that while I was in the parking lot of the church, my car was vandalized. I didn't notice any scratches before, and they are pretty noticeable. So I thought about the people who play volleyball. Some may not like me especially well, more probably cringe when I end up on their team, but I don't think any are malicious enough to key my car. Alright, so, a random punk drove into the church parking lot, picked one car, and defaced it. But left the purse that was sitting on the seat in the unlocked vehicle...
Okay, so it happened at the rec center. Maybe I inadvertently stole a parking spot, or somehow made someone mad while driving, and they were getting even with me. And...they left my purse on the front seat in my unlocked car... (yeah, I know, bad practice.)
The more I thought about it, the more I saw the patterns on the car, the more I thought that this was the work of a naughty child.
Yesterday, Morgan and his cousins played outside unsupervised. Lately they have been getting into things they shouldn't. When the cousins play, messes are made, things are broken, mischievousness ensues.
While still at the church, I had Morgan get out of the car so he could see the handy-work, and I asked him about it. He denied vehemently having anything to do with it.
Running errands this evening, I asked him again about it. He immediately pointed the finger at his cousin Kaien.
Here's how the conversation went.
Me: Do you know what happened to my car?
Morgan: Kaien drew on it with the thing that makes white.
Me: Kaien did it? How do you know?
Morgan: Because he drew on it.
Me: What did he draw with?
Morgan: I used the thing that looks like a battery.
Me: You used a thing that looks like a battery?
Morgan: No, Kaien did.
Me: Morgan, how do you know?
Morgan: Because he did it.
Me: Did you see him do it?
Morgan: No, I wasn't there.
Me: Morgan, then how would you know if he did it?
Morgan: I mean, Emmy did it.
Me: Did you see her do it?
Morgan: No.
Me: Morgan, you can't say someone did something, if you didn't see it happen. Then it's like lying. You need to always tell the truth.
(We've had a lot of discussions about telling the truth lately. Morgan has had trouble with the important principle.)
Morgan: I did it.
Me: You did it?
Morgan: That's the truth. I drew on it. I'm not lying.
Then he gave details. It was the day Kaien and Emmy were over, and they were outside, and his cousins weren't near by, but he found something and drew white on the car.
Oh boy.
I was being calm and under control.
Me: You do know it is very very naughty, right? It is not okay to ever write on or scratch cars.
Morgan: I know. But I don't have to have a time out, because I told the truth, right Mommy?

And how do you handle that? He told the truth, which I thanked him for doing, and want to encourage, but for pete's sake, he scratched my entire car! The deed needs a consequence, does it not?
I remember once telling the truth about the scissors being left outside by me, and I got a spanking. Then I couldn't figure out why I told the truth.

So we talked about it, set new rules, (no kids allowed by the cars ever again!) and went on our way. No time out, no privileges revoked, no spanking, nothing. What am I supposed to do in a case like that?
I'm really upset about my car.

Uncle Cameron

2011-04-24T23:22:00.003-06:00

My brother, Cameron, recently left to Colorado to work installing security systems. He will then go on to Canada. So before he left, he had to get some good play time in with his cutest niece.

Author Interview

2011-04-22T21:59:00.003-06:00

Lookit! http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/2011/04/book-giveaway-author-interview-future.html

I've been interviewed! Also, my book is being given away again, so check it out and try to win a copy!

P.s. I'm really excited about this.

Swimming Lessons

2011-04-20T16:01:00.006-06:00

Morgan has been doing swimming lessons every Monday and Wednesday for the past three weeks. He's enjoyed it. I don't think it's as advanced as his lessons last year, but he's having fun and getting used to the water more.
The pool at the Rec Center is shallow enough for the kids to be in without lifejackets, unlike the pool in Dugway. So that makes for a more comfortable learning environment for Morgan.
They play a game where you have to blow bubbles when the teacher catches you in the hula hoop.
When they are done with the shallow end, they form a train and walk over to the deep end (by which I mean 4 ft) and take turns learning different things in the pool with the teacher.
Sorry for the poor picture quality.

When lessons are over, the kids are released to the kiddie pool where they can have free time. This is probably Morgan's favorite part.
And we had a breakthrough! It even happened on the one day I brought the camera. Before that day, Morgan was terrified of putting his head under water. Well, he'd jump in the pool as often as you let him, even though his head would go under, but that was just the cost of having the fun of jumping in. Other than that though, he just wouldn't do it voluntarily.
Until a week ago.
Going under...
Hanging out underneath for awhile...
Then hopping up in delight. He doesn't like plugging his nose though.
Lydia and I hang out while Morgan swims. Good times.

I like to eat, eat, eat, apples and bananas....

2011-04-17T13:13:00.004-06:00

Lydia has been trying all sorts of different foods lately. Here's what I've learned.
Rice cereal makes her vomit profusely, and then dry heave for an hour.
Green, pureed vegetables cause her to make some funny faces, and to have a very real gag response.
Fruits are a go.
Cheerios can make just as big a mess as applesauce.
Ritz crackers are best when they crunch. When they get soggy, it's best to just spit them out all over the place.
It doesn't matter how much supplemental food is consumed; Lydia still wants just as much breastmilk. Hence the thunder thighs.

Siblings who bathe together...

2011-04-12T10:21:00.006-06:00

When I was young, I took a bath with three of my siblings. My older two siblings sat side by side in the front of the tub, but the spout, and I sat next to my little brother behind them. We barely fit, and my older siblings got the deeper and warmer water.
Lucky for my kids, there are only two of them.

Lydia recently graduated from her baby bath tub. She liked baths before, but they are extra fun now. She had so much fun splashing and splashing.

At one point, Lydia was lying on her back, and splashing up a storm with her arms and legs. Then some water would splash in her face, and she would flail a little at the surprise and distaste. The extra flailing would cause more water to her face, which would make her splash extra hard, which would get more water to her face, which caused a bit of a panic. I eventually intervened to save my baby from herself.

I think they're cute.

Lydia the tank engine?

2011-04-10T13:18:00.003-06:00

Morgan has been saying a lot of funny things lately, so here is another Morgan quote post.

One day, Morgan nonchalantly brought up the subject of love and timeouts. He told me, "People that love everyone, don't give other people time-outs." Oh really? I guess I missed that memo. Actually, I tried to tell him that I gave him time-outs because I love him, and I want him to learn to always be a good boy. Yeah, that really didn't fly for him.

Morgan loves trains. The other day we were driving near the train track, and we heard a train whistle. He was very excited about it. Then he said, "I wish Lydia was a train."

Today at church, an older gentleman was complimenting Morgan on his suit. He said, "You're a good looking young man."
Morgan replied. "You're old."
I guess we need to work on our manners.

Morgan likes to say "Yes sir-ree." But he also knows that a man is sir, and a woman is ma'am. So when he talks to me he says, "Yes ma'am-a-ree." Say that out loud. Or don't.

Martin Matters

McDonald's vs. Jack in the Box

Target shooting

Up again!

Top 10 of 2011

Christmas and New Year

Christmas Eve

Super Lydie!

General Update

Another Ison Christmas Party

Makin' cookies

Morgan logic

A few nights ago when Morgan and I were disagreeing about bedtime, in frustration he said, "I wish I was your dad!" And now that is something he often says when he doesn't like my rules.

After Morgan sneezed in my face, I gave him a little lecture about covering his mouth. His response? "I would have dodged."

It's so fun to see the world through Morgan's eyes. I just love him.

Dimetrodon

One small step for man, one giant leap for a baby

How we exercise

Climber

My little hooligan

Dolly

Playing outside

3rd Halloween

2nd Halloween

1st Halloween

Morgan's "Real" Birthday

Morgan's "fake" birthday

Painting pumpkins

Farmstead

Lydie's Words

This is how boys play

A Crib!

Jumping Jungle again

Family pictures

New Milestone!

I'm not tired

Baby Bum

Just Being Silly

Time for a haircut

Helper girl

We can communicate!

Bath time, past and present

One of Lydia's new favorite pastimes

Similarities

The birthday party!

The Cake

Birthday preparations

Catch 22

Blog Books

Settler Park

Morgan quotes

I had a discussion with Morgan the other night, and we disagreed and did a bit of arguing. Morgan was arguing like a 4 year old, so I said "where is your logic?" He replied, "I'm allergic to it."

Morgan told me that he wished he could see a dead person. He followed that up with, "I would never kill you." Well I should hope not! And I also hope he isn't contemplating murder, just so he can see a dead body.

Morgan said he knows when he has to go to the bathroom, because it feels like yellow.

Sleeping Beauty

4th of July

God and Country Rally

Ribbit

Around the campfire

Cute and Dirty Faced Close Ups

In the tent

Hike

What is camping without fourwheeling?

Hot Springs

Camping Queen

Chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool...

The start to our family campout

Ward Campout

Time for a haircut

Finally, outside play

Goggle-face

Standing

Morning surprise

The Faces of Lydie

Crawlin' to the toys

Parade America

The mind of a four year old

Sunday's

Wishful Thinking

Mother's Day

Morgan told me that he wished he could see a dead person. He followed that up with, "I would never kill you."
Well I should hope not! And I also hope he isn't contemplating murder, just so he can see a dead body.